South Africa: Young researcher places lives first It no secret that healthcare workers are at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but how do we ensure their safety? It has been widely reported that the country has been facing a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the last few months. This equipment is crucial for healthcare workers to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19 while attending to patients. Many sectors of society, including business, responded to the shortage by donating PPE equipment to the national Department of Health as well as provincial departments of health. Katekani Ngobeni, a senior researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has been at the forefront of advising officials on whether the protective gear is safe for use, and if it offers sufficient protection for nurses and doctors. This is at a time when the main response to the pandemic has been guided by the implementation of preventative measures. These measures include social distancing, the regular washing of hands with soap and the wearing of facemasks. Technical advice is essential in this period of uncertainty on the appropriate protective equipment healthcare workers should use. We know that a lot of us were caught off-guard with COVID-19 and we were not prepared for the challenges, she said in an interview with SAnews. So what we did as the CSIR, we offered support to all these different provinces - be it via Zoom (conference calling platform) or via the telephone. [This is] because a lot of people were panicking, especially with the issue where there was a global shortage of respirators. Ngobeni said it was expected that there would be some questions and fear from the provincial health departments on how to properly manage COVID-19. There were also questions about how to interpret all these constantly updated guidelines and the recommendations that are being reviewed and updated almost on a weekly basis. People are receiving donations of respirators that they have never used before and it is not properly regulated in South Africa. Therefore, people are in a state of panic to say how do we manage this to ensure that our healthcare workers are adequately protected, she said. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the young researcher has been providing ongoing workshops to various provincial health departments struggling to cope with the new reality brought about by COVID-19. We have been giving that type of technical support and guidance where provinces come and enquire about how to interpret guidelines, and how to adequately protect employees. She carries out these advisory responsibilities by developing and maintaining close working relationships with government departments and implementing partner organisations. This is in order to ensure that programme activities are carried out within the recommended practice standards based on evidence and international guidelines. Ngobeni has also facilitated a COVID-19 preparedness course for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). In February, Ngobeni presented her work at the first South African COVID-19 Conference. Held in Pretoria, the gathering was attended by over 250 healthcare professionals who obtained free scholarships from the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA), co-sponsored by the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD). Healthcare workers need critical information about respiratory protection. Hospitals across South Africa are running out of N95 masks, which filter at least 95% of particles that are 0.3 microns or larger, including the new Coronavirus. In response to continued respirator shortages, many countries, including South Africa, have resorted to the use of KN95 masks. However, currently, there are no specific guidelines in South Africa on which criteria apply for the use of the product, including evidence demonstrating that the respirator is authentic. In addition, there is conflicting guidance about the application of these respiratory masks. In order to continue providing technical assistance and capacity building to healthcare workers during this lockdown period, we collaborated with the FPD to provide online training, she said. The 34-year-olds work on Tuberculosis (TB) and personal protective equipment has set the foundation for her as a key player in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. Of her other achievements, Ngobeni was selected to attend the Building Design and Engineering approaches to Airborne Infection Control training hosted by Harvard University in the United States. In 2013, she was a runner-up for the JD Roberts Award for emerging researchers under the age of 35 to recognise and celebrate the contributions of younger colleagues within the CSIR. As Youth Month draws to a close, the young professional has urged young people to play a role in the fight against the virus. There is an urgent need to address the challenges in the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa. Young people have a huge role to play during this pandemic. We need to educate ourselves and others, especially those in disadvantaged areas, about the importance of hygiene and living a healthy life. This as the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in South Africa stands at over 144 000 to date. In addition, reports have pointed to healthcare workers who have tested positive for the virus to be at just below two percent. While the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape have been identified as hotspots for COVID-19, Ngobeni was not at liberty to say which provinces have required the most technical advice on the use of PPEs. We are supporting all provinces but obviously there were some provinces that had more challenges than others. It is just that some provinces struggle more than other provinces or they might need more technical assistance and attention as opposed to others who might have resources and have access to such knowledge and information at their disposal, she said. Ngobeni and her colleagues at the CSIR form part of several work streams advising on the fight against the virus. We have committees at the national Department of Health; we also form part of committees with different regulatory bodies. However, the journey to where she is today has not been an easy one for the young woman born in KaNdengeza, which is located outside Giyani in Limpopo. With her parents in Gauteng, Ngobeni spent life with her grandmother until the third grade. She then joined her parents in Protea Glen, Soweto and attended school at Alpha Primary school. With the relocation, Ngobeni found herself having to repeat Grade 3, due to her not understanding a word of English at the time. To remedy the situation, her mother bought childrens books for her and in six months time, Ngobenis fluency in English had improved a great deal. She went to high school at Lenasia Secondary School, south of Johannesburg, and found inspiration in a young female environmental health practitioner, who was a friend of her mother. Ngobeni remembers how meeting her mothers friend sparked the desire to want to follow in the same career path and after matriculating, she enrolled for a National Diploma in Environmental Health with the University of Johannesburg. Instead of doing her year of community service immediately, she opted to complete her B Tech (equivalent to a degree qualification). She then completed her year-long community service with the City of Johannesburg, after which the city appointed her as an environmental health practitioner on a full-time basis, servicing health facilities in Johannesburg. With her career flourishing, Ngobeni moved to the Gauteng Department of Health where she took up the position of chief healthcare officer focussing on waste management in 2010. She joined the CSIR in 2011 as an infection control specialists focusing on infection, prevention and control. As part of her work at the CSIR, Ngobeni also hosts workshops for architects to help them design safer buildings as far as infection control is concerned. A chunk of our work has been focussed around TB since 2011. We have been solely focussing on TB infection control helping architects [to] design buildings and infrastructure to better create a healthier environment and protect their workers. The challenge currently is that most of our architects are not trained on infection control. Architects, she said, were likely to design buildings for aesthetics, not considering the health impact of those designs. So we go out to train architects and engineers to now start thinking about how to design a building that looks good but at the same time, start creating a healthy environment for the occupants of that building, she said. Since joining the CSIR, Ngobeni has pursued a Masters degree through the University of Johannesburg, exploring the use of respiratory protection devices in low-income healthcare settings. While much is still being discovered about COVID-19, young South Africans are putting up their hands alongside healthcare professionals, in the fight against the pandemic. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-06-30. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. iStock/niratBy: BILL HUTCHINSON and ALEX PEREZ, ABC News (MINNEAPOLIS) -- The four fired Minneapolis police officers criminally charged in the death of George Floyd appeared before a judge on Monday for a brief pre-trial hearing that was also attended by Floyd's aunt and uncle, who sat in the front row. Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Kiernan Lane and Tou Thao appeared for separate, back-to-back pre-trial hearings in a courtroom in downtown Minneapolis. Judge Peter Cahill instructed both prosecutors and defense attorneys to limit pre-trial publicity about the case. Thao's attorney, Robert Paule, said in court that he is considering a motion for change of venue due to what he described as prejudicial pre-trial publicity. He noted that public comments already made about the case by President Donald Trump, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Hennepin County attorneys office, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and Mayor Jacob Frey could jeopardize a fair trial in Hennepin County. We are just as interested in a fair trial, said Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Matthew Frank. While Cahill stopped short of issuing a gag order, he warned he could do so if his instructions were not followed. On Friday, Cahill barred news cameras and audio equipment during pre-trial proceedings after expressing worries that publicity could taint the pool of potential jurors. He said he has yet to decide on whether to allow news cameras in the courtroom during the actual trial. Chauvin, who remains in custody, appeared in court via video. Thao, who is also in custody, was physically in the courtroom, but stood inside a phone-booth-like wooden cubicle during the hearing. Kueng and Lane, who have been released on bail, were both in the courtroom for the proceedings. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Floyd. Lane, Kueng and Thao are all charged with second-degree aiding and abetting felony murder and second-degree aiding and abetting manslaughter. None of the former officers has yet entered a plea. But court documents show Kueng intends to plead not guilty and will argue self-defense. Frank informed the court that prosecutors have compiled about 8,000 pages of discovery material in the case. Cahill set the defendants' next court appearance for Sept. 11 and tentatively scheduled a trial date for March 8, 2021. He asked Chauvin if it would be OK with him to extend the timeline for those dates given the voluminous amount of discovery evidence. "Yes, your honor," answered Chauvin in the only statement he made at the hearing. Cahill has yet to decide if the men will be tried separately or together. Floyd, a Black man, was arrested on May 25 outside a convenience store in Minneapolis and accused of using counterfeit money to purchase cigarettes, according to police. During the arrests, Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer, dug his knee into the back of Floyd's neck. Floyd repeatedly called out, "I can't breathe," before he lost consciousness, according to a criminal complaint. Floyd was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Lane, 37, allegedly held Floyd's legs down while Kueng, 26, allegedly held Floyd's back as Chauvin allegedly dug his knee into Floyd's neck, the criminal complaint said. Thao, 34, allegedly watched the entire incident with his hands in his pockets, according to the complaint. The arrest was captured on citizen cellphone video that was posted on Facebook and went viral, sparking protests and violence in Minneapolis and across the nation. The episode has also become a rallying cry against police brutality and the defunding of law enforcement agencies. Floyd's death followed a long string of police-involved killings of Black people in the United States. The four officers involved in Floyd's fatal arrest were fired from the police department. Two of the officers, Lane and Kueng, were rookies. In the courtroom on Monday were two members of Floyd's family, his aunt, Angela Harrelson, and his uncle, Selwyn Jones. At one point, Cahill admonished Floyds relatives for reacting from the gallery during the hearing. Outside the courthouse, Jones described the emotions he felt during the hearing, saying, Absolutely crazy that I sat six feet away from the person who murdered my nephew. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. By Chen Yu BEIJING, June 30 -- Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, China's domestically developed Yun-20 large transport aircraft has carried out missions abroad for many times, successively delivering anti-epidemic supplies to Pakistan, Thailand and other countries. Recently, it made its maiden flight to Russia to transport the PLA Guard of Honor to participate in the military parade staged in Moscow's Red Square. Military expert Chen Hong said that in the future, the Yun-20 transport aircraft is sure to significantly improve the combat capability of the PLA troops. A solid backing to the PLA Air Force In the modern warfare with wider war zones and faster war pace, countries all over the world are trying to strengthen the quick response and long-range delivery capabilities of their troops, to quickly transport their troops and weapons to areas in urgent need and save time for the reinforcement of follow-up troops. Under this situation, the armed forces of all countries are eager to equip large-scale heavy-duty transport aircraft. According to the information from Tang Changhong, chief designer of the Yun-20, the maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 220 tons, and the maximum loading capacity is 66 tons. "To build up a modern PLA Air Force with strong combat capability, it is quite necessary to equip large transport aircraft like Yun-20, the speed of which is more than three times that of high-speed rail trains and more than 20 times that of marine transportation. It can get the whole combat units rallied in the shortest time, greatly contributing to the rapid deployment of troops and enhancing combat capability", said Chen Hong. It still holds great development potential "The Yun-20 transport aircraft is quite promising for future development." According to Chen Hong's introduction, the Yun-20 transport aircraft is currently powered by Russian D-30KP-2 engines, which is likely to be replaced by WS-20, the domestically developed new-generation large-scale jet engine, in the future. It can provide more than 15 tons of thrust. "In recent years, China's fighter engine R&D technology has achieved leapfrog development, breaking through the unimaginable bottlenecks. New engines like WS-20 will also be used to equip China's large military transport aircraft in the near future and play a more prominent role", added Chen Hong. In addition, the Yun-20 can also be adapted as an aerial tanker or an antisubmarine aircraft. With a payload of up to 66 tons, it can become an aerial gas station, which can cooperate with fighters skillfully in aerial refueling operations. As an antisubmarine aircraft, it can carry a variety of light and heavy antisubmarine equipment. With its advantages of heavy weight, long endurance and long range, its performance will be more powerful. At present, China's Air Force is in urgent need of Yun-20 transport aircraft. Chen Hong said that in view of China's current goal of building up a strategic air force, several hundred Yun-20s are needed at least. "It marks a magnificent progress in the history of China's Air Force. I believe there will be even more advanced aircraft to equip China's Air Force in the future", added Chen. Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:17:58|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday paid tribute to 77 UN personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty between March 16 and Dec. 31, 2019. Of the 77 UN personnel, 38 were military, 3 were police, and 36 were civilian. They came from 41 nations. In a virtual memorial service, Guterres mourned the deaths of the UN personnel and extended his condolences to their families and loved ones. "It is a sad fact that, due to the nature of our responsibilities, our personnel often have to face perilous situations where crisis, conflict and instability reign. That so many of our colleagues choose to serve where risk prevails is testament to their unstinting commitment to helping the world's most vulnerable people, who rely on us for peace, shelter, food, vaccinations and so much more," said Guterres. The United Nations was born from the ashes of World War II and has promoted peace and human progress ever since. All around the world, especially in the most fragile contexts, the blue flag of the United Nations symbolizes hope, he said. "That hope is part of the legacy of the colleagues we mourn today. They paid the ultimate sacrifice so that others could look forward to better days." He promised to constantly review and improve UN practices related to the safety and care of staff. "Even one death is one too many," he said. Without brave UN staff in the field, the world organization cannot do what it has been asked to do by member states -- to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to pursue better standards of living for all in larger freedom, said Guterres. "On this solemn occasion, let us honor the memory of our fallen colleagues by recommitting ourselves to the noble cause of promoting peace, prosperity and opportunity for everyone, everywhere, for generations to come." Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:29:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JERUSALEM, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that his government is still "working" on his West Bank annexation plan, hinting at the postponement of the controversial move. Speaking a day ahead of July 1, the target date for the beginning of the annexation set by Netanyahu, the prime minister said he met earlier on Tuesday with U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. Netanyahu said he discussed with them "the question of sovereignty," referring to his plan to impose Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, part of the West Bank where the Palestinians wish to build their future state. He noted his government is "currently working on" the plan and "will continue to work on it in the coming days." The remarks were made during a ceremony at the foreign ministry in Jerusalem. Netanyahu and his main coalition partner, Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White party, were at odds over the annexation. While Netanyahu wants to start the procedure of imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley as early as July 1, Gantz wishes to postpone the move. On Monday, Gantz, who serves as Israel's alternate prime minister and defense minister, told a meeting of lawmakers with Blue and White that "anything not related to the struggle against the coronavirus will wait." "Before making any political moves, we need to help the public get back to earn a living with dignity," Gantz said. A few hours later, Netanyahu dismissed Gantz's remarks, telling a meeting of lawmakers with his right-wing Likud party that he is working "discretely" with envoys of U.S. President Donald Trump. "The issue does not depend on Blue and White," he said, according to local media reports. Under their power-sharing deal, both Netanyahu and Gantz hold veto power over key government decisions. However, the deal allows Netanyahu to bring an annexation proposal to the cabinet starting July 1, even without Gantz's approval. The annexation plan was received with widespread condemnations by the Palestinians, most of the Arab world, and the international community. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged Israel on Monday to halt the "illegal" plan. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:32:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The secretary for security and heads of six disciplined services departments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Tuesday welcomed and supported the passage of the law on safeguarding national security in the HKSAR. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was passed earlier Tuesday at the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. Secretary for Security John Lee, together with the Commissioner of Police, the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, the Commissioner of Correctional Services, the Director of Fire Services, the Director of Immigration and the Controller of the Government Flying Service, pledged in a statement full support for the effective implementation of the law in Hong Kong. Lee said he would lead the disciplinary forces to fully discharge their due responsibilities to implement the national security law, striving to safeguard national security, ensuring the continued success of "one country, two systems," restoring social peace and preserving Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability. The Security Bureau is establishing an enforcement mechanism for effectively safeguarding national security, Lee said. The dedicated unit being set up in the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) will be equipped with effective enforcement power to discharge the enforcement duties under the law, and the other five disciplinary forces will also fully assist in their respective professional areas in collaboration with the HKPF in carrying out work in safeguarding national security, he said. The law's enactment will help Hong Kong restore stability and put the economy back on track, allowing Hong Kong to ride out the difficult times and safeguarding its long-term prosperity and stability, he added. The HKPF also showed support to the passage of the national security law in the HKSAR. The law clearly stipulates the specific composition and corresponding criminal liability for four types of crimes, and the HKPF will fully perform its duties and strictly enforce the law to restore social order and ensure the effective implementation of the law in the HKSAR to safeguard national security, it said in a statement. In response to the various criminal acts that endanger national security, the HKPF will conduct arrests and take other law enforcement actions in accordance with the law and the laws of Hong Kong to protect the life and property of Hong Kong residents and the basic rights and freedoms they enjoy under the law, it said. "The HKSAR is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China, and the Hong Kong Police Force is fully responsible for safeguarding the security of Hong Kong as well as our country," it said. Four Hong Kong police associations including Hong Kong Police Inspectors' Association also issued a joint statement to voice their support for the law. The statement highlighted the necessity of the new law as intensified violent incidents and emerging homegrown terrorism have plunged Hong Kong into chaos and turned Hong Kong into a loophole of in safeguarding national security. The associations pledged fair and professional law enforcement according to the new law to safeguard the interests of Hong Kong, national security, and the development of the country. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:40:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JUBA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The extended shutdown of learning institutions in South Sudan occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened economic hardship among teachers. Okello Kenneth, the headteacher at Darling Wisdom Academy, a privately owned primary and secondary school in the capital Juba, said the prolonged closure of the institutions has negatively impacted his financial security. Okello said the three months he has spent without receiving monthly income has pushed his family on the edge of survival as the reopening of the school remains uncertain due to rising COVID-19 positive cases in South Sudan. "The situation is affecting my family negatively in terms of the economic welfare, before the closure of the schools I used to earn 30,000 South Sudanese pounds (about 250 U.S. dollars) every month but now I am no longer receiving a payslip," Kenneth told Xinhua on Tuesday. John Remijio, a teacher at a private school said he was recently diagnosed with malaria but he could not afford to cater to his medical bills since he has become jobless as a result of school closure. "I rely so much on my salary as I did not have another occupation and it has become so difficult to meet the needs of my family," said Remijio. The sole breadwinner in a large household said he has resorted to loan from friends, and colleagues in order to meet basic needs like food and medication. Yar Rhoda, a nursery school teacher at Blessed Shepherd Nursery and Primary School located in Juba's Sherikat suburb said the extended shutdown has forced her to depend on relatives for basic necessities including food and rent. Her monthly salary of 60 U.S. dollars is no longer available thus worsening her financial hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. South Sudan authorities in March ordered the closure of all learning institutions as part of anti-COVID-19 containment measures. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:47:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development on Tuesday vowed to use its trade body to protect industries from unfair foreign competition. Betty Maina, Cabinet Secretary for Kenya's Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development told a media briefing in Nairobi that the Kenya Trade Remedies Agency (KETRA) will provide the legal and institutional framework to shield domestic industries in accordance with the World Trade Organization laws. She added that KETRA is expected to cushion local firms from unfair import competition and will put the country at par with peers such as Egypt and South Africa which are applying trade remedies measures in accordance with WTO principles to protect their infant domestic industries. The trade remedy agency is expected to investigate and evaluate allegations of dumping and subsidization of imported products in Kenya. Maina observed that going forward, Kenya will implement trade defense instruments such as anti-dumping measures, countervailing duty measures as well as safeguard actions against imports which cause material injury to local industries. She revealed that the trade agency will ensure a level playing field for manufacturers and this will help to improve the environment for doing business in the country with a view to improving its regional and global competitiveness. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:51:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, June 30 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Growth Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 2.3 percent in the first quarter of 2020, said Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke on Tuesday. According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the GDP decline for the first quarter in 2020 marked the third quarter of decline in succession, following drops of 0.6 percent in 3rd quarter in 2019, and 1.4 percent in 4th quarter in 2019. The report showed that the mining and manufacturing sectors were among those that contributed to the GDP decline. Other industries declined due to low demand. "The electricity, gas and water industry contracted by 5.6 percent in the first quarter, largely due to decreases in electricity distributed and water consumption," the report said, "The construction industry decreased by 4.7 percent. Decreases were reported for residential buildings, non-residential buildings and construction works." Jannie Rossouw, head of School of Economic and Business Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, told Xinhua that the decline would continue in the second quarter of the year as the impact of the lockdown was yet to be counted. "The downward spiral trajectory as the effects of the lockdown will be considered in the next quarter. The second quarter will be much worse," he said. Labor federation Cosatu's spokesperson Sizwe Pamla also said that the economy would continue declining. "The Federation is not shocked at all by these numbers and we expect the situation to only get worse from here. These numbers have nothing to do with the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus," he said. He added that if the government failed to inject money, the economy would continue to be stagnant. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:01:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Tuesday launched two policy documents to guide efforts aimed at ending tuberculosis (TB) in the country. Rashid Aman, Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Health, said that the Kenya Injectable Free Regimens (KIFR) and Latent TB Infection (LTBI) Treatment policies are aimed at ensuring a TB free Kenya by 2035. "In Kenya, TB is the fifth leading cause of death. In 2019, we reported and treated 86,504 cases of TB, of which approximately 10 percent are children," Aman told journalists during the launch in Nairobi. He said that drug-resistant TB cases have been on the rise, with 688 such cases in the country as of 2019. The official, however, observed that despite TB diagnosis and treatment is free of charge in public and faith-based health facilities, not all who are infected with TB are reached and thus do not receive the required care. He noted that KIFR policy guideline is a regimen for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) that is devoid of injections, in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) call to eliminate injectables from the MDR-TB treatment regimen to improve treatment outcomes. Aman further said that LTBI policy guideline addresses the preventive treatment of latent TB infection and will be offered to individuals at risk of developing active TB. Aman said that TB is one of the diseases alongside diabetes, cancer, HIV and hypertension that compound the problem of COVID-19 that is currently a major health problem in the country and globally. He said that COVID-19 can be very severe in people with these underlying conditions adding that since the disease was first reported in the country, 6,366 people had tested positive, and 148 deaths were recorded as of Tuesday. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:06:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Tuesday launched a new campaign to counter, by fostering personal behavior change, the growing threat of misinformation online, particularly with regard to COVID-19. The campaign, called Pause, asks digital users to take the time to think about what they are about to share before posting it online. "Misinformation is spreading faster than the virus itself, and is seriously disrupting public health efforts by dangerously distorting sound scientific guidance. It is designed to exploit our emotions and biases at a time of heightened fear," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a press release. "But there are ways users can learn to recognize bad information and slow the spread. We are aiming to have the phrase, 'Pause, take care before you share,' become a new public norm." A range of media companies around the world, including Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle, Euronews, France Medias Monde, MultiChoice Africa and StarTimes, are distributing Pause content on TV channels, online and via SMS, said the press release. Major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Google (YouTube) and TikTok, have also committed to promoting Pause, while indicating a willingness to scale up their ongoing efforts to suppress the circulation of misinformation, it said. "It is encouraging to see steps already taken by social media platforms, such as swiftly removing misinformation surrounding COVID-19, flagging harmful content, questioning sharing intentions and also promoting sound health advice, including from the World Health Organization," said Melissa Fleming, UN undersecretary-general for global communications. "Just as social distancing slows the spread of the virus, behavior changes around sharing will go a long way to slow the spread of misinformation. But it can only be meaningfully halted if there is no place for misinformation on social media platforms." Pause draws on research from psychologists, neuroscientists and behavioral scientists whose studies indicate that pausing to reflect before sharing can significantly help reduce the spread of unverified and misleading information. The campaign will challenge people to break the habit of sharing shocking or emotive content impulsively and without questioning its accuracy. The campaign, launched on Tuesday to coincide with Social Media Day, is part of a larger UN initiative called Verified. Verified, launched in May, aims to increase the volume and reach of trusted and accurate information, with the help of information volunteers. Fleming said Monday that more than 10,000 people have signed up for the Verified initiative as volunteers -- a number growing about 10 percent a week. By mid-June, more than 130 UN member states had endorsed the initiative, showing their concern about the "infodemic" related to COVID-19. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:19:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The promulgation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is signed by HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam and published in the Gazette. The law took effect at 11:00 p.m. local time on June 30, 2020. (Xinhua) HONG KONG, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) took effect at 11:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday. The promulgation of the law was signed by HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam and published in the Gazette, according to a statement of the HKSAR government. The law was passed at the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC). The NPC Standing Committee consulted the HKSAR Basic Law Committee and the HKSAR government and listed the law in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law. The law was formulated according to the Constitution, the Basic Law and an NPC decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security. The national security law seeks to prevent, curb and punish crimes seriously endangering national security, namely secession, subversion, terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security, an HKSAR government spokesman said. The spokesman said the law only targets an extremely small group of offenders while the life and property as well as various legitimate basic rights and freedoms enjoyed by the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong residents will be protected. There is nothing for Hong Kong residents to worry about in exercising these legitimate rights, the spokesman said. In order to effectively discharge their duties, the police and the Department of Justice of the HKSAR government have earlier made preparations for the establishment of dedicated units, the spokesman said, adding that the police will establish a dedicated National Security Department on July 1 to handle the relevant work. The Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR chaired by the Chief Executive will be set up as soon as possible to take up the major responsibility of safeguarding national security in the HKSAR, the spokesman said. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:23:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Tuesday underlined the importance of relying on reforms to tackle changing situations and open up new prospects, while encouraging exploration with good outcomes in key spheres. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, specified the requirements in a speech at the 14th meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform. The breakthrough and leading role of reforms must be given full play for the country to achieve the goals and tasks outlined in the 13th five-year plan, win the battle against poverty, complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and embark on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country, said Xi, who heads the committee. Li Keqiang and Wang Huning, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the central committee for deepening overall reform, also attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed and approved a series of reform plans and guidelines on state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the integrated development of new generation information technology and the manufacturing industry, the rural homestead system, the integrated development of media, the education evaluation system, and the state-owned art troupes. It also heard a report on reform progress of the medical and health care system since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. The next three years will be crucial for the country's SOE reforms, the meeting noted, stressing efforts to optimize the layout and structure of the state-owned economy to make it more competitive, innovative, controllable, influential, and more able to withstand risks. In terms of the integrated development of new generation information technology and the manufacturing industry, the meeting said that efforts should be made to speed up the innovative development of the industrial internet with a focus on advancing smart manufacturing. The meeting urged efforts to deepen the integrated media development and mechanism reforms, and cultivate talent in the all-media sector to build a set of competitive, strongly influential new types of mainstream media. Educational evaluation is a matter concerning the direction of educational development, so it is necessary to set up an educational evaluation system that is scientific, and in line with the requirements of the times, the meeting said. Meanwhile, the meeting stressed the further development of state-owned art troupes to stimulate their vitality. Since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the country has been improving medical services through establishing the world's largest basic medical security network, and reducing the medical treatment burden for patients, putting people's lives and health first, it noted. The meeting called for attaching great importance to the application of the new generation of information technology in the field of medicine and healthcare, reshaping the management and service mode, optimizing the allocation of resources, and improving service efficiency. It stressed the need to make plans for the reforms in the 14th Five-Year Plan period, focus more on making institutional improvement, and optimizing governance system, and do more to address deep-seated institutional problems. Enditem Joining hands to fight COVID-19 pandemic is vivid interpretation of building community with shared future for mankind (Part III) By Jun Sheng China will make its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good when it is ready for application after successful research and clinical trials. . This will be Chinas contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries, said President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the 73rd World Health Assembly video conference on May 18. The Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19 was held in the form of a video conference on June 17. President Xi presided over the meeting in Beijing and pointed out in his keynote speech that China will start construction of the headquarters of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in advance of this year. China will work with Africa to fully deliver the health care initiative adopted at the FOCAC Beijing Summit and speed up the construction of China-Africa Friendship Hospitals and the cooperation between paired-up Chinese and African hospitals. Together, we will build a China-Africa community of health for all. We pledge that once the development and deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine is completed in China, African countries will be among the first to benefit, said Xi. To govern is to carry out what one teaches. China's measures to combat the pandemic focus on the current and future key and painful points of global anti-pandemic, and demonstrate the responsibility for people's lives and health and for global public health. Such a "China Commitment" is undoubtedly another vivid portrayal of China's adherence to the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. As Philippe D. Monnier, a Swiss expert on China studies, put it, this will benefit developing countries and is a huge contribution to mankind. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, the global economy has seen a deep recession; economic globalization has encountered a countercurrent; protectionism and unilateralism have prevailed in some countries; and, geopolitical risks have risen. Some people pessimistically say that "there is neither the past nor the future." At such a defining dark moment, China confronts various risks and challenges, stands firmly with the international community, and jointly adds certainty to the uncertain world. "Resolutely fight the global anti-pandemic prevention and control war,""Effectively develop international joint prevention and controlmechanisms"... The cooperative initiatives put forward based on China's practice gather together the majestic forces of the fight against COVID-19. International anti-pandemic is at a critical stage. "Support for WHO means supporting international anti-pandemic cooperation and saving lives"... China clearly supports the WHO and multilateralism and injects firm confidence in the international community's unity against the pandemic. China spared no effort to produce medical supplies and equipment that are in need of, organized special video conferences of health experts, and dispatched medical expert teams to countries who are in urgent need of help... China's positive action to help the world is like sunshine dispersing the haze of the pandemic. China has strengthened international macroeconomic policy coordination, coordinated the advancement of pandemic prevention and control and economic and social development, adhered to openness and inclusiveness, and enhancedglobal governance... China is the first to restart the economy, which not only provides valuable experience for the world but also lays an important foundation for the opening of the global economy. It is always necessary to make concerted efforts. There is no absolute safe haven in the world, and no country can stay immune from the common enemy of humankind. Throughout history, whether it is the Black Death that claimed the lives of countless Europeans, the Spanish flu that has caused painful lessons, or the AIDS that is still spreading globally...They told the international community at a high price that multilateral cooperation should be used to respond to global public health threats and defeat pandemics related to the safety of humankind. It is the shared responsibility of the international community to add certainty to an uncertain world. However, things are not always satisfactory. On the one hand, people from all over the world transcended geographical, ethnic, cultural, and historical boundaries, and helped each other to consolidate the powerful anti-pandemic joint force of "everybody adds fuel, the flames rise high", and saved countless lives. One the other hand, a small number of American politicians have become addicted to breaking contracts and withdrawing from treaties. They first stopped to pay WHO's membership dues, and then announced the termination of relations with WHO. They have repeatedly used unilateralism and hegemony to destroy the global anti-pandemic fight. The virus knows no borders, and it is impossible to defeat it alone. At present, the cumulative number of confirmed and deathcases in the US ranks first in the world. Such a bitter reality is telling certain US politicians: blindly bullying, exerting pressure, and deliberately breaking international rules will only hurt people and themselves. At the same time, the US's "unwise" and "bad decisions" have also made the world more deeply aware that unilateralism and individualism have no way out. Strengthening multilateral cooperation in joint prevention and control and vaccine research and development is the right way. The going is difficult when doing it alone; the going becomes easier when doing it with many others.Touching stories and moving pictures will surely remain in people's memories in the anti-pandemic fight of various countries in the world in the past few months.This excellent practice of joining hands against the pandemic and building a community with a shared future for mankindis also sure to be remembered by history. Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:25:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUCHAREST, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Romania will have to postpone further relaxation measures of coronavirus restrictions previously scheduled for July 1 amid the escalation of infections in recent days, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said Tuesday. "It is a figure that makes us stay on guard, stay focused and mobilized so as to implement the measures we have taken, as the evolution of the number of cases has led us to postpone other relaxation measures," Orban was quoted as saying by official Agerpres news agency, after visiting a large company in the southern part of the country. The prime minister on Monday pointed out that he would convene all ministers and all state institutions that have control remits to make an analysis of the measure plan to ensure rule observance. "It has become clear that in many places the rules are not followed and there is an increased risk of transmitting the virus due to non-compliance with the rules," he stressed. Meanwhile, Health Minister Nelu Tataru also told a local TV station that the country had an increase in the number of new cases, intensive care cases and deaths in the past two weeks, blaming all these on the lack of self-protection instincts of some citizens. The epidemic has rebounded in Romania since mid-June. According to the statistics, the average number of new cases per day from June 16 to 30 was over 320, while the daily cases in the first half of the month were 194. New cases reached 460 and 411 on June 25 and 26 respectively. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:30:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BAKU, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A man was killed in a shootout that involved Azerbaijani border patrol guards and two border violators who attempted to illegally cross the border from Iran into Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan's State Border Service said Tuesday. The incident took place near Beylagan district in the northwestern part of Azerbaijan. The armed group attempting to cross the border opened fire on the border patrol in response to warning shots, the border service told local media. The violators were armed and were carrying bags. One of them was killed, while another retreated, according to the State Border Service. Border guards discovered a sawed-off shotgun and two bags, reportedly containing narcotic drugs, weighing about 33 kg at the scene. The Office of the Military Prosecutor has launched an investigation into the incident. There have been several incidents of drug trafficking recorded along the Azerbaijan-Iran border. Last October, one Azerbaijani soldier was killed and another wounded when border security tried to prevent a group of armed men from illegally crossing the border from Iran. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:38:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday urged some U.S. politicians to immediately stop smearing China and interfering in China's internal affairs by creating rumors under the pretext of Xinjiang. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks in response to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statement over China's Xinjiang policy. The Chinese government equally protects the legitimate rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups, including ethnic minorities, Zhao said. From 1978 to 2018, the population of Uygurs in Xinjiang grew from 5.55 million to 11.68 million, registering a 2.1 times increase and accounting for about 46.8 percent of the total population of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the spokesperson said. Zhao said ethnic minorities in the United States have long been suffering from bullying, exclusion and wide, systemic discrimination in economic, cultural, social and other aspects, citing examples from the killing of Indians through the Westward Expansion to the death of African American George Floyd. "We urge U.S. politicians like Pompeo to reject bias and double standards, face up to the issue of racial discrimination at home, spend more time and energy on improving human rights conditions at home, and immediately stop smearing China and interfering in China's internal affairs by creating rumors under the pretext of Xinjiang," Zhao added. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:41:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MACAO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government said Tuesday that it firmly supports the passage of the law on safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong SAR. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was passed earlier Tuesday at the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. The Macao SAR government said in a statement that the law, formulated according to the specific situation in the HKSAR, has given full respect to the high degree of autonomy of the HKSAR and the basic rights and freedoms of its residents. The law will improve the legal system, management and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security, and ensure the steady and sustained development of the "one country, two systems," it said. It said safeguarding national security is the necessary requirement for the long-term stability and prosperity of China as well as the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, and is the common obligation of all the Chinese people including Hong Kong and Macao compatriots. It added that the Macao SAR government will strengthen communication with the HKSAR government so as to better fulfill the constitutional obligation of safeguarding national security. Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Ho Hau Wah on Tuesday also expressed strong support for the passage of the law, saying this is a fundamental step to end the chaos in Hong Kong and achieve long-term stability and prosperity. The passage of the law is a landmark in the development of the "one country, two systems" and a major measure to uphold and improve the "one country, two systems," Ho said. Ho added that the law plugged loopholes in the HKSAR's legal system and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security. By drawing a clear bottom line of national security, the law will act as a powerful deterrent against crimes endangering national security, he added. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:42:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close China's top legislature unanimously adopted the "landmark" law on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong. People convicted of the national security crimes could face up to life imprisonment. The law is a "sword" deterring people who endanger national security and a "guardian" protecting Hong Kong residents. BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers Tuesday voted to adopt the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The law was passed unanimously at the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order to promulgate the law, which goes into effect on the date of promulgation. With 66 articles in six chapters, the law clearly defines the duties and government bodies of the HKSAR for safeguarding national security and four categories of offences -- secession, subversion, terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security -- and their corresponding penalties. According to the law, the central government will set up an office in the HKSAR for safeguarding national security. The HKSAR will establish a committee for safeguarding national security, which is under the supervision of and accountable to the central government. To be chaired by the HKSAR chief executive, the committee shall have a national security adviser designated by the central government. The Hong Kong police force will also set up a department for safeguarding national security, according to the law. Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the closing meeting of the 20th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing, capital of China, June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) After the law was passed, the NPC Standing Committee consulted its HKSAR Basic Law Committee and the HKSAR government, and adopted on Tuesday afternoon, by a unanimous vote, a decision to list the law in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law. The newly-adopted decision stipulates that the law shall be applied locally in the HKSAR by way of promulgation by the region. The law came into force in Hong Kong at 11:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday upon its promulgation by the HKSAR government in the gazette. HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a statement that the HKSAR government welcomes the passage of the law. "I am confident that after the implementation of the national security law, the social unrest which has troubled Hong Kong people for nearly a year will be eased and stability will be restored, thereby enabling Hong Kong to start anew, focus on economic development and improve people's livelihood," she said. Hong Kong citizens celebrate the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Causeway Bay of south China's Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) WIDE SUPPORT The law came after prolonged social unrest and escalating street violence had plunged Hong Kong into the gravest situation since its return to the motherland in 1997. Rampant activities of "Hong Kong independence" organizations and violent radicals as well as blatant interference by external forces have disrupted Hong Kong residents' daily life and threatened their safety. Addressing the closing meeting of the NPC Standing Committee session, Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the unanimous passage of the law and the decision has reflected the common will of the Chinese people including Hong Kong compatriots. Stressing that national security, social stability and the order of rule of law are the premises of the development of Hong Kong, Li said the legislation represents the aspirations of the people and an irresistible trend of the times. In a statement, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council voiced firm support for the law, calling it a "milestone" event that will usher in a turning point for Hong Kong to end chaos and bring back order. In a separate statement, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR said the promulgation and implementation of the law at the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland is an event worth celebrating for all Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots. Nearly 2.93 million Hong Kong residents earlier signed a petition in support of the national security legislation during an eight-day campaign starting May 24. Photo taken on June 12, 2020 shows the night view of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) "SWORD" AND "GUARDIAN" The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said in its statement that for a tiny number of people endangering national security, the law will be a "sharp sword" hanging over their heads. But for the vast majority of Hong Kong residents including foreigners in Hong Kong, the law will be a "guardian" that protects their rights, freedoms and peaceful life, said the office. According to the law, people convicted of the national security crimes could face up to life imprisonment. Convicted criminals will be disqualified from running for public office, and people in public office who are found guilty of the crimes will be removed from their posts. The law shall apply to acts committed after its entry into force for the purpose of conviction and imposition of punishment, according to its provision. Upon promulgation, the law will resolutely and effectively safeguard national security and ensure that the "one country, two systems" cause is steered toward the right direction, said top legislator Li Zhanshu. The law will vigorously uphold the constitutional order and the order of rule of law in the HKSAR, forestall and deter external interference, and safeguard Hong Kong's fundamental, long-term and current interests, he said. (Video Reporters: Qiu Bo, Lin Ning; Video Editor: Liu Yuting) Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:50:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's export earnings increased by 14 percent from 157.7 billion Kenyan shillings (1.48 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2019 to 1.68 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2020, the national statistics bureau said on Tuesday. The Kenya National Bureau Statistics (KNBS) said that Kenya's total exports to Asia surged from 383 million dollars in the first quarter of 2019 to 411 million dollars in the quarter under review. "There were marked increases in total exports to the United Arab Emirates (24.0 percent) and China (23.9 percent)," KNBS said. According to the statistics agency, the major contributors to the jump in exports were increases in the domestic exports of tea to the United Arab Emirates and titanium ores and concentrates to China, as well as increased re-exports of kerosene-type jet fuel to these two destinations. "Conversely, there was a decline in exports of articles of copper and disodium carbonate to India resulting in reduced earnings from this destination in the review period," KNBS said in its latest report on the Q1. It said the African continent remained Kenya's leading export destination registering an increase of 22.3 percent in the total value of exports to 623.3 million U.S. dollars during the first quarter of 2020 and accounted for 36.5 percent of the total exports. The data agency revealed that export earnings from Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan and South Sudan jointly increased by 107.9 million U.S. dollars from the corresponding quarter of 2019 representing a 45.9 percent increase. These countries jointly accounted for 55 percent of the total exports to Africa during the period under review, KNBS said. According to the report, Uganda remained Kenya's leading export destination contributing 28.4 percent of the total export earnings from Africa. However, total exports to Burundi and Somalia fell by 35.5 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively, KNBS added. The bureau noted that revenues from exports to the European Union fell by 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter of 2019. According to the KNBS, the total export earnings from the Netherlands declined by 9.1 percent in the first quarter of 2020, majorly on account of a decrease in the domestic exports of cut flowers. The statistical agency revealed that during the same period, total exports to Britain rose by 12.1 percent mainly on account of increased domestic exports of cut flowers. According to the data agency, there was a drop in total exports to the North American region from 127.6 million dollars in the first quarter of 2019 to 119.2 million dollars in the first quarter of 2020 due to a decline in total exports to Canada. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:50:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Speaking at the 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Cuba on behalf of 52 countries welcomed the adoption of the law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by China's top legislature. The number of countries, which signed the joint statement Cuba read at the session, is expected to rise. "Non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states is an essential principle enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and a basic norm of international relations," a representative of Cuba read the joint statement. "In any country, the legislative power on national security issues rests with State, which in essence is not a human rights issue and therefore not subject to discussion at the Human Rights Council," said the statement. "We believe that every country has the right to safeguard its national security through legislation, and commend relevant steps taken for this purpose." "In this context, we welcome the adoption of the decision by China's legislature to establish and improve a legal framework and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as well as China's reaffirmation of adherence to 'one country, two systems' guideline," the statement said. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:54:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HELSINKI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Tuesday urged the construction industry to make sure infection protection norms are adhered to, as clusters of COVID-19 infections have been detected among foreign workers, especially in the construction sector, living in often crowded conditions. Professor Hannu Kiviranta of THL said in a media release that proper hygiene and safety distances must be ensured in accommodation of the foreign workers. Matti Harjuniemi, chairman of the Finnish Construction Trade Union, told national broadcaster Yle Tuesday that the 14-day voluntary quarantine for foreign arrivals have not been applied in all cases. He noted the infection risk level for foreign workers is high. "In Helsinki recently ten foreign men lived in a small space and shared the toilet and kitchen," said Harjuniemi. According to Yle, some 20,000 of the 100,000 employees of the construction industry are foreign migrant workers. However, Eerik Tarnaala, work safety director at the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland, told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that work safety inspectors have no right to monitor housing facilities, even if they have been arranged by the employer. "The health impact of dwellings can only be checked by municipal authorities," he said. According to THL, as of Tuesday afternoon, Finland has confirmed a total of 7,214 infections with COVID-19. The death toll reached 328, and about 6,600 people were estimated to have recovered. In another development, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that Finland provided 2 million euros to Iraq to support its work to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will be channeled through the Funding Facility for Stabilization of Iraq, managed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said the ministry in a press release. It will be directed especially to strengthen the operations of hospitals and health centers that receive COVID-19 patients in Iraq. The fund will also be used to provide protective equipment for nursing staff, increase the number of wards used to quarantine patients and enhance laboratory testing capacity, according to the ministry. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:54:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on May 25, 2020 shows a view of Yulin City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Tao Ming) BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Tuesday underlined the importance of relying on reforms to tackle changing situations and open up new prospects, while encouraging exploration with good outcomes in key spheres. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, specified the requirements in a speech at the 14th meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform. The breakthrough and leading role of reforms must be given full play for the country to achieve the goals and tasks outlined in the 13th five-year plan, win the battle against poverty, complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and embark on a new journey toward building a modern socialist country, said Xi, who heads the committee. Li Keqiang and Wang Huning, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy heads of the central committee for deepening overall reform, also attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed and approved a series of reform plans and guidelines on state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the integrated development of new generation information technology and the manufacturing industry, the rural homestead system, the integrated development of media, the education evaluation system, and the state-owned art troupes. It also heard a report on reform progress of the medical and health care system since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. The next three years will be crucial for the country's SOE reforms, the meeting noted, stressing efforts to optimize the layout and structure of the state-owned economy to make it more competitive, innovative, controllable, influential, and more able to withstand risks. A woman works at a factory of a plastic products company in Ning'an City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, May 21, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei) In terms of the integrated development of new generation information technology and the manufacturing industry, the meeting said that efforts should be made to speed up the innovative development of the industrial internet with a focus on advancing smart manufacturing. The meeting urged efforts to deepen the integrated media development and mechanism reforms, and cultivate talent in the all-media sector to build a set of competitive, strongly influential new types of mainstream media. Educational evaluation is a matter concerning the direction of educational development, so it is necessary to set up an educational evaluation system that is scientific, and in line with the requirements of the times, the meeting said. Meanwhile, the meeting stressed the further development of state-owned art troupes to stimulate their vitality. Since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the country has been improving medical services through establishing the world's largest basic medical security network, and reducing the medical treatment burden for patients, putting people's lives and health first, it noted. Staff members of China Mobile test the signals of the 5G base station built at an altitude of 5,300 meters near the base camp of Mount Qomolangma in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on April 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Sun Fei) The meeting called for attaching great importance to the application of the new generation of information technology in the field of medicine and healthcare, reshaping the management and service mode, optimizing the allocation of resources, and improving service efficiency. It stressed the need to make plans for the reforms in the 14th Five-Year Plan period, focus more on making institutional improvement, and optimizing governance system, and do more to address deep-seated institutional problems. Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 01:54:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on Tuesday reported the sighting of a rare white giraffe in a privately-owned conservancy in the northeastern county of Garissa that neighbors Somalia. According to KWS, the white giraffe, whose gender had not been verified, was spotted foraging at Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy in the company of the conventional variety of the tall mammal. "WOW is pretty much the only way to sum up a towering sight like this! Spotted earlier today outside the Ishaqbini Hirola Conservancy in Ijara, Isn't this an impressive way to end this month," KWS said in a tweet. Kenya was on the global spotlight in 2017 when a female white giraffe and her calf were discovered at the conservancy in Garissa County. However, it was alleged that the two white giraffes were killed by suspected poachers four months earlier when their carcasses were discovered at the conservancy in northern Kenya. KWS said it was investigating the deaths of the two iconic giraffe breeds amid furor from local and international conservationists. "Our teams on the ground have seen bones believed to be those of the two giraffes. The bones are believed to be four months old," KWS said in March. The dead calf was born in August 2019, bringing the total of white giraffes in the country to three. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists white giraffes as an endangered species that require special protection. Enditem [Photo/VCG] More than two weeks have passed since the most deadly clash in over four decades on the Sino-Indian border broke out on June 15, during which 20 Indian soldiers died with an undisclosed number of casualties reported on the Chinese side as well. Yet rather than seeking to cool tensions and bring their damaged relationship back onto the normal track by meeting China halfway as Beijing has urged, New Delhi seems to be riding a wave of jingoism and nationalist fever, and escalating tensions instead. In another move to stoke enmity against China, the Indian government on Monday banned 59 Chinese mobile apps, including the popular TikTok and WeChat, on the pretext of national security and privacy concerns. Before that, its customs officials had already held shipments originating from China for extra checks, causing Chinese exports to pile up at the ports, and its politicians were calling for a boycott of Chinese goods. Indian hotels are also reportedly barring Chinese guests. All this, along with the fact that there is a massive buildup of Indian troops along the border with a reported resetting of the no-fire rule of engagement to allow for "complete action" when dealing with Chinese border forces which runs counter to previous bilateral accord preventing the use of guns cannot but spark worries that the situation may get out of control between the two neighbors. By pushing the envelope on the border issue in disregard of the restraint shown by the Chinese government, India wants to portray itself as a country standing up against a bullying neighbor, because it hopes it may get more than it loses with its political and military adventurism. The United States, which considers India as a major player in its Indo-Pacific strategy to contain China, has expressed support for India confronting "armed aggression" by China, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promising a review of its global deployment of forces to counter what he sees is the rising threat of the People's Liberation Army in Asia. India-US military-to-military ties have strengthened markedly in recent years, with arms deals signed worth billions of dollars. India's experience in the 1962 border war has been attributed to arrogance and poor judgment on the part of New Delhi, which, by provoking China into action, paid the "price for its misadventure in men, money and national humiliation". The Indian government risks committing the same mistake again if it continues playing with fire by infringing on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 02:15:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Speaking at the 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Cuba on behalf of 52 countries welcomed the adoption of the law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by China's top legislature. The number of countries, which signed the joint statement Cuba read at the session, is expected to rise. "Non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states is an essential principle enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and a basic norm of international relations," a representative of Cuba read the joint statement. "In any country, the legislative power on national security issues rests with State, which in essence is not a human rights issue and therefore not subject to discussion at the Human Rights Council," said the statement. "We believe that every country has the right to safeguard its national security through legislation, and commend relevant steps taken for this purpose." "In this context, we welcome the adoption of the decision by China's legislature to establish and improve a legal framework and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as well as China's reaffirmation of adherence to 'one country, two systems' guideline," the statement said. "We are convinced that this move is conducive to ensure 'one country, two systems' is steady and enduring, and that Hong Kong enjoys long term prosperity and stability. The legitimate rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents can also be better exercised in a safe environment," it continued. "We reiterate that Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China, that Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs that brook no interference by foreign forces. We urge relevant sides to stop interfering in China's internal affairs by using Hong Kong related issues," it concluded. Chinese lawmakers on Tuesday voted to adopt the law at the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. It took effect at 11:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday in Hong Kong. The promulgation of the law was signed by HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam and published in the Gazette, according to a statement of the HKSAR government. The law that has 66 articles in six chapters clearly defines the duties and government bodies of the HKSAR for safeguarding national security; the offenses and their corresponding penalties; jurisdiction, applicable law and procedure; office of the central people's government for safeguarding national security in the HKSAR; and other contents. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 02:24:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Hong Kong citizens celebrate the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Causeway Bay of south China's Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) "We believe that every country has the right to safeguard its national security through legislation, and commend relevant steps taken for this purpose." GENEVA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Speaking at the 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Cuba on behalf of 52 countries welcomed the adoption of the law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by China's top legislature. The number of countries, which signed the joint statement Cuba read at the session, is expected to rise. "Non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states is an essential principle enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and a basic norm of international relations," a representative of Cuba read the joint statement. "In any country, the legislative power on national security issues rests with State, which in essence is not a human rights issue and therefore not subject to discussion at the Human Rights Council," said the statement. "We believe that every country has the right to safeguard its national security through legislation, and commend relevant steps taken for this purpose." "In this context, we welcome the adoption of the decision by China's legislature to establish and improve a legal framework and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as well as China's reaffirmation of adherence to 'one country, two systems' guideline," the statement said. Photo taken on June 12, 2020 shows the night view of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) "We are convinced that this move is conducive to ensure 'one country, two systems' is steady and enduring, and that Hong Kong enjoys long term prosperity and stability. The legitimate rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents can also be better exercised in a safe environment," it continued. "We reiterate that Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China, that Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs that brook no interference by foreign forces. We urge relevant sides to stop interfering in China's internal affairs by using Hong Kong related issues," it concluded. Chinese lawmakers on Tuesday voted to adopt the law at the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. It took effect at 11:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday in Hong Kong. The promulgation of the law was signed by HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam and published in the Gazette, according to a statement of the HKSAR government. The law that has 66 articles in six chapters clearly defines the duties and government bodies of the HKSAR for safeguarding national security; the offenses and their corresponding penalties; jurisdiction, applicable law and procedure; office of the central people's government for safeguarding national security in the HKSAR; and other contents. Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 04:17:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Five unidentified bodies have been recovered from two mass graves in the Libyan city of Tarhuna, the UN-backed government's Ministry of Justice said Tuesday. The research team of a committee for searching mass graves found five bodies inside the two mass graves in Mashroo Al-Rabt area in Tarhuna, the ministry said in a statement. Three bodies were found in one mass grave and the remaining two in another grave. Each body was blindfolded and buried clothed, it said. The bodies were referred to the forensic department at the Judicial Center for anatomical tests, it added. On Sunday, Libyan authorities announced recovering nine unidentified bodies from mass graves in Tarhuna. Fatou Bensouda, an International Criminal Court prosecutor, recently expressed concern over the reports about multiple mass graves found in Tarhuna and its surroundings. "My Office has received credible information regarding 11 alleged mass graves containing men, women and children. These findings may constitute evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity," Bensouda said in a statement. The eastern-based army in western Libya and the UN-backed government of Libya had fought with each other in and around the capital Tripoli for over a year, which ended recently with the UN-backed government taking over all of western Libya after the withdrawal of the eastern-based army. Tarhuna, which is located some 90 km south of Tripoli, used to be the main military operation center for the eastern-based army before the UN-backed government took control of it. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 04:42:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday asked the United States to stop its illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran, and voiced opposition to U.S. push for an extension of the UN arms embargo against Iran. The root cause of the current crisis is the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and the re-imposition of unilateral sanctions against Iran, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations. The United States has decided to end the sanctions waiver to nuclear projects under the nuclear deal, and pushed for the extension of the UN arms embargo on Iran, which expires in October. This has again undermined the joint efforts to preserve the nuclear deal, Zhang told the Security Council. The Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is an important multilateral agreement endorsed by Security Council Resolution 2231. It is legally binding and should be effectively implemented, he said. "We urge the United States to stop its illegal unilateral sanctions and 'long-arm jurisdiction,' and return to the right track of observing the JCPOA and Resolution 2231," he said. China opposes the U.S. push for extending the UN arms embargo on Iran, said Zhang. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 04:58:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Tuesday asked the United States to stop its illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran, and voiced opposition to U.S. push for an extension of the UN arms embargo against Iran. The root cause of the current crisis is the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and the re-imposition of unilateral sanctions against Iran, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations. The United States has decided to end the sanctions waiver to nuclear projects under the nuclear deal, and pushed for the extension of the UN arms embargo on Iran, which expires in October. This has again undermined the joint efforts to preserve the nuclear deal, Zhang told the Security Council. The Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is an important multilateral agreement endorsed by Security Council Resolution 2231. It is legally binding and should be effectively implemented, he said. "We urge the United States to stop its illegal unilateral sanctions and 'long-arm jurisdiction,' and return to the right track of observing the JCPOA and Resolution 2231," he said. China opposes the U.S. push for extending the UN arms embargo on Iran, said Zhang. All provisions of Resolution 2231 should be implemented, including arrangements on arms-related restrictive measures. Having quit the JCPOA, the United States is no longer a participant, and has no right to trigger the snapback mechanism at the Security Council, he said. Under Resolution 2231, any participant state to the Iran nuclear deal can notify the Security Council about an issue that it considers a significant violation of the agreement. The UN sanctions in place before the adoption of Resolution 2231 in July 2015 would resume 30 days after the notification unless the Security Council adopts a resolution to decide otherwise. Preserving the JCPOA is conducive to safeguarding multilateralism, the international order based on international law, the international non-proliferation regime, and peace and stability in the Middle East, said Zhang. Iran's reduction of its commitment under the JCPOA is a result of the U.S. maximum pressure. Relevant parties should exercise restraint, resolve differences through consultations in the JCPOA Joint Commission, and refrain from taking steps that might complicate the situation, he said. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 05:07:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PRAGUE, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Car production in the Czech Republic is likely to fall 20 percent year on year, or 300,000 units, in 2020 from the 1.4 million units in 2019, the Czech Automotive Industry Association said Tuesday in a press statement. Czech car makers are expected to see their sales revenue decrease by at least 215 billion Czech crowns (9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, according to the association. The drop resulted from an interruption in production because of restrictions imposed to halt the spread of COVID-19 as well as a resulting fall in demand, the association said. "The performance of the entire sector will be significantly affected by developments in foreign markets, and by the possible support of the Czech government," said Bohdan Wojnar, president of the association. The coronavirus pandemic has caused sales of automotive companies to fall by as much as 150 billion crowns (6.3 billion U.S. dollars) so far, and this loss is set to continue deepening, according to the association. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 05:33:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Egypt confirmed on Tuesday 1,557 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total cases in the country to 68,311, said the Egyptian Health Ministry. Khaled Megahed, the ministry's spokesman, said that 81 patients died from the novel coronavirus, raising the death toll to 2,953. He added that 509 patients were completely cured and discharged from hospitals, taking the total recoveries to 18,460. On Saturday, Egypt lifted a partial nighttime curfew imposed in the past three months, amid a co-existence plan to maintain anti-coronavirus precautionary measures while resuming economic activities. The country has reopened restaurants, cafes, theaters and cinemas with 25 percent of their capacity, while public beaches and parks remain closed. Mosques and churches have reopened for daily prayers, but weekly mass prayers will remain suspended. As of July 1, Egypt will resume international flights in preparation for the return of foreign tourists after more than three months of suspension over COVID-19 concerns. The most populous Arab country has started gradual reopening of services and offices, and allowed operation of over 260 hotels for local tourists with 50-percent capacity after they were given official hygiene safety certificates. Egypt and China have been cooperating closely in fighting the pandemic through exchanging medical aid and expertise. In early February, Egypt provided aid to China to help with its fight against COVID-19 and China later returned favor by sending three batches of medical aid to the North African country. Since mid-April, Chinese doctors and medical experts have held three video conferences with Egyptian counterparts to share their experience in the prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 05:51:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KHARTOUM, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government on Tuesday confirmed that a protester was killed in Omdurman city during mass demonstrations in the capital Khartoum and other cities. "Despite their peaceful nature, the demonstrations registered falling of a new martyr in Omdurman in addition to injuries in the capital and states," Faisal Mohamed Saleh, Sudan's information minister and government spokesman, said in a statement. The judicial bodies will carry out a transparent investigation to determine the responsibilities and punish the perpetrators of these unacceptable violations, he added. No details were disclosed on the victim. Tens of thousands of Sudanese protesters on Tuesday demonstrated in Khartoum and other cities, demanding for political reforms and democratic transformation. Since August 2019, a military and civilian coalition has been in power in Sudan for a transitional period of 39 months, after a popular revolution that ousted former President Omar al-Bashir in April last year. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 05:53:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close An aircraft takes off from Chopin International Airport in Warsaw, Poland, on July 1, 2020. The Polish government has published a list on Tuesday evening of 8 non-EU countries with which international passenger flights to and from Poland will be resumed. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/Xinhua) WARSAW, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Polish government has published a list on Tuesday evening of 8 non-EU countries with which international passenger flights to and from Poland will be resumed. Starting July 1, airlines can resume their connections with Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Montenegro, Georgia, Canada and Albania. Poland suspended all regular air passenger services in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, but has gradually opened its airspace again for air travel. Domestic flights have resumed, while connections to most EU and European Economic Area countries were resumed on June 17 with the exception of the United Kingdom, Sweden and Portugal. The Polish national air carrier LOT also announced that it will resume flights to 20 additional European cities from Warsaw on Wednesday. On Friday, LOT will add 36 connections between Polish airports and popular holiday destinations. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 06:28:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Anthony Fauci (1st L), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on COVID-19: Update on Progress Toward Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School in Washington, D.C., the United States, on June 30, 2020. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious-diseases expert, warned Tuesday that COVID-19 cases in the United States could go up to 100,000 per day if the current trend "does not turn around." (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via Xinhua) WASHINGTON, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious-diseases expert, said on Tuesday the country is "not in total control" of the coronavirus pandemic, giving a dire warning that COVID-19 cases in the United States could go up to 100,000 per day if the current trend "does not turn around." "I can't make an accurate prediction, but it's going to be very disturbing," Fauci told senators in a hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the country is "going in the wrong direction" as the number of COVID-19 cases increases across the nation. "We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around. And so I am very concerned," he said. Fauci stressed that he could not make an estimation on deaths as those would need to be modeled. His comments came as the number of new cases reported each day in the United States is outpacing that of April, when the pandemic rocked Washington state and other parts of the country, especially the New York City area. More than 2.6 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in the country with the fatalities surpassing 127,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Fauci warned that some states are "skipping over" checkpoints in the federal reopening guidelines and that this is leading to new hotspots in states like Texas, Florida and Arizona. According to Fauci, about 50 percent of all new cases are coming from four states: Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. The outbreaks in various parts of the country put "the entire country at risk" and "clearly we don't have this under control," Fauci added. He said that even states and localities that "did it right" regarding reopening still have individuals who engaged in an "all or none phenomenon", disregarding social-distancing measures and face mask usage while out socially. "In this viral surge we are seeing more tests being done but we are also seeing a higher percentage of those tests be positive. This indicates more infection is the issue - not more testing," Robert Schooley, a professor of medicine with the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California, San Diego, told Xinhua in an interview. "As the epidemic surges, hospitals and ICUs are, nonetheless, being stretched to capacity in Arizona, Texas, Alabama and elsewhere. The number of deaths will rise if the epidemic is not brought into check," Schooley said. "Behavior in real time is what drives the future," he noted. Enditem BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday made remarks after the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was adopted at the 20th session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee. "The NPC Standing Committee formulated this law and listed it in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law to be gazetted and enacted in Hong Kong by the SAR government, and this is a fundamental solution for Hong Kong to restore order, end chaos and resume stability," said the spokesperson. Calling the law a landmark in the practice of "one country, two systems," the spokesperson said it is a strong institutional guarantee for upholding national sovereignty, security and development interests, safeguarding lasting security, prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, and ensuring the steady implementation of "one country, two systems." It reflects the shared will of all Chinese people including Hong Kong compatriots, said the spokesperson. Taking into full consideration the realistic needs of safeguarding national security and the specific conditions of the HKSAR, the legislation sets out systemic and comprehensive provisions regarding a legal system and enforcement mechanisms at both national and SAR levels, said the spokesperson. "This upholds the constitutional order in the HKSAR established by the Constitution and the Basic Law and demonstrates the inherent requirements of 'one country, two systems,'" the spokesperson said. The law applies to four categories of criminal behaviors that gravely undermine national security. It will only target very few criminals but protect the vast majority of Hong Kong people. Its implementation will strengthen Hong Kong's legal framework, ensure social order, improve business environment, and benefit Hong Kong citizens and international investors, said the spokesperson, adding that "we have every confidence in the bright prospects of Hong Kong." Hong Kong is one of China's special administrative regions and its affairs are China's internal affairs. The Chinese government is firmly determined to implement "one country, two systems" and oppose foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs, the spokesperson said. Nobody and nothing could shake the Chinese government and people's resolution and will to safeguard national sovereignty and security and uphold Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, said the spokesperson, stressing that any attempt seeking to undermine China's sovereignty, security and development interests is doomed to fail. The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR have both issued statements after the law on safeguarding national security in the special administrative region was adopted. Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 06:45:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Tate Reeves, governor of southern U.S. state Mississippi, on Tuesday signed a state legislation into law, officially removing a Confederate battle emblem from the state flag, local media reported. Before signing the bill, Reeves said he disagrees with the removal of statues through the country, but said: "I also understand the need to commit the 1894 flag to history and find a banner that is a better emblem for all Mississippi." Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 07:05:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Tuesday encouraged the Afghan government and the Taliban to work toward an early start of peace negotiations. In a press statement, the members of the Security Council welcomed steps taken so far by the two sides to move toward the start of intra-Afghan negotiations, most notably the partial implementation of commitments to release prisoners, facilitated through direct talks between them. The council members called for the rapid release of remaining prisoners in the coming days and for efforts to reduce violence in order to encourage a swift start to intra-Afghan negotiations. They welcomed the political agreement between President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah that ended the political impasse stemming from last year's presidential election, and expressed the hope that it will pave the way for timely intra-Afghan negotiations. The council members expressed concern over the recent increase in violence, which continues to take the lives of innocent civilians. They stressed that any attack targeting civilians, hospitals, medical and humanitarian personnel and facilities is unacceptable and that the perpetrators must be held accountable. They expressed their serious concern over the presence of the Islamic State and other international terrorist groups in Afghanistan and over the significant increase in the cultivation, production, trade and trafficking of illicit drugs in the country. They welcomed the efforts of regional and international partners and organizations in advancing regional connectivity, development, and reconstruction in Afghanistan, which is vital to ensuring stability and economic development in the country. The press statement was released after the Security Council held a virtual meeting on Afghanistan on Thursday. Enditem Posted Wednesday, June 17, 2020 4:07 am The FBI is investigating state Rep. Matt Shea regarding his role during several armed standoffs with federal agents over the past several years. The disclosure came from the state bar association, which is deferring a request for its own possible action against Shea based on a complaint by Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. "The FBI is the appropriate agency to investigate allegations of domestic terrorism," Kathy Jo Blake, the bar association's managing disciplinary counsel, wrote in a recent letter to Knezovich and his attorney, Mike McKay. "Accordingly, (the Office of Disciplinary Counsel) has decided to defer investigation of this grievance pending the outcome of the FBI's criminal investigation." The complaint cites instances in the state House of Representatives report from an independent investigator that raised questions about Shea's involvement in the standoff between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management; the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon by his son Ammon Bundy and others; and a confrontation in Idaho between the Veterans Affairs Administration and supporters of a disabled veteran being told he had to surrender his firearms. Legislative leaders said they would send the report by the Rampart Group to federal authorities, but Knezovich said Tuesday he hadn't been informed of an ongoing investigation. "I just think that's the proper procedure," Knezovich said of the bar association's decision to delay its possible action. The complaint also alleges Shea violated rules of professional conduct for attorneys by making false statements in a written response to the investigators, and by helping "stage armed showings of intimidation to interfere with the administration of justice." It cites a protest in Spokane on April 22 demonstrating against Gov. Jay Inslee's "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order and a May 1 march from the Spokane County Courthouse to Spokane City Hall in which Shea and other protesters -- some of them armed -- did not wear face masks or observe social distancing requirements. "At both events, Shea committed gross misdemeanors by knowingly violating the governor's orders and putting countless citizens at risk of exposure to COVID-19," the complaint alleges. It questions the truth of claims and testimonials made on a website for the Coalition of Western States, an organization for which Shea has served as chairman. Shea also poured olive oil on the Capitol steps in response to a demonstration by the Satanic Temple of Seattle, causing nearly $5,000 worth of damage , the complaint adds. In different interviews with right-wing media, he has described the Rampart investigation as political warfare being conducted by "Globalist, Marxist, Islamist" elements, described it as "label lynching" and compared it to efforts to impeach President Donald Trump. He has also claimed he was denied due process by not being able to see the allegations investigators had collected against him, although legislative leaders said he was given opportunities to talked to the investigators and refused. Shea was removed from the House Republican Caucus by the group's leadership last December after the report was released, but Democrats' efforts to expel him from the House failed when no GOP representatives would sign a letter calling for that action. Last month, Shea didn't file for reelection to his 4th District legislative seat, setting off a scramble for the two positions. He was later announced as the new pastor of Covenant Christian Church in Spokane. Shea was billed on May 14 for the cleanup of olive oil poured on the north steps and walkway of the domed Legislative Building. Officials from the state agency that manages the Capitol grounds say the bill is based on witnesses and video of the event. He has 120 days to pay it. Although Knezovich has spent years "trying to raise red flags" about Shea, he said the complaint was prepared over several months and finished shortly after Shea opted not to run for reelection. They are both Republican officials with support from different factions of the party, but the longtime sheriff said this isn't some intraparty squabble. "It's time for people to understand who he is," Knezovich said. interview As South Africa prepared for its first democratic elections in 1994, political tensions and domestic conflict escalated. Two years earlier, Wiseman Nkuhlu, now Chancellor of the University of Pretoria, was a founding trustee of The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Accord) and has remained on the board. The organisation works "throughout Africa to bring creative African solutions to the challenges posed by conflict". Its Peacebuilding Unit seeks to address the root causes of conflict through research and action. AllAfrica's Juanita Williams spoke to the chancellor about the peacebuilding work during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic. AllAfrica interviews are edited for length, clarity and flow. Why is an organisation like Accord important for Africa? In South Africa we were experiencing increasing cases of conflicts at a local level between political parties and tensions caused by uncertainty that comes with transitions. We realised that in addition to the political parties, we needed an entity that would focus on developing skills, on mediation and also do research to better understand dynamics behind conflicts - and try to get the most up-to-date information and expertise on mediation so that we can work with parties and bring them together and help them find solutions, peacefully. Over time it became clear to us that there was a need for this kind of service in other African countries. So we found ourselves being invited by former President Nelson Mandela to work with him in Burundi. The rest is history. We need research to better understand dynamics behind conflicts. We continue to be relevant, and we are very pleased that our work still continues to be appreciated. Which African countries are you working in at the moment? We work in Burundi, although the situation there is still very uncertain. We have been working in South Sudan, as well as Somalia, and in the Central African Republic, as their situation continues to be unstable. We make sure that we are on the ground to understand the dynamics, so that when the African Union or the United Nations want to intervene, we can assist with information because of our research and contacts. Those are the countries that have conflicts proving very difficult to resolve. Those who work on the ground and offer support, as you said what exactly are their roles? The main thing to be able to be effective in mediation is understanding the key players and the issues that drive the conflicts. We work with professionals from a number of Africa countries who identify people who are really close to the issues. In DR Congo, for instance, there are researchers. We also work with other partners to understand those issues and to win the confidence of the key players in terms of understanding what the critical issues are in order for them to come to the table and be able to find the solution with their rivals. It's that kind of work that goes beyond posturing. Usually there is a lot of posturing to say, 'Under no circumstance will I make peace with my opponent!'. To get through [to them], you have to use research and other methods to understand the things that are behind that kind of behavior. It's that kind of support that we offer. In most cases, the president [of a country] would not have that capacity to go and get the root causes behind the problems and understand what would convince the main protagonist to turn around. There are quite a few conflict situations on the continent right now. What do you think is behind these consistent conflicts in some countries, and why do you think they have not been resolved? One may think that we are using colonialism as an excuse, but the way that our borders were drawn up - they remain a big issue. If you look at a country like DRC, it's a huge country. To take someone who is in [the capital] Kinshasa, to be on top of the country's dynamics in the east can be really difficult. Also, [there is] the weakness of institutions and governments in terms of politicians being in touch and responding to the needs of the people on the ground. Especially in big countries like that, there are always tensions about where the leader comes from, is he only looking after the urban interest, or is he looking out for the interests of the people coming from his ethnic group, and so on. Those are some of the dynamics. But [there are] huge challenges of infrastructure in Africa and availability of important services like water. Governments make promises, but they do not have the capacity; they do not have the finance. Water, roads, jobs go a long way towards creating stability. There are a lot of legitimate complaints about the inability of government to respond to people's needs. The challenges in Africa are vast - infrastructure, water, roads and jobs would go a long way in terms of creating stability, but as long as there are such high levels of inequality, deprivation, I am afraid these conflicts in Africa are going to stay with us. After decades of peacebuilding, despite the continuing conflicts, is there a highlight of working with Accord? For an NGO working in a contested space like conflict solution, to remain relevant and maintain credibility with major parties says a lot about its impartiality, level of expertise and the professionalism of its people. To me, that alone is an achievement. In instances where our involvement really made a difference, I would highlight Burundi, right at the beginning when President Mandela was called upon to work there. We worked very closely with him; we gave him a lot of support. And when President [Thabo] Mbeki was working in the DRC, [he] called on Accord for assistance. We gave him support throughout, and in the end the elections were held. Even after the elections, when problems continued to arise, we continued to give him support. We are not the principals; we give support. In terms of thought leadership, we have a number of peace leadership pieces that we publish. One is the African Journal on Conflict Resolution that is highly rated internationally. There we share ideas about our understanding of drivers of conflicts in a number of countries, which serves as a warning mechanism and identifies the major players in this region. When the African Union Commission began their big programme initiative of "silencing of the guns", the chairman of the African Union Commission [called on us]. We hosted a number of workshops with commissioners. I would say the credibility of the Centre is very important in terms of not being corrupt and being competent. The highlights of Accord are adapting and remaining relevant and giving professional support to major peace initiatives, which in some cases have been very successful. I know that Covid-19 has complicated conflict resolution and peacebuilding. But are there any opportunities to get to some of these conflict-ridden countries and moving on from conflict? We have seen countries where you get a leadership that is serious about stability for the people, is not caught up in corruption, communicates very well and works hard to establish institutions to show delivery on the ground. We begin to see changes in devolution of powers and accountability to municipalities, local authorities and empowerment of people on the ground to take ownership of their own development and be involved in activities that would improve their lives. I think there is a tendency in African countries to centralize things and not allow people on the ground to take partnership. Then people become dependent on the centre to do things for the communities. Whereas if you can turn things around, instead of saying 'we are the central government, we are going to do things for you', say 'we are going to create the environment and give you support to be self-sufficient and self-reliant'. That model to me would be much more sustainable. It's a long way of answering your question. But I am a great believer in the empowerment of communities at a village level giving them the means to take charge of their wellbeing and feel a sense of ownership for whatever challenges they have and whatever improvements they need and accept that it is their responsibility and within their powers to make sure that those improvements are achieved. How has Covid-19 affected the work that you are doing? You have a conflict and resilience monitor. I explained in the beginning that I am a trustee, so I am not an executive at Accord. But because I chair an executive committee that looks after the finances, I am in regular contact with the Executive Director Vasu Gounden. Even the training that we do, we should do that virtually. I must say we have adapted extremely well. Regularly we have [remote] meetings, and the executive director has meetings of this kind with other partners that we work with on peacebuilding and conflict resolution. You mentioned the Covid-19 conflict and resilience monitor. Given that this is a big challenge, it is going to have its own risks, so the first thing is to check and analyse and get to understand what is really happening on the ground. What are the possible conflicts that are going to arise from this, because as people get sick, there are going to be issues of how do families and communities deal with it? Are they getting discriminated against? There is a clamour for water. Governments made promises, and they do not deliver, compromising trust between governments and communities. There will be issues around food as jobs are lost. There will be new tensions. Understanding those is going to be the first thing. That is another dynamic on our side that we are trying to better understand through the monitor. Arising from that, we are going to be faced with playing a role of preventing conflicts and possibly proposing solutions through our research, when conflicts do arise. The monitor covered how you are going to handle Covid-19 in terms of your conflict resolution and prevention, is that right? Yes, the Covid-19 resilience monitor. As the name indicates, it's for Accord to monitor, to collect surveillance, to use its network in the continent to better understand the dynamics. How is Covid-19 impacting on communities? We track, analyze and try to detect where new conflicts are likely to arise and then share that information with leaders, and those who are concerned, so that preventive measures can be taken. The African Journal for Conflict Resolution and Conflict Trends would share observations and knowledge that we think is relevant in terms of promoting better understanding of the crisis and better understanding of what needs to be done to minimize the impact on the health of our people and also the socio-economic consequences of the conflict. Is there a timeline for the monitoring? It's very difficult to say, but expects are saying the peak is still coming, and researchers are saying Covid-19 may still be with us for more than a year, so I cannot say exactly when we are going to stop. These analyses and monitoring and possible conflicts that may arise out of this and taking appropriate preventable measures is very important. The intelligence that we are able to gather through the monitor and also use our network of experts to discuss and come up with suggestions will be shared with the African Union and with other institutions that work in African countries to prevent conflict and propose more innovative solutions in dealing with consequences of Covid-19. Earlier you mentioned that at the moment you are working in Burundi. Is that work ongoing? We continue to monitor Burundi because they were going to have elections. As conflict resolution NGOs, sometimes your advise is not always accepted and acted upon. Burundi's situation has been improving and getting worse again. We still monitor Burundi, Somalia and so on. Update - editor's note: We asked Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu about the implications of outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza's sudden death for the peacebuilding process in Burundi? Firstly, it is important to acknowledge the positive role that President Nkurunziza played in leading the CNDD-FF [armed rebel movement] towards the negotiations that ended the country's long-civil war. We must also remember that peacebuilding processes are by their very nature long term, and they outlive many leaders. Certainly Burundi still has a long way to go in terms of consolidating and sustaining its peace. While President Nkurunziza played his part, his death came when he had already passed the baton to a new president. Therefore we expect that the new leadership will work towards consolidating peace, forge new partnerships inside the country and with international partners for the sake of the country's socio-economic development. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Conflict South Africa By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. There are a few elections coming on the continent, and usually that is the time that things get a little shaky. Do you focus on election monitoring as well? Exactly, especially before the elections. As you know, there are lots of conflicts around elections; then after the elections, the results are contested. Helping with intelligence in those situations, identifies risks that are not properly addressed, that may undermine the credibility results, or may interfere with the elections even taking place. We monitor all those things and share them with the relevant authorities, the regional economic communities in Africa, as well as other NGOs that work in Africa, the African Union and organizations like the United Nations. Peacebuilding thought leadership helps the African Union deal with the health and economic crisis. I have been with Accord since 1992. I have had the privilege of working with great people, great Africans, who are committed on working on panAfrican issues. Graca Machel [founder of the Graca Machel Trust and former first lady of both Mozambique and South Africa] is our current chairperson. She is very insightful in her own personal capacity, using her own networks. Through her we continue to be informed about dynamics in the continent and issues that need to addressed. Going forward I believe that the knowledge and experience that Accord has accumulated is of great value to the African Union and the regional communities. Through the executive director, we have been able to work out scenarios of where the continent is likely to go. On the one hand, we have Covid-19. On the other hand, we have the unprecedented drop in oil price. What is that going to do to global growth? How is that going to affect African countries? This is a crisis that Africa has to face. Countries are going to close their borders. Possibly there is going to be less opportunity for us to export to developed countries, because they face their own challenges. They are going to be nationalistic and close down. Those kinds of scenarios are the bread and butter of Accord. Through those networks of top thinkers in the continent, we are able to provide thought leadership and make significant contributions to the thinking of the African Union and other players in the continent. We will continue to do that. Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu - Chancellor of the University of Pretoria - is a founding trustee of The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and has been on the board since 1992. He was South Africa's first qualified black chartered accountant and serves on the advisory board of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairperson of the African Union, holds a virtual meeting with Heads of State and Government of Countries neighbouring South Africa discussing responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. analysis The African Peer Review Mechanisms pandemic governance guidelines are useful, but do they go far enough? Lockdowns and curfews to fight COVID-19 across Africa have been designed as an abuse of fundamental rights. This was the view of Melanie Sonhaye Kombate of the West Africa Human Rights Defenders Network during a webinar on human rights hosted by the African Union (AU) on 22 June. Crackdowns by security forces in Nigeria, for example, caused 18 fatalities in the first week of lockdown compared to 15 due to the pandemic, she said. Representatives of human rights networks and institutions from Africa's five regions were invited to raise their concerns at the meeting. These included the rights of prisoners to protection against COVID-19, the protection of women and girls from sexual abuse during lockdowns and the provision of basic services. Some representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Ghana and Algeria, among others, noted the lack of information about COVID-19 in rural areas. They also mentioned unfair action against informal traders and the exclusion of migrants from COVID-19 assistance in many countries. The webinar came shortly after the publication of a new draft report by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) on governance during COVID-19. The report assesses the impact of lockdowns and states of disaster or emergency on the pandemic. It cautions against the abuse of these powers and aims to guide governance reforms. Human rights defenders should be able to voice their concerns in AU meetings without fear of reprisals There is general consensus that President Cyril Ramaphosa, as 2020 AU chairperson, is doing well to coordinate AU efforts to combat the disease and mitigate its economic impact. But ordinary citizens want to see their rights respected - not only in protecting basic liberties of life and freedom of speech, but also the right to water, sanitation, health services and education. This is increasingly difficult on a continent where the space for civil society is shrinking. Now the pandemic has given security forces and authoritarian governments free rein - out of sight of opposition parties and human rights defenders - to prey on citizens, especially those who disagree with them. Activists believe they should be regarded as 'essential services' so they can move around and monitor security forces during curfews and lockdowns. Many say the AU should help them obtain this from their governments. But does the AU have the capacity and influence to make such a call and ensure its implementation? The AU has long struggled to win the trust of the continent's citizens. It is still generally seen as an elitist project serving the needs of governments and a handful of bureaucrats in Addis Ababa. But COVID-19 could change things for the AU. Some issues - such as support to civil society and validation of crucial norm-setting documents - are being fast-tracked, without necessarily going through the lengthy processes dictated by the 55 AU member states. In the past, good ideas were often sabotaged due to infighting among regions, linguistic blocs or interests. The AU is generally seen as an elitist project serving governments, but COVID-19 could change that The APRM, an AU organ notorious for its slow pace of releasing country assessment reports, seems to have seized the opportunity to speed up its processes in a digital era. Its report includes valuable peer learning on how various countries have handled the pandemic. This includes innovative responses such as information portals, staggering lockdowns, allowing moratoriums on utility payments and upscaling health research facilities. It also shows the relatively limited buy-in from citizens in some countries. Afrobarometer surveys noted by the report show that initially, Africans generally accepted the lockdowns, but 62% of people in the 34 countries questioned the legitimacy of these measures. The report notes the threats posed by poor service delivery and highlights disparities such as the lack of running water to enable basic hygiene in most African countries. It notes the disproportionate impact on women and the risk that lockdowns and restrictions will further aggravate the plight of already marginalised groups. On a positive note, the report shows that some African countries dealt with the pandemic effectively from early on, compared to many countries around the world. The APRM report is a step in the right direction if governments are to learn from their peers 'The manner in which national public institutions have acted with effectiveness, transparency, sharing information and accountability in Africa reflects a stronger societal value inclination towards inclusiveness. Although African countries have been constantly criticised for being poorly governed, Africa's governance responses to COVID-19 indicate, to a great extent, a much better degree of institutional preparedness than had been assumed earlier,' notes the report. The APRM's assessment also deals with elections in the coming months. Polls could threaten the health of voters if they are expected to attend rallies and stand in queues with little social distancing measures to cast their votes. AU Commissioner for Political Affairs Minata Samate-Cessouma told human rights groups during the webinar that the AU was working on guidelines for elections during this time. The APRM could help draw up lessons from elections held during the pandemic in Malawi, Burundi, Mali and Guinea. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Coronavirus Human Rights By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. The APRM's draft can also be improved by more detailed information on specific abuses in African countries and how AU instruments such as the African Charter on Democracy, Governance and Elections can be applied. The report is also thin on concrete measures citizens can take to prevent abuses by their governments. But it's a step in the right direction if governments are to learn lessons from how their peers are handling the pandemic. Collaborative approaches should be prioritised over security measures to ensure people comply with restrictions. Open debates on these issues among citizens, decision makers and AU officials are crucial. Human rights defenders should be able to voice their concerns without fear of reprisals. Despite low internet penetration in many parts of Africa, going online with these types of AU events has made them more inclusive than merely giving a voice to the few privileged officials able to travel to meetings. COVID-19 has been devastating for the health of Africa's citizens and economies. However, perhaps for the AU it could signal a move away from being an elitist undertaking to becoming more people-centred - one of the aspirations of Agenda 2063. Liesl Louw-Vaudran, Senior Researcher, ISS Pretoria Lagos The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has dismissed reports that a cloned account was purportedly being operated by its retired staff to siphon funds from government accounts. The rebuttal came on the heels of news linked to an alleged whistleblower, identified as John Okupurhe, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to pay him his reward after exposing over $1bn hidden in Unity Bank Plc allegedly being operated by NPA. But in a swift reaction to the allegation, the NPA, in a statement signed by its General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Jatto Adams, said, "The Authority hereby states that allegations that it operates such an account is untrue. Mr. Okpurhe, claiming to be a whistleblower cited an account number: 0013680344 allegedly being operated by NPA but this account does not exist as evidenced by a letter from Unity Bank Plc." "The NPA operates an account with Unity Bank Plc with account number: 0013670344 with $1.057 million as of December 4, 2019 and not $1.034 billion as alleged by the petitioner. "However, the NPA account has not been in operation since August 27, 2010 due to a Suit No: FHC/L/CS/582/2010 GARNISHEE ORDER NISI in AMINU IBRAHIM & CO & ANOR. VS. NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY where a garnishee order was placed on it following a case, which went from the Federal High Court to the Supreme Court over a period of eight years. "Upon the determination of the case at the Supreme Court, the judgment creditors continued with the Garnishee process which resulted in the credit of the amount $1,057m, in favour of Suit No: FHC/L/CS/582/2010 GARNISHEE ORDER NISI- AMINU IBRAHIM & CO & ANOR. VS. NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY on December 4th 2019 in line with the Garnishee Order absolute. "It is therefore obvious that there is no cloned account as speculated in the alleged whistle blowing effort of Mr. Okpurhe", the spokesperson insisted. President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday received an update from the Chairman of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, at the State House, Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PTF briefed the president on the second phase of the gradual easing of lockdown announced four weeks ago, to check the spread of the deadly virus. NAN reports that Mr Mustapha, who is also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), was accompanied by Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, the Coordinator of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu. The Director-General of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, was also in attendance of the meeting with the president. Mr Mustapha is expected, later today, to brief the press on the possible review of the existing ease of lockdown measures across the country. Nigeria imposed its first round of lockdown in late March. Mr Buhari on April 27 announced the gradual easing of a five-week lockdown in FCT, Lagos and Ogun state. The first phase of the relaxed lockdown was extended by two weeks and elapsed midnight June 1. The second phase spanned June 2 to June 29. (NAN) Social investors in private schools in Nigeria especially at the primary and secondary levels are the most hated, vilified, yet they remain superlatively indispensable and formidably strategic for national prosperity. Private contribution in education in Nigeria is not new: it is as old as the history of modern Nigeria. Indeed, it was a private organisation that started the first educational facility in Nigeria. Just like the colonial masters were dodging the education of their conquered peoples, the independent country of Nigeria also maintained a placid stance in the education of their citizens. Going by the 1999 Constitution in Chapter two (18) section 3(a-d), we exposed to the hypocrisy of the constitution on the very important subject of education in Nigeria. For instance, government's objective for education is the direction of its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels. Adequacy of policy is not a problem as it is not difficult to 'fabricate' policies. What about the implementation, provisions of education facilities- human and material? As far as I am concerned and from abundant evidence available in Nigeria, governments from colonial era to the present have not taken the education of its citizens very seriously. Think about over ten million out-of-school children and an unknown number of non-capital adults that are thoroughly illiterate. Void of the COVID-19 intervention, all tertiary students would have been sleeping at home and their teachers consigned only to libraries and laboratories while the government displays an attitude of non-challancy. Today, my feeling is that government is taking alibi in COVID-19 pandemic to keep schools permanently closed while doing some spiritual feeding of ghost children. Would it not be considered criminal to insert in our constitution such clause as "government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy, and to this end (sic) government shall as and when practicable provide ... ?". The provoking criminal clause is "shall as and when practicable provide ". Who controls or directs the practicability time for government to provide education? Within proper logical calculation, this is an artful dodger's clause that should be expunged. Government must and should provide education to its citizens at all times and of all ages. By UN charter for which Nigeria is a signatory, it is the fundamental human right of every citizen to be educated. There is therefore a contradistinction between the Nigerian constitution and UN's clause as it relates to education. A huge gap does exist between what the constitution contains, the alibi in the constitution in favour of whatever government is in power vi-a-vis the ideal educational situation for the country.This is what the private 'investors' in education saw early enough to burrow into the industry. These crop of people, organisations, and individuals discovered this yawning gap and launched out to intervene. From child-friendly environment, to provisions of quality infrastructure to competent facilitators, the private sector has beaten the government hands down in the delivery of quality education in Nigeria. It is therefore a contradiction, that rather than encourage the private sector's contribution to the education of Nigerian children, we see overt repudiation, vilification and hatred to genuine school operators. This piece is to etch out just two areas of great contribution of the private sector to education. It is an undeniable fact that the three tiers of government do not compete with anyone in educational provisions and this orientation breeds lackadaisical attitude to what governments do to the education of their citizens. On the other hand, a private concern in education is conscious, ab initio, that they are going in for a steep competition, hence quality will not be compromised in order to stay afloat. This, of course, buttresses the assertion that government has no business in business. Education and educating are a serious business with great deployment of capital. To say the least, private concerns in education invest wisely by endowing a school or university with good teachers, relevant and current books, thus swelling the funds of knowledge and skills. Social capital can be squandered through subsidising indolence, poor remuneration and allowances, over-burdened teachers, the areas a private investor will never compromise. At the tertiary level, can Ahmadu Bello University or University of Ibadan be compared with Covenant University that was established just 17 years ago in University Ranking? The negative testimony of 10.5 million out- of-school children and the abandoned almajiris that litter the streets of Nigeria, show the betrayal of trust on the part of governments (present and past) of their citizens. Government's risk bearing barometer should be increased and provoked. Indeed, it's time to criminalise rotten infrastructure in Nigerian schools; it is time sir. For once I have heard Dr Oby Ezekwesili used the word clients. That was it. Schools should have clients which are parents and guardians who send their children and wards to school. Human capital, according to Schultz, "is the body of skilled and educated people." By this definition, we can confidently say that a herder, an okada rider, a petty trader and such groups of people are not human capital. They are liabilities. For instance, an okada rider that disobeys traffic rules is skilled but not educated. There are many skilled people in Nigeria that are illiterate. Some are even in the parliament. Private school owners usually entrust themselves to greater powers through worship and prayer because they are in business. In addition, they adopt the discipline and humility that come from religion in their daily activities, thereby making them account for their failings and to deal honestly with parents, learners, and even the staffers. Since business exposes one to criticisms, risk-bearing, debts of responsibility and accountability, the private school owner craves for a far more robust and serious morality needed to excel than a comfortable bureaucracy devoid of competition. If the aim of education is to shape the human character which in turn transforms our experiences, then spiritual capital should be underscored in education. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Nigeria Education By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. To a sincere investor in education, profit is not the number one goal. The first goal is how to ensure that the hundreds of innocent souls put in his or her care are properly educated for the community and the nation. Can any tiers of government in Nigeria beat their chests that they have provided the best of education to Nigerians? Something you can be proud of is the cornerstone of a sincere private school investor because there is the moral conviction to contribute to national growth and business success all wrapped in one goal. I will end this piece by asserting that the wrong notion that private investors in education are out mainly for profit should be demolished and replaced with a positive notion of principle of public- private partnership for the good of Nigerian children, national growth and prosperity. Alex A. Maiyanga Ph.D, Director, Eagles Academy, Aso Pada Following its recent sanctions of six Nigerians for alleged internet-related fraud, the United States government has arraigned 11 more Nigerian in another case of alleged $6 million bank fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice in a statement on Thursday said the Nigerian nationals were arraigned before Justice Joel Schneider of District court of New Jersey. The accused are Sulaiman Dosunmu, 39; Tunde Adeowo, 40; Muritala Adeowo, 55; Ayanniyi Alayande, 47; Ahmed Ponle, 41; Margiettu Kamu, 34; Rafiat Sarumi, 36; Babatunde Oke, 40; Adekunle Owolabi, 49; Olayinka Olaseinde, 42; and Olugbenga Oyedele, 47. The U.S. treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, had earlier announced the sanctioning of six Nigerians for allegedly scamming U.S. businesses and individuals through business email compromise (BEC) and romance fraud of over $6 million. But in Thursday's court hearing, the U.S. Attorney, Craig Carpenito, said the 11 are members of a Nigeria-based, multi-layered organisation that engaged in a massive bank fraud conspiracy in several states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Rhode Island. The alleged fraudulent acts were committed between June 2016 and March this year, according to the statement. Mr Carpenito added that the accused used debit cards to purchase money orders from third party stores to purchase used automobiles exported to Nigeria and other African countries at the higher market values. Mr Carpenito noted that if found guilty, the 11 could face a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million. "Members of the group stole numerous business checks from the United States mail, altered the payee on the checks with over 400 fraudulent accounts with fake identity documents to defraud several major banks of $6 million and then launder that money and send it overseas to other conspirators. "The organisation also used fraudulent name and deposited the checks in bank accounts that had been opened with forged foreign passport documents and fraudulent U.S. visas that matched the names on the stolen checks. "Once the banks credited all or a portion of the funds to the accounts - but before the checks had cleared - the defendants withdrew the funds from ATMs or purchased money orders, using debit cards associated with the fraudulent accounts," Mr Carpenito said. Nigeria's mortality rate from COVID-19 (2 per cent) is low because the age bracket most affected are able to successfully fight the disease, an official has said. The head of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said this, on Monday, while addressing journalists after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the PTF members briefed the president on the current status of the virus and the efforts to contain its spread. Mr Mustapha said about 80 per cent of those who have tested positive for the virus in Nigeria are in the age bracket of 31 to 40 years, which he described as a very active part of the population. He said such people are able to fight off the disease unlike the remaining 20 per cent, especially the elderly and those with underlying illnesses. Mr Mustapha also said 18 of Nigeria's 774 local governments account for 60 per cent of the confirmed cases in the country. He suggested that his committee was considering precision lockdown that would only affect those local governments, the majority of which are Lagos, the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria. He said this would allow for aggressive testing of residents of those areas. Nigeria currently has about 24,567 confirmed cases of the virus, including 565 deaths. A breakdown shows that Lagos State has so far reported 10,144 cases, followed by FCT - 1,792, Oyo - 1, 306, Kano - 1, 200, Rivers - 1, 056, Edo - 962, Delta - 912, Ogun -782, Kaduna - 703, Katsina - 549, Bauchi - 500, Gombe - 492, Borno - 486, Ebonyi - 395, Plateau - 337, Jigawa - 317, Imo - 303, Abia - 302, Enugu - 261, Ondo - 244, Kwara - 217, Nasarawa - 206, Bayelsa - 185, Sokoto - 151, Osun - 116, Akwa Ibom - 86, Adamawa - 84, Niger - 84, Kebbi - 76, Zamfara - 76, Anambra - 71, Yobe - 59, Benue - 47, Ekiti - 43, Taraba- 19 and Kogi - 4. More details later... Some are calling it an historic moment for France's Greens party, others for the environmental movement in general. The Greens went from controlling just one major French city -- Grenoble -- to capturing a string of other large and mid-sized towns, including Bordeaux, Lyon, Strasbourg and Besancon. "What changed this election, the most important idea is ecology," said Maud Lelievre a spokeswoman for Les Eco Maires, a group of environmentally minded local officials across France. She believes coronavirus and the lockdown helped reshape people's priorities. Lelievre said it's more important for people, for climate, for biodiversity, for food. But turnout was low, with just 40 percent of France's electorate casting ballots. The federal government has approved what it called "safe reopening" of schools nationwide in the next phase of the gradual easing of lockdown ordered to curtail further spread of COVID-19. The government also lifted the ban on interstate travels. Interstate travels can, however, only be done outside curfew hours with effect from July 1 2020. The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at the daily briefing of the task force in Abuja on Monday. He said the reopening of schools was meant to allow students in graduating classes, final year students, resume preparation for examinations. Mr Mustapha said the second phase of the gradual easing of the lockdown in the country has also been extended by four weeks. "I am pleased to inform you that Mr. President has carefully considered the 5th Interim Report of the PTF and has accordingly approved that, with the exception of some modifications to be expatiated upon later, the Phase Two of the eased lockdown be extended by another four weeks with effect from Tuesday, June 30, 2020 through Midnight of Monday, 27 July, 2020. "Specifically, however, the following measures shall either remain in place or come into effect: "Maintaining the current phase of the national response, for another four weeks in line with modifications to be expatiated by the National Coordinator; "Permission of movement across State borders only outside curfew hours with effect from 1st July, 2020," he said. Nigeria imposed its first round of lockdown in late March. Mr Buhari on April 27 announced the gradual easing of the five-week lockdown in FCT, Lagos and Ogun. The lockdown was eased to a nationwide night curfew (8 p.m. to 6 a.m.) from May 4 to May 17. Many states, however, amended the curfew time, largely to commence from 10 p.m. and end at 5 a.m. The first phase of the relaxed lockdown was extended by two weeks and elapsed midnight June 1. The second phase commenced June 2 and elapses by midnight today, June 29. As many Malawians chorus the freedom song in unison after Lazarus Chakwera emerges the 6th President of the Republic of Malawi, a Catholic priest in Nkhata Bay has warned the new Head of State and his second-in-command Saulos Chilima to forget about honeymoon. Speaking during mass at St. Joseph Parish, Raymond Kondowe who is also the director of the diocesan pastoral centre said there is no time to relax for the new office bearers. "We wanted change and change is here. I'd like to urge the President and his team that there's no honeymoon for them. Malawi has been destroyed by the previous regimes. Malawians are suffering. This is time to get down to business and rebuild the country," said Kondowe. Kondowe thanked all Christians who went to cast their vote on Tuesday 23 June saying they were indeed living their Christian call. "Why am I thanking you today? If for some reason as a Christian you decide not to vote just know that you're indirectly endorsing bad leadership into power but if you vote you're helping putting right leaders into power." Father Kondowe went on to make reference to the Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter that among others talks of good leadership to mean a listening leadership, a people-centred leadership, respect of the rule of the law and a leader who does not stick to power. "The new leadership should learn from the mistakes of their predecessors and correct them. They should ensure every Malawian regardless of tribe or geographical location feels proud to be Malawian by trickling down development resources to all corners of the country," he emphasized. Vincent Mhone aged 82 of Traditional Authority Mkumbira conquered with Kondowe. "I've seen all governments since independence. We really needed change and am happy we finally have gotten the change. Am very sure the new government will do its best to deliver the aspirations of Malawians," said Mhone. Residents in Nkhata Bay have been partying and jubilating in the streets since the release of presidential results by Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chairperson Chifundo Kachale that Chakwera was duly elected in the fresh presidential elections. Some things will never change. Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader and former president Peter Mutharika has replaced Kondwani Nankhumwa as leader of opposition in Parliament with Dr George Chaponda as Leader of Opposition in Parliament. Nyasa Times can reveal that Mutharika made the surprise changes Monday evening when Nankhumwa was already named Leader of Opposition earlier in the day. The victory of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in the Tuesday's presidential elections meant that members from the MCP, formerly of Opposition, moved to the Government side. Consequently, members of the DPP have been pushed to the opposition benches. It has also necessitated change in leadership positions, which the Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara confirmed when she entered into the chamber. Among others, Hara announced that the newly appointed Minister of Homeland Security, Richard Chimwendo Banda will replace DPP's Nankhumwa as Leader of the House. "Following the communication the House has received from the Malawi Electoral Commission on the outcome of Tuesday's election, the MCP will move to the Government side, which sits on the right hand side of the Speaker. Consequently, the DPP moves to the opposition benches. "I have also received communication of the leadership of the following parties; Honourable Chimwendo Banda (as) Leader of the House; Honourable Kondwani Nankhumwa, Leader of DPP, who in this case will be the Leader of Opposition," Hara said. But Monday evening, Nyasa Times learnt from DPP that Mutharika has appointed another opposition leader. "Mutharika has opted for Chaponda to be Leader of Opposition in Parliament and this will be announced Tuesday in Parliament. This has shocked everyone," said our impeccable source close to the DPP hierarchy. Chaponda is seen as Mutharika's 'best friend and contemporary' and was booted out of the race to replace Mutharika a few years ago after he was implicated in the 'maize-gate' scandal only to be cleared by the courts later. Nankhumwa replaced Chaponda as Leader of the House when Chaponda was fired from cabinet although Mutharika resisted his removal. Many DPP supporters feel Nankhumwa is the politician who can sanitize the party following its ouster from government during the June 23 fresh presidential elections. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Malawi Governance By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. Other supporters are worried that Chaponda's appointment as Leader of Opposition will further divide the party. But DPP sources said Chaponda has been picked to "give MCP government hell in Parliament." Symon Vuwa Kaunda, who was Government Chief Whip in the DPP administration has since become the party's Chief Whip. The Speaker also announced that following the change in the country's leadership, leadership in Constitutional Committees of the House will have to be changed, as the law dictates that they cannot be headed by Members from the Government side. These committees include; Budget, Legal Affairs, Public Accounts, Public Appointments, Defence and Security and Government Assurance. The House will resume on Tuesday when the newly appointed Minister of Finance, Felix Mlusu is expected to present a three-month provisional budget. President Dr Lazarus Chakwera has said he would appoint a full "lean" cabinet - which will have no less than 40 percent of women - as he works towards putting together a functional government to rebuild the country's comatose economy left by his predecessor Peter Mutharika. The new Malawi leader made the announcement Monday afternoon at his private residence in Area 6 in Lilongwe during the swearing in ceremony of the new appointees to Cabinet and other senior government positions. Chakwera also said his full cabinet, which will be released before his inauguration on Independence Day will have no more than 30 members including more women to ensure that they are adequately represented in his administration. "I have made these appointments in consultation with the Vice President because these positions are critical in the smooth transition from the old administration to this new one. A full cabinet, which will have no more than 30 members will be released before our inauguration on 6 July. "To ensure that there is enough representation of women in our administration, not less than 40 percent of the Cabinet will be composed of women," Chakwera said. The Head of State then called upon the new appointees to ensure that they are prioritizing serving the nation over everything else. "Your performance will be judged on how happy the Malawi people are. That is your service. All of us are servants to Malawians and ensure that when discharging your functions," Chakwera advised. Commenting on the development, NGO Gender Coordination Network Chairperson, Barbara Banda said while the announcement is commendable, demonstration of the administration's commitment to gender equality should have started with first few appointments. "We receive the news with some reservations because the first appointments are only men and that's partriachal. The impression is that these are the big boys crucial to the administration and women will only be considered in the next appointments. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Malawi Governance Women By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. "It suggests that these are the people who are taking lead in the administration. We would have loved to have this gender consideration right from the off, and not just done as an appeasement," Banda said. President Chakwera on Monday made a number of appointments to Cabinet and Government, which include the appointment of Vice President Saulos Chilima as Minister of Economic Planning and Development and Public Sector Reforms, Felix Mlusu as Minister of Finance, Mordechai Msisha as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Richard Chimwendo Banda as Minister of Homeland Security. The President has also appointed Chikosa Silungwe as Attorney General and Zangazanga Chikhosi as Chief Secretary to the Government, among others. Chakwera was sworn in Sunday morning as Malawi's 6th President following his victory in Tuesday's fresh presidential election when he defeated former President, Arthur Peter Mutharika. The number of confirmed cases in the United States has surged over the past week, and President Donald Trump also suspended the entry of all people from Europe's ID check-free travel zone in a decree in March, making it highly unlikely that U.S. citizens would qualify. EU envoys in Brussels worked over the weekend to narrow down the exact criteria for countries to be included, mostly centered on their ability to manage the spread of the disease. Importantly, the countries are also expected to drop any travel restrictions they have imposed on European citizens. Spain's foreign minister said that the list -- which is likely to be made public Tuesday -- could contain 15 countries that are not EU members and whose citizens would be allowed to visit from July 1. The European Union is edging toward finalizing a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter Europe again in coming days, with Americans almost certain to be excluded in the short term due to the number of U.S. coronavirus cases. Infection rates in Brazil, Russia and India are high, too, and their nationals are also unlikely to make the cut. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said the EU is considering whether to accept travelers from China if Beijing lifts restrictions on European citizens. Morocco is another possibility, although its government doesn't plan to open borders until July 10. She said she wasn't aware of pressure from the United States for the EU to reopen travel to its nationals, adding that countries have been chosen according to their coronavirus statistics -- whether similar or not to that in the EU -- trends of contagion and how reliable their data is. "This is not an exercise to be nice or unfriendly to other countries, this is an exercise of self-responsibility," she told Spain's Cadena SER radio on Monday. The safe country list would be reviewed every 14 days, with new countries being added and some possibly dropping off, depending on how the spread of the disease is being managed. More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe annually, and any delay would be a further blow to virus-ravaged economies and tourism sectors on both sides of the Atlantic. Around 10 million Europeans are thought to cross the Atlantic for vacations and business each year. The 27 EU nations and four other countries that are part of Europe's "Schengen area" -- a 26-nation bloc where goods and people move freely without document checks -- appear on track to reopen borders between each other from Wednesday. Once that happens and the green light is given, restrictions on nonessential travel to Europe from the outside world, which were imposed in March to halt new virus cases from entering, would gradually be lifted. The population of the Seoul metropolitan region will likely outnumber the entire rest of the country's for the first time. According to Statistics Korea data published Monday, the number of people moving into the Seoul region has been increasing again since 2017 after a brief period of migration out of the city. If this trend continues, the population in the Seoul area will reach 25.96 million this year, outnumbering the 25.82 million in the rest of the country. Subway drivers have been ordered by Seoul Metro to leave their smartphones in the office, sparking furious protests from drivers. Seoul Metro issued the order on June 14 to ensure the safety of passengers. Drivers were ordered to turn in their smartphones before boarding their train and collect them after work. About 2,700 drivers are subject to the new policy. A spokesman said, "This is for the safety of subway trains that some 7.5 million Seoul citizens are using every day." It was prompted by a crash that took place on June 11 when a train on Line No. 4 hit another that was standing by at Sanggye Station in Seoul's Nowon District. The driver of the train is believed to have failed to look out because he was checking his phone. International coordination led by Eurojust With fundamental and constant support from Eurojust, judicial authorities and police in Italy and Albania have arrested 37 members of an organised criminal group (OCG) responsible for international trafficking of large quantities of drugs. 3.5 tonnes of marijuana, cocaine and hashish have been seized, with an estimated street value of more than 40 million. A variety of goods and assets in Albania were also seized, with a value of over 4 million. The operation was carried out in Italy by the Anti-Mafia Investigative Direction of Bari, with the cooperation of Carabinieri, Polizia di Stato, Guardia di Finanza, under the direction of the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office of Bari (DDA of Bari). In Albania, the Special Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Prosecutor's Office of Tirana (SPAK) and the Albanian Police concluded the operation. The Italian Antimafia and Counterterrorism Directorate (DNA) and Eurojust, ensured proper coordination of investigations, at national level and international level respectively. The suspects, of Italian and Albanian origin, were part of a powerful criminal organisation trafficking drugs from Albania to Italy and had been very active on the drug market for a long period. They had been smuggling large quantities of drugs using leisure boats, subsequently transporting them overland mainly to the Bari, Puglia and Basilicata regions. Today's final action day, coordinated by Eurojust, resulted in the simultaneous arrest of 37 suspects in Italy and Albania, while other measures are being executed in France. The investigation allowed the seizure of 3.5 tonnes of drugs (marijuana, cocaine and hashish), the equivalent of about 7 million individual doses worth 40 million. Various assets were seized as well in Albania, including a coffee production and trading factory, a drinks and alcohol distribution company, a food business, a restaurant, 15 apartments, a building plot, as well as 7 large cars and a boat equipped with powerful outboard motors. This outstanding investigative result with simultaneous execution of this cross-border operation was made possible thanks to the Joint Investigation Team between the Albanian and Italian authorities, whose agreement represents a model for the cooperation between Albanian and EU judicial authorities. The JIT was established in 2017 and benefited from financial and analytical support from Eurojust. This facilitated a quick and direct exchange of information among the authorities involved, who set to work as one team. It enabled in-depth investigations into the criminal activity, mapping out its operations and network, both in Albania and in Italy. In addition to its financial and operational support to the JIT, Eurojust also assisted the national authorities with the organisation of four coordination meetings, where team members exchanged crucial information about the case and were efficiently supported by Eurojust in establishing a common investigative strategy where seizure of the criminal assets was one of the key elements of the strategy. Eurojust also facilitated the preparation and execution of a European Arrest Warrant in one EU member state (France) and of a European Investigation Order. Today's action is the culmination of long-lasting criminal proceedings in Albania and in Italy where several suspects - one part of the criminal group had already been convicted in the Court of First Instance in Italy in 2019. Photo Shutterstock 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 Official White House Photo by Shealah CraigheadBy JOHN PARKINSON, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- Following a White House briefing Tuesday morning regarding reports that Russia offered bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. military personnel, House Democrats renewed their call for an all-Member briefing from the intelligence community -- so wed have direct evidence and discussion from intelligence community into how credible they assess the information. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the intelligence a red flag and said the American people must understand whether the United States relationship with Russia is compromised by the relationship between the president and Mr. Putin. It either was not waved, or the president ignored the wave, Hoyer, D-Md., said. We need to get to the bottom of this. What we need is a briefing by the intelligence community to give us their assessment of the credibility of this information and we need to know from the White House what action would have been taken. The Democrats were briefed by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the same three officials who briefed a group of Republicans at the White House on Monday. While there are reports that the bounty program was not fully verified by the U.S., House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff insisted Trump should have been briefed with caveats. Dont deprive the president of information he needs to keep the troops safe because you dont have it sign, sealed and delivered, Schiff, D-Calif., said. If youre going to be on the phone with Putin, this is something you ought to know. Schiff said that as Congress examines the reports on the bounties, Trump should not be inviting Russia into G7 or G8 or further ingratiating Russia into the community of civilized nations. I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that president hasnt come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether the Russians are putting a bounty on the heads of American troops, Schiff said. And that he will do everything in his power to protect American troops. If theres a problem with being able to brief the president on intelligence he doesnt want to hear, thats a problem for entire countrys national security, Schiff added. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel said that if the bounty report isnt something to go crazy about, then I dont know what is. It just makes no sense at all, Engel, D-N.Y., said. Why doesnt the president question Putin? Why doesnt the president condemn what Putin has done? Why doesnt the president stand up for the United States? I mean, for Gods sake, these are our soldiers and if were not going to protect them, what are we going to do? Hoyer said he received a phone call Sunday evening from White House chief of Staff Mark Meadows inviting him to put a group of eight to 10 Democrats together for a briefing at the White House, but he maintained that the briefing was not as a substitute for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumers requests for a full briefing for all Members of Congress. The president called this a hoax publicly. Nothing in the briefing that we have just received led me to believe it is a hoax, Hoyer added. There may be different judgments as to the level of credibly but there was no assertion that the information we had was a hoax. While the lawmakers refused to discuss details of the briefing due to its secret nature, Schiff emphasized that the briefing fell short -- complaining that the right people to give the briefing really were not in the room. We need to hear from the heads of the intelligence agencies about how do they assess the allegations, Schiff said. What can they tell us about the truth or falsity of these allegations? What can they tell us about steps they are taking or undertaking to vet the information they may have? Hoyer added that the White House briefing did not reveal any new substantive information and the White House did not assure Democrats that their request for an all-Member briefing would be fulfilled. Several House Republicans received a similar briefing on Monday, while Senate Republicans planned to attend their own briefing later Tuesday. House GOP leaders on Tuesday forcefully condemned Russia following briefings on the intelligence regarding their bounties reportedly put on U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- using much sharper language than the White House on the subject. "Americas adversaries should know, and should have no doubt, that any targeting of U.S. forces by Russians, by anyone else, will meet a swift and deadly response," Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the No. 3 House Republican, said Tuesday. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, defended the Trump administration's record on Russia - touting the sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles for Ukraine - while slamming what he called the "selective leaking" behind the initial New York Times report and accusing Democrats of "playing politics." "The idea that someone would try to do something selective, inside a report, to play games, is unacceptable. It doesn't matter what party you are in. And we should not play any games with this," he said. As Trump faces criticism for not responding to the intelligence suggesting the targeting of U.S. troops, McCarthy offered a defense of the president, calling the safety of service members his "top priority." "I've been with this president when we've gone to Dover. I've watched his face. I've watched him console families. I've spoken with him at night when he has to call families. I will tell you it is his top priority," he said. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Igor Ilnitckii/iStockBy KARSON YIU and BRITT CLENNETT, ABC News (HONG KONG) -- In early June, Zhang Xiaoming, one of the top Chinese official in charge of Beijing's Hong Kong portfolio called for Hong Kong people to return home to the motherland for a second time after a year of anti-government protests. In essence he was calling for a symbolic "Second Handover." So on the eve of the former British Colony's 23rd anniversary of its return to China, a contentious new national security law Beijing unilaterally drafted for Hong Kong passed through China's top lawmaking body Tuesday morning by unanimous decision. China's Xinhua News Agency later reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping signed the presidential order for the law to be promulgated into Hong Kong's Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution. It is largely believed that the law targeting the protest movement in Hong Kong will become effective overnight in the territory before the Chinese five star flag is raised on the morning of July 1. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam issued a statement welcoming the passage of the law saying, "the legislation is an important step to improve the "One Country, Two Systems" institutional system as well as restore stability in Hong Kong society as soon as possible." Since the law was proposed in late May, the Beijing and Hong Kong governments have not revealed much more about the law other than it sought to "effectively prevent, curb and punish four types of crimes seriously endangering national security, namely acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security." Without any details of the law, Lam in her statement again sought to reassure Hong Kong residents that the law "only targets an extremely small minority of offenders while the life and property as well as various legitimate basic rights and freedoms enjoyed by the overwhelming majority of citizens will be protected." This marks a distinct turning point for the city, leaving many questioning the future of Hong Kong. "This is the end of one country two systems and the process to 'authoritarian-ize' Hong Kong is completed" legal scholar and Occupy Central activist Benny Tai told ABC News. Lee Cheuk-yan, a fellow pro-democracy activist and one of the organizers of the annual Tiananmen Vigil, seconded that sentiment saying that Tuesday marked the "beginning of the reign of fear by the CCP." Lee is worried that he may be a target because his organization's position advocated for the end of one party rule in China but he has vowed to remain in Hong Kong and continue fighting. "Will stay on and fight" The law was authorized in Beijing with many in Hong Kong having never even seen it, showing the extent of haste at which China moved to push through the law that even lacked the usual standard of relative transparency accorded to other proposed laws on the mainland. Even without details for much of the day, the announcement of the law's passage seemed to have an immediate chilling effect. Prominent activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Agnes Chow who all came to prominence during the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests announced almost immediately that they will leave their position in their political party Demosisto and continue their activism on their own. They did not provide specific reasons for their resignations. This morning we received and accepted the departure of @joshuawongcf, @nathanlawkc, @jeffreychngo and @chowtingagnes. After much internal deliberation, we have decided to disband and cease all operation as a group given the circumstances. pic.twitter.com/2kmg0ltniO Demosisto (@demosisto) June 30, 2020 A few hours later, the remainder of their party Demosisto announced its decision to disband over Twitter. Two nativist political parties, Hong Kong Indigenous and Hong Kong National Front, that pushed for independence also announced their decision to disband and cease all activities within Hong Kong shifting their activism abroad. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 95F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low around 70F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. 18:11 | Lima, Jun. 30. The Head of State remarked that much of the work was halted when economic activities came to a standstill at the beginning of the quarantine decreed in Mid-March to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, he explained that as of May 2,200,000 people joined the workforce in Phase 1, 450,000 workers were added in Phase 2 , and 162,000 were employed during the extension of Phase 2. "Almost 3 million jobs have been incorporated into the economic system in May and June, this is basically the economic activity generated by the private sector," Mr. Vizcarra said. "As we have also said, the public sector has to do the same, and that is why we launched the project under Arranca Peru (Get off the Ground, Peru) Program ," he added. At age 57, Barsallo has achieved a fame he did not expect just for doing the right thing. He performs the miracle of selling oxygen for only S/15 (about US$4.35) per cubic meter in a country where the price for the same amount can reach up to S/60 (about US$17.4). The entrepreneur provides for himself and his family with the sweat of his brow but he does not take advantage of basic needs at times of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, Barsallo was surprised by the announcement of Congress, which has proposed to declare him as a "Health Hero." "Thank you in advance for turning around to see me, but the best recognition for me is the affection of the public, whom we can supply oxygen , as well as give comfort to their relatives who are in a hospital bed or at home. That is the greatest satisfaction that human beings can have," he says but affirms he is not interested in receiving any distinction from Congress. Ordinary people thank him on a daily basis. "They leave comforted because they are bringing oxygen , which is vital for life at this time of pandemic." Within this framework, Barsallo urges his fellow entrepreneurs to reconsider their actions. "How can they sleep on their pillow knowing that they are ripping people off? It is an evil written with capital letters," he adds. Daily work Every day, from 8.00 a.m., Barsallo begins to supply oxygen for customers from Lima and Callao, from the premises of Distribuidora Criogas Comercial S.A.C., which he runs in Callao region. He knows at what time he opens the business, but not at what time his shift will end, due to the great demand for the vital O2. Oxygen is lacking not only for private individuals, as ambulance technicians also arrive at his center of operations. Barsallo and his employees know how to give them priority. The important thing is to help save more lives. He is an angel. (END) JVV/MVB 10:17 | Lima, Jun. 30. The President of the Council of Ministers noted that the country is still going through a difficult time, "today, June 30, every citizen would like to say that this is over and turn the page to start all over again, but that's not the case, and we need to continue taking care of ourselves," he expressed. "A national emergency (localized quarantine) will take effect starting tomorrow. Quarantine remains in place in seven regions. Phase 3 starts tomorrow, so readiness and responsibility of all Peruvians must take precedence," he said in an interview with Radio National. Zeballos remarked that when the health emergency was declared in Peru the message was "Stay at Home," but given the circumstances and the evolution of the pandemic the motto has changed to "Primero Mi Salud" (My Health Comes First), due to the need to promote self-regulation and self-discipline in the population. "The economic reopening plan was announced in May, and Phase 3 starts tomorrow, but there was an implicit message behind that we were going to gradually return to a very sui-generis normalcy, in which people shall be subject to health protocols," the Cabinet chief explained. Localized quarantine A Supreme Decree published in an extraordinary edition of the official gazette El Peruano orders a targeted quarantine for minors under 14 years of age, as well as for people aged above 65 and citizens with comorbidities, who will remain under mandatory social isolation. The regions of Arequipa, Ica, Junin, Huanuco, San Martin, Madre de Dios, and Ancash will also remain under mandatory social isolation. In those areas, residents will be allowed to leave their homes only to have access to essential services and goods and to carry out authorized economic activities. Within this this framework, the Government intends to set an adequate rate for patients who cannot be provided care at public health care facilities and therefore must go to private establishments. However, an agreement has not been reached with private clinics yet. "We are going to wait 48 hours to reach an agreement, let's hope it will be so, but if that is not the case and thinking about health and lives we will invoke Article 70 of the Constitution," he stated. "If in the most serious crisis in history we are not in a context of public necessity, when?" the President expressed after reiterating his desire to reach a satisfactory agreement with those institutions. Likewise, the Head of State stressed that despite efforts to increase the response capacity of public health facilities the clinics' commitment and contribution are needed. In this sense, the top official said that if a citizen who is affected by COVID-19 arrived at a public health care facility which is full he would have to go to a private clinic, and the cost would be assumed by the Government. "The offer and counteroffer have been made, and we have been in this negotiation for so long. We are in this situation that is already reaching the limit," he noted after lamenting the cases of people whom some clinics have charged extremely-high rates. "We have to protect people's health supported by law and the Constitution," he said after stressing that the Government respects the right to private property, but the greatest asset is the human being, even more so in a context of pandemic. El presidente @MartinVizcarraC informa sobre la situacion del Estado de Emergencia en el #Dia101 y las acciones que realiza el Gobierno para contener la propagacion del COVID-19. En vivo: https://t.co/EiTrzMqwkN https://t.co/n7J4aDDpfG Distribucion de ventiladores mecanicos adquiridos por la @AutoridadRCC y donados por el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. pic.twitter.com/o77io56O32 Feeding Students and Covid Survivors Food Gatherers expands the reach of its summer food service program by Maggie McMillin Published in June, 2020 Summer is the hungriest time of year for many children and teens. There are an estimated 5,300 food-insecure kids in Washtenaw County, and when schools close, they no longer have access to National School Lunch and Breakfast programs. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need is even greater this year. In a statement to Flintside.com, Food Gatherers President and CEO Eileen Spring discussed this uptick in need. "When the stay-at-home order was first issued, pretty much overnight we lost a huge portion of our regular food supply as well as our labor force," she says. Picked-over grocery stores had less leftover food to offer up for collection, and many volunteers were older or otherwise high-risk. Spring also notes that food pantries around the county are reporting increases in the number of people seeking assistance. Depending on location, traffic is up anywhere from 30 percent to 300 percent--and 40 percent of those seeking assistance are new clients who've never needed emergency food services before. The pandemic also shut down Grillin' for Food Gatherers, the fundraising that raises an estimated $250,000 each year. But local partners, businesses, and volunteers continue to support the organization's efforts. Washtenaw Community College donated the contents of its campus pantry, Michigan Medicine created a drive-up donation site for food and PPE, and the People's Food Co-op recently donated $4,000. Food Gatherer's Covid fundraising campaign successfully met its $50,000 match, and has since increased the match to $70,000. On June 29, Food Gatherers kicked off its Summer Food Service Program, which serves free meals to kids and teens. Backed by a $140,000 donation, they're offering grab-and-go meals at twenty-two sites around the county. "This year, many more families are experiencing reduced or lost income as a result of the pandemic," says community food programs coordinator LeRonica Robert. "The Summer Food Service Program makes it easy for families to safely pick up and take home meals so that parents ...continued below... can focus on other important things and not worry where their children's next meal will come from."Food Gatherers is also working with the Hope Clinic and St. Joe's hospital to provide staple dry goods and regional produce to recently discharged Covid-19 patients. Hope food programs manager Emmeline Weinert notes that discharged patients who are already experiencing food insecurity have a harder time staying healthy. Citing a 2017 report that found "people who experience discrimination are almost twice as likely as others to struggle with hunger," Food Gatherers recently shared a Feeding America statement on social media that reads, "to end hunger, we must also work to dismantle systemic racism, which is at the root of inequities in health, hunger, and economic opportunity."Food Gatherers's food pantries and meal programs are available to anyone in need, no questions asked. See foodgathers.org for information on how to get help, or how to help by volunteering or donating money, food, or personal care items. [Originally published in June, 2020.] YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. Antibody testing is being conducted among Armenias medical staff working in the frontline with patients infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to find out whether they have been infected with the virus or not. Armenia is also planning to conduct COVID-19 antibody testing among the population. We are conducting tests among the medical workers who are in the frontline engaged in the treatment of COVID-19 patients: they include doctors, nurses and primary healthcare workers, in this case the staff of Yerevans polyclinics. Nearly 1000-1100 medical workers will be tested, Varduhi Petrosyan, Dean, AUA Turpanjian School of Public Health (SPH), told Armenpress. However, its still not clear how long the antibodies, which developed after being infected with the coronavirus, stay in organism and to what extent they protect against re-infection. According to some studies the concentration of antibodies in blood may significantly decline 2-3 months after the disease. But this doesnt mean that the person doesnt have immunity. Immunity is quite a complex system, as various cells are involved in the formation of immunity, and these tests are just about the presence of antibodies. In other words, science yet needs to reveal many things, she said. Thus, if an antibody is found, it is supposed that immunity has developed, but its still unknown how long it will stay in each persons organism 3 months, 1 year or until the end of life. In any case if an antibody is found, the medical worker should continue again wearing the protective clothing, and the ordinary citizen should continue wearing a face mask, keeping a social distance and regularly washing hands. Petrosyan said that they are also going to understand whether the source of the virus has been the working place, or a family member or another one. Through these questionnaires they will try to understand what are the risky factors for the medical workers and whether a change is needed in the policy or not, and also they will better understand the disease. The testing has already been conducted among medics in 2 hospitals and 3 polyclinics and will also be done among healthcare workers in 5-6 polyclinics. The data will be summed up within a month. We have obtained such tests which have a 100% sensitivity and a 99.8% specificity. 99.8% specificity means that if we test 1000 persons who do not have an antibody, 2 of them will give a false positive result. This is a very small number, but, nevertheless, these two will think that they have an immunity, but in fact they dont. Therefore, we should be very cautious with the tests, she added. As of June 29, 380 examinations have been carried out. 70 are in process. Antibodies were found in 61 out of 380. The antibody testing among healthcare workers is being carried out by the joint efforts of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, the School of Public Health of the American University of Armenia, the Republican Center for AIDS Prevention, and the United Nations Joint Program on HIV / AIDS. Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament will convene an extraordinary session on June 30, at 11:00. 2 issues are included in the session agenda. The lawmakers will debate at the first and second hearings the package of bills setting a legal base for the suspension of powers of the Constitutional Court President and three judges. Thereafter, the MPs will debate the draft decision on declaring invalid the Parliaments decision about the referendum on Constitutional amendments. Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. President of France Emmanuel Macron sent a letter of support to Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the PMs Office told Armenpress. The letter runs as follows: Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I was informed about your recent recovery from the novel coronavirus and I am happy that you and your family are healthy. Today both France and Armenia are facing major healthcare, social and economic challenges. Crisis should not force us to back down. Quite the contrary, the pandemic should be a unique opportunity for cooperation to fight the epidemic and its consequences. With this spirit I want to assure you in the solidarity of France and its readiness to provide concrete support to Armenia. France stands by you with both its contribution to the EUs unprecedented financial aid and the bilateral assistance. In coming days France will again send a new team of volunteer doctors which will come to replace those who are helping their Armenian colleagues in fighting COVID-19. This crisis is also a challenge for the economies of our countries. Thanks to the French Development Agency already operating in Armenia, France is ready to consider providing a state policy loan worth 50-80 million Euros which will allow to partially cover the additional needs of budgetary financing which your country is facing this year. This project, which aims at strengthening the countrys capacities to resist crises, will be implemented jointly with other credit organizations, such as the World Bank. The emphasis can be put on healthcare and social protection sectors, as well as the actions to limit the consequences of climate change. I hope our ties of solidarity and friendship will overcome this trial. Mr. Prime Minister, please accept the assurances of my highest respect. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. A US senator has prepared a proposal to buy Russian-made S-400 air defense systems from Turkey in a bid to overcome the impasse between Washington and Ankara over Turkeys participation in a program to produce F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighter jets, TASS reports citing Defense News. According to Defense News, Senate Majority Whip John Thune has proposed an amendment to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would allow the purchase to be made using the US Armys missile procurement account. Meanwhile, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch has introduced a tougher amendment, which envisages slapping Turkey with sanctions under CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) 30 days after NDAA enters force. According to the paper, although Thune and Risch are both influential senators, "theres no guarantee either of their amendments would receive consideration to be included in the massive NDAA or, if passed into the Senate bill, that they would survive negotiations with the House." Russia announced in September 2017 that it had signed a $2.5 billion deal with Turkey on the delivery of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ankara. Under the contract, Ankara received a regiment set of S-400 air defense missile systems (two battalions). The deal also envisages partial transfer of production technology to the Turkish side. YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has improved its positions in the Index of Economic Freedom 2020 released by the Heritage Foundation by 13 points, capturing the 34th place in the list of 180 countries, the government said on Facebook. Armenia is included in the list of Mostly Free countries with 70.6 score. With such a figure Armenia is the leader among the countries of the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU). In addition, the countrys total score surpasses the average regional and global scores. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Facebook that Armenias economy is becoming more and more free, and this is the main tool of boosting investments. On the background of the coronavirus crisis this information, of course, is not so urgent, but I am happy that the international community is recording the deep changes which are taking place in Armenias economic environment. Dear compatriots, we must overcome the coronavirus crisis and return to the work of building our welfare, the PM said. Reporting by Lilit Demuryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament adopted at first hearing the draft decision presented by the ruling My Step faction MPs on declaring invalid the decision to hold referendum on draft Constitutional amendments. 81 MPs voted in favor of the draft decision. My Step faction MP Vahagn Hovakimyan reminded that the change to the Parliaments Rules of Procedure creating a legal case for making such a decision has entered into force on June 25. When we were discussing the package of changes to the Parliaments Rules of Procedure, there was an impression that the referendum was cancelled at that time. But in fact, we were creating a legal set of tools in practice which would allow to cancel the referendum, he said. Another lawmaker from My Step Suren Grigoryan said they continue insisting that the referendum is the best way. We have not refused from the view that the referendum is really the best way, but all those who ask why its not possible to hold a referendum in Armenia now, perhaps they are just unaware of what is happening in the country or just behave in a way that they are unaware, the MP said. The Parliament session was not attended by the opposition Bright Armenia and Prosperous Armenia faction MPs. Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Woburn, MA (01801) Today Partly cloudy skies. High near 90F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian hosted the medical team of Lithuania who are in Armenia to help their colleagues to fight the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. The meeting was also attended by Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, Ambassador of Lithuania Inga Stanyte-Tolockiene, deputy minister of healthcare Anahit Avanesyan and others. President Sarkissian welcomed and thanked the Lithuanian doctors for the support. On behalf of the citizens of Armenia and all Armenians I want to thank you for everything you do, for endangering your life and health for us, the Armenian President told the Lithuanian doctors. I also want to thank the Lithuanian government and my friend, President Gitanas Nauseda with whom I recently had a sincere online conversation. I highly value this support. Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin also thanked the doctors for visiting Armenia, highlighting the support of the EU member states during the COVID-19 pandemic. She informed that soon medical groups from Italy and Germany will arrive in Armenia. Such visits are important in a sense that the specialists can exchange their experience, work together which is very useful. We should do more in different areas, including for further deepening the cooperation in the field of scientific research. I hope we will together overcome this crisis, the EU Ambassador added. In turn the Lithuanian Ambassador to Armenia also highlighted the visit of doctors from the viewpoint of developing the bilateral cooperation. I think this is just the beginning of a deeper cooperation between the two countries in the healthcare sector. This is also a good opportunity to share professional experience and be more ready to the next possible waves of the pandemic. I am proud of being able to help the Armenian people at this stage, she said. The Lithuanian doctors introduced their experience and proposals on the ways to more effectively fight the coronavirus. At the end of the meeting President Sarkissian invited all to again visit Armenia with their friends and families after the pandemic, urged them to keep ties with their Armenian colleagues and the traditional friendship between the two countries. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. No major fluctuations are being observed in the export volumes of fruits-vegetables from Armenia during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The export is being carried out normally: 7200 tons of apricots have already been exported as of June 30, Armenia economy ministers spokesperson Anna Ohanyan presented the latest data to ARMENPRESS. As of June 30, 7200 tons of apricots, 5489 tons of apples, 2864 tons of cherries, 733 tons of strawberries, raspberries have already been exported. Pomegranate, quince - 207 tons, figs - 111 tons have also been exported. 20,235 tons of tomatoes, 4512 tons of cucumbers, 1846 tons of cauliflower and broccoli have already been exported from Armenia, she said. Although the export volumes have certainly declined, but we cannot state that there is a major decline. There are mostly no major fluctuations compared to the same period of the previous year, she added. The Eurasian Economic Union is the main export market, the most share of which belongs to Russia. As for the coronavirus-related difficulties, the spokesperson said there were concrete restrictions on the border with Iran from the first days of the coronavirus, there was a list defining which goods can be exported to and imported from Iran, but then the list was expanded and later was lifted. The previous procedures are currently in force. Exports and imports at the Lars checkpoint are also operating normally. Armenias customs attache responds to the local problems, we as well in our turn take actions. At the moment there are no major obstacles, everything is operating normally, Ohanyan said. She informed that Georgia has some restrictions over the export from Armenia to Russia, therefore, the number of goods has declined to some extent, but there are no major obstacles. Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. The coronavirus pandemic may have disrupted Diaspora Armenian compatriots plans to travel to Armenia, however this has not stopped the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs from offering its programs to Diaspora youth, the Office said in a statement. Due to the travel restrictions, since Armenian youth from the Diaspora cannot physically visit Armenia this year, the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs will be running its summer youth camp online. The Step Toward Home 2-week virtual program will be held during the month of August, in two stages, from August 3 to August 28. The program includes courses in the Armenian language and history, virtual visits to communities (in Armenia and the Diaspora), interactive discussions, debate club, educational games, meetings with cultural and art employees, talks with last years participants, workshops, and community projects. Through the engaging and active program, Diasporan youth will be given an opportunity to get acquainted with the history and culture of Armenia, master their native language and learn about their homeland through communication with other Armenian youth. Participants will make virtual visits around the country from Tatev to Amberd, from Saghmosavank to Matenadaran and even the Erebuni Museum. Individuals from the Armenian Diaspora aged 12-18 can participate in the online program and the deadline for applications is July 20th. To fill out an application, please visit the following link: https://forms.gle/nKMJGuxMucp28nMHA, the statement says. *** The Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs is the main body responsible for developing and implementing policies and strategies for Armenia-Diaspora relations. To learn more about our activities, follow us on social media: @DiasporaHighCommissionerOfficeArmenia or contact us at [email protected] YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. The Republic of Estonia has granted 28,000 to Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) in support of its ongoing efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the Lori region of Armenia. The funds will enable COAF to purchase vital medical supplies and equipment for 26 health facilities in 28 communities across Lori. Rural health facilities are at the forefront in ensuring the health and safety of village populations in terms of prevention & management of COVID-19. COAF will provide the Lori region with a biochemical analyzer, two mobile ultrasound devices, BP tonometers, glucometers, and pulse oximeters, as well as gloves, masks, sanitizers, distance thermometers, face shields, respirator masks & hazmat suits. Estonia considers it of outmost importance to show solidarity during the corona crisis and to help the partner countries in need. Armenia is currently struggling hard to beat the virus, and we hope that our contribution to the EU Rapid Response Mechanism to secure vital medical equipment in Lori region, shall make a small but important difference in Armenian lives, mentioned the Estonian Ambassador, H.E. Kai Kaarelson. "As the number of asymptomatic infected people increases, primary health care providers who oversee their treatment are at the highest risk. The safety and strengthening of rural healthcare infrastructures, outpatient clinics, and health centers are becoming urgent and critical, stated Korioun Khatchadourian, COAF Managing Director. COAF has already implemented 2 outreach programs aimed at combating the pandemic in rural Armenia. A partnership with the European Union (EU) of Armenia brought humanitarian assistance to 1,000 households and 26 health facilities in 28 communities located in the Lori region. COAF was also able to provide 7 beneficiary health facilities and 180 socially vulnerable families in the Shirak region with primary food and supplies thanks to a partnership with the Austrian Development Agency. President Armen Sarkissian has extended his gratitude for the assistance being provided to COAF in a recent phone call with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid. About COAF The Children of Armenia Charitable Fund (COAF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that employs community-led approaches aimed at improving the quality of life in rural Armenia, with a particular focus on children and youth. COAFs target development areas are education, healthcare, social and economic development. COAF launched its programs in 2004, starting in one village and expanding to 64 villages in Armavir, Aragatsotn, Lori, Gegharkunik, Shirak, and Tavush regions. Since 2015, COAF has developed and started implementing a new vision SMART Initiative. COAF SMART is designed to advance a generation across the rural world through education that will benefit individuals, societies, and the environment. COAF SMART will become an exemplary model of development and will be replicated in other regions and communities throughout Armenia. The first COAF SMART Center was inaugurated on May 27, 2018, near the village of Debet, Lori Region, with outreach to over 150,000 rural residents. YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today that slightly elevated levels of different radioisotopes detected in northern Europe posed no risk to human health or the environment, ARMENPRESS reports, citing the official website of the IAEA. Seeking to help identify the possible origin of the radioisotopes, the IAEA on Saturday contacted counterparts in Europe and requested information on whether they were detected in their countries, and if any event there may have been associated with the atmospheric release. By Monday afternoon, 29 Member States in the European region (Albania, Austria, Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom) had voluntarily reported to the IAEA that there were no events on their territories that may have caused the observed air concentrations of Ru-103, Cs-134 and Cs-137. They also provided information about their own measurements and results. In addition, some countries which have not been approached by the IAEA Algeria, Georgia, Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates also reported voluntarily to the IAEA information about their measurements and that there were no events on their territories. The levels reported to the IAEA are very low and pose no risk to human health and the environment, said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. I expect more Member States to provide relevant information and data to us, and we will continue to inform the public. Following its standard practice, the IAEA is sharing the data it receives with all 171 Member States via its Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies, a secure website available on a 24/7 basis for designated contact points in Member States. The IAEA will continue its efforts to analyse collected information in order to identify the possible origin and location of the release. YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today received outgoing Head of Council of Europe Armenia Office Natalia Vutova, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister. Highly appreciative of the cooperation with N. Vutova and the Council of Europe, the Prime Minister noted that the Council of Europe is among Armenias most important partners on the way to developing and strengthening democracy in our country. Armenia finds itself at an active stage of democratic reforms and we are determined to advance the agenda in a bid to strengthen democratic institutions: form a truly independent judiciary, provide guarantees for free elections, wage an effective fight against corruption, and achieve other priority objective. CoEs assistance is of great importance in this context, Nikol Pashinyan said. Natalia Vutova said she was honored to work as Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan. She assured that the Council of Europe appreciates the ongoing cooperation with Armenia. The Council of Europe is strong when its member states are strong, and the Council of Europe is ready to continue supporting Armenia in promoting democracy, the rule of law and protecting human rights. The parties next referred to Armenias democratic agenda. Nikol Pashinyan stressed that his government prioritizes the consistent implementation of reforms and the strengthening of public institutions, which is meant to guarantee the free will of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, the independence of the judiciary, governance transparency, freedom of speech, and the Government of Armenia will be consistent in advancing this primary agenda. Echoing the Prime Ministers remarks, the Head of the Council of Europe Armenia Office pointed out that sustainable and strong democracy is underpinned by powerful, transparent and reliable public institutions, and the governments steps are welcome in this respect. The interlocutors next touched upon the judicial reform. Nikol Pashinyan noted that the reform is aimed at restoring public confidence in the judiciary. In turn, Natalia Vutova said that the Council of Europe will continue to provide advisory assistance in this process. Taking the opportunity, Nikol Pashinyan and Natalia Vutova exchanged views on the non-violent velvet revolution and the materialization of revolutionary values. Natalia Vutova said she was glad to be in Armenia during the days of the revolution, feel the atmosphere of solidarity and be part of those historical events for Armenia and the Armenian people. Thankful for her kind remarks, Nikol Pashinyan noted that the Velvet Revolution was meant as a process of historical transformation and value change for Armenia and its people, and it continues to this day. The Premier stressed that his government will continue its mission to fulfill the goals of the revolution and the expectations of Armenias citizens. This is not an easy task, but there is no alternative to building a free and developed Armenia. YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Armenia has provided details over the video conference between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia. ''During the video conference, the sides touched upon the situation around the peace process amid the COVID-19 pandemic. During the meeting, the Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed the inadmissibility of Azerbaijan's warmongering and deconstructive statements, noting that they undermine the environment of the peace process and hinder the implementation of the commitment to prepare the peoples for peace. At the same time, Minister Mnatsakanyan underscored the need to consistently ensure the comprehensive security of the people of Artsakh, including through free and safe movement. In the course of the meeting, the possibilities of face to face meetings and the Co-Chairs visit to the region were discussed, depending on the development of the situation with the pandemic. At the same time, the parties emphasized their readiness to continue remote contacts next month. On June 30, Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov held a video conference with the participation and mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Igor Popov (Russia), Stephane Visconti (France), Andrew Schoffer (U.S.) and Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. On June 29, Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan held a video conference with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as well as with Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. Reporting by Anna Grigoryan, Editing and Translating by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. Jun Yamada, Ambassador of Japan to Armenia and Atom Janjughazyan, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia signed on June 30 the exchange of notes (E/N) for the Japans Grant Aid, The Economic and Social Development Program. This E/N is for the Provision of Japanese Medical Equipment to the Republic of Armenia. Through this Project, the Government of Japan will provide four hundred million Japanese Yen (approximately 3.7 million USD) for obtaining Japanese medical equipment. This Project intends to assist Armenia in its fight against COVID-19 epidemic, through strengthening its mid- to long-term healthcare and medical system. The latest generation of MRI system and other items will considerably upgrade the current level of medical service in the country, alleviating various health related issues and saving peoples lives. As we are all aware, currently the whole world, including Armenia, is fighting against serious epidemic of COVID-19. Japan, as a close and friendly partner for Armenia, is willing to support the country to attain well-balanced and sustainable economic growth. This should be realized through improving various institutions, infrastructure and developing human resources, in particular in the medical sphere. From this point of view Japan has been supporting Armenia`s healthcare and medical institutions in Yerevan as well as in the provinces. Apart from such government-to-government Technical Assistance and Grant Aid, Dr. Akira Ishiyama, a world-famous Japanese physician and professor at UCLA, continues his yearly visit to this country to offer his incomparable skills in cochlear implantation for Armenian children. This latest project embodies Japans strong commitment to support Armenia. Our unique and strong bonds, which will see the 30th anniversary since Armenia regained independence in 2 years, will yet again testify to our shared universal values, as well as our determination to cooperate ever closely to make this world a better place for everybody. Ambassador Yamada said, "On behalf of Japanese Government, I would like to highlight the utmost importance and timeliness of this Project, particularly in view of the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia and the world. I sincerely hope that the new equipment from Japan will contribute to significantly upgrading capacity of healthcare and medical institutions in the country, thus saving more lives and enhancing the living standard of the Armenian people. Arsen Torosyan, Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia noted, Cooperation between Armenia and Japan in the field of healthcare incorporates the best traditions. We highly value the continuous assistance that the Government of Japan kindly rendered to Armenia for many years to increase the healthcare capacity. During the last 25 years, several important projects have been implemented through the funding by the Japanese Government. Japanese high-tech medical equipment, cars and other medical products have long been well-known in our country. At present, when the world is facing a coronavirus epidemic and there is a difficult struggle also in our country, we are once again grateful for the Japanese Government's new offer to Armenia worth 400 million to obtain expensive medical equipment. Convinced that any product provided by Japan will find the best and most useful utilization in our field, I extend my sincere gratitude to the people of Japan, the Government, all our Japanese partners and friends for their every endeavor aimed at generous support to Armenia in the fight against the pandemic and beyond. By Florence Tan and Nidhi Verma SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Iraq's Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) has made deep cuts in Basra crude supplies to Asia in July as the producer complies with an OPEC+ pact to cut output, seven sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Iraq's supply cuts come on the back of similar reductions by the world's top exporter Saudi Arabia. Both producers are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries which agreed earlier this month with allies including Russia, a grouping known as OPEC+, to extend a record 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of production cuts for a third month in July. Iraq, which has been lagging behind its target, had already taken measures to further reduce its output and exports in June. For July, Iraq's Basra crude supply cuts in Asia ranged from 30% to 100% of contract volumes, the sources said, adding that the degree of reduction varied among buyers. "Some didn't get (any) allocation," one of the sources said. For two Indian buyers, the cuts were about 36% and 75% of their monthly contract volumes, the sources said. The overall amount of Basra crude supply for July is estimated to fall by 15% to 20% on average, the sources said. Iraq planned to export 2.8 million bpd of Basra crude from its southern ports in June, its newly appointed oil minister said on Monday. SOMO could not be immediately reached for comment outside its business hours. Tighter crude supplies from OPEC+ countries have pushed up prices of Middle East and Russian sour crude in Asia, prompting buyers to seek oil from other regions, traders said. (Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Richard Pullin) BANGKOK, Jun 29, 2020 - (ACN Newswire) - Tobacco harm reduction advocates across Asia-Pacific called on the Parliament of Australia to abort, not delay, the planned ban on imports of liquid nicotine for vaping to provide smokers with alternatives to combustible cigarettes. Factasia, a non-profit regional tobacco harm reduction consumer advocacy, said e-cigarettes or vapes, along with other smoke-free nicotine products such as heat-not-burn tobacco products and snus, have the ability to significantly reduce the health risks of millions of Australian smokers. "This is a technology that needs to be regulated, not restricted and banned. Adult consumers should be able to access a choice of regulated devices and liquids, including those containing nicotine. Underage use should be effectively and comprehensively banned," Factasia founder Heneage Mitchell said in separate letters sent to Australia's members of parliament. Mitchell made the statement even as Health Minister Greg Hunt decided to postpone the ban on imports of liquid nicotine by six months amid opposition from vapers, consumer groups, tobacco harm reduction experts and even members of Parliament. This means that the ban will now be delayed to 1 January 2021 from the original plan of 1 July 2020. Mitchell said MPs should instead push for the regulation of e-cigarettes and other smoke-free nicotine products that can substantially reduce the risks suffered by smokers from the tar - the byproduct of smoke. "Consumers need to be truthfully and fully informed of the life-saving potential of vaping and granted access to a choice of regulated harm-reduced nicotine products which, at the moment, in Australia, they are not," Mitchell said. "To be clear, there has never been a recorded death from vaping-regulated nicotine products since the introduction of the e-cigarette in 2001. But over the same period of time, more than 130 million smokers worldwide have died from tobacco-related illnesses and disease. They include many hundreds of thousands of our Australian brothers and sisters," he said. Ines Hage Nebyl from the Office of Tim Wilson MP acknowledged the receipt of the letter from Factasia and assured that Wilson remains a well-established supporter of allowing people to vape. "In the last Parliament, he was part of an inquiry into the health impacts and regulation of vaping. The committee opposed legalisation and regulation. Tim was part of a dissenting report arguing the law should change as a regulated product. That was his view then. That is his view now. Tim's views have not changed; he wants people off tobacco. Further to this, Tim has expressed his views to the minister on the recent action, and will continue to do so," Nebyl said. Wilson is among the politicians who opposed the ban on vaping, which they felt would encourage vapers to return to smoking. Sydney Morning Herald reported that 28 Coalition MPs and senators signed a petition opposing the ban on the importation of vaping products containing nicotine. In a statement on 26 June 2020, Hunt said the delayed implementation of the ban aimed to help the group of people who have been using e-cigarettes with nicotine as a means to ending their cigarette smoking. "In order to assist this group in continuing to end that addiction, we will therefore provide further time for implementation of the change by establishing a streamlined process for patients obtaining prescriptions through their GP," the minister said. Tobacco harm reduction advocates said Hunt's statement provided them an opportunity to advocate for legalization and regulation of nicotine vaping in Australia, which has nearly 500,000 vapers, according to some estimates. Mitchell said Hunt should review scientific evidence showing that vaping is 95 percent safer than smoking, as shown in the evidence review carried out by Public Health England, and is regarded as the most effective method of smoking cessation available to smokers by a vast number of researchers, medical professionals, genuine tobacco control experts and governments who looked at the evidence, including the U.K., the EU, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, the U.S., and recently, Hong Kong. "The countries listed above continue to see historic declines in the number of citizens smoking as they switch to these far less harmful technologies," he said. The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) said it is time for MPs to reject the ban. "In Australia, 21,000 citizens die every year from smoking-related disease. We feel that Australians who have made the informed choice to switch to alternative nicotine consumption, such as e-cigarettes, need to be heard by their elected representatives," said CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas. Loucas noted that in neighboring New Zealand, the Ministry of Health concluded that the effects that punitive regulation would have on the people who had chosen to move away from combustible cigarettes would be negative. Other groups have also expressed their opposition to the ban, including the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (ATHRA), the Progressive Public Health Alliance (PPHA), Aotearoa Vape Community Advocacy (AVCA) and Legalise Vaping Australia (LVA). About Factasia factasia.org is an independent, not-for-profit, consumer-oriented advocate for rational debate about - and sensible regulation of - the rights of adult citizens throughout the Asia-Pacific region to choose to use tobacco or other nicotine-related products. About CAPHRA The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) is an alliance of consumer organizations from Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand that aims to educate, advocate and represent the right of adult alternative nicotine consumers to access and use of products that reduce harm from tobacco use. MEDIA CONTACT: Jena Fetalino, JFPRC jena@jfprc.com, +639178150324 Push for Regulation MPs should instead push for the regulation of e-cigarettes and other smoke-free nicotine products that can substantially reduce the risks suffered by smokers from the tar - the byproduct of smoke. Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com A Victorian MP has expressed her dismay at huge crowds of people who flocked to a popular market over the weekend, seemingly disregarding social distancing amid multiple coronavirus outbreaks in the state. Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas expressed her disappointment after seeing photos taken at markets in Daylesford, Victoria, a holiday town of 2,500 people in Ms Thomas electorate. I was shocked and very disappointed to see these photos on social media over the weekend, Ms Thomas wrote on Facebook on Monday. Scenes like this in Daylesford are completely unacceptable, and while visitors are welcome you must follow the rules. The Daylesford markets were packed with people on Sunday, with no social distancing observed. Source: Facebook/Mary-Anne Thomas The photos shared by Ms Thomas show people going about their business at the market, seemingly with little social distancing observed. Victoria has seen a surge in coronavirus cases, causing the state government to roll back the easing of restrictions. After multiple days of double-digit growth, the state now has more than 260 active cases, with over 2000 cases confirmed overall since the start of the outbreak. As Victoria struggles to contain the outbreaks, identifying hotspots throughout the state and embarking on a testing blitz, the advice from elected officials has been uniform - keep your distance and practise good hygiene. Once again, to locals and visitors alike, please, please use common sense, Ms Thomas added. Keep your distance and wash your hands. And if you see a crowd don't join it, walk away and protect your health and that of your loved ones. Ms Thomas post was inundated with people expressing their shock for the lack of social distancing. One would reasonably think that after six months of this pandemic, now with ten million people infected, nearly half million deceased worldwide, that people would become more cautious joining such a crowd, one man said branding the situation a disaster in the making. Story continues One woman said she saw social media posts from people who had come from virus hotspots and were holidaying in Daylesford and were happy because they werent turned away. They should have been, she said. Just an hour and a half out of Melbourne, Daylesford is a weekend town and usually attracts many people from the city to stay for a few days, with the Sunday Market proving to be quite popular. Disturbing photos show people crowding around market stalls with little to no concern for keeping a safe distance. Source: Facebook/Mary-Anne Thomas Markets a service, not a gathering Market stores are allowed to open in Victoria. People must maintain a physical distance of 1.5 metres from each other, the. Victorian Government advises. The foursquare metre rule applies to indoor markets. Speaking to ABC news, Daylesford Sunday Market manager, Raoul Benedict said the photos made it look worse than it actually was. During the lockdown, the market continued to operate, selling only essential items and people were being very cautious and keeping their distance. Now the problem is 90 per cent of people will distance, but then there's always 10 per cent that want to hang around, Mr Benedict told the ABC. I spend my day walking around telling people to distance and sanitise. On Saturday, the Daylesford Sunday Markets encouraged people to shop quickly as it was a service not a gathering. The markets also said Social distancing must be observed by all, 1.5 metres at all times, encouraged people to sanitiser their hands before and after the markets and not attend if unwell. You must obey all current COVID-19 rules and regulations, the markets Facebook post in the lead up to Sunday said. Please support our small businesses and local producers. Earlier in June, the market said they had a large number of visitors, which resulted in the market keeping promotion to a minimum. The safety of the Hepburn Shire community is paramount and we are not alone in being concerned by the number of visitors to Daylesford and its surrounds at this crucial time, the Daylesford market posted on June 24 on Facebook. Local council very disappointed Hepburn Shire also addressed the scenes at the markets, stating over the weekend, visitors came to the shire to visit the tourist attractions and echoed Ms Thomas disappointment, although did not specifically mention the Daylesford markets. We are very disappointed, and also acknowledge the disappointment and frustration of our community, at the lack of social distancing, Hepburn Shire wrote on Facebook. We are equally concerned and are working with all responsible authorities to address the lack of social distancing in our shire and the risk that this creates. According to the state governments figures, there are no active coronavirus cases in Hepburn Shire or Macedon Ranges, however, the latter borders Hume City Council, where there are 51 active coronavirus cases. There are no travel restrictions in Victoria, and the states borders are open meaning residents are free to travel outside the state. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. A public health bushfire Victoria recorded 75 new virus cases on Monday, the fourth highest number since the pandemic began and the highest since March, with Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warning it will get worse before it gets better. On Tuesday, Victoria requested help from the Australian government in the form of 800 workers. One hundred team leaders will support co-ordination of the community door knocking happening in hotspot suburbs, 500 staff will form part of those community engagement/door knocking teams and 200 clinical staff are being sent to fixed testing sites. "This is a public health bushfire - just as we help out other states in summer, help is coming from across the nation now - and we are grateful for that," a Victorian government spokeswoman said in a statement. Victoria is grappling to contain the virus, after cases surged, prompting fears of a second wave and a testing blitz. Source: AAP A testing blitz is underway in Albanvale, Broadmeadows, Brunswick West, Hallam, Fawkner, Keilor Downs, Maidstone, Pakenham, Reservoir and Sunshine West, which have seen high levels of community transmission in recent weeks. Putting suburbs into lockdown is an option, although Professor Sutton wants to see the results before determining which containment measures need to be implemented. Professor Hamish McCallum from Griffith University said the state is experiencing a second wave of the virus. "The question is whether it is a ripple, or the start of a tsunami," he said. With AAP Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. Sahel countries and their ally France on Tuesday vowed to press ahead with a tactical shift in their campaign against an eight-year-old jihadist insurgency, saying the change had notched up substantial gains although major challenges also remain. After a summit in the Mauritanian capital Noukchott to review the new strategy at the six-month mark, French President Emmanuel Macron said there had been "spectacular results." "We are convinced that victory is possible in the Sahel, and that it is decisive for stability in Africa and Europe," he said. "We are in the process of finding the right path thanks to the efforts that have been made over these last six months." The one-day summit gathered the presidents of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, as well as their former colonial ruler France. It was called to take stock of a more aggressive approach, driven by a string of setbacks last year crowned by the loss of 13 French soldiers in a helicopter crash. Under the change, France deployed an extra 500 troops to its Barkhane anti-jihad force in the Sahel, bringing its complement to 5,100. Since then, the jihadists have continued to carry out attacks almost daily, but they also lost a key leader to a French raid and are fighting internally, according to security sources. Coalition forces have focussed on the "three-border region," a hotspot of jihadism where the frontiers of Burkina, Niger and Mali converge. "Areas have been taken back from the terrorist groups (and) the armies have redeployed," said Macron, adding that the tactics "have shifted the dynamic." "We now have to consolidate this dynamic and strengthen it... The ground that we have recovered will not be given back," he warned. In contrast, summit host President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani of Mauritania earlier sounded a more cautious note, saying there had been "significant progress" but this was "insufficient in the face of the mounting challanges that we have to meet." "Violent extremism in all its forms continues to hit several zones... and is expanding in a worrying manner," he said. - Tactical shift - The insurgency kicked off in northern Mali in 2012, during a rebellion by Tuareg separatists that was later overtaken by the jihadists. Despite thousands of UN and French troops, the conflict spread to central Mali, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, stirring feuds between ethnic groups and triggering fears for states further south. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and the economies of the three countries, already among the poorest in the world, have been grievously damaged. Macron arrived for a round trip from Europe for the summit, with representatives from the UN, African Union and European Union in attendance. The leaders of Spain, Germany and Italy also joined, by video link or in person. The meeting marked the first time that Sahel allies had gathered physically since the start of the coronavirus crisis. The campaign in the three-border region is targeting an Islamic State-affiliated group led by Abou Walid al-Sahraoui. On June 5, French forces in northern Mali, helped by a US drone, killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the notorious head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). And in a new development, jihadists respectively linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have clashed several times since the start of the year in Mali and Burkina Faso, after long steering clear of one another, according to security experts. - Troubled region - Despite this, problems in the Sahel run deep. Local armies are poorly equipped and under-funded and in some areas, essential services and the presence of government have evaporated. Rights group say troops are to blame for hundreds of killings and other abuses of civilians -- a concern that the summit addressed by warning of "exemplary punishment" if such cases are confirmed. Staunch French ally Chad has yet to fulfil a promise to send troops to the three-border region, and a much-trumpeted initiative to create a joint 5,000-man G5 Sahel force is making poor progress. In Mali, anger at insecurity has fuelled discontent over coronavirus restrictions and the outcome of elections, creating a political crisis for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Both Burkina and Niger are due to hold presidential elections by year's end, fuelling concerns about the outcome. On Monday, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the 13,000-troop MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali for another year, to June 30 2021. The next summit of the Sahel allies was set for early 2021. The one-day summit gathered the presidents of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, as well as France UN, African and French forces in the G5 Sahel region, as of June 2020 General Oumarou Namata Gazama, head of the G5 Sahel force. The five-nation scheme has encountered many problems, from funding and equipment to training and coordination Leaders from five West African countries and their ally France meet Tuesday to confer over their troubled efforts to stem a jihadist offensive unfolding in the Sahel. Meeting in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, presidents will take stock nearly six months after rebooting their campaign in Pau, southwestern France. Since then, the jihadists have continued to carry out almost daily attacks, although they have also lost a key leader and two rebel groups are said to be at odds. French President Emmanuel Macron hosted the summit in January to secure a public commitment from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger at a time of deepening concern in France after it lost 13 troops in a helicopter crash. The insurgency kicked off in northern Mali in 2012, during a rebellion by Touareg separatists that was later overtaken by the jihadists. Despite thousands of UN and French troops, the conflict spread to central Mali, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, stirring feuds between ethnic groups and triggering fears for states farther south. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and the economies of the three countries, already among the poorest in the world, have been grievously damaged. - 'Three-border' region - Macron will make a one-day round trip to Mauritania for the summit. The talks are expected to last only a few hours, but they will also mark the first time that Sahel allies have gathered since the coronavirus pandemic crimped meetings in person. One priority will be to assess affairs in the "three-border region," a hotspot of jihadism where the frontiers of Burkina, Niger and Mali converge. France, which added 500 troops to its Sahel mission after Pau, is co-leading the campaign in this region, targeting an Islamic State-affiliated group led by Abou Walid al-Sahraoui. Earlier this month, French forces in northern Mali, helped by a US drone, killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). And in a new development, jihadists respectively linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have clashed several times since the start of the year in Mali and Burkina, after long steering clear of one another, according to security experts. Despite this, problems in the Sahel run deep. Local armies are poorly equipped and under-funded, rights groups say troops are to blame for hundreds of killings and other abuses of civilians, and in some areas the presence of government has evaporated. Staunch French ally Chad has yet to fulfil a promise to send troops to the three-border region, and a much-trumpeted initiative to create a joint 5,000-man G5 Sahel force is making poor progress. In Mali, meanwhile, anger at insecurity has fuelled discontent over coronavirus restrictions and the outcome of elections, creating a political crisis for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Both Burkina and Niger are due to hold presidential elections by year's end, fuelling concerns about the outcome. French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Presidents Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, Idriss Deby of Chad, and three others during an initial summit aimed at stemming jihadists in the Sahel region of Africa UN, African and French forces in the G5 Sahel region, as of June 2020 General Oumarou Namata Gazama, head of the five-nation G5 Sahel force, has made little progress organising the troops Doctors, nurses and other hospital staff staged protests across France Tuesday to press for pay hikes and budget increases for a healthcare system that was pushed to the edge by the coronavirus pandemic. The rallies came as the government prepares to wrap up on Friday weeks of talks with health workers on hospital overhauls in response to the crisis. Employees have long complained about insufficient staff and low pay that prompts doctors and nurses to take jobs at private clinics instead. That issue led to a series of strikes over the past year. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe promised "significant" pay increases when kicking off the talks last month, and officials have already put an additional 6.3 billion euros ($7 billion) on the table. But that amount falls far short for many employees. They say French healthcare workers are already among the lowest paid among the OECD group of developed economies, because of years of budget cuts. "They've promised six billion euros but I'm still waiting to see," said Louis Rios, a psychiatric nurse in the Essonne department south of Paris, during a march in the French capital. "We want a significant gesture, and now -- not in three years," he said. The SUD-Sante union chief, Jean-Marc Devauchelle, has called on the government to boost take-home pay across the sector by 300 euros a month, a move that would cost some 14 billion euros. "We need acts that live up to the gratitude," Philippe Martinez of the CGT union said at the Paris demonstration -- a reference to the nightly rounds of applause for hospital staff during the height of the coronavirus crisis. President Emmanuel Macron, who has made social justice a key theme for the final two years of his term, is expected to announce measures resulting from the talks as soon as next week. Health workers demonstrating in Rennes, western France, on Tuesday to demand improved working conditions. Tears of joy stream down Andrea Viez's face as she lifts her baby boy, born to a surrogate mother in Ukraine. "He's a star," the Argentinian in her late 40s says, her voice trembling. After nine years of trying to have a child, Viez can finally hold her son in her arms, thanks to a booming surrogacy industry in Ukraine that has given hope to thousands of struggling would-be parents. But behind their dream-come-true is a highly profitable and murky business that many worry is taking advantage of desperate young women and operating in a grey zone open to abuse. "Ukraine is becoming an international online baby store," the country's commissioner for children's rights Mykola Kuleba warned last month, condemning the "exploitation" of Ukrainian women and calling for a ban on the industry. The fact that Ukraine is one of the few countries allowing commercial surrogacy for foreigners was oddly thrown into the spotlight by the coronavirus. When travel restrictions imposed to fight the pandemic prevented dozens of parents from picking up their children born to surrogates, a local surrogacy company posted a video online showing the infants lying in rows of plastic cots in a hotel on the edge of Kiev. The BioTexCom clinic hoped to draw attention to the stranded babies' plight. It worked and the government stepped in to help parents like Viez obtain special permits and pick up their children a few weeks later. Though it has existed since the early 2000s, the industry exploded in Ukraine after India and Thailand outlawed commercial surrogacy for foreigners about five years ago. One the poorest countries in Europe, the post-Soviet nation is also known for its attractive prices, with birth through a surrogate costing about $42,000. In the United States it can cost more than twice as much. - 'Total chaos' - There are no official statistics, but experts say between 2,500 and 3,000 children are born every year through surrogacy in Ukraine for foreign parents. About a third of customers are Chinese. The industry is poorly regulated and rife with abuse and corruption, says Sergiy Antonov, who runs a law firm specialising in reproductive issues. Women are sometimes not paid promised amounts or are housed in terrible conditions during the later stages of their pregnancies. In some cases parents have discovered they have no genetic link with children born to surrogates. Authorities suspect some clinics are also using surrogacy as a cover for illegal commercial adoptions. "It's total chaos," Antonov says. Olga Korsunova, a 27-year-old going through her fourth surrogate pregnancy, says women "very often" have trouble obtaining money they were promised. They are most often hired through intermediaries who keep part of the surrogacy fee. Korsunova is paid $400 a month during a pregnancy and receives $15,000 after delivery. "I would not call this exploitation, nobody forces us," she says in the modest flat she rents in Kiev with her eight-year-old son. Korsunova dreams of becoming a doctor but started working as a surrogate after she and her son fled war-torn eastern Ukraine in 2014. She does admit that because of their drastic financial situation Ukrainian women "trade part of your health... for money." Another surrogate, 26-year-old Olga, says she is happy to be able to help people have children. "These children will be loved by their parents for the rest of their lives," says Olga, who is expecting twins for a Chinese couple. She normally earns about $135 a month as a waitress and this is her second surrogacy. She hopes to open a cafe with her payment of $15,000 after delivery. "I'm proud to be able to provide babies to people who couldn't become parents in a different way," she says. "But if I had a normal job, of course I wouldn't have done it." Nurses prepare to hand over babies to foreign couples at a Kiev hotel -- but some people worry a highly profitable and murky business is taking advantage of desperate young women and operating in a grey zone open to abuse Foreign couples wait to collect their babies -- but Ukraine's commissioner for children's rights Mykola Kuleba has lamented that "Ukraine is becoming an international online baby store" Joy for an Argentinian couple as they collect their son -- the surrogacy industry has exploded in Ukraine after India and Thailand outlawed commercial surrogacy Happiness for the couples -- but Sergiy Antonov, who runs a law firm specialising in reproductive issues, says the industry is poorly regulated, and rife with abuse and corruption A nurse cares for newborn babies at Kiev's Venice hotel -- dozens born to surrogate mothers were stranded in Ukraine as their foreign parents were unable to collect them for weeks owing to coronavirus border closures "What happened to George Floyd was absolutely wrong," Dennison said. "That cop should spend the rest of his life in jail, but that shouldn't be the poster thing for all cops. It's just ridiculous." He repeated many of the same claims that were in his letter, but added that he never wrote that "Black lives didn't matter." He said he's had Black friends over the years, even though Cato is a predominantly white town. "They can twist whatever I said however they want, but I've had just as much good feedback as I have had bad feedback because I think there's a lot of people out there who want to say the same thing," Dennison said. "They just don't." Members of the Cayuga County Legislature haven't commented on Dennison's letter. Cayuga County Legislature Chairwoman Aileen McNabb-Coleman wrote in an email to The Citizen Monday that half of the legislators met Sunday and the remaining members gathered Monday to discuss the matter. Neither of those meetings was previously announced. As of this writing, no other information about the meetings or any potential action against Dennison has been released. There is a special legislature meeting scheduled for Tuesday. "We are eager to respond to both the letter and the public outcry," McNabb-Coleman wrote. Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Love 7 Funny 20 Wow 3 Sad 3 Angry 21 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. As colleges around the country grapple with how to reopen in the fall, Cornell University's president on Tuesday announced that it will welcome students back to campus an option she said is best not only for their education, but also public health. The Ivy League university decided that compared with holding classes only online, residential learning would be safer for students and the wider community because it can ask students to participate in a screening program to detect and contain any spread of the coronavirus, President Martha Pollack said. "The key consideration in our decision to reopen is public health," Pollack said in a statement. Modeling by a Cornell research team determined that two to 10 times more people could be infected with COVID-19 during an online-only semester, with significantly higher numbers becoming seriously ill. That's because many students planned to return to off-campus housing in Ithaca, New York, where the university is located, and it would have no authority to mandate testing or restrict student behavior if instruction was done remotely. Please log in to keep reading. Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Near the conclusion of the letter, the members requested a "written commitment to investigate this deadly policy" by Thursday, July 2. The letter was signed by U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican and the ranking member of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. It was also signed by New York's Republican congressional delegation, including Katko, U.S. Reps. Peter King, Tom Reed, Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin. Katko, R-Camillus, said he's hoping James will expand the investigation to review the "devastating" nursing home directive. "Despite explicit warnings from the CDC, the state issued inconsistent and shifting guidance on providing care for the most vulnerable in our communities at nursing homes statewide," Katko said. "This included a mandate that forced nursing homes to accept known COVID-19 positive patients and a policy that allowed facilities to admit patients without testing for the virus. "With over 6,000 deaths in nursing homes across the state, the attorney general must review the impact of these policies and make the findings available to our communities and the families of loved ones lost." The nursing home order is no longer in effect. It had been posted on the state Department of Health's website, but it was deleted in May. Eight more states with high COVID-19 infection rates have been added to New York's quarantine order, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. California, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee join Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Utah on the travel advisory. If residents of those states travel to New York or if New Yorkers visit those states and return home, they must quarantine for 14 days. States are added to the order based on two metrics: A positive COVID-19 test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day period or a state with a 10% positive rate over a 7-day rolling average. With more states reporting additional COVID-19 cases and community spread, Cuomo said it's necessary for New York to take action. "We've set metrics for community spread just as we've set metrics for everything the state does to fight COVID-19, and eight more states have reached the level of spread required to qualify for New York's travel advisory, meaning we will now require individuals traveling to New York from those states to quarantine for 14 days." 12500 N.E. Tenth Place Bellevue, WA 98005 JPFO.org 800-869-1884 info@jpfo.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 30, 2020 Contact: Floyd Neeland "The Tactical Rabbi" Joins JPFO as Ambassador Part of further expansion as national tumult roils population and gun sales skyrocket "So many Americans are buying guns for the first timeare they getting the training they need? We know the school system has let them down," Rabbi says. Alan Gottlieb, President and CEO of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, http://www.jpfo.org, is pleased to welcome Rabbi Raziel Cohen, "The Tactical Rabbi," as an Ambassador to the nationally renowned civil-rights organization. In operation since 1989, JPFO serves as a moral compass and research and education arm of the gun-rights movement, keeping alive its founder Aaron Zelman's vision that Never Again! is not an empty slogan, but words with steel behind them. Raziel Cohen, an ordained Orthodox Rabbi, who is an NRA and DOJ firearms instructor approved by Homeland Security, leads NDF Training, which offers everything from basic fundamentals to active-shooter response courses. As JPFO's newest Ambassador, Rabbi Cohen will help spread JPFOs message, write occasional pieces for the quarterly Bill of Rights Sentinel newsletter, and contribute in other ways, including media interviews, to help spread the important messages about the uniquely American right to keep and bear arms. "We are thrilled to have Rabbi Cohen on our team, and look forward to a bright future, fighting the deliberate and direct political influences now attacking our right to arms," CEO Gottlieb said. ##### Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, http://www.jpfo.org is Americas most aggressive civil-rights organization, dedicated to destroying the notion of 'gun control' as any kind of credible public-policy position. So-called 'gun control' does not control guns and doesnt control criminal behavior. What it does is disarm the innocent, leaving them helpless in the face of criminals, tyrannical governments and genocide. History repeatedly proves this fact. Founded in 1989 by Aaron Zelman as a response to the Holocaust, JPFO speaks with the moral authority and tenacious commitment of survivors of persecution, and knows that surrendering your personal and family safety to government protection courts disaster. You dont have to be Jewish to fight by our side, you just have to love liberty. Support JPFO, Speaking truth to power: https://store.jpfo.org/11-donations Auburn Community Hospital changed course Tuesday and announced it will not open for visitors this week. The hospital said Friday that it planned to resume visitation on Wednesday, July 1. There would be certain restrictions in effect, including a four-hour window for visitors and screenings for anyone entering the hospital. But after a meeting between hospital and medical leaders, visitation won't resume this week. In a statement, the hospital said it will reevaluate its plans next week. "Throughout this pandemic, ACH's first priority is to protect the health and safety of our patients and employees. As such, we think it is prudent to take some time to monitor the situation," said Scott Berlucchi, president and CEO of Auburn Community Hospital. The hospital's concerns, Berlucchi continued, are due to the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend. With more social gatherings expected, the hospital worries that the events and other behavior may lead to more people being exposed to COVID-19. He said the state put millions of dollars into converting Adirondack Correctional, but the facility was not used the best way it could be as an adolescent facility. Little said there is now only one adolescent facility operational, in western New York. OCFS takes on youth Jones and Little said they have not heard much about how the transition has gone for OCFS because theyve been focused on the coronavirus the past few months. Jones said the office likely has good rehabilitation programs for the adolescents but wondered if they had the right security capability. There are seven secure and specialized OCFS detention centers throughout the state in Albany, Erie, Monroe, Nassau, Onondaga and Westchester counties and New York City. Little said OCFS was given youthful offenders in a similar move around five years ago, and that at the time the office was not equipped to handle that population. She said decisions were made that drew criticism, such as having dances and other rewarding actions. She said changes have been made in policy and administration, and she now believes OCFS is prepared to hold the youthful offenders. Somehow in the storyline, Columbus and Confederate statues have been wrongly blended as co-equal symbols of a racist past as the nation grapples with the killing of George Floyd, an African American man, by a white Minneapolis police officer. Does American history include painful periods of oppression against Indigenous peoples? Yes. However, atoning for past transgressions best occurs by honoring Indigenous peoples with their own commemorations, not by retributive anger and obliteration of Columbus statues. How did we come to this point? As a former presidentially appointed trustee and general counsel of the congressionally chartered Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, which was created in 1992 on the 500th Anniversary of his discovery of America, and as an Italian American myself, I recognize Columbus as a man willing to take great risks in search of new worlds. Whatever his personal faults, without Columbus, there would be no United States, one of the relatively few countries in the world that guarantees the rights of individuals to petition their government peacefully through demonstrations. CHATSWORTH, Calif.PeterFevers superhero porn parody Gayvengers is set for release on DVD, and Pulse Distribution is taking orders now for shipment to retail outlets on July 8. This parody of Marvel's popular Avengers franchise borrows liberally from the plotlines of those and other superhero releases. Featuring an orgy of seven heroes and villains, Gayvengers brings flashy costuming, scenic design and dialogue (at the biggest budget of any PeterFever series thus far) to its gay adult milieu. Grabby Awards Wall of Fame inductee Dominic Pacifico and the Grabbys' Hottest Top Max Konnor star in a cast that is an inclusive united colors of races, types and personalities. Rounding out the lineup are Sir Jet, David Ace and Axel Kane, who battle aliens played by Damian X, Dragon and Shen Powers. Gayvengers features plenty of action, from the duos and threesomes to a final seven-man orgy aboard Phallos' spacecraft. "Gayvengers is the kind of epic superhero comedy PeterFever was meant to create. It has everything needed to become this summer's biggest blockbuster: a fun and dramatic storyline, a multi-racial cast of well-known stars, awesome special effects and some of the hottest pairings and biggest orgies of the year. We expect this title to sell incredibly all over the world." Director Koloff lensed Gayvengers at Falcon Studios Group's Las Vegas studios, from a script by Jackson Reece. This was a big, challenging shoot, and Im proud of how the cast and crew rose to the occasion and made the final product so fantastic," Koloff said. "This project speaks volumes about the path that PeterFever has always been on, combining diversity, humor and amazing sex. To order the DVD of Gayvengers, which production was the recipient of a 2020 Cybersocket Web Award, contact Andrew at Pulse by emailing [email protected]. LOS ANGELESEven as many businesses including those involving close contact such as hair salons have been allowed to reopen in the Netherlands, Amsterdams famed red light district was scheduled to remain shut down until September. But outcry from the sex worker community appears to have worked. The Dutch government announced last week that legal sex work could resume on July 1. "Everyone is very happy with the news that we can finally reopen," Amsterdam sex workers union President Felicia Anna said. "We have no more money." Sex workers and business owners there, in a country where sex work has been legal for two decades and widely tolerated for much longer, had suspected that the government may be using the coronavirus crisis as a pretext to end legalization, according to a report by EuroNews. The lockdown is at the moment a thing for the government to keep us closed a long time because now they want to get rid of the prostitution! business owner Jon Broers, who has rented space to Amsterdam sex workers for 50 years, told EuroNews. They want to get rid of us, they think you get broke and then they can shift you away easily. Due to the pandemic, sex work became effectively illegal in the Netherlands once again. Breaking lockdown rules by accepting clients could have resulted in stiff fines and criminal records. Sex workers recently staged a demonstration at Amsterdams City Hall, with chants of, "Open the windows, open the windows! We want to work! We want to work! Sex workers in Amsterdam advertise themselves by posing in windows throughout the red light district, but those windows have been shut down due to the coronavirus crisis. One sex worker, identified only as Stella, told EuroNews that the window shutdown has forced many sex workers to go underground, endangering their own safety. The government doesnt see something really important about keeping the windows closed, that it will push much more girls to work illegally, she said. You know if they keep the windows closed, I will probably find a way also to make it illegal. I dont want to, but they make me to. Months before the pandemic hit, in July of 2019, Amsterdams Mayor Femke Halsema said that she planned to shut down the windows, as a way of protecting sex workers. I think a lot of the women who work there feel humiliated, laughed at, Halsema said. Thats one of the reasons we are thinking about changing." Photo By Erik Tanghe / Pixabay LOS ANGELESIn a lawsuit that has dragged on for nearly a decade, a federal judge on Monday ruled that South Dakota prison system policy that bans porn for inmates is unconstitutional, because it is too sweeping and could actually prevent prisoners from reading the Bible or many works of great literature, according to a report by The Argus Leader newspaper. The lawsuit brought by inmate Charles Sisney, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his girlfriend, made it all the way to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2018, but the appellate court sent it back to the federal South Dakota District Court. This week, Senior District Court Judge Lawrence Piersol ruled that while the state may ban porn for inmates, the restrictions went too far in banning any image of nudity, or written content with sexual descriptions. The present policy bans written material with any sexual content, Piersol wrote. That means the potential of banning the Bible and much of Shakespeare, not to mention all of the fiction of John Updike, Phillip Roth, Ernest Hemingway, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to name a few, Piersol wrote in his opinion. Piersols ruling does not strike down the prison porn ban in its entirety, however. His ruling evaluated items that were barred from Sisneys possession on a case-by-case basis, deciding that a Coppertone sunscreen magazine advertisement could be banned because it depicted a nude child, and that comic books containing nudity and sexual themes could also be prohibited. But an art book that depicted nudity, including paintings by Michaelangelo, was permissible under the ruling, as were literary works that described sex scenes. A ban this sweeping has no rational relation to legitimate penological interests. The prisoners have no alternate reasonable means of access to such literature, Piersol wrote. Prison porn bans have been the subject of legal action in several states over recent years. Last year, a judge in Iowa ruled that inmates in that states prison system may possess nude images, but only those that are non-sexually explicit. The state judge in that case held that banning all nude images from prisons indeed interferes with the constitutional rights of the inmates. Photo By Alexius Horatius / Wikimedia Commons PENNSAUKEN, N.J.Williams Trading Co. is now distributing three new Happy Rabbit products from Lovehoney and is giving retailers a new promotional offer. Beginning in July, Williams Trading Co. will ship Lovehoneys three new rabbit-style vibrators from its Happy Rabbit line of products. They are: LH79368 Happy Rabbit G Spot Stroker Rabbit Black LH79369 Happy Rabbit Curve Power Motion Vibrator Pink LH79370 Happy Rabbit Realistic Dual Density Vibrator Purple Along with these new products, Lovehoney is offering a new point-of-sale promotion for retailers to help promote the Happy Rabbit line. Available as a kit, this promo includes: Retail Shelves (2-3) Security Tether Kit for samples Retail Counter Stands with interchangeable cards Retail testers Point of Sale video monitor Header display card Stock for this promo offer is limited. Along with signage, shelves and a POS video monitor, Lovehoney is also offering a set of testers as part of this pack. The retail testers in the promo pack include (1) each of the following: Happy Rabbit G-Spot Pink Happy Rabbit Triple Curve Black Happy Rabbit Slimline Realistic Purple Happy Rabbit Mini Rechargeable Rabbit Vibrator Pink Happy Rabbit Couples Stimulating USB Rechargeable Rabbit Love Ring Black Happy Rabbit Rechargeable Wand Vibrator Black Happy Rabbit Remote Control Egg Contact your Williams Trading Co. sales rep for more details on how to obtain the promo offer. To help retailers shop the line, Williams Trading Co. has created a custom Happy Rabbit Summer Launch Flipsnack catalog, as well as a custom Happy Rabbit Landing Page. As further support to the Happy Rabbit line, Williams Trading Co. customers can log on to Williams Trading University, the free e-learning platform available to all Williams Trading Co. accounts. There, retailers will find two courses dedicated to the Happy Rabbit line of products. Completion of each course allows retail learners to certify their knowledge, and registration of each certification enters each student into a weekly drawing for a premium prize. For ordering and product information, call a Williams Trading Co. sales representative at (800) 423-8587 or visit www.williamstradingco.com. For drop shipment and e-commerce support visit dropship.williamstradingco.com. Williams Trading Co. is a full line adult wholesale distributor with over 40 years of experience and carrying more than 20,000 different items, with new products added weekly. Check out www.williamstradingco.com for its simple and effective online ordering system. Williams Trading Co. leads as the first adult distributor offering free e-learning for all new and existing customers. Williams Trading University is a free e-learning program available exclusively to existing and new Williams Trading Co. accounts. Since its inception, there have been over 105,000 e-learning course completions and the number is still growing. Online courses are available 24 hours/7 days per week at www.wtulearn.com. Conley wasnt the only business owner who bemoaned a lack of state action and guidance throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Aly and James Jay, the owners of Uptown Pubhouse, decided to close their business indefinitely before the governor's decision and said an absence of enforcement of social distancing at bars has been an issue. Aly Jay said when Uptown reopened, they worked hard and spent a lot of money to make the bar as safe as they could, installing plastic shields and limiting the number of customers. So it has been discouraging to see other bars flaunt those rules with little to no consequences from the state, Aly Jay said. As businesses reopened, the governor said bars that violated social distancing guidelines may lose their liquor licenses. But James Jay said in his view, that threat appears to have been empty. Somehow there should have been some oversight to make sure you werent having people suddenly crammed back into small spaces, because we see now that these are the spots where were having a lot of contracting of the virus, Aly Jay said. And thats exactly why they felt re-closing was the right decision to make, James Jay said. At the summit of Davenport Hill, an invigorating five-mile jaunt near Dogtown Lake south of Williams, I came upon quite a sight a cairn. Not just any cairn, though. This is a rock-stacking extravaganza, a cairn-building project taken to a ridiculous level. Were talking big, folks, something of Brobdingnagian proportions. This pyramid of basalt boulders must rise eight feet, perhaps four feet in diameter at its base and narrowing to a high point in which a single stone balanced precariously on its jagged edge. Cool? I suppose so. Not cool? Definitely so. OK, I debated going here. Not on the Davenport Hill Trail, which is a perfectly fine and somewhat vertically challenging out-and-back that you can combine with a two-mile loop around Dogtown Lake for a perfectly lovely adventure. Rather, did I really want to engage the reader, who probably just wants the facts on a new trail to tackle, in a Jeremiad about the environmental evils of rock stacking? Should I go there, at the risk of being branded a scold, a killjoy, a bore? Im going there. We are moving forward to open our three universities this fall. Why? Our three presidents and their teams understand the risks and the have the means to mitigate risks. What they are doing in this very different time marks them as leaders. In fact, Arizonas outstanding public universities are a leading example to other universities across the country that are taking their cue from our universities on how to create as safe a learning experience as possible. The board has supported collaboration where there are common needs for procurement and testing. But there is no single way to implement the boards Principles. The Principles will be expressed in different ways by the three public universities. Examples include: Arizona State University is offering three options for learning this fall: ASU immersion - the on-campus, technology enhanced learning; ASU Sync - technology-enhanced, interactive remote learning that can be used simultaneously with some in-person instruction; and iCourses courses delivered entirely online with lectures available on demand. As a leader, you dont do stuff like that ... its only right that we visit her at her home, said State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, speaking into a megaphone at the protest Sunday. During the video briefing Friday, Krewson held up a stack of crumpled papers and then read from them. Heres one that wants $50 million to go to Cure Violence, $75 million to go to Affordable Housing, $60 million to go to Health and Human Services and have zero go to the police, the mayor said. She then read the name of the person and their address. Krewson listed several other names and addresses, and stated that each individual called for defunding the police entirely. As the mayor spoke, viewers commented and asked her to stop sharing demonstrators personal information. The video was removed later that night. Krewson apologized in a statement late Friday, saying she did not intend to cause distress or harm to anyone. Emails or letters to elected officials, including names and addresses, are generally considered public records but are typically released only after a formal request. The original defense motion to suppress evidence states that the warrant applications were overbroad and didn't make specific allegations, most important the failure to reference any cellphone, tablet or computer possessed by the suspect. That taints other searches in the cases, the motion said. Isaak's lawyers argued in court documents that if the false and misleading statements are taken out of police affidavits, there's no way to tie the suspect shown on surveillance video inside the business to the person who got into a truck that belonged to Isaak. They cite what they believe to be conflicting stories on clothing worn by the suspect and misleading statements on video evidence. "Mr. Isaak respectfully requests that this Court trust its own eyes over the unsupported protestations of the State," defense attorneys wrote. Prosecutors counter that any inaccuracies were minor and the warrant applications were not only proper, they were reviewed by "multiple judges." They say the "totality of all the factual layers" in the documents meets the requirements of probable cause. "It is not a close call, though even a close call would be construed in favor of the issuing magistrate's decision," prosecutors said in court documents. Part of Bullock's proposal for reopening Montana included a goal of testing 60,000 people a month. Since the start of the year, 88,743 Montanans have been tested, though about 50,200 of those have come in the last month. The state is working with local groups to host surveillance testing of vulnerable populations like nursing home residents and employees, as well as testing in "destination" communities that are popular with travelers. Events like testing in Big Horn County have identified positives. Of the new cases reported Monday, a spokeswoman for Bullock said though investigations are ongoing, it appears few new cases are from testing events. Most positives in clusters start with the testing of symptomatic people, and through testing their contacts, the state is finding more asymptomatic cases. Tests for symptomatic people are generally sent to the state lab, where turnaround is about 24-48 hours. Tests collected at surveillance testing events for asymptomatic people generally go to private labs, unless someone tested reports symptoms. The turnaround for asymptomatic tests at private labs has a turnaround time of about three to five days. The Montana VA Health Care System also said Monday that enrolled veterans are eligible for free COVID-19 testing at 13 locations. Effective immediately, all University of Wyoming staff and students are required to wear face coverings on campus or while conducting school business, the university announced Monday. The university had already indicated that it would require face coverings as part of its fall reopening plan, which the school's governing board approved earlier this month. Students and employees don't have to wear them when alone in dorms or closed-door offices; there is still no requirement for "visitors to campus" to wear masks, though that "may be discussed further by the board in July," the university said in a press release. "Given its highly contagious nature and the unpredictability of how it will affect any given individual, it is imperative that we, as a community, treat it as the public health crisis that it is and take simple precautions to protect our families, our neighbors and ourselves, College of Health Sciences Dean David Jones said in the press release announcing the summer requirement. The universitys decision to implement a mask/facial covering policy was not made out of fear; it was made out of a sense of commitment to slowing and decreasing the spread of a highly contagious virus." The physical plant that we have, I'm hoping, coupled with the polytechnic concept, together is going to really position Bismarck State College well to serve the community and the state, Skogen said. He credited the Board of Higher Education and the Legislature with making the growth possible. He commended the Board of Higher Education for its selection of his successor, and said Jensen is excited about the polytechnic mandate. Weve set the table, and now it's up to Dr. Jensen with the BSC team to make it happen and expand on that and to build on it, Skogen said. I think in many ways, (Jensen) is going to be very much like me and that is trust your people, and stay out of their way. You know, you put good people in positions and let them do their job. It is with full confidence that I'm turning the reins over to Dr. Jensen. Jensen moved to Bismarck on June 15. He and Skogen have met multiple times in the past two weeks to talk about the history of the college, share documents and discuss strategies. Jensen has made multiple educational leadership transitions in his career and knows how it goes from both sides of the table. North Dakota expanded visitation at long-term care facilities to allow for more family indoor visits with nursing home residents in declining mental or physical health stemming from coronavirus pandemic restrictions put in place three months ago. Separately, state health officials reported another 38 coronavirus cases Tuesday, with half of the new cases coming from the Bismarck-Mandan area. The updated end-of-life guidance at long-term care facilities announced Tuesday allows for family indoor visitation with nursing home residents who are exhibiting documented signs and symptoms of "sharp psychosocial or medical decline" who may benefit from additional social interaction that can't be achieved outside, according to a news release from the North Dakota Joint Information Center. Officials stress that this exception will be allowed on a "very limited basis," must not be considered routine and can only be granted after consideration from a facility's clinical interdisciplinary team. Both state officials and advocates were pleased with Tuesday's announcement. "To say I'm happy would be an understatement," said Christopher Larson, a nursing home resident in Mayville and chairman of the Task Force on Reuniting Residents and Families. Kokomo, IN (46901) Today Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 73F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Low 48F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. The removal of historical statues and monuments that some deem offensive has accelerated in recent weeks. The issue is larger than any particular historical figure or event. Its about how we view American history and deal with the troubling aspects of our past. The most immediate point is that even if some statues and monuments warrant removal (as some probably do), they should not be unlawfully torn down by mobs. Laws protecting public monuments should be enforced, and those who seek removal should go through a legal process. The same local governments that have given tacit approval by not stopping spontaneous removal likely would be sympathetic to legal requests for removal. Statues themselves are not history. They are merely symbols of history. Tearing down statues and monuments is also symbolic, representing a reaction to interpretations of American history that for too long ignored or minimized racism, oppression and other uncomfortable parts of the story. But reaction can quickly become overreaction. Widespread removal of statues and monuments, especially without public debate, does not evince a desire to balance the scales of history. It seems more like an effort to tip the scales in the opposite direction, to historical interpretation as one-sided and simplistic as that which it seeks to replace. Ten years ago in June 2010, the Atlas of Living Australia and Museums Victoria signed an agreement with the Biodiversity Heritage Library and BHL Australia was born. BHL Australias mission is to make Australias biodiversity literature freely accessible and discoverable. Ten years ago, we started with a single contributing organisation, Museums Victoria, and a team of five incredibly dedicated volunteers. Over the past 10 years, BHL Australia has grown considerably. Our operation is still hosted by Museums Victoria (at the Melbourne Museum), but we now digitise literature (and ingest born-digital material) on behalf of 27 organisations across the country. We are now a truly national project, representing Australias state and territory museums, herbaria, royal societies and field naturalists clubs, as well as government agencies and natural history publishers. Together these organisations have contributed more than 350,000 pages from over 2,400 volumes. These volumes include treasures such as George Shaws The Naturalists Miscellany (1789-1813), Helena Forde and Harriet Scotts Australian lepidoptera and their transformations, drawn from the life (1890-1898) and John Goulds A synopsis of the birds of Australia, and the adjacent Islands (1837). BHL Australia has also uploaded an extensive list of journals onto BHL (they may not be as pretty, but theyre just as important). To peruse all 2,400+ volumes, see our full BHL Australia Collection. Our volunteer team has also grown since 2010; BHL Australia now has 15 amazing volunteers who do the majority of our scanning, cropping, image processing and metadata addition work, as well as three science communication volunteers. (You may have seen their hugely successful takeover of the BHL Instagram account during #BirdWeek last year.) Of course, like so many other digitisation operations around the globe, BHL Australia is now in lockdown (and has been since mid-March). But out of adversity comes opportunity. While in lockdown, weve switched our focus from physical to born-digital material. Weve welcomed new contributors and have uploaded journal volumes published as recently as 2020. Weve also started a major project (in collaboration with BHL superuser Rod Page) to upload article metadata for every Australian journal on BHL (were pretty obsessed with discoverability). And, like so many others, weve also had to postpone our celebrations. We had planned to invite all our Australian contributors and volunteers to a big BHL birthday bash. Thats on hold for now, but in the meantime, here are our BHL staff Cerise, Chris, Veronica and myself waving our thanks to all those who support BHL Australia. To our volunteers, our contributors, the Atlas of Living Australia and our BHL community around the world thank you for a wonderful 10 years! Avaya Holdings Corp. and RingCentral Inc. announced the global expansion and general availability of Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral in Australia, Canada, and the UK along with the availability of several key new features and capabilities including tools to help migrate customers more efficiently and effectively. We broke the news this past January regarding the partnership and Wall Streets positive reaction. Avaya Cloud Office is experiencing rapid global customer adoption, enhancing the way organizations communicate with customers, partners and with colleagues through an all-in-one solution that delivers seamless collaboration across multiple channels. Communication delivered via a single platform is increasingly important as 85 percent of companies use two or more disparate collaboration applications to meet customer and end-user requirements.1 By enabling voice calls, team messaging, meetings, conferencing and file sharing in a single solution, Avaya Cloud Office reduces cost and complexity while empowering workforces to call, meet and message across any device from wherever they are. Todays announcement highlights the continued expansion of Avaya Cloud Office to more countries and customers around the globe. The CIUSSS Est-de-lIle-de-Montreal (or CEMTL), a Canadian healthcare and social services provider with 15,000 employees across two hospitals, one university institute, eight clinics and fifteen long term care facilities turned to Avaya to power their communication needs. Avaya Cloud Office demonstrates the true value of UCaaS and enables us to act quickly and stay engaged across our locations, in particular during the COVID-19 crisis when effective and efficient communications and collaboration are critical and not an option. Avaya Cloud Office enables our team to collaborate seamlessly across locations and devices to better focus on the needs of our customers. Additionally, the deployment was fast and effortless, literally within hours we were up and running. Dennis Kozak, SVP, Business Transformation, Avaya The way we work continues to change as we see real examples of digital transformation accelerating rapidly across businesses of all sizes, said Dennis Kozak, SVP, Business Transformation, Avaya. Nothing is more critical to a business than communications and we have seen unprecedented uptake of our collaboration solutions as a result of the new working environment we are all experiencing. Organizations of all kinds are quickly adopting solutions that provide a single integrated platform to seamlessly manage communications with customers and employees, across multiple devices. Since its introduction in March, new features, including additional migration tools, enhanced devices support, along with advanced telephony management and other capabilities have been added to Avaya Cloud Office including: Expanded support for Avaya endpoint devices to ensure users have exactly the right solution for their needs. The additional device support also extends the rich meeting capabilities of Avaya Cloud Office into conference rooms, providing high fidelity sound quality. Migration tools and features to facilitate the transition of customers on previous Avaya UC premise-based platforms to Avaya Cloud Office, enabling them to seamlessly enjoy the feature-rich UCaaS capabilities of calling, meetings, messaging and more all based in the cloud. Additional features like Call Park and Page that allow customers to transition from existing Avaya platforms without changing the current processes they use every day. Over 130 integrations on the Avaya Cloud Office App Gallery leveraging desktop software tools, like Google Docs or O365, that people use every day, creating a seamless experience that eliminates the need to switch between applications. Avaya recently won CUSTOMER Magazines 2020 Product of the Year Award honoring the most innovative unified communications products and solutions available over the past year. Avaya Cloud Office also won the Unified Communications Magazine Product of The Year Award. It is now more important than ever before that vendors in UC&C are able to provide UCaaS for clients both new and potential, said Oru Mohiuddin, Research Manager Enterprise Communications & Collaboration, IDC. According to IDC Europe forecast, UCaaS will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 23.3% between 2019 and 2022, which is higher than the 17.1% anticipated during the pre-covid-19 period. IDC is seeing similar trends in places like Canada and Australia as well. This is to facilitate remote collaboration as working from home becomes the new norm in the post crisis period. It is, however, not just enough to provide UCaaS it needs to be customizable, flexible, modular, agile, frictionless, scalable, omnichannel and secure to cater to the varying needs of enterprises. Anand Eswaran, president and chief operating officer, RingCentral The way we work continues to rapidly evolve and organizations need modern cloud communications solutions to remain connected and accelerate business outcomes, said Anand Eswaran, president and chief operating officer, RingCentral. Avaya Cloud Office enables businesses to keep moving forward and ensure that customers have the right solutions at their fingertips to connect, communicate, and collaborate effectively. Ever since we launched in the US market, we have seen tremendous uptick for Avaya Cloud Office by the extensive and trusted ecosystem that Avaya has nurtured for many years. Avaya also recently announced master agent partnerships to meet the growing global demand for Avaya Cloud Office including: Australia CommsPlus Canada UK ScanSource Westcon UK Avant See the ONLY 5G, SD-WAN, Contact Center, Tech and Communications companies that matter at the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW. This Event has been called the BEST SHOW in 5 YEARS and the Best TECHNOLOGY EVENT of 2020. 2020 participants included: Amazon, Cisco, Google, IBM, ClearlyIP, Avaya, Vonage, 88, Comcast Business, BlueJeans, CoreDial, Dell, Edify, Epygi, FreeSWITCH, Fuze, Grandstream, Granite, Intrado, Frontier Business, Fujitsu, Jenne, West, Konftel, Intelisys, Martello, NetSapiens, OOMA, Oracle, OpenVox, Peerless Network, Phone Sentry, Phone.com, Poly, QuestBlue, RingByName, Sangoma, SingTel, SkySwitch, Spracht, Spectrum, Sprint, Tallac, Tech Data, Telarus, TCG, Teledynamics, Teli, Telinta, Telispire, Telstra, TransNexus, Unified Office, Vital PBX, VoIP Supply, Voxbone, VoIP.MS, Windstream, XCALY, XORCOM, Yealink, Yubox, and ZYCOO. Full List. Join 8K others with $25B+ in IT buying power who plan 2021 budgets! Including 3,500+ resellers! A unique experience with a collocated Future of Work Expo, SD-WAN Expo, and MSP Expo June 22-25, 2021, Miami, FL. Register now. Coronavirus: Trump hopes US will shake off pandemic by Easter 25 March 2020 Share this with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Email Share Related TopicsCoronavirus pandemic Media captionTrump on goal to reopen US by Easter: It's 'a beautiful timeline' US President Donald Trump has said he hopes the US will shake off coronavirus by Easter, even as New York's governor sounded the alarm that the illness is spreading faster than "a bullet train". The president told a White House news briefing reopening the US early next month would be "a beautiful timeline". Hours later, the Senate agreed a $2 trillion (1.7tn) economic rescue plan with the White House. The deal will be passed later on Wednesday by the Senate. "At last, we have a deal," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, citing the massive "wartime level of investment into our nation". The package includes tax rebates, loans, money for hospitals and rescue packages for businesses. The House of Representatives still needs to pass the legislation before it is sent to Mr Trump for his signature. The US has recorded almost 55,000 cases and nearly 800 deaths from coronavirus. Globally there have been more than 420,000 cases confirmed and approaching 19,000 deaths. What did President Trump say? On Tuesday, he told Fox News he hoped the country could get back to normal by Easter, which is on the weekend of 12 April. ADVERTISEMENT Ads by Teads Mr Trump, a Republican, said: "We're going to be opening relatively soon... I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter." He added in a subsequent interview: "Easter is a very special day for me... and you'll have packed churches all over our country." America is humbled - but there is a glimmer of hope Can I go for a walk? How to avoid 'quarantine-shaming' Mr Trump also warned that unless the country reopened for business it could suffer "a massive recession or depression". The president said: "You're going to lose people. You're going to have suicides by the thousands. You're going to have all sorts of things happen. You're going to have instability." Media captionCelebrating a birthday party by video chat Speaking at a White House briefing later, Mr Trump said he was beginning "to see the light at the end of the tunnel", though he said "our decision will be based on hard facts and data". Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases and a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, told the same press briefing: "No-one is going to want to tone down anything when you see what is going on in a place like New York City." What's happening in New York? With more than 25,000 coronavirus cases by Tuesday morning, the Empire state accounted for half of all US infections. Dr Deborah Birx, of the White House coronavirus taskforce, said on Tuesday the New York City metro area is the source of 60% of all new cases in the US. Media captionThe New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: The city 'is a test case' She advised anyone leaving the region to self-quarantine for two weeks. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, told another news conference on Tuesday: "The [infection] forecaster said to me, 'We were looking at a freight train coming across the country.' "'We're now looking at a bullet train.'" He added: "New York is the canary in the coal mine, New York is happening first, what is happening to New York will happen to California and Illinois, it is just a matter of time." The governor said New York's hospital system will soon reach breaking point unless the US Federal Emergency Management Agency urgently sends more healthcare supplies. "You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators," Mr Cuomo said. New York currently has 7,000 medical ventilators - machines used to keep patients breathing - but needs 30,000, the governor said. A tale of two media events On Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump sat in the verdant White House grounds for a Fox News "virtual town hall" and said he hoped to get US businesses reopened by Easter, in just over two weeks. "A great American resurrection," the Fox host suggested. A few hours earlier, Governor Cuomo held a much more sombre press conference at the Javits Center in Manhattan. The building, which three years ago hosted Hillary Clinton's ill-fated election-night party, is now a makeshift field hospital. The president and the governor - two New Yorkers with a long history - clashed over the state's shortage of ventilators to treat the most serious cases. Mr Trump blamed Mr Cuomo for not purchasing more in 2015, citing a conspiracy-mongering website. Mr Cuomo said the administration should use its emergency powers to order more machines manufactured. When it comes to easing the recent shelter-in-place orders, governors like Mr Cuomo, not the president, will have the final say. If there's disagreement, however, the American public could be left wondering what to believe. Why Trump wants US open for business despite pandemic THE LATEST: Live updates A SIMPLE GUIDE: What are the symptoms? AVOIDING CONTACT: Should I self-isolate? STRESS: How to protect your mental health VIDEO: The 20-second hand wash What is the current US situation? The US is more than halfway through a 15-day attempt to slow the spread of the virus through social distancing. The voluntary guidelines were issued by a government public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But while the president has been talking of easing restrictions, state and local leaders nationwide have been rapidly ratcheting up controls to contain the infection. Media captionWe explain why staying in is a matter of life and death On Tuesday, Wisconsin, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Mexico, West Virginia and Indiana introduced stay-at-home orders, bringing the total number of US states under such lockdowns to 17. In other developments: A New Jersey man has been charged with making a terroristic threat after he coughed on an employee of a Wegmans supermarket during an argument on Monday, and then claimed to have coronavirus. Governor Phil Murphy described the suspect as a "knucklehead" A 26-year-old in Missouri was arrested on Monday and charged with making a terrorist threat after he posted a video earlier this month of himself licking deodorants at a Walmart store while asking: "Who's scared of the coronavirus?" An individual in Kentucky tested positive after attending a "coronavirus party", according to the state's governor, who added: "Don't be so callous as to intentionally go to something and expose yourself to something that can kill other people" A 31-year-old Mexican national detained by US immigration officials in New Jersey became the first individual to test positive for Covid-19 while in the agency's custody Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image copyrightREUTERS Image caption A minor New York celebrity who poses for tourist photos as the Naked Cowboy wears a mask in mostly deserted Times Square Image copyrightREUTERS Image caption Rush hour on the New York City subway Related Topics New YorkSelf-isolationCoronavirus pandemicDonald TrumpUnited StatesSocial distancingUS politics Share this story About sharing Quite the scoop at CNN.com from Carl Bernstein, yes, the Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, with a 109-word one sentence lede. One wonders why none of the president's ex-men bothered to do anything about their revelation that Trump is unfit for office, beyond cashing in with speaking engagements and books. He pandered to enemies and strongmen like Putin and Erdogan, and was extremely abusive toward allies and female heads of state including Theresa May and Angela Merkel. Writes the one and only Carl Bernstein at CNN: In hundreds of highly classified phone calls with foreign heads of state, President Donald Trump was so consistently unprepared for discussion of serious issues, so often outplayed in his conversations with powerful leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and so abusive to leaders of America's principal allies, that the calls helped convince some senior US officials including his former secretaries of state and defense, two national security advisers and his longest-serving chief of staff that the President himself posed a danger to the national security of the United States, according to White House and intelligence officials intimately familiar with the contents of the conversations. The calls caused former top Trump deputies including national security advisers H.R. McMaster and John Bolton, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and White House chief of staff John Kelly, as well as intelligence officials to conclude that the President was often "delusional," as two sources put it, in his dealings with foreign leaders. The sources said there was little evidence that the President became more skillful or competent in his telephone conversations with most heads of state over time. Rather, he continued to believe that he could either charm, jawbone or bully almost any foreign leader into capitulating to his will, and often pursued goals more attuned to his own agenda than what many of his senior advisers considered the national interest. The viciousness Donald Trump expresses toward female counterparts is something else. Excerpt: By far the greatest number of Trump's telephone discussions with an individual head of state were with Erdogan, who sometimes phoned the White House at least twice a week and was put through directly to the President on standing orders from Trump, according to the sources. Meanwhile, the President regularly bullied and demeaned the leaders of America's principal allies, especially two women: telling Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom she was weak and lacked courage; and telling German Chancellor Angela Merkel that she was "stupid." Read the whole piece: From pandering to Putin to abusing allies and ignoring his own advisers, Trump's phone calls alarm US officials Responses from some media watchers on Twitter, below. Senior US officials believed Pres. Trump posed a danger to national security with his freewheeling classified phone calls to other heads of state, attempts to charm leaders like Russia's Vladimir Putin and calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel "stupid." https://t.co/E3GQyG6cnp CNN (@CNN) June 29, 2020 Bernstein's report is attributed to "White House and intelligence officials intimately familiar with the contents of the conversations." Former top Trump deputies concluded that POTUS was often "delusional" in his dealings with foreign leaders, two of the sources said. Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 29, 2020 The subtext of the Carl Bernstein CNN article is there are really a lot of people around Trump who know he's an existential threat to the country and they are freaking out. Schooley (@Rschooley) June 29, 2020 AZ governor Ducey orders bars, gyms, theaters to close 8 p.m. tonight Large gatherings restricted School start delayed People not wearing masks or social distancing is why we can't have nice things. Arizona's governor today ordered all bars, nightclubs, gyms, movie theaters and water parks in the state to close for at least 30 days as coronavirus continues to surge in the state. Better late than never, right? Effective at 8:00 p.m. tonight, we are instituting a month-long pause on the operations of bars, gyms, movie theaters, waterparks and tubing rentals. This will help relieve stress on our health care system and give time for new transmissions to slow. 2/ Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 29, 2020 Effective today, organized events of more than 50 people are prohibited. Arizonans should celebrate the 4th of July responsibly this weekend, including by staying home, avoiding larger gatherings, and wearing a mask if you do go out. 3/ Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 29, 2020 The first day of school for in-person learning will be delayed until August 17, 2020. Distance learning can begin before then. This delay allows additional time for schools to implement safety precautions, including making available remote learning options. 4/ Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 29, 2020 Starting today, the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control shall cease issuing special event licenses for the period between June 29, 2020 and July 27, 2020. 5/ Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 29, 2020 In addition, we're announcing a new grant program for long-term care facilities. Through the partnership, facilities will receive $10,000 for the purchase of electronic devices to facilitate video conferencing with residents and their families. @AZ_AARP 6/ Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 29, 2020 Today's actions follow recent steps to boost diagnostic testing, including expanding rapid testing; amplify contact tracing; fund additional PPE for long-term care settings; and enhance guidance for establishments to limit congregating and enforce mitigation policies. 7/ Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 29, 2020 We must be clear-eyed. The next few weeks will be hard. But these steps combined with stepped-up compliance with public health guidance can make a difference, and we're grateful to Arizonans for their cooperation. Stay home. Wear a mask. Be responsible. 8/8 Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 29, 2020 Arizona's governor is ordering bars, nightclubs, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days amid the pandemic. Health officials reported 3,858 more confirmed coronavirus cases Sunday, the most in a single day in the state so far.https://t.co/s1zmhmmKHM The Associated Press (@AP) June 29, 2020 Europe is reopening its borders to travelers as the coronavirus pandemic subsides in most developed countries. But not to those coming from the U.S., where the virus's spread remains largely unchecked. Most travelers from the United States will be barred from entering the European Union after it reopens its borders Wednesday because the coronavirus is still far too prevalent in the U.S., European officials announced Tuesday. The E.U.'s 27 members have been drawing up a list of countries whose virus levels are deemed low enough to allow people from those places to travel into the bloc, which has been mostly sealed off since March. Europe was a hotbed of coronavirus infection, with Italy hosting the earliest outbreaks in the west and the UK and Spain ending up suffering the worst per-capita numbers in the world. But infection rates there are now very low, compared the the U.S., which only briefly "flattened the curve" and is now experiencing its highest per-day infection rates since the pandemic began. The list of acceptable travel origins is only 15 countries and will be reviewed every two weeks, say officials. When John Ayres was drafted in 1965, he decided to go ahead and enlist in the U.S. Air Force but he wasnt expecting to get so much responsibility so quickly. After a couple of years stateside, Ayres was deployed to Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, which was directly involved with the Vietnam War, and he was put in charge of the sheet metal shop and the welding shop. The shops employed locals, and Ayres was able to get a crash course in the culture during his time there. I had nine locals working for me, and I was the lowest rank and the youngest NCOIC (noncommissioned officer in charge) at that airbase at that time. They gave me a lot of responsibility real quick, said Ayres, who was 22 years old at the time. His main responsibility there was to keep the portable airstrip in good shape. Whenever aircraft would crash land or come down with the wheels up which often happened if the planes hydraulics got shot, he said he would have to repair the strip, which was made out of interlocking honeycomb aluminum panels. He had help from his employees who were all skilled laborers, either welders or sheet metal workers, and Ayres said they were great at what they did. And even better, they liked him, too, he said, laughing. They called me Sergeant John, he said. The people in Thailand are really pro-American. Thailand was directly involved in the Vietnam War, too. They were our ally. He was invited to their houses many times, and he even attended one of his employees weddings, which he called a neat experience. It was night and day from a wedding youd see in the United States. The bride was all decorated, and it was very different, nothing like youd find here, he said. At the time, the skilled trades workers made about 50 cents an hour, Ayres said. Working so closely with the locals, Ayres became good at speaking broken Thai. Nakhon Phanom bordered Laos to the east of the Mekong River, so Ayres picked up some of the Laos dialect as well. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute I remember going to Bangkok on my way home, and there were some locals there. I was talking to them in their native language, and they were making fun of me because what I learned in Nakhon Phanom was a different dialect. It would be like somebody from Alabama talking to somebody from New York. Its just different dialects of the same language, and they were laughing at me. I thought it was funny myself, Ayres said. During his time in Thailand, he earned the Vietnam Service Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Accommodation Medal. Ayres returned from overseas in 1969 and went back to his job at then-Chrysler, where he had been working prior to his time in the service. By law, his job was held for him, and he was able to pick back up where he left off. He considered finding a job as a welder due to the skills he learned in the Air Force, but he said Chrysler paid better and had better benefits than any welding job at that time. In 2001, Ayres retired from Chrysler after 36 years, and he went on to serve in various leadership positions with veterans organizations. He was the post commander of VFW Post 1152 from 2003 to 2012. In 2011, he suffered a traumatic brain injury from a motorcycle accident and decided to hang up his hat as post commander. However, he later picked up more leadership roles and continued to earn high-level accolades. He served as District 5 Commander twice, from 2008 to 2009 and 2019 to 2020, and during that period he earned All-State District Commander four times, All-American District Commander three times which is the highest honor a district commander can get and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Award. That award is given to one person each year. It was a labor of love. I loved working those positions. Its all about veterans, and the VFW is probably the best veterans organization in this area as far as supporting veterans, he said. Ayres earned his latest All-American award this month at the end of his term as district commander. The veterans said the award meant a lot, especially receiving it while the local post has taken a hit due to COVID-19. During the pandemic, he was able to exceed 100-percent membership. Membership is the most important thing, and thats why when we speak to our representatives they listen because they know you represent a lot of veterans, he said. While his term as district commander has ended, Ayres said he will continue to serve as a trustee for VFW Post 1152. A judge granted a temporary restraining order against the publication of Mary Trump's forthcoming book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. Written by Donald Trump's niece, the book is a tell-all with unflattering details about Trump and his family. The book was due to be released on July 28th. From The Daily Beast: This decision is only preliminary, leaving the book's ultimate fate up to a later decision on the merits of the lawsuit. Mary Trump's attorney, Theadore Boutrous Jr., told The Daily Beast in a statement, "The trial court's temporary restraining order is only temporary but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment. We will immediately appeal." A person familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast the book, to be published by Simon and Schuster, is already on its third print run and the publishing giant are working to get the tome, which is currently Number Four on Amazon's best-seller list, out to bookstores ahead of its July 28th release. Finish this article for as low as $1 when you purchase a day pass. Just click the sign up button to purchase. If you are already a subscriber, just click log in to continue reading. The Branson Board of Aldermen on Thursday (now postponed to July 28) will consider an ordinance that would require face coverings in public spaces. The aldermen might approve it, disapprove it, or approve an amended version. Would you be in favor of some form of mandatory face covering ordinance in the city of Branson? You voted: 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. But as with the ZBA two weeks ago, board members noted that the backers actually live in the Fruit Belt, and particularly on Maple itself, while most of the critics do not something that Dr. Benjamin Cashaw of the Fruit Belt Coalition pointed out. "I cant understand all this outside concern and theyre not even residents," Cashaw said, alluding to South Buffalo land-use attorney Arthur Giacalone and Lorna Peterson, who lives on Delaware Avenue. "I am speaking as a resident and vested owner in the Fruit Belt. I know what I want. We do endorse this project." That carried weight. "From what were seeing and hearing, theres strong support, and I am willing to listen to those residents," said Planning Board Vice Chair Cynthia Schwartz. Nevertheless, Giacalone called the ZBA's vote "an unlawful intrusion into the Common Council's authority" over land-use, while Daniel Sack, another frequent development critic, said the developer "is more greedy than allowed" by code. But Cashaw and other neighbors said the neighborhood with more than 200 vacant lots lacks enough access to public transportation, parking and food options because it doesn't currently have enough demand. That's what they hope to change. "With this project, we will start to get municipal services like buses and other things, because there will be enough density to support it," he said. "This would add value and prosperity to the Fruit Belt." The business news you need With a weekly newsletter looking back at local history. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. When the Buffalo Zoo reopens this weekend, it will be without a familiar face in its Big Cat exhibit. Roary, a 4-year-old African lion who was born at the Buffalo Zoo, was moved to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio, this past week. In Columbus, Roary will join a female lion named Kazi and have the opportunity to start a family of his own in the future, the Buffalo Zoo announced Tuesday. The zoo also said that Roary's move opens the opportunity for Buffalo's trio of lions Tiberius, Lelie and Lusaka to breed. The zoo said Roary's move is based on a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan, which is designed to help ensure the survival of selected species in zoos and aquariums, most of which are threatened or endangered in the wild. "Participating in the Species Survival Program is one of the most significant ways zoos can help save wildlife," Buffalo Zoo President and CEO Norah Fletchall said in the release. "While Roary's departure is bittersweet for us, it means we continue to contribute to assuring a bright future for lions in zoos and in the wild." Great Point Capital is building a larger, 600,000-square-foot studio complex in Yonkers in partnership with Lionsgate Studios. It is also looking to open a third production facility in the United States and two more in the United Kingdom. "We talked to producers and talented filmmakers, and people have a great time making films here," Halmi said. "They feel welcomed and feel people go out of their way to make it easy to make films. There are local crew here that are very talented and an incredible abundance of locations to choose from." "We can't wait until next year comes around so we can start filling the studio with product," Halmi said. "It will be a state-of-the-art, best-in-class facility that will attract the big players to want to film in Buffalo." Halmi said they got a call out of the blue about a year ago from Bob and Mindy Rich, who met them at a coffee shop in New York City to sell them on the idea of opening a production facility in Buffalo. They were then flown to Buffalo to get a look around. "We couldn't find better local partners anywhere in the country than right here in Buffalo," Halmi said. "The Riches are like dealing with family." The total number of people who have been shot in Buffalo in June is 41 following two incidents on Monday. A 39-year-old Buffalo man was in serious condition after being shot in the city's Hamlin Park neighborhood, while a 24-year-old Buffalo man was in stable condition after what the Buffalo Police Department called a targeted shooting on West Tupper Street. There have been 10 shooting victims in the city since Saturday. Police say the 39-year-old man arrived at Erie County Medical Center in a civilian vehicle at approximately 7 p.m. Monday after suffering a gunshot wound. Detectives say that incident happened on Donaldson Road in the city's Hamlin Park neighborhood, between Main Street and Route 33. "We're kind of all just waiting," said Lynn Kinsella, owner of the Aurora Theater in East Aurora. Some representatives point to other industries allowed to reopen, at least in part, and wonder why they're excluded. And they say the state and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo have not clearly explained the reasoning behind these decisions. State officials, for their part, have said they'll share more information as they study how to move ahead after the four official phases. "Now you'll start to see as we develop the guidelines, other businesses and sectors that were not covered, that guidance will be issued on a regular basis," said Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. "That's all being developed." The state's phased reopening process has inspired frustration from business owners and members of the public alike. Most agreed with the goal of flattening the curve of the coronavirus outbreak. But critics complain the state's rules on who could reopen when, and how, were created in a haphazard fashion not strictly rooted in public safety. "We don't understand what science this is based on," said Geoff Falkner, a spokesman for the YMCA Buffalo Niagara, where nearly 70% of the 55,000 members have temporarily stopped paying their dues since the facilities closed. Cariol Holloman-Horne, a former Buffalo police officer who says she was fired for stopping a fellow officer from using a chokehold on a man 14 years ago, announced a new push Tuesday to pass legislation called "Cariol's Law," which she believes would combat the excessive use of force by police. " 'Cariol's Law' will protect officers who do stand up against police brutality and they will not be treated as I have been," Holloman-Horne said Tuesday morning while standing in front of the Buffalo Police and Fire Headquarters building. "... I don't want any other officer to be treated as I have been treated for doing the right thing." The legislation, which Holloman-Horne and other Buffalo advocates for the Black Lives Matter movement want the city to pass, would require a police officer to intervene when another officer is using excessive force, hold officers who fail to intervene accountable and protect whistleblowers. She's also fighting to have her termination from the Buffalo Police Department vacated and receive her full pension benefits. As protests have erupted across the country following the killing of George Floyd, who died while a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, Holloman-Horne's case in Buffalo has gained new -- and national -- attention. She was interviewed recently on CNN. Current Howard County Commissioner and Army Veteran Jack Dodd spent two years active duty and 20 years in the reserve, and his time in the service was varied and often unexpected. Dodd enlisted in the army right out of high school in 1974, and he was sent to Fort Knox in Kentucky. He joined with the hopes of becoming an armorer to work on small weapons, but that wasnt in the cards for him. I got out of basic training, walked about 500 feet to where I was supposed to get on-the-job training, and I had this big, burly first sergeant. He said, I dont need an armorer. He said, Can you type? I said, Yes, sir. And he said, Youre my new training NCO (noncommissioned officer). So thats what I did, Dodd said. Dodd worked in training until he received orders to be shipped to Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania to process Vietnamese refugees. It was the fall of the Vietnam War, and the U.S. was bringing back refugees. Dodds duties were, first, to make the camp livable. It hadnt been used in years and wasnt in great condition. When the refugees started coming in, Dodd worked to process them. They had to house them, create paperwork for them, and send them to different spots around the United States. It was very interesting to see. You saw families come through. You saw kids come through. You saw single adults come through. You just saw a little bit of everything come through, he said. You saw people come through with virtually nothing but the clothes on their backs. It was sad. You saw kids come through with no families, very sad You get to know the Vietnamese very well, and they needed to resettle here in the United States. They were scared. They were excited. They didnt know what to expect. The processing of the refugees started in spring 1975 and continued into the fall. Fort Indiantown Gap was one of several processing camps in the U.S. That camp processed 26,000 refugees alone. It received a lot of media coverage at the time. It was one of those things that the people of the area, some people were very receptive. Some people did not want that camp there, he said. Afterward, Dodd got out of the army and returned to Kokomo. It was tough, he said, as there werent many jobs available. So, he decided to join the army reserve and headed to Grissom Air Force Base and trained to be a reserve drill sergeant. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute He later began a career as a mental health professional working at Community Howard Regional Health, and he never expected to be activated. We used to have these standing jokes that, in the time of war, they would take anybody besides us. I mean, they wouldnt need the reserve drill sergeants. And then we got a surprise, Dodd said. It was January 1991, and Dodd was working at the hospital. He remembered a secretary coming in and telling Dodd he needed to take a call. His first sergeant was on the phone, and he told Dodd he was being activated and that he had to report tomorrow at 0700 hours. Dodd was caught off guard. He went into his boss office and told him he had to leave right then, and he didnt know when hed be back. There were a lot of things to think about, to get ready, my family, my kids, he said. So I left and went home, told my wife, got my stuff together, and the next morning we had to report to Fort Benning. His orders read for a year, and his job was to get ready to receive several thousand troops because it was believed another draft could start as Desert Storm was continuing. Dodd and the other service members had to create massive plans on how they were going to train the troops. However, the plans never materialized. The war was getting better daily, and another draft never happened. After 61 days, Dodd was able to return home, and he continued out his time in the reserve. He said he enjoyed being a reserve drill sergeant. Being a drill sergeant in the military was an honor. You see some of these active duty drill sergeants, and you know, its just amazing the level of dedication they put into training these young troops. It is truly amazing, male and female drill sergeants, Dodd said. He also thanked those whove served, including his wife and two brothers. His wife, Brenda, was a nurse in the army reserve and a second lieutenant for eight years. His brothers both were active duty. Robert Dodd was in the U.S. Navy and served during the Cuban missile crisis. Dan Dodd also served and suffers from the effects of Agent Orange. In court papers, many of them sealed and unavailable to the public, federal prosecutors have been careful not to detail the allegations against him, but it is clear they involve claims of a new terrorist plot. "His recent activities, which have given rise to the determination that he is a significant risk, are activities pointed to the United States," Steven A. Pratt, a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, said at a recent hearing. "The terror plot he has discussed has included Florida here in the United States." Well aware of the new allegations against him, Hassoun wrote to Wolford in February and suggested the government was fabricating lies in an effort to keep him in jail. "ICE has opened the door wide to anyone who are willing to lie and say bad things about me," he said. His lawyers say the allegations, detailed in a letter from FBI Director Christopher Wray to Homeland Security, are second- and third-hand accounts from other detainees. They also wonder why, if the claims are as serious and credible as the government insists, their client is not facing new criminal charges. As Western New York progresses through the phases of reopening the economy, many parents are returning to on-site work. But many summer camps and youth programs are not reopening, leaving families at a loss for safe, supervised care for their children. The New York State Network for Youth Success has developed a comprehensive Afterschool Recovery Plan to ensure that quality after-school and summer programs are available as we move into an uncertain future. The plan will enable providers to be deployed as the economy reopens and public health strategies adjust accordingly. It builds on after-school providers experience and lessons learned over the past three months. When conventional ways of working, learning and providing essential services were disrupted by Covid-19, after-school programs shifted resources to serve children and families. In addition to expanding part-day programs to full-day to accommodate essential workers, many after-school programs provided remote tutoring and virtual enrichment opportunities for students. FILE PHOTO: Workers spray insecticide at a maize field destroyed by Fall Army Worm at Pak Chong district in Thailand By Patpicha Tanakasempipat BANGKOK (Reuters) - The United States and Brazil lodged separate protests with Thailand over its ban on two farm chemicals earlier this month, documents reviewed by Reuters show, saying the "restrictive" and "serious" move could hurt key agricultural exports. Bangkok's pesticide ban could hit U.S. and Brazilian exports of wheat and soy that are worth more than $1 billion a year, according to United Nations data, potentially setting up a diplomatic showdown with Thailand, a leading importer of the commodities from both countries. The knock-on effect on Thailand's food chain could also add tens of billions of dollars to costs while slashing millions of jobs, according to one Thai industry estimate. Thailand added weedkiller paraquat and insecticide chlorpyrifos to its list of most hazardous substances on June 1, citing a need to protect human health. The move triggered another health regulation banning imported food products containing residues of prohibited chemicals. The import ban has been drafted pending comments from interested parties up to July 18 and will become law once published in Thailand's Royal Gazette. There is no apparent legal mechanism to derail the ban without first amending Thai health law. The United States and Brazil challenged Thailand's move in separate letters in late May after Thailand informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) of the pending import ban. Both the United States and Brazil suggested the Southeast Asian country lacked new scientific evidence, as required by the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), to justify a measure that could restrict international trade. "We have general concerns regarding the notified actions which appear to be more trade-restrictive than necessary," Russ Nicely, Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, wrote in a letter reviewed by Reuters. Thailand imports nearly all of its soybeans from the United States and Brazil. In 2019, Thailand was the world's eighth and fourth largest importer of U.S. and Brazilian soybeans, worth $525 million and $602 million, respectively, according to the United Nations Comtrade database. Story continues Thailand, also the 10th largest market for U.S. wheat, uses millions of tonnes of both crops each year to produce a range of products from cooking oil, noodles, to animal feed. The U.S. and Brazilian embassies in Thailand did not immediately comment. BAN 'DISREGARDS RISK ANALYSES' Mananya Thaiset, a Thai deputy agriculture minister who championed Bangkok's ban, has said the rationale is to protect human health at all costs. Mananya's office declined to comment to Reuters for this story. Paraquat, which has been linked to Parkinson's Disease in various research, is banned in the European Union and China, while Brazil itself is also prohibiting its use later this year. Several studies have also linked chlorpyrifos, banned in Europe and U.S. state California, to impaired brain development in children. But Brazil and the United States both urged Thailand to continue allowing imports of goods under Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) according to Codex, the international standards used for acceptable residue levels in traded food commodities. Many countries that ban paraquat or chlorpyrifos domestically still allow imported foods under MRL standards. "The Thai authority's approach disregards risk analyses in the setting of regulatory measures that may have serious impact on trade," said Brazil's agriculture ministry, in a letter reviewed by Reuters defending the use of insecticide chlorpyrifos. The latest tensions on farm chemicals come in the wake of a spat last year when the United States protested Thailand's plan to ban glyphosate, used in Bayer AG 's contentious weedkiller Roundup, the subject of many U.S. lawsuits claiming it causes cancer. Thailand later backed down on glyphosate, but proceeded to ban the other two pesticides. 'WE CAN'T CONTINUE' Thailand would be one of few major markets for agricultural goods to impose zero tolerance on imports of commodities containing residues. About 10 million Thai farming households are already facing up to the impact of the ban, especially on paraquat. "Other chemicals are expensive and do far more damage to main crops than paraquat, while killing weed with less efficiency," said Sarawut Rungmekarat, an agronomist at Kasetsart University in Bangkok. Thai agribusinesses also argue the import ban would create ripple effects that disrupts the domestic food chain, from animal feed to livestock, fishery, food industries. The import ban would cost Thai companies 1.7 trillion baht ($55 billion) and 12 million jobs, said the country's Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking, which urged Thailand's prime minister to introduce a grace period until end-2021. Thailand's animal feed industry relies almost entirely on importing 5 million tonnes of soybean and 1 million tonnes of wheat per year. "If you cut our supplies today, we simply can't continue," Pornsil Patchrintanakul, president of the Thai Feed Mill Association, told Reuters. "If we fall, everyone falls with us." (Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Kay Johnson and Kenneth Maxwell) VANCOUVER, BC, June 21, 2020 /CNW/ - Lida Resources Inc. (CSE:LIDA.CN - News) ("Lida" or the "Company") is Canadian exploration company that is currently targeting exploration in Peru and commenced trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") on May 28 , 2020 under the symbol LID. (Symbol change to "LIDA" effective June 4, 2020) To help our new and existing investors better understand existing operations and future objectives, Lida CEO, Leonard De Melt, is pleased to provide the following corporate updates. The San Vincente Property is the Company's principle property and the main focus for the Company. San Vicente Property The San Vicente Property ("Property") is located approximately 120 kilometers east of the coastal city of Trujillo, Peru in the district of Agallpampa, Province of Otuzco. The Property is located in the occidental part of the Tertiary Volcanic Belt of the Western Cordillera and is underlain by rocks of the Calipuy Formation, a precious and base metals metallotects formation found in Peru. The Calipuy Formation is the product of post tectonic volcanism in the Cordillera region. Lida has acquired the San Vicente mine which was in production of gold and silver concentrate until 2011. Lida has an agreement in place with the local community ("San Vicente Bajo La Union") for surface rights of 2,500 metres surrounding the mine opening and is in discussions to obtain further surface rights. The agreement gives Lida a permit for surface use for a period of 20 years. The rest of the surface rights are held by the communities of San Vicente Bajo La Union and San Vicente Alto La Union. The majority of the ground in the Concession is controlled by San Vicente Bajo La Union. Lida To date, exploration at the San Vicente Property has consisted of surface and underground mapping, mining exploration drives along structures and channel sampling of exploration drives. The surface and underground mapping conducted on the Property by the previous owner produced 187 samples from 66 channels, identifying three (3) mineralized structures. The Corporation will strive to supplement the activities conducted by previous owner with the planned Stage One activities in order to further evaluate the San Vicente Property. Story continues Plans Going Forward. Lida is presently reviewing numerous additional concessions in Peru. The Peruvian Government commenced a four-month amnesty period beginning January 15, 2020 allowing new and existing mining operations another opportunity to register with the Ministry of Energy and Mines, to demonstrate their compliance with environmental and safety regulations and remit taxes on sales of extracted minerals. As indicated, this represented a renewed window of opportunity within the mining sector to potentially increase the market supply of mineral rich material. The initial results from re-opening the formalization process have been positive as the number of miners registered has grown 22% to an estimated 66,000 in March 2020, from approximately 54,000 as of January 2020. Lida is reviewing this opportunity and plans to potentially buy a number of these mines. Stage One work on the San Vicente Property will be divided into two parts, with the first part consisting of initial evaluation, survey of the Property, map out surface, infrastructure and improve local access roads and the second part consisting of detail surface and geological mapping, Geophysics, channel sampling and drilling. The estimated budget for completing both parts of Stage One is $250,000 to $300,000, with an expected time frame of 4 months Management Team Leonard De Melt, ASCT, BA, HdM, CEO Len De Melt has nearly 30 years of project management and mine development experience that he brings to the Company. He is a Certified Engineering Technologist from the Haileybury School of Mines and also hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management. He has held management positions with 12 mining companies internationally. He has worked with many teams that have resulted in numerous mines and great discoveries, primarily focused in Peru for over 25 years. Len is tri-lingual and feel very comfortable working in South America. He was one of the founders of Norsemont which was sold to Hudbay for $xxx million and resulted in the Constancia Mine, Hudbay's biggest mine in Peru. He was also the President of Vena Resources when it was sold to Glencore, and the subject property become the Azul Cocha Mine in Central Peru. Geoffrey Balderson, CFO Geoffrey Balderson is the President of Harmony Corporate Services Ltd., a company that provides corporate, secretarial, bookkeeping, accounting and filing services to public companies or companies that are working on going public. In addition, Mr. Balderson has been an officer and director of several TSX Venture Exchange listed companies over the past 12 years. Prior to that he was an investment advisor at Union Securities and Georgia Pacific Securities Corp. Mr. Balderson holds a Sales and Marketing Diploma from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. Andrew von Kursell, Director Mr. von Kursell has been involved in mining operations in Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uganda and China. Mr. von Kursell is a Professional Engineer, registered in BC, Ontario, Life Member in Nova Scotia and retired in Yukon. He earned a Bachelor of Mining Engineering degree from McGill University. Patrick Morris, Director Patrick Morris is an entrepreneur and capital markets executive with over 15 years of experience. In addition, Mr. Morris co-created and co-produced Canada's first nationally syndicated radio show about growth stock opportunities, which was broadcast on 14 of the top-rated news talk stations across Canada. Erick Underwood, Director Mr. Underwood has over 25 years of experience in corporate development, business planning and analysis, treasury and accounting for the mining industry including 14 years while being based in Chile and Peru. Mr. Underwood holds a CPA, CMA professional designation from CPA Ontario. Mr. Underwood holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management of University of Toronto, a Graduate Diploma in Management from McGill University and a B. Comm. (Finance & International Business) from McGill University. About Lida Resources Inc. Lida acquires properties by staking initial mineral claims, negotiating for permits from government authorities, acquiring mineral claims or permits from existing holders, entering into option agreements to acquire interests in mineral claims or purchasing companies with mineral claims or permits. On these properties, the Company explores for minerals on its own or in joint ventures with others. Exploration for metals usually includes surface sampling, airborne and/or ground geophysical surveys and drilling. The Company is not limited to any particular metal or region, but the corporate focus is on precious and base metals in South America, specifically Peru, as at the date hereof. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION DISCLAIMER Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward looking information, including but not limited to, expansion of operations. Forward looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward looking information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward looking information as a result of competitive factors and competition for investment opportunities, challenges relating to operations in international markets, transaction execution risk, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable based on current expectations and potential investment pipeline, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. 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, except as required by applicable securities legislation. Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lida-resources-inc-provides-a-corporate-update-301080819.html SOURCE Lida Resources Inc Cision View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/22/c0728.html A family business that started with roadside stands run by young boys selling close-to-the-ground fireworks each summer has evolved into a longstanding, full-fledged business selling some of the most popular fireworks on the market. Mr. Fireworks was started in 1964 by the late Ed Hudson, a Kokomo Police Department officer and entrepreneur. He owned a gas station, and he decided one year to purchase fireworks, set up a stand in front of the gas station, and let his young sons, Brian and Kevin, run it. Back then, only safe and sane fireworks could be sold: smoke balls, snakes, fountains, and the like. Wed get card tables, and we would sell to people. My brother and I would sit outside and do it however long we were out there. To me it seemed like we were out there for a couple months, but we were probably only out there a couple weeks, said Brian, who was 8 years old at the time. After the first year, Brians mother and stepfather, Amy and Tom Boonstra, took over the business side of the venture, as Hudson became too busy with his other business and fulltime job. With that pair overseeing the operation, Brians three stepbrothers also jumped in to help, and the five boys began running the fireworks stands at different locations around Kokomo. The boys parents would take them to the stands, drop them off for the day, and pick them up at closing time. The kicker was that all the money the boys made was theirs to keep. We were 9, 10, and 11 years old, and we did this for us to make money, Brian said. Brain said he and his brothers were earning so much money for young boys, and they were blowing it all. When Kevin was 13, the five of them pooled their money to buy a car, a 1950 Chevy, that they shared and even drove before any of them were of legal driving age. They had a boat, mini bikes, and they were the people to be around every summer when the Howard County 4-H Fair came around, Brian said, as they had money burning holes in their pockets. Eventually Brian said his parents got tired of seeing them blow so much money and said enough was enough. We did it for a few years, and they saw we were making too much money and blowing it. So it got jerked out of our hands, he said. They were like, My God, these kids are making way too much money. So they kind of took it from us, and we started working for them. I dont believe we ever got paid again. The boys continued working the stands each summer through high school, and the money was set aside for something less frivolous, their educations. According to Brian, the money earned from the stands paid for all five of the boys to go to college. Four of them attended IU Bloomington, and one went to Ball State University. Around the time Brian went off to college, the fireworks business began to change. Now, the bigger out-of-state fireworks became legal, but they came with a catch. Those fireworks werent allowed to be set off in Indiana, though they could be sold in the Hoosier state, so customers would have to sign affidavits saying they would take the fireworks which now included firecrackers, bottle rockets, and roman candles out of state to set them off. You could not shoot them in Indiana, and you can imagine how many people truly took them out of state, Brian said. People were excited. There would be lines out the door at Mr. Fireworks of people waiting to buy the fireworks. Brian said theyd have a person at the door checking IDs, as customers had to be age 18 or older, and passing out the affidavits. It boosted the business like crazy. Now, the family also began supplying chain stores and mom-and-pop grocery stores around the Midwest with fireworks. Tom would travel overseas to purchase the fireworks himself for the business and to supply to other businesses. The once roadside stand now was a full-fledged business. Tom was an accountant at Delco, and Amy also worked at Delco. She quit to focus on the fireworks business, and then Tom retired soon after also to focus on the business. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute Around that time, the boys slowly were graduating college and they quickly became needed again as tragedy struck the family. In 1983, Tom was traveling to China to purchase more fireworks when he had a fatal heart attack. Afterward, Brian returned to Kokomo to help his mom with the business, and hes been working there ever since. The affidavit requirement continued for many years, allowing Hoosiers to purchase out-of-state fireworks, and then more changes occurred with the law. Somebody took it to court, got smart and stopped us from doing that (allowing the sales of out-of-state fireworks), he said. We knew we werent going to win if this went to court, so we set up a fireworks association in Indiana. Through that association, the Indiana Fire Users Association, members proposed setting up designated shooting sites in Indiana where people could go to shoot off these types of fireworks and it passed. Now, when customers went to purchase the fireworks, they had to sign a card and pay $2 to join the club, allowing them to shoot off the fireworks from the approximately 20 shooting sites sprinkled around the state. The stuff you bought off of us, you could go and shoot any of it off at these designated areas. Again you can imagine how many people did that, Brain said. The law also escalated along the way and prohibited roadside stands. While a few were grandfathered in, Brian said around 99 percent of fireworks stores in the state today are in permanent structures, as became required by law. Mr. Fireworks first permanent structure was at 902 S. Reed Road before it was relocated to 1244 E. Gano St., which remains one of the Mr. Fireworks stores still today. Brian said he knew the shooting site requirement wouldnt last, so he and other members of the fireworks industry continued lobbying at the statehouse every winter. Finally, a bill passed in 2006 by then-Gov. Mitch Daniels that allowed the bigger fireworks to be set off in-state and not just at designated sites so long as they were set off on private property and during designated times. That helped the fireworks business even more. While countless customers didnt mind signing the affidavits or purchasing the $2 club cards, many did. Youd be amazed how many people really dont want to lie and say theyre taking them to these sites. They did not want to come in and sign something that they were putting their names on that they knew they werent going to do. So a lot of people would not buy because of that. I wouldnt say half the people wouldnt do it, but Id say a good quarter of the people would just come and buy the safe and sane stuff that they could shoot and stay away from the consumer fireworks, Brian said. Because of the change in the law, the overall sales of fireworks over the years has increased four-fold, Brian said. More people are buying it. More people are used to it, and now its become almost a tradition for every family to buy this stuff and shoot it of whereas before it was almost like shoot it off, run inside, shoot it off, run inside, Brian said. So over the years, just legalizing it has allowed the people that wanted to shoot it off but just did not want to break the law to be able to. Over the years, Mr. Fireworks has expanded. Each season, there are between six and 12 Mr. Fireworks stores located in Kokomo and central Indiana. This year, Mr. Fireworks has three Kokomo locations (in the Markland Mall next to PetSmart, at 112 N. Dixon Road behind CVS, and the Gano Street location), one Delphi location, one Lafayette location, and one Tipton location. While the business is still in the Hudson family, Brian said it couldnt be done without the many employees Mr. Fireworks relies on year after year, many of whom are college students and teachers. He said the revenue has paid for many students college education, including his own son and step-daughter's. It helped them get into college, and theres different people that run the stores, usually college kids, suing the money for college, he said. Its helped all of us. Its been a long haul, but its been good to us all these years. Mr. Fireworks stores are open now, at least from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. As the Fourth of July nears, hours will be extended. Brian encouraged people to visit Mr. Fireworks on Facebook for the most up-to-date hours. By Tina Bellon WARWICK, Rhode Island (Reuters) - Urban transportation's transformation has shifted up a gear as the coronavirus crisis turns travel habits on their head, with Uber making allies of public transit systems by now offering to sell them its software expertise. This means Marin County's Transportation Authority will next month allow passengers in the San Francisco Bay area to book a trip through the Uber app, but rather than someone's private car they will ride wheelchair-accessible public vans. From the streets of Utah's Salt Lake City to Missouri's St. Louis and New Jersey's Jersey City, more than 120 U.S. transit agencies have launched collaborations with ride-hail firms in the past two years, data analyzed by Reuters shows. "Providing software is a higher-margin service for us. We're leveraging technology we've been building for years," David Reich, Uber Technologies Inc's head of transit, said. Uber is talking with dozens of worldwide transit agencies to implement software-based projects, Reich added. Lyft Inc, Uber and other ride hailing companies have previously been competing with public bus and train services for revenue from commuters. But during the coronavirus crisis they are leaning on each other in an urgent search for cost savings and new business opportunities, with many cities planning to expand or permanently implement on-demand services operated or powered by ride-hail companies. This they hope will not only save costs, but improve access to business districts and convince transit-wary commuters and shoppers to ditch their cars. Replacing low-use routes allows cities to offload insurance costs or move existing buses onto more profitable routes. For a graphic on how U.S. mobility patterns changed during the pandemic, click here: https://tmsnrt.rs/3eEFmAC As states reopen trip requests are still well below last year's levels and the companies have had to make massive cost cuts and lay off thousands. Meanwhile, transit officials are struggling with the costs of running largely empty buses on routes that no longer serve residents' needs. Story continues "There's a need for us to work together and the flexibility their technology provides really plays a big role," Carlos Cruz-Casas, assistant director of Miami-Date County's department of transportation said of Uber and Lyft. The county began replacing night buses with subsidized ride-hail trips during the pandemic, when ridership dropped as much as 80%. Now, Miami-Dade plans to offer the option permanently as part of a larger bus route restructuring program. Passengers in Denver and Las Vegas can buy transit tickets through Uber's app, which already integrates information from more than 15 cities worldwide. Uber has partnerships with more than 30 global transit agencies that use its ride services to connect riders to hubs, replace low-use bus lines or offer wheelchair-accessibility. Lyft, which only operates in the United States and Canada, launched its transit program in 2016 and has since partnered with more than 80 cities to provide transit hub connections, paratransit, night and weekend support, its head of transit and micromobility policy, Caroline Samponaro, said. Lyft, which seen growing interest from transit agencies during the pandemic, also integrates transit data from several U.S. cities into its app, but does not at present offer software-based services to transit agencies, Samponaro said. Via, a privately-held transportation company, is operating consumer ride-hail services in six global cities, some of them in a joint venture with Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz, and has struck transit partnerships with more than 90 agencies around the world. Some 80% of Via's transit projects are purely software-based, its chief executive Daniel Ramot said, with transit agencies using its routing technology. "There's a recognition that transit budgets will be very thin for a long time and demand much more volatile," Ramot said. (Reporting by Tina Bellon in Warwick, Rhode Island; Editing by Alexander Smith) By Colin Packham and Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will spend A$1.35 billion ($926.1 million) over the next 10 years to boost its cyber security defences, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, as Canberra seeks to combat a wave of attacks. The announcement comes just weeks after Australia said a "sophisticated state-based actor" has been attacking all levels of the government, political bodies, essential service providers and operators of critical infrastructure. Although Australia has declined to say who it believed was responsible for the attacks, three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters the country believed China was responsible, a suggestion swiftly dismissed by Beijing. "The federal government's top priority is protecting our nation's economy, national security and sovereignty. Malicious cyber activity undermines that," Morrison said in a statement. The package will include A$470 million to hire an extra 500 security experts in the Australian Signals Directorate, the country's cyber intelligence agency. The funding is part of a A$15 billion investment in cyber warfare capabilities, Australia's Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said, a plan that was accelerated after an electronic attack on Australia's parliament and three largest political parties in 2019. Australia has never publicly disclosed who was responsible for the hack that came just months before an election, but Reuters reported late last year that the country's intelligence agencies quietly determined China was responsible for that cyber-attack. China denies that it was responsible for the attack. ($1 = 1.4577 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Raju Gopalakrishnan) The Canadian Press AMSTERDAM (AP) Goran Pandev is ready to retire from international soccer again. The 37-year-old Pandev said Sunday that North Macedonia's final group match at the European Championship will be his last. Yes, this is it for me, the last match in the jersey of Macedonia national football team, Pandev said. I think this is the right moment to say goodbye to the national team. North Macedonia will face the Netherlands on Monday in Group C. The Dutch have already won the group and North Maced Greece is extending its ban on UK flights for another two weeks, the country's prime minister has said. British holidaymakers will not be allowed to fly to Greece until 15 July, despite the country opening its borders to other international visitors on Wednesday. The decision, which will also see flights from Sweden banned for another two weeks, was made during a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his officials. It means British families with Greek getaways booked for the school summer holidays should still be able to travel - unless the restrictions are extended further. On Monday, a group of 180 German doctors, police officers and supermarket workers were the first foreign visitors to touch down on the Greek island of Kos after they were given a free holiday to thank them for their work fighting coronavirus . The changes come after Thailand revealed it will lift its international flight ban on 1 July, but only to foreigners who have Thai work permits, residency or family living in the country - and not tourists. People travelling to Thailand for medical treatment, including cosmetic surgery and fertility treatment, are also being allowed in, but will have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival. Business visitors from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and Hong Kong could avoid a two-week quarantine if they show a certificate to prove they do not have coronavirus and are tested on arrival. Pubs, bars and karaoke venues across the country will also be allowed to reopen from Wednesday in a bid to revive the Thai economy. They will be allowed to stay open until midnight, but tables will be spaced 2m apart, a government spokesman said. Taweesin Wisanuyothin, of the Thai government's COVID-19 Situation Administration, added: "Alcohol consumption could reduce discipline so there will be close monitoring before customers enter venues." :: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker Story continues Last week, it was confirmed Britons who holiday in France or Spain this summer will not have to isolate when they come home. Greece was also on a list of countries allowed to form "air bridges" with the UK from 6 July, with TUI, the nation's biggest holiday company, due to resume routes to four Greek islands on 11 July. But now Britons will have to wait until 15 July if they want to go, with the Greek PM claiming measures will be under "continuous review". Carmen Quintero works an early shift at a distribution warehouse that ships N95 masks and other products to a nation under siege from the coronavirus. On March 23, she had developed a severe cough, and her voice, usually quick and enthusiastic, was barely a whisper. A human resources staff member told Quintero she needed to go home. They told me I couldnt come back until I was tested, said Quintero, who was also told that she would need to document that she didnt have the virus. Her primary care doctor directed her to the nearest emergency room for testing because the practice had no coronavirus tests. The Corona Regional Medical Center is just around the corner from her house in Corona, California, and there a nurse tested her breathing and gave her a chest X-ray. But the hospital didnt have any tests either, and the nurse told her to go to Riverside Countys public health department. There, a public health worker gave her an 800 number to call to schedule a test. The earliest the county could test her was April 7, more than two weeks later. At the hospital, Quintero got a doctors note saying she should stay home from work for a week, and she was told to behave as if she had COVID-19, isolating herself from vulnerable household members. That was difficult Quintero lives with her grandmother and her girlfriends parents but she managed. No one else in her home got sick, and by the time April 7 came, she felt better and decided not to get the coronavirus test. Then the bill came. The Patient: Carmen Quintero, 35, of Corona, California, who works at a distribution warehouse. She has an Anthem Blue Cross health insurance plan through her job with a $3,500 annual deductible. Total Bill: Corona Regional Medical Center billed Quintero $1,010, and Corona Regional Emergency Medical Associates billed an additional $830 for physician services. She also paid $50 at Walgreens to fill a prescription for an inhaler. Service Provider: Corona Regional Medical Center, a for-profit hospital owned by Universal Health Services, a company based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which is one of the largest health care management companies in the nation. The hospital contracts with Corona Regional Emergency Medical Associates, part of Emergent Medical Associates. Story continues Medical Service: Quintero was evaluated in the emergency room for symptoms consistent with COVID-19: a wracking cough and difficulty breathing. She had a chest X-ray and a breathing treatment and was prescribed an inhaler. What Gives: On that day in late March when her body shook from coughing, Quinteros immediate worry was infecting her family, especially her girlfriends parents, both over 65, and her 84-year-old grandmother. If something was to happen to them, I dont know if I would have been able to live with it, said Quintero. Heidi de Marco/KHN Carmen Quintero (right) and her grandmother, Teresa Carapia Quintero wanted to isolate in a hotel, but she could hardly afford to for the week that she stayed home. She had only three paid sick days and was forced to take vacation time until her symptoms subsided and she was allowed back at work. At the time, few places provided publicly funded hotel rooms for sick people to isolate, and Quintero was not offered any help. For her medical care, Quintero knew she had a high-deductible plan yet felt she had no choice but to follow her doctors advice and go to the nearest emergency room to get tested. She assumed she would get the test and not have to pay. Congress had passed the CARES Act just the week before, with its headlines saying coronavirus testing would be free. RELATED: Man Gets a $1.1 Million Bill After Spending 62 Days in the Hospital with Coronavirus That legislation turned out to be riddled with loopholes, especially for people like Quintero who needed and wanted a coronavirus test but couldnt get one early in the pandemic. I just didnt think it was fair because I went in there to get tested, she said. Some insurance companies are voluntarily reducing copayments for COVID-related emergency room visits. Quintero said her insurer, Anthem Blue Cross, would not reduce her bill. Anthem would not discuss the case until Quintero signed its own privacy waiver; it would not accept a signed standard waiver KHN uses. The hospital would not discuss the bill with a reporter unless Quintero could also be on the phone, something that has yet to be arranged around Quinteros workday, which begins at 4 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. RELATED: Uninsured Woman Received a Bill for Over $34,000 for Coronavirus Testing and Treatment Three states have gone further than Congress to waive cost sharing for testing and diagnosis of pneumonia and influenza, given these illnesses are often mistaken for COVID-19. California is not one of them, and because Quinteros employer is self-insured the company pays for health services directly from its own funds it is exempt from state directives anyway. The U.S. Department of Labor regulates all self-funded insurance plans. In 2019, nearly 2 in 3 covered workers were in these types of plans. New York Area Requiring 14-Day Quarantine for Travelers from States with Soaring Coronavirus Cases The quarantine, for those coming to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, will be voluntary and individuals will largely be trusted to self-isolate on their own, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Resolution: As lockdown restrictions ease and coronavirus cases rise around the country, public health officials say quickly isolating sick people before the virus spreads through families is essential. But isolation efforts have gotten little attention in the U.S. Nearly all local health departments, including Riverside County, where Quintero lives, now have these programs, according to the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Many were designed to shelter people experiencing homelessness but can be used to isolate others. Raymond Niaura, interim chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at New York University, said these programs are used inconsistently and have been poorly promoted to the public. No one has done this before and a lot of whats happening is that people are making it up as they go along, said Niaura. Weve just never been in a circumstance like this. Quintero still worries about bringing the virus home to her family and fears being in the same room with her grandmother. She works at a warehouse that distributes 3M products including personal protective equipment and other companies products, and when she returns from work every day now, she puts her clothes in a separate hamper and diligently washes her hands before she interacts with anyone. The bills have been another constant worry. Quintero called the hospital and her insurance company and complained that she should not have to pay since she was seeking a test on her doctors orders. Neither budged, and the bills labeled payment reminders soon became final notices. She reluctantly agreed to pay $100 a month toward her balance $50 to the hospital and $50 to the doctors. None of them wanted to work with me, Quintero said. I just have to give the first payment on each bill so they wouldnt send me to collections. The Takeaway: If you suspect you have COVID-19 and need to isolate to protect vulnerable members of your household, call your local public health department. Most counties have isolation and quarantine programs, but these resources are not well known. You may be placed in a hotel, recreational vehicle or other type of housing while you wait out the infection period. You do not need to have a positive COVID test to qualify for these programs and can use these programs while you await your test result. But this is an area in which public health officials repeatedly offer clear guidance 14 days of isolation which most people find impossible to follow. At this point in the pandemic, tests are more widely available and federal law is very clearly on your side: You should not be charged any cost sharing for a coronavirus test. Be wary, though, if your doctor directs you to the emergency room for a COVID test, because any additional care you get there could come at a high price. Ask if there are any other testing sites available. If you do find yourself with a big bill related to suspected COVID, push beyond a telephone call with your insurance company and file a formal appeal. If you feel comfortable, ask your employers human resources staff to argue on your behalf. Then, call the helpline for your state insurance commissioner and file a separate appeal. Press insurers and big companies that offer self-insured plans to follow the spirit of the law, even if the letter of the law seems to let them off the hook. KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. At least 18 people were killed and at least six were injured in an explosion and fire at a medical clinic in Tehran, Iran, on June 30, local news reported. According to reports, the explosion and subsequent fire at the Sina Athar Clinic located near the Tajrish Metro Station were attributed to a gas leak after initial investigations by authorities. Videos from the Iranian Students News Agency show firefighters battling the blaze, injured people being carried away, and local authorities on the scene. Credit: Iranian Students News Agency via Storyful Building a judicial system that reflects the racial and cultural makeup of the country it serves takes "patience" but being patient doesn't mean waiting forever, says Federal Court Justice Paul Favel. Favel, originally from the Poundmaker Cree Nation, is the only Indigenous judge on the Federal Court and just the second in Canadian history (Justice Leonard Mandamin, from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve in Ontario, retired last year). He said he thinks the Canadian judiciary is slowly getting more diverse but the federal government's commitment to building on that diversity needs "aggressive timelines" to succeed. "It's going to take some patience, but patience doesn't mean waiting another 50 to 100 years," said Favel, who was appointed to the bench in 2017 by then-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould. "Patience means, 'OK, let's get to work.'" Andrew Balfour Despite the Trudeau government's promise to appoint a more diverse bench, change has been slow. Since 2016, only three per cent of federal judicial appointments have self-identified as Indigenous and eight per cent have identified as visible minorities, according to the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs. Building a 'better bench' Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti insists the government is working to close the gap. Since the beginning of the Trudeau government's second mandate, approximately 55 per cent of all federally appointed judges have been women, 20 per cent have been racialized Canadians and two per cent have been Indigenous, according to the commissioner's office. "We have outstanding candidates that we are appointing across Canada, who happen to be diverse," Lametti said. "But the key is getting really good, exceptional individuals who happen to be diverse to apply, and then that allows us to build a better bench a bench that reflects Canadians." Story continues Emilio Avalos/Radio-Canada Over the last year, 320 people applied for federally appointed judicial roles, according to statistics made public by the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs. Of those, 150 self-identified as women, 15 as Indigenous, 45 as visible minorities and 19 as LGBTQ2. "There is a need for qualified people of all backgrounds, of all genders, of all sexual preferences, of all racial and ethnic groups, to make their applications," said John Stefaniuk, chairperson of the Judicial Issues Subcommittee and an incoming member of the board of directors for the Canadian Bar Association. "It's a little bit onerous, but not incredibly onerous, to go through that process, and that's the only way we're going to get that representation." Candidates for judicial appointments need at least 10 years of experience at the bar and must go through a lengthy application process that can take two years. Re-thinking the application process Some say the application requirements need to change. Jean Teillet, a lawyer, writer and great-grandniece of Louis Riel, said the appointments process is skewed toward a specific type of personality and favours apolitical people. "You're always looking for the person who will conform to that pre-existing concept of what a judge is," Teillet said. "I personally think we should be examining what [the process] judges in order to get real diversity on the bench." Brian Morris/CBC Teillet said the problem struck her when she was watching a play in Regina a few years ago about the trial of her great grand-uncle. "Those judges from 1885 could have been, with almost no change, in our courtroom today," Teillet said. "What it shows you is that our judicial system is locked in stasis I think we're long overdue for a wholesale re-evaluation of the entire system." Bilingualism barrier No Indigenous judge has ever served on the Supreme Court of Canada. The high court has seen some diversity improvements at the clerk level, where 22 per cent self-identify as visible minority and three per cent as Indigenous. The bilingualism requirement has been cited by many as presenting an obstacle to the appointment of Indigenous justices to the Supreme Court. Teillet said the ability to speak Indigenous languages should be evaluated on a par with proficiency in French. "The fact that you don't speak French shouldn't always be seen as a barrier to being on the Supreme Court of Canada," Teillet said. "Anything that sets a rigid rule all the way across the line, that everybody has to meet this marker, means that you are disqualifying perhaps hundreds of really qualified people who could be sitting on the Supreme Court of Canada, who could bring much more diversity." The Canadian Bar Association does not believe a candidate's inability to communicate in both official languages should always be a disqualifying factor, said Stefaniuk. "I think the expectation would be that an individual appointed who was not bilingual would take efforts to improve their facility in the other official language," Stefaniuk said. "Bilingualism is an important aspect in the evaluation of a candidate's merit ... as is the representation of that applicant in terms of the diversity of Canada." But Lametti, who was once a Supreme Court clerk himself, said he is not open to waiving the bilingualism requirement. "I have seen how every word in those documents, or every word in those pleadings, is weighed and discussed and debated," Lametti said. "It is absolutely necessary that a judge ... on the Supreme Court of Canada be able to understand those words." Still, Lametti said he hopes to see an Indigenous justice on the Supreme Court of Canada soon. "I don't think that day is far off," Lametti said. Lametti is not considering any changes to the application process for judges either. He said he is encouraging younger lawyers to participate in the judicial appointment committee so they can help to interpret the criteria. "I think by and large that system's working, is beginning to work very well right now," Lametti said. "I'm inclined to let it run and keep an eye on the results." Indigenous perspectives on the law Beverly Jacobs, the new associate dean of the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, said merely appointing a more diverse bench won't be good enough if the laws themselves don't change. "it just means that it becomes a brown system with the same colonial laws so it's not going to work," Jacobs said. Jacobs said she believes the justice system needs to incorporate more Indigenous perspectives in law. She said the existing system ignores the fact that Indigenous nations had their own laws prior to European contact. "There's still what I call a process that has never been designed based on Indigenous principles," she said. "We didn't have jails, we didn't have policing. We had processes that identified wrongdoing. I'm not saying that conflict never occurred, but what I'm saying is that there was a process to identify conflicts immediately and it was community-based, it wasn't individual." Jacobs, who is from Six Nations, an Iroquois community near Hamilton, said the racism she faced while attending law school at the University of Windsor almost drove her away from a legal career. Now, she is in a position to influence the way law is taught at the same school. Supplied/Beverly Jacobs "What motivates me is when I ... see light bulbs go on," said Jacobs. "When I see students who really understand ... it totally shifts their way of thinking." Favel said he's seen gradual improvements in the profession and hopes it continues. When he joined a Saskatoon law firm fresh out of law school, Favel was the only First Nation lawyer in the office. By the time he left the firm to sit on the federal bench, he was working alongside four other First Nation individuals. Favel said change builds on itself until eventually it spreads throughout the system. "If I can create space for four others, maybe they'll each create space for four more, and so on," Favel said. "That's why I'm kind of optimistic." FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a logo of HSBC at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur By Lawrence White LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC investor Federated Hermes said it has questions about the bank's support for China's new security law for Hong Kong, the second investor in Europe's biggest bank in recent weeks to voice concerns about the lender's stance. "We expect companies to support improvements in protections for citizens and not back their removal," said Roland Bosch, lead engager for financial services at Federated Hermes's stewardship and engagement team. The new law could have an adverse impact on human rights, he said. Aviva Investors, another leading HSBC shareholder, said earlier this month it was uneasy about the bank's show of public support for the law. China's parliament passed the new national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony's way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago. Details of the law are due out later on Tuesday, amid fears the legislation will crush the global financial hub's freedoms and reports that the heaviest penalty under it would be life imprisonment. Senior politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have criticised HSBC's stance. The bank's Asia-Pacific Chief Executive Peter Wong signed a petition backing the law earlier this month, which also drew ire from human rights groups. (Reporting by Lawrence White, Additional reporting by Iain Withers; Editing by Tom Arnold and Ed Osmond) When Inem Nsimah uprooted her life in Kenya for a career change in New Brunswick, she was warmly welcomed by her new co-workers. But when the work day ended she felt alone. "I suddenly became afraid, because I was happy in the day working, but at evenings I was very lonely," she said. "And I started doubting that decision." She would like Frederictonians to learn the challenges of joining the community as a newcomer. That goal encouraged Nsimah to be an open book for the Fredericton community during an annual "living library" event. Inspired by similar gatherings around the world, the libraries started in 2017 with a focus on homelessness and have evolved to give a voice to immigrants. The event is organized by the city, public library and the Multicultural Association of Fredericton, which includes it as part of the Cultural Expressions Festival. CBC News People are invited to come and hear someone's story in 20-minute conversations as a way to break down stereotypes and create understanding. The storytelling, normally held in person at the Fredericton Public Library, is going virtual with Zoom on Tuesday evening to adapt to COVID-19 restrictions. People will be placed into small groups to hear newcomers share their cultural origins, journeys to Fredericton, struggles to integrate and hopes for the future. Building bridges Sebastian Salazar, the city's community liaison, said the activity has heightened relevance amid the current climate and discussions around racism. If the virtual format is a success, he envisions future Zoom discussions on issues like race. "All the conversations that are going on about division, improvements in social cohesion," he said. "This is an activity that can help." CBC News Those interested in participating can find the video access link on the city's website and a list of the stories. It is also possible to call in by phone. Salazar said one of the living library's main goals is to identify obstacles and barriers of newcomers who don't feel at home in the community. The action of sharing a personal, human story helps "build bridges" and create empathy. Story continues "It's more important now than ever," he said. "I would really like to encourage people who do not have a regular interaction with newcomers to participate." Feeling welcome but not integrated Nsimah moved to Saint John nearly five years ago with her two children to pursue a master's of business administration. The next big change was an internship at Opportunities New Brunswick that brought her to Fredericton. She made the decision to immigrate while she was here something she thinks Canadians don't know. "It was only nine months into my stay that I thought, I could live here, I could move my family and live here," she said. Submitted Nsimah would like to see Frederictonians grow more willing to open up their social circles and include new people. "Many newcomers make an attempt to get integrated. They are welcomed, but there is really no deliberate effort to open up social circles that they can feel they are part of," she said. Nsimah tried hard to grow her connections by joining the board of the local United Way and attending church. But her friends are mostly other immigrants and few locals. "I don't want to just have an immigrant experience," she said. "I want to be part of the fabric of the community." 'Enriching experience' for storytellers Jasna Jackson is participating in the living library for the third time. She moved to Canada from the former Yugoslavia and shares her story of starting a new life in Fredericton. "It's a personal enriching experience I feel," she said. "It helps me understand people better and it brings me closer to different cultures and understanding their views and their ways." Jackson hopes people learn from her story that no obstacle is unsurmountable. This will be her third time participating as a "book" in the library. "It is useful to, especially Canadians, to learn about people coming to their country starting to build a new life, and struggles these people all go through," she said. Submitted Widad Ali brought traditional Iraqi food to share at the last two living libraries. She expects the virtual version of the event to have less interaction but expects the lessons from stories to still come across. When Ali shares her experience fleeing political unrest in her native Iraq, tears often come to the eyes of listeners, she said. "When they see the personal things that I tell them, they understand more our mentality and our way of living." Just south of where Finch Avenue West meets Weston Road sits a large beige building at the end of an industrial road. Its windows are dusty, the brick veneer is discoloured, and you can easily tell it's more than 60 years old. Despite its imperfections, it is the perfect home for a new community hub, according to the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario. "It would be more or less like a resource centre, serving a bigger purpose for the bigger community," said Albert Aikins-Mensah, a member of the association. But the group learned last week the site at 160 Rivalda Rd. in North York was snapped up by the city in mid-April, and was to be converted into a cleaning centre for personal protective equipment to help fight COVID-19. The association, which represents the thousands of people who've come from the west African country of Ghana to live in Ontario, expressed interest in the site as far back as 2015 and claims since then it's followed all the city's directions to try to acquire the space. "For the last five years they've been leading us on [saying] that if we're able to meet these requirements that we would be able to get this place," said Maud Cole Tutu, an association member who has been working with the city throughout the process. Keith Whelan/CBC The city and the local councillor's office said they're both willing to work with the group to help find another space but it's unclear what the new options might be. 'We were waiting, towing the line' Emails shared with CBC Toronto show that in 2015, the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario contacted then-councillor Giorgio Mammoliti to express interest in the city-owned building, once home to the Marcus Garvey Centre for Leadership and Education. Association officials eventually toured the facility and continued a correspondence with city officials. "We realized that our population is based here. So this place is going to be very appropriate for us," said Tutu. Story continues The group was informed that the city had to first determine if there was municipal interest in the property, and that there may be competition. CBC "So we were waiting, towing the line, and doing all the stuff that they told us to do." The correspondence continued and in 2018, when Anthony Perruzza took over as councillor for the newly drawn ward of Ward 7, Humber River-Black Creek, the association once again expressed interest in moving forward. "We came in, we inspected [the building] again. They came in with a real estate coordinator who told us what to do with zoning. We did all that," said Tutu, who added the group submitted its business plan to Peruzza's office a few weeks ago. Last week, the association received a letter from Perruzza's office telling them that the city's Corporate Real Estate Management Division determined that the site was to be used by Toronto Emergency Services in the fight against COVID-19. "We are all disappointed that this is going to be taken out of our hands, when we have done so much," said Tutu. Perruzza said he too was unaware of the city's plans for the property, and that his office was aware of the association's wish to move forward with acquiring the site. Farrah Merali/CBC "I'm somewhat surprised that now the facility is occupied by emergency services," said Perruzza, but he added that municipal services take precedence in cases like this. "If at some point, a municipal department requires [a building] for some activity, it would be difficult to deny them that." Community needs Association president Emmanuel Duodu estimates the size of the Ghanaian community in the GTA is approximately 50,000. "In our population in Toronto, about 60 per cent is made up of youth. And that comes with opportunities and also challenges," said Duodu. Keith Whelan/CBC He said right now, activities like homework programs, language classes and other events are either conducted in small areas of a local church, in rented spaces or even in peoples' own homes. With anti-Black racism and identity at the forefront of mainstream discussion right now, those who run the youth programs in the Ghanaian community say it's important now more than ever to have a centre for young people to come to. "We focus mostly on culture; identity is very important in everybody's life. A lot of youth are falling on the wrong side because they feel they don't fit in," said Mavis Tekpek who runs the association's homework club. "We hope to be able to have a community centre where everything will be happening," said Mary Akuamoah-Boateng, who runs a program for young Ghanaian-Canadians who are older than 18. Keith Whelan/CBC "People will come and learn about their culture, learn about themselves, be able to connect and relate with others, do networking, building up confidence, because that's something our community youth really don't have much of." The group also hopes the centre can be a hub for seniors to learn English and socialize, some of whom are widowed and isolated. Other options No one from the city's Corporate Real Estate Management Division was available for an interview. But in a written statement, the division acknowledged it met with the association and gave them information about how organizations can lease city space at below-market rent. And it confirmed that it started using the site in mid-April as part of its efforts to fight COVID-19. "The property is unique in its ability to support the City's COVID-19 response requirements at this time," the City of Toronto said in a statement. Peruzza said his office and the city's real estate division are both committed to helping Ghanaian-Canadians find a new home. Association members say they would be open to an alternate location, but wonder how long that'll take, considering it's spent five years pursuing this site. "The time is now, with everything that is going on," said Tekpek. "[A community centre] is where people feel comfortable, in your own skin and in your own space." By Nathan Frandino SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - An elderly ex-policeman confessed on Monday to being the violent serial prowler known as the "Golden State Killer," pleading guilty to 13 murders and admitting to dozens of rapes and break-ins that terrorized California during the 1970s and '80s. Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, entered the pleas as part of a broader deal with prosecutors sparing him from a potential death sentence in return for his admission to all of the offenses he stood accused of - charged and uncharged - in 11 California counties. Under terms of the unusual plea agreement, approved by Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman at Monday's hearing, DeAngelo faces life in prison without the possibility of parole rather than a potential death sentence. Prosecutors said the deal ensured that aging survivors and victims' relatives lived to see the case resolved, sparing them further legal proceedings likely to have dragged on for 10 years. "The time for justice stands in front of us now," said Amy Holliday, deputy district attorney for Sacramento County. The hearing was held in a Sacramento university ballroom, rather than a courthouse, to allow for socially distanced seating amid the coronavirus pandemic. The defendant and his attorneys wore medical-style, clear plastic face shields. DeAngelo, dressed in orange jail garb, sat expressionless and slack-jawed in a wheelchair throughout the seven-hour proceeding. He spoke in a weak, raspy voice only to give yes and no answers to procedural questions from the judge, and later to answer "guilty" when Bowman asked his plea to each of 13 counts of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He also replied "I admit" to dozens of allegations of rape, robbery, and other crimes as prosecutors took turns presenting "factual-basis" statements graphically detailing every murder, sexual assault and burglary with which DeAngelo was accused. His admissions encompassed a total of 161 uncharged crimes, prosecutors said. Story continues Prosecutors also revealed that on the day of his arrest, while alone in an interview room, DeAngelo was overheard having an animated conversation with himself, referring to an apparent alter ego named "Jerry," whom he described as being "in my head" and compelling him to "do those things." 'NOT AFRAID TO FACE HIM' One of many surviving victims who attended the hearing, Kris Pedretti, said she felt satisfied with the outcome of DeAngelo's plea, telling Reuters during a break, "I do think he is owning it." Pedretti, who was 15 when sexually assaulted, said she and other survivors "want people to know that there's hope and that we're not afraid to face him." DeAngelo's arrest in 2018 capped more than 40 years of investigation that authorities finally solved through DNA evidence and data from commercial genealogy websites. The breakthrough came about two months after the case gained renewed national attention in the bestselling book, "I'll Be Gone in the Dark." A TV documentary series spawned by the book premiered by coincidence on HBO on Sunday. Besides the 13 murders and kidnappings, prosecutors said DeAngelo was tied to nearly 50 rapes and more than 120 home invasions - mostly in and around Sacramento, the eastern San Francisco Bay area and Southern California. The crime spree ran from 1975 to 1986 and began while DeAngelo was still a police officer. He served on two small-town departments during the 1970s. The suspect, whom authorities also nicknamed the "East Area Rapist" and the "Original Night Stalker," was notorious for creeping into his victims' bedrooms at night, tying them up, raping them, and stealing their valuables. Formal sentencing was set to begin on Aug. 17. (Reporting by Nathan Frandino in Sacramento; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by Richard Pullin, Marguerita Choy, Cynthia Osterman and Gerry Doyle) BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A man drove a car into the front gate of the Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires on Monday, prompting a major response by police, officials said. There were no injuries reported, though the crash did severely damage embassy property, according to a statement shared with Reuters by the Chinese Embassy. Multiple police units responded to the scene, and officers blocked off the street in front of the embassy. The driver of the car is Argentine, though his identity and the reason for the crash is under investigation, the embassy said. "The Argentine Police quickly went to the diplomatic headquarters and is now investigating the identity and motives of the actor in incident," the embassy's statement said. Federal and city police did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Argentina's Foreign Ministry declined comment. (Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Leslie Adler) Ontario's health ministry has rejected a call by some municipal leaders for a provincial mandatory mask policy, saying it "isn't necessary" to require all residents to wear face masks when they are indoors in public spaces in large urban centres. In an email on Monday evening, Alexandra Hilkene, spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott, said local medical officers of health have the power to implement mandatory face mask policies in their respective health regions under existing legislation. Hilkene said the officers have the authority under Section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act. "Doing so at a local level would ensure responsiveness to community needs without applying the same policy to regions with little or no COVID," Hilkene said in the email. The Ontario health ministry's email comes in response to a request by the mayors and chairs of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) earlier on Monday. During a virtual meeting on Monday, the municipal leaders unanimously agreed to ask the province to adopt a mandatory mask policy to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and to support the reopening of the provincial economy. The entire region has moved into Stage 2 of the province's reopening plan. According to the mayors and chairs, a mandatory mask policy across the province would have made a difference in the continuing fight against the disease. "We are at a critical time in the fight against COVID-19. We must do everything we can to avoid flare-ups of the virus in our communities," the leaders said in a new release on Monday. The mayors and chairs had noted that medical officers of health have said repeatedly that people should wear non-surgical face masks when it is not possible to physically distance. "Public health officials have been clear that keeping your distance, at least six feet or two metres, from others is the best way to prevent the spread of the virus," the release said. Story continues "Those same officials have also been clear that when people can't keep their distance, they should wear a fabric mask or face covering. Every person wearing a face covering properly is protecting those around them from the risk of virus spread." Hilkene agreed, saying the ministry strongly urges people to wear a mask or face covering when physical distancing is challenging. She said some people cannot tolerate a mask, such as those with asthma or other respiratory illnesses, and they should be encouraged to stay home as much as possible, maintain a physical distance from people outside their social circles, wash hands frequently and engage in proper cough and sneeze etiquette. The mayors and chairs had said such an order could have had exceptions depending on the age of the person and individual health conditions. Evan Mitsui/CBC Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate medical officer of health, said on Monday that every request made to the province would be considered, depending on the evidence presented. Yaffe said the government is recommending that people wear face non-medical masks, indoors or outdoors, where they cannot distance physically from others by two metres. When pressed on the issue, Yaffe told reporters that the province is "sticking with strongly encouraging" for now. Enforcement of a mandatory mask order would be an issue across the province, she said. However, the number of cases could influence any change in policy, she added. "If it's a provincial order, do we need to do this everywhere at the same time, or is this something that needs be done regionally, depending on how the public is behaving? It's something that we need to keep looking at," Yaffe said. In the release on Monday, the municipal leaders said they will work with medical officers of health from local public health units to determine how best to lobby for the "universal wearing of non-medical masks" in indoor places, which would include businesses and transit systems. They had noted that some municipalities already require mandatory mask wearing in certain circumstances. For example, in Toronto, the TTC will require riders to wear face masks when riding subways, streetcars and buses as of July 2. "Committing to regional action on face coverings is one more way the GTHA municipalities are working to support the restart of our economy, which is crucial to the economic success of Ontario and Canada," the mayors and chairs had said. The municipal leaders said they are also continuing to call on the federal and provincial governments to offer financial support to municipalities for additional costs of the pandemic and revenues lost. Service New Brunswick's decision to value Irving Oil's new headquarters building for property taxes as being worth at least $30 million less than it cost to build, is a mystery in Saint John made deeper by other buildings the agency has recently valued at or near their full construction cost. But one expert says it's not unusual for assessors to put a low value on a private development to avoid triggering a fight with a major landowner. "Assessors are notoriously understaffed and have an inability to really tackle things aggressively when you've got a major player," said Derek Holloway, a former assessment auditor in British Columbia, and writes on assessment issues. "A lot of times they don't even have the expertise on staff to do it. They may be under assessing and then nobody appeals." After three years of construction, Irving Oil opened its new 11 storey home office in uptown Saint John last fall. The 317,000 square foot structure had an $88 million budget, according to builder EllisDon. However, the building has been assessed by Service New Brunswick to be worth just 65 per cent of that amount, which is $56.8 million for property tax purposes. Every $1 million in assessment on a commercial property in Saint John's business district is worth almost $50,000 in provincial and municipal property tax revenue. Some Saint John city councillors, including David Hickey and Donna Reardon, have expressed concern about how the building has been evaluated Service New Brunswick will not disclose how it arrived at the lower value, but has said it used a "cost approach" to settle on a final estimate. That approach generally works by tallying up the cost of constructing an identical new building with identical materials and then adds in the value of the land the building sits on to establish its worth. It's a process Service New Brunswick calls "replacement cost new." From there, any depreciation that might've occurred to the building is subtracted to establish its value. Story continues Matthew Bingley/CBC According to Holloway, there is normally not much depreciation in a brand new building, particularly $30 million worth, but it's not impossible. "Nobody is going to build an economically obsolete building like a big white elephant," Holloway said. "That happens quite rarely. "Typically the cost for a brand new building should somehow align with market value but [an] $88 million office building in a small jurisdiction, the assessor may be saying, 'Well jeez you know if Irving Oil moves out, who's going to lease that space?'" Lisa Dionne, executive director of assessment for Service New Brunswick, said her office doesn't believe the building is worth $88 million, whether it cost that much to build or not. "Eighty-eight million dollars is what the owner of the property put forward as being their building cost. It can include so many other things. We're trying to get to the market value of this property," said Dionne. GNB "It goes out on the market tomorrow morning. It's being sold. How much would it sell for on the open market?" But in other cases, Service New Brunswick has assessed large new buildings at or near their cost of construction. The new $20.3 million Seaside Elementary School in Saint John and $24 million Ecole Champlain in Moncton both opened in 2017 and are assessed for taxes by Service New Brunswick for close to those full amounts at $22.0 million and $23.3 million respectively. Moncton's courthouse, which cost $50 million to build is assessed for taxes at $48.3 million and the Saint John Courthouse, which cost $53 million to construct is assessed at $47.9 million. But those are public developments where government is paying the tax bill. Irving Oil Intagram Holloway said in his experience it is not uncommon for assessors to begin "giving away value" to avoid a fight with a well financed and influential private property owner that is likely to be unhappy with a high assessment. Service New Brunswick and its predecessors have had a history of bruising clashes with Irving Oil over property tax assessments, which have landed all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada Matthew Johnson is Service New Brunswick's director of valuation. He said public and private buildings are not comparable and insists the $56.8 million assessment of the new $88 million Irving Oil building involved no trade-offs or comprises to keep the company from appealing. "We are legislated to assess all properties at their real and true market value as of Jan. 1," said Johnson. "That's our mandate. We have to follow that legislation." Prominent Russians with close ties to the Putin government are accusing Canada of interfering in that country's constitutional vote on gay marriage by opposing a ban. Russians have been voting for the past week on a series of constitutional amendments, the most significant of which would effectively allow President Vladimir Putin to continue in the job for the rest of his life. Another of the amendments includes a stipulation that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. Opponents claim other changes on the table will cement deeply conservative ideology into the constitution and set Russia back centuries. 'Less inclusive' Five Western nations issued a joint statement on Pride Month 2020, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. The statement calls on Russia's government "to adhere to its stated commitment to protecting the rights of all citizens, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community." In a video posted to Facebook by a Russian LGBTQ group, Canada's ambassador to Russia also addressed the constitutional amendment that's on the table. Alison LeClaire suggested a "yes" vote would lead to a "less inclusive" situation for members of the nations' LGBTQ community. WATCH | Canada's ambassador to Russia addresses gay marriage: "In Russia, this situation [over gay rights] is compounded by an increase in violence and intimidation of the community by local authorities and other actors ... and proposals for constitutional amendments that if adopted would lead to an increasingly less inclusive national legal framework," she said. On Monday, one of Russia's most influential talk shows on state television, 60 Minutes, played the video and ripped into LeClaire accusing her and Canada's government of political interference. 'She will burn in hell' "She will burn in hell," said an irate Pyotr Tolstoy, a deputy speaker and member of the Putin-friendly United Russia party in Russia's parliament during the show. Story continues He then launched into a personal attack on LeClaire. "This woman, the ambassador of Canada, is a typical representative of this type of single, middle aged 'dame' who are activists for the promotion of LGBTQ agendas in Europe, in America, in Canada, and now here," Tolstoy said. Twitter/Canadian Embassy Moscow Igor Korotchenko, chief editor of National Defence, another well-connected Kremlin publication, suggested LeClaire needs to be punished and perhaps removed from her post. "At the very minimum, this ambassador should be called in by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and she should be officially and decisively be issued a protest of meddling in the internal affairs of Russia," he said on the show. Yvgeny Popov, the host, nodded in agreement. "When the ambassador of Canada in the middle of our vote on the constitution where we will decide if we are for or against, but we will decide she is telling us how to vote, how are we supposed to react?" he said. Another panellist, Valery Fadeev, who's a member of Russia's Presidential Council on Human Rights, echoed the sentiment. "Of course, what the ambassador is showing is a provocation and meddling in internal affairs," he said. Alexei Sergeev/CBC The U.S. ambassador to Russia also released a video statement on Pride Month, but only LeClaire's video made mention of the upcoming constitutional vote. CBC News asked Global Affairs Canada for a response to the outburst on Russian TV and the slurs aimed at the ambassador, but its statement did not directly address the issue. "Every year, Canadian missions across the globe fly the flag and offer words of support to LGBTQ2 communities during Pride," Global Affairs said. Since 2014, Canada's embassy staff in Moscow have adopted a low profile as the bilateral relationship entered a deep chill following Russia's annexation of Crimea and its ongoing support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. A notable exception has been on the issue of gay rights, where Canada has been more forceful on LGTBQ issues, including opposing a 2013 Russian law that banned gay "propaganda." In 2017, Canada also accepted dozens of gay men from the Russian republic of Chechnya as refugees, many of whom had been tortured and driven from their homes. Attitudes evolving Gay and lesbian activists in Russia say on one hand, Russian attitudes toward homosexuality are evolving. But since Putin's return to the presidency in 2012, the political environment has deteriorated. "We will return not just to Soviet times, this will take us back even further," said Karina Kuznetsova, who lives with her partner Julia Potetkehina in a flat in Saint Petersburg, said of the proposed constitutional amendments. The couple runs a LGBTQ -themed cafe called Rainbow. "This will take us back to the 16th century how I see it, with these types of amendments, because we will have just one person in charge like a tsar." Alexey Sergeev/CBC Kuznetsova told CBC News that Putin's government has tried to whip up hostility toward gay lifestyles, especially as economic conditions in the country deteriorated. Now, she says, "we are blamed for everything." "We need fresh blood, fresh ideas, fresh thinking but we have just gotten stuck now and we are going further and further down," she said. 'Traditional values' In a poll on LGBTQ attitudes in Russia, released in April 2019 by the independent Levada Center, a polling and research organization, said there had been noticeable improvements in attitudes toward gay people. Almost half of those surveyed suggesting they deserved the same rights as other citizens. However, in another more recent poll that involved personal interviews with more than 1,600 Russians this May, Levada reported roughly one in five Russians believe LGBTQ people should be "eliminated." WATCH | Canadian ambassador's defence of gay marriage angers Putin: The longer Putin has served as president, the closer he has tried to align himself with Russia's Orthodox church and, along with that, promote so-called "traditional values." "As far as 'parent number one' and 'parent number two' goes, I've already spoken publicly about this and I'll repeat it again: As long as I'm president this will not happen. There will be dad and mum," Putin said in February after announcing the constitutional amendments. Andrey Sorokin/Reuters The constitutional proposals also include clauses that emphasize differences between Russia and liberal democratic Western nations including banning anyone who has ever held residence in another country from running for the presidency. The move would prevent most Russian "liberals," many of whom have studied or lived in Europe or North America, from challenging Putin. No progress Prominent author and government critic Dmitry Glukovsky penned a scathing rebuttal to the constitutional vote and changing the terms of Putin's presidency in the opposition paper Novaya Gazeta. "Once you are in power, you want to stay in power," Glukvosky told CBC News in an interview. "You can't actually move your country forward because you are someone who is supposed to 'conserve' the situation, not find solutions not reform, not progress, because they are all sources of danger to stability. "You value stability overall of which you are the main beneficiary." There's little evidence that Putin's proposed changes have stirred up much excitement with voters, who have until Wednesday to cast ballots. The Kremlin-supported "yes" side has even resorted to free giveaways with offers of money, cars and apartments to get people motivated to vote. A Kokomo woman facing a murder charge for allegedly drowning her grandson in a bathtub may utilize a defense of insanity in court. In late March, police arrested 56-year-old Helen Martin for allegedly drowning her 4-year-old grandson in her Kokomo home. At the time, when investigators asked her why she did it, court documents indicated she told them she believed that she had been so depressed recently that she thought [her grandson] would be better off in heaven than to be with her. Now, her mental health will be evaluated as part of a process to utilize her mental health as a defense in court. According to court documents, last month a notice of defense of mental disease or defect was filed by Martins attorney. This filing served to notify the court that Martin intended to utilize a legal defense of mental disease or defect, or as it is referred to in Indiana code referenced in the filing, a defense of insanity. The filing also called for the court to appoint two or three competent disinterested psychiatrists, psychologists endorsed by the State Psychology Board as health services providers of psychology, or physicians, at least one of whom must be a psychiatrist, to examine [Martin]. A few days later, Howard Superior IV Judge Hans Pate appointed Dr. Paul Roberts and Dr. George Parker to examine Martin. Roberts is a clinical psychologist based out of Kokomo, and Parker practices psychology in Indianapolis. The case stems from March 28, when Kokomo Police Department officers responded to a home at 465 E. 400 S. in regards to the potential drowning of a 4-year-old male. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the homeowner and one of the guardians of the boy. That man simply told officers, She drowned him, in reference to Martin, his wife. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute The 4-year-old boy was found in the bathroom, unconscious and unresponsive. Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful, and the boy was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. In an interview with police, Martin said she and her husband had guardianship over the 4-year-old boy. At first, Martin allegedly told officers she often lost her memory due to mental health issues due to PTSD, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. However, court documents indicated officers confronted Martin with information that memory loss was not known to be related to any of these described conditions. Martin eventually told officers that after her husband left the home, she remembered drawing a bath, getting into it with her grandson with her clothes still on, and drowning him by holding his head under the water, according to a probable cause affidavit. During an interview, Martin also allegedly told an officer that her reason for doing this was she believed that she had been so depressed recently that she thought [the boy] would be better off in heaven than to be with her. She was charged with murder and neglect of a dependent resulting in death. She has remained in the Howard County jail since her arrest on March 28 without bond. The case is set for a pretrial conference on August 6. Two rural Nova Scotia police forces say their officers aren't adequately equipped to help people experiencing mental health crises, but they're often the only service available when someone calls. At least four people have died during police wellness checks in Canada since April, prompting calls to defund the police and instead reallocate some money toward mental health supports and services. "This isn't the type of work that we sign on to do, and it's not the type of work that we're actually trained well to do," Chief Dave MacNeil with the Truro Police Service told CBC's Mainstreet. Earlier this month, police in New Brunswick killed two people during wellness checks, Rodney Levi and Chantel Moore. Just a week before Moore's death, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Black-Indigenous woman living in Toronto with Nova Scotia roots, died after falling from a high-rise balcony after her family called the police for help. Advocates say officers aren't equipped to handle the wide and complex range of mental health issues that exist and that there's already a lack of trust in law enforcement within Black and Indigenous communities. Facebook MacNeil said if his officers never had to respond to another mental health call in his career, he'd be happy. "We don't call mental health clinicians to respond to break and enters, but unfortunately the police are kind of the agency of last resort," he said. "We're the only 24/7 helping agency in most communities, and people call the police for all kinds of things." The Halifax area has a Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team that pairs officers with mental health professionals, but rural communities don't have access to similar supports, he said. While Truro police can get help from the mental health crisis team at the local hospital, staff are only available during the week, MacNeil said. That means in the middle of the night or on the weekends, police are the only service available to help. Story continues In the first six months of 2020, Truro police responded to a total of 252 mental health calls, including 79 wellness checks, according to MacNeil. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki said last week that the number of mental health calls her officers respond to is growing exponentially. 'Recognize, relax, respond' training Truro police officers receive training in mental health at the academy and "recognize, relax and respond" training when they arrive on the force, MacNeil said. While officers can't diagnose someone, they're trained to identify when someone needs mental health support, he said. Deputy Chief Danny MacPhee with the Bridgewater Police Service said his officers receive mental health training every other year. "We have received really consistently multiple types of mental health training, crisis management training, different spectrums of it. So we've dealt with autism spectrum, some dementia, you know, because of our senior community as well," he said. But the problem, said MacPhee, is that the training doesn't go much beyond being able to recognize when someone is in crisis. Submitted by the Town of Bridgewater "We're not full-time mental health case workers. We're not in crisis management every day. We don't have that experience from working full time . That's not our profession. That's not who we are," MacPhee said, adding that last Thursday in Bridgewater, five of the 10 calls that came in during the day involved a mental health component. Both MacPhee and MacNeil say much more needs to be done to help Nova Scotians in crisis, including for rural police departments to have access to a mobile response team like the Halifax area. "As a police officer, sometimes I find the system difficult to navigate to give people help. We need to streamline things so that people who are in crisis get the timely help that they need," MacNeil said. MORE TOP STORIES Ive felt since I came into this role, that we should be having a conversation on where were investing our dollars on an economic development side, and this is an extension of what I think is a need to put our cards on the table and decide how were going to play this game, but we have to play it together, Hughes said. The 150-page report, titled Wisconsin Tomorrow An Economy for All, was submitted to Evers and state lawmakers on Tuesday. In April they passed COVID-19 response legislation that directed WEDC to provide leaders with a plan to support major industries in the state that have been adversely affected by the outbreak. The report also stresses the need to focus on racial disparities in the state workforce and create equitable inclusion for all communities. We felt that it was critical to acknowledge that a recovery plan has to take into account all of the communities in Wisconsin, Hughes said. Back to work Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) American rock band Journey frontman Arnel Pineda has released a new single Your Soldiers as a salute to COVID-19 frontliners in the country. In an interview with CNN Philippines Rico Hizon, Pineda said he thought of writing the song after seeing on television the sacrifices of the frontliners to contain the spread of the virus. Ive been seeing all these nurses, doctors, and people with motorcycles doing their job. I said to myself they are all impressive and do not fear the virus, said Pineda. The Journey lead vocalist emphasized this is his way of giving back to the Philippine music industry and the less fortunate who suffered much in this pandemic. Pineda also sympathized with jeepney drivers who lost their jobs during the quarantine period. I really feel for them especially the jeepney drivers who cannot return to their livelihood. They have not been given the chance to resume their work, which they need so that they can feed their families, Pineda said. The Journey frontman hopes his song will inspire others to also help the frontliners to finally end the pandemic in the country. Pineda also thanked ABS-CBN Music creative director Jonathan Manalo for noticing his composition and eventually producing it into a song. Pineda, together with his Journey bandmates, recently performed in UNICEFs Wont Stop COVID-19 benefit show. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 29) Two officials who are part of the government's task force against COVID-19 said local outbreaks remain under control and the country is "winning" against the pandemic. "In terms of positivity rate, in terms of case doubling rate, in terms of mortality rate, we are winning. In fact, we defied what was predicted by the UP (University of the Philippines) study. We have limited the cases to 35,000 instead of what could have been at least 3 million cases," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing Monday. Positivity rate counts the number of confirmed cases per 100 tests done, while the case doubling rate is the number of days it takes for cases to double, indicating how fast the disease spreads in an area. Confirmed cases are now at 35,455 as of Sunday afternoon, against the UP team's projection of 40,000 infections by end-June. Roque was reacting to critics who called out the Duterte administration for its supposed lapses in responding to the coronavirus crisis, even countering the World Health Organization's findings that the Philippines recorded the fastest spread of the disease among 37 Western Pacific countries and areas. Roque refuted WHO data showing the Philippines with the fastest pick-up in infections in the region, saying that the case tally per country should be computed against total population. He presented statistics that showed the Philippines ranking sixth, with India leading the group, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Singapore. However, it was pointed out that the WHO's classification of Western Pacific states does not include the first four countries, leaving the Philippines the second-fastest next to Singapore in terms of the spread of the virus if Roque's data is to be followed. The Department of Health also earlier refuted the WHO's data. READ: Don't 'cherry pick' countries to compare with PH, DOH says in response to WHO numbers Last week, Vice President Leni Robredo also said that the government was in a "state of denial" about how ineffective policies are, adding that authorities should pause and rethink its strategies. RELATED: Robredo tells Malacanang her office is helping solve lapses in COVID response "To reiterate, [there is] nothing to be ashamed of in terms of density, we are not number one in Western Pacific. Pero sa akin, hindi namin ito contest [But for me, this shouldn't be a contest]," Roque said. National Task Force chief implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. also noted that authorities are actually "prepared" to respond with its national action plan, adding that protocols are also being reviewed now that only Cebu City remains under the strictest form of lockdown. However, he noted that no province will be moved out of community quarantine to the more liberal "new normal" scheme anytime soon, so that Filipinos would not relax in practicing social distancing and other minimum health "From acceleration [of infections], lahat nag-decelerate na po... We are winning," Galvez said. He said there is an average of 622 new cases reported daily, but clarified that this represents a small portion of the daily testing capacity of local laboratories. "Ang threshold po ng WHO, kapag bumaba po ang ating [positivity rate] sa 7-10 percent, ibig sabihin gumaganda ang ating situation [The WHO's threshold is if we have a positivity rate of below 7-10 percent, it means our situation is improving]," Galvez added, noting lower deaths among patients as doctors have learned how to respond to the disease better over three months since the first local infections were recorded. Roque earlier said the positivity rate peaked at 13 percent back in April. He also commended how the response of local government units, saying there are redundancies in place to protect provinces and cities from further spikes in cases. However, Galvez admitted that authorities are focusing on Cebu City after a "very alarming" spike in infections, severe cases, and patient deaths. Both Galvez and Roque said that President Rodrigo Duterte will announce the quarantine protocols for the various cities and provinces on Tuesday, June 30, which will be implemented in these locations from July 1-15. Classifications will be determined based on how fast the number of cases double and the capacity of critical care units in medical facilities. Roque said only Central Visayas is close to its limit, while the rest of the country are either at medium or low-risk. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) - Television giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation defended that there is nothing illegal with hiring program employees and independent contractors, amid the issues surfacing on the broadcasting networks alleged labor violations. ABS-CBN lawyer Atty. Josabeth Alonso said that the Department of Labor has no problem with getting the services of non-regular employees, citing the Policy Instruction No. 40. There was never an instance that the Dept. of Labor has found this illegal, said Alonso during the continuation of the inquiry on the broadcasting networks franchise at the House of Representatives. As a matter of fact, no less than the Secretary of Labor and Employment came out with Policy Instruction No. 40, which clearly defines that there are two kinds of employees in the broadcast industry, she added. One of which are studio employees and the other set is program employees. This was backed by Paranaque City 2nd district Rep. Joy Tambunting saying that labor laws recognize different kinds of employees. Precisely, it has not been declared illegal because having project employees, program employees, and independent contractors is legal under our laws. It is because our labor laws recognize different kinds and forms of employment, said Tambunting. Moreover, Alonso pointed out that employees in the broadcast industry usually work based on the duration of the program they are working on. These are people part of the work pool, which are recognized by no less than the Supreme Court as a valid mode of employment, but it is only until the duration of the activity they are attached to, she said. Some former ABS-CBN employees, who were non-regulars, lamented during the inquiry that they worked like regular employees but they did not receive enough compensation and benefits. Some former employees also filed cases against the company for its unfair labor practices. Yet, Alonso said that program employees have security of tenure while working on certain projects. All of these people who belong to the program employees are members of a work pool and regarded as regular seasonal employees, which also apply to project-based employees insofar as the continuity of their employment, which is only defined by the duration of the project they are attached to, said the lawyer. So in other words, there is security of tenure during the duration of the project, they dont have any regular working hours and they are allowed to enter into employment contracts with other companies kapag nag-end po yung proyekto nila (when their projects ended), added Alonso. The broadcasting network and its subsidiaries have around 11,000 employees, in which 6,705 are regular employees, 2,208 are project employees, and independent contractors are 2,158. Regularization ABS-CBN Chief Executive Officer Carlo Katigbak said the company is open to review positions where employees could be regularized. We are willing to look and see which positions in the company deserve to be regularized. We're asking for time to gradually introduce the change, said Katigbak. Sa mga posisyon na hindi talaga pwedeng i-regular (In the positions that cannot be regularized), we're committed to align the benefits. But Katigbak said that they can only keep their employees if the Congress would grant them another 25-year franchise. ABS-CBN admitted there are 67 pending labor cases against the network filed by employees in different levels of the government. Labor Undersecretary Ana Dione said that there are no more pending cases against the network before the agency. Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Commission said about 60-percent of illegal dismissal with money claims were in favor of the employees, while 40-percent were in favor of the company. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) Despite the rising number of cases of coronavirus disease in Cebu City, Metro Manila remains as the countrys COVID-19 epicenter, the Department of Health said Tuesday. For now, it is still NCR (National Capital Region) and Cebu City is one of the hotspots or areas of specific focus now for DOH, Health spokespeson Maria Rosario Vergeire said, citing experts. Vergeire made the clarification after Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano was quoted as saying that Cebu City where the viral disease has spread to 4,639 people has become the new COVID-19 epicenter. However, the official said this classification is subject to reevaluation after two weeks. The government has placed Cebu City back to a stricter enhanced community quarantine until June 30 to slow down the COVID-19 transmission there. Meanwhile, Metro Manila is under general community quarantine. Emerging from Metro Manila five months ago, the new coronavirus has been caught by 37,514 people nationwide, according to government data. As of Tuesday, 1,266 individuals have died while 10,233 have gotten well. DOH said most or 95.6 percent of the infections have displayed mild symptoms of the infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV 2. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) A Pasay City Regional Trial Court on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order on Banco de Oro Unibank, prohibiting the release of any detail on the foreign currency deposit (FCD) accounts of Atty. Mark Tolentinos law firm. "Accordingly, let a seventy-two (72) hour Executive Temporary Restraining Order issue enjoining herein defendant Banco De Oro Unibank, Inc. from further issuing any communication, statement, report, interview, both written and verbal, concerning the FCD accounts," the order said. Tolentino filed the motion after the bank allegedly violated the confidentiality rule when it exposed the lawyers name, implicating him as the thief of the missing $2.1 billion from the embattled German service payments firm Wirecard. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Friday that the National Bureau of Investigation invited Tolentino for questioning in relation to the scandal. Guevarra said Tolentino, who runs a law firm and is tagged as a trustee of Wirecard, will be probed to shed light on his involvement in the billions of missing cash. Tolentino has denied holding the missing cash or knowing where the funds are, saying he was only approached by men "early this year" who offered to make him a trustee for the shares of a local financial technology company they will put up. He added that the allegations have damaged his reputation and that he is now receiving death threats. CNN Philippines Correspondent Rex Remitio contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) The police personnel involved in the killing of four Army intelligence officers in Jolo, Sulu have been disarmed and placed under restrictive custody, the Philippine National Police said Tuesday. PNP Spokesperson Bernard Banac told CNN Philippines that the policemen involved in Mondays fatal incident which he had called a misencounter are ready to face investigation. We are committed to find out the truth and serve justice to the families of the slain officers and soldiers they have been disarmed already to face the investigation, Banac said in an interview with The Source. Both the PNP and AFP have agreed to seek the National Bureau of Investigations help for a separate, impartial probe, after both parties provided conflicting versions of the incident. Initial reports from the Sulu Provincial Police Office said the personnel involved claimed self-defense, after the soldiers supposedly lifted and pointed their firearms first to the police. The report added that the incident occurred when the soldiers allegedly tried to flee the police station after they were brought in for questioning. The Army, however, refuted the claims, calling the initial police report as fabricated and misleading. Army Spokesman Col. Ramon Zagala Jr. maintained that the troops could not have engaged the policemen in a firefight as they had "properly coordinated and identified themselves" as soldiers. Armed Forces of the Philippines Spokesperson Edgard Arevalo also denied the troops tried to leave the police station. I would surmise na wala naman silang masamang intention dito (they did not have an intention to harm), they moved a little further from the exact spot of the station of the PNP, Arevalo told CNN Philippines. As of publishing, the PNP has yet to report the number of policemen involved in the incident. The NBIs regional office in Zamboanga that is handling the probe was given 10 days to submit its initial report, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. Dont blow things out of proportion The AFP urged the public not to blow things out of proportion, saying the agency continues to work well with the PNP in strengthening the countrys response against terrorism and the COVID-19 pandemic. Ang gusto po ng dalawang lider ng AFP at PNP, ay huwag na nating palakihin itong insidenteng ito, Arevalo said. [Translation: What the AFP and PNP leaders would want is to not make a big deal out of this incident.] Senator Ronald Bato Dela Rosa who has previously served as chief PNP also urged ground commanders from both sides to diffuse tensions and prevent it from escalating pending results of the probe. Malacanang meanwhile refused to comment further on the incident, as it also awaits results of the investigation. President Rodrigo Duterte may visit the wake of the soldiers, his spokesperson Harry Roque said, but he gave no other details. Remains of the slain army personnel were flown to Manila on Tuesday afternoon. Not the first time Monday's incident was not the first misencounter among government security forces. In 2002, Sulu police figured in an accidental firefight with members of the Philippine Marines in Jolo, which also resulted in the deaths of some civilians. Some members of the Army also faced investigation in 2018 following a supposed misencounter with six policemen in Sta. Rita town in Samar. READ: Soldiers apologize for cops' deaths in Samar 'misencounter' The PNP, for its part, vowed to implement protocols and measures including proper coordination and communication with AFP counterparts to ensure that the incident will not happen again. This thing could have been prevented, this is a very big lesson to us. Well take this very seriously so that this wont happen again, Banac said. CNN Philippines' Alyssa Rola, David Santos, and Anjo Alimario contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 1) Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to place Metro Manila and the CALABARZON region under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) as quickly as possible for economic reasons. In the weekly Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases meeting on Tuesday, Dominguez explained the countrys economy is highly dependent on the two regions in Luzon. You put NCR (National Capital Region), CALABARZON that is where the economy is based, about 60 percent or 67 percent of our economy is based in that area. That should move more to the MGCQ as quickly as possible because people have to start working, Dominguez told the President. The Finance chief noted the countrys strong economic fundamentals when the year started. It was supposed to be an upper middle income country by this year prior to COVID-19 but we wont make it, said Dominguez. Several international financial institutions predicted a significant economic contraction for the country this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. International Monetary Fund sees an up to 3.6 percent economic decline, while Asian Development Bank expects the Philippine economy to shrink by 3.8 percent. The World Bank takes a less pessimistic outlook, with a 1.9 percent contraction. We have to face the new reality. The reality today is that the virus is not going to go away and we will have to live with it for a long period of time, Dominguez added. Dominguez suggested that to solve the fear of the virus spread in Metro Manila and CALABARZON regions under a MGCQ setting, only targeted lockdowns must be implemented in barangays and companies with high number of COVID-19 cases. For me, we should monitor it on a barangay level. The cases go up, just close it down but do it on a place-to-place basis and do it also on a company-to-company basis. So if the company has a big spike close it down also, he said. Duterte decided on Tuesday to still keep Metro Manila, Rizal, and Cavite under general community quarantine until July 15. While Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, and Lucena City are now under MGCQ on the same timeframe. READ: Cebu City stays under strictest ECQ, Metro Manila still on GCQ In an MGCQ setting, some businesses are allowed to operate up to 50 percent of its full capacity. These include gyms, cinemas, computer shops, bars, travel agencies, amusement facilities for children, archives, museums, pet grooming, and other personal care services. Tourism-related businesses are also allowed to accept tourists in MGCQ areas, but also on a reduced capacity of only up to 50 percent of their full space. (CNN) Russia has denied that any leaks have occurred at two of its nuclear power plants after higher than usual radiation was detected over Norway, Sweden and Finland in the first half of June. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) said Sunday that "very low" levels of man-made radioactivity were found over the three countries. There was no impact on the environment or human health, it said. "The combination of radionuclides may be explained by an anomaly in the fuel elements of a nuclear power plant," RIVM suggested after performing a calculation to find the source of the radionuclides, which are atoms with an unstable core. "The calculations indicate that the nuclides come from the direction of western Russia. Determining a more specific source location is not possible with the limited data available," RIVM said on its website. It made clear that "no specific country of origin can be pointed out at this moment". In response, Russia stated that no incidents were recorded at two plants in the west of the country. "No incidents were recorded at the Leningrad nuclear power plant and the Kola nuclear power plant, both stations operate normally, there have been no complaints about the equipment's functionality," said a statement reported by state media outlet RIA Novosti from Rosenergoatom, part of the Rosatom state nuclear energy corporation that oversees all of Russia's nuclear infrastructure. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also denied any incident had occurred. "We have an exceptional and modern system of monitoring nuclear safety and as you've seen there were no alarms related to any threatening or emergency situations," Peskov said Monday. "We don't know what the source is for these reports of specialists in the Netherlands," he added. A communications officer at Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) told CNN on Monday that Finnish authorities were not speculating on the exact source but have indications that it came from a nuclear reactor. "STUK has been in contact with domestic nuclear power plants. They have not detected substances detected by STUK in their own emission monitoring. It is therefore unlikely that the radioactive substances detected would be of domestic origin," the authority said in a press release. A representative for the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority told CNN that "very low levels" of Cs-134, Cs-137, Ru-103 and Co-60 isotopes were found in two places: Visby, between June 8-15, and Stockholm, between June 22-23. The representative did not speculate on the origin and location of the source of the material. A press officer at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority told CNN that checks were carried out around two weeks ago, before their Nordic counterparts. The level detected was also said to be very low and they are carrying out further measurements this week. (CNN) No one likes to have a tough conversation with their boss. But with so many changes in the workplace and so much uncertainty in the world right now, they are bound to happen. And they should. Open communication is important, but you want to be mindful of your approach. Here are four issues employees might be facing now and tips on how to discuss each with your boss: You're having a hard time working from home Yes, there are perks to working remotely. But it also can be tough. If you are having a hard time working from home, the first step is to figure out exactly what the problem is. For instance: Is it too much work? Do you need more feedback from your boss? Are you having a hard time connecting with your colleagues? "Pinpoint what it is and talk to the boss," said Steve Arneson, author of "What your Boss Really Wants from You." "Don't just say: 'I am struggling.'" Once you've identified the problem, now it's time to ask for what you need to help solve the issue. Here's a good phrase to use with your boss: "In order for me to be the most productive, I need..." "The boss' ears perk up when they hear this phrase" said Amy Cooper Hakim, an industrial-organizational psychology practitioner and workplace expert. "We want a productive and engaged workforce." So if the problem is you feel stretched too thin with too much work, try saying: In order to be most productive, it would help to have clear priorities on where I should focus my attention first. You probably aren't alone with your struggles, so try crowdsourcing solutions by opening up the conversation with your colleagues, suggested Dana Brownlee, author of "The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up." Try asking others at the next meeting about which practices have helped them and you can also offer to share what you've learned over the last few months. Not only does this help solve the problem, it also shows some leadership and can help boost morale among the team. You're worried working remotely could stall your career "It is unfortunate, but true: When we aren't in front of someone, we are easily forgotten," said Cooper Hakim. You are going to have to be more proactive when it comes to communicating, especially if there's a hybrid situation where some colleagues have returned to the office, but you're still home. But you can't be too pushy. Figure out what works best for you and your boss when it comes to check-ins and status updates. For some, a quick daily email or Slack with an update on plans for the day will be preferred. Other bosses might want a more formal weekly chat. "It is very important that we request a daily or weekly touch base to show that we are on our game," she said. You're feeling overwhelmed For many working parents, the fall is going to be a big test of how working and caregiving at home will continue to play out. Meeting the demands of full-time work, child care and education is going to be unsustainable for many. When approaching your boss on what work might look like without reliable child care options, focus on offering solutions but also be transparent. "We tend to focus on what we need, but first think about what you can offer," said Brownlee. Have a schedule ready to share that will best work for juggling everything. Set expectations by giving clear time frames of when you will and won't be available and try to stick to them as much as you can so everyone is aware and can plan accordingly. It might also be worth checking in with human resources to see if there are any options for working parents, advised Cooper Hakim. Some companies are offering different solutions, like job sharing, which involves splitting a full-time position, moving to part-time work or offering more leave. You are nervous about going back to the office It's normal to be worried about returning to the workplace. Even if you are excited about seeing your co-workers again, the idea of commuting or spending the day in an enclosed space with other people where you could possibly contract Covid-19 can still be nerve-racking. Everyone is trying to figure out how to make the workplace as safe as possible, so don't be shy about voicing your concerns and try to be specific. Just be mindful about how you come off. "Make sure it doesn't come across in a complaining manner. No one likes a complainer, but they respect those providing constructive suggestions," said Cooper Hakim. Keep in mind that some concerns, particularly when it comes to a pre-existing disability, could require reasonable accommodations from an employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And be sure to offer up potential solutions that would make you feel better. Maybe an office with a door would make you feel better or sitting in a more remote area of the office. "This is a time you have some 'power,'" said Arneson. "The old rules don't always apply, you have license to ask more questions and push back a little." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Struggling at work? How to have tough talks with the boss." (CNN) - Beijing is pushing back on a decision by India to ban dozens of Chinese mobile apps as tensions between the world's most populous countries continue to rise. Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, told reporters on Tuesday that the government was "strongly concerned" about the ban. He said that authorities were still "checking and verifying information on the situation," but added that it was India's responsibility to "uphold the legitimate rights of international investors." India announced Monday that it would block 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, Weibo and WeChat, claiming that the platforms posed a threat to the "sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order." TikTok, a hugely popular video platform owned by ByteDance, has been downloaded onto Indian phones 660 million times since its launch in 2017, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. WeChat, a messaging app that is owned by Tencent, is one of China's biggest social media apps. Weibo is a microblogging platform similar to Twitter. The Indian government said in a statement Monday that it had received complaints about the misuse and transmission of user data by some mobile apps to servers outside the country. "The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defense of India ... is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," it said. The move to ban the apps is the latest escalation of tensions between India and China, which engaged earlier this month in border clashes in the Himalayas that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. The stakes are high for both countries, which are facing huge economic hits this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The clash has already caused trade hiccups, the suspension of business deals and calls for a boycott of Chinese goods and citizens in India. According to the World Bank, India imports more goods from China than any other country, buying more than $90 billion worth of products in 2018 including machinery and electronics, chemicals and consumer goods. It exported less than a fifth of that amount to China. Now, the spat is spilling over into technology, threatening billions of dollars worth of investments into India by Chinese tech giants. India is now the biggest overseas market for Chinese smartphone makers, which have built factories and created jobs in the country. The attack on Chinese apps could jeopardize China's ambitions to dominate global tech, with India viewed as a major growth market for internet companies such as ByteDance. The app ban is a new battlefield in the Indian government's fight to assert its strength and encourage Indians to use local goods, according to Gareth Price, a senior rsesearch fellow in the Asia-Pacific Programme at UK think tank Chatham House. "Threatening to boycott Chinese goods or ban Chinese apps could potentially harm China, but it's a bit of a hollow threat unless India has got alternatives in place," Price said. "China makes the things that India wants to buy." If the ban remains in place, Chinese apps risk losing out on India's booming digital advertising market, which is forecast to grow 26% to nearly 280 billion rupees ($3.7 billion) this year, according to advertising media company GroupM. This is not the first time TikTok has run into trouble in India. The app was briefly blocked in the country last year after a court ruled that it could expose children to sexual predators, pornography and cyber bullying. It was later reinstated after a successful legal appeal. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Beijing says it's 'strongly concerned' by India's decision to ban Chinese apps" Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 29) COVID-19 infections in the country may surge to at least 60,000, including 1,300 deaths, by July 31, according to a recent projection by a group of researchers at a state university. The University of the Philippines OCTA Research said cases in Metro Manila may top 27,000 and Cebu province 15,000. The group came up with the estimates based on the R naught, or the infectivity rate of the virus. This represents the number of people who may be infected by a confirmed case. Ideally, this should be one or less, as anything higher means significant community transmission. SOURCE: UP OCTA RESEARCH In a study covering March 1 to June 25, the researchers said the virus reproduction rate is at 1.28. This indicates that the pandemic is not yet on the downward trend. Moreover, the community spread is uneven throughout the archipelago, the latest UP OCTA Research report read. The study said the number of cases increases by 50% when restrictions are relaxed. The average number of fresh cases daily in Metro Manila rose from 271 during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to 396 under the modified ECQ, and 583 under the general community quarantine. The government attributed the increase to higher testing capacity and the surge of infection in Cebu. So 'yung 60,000 is actually on the lower end of our projections. The lower value of R naught, there yung projection namin will be around 65,000 actually, UP OCTA Fellow professor Guido David told CNN Philippines in a phone interview. The main thing is the pandemic is not yet contained its still continuously increasing. The drivers are still mobility, proximity, and hopefully, people will be more responsible about their personal hygiene, he said. Cebu projections Cebu province has the highest transmission rate in the country. The R naught as of June 25 is 1.8. UP OCTA Research said the number of COVID-19 cases in the province nearly doubled in 17 days, from 3,400 on June 8, to 6,400 by June 25. But the reproduction rate of the virus slowed down after authories placed Cebu under ECQ. Mainly they reverted to ECQ in Cebu that was able to prevent the spread of the virus. Instead of 11,000 (as projected), we have 8,000 more or less, David said. The researchers said Cebu province is expected to have 15,000 cases by July with the ECQ in place, but this may increase to 20,000 to 30,000 if retrictions are relaxed. NCR projections As of June 25, 822 or 4.9% of the 16,727 infected in the National Capital Region (NCR) succumbed to the virus. Researchers said the high case fatality rate suggests a high number of undetected, asymptomatic cases in NCR. The reproduction rate of the virus rose from 1.15 under MECQ to 1.28 under GCQ from June 1 to 25. The study said NCR remains a high-risk area for COVID-19. Using the same reproduction number, this projects to almost 30,000 cases with 860 deaths in NCR by July 31, with a lower estimate of 27,000 cases if transmission decreases, David said. Govt urged to reexamine, recalibrate COVID-19 measures UP OCTA researchers said the government needs to reexamine and recalibrate its strategies in fighting the pandemic. In our view, the aforementioned national and local projections represent a significant increase in transmissions and is a serious cause for concern that needs to be examined and given appropriate and immediate response by the government, the report read. It cited the need for clear targets to measure if strategies are working, such as keeping the positivity rates (below seven percent) and active cases trending down and an urgent need to scale up health care system capacity. Citing a Harvard University study, researchers said there should be at least 20,000 tests per day nationwide, and 10,000 in Metro Manila alone. Infectious diseases expert supports UP researchers projections In an interview with CNN Philippines Rico Hizon, infectious diseases expert Dr. Benjamin Co echoed the findings of the UP researchers that COVID-19 cases in the country will most likely reach 60,000 by end of July. Co explained the country had an average of 770 cases per day last week. If you compute the 770 and were not going anywhere, that means thats around 20,000 cases additional on top of the over 30,000 cases that we have now, said Co. Co noted that only 49 out the 63 accredited COVID-19 testing laboratories in the country are regularly reporting their performed tests based on the Department of Healths website. The expert added there is an increasing positivity rate in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country for the past three days, noting a slightly increasing trend in the virus infections. If we dont follow government regulations, nothing is going to happen at all. But we cannot provide punitive actions on people so what we need to do is to change the paradigm and make the people work with us, emphasized Co. Co reiterated his suggestion that every town in the country must have its own COVID-19 isolation and testing facilities before lifting lockdown measures. The problem is COVID-19 testing and isolation facilities are concentrated on areas like Metro Manila. We have gazillions of testing facilities here, he said. Co mentioned Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, which he said has been performing more COVID-19 tests in April than today. There are three testing facilities in Cebu but unfortunately, one of them is not functioning. I think that is the reason why we are getting lower numbers out of Cebu, said Co. To date, the country now has 36,438 confirmed COVID-19 cases along with 1,255 deaths and 9,956 recoveries. CNN Philippines' David Tristan Yumol contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) Twenty protesters were released Tuesday night after being arrested for violating health safety protocols in a Pride rally in the country's capital, Manila Police District confirmed Wednesday. Minnie Lopez, lawyer of the so-called Pride 20, said Tuesday the Manila Prosecutors Office approved their release, however, it recommended that cases filed against them may "be referred for further preliminary investigation." Police said they will file charges in relation to illegal assembly, unjust vexation, as well as violation of Republic Act No. 1132 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act against the concerned individuals. Lopez said in a text message to CNN Philippines on Wednesday that they will file countercharges against the Manila police, details of which may be finalized this afternoon. The lawyer said they "will definitely question the legality of the arrest, the brutality of the dispersal and the violation of their rights while being investigated and under detention, including the discrimination experienced by Rey Salinas," who was among those nabbed. The protesters members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community took to the streets of Mendiola on Friday to voice their opposition to the controversial anti-terrorism bill. The rallyists who were brought to Manila Police District headquarters argued they held a peaceful demonstration and were following health protocols such as physical distancing and wearing of masks. An international human rights group has called on Philippine authorities to immediately release those arrested during the LGBT Pride rally in Manila last week. Cracking down on protests is an affront to the very notion of Pride, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement released Monday (Tuesday in Manila). "Authorities in the Philippines should immediately release all those arrested on June 26 and reaffirm their fundamental right to peaceful protest under domestic and international law," it added. The HRW stressed that Philippine laws do not prohibit such rallies given that the protesters were abiding by the health rules. It added the Philippine government should not use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to silence dissent and violate fundamental human rights, including freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. #FreePride20 The arrest of the Pride protesters took social media by storm, with netizens and celebrities alike joining the call to free them from detention. Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray who has long been vocal about her support for the community questioned the arrest of the peaceful protesters. Is this the new normal? Gray wrote on her Twitter page. If proper health guidelines were being followed, (social distancing, mask wearing) why the use of force? Pride, since the beginning has been a protest. Now is the time to speak up. Comedian-host Vice Ganda likewise called for help from Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno, noting how the city has always been LGBT friendly. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) Makati Mayor Abby Binay ordered the closure of Skye Bar on Tuesday, warning similar establishments to strictly follow quarantine restrictions. In a statement sent by her office, Binay said the posh bar was found "illegally operating and violating laws and protocols" aimed to curb the spread of COVID-19. Authorities arrested 113 customers, including TV host KC Montero, in the bar on Sunday after they were caught drinking liquor several of them even violating social distancing rules. RELATED: Host KC Montero, 100 others arrested in Makati bar for allegedly violating quarantine restrictions Makati City remains under general community quarantine, with restaurants and cafes only allowed to operate at 30 percent of its regular capacity. Bars are still prohibited from reopening. Binay reminded bar owners that they are still not allowed to operate for as long as Metro Manila remains under GCQ. She also said all business establishments are required to submit a Notice of Re-Opening to the citys Business Permits and Licensing Office within three days after reopening. "As we have repeatedly warned, we will not tolerate those who willfully put themselves and others in harms way by violating laws and protocols intended to curb the pandemic and promote a COVID-free city and nation," she added. (CNN) -- China's new national security legislation for Hong Kong was written and passed behind closed doors, without the consultation of the city's local government or legislature. It reportedly came into force on June 30, potentially rewriting the city's legal system -- despite the fact the overwhelming majority of residents have no idea of what precisely it will entail. According to reports in Communist Party-controlled media, the law is expected to criminalize offenses such as secession, subversion against the central Chinese government, terrorism, and colluding with foreign forces. But hours after its reported passage, details remain vague, capping a particularly opaque process that has left analysts and activists guessing. Speaking at a weekly press conference Tuesday morning, the city's leader Carrie Lam initially refused to answer questions about the law, saying it was "inappropriate for me to comment." Hours later she later defended it in a video speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, saying it will restore stability and prosperity to Hong Kong. Her administration appears to have been cut almost completely out of the process -- yet it has not stopped them predicting the law will only impact a tiny minority of individuals in the city, and won't harm political freedoms and judicial autonomy. In a statement last week, Lam said the legislation would be "in line with the rule of law" and the "rights and freedoms which are applicable in Hong Kong." Some aren't taking any chances, however. Multiple opposition political parties had already disbanded by Tuesday afternoon, with members fearing prosecution under the new offenses of subversion or secession, which are applied broadly in China to crush anti-government dissent. Chilling effect Prominent activist Joshua Wong announced soon after the bill's reported passage that he was leaving Demosisto, the political party he co-founded in 2016, but would continue to campaign independently. Other leading figures in the party, including former lawmaker Nathan Law and activist Agnes Chow, soon followed suit, and what was left of the party leadership eventually decided to cease operations. Chow was barred from standing for election in 2018 over her membership in Demosisto, which had previously called for Hong Kongers to be allowed to decide their own future, including voting on a potential break from China. Such talk could be illegal under the new law, if it follows the model of similar legislation in China as expected. Wong, Law and Chow have also been heavily involved in lobbying the international community to pressure Beijing over Hong Kong, which many expect to be classed as "colluding with foreign forces." Two other political parties, the Hong Kong National Front and Studentlocalism, also said they were ceasing operations in the city, though both groups -- fringe pro-independence parties -- said they would continue to work overseas. Some pro-independence figures are known to have fled Hong Kong in recent months, fearing arrest in connection with last year's often violent anti-government protests, or the upcoming law. On Sunday, Wayne Chan, convenor of the Hong Kong Independence Union, confirmed he had jumped bail and left the city. He had been facing protest-related charges. "After the national security law is passed, we can anticipate that a large group of political figures will be arrested, and may be imprisoned immediately without bail," Chan wrote on Facebook. More subtle signs of a chilling effect were also in evidence Tuesday, as shops and businesses which had previously been highly visible supporters of the city's protest movement began removing slogans and imagery that could be deemed illegal. Legal limbo While pro-government groups and politicians welcomed the passage of the law -- former leader C.Y. Leung offered bounties for future prosecutions -- there was great frustration among many Hong Kongers over the continued lack of detail, and a feeling of almost being in limbo, knowing the law has been passed but not what that means. In a letter to the city's government Monday, Hong Kong Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes said the secrecy of the law was "genuinely extraordinary" and called on the government to make clear how citizens' minimum rights will be guaranteed. The Global Times, a nationalist Chinese state-backed tabloid, said the law was already having its effect, pointing to the resignation of Wong and others. Stanley Ng, a Hong Kong delegate to China's National People's Congress, appeared to endorse this view, saying in a Facebook video that part of the reason for the secrecy around the law was to enable "intimidation and deterrence." Such uncertainty will likely persist beyond Tuesday night, when the bill is finally expected to be made public and gazetted. Regardless of how the offenses are described or the punishments laid down, many will be watching to see how strenuously police and prosecutors enforce them. A key test will come on Wednesday, when Hong Kong marks the 23rd anniversary of the city's handover to Chinese rule. The day has traditionally seen an anti-government march through the city, but the protest has been banned this year. Organizers say they will go ahead anyway. Yet how many people join them, and what offenses -- if any -- those people are deemed to be committing if they do, remains to be seen. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Hong Kong is about to be governed by a law most residents have never seen. And it's already having an effect." (CNN) A bipartisan group of congressional leaders is demanding the Trump administration explain what it knew about reports US intelligence concluded Russia offered bounties to Taliban fighters to kill US troops. The White House briefed a group of House Republican lawmakers on the matter on Monday, while Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and CIA Director Gina Haspel to provide all-member briefings to Congress on the intelligence. And several key Senate Republicans said they are seeking more information from the Trump administration, too. "Congress and the country need answers now," wrote Pelosi, a Democrat from California. "Congress needs to know what the intelligence community knows about this significant threat to American troops and our allies and what options are available to hold Russia accountable. The Administration's disturbing silence and inaction endanger the lives of our troops and our coalition partners." The swift response underscored the congressional push for information about the US intelligence -- and swirling questions over whether President Donald Trump was briefed about it, which Trump has denied. Pelosi -- a member of the "Gang of Eight," the congressional leaders who are briefed on sensitive intelligence matters -- said Sunday she was not told about the bounties offered to the Taliban. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees declined to comment. "It seems clear that the intelligence is real. The question is whether the President was briefed," Pelosi told CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday. "If he was not briefed, why would he not be briefed? Were they afraid to approach him on the subject of Russia?" This weekend, The New York Times, CNN and other news outlets reported Russian intelligence officers offered money to Taliban militants in Afghanistan as rewards if they killed US or UK troops there. While it's unclear whether Trump was aware, there have been recent discussions at high levels between the US and the UK to share the intelligence, two sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday there was "no consensus within the intelligence community" about whether Russia offered to pay bounties to the Taliban for killing American troops in Afghanistan. McEnany said there was "dissent" within the intelligence community about the intelligence. "Intelligence is verified before it reaches the President," she said during a briefing at the White House. Pressed whether the information was included in the Presidential Daily Briefing -- the written document that includes the intelligence community's more important and urgent information -- McEnany said only Trump "was not personally briefed." On Sunday, Trump described the reporting as "possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax." "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP," Trump tweeted Sunday evening. "Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!" House Republicans briefed on Monday Some GOP lawmakers received a briefing Monday on the intelligence from Ratcliffe, national security adviser Robert O'Brien and chief of staff Mark Meadows, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The lawmakers included Republican Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Mac Thornberry of Texas, Mike McCaul of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Jim Banks of Indiana, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Elise Stefanik of New York and Chris Stewart of Utah. After the briefing, McCaul and Kinzinger said in a statement that a review is ongoing to assess the accuracy of the media reports. "If the intelligence review process verifies the reports, we strongly encourage the Administration to take swift and serious action to hold the Putin regime accountable," they said. Kinzinger told reporters that he believed it was accurate that the intelligence "shouldn't have risen" to Trump's level because there was conflicting intelligence. "But the administration went forward with additional force protection maneuvers to protect our troops in case they found out and advised other troops in the region," Kinzinger said. Banks accused the New York Times of using "unconfirmed intel in an ONGOING investigation into targeted killing of American soldiers in order to smear the President." "Now it's impossible to finish the investigation," he said. Thornberry told reporters Monday morning before the briefing he was concerned if the President was not briefed on intelligence that US troops could have been endangered. "What the President and the DNI have said is that the President was not briefed, which to me is a very concerning statement," Thornberry said. "I don't know the credibility of the information because I have not been briefed, but anything with any hint of credibility that would endanger our service members, much less put a bounty on their lives, to me should have been briefed immediately to the commander-in-chief and a plan to deal with that situation." House Dems to be briefed Tuesday House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is bringing a group of House Democrats to the White House to be briefed Tuesday morning, according to an aide, who added that was "not a substitute for an all-House briefing." House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said he expected to attend that White House briefing, and he's also requested a classified briefing for his committee from the intelligence community. Schiff told CNN's Jim Acosta the White House explanation that Trump wasn't briefed because of conflicting intelligence wasn't sufficient. "It is frequently the case that the President should be briefed on matters where there is no absolute certainly about the intelligence on a given topic," Schiff said. "It's not sufficient to say we didn't tell him because we couldn't dot every I, cross every T, prove every point. ... If it goes to the protection of our troops, that's something that needs to be briefed to the commander in chief." House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith also requested a briefing for his committee on Monday, along with Thornberry. Smith told reporters Monday that the committee was seeking information from the Pentagon and intelligence community "to get real answers as to what we knew, when we knew it, and how we reacted." "It's a very important story," the Washington Democrat added. In the Senate, Republican committee leaders also sought additional information. "We've known for a long time that Putin is a thug and a murderer, and if the allegations reported in the New York Times are true, I will work with President Trump on a strong response. My number-one priority is the safety of our troops," Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, tweeted Monday. "Right now, though, we need answers. I have asked the administration to share what it knows, and I expect to know more in the coming days." Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close ally of Trump, said he expected the Trump administration "to take such allegations seriously and inform Congress immediately as to the reliability of these news reports." Acting Intelligence Chairman Marco Rubio on Monday declined to comment "on specific recent reports." "However, the targeting of our troops by foreign adversaries via proxies is a well established threat," Rubio tweeted. "Senate Intel has & will continue to conduct vigorous oversight of the performance of our agencies on all threats facing our nation." This story has been updated with additional developments Monday. It was first published on CNN.com Congress demands answers from Trump administration on Russia bounty intelligence The cabin is also a feature that takes visitors by surprise, along with a 1913 Indian Motorcycle. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} There are a lot of interesting things in the museum that people dont even know about, Siedlik said after the tour. The Third Ward building boasts an authentic turn-of-the-century barbershop and pianos and wooden shoes crafted in the area back then. Siedlik noted that shoes were created for steelworkers so they could safely walk on embers and special sandals made for military men to keep their feet safe during the war. According to Siedlik, the majority of the items the museum displays are donated to them. Officials at the museum say that the program has already significantly impacted attendance at the facility in the first month of the program. Cheri Schrader, executive director of the museum, said that as of Monday morning, 270 people had visited the facility due to the Nebraska Passport Program. This does not include the number of those visiting who utilized the Passport Program app. It has increased our attendance, Schrader said. Some days, 20 people will come by. On a regular summer day, that doesnt happen. Although some may feel like they dont have a lot to offer the world or each other, he said, that is not correct. All gifts come from God. All parts work together for the greater glory of God. Different gifts but the same spirit. There is diversity but also unity. One body, many parts, he said. God can use what you do have to build amazing things in your life. Swanton said the closer he is to God the more happy and peaceful he is. He makes better decisions, he said, and is less anxious. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Dont let the virus or civil unrest discourage you. Be hopeful. Youre the class of COVID-19, he said. Live your faith in community rather than isolation. When a door opens another closes. What seems like failure is grace in disguise. Father Joe Miksch, of St. Isidore's Catholic Church, was the next up. He began by commenting on what is happening in the world and how lucky students are to live in the United States. He noted that people are burning down cities and tearing down statues. He reflected on liberties like the freedom to practice faith, moving about and studying what you want, which some in other countries like China, Russia and North Korea dont have. Wardle said the DOH is working to ensure those connections and relationships are in place to build our capacity, should the number of contact tracers need to be rapidly expanded, as modeling projects. The GWU model accounts for projected case load, pegging Pennsylvania at 445 new cases per day over a 14-day sampling period. As of Monday, the states 14-day average daily increase stood at 490 new cases, due to slight upticks last week, according to the most recent DoH data. The GWU model can also be adjusted for workload the default assumption, based on prior experience, is that an infected person will, on average, have 10 close contacts that need to be monitored, and that a contact tracer can make 32 follow-ups per day. Those variables can swing significantly based on who is testing positive, with cases among high-contact people, such as servers, creating a larger workload. The reality is you may get one person who has been alone or quarantining with their partner, and then you get another case where a person has been out at a bar and may have contacted 30 people, Salsberg said. Having a restaurant worker come down [with COVID-19], youd want to get [a contact tracer] out there pretty quickly. The Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association, a trade association representing bars and restaurants with liquor licenses, on Sunday wrote to Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and his top health official, Dr. Debra Bogen, to protest the halt to on-site alcohol consumption. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The man then got back into his vehicle and fled from the scene, calling 911 and driving to the Washington County Hospital. He was stabilized at Washington County Memorial Hospital, then transferred to a St. Louis area hospital for further treatment. Deputies responded to the hospital to gather information and determined where the shooting occurred. Deputies headed to Onans residence and upon their arrival, the man, identified by the victim as Onan, was seen standing outside. A search warrant was served at the address. During the search, officers found one loaded Marlin semi-automatic .22 caliber rifle; one loaded Harrington and Richardson 12-gauge shotgun; 20 12-gauge shotgun shells; 14 .22 caliber bullets; and one glass jar of marijuana. According to court documents, the suspect was a convicted felon in the States of Florida and Kentucky. He has been arrested in the past for burglary, sexual abuse, and manufacturing methamphetamine. Onan was initially charged with two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, and three counts of unlawful use of a firearm by a convicted felon. As part of Wednesdays plea, Onan pleaded guilty to just one of the first-degree assault charges from the original complaint. As part of the sentence, Onan must serve 85% of his 15-year prison term before being eligible for parole. Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 7 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 firefighters were finishing up on the Sixth Street fire scene, several calls began coming in regarding structure damages and power lines down in different areas. Several houses on Hillsboro Road, where the tornado touched down, were damaged, and firefighters were called to assist residents in the area. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Weiss said that when emergency workers arrived at one of the Hillsboro residences, two of the structures walls had been blown off the foundation. Once it was apparent of how much damage had been caused in the area, emergency workers began checking the surrounding residences. A garage attached to a house had partially collapsed at another Hillsboro Road property in the same area, and a back porch collapsed off of a separate house nearby. In the area of Route O between Hillsboro Road and Hunters Ridge, Weiss said they received multiple reports of storm damage, including a carport that had blown into the roadway, as well as roof damage to several houses. Toward the end of the storm, firefighters also responded to three transformers that were on fire. In the emergency care world, we dont turn people away, regardless of their ability to pay. So who absorbs those costs? You guessed it --- us as taxpayers. The Amendment 2 ballot initiative is an investment in our states future. It enjoys broad support from hundreds of organizations across the state, including local and county ambulance districts such as my own, as well as our industrys three statewide groups: the Ambulance District Association of Missouri; the Missouri Ambulance Association; and the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association. We paramedics and emergency medical technicians know all too well how the epidemic of rural hospital closures in Missouri and nationwide is making us sicker. Missouris rural hospital closure rate is among the highest rates in the country. Nationwide, at least 130 rural hospitals (where the rate of uninsured patients is higher) have closed in the past decade (most in the 14 states that havent expanded Medicaid), with hundreds more remaining in financial peril. The shutdown of hospitals in places like Boonville, Farmington, Poplar Bluff, Mount Vernon, and Sweet Springs dont just mean longer, risker drives. It often means the loss of a towns biggest employer, an economic, social and cultural death knell from which many towns never recover. "Inspired by a deeply religious sense, this country, which has ever been devoted to the dignity of man, which has ever fostered the growth of the human spirit, has always met and hurled back the challenge of those deathly philosophies of hate and despair. We have defeated them in the past; we will always defeat them." Kennedy eventually would recast the rhetoric of American idealism, but that would require three terms in the House, two elections to the Senate, a presidential inauguration and a thousand days of testing. But traces of his January 1961 Inaugural Address and his June 1963 speeches on peace and racial justice can be discerned in these remarks from the less-experienced Kennedy: "It does remain a fact, and a most important one, that the motivating force of the American people has been their belief that they have always stood at the barricades by the side of God." Now we approach an Independence Day that is the perfect distillation of Kennedy's characterization of July 4 as "a day of recollection and a day of hope." On this holiday, we recall the brave words of the Declaration of Independence but with the acknowledgement that its author was a slave owner. On this day we are fired with hope that Jefferson's words can be transformed from aspiration to realization. Yes. I will do my part to conserve household energy usage, even if I'm uncomfortable in my home. No. It is too hot to conserve household energy usage. I already conserve, even before ERCOT requested it. Maybe, depending on the reason ERCOT provides and whether or not I am home during that time. Vote View Results Bangladesh: WorldFish to support Amphan-affected fishers in Coxs Bazar June 30,2020 | Source: The Financial Express WorldFish Bangladesh has extended its support among the cyclone Amphan-affected fishers in Coxs Bazar. The organisation will operate a humanitarian assistance of $29,000, or Tk 2.46 million, to 426 households in four upazilas of the district under its USAID-funded ECOFISH II project activities in zones of resilience, according to a press release. It has prepared a list of the victims and nature of damage to boats, houses and livestock, etc. in collaboration with local government representatives, Department of Fisheries and upazila administration. With the allocated amount, the organisation will distribute goats, sheep, chickens, ducks and vegetables, and seeds among 200 fisher families and help reconstruct 44 fishing boats at Teknaf, Ukhiya, Moheshakhali and Coxs Bazar Sadar upazilas. It will also help renovate 25 damaged dry fish yards that belonge to fisherwomen and rebuild 100 fishing household shelters. Worldfish will also provide support to 50 fish labourers working at the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) landing centre, and seven seaweed and green mussel farmers involved in marine farming. WorldFish would also seek support from the district administration and the World Food Program to provide support to approximately 10,600 fish processing labourers who have no fisher ID cards to cope up with the marine fishing ban and the Covid-19 pandemic situation. Myanmar: ILO warns of migrant workers crisis as Myanmar ponders returnees role June 30,2020 | Source: Myanmar Times The International Labour Organization (ILO) warned that many millions of migrant workers could face unemployment and poverty after losing their jobs abroad due to COVID-19 and returning to their home countries. The ILO said millions of migrant workers stranded abroad might be required to return home as countries began easing travel restrictions aimed at containing the virus. Even those with jobs may accept reduced wages and cramped worksite accommodations where social distancing is impossible, putting them at greater risk of contracting the virus, it said. The UN labour body said the families of migrant workers will suffer financially from the loss of the remittances. This is a potential crisis within a crisis, said Manuela Tomei, director of the ILOs Conditions of Work and Equality Department. We know that many millions of migrant workers, who were under lockdown in their countries of work, have lost their jobs and are now expected to return home to countries that are already grappling with weak economies and rising unemployment. Cooperation and planning are vital to avert a worse crisis. An estimated 164 million people are migrant workers worldwide, nearly half of them women, comprising 4.7 percent of the global workforce, the ILO said. Myanmar has seen a steady influx of migrant workers returning from abroad in the past two months, with over 71,000 returning from Thailand alone. Thousands of Myanmar workers have also returned from China, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea since March. Over 4 million Myanmar nationals work abroad, including more than 2.3 million in Thailand. Government, business groups, migrant aid groups and employment agencies have been seeking ways to use the skills of the returnees to aid the countrys development. U Aung Naing Oo, permanent secretary of the Myanmar Investment Commission, said earlier that regional and state governments are collecting data on the skills of the returning workers to create jobs that match them. We plan to use their skills in the countrys economic recovery, he said. U Maung Maung Lay, vice president of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the plan could help the countrys economy rebound in the post-COVID-19 period. However, U Htoo Chit, executive director of the Foundation for Education and Development, said that Myanmar must first boost the workers daily wages and social welfare services. He said the government could tap the workers skills in agriculture, fishing and construction work if they are paid proper wages. U Kyaw Myint of the Confederation of Trade Unions in Myanmar said Myanmars daily minimum wage is K4800, and Thailands is 325 baht, or about K15,000. He said that although he welcomes the plan to survey the returning workers skills, it is important to focus on the working conditions in the country. He added that his group will cooperate with the government to provide jobs for the returnees, depending on their skills. U Peter Nyunt Maung, deputy chair of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation, said recently that the thousands of Myanmar workers returning from Thailand would most likely not get their jobs back, as the Thai government would prioritise giving the jobs to Thais when its economy reopens. The ILO said countries such as Myanmar need to have social protections in place for returning workers to help reintegrate them into the national workforce. Returning migrant workers bring skills and talent that could help their countries rebuild better after the pandemic, the ILO said. However, the key to unlocking this potential is the establishment of a rights-based and orderly return and reintegration system, access to social protections, and proper skills recognition. Michelle Leighton, chief of the ILOs Labour Migration Department said, with the right policies, the return of these workers can be converted into a resource for recovery. These migrants will bring with them talents and new skills, and in some cases capital, that can support efforts in their home countries to rebuild better. We must help these countries grasp the opportunity, she said. Denton, TX (76205) Today Mostly cloudy early with thunderstorms developing later in the day. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. S winds shifting to N at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 59F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. In the last month, Ive added a new word to my vocabulary kayfabe. What does it mean? Its the theatrical master plan that people involved in pro wrestling engage in when deciding whether Boris the Black or The White Snake will win or lose a match. It is a crucial meeting that will be held on Monday 29 June at the UN Security Council with the thorny issue of the Renaissance dam, built on the Nile by Ethiopia, on the table. The meeting was called by the United States on behalf of Egypt. Egypt and Sudan fear for their water resources. The beginning of the filling of the reservoir is the source of current tensions. Sudanese and Egyptians said on Friday June 26 that the filling of the dam would not begin without a signed agreement. The next day, the Ethiopians took everyone by surprise by announcing that they would start the filling within two weeks. The Ethiopian communique caused confusion. Addis Ababa has announced that it will begin filling in within two weeks, implying it will begin at any moment, while the Security Council is about to meet and a committee of experts has fifteen days to lay the foundations for a new agreement. Anyways, the signing of an agreement would not mean the end of obstacles: what will its legal constitution be? What procedure, in case of dispute, once the dam is commissioned? Or what will be the flow of water during droughts? A train of the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station Metro Section seen in a factory in France. Photo courtesy of the Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board. The first train for Hanois second metro route will not arrive in July as planned after being delayed by the coronavirus outbreak. The Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MBR) said in a statement that the train meant for the Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station route would only arrive in Hai Phong port by the end of the year since the French consortium faces difficulties in shipping it. This is the first of four trains being produced for the section out of a total of 10. The second is now ready for test runs and the third has just been completed. Work to build the fourth began on May 11 after also being delayed as French factories closed from March 18 to early May. The factories have reopened but have difficulty sourcing parts as supply chains remain disrupted. Each train will have four or five cars and have a maximum capacity of 950 passengers. The 10 together cost almost VND3 trillion ($129 million). The Nhon-Hanoi Railway Station section, the second route after Cat Linh-Ha Dong, runs 12.5 kilometers from Nhon in the western district of Nam Tu Liem through Kim Ma Street to the city station in the downtown area. It will run 8.5 kilometers on elevated tracks and the remaining four kilometers underground. Construction was 62 percent complete as of earlier this month. The elevated tracks have been laid and the elevated sections are 80 percent complete. Test runs are scheduled for the end of the year. The work was supposed to be finished in September 2017, but delays pushed back the deadline several times. The first route, Cat LinhHa Dong, is now in the final stage of safety evaluation with a 20-day test run in the works. Foreigners who entered Vietnam since March 1 but remain stranded due to Covid-19 travel restrictions can have their temporary stay permits extended another month until July 31. The move involves a one-month extension to the current policy, issued in mid-May that allowed foreigners entering the country on a tourist visa, e-visa or visa exemption since March 1 to have their stay automatically extended until June 30. With the latest announcement made by the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday, foreigners will be automatically given free permit extensions until July 31, meaning they could leave Vietnam within the time period without undergoing official procedures. Those who entered Vietnam before March 1 are also eligible to have their stay automatically extended until the end of July if they could prove they were stranded in Vietnam due to the Covid-19 pandemic as confirmed by relevant diplomatic missions, or could provide documents issued by Vietnamese authorities to confirm they were quarantined or treated for Covid-19, among other reasons. Any foreigner who has been given automatic temporary residence permit extension has to declare their residency and health status as per regulations. Those who do not fall into the aforementioned categories or who commit violations shall be subject to Vietnams existing laws. As a measure to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Vietnam shut its borders by suspending all international flights on March 25, halting the issuance of new visas for all foreign nationals since March 18. Thousands of foreigners stuck in Vietnam amid travel restrictions have been repatriated in recent months. At a government meeting in Hanoi last week, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stated Vietnam was not yet ready to open up to international tourists given the lack of improvement in the global situation and the second wave of infections suffered by several countries in the region, including China and South Korea. With Vietnams borders remaining closed, foreign visitor numbers in the first half dropped 55.8 percent year-on-year to 3.74 million. Vietnam has gone 75 days without community transmission of the novel coronavirus. It has recorded 355 infections without any deaths. With five patients confirmed to have recovered on Monday, the country now has 20 active cases left. Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Declaration on the New Law in Montenegro Regarding Religious Minorities Brussels, June 27, 2020- On December 27, 2019, the Parliament of Montenegro adopted a law titled Freedom of Religion or Belief and Legal Status of Religious Communities, which came into effect on January 8, 2020. The law regulates two aspects: the registration and legal recognition of all religious communities in Montenegro and the estate and possessions of a church. The new registration system is rather complicated and contradictory, and in some of its provisions seems to discriminate against the Serbian Orthodox Church, while favoring the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. The second point of contention is church property. Unless clear evidence of ownership is supplied, the State will claim it. The Serbian Orthodox Church claims that this stipulation targets them as well and that the government of Montenegro intends to nationalize its property. This law was also criticized on two points regarding religious education. Firstly, while the right of parents to educate their children according to their beliefs is recognized, it has to be done with respect for the psychological integrity of the child(Art.52) and only up to age eleven. Once the child is twelve years old, the child decides for him/herself. Secondly, no religious community or group is allowed to establish a religious primary school. The law was examined by the European Commission for Democracy Through Law of the Council of Europe (the Venice Commission). The Commission continuously emphasized the need for the government to hold public consultations with all religious groups in Montenegro, a process which was limited in practice. Also, the obligation to register goes against the principle enshrined in the Venice Commissions guidelines on the legal personality of religious communities. The law was finally voted in a contentious atmosphere: during the night, while opposition members and religious figures were arrested and protesters rioted in the streets on the day of the vote. We, the ECPM MEPs, call on the government of Montenegro to abide by and implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission, especially regarding the use of church property and registration of religious communities. If amending the current law is required, we urge the government to do so following an adequate and transparent consultation process with all stakeholders involved, without showing any bias. We also ask the Montenegrin government to refrain from using violence against its own citizens and to cultivate a climate of inclusivity and mutual respect in its interaction with the religious groups and especially with the Serbian Orthodox Church. Lastly, the European Commission needs to closely monitor the performance of the government of Montenegro regarding freedom of religion, as it constitutes an essential element of the EU Accession process. At the release of the U.S. State Departments 2019 International Religious Freedom Report, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted positive developments regarding religious liberty in a number of countries, including Uzbekistan, The Gambia, and the United Arab Emirates. But, he said, theres also a great darkness over part of the world where people of faith are persecuted or denied the right to worship. U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback declared that one place where people are suffering greatly on account of their faith is China. In a recent interview he said that Chinese leaders are doubling down on their war on faith. Its against everybody. Its against the Muslim Uighurs. Its the Tibetan Buddhists. Its against the Falun Gong. Its the Christian house churches. Its everybody. Ambassador Brownback deplored the fact that China is also now using and exporting sophisticated technical systems of control: Its not just imprisoning people now. Its these virtual police states with lots of cameras and artificial intelligence systems and monitoring people who go into mosques or churches. And so its this high tech oppression thats starting to take root. Another regime that stands out for its violations of religious freedom is Iran, said Ambassador Brownback. One example is the persecution of Christian convert Mary Fatemeh Mohammadi, who was reportedly first arrested and imprisoned in 2017 and has been repeatedly harassed by Iranian authorities since then. Ambassador Brownback said her case is not an isolated one: Its not just Christians in Iran. You can be the wrong brand of Islam. You can be Bahai they get really rough treatment in Iran. But the Christians, and particularly Christian converts from Islam, just get a heavy level of persecution. . .We condemn all of it. And we really believe that if the Iranian government was looking after their own people, they would stand by religious freedom and say this is a personal choice. Ambassador Brownback also deplored the recent shocking honor killing in Iran of 14-year old Romina Ashrafi at the hands of her father. He condemned such killings as abhorrent, offensive to human dignity, and inimical to any true idea of faith and family. Religious liberty is a foundational human right, said Ambassador Brownback. The United States will continue to fight for people of all faiths, everywhere, at all times. Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday expressed his gratitude via the Thai media for China's donation of a batch of medical equipment to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand. The Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, acting on behalf of China, donated 1.3 million surgical face masks, 70,000 N95 face masks, 150,000 COVID-19 test kits and 70,000 PPE suits to Thailand. Prayut also extended his condolences to the Chinese Embassy in regards to the recent floods in China and expressed his confidence that the Chinese government will handle the crisis efficiently. After receiving the medical equipment from the Chinese Embassy, Prayut said the long-standing relationship with China will continue in all aspects including social, cultural and economic ties. The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved a $350 million First Economic Recovery Development Policy Loan (DPL) for Ukraine in support of reforms that are critical to economic recovery. According to the press service of the World Bank, the key reforms supported by the DPL include: strengthening land and credit markets by creating a transparent and efficient market for agricultural land and resolving non-performing loans in state owned banks; fostering de-monopolization and anti-corruption institutions including by restructuring the gas sector; bolstering the social safety net for the vulnerable elderly population to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in a sharp economic downturn that is hurting the incomes of ordinary Ukrainians and small businesses, and straining the government's budget. This development policy loan provides $350 million to support budget expenditures at a difficult time. The World Bank welcomes the Government's commitment to these reforms to prepare the economy for recovery, including the significant steps taken to end the moratorium on agricultural land sales, and to bolster benefits for the vulnerable elderly population," Arup Banerji, incoming World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine, said. This DPL is the first of two planned operations, with the second DPL expected to support the additional important land reform legislation and further strengthen pension benefits for the elderly population. The development policy loan is part of the World Bank's stepped-up support to Ukraine to address the impacts of COVID-19 and complements the approval of additional financing of $135 million for the Serving People, Improving Health Project and $150 million for the Social Safety Nets Modernization Project. Additional support to directly cushion the most vulnerable population from the impact of the pandemic is also under preparation. Since Ukraine joined the World Bank in 1992, the Bank's commitments to the country have totaled about $14 billion for more than 80 projects and programs. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanyshyna has said there may be no signing of agreements under the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ASAA) in 2021. "I think that the most important thing is that we started these negotiations and such a mission will come to Ukraine [the assessment mission on 'industrial visa-free travel']. After that, it has to evaluate all the legislation in the field of technical regulation of standards for industry, which we have transformed over the past ten years. Then, we will evaluate all market surveillance authorities, how they work, how they are in operation, as well as certification and accreditation authorities. However, this is a rather lengthy process," Stefanyshyna said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. The deputy prime minister also said that the mission's work will be held in four stages and only then Ukraine will receive recommendations that it will have to implement. "In fact, we are on a victorious path, because now we are entering into technical procedures, with the end of which we will be ready to talk about signing the agreement. This is not a quick process, but I will try to hasten it," she said. Stefanyshyna also said that she would ask the European party, despite the restrictions due to coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, to hasten the start of the assessment mission, at least in a remote format at the stage of work with the legal environment. Answering the clarifying question whether should we expect the signing of agreements under the "industrial visa-free travel" in 2021, the deputy prime minister said that this may not be. "However, we have already reached the greatest agreement. I would like to remind that there was no talk of the intention to sign this agreement in any official document of Ukraine-EU, except for the expert working group, three years ago. Extraordinary efforts managed to consolidate this issue in the declaration of the last summit," Stefanyshyna said. Kyiv International Airport named after Sikorsky has started a phased reduction of its employees, amid the crisis in the aviation industry due to the coronavirus pandemic, the airport's press service has said. Currently, the airport division is deciding whom of the employees to dismiss and how to optimize the operation of the enterprise. "We predict a slow recovery in demand for air travel and expect a return to the pre-quarantine level in only a few years. We cannot survive on our own without support from the state. Unfortunately, we will have to fire 50% of the staff, including highly qualified specialists of the industry," director general of Master-Avia management company Oleh Levchenko said. The airport also stressed that the problem was also aggravated by a lack of reaction and assistance from the government, the relevant ministry and Kyiv authorities, despite the fact that the airport management had repeatedly appealed to the authorities for help. In total, according to the enterprise, about 2,000 people work at the airport and Master-Avia. Another 8,000 employees work in related enterprises that cooperate with the airport. Kyiv Airport is the second Ukrainian airport in terms of passenger traffic. The World Bank has appointed Arup Banerji Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine, who, prior to this position, was the Country Director for the European Union, overseeing the Bank's operational, strategy and knowledge work in the EU member states. "In this position, Mr. Banerji will lead the Bank's engagement with governments, stakeholders, and partners in all three countries. He will oversee the delivery and implementation of the pipeline, portfolio, and knowledge products, and guide the future direction of the programs," the World Bank said in a Tuesday press release. Banerji will work with the World Bank's sister institutions IFC and MIGA, to strengthen World Bank Group delivery in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Before this appointment, Ms. Satu Kahkonen served as Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine from July 2016.Ms. Kahkonen was appointed Country Director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste in February 2020. Prior to the current appointment Mr. Banerji, an Indian national, was the Regional Country Director for the European Union (EU), overseeing World Bank's operational, strategy and knowledge work in the EU member states. Previously, as Senior Director and Head of the Global Practice for Social Protection, Labor and Jobs at the World Bank, he oversaw the Bank's global work on jobs, social safety nets, and pensions. Prior to joining the World Bank in 1998, Mr. Banerji taught at the Center for Development Economics at Williams College, Massachusetts, the United States, where he was the Director of Graduate Studies, and at University of Pennsylvania, the United States. He holds a Ph.D. and a Master's degree in Economics from University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from University of Delhi, India. He authored books and papers on economic growth, public finance, human development, social protection, institutions, jobs, poverty reduction and inequality. Foreign Minister of Belarus V.Makei participates in the solemn ceremony of opening of virtual museum Meeting on the Elbe River On June 30, 2020 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, took part in the solemn ceremony of opening of virtual museum Meeting on the Elbe River in Gymnasium No 5 of Minsk. The event was organized to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the historic meeting of Soviet and American troops on the Elbe River. The coming together of the allies was crucial for the final defeat of the Nazi Germany. In his statement, V.Makei noted that the meeting serves as a vivid symbol of courage of the peoples united in the struggle for freedom and independence; as the edification of the posterity that the heinous and tragic events of the past should never be repeated. The Minister indicated his aspiration that the event would draw public attention in Belarus and abroad to important historic events uniting Belarus and the U.S. The Charge dAffaires of the U.S. in Belarus, Jenifer Moore, the Deputy Chair of the Minsk City Executive Committee, Artem Tsuran, the Head of Administration of the Partisan district of Minsk, Valery Voronitsky, representatives of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, Ministry of Education, local authorities also took part in the ceremony. Tatyana Gerashchenko, daughter of the Hero of the Meeting on the Elbe River Alexander Silvashko, shared her memories. Participants of the event planted a rosarium with 75 roses in memory of the Elbe River meeting anniversary. print version Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took a very radical position in the issue of replacing profit tax with exit capital tax, Head of the Executive Committee of the National Reforms Council under the President of Ukraine Mikheil Saakashvili said after a first meeting of the council on Tuesday. "Instead of the profit tax, which is absolutely corrupt, the exit capital tax is introduced. This was supported by President Zelensky. And he said very clearly: no half measures and no half-solutions you need to help the Ukrainian economy," Saakashvili said at a briefing. According to him, some government representatives said that "we cannot allow this," therefore, they suggested half-hearted measures, for example, in some regions. "We need to take risks to help the economy. I really liked the president's concept," the head of the executive committee of the National Reforms Council said. The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine (HACC) has selected a pre-trial restriction for officials of a regional state administration, who are suspected of obtaining improper advantage, the press service of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) said. "The High Anti-Corruption Court upon a motion of the SAPO prosecutor and the NABU [National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine] detectives has selected a pre-trial restriction for the head of one of regional state administrations and an official of the regional state administration, who are suspected of obtaining improper advantage," the SAPO said on its Facebook page on Saturday morning. The court partially satisfied the motion of the prosecutor and detectives and rules to detain the suspects with an alternative of posting a bail of around UAH 10 million for the governor of the region and UAH 5 million for his companion. "The term of the pre-trial restriction is 60 days," the SAPO said. As reported, on June 25, the press service of the NABU reported that a head of a regional state administration and an official of the same regional state administration were detained during an attempt to obtain improper advantage under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Earlier on June 25, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky decided to dismiss Andriy Balon as Head of Kirovohrad Regional State Administration. On June 26, the NABU and the SAPO notified the head of a regional state administration and the official of the same regional state administration of suspicion of an attempt to obtain improper advantage. The United States with the assistance of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide Ukraine with financing in the amount of $100,000 for fight against a flooding in its western regions, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine has said. "The United States stands with Ukraine at this difficult time of severe flooding in western Ukraine. Through USAID, the American people will provide $100,000 in new funding to support Ukraine in responding to this humanitarian disaster. We will partner closely with the Ukrainian government to ensure these funds are used quickly and effectively to help the people of western Ukraine recover from this humanitarian disaster," the embassy said on its Facebook page on Saturday. It would make sense to discuss the possible deployment of NATO military bases in Ukrainian territory only after Ukraine becomes a full member of the alliance, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar said. "This is only a theory so far. It's too early to speak about this. When Ukraine is granted the status as a full NATO member, this could be discussed in earnest. We've just joined NATO's Enhanced Opportunities Partner (EOP) program, which is yet another step ahead toward strengthening cooperation with the North Atlantic alliance, which has also drawn a negative and nervous response from Russia. Definitely, they are trying to diminish the EOP's role," Bodnar said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. The United States' decision to relocate part of its forces from Germany to Poland is a serious and positive signal for Ukraine, Bodnar said. "This is a positive message for us, as the reinforcement of NATO's military capability, especially in such flank states as Poland and the Baltic countries, would have an absolutely positive effect on Ukraine's security. Surely, we can't talk about the deployment of such military units in Ukrainian territory now," he said. Ukraine has firmly set itself a strategic goal of integration into NATO, Bodnar said. Ukraine applied for a Membership Action Plan (MAP) back at the Bucharest summit, when the alliance said clearly that Ukraine and Georgia would be NATO members, and thus the final decision rests with NATO, he said. "I believe Ukraine may aspire for a MAP now, as it has both military and budget capability and the people's support. There is always room for improvement, and new requirements can be set again and again. Therefore, the matter is purely political now. If the alliance makes a political decision that Ukraine may be granted a MAP, this would be their decision, which we would be happy to embrace and would start implementing. I believe we've done a lot from the standpoint of reforming the state and meeting legal, democratic, and other standards. Ukraine stands ready to join the alliance, but the decision is on their side," he said. During a visit to Ivano-Frankivsk region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy set a task for the Cabinet of Ministers to attract international assistance for the restoration of the areas affected by the bad weather, the press service of the President's Office has reported. "We have allocated the first UAH 750 million from the reserve fund for the restoration of the areas and [payment] of compensation to people. It is not yet possible to fully calculate the losses, but if necessary, we will allocate as much as needed. However, our international friends have rapid aid mechanisms, and this should not be ignored. We must help people in this difficult period," the president said. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that the United States was immediately allocating $100,000 to the affected areas. Israel purchased 25,000 liters of drinking water, and Moldova sent a truck to Chernivtsi region with equipment and materials to deal with emergencies. The Multinational Engineer Battalion Tisa, which was created to prevent and respond quickly to flood threats, as well as to provide a qualified response to the consequences of natural disasters in the Carpathian region, is also involved in the restoration. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanyshyna has said Ukraine wants to join the European Union's vaccination strategy to overcome coronavirus (COVID-19). "We are just now discussing how Ukraine can join global initiatives to develop or procure vaccines. In particular, the European Commission a few weeks ago announced a vaccination strategy within the EU, but there is a block on international cooperation. This week I will be talking in detail with colleagues from the European Commission about how Ukraine can join these efforts, at least in order to receive timely information," she said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. She noted that Ukraine also held consultations within the country with companies that may be involved or which would be interesting to participate in this process. "We talked with European countries, and we hear a lot about the fact that it makes sense to invest efforts in the development of medicines. Today I know that the largest pharmaceutical companies in Ukraine are already working with foreign pharmaceutical companies on the development of medicines. Therefore, on the one hand, we want to be in the trend and political dialogue on global vaccination initiatives, but we understand that we should not forget about the development of drugs. Now it is very difficult to predict which of these means of combating coronavirus will be more effective," she said. Stefanyshyna complained that in Ukraine there are very few capacities for the production of vaccines or components for vaccination, but emphasized that the country has a very powerful pharmaceutical sector. "At my level, I ensure that we are in the political discourse at the EU level on vaccination, because this policy is only being formed, and we should already be part of it," she said. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has reportedly called on the international community to join forces to ensure universal access to coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukrainian diplomats should be involved in the promotion of Ukrainian goods on the world markets. According to the president's press service, he said this during a roundtable talk with the top managers of agricultural enterprises and farms in Kherson region on Friday. The farmers called on the president to help with the promotion of exports of Ukrainian goods on the world markets. "These people must have diplomatic experience and appropriate education. But the first aspect now is the seller. That is, they must sell our goods, become exporters of the country. In other words, they are Ukraine's export ambassadors," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine's Foreign Ministry is currently developing a relevant concept. "That is, the ambassador is not there to meet me and open the door. He must sell domestic goods. This is the main thing. Well, geopolitics as well, this is obvious," he said. Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that at the initiative of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba the institute of trade missions is being restored. It will be aimed at promoting Ukrainian products and manufacturers. "Therefore, I think that within a month or two we will start working in this direction," he said. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanyshyna has said the last stage the oral hearings remains in the arbitration process with the European Union to consider the dispute over Ukraine's ban on raw timber export. "I refrain from commenting on the moratorium itself and its correctness or incorrectness, as there is a rather multi-level discussion on the various measures introduced within the arbitration process. But I can definitely say that this type of decision should be born and made at the level of the Cabinet of Ministers. Because we are a civilized country that has undertaken international obligations, has become a member of the WTO, signed the Association Agreement, and has become part of the civilized trading world," she said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. Stefanyshyna emphasized that Ukraine's membership in world trade obliges the country to follow certain procedures and processes. "At this stage, as part of the arbitration process, all the procedures that needed a written exchange of information are over, and virtually the last stage remained the oral hearings of the parties," she said. According to her, for some time discussions continued on the possible modalities of these hearings in connection with the coronavirus, since the arbitrators are in different countries, but the parties came to the conclusion that the hearings should be in person. "Therefore, there is a dialogue now, when all participants in the process will be able to get together for the hearings," she said. As reported, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on April 9, 2015, which prohibited the export of timber and sawn timber in raw form (round timber) for ten years, while a ban on the export of timber of wood species (except pine) was introduced on November 1, 2015, and tree species from January 1, 2017. In 2018, parliament limited domestic consumption of raw timber to 25 billion cubic meters per year for the duration of the export of round timber outside the customs territory of Ukraine. At the same time, on January 16, 2019, the EU asked for consultations with Ukraine under the Association Agreement on this moratorium, which is the first step towards resolving disputes. In January 2020, Ukraine and the EU created an arbitration group to consider a dispute over Ukraine's ban on raw timber exports. Germany will allocate additional EUR 2 million to Ukraine in 2020-2021 for emergency measures of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The project, which will be financed, is designed for especially vulnerable people affected by the still ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, namely the newborn babies, children and their mothers. The project will help to improve healthcare services, psychological and social care, ensure drinking water supplies, create better sanitary conditions, as well as provide practical assistance such as winter clothes, the embassy said. In addition, with the assistance of the German government, Ukraine's healthcare facilities will be provided with medical and protective equipment, disinfectants, sanitary and hygienic materials for fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. UNICEF, with the help of Germany's financing, will also continue implementing awareness-raising projects about danger of mines, unexploded munitions and ammunition fragments, as well as provide mine-affected people with assistance. With another grant Germany will increase its humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Thanks to EUR 21 million allocated in 2019 alone and around EUR 19 million, which has been allocated this year, Germany is an important bilateral humanitarian partner of Ukraine, the embassy said. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanyshyna has said the universal mechanism for blocking bills in the Verkhovna Rada that contradict the Association Agreement with the EU will not be effective. "This is not a new initiative. I believe that a universal blocking mechanism will not be effective. In addition, we cannot limit the deputies in their legislative activities. The issue of compliance or non-compliance with the Agreement is always debatable, because it is a very diverse document containing various types of obligations, even those provisions on which we can depart from our obligations in exceptional circumstances. Therefore, it's impossible to write out a universal mechanism," Stefanyshyna said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. At the same time, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that both the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers and the regulations of the Verkhovna Rada need to be finalized. "The government is already considering amendments to the regulation in Appendix 27 to the Association Agreement, we are working on it with Energy Ministry. I think this will be a powerful signal for our partners in our commitment to achieving the goals of the agreement," she said. Kenyas anti-graft watchdog, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, on Monday arrested a former Kenya Revenue Authority Manager and his wife for failure to pay tax. Joseph Chege Gikonyo and his wife Lucy Kangai Stephen, who are listed as directors at Giche Limited, are said to have failed to pay Ksh38 million in taxes. According to the EACC, it established that between 2010 and 2015, both, being directors of Giche Limited, accumulated unexplained assets amounting to Ksh597 million. They fraudulently failed to pay Sh38,692,694 taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority, EACC boss Twalib Mubarak said in a statement on Monday. Twalib noted that the commission forwarded the investigation file to the DPP, who okayed the arrest of the two. In 2018, Kenya Revenue Authority refuted reports that Chege was its employee saying he was interdicted on October 31, 2016 when allegations of his involvement in malpractices emerged. EACC was alarmed by Cheges millionaire lifestyle which was at odds with his Ksh119,000 salary. The commission said Chege had no other known sources of income to explain the massive fortune. The suspect who worked at KRA offices in Eldoret had declared he had assets estimated at Ksh61 million. Chege and his wife are expected to take plea today, Tuesday, June 30. Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova asked French Ambassador Etienne de Poncins during their meeting in Kyiv to officially react to a visit by a delegation of French deputies of the European Parliament led by Thierry Mariani to Crimea, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said. "The first deputy foreign minister drew the attention of the Ambassador to the unacceptability of French citizens' contacts with representatives of the occupant administration of the Russian Federation on Ukraine's temporary occupied territories. In this regard, Emine Dzhaparova voiced a request to officially react to the illegal visit by French deputies of the European Parliament, led by Thierry Mariani, to Crimea (June 30-July 2)," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. "Etienne de Poncins, for his part, confirmed Paris' unchanged stance on supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including within the UN and other international organizations, and made assurances that he would pass Emine Dzhaparova's letter regarding the visit by French members of the European Parliament to Crimea on to the French Foreign Ministry," the ministry said. Additionally, Dzhaparova and de Poncins exchanged views on the preparation of future bilateral political contacts, in particular, French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Kyiv on the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The media reported earlier that a delegation of French members of the European Parliament would visit Crimea and there find out more about the organization of the vote on Russian constitutional amendments. A plane from Italy with assistance to help controlling floods in western Ukraine, arrived in the country, the Italian Embassy in Ukraine has reported. "As a result of severe floods that hit Ukraine, Italy provides assistance aimed at confronting this emergency and supporting rescue activities, as well as helping the affected population," the embassy's press service said Tuesday, quoting Italian ambassador to Ukraine Davide La Cecilia as saying. According to the report, the Military Aviation flight, organized by the Department of Civil Defense, arrived at Lviv Airport at 13:00 on Tuesday and delivered tents, water pumps, lighthouse towers and other materials provided by the National Fire Command Corps, Italian regions, and national civil defense volunteer organizations. "The friendly ties and solidarity that unite our countries grow stronger in times of difficulty. We are very grateful to Kyiv for the support provided to us by a group of doctors and a significant amount of disinfectants at the most difficult moment of the emergency sanitary situation in Italy. Now we want to support Ukraine's desire to resist to the phenomena that so severely hit the west of the country," the ambassador said. According to the diplomat, this operation is part of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. Earlier, the Department of Communication of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported that the Italian side decided to provide humanitarian assistance for the western regions of Ukraine after an appeal of the Ukrainian Embassy in Rome. "Appropriate equipment and special equipment, namely pumps equipped with a set of hoses, mobile generators, rescue cables, quadcopters, heated tents for 10 people, suits for underwater rescue operations, inflatable boats with motors, four-seater catamarans, life jackets and helmets, portable radio stations and other equipment will be used by the rescue service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine to eliminate the consequences of devastating floods," the ministry said on its website on Monday evening. Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov expressed gratitude for the cooperation and assistance to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy Luigi Di Maio. Exclusive interview of Jason Pellmar, IFC Regional Manager for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, for Interfax-Ukraine News Agency - In early April, IFC announced $3 billion to support clients in infrastructure, industrial manufacture, agriculture and services. What part of these funds has already been deployed? What are the loan terms? In an aggressive reform scenario, IFC has line of sight on a $3 billion pipeline through 2024. This presumes further liberalization of the land reform and progressing the banking sector reforms, among others. The current economic crisis, precipitated by the pandemic, has made the need for reform all the more critical so as to attract more domestic and foreign investment. Together with the World Bank, we will continue to progress these reforms and sand to improve Ukraines investment climate. Let me name a few of our key engagements this year. IFC is supporting the Government of Ukraine to privatize its state-owned banks via both advisory projects and financing. IFC is in the final stages of negotiations with Ukrgasbank for the signing of a pre-privatization loan agreement, which aims to facilitate the countrys first large-scale privatization in nearly a decade and to boost financing of sustainable energy and energy-efficient projects in Ukraine. We are actively extending trade finance and working capital to Ukraines financial intermediaries and to the real sector, offering long-term funding and risk-sharing facilties to local banks so they can continue to finance SMEs. Also, we are actively working on the creation of an infrastructure investment pipeline to support post-pandemic recovery and to create jobs. As you know, IFC supported the construction of a new high-capacity grain terminal, Neptune, at the Black Sea port near Odesa that started operation just a few months ago. Additionally, IFC structured and helped tender two port concessions for the state-owned Olvia Stevedoring Company and the Kherson Sea Trade Port, and we are already seeing early successes in mobilizing additional foreign strategic investment into Ukraines port sector. We are actively engaged in various initiatives to attract more investments into Ukraines road, rail, health, and energy sectors via the concession model - IFC also mentioned the accelerated procedure of crediting. What processes did you exclude, how does it work? We are working as quickly as possible to help companies in need. IFC has come up with the Fast-Track COVID-19 Facility that provides simplified procedures for the deployment of funds. Our experience from past shocks, including the global financial crisis in 2008, has taught us that keeping companies solvent is key to saving jobs and limiting economic damage. Speed is of the essence. IFCs phase-one response will use instruments for which our Executive Board has already delegated authority to our management. At the same time, IFC will maintain high standards of accountability. IFC management will approve projects based on credit, environmental and social governance, and compliance criteria, as were applied in past crisis responses. The package includes exposure limits by country and borrower. - In general, how has the crisis affected the products offered by IFC? The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected Ukraine through a slowdown in export markets, domestic supply chain disruptions, a decline in remittances and domestic consumption. IFC has prepared the Real Sector Crisis Response and Financial Institutions Response packages as part of the Fast Track COVID-19 Facility to help our private-sector clients to sustain economies and protect jobs. In addition to our standard products loans, equity, quasi-equity, and trade financeunder this Facility, we are working on local-currency funding at viable rates to support banks lending to MSMEs. Also we are looking at opportunities to offer risk-sharing facilities under the Small Loan Guarantee Program to help expand lending to SMEs in those markets that are not well served by the financial sector, including, for example, very small enterprises, women-owned SMEs, early-stage SMEs, SMEs involved in climate activities, agricultural SMEs. and high-growth SMEs. - How has the quality of IFCs loan portfolio changed? How many non-performing loans are you experiencing? IFCs portfolio is standing up well. Agri commodity and logistics clients, in particular, are proving to be resilient. This is reinforced given Ukraines role in ensuring global food security. As concerns NPLs more broadly, the World Bank has supported the National Bank of Ukraine and the Ministry of Finance in developing an NPL-resolution framework, which includes prudential regulations for write-offs and criteria for restructuring with haircut and sale through electronic auctions. A functioning NPL-resolution framework would also allow IFC to further support the Government with the cleanup of NPLs in select banks and promote private investment in distressed-asset workout vehicles. - Have you had cases of loans restructuring recently? If yes, what is the share of such loans? We have not had such cases in Ukraine recently. - Does IFC plan to introduce new products to support the economy after the pandemic? Globally, IFC has allocated $8 billion in fast-track financing to our private-sector clients to sustain economies and protect jobs during this unprecedented global crisis. This money is going to existing IFC clientseither experiencing or vulnerable to the economic impacts of COVID-19as medium to long-term loans, mezzanine, equity, and risk-sharing instruments. As a part of the COVID-19 facility, we are working to enhance the existing Global Trade Finance Program, deploy funds through trade-portfolio solutions, and provide Working Capital Solutions loans. These are not new products, but we are able to realize them via fast-track procedures. Phase two of our response will also include working upstream to create projects that will attract investment back into developing countries, including Ukraine. Globally, the World Bank Group has the financial capacity to deploy $160 billion from April 2020 through the end of the current fiscal year, ended June 2021. Over the same period, IFC is prepared to provide $47 billion in overall support for the private sector, including $32 billion from our own account and $15 billion mobilized from other investors. Through the end of fiscal 2023, IFC has the capacity to provide $117 billion in total financing, including $79 billion from our own account and in $38 billion in mobilized funds. - How do you assess the efficiency of the Energy Efficiency Fund? The Energy Efficiency Fund (EEF) was established in 2019 with IFCs support as a part of a program between the EU, Germany, and the Government of Ukraine to boost energy efficiency in the residential sector across the country. IFC also manages the EU-Germanys multi-donor trust fund (MDTF), which provides grants to homeowner associations (HOAs) for energy-efficiency renovations of their buildings in parallel with the EEF. In aggregate, the EEF and the MDTF command over $220 million to be channeled for this purpose. We expect up to 2,000 HOAs to participate in the program in the next three years. Set up and launched in a record eight months, the EEF has made substantial progress for a greenfield operation. With help from IFCs network of regional advisors, over 100 HOAs have submitted applications to the EEF so far, of which 85 percent will implement comprehensive EE renovations; another 200 or so buildings are at various stages of applying. For the 107 applications submitted to the EEF thus far, the EEF and IFC have committed $15.1 million in grants to be disbursed to the HOAs on completion of predefined stages of EE renovations. In parallel with the setting up the novel EEF, IFC supported its partner to roll out the so-called First Movers pilot program, which was intended to help the EEF design and test its first program. As of today, 6 of 11 First Movers have completed renovations of their buildings and are on track to save up to 50 percent energy consumption this coming winter and help to significantly reduce the homeowners utility bills. It should be noted that IFC also works with banks to help develop loan products and channel grants for energy-efficiency modernization of multi-family buildings. During its first year, the Warm Loans program deployed through four banks disbursed UAH 11.6 million in grants to 137 multifamily buildings. - Last year IFC issued local currency bonds to support its operations in Ukraine. Do you plan to continue? Helping Ukrainian businesses with access to longer-term finance, particularly in local currency, remains among IFCs key objectives. The Ukrainian banking sector is facing scarcity of long-term local currency funding for its lending operations, particularly due to the historic tendency of client savings in hard currencies, and now exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak. We are exploring opportunities to continue providing local currency funding at viable rates to support banks lending to MSMEs and providing direct financing to our real sector clients and municipalities. - What is the amount of IFC funding in Ukraine in the 2020 financial year, what is the dynamics compared to the past? Since 2004, IFC has committed over $3.3 billion in long-term financing in Ukraine across a diversified portfolio of projectsof which $1.1 billion was mobilized from partnersand implemented a wide-ranging advisory program. In addition, we have supported more than $1.2 billion of trade through IFCs Global Trade Finance program. Of course, we would like to do more with our existing and new clients. In this context, IFC has intensified its upstream work to broaden the scope of its engagement in the country beyond traditional sectors. We expect to finish 2020 strongly and having advanced a number of our strategic engagements. - What kind of financing do you plan for the next year? As already mentioned, we have line-of-sight to deploy $3 billion to respond to the crisis and to enable a swift and sustainable recovery over the next five years. We will continue working to ensure that the essential needs of the countrys private sector are met, extending trade finance and working capital to financial institutions and to the real sector. This will enable banks to continue lending to MSMEs and to allow companies to maintain their operations, keeping their labor force gainfully employed. We will continue to support our current government counterparts to drive economic recovery with fresh investments through our pipeline of investment and advisory projects across key sectors of the economy, including infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, value-add manufacturing and the financial sector. The event attracted the direct participation of representatives from the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry and nearly 30 Israeli enterprises operating across diverse fields, including agricultural processing, telecom equipment, medical devices, water treatment, high-tech solutions for cybersecurity and applications in agriculture. In her remarks, Deputy General Director of the Israel Export Institute Sabine Segal said that the conference is a platform for Israeli firms to learn about and access investment and business cooperation opportunities in the Vietnamese market in the post-COVID-19 period. Many Israeli companies are interested in fostering business cooperation with the Vietnamese market and partners, she added. For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel Do Minh Hung emphasised that Vietnam has successfully controlled the pandemic and is implementing an array of new policies and measures to promote economic growth, attract foreign investment, and welcome a new wave of foreign firms shifting production to Vietnam in the post-pandemic period. Vietnam has a lot of potential with its large market size and active participation in a network of multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), he said, noting that Vietnam-Israel relations and cooperation are growing as the two sides actively negotiate a bilateral FTA. The ambassador welcomed Israeli businesses to survey the Vietnamese market and seek investment and business cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese partners. At the meeting, Vietnamese trade counselor Le Thai Hoa briefed participants on the business and investment environment in Vietnam, highlighting the countrys foreign trade activities, key export products and major export markets. He also provided information on the priority areas to attract foreign investment as well as incentives regarding corporate income tax, import tax and land rental for investors, while touching upon a number of specific policies undertaken by the Vietnamese Government to support and remove difficulties for firms production and business activities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hoa highlighted trade exchange and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Israel, pointing out the opportunities for investment and business cooperation between the two countries business communities. At the conference, representatives of Israeli companies raised direct questions and discussed issues of concern, focusing on seeking specific cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese partners. Israel is Vietnams third largest export market in the Middle East. Two-way trade between Vietnam and Israel in 2019 reached US$1.156 billion, of which Vietnam exported US$774 million worth of products and imported US$382 million. In the first five months of 2020, Vietnam earned US$274 million from exporting goods to Israel and spent US$375 million importing products from there. To date, Israel has 31 investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of US$78.99 million, ranking 50th out of the 135 countries and territories with investments in the Southeast Asian country. As an important activity during Vietnams AIPA Chairmanship this year, the meeting was attended by the AIPA Secretary-General and representatives from AIPA member parliaments, international organisations, and ASEAN countries in Vietnam. In her opening remarks, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong said non-traditional security threats like environmental pollution, cybercrime, food and water resources insecurity, epidemics, and especially drugs are not only urgent but also long-term issues facing regions and the world as a whole. The scourge of drugs around the globe, including in Southeast Asia, is increasingly complex, leaving long-term health, economic, and social consequences for all countries. Since the beginning of this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has added another non-traditional security threat to countries worldwide, including ASEAN members, requiring solidarity and cooperation to respond, she noted. As a responsible member of the international community, Vietnam has taken an active and proactive part in global and regional anti-drug activities, Phong said, adding that its policies and laws are consistent with the common view in ASEAN of not compromising on drugs, not accepting the legalisation of drug use, balancing supply and demand reduction solutions, and persisting with the goal of a drug-free ASEAN community. Vietnams legislature has consistently made efforts to perfect legal regulations on and increase supervision over this matter, she said. In the time ahead it will amend the law on drug prevention and control and some related laws so as to cope with new challenges in the fight against drugs. Participants at the meeting were updated on drug prevention and control efforts in the region and the world, along with ASEANs drug response, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They also discussed and shared their countries experience in the drug fight and the treatment of drug addiction, while reviewing the implementation of commitments made in resolutions issued at meetings of the AIPA Fact Finding Committee and the AIPACODD. General view of the meeting. (Photo: VGP) Inshik Sim, a research officer at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said the annual profit from illegal drug production and trafficking in Southeast Asia is estimated at 71 billion USD. The drug issue in this region is now fiercer than ever and has become a crisis, with consequences for health, human rights, security, and the economies of relevant countries. He added that no interventions, policies, or prevention mechanisms can be built or implemented singlehandedly, noting that an effective prevention system at the local or national level should be integrated into a larger system, focusing on healthcare, and balancing drug-related issues, including reducing supply, enforcing laws, treating drug-related disorders, and minimising risks relevant to drug use. Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Le Van Thanh suggested that to push ahead with the drug fight, Vietnam and other ASEAN countries should promote political commitments, improve the efficiency of State management in drug prevention, control, and rehabilitation, and engage the entire political system and people in the task. They should also combine solutions on drug prevention and control with those on drug supply, demand, and harm reduction, he said, adding that they should view investing in the drug fight as like investing in sustainable development in each country and the entire region. >>> Five more COVID-19 patients recover, total 355 Among the total 355 infections, 215 were imported and quarantined upon arrival. At present, 9,877 people who had close contact with patients or entered from pandemic-hit areas being are quarantined at hospitals, concentrated quarantine facilities, and homes. Yesterday, five more patients treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi were announced as recovered. According to the committees treatment sub-committee, so far 335 patients, or 94.4% of the total confirmed cases, have been given all-clear, with no deaths. Twenty patients are being treated at health facilities nationwide and most are in stable condition. One tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once and three have tested negative at least twice. Vietnamese doctors to fly home with Patient 91 Patient 91 has made a miraculous recovery and will soon return to his home country on July 12. (Photo: Cho Ray Hospital) Currently, all 50 COVID-19 patients of foreign nationalities have recovered in Vietnam. The most severe case, who is now free from coronavirus but still undergoing extensive treatment, is a British pilot known as Patient 91. So far, he has undergone 103 days of treatment with a miraculous recovery and is still undergoing rehabilitation at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. In response to the patient's wish to return to his home country, the 44-year-old man is expected to return to the UK on a Vietnam Airlines flight on July 12. The National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on June 29 decided to dispatch a medical team to accompany him on the flight, which also aims to repatriate overseas Vietnamese. According to experts, Patient 91 is undergoing physical therapy, rehabilitation and nutrition enhancement and he needs at least 2-3 weeks to recover and be eligible for the flight. Before sending him home, the committees treatment sub-committee will hold the 6th national consultation to assess his overall health condition for the 12-hour nonstop flight. Previously, Vietnamese experts have had five consultations to find the best treatment solutions for the pilot in his corresponding treatment stages. Health Ministry informs about a relapse case in Ho Chi Minh City Taking samples for COVID-19 testing. (Photo: Ho Chi Minh City CDC) The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health (MoH) on June 30 announced that all samples taken for SARS-CoV-2 screening on a recovered COVID-19 patient who tested positive again in Ho Chi Minh Citys Binh Thanh District, as well as her close contacts, were negative. Last night, the ministry informed about Patient 326 who was defined as weak re-positive for SARS-CoV-2 after 20 days of being declared as recovered. Over the past six days, Ho Chi Minh Citys Centre of Diseases Control (CDC) took samples on all residents on the 12th floor of an apartment in Binh Thach District, where the patient resides, after her latest test result on June 20 was slightly re-positive for SARS-CoV-2. The 2000-born is an overseas student who was repatriated home from France on May 24 and was also isolated immediately after her entry at Cu Chi Field Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. She was found positive for SAR-CoV-2 on May 25 but was declared as recovered on June 9. After leaving the hospital, the patient continued to be isolated for 14 days in an isolation camp in Binh Thanh District, after which she went home on the 12th floor of the Pham Viet Chanh Apartment in the same district for six days. The patient is still tested regularly to check her health condition. To ensure the safety for the community and proactive prevention of COVID-19, the Ho Chi Minh City CDC has asked Patient 326s relatives and residents living on the same floor as her to take samples for testing. The MoH recommends that people not be too worried and bewildered because there have been many relapse cases after discharge but they are not likely to infect others anymore. Two other people were also killed, the military said, adding that security forces were conducting a sweep for any remaining attackers. The gunmen attacked the building, which is in a high security zone that also houses the head offices of many private banks, with grenades and guns, said Ghulam Nabi Memon, chief of police in Pakistan's biggest city and its financial hub. "Four attackers have been killed, they had come in a silver Corolla car," Memon told Reuters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The gunmen initially threw a grenade at security men posted outside the stock exchange compound then opened fire on a security post. The four were killed when security forces posted there responded. Pakistan has long been plagued by Islamist militant violence but attacks have become less frequent in recent years after military operations against various factions in strongholds along the Afghan border. The Pakistan Stock Exchange did not suspend trading during the attack, its managing director, Furrukh Khan, said. A Counter-Terrorism Department official told Reuters the attackers were carrying significant quantities of ammunition and grenades in backpacks. Apart from Islamist militants, Pakistan has also had to contend with separatist insurgents in Balochistan and Sindh provinces. This month, three explosions on the same day claimed by a little-known separatist group killed four people including two soldiers in the southern province of Sindh, of which Karachi is capital. The diplomat tweeted The United States welcomes ASEAN Leaders insistence that South China Sea disputes be resolved in line with international law, including UNCLOS. China cannot be allowed to treat the SCS as its maritime empire. We will have more to say on this topic soon. The South China Sea is known in Vietnam as the East Sea. He also included a link to the ASEAN Leaders' Vision Statement on a Cohesive And Responsive ASEAN: Rising Above Challenges And Sustaining Growth. The 36th ASEAN Summit was held via video conferencing on June 26 under the chair of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Vietnam is the Chair of ASEAN in 2020. ASEAN leaders affirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea. They also emphasised the need to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon build a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The blocs leaders expressed concerns over land reclamations, recent developments, activities and serious incidents, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region. They reaffirmed the need to enhance mutual trust and confidence, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS. They also emphasised the importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities by claimants and all other states that could further complicate the situation and escalate tensions in the East Sea. Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups 10 member countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Ruhollah Zam, a dissident opposition journalist and activist who was captured by Iranian security forces in Iraqi Kurdistan last October, has been sentenced to death for the most serious crime in the Islamic Republic. According to Judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esmaili who was speaking at a briefing, the court has found 13 of the charges brought against Zam, including spying for France and Israel, as proof of "corruption on earth" which bears a death sentence according to Iran's Islamic Penal Code. Esmaili said Zam has also been sentenced to prison terms for lesser charges. The sentence is not final and can be appealed. Iranian authorities have accused Zam and AMAD News the Telegram channel that he ran from exile, of inciting protesters in 2017-2018 to violent acts. The protests that extended to around 100 cities across the country left a death toll of a minimum of 30 protesters. AMAD is the Persian acronym for Awareness, Combat, and Democracy. Amad News was later renamed as Seday-e Mardom (Voice of the People). During his trial by the Revolutionary Court the 46-year-old Zam refuted all the charges brought against him by the prosecutor, including the charges of "collusion to take criminal action against national security ", espionage, and "insults against sanctities". Iran's Judiciary has also sentenced three young man to death for taking part in November 2019 protests claiming they committed armed robbery, kidnapping and acts of harassment against people". Esmaili claimed that most of those arrested in the protests have been released from custody but added: "There are a few who rioted, set fire to public property, and worse than that, killed people. They must be punished". The claims against Zam or the protesters cannot be verified as security related trials in Iran are held behind closed doors without due process of law. Zam was abducted and taken to Iran apparently during a visit to Iraq last October. It appeared at the time that he was somehow lured to leave his home in Paris and travel to Iraq by Iranian intelligence. A lawyer and activist loyal to the Islamic Republic has announced that the Revolutionary Court in the city of Shiraz sentenced him to a two-year suspended sentence for a critical remark about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Charged with "insulting" the Supreme Leader, the young attorney, Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi has also been condemned to sixty trips to his hometown, Shiraz, southern Iran to report to the fearsome Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' Intelligence Organization, IRGCIO. Kamfiroozi wrote on his Twitter page on June 29 that after his speech on Student's Day in 2018 in Shiraz, the IRGCIO sued him several times and the court finally convicted him. According to the young lawyer, the Islamic Revolutionary Court convicted him for only two sentences in his speech; "The Leader can be criticized when it comes to the rights and freedoms of citizens" and "It's saddening that the leadership is not aware of the violation of civil rights, and it is hundred times more unfortunate if he is aware of the violations." Son of a "shahid" (martyr killed in Iran-Iraq war, 1980-88), Kamfirouzi used to be a regular guest at Khamenei's annual gatherings with the university students. Attendants of such gatherings are hand-picked students who are instructed what to say and how to behave while meeting the Supreme Leader. During one of these meetings on July 2, 2016, Kamfirouzi "had dared" to remind Khamenei that the Islamic Republic authorities arrest and violate the rights of citizens despite statements by Khamenei that the criticism of the Supreme Leader is allowed. "Based on the IRGCIO reports, I have been summoned to the prosecutor's office in different cities ---for years. The reports were so baseless that I was acquitted in four cases immediately after the first summons. However, the insistence on filing lawsuits and summoning me was endless," Kamfirouzi tweeted. One of earlier tweets by Kamfirouzi was widely circulated in March 2018 when he questioned Khamenei's remark on the freedom of expression in Iran. In his annual Norooz (Iranian new year) speech on March 21, 2018, in the city of Mashhad, northeast Iran, Khamenei had maintained, "Some unfair individuals take advantage of free speech and say that there is no freedom in the country, and foreigners repeat this propaganda, while in the country there is freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of choice," adding, "Today, no one under the Islamic Republic is prosecuted or under pressure for being opposed to the government in their thoughts or views." Firing back, Kamfirouzi tweeted, "This speech by the Leader is not understandable for me since an IRGCIO report has led the Judiciary to file seven charges against me." Kamfirouzi asserted that he was charged merely for some "simple criticism" of the country's management. Police in Seme, Kisumu County have arrested a teenage girl linked to the death of an 80-year-old woman. The 14-year-old Class Seven pupil is said to have stoned the elderly woman to death in Konywera village, in West Seme Location on Sunday afternoon. Seme Sub-County Police Commander Hellen Chepkorir said the pair quarreled after the girl tethered cattle at the womans home against her wishes. The woman asked the girl to move the animals from her compound since she was drying her maize in the sun and feared the animals would feed on the cereals. In the ensuing tussle, the woman reportedly attempted to hit the girl with a walking stick but the minor retaliated by hurling stones at the Police officers visited the scene and established that the juvenile hurled a stone which hit the deceased on the ribs, causing the woman to collapse and fall on the ground, said Mrs Chepkorir. The woman was rushed to a private hospital where she died. The girl fled but her relatives pursued her, arrested her and turned her in to the police. The deceaseds body was moved to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu awaiting post-mortem. Mrs Chepkorir said the minor is expected to be arraigned in the course of the week. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 Trend: The online meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia with mediation and participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and the personal representative of the chairperson-in-office took place on June 30, 2020, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. During the one-hour online meeting, the sides discussed the current situation of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Mammadyarov raised the issue of the illegal activities by Armenia, including the infrastructural changes in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The co-chairs noted the increase of aggressive rhetoric. Mammadyarov said that the rhetoric is connected with Armenia's provocative actions. The sides agreed to arrange the following online meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia with mediation and participation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group next month. The co-chairs also noted that they would consider the opportunities of organizing the meeting in person between the ministers as soon as it is possible. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 Trend: There are opinions to extend the anti-COVID quarantine regime for two more weeks in Azerbaijan, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev said. Hajiyev made the remark in Baku at the briefing of the Operational Headquarters under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers, Trend reports on June 30. The issues related to coronavirus in Azerbaijan are being monitored around the clock, the necessary instructions are being given, the measures are being taken, assistant to the Azerbaijani president said. Hajiyev stressed that the issue of rendering support to the people being treated at home is also being considered. The assistant to the Azerbaijani president also said that coronavirus reveals big social, economic and other problems on a global scale. Coronavirus exacerbates the problems in the world, Hajiyev added. Globally, coronavirus must be recognized as a war. We will feel this threat until coronavirus is eliminated. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 Trend: UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Gulam Isagzai addressed an appeal entitled "Do it for Azerbaijan" in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, Trend reports citing the UN office in Azerbaijan on June 30. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Globally, we have over 9 million cases and reaching half a million deaths. In Azerbaijan, the number of cases are rising every day, too, as well as, unfortunately, the number of deaths. Recently, I also lost a member of my family because of this virus. Trust me, the threat is real and it is here! We shouldnt wait for COVID-19 to knock on our door," said the message. I appeal to you and request you to follow the simple steps, to defeat this calamity and to quickly return to normal life: keep a physical distance, wash your hands regularly, wear a mask where necessary and wear it properly, do not leave the house unless necessary, comply with the governments lockdown measures. Do this for yourself! For your family! And for Azerbaijan!, the message stressed. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 30 Trend: AzerTelecom, a backbone internet provider that connects Azerbaijan to the global internet network, announces new appointments at the companys management level. Mr. Fuad Allahverdiyev, who has been serving as a Chief Executive Officer of AzerTelecom since 2017, has been appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors of AzerTelecom. According to another decision, Ms. Ana Nakashidze, who has been serving as a Deputy CEO on Operations of AzerTelecom since 2018, has been appointed as Chief Executive Director of the company. AzerTelecom, which is known as a reliable partner on a global, regional and local scale has attained significant achievements in recent years and is contributing to the provision of the country with a sustainable and high-speed internet connection. We will continue the realization of the projects, aimed at the sustainable development of the ICT sector of Azerbaijan and the transformation of our country to the regional digital hub. I wish much success to the new Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Ana Nakashidze, and believe that she will contribute to the development of our company, said Mr. Fuad Allahverdiyev. AzerTelecom has attained and plans to play important role in improving connectivity of Azerbaijan by providing high-quality and resilient services to internet service providers and operators on the market. As global connectivity becomes vital for the success of any economy our company is continuously exploring opportunities to develop and evolve in transforming environment of new challenges and opportunities. I do believe, our team that has sustained and supported the growth of the company over the years will deliver extraordinary achievements in this challenging time, said Ms. Nakashidze. AzerTelecom is a telecommunication operator of Azerbaijan and the subsidiary of Bakcell, the first mobile operator and the fastest mobile internet provider in Azerbaijan. AzerTelecom connects Azerbaijan to the global Internet network and provides advanced telecommunication services to local and foreign companies. Currently, AzerTelecom implements Azerbaijan Digital Hub program to turn Azerbaijan into the regional digital center. BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jun. 30 Trend: When dystopian scenarios became our everyday reality with COVID-19 reigning over our lives and divesting large numbers of world population of their normal routines, little did everyone know that very soon we would also be experiencing a pent-up disenchantment with the role played by global institutions that are tasked with the protection of international peace and security, Trend reports with reference to the Modern Diplomacy platform. While the magnitude of the contagion has turned great geographic areas into quarantines zones, with concomitant physical and mental health challenges brought to millions of people, the message sent out by the United Nations the largest global multilateral organization is rather mixed and definitely not reassuring, the report said. Despite the fact that the UN General Assembly adopted its first ever resolution on the COVID-19 on April 2, 2020, calling for global, solidarity, multilateralism and international cooperation to cope with the pandemics, the voice of the UN Security Council is still missing as it has failed on numerous occasions to adopt a resolution that would finally categorize the COVID-19 as a threat to international peace and security. "While the World Health Origination (WHO) was and still remains the frontrunner of the international response to this unprecedented health crisis, some governments, however, did not unfortunately demonstrate a unified and solid support to these global efforts, having thus occasionally yielded to their own national agendas and opted for criticisms and recriminations instead of forging global unity and cooperation in these difficult times," the report said. The conceptual debate as to when and how the pandemics will be defeated, impending surge of the second wave, as well as about the contours of the post-COVID-19 world is ongoing in parallel to practical efforts on the part of medical community, scholars, pundits and politicians to ease the sufferings of millions of people worldwide, save and repair whatever vestige of normalcy we may still have. "Azerbaijan was among the countries that having assessed the dangers of the pandemics took very swift measures upon the news about the first infection case on 28 February as the government put the country into quarantine and enhanced it as the situation so demanded. The special Coronavirus Support Fund was established with 19 March 2020 Presidential Decree and the government prepared 9 programs worth about 3.5 billion manat ($2.05 billion) - 3 percent of the GDP to support the economy and extend social benefits. Many new hospitals were built for COVID-19 patients and local production of medical masks was introduced right from the beginning. Like many other countries around the world, Azerbaijan is also still battling the COVID-19 induced challenges, however, it has been doing so in a well-prepared and consistent manner that oozes confidence that one day we will beat this global health crisis and return to normalcy, whatever that might mean in a post-COVID-19 world," the report said. Azerbaijan as an emerging and ambitious middle power did not obviously suffice with its domestic achievements, as the dynamics of the pandemics shows that no one is safe until everyone is safe. As the incumbent Chair of the Turkic Council and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the country initiated two online summit meetings of these two institutions on April 16 and on May 4, respectively, in the midst of strict lockdowns in many parts of the world. Being an ardent believer in the value of international cooperation and multilateralism, it was only natural to expect Azerbaijan to initiate a discussion within these institutions in order to foster unity of purpose through effective multilateralism, and seek for common solutions that would attenuate and eventually overcome challenges imposed by this global contagion. Azerbaijans once again assuming a leadership role especially in such difficult times to promote the norms and values it believes in, therefore gibes with its image as a norm entrepreneur and a middle power. NAM - the largest international body after the United Nations, opts for not aligning with or against any major powers and promotes the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries. In line with its broader foreign policy objectives Azerbaijan vowed to promote multilateralism, international cooperation and solidarity also within the NAM group during its chairmanship in 2019-2022. Among the important outcomes of the above online NAM summit on May 4, the idea proposed by President Ilham Aliyev that NAM countries could initiate convening the special online session of the UN General Assembly on COVID-19 on the level of Heads of States and Governments gained particular traction. This initiative voiced an innate belief by many that more should be done on the part of international organizations to stave off the repercussions of the COVID-19 and unite global efforts through fostering more cooperation and multilateralism as opposed to pursuance of isolationist and national agendas in the face of this calamity. It was this confidence and trust in Azerbaijans initiative by NAM countries and the greater UN community that the proposal of convening of the special session of the UN General Assembly in response to COVID-19 was supported by more than 130 UN Member States, which makes 2/3 of the UN states. The only country that rejected the initiative was Armenia, however, the decision was adopted through the silence procedure by the majority of the UN Member States. So far only 30 UN General Assembly special sessions have happened as they are different from regular sessions. It has also been quite a while since the UN General Assembly adopted its second resolution on COVID-19 on April 20, 2020, calling for International cooperation to ensure global access to medicines, vaccines and medical equipment to face COVID-19. However, it is not enough. This health crisis is a moving target and continues to pose unseen and so far untrammeled challenge to our existence in the habitual system of international relations. Discussions within the UN on the issue should not cease, quite the contrary, they should carry a particular importance and provide a sense of direction in the absence of the UN Security Council resolution on COVID-19 threat. When seeing the current international response to the crisis in such a disarray, with shambolic UN Security Council and mostly low profile demonstrated by other international institutions, neorealists would cheer, as their central thesis of an anarchic and self-helping international system seems to once again prevail. However, the humanity has not suffered so many wars, deprivations and sufferings throughout this century alone to turn a blind eye to the lessons learned. The World War II became an inflection point making states realize that they cannot exists in isolation, and cooperation is the best strategy to stand against common threats and enemies. Many international institutions were therefore created afterwards, setting the stage for the never ending debate between neorealists and neoliberalists (institutionalists) as to the relevance and influence of these organizations in interstate relations and in shaping the world order. Many would agree that humanitys battle against COVID-19 also resembles a war, this time against an invisible enemy. We may as well dub it the World War III given its proportions and uncertainty that it brings to all of us.It is therefore incumbent upon each and every member of the international system to contribute to the global efforts to fight this scourge. Azerbaijan, once again, as an ardent believer in the power of international institutions, cooperation and solidarity, stood up to its role as a norm entrepreneur by having initiated and achieved the summoning of the special session of the UN General Assembly in response to COVID-19. Every effort matters, but one is not enough to cope with such a crisis if it is not multiplied by the like-minded. Azerbaijans efforts to achieve global solidarity was supported first within the NAM, and later, by the rest of the UN community, and our expectations from this special UN General Assembly session are first and foremost related to the message of solace that we are not all alone in this war. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend: The sales of air tickets to passengers in Azerbaijan after the quarantine regime will be possible at cash registers, and online, Vice President of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Eldar Hajiyev said, Trend reports. Hajiyev made the speech at an online meeting held on by the initiative of the Association of Tourism Agencies of Azerbaijan. He noted that after the cancellation of quarantine regime, travel agencies will be able to sell tickets to customers as before. Touching upon the importance of introducing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hajiyev added that this is aimed at protecting the health of citizens and preventing the risk of widespread spread of the virus. Hajiyev noted that special flights, which are currently being carried out, are pilot projects, and depending on the results, opening of flights in other directions is also being considered. During the meeting, Chairman of the board of the Association of Tourism Agencies Rufat Hajiyev said that the travel agencies experienced great financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and theyre currently in crisis. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 Trend: The 18th meeting of the Azerbaijan-Russia joint commission on sharing water resources of the Samur transboundary river was held at the Azerbaijan Amelioration and Water Farm OJSC in a video conference format, Trend reports citing the company. The meeting was chaired Zakir Guliyev, the co-chairman in the commission from Azerbaijan, deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan Amelioration and Water Farm. On behalf of the country, the meeting was attended by heads of the companys departments Ajdar Javadov and Elkhan Huseynov, and members of the commission including representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anar Huseynzade, of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Asif Verdiyev and representative of the State Border Services Faig Valiyev. A number of issues, including the operational separation and monitoring of water resources between the two countries and the next inspection of the technical condition of the Samur hydroelectric complex were discussed. The commission was created under the agreement between the Azerbaijani and the Russian governments on cooperation in the field of rational use and protection of water resources of the Samur transboundary river. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 By Samir Ali - Trend: The decline of Azerbaijans imports during the COVID-19 pandemic amounted to about 5 percent, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov said, Trend reports. Jabbarov made the statement at a press conference on June 30. He added that the country is also observing the decline in its export operations. The falling oil prices on the world market have affected the export as well. The cost of our exporting products exceeds the cost of imports, said Jabbarov. The minister noted that its too early to talk about how the pandemic harms the economy, as the process of its evaluating is continuing. New trend in press: Azerbaijans first English-language newspaper Azernews to be published in three different designs, to be available in US, UK, China and other countries The Health Ministry on Monday confirmed that several Members of Parliament have tested positive for Covid-19. Early morning reports indicated that at least six legislators were admitted in different hospitals in Nairobi, with one said to be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Sources also revealed that many other legislators had come into contact with their positive colleagues, sparking fear and panic that more MPs might be affected. Even though the ministry did not indicate how many MPs have contracted the virus, Health CAS Rashid Aman said the ministry response teams have activated contact tracing. I dont have that information as to the number of MPs and how many they are, what their state is clinically, but I want to say that protocol for positive cases once they are identified is to do the follow-up contact tracing and that is done for any individual who turns out positive, regardless of his stature in society, said Dr Aman. In terms of contact tracing, we have set protocols, which we must follow, regardless of who is the person affected. That is the procedure; we must follow the contacts and we must trace them, treat them, isolate them and that process will continue. At the same time, Director of Public Health, Dr Francis Kuria, urged Kenyans to shun political gatherings. The numbers of Parliamentarians who have tested positive (for Covid-19) is not going to help you not turn positive. We have to fight the stigma even as we seek to ensure that Kenyans from all walks of like are healed, Kuria said. He added: But then this question also shows how important it is to avoid political gatherings because we dont know whom we are interacting with. This is what we have been saying but some people say that it politics. Our (Health) CS Mutahi Kagwe told us the other day that we have to treat everyone as if they are positive. Individual responsibility is key. BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend: President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed interaction of legislative bodies and political parties of the two countries, Trend reports with reference to Turkmenistan State News Agency. This issue was discussed during a telephone conversation that was held between the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The sides noted the dynamics of trade and economic relations. In particular, the presidents attach importance to strengthening cooperation within international organizations, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) The head of Uzbekistan congratulated the head of Turkmenistan on his birthday and noted that the Uzbek side attaches special importance to the development of cooperation with Turkmenistan. Thanking for the congratulations, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that Turkmenistan values friendly relations with Uzbekistan. Earlier, a meeting was held between the deputy foreign ministers of the two countries. During this meeting, representatives of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan said that they intend to improve import and export procedures. The current state and prospects of cooperation in the energy and water sectors were also discussed. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 By Nargiz Ismayilova Trend: Since the beginning of the supply of the first batch of gas on June 30, 2018 up till now, over 5.8 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas have been transported to Turkey via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Adviser to Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Zamina Aliyeva told Trend on June 30. According to the ministry's earlier report, the export of Azerbaijani gas via TANAP amounted to 1.6 billion cubic meters from January through May 2020. Opening ceremony of TANAP's Phase 0 took place in the Turkish province of Eskisehir on June 12, 2018, and commercial gas deliveries to Turkey began in late June 2018. The opening ceremony of the TANAP-Europe connection was held in Ipsala, Edirne province of Turkey on Nov. 30, 2019. In this area, near the Greek border, TANAP is connected to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), through which natural gas from Azerbaijan will be delivered to European countries. The initial capacity of TANAP, which is the main segment of the Southern Gas Corridor, is 16 billion cubic meters of gas. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be supplied to Turkey while the remaining volume - to Europe. After the completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) construction, gas will be supplied to Europe in late 2020. The share distribution of TANAP shareholders is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, Botas - 30 percent, BP - 12 percent. ---- Follow the author on Twitter:@IsmailovaNargis BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 30 By Samir Ali - Trend: The issue of amnesty of property and capital in Azerbaijan is being discussed at the working group level, Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said during a press conference on June 30, Trend reports from the event. The minister added that entrepreneurs are showing interest in this issue, and currently, international experience is being considered in this regard. "The public will be informed about the results of this process," Jabbarov said. Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Kazem Gharibabadi on Sunday highlighted his country's achievements in fighting drug-trafficking, describing it as the forerunner of the campaign against drug trafficking in the world, Trend reports citing IRNA. Talking to reporters, he referred to the report of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released last week, saying that according to the report, 644 tons of 704 tons of opium, 25 tons of 97 tons of heroin, and 21 tons of 43 tons of morphine worldwide have been discovered by Iran alone. With the discovery of a total of 690 tons of 844 tons of opium, heroin and morphine (equivalent to 82%), Iran is the forerunner of seizing opium and its derivatives in the world, Gharibabadi said. As per the US report, Iran has seized some 100 tons of Hashish in 2018, he said. Earlier, Gharibabadi said that Iran has been discovering and seizing the largest amount of narcotics, despite US sanctions on equipment to intercept the contraband. At the meeting of the Narcotics Commission on the occasion of the United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, he said that despite high economic and human costs, Iran has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past four decades. He added that through 2,319 clashes with drug traffickers, Islamic Republic of Iran dismantled 1,886 gangs and networks involved in the transit and supply of narcotic drugs. Brave and courageous Iranian anti-drug agents were martyred and injured while fighting with traffickers. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that the Israeli plan of annexing parts of the West Bank is rejected, whether it is partial or complete, Trend reports citing Xinhua. Abbas's announcement was made in a telephone conversation with Simonetta Sommaruga, president of the Swiss Confederation, the official WAFA news agency reported. The report said that Abbas stressed that the Palestinians reject the U.S. Mideast peace plan, adding that it violates all the international resolutions. The Swiss president said that Switzerland opposes any unilateral actions or any changes that violate international law and the international legitimacy, and called for Israel and the Palestinians for a dialogue. Sommaruga told Abbas that her country will continue providing support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, mainly in the field of health to combat the coronavirus pandemic. In another development, during an online meeting with 40 British lawmakers, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye accused Israel of planning to dissolve the Palestinian Authority (PA), adding that the Palestinians will not let Israel do so "because the PA was the result of the Palestinian struggle." "The Israeli annexation plan threatens the existence of the Palestinian people and their just cause and also threatens security and stability in the region," said Ishtaye. The Israeli government is planning to annex more than 30 percent of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley. It also plans to impose sovereignty on several Israeli settlements in the territory. Tension between the two sides has mounted after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his annexation plan will be implemented on July 1. On the eve of mass demonstrations expected on Tuesday, Sudanese capital Khartoum is witnessing unprecedented security measures, Trend reports citing Xinhua. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok urged the participants in Tuesday's demonstrations to exercise maximum alert and follow the health instructions and guidelines to prevent further spread of coronavirus. "I'm fully confident in the vigilance of the revolutionaries and their adherence to the weapon of peacefulness with which the revolution has triumphed over the forces of dark," said Hamdok in a speech to the Sudanese people on Monday. Meanwhile, in anticipation of Tuesday's demonstrations, the Sudanese government on Monday announced the arrest of leaders belonging to the former regime over planning for hostile moves. "According to reliable information about a meeting for leaders belonging to the dissolved National Congress Party and the Islamic Movement, a joint team of the military intelligence and the General Intelligence Service raided the meeting site and arrested the group participating in the meeting," said a statement by the office of Sudan's Information Minister Faisal Mohamed Saleh. The Public Prosecution is undertaking the investigation procedures with the defendants prior to presenting them to the judiciary, according to the statement. The Sudanese authorities on Monday tightened the security measures around the army's general command and main headquarters such as the Republican Palace and the Council of Ministers. Additionally, security forces have been deployed on the bridges linking Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum North after Khartoum State authorities on Sunday decided to fully close all bridges on June 29 and 30. Various parties have called for demonstrations on Tuesday. Some called for a demonstration to correct the path of the revolution, while supporters of the former regime called for a similar demonstration on the same day to demand the overthrow of Hamdok's government. According to Sudanese media, quoting security sources, there are reports indicating plots to carry out assassinations, chaos and sabotage acts during the June 30 demonstrations to speed up removal of the transitional government, led by Hamdok. Since August 2019, a military and civilian coalition has been in power in Sudan for a transitional period of 39 months, after a popular revolution that ousted the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir on April 11 last year. Thailand on Tuesday confirmed two new coronavirus cases imported from abroad, marking 36 days without local transmission, Trend reports with reference to Reuters. The new cases were Thai nationals returning from Qatar who were in state quarantine, said Panprapa Yongtrakul, a spokeswoman for the governments COVID-19 Administration Centre. The coronavirus has killed 58 people in Thailand among its 3,171 infections. Of those, 3,056 patients have recovered. Thailand will reopen schools and bars and allow some foreigners into the country from Wednesday. Ida Odinga was full of praise for Betty Kyallo during the re-launch of the media personalitys beauty salon, Flair by Betty. The wife of Nasa leader Raila Odinga was the guest of honour at the launch of the parlour in Kilimanis Rose Avenue. In her speech, Ida lauded Betty for setting a positive example for young girls in the country. The most amazing thing is that they are all young people. Thank you for working with them, she said. Most times, people see ladies like Betty and they think they are just for the camera. They dont realise they can also do other things on their own, and people mistake them that they dont do things on their own. Ida Odinga continued: Betty, Im glad that with your brain, hands and mind, you worked out this thing. Girls, this can be done. It can be done. God gave us equal brains. God did not give us different gender brains. Mama Ida further advised: Keep off drugs. And advise little sisters and brothers. Tell them no one has ever succeeded from taking drugs. On her part, Betty said the launch was a dream come true. I have been dreaming of this day. I cannot believe it is here. I was telling Mama Ida that we left this place at 5.30 am this morning. We were here organising things for you guys to see this. It has been three months of working on this. Ms Kyallo, who has been in the salon business for two years now, noted that she is keen to improve customer satisfaction. You know you can be in a big place like this but the customers are not satisfied with the services, she said. So for me, I must make sure the customers get value of their money. Everything you see here is my dream come true. I have always been aspiring to do this and I put all my efforts and mind to bring this out. When Pedro Sanchez, leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), launched a successful no-confidence motion in Congress that put him in the prime ministers office in June 2018, he said that one of his priorities would be to reform the Citizen Safety Law, popularly known as the gag law. The controversial legislation, approved by the Popular Party (PP) in 2015, was criticized from day one for impeding freedom of expression because it established fines for doing things like protesting in front of parliament or taking and sharing photographs of police officers. The opposition claimed it was a way to clamp down on the street protests taking place at the time against political corruption and mismanagement of the economic crisis. But the gag law will turn five years old this Wednesday, and not only has it not been repealed or reformed, it has actually been used more than ever in recent times, under Sanchezs administration. People marching in December for a new Citizen Safety Law. Samuel Sanchez During the first 75 days of coronavirus lockdown in Spain, there were a total of 1,089,917 proposed fines against violators of the confinement measures. This is a 42% increase over all sanctions during the first three and a half years that the law was in effect. And Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska recently announced that repealing the Citizen Safety Law would not eliminate Section 36.6, which sets out fines of 601 to 30,000 for disobeying law enforcement officers. This is the article thats been most often resorted to during Spains state of alarm, which was introduced in mid-March and lifted on June 21. Despite all the debate, the law has survived two early elections, one failed political term and a health crisis. Former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was able to secure its passage in 2015 thanks to his absolute majority in Congress, but there have been several attempts since then to repeal or reform it. Opposition parties, with the PSOE at the helm, challenged the constitutionality of several sections, but the Constitutional Court has yet to issue a decision, partly because the progressive and conservative judges on the panel have so far been unable to reach an agreement on the more controversial aspects of the law. But there are political hurdles as well as legal ones. Following the no-confidence vote of late May 2018, parliamentary groups began working on a negotiated reform to the Citizen Safety Law. In November of that year, a draft was presented by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and other groups proposed over 200 amendments to it. A preliminary agreement was reached, but parliament was dissolved ahead of time to make way for the early election of April 28, 2019 and work ground to a halt. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has warned that any new law would still have to include a controversial section about disobeying law enforcement officers. Eduardo Parra / Europa Press The vote gave a victory to the PSOE but Sanchez was unable to form a government, leading to yet another early election in November, which was also won by Sanchez. The Socialist leader heads a minority government in coalition with the leftist Unidas Podemos, and the alliance originally included a pledge to replace the gag law with a new piece of legislation. But the health crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic has not only postponed these efforts, it was actually breathed new life into the Citizen Safety Law, which was widely used by the Interior Ministry to sanction individuals who broke the stay-at-home orders. Between March 14 the day that the government decreed a state of alarm and June 1, the last day with available figures from law enforcement agencies, there were 1,089,197 sanction proposals, up 42% from the 765,416 that were issued between 2015 and 2018. This has led to numerous complaints, even from the PSOEs coalition partner Unidas Podemos. Meanwhile, the Ombudsman has for years been urging political parties to reform the law. And Amnesty International will this Tuesday hand Congress a petition with 142,000 signatures demanding its repeal. The human rights group says that 70% of all sanctions issued under this law between 2015 and 2018 were based exclusively on two sections, including 36.6, the one used during the state of alarm. At a congressional appearance on April 23, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska reiterated the governments commitment to repealing the gag law, but he also warned that there are sections that will always have to be included in the next law, alluding to Section 36.6. Out of the nearly 1.1 million proposed sanctions during the first 75 days of the state of alarm, over half were made by the National Police and the Civil Guard, followed by regional and local law enforcement. Andalusia and Madrid account for the highest number. In Catalonia and the Basque Country, the majority of sanctions were issued by the regional police forces, the Mossos dEsquadra and the Ertzaintza respectively. English version by Susana Urra. The European Union agreed on Monday to open its borders to a list of 15 countries, which have reciprocal deals with the EU and are considered safe due to their epidemiological situation. Under the agreement, which needs to be approved by a majority of the 27-member bloc, travel to and from the following countries will be permitted from July 1: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Japan, Georgia, Morocco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The list also includes China, but only if visitors from the EU receive reciprocal treatment, given that is one of the conditions for reopening. We should not be guided by whether there are active outbreaks, but rather whether they are controlled Jesus Molina Cabrilllana, spokesperson for the Spanish Association of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Hygiene The selection has been made based on the epidemiological situation in each country, which must have a similar or lower contagion rate than the European average for every 100,000 inhabitants for 14 days. The approved list leaves out 150 nations, including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Russia and India. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the EU allowed citizens from 105 countries and territories into the Schengen Area, which comprises 26 countries, including most EU members. The number of nationalities allowed into the Schengen space has now been cut to 15. But while the countries on the list are considered safe, epidemiologists consulted by EL PAIS warn that travelers must maintain safety measures and practice social distancing in these destinations. If the epidemiological situation is the same or better than Spains, one can certainly travel. Like in Spain, there is a lot of variability within other countries: Madrid and Barcelona, with the highest incidence [of the virus] are not the same as other Spanish regions, explains Jesus Molina Cabrilllana, the spokesperson for the Spanish Association of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Hygiene (Sempshp). But countries that initially had a good epidemiological situation, like Portugal and Germany, have recently recorded new outbreaks of the coronavirus. In Portugal, residents in 19 districts of Greater Lisbon have been confined once again in their homes. And in Germany, the Gutersloh community remains under lockdown after an outbreak was detected at a meat-processing plant. On this issue, Cabrillana is firm: When it comes to making decisions, we should not be guided by whether there are active outbreaks, but rather whether these are controlled. Toni Trilla, the head of preventive medicine at Barcelonas Clinic Hospital, warns that there is no such thing as zero risk. He insists: The circumstances that have to be taken into account are: [what happens] if the situation in the country changes and they close their borders: what guarantees do you have that the country will allow you to return to Spain, or if something happens to you there, what healthcare system or insurance coverage do you have, or for repatriation, to address this situation? It is crucial to know where travelers are coming from, what they are coming for and where they can be located Magda Campins, head of preventive medicine at Vall dHebron Hospital Another factor to take into account when assessing the risk of reopening borders is a countrys capacity for contact tracing, says Trilla. The capacity we have to follow the trail of any tourist is very important. They [tourists] need to know that if they feel unwell, they have to alert the healthcare system, and the system has to be able to monitor them, to have an address and telephone number to locate them, he explains. Magda Campins, the head of preventive medicine at the Vall dHebron Hospital in Barcelona, agrees: If each country meets the epidemiological criteria, the issue of tourists is not that risky. She warns: I am more worried about those that arrive in great numbers, like seasonal workers, whose location has not been recorded. If you have to do a trace, the situation is much more complicated. We have to be stricter, and it is crucial to know where travelers are coming from, what they are coming for and where they can be located. In Spains northwestern region of Aragon, a coronavirus outbreak among fruit pickers has forced four comarcas administrative divisions smaller than provinces to return to Phase 2 of the central governments deescalation plan. These workers, most of whom are migrants, have few resources and live in overcrowded conditions favorable for the spread of Covid-19. Similar outbreaks have also been detected in the Catalan province of Lleida and the region of Murcia. All of the epidemiologists consulted by EL PAIS recommended that travelers take care when en route to their destination. The three basic measures, hygiene, face masks and distance, are always recommended. And when traveling to places where there is overcrowding, I would recommend avoiding these types of areas entirely, says Campins. English version by Melissa Kitson. KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2020 - 18:22 | All, Coronavirus, Japan Medical startup Anges Inc. said Tuesday it has started Japan's first clinical trial on humans of a potential vaccine for the new coronavirus, aiming for government approval by the fall next year for its sale if the vaccine proves to be safe and effective. The trial at Osaka City University Hospital begins with injecting the DNA vaccine into 30 healthy adults through early July. It will assess their data over eight weeks to see whether they have side effects from the vaccine or have developed antibodies against the disease. The participants are grouped into two teams of 15, with one given larger amounts of the vaccine than the other. Each person receives two intramuscular shots of the vaccine. If the initial phase of the clinical trial confirms the vaccine's safety, Anges will expand enrollment to around 400. If the next stage goes well, it hopes to obtain government approval between the spring and the fall of next year to produce and sell the vaccine. Anges said the enrolled patients will be observed until July next year. It said it also plans a separate clinical trial of the vaccine at Osaka University. The vaccine Anges has developed will inject a genetically engineered circular DNA into the body that produces "spike proteins," which are a characteristic of the coronavirus, according to the company. When such proteins are made, the body's immune system is stimulated to make antibodies against the virus. Anges joins some 17 clinical tests of coronavirus vaccine candidates being conducted globally, including by U.S. biotechnology company Moderna Inc., British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca Plc and China's CanSino Biologics Inc., as the race accelerates. In Japan, Shionogi & Co. is also developing a vaccine but has yet to start a clinical test on humans. Given the expected surge in demand, Japan is seeking to secure a stable supply of vaccines for people in the country. The government is pushing for homegrown vaccines and also negotiating with foreign companies such as AstraZeneca in an attempt to secure enough vaccines. Related coverage: University OKs plan for Japan's 1st COVID-19 vaccine clinical test AstraZeneca, Japan to start talks over supply of COVID-19 vaccine By Junko Horiuchi, KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2020 - 07:50 | Feature, All Swedish Ambassador to Japan Pereric Hoegberg encourages more Japanese fathers to take advantage of the country's "very good" paid-leave system and devote themselves to child care, an experience he believes would lead them to becoming better workers back at the office. The 52-year-old ambassador, who has taken such leave himself for his children currently aged 16 and 18, suggests being an independent caregiver and keeping some distance from the mother, based on mutual trust and close communication, could be a key to a fulfilling child care. "I think it's important for equality (in a relationship) that it is not one person telling the other what to do, but equality is also about communication, responsibility," Hoegberg said in a recent interview with Kyodo News. "I think men should be careful so that they don't make it too easy for themselves (when child-rearing)...Think and do what you think is right and find your own way," he said. "I also think it's important to push the mother out a little bit." "If I asked my wife for advice, she almost got a bit upset; she felt I should decide," he said. Hoegberg, who comes from a country where over 90 percent of fathers take paternity leave, said it is "surprising" that few men in Japan take advantage of what he calls a "very good parental system." In Japan, male and female employees can retain 67 percent of their monthly wage for up to 180 days from the start of parental leave and 50 percent after 181 days until the child turns 1 year old, with extensions allowed until the child becomes 2 years old under certain conditions. The U.N. Children's Fund said in a June 2019 report that out of 41 high- and middle-income countries, Japan offered the longest full-rate equivalent paternity leave at 30.4 weeks. But while the government aims to raise the ratio of male employees taking childcare leave in the private sector to 13 percent by the end of next March and 30 percent by fiscal 2025, the level in fiscal 2018 was well below the target at 6.16 percent. "It's good for the (Japanese) economy to get more women out in the workforce," the ambassador said. "More bosses need to let the fathers take paternity leave and maybe more mothers need to proudly say 'I am working, my husband or partner is home with a child.'" While Hoegberg said that during paternity leave he talked about everything with his wife and they helped each other out, "She didn't tell me what to do, what to cook, what to do during the day." "It was my responsibility and I felt the same way when she was home. She did what she needed to do. So it's a lot of communication and trust," he said. Hoegberg revealed an "accident" during his paternity leave that taught him about taking full responsibility over his child. One day, he said he found his 10-month-old daughter had fallen off a bed at home. Troubled by her crying, he called his wife at work and said, "She fell, what should I do?" His wife answered, "I don't know, I have never been a parent before. You sort it out." In Sweden, parents are given 480 days of leave per child but it is not possible for one parent to take up all of the days. Of the 480 days, 90 are given to the father. Although it is for a shorter period than for mothers, the ratio of fathers taking childcare leave surpasses 90 percent, the ambassador said. Hoegberg said he learned a lot about himself by spending time with his children at home, which required him to be attentive the whole time and deal with "mess everywhere." He firmly believes that workers can become better bosses from the experience. "I think men that have been home with children are better bosses. Why? Because they have to think outside of the box," he said. "You cannot have a manual when you raise a child. You need to improvise, you need to come up with new ideas, you need to change the plans and all these things are very important skills also in work life and private life." "It's easier to be a Swedish ambassador than to take care of a child," he quipped. KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2020 - 15:52 | All, Japan TOKYO - A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected a 30 million yen ($280,000) damages suit filed by a 77-year-old man who was sterilized against his will in 1957 under the now-defunct eugenics protection law. The Tokyo District Court did not rule on whether the obsolete law that mandated the government to stop people with intellectual disabilities from reproducing was unconstitutional, a focal point in this case. But Presiding Judge Masaharu Ito said in the ruling that the sterilization surgery "infringed upon freedom ensured by the Constitution." The plaintiff underwent surgery aged around 14 when he was at a children's home in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, without being informed in advance. He filed the lawsuit in May 2018, claiming the government had violated the Constitution, which guarantees the pursuit of happiness and equality under the law. In the trial, the man had argued that the statute of limitations has not expired as "he did not have the luxury of knowing about the details of the operation or level of damage until recently." He added that if it has expired, the responsibility lies with Japan's parliament, which delayed enacting legislation to compensate victims. The state did not respond to claims about whether the eugenics law violated the Constitution, and said it was not obliged to pay compensation due to the 20-year statute of limitations on demands for damages under the Civil Code. It also denied that parliament was responsible, saying "enacting legislation to provide additional relief other than state compensation was not considered essential." The ruling was the second in 24 similar suits filed with eight district courts in Japan. In the first ruling in May 2019, the Sendai District Court also rejected a 71.5 million yen damages suit filed by women in their 60s and 70s in Miyagi, saying the statute of limitations had expired. Between 1948 and 1996, the eugenics law authorized the sterilization of people with intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses or hereditary disorders to prevent births of "inferior" offspring. About 25,000 people with disabilities were sterilized under the eugenics protection law, including around 16,500 who were operated on without their consent, according to the health ministry and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. After neglecting the issue for many years, Japan's parliament finally enacted legislation in April last year to pay 3.2 million yen in state compensation to each person who underwent forced sterilization, irrespective of whether they were believed to have agreed to undergo surgery or not. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued an apology in a statement expressing regret, but did not mention the legal liability of the state. In June this year, both houses of parliament launched an investigation into the legislative history and the scope of damage. A panel of the Japanese Medical Science Federation also released a report last Thursday saying that medical personnel, who had been involved with enacting and enforcing the now-defunct law, had neglected to address the issue even after the concept of human rights had become widespread in Japan. Davidson Gatuhi Wakairu, son of Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe, celebrated his birthday in style in a glamorous party at his familys ranch in Gatanga. The activist who is popularly known as DWG hosted a country-themed bash attended by close friends and colleagues in his political circle. Some of the attendees included Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, Saboti MP Caleb Amisi, and Akothees former manager Nelly Oaks. Guests were treated to fireworks, bottles of expensive champagne, and a delectable buffet as DWG turned 28 years old. The student at Marbella International University Centre (MIUC) in Spain, where he also serves as President of the student board, runs a local youth NGO, Vijana Amkeni, that seeks to mobilize young people towards social causes. DWG is also said to be eyeing a political seat in the 2022 general election. Below is a video of the fireworks display and some photos. By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2020 - 22:48 | World, All China on Tuesday enacted a controversial national security law to crack down on what Beijing views as subversive activity in Hong Kong, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported, a move that could jeopardize human rights and freedoms in the former British colony. The passage of the bill came a day ahead of the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty when protesters might stage their annual march to mark the day despite an official ban on it due to the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation, which was approved at the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, is partially aimed at quelling protest against the pro-Beijing government in the special administrative region. The Chinese Communist Party's latest action is sure to antagonize pro-democracy protesters in the territory and draw international condemnation, while Beijing claims the Hong Kong issue is an "internal affair" and should not be "interfered with by external forces." All 162 members of the committee voted in favor of the bill. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who heads the ruling party, signed a presidential order to promulgate the law, and it became effective in Hong Kong on Tuesday night. Some observers regard the law as being tied to Beijing's efforts to prevent pro-democracy forces from gaining a majority for the first time in the local legislature in the September election after they scored a landslide victory in November's district council elections. In Hong Kong, Joshua Wong, who led the 2014 "Umbrella Movement," and other prominent pro-democracy activists quit their political group Demosisto on Tuesday, indicating the new law would continue to intimidate protesters against the mainland government down the road. On Monday, the United States, which China alleges supports Hong Kong's independence, began revoking the special treatment extended by law to the territory, fanning fears that already strained Sino-U.S. relations will deteriorate further. Britain, along with Australia, Canada and the United States, has also released a joint statement calling on China to work with the Hong Kong government and people to reach "a mutually acceptable accommodation that will honor China's international obligations." President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province awaiting reunification, lambasted China on Tuesday for having broken its commitment to leaving Hong Kong's own legal and economic systems intact for a half-century. Under Beijing's "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong was promised it would enjoy the rights and freedoms of a semiautonomous region for 50 years following the former British colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997. In line with the framework, the United States, under a 1992 law, has given Hong Kong special treatment separate from the rest of China on matters such as tariffs and visa issuance. The situation has been seen as fundamental to Hong Kong's role as an attractive investment destination and global financial hub. But the U.S. decision could deprive Hong Kong of such status, in turn eroding direct investment to China. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, however, said at a meeting on Tuesday that any sanctions by foreign governments "will not scare" the territory, vowing to deepen cooperation with Beijing. The U.S. State Department pledged Monday to end controlled defense exports to Hong Kong and to take steps to impose the same restrictions on the transfer of U.S. defense and dual-use technologies to the region as it puts on mainland China. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement, "Beijing now treats Hong Kong as 'one country, one system,'" so Washington has been forced to implement measures to "protect U.S. national security." At a press briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China will retaliate against the United States in response to the "wrong action" by Washington. Japan, which has built close economic ties with Hong Kong for decades, called China's enactment of the national security law "regrettable," saying it will hurt international confidence in the "one country, two systems" principle. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the top government spokesman, told reporters in Tokyo that it is important for Hong Kong to maintain its free and open system so that it can prosper in a "democratic and stable way." According to the details of the law run by Xinhua, the central government in Beijing sets up an office in Hong Kong to collect intelligence and safeguard security and order in the territory. The Hong Kong government establishes a national security committee headed by its chief executive and the central government appoints and dispatches advisers to it, in an apparent attempt to tighten its grip on the city. Those who commit major crimes including terrorism are punishable with up to a life sentence. Foreign affairs experts warn the legislation would allow China to level charges of sedition at people in Hong Kong who criticize Beijing. In Hong Kong, large-scale demonstrations sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill with mainland China morphed into an anti-government movement last year, with protesters seeking a probe into police use of force. In late May, the national parliament passed a resolution regarding the introduction of the national security law for Hong Kong, saying the legal reforms are needed for the territory's "long-term stability and prosperity." The standing committee is usually held once every two months but took place twice in June. Although China's law stipulates that a public comment period is set, it was not done during the statutory process of the security legislation for Hong Kong. Pro-democracy activists and lawyers in the region have argued that the mainland's deliberations on the bill were opaque and sloppy. Related coverage: Japan warns China's move on H.K. law would affect Xi's visit Hong Kong activists quit political group as China enacts security law U.S. starts revoking Hong Kong privileges to pressure China KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2020 - 21:40 | All, Japan Heart-shaped "Junoheart" cherries were auctioned Tuesday for the first time this year in northeastern Japan, with a pack containing 15 of them in top quality selling for 300,000 yen, equal to 20,000 yen ($186) per fruit. Developed by Aomori Prefecture and known for their high sugar content of 20 percent, the cherries hit the market in 2019 and are getting shipped to other regions for the first time this year. The price reflected "great expectations," a local government official said following the auction at Hachinohe's central wholesale market. Junohearts of more than 31 millimeters in diameter which also have particularly good color and gloss are given the premier brand name "Aomori Heartbeat," a pack of which went for the price tag. "I hope this will help attract attention for its debut outside the prefecture," said winning bidder Nobuhiro Umeta, who heads the Hachinohe branch office of Nagatsukaseika, an intermediate wholesaler in Chiba near Tokyo. The cherries will go on sale from July at major department stores in Tokyo and Osaka. Related coverage: Square watermelons ready to be shipped across Japan Premium Japan watermelon price in 1st auction this yr drops sharply Pacific bluefin tuna stock to reach int'l recovery target by 2024 KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2020 - 19:03 | All, World Japan's defense minister warned Tuesday that the reported passage of China's national security law for Hong Kong would have significant repercussions for Tokyo's plan to receive Chinese President Xi Jinping as a state guest. China has failed to keep its promise to the world pertaining to Hong Kong's 1997 reversion to Chinese rule from Britain, Defense Minister Taro Kono said, calling the latest move a "unilateral attempt to change the status quo." "If (the reported enactment) is true, I have no choice but to say it will significantly affect President Xi Jinping's state visit to Japan," Kono said at a press conference. The remarks by Kono, who was foreign minister before the current post, came after China on Tuesday enacted a national security law to crack down on what Beijing views as subversive activity in Hong Kong, media in the territory reported, a move that could jeopardize human rights and freedom in the territory. The latest development could become a setback for thawing ties between Japan and China despite their differences over perception of wartime history and territory. The Hong Kong issue is one factor behind growing opposition among Japanese conservatives to the state visit, along with China's repeated dispatching of ships to waters near the Senkaku Islands, controlled by Japan but claimed by China. Tokyo and Beijing have yet to decide on the timing for Xi's state visit after postponing it from this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said high-level talks, including at the summit level, are important to resolve outstanding issues with China but that the two nations are not at the stage of setting a specific date "at least for now." The top Japanese government spokesman said the reported enactment of the national security law was "regrettable," noting it would hurt international confidence in the "one country, two systems" principle governing Beijing's approach to the former British colony. With over 1,400 Japanese firms operating in the semi-autonomous region, Japanese officials have taken the view that a free and open system should be maintained in Hong Kong and it should prosper in a "democratic and stable way." Since Beijing's plan to impose the security law on Hong Kong emerged in May, Japan has used various channels to convey its stance on Hong Kong to China while fine-tuning its diplomatic language. Tokyo expressed its "serious concern" on May 28 when China's parliament approved a resolution regarding the introduction of the controversial law, a subtle change in diplomatic language from "strong concern" used earlier. "The future of 'one country, two systems' is extremely important to our country that has close economic relations and people-to-people exchanges with Hong Kong," Suga said, adding Tokyo will work with other nations in urging Beijing to deal with the matter "appropriately." Under China's "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong was promised it would enjoy the rights and freedoms of a semiautonomous region for 50 years following the former British colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997. Related coverage: U.S. starts revoking Hong Kong privileges to pressure China China enacts national security legislation for Hong Kong: media KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2020 - 10:23 | World, All, Coronavirus New Zealand said Tuesday the 2021 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, originally slated to be held in Auckland, will go ahead as a virtual summit due to border restrictions in place during the coronavirus pandemic. Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement that while the regional economic forum's summit-related meetings are not scheduled until November 2021, Wellington had to decide if and how meetings would go ahead for planning and security purposes. "Given the current global environment, planning to have such a large volume of high-level visitors in New Zealand from late 2020 onwards is impractical," Peters said. "It wasn't practical to wait for many more months until a clearer picture of the virus' spread emerged." In March, New Zealand was one of the first countries to effectively close its borders to international travelers to slow the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. The country's strict border restrictions are still in place, with even a proposed quarantine-free "travel bubble" between New Zealand and Australia yet to begin despite being floated for some time. "If we had hosted an in-person APEC we would have seen thousands of people entering NZ from late 2020 onwards, some from COVID-19 hotspots. We simply couldn't guarantee these people would be able to enter New Zealand without being quarantined," Peters said. APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2020 - 16:35 | Sports, News, All Rikako Ikee, a Japanese swimming star who has her sights set on the 2024 Paris Games despite being diagnosed with leukemia, will feature in a one-year Tokyo Olympic countdown event, a source familiar with the plan said Tuesday. The 19-year-old is expected to address Olympic athletes in a keynote speech in the July 23 closed-door event at the National Stadium, the main venue for the sporting extravaganza, the source said. The Olympics have been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Masanori Takaya, a spokesperson for the organizing committee, said last week, "We won't be holding any special events that attract crowds of people." Ikee was discharged from the hospital in December after 10 months of treatment. She made her diagnosis public in February of last year. Per a post on her official website and social media outlets, Ikee confirmed that she has been specifically battling acute lymphocytic leukemia and underwent chemotherapy. In March, she posted on Instagram that she was back in the pool for the first time in 406 days. Ikee holds multiple national records and was named the first female MVP of the Asian Games in 2018 after winning six gold medals. Related coverage: COVID-19 pandemic proving perilous for even professional athletes Leukemia-battling swimmer Ikee shows off short hair Olympics: IOC President Bach encourages cancer-battling swimmer Ikee New Delhi: Describing India as a university of tolerance, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday asserted that religious persecution will never be allowed in the country. Tolerance is essential for peaceful existence. People from all religions live peacefully in India and practise their religion without any fear of discrimination. That is why India is a university of tolerance, Singh said at a meeting of Christian leaders organised by India Christian Council here. Singh said Christianity came to India almost 2,000 years ago and Kerala is home to St Thomas church which is one of the worlds oldest churches. He said India cannot forget the contribution of Christiansfrom Saint Thomas to Mother Teresawho tried to eradicate evils from our society. There were incidents of attacks on churches in Delhi which came up in the run up to elections (to Delhi Assembly). But I would like to say that religious persecution will never be allowed in India whether it is before or after election, he said. Targeting Pakistan, Singh said while India chose to be a secular country, Pakistan declared itself a theocratic state and was now pursuing terrorism as state policy In 1947, India was divided on the basis of religion and despite that, it chose to be a secular state. The nation (Pakistan) separated from it declared itself a theocratic state. That country uses terrorism as a state policy. It is very unfortunate that some countries make terrorism a state policy. There can be differences between people that can be resolved through dialogue but not by taking up guns, he said. Singh said a terrorist does not belong to any cast, creed on religion. Not only India, but many countries in the world have been affected by terrorism. A terrorist is a terrorist who does not belong to any caste, creed or religion. Although, some people link terrorism with religion but it is wrong, he said. The Home Minister said in India, people from all religions get respect and it is the only country where all sects of Islam are found. All important religions find place in India, he said. The meeting was attended by BJP MP and National Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations Udit Raj and Joseph DSouza, Moderator Bishop, Good Shepherd Church, India and President of All Indian Christian Council. DSouza asked the Christian community to stand with the government and support it in the fight against terrorism. The Council requested Singh to send a circular to state governments and police to ensure protection of Christians and places of their worships. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Anti-Corruption Branch on Friday questioned Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with its probe into an alleged recruitment scam in Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). Sisodia was summoned by the ACB on October 7 informing him about the questioning. The Deputy CM arrived around 11 AM at the ACB office on Friday and his questioning continued for over two hours, said a senior ACB officer. "In the documents that were probed by the ACB, it was found that there was a letter from the office of Sisodia that had authorised DCW as a body with financial autonomy. As per rules, only the LG can grant financial autonomy to a body. We will be questioning him on this aspect," sources had said. The ACB has been probing the matter for the last few months and based on the questioning of Maliwal's staff, it was found that due procedure "was not followed in appointments" and an FIR under relevant section of Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the IPC was registered against her. Meanwhile, DCW chief Swati Maliwal termed ACB's summoning of Sisodia as "political vendetta" and claimed that he had no role in the appointments made to the women's panel. "ACB summoning @msisodia reeks of political vendetta. He has no role in DCW appointments. DCW was always autonomous. "Sad. ACB pursuing false case against me, not taking action on my corruption complain against Shiela Dixit for past 3 weeks despite evidence (sic)," Maliwal said in a series of tweets. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Bhopal: Just like our armed forces, our Defence Minister doesnt say anythingPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the ex-servicemen at the inauguration of war memorial Shaurya Samman in Bhopal. He lauded the Indian army soldiers and their sacrifices for the country. He said that just like our army soldiers our defence minister also doesn't speak. Below are the top 10 quotes from PM Modi's speech": 1. Previous Govts had made empty promises on OROP but when we came to power we fulfilled our promise and implemented it 2. Shaurya Smarak is a Tirtha Sthan for us and for our coming generations 3. Our soldiers dont speak but act 4. Like our army doesn't say but displays its valour, similarly our Defence Minister also doesn't speak 5. While rescuing Indians in Yemen, Indian Army also rescued a few Pakistanis, this is the example of humanity of our Indian army: PM in Bhopal Watch video | Army doesn't speak, it acts, says PM Narendra Modi in Bhopal 6. Indian Army is one of the very best in the world, one of the biggest contributors to the UN peacekeeping forces 7. Call of humanity inspires our Army when they are helping people during natural disasters. Nothing else matters 8. While extending help during Kashmir floods, Army didn't think these are same people who pelt stones at them 9. During floods in Srinagar, army men extended their help for the rescue and relief operation in the area10. Army, BSF, CRPF, Coast Guard jawans sacrifice their lives so that we can sleep peacefully For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The premier educational institutes, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) may be soon allowed to set their own fee structure without consulting the apex council governing the prestigious institution. According to sources, the move to give a free hand to the institution's various campuses is aimed at enhancing their autonomy. "The Board of Governors are likely to be given theauthority to decide the fee structure for the respective IIT.Currently, they are part of the fee deciding process but arenot the final authority," a source said. However, it wasn't immediately clear whether the idea if approved, will be applicable to all IITs or limited campuses. At present, the fee structure is determined by the IITcouncil, the top decision-making body, which is chaired by theUnion human resource development minister and includes IITdirectors and board of governors of each institute. The IITs are autonomous public institutes of higher education. The 23 IITs are located in the following cities:Bhilai, Chennai, Delhi, Dhanbad, Dharwad, Goa, Guwahati,Jammu, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Mumbai, Roorkee, Bhubaneswar,Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi,Palakkad, Patna, Ropar, Tirupati and Varanasi. Former HRD Minister Smriti Irani had in April announcedan increase in the annual fees for undergraduate courses fromexisting Rs 90,000 to Rs 2 lakh, a rise of 122 per cent, for new enrollments from the current academic session. The Ministry had also decided to give a total fee waiverfor the differently-abled, students from SC and ST communityand those belonging to families with annual income less thanRs 1 lakh, following a proposal by a high-level IIT panel. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Sirte: At least 14 pro-government fighters were killed in clashes with the Islamic State group in the jihadists' former Libya bastion of Sirte, a medical source said. "Fighting today began at 9am (0700 GMT) and the toll to now is 13 dead and 25-30 wounded," hospital official Abdellatif Abdel Ali said on Friday. One fighter, who was shot, later died after being operated upon. Ali said the majority of those killed were shot in the head by sniper fire. Forces allied with Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) have cornered IS fighters in Sirte, 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of Tripoli, since launching an offensive on May 12. After a pause in fighting on Thursday, pro-GNA fighters resumed the battle against IS holdouts in a seaside residential district of Sirte. At least three US air strikes hit IS positions on Friday, an AFP journalist in the city said. A pro-government forces commander told AFP that IS snipers were slowing the anti-jihadist advance. "These gunmen are well trained and equipped. They haven't given in even with air raids and the seige we've imposed on them," Al-Hedi Issa told AFP. "So we prefer to advance slowly in order to preserve the lives of our fighters." The fighting has left more than 550 GNA fighters dead and 3,000 wounded. The IS death toll is not known. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The Council of Governors (CoG) has called on Ward representatives in the country to put off their impeachment plans against county bosses and instead focus on flattening the Covid-19 curve. CoG Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya noted that it was unfortunate that huge resources were being channeled to kick out Governors at a time when the country is grappling with a major health crisis. I want to urge Members of the County Assemblies to restrain themselves in such a time and use these little resources that are now being used on impeachment to actually fight COVID-19, he said. This is the time that Kenyans must come together to ensure that we flatten the curve so that normal life should resume. We want to open the economy and this cannot happen unless we all come together and fight this particular disease, the Kakamega Governor added. Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa echoed Oparanyas sentiments saying impeachment of governors should not be the fashionable thing to do in the wake of a global health pandemic. There is a new trend that is happening and it has become very fashionable now to impeach governors and we are seeing more impeachment motions coming. We know of one that the Senate has been determining in Kirinyaga. We are told there is another one in Kitui, Eugene said. All I want to ask as the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution is that it is your (MCAs) constitutional right as county assemblies to oversight the executive. That is a mandate that has been given to you by our Constitution. But when we are facing the coronavirus enemy, I do not think this should be the time when impeachment should be the most fashionable thing to do, he added. Eugene reiterated the need for county governments to work closely with the national government in mitigating the effects of coronavirus. Coronavirus is an enemy which we do not know when we will defeat but we know that we need each leader, whether at the national level or the county level to work together so that we can defeat this enemy. In the entire history of our nation, we have never faced an enemy as dangerous as coronavirus, New Delhi: Government on Friday rebuked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board for trying to politicise the law panels move to seek feedback on uniform civil code and said it should not be linked to triple talaq, where the core issue is gender justice and ending discrimination against women. Calling for an enlightened debate on Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the real mood of the country was to end triple talaq and some people were trying to create confusion over the two issues. You (All India Muslim Personal Law Board) join the debate. Let there be enlightened debate you put forth your point of view. Let a consensus be evolved. Why are you trying to bring in the name of Prime Minister and call him dictator, Naidu told reporters. ALSO READ | Triple talaq row: Muslim Personal Law Board says Uniform Civil Code not good for India Governments sharp reaction came a day after All India Muslim Personal Law Board and various other Muslim organisations announced that they will boycott Law Commissions process to take views on the contentious Uniform Civil Code. They said the move amounted to the Modi government declaring war on their religious rights and that UCC will kill Indias pluralism. Naidu said some people were confusing the issue of triple talaq with Uniform Civil Code. The real mood of the country is that people want this triple talaq to end. People do not want any discrimination on basis of any religious faith agianst women. As I told you the issues are gender justice, non-discrimination and dignity of women, he said. Criticising AIMPLB, Naidu even said, If you are so interested in making political comments you can as well join any political party of your choice. This is not expected from Muslim Personal Law Board and other religious leaders. You have to confine yourself to the issue and the issue is put forth for discussion by the law commission, he added. Also Read: (All you need to know about Uniform Civil Code) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Saturday blamed Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who is the largest shareholder in The New York Times, for the daily coming out with stories against him. "The largest shareholder in the Times is Carlos Slim. Now Carlos Slim, as you know, comes from Mexico. He's given many millions of dollars to the Clintons and their initiatives. So Carlos Slim, largest owner of the paper, from Mexico," Trump said at an election rally in North Carolina. "Reporters at The New York Times, they're not journalists, they're corporate lobbyists for Carlos Slim and for Hillary Clinton. We're going to let foreign corporations and their CEO's decide the outcomes of the (elections). You just can't do this," he said. Over the weekend, the daily came out with stories in which in interviewed women who have accused him of inappropriate relationship. "We can't let this (foreign influence) happen. We are not going to let it happen where they decide the outcome of our elections. They can't do it and we're not going to let it happen. This is our last chance to save our country and reclaim it for we the people, and it's going to happen," he said amidst applause. Trump alleged that no paper is more corrupt than the failing New York Times. Also read: New York Times dares Donald Trump to go ahead with his lawsuit threat, stands by its story accusing Republican nominee of sexual assault Donald Trump touched two women inappropriately? His lawyer sends legal notice to New York Times Two American women accuse Donald Trump of inappropriate touching, says report "The good news is it is failing, it won't be around too much longer. But they are really, really bad people? he said. The real estate mogul said he is being viciously attacked with lies and smears. "It's a phony deal. I have no idea who these women are, have no idea. I have no idea. I think you all know I have no idea because you understand me for a lot of years. When you looked at that horrible woman last night, you said I don't think so. I don't think so," he said amidst applause. "Whoever she is, wherever she comes from, the stories are total fiction. They're 100 per cent made up, they never happened, they never would happen. I don't think they'd happen with very many people but they certainly aren't going to happen with me. Folks, you know my people always say, oh don't talk about it, talk about jobs, talk about the economy. Don't worry, your jobs are going to be coming back to North Carolina like you've seen, the economy's going to be good," he said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The eighth edition of the international BRICS conference is happening in Goas Taj Hotel. The leaders from various countries are participating in the summit. BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The 8th BRICS Summit is being held in Goa from Oct 15 to 16. On the occasion, we are presenting some important facts about BRICS. # BRICS started in 2008 as a group of four. South Africa was included afterwards. # The first BRIC meeting was held in Sapporo on the eve of the Toyako-Hokkaido Summit in 2008. # At the third summit of BRIC, South Africa was invited to join forming the BRICS. # The five countries include 3.6 billion people which is about half of the population of world. # All the five countries are among the most populated countries of the world. They all feature in top 25 most populated countries. # The term BRIC was first used in 2001 by then-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O'Neill. # The Goa Summit has been organized at a time when three of the major countries Russia, India and China have many strategic and political priorities to pursue. # The BRICS summit covers many diverse topics. It has evolved from just having financial-trade context to having issues like global governance, development policies, peace and security, energy and climate change, and social issues. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Lucknow: BSP can emerge as a force to reckon with in Uttarakhand as people there are fed up of infighting and groupism in BJP and Congress, party supremo Mayawati said Saturday. The people of Uttarakhand are unhappy over infighting and groupism in BJP and Congress as well as their casteist politics. BSP can take advantage of this situation in the coming elections as people believe that a government of sarvjan hitai sarvjan sukhay can be formed, she said. The BSP chief was addressing a meeting of senior party functionaries here from poll-bound Uttarakhand. She said the successive governments led by BJP and Congress in the hill state not only looted its resources but also failed to live up to the expectations of the people. Proper attention was not paid to the welfare of poor, deprived and Dalits, she charged. Stressing that there were great opportunities for the BSP in Uttarakhand as has been proved in the recent local bodies elections, Mayawati asked partymen to work hard to strengthen the party there. The Dalit leader also discussed the prevailing political and electoral scenario in the Congress-ruled state and issued necessary directives for the future party programmes. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Panaji: India is expected to continue with its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan on the issue of terrorism originating from there when it plays host to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and leaders of Brazil and South Africa at the Summit of five-nation BRICS grouping here on Sunday. Even preceding the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to raise these issues with Putin and Xi on Saturday when a series of bilateral meetings are slated at the seaside venue. With the Summits taking place within weeks of Uri terror strike by Pak-based terrorists, India will be forceful in its demand at BRICS Summit, which will also have a BIMSTEC outreach meet, for intensified efforts to tackle terrorism including action against countries providing safe havens to terrorists and arming them. India has made strong references both at UNGA as well as G-20 regarding Pakistans continued support to cross-border terrorism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without naming Pakistan at G-20, had said that one single nation in South Asia is spreading agents of terror in the region and it must be isolated while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the UNGA had said confessions of captured terrorists involved in terror strikes in India including in Uri is a living proof of Pakistans complicity in cross-border terror. Apart from the heads of governments of BRICS to attend the Summit on October 16, Prime Ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar (State Counsellor) will be here to participate in the BRICS-BIMSTEC outreach meet. New Delhi will also make all out efforts to revive Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) when Prime Ministers of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar (State Counsellor) attend the BRICS-BIMSTEC outreach meet. This also assumes significance given the collapse of recent SAARC Summit after four countries apart from India pulled out of the meet to be hosted by Pakistan over the issue of cross-border terrorism, maintaining that environment was not conducive to hold such an event. Indian officials have made it clear that Indias effort would be to have strong language in the BRICS outcome document on terrorism including how to deal with countries that provide sanctuaries, safe havens and finances. Terrorism is a global problem. It cannot be tackled individually and has to be tackled collectively. We cannot have a differential policy towards terrorism. There is no good terrorist or bad terrorist. So, these are the issues on which there will reiteration of national positions, Secretary (Economic Relations) in External Affairs Ministry Amar Sinha had said. During the meeting of NSAs of BRICS grouping, India had strongly pitched that action should not only be taken against sources of finances but also sources from where terrorists get arms and ammunition. Three MoUs including those on cooperation in the area of environment and customs have been agreed upon by the BRICS countries, Sinha had said, adding the pact pertaining to customs will help in breaking the trade barriers between these countries. The other key issues to be taken up during these significant diplomatic outreach events include cooperation in areas of economy, tourism, connectivity, cultural, education and sports. The main BRICS Summit on October 16 will begin with a photo opportunity followed by restricted talks between the leaders and later a meeting of business captains from the member-countries. In the second half, after the speech of the leaders, there will be BRICS and BIMSTEC retreat. Security situation in Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan is also expected to be discussed when the BRICS leaders take up important regional and international issues. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Government Innovation Awards Deadline extended for 2020 Rising Star nominations We all know innovation takes a lot of time and hard work -- and so, evidently, does writing nominations for the best early-career innovators in government IT! So after many requests for a little more time, we're extending the nomination deadline for the 2020 Rising Stars -- and for all the other Government Innovation Awards -- until midnight ET on Friday, July 17. With the Rising Stars, we're looking for early-career phenoms whose leadership, innovation and all-around extra effort are having a powerful and positive impact. And we need those nominations ASAP! Anyone in the government IT community is eligible military and civilian, career and political, contractor, academic and association expert alike. Nominees must be less than 10 years into their government IT careers, and winners are chosen for their impact so be sure to explain what a nominee did and what all that work accomplished. And don't forget about the other awards. We're looking for Industry Innovators and Public Sector Innovations as well! Details and nomination forms can be found at GovernmentInnovationAwards.com. Please spread the word, and move fast -- help us celebrate all the top drivers of government innovation. All 2020 nominations are due by July 17, so please submit yours today ! Records Management NARA sharpens digital preservation plans When the National Archives and Records Administration first received electronic files in 1970, most of the material was in the form of structured datasets produced by mainframe computers -- mostly ASCII text and Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC), 8-bit digital encoding used by IBM and other data processing systems. Fast forward 50 years, and the proliferation and diversity of electronic file formats -- nascent and obsolete -- is hard to get a handle on. Nevertheless, NARA must still take on agency records in a variety of electronic formats even ones that that are out of use or can only run on out-of-support operating systems. After months of development and comment, NARA released its Digital Preservation Framework on June 30. The revised framework, which incorporates comments from agencies, experts and stakeholders in the records management field, identifies 16 electronic record category types and offers a set of best practices for managing risk to prevent the loss or diminution of governments digital work. The record types range from computerized architectural plans to email to images and video as well as software and code, spreadsheets, GIS data, calendars, databases, spreadsheets, word processing documents and more. But the master list of record types doesn't really get at how complicated some of these record accession challenges are for both agencies and NARA. Leslie Johnston, NARA's director of digital preservation, leads the effort to manage how agencies and NARA save digital information for the future and make sure it's still available in something approximating its original format. When push comes to shove, though, the archival content of a federal record is more important than the museum experience of being able to experience it in its original form. There's another layer of complexity: the length of time agencies retain information before it is considered archival and ripe for accession by NARA. In an October 2019 interview in NARA's College Park, Md. facility, Johnston told FCW about the development of the framework while it was still in the midst of its comment period. "When I explain to people what I do, what I always have to say is that my job is to think about the worst possible thing that can happen and try to keep it from happening," she said. "My job is about identifying risk and risk mitigation to the highest level possible. There's no such thing 100% risk avoidance." While most records schedules range from seven to 15 years, there are exceptions. Census records, because they contain personally identifiable information, are released in full 72 years after a decennial population count. An architectural design file for a General Services Administration-owned building might be considered an active record for as long as the building is standing. "We are increasingly receiving a lot of less common formats, but also legacy formats from agencies because the way the record scheduling works," she said. "It can literally be hundreds of years that they're holding onto a file before they send it to us. We have a real proliferation of file formats we have to manage, process, preserve and then make available," Johnston said. Obsolete software, orphan specs Already, there are playback challenges for digital records held by NARA. "Take, say, an early WordPerfect file from the 1990s," Johnston said. "You might be able to open it in its original format using current WordPerfect -- it still exists or Microsoft Word. But you might not fully capture all of the content or the look and feel in that migration." Databases, spreadsheets, image files, sound files and video all pose their own challenges, based on the software used in their creation and the ability of NARA to supply compatible systems for storage and future use. "What we have is really a constant risk decisionmaking process, what sort of transformation, or accessibility, or playback can you enable that provides as much fidelity as possible of the original record content? Sometimes what you are giving up on is the exact look and feel to get as much of the content as possible," Johnston explained. "We can't be in the business of recreating the original look and feel of every platform that a federal record existed in. That covers not just social media or email, it's all records. We can't recreate the experience of how you worked with something in AutoCAD. We can't work with [virtual reality and augmented reality] and provide a fullyblown experience for that at this point." There are also legal and financial issues for NARA and across the information management community when it comes to preserving archival content in its original form. "Something like software preservation, even if we wanted to use it to process things, that is actually one of the biggest policy issues that makes organizations that do digital preservation the most wary," Johnston said. "They don't always know what they can legally acquire, what they can legally use and what they can legally make available under current copyright law and under whatever licenses the original software manufacturers issued that software." Social media One area where the balance between content and original experience is going to play out is social media. Already, the first generation of social networks such as MySpace and Friendster and user-generated content platforms is obsolete. What happens if and when today's popular social media platforms are abandoned in favor of newer rivals? "This is where it comes down to the concept of preserving the content over the original user experience," Johnston said. "Our transfer guidance about that sort of social media is really about the format they can get it to us in. If an agency has social media that they want to transfer to us, what we would prefer that they do is actually export it from the original platform as JSON, XML, some sort of structured markup. That preserves all of the record content and, as much as it can, the context, who, dates, what, links, image, image links, links to sites, links to news stories, links to press releases -- and we would like that to come to us." One key goal for the Digital Preservation Framework is to have the guidelines expressed in a machine-readable format that can operate across agency systems. Implementing automation and rules-based archiving is critical because of an important impending deadline: By the end of 2022, NARA will stop accepting paper records. "We expect agencies, after January 1, 2023, to send us digital. It could be borndigital or digitized, but we expect digital," Johnston said. The public comment period on the Digital Preservation Framework is open through Nov. 1, 2020. People Cheriyan to exit GSA The head of the General Services Administration's expert technology services operations will leave in mid-July, according to the agency. Federal Acquisition Service Deputy Commissioner and Director of Technology Transformation Services Anil Cheriyan's last day at the agency is July 17, when he will return to the private sector, said the GSA in a June 30 statement. Cheriyan joined GSA in January of 2019, after working as CIO at SunTrust Banks from 2012 to 2018. He was also chairman of the board of the Technology Business Management Council, a private-sector group that has been advancing ideas on standardizing IT management practices. In the roughly 18 months on the job at GSA, he put those skills to work. He oversaw the agency's rapid expansion of its IT Modernization Centers of Excellence (CoE) program from two agency partnerships in the beginning to a dozen in 18 months, according to GSA. He won a 2020 Fed 100 award for his efforts to develop and push the CoE effort forward. "In only 18 months, the Centers of Excellence grew from two to 12 agency partners, FedRAMP is on the path to automation, our Presidential Innovation Fellows doubled in size, 18F has secured ongoing work with over 23 offices in 18 agencies and, our platforms, like Login.gov, Cloud.gov, Search.gov, etc. have become the go-to enablers for innovation," Cheryian said in an email to staff obtained by FCW. "In addition, in a time of crisis, we stepped up to the challenges presented and we did it well. Together, as One TTS, weve not only turned a strategic corner, but are driving change that will benefit the government and the American public for years to come. This is a legacy that I am very proud of." Cheriyan took over TTS leadership after Kelly Olson, who had been TTS acting director and FAS deputy commissioner. Before Olson, who left in early 2019, Joanne Collins-Smee was deputy commissioner of FAS and TTS director. Collins-Smee initiated the of the CoE effort in 2018 before leaving for the private sector that summer. "We are very grateful for Anil's service at the General Services Administration; our government works best when talented leaders offer their time, experience and expertise to public service," said White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination Chris Liddell in a statement. "During Anil's tenure, the Centers of Excellence program has continued to expand its impact across the Federal government and has delivered meaningful results for the American people. The Administration continues to prioritize this important work and the ongoing efforts of the IT Modernization Centers of Excellence." GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said, "GSA is committed to continuing the important work Anil has led and I look forward to watching the talented TTS team bring about significant, meaningful change in federal IT for years to come." A separate internal email from FAS Chief of Staff Karen Link said an acting director of TTS will be selected in the coming weeks. 1901 Group unites with coalition to combat COVID-19 job loss across the Commonwealth RESTON, Va., June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 1901 Group today announced it is a Business Partner of the Virginia Ready Initiative (VA Ready), a new initiative to help unemployed Virginians across the Commonwealth get back to work quickly. In response to the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment, VA Ready, in partnership with businesses and Virginia's community colleges, equips people who are out of work with the required skills for in-demand jobs in high-growth sectors. "VA Readys vision aligns closely with 1901 Groups 10-year track record of developing sustainable IT jobs in regions such as Southwest Virginia." Sonu Singh CEO 1901 Group "1901 Group looks forward to working closely with VA Ready to strengthen our economy, support career pathways, and fulfill thousands of open positions by identifying, training, and employing Virginians impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Sonu Singh, CEO of 1901 Group. "VA Ready's vision aligns closely with 1901 Group's 10-year track record of developing sustainable IT jobs in regions such as Southwest Virginia." "As the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are seeing an urgent need to get Virginians back to work," said Glenn A. Youngkin, co-founder and chairman of VA Ready. "Employer engagement is critical to retraining thousands of Virginians for in-demand jobs. I'm grateful to 1901 Group and the unique coalition that is partnering in this much-needed effort." More than 800,000 people in the Commonwealth have filed for unemployment since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Low-wage earners and minority communities have been hit the hardest. At the same time, demand is projected to grow for specialized jobs in the fields of technology, healthcare and manufacturing/skilled trades. VA Ready, a newly formed public charity, rewards out-of-work Virginians who commit themselves to training for in-demand jobs. VA Ready Scholars earn a credential in one of many selected training programs through FastForward, a state-led short-term workforce credential program to train Virginians for top, in-demand jobs across the Commonwealth. FastForward is offered through the Virginia Community College System's (VCCS) 23 community colleges. Upon achieving their credential, VA Ready Scholars receive a $1,000 Credential Achievement Award and are offered opportunities to interview with VA Ready's business partners. Story continues "The goal of VA Ready is not just to give our scholars a credential, but a clear path to a high-quality job at one of Virginia's best companies," said Caren Merrick, CEO of VA Ready. "Likewise, companies will have access to talent they know have been through a credential program that reflects their needs, which will enable them to grow their businesses, remain competitive and stimulate our state's economy. It is a win-win for everyone." As a VA Ready Business Partner 1901 Group will be supporting the initiative in several ways, including: Financial support for Credential Achievement Awards and awareness efforts; Input on offerings and curricula to VA Ready's Talent Task Force with VCCS to ensure training program success; Participating in the VA Ready Job Exchange and providing job interview opportunities to VA Ready Scholars. For more information on VA Ready, including how the recently unemployed can apply, or how a business can become an employer partner, visit www.vaready.org . About 1901 Group, LLC 1901 Group develops innovative IT services and solutions for the public and private sector. We improve service delivery with our FedRAMP-authorized Enterprise IT Operations Center (EITOC) for 24x7 user, complex IT infrastructure, and mission-critical systems support. Our capabilities include cloud, cybersecurity, and enterprise-scale managed services to transition customers from traditional on-premise IT infrastructure models to hybrid cloud solutions that improve performance and reduce costs. We proudly serve customers in federal, state, and local governments, including law enforcement agencies and commercial markets. Customers benefit from our 24x7 Cloud Factory with FedRAMP authorization, ISO 9001 certification, and CMMI Maturity Level 3 appraisals. Visit our newsroom and simplify IT with 1901 Group. About The Virginia Ready Initiative (VA Ready) VA Ready is uniting stakeholders, including the Commonwealth's business community and the FastForward program of the Virginia Community College System to retrain out-of-work Virginians with high-demand skills and build career opportunities. Tweet: @1901 Group Partners with the Virginia Ready Initiative to Help Virginians Get Back to Work https://bit.ly/2Wd4e9J. Media Contact: Patricia Long VP, Marketing Communications & Public Relations 1901 Group 571.392.7233 (o) 703.615.4906 (m) tricia.long@1901group.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/1901-group-partners-with-the-virginia-ready-initiative-to-help-virginians-get-back-to-work-301084790.html SOURCE 1901 Group, LLC Here are todays top headlines. As the pandemic rages, Trump indulges his obsessions With the pandemic exploding and setting record infection rates, President Donald Trump spent the weekend on his own often divisive obsessions, piling up new evidence for detractors who say hes not fit for office. Multiple people dead after attack on Pakistan Stock Exchange At least five people have died after shots were fired at the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi, according to rescue officials on Monday. More than 500,000 people have been killed by Covid-19. A quarter of them are Americans More than half a million people have died from the coronavirus, representing a bleak milestone in the pandemic as cases continue to soar and outbreaks pop up across the world. As coronavirus spikes in US, China locks down 400,000 people over 18 cases As the number of people killed by the coronavirus passes 500,000 worldwide, China isnt taking any chances of a second wave gripping the country despite having largely contained its outbreak in recent months. Facebook boycott: View the list of companies pulling ads A coalition of civil rights groups recently called on major advertisers to boycott Facebook and stop advertising on the social media network in July. Here are the companies that said they would join it. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp urges fans not to gather in celebration Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has urged fans to celebrate in a safe way after thousands gathered in the city to mark the clubs first league title in 30 years, despite lockdown restrictions. A Starbucks barista received nearly $80,000 in tips after being singled out for refusing to serve a customer not wearing a mask A Starbucks barista who was publicly shamed by a customer after asking her to wear a face mask has received nearly $80,000 in virtual tips after a Facebook post that criticized him went viral. Boeing can begin test flights of the 737 Max, FAA says Boeing has received clearance to begin test flights of its troubled 737 Max jet, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday. The test flights of could begin as early as Monday. Katy Perry says she felt suicidal during split from Orlando Bloom Katy Perry has opened up about her mental health issues in a new interview. Democrats want John Wayne Airport renamed after I believe in white supremacy interview resurfaces Democrats in Orange County, California, are done with The Duke, and they want John Waynes name and likeness stripped from the countys airport. Fillon and wife guilty over fake jobs scandal Share this with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Facebook Share this with WhatsApp Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with These are external links and will open in a new window Copy this link https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53217298?at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_campaign=64&at_custom3=%40BBCBreaking&at_medium=custom7&at_custom4=E8A9971E-B9FD-11EA-8D36-3CB6923C408C&at_custom2=twitter Read more about sharing. Auction of looted artefacts should be scrapped A prominent art historian has called on the renowned auction house, Christies, to cancel the sale of two Nigerian sculptures to be put up for auction shortly. Prof Chika Okeke-Agulu told the BBC the two objects were looted from shrines in south-eastern Nigeria during the civil war in the late 1960s. How hackers extorted $1.14m from a US university A leading medical-research institution working on a cure for Covid-19 has admitted it paid hackers a $1.14m (910,000) ransom after a covert negotiation witnessed by BBC News. The Netwalker criminal gang attacked University of California San Francisco (UCSF) on 1 June. IT staff unplugged computers in a race to stop the malware spreading. The deadly food we all eat BBC Reel The way palm oil is produced is hurting people, the air we breathe and wildlife. However, its used in many foods sometimes in large quantities and in fact, its estimated to be in almost half of supermarket products. BBC Reel explores why this substance is so problematic. Kim Kardashian sells $200m stake in cosmetics brand Share this with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Facebook Share this with WhatsApp Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with These are external links and will open in a new window Copy this link https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53221513?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_custom4=8B8C4AEE-BA0D-11EA-B8E5-BEA94744363C&at_campaign=64&at_custom3=%40BBCBusiness&at_custom2=twitter&at_medium=custom7&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D Read more about sharing. Andrew Yang thinks Big Tech and capitalism need to be reined in ASAP Andrew Yang, a prominent 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate, ran on a platform that warned about the speed with which technology like automation and AI is upending the world as we know it. His solution rein in big tech and capitalism, introduce a universal basic income, and help the economy trickle upwards. Apples iOS 14 beta shows apps like TikTok still spy on your iPhone clipboard A copy-paste issue on iPhones is still running wild on more than 50 apps, including TikTok, numerous news apps, and games like Bejeweled. The clipboard privacy breach was first reported back in March and exposed that some apps could see iPhone users clipboard contents, whether it be a credit card number, password, or random link. Lunar Loo challenge asks people to help astronauts poop on the Moon Theres 51 days left to design a NASA toilet fit for Moon-traveling astronauts. A newly launched lunar loo challenge is asking those who are interested to redesign a toilet for the Moon that works in both lunar gravity and microgravity. NASA expects to return humans to the celestial orb in 2024 as part of the Artemis program. Brand leviathan Unilever pulls ads from Facebook, cites polarized times When the makers of Axe body spray dont want to be associated with your brand, you know youve got a serious problem. London-based conglomerate Unilever announced Friday that it will cease running ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter through the end of the year, leaving the move open to a further extension. Facebook will warn you when you share old news Sometimes an article that was relevant a few years ago is painfully obsolete now, and sharing it might do more harm than good (and invoke the fury of your journalist friends). And sometimes its just so old that everyone (but you, apparently) has already seen it. - A joint call for building businessworthy action for the Global South GUANGZHOU, China, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In an open letter issued today, the American Chamber of Commerce in South China ("AmCham South China") President, Dr. Harley Seyedin along with 23 Oslo Business for Peace Award winners from 21 countries called to build back better business in the Global South in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With significant capital outflows, export barriers rising, and unemployment increasing, COVID-19 is widening the social and economic gap in the Global South. Ouided Bouchamaoui, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (Tunisia), Paul Polman, former Chairman of Unilever and Honorary Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce (Netherlands), Sir Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman, Virgin Group (UK), and Harley Seyedin, President, Allelon Energy Systems, and President of AmCham South China (USA) are among the 24 international business leaders and signatories of the call to action working to address these challenges. These signatories are also past recipients of the Oslo Business for Peace Award the highest award an individual business leader can receive, for their businessworthy accomplishments. The award is given by the Award Committee of Nobel Laureates in Peace and Economics to business leaders who ethically and responsibly solve societal problems that create value both for business and society. Richard Branson with Business for Peace Award Business for Peace Foundation Richard Branson On the stage at Business for Peace Foundation The 24 signatories urgently call for: 1. Immediate debt cancellation and increased investment linked to a green and socially equitable recovery. 2. Increased global co-ordination, especially avoiding export barriers on personal protective equipment and maintaining fair and efficient markets for both the Global North and the South. 3. Investment in and support for SMEs, ensuring employment especially for underserved communities. 4. Global co-ordination on strategies for financial investment and income transfer to strengthen the participation of women in the economy and the job market. Story continues 5. Increased attention to racial harmony, integration and inclusion. By some estimates, the consequences of the pandemic are that 265 million people will suffer acute food shortages, 0.5 billion people may be pushed back into poverty and women are disproportionately negatively affected. "As we rebuild a world in the wake of COVID-19, let's look to the real business leaders who stand out as role models to society and their peers, are earning the trust of their stakeholders, advocate for businessworthy leadership, and are contributing to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These very diverse Business for Peace Honourees, ranging from young health-tech entrepreneurs to CEOs of multinationals and Nobel Peace Prize winners are such real leaders. This call to action is for business leaders who want to make actual change. Now is the moment to reshape the world that creates value for all," concludes Per Saxegaard, founder of the Business for Peace Foundation. For the full text of the open letter please visit https://businessforpeace.no/ About the Oslo Business for Peace Award The Oslo Business for Peace Award is given out annually to exemplary business leaders who apply their business energy ethically and responsibly, creating both economic and societal value. Winners are selected by the Award Committee of Nobel Laureates in Peace and Economics after a global nomination process through the International Chamber of Commerce, United Nations Global Compact, United Nations Development Programme, and Principles for Responsible Investment. The committee evaluates the nominees on the criteria of being a role model to society and their peers, having earned trust by stakeholders, and standing out as an advocate. About the American Chamber of Commerce in South China The American Chamber of Commerce in South China (AmCham South China) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating bilateral trade between the United States and the People's Republic of China. Certified in 1995 by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC, AmCham South China represents more than 2,300 corporate and individual members, is governed by a fully-independent Board of Governors elected from its membership, and provides dynamic, on-the-ground support for American and International companies doing business in South China. In 2018, AmCham South China hosted more than 10,000 business executives and government leaders from around the world at its briefings, seminars, committee meetings and social gatherings. AmCham South China is a fully-independent organization accredited by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC. All AmChams in China are independently governed and represent member companies in their respective regions. ---END Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/24-winners-of-oslo-business-for-peace-award-call-to-build-back-better-business-in-the-global-south-301085832.html SOURCE American Chamber of Commerce in South China WASHINGTON, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- This month marks 30 years since William Loiry's arrival in Moscow, where he was instrumental in facilitating the economic transition of the Soviet Union. Loiry grew up during the Cold War and was concerned about the possibility of a thermonuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union began opening under President Mikhail Gorbachev, Loiry's plan was to promote peace through business. "If you are a Soviet businessman and I'm helping you make American dollars, you're not going to want to shoot me," Loiry stated. In 1990, Loiry published the first U.S.-Soviet business guide, which became widely used in both the Soviet Union and the United States. Loiry traveled throughout the Soviet Union, promoting his business guide, becoming the first American thousands of Russians had ever met, and one of the few Americans to meet Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Red Square. In July 1990, Loiry became the first American to visit Saratov, a city on the Volga River. Having served as President of the Tallahassee (FL)-Krasnodar Sister City Program in 1989, he also spent time learning about the culture and economy in Krasnodar during his visit in 1990. Loiry also visited both eastern and western Siberia as well as Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. After meeting with many business leaders throughout the Soviet Union, Loiry opened an office in Moscow with supporting offices in the United States. Throughout the four years that followed, Loiry brought hundreds of Soviet oil executives, bankers, and other business leaders to the U.S. to understand American business, get a taste of American culture, and to see American democracy at work. The trips included visiting the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, meetings on Capitol Hill, and even experiencing Disney World in Florida. "These four years were crucial in making sure the new democracies in Russia and the other former Soviet countries did not go back to an authoritarian state, which was a threat to the United States," said Loiry. "My work in creating peace through business shows that people-to-people diplomacy can make a significant difference." Story continues Additional background on Loiry's work can be found at www.williamloiry.com. Media Contact: Jordan Rumsey Jordan.Rumsey@usdlf.org Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/30th-anniversary-of-william-loirys-arrival-in-the-soviet-union-301085314.html SOURCE Defense Leadership Forum Atlanta, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) (the Company) announced today that the Board of Directors (the Board) approved an increase in the size of the Board from 11 to 12 members and elected Laura OShaughnessy as a Director for a term that will expire at the Companys next annual meeting of stockholders. Ms. OShaughnessy is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of SocialCode, LLC, a technology company that manages digital and social advertising for leading consumer brands. She previously oversaw business development and product strategy for the Slate Group, an online publisher. Neil Ashe, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on behalf of the Board, We are pleased that Laura has agreed to join the Board and look forward to accessing her digital knowledge and technology expertise as we continue to transform our business. About Acuity Brands Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) is a market-leading industrial technology company. We design, manufacture, and bring to market innovative products and services that make the world more brilliant, productive, and connected including building management systems, lighting, lighting controls, and location-aware applications. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, with operations across North America, Europe, and Asia, we are powered by approximately 12,000 dedicated and talented associates. Visit us at www.acuitybrands.com . # # # # # Company Contact: Pete Shannin Acuity Brands, Inc. (770) 860-2873 Cancer Access Partnership is expected to result in a 59 percent savings on procured cancer medicines ATLANTA, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) today announced agreements with pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Novartis, and Mylan to expand access to 20 lifesaving cancer treatments in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Purchasers are expected to save an average of 59 percent for medicines procured through the agreements. American Cancer Society Logo (PRNewsfoto/American Cancer Society) "With the rapidly growing burden of cancer in Africa, it is crucial that we improve and expand access to high-quality, affordable treatment. These agreements build on those announced in 2017 that have already delivered substantial savings and increased treatment availability in several countries, including Nigeria. By targeting the treatment needed for the cancers that cause the most deaths, these new agreements will help us to improve on quality of lives and close the mortality gap for Africans with cancer," said Professor Isaac Adewole, co-chair, African Cancer Coalition and former Health Minister of Nigeria. Medications included in the agreements cover recommended regimens for 27 types of cancer and enable complete chemotherapy regimens for the three cancers that cause the most deaths in Africabreast, cervical, and prostate. These cancers are highly treatable and account for 38 percent of cancers in the countries covered in the agreements. The new agreements include both chemotherapies and endocrine therapies aligned to evidence-based guidelines harmonized for sub-Saharan Africa, and expand access to additional formulations, including those essential for treating childhood cancer. "With cancer cases increasing at such a rapid rate in sub-Saharan Africa, access to affordable cancer treatment that meets the quality standards set by a stringent regulatory authority is imperative," said William G. Cance, MD FACS, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, American Cancer Society. "This collaboration has the potential to drastically impact access to care and save countless lives." Story continues Sub-Saharan Africa's cancer burden is significant and growing. In 2018, there were an estimated 811,000 new cases of cancer and 534,000 deaths from cancer in the region. Cancer patients in sub-Saharan Africa are twice as likely to die as those in the United States, often due to late diagnosis and lack of access to treatment. Based on population aging alone, annual cancer deaths in sub-Saharan Africa are projected to almost double by 2030. The new agreements reach 23 countries in Africa, covering 74 percent of the annual cancer cases. The new initiative includes Pfizer, Novartis, and Mylan, and will expand access to the priority medications and formulations in the agreements to additional countries. All of the medications included in the agreements meet the quality standards set by a stringent regulatory authority such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA). These medicines will be available for purchase at newly and independently negotiated prices in the designated countries, and the companies have committed to monitoring the impact of their respective agreements with CHAI. This new Cancer Access Partnership is an initiative of Allied Against Cancer and an expansion of the Chemotherapy Access Partnership. ACS and CHAI began working together in 2015 to improve care and treatment of cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, working with governments and cancer treatment institutions to address market inefficiencies, improve supply chains, and increase procurement to ensure quality medications were available at affordable prices. This collaboration has shown that access to high-quality cancer treatments can be expanded in a sustainable way. Dr. Iain Barton, Chief Executive Officer of CHAI stated, "While we have made strides in increasing access to lifesaving cancer treatments in sub-Saharan Africa over the last several years, there is much more work to be done. This collaboration is a significant step in delivering high-quality cancer treatment to more patients, bringing us closer to equitable cancer treatment for all people." In 2017, Allied Against Cancer members ACS and CHAI announced agreements with Pfizer and Cipla to expand access to 16 essential cancer treatment medications in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The market access agreements secured competitive prices, allowing these governments to realize substantial savings and improve the quality and quantity of treatment available. As a result of the agreements, several African governments and hospitals increased their commitment to procuring necessary cancer medicines by using the cost savings to increase the volumes of medicines procured, setting up innovative systems to supply high-quality cancer medications, and increasing budgets for cancer care and treatment. Countries that accessed products through the agreements saved an average of 56 percent. As a result, patients have new levels of access to quality chemotherapies in nearly all of the countries included in the original agreements. Three new countries were added in November 2019. "Since entering into partnership with CHAI and ACS in 2017, we have seen the positive impact that sustainable access to quality, affordable cancer medicines can have on patients in vulnerable communities in Africa," said Rhulani Nhlaniki, Pfizer Cluster Lead for sub-Saharan Africa and Country Manager, South Africa. "We remain committed to this model that helps to reduce the overwhelming burden on patients and healthcare systems, and we are pleased to be able to expand our chemotherapy offerings under the program to better serve the needs of patients." "Novartis is reimagining medicine and access to healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa with the patient at the center of everything we do," said Racey Muchilwa, Head of Novartis sub-Saharan Africa. "This agreement is an important step to provide lifesaving medicines to more cancer patients across Africa. Having personally seen the growing toll cancer takes on the patients and many affected families in Africa, I am very excited about this collaboration of multiple stakeholders to dramatically improve access to cancer medicines in many countries." "Mylan is proud to join CHAI, ACS and this important group of industry stakeholders to help expand access to critical medicines for oncology patients. Mylan has a long-standing commitment to support those impacted by non-communicable diseases, including cancer, which significantly impact low- and middle-income countries. We look forward to continuing to do our part by expanding access to treatment through initiatives like the Cancer Access Partnership and working with all involved in the healthcare system to help serve the community," said Rakesh Bamzai, President, India and Emerging Markets, Mylan. The market access agreements are part of a broader effort to improve access to quality cancer care in Africa. In 2019, ACS, CHAI, the African Cancer Coalition, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), and IBM joined to form Allied Against Cancer. This coalition is leveraging the strengths of each organization to connect with and empower the African oncology community to deliver high-quality cancer care and is working to pursue additional market-based collaborations to increase access to cancer medicines in the region. NCCN, ACS, and CHAI are also working with the African Cancer Coalition, which comprises 110 leading oncologists from 13 African countries, to adapt the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) to create the NCCN Harmonized Guidelines for Sub-Saharan Africa. These NCCN Harmonized Guidelines for Sub-Saharan Africa outline pragmatic approaches that provide effective treatment options to improve the quality of care in resource-constrained settings and are available free of charge to health care providers on www.nccn.org/harmonized. IBM and ACS also developed ChemoSafe, a suite of training resources for regional healthcare personnel to guide the safe transportation, storage, administration and disposal of hazardous drugs. The countries included in the agreements are: Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, in Africa; and Vietnam, India, and Myanmar in Asia. Oncologists, government officials, and nonprofit organizations in many of these countries contributed to these agreements by sharing information and feedback to the CHAI team. You can learn more about the Chemotherapy Access Partnership and see medicines available by country here: www.alliedagainstcancer.org/access-partnership About the Team The American Cancer Society is a global grassroots force of 1.5 million volunteers dedicated to saving lives, celebrating lives, and leading the fight for a world without cancer. From breakthrough research, to free lodging near treatment, a 24/7/365 live helpline, free rides to treatment, and convening powerful activists to create awareness and impact, the Society is the only organization attacking cancer from every angle. The Society also works in low- and middle-income countries to expand access to high-quality chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and pain relief, as well as getting patients diagnosed and into treatment earlier. For more information go to www.cancer.org. ACS does not endorse any product or service nor any particular brand of cancer drugs. ACS is not a provider of medical services and is not responsible for any drugs, screening, diagnosis, or medical treatment. The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work with our partners to strengthen the capabilities of governments and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems that can succeed without our assistance. Learn more at: clintonhealthaccess.org. At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.Pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.Pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer. Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 109,000 people of more than 145 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at https://www.novartis.com. Mylan is a global pharmaceutical company committed to setting new standards in healthcare. Working together around the world to provide 7 billion people access to high-quality medicine, we innovate to satisfy unmet needs; make reliability and service excellence a habit; do what's right, not what's easy; and impact the future through passionate global leadership. We offer a portfolio of more than 7,500 marketed products around the world, including antiretroviral therapies on which approximately 40% of people being treated for HIV/AIDS globally depend. We market our products in more than 165 countries and territories. We are one of the world's largest producers of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Every member of our approximately 35,000-strong workforce is dedicated to creating better health for a better world, one person at a time. Learn more at Mylan.com. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at investor.mylan.com. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-agreements-to-expand-access-to-20-lifesaving-cancer-medicines-for-countries-in-sub-saharan-africa-and-asia-301084700.html SOURCE American Cancer Society (Bloomberg) -- Covid-19 cases at an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse in Minnesota last month exceeded by at least four times the infection rate of surrounding communities, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg. In recent weeks, Amazon executives and spokespeople have said that U.S. warehouses have fared no worse, and sometimes better, than adjacent communities. We see Covid cases popping up at roughly a rate generally just under what the actual community infection rates are, Dave Clark, Amazons senior vice president of worldwide operations, said in an interview with 60 Minutes that was broadcast on May 10. The company has declined to make public how many workers have contracted the coronavirus, arguing that such tallies are meaningless without context. But the memo, based on internal data and circulated among Amazons health and safety team, details a sophisticated tracking regime that occurs out of public view. Its unclear if other Amazon warehouses have exceeded community infection rates, but as of mid-May, Amazon was aware of 45 Covid-19 cases at its MSP1 facility in Shakopee, Minnesota, enough for an infection rate of 1.7%, according to the memo. That was higher than the rural county that surrounds the warehouse, and roughly four times higher than any county in the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. At the time, Hennepin County, which contains Minneapolis, was reporting a rate of 0.4%. The memo doesnt specify whether Amazon managers believed employees contracted the coronavirus on the job. The authors said the rise in the case count corresponded with the increased availability of Covid-19 testing in Minnesota and noted that the warehouse was trending towards flattening the curve with a downward tick in cases. Nothing is more important than the safety of our teams, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Cheeseman said in an emailed statement that calls the analysis cited in the memo one of many tools that help us evaluate the full picture in our buildings related to Covid-19. The company also conducts audits of social distancing at its sites and has an epidemiologist available to review infection data and safety measures. Story continues We utilize a variety of data to closely monitor the safety of our buildings, and there is strong evidence that our employees are not proliferating the virus at work. What we see generally is that the overall rate of infection and increase or decrease of total cases is highly correlated to the overall community rate of infection, she said. Thousands of people have worked at the Shakopee site since the pandemic began, and we believe strongly people are not spreading the virus at work given the robust safety measures weve put into place. Cheeseman didnt provide an explanation for MSP1s infection rate. Like many companies that kept their doors open during the pandemic, Amazon was caught off guard by the severity of the crisis. With many fearful warehouse workers staying home, the company imposed new safety procedures, including temperature checks and social distancing requirements. Still, while many employees applaud the measures, they fault Amazon for not being more open about how many of their colleagues have contracted Covid-19. That has prompted workers to keep their own tally, which has reached at least 1,500 people out of a U.S. workforce of roughly 500,000, excluding workers at Whole Foods Market stores. The memo makes clear that Amazon has been collecting granular data on the Covid-19 outbreaks within its ranks. In Shakopee, the company compiled information on where sick employees live, whether theyre apartment-dwellers or live in a freestanding house, what shifts they typically work and what tasks they perform inside the 860,000-square-foot warehouse. Amazon also calculates things like the density of employees in break rooms, and seeks to estimate which day sick workers were exposed. The memo, which appears to reflect data as recently as May 18, cites an infection rate of 1.7%, based on a workforce of 2,631 people. Scott County, which contains Shakopee, at the time had a rate of 0.1%. Nearby counties, where most of the workers who caught Covid-19 live and commute to the facility by car, had rates between 0.2% in suburban Dakota County, to 0.4% in Hennepin County. Ramsey County, whose seat is St. Paul, the state capital, was at 0.3%. That infection count was higher than estimates compiled at the time by employees seeking to track how many of their coworkers were ill. Employees say such undercounts occur because internal messages alerting workers to new cases dont say how many have been identified. Based on those communications, employees estimated between 20 and 30 cases at Skakopee as of last month. Debbie Berkowitz, director of the worker safety and health program at the National Employment Law Project, said that in the absence of tougher federal rules dictating how companies should deal with Covid-19 outbreaks, the responsibility for keeping employees informed about the safety of their workplace falls to businesses. What I hear from workers is they just dont know how many cases are in their facility, said Berkowitz, a former Occupational Health and Safety Administration official. They need to be able to make personal decisions based on that, but if that information is not forthcoming, workers and the community dont have the information they need to keep themselves safe. The memo acknowledges workers appetite for more transparency, saying that two-thirds of safety-related comments on white boards set up inside the facility called for more information about infections. Amazon addressed the comments with notices posted to the same boards and verbal communications with workers, the authors wrote. At other warehouses, such communications have primarily consisted of reassurances about the adequacy of Amazon's cleaning protocols. The severity of the outbreak at the Shakopee warehouse came to light last week after the Minnesota Department of Health said that its own contact tracing efforts had identified a large cluster of Covid-19 cases there. Its unclear how the infection rate in Shakopee currently compares with the surrounding community. New infections in Minnesota reached a peak in mid-May, and the average number of daily confirmed cases has declined by about half since. On a conference call with reporters last week, workers at the Shakopee warehouse described an environment of fear. They said managers didnt seem responsive to their concerns and didnt share with them the severity of the outbreak in their ranks. The call was organized by Athena, a coalition of groups critical of Amazon, and the Awood Center, a local worker advocacy group. Im very disappointed to hear outside the building . . . how many confirmed cases we have, said Hibaq Mohamed, who works at the facility and has been involved in worker activism and organizing there. It is heartbreaking and frustrating. Joni Scheftel, Minnesotas state public health veterinarian before the pandemic forced her to add oversight of large employers, said state data suggest cases peaked at the Shakopee facility between April 24 and May 30. The rate of new cases there appears to have declined in June, she said, and the rate of spread is likely lower than the surrounding metro area now. There may have been spread [inside the warehouse] during the time when they had more cases, Scheftel said. But they made a lot of changes since that time. Scheftel, who has toured the Shakopee warehouse and joined calls with Amazon managers, said she was impressed by the companys social-distancing measures, and didnt see any obvious areas inside the building where workers might be passing the disease among themselves. Amazons outbreak is the 13th largest in Minnesota by case count, she said, trailing mainly meatpacking plants. Case count per employee is in the middle of the pack of the 250 Minnesota employers with clusters of cases, state data show. Scheftel said the state hadnt asked Amazon for its own coronavirus data or documents about its cases or internal protocols. The memo, Social Distancing Building Deep Dives MSP1, suggests that Amazons safety measures arent enough to eliminate the risk of outbreaks entirely. Employee compliance with social distancing regulations at MSP1 regularly ranked among the best in the companys logistics network, the authors wrote. Just one employee with a fever was caught in a temperature screening between the implementation of the safety measures on April 2 and May 18. 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. American Water Works Company AWK announced that its unit West Virginia American Water has filed an application with the Public Service Commission (PSC) of West Virginia, seeking approval for $50.6 million investment in the 2021 infrastructure replacement program. Timely upgrade and maintenance of water and wastewater pipelines increase the reliability of services provided to customers. West Virginia American Waters 2021 infrastructure replacement plan includes $18.0 million to replace or upgrade more than 30 miles of water mains; $4.3 million to restore service lines and fire hydrants; $5.6 million to replace water meters; $2.2 million for booster stations, $8.3 million for post-acquisition investment in troubled water systems; along with $12.2 million for water treatment improvements. Aging Water Infrastructure The U.S. water and wastewater infrastructure is aging, and a major portion of it is nearing the end of effective life. Per a finding from American Society of Civil Engineers, there are 240,000 water main breaks per year in the United States, resulting in the wastage of more than 2 trillion gallons of treated drinking water. So, it is quite essential to make repairs and upgrade the old and soiled water and wastewater mains to prevent wastage, as well as lower the possibility of potable water contamination. American Water Works is quite active in making regular investments in its service territories and maintaining the water mains. American Water Works has plans to invest $8.8-$9.4 billion in the 2020-2024 time period and $20-$22 billion in the next decade. These investments will allow it to maintain and expand its existing water infrastructure and provide reliable water services to the expanding customer base. In addition to American Water, Essential Utilities WTRG is also making regular investments in water and wastewater systems. Its long-term plan is to invest $2.8 billion in the 2020-2022 time period to rehabilitate, and strengthen the existing water and natural gas pipeline systems. Price Performance Shares of American Water have outperformed the industry in the past 12 months. Story continues Zacks Rank and Key Picks Currently, the company has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked water utilities include American States Water Company AWR and Middlesex Water Company MSEX, each presently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. American States Water delivered average positive earnings surprise of 5.9% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings has moved up 1.8% in the past 90 days. Middlesex Water Company delivered average positive earnings surprise of 2.19% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 earnings has moved up 2.5% in the past 90 days. Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, its expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity. A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time. See 8 breakthrough 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 Middlesex Water Company (MSEX) : Free Stock Analysis Report American States Water Company (AWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research A breakthrough report by Rocky Mountain Institute, Carbon Tracker Initiative, and Sierra Club offers new financial data and specific tools for making global coal phase-out feasible and just BOULDER, Colo., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Rocky Mountain Institute, Carbon Tracker Initiative, and Sierra Club have released a report How to Retire Early: Making Accelerated Coal Phase-Out Feasible and Just that reveals that new renewable energy is already cheaper than continuing to operate coal plants in much of the world. It lays out specific financial strategies that utilities and policy-makers can use to engineer a faster phase-out of coal in various regions of the world. This new analysis shows that new renewable energy is not only cheaper than new coal plants virtually everywhere, but that it is already cheaper to build new renewable energy capacity including battery storage than to continue operating 39 percent of the world's existing coal capacity. The share of uncompetitive coal plants worldwide will increase rapidly to 60 percent in 2022 and to 73 percent in 2025. Replacing the entire global coal fleet with clean energy can be done at a net savings to society as early as 2022. "A faster transition from coal to clean energy is within our grasp, and we show how to engineer that transition in ways that will save money for electricity customers around the world while aiding a just transition for workers and communities," said Paul Bodnar, Managing Director at Rocky Mountain Institute." The authors estimate that replacing the entire fleet of global coal plants with clean energy plus battery storage could be done at a net annual savings as early as 2022. The rapidly declining costs of renewables push net annual savings to $105 billion in 2025. All this, the report states, is before considering coal's dire health, climate, and environmental impacts, or accounting for the social and environmental benefits of reducing pollutants. Currently, coal phaseout hasn't kept pace with eroding economics. To keep the Paris Agreement's temperature targets within reach, global coal use must decline by 80 percent below 2010 levels by 2030, requiring rapid transition in OECD countries over the next decade and phase-out in the rest of the world by 2040. Story continues "Coal power is quickly facing economic obsolescence, independent of carbon pricing and air pollution policies. Closing coal capacity and replacing it with lower cost alternatives will not only save consumers and taxpayers money, but could also play a major role in the upcoming economic recovery," said Matt Gray, Managing Director, Co-Head of Power and Utilities at the Carbon Tracker Initiative. How to Retire Early lays out options for governments and public finance institutions to accelerate coal phase-out. The authors offer an integrated three-part approach: 1) refinancing to fund the coal transition and save customers money on day one, 2) reinvesting in clean energy, and 3) providing transition financing for workers and communities. In 2020, U.S. policymakers could help customers save up to $10 billion annually using the three-part approach to phase out the 79 percent of the 236 GW coal fleet that is uncompetitive today. "Tackling the climate crisis requires a swift transition off of coal and onto clean, renewable energy. This report shows just how much cheaper it is to invest in renewable energy, and why it makes less and less sense to keep running coal plants, even before climate change is taken into account. What's more, this report shows how innovative financial tools can be used to retire coal plants while saving consumers money, cleaning the air and water, improving public health, and ensuring a just transition for workers and communities," said Mary Anne Hitt, National Director of Campaigns. Meanwhile, outside the United States, a third of the global coal fleet is already more costly to continue operating than building new renewables with storage today. By 2025, that number will reach nearly 80 percent globally with several regions and countries seeing next to no competitive coal. In the European Union, 81% of the coal fleet is uncompetitive today and that percentage will reach 100% by 2025. In China, 43% of the coal fleet is uncompetitive today, and that number will reach nearly 100% by 2025. In India, 17% of the coal fleet is uncompetitive today, and that number will reach 85% in 2025. "Given the long lead times for electricity system planning and decision-making as well as the size of the opportunity," said Jules Kortenhorst, CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute, "now is the time to start structuring accelerated coal phase-out in all regions." To download the report please visit: https://rmi.org/insight/how-to-retire-early Media Inquiries please contact: (RMI) Nick Steel, Manager - Media Relations, T: +1 347-574-0887, E: nsteel@rmi.org (CTI - US/India/China) Daniel Cronin, Communications Manager, T: 1-617-678-5263, E: dcronin@carbontracker.org (CTI Europe) Joel Benjamin, Communications Manager, T: +44 (0)7429 637423, E: jbenjamin@carbontracker.org (Sierra Club) Cindy Carr, Deputy Press Secretary, T: +1 202-495-3034, E: cindy.carr@sierraclub.org Notes to Editors About Rocky Mountain Institute Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)an independent nonprofit founded in 1982transforms global energy use to create a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon future. It engages businesses, communities, institutions, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the adoption of market-based solutions that cost-effectively shift from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables. RMI [i1] has offices in Basalt and Boulder, Colorado; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing. More information on RMI can be found at http://www.rmi.org or follow us on Twitter @RockyMtnInst. About Carbon Tracker The Carbon Tracker Initiative is a not-for-profit financial think tank that seeks to promote a climate-secure global energy market by aligning capital markets with climate reality. Our research to date on the carbon bubble unburnable carbon and stranded assets has begun a new debate on how to align the financial system with the energy transition to a low carbon future. http://www.carbontracker.org About Sierra Club The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.org SOURCE Rocky Mountain Institute If you've looked at your bank account lately, you may have had a question turn over in your mind more than a few times. Am I getting a second stimulus check? There has been talk about another one coming, and in fact, on May 12, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act, short for the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, legislation that will cost $3.4 trillion. The Senate hasn't seemed too interested in pursuing the HEROES Act, but another stimulus package hasn't been ruled out, and it's been recently reported that President Trump is supportive of the idea of sending Americans a second stimulus check. So is another stimulus check coming? Nobody knows for sure, but based on what is in the HEROES Act, there's been a lot of speculation on what the next stimulus package could look like. If you're anxiously eyeing your bank account and interested in what may be coming around the corner, we have some possible answers to your questions. [See: 12 Ways to Save Money Without Trying.] The Last Stimulus Check Didn't Offer Money to Parents With Teenagers 17 and Older. Will the Next One? Assuming there is another stimulus package in the offering, it just may. The first stimulus package, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, costing $2 trillion, was signed into law on March 27. Among other things, it gave taxpayers $1,200 if their adjusted gross income was $75,000 or less. If you and your spouse filed jointly and earned up to $150,000, you received $2,400. If you filed as head of household, you received $2,400 if you earned $112,500 or less. That is, you hopefully received the money. Checks have been slow to materialize for some households. Meanwhile, families with children 16 or younger nabbed an additional $500 per kid. Parents with 17-year-olds or college students were miffed, to say the least. After all, parents were still paying expenses for their college students, many of whom not only had to return from college but also lost jobs during the quarantining. Story continues This time, children -- as well as 17- and 18-year-olds and college students claimed as dependents -- would qualify for a $1,200 payment under the HEROES Act. But, again, the HEROES Act was only passed by the House and may look radically different, assuming it makes it through the Senate. Will the Next Stimulus Package Include Any Help With Paying Student Loans? There are reasons to hope so. The HEROES Act will forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loans, or the outstanding loan balance, whichever is less. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury would make monthly payments on private student loans through Sept. 30, 2021, up to $10,000 per borrower. Again, this may not happen, and some people predict that it won't happen. "I doubt loan forgiveness will be included, primarily due to the sheer cost, but also as it relates to the disagreements over the perceived fairness of blanket forgiveness and questions about whether such a benefit reasonably relates to the pandemic or should be dealt with separately," says Christopher Chapman, president and CEO of AccessLex Institute, a research and advocacy nonprofit based out of West Chester, Pennsylvania, focused on improving access to legal education. He does think, however, that student loan provisions, similar to what was in the earlier package, like payment holidays and 0% interest, have a good shot of making it in the next stimulus package. In any case, something needs to be done to help students and universities, which are both struggling financially, says Giacomo Santangelo, an economics professor at Fordham University in New York City and at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. "Universities are going to make less money in the fall, and we kind of know it, but we aren't talking about it," Santangelo says. [Read: How to Save Money for Your Kids.] Because of bringing in less revenue, universities may have to cut costs in their services, raise tuition or both, according to Santangelo. He predicts, however, that if tuition is raised, it isn't likely to be much. Parents, he says, are likely going to be upset about paying even higher tuition costs -- especially if their kids are still at home, learning virtually, which many people will never feel matches the experience of being inside a classroom. Santangelo hopes that Washington will spend some of the stimulus package on education -- giving money to the universities but also heading off another problem that will likely occur if college students continue to attend college from their homes. "Provisions need to be made for the students who don't have the same technological access as other students," Santangelo says. He points out that if virtual education continues this fall, some college freshmen are going to be at home, and in some worst-case scenarios, may be in a household with no computer -- or one computer to share among family members or with spotty internet connection. "Not all students have access to webcams and microphones. Universities or the government have to give the kids the resources they would have if they were on campus," Santangelo says. "The students were equal when they were on the same campus, getting the same information in the classroom. But if you're at home, you may not be having the same education experience." Will the Next Stimulus Package Address Unemployment Checks? It's hard to tell, but Anne York, a professor of economics at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, doesn't think workers will see an extra $600 on top of their unemployment checks as happened with the CARES Act. She hopes, however, that a new unemployment package would, nonetheless, go beyond a typical pre-pandemic unemployment check, where people often receive two-thirds or maybe half of their regular paycheck. "While it was compassionate to provide the extra $600 of unemployment benefits as part of the first stimulus, that resulted in some workers to rationally choose unemployment over working -- because their unemployment benefits were higher than their paychecks," York says, adding that that made it difficult for some businesses to rehire workers. "It was good to have a temporary boost to spending by helping workers at first with these enhanced $600 unemployment benefits, but that isn't a feasible long-term solution to our economic recovery," York says. Any stimulus package, York maintains, "should be designed in such a way as to keep as many people as possible connected to employment." My Spouse Is an Immigrant. Will We Get a Stimulus Check This Time? Maybe. The CARES Act stipulated that if you filed with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number instead of a Social Security number, you were ineligible to get a stimulus check. That decision affected scores of taxpaying immigrants. In the case of the CARES Act and the stimulus checks, however, if you were an immigrant filing taxes with an ITIN and married to an American, your American spouse also missed out on getting a payment. So did your kids. That's believed to have affected at least 1.2 million households, according to numbers from the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank based out of the District of Columbia. It's too early to tell with this next stimulus package how things will shake out, but the HEROES Act requires that a taxpayer have an ITIN or Social Security number to receive a check. So we'll see if that holds. [Read: Why Haven't I Received a Stimulus Check?] It Sounds Like a Stimulus Check Is Coming. Should I Plan on That? No. It's a pretty good assumption that a stimulus check will be mailed to you or deposited in your bank account eventually, but it's not wise to put in your budget the appearance of a stimulus check any time soon. That's because, again, not everybody received the first one. "They have to do distribution better next time, though I'm not holding my breath," Santangelo says. But logic would suggest that at some point in the near future you will be receiving a stimulus check. After all, the coronavirus is still raging, and the global economy can still be described as shaky, to put it mildly. Chapman also has logic that is hard to argue with: Politicians know that their jobs are on the line if they don't help people keep their jobs. "I believe another stimulus package will be enacted this summer and, irrespective of its size, I expect direct payments to taxpayers will be a central component. ... They almost certainly will be included for two main reasons," he says. "No. 1, it is a presidential election year, and No. 2, it is a presidential election year." More From US News & World Report The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation has selected 31 civic leaders for its Flinn-Brown Fellowship seminar series that will focus on public policy development within the national, state and local political landscape to address Arizonas pressing socio-economic issues. Four counties from across Arizona will be represented in the new cohort, with about a third of the Flinn-Brown Fellows from outside the Phoenix metro area, including Flagstaff, Kingman, Tucson, and for the first time, Vail. The 2020 Flinn-Brown Fellows represent the private and public sectors in a variety of fieldsbusiness and industry, government, nonprofits, arts, and educationand hold a diversity of perspectives, experience, and policy interest. The Fellowships 12 full-day seminars are scheduled to start in late August, with topics ranging from the economy, PreK-12 and higher education, public health, environment, criminal justice, communications and media relations and more. The annual Flinn-Brown Convention, scheduled for November, brings together Fellows from each cohort. Presenters include highly experienced, subject-matter experts, including elected and appointed officials, judges, executives, scholars, and other administrators engaged in decision-making at the highest levels. The competitive Flinn-Brown Fellowship offers unparalleled, rigorous learning about Arizona policy and politics; connections with top state leaders and policy experts; membership in the prestigious Flinn-Brown Network; and personalized long-term support for civic-leadership development. Nearly 400 Flinn-Brown Fellows have now been selected since the nonpartisan Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation was launched in 2011. Shaping the Fellowship is Dawn Wallace, named by the Flinn Foundation in March as the second director of the center. Wallace is a public-policy expert and former state-government executive who has advised Republican and Democratic governors and guided policy development in both houses of the Arizona Legislature. Story continues The center was created nearly a decade ago in large part as a response to the impact of the Great Recession on Arizona, with a vision of strengthening leadership at the state level. Through the Flinn-Brown seminars, Wallace said, the newest Fellows will grapple with the extraordinary confluence of health, economic, and social challenges facing Arizona in 2020. "These 31 Arizonans ready to embark on the Flinn-Brown Fellowship will emerge with enhanced knowledge, networks, and inspiration to make a greater impact on the future of Arizona as dedicated civic leaders throughout the state at all levels of government," Wallace said. The 2020 Flinn-Brown Fellows were selected by a committee of Arizona leaders: Steven G. Seleznow, president and CEO, Arizona Community Foundation; Tom Betlach, partner, Speire Healthcare Strategies and former director of Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System; Maria Harper-Marinick, Ph.D., retired chancellor, Maricopa Community Colleges, Senior Fellow, College Excellence Program, The Aspen Institute; the Honorable Eileen Klein, 35th state treasurer of Arizona, former chief of staff, Gov. Jan Brewer, former president, Arizona Board of Regents; Rep. Daniel Hernandez Jr., Arizona House of Representatives, Jack Jewett Award Winner 2019; Eve Ross, J.D., retired lead health care counsel, medical products division, W.L. Gore & Associates, and community volunteer; Shaun Kirkpatrick, board member, Flinn Foundation and Thomas R. Brown Foundations; and Tammy McLeod, Ph.D., president and CEO, Flinn Foundation. "The number of accomplished, diverse leaders eager to participate in the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation and play a more active role in our state made the selection process difficult, but left us with great hope and enthusiasm for the future," McLeod said. The Flinn Foundation is a Phoenix-based private, nonprofit, grantmaking organization, founded by Dr. Robert S. Flinn and Irene P. Flinn in 1965 with the mission, "To improve the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations." Along with the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and its Flinn-Brown Fellowship, the foundation supports the advancement of Arizonas bioscience sector, the Flinn Scholars Program, and Arizona arts and culture organizations. The Thomas R. Brown Foundations of Tucson is a partner in the Flinn-Brown program. It supports solutions to community and state issues through grants and educational programs in the areas of research and education, workforce development, civic leadership, and economics education. 2020 Flinn-Brown Fellows (Listing includes name, position, and city of residence) COCONINO COUNTY Daniel Palm: Associate Vice President, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff MARICOPA COUNTY Trevor Abarzua: Vice President of Business Attraction, Arizona Commerce Authority, Phoenix Christian Baca: Service Design Lead, Maricopa County, Phoenix Alexander Benezra: Assistant City Attorney III, City of Phoenix Public Defenders Office, Phoenix Carla Berg: Chief Strategy Officer, Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix Quintin Boyce: Superintendent, Roosevelt School District, Chandler Brent Burgett: Deputy Chief of Emergency Medical Services, Mesa Fire and Medical Department, Gilbert Adam Deguire: Associate Vice President, Arizona State University, Mesa Nicole Fries: Associate General Counsel, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Phoenix Katelyn Harris Lange: Search Advisor, Y Scouts, Phoenix Reyna Montoya: CEO and Founder, Aliento, Gilbert Christian Osmena: Vice President for Enterprise Planning, Arizona State University, Tempe Stephanie Parra: Executive Director, ALL in Education, Phoenix Jill Pernice: Senior Manager of Operations, Arizona Department of Administration, Phoenix Rebecca Perrera: Principal Fiscal Analyst, Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Arizona Legislature, Phoenix Kate Radosevic: Food and Farm Initiatives Manager, Local First Arizona Foundation, Phoenix Melissa Sanderson: President, Mel Sanderson Consulting, Phoenix Jack Schwimmer: Manager of Donor Engagement, Heard Museum, Phoenix Adelaida Severson: President, Bushtex Inc., Gilbert Samuel Shapiro: Director of Strategy and Growth, Vista College Preparatory, Phoenix Richie Taylor: Communications Director, Arizona Department of Education, Phoenix Dajana Zlaticanin: Deputy Director of Communications, Arizona State Senate, Phoenix MOHAVE COUNTY Heather Patenaude: Director of Financial Aid, Mohave Community College, Kingman PIMA COUNTY Dennis Barger: Principal, Vail Academy and High School, Vail Nicole Barraza: Director of Governance and Outreach, Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Tucson Sean Goslar: Regional Manager of Immigration Services, Chicanos Por La Causa, Tucson Ashley Hullinger: Research Analyst, University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, Tucson Brendan Lyons: Executive Director, LOOK Save A Life, Tucson Yvette-Marie Margaillan: CEO and Clinical Director, ABA Consulting Group and Autism Pediatrics, Tucson Stefanie Murphy: ATF Advisor, Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tucson Zachary Yentzer: Executive Director, Tucson Young Professionals, Tucson View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630006037/en/ Contacts Brian Powell, Flinn Foundation Communications Manager, (602) 744-6806, bpowell@flinn.org Dawn Wallace, Flinn Foundation Vice President, Civic Leadership, (602) 744-6833, dwallace@flinn.org BARCELONA, Spain, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nurses and healthcare workers are the heroes of our time. Every day for months they have been risking their lives to stand by our bedsides, helping and caring for us during this global coronavirus pandemic. Now UIN Footwear is recognizing their efforts with a new program: "Stand by Me". Art Travel Shoe Brand UIN Footwear Gives Away Shoes to Frontline Nurses Worldwide On International Nurses Day on 12th May 2020, UIN launched a giveaway campaign for nurses who have borne the brunt of the pandemic all over the world. As the world's leading art travel shoe brand, UIN launched a special edition sky blue shoe for nurses, with a special heart and cardiographic pattern that truly sets them apart. Nurses are on their feet all day and they need shoes that will help them get through their endless hours of caring. UIN shoes are the perfect answer. They are super light and yet supportive, with soft, cushioned insoles that provide a massage-like function to keep your feet feeling fresh and comfortable. They also have arch supports, so as the day wears on and the nurses' feet get tired, UIN shoes are helping them to get through their day. Just as they are helping so many people get through this terrible disease. As part of the "Stand by Me" program, UIN also invited nurses to share their stories and pictures on the UIN Facebook. Many pictures they sent in showed faces bruised and creased with fatigue, but with firm, clear eyes behind their protective shields. One nurse explained that "Either fighting at the frontline of the COVID-19 battle or continuing our daily working routine, this disease changed us all greatly. I was consumed with fear every day as many of my colleagues had died, but I was also proud knowing I was about to help someone, and this enabled me to conquer my fear." These moving images and stories captured the hearts of UIN fans everywhere. With tremendous support from the worldwide UIN community of fans, the "Stand by Me" program has so far given away the Special Edition UIN shoes to nurses in the US, Italy, Canada, Germany, and other countries globally. Story continues UIN Footwear Founded in 2014, UIN Footwear is a Spain originated D2C (Direct to Customer) footwear brand. Deeply rooted in travel and art, UIN has created the unique category of Art Travel Shoes and ranks 5th on Amazon worldwide in Loafers and Slip-On shoe category. Art and Comfort are the two most crucial features of UIN's canvas shoes which bear creative designs from artists across the globe. The contoured insoles of UIN shoes resemble the natural shape of feet, while the soft and breathable material creates flexibility for all-day comfort. For more information, visit https://www.uinfootwear.com/ Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/art-travel-shoe-brand-uin-footwear-gives-away-shoes-to-frontline-nurses-worldwide-301085535.html SOURCE UIN Footwear Elders from Kirinyaga County have spoken out against the ongoing political feud between Governor Anne Waiguru and County Assembly members. Led by Kirinyaga Jubilee Chairman Mureithi Kangara and former councillor Jeremiah Gateri, the elders noted that the protracted political battle has adversely affected the county and pleaded with the county leaders to focus on development. The elders who spoke in Sagana town on Sunday evening offered the mediate between Waiguru and the ward reps. We are ready to meet the governor and the MCAs and reconcile them. They cant continue fighting when the residents who urgently need better roads, clean drinking water and medicine are suffering, Mr Kangara said. The elders further called on the MCAs to concede defeat in their efforts to impeach Governor Waiguru. This follows the Senate decision which cleared Waiguru of any wrongdoing. MCAs have since announced that they move to court to challenge the decision. The MCAs should not move to court to challenge the decision by the Senate. They should give up the fight for the betterment of the residents, said Mr Gateri . WINNIPEG, MB , June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - Artis Real Estate Investment Trust (AX-UN.TO) ("Artis" or the "REIT") announced that its board of trustees has set September 24, 2020 , as the date of its 2020 annual meeting of unitholders (the "2020 AGM"). Artis Real Estate Investment Trust Logo (CNW Group/Artis Real Estate Investment Trust) Artis has the ability to hold the 2020 AGM virtually or in hybrid format which will allow registered unitholders and duly appointed proxyholders to participate in the meeting virtually via live audiocast. Artis is monitoring the public health orders issued in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and will make further announcement in due course with respect to the format of the 2020 AGM and how registered unitholders and proxyholders may participate. Artis is a diversified Canadian real estate investment trust investing in office, retail and industrial properties. Since 2004, Artis has executed an aggressive but disciplined growth strategy, building a portfolio of commercial properties in Canada and the United States . As of March 31, 2020 , Artis' commercial property comprises approximately 23.8 million square feet of leasable area. During the three months ended March 31, 2020 , Property Net Operating Income ("Property NOI") by asset class, including Artis' proportionate share of properties held in joint venture arrangements, was 46.8% office, 18.7% retail and 34.5% industrial. Property NOI by geographical region, including Artis' proportionate share of properties held in joint venture arrangements, was 2.7% in British Columbia , 16.5% in Alberta , 6.7% in Saskatchewan , 13.7% in Manitoba , 10.8% in Ontario , 10.0% in Arizona , 21.5% in Minnesota , 9.7% in Wisconsin and 8.4% in U.S. - Other. The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. SOURCE Artis Real Estate Investment Trust Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/30/c6358.html NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Established in 2005 in Adelaide, Australia, AZZO has developed into a global leader in energy management, electrical engineering, power automation and software development. Building on our Australian roots, we are expanding to bring our systems and technologies to the United States market, with the opening of our Fairfield, New Jersey office. AZZO focuses on the integration, monitoring, and control of renewable energy systems such as microgrids, utility scale photovoltaic, wind, and battery storage systems. AZZO is transferring our extensive experience in the mature Australian renewable energy sector to the United States. Additionally, AZZO has developed unique modular monitoring and control systems that are pre-commissioned for plug-n-play installation by local electrical contractors under our remote supervision, with the verification and validation by AZZO's engineers. AZZO's cloud-hosted systems enable both remote monitoring and control, as well as, remote commissioning, negating the need for onsite commissioning personnel. These systems and technologies enable our client's digital transformation from energy consumers to energy prosumers in the new bi-directional, decentralized, digitized, and decarbonized energy landscape. AZZO has achieved the certification from Schneider Electric as a Master-level Critical Power EcoXpert systems integrator. Master-level integrators have demonstrated capability in digital transformation, by providing disruptive technologies such as IOT technologies, analytics, and cloud services. AZZO is the first EcoXpert to achieve Master-Level certification in two countries. EcoXperts are the implementation arm of Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure product platform. "I am thrilled that AZZO, one of our most innovative and experienced EcoXpert partners from Australia, is opening operations in the US. Our partnership with them is a true example of successful collaboration, not only commercially but also technically, through joint R&D and innovation." Alexis Grenon, Senior Vice President, Global Line of Business, Schneider Electric Story continues Our New Jersey-based leadership will be Glenn Kwederis, Engineering Manager and Jason Heindel, Solutions Architect. We are creating new jobs in the NY/NJ and Boston regions and are seeking qualified applicants to join our application engineering team. For a list of open opportunities please visit our LinkedIn Careers page. Welcome to AZZO USA Where Technology Comes Together. Related Links: http://azzo.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/azzo-pty-ltd/jobs http://azzo.com/renewables http://se.com http://se.com/us/en/partners/ecoxpert Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/australian-energy--technology-integration-firm-expands-global-operations-to-the-united-states-301085136.html SOURCE AZZO AWH Partners With Last Prisoner Project to Support Cannabis Criminal Justice Reform AWH Partners With Last Prisoner Project to Support Cannabis Criminal Justice Reform PR Newswire NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 The company will be the first multi-state operator to match customer donations to LPP NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AWH, a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis operator, today announced its partnership with Last Prisoner Project (LPP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to clemency and expungement, re-entry programs and advocacy for individuals with cannabis convictions. The partnership will launch on July 1 with a commitment to raise $250,000 through a customer donation program at all AWH retail locations, which includes a company match of $125,000. AWH Logo (PRNewsfoto/Ascend Wellness Holdings) As the leading private multi-state operator (MSO), AWH recognizes its urgent responsibility in dismantling an unjust justice system that disproportionately incarcerates Black and brown individuals for cannabis-related offences while legal companies are openly profiting off of the sales of the same plant. AWH is the only MSO to match customer donations to benefit Last Prisoner Project. Starting on July 1, the company will launch a three tier approach to support and build awareness along with the corporate match to LPP. AWH retail locations will also ask customers to voluntarily donate one dollar to LPP at checkout. To further incentivize participation, the company will offer customers who donate to the program entry into a monthly raffle for a $250 gift certificate prize. AWH will be matching every dollar donated for a total of $250,000. To build awareness for LPP, retail locations will provide each customer with a postcard that features a story of a person who has been impacted by the criminalization of cannabis. "As part of our company ethos, we've built external local partnerships to recruit and hire employees who come through re-entry programs and we offer record-sealing clinics, but we needed to do something bigger and more impactful, said Andrea Cabral," CEO of Ascend Mass. "The harm caused by the over-policing and over-prosecution of Black and brown people, especially for cannabis, is ongoing and for many as relentless as it's ever been. LPP's precise mission and method is what drew us: Change laws, change policies, build job skills and support networks and above all "don't stop until the last cannabis prisoner is released." Story continues AWH will incorporate Last Prisoner Project donations in all future dispensary launches to bring awareness to the organization and challenge state governments to reform local cannabis incarceration policies. In addition to donation matching, the program will also launch an e-commerce and text message campaign to benefit LPP. In the coming months, the company plans to launch a campaign in Illinois that will name a flower strain after a local LPP client, highlight the individual's life story and donate a portion of product sales back to the individual. "Our industry will only become more powerful when we work together to lift up those who have been harmed by these discriminatory policies," said Mary Bailey, Managing Director of Last Prisoner Project. "I am encouraged to see large operators like AWH stepping up and recognizing the need for more social advocacy in the cannabis industry.'' "Legal companies can no longer stand idly by and profit off of cannabis while individuals like Michael Thompson are serving a 60 year sentence in Michigan for selling the same thing," said Abner Kurtin, Founder of AWH. "This is the largest financial commitment made to LPP by an MSO and we are proud to lead the way towards corporate responsibility and providing greater financial commitments to LPP from the industry. We will work with LPP to encourage other companies to join us at the champion sponsor level." About AWH AWH is a market leading, vertically integrated operator with assets in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts and New Jersey. AWH is breaking down traditional walls in the cannabis marketplace to provide easy and accessible products and exclusive brand partnerships. AWH owns and operates state-of-the-art cultivation facilities, growing award winning strains and producing curated selection of products with effect-based categorization. AWH operates, Illinois Supply and Provisions, and Ohio Provisions, and has a strategic partnership with Michigan Supply and Provisions. AWH produces and distributes Ozone branded products. For more information, visit www.awholdings.com . Media Contact MATTIO Communications Email: ascend@mattio.com ABOUT LAST PRISONER PROJECT The Last Prisoner Project (LPP) is a coalition of cannabis industry leaders, executives and artists dedicated to bringing restorative justice to the cannabis industry. LPP is dedicated to releasing cannabis prisoners and helping them rebuild their lives. As the United States moves away from the criminalization of cannabis, giving rise to a major new industry, there remains the fundamental injustice inflicted upon those who have suffered criminal convictions and the consequences of those convictions. Through intervention, advocacy and awareness campaigns, the forces behind the Last Prisoner Project will work to redress the past and continuing harms of these unjust laws and policies and are dedicated to making sure that every last victimless cannabis prisoner walks free. Visit www.LastPrisonerProject.org or text FREEDOM to 24365 to donate and learn more. LPP MEDIA CONTACTS Linda Carbone and Katie Leggett PRESS HERE linda@presshereproductions.com // katie@pressherepublicity.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/awh-partners-with-last-prisoner-project-to-support-cannabis-criminal-justice-reform-301086038.html SOURCE Ascend Wellness Holdings (AWH) SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2020 / In late spring, 1999, Bill Lockyer - then-Attorney General of California - launched a civil investigation of the Riverside Police Department following the death of Tyisha Miller. Tyisha Miller was shot to death by four Riverside Police Officers while seated in her car. The police responded to a 911 call from a local gas station about an unconscious woman in a locked car with a handgun in her lap. They broke the glass to get to her, which is when the police claim she reached for her gun. The police fired 23 shots, hitting Tyisha Miller 12 times. She was 19 years old. Bill Lockyer Reflects On How the Tyisha Miller Shooting Sparked Change On December 28, 1998, Tyisha Miller and her friend Taneisha Holley got a flat tire. Tyisha waited with the car while Taneisha went back to Rubidoux, where they lived, for help. When she returned with friends Antonette Joiner and Chilean King, Tyisha was unconscious, shaking, and drooling. The car was locked, so her companions called the police for help. In their original report, the police reported that Tyisha had fired first, but later they retracted that statement and said they could not be sure if she had fired at all. Later, the state Department of Justice determined that the weapon could not be fired because a pin inside the gun had slipped - but it could not be determined how or when it became defunct. People poured into the streets and protested for months afterward. Weekly marches kept the pressure on the city and demanded change. "Her death was a tragedy," says former Attorney General Bill Lockyer. "For her family and friends, and for the community of Riverside. While we ultimately decided there was not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges, Ms. Miller's death led to unprecedented police reforms in the city of Riverside." And indeed, a civil investigation of the Riverside Police Department was launched in response to community outcry and allegations of derogatory racial comments, an atmosphere of racial insensitivity, and racial hostility within the Riverside Police Department. Story continues Bill Lockyer released this statement upon the commencement of the investigation: "I take these kinds of allegations very seriously. Racial bias and intolerance are unacceptable anywhere, but especially in a professional police organization. Our law enforcement officers must demonstrate the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and justice by serving all the people in our communities. That is why I have initiated an investigation into these allegations to determine whether there have been any violations of California law, including civil rights violations." Then-District Attorney Grover Trask and Riverside Police Chief Gerald Carroll assisted in the civil investigation. "We came together to work for the good of our citizens," says Bill Lockyer. "When something like this happens, you have to take firm and immediate action to restore the public's faith and confidence in their law enforcers. Every citizen should be served equally and be allowed to feel equally safe in their own city." Ramifications and Reforms: Bill Lockyer Discusses the Fallout of the Miller Case As a result of the civil investigation, on March 5, 2001, the Office of the Attorney General filed a complaint and stipulated judgment in People of the State of California, etc. v. City of Riverside. "The investigation took nearly two years," remembers Bill Lockyer. "It felt slow, but we wanted to be sure we were thorough. We wanted to be sure we were developing a true solution. We wanted to prevent this kind of tragedy from occurring ever again." This stipulated judgment is believed to be the first consent decree to reform a local police department ever secured by a state attorney general under state law. The judgment remained in effect for five years and required the Riverside Police Department to implement reforms in training, supervision, and accountability. The City of Riverside was also required to pay for consultant fees to assist then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer in monitoring compliance with the judgment's terms. "The reforms included use-of-force training and purchasing less-lethal weapons," recalls Bill Lockyer. "Police were assigned to monitor specific neighborhoods and build trust with their communities. And we created a citizen oversight commission - the Community Police Review Commission - that reviews officer-involved death cases and citizen complaints." The Community Police Review Commission is appointed by City Council members. The city's charter requires the committee to review any case in which someone is killed by a police officer, and it has the power to investigate citizen complaints - up to and including subpoena power. "That committee still meets today," says Bill Lockyer. "It's one of the things I'm most proud of - that we were able to put justice back in the hands of the people in some way. Checks and balances are what our justice system is built upon. We needed more accountability and transparency in our police departments then. In light of the past several years, I'd say we need it now, more than ever." On March 2, 2006, then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer concluded that the Riverside Police Department had fulfilled the conditions of the judgment, and received formal approval from the court for the judgment's dissolution. More than $22 million in legal settlements and department reforms were made during the five-year period of the consent decree. Over 20 Years Later, We Still Have a Long Way to Go, Says Bill Lockyer In a 2018 interview, then-Police Chief Sergio Diaz said the Riverside Police Department changed permanently after the Miller shooting. Independent review became a part of the culture, the ratio of supervisors to officers was increased, less-lethal weapons were acquired and distributed, and graveyard shifts were only assigned to more experienced officers (two of the four cops involved in Tyisha Miller's death had been on the force less than a year). And, most importantly, officers were trained to take more time and keep more distance from potential threats. But officers still face violent altercations weekly - and Bill Lockyer worries that more is needed to de-escalate rising tensions between police officers and the communities that they serve. "The police chief and many others said after the fact that this was the best thing to ever happen to the Riverside Police Department; it really professionalized the force," says Lockyer. "I think it makes sense to have some external review, whether federal or state, as a way to check local politics and pressures that can stand in the way of reform." But even with these precedents being set, state oversight isn't an easy fix. The California attorney general has had the authority to intervene in local policing for 19 years (since the 2001 investigation was launched), but it has only been used a handful of times to date. Most recently, then-state attorney general and current U.S. Senator Kamala Harris launched investigations in December of 2016 into the Kern County Sheriff's Office and the Bakersfield Police Department for potential civil rights violations in response to community complaints and allegations of excessive force. "What happened to George Floyd is a travesty," says Bill Lockyer. "The loss of his life was absolutely preventable and his death highlighted everything that's wrong with the law enforcement institution. Reforms must be made. What we did in response to Tyisha Miller's case set a precedent - but it's just the beginning, the bare minimum of the reforms that need to be implemented across the country to keep this from happening again." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. CONTACT: Caroline Hunter Web Presence, LLC +1 7865519491 SOURCE: Bill Lockyer View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/595398/Bill-Lockyer-Re-Visits-Tyisha-Miller-Case-and-Police-Reforms-in-Riverside Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2020) - BluMetric Environmental Inc. (TSXV: BLM), a full-service environmental consulting and engineering cleantech firm today announced that it has been awarded a $1.6 million contract over five months for the operation and maintenance of an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) at Giant Mine in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, in collaboration with Det'on Cho Management LP (Det'on Cho), the economic development arm of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. The ETP is a crucial component of the Giant Mine Remediation Project (GMRP), a Government funded initiative. BluMetric will provide extensive technical expertise and skill in water remediation to operate the Giant Mine ETP in partnership with Det'on Cho. The contract was awarded by Parsons, the GMRP's Main Construction Manager, after the successful conclusion of a joint submission through a competitive process. "Our team leveraged our extensive experience, including that gained from having recently completed similar engineering projects at comparable mining-related facilities, to develop a winning proposal that accommodates not only the usual operating complexities associated with Canada's remote north, but also addresses the unprecedented challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic," said Scott MacFabe, CEO of BluMetric. The contract highlights BluMetric's versatility and adaptability, particularly valuable assets when dealing with operating conditions in the Northwest Territories under stringent and controlled conditions required by the ETP and the current pandemic, including additional isolation measures taken for incoming workers, as per the Chief Public Health Officer's guidance, to ensure the safety of other workers on site and local community members. Operation of the ETP involves the treatment of water that is pumped from the mine and all surface water that is directed to and collected in the tailings ponds-with crews treating water continuously throughout the day and night. The treatment involves the addition of chemicals to remove contaminants from the tailings water through a settling process prior to environmental release. Water discharged to the environment must meet stringent criteria established by the regulatory authorities for the protection of human health and the environment. Story continues BluMetric's strengths in water management, engineering and treatment system design, construction and operation for clients in a range of sectors, including Mining and Government led environmental remediation and rehabilitation, has established the organization as a leader in this area. The Company has completed similar projects internationally and is very familiar operating in remote and northern settings of the Canadian Arctic, a niche market in which it is establishing leadership positioning. About BluMetric Environmental Inc. BluMetric Environmental Inc. is an established publicly traded environmental consulting and engineering company with expertise across professional and trade disciplines and technologies that allow for the design, fabrication and delivery of sustainable solutions to environmental and water challenges. BluMetric has over 150 employees operating in ten offices and over 40 years of expertise. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, BluMetric's team of industry experts serves Commercial, Industrial, Military, Mining and Government clients in Canada and the United States. For more information, visit www.blumetric.ca, or please contact: Scott MacFabe, CEO BluMetric Environmental Inc. Tel: 613.839.3053 Email: smacfabe@blumetric.ca Vivian Karaiskos, CFO BluMetric Environmental Inc. Tel: 613.839.3053 Email: vkaraiskos@blumetric.ca Forward-Looking Statements Some of the statements in this press release, including those relating to the Company's future products, opportunities and cost initiatives, strategies, and other statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of the Company. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates, and projections regarding future events. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this presentation or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/58855 BP plc BP recently agreed to divest the global petrochemicals business to a privately-owned U.K. multinational chemicals company, INEOS. This will be a massive step toward strengthening its finances. BP is expected to receive $5 billion through this divestment. Divestment Details The companys petrochemicals business has two sub parts, aromatics and acetyls. The business has 14 manufacturing facilities that are strategically located in the United States, Europe and Asia, which employ more than 1,700 personnel all over the world. Last year, the company produced 9.7 million tons of petrochemicals. The deal provides INEOS with the option of acquiring BPs Naperville research complex in Illinois for additional consideration. However, BPs petrochemicals assets at Gelsenkirchen and Mulheim in Germany are excluded from the divestment, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Notably, INEOS had acquired BPs subsidiary Innovene in 2005 for $9 billion. The transaction included two refineries and the majority of BPs the then chemical assets. Markedly, the recent move is expected to further strengthen the relationship between the two companies. Deal Rationale BP, which is working toward shifting to low-carbon energy, reached the $15-billion divestment target a year ahead of schedule through the asset sale. Earlier, the company was scheduled to reach the goal by mid-2021. Moreover, the deal is expected to strengthen its balance sheet. Notably, its exposure to debt increased significantly in first-quarter 2020. The companys gearing was recorded at 36.2%, up from 31.1% in the December quarter of 2019. Net debt was recorded at $51,404 million, up 13.1% from $45,442 million in the prior quarter. Importantly, BPs cash and cash equivalents were $18,139 million at first quarter-end. The divestment comes at a time when other energy majors like Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM and Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A are investing in petrochemicals, which is considered to be a major growth driver for oil demand in the long term. However, Steve Jenkins of Wood Mackenzie said that the chemicals businesses are struggling with overcapacity. Moreover, raising large amount of cash during the current market volatility might help the company to shield dividend payments. Story continues Price Performance BPs shares have lost 3.6% from the beginning of the second quarter against the 4.6% rise of the industry it belongs to. Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider BP currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked player in the energy space is Chevron Corporation CVX, holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Over the last 60 days, seven analysts have increased Chevrons earnings estimates for the current year, while none have revised the same downward. Thus, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has been revised from a loss of 63 cents per share to earnings of 27 cents in the same period. Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, its expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity. A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time. See 8 breakthrough 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 Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research SAO PAULO, June 29 (Reuters) - Brazil's Sao Paulo state expects this week to receive federal regulator approval to trial a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac , governor Joao Doria said on Monday. The trial would be carried out by the Instituto Butantan, a research center funded by the state of Sao Paulo. Doria said in a news conference that 9,000 volunteers have already been registered to test the vaccine, known as CoronaVac. The announcement comes as Brazil's federal government announced over the weekend that it had signed an agreement to produce another potential vaccine, developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca with researchers at Oxford University. With the worldas worst outbreak outside the United States, Brazil has become a key front in the global race for a vaccine, as vaccine clinical trials are likely to yield results faster in places where the virus is widespread. President Jair Bolsonaro has been strongly criticized by health experts for this handling of the crisis. Bolsonaro has dismissed the disease as a "little flu" and shown indifference to the rising death count. As of Sunday, Brazil had over 1.3 million coronavirus cases and 57,000 deaths. (Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Editing by Andrea Ricci) BOISE, Idaho, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Creative Learning Corporation, the parent company of Bricks 4 Kidz and Sew Fun Studios, announces the launch of a new educational subscription service to bring STEAM educational programming into homes around the globe. The web-based subscription is focused on helping students in grades 1-4 reach benchmark academic milestones through the use of hands-on learning with building bricks as well as customized educational content. The subscription service offered by B4K eLearning Company LLC (Bricks4kidzelearn.com) will allow students the ability to connect, build and learn together. The curriculum is matched with NGSS as well as Common Core and provides a customized educational plan for each child based on their strengths and weaknesses. The progressive nature of the program allows students to master mathematical skills, science concepts and language arts, all while learning and building with bricks. Creative Learning Corporation has been designing programs that encourage creativity, promote learning through play, and spark interest in the areas of science, technology, math and engineering for more than 11 years. With top educators and engineers in the U.S. and abroad, the Company has created child-centered programs to inspire the inventors and developers of tomorrow. In total, these various programs have taught more than a million children about the concepts of STEAM in addition to real-life skills such as communication, collaboration, and creativity. This innovative learning system is built on the solid foundation the company has created as a leading educational provider. Technology is transforming the way students learn. Our eLearning subscription Solution for education gives kids access to quality academic programs and allows them to learn at their own pace. Our subscription will revolutionize how kids build, discover, innovate, create, problem solve and design. Our goal is to prepare every child with the skills required to thrive in this rapidly changing world, stated Christopher Rego, CEO of Creative Learning Corporation. Story continues Through the eLearning platform, students will improve fine motor skills, creativity and critical thinking while building our models. Each build is connected to subjects kids learn about in the classroom. Within the subscription, students will have access to step-by-step building instructions as well as an educational lesson plan and worksheet to complete the weekly hands-on motorized build. Students in grades 3 and 4 will be using various sensors to program their weekly creations and make them move. Subscribers will purchase an exclusive kit full of building bricks that will be used to complete a new theme-based model every week (no additional supplies needed week after week). Our custom online mosaic builder allows students to follow a pattern to complete an art project or use their creativity and imagination to design their very own piece of art. Our Premium Academic Suite includes everything listed above plus access to customized academic content aligned by grade. Driven by the use of artificial intelligence and four linked websites, students will travel through a progressive, customized academic journey to reach important benchmarks and objectives to complete a series of achievements. Upon completion of the senior master level, students will participate in a challenge week competition with students from around the globe. Creative Learning Corporation entity BFK Franchise Company LLC (Bricks 4 Kidz) has brought hands-on learning opportunities to after-school STEAM programs, in-school workshops, summer camps and birthday parties since 2009. With more than 500 locations around the globe, thousands of children participate in our programs located in schools, community centers and creativity centers every week. This dedication to excellence earned us the #1 spot as the best childrens enrichment program 3 years in a row. Creative Learning Corporation, operating under the trade names of Bricks 4 Kidz and Sew Fun Studios, offers educational and enrichment programs to children ages 3-13+. Through a unique franchise business model that includes proprietary model builds, curriculum and marketing strategies, the Company provides a wide variety of programs designed to enhance students problem solving and critical thinking skills. With international locations in 40 countries, we have sparked learning and creativity serving millions of students in our various programs. With the addition of our online presence, we will expand our reach tremendously to help children who are located anywhere. They can access the learning platform any time, any day, from anywhere in the world. To learn more about our subscription service, please visit Bricks4kidzelearn.com. Natalie Frailey, 949-842-7219 Nfrailey@creativelearningcorp.com. Felix Orinda, better known as DJ Evolve has for the first time spoken to the media since his shooting by Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino. The DJ was interviewed by NTVs Dan Mwangi from his home hospital bed. While he has improved a great deal, it was clear that if a full recovery is possible, it is many months away. DJ Evolve has a tube down his throat and is unable to speak with clarity. Felixs mother revealed that Babu had cleared part of the hospital bill (Sh6 million) out of a total of Sh17 million. Asked whether he had forgiven the MP as some news reports had recently suggested, the DJ denied this saying he has left it to God and the justice system. Watch that interview below. LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Britain will decide what action to take once it has seen the full security legislation that China has passed for Hong Kong, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Tuesday. "Despite the urging of the international community, Beijing has chosen not to step back from imposing this legislation," Raab said in a statement. "China has ignored its international obligations regarding Hong Kong. This is a grave step, which is deeply troubling. "We urgently need to see the full legislation, and will use that to determine whether there has been a breach of the Joint Declaration and what further action the UK will take." Britain and China signed a joint declaration on Hong Kong in 1984 under which the former British territory's high-degree of autonomy, rights and freedoms would remain unchanged for 50 years. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Stephen Addison) President Donald Trump's most recent action to limit work visas to the U.S. could create even more momentum for highly skilled foreign workers to decamp to Canadian tech firms instead. Tobi Lutke, CEO of Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify, was quick to fire off a tweet that invited prospective H-1B visa candidates to consider moving to Canada. The company even launched a website, h1bengineer.com, that redirects to Shopify's careers page. Some Canadian tech experts say it's still early to ascertain how their recruiting efforts will be affected by Trump's decision Monday to extend an order freezing green cards, a move that prohibits most categories of foreign workers through the end of 2020. But the expectation is that Canada will reap the benefits from the White House's immigration policies. "Just because America has decided to close its doors to international talent, doesnt mean North America has decided to close its doors," Mark Cohon, chair of the board of directors for Toronto Global, said in a statement. "Canada has not. Toronto has not." The Trudeau government has long promoted Canada as a prime location for prospective foreign workers looking to break into the North American tech sector in a place where the industry is still building homegrown expertise. It launched the Global Skills Strategy program to process work permits in as little as two weeks, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development praised Canada's immigration system last year as a model for other countries. Every global skills visa Canada has issued has helped to create about 10 Canadian jobs, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said Tuesday, adding that he plans to see what further changes we can bring about to attract top-tier global talent here to Canada with Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino. We want to move forward with a strong recovery for the economy, and we know immigration is going to be front and center for that," Bains said. Story continues A spokesperson for Mendicino's office said Canada actively seeks to bring the best and the brightest from around the world. "Highly trained professionals choosing Canada as a place to live and work helps Canadian businesses to grow, tap new markets abroad, and create more jobs," Kevin Lemkay said. "We are aware of recent U.S. action to restrict some new visas and are monitoring the situation closely." The Trump administration said the move was necessary as the U.S. economy continues to grapple with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The White House argues that the restrictions are needed to protect American jobs in the face of historic unemployment levels, even though U.S. businesses pressed the White House to drop the limits for fear of stoking greater economic harm. I think Canada can really benefit from this sort of closed-off, myopic view of talent," Ben Bergen, executive director of the Council of Canadian Innovators, said of the White House's executive order. Bergen said he's seen an uptick in the number of people reaching out to the council even since Monday asking how the Canadian work permit system operates. The council, which helped craft the Global Skills Strategy, plans to create a portal through which job candidates can upload resumes to circulate to Canadian tech firms, he said. "The Global Skills Strategy has opened doors to a global talent pool, helping make our immigration process for tech talent more competitive," said Kiel Hume, a spokesperson for Wattpad, a Toronto-based tech company. "As a result, our country and company are better equipped to compete on a global stage." The U.S. currently caps the number of H-1B visas, which are popular with tech firms, for overseas workers at 65,000. An additional 20,000 are available for those who have earned an advanced degree from an American school. Since Canada accepts about 300,000 skilled foreign workers every year, the U.S. freeze will "certainly add to the sentiment of having more of a talent pool to choose from," said Shivam Kishore of the Vancouver Economic Commission. U.S. companies have already moved to set up offices in Canada to take advantage of the country's talent pool, as well as its easy access to foreign professionals via the Global Skills Strategy, Cohon said. More than 2,000 new jobs have been created in the Toronto area since 2018 by companies that have moved operations there to take advantage of that policy, he said, noting that the figure just reflects firms Toronto Global has worked with. Ilya Brotzky, CEO of VanHack, a company that helps tech workers relocate to Canada and Europe, said he thinks the Trump policies will encourage more U.S. companies to hire foreign employees who can work remotely, robbing municipalities of economic activity and jobs created by having new residents. "The internet doesnt have a border you can close," he said. Earl M. Cummings Appointed as New Director HOUSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed David J. Lesar as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2020. He succeeds John W. Somerhalder II, who has served as interim president and chief executive officer of CenterPoint Energy since February 2020 and a director since 2016. Milton Carroll, Executive Chairman, said, "The Board determined in February that it was the right time for CenterPoint Energy to name an experienced executive leader with a fresh strategic perspective, proven achievement in shareholder and stakeholder value creation and a track record of delivering results to lead the company through its next phase of growth. After a thorough search process that included external candidates, we are delighted to have found that leader in Dave Lesar and welcome him as our next president and CEO. "Over the past three decades, Dave has built an enviable track record of vision, strategy implementation, execution capability, financial sophistication and operational experience. During his 17 years leading Halliburton, he was the architect of how that company ultimately led the industry in growth, margins and returns. He will work with the Board and the entire CenterPoint Energy team to evaluate, refine and advance our strategy, and then position us to execute on our robust capital plans and seize attractive growth opportunities. He will help us ensure that CenterPoint Energy achieves our potential and promise, building on the company's impressive service territories and strong regulatory position," Mr. Carroll concluded. Mr. Lesar said, "We are committed to unlocking the power and potential within this company and its premium regulated utilities and to maintaining our earnings growth rate. We have a dedicated team with the right skills to position us to create attractive value, building on a base of strong utility assets. Our utility-focused strategy, combined with our newly strengthened financial position, enables us to focus on how best to optimize and drive return on our assets. We need to ensure that the financial community, our employees and other key stakeholders can clearly see and understand our strategy. With respect to current and potential investors, my number one near-term goal is to achieve greater shareholder confidence by setting, communicating and working tirelessly to achieve our financial and business goals. Throughout my career, I have worked to maximize sustainable shareholder value and build strong relationships with the constituencies that are central to the success and sustainability of the companies I have led. I am honored by the trust the Board has placed in me, and excited to immediately start in this new role, working alongside our dedicated and talented team members who make a tremendous difference for customers every day. Story continues "CenterPoint Energy is a backbone, supporting economic vitality in the state of Texas and the other states it serves. We will continue to strive to meet the energy delivery needs of our customers and communities safely and reliably. We will also build on our proven ability to innovate and utilize the vast creativity of our people to drive value for all of the stakeholders who rely, trust and invest in us," continued Mr. Lesar. Mr. Lesar stated, "I am dedicated to accelerating the company's environmental commitments and leadership in emissions reduction, infrastructure modernization and delivering sustainable and cleaner energy. CenterPoint Energy is also steadfast about building on our long history of investing in the communities in which we operate. I am devoted to having our employees including our leadershipand our suppliers reflect those diverse communities, and inclusion is an important part of my vision for how CenterPoint Energy will lead." Mr. Carroll added, "On behalf of the Board of Directors and CenterPoint Energy's employees, I would also like to thank John for serving as interim CEO during a time of significant change and transition for our company and the country and for his prior service as a director. We have all valued and benefited from John's substantial contributions, leadership and support and wish him well." CenterPoint Energy also announced that Earl M. Cummings has been appointed to serve as a new independent member of the company's Board of Directors. He fills the vacancy created by Mr. Somerhalder's departure from the Board as of June 30, 2020. With Mr. Cummings' appointment, the Board comprises directors with independence, relevant skills, expertise and a valuable diversity reflective of the company and customers, constituencies and communities served. Mr. Carroll said, "We are delighted to have Earl join the Board as a new outside director. His experience, leadership and commitment to creating value for all our stakeholders will further strengthen our Board's oversight and contributions to CenterPoint Energy." New director Earl Cummings added, "I am pleased to be joining the distinguished board of such an important and outstanding company. I look forward to working with CenterPoint Energy, our new CEO and my fellow directors to capitalize on the opportunities ahead and uphold our commitments to service, safety, inclusion and performance." Mr. Lesar, who recently joined the CenterPoint Energy Board, has chaired the Board's Business Review and Evaluation Committee since its formation in early May 2020. CenterPoint Energy intends to host an investor day by early 2021 to update stakeholders on the company's vision and plans. About David J. Lesar Dave Lesar joined CenterPoint Energy as a director in May 2020. He served as interim CEO of Health Care Service Corporation, the largest privately-held health insurer in the U.S., from July 2019 through June 1, 2020, having joined the company's board of directors in 2018. He was the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Halliburton Company from 2000 to 2017 and Executive Chairman of the Board from June 2017 until December 2018. Mr. Lesar joined Halliburton in 1993 and served in a variety of other roles, including executive vice president of Finance and Administration for Halliburton Energy Services, a Halliburton business unit, CFO of Halliburton from 1995 through May 1997, President and Chief Operating Officer from May 1997 through August 2000. He has also served on the board of directors of several companies, most recently Agrium, Inc. as well as Lyondell Chemical Co., Southern Co., Cordant Technologies, and Mirant. A Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Lesar was previously a partner at Arthur Andersen. He received both his B.S. and MBA from the University of Wisconsin. About Earl Cummings Since 2012, Mr. Cummings has served as Managing Partner of MCM Houston Properties, LLC, a real estate fund that invests in single family residential properties in Houston, Texas. In his role as Managing Partner, he is responsible for overall capital raising, investment, acquisition, and business strategies of the fund and its assets. Mr. Cummings also serves as Chief Executive Officer of The BTS Team, which began as an information technology and staffing firm providing solutions and services across various regions and evolved into a company that also invested financial resources in various industries to create value for shareholders and other stakeholders, and he previously served as its Chief Information Officer and Chairman of its board. He also served as Chief Executive Officer of BestAssets, Inc., a private company providing real estate portfolio management and related services. Active across communities and in non-profit board service, Mr. Cummings has served on the boards of the University of Houston Board of Visitors, C-STEM Robotics (where he was founding Chairman of the Executive Board for C-STEM), Yellowstone Academy and has also served on the advisory boards for KIPP Academy and Texas Southern University School of Business. Mr. Cummings holds a BBA of Management Information Systems from the University of Houston and an MBA from Pepperdine University. About CenterPoint Energy, Inc. As the only investor owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission & distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. As of March 31, 2020, the company owns approximately $33 billion in assets and also owns 53.7 percent of the common units representing limited partner interests in Enable Midstream Partners, LP, a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops strategically located natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets. With approximately 9,600 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com. This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projection," "should," "target," "will," "can" or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any statements in this news release regarding the company's prospects or potential or the intentions of management or the board, capital investment plans, future financial and business goals, earnings growth rates or financial condition, growth or business opportunities, stakeholder (including shareholder) value creation, environmental and sustainability commitments including emissions reductions, social goals including relating to diversity, activities of the board's business review and evaluation committee, future investor days hosted by the Company, inclusion, strategic initiatives, future financial performance and results of operations, , and any other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) the impact of COVID-19; (2) financial market conditions; (3) general economic conditions; (4) the timing and impact of future regulatory and legislative decisions; (5) effects of competition; (6) weather variations; (7) changes in business plans; and (8) other factors discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, CenterPoint Energy's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information contact Media: Alicia Dixon Phone 713.207.5885 Investors: Dave Mordy Phone 713.207.6500 CenterPoint Energy logo. (PRNewsFoto) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/centerpoint-energy-names-david-j-lesar-president-and-ceo-301086399.html SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Oral care will account for nearly one-fifth of the personal care products parent market by 2020-end. This is primarily attributed to the growing importance of maintaining proper oral hygiene. Since the mouth is the main entry point for external pathogens, maintaining good oral health is absolutely essential. DUBAI, UAE / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / Over the years, the personal care industry has become ubiquitous. The industry broadly encompasses bath & body products, cosmetics, skin care, hair care and oral care. Amongst all, oral care has emerged as a lucrative segment of the personal care industry. Good oral and dental hygiene have played an instrumental role in preventing bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease. As a result, people have been heavily investing in oral care products, which typically include toothpastes, dental floss, mouthwash, denture care and toothbrushes. The BRICS oral care market is projected to reach a valuation of US$ 17.3 Bn by 2020-end. A majority of the demand is being generated from the Indian and Chinese markets, attributed to a growing population and the resultant rising personal hygiene requirements. As consumers become more financially empowered due to rising disposable incomes, the per capita spending on personal care products is rising in these countries. Additionally, the COVID-19 has spurred people to adopt hygienic practices, which includes proper rinsing and cleaning of the mouth, accelerating sales of oral care products. "Increased consumer awareness about oral care is driving effective sales, thereby effectively consolidating organized retail of these products. Rising brand awareness about products addressing specific dental-related issues is expected to further the BRICS oral care market," infers an FMI analyst. Request a report sample with 145 pages to gain in-depth market insights at https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep--27 BRICS Oral Care Market- Key Takeaways Story continues Primary oral care products dominate the BRICS oral care market, with toothpaste generating maximum demand. Gel-based toothpastes are highly popular amongst consumers due to its convenience. Secondary oral care products are fast catching-up, acquiring traction from the others segment which includes chewing gums, mouth fresheners and whitening strips. China and India collectively accounted for over 50% of the total oral care market in 2014, which shall reach 52.7% by 2020-end. Increased purchasing power by consumers is the primary growth driver. General merchandising and direct selling segments collectively comprised over half of the BRICS oral care market in 2013. BRICS Oral Care Market- Prominent Drivers Organization of dental seminars, conferences and advertisement campaigns to promote oral hygiene are acting as catalysts for accelerated growth of the BRICS oral care market. Oral care products are being increasingly marketed online, attributed to growing digital literacy among the BRICS population. This is extending market players' product outreach. BRICS Oral Care Market- Key Constraints The entry of global oral care providers has been limited due to the presence of domestic players. These vendors are offering local products at highly competitive prices, preventing global players' penetration. Anticipated Impact of the Coronavirus Outbreak Oral and dental care has ascended significantly amid the COVID-19. As the routine visits to dental clinics and hospitals to manage oral care have decreased, personal level oral care has boosted since the past few months. As the number of infections compound on a daily basis, people are becoming highly cautious. They are compelled to observe basic hygienic practices which include regular handwashing, sanitizing surfaces and consuming oral care products. Since COVID-19 is majorly spread through saliva, using toothpaste, mouthwashes and other substances will significantly reduce chances of the infection's spread. The abovementioned products have anti-viral properties. Since the past one month, countries have been relaxing lockdown curbs, permitting several businesses to reopen. As a consequence, the BRICS nations have seen a resumption of dental care services, which has realigned oral care products demand from healthcare providers with the overall supply. Given the link between oral and respiratory health, consumers are seeking advice from medical professionals regarding the use of oral care products. The idea of getting rid of the virus before it even has a chance to reach other internal organs and multiply appeals to customers and have thus accelerated their spending on oral care. Explore the BRICS oral care market with 68 illustrative figures, 16 data tables and the table of contents. You can find detailed market segmentation on https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep--27 Competition Landscape The BRICS oral care market is largely dominated by global market players such as Colgate-Palmolive Co., Procter & Gamble Co, Koninklijke Philips N.V, GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Unilever Group and Johnson & Johnson Inc. However, a number of regional players provide a great deal of competition to these players. These include Amway, Dabur, Himalaya Wellness, Yangzhou Janix Oral Care and a host of other players. These companies have successfully captured the BRICS market through extensive advertising campaigns, increasing shelf-stocks, research and development to formulate better quality products and online marketing. They have also been expanding their manufacturing capabilities to focus on greater output. For instance, Colgate-Palmolive Co. inaugurated a new toothbrush manufacturing facility in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India in 2016. More Insights on the BRICs Oral Care Market FMI's market research report on the BRICS oral care market offers comprehensive insights on the vital dynamics influencing future growth projections. The market is analyzed on the basis of product type (primary oral care and secondary oral care), distribution channel (convenience stores, departmental stores, vending machines, hypermarkets & supermarkets, specialty stores and pharmacies, general merchandise retailers, direct selling and others), and countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Explore FMI's Extensive Coverage on the Retail and Consumer Products Landscape Bicycle Bags and Bag-Packs Market: A recent market study published by FMI on bicycle bags and bag-packs offers global industry analysis for 2014-2018 and opportunity assessment for 2019-2029. The report offers a broad assessment of the most significant market dynamics, including drivers, opportunities and restraints. Mini Refrigerator Market: FMI's mini refrigerator market research report offers a comprehensive, bird's-eye view, bringing to the fore insights that can assist stakeholders identify opportunity clusters and challenges to market growth during the forecast period. Secondhand Apparel Market: Investigate how prominent manufacturers are making long-term investments in the secondhand apparel market, taking into account the growth dynamics across key regions, in FMI's extensive coverage on the topic. About Future Market Insights (FMI) Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and take critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers. Contact Mr. Abhishek Budholiya Unit No: AU-01-H Gold Tower (AU), Plot No: JLT-PH1-I3A, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates MARKET ACCESS DMCC Initiative For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com For Media Enquiries: press@futuremarketinsights.com Market Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/brics-oral-care-market-opportunity-assessment Press Release Source: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/press-release/brics-oral-care-market SOURCE: Future Market Insights View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/595744/China-and-India-Emerge-as-Lucrative-Pockets-in-BRICS-Oral-Care-Market-Market-to-cross-US-17-Bn-mark-by-2020-end--Future-Market-Insights SHANGHAI, June 30 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have released a U.S. pilot for FedEx Corp who was detained last year on suspicion of smuggling weapons and ammunition, the pilot's lawyer said. Todd Hohn, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, was detained in September in the southern city of Guangzhou after he piloted a FedEx freighter aircraft. Chinese authorities said at the time they had found suspected air gun pellets in his luggage. Hohn "on June 27, 2020 departed Guangzhou, China and has reunited with his loving family," his lawyer Theodore Simon said in a statement sent to Reuters on Tuesday. "After this lengthy legal process, his innocence was demonstrated and ultimately recognised," he said. Hohn had remained free on bail since 2019 and it was officially determined that no formal criminal charges would be brought against him. "It should be noted that Todd, despite the ordeal, states he was treated with courtesy and respect and holds no animosity towards China, the authorities or the people of China and looks forward to returning there one day." Hohn's detention occurred at a time when U.S. delivery giant FedEx had become one of the most high-profile corporate brands to get caught up in the U.S.-China trade dispute and other frictions. The Memphis-based company had last year been the target of Chinese ire over shipping mistakes involving several packages, including parcels addressed to China's Huawei Technologies Co , which Washington has put on an export blacklist. FedEx did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said they were aware of the case but had no further comment. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Angus MacSwan) By Catherine Lagrange LYON, France, June 30 (Reuters) - The coronavirus lockdown persuaded retired speech therapist Anne-Marie Arnaud a better future could be had, one with emptier skies, fresher air and quieter streets rid of diesel-belching cars. And so the pensioner from Lyon switched her vote in last Sunday's municipal election, among the first worldwide to be held after countries began emerging from lockdown, in favour of the Green party. The results, which saw the Greens take control of or become an alliance partner in no fewer than 11 city halls, may point to a broader shift in voting patterns as governments, companies, and citizens adjust to the COVID-19 era. "I realised how clean the air was, how nice it was to walk in a city, and be awoken by birdsong rather than car horns," Arnaud, 64, said. "I told myself there was good in this crisis and that we had to rethink our city in a different way." Certainly, support for the party officially known as European Ecology - The Greens (EELV) was already growing. With no lawmakers in France's parliament and only four staff in its Paris headquarters, the Green party performed more better than expected in last year's European Parliament elections, polling third with 13.5% of the vote. Over the past couple of years, they have made strides elsewhere in Europe too. In Germany, the Greens are the second most popular political party though have sunk into the background during the pandemic, while they are junior partners in Ireland's new coalition government, as well as in Austria. GREEN WAVE But the pandemic is forcing a rethink of how we live our lives: from the future of global supply chains to how we work in offices, from how we plan our cities to the food we eat, "That played a part," Julien Bayou, leader of the Greens in France, told Reuters of his party's success in the elections. In Lyon, Green candidate Gregory Doucet won 52.4% of Sunday's vote, wrestling control from Gerard Collomb, the veteran socialist mayor of France's third biggest city who was representing President Emmanuel Macron's ruling party. Story continues He did so on a campaign platform to create a 450 kilometre-long network of cycle highways, widen pavements for pedestrians, source 50% of school food locally and build more social housing. From Bordeaux in the southwest to Strasbourg in the east, Sunday's green wave engulfed cities large and small across France. In Paris, too, they joined forces with the socialist incumbent re-elected on a promise to cut pollution. In Lyon, Doucet's campaign chief Ninon Guinel said the coronavirus crisis had exposed the fragility of Western economies and the need to unwind the excesses of globalisation. "People realised the system was at breaking point," she said. (Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Richard Lough in Paris; Writing by Richard Lough Editing by Alexandra Hudson) Arizona's Republican Gov. Doug Ducey tries to explain Monday why his state waited to impose social distancing guidelines until after coronavirus cases surged. (State of Arizona) You may think that the coronavirus and COVID-19, the disease it causes, are frightening enough. But Arizona has just activated a rulebook for rationing hospital care that is truly terrifying. In brief, the rules allow hospitals to deny critical healthcare resources such as ventilators to patients based on medical judgments about their likelihood of living even five more years despite surviving COVID-19. In practical terms, that means that on average, older adults are more likely to be denied care than younger persons. Those with medical conditions other than COVID-19 would be more vulnerable to denials than those judged to be healthier, whatever their age. Health care planning must do everything possible never to need [Crisis Standards of Care]. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Under the rules, doctors making triage judgments that deprive patients of necessary care will be immune from legal liability. Arizona's so-called crisis standards of care, or CSC, isn't unique among the states. But it provides an up-to-the-minute look at the harsh choices facing medical personnel across the country thanks to our unfit and unprepared political leadership, if one can call it leadership at all. From the federal government down through the states, the vacuum of leadership has exposed millions of Americans to sickness and death while reducing our healthcare system to a patchwork of overwhelmed facilities. The lack of planning and preparedness is the outstanding failure of the response to the crisis in the United States. That's the implicit judgment of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. The academies stated in an assessment of crisis standards of care in March that the primary principle was that "health care planning must do everything possible never to need CSC." The academies also specified that in the current pandemic, "public trust is essential." That means that leaders would have to be "proactive, honest, transparent and accountable" when discussing the condition of their healthcare systems and institutions. Story continues Has that happened? The answer obviously is no. President Trump and Republican governors such as Arizona's Doug Ducey and Florida's Ron DeSantis have suppressed statistics showing the true rate of infection in their states. Trump's approach to the crisis has been focused in large part in trying to minimize its impact, even denying its existence. States other than Arizona have similar rulebooks to be dusted off in a major emergency. Arizona, however, is the only state that has activated its crisis standard of care procedures so far. Arizona residents have been among the most resistant to wearing face masks in the coronavirus crisis. (Statista) "A lot of states actually have activated their crisis standards of care plans," Cara Christ, director of Arizona's Department of Health Services, said during a press conference Monday with Ducey. That appears to be untrue. Though most states have prepared a crisis plan, no others have activated it. Several, however, may be on the verge of doing so, at least regionally, since the surge in cases is placing immense stresses on local capacities. In California, for example, Riverside County's ICU beds were reported to be 99% occupied over the weekend and Los Angeles County is projecting the possibility of running out of hospital beds in two to three weeks and exhausting its intensive care unit beds sometime in July. In Imperial County, an agricultural county on the Mexican border where 23% of tests are coming back positive for COVID-19, 500 patients were transferred to adjoining counties to relieve the local pressure, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. California is one of several states ranking as leading hot spots of coronavirus infection, though its statewide test positivity average of 5.9% over the last seven days remains lower than other surging states such as Arizona (24.4%), Florida (15.6%) and Texas (14.1%). All those states are guilty of having reopened commercial and retail establishments, as well as public facilities such as beaches, too soon notably before it was clear that they had adequately clamped down on the community spread of the coronavirus. Newsom has urged Californians to continue social distancing and mask-wearing throughout the crisis; his error was to give local officials too much latitude to decide for themselves when they could reopen their economies. Now Newsom is signaling that such deference may be coming to an end. Newsom pressured Imperial County into rolling back its reopening, in part by threatening that "the state of California will assert itself and make sure that happens if officials fail to do so. As my colleague Taryn Luna reports, he also has hinted at statewide orders aimed at imposing anti-virus rules, though he has not been specific. In other states, governors have been more permissive and even interfered with local officials' judgments. Until June 17, Ducey forbade cities and counties to impose stricter rules than the state. In practical terms, that prevented them from keeping bars, restaurants and retail establishments closed or requiring residents to wear masks in public. Ducey relented under pressure from the mayors of Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff and in the face of an undeniable surge in COVID-19 cases. The politicization of mask-wearing, a fundamental tool to defeat the virus, has hampered America's response. (Yougov) Ducey's indulgent approach to social distancing measures probably contributed to his constituents' failure to embrace them. Polls taken from late March through the end of April showed that only 30% to 40% of Arizona residents regularly wore face masks in public; in California, New York and New Jersey, the rate was as high as 60%. Arizona waited until March 30 to issue a stay-at-home policy, long after other states. Ducey lifted the policy early, on May 15. Ducey joined Trump at an indoor political rally in Phoenix on June 23 at which an estimated 3,000 persons were in attendance, crammed shoulder to shoulder and mostly maskless even though a week earlier the city had ordered masks to be worn. Ducey wore a mask bearing the Arizona state seal, but Trump was maskless. Not until Monday did Ducey reimpose anti-virus measures, prohibiting large gatherings, ceasing the issuance of new special event licenses, and closing bars, gyms, movie theaters, waterparks and tubing rentals. His order will remain in effect through the month. He didn't order masks to be worn in public. By then, the state already had activated its crisis standards of care, or rationing plan. Let's take a look. Like other states' plans, Arizona's relies chiefly on a metric known as a SOFA Score, for "sequential organ failure assessment." The score is based on the condition of six major organ systems: lungs, circulatory, heart, kidney, liver and neurological. Arizona assigns points to patients according to their SOFA score range, to a maximum of four points for the most severely affected. Then it adds up to four more points for a subjective assessment of a patient's survivability: two points for those whose death is expected within five years despite successful treatment of COVID-19, and four for those whose death is expected within one year despite successful treatment. Priority for treatment is given to those with lower scores. The guidelines state that judgments are to be made regardless of "race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, veteran status, age, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, quality of life, or any other ethically irrelevant criteria." But several of these factors obviously will play into the point system. Black patients on average tend to suffer from more medical conditions than others, in part because their incomes are lower on average and their access to medical care more limited. Older residents also suffer from more health challenges. And how do medical personnel assess a patient's "quality of life"? Some of these factors are especially relevant in Arizona, where residents 65 and older constitute 23% of the adult population, above the national average of 20.7%. Florida skews even older, with 25.6% of its adult population 65 and older. The prospects of subjective judgments creeping into triage judgments is great because the SOFA score itself, despite its apparent objectivity, is an imperfect tool. The scores are "poor predictors of individual patients' survival," the National Academies found in its assessment of crisis standards. That's especially true for patients suffering acute respiratory failure, one of the key symptoms of COVID-19. As a result, "these scores are not suitable for excluding patients with acute respiratory failure... from receiving critical care" in the pandemic. One can't blame Arizona for implementing a rationing plan aimed at delivering crisis care to those judged most likely to benefit from it. But its leaders can be blamed for allowing the state to reach the point where rationing is deemed necessary. The seeds of its disaster were planted long ago. High Priority Drilling Targets Identified TORONTO, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Compass Gold Corp. (CVB.V) (Compass or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on the recently completed drilling at the Sodala prospect, located on the Companys Sikasso Property in southern Mali (Figure 1). Highlights Drilling at Sodala identifies a broad, shallow gold target, associated with a shear zone Air core drilling (9 AC holes, 467 m) intersected gold mineralization within a 280-m wide fault zone cutting artisanal gold workings Further geophysical testing and drilling planned on permit to test a large (1,000 m x 500 m) shallow soil anomaly Compass CEO, Larry Phillips, said, Additional bedrock drilling on the Sankarani East permit has identified gold mineralization within a newly discovered shear zone centred on the Sodala artisanal workings. The results of this latest drilling validate Sodala as a major target for additional geophysical testing and follow-up drilling. This work has also given us a much clearer understanding of the controls on mineralization, and explains the location of a pronounced soil anomaly, which includes a 31.3 g/t Au sample collected by Compass. He added, As weve recently reported, geophysical and geological testing has led to our discovery of two new mineralized trends at Tarabala and Samagouela, and it now appears that Sodala lies on a similar structure. We have abundant evidence that several permits within our 850-square-kilometre property display the necessary geological features to potentially host open-pittable gold deposits, all within one of the most prolific gold districts in the world. Permit overview map: http://compassgoldcorp.com/sikasso-properties/ Sodala Drilling Overview In mid-April, the Company completed 310 m of shallow air core (AC) drilling over 175 m of artisanal workings at Sodala on the western side of the Sankarani East permit (Figure 1). This was the first drilling on the prospect, and focused on artisanal workings occurring within a 270-m-wide shear-zone, and cut by NE-trending faults that appear to control mineralization. The latest drilling comprised 377 m of AC and 90 m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling. The purpose of the drilling was to determine the grade, width, and orientation of mineralization recorded at the artisanal workings, and to use this information to identify the mineralized structures responsible for some exceptionally high shallow soil samples collected in 2018. The high-grade samples were collected within 700 m of the artisanal workings and the five highest recorded soil grades were 31.3, 10.1, 2.49, 1.29 and 0.50 g/t Au. Story continues Previous drilling on the prospect (see Compass press release, May 7, 2020) identified three narrow, near-surface, mineralized structures with 1 m @ 0.78 g/t Au (from 1 m, SAAC29), 1 m @ 2.71 g/t Au (from 16 m, SAAC31), and 1 m @ 0.82 g/t Au (from 8 m, , SAAC32). All of mineralization was associated with a small hydrothermally altered felsic unit. The current drilling was planned to test the same mineralization in order to determine the precise orientation and dip of the veins. Figure 1: Geology, major faults, soil anomalism and artisanal workings at Sodala is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/438a4ae4-e5e4-4f99-bba5-5e01f5be9a55 The current drilling comprised a single fence of predominantly AC holes. In order to achieve the planned depth, the drill rig was reconfigured to use reverse circulation (RC) equipment in areas where more resistant quartz veins were encountered. The fence was specifically designed to test gold-bearing quartz veins mapped in the artisanal workings and noted in the drilling in April, and the interpretation of Gradient IP geophysics that the workings were coincident with a major north-south shear zone. Drilling Results The best mineralization occurred in drill holes SAAC60 (Figure 2), where five mineralized intervals were recorded over the 52m length of the hole (Table 1), and SAAC64, where four mineralized intervals were recorded. The longest mineralized intercept was 4 m @ 0.61 g/t Au (from 8 m, SAAC60). Grades were typically between 0.20 and 0.70 g/t Au, with higher grades up to 2.45 g/t Au (from 33 m) present in SAAC64. Drilling revealed the veins were present within a graphite-rich shear zone, and determined that the veins dip between 40 and 75and trend to the northwest (325). All this information is consistent with geological mapping in the area, and interpretation of the ground geophysical surveys. Figure 2: Satellite map of the Sodala prospect showing the location of bedrock drilling in relation to the target structure is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/57da2b7e-9aee-4fa5-ae88-09155096e6ea Table 1. Assays greater than 0.2 g/t Au identified during recent drilling at Sodala Hole ID From (m) To (m) 1, 2 Interval (m) Au (g/t) SAAC57 21 22 1 0.58 SAAC58 21 22 1 0.27 SAAC59 0 1 1 1.45 SAAC59 4 6 2 0.26 SAAC59 8 9 1 0.2 SAAC60 0 1 1 1.05 SAAC60 8 12 4 0.61 inc 10 11 1 1.42 SAAC60 23 24 1 0.24 SAAC60 25 27 2 0.34 SAAC60 50 52 2 0.68 inc 51 52 1 1.14 SAAC63 23 26 3 0.57 SAAC64 1 2 1 0.2 SAAC64 10 11 1 0.21 SAAC64 21 22 1 2.45 SAAC64 29 30 1 0.21 1True thicknesses are interpreted as 60-90% of stated intervals Technical Details All AC drill holes in this campaign (SAAC57-64) were drilled on an azimuth of 255 (towards the west-southwest), at dips of 55, with lengths varying from 48 m to 54 m. The fence was planned to cut the main artisanal workings at Sodala at the intersection between the main north-south trending Sodala shear-zone and a northeast-trending splay fault. The site of the workings is also coincident with an interpreted highly-altered felsic intrusion and proximal to an exceptionally high shallow soil gold anomaly with assays up to 31.30 g/t Au. This is the highest grade of 6,749 soil samples collected on the Sankarani and Sankarani East permits by Compass. Soil samples greater than 0.5 g/t Au are present up to 750 m from the workings, and appear to correlated closely with a second northeast-trending splay fault with a 1000 m strike length. This area will be the primary focus of additional drilling in the coming months. Drilling was primarily performed by AC methods, but in areas of abundant quartz veins it was necessary to complete the planned holes using RC equipment. Drilling was performed by IDC Drilling (Mali), and collected samples were assayed at SGS (Bamako, Mali) by fire assay. Geophysical interpretation of the Gradient IP data was performed by Jeremy S. Brett, M.Sc., P.Geo. (MPH Consulting Limited), and structural analysis by independent consultant geologist David Lewis, M.Sc., P.Geo. Next Steps The technical team, which is only awaiting infill shallow soil assay results from Massala (Sankarani permit), is interpreting the results from all recent exploration programs, and placing them in a geological framework. These latest drilling results will help to determine the precise location for follow-up drilling on the identified target structures at Tarabala, Sodala and Samagouela. This drilling will start when weather conditions permit after the cessation of the rainy season, normally in October. Gradient IP surveys are also being planned in areas containing strong gold in shallow soil anomalism coincident with regional target structures. About Compass Gold Corp. Compass, a public company having been incorporated into Ontario, is a Tier 2 issuer on the TSX- V. Through the 2017 acquisition of MGE and Malian subsidiaries, Compass holds gold exploration permits located in Mali that comprise the Sikasso Property. The exploration permits are located in three sites in southern Mali with a combined land holding of 867 km2. The Sikasso Property is located in the same region as several multi-million-ounce gold projects, including Morila, Syama, Kalana and Komana. The Companys Mali-based technical team, led in the field by Dr. Madani Diallo and under the supervision of Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, is conducting the current exploration program. They are examining numerous anomalies first noted in Dr. Archibalds August 2017 National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Sikasso Property, Southern Mali. QAQC All AC samples were collected following industry best practices, and an appropriate number and type of certified reference materials (standards), blanks and duplicates were inserted to ensure an effective QAQC program was carried out. The 1 m interval samples were prepared and analyzed at SGS SARL (Bamako, Mali) by fire assay technique FAE505. All standard and blank results were reviewed to ensure no failures were detected. Qualified Person This news release has been reviewed and approved by EurGeol. Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, Compasss Technical Director, who is the Qualified Person for the technical information in this news release under National Instrument 43-101 standards. ForwardLooking Information This news release contains "forwardlooking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the Companys planned exploration work and management appointments. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forwardlooking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by such information. The statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forwardlooking information except as required by applicable law. For further information please contact: Compass Gold Corporation Compass Gold Corporation Larry Phillips Pres. & CEO Greg Taylor Dir. Investor Relations & Corporate Communications lphillips@compassgoldcorp.com gtaylor@compassgoldcorp.com T: +1 416-596-0996 X 302 T: +1 416-596-0996 X 301 Website: www.compassgoldcorp.com NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. The blind belief of Dain among the ST communities here in Tripura is a great obstacle for the social status, progress, peace and harmony and it is strongly drawing the society backward as well as a great hindrance for the all over social development. Almost in all remote tribal areas in Tripura this dangerous superstition is till active. Like this non-sense belief has created so many worst records in the ST society that in the long run the whole state has been defiled. The peace loving people of Tripura suffered much for some ignorant people who prevailed like this superstition in the society and generated violence, unsteady and despair among the communities in the state. A large number of innocent tribal men and women were killed in the name of Dain. Our Indian Democratic constitution does not allow any body to kill a citizen on such false imposition. The dearth of education and unawareness leads people into destruction. Many families have been vanished, many children lost their parents and have been flung away helplessly to survive in great aversion in the cruel society. They were forced to be orphan and faced too much mental sufferings and despair for this dirty destructive superstition. We the people of Tripura expect to have a healthy, peaceful and progressive state totally free from all kinds of superstitions. For our next generation livelihood like this social stain should be vanished immediately. In the other hand if we see it in the national level we find critical consequences. The modern practice of witch hunting in India includes violence and beliefs that have led to the torture and murder of alleged witches. State governments and rationalist groups are trying to address the problem but face big obstacles. In the contrary in international view When Americans think of burning witches, they often consider it a metaphor or historical event from hundreds of years ago. Yet in many parts of the world, elderly widows live in fear of being killed as "witches" when a neighbour becomes ill or livestock die unexpectedly. India represents a modern day paradox. On the one hand, it is the largest democracy in the world and has a rapidly growing economy. On the other, most of the population remains poor, and Indians, both educated and not, often turn to superstition to cure illness, find love, and rationalize bad events. This modern superstition has deadly consequences reminiscent of the witchcraft craze in America. In India, a person accused of being a "dain" or witch can be tortured, raped, hacked to death, or burned alive. Victims are often single older women, usually widows, but they can also be males or children. A 2002 Skeptical Briefs report (Vijayam 2002) detailed a team of medical doctors, magicians, and social workers who conducted educational outreach in rural Indian villages to prevent violence spawned by belief in witchcraft. Despite such efforts, superstitious belief in witchcraft continues to plague parts of India, resulting in injury or death. The Indian government's most recent data shows that 119 people were killed with witchcraft being the "motivation" in 2012. According to the Times of India, a National Crime Records Bureau report revealed that more than 1,700 women were murdered for witchcraft between 1991 and 2010. The numbers are undoubtedly actually higher, as many cases go unreported or authorised refuse to register the cases. Allegations of witchcraft that result in communal murder have long been a part of rural India's history. Scholar Ajay Skaria, for instance, explored the torture and murder of women who were accused of being witches in British India. This practice has continued, though with irregularity, into the present. A 2013 Al Jazeera documentary explored the lives of women who were accused of practicing witchcraft. For those who are lucky enough to live after the accusations, they often are forced to move to a new area without resources to start their lives over. Many of the accusations have roots in property disputes, local politics, and disease, which then develop into allegations of witchcraft and then to violence. In recent years, there has been a concentrated effort to help women who fled their villages because of persecution. But according to Al Jazeera, there are only three Indian states that have legislation to address accusations of witchcraft. Dimbeswari Bhattarai, a witch doctor, or ojha, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Uttarkuchi village in India's northeastern state of Assam, September 7, 2006. Police say that around 300 people have been killed in the state in the past five years for allegedly practicing witchcraft. One state government that passed legislation is Jharkhand, a state in Eastern India that is ranked twenty-five out of twenty-eight in literacy. The state is famous for an indigenous religion called Sarna, derived from oral tradition, which does not treat women equally to men. Compounded with women being second-class citizens, single women, especially widows, are the targets of witchcraft accusations. In 2001, the Jharkhand government passed the Dain Pratha (Prevention of Witch Practices) Act to protect women from inhumane treatment and give victims legal recourse to abuse. Some people have described witch hunting as a "common" phenomenon in the state, and the law has not eliminated the practice. In the last two years, there have been several notable murders involving allegations of witchcraft. In 2012, four people were murdered in about a month's span in Jharkhand. If the suspects are convicted of breaking the Dain Pratha law, they will face a longer prison sentence than if they just committed murder. Bimla Pradhan, Jharkhand's social welfare minister, said the government has funded an awareness campaign to end the superstition that "has led to atrocities against women" ("Withcraft Claims Lives" 2012). Nevertheless, in November 2013, a mother and daughter in Jharkhand were pulled out of their home by villagers who took them to a nearby forest and slit their throats. After the mother's husband died years before, rumors began that the women were witches, and villagers blamed the women for several children becoming ill. Regarding the murders, police said: "All I can say is the women seem to have been killed for witchcraft" (Mishra 2013). Rajasthan is a unique state in India because it is not only the largest but also shares a border with Pakistan. In the last few years, the government passed the Rajasthan Women (Prevention and Protection from Atrocities) Bill that makes it illegal to call a woman a "dain" or accuse a woman of performing witchcraft that leads to harm. A guilty person can be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison. If a woman is driven to commit suicide because of witchcraft accusations, the accuser can receive a fine and ten years in prison. The law came in response to decades of assaults, including branding the faces of women accused of witchcraft. According to The New York Times, "The mixing of old superstitions with modern material desires has proved deadly for these women, as many branding are now done to disinherit them from family property" (Sharma 2012). Witchcraft and murder is not isolated to these regions of India. A group of villagers in rural Odisha, a state on the East Coast, assaulted and forced three people, including two women, to walk naked through the village. In November 2013, a boy was killed in the same state and police arrested two people accused of the murder for killing him "for the purpose of human sacrifice" ("Boy Killed for Witchcraft" 2013). In 2005, Chhattisgarh, a state in central India, passed the Witchcraft Atrocities Prevention Act to stop the violence and murder. Most recently, in rural Chhattisgarh, two women in their fifties were killed by three boys. According to police, the father of one boy was ill and the other two boy's fathers were dead. Believing the women were to blame, they "questioned those women about their involvement in witchcraft practices, but they refused to speak. This infuriated the boys who first strangled them and later slit their throats" (Drolia 2013). In 2011, a mother and daughter were accused of being witches in Assam, but police later discovered the accusations were used as a pretext for their rape. According to the Assam government, between 2006 to 2012 there were 105 "witch-hunting" cases with the government planning legislation to curb the violence (Pandey 2013). With communal violence, a witness to the abuse or murder does not stop the act from taking place. In many instances, groups of villagers are involved in attacking "witches." Neither the laws nor the presence of journalists have been able to prevent witch hunting. In 2008, a woman was hired by a man to use magic to improve his ill wife's health. When his wife's condition worsened he began beating the woman, and five other locals joined in the abuse. She was tied to a tree, and she was slapped repeatedly and had her hair cut as a journalist filmed the events. The camera person decided not to attempt to stop the act and filmed it before calling police. Women are not the only victims in witch hunts. In July 2012, an elderly man and his wife were forced to ingest human urine and excrement in Jharkhand. The two were accused of practicing witchcraft, which supposedly resulted in the death of local livestock. One month later in another village in the state, a man was pulled from his house and buried alive for allegedly practicing witchcraft. In 2013, an elderly man was forced to eat human excrement in Meghalaya, a state in northern India. He was accused of practicing witchcraft when four girls became sick and started having dreams about snakes. The villagers gathered together and decided on his punishment. The assistant village chief defended the action, saying after the event the girls' health improved. There is no easy solution to stopping these witch hunts. Groups from all walks of life have attempted to stop the violence. A group of self-proclaimed witches planned to protect women by boarding a boat in Mumbai (Bombay) to send "positive energy" on October 31, 2013. However, Indian rationalists and women's rights activists have pushed for more concrete efforts. Though they have sought stricter laws to punish violence stemming from witchcraft allegations, several groups want to change perceptions toward women and supernatural belief. Indeed, legislation is not a cure for superstition; improving critical thinking is the key. Changing attitudes includes exposing fraud and teaching critical thinking about superstition, which sometimes runs counter to long-held indigenous beliefs. Outside intervention in rural communities is frowned upon, and rationalists face difficultly in winning support from people with heavily ingrained beliefs. The Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) has been fighting for voting rights, education, and ending bonded labor throughout India. Recently, it has taken an interest in stopping witch hunts through literacy programs in which women directly voiced their complaints to judges and state officials in attendance. The Indian Rationalist Association, which has more than 100,000 members, engages in rural outreach that teaches critical thinking and exposes superstition. While it is difficult or impossible to rid the world of magical thinking and superstition, there are many underfunded groups trying to end modern witch hunts that continue to plague remote parts of India. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- To help fight the Pandemic Recession, Congress temporarily made unemployment benefits more generous. Too generous, in fact. Eligible workers can receive $600 per week from the federal government on top of their regular state-provided benefit. This program expires at the end of July. What should Congress do? It would be a mistake to continue the benefit in its current form. But it would also be wrong to let expanded unemployment checks expire completely, in part because U.S. cases of coronavirus are rising, and some states are reinstituting social-distancing measures. The $600 weekly payments were approved as part of the $2 trillion Cares Act, which was passed on March 27 to help support the economy during the Covid-19 disaster. They have been controversial from the start. Standard state unemployment benefits averaged $321 across the nation in May. The $600 federal supplement brought total benefits up to $921 per week on average, or nearly $50,000 on an annual basis. Economists Peter Ganong, Pascal Noel and Joseph Vavra estimate that 68% of unemployed workers who are eligible for payments saw their income go up relative to what they were making while employed. For one out of five unemployed workers, the benefits were twice as large as previous earnings. Taxpayer dollars shouldnt be used to raise the incomes of the majority of unemployed workers above what they were earning on the job. That said, benefits this generous did much less damage to the economy during the shutdown than they would under normal circumstances. Unemployed workers werent discouraged from getting new jobs because there werent new jobs to get. And because workers had income support from the government when stores and restaurants began to reopen, consumer spending roared back in May, increasing by 8.1% over the previous month, an extraordinary jump. The personal savings rate in May was a stunning 23.2%. Economists Jeehoon Han, Bruce D. Meyer and James X. Sullivan find that government programs during the Pandemic Recession actually lowered the poverty rate by 21%. Story continues The situation is different now that the economy has partially reopened. But letting the supplemental federal benefit abruptly expire would reduce overall income in the ballpark of $50 billion per month, by my back-of-the-envelope calculations. This would depress overall consumer spending by several hundred billion dollars in the second half of 2020, which by itself could cause a recession-level contraction in economic output. And the pandemic isnt petering out. On the contrary, a new wave of coronavirus infections is ripping through the South and West. Texass and Floridas reopenings are moving backward, with the states closing bars and taking other steps to slow the spread of the virus. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office expects the unemployment rate to be 11.5% at the end of 2020 exceeding the peak unemployment rate during the Great Recession and 8.6% at the end of 2021. If that forecast is accurate, the labor market will still have recession-level unemployment well into 2022. Enhanced unemployment benefits will be needed for some time to come. But the payments can be scaled back. The CBO estimates that if the $600 supplement were to continue for six additional months, roughly five out of every six recipients would have higher incomes from unemployment benefits than they could earn from working. This would keep the unemployment rate elevated at a time when it should be coming down. The CBO expects that the extra income would boost the economy during the rest of 2020, but would reduce economic output in 2021 by keeping idled workers from getting jobs. A nice middle ground was charted recently by Jason Furman and Timothy Geithner, both senior members of the Barack Obama administration, along with George W. Bush administration economist Glenn Hubbard and University of Maryland economist Melissa S. Kearney. They argue that the amount of the supplemental payment should be determined by economic conditions in each workers state. In states with the highest unemployment, the federal government would provide a maximum payment of $400 per week, on top of what the worker receives in his or her normal state benefit. As the unemployment rate falls, this extra benefit shrinks. At 7% unemployment, the supplement is eliminated. Crucially, the economists define the federal supplement as a rate calculated against previous wages, and not as a flat dollar amount. This guarantees that workers wont have higher incomes from unemployment benefits than they did from working. Not all states have computer systems that are able to implement a system based on a rate rather than a flat amount. For those states, the group recommends a maximum federal supplement of $200 per week. I would quibble with some details in the Furman, Geithner, Hubbard and Kearney proposal: $400 per week is too generous, even as a maximum payment. But the basic idea is sound, and points the way forward for Congress. Along with these changes, Congress could help states update their unemployment insurance computer systems. States should not have to resort to providing flat-dollar benefit supplements because their IT infrastructure cant handle anything more complicated. Congress could also support spending and encourage employment by offering one-time bonus payments for low-income workers when they return to the labor force. Federal earnings subsidies for low-income working households could also be expanded. In addition, Congress should continue to offer incentives to states to create and publicize work-sharing programs. Also known as short-time compensation programs, work sharing partially reimburses workers whose hours are cut using pro-rated unemployment benefits. As I discussed in a recent column, this allows businesses to reduce payroll costs without resorting to layoffs, knowing that their workers will be able to make up most of their lost income from unemployment insurance. Only 27 states and the District of Columbia have these programs on the books. Given the looming expiration of supplemental unemployment benefits, Congress needs to act quickly. The recovery from the Pandemic Recession is fragile. The economy and workers will need a hand as we head into the fall. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It). 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. Over the month of June, copper prices have gained 11% and currently trending close to the level of $6,000 an ounce. This uptrend can be attributed to optimism over financial stimulus and strong demand in China, which is the top consumer, amid growing fears of disruption in copper output in Chile. LME Copper prices closed at $5,957 per ton on Jun 29. Copper, whose demand is linked to global economic growth and activity, fell prey to the impact of the COVID-19 in the first quarter and suffered a decline of 22%. However, the red metal has made a dramatic comeback in the second quarter with a gain of 25%. Strong Turnaround Copper commenced 2020 at $6,165 per ton and attained a high of $6,300 per ton on Jan 16. However, this rally was cut short as the coronavirus outbreak in China resulted in the country implementing containment measures and shutting down production lines. This severely impacted demand for copper. Meanwhile as the outbreak rapidly took the shape of a pandemic, the consequent slump in global economic activity and plunging oil prices led copper prices plummeting to a low of $4,617.50 on Mar 23, 2020 a 27% decline from the January high. Copper has however regained lost ground since then and crossed the $5,000 per ton threshold in April. It is currently trending close to $6,000 per ton. Factors Favoring the Recovery Supply Issues in Chile: Concerns of a potential supply disruption from top producer Chile due to the worsening coronavirus situation in the country is supporting the red metals prices. Chiles current coronavirus case tally stands at 275,999 with the death toll at 5,575. The country currently has one of the worlds highest infection rates per capita. Cases at mines are escalating and authorities have tightened restrictions. Chiles state-owned copper miner Codelco has halted operations at its biggest smelter and refinery in Chuquicamata division to prevent further spread of the virus. Chile's mines minister Baldo Prokurica recently projected a decline of 200,000 tons in the country's copper output. This represents 3.5% of the countrys 2019 production. Story continues Signs of Recovery in Economic Activity: Demand in China remains strong as it is gradually moving out of the crisis and is working toward full normalization of economic activities. The countrys stimulus program focused on new infrastructure and urbanization will require massive amounts of copper. Also, Eurozone Manufacturing PMI came in at 46.9 in June, ahead of the expectation of 44.5 and previous months 39.4. This was the weakest contraction in factory activity in four months, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions have been relaxed. Meanwhile in the United States, sales of new U.S. single-family homes jumped 16.6% sequentially to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000 units in May. Per the Federal Reserve, industrial production increased 1.4% in May following a decline of 12.5% in April, as factories resumed operations. After contractions in March and April, manufacturing output rose 3.8% in May. According to IHS Markit, flash U.S. Composite Output Index, which surveys both the manufacturing and services sectors, was at 46.8 in June, up from 37 in May. The U.S. Services Business Activity Index was at 46.7 compared with 37.5 in May. The flash U.S manufacturing PMI came in at 49.6, up from 39.8 in May. Even though a reading below 50 indicates contraction, all these indexes are at a four-month high. These figures suggest that the U.S economy is recovering from the damage inflicted by COVID-19 crisis. This bodes well for copper. Industry Performance & Rank Copper miners fall under the Zacks Mining - Non Ferrous industry, which has gained 37.5% over the past three months compared with the S&P 500s growth of 16%. The industry falls under the broader Basic Material sector, which increased 31.4%. The industry currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #59, which places it at the top 23% of more than 250 Zacks industries. The group's Zacks Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates bright prospects in the near term. 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. Investors interested in the industry can consider FreeportMcMoRan Inc. FCX, which currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FreeportMcMoRan for the current year indicates year-over-year growth of 50%. The company has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 36.8%, on average. The stock has gained 64% in the past three months. Investors interested in the industry may consider keeping an eye on Zacks Ranked #3 (Hold) stocks like Coeur Mining, Inc. CDE , Energy Fuels Inc. UUUU and Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. PZG, which have positive earnings growth estimates of 145%, 59%, and 21% for 2020, respectively. Shares of Paramount Gold Nevada have appreciated 105% over the past three months, while Coeur Mining and Energy Fuels shares have gained 49% and 24%, respectively. Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, its expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity. A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time. See 8 breakthrough 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 FreeportMcMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. (PZG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Coeur Mining, Inc. (CDE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Energy Fuels Inc (UUUU) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Final Option Payment to be Made to Secure 100% of Alacran Copper-Gold-Silver Deposit in Colombia Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 29, 2020) - Cordoba Minerals Corp. (TSXV: CDB) (OTCQB: CDBMF) ("Cordoba" or the "Company") today announces that it has completed its previously announced rights offering (refer to Cordoba's news release dated May 15, 2020) and has issued 430,000,000 common shares for aggregate gross proceeds of C$21.5 million. This represents 100% of the maximum number of Rights Shares issuable under the Rights Offering. The Company now has 891,513,218 common shares issued and outstanding. The Rights Offering was fully subscribed and, as a result, the Company did not rely on its majority shareholder, High Power Exploration Inc. ("HPX"), to acquire any additional Rights Shares under its Standby Commitment. HPX fully exercised its basic subscription privilege and upon completion holds 531,510,101 shares, representing 59.62% of the shares issued and outstanding. The Company's second key shareholder, JCHX Mining Management Co., Ltd. ("JCHX") also fully exercised its basic subscription privilege and retained its 19.99% interest. With the proceeds from the Rights Offering, Cordoba intends to complete the final US$13.0 million option payment required to secure a 100% interest in the Alacran mineral title. "We are delighted to have received strong support from our shareholders through the Rights Offering, enabling us to complete the final payment for the Alacran property and to secure 100% ownership," said Eric Finlayson, President and CEO of Cordoba. "We look forward to completing pre-feasibility studies for mine development at Alacran and continuing the search for the concealed porphyry systems responsible for mineralization in the area." The Alacran Copper-Gold-Silver Deposit is the largest mineral deposit currently defined within Cordoba's San Matias Project, located in the Department of Cordoba, Colombia. Alacran was initially evaluated in the July 2019 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"; refer to Cordoba's news release dated July 29, 2019). The PEA outlined a robust project with positive economics. The PEA project generated a pre-tax NPV8% of $347.0 million and IRR of 26.8%, and an after-tax NPV8% of $210.7 million and IRR of 20.3%. Story continues A Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the Alacran Deposit is currently underway, but work on site has been suspended due to the Government-mandated COVID-19 lockdown in Colombia. As previously announced, encouraging findings from initial PFS work have indicated the potential to add significant value to the project (refer to Cordoba's news release dated May 15, 2020). Cordoba will be re-evaluating the timeline for completion of the PFS when restrictions are lifted. HPX and JCHX are "related parties" of the Company under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") as each exercise control and direction over more than 10% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. The Rights Offering was not subject to the related party rules under MI 61-101 based on a prescribed exception related to rights offerings. Technical Information & Qualified Person The PEA was independently prepared by Mr. Glen Kuntz, P.Geo. and Ms. Agnes Krawczyk, P.Eng., both of Nordmin, who are considered "Qualified Persons" under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The technical disclosure in this news release is based upon the information in the PEA prepared by or under the supervision of Mr. Kuntz and Ms. Krawczyk. The technical information in this release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Charles N. Forster, P.Geo., a Qualified Person for the purpose of NI 43-101. Mr. Forster is the Vice President Exploration for Cordoba and for HPX, Cordoba's majority shareholder, and is not considered independent under NI 43-101. About Cordoba Cordoba Minerals Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the exploration, development and acquisition of copper and gold projects. Cordoba is developing the San Matias Copper-Gold-Silver Project, which includes the Alacran Deposit and satellite deposits at Montiel East, Montiel West and Costa Azul, located in the Department of Cordoba, Colombia. Cordoba also holds a 25% interest in the Perseverance Copper Project in Arizona, USA, which it is exploring through a Joint Venture and Earn-In Agreement. For further information, please visit www.cordobaminerals.com. Information Contact Evan Young +1-604-689-8765 info@cordobamineralscorp.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements with respect to the use of proceeds. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "target", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which the Company operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies. These include assumptions regarding, among other things: completion of the Alacran option payment; general business and economic conditions; the availability of additional exploration and mineral project financing; the supply and demand for, inventories of, and the level and volatility of the prices of metals; relationships with strategic partners; the timing and receipt of governmental permits and approvals; the timing and receipt of community and landowner approvals; changes in regulations; political factors; the accuracy of the Company's interpretation of drill results; the geology, grade and continuity of the Company's mineral deposits; the availability of equipment, skilled labour and services needed for the exploration and development of mineral properties; and currency fluctuations. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements 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 Company's expectations include actual exploration results, interpretation of metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required approvals, unknown impact related to potential business disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak, or another infectious illness, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, including those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/58752 MISSISSAUGA, ON, June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - Covalon Technologies Ltd. (the "Company" or "Covalon") (COV.V) (CVALF), an advanced medical technologies company, provides today an update on material business developments per Ontario Instrument 51-502 Temporary Exemption from Certain Corporate Financial Requirements. The Company continues to rely on the exemption provided in the aforementioned instrument to postpone the filing of the interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 (the "Documents"). The Company expects to file the Documents by the extension date of July 14, 2020 and continues to work diligently to prepare and file the Documents by such date. Covalon Technologies Ltd. News Release (CNW Group/Covalon Technologies Ltd.) Until the Company has filed the Documents, members of the Company's management and other insiders continue to be subject to an insider trading black-out policy that reflects the principles in section 9 of National Policy 11-207 Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders and Revocations in Multiple Jurisdictions. An update on material business developments since the Company announced its reliance on Ontario Instrument 51-502 is described below: The CovaGuard and CovalonGuard Products Now Available for Purchase On March 31, 2020 , Covalon announced CovaGuard, its new antimicrobial technology platform. The CovaGuard antimicrobial technology ("CovaGuard") is specifically formulated to be effective at killing pathogens on contact with the added benefit of providing persistent protection by trapping and deactivating microbes over an extended period. CovaGuard Antimicrobial Hand Sanitizer with Benzalkonium Chloride and CovaGuard Mask Antimicrobial Sanitizer with Benzalkonium Chloride are now available for purchase in the United States at covaguard.com. CovalonGuard Antimicrobial Hand Sanitizer with Benzalkonium Chloride is now available for purchase in Canada at covaguard.ca. CovalonGuard Shield with Benzalkonium Chloride, a hard surface antimicrobial spray, is anticipated to be available for purchase in Canada at covaguard.ca soon. Story continues The Company is continuing production of an initial run of approximately 750,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and mask spray based on the CovaGuard technology at its facility in Mississauga, Ontario . The Company is in the process of planning a second manufacturing run of approximately 3.5 million bottles at a contract manufacturing facility to meet anticipated demand. As previously reported, the Company continues to be actively engaged in discussions with potential manufacturing partners, United States distributors, and international distribution networks to increase available product and access market demand. Preliminary sales have begun in the United States , Canada , and seven other countries. HSBC Banking Agreement As previously reported, Management is in continued discussions with HSBC Bank Canada ("HSBC") regarding the Company's acquisition and operating banking credit facility and anticipates making changes to the banking agreement with HSBC in due course. A further update will be provided at the appropriate time. About Covalon Covalon Technologies Ltd. is a researcher, developer, manufacturer, and marketer of patent-protected medical products that improve patient outcomes and save lives in the areas of advanced wound care, infection management and surgical procedures. Covalon leverages its patented medical technology platforms and expertise in two ways: (i) by developing products that are sold under Covalon's name; and, (ii) by developing and commercializing medical products for other medical companies under development and license contracts. The Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, having the symbol COV and trades on the OTQX Market under the symbol CVALF. To learn more about Covalon, visit our website at www.covalon.com. CovaGuard is a registered trademark of Covalon Technologies Ltd. in Canada and the United States . Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "proposed" 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. Such forward-looking information is subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information relating to the anticipated filing of the Company's interim financial report for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 . Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecast or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company. The forward-looking information contained in this press 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. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/covalon-provides-business-update-301085746.html SOURCE Covalon Technologies Ltd. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/30/c0374.html ZUG, Switzerland and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases, today announced that it is commencing an underwritten public offering of $325,000,000 of common shares. In addition, the underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $48,750,000 of common shares at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, BofA Securities and Jefferies are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed or as to the actual size or terms of the offering. The common shares will be offered and sold pursuant to the Companys previously filed automatically effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-227427) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on September 19, 2018. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the prospectus supplement relating to the offering will be filed with the SEC and may be obtained, when available, from Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC by mail at 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, Attention: Prospectus Department, by telephone at (866) 471-2526, or by email at prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com; from BofA Securities by mail at NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, Attn: Prospectus Department, or by email at dg.prospectus_requests@bofa.com; or from Jefferies, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by telephone at (877) 547-6340, or by email at prospectus_department@jefferies.com. Story continues About CRISPR Therapeutics CRISPR Therapeutics is a leading gene editing company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform. CRISPR Therapeutics AG is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, CRISPR Therapeutics, Inc., and R&D operations based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and business offices in San Francisco, California and London, United Kingdom. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, statements regarding CRISPR Therapeutics anticipated public offering. The words may, will, could, would, should, expect, plan, anticipate, intend, believe, estimate, predict, project, potential, continue, target and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release, such as the intended offering terms, are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the public offering on the anticipated terms or at all. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in the section entitled Risk Factors in CRISPR Therapeutics Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as filed with the SEC on February 12, 2020, the prospectus supplement related to the public offering and other filings that CRISPR Therapeutics may make with the SEC in the future. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent CRISPR Therapeutics views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. CRISPR Therapeutics explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Investor Contact: Susan Kim +1-617-307-7503 susan.kim@crisprtx.com Media Contact: Rachel Eides WCG on behalf of CRISPR +1 617-337-4167 reides@wcgworld.com Shares of CytoDyn Inc. (CYDY) grew 20% after it announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Coordinating Commission of the National Institutes of Health and High Specialty Hospitals of Mexico (NIH) to conduct a COVID-19 study on its investigational candidate, leronlimab. The study will be conducted for severe and critically ill patients, with the potential to collaborate on additional COVID-19 studies. The NIH of Mexico is an organization that coordinates the main institutions of medical care. The study will consist of only 25 patients and the company believes that it could receive the approval very quickly in Mexico as the anecdotal data received by CytoDyn (from more than70 COVID-19 critical patients who were treated under EIND in the United States) impressed the NIH of Mexico. Per the MOU, CytoDyn will supply leronlimab at its expense to the NIH and both parties willproceed expeditiously to complete the mutually-agreed protocol for this study. Shares of the company have soared 777% year to date against the industrys decline of 7.2%. Leronlimab is an investigational, humanized IgG4 mAb that blocks CCR5, a cellular receptor that is important in HIV infection, tumor metastases and other diseases, including NASH. The FDA has granted a Fast Track designation to leronlimab for two potential indications of deadly diseases one as a combination therapy with HAART for HIV-infected patients and another for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. At this time, there are minimal treatment options for COVID-19. A potential approval of leronlimab will be a huge breakthrough to meet this unmet medical need. The company filed its biologics license application (BLA) with the FDA for leronlimab as a combination therapy for highly treatment-experienced HIV patients on Apr 27, 2020, and submitted additional FDA requested clinical datasets on May 11. CytoDyn Inc. Price CytoDyn Inc. Price CytoDyn Inc. price | CytoDyn Inc. Quote Story continues Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider CytoDyn currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the medical drugs sector are Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. AMRX, Ono Pharmaceutical Co. OPHLF and BioLineRx Ltd. BLRX, all carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Amneals earnings per share estimates have increased from 49 cents to 57 cents for 2020 and from 63 cents to 68 cents for 2021 in the past 60 days. Ono Pharmaceuticals earnings per share estimates have increased from $1.14 to $1.20 for 2020 and from $1.24 to $1.27 for 2021 in the past 60 days. BioLineRxs loss per share estimates have narrowed from $2.77 to $2.24 for 2020 and from $3.01 to $2.88 for 2021in the past 60 days. Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, its expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity. A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time. See 8 breakthrough 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 BioLineRx Ltd. (BLRX) : Free Stock Analysis Report CytoDyn Inc. (CYDY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ono Pharmaceutical Co. (OPHLF) : Free Stock Analysis Report AMNEAL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (AMRX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Davis Polk has announced that Pedro Bermeo, Brian Burnovski, Roshni Banker Cariello, Cheryl Chan, Scott Herrig, Michael Scheinkman, Natasha Tsiouris and Zachary Zweihorn have been elected partners of the Firm, effective July 1, 2020. Mr. Bermeo is a member of Davis Polks Corporate Department in New York, practicing in the Capital Markets Group. He advises U.S. and non-U.S. issuers and underwriters on capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings and other equity offerings and public and private high-yield, investment-grade and convertible debt offerings, including in Latin America. He also advises U.S. and non-U.S. clients on general corporate, governance and securities law matters. His practice ranges across a variety of industries, including, biotech, technology, financial services, energy, consumer and industrials. Mr. Burnovski is a member of Davis Polks Litigation Department in New York. He represents clients in a broad range of complex civil litigation, including securities litigation, shareholder derivative suits, acquisition-related litigation, bankruptcy-related matters and complex commercial disputes. He also represents companies and boards of directors in internal investigations, as well as in investigations and other proceedings before various governmental authorities, including the SEC, DOJ, Federal Reserve Board and FINRA. Ms. Cariello is a member of Davis Polks Corporate Department in New York, practicing in the Capital Markets Group. She advises corporate and financial institution clients on capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings and other equity offerings, investment-grade, high-yield and convertible debt financings, private placements and liability management. She also advises clients on general corporate, governance and securities law matters. She has experience across a range of industries, including technology, financial services, consumer, retail and industrials. Story continues Ms. Chan is a member of Davis Polks Corporate Department in New York, practicing in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group. She advises U.S. and international clients on public and private mergers and acquisitions, investments, joint ventures, corporate governance matters, shareholder activism and other general corporate matters. She also represents private equity firms and their portfolio companies on a full range of transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions of investments, leveraged buyouts and minority investments. Mr. Herrig is a member of Davis Polks Corporate Department in New York, practicing in the Finance Group. He primarily advises financial institutions and alternative credit providers on finance transactions, including leveraged acquisition financings, debt restructurings and asset-based credit facilities. He also advises corporate clients on a wide range of finance matters. Mr. Scheinkman is a member of Davis Polks Litigation Department in New York. He represents clients in a variety of high-stakes civil, criminal and regulatory matters. His civil litigation practice focuses on complex commercial disputes, mass tort actions and securities litigation in federal and state courts. In his government and internal investigations practice, he represents clients in connection with allegations of corruption, fraud, market manipulation, antitrust violations and other financial crimes before a wide range of federal, state and international authorities. Ms. Tsiouris is a member of Davis Polks Corporate Department in New York, practicing in the Restructuring Group. She represents lenders, hedge funds, creditors, banks and other strategic parties in a wide range of corporate restructurings, including in connection with pre-packaged and traditional bankruptcies, debtor-in-possession and exit financing transactions, asset sales, cross-border insolvencies, as well as out-of-court workouts and other risk management transactions. She also has substantial experience advising on investments in distressed businesses and credit risks involved in cross-border derivatives and other complex financial transactions. Mr. Zweihorn is a member of Davis Polks Financial Institutions Group and the trading and markets practice, practicing in the Washington DC office. His practice focuses on the regulation of broker-dealers and other securities market participants and intermediaries, including advising on SEC, FINRA and securities exchange rules relating to the conduct of business, financial responsibility, margin, market structure and related compliance obligations. He also advises clients on regulatory matters in connection with mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and finance transactions involving broker-dealers and securities exchanges, including obtaining regulatory approvals where necessary. His clients include major international banks, broker-dealers, securities exchanges, digital asset and blockchain businesses, and other financial institutions. He also helps clients to advocate in connection with regulatory and legislative proposals and has assisted clients in drafting proposed language for legislation, including aspects of three bills that have become law. About Davis Polk Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (including its associated entities) is an elite global law firm with world-class practices across the board. Clients know they can rely on Davis Polk for their most challenging legal and business matters. Our approximately 1,000 lawyers located in 10 offices in the worlds key financial centers and political capitals collaborate seamlessly to deliver exceptional service, sophisticated advice and creative, practical solutions. Visit davispolk.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005978/en/ Contacts Katie Moss, Director, Public Relations & Communications Katie.moss@davispolk.com (212) 450-3039 - TOOsonix CE marks and releases new medical ultrasonic device for color-independent tattoo removal, solar lentigines, spider veins, angiomas, telangiectasia and other aesthetic conditions HOERSHOLM, Denmark, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TOOsonix A/S, a pioneer in HIFU focused ultrasound technology for dermatology, today announce that it has released its System ONE-M as a CE-marked medical device for aesthetic treatments. The release coincides with the publication of two clinical papers in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Skin Research and Technology (John Wiley and Sons, Inc.), describing very positive results from the first clinical treatments performed at the Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark by the renowned Professor Jrgen Serup, MD. The system delivers accurate thermal focal points to a chosen layer of the human skin, and directly in the lesion chosen for treatment. Applied to the outer skin the method is ablative. The system can however also reach lesions down to the dermal interface to the fat and abnormal vessels in the outer subcutis, without disturbing the out-of-focus outer skin. Thus, no wound and no scar! "The CE marking of our first medical device is pioneering the field of HIFU used for the human skin. It is the first important step in TOOsonix' vision to make new and advanced HIFU systems available for dermatological use all over the globe. The new system is ready for a range of new applications", states Torsten Bove and Tomasz Zawada, co-founders of TOOsonix. "We initially intend to offer this device to first-mover dermatologists within the European Union, and look forward to the resulting physician feedback and market data that can guide our addition of more medical indications in the future". Professor Jrgen Serup MD, first author of the two publications introducing the system[1,2], comments: "High frequency HIFU has a significant potential for future use in dermatological clinics, particularly in the laser/IPL clinics, as a new and specialized member of the family of advanced devices. Tattoo removal has been studied in detail. In our experimental work we have furthermore, demonstrated that the device used for Actinic Keratosis has important advantages over photodynamic therapy (PDT), practically, resource-wise, and with respect to efficacy. Noteworthy is the reduced pain-level during treatment. HIFU can be applied to multiple sites of the body in one short session and, obviously, has the potential to replace PDT in the future. Experimental use indicates the device can be used for dedicated ablative treatment of skin cancers, particularly basal cell carcinoma, and for a range of different premalignant conditions as well as a multitude of benign skin tumors. The method is an entirely new treatment modality in dermatology, with a large potential". Story continues For picture documentation from the studies please visit: https://www.toosonix.com/before-and-after. ABOUT TOOSONIX SYSTEM ONE-M System ONE-M is a focused ultrasound device operating at 20 MHz, which creates thermal lesion points in the upper dermis and epidermis of the human skin. Within the focal point, the temperature rapidly increases to 50-60 C, which introduces acute cell necrosis. The body's own immune system may thereby become activated to remove and replace affected cells with new and healthy cells. The system provides an innovative and easy-to-use treatment modality that enables physicians and other qualified practitioners to offer safe and effective aesthetic treatments of their patients. Medical indications, such as Actinic Keratosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma, are already demonstrated to be highly effective, and will be added to the indicated use as soon as on-going regulatory activities are completed. ABOUT TOOSONIX A/S TOOsonix is a Danish company pioneering the ultrasound and dermatology field with its unique high-frequency focused ultrasound devices. The company was founded in 2017 on the foundations of more than 35 years' experience in ultrasonic technology and devices. The company has financial backing from one of Denmark's most successful private investor companies. REFERENCES (available free of charge by open access) [1] Serup J, Bove T, Zawada T, Jessen A, Poli M. High-frequency (20 MHz) high-intensity focused ultrasound: New ablative method for color-independent tattoo removal in 1-3 sessions. An open-label exploratory study. Skin Res Technol. 2020;00:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/srt.12885 [2] Serup J, Bove T, Zawada T, Jessen A, Poli M. High-frequency (20 MHz) high-intensity focused ultrasound: New Treatment of actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma, and Kaposi sarcoma. An open-label exploratory study. Skin Res Technol. 2020;00:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/srt.12883 RELATED LINKS https://www.toosonix.com/ For further information, please contact: Torsten Bove Managing Director +4528107790 torsten.bove@toosonix.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/toosonix-a-s/r/dermatology-hifu-product-release,c3141245 The following files are available for download: By David Blair Not content to sit on their laurels after a largely successful effort to control the spread of COVID-19, Chinese healthcare authorities are seeking to use lessons learned to further improve the system. They see a need to improve coordination between the public health system, which focuses on disease control and prevention, and the clinical system of hospitals and clinics, which focuses on curing disease. They are also working on improving the provision of healthcare to poor people, in both rural and urban areas. In a meeting with Hubei deputies to the National People's Congress in May, President Xi Jinping called for reform of the public health system. China's public health and medical service systems have played their key roles in dealing with the epidemic, but some weak links and inadequacies were also exposed, Xi said, urging prompt efforts to fix them. Noting that prevention is the most effective and economic strategy, Xi emphasized the system of surveillance for unknown diseases and abnormal health incidents should be reformed and risks should be analyzed at an early stage. The government will soon release a new reform policy to enhance cooperation between the public health system and hospitals, according to Gu Xuefei, a research professor of the Health Development Research Center of the National Health Commission of China. In an interview with China Daily, Gu explained that the cooperation between the hospitals and the Center for Disease Control could have been more efficient during the fight against the virus. All the CDC personnel he has dealt with have been very professional, said Gu, but the system as a whole could have been more effective. In particular, CDC officials need to have more power. In a clinical situation, the doctor has the last word in how to treat a patient. CDC people need to have similar power in public health issues. In Hubei province, this is already happening. For example, the head of the CDC has been promoted to be a member of the board of the province's health department, according to Gu. On the clinical side, doctors at all levels of hospitals, from large city hospitals to rural clinics, need to know more about disease control and prevention. Especially, the chiefs of the hospitals need to understand public health and to be sure that the doctors can implement public health measures, Gu said. Also, the information technology system linking clinical information and public health needs to be improved, Gu said. Big data should be used to monitor trends in advance and to improve early-stage effectiveness. In an earlier interview with China Daily, Dong Xiaoping, director of global public health at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "In the reforms, the CDCs should be given certain administrative powers CDCs across China are managed by local authorities. However, those at higher levels, such as the national CDC, lack the authority to direct local CDCs, which results in poor coordination." Another key issue is improving healthcare for poor people, especially in rural villages. In his speech to Hubei deputies, President Xi also called for the disease prevention and control system to be strengthened, with solid grassroots foundations and a stronger role for lower-level medical institutions such as township health centers. Liu Xiaoyun, a professor in the College of Humanities and Development Studies at China Agricultural University who has worked extensively on village poverty alleviation, said that the government should increase investment in healthcare infrastructure at the community level, especially in rural areas. "Village clinics are close to villagers and can provide the basic healthcare service," she said."Although every village has a clinic, they are small, the equipment is limited, and the skill of village doctors is low, so, in some areas, the villagers seldom visit the clinic." Liu also pointed out that the poor state of rural healthcare also caused problems in the cities because of migrants who may not have received the care they needed. According to a survey conducted by her research team, only 18 percent of village doctors are licensed and their annual pay is only about 25,000 yuan ($3,533). Liu also argued that poor health is a primary cause of poverty. According to her field research in poor areas, three key improvements are needed: 1) Improvement in chronic disease management; 2) expansion of healthcare for the elderly; and 3) strengthening of health education. This three-measure approach should be a key part of poverty alleviation, she said. In an earlier interview with China Daily, Huang Gairong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and also director of the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Henan Provincial People's Hospital in Zhengzhou, said the outbreak has exposed failings in the basic health system, including a lack of disease prevention and control capacity in many grassroots institutions, such as community health centers. Gu of the HDRC said healthcare has improved as part of the poverty alleviation campaign. "The government requires that every city or town government provide a hospital and experts sent from big hospitals to community hospitals to improve their skills." Gu further said: "We don't have a specific system designed for poor people but we provide public healthcare for everybody. Poor people have a higher priority than other people. They can be assigned a family doctor first and get chronic disease management first," he said."We have a medical aid system for people who are really poor and cannot afford medical care. In a medical emergency, a government fund will cover all costs for the first three days." Despite many difficulties, the fight to control the novel coronavirus has been largely successful in China. But, as always, a crisis exposes certain weaknesses in any system. The government is focused on strengthening the healthcare system and correcting the flaws that have become visible. The author is a senior commentator at China Daily. China Daily 2020629 Disneys (DIS) plans for a gradual return to normality have been thrown into disarray, as the coronavirus has made it clear it has not left the building yet. The recent spike in cases caused the company to delay the opening of Disneyland in California, which was originally slated for July 17. Walt Disney World in Florida is scheduled to open its doors again on July 11 but that also appears highly unlikely now, considering the host of new COVID-19 cases in the state. Theme parks arent Disneys only problem. No date has been set yet for the resumption of live movie production, either. Whats more, the highly anticipated release of its summer 2020 blockbuster, Mulan, has been pushed back yet again from July 24 to August 21. The lack of clarity has led to a reevaluation at investment firm Needham. 5-star analyst Laura Martin noted, "Owing to persistent COVID-19 uncertainties, we lower our FY20 DIS estimates to revenue of $68.1 billion (down 3% year-over-year and 5.5% below our previous estimate), and Adjusted EPS to $1.34 (down 77% year-over-year and 51% below our previous estimate). Looking ahead to Augusts FY3Q20 results, Martin expects revenue to decline by 35% year-over-year (13% below her original estimate) to $13.2 billion. Additionally, the analyst thinks adjusted EPS will plunge into the red, forecasting a loss of $0.65 per share. The figure is well below 3Q19s EPS of $1.35, and lower than Needhams previous call for EPS of $0.18. The one bright spot amid all of the anticipated year-over-year contractions is reserved for Disneys OTT offerings. Based on these products, Martin believes DIS will be a winner of the streaming wars. The segment boasts three unique services - ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu. These, according to Martin, provide Disney with the ability to target different market segments and cross promote and bundle with discounts and a much more favorable subscription service than that of streaming leader and rival Netflix. Story continues To this end, Martin keeps a Hold rating on Disney without suggesting a price target. (To watch Martins track record, click here) The rest of the Street remains cautiously optimistic about Disney. The analyst consensus rates the House of Mouse a Moderate Buy, based on 10 Buys, 11 Holds and 2 Sells. At $121.83, the average price target indicates upside potential of 12% over the coming months. (See Disney stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Ecological Defense Group President Nathan Edmondson speaks about the continued fight against poaching amidst pandemic PARK CITY, Utah, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At the request of the Department of Defense Cooperation (US Embassy, South Africa), EDGE began a program to offer a unique "special ops" skill to help protect a National Park in South Africa last month. EDGE is extremely proud to work with the US Consulate in Cape Town, along with NCC FIRE, Table Mountain National Park and SANParks to support the brave firefighters protecting Table Mountain National Park. EDGE experts have the opportunity to bring fast-rope techniques to these men and women so they can drop directly from a hovering helicopter to get ahead of quick-moving fires. President Nathan Edmondson says "EDGE is a proud friend of South Africa National Parks and is devoted to supporting and enhancing the mission to protect these national treasures. Wildlife Special Ops means offering unique solutions for wild places and the communities that protect them." EDGE continues to introduce and institute other "Wildlife Special Ops," including advanced K9 patrol capabilities, night vision and non-lethal Airsoft techniques to prepare Wildlife Rangers to face armed suspects. The organization boasts unparalleled capabilities and is a non-profit unique to Wildlife Protection in Africa. Edmondson adds: "EDGE is ambitious and forward-leaning. We have the best skills in the world to bring to the only war that's ever been fought for wildlife. We're proud to be on the frontlines to protect rhino, lion, elephant and pangolin and more our mission is clear, and we need support to do what we do." The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to devastate wildlife protection, Edmondson says. "On the frontlines, desperation and loss of opportunity, as well as loss of tourism and hunting revenue, has made endangered wildlife incredibly vulnerable. The situation is dire. On a support side, donations have slowed drastically, making our mission much harder. We are committed to stopping poaching and grateful to have a role in this noble fight." Story continues LInk to EDGE's site: www.ecodefensegroup.org Link to the US Consulate General video: https://twitter.com/USConsulateCT/status/1235921550257401856?s=20 About EDGE Founded in 2017, Ecological Defense Group (EDGE) is an EDGE is a 501c3 devoted to the ambitious protection of African wildlife. We were founded on the frontlines of the poaching crisis and work in multiple African countries with international partners to protect, preserve and ensure a future for Africa's most targeted and vulnerable species. We want results, not headlines. We employ quiet professionals. For more information, please visit https://ecodefensegroup.org/ . Media Contact: Maree Jones PR; 242717@email4pr.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edge-brings-wildlife-special-ops-fast-rope-program-to-south-africa-301085656.html SOURCE EDGE - Eco Defense Group DUBLIN, Ireland and FUNCHAL, Portugal and MADEIRA, Portugal, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seismology, volcanology, marine ecology, and oceanic conditions are key to understanding the future of our planet. EllaLink is proud to contribute to such understanding by launching the EllaLink GeoLab initiative which aims to provide the scientific community with real-time, accurate and relevant data on seabed conditions. This initiative will be the first dedicated facility of its kind as part of a telecoms submarine cable. EllaLink GeoLab :The EllaLink GeoLab initiative aims to provide the scientific community with real-time, accurate and relevant data on seabed conditions The EllaLink GeoLab infrastructure will be provided by EllaLink in cooperation with EMACOM. Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) Technology will be used on cable a dedicated fibre in the Madeira Branch of the EllaLink System. It will collect data along the route which will be optically transmitted back to the shore, independently and without impacting either telecoms traffic or the design life of the cable, making EllaLink in to the first system to integrate SMART cable concepts. The Research and Education (R&E) community in Europe will enjoy access to the data generated by the EllaLink GeoLab initiative. For this, EllaLink is collaborating with GEANT and the Portuguese NREN, FCT, both members of the BELLA Consortium, who will use EllaLink cable to support R&E collaborations between Europe and Latin America. Philippe Dumont, CEO of EllaLink said In a time of continued environmental change, critical information about the planet can be ascertained from the seabed. Submarine telecoms cables are best placed to monitor seabed conditions at all time and make such data available to scientists on-land. We are proud to lead the way into a new era of submarine cable systems supporting such scientific progress. Pedro Bettencourt Calado, Vice President of Autonomous Region of Madeira added Addition of DAS technology into the EllaLink branch to Madeira neutral operator EMACOM, is a move designed to pave the way for a greater understanding of the waters that surround our archipelago. The importance of educational progress relating to earthquakes and oceanographic conditions cannot be underestimated. We look forwarding to hosting the GeoLab facility in Funchal. Story continues Joao Cadete de Matos, Chairman of Autoridade Nacional de Comunicacoes (ANACOM) said of the news ANACOM considered the addition of seismic and environmental detection features in the future submarine cables Ring connecting the Mainland, Azores and Madeira greatly beneficial for Portugal, and it had the opportunity to propose such development to the industry. Therefore, ANACOM welcomes this important innovation and recommends its adoption by other future submarine cable systems developed on the Portuguese Continental Platform. Erik Huizer, CEO of GEANT commented GEANT provides users with highly reliable, unconstrained access to computing, analysis, storage, applications and other resources, to ensure that Europe remains at the forefront of research. EllaLink will provide direct connectivity between the research and education communities of Europe and Latin America, thanks to the work of the BELLA Consortium of which GEANT is a member. GEANT therefore welcomes the development of a dark fibre research infrastructure that can support DAS and other technologies, without disturbing telecommunications traffic, as a further engagement from EllaLink for the R&E community. Nuno Rodrigues, FCT Board Member said Science has shown time and again its fundamental role in the creation of knowledge beacons pointing the way to sound and sustained human and technological development. Today, this mission depends ever more on sophisticated scientific infrastructures to understand the complex processes that govern our world, upon which the discovery of new and relevant knowledge lies. GeoLab is far more than just a sophisticated scientific infrastructure, it is a scientific challenge in many fields of knowledge that FCT is committed to support and engage with the national and international scientific community to pursue such goal. About EllaLink EllaLink is an advanced optical platform offering secure high capacity connectivity on a unique low latency transatlantic route serving the growing needs of the Latin American and European markets. The EllaLink network directly connects Brazil and Europe, linking the major hubs of Sao Paulo and Fortaleza with Lisbon, Madrid, and Marseille. The EllaLink System is being built with state-of-the-art coherent technology initially offering 72Tbps of capacity over four direct fiber pairs between Europe and Brazil. The landing sites in Fortaleza (Brazil) and Sines (Portugal) have been secured, the marine survey is complete, and the cable manufacture is almost finalized. EllaLink is scheduled to be Ready for Service in Q1 2021. EllaLink is a privately funded and independent company committed to providing products and services on a Carrier Neutral and Open Access basis. For more information visit ella.link Press contacts EllaLink: info@ella.link About EMACOM The company EMACOM Telecomunicacoes da Madeira, Unipessoal, Lda., incorporated in August 1998 is100% owned by the Autonomous Region of Madeira. Its main objective is to provide fiber optic services as a neutral operator in the Autonomous Region of Madeira Portugal, and to promote with international connectivity, the development of IT business opportunities in this region. For more information visit http://www.eem.pt About GEANT GEANT is Europes leading collaboration on network and related infrastructure and services for the benefit of research and education, contributing to Europe's economic growth and competitiveness. The organisation develops, delivers and promotes advanced network and associated e-infrastructure services, and supports innovation and knowledge-sharing amongst its members, partners and the wider research and education networking community. For more information, visit www.geant.org About ANACOM Autoridade Nacional de Comunicacoes (ANACOM) is the national regulatory authority (NRA) for communications for the purposes of the law of the European Union (EU) and national legislation. About FCT FCT Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia is the Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology. FCT also manages the Portuguese NREN through its FCCN branch. FCCNs main objective is the planning and managing of the RCTS Rede Ciencia, Tecnologia e Sociedade (Science, Technology, and Society Network), which is an academic network consisting of a digital research infrastructure, covering all areas of knowledge and the entire national territory. Its services are provided by means of a high-performance network for education and research institutions, thus ensuring communication requirements and advanced digital services for the various user communities from these entities. RCTS is also a test platform for applications and advanced communication services. About BELLA BELLA (Building the Europe Link with Latin America) provides for the long-term interconnectivity needs of the European and Latin American research and education communities by procuring and deploying a long-term Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) for spectrum on a direct submarine cable between the two regions, and deploying a 100Gbps-capable research and education network across Latin America. BELLA is implemented by a Consortium of the Regional Research and Education Networks GEANT (Europe) and RedCLARA (Latin America) and the National Research and Education Networks of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Por tugal and Spain. BELLA receives funding from the European Union through the Horizon 2020 programme under grant agreement number 731505 -DG CNECT- (BELLA-S1), from DG DEVCO under grant agreement LA/2016/376-534 (BELLA-T), and from DG GROW. BELLA receives funding in cash and kinds, from CEDIA (Ecuador), REUNA (Chile), RENATA (Colombia) and RNP (Brazil). Together, they contribute 30% of the access cost to the EllaLink transatlantic cable, as well as making significant contributions to upgrading the RedClara regional network in South America. In the specific case of the EllaLink cable, the Latin American contribution comes from RNP, the Brazilian NREN, which is supported by a long-term programme launched by the government of Brazil. For more information visit http://www.bella-programme.eu , and follow us on Twitter: @BELLA_Programme. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0903ac88-918c-478d-838c-6320972ff09a SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fuel Cycle, Inc., a technology leader in market research and experience management, is the first business in Los Angeles to reopen with Vitalacy's workplace safety technology. Fuel Cycle Human Resources Director, Yami Rodriguez was searching for a way to keep staff safe while offices slowly reopened. "We needed to ensure our business strategy was complying with CDC's guidelines of promoting safe social distancing and proper hand hygiene," Rodriguez shared. "Coming back to work in an office can be an understandable concern for our employees and their families. It was important for us to invest in measures to help reduce risk of exposure." While at work, Fuel Cycle employees wear a Vitalacy SmartBand. The device measures proximity to other SmartBands in the office. If they are maintaining an unsafe proximity with other employees, the users they interacted with (for too close for too long) are notified by Vitalacy that they may have been exposed. The SmartBand also reminds wearers to hand wash every hour. The solution does not track user location and keeps all user data anonymous from other team members and their employer. Vitalacy was recently awarded Newsweek's Best in HealthCare 2020 as one of the best monitoring products for infection prevention. The technology improves how often and how well health care workers wash their hands to lower risk of hospital-acquired infections and keep both caregivers and patients safe. "We quickly realized our platform designed to help hospitals prevent the spread of infection could be used to help the workplace prevent the spread of COVID-19," said Janel Nour-Omid, Vitalacy CEO and Cofounder. "We are honored to be incorporated into Fuel Cycle's employee safety plan and help Los Angeles reopen responsibly." Nour-Omid was awarded Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare for 2020. Vitalacy has partnered with additional SOCAL businesses currently trialing the solution this summer. Story continues "Only together as a team can we help reduce risk of exposure for our employees as we manage workplace safety and maintain confidence during these difficult times," said Eran Gilad, CEO of Fuel Cycle. Learn More: www.vitalacy.com/contact-tracing About Fuel Cycle Fuel Cycle is a technology leader in market research and experience management, headquartered in Los Angeles. The Fuel Cycle Market Research Cloud connects companies with their products, brand, customers and employees and powers the world's most customer-centric brands. About Vitalacy Vitalacy, Inc. is a patient safety technology company based in Los Angeles, California. Our powerful and durable location-based platform automates workflow and compliance monitoring so hospitals can better focus on patient outcomes and caregiver well-being. CONTACT: Haley Dukelow, 714 486 9244, haley@vitalacy.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/enterprise-safety-technology-helps-la-businesses-reopen-safely-301085408.html SOURCE Vitalacy Ericsson ERIC recently inked a definitive agreement with Liberty Latin America Ltd. LILA to accelerate the telecom service providers network modernization drive across the Latin America region. The three-year deal is likely to foster the development of cloud-based and virtualized mobile core network solutions and facilitate the carrier to significantly scale up traditional wireless networks for superior customer service. Per the deal, Ericsson will deploy Cloud Packet Core, Cloud Unified Data Management and Policy, Cloud Voice over LTE, Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NVFI) and Network Manager solutions to augment voice quality and ensure high data speed with low latency. At the same time, the solutions will improve data security and increase network resiliency, enabling Liberty Latin America to better manage network user data in a cloud-native environment. The end-to-end cloud infrastructure will further help optimize performance and support a seamless transition to 5G technology across Puerto Rico, Panama and the Caribbean islands. With products based on open-source software and open interfaces, NVFI helps carriers to reap the benefits of the cloud by virtualizing physical network functions through support for virtual machines, containers, edge computing and several third-party options at the hardware infrastructure level. This, in turn, boosts network architecture flexibility while optimizing traffic through a distributed network. Owing to the wide proliferation of the smartphone market and subsequent usage of mobile broadband, user demand for coverage speed and quality has increased. Further, to maintain a superior performance with traffic increases, there is a continuous need for network tuning and optimization. Ericsson, being one of the premier telecom services providers, is much in demand among operators to expand network coverage and upgrade networks for higher speed and capacity. The Sweden-based telecommunications equipment provider is arguably the worlds largest supplier of LTE technology with a significant market share and has established a large number of LTE networks worldwide. Notably, Ericsson has secured more than 93 commercial 5G agreements with unique communication service providers, of which 40 are live networks. The company is increasingly focusing on 5G system development to capitalize on the upcoming market opportunities. The company believes that standardization of 5G is the cornerstone for the digitization of industries and broadband. Moreover, Ericsson foresees mainstream 4G offerings to give way to 5G technology in the future. Meanwhile, the impending deployment of 5G networks is expected to boost the adoption of IoT devices, with technologies like network slicing gaining more prominence. Currently, Ericsson is investing in its competitive 5G-ready portfolio to enable customers to seamlessly migrate to 5G. AI and automation remain key enablers for its business development, while recurrent contracts ensure a steady revenue stream. The stock has lost 2.8% in the past year compared with the industrys decline of 3%. Story continues We are impressed with the inherent growth potential of this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock. Some other favorably-ranked stocks in the industry are InterDigital, Inc. IDCC and Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. InterDigital has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 15%. It delivered a positive earnings surprise of 99.5%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. Juniper has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 8%. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +50%, +83% and +164% in as little as 2 months. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough 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 Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ericsson (ERIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report InterDigital, Inc. (IDCC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Liberty Global PLC (LILA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research A Tax on Carbon Emissions Tied to Imports Would Cut Profits for Foreign Suppliers of Oil, Steel, and Other Goods With Large Carbon Footprints and Give Companies in Cleaner Industries a Competitive Edge, BCG Research Finds BOSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A plan that is being considered by the European Commission to tax the carbon emissions attributed to imported goods could create competitive advantages for foreign companies with small greenhouse gas footprintsand have financial repercussions for other exporters, adding to the financial strain caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The tax could slash the profits that are generated by imported materials, such as crude oil, flat-rolled steel, and wood pulp, by 10% to 65%, and the tax could impact European Union and non-EU producers of such goods as chemicals and machinery, according to new research released today by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Boston Consulting Group logo (PRNewsfoto/The Boston Consulting Group) The study, which is described in an article titled "How an EU Carbon Border Tax Could Jolt World Trade," found that an EU carbon tax on imports could rewrite the terms of competitive advantage in one of the world's biggest markets. Higher prices for Russian crude oil, for example, could cause European chemical producers to import more oil from Saudi Arabia, where extraction methods leave a smaller carbon footprint. And steel that is produced in Chinese or Ukrainian mills using blast furnaces would become less competitive in the EU against steel from other countries that is made in more carbon-efficient mills. The details and timing of the policy are still to be determined and must be approved by legislators. But the article contends that some sort of carbon-pricing mechanism is likely to be imposed on importsand companies should prepare. "Whatever policy is adopted, the size and strategic importance of the EU market means its action could transform the fundamentals of global advantage," said Johan Oberg, a BCG managing director and senior partner who coauthored the article. "Companies around the world will be compelled to manage their carbon footprints with greater urgency." Story continues A carbon border tax is one of several mechanisms that the European Commission is considering as part of the European Green Deal, a bold initiative to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by 50% over the next decadecompared with the current target of 40%and make Europe the world's first climate-neutral continent. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyan, has recently called the European Green Deal a key element of the region's post-COVID-19 economic recovery. A carbon tax on imports also has strong support among European manufacturers. Many have been paying for carbon emissions since 2005 under the EU's Emissions Trading System, and they have wanted a more level playing field against importers, especially those from nations with more lax environmental standards. The BCG study assessed the impact of a potential carbon border tax on a wide variety of industrial sectors in different countries. The study assumed that the initial levy will be set at $30 per metric ton of CO 2 emissionsone potential scenario. The degree of impact on industrial sectors would be largely influenced by their carbon intensitythe relative propensity to contribute to the so-called greenhouse gas effectand trade intensity, the degree to which goods in that sector are traded. The study also estimated the tax's impact on the profits that are generated by exports to the EU in each sector. Considering the effects of the tax on competitive advantage and profits, the sectors that would be hit most directly are those that produce refined petroleum products, coke (a key input in steel manufacturing), and mining and quarrying products. The tax would reduce the profitability of crude oil shipments to the EU by about 20%, on average, for example, assuming crude oil prices remain in the range of $30 to $40 per barrel. The total profit pool generated by EU imports of wood pulp would shrink by 65%, on average. Sectors such as basic metals, chemical products, and paper products, while less dependent on trade, would also be directly affected because of their high carbon intensity. The tax would slash the profit pool generated by imported flat-rolled steel products, used by automotive and machinery makers and construction companies, by about 40%, on average. In terms of commodity steel, Chinese and Ukrainian industries, which mostly produce steel using blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces, would be hit much harder, on average, than those of Canada and South Korea, where a greater portion of steel comes from mills using cleaner electric arc furnaces. Because the costs of the carbon border tax would be felt far downstream in supply chains, it would impact companies in every sector, whether they are European or non-European. Owing to the size of the EU market, the tax is also likely to intensify pressure on companies and governments around the world to take stronger measures to limit emissions. Companies in nations with their own carbon-pricing schemes, such as Australia, Canada, and Japan, may be exempt if their governments negotiate new trade pacts with the EU or update existing ones. Despite the uncertainties surrounding the price mechanisms and the timing of the policy, CEOs should start preparing now for some form of an EU carbon tax on imports. The article recommends that companies begin measuring their carbon footprints, tracking carbon pricing and its impact on their costs, building a playbook of actions to take under various scenarios, and working with governments to help shape policy. "The best performers in each sector will not only enjoy a competitive edge in Europe," said Marc Gilbert, a BCG managing director and senior partner who leads the firm's work in geopolitics and trade. "They will also have a head start against less adaptable rivals in other markets as more nations embrace financial incentives to push companies to accelerate the fight against climate change." A copy of the study can be downloaded here. To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or gregoire.eric@bcg.com. About Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we help clients with total transformationinspiring complex change, enabling organizations to grow, building competitive advantage, and driving bottom-line impact. To succeed, organizations must blend digital and human capabilities. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives to spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting along with technology and design, corporate and digital venturesand business purpose. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, generating results that allow our clients to thrive. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/an-eu-carbon-border-tax-could-be-the-next-disruptive-force-in-global-trade-301085435.html SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG) More than 80 accredited Texas colleges and universities will receive more than $12 million as part of the ExxonMobil Foundations Educational Matching Gift Program. ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed nearly $4 million to Texas colleges and universities, and those individual donations were matched by $8.8 million in ExxonMobil Foundation grants. The ExxonMobil Foundation program matches individual donations to accredited colleges and universities in the United States. The American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and United Negro College Fund also receive donations as part of the matching gift program. While the grants are unrestricted, colleges and universities are encouraged to designate a portion of the funds they receive to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs supporting student engagement. "Supporting education is a key priority for ExxonMobil, its employees and retirees," said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. "Our educational matching gift program provides critical resources to inspire todays students to become tomorrows innovators and problem solvers." Nationally, more than 4,100 ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed nearly $16 million to 790 institutions of higher education in 2019, and those contributions will be matched with more than $37 million in unrestricted grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation. The ExxonMobil Foundation matches donations to eligible U.S. colleges and universities of up to $7,500 a year on a 2-to-1 basis for employees and on a 1-to-1 basis for retirees. ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation also support teacher training initiatives and programs that encourage students, particularly women and minorities, to consider careers in STEM areas. About the ExxonMobil Foundation The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of Exxon Mobil Corporation in the United States. In 2019, the ExxonMobil Foundation, together with Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, along with employees and retirees, provided more than $252 million in contributions worldwide, of which over $77 million was dedicated to education. Story continues View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005334/en/ Contacts ExxonMobil Media Relations 972-940-6007 Nine accredited Oklahoma colleges and universities will receive more than $1.7 million as part of the ExxonMobil Foundations Educational Matching Gift Program. ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed more than $470,000 to Oklahoma colleges and universities, and those individual donations were matched by more than $1.3 million in ExxonMobil Foundation grants. The ExxonMobil Foundation program matches individual donations to accredited colleges and universities in the United States. The American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and United Negro College Fund also receive donations as part of the matching gift program. While the grants are unrestricted, colleges and universities are encouraged to designate a portion of the funds they receive to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs supporting student engagement. "Supporting education is a key priority for ExxonMobil, its employees and retirees," said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. "Our educational matching gift program provides critical resources to inspire todays students to become tomorrows innovators and problem solvers." Nationally, more than 4,100 ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed nearly $16 million to 790 institutions of higher education in 2019, and those contributions will be matched with more than $37 million in unrestricted grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation. The ExxonMobil Foundation matches donations to eligible U.S. colleges and universities of up to $7,500 a year on a 2-to-1 basis for employees and on a 1-to-1 basis for retirees. ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation also support teacher training initiatives and programs that encourage students, particularly women and minorities, to consider careers in STEM areas. About the ExxonMobil Foundation The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of Exxon Mobil Corporation in the United States. In 2019, the ExxonMobil Foundation, together with Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, along with employees and retirees, provided more than $252 million in contributions worldwide, of which over $77 million was dedicated to education. Story continues View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005332/en/ Contacts ExxonMobil Media Relations 972-940-6007 Twenty accredited Louisiana colleges and universities will receive more than $3 million as part of the ExxonMobil Foundations Educational Matching Gift Program. ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed more than $850,000 to Louisiana colleges and universities, and those individual donations were matched by nearly $2.15 million in ExxonMobil Foundation grants. The ExxonMobil Foundation program matches individual donations to accredited colleges and universities in the United States. The American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and United Negro College Fund also receive donations as part of the matching gift program. While the grants are unrestricted, colleges and universities are encouraged to designate a portion of the funds they receive to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs supporting student engagement. "Supporting education is a key priority for ExxonMobil, its employees and retirees," said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. "Our educational matching gift program provides critical resources to inspire todays students to become tomorrows innovators and problem solvers." Nationally, more than 4,100 ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed nearly $16 million to 790 institutions of higher education in 2019, and those contributions will be matched with more than $37 million in unrestricted grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation. The ExxonMobil Foundation matches donations to eligible U.S. colleges and universities of up to $7,500 a year on a 2-to-1 basis for employees and on a 1-to-1 basis for retirees. ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation also support teacher training initiatives and programs that encourage students, particularly women and minorities, to consider careers in STEM areas. About the ExxonMobil Foundation The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) in the United States. In 2019, the ExxonMobil Foundation, together with Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, along with employees and retirees, provided more than $252 million in contributions worldwide, of which over $77 million was dedicated to education. Story continues View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005336/en/ Contacts ExxonMobil Media Relations 972-940-6007 The historic Jama Masjid, which had closed earlier this month due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city, will reopen for congregational prayers (namaz) from July 4, Shahi Imam of the mosque Syed Ahmed Bukhari said on Tuesday. The mosque was closed on June 11 in view of the "critical" conditions in the city due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, till June 30. Earlier, the mosque had reopened on June 8 after a gap of over two months with the government allowing further relaxations as part of unlock 1.0, the first phase of a calibrated exit from the coronavirus lockdown. Bukhari said that the decision to reopen the mosque was taken after consulting people and experts. "Under unlock 1.0, almost everything has opened and normal activities have resumed. We took this decision to open the mosque for people to offer namaz as the scare of the virus has lessened and awareness about safeguards against it has increased," Bukhari told PTI. He said that safety precautions like maintaining social distancing, wearing protective gear and sanitisation will be followed to prevent people from catching infection. A private secretary of the Shahi Imam, Amanullah had died due to coronavirus earlier this month. During the closure, people were asked to offer namaz at home, and only a few staff members offered the prayers five times a day at the mosque. Also read: Coronavirus in Delhi: NDMC mayor inspects Hindu Rao hospital, says beds to be increased to 200 Popular favorite burger and wings brand opens its first Alaska location in Fairbanks Fairbanks, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FAT (Fresh. Authentic. Tasty.) Brands Inc., parent company of Fatburger, Buffalos Express, and six other restaurant concepts, announces the opening of a co-branded Fatburger and Buffalos Express in Fairbanks, AK. The grand opening of the restaurant, the first to open in Alaska, will be today, Monday, June 29, 2020. Summer in the great north, when the days are longer and the sun hardly ever sets, is the perfect time to introduce the Fairbanks community to our delicious, freshly made burgers and spicy and flavorful chicken wings, said Andy Wiederhorn, CEO of FAT Brands. Our new co-branded Fatburger and Buffalos Express is our first Alaskan restaurant, but were sure it will be a local favorite in no time. Ever since the first Fatburger opened in Hollywood more than 70 years ago, the chain has been known for its delicious, grilled-to-perfection and cooked to order burgers. Founder Lovie Yancey believed that a big burger with everything on it is a meal in itself. And at Fatburger everything is not just the usual lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, mustard, pickles and relish. Burgers can be customized with everything from bacon and eggs to chili, jalapenos and onion rings. In addition to its famous burgers, the Fatburger menu also includes Fat and Skinny fries, sweet potato fries, scratch-made onion rings, IMPOSSIBLE burgers, turkeyburgers, chicken sandwiches, and hand scooped milkshakes made from 100% real ice cream. From the Buffalos Express menu, patrons can choose bone-in or boneless wings accompanied by a range of sauces including Scorchin, Carolina Fire BBQ, Asian Sesame, Coconut Jerk, Honey Garlic, and Sweet Bourbon BBQ. All of Buffalos Express menu wings are accompanied by celery, carrots and blue cheese, ranch or honey mustard dressing. The Fairbanks Fatburger and Buffalo's Express is located at 3548 Airport Way in Fairbanks, AK and will be open seven days a week; Store hours will be Monday through Thursday from 10:30 AM to 11:00 PM, Friday and Saturday from 10:30AM to1:00 AM, and Sunday from 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM. Story continues For more information or to find a Fatburger near you, please visit www.fatburger.com . For more information or to find a Buffalos Express near you, please visit www.buffalos.com . About FAT (Fresh. Authentic. Tasty.) Brands FAT Brands (FAT) is a leading global franchising company that strategically acquires, markets and develops fast casual and casual dining restaurant concepts around the world. The Company currently owns eight restaurant brands: Fatburger, Buffalos Cafe, Buffalos Express, Hurricane Grill & Wings, Elevation Burger, Yalla Mediterranean and Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses, and franchises over 375 units worldwide. For more information, please visit www.fatbrands.com . About Fatburger An all-American, Hollywood favorite, Fatburger is a fast-casual restaurant serving big, juicy, tasty burgers, crafted specifically to each customers liking. With a legacy spanning 70 years, Fatburgers extraordinary quality and taste inspire fierce loyalty amongst its fan base, which includes a number of A-list celebrities and athletes. Featuring a contemporary design and ambience, Fatburger offers an unparalleled dining experience, demonstrating the same dedication to serving gourmet, homemade, custom-built burgers as it has since 1952 The Last Great Hamburger Stand. About Buffalos Express Founded in 1985 in Roswell, Georgia, Buffalos Express is a fast-casual chain known for its world-famous chicken wings and proprietary wing sauces. Co-branded with 72 Fatburger restaurants to date, Buffalos Express significant growth can be attributed to its high-quality menu offerings and unparalleled dining experience. Featuring a contemporary design and ambience, whether guests are dining-in or having take-out/delivery, Buffalos Express offers friends and families the flexibility to enjoy their world-famous chicken wings however they prefer. Buffalos Express Where Everyone is Family. Educators from New York, Texas, Wisconsin and Michigan, along with a Florida School, win prestigious award for providing students with reading deficits exemplary opportunities to achieve inside and outside the classroom. PRINCETON, N.J., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Learning Ally is excited to announce the recipients of its 2020 Winslow Coyne Reitnouer Excellence in Education Award, a national achievement award named for a longtime advocate for helping struggling readers reach their potential. Learning Ally's mission is to transform the lives of struggling learners by providing educators with proven solutions that enable students to reach their academic potential. In a time when distance learning is necessary, the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution has become a crucial teacher resource that allows struggling readers to work independently at home and keep up with course work. This award honors educators in U.S. schools who embody our mission. Today we recognize four educators--and for the first time, a school--who have, despite the current challenges, provided exemplary opportunities for their students with reading deficits to achieve both inside and outside of the classroom. Terrie Noland, Learning Ally's VP of Educator Initiatives, offered congratulations to this year's nominees and winners, saying, "In the face of unprecedented challenges, you stepped up and made a difference. The circumstances of this school year could have written a tragic story for many students, particularly those who struggle to read. Your dedication to education excellence has made all the difference, and we couldn't be more proud of you." A national selection committee chose this year's award winners from a pool of hundreds of nominees. The 2020 Winslow Coyne Reitnouer Excellence in Education Award Winners are: Maria Arcodia, General Education Teacher at Brooklyn Arbor Elementary School, New York, NY Ms. Arcodia, the mother of a student with dyslexia and a visual impairment, has made it her goal to ensure all of her students develop a love of reading--even when learning to read--no matter what challenge or disability they face. She has been extremely proactive in her efforts to secure reading accommodations for her school, creating an educator and parent coalition to secure funding from charitable sources. She has held workshops for parents so they know to help their kids use accommodations at home, and has even helped fellow teachers advocate for accommodations to support their students who attend other schools. She is currently completing work to become a certified Orton-Gillingham instructor so she can ensure all her students succeed at reading. Story continues Julie Gutman, Director of Special Education at Lake Orion Community School District, MI Ms. Gutman and her district have been recognized by local, state and international organizations for their student successes in reading instruction and achievement. Her leadership and hard work has led to the development of many high impact programs that continue to have positive impacts on student outcomes, including 90% of the district's elementary students reading at or above grade-level reading. Susan Ketterer, Dyslexia Specialist at Cross Oaks Elementary School, Cross Roads, TX Ms. Ketterer is a strong advocate for all students who struggle to read, and has helped restructure her district's dyslexia department procedures, policies and communications. She creates a healthy environment for reading and learning with audiobooks among her students and takes time to share and educate other teachers about the resources available to them. She has also worked closely with parents in an effort to encourage and support their participation. Kevin Wright, General Education Teacher at Clarendon Avenue School, Mukwonago, WI Mr. Wright has long championed the use of assistive technology to support the reading development of students who struggle with decoding. Having partnered with his school's speech pathologist to identify new and better tools, his success, including improved test scores, has become a model for his district and led to his school being awarded "exceeds expectation" on their state report card two years in a row. Park Vista High School, Lake Worth, FL Park Vista HS presents a model for successfully creating an atmosphere that fosters inclusiveness and learning for all students, including those with reading deficits. The school encourages students to participate in their IEP meetings and provides academic counselors to discuss course work and other concerns, making them active participants in their education. They require all teachers to take dyslexia overview training and provide the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution to all qualifying students, even those taking technical classes. Their success has led a number of neighboring schools to try to emulate their model. For more information on Learning Ally, or to request a demo of the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution, visit http://www.learningally.org/educators or call 800-221-1098. About Learning Ally Learning Ally is a leading nonprofit education solutions organization dedicated to equipping educators with proven solutions that help new and struggling learners reach their potential. Our range of literacy-focused offerings for students Pre-K to 12th grade and catalog of professional learning allows us to support more than 99,000 educators across the US. The Learning Ally Audiobook Solution is our cornerstone award-winning reading accommodation used in more than 17,500 schools to help students with reading deficits succeed. Composed of high quality, human-read audiobooks and a suite of teacher resources to monitor and support student progress, it is designed to turn struggling readers into engaged learners. For more information, visit LearningAlly.org. SOURCE Learning Ally FRC praises Supreme Court decision to protect school choice and religious liberty in Espinoza v. Montana FRC praises Supreme Court decision to protect school choice and religious liberty in Espinoza v. Montana PR Newswire WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Research Council praised the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Espinoza vs. Montana, which held that it is a violation of the First Amendment to discriminate against religious activity by disallowing neutral and generally-available student-aid programs simply because they afford students the choice of attending religious schools. Now, families who receive education vouchers may apply those vouchers at any school they wish to attend, regardless of its religious affiliation or lack of such an affiliation. Family Research Council logo (PRNewsFoto/Family Research Council) Katherine Beck Johnson, Research Fellow for Legal and Policy Studies at Family Research Council, stated: "Today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that affirmed one of America's first freedoms, established in the First Amendmentthe right of religious freedom. America was founded, in part, to apply the principle that a government may not tell anyone what to believe or how to worship. For many Americans, our religion informs every aspect of our lives, from where and how we worship, to how we interact with civil society, to how to educate our children. Americans of faith even come together to form institutions united around their common goals. "Too often government rules discriminate against people of faith because of a misunderstanding about religious freedom. The practice of shutting people off from generally available public benefits simply because of their faith is harmful and dangerous. Montana's Blaine Amendment, which denied school choice funds for families that wanted to send their children to religious schools, was religious discrimination, pure and simple. "This decision underscores the reality that people of faith have always been integral to the fabric of America. They continue to provide valuable services to the community, in education as elsewhere. We are glad the Supreme Court today stepped up to protect people of faith from discrimination and affirmed parental choice," concluded Johnson. Story continues Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/frc-praises-supreme-court-decision-to-protect-school-choice-and-religious-liberty-in-espinoza-v-montana-301086102.html SOURCE Family Research Council ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NATSO, representing the nation's truckstops and travel plazas, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA) urged Members of Congress to oppose the Moving Forward Act, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill, ahead of today's House vote. The legislation includes a focus on climate change policies but includes provisions that will discourage private businesses from investing in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and stifle the market's transition to electric vehicles. NATSO Logo (PRNewsfoto/NATSO, Inc.) NATSO, NACS and SIGMA expressed concern with two provisions that will curtail private sector investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Specifically, the groups oppose a provision that would carve out an exception for electric vehicle charging to the longstanding federal law prohibiting the sale of fuel, food and other services at rest areas. The federal ban on commercial activities at Interstate rest areas has incentivized businesses to invest in fuel stations just off of America's highways since the inception of the Interstate Highway System. Private sector development of this national fueling network has ensured that drivers of gasoline-powered cars do not suffer from range anxiety. A similar approach would drive demand for electric vehicles. A second provision would allow investor-owned utilities to receive federal grants even if they have already raised rates on all of their customers to underwrite electric vehicle charging infrastructure investments. Fuel retailers will not invest in a technology where they have to pay for their own infrastructure and recover those costs while utilities can 'double dip' and have all of their investments covered by unwilling underwriters. The three organizations said the Moving Forward Act reflects a short-sighted desire to build charging infrastructure as rapidly as possible without regard for the long-term implications for EV charging availability and undermines the legislation's environmental objectives. "It will lead to a small number of chargers and no additional investment off the highway," the groups said. "This will mean fewer options for the consumer and less competition in pricing." Story continues NATSO, NACS and SIGMA think that private sector involvement in the installation of electric vehicle charging stations is key to meeting the fueling needs of the motoring public. Many of the associations' members are working to invest in that infrastructure. Collectively they represent hundreds of thousands of fuel retailers that sell approximately 90 percent of motor fuel sold at retail in the United States. The trade groups said infrastructure spending is a top priority and they remain eager to work with Congress to explore policies that encourage existing off-highway businesses to expand the full range of transportation energy offerings for consumers, including electric vehicle charging. In its current form, however, the Moving Forward Act will restrict those offerings. The groups said that the bipartisan highway reauthorization bill passed last summer by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which was supported by NATSO, creates a regulatory framework that is far more compatible with increasing investment in EV charging infrastructure than the House bill. The Senate EPW bill included grants for EV charging infrastructure along highway corridors but does not commercialize rest areas or encourage utilities to double-dip. NATSO announced earlier this year that it formed the National Highway Charging Collaborative with North America's largest electric vehicle charging vendor, ChargePoint, to add electric vehicle charging to more than 4,000 travel plazas in the next decade. The Moving Forward Act threatens that goal. The letter to Members of Congress can be read here. About NATSO, NACS, and SIGMA NATSO is the trade association of America's travel plaza and truckstop industry. Founded in 1960, NATSO represents the industry on legislative and regulatory matters; serves as the official source of information on the diverse travel plaza and truckstop industry; provides education to its members; conducts an annual convention and trade show; and supports efforts to generally improve the business climate in which its members operate. Contact: Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman, Vice President, Public Affairs. 703-739-8578 NACS advances the role of convenience stores as positive economic, social and philanthropic contributors to the communities they serve. The U.S. convenience store industry, with more than 153,000 stores nationwide selling fuel, food and merchandise, serves 165 million customers dailyhalf of the U.S. populationand has sales that are 10.8% of total U.S. retail and foodservice sales. NACS has 1,900 retailer and 1,800 supplier members from more than 50 countries. SIGMA represents a diverse membership of approximately 260 independent chain retailers and marketers of motor fuel. While 67 percent are involved in gasoline retailing, 83 percent are involved in wholesaling, 56 percent transport product, 39 percent have bulk plant operations, and 20 percent operate terminals. Member retail outlets come in many forms including truckstops, traditional "gas stations," convenience stores with gas pumps, cardlocks, and unattended public fueling locations. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fuel-retailers-travel-plazas-and-truckstops-oppose-moving-forward-act-ahead-of-house-vote-301086309.html SOURCE NATSO, Inc. Galien Foundation Postpones The Africa Golden Jubilee Awards Program to 2021 Galien Foundation Postpones The Africa Golden Jubilee Awards Program to 2021 PR Newswire NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 -- Dakar, Africa awards ceremony to celebrate 50 years of the Prix Galien - Prix Galien International acknowledging excellence in innovation to improve the human condition rescheduled to 2021 NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Galien Foundation announced today the Africa Prix Galien Golden Jubilee Awards Program, which culminates the Foundation's 50 years of celebration of innovation across the globe, will be postponed until December 2021. (PRNewsfoto/The Galien Foundation) "The health and wellbeing of all Prix Galien Africa participants, as well as the local, national and international communities, are our highest priority," said Bruno Cohen, Chairman of the Galien Foundation. "To ensure the safety of all participants, The Galien Foundation has decided to postpone the 2020 celebration and will continue to monitor recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) to follow up to date COVID-19 pandemic protocols. We look forward to celebrating with you in 2021." At the Africa Prix Galien Golden Jubilee Awards Program, the Foundation will honor the "global best of the very best" in: A- Pharmaceutical; B- Biotechnology; C- Orphan and Rare diseases; D- Vaccines; and E- Medical technology products. Eligibility will be drawn from the 250 products awarded the Prix Galien by the 14 member-country chapters since 1970, developed by more than 80 innovative companies, most of whom continue to bring new therapies for today's patients with unmet medical needs. "Over the last 50 years, we have benefitted from some of the world's greatest health innovations. As we continue to work together to address the current pandemic, we once again witness the passion and commitment from scientists around the globe as we ensure the public's health, safety and peace of mind together," said Awa Marie Coll-Seck, MD, PhD, Minister of State, Senegal and Chair of Prix Galien Africa. "We are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to honor and commemorate the Golden Jubilee winners for their contributions to improve human health in 2021 in Dakar. In the meantime, we will hold digitally the Prix Galien Africa and the Galien Forum Africa on December 10 and 11, 2020." Story continues Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chair of the Prix Galien USA and Prix Galien International Committees commented, "By 2050, the young population in Africa is expected to double to 2.5 billion people. These young minds are a key steppingstone to building important new collaborations for global public health. It would be an honor to host all future Prix Galien International events in Africa." The Prix Galien USA Ceremony will take place on October 29 in New York City at the Museum of Natural History, and the 2020 USA Prix Galien Award Nominees will be publicly announced on July 22, 2020. About the Galien Foundation The Galien Foundation fosters, recognizes and rewards excellence in scientific innovation to improve the state of human health. Our vision is to catalyze the development of the next generation of innovative treatments and technologies that will impact human health and save lives. The Foundation oversees and directs activities in the USA for the Prix Galien, an international award that recognizes outstanding achievements in improving the human condition through the development of innovative therapies. The Prix Galien was created in France in 1970 in honor of Galen, the father of medical science and modern pharmacology. Worldwide, the Prix Galien is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical and medical technology research. For more information, visit www.galienfoundation.org. Follow the Foundation on social media: https://www.facebook.com/GalienFoundation/ https://twitter.com/GalienFdn https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-galien-foundation/ Media Contact: Kara Bradley Finn Partners Kara.Bradley@finnpartners.com 646-213-7243 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/galien-foundation-postpones-the-africa-golden-jubilee-awards-program-to-2021-301086044.html SOURCE The Galien Foundation This recognition is a testimony to the companys inclusive culture and values amid the pandemic General Mills Middle East part of US-based Fortune 500, General Mills, Inc. has been recognized among Asias Best Workplaces 2020 across Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) by the prestigious international consulting firm Great Place to Work (GPTW) Institute. With a 150-year-old legacy, it is one of only three CPG/FMCG companies in the top 25 list. The Great Place to Work Certification is the most definitive Employer-of-Choice recognition and is considered the Gold Standard in recognizing Great Workplace Cultures. The assessment process includes key factors that define and compare the culture of an organization with that of its competitors. The award recognizes General Mills culture of collaboration and commitment across AMEA that consistently scores highly on the GPTW focused areas of Respect, Camaraderie, Credibility, Pride and Fairness. Even during the ongoing pandemic, General Mills has ensured smooth transitioning to working from home for its employees and innovating to meet emerging consumer needs. Commenting on the recognition, Mr. Balki Radhakrishnan, Vice President and Managing Director AMEA of General Mills said, "The recognition is a testimony to our culture of collaboration, reflected in several winning initiatives undertaken by the company. General Mills purpose is 'Making Food the World Loves' and the commitment demonstrated by our co-workers to delight our consumers while building an inclusive equal opportunity workplace is something we are collectively proud of." "At General Mills Middle East, we blend our heritage and experience of over 150 years, with the agility and vitality of a start-up. It is a blend of best global practices with local insights and strategies, developed by a diverse and committed team. Such balance is particularly important now, as employees and organizations wrestle with disruptive macro-economic challenges as an outcome of COVID-19," Mr. Radhakrishnan said. Story continues Ms. Thiruselvi Supuriamaniam, HR Head-Middle East and Africa said, "Exceptional employee engagement happens when an organization is conscious and purposeful about it. In a bid to make food the world loves, we pay utmost attention to the capabilities of our people and the strengths of our culture. Employees are empowered to tackle challenges and celebrated as they deliver results with speed and agility; supported by our employee-oriented engagement activities." Previously, many of General Mills markets in AMEA have also been individually recognized as a Great Place to Work as well. Additional Note to the Editor: Michael C. Bush, Global CEO of Great Place to Work "The COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge facing organizations across the globe, and puts a premium on being a high trust people-first culture. We honor General Mills for earning places on our ranking of Asias Best Workplaces because they will outperform their competitors and we hope General Mills will inspire more companies to become a Great Place to Work For All." About General Mills General Mills is a leading global food company whose purpose is to make food the world loves. Its brands include Cheerios, Annie's, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Haagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki, BLUE and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2019 net sales of U.S. $16.9 billion. In addition, General Mills share of non-consolidated joint venture net sales totaled U.S. $1.0 billion. Established in Lebanon in December 2002, General Mills Middle East moved business to Dubai in 2008 and aims at serving consumers who are seeking newer food experiences with delightful, innovative products. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005525/en/ Contacts Siddhartha D. Kashyap siddhartha.kashyap@adfactorspr.com Mekhla Singh mekhla.singh@adfactorspr.com Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 2021 Geneva Motor Show, originally scheduled for March 4th through 14th, 2021, has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns. The decision was made after a majority of exhibitors said they probably wouldnt participate in a 2021 show, according to a statement from the events organizers. The 2020 Geneva Motor Show was also canceled after the Swiss government banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The Geneva International Motor Show is one of the largest car shows in the world, usually attracting 600,000 people and 10,000 journalists, according to the statement. The shows cancellation dealt a huge blow both to the show itself and to the city of Geneva. GIMS is estimated to have an economic impact of more than 200 million Swiss francs per year, according to the statement. The city government offered a loan of 16.8 million Swiss francs to the Committee and Council of the Foundation Salon International de lAutomobile, which organizes GIMS. However, the foundation rejected the loan, since its terms would require a 2021 GIMS to be held. Instead, the foundation sold the show to Palexpo SA, the company that owns the convention center where GIMS takes place. While GIMS 2021 has been canceled, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, which draws more than 175,000 attendees, is still scheduled for January 2021. The fate of other major events in 2021 remains to be seen. Company Announcement Genmab and Seattle Genetics plan to discuss the results with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) Full data to be presented at an upcoming medical meeting Copenhagen, Denmark; June 29, 2020 Genmab A/S (GMAB) today announced very favorable topline results from the Phase 2 single-arm clinical trial known as innovaTV 204 evaluating tisotumab vedotin administered every three weeks for the treatment of patients who have relapsed or progressed on or after prior treatment for recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer. Results from the trial showed a 24 percent confirmed objective response rate (ORR) by independent central review (95% Confidence Interval: 15.9% - 33.3%) with a median duration of response (DOR) of 8.3 months. The most common treatment-related adverse events (greater than or equal to 20 percent) included alopecia, epistaxis (nose bleeds), nausea, conjunctivitis, fatigue and dry eye. The data will be submitted for presentation at an upcoming medical meeting. Tisotumab vedotin is an investigational antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) directed to tissue factor, which is expressed on cervical cancer and can promote tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastases.1 Standard therapies for previously treated recurrent and/or metastatic cervical cancer generally result in limited objective response rates of typically less than 15 percent with median overall survival ranging from 6.0 to 9.4 months, in an all-comers population.1-8 Tisotumab vedotin is being developed in collaboration with Seattle Genetics. After treatment with first-line chemotherapy regimens, there is a high unmet need for new effective and tolerable treatment options for women with advanced cervical cancer, regardless of biomarkers and histology, said Jan van de Winkel, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Genmab. These promising topline data from innovaTV 204 will be the basis of further engagement with the U.S. FDA as we continue to progress and expand our tisotumab vedotin development program in solid tumors with our partner. Story continues Additional clinical trials of tisotumab vedotin are currently enrolling patients, including in combination with pembrolizumab, carboplatin or bevacizumab, and with a weekly dosing schedule in patients with locally advanced or metastatic cervical cancer. Tisotumab vedotin is also being evaluated in other tissue factor expressing tumor types, including ovarian and other solid tumors. About innovaTV 204 Trial The innovaTV 204 trial (also known as GCT1015-04 or innovaTV 204/GOG-3023/ENGOT-cx6) is an ongoing single-arm, global, multicenter study of tisotumab vedotin for patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer who were previously treated with doublet chemotherapy with bevacizumab if eligible per local standards. Additionally, patients were eligible if they had received up to two prior lines of therapy in the metastatic setting. In the study operationalized by Genmab, 101 patients were treated with tisotumab vedotin at multiple centers in the U.S. and Europe. The primary endpoint of the trial was confirmed objective response rate per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1 as assessed by independent central review. Key secondary endpoints included duration of response, progression-free survival, overall survival, safety and tolerability. The study was conducted by Genmab in collaboration with Seattle Genetics Inc., European Network of Gynaecological Oncological Trial Groups (ENGOT) and Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG). For more information about the Phase 2 innovaTV 204 clinical trial and other clinical trials with tisotumab vedotin, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov . About Cervical Cancer Cervical cancer originates in the cells lining the cervix. Over 13,500 women are expected to be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer in the U.S. in 2020, with approximately 4,200 deaths.9 Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer death in women globally, with over 311,000 women dying annually; the vast majority of these women being in the developing world.10 Routine medical examinations and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine have lowered the incidence of cervical cancer in the developed world. Despite these advances, women are still diagnosed with cervical cancer, which often recurs or becomes metastatic. About Tisotumab Vedotin Tisotumab vedotin is an investigational antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) composed of Genmabs fully human monoclonal antibody specific for tissue factor and Seattle Genetics ADC technology that utilizes a protease-cleavable linker that covalently attaches the microtubule-disrupting agent monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) to the antibody and releases it upon internalization, inducing target cell death. In cancer biology, tissue factor is a protein that can promote tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastases.1 Based on its high expression on many solid tumors and its rapid internalization, tissue factor was selected as a target for an ADC approach. Tisotumab vedotin is being co-developed by Genmab and Seattle Genetics, under an agreement in which the companies share all costs and profits for the product on a 50:50 basis. Tisotumab vedotin is being evaluated in ongoing clinical trials as monotherapy in a range of solid tumors, including recurrent and/or metastatic cervical cancer, ovarian cancer and in combination with other commonly used therapies in recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer. These trials are evaluating tisotumab vedotin on a weekly or every three weeks dosing schedule. About Genmab Genmab is a publicly traded, international biotechnology company specializing in the creation and development of differentiated antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Founded in 1999, the company is the creator of three approved antibodies: DARZALEX (daratumumab, under agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc.) for the treatment of certain multiple myeloma indications in territories including the U.S., Europe and Japan, Arzerra (ofatumumab, under agreement with Novartis AG), for the treatment of certain chronic lymphocytic leukemia indications in the U.S., Japan and certain other territories and TEPEZZA (teprotumumab, under agreement with Roche granting sublicense to Horizon Therapeutics plc) for the treatment of thyroid eye disease in the U.S. A subcutaneous formulation of daratumumab, known as DARZALEX FASPRO (daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj) in the U.S., has been approved in the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of adult patients with certain multiple myeloma indications. Daratumumab is in clinical development by Janssen for the treatment of additional multiple myeloma indications, other blood cancers and amyloidosis. A subcutaneous formulation of ofatumumab is in development by Novartis for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis. Genmab also has a broad clinical and pre-clinical product pipeline. Genmab's technology base consists of validated and proprietary next generation antibody technologies - the DuoBody platform for generation of bispecific antibodies, the HexaBody platform, which creates effector function enhanced antibodies, the HexElect platform, which combines two co-dependently acting HexaBody molecules to introduce selectivity while maximizing therapeutic potency and the DuoHexaBody platform, which enhances the potential potency of bispecific antibodies through hexamerization. The company intends to leverage these technologies to create opportunities for full or co-ownership of future products. Genmab has alliances with top tier pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Genmab is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark with sites in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. and Tokyo, Japan. Contact: Marisol Peron, Corporate Vice President, Communications & Investor Relations T: +1 609 524 0065; E: mmp@genmab.com For Investor Relations: Andrew Carlsen, Senior Director, Investor Relations T: +45 3377 9558; E: acn@genmab.com This Company Announcement contains forward looking statements. The words believe, expect, anticipate, intend and plan and similar expressions identify forward looking statements. Actual results or performance may differ materially from any future results or performance expressed or implied by such statements. The important factors that could cause our actual results or performance to differ materially include, among others, risks associated with pre-clinical and clinical development of products, uncertainties related to the outcome and conduct of clinical trials including unforeseen safety issues, uncertainties related to product manufacturing, the lack of market acceptance of our products, our inability to manage growth, the competitive environment in relation to our business area and markets, our inability to attract and retain suitably qualified personnel, the unenforceability or lack of protection of our patents and proprietary rights, our relationships with affiliated entities, changes and developments in technology which may render our products or technologies obsolete, and other factors. For a further discussion of these risks, please refer to the risk management sections in Genmabs most recent financial reports, which are available on www.genmab.com and the risk factors included in Genmabs most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available at www.sec.gov. Genmab does not undertake any obligation to update or revise forward looking statements in this Company Announcement nor to confirm such statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made or in relation to actual results, unless required by law. Genmab A/S and/or its subsidiaries own the following trademarks: Genmab; the Y-shaped Genmab logo; Genmab in combination with the Y-shaped Genmab logo; HuMax; DuoBody; DuoBody in combination with the DuoBody logo; HexaBody; HexaBody in combination with the HexaBody logo; DuoHexaBody; HexElect; and UniBody. Arzerra is a trademark of Novartis AG or its affiliates. DARZALEX and DARZALEX FASPRO are trademarks of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. TEPEZZA is a trademark of Horizon Therapeutics plc. 1 Van de Berg YW et al. Blood 2012; 119:924. 2 Miller et al., Gynecol Oncol 2008; 110:65. 3 Bookman et al., Gynecol Oncol 2000; 77:446. 4 Garcia et al., Am J Clin Oncol 2007; 30:428. 5 Monk et al., J Clin Oncol 2009; 27:1069. 6 Santin et al., Gynecol Oncol 2011; 122:495. 7 Schilder et al., Gynecol Oncol 2005; 96:103 8 Chung HC et al. J Clin Oncol 2019; 37:1470. 9 National Cancer Institute SEER. Cancer Stat Facts: Cervix Uteri Cancer. Available at https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/cervix.html. Last accessed April 2020. 10 Global Cancer Statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 countries https://www.iarc.fr/news-events/global-cancer-statistics-2018-globocan-estimates-of-incidence-and-mortality-worldwide-for-36-cancers-in-185-countries/. Company Announcement no. 26 CVR no. 2102 3884 LEI Code 529900MTJPDPE4MHJ122 Genmab A/S Kalvebod Brygge 43 1560 Copenhagen V Denmark Attachment Germany Stuttgart Attacks People walk past cracks in a damaged window of a retail store during a clash in Stuttgart, Germany, Sunday, June 21, 2020. Police in Stuttgart say a check for drugs sparked attacks on officers and vandalism of downtown store fronts. They said the disturbance started after officers stopped a 17-year-old on suspicion of drug possession as several hundred people partied outside late Saturday. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the countrys top security official on Monday decried an outburst of violence at the weekend in the southwestern city of Stuttgart, where hundreds of people attacked stores, vehicles and police officers following a stop-and-search for drugs. Authorities say 25 people were arrested over Saturday night's unrest and 19 police officers were injured. Merkel's spokesman said the scenes were abhorrent and must be strongly condemned. Anyone who takes part in such outbreaks of violence, brutally attacks police officers and destroys and plunders shops cannot in any way justify it," Steffen Seibert said Monday. Seibert thanked police officers nationwide, saying they should know that the German government and millions of people stand behind you. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who called for swift and tough" punishment of those responsible, said there had been a broader rise in violence against officers and rescue workers for some time. He complained of disparagement of the police through words, and disparagement can be just as hurtful as physical violence. Seehofer also suggested he might file a criminal complaint against a left-wing newspaper columnist who had written disparagingly about police recently, but his spokesman later said officials were still examining the legal implications of such a move. Opposition lawmakers warned that government intervention over a newspaper column could be seen as interference in press freedom. The disturbances started after officers stopped a 17-year-old on suspicion of drug possession as several hundred people partied outside around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, police said. Bystanders started throwing stones and bottles, and smaller groups ran through surrounding streets breaking shop windows, according to police. Police said 40 businesses were vandalized, nine of them were looted and 12 police vehicles were damaged before officers brought the situation under control. Story continues Police have said the violence had no apparent political motivation. They said the suspect initially stopped was a white German citizen. Of the two dozen people arrested, half held German passports and half were citizens of other countries. Authorities said one of those arrested has been ordered held pending possible charges and they were seeking formal warrants to keep in custody another seven citizens of Germany, Croatia, Iraq, Portugal and Latvia. They include a 16-year-old boy accused of attempted manslaughter after allegedly kicking in the head a student who had been beaten up after criticizing the unrest. Other people detained during the unrest were released. GetYourGuide CEO Highlights Googles Alleged Failings During the Pandemic Tours and activities specialists like GetYourGuide have a huge advantage over bigger brands like Google, Booking.com, TUI, and Tripadvisor because the complexity of the experiences business requires a singular focus. Thats the opinion of GetYourGuide co-founder and CEO Johannes Reck, who spoke with Skift Senior Travel Tech Editor Sean ONeill for Skift Forum Europe on Tuesday. Reck said Google, which he characterized as a very good partner, should stick to being an advertising vehicle. I dont think Google is actually the place where you should book, Reck said. You could see for yourself during the pandemic when the shit hit the fan, who was refunding the customers, who was manning the customer service centers. That was GetYourGuide, that was not Google, right? GetYourGuide was among the German travel companies that chastised Google in April for its lack of advertising reimbursements for partners when Covid-19 led to a flurry of cancellations. French travel companies voiced similar concerns. Asked about the threat of Google becoming a tours and activities booking platform, Reck was dismissive, arguing that tours and activities require ground operations, and real-time data. So I would take any type of Reserve on Google or any notion that Google becomes an OTA (online travel agency) with a grain of salt because theyve just throughout the pandemic demonstrated that they cannot do that, he said. Reck contended that GetYourGuide has become the global market leader in tours and activities, was having its greatest year ever pre-pandemic, and is poised to actually sprint out of the crisis. They (customers) are coming back to us and they are not coming back to Google in the upswing, Reck said. A Google spokesperson declined to comment on Recks remarks. Reck said GetYourGuide is seeing phenomenal growth rates across Europe, with Germany in the lead, although France, Italy and Spain are generating very positive signs. Story continues Consumer behavior has shifted from booking a tour pre-pandemic once arriving in a destination to suddenly its unthinkable to go to Rome and not plan, or to stand in line for a Vatican tour, he said. Booking.com Is Apple Music, Not Spotify Asked whether he was worried about Booking.coms strategy pivot into a new partnership with TUIs Musement, Reck pointed out that just because a company can sell hotels doesnt mean it would be successful hawking tours and activities. He said Booking.com has not competed successfully against GetYourGuide in tours and activities because it requires a lot of tech, knowing the business complexities, and making it a companys number one priority to scale globally. Reck likened the Booking.com-GetYourGuide experiences competition to Disney versus Netflix in streaming, and Apple Music versus Spotify in tunes. People typically underestimate the young startup that is 100 percent focused while there are all eyes on the incumbent who is typically a very large and slow company, Reck said. I think there is really something to David versus Goliath, and I think David is typically faster and more agile and can really get things done. Not a Fan of Tripadvisor Listing Fees Reck pushed back against Viators decision to begin charging tour and activities operators a fee for new listings beginning August 1. He said unlike Tripadvisors attractions brand, GetYourGuide wont charge a listing fee. I think imposing any type of fee in this point in time is just not something thats timely or should be done or will help the customer in any shape or form, Reck said. Subscribe to Skift newsletters for essential news about the business of travel. Indian and Chinese militaries on Tuesday held another round of Lt General-level talks with a focus on finalising modalities for disengagement of troops from several friction points in eastern Ladakh, government sources said. The talks took place at a meeting point in Chushul sector on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they said. In the previous two rounds of talks, the Indian side pitched for restoration of status quo ante and immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso and a number of other areas. The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks, and the tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. In the talks on June 22, the two sides arrived at a "mutual consensus" to "disengage" from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh. The previous two rounds of dialogue took place at Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC. The Indian delegation at the meeting is headed by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh, while the Chinese side was to be led by the Commander of the Tibet Military District Major General Liu Lin. Following the Galwan Valley incident, the government has given the armed forces "full freedom" to give a "befitting" response to any Chinese misadventure along the LAC, the 3,500-km de-facto border. The Army has sent thousands of additional troops to forward locations along the border in the last two weeks. The IAF has also moved air defence systems as well as a sizeable number of its frontline combat jets and attack helicopters to several key air bases. The first round of the Lt General talks were held on June 6 during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley. However, the situation deteriorated following the Galwan Valley clash as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC. The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5 and 6. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9. Also read: India-China clash: Rafale jets with Meteor missiles to arrive next month Pacific Palisades, California--(Newsfile Corp. - June 30, 2020) - Green Stream Holdings Inc. (OTC Pink: GSFI) ("Green Stream", "GSFI", or the "Company"), an emerging leader in the democratization of solar energy through innovative solar energy generation facilities and designs, has been forced to issue an 8K to straighten out and correct a false filing made by a group of questionable individuals attempting to unlawfully obtain stock from the Company. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/newsfile_64/e29cd73d357f0ef0e66c675666f8d234 This highly dubious group of individuals concocted a plan to attempt to take ownership of a large block of common stock by claiming they had ownership of a Preferred class of stock. This group jointly filed a 13G on 6/21/2020 and even utilized the Edgar system to make an attempt to legitimize this unlawful false filing. The Company has obtained the services of an SEC law firm and is preparing legal actions to stem any further illegal actions by any and all of the individuals in this group. Company CEO, Madeline Cammarata, stated, "We were shocked and somewhat in disbelief of the insanity of the filing when it was brought to our attention, but it is with great pleasure I assure all shareholders there is no such grant or right that allows this group or of the any individuals in the group to obtain a large block of our Company stock." Madeline further stated, "We will fight and bury this illegal action and report any misconduct to the correct Regulatory body and put this behind us, as we are busy building a Solar Company our shareholders can be proud to be part of." As set forth in the Company's filings on Form 10 and Form 1-A, the Joint Filers also claim that they are holders or beneficiaries of certain convertible promissory notes (the "Purported Notes"). The Company believes that the Purported Notes are invalid or fictitious. The filing of the false Schedule 13G is part of pattern of acts by the Joint Filers to force the Company to accept the validity of the Purported Notes. Story continues About Green Stream Finance, Inc.: Green Stream Finance, Inc., a Wyoming-based corporation with satellite offices in Malibu, CA and New York, NY, is focused on exploiting currently unmet markets in the solar energy space, and is currently licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, and Canada. The Company's next-generation solar greenhouses constructed and managed by Green Rain Solar, LLC, a Nevada-based division, utilize proprietary greenhouse technology and trademarked design developed by world-renowned architect Mr. Antony Morali. The Company is currently targeting high-growth solar market segments for its advanced solar greenhouse and advanced solar battery products. The Company has a growing footprint in the significantly underserved solar market in New York City where it is targeting 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of rooftop space for the installation of its solar panels. Green Stream is looking to forge key partnership with major investment groups in order to capitalize on a variety of unique investment opportunities in the commercial solar energy markets. The Company is dedicated to becoming a major player in this critical space. Through its innovative solar product offerings and industry partnerships, the Company is well-positioned to become a significant player in the solar space. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Green Stream Finance, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Green Stream Finance, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Company Contact/Address: Green Stream Finance Inc. & Green Rain Solar, LLC 16620 Marquez Avenue Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 Phone: 310-230-0240 For All Inquiries Contact: info@greenstreamfinance.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/58880 JOHANNESBURG, June 30 (Reuters) - AEX Gold, a gold exploration and mining company focused on Greenland, said on Tuesday it plans an initial public offering (IPO) in London next month. AEX said it would seek admission to the London Stock Exchange's small company sub-market, AIM, and conduct a placement of common shares to raise 45 million pounds ($55.3 million). The company said it aimed to "leverage its first mover advantage in Greenland, underpinned by the previously producing Nalunaq asset, to build a full-cycle gold mining company in Greenland". The Nalunaq mine, which AEX plans to restart, produced around 350,000 ounces of gold between 2004 and 2009, and has an inferred resource of 250,970 ounces of gold, it added. Greenland made headlines last year when U.S. President Donald Trump floated the idea of buying the resource-rich autonomous Danish territory. Denmark's dismissal of the idea caused Trump to cancel a planned visit to Copenhagen. But the U.S. military then conducted an aerial survey of Greenland to assess the vast arctic island's mineral potential, as part of an agreement between the two governments. AEX Gold's listing will come after IPO volumes in Europe halved in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year. Bankers say only select companies with strong, counter-cyclical stories can get deals away in what remains a highly volatile marketplace. (Reporting by Helen Reid in Johannesburg, Additional Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan in London; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) MIAMI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Haber Law is pleased to announce the addition of Associate Kristen E. Ferrer to accommodate the firm's growing real estate and condominium practice areas. Ferrer's practice focuses on representation of community associations, real estate law, and commercial litigation. In representing condominium and homeowners associations, Ferrer counsels clients on all aspects of community association matters, including collections and foreclosures, elections, vendor and service provider agreements, arbitration disputes, and enforcement of governing documents and applicable Florida Statutes, Codes and Regulations. She also works closely with and provides legal support and advice to boards of directors and managers. Additionally, Ferrer represents buyers, sellers, and private lenders and has acted as the settlement agent in numerous residential real estate transactions. Ferrer is also experienced in dissolution of marriage and child custody matters and has represented clients in probate proceedings, contract disputes, asset and stock purchase transactions, and corporate formation. "Kristen is a valuable addition to the Firm and our accomplished condominium and real estate teams," said Managing and Founding Shareholder, David B. Haber. "Her expertise is a key component in continuing to build upon our successful and growing workload." Ferrer attended the University of Central Florida for her undergraduate studies and received her Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Corrections with a minor in Sociology in 2012. After college, Ferrer returned to Miami to attend the University of Miami School of Law and received her Juris Doctor in 2015. About Haber Law Haber Law is a 14-attorney boutique law firm based in Miami, Florida that focuses on construction law, including design and construction defects litigation, complex business litigation, condominium and homeowners association law, and all aspects of real estate law. Additional practice areas include aviation law, bankruptcy and creditors' rights, and family law. The firm is committed to its core values of integrity, service, dedication, innovation, diversity, and success. Haber Law is located on the internet at www.haber.law and can be reached at 305-379-2400. Story continues Media Contacts Velocitas Interactive Marketing + Public Relations Patricia Beitler / Abbi Sierra media@velocitas.com | 305-735-9845 Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/haber-law-adds-associate-kristen-e-ferrer-to-real-estate-team-301085437.html SOURCE Haber Law NuvOx Pharma, a Tucson-based biotechnology company developing NanO 2 emulsion for oxygen delivery, has received a "No Objection Letter" from Health Canada to proceed with a Phase IIa clinical trial of NanO 2 in COVID-19 subjects with acute hypoxic respiratory failure (AHRF). Some patients with AHRF can progress to a more severe form of the disease called acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS, which is associated with lung inflammation leading to low blood oxygenation, is the major cause of death in COVID-19 patients. Evan Unger, MD, President and CEO of NuvOx Pharma, said, "We had data in several animal models showing that NanO 2 restored oxygen levels in conditions of low oxygen caused by ARDS or acute lung injury. We already have data in humans from when NanO 2 was tested in subjects with brain cancer and stroke showing safety and evidence of efficacy in both indications. Because of this, we designed a clinical trial to study NanO 2 in COVID-19 patients." Diego Martin, MD, PhD, Chairman of Radiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, Principal Investigator of the Canadian efforts on the trial, said, "We are excited to collaborate with NuvOx Pharma on this project. I have been collaborating with Dr. Unger to study models of myocardial infarction where we have published evidence that shows NanO 2 can act as a cardioprotectant. In addition to ARDS, COVID-19 patients suffer multi-organ damage to the heart, brain, kidneys and other organs. In fact, a large percentage of patients who succumb to COVID-19 also have underlying cardiac disease or cardiovascular risk factors. NanO 2 appears to be reversing ischemia-mediated pathways of inflammation and tissue injury in lung, heart and other tissues, which may make it particularly well-suited as a treatment in COVID-19 subjects." Jarrod Mosier, MD, Associate Professor with Tenure Emergency & Internal Medicine and Associate Program Director of the Critical Care Fellowship at Banner University Medical Center, Tucson, AZ, is a Principal Investigator of the US sites in the clinical trial. Dr. Mosier said, "NanO 2 will be administered as a sustained IV infusion in the clinical trial. The first phase of the trial is a dose escalation design to determine the best dose, after which additional subjects will be enrolled at that dose as a dose expansion phase. The trial will determine if NanO 2 improves clinical outcomes in COVID-19 subjects with acute hypoxic respiratory failure. NanO 2 has the potential to transform the care of COVID-19 patients who present with low oxygen saturation." Story continues Disclaimer: Certain statements in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Actual events or results may differ substantially as a result of risks and uncertainties facing us. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations as of the date of these statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information, or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005892/en/ Contacts John McGonigle jmcgonigle@nuvoxpharma.com VANCOUVER, BC , June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - HealthSpace Data Systems Ltd. (the "Company" or "HealthSpace") (HS.CN) (38H.F) (HDSLF) is pleased to announce it has signed a contract with Orange County Health Care Agency in California. The total worth of the contract is $1,006,121.61 over the next five years. Healthspace Data Systems Ltd. Logo (CNW Group/HealthSpace Data) This is the second contract the Company has signed in the State of California. Orange County, which resides in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, is the 3rd most populous county within California. The contract comes after the Company was awarded their bid in response to Orange County's RFP in April. HealthSpace CEO, Silas Garrison noted "It is exciting to see us win a second significant contract in California. Orange County released their RFP in April and we were awarded the bid, and subsequently signed the contract, in a relatively fast time frame. We are seeing more traction in California and each contract win sets us up for more as the word of mouth effect takes hold. Our HSCloud is uniquely powerful in this space and it is gratifying to see how the market is continually reacting to it and choosing to implement it. At this stage, Orange County will be utilizing HSCloud for oversight of five regulatory program areas such as restaurants, pools and hazardous materials. This compares to the 14 regulatory programs San Francisco is utilizing HSCloud for." HealthSpace Data Systems Ltd. HealthSpace is a government Software as a Service (SaaS) company focused on providing efficiencies to state and local government agencies through its powerful enterprise cloud and mobile platform. Over the last decade, HealthSpace has successfully developed both cloud and mobile applications currently serving over 500 state and local government organizations across North America . HealthSpace's HSCloud Suite platform is one of the only self-serve enterprise SaaS platforms in the government space. HealthSpace is focused on revolutionizing every aspect of the regulatory process within state, provincial and local government; from licensing to inspections, to disease surveillance, to financial management. HealthSpace's platform handles it all. HealthSpace is now entering the FinTech space by developing an online and mobile payment platform that streamlines the intake of government revenue for the agencies it serves. The Company has also expanded its offerings in the realm of communicable disease tracking by creating an automated contact solution which enables public health agencies to broaden the scope and depth of their communicable disease surveillance in an automated fashion. Story continues Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although HealthSpace believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. HealthSpace 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. SOURCE HealthSpace Data Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/30/c0970.html More than $300,000 distributed to college students across Arizona to continue education during pandemic Phoenix, AZ, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Since the launch of the Arizona Postsecondary Student Resiliency Fund, Helios Education Foundation and College Success Arizona distributed over $300,000 to more than 700 students across Arizona to help provide immediate assistance to college students affected by COVID-19. These funds assisted with educational expenses, housing expenses, technology expenses, as well as other immediate needs. Helios and College Success Arizona created the fund to help low-income and first-generation college students in need of support to continue their education during the pandemic. COVID-19 and its economic repercussions have disproportionately affected minorities, and over 90 percent of the funding recipients are minority students. Low-income, first-generation and minority students will need continued support through this pandemic. The economic effects of COVID-19 are negatively affecting their means of supporting themselves through school, and also taking devastating tolls on their families, said Rich Nickel, President and CEO of College Success Arizona. These are the students who, in the best of times, face challenges that make it less likely they will complete their postsecondary studies. The pandemic has compounded those challenges. These funds helped hundreds of Arizona students continue their education to summer and fall classes. More than 40 percent of recipients were able to cover multiple expenses needed to support their education. Recipients used funds to help cover medical expenses for family members, buy groceries and well as cover tuition after they or their families have lost their jobs. Our hope is to provide students with a measure of relief, stability, and support that will enable them to continue with their education and, ultimately, graduate. The funds weve distributed thus far have gone a long way to make that happen, and we will continue to support students in the ways that they need to succeed, said Paul Luna, President and CEO of the Helios Education Foundation. Story continues The hope is to extend funding support to 1,500 students. College Success Arizona administers the fund and it is available for students working with existing partner organizations focused on postsecondary student success across Arizona. So far, students enrolled at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona, as well as numerous community colleges throughout the state, have received funds. For more information about partner programs and eligibility requirements, please visit www.collegesuccessarizona.org. About Helios Education Foundation Helios Education Foundation invests resources all along the education continuum to ensure more students in Arizona and Florida connect potential to opportunity by completing a postsecondary degree. Committed to the principles of Community, Equity, Investment, and Partnership, Helios and our partners improve educational outcomes for minority, first-generation, and underrepresented students, throughout Arizona, and in Floridas metropolitan regions of Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Miami. Focused on the limitless opportunities provided by an equitable education system, Helios and our partners seek to change lives, strengthen communities, and close achievement gaps. Since 2004 Helios has invested more than $240 million in partnerships and initiatives focused on improving education outcomes in the two states we serve. Learn more about Helios Education Foundation at www.helios.org. About College Success Arizona College Success Arizona works to significantly increase the college attainment rate of students in Arizona, particularly for those who otherwise would not be able to attend or graduate, such as low-income, first generation, and Latino students. We advocate for long-term, sustainable policy solutions that address key challenges in Arizona. Our priorities include closing information gaps that limit college-going culture, working to improve college affordability and increase state financial aid, and advocating for increased attainment statewide to drive economic growth. Learn more at www.collegesuccessarizona.org Rebecca Lindgren Helios Education Foundation 602.828.7061 rlindgren@helios.org Maura Keaney College Success Arizona 415.250.1875 keaney@collaborativecommunications.com Nestled in the West 7th district, just off of Interstate 30, the Home2 Suites by Hilton Fort Worth Cultural District (1145 University Drive) celebrated its opening Wednesday, June 24. FORT WORTH, Texas, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Nestled in the West 7th district, just off of Interstate 30, the Home2 Suites by Hilton Fort Worth Cultural District (1145 University Drive) celebrated its opening Wednesday, June 24. The newest hotel to open in Fort Worth, this 162-room property is owned by Southeastern Development and managed by LBA Hospitality. "We're thrilled to add another exceptional property to our growing Texas portfolio," said Farrah Adams, Chief Operating Officer of LBA Hospitality. "The Home2 Suites Fort Worth Cultural District is situated in the heart of the Cultural district centrally located for our guests to enjoy dining, shopping, and world-class museums." The new Home2 Suites Fort Worth Cultural District offers all-suite accommodations with sleek, modern design and pops of cowboy flair. With a custom lobby layout, 60% larger than the prototype Home2 Suites, guests can enjoy the communal space at a safe social distance. The lobby features a double-sided breakfast bar and an open and modern Oasis, Home2's expanded community multi-functional space for social gatherings, individual work, and meeting zones. Accommodations consist of spacious studio and one-bedroom suites with a streamlined approach to storage and function, including fully-accessorized kitchens and modular furniture. The hip and stylish innovations include a "working wall," which incorporates the kitchen and a flexible working/media space. For outdoor space, there's a cozy outdoor patio, complete with saline swimming pool and gas grills. Additional amenities include free WiFi, complimentary breakfast, and Spin2Cycle, the 24-hour fitness center, and laundry room combo where guests can do laundry while they work out. For business meetings and celebrations, the hotel offers 650 square feet of meeting space, accommodating up to 24 guests. Home2 Suites by Hilton Fort Worth Cultural District is pet-friendly. Story continues With recent events top of mind, the hotel is taking all of the necessary precautions to protect the safety and wellbeing of guests and associates. Hilton has developed a global program introducing a new standard of hotel cleanliness and disinfection: Hilton CleanStay with Lysol protection. Hilton CleanStay program builds upon Hilton's already high standards of housekeeping and hygiene, where hospital-grade cleaning products and upgraded protocols are currently in use, to ensure Hilton guests enjoy an even cleaner and safer stay from check-in to check-out. Ft. Worth, aka. "The City of Cowboys & Culture" was named "Best of Travel" by Money Online, and earned a spot on the "Top 10 city for Young Professionals" list by Forbes Magazine. The Home2 Suites Fort Worth Cultural District is a short walk to West 7th Street, where guests can enjoy a stroll in Trinity Park, shop and dine in one of the dozens of restaurants and shops, and visit one of five world-class museums of the Cultural District. For more information or to make a reservation, visit Home2 Suites by Hilton Fort Worth Cultural District here, or call +1 (682) 707-9475. ### About Southeastern Development Originated in 1987, Southeastern Development, headquartered in Augusta, GA is a multi-facet development company operating throughout the Southeast for over 30 years. The company develops multi-family, retail, hotel and major residential planned development communities. For information, visit http://www.southeastern.company About LBA Hospitality Established in 1973, LBA Hospitality is one of the leading hotel management, development and consulting companies in the U.S. With an extensive portfolio of hotels located in the Southeast and Southwest, the company is a recognized leader developing and operating the most respected brands under franchise licenses of Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and InterContinental Hotel Group. For more than four decades, LBA Hospitality has continued to set a higher standard in hotel development, management and guest satisfaction, resulting in sustained, profitable growth for owners. For more information, visit http://www.lbahospitality.com. SOURCE Home2 Suites by Hilton Adds $6.0 million to treasury, IMC fully funded for existing growth initiatives * Currency is in CAD$ unless specified otherwise TORONTO and GLIL YAM, Israel , June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - IM Cannabis Corp. (the "Company" or "IMC") (IMCC.CN), one of the world's pioneering medical cannabis companies with operations in Israel and across Europe , announced that investors exercised 12,350,795 common share purchase warrants and broker compensation options which were to expire by June 27, 2020 . This amounts to gross proceeds of approximately $6.0 million and represents 92.1% of the warrants and broker compensation options expiring on or prior to June 27, 2020 with the balance having expired. IM Cannabis Corp. Logo (CNW Group/IM Cannabis Corp.) Oren Shuster , Chief Executive Officer of IMC commented, "In markets that remain challenging to access capital, IMC has strengthened its financial position with solid support from our shareholders. We maintain ample financial resources to finance our growth plans going forward. Furthermore, as we gain momentum from recently signed pharmacy sales agreements in Israel , draft legislations in support of decriminalization in Israel and distribution agreements in Germany , we will continue to prove that our team can execute on driving value for our shareholders." About IM Cannabis Corp. IMC is an international medical cannabis company, and a well-known Israeli brand of medical cannabis products. In Europe , IMC has established a medical cannabis operation first with its distribution subsidiary in Germany and augmented by strategic agreements with certified EU-GMP Standard suppliers, making it one of the only medical cannabis companies with fully integrated operations in Europe . IMC intends to leverage its operational experience and brand to establish a foothold in emerging medical cannabis markets including Germany , Portugal and Greece . IMC's core Israeli business includes offering branding, know-how and other intellectual property-related services to the Israeli medical cannabis market. Its key assets in Israel include commercial agreements with licensed producers and an option to purchase licensed entities. IMC has developed proprietary processes in its operations and is active in developing and investing in innovative technology for global medical cannabis consumers leveraging its reputation and expertise in the medical cannabis sector. Story continues Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "likely" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limiting the foregoing, the expected need for additional capital, the financial results of recently announced pharmacy sales agreements in Israel and distribution agreement in Germany , the timing and nature of cannabis decriminalization by the Israeli government, and the Company's strategic plans. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: the ability of the Company to comply with applicable government regulations in a highly regulated industry; unexpected changes in governmental policies and regulations affecting the production, distribution, manufacture or use of medical cannabis in Israel , Germany , Portugal , Greece or any other foreign jurisdictions in which the Company intends to operate; the ability of Focus Medical to deliver on its sales commitments; the risk that regulatory authorities in Israel may view the Company as the deemed owner of more than 5% of Focus Medical in contravention to Israeli rules restricting the ownership of Israeli cannabis cultivators and thereby jeopardizing Focus Medical's cannabis cultivation license; unexpected disruptions to the operations and businesses of the Company and/or Focus Medical as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic or other disease outbreaks including in the event that Focus Medical were to lose its designation as an essential service in the State of Israel during the current COVID-19 outbreak; any unexpected failure of Focus Medical to renew its cultivation license with the Israeli Ministry of Health; reliance on management; inconsistent public opinion and perception regarding the use of cannabis; engaging in activities considered illegal under US federal law; political instability and conflict in the Middle East ; adverse market conditions; the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; crop failures; litigation; currency fluctuations; competition; and loss of key management and/or employees. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. SOURCE IM Cannabis Corp. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/30/c6319.html (Bloomberg) -- India banned ByteDance Ltd.s viral short-video service TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps, citing threats to its sovereignty and security as relations between the worlds two largest populations worsened. The unprecedented moratorium, announced days after border tensions in the Himalayas left 20 Indian soldiers dead, deals a blow to the most prominent names in Chinese technology. The banned services included e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.s UC Web, social media leader Tencent Holdings Ltd.s WeChat and Baidu Inc.s map and translation platforms. The move marks another attempt by India to reduce dependence on its neighbors products and hampers efforts by Chinas largest corporations to expand beyond their own borders -- a collective endeavor encapsulated by TikToks phenomenal success abroad and particularly in India, ByteDances largest international market. The worlds most valuable startup responded by saying it will meet with Narendra Modis government to discuss the matter. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government, said Nikhil Gandhi, the companys local chief, in a tweet on its official account. Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. Click here for the Indian governments statement and full list of banned Chinese apps In an emailed statement, TikTok also said that its team of around 2,000 employees in India is committed to working with the government to demonstrate our dedication to user security and our commitment to the country overall. The ban threatens to ramp up tensions between two of Asias largest economies. As the border standoff that had simmered for nearly two months worsened, customs officials began halting clearances of industrial consignments coming in from China at major Indian ports and airports. The ban announced Monday also includes smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp.s Mi Video Call and Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like service. Story continues The unauthorized transmission and storage of Indian users data in overseas servers and its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defense of India is a matter of deep and immediate concern requiring the emergency measures, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said in a statement on Monday. Representatives for Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu didnt have immediate comment when contacted. China is strongly concerned about the relevant notice issued by the Indian side. We are checking on and verifying the situation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a briefing in Beijing Tuesday. We want to stress the Chinese government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international rules and local laws and regulations in their business cooperation with foreign countries. The Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legitimate and legal rights of the international investors including Chinese ones. Still, its unclear how the ban will be implemented as most of these apps already reside on users phones. The government might need to block the app servers and prevent new users from downloading them. One in three smartphone users in India will be impacted by this ban, Tarun Pathak, associate director with Counterpoint Technology, told BloombergQuint. Meanwhile, the governments decision to bar the apps began garnering support on social media. Its time to take some hard decisions to get out of Chinas cyber clutches, Nirmal Jain, chairman at financial services conglomerate IIFL Group, tweeted. While banning other Chinese-made products and hardware is challenging in Asias third-largest economy, the blockade of a wide swath of Chinese apps ranging from gaming and news content to music streaming and online retail is particularly significant. India, with its half-billion internet users, is an emerging arena for global technology companies from the U.S. to China. As hundreds of millions of first-time users come online in India, they do so on Chinese smartphones. Myriad Chinese apps are their doorway to the internet. For ByteDance, which counts India as its biggest market with over 200 million TikTok users, the move is a particular blow. ByteDance faced a brief ban in India last year, and is being scrutinized in Europe. It also faces mounting questions from U.S. policy-makers over whether it jeopardizes national security. Some of these Chinese apps are not just for commerce but have deeply entrenched into the social fabric of our lives, said Anil Kumar, chief executive officer of technology researcher RedSeer Consulting. They know what you do, what you say, where you go. In the current context, they can be viewed as a threat to our national security. (Updates with comment from Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the eighth paragraph. A previous version of the story was corrected to remove reference to Clash of Kings.) 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. VANCOUVER, BC, June 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Diamond Fields Resources Inc. (DFR.V) ("DFR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of the drilling program undertaken by TMH Acquisition Co. ("TMH"), a special purpose vehicle established by Denham Mining Fund LP, on the Company's Beravina Zircon Project in Madagascar ("Beravina Project") pursuant to the cooperation agreement announced by DFR on 16 May 2019 and amended on 26 June 2020 (the "Amended Agreement"). During the period September 2019 to March 2020 , TMH completed an exploration drilling, sampling and assaying program on the Beravina Project. A total of 13 diamond core drill holes ( 906.16m ) were completed before the program was curtailed due to the onset of the rainy season in Madagascar . The drill program was designed to confirm geological and grade continuity of the current deposit and to test for potential strike and depth extensions to the mineralised system. The results are outlined in table 1. The following points are highlighted from the results: Infill drilling confirmed geological continuity on the north, south and west of the deposit and returned a weighted average grade of 15.5% Zr02 which is consistent with the previous 43-101 Inferred Resource grade estimate of 15.3% ( December 2018 43-101 technical report). Drilling into zircon-quartz pegmatite in the SW portion of the deposit stopped in grade at a vertical depth of 100m (PE12 43m averaging 16.2% Zr02) due to rig limitations. This area previously yielded 36m averaging 18.3% Zr02 from historical drill hole S11 and was stopped in mineralisation at a similar depth of 104.2m . This portion of the deposit remains open at depth and further drilling is warranted. Drilling within the eastern and potential northern depth extensions to the deposit did not intersect mineralisation or only encountered thin, low grade intercepts of a brecciated nature. Further work is not warranted in these areas. Table 1: Summary of the 2019 Beravina Drill Program conducted by TMH Story continues Hole ID From To Sample length High ZrO2 Low ZrO2 Weighted Average ZrO2 PE13 12.00 29.80 17.80 18.5 0.1 5.99 PE06 30.62 39.26 8.64 18.5 1.95 13.92 PE17 25.67 38.33 12.66 22.9 4.61 18.41 PE08 51.45 67.60 16.15 26.2 0.34 13.93 PE12 57.43 100.55 43.12 23.9 0.25 16.20 PE02 34.34 49.57 15.23 27.3 7.05 19.69 PE05 19.81 38.10 18.29 31.2 5.03 18.85 PE03 5.17 12.67 7.50 26.5 13.8 17.71 AVERAGE LENGTH: 17.42 AVERAGE GRADE: 15.50 PE12 50.48 51.15 0.67 6.72 6.72 6.72 PE01 51.41 57.00 5.59 9.04 0.03 1.77 PE02 22.12 25.50 3.38 28.3 21.9 24.62 PE07, PE10, PE14 PE15 No Mineralisation Encountered Note : Holes PE04, PE09, PE11 & PE16 were planned to be drilled but were not attempted due to adverse weather conditions at onset of the rainy season. Under the terms of the Amended Agreement with TMH, the Company will undertake further exploration work on the Beravina Project commencing with a high-resolution magnetic and photogrammetry drone survey, the development of digital elevation models and limited surface prospecting. The magnetic drone survey is designed to identify the magnetite bearing marker horizon which forms an outer envelope to the Beravina zircon-quartz pegmatite deposit. The purpose of the survey will be to define potential depth extensions to the current deposit and outline additional new deposits within the 625-hectare exploration license area. If this further exploration work is successful, the Company will then engage in a drilling campaign on the Project to be completed by 30 November 2020 under the terms of the Amended Agreement with TMH. Sybrand van der Spuy , CEO, said "The drilling results reinforce Beravina's potential, confirming both the high-grade nature of the deposit and its potential for expansion. DFR will now be responsible for the next phase of exploration targeting potential extensions to the depth of the existing deposit as well as the identification of additional deposits which may exist within the Beravina license area." Figure 1: June 2020 Beravina Mineralisation Model - View from the West (CNW Group/Diamond Fields Resources Inc.) Figure 2: Geological Map Showing Beravina Trenching and Drilling, including 2019 Campaign (CNW Group/Diamond Fields Resources Inc.) David J Reading, M.Sc., FIMM, a director of DFR and a Qualified Person as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43101"), has prepared or supervised the preparation of, or approved, as applicable, the technical information contained in this press release. Mr. Reading has over 40 years' experience in the mining industry covering all stages of mine development, including exploration, feasibility, financing, construction and operations. He has an MSc in Economic Geology and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and of the Society of Economic Geologists. Notes to Editors: DFR is a TSX Venture Exchange listed exploration and mine development company with assets in Madagascar and Namibia . In Madagascar , DFR is developing the Beravina Project, an advanced high grade hard rock zircon exploration prospect located in the west of the country, approximately 220km east of the port of Maintirano and near a state road. DFR acquired Beravina from Pala Investments and Austral Resources in 2016. In Namibia , International Mining and Dredging Holdings (Pty) Limited is undertaking an initial six month (non-continuous) offshore diamond mining program on DFR's ML 111 licence area. The ML 111 concession has a ten year mining licence, effective until 4 December 2025 , and lies within Luderitz Bay between Diaz Point in the south and Marshall Rocks in the north and at depths of 15 to 70 metres. Website: www.diamondfields.com The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements: Statements in this release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors identified in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian Securities Regulators. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as otherwise required by law. SOURCE Diamond Fields Resources Inc. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/29/c0934.html Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, in a tweet posted on Tuesday, said that some of his staff members have been tested positive for the coronavirus and are undergoing treatment at Mumbai's Kokilaben Hospital. Khan also said that his entire family including him have been tested negative for COVID-19, only his mother is yet to be tested. In a message posted by Khan on Twitter, he wrote, "This to inform you that some of my staff have tested positive. They were immediately quarantined and BMC officials were very prompt and efficient in taking them to the medical facility." Khan expressed his gratitude for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for taking care of his staff members and for also fumigating and sterilising his entire society. "I would, once again, like to thank the BMC for the prompt. The professional and caring manner in which they helped us". Khan said that his entire family has tested negative for COVID-19 and he is talking to his mother to get her tested for the coronavirus. Khan mentions that she is the last person in the family to get tested, Khan had asked all his fans to pray that his mother is also tested negative. Khan also thanked all the doctors, nurses and staff of Kokilaben Hospital. He said that the people working at the hospital were very caring and professional with the testing process. Aamir Khan is set to star in 'Lal Singh Chaddha', an Indian remake of the internationally acclaimed film 'Forest Gump'. The film was slated to release on Christman 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic. Also Read: Coronavirus update: 18,522 new cases, 418 deaths in 24 hours; tally surges to 5.6 lakh Also Read: Coronavirus in Delhi: NDMC mayor inspects Hindu Rao hospital, says beds to be increased to 200 TORONTO , June 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, the Ontario government announced the creation of a new task force to improve provincial oversight of the towing industry. The task force will help develop a regulatory model to increase safety and enforcement, clarify protections for consumers and improve towing industry standards. It will also consider tougher penalties for offenders. Insurance Bureau of Canada (CNW Group/Insurance Bureau of Canada) "IBC applauds the Ontario government for taking action against criminal activity and violence in the towing industry," said Kim Donaldson , Vice-President, Ontario , IBC. "Insurance fraud is a safety issue for consumers. Lives can be put at risk as a result of these criminal actions. Insurance fraud costs Canadians in higher insurance premiums, and strains our already burdened health care services, emergency services and court systems," added Donaldson. The task force will review a number of topics related to the towing industry, which could include provincial oversight of safety, consumer protection, improved industry standards, training and background checks. As part of the review, the task force may consider opportunities for increased protections for consumers against the first-to-scene unethical business practices that lead to accident chasing, insurance savings through a crackdown on insurance fraud rings, and improved consumer choice for payments and repairs. The province is also reviewing ways to clear accidents faster from roadside, which would minimize lane reductions and reduce congestion on Ontario highways. About Insurance Bureau of Canada Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is the national industry association representing Canada's private home, auto and business insurers. Its member companies make up 90% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance market in Canada . For more than 50 years, IBC has worked with governments across the country to help make affordable home, auto and business insurance available for all Canadians. IBC supports the vision of consumers and governments trusting, valuing and supporting the private P&C insurance industry. It champions key issues and helps educate consumers on how best to protect their homes, cars, businesses and properties. Story continues P&C insurance touches the lives of nearly every Canadian and plays a critical role in keeping businesses safe and the Canadian economy strong. It employs more than 128,000 Canadians, pays $9.4 billion in taxes and has a total premium base of $59.6 billion . For media releases and more information, visit IBC's Media Centre at www.ibc.ca. Follow us on Twitter @IBC_Ontario or like us on Facebook. If you have a question about home, auto or business insurance, contact IBC's Consumer Information Centre at 1-844-2ask-IBC. SOURCE Insurance Bureau of Canada Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/29/c2447.html News provided by J&J Writing Corp. GLOUCESTER, Mass., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- It's All Hallow's Eve in the Dublin Woods, and an ancient evil has command over ghosts, ghouls, and lunatics as it relentlessly searches for a cursed object of great power. The curse of Dublin Woods has lasted through the millennia, ever since an invading Egyptian army swept through Ireland, scouring the region for a magical artifact. This blessed item, an Irish four-leaf clover, has the power to healor to destroywhen reunited with its twin. The matching relic is embedded in the heart of a grotesque mummy. If the rotting creature gets its hands on the other clover, the entire world will burnlike the Dublin Woods did long ago. In The Haunted Trail: The War of the Dublin Woods by John Lukegord (J&J Writing Corp, available now), Mick Patrican is determined to prevent this. Mick never intended to get involved in a supernatural war, but when he finds himself lying in a cave, injured and fighting for his life, he will have to take a stand against an evil that has caused death and destruction for thousands of years. Guided by stalwart spirits, Mick must find the clover and stop the curse once and for all. In 1892, Patrican finds himself lying in a cave with broken legs, punctured lungs, and a massive bullet wound. He is on the run from deranged killer Scott McArthur and his band of murderous madmen. The gang has already killed Mick's two brothersand they'll stop at nothing to finish the job. The homicidal maniacs have been worked into a frenzy by the curse of the Dublin Woods. Now, on Halloween night, this murderous mummy is at the height of his power. Determined to succeed in his quest to find an important mystical artifact hidden somewhere deep within the forest, he has taken control of McArthur and the others to help him fulfill his sinister mission. Aided by friendly spirits, Mick must outrun and outwit both the mummy and the murderers in order to find the artifact first, venturing into the dark heart of the woods to confront the curse itself. Will he make it out aliveor is he destined to share his family's fate? Story continues About the Author: John Lukegord is a writer from Gloucester, Massachusetts. His Haunted Trail series of books are based on horror skits created and acted in a small Massachusetts neighborhood in the Fall of the early '90s. These skits were well-crafted and highly successful as far as drawing a fan base. The Haunted Trail series is now a trilogy of books. His previous books are A Stalker's Journey, The Haunted Trail, and The Haunted Trail: A tale of two four-leaf clovers. The Haunted Trail: The War of the Dublin Woods is available on Amazon. Contact: John Lukegord jacklukegord@gmail.com Related Files Order #420524 - 49488_The-War-of-The-Dublin-Woods_SYNOPSIS.doc Order #420524 - 49488_The-War-of-The-Dublin-Woods_QUERY_LETTER.doc Related Images the-haunted-trail-the-war-of-the.jpeg The Haunted Trail: The war of the Dublin Woods The images on the front cover of this book display key events that occur within the climax of the story. Related Links The Haunted Trail: The war of the Dublin Woods Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-c-lukegords-campfire-tale-the-haunted-trail-the-war-of-the-dublin-woods-volume-2-now-available-on-amazon-301086376.html SOURCE J&J Writing Corp. By Marcelo Rochabrun SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Bankrupt LATAM Airlines and Avianca Holdings are dramatically retrenching their once grand ambitions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing competition in Latin America as they mull once-unthinkable cooperation with rivals. Since May, LATAM has exited Argentina, partnered with rival Azul SA in Brazil and cut back domestic operations in Chile, while Avianca has departed Peru. LATAM is now open to a deeper alliance with Azul, even as the two airlines usually control a combined 60% of Brazil's domestic market. The scaling back could reshape air travel in Latin America, weakening competition regionally and driving up ticket prices while also helping some carriers survive. The moves show how the industry is already shrinking through attrition, as airlines are too cash-strapped to consider buying the competition. "More than consolidation, many airlines will disappear," said Eliseo Llamazares, an aviation consultant at KPMG. Latin American governments increasingly recognize there is a new reality, and have shifted their priorities to keeping local airlines alive instead of attracting new players. Attrition has also occurred in Ecuador, where TAME shut down, and in Mexico, where Interjet has scaled back. "If this trend is allowed to continue, connectivity around the region will be affected," said Peter Cerda, vice president for the Americas at IATA, an airline industry group. "Less connectivity means less choice, and less choice usually translates into higher prices." All airlines in Latin America face some risk of disappearing, analysts say. Dominant LATAM and Avianca have filed for bankruptcy protection, while auditors for Brazil's Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes are seeking to include a formal warning in the airline's financial statements that the carrier risks disappearing. Azul and Aeromexico have hired restructuring advisers, while Panama's Copa Holdings has not flown since late March, straining its finances. Story continues One airline that could stand to benefit is Chile-based JetSMART, which is considering entering Brazil's domestic market. JetSMART's expansion is backed by deep pockets at private equity firm Indigo Partners, which also holds stakes in Frontier, Wizz Air and Mexico's Volaris. Indigo Partners founder Bill Franke told Reuters he expects to look into helping finance Avianca's restructuring. That could bring Avianca closer to JetSMART, keeping the Colombian airline's markets safe from competition. Avianca declined to comment. 'DIVIDING THE MARKET' If JetSMART expands to Brazil, it would arrive as competition is diminishing. Last year, LATAM and Gol fought to keep Azul from entering a key Sao Paulo airport. "JetSMART in Brazil would wreak havoc on the current players," said an air industry executive. But the coronavirus has turned competition into a secondary concern, evidenced by the lack of pushback against the LATAM-Azul code-share. The code-share "would have been untenable before," said Carlos Ozores, an aviation consultant at ICF. The current partnership applies only to non-overlapping routes, but LATAM said it is "open to evaluating the possibility of the eventual future expansion of this code-share" to overlapping routes. "They are dividing the market for themselves," an executive at a rival airline said of LATAM and Azul. Gol CEO Paulo Kakinoff said code-share agreements - in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight sharing one aircraft - will reduce air-travel supply, "which will benefit all of us." The LATAM-Azul partnership has led to speculation about the future. "It could be the first step for deeper integration, even a merger," said Andre Castellini, an aviation consultant at Bain & Company. LATAM and Azul deny merger talks, but a source familiar with the code-share talks said it is "possible." More than mergers, so-called joint business agreements are in vogue. Recently, LATAM signed one with Delta Air Lines Inc , while Avianca, Copa and United have announced a rival one. The agreements allow for deep route integration, without all the expenses and red tape of an actual merger. LATAM was born out of the difficult merger of Chile's LAN and Brazil's TAM, which saddled the new carrier with big expenses. Not long ago, LATAM and Avianca had their planes in almost every corner in Latin America, controlling a combined 60% of the domestic markets in Colombia, Chile and Peru. But Avianca pulled out of Peru in May, calling the domestic market unprofitable, surrendering to LATAM, which has dominated travel there since the 1990s. LATAM, in turn, departed Argentina earlier this month after losing an accumulated $350 million since 2012. What it shows is airlines willing to surrender market share that they fought hard in normal times to maintain. "To talk about competition in this context makes no sense, this is a fight for survival," Bain's Castellini said. "Airlines are going to prioritize their survival over their market share." (Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago and Tatiana Bautzer in Sao Paulo; Editing by Christian Plumb and Matthew Lewis) Seemingly every company has at least a few people who quietly go (or sign on) to work every day, skip the watercooler chatter, and get right down to business. They dont seek attention or recognition, and very often they fall into the shadows of their louder, more visible colleagues. These individuals arent always your most talented or high-level employees, and they might never be nominated for employee of the month. But they quietly get more work done than anyone else. Theres a name for these people: water carriers. And I recognize them, because I am one. Most of my career Ive quietly worked in the background while others with bigger personalities were in the spotlight. Back in the day, water carriers did the hard work of hauling water from rivers and wells to peoples homes. In the modern business context, the work of the water carrier (when its not being used in an outright negative context) is at odds with the prevailing work smarter, not harder ethos popular today. I dont see it that way, of course. And having lived the experience of a water carrier, once I moved into a position of managing global teams, I made a dedicated effort to look beyond the people gunning for attention to uncover the hard workers who are easily overlooked. But as I step into the role of CEO at my company, I have less time to do the legwork necessary to find and rewardmy water carriers. So Im encouraging my leadership team to do this instead. Why? Beyond the simple answer of employers showing fair recognition for hard work, knowing who your water carriers are, and how to keep them, can create a critical advantage for your company. This goes double in the Covid-19 era, when organizations everywhere are seeking to do more with less and embracing remote models where deliverables increasingly outweigh charisma. You need to find your water carriers. Story continues Its easy to overlook your water carriers Some researchers believe the US is the most overtly self-promotional culture in the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in business, where everything from MBA programs to advice columns preach the benefits of constantly touting your own achievements. As a result, attention often goes to the biggest personalities in the office, with water carriers fading into the background. These quiet, conscientious folks dont announce when theyve finished an assignment, sealed a deal, or solved a nagging operations problem. They just move on to the next task on their list. Taking the time to seek these people out and talk to them about their work can provide crucial insight into how your business operates, and where your blind spots are. Often, youll find your water carriers in unlikely places. For instance, my company creates software for people analytics and workforce planning. Whenever were getting ready to release a new product, process gaps emerge between our R&D, sales, marketing, customer success, and support teams. It never fails: R&D says the product is ready to ship, but the other teams say they need more time. Someone then has to step up to find a way forward. Navigating multiple team dynamics, approval processes, and timelines may not be a glamorous role, but at that moment, it is literally the most important job in the company. After talking to several members of each team and asking them to walk me through their workflow, I found our water carriers: the few people whod regularly taken it upon themselves to coordinate all the groups involved and ensure a timely release. This let me know a couple of things: 1) we probably need to create a new position to coordinate our releases, and 2) who was holding an imperfect system together all this time. Needless to say, that kind of passion and commitment is anything but commonplace. These individuals can be exceptional assetsprovided you can spot and acknowledge them in time. How to find, and support, your water carriers Identifying your water carriers isnt about separating introverts from extroverts; its about identifying a difference in work ethic and finding the people who consistently go the extra mile. As a newly named CEO, my first order of business was a 30-day listening tour in my company, in part to uncover our water carriers and alert our leadership team to their presence. This is a practice Ive developed throughout my career. Teasing out the people who are quietly doing their job (and then some) requires both judgment and patience. Data tools, such as organizational network analysis, can point you in the right direction, but finding your water carriers takes some old-fashioned detective work. Importantly, water carriers wont always be your high-level, heavily credentialed employees, or top talents; in fact, many often arent. Spending time with frontline workers and managers, asking for details, and observing team dynamics in action is critical. These tactics have been a hallmark of great leaders, and for good reasontheyre the only way to find out whos really holding teams together and pushing projects to the finish line. Rewarding your water carriers is equally important, and requires a unique approach. Giving them a trophy in front of the company or promoting them to VP is often the wrong move; in fact, many have no interest in becoming managers. However, without some form of support and acknowledgment they can grow frustrated, lose interest, and quietly leave and you wont know everything theyve done for you until theyre gone. Start by ensuring that they know you know. Simple acknowledgment from senior leadership can speak volumes. I have often had one-on-one chats with my water carriers to thank them for their efforts, and I sometimes offered a small bonus or a gift (unbeknownst to their own managers). But dont stop with kind words or gestures. Identifying your water carriers can be an opportunity to actively gather their insights and feedback. Whats working? What isnt? These individuals are keepers of institutional knowledge and keen observers of bad systems. Tap their expertise and reciprocate their efforts by ensuring they have the resources they need to continue to excel in their roleno matter where in your organization that might be. Help identify blockers, from budgets to bad managers, and use the occasion to map out career pathways and opportunities for advancement that make sense for them. Why go to all this effort? A healthy company requires a variety of personalities. While its technically possible for successful organizations to exist on evangelists and ambitious all-stars alone, without a balance the result is a cutthroat culture full of people crying for attention, while execution falls by the wayside. Even the best-built processes have gaps and flaws, especially processes that span across functional groups. Organizations count on people to fill these gapsmake sure you keep those people happy, and do the work to keep them around. Ryan Wong (@ryanhywong) is an engineer turned CEO of Visier, a business intelligence platform. Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 30, 2020) - Lions Bay Capital Inc. (TSXV: LBI) ("Lions Bay" or the "Company") provides a corporate update and announces that the market value of the company's listed share portfolio as at May 31, 2020 was $3.4 million. In addition, the company had receivables of $223,000 and creditors totalling $1.25 million. The Company is highly leveraged to small price movements in its investments all of which are progressing major resource projects. The Company has five significant listed investments which are: i) Parkway Minerals - listed on the ASX (PWN) and is developing a leading brine water processing technology that is attracting global interest. The Company holds 223 million ordinary shares of Parkway and 54.5 million partly paid shares. ii) Kalina Power Ltd - listed on the ASX (KPO) and owns the global rights to an energy efficiency technology. The Company owns 23.3 million shares in Kalina which has announced plans to build ten plants using its technology in Alberta. iii) Elementos Ltd - a tin exploration and development company listed on the ASX (ELT) and is focussed on bringing the Oropesa project in Spain into production. Elementos recently announced the results of a positive economic study on the project. The Company owns 152 million shares in Elementos. iv) Davenport Resources Ltd - listed on the ASX (DAV) and has assembled a series of browfield potash projects in Germany. Davenport recently completed positive scoping studies on two of these projects and is currently looking for strategic partners to assist in financing the next stage. The Company holds 10 million shares in Davenport. v) Fidelity Minerals Corp. - listed on the TSXV (FMN). The Company has assisted in the restructuring of FMN over the past eighteen months. This has included restructuring the capital base, selling non-performing assets to remove debt and acquiring a suite of tier one gold and copper projects in Peru. The Company currently holds 12.9 million shares and 6.2 million warrants in Fidelity. Story continues The executive chairman of the Company, Mr John Byrne, commented, "Success in any one of these companies has the potential to have a significant impact on our balance sheet. Identifying and working with junior resource companies to deliver all the necessary pieces to deliver projects takes time and patience. We are now well positioned to capitalise on success" About Lions Bay Capital Inc. Lions Bay Capital Inc. is a TSX-V listed Investment Issuer that is focused on high return investment opportunities, principally in the mining, clean energy and clean technology sectors, where it provides public and private companies with strategic and financial support. On behalf of the Board of Lions Bay. John Byrne Executive Chairman Tel: +61 3 9236 2800 Email: jbyrne@lionsbaycapital.com For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.lionsbaycapital.com or contact the above. 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. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations that are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "will", "plan", "intends", "may", "will", "could", "expects", "anticipates" and similar expressions. Further disclosure of the risks and uncertainties facing Lions Bay and other forward-looking statements are discussed in Lions Bay's Management's Discussion and Analysis which is available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, for the Company and the companies it is invested in, but are not limited to, commodity prices, fluctuations in revenues and expenses, need for additional funding, availability of such additional funding and that funding will be on acceptable terms, retention of key employees, economic conditions, currency fluctuations, competition and regulations, legal proceedings and risks related to operations in foreign countries. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date they are given and, except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/58869 LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - "Black Swan" reinsurance schemes backed by governments could help businesses get insurance pay-outs after huge shocks such as the coronavirus pandemic, Lloyd's of London said. Commercial insurance market Lloyd's has said insurers worldwide will pay out more than $100 billion in coronavirus-related claims this year. But many firms are frustrated that their business interruption policies do not cover the pandemic and some in Europe and the United States are in dispute with insurers. The Black Swan cover could be used to ensure payments after catastrophes such as a cyber attack or solar storm destroying critical infrastructure, as well as for pandemics, Lloyd's said in a report published on Wednesday. "Our concern is you solve for pandemic and you don't solve for the next disaster," Lloyd's Chief Executive John Neal told Reuters. Insurers in Britain, France, Germany and the United States are seeking government-backed "Pandemic Re" cover for future pandemics, similar to existing pooled insurance schemes for damage due to terror attacks. Neal said that unlike a Pandemic Re, a Black Swan Re would help firms after "multiple systemic exposures". European risk managers have also called for a broader programme. Lloyd's, which has set up a 15 million pound ($18.5 million) seed fund to create new products, is also proposing a government-backed after-the-event product to give small businesses a quick cash injection after a crisis. And the market is working on a new business interruption policy for its small business customers, to insure sums of up to 100,000 pounds, which Neal said could launch this year. Britain's markets watchdog is taking eight insurers to court, including two Lloyd's syndicates, to clarify whether some business interruption policy wordings should trigger pay-outs. Customer opinions of insurance have deteriorated as a result of the disputes, the Lloyd's report found. The proposals were made in conjunction with Lloyd's' global advisory committee, which includes major insurers such as Allianz and AXA. ($1 = 0.8091 pounds) (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Alexander Smith) Click here to read the full article. As the global human rights community implores us to build back better in the wake of COVID-19, we must reflect on existing business models and human rights frameworks and analyze whether they are properly supporting the workers whose human rights they are designed to respect, particularly in times of crisis such as the current pandemic. In our previous columns, we detailed the 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the two historic arbitrations that labor unions subsequently brought under it, and the Transition Accord that appeared to flourish in its wake. Eight months later, and amid a global pandemic, we now have heightened insights into the status of the garment sector in Bangladesh and globally, and whether such mechanisms are truly fulfilling their responsibility to respect workers human rights. More from WWD Background on the Bangladesh Accord & the Transition Accord The Bangladesh Accord is an agreement amongst over 200 global brands and retailers, labor unions and private companies, which holds the signatories accountable to developing a fire and building safety program in Bangladesh. It was developed following the disastrous building collapse in Bangladeshs Rana Plaza on April 24, 2013, which killed more than 1,100 garment workers and injured 2,000-plus others, and previous fires that had occurred in Pakistans Ali Enterprises factory and Bangladeshs Tazreen Fashions factory. Though the initial Accord was set to expire in May 2018, a Transition Accord was put in place to last until 1 June 2020, after which the functions of the Accord Office in Bangladesh transitioned to a newly established labor-brands-industry organization called RMG Sustainability Council, which will continue with factory inspections, remediation monitoring, safety training, and a safety & health complaints mechanism at the RMG factories supplying to Accord signatory companies. Per the Accord, these programs will be implemented in accordance with the protocols and procedures developed by the Accord, which have also been inherited by the RSC. Story continues At the time of our previous publication, we questioned whether the Transition Accord would live up to the initial Accords mandate to respect workers human rights. Just before the outbreak of COVID-19, the office of the Transition Accord aimed to assuage those concerns by issuing its first quarterly report in February 2020. The report noted that more than 2,100 factories were inspected or scheduled for inspection, claimed 91 percent initial remediation progress across accord factories and boasted progress with workplace programs leading to over 1.8 million workers being informed of workplace safety and 552 complaints being resolved. However, as the seventh anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster passed, and COVID-19 began to sweep the globe, several competing factors led to a much grimmer reality. The Existential Crisis Posed by COVID-19 As the world as we once knew it has severely changed this year due to the global pandemic, so too did the garment sector and the day-to-day reality of its most vulnerable employees. IndustriALL, one of the labor unions that brought the historical arbitrations under the Accord described COVID-19 as an existential crisis for the garment industry and noted that social distancing measures taken in countries currently most affected by COVID-19 are driving wholesale closure of thousands of garment factories with millions of workers being laid off without a social safety net. The union warned that due to the spread of the virus, more factories will be forced to close, putting potentially millions more workers out of work. Substantiating these concerns, a recent Bloomberg report found that about 1,089 garment factories in Bangladesh have had orders cancelled worth roughly $1.5 billion due to the coronavirus outbreak. This existential crisis prompted increased scrutiny from investors who are calling on companies to take action on COVID-19 and to publicly disclose the steps they have taken, including promptly paying suppliers and ensuring worker health among other key steps. COVID-19 as a Lens to Explore Garment Sectors Progress Using the seventh anniversary of Rana Plaza and the COVID-19 pandemic as lenses through which to evaluate concrete change, several recent articles sharply contradicted the optimistic first quarterly report. Specifically, the articles mirrored IndustriAll in noting that the spread of COVID-19 led fashion brands to mass-cancel orders already produced or in production, without considering the devastating impact of unpaid wages to the garment workers. A recent Forbes article noted that the responses from global brands have run the gamut with some companies, such as H&M and Uniqlo, agreeing to pay for the costs of work in progress or completed and other companies informing their suppliers that they have no intention of paying for work done. Similarly, another article noted the parallels between COVID-19 and the Rana Plaza disaster. It observed that Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Associations President, Dr. Rubana Huq, has appealed to international buyers with the claim that, with $3 billion worth of orders canceled or paused by brands, garment makers will be completely disenfranchised, potentially leading to great social unrest. On this note, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre also chimed in that over two million mostly women garment workers have lost their jobs or been furloughed, many without pay or severance and that thousands of workers have staged protests over unpaid wages, risking infection due to the fear of starvation. To make matters worse, the BHRRC also stated that where factories remain in operation, workers are reporting being forced to work without adequate precautions, leaving them, their families and communities at risk of infection. The Garment Sector and Human Rights Beyond Bangladesh Of course, Bangladesh is not the only place where the impacts of COVID-19 are impacting the human rights of garment sector workers. A recent piece by The Guardian noted that factories in Cambodia and Vietnam are already closing due to a shortage of raw materials from China and declining orders from western clothing brands, and cited a warning from the Clean Clothes Campaign that factories are closing in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Albania and across Central America. The article particularly stressed the direness of the situation in Myanmar where up to 10 percent of factories in the Yangon region are already closed, with workers not being paid their salaries and in Cambodia, where tens of thousands of garment workers are likely to experience job loss if the flow of raw materials into the country does not pick up. Much like the Rana Plaza disaster and the Ali Enterprises and Tarzeen Fashions factory fires, the COVID-19 pandemic is posing an incredible threat to vulnerable garment workers, the majority of whom are women. Global apparel companies should take to heart the lessons of these crises, use them as a catalyst to explore the efficacy of their existing human rights mechanisms, and listen to the call from investors to not neglect human rights even at the time of crisis. With increased scrutiny from investors and the global community, lessons learned from how companies are reacting now will be illustrative in how to behave in a post-COVID-19 and post Transition Accord reality. Kayla Winarsky Green is an adviser on human rights and business at the Danish Institute for Human Rights in Copenhagen. Viren Mascarenhas is a partner in King & Spaldings New York office, and is a member of the International Arbitration Practice Group. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Chief of Engineers to expand focus on military construction, civil works and strategic growth opportunities With rising demand for more sustainable, resilient infrastructure to support national security efforts and greater economic prosperity, Black & Veatch announced U.S. Army Major General Richard Kaiser has been named Federal Growth Officer. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005637/en/ Major General (Retired) Richard Kaiser Joins Black & Veatch Federal Services Group (Photo: Business Wire) With more than 33 years of experience as a member of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Kaiser brings deep experience in leading multi-billion dollar domestic and international infrastructure, military construction and environmental programs. As Deputy Chief of Engineers for USACE, Kaiser served as second-in-command, where he was responsible for overseeing USACEs 36,000 employees and a $46 billion construction portfolio that covers military and inter-agency construction, waterways, ecosystem restoration and navigation. His distinguished career also includes serving as Commanding General, Mississippi Valley Division; Commander, Combined Security Transition Command in Afghanistan; and Commanding General, Great Lakes/Ohio River Division USACE; among other leadership positions. "As Deputy Chief of Engineers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Major General Kaiser has a rare combination of deep technical and institutional knowledge that will allow Black & Veatch to provide greater value to our U.S. government clients," said Randy Castro, president of Black & Veatchs federal business. "His experience will allow us to implement cost-effective solutions that deliver greater sustainability and resilience in the face of climate change while aligning with the goals of taxpayers and the various government agencies we support. Most importantly, he is a world-class leader whose people skills and energy are unmatched." Story continues For more than a century, Black & Veatch has been providing resilient solutions to the U.S. governments mission-critical facilities, infrastructure and programs worldwide. Its federal services group provides expertise in mission-critical facilities, civil works, construction, design-build contracting, environmental services, integrated services, master planning and security. "Black & Veatch has a longstanding history of partnering with the U.S. government and Department of Defense to provide critical infrastructure services, particularly in defense-related construction and civil works," said Kaiser. "I am honored to join this world-class, industry-leading team, and to continue delivering services that improve resource efficiency, sustainability and resilience for all our government clients." Editors Notes: To learn more about Black & Veatch Federal services group, please visit https://www.bv.com/industries/governments Black & Veatch was ranked #7 in the Engineering News-Record Top 400 list for Government Offices For a high-resolution image of Major General Richard Kaiser, please click here. About Black & Veatch Black & Veatch is an employee-owned engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries by addressing the resilience and reliability of our world's most important infrastructure assets. Our revenues in 2019 were US$3.7 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com/industries/governments and on social media. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005637/en/ Contacts Media Contact Information: JIM SUHR | +1 913-458-6995 P | +1 314-422-6927 M | SuhrJ@BV.com 24-HOUR MEDIA HOTLINE | +1 866-496-9149 TSX-V: MKO; OTCQB: MAKOF VANCOUVER, BC , June 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Mako Mining Corp. (MKO.V) (MAKOF) ("Mako" or the "Company") today announces that it is relying on the temporary blanket relief provided by the Canadian Securities Administrators, pursuant to BC Instrument 51-516 - Temporary Exemptions from Certain Requirements to File or Send Securityholder Materials, to postpone the filing of its executive compensation disclosure until such time as such executive compensation disclosure is filed and delivered to shareholders as part of the Company's management information circular (the "Circular") relating to its upcoming Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held on August 27, 2020 (the "Meeting"). In light of current advice from governmental and medical authorities on public gatherings, Mako is, for the time-being, encouraging shareholders and others not to attend the Meeting in person. Instead, shareholders should vote their shares prior to the Meeting as per the voting and proxy instructions that will be set out in the Circular and participate in the Meeting by way of conference call. Further details with respect to the conference call are expected to be included in the Circular. On behalf of the Board, Akiba Leisman Chief Executive Officer About Mako Mako Mining Corp. is a publicly listed gold mining, development and exploration firm. The Company is developing its high-grade San Albino gold project in Nueva Segovia , Nicaragua . Mako's primary objective is to bring San Albino into production quickly and efficiently, while continuing exploration of prospective targets in Nicaragua . Forward-Looking Statements: Some of the statements contained herein may be considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is based on certain expectations and assumptions, including that the Company will hold its Meeting on August 27, 2020 , as scheduled, and that such Meeting shall include a conference call line for attendees to participate. Such forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the risk that there is a resurgence of COVID-19 and the Company is forced to reschedule its physical Meeting, and the risk that the Company is unable to set up a conference call line for its Meeting. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof, based on information currently available and is included for the purposes of providing investors with the Company's plans and expectations with respect to the filing of its executive compensation disclosure in connection with its Meeting, and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Story continues Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Mako Mining Corp. Cision View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/29/c4923.html McSwain Nagle & Giese, P.C. (MNG) is proud to announce the opening of their new law firm in Wheaton, IL. With more than 65 years of combined experience in divorce and family law, their accomplished attorneys are well-qualified to assist the citizens of DuPage County and surrounding areas with a variety of legal matters. WHEATON, Ill., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The distinguished attorneys at MNG believe in providing high-quality legal representation customized to their clients' diverse needs. They have handled a wide range of pre-decree and post-decree divorce cases resulting in successful outcomes. They help clients understand their options for reaching a fair settlement but are also prepared to aggressively represent them during courtroom litigation when necessary. Attorney Mary E. McSwain concentrates her practice in the areas of family law and residential real estate. As an accomplished trial attorney, Mary has written several appellate briefs that resulted in precedent-setting published opinions. Active in the legal community, Mary has served as an elected member of the Illinois State Bar Association Assembly and the DuPage County Bar Association Board of Directors. Prior to opening McSwain Nagle & Giese, Mary's former law partner was Attorney Neal Cerne, who is now an Associate Judge in DuPage County. Attorney Jane E. Nagle concentrates her practice in the areas of divorce and family law in DuPage, Cook, Will, Kane, Kendall, Lake and surrounding counties. Jane has managed numerous pre-decree and post-decree divorce cases as well as paternity, child support enforcement, and contested cases involving the allocation of parental decision-making and parenting time. Jane is also experienced in handling Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases and creditor negotiations. Jane currently serves as the Secretary on the Standing Committee on the Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board, and she is an active member of the DuPage County and Illinois State Bar Associations. Story continues Attorney Lisa M. Giese has handled thousands of uncontested and contested family law cases, including pre- and post-decree divorce cases, support modification and enforcement proceedings, paternity and parenting time (visitation) matters, allocation of parental responsibilities (child custody) and removal (relocation) cases, DCFS appeals, orders of protection, and guardianship cases. Lisa is active in the legal community, serving on the Illinois State Bar Association's Child Law Section Council for the last several years. Lisa previously served as a Director of the DuPage County Bar Association and DuPage Association of Women Lawyers. In addition, Attorney Jessica L. Defino and Attorney Melissa L. Marin both use their unique skill sets and personal experiences to passionately advocate for their clients, providing sound legal advice on various family law issues. Attorney Kevin C. McSwain utilizes his vast knowledge of Illinois law to guide clients on family law and residential real estate transactions. "I am thrilled to open our new firm and launch our new website. I consider it an honor and a privilege to work with such outstanding and passionate attorneys in the areas of family law and real estate. Together, we look forward to providing exceptional legal services to the citizens of Illinois," McSwain commented. About McSwain Nagle & Giese, P.C. McSwain Nagle & Giese, P.C. (MNG) has formed a solid reputation for advocating on their clients' behalf by providing a personal touch to each divorce and family law case they handle. They work tirelessly to protect their clients' rights and take the time to understand a client's needs and thoroughly explain the available options, such as mediation or collaborative law. In addition, the attorneys at MNG have experience working as Guardians ad Litem as well as with the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program to address issues related to domestic violence, juvenile law, and DCFS hearings and appeals. They can assist families with bankruptcy and other complex financial issues, as well as estate planning, wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. They also provide representation to buyers and sellers during residential real estate transactions. To learn more about McSwain Nagle & Giese PC, visit https://www.dupagedivorcelawyers.com/ or call 630-407-1200 to schedule a consultation. SOURCE McSwain Nagle & Giese, P.C. Even as the world struggles to contain coronavirus outbreak, a new strain of flu which has the potential to trigger another pandemic has been found in China. Unlike coronavirus that likely emerged from bats, this virus is carried by pigs and can affect humans by mutating further, Chinese scientists suggest. The flu has the potential to become a global outbreak as it can spread from person to person, they claim. They believe the flu has all the "hallmarks" of highly affecting humans and needs immediate monitoring. The scientists, who discussed the new flu in a write-up in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said the government should start swift monitoring of pigs and swine industry workers to detect its spread. READ: Coronavirus in Delhi: NDMC mayor inspects Hindu Rao hospital, says beds to be increased to 200 Swine flu had hit the world in 2009, though it was not as deadly as coronavirus. The new flu has similar characteristics of the swine flu (H1N1). "Right now we are distracted with coronavirus and rightly so. But we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses," Prof Kin-Chow Chang, who works at Nottingham University in the UK, told the BBC. READ: Coronavirus update: 18,522 new cases, 418 deaths in 24 hours; tally surges to 5.6 lakh Meanwhile, coronavirus has ravaged the world, with over 10,413,558 cases and 5,08,250 deaths worldwide. India is among the most-affected countries in the world along with the US, Brazil and Russia. India's has crossed 5.6 lakh cases. The virus has brought all world economies to a standstill. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that the global economy will shrink 4.9 per cent this year, significantly worse than the 3 per cent drop it had estimated in its previous prediction in April. The IMF said that the global economic damage from recession will be worse than any other downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. READ: Air travel norms eased for people cured of coronavirus BERLIN, June 30 (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel aims to strengthen a divided European Union and help its hard-hit economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic when Germany takes over the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc on Wednesday. Critics have in the last three months raised questions about the future of the bloc as national borders shut and each state resorted, at least initially, to national policies to tackle COVID-19, which has killed more than 100,000 people in the EU. Merkel, who helped steer the EU through its debt and migrant crises, has stressed the need for solidarity in overcoming the COVID-19 crisis. "During the German EU Presidency we will do everything in our power to master this task together in a forward-looking way and to make Europe strong again," the government said in a draft of its six-month presidency programme, dated June 8. With Europe facing its deepest recession since World War Two, it must first agree on a multi-year budget of more than 1 trillion euros ($1.12 trillion) and also on European Commission proposals for a recovery fund to help revive economies hardest hit, notably Italy and Spain, at a summit on July 17-18. This is no easy task. Daniela Schwarzer, director of the DGAP foreign policy think-tank, said the health and economic crises would probably deepen social and political tensions and internal divisions. "Still, Berlin must help make 2020 the year in which the EU gets set up to cope with the future," she said, adding the economic recovery should advance major transformations in digitalisation and green policies through European projects. Germany also wants the EU to better protect itself from pandemics, coordinate more on health policy and agree on a mechanism for common border management. Also on the agenda is clarifying the future relationship with post-Brexit Britain, especially as London rejects any extension of negotiations on a trade deal beyond 2020. Relations with Beijing, including making progress on an EU-China investment deal, will loom large. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday an EU-China summit in Leipzig which was cancelled should be rescheduled as soon as possible. The EU is also concerned by growing tensions between China and the United States, which under President Donald Trump and his 'America First' agenda has proven an erratic and often critical ally for Europe. ($1 = 0.8929 euros) (Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Madeline Chambers Editing by Gareth Jones) VANCOUVER, BC , June 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Minerva Intelligence Inc. (MVAI.V) ("Minerva" or the "Company"), an artificial intelligence company focused on knowledge engineering, is pleased to announce that their TERRA Mining AI Suite will now available to companies in Australia and New Zealand through a partnership with Allinno, a leading systems integrator and consulting firm based in Australia . The TERRA MINING AI Suite is Minerva's diverse software suite of cognitive AI applications for the mining and exploration fields that can: "Allinno is excited to be bringing Minerva's artificial intelligence technology to Australia and New Zealand ," said Greg Macpherson , Director of Innovation and Delivery at Allinno. "The ground-breaking AI software and services offered by Minerva represent a fundamental change for the economic geology field as exploration companies seek ways to more efficiently analyze data. We feel TERRA's unique workflows and insights will bring enormous benefits to our clients." Minerva's revolutionary products are already in use by mining and exploration companies around the globe, with proven results seen in such far-flung locations as Canada's Yukon Territory , Papua New Guinea , Brazil , and Morocco . "We are ecstatic to be partnering with Allinno and see this agreement as a critical component of our go-to-market strategy," said Scott Tillman , Chief Executive Officer of Minerva Intelligence. " Australia and New Zealand are one of the largest mining territories in the world, so our partnership with Allinno to offer our solutions in those regions represents a natural next step for Minerva in the global commercialization of our TERRA Mining AI Suite." About Minerva Intelligence, Inc. Minerva Intelligence Inc. is a knowledge engineering company based in Vancouver, Canada , with a subsidiary office in Darmstadt, Germany . Their proprietary evidence-based decision-making software is bringing the benefits of artificial intelligence technology to industries dependent on reasoning with complex technical and scientific data. Story continues Although Minerva's applications currently focus on earth science-related domains including natural hazards and mineral exploration, their technology has application in diverse industries and domains. Minerva's common shares are currently listed on the TSX Venture (symbol MVAI). For further details, please refer to their website (www.minervaintelligence.com). This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, "U.S. persons," as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, unless an exemption from such registration is available. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Forward Looking Information: This news release includes certain information that may be deemed "forward-looking information". Forward-looking information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. All information in this release, other than information of historical facts, including, without limitation, the availability of financing to the Company are forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such expectations are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information include changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, delays in receiving approvals, and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities in Canada. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For more information on the Company and the risks and challenges of our business, investors should review our continuous disclosure filings which are available at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. 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 press release. SOURCE Minerva Intelligence Inc. Cision View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/29/c5384.html ONTARIO, CANADA / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / It's always inspiring to see ambitious entrepreneurs grow their brand from nothing to something much bigger than ever imagined. In the case of Misael Guerrero, he took his humble beginnings working in his parent's restaurants and grocery stores in Mexico and turned it into a massively successful Mexican-food franchise. Growing up in his home state of Sinaloa, Mexico, Misael Guerrero was always surrounded by food influence. So, he moved to California 12 years ago, it was no surprise that Misael stuck to his food background in order to make a living. Misael began his first small businesses selling food that would bring the flavor of his home to the United States. Misael's career would change drastically after making the realization that one of the biggest delicacies of Sinaloa, Mexican-style sushi, wasn't available in California. So, taking advantage of this opportunity, he decided to take it upon himself to bring this dish to California. Misael began selling Mexican sushi from his garage, and people quickly grew to love it. Word of Misael's new food business spread quickly, and his small garage-based sushi business turned into a success. Misael went on to rent out his first restaurant stepping up his game and creating the first CulichiTown in Rialto, California. Since then, the restaurant has only grown more successful. Putting a great emphasis on keeping the experience authentic, CulichiTown imports ingredients directly from Sinaloa to deliver "100% Culichi" taste. Misael also has intensive training for his staff to ensure everything is done in the Sinaloan way. The business has grown an incredible amount since the garage-based sushi house days, with the CulichiTown franchise expanding to 15 different locations across the United States with even more being planned for the future. Misael Guerrero has turned his humble beginnings into something truly incredible, and the franchise has plans to continue to grow. Misael will continue bringing the authentic flavor of Sinaloa to the US for the foreseeable future. Story continues You can find Misael Guerrero on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/misael.chef/ You can visit CulichiTown's website here: https://culichitown.com/ You can find CulichiTown on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/culichitown/ Media Contact Information: Name: Misael Guerrero Company: Culichitown Email: info@culichitown.com Website: https://culichitown.com/ SOURCE: Lost Boy Entertainment View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/595763/Misael-Guerreros-Restaurant-Franchise-CulichiTown-is-Growing-to-Become-an-Incredible-Success SHANGHAI, China, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Molecular Data Inc. (Molecular Data or the Company) (MKD), a leading technology-driven platform in Chinas chemical industry, today announced that it has filed its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 12, 2020. The annual report can be accessed on the Companys investor relations website at http://investor.molbase.com . The Company will provide hard copies of the annual report containing its audited financial statements, free of charge, to its shareholders and ADS holders upon request. Requests should be directed to Investor Relations, Molecular Data Inc., 5F, Building 12, No. 1001 North Qinzhou Road, Shanghai, 200233, Peoples Republic of China. About Molecular Data Inc. Molecular Data Inc. is a leading technology-driven platform in Chinas chemical industry, connecting participants along the chemical value chain through integrated solutions. The Company delivers e-commerce solutions, financial solutions, warehousing and logistics solutions, and SaaS suite that are intended to solve pain points for participants in the traditional chemical industry. Built upon a comprehensive knowledge engine and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, the Companys e-commerce solutions are mainly offered through its online platform, consisting of molbase.com, molbase.cn, Moku Data Weixin account, Chemical Community App and other ancillary platforms. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: In China: Molecular Data Inc. Eva Ma Tel: +86-21-5419-9075 E-mail: Investor@molbase.com The Piacente Group, Inc. Emilie Wu Tel: +86-21-6039-8363 E-mail: molbase@tpg-ir.com In the United States: The Piacente Group, Inc. Brandi Piacente Tel: +1-212-481-2050 E-mail: molbase@tpg-ir.com Source: Molecular Data Inc. $37.7 Million in Affordable Housing Program Grants Awarded to 50 Affordable Housing Projects Serving Lower-Income Households in Arizona, California, and Nevada SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) awarded $37.7 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants to 50 projects that will construct or rehabilitate 3,514 units of housing that is affordable to lower-income families and individuals in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Awarded to twenty of the Banks member financial institutions who will deliver the funding to affordable housing developers, these grants will give a vital boost to regional efforts to address an existing affordable housing shortage that has been greatly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic aftershocks. Thanks to the combined efforts of our member financial institutions and their affordable housing partners, 30 years of our AHP has helped increase the supply of affordable housing in the urban, suburban, and rural areas our members serve, said Stephen P. Traynor, Acting President and CEO, FHLBank San Francisco. We are pleased to be able to play the role that we do in providing resources that strengthen communities and change lives for the better. The AHP is a flexible source of funding for projects that are designed to serve very low -, low-, and moderate-income families and individuals, many with special needs. All of the 2020 grant winners will provide social services to support residents, ranging from financial literacy and job placement assistance to onsite childcare and health and wellness services. Projects supported by this years AHP funding will support the different needs of diverse communities, families, and individuals, including: Lower-income working families struggling to maintain housing near centers of employment Low-income seniors who want to age-in-place in the big cities or small towns where they feel at home Vulnerable unhoused women with children in need of safe transitional housing Youth in need of both shelter and supportive services to help them transition to self-sufficiency Chronically unhoused veterans and veterans with other special needs and their families Individuals on the path to recovery from drug and alcohol addiction Communities that will benefit from this years AHP grants are: Story continues Arizona: Phoenix California: Bakersfield, Corning, Huntington Park, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Marina, Midway City, Modesto, Oakdale, Oakland, Oxnard, Petaluma, Richmond, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Rosa, Wheatland, Willowbrook, Windsor Nevada: Ely, Las Vegas, Reno Details about the 2020 AHP grant winners are available on fhlbsf.com. About the Affordable Housing Program FHLBank San Francisco sets aside 10% of its earnings each year to fund its AHP, with a portion of that funding allocated to two first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance programs. Since 1990, the Bank has awarded over $1.1 billion in AHP funds to support the construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of nearly 146,000 units of quality affordable housing for lower-income households. The Banks member financial institutions, working in partnership with community-based housing sponsors or developers, compete for AHP grants by submitting applications for specific projects. AHP-funded projects represent a wide range of strategies and solutions, from historic preservation and adaptive reuse to new construction and rehabilitation. Where AHP projects are developed, local economies also get a boost, as these projects create jobs, increase construction and consumer spending, and generate new tax revenues. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco is a member-driven cooperative helping local lenders in Arizona, California, and Nevada build strong communities, create opportunity, and change lives for the better. The tools and resources we provide to our member financial institutionscommercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutionsfoster homeownership, expand access to quality housing, seed or sustain small businesses, and revitalize whole neighborhoods. Together with our members and other partners, we are making the communities we serve more vibrant and resilient. By Tova Cohen TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Technology developed by Israeli cyber security company NSO Group was used by the Moroccan government to spy on journalist Omar Radi, a critic of Morocco's human rights record, Amnesty International said on Monday. The organization found that Radi's phone was subjected to several attacks using a "sophisticated new technique" that silently installed NSO's Pegasus spyware. "The attacks occurred over a period when Radi was being repeatedly harassed by the Moroccan authorities, with one attack taking place just days after NSO pledged to stop its products being used in human rights abuses and continued until at least January 2020," Amnesty said. If NSO won't stop its technology from being used in such incidents, "then it should be banned from selling it to governments who are likely to use it for human rights abuses," said Danna Ingleton, deputy director of Amnesty Tech. Several messages left with Moroccan government spokesperson Said Amzazi and human rights minister Mustapha Ramid were not immediately returned. The findings show that "Moroccan authorities have been using their surveillance technologies to the detriment of privacy rights and this is a blatant human rights violation," Radi said. "We are afraid spying has become an instrument of governance for authorities." An NSO spokesperson said the company has undertaken a human rights policy to comply with United Nations guiding principles and takes any claim of misuse seriously. "We responded directly to Amnesty International after learning of their allegations ... and we shall immediately review the information provided and initiate an investigation if warranted," the spokesperson said. NSO said due to state confidentiality it cannot disclose the identities of customers. Last year Amnesty said two Moroccan human rights activists were hacked with the help of NSO tools. Pegasus has been linked to political surveillance in Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, according to the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, which researches digital surveillance. NSO has denied wrongdoing. Story continues Facebook's WhatsApp sued NSO in October after finding evidence that the firm had abused a flaw in the chat program to remotely hijack hundreds of smartphones. In March, Radi was handed a suspended four-month prison term for a tweet he posted in 2019 criticizing the trial of a group of activists. (Additional reporting by Ahmed El Jechtimi in Rabat,; Editing by Steven Scheer, William Maclean) Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas: The Annexation of Palestinian Territory is not acceptable; Israeli Human Rights violations must end in Palestine Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas: The Annexation of Palestinian Territory is not acceptable; Israeli Human Rights violations must end in Palestine PR Newswire DALLAS, June 30, 2020 DALLAS, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas and our co-sponsors invite members of the media to the following: What: A Press Conference will be held on Wednesday July 1st When: At 2:00 PM on July 1st, 2020. Address: 13111 N. Central EXPY, suite 380, Dallas Tx 75243 Contact: Morjan Al Taweel: Jerqud@yahoo.com Syed Hassan: Syedfayyazhassan@gmail.com Host: Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas Co-Sponsors: Council for American and Islamic Relations (CAIR); Dallas Peace and Justice Center; Dallas Palestine Coalition; American Muslims For Palestine-Dallas; Dallas Anti-war Committee; Dallas Alliance Against Racism And Police Repression (DAARPR); Dallas Palestine Coalition; PACT; Party For Socialism And Liberation. The annexation plan of Palestinian land by the Israeli government is the most offensive and greatest level of escalation which poses a catastrophic threat to the Middle East peace. The expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are flagrant violations of international norms, UN resolutions and calls from the World Community for condemnation. This new offensive against Palestinian people is ending the possibilities for a long sought two state solution and any peace in the Middle East. The occupation, land annexation, the wall, and the expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land undermine any chance for peace and the viability of a future Palestinian state by fragmenting and destroying the contiguity of the land within the 1967 borders. The annexation plan changes facts in violation of signed and longstanding agreements between the Palestinians and the Israelis mediated by successive US administrations. It effectively constitutes an aggression on the Palestinian People's inalienable rights, perpetuates violence, highlights racism, injustice and blatantly undermines basic Palestinian human rights. Story continues Yossi Klein expressing his opinion on June 24, 2020, in the Daily Haaretz wrote, "The idea of the annexation is racism; discriminating between the superior and the inferior. The racism virus can't be destroyed with hand sanitizer, it's more dangerous and resistant than the coronavirus, it adapts quickly to heat and humidity, and it's very contagious. You won't believe how many racism carriers walk among us; you'd be amazed how many confirmed cases there are." 61% of the West Bank is currently under Israeli control. The Israeli settler population in the West Bank has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 750,000. The Netanyahu government has exacerbated this situation by constructing 2,000 or more new settlements units each year. Palestinian families have been separated logistically from one another and from their livelihood. The lives of men, women and children suffer perpetual violence. The Israeli Military has constructed checkpoints and concrete barriers blocking pathways between Palestinian neighborhoods. These drastic measures have obliterated the Palestinian's historical background, society and freedom. The overwhelming majority of the international community agrees that the most effective and feasible way to guarantee both Palestinian human rights and Israel's security is through the creation of a Palestinian state in the Occupied Territories. Without the possibility of a two-state solution, Israel will either become a full-fledged apartheid state or a dangerously unstable binational state. Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/muslim-democratic-caucus-of-texas-the-annexation-of-palestinian-territory-is-not-acceptable-israeli-human-rights-violations-must-end-in-palestine-301085596.html SOURCE Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas No More "One Size Fits All" Research: We Need Multicultural Data for Meaningful Patient- and Family-Engagement in America's Health and Social Care Systems WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The National Alliance for Caregiving President and CEO, C. Grace Whiting, has issued a statement on the need for multicultural data in America's health and social care systems. This statement was written in response to recent injustices facing Black Americans and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on this community. Recognizing that research in the field of healthcare has often taken a one-size-fits all approach, Whiting calls for the inclusion of the lived experiences of diverse populations in health and social care research. See her statement below, or by visiting http://www.caregiving.org/no-more-one-size-fits-all-research/. Dear Friends: This Juneteenth, I attended a national workshop on patient engagement and research agendas. Toward the end of the discussion, advocates raised an issue that's been top of mind: racial equity. Why hasn't there been more progress in capturing the perspectives and needs of Black patients and caregivers? Feathers began to ruffle. Well-meaning scientists and policy experts were put on the defensive. Inevitably, the 1932 Tuskegee Experiments came up as a way to acknowledge the historical fears in minority communities that contribute to gaps in representation. The Tuskegee Experiments were that shocking and horrifying "study" where Black men with syphilis were not treated for the disease so that scientists could track the course of the untreated disease. Where Black men and their families were not told that the patients would not receive any treatment. The experiment was supposed to last six months; it lasted for 40 years. It's easy to point to Tuskegee as a historical byproduct of days gone bybut the reality is that racial injustice in healthcare did not stop with Tuskegee. It continues today in a quieter, more passive way: assuming a one-size-fits-all solution that ignores the lived experiences of diverse populations. Story continues Nearly a hundred years since the Tuskegee Experiments began, nearly forty years since the disability rights movement took off, researchers and policymakers still need to hear, "Nothing about us, without us." Look no further than the COVID-19 pandemic to see how racial injustice opens the door for health disparities. Despite public health advisories that Black and Latino families face heightened risk for the coronavirus, Johns Hopkins has indicated that only four states have released breakdowns of COVID-19 data by race (Nevada, Kansas, Illinois, and Delaware). The CDC is clear that "current data suggest a disproportionate burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups." Yet, the policy community lacks data to track what is happening to these families. The CDC notes that health differences in COVID-19 between White families and families of color are "often due to economic and social conditions" such as: Years of residential housing segregation resulting in more densely populated areas, increasing the risk of contagion. Food deserts, which make it harder for families to get access to nutritious meals, and in turn increases the risk of chronic disease (another risk factor for COVID-19). Overrepresentation of minorities in jails, prisons, and detention centers which increases threats to their lives because of a higher risk of catching COVID-19 in these settings. These health risks are in addition to the fact that the pandemic's economic fallout which threatens food, housing, and income security for so many families is being shouldered by Black businesses, as nearly 440,000 firms have folded (41% of all small business closures). While the health policy community debates the cost or inconvenience of integrating diverse populations into research design, caregivers are making it work in real time despite a system designed without them in mind and in the midst of a global pandemic. The need to make meals for someone doesn't stop because the grocery store has limited hours. The spouse or partner still has to pay medical bills even if the pandemic has created new economic pressures. Parents of kids with special needs still have to navigate individualized education plans and insurance paperwork even if schools are closed. Caregivers keep on, despite the roadblocks continually put in their way. For our part, we at the National Alliance for Caregiving are committing to equity and justice. We have joined the Diverse Elders Coalition and the John A. Hartford Foundation as they work to address the needs of caregivers in Black, Latino, Asian American, Native American, and the LGBTQ+ community. We're working with innovative companies like Amgen and seeking insight from nonprofit leaders such the National Minority Quality Forum to analyze the needs of multicultural care communities for a national report on caregivers of color. We will join the newly-launched Rare Disease Diversity Coalition, led by the Black Women's Health Imperative, to address the challenges facing diverse populations in rare disease. And, our data set from Caregiving in the U.S. 2020, a partnership with AARP going back to 1997, is one of the few caregiving data sets with nationally representative data of minority populations in the U.S. It reveals that four out of ten caregivers (39%) in the United States are non-white (14% Black, 17% Latino, 5% Asian American, and 3% other including multiracial). It also shows that Black caregivers are more likely to say that they are in worse health and more likely to want health care professionals to ask them what they need to help care for themselvesindicating a persistent lack of support for their well-being. On a closer look, the data challenge preconceived notions about minority populations. Latino and Black families are more likely to say caregiving gives them a "sense of purpose" and meaning in life than their White and Asian counterparts. Despite giving more hours of care on average and being placed in higher-intensity care situations, these families report less emotional stress. Perhaps these communities understand something about resilience that the rest of us have yet to master? It's past time we moved forward to be more inclusive and transparent in order to reduce patient risk and assign value to patients' health and well-being. Let's take a lesson from those who care in understanding what they need, rather than telling people and caregivers that we know best based on unrepresentative data and outdated cultural understandings of need. If caregivers can stand strong, day after day, despite a global pandemic, despite inequities, despite political unrest, we too can get up every day, with hope in our hearts, with resilience in our spirit, ready to build a more caring world. Frankly, we owe them that. C. Grace Whiting President and CEO National Alliance for Caregiving SOURCE National Alliance for Caregiving Shares of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio Inc ADR (NYSE: NIO) are moving to the upside Monday. What Happened: Nio said in a release that strategic investors including Hefei City Construction and Investing Holding, CMD-SDIC Capital and Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment have completed cash injections for the first two installments of funding commitments for Nio China. The company said it has received 4.8 billion yuan ($677.8 million) of the first two instalments totaling 5 billion yuan of cash investments. The remaining 200 million yuan will be received prior to Sept. 30, according to the company. The investor group committed to a total investment of 7 billion yuan. Definitive agreements regarding the cash injection were announced in late April. Nio committed to inject its core businesses and assets into Nio China while also contributing 4.26 billion yuan cash to Nio China. Of the cash portion, the company said it has injected 1.278 billion yuan for the first installment and another 1.278 billion yuan for the second installment. Why It Matters: Nio's fundamentals have started to turn a corner following the COVID-19-induced downturn seen for much of January and February. The company's cash position is still precarious. "The strategic investments in NIO China will provide sufficient funds to support NIO's continuous efforts to lead the technology and product development of the premium smart electric vehicles, and to offer the best user experience and services," CEO William Bin Li, Nio's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. The company said in the near term it will focus on improving its production capacity and expanding its network coverage to further accelerate our growth. At last check, Nio shares were rising 2.54% to $7.08. Related Links: Tesla Vs. Nio Vs. Xpeng: A Look At The Chinese Electric Vehicle Market Story continues Nio CEO Says Tesla An Ally In Increasing Sales, Remains Bullish On Chinese EV Market Growth Courtesy photo. See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. The government on Tuesday hinted that the banned 59 Chinese apps may not make a comeback any time soon in the coming days. The app operators now have a 48-hour window to clarify to a committee of officials from the Home, Information Technology, Law, Information & Broadcasting ministries and CERT-in, the country's internet domain security agency. An enquiry would be held in which clarifications provided by app operators would be examined. Earlier today TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi issued a statement countering the charges of siphoning of data, unauthorised use and posing a threat to sovereignty of the country, used to invoke laws of the land to block the app by the government. He said that TikTok, available in 14 Indian languages, is a source of livelihood for millions. "The government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications," Nikhil Gandhi said. "TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further, if we are requested to in the future, we could not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity", Gandhi added. It's not the first time that Tik Tok has been banned. A ban was earlier imposed on the app by Madras High Court. The Madurai bench had ordered a ban on TikTok as it noted that the app exposes children to pornography. However, the Supreme Court later refused to stay the order of Madras High Court to ban the Chinese video sharing platform. Blocking is working The government has already initiated measures to block these Chinese apps. Acting on the directions of the Home Ministry and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), global internet giant Google has removed these apps from its Google Play Store. This implies that Android users will not be able to download the apps. The other big mobile platform iOS operated by Apple has conveyed to the government that it is working to block the apps as some amount of coordination is needed with the US headquarters. Multiple layers of restrictions Beyond blocking future fresh downloads of the apps, the second layer of restriction will come in the form of prospective downloads of updates and patches which may make the apps redundant for existing users MEITY is also coordinating with the department of telecommunication to create further roadblocks for use of these apps in case of existing users The Department of Telecom (DoT) has asked internet service providers (ISPs) and telecom service providers (TSPs) to block flow of data for these apps. The same method was earlier used to block several foreign and pornography sites. Through this technology the flow of data for these apps would get blocked at the internet gateways. On Monday evening, the government announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps, including popular apps such as TikTok, Shareit, Helo amid growing border tensions with China. The list also includes other commonly used apps such as UC Browser, Xender, SHAREit and Clean-master. Shopping portals such as Shein and Club Factory and gaming apps such as Clash of Kings have also made it to the list. The notification issued by the government said it has banned 59 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. The government has disallowed the usage of these apps in both mobile and non-mobile internet enabled devices. Also read: TikTok removed from Android, Apple play stores after govt ban on 59 Chinese apps Also read: Mukesh Ambani's RIL set to acquire Kishore Biyani-led Future Group Trondheim, 30 June 2020: NORBIT, a global provider of tailored technology to carefully selected niches, today announces that the company has been awarded a new contract with an existing customer within the aquaculture market. We are very pleased to be awarded a repeat order from this customer, proving the value of our product, says Per Jrgen Weisethaunet, CEO of NORBIT. The value of the contract is approximately NOK 10 million and the order is expected to be delivered during the second half of 2020. The order falls under the companys Oceans segment. For more information, please contact: Per Jrgen Weisethaunet, CEO, +47 959 62 915 Charlotte Knudsen, IR and Communications, +47 9756 1959 About NORBIT ASA NORBIT is a global provider of tailored technology to carefully selected niches. The companys business is structured to address its key markets; Oceans, targeting the global maritime markets, Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS), offering connectivity solutions for truck applications, and Product Innovation and Realization (PIR), with in-house multidisciplinary R&D and manufacturing. NORBIT is headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, with manufacturing facilities in Selbu and Rros, Norway and 12 offices and subsidiaries around the world. For more information: www.norbit.com This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- About 2.2 million Americans, or a little under 0.7% of the countrys population, live in nursing homes and other residential-care facilities for the elderly. Residents of these facilities, meanwhile, have by some estimates accounted for more than 40% of U.S. deaths from Covid-19. This astounding share of deaths, as conservative health-policy expert Avik Roy described it last month, has raised lots of questions about whether a different approach to managing the disease in the U.S. might have been able to spare the lives of nursing-home residents while allowing for fewer restrictions on everyone else. I dont exactly have answers to those questions, and in truth I dont think anyone does yet. I have collected some numbers, though, that may help put the issue in context. First, theres nothing particularly surprising about nursing homes and their ilk accounting for a much larger share of Covid-19 deaths than they do of the population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps track of deaths by location, and from 2014 through 2018 19.5% of U.S. deaths from all causes and 20.9% of deaths from internal causes occurred in nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities. Since late January of this year, 24.1% of the deaths from Covid-19 for which the CDC has data on place of death have occurred there. This is lower than the 40%-plus cited above because it does not count nursing home residents who die in hospitals. A lot of nursing home residents die in hospitals in normal years, with a large-scale study from the 2000s putting the share at about 20%, but with Covid-19 the percentage seems to be at least twice that.(1) So yes, nursing homes do seem to have been inordinately affected. But they have also suffered heavily during past outbreaks of influenza and even the common cold, and though their share of U.S. Covid-19 fatalities is high it hasnt really been astounding, or markedly different from that seen in other countries. Story continues Nursing homes and their ilk are especially vulnerable to infectious diseases such as Covid-19 because their residents are frail elderly people with weak immune systems who spend a lot of time indoors, often in shared bedrooms, and generally cannot avoid coming in close contact with their caregivers. The numbers below are from a 2015-2016 survey by the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics that is also the source of the most up-to-date estimates of nursing home and residential care community population: These caregivers, meanwhile, are among the lowest-paid workers in the health-care sector or any sector, for that matter. Because pay is so low, caregivers for the elderly often live in overcrowded conditions and work multiple jobs. Theyre also less likely to have health insurance or access to paid sick leave than other health-care workers, and while the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress in March addressed these issues somewhat, there were loopholes. It shouldnt be too surprising, then, that two recent studies of the characteristics of nursing homes hit hardest by Covid-19 found that the main things they had in common were (1) locations in communities with high incidence of the disease and (2) large size. Another study found that race of the residents was the best predictor, but that sadly kind of fits with (1). Keeping Covid out of nursing homes when it is spreading widely in places where employees live, shop and commute is very hard to do and is hardest in larger facilities because more employees are going in and out. This was especially true early in the epidemic in the U.S. when testing for the disease was nearly nonexistent and personal protective equipment scarce, but it remains a challenge. Media discussions of the nursing home toll have often focused on state policies. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has come under huge amounts of fire for the states decision in March to require that nursing homes accept recovering coronavirus patients (who generally dont seem to be contagious, but one never knows) and others suspected of having the disease. The policy, which has since been reversed, resulted in more than 4,500 such admissions in the state, according to the Associated Press. But while future studies may find that it worsened the states outbreak, at the moment its awfully hard to find evidence of such impact in the data. That is, if New Yorks policy led to lots more nursing home deaths from Covid-19, one would expect nursing homes share of deaths from the disease to be much higher in New York than in other states. Comparisons are harder than they should be, in part because New York has not released numbers on nursing home residents who died in hospitals. But in the CDCs count of deaths by location, the share of Covid-19 deaths occurring at nursing homes and other care facilities in New York is 16.7%, below the 24.1% national average. Its an even lower 5.1% in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis banned most nursing homes from accepting Covid-19 patients (designating several Covid-only facilities instead). But the share of deaths that occur at nursing homes is perennially lower in Florida than in other states, seemingly in reflection of different policies and practices regarding hospices, which in Florida account for a much higher share of deaths than they do nationally and in New York a lower share. If you add together deaths from Covid-19 at nursing homes and hospices, they come to 17.8% of the total in Florida, 18.1% in New York and 26.4% nationally. Meanwhile, Floridas estimate of Covid-19 deaths among nursing home residents regardless of place of death puts them at close to half the state total. In other words, go figure! Florida has of course had far fewer deaths overall from the coronavirus than New York, but that may be because it implemented school closings, nonessential business closures and other social distancing measures before the disease had spread widely in the state while New Yorks lockdown came too late, with differences in spring weather and urban density perhaps contributing as well. Now that the disease is spreading rapidly in Florida and continuing to ebb in New York, well presumably learn more. More testing and PPE availability, and perhaps smarter state policies, may allow nursing homes in Florida and other states now experiencing Covid-19 outbreaks to fend them off more successfully than those in New York and elsewhere in the Northeast did. But one also has to hope that testing, masks and other measures keep those outbreaks from getting quite as out of control as New Yorks did. So far Im not aware of any place that has successfully protected nursing homes amid major spread of the disease. In Sweden, where letting Covid-19 circulate among the young while protecting the elderly was part of the governments original plan, nursing homes now account for about half of a death toll that is on a per-capita basis among the highest in the world. Theres one other thing about U.S. nursing homes in particular that may cause problems as Covid-19 continues to spread. Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly, does not pay for long-term care, and most nursing-home residents (61.8% in the 2015-2016 survey cited above) rely on Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance for those with limited resources, to pay their bills. (At other long-term-care facilities the clientele is wealthier and the Medicaid share 16.5%.) Medicaid reimbursements generally dont cover the cost of care, so to make ends meet nursing homes also care for short-term patients recovering from hip replacements, heart attacks and the like whose costs are reimbursed by Medicare at much more generous rates. By putting a temporary halt to elective surgeries, Covid-19 pretty much dried up that source of income. Medicare does pay the bills for recovering Covid patients, and despite the obvious complications some nursing homes are courting them and on occasion even evicting long-term residents to make room. Still, the overall nursing home population has fallen by an estimated 100,000 since the beginning of the year, and the industrys trade group warns of a wave of bankruptcies and closures to come in the absence of more federal aid. Nursing homes arent really to blame for Covid-19s high death toll, but it can sometimes seem like weve designed them to make it worse. (1) That is, I compared the numbers that hard-hit New Jersey reports on total deaths of nursing home residents to the CDC's tally of state deaths at nursing homes and came up with a 47% not-in-nursing-homes share, which is probably a little high because the CDC data are less timely than the state data. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Justin Fox is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business. He was the editorial director of Harvard Business Review and wrote for Time, Fortune and American Banker. He is the author of The Myth of the Rational Market. 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. Guests can purchase a limited-edition red, white and blue pie with all proceeds going to the Foundation OCharleys Restaurant + Bar, the classic American restaurant with locations across 17 states, today announced a special July 4th weekend fundraising effort for The Folded Flag Foundation, the non-profit organization that provides educational scholarships and support grants to the families of our countrys fallen heroes. OCharleys locations will be offering guests a limited-edition red, white and blue pie for $14.99 or just $5 with the purchase of a Family-Style Meal, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Folded Flag. "We have been honored to support The Folded Flag Foundation over the last four years and are excited to continue the support for their mission this July 4th weekend," said Craig Barber, CEO of OCharleys. "The work of the foundation to help families of our fallen soldiers is dear to our hearts, as many of our team members have served our country. We look forward to raising money for Folded Flag over the July 4th weekend and know based on experience over the last several years that our guests are very willing to help us in this endeavor." "OCharleys has long been a valued partner in our efforts to support the families of our fallen heroes," said Kim Frank, president, The Folded Flag Foundation. "This fundraiser over the July 4th weekend is the latest way they are helping us further our mission. We hope their guests will purchase one of these delicious pies so that we can continue to provide support for the families of these heroes." The July 4 fundraiser is part of OCharleys Hometown Heroes, a larger summer of giving back to the communities it is blessed to serve. Hometown Heroes is a multi-faceted campaign that encompasses in-store discounts for healthcare staff and first responders, free meal deliveries to hospitals, and helping to feed vulnerable children and their families by sponsoring Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessees Hunger Free Summer, among other efforts. Story continues OCharleys will be announcing new initiatives to support Folded Flag in the near future. About OCharleys OCharleys was born in Nashville, Tennessee and has served craveable American food and drinks inspired by their Southern roots since 1971. OCharleys operates more than 160 restaurants across the Southeast and Midwest. In addition to great food, good times and famous unsliceably soft rolls, OCharleys welcomes guests with genuine hospitality every time they walk through our doors or use our curbside delivery. To find an OCharleys location near you, please visit www.OCharleys.com. OCharleys is also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. About Folded Flag Foundation The Folded Flag Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides educational scholarships and support grants to the spouses and children of the U.S. military and government personnel who died as a result of hostile action or in an accident related to U.S. combat operations. To learn more about the Folded Flag Foundation, visit www.foldedflagfoundation.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005783/en/ Contacts Thomas Mulgrew @ 615.321.3110 thomas@tsgnashville.com ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Oculight announced the launching of OCU L&C, a fully-owned U.S. subsidiary of Oculight, in 2019 as the platform for the company's U.S. expansion. OCU L&C will focus on the commercialization of its products in the U.S. Oculight is an ophthalmic medical device developer based in Korea. The company was founded in 2017 by Dr. Dong Heun Nam, a renowned ophthalmic surgeon and a professor at Gachon University Gil Medical Center. Well-recognized for his expertise in retinal and cataract surgery, he developed Oculight's leading device, the iChopper. In addition to the great expertise of its CEO and founder in the field of ophthalmology, Oculight has a strong medical network from its board of directors, shareholders, and an advisory committee consisting of trusted medical doctors. The support Oculight receives from its team of medical professionals allows the company to continuously innovate and expand into the field of ophthalmic devices. iChopper is a surgical endoilluminator with a chopping function for cataract surgery to provide intracameral illumination rather than the conventional microscopic illumination. "The human eyes are only the size of a coin and require[s] extremely delicate work. However, the conventional cataract surgery method cannot secure the full visibility of the eye during surgery," said Dr. Nam. The iChopper may significantly decrease the complication rate by providing better visibility for the operating surgeon. In 2019, Oculight received the New Excellent Technology (NET) certification from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), signifying that the iChopper technology was recognized by the government for its performance and effectiveness. The company was also selected as the Creative Technology Solution (CTS) program participant by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), which supports Oculight's business expansion to Vietnam. Story continues In 2020, Oculight began to commercialize the iChopper, and successfully developed a medical light source device to provide higher efficiency for the iChopper. In the upcoming years, Oculight expects to receive FDA regulatory clearance for the chopper and commercialize it in the U.S. through OCU L&C with selected local partners. About Oculight and OCU L&C: Oculight was founded in 2017 in Korea with the mission to become a trusted developer of world-class ophthalmic devices and to highlight the next generation of premium ophthalmic products. OCU L&C, the U.S. branch of Oculight, was founded in 2019 as the platform for U.S. expansion. Contact: Jisoo Yoon US Representative oculnc@oculight.co.kr Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oculight-a-korean-ophthalmic-medical-device-developer-launches-ocu-lc-for-us-expansion-301086239.html SOURCE Oculight By Bryan Wong Investing.com - Oil was down on Tuesday morning in Asia, giving up its gains from the previous session as demand worries dampened investor sentiment. Libya's state oil company National Oil Corporation said overnight that it was making progress on talks with neighboring countries to lift an export blockade, leading to fears of an oversupply in the midst of fragile demand. The country makes up around 1% of global oil supply. Demand recovery has been hit by ever-increasing COVID-19 numbers, with global cases topping 10.2 million as of June 30, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Brent oil futures dropped 0.38% to $41.69 by 1:05 AM ET (05:05 AM GMT) while WTI futures slid 0.53% to $39.48. Investors will be looking at crude oil supply data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), due later in the day. "It's really difficult to say that demand is a one-way street. There are still plenty of risks going both ways," Vivek Dhar, mining and energy commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY), told Reuters. Related Articles Shell to Write Down Up to $22 Billion as Virus Hits Big Oil Gold Up Over Rising COVID-19 Numbers Environmental groups propose tailings dam safety standards FILE PHOTO: The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County By Laura Sanicola NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as investors worried that rising COVID-19 cases would hurt demand while supply could rise with a potential resurgence of Libyan oil production, which has slowed to a trickle since the start of the year. The more-active September contract for Brent settled down 58 cents at $41.27 a barrel. The August contract , which expires on Tuesday, fell 56 cents, or 1.2%, to $41.15. The contract has gained 16.5% this month so far, and 81% on the quarter. U.S. crude was down 43 cents, or 1%, at $39.27 a barrel. U.S. crude has risen 12.4% in the past month, up about 95% in the quarter, reflecting its recovery from late March. The contract pared losses in post-settlement trade after data from trade group the API showed a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude stockpiles. Fuel demand has recovered from the worst weeks of the outbreak, but cases have been rising in southern and southwestern U.S. states. Northeastern states like New York and New Jersey doubled the number of states from which travelers face quarantine restrictions. "Sustaining the independent show of gasoline strength will be challenged by coronavirus headlines where news has seen a definite negative shift in recent weeks," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois, said in a report. Investors will seek signs of demand recovery in weekly inventory data due on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute industry group and from the U.S. government on Wednesday. Libya is trying to resume exports, which have been almost entirely blocked since January due to civil war. The state's oil company hopes talks will end a blockade by eastern-based forces. "If we do finally see a resumption in Libyan output, this would make the job of OPEC+ a little bit more difficult," said Dutch bank ING. A Reuters poll of analysts showed expectations that oil prices will consolidate at around $40 a barrel this year, with a recovery gaining steam in the fourth quarter. (Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London, Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Koustav Samanta in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Evans) PORTLAND, Ore., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Opus Board of Directors has unanimously approved Kim Kopetz, as the new President of Opus. Kopetz will be responsible for all Opus brandsOpus Agency, MAS, and Tencue, and will report directly to the Board. Kopetz takes the reins from Monte Wood, who is stepping down after 15 years of leading the agency. Wood will remain on the Opus Board. Through a career spanning more than 20 years, Kopetz has been a leader in global experience and event marketing for both brands and agencies. Her ability to build high-performing teams has contributed to Opus' rapid and steady growth, earning Opus a perennial listing as one of the Inc. 5000 fastest growing private companies in America. Kopetz started her career at Opus in 1998 as a Senior Event Manager and has worked "almost every role possible within the agency." Most recently Kopetz was the agency's Chief Growth Officer, with direct ownership of strategy, business development, sales and account services, and marketing. "The reason I believe so strongly in Opus is because I believe in the people. We have some of the best and brightest in the industry; a team that continually innovates in order to offer the best to our clients," Kopetz said. "I am very excited for the future of Opus. This is a new and unchartered time for our country, and for our industry. The strength of our leadership team will help us balance the core of what we do well and create the opportunity for what is possible and necessary within events and experiential marketing." "Kim's long tenure at Opus, added to her client-side experience at Intel, is exactly the leadership Opus needs today and into the future," Grant Hammersley, Opus founder and Vice Chairman said. "She has built strong internal relationships and is a trusted advisor to our enterprise-level global accounts. We are ecstatic to have Kim lead the company and look forward to working with her as President." Story continues About Opus Agency Opus Agency is a strategic experiential marketing advisor to some of the world's most influential brands. We partner with our clients to create remarkable events around the world, tying unforgettable experiences to unmistakable business results. Every idea we implement is guided by our passion to drive our clients' business success. In the dynamic world of event marketing, Opus specializes in building fully integrated, highly effective teams to support our clients in the execution of their most critical events and experiential campaigns. Opus services over 70 global companies, including 13 of the 20 most valuable brands in the world among them being Amazon, BMW, Google, Microsoft, and other innovative global leaders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Softbank. To learn more, visit opusagency.com . The Opus Collective is a family of collaborative brands offering integrated experience solutions. Built on a common foundation of integrity, our brands serve as a trusted partner to many of the world's most influential companies. The collective includes Opus Agency, MAS (www.maseventdesign.com), and Tencue ( www.tencue.com ). Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Opus has offices in Seattle, Boston, New York, London and Berkeley. Erin O'Brien Opus erin.obrien@opusteam.com (971) 223-0315 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/opus-announces-kim-kopetz-as-president-301086212.html SOURCE Opus Agency CALGARY, AB , June 29, 2020 /CNW/ - Oryx Petroleum Corporation Limited ("Oryx Petroleum" or the "Corporation") today announces further details regarding the Debt Settlement Agreement executed by the Corporation on June 22, 2020 (the "Loan Settlement" and the "Settlement Agreement") relating to the proposed settlement of an outstanding loan between a subsidiary of the Corporation, as borrower, and AOG International Holdings Limited ("AOG"), as lender. The Corporation has applied to the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") for relief from certain requirements of subsection 501(c) of the TSX Company Manual pursuant to the financial hardship exemption available to companies listed on the TSX in certain circumstances. All dollar amounts set forth in this news release are in United States dollars. Loan Settlement Oryx Petroleum Middle East Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporation, and AOG are party to the Loan Agreement dated March 11, 2015 (as amended, the "Loan Agreement"). Affiliates and certain related parties of AOG currently own 370,279,591 of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Corporation ("Common Shares"), representing approximately 67% of the Common Shares. As a result of such ownership, AOG is an insider of and related party to the Corporation. As of the date of this release, the balance owing under the Loan Agreement amounts to $79,978,775 , consisting of $76,030,784 in principal (due on July 1, 2021 ) and $3,947,992 in semi-annual accrued interest that is due to be paid on July 1, 2020 . Provided the Loan Settlement closes, AOG has waived any default under the Loan Agreement that would otherwise result from the borrower's failure to make the cash interest payment when due on July 1, 2020 . The Settlement Agreement provides that, at closing, the loan balance (including accrued and unpaid interest) will be settled in full through the transfer by the Corporation to AOG of the shares of OP AGC Central Limited ("OP AGC Central"), the indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporation that holds Oryx Petroleum's interest in the AGC Central license area. The Loan Settlement has been negotiated at arm's length. Story continues On its balance sheet, the Corporation maintains exploration and evaluation assets attributable to the AGC Central license area at a cumulative capitalized cost of $54.3 million . In its evaluation report dated February 14, 2020 , evaluating the Corporation's oil reserves and resources as at December 31, 2019 , Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. estimated prospective (working interest) oil resources of 2,263 million barrels (risked:208 million barrels) for the AGC Central license area. Drilling by the Corporation of a first exploration well in the AGC Central license area is not expected in the next twelve months. In the short- to mid- term, the AGC Central license area will involve significant negative cash flows for the Corporation. Special Committee A special committee of the board of directors of the Corporation (the "Special Committee") was constituted and considered the fairness of the Loan Settlement and related matters. The Special Committee is comprised of one independent director. The Special Committee has determined that the Loan Settlement is reasonable for the Corporation in the circumstances and recommended that the Corporation proceed with the transaction, conditional on receipt by the Corporation of a fairness opinion that validates the Special Committee's conclusion that the Loan Settlement is fair from a financial point of view. The Special Committee has engaged a financial advisor to provide the fairness opinion. AOG has agreed to reimburse the Corporation for the costs involved therewith. The transaction is subject to additional customary closing conditions, including acceptance of the TSX. The Special Committee carefully considered management's efforts in recent years in exploring various alternatives to improve the financial situation of Oryx Petroleum and considered whether other alternatives may be available (e.g., a farm-out of the Hawler or AGC Central license areas, relinquishment of the Hawler license area, various corporate transactions, accessing public or private debt or equity markets). The Special Committee has concluded that there are no viable alternatives available on commercially reasonable terms that would be more likely to improve the financial situation of the Corporation as compared to the Loan Settlement (and related transactions). Change in Control The Loan Settlement is a condition to a separate agreement whereby Zeg Oil and Gas Ltd. ("Zeg Oil"), which currently owns 119,625,033 Common Shares, representing approximately 22% of the Common Shares, has agreed to acquire the outstanding Common Shares held by AOG Upstream BV (and its affiliates and certain related parties), increasing its ownership stake in the Corporation to 500,152,674 Common Shares, representing approximately 89% of the then outstanding Common Shares. Zeg Oil has also agreed to acquire from AOG Upstream BV 39,281,804 warrants to purchase an aggregate of 39,281,804 Common Shares. After giving effect to the exercise of all of the acquired warrants, Zeg Oil would own an aggregate of 539,434,478 Common Shares, representing approximately 90% of the then outstanding Common Shares. The Zeg Oil transaction, which will result in a change in control of the Corporation (the "Change in Control"), is subject to customary closing conditions and prior conclusion of the Loan Settlement. The Corporation will not issue any securities in connection with either transaction. The various conditions for the two separate transactions are anticipated to be fulfilled such that each transaction will close early in the third quarter of 2020. In the coming days, a material change report will be filed under Oryx Petroleum's profile at www.sedar.com in connection with the Loan Settlement. In light of the Corporation's financial situation, closing is expected to proceed before the expiration of 21 days from the date of filing of the material change report, a delay contemplated in section 5.2(2) of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). This shorter period is reasonable and necessary in the circumstances to improve the Corporation's financial situation as soon as practicable and to provide additional stability and certainty as the Corporation advances its development plans for the Hawler license area and manages amounts owing to vendors. For the same reasons, and given the cost involved, the Corporation has sought relief from the TSX requirement to obtain shareholder approval, which would delay closing of the Loan Settlement and undermine the Corporation's plans to address its current financial situation. Financial Hardship Exemption As the Corporation is a non-exempt issuer under the rules of the TSX, and the Loan Settlement involves consideration greater than 10% of the market capitalization of the Corporation, the Corporation would ordinarily be required to obtain shareholder approval and an independent report regarding the value of the transaction consideration pursuant to subsection 501(c) of the TSX Company Manual. However, the Corporation has applied to the TSX for a "financial hardship" exemption from the requirements to obtain disinterested shareholder approval and an independent valuation report on the basis that the Corporation is in serious financial difficulty and the Loan Settlement is designed to improve the Corporation's financial situation. The application was made upon the recommendation of the Special Committee, free from any interest in the Loan Settlement and Change in Control and unrelated to the parties involved in such transactions (other than the Corporation), and was based on its determination that the Loan Settlement is reasonable for the Corporation in the circumstances. As previously disclosed, payment for all oil sale deliveries into the Kurdistan Oil Export Pipeline during November 2019 through February 2020 remain outstanding and amount to approximately $39 million . The Kurdistan Region has been severely impacted by the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus and the very significant fall in the price of oil starting in March 2020 , which has impacted its ability to pay oil companies operating in the region for oil sale deliveries. The Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Natural Resources ("MNR") indicated in March 2020 that payment of these outstanding invoices is not expected for at least nine months (i.e., not before January 2021 ) and has not yet specified any terms or conditions for settlement. Although the MNR has settled invoices for all oil sale deliveries during March 2020 , April 2020 and May 2020 , as a result of lower oil prices and restricted production rates, the revenue related to these periods has been insufficient to fully cover current costs and settle outstanding payables. In addition to the interest payment due on July 1, 2020 , as of the date of this release, the Corporation also has a significant overdue trade payables balance of approximately $17 million . Upon closing of the Loan Settlement, which will involve transfer of the shares of OP AGC Central to AOG, the Corporation will be relieved of all amounts due to AOG under the Loan Agreement, including the upcoming interest payment (i.e., an aggregate of $79,978,775 on the date of this release). The Corporation will also be relieved of drilling commitments associated with the AGC Central license area. If the Corporation were to be unable to drill two wells within the current exploration period, compensation of $30 million would become payable to the Agence de Gestion et de Cooperation ("AGC"), an inter-governmental agency that manages and administers petroleum activities in the maritime zone between Senegal and Guinea Bissau , in lieu of carrying out the committed exploration activity. In connection with the Change in Control, Zeg Oil has indicated its intention to, subject to closing of the Change in Control, provide Oryx Petroleum with access to interim financing arrangements. The Loan Settlement and the Change in Control are important steps towards the improvement of Oryx Petroleum's financial situation, which in turn will enable it to (i) make better progress in addressing the Corporation's trade payable obligations, and (ii) more effectively execute its development of the Hawler license area, which also benefits from a lower cost structure as a result of recent restructuring activity. Notwithstanding the outstanding oil sales receivables balance, the Corporation has already initiated a plan to make monthly partial payments to vendors, which will reduce the trade payables balance over time. In connection with reliance on the financial hardship exemption, it is expected that the TSX will place Oryx Petroleum under remedial delisting review, which is normal practice when a listed issuer seeks to rely on this exemption. The Corporation intends to promptly take action to address any deficiencies the TSX may identify in relation to the Corporation's compliance with continued listing requirements. As disclosed in the Corporation's press release of June 22, 2020 , the Corporation has also determined that the transaction is exempt from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements applicable to related party transactions defined under MI 61-101 pursuant to the financial hardship exemption thereunder. ABOUT ORYX PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED Oryx Petroleum is an international oil exploration, development and production company focused in Africa and the Middle East . The Corporation's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "OXC". The Oryx Petroleum group of companies was founded in 2010 by The Addax and Oryx Group P.L.C. Oryx Petroleum has interests in two license areas, one of which has yielded oil discoveries. The Corporation is the operator of the two license areas. One license area is located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and one license area is located in West Africa in the AGC administrative area offshore Senegal and Guinea Bissau . Upon closing of the Loan Settlement, Oryx Petroleum will no longer have interests in the license area located in the AGC administrative area. Further information about Oryx Petroleum is available at www.oryxpetroleum.com or under Oryx Petroleum's profile at www.sedar.com. Reader Advisory Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking information", including statements related to settlement of the loan with AOG, the extent to which Zeg Oil will increase its ownership stake resulting in a change in control of the Corporation, the anticipated closing of the transactions disclosed in this news release early in the third quarter of 2020, plans to file a material change report in connection with the Loan Settlement in the coming days, Zeg Oil's intentions to provide interim financing arrangements, prospective oil resources estimates, the expected timing for drilling of a first exploration well in the AGC Central license area, forecast cash flows for the AGC Central license area in the short- to mid- term, and the TSX's remedial delisting review. Statements that contain words such as "may", "will", "could", "should", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "expect", "plan", "estimate", "potentially", "project", or the negative of such expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical fact, constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Although Oryx Petroleum believes these statements to be reasonable, the assumptions upon which they are based may prove to be incorrect. For more information about these assumptions and risks facing the Corporation, refer to the Corporation's annual information form dated March 23, 2020 available at www.sedar.com and the Corporation's website at www.oryxpetroleum.com. Further, statements including forward-looking information in this news release are made as at the date they are given and, except as required by applicable law, Oryx Petroleum does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. If the Corporation does update one or more statements containing forward-looking information, it is not obligated to, and no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect thereto or with respect to other forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Reserves and Resources Advisory Oryx Petroleum's reserves and resource estimates have been prepared and evaluated in accordance with National Instrument 51-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities and the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook. Prospective oil resources are those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered accumulations by application of future development projects. Prospective oil resources have both a chance of discovery and a chance of development. Prospective oil resources entail more commercial and exploration risks than those relating to oil reserves and contingent oil resources. There is no certainty that any portion of the prospective resources will be discovered. If discovered, there is no certainty that it will be commercially viable to produce any portion of the prospective resources. SOURCE Oryx Petroleum Corporation Limited Cision View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/29/c9611.html OU Global Risks & Threats Series Leadership Forum Session 2: Reopening in a Post-COVID World Offered July 18 OU Global Risks & Threats Series Leadership Forum Session 2: Reopening in a Post-COVID World Offered July 18 PR Newswire NORMAN, Okla., June 30, 2020 NORMAN, Okla., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Oklahoma is presenting the second in the four-part OU Global Risks & Threats Series Leadership Forum with leaders from the intelligence, finance, law enforcement, corporate and cyber sectors. OU GRTS is a collaborative effort between the Michael F. Price College of Business and the OU Center for Intelligence and National Securityan Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence. Michael F. Price College of Business Logo (PRNewsfoto/The University of Oklahoma) Reopening in a Post-COVID World, which is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. Central Time (USA) Saturday, July 18, will address business-related post-COVID issues, including strengthening the global supply chain. The series is offered complimentary to the public by sponsor Manufacturing Talk Radio at www.mfgtalkradio.com and via YouTube. Additional information, including a full agenda, presenter bios and registration, as well as past and future speakers, is available online at price.ou.edu/GRTS. Adriana Sanford, founding director of OU GRTS and Senior Fellow at OU CINS, will lead off each event and preside throughout the series. The OU GRTS inauguration on June 6 was livestreamed, allowing tens of thousands of participants to receive expert guidance. The lineup for the July 18 event is: Lucian Cernat, Head of Global Trade Regulations & International Procurement Negotiations, and former Chief Trade Economist at the European Commission Horacio Gutierrez , Spotify's Head of Global Affairs & Chief Legal Officer; former Microsoft General Counsel and Corporate Vice President Brian Hinman , Chief Commercial Officer for Aon Intellectual Property Solutions; former Chief IP Officer at Philips; former IBM Vice President Matt Addington , Former Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent; former CIA Operations Officer (Narco-Terrorism and Global Security Threats) Gerold Knight , Group Chief Risk Officer for Coca-Cola Hellenic Christopher Libertelli , Former Global Head of Policy at YouTube; former Global Public Policy at Netflix; former Senior Legal Advisor to the FCC Seth Schachner, Managing Director of Strat Americas; former senior digital business executive at Sony Music, Microsoft, Liberty Media, Viacom and AOL's first executive for music Corporate sponsors, global organizations and allies supporting this effort during a time of world crisis include AON Corp., Willis Towers Watson, Ernst & Young, ISC2, Spotify, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co., Basel Institute on Governance, Task Force 7, Puga Ortiz, Berliner Corcoran and Rowe, International Enforcement Law Reporter, Peritus Partners, Strat Americas, ManchesterCF, WorldTowning and Search Consultants International. Story continues Two additional sessions will occur in August and September. Follow on Twitter: @OUPriceCollege Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ou-global-risks--threats-series-leadership-forum-session-2-reopening-in-a-post-covid-world-offered-july-18-301086314.html SOURCE The University of Oklahoma Price College of Business Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains and closed marginally lower on Tuesday, amid negative opening in European markets and weakness in SGX Nifty. Extending fall for the second straight session, Sensex closed 45 points lower at 34,915 and Nifty fell 10 points to 10,302. Sensex and Nifty have gained 18.5% and 19.8% in Q1, respectively logging their best performances since the June quarter of 2009, after hitting a 4-year low in Q4. However, both benchmarks are still down around 15% for the year. While PowerGrid, BPCL, Sun Pharma, TCS, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Kotak Bank were among the losers, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, L&T, SBI, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Reliance Industries were among the top gainers of today's session. Sectorally, gains in auto, financials, FMCG, metal and private banking were capped by losses in IT, media, PSU Bank, pharma and realty stocks. In opening session, domestic indices were trading higher on gains from global benchmarks that were buoyed by positive macroeconomic numbers from the US and China. Sensex opened 222 points higher at 31,183 and Nifty climbed 68 points to 10,380. Later, markets pared opening gains and traded muted in afternoon session amid volatility in global equities. Traders said investors were concerned over the recent spike in coronavirus cases and also awaiting India's core sector data today. Commenting on today's volatile session, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said,"The markets were impacted by the uncertainties surrounding PM's address to the nation. Irrespective of this, many Indian cities, are extending their lockdowns in the face of unabated growth in virus infections, which has added to the uncertainty surrounding economic recovery." "The market direction for tomorrow may also largely be guided by the content of the PM's address and global cues," he added. Besides the outcome of PM Modi's speech today, the auto sales data will also be closely watched by the participants to access the pace of recovery in the economy, said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea, IRCON International, RITES, MIDHANI, Deepak Fertilisers, Godfrey Phillips, Dish TV, Allcargo Logistics, Goa Carbon, Liberty Shoes, NBCC, National Fertilisers, Steel Strips Wheels, Healthcare Global, ONGC, Bajaj Healthcare, Cera Sanitaryware, Cupid, Hindustan Motors, Lovable Lingerie, Nirlon and Rajesh Exports among others will report Q4 FY20 earnings today. As per Nifty's technical indicators, there is increasing evidence of 10,000 emerging as the near-term support, with 10400-10450 as resistance levels to watch out for. On Nifty's near term outlook, Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking said, "Nifty has been hovering within 10,200-10,400 for the last four sessions and either side break may trigger the next directional move." Worldwide, the number of cases linked to the COVID-19 disease has crossed 1.02 crore and the death toll has topped 5.04 lakh. In India, the number of infections spiked to 5,66,840, according to the health ministry. The death toll in India due to COVID-19 rose to 16,893. Share Market LIVE: Sensex climbs 200 points, Nifty at 10,379; Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Hindalco top gainers Oil prices tumble as coronavirus batters Japanese industrial production Stocks in news: Vodafone Idea, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Dilip Buildcon, MRF, Bharat Forge, Dilip Buildcon and more SAN FRANCISCO, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PandaDoc , the leading document automation software for small and medium sized businesses, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Food4Heroes, a nonprofit dedicated to delivering high quality, nutritious free meals to hospitals throughout the United Kingdom amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In order to help healthcare workers during this challenging time, PandaDoc is providing Food4Heroes a document automation solution to streamline the process of obtaining signed volunteer contracts and catering agreements. We are thankful for all the help provided by frontline health professionals during this time, said Shawn Herring, VP of Marketing with PandaDoc. We are proud to partner with Food4Heroes and hope that with our document automation software, they are able to grow their operation as an organization committed to serving those who serve us. Food4Heroes was created at the onset of the global pandemic to ensure that frontline healthcare providers and staff have access to healthy, nutritious and delicious meals for as long as this crisis continues. Through partnerships with local caterers and restaurants, and with the help of over 300 volunteers, Food4Heroes provides daily meals to local NHS hospitals and trusts that require it. To date, Food4Heroes has delivered over 230,000 meals to 43 hospitals throughout the United Kingdom. As the crisis and needs evolve, Food4Heroes will also be providing meals at mental hospitals and nursing homes affected by COVID-19. At the start of the crisis, healthcare professionals were having difficulty finding food after working long, very busy hours. In answer to that need, Food4Heroes was created to ensure frontline workers receive nutritious and delicious food as a thank you for risking their own health and safety at this time, said John Brownhill, co-founder of Food4Heroes. PandaDoc has been very useful as we mobilize hundreds of volunteers and formalize catering agreements throughout the country. Story continues To learn more and donate to Food4Heroes, visit www.food4heroes.co.uk . About PandaDoc Founded in 2013, PandaDoc is an all-in-one document automation software that streamlines the process of creating, approving, and eSigning proposals, quotes, and contracts. Backed by Microsoft Ventures, HubSpot, and Rembrandt Venture Partners, over 17,000 customers use PandaDocs powerful document creation and workflow capabilities. Using PandaDoc, sales teams can provide their customers a more professional, timely, and engaging experience, which led to over $20B in closed deals in 2019. To help businesses keep moving during this time, PandaDoc also introduced a new Free eSign plan, enabling businesses to keep their doors open and deals coming in with a free eSignature solution. For more information, visit www.PandaDoc.com. About Food 4 Heroes Food4Heroes was formed on 24th March 2020 by brother and sister John Brownhill and Amanda Guest to deliver free meals to frontline NHS workers during the COVID-19 crisis. The organisation works with local caterers, pubs and restaurants to create freshly prepared food that can be quickly heated by NHS staff or taken home after a long shift. For more information, please visit www.food4heroes.co.uk. Contact: Amanda Tsang Amanda.Tsang@PandaDoc.com (Corrects spelling of Middleburg Heights) June 30 (Reuters) - When Misty Laska opened her takeaway pizza, the first thing she noticed was that it was not sliced. Then she and her husband saw that the pepperoni pieces had been arranged in the shape of a swastika. When they realised what it was, the couple, from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, were "just silent" she told Reuters after posting a picture on social media of the pizza, which she said came from Little Caesars. Extremely angered by the Nazi symbol, they had tried to return the pizza but received no response upon calling the shop, which had closed. Little Caesars, the world's third largest pizza chain, contacted them the following day to apologise for the incident. It said their employees had admitted to making the pizza as a joke and it was never supposed to be sold. Two employees had been fired, Laska quoted the company as saying. Local media quoted a statement from Little Caesars condemning racism and confirming the sackings. The company was not immediately available for further comment. Laska said her husband Jason had bought the pizza, which had already been prepared, right before closing time. She said she felt the termination was not a satisfactory step given the severity of the 'joke', but was not sure what other action she and Jason could have taken. "This kind of hate being spread around and not taken seriously is why the world is becoming so divided," she added. "In the climate today a gesture like such is completely unacceptable ... I hope the two responsible learn a valuable lesson from this. Spread love, not hate." (Reporting by Nur-Azna Sanusi; writing by Karishma Singh; editing by Philippa Fletcher) NEW DELHI, June 30 (Reuters) - India's top gas importer Petronet LNG said on Tuesday suppliers Qatargas and Exxon Mobil Corp objected to the force majeure it invoked in March after local demand slumped because of lockdowns to stem the spread of COVID-19. Petronet has a deal to buy 7.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG from Qatar and 1.44 mtpa from Exxon's Gorgon project in Australia. Petronet invoked the force majeure on eight LNG cargoes of Qatar and one from Exxon for loading from March to May, its head of finance V.K. Mishra told an analyst conference. Force majeure is a clause in commercial contracts allowing companies to not fulfill contracts because of event outside their control. "They have objected to this force majeure, we are trying to convince them and hopefully we will work out a solution because as per contract this is admissible," Mishra said. "They have objected to it but they have not given any reason why this is not a force majeure." Exxon Mobil and Qatargas did not immediately reply to emails from Reuters requesting comment on their objections to the force majeure. Mishra also said Petronet is in talks with Qatargas to renegotiate gas pricing under its long-term deals as spot prices have declined. Indian gas demand has recovered now and the company's Dahej LNG terminal, which can bring in 17.5 mtpa, is now operating at about 100% capacity, Mishra said. He hoped the Dahej terminal will continue to fully operate for the remainder of the fiscal year to March 2021, while capacity use at the 5-mtpa Kochi terminal will improve after a key pipeline linking customers is ready this year. Petronet's non-binding memorandum of understanding to buy a stake in Tellurian Inc's Driftwood LNG project expired in May, Mishra said, adding his firm may renew the pact. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) June 29, 2020: Oslo, Norway, PGS and ION Geophysical Corporation today announced an agreement to collaborate globally on 2D exploration data. Both companies have modern, high-quality MultiClient data libraries that together cover all the significant hydrocarbon provinces around the world. The new joint data library will comprise nearly a million line kilometres of uniquely complementary data, including many areas of genuine broadband seismic that have substantial opportunity for integration and reimaging. Drawing on PGS broadband 2D GeoStreamer offering and IONs latest imaging technology, the companies will produce enhanced deliverables with higher resolution and greater spatial coverage, offering deeper insights and more reliable pre-stack attributes for exploration screening on a global basis. PGS and ION intend to develop an integrated seamless 2D seismic data library over time, creating a comprehensive, data-rich environment to inform exploration business decisions for E&P operators. The combined data library will be jointly marketed. The combined 2D data libraries will provide E&P companies with a more efficient way to identify and high-grade attractive frontier investment opportunities, said Berit Osnes, PGS EVP, New Ventures. IONs BasinSPAN offering is globally recognized as the benchmark tool for exploration insights at the basin-scale. Referencing and integrating our GeoStreamer enriched 2D data library into that framework will create a valuable opportunity to add resolution to that understanding. "PGS global framework of modern data, much of which was acquired with long offsets and GeoStreamer multi-sensor acquisition technology, is exceptionally compatible to integrate with IONs BasinSPAN framework to deepen basin characterization and insights for our customers, said Ken Williamson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of IONs E&P Technology and Services group. The collaboration extends beyond existing data to include new program activity and the integration of third-party data where relevant to further augment the value of the offering. Story continues About the Companies PGS ASA and its subsidiaries (PGS or "the Company") is a focused marine geophysical company that provides a broad range of seismic and reservoir services, including acquisition, imaging, interpretation, and field evaluation. The Company MultiClient data library is among the largest in the seismic industry, with modern 3D coverage in all significant offshore hydrocarbon provinces of the world. The Company operates on a worldwide basis with headquarters in Oslo, Norway and the PGS share is listed on the Oslo stock exchange (PGS.OL). For more information on PGS visit www.pgs.com . ION (IO) delivers powerful data-driven decision-making to offshore energy, ports and defence industries, enabling clients to optimize operations and deliver superior returns. Learn more at iongeo.com . Contacts PGS Senior Vice President, IR & Communication Bard Stenberg, +47 99 24 52 35 Bard.Stenberg@pgs.com ION (Investor relations) Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mike Morrison, +1 281.552.3011 mike.morrison@iongeo.com ION (Media relations) Pharrell Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, Kenya Barris, Van Jones, international advocacy organization Global Citizen, and the global CEO advisory firm Teneo, today announced the launch of THE JUNETEENTH PLEDGE, a global effort to rally the private sector to ensure that Juneteenth becomes a paid holiday in the United States. The effort kicked off with a video call between dozens of leading CEOs and corporate executives. The Juneteenth Pledge is currently live at www.juneteenthpledge.com for any company ready to join the movement. Specifically, the pledge calls on companies to: Make Juneteenth a paid holiday for employees in the United States. Identify a relevant day in international offices to recognize the emancipation of enslaved people in their country. Encourage other leaders in business to sign this pledge and join in making Juneteenth a recognized paid holiday. Support employees ability to learn, reflect and encourage continuous self-development and respect for all cultures. This year on June 19, Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, hundreds of CEOs and companies stepped forward to commemorate this historical milestone. This was a step in the right direction, but more can and must be done in the United States and around the world. Among those companies that participated in the call last week and have agreed to the pledge include adidas, Airbnb, Amblin Partners, Greensill, HP, Participant, The J. M. Smucker Company, Starbucks and Under Armour. Over the coming week and months, the initiative will be supporting a global campaign to educate and engage companies across the United States, and eventually around the world, to sign the pledge. The initiative will also include a social media campaign and work to support the bi-partisan effort in Congress to make Juneteenth a federal holiday in the United States. The private sector is critical in making this vision a reality. Businesses play a vital role not just in the lives of their employees and our communities, but in society at large. We have reached a pivotal moment in history. It is imperative that the history of injustice and promise of freedom be acknowledged, recognized and remembered globally. To do that, it's time to move beyond just words. If true change is to be made, leaders across industries must act. Story continues Pharrell Williams said: "I love America for its progression, but Im really in love with the untapped potential of this country. It was incredible to have powerful minds come together and really listen and be open to celebrating Juneteenth as a paid holiday. These companies influence which way the wind blows, they influence the economy and this was a very meaningful step in the right direction." Ellen DeGeneres said: "This is a time to be on the right side of history. As a white person I cannot do enough. My wish is for everyone to join together in this fight." Brian Chesky, Airbnb Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Community said: "I am grateful to Global Citizen, Pharrell, Ellen DeGeneres and others for bringing us together on this important initiative. This is a defining moment and we all have a responsibility, especially business leaders, to reflect on what we can do to help drive meaningful change in our society. At Airbnb we will make Juneteenth a holiday going forward and create more opportunities for our employees to reflect on these important issues. This is just one step we are taking to fight racism and promote diversity and we will continue to work with civil rights leaders and our community to drive real change." American television writer, actor and producer Kenya Barris said: "Slavery is the recessive scar that all of us share as Americans and we will continue to share in the effects of that scar if we dont actively address the impact its had on our country and, most especially, on Black people in this country. Celebrating Juneteenth and all that it represents from an American standpoint not only acknowledges the wounds of our past but helps guide us towards healing. Right now, were part of a unified movement and there is so much we can accomplish in coming together. CEOs can serve as agents of change by helping to shift us forward. Honoring Juneteenth as a holiday is not only a way to unite companies in creating positive change, but also a way to unite employees, consumers, communities and hopefully our country in doing the same." CNN Political Commentator Van Jones said: "A miracle is beginning to happen. Out of break downs, breakthroughs can occur. A continent of common ground has emerged out of an ocean of tears which has 30-40 million white Americans thinking to themselves that racism is real and its not over and this system is more broken than they thought. And they want to know what to do. Someone killed a Black man and everyone cares. This isnt just a moment or a phase, this is a time to reset. History is being made. Recognizing this holiday is very symbolic move. Corporate America can help start a conversation that begins on a higher ground." Earlier this month, in an open letter to Starbucks partners (employees), President and CEO Kevin Johnson, and COO Roz Brewer announced Starbucks will stand in solidarity with its Black partners to celebrate freedom and condemn oppression by recognizing Juneteenth as an annual U.S. company holiday. They went on to say: "Of course, our work doesnt stop here. Using our Civil Rights Assessment as a blueprint for progress, well continue to listen and learn and do our part to help America live up to its ideals by creating tangible and lasting change within our culture and workforce, the communities we serve, and as citizens." Hugh Evans, CEO of Global Citizen said: "At Global Citizen, we believe that the world's history of injustice and the promise of freedom must be acknowledged; and we need a national dialogue on how this shapes our collective future. We are proud to stand alongside Pharrell and this influential group of companies in recognizing Juneteenth as a paid holiday for our employees to learn, reflect and connect with their communities." Declan Kelly, Chairman and CEO of Teneo said: "On behalf of all my colleagues at Teneo, we are very proud to be partnering with our good friends at Global Citizen as well as Pharrell Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, Kenya Barris and Van Jones on this incredibly important initiative. The private sector will play a critical role in helping drive change across society as a whole and we are committed to doing everything we can to help encourage additional companies to sign-up for the Juneteenth Pledge as well as signing it ourselves." About Global Citizen: Global Citizen is the world's largest movement of action takers and impact makers dedicated to ending extreme poverty by 2030. With over 10 million monthly advocates, our voices have the power to drive lasting change around sustainability, equality, and humanity. We post, tweet, message, vote, sign, and call to inspire those who can make things happen to act government leaders, businesses, philanthropists, artists, and citizens together improving lives. By downloading our app, Global Citizens learn about the systemic causes of extreme poverty, take action on those issues, and earn rewards with tickets to concerts, events, and experiences all over the world. To date, the actions of our community, along with high-level advocacy efforts and work with partners, has resulted in commitments and policy announcements from leaders valued at over $48 billion, affecting the lives of more than 880 million people. For more information, visit GlobalCitizen.org. About Teneo: Teneo is the global CEO advisory firm. Working exclusively with the CEOs and senior executives of the world's leading companies, Teneo provides strategic counsel across their full range of key objectives and issues. Integrating the disciplines of strategic communications, investor relations, digital advisory, diversity & inclusion, management consulting, physical & cyber risk advisory, financial advisory, corporate governance advisory, political & policy risk advisory, and talent advisory, Teneo solves for the worlds most complex business challenges and opportunities. The firm has more than 800 employees located in 20 offices around the world. For more information on Teneo, please visit www.teneo.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005215/en/ Contacts Media Contacts: The Lede Company: Amanda Silverman Amanda.Silverman@ledecompany.com Anna Bailer anna.bailer@ledecompany.com Global Citizen: Charmion Kinder media@globalcitizen.org Teneo: Stephen Meahl stephen.meahl@teneo.com June 29, 2020 Amsterdam, the Netherlands Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced that it is expanding its remote clinical collaboration and virtual training offerings across its portfolio, building on the IIT* (Innovative Imaging Technologies) Reacts collaborative platform. Leveraging innovative technologies, such as augmented reality, for remote virtual guidance, supervision and training, the platform provides unique interactive tools designed to meet the multi-faceted collaborative needs of healthcare professionals and patients. It is vital that we continue to advance our offering to help customers increase first-time-right diagnoses, by integrating innovations and technology that alleviate our customers pain points and streamline workflows, said Bich Le, Business Leader Ultrasound at Philips. With Reacts unique interactive tools we can provide secure expert solutions, and the training and support, needed for physicians to make definitive diagnostic decisions effectively and efficiently. This will enable us to accelerate our commitment to the patients we serve today as well as expanding access to imaging for new users and new use cases. The Reacts platform has already been deployed in more than 80 countries, across various disciplines in both clinical and educational settings. It allows healthcare professionals to interact remotely and dynamically in a wide range of applications, from teleconsultations, secure messaging, remote wound care and tele-ultrasound, to interactive telesurgical assistance and remote procedure supervision. Reacts addresses the clear and pressing need for secure remote collaboration and communication between healthcare providers and patients, said Dr. Yanick Beaulieu, head of Clinical Science for Philips Ultrasound. By deploying this interactive collaboration platform across Philips health technology solutions, we can change patient care models, expand telehealth capabilities, and accelerate technological developments in virtual collaboration globally. Story continues Since 2018, Reacts is integrated with the Philips Lumify point-of-care ultrasound solution , enabling users to share the live ultrasound stream from a Lumify device with a remote colleague on a mobile device, tablet or computer. This allows both parties to simultaneously view the live ultrasound image, as well as the webcam video stream, and provide real time feedback. Lumify with Reacts has proven to be a valuable tool for educational institutions, medical students and resident clinicians, EMS providers with long transit times, disaster relief providers, hospitals with satellite clinics, and clinicians seeking peer-to-peer collaboration for virtual guidance and training. Lumify with Reacts can provide valuable diagnostic insight for front-line care providers to manage COVID-19-related lung and cardiac complications. Moreover, by enabling remote communication, Reacts reduces the need for physical interaction and can therefore help minimize the risk of virus transmission for medical teams. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Philips has also successfully piloted Reacts to provide case support during image-guided therapy procedures, remotely assisting clinicians as they diagnose and treat patients with coronary artery disease and other cardiovascular diseases. Philips will now further expand Reacts across its Diagnosis & Treatment portfolio. * IIT Reacts is a wholly owned Philips subsidiary and part of Philips Ultrasound business. Philips etend son offre en matiere de collaboration clinique a distance avec la plateforme Reacts Amsterdam, Pays-Bas Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), leader mondial dans les technologies de sante, a annonce aujourdhui l'expansion de son offre en matiere de collaboration et formation virtuelle en sante, avec la plateforme collaborative Reacts de TII* (Technologies innovatrices dimagerie Inc.). Grace a des technologies novatrices, telles que la realite augmentee pour leducation a distance, la supervision et la guidance virtuelle, cette plateforme offre des outils interactifs uniques concus pour repondre aux multiples besoins de collaboration a distance des professionnels de la sante et des patients. Il est essentiel que nous continuions a faire progresser notre offre afin daider nos clients a accroitre la fiabilite du diagnostic en integrant des innovations et des technologies qui attenuent les difficultes potentielles rencontrees lors des examens et qui ameliorent lefficacite des processus, a declare Bich Le, Directrice Generale de Philips Ultrasound. Grace aux outils interactifs uniques de Reacts, nous pouvons fournir des solutions expertes securisees, ainsi que la formation et le soutien dont les medecins ont besoin pour prendre des decisions diagnostiques definitives de facon efficace. Cela nous permettra daccelerer notre engagement envers les patients que nous servons aujourdhui et delargir lacces a limagerie a de nouveaux utilisateurs et de nouvelles utilisations. La plateforme Reacts est utilisee dans plus de 80 pays autant dans des contextes cliniques queducatifs. Elle permet aux professionnels de la sante dinteragir a distance de facon dynamique pour un large eventail dapplications allant de teleconsultations, messagerie securisees, soins de plaies a distance et tele-echographie, a lassistance tele-chirurgicale interactive et la supervision de procedures a distance. Reacts repond au besoin croissant de collaboration et de communication securisees a distance entre les professionnels de la sante et les patients, a declare le Dr Yanick Beaulieu, Directeur des Sciences Cliniques chez Philips Ultrasound. En deployant cette plateforme de collaboration interactive a travers les solutions de technologie de sante de Philips, nous pouvons changer les modeles de soins aux patients, etendre les capacites de telemedecine et accelerer les developpements technologiques en matiere de collaboration virtuelle a l'echelle mondiale. Depuis 2018, Reacts est integree a la solution dechographie portable Lumify de Philips, permettant aux utilisateurs de partager en direct le flux video de lechographe Lumify en plus de partager de facon bidirectionnelle laudio et le flux video de la webcam. Cela permet a un professionnel effectuant une echographie avec le Philips Lumify, a partir dune simple tablette ou telephone intelligent, davoir acces a une expertise et une assistance virtuelles en temps reel, en collaborant a distance via Reacts avec un expert, peu importe ou il se trouve dans le monde. Lumify avec Reacts sest revele un outil precieux pour aider les cliniciens a se connecter et a collaborer en temps reel comme jamais auparavant, sans barriere geographique. La solution peut notamment aider a optimiser les soins aux patients en permettant a des experts de superviser un examen echographique de facon virtuelle pour les etablissements denseignement, les etudiants en medecine, les medecins residents, les services medicaux d'urgence qui peuvent avoir de longs delais de transit, les services de secours en cas de catastrophe, les hopitaux avec des cliniques satellites et les cliniciens qui cherchent a collaborer avec leurs pairs pour lorientation et la formation virtuelles. Lumify avec Reacts peut fournir des informations diagnostiques precieuses aux prestataires de soins de premiere ligne pour gerer les complications pulmonaires et cardiaques liees a la COVID-19. De plus, en permettant une communication a distance, Reacts reduit le besoin d'interaction physique et peut donc contribuer a minimiser le risque de transmission du virus pour les equipes medicales. Au cours de la pandemie de COVID-19, Philips a egalement mis Reacts a lessai avec succes pour fournir une assistance virtuelle lors des procedures de therapie guidee par imagerie, en aidant a distance les cliniciens a diagnostiquer et a traiter les patients atteints de coronaropathie et autres maladies cardiovasculaires. Philips etendra maintenant l'utilisation de Reacts a travers tout son portfolio de solutions de diagnostic et traitement. * TII est une filiale a part entiere de Philips et fait partie de la division Philips Ultrasound. For further information, please contact: Ben Zwirs Philips Global Press Office Tel.: +31 6 15213446 E-mail: ben.zwirs@philips.com Anna Hogrebe Philips Global Press Office Tel.: +1 416 270 6757 E-mail: anna.hogrebe@philips.com Derya Guzel Philips Investor Relations Tel.: +31 20 59 77055 E-mail: derya.guzel@philips.com About Royal Philips Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2019 sales of EUR 19.5 billion and employs approximately 81,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter . A propos de Royal Philips Royal Philips (NYSE : PHG, AEX : PHIA) est une societe de technologies medicales de pointe qui se consacre a l'amelioration de la sante des personnes et a l'obtention de meilleurs resultats dans tout le continuum de la sante, de la vie en bonne sante, de la prevention au diagnostic, jusqu'au traitement et aux soins a domicile. Philips s'appuie sur une technologie de pointe et sur une connaissance approfondie du milieu medical et des consommateurs pour proposer des solutions integrees. Basee aux Pays-Bas, la societe est un leader dans le domaine de l'imagerie diagnostique, de la therapie guidee par l'image, du monitorage des patients et de l'informatique de sante, ainsi que dans le domaine de la sante des consommateurs et des soins a domicile. Philips a realise en 2019 un chiffre d'affaires de 19,5 milliards d'euros et emploie environ 81.000 personnes, avec des ventes et des services dans plus de 100 pays. Vous trouverez des informations sur Philips a l'adresse suivante: www.philips.com/newscenter . Attachments By Lindsay Dunsmuir WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday will get another chance to grill the heads of the Federal Reserve and Treasury over the effectiveness of the nearly $3 trillion in emergency aid doled out to stem the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. central bank, with Treasury's backing, has launched programs to improve the flow of credit as economic activity cratered and millions of jobs were lost, including its new Main Street Lending Program for mostly medium-sized businesses. Treasury has been at the forefront of the $660 billion forgivable-loan Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) aimed at keeping small businesses afloat and their employees on payrolls. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are due to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee at 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT) to discuss how funds were disbursed to households and businesses. Lawmakers on the Democratic-controlled panel are likely to question whether those most in need have received support. Powell and Mnuchin testified about the coronavirus economic response before the Senate Banking Committee last month. TO THE HAVES OR HAVE NOTS? In prepared testimony released on Monday, Powell noted that the economic recovery had begun sooner than expected, but that output and employment are still far below pre-crisis levels, with the brunt of the pain borne by women and minorities. And a full recovery, he reiterated, is unlikely until people feel safe about going out and about. "The path forward will also depend on the policy actions taken at all levels of government to provide relief and to support the recovery for as long as needed," he said. Several government programs designed to cushion the blow from the pandemic, including enhanced unemployment benefits, are expected to expire this summer. But concerns the virus has not been contained have added to uncertainty as many parts of the country reopened their economies after lockdowns were put in place in March and April. Story continues Fifteen U.S. states reported last week a record surge in cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus that has killed more than 125,000 people in the United States. Numerous Fed policymakers, including Powell, have said that more fiscal and monetary help will likely be required to keep what is expected to be a slow and uneven economic recovery on track. The Fed has come under fire for a perception that it has prioritized Wall Street over Main Street, helping fuel economic inequality by boosting the price of assets like stocks. The central bank has bought trillions of dollars of bonds, and rolled out nearly a dozen programs to backstop and extend corporate credit and promote bank lending, arguing that bracing the economy as a whole is helped when companies maintain access to the financing critical to their operations. Data on Sunday showed the Fed bought $428 million in bonds of individual companies through mid-June, making investments in household names like Walmart Inc and AT&T Inc as well as in major oil firms, tobacco giant Philip Morris International Inc, and a utility subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company. At the same time, its Main Street Lending Program has yet to make a loan and has taken three months to come to fruition, though Powell said in his prepared testimony he expected it to be a "valuable resource" in the months ahead. The central bank's programs overall have so far seen modest use. Mnuchin will also likely be grilled about PPP. After an initial round of funding was exhausted quickly, there remains about $140 billion of aid untapped by small businesses. Mnuchin agreed last week to give Congress full access to loan-level data for the program after coming under bipartisan fire for saying that revealing the identities of businesses that took funds could be "confidential" and "proprietary." (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Paul Simao) (Bloomberg) -- Prosus NV is hoping EBay Inc. classifieds wont be the auction that got away. Having lost an $8 billion battle to buy Just Eat Plc to Takeaway.com NV in January, the e-commerce group is the party to beat in a hotly-contested auction process for the EBay business, according to people familiar with the matter. By pursuing the EBay unit, potentially valued at as much as $10 billion, Prosus is looking to seal its biggest purchase since spinning off from South African technology giant Naspers Ltd. last year. Prosus holds assets including a stake in Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., as well as businesses from Brazil to Germany in industries such as online food delivery and classified advertising. Naspers opted to separate Prosus -- in which it retains a majority holding -- in the hopes shareholders would assign more value to its investments around the world. While the listing in Amsterdam was a chance for Prosus to begin an aggressive acquisition spree, a big deal has yet to materialize. It also missed an opportunity to expand in the U.S. after the combined Just Eat Takeaway.com NV agreed to acquire Grubhub Inc. for $7.3 billion in June. With about $7 billion in cash and ample liquidity from a long-list of lenders, Prosus has the financial power to pursue large mergers and acquisitions and is on the lookout for opportunities, according to Chief Executive Officer Bob van Dijk. I am excited about the deals that might happen because it would really reinforce the business we have, he said in a phone interview this week. The pipeline is looking quite healthy. Prosus is competing with two bidders for EBays classified-advertising unit, according to people familiar with the matter. One is a consortium comprising buyout groups Blackstone Group Inc., Permira and Hellman & Friedman LLC and the other is Oslo-based online marketplace Adevinta ASA. Even some backers of these rival bids view Prosus as the heavy favorite, the people said. Story continues Representatives for EBay and Prosus declined to comment. EBay is seeking a sale of the unit at a time when market turmoil has hampered financing for leveraged buyouts, forcing companies to put a number of bidding processes on hold. The sale process is advanced and a decision on a winner is likely to happen in July, the people said. Prosuss strong financial position and backing by Naspers will give it an edge in a tough environment for dealmaking. Winning the EBay bid could just be the fillip it needs for more M&A. Prosuss shares declined 0.7% to 82.20 euros as of 12:01 p.m. Wednesday in Amsterdam. (Updates share price in final paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the wording on timing of decision in penultimate 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. Leading healthcare network to improve delivery outcomes for the people of the Bahamas NEW YORK, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, announced today that the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) has selected Infor CloudSuite Healthcare Financial and Supply Chain Management applications. Implemented by Infor's Consulting Services (ICS) practice, these capabilities will replace PHA's legacy systems and help PHA improve outcomes in public healthcare delivery in the Bahamas. Infor CloudSuite Healthcare is an industry-specific software platform that encompasses a comprehensive suite of business solutions unique to healthcare organizations, including clinically integrated finance and supply chain business processes. "The Public Hospitals Authority has made great strides in improving and modernizing its financial and supply chain systems. With the successful completion of Phase 2 of our Infor CloudSuite Healthcare Financials implementation, we have reduced our dependency on legacy systems as we have transitioned many critical financial processes into Infor CloudSuite Healthcare. Our achievements set the foundation for future improvements within the PHA and beyond, which will lead to improved outcomes in healthcare delivery for the people of the Bahamas," said Lyrone Burrows, deputy managing director of the Public Hospitals Authority. PHA will use Infor applications to take better control of financial operations in order to control costs and manage margins. PHA will be able to improve transparency with advanced analytics, consolidate data from disparate sources, reconcile for period-end closings, and benefit from increased visibility into activities that impact finances across the enterprise. In addition, supply chain capabilities will allow users to automate the procure-to-pay process. PHA will be able to spend less time on administration and more time on securing reliable suppliers, negotiating competitive pricing, and driving sustainable cost savings. Story continues "Modern healthcare organizations are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to deliver value-added care to achieve the best patient outcomes. This especially rings true when looking at healthcare supply chain operations," said Chuck Whinney, Infor senior director of healthcare strategy. "Infor offers a complete, scalable, proven suite of solutions designed specifically to support the healthcare industry. By partnering with us, leading organizations such as PHA will be able to strive to keep their business running with maximum efficiency, so their teams can put more focus on delivering quality, safe, affordable care." For more information visit http://www.infor.com/industries/healthcare/. About Public Hospitals Authority The Public Hospitals Authority is recognized as one of the best public healthcare systems in the Caribbean, earning praise for being a provider and employer of choice for the Bahamas. For more information visit http://www.phabahamas.org/. About Infor Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com. Infor customers include: 14 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks The top 20 aerospace companies 9 of the top 10 high tech companies 19 of the 20 largest U.S. cities 18 of the top 20 automotive suppliers 14 of the top 20 industrial distributors 13 of the top 20 global retailers 4 of the top 5 brewers 17 of the top 20 global banks 9 of the 10 largest global hotel brands 7 of the top 10 global luxury brands For more information: Christina Ledger Infor 312-662-2135 christina.ledger@infor.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/public-hospitals-authority-modernizes-financial-and-supply-chain-systems-with-infor-301084526.html SOURCE Infor Rail Security Alliance Releases Short Video on Dangers of CRRC Rail Security Alliance Releases Short Video on Dangers of CRRC PR Newswire WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past five years, the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) has infiltrated the United States. The Rail Security Alliance (RSA), members of Congress, leaders in several State Houses and the Administration have made the case for the past few years that CRRC presents a clear and present danger to the economic and national security to the United States. And, just last week the Department of Defense officially designated CRRC as being directed by the Communist China People's Liberation Army. In a short video released today, RSA chronicles how this Communist Chinese 100% state-owned enterprise set its target on the U.S. rail market. Using anticompetitive tactics, CRRC has secured $2.6 billion in contracts to build transit cars for cities across North America by underbidding competitors by 20-50%. CRRC has stated its goal is to conquer the global rail industry. "If CRRC is allowed to continue to infiltrate the market, we risk wiping out the entire rolling stock manufacturing industry in North America. CRRC accomplished this in less than nine years in Australia," said Erik Olson, vice president of RSA. The short video emphasizes the major economic and national security threats that come from Chinese state-owned enterprise building our critical infrastructure. The full video also touches on CRRC's false claims they are creating jobs in the United States, China's dismal human rights record, federal and state legislation against CRRC, and more. It is available for viewing here. ABOUT THE RAIL SECURITY ALLIANCE The Rail Security Alliance exists to support and encourage the adoption and enactment of U.S. policies, procedures and laws that are designed to promote the security of the railroads and the railroad system of the United States of America. Story continues Contact: Jeff Eller and Suzanne Geiger media@railsecurity.org (202) 318-0456 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rail-security-alliance-releases-short-video-on-dangers-of-crrc-301086351.html SOURCE Rail Security Alliance In a major announcement, the Centre on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps in a show of coercive diplomacy with China amid simmering tensions between the two countries. Signalling strong intent, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced the ban, while noting the security threat these apps pose. The list of apps found to be flouting section 69A of the IT Act comprises popular ones like TikTok, WeChat, Helo, UC Browser, Shein, CamScanner, Mi Community, Likee, Bigo Live and Vigo Video. While the move has been hailed by many in support of the 'Boycott China' protest, it may perplex smartphone users with a lot of questions and challenges, especially social media influencers. Also Read: '$100 billion? May be not!': How TikTok ban will impact ByteDance's valuation How will the ban be implemented? The government's notification issued concerning the ban will be followed by instructions to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block these apps. After this, users are expected to soon see a display message restricting access to the said apps. Essentially, users will not be able to use the apps. Since apps like TikTok and UC Browser need a live feed, they will not automatically disappear from a user's phone. The connection to app server will not happen. The users might still be able to continue using apps that don't require an active internet connection. However, further fresh downloads of these banned apps are blocked on Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store. Besides blocking the apps, the second layer of restriction will come in the form of prospective downloads of updates and patches that may make the apps redundant for existing users. Meanwhile, MeitY is also coordinating with the department of telecommunication to create further road blocks for use of these apps in case of existing users. Also Read: Boycott China: In process of abiding by govt's order, says TikTok Will the ban be permanent? TikTok was banned in India earlier as well. The Madras High Court banned the app for a few days last year, but it was back again soon after the court abdicated the ban. But, given the current situation, the ban this time is more sweeping, impacting more apps, and has been done in a specific strategic and national security context. Also Read: TikTok secretly accesses users' data, Apple catches it red-handed How to permanently delete Chinese apps from users' phones? According to cyber experts the banned apps will not automatically disappear from a user's phone, however, the connection to app server will not happen. Users will not get any new updates. In order to effectively remove the banned apps from phones, users can first ensure data backup, and factory reset the phones rather than simply deleting the apps. What if the apps are already installed on users' phones? The government is already in talks with ISPs and telecom service providers to block all data traffic linked to the banned Chinese apps. Once the process is complete, these apps will automatically become non-functional by default. Independence, Ohio, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Developer and owner of single-family apartment homes, Redwood Living, Inc. (Redwood), has been awarded a Top Workplaces honor for the third consecutive year by The Plain Dealer. Redwood ranked 16th in the midsize company category. The 2020 list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage, LLC. The anonymous survey uniquely measures 15 drivers of engaged cultures that are critical to the success of any organization, including alignment, execution, and connection, to name a few. In times of great change, it is more important than ever to maintain a connection among employees, said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. When you give your employees a voice, you come together to navigate challenges and shape your path forward based on real-time insights into what works best for your organization. The Top Workplaces program can be that positive outcome your company can rally around in the coming months to celebrate leadership and the importance of maintaining an employee-focused culture, even during challenging times. Redwoods more than 400 employees span six states, developing and managing the companys growing portfolio of single-family apartment homes. Our remarkable team members are so much more than employees. They are true ambassadors for the Redwood lifestyle, and we have them to thank for receiving this honor, said Sarah Coakley, culture officer at Redwood. This recognition inspires us to continue listening, learning and growing with our employees. For residents, Redwood goes above and beyond to make sure its homes and all aspects of its service are top notch. Employees receive that same level of attention and care, along with extra perks that promote optimal work-life balance. It is what the company likes to call The Redwood Advantage. Popular Redwood employee benefits include paid parental leave, a robust and flexible paid time off program that includes bonus time off during employees birthday months, tuition assistance, annual employee recognition and plenty of opportunities to volunteer. Story continues Redwood is committed to fostering a great workplace culture that our employees are proud to be a part of, Coakley said. ### About Redwood Living, Inc. Redwood Living, Inc. (Redwood) is an innovative development and property management company with neighborhoods in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina and South Carolina. The company believes that the growth of the rental population demands the response that Redwood provides. The success of this approach continues to be validated in new markets. Redwood is a company that believes in its mission, product and amazing people. It creates a simplified, relaxed lifestyle for residents, and offers a rewarding atmosphere for its employees. For more information, visit www.byredwood.com. About Energage Energage offers a fully unified SaaS platform, plus support and professional services, to help organizations recruit and retain the right talent. As a B-Corporation founding member, Energage has committed itself to the purpose of making the world a better place to work together. Based on 14 years of culture research, the engine behind 51 Top Workplaces programs across the country, and data gathered from over 20 million employees at 60,000 organizations, Energage has isolated the 15 drivers of engaged cultures that are critical to the success of any business, and developed the tools and expertise to help organizations measure, shape and showcase their unique culture to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. For more information, please visit energage.com. Follow us on Twitter @teamenergage and Facebook and LinkedIn @energage. Attachment Marketing Redwood Living Marketing@byRedwood.com GCAR, Eisai and UPMC, on Behalf of REMAP-CAP Investigator Network, Announce Eritorans Inclusion in REMAP-COVID, An Adaptive Clinical Trial to Test Interventions for Patients With Moderate and Severe COVID Infection Eisais Eritoran Selected as the First Investigational Immune Modulation Therapy to Be Evaluated Across Multiple International Trial Sites Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (LOS ANGELES, CA) and Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") -- The Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR), in collaboration with UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), and Eisai Co., Ltd. announce today that Eisai Co., Ltd. will join REMAP-COVID, a substudy of REMAP-CAP (A Randomized, Embedded, Multifactorial, Adaptive Platform trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia) that tests multiple interventions for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005981/en/ Eritoran, an investigational TLR-4 antagonist discovered and developed by Eisai, has been selected as the first investigational immune modulation therapy to be evaluated in the moderate patient group of REMAP-COVID. The trial will be conducted in the multi-hospital UPMC health system along with other medical centers in the United States. Additional global sites across the trial network, including Japan, will follow. Previously observed to be safe in a large Phase 3 randomized trial in sepsis, eritoran is designed to suppress the over-production and release of various pro-inflammatory mediators ("cytokine storm") with the aim to protect against damage in COVID-19 patients lungs and other organs. "We are excited to initiate our partnership with Eisai and to test this promising intervention in the trial," stated Christopher Seymour, MD, MSC, Associate Professor, Department of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, and U.S. principal investigator of the REMAP-CAP:COVID study. "By utilizing an adaptive design rather than using a traditional trial approach, we are more likely to get to answers faster, while keeping our patients as safe as possible. REMAP-COVID is an optimal study to identify potential treatments for COVID-19 as safely, quickly, and effectively as possible." Story continues "Eisai is proud to be part of this collaborative initiative to fight the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. We are pleased that our investigational immune modulation therapeutic TLR-4 antagonist, eritoran, will be studied alone and in combination with other drugs to evaluate the effectiveness in COVID-19 hospitalized patients," says Lynn Kramer, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, Neurology Business Group, Eisai. "As part of our human health care mission, we are committed to making a difference for patients, their families, and health care professionals across the globe." REMAP-CAP was designed to find optimal treatments for severe pneumonia both in non-pandemic and pandemic settings. When COVID-19 began, REMAP-CAP rapidly pivoted to its pandemic mode (the REMAP-COVID substudy), as per its original intent, to incorporate additional potential treatment regimens specifically targeting COVID-19 and to expand enrollment to COVID-19 patients. This trial is a multicenter, randomized, standard of care vs. multi-active comparators platform study. The primary endpoint for the REMAP-COVID substudy is organ failure free days over a 21 day observational period. Eritoran will be evaluated in hospitalized patients in the immune modulation domain of REMAP-COVID. REMAP-CAP is led by the worlds leading critical care trialists and experts in pandemic and infectious disease outbreaks, virology, immunology, emergency medicine, and Bayesian statistics. REMAP-CAP has enrolled over 1100 patients at 218 sites across North America, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand. This vital research is being conducted in collaboration with Berry Consultants, leaders in statistical design for adaptive platform trials, and is being supported by governments and non-profits worldwide. Most recently, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, committed $1M to help launch U.S. trial sites through the long-established, innovative trial infrastructure of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium. "The REMAP study strategy for COVID-19 provides a platform on which to build existing relevant knowledge, plus swiftly and simultaneously evaluate the safety and effectiveness of multiple investigational treatments against the virus. Thus enabling us to learn as much as possible in COVID-19 clinical trials," explained Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, Robert J. Margolis Professor of Business, Medicine, and Policy, and founding Director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University. "GCAR is honored to participate in this global effort and to serve as trial sponsor of REMAP-CAP:COVID in the U.S. alongside the University of Pittsburgh serving as the U.S. Regional Coordinating Center," shared Meredith Buxton, PhD, MPH, CEO of GCAR. "We are pleased to leverage our extensive experience in running platform trials to support this important endeavor. By working with key partners in academia, industry and philanthropy we will strive to identify improved treatment options for patients with COVID-19." To learn more about REMAP-CAP and the REMAP-COVID substudy, please visit www.remapcap.org and follow @remap_cap About Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR) The Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization uniting physicians, clinical researchers, advocacy and philanthropic organizations, biopharma, health authorities, and other key stakeholders in healthcare to expedite the discovery and development of treatments for patients with rare and deadly diseases by serving as Sponsor of innovative and complex trials including master protocols and platform trials. As its first major effort, GCAR sponsors GBM AGILE, an international adaptive platform trial for patients with glioblastoma (GBM) the most common and deadliest of malignant primary brain tumors. GCAR has expanded to support other innovative collaborations to benefit patients, including most recently those hospitalized with COVID-19. In this effort, GCAR is serving as U.S. Trial Sponsor of REMAP-COVID, a COVID-specific component of the REMAP-CAP adaptive platform trial (www.remapcap.org), designed to determine optimal treatments for pandemic pneumonia. To learn more about GCAR, visit our website at: www.gcaresearch.org and join us by following us: @GCAResearch and www.facebook.com/GCAResearch About Eisai Co., Ltd. Eisai Co., Ltd. is a leading global research and development-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan. We define our corporate mission as "giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides," which we call our human health care (hhc) philosophy. With approximately 10,000 employees working across our global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to realize our hhc philosophy by delivering innovative products to address unmet medical needs, with a particular focus in our strategic areas of Neurology and Oncology. As a global pharmaceutical company, our mission extends to patients around the world through our investment and participation in partnership-based initiatives to improve access to medicines in developing and emerging countries. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit www.eisai.com. About UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) A $21 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates more than 90,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors offices and outpatient sites, and a 3.8 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.2 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the regions most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid $587 million in federal, state and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside on its annual Honor Roll of Americas Best Hospitals and ranks UPMC Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh on its Honor Roll of Americas Best Childrens Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005981/en/ Contacts Rachel Rosenstein-Sisson rrosenstein.sisson@gcaresearch.org By Michael Berens and John Shiffman June 30 (Reuters) - To track misconduct by state, county and local judges from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Reuters examined thousands of investigative files and reports for a dozen years from 2008 through 2019. Neither judicial misconduct cases nor the work of state commissions that oversee judges is tracked nationally by any government agency. Reuters built spreadsheets and databases to track complaints and sanctions, drawing on diverse sources that included investigative files, court and law enforcement records, audits, lawsuits and annual disclosures. Additionally, our reporters interviewed more than 200 state officials, attorneys and court staff, law enforcement officials and defendants. Reuters spent more than a year acquiring state and court records for 1,509 public misconduct cases, often overcoming secretive systems in which states such as Illinois refused to disclose how many complaints are investigated annually. Reporters traveled to a dozen states, conducted hundreds of interviews and obtained previously undisclosed court and law enforcement documents, including audio and video recordings. Securing records and verifying cases often proved extraordinarily time consuming. Some states post disciplinary records on their websites and others summarize them in annual reports. But in many states, misconduct rulings are stored in supreme court files that are difficult for the public to access. Reuters searched a dozen years worth of supreme court dockets and used the legal database Westlaw to identify hundreds of cases of judicial misconduct that had not been publicly posted by state oversight agencies. (Westlaw, like Reuters, is a unit of Thomson Reuters Corp.) The reporters confronted an even higher hurdle: In the vast majority of judicial misconduct cases, judges are disciplined privately, Reuters found. In those cases, the identities of judges and details of their transgressions are sealed. Nonetheless, the news agency was able to identify the names of dozens of judges who were privately sanctioned. Reuters did so by examining cases in which judges were disciplined publicly and then by scrutinizing those case files, which sometimes revealed past misconduct that had been kept private. No state tracks how many people were victimized by a judges misconduct. Reuters did so by matching state misconduct files with court and jail databases, and other records, to track those adversely affected by a judges inappropriate behavior. Those victims ranged from children who were wrongfully taken from their parents to defendants who committed no crime but were jailed nonetheless. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: JUDICIAL OVERSIGHT Q: How do I file a formal complaint against a judge? A: Complaints are filed with a states judicial oversight commission, which then investigates. Most states take complaints by email, letter and phone call, including anonymously. But about a dozen states require the complaint to be signed and notarized. Q: What kind of complaints are investigated? A: Commissions can investigate alleged misconduct by judges, but they cannot change verdicts or rulings that power is reserved for the appeals courts. Most commissions investigate allegations related to bias, fairness and honesty. This can include racism, abuse of power, sexual harassment, favoritism, drunkenness and untenable delays in rulings. Q: How do commissions investigate? A: In secret. Most act like grand juries: They gather records by subpoena and hear testimony from witnesses, often including the accused judge. Such private disciplinary action is allowed in 39 states. If public charges are brought, most cases are heard by a special state tribunal. Q: Who sits on commissions and special tribunals? A: Most states employ a mix of judges, lawyers and members of the community who gather every few months to consider cases. They are often appointed by the state supreme court, the legislature and state bar associations. Q: Who has ultimate say on judicial conduct? A: In 42 states, the supreme court. The justices can confirm, alter or reject disciplinary actions by commissions or tribunals against judges. Q: What are the penalties for judges who misbehave? A: They vary but generally range from private discipline to public reprimand to suspension to removal from office. The penalty is likely to be longer if a judge engaged in a pattern of repeated misbehavior. The penalty can be shorter if a judge admits wrongdoing and shows contrition. Q: Who handles complaints against federal judges? A: Complaints against federal judges must be filed to the clerk in the appropriate regional circuit. They must be notarized, signed under penalty of perjury. The chief circuit judge will consider the complaint and may refer it to a panel of federal judges to investigate. This panel can issue a reprimand or seek a voluntary retirement, but only Congress can remove a judge, via impeachment. Q: How can I reach Reuters about a matter involving misconduct? A: Not all judges who have violated their oaths of office, broken the law or misbehaved on the bench have been brought before their states oversight commission. So if you know of a judge who may have committed misconduct, please send us details at tips@thomsonreuters.com. Include the name of the judge, the state, details of what the judge may have done wrong, and a way for us to contact you. Reuters investigates such tips and will contact you before publishing. (Reporting By Michael Berens and John Shiffman. Edited by Blake Morrison.) (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Chief Justice John Roberts has drawn his line in the sand. In what may well come to be his most famous opinion ever, a solo concurrence in todays Louisiana abortion case, Roberts voted to uphold Casey v. Planned Parenthood, the 1992 decision in which Justices Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day OConnor, and David Souter declined to overturn Roe v. Wade. The basis was stare decisis the doctrine of precedent which, he said, instructs us to treat like cases alike rather than changing the rules and reversing course. Roberts made it clear that he reads the Casey decision very narrowly, to allow restrictions on abortion that dont impose an undue burden on reproductive freedom. He signaled that he is still open to upholding laws that chip away at the existing abortion rights framework, which has been his approach in the past. Roberts hasnt had some transformative epiphany that made him into a staunch defender of abortion rights. But crucially, Roberts also made it as clear as he could that, so long as he is the swing vote on the court, he isnt open to overturning Roe or Casey. He doesnt want the Roberts Court to be remembered as a reactionary body that reversed nearly 50 years of settled law on abortion rights. This is a massive setback for legal conservatives. It means that to overturn Roe and Casey, they need President Donald Trump to be re-elected and to get at least one more conservative on the court to replace a liberal justice. If Trump is not re-elected, then Roberts has single-handedly pulled off what the troika of Kennedy, OConnor and Souter did almost thirty years ago: saving abortion rights for another generation. Robertss decision in todays case, June Medical Services v. Russo, began with his acknowledgment that the Louisiana law in question was basically identical to the Texas law that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016 in a case called Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt. In that case, Kennedy provided the fifth vote for a strikingly liberal decision by Justice Stephen Breyer, who wrote the plurality opinion for the court in todays case. Story continues The Louisiana law, like the Texas law, imposes a set of restrictions on abortion providers that include requiring doctors have admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 30 miles away from the abortion clinic. In the Hellerstedt case, Breyer took the no undue burden on abortion rule laid down in the Casey decision and turned it into a cost-benefit analysis. (Breyer made his academic career as a scholar of regulation, and cost-benefit analysis is in his blood.) Roberts joined the dissenters in the 2016 Hellerstedt case. You read that right. Four years ago, Roberts thought the Texas restrictions were consistent with Casey. His vote at the time was based on the strategy that he had long embraced of not overturning Roe but instead subjecting abortion rights to death by a thousand small cuts. Today, Roberts did not say he had changed his mind. Rather, he forthrightly explained that the doctrine of precedent attached to the 2016 decision, and that he would not overturn it. By extension, Roberts affirmed that he considers the doctrine of precedent to apply to Casey, on which the Hellerstedt decision was based. By affirming the 2016 precedent, he reaffirmed the 1992 precedent. Along the way, Roberts pretty thoroughly gutted the Hellerstedt decision, with its innovative application of cost-benefit analysis to abortion law. He stated that the true holding of the Hellerstedt case was nothing but an application of the old Casey undue burden test. Since Robertss vote is required for this or any near-term decision striking down any law that burdens abortion, his version of Casey, and of the 2016 decision, is now the only one that matters. Breyer, joined by the liberals, restated much of his previous opinion. But that doesnt matter without a fifth vote, which they can only get from Roberts unless Joe Biden becomes president, controls the Senate, and gets to replace one of the conservatives with a liberal, so that Roberts is no longer the swing vote. What all this means is that, to some degree, we are going back to the way things were between 1992 and 2016. There is no conservative majority on the court to overturn Roe or Casey. There is, however, a swing voter now Roberts who will consider on a one-by-one basis state laws that restrict abortion rights. If Roberts says those laws dont impose an undue burden, they will survive. If he thinks they do, the laws will be struck down. And Roberts is suggesting that he will be even more willing to allow such laws to remain in place than was Kennedy at the end of his career. In practice, therefore, abortion rights will remain under threat. There will be lots of work for the pro-choice movement. At the level of principle, however, the pro-life forces have been once again defeated at just the moment when total victory seemed possible just like what happened after Ronald Reagan appointed Kennedy and OConnor and George H.W. Bush appointed Souter. Its not so much that the pro-choice side won over Roberts as that the pro-life side lost him. Roberts now permanently enters the pantheon of judicial conservatives who moved to the center on the Supreme Court. His commitment to stare decisis, leaving precedent in place, turns out to be great enough to lead him to a decision that will be long reviled by conservatives. In my line of work, we call that principle. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast Deep Background. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. By Steve Holland WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday the United States should consider economic sanctions on Russia as part of a strong U.S. response if it is true that Moscow offered bounty payments to Taliban forces for killing Americans in Afghanistan. Speaking to Reuters Television, Bolton said the reports, if confirmed, were "tantamount to an attack on Americans directly" and the publication of them appears to have triggered "chaos and confusion" within the White House. "What we need is a more comprehensive strategy to deal with Russia. I think in (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and his government, you've got somebody playing a very weak hand very well. And I don't really think we're playing much of a hand at all," he said. Bolton declined to confirm or deny reports in the New York Times and Washington Post of U.S. intelligence about the bounties. Trump denied on Monday having been briefed on the effort, which the reports said may have led to the deaths of U.S. service personnel. "It's been suggested in Congress that Russia be declared a state sponsor of terrorism if we decide these reports are true. I think it's got to be a very strong response to re-establish deterrence," he said in an interview, part of a promotion of his White House memoir, "The Room Where it Happened." At a minimum, Bolton said, economic sanctions should be among the options Trump should consider in response. Bolton, who is sharply critical of Trump in the book, said Trump has gone along with a tougher policy on Russia - "grumbled and complained about it the whole way" - while aspiring to warm relations with Putin. Bolton said a more aggressive China is "the existential threat to the United States and the West as a whole" and that Trump has largely looked the other way from China's treatment of Hong Kong and the Uighur minority in Xinjiang province in his desire for trade deals with Beijing. Story continues Chinas parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colonys way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago. Bolton said Trump's heart is not in getting tougher on China because "he's worried about irritating his good friend," Chinese President Xi Jingping. "He doesn't care about human rights repression in Hong Kong or in Xinjiang province against the Uighurs or against really religious minorities in China," he said. Bolton said he worries about the future of NATO if Trump wins a second term on Nov. 3 because of Trump's tendency to want to bring U.S. forces home from abroad. Trump said last week he wanted to remove some troops from Germany, where American forces have been deployed for decades, and put some of them in Poland. Bolton said putting some forces in Poland would be a good move but not bringing the troops home. While the Republican Trump trails Democrat Joe Biden in opinion polls, Bolton said Trump could still win the presidential election. "I don't think his defeat in November is inevitable. Never underestimate the capacity of the Democrats to blow an election," he said. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Howard Goller) By Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici June 30 (Reuters) - San Francisco on Tuesday was set to propose legislation outlawing the use of natural gas in buildings, as congressional Democrats unveiled a blueprint to combat global warming that would support updated building codes to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. The moves are the latest in a growing effort by state and federal Democratic lawmakers to target natural gas, a fossil fuel, for its contribution to climate change. In San Francisco, city officials were scheduled to announce legislation that would eliminate natural gas in new construction. If the new building code is adopted, San Francisco would join 30 other California cities that have passed measures to reduce the use of natural gas for heating and cooking. Reducing emissions from buildings was also a key pillar in House Democrats' newly unveiled detailed blueprint for how Congress can decarbonize each major U.S. economic sector to come close to net-zero emissions by 2050. Residential and commercial buildings account for about 12% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The congressional report said that until now, the federal government has not played a role in tackling building emissions because of a patchwork of city and state codes, and suggested new legislation to create local incentives to clean up new buildings. "Congress should incentivize states, local governments, tribes, and territories to adopt the most updated residential and commercial building energy codes, with the goal of all jurisdictions adopting a net-zero-emission code by 2030," the report recommended. The report also recommends that Congress enact point-of-sale rebates to hasten the replacement of natural gas and oil space heating, water heating, and cooking appliances with electric appliances. The buildings proposals were based on Washington state Governor Jay Inslee's climate plan from his failed presidential bid, according to Evergreen Action, a group of former Inslee staffers. (Reporting by Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici; editing by Jonathan Oatis) Satellite Imagery Tool Drives Farm Yield, Sustainability and Efficiency Efforts SMITHFIELD, Va., June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smithfield Foods, Inc. announced today it has partnered with Granular , a leading farm management software platform, to help growers in its grain supply chain boost farm sustainability and efficiency while improving crop yields. The offer will be available to grain farmers in North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia who sell their grain to Smithfield. With more than 13 billion pounds of feed consumed by Smithfields animals each year, maximizing grain production efficiencies is a key way the company is working to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 25 percent by 2025 throughout its entire supply chain. This offering complements Smithfields existing efforts to help farmers incorporate more efficient farming practices while increasing their bottom line. Over the last several years, weve focused on working alongside grain farmers in our supply chain to provide information and advice about strategies to improve fertilizer usage and crop production, said Stewart Leeth, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer at Smithfield Foods. With Granular Insights, well be able to partner those recommendations with a technology-driven solution to help drive farm profitability with fewer environmental impacts. Granular Insights with Directed Scouting uses high-frequency, high-resolution satellite imagery to monitor fields, allowing farmers to mitigate in-field pests and resolve other yield-diminishing problems before they spread and require additional resources. Smithfield growers now have access to Granular Insights, and will be able to not only easily and accurately manage their inputs, but also have an edge over pests and weather - the keys to protecting yield and increasing sustainability, said Emma Fuller, PhD., Director of Sustainability Science at Granular. With the data sets that drive profitability and optimize sustainability efforts at their fingertips, Smithfield growers will be able to take a holistic look at data from across their operation and combine it with satellite imagery and profit map overlays. And when farmers know more, they are able to do more with less time, energy and resources. Story continues To learn more about Smithfields sustainability initiatives and its support for local farmers, read the companys 2019 Sustainability Impact Report . To learn more about how Granular Insights with Directed Scouting can assist farmers, visit https://granular.ag/granular-insights/ . About Smithfield Foods, Inc. Headquartered in Smithfield, Va. since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Our 40,000 U.S. employees are dedicated to producing Good food. Responsibly. and have made us one of the worlds leading vertically integrated protein companies. We have pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including many industry firsts, such as our ambitious commitment to cut our carbon impact by 25 percent by 2025. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to our neighbors in need. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield, Eckrich and Nathans Famous, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com , and connect with us on Facebook , Twitter , LinkedIn and Instagram . Granular Insights Granular is Farm Management Software (FMS) that is helping thousands of farmers to build more profitable and efficient farms today and steward their lands for generations to come. As the worlds leading FMS, Granular uniquely combines an industry-leading support team with the most recommended suite of easy-to-use powerful software to help farmers and their teams run all aspects of their farm business. From financials to agronomy to operations, farmers are now able to make data-driven decisions with greater confidence in an increasingly challenging environment. Granular is San Francisco-based, with offices worldwide. Granular is an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Corteva Agriscience (CTVA), a spin-off of DowDuPont. Learn more about our company and people at http://granular.ag , Twitter, @GranularAg , and Instagram, @Granular_Ag , or facebook.com/GranularAgriculture Passengers are seen at taxi rank just before Johannesburg locked down to stop the spread of coronavirus on March 25. Across South Africa, its a common sight to see dozens of people standing on the side of roads with their fingers upgoing downtownto hail minibus taxis. Some 250,000 taxis travel routes within and between South Africas cities and townships, across provinces and even across the border, accounting for the vast majority of work and education Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge USD 2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programmes in the United States and other developed countries. Gilead Sciences announced the price Monday for remdesivir, and said the price would be USD 3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income and other factors. We're in uncharted territory with pricing a new medicine, a novel medicine, in a pandemic, Gilead's chief executive, Dan O'Day, told The Associated Press. We believe that we had to really deviate from the normal circumstances and price the drug to ensure wide access rather than based solely on value to patients, he said. However, the price was swiftly criticised; a consumer group called it an outrage because of the amount taxpayers invested toward the drug's development. The treatment courses that the company has donated to the US and other countries will run out in about a week, and the prices will apply to the drug after that, O'Day said. In the US, federal health officials have allocated the limited supply to states, but that agreement with Gilead will end after September. They said Monday that the government has secured more than 500,000 additional courses that Gilead will produce starting in July to supply to hospitals through September, and stressed that that does not mean the government actually was acquiring that much, just ensuring the availability. We should have sufficient supply ... but we have to make sure it's in the right place at the right time," O'Day said. In 127 poor or middle-income countries, Gilead is allowing generic makers to supply the drug; two countries are doing that for around USD 600 per treatment course. Remdesivir's price has been highly anticipated since it became the first medicine to show benefit in the pandemic, which has killed more than half a million people globally in six months. The drug, given through an IV, interferes with the coronavirus's ability to copy its genetic material. In a US government-led study, remdesivir shortened recovery time by 31 per cent 11 days on average versus 15 days for those given just usual care. It had not improved survival, according to preliminary results after two weeks of followup; results after four weeks are expected soon. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a nonprofit group that analyzes drug prices, said remdesivir would be cost-effective in a range of USD 4,580 to USD 5,080 if it saved lives. But recent news that a cheap steroid called dexamethasone improves survival means remdesivir should be priced between USD 2,520 and USD 2,800, the group said. This is a high price for a drug that has not been shown to reduce mortality, Dr Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic said in an email. Given the serious nature of the pandemic, I would prefer that the government take over production and distribute the drug for free. It was developed using significant taxpayer funding. Peter Maybarduk, a lawyer at the consumer group Public Citizen, called the price an outrage. Remdesivir should be in the public domain because the drug received at least USD 70 million in public funding toward its development, he said. The price puts to rest any notion that drug companies will 'do the right thing' because it is a pandemic, Dr. Peter Bach, a health policy expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York said in an email. Also read: COVID-19 update: Gilead prices coronavirus drug at $2,340 for rich countries VANCOUVER, BC , June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - Summa Silver Corp. ("Summa Silver" or the "Company") (SSVR.CN) (48X.F) is pleased to announce that mobilization of drilling equipment to the Hughes Property is in progress. Additionally, the Company has filed an independent Technical Report for the Hughes Property on SEDAR. Summa Silver Corp. Logo (CNW Group/Summa Silver Corp.) Drill Program Update: Drill Mobilization Underway: The Company is currently mobilizing one reverse-circulation drilling rig and one core drilling rig to the Hughes Property. Drilling Imminent: The summer drill program will consist of a minimum of 7,500 m of drilling in approximately 15 holes (see news release dated June 25, 2020 ). First Modern-Day Exploration: The first drill holes will test the immediate area of the Company's historically producing Belmont Mine, which is reported to have produced 36.7M ounces of high-grade silver and 428,000 ounces of gold 1 , but has never been systematically explored. Multiple Targets per Hole are Planned: The stacked nature of the veins in the Belmont Mine area means that many of the planned holes will test multiple potentially mineralized structures. With the recently completed $5M financing, the Company is fully financed for this first round of modern-day exploration on the project. CEO to Appear at Mines and Money Online Connect On July 2, 2020 , the Company will be participating in the Mines and Money 5@5 series, a virtual networking session that catches up with five key players in the mining investment community for market commentary and project updates. Galen McNamara , CEO of the Company, will be giving a brief progress update and participating in a general discussion on the panel. This is a free event and participants will be able to interact with the panel and take part in a live chat with other attendees from around the globe. Register for the event here: https://minesandmoney.com/5-at-5/register-for-mines-and-money-55---2nd-july-emea/ Date: Thursday, July 2nd, 2020 Time: 9:00 AM PDT / 12:00 PM EDT Story continues Technical Report An independent Technical Report for the Hughes Property has been filed on SEDAR. The Technical Report was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and includes a two-phased recommendation for up to 15,000 m of drilling on the property. Donna Property Update After careful review of all available data, the Company has elected to terminate the option agreement with Eagle Plains Resources (the "Optionor") in respect of the Donna Property. The property has been returned to the Optionor and the Company no longer has an interest in the Donna Property or any further obligations to the Optionor. Although the Donna Property is prospective for gold mineralization, the Company believes its resources are better spent on the Hughes Property in central Nevada , and on evaluating other potential projects with a view to maximize shareholder value. Engagement of Swiss Resource Capital The Company has engaged SRC Swiss Resource Capital AG ("SRC") to provide investor relations and communication services in Europe to increase exposure and awareness to investors especially in the German speaking financial community but also through their services provided in English worldwide. SRC, which is led by Jochen Staiger , CEO, will assist the Company's efforts in growing investor awareness and expanding exposure to retail and institutional investors by providing news dissemination and marketing services in German. In consideration for these services, the Company will pay SRC 5,000 CHF per month for a period of 12 months and has grated 100,000 stock options to SRC at a price of $0.92 per share with a five year term, vesting in stages over 12 months beginning on the 3 month anniversary of the issuance. Data Verification The data disclosed in this news release relating historic production at the Belmont Mine is historical in nature. Neither the Company nor a qualified person has yet verified this data and therefore investors should not place undue reliance on such data. The Company's future exploration work will include verification of the data. Qualified Person The technical information disclosed in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Galen McNamara , P. Geo., the CEO of the Company and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. McNamara has not verified the data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information or opinions contained in the written disclosure. About Summa Silver Corp Summa Silver Corp is a Canadian junior mineral exploration company. The Company is focused on the Hughes Property located in central Nevada , which is host to the high-grade historically producing Belmont Mine, one of the most prolific silver producers in the United States between 1903 and 1929. The mine has remained inactive since commercial production ceased in 1929 due to heavily depressed metal prices and little to no modern exploration work has ever been completed. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "Galen McNamara" Galen McNamara , Chief Executive Officer info@summasilver.com www.summasilver.com Investor Relations Contact: Kin Communications Richard Graham 604-684-6730 SSVR@kincommunications.com References 1Production of the Tonopah Belmont Development Company, 1903-1932, Nevada Bureau of Mines Report No. 48400131 There are no assurances that the Company will achieve the same results for the Property as past producers. Past production figures of the Belmont Mine are historical and there are no assurances that the Company will be able to reconcile these to current NI 43-101 categories. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify this information as a current mineral resource estimate and the Company is not treating the historical production as a current NI 43-101 mineral resource. This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "intends", "estimates", "envisages", "potential", "possible", "strategy", "goals", "objectives", 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. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: (i) the Company's focus on advancing its assets towards production; (ii) realizing the value of the Company's projects for the Company's shareholders; (iii) future prices of gold, silver, base metals and certain other commodities; and (iv) the timing and amount of estimated future production. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's or its consultants' current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. 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 that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: reliability of historical data; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar); changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities, indigenous populations and other stakeholders; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; title to properties; and the additional risks described in the Company's disclosure documents filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Summa Silver cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Summa Silver , investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Summa Silver does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on our behalf, except as required by law. SOURCE Summa Silver Corp. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2020/30/c8307.html (Bloomberg Opinion) -- A few weeks ago, the expectation was that the onset of the third quarter would mark the close of a highly damaging and uncertain second quarter for the U.S. economy and, importantly, herald a sharp and durable reversal. Instead, with health concerns forcing a growing number of states to either stop or reverse their reopenings, and with some businesses and households withdrawing from active economic re-engagements, a cloud is now forming over the third quarter, threatening the depth and breadth of the economic recovery. With an initial phase of seemingly healthy reopenings, and with government relief measures in full force, high-frequency indicators of economic well-being (household confidence, new jobs and retail sales) started improving in May or deteriorated at a slower rate (jobless claims). Such absolute and relative improvements were countering what was shaping up to be a brutal set of economic data for the second quarter as a whole, including the largest contraction in gross domestic product on record. But with a continuing uptick in economic data that repeatedly beat consensus expectations, the thinking was the hit to this years GDP could be contained to 5% to 8%, with the prospects of recovering the entire loss of output in 2021. Since then, however, confidence in improving high-frequency data has been dented by indications that the R-naught of Covid-19 the average number of people who catch the virus from a single infected person has increased above 1 once again in a majority of states. Even though hospitalizations and deaths have not surged at the same rate as the sharp increase in positive cases because of the much lower average age of the newly infected, there is little confidence that this will continue given the material risk of younger people, especially those who are asymptomatic, turning into super-spreaders a concern accentuated by evidence that this group has shown little inclination to modify its behavior yet. Policy makers are reacting, including either halting or reversing economic reopenings in about 40 states, according to Goldman Sachs, but many health experts view the cumulative response by local, state and federal officials as too incremental and overly hesitant. Story continues Consistent with these developments, the highest-frequency indicators of household economic activity, such as mobility and restaurant bookings, have already flattened or started to head back down in a growing number of states. Some businesses, such as Apple, have decided to reclose stores in certain places. And this process has been accelerated in recent days with some states and cities closing bars and barring in-restaurant dining. Over the next few weeks, this will lead economists and Wall Street analysts to revise down growth projections for the third quarter and to push out the process of recovery. Both will be less consistent with a sharp and lasting V-shaped recovery and more likely will align with my previous characterization of a square-root-shaped recovery. And with certain relief measures scheduled to sunset soon, including the Paycheck Protection Program and the supplementary unemployment benefits, the U.S. economy would be exposed to a bigger risk of short-term problems becoming structurally embedded. This would include a significantly larger number of corporate bankruptcies and greater risk of long-term unemployment in which jobless workers run a high risk of becoming unemployable. Absent any policy and behavioral changes, the overall impact of these measures would most likely be an overall GDP contraction for 2020 in the 8% to 12% range, assuming no second round of infections in improving states such as New York. Moreover, the recovery of lost output would not be completed in 2021. And the uncertainty surrounding these predictions would notably increase, with the balance of risk tilted to the downside. Such a diminished outlook would worsen the already-concerning inequality trifecta of income, wealth and opportunity at a time of greater recognition and heightened sensitivity to long-standing social injustices. It would also undermine the type of synchronized global recovery in which external demand reinforces domestic economic improvements. It would increase the likelihood of more protectionism and faster deglobalization. And it would risk pulling down longer-term economic growth and prosperity. The answer is not to roll back health measures aimed at regaining control of what is a worrisome acceleration of infections. Rather, it is to ensure changes in behavior and policy that allow for healthier and sustainable economic reopenings during this tricky period of living with Covid-19. A necessary component of the answer is to combine policy relief measures with greater emphasis on steps to reduce the risk of infection and deal better with the ill, as well as to counter more quickly a post-virus world of low productivity and high household insecurity. But it is imperative the private sector joins in whether through individuals and companies better adopting health safeguards or by working harder to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Mohamed A. El-Erian is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the chief economic adviser at Allianz SE, the parent company of Pimco, where he served as CEO and co-CIO. He is president-elect of Queens' College, Cambridge, senior adviser at Gramercy and professor of practice at Wharton. His books include "The Only Game in Town" and "When Markets Collide." 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. Sweeping Workplace Changes Expected in a Post-pandemic World, Says Research From The Adecco Group Sweeping Workplace Changes Expected in a Post-pandemic World, Says Research From The Adecco Group PR Newswire ZURICH, June 30, 2020 Businesses and workers call for greater flexibility, questions raised over the hours-based contract, and a new empathetic leadership profile emerges ZURICH, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Adecco Group Logo (PRNewsfoto/The Adecco Group) Workers demand greater flexibility after coronavirus, with a 50/50 split of remote and office time confirmed as the universal ideal Questions raised over the hours-based contract, with 69% saying contracts should be based on results delivered rather than hours worked Boom in digital skills an unintended consequence of lockdown, with tech knowhow improving for six in 10 (61%), and two thirds (69%) eager for further digital upskilling post-pandemic Leaders need to reinvent themselves as more emotionally intelligent, but they are not prepared, as less than half felt equipped to support employees holistically during the pandemic The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in pivotal shifts in attitudes and expectations among workers and leaders, as both call for permanent changes in how and where we work, workplace relationships and future skills, according to new research from the Adecco Group. The Adecco Group, the world's leading HR solutions company, today unveiled the results of its latest study, Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work, examining the expected short- and long-term impact of the pandemic on resetting workplace norms. Fieldwork was conducted in May 2020, with 8,000 office-based respondents (aged 18-60) across Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the USA. The Adecco Group's Chief Executive Officer, Alain Dehaze, said: "The world of work will never return to the 'normal' we knew before the pandemic struck. The sudden and dramatic change in the workplace landscape has accelerated emerging trends such as flexible working, high-EQ leadership, and re-skilling, to the point where they are now fundamental to organisational success. As many countries emerge from the acute crisis phase of the pandemic, employers have an opportunity to 'hit reset' on traditional workplace practices many of which have remained largely unchanged since the industrial revolution. This research highlights that employee attitudes have shifted and gaps between workforce expectations and entrenched labour market processes have been exposed. As we step into the new era of work, now is the time to establish better norms that will enable a holistically healthy, productive and inclusive workforce into the future." Story continues Key research highlights: The research revealed that the working world is ready for a new "hybrid" model, with three quarters (74%) of workers surveyed saying a mix of office-based and remote working is the best way forward. The universal ideal of spending half (51%) of their time in the office and half working remotely (49%) transcends geographies, generations and parental status. And company executives agree, with almost eight in ten (77%) C-suite leaders saying businesses will benefit from increased flexibility. Another stark finding could signal the end of the hours-based contract and 40-hour week. More than two thirds (69%) of workers are in favour of "results-driven work," whereby contracts are based on delivering against business needs rather than working a set number of hours. A high proportion of C-suite executives (74%) agree that the length of the working week should be revisited. The pandemic has also demanded a new set of leadership competencies and these expectations are expected to accelerate a reinvention of the modern-day leader. Emotional intelligence has clearly emerged as the defining trait of today's successful manager, but the soft skills gap is evident. Over a quarter (28%) of those questioned said their mental wellbeing had worsened due to the pandemic, with only 1 in 10 rating their managers highly on their ability to support their emotional health. In a similar nature to flexible working, the findings demonstrate a universal appetite for mass upskilling. Six in 10 say their digital skills have improved during lockdown, while a further two thirds (69%) are looking for further digital upskilling in the post-pandemic era. A broad range of skills development were identified as important by the workforce, including managing staff remotely (65%), soft skills (63%) and creative thinking (55%). Finally, the findings highlighted the importance of sustaining trust in the new working world. Companies have risen to the challenge of supporting their people during the crisis, and as a result, trust in corporations has increased. In fact, 88% say that their employer met or exceeded their expectations in adapting to the challenges of the pandemic. And with this increased trust comes increased expectations. While the future of work is a collective responsibility, 80% of employees believe their employer is responsible for ensuring a better working world post-COVID and resetting norms, compared with 73% who say the government is responsible, 72% who agree it is an individual responsibility, and 63% who believe it is in the hands of labour unions. For more information: Download the Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work full report here. Follow us on social #ResetNormal for updates About the Adecco Group The Adecco Group is the world's leading HR solutions company. We believe in making the future work for everyone, and every day enable more than 3.5 million careers. We skill, develop, and hire talent in 60 countries, enabling organisations to embrace the future of work. As a Fortune Global 500 company, we lead by example, creating shared value that fuels economies and builds better societies. Our culture of inclusivity, entrepreneurship and teamwork empowers our 35,000 employees and we are proud to have been consistently ranked one of the 'World's Best Workplaces' by Great Place to Work. The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN) and powered by nine global brands: Adecco, Adia, Badenoch & Clark, General Assembly, Lee Hecht Harrison, Modis, Pontoon, Spring Professional and Vettery. adeccogroup.com Facebook: facebook.com/theadeccogroup Twitter: @AdeccoGroup Logo - https://media.zenfs.com/en/usnewswire.com/fd8707e5b6d43f66a39b7cdb27ed73bf For further information please contact: The Adecco Group Press Office media@adeccogroup.com +41-(0)-44-878-87-87 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sweeping-workplace-changes-expected-in-a-post-pandemic-world-says-research-from-the-adecco-group-301085413.html SOURCE The Adecco Group Westbrook, Maine, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Synergy CHC Corp. (OTCQB: SNYR ) (Synergy or the Company), a consumer health care & beauty company, today reported results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. 2020 First Quarter Highlights Net sales for the first three months were $6.1 million, compared to $9.5 million for fiscal the same three months in 2019, a 35% decrease. For the first three months, our net income was $0.2 million or $0.00 (basic and diluted) earnings per share, compared to a net income of $1.5 million or 0.02 (basic and diluted) earnings per share for 2019. We currently focus on Adjusted EBITDA to evaluate our business relationships and our resulting operating performance and financial position. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $0.8 million. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are considered non-GAAP financial measures. The Companys definitions of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA might not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Subsequent events Secured $2.5 million US from Knight Therapeutics for general working capital Secured Costco Canada distribution for Focus Factor Secured distribution of a new hand sanitizer product under its Hand MD brand for Canadian distribution Paid off an additional $500,000 of loans In 2020 Synergy will continue to evaluate all opportunities for all of our brands as we move through the current year and continue to review any acquisition opportunities that makes sense to our growing geographical footprint. said Jack Ross, CEO of Synergy. About Synergy CHC Corp. Synergy CHC Corp. is a leading omni-channel consumer health and beauty company that is in the process of building a portfolio of best-in-class consumer product brands and utilizes The Synergy Effect, which includes a proprietary ROI based algorithm, to sell its products online through social media influencers. Synergys strategy is to grow its portfolio both organically and by further acquisition. Synergys diversified portfolio now includes FOCUSfactor, Flat Tummy, Per-fekt Beauty, Sneaky Vaunt, Neuragen, and Hand MD. For more information, please visit http://synergychc.com/ . Story continues Synergys brands: Flat Tummy Flat Tummy Teas uniquely formulated two-step herbal detox tea works to naturally help speed metabolism, boost energy and reduce bloating to flatten your tummy. It is currently sold online to a 20-30 year old female, predominantly American market. Since being founded in 2013, Flat Tummy has grown rapidly, largely attributed to the strength of its branding and its innovative and effective use of social media marketing. The secret is a very specific process and ROI based algorithm used on various social media platforms. To date, Flat Tummy has built a targeted social media following of over 1,750,000, many of whom are now customers. Flat Tummy now has over 14,000 positive written reviews on its website, https://flattummyco.com/ or visit its Instagram page. FOCUSfactor FOCUSfactor is sold at Americas leading retailers such as Costco, Sams Club, Wal-Mart, BJs, Walgreens, CVS and The Vitamin Shoppe. FOCUSfactor, Americas leading brain health supplement, is a nutritional supplement that includes a proprietary blend of brain supporting vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients. In December 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 8,329,227 covering FOCUSfactors proprietary formulation for enhanced mental function. The issuance of the patent marked one of the few times a patent has been issued for a nationally branded nutritional supplement. FOCUSfactor is clinically tested with results demonstrating improvements in focus, concentration and memory in healthy adults. More information on FOCUSfactor can be found at https://www.focusfactor.com/ or visit their Instagram page. Hand MD Hand MD is the worlds first anti-aging skincare line formulated specifically for the hands. Hands reveal a womans true age and the rejuvenation of the hand has become womens #1 aging concern. Developed by Kara Harshbarger and renowned celebrity dermatologist Dr. Alex Khadavi, Hand MDs extensive clinical trials show significant improvement in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, skin hydration, hyper-pigmentation and radiance. Hand MD launched on QVC and sold out in an astonishing 5 minutes. More information on Hand MD can be found at https://handmd.com/ or visit their Instagram page. Neuragen Neuragen is a topical product that works directly at the site of the pain as opposed to oral products. Neuragen reduces the spontaneous firing of damaged peripheral nerves. By calming these firings at the source, Neuragen is clinically shown to reduce shooting and burning pains quickly and without the side effects of orally taken medications. This is in part due to the small lipophilic molecules found in Neuragen which rapidly carry the active ingredients through the rough outer layer of the skin to the site of the pain. Neuragen is available over the counter in most local pharmacies either in the diabetic section or the analgesic (pain) section. For more information, please visit neuragen.ca Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, regarding managements expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or Synergys prospects should be considered forward-looking. Readers are cautioned that actual results may differ materially from projections or estimates due to a variety of important factors, including: Synergys ability to integrate any new products into its current operations; the risks and uncertainties associated with Synergys ability to manage its cash resources; obtaining additional financing to support Synergys operations; Synergys dependence on third parties for its research and development, manufacturing and distribution functions; Synergys dependence on its license relationships; protecting the intellectual property developed by or licensed to Synergy; and Synergys ability to build its operations to support its business strategy and promote its products. These and other risks are described in greater detail in Synergys filings with the SEC, copies of which are available free of charge at the SECs website (www.sec.gov) or upon request from Synergy. Synergy may not actually achieve the goals or plans described in its forward-looking statements, and investors should not place undue reliance on these statements. Synergy assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. June 30 (Reuters) - Singapore's state investor, Temasek, is looking to invest up to $100 million in Indian food delivery firm Zomato, Economic Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. This comes after a previously announced investment by Ant Financial, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, was delayed due to the current anti-China sentiment and new foreign direct investment rules, the report https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/temasek-in-talks-to-serve-up-to-100m-on-zomatos-plate/76701078 said. Temasek's potential funding is part of a larger investment round that Zomato has been negotiating since last year, India's Economic Times said, adding the discussions are ongoing. Zomato, one of India's most prominent startups, is one of many to lay off workers and reinvent parts of their business as they struggle to survive the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Its main rival, Swiggy, has also laid off employees. The anti-China sentiment has long been simmering in India over accusations of cheap imports flooding the country and on Monday, India banned a bunch of Chinese mobile apps targeting China in the online space since a border crisis erupted between the two countries this month. Temasek said it does not comment on market speculations. Zomato was not immediately available for a comment. (Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) BANGKOK, June 29 (Reuters) - Thailand on Monday reported seven new coronavirus cases, all of which were imported, marking 35 days without community transmission. The seven cases were Thais returning from India and the United States who had tested positive while in state quarantine, said Sukhum Kanchanapimai, the health ministry's permanent secretary. The coronavirus has killed 58 people in Thailand, among 3,169 infections, of which 3,053 patients have recovered. (Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty) (Bloomberg) -- Natasha Bhat learned in late February that her father-in-law had suddenly died. Bhat, 35, recently recalled how she grabbed a backpack and hustled her U.S.-born 4-year-old son to the San Francisco airport to catch a midnight flight to India, her home country. She didnt anticipate being stuck there indefinitely. Bhat works at a tech company in Silicon Valley on an H-1B visa, and her documents were due for renewal. So she threw them in the bag, knowing shed have to get the chore taken care of before flying back to the U.S. in a few weeks. But she said her mid-March appointment at the U.S. consulate in Kolkata was canceled when it shut down due to Covid-19 concerns. Her return home was delayed further when President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week barring many people on several types of visas, including H-1Bs, from entering the country until 2021. Trumps executive order is the latest step in his years-long tightening of U.S. immigration policy. The president has argued since taking office the visa programs allow employers to undercut native-born workers on wages, over the objections of companies that say they need highly skilled workers to fill crucial job openings. The latest restrictions, said Greg Siskind, an immigration lawyer in Memphis, use the pandemic as an excuse to achieve anti-immigration goals the administration has wanted to do for years. H-1B holders, about three-quarters of whom work in the tech sector, have felt a creeping sense of unease since Trump took office. Still, thousands of them continued to fly back and forth between the U.S. and their home countries, for weddings or funeralsor for work assignments or to get mundane paperwork taken care of. (Some visas require people to leave the country briefly after approval to get their passports stamped.) Many of those who left the U.S. this spring, as Bhat did, found the world as they knew it changed mid-trip. About 375,000 temporary visaholders and green card applicants will now be banned from entering the U.S. until next year, according to Julia Gelatt, a senior policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group. A significant number of those are now stuck in India, which has long had a close connection to Silicon Valley. The technology industry has consistently objected to the administrations immigration restrictions, and Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Twitter Inc. immediately condemned the latest executive order, along with trade groups representing hundreds of other technology firms. Story continues Indian tech companies have also urged the administration to reconsider its latest move. A major trade group from the country called it " misguided and harmful to the U.S. economy." Some Indian IT companies are considering alternatives to placing people on-site with U.S. clients, such as creating clusters of workers in countries like Mexico or Canada. The objections havent spared people like Bhat and her husband, who have worked in Silicon Valley for the last nine years, she as a manager for a software firm and he as an engineer at a bank. Her husband flew back to the U.S. in early March for work and has spent the past four months of lockdown alone. Bhat is now working overnight to support her U.S.-based clients, and trying to convince their son Adhrit to eat Indian food like chapati for breakfast over his complaints that he misses his standard Californian breakfast of avocado toast. The prospect of a wave of people stranded abroad began worrying Siskind several weeks ago when he first caught wind of the planned order. On Twitter, he warned workers on non-immigrant visas not to leave the U.S. He urged those abroad to come back as soon as possible. Once the order took effect, Siskind set up an online form for people to share their stories, and asked his followers on social media to fill it out. Within 24 hours, he had over 500 responses. There was the scientist researching coronavirus-testing products who flew to India to get married, the Atlanta-based IT consultant who may miss the birth of his child, the 2-year-old girl who was born in the U.S. and has developed severe allergic skin reactions to mosquito bites in India, the Intel Corp. employee who is now running critical projects from afar. Siskind fielded calls from husbands separated from wives, parents from children. People told him they were worried about keeping up with mortgage payments on houses, car loans and jobs. Some had U.S.-born children who are American citizens enrolled in U.S. schools. Many have valid visas and assumed all they would need to get back in the country was a routine stamp in their passport. Narendra Singh, an Indian-born software architect who has lived in Dallas for nine years, took his family back to Kolkata, India, in February. Their return was delayed when the consulates closed and they were advised to wait out the worst of the pandemic. Now Singh is working remotely. His wife, a software engineer, lost her job in April. Their daughter, a U.S. citizen, was slated to start preschool in the fall, but theyve been preparing her for the possibility that wont happen. Singh, 36, said he knew there was always a chance of his visa not being extended, but assumed he was secure until his current visa was set to expire in 2022. We took specialized jobs, we followed the rules, we got the visas, he said. I just feel betrayed. Mili Widhani Khatter, 39, who has lived in the U.S. with her husband and two U.S.-born children for the past 12 years, flew back to Delhi, India, without her family to say goodbye to her dying mother. She hasnt seen her children in nearly four months, and said her 2-year-old son has forgotten how to say mama since theyve been apart. This is the worst punishment you can give to a mom, Khatter said. Its not humane. Now families worry what another six months of uncertainty will do to their kidsand to the futures they thought they were charting. I have a valid visa. Ive been living in the Bay Area for eight years. I have a life there and a home there, and my husband is there, Bhat said. Will I ever be able to go back? (Updates sixth paragraph with reaction from Indian companies. A previous version of this story corrected the people who were impacted by the order.) 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. (Bloomberg) -- Indian and U.S. technology companies are urging the Trump administration to reconsider an executive order freezing access to many work visas, warning the move would undermine a business model used to supply high-skill talent to clients from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Donald Trumps order last week halts approvals of a range of visas through year-end, including those for intra-company transfers and study-abroad programs, and is aimed at giving Americans preference after record job losses from the coronavirus pandemic. Key for the tech industry are H-1B visas used by workers from India and other countries to fill key roles. Visa processing is an elaborate, months-long affair so any disruption could hurt the ability of critical workers to travel to clients sites for an extended period. Already, the virus lockdowns have blocked consulate visits essential to the process and forced hundreds of thousands of workers into challenging work-from-home situations. Indias technology trade group, Nasscom, called Trumps order misguided and harmful to the U.S. economy and warned it would exacerbate the countrys economic pain. Indian companies provide technology staff and services to U.S. hospitals, drugmakers and biotechnology companies, Nasscom pointed out. In addition, the industry may send more workers to Canada or Mexico without access to the U.S. market. These are highly-skilled workers who are in great demand and they will be mobile no matter what, said Shivendra Singh, president of global trade development at Nasscom. Among the other critics of the order were Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith and Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk. Pichai, himself a beneficiary of the H-1B visa system in the 1990s, tweeted, Immigration has contributed immensely to Americas economic success making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd., among the largest outsourcing companies in Asia, declined to comment. Story continues India accounts for about 70% of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually, according to immigration data. Of this total, 65,000 visas are issued to foreign talent with bachelors degrees, while the remaining 20,000 can be allotted to workers who have more advanced degrees.The visa system was conceived so companies could hire overseas workers to fill a shortage of high-skilled talent in technology services and product development. The fact that Indian outsourcers collect a substantial share of the visas each year has made the program controversial, with critics arguing that companies abuse the system by replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor. Soon after taking office, Trump vowed he would crack down on work visas and reform the broken immigration system. One longer-term concern for outsourcers is the administrations planned revamp of the current H-1B visa program, which would replace the current lottery system for determining who gets visas with a merit-based system that prioritizes applicants based on wages. That would mean more workers with high salaries would likely receive visas.Now, outsourcing companies are dealing with the unpredictability of the visa situation and the prospect that an H-1B revamp could make it difficult to send anyone but the most critical of talent overseas. Trump Orders Freeze on Many Work Visas Through End of Year The most recent visa curbs could hammer outsourcers current model of talent deployment. Companies are beginning to question whether so much onsite travel is necessary, and some are ramping up local hiring or local subcontractors. The pandemic has prompted companies to look at worker clusters away from client sites but close enough to collaborate on projects. For instance, if a company has 20,000 employees spread across 40 cities, these could be aggregated in a few clusters and if the visa restrictions continue, the clusters may not be in Texas or New Jersey but in Canada or Mexico.Offshoring could increase because, for clients, the virus lockdowns have already driven home the merits of remote working, said Singh, speaking over the phone from New Delhi.Indian companies could see an impact on their margins because of increased worker salaries, higher costs of local hiring and subcontracting and the collateral damage from visa rejections and prolonged processing times. The temporary suspension of H-1B visa programme till December 2020 will hamper execution of pipeline and new projects coupled with margin impact resulting from higher onshore hiring, credit rating company ICRA said in a note last week. 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. Highlights Amazon said it would spend $500 million on bonuses for workers who stood by the company through the coronavirus crisis. Amazon was under scrutiny for the protection measures it takes for its employees during COVID 19. Amazon had eliminated the $2 hourly wage double overtime pay for frontline workers at the end of May. Tech-giant Amazon on Monday said that it would spend $500 million on bonuses for workers who stuck throughout the June during the coronavirus crisis. Amazon has been under scrutiny from the US lawmakers on grounds of whether it does enough for the protection of its workers. The $500 million is a "Thank You bonus" to front-line workers who were with the company throughout June. Amazon eliminated the $2 hourly wage double overtime pay for frontline workers at the end of May, CNN stated. The one-time bonuses will vary on the kind of job the workers carry out. Full-time employees of Amazon, Amazon-owned Whole Foods, or drivers for delivery service partners will get $500. Part-time employees, or drivers will get $250. Front-line leaders at Amazon and Whole Foods will get $1,000. And delivery service partner owners, who help get packages to customers, will get $3,000. Drivers for Amazon Flex who worked more than 10 hours in June will get $150. Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations said, "Our front-line operations teams have been on an incredible journey over the last few months, and we want to show our appreciation with a special one-time Thank You bonus totaling over $500 million." Amazon witnessed rising demands in the backdrop of the global pandemic as people looked for essentials and groceries while staying home. However, the company was not very open when it came to sharing the number of COVID 19-positive cases among the company. A report by The Verge stated that Amazon has not been very transparent when it comes to releasing the numbers of employees being tested positive with COVID-19. Amazon senior vice president of worldwide operations Dave Clark called statistics on infections "not a particularly useful number," the report stated. "We have requested but not received information on how many of the Companies' workers have been infected with COVID-19, and how many have died from it," a letter from 13 state attorneys general stated. New York Attorney General Letitia James' interviewed Amazon workers from several Amazon facilities in New York City as part of an investigation into worker concerns over coronavirus-related safety measures. Earlier this month, Amazon launched an AI to maintain social distancing among its workers and to prevent the risk of contracting coronavirus among them. Amazon in response to a lawsuit in Staten island over coronavirus protections said that 150 "process changes" to its operations to enhance safety. So far, there have been 8 reported deaths from Amazon due to COVID-19. ISTANBUL, June 29 (Reuters) - Turkey will extend a wage support system for one month to continue offsetting fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said cash aid to low-income families would also be extended for a month. He said 18 billion lira ($2.6 billion) had been disbursed so far under the two programmes. The so-called short labour pay - which partially covers wages of formally-employed workers whose hours are cut - will extend into July. It came into effect in March shortly after the first COVID-19 case was identified in Turkey. Some officials in tourism and other sectors had said the system should be extended by another three months. ($1 = 6.8545 liras) (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Jonathan Spicer) * Ankara lobbying Moscow, Berlin to open borders * Very few foreigners yet on Mediterranean beaches * Recent uptick in virus cases raises stakes for economy By Ceyda Caglayan, Jonathan Spicer and Kaan Soyturk ISTANBUL/ANTALYA, June 22 (Reuters) - Turkey's Mediterranean coasts and historic attractions face a critical week as the government presses to open borders and salvage at least part of a tourist season already battered by the coronavirus pandemic. With beaches largely empty and many hotels deciding whether to open, Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy told Reuters he hoped the world's sixth-largest destination could attract up to half of last year's 45 million arrivals. But much depends on talks to begin flights from Russia, Germany and Britain - also hard hit by the virus - which should reach some conclusions by early next week, he said. The stakes are high for Turkey, where a rebound this month in COVID-19 cases has raised concerns in a country where tourism accounts for up to 12% of the economy. Foreign arrivals fell by two thirds in the first five months of the year. To convince foreigners and their governments that travel is safe, Ankara launched a "healthy tourism" programme including health and hygiene checks, and more than 600 hotels have applied for certification. It is lobbying some 70 countries with a focus on the European Union. Yet flights are only beginning to trickle in, including from the United States. In the Mediterranean hub of Antalya at the weekend the historic town centre was virtually empty and very few foreign tourists were seen at hotels. Such hotels "cannot survive with only Turkish tourists," Ersoy said in a Friday interview. "The next 10 days will be critical as decisions are made on borders ... so far it's not clear how international traffic will start." Asked whether tourism would be halted if foreigners sparked new outbreaks, he said "we have to watch the numbers" and decisions would be taken with a separate scientific committee. Story continues Turkey hopes top tourist source Russia - which has the world's third-highest coronavirus cases https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html - will start flights in mid-July. Second-place Germany has a coronavirus travel warning until the end of August but could lift it sooner. Since a lockdown was lifted this month, new official cases https://tmsnrt.rs/3e9GWu3 doubled before settling around 1,200 per day. President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey lost some ground. 'LONGEST RECESSION' Some $35 billion in tourism revenues helped briefly turn Turkey's current account positive last year. In April, the deficit was $5 billion as revenues disappeared and empty hotel rooms this summer would drive it higher. A growing external imbalance will put more pressure on Turkey's lira, which hit a record low last month, and could raise more concerns over Turkey's diminished foreign currency reserves. "Tourism is probably the sector which will go through the longest recession" and its seasonal workers face "a very bad period," said Seyfettin Gursel, economist at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University. Ankara decided to halt state funding that partially covered lost wages of formal employees, including some in tourism. Workers and a union said some hotels have begun training on hygiene and social distancing even while many have held off hiring. Okan Osman, from Frankfurt, was one of very few tourists to arrive in Antalya, which he said was "much better and cleaner" than years past. "Of course it's difficult for everyone and for the staff, but they seem to have been well trained and everyone is really well prepared." (Additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Ali Kucukgocmen in Istanbul; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Giles Elgood) June 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to release guidance on Tuesday outlining its conditions for approving a vaccine for the coronavirus, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a summary of the guidance. The agency would require drugmakers to show "clearly demonstrated" proof of a vaccine's safety and effectiveness through a clinical study, and at least 50% more effectiveness than a placebo, the report https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-to-issue-guidance-on-covid-19-vaccine-approval-11593516090 said. There is currently no U.S.-approved treatment or vaccine for the respiratory illness that has claimed over 126,100 lives in the country, according to a Reuters tally. More than 100 vaccines are being tested worldwide against the virus, with only a handful in the human testing phase, including candidates from AstraZeneca Plc and Moderna Inc. Experts have suggested that it could take a minimum of 12 to 18 months to guarantee a safe and effective vaccine through clinical trials. The guidance is expected to be discussed by FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn in an appearance before a Senate committee on Tuesday, the report said. (Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - A Trump administration report released on Tuesday touted a strong future for petrochemicals and coal in the U.S. region of Appalachia, despite concerns that supply gluts, waning demand and potential environmental regulation could limit growth in the industries. "There are tremendous opportunities on the horizon for Appalachia because of the shale gas revolution and the regions abundant coal reserves," Mark Menezes, the U.S. under secretary of energy, told reporters in a call about the report called "The Appalachian Energy and Petrochemical Renaissance." The administration of President Donald Trump has pursued a policy of boosting fossil fuel production while slashing environmental regulations. But if Democratic candidate Joe Biden wins the election in November, the fossil fuel industry will likely see new regulations. The Trump administration has also promoted development of a petrochemical hub in Appalachia, a region including West Virginia and parts of Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania, to complement Houston's energy complex. Trump said last year at a Royal Dutch Shell plastics project in Pennsylvania, a state he won by less than 1 percentage point in 2016, that his administration was "clearing the way for other massive ... investments" in the region. But the petrochemical business in the region has been rocky. Thailand's PTT and South Korean partner Daelim this month indefinitely delayed an investment decision on a $5.7 billion plastics plant project in Ohio. Meanwhile, U.S. coal consumption last year fell 15% to the lowest level since 1964. This month a group of academics and former policy makers warned the region's governors that an oversupply of plastics plants means that the region is unlikely to see a sustained boom in petrochemical jobs. A Department of Energy official said on condition of anonymity that energy projects will continue to grow in Appalachia because of its abundance of natural resources and proximity to markets in the U.S. East Coast and Midwest. The 63-page report only briefly mentions renewable energy saying it has a small but growing role in the region and that natural gas plants are a buffer for intermittent wind and solar electricity. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Aurora Ellis) By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley said on Tuesday he supported a plan by one of his Senate colleagues to block the nomination of an Environmental Protection Agency official until the agency makes clear how it would handle requests from oil refiners for retroactive exemptions from their biofuel blending mandates. Grassley and Senator Joni Ernst, both from Iowa, spoke last week with EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to discuss the waivers, which biofuel advocates in their state claim hurt farmers by undermining demand for corn-based ethanol, Grassley said on a call with reporters. The EPA recently received 52 new petitions for retroactive biofuel blending waivers that, if granted, would help bring refiners into compliance with a federal court ruling earlier this year that requires new waivers to take the form of extensions to old ones. Grassley also recently discussed the waivers with a Department of Energy official, he said. "I didn't feel from either one of the two people I talked to that they were very enthused about dealing with them (the retroactive waivers)," Grassley said. The waivers exempt oil refiners from U.S. laws that require that they blend billions of gallons of biofuels into their fuel pool. Biofuel advocates claim the exemptions hurt demand for their products, but the oil industry refutes that and says they are needed to help small facilities stay open. Last week, Ernst announced her opposition to Doug Benevento's nomination for EPA deputy administrator over the issue. Ernst is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which provides oversight on EPA. Without Ernst's vote, Benevento would not be brought before the committee to move forward with his nomination, her office said in a statement. Grassley on Tuesday said the retroactive waivers do not meet the "common-sense pass." (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Bernadette Baum) LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Britain's government said on Tuesday it would not compromise on the country's health service, environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety standards in talks with the United States about a post-Brexit trade deal. "Any deal the government strikes must be fair, reciprocal and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy," trade minister Elizabeth Truss said after a second round of talks with Washington. "Furthermore, the government remains clear on protecting the NHS and not compromising on the UK's high environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety standards." Truss reiterated that London was not in a rush to get a trade deal with the United States. "The government is clear there is no set deadline for this agreement," she said. "Quality is more important than speed." (Reporting by Kate Holton Writing by William Schomberg Editing by Paul Sandle) Dublin, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Artificial Intelligence in the US Military Training and Simulation Industry, 2020" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report explores the use of AI to deliver military training in the United States, summarizing the potential benefits and current limitations of the technology in the area. It identifies some of the key players in the market, highlighting companies that are developing disruptive applications that will impact military training in the near future. This study identifies growth opportunities and calls to action. Key Issues Addressed What are the processes behind AI and how is the technology evolving to perform better and more efficiently? How do AI and their sub-technologies fit into the digital transformation that is underway in the US military? What is the potential impact of AI on the way training is designed and delivered in the US military? What projects involving AI in training and simulation are currently in development? Artificial intelligence (AI) is a key driver for Industry 4.0, with the potential to disrupt numerous business verticals. The technology's ability to perform human-like cognitive functions such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, planning, and self-correction, and to make decisions based on simulations drives its large-scale adoption. Currently, North America is a leader in the AI technology market, primarily attributed to the presence of leading information and communication technology companies such as Microsoft, Google, and IBM, as well as many funding agencies willing to invest in the technology. In early 2019, the Department of Defense issued its AI strategy, setting guidelines for the development and implementation of the technology in military operations. AI enables the creation of a cognitive system that has the capability to process, analyze, and scale data, and communicate seamlessly with interconnected machines. The intelligence allows machines to independently make decisions without human intervention. A learning capability with algorithms further enhances AI by empowering machines to extract lessons from their own past experiences, just like humans. Story continues The main goal of the US military's AI strategy is to improve the readiness of troops and increase lethality, allowing the military to face non-conventional adversaries and from new fronts at a time when its structure is being reorganized to integrate a new generation of soldiers and a technology-skilled workforce. The US military is no stranger to the transformations that are occurring worldwide thanks to the emergence of new technologies. AI plays a key role in this transformation, enhancing current technological capabilities and paving the way for the development of new applications and solutions. Key Topics Covered 1. Executive Summary Artificial Intelligence Overview AI and the US Military AI and Military Training Research Aims and Objectives Key Questions This Study Will Answer Key Findings 2. AI-Technology and Market Overview AI Sub technologies AI Evolution Pattern AI Market Ecosystem 3. AI and the US Military AI-US Military Digital Transformation AI Capabilities for the US Military AI Programs by the DoD AI and Military Systems - Technological Challenges AI-DoD Concepts of the Future Traditional Defense Contractors and AI 4. AI in Military Training and Simulation US Military Training and Simulation - Overview US Military Training and Simulation - Digitalization AI Applications in Military Training and Simulation AI-Enabled Training and Simulation Programs and Vendors AI-Powered Simulation by Traditional Vendors 5. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action Growth Opportunity 1 - Adopt Holistic Approaches to AI Integration Growth Opportunity 2 - Leverage Novel Associations Growth Opportunity 3 - Align with Government Priorities Growth Opportunity 4 - Expand the Potential of AI Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth 6. Conclusion Training and Simulation and AI-Challenges for Military Personnel The Last Word Companies Mentioned Google IBM Microsoft For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/lf00ym Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 * EU expected to unveil "safe travel" list of 14 countries * List recommends allowing non-essential travel from Wednesday * United States, Russia, Brazil not included By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS, June 30 (Reuters) - The United States is not on a "safe list" of destinations for non-essential travel due to be unveiled by European Union governments later on Tuesday, three diplomats said. The 27-member bloc is expected to give outline approval to leisure or business travel from Wednesday to 14 countries beyond its borders when they vote on the list by midday Brussels time (1000 GMT), the diplomats said. The countries are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay, they said. Russia and Brazil, along with the United States, are among countries that do not make the initial "safe list". The vote is aimed at supporting the EU travel industry and tourist destinations, particularly countries in southern Europe hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. China would also be provisionally approved, although travel would only open up if Chinese authorities also allowed in EU visitors. Reciprocity is a condition of being on the safe list. The list must be passed by a "qualified majority" of EU countries, meaning 15 EU countries representing 65% of the population. Four EU diplomats said they expected it to secure the required backing. The list will act as a recommendation to EU members, meaning they will almost certainly not allow access to travellers from other countries, but could potentially set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations. The EU's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly among the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors. Greece is mandating COVID-19 tests for arrivals from a range of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, with self-isolation until results are known. The Czech Republic is not allowing in tourists from Portugal and Sweden. British residents can also travel to many EU countries, although non-essential travellers to Britain are required to self-isolate for 14 days. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Philippa Fletcher) KEY HIGHLIGHTS Government order doesn't talk about specific evidences of violation against these apps There are no proper data protection laws on the basis of which these apps can be banned, say experts Implementing the ban would require coordination with Apple, Google and hundreds of ISPs across the country It will be difficult for government to prove that users' data is being shared with China, say experts The government's decision to crack down on 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, CamScanner, Helo, has opened a debate if the government at all has the capabilities to ban such apps. While section 69A of IT Act gives enormous powers to the government to ban any internet-based application, government would still need to justify its step at a relevant legal forum. "It's highly likely that these apps would contest such ban," says Virag Gupta, a cyber lawyer. But does the government have grounds to prove that its decision to ban these apps is correct? Experts say that it has to be looked from legal and constitutional competencies, and digital competency of the government. In terms of legal and constitutional competencies, the government seems to be on a sticky wicket. First of all, the the ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) order doesn't talk about specific evidences of violation against these apps. Then, the order talks about the "misuse of some mobile apps on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India". This issue is particularly tricky because India still doesn't have the Data Protection Act in place which specifically deals with such issues. "This is clearly a geo-political move. It would be difficult for the government to prove that the users' data is being shared with the Chinese government, and that it's illegal under a specific law," says a cyber law firm founder. On the issue of privacy concerns raised in the MeitY order, there are no laws that specifically deal with it. Unless the government intends to refer to the 2017 order of the Supreme Court on the right to privacy, there's presently no law around privacy. Also read: After ban, Tiktok says it does not share data with Chinese govt; 10 points "There are no proper laws in areas like data protection and privacy. To implement cyber laws, there's no specific regulator. It's under everybody's jurisdiction, be it police, NITI Aayog, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), home ministry, and others," says Gupta. The bigger issue is that for a government that has thus far failed in beefing up its digital competencies, how can it ensure that its latest order will be strictly implemented. For instance, despite banning pornographic websites in 2018, a large number of individuals still access them by circumventing the blocking systems of ISPs (internet service providers). Also, DoT (department of telecom) banned WeTransfer last month after the file-sharing company refused to cooperate with the authorities; some ISPs have not blocked WeTransfer yet. Implementing this order would require coordination with Apple, Google and hundreds of ISPs across the country. In case the banned apps are still available on Android or iOS, question remains how will state governments force local ISPs to block them given that IT Act doesn't come under state governments' purview. On Monday, the MeitY issued a list of 59 Chinese apps that it found to be engaged in activities which are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India and security of state and public order." The list of apps that MeitY found violating the section 69A of the IT Act also includes UC Browser, Likee, Shareit, Mi Community, WeChat, Bigo Live, She-in and Vigo Video. The late-evening notice from MeitY sent the internet users into tizzy, and people were quick to link the "bold move" of the government with the ongoing geopolitical tensions between India and China. In an official statement, Nikhil Gandhi, head of TikTok India said that the TikTok is in the process of complying with the "interim order" of the government. "We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government," Gandhi said. Also read: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma hails ban on 59 Chinese apps; faces backlash FILE PHOTO: Cars are parked in line near a gas station with subsidized fuel in Caracas CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA has told independent gas station operators it can revoke their licences "at any time", only weeks after it cut generous fuel subsidies and as widespread shortages take hold, a notification PDVSA sent to the operators showed. PDVSA has a monopoly over the wholesale fuel distribution market and owns almost all of the country's 1,200 service stations, although most are operated by private companies through commercial licences. Many are suffering the effects of years of price freezes that prevented fuel sales income from keeping up with the costs of maintaining their stations. The industry had hoped the subsidy reforms and resulting price rises could revive their businesses, but the removal of licences could allow the state to take the benefit of higher pump prices. The notification document, seen by Reuters, says PDVSA "will be able to rescind the contract unilaterally and at any time". A person familiar with the process, who asked not to be named, said so far 12 gas stations in Caracas had received the notification. PDVSA did not respond to a request to comment. The shift is a new sign of the desperation of President Nicolas Maduro's government for hard currency as the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. sanctions have reduced Venezuela's capacity to earn export revenue from oil shipments. (Reporting by Deisy Buitrago, Corina Pons and Mayela Armas in Caracas; additional reporting by Tibisay Romero in Valencia and Mircely Guanipa in Maracay; writing by Luc Cohen; editing by Angus Berwick and Barbara Lewis) HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Conference on Development of Tourism Linkages in Vietnam's Southeast Region in 2020" under the theme "Connectivity - Development - Sustainability" has concluded with great success on 28 June 2020 in Sunrise Hotel, Tay Ninh province. The conference was attended by Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan - Politburo member and Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and Mr. Vu Duc Dam - Deputy Prime Minister, Consul-General of Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Thailand to Ho Chi Minh City, together with Leaders of Municipal and Provincial Party Committee, People's Committee, Department of Tourism / Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, tourism associations and more than 300 travel businesses and travel service providers of 6 cities and provinces. At the conference, 6 city and provinces in Vietnam's Southeast Region, namely Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai and Tay Ninh signed Agreement on Tourism Development Linkage in the period of 2020 2025 and approved "Plan to coordinate deploying activities of tourism development cooperation in the Southeast region in the period of 2020 2021". Stimulating domestic tourism in the short term is considered as a solution to maintain the market in the context of tourism industry facing many difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Linkages Tourism is a motivation for tourism in the new normal state. This conference will mark a new development step in the linking cooperation between city and provinces, state management agencies in tourism, associations and tourism enterprises of the whole region, focusing on 05 main contents: Tourism state management, Tourism product development, Tourism promotion, Tourism human resource development and Call for investment in tourism development. At the end of the conference, Binh Phuoc province announced to be host for the next edition of "Conference on Development of Tourism Linkages in Vietnam's Southeast Region". Story continues Vietnams Southeast Region Cities and Provinces enhance linkages for sustainable tourism development In the framework of the "Conference on Development of Tourism Linkages in the Vietnam's Southeast Region", the following activities will be organized: 1. Welcoming the first group of tourists to the Southeastern inter-region tour In early of June 2020, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism organized site inspection tour to develop 3 new inter-region tours: (1) Ho Chi Minh City - Tay Ninh - Binh Duong, (2) Ho Chi Minh City - Binh Duong - Binh Phuoc, (3) Ho Chi Minh City - Dong Nai - Ba Ria - Vung Tau. After the inspection tour, the leading travel agents and tour operator in Ho Chi Minh City launched and sold these new tours with a 30% discount compare to the normal price. From 27-28 June, the first 80-tourists joined the tour; including 40 guests from Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Associations (HUBA). 2. Site Inspection in Tay Ninh for all delegates All delegates were invited to the site inspection tour to visit Ba Den Mountain and other sightseeing and enjoyed local specialties on the afternoon of June 27, 2020. 3. Destination introduction and Showcase tourism products in the Southeast Cities and provinces showcase their destinations and local specialties at the Conference's exhibition area on June 28, 2020 at Sunrise Hotel. 4. Seminar on product development to stimulate tourism in the Southeast region The seminar introduced new destinations, tourism products of provinces and cities, local stimulus policies and announced three new inter-regional product routes: (1) Ho Chi Minh City - Tay Ninh - Binh Duong under the theme "Conquering the roof of the Southern region"; (2) Ho Chi Minh City - Binh Duong - Binh Phuoc with the theme of "Red Soil Love for Eastern" (3) Ho Chi Minh City - Dong Nai - Ba Ria - Vung Tau with the theme "Green nature, beautiful sea" ... The tours are mainly designed for 2 days and 1 night package tour with a hot deal at 1,390,000 VND - 1,490.000 VND/pax. At the seminar, 9 leading travel businesses in Ho Chi Minh City and 20 service providers in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh signed the "Agreement on cooperation to develop tourism stimulus products". PR Newswire is the official news distribution partner of Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center at the Conference on Development of Tourism Linkages in Vietnam's Southeast Region in 2020. For further information, please contact: Ms. Linh Pham Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center Mobile: +84 903.252.364 Email: ptplinh.sdl@tphcm.gov.vn Website: www.visithcmc.vn Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200630/2844935-1 SOURCE Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center Pet Food Experts will now carry the full portfolio of WellPet brands in the Pacific Northwest and will be the exclusive distributor of Sojos in its territories TEWKSBURY, Mass., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WellPet, LLC, the number-one independent, family-owned natural pet food company, will expand its partnership with Pet Food Experts, the third largest wholesale pet food and pet supply distributor in the US, to further the distribution of its natural food, treats and dental chews for dogs and cats. The continuation of a long-standing partnership between two New England-born companies, Pet Food Experts will now carry the full portfolio of WellPet brands, including Wellness Natural Pet Food, WHIMZEES, Old Mother Hubbard, Sojos and Holistic Select brands in its Pacific Northwest Territory (Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana). Pet Food Experts will now carry the full portfolio of WellPet brands in its Pacific Northwest Territory, including Wellness Natural Pet Food, WHIMZEES, Old Mother Hubbard, Sojos and Holistic Select. Pet Food Experts will also become the exclusive distributor of Sojos across all of its territories. Sojos complete and balanced freeze-dried, dehydrated foods combine the shelf-stable convenience of kibble with the unsurpassed nutrition and taste of fresh, raw food. Crafted in WellPet's own Minnesota-based Farm Fresh Kitchens manufacturing facility, all Sojos recipes are made without fillers, preservatives or anything artificial and contain high-quality natural proteins, fruits and vegetables, all blended with meticulous care. "At WellPet, we believe in the power of natural nutrition to better the lives of our pets and feel that Pet Food Experts supports us in that mission. We're thrilled to continue building this partnership to ultimately bring WellPet recipes to more pets and their families," said Camelle Kent, chief executive officer at WellPet. "We are excited to expand our relationship with Pet Food Experts, a like-minded and trusted partner for many years. Our Sojos brand aligns perfectly with the values of Pet Food Experts and the Independent Pet Specialty Channel, and we look forward to accelerating growth in the innovative category of freeze-dried and dehydrated nutrition," said Roger Parsons, senior vice president, sales and customer experience at WellPet. Story continues "Pet Food Experts is proud to expand our partnership further with WellPet," said Sean Kent, vice president of vendor development at Pet Food Experts. "We feel our mission, vision and values are reflected in WellPet and look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with them." To learn more about the WellPet team and its family of brands, visit www.wellpet.com . About WellPet, LLC: WellPet, the number-one, independent, family-owned natural pet food company is home to premium pet food brands Wellness, WHIMZEES, Old Mother Hubbard, Holistic Select, Eagle Pack and Sojos. For more than 100 years, WellPet has delivered on the promise of doing whatever it takes to make the healthiest natural products for the pets that depend on us. Today, our team of animal lovers, nutritionists and vets are committed to carrying forth our strong heritage, continuing to find new ways to bring innovation, nutritional excellence and product quality to our family of natural brands, always putting pet health first. This includes pets in need. Through the Wellness Foundation, we support organizations across the country who are as committed as we are to ensuring every pet on the planet is born, bred and raised with love. For more information www.wellpet.com and www.wellnessfoundation.org . About Pet Food Experts: Pet Food Experts is a fourth-generation family-owned and operated wholesale distributor headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Pet Food Experts delivers to over 4,500+ pet retailers in 34 states out of five distribution centers located in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Washington and Colorado. With a portfolio of over 150 pet brands, and industry-leading fill rates (97% just last week), Pet Food Experts continues to dedicate itself to supporting growth and innovation in the independent pet channel. To learn more about the Pet Food Experts team and its list of supporting brands visit www.petfoodexperts.com . Wellness Natural Pet Food Logo (PRNewsFoto/WellPet, LLC) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wellpet-expands-partnership-with-pet-food-experts-to-bring-more-wholesome-natural-nutrition-to-the-independent-pet-specialty-channel-301085434.html SOURCE WellPet, LLC WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has been preparing to react if necessary to intelligence that Russia allegedly paid the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump's national security adviser said as the White House prepared on Tuesday to brief Democratic lawmakers on the matter. "The Administration, including the National Security Council staff, have been preparing should the situation warrant action," National Security Adviser Robert OBrien said in a statement late Monday night. The White House has sought to play down reports that it knew about accusations that Russia paid the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. and other coalition troops but had not briefed Trump or moved on the information. That raised serious concerns among both Republicans and Democrats about not only the safety of American forces but also the administration's handling of the matter. White House officials promised to brief Democratic lawmakers only after sharing information with Trump's fellow Republicans, who were briefed on Monday. The meeting was set for 8 a.m. (1200 GMT), according to an aide. At least two Republicans said they still had concerns following their meeting. Four U.S. government sources confirmed to Reuters following weekend media reports that classified U.S. intelligence reports suggested that a Russian military intelligence unit had offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan. The sources indicated U.S. government agencies and experts on balance believed the intelligence reporting to be credible. Subsequent reports in the New York Times and Washington Post said several American soldiers were believed to have died as a result of the program, which the Kremlin has denied. Several news outlets have also reported that information on the bounties was included in a daily written report delivered to the president in February and in a CIA publication in May. Story continues Reuters could not immediately confirm those reports. Democratic U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer who was among those invited to Tuesday's briefing, said its inclusion in the presidential daily brief showed the information was "credible and that there was sourcing behind it that was deeply concerning and vetted to some level." That Trump "didn't take the time to read the document is not an excuse ... What comes next? He maybe didnt know it. He maybe didnt read the brief, but now he knows it. Now everyone knows it. What are we going to do about it?" she told CNN in an interview ahead of the White House meeting. Trump administration officials and the White House have said there was no consensus on the underlying intelligence among U.S. agencies and Trump had not been made aware of it, something O'Brien echoed in his statement late Monday. O'Brien also said whoever told the media about the intelligence reports endangered national security. John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, in a statement on Monday said the "unauthorized disclosures now jeopardize our ability to ever find out the full story." The Pentagon, in a separate statement, said that it was continuing to evaluate intelligence. Trump has also said U.S. intelligence officials told him they had not informed him of Moscow's purported program because the information was not credible. The Republican lawmakers were briefed on Monday by Ratcliffe, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and O'Brien. Representative Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs panel, afterward said the administration needed to complete its ongoing review of the intelligence before retaliatory actions could be taken. If verified the administration must "take swift and serious action to hold the Putin regime accountable," McCaul said in a statement with fellow panel member Adam Kinzinger. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay, Tim Ahmann, Susan Heavey, Lisa Lambert and Phil Stewart in Washington and by Anastasia Teterevleva in Moscow; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Howard Goller and Sonya Hepinstall) AS SIGNS OF A FLATTENING CURVE EMERGE, HOW TO PLAN FOR EITHER A HEALTH-CONSCIOUS RETURN TO WORK OR MORE TIME WORKING FROM HOME MUSCATINE, Iowa, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Work-from-home arrangements were made almost overnight as the pandemic forced the implementation of stay-home orders. While the transition was sudden, American businesses and workers have risen to the occasion. Video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Google Meet have become household names, and many companies are now strongly considering regular work-from-home policies as a result. Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8731051-hon-healthy-workplace-solutions/ As signs of a curve flattening in many states emerge, elected officials are rolling out plans to get employees back to work or simply back to the office. Businesses across the country are preparing to reopen their offices, and with that, health and safety has become the number one priority. Flexible Solutions for Every Home Office The way you work is changing every day, and you're most likely still figuring out your perfect set up. Whether you have a dedicated room or share the space with the rest of the home, it's important that you have the right products that fit you and your home office needs. Twitter employees are working from home as long as they choose, even permanently if they want. Google employees are remote until 2021, at least. Other tech companies are moving to remote work in the COVID-19 era and it's brought into focus some long-held principles about work. Whether you have a designated office or share the space with the rest of the home, it's important that you have the right products that fit you and your home office needs. The Small Home Office You might not have space for a formal home office, but HON's multifunctional desks and ergonomically friendly seating are designed to fit in small spacesand if you're cramped for space, you can stow your desk away when the work day is done. Story continues For workers who want a productive space that can also multi-task after hours, "having a nesting table like the Between is helpful," said Evan Sanford, Category Merchandising Manager for The HON Company. "Also, the Coordinate desktop riser is great because it sits on top of an existing work surface." Coordinate desktop risers allow you to stand or sit, offering ergonomic flexibility and comfort throughout the day. When working with a small footprint (like an apartment), it's important to utilize furniture that fits when you need the space to work, but doesn't get in the way when you need the space for something else. The Shared-Room Home Office As you continue exploring new workstyles in your own home, you may have found a nook that is just right. Those who are outfitting shared rooms look for style and function, and typically, they want the furniture to coordinate with their home environment (we call it "resimercial"). For a shared room, the fully-upholstered Matter chair is an excellent choice, providing comfort and a look that can blend into any space. "When you walk into the room, you won't necessarily say 'that's an office chair,'" Sanford said. Another option in the shared-room category is the Voi work surface. Its contemporary and modern design gives off a minimalistic vibe, and it has various laminate top and paint options that fit many different aesthetics. The Dedicated Home Office A designated office space can be key to maximizing productivity. HON offers products for a traditional or modern office solution designed to ergonomically support you and fit the aesthetic of your home. These products are similar to what you might see in an office space. "Some of our best options are the Coordinate height-adjustable tables. When we talk to people about what products they want, height adjustability is at the top of the list," Sanford said. With the market shifting toward more workers being remote and/or working from home, a comfortable and ergonomic solution will make your home office more inviting, and you may find yourself more productive as well. How to Plan for a Health-Conscious Return to Work Work-from-home arrangements were made almost overnight as the pandemic forced the implementation of stay-home orders. While the transition was sudden, American businesses and workers have risen to the occasion. From a trying situation has come a revelation in the way we work, and how it might look going forward. As signs of a curve flattening in many states emerge, elected officials are rolling out plans to get employees back to work or simply back to the office. Preparing for a New Normal While we don't know for certain what work and office environments will look like in three weeks or three months, we do know they will look different. And the new dynamic could feature more permanent changes designed to support health and well-being of employees. Experts agree that making employees feel safe and comfortable about being in the office should be at the forefront of every decision-maker's mind as workers across the country get ready to return. "The biggest thing that companies are focusing on is the mental and physical well-being of their workers," said Holli Renaud, Account Merchandising Manager for The HON Company. "Employees need to mentally feel good about coming into the office, and that translates into some of the physical things companies are doing to promote that comfortability. "It's going to be about space, cleaning and separation between workstations and in common areas, too. That's how a lot of people are thinking about this situation as they prepare for this change." The changes required won't all be easy, though. Finding a happy medium between appropriate spacing and a people-focused environment is the task facing companies now. Companies may be trying to juggle the open workplace and collaborative areas with options that can be conducive to social distancing. "How do we incorporate those elements into the working environment? How do we make sure we continue to build a workplace that people want to work in, while also being able to maintain social distancing? These are key considerations for companies as they look to reopen," said Jim Foster, Vice President & General Manager Merchandising & National Accounts at The HON Company. For more information, check out https://www.hon.com/industry/healthy-workplace-solutions Traditional work stations are changing, now incorporating distanced desk and privacy screens with cleanable fabrics, allowing your users to feel safe and comfortable within their workspace. If you have the space for a designated home office space, explore the option of a traditional or modern office solution designed to ergonomically support you and the aesthetic of your home. Mobile and freestanding screens provide a sense of safety and privacy to all workers, yet dont inhibit collaboration. HONs soft seating can be upholstered in cleanable fabrics and is easily reconfigured, allowing teams to feel together while practicing safe social distancing. Abound, Accelerate, and Verse panels are available in cleanable vinyl or laminate options to help prevent the spread of germs within individual workstations. Glass stack-ons can be added to many installations to increase the panel height, while still letting in natural light. The HON Company (PRNewsfoto/The HON Company) Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-workplace-redefined-preparing-for-the-new-normal-301084669.html SOURCE The HON Company SHANGHAI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hosted by the Shanghai municipal government, the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC 2020) is opening to the public from July 9 - 11 in Shanghai, China, with registration now open for visitors. Under the theme of "Intelligent Connectivity, Indivisible Community," the annual conference is set to leverage state-of-the-art technologies including 5G, virtual and augmented reality to create an unprecedented tech fest this year by combining physical and virtual exhibitions. AI and cloud-based technologies have played a crucial role in the fight against the pandemic and revitalizing economic growth. Committed to becoming a global AI tech hub, Shanghai has pledged fresh efforts in advancing the construction of new infrastructures, the projects involving information and communication technologies, 5G, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, with new policies and investments initiated to boost AI cooperation and innovation globally. Set against this backdrop, WAIC 2020 aims to build a platform to accelerate global digital transformation by displaying the practical and innovative implementation of AI, cognitive technology and intelligent automation. The online section of WAIC 2020 features a cloud platform showcasing a 3D virtual AI community alongside the cutting-edge AI solutions for future smart cities. A comprehensive AI industrial ecosystem will be laid out within the virtual community, allowing the global audiences to learn the strategic and tactical benefits of AI by following the roadmap for next-generation technologies across seven major sectors including education, medicine, transportation, finance, infrastructure, urban management and business. Integrated with interactive features, both online and offline exhibitions enable audiences to have a close-up experience with world-leading AI technologies. In addition, the world's most advanced humanoid robots for business and home are set to take the central stage. One of the highlights of the exhibition is the world's first human-friendly dual-arm robot equipped with breakthrough functionality such as self-balance, collision prevention, object identification and the ability to cope with complex terrains. Story continues The largest WAIC with more than 550 industry leaders joining the conference WAIC 2020 consists of four regular sections, which include an opening ceremony, two plenary sessions and over ten themed and industry forums inviting experts to share their opinions on topics covering finance, education, 5G, intelligent algorithms, chips and smart hardware. The broadcasting teams in Germany, Korea and Singapore also will join the online showroom in Shanghai to demonstrate local cutting-edge technologies and share industry insight. Over 550 AI experts, scientists, industry leaders, including Nobel laureates Thomas Sargent and Turing Award winners Manuel Blum, Judea Pearl, and David Patterson will attend the WAIC 2020, with tech gurus from Microsoft, Apple, IBM and Amazon also joining the online events. The conference has also set up "Investor Lounge" which serves as a platform to help leading AI innovators to carve out more commercial opportunities and land their AI innovations. More than 50 new products and technologies are expected debuted with over 30 milestone partnerships planned to be signed during this year's event. The conference will feature more competitions and awards to reward leading young innovators and tech trailblazers for their contributions to the AI industry. To learn more about World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2020, please visit www.worldaic.com.cn 2020 World Artificial Intelligence Conference Summit Online About World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2020 With the theme of "Intelligent Connectivity, Indivisible Community," the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2020 is a platform for AI scientists, world leaders and entrepreneurs to share their insights on AI innovations and applications, gathering the brightest minds under one roof to enable them to shed light on a better future powered by intelligent technologies. It aims to connect the best from academia and industry to collaborate and offers opportunities for talented innovators to transform the world, meet investors and distribute their ideas globally. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200629/2843731-1-a SOURCE WAIC 2020 Highlights ikTok has broken its silence on the governments decision to ban 59 Chinese apps. The company said that they are complying with the governments order a Indian government imposed a ban on 59 Chinese apps. TikTok has broken its silence on the government's decision to ban 59 Chinese apps. The company said that they are complying with the government's order and will meet with the government stakeholders to submit clarifications. TikTok India head, Nikhil Gandhi issued a statement on Twitter, he said, "The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity." The Indian government on Monday imposed a ban on 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC browser, Shareit, CamScanner among others. As per the latest developments, TikTok has already been removed from the App Store and Play Store while the other banned apps continue to feature on the two platforms. The development comes in the wake of the violent clashes between India and China at the Galwan Valley which claimed the lives of many soldiers at the LAC. The anti-China sentiments have been on the rise ever since the tensions at the border escalated between the two countries. However, the government hasn't cited the clash as the reason behind the ban. The IT Ministry has said that these apps were banned because they "engaged in activities prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of state and public order." The apps will not only be banned but they will also be blocked by the government. So if you have the banned apps on your phone, you might not be able to use it anymore."The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking of these malicious apps... the government of India has decided to disallow the usage of (these) apps," the release by the IT Ministry read. The apps will be blocked on the networks that are managed by the telecom brands including Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone. So once that is done, the apps will stop functioning completely. (Adds Pompeo statement) * China's national security law takes effect in HK * Crimes punished with up to life in prison * U.S. begins removing HK special status * Joshua Wong's Demosisto said it would dissolve * Activists plan to defy police ban on July 1 rally By Meg Shen and Yew Lun Tian HONG KONG/BEIJING, July 1 (Reuters) - Beijing on Tuesday unveiled new national security laws for Hong Kong that will punish crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, heralding a more authoritarian era for China's freest city. As the law came into force, authorities were set to throw a security blanket across the heart of the city's financial centre on Wednesday after activists vowed to defy a police ban and rally against the measures. Local media said up to 4,000 officers would be deployed to stamp out any protests. China's parliament passed the detailed legislation earlier on Tuesday, giving Beijing sweeping powers and setting the stage for radical changes to the global financial hub's way of life. Beijing had kept full details shrouded in secrecy, giving Hong Kong's 7.5 million people no time to digest the complex legislation before it entered into force at 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on June 30. The timing was seen as a symbolic humiliation for Britain, coming just an hour before the 23rd anniversary of when Hong Kong's last colonial governor, Chris Patten, a staunch critic of the law, tearfully handed back Hong Kong to Chinese rule. Amid fears the law will crush the city's freedoms, prominent activist Joshua Wong's Demosisto and other pro-democracy groups said they would dissolve. "The punitive elements of the law are stupefying," Simon Young, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong's law school and a barrister, told Reuters. "Let us hope no one tries to test this law, for the consequences to the individual and the legal system will be irreparable." Story continues The legislation pushes Beijing further along a collision course with the United States, Britain and other Western governments, which have said it erodes the high degree of autonomy the city was granted at its July 1, 1997, handover. Britain and some two dozen Western countries urged China to reconsider the law, saying Beijing must preserve the right to assembly and free press. "The United States will not stand idly by while China swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. He said the United States would stand with the people of Hong Kong and "respond to Beijing's attacks on freedoms of speech, the press, and assembly, as well as the rule of law." Washington, already in dispute with China over trade, the South China Sea and the coronavirus, began eliminating Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law on Monday, halting defence exports and restricting technology access. China, which has rejected criticism of the law by Britain, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and others, said it would retaliate. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, in a video message to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, urged the international community to "respect our country's right to safeguard national security". She said the law would not undermine the city's autonomy or its independent judiciary. Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have repeatedly said the legislation is aimed at a few "troublemakers" and will not affect rights and freedoms, nor investor interests. As the law was passed in Beijing, the Chinese People's Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong held a drill which included exercises to stop suspicious vessels and arrest fugitives, according to the Weibo social media account of state-run CCTV's military channel. 'OVERPOWERING' In their most severe form, crimes will be punishable with life in prison. Punishments otherwise largely go up to 10 years. Properties related to crimes could be frozen or confiscated. The security legislation will supersede existing Hong Kong laws where there is a conflict and mainland Chinese authorities could exercise jurisdiction over some major cases. Interpretation powers belong to the Chinese parliament's top decision-making body. Judges for security cases will be appointed by the city's chief executive. According to the law, a new national security agency will be set up for the first time in Hong Kong and will not be under the jurisdiction of the local government. Authorities can carry out surveillance and wire-tap people suspected of endangering national security, it said. Those asking foreign countries to sanction, blockade or take other hostile action against Hong Kong or China could be guilty of colluding with foreign forces. Authorities shall take necessary measures to strengthen the management and servicing of foreign countries' and international organisations' branches in Hong Kong, as well as foreign media and NGOs in the city, the law says. "We can all start again," pro-Beijing heavyweight Maria Tam, a member of Chinas National Peoples Congress, told reporters. Activists and pro-democracy politicians said they would defy a police ban on a rally on the handover anniversary on Wednesday. "We will never accept the passing of the law, even though it is so overpowering," said Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai. A majority in Hong Kong opposes the legislation, a poll conducted for Reuters in June showed, but support for the protests has fallen to only a slim majority. Dozens of supporters of Beijing popped champagne corks and waved Chinese flags in celebration in front of government headquarters. "I'm very happy," said one elderly man, surnamed Lee. "This will leave anti-China spies and people who brought chaos to Hong Kong with nowhere to go." (Additional reporting by Clare Jim, Yanni Chow, Carol Mang, Joyce Zhou, Tyrone Siu, Jessie Pang, James Pomfret, Greg Torode and Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong; Writing by Marius Zaharia Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel and Giles Elgood) FILE PHOTO: New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during an interview with Reuters in Wellington SYDNEY (Reuters) - New Zealand will use virtual digital platforms to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next year, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday, attributing the decision to uncertainty around travel due to the coronavirus. "What we've done is we've determined that actually for the sake of certainty, let's just plan for that virtual gathering," Ardern said at a media briefing in Wellington. "That means that we don't have the added cost, the added disruption that the uncertainty of COVID brings." New Zealand, early this month, lifted all social and economic restrictions except border controls, after declaring it was free of the coronavirus, while many countries are still grappling to contain the spread of the disease. Ardern said the country has no plans to reopen its borders now as infection rates around the world were still going up. "There is a time in the future we'll be opening our borders but to suggest that time is now when the virus is getting worse is frankly dangerous," she said. The Pacific nation has so far escaped a high number of casualties from the virus, with nearly 1,200 confirmed infections and 22 deaths. It reported no new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, the first time in nearly two weeks. Leaders of the 21 member countries were to gather for the APEC 2021 summit in New Zealand at the end of next year. The coronavirus outbreak has also forced this year's summit host, Malaysia, to postpone a series of pre-event meetings, but it remains committed to conduct the summit in November. (Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Kim Coghill and Raju Gopalakrishnan) It crashed with a loud bang. They installed it anyway, Judi wrote. Sad to say, it didnt put out much cool air, so we still had to use the box fans to try to get cool. About three weeks after Drew was born, Judi suddenly awakened in the middle of the night with a severe tightening in her chest. Shed end up rolling on the floor in unbearable pain. Howard called their doctor, who said to take Judi to the Native American hospital in Tuba City, 25 miles away. Howards parents, who were spending the night, were able to watch Drew. The doctor thought that I had a blood clot in my lung and that I was very likely going to die, she said. Before we left, I remember looking at my son, thinking that this was the last time I would see him and that he was going to grow up without me. About halfway to Tuba City, the pain stopped. The couple continued to the hospital anyway, but no one was there to attend to her. Because I wasnt experiencing any more pain, we left and headed back home, grateful to God for His touch on me, Judi wrote. The next day, we went to see my doctor in Flagstaff, who was as baffled as we were at my quick recovery. New State Fair Executive Director Bill Ogg got about 10 days on the job before having to make possibly the hardest decision of his career. On Tuesday, Ogg recommended to State Fair Board members that they approve a very slimmed down event this year that focuses on livestock events for youths in 4-H and FFA. The only other option, Ogg said, was to cancel the fair altogether and focus on next year. Board members voted in favor of the scaled-down option and also voted to give Ogg the flexibility to add in other events later if conditions allow, including, possibly, a carnival. Going forward with the scaled-down version will add about $200,000 in costs in the boards budget compared with not having a fair, but Ogg and several board members said they believe it is worth it. Ogg said people are hungry for some wholesome social activity, and the fair will provide that. Plans are to host 4-H exhibits and contests on the first weekend of the fair, which begins Aug. 28, and FFA activities on the second weekend. Depending on conditions and what activities are allowed, the fair could go dark during the week, Ogg said. During that meeting, Hill added that he expected both the school and parish to become fully current on expenses before the end of the current fiscal year. Koenig said he was happy with the parishs fundraising efforts during the Wednesday town hall. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Were very happy with my perspective on how fundraising efforts have gone thus far, he said. Nolte responded to the question by thanking the parishioners for their participation in town halls. He added that everything is a possibility moving forward. ... We have to ask these questions that help us look deeper into whats going on in our parish and in our school with our finances, but also whats going on in the mind of our parishioners and their hearts of what their understanding is and seeing where we can better communicate, seeing where we can make things clear, he said. Nolte said starting the year current on expenses will go a long way in making sure both the school and parish are on a level playing field. God has put on my heart that hes going to eradicate our financial debt quickly and hes going to make us thrive in his grace and his mercy, he said. I believe this. Republican lawmakers who have been briefed about reports alleging that Russia paid the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan are calling for consequences for Russia, if the reports are true. "It has been clear for some time that Russia does not wish us well in Afghanistan," Representatives Mac Thornberry (Texas) and Liz Cheney (Wyoming) said in a statement after attending a briefing on June 29. They said they believe it is important "to vigorously pursue" any information related to Russia or any country targeting U.S. forces. Representatives Michael McCaul (Texas) and Adam Kinzinger (Illinois) issued a statement saying they "strongly encourage the Administration to take swift and serious action to hold the Putin regime accountable, if the reports are true. McCaul and Kinzinger said they believe an ongoing review should take place before any retaliatory actions are taken. The Republican lawmakers were briefed by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and national-security adviser Robert O'Brien. "We are still investigating the alleged intelligence referenced in recent media reporting," Ratcliffe said in a statement. "Unfortunately, unauthorized disclosures now jeopardize our ability to ever find out the full story." The Pentagon also is continuing to evaluate the intelligence, its spokesman said in a statement. "To date, [the Defense Department] has no corroborating evidence to validate the recent allegations found in open-source reports," Jonathan Hoffman said. Members of Congress in both parties have called for a full congressional briefing from top intelligence officials, with some also suggesting consequences for Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Democrats have asked whether President Donald Trump may have ignored a threat to U.S. troops as he seeks to improve relations with Russia. Several Democrats in the House of Representatives are to be briefed on the matter early on June 30. Trump has denied ever being briefed on the intelligence. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany insisted on June 29 the reason was there was "no consensus within the intelligence community" that the bounty claims were credible. O'Brien echoed her comment in a statement late on June 29, saying Trump had not been briefed because the allegation had not been verified or substantiated by the intelligence community. "Nevertheless the administration, including the National Security Council, have been preparing should the situation warrant action," O'Brien said. The New York Times, which first reported on the alleged payments on June 26, said on June 30 that Trump received a written briefing about alleged Russian bounties offered to Afghan militants to kill U.S. troops as early as February. The Times previously reported that the National Security Council held an interagency meeting in late March to discuss possible responses after U.S. intelligence officers and special forces in Afghanistan began raising the alarm as early as January -- but the White House didn't authorize any action. Other media outlets, including The Washington Post, have published their own stories, saying their sources also described the bounty scheme. Russia and the Taliban have denied the existence of any bounty to kill U.S. troops. The Washington Post reported on June 28 that the bounties are believed to have resulted in the death of several U.S. service members in Afghanistan. The New York Times separately reported that U.S. intelligence officials believe at least one U.S. military death was linked to the alleged payments. The U.S. intelligence was gathered from interrogations of captured militants in recent months, according to the reports. The United States is investigating whether any Americans died as a result of the Russian bounties, AP reported, quoting U.S. officials. The investigations are focused in particular on an April 2019 attack on a U.S. convoy in which three Marines were killed as they returned to Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military installation in Afghanistan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat-California) wrote the two top intelligence officials on June 29 demanding an immediate briefing to members of Congress. "The questions that arise are: was the president briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed," Pelosi wrote in a letter on June 29 to Ratcliffe and CIA Director Gina Haspel. The allegations come as the United States seeks to advance a nascent peace process in Afghanistan after signing a deal with the Taliban in February that could see U.S. troops leave the country next year. With reporting by AP and Reuters A top leader of Afghanistans hard-line Islamist Taliban movement has demanded the United States release an Afghan drug kingpin serving a life sentence for international narcotics trafficking conspiracy in a U.S. prison. Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Talibans political office in Qatar, says Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the movements top negotiator and deputy leader, made the demand in a virtual meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on June 29. Mullah Sahib asked the American secretary of state to release Hajji Bashar Noorzai, who is incarcerated in a U.S. prison, he told Radio Free Afghanistan on June 30. Noorzai is believed to be a close confidant of late Taliban founder Mullah Omar. In the spring of 2009, a court in New York City sentenced Noorzai to life in prison after he was found guilty the previous fall of being involved in a conspiracy that sent large quantities of heroin to the United States and around the globe. He also called for other Afghans imprisoned in Guantanamo to be released, too, Shaheen added. The U.S. State Department has yet to confirm the video call. Barnett Rubin, an academic and former State Department adviser on Afghanistan, says that Noorzai, believed to be in his 50s, is politically significant for the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, where the movement first emerged in the mid-1990s. He is politically important to the Nurzais in Loya Kandahar, Rubin said of Noorzais status as an important tribal figure among the Nurzai, a large Pashtun tribe in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar and adjoining regions collective referred to as Greater Kandahar by Afghans. That is a very important constituency for the Taliban, he added. In 2009, Noorzai told a judge in Manhattan that he led his country toward peace and stability and has never worked against U.S. interests. In all my life, I never did anything against the United States government, against the United States people and against the United States legal system, he was quoted as saying by the New York Times. But proving the Talibans popularity in Afghanistan, even in former strongholds such as Kandahar, is tricky. Few former Taliban leaders have won elections after renouncing the insurgency or surrendering to the Afghan government. Public opinion surveys show the Taliban is supported by only a small minority of the countrys diverse estimated 35 million population. Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander reconciled with the Afghan government, says that by demanding Noorzais release the Taliban are making a political point and indicating that they want to maintain old ties. The Talibans aim is not only to help Noorzai but they have also demanded the release of all Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. The Taliban want to show that they are pushing for releasing all prisoners from American prisons. Releasing prisoners was one of the key confidence-building points in the Talibans agreement with the United States, which was signed on February 29. The agreement said that the United States is committed to start immediately to work with all relevant sides on a plan to expeditiously release combat and political prisoners as a confidence building measure with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides. So far, the Afghan government has released some 3,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for hundreds of Afghan soldiers and government workers held by the Taliban. Noorzai was one of the first former mujahedin commanders who surrendered to the Taliban after their emergence in late 1994. He later reportedly bankrolled some of the Talibans military offensives and grew close to its leaders, Mullah Omar in particular. In April 2005, U.S. prosecuting attorney David Kelley alleged that Noorzai and the Taliban had a symbiotic relationship. "Between 1990 and 2004, Noorzai and his organization provided demolitions, weaponry, and militia manpower to the Taliban, he said. In exchange, the Taliban permitted Noorzai's business to flourish and served as protection for Noorzai's opium crops, heroin laboratories, and drug transportation routes out of the country." According to a brief biography published in a book by former Taliban diplomat Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, Noorzai attempted to switch sides and tried to align with the United States and the Afghan government after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Noorzai was arrested in New York City in April 2005 after traveling there and was reportedly arrested after talking to federal agents. Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Omid Zahirmal contributed reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan. Highlights Poco is coming up with an all-new India-first smartphone series. The Poco F2 Pro is not coming to India as of now. Poco currently wants to focus on smartphone and accessories. Poco is one of the most happening brands in the smartphone segment and if you get a chance to talk to the company, the obvious question that comes up is: "When is the Poco F2 coming?" India Today Tech too had the same question when it got a chance to ask Poco India's General Manager Manmohan C. Poco did answer us but not with an answer we were waiting to hear. However, Manmohan eagerly gave out a lot about what's in the pipeline for its fans and community. In this short interview, Manmohan speaks a lot about how Poco fared in the COVID-19 lockdown era and how the recent developments in Indian sentiments regarding Chinese-origin products have made the small team at Poco clarify its intentions of putting India first and foremost. Manmohan also talks about challenges from the competition and Poco's plans of getting into other product segments. When is the next Poco phone coming and will it be the highly-awaited Poco F2 PRO? Poco F2 Pro was launched globally, however we do not have plans to launch the Indian variant of it as of now. We recently teased the launch of a new Poco phone coming to India, which I can confirm will be an India-first, new line of phones. We are planning to launch this somewhere around next month. Poco X2 got rave reviews from critics and consumers. How have the sales been, despite the increasing prices? Since the time Poco X2 was introduced in the market, we have received an overwhelming response from our customers and fans, owing to its competitive feature set, and of course the 120Hz screen. In fact, since the lockdown lifted, we are witnessing a pent-up demand for Poco X2. As per the recent reports, we have actually been the largest selling brand under the INR 15,000 -20,000 price segment on Flipkart. Poco X2, despite the price hike, has been a bestseller. Currently we're at a place wherein our supply chain systems are working day-in and day-out with an aim to fulfil the demand and meet customers/market expectations. With every feedback that we receive, we aim to refine the user experience, and bring innovations that truly matter. Poco X2 was a new experience for the market, and we will continue bringing such products in the market. We are positive that our customers will immensely benefit from these innovative features and make the most of the Poco smartphones and devices. Lately, brands like Motorola and Realme have come up with Poco X2 rivals. How do you plan to keep competition at bay? The demand for smartphones, as we continue to see, has been high. With this as context, we have clarity on how consumers perceive the product, based on the reviews that were observed during the sales course of Poco X2. There is certainly a level of competition in the market, and it is something that drives the brands to perform aggressively across the sector. We at Poco believe in focusing on one specific mechanism at a time and ensure the best outcome. We ideally differentiate from other brands because we believe in performing at one aspect extremely well and make certain of the hygiene on all other parameters to suit the needs of the consumers at its best. Has the lockdown affected sales? What did the company learn as an emerging brand? It definitely had an impact on the sales, as the Indian government's decision of not considering electronics and smartphones as essentials came as a challenge. Therefore, because of this, we were not able to operate business during the lockdown, especially during the initial phases. Currently, post the lockdown 4.0 and with unlock one coming into picture, things have started coming to normalcy and we have started working at a customary pace. Given the fact that we were functioning more like a start-up, with a smaller team, we have managed to be agile and adjust in our ways of working, basis the measures that have been suggested by the Indian government. This period gave us some more time to rethink and go back to formulate our strategy of working further on our developments. Anti-Chinese sentiments are at their peak. How is Poco coping up? Will there be more of "Make in India" as well as "Designed in India" initiatives for future? As you'd know, we have been very much centric to Indian market and consumers here in India. In 2018, the global launch of Poco F1 took place in India and Poco X2 was also launched in India early this year, with an idea to re-launch the brand with India at the core focus. In terms of operations, the entire Poco team functions in India wherein the way of approach towards the brand is directed to ensure that we're able to fulfil the needs of our fans/community across the country. We know that Poco is going to get into audio products. Will it explore other categories such as smart TVs, IoT, home appliances, computers or others? To begin with, in terms of product market fit, we're in a phase where we're exploring progress across various segments. Also we believe in the philosophy of everything you need and nothing you don't, which helps us envision the further growth of the brand. Through this we can scrutinize our position in the market and further experiment with various customer segments of various price points and see if it turns out to be credible to maintain a sustainable business going forward. Once we are able to crystalize on the segments that we can foray into, it will be easier to look forward to other bigger product categories. As for other categories, we will definitely consider each one of them at a certain point in time. However, right now, the focus remains smartphone and smartphone plus (categories that aid in smartphone usage). Poco uses MIUI but are there plans to go the stock Android route with Android One? Stock Android is what performance seekers want in phones. Poco has always aimed to double-down on the optimization of software for our products. While Poco is well known for the hardware, we are still working on the software support that we have been providing. The baseline which is the MIUI is something that we leverage, because it has grown along with customers over time and has been stable since then. Adding a surface of features has always been on the game from our end, for instance, we have Poco launcher, vlog mode and more in Poco devices. Similarly, there are other additional features that we keep adding, in terms of camera UI, performance and more. 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. City Editor Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has cover statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids. Money is tight in Colorado right now, but the state highway department is trying to keep alive Gov. Jared Polis' long-term plan for Front Range commuter rail by asking the public for input. The state is considering a long-range plan for passenger rail service along a 173-mile line from Fort Collins to Pueblo, though the timeline for completion will be far longer than the current COVID-19 problems crushing the state and nation's economy. Sales tax for Front Range passenger rail gets initial thumbs up, Colorado survey shows Colorado voters rejected a proposed sales tax to bankroll transportation improvements last year, but a new survey suggests that taxpayers might be willing to pony up for a Front Range passenger rail. The Colorado Department of Transportation launched a website Monday to collect input through the end of July. You can weigh in at frontrangepassengerrailmeeting.com. Those who log on can share their thoughts on how they might use the service, as well as issue of speed and the number of stops. The website also offers information about design options and potential routes. The Southwest Chief and Front Range Passenger Rail Commission, the Colorado Department of Transportation and a team of consultants are still working on the plan. "Once the team evaluates service needs and wants, it can move on to more specific environmental and engineering planning," CDOT explained in a press release Tuesday. "At a later point, with a better understanding of costs, funding streams could be identified for the project." Calcutta HC rejects West Bengal govt's plea for recalling order that directed NHRC to investigate post-poll recalling order that directed NHRC to investigate post-poll violence. State officials Monday approved the majority of El Paso County's variance request to Colorado's current coronavirus public health order, including allowing restaurants and other venues to accommodate up to 175 people indoors and as many as 250 outdoors. The variance approval is effective immediately and updates the county's previous health order that allowed gatherings of no more than 50 people. State officials also granted Douglas County's request to increase event capacities. Businesses and activities allowed for the new capacities include gyms, athletic training facilities, Indoor Water Park at Great Wolf Lodge, theaters, indoor malls, libraries, restaurants, indoor private events such as receptions and business meetings, according to the variance. Indoor attractions such as museums and art galleries also qualify for the variance as do indoor recreation activities including park nature centers, bowling alleys, ice rinks, laser tag, indoor gun ranges, escape rooms, and Nerfgun battles. Outdoor activities that can now operate at a capacity up to 250 people include outdoor museums and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, paintball, miniature golf courses, go-kart tracks, and outdoor private events such as receptions and family reunions. Amusement parks, such as Cave of the Winds and Santas Workshop are not included in the variance. The county had asked to reopen amusement parks, but officials denied that request and said they are not opening any amusement park in the state. "...with the sheer volume of high touch surfaces such as park rides and the likelihood of constant mingling of non-household contacts throughout the park, we are not currently approving any requests for amusement parks," the variance form stated. El Paso County also sought to increase capacities in shuttle operations for outdoor recreation up to 75%, but state health officials denied that request. Citing the "safer-at-home" guidelines the state is currently following, outdoor recreation shuttle buses and vans must remain at 50% capacity. El Paso County has reported 2,266 COVID-19 cases as of Monday and has a two-week average positivity rate of 3.41%, which puts the county in the low category, according to state data. Douglas County is also allowed to have indoor gatherings up to a maximum of 175 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 250 people under a variance approved Friday. Read more here. Gov. Jared Polis extended an order to allow food trucks to operate at truck stops in Colorado. Polis said the order supports truckers by again provided "freshly prepared food options while providing additional economic opportunities" during the pandemic. Polis also signed an order Monday that continues the temporary suspension of tax filings on certain property for 30 days from June 28. The number of new known cases of COVID-19 in Colorado has been on the rise since mid-June, hitting 324 Thursday, a new high since May 30. The uptick comes after an overall declining number of new coronavirus cases since late-April. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Chance of a shower or two during the morning, followed by partly cloudy skies in the afternoon. Cooler. High 67F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 51F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Some driving tour possibilities New Mexico | Get Out of Town Businessman Bykov to stay detained till September in 1994 double murder case RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 10:49 30/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI) Detention of businessman Anatoly Bykov in a case over organizing double homicide in 1994 has been extended until September 3, RAPSI has learnt in a courts press office. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, in the first half of 1994, Alexander Naumov, the 23-year old member of a criminal group headed by Bykov, had a conflict with the gang leader because of unjust, according to him, dividing of the joint criminal income. Later, Bykovs car was exploded. The businessman suspected Naumov and his friend Kirill Voytenko of the blast organization and decided to kill them. He ordered his acquaintance Vladimir Tatarenkov to organize the murder; the latter in turn involved his gang members in the crime. On July 24, 1994, Naumov and Voytenko were shot dead, investigators claimed. One of the killers Sergey Bakurov was sentenced to life. Another one is on a wanted list. Tatarenkov was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the Investigative Committees statement read. Investigators claim that many witnesses confirmed that Bykov had business relations with Naumov and a conflict after which the latter was afraid of his life and began wearing body armour. Three witnesses said that Bykov was a mastermind of the murder. They added that failed to give testimony 26 years ago as they hoped that Bykov would provide assistance to them, according to the Investigative Committee. After securing the Republican nomination to run against Sen. Mark Warner in November, Army veteran Daniel Gade is challenging the two-term incumbent to five debates. Gade announced Monday that he wants to debate Warner five times, which is two more than the Democrat proposed last week. The debates, according to Gades campaign, would be spread across the state, including Southwest Virginia, Tidewater, Richmond, the Southside and Northern Virginia. Virginians deserve to hear the difference between Mark Warners do-nothing career and a fighter who can actually get things done in the Senate for Virginians, Gade said in a statement. I am thrilled to challenge Warner to these 5 debates that will cover real issues such as affordable health care, quality education, well-paying jobs, individual liberty and much more. As a warfighter and a professor, I look forward to debating Warner on the battlefield of ideas. A spokeswoman for Warners campaign did not immediately return a request for comment. Gade topped two other Republicans in last weeks GOP primary, receiving 67% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections. The American University professor won every city and county in the state. St. Petersburg lawyer to stand trial on fraud attempt allegations RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 11:26 30/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI) Investigation has been completed into a St. Petersburg attorney charged with attempted fraud, the press service of the Investigative Committees St. Petersburg Directorate has told RAPSI. The case is sent to court for hearing. The accused was arrested when receiving a money mold in November 2019. Investigators believe in October 2019 the lawyer demanded 4 million rubles ($57,000) from two witnesses in a case for non-bringing them to criminal liability. This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription. If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here. Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing. "Ultimately, I am open to changes for the better, but I want to avoid asking our teachers and principals to re-open schools this fall without the personnel and funding they need," said School Board Trustee Luke Muszkiewicz during public comment. Helena Public Schools Superintendent Tyler Ream also voiced concern about potentially pulling school police from schools days before the new school year. "I'm candidly doubtful we would be able to realign our resources to fill any void," Ream said. "To do this in late June would be difficult." The city commission heard nearly an hour of public comment that was split on the topic prior to approving the budget and its amendments. S.K. Rossi, policy and advocacy director with ACLU of Montana, applauded the city commission for being open to future discussion. "Police don't belong in schools," said Rossi. "Instead, students need access to well-trained mental health professionals to guide and support them through tough times. Responding to student misbehavior by criminalizing it only harms students, their families, and our communities. There are better, research-based ways to keep our students safe." Jimmy Carter was, and still is, a kind, decent and honest man. He understood the importance of science and studied nuclear physics at the Naval Academy. He even tried to bring us into the 20th Century by promoting the metric system, the standard measurement system used by science and the rest of the developed world. He was viewed as an outsider in Washington and he was the victim of circumstances beyond his control: the Arab Oil Embargo and the Iran hostage crisis. Maybe he was in over his head, but we could have done a lot worse for a president, and we have. Fast forward to 2016 when the Republican Party took a sharp turn to the right, so far to the right that even moderate measures to advance civil rights, health care, economic justice and environmental protection are now branded as "extremist" and resisted or rescinded. To these loyal Trump Republicans, socialism is a dirty word, yet they overlook the fact that Social Security is THE lifeline for many retirees, including retirees who support Trump. For those in the latter group, I invite you to return your Social Security checks to the U.S. Treasury in protest over this socialist program. Moscow court upholds ex-Dagestan PM's 6.5-year sentence for embezzlement flickr.com/ Andreas Eldh 15:02 30/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld a 6.5-year sentence passed upon a former acting chair of Dagestan government Abdusamad Gamidov for the 41 million-ruble embezzlement (over $580,000), the courts press service told RAPSI. Moreover, the appeals instance upheld a 5.5-year sentence of ex-acting deputy chairman of the republican government Rayudin Yusufov. In October 2019, Moscows Lefortovsky District Court convicted the former officials of embezzlement. According to investigators, from 2013 to 2014, Gamidov and Yusufov embezzled 41 million rubles during the reconstruction of a temporary holding facility for foreigners and stateless persons. The defendants were arrested in February 2018. Surprise! But not really a surprise that Farm Progress officials made the latest decision about the 2020 Farm Progress Show. Their decision to cancel the September 1-3 event in Boone, Iowa, fell in line with similar decisions to cancel thousands of other events around a nation that is overwhelmed by coronavirus. Only political events such as rallies and protests are being held. Business events, and the Farm Progress Show is one of the largest business events in the country, are being cancelled with business decisions. When Farm Progress Events Director Matt Jungmann announced two weeks ago that the show was a go, it was not only excitement, but a surprise. A cancellation then would have been a disappointment, but not a surprise. Soon, Bayer, one of the larger exhibitors, and LG Seeds, both indicated they would not participate because of COVID-19. Neither wanted to expose their staff and clientele, and they would look to alternatives for product marketing. And the volunteers. Would they have turned out in necessary numbers to serve food, hand out programs, chauffeur dignitaries, and help the central Iowa region put on a show that was memorable in a positive way? Volunteers would be as reluctant to help as farmers would be to attend, whatever that percentage would be. Despite the plans of Farm Progress to create one-way streets and provide numerous sanitation facilities, other exhibitors may well have expressed their reluctance to participate privately. While many organizations have cancelled their meetings and conventions in lieu of a virtual event, there is no virtual alternative to kicking tires, following combines in the field harvesting corn, or evaluating the performance of tillage equipment. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} With the public reluctance to get exposed to the coronavirus, and the discomfort of facial masks, it would not be a surprise to see diminished attendance at a Farm Progress Show if it had been held this year. It's unlikely the new X-series John Deere combine would have been able to overcome that challenge, with its planned introduction at the Farm Progress Show. It is unfortunate for the Farm Progress organization that it was such a short time from go to a cancellation. The decision-makers made both decisions with the best information available. Two weeks ago, the majority of their attendees would have come from states with COVID-19 numbers that were steady or declining. But with the explosion of cases in the past several days, their initial decision was no longer valid. Time to backtrack. The unforeseen increase in new cases and hospitalizations was new information for decision-makers, and it was time to protect their business clientele to assure they would be around for the next show. Which, by the way will be in Decatur, Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, 2021. There was a chance it would return to Boone, Iowa, but Don Tourte, senior vice president, Farm Progress, confirmed it would be in Decatur. Hopefully by then, no masks, no virus, and no reason to take cumbersome measures to protect the health of exhibitors and attendees beyond normal. Mark your calendar. Farm Progress through the years Stu Ellis is an observer of the Central Illinois agriculture scene. In addition to his weekly column, you can view his From The Farm and Harvest Heritage reports on WCIA 3 News. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 DECATUR After being closed for roughly four months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the African-American Cultural & Genealogical Society Museum opened its doors on Friday. The state last week entered Phase 4 of Gov. J.B. Pritzkers Restore Illinois Plan, which included indoor activities such as dining, recreation and shopping with strict limitations. Museums are allowed to operate at 25% capacity. Evelyn Hood, founder of the African-American Cultural & Genealogical Society Museum at 235 W. Eldorado St., said she missed giving tours of the museum. I miss people. Thats one of the things I missed while we were closed, enjoying people coming in, said Hood. I missed their smiling faces. One of the first tours on Friday was six young men of the Cultural Awareness Program. The teenagers participated in the week-long program which exposed them to various resources and opportunities in the community. With a staff that consists of herself and one part-time employee, Hood said they would do their best to accommodate an expected uptick in visitors. She said they plan to allow for group tours of a limited size and guests will be required to wear facial coverings. Museums are expected to follow additional precautions in their reopening. Interactive exhibits and rides must be closed, leaving childrens museum in a rough spot. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The Decatur Childrens Museum of Illinois, 55 S. Country Club Road, remains closed. Officials of the museum in a press release Monday said they are working on arrangements with other organizations to make a safe reopening possible. As you know, our entire museum is interactive and hands-on. Illinois children's museums are working together to present our reopening plans to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity," said Amber Kaylor, president and CEO of the museum. "We have worked diligently to be prepared to meet all CDC and IDPH guidelines. Our hope is to be included in upcoming versions of Phase 4. She added the facility would still be able to offer summer camp programs. Summer camp is resuming because it's outdoors, but registration is limited to 50, about half the usual number, Kaylor said. The preschool is also operating, but with a limit of nine children in each of three rooms, and the kids don't mix; they stay with their group. Parents drop off and pick up at the door instead of coming inside. Those who are unable to attend in-person camps can take advantage of the museums camp in a box meant for preschool children. Officials of other local museums, including the Staley Museum, the Chevrolet Hall of Fame and the Macon County Historical Museum were not available to comment for this story. PHOTOS: Mount Zion High School class creates exhibit for African-American Cultural & Genealogical Society Museum Contact Analisa Trofimuk at (217) 421-7985. Follow her on Twitter: @AnalisaTro Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 There was even more yelling and screaming than usual in Washington last week. Im not talking about the peaceful demonstrators in Lafayette Park, who were putting ropes and chains on the statue of Andrew Jackson and trying to pull it down. Im talking about in Congress, where theres always a lot brave yelling and screaming about We gotta do something about this and We gotta solve that. Last week it was the police reform bill proposed by Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. Called the Justice Act, it included incentives for police departments to ban things like chokeholds and no-knock raids, plus grants for body cams and a commission to study the social status of black men and boys. Everyone especially the Democrats has been clamoring for police reform for a month in the wake of the George Floyd killing by police in Minneapolis. Scotts proposal, designed as a first draft subject to bipartisan debate, went nowhere. Though Democrats and Republicans agreed on probably 75 percent of its content, Democrats in the Senate wanted much more, so they killed the Justice Act in its cradle. You can understand why ordinary Americans are so frustrated by the people in D.C. They posture. They bloviate. They sling all this BS and then do nothing till after the next election. Meanwhile, across the country young demonstrators continue to use Floyds death and what they claim is systemic racism by police as excuses to riot and mindlessly tear down or threaten the statues of American heroes like Abraham Lincoln. Dozens of cities all run by Democrats and many with black mayors and police chiefs have done virtually nothing to protect their statues or property owners from the mob. Its long past time for Barack Obama, Basement Joe Biden and Blue State political leaders to condemn the lawlessness of the street protesters, the statue destruction and the takeover of several blocks in downtown Seattle. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Yet even as people die, buildings burn and gangs of looters and violent professional agitators roam their streets, Democrats and the liberal media keep calling it a peaceful revolution. But the mass of the American people knows better. For a month theyve been watching nothing being done to stop the destruction and violence. Is it any wonder gun sales to whites and blacks are going through the roof? Of course, if you take up arms and defend a statue from the mob, youll be the one who ends up in jail. This is where were at in upside-down America. The good guys are the bad guys and bad guys are the good guys. The sad thing is, nothing is going to change anytime soon. The Democrat appeasers are not going to get tough on the street mobs. They see the wave of lawlessness and disorder as a weapon to defeat President Trump. It may backfire, however. Democrats are so foolish they actually think if Joe Biden becomes president things will get back to normal. Im sure the Poles thought the same way when they were taken over by Soviets after World War II: If we just act nice to these bad guys, itll all be OK. But Democrats have learned nothing from history. You dont appease mobs, especially destructive mobs. You dont take a knee to vandals. They only get more violent and demand more power. The young Americans mindlessly tearing down statues of Ulysses S. Grant and demanding that police departments be defunded or disbanded are historical illiterates, but thats not all. Theyve been brainwashed by their college teachers into thinking that America is a terrible country built on racism. Are there racists in America? Sure. But racism is not systemic the way it once was for seventy years in the Jim Crow South by law and in fact in the North. Institutional racism, even if it existed the way Black Lives Matter and the demonstrators claim, is no excuse for destroying the country. Its time for all of them to grow up, quit breaking things and start studying history. Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 4 Catawba County Schools Superintendent Matt Stover issued a statement condemning racist social media posts by students late Monday. In the statement, Stover said he heard from parents about disturbing, inappropriate, insensitive, and racist videos from students in the school system. I am both saddened and disappointed by this type of behavior, Stover said via the statement. I want to make it absolutely clear that Catawba County Schools does not, and will not, tolerate our students engaging in hateful speech and racist behavior on our school campuses and at school events. He encouraged parents to teach their children about appropriate conduct on social media and said the school system is committed to implementing additional education programs regarding cultural and racial sensitivity when our students return. A student at St. Stephens High School shared with the Record a copy of a video which the student said showed two students at the school. The video shows one boy with his knee on the neck of another boy in a grassy area. The boys mocked the phrase I cant breathe, words which were spoken by George Floyd shortly before he was killed by Minneapolis officers in May. Former vice-governor of Kurgan Region ordered to 11-year jail for $70k bribery URA.RU/TASS/ 16:31 30/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI)- A court has sentenced ex-deputy governor of the Kurgan Region Roman Vanyukov to 11 years in a high-security prison for taking bribes totaling over 5 million rubles (over $70,000), the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office reports. Additionally, Vanyukov has been fined 9 million rubles (about $128,000) and barred from taking state and municipal posts for 5 years, the statement reads. Moreover, according to the ruling, over 5.1 million rubles found in the house of the defendant, his sister have been forfeited to the state. According court records, since 2018 Vanyukov administering road maintenance funding has received over 5 million rubles from several economic entities as bribes. However, he wanted to receive over 27 million rubles (over $380,000) in total but was arrested. " " donahos /Flickr/(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) The Crazy Horse Memorial is the worlds largest mountain carving currently in progress. Out of the hills of South Dakota, just 18 miles (28.9 kilometers) or so west of the quartet of presidential mugs that peer down from Mount Rushmore, another mountainside monument slowly rises. For more than 70 years actually, it's been rising and rising and rising. But it's getting there. The Crazy Horse Memorial, the only active mountain carving in the world, is a project so literally monumental in size, so audacious in scope that it's become practically legendary in its own right, like the man carved into the mountain himself. The massive sculpture is the drawn-out dream of a long-sighted Native American chief and a dogged Polish American sculptor. And it's a weighty legacy for the sculptor's family, which toils still to complete that vision. "We've lived it all our lives, and we just go ahead, and keep our nose to the grindstone, and just do it. You just do it," says Jadwiga Ziolkowski, who along with her sister Monique, serves as the CEO of the Crazy Horse Memorial. "You keep your eye on what it is you're working toward, something that's bigger than yourself, something that's going to be here a long time after the family is gone. You just know it's the right thing to do, and you move forward." " " Crazy Horse was a Lakota leader who is best known for his part in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn where Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and 200 of the Seventh Cavalry were killed. This painting on cloth by Sioux Indian Kills Two (1869-1927) depicts a battle between Custer and Crazy Horse. UniversalImagesGroup/Contributor/Getty Images Advertisement Who Was Crazy Horse? Tasunke Witco was a heroic Lakota leader of the Oglala band of Native Americans. He was born in the mid-19th century, probably around 1840, as white armies began their marauding ways through the West, driving the natives from their lands. Crazy Horse, the English translation of his name, was given to him later in life. Noted Western author Larry McMurtry explains in his 1999 book "Crazy Horse: A Life": His own people experienced him as a mystery while he was alive: they called him Our Strange Man. In his life, he would have three names: Curly, His Horses Looking, Crazy Horse (Ta-Shunka-Witco). We know him as Crazy Horse, but in life few knew him well; in truth it is only in a certain limited way that we who are living now can know him at all. Crazy Horse spent his formative years hunting on the plains of the Dakotas and was a full warrior by his midteens, according to his Crazy Horse Memorial bio. He soon became a good one. In 1865, at somewhere around 25 years old, he was named a "Shirt Wearer" (a war leader) by his tribe. He's probably best known for his part in one 1876 battle in particular: the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He led the band of Lakota warriors who rose up against Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his entire Seventh Cavalry. Custer was killed (the battle is also known as Custer's Last Stand) along with nine of his officers. Another 280 enlisted soldiers and 32 Indians also died. A year later, as soldiers unexpectedly tried to take a war-weary Crazy Horse into custody at Fort Robinson, Nebraska after he walked willingly into the camp to discuss terms of a possible truce Crazy Horse was bayoneted in the back by a soldier and died. He was in his mid-30s. Crazy Horse, who famously never had his picture taken and is revered by Native Americans today, ended up as mysterious in death as he was in life. His burial spot is unknown. " " Designer Korczak Ziolkowski had been working on nearby Mount Rushmore when Oglala Lakota Chief Standing Bear asked him to create the Crazy Horse Memorial. Carl Iwasaki/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images Advertisement The Story of the Monument Not long after Crazy Horse was murdered, Mato Naji was born around Pierre, South Dakota. He was educated in Western ways at the Carlisle Indian School, took the name Henry Standing Bear, and later became an Oglala Lakota chief. In the 1930s, looking for a way to honor Crazy Horse and his people, Chief Standing Bear jumped on a project designed to rival the one that was currently being blasted out of a mountain in the Black Hills. He quickly recruited designer Korczak Ziolkowski, who had been working on nearby Mount Rushmore, to carve Thunderhead Mountain into a monument that would, in the end, dwarf the paean to the presidents to the east. (See sidebar below.) "Henry wrote to Dad," Jadwiga says, "and said, 'We would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, also.'" It would become Korczak's life's work (he died in 1982), that of his wife, Ruth (she died in 2014), and many of their 10 children. "To a degree, it was the challenge," Jadwiga says of her father's motivation to shape the mountain. "But mostly, he had seen from his visits here how important the Native people are to one another, how they respect their elders, and how they lived with such grace. How they took care of each other no matter what. It was just such a beautiful thing ... He just thought that was something that should be taught, that people should know about something that wasn't from the TV or the newspapers. It wasn't the wars or Custer's Last Stand or anything like that. "He came out and learned a whole different side of the Native American people, how gracious they were, and how they cared about each other. He wanted to keep that culture alive." " " A crew of 15 spends five days a week blasting and chiseling the mountain. When the massive sculpture is finished it will depict Crazy Horse from the torso up on the back of a horse. SteveElliott /Flickr/(CC BY-SA 2.0) Advertisement The Future of Crazy Horse Memorial Begun in 1948, the Crazy Horse Memorial was slow to take shape in the first few decades of its existence. But it's clearly, if agonizingly, getting there. The front half of Crazy Horse's massive stone head easily visible with a zoom-in on Google Earth or Google Maps was completed in 1998, his eyes staring sternly to the southeast across the hills. A yet-to-be-finished outstretched arm points his way. When the sculpture is finished it's still probably decades away, at least it will depict the chief, from the torso up, on the back of a horse. The horse's head, with flowing mane, will forever rest under Crazy Horse's arm. "It really has been getting there. And people are starting to see that now. It's grown and changed so much in the last four or five years, it's incredible to see," Jadwiga says. "In the next six to 11 years, [we'll be finishing] the hand, the Indian's arm ... going back and finishing up the hairline at Crazy Horse's scalp, and always working on the horse's head, working down toward the horse's head and mane. You start at the top and work down." The Crazy Horse Memorial (in non-pandemic years) is visited by more than 1 million people annually. The site now includes a welcome center, theaters, a Native American museum, a restaurant, an educational and cultural center, a "university" that sponsors educational programs that allow Native Americans to earn college credit and the inevitable gift shop. Though there has been some controversy about the memorial throughout its history. Some Native Americans object to its place in the sacred Black Hills, some wonder whether it's all just a big money-making scheme, some bristle at the massive tribute to such a humble and mysterious man and some say that non-Indians should not be running the place. Though it's important to note that the project, on private land, never has accepted any federal or state money for its work. It's supported entirely by donations and visitors' fees. For those who have long been working on the project a crew of 15 spends five days a week blasting and chiseling the mountain into what Standing Bear and Korczak imagined all those years ago the doubters, the impatient, the critics have proven to be not nearly as difficult to shape as the rock itself. "There's a lot of people that never thought it would be done," Jadwiga says. "And it's not always been easy. You have your moments. My dad had a line; 'Everybody has a mountain ...' Each one of us in life has something that we're struggling with, that we have to get over." NOW THAT'S INTERESTING How massive is the Crazy Horse Memorial? The entire carving is to be 641 feet long (197.5 meters) and 563 feet (171.6 meters) high. Crazy Horse's face alone is more than 87 feet (26.5 meters) high. In comparison, if you stacked the busts of Mount Rushmore's George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln atop of each other, they wouldn't stand half as tall as Crazy Horse and his trusted steed. " " This engraving is based on the exploits of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. The sketch and the quote are from a letter written about the "giant natives" of the island Tierra del Fuego, circa 1499-1500. Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images On permanent display in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., is an enormous, 500-year-old world map that was the very first to use the name "America." It's the only surviving copy of what's known as the 1507 Waldseemuller Map, a priceless historical artifact discovered in the basement of a German castle in 1901 and purchased by the Library of Congress for $10 million in 2003. " " The 1507 Waldseemuller map was the first map to name the new continent America. It's written in the part we would know today as "South America." The creators later realized they'd been mistaken in who discovered America. Library of Congress "It's the birth certificate of America," says Chet Van Duzer, a mapmaking historian who has worked with the Library of Congress and is now affiliated with the Lazarus Project, which uses multi-spectral imaging to recover and decipher ancient documents. But equally as fascinating as the 1507 map is the one that's mounted next to it at the Library of Congress, the Carta Marina of 1516. This world map was published just nine years later by the very same man, Martin Waldseemuller, but the word "America" is nowhere to be found. In its place is simply "Terra Nova" or "New World." " " Martin Waldseemuller's 1516 Carta Marina was the most uptodate conception of the world at that time. It omitted the word "America" and called the area "Terra Nova." Library of Congress "The most amazing thing about the name 'America' is that the guy who invented it decided it wasn't the right name," says Van Duzer. Advertisement Amerigo Vespucci, the Self-Promoter Everyone knows that Christopher Columbus "discovered" America in 1492, even though he never set foot in North America and died insisting that he had found a Western route to Asia. So why didn't the makers of the 1507 Waldseemuller map name the newly discovered lands "Columbia" instead of "America"? Probably because Columbus didn't write a best-selling pamphlet about his travels full of sex, violence and naked cannibals like his fellow Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, who sailed to the New World a decade after Columbus. "Vespucci was a better self-promoter than Columbus," says Van Duzer, "and his accounts are more lurid, shall we say, than Columbus's, so they were reprinted more often." Vespucci published two wildly popular accounts of his voyages to the New World. The first, written in 1504, was called "Mondus Novis" and clearly asserted Vespucci's claim that the lands across the Atlantic were indeed a new continent, not an extension of Asia or just a big island. "For this transcends the view held by our ancients... that there is no continent to the south beyond the equator, but only the sea which they named the Atlantic," wrote Vespucci. "But that this their opinion is false and utterly opposed to the truth, this my last voyage has made manifest; for in those southern parts I have found a continent more densely peopled and abounding in animals than our Europe or Asia or Africa." By following the South American coast to just 400 miles (643 kilometers) short of Tierra Del Fuego, Vespucci was convinced that he was traveling around a new continent. "Mondus Novis" also included plenty of colorful details about the curious natives, whom Vespucci depicted as gentle and almost childlike in nature, but nevertheless barbarous and decidedly un-Christian in their customs, which included facial piercings, cannibalism and sexual promiscuity. A second pamphlet known as the "Soderini Letter," which may not have been written entirely by Vespucci, made the rounds in 1505. The disputed text doubled down on Vespucci's descriptions of the naked locals and provided play-by-play accounts of a few violent clashes between Vespucci's men and the more aggressive tribes. In one "laughable affair," Vespuccis men welcomed some of the more adventurous Indians onto their ship where the Europeans decided to "fire off some of our great guns." "[A]nd when the explosion took place, most of them through fear cast themselves (into the sea) to swim, not otherwise than frogs on the margins of a pond, when they see something that frightens them, will jump into the water, just so did those people," wrote Vespucci. "[A]nd those who remained in the ships were so terrified that we regretted our action." Advertisement Mapping the 'Land of Amerigo' Vespucci's accounts were widely read throughout Europe, including the small village of Saint-Die-des-Vosges in Lorraine, France, where mapmaker Martin Waldseemuller and his collaborator Matthias Ringmann were compiling an ambitious new map of the world. As the historians William Connell and Stanislao Pugliese note in "The Routledge History of Italian Americans," when Waldseemuller and Ringmann got their hands on Vespucci's Soderini Letter in 1507, "the two men believed it to be the latest word on the discoveries in the western ocean." Waldseemuller and Ringmann had undoubtedly heard of Columbus, but were unimpressed. At the top of their giant 1507 map, which measures 4.2 feet by 7.6 feet (1.28 meters by 2.33 meters), they engraved portraits of the two men they believed to be the two greatest geographers of the ancient and modern world: the Greek mathematician Ptolemy and our friend Vespucci. In a text that accompanied the 1507 Waldseemuller Map, the two men explained exactly why they named the new continent, which is modern-day South America, after Vespucci. "[A]nd the fourth part of the earth, which, because Amerigo discovered it, we may call Amerige, the land of Amerigo, so to speak, or America." Waldseemuller and Ringmann named the continent America "because Amerigo discovered it." Case closed. Advertisement A Humbling Correction, But Too Late It didn't take long for Waldseemuller and Ringmann to realize their mistake. But since 16th-century mapmaking and printmaking was a painstakingly slow process, it took a full nine years downright speedy in those days for the men to publish a corrected map, the Carta Marina of 1516, along with a wordy mea culpa. "We will seem to you, reader, previously to have diligently presented and shown a representation of the world that was filled with error, wonder, and confusion," wrote the mapmakers. "As we have lately come to understand, our previous representation pleased very few people. Therefore, since true seekers of knowledge rarely color their words in confusing rhetoric, and do not embellish facts with charm but instead with a venerable abundance of simplicity, we must say that we cover our heads with a humble hood." In the Carta Marina of 1516, the name America is gone, substituted with "Terra Nova." Presumably the men had figured out that Columbus, not Vespucci, was the true discoverer of America. But by 1516, at least six other world maps had been published using the name America. And despite Waldseemuller and Ringmann's belated retraction, the original name stuck. America was America from then on. HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Now That's Not Cool Unlike Columbus, Vespucci didn't attempt to rule over a New World colony and kill thousands of people in the process, but he wasn't a saint, either. Vespucci wrote that he returned from his first voyage with "222 captive slaves" whom he sold upon arrival in the Spanish port of Cadiz. " " Diagnosing most AC problems is best left to a professional. Steve Debenport/Getty Images It's strange to think that back in the mid-1960s, home air conditioning was such a luxury that only 10 percent of American homes were equipped with it. Some families in the South actually slept on their porches to cope with summer heat [source: Oremus]. Today, nearly everybody in the U.S. has it. Nine out of 10 American homes are now equipped with some type of air conditioning, and residential air conditioning accounts for an estimated 18 percent of U.S. annual household electricity use [source: EIA]. In 2013, Americans spent $7.2 billion installing or replacing central air conditioning units in their homes, according to federal census data. That was more than any other sort of home improvement, except for new kitchens and bathroom remodeling, according to the survey [source: Quint]. Advertisement But now Americans are so accustomed to feeling chilled out that it's probably harder for them to cope with the heat when their home air conditioning systems stop working or only work partially. News reports suggest that air-conditioning repair services are continually busy fixing or replacing equipment for overheated homeowners. One Indianapolis-based repairman, for example, told a local TV station in May 2018 a record-breaking hot month in that area that he had been working six days a week, up to 14 hours a day, responding to calls for repairs [source: Houser]. Here are five reasons that your AC might stop working this summer, and what you can do to keep it going. Imagine a ship sailing into port, only with no captain on the bridge, and nobody to be seen on board. In the past such a vessel might have been known as a ghost ship, but in the future it might just be our new normal. European researchers are participating in this push and designing ships with varying degrees of autonomy. Two ships bound for automation already sail across Europe today. The first is a carrier that delivers fish feed along the west coast of Norway. The second is an inland cargo barge that operates in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium. Both are to be retrofitted for autonomous sailing as part of a project called AUTOSHIP. The use-cases are very different, said Jason McFarlane, Research & Innovation Manager at the Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime, a participant in AUTOSHIP. One is a short sea route off Norway, which has significant weather challenges. The inland route, in turn, requires the ship to operate in a confined waterway, often in areas where navigation is more challenging than in open seas. Three parts The technology that will make these boats autonomous is composed of three main parts. First you have the vessel control systems, said McFarlane. Second there is digital connectivity from vessel to shore. And finally you have the shore-based systems. The first part is what makes the ships sail autonomously. This includes the sub-systems for situational awareness, such as sensors, positioning systems or cameras and other technologies that enable detection of obstacles. The data from these sensors is then joined together, something called sensor fusion, and feeds back into the ships autonomous navigation system which makes steering decisions based on it. Its similar to self-driving cars in terms of scanning surroundings and detecting obstacles using AI-based computer vision systems. But there are differences too. McFarlane for example notes how every ship over a certain size is tracked using a transponder under a system called Automatic identification system (AIS), which potentially provides more information to vessel autonomous navigation systems than is available for cars. Ships on the open sea also go slower and have more space to manoeuvre than cars. Two systems Kongsberg Maritime has developed are auto berthing and auto crossing. Essentially the crew press a button, and the ship will dock, said McFarlane. A range of sensors, that, for example, know the position or orientation of the boat, interact with our system. That allows the ship to dock without a captain on board. For now, the crew is still on the vessel and can take action if they see a problem. The automatic system is installed on a passenger and car ferry operating in the Oslofjord and has been used in more than 80% of voyages. Yet even when a ship that uses this technology is fully uncrewed it would still be connected to a control centre on shore. Here, humans would remotely monitor the ships and its sensors, and be able to take over control manually. It will probably require workers to become more qualified, but it will also mean that their skills and labour will be utilised more efficiently. Danitsja van Heusden-van Winden, Innovation Manager, Netherlands Maritime Technology Costs McFarlane says there are several reasons to automate shipping. One is to increase the attractiveness of water-based transport, where labour can often be a significant proportion of operating costs. Another is to reduce road traffic and cut emissions. McFarlane notes that one barge, like the one they are testing in Flanders, can carry 300 tons of cargo which would replace 7,500 truck journeys per year. According to calculations from AUTOSHIP, this would reduce CO2 emissions per km by 90%. McFarlane says that automated ships could also sail more efficiently than if they had human operators, optimising for engine power and speed. Nevertheless full autonomy isnt always the first step, and intermediate levels of automation might reach us before we go fully uncrewed. The NOVIMAR project works on platooning for inland and short-sea transport, where a partly automated ship follows a fully crewed leader vessel. We don't sail fully autonomously, said Danitsja van Heusden-van Winden, project coordinator of NOVIMAR and innovation manager at the Dutch company Netherlands Maritime Technology. For now theres always at least one person on the ship. In their model, a lead vessel sets out a line or course along a waterway, which is then imitated by the follower vessels. Instead of full autonomy, the follower vessels copy the route the lead ship took, keeping it on the desired path, while maintaining its distance to the next vessel. Its a concept they want to demonstrate at the end of the year in the Netherlands, and which they already tested using one-sixteenth-scale model ships in a laboratory basin in the German city of Duisburg. Labour shortage This partial automation could be important for reducing costs and filling in labour shortages. Instead of having to operate a number of ships with full crews, a company could operate one fully crewed lead ship and a few follower ships with limited staff. Labour shortage is a known problem in shipping, said van Heusden-van Winden. Its hard to find qualified people. In 2016 BIMCO, the largest association of shipping companies in the world, published a study which projected that by 2025 there would be a shortage of 150,000 maritime officers worldwide. Automation, whether full autonomy or a partial system like NOVIMARs, could help fill that gap. Its also why van Heusden-van Winden argues that NOVIMAR wouldnt deeply impact the prospects of workers in the shipping industry. Our technology is not a threat to them, she said. It will probably require workers to become more qualified, but it will also mean that their skills and labour will be utilised more efficiently. A study of the social impact is also a part of AUTOSHIP. McFarlane notes that there might be job losses for workers in inland shipping, and even for truck drivers. Yet their technology doesnt always replace workers. In the case of the Norwegian fish-feed carrier, the operating company mainly wants to use autonomous systems for efficiency, for example by allowing crews to rest right before docking and unloading the ship. At the same time new jobs might be created, like retrofitting boats for autonomous operations or controlling them remotely. Our boats have a constrained form of autonomy, McFarlane said. There will always be a control centre. It will mean a shift of jobs. Instead of people living and working on barges, which young people sometimes don't want to do anymore, we can move to office jobs. Hurdles Nevertheless, there are hurdles to overcome before autonomous shipping will be rolled out. There are risks to having less people on board, which could undermine the business case, said van Heusden-van Winden. A vessel train might be caught in a storm, which might be more dangerous when theres only one person on board instead of a full crew, a problem for which NOVIMAR is currently searching for solutions. Regulation equally remains a key issue. Many jurisdictions require a certain amount of people to be on board a vessel, defeating the purpose of automation. Both projects are in touch with regulators. Some regulations, for example, require ships to have a watch on the bridge, explained McFarlane. 'But does that mean a physical person needs to be there? Or can we specify that it doesn't have to be a person standing watch? For now both projects are moving full steam ahead. NOVIMAR wants to do a real-life test at the end of 2020. And AUTOSHIP wants to follow with a demonstration of their own in 2022. After these trials, which includes a sea crossing from Norway to Denmark for AUTOSHIP, ships could start becoming more autonomous, although much depends on how fast regulatory changes are implemented. So in a few years ghost ships might be a common sight across European waters. The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media. Technology is the backbone of many corporates, but when it comes to expense management and giving out employee benefits, many companies have still not gone digital. To provide a hassle-free platform for corporates to manage their expenses and give employees required benefits, Raj Phani started Zaggle in 2011. The fintech startup, which started as a corporate cards business, where brands would give cards to customers, has now pivoted to become a full stack B2B SaaS platform. The Hyderabad-based startup is currently helping corporates and SMEs manage employee engagement and recognition programmes, customer and consumer loyalty programmes, and is also channeling incentives for corporates. According to the startup, its SaaS solution is enabling companies to retain employees and manage financial expenses better. (L-R) Zaggle CEO Avinash Godkhindi, brand ambassador Jaspreet Bumrah, and Founder Phani Raj Also Read Despite Covid-19 challenges, fintech founders confident of emerging stronger The startup currently offers an expense management solution, provides automated workflow, drives compliance, and empowers businesses.It also helps companies improve efficiency, accuracy, and faster reimbursements, while reducing unauthorised spends. A serial entrepreneur, Raj tells YourStory that being in the enterprise segment, he wants to create a complete ecosystem of managing a corporates expenses. He says, COVID-19 has helped Zaggle grow as corporates have been calling in to deploy their software and cards to manage expenses. How it started? Zaggle initially started with gifting and reward cards and soon extended to employee benefits. Later, the startup included employee reimbursements and added other business expenses like utility bills. However, the startup pivoted from a B2B2C to B2B in 2015. The consumer business was becoming expensive and the company had to mothball it and focus entirely on B2B business and its employees. The customer acquisition cost was one tenth of what one would spend on in B2C business. The startup realised that spending $50 per year per customer to acquire an SME or a corporate, with thousands of employees, was far more lucrative than spending $500 on acquiring consumers whose stickiness was not assured. Story continues The product and business model Once Zaggle gets data on how corporates are spending their money, it consolidates the spending and opens it to a network of banks who can bid to provide working financing to these corporates. This neo banking solution will go live in the next six months, and the startup is beta testing this product. This will be an automated platform that aggregates all the financial resources of a company for a bank. "People will bid directly for the corporate and we take a small percentage for the loan disbursed. This will be part of the account aggregator model as sanctioned by the RBI, and we will announce the tie up with account aggregator soon," says Raj. Today, Zaggles SaaS solution is used by some of the big names in the manufacturing sector, including CEAT, Hyundai, and Dr Reddys. The company was traditionally competing with Sodexo and card companies like QwikCilvr. However, with its B2B SaaS solutions taking precedence, the cards solution will remain a small option in the entire expense management journey. The market and business The B2B fintech SaaS company is digitising spends to unlock value and drive growth. Two years ago, Zaggle had a gross transaction value (GTV) of Rs 600 crore, and it crossed Rs 2,400 crore GTV as of FY 2020. Now, it is aiming for Rs 7,000 crore GTV in the next 18 months. According to the founder, on the back of this is its three-fold growth in customers to over 3,500 customers. Its net revenue last year stood at Rs 35 crore. Today, it has 4.5 million users and has over 10,000 merchant partners. Raj says, the market was slow. However, the COVID-19 crisis has led several companies to start their digital journey and look at managing expenses digitally and reward employees with digital points. While other companies have been slowing down operations, Zaggle, in the past two months, has opened offices in Canada and London. The Indian fintech software market is forecasted to touch $2.4 billion by 2020 from the current $1.2 billion, as per a report by Nasscom. The traditionally cash-driven Indian economy has responded well to the fintech opportunity, primarily triggered by a surge in ecommerce and smartphone penetration. The transaction value for the Indian fintech sector is estimated to be approximately $33 billion in 2016 and is forecasted to reach $73 billion in 2020, growing at a five-year CAGR of 22 percent. Also Read Virtual network startup CloudConnect looks at ARR of Rs 10 Cr as businesses go digital Plans ahead API sharing has changed the way SaaS can be delivered. It has allowed Zaggle to collaborate with corporates. Blockchain will further change the world because of its immutability and single ledger concept with transparency. This is the future I am betting on, says Raj. He says, Zaggle is currently EBITDA positive,and he feels he should rather build a valuable business rather than becoming an unicorn. "Entrepreneurs must not worry about being Unicorns. Most entrepreneurs are focussing on solving problems. The Indian consumer market is huge and the demand is also huge. The value of consumption, however, is very low, and that's the future because it is only going to increase. Indian policy should help entrepreneurs and startups," says Raj. Zaggle is now getting into open banking and capital access for SMEs. SMEs need capital access. We have started a Founders card with an expense management system, where founders use the card for credit, and we keep a track on their business expenses and therefore increase their credit. Every swipe shows what they have bought in the market and for what purpose. The founders can convert this into an EMI if needed, says Raj. (Edited by Megha Reddy) Want to make your startup journey smooth? YS Education brings a comprehensive Funding Course, where you also get a chance to pitch your business plan to top investors. Click here to know more. New Delhi, Jun 29 (PTI) A concession agreement for the first Indo-Bhutan joint venture hydroelectric project was signed on Monday, paving the way for the commencement of its construction and other related works. The concession agreement for the 600 MW Kholongchhu project between the Bhutanese government and the Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited was signed in the virtual presence of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Bhutanese counterpart Tandi Dorji, a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement said. 'The signing of the concession agreement will lead to commencement of construction and other works of this first joint venture hydroelectric project between India and Bhutan. The project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025,' it said. The 600 MW run-of-the-river project is located on the lower course of the Kholongchhu river in eastern Bhutan's Trashiyangtse district. The project envisages an underground powerhouse of four 150 MW turbines with water impounded by a concrete gravity dam of 95 metres height, the MEA said. It will be implemented by Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited, a joint venture company formed between Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) of India, the statement said. This is the first ever joint venture project to be implemented in Bhutan, Jaishankar said, congratulating both partners -- SJVNL and DGPC -- for this remarkable feat. Describing the agreement as a 'milestone', he said the commencement of construction activities of the project will create economic and employment opportunities in Bhutan in this critical time. 'Our two countries are together in fighting this global pandemic. Government of India has provided support, as it should, to Bhutan in terms of medical equipment, kits and medicines as per Royal Government of Bhutan's requirements,' Jaishankar said. 'Besides continuing with our developmental partnership, we have also ensured uninterrupted supply of essentials and other goods to Bhutan despite the lockdowns,' he said. Story continues Noting that the hydropower sector has been the most visible symbol of the mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation between the two countries, Jaishankar said the recently completed 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydro Electric Power Project has brought the Indian government-assisted installed capacity to more than 2,100 MW. 'With continued working together, we are in process of expediting the completion of other ongoing projects including the 1,200 MW Punatsangchhu-1, 1020MW Punatsangchhu-2 and now the 600 MW Kholongchhu HEP,' he said. Jaishankar said the India-Bhutan special ties have not only benefited the two nations, but have also set an example for the whole world of two neighbours, living and working together for shared growth and welfare bound by a deep friendship. 'Our time-tested relations, characterised by so much trust and understanding, have matured over the years and have been sustained by the tradition of regular high-level visits and dialogues between the two countries,' he said. As a special and privileged partner, India stands together with Bhutan in dealing with the health and economic challenges posed by this pandemic, he said. Bhutan Economic Affairs Minister Loknath Sharma, and senior government officials, including foreign secretaries of India and Bhutan, secretary (power), Government of India, ambassador of India to Bhutan, and ambassador of Bhutan to India, were also present at the signing ceremony held through videoconferencing, the MEA said. The hydropower sector is the flagship area of India-Bhutan bilateral cooperation, it said. The Mangdechhu hydroelectric project was jointly inaugurated earlier in August 2019 by the prime ministers of India and Bhutan. With this, four hydroelectric projects of bilateral cooperation (336 MW Chukha HEP, 60 MW Kurichhu HEP, 1,020 MW Tala HEP and 720 MW Mangdechhu HEP), totalling over 2,100 MW, are already operational in Bhutan, according to the MEA. PTI ASK DIV New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday attended via video conference the signing ceremony of Concession Agreement for 600 MW Kholongchhu JV-Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan. This will lead to the commencement of construction of the first joint venture hydroelectric project between India and Bhutan. The Concession Agreement for the 600 MW Kholongchhu (Joint Venture) Hydroelectric Project was signed between Bhutan government and Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited. The project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025. Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited is a Joint Venture company formed between Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) of India. The 600 MW run-of-the-river project is located on the lower course of the Kholongchhu River in Trashiyangtse District in Eastern Bhutan. The Project envisages an underground powerhouse of four 150 MW turbines with water impounded by a concrete gravity dam of 95 meters height. " The Concession Agreement for the 600 MW Kholongchhu (Joint Venture) Hydroelectric Project between the Royal Government of Bhutan and Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited was signed on 29 June 2020 in Thimphu, in the presence of S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, Government of India and Lyonpo Tandi Dorji, Foreign Minister, Royal Government of Bhutan," a press statement read. "Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, Minister of Economic Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan and senior government officials including Foreign Secretaries of India and Bhutan, Secretary (Power), Government of India, Ambassador of India to Bhutan and Ambassador of Bhutan to India were also present at the signing ceremony, which was held through video conferencing," it added. Jaishankar and Dhorji emphasized the importance of hydropower development as an important pillar of mutually beneficial bilateral economic cooperation. "They also recalled the trust, co-operation and mutual respect that have long characterized the unique and special friendship, anchored in mutual understanding and reinforced by a shared cultural heritage and strong people to people links between India and Bhutan," the statement read. Hydropower sector is the flagship area of India-Bhutan bilateral cooperation. The 720 MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project was jointly inaugurated earlier in August 2019 by the Prime Ministers of India and Bhutan. With this, four (04) hydroelectric projects of bilateral cooperation (336 MW Chukha HEP, 60 MW Kurichhu HEP, 1020 MW Tala HEP and 720 MW Mangdechhu HEP), totaling over 2100 MW, are already operational in Bhutan. (ANI) Bangladesh defence secretary Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury died of coronavirus-related complications on Monday at a military hospital here. He was 57 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. Chowdhury was admitted to Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital on June 2 after he was tested positive for the coronavirus infection. Later, he was moved to the intensive care unit and was administered plasma therapy after his condition deteriorated, the bdnews24.com reported. According to Md Bhasani Mirza, administrative officer at the defence ministry, Chowdhury died after suffering a cardiac arrest during his treatment at the hospital, the Dhaka Tribune reported. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed profound shock and sorrow at the demise of Chowdhury. In a message of condolence, Hasina prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and expressed deep sympathy to the bereaved family. Born in Cumilla in 1963, Chowdhury did his post graduation in Soil Science from Dhaka University. Later, he did his post graduation in Governance Studies from the Northern University in Dhaka. He served the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Prime Minister's Office in different capacities. He was the secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change before his stint at the defence ministry. Bangladesh has recorded 1,41,801 coronavirus cases and 1,783 fatalities due to the disease. Washington [US], June 30 (Sputnik/ANI): Boeing began conducting certification flights on Monday to evaluate upgrades to the aircraft's automated flight control system, which was blamed for two deadly crashes that forced regulators to ground the plane, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement. "The FAA and Boeing are conducting a series of certification flights this week to evaluate Boeing's proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the 737 MAX. The aircraft departed from Boeing Field in Seattle at 9:55 a.m. Pacific Time [4:55 p.m. GMT] today for the first round of testing. The flight is expected to take several hours," the release said. The series of certification flights are expected to take three days, the release added. The tests conducted by test pilots and engineers will include flight maneuvers and emergency procedures to assess whether Boeing's upgrades meet FAA certification standards, the release added. The FAA grounded the MAX in 2019 after two crashes - in Ethiopia and Indonesia - that killed 346 passengers and crew. Both crashes were blamed on malfunctioning automated fight controls that forced the planes to the ground shortly after takeoff. Monday's FAA announcement cautioned that, apart from this week's test flights, "a number of key tasks" remain before the MAX will be allowed to fly again and that regulators will need more time to thoroughly review Boeing's work. (Sputnik/ANI) Chennai, June 29 (PTI) The Centre and the Tamil Nadu government made contrasting submissions in the Madras High Court on Monday over the issue of operation of Vande Bharat Mission flights to bring back Indians stranded overseas due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centre said people from Tamil Nadu returning from foreign countries were compelled to land in neighbouring states due to restrictions imposed by the government on flight operations and then travel to their respective destinations. The state government said VBM flights were being allowed in all four international airports and besides through the sea route in two ports. The submissions were made before a bench of Justice R Subbiah and Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy, hearing a plea by DMK alleging that the state was not permitting landing of international flights and seeking a direction to bring back those stranded. The state government has requested that the number of flights to Chennai may be restricted to two per day and to Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore and Madurai not more than one to facilitate smooth reception and observance of COVID-19 protocol, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a memo filed in the court. However, a counter affidavit filed by the state Public Department Principal Secretary said 'The return of Tamil Nadu people stranded in various countries continues in all four international airports in the state and through the sea ports of Tuticorin and Chennai. As on June 15, a total of 61 flights from 17 different countries have brought 9,625 Indian nationals from abroad through the Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchirappalli. This apart, as many as 1,369 people have been brought back to the state by two ships from Colombo and Maldives, it said. Besides this, 33 more flights from various countries are scheduled to arrive in the state in the next two weeks alone, the state government said. Senior counsel P Wilson for the petitioner pointed out to the Centre's submission that it was the state which had not been permitting such flights. To this, state Additional Advocate General S R Rajagopal submitted he would get further instructions from the government, following which the court adjourned the matter to Tuesday. PTI COR NVG VS VS All Russians voted on Constitution amendments abroad several times to be identified RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 14:52 30/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI) The Central Election Commission by the cutoff date will detect all Russian citizens, who have voted at the Constitution amendments poll more than once abroad, according to its Chair Ella Pamfilova. Pamfilova added that all violators would be brought to administrative and criminal responsibility. Earlier, Russian woman living in Israel Yael Ilyinsky told journalists that she could cast her vote three times. She could face criminal prosecution for this. On June 25, the All-Russian voting on amendments to Constitution started in the country and abroad. The main voting day, according to the presidential decree, is July 1; however, citizens may also vote from June 25 to 30. Residents of Moscow and Niznny Novgorod have an opportunity to vote online. As of June 30, about 50 million Russian nationals have already taken part in the Constitution amendments voting. Geneva [Switzerland], June 30 (ANI): The coronavirus pandemic is not even close to being over, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus while adding that about 180,000 people worldwide have tested positive in the last 24 hours. "The reality is this is not close to being over...Globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up.," The Hill quoted Tedros. He said, "For many of our countries to really not hunt down this virus is our failure in contact tracing, because we have lame excuses, saying it's too many and it's too difficult to trace." "Trust me, there is not too many even in a world situation. If contact tracing helps you to win the fight, you do it, even risking your life," he added. Tedros also said that the WHO would be sending a team to Wuhan next week to investigate the potential animal source of the new coronavirus. As per the latest update by the Johns Hopkins University, a total of 10,199,798 coronavirus cases and 502,947 deaths have been reported so far. (ANI) Indore, Jun 29 (PTI) Four medical students who returned to Indore in Madhya Pradesh from Kyrgyzstan on a special Air India flight on June 21 tested positive for novel coronavirus, an official said on Monday. Indore COVID-19 prevention nodal officer Amit Malakar said 125 students were on the flight which took off from Bishkek, the capital of the Central Asian country. 'Four medical students have tested positive. Two are from Indore and two from Mandsaur and Jhabua. None of the 125 students who were screened at arrival showed coronavirus symptoms at the time,' he said. He said authorities have been informed about the four students testing positive so that rest of the students on the flight can be tested afresh in their home districts. PTI HWP ADU MAS BNM BNM FILE PHOTO: Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper speaks on the first night of the second 2020 Democratic U.S. presidential debate in Detroit By John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper shrugged off a series of campaign stumbles to win the state's Democratic U.S. Senate nomination on Tuesday, beating a progressive challenger in a race vital to the party's hopes of regaining Senate control in November. Hickenlooper's victory sets up a high-profile Nov. 3 showdown with conservative Republican U.S. Senator Cory Gardner, considered one of the country's most vulnerable incumbents and a top target for Democrats. With more than three-quarters of precincts reporting, Hickenlooper led by nearly 20 percentage points over Andrew Romanoff, a former Colorado House speaker who had touted progressive priorities such as Medicare for All that were opposed by the more moderate Hickenlooper. After his win, Hickenlooper made it clear in a video address to supporters that he would tie Gardner, who has been closely aligned with Republican President Donald Trump, directly to what he said were Trump's failed policies. "I've never lost an election in this state and I don't intend to lose this one," Hickenlooper said. Colorado was one of three states, along with Utah and Oklahoma, to hold nominating contests on Tuesday. Colorado and Utah primarily vote by mail, minimizing the problems with in-person voting that marred other elections during the coronavirus outbreak. Hickenlooper, recruited to run by national Democrats after his failed presidential campaign last year, had been expected to coast to victory in Colorado but he was beset down the stretch by ethical violations and campaign gaffes, raising some doubts. He acknowledged he misspoke in late May when he said during a discussion of the "Black Lives Matter" movement that every life matters - a phrase criticized for dismissing racism against Black people. He also apologized after a six-year-old quip surfaced in which he compared a politician's schedule to working on a slave ship. Story continues Hickenlooper was fined $2,750 by the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission on June 12 for violating state ethics laws by accepting free travel when he was governor. He initially defied a subpoena from the panel, testifying only after he was found in contempt. Republicans said Hickenlooper's late stumbles showed he would be vulnerable against Gardner. "If watching him fall apart under pressure these last few weeks is any indication, 'hot mess' Hickenlooper is in for a very bumpy ride," said Joanna Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Democrats also learned the winner on Tuesday in the race for the U.S. Senate nomination in Kentucky, where the results were delayed a week by the counting of mailed ballots. Establishment-backed Amy McGrath held off a late surge by Black state lawmaker Charles Booker for the right to challenge Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. In Colorado, U.S. Representative Scott Tipton, who had been endorsed by Trump, was upset in a Republican primary by gun rights activist Lauren Boebert. She runs a gun-themed restaurant and has spoken favorably about the pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon, which says "deep-state" traitors are plotting against the president. Republicans were choosing challengers to run against U.S. Representatives Kendra Horn of Oklahoma and Ben McAdams of Utah, two endangered Democrats who represent districts that Trump carried in 2016. In Oklahoma, the winner will be determined in an Aug. 25 runoff as no candidate managed 50% of the vote. In Utah, former National Football League player Burgess Owens won the Republican primary to take on McAdams. A ballot measure in Oklahoma to expand Medicaid, the government healthcare program for the poor and disabled, appeared to narrowly win despite the Republican governor's arguments the state cannot afford it. With all precincts reporting, the expansion led by about 1 percentage point. (Reporting by John Whitesides; Editing by Howard Goller, Simon Cameron-Moore, Robert Birsel) New Delhi [India], June 29 (ANI): Terming India and Bhutan relationship as 'truly unique', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said the two countries are fighting the coronavirus pandemic together and assured that New Delhi stands with Thimphu in dealing with challenges post the global crisis. The minister's remark came at the signing ceremony of Concession Agreement for 600 MW Kholongchhu JV-Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan. The agreement was signed between Bhutan government and Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited. Jaishankar called the joint project as yet another milestone in "diverse" and "multi-faceted bilateral cooperation" between the two neighbouring countries. "600 MW Kholongchhu JV-Hydroelectric Project is the first joint venture to be implemented in Bhutan. I congratulate both Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) of India for this feat and hope that they will leave no stone unturned in completing the project," the minister said at the ceremony he attended via video conferencing. The 600 MW run-of-the-river project is located on the lower course of the Kholongchhu River in Trashiyangtse District in Eastern Bhutan and it is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025. Bhutan Foreign Minister Lyonpo Tandi Dorji, Bhutan Economic Affairs Minister Lyonpo Loknath Sharma and senior government officials including Foreign Secretaries of India and Bhutan also participated in the event. During his remarks, Jaishankar expressed hope that the commencement of construction activities of this project will help to create economic and employment opportunities in Bhutan at this critical time when two countries are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our two countries are together to fight this global pandemic. The Government of India has provided support, as it should, to Bhutan in terms of medical equipment, kits and medicines as part of our Government of Bhutan's requirements. We have also ensured uninterrupted and essential goods to Bhutan despite the lockdown. India stands together with Bhutan in dealing with health and economic challenges post by this pandemic," he said. Jaishankar said that the special ties have not only benefitted the two nations but it has actually created an example for the world. "Bhutan and India have a truly unique relationship- one bound together by geography, history, culture, spiritual traditions and centuries-old people to people interaction. Our shared values have shaped our common world view. The special ties have not only benefitted our two nations, it has actually created an example for the world," he said. "One of two neighbours living and working together with great comfort between them to a shared welfare and growth and bound by deep friendship. Our time tested relations, which are characterised by so much understanding and trust have matured over the years," he added. Speaking further, the minister said: "It has sustained by a tradition of regular high-level visits and dialogues between our two countries. Most recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had undertaken a state visit to Bhutan on August 17-18, 2019. During the visit, the two Prime Ministers had formally inaugurated 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydroelectric power project." Jaishankar emphasised that the hydropower sector has been the most visible symbol of mutually benefited bilateral cooperation between the two countries. "Recently, completed Mangdechhu Hydroelectric power project has brought the Government of India assisted installed capacity to more than 2100 MW. We are in a process of expediting the completion of other ongoing projects," he said. (ANI) Mumbai: Mumbai's Taj Colaba and Taj Lands End in Bandra received threat calls on Tuesday, following which security has been beefed up in the area. According to officials, the call is said to be made from Pakistan at around 12.30 am. It threatened to blow up the hotel. The statement of the staffer who received the call will be recorded. In 2008, the Mumbai hotel had become victim to 26/11 terror attack. In one of the deadliest terror attacks in India's history, 166 people were killed and over 300 injured when 10 heavily-armed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan created mayhem in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. The terrorists also targeted the Nariman House (also known as Chabad House) where six Jewswere killed. They were Chabad emissaries to Mumbai at that time. Pakistan on Monday reopened the Kartarpur Corridor more than three months after it was temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but no Indian pilgrim visited the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, a top official said. India temporarily suspended the pilgrimage and registration for the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan on March 16 in view of the coronavirus outbreak. "Pakistan today opened the Kartarpur Corridor. However, no Indian pilgrim visited it," Evacuee Trust Property Board Deputy (ETPB) Director Imran Khan told PTI. The ETPB looks after the holy places of minorities in the country. He said a "special Ardas" was held at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur. "Pilgrims from Pakistan and India are allowed to visit the Darabar Sahib by following the SOPs of social distancing. The ETPB and Pakistan Sikh Gurdawara Parbhandhik Committee have made special arrangements for the safety of pilgrims," he said. Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan was reopening the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for all Sikh pilgrims. "I convey to the Indian side our readiness to reopen the corridor on 29 June 2020, the occasion of the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh," he said. Sources in the government of India in New Delhi last week said Pakistan is trying to create a mirage of goodwill by proposing to reopen the corridor on June 29. They said India will take a decision on the matter after consulting health authorities and other concerned stakeholders. The sources also wondered why Pakistan proposed to reopen it in such a short notice while a bilateral agreement on the corridor provided for information to be shared by both sides at least seven days before the date of travel. In November last year, the two countries threw open the corridor linking Dera Baba Sahib in Gurdaspur in India and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan, in a historic people-to-people initiative as part of commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev. Story continues Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara is located in Pakistan's Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine. It is the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, who had spent the last 18 years of his life in Kartarpur. Indian pilgrims of all faiths are allowed to undertake round the year visa-free travel to the historic gurdwara. The relations between India and Pakistan nosedived after India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5, 2019 and bifurcated it into two union territories. Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India and expelled the Indian High Commissioner. On Tuesday, India told Pakistan to slash its embassy staff in New Delhi by half - saying it would do the same in Islamabad amidst allegations of spying. New Delhi: Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Sunday said that the PM-CARES Fund has received donations from Chinese companies which is "alarming for the national security". "...What is most worrying and alarming for national security is the fact of donations received by Prime Minister Modi from Chinese companies in his (seemingly personal) PM CARES Fund. No one knows the constitution or the operational framework of the PM CARES Fund. No one knows how it is controlled or money given to it utilised," Singhvi said in a statement. Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM -CARES Fund) has been set up following the COVID-19 pandemic in India, to undertake and support relief or assistance of any kind relating to a public health emergency or any other kind of emergency, calamity or distress etc. The prime minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM-CARES Fund and Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund. Singhvi alleged that the fund is not even subjected to audit by any public authority, including the CAG. "The PMO has gone to the extent of saying this fund is not a public authority. PM CARES Fund is not even subject to RTI. All in all, the fund appears to be solely run by the prime minister in an opaque and secret fashion with zero transparency and zero accountability," said Singhvi. "Reports suggest that as on 20 May, Modi has received Rs 9678 crores in the controversial fund. The shocking part is that though Chinese forces have transgressed into our territory, the prime minister has received money in the Fund from Chinese companies," he said. "A delusional Modi government continues to sidestep the brazen Chinese transgressions and occupation of our territory by the Chinese forces in Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso Lake area, Hot Springs and Depsang Plains upto Y-Junction," Singhvi alleged. Story continues "Prime Minister Narendra Modi unashamedly misleads the nation and serves the sinister agenda of the Chinese by claiming that China has never intruded into the Indian territory, nor is it in occupation of any territory. This is the greatest disservice to the nation," he added. Singhvi said that every time the central government is questioned on the Chinese transgressions of our territory, in four different places, i.e. Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso Lake Area, Hot Springs and Depsang Plains, a "deceptive Modi government and a paranoid BJP resorts to diversionary tactics and disinformation." "Let them know, that the Congress party will keep asking these questions in national interest. As we all know the Prime Minister has a special soft spot for China. Even as Chief Minister of Gujarat, we saw his close association in his four Chinese visits. He is the only Prime Minister who has visited China 5 times," Singhvi said. "If Prime Minister of India will compromise his position by accepting donations of hundreds of crores from Chinese companies in the controversial and opaque fund, how will he defend the country against the Chinese aggression?" asked Singhvi. Also See: PMO clarifies Narendra Modi's 'no one inside Indian territory' remarks, says attempts being made to give 'mischievous interpretation' Indian envoy asks China to move back to its side of LAC, pointing at PLA incursion into sovereign territory India-China border tension result of complete failure of foreign policy, says Rahul Gandhi; accuses Modi of betraying Army Read more on Politics by Firstpost. Washington [US], June 29 (ANI): China has adopted a confrontational foreign policy and is using the coronavirus pandemic to enhance its influence across the world but a striking feature of the recent international landscape has been Beijing's strategic blunders including a recent incursion into India, says US-based journalist Fareed Zakaria. In an opinion piece in Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria writes: "As the United States has faltered in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, many experts have warned that China is using the situation to enhance its influence across the world." "...But in fact, a striking feature of the recent international landscape has been China's strategic blunders. The most significant example is China's recent incursion into India, in the Galwan Valley, long under dispute by the two countries," Zakaria, who is also a host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, says in the opinion piece. Citing the example of Chinese foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, Zakaria says that China's new breed of diplomats, the "wolf warriors," tend to be just as aggressive and confrontational, believing that offence is the best defence and heaping scorn on anyone who doubts the country's propaganda. "Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian is now famous for his sharp, sometimes abusive language. In the wake of COVID-19 and the discussion of China's culpability in its handling of the outbreak, he publicly floated a conspiracy theory that the disease might have been brought to China by the U.S. Army," he wrote. China's relations with its neighbours have deteriorated in recent times due to Beijing own actions. In the past few months, Chinese ships have sunk or harassed ships from Vietnam, Malaysia and Japan in areas that those countries consider their "exclusive economic zones." Fareed Zakaria says this kind of behaviour has led to a remarkable strategic reversal in the Philippines. "Under President Rodrigo Duterte, Manila had been drifting away from Washington. In February, Duterte announced that he was terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement, a significant setback for Washington's efforts to maintain close military ties in the region. This month, Manila announced that it would no longer be terminating that agreement, "in light of the political and other developments in the region," Zakaria writes. Zakaria further cites the example of Australia, whose economy has benefited enormously from China's rise. The ties between the two countries have soured in recent time. "...Canberra had sought friendly relations with Beijing. No more. Australian officials reportedly suspect China of mounting a string of cyberattacks against the country, while reports also suggest Beijing has intimidated Chinese students studying there to remain loyal and used Chinese businessmen in the country as agents of influence," he states. "After Australia called for an inquiry into the origins of the novel coronavirus, China moved to restrict Australian imports and discourage tourism there, while state media said Australia was "gum stuck on the sole of China's shoes," he added. Zakaria is of the view that China is not rising in a vacuum but in a region with other major countries such as Japan and India and Australia. "Every action Beijing takes should be considered in relation to the reaction it causes in those nations' capitals. Thanks to its actions over the past few years under Xi, China today finds itself in the same strategic situation as the Soviet Union did during the Cold War -- surrounded by countries that are growing increasingly hostile to it," he concludes. (ANI) Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 94F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Low around 70F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. The coronavirus pandemic is "not even close to being over", the WHO warned Monday, as the global death toll passed half a million and cases surged in Latin America and the United States. In another grim milestone, the number of infections recorded worldwide topped 10 million, while some authorities reimposed lockdown measures that have crippled the economies worldwide. "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over," he said, adding that "although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up." The virus emerged at least six months ago in China, where the WHO will send a team next week in the search for its origin, Tedros said. COVID-19 is still rampaging across the US, which has recorded more than 125,000 deaths and 2.5 million cases -- both around a quarter of the global totals. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the April-June quarter was expected to see the largest decline in GDP on record, adding that recovery would depend on government efforts to contain the outbreak. Many of the south and west US states where the virus is most rampant are where state leaders pushed for early reopenings. But even in New York, deemed to be in good health comparatively, the iconic Broadway theatre district announced it would remain closed through the end of the year. And with numerous US states forced to reimpose restrictions on restaurants, bars and beaches, President Donald Trump has come under growing pressure to set an example by wearing a mask. Trump's health secretary has warned the "window is closing" for the US to regain control, but the president has largely turned away from the crisis, holding indoor rallies with big, largely maskless crowds against the advice of his experts and refusing to cover his own face in public. Story continues And while opposition Democrats have urged Trump to reissue an emergency declaration on coronavirus, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president had "no interest" in doing so. However, he may not be able to avoid masks forever -- the Florida city of Jacksonville, where Trump's Republicans are due to hold their national convention in August, declared face masks mandatory on Monday. Underlining Trump's increasing isolation on the issue, Senate Majority Leader Mitch- McConnell, who is usually in lock step with the president, spoke out on the urgency of mask-wearing. "We must have no stigma, none, about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people," he said. "Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves, it is about protecting everyone we encounter." The second hardest-hit country Brazil registered 259,105 infections in the seven days through Sunday -- the country's highest of any week during the pandemic. Ireland's pubs began pouring pints for the first time in 15 weeks, as Europe -- still the hardest-hit continent -- continues to open up after seeing numbers of new cases fall. "Guinness is good for you," quipped Mark O'Mahony -- the first to order a pint with his breakfast at a Dublin pub. "Without it, it hasn't been much good really for 15 weeks. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country had gone through a "profound shock" as he prepared to unveil a large stimulus programme. His government plans to reopen pubs, restaurants and hairdressers across England on July 4, but on Monday ordered schools and non-essential shops in Leicester, central England, to close after a localised outbreak. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called for a "strong" and "efficient" recovery fund for the European Union. In Merkel's Germany, which has been praised for how it has tackled its COVID-19 outbreak, the North Rhine-Westphalia state extended a lockdown on a district hit hard by a slaughterhouse outbreak. In neighbouring Switzerland, organisers said that 2021's Geneva International Motor Show was cancelled, after already scrapping this year's event. China has imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding Beijing to contain a fresh cluster. In a reminder of the constant threat of newly-emerged pathogens, researchers in Chinese universities and the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced they had discovered a novel swine flu that was capable of triggering another pandemic. Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009. It possesses "all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans," said the authors of a study published Monday in the US science journal PNAS. The Middle East's most affected country Iran reported 162 more deaths on Monday, its highest single-day toll yet, a day after it also made mask-wearing mandatory for inside gatherings. India, which is gradually easing a nationwide lockdown, registered a daily record of 18,500 new cases and 385 new deaths on Saturday. Alka, one of the country's million accredited social health activists, said it was difficult for the unprotected and poorly paid all-women workers to get people to heed their advice. "People are struggling to feed their families," she said. "What can we do?" New Delhi: Targeting government post Chinese apps ban, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday posted a data chart showing that imports from the dragonland had increased after 2014. "Facts don't lie. BJP says: Make in India. BJP does: Buy from China," Rahul Gandhi said in a sharp tweet attaching a graphics of the percentage of imports from China during the UPA rule and the NDA government. The graphics showed that from 2008 to 2014, the imports from China were below 14 per cent, while during the BJP-led NDA rule, the Chinese import increased to over 18 per cent. The graphics also depicted that in 2008 under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the imports from China were at 12 per cent while it rose to 14 per cent in 2012 but again came down to 13 per cent in 2014. While under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the imports from China grew from 13 per cent to 14 per cent in 2015, to 16 per cent in 2016, to 17 per cent in 2017 and to 18 per cent in 2018, the graphics attached by Rahul Gandhi showed. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Gandhi's sister Priyanka also endorsed his data chart while retweeting it. She has recently been attacking the UP government over a number of issues like fuel price hike and arrest of Congress's minority cell chairman Shahnawaz Alam. "Congress leaders and activists are committed to raise their voice on public issues. The BJP government can use the Police as an instrument to suppress the voices of other parties, but not our party (Congress). Look, how the UP Police arrested the Chairman of our Minority cell in the darkness of the night," Priyanka Gandhi said in a series of tweets in Hindi. "First, our state president (Ajay Kumar Lallu) was kept in jail for four weeks on fake charges. Now this police action is repressive and undemocratic. Congress workers are not afraid of police and fake cases," she said in another tweet. According to UP Police, Alam was arrested by the Lucknow police, late on Monday night, for his alleged involvement in the anti-CAA violence which took place in December last year. Story continues A CCTV video circulated by UP Congress leaders shows cops taking away Alam from outside an apartment, close to the chief minister's residence, in a police vehicle. UP Police statement said that Alam was arrested for his involvement in the anti-CAA protest which took place on December 19, 2019 in Lucknow. He has been arrested after the police gathered sufficient evidence against him. Priyanka Gandhi has been critical of the state government for the past few months. She had locked horns with the state government over providing 1,000 buses for transporting the stranded migrant workers in the state in mid May. UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu was arrested in the same case. (With inputs from IANS) Lee Hsien Yang and Tan Cheng Bock of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) have their breakfast before a walkabout ahead of the general election in Singapore By Fathin Ungku, Aradhana Aravindan and Tom Westbrook SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The Singapore prime minister's estranged brother said on Tuesday he will not contest the July 10 election as the city-state "does not need another Lee". Lee Hsien Yang, who has been embroiled in a bitter family dispute with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, last week joined the opposition to the party their father, Lee Kuan Yew, led through the city-state's independence and rise as a nation. He has made multiple criticisms of the government in recent weeks, including its decision to hold the vote during the coronavirus pandemic, but his emergence was seen as unlikely to challenge the People's Action Party's tight grip on power. "I have chosen not to stand for political office because I believe Singapore does not need another Lee," Lee Hsien Yang said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, the deadline for candidates to register their intent to stand in the election. Lee Hsien Yang was earlier seen with members of his new Progress Singapore Party near the nomination centre for a seat which his father held for 60 years until his death in 2015. PSP chief Tan Cheng Bock told media on Tuesday Lee Hsien Yang did not want voters to think the family dispute was his motivation for entering politics. Prime Minister Lee, 68, declined to comment on his brother on Tuesday and has previously said the election is not about family disputes. The PAP - which has ruled unbroken since independence in 1965 currently holds all but six of parliament's 89 seats and has never seen its vote drop below 60%. The only opposition party with seats in parliament - the Workers' Party - has warned they face a potential wipe-out in the upcoming election where physical campaigning has been severely restricted by virus safeguards. Lee Hsien Yang, 62, was a senior business executive who had largely stayed out of the public eye before his father's death in 2015 sparked a feud with his brother over their family home. "It would have been the most natural thing for me to have entered political office. But political leadership in Singapore needs to be much more than about one family or one man," Lee Hsien Yang said in his Facebook post. (Reporting by Fathin Ungku, Aradhana Aravindan, Tom Westbrook; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Ed Davies and Raju Gopalakrishnan) It's planting season in Kenya's Turkana region - but instead of growing, farmers like Victor Juma are seeing their crops destroyed by a new swarm of locusts. "These are the tomatoes that have been eaten by the locust, and in the entire farm if you go around if the farmers go round or anyone can go round. You will find that almost all the tomatoes have been destroyed in this shape." The number of locusts in East Africa exploded in late 2019, exacerbated by unusual weather patterns that had been amplified by climate change. But this generation has hatched in Kenya's poorest region, and the young locusts are eating everything in sight. [Farmer Christopher Lotit, saying:] "They have destroyed our maize, pawpaw tree, so it has given us a hard time." Turkana is a vast, dry scrubland in northwest Kenya that borders Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia. Daniel Kirura, head of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization in Turkana - where 20 million people were already struggling for food - says the locusts are destabilizing an already bad situation but he also warns that within a week wings could mature, meaning they'll be able to travel up to 80 miles a day. "So our prayer is that we try to control them before they can go and cause problems in other countries and other regions. So, our wish is to control them before they leave Turkana county." He says teams are working frantically to spray the locusts with insecticide before they become airborne while the farmers use tin drums to scare the locusts away from their dwindling crops. Geneva [Switzerland], June 29 (ANI): A group of independent experts have called upon the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to "act with a sense of urgency" in taking decisive measures to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Tibet and Xinjiang province. The experts have raised grave concerns "on the collective repression of the population, especially religious and ethnic minorities," in Tibet and Xinjiang, the Central Tibetan Administration said in a release. The UN independent experts sought "renewed attention on the human rights situation in the country, particularly in light of the moves against the people of the Hong Kong SAR, minorities of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the Tibet Autonomous Region, and human rights defenders across the country." The experts urged the "international community to act collectively and decisively to ensure China respects human rights and abides by its international obligations." China has repeatedly refused access to UN independent experts for official visits and has no standing invitations to the experts. In the last 10 years, only five experts were permitted to visit China and not a single one to Tibet. In view of this, the UN experts urged the Chinese government to invite the UN independent experts to visit, monitor, and report on the ground realities. The experts have also called for the protection of the human rights defenders and civilians who meet the mandate-holders during such visits. Highlighting the suppression of coronavirus whistleblowers, the experts expressed concerns that "journalists, medical workers and those exercising their right to free speech online in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak and pandemic have allegedly faced retaliation from the authorities, including many being charged with 'spreading misinformation' or disrupting public order." The release said a special session should be held to evaluate the range of violations, establishment of an impartial and independent United Nations mechanism - such as a United Nations Special Rapporteur, a panel of experts appointed by the HRC or a Secretary-General Special Envoy - to closely monitor, analyse and report annually on the human rights situation in China. The 44th regular session of the UNHRC will commence from June 30, 2020. The 43rd regular session was suspended in March this year due to COVID-19 and resumed on June 15. (ANI) By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has excluded the United States from its initial "safe list" of countries from which the bloc will allow non-essential travel from Wednesday. The 27-member bloc gave majority approval on Tuesday to leisure or business travel from 14 countries beyond its borders, the Council of the EU, which represents EU governments. The countries are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. China has also been provisionally approved, although travel would only open up if Chinese authorities also allowed in EU visitors. Reciprocity is a condition of being on the list. Russia, Brazil and Turkey, along with the United States, are among countries whose containment of the virus is considered worse than the EU average, and so will have to wait at least two weeks for approval. The move is aimed at supporting the EU travel industry and tourist destinations, particularly countries in southern Europe hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. It acts as a recommendation to EU members, meaning they could potentially set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations. Within hours of the EU announcement, Italy, which has one of the highest COVID death tolls in the world, said it would opt out and keep quarantine restrictions in place for all nations that were not part of the free-travel Schengen area. Canada said it was extending its mandatory quarantine order for travellers until at the least the end of August and a travel ban for most foreigners until the end of July. The EU's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly within the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors. Nicholas Calio who heads an U.S. airline trade group representing Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines and others, said the U.S. government and EU had discussed potential enhanced screening of EU-bound Americans in recent days. He said he is hopeful that "at least on a limited basis" some American travel to the EU could resume soon. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Additional reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome, Steve Scherer in Ottawa, David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Jan Harvey, Richard Chang and Lincoln Feast.) Washington, Jun 29 (PTI) The US and Bangladesh on Monday renewed their commitments to support the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar as Secretary of State Michael Pompeo spoke to his Bangladeshi counterpart Masud bin Momen. During the call, Pompeo reaffirmed the importance of the US-Bangladesh relationship and discussed continued cooperation to address the COVID-19 pandemic, State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said. Pompeo and Momen reviewed the more than USD 43 million in COVID-19 assistance that the US has provided so far to Bangladesh and discussed Bangladesh's critical role in the international response to the pandemic by manufacturing emergency medical and protective supplies, Ortagus said. Pompeo commended Momen for Bangladesh's continued generosity in hosting Rohingya refugees, she said. The US so far has contributed nearly USD 820 million in humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya crisis, most of which is for programs within Bangladesh. The two leaders also renewed commitments to support the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Nearly one million Rohingya Muslims fled a crackdown by the Myanmarese military in 2017 in Rakhine state and are living in camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. Pompeo and Momen also discussed the importance of 'transparency and access to information for long-term economic stability and sustainable development, Ortagus said. PTI LKJ NSA Maharajganj (UP), Jun 29 (PTI) A 34-year-old woman from Uzbekistan was arrested here while trying to cross over from Nepal using fake documents, a senior immigration official said on Monday. Nargijkhon Aptamurodona was arrested on Sunday evening by the immigration department in Sonauli area after her visa papers and passport were found to be fake, immigration checkpost officer Raghvendra Singh said. A case has been registered against the woman under the Indian Penal Code and the Foreigners Act, he said, adding that the Intelligence Bureau has been informed about the matter. PTI CORR ABN DIV DIV Beka Butts painted murals for Hudsons Hill and Gate City Candy Co. on South Elm Street. She and Winston-Salem artist Kendal Doub then went to 202 W. Market St., where each painted murals for Stumble Stilskins bar and restaurant. Downtown became a gallery of about 100 pieces of art. Other cities reached out, asking how Graf and Franco organized it all. Viewers came from as far as Maryland. Ive seen people weep, Graf said. Now Graf, Franco and others have turned to finding murals permanent public homes. This cant be a fleeting moment and then the art goes in the trash, Graf said. Since each artist owns his or her work, its their call whether to donate, sell or keep it. Some artists might want to take their artwork home, Graf said. Some might want to donate it to a museum. For now, several pieces have been stored in developer Andy Zimmermans warehouse on Bain Street. Among them: Rices mural of George Floyd, which has been donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Fires have spread across the majority of the landscape in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in this NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite image using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument from June 25, 2020. Fires have spread across the majority of the landscape in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in this NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite image using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument from June 25, 2020. Fires of this number are not uncommon at this time of year in Africa. During the agricultural season of clearing field and planting new ones, farmers set fire to the remains of old crop fields to rid them of the leftover grasses and scrub. This action also helps return nutrients to the soil to ensure a good crop during the next planting season. This agricultural ritual is one that is at least 12,000 years ago. It is economical for the farmer since large equipment is not needed to clear the fields. In Angola, the Global Forest Watch website (using data from the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite) had 61,661 alerts for fires for the past week (June 18 - June 25). In the Democratic Republic of the Congo there are 102,738 VIIRS alerts for fire for that same period. "Slash and burn" agriculture is practiced most often in regions including parts of Africa, northern South America, and Southeast Asia, where an abundance of grasslands and rainforests are found. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality. The smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals produced by incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials. All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter or soot and is hazardous to breathe. NASA image courtesy Worldview Earth Data operated by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Earth Science Data and Information System (EOSDIS) project. Caption by Lynn Jenner with information from Global Forest Watch. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. At its June meeting, the board of Community Care of North Carolina paid tribute to retiring CCNC CEO L. Allen Dobson Jr., M.D. A common theme emerged from the words of his mentors, colleagues and friends, said CCNC Inc. board Chair Bill Stewart, M.D. Allen Dobson is one of those rare visionary leaders with the creative gumption to make it happen. One of my favorite quips was, the best way to get Allen to do something was to tell him that you cant do that, or it cant be done. Dobsons long career to improve health care quality and access in North Carolina was touted, including: his 40-year practice in Mount Pleasant; running the state Medicaid program as assistant secretary at DHHS, establishing the Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency Program to train doctors to serve in rural settings; his long tenure creating and improving CCNCs statewide, award-winning program of medical homes; and finally, with independent physicians from across the state, forming Community Care Physician Network, joining the quality improvement efforts of more than 3,200 clinicians in 930 independent medical practices across North Carolina. Tom Wroth, M.D., MPH, president of CCNC, will become CEO of CCNC effective today, July 1. CHARLESTON A Champaign County woman faces federal charges after she and two others were accused of meeting in Coles County to conduct a methamphetamine transaction. Angela F. Brown met the other two suspects in Ashmore on June 23 for one of a series of sales that took place between them, according to court records. Brown, 41, whose address on record is in Philo, is in federal custody. The other suspects, Lisa M. Milligan, 49, whose address on record is Charleston, and John B. Espeland, 41, for whom records show an Urbana address, face Coles County charges. Records in their cases say police found nearly 6 ounces of methamphetamine in Brown's possession following a traffic stop that took place just before her scheduled meeting with the other suspects. Cellphone searches also indicated a series of contacts between Brown and the others to arrange methamphetamine purchases, the records say. Brown was also first charged in Coles County, but that case was dismissed on Monday. State's Attorney Jesse Danley indicated that took place in order for Brown to be prosecuted in federal court. Brown also appeared in federal court on Monday, when she was ordered detained while the case proceeds. Her next hearing was scheduled for July 9. She faces up to life in prison if convicted, according to information from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Milligan and Espeland both pleaded not guilty during court appearances Monday. They are charged with methamphetamine conspiracy offenses that would require six to 30 years in prison with a conviction. A hearing for Espeland was scheduled for Thursday on a motion to reduce his bond, currently at a level that would require $10,000 to be posted for release. Milligan's next hearing was scheduled for July 16. She also remains jailed with bond set at the same $10,000 level. The cases' records say the investigation began when officers with the Mattoon-based East Central Illinois Task Force drug investigation unit received information about Brown's plans to go to Ashmore for the sale. Task Force officers and Coles County sheriff's deputies located and stopped Brown's vehicle near Ashmore, according to the records. The Charleston Police Department's K-9 unit was used to search the vehicle, and the dog alerted and led to the discovery of the methamphetamine, the records say. Brown then told officers she was en route to Ashmore to meet a man and a woman, later identified as Espeland and Milligan, to conduct the sale, according to the records. They said Espeland and Milligan were located in a vehicle parked outside the Ashmore residence that Brown said was their planned meeting location. They had about $5,000 in cash in their possession, according to the records. The records say Espeland refused to answer police questions. However, they say Milligan told officers she arranged the purchases for Espeland and her cellphone records showed messages making those arrangements. Contact Fopay at (217) 238-6858. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Under those circumstances, he said, it was objectively reasonable to believe that Sailors posed a danger to the officers and the public. With that, the judge found that Keyes, who died of cancer a month after the incident, was entitled to qualified immunity and his estate is not liable to Sailors, according to the order filed Thursday. The judge previously had dismissed from the suit two Lincoln police officers whom Sailors also had sued. Sailors' attorney, Vince Powers, argued that reasonable people who saw the evidence, including dash cam footage, could reach different conclusions about when the shooting started and whether the officers were in imminent danger. The incident happened at about 8 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2018, in a parking lot near 17th and Prospect streets, after Keyes spotted Sailors in a stolen 2007 GMC Yukon Denali and followed him there and, in an attempt to box him in, struck the SUV's front bumper with the front of his unmarked pickup. The U.S. marshal started firing as Sailors backed up, forcing a Lincoln police officer to dive into his cruiser, his feet being dragged on the pavement. Police said the officer suffered minor injuries. The new cannabis studies program will gives students a new slate of seven elective classes from the "History of Cannabis" to the "Agronomy of Hemp," to courses on "Medicinal Cannabis" or "Cannabis Testing Methods." "There are so many fields in this industry that need to be covered in-depth," Holmes said. "It's absolutely critical we offer these types of courses because they loan more academic credibility to the student through their transcripts or qualifications when they go to get jobs." The courses, which will each allow students to earn three credit hours, were carefully selected and balanced between entry-level and more intermediate-level courses that cover both the science and social science aspects of cannabis, Holmes said, and will be taught by a handful of faculty with backgrounds in biology, chemistry, agriculture and history. And, based on the demand, Doane could add multiple sections of each class beginning this fall, Holmes added. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The leap from MOOC to on-campus elective offering could pave the way for further expansion of Doane's cannabis studies program. Holmes said she's planning to put a proposal for a full degree program before the Faculty Council later this fall that could create a cannabis studies major program in time for the 2021-22 school year. Last winter, one person reported the hotel didn't have heat and the resident was addressing the problem using an oven, according to a city housing complaint. Police have been called to the hotel more than 900 times in the last five years to investigate reports of domestic violence, child abuse and drug use, and officers arrested one guest for dealing drugs out of the hotel, which used to be the Holiday Inn Northeast in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The hotel, which only has 60 to 70 units deemed habitable by the city, has offered nightly and weekly stays, but, for years, it's been a long-term home for some people who have trouble getting into apartments. A team of city officials working to address problem properties has overseen The Oasis since 2016. Holt, who lives in St. Louis, didn't deny the hotel's issues highlighted by the city during a three-hour hearing Monday, saying he has worked to address its structural problems such as decrepit boiler and chiller systems and kick out problematic clientele by banning troublemakers and raising the nightly rate. "The bones of the hotel are now fixed," Holt said as the board deliberated Monday afternoon. "Now, we need a lot of lipstick." To derive the stellar rotation axis of Beta Pictoris the team used the unique high angular and high spectral resolution mode of VLTI/GRAVITY to measure shifts in the centroid position in the hydrogen Brackett-gamma absorption line on micro-arcsecond scales. In the blue-shifted part of the absorption line, the centroid of the emission is displaced to the North-East, which indicates that the South-Western hemisphere of the star is approaching the observer. CREDIT Stefan Kraus Astronomers have made the first measurement of spin-orbit alignment for a distant 'super-Jupiter' planet, demonstrating a technique that could enable breakthroughs in the quest to understand how exoplanetary systems form and evolved. An international team of scientists, led by Professor Stefan Kraus from the University of Exeter, has carried out the measurements for the exoplanet Beta Pictoris b - located 63 light years from Earth. The planet, found in the Pictor constellation, has a mass of around 11 times that of Jupiter and orbits a young star on a similar orbit as Saturn in our solar system. The study, published today (June 29th 2020) in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, marks the first time that scientists have measured the spin-orbit alignment for a directly-imaged planetary system. Crucially, the results give a fresh insight into enhancing our understanding of the formation history and evolution of the planetary system. Professor Kraus said: "The degree to that a star and a planetary orbit are aligned with each other tells us a lot about how a planet formed and whether multiple planets in the system interacted dynamically after their formation." Some of the earliest theories of the planet formation process were proposed by prominent 18th century astronomers Kant and Laplace. They noted that the orbits of the solar system planets are aligned with each other, and with the Sun's spin axis, and concluded that the solar system formed from a rotating and flattened protoplanetary disc. "It was a major surprise when it was found that more than a third of all close-in exoplanets orbit their host star on orbits that are misaligned with respect to the stellar equator.", said Prof. Kraus. "A few exoplanets were even found to orbit in the opposite direction than the rotation direction of the star. These observations challenge the perception of planet formation as a neat and well-ordered process taking place in a geometrically thin and co-planar disc." For the study, the researchers devised an innovative method that measures the tiny spatial displacement of less than a billionth of a degree that is caused by Beta Pictoris' rotation. The team used the GRAVITY instrument at the VLTI, which combines the light from telescopes separated 140 metres apart, to carry out the measurements. They found that the stellar rotation axis is aligned with the orbital axes of the planet Beta Pictoris b and its extended debris disc. "Gas absorption in the stellar atmosphere causes a tiny spatial displacement in spectral lines that can be used to determine the orientation of the stellar rotation axis.", said Dr. Jean-Baptiste LeBouquin, an astronomer at the University of Grenoble in France and a member of the team. "The challenge is that this spatial displacement is extremely small: about 1/100th of the apparent diameter of the star, or the equivalent to the size of a human footstep on the moon as seen from Earth." The results show that the Beta Pictoris system is as well-aligned as our own solar system. This finding favors planet-planet scattering as the cause for the orbit obliquities that are observed in more exotic systems with Hot Jupiters. However, observations on a large sample of planetary systems will be required to answer this question conclusively. The team proposes a new interferometric instrument that will allow them to obtain these measurements on many more planetary systems that are about to be discovered. "A dedicated high-spectral resolution instrument at VLTI could measure the spin-orbit alignment for hundreds of planets, including those on long-period orbits.", said Prof. Kraus, "This will help us to answer the question what dynamical processes shape the architecture of planetary systems." Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. One potentially controversial option that fair management is considering is to still have a midway carnival. Ogg said that would only happen if Hall County is in Phase 4 of Gov. Pete Ricketts' reopening plan. Because it was one of the hardest-hit areas in the state from the coronavirus pandemic, Hall County is one of four counties still in Phase 2, although it is scheduled to move to Phase 3 on July 6. Board member Jeremy Jensen, who is the former mayor of Grand Island, said he is not in favor of having a carnival. "As it sits today, I think the carnival is a horrible idea," he said, noting that it would likely to be packed with local schoolchildren, which could lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases in local schools. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} "I strongly feel that would be a big mistake for the fair to do that," he said. Board members Chris Kircher and Steve Wehrbein also expressed concern about having a carnival. Ogg pointed out that having a carnival is far from certain and could only happen if a number of pieces fall into place. But he said it's important to have that option available if conditions warrant. "For many of our guests, that is the fair," he said of the carnival. If this proposal is not approved, Hurley said she will come back to village administration with other ideas. She said that while shes upset that she hasnt been able to build on her own property, she understands its because the land has a designated scenic road on both sides of it which, per village policy, doesnt allow construction. Hurley is not optimistic about working with the village in this process. It was put on hold, but they didnt deny it, she said. I dont think its ever going to happen. Drainage, setback concerns Drainage issues were brought up regarding the plan at the May 27 Plan Commission meeting. Plan commissioners also didnt like the proposal because the proposed subdivisions street did not have two entry/exit ways to existing highways and the houses were too close together. The drainage issues were referred to the Village Board and first considered at a June 8 board meeting. A proposal was developed by the village engineer to conduct a study to address the drainage complaints originating from property owners on Seidel Drive, Vista View Drive and Washington Avenue. The study proposal was approved by the Village Board on June 22. RACINE COUNTY The Central Racine County Health Department on Monday released updated recommendations for reopening the community, advising that the risk level within its jurisdiction is moderate. The coronavirus pandemic has not gone away, said CRCHD Health Officer Margaret Gesner in a press statement. We need the entire community to remain vigilant so that our case rate does not increase. If our COVID-19 cases surge, our hospitals may be overwhelmed, and we may experience an increase in preventable deaths. These are all unacceptable outcomes for our community. We must protect the most vulnerable amongst us. The CRCHD covers all of Racine County except for the City of Racine and villages of Wind Point and Elmwood Park. The case rate over the past two weeks is used to determine the local risk level. According to the Health Department, as of Friday 3% of COVID-19 tests in its jurisdiction were positive, down from a high of 17% in early April. The Health Department recommendations are based on community transmission and the associated risk to community members. RACINE At the end of a 2-hour hearing on Tuesday, Racine County Circuit Court Judge Jon Fredrickson promised to issue a written decision either later that day or on Wednesday in a civil suit challenging Racines COVID-19 restrictions. As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday no decision has yet been issued. As of Tuesday afternoon, coronavirus restrictions in the city those enacted by city Public Health Administrator Dottie-Kay Bowersox and those voted into law by the city council remained on pause and no longer legally enforceable due to the judges previous temporary halt orders. Both sets of restrictions, which were virtually identical, outline the rules for public gatherings, the number of customers allowed in various types of businesses at any given time and other stipulations aimed at public safety during the pandemic. At the onset of Tuesdays hearing the judge questioned the constitutionality of a portion of the Safer Racine ordinance, voted into law by the Racine City Council on June 22. Fredrickson said he was concerned about the banning of indoor and outdoor mass gatherings occurring on city land or requiring city approval, and said it seemed to put a halt to a citizens right to publicly protest. Afables stance follows the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark ruling earlier this month in Bostock v. Clayton County that federal law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. The court decided that the 1964 Civil Rights Acts provision barring employment discrimination based on sex also applies to millions of gay and transgender workers. Under Wisconsin law, its illegal to deny benefits or refuse coverage on the basis of sex. Relying in part on the U.S. Supreme Courts thinking in his memo to health insurers, Afable explained that denying health coverage based on gender identity is illegal because doing so would be based on the sex of the insured. Afable said his stance is supported by recent federal court decisions that found exclusions for services and treatment of otherwise covered benefits based upon the insureds gender identity violates the Civil Rights Act and the U.S. Constitutions equal protection clause, as well as the U.S. Supreme Courts decision on workplace discrimination. Aguenit (SADR Liberated Areas), June 30, 2020 (SPS) - In the midst of an international health alert due to the effects of COVID-19 where the countries of the region with armored borders, the Saharawi National Army has been forced to redouble efforts and activities in the face of the increase in cells of organized crime and drug trafficking from Morocco through the military wall of occupation that divides the territory of Western Sahara. In the last operation carried out by specialized units in the fight against organized crime in the Aguenit region, liberated areas of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a new action by the mafias from Morocco was thwarted and 3775 kilograms of hashish were seized , drug from the Kingdom of Morocco. During the operation for the burning of seized drugs, the head of the Seventh Saharawi Military Region, Taleb Ammi Deh, has specified that the operation stems from the close collaboration and commitment of the Saharawi army with the security and stability of the region of north of Africa. In the presence of the investigating judge and members of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), Ammi Deh highlighted the firmness of the SADR and its full collaboration with neighboring countries in pursuit of achieving a space of peace and prosperity for the peoples of the region. For his part, the investigating judge has announced that the operation under number 50/2020, four drug traffickers have been arrested, 3 of foreign nationality, assault rifles, ammunition, and off-road vehicles. Sources present in the operation have pointed out to SPS that "the blockade of the Moroccan military wall by the Saharawi army has forced the crime gangs to coordinate with Moroccan officers on new routes, which has resulted in the search for new exits throughout the 2700 km that the Moroccan occupation wall. They have also warned that "these gangs are the livelihood and link for large organized crime organizations and terrorists that operate internationally." International reports have warned that Morocco remains the world's leading cannabis exporter. The same sources and international research have warned that 10% of the GDP of the North African country comes from the export of cannabis resin. The UN World Drug Report continues to position Morocco at the top of the podium which directly affects neighboring countries and a poses seriously risks to the stability of the Maghreb region and southern Europe. 125/090/tra - President Rodrigo Duterte addressed the nation on June 30 regarding the COVID-19 crisis - He allowed the other members of IATF on Emerging Infectious Disease to also speak before the public - The countrys chief executive announced the fate of the entire Philippines for July 1 to 15 - He said that Cebu City will remain under enhanced community quarantine due to the increasing number of infections there PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed President Rodrigo Duterte finally announced to the public the quarantine classifications in the Philippines for July 1 to 15. KAMI learned that the countrys chief executive made the announcement during his late-night address to the nation on June 30. He revealed that Cebu City will remain under enhanced community quarantine since it already has 5,494 coronavirus cases as of the time of writing. Metro Manila, the so-called epicenter of the virus in the Philippines, is still under general community quarantine. President Rodrigo Duterte addressing the nation on June 30, 2020 Source: UGC PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Here is the complete list of new quarantine classification in the country for July 1 to 15: ENHANCED COMMUNITY QUARANTINE Cebu City GENERAL COMMUNITY QUARANTINE NCR Benguet Cavite Rizal Lapu-Lapu City Mandaue City Leyte Ormoc Southern Leyte Talisay City MODIFIED GENERAL COMMUNITY QUARANTINE (Strict local action) CAR Abra Baguio City Ifugao Kalinga Region 1 Ilocos Norte La union Pangasinan Region 2 Cagayan Isabela Region 3 Bataan Bulacan Nueva Ecija Pampanga Angeles City Region 4-A Batnagas Laguna Quezon Lucena City Region 4-B Palawan Puerto Princesa City Region 5 Albay Camarines Norte Camarines Sur Naga City Region 6 Capiz iloilo City Negros Occidental Bacolod City Region 7 Cebu province Bohol Negros Oriental Region 8 Tacloban City Western Samar Region 9 Zamboanga City Zamboanga Del Sur Region 10 Bukidnon Misamis Occidental Misamis Oriental Cagayan De Oro Region 11 Davao Del Norte Davao Del Sur Davao City Davao De Oro Region 12 Cotabato South Cotabato Region 13 Agusan Del Norte, Butuan City BARMM Lanao Del Sur Maguindanao MODIFIED GENERAL COMMUNITY QUARANTINE (Low risk) Rest of the Philippines PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback The novel coronavirus disease continues to impose danger on the lives of many people, including Filipinos. A doctor in Italy recently claimed that the said virus is already becoming less dangerous and it may disappear without the need for a vaccine. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, already responded to the claim that COVID-19 is becoming less potent. Please like and share our Facebook posts to support KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinion about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts! Source: Kami.com.ph 1. Yes. Its important for students to stay focused throughout the year. Its a plus. 2. Yes. It would fill the learning gaps caused by COVID and would help cut youth crime. 3. No. Students and teachers deserve a summer break. Year-round school wont work. 4. No. It wouldnt work with the militarys summer PCS schedule. Its a bad idea. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing how the school calendar would work. Vote View Results Your donation, which powers our reporters and keep us independent, will be matched dollar for dollar today during our June Member drive. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. At about 6:30 last night, a brush fire ignited out in the desert near the southeastern end of the Salton Sea. Because of strong dry winds, it wasn't long before the flames traveled half a mile west, jumped Highway 111, and landed in Niland -- a small town with a patchwork of mobile homes and trailers surrounded by ready-to-burn brush. There were calls to evacuate the entire town as 30 mph gusts made it difficult for firefighters to get a handle on the blaze. Reinforcements from Cal Fire in San Diego were called in to help the Imperial County firefighters. One person was killed, an estimated 40 homes were destroyed, and 130 people were displaced, though the numbers are still being tallied. A tragedy anywhere, but even more so in Niland, where an estimated 57 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. "I don't see it being rebuilt. For my family at least. Which is kind of pretty heavy for me to say," said Pastor Elijah Banaga, whose family members lost two homes in the fire. He lives in nearby Calipatria, but has deep ties to the Niland community. He said his family has lived there since the 1920s, when his grandparents emigrated from the Philippines to work in the agricultural industry. icon DON'T MISS ANY L.A. CORONAVIRUS NEWS Get our daily newsletters for the latest on COVID-19 and other top local headlines. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy "My aunties and my uncles, they were part of the generation that lived there for a long time," Banaga said. "They were there when the economy was booming in Niland. There were banks and packing sheds, and agriculture was booming." Now, it's a low income part of Imperial Valley with people struggling to get by. "It's like pure trailers all throughout the city. A lot of the city has been deserted and people have left their homes. It's almost like a ghost town. It's pretty impoverished," Banaga said. The impact to the town, he said, will put further strain on those living there. And he fears that the strong sense of community that he's always felt in Niland, will diminish if people fail to recover post-disaster. For now, those who have been displaced are either staying with family and friends, like the Banagas, or in hotel rooms paid for by the Red Cross. The long-term plan for recovery is unclear and will take some time to pan out. According to Linsey Dale, public information officer with Imperial County, a local assistance center is being set up so that residents can meet with both government and nonprofit agencies that might be able to help them. Your donation, which powers our reporters and keep us independent, will be matched dollar for dollar today during our June Member drive. Local community reporting is vital, so is your support. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe The Antelope Valley's decades of entrenched racism have helped fuel the outcry over the death of 24-year-old Robert Fuller, a Black man found hanging from a tree in Palmdale earlier this month. Many locals are skeptical that Fuller's death was a suicide -- the initial explanation that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department issued and then retracted days later. Some call it a lynching. Thousands have poured into Palmdale's streets, at times shutting down traffic. They're demanding an independent investigation by California's attorney general. One reason for the skepticism is the Antelope Valley's troubled racial history. Neo-Nazis and skinheads have lurked in the area for decades, and the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that for years L.A. County officials -- in collusion with Sheriff's deputies -- were systematically discriminating against Black people. So it's easy for locals to imagine the worst happened to Fuller. During one recent march I spoke with Aezana Nora -- he grew up in Palmdale, is Black, and is around the same age as Fuller. Aezana Nora says when he was 12, men with swastika tattoos chased him out of a restaurant. (Emily Elena Dugdale/LAist) "The things that I've gone through -- [Fuller] could have been me," he said, holding a skateboard and walking with protesters along a busy street. Nora remembers being told by white classmates that the KKK was going to get him. He said when he was 12 years old, he was chased out of a restaurant by men with swastika tattoos. "They got into their truck and followed us," Nora said. "We kind of ran into the desert area that we were close to, and ran and hid in a bush." 'A BOMB READY TO EXPLODE' The Antelope Valley was predominately White until the late 1970s when Black and Brown people started relocating to the area in search of more affordable and safer places to live. Neo-Nazis and skinhead groups have been a constant threat, linked to hate crimes including stabbings and the firebombing of a Black church. The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks nearly 90 hate groups in California. By 2010 the Antelope Valley had the highest rate of hate crimes of any region in L.A. County, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report. Last year, a photo of teachers at a Palmdale elementary school smiling and holding a noose went viral and caused some parents to pull their kids out of class. "It's a powder keg -- a bomb ready to explode," said Pharoah Mitchell, co-founder of the Antelope Valley activist group Community Action League. Protesters angered by the death of Robert Fuller got lots of supportive honks during a recent protest in Palmdale. (Emily Elena Dugdale/LAist) 'SO MANY HORRENDOUS THINGS' More than a decade ago, the Antelope Valley had another big problem. Black renters receiving federal Section 8 housing assistance were calling Mitchell, telling him they were being harassed by Sheriff's deputies. "[There were] so many horrendous things ... we were getting calls everyday," Mitchell said. Toni Clark made one of those calls. In 2008 she and a friend were driving from a barbeque when they saw flashing lights from a deputy's car. "They pulled us over. They treated my friend like crap," she said, describing how deputies slammed him against the car. Clark said the deputies cited her for $5 worth of medical marjuana in her purse. Because of that, she lost her eligibility for Section 8 subsidies and became homeless, she said. The number of local Black Section 8 renters doubled in the early 2000s and continued to grow into the 2010s, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Black people still overwhelmingly occupy Section 8 housing in the Antelope Valley region, according to data from the L.A. County Development Authority. Out of more than 6,000 housing voucher recipients, Black people make up over 4,500. The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation in 2011 into the harassment allegations. More than 300 people showed up for the first community meeting with federal investigators, Mitchell said. Renters told investigators about intrusive and harmful compliance checks that led to many of them losing their housing vouchers, he said. In 2015, the Justice Department formally accused the L.A. County Housing Authority and the Sheriff's Department of working together to discriminate against Black Section 8 residents in the hopes of driving them out of the Valley. The complaint also alleged that the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale specifically encouraged the discrimination. It read: "City officials contracted with [the Housing Authority] for additional investigative services and devoted substantial financial resources to voucher program enforcement efforts; directed and encouraged LASD deputies to become involved in [the Housing Authority's] enforcement efforts; fueled public opposition to the voucher program by making disparaging statements about voucher program participants; and discouraged landlords from renting to voucher holders." "There was no legitimate law enforcement or programmatic justification for these types of extraordinary enforcement efforts," it said. The Housing Authority denied any wrongdoing, but eventually agreed to pay a $2 million settlement. The Sheriff's Department insisted its deputies did nothing wrong, but paid an additional $700,000 and agreed to several reforms. Toni Clark received some money from the settlements, but said she never got her subsidized housing back. "How do you lose your housing from a traffic stop?" she asked. "Somebody, please tell me." Mitchell says that was the reality for many renters. Just recently at a protest about Robert Fuller, he was approached by a woman who told him she had lost her Section 8 housing before the DOJ settlement, and wondered if there was anything he could do to help her. Mitchell had to tell her no. "It's heartbreaking to know that so many people lost their Section 8 because of the harassment, and they [weren't] able to get it back," he said. At a June 15 press conference about the Fuller case, I asked Sheriff Alex Villanueva about how the region's history of racial discrimination -- which included his department -- affected community trust. "That happened before I took office as sheriff," he said. "I think the reforms have been put in place; they're working, to date." Villanueva said many of his officers live in the area. "We've been at this for 170 years and we have longstanding ties -- we are part of the community," he said. ONE SMALL SIGN OF CHANGE Balloons hang from the tree where Robert Fuller's body was found in a park in Palmdale. (Emily Elena Dugdale/LAist) There was one small sign of change earlier this month -- a high school in the Antelope Valley agreed to drop its mascot: Johnny Rebel, a cartoon Confederate soldier. But many Black residents dispute Villanueva's claim of community solidarity and say the area's problems won't be solved that easily. Toni Clark -- who grew up in Pasadena before moving to the Antelope Valley -- said she's never felt at home in the area. After nearly 20 years, she's considering moving. "They didn't want Pasadena out here. They don't want Los Angeles out here. They don't want no Blacks out here," Clark said. A few days after Fuller's death, Clark was talking about the protests with a relative, who told her: "That's our cousin!" Turns out Fuller and Clark were distant cousins. Clark says she wasn't that surprised about the connection. Because this cycle of tragedy is what she and her loved ones have dealt with for decades. Overflowing qualifying sessions have been the norm since racing's return from its COVID-19 shutdown. Given that, Woodbine Mohawk Park's Tuesday (June 30) docket of qualifiers was relatively light, as a total of 31 Standardbreds recorded charted miles over the Campbellville, Ont. course. The program did not feature the industry's superstars, but one particular mare made sure she shined the brightest during the morning miles. The mare in question, Seaswift Joy N, surely caught the attention of horseplayers in 2019, as she raced to a 10-5-2 seasonal resume from 25 starts after having been imported from New Zealand. The daughter of Bettors Delight knocked heads with some of the industry's top pacing mares last season, and banked just over $294,000 for owner Brad Grant. After a pair of recent off-the-board finishes in filly and mare preferreds at Mohawk, the seven-year-old bay was raring to go Tuesday morning for trainer Tony Alagna and driver Doug McNair. (Please note that Seaswift Joy N's race starts at roughly the 56:45 mark.) Seaswift Joy N lined up in Post 5 for the session's fifth race and opted for a reserved approch in the early stages. McNair settled his charge away fourth early on and waited past the :28.4 quarter pole to make his move. When McNair asked Seaswift Joy N for some 'go,' the mare obliged in full. The duo erased a six and three-quarter-length deficit in the second frame and were first down to the half-mile station in :58.1. Seaswift Joy N's lead was two and three-quarter lengths at the half, and that was the closest her rivals would get to her from there on out. Seaswift Joy N went on to pace Mohawk's final turn with ease, as she utilized a :27.1 third panel to freeze the three-quarters clock in 1:25.2. The mare's lead was 11 and a half lengths at that point, and she had no intention of letting her foes get much closer. McNair and Seaswift Joy N capped off their mile with another :27.1 quarter, as they were under the wire first in 1:52.3. The mare's margin of victory was 11 lengths. Although the morning action did not feature the absolute starts of the racing industry, multiple Standardbreds recorded some solid miles during the session, as Night Stick (1:54.2), Cute Accountant (1:58.1), Bettor In Cash (1:55.4), U Need Stones (1:58), and Halliday Dream (1:59.3) also tallied qualifying wins for their connections. To view the harness racing results from the Tuesday qualifying session at Mohawk, click the following link: Tuesday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers). Your donation, which powers our reporters and keep us independent, will be matched dollar for dollar today during our June Member drive. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. Nedjatollah "Ned" Harounian spent the morning of May 30, at his shoe-and-leatherwear store on Melrose Ave. getting ready to reopen. Palais Des Modes had been closed for about two months due to the coronavirus lockdowns. Harounian couldn't be more excited to finally open his doors again. He cleaned the space, went through his inventory. Near the entrance, he set up a station of hand sanitizer, masks and gloves for customers. He left the store feeling ready to welcome them back. He had no idea he'd be returning to his store that Saturday night to helplessly watch it burn. George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. By the following weekend, no arrests had been made, and some protests around the country -- including in L.A. -- turned violent and spawned looting. In the crossfire were small businesses, many of which were already hit hard by the Covid-19 lockdown On Melrose Avenue in West L.A., there weren't many stores or restaurants that were left unscathed on May 30. Harounian's store was no exception. icon DON'T MISS ANY L.A. CORONAVIRUS NEWS Get our daily newsletters for the latest on COVID-19 and other top local headlines. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy "I don't know what to say. It's very bad," Harounian said solemnly. When we spoke, it had been exactly one week since his store burned and he was still processing what had happened: "For what? For what? Fire? Here? Everything is gone." Palais Des Modes has been on Melrose Avenue for more than 30 years. Harounian dedicated his life to the store, building it from the ground-up with his wife and children after immigrating from Iran in 1987. At the age of 81, he refuses to retire. "I like work. It's my life, you know?" Harounian said. "I go home and there's no point. I have to work everyday. I like it." As Melrose evolved to become one of L.A.'s trendiest neighborhoods, Harounian's store has remained a longtime fixture in the community. The business maintained a loyal clientele that ranged from local residents to celebrities, including Michael Jackson, Sylvester Stallone and Shaquille O'Neal. As Harounian spoke, he was interrupted on a few occasions by pedestrians who stopped to share their sympathies and memories of the store. A teacher came by to say that many of his students frequented the store to buy Doc Martens. The store has changed over the years, moving locations multiple times on the same street, and downsizing after the death of Harounian's wife, Yara, in 2017. What has remained consistent has been his reputation of kindness and work ethic among the Melrose community. "We had customers that used to come here [who] bought shoes for themselves, and then they brought their kids and then they brought shoes for their kids," said Ebbi Harounian, Ned's son, who has helped his father operate the store ever since he was a teenager. The damage from looting and a fire at Palais Des Modes. (Sabrina Fang/KPCC) Father-and-son took me on a tour to survey the damages. There used to be endlessly stacked boxes and shelves of shoes. They had furniture they designed and built themselves. Ebbi directed my attention to a full-length mirror that had been with the family since they first opened. Now all that's left are burned shoes, blackened walls, broken furniture and glass, and a gaping hole in the ceiling. For Ned, the store was a second home. The walls were once lined with personal photos and memorabilia that served as a record of the store's history -- a family album on display for everyone to see. With every new grandchild, every family occasion, every new milestone made, there was a photograph on the wall to mark the memory. "My dad kept everybody's pictures -- my little sister, my nephew, my little nephew when he was born," said Ebbi as he fondly looked through the photos they were able to salvage from the debris. "His whole life was here, you know? All the pictures were on the wall ... but they ransacked and then they burned and they didn't leave anything for him." The Harounians tried to salvage some of the family photos that adorned the walls at their Melrose Avenue store. (Sabrina Fang/KPCC) As we continued to survey the damage, we made our way towards the back of the structure, when something caught Ebbi's eye. "Oh my god, I just saw something," Ebbi said as he shuffled through a rack and pulled out a cream-white leather jacket, now streaked with burn marks. "This is a jacket that I made with designer Jeff Hamilton. That's an American eagle with an American star, and now it's burned to the crisp. Oh my God, I can't believe this jacket is still here! This destroys me." It never occurred to the Harounians that their store could possibly be destroyed during the protests. Ebbi recalls finding out about what happened to his father's store while watching TV. A news crew was on the scene, broadcasting as firefighters attempted to put out the flames. Ebbi tried to call his father and finally was able to reach him. "Dad, what are you doing?" "Ebbi, I'm here." "What are you doing there? Everything is on fire! Everything is engulfed on fire!" "Where am I going to go? My whole life is burning down. I can't just go home and sit down." The Harounians are estimating a loss of about $500,000 in merchandise alone. Their landlord is still in the process of assessing the property damage. They share the building with two other tenants who also experienced a considerable amount of damage to their stores. They don't have insurance to help relieve any of their loss. State law doesn't mandate business tenants to have property insurance, and their landlord never required they have it as a part of their lease agreement. The Harounians said they couldn't afford it on top of paying $4,000 a month for rent and maintaining their inventory. Their landlord plans on repairing the building, but there's no timeline for when those repairs will be done, given the extent of the damage. The store was Harounian's only source of income, so now they're leaning on family, friends and the community. They've been moved by the overwhelming response they've received, not only from local residents, but by people around the world. Their campaign has even received attention from actress Halle Berry who tweeted out her support. An immigrant business owner in his 80s had his Melrose store looted then burned, and his recently deceased wifes jewelry stolen. Things are crazy right now, but I hope we can all take a minute to help this man out!! Donate if you can. https://t.co/4WSbFts9kN? pic.twitter.com/AgjqEaZjs9 Halle Berry (@halleberry) June 1, 2020 As upset as the Harounians were about losing their store, they hold no ill will against the protesters. Having left Iran to escape religious persecution, they supported the demonstrations and valued people's rights to protest against prejudice and inequality. Ebbi said the looting should not distract from the Black Lives Matter movement, because of how important the issue and their fight continues to be. He believes the looters acted out of selfishness, not for the sake of the cause. "Everyone has the right for their voice to be heard," Ebbi said. "We need our voice to be heard. We immigrated from Iran. We came here because we had issues with the government of Iran, religious issues. So we know what the reason is. "We know your voice needs to be heard. But the people that looted and they burned the store, they were not for Black Lives Matters. These are people that are taking advantage of other people." The Harounians, along with many other small business owners on Melrose, continue to clean up the damage. They see a long road ahead for rebuilding, but would like to reopen and stay in the same location when repairs to the building are made -- whenever that might be. Until then, Ebbi can only hope his father will be able to return to work soon so he can go back to doing what he loves. Despite how bad the situation may seem, it seems Ned's resilience, strength and kindness will get the family through this tough time. In response to the support they've received, Ned simply said: "Thank you to everybody." WE LOVE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS Lancaster Countys unemployment rate fell to 11.4% in May, the state reported Tuesday, another indication that the pandemics grip on the local economy has loosened a little. Though the May figure is the second worst rate here since the Great Depression, its also a significant improvement from the 15.2% rate recorded in April, the worst rate since the Great Depression. The progress, such as it is, reflected a substantial drop in the number of unemployed Lancaster County residents from the second week of April, when the April data was gathered, to the second week of May, when the May data was collected. That figure tumbled from 42,500 to 33,000, a change of 9,500, the state report shows. The unemployment rate is moving in the right direction. The size of the labor force (which includes people working and jobless people who are seeking work) increased, suggesting people are not being discouraged from looking for a job, noted Naomi Young, director of the Center for Regional Analysis, part of the Economic Development Company of Lancaster County. The improvement in the unemployment rate was expected, since the number of new claims for unemployment benefits filed by countians and the number of continued (ongoing) claims for benefits have been declining for weeks, as LNP | LancasterOnline has reported. Both trends are continuing, a positive indicator for the June employment rate, which gets released by the state on July 28. Still, encouraging trends aside, the unemployment rate in May was staggering. For comparison, the May 2019 rate was 3.3 percent -- a normal rate here before the pandemic and less than a third of the new rate, as the county back then had 9,300 unemployed residents. Unemployment soared beginning in mid-March, as Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all but life-sustaining businesses to close and told employees of those non-essential businesses and other residents to stay home, to stem the outbreak of COVID-19. The steps helped limit the spread of the virus but prompted non-essential employers to slash thousands of jobs. Since May, though, Wolf has been gradually allowing shuttered businesses to reopen, albeit with restrictions, and employers have been bringing back some of their furloughed workers yet nowhere near their usual complement. The most extreme example is the leisure and hospitality sector (hotels, motels, restaurants, bars etc.). This sector added 3,800 workers from April to May but remained a stunning 11,200 below its May 2019 level, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry report. Other examples abound: construction added 3,700 workers, but still lagged 2,500 below May 2019; manufacturing added 1,700 workers, but fell 2,100 short of the May 2019 mark; retail trade added 2,400, but fell 3,000 short of the year-earlier level; health care and social assistance added 900, but fell 3,100 short of the May 2019 level. With the May decline, Lancaster Countys rate dipped well below the statewide rate (13.1%) and the national rate (13.3%). The countys rate also was better than the rates of most other metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania. Of the 17 other metros in the state, only State College (8.3%), Chambersburg (10.8%), Lebanon (11.3%) and Harrisburg/Carlisle (11.3%) beat Lancaster Countys 11.4%. East Stroudsburg had the states highest rate among the metros at 18.0%. Lancaster County Career and Technology Center Foundation, Leadership Lancaster and all 17 school districts in Lancaster County will receive grants from a nearly $1 million fund administered by the Lancaster County Community Foundation. The Truist Economic Growth Fund is designed to fund schools and leadership organizations to support job-seekers, students and emerging leaders across the community. The fund will be distributed as follows: The Lancaster County Career and Technology Center Foundation will receive a Workforce Talent Transportation grant of $300,000. The grant will support tuition assistance and purchase of technology and equipment for the Career and Technology Center's adult Commercial Drivers License and Heavy Equipment Operator programs, according to LCCTC. The supported programs address the need for highly skilled employees in the transportation industry. The 17 school districts education foundations will receive a total of $425,000. Each foundation will receive $25,000 to support science, technology, engineering and math-related programming and supplies for K-12 learning. Recipients include the following school districts: Cocalico, Columbia, Conestoga Valley, Donegal, Eastern Lancaster County, Elizabethtown, Ephrata, Hempfield, Lampeter-Strasburg, School District of Lancaster, Manheim Central, Manheim Township, Octorara, Penn Manor, Pequea Valley, Solanco, and Warwick. Leadership Lancaster will receive $250,000 to establish an endowment that will ensure underrepresented populations especially racial minorities will have access to leadership training. The funds will also provide resources specifically designed to support local pilot programs and training approaches. Truist Financial Corp. is a community-driven financial services company that resulted from the 2019 merger of BB&T and SunTrust banks. Editor's note: This story will be updated with more information as it comes along. Posted 11:55 a.m. Pennsylvania has seen 86,606 positive cases of COVID-19 to date, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state has also reported 6,649 total deaths from COVID-19. #COVID19 Update (as of 6/30/20 at 12:00 am): 618 additional positive cases of COVID-19 86,606 total cases statewide 6,649 deaths statewide 677,581 patients tested negative to dateMore information: https://t.co/7pzosEXhEX PA Department of Health (@PAHealthDept) June 30, 2020 Lancaster County has seen 4,442 total positive cases to date, as well as 356 total virus-related deaths, according to the state's department of health. To date, 677,581 Pa. residents have tested negative for COVID-19. Posted 7:05 a.m. As of Monday morning, Pennsylvania has 85,988 total cases of COVID-19 to date, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state also reported 6,614 total deaths from COVID-19. Lancaster County reached 4,414 total cases to date and 356 deaths, according to the department of health. The Lancaster County coroner's office says that the county has actually seen 341 virus-related deaths, according to its COVID-19 dashboard. To date, 666,901 Pa. residents have tested negative for COVID-19. What to read next THE ISSUE June is Pride month, a celebration of the fight for LGBTQ equality. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, most Pride events were held online, though a socially distanced event was held Friday in Lancaster citys Art Park; in honor of Black Lives Matter, it focused on Black performances. Pride is celebrated in June to coincide with the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, a series of protests in 1969 against police raids of gay establishments like the Stonewall Inn in New York City. According to the Library of Congress, June 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ Pride traditions. The first Pride march in New York City was held on June 28, 1970, on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. On June 26, 2015, members of the LGBTQ community and those who love them celebrated the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. Nearly five years later, on June 15, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal civil rights law prohibiting workplace discrimination on the basis of sex extends to sexual orientation and gender identity and so protects LGBTQ individuals. An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law, conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority. He also noted that an employers right to religious liberty might supersede the ruling and likely will be a question for future cases. Still, this was progress, and we welcome it. Before this ruling, the prospect of marrying on Saturday and getting fired on Monday loomed over the heads of same-sex couples. That awful prospect has been mostly if not entirely removed. It would help, though, if the Pennsylvania Legislature would act to create state protections for the commonwealths LGBTQ citizens. Unfortunately, as Cynthia Fernandez reported for Spotlight PA earlier this month, that is unlikely to happen any time soon. (Spotlight PA is a nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with LNP Media Group and other news organizations.) As Fernandez wrote, state Sen. Patrick Browne the Senate Appropriations Committee chair and so one of the most powerful Republicans in the Senate has introduced the same bill over and over and over again, with the same result. The Lehigh County lawmaker is the prime sponsor of a measure that would enshrine anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people into Pennsylvania law. Unfortunately, his legislation continues to go nowhere, because Republican legislative leaders wont allow it to advance. So protections for LGBTQ citizens in Pennsylvania remain piecemeal. As Fernandez reported, Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order that covers LGBTQ state employees and contractors, while more than 40 municipalities have passed local anti-discrimination ordinances. ... And the state Human Relations Commission, which fields and mediates discrimination complaints, has since 2018 considered sex where it appears in state law to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Lancaster city, is one of those municipalities. More than 40 municipalities sounds good, until you remember that Pennsylvania has more than 2,500 of them. Additionally, as Mary Catherine Roper, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, told Fernandez, this months U.S. Supreme Court decision only applies to employees who work for companies with 15 or more workers. It doesnt encompass discrimination in public accommodations like stores, restaurants, theaters, hotels, recreation facilities, and private museums, Fernandez wrote. And Roper said it will have zero effect on business owners refusing to serve people because they are transgender. Sen. Browne whose tenacity in championing fairness for LGBTQ individuals we applaud seeks to add sexual orientation and gender identity to Pennsylvanias Human Relations Act, which prohibits discrimination because of race, religion, age, sex, national origin, or physical disability. As Fernandez explained, that law applies to housing, education, employment, and public accommodations, providing critical protections against practices like eviction or discriminatory banking. For two decades, Democratic state Rep. Dan Frankel of Allegheny County has introduced legislation with the same goal as Brownes, Fernandez wrote. That has gone nowhere, too. We have never hesitated to say that discrimination, in any form, is wrong, House Republican spokesman Mike Straub said, according to PAPost.org. Constructing a law in conformity of the (U.S. Supreme) Courts ruling is certainly possible but may not be necessary. We can confirm for him that this is necessary. As we noted, protections for LGBTQ individuals in Pennsylvania remain a patchwork which is a nice way to describe quilts, but not civil rights protection. Straub said Republican leaders would take a close look at how the ruling impacts our existing state laws. However, if there are further efforts to amend the existing federal protection laws, they must recognize, as (the Supreme Court did June 15), that federal law provides for specific and certain protections for sincerely held religious beliefs. A note about that: Many LGBTQ individuals have sincerely held religious beliefs, too. But they need the force of law to protect them from discrimination. If Pennsylvania lawmakers really believe discrimination is wrong, they should support legislation prohibiting it. Until they do, their words are empty. The writer of the May 23 letter Trump handled crisis effectively should have included all the facts before he rested his case. True, President Donald Trump banned travelers from China except for tens of thousands of untested returning U.S. citizens. But he also delayed banning flights from Italy for a long time after it became a hotbed of the virus, which then spread to New York City. On Jan. 30, economic adviser Peter Navarro warned that a pandemic was looming, but Trump seemingly ignored him. Finally, Trump formed a task force, but called its head an alarmist and replaced him with cheerleader Vice President Mike Pence. Trump dismissed the pandemic as the Democrats new hoax and predicted it would soon disappear. He approved the Presidents Coronavirus Guidelines for America and later called for Democratic-led states to be liberated. In early March, both South Korea and the U.S. had only a few cases. South Korea has had fewer than 300 deaths, and the U.S. has had more than 125,000. What made the difference? South Korea immediately emphasized testing and quarantine, while Trump called testing overrated. Trump complained continually about a cupboard that was bare because of former President Barack Obama. Hes been in office more than three years plenty of time to restock. Trump is solely focused on the economy and reelection! Thats effective leadership? Paul S. Dodge New Holland The Usual (British) Suspects Behind the Latest Attack on Trump Talking to Putin June 29, 2020 (EIRNS)White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed June 29th that neither the President nor the Vice President were briefed on the claim, circulated by the New York Times and London Guardian, that the Russian GRU offered bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers. The June 27 Guardian account adds Russian bounties to kill U.K. soldiers to the mix. McEnany reiterated that there was no consensus in the U.S. intelligence community that the claim was true. As a result, the President was not briefed. Meanwhile, the usual suspects, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice-President Joe Biden, John Bolton, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Rep. Liz Cheney and other useful dupes prone to ingesting British Kool-Aid claimed either that this was yet another instance of Trump being soft on Russia at the expense of American lives or that immediate investigations must be launched to get to the heart of this. The Guardian story locates this latest outrageous Trump/Russia conspiracy claim right where the last one began, with British intelligence and NATO. According to the Guardians June 27th account, the Russian GRU unit behind the Afghanistan bounties was the same one that poisoned Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. In support of this bogus claim, they cite Dr. Yuri Felshtinsky, the MI6 asset who collaborated with the anti-Putin oligarch Boris Berezovsky and Alexander Litvinenko, in London-based operations against Putin and Russia. Litvinenko, who died as the result of polonium poisoning, was case officered by MI6s Christopher Steele, the author of the fake dossier against Donald Trump. The Guardian also cites former British ambassador to Moscow Sir Andrew Wood in support of the Russian bounties story. Wood personally handed the bogus Christopher Steele Trump dossier to Sen. John McCain and, in general, vouched for Christopher Steeles credibility throughout the intelligence community. Representative Kinzinger received the first copy of the Steele dossier in 2016. Just in case the sourcing of the bogus claim is not clear from the above, the Guardian went on to hypothesize that unjustified fears expressed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his predecessor, Theresa May, about upsetting Donald Trump, are behind the suppression of an Intelligence and Security Committee Report, concerning Russias operations in Britain, which includes the continued claim that Russia has a hold over the American President. The author of that report? Christopher Steele. The incident occurs as President Trump has pressed for a complete U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, a position fiercely opposed by the Pentagon, war hawks, and NATO. John Bolton mocks Trumps position repeatedly in his recently produced novel while naming those in opposition to the Presidents plan. The Congressional Research Service just completed a report on Afghanistan, urging Congress to become more involved in the decision whether or not to withdraw. An end to the Afghan war would, of course, open up major development among China, India, and Pakistana casus belli in the minds of Lord Halford Mackinders kindergarten in British and British-influenced military and intelligence circles. It would also end U.S. protection of the worlds opium supply lines. Tuesday, June 30, 2020 In its opinion in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue regarding a state tax credit scheme for student scholarships, the majority held that the scheme must be afforded to religious schools so that the Free Exercise Clause was not violated. Recall that the Montana Supreme Court held that the tax credit program's application to religious schools was unconstitutional under its state constitution, Art. X 6 , which prohibits aid to sectarian schools. This type of no-aid provision is often referred to as (or similar to) a Blaine Amendment and frequently appears in state constitutions. In a closely-divided decision, the Court decided that the Montana Supreme Court's decision that the tax credit program could not be extended to religious schools should be subject to struct scrutiny under the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause and did not survive. (The Court therefore stated it need not reach the equal protection clause claims). The Court essentially found that this case was more like Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer (2017) (involving playground resurfacing) and less like Locke v. Davey, 540 U.S. 712 (2004), in which the Court upheld State of Washington statutes and constitutional provisions that barred public scholarship aid to post-secondary students pursuing a degree in theology. The Court distinguishes Locke v. Davey as pertaining to what Davey proposed "to do" (become a minister) and invoking a "historic and substantial state interest in not funding the training of clergy. Instead, the Court opined that like Trinity Lutheran, Esponiza "turns expressly on religious status and not religious use." The Court's opinion, by Chief Justice Roberts and joined by Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, is relatively compact at 22 pages. In addition to taking time to distinguish Locke v. Davey, the opinion devotes some discussion to federalism, invoking the Supremacy Clause and Marbury v. Madison in its final section. But the opinion also engages with the dissenting Justices' positions in its text and its footnotes. Along with the concurring opinions, the overall impression of Espinoza is a fragmented Court, despite the carefully crafted majority opinion. The concurring opinion of Thomas joined by Gorsuch reiterates Thomas's view that the Establishment Clause should not apply to the states; the original meaning of the clause was to prevent the federal establishment of religion while allowing states to establish their own religions. While this concurring opinion criticizes the Court's Establishment Clause opinions, it does not confront why a state constitution would not be free to take an anti-establishment position. Gorsuch also wrote separately, seemingly to emphasize that the record contained references to religious use (exercise) and not simply religious status. Gorsuch did not discuss the federalism issues he stressed in his opinion released yesterday in June Medical Services. Alito's thirteen page concurring opinion is an exegesis on the origins of the Montana constitutional provision as biased. Alito interestingly invokes his dissenting opinion in Ramos v. Louisiana decided earlier this Term in which he argued that the original motivation of a state law should have no bearing on its present constitutionality: "But I lost, and Ramos is now precedent. If the original motivation for the laws mattered there, it certainly matters here." (Noteworthy perhaps is that Roberts joined Alito's dissenting opinion in Ramos and Roberts's opinion in Esponiza does spend about 3 pages discussing the Blaine amendments' problematical history, but apparently this was insufficient for Alito). Ginsburg's dissenting opinion, joined by Kagan, pointed to an issue regarding the applicability of the Court's opinion: By urging that it is impossible to apply the no-aid provision in harmony with the Free Exercise Clause, the Court seems to treat the no-aid provision itself as unconstitutional. Petitioners, however, disavowed a facial First Amendment challenge, and the state courts were never asked to address the constitutionality of the no- aid provision divorced from its application to a specific government benefit. Breyer, joined in part by Kagan, essentially argued that the majority gave short-shrift to Locke v. Davey and its "play-in-the-joints" concept authored by Rehnquist as expressing the relationship between the Establishment and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Breyer's opinion is almost as long as the majority opinion, and the majority takes several opportunities to express its disagreement with Breyer, including in a two paragraph discussion, his implicit departure from precedent (e.g., "building on his solo opinion in Trinity Lutheran"). Sotomayor's dissent, also criticized by the majority in text, argues that the Court is "wrong to decide the case at all" and furthermore decides it wrongly. The Court's reframing incorrectly addressed (or seemingly addressed?) whether the longstanding state constitutional provision was constitutional. Thus, she argues, the Court has essentially issued an advisory opinion. On the merits, she contends, "the Courts answer to its hypothetical question is incorrect." She concludes that the majority's ruling is "perverse" because while the Court once held that "the Free Exercise Clause clearly prohibits the use of state action to deny the rights of free exercise to anyone, it has never meant that a majority could use the machinery of the State to practice its beliefs, it now departs from that balanced view. The Court's opinion is much more divided than it seems at first blush. And the future of state constitutional provisions that prohibit taxpayer money from being used to support religious institutions remains in doubt. https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/2020/06/scotus-holds-free-exercise-clause-bars-application-of-states-no-aid-to-religious-institutions-clause.html Tuesday, June 30, 2020 In our most recent series of Undisclosed, we covered the case of Jonathan Irons. Irons was 16 years-old when he was arrested for a burglary and shooting at the home of Stanley Stotler in O'Fallon, Missouri in 1997. Irons was eventually convicted of crimes connected to that burglary and sentenced to 50 years incarceration. Back in March, Judge Daniel Green granted him a new trial. Since then, despite this ruling and Irons's prison being a COVID-19 hotspot, the state Attorney General has continued appealing, keeping Irons behind bars. Today, the Supreme Court of Missouri will decide on whether to hear the State's final appeal. If, as we hope, the court rules against the State, St. Charles County Prosecutor Tim Lohmar will have 10 days to decide whether to drop the charges against Irons or take the case to trial again. [Update: Tim Lohmar has dropped the case against Jonathan Irons] I am asking you to contact Tim Lohmar (636-949-7355/pa@sccmo.org) today to respectfully ask that he drop the case against Irons. Here is a script that you can use (feel free to modify) for a phone call and/or e-mail: Dear Mr. Lohmar, I am writing/calling to respectfully ask that you drop the case against Jonathan Irons. I believe that Mr. Irons was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit at the age of 16 and do not believe that he should have to suffer the physical, mental, and emotional anguish of remaining incarcerated during the COVID pandemic and facing another trial. I am troubled by several aspects of Jonathan's case. First, the State has admitted to altering and failing to turn over an original fingerprint report that would have shown that a fingerprint lifted from the storm door where the burglar almost certainly exited the victim's home did not belong to either Jonathan Irons or the homeowner. Second, the victim was shown a biased photo array in which Jonathan Irons's face was larger than the other faces, and yet he still could not initially make an identification, which should be taken as evidence of Jonathan Irons's innocence. Third, Jonathan Irons's trial attorney never contacted a witness who told police she saw Jonathan Irons during Bible study at a time that would have made it highly improbable if not impossible that he could have committed the crime. Fourth, it has been uncovered that the detective who claims Jonathan Irons confessed to him kept a blog in which he admitted to all sorts of police misconduct, including fabricating evidence. Fifth, at trial, the State was unfairly allowed to introduce a gun into evidence despite the fact that there was no evidence linking the gun to Jonathan Irons or the crime. These are not just my opinions. They are the conclusions of Judge Daniel Green, who reached them after hearing testimony from both witnesses for the State and the defense. Jonathan Irons has already spent 23 year behind bars for a crime he did not commit. I respectfully ask that you drop the case against him so that he can be reunited with his family and live his life as an innocent man for the first time since he was sixteen. Sincerely, Name Jonathan Irons with his godparents For more details regarding the case, you can read below: Irons was convicted primarily based upon five factors: 1. The State claimed at trial that the burglar had to use the front storm door to exit Stotler's house and introduced a fingerprint report and testimony indicating that the only latent fingerprints lifted from the storm door belonged to Stotler. The detective who booked Irons also testified that Irons asked him during booking whether they recovered his fingerprints from Stotler's house, which the prosecutor used to argue that Irons must have been mocking the detective because Irons had ostensibly worn gloves during the burglary and knew he hadn't left behind any fingerprints. 2. Stanley Stotler identified Jonathan Irons as his shooter at trial. 3. Although lead detective Michael Hanlen could not testify at trial due to an operation on his throat, the prosecution introduced Hanlen's suppression hearing testimony in which Hanlen claimed that Irons orally confessed to entering Stotler's house. There was nothing written to corroborate Hanlen's claim, which Hanlen explained by claiming that Irons refused to sign anything, including a Miranda waiver. Shortly thereafter, however, when another detective sought to interrogate Irons, he readily signed a Miranda waiver indicating that he refused to talk (and he also invoked his Miranda rights when a third officer tried to interrogate him). 4. Various residents of Stanley Stotler's neighborhood -- Osage Meadows -- placed Irons in the neighborhood on the night of the shooting, some of whom said that he had a gun. 5. At trial, the prosecution presented into evidence a gun that an unnamed informant gave to an officer, saying that he was afraid it had been stolen. Now, however, all five of these factors favors release and dropping of the charges against Jonathan Irons: 1. The State itself has admitted that someone working for the State altered the original fingerprint report before it was turned over to the defense during discovery. That original fingerprint report shows that one of the fingerprints lifted from around the handle on the storm door did not belong to either Irons or Stotler (who lived alone). This fingerprint was very likely left by the burglar, which strongly supports Irons's claim of innocence. Excerpt from Judge Daniel Green's opinion 2. Weeks after the shooting, Stotler was shown a biased photo array in which Jonathan Irons's face was much larger than the other faces in the photo array. Even with the biased array, Stotler could not pick anyone as his shooter, which should be taken as a non-identification and evidence of innocence. A detective then made the unconventional decision to ask Stotler to make his best guess. Stotler then said that it could have been #3 (Irons) or #6 (someone else). Upon his request, Stotler was then given the photo array and police reports (identifying Irons as the suspect). Only after studying these documents for weeks did Stotler identify Irons. The photo array shown to Stotler, with Irons in position #3 3. Michael Hanlen maintained a blog recounting all sorts of police misconduct that he committed. Here is one example: 4. On the night of the burglary, police spoke to Amber Boeckman, who said that Jonathan Irons stopped by her home during Bible study between 6:30 and 6:40pm. Boeckman lived 2+ blocks away from Stotler, who made a 911 call after the shooting at 6:42pm. Despite the fact that Boeckman would have provided a terrific alibi, she was never contacted by the defense. Excerpt from Judge Daniel Green's opinion 5. There was no evidence connecting the gun to Jonathan Irons or the crime, and its display to the jury would have been highly prejudicial: Excerpt from Judge Daniel Green's opinion https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/evidenceprof/2020/06/in-our-most-recent-series-of-undisclosed-we-covered-the-case-of-jonathan-irons.html Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Yung Wu, CEO of Toronto-based MaRS Discovery District, has a wonderful new commentary piece in Fortune magazine. Check out this opening paragraph: Strictly speaking, America, we Canadians should be quietly thanking you for your self-destructive immigration policies. They benefit Canada immensely. But friends tell you when you make a mistake. And youre making a giant one by hardening your borders and your hearts to talented newcomers. Just what's the big deal according to Wu? "Youre shutting out the creators of your economic future." As for Canada, it's ready to swoop in and make room for those left out of the United States. Canada has a Global Talent Stream program designed to facilitate entrepreneurial migration. And Canadian companies are falling over themselves to recruit workers spurned by the U.S. As one CEO put it: "Canada is awesome. Give it a try." After all, if the U.S. "won't value talented immigrants, Canada will." -KitJ https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2020/06/canada-to-us-thanks-for-the-immigrants.html The Maritime harness racing industry has lost a respected owner and leader with the passing of Joe Kennedy, 88, of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Kennedys involvement in harness racing started with his family racing horses on the ice in Guysborough and Antigonish and at the tracks in Port Hood and Inverness. Joe was a longtime industry leader and volunteer, a member of Standardbred Canada, and served as president of the Harness Horse Owners Association of Halifax, president of the Atlantic Standardbred Breeders Association, director of the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Commission and various industry committees. His greatest moment in harness racing would be breeding and co-owning the multiple Maritime Champion colt Firms Phantom. A graveside service will be held in the St. Anns Roman Catholic Cemetery, Guysborough on Friday, July 3 at 1:30 p.m. with Father Callistus Abazie officiating, arrangement under the direction of the Dennis Haverstock Funeral Home, Guysborough. A memorial mass will be held at a later date. Memorial donations can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society, St. Anns Church or a charity of your choice. The complete obituary for Kennedy and words of comfort for the family may be accessed here. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Joe Kennedy. Tuesday, June 30, 2020 The Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed a finding that the presence of a third party in communications with a client's divorce attorney waived the attorney-client privilege. The client had been advised that the situation would waive privilege but nonetheless proceeded. [The client] filed a complaint for divorce against Timothy J. Pagliara (Husband). At that time, Wife was represented by an attorney, Marlene Moses. While the divorce action was pending, Wife consulted with her attorney, Ms. Moses, in the presence of Wifes friend, Adela Ferrell, concerning, in part, whether Wife should report to law enforcement certain actions by Husband. Ms. Moses correctly had informed Wife that their communications would not be protected by attorney-client privilege with Ms. Ferrell present, but Wife insisted Ms. Ferrell remain in the room. Husbands counter complaint alleged that upon Wifes request for legal advice as to whether she should report Husbands actions to law enforcement, Ms. Moses responded to Wife that reporting his conduct was the only way for Wife to gain an advantage in the divorce proceeding. Ms. Moses then referred Wife to her son-in-law, Ben Russ, an attorney practicing criminal law. Ms. Ferrell drove Wife to her meeting with Mr. Russ and was present during this meeting. Mr. Russ also informed Wife that their conversations would not be privileged with Ms. Ferrell present in the meeting, but Wife insisted that Ms. Ferrell be present. Ms. Ferrell, therefore, was present for this meeting with Mr. Russ wherein they discussed reporting Husbands actions to law enforcement. Wife subsequently reported Husbands actions to the Franklin Police Department. The husband sued for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and sought discovery of these communications. Because Wife was in the best place to have the knowledge necessary to prove the existence of attorney-client privilege, the burden of proof was with Wife to show that the communications between her and her lawyer were protected by attorney-client privilege. See Culbertson, 393 S.W.3d at 684; State ex rel. Flowers., 209 S.W.3d at 616. Wife did not present evidence demonstrating that the attorney-client privilege applied to any specific one or more of the meetings with her attorneys and agreed with the Trial Courts finding that she could not identify which meetings Ms. Ferrell was present for. Our acceptance of Wifes position would mean that because neither Wife nor Ms. Ferrell could identify which meetings Ms. Ferrell was present, the attorney-client privilege would apply whether Ms. Ferrell was present or not. That is not the law in Tennessee. Wife has not met her burden of proof to establish that the attorney-client privilege protected these communications. As such, we affirm the Trial Courts ruling that the attorney-client privilege does not protect these communications between Wife and Ms. Moses and Wife and Mr. Russ because Wife has not met her burden of proof to establish that the privilege applies to any specific communication at issue. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2020/06/the-tennessee-court-of-appeals-affirmed-a-finding-that-the-presence-of-a-third-party-in-communications-with-a-clients-divorce.html American organizers of a Facebook advertising boycott say they are seeking support in Europe to push the social media service to do more to remove hate speech. The Stop Hate for Profit campaign has received support from more than 160 companies. They include American corporations like Coca-Cola, Levi Strauss & Company, Patagonia and The Hershey Company. The companies united to stop buying advertising on Facebook, the worlds largest social media company. The boycott, which includes Facebook-owned Instagram, was launched following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25 after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. The incident was caught on video. Floyds death led to widespread protests across America aimed at police and racial inequality. Anger over Floyds death also led to public demonstrations in cities across the world. Some corporations also released statements denouncing racism in society. The Stop Hate for Profit campaign is supported by several U.S. civil rights groups and non-profit media organizations. One group is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL said in a recent open letter that Facebooks hate speech, incitement, and misinformation policies are inequitable. The group said Facebooks efforts to find and remove hateful material are not effective. It added that a companys ad can appear on Facebook next to hateful or divisive material. The ADL also criticized the company for failing to remove false information appearing in advertisements or published by users. Critics have said that Facebook reported receiving $70 billion in advertising money in 2019, while earning about $18 billion in profit. One campaign supporter is the group Free Press. It said that even with such high advertising profits, the company has repeatedly failed to meaningfully address hate, incitement to violence and disinformation across its products. The Stop Hate for Profit campaign has created a set of demands for Facebook. Among them are the establishment of a new process to help users targeted with ads based on race and other identifiers. The groups are pushing Facebook to release more information about the number of hate speech reports it receives. They also want the company to stop making money from ads linked to harmful content. Jim Steyer heads the media education group Common Sense Media. He recently told the Reuters news agency that the campaign will start calling on major companies in Europe to join the boycott. The next frontier is global pressure, said Steyer. He added that he hopes the campaign will lead regulators in Europe to reexamine policies covering the social media company. Earlier this month, the European Commission announced new guidelines for technology companies to report monthly how they are attempting to reduce misinformation about the new coronavirus. Steyer said the campaign will urge major international advertisers like Unilever and Honda - which have already stopped buying U.S. ads - to halt all Facebook ads worldwide. Campaign organizers say they also plan to keep urging more U.S. companies to take part in the boycott. Jessica Gonzalez is co-leader of the group Free Press. Gonzalez told Reuters she recently contacted big U.S. telecommunications and media companies to ask them to join. Responding to demands for more action, Facebook has admitted the company has more work to do. It said it was working with civil rights groups and experts to develop more tools to fight hate speech. Facebook said its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) tools permit the company to identify about 90 percent of hate speech before users report it. Im Bryan Lynn. Sheila Dang reported this story for Reuters. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English, with additional information from the Stop Hate for Profit campaign and online sources. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story kneel v. to put one or both knees on the ground inequitable adj. not fair divisive adj. causing disagreements between people address v. to discuss content n. the information or ideas included in a book, film or on the internet frontier n. the limits of what is known or what has been done before regulator n. the prople or institutions that make rules or laws that control something artificial intelligence n. the power of a machine to copy intelligent human behavior From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report. Much of the world is watching and waiting for researchers to develop a vaccine for the disease COVID-19. But making enough of the vaccine to end the coronavirus health crisis will be the biggest medical manufacturing feat in history. That work has started. Researchers are currently setting up testing, involving 10,000 to 30,000 volunteers for every candidate vaccine. These scientists say they hope to get an answer on whether a vaccine works by as early as this October. However, health officials face a hard reality. The developer of an effective vaccine may not be able to make and deliver billions of doses all at once. Never done before The Reuters news agency spoke with over 10 vaccine developers and suppliers. The U.S. government has partnered with Johnson & Johnson on a $1 billion investment to speed up development and production of its vaccine, even before it is proven to work. Johnson & Johnson signed a deal with two other businesses, Emergent Biosolutions and Catalent, to manufacture large amounts in the United States. Catalent will also do some fill-and-finish work. Never in history has so much vaccine been developed at the same time - so that capacity doesnt exist, said Paul Stoffels. He is the chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson. He said he believes that filling capacity is the main limiting factor. Seth Berkley is head of GAVI, the vaccines alliance. He told Reuters that experts estimate having one to two billion doses of vaccine in the first year, spread out over the world population. He added that it is unlikely to go straight from having zero vaccines to having enough doses for everyone. GAVI is a project of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its aim is to increase the availability of vaccines -- and immunization rates -- in developing countries. Colonel Nelson Michael is the director of the U.S. Armys Center for Infectious Disease Research. He is working on a government project aimed at delivering a COVID-19 vaccine to the world by January 2021. Michael says that companies usually have years to develop vaccines. Now, he said, they have weeks. The main problem: logistics But one of the biggest issues is an untested supply chain: How to get the vaccine to people around the world? Any problem in the supply chain could delay or even wreck the whole process. And there could be other problems. In other words, logistics the term for organizing a complex operation such as this -- is a major concern. This is the biggest logistical challenge the world has ever faced, said Toby Peters. He is an engineering and technology expert with Britains Birmingham University. Peters told Reuters, We could be looking at vaccinating 60% of the (worlds) population. Companies and governments must improve machines to be able to fill that demand. Currently there are not enough machines that can fill and package the vaccines for delivery. Another problem: Vaccines need extreme cold Once ready for shipping, many vaccines need to be kept very cold. Some of the more promising vaccines are made from genetic material -- such as messenger RNA, or mRNA vaccines. People who work with mRNA store it at minus 80 degrees centigrade, said Paul Offit, a co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine. He noted that such conditions are not available at most doctors offices. He is a doctor and directs the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Peters of Birmingham University has been gathering information from poorer countries in Africa and Asia. He said that breaks in the temperature-controlled supply chain are already happening. Companies such as Moderna are working to make candidate vaccines that remain stable at higher temperatures. Colleen Hussey is a spokesperson for Moderna. She told Reuters that for a short amount of time, these vaccines can be stored in refrigeration equipment found in doctors offices or medical centers. She added, We will know more in the next 2-3 months. And thats the Health & Lifestyle report. Im Anna Matteo. The Reuters news agency reported this story. Anna Matteo adapted the report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Quiz - Vaccine Makers Face Biggest Medical Manufacturing Feat in History Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story feat n. an act or achievement that shows courage, strength, or skill deliver v. to transfer possession of (property) to another : put into the possession or exclusive control of another dose n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time capacity n. ability to contain or deal with something : the ability to do something factor n. something that helps produce or influence a result : one of the things that cause something to happen supply chain n. supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in supplying a product or service to a consumer challenge n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do package n. a box or large envelope that is sent or delivered usually through the mail or by another delivery service : v. to put (something) in a package in order to sell it or send it somewhere stable adj. in a good state or condition that is not easily changed or likely to change The City of Lebanon is rebooting its search for a new city manager. Mayor Paul Aziz and the city councilors interviewed two finalists for the position on June 24. These candidates, Troy Swanson of Anchorage, Alaska, and Christy Wurster of Silverton, also appeared at a public forum on June 23. But according to a press release issued by the city, the council did not feel either candidate was the right choice at this time. "I am very thankful to both of our candidates for their patience working through the difficult and lengthy hiring process. After weighing all the interviews, staff, and community input the council decided that there was not a right fit and we need to continue the search. We want to make sure we get the right person and not just hire someone to fill the position," stated Aziz. The position has been vacant since the resignation of Gary Marks in August 2019. Ron Whitlatch, the head of the city's engineering department, has also been serving as the interim city manager since last September. The city has hired Prothman, a consulting company that specializes in job searches for local governments, to help oversee the recruiting process. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the search and made it difficult to interview some candidates. GOTHENBURG A Gothenburg man was injured after a pickup-train collision occurred on Saturday, June 27. Around 8:43 a.m. the Dawson County Sheriffs Office was dispatched to a railroad crossing west of Gothenburg. An eastbound Union Pacific coal train carrying 147 cars struck a 2017 Toyota Tacoma at a private crossing two miles west of Gothenburg, said Union Pacific National Media and Nebraska director Raquel Espinoza. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Espinoza said the crossing does feature stop signs and this will play into Union Pacifics investigation. Horns and whistles were used several times by the Union Pacific crew. The Toyota was southbound on the tracks when it was struck in the front passenger side by the coal train. The driver, 67-year-old Robert Buddenberg of Gothenburg was transported from the scene by the Gothenburg Volunteer Fire Department to Gothenburg Memorial Hospital, according to Dawson County Sheriffs Office Chief Deputy Greg Gilg. Buddenberg was then transported by life flight helicopter to CHI Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney. He suffered broken bones and internal injuries, Gilg said. In the last 24 hours, 672 new Covid-19 positive cases reported in Uttar Pradesh In comparison to other countries across the globe, India is still in a very stable situation, in the battle against Covid-19: PM Modi We cannot continue to be prisoners of Covid-19 crisis, says UK PM Johnson Allowing morning walks from 5:30 am to 8:30 am but social distancing should be maintained: Mamata Banerjee CRPF DG writers to staff requesting them to donate plasma to Covid-19 patients US has put a halt on plans to reopen the states or are approaching a calibrated reopening as coronavirus cases continue to surge. India has begun the second stage of unlocking the economy but retained most of the rules that were part of Unlock 1. Unlock 2 in India came with only a few changes. Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic US, India, Brazil and Russia could remain in the EU's non-travelling countries list. China could also join the list as Beijing reports surge in cases. China is also reporting a new strain of swine flu which is causing concern for the authorities. WHO has exercised caution and has asked countries to bolster contact tracing as well as their health systems. SAN DIEGO Whether it was destiny or karma was of no relevance to Jon Rahm. He won the U.S. Open on Sunday at Torrey Pines, the perfect time and the perfect place to become a major champion. Faith Leaders and Human Rights Activists to Hold Prayer Vigil, Public Witness and Peaceful Civil Disobedience at the U.S. Capitol Building to Call for Congress to Stand in Solidarity with Hong Kong Rev. Patrick Mahoney praying on the streets of Hong Kong, November 2019. NEWS PROVIDED BY Christian Defense Coalition June 30, 2020 WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /Standard Newswire/ -- The vigil will be held on Wednesday, July 1, at 12:00 PM as the group will be gathering on the west public sidewalk in front of the Capitol building on 1st St. NE and East Capitol St. Clergy and activists will first hold a news conference and then walk to the eastern steps of the Capitol building for prayer, public witness as they peacefully kneel on the Capitol steps risking arrest as they stand with the democracy protesters in Hong Kong. Participants will be calling and praying for members of Congress to support Hong Kong after China passes oppressive "National Security Law." The CCP is expected to pass the legislation on June 30 which will severally crush free speech, human rights, justice and democracy in Hong Kong. It is critical that America and the free nations of the world stand with Hong Kong and speak out against the tyranny of China as they attempt to strip Hong Kong of their basic freedoms and rights. The vigil is primarily sponsored by three members of the clergy who have worked extensively with the Hong Kong democracy movement after leading prayer vigils and demonstrations there last November. Dr. William Devlin, CEO of REDEEM!, states; "In November 2019, our team of three American clergy spent 7 days in Hong Kong in the middle of Polytechnic University with hundreds of students who love liberty being tear-gassed, water-cannoned and rubber bulleted. We stood with the freedom-loving students and residents of Hong Kong then; today, we stand again with democracy loving people of Hong Kong saying: Liberate Hong Kong; five demands, not one less." Rev. Kris Keating, President of Bright Mercy, comments; "The people of Hong Kong should be free to govern themselves. Right now, the people of that nation are vulnerable and oppressed because of China's desire to control and exploit them. We're gathering to stand in solidarity with our neighbors in Hong Kong. Hong Kong will only be free if the world stands with them against China's interference." Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, comments; "It is critical America and the free nations of the world stand with Hong Kong and speak out against the tyranny of China as they attempt to strip Hong Kong of their basic freedoms and rights. We are praying and calling upon Congress and the Trump Administration never to abandon the people of Hong Kong in their heroic struggle for freedom." SOURCE Christian Defense Coalition CONTACT: Rev. Patrick Mahoney, 540-538-4741 An artist rendering of the new Schweitzer CTE Center sits out front of the state-of-the-art career technical education building that is under construction in this photo from early May. The building won't open as scheduled this fall because of delays in the supply chain, it was announced Monday. The new site is located in the AMR training room, located at 240 W. Highway 246, Buellton. More election information Although Santa Barbara County Elections Division offices are closed to the public for physical distancing during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the offices continue to provide services by phone, email, U.S. Postal Service mail and online. Citizens can register to vote up until Monday, Oct. 19, with conditional registration for those who missed the deadline to take place from Oct. 20 right through the close of the polls on Election Day. To register to vote or to update a voter registration, visit https://registertovote.ca.gov/. Election officials currently plan to take conditional registrations at the County Elections offices at 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria and 401 E. Cypress St. in Lompoc. Those who prefer to deliver their ballots rather than return them by mail can deposit them in drop boxes at 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria and 100 Civic Center Plaza in Lompoc. For more information about filing as a candidate, registering to vote and casting ballots in the Nov. 3 general election in Santa Barbara County, visit https://countyofsb.org/care and click on "Explore Elections" or call the County Elections Office at 805-568-2200. We're sorry, but Newspapers.com doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. You will need to enable Javascript by changing your browser settings. Learn how to enable it. On the occasion of World MSME Week, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted an interactive webinar on How to Enhance your Business through Artificial Intelligence(AI) with a gathering of esteemed delegates including Shri Piyush Srivastava, Additional Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, Government of India; Mr. Raj Sharma, President, All India Council for Robotics and Automation (AICRA); Ms. Laxmi Nageshwari, Global Lead, Boston Ltd and Mr. Sunil Goel, Founder BBzAIT Consulting. Shri Piyush Srivastava while lauding the initiatives taken by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry towards MSMEs, said that AI can improve every aspect of the MSME which includes Customer Engagement, Profiling, Advertising, Marketing, Hiring and others. AI has come a long way and now its here to stay. It drives our domain, process, and the way we do business in the times to come at the micro and macro levels. He cited examples of the marriage of AI and the Internet of Things that will help in the promotion of machines and people. This is Industry 4.0 which will lead to efficiency in production and business process resulting in lower cost and high productivity of MSME for making India a Self-Reliant nation. He deliberated the rapid initiatives taken to develop the MSME sector and adopting digital technologies, enabling technology infrastructure i.e. Innovation, Growth, and Efficiency that has the potential to have the exponential impact of the business. AI will also contribute to Indias GDP in the future. He discussed the use of AI technologies in many industries that have led to more efficiency, accuracy, and productivity. He shared that the operation and implementation of AI will remain a challenge for Indian MSME which will take time to resolve. There is a need for systemic data capture and a platform for the exchange of data with safeguards. He talked about the initiatives taken by the government and concerning ministers in harnessing the technologies in different industries including MSMEs. The MSME are advised to invest in data capture that will help in structural and digital transformations. They have to be adaptive towards the new technologies. The monopolies of data, knowledge, and technology are bound to emerge. While there are issues related to data privacy, harnessing the potential of AI will lead to consulted and pragmatic efforts of all the key stakeholders said Shri Piyush Srivastava. Mr. Raj Sharma while sharing his experience, highlighted that AI needs a lot of dissemination of information, willingness to use it, and the approachability of companies. He shared that globally most of the business organizations are using AI, voice assistance and, there is tremendous potential to expand it. He shared that we need to be prepared to adapt to innovations and technology, create employment opportunities, enhance customer relations, and foster development in the organizations. He urged that corporate, organizations like PHD Chamber and the government should come together to help the organizations to leverage the use of new technologies like AI. AI can be an opportunity for industries and, we need to facilitate our MSME. While appreciating the diligent working of PHD Chamber and its opening of the Centre of Operation, he said that the main aim is the assist the MSME, which is the backbone of the nation. We will provide a solution, give our assistance, and take MSME to another platform in leveraging technology. We will also introduce certification programs that will help to learn and educate them that will help them understand and adopt the technology. Ms. Laxmi Nageshwari, in her insightful presentation on How to enhance your business through Artificial Intelligence, shared the need for incorporating Artificial Intelligence in MSMEs and how AI can help in the growth and management of MSME organizations. She deliberated that AI is a game-changer in the world of today and it can accelerate growth in the MSME through highly efficient customer service; off the rack solutions; transforming marketing process; cost and time benefits and giving greater insights into competitors business process. She shared the AI compliance issues and restrictions that is one of the challenges in working on AI. Mr. Sunil Goel gave an in-depth presentation on Enhance your business through Artificial Intelligence he shared the basics of Artificial Intelligence, their benefits, and how they are helping businesses in streaming the process and development. He shared the AI Supply and Value Chain that include Planning and Fulfilment; Manufacturing, Service and Design and sourcing, and Procurement. He shared the opportunities and challenges of AI in Industry 4.0 and other industrial revolutions. Mr. D P Goel, Co-Chairman, MSME Committee, PHD Chamber in his welcome address appraised the increased role of MSME in the development of the nation and the potential and opportunities seen with the coming of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which can expand the business opportunities for the MSME. Mr. D P Goel lauded the initiative taken by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry with a signed MoU with All India Council for Robotics and Automation (AICRA) to open a Centre of Operation for Robotics and AI which will aid to make an impactful contribution to our members, MSME, and society. The center will focus on fostering strong MSME facilitating synergy for AI adoption and help in industry and government projects. The platform will help to provide a platform for technology-based entrepreneurship, promoting research in automation, AI, and robotics. Dr. Ranjeet Mehta, Principal Director, PHD Chamber while explaining the strength, potential, and growing capabilities of MSMEs in India and the world, he delivered his concluding remarks and delivered a vote of thanks to all the delegates and participants. He also moderated the session. The webinar received extensive participation of more than 60 participants pan-India. Rosamond S. King is a writer and associate professor of English at Brooklyn College, part of the City University of New York. This column was produced for the Progressive Media Project, which is run by The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Despite these narrowing trends, each stage offers opportunities for policy interventions to expand the number of people of color in the teacher pipeline, such as alternative credential pathways and strategies to improve teacher retention, the report states. Strategies that focus on barriers that may discourage young students of color from considering or having the educational credentials to consider the teaching profession hold particular promise. Earlier this year, MMSD released its annual Human Resources report, which found turnover was highest for Black females in the 2018-19 school year. Employee relations specialist Najjah Thompson said at the time the department was considering ways to ensure all students have the opportunity to have a teacher of color. As an example, Thompson suggested creating a cohort at a single school in which all of the teachers at one grade level would be people of color. That would also ensure no teacher was alone in their school as the only teacher of color. McLay said he continues to be involved in police leadership training in other parts of the country and is willing to provide input into local discussions in Madison. Rhodes-Conway said McLays last day of work was Monday. Were going to miss his perspective and it was really great to have him in the mayors office, but I respect his decision, Rhodes-Conway said. This was a post-retirement career for him, so I think that hes making the right choice for him. Rhodes-Conway said the city will be hiring one deputy mayor, and the position should be publicly posted Tuesday. Well be moving as quickly as we can, but obviously we want to find the right person, Rhodes-Conway said. Were just looking for the right person, and we will likely shuffle portfolios as needed. As mayor, Rhodes-Conway can appoint five deputy mayors. Currently, Chief of Staff Mary Bottari, Christie Baumel, Katie Crawley and Linda Vakunta hold those positions. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. Opponents have started to call attention to management issues at other Core Spaces properties nationwide. A report from last August in East Lansing (Michigan) Info noted The Hub in that city failed to make its move-in deadline, causing significant traffic issues. Core Spaces, according to the report, did not secure a Certificate of Occupancy in time for its scheduled move-in. A Certificate of Occupancy is issued when a building has been inspected and deemed safe for living. The Hub in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, also faced issues when it opened in 2018. According to The Crimson White, students complained that when they moved in, they encountered flooding and ceiling leaks. Other students said The Hub opened before it was ready and resembled a construction site when they moved in and did not have the promised appliances. There were also issues with sewage backups and mold. "She was a die-hard civil rights activist," Grayson said in an email. "She is the epitome of Black womanhood; I think a statue of Vel Phillips would be amazingly amazing in the heart of our city. As a symbol of the Movement of Black Lives and the new era that's upon us which is the re-defining of our human-beingness." Risser, chairman of the State Capitol Executive Residence Board, said the board has a policy against new statues on the Capitol grounds, so a statue of Phillips would be an exception. "They wanted to stress the two statues that were there, 'Forward' and Heg," he said. "People are always wanting statues on the Capitol. When they made that policy they had a situation where they didn't want to fill the Capitol Square with statues." He said the board could vote on an exception, or the Legislature could step in and override the policy. Risser, the Legislature's longest-serving lawmaker, said he was serving in the Assembly when Philliips was elected secretary of state. He called her an "icon." "Honoring Vel would be a great idea," he said. State Rep. Shelia Stubbs, Dane County's first African American lawmaker, said that the Capitol needs more images of African Americans. Dear Editor: I wholeheartedly endorse Melissa Sargent in her run for Wisconsin state Senate. As an advocate for homeless individuals in our communities, I truly value her continued work on legislation that treats homeless individuals, families and unaccompanied youth with the dignity and respect that they deserve. Throughout her entire career, Melissa has worked as an advocate for homeless youth and to address homelessness issues in the Legislature. It is not always a popular stance to uphold and maintain, but Melissas unwavering support and work for these communities assures me that she is a leader of principle and will continue to fight for what is right in the face of controversy. Housing security is an extremely prevalent issue, especially here in Dane County, and it is imperative that we have an effective leader who truly understands the weight of this problem. Netmagic announced its partnership with VMware to launch SimpliInsight Services powered by VMware CloudHealth service in India. VMware Cloud Provider Program (VCPP) s is a global ecosystem of providers offering cloud services based on VMware technology. Netmagic is one of the largest VCPP partners in India to develop the orchestration layer on top of the VMware virtualization platform. Netmagic has achieved VMware Cloud Verified status and becomes the first Cloud verified partner to launch SimpliInsight Services powered by VMware CloudHealth in the country. The Cloud Verified badge signals to customers that Netmagic offers a service running on top of the complete VMware Cloud infrastructure. Through Cloud Verified partner services, customers attain access to the full set of VMware Cloud Infrastructure capabilities including integration and interoperability, cost optimization and flexibility. With SimpliInsight Services powered by VMware CloudHealth, Netmagic will deliver a consistent and actionable view into cost and resource management, security, and performance for applications across multiple cloud environments. SimpliInsight Services powered by VMware CloudHealth will help Netmagics customer realize costs saving across multi-cloud deployments such as Azure, AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), etc. We are extremely pleased to partner with VMware. Netmagics SimpliInsight service powered by VMware CloudHealth will support businesses with in-depth visibility on cost, performance and security allowing our customers to make informed strategic decisions for their deployments across hyperscalers like AWS, Azure and Google, said Nitin Mishra, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Netmagic. Pradeep Nair, managing director, VMware India, Cloud infrastructure services spend hit yet another record in Q1 2020, growing 34% (YoY) to $31 billion[1]. This growth in cloud services is driven in no small part by the global shift to remote working and increased push for digital transformation. Organizations in India are cognizant of the value delivered by cloud and we are witnessing a significant upswing in cloud adoption across sectors. At VMware we strive to help our customers manage their cloud infrastructure seamlessly and efficiently for maximum ROI. With CloudHealth, organizations in India can effectively manage multiple cloud environments through a single pane of glass. Our partnership with Netmagic will enable a wide range of Indian customers to benefit from our unified cloud management solutions and help accelerate the Indian cloud adoption narrative further. David Bate, VP, cloud, VMware Asia Pacific & Japan, VMware, Enterprises in APJ are embracing a multi-cloud model and are looking for ways to assemble, deploy, shift and manage workloads across their hybrid cloud environment. The partnership with Netmagic will bring together the capabilities for delivering cloud infrastructure, consumption and resource management to customers in India. We are excited to support their journey and are confident that SimpliInsight Services powered by VMware CloudHealth will utilize our platform to deliver a fully automated cloud management experience. VMwares global network of more than 4,000 VMware Cloud Providers leverage VMwares consistent cloud infrastructure to offer a wide array of services, provide geographic and industry specialization, and help customers meet complex regulatory requirements. Cloud Providers operating under the VMware Cloud Provider Program deliver individually tailored cloud solutions and services in more than 120 countries. The Racine Journal Times insists that full-time in-person schools must be an option this fall. If it isn't, the Racine district's achievement gap will become even worse. All students have already lost a semester of work and, yes, the virus is still a major problem, but educators need to weigh the costs and benefits, the paper editorializes. Two veteran UW academicians, William Holohan and Charles Kroncke, pen a guest column for Urban Milwaukee in which they urge the Board of Regents to amend the new rules it put in place to search for a new president and return to the method that worked well before it was scrapped by Republicans on the board. "That is the solution to making schools safe and equitable, that is the solution to dealing with conflict between young people, that is the solution to so many of the social issues the school district is worried about," Gomez said. Its so important that we celebrate this victory, we celebrate movement, we celebrate Freedom Inc. and the Freedom Youth Squad, we celebrate all the community members and folks that have been down with us since the beginning, and even folks that jumped on the bandwagon later on this is a bandwagon that you are more than welcome to join," Gomez added. "And theres still work to be done in terms of figuring out how to make schools safe and equitable for Black youth and youth of color. Board votes unanimously While some board members expressed more reservation than others, all of them voted to end the contract. That included two who voted in favor of the contract last year in Carusi and Reyes. Reyes, who praised the officers within the Madison Police Department during the meeting, said she "had to put aside my own personal and professional views about police in schools to reflect on the many voices that have advocated for change." Gov. Tony Evers, who has appointed three judges to vacant or soon-to-be vacant Dane County judicial seats this month, will get another opportunity after another judge announced his retirement in a letter to Evers Monday. Circuit Judge Peter Anderson, who has been on the bench for 11 years after his appointment by then-Gov. Jim Doyle, told Evers he plans to retire from Branch 17 effective Aug. 2. His current six-year term ends in 2022. It has been my great honor to have served the people of Dane County alongside my fellow judges, he wrote, and to have worked with the Branch 17 staff, as well as Clerk of Courts personnel, the office District Court Administrator, the courts bailiffs and the many others who ensure the safe and efficient functioning of the Dane County Circuit Court. Anderson never worked in the courts criminal rotation and heard criminal cases only during preliminary hearings as the weekly duty judge. He worked almost exclusively in the juvenile and civil rotations, hearing cases that involved a variety of legal disputes and family matters. John was born to Robert Kline and Martha Tunstall Bonnett at their family home in Moscow, Idaho. He attended schools in Moscow graduating from High School in 1944. In September 1944 John enlisted in the US Navy and served during World War II as a Navy Storekeeper until June 1946. He returned to Moscow and enrolled in the University of Idaho in the fall of 1946. It was at the University of Idaho that he met Betty Jean Holden. They were married in June of 1948 and spent their honeymoon at their family cabin at Hebgen Lake, Montana. They then moved to a farm north of Moscow where they were wheat farmers. In 1950 John was ordained and installed as an Elder in the First Presbyterian Church. Also, in 1950, after two poor crop years, John and Betty moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho, and John worked for Bettys father at the Home Service Laundry. Staff report The surge in cases of COVID-19 in the West Piedmont Health District slowed Tuesday on the eve of Phase 3 of reopening in Virginia. After the district reported 73 new cases Thursday through Monday, there were a more normal eight identified Tuesday afternoon by Nancy Bell, spokesperson for the district. And Tuesday also was the first day of free testing in Franklin County. Younger people continue to be a significant element of the recent reports. In Henry County there were two males and two females ranging from 15-19 to their 20s and 30s. In Franklin County a female and two males were in the 15-19 bracket, their 30s and their 60s. A case in Patrick County is a female in her 80s. Bell didnt announce it in her email, but the Virginia Department of Healths report on Tuesday morning cited two new hospitalizations: one in Henry County and one in Martinsville. Bell on Monday had cited social gatherings as the reason behind the weekend spike she reported 35 cases on Monday alone and said officials were concerned about those cases spreading through the community. The world is entering an exciting and daring new age in space. New companies have moved into the space business and are launching more satellites and human missions into orbit than ever before. NASA continues to invest in developing a sustainable commercial space economy through Project Artemis. Low-latency internet, high-resolution Earth observation, and ubiquitous Internet of Things communications companies will launch thousands of new satellites over the next five years to provide sensing capabilities to customers around the world. The space landscape has dramatically shifted over the past 10 years, and this has created an enormous need for new types of innovation for space-based missions. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has significant experience supporting commercial and government customers that design satellites and conduct spaceflight operations. AWSs reliable global infrastructure and unmatched portfolio of cloud services help organizations process and transform massive collections of data from space, and then quickly analyze the data to make it actionable, redefining how we research, make decisions, and see our world. Today, were excited to announce that AWS is introducing a new business segment dedicated to accelerating innovation in the global aerospace and satellite industry. The Aerospace and Satellite Solutions business segment will bring AWS services and solutions to the space enterprise, and work with customers and partners around the world to: Reimagine space system architectures. Transform space enterprises. Launch new services that process space data on Earth and in orbit. Provide secure, flexible, scalable, and cost-efficient cloud solutions to support government missions and companies advancing space around the world. Whether on Earth or in space, AWS is committed to understanding our customers missions. As we enter new areas of exploration, leadership, and knowledge are key. Thats why we are excited to welcome Retired Air Force Major General Clint Crosier, former director of Space Force Planning at the U.S. Space Force, as the leader of this new business segment. Maj. Gen. Crosier has spent the last 33 years driving transformation and mission success across the space enterprise, and led the Defense Departments efforts to stand up the U.S.s newest military service. We find ourselves in the most exciting time in space since the Apollo missions, said Maj. Gen. Crosier. I have watched AWS transform the IT industry over the last 10 years and be instrumental in so many space milestones. I am honored to join AWS to continue to transform the industry and propel the space enterprise forward. As the worlds most comprehensive cloud platform, AWS is uniquely positioned to help make the flow of space data more accessible, more cost effective, and more actionable. AWS Ground Station, a fully managed service that provides satellite owners and operators global access to their space workloads, offers a hint of what these innovative solutions can look like. Enabling customers to downlink data and provide satellite commands across multiple regions with speed and agilityand at a low costmeans satellite operators dont have to own and manage duplicative ground station infrastructure. AWS Ground Station is already being used by NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and many other customers. Today, customers around the world use AWS services and solutions such as data lakes and storage, edge computing, virtual mission operations, resilient, robust and secure satellite connectivity, image processing and intelligence analytics, and artificial intelligence and machine learning, to drive innovation in space-based missions. AWS solutions help the space enterprise redefine what is possible, and we are excited to continue building, and inventing on customers behalf. With a background in cloud computing, its exciting to see Amazon Web Services extend that experience to space, fostering collaborations with Lockheed Martin to help solve some of the worlds toughest problems, said Rick Ambrose, Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin Space. Lockheed Martins innovation focus is driven by tomorrows space missions. Weve supported missions to every planet, participated in every U.S. Mars mission and built hundreds of satellites, from GPS to weather. Together, we share a vision to help our customers access data faster, and gain new insights from sensors in space that make data even more accessible. Working with AWS, Geollect provides near real-time geospatial maritime intelligence, meaning its now possible to track and analyze the activity of ships and fleets around the world at previously unthinkable speeds, said William Hillman, Head of Geospatial Operations, Geollect. With AWSs comprehensive cloud services, Geollect is helping drive the rapid growth of the geospatial industry and showcasing British services and expertise around the world. Maxars longstanding partnership with AWS enables us to implement AWS infrastructure as foundational building blocks in our processes so that Maxar can focus on serving our Earth Intelligence customers, said Dr. Walter Scott, Maxar Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. This new AWS business will support Maxar as we launch our new WorldView Legion satellites next year, which will triple our 30 cm imagery collection and greatly increase our currency and scalability for government missions and commercial use cases. This division will also improve the space industry as a whole, allowing additional organizations to gain speed, agility, and resiliency from the worlds leading cloud. Social gatherings are generating a spike in cases of COVID-19 that has West Piedmont Health Department officials concerned about a spread of the virus. Nancy Bell, spokesperson for the district, cited at least one trip to the beach and social gatherings as elements that led to 35 new cases on Monday, continuing a surge that has produced 73 new cases since Thursday. There had been 24 cases on Saturday and Sunday and 14 on Friday during a time when Virginia has seen statewide increases of a few hundred a day, a much slower trend than what is happening around the nation. This also emerges after a strong spike in cases in the district since May 1 had abated somewhat. Bell said in an email Monday that a significant number of these cases are associated with recent domestic travel to the beach in North Carolina and other social gatherings. In a follow-up email Bell said that the majority of recent cases throughout the WPHD are travel-acquired, although I do not currently have exact numbers per locality. Reynolds said, when he called Bowles, She said, Im not going to help you because you are racist. Thats when I started fighting back. I put their names on Facebook, telling everyone what they said, and they got upset. That included a 30-minute video since removed in which he named Bowles and other people in the community whom he said had made derogatory remarks either to him or about him. Bowles has refused to talk to the Bulletin about details of the telephone conversation other than to say that all claims made in the video are false and untrue and other statements made in private messages that Ive seen are also untrue and false. But she did respond on the Martinsville Bulletins Facebook page after an article was published about the phone call and Mondays letter to Reynolds. Harsh words, disagreements, or a difference of opinion wouldnt bother me as that happens frequently when people are passionate in their beliefs, but a threat is a threat, and I am concerned for my safety, Bowles wrote. This was not a personal matter as Ive never spoken to this individual other than when he asked to take a picture at an event. The city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August, ordered the wearing of face coverings Monday, joining the list of state and local governments reversing course to try to beat back a resurgence of the coronavirus. Less than a week after Mayor Lenny Curry said there would be no mask requirement, city officials announced that coverings must be worn in situations where individuals cannot socially distance. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany responded by saying the president's advice is to do whatever your local jurisdiction requests of you. Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them. In recent weeks, the Republicans moved some of the convention pageantry to Jacksonville after Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina objected to the holding of a large gathering in Charlotte without social-distancing measures. The convention will be in late August. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has opposed a statewide mask requirement but said in response to Jacksonville's action that he will support local authorities who are doing what they think is appropriate. Some good things are happening in Martinsville To the editor: Several items have appeared in the Martinsville Bulletin recently which have made me proud of my hometown. I grew up in Martinsville and graduated from Martinsville High School many years ago and now live in Northern Virginia. The article June 10 by the Rev. Brian Harrington, co-pastor of Starling Avenue Baptist Church (My Word, June 10) was an eye-opener and a thoughtful account of our history and the mistreatment of our black citizens, beginning with slavery, the Jim Crow and Klu Klux Klan times and the separate-but-equal era. I hope other ministers will offer similar messages to their congregations. With all of the protest demonstrations to the killing of George Floyd in cities all over the country, I was happy to see that demonstrations were also happening in Martinsville, through the march in uptown Martinsville led by City Council member Jennifer Bowles and the demonstrations on the Greensboro Road, coordinated by Lydia Hachbart. In addition, she said that she plants bird-loving trees and shrubs and even left a couple of dead trees standing in the yard for the woodpeckers to enjoy. I also try to make myself visible to the birds on a regular basis so that they understand that Im not a threat, Becky said. Im not sure if I have an actual gift, or if this is all just a wonderful result of spending so much time at home in their environment. Her special encounters with backyard birds provides a rewarding feeling of awe and intrigue, she said. Having such a personal relationship with wild birds deepens my awareness of nature and makes me even more determined to help our songbird populations survive and thrive. That being said, I do recognize that wild birds should not be tamed such that they lose their fear of humans. Understanding this risk, I feel a mixture of joy and a little guilt. I dont plan to encourage this behavior with any new birds, but I sure am enjoying my bond with this pine warbler pair. Friends dont always fully understand her enthusiasm for birds. Some dont understand my passion for this or recognize how rare it is to have a personal relationship with wild birds, but most of my friends are also nature lovers who are in awe of this and wish they could do it, too, Becky said. HARMAN focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, today announced the elevation of Prathab Deivanayagham as the new Country Manager for its India operations effective July 1, 2020. Prathab has been with HARMAN for over eight years, and was previously leading HARMANs automotive business in the country. As the new country manager, Prathab will further strengthen HARMANs leadership across both its divisions Automotive and Lifestyle in India. Prathab succeeds Pradeep Chaudhry, who played a key role in HARMAN Indias growth story for close to five years. Pradeep will step down from his role to spend more time with his family, and pursue his personal projects. With over 9,000 employees, India hosts HARMANs largest workforce across the world. For the last 11 years, HARMAN India has been growing its leadership in both sales and R&D capabilities, and today has development centers across seven cities, and a manufacturing facility in Chakan, Maharashtra, which manufactures highly sophisticated connected car solutions including automotive infotainment units, and digital cockpits for HARMANs domestic and global automotive customers. David Slump, President Global Markets, HARMAN, said, We remain committed to our business in India, which also happens to be home for our biggest employee force. Our ongoing projects in India are a source of pride for our employees around the world. India is part of our growing BRIC countries, which contributes 16% of our global sales. At HARMAN, we believe in providing the right opportunities to our talent to grow within the company. Im incredible proud to see Prathab take on the mantle, after many years of successfully leading the automotive business into market leadership. With his experience and business acumen, we are confident that he will elevate the company to reach bigger heights. We thank Pradeep for his incredible contributions to our growth story, and look forward to a promising journey ahead with Prathab. David added further. Prathab Deivanayagham, Country Manager, HARMAN India, said, I am humbled by the appointment and the confidence placed in me by the company leadership. My ambition is to further strengthen our companys incredible legacy in India, build more powerful and purposeful brands, and make a valuable contribution in the success of our employees, customers and communities. Our Indian operations are strategic not only for the work we do for our domestic customers, but also for the innovations that feeds breakthroughs at HARMAN globally. (HealthDay)A majority of Americans who are diagnosed with COVID-19 don't know who passed the virus to them, two new government reports show. In the first study, researchers found that only 27% of more than 360 Colorado residents diagnosed with COVID-19 knew of any contact with someone who had coronavirus in the two weeks before they were tested. That percentage was higher in a second study, with 46% of 350 people diagnosed certain about who might have infected them. But both studies suggest that most people infected with coronavirus don't actually know who exposed them. "This just emphasizes the fact that while we know how COVID-19 is transmitted we do not have a good idea of how to assess our risk when interacting with other people," said Dr. Eric Cioe Pena, Director of Global Health at Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, NY. He wasn't involved in the new study, but said it shows how, "important it is that we maintain distance from people that are not in our household, wear a mask, and keep up our vigilance so that we can protect our communities from this virus." Among those in the study who knew they had come into contact with an infected person, the most commonly reported relationship was a family member (27%) or a coworker (25%) in the Colorado study. In the second study, it was most often a family member (45%) or a work colleague (34%). Both reports were published June 30 by researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the agency's publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. "Fewer than one-half of patients were aware of recent close contact with someone with COVID-19, highlighting a need for increased screening, case investigation, contact tracing and isolation of infected persons during periods of community transmission," the researchers of the second study wrote. "A majority of COVID-19 patients reported working during the two weeks preceding illness, and few had the ability to telework, underscoring the need for enhanced measures to ensure workplace safety." Those measures should include social distancing and more widespread use of face masks, they added. In the Colorado study, the most commonly reported activities in the two weeks before becoming ill included attending gatherings of more than 10 persons (44%), traveling domestically (29%), working in a health care setting (28%), visiting a health care setting not as a health care worker (23%), and using public transportation (22%). "These findings highlight the need for anyone with COVID-19 compatible symptoms to avoid public settings and isolate from other persons, even within their own household, when possible," the Colorado researchers wrote. "Because workplaces are common locations of potential exposure to persons with COVID-19, it is important that company officials and managers refer to CDC's guidance for workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize risk for exposure for their employees and customers." The CDC reports come as many states across the country are battling surges in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations as they try to reopen for business. At least a dozen states and cities have slowed reopening plans, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Not only case counts are climbing: COVID-19 hospitalizations are spiking in seven states, the Post reported. In Texas, Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, Montana, Georgia and California, seven-day averages are up at least 25% from last week. "Because ongoing data indicates that asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission makes up the majority of spread of COVID-19, it's vital that everyone wear a mask in public settings and when around people outside of their household, specifically when they are unable to adhere to social distancing," said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency room doctor at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "As the pandemic worsens, we need a stronger federal response," Glatter added. "This means, first and foremost, a federal law mandating wearing of masks in public settings when social distancing is not possible." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the public is used to seeing a cavalcade of numbers and charts that show how the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is spreading or how it's affecting a given place. This data is crucial for informing decisions about how to respond to the crisis and keep ourselves and others safe. But the more numbers floating around, the more potential for misinterpretationespecially when epidemiological concepts such as R0 were unknown to most people before 2020. We're here to help. Below, you'll find explanations of common virus stats and what they tell usindividually and in combination with one anotherabout the state of the pandemic. The total cases These are the data points you may be most accustomed to hearing about: the number of cases (people who have tested positive) and deaths confirmed each day, and the total cases that have occurred in your county or state. Keep in mind that these numbers are influenced by how many people are being tested. If a place is reporting few cases but also is barely testing anyone, the low numbers could be due to a lack of testing and don't necessarily mean the virus isn't present. Some people who have the virus don't show symptoms, which makes it hard to get an accurate case count if a place is only testing people who feel sickas many parts of the United States were doing early in the pandemic because test kits were hard to come by. Daily counts and cumulative totals are graphed separately. On a chart of total cases or deaths, look at how steeply the line is moving upward. The steeper the slope, the faster the total is increasing. When charts show cases and deaths per day, look for a line that shows the overall trend. Each point on this line represents the average daily count from the previous 14 days. This average helps us more easily understand how things are trending over time, without our perception being muddled by one day here or there when the count was especially high or low. The number of cases includes people who have died. Epidemiologists look at what percentage of infected people have died to see how lethal a disease is, but spotty testing has made this hard to do accurately with COVID-19. How to compare areas Places with bigger populations are likely to have more cases, simply because more people live there. So to compare one place to another, get the rate by looking at the number of cases per 100,000 residents rather than looking only at totals. This number is important because it's one of the ways Washington state determines whether counties are ready to move forward in Gov. Jay Inslee's four-phase Safe Start reopening plan. When Secretary of Health John Wiesman decides whether a county can move to the next phase, he generally wants the county to have had 25 or fewer new infections per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks. (The magic number was originally 10 cases per 100,000, as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but was later relaxed to 25.) Two kinds of tests There are two types of tests involving COVID-19: molecular (viral) tests and antibody (serology) tests. A molecular test is used to diagnose whether a person has an active infection. It's typically administered with a long swab, which takes a sample that is then processed at a lab. The results are reported to local and state health departments. An antibody test, which is done with a blood sample, detects whether someone has been infected in the past and developed antibodies to the virus. While antibodies might provide some immunity, it isn't yet known how long COVID-19 antibodies last in the body or how effective they are at preventing another infection from this coronavirus. Washington state's Department of Health has struggled to share accurate test information with the public. At the end of March, DOH's disease reporting system was flooded with case data, which temporarily stopped the state from publicly reporting the number of new COVID-19 cases. In mid-June, the agency revealed it had been reporting incorrect COVID-19 testing numbers for eight weeks by overcounting the number of people who tested negative. The state COVID-19 dashboard was mistakenly including negative antibody tests with negative molecular tests, showing 13% more people testing negative than actually had. This miscalculation made it appear as though a smaller proportion of the state's population was infected. How many tests vs. how many positive The positive test rate or% positive shows how many of all tests administered have come back positive for infection. Watching changes to this number can help us understand whether the virus is spreading more rapidly. But there are caveats. An extremely high positivity rate could indicate that a county, state or nation is only testing the sickest people, or those who are receiving medical attention. The more people get tested, the more accurate the positivity rate is for a population. Look at bed capacity The number of COVID-19 patients sick enough to require hospitalization has been a key indicator for understanding the severity of this disease and the pandemic's impacts on the health care system. Lots of people may contract the illness, resulting in soaring daily case counts. But for hospitals managing finite resources of staff, beds and equipment such as ventilators, the big concern is the number of people who require their care. The state Department of Health and the Washington State Hospital Association track the number of hospitalizations here. But overall statewide numbers don't tell the whole story. As case counts and hospitalizations soar in one area, patients might be transported from an overburdened hospital to one that has more resources. Spreading the virus The basic reproduction number, expressed as R0 ("R-naught"), shows how much an infected person is spreading the virus. If each infected person gives the virus to more than one other person, that can indicate that an outbreak is getting worse. Officials watch this number to see whether preventive measures such as stay-home orders are slowing the virus down. The state wants a county to have an R0 of no more than 1 before it moves to a new phase of the Safe Start reopening plan. Is it proportional? Demographic data is important because it shows how the virus could be having an outsized impact on specific portions of a population. It was obvious early on in the pandemic that COVID-19 was affecting older people and those with underlying health conditions more than the general population. Like many diseases, COVID-19 has also affected Black people and Latinos disproportionately compared to their share of the population. For example, as of mid-June, people of color in King County are getting COVID-19, and being hospitalized for it, at higher rates than white residents. They are also, largely, more likely to die from the disease than their white counterparts. Seattle Times staff reporter Hal Bernton contributed to this report. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 The Seattle Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Cancer cell during cell division. Credit: National Institutes of Health Three Tuesdays each month, Katherine O'Brien straps on her face mask and journeys about half an hour by Metra rail to Northwestern University's Lurie Cancer Center. What were once packed train cars rolling into Chicago are now eerily empty, as those usually commuting to towering skyscrapers weather the pandemic from home. But for O'Brien, the excursion is mandatory. She's one of millions of Americans battling cancer and depends on chemotherapy to treat the breast cancer that has spread to her bones and liver. "I was nervous at first about having to go downtown for my treatment," said O'Brien, who lives in a suburb, La Grange, and worries about contracting the coronavirus. "Family and friends have offered to drive me, but I want to minimize everyone's exposure." While her treatment hasn't changed since the novel coronavirus spread across the United States, the 54-year-old is at high risk of severe complications should she become infected. Those risks haven't declined significantly for her despite the Illinois governor's loosening of COVID-related restrictions. She's not alone in fearing the deadly combination of COVID-19 and cancer. One study, which reviewed records of more than 1,000 adult cancer patients who had tested positive for COVID-19, found that 13% had died. That's compared with the overall U.S. mortality rate of 5.9%, according to Johns Hopkins. Beyond the concern of cancer patientswith their already depleted immune systemscatching the virus, many doctors worry about people delaying their scans and checkups and missing time-sensitive diagnoses. A KFF poll found that nearly half of Americans had skipped or postponed medical care because of the outbreak. Cancer patients seeking care face an array of obstacles as states reopen, such as heavily restricted in-hospital appointments and new clinical trials on hold. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF, the Kaiser Family Foundation.) "Cancer doesn't care that there's a coronavirus pandemic taking place," said Dr. Robert Figlin, chair in hematology-oncology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. "We don't want people who have abnormalities to delay having them evaluated." In late March, Megan-Claire Chase, 43, of Dunwoody, Georgia, got laid off from her job as a project manager for a staffing company, losing the health care benefits that came with it. Her chief concern was paying for a diagnostic mammogram and MRI, still on the calendar for two days before her benefits were to end. Currently in remission from stage 2A breast cancer, Chase schedules scans for every six months well in advance at Breast Care Specialists in Atlanta. "When I got there, it was really unsettling. You almost feel like a leper," said Chase, noting the socially distanced waiting room and heavily sanitized clipboards. Already hyper-careful since her days of chemotherapy, Chase carries her own pens in her purse, along with gloves and extra masks. Cancer centers across the country are taking extra precautions. At Northwestern, patients are funneled through a single entryway, where masks are required, and are met by a security guard and a temperature check before signing in with receptionists seated behind plastic shields, O'Brien said. No visitors or accompanying family members are allowed inside the building, and the cafeteria and waiting rooms are devoid of unnecessary germ-spreading agentsno magazines or coffee machine in sight. The cubicle where she receives infusions of Abraxane used to seat four patients; now, only two sit in the space. Where they can, many doctors are turning to telemedicine to limit cancer patients' trips to the hospital. In Salt Lake City, Dr. Mark Lewis, director of gastrointestinal oncology for Intermountain Healthcare, a 23-hospital system serving Utah and surrounding states, says about half his patient visits are now virtual. He's also making some patients' treatments less intense and less frequent. As at Northwestern, patients must arrive at the hospital solo for appointments unless assistance is physically necessary. It's a significant shift for Lewis, who's had up to 30 family members in his office for appointments alongside his patients for mental support. "We are writing the rules as we go, trying to keep patients' immune systems up and the cancer at bay," said Lewis. Still, he's concerned about a later spike in cancer mortality due to the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus aside, the National Cancer Institute estimates over 600,000 Americans will die of cancer this year. New clinical trials have also largely ground to a halt in this new era, when traveling long distances for treatment is less of an option. Linnea Olson, who lives in Amesbury, Massachusetts, and has stage 4 lung cancer, worries there may be far fewer treatment options for her, as trials have been her "lifeline." About four months ago, Olson, 60, enrolled in her fourth phase 1 clinical trial at Massachusetts General Hospital's Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies. The treatment has been accompanied by intense side effects, such as a sore mouth and throat from mucositis, also a sign of COVID-19. Before a recent infusion, nurses with plastic shields ferried Olson up a back entryway for a COVID test. It was negative. The intensity of her treatment, coupled with the extreme social distancing measures, has left Olson, who lives alone, feeling depressed and unsure if she should continue the trial. "It's too much all at oncethe isolation and the difficult side effects," Olson said. Rudy Fischmann, a brain cancer patient and former true crime TV producer, battles balance issues that started after his first set of surgeries two years ago. Daily walks and physical therapy are part of his treatment regimen. Yet strolls around his Knoxville, Tennessee, neighborhood are already becoming more stressful as the state begins to open up. "It's getting harder and harder, with more and more people outside every day," said Fischmann, 48. "I don't enjoy walking laps around my kitchen, so I'm finding myself having to change my routes almost daily." A father of two young children who are now home round-the-clock, Fischmann finds all the family time draining his limited energy. He also fears what germs they will bring back from school come fall. "The thought of, if I were to contract the virus, would I get a different standard of care?" he said. "I'm used to staying home and not doing that much, but it's more nerve-wracking now." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 Kaiser Health News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Reports show that cancer is the second-highest leading cause of death globally, with the possibility that every one in four to five people in Singapore may develop cancer in their lifetime. A recent study by scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School provides new evidence supporting the presence of a key mechanism behind progression and relapse in cancer. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), discusses the role of MBNL1 protein as a biomarker for cancer prognosis, which can lead to the development of new treatment strategies for cancer. Cancer cases have been rising over the years and according to the statistics, the number of people living with cancer will continue to increase. Despite decades of research, cancer treatments are still inefficient and have unacceptable side effects that continue to prompt an urgent need for new approaches to prevention and treatment. Uncovering novel mechanisms associated with cancer would fill current knowledge gaps and help meet this need. "We discovered a mechanism involving MBNL1 protein that predicts several characteristics of cancer such as progression and relapse," said Dr. Debleena Ray, Senior Research Fellow at Duke-NUS' Cancer and Stem Cell Biology (CSCB) program, the lead author of this study. "We found that MBNL1 protein is present in low amounts in many of the common cancers in the world, including breast, colorectal, stomach, lung and prostate cancers, which when combined account for about 49 percent of all cancers diagnosed in 2018. This can cause poor overall survival in many of these commonly-occurring cancers." The team also found that this mechanism can be reversed by blocking the JNK protein, a well-known target in cancer treatment, in cancer cells with low levels of MBNL1. "While JNK inhibitors have been tested as a cancer drug previously, currently there are no clinical trials for the same. However, if in the future there is a JNK inhibitor against cancer, MBNL1 could be used as a biomarker to select patients for the treatment," said Adjunct Associate Professor David Epstein at the Duke-NUS' CSCB program and the co-corresponding author of this study. "Cancer is a global health challenge and Singapore is no exception. This study provides important information about novel targets and biomarkers that are implicated in several major cancers, which could lead to the development of new treatment strategies that can improve the lives of patients," said Prof Patrick Casey, Senior Vice Dean for Research at Duke-NUS. Over the next year, the team will be investigating the role of MBNL1 in colorectal cancer and exploring the potential of anti-JNK therapeutic for cancer using antisense technology, a tool that is used for the inhibition of gene expression. Explore further Research uncovers clues in use of immunotherapy for breast cancer More information: Debleena Ray el al., "A tumor-associated splice-isoform of MAP2K7 drives dedifferentiation in MBNL1-low cancers via JNK activation," PNAS (2020). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Debleena Ray el al., "A tumor-associated splice-isoform of MAP2K7 drives dedifferentiation in MBNL1-low cancers via JNK activation,"(2020). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2002499117 In this Tuesday, April 7, 2020 file photo, a woman walks her dog on a Paris bridge, with the Eiffel tower in background, during a nationwide confinement to counter the COVID-19. The European Union announced Tuesday, June 30, 2020 that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File) The European Union will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, and possibly China soon, the bloc announced Tuesday, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. As Europe's economies reel from the impact of the coronavirus, southern EU countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving visitors and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries. American tourists make up a big slice of the EU market and the summer holiday season is a key time. Citizens from the following countries will be allowed into the EU's 27 members and four other nations in Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. absence of Americans also hurts the Louvre as the world's most-visited museum plans its reopening on July 6. Americans used to be the largest single group of foreign visitors to the home of the "Mona Lisa." Sharmaigne Shives, an American who lives in Paris, is yearning for the day when her countrymen and women can return to the clothing shop where she works on Saint-Louis island and drive away her blues at having so few summer visitors. In this Monday, May 11, 2020 file photo, a waiter carries beers for customers sitting at a terrace bar in Tarragona, Spain. The European Union announced Tuesday, June 30, 2020 that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File) "I hope that they can get it together and bring down their numbers as much as they can," she said of the United States. "Paris isn't Paris when there aren't people who really appreciate it and marvel at everything," Shives added. "I miss that. Seriously, I feel the emotion welling up. It's so sad here." A trade group for the biggest U.S. carriers including the three that fly to EuropeUnited Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlinessaid it was "obviously disappointed" by the EU decision. "We are hopeful that the decision will be reviewed soon and that at least on a limited basis international traffic between the United States and the EU will resume," said Nicholas Calio, CEO of Airlines for America. U.S. airlines hope the Europeans will give the U.S. credit if it implements steps such as temperature checks on passengers bound for Europe, which he said was discussed between U.S. government and EU officials. In this Tuesday, June 23, 2020 file photo, the pyramid of the Louvre museum is pictured before a visit ahead of its reopening next July 6, in Paris. The European Union announced Tuesday, June 30, 2020 that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File) In this Monday, April 6, 2020 file photo, moored gondolas are reflected on the water of the Gran Canal, in Venice. The European Union announced Tuesday, June 30, 2020 that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File) Last year, United got 38% of its passenger revenue from international travel including 17% from flights between the U.S. and Europe, while Delta and American were slightly less dependent on those routes. Business travel on routes such as New York-London is highly profitable for all three. In Brussels, EU headquarters underlined that the list "is not a legally binding instrument" which means the 31 governments can apply it as they see fit. But the bloc urged all member nations not to lift travel restrictions to other countries without coordinating such a move with their European partners. Officials fear that such ad hoc moves could incite countries inside Europe to start closing their borders to each other again. Panic closures after the disease began spreading in Italy in February caused major traffic jams at crossing points and slowed deliveries of medical equipment. Italy is still insisting on coronavirus quarantines for visitors from the 14 countries greenlighted by the European Union to visit. Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Italy was taking the "line of caution" given its battle to contain the outbreak in the onetime epicenter of Europe's COVID-19 emergency. In publishing its list, the EU also recommended that restrictions be lifted on all people wanting to enter who are European citizens and their family members, long-term EU residents who are not citizens of the bloc, and travelers with "an essential function or need," regardless of whether their country is on the safe list or not. 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Britain recorded 65,000 more deaths than usual in the past three months as the coronavirus ravaged the country but numbers are now returning to normal, new data showed Tuesday. In the week to June 19, so-called excess deaths in England and Wales fell below the five-year average for the first time since mid-March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. There were 0.7 percent fewer deaths overall than would be expected for that period. Excess deaths give a broader picture of the pandemic than the health ministry figures published every day, which only include confirmed cases of coronavirus and which currently put the toll at 43,730. The ONS data includes people who may have had coronavirus but where it was not picked up, or who died as a result of measures introduced to tackle the disease, such as the cancellation of routine hospital operations. Separate ONS figures show the number of deaths where coronavirus was on the death certificate but not necessarily confirmed by a testa figure of almost 54,000 by June 19. By any measure, Britain has suffered the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in Europe. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is currently easing a nationwide lockdown imposed at the end of March, as Britain faces a deep recession. But on Monday he had to close schools and shops in the city of Leicester because of a spike in cases there. The apparent return of excess deaths to the normal level has been welcomed but experts warned that coronavirus had not gone away. David Spiegelhalter, chairman of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, noted that 783 deaths involving COVID-19 were still registered in the week to June 19. "The lack of excess deaths is explained by non-COVID deaths being eight percent below the five-year average," he said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP (HealthDay)As U.S. coronavirus infections surged in many states, four of America's top health officials plan to testify in Congress on Tuesday about how to safely reopen the country. Originally billed as an "update on progress toward safely getting back to work and back to school," members of the Senate's health and education committee will instead have to tackle the reality that reopening hasn't proven safe or easy, The New York Times reported. Dr. Anthony Fauci will be joined at the hearing by Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn; and Adm. Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health. With new cases spiking in many parts of the country, at least a dozen states and cities have slowed reopening plans, the Washington Post reported. Not only case counts are climbing: COVID-19 hospitalizations are spiking in seven states, the Post reported. In Texas, Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, Montana, Georgia and California, seven-day averages are up at least 25 percent from last week, the newspaper said. In California, coronavirus case counts have exploded, now surpassing 220,000 infections, the Times reported. Gov. Gavin Newsom has been forced to roll back the state's reopening in some counties. On Monday, he said the number of people hospitalized in California had increased 43 percent over the past two weeks. More than 7,000 new cases were announced across California on Monday, the highest single-day total of the pandemic, the newspaper reported. California was the first state to go into lockdown, but state officials who were so proactive in curbing the spread of COVID-19 now have to ask themselves what went wrong. "To some extent, I think our luck may have run out," Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told the Times. "This is faster and worse than I expected." Public health experts have also cautioned that Florida could become the next epicenter for infections while Texas has seen record-breaking case counts and hospitalizations, CNN reported. Officials across the country are also warning of an increase in cases among younger people. Over the weekend, Florida shattered its previous records and reported 9,585 new cases on Saturday and 8,530 on Sunday, the Times reported. Orange County, home to Orlando, has seen an explosion of coronavirus: nearly 60 percent of all cases there have come in the past two weeks. The city of Jacksonville, which plans to host the Republican National Convention in August, announced Monday that face masks would be mandatory in any indoor spaces where social distancing isn't possible. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has blamed the state's increase on a "test dump," largely from younger residents getting themselves tested for COVID-19. Rising cases in South alarm federal health officials Coronavirus response task coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said last week that rising positive test rates in states across the South, including Texas, Arizona, Florida and Mississippi, were causing significant concern among health officials, and that they had created an "alert system" to track them. She used Texas as an example where higher positive test rates suggest a kind of spread that could not be explained completely by higher rates of testing. Texas is part of a group of states with positive test rates above 10 percent, a threshold the White House has used to identify areas of particular concern, she explained. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking in Dallas on Sunday, said that the virus had taken a "very swift and a very dangerous turn" in his state, the Times reported. The increase in the rate of positive coronavirus tests, to over 13 percent in the past month from less than 4 percent, is an "alarm bell," he warned. Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are also surging in that state, reaching a record high for the 16th day in a row on Saturday, the Washington Post reported. A handful of states have actually brought the virus under control after being slammed in the early stages of the pandemic. Determined to keep case counts low, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey have said they will now mandate quarantines for travelers coming from states that are experiencing large spikes in new cases, the Times said. On Sunday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that only five coronavirus-related deaths had been reported over the previous 24 hours, the lowest single-day death toll in the state since March 15. The number of COVID-19 patients being hospitalized also dropped below 900 for the first time since March, the Post reported. In a statement, Cuomo noted the numbers would "shoot right back up" if people failed to follow social distancing protocols. By Tuesday, the U.S. coronavirus case count passed 2.6 million as the death toll passed 126,000, according to a Times tally. According to the same tally, the top five states in coronavirus cases as of Tuesday were: New York with over 397,600; California with nearly 224,000; New Jersey with more than 173,000; Texas with over 158,700 and Florida with over 146,000. Vaccines and treatments There has been some good news in recent weeks, however. Researchers at Oxford University in England announced that dexamethasone, a widely used, low-cost steroid, appears to cut the death rate for ventilated COVID-19 patients by one-third. It also lowered the death rate for patients who require oxygen (but are not yet on a ventilator) by one-fifth, the Times reported. "Bottom line is, good news," Fauci, who directs the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Associated Press. "This is a significant improvement in the available therapeutic options that we have." But at least three manufacturers of the drug have reported shortages, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, STAT News reported. Two of the manufacturers cited increased demand as a reason for their shortages. Meanwhile, the search for an effective vaccine continues. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has said that it would provide up to $1.2 billion to the drug company AstraZeneca to develop a potential coronavirus vaccine from Oxford University, in England. The fourth, and largest, vaccine research agreement funds a clinical trial of the potential vaccine in the United States this summer with about 30,000 volunteers, the Times reported. The goal? To make at least 300 million doses that could be available as early as October, the HHS said in a statement. The United States has already agreed to provide up to $483 million to the biotech company Moderna and $500 million to Johnson & Johnson for their vaccine efforts. It is also providing $30 million to a virus vaccine effort led by the French company Sanofi, the Times reported. Moderna said a large clinical trial of its vaccine candidate could begin in July. Nations grapple with pandemic Elsewhere in the world, the situation remains challenging. Even as the pandemic is easing in Europe and some parts of Asia, it is worsening in India. Officials in New Delhi plan to test all of the city's 29 million residents in the next week or so, as the number of coronavirus cases neared 567,000 on Monday and pushed many hospitals to their breaking point, the Times reported. Brazil has also become a hotspot in the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 1.4 million confirmed infections by Tuesday, according to the Hopkins tally. U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a ban on all foreign travelers from Brazil because of the burgeoning number of COVID-19 cases in that country, CNN reported. Cases are also spiking wildly in Russia: As of Tuesday, that country reported the world's third-highest number of COVID-19 cases, at more than 640,200, the Hopkins tally showed. Worldwide, the number of reported infections passed 10.3 million on Tuesday, with over 505,000 deaths, according to the Hopkins tally. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain New research from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital shows that many people with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 demonstrate so-called T-cell-mediated immunity to the new coronavirus, even if they have not tested positively for antibodies. According to the researchers, this means that public immunity is probably higher than antibody tests suggest. The article is freely available on the bioRxiv server and has been submitted for publication in a scientific journal. "T cells are a type of white blood cells that are specialized in recognizing virus-infected cells, and are an essential part of the immune system," says Marcus Buggert, assistant professor at the Center for Infectious Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, and one of the paper's main authors. "Advanced analyses have now enabled us to map in detail the T-cell response during and after a COVID-19 infection. Our results indicate that roughly twice as many people have developed T-cell immunity compared with those who we can detect antibodies in." In the present study, the researchers performed immunological analyses of samples from over 200 people, many of whom had mild or no symptoms of COVID-19. The study included inpatients at Karolinska University Hospital and other patients and their exposed asymptomatic family members who returned to Stockholm after holidaying in the Alps in March. Healthy blood donors who gave blood during 2020 and 2019 (control group) were also included. T-cell immunity in asymptomatic individuals Consultant Soo Aleman and her colleagues at Karolinska University Hospital's infection clinic have monitored and tested patients and their families since the disease period. "One interesting observation was that it wasn't just individuals with verified COVID-19 who showed T-cell immunity but also many of their exposed asymptomatic family members," says Soo Aleman. "Moreover, roughly 30 percent of the blood donors who'd given blood in May 2020 had COVID-19-specific T cells, a figure that's much higher than previous antibody tests have shown." The T-cell response was consistent with measurements taken after vaccination with approved vaccines for other viruses. Patients with severe COVID-19 often developed a strong T-cell response and an antibody response; in those with milder symptoms it was not always possible to detect an antibody response, but despite this many still showed a marked T-cell response. Very good news from a public health perspective "Our results indicate that public immunity to COVID-19 is probably significantly higher than antibody tests have suggested," says Professor Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren at the Center for Infectious Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, and co-senior author. "If this is the case, it is of course very good news from a public health perspective." T-cell analyses are more complicated to perform than antibody tests and at present are therefore only done in specialized laboratories, such as that at the Center for Infectious Medicine at Karolinska Institutet. "Larger and more longitudinal studies must now be done on both T cells and antibodies to understand how long-lasting the immunity is and how these different components of COVID-19 immunity are related," says Marcus Buggert. The results are so new that they have not yet undergone peer review ahead of publication in a scientific journal. Pending such review, the article has been published on a preprint server, bioRxiv. Explore further Mild virus cases may bestow far lower immunity: study More information: Takuya Sekine et al. Robust T cell immunity in convalescent individuals with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19, (2020). Takuya Sekine et al. Robust T cell immunity in convalescent individuals with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19,(2020). DOI: 10.1101/2020.06.29.174888 Credit: CC0 Public Domain The Pan American Health Organization warned Tuesday the coronavirus death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean could top 400,000 by October without stricter public health measures. That would represent a quadrupling of the fatal cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, in a region that has emerged as a major pandemic trouble spot. An AFP tally puts the number of people who have died so far in the region at nearly 114,000 out of more than 2.5 million cases. "Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to have more than 438,000 COVID-19 deaths" by October 1 at the current pace, said Carissa Etienne, the director of the Washington-based PAHO, which serves as the regional arm of the World Health Organization. "It is important to reemphasize that these projections will come to pass only if the current conditions remain," she said at a news conference. "So this means that countries can change these predictions if they take the right decisions and implement strict proven public health measures," she said. Many Latin American countries have struggled to contain the outbreak, most notably Brazil, which now has the world's second largest caseload after the United States. More than 1.3 million Brazilians have contracted the virus, and over 58,000 have died. Chile and Colombia are expected to reach their peaks within the next 15 days, while in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru the high point is expected to come sometime in August. Mexico and most of Central America are likely to top out in mid-August. The Caribbean in contrast is in better shape, with many islands succeeding in curbing transmission completely. These include Saint Barthelemy, Anguilla, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Aruba, Sint Maarten, British Virgin Islands, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Grenada and Saint Lucia Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 AFP And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them we can love completely without complete understanding. Norman Mclean If ever existed a fighter who was loved completely, it was Arturo Thunder Gatti. Beyond being loved, he was mythologized because he knew what part of himself to give, that it was wanted, and because he always gave completely of himself. Very few of us can say the same of our lives and fewer still can say it of their lifes work. In Killed In Brazil? The Mysterious Death of Arturo Thunder Gatti (Hamilcar Publications, $10.99), author Jimmy Tobin removes the shroud that has surrounded Gattis life and death. The book begins with the boxers death in 2009, in Pernambuco, Brazil. Tobin deftly reconstructs the events leading up to Amanda Gatti finding her husbands lifeless body, and the maelstrom that broke loose in the aftermath. More history than whodunit, the competing perspectives of family and friends and Amanda Gatti herself are weaved together by the author through contemporary accounts and interviews, so that as events unfold we learn not just what happened but how it felt to those involved. How the reader should feel about those very same people is left up to them. These arent characters; they are human beings. And at every turn of the chaos between Gattis death and second autopsy, we are reminded of how, when confronted by tragedy with no clear answers, we often substitute faith for fact. To understand how Gatti went from man to myth, Part II of Killed in Brazil? explores his career in full. The fights that packed Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and made Gatti a headliner on HBO are retold in thrilling detail. Of Gattis 1997 match with Gabriel Ruelas, he halted his retreat long enough to unload a big left hook that got a tiny stumble out of Ruelas. Ruelas turned unsteadily, opened his arms to Gatti, inviting attrition, and charged. Bleeding under his left eye, Gatti welcomed his opponents presence, knowing his target by feel. He sunk body shots and left hooks into Ruelas, but Ruelas was undeterred, accepting the immolation that might make amends for Jimmy Garcia. Tobins prose, and by extension his storytelling, is elegant and nuanced. There is a self-possessed economy of words that finds its force by being completely true to itself and its subject. Tobin has shown Gatti the ultimate respect, and compassion, by treating him as a man, noting of one of his arrests, just as new vistas cannot free you from the troubles of your mind, so did Gatti fail to escape his demons in the ring. The drive that can allow you to survive and thrive in dark places can also take you back to them against your will. Killed In Brazil? becomes fully itself in Part III, which details the independent investigation into Gattis death and the civil trial over his will between his family and widow. We are assured by Gattis friends, family, manager and promoter that Gatti did not commit suicide because, quite simply, he couldnt. The independent investigation into his death, commissioned by manager Pat Lynch, is scrutinized carefully and thoroughly. If you are not one of the people directly impacted, it will likely leave you with more questions than answers. But when something has to be true, anything that might contradict it can be ignored or rejected. So despite those closest to Gatti knowing that he had a history of depressive fits, worsened by drug and alcohol use including threats to kill himself it is impossible to allow that it was possible. Tobin also raises the specter of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, though more for perspective than speculatively. It is impossible to know if Gatti suffered from CTE, but he showed behavior consistent with the condition. This section also pays special attention to the psychology surrounding suicide and its effect on those left behind. To understand Gattis death, the reader must understand Gatti, as well as the people closest to him. The book, and Part III, end where Part II began with Gattis children. We are gently reminded that more important than adults needing to be right, to make sense of tragedy and their own pain, are two children named Sofia and Arturo Junior, who will only know their father through the lens of others reminiscence and the films of his fights. Beyond the mystery, lawsuits, autopsies and press conferences, two small children lost their dad. Familiar rituals are important tools for reducing stress, according to new research by UConn's Dimitris Xygalatas. Credit: Dimitris Xygalatas With graduation ceremonies, weddings, funeral, annual parades, and many other gatherings called off in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is apparent that our lives are going to be without familiar ritualsjust when we need them most. UConn Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dimitris Xygalatas studies rituals and how they impact our health. In new research published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Xygalatas and collaborators from Masaryk University, Czech Republic, including former UConn student Martin Lang, examine the important roles rituals play in reducing our anxiety levels. "In the current context of the pandemic, if you were a completely rational beingperhaps an extraterrestrial who's never met any actual humansyou would expect that given the current situation people wouldn't bother doing things that do not seem crucial to their survival. Maybe they wouldn't care so much about art, sports, or ritual, and they would focus on other things," says Xygalatas. "If you were to think that, it would show you didn't know much about human nature, because humans care deeply about those things." Further, Xygalatas says, rituals play an important role in people's lives, helping them cope with anxiety and functioning as mechanisms of resilience. This research started years ago, says Xygalatas. He explains that to study something as complex as human behavior, it is important to approach the question from multiple angles to collect converging evidence. First, in a laboratory study, they found that inducing anxiety made people's behavior more ritualized; that is, more repetitive and structured. So the next step was to take this research out to real-life situations, where they examined whether performing cultural rituals in their natural context indeed helps practitioners cope with anxiety. "This approach also goes to show the limitations of any study. One study can only tell us a tiny bit about anything, but by using a variety of methods like my team and I are doing, and by going between the highly controlled space of the lab and the culturally relevant place that is real life we are able to get a more holistic perspective," he says. The experiment reported in their current publication took place in Mauritius, where the researchers induced anxiety by asking participants to prepare a plan for dealing with a natural disaster that would be evaluated by government experts. This was stressful, as floods and cyclones are very pertinent threats in that context. Following this stress-inducing task, one half of the group performed a familiar religious ritual at the local temple while the other half were asked to sit and relax in a non-religious space. The researchers found that the speech was successful in inducing stress for both groups but those who performed the religious ritual experienced a greater reduction in both psychological and physiological stress, which was assessed by using wearable technology to measure heart rate variability. Stress itself is important, says Xygalatas: "Stress acts as a motivation that helps us focus on our goals and rise to meet our challenges, whether those involve studying for an exam, flying a fighter jet, or scoring that game-winning goal. The problem is that beyond a certain threshold, stress ceases to be useful. In fact, it can even be dangerous. Over time, its effects can add up and take a toll on your health, impairing cognitive function, weakening the immune system, and leading to hypertension or cardiovascular disease. This type of stress can be devastating to our normal functioning, health, and well-being." The performance of familiar rituals can help reduce. Credit: Dimitris Xygalatas This is where Xygalatas and his team believe ritual plays an important role in managing stress. "The mechanism that we think is operating here is that ritual helps reduce anxiety by providing the brain with a sense of structure, regularity, and predictability," he says. Xygalatas explains that in recent decades we have begun to realize the brain is not a passive computer but an active predictive machine, registering information and making predictions to help us survive. "We come to expect certain thingsour brain fills in the missing information for the blind spot in our vision, and prompts us to anticipate the next word in a sentenceall of these things are due to this effect because our brain makes active predictions about the state of the world." Well-practiced rituals, like the one included in the study, are repetitive and predictable and therefore the researchers believe they give our brains the sense of control and structure that we crave, and those feelings help alleviate stress. This stress reducing impact of rituals could be a way to cope with chronic anxiety. In today's stressful context, we see ritual taking different forms, from people gathering to applaud healthcare workers, to virtual choirs singing across the internet. Xygalatas also notes a recent study that tracked the increase in people typing the word "prayer" in Google searches. In this unpredictable time, people are continuing to find relief in ritual. "One thing I like to tell my students is that we as human beings are not as smart as we'd like to think. But thankfully, we are at least smart enough to be able to outsmart ourselves. We have many ways of doing this; for instance, when we look at ourselves in the mirror before an interview and tell ourselves, 'OK, I can do this.' Or when we take deep breaths to calm down. We have all of these hacks that we can use on our very brain. We could rationalize it and tell ourselves 'OK, I'm going to lower my heartbeat now.' Well, that doesn't work. Ritual is one of those mental technologies that we can use to trick ourselves into doing that. That is what these rituals dothey act like life hacks for us." Going forward, Xygalatas points out that he and his colleagues intend to do more work on the exact mechanisms underlying these effects of ritual. "Of course it is a combination of factors, and that is why ritual is so powerful: because it combines a number of mechanisms that have to do both with the behavior itself, the physical movements, and with the cultural context, the symbolism, and the expectations that go into that behavior," he says. "To be able to disentangle those things is what we are trying to do next: we are examining these factors one at a time. Those rituals have gone through a process of cultural selection and they are still with us because they fulfill specific functions. They are life hacks that have been with and have served us well since the dawn of our kind." Explore further When more pain means more gain More information: M. Lang et al. The role of ritual behaviour in anxiety reduction: an investigation of Marathi religious practices in Mauritius, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2020). Journal information: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society M. Lang et al. The role of ritual behaviour in anxiety reduction: an investigation of Marathi religious practices in Mauritius,(2020). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0431 The new platform, COVIDep, periodically pools SARS-CoV-2 sequence data and compares with experimentally-determined epitopes of SARS-CoV, to provide scientists around the world an up-to-date set of vaccine target recommendations for COVID-19. Credit: HKUST As genetic sequences of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the novel pneumonia (COVID-19), are similar to those of the 2003 SARS virus, SARS-CoV, knowledge and data of SARS-CoV may be useful for finding ways to combat COVID-19. Such an approach was used by a research team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) led by Prof. Matthew McKay, from the Departments of Electronic and Computer Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Dr. Ahmed Abdul Quadeer, to establish a first-of-its-kind web-based platform for reporting vaccine target recommendations for COVID-19, to help scientists across the globe in the quest for an effective COVID-19 vaccine. The platform, called 'COVIDep', implements ideas presented by the team in an earlier study to report viral fragments, called epitopes, that can trigger human immune responses against SARS-CoV, and which also have a close genetic match in SARS-CoV-2. The identified epitopes can guide the design of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, as they represent parts of the virus for which a robust, protective immune response may be mounted. It can also help to guide laboratory experiments for understanding the immune responses mounted by COVID-19-infected people, and to probe the immune responses triggered by existing vaccine candidates. The new platform pools all available SARS-COV-2 sequences on a daily basis, which is over 33,000 as of June 28, and provides the scientific community with up-to-date information of immune targets (B cell and T cell epitopes) potentially capable of inducing a protective immune response against the virus. Periodically updating the system is important since SARS-CoV-2 sequences are being made available at an unprecedented rate, and the recommendation of vaccine targets is influenced by newly observed genetic variation in SARS-CoV-2. For the recommended T cell epitopes, the platform reports an estimate of the population coverage, globally and for specific regions. This can be useful for determining the percentage of individuals in a specific population that is expected to mount an immune response against an epitope, if it was to be selected as a vaccine target. The recommendations provided by COVIDep may be used to broadly guide vaccine designs and associated experimental studies, and may help to expedite the discovery of an effective vaccine for COVID-19. Many of the vaccine, or immune, targets that are recommended by COVIDep are being supported by emerging SARS-CoV-2 experimental studies. That is, immune responses against them have been observed in blood samples taken from recovered COVID-19 patients and in some pre-clinical vaccine trials. Prof. McKay is a Professor in the Departments of Electronic & Computer Engineering and Chemical & Biological Engineering at HKUST; Dr. Quadeer is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering. This platform was recently published in the scientific journal Nature Protocols. Explore further Scientists shed light on COVID-19 vaccine development More information: Syed Faraz Ahmed et al. COVIDep: a web-based platform for real-time reporting of vaccine target recommendations for SARS-CoV-2, Nature Protocols (2020). Syed Faraz Ahmed et al. COVIDep: a web-based platform for real-time reporting of vaccine target recommendations for SARS-CoV-2,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41596-020-0358-9 For details on the platform, please visit the website covidep.ust.hk/. Journal information: Nature Protocols In this Friday, May 15, 2020 file photo, people line up for coronavirus testing at a large factory in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. In June 2020, China reported using batch testing as part of a recent campaign to test all 11 million residents of Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged late in late 2019. (Chinatopix Via AP) The nation's top health officials are banking on a new approach to dramatically boost U.S. screening for the coronavirus: combining test samples in batches instead of running them one by one. The potential benefits include stretching laboratory supplies, reducing costs and expanding testing to millions more Americans who may unknowingly be spreading the virus. Health officials think infected people who aren't showing symptoms are largely responsible for the rising number of cases across more than half of states. "Pooling would give us the capacity to go from a half-a-million tests per day to potentially 5 million individuals tested per day," Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, told a recent meeting of laboratory experts. For now, federal health regulators have not cleared any labs or test maker to use the technique. The Food and Drug Administration issued guidelines for test makers in mid-June and wants each to first show that mixing samples doesn't reduce accuracy, one of the potential downsides. So it's not clear when pooled testing may be available for mass screenings at schools and businesses. The principle is simple: Instead of running each person's test individually, laboratories would combine parts of nasal swab samples from several people and test them together. A negative result would clear everyone in the batch. A positive result would require each sample to be individually retested. Pooling works best with lab-run tests, which take hoursnot the much quicker individual tests used in clinics or doctor's offices. The idea for pooling dates from World War II, when it was considered for quickly screening blood samples from U.S. draftees for syphilis. Since then it has been adopted to screen blood samples for HIV and hepatitis. And developing countries have used pooled samples to stretch testing supplies. China reported using the approach as part of a recent campaign to test all 11 million residents of Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged late last year. "Americans think this is some new concept because ordinarily we don't have this challenge of having to stretch testing capacity," said Darius Lakdawalla, a health economist at the University of Southern California. Lakdawalla and colleagues estimate that pooled testing could save schools and businesses between 50% and 70% on costs. Under their model, a group of 100 employees could be divided into 20 batches of five people. Assuming 5% of people carry the virus, only five pools would test positive, requiring individual testing. Ultimately, 45 tests would be needed for the pooled approach, versus 100 individual tests. But pooling won't always be the best option. Importantly, it won't save time or resources when used in COVID-19 hot spots, such as an outbreak at a nursing home. That's because the logistical and financial benefits of pooling only add up when a small number of pools test positive. Experts generally recommend the technique when fewer than 10% of people are expected to test positive. About 7% of U.S. tests have been positive for the virus in the past week, according to an AP analysis, though rates vary widely from place to place. For example, pooling would not be cost-effective in Arizona, where a surge has pushed positive test results to over 22%. But the approach could make sense in New Jersey, with a positivity rate under 2%. Nebraska's state health laboratory used batch testing with special permission from the governor and the FDA beginning in March. The lab's director said they had to stop several weeks ago when their positive rate jumped to 17% with outbreaks at meat packing plants. "We knew that pooling wasn't working anymore when those rates started going up," said Dr. Peter Iwen. Reserving pooled testing for large groups with low rates of infection dovetails with the government's increasing focus on people without symptoms spreading the virus, especially younger people. "It's a really good tool. It can be used in any of a number of circumstances, including at the community level or even in schools," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious-disease expert, told a Senate hearing Tuesday. Still, health officials may have to convince some key players to adopt the method. LabCorp, one of the nation's biggest testing chains, said in an email that it is familiar with pooled testing but currently believes "individual patient testing is the most effective and efficient way" to screen for COVID-19. Dr. Colleen Kraft of Emory University worries that batched testingwith its multiple rounds of screening for some patientscould slow test results, a key factor for getting those infected into quarantine. "If you are trying to do something rapid, this actually prolongs the turnaround time," Kraft said. She and others also have concerns about accuracy, since test performance tends to drop when screening in larger groups of people where the targeted disease is less common. "If we can't trust the test results then there's no point in doing the test," said Jennifer Nuzzo, of the Johns Hopkins University's Covid-19 Testing Insights Initiative. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Melanoma tumour cells expressing CD155. Credit: QIMR Berghofer QIMR Berghofer research has found a new reason why some melanoma patients do not respond well to immunotherapya discovery that could lead to better-tailored treatments for the potentially deadly cancer. Australia has the highest rate of melanoma in the world. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates there were more than 15,000 cases of melanoma in Australia last year, and more than 1700 deaths. The research, led by QIMR Berghofer Senior Scientist and Immunology Department Coordinator Professor Mark Smyth, found high levels of the protein CD155 in human melanoma cells made the skin cancer harder to treat with immunotherapy. "Our study has highlighted the central importance of CD155 to the effectiveness of immunotherapy for patients with metastatic melanomasomething that hasn't been shown before in humans," Professor Smyth said. "The tumor appears to be using the CD155 molecule to escape being hunted down by immune cells, called T-cells, and to also resist being killed off by immunotherapy." The CD155 protein is expressed by nearly all cancer cells and less so by normal cells, including some immune cells. It is part of a family of adhesive proteins that are important in cell to cell interaction. "Modern immunotherapy treatments have been quite successful in helping unleash our immune systems to kill melanoma tumor cells, but in some people the tumor cells remain disguised and treatments don't work, often leading to death," Professor Smyth said. "We found high levels of CD155 in melanoma cells seem to help tumors evade detection by the T-cells and trick them into leaving the tumor alone. The tumor CD155 appears to wound the T-cells during the interaction, reducing their capacity to subsequently recognize and kill tumor cells. Reducing tumor CD155 in people with metastatic melanoma may be a way to improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy for them and save the lives of many more people." The researchers used new imaging technology to examine pre-treatment tumor samples collected from patients in Brisbane, Sydney and Italy and correlated the levels of CD155 with the patients' survival outcomes. Contributing author and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Medical Oncologist, Dr. Elizabeth Ahern, said the imaging showed very high levels of CD155 in melanoma cells. "We found patients with higher levels of the protein had worse health outcomes and didn't respond well to immunotherapies," Dr. Ahern said. "It's the quantity of CD155 proteins that makes it so immune evasive. It appears the T-cells can't kill the tumor because the CD155 proteins are unbalancing the T-cells and turning them off before they can do their job. Currently there are no therapeutics used for melanoma that target CD155, so we hope to explore that pathway. We now want to focus on designing new immunotherapies that target the CD155 proteins to get them off the tumor." The study findings have been published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. The study builds on Professor Smyth's 2018 research that showed CD155 in both tumor and immune cells was important for tumor growth and spread. Professor Smyth and his team hope to expand the study to examine if CD155 plays a role in how other cancers respond to immunotherapies. More information: Ailin Lepletier et al. Tumor CD155 expression is associated with resistance to anti-PD1 immunotherapy in metastatic melanoma, Clinical Cancer Research (2020). Journal information: Clinical Cancer Research Ailin Lepletier et al. Tumor CD155 expression is associated with resistance to anti-PD1 immunotherapy in metastatic melanoma,(2020). DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-3925 Provided by QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute A worker for Leicester City Council disinfects public toilets in Leicester, England, Monday June 29, 2020. The central England city of Leicester is waiting to find out if lockdown restrictions will be extended as a result of a spike in coronavirus infections. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP) The British government is reimposing an array of lockdown restrictions, including the closure of schools, in the central city of Leicester after a spike in coronavirus infections. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told lawmakers late Monday after a series of meetings, including one chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that in addition to the school closures, shops that don't sell essential goods, such as food and medicines, will have to shutter themselves again, barely two weeks after they reopened. He said the government had to take "difficult but important decisions" for the benefit of Leicester's population, which is thought to number around 350,000. "Local action like this is an important tool in our armoury to deal with outbreaks while we get the country back on its feet," he said. The re-imposition of lockdown restrictions for Leicesterthe biggest local tightening taken by the governmentwent further than had been anticipated and is likely to prove a cause for concern among the city's highly diverse population and those who were looking to reopen their businesses this Saturday. While confirming that Leicester won't be joining in the easing of the lockdown this Saturday when pubs and restaurants are due to reopen in England, Hancock said further actions were necessary to get a grip on the local outbreak that's seen the city account for 10% of all positive cases in the country over the past week. Hospital admissions are between six and 10 a day, also higher than in other places, he added. A man cleans the windows of a launderette in Leicester, England, Monday June 29, 2020. The central England city of Leicester is waiting to find out if lockdown restrictions will be extended as a result of a spike in coronavirus infections. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP) Hancock said non-essential retailers, such as department stores and electronic retailers, will have to close again from Tuesday, two weeks after they reopened. In addition, he said schools will have to close from Thursday as children have been particularly hit during this outbreak. They will remain open for vulnerable children though. He also said that travel to, from and within the city will have to be curtailed and social distancing rules will be monitored. "The more people follow the rules, the faster we'll get control of this virus and get Leicester back to normal," he said. "The virus thrives on social contact and we know reducing social contact controls its spread and precise and targeted actions like these will give the virus nowhere to hide and help us defeat this invisible killer." The lockdown in Leicester will be reviewed in two weeks. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a science room under construction during a visit to the construction site of Ealing Fields High School in west London, Monday June 29, 2020. (Toby Melville/Pool via AP) Concerns over Leicester have mounted in recent days following the increase in cases, though there has been some confusion as to the government's intentions following a weekend of mixed messages that appeared to come as a surprise to local officials. Hancock said the government was providing extra testing capacity in the city and that Leicester's "proud diversity" will be taken into account, notably in the translation of the new guidelines into all relevant languages. Ahead of the meetings Monday, Leicester's mayor, Peter Soulsby, said he had yet to be persuaded that the city is faring any worse than other places in England, and sharply criticized the British government over its handling of the situation The U.K. has recorded 43,575 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest by far in Europe. The government, which sets the coronavirus response for England, has said it won't hesitate to reimpose lockdown restrictions on a specific region in the event of a local outbreak. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks with year 10 pupil Vedant Jitesh during a visit to the construction site of Ealing Fields High School in west London, Monday June 29, 2020. (Toby Melville/Pool via AP) Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the construction site of Ealing Fields High School in west London, Monday June 29, 2020. (Toby Melville/Pool via AP) Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks with year 10 pupils Vedant Jitesh and Eryn Davies during a visit to the construction site of Ealing Fields High School in west London, Monday June 29, 2020. (Toby Melville/Pool via AP) In this Wednesday, April 29, 2020 file photo, Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock arrives in Downing Street in London. The British government has reimposed lockdown restrictions in the English city of Leicester after a spike in coronavirus infections, including the closure of shops that don't sell essential goods and schools. In a statement in Parliament, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government won't be recommending that the city joins in the easing of the lockdown in England that is due to take place on Saturday, July 4, which includes the reopening of pubs and restaurants. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File) "We are concerned about Leicester, we are concerned about any local outbreak," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier Monday while on a visit to a construction site in London. "I want to stress to people that we are not out of the woods yet." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The recent killings of unarmed individuals such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Tony McDade have sparked a national conversation about the treatment of Black peopleand other minoritiesin the United States. "What we're seeing today is a close examination of the hardships and indignities that people have faced for a very long time because of their race and ethnicity," said Kyle Ratner, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at UC Santa Barbara. As a social psychologist, he is interested in how social and biological processes give rise to intergroup bias and feelings of stigmatization. According to Ratner, "It is clear that people who belong to historically marginalized groups in the United States contend with burdensome stressors on top of the everyday stressors that members of non-disadvantaged groups experience. For instance, there is the trauma of overt racism, stigmatizing portrayals in the media and popular culture, and systemic discrimination that leads to disadvantages in many domains of life, from employment and education to healthcare and housing to the legal system." Concerned by negative rhetoric directed at Latinx individuals, Ratner and his lab have investigated how negative stereotype exposure experienced by Mexican-American students can influence the way their brains process information. In a recent paper published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, the research team focuses on how negative stereotype exposure affects responses to monetary incentives. Their finding: The brains of Mexican-American students exposed to negative stereotypes anticipate rewards and punishments differently versus those who were not so exposed. The discovery, he said, is the first step in a series of studies that could help researchers understand neural pathways through which stigma can have detrimental effects on psychological and physical health. 'I'm so tired of this' Much existing research has focused on how experiencing stigma and discrimination triggers anger, racing thoughts and a state of high arousal. Although Ratner believes this is a reaction that people experience in some contexts, his recent work focuses on the psychological fatigue of hearing your group disparaged. "It's this feeling of 'oh, not again,' or 'I'm so tired of this,'" he said, describing a couple of reactions to the stress of managing self-definition in the face of negative stereotypes. While noticing several years ago that experiencing stigma can produce this sense of withdrawal and resignation, Ratner was reminded of work he conducted earlier in his career relating stress to depressive symptoms. "In work I was involved in over a decade ago, we showed that life stress can be associated with anhedonia, which is a blunted sensitivity to positive and rewarding information, such as winning money," he said. "If you're not sensitive to the rewarding things in life, you're basically left being sensitive to all the frustrating things in life, without that positive buffer. And that's one route to depression." Given that experiencing stigma can be conceptualized as a social stressor, Ratner wanted to investigate whether negative stereotype exposure might also relate to sensitivity to reward. Reward Processing in the Brain Ratner and his colleagues focused on the nucleus accumbens, a sub-cortical brain region that plays a central role in anticipating pleasurethe "wanting" stage of reward processing that motivates behaviors. Using functional MRI to measure brain activity, the researchers asked Mexican-American UCSB students to view sets of video clips in rapid succession and then gave these students the opportunity to win money or avoiding losing money. In the control group, the viewers were shown news and documentary clips of social problems in the United States that were relevant to the country in generalchildhood obesity, teen pregnancy, gang violence and low high school graduation numbers. In the stigmatized group, subjects were shown news and documentary clips covering the same four domains, but that singled out the Latinx community as the group specifically at risk for these problems. "These videos were not overtly racist," Ratner said of the stigmatizing clips. Rather, he explained, the videos tended to spend a disproportionate amount of attention on the association between specific social issues and their effects in the Latinx community, rather than presenting them as problems of American society as a whole. The clips were mostly from mainstream news agenciesthe newscasters and narrators, he said, appeared to be "presenting facts as they understood them," but the content of these clips reinforced negative stereotypes. After repeated exposure to negative stereotypes, the research participants were asked to perform a Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task, which required them to push a button whenever they saw a star on the screen. Pressing the button fast enough resulted in either winning money or avoiding losing money. In those individuals shown the stigmatizing clips, the nucleus accumbens responded differently to waiting for the star to appear, as compared to those who viewed the control clips, a pattern that suggests that negative stereotype exposure was "spilling-over" to affect how participants were anticipating winning and losing money. "We saw that something about watching these stigmatizing videos was later influencing the pattern of response within this brain region," Ratner said. This suggests that the nucleus accumbens is representing the potential of winning and losing money differently in the brains of those who previously saw the stigmatizing videos than those who didn't, he explained. The researchers also found that the group that saw the stigmatizing videos reported lower levels of arousal right before starting the MID task, consistent with stigmatizing experiences having a demotivating effect. "The nucleus accumbens is very important for motivated behavior, and sparks of motivation are important for many aspects for everyday life," Ratner said. A loss of motivation, he continued, is often experienced by those who perceive their situation as out of their control. One reason negative stereotypes in the media and popular culture are so problematic is they make people feel stigmatized even when they are not personally targeted in their daily life by bigoted people, he explained. "It becomes something you can't escapesimilar to other stressors that are out of people's control and have been shown to cause anhedonia." Ratner is careful to point out that this study merely scratches the surface of brain processes involved in intergroup reactions such as stigmahow the brain processes social motivations is far more complex and necessitates further study. "People shouldn't generalize too much from this specific finding," he said, pointing out that his sample of 40 Mexican-American college students, while not small for a brain imaging study, represents only a small segment of a far more diverse community. When his lab is back up and running following the COVID-19 related cessation, he said, he and his collaborators hope to study a larger, non-student sample. Explore further Confrontation may reduce white prejudices, study finds More information: B Locke Welborn et al, Exposure to negative stereotypes influences representations of monetary incentives in the nucleus accumbens, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (2020). Journal information: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience B Locke Welborn et al, Exposure to negative stereotypes influences representations of monetary incentives in the nucleus accumbens,(2020). DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa041 Bram Stokers Dracula has become the benchmark vampire. Credit: Penguin Random House The concept of a vampire predates Bram Stoker's tales of Count Draculaprobably by several centuries. But did vampires ever really exist? In 1819, 80 years before the publication of Dracula, John Polidori, an Anglo-Italian physician, published a novel called The Vampire. Stoker's novel, however, became the benchmark for our descriptions of vampires. But how and where did this concept develop? It appears that the folklore surrounding the vampire phenomenon originated in that Balkan area where Stoker located his tale of Count Dracula. Stoker never travelled to Transylvania or any other part of Eastern Europe. (The lands held by the fictional count would be in modern-day Romania and Hungary.) The writer was born and brought up in Dublin. He was a friend to Oscar Wilde and William Gladstone. He was both a Liberal and a home-rulerin favour of home rule for Ireland. He turned to theatre, and became business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London. It was his friendship with Armin Vambery, a Hungarian writer, that led to his fascination with vampire folklore. He consulted Vambery in the writing of Dracula, whose main character was loosely fashioned on Vlad the Impaler, a bloodthirsty prince born in Transylvania in 1431. Medical source of the myth But where did the myth of vampires come from? Like many myths, it is based partly in fact. A blood disorder called porphyria, which has has been with us for millennia, became prevalent among the nobility and royalty of Eastern Europe. Porphyria is an inherited blood disorder that causes the body to produce less hemea critical component of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues. It seems likely that this disorder is the origin of the vampire myth. In fact, porphyria is sometimes referred to as the "vampyre disease." Consider the symptoms of patients with porphyria: Sensitivity to sunlight : Extreme sensitivity to sunlight, leading to facial disfigurement, blackened skin and hair growth. : Extreme sensitivity to sunlight, leading to facial disfigurement, blackened skin and hair growth. Fangs : In addition to facial disfigurement, repeated attacks of the disease causes the gums to recede, exposing the teeth, which then look like fangs. : In addition to facial disfigurement, repeated attacks of the disease causes the gums to recede, exposing the teeth, which then look like fangs. Blood drinking : Because the urine of persons with porphyria is dark red, folklore surmised that they were drinking blood. In fact, some physicians had recommended that these patients drink blood to compensate for the defect in their red blood cellsbut this recommendation was for animal blood. It is more likely that these patients, who only went out after dark, were judged to be looking for blood, and their fangs led to folk tales about vampires. : Because the urine of persons with porphyria is dark red, folklore surmised that they were drinking blood. In fact, some physicians had recommended that these patients drink blood to compensate for the defect in their red blood cellsbut this recommendation was for animal blood. It is more likely that these patients, who only went out after dark, were judged to be looking for blood, and their fangs led to folk tales about vampires. Aversion to garlic : The sulfur content of garlic could lead to an attack of porphyria, leading to very acute pain. Thus, the aversion to garlic. : The sulfur content of garlic could lead to an attack of porphyria, leading to very acute pain. Thus, the aversion to garlic. Reflections not seen in mirrors : In the mythology, a vampire is not able to look in a mirror, or cannot see its reflection. The facial disfigurement caused by porphyria becomes worse with time. Poor oxygenation leads to destruction of facial tissues, and collapse of the facial structure. Patients understandably avoided mirrors. : In the mythology, a vampire is not able to look in a mirror, or cannot see its reflection. The facial disfigurement caused by porphyria becomes worse with time. Poor oxygenation leads to destruction of facial tissues, and collapse of the facial structure. Patients understandably avoided mirrors. Fear of the crucifix: During the Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834), 600 "vampires" were reportedly burned at the stake. Some of these accused vampires were innocent sufferers of porphyria. Porphyria patients had good reason to fear the Christian faith and Christian symbols. Acute attacks of the disease are associated with considerable pain, and both mental and physical disturbance. This condition has been ascribed to the English King George III, although subsequent analysis has shed some doubt on porphyria as the cause of his "madness." Porphyria Nowadays, with our scientific knowledge of porphyria, instead of fearing these folks, we can love and care for them. Porphyria remains incurable, and treatment is mainly supportive: pain control, fluids and avoidance of drugs and chemicals that provoke acute attacks. Some success has been achieved with stem cell transplants. Could Stoker have known of the existence of porphyria, and/or its link to vampire folklore? It was only in 1911, eight years before Stoker's book appeared, that the diseases of porphyria (there are several types) were classified by H. Gunther. However, physician, researcher and author George Harley had described a patient with porphyria a few years earlier. Through his gothic novel, Stoker surely wins the prize for the best example of myth entangled with medicine! Explore further Promising results for new acute porphyria treatment This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Carlson will be studying engineering, a natural path for him thanks to his love of motor sports. He lived in Madrid, Spain, for three years while his dad was in the army, and he was exposed to the world of racing. Cornell has one of the best racing teams in the country. Students design, engineer, manufacture, fundraise and race cars in competitions throughout the school year. Carlson knew the Cornell racing program, a group that ranks globally, was one he wanted to be a part of. Racing was the primary reason he chose engineering as his major. I've always loved tinkering with things. I've always been a math and science guy, he said. And for a fan of motor sports, (engineering is) kind of the next progression. When the decision came for Carlson, it came two days later than he expected. Id hyped myself up so much, and then they postponed it. It was terrible, he said. I was pacing around all day. When Carlson finally saw the acceptance, he almost thought it was too good to be true. It was just amazing, he said. Winters at first didn't think Cornell was a realistic option for him, and he had planned to attend the University of San Diego. Firefighters who tested positive must go through two tests with negative results before returning to work, and others are tested at the end of the quarantine period. Tuesday's statewide new case count is the second-highest tally in a single day since the pandemic struck Montana in mid-March. Monday's count, 56, was the highest. The state reported 2,118 new tests completed. Tuesday's count brings Missoula County's total to 86. One person in Missoula County has died from the novel coronavirus. Missoula City-County Health Officer Ellen Leahy said Tuesday the recent flare in cases should serve as an alarm. "That first spike was slammed down with the closures," Leahy said. "For those of us that haven't realized how quickly, and how stealthy, this threat is, this is the opportunity for an eye-opening." The question of whether to close bars and restaurants again hangs on the health department's ability to conduct contract tracing and monitor those in isolation and quarantine, Leahy said. If the case count tips over the staff's ability to properly survey the cases as they come in, there may be cause to quiet the bar scene. Even now, Leahy said, staff are working seven days a week to keep up. Paris, TX (75460) Today Scattered thunderstorms in the morning becoming more widespread in the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 86F. SSW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms during the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 59F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. She described how the dogs have responded to the training. Koda has been working with us about five months now, Purgason said. He has come so far. When we first got him, he had never been on a leash. He now performs basic and advanced obedience tasks, such as deep pressure lay and touch, and has been started on tracking. We are concentrating on keeping him out in public, since COVID-19 has limited our public outings and socialization time. His tasks will also be changed or added to once we find his forever handler. We like to really get to know them so we can customize what tasks they will need from a service dog. Alvin we received as a puppy. He has been trained to fetch items dropped, open cabinets, turn on lights and walk beside a wheelchair or walker. Again, we will add or change his tasks as well, once we find the perfect handler for him. Veterans in Burke County may apply to receive Alvin or Koda Bear as their service dog by visiting highlandcanineconnect.org, clicking on Service Dog Donation and filling out an application. The deadline for applications is Aug. 1. Purgason explained how Highland Canine Connect staff will evaluate the applications. A glove that translates sign language into speech in real time has been developed by scientists potentially allowing deaf people to communicate directly with anyone, without the need for a translator. The wearable device contains sensors that run along the four fingers and thumb to identify each word, phrase or letter as it is made in American Sign Language. Those signals are then sent wirelessly to a smartphone, which translates them into spoken words at a rate of one word per second. Scientists at UCLA, where the project was developed, believe the innovation could allow for easier communication for deaf people. "Our hope is that this opens up an easy way for people who use sign language to communicate directly with non-signers without needing someone else to translate for them," said lead researcher Jun Chen. "In addition, we hope it can help more people learn sign language themselves," he added. The research was published in the journal Nature Electronics. Struck by the beautiful complexity of metallurgy and their many uses, Bozer realized she wanted to study metallurgical and materials engineering while attending a summer camp at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology after her eighth-grade year. There, she fell in love with metallurgy. Ive always thought blacksmithing, welding, casting, etc. was cool and interesting. But it wasnt until camp that I opened up my eyes to this not-so-well-known side of engineering, she said. Although shes only about to start her senior year, Bozer already has accomplished enough for an impressive resume. In addition to ongoing research projects, she is a co-author on a scholarly article published in 2017 and is the president of the metallurgy and materials engineering student organization, Club MET. For now, Bozer is interning at Coeur Rochester Inc., a silver and gold mining company in Lovelock, Nevada. There, she's working on various projects and optimizing the recovery of precious metals. Despite all her accomplishments and experiences thus far, Bozer wasnt confident about the prospect of going to graduate school. But receiving the Goldwater Scholarship has changed her mindset. The last several months have been filled with uncertainty, sadness and hardship. The COVID-19 pandemic relentlessly moves on, lives continue to be lost, all against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, social injustice and racial inequality. Times are hard. Through this we are seeing growth and evolution in how we view our world and our communities. As we prepare to address these changes, we need to summon solutions that match the magnitude of the moment. One challenge that cuts across our current crises is widespread unemployment, especially among young people. Currently 11 million Americans under 30 years of age are out of work a level not seen since the Great Depression. This crisis touches all demographics, but disproportionally affects youth of color, indigenous youth and rural youth. And we have seen all too often, Montana communities suffer when our young people are forced to move out of state to find work. The good news is that we have an opportunity and a strong foundation to tackle unemployment, rebuild our communities, and invest in the outdoors. Cleo Franklin and former president of MCC Bob Allbee attended MCC together. They were from different backgrounds, but connected as athletes and friends then, and to this day. Cleo was offered a chance to play at the University of Iowa but rather than being redshirted, he decided to attend a community college and played basketball at MCC. He was one of the top high-school recruits from the Chicago area. My dream was to be a Hawkeye, Franklin told me, and I turned down scholarship offers from several major universities and Ivy League Colleges, such as Dartmouth and Cornell, with dreams of putting on the Iowa black and gold. Franklin became the all-time leading scorer at MCC while earning his associate of arts from MCC. The basketball recruiting process started all over again after I graduated which was tough. My parents were not happy that I turned down prestigious scholarship offers before coming to MCC, so I asked them to pick the school to which I would transfer to make amends. They selected Morningside College in Sioux City. I enjoyed my time there and had many successes from being elected as the first African American student body president and completing my basketball career as one of the nations top Division II basketball players and the eighth all time second leading scorer in Morningsides history only after two years of playing." Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub is one of South Africas most respected chief executives, having helped to build the top telecommunications company in South Africa. Joosub joined Vodacom in 1994 and served in many senior management positions at the company until he took the reins in 2012. Under his leadership, Vodacom excelled and brought many first to South Africa, including the first commercial LTE network and the first 5G mobile network. Vodacoms share price performance during the COVID-19 pandemic shows the trust of the investment community in Joosub, and he was voted as one of the top CEOs in a recent survey. In this episode of Whats Next with Aki Anastasiou, Joosub discusses the impact of the lockdown on Vodacom and how he is running the company in the new work-from-home environment. He also sheds light on traffic volumes during the lockdown and reveals a big surprise about voice traffic. Joosub further discusses Vodacoms 5G plans, the need for spectrum, and his favourite Netflix show at the moment. The full interview is embedded below. You can see all Whats Next with Aki Anastasiou interviews here. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased demand for high-quality mobile network services across South Africa. This has been confirmed by leading South African mobile networks. A large reason for these unprecedented mobile connectivity demand levels is that more users are working and learning from home. This has resulted in increases to both work and leisure connectivity demands from users including demand for cloud, video conferencing, and content streaming services. The increased demand for mobile network services has been so significant that it resulted in ICASA making temporary emergency spectrum available to South Africas mobile network operators across the 700MHz, 800MHz, 2.6GHz, and 3.5GHz bands. This spectrum was swiftly implemented by network operators and has allowed them to deal with the increased demand for data. Concerns for the future However, South African networks will lose access to this temporary spectrum at the end of November 2020. This means that while mobile networks are utilising additional spectrum to solve immediate problems, they may have challenges when it comes to making investments into long-term network improvements. This is compounded by the fact that the spectrum allocation process in South Africa has been notoriously slow, with countless delays resulting in mobile networks repeatedly being left in the cold. Mobile networks such as MTN and Vodacom are also operating with less permanent spectrum than many operators in other African countries despite significant demand for mobile connectivity in South Africa. It is therefore important that the current temporary spectrum winners are guaranteed the opportunity to replace it with permanent spectrum. ICASA can allay these fears by accelerating the licensing process to a date before 30 November. Alternatively, it can extend the temporary spectrum licenses until permanent licenses have been issued. By doing so the government can align its decision-making with a future that develops broadband connectivity across the country. Investment into rural areas Spectrum also incentivises mobile networks to roll out affordable coverage in rural areas to address the digital divide. The government could also offer public funding to mobile networks to connect disadvantages South Africans. This is an investment into the future of the South African economy, as it will allow more South Africans to access the educational and empowerment opportunities that data connectivity provides. Now read: Trudeau refuses to budge on Huawei CFO situation South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni told selected clients of two of the countrys biggest banks that the National Treasury has no plans to boost income, corporate or value-added tax even as the coronavirus decimates the nations finances. The Treasury is discussing the possibility of an inheritance tax and a so-called solidarity tax in a bid to raise additional finances, two people who listened to the calls with hundreds of clients of Standard Bank Group Ltd. and Absa Group Ltd. said. They asked not to be identified because the calls were private. Mbowenis room to raise levies for individuals and companies is limited, with the ratio of tax revenue to gross domestic product at 26% compared to a global average of 15%, according to World Bank data. Increasing value-added tax, which the government has done only twice since 1991, is unpopular within the ruling African National Congress because it is seen as affecting the countrys poorest people hardest. Taxes on the wealthy are favored politically and a solidarity tax, associated with the virus outbreak, would be limited in duration. In a special adjustment budget last week, the government cut its revenue projection for the current fiscal year to 1.12 trillion rand ($64.6 billion) from the 1.43 trillion rand it estimated in February as the virus and the associated lockdown reduced business activity. Mboweni said an additional 40 billion rand in tax will be raised over the next four years, without providing more details. The Treasury, Absa and Standard Bank declined to comment. Tax Rates In South Africas top income-tax rate is 45%, corporate tax is 28% and VAT is 15%. In February, when the annual budget was released, the Treasury said it decided not to raise taxes due to the weakness of the economy and was considering lowering the levy on companies to boost the countrys competitiveness as an investment destination among emerging markets. Since then, South Africa has lost the last investment-grade rating on its debt and the country on March 27 entered a lockdown to curb the spread of the virus. While the government is gradually easing those restrictions, the Treasury forecasts GDP will contract 7.2% this year. Now read: Government and unions clash over SAA overhaul MTN has officially launched its 5G network in South Africa, which it said will deliver higher peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, increased reliability, and greater network capacity. The network has launched with 100 sites, and the companys 5G network covers areas of Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. Today, from MTNs birthplace of South Africa, we are stepping up our digital revolution with the next generation of telecommunication technology, demonstrating to all South Africans that 5G is no longer just an idea it is here, it works and it has the capacity to bring about exponential improvements to our economy, and to the lives of the people we serve, said MTN SA CEO Godfrey Motsa. MTN SA CTIO Giovanni Chiarelli said that the launch of the 5G network is thanks in part to the recent allocation of temporary spectrum by ICASA. For the past two years we have been actively innovating around the potential of 5G, using different bands and various vendors and across different platforms and devices, to ensure MTN South Africa can maintain leadership in 5G, as we have been able to maintain our leadership in 4G, Chiarelli said. Our 5G strategy has been years in the making and we are confident that we have built a strong foundation to grow and support our 5G ecosystem to deliver an exceptional experience for our customers. MTN will deliver 5G connectivity on four different spectrum bands: 3.5 GHz at 58 sites Available in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein. Available in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein. 2,100MHz and 1,800MHz at 35 sites Available in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. Available in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. 700MHz at 5 sites Available in Port Alfred, Hopetown, Virginia Queenstown, and Tsantsabane Available in Port Alfred, Hopetown, Virginia Queenstown, and Tsantsabane 28GHz at 3 sites Available in Hatfield, Edenvale, and Durban. MTN said it is introducing the re-farming of some 4G spectrum to allow it to run 4G and 5G spectrum, at the same time, in the same band. This allows for easier migration of network technology from LTE to 5G, the company said. It also allows us to deploy 5G using existing spectrum assets in the absence of additional high demand spectrum. Next-generation applications MTN said 5G will enable next-generation services such as virtual and augmented reality, ultra-high-definition video streaming, artificial intelligence, robotics, automated cars, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Motsa added that MTNs rollout of its 5G network will be ramped up to even more sites once government allocates permanent spectrum through the planned auction later this year. We are extremely encouraged by the release of the temporary spectrum, Motsa said. Our call to the regulator and government is to release permanent 4G and 5G spectrum as a matter of urgency, so that we can fuel the digital revolution our nation needs to bridge the digital divide that currently deepens the gap between the haves and the have-nots. If the spectrum is made available, the coverage is a given and the affordability can be achieved. Although we are starting relatively small our growth plans for our 5G ecosystem are huge, Motsa said. At the launch of its 5G network, MTN partnered with Emerge Gaming to demonstrate game streaming on a Huawei P40 Pro smartphone. Cloud gaming will do to gaming what video-on-demand has done to TV, its a complete gamechanger only this is a game-changer that will be delivered by 5G, MTN said. MTNs service is offered in two variants 5G home Wi-Fi and 5G mobile. 5G home Wi-Fi promises average speeds of 100Mbps and peak speeds of 500Mbps, while 5G mobile offers average speeds of 50Mbps and peak speeds of 500Mbps. MTN is offering a wide range of 24-month and 36-month data plans priced between R499 and R1,599 per month. This is in addition to unlimited data plans for R999 on a 36-month contract and R1,249 on a 24-month contract. Californias largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, is about to emerge from bankruptcy with a depressed stock price and a very high debt load. If it cannot operate safely and profitably, a state takeover may be the option. Were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic and the severe economic recession that followed, Californias biggest political story of the year would be the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas and Electric, the huge utility that serves most of Northern California. A year and a half ago, PG&E declared bankruptcy due to almost countless billions of dollars in potential liability for killer wildfires caused by failures of its rural transmission lines during high winds its second bankruptcy in two decades. Its now poised to emerge from bankruptcy, having settled wildfire claims with a mixture of money borrowed money and stock and agreed to enough managerial and operational reforms to satisfy the federal bankruptcy judge, politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the Public Utilities Commission. +2 Dan Walters: Is the economy headed up or down? Unemployment has tripled since COVID-19 struck, but there was an uptick in May, columnist Dan Walters says. So what's next for the California economy? In doing so, PG&Es executives achieved their primary goal, which was to stave off demands that it be sold to a new owner billionaire Warren Buffet was often mentioned or converted into some other entity, such as a co-op or a public agency. However, corporate survival also means borrowing huge amounts of money, increasing its debt load to $38 billion, not counting more than $25 billion in wildfire payments. Emerging from bankruptcy allows it to tap a special $21 billion fund created by the Legislature for wildfire compensation. Servicing those debts, spending heavily on upgrades to prevent future fires and otherwise reconfiguring the company will be a heavy lift, because it also must remain profitable if it is to attract the investment capital that all corporations need. All of these expensive conditions will inevitably find their way into the power rates that PG&Es millions of consumer and commercial customers pay rates that are already among the nations highest. +2 Dan Walters: CalPERS gambles on risky investment move Facing a vicious circle of conflicting demands and priorities, the California Public Employees Retirement System is turning to debt - a risky scheme to borrow billions of dollars in hopes of juicing its investment returns, columnist Dan Walters says. Were the company to stumble again, and fail to meet the prescribed metrics, some sort of state takeover is possible, or even likely. It was being widely discussed early in PG&Es bankruptcy and into this year, but seemed to lose steam as COVID-19 and recession became the preoccupations of politicians and the public. However, legislation that could convert PG&E into a non-profit, publicly owned corporation called Golden State Energy is on the verge of enactment. Once its law, Newsom or a future governor could unilaterally trigger its creation and begin to take over PG&Es assets, either by voluntary sale or involuntary taking. Given PG&Es depressed corporate status, such a takeover might be relatively cheap. With its stock hovering around $9 share, its market value is scarcely $5 billion, one seventh of what it was three years ago. However, acquisition would also mean assuming the companys huge debt load. +2 Dan Walters: Its time to curb police violence California clearly has problem with police violence and it will be up to the Democrats who control the state's politics to fix it, columnist Dan Walters says. Could it happen? Yes. Should it happen? Perhaps, if PG&E cannot successfully operate as an investor-owned utility. But having such a huge utility under the control of politicians is a bit scary. Think Department of Motor Vehicles or the Employment Development Department, two current examples of governmental mismanagement. Speaking of which, at some point the role that the Public Utilities Commission played in PG&Es debacle should be fully examined. The PUC, whose members are all appointees of the governor, is supposed to ensure that the regulated monopolies it oversees are serving their customers efficiently and profitably. If PG&E was neglecting the maintenance of its grid, allowing it to deteriorate and cause wildfires, where was the PUC? It should have been aware of the neglect and insisted that PG&Es executives do the right thing. Golden State Energy, if it becomes reality, would also be under PUC regulation something to keep in mind if that option arises. CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Academia is supposed to be a land of objective reality, where ideas enter the standard curriculum for mass exposure to students only after thorough vetting. But thats apparently not so if the subject is sufficiently politically correct. Thats about the only conclusion to be drawn today, as school boards around California are approving a new ethnic studies curriculum even before its been examined in public hearings or adopted by the state Board of Education. School boards in places as disparate as Albany and Alhambra, San Francisco, Oakland and Hayward have endorsed this proposed curriculum, even though its a no more than a very slightly altered version of the course resoundingly rejected last year on grounds of bias and unjustified exclusions. Thomas D. Elias: Get ready for another ethnic studies battle A new draft of the state's proposed Ethnic Studied curriculum will probably share the flaws that torpedoed the first version, columnist Tom Elias says. After that rejection, the curriculum was supposed to get a complete revision. Not exactly. Pretty much the same folks who wrote the first version turned up on the committee writing the new one, creating little better than a rerun with a few ts crossed differently, so to speak. People writing both versions of the curriculum have mostly been adherents of something called critical ethnic studies. Several websites describe the central question guiding the Critical Ethnic Studies (CES) Association as this: How do the histories of colonialism and conquest, racial chattel slavery and white supremacist patriarchies affect, inspire and unsettle scholarship in the present? The first version of the planned curriculum divided Californians into four categories: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, whites and Asian American/Pacific Islanders. Inspired by CES thinking, it focused more on racial and ethnic discrimination and little on the contributions of various groups that make up those wide categories. +2 Thomas D. Elias: Census ball now in Californias court With vast amounts of federal aid - and future political power - on the line, California is betting big on an accurate Census count, columnist Tom Elias says. No informed American denies that slavery had a major role in American history, as did the cheap labor of Chinese and other immigrants, including the Irish, Hispanics and Jews. Nor is the suffering of American Indians in dispute, even if they dont fit neatly into any CES category. All this belongs in history classes, but so do positive contributions of European colonists and other immigrants who together with the others built this nation. CES-style thinking embedded in the proposed curriculum, due for a hearing in Sacramento in August, caused the Vallejo school board to become a rare exception to the trend toward blind acceptance of a curriculum that has not been thoroughly examined. Said Robert Lawson, a school board member there and a former history teacher, People shouldnt be fooled that ethnic studies are mainly to instill pride in ones heritage. Its a means of getting even. +2 Thomas D. Elias: Post-lockdown realities begin to emerge Nowhere is the effect - and occasional absurdity - of the COVID-19 lockdown on display than in California's gyms, columnist Tom Elias says. That was essentially how the Jewish caucus of the state Legislature saw the original curriculum proposal, which contained significant lies about Israels treatment of Palestinians. It also ignored the charters of some large Palestinian factions, including Hamas the ruling party in Gaza which call for killing Jews wherever they are, while completely eliminating Israel. The planned coursework also ignored the Armenian genocide carried out by Turkey between 1915 and 1917, in which at least 1.5 million were massacred, with other millions fleeing to many places, including California, where they have thrived. It did not include the major contributions of Portuguese immigrants to California agriculture and said little about ethnic groups from Samoans to Syrians, Greeks, Yugoslavs and Egyptians, mostly sticking to the four wide categories favored by CES. That didnt bother the school boards endorsing the revised curriculum sight unseen. Ninety-five percent of our students are Asian American and Hispanic, said Alhambra board member Robert Gin. I support (it) in its entirety. It is a long time coming. Meanwhile, state schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond, in an update early this year, indicated he doesnt want much change from the original proposal that was supposedly dumped. He said the new version will acknowledge and honor the four (CES) foundational groups, thus lumping Jews, Armenians, Irish and other Caucasian hyphenated Americans with whites in general. That will inevitably play up racism and the World War II interning of Japanese Americans and downplay study of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, to name just two seminal events of the 20th century. It adds up to a phony rewrite, and will likely lead to further delay of ethnic studies and another rewrite hopefully a genuine one next time. Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It. Of course, not all policed people are treated equal. Black people in the United States are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people, according to the Marshall Project. The same source also indicates that Black people are LESS likely to be armed during police interactions than white people. It is irresponsible for the Napa Valley Register to present the "We Back Blue" group's action as a neutral response to the ongoing largely women and people of color-led Black Lives Matter actions in Napa. The data is clear. Police in this country are killing people on a near-daily basis. (Just this month, Sean Monterrossa's family buried him after he was shot and killed by Vallejo police). Police in this country are killing Black people and people of color at higher rates than white people. In an effort to "fair and balanced," the Napa Valley Register has missed the point - We Back Blue is just fine with the status-quo (in which white people are protected by police while Black and brown people are vulnerable to them). The Black Lives Matter movement is about liberation from the status quo, about visioning a future in which Black and Brown people are safe while exercising, buying groceries, getting Wendy's, sleeping. Nver Tsarukyan has the procedural status of witness within the scope of the criminal case instituted by the Department for Investigation of Crimes against Persons of the General Department of Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Armenia in regard to the incidents that took place near Partez Restaurant, Spokesperson of the Investigative Committee of Armenia Rima Yeganyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am. Nver Tsarukyan, who is the son of leader of Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan, has been summoned to an interview within the scope of this case, but has failed to show up due to health problems. The end of preliminary investigation with regard to 7 accused-on-trial separated from the specified criminal case is over, and the case has been forwarded to court. There are 22 persons involved as accused-on-trial, and the part regarding 7 persons has been separated from the main case and forwarded to the court. 26 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Civil Contract Party will have constitutional majority in new parliament Armenia new National Assembly to have 107 MPs Counting of ballots over in Armenia snap parliamentary elections Counting of ballots coming to an end in Armenia snap parliamentary elections Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts 86.4% of ballots Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts 80% of ballots Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts two thirds of ballots Armenia Central Electoral Commission counts 40% of ballots Acting PM thanks people of Armenia Armenia parliament vice-chair on Erdogan's "platform of six" proposal: We will answer later 33.49% of ballots counted: Pashinyans bloc leads Almost 27% of ballots counted by Armenia Central Electoral Commission (PHOTO) "Armenia" bloc: Snap parliamentary election results being published do not inspire confidence 19,95% of ballots counted by Armenia Central Electoral Commission (PHOTO) Artsakh President comes out of Armenia ruling party headquarters 2.54% of ballots counted by Armenia Central Electoral Commission (PHOTO) Armenia Central Electoral Commission announces most preliminary results of snap parliamentary elections Armenia's Citizen's Decision Party member not allowed to enter precinct, apprehended a little while ago "I Have Honor" bloc: Armenia National Security Service searches mayor's apartment, 2 MP candidates abducted Results of electronic voting: Civil Contract Party: 163, "Armenia" bloc: 135, Armenian National Congress: 43 Electric Networks of Armenia: Power outages during vote counts were systematic Citizen who disseminated anti-propaganda leaflets against "Armenia" bloc shows up at police station Mediaport: Power is out in Armenia's Gyumri, Vanadzor, Artik, Aparan, Dilijan and Armavir city Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #9/48 in Yerevan district (VIDEO) Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #9/49 in Yerevan district (VIDEO) Tense situation at polling station #9/21 in Armenia, red beret police officers called to location Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #14/13 in Etchmiadzin (VIDEO) Power goes out before vote count at polling station #25/58 in Armenia's Odzun Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov returns to US Armenia Police receive 87 alarms via hotline as of 8:30 pm Armenia snap parliamentary elections voter turnout 49.4%, 51.55% voter turnout in Yerevan Armenia Ombudsman's statement on taking photos of ballots speculated Armenia Civil Contract Party member obstructing work of opposition party proxy at polling station Armenia advocate: National Security Service decided to conduct search in office and apartment of Masis mayor Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #2/46 in Yerevan district (VIDEO) Netanyahu and his family to leave PM residence no later than July 10 Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #31/02 in Gyumri Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #8/04 in Yerevan district (VIDEO) Gabrielyanov: Russian institutions' exit poll results of Armenia snap parliamentary elections announced Armenian News-NEWS.am providing live coverage at polling station #17/03 in Armenia's Ashtarak (VIDEO) Catholicos of All Armenians sends congratulatory message to Iran's President-elect Armenia snap parliamentary elections are over hetq.am: Ballot box at polling station in Armenia's Gavar not sealed "I Have Honor" bloc's member: My father exited Special Investigation Service, will vote in Armenia elections Police detect case of electoral fraud in Armenian town China has 1 billion COVID-19 vaccinations Artak Tovmasyan visits military pantheon, goes to cast vote in Armenia snap parliamentary elections Armenia Ombudsman talks to democrats bloc's candidate for PM Arman Babajanyan after gunshot fired at car Armenian attorney: "I Have Honor" bloc's supporters released big brother: Red beret police officers brutally beat members of "Armenia" bloc's headquarters Armenia Police: Drunk man fires gunshots into air from apartment in Yerevan Armenia Police find data on 2,287 deceased persons, remove them from voters' lists Armenia "I Have Honor" bloc: Ballots for numbers 1-8 were missing in package for mobile voting at hospital Head of Yerevan district enters polling stations, addresses ruling party's proxies, records drawn up Armenia citizens distribute electoral bribes in village, 2 persons detained Voter turnout in Armenia snap parliamentary elections is 38.17% 3 hours before end of vote Armenia police apprehend producer Armen Grigoryan Criminal case opened into shooting at Armenia lawmaker, MP candidate's car Armenia Police receive 57 reports, process 20 of them as of 4pm Incident takes place between Armenia acting Deputy PM and citizens Lawyer on criminal case against Armenia bloc MP candidate: That recording is equal to anonymous report "I Have Honor" bloc issues statement on unlawful searches and detention during Armenia snap parliamentary elections Physician, Armenia bloc MP candidate: Criminal case brought against me contains no material in it RIA Novosti's survey shows 32% voters ready to vote for "Armenia"bloc, 24% ready to vote for Nikol Pashinyan Armenia Ombudsman: Photographing and disseminating used ballot are prohibited by law Armenia "5165" Movement Party's leader participates in snap parliamentary elections Armenia opposition bloc member Taron Margaryan comes to polling station with sons, votes for national security Armenia President's Office comments on report of car with its license plates parked outside polling station Zalkaliani: Tbilisi ready to work within Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia format Catholicos of All Armenians: May God increase good days in our peoples life Armenia snap parliamentary election voter turnout 26.82% as of 2pm Armenia MFA statement on World Refugee Day: Unprecedented humanitarian situation has unfolded Armenia MOD: Allegations of instructing soldiers during election are assumptions of authors of those videos Voting stopped for a while at polling station in Armenia's Sotk Opposition Sovereign Armenia Party's MP candidate apprehended Armenia First President casts his ballot Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Our most important task is to unite a divided society Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan FMs speak about active participation of 3 countries in peace process Israel doesn't rule out resumption of hostilities with Hamas Armenia former premier: We are now voting against Azerbaijans Aliyev Armenia 3rd President Sargsyan: We must develop relations with Georgia Mayor of Armenia's Goris: Soldiers being blatantly guided, there are several electoral violations Armenia opposition party's proxy and MP candidate transferred to hospital after brawl Armenia former President Sargsyan: My stance has not changed today either (PHOTOS) Protests held in Toronto: People demand immediate release of Armenian POWs Mediaport: Armenia ruling bloc MP provokes fight at election precinct US and Turkish defense ministers discuss Afghanistan Prosperous Armenia Party leader: Who can influence me? Armenia "I Have the Honor" bloc candidate for PM: Authorities are in agony Armenia snap parliamentary election voter turnout 12.2% as of 11am Brazil reaches 500,000 COVID-19 deaths Artsakh Defense Army ex-commander: I voted that you to live with strength Armenia acting PM comes to election precinct with his family Searches of Armenia bloc in Sisian is an unprecedented disgrace "Armenia" bloc: Never before in countrys history has there been such irregularity in electoral process Armenian Ombudsman conducts independent monitoring of electoral process from early morning Searches being carried out in headquarters and houses of Armenia bloc heads Armenia 2nd President on their chances of winning election: Do you doubt? (PHOTOS) Bright Armenia Party leader: Force that will buy votes is force of Ilham Aliyev US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with one of the Taliban leaders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, AP reported referring to Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen. The parties held a video conference and discussed the implementation of the peace agreement signed between the US and the Taliban. The call follows the US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, touring the region to advance the deal. The United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement on February 29 in Doha. According to the agreements, the US, its allies, and the coalition are set to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 14 months. The Taliban, in turn, guarantee that they will not use the territory of Afghanistan for actions that pose a threat to the security of the US and its allies. "The talks are expected to begin sometime in July - if both sides abide by a promise laid out in the U.S.-Taliban deal to release thousands of prisoners. The agreement calls for Kabul to release 5,000 imprisoned Taliban while the insurgents would release 1,000 government and military personnel they hold captive. But the prisoner releases have been marked by delays; Kabul has so far released 3,500 and the Taliban have freed about 700," AP noted. YEREVAN. In 2019, trade in goods and services between Ukraine and Armenia decreased by almost 2.5%, and in the first five months of 2020by 6.03%. "In 2019, the trade of goods and services between Ukraine and Armenia amounted to 171,400,000 [US] dollars, it has decreased by about 2.5% compared to the same period in 2018, the Ukrainian embassy in Armenia informed AnalitikaUA.net. Ukraine's exports to Armenia totaled $145,300,000, which is down 2.7% from the same period last year. Armenian imports to Ukraine amounted to $26,100,000, and this down 3.8%. In the first five months of 2020, the foreign trade between Ukraine and Armenia amounted to $49,970,000, which is down by 6.03% compared to the same period in 2019. Boeing Co began a series of long-delayed Boeing 737 MAX test flights, hoping to gain approval for the resumption of operation of the aircraft, suspended last year after two disasters. Pilots of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US and Boeing on Monday conducted their first test flight, which lasted about three hours. 'Boeing shares closed 14.4% higher at $194.49 on Monday', Reuters reported. After completion of the test flights, the FAA should analyze the test data and approve new pilot training procedures, among other recommendations. The regulator is unlikely to approve the resumption of plane flights before September, industry and government sources said. If Boeing receives permission, the company may resume flights of the 737 MAX in the US by the end of the year. According to the regulator, a central task for the FAA is to validate Boeings upgrades to the MCAS anti-stall system faulted in both crashes, as well as perform a wide range of flight maneuvers and emergency procedures. The agency said it will lift the grounding order only after we are satisfied that the aircraft meets certification standards. The coronavirus pandemic may have disrupted our Diaspora Armenian compatriots plans to travel to Armenia, however this has not stopped the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs from offering its programs to our Diaspora youth, the government of Armenia informed. Due to the travel restrictions, since Armenian youth from the Diaspora cannot physically visit Armenia this year, the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs will be running its summer youth camp online. The Step Toward Home 2-week virtual program will be held during the month of August, in two stages, from August 3 to August 28. The program includes courses in the Armenian language and history, virtual visits to communities (in Armenia and the Diaspora), interactive discussions, debate club, educational games, meetings with cultural and art employees, talks with last years participants, workshops, and community projects. Through the engaging and active program, Diasporan youth will be given an opportunity to get acquainted with the history and culture of Armenia, master their native language and learn about their homeland through communication with other Armenian youth. Participants will make virtual visits around the countryfrom Tatev to Amberd, from Saghmosavank to Matenadaran and even the Erebuni Museum. Individuals from the Armenian Diaspora aged 12-18 can participate in the online program and the deadline for applications is July 20th. Coca-Cola Hellenic Armenia highlights the importance of investing in education and science for the development of the Armenian youth. As a responsible Company, Coca-Cola Hellenic Armenia contributes to the expansion of educational opportunities and the development of professional skills for youth. By restarting the Youth Empowered program, Coca-Cola Hellenic Armenia gives opportunity to young people aged from 16 to 30 to participate in Life and Business skills trainings to develop personal and professional skills, as well as invest in self-education. Considering the current situation in the framework of COVID-19 pandemic, and follow up the safety rules, the trainings are available online on Dasaran.am educational platform. This year the digitization and implementation of the workshops on the online platform are deployed by Youth Empowered programs partner DASARAN Educational Program, the mission of which is to provide equal educational opportunities. This three-year program started in 2018 in the frame of a memorandum of understanding signed between RA Ministry of Education and Science and Coca-Cola Hellenic Armenia, and aims at reduction of unemployment rate among youth. More than 4,600 young people living in Armenia have already discovered the tools of Life Skills and Business Skills trainings within the last two years. Coca-Cola Hellenic Armenia continues to discover the professional potential of young people and expand new opportunities for the further development of the program. All those, who are willing to join Life Skills and Business Skills free trainings can follow the link below: https://www.dasaran.am/cola The participants of the Youth Empowered program's Life Skills module will acquire self-development and self-assessment skills, as well as skills to build professional relationships, give feedback, create cover letter and CV, and present themselves to the employer. The participants of the "Business Skills" module will learn time and project management, communication, negotiation and sales skills, business planning, as well as financial literacy. Participants will be awarded the certificates at the end of the course. Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 30.06.2020: Armenian FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov's video conference kicked off Tuesday. According to MFA spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan, the meeting is being held with mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. During the online meeting, the parties discussed the peace process amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mnatsakanyan highlighted the impermissibility of the militaristic and destructive statements of Azerbaijan, noting that they harm the atmosphere of the peace process and impede the implementation of the preparation of peoples for peace. The FM noted the need to ensure comprehensive security for the people of Artsakh, including through free and safe movement. Armenia has confirmed a total of 25,542 COVID-19 cases. According to the health ministry, 415 new cases and 751 recoveries were recorded on Tuesday. A total of 14,048 people have recovered, while the death toll has reached 443. According to the ministry spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan, 123 patients are waiting for hospitalization. Armenia's COVID-19 patient, 55, has been injured after jumping from a medical center's window. According to the health ministry spokesperson, the incident was reported to law enforcement agencies. The injured is now hospitalized in a critical condition. Leader of Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan has tested positive for COVID-19, the Prosperous Armenia faction MP Shake Isayan told Armenian News-NEWS.am. His son Nver Tsarukyan has tested positive as well. Yerevan court of general jurisdiction earlier in June denied the petition to arrest Gagik Tsarukyan who is charged with obstructing the will of voters through electoral fraud. Tsarukyan doesnt accept the charge and views the case against him as unlawful. Armenian parliament unanimously annulled its own decision to hold a referendum to amend one article of the Constitution. The Armenian parliament also adopted in the secondand finalreading the package of amendments to the law on the Constitutional Court. Eighty MPs from the majority My Step voted for them, whereas one lawmakeragainst. To note, opposition Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia factions had boycotted this special session. Armenian ex-president Robert Kocharyan and others' trial has been adjourned for a week. The case includes Robert Kocharyan, former CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, and ex-Secretary of the National Security Council Armen Gevorgyan. After a long break, the trial did not take place on June 23. Earlier, Danibekyan had adjourned the trial because the ex-president had undergone surgery, and former defense minister Seyran Ohanyans attorneys had tested positive for COVID-19. While the trial was adjourned, the Criminal Court of Appeal had ruled to release Robert Kocharyan on bail of over US $4 million. The Council of the European Union adopted a recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU. The Council's statement runs as follows: The Council today adopted a recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU. Travel restrictions should be lifted for countries listed in the recommendation, with this list being reviewed and, as the case may be, updated every two weeks. Based on the criteria and conditions set out in the recommendation, as from 1 July member states should start lifting the travel restrictions at the external borders for residents of the following third countries: Algeria Australia Canada Georgia Japan Montenegro Morocco New Zealand Rwanda Serbia South Korea Thailand Tunisia Uruguay China, subject to confirmation of reciprocity Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican should be considered as EU residents for the purpose of this recommendation. The criteria to determine the third countries for which the current travel restriction should be lifted cover in particular the epidemiological situation and containment measures, including physical distancing, as well as economic and social considerations. They are applied cumulatively. Regarding the epidemiological situation, third countries listed should meet the following criteria, in particular: number of new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100 000 inhabitants close to or below the EU average (as it stood on 15 June 2020) stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days overall response to COVID-19 taking into account available information, including on aspects such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting, as well as the reliability of the information and, if needed, the total average score for International Health Regulations (IHR). Information provided by EU delegations on these aspects should also be taken into account. Reciprocity should also be taken into account regularly and on a case-by-case basis. For countries where travel restrictions continue to apply, the following categories of people should be exempted from the restrictions: EU citizens and their family members long-term EU residents and their family members travellers with an essential function or need, as listed in the Recommendation. Schengen associated countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) also take part in this recommendation. Next steps The Council recommendation is not a legally binding instrument. The authorities of the member states remain responsible for implementing the content of the recommendation. They may, in full transparency, lift only progressively travel restrictions towards countries listed. A Member State should not decide to lift the travel restrictions for non-listed third countries before this has been decided in a coordinated manner. This list of third countries should be reviewed every two weeks and may be updated by the Council, as the case may be, after close consultations with the Commission and the relevant EU agencies and services following an overall assessment based on the criteria above. Travel restrictions may be totally or partially lifted or reintroduced for a specific third country already listed according to changes in some of the conditions and, as a consequence, in the assessment of the epidemiological situation. If the situation in a listed third country worsens quickly, rapid decision-making should be applied. Background On 16 March 2020, the Commission adopted a communication recommending a temporary restriction of all non-essential travel from third countries into the EU for one month. EU heads of state or government agreed to implement this restriction on 17 March. The travel restriction was extended for a further month respectively on 8 April 2020 and 8 May 2020. On 11 June the Commission adopted a communication recommending the further extension of the restriction until 30 June 2020 and setting out an approach for a gradual lifting of the restriction on non-essential travel into the EU as of 1 July 2020. Discussions have since then taken place between member states on the criteria and methodology to be applied. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has signed the law on property tax. The Law on Making Amendments and Supplements to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia was submitted to the President for his signature on June 26, 2020. The Staff of the President of Armenia thoroughly studied the Law and its potential social-economic impact, as well as the views of the professional community and society and the articles of mass media outlets regarding the Law and submitted the Law to the President of the Republic. The President of the Republic held discussions on the Law with representatives of the professional community, including lawyers, financiers and economists. The President of the Republic is aware of the substantiations presented by the Government and the National Assembly regarding the Law. Although the President of the Republic has accepted them and has taken into consideration the impact of the Law on the social-economic situation of the society, the President of the Republic believes adoption of the law is premature. Even if the Law isnt going to be enforced immediately, the moral-psychological consequences and the financial-economic issues will remain for a long time. Based on various evaluations, if enforced, the Law may increase the tax burden of citizens and may particularly affect pensioners, multi-member families, single parents, people who have received property through inheritance or donation, but currently dont have incomes, proprietors with real estate with mortgage and others. Unfortunately, according to the Constitution, the President of the Republic does not have the constitutional power to return the Law to the National Assembly with his comments and suggestions for further consideration or the right to veto. According to the Constitution, the President of the Republic can either sign or not sign the law, but in either case, the law will enter into force, or the President of the Republic can apply to the Constitutional Court. According to the studies of the Staff of the President and lawyers evaluations, there is no prima facie problem with constitutionality of the Law. Consequently, the President of the Republic has signed the Law. By signing the mentioned Law, the President of the Republic, within the scope of the powers reserved for him by the Constitution, will continue to follow evolution of enforcement of the Law and its impact on the public, and in case of emergence of possible problems with compliance with the Constitution, will not rule out the possibility of applying to the Constitutional Court. 23:36 Seven more people were killed in floods and related incidents across Assam, where around 15 lakh people have been affected by the deluge with embankments, roads, bridges, and many other infrastructure damaged at various places, a government report said on Wednesday. Thirty three people have lost their lives in the floods and 24 in landslides this season. Three persons were killed in Barpeta district, while one person each died in Dhubri, Nagaon, Nalbari in flood related incidents, while a landslide claimed the life of a 50-year-old person in Cachar district, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said in the report. The water level of river Brahmaputra was above the danger level at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara town in Goalpara and Dhubri town in Dhubri districts. The number of affected people on Tuesday was around 14.94 lakh across 23 of the 33 districts in the state while the figure on Wednesday was more than 14.95 lakh in 21 districts. Floodwaters receded from Majuli and West Karbi Anglong districts, but vast areas of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Chirang, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Hojai, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia are still submerged. Barpeta is the worst hit with nearly 5.95 lakh people suffering, followed by 1.95 lakh in South Salmara and 94,000 in Goalpara, the ASDMA said. District administrations and local people have evacuated 4,221 people since Wednesday in the three districts. At present, 2,197 villages are under water and 87,018.17 hectares of crop areas have been damaged in the state, ASDMA said. It said the authorities are running 254 relief camps and distribution centres across 15 districts, where 15,289 people have taken shelter. The water levels of Brahmaputra river's tributaries Dhansiri at Numaligarh in Golaghat, Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur and Kopili at Kampur in Nagaon were above the danger marks. Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts and many other infrastructure have been damaged at various places in Dibrugarh, Baksa, Nagaon, Barpeta, Darrang, Nalbari, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Morigaon, Majuli, Sivasagar and Kokrajhar districts. Apart from Cachar, massive erosions have been witnessed at different places of Baksa district, ASDMA said. -- PTI Taiwan condemns Beijing for imposing new law on HK Taiwan says Beijing's move violates its commitment to leave Hong Kong's way of life unchanged for 50 years from the handover and seriously affects human rights in the SAR. File photo: Shutterstock The Taiwanese government said on Tuesday that it strongly condemns Beijing's move to impose a national security law on Hong Kong. Hours after the National People's Congress Standing Committee approved the new legislation, Taipei warned that the law will "severely impact" the SAR's freedoms, human rights, and development. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said she was disappointed by the move, adding that it proves that the One Country, Two Systems model is not feasible. "We hope Hong Kong people continue to adhere to the freedom, democracy and human rights that they cherish," she told reporters. Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming said Beijing has violated its commitment to leave Hong Kong's way of life unchanged for 50 years from the handover and the new legislation will seriously affect human rights in the SAR. Last week, Taiwan said it would ease its coronavirus border restrictions to allow in people from Hong Kong for humanitarian reasons. It earlier announced that a dedicated office to help people fleeing the SAR would start operations on July 1, the day the new legislation is expected to come into force. Taiwanese warned of possible risks in visiting HK Taipei says the new national security law could pose a risk to Taiwanese people visiting Hong Kong. File image: Shutterstock Taiwan on Tuesday warned its citizens it could be risky for them to visit Hong Kong now that Beijing has passed its national security legislation for the SAR. The new law will "severely impact" freedom, democracy and human rights in Hong Kong, Taiwan's cabinet said in a statement, adding that the democratic island would continue to offer help to Hong Kong people. "The move severely impacts Hong Kong society's freedom, human rights and stability. The government strongly condemns it and reiterates its support for the people of Hong Kong as they strive for democracy and freedom," cabinet spokesman Ting Yi-ming said. Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have repeatedly said the legislation is aimed at a few "troublemakers" and will not affect rights and freedoms, nor investor interests. Nevertheless, Ting warned Taiwanese of "possible risks" when visiting Hong Kong in light of the legislation. He did not elaborate. Taiwan is set to launch a dedicated office on Wednesday to help those thinking of fleeing Hong Kong. (Reuters) ABI Research's global team of analysts are sharing their insights in immersive webinars, exclusive roundtables, collaborative panel discussions, and personalized one-on-one strategy sessions OYSTER BAY, N.Y., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 5G technology was beginning to revolutionize markets, industries, and companies across the globe, and then the COVID-19 pandemic started. 5G will quickly gain momentum in the post-COVID-19 world, but now there are strategies that need to be reshaped, plans that need to be adjusted, and questions that need to be answered. To help facilitate this critically important flow of information, global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research, is pleased to announce its three-day online 5G Technology Summit from July 14-16. ABI Research www.abiresearch.com (PRNewsFoto/ABI Research) (PRNewsfoto/ABI Research) "After receiving many inquiries on the state of 5G in the wake of COVID-19 and following the success of our recent Digital Tech Summit, we're once again bringing all our analysts together with prominent industry experts to share their insights in a series of immersive webinars exclusive roundtables, and collaborative panel discussions. We are also offering complimentary one-on-one online strategy sessions. The 5G Technology Summit will help businesses across all verticals gain valuable 5G technology intelligence to devise marketing strategies, optimize technology investments, and more," says Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research officer at ABI Research. Intel's Asha Keddy, Sequans' Dr. George Karam, CNET's Brian Cooley, Nokia's Arnaud Legrand, Telefonica's Dr. Diego Lopez, and Harman's Vishnu Sundaram are just a few of many panel speakers joining ABI Research Analysts. A full list of speakers can be found here. Immersive Webinars: Our team of expert analysts will offer detailed insights into the state of 5G, including as it relates to key enterprises, markets, opportunities, and technologies. Immersive Webinars will cover topics such as: COVID-19 and the Impact on 5G Deployments, 5G and Private Networks, the 5G APAC Market post-COVID-19, 5G for the IoT, and 5G in Industrial Manufacturing. Story continues Exclusive Roundtables: Attendees can share their thoughts, get answers to their questions, and network with industry peers in intimate, Chatham House Rules roundtable discussions. Potential topics include: Vertical Market Opportunities for 5G and Private Cellular, Kickstarting the APAC 5G Market, 5G Devices, and 5G Network Security. Collaborative Panel Discussions: Attendees will get expert guidance on every angle of 5G, as our analysts and guests answer critical questions and provide their unique perspective on 5G. Topics include: Telcos Vs. Webscale in the Race for 5G Edge Computing, 5G and Telco Cloud Market Innovation, 5G as Part of a Technology Nexus: AR, VR, Smart Cities, EVs and Autonomous Vehicles, and Robotics. For more information, and to register for ABI Research's 5G Technology Summit, go to https://summit.abiresearch.com/5g/. The detailed agenda can be found here. About ABI Research ABI Research provides strategic guidance to visionaries, delivering actionable intelligence on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries, economies, and workforces across the world. ABI Research's global team of analysts publish groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms, empowering our clients to stay ahead of their markets and their competitors. ABI Research 1990 For more information about ABI Research's services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visit www.abiresearch.com. Contact Info: Global Deborah Petrara Tel: +1.516.624.2558 pr@abiresearch.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/5g-in-a-post-covid-19-world-abi-researchs-5g-technology-summit-will-provide-insights-into-the-state-of-5g-going-forward-301085366.html SOURCE ABI Research UNITED STATES - MARCH 4: Pro-choice abortion activists protest during a demonstration outside the Supreme Court in Washington on March 4, 2020, as the Court hears oral arguments regarding a Louisiana law about abortion access on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) The Supreme Court narrowly confirmed Louisianans right to accessible reproductive care in a five-to-four vote on Monday, reinforcing the right to abortion access in the United States. The case was heard despite a nearly identical Supreme Court judgement from 2016 that ruled requiring abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges was unnecessary, on the grounds that it placed undue burden on patients seeking care. After earning what feels like a repeated victory, some pro-choice advocates are describing this latest Supreme Court ruling as bittersweet, with past decisions - including ones with significant precedent, like Roe v. Wade - suddenly up for debate with increasing frequency in the courts. We spoke to one such leader in the pro-choice movement, Oriaku Njoku, about the latest Supreme Court decision. Njoku is the co-founder and co-director of Access Reproductive Care - Southeast, a regional abortion fund that Njoku describes as providing "logistical support to Southerners who are trying to access reproductive healthcare," all while working toward the abolition of stigma and restoration of "dignity and justice, especially in communities of color that have been impacted by all sorts of reproductive oppression." Read on for Njoku's take on the implications of this Supreme Court ruling. POPSUGAR: What were your first thoughts on the Supreme Court ruling? Were you surprised? Oriaku Njoku: My unfiltered version of the outcome of this is just, 'Thank you for doing your job.' The court did exactly what it was supposed to do. And it's upholding the past decisions that we've had that just came through four years ago [in the Whole Women's Health vs Hellerstedt case]. It felt like because it's been this targeted attack in states towards people being able to make decisions around what's best for themselves and their families, and using our bodies as what feels like political pawns, any other decision besides the one they made today would have felt like it was not coming from an unbiased or just place. It would have felt like it was obviously politically motivated, because that's what a lot of these [anti-abortion] attacks are doing on the state-level. I'm very pleased, and at the same time, we still have lots of work to do to make sure that in another two or four years we're not doing the same thing again. Story continues PS: What do you think this second win against required hospital admitting privileges at abortion clinics means for the people your organization helps in rural areas, in the Southeast and elsewhere? ON: Roe v. Wade made abortion legal, but it didn't necessarily make it accessible for a lot of people that need to access care. A lot of folks are traveling hours - hundreds of miles - to access abortion care. They're even crossing state lines to do so. So for folks that live in rural communities, especially in Louisiana, this [Supreme Court ruling] means that even though there are unfortunately only three clinics right now that are independent clinics providing abortion care in the state of Louisiana, it reduces the necessity for people to have to travel out of state and to figure out the logistics of getting across state lines to access basic healthcare. That's really, really encouraging. PS: We spoke to the now-President of Planned Parenthood about how COVID and reproductive justice intersect last month, but a whole lot has changed in the world since then. I'd love to hear from you how you think about this ruling in the context of COVID-19 as well as protests against police brutality, and if you see a connection between the three. "I feel like when folks talk about admitting privileges, it's under the guise of increased safety, when the reality is abortion care is safe. It's one of the most safe procedures that you can have." ON: I think the common thread with all of this is the impact of systemic anti-Blackness on the ability of our people in our community to be able to thrive, and to live without shame or fear or stigma - or without the threat of dying or being murdered by the state. At one point, it was reported in April that 80 percent of people who were in hospitals [with COVID-19 in Georgia] were Black. And so when you're thinking about the impact of the medical industrial complex and people of color - especially Black people - trying to access care, we think about [systemic racism] when it comes to abortion access at the same time. Even in the '60s and '70s, when you were hearing about some of these old stories, white women were still able to get their abortions. They'd be like, "Oh, I'm taking a trip. I'm going to Mexico, I'm going to Puerto Rico, I'm going to New York." That wasn't necessarily the case for Black folks in the South or Black folks in the Midwest trying to access care. And unfortunately it goes back to the idea that yes, Roe v. Wade is legal, but it's not fairly accessible. When we're thinking about surviving under systems that were never actually intended for us to thrive, this is actually a time to say, "If we're making demands around one of the basic tenets of reproductive justice - which is to be able to raise your children and your families in communities that are sustainable, where you can thrive; when you think about that piece and think about just the basic human right of being able to have access to things like clean water, health care, clean air, food, and thinking about how the systems have kept us from being able to thrive - my hope is that with the uprisings, with the heightened awareness of [injustice] that people have in this moment, that this will actually be a catalyst for some positive change and not just [surface-level] change. Like, "Oh, we're going to "do better" and now start to celebrate Juneteenth as an organization even though this has been a holiday for 155 years, you know?" Not that kind of thing. But what are some actionable steps that we can make in this moment that are systemic and actually going to benefit all of us? PS: Can you talk about what the sticking point is [for anti-choice leaders] with abortion clinics and admitting privileges? Why has that been such a particular area of contention? ON: I'm definitely not a lawyer, but I feel like if the opposition had a starter pack for shenanigans, this would be one of the things that would be, like, "What's something we can do that's so outlandish that would stop people from getting care?" I feel like when folks talk about admitting privileges, it's under the guise of increased safety, when the reality is abortion care is safe. It's one of the safest procedures that you can have. And so perpetuating this idea of stigma and fear and [of abortion] not being safe is actually so far from the truth and reality of abortion, that making doctors [have admitting privileges] into an ER hospital [is a distraction.] If the ER hospital nearby is a Catholic hospital and they are against abortion, you're not going to get admitting privileges at that hospital. If you are a traveling doctor who has to come in-and-out of state because [you work in] a state that maybe only has one, two, three, or four abortion clinics, then there may be some reluctancy to give admitting privileges to people who are able to provide that care. It's just nit-picking at things to really target abortion providers. Because abortion is legal, [anti-choice people] are making it as hard to access as possible. PS: Is there any action that you would want our readers to take to get involved today? One thing you'd ask them to get started on right away? ON:Outside of making some contributions to the actual groups in Louisiana who put a ton of sweat and tears into this fight - Women With a Vision and New Orleans Abortion Fund, the independent abortion funds that are in Louisiana - they want to have more of a local impact wherever they are. Going to the National Network of Abortions Funds website and looking up abortion funds in their own state. Hopefully people can get tapped into that and make contributions to some of those organizations so we can keep eliminating barriers to abortion. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. An expansion of Acorns financial wellness system, Acorns Early is the easiest way to invest in a child from birth, and stick with it in the background of life. IRVINE, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Acorns, the country's fastest growing financial wellness system helping over 7.7 million Americans save and invest for the future, announced the launch of Acorns Early. In under 3 minutes, parents, guardians, family, and friends can easily open an Early account, and automatically invest for a child's futurefrom delivery room to dorm room. To support those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Acorns will provide Acorns Early free to babies born in 2020. To support those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Acorns will provide Acorns Early free to babies born in 2020. With Early, a UGMA/UTMA account, Acorns financial wellness system now provides the tools to save and invest beginning at any age. Early funds can be used for anything that benefits the child, and custodians may see tax advantages while they invest, before easily transferring the account when the child is an adult. Acorns Early features automated Recurring Investments, an interactive Potential graph to view the power of compounding, exclusive Found Money offers, and custom financial literacy content, developed in partnership with CNBC. As part of the release, Acorns has introduced a $5 monthly tier, Acorns Family. Customers in this tier get Acorns Early, plus all-in-one investing, retirement, and checking accounts, Smart Deposit, personalized insurance options, and tools to earn more money. To support as many families as possible, Acorns will allow multiple children per Family account, at no added cost. "We have always been guided by our mission to look after the financial best interests of the up-and-coming," said Acorns CEO, Noah Kerner. "If we begin as early as birth, we have the opportunity to change the financial outcomes of an entire generation." To support its goal of 1 million Acorns children in one year, and boost customers on their family's financial wellness journey, the company is kicking off a referral campaign today. Any new Early customers will receive a $50 bonus investment for every friend they refer, and each friend will receive a $10 bonus. Story continues "Early is special for me as a mom, but it feels even more important this year," said Kennedy Reynolds, mother of three, author of the children's book, "Grow Your Oak," and Acorns Chief Brand Officer. "Alongside our customers, we can level the playing field, and get our kids financially ready for whatever comes their way." About Acorns: Acorns is the country's fastest growing financial wellness system in the U.S. with more than 7.7 million accounts. Its easy-to-use, mobile-first technology makes it simple for anyone to set aside and invest life's spare money. Acorns allows customers to automatically invest in a low-cost, diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds offered by some of the world's top asset managers (including Vanguard and BlackRock). Customers grow their wealth in one of five portfolios constructed with help from world-renowned Nobel laureate economist Dr. Harry Markowitz. Acorns' smart portfolio algorithms automatically work in the background of life, helping users build wealth naturally, pennies at a time. From Acorns mighty oaks do grow. Acorns is accessed simply and easily via the app for iPhone, Android or desktop. Visit Acorns.com for more. Press Contact: Jessica Schaefer jessica@acorns.com 585.233.0321 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/acorns-launches-acorns-early-to-give-every-child-financial-access-beginning-at-birth-301085403.html SOURCE Acorns DMCC, the Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise, has assigned an agreement with the Guangzhou Diamond Exchange (GZDE), one of Chinas leading international diamond trading platforms and communities. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) strengthens bilateral ties between the UAE) and the Peoples Republic of China, and creates new trading opportunities across the diamond industry. DMCC and GZDE will gain access to new markets as a result of the collaboration, and both parties have committed to cooperate in promoting responsible business practices among their respective members. Since its inception in 2002, DMCC has helped transform Dubai into one of the worlds leading diamond trading hubs. With much more to achieve, DMCC will always seek opportunities to collaborate with others and write the next chapter of Dubais remarkable diamond story. This is just one of the many reasons why we are delighted to sign the agreement with the Guangzhou Diamond Exchange, and we look forward to the potential this brings, said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC and Chairman, Dubai Diamond Exchange. This agreement will further advance the strong and longstanding cultural and commercial ties that exist between the UAE and China, and extend our support to both the Dubai Silk Road strategy and One Belt One Road Initiative, he added. DMCC is a brilliant and energetic hub for the international diamond industry. DDE and GZDE have a very good partnership and series of mutual activities in the past years enhancing the trust and trade between the traders of the two platforms. In this specially challenging but should-be-with-hope moment for the global industry, we are looking forward to closely cooperating with DMCC to introduce more business opportunities to the Chinese diamond industry and to explore and identify more sparkles for the Dubai diamond community, together with the global diamond society. This strategic document mandates us mission with vision, said LIANG Weizhang, President, Guangzhou Diamond Exchange. DMCC has successfully built a world-class ecosystem for the diamond trade in Dubai, which includes the Dubai Diamond Exchange, the worlds largest tender facility. In 2019, the trade for diamonds in Dubai reached AED84 billion ($22 billion). The signing of this MoU emphasises DMCCs leading role in continuing to grow the diamond trade through the emirate. According to National Bureau of Statistics of China, China's jewellery market has seen a positive trend with three consecutive months of growth since March 2020, said Zhu Yongsheng, Chairman, Guangzhou Diamond Exchange. As an international diamond trading platform and a modern comprehensive service hub for the industry rooted in the largest diamond market in China, Guangzhou Diamond Exchange will work closely with DMCC and the Dubai Diamond Exchange to provide high-quality trading services and industry support for both the Chinese and foreign diamond industries. China is one of DMCCs key target markets and its business district already enjoys strong relationships with several Chinese entities. Last year, DMCC signed a similar agreement with the China Gems and Jade Exchange (CGJE) to connect buyers and sellers of gemstones and jade from the two countries. Guangzhou is the largest jewellery retail market and export processing base in China. The GZDE serves as the gateway for the diamond industry into South Mainland China. It is home to over 1,500 registered jewellery companies. TradeArabia News Service CHICAGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aegon Asset Management has appointed Russell Morrison as its new global chief investment officer responsible for managing its $188 billion fixed income investment platform.* Morrison, who joined on June 29, will lead the firm's 140 fixed income investment professionals globally. Russell Morrison Morrison brings over 30 years of fixed income and financial services experience to the role, most recently at Barings (formerly Babson Capital). During his 17-year tenure at the firm he held several senior positions including president & head of fixed income, equities and multi-asset. Prior to Barings, Morrison held positions in the fixed income divisions at First Union Bank, Ernst & Young Management Consultants and North Carolina National Bank. Morrison joins Aegon Asset Management at an exciting time in its development, following the successful integration of its Asian, European and US businesses, to form a truly global asset manager under a single management board, led by Bas NieuweWeme as CEO. The integration brought together its regional investment teams into four distinct investment platforms for fixed income, real assets, equities and multi-asset & solutions, each under a global CIO framework, to manage its $395 billion of assets under management.** In the new role Morrison will be responsible for the 140 strong team of fixed income portfolio managers, strategists and analysts worldwide, including the 50-member global credit research team. Based in Chicago, Morrison will become a member of Aegon AM's global management board and report to NieuweWeme. Following Morrison's appointment Kirk Buese, the current interim global CIO for fixed income, will retire from the business after 33 years' service. Buese took responsibility for the platform on an interim basis during the recruitment process, having previously stated his desire to retire this year. He will remain with the business for a short period to ensure a smooth transition. Story continues NieuweWeme said, "Russ has a wealth of experience running multi-geographic teams, managing private and publicly listed fixed income assets for general account and third-party clients worldwide. His appointment to this new role represents the culmination of the integration of our regional-based teams into our global fixed income platform. I would also like to wish Kirk a very long and happy retirement and thank him for leading the global team on the interim basis, but also for his considerable contribution to the business over the last three decades." "I am looking forward to working with the team at Aegon Asset Management as we look to maximize the full potential of our global fixed income team, bringing their expertise and knowledge to our client across the globe," said Morrison. About Aegon Asset Management Aegon Asset Management is the global investment management brand of Aegon N.V. and is a global, active investment manager comprised of several affiliates around the world. Our focus is on excellence in everything we do, working to consistently deliver the performance, service and solutions our clients seek. We believe in strong governance, transparency and clear accountability as the building blocks for trust and long-term relationships with our clients. Investors worldwide entrust Aegon Asset Management to manage approximately $395 billion on their behalf**. Positioned for success in our chosen markets (Asia, Continental Europe, North America and the UK), Aegon Asset Management's specialist teams provide investment solutions across asset classes. Through the Aegon Group our heritage stretches back to 1844, meaning we understand the importance of long-term relationships, robust risk management and sustainable outperformance. A long history of partnership with our proprietary insurance accounts has enabled us to establish experienced investment teams, and long-term track records. Aegon Asset Management is the global investment management brand of the Aegon Group N.V. and is comprised of Aegon USA Investment Management, LLC ("Aegon Asset Management US"), Aegon USA Realty Advisors, LLC ("Aegon Real Assets US"), Kames Capital plc ("Kames Capital") and other Aegon affiliates. Aegon Asset Management US, Aegon Real Assets US, and Kames Capital are SEC registered investment advisers. *As of March 31, 2020. **As of December 31, 2019. For more information about Aegon Asset Management, visit www.aegoninvestments.com. Aegon Asset Management Logo (PRNewsfoto/Aegon Asset Management) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aegon-asset-management-appoints-global-chief-investment-officer-for-its-fixed-income-investment-platform-301085463.html SOURCE Aegon Asset Management Click here to read the full article. Key Point: The gains and contracting lessons gleaned through development of the F-35A program are significant. Air Force Gen. Herbert Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, this week declared the F-35A fighter jet ready for combat. While many pundits and politicians have questioned the worth of this jet, the only people who know the ground truth are the pilots themselves. A total of 174 U.S. pilots currently have been trained to fly Lockheed Martins F-35A Lightning II. The Heritage Foundation interviewed 31 of these former F-15C, F-15E, F-16C, and A-10 pilots. Each expressed a high degree of confidence in the F-35A, their new fifth-generation platform. Here are nine insights gleaned from those conversations: 1. Even with developmental restrictions that limit the F-35As responsiveness and ability to maneuver, every U.S. fighter pilot interviewed would pick the F-35A over his former jet in a majority of air-to-air (dogfight) engagement scenarios they could face. 2. A former F-15C instructor pilot said he consistently beat his former jet in mock dogfights. 3. A former F-16C instructorand graduate of the Air Force Weapons Instructor Course (Which is similar to the Navy's famed Top Gun school)said the jet is constrained on how tight it can turn (G-limited) now. But even so, the rudder-assisted turns are incredible and deliver a constant 28 degrees of turn a second. When the Air Force removes the restrictions, this jet will be eye watering. 4. Three former F-16CJ Wild Weasel instructor pilots, those tasked with attacking surface-to-air missile sites, said a single F-35A can find and attack SAM sites faster and more effectively than three F-16CJ fighters working together. 5. The F-35As radar effectively can shut down enemy fighter and surface-to-air radars without those adversaries becoming aware they are being electronically attacked. Coupled with stealth, this jet is all but invisible to enemy radars. Story continues 6. A former A-10 instructor pilot said the situational awareness aids associated with the sensor suite of the F-35A allowed pilots to execute close air support missions as well or better than the A-10 in low-threat environments. The F-35A is the only multirole platform capable of conducting close air support in high-threat environments. 7. The research and development that went into the stealth skin of the F-35A removed the high-maintenance and sortie-limiting requirements associated with the radar-absorbing skin of the F-22, F117, or B-2. Stealth does not limit the F-35As ability to fly multiple combat or training sorties each day. 8. Bringing all the tactical sensors of the F-35A into a single display (sensor fusion) is still not optimized, and most pilots complained of ghosts or multiple displayed contacts for the same threat. 9. In full production, the F-35A is projected to cost less than the four-plus generation Eurofighter Typhoon, the French Rafale M, or the latest version of the F-15K Strike Eagle. It will outperform those jets and every other four-plus generation fighter in an air-to-surface role, and none of them would fare well against it in an air-to-air engagement. Concurrent development of the F-35A certainly has had its challenges, and the risks for delays and cost overruns should have been factored into the acquisition process. They were not. Component, sensor, and airframe development were (and still are) all happening at the same time, and even small changes in the weight, size, performance, and schedule of any component could affect the weight, size, performance, and schedule of the entire system. The biggest single factor in keeping the program on time and under budget is effective, stable leadership. That leadership is now in place and the United States is on the precipice of delivering arguably the freshest, most advanced fighter technology ever fielded. The gains and contracting lessons gleaned through concurrent development of the F-35A program are significant. The Pentagon needs to apply them to every major acquisition program for technology and systems that are susceptible to fielding obsolescence. This piece first appeared in 2016 in The Daily Signal here . Image: U.S. Air Force / Flickr Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need To Remember: The A-10 Thunderbolt is unlike any fighter before or since, with survivability features designed to keep it flying during an attack run and make it back to base. One of the most iconic airplanes in the U.S. Air Forces flying inventory is the A-10 Thunderbolt, also affectionately known as the Warthog. Designed to mow down rows of invading Soviet tanks during an anticipated World War III, the A-10 has served in most of Americas postCold War conflicts, from the Balkans to Afghanistan. A new Pentagon contract to manufacture new wingsets promises to keep a minimum of 280 aircraft flying into the foreseeable future, even as questions persist whether the A-10 can survive over modern battlefields. In 1967, the U.S. Air Force initiated the A-X program, designed to field a new generation close air support (CAS) aircraft. This was the first for the air force, which had traditionally used fighters and light bombers (including the A-10s namesake, the P-47 Thunderbolt) in the CAS role. Although the Air Forces current stable of fighters, including the famous 100 series planes favored speed above all else, A-X traded speed for survivability, maneuverability at low speeds, loiter time and, most importantly, lethality. After a flyoff against the Northrop A-9, the Fairchild A-10 was picked and the first jets delivered in 1974. Recommended: This Is How China Would Invade Taiwan (And How to Stop It). Recommended: The Story of the F-52 Fighter. Recommended: The 5 Biggest Nuclear Bomb Tests (From All 6 Nuclear Powers). The A-10 Thunderbolt is unlike any fighter before or since, with survivability features designed to keep it flying during an attack run and make it back to base. The plane featured redundant engineering features designed to keep the plane flying though parts of it were shot away. The two General Electric TF-34 non-afterburning turbofans were moved behind the wing, in order to reduce the planes infrared signature and protect it from Soviet air defenses such as the SA-7 Grail shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile system. The A-10 pilot sits in a titanium bathtub protecting him or her from antiaircraft guns up to twenty-three millimetersthe primary armament of the ZSU-23-4 mobile air defense system. The flight-control systems and engines are also encased in titanium plate. Story continues The A-10 is also designed to be flexible and maneuverable, both in the air and on the ground. The aircraft design stresses maneuverability at slow speeds, allowing the pilot to fly extremely low nape of the earth missions to mask its approach to the enemy and to avoid enemy antiaircraft fire. The A-10 is also designed to operate from short, unimproved airstrips in the event regular air base airstrips are put out of action. The Thunderbolt IIs best attribute is its armament. The aircraft has eleven external hardpoints for carrying electronic countermeasures, fuel tanks, bombs and missiles. The A-10 can carry up to twenty-four five-hundred- pound bombs, four two-thousand-pound bombs or six AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles. This enables the A-10 to carry out a number of frontline missions, from close air support to suppression of enemy air defense, and strike key enemy targets such as fuel storage depots, radar installations and field headquarters. The weapon that sets the A-10 apart from the rest of the aircraft world is the nose-mounted GAU-8/A cannon. The large, seven-barreled Gatling gun can fire armor piercing rounds at up to 4,200 rounds per minute, saturating a target area with lethal cannon fire. The GAU-8/A is mounted two degrees nose down and to the left, so that the firing barrel is always on the centerline. The GAU-8/A was an effective weapon for strafing Soviet armor units advancing in a single file formation, particularly with specially developed tank-killing depleted-uranium ammunition. Even armor-piercing ammunition without depleted uranium could penetrate ZSU-23-4 mobile air-defense systems, BTR-70 wheeled armored personnel carriers and and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles that made up advancing Soviet motor-rifle regiments, all of which could be opened by the GAU-8/A like cans of sardines. In wartime the A-10 was meant to operate alongside U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in a so-called Joint Air Attack Team (JAAT) to kill advancing Soviet armor. JAAT doctrine called for Apaches to suppress enemy air defenses, identifying and killing threats to the A-10. A-10s would then swoop down at a thirty-degree angle, hosing down Soviet forces with their Gatling guns. In hindsight, this would not often have worked, as Soviet forces would have advanced too quickly for the interservice teamwork to stop the enemy in time. The A-10s first war was the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Warthogs were used to kill Iraqi armor units. 132 A-10s flew 7,983 combat missions during the course of the war, killing 987 tanks, 926 artillery pieces, 1,355 armored vehicles, ten aircraft on the ground and even two flying helicopters shot down with the GAU-8A. After the Gulf War the Air Force planned to do away with the A-10, replacing it with the F-16, but the A-10s success over the battlefield won it a constituency in Congress. In 1999, A-10s flew over Kosovo in NATOs Operation Allied Force, and after 9/11 A-10s flew over both Iraq and Afghanistan. A-10s flying from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey have flown missions against ISIS since at least 2014, and in January 2018, A-10s returned to the skies over Afghanistan after a hiatus of several years. The Air Force has tried to retire the A-10 for more than a quarter century. The service has consistently argued that the A-10 cannot survive on the modern battlefield and that A-10 funds are better invested in newer planes such as the F-16 Fighting Falconand, now, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Under pressure from the A-10s fans in Congress and the military, the U.S. Air Force is keeping the planes, for now anyway, seeking to manufacture new wings for more than a hundred A-10s. This will ensure that at least 280 aircraft will have the structural improvements necessary to keep a viable force of A-10s in the Air Forces inventory. Is the A-10 viable over todays battlefields? Against low-tech enemies with poor air-defense weapons such as ISIS or the Taliban, the A-10 is still a capable platform. Against other, more modern threats such as Russian or Chinese air defenses the A-10 cannot survive on its own. One solution could be to pair the A-10 with air-defense suppression drones. Once drones have neutralized the air-defense threat, A-10s could conduct standoff attacks, loitering at a safe distance while identifying enemy targets and eliminating them with weapons such as newer versions of the Maverick missile or the Small Diameter Bomb. Strafing runs with the GAU-8/A would be less common, but the guns would still see some use against undefended, massed targets. The A-10 is one of the most successful weapons of the postCold War era, and has won legions of fans both in and outside the armed services. The temptation is to keep the aircraft flying as long as possible. The trick is to keep the plane around only as long as it is relevant to the modern battlefield. If the A-10 can fight and win for the next generation, so be it. If not, it needs to be retired and a better planeor solutiontakes its place. There is no room for sentiment in the battlefields lethal skies. Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. This article first appeared several years ago. This article first appeared last year and is being republished due to reader interest. Image: Reuters Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need To Remember: The M2 simply does not fit neatly into modern weapon classifications, save perhaps as a personal defense weapon. However, it was indisputably the U.S. militarys first portable long-arm automatic weapon to see wide-scale use. It reflected a growing recognition that infantry engagements typically occurred at shorter ranges, and that sheer portability could be a kind of force multiplier, while also demonstrating the shortcomings of using lower-powered cartridges and trusting inexperienced soldiers to refrain from blazing away with automatic fire at distant targets. Germany is generally credited with developing the first assault rifle with the MP-43, which entered service with select units towards the end of 1943. Later renamed the Sturmgewehr 44literally assault rifle 44this used an intermediate-strength kurz cartridge that balanced the long-range accuracy of heavy, slow-firing bolt-action rifles then prevalent with the automatic-fire capability of submachine guns, which were deadlier at close quarters and capable of laying heavy suppressing fire for infantry assaults. However, the United States was not very far behind. Late in 1944 it began issuing fully automatic M2 Carbines to Marines and U.S. Army soldiers. Therein, however, lies the controversy: can a fully-automatic carbine properly be described as an assault rifle? The M2 was a simple modification of the ubiquitous M1 Carbine. Carbines are infantry rifles shortened for portability, originally conceived as a handier weapon for cavalry. Immediately prior to World War II, the U.S. Ordnance Department appreciated that the advent of paratroopers and fast-moving armored columns meant that rear-line support and artillery units were more likely than ever to be ambushed by enemy forces. The rear-echelon troops needed self-defense weapons with more firepower than a pistol, but that werent as cumbersome as long, 9.5-pound M1 Garand rifles that were difficult to lug in and out of a vehicle. Story continues A design team at Winchester came up with the M1 Carbine, which used a short-stroke gas piston for semi-automatic firesimplified from an earlier version intended for automatic fire. The handy carbine had curved wooden stock, weighed only 5.2 pounds unloaded, measured 35.6 inches long, and came with a built-in sling-slot, making it highly portable. The wooden-stock M1 used a unique intermediate-strength .30 caliber cartridge, with hitting power in between that of a pistol and rifle round, that remained accurate up to 180 meters. Over six million M1 Carbines were produced by nine different companies, averaging a unit cost of only $45. Many made their way from support troops and vehicle crews to grunts on the front line, some of whom preferred the lighter weapon to a service rifle. It was widely adopted by U.S. Marines in the Pacific, who often fought in in dense jungle terrain in which engagement ranges were short; moreover, the M1s fifteen-round box magazine proved advantageous compared to the eight-round clips used by the Garand. An M1A1 variant with a folding metal stock was also produced for paratroopers. Even the German military captured enough that they designated it the Selbstladekarabiner 455(a). In 1943, the War Office decided to produce an M2 Carbine capable of automatic fire, entailing the addition of a small number additional parts, and strengthening the butt of the gun and the magazine intake. The new weapon had a cyclic fire rate of 750 rounds per minute, and could use a new curved thirty-round magazine. Externally, the M1 and M2 seemed almost identical, save for a fire-selector switch and a 2 etched on the latters receiver ring. Numerous kits were also issued to convert M1s to M2s. Small numbers of M2s made their way to the troops in the closing engagement of World War II in the Pacific, particularly in the brutal Battle for Okinawa. However, they saw wider-scale action five years later in the Korean War. There, the carbines allowed rear-area troops to quickly lay down heavy suppressive fire in response to ambushes by Communist infiltrators, who liked to sneak as close as possible to American lines to make effective use of their PPsH-41 burp guns. Because the M2 was capable of responding with automatic fire, it was also favored for leading night patrols, where combat would inevitably occur at short range. The Army even deployed over two thousand night-fighting variants of the M2 to battle in Okinawa and Korea, designated the M3. These had a flash suppressor and an early M2 or M3 infrared sniper scope, coupled with a huge infrared spotlight attachment, allowing a viewing range of up to roughly ninety to 115 meters. The extra equipment weighed a whopping twenty-eight additional pounds, and so was mostly used from static entrenched positions to spot and eliminate approaching infiltrators at night. You can check out the bizarre-looking M3 in this video. However, Army historian S. L. A. Marshall documented the downside of issuing large numbers of automatic rifles. In a survey, he found that inexperienced draftees tended to waste ammunition firing prolonged, inaccurate bursts at long range rather than switching to semiautomatic fire when appropriate. This could leave them short on ammunition by the time Communist troops charged them at short range. On the other hand, the carbine performed well when employed by soldiers with the fire discipline to switch between semiautomatic and fully automatic fire based on the proximity of the enemy. A problem the M2 shared with the M1 was that the intermediate-power rounds did not always drop enemies they hit, especially at long range. The cartridges were also prone to leaving rust deposits when left in a loaded carbine for several weeks. The M2 Carbine would remain in U.S. military service into the 1960s, even as the Army adopted the large M14 battle rifle and then the iconic M16 assault rifle still in use today. Reportedly, some South Vietnamese and U.S. Special Forces units and helicopter crews preferred to hold onto their M2s rather than convert to the new M16s, which despite their superior ranged accuracy initially suffered teething issues. M1 and M2 Carbines were also used extensively in combat in Algeria, the Philippines, Israel and Ireland. While the American carbines finally began fading from military service after the 1970s, the M1 and M2 are still in use with police forces in Latin America and Asia today, with particularly large numbers in Brazil, South Korea and Taiwan. There is some contention as to whether the M2 constituted an actual assault rifle. Strictly speaking, a carbine is distinguished from a rifle due to its shorter barrel and effective firing range. However, the M2s eighteen-inch barrel is longer than both the German MP-43 (14.5 inches) and the legendary AK-47 (16 inches), both of which are indisputably assault rifles. On the other hand, the latter weapons were heavier and had more powerful intermediate-strength cartridges, giving them greater effective range than the M2though some argue the ballistic gap between the carbines .30 caliber round and MP-43 7.62 kurz round was actually not that great, except in terms of penetration. The M2 simply does not fit neatly into modern weapon classifications, save perhaps as a personal defense weapon. However, it was indisputably the U.S. militarys first portable long-arm automatic weapon to see wide-scale use. It reflected a growing recognition that infantry engagements typically occurred at shorter ranges, and that sheer portability could be a kind of force multiplier, while also demonstrating the shortcomings of using lower-powered cartridges and trusting inexperienced soldiers to refrain from blazing away with automatic fire at distant targets. Striking the right balance between long-range accuracy, short-range burst capability and portability has been a priority in U.S. service rifles ever since. Sebastien Roblin holds a Masters Degree in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing, and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring. Image: Wikimedia Commons. Click here to read the full article. Polk Amelie, at 1754 Polk St., expanded its service area onto the nearby sidewalk. | Photo: Discover Polk CBD With outdoor dining becoming a mainstay of the COVID-19 era, the city's Shared Spaces Program has been busily awarding small businesses the right to set up tables on city sidewalks, parking spots and plazas. But the new territory comes at a cost. The businesses, already cash-strapped from long closures, are on the hook for the barricades needed to protect their diners from cars and sidewalk passerby. The exception: Polk Street, where an anonymous donor recently stepped up to cover the cost of barricades for all the businesses in the Discover Polk Community Benefit District. The free rental barricades will save businesses $200 or more per month, says the CBD's co-executive director, Ben Bleiman. "[It was] quite a substantial sum," said Bleiman, who co-owns Polk-area bars Tonic and Soda Popinski's and cannabis dispensary California Street Cannabis. "[It] will cover hundreds of feet of barriers for months." The donor will cover barricades for small businesses in the Discover Polk CBD's service territory (pictured above). | Map: Discover Polk The donor declined to speak to a reporter, even under the condition of anonymity. But CBD board chair Suzanne Markell-Fox says that they are an area homeowner who wants to support local businesses. Bleiman says the extra space is a game-changer for small businesses in the CBD's service area. With the cost of barricades covered, he's hoping to encourage not just restaurants and bars, but other small businesses like bookstores and retailers to take advantage of Shared Spaces. Applications are simple, and take only two to three business days to turn around, he said. Any Discover Polk-area business interested in the free barriers can email Bleiman for more information. Bleiman notes that businesses serving alcohol outdoors must also apply with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which began accepting applications for outdoor drinking last week. While the city has delayed this week's planned reopening of outdoor bars, the applications are working well for restaurants, with a promised turnaround time of just one business day. Story continues Photo: Discover Polk/Facebook Discover Polk is one of San Francisco's newest community benefit districts it launched in late 2018. Like the city's 17 other CBDs, it levies an additional tax on property owners to fund initiatives like intensive street cleaning, trash pick-up, event planning and outreach. Bleiman and his Tonic/Soda Popinski's business partner, Duncan Ley, took over as executive directors of the CBD in February. So far, members have been really impressed by the energy Ben and Duncan have injected into the CBD, Markell-Fox said. In addition to the free barriers, the CBD is at work on a "Discover Polk Delivers" program. Inspired by a similar effort in North Beach, the program will recruit volunteers to deliver goods to area residents, from a rotating cast of Discover Polk restaurants and retailers. The free delivery for both businesses and customers saves hundreds of dollars in delivery fees on either end, while promoting neighborhood spending. The North Beach program has contributed as much as $2,000-$4,000 in one night to its featured businesses. The Discover Polk program will launch on July 17, with delivery from neighborhood bar-restaurant The Bell Tower (1900 Polk St.) Were going to volunteer to do the deliveries ourselves, Bleiman said. "This is exactly what a CBD should be doing. The Bell Tower will be the inaugural participant in the CBD's free delivery program. | Photo: Carrie Sisto/Hoodline In addition to the delivery program, Markell-Fox said that the CBD is currently looking for volunteers to work on issues like streetscape improvements, business recruitment and retention, and safe and clean streets. The CBD isn't just for property owners area renters are also encouraged to participate. There are renters who have been here for 40 years, and property owners who only got here two years ago, Markell-Fox said. Its important for us to hear perspectives from both. Architect Paul Williams in 1952, in a portrait by celebrated architectural photographer Julius Shulman. (Juliaus Shulman / Getty Research Institute) In 1992, when Los Angeles went up in flames in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, one of the buildings claimed by fire was a bank at the intersection of South Broadway and 45th Street, located on the border of Historic South Central and South Park. The Broadway Federal Savings & Loan had once been a Woolworth's building, but in 1955 it was transformed into a bank by Paul R. Williams the prominent and prolific Los Angeles architect who designed private homes for numerous celebrities (among them, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Stanwyck, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz), as well as churches, hotels, commercial buildings and even the font for the famous Beverly Hills Hotel logo. Indeed, after the bank's completion, Williams deposited his important papers there for safe-keeping. So when the building went up in flames during the 92 uprising, so did much of the archival legacy of an architect who helped define the aesthetics of Southern California design though much of the 20th century. Not to mention the legacy of one of the country's most notable Black architects with a rack of "firsts" to his name: the first licensed architect in California, the first African American to become a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the first to receive the AIA Gold Medal. Or at least that's how the story went. It turns out that the blaze that destroyed the Broadway Federal Savings & Loan didn't, as has long been reported, erase Williams' legacy. While some of his business records were indeed lost in that fire, most of the architect's thousands of original drawings were safe at another location. Which means that there is a Paul R. Williams archive and it contains approximately 35,000 architectural plans, 10,000 original drawings, in addition to blueprints, hand-colored renderings, vintage photographs and correspondence. And, on Tuesday morning, the Getty Research Institute (GRI) and USC's School of Architecture are expected to announce a joint acquisition from Williams' granddaughter Karen Elyse Hudson, who has long served as the principal steward of Williams' work. Story continues The Beverly Hills hotel in 1950, featuring a 1949-1950 addition by architect Paul R. Williams. He also designed the hotel's distinctive signage. (Julius Shulman / Getty Research Institute) USC architecture dean Milton Curry, who was instrumental in facilitating the acquisition, says the archive helps fill the gaps of Los Angeles Modernism in the 20th century. It will also help illuminate Williams' thinking and process. "This is one of the few Black architects operating at the scale and capacity that many of his white peers operated at," says Curry, who added, he "accomplished a legacy that very few architects accomplished in their lifetime." It also helps bring Williams work full circle: A native-born Angeleno, he studied architectural engineering at USC, graduating in 1919. For the Getty Research Institute, the acquisition adds another important resource to an already prestigious archive that includes many of the key players of Southern California architecture in the 20th and 21st century, including Welton Becket (designer of the Music Center), Pierre Koenig (of the hill-hugging Stahl House), John Lautner (the spaceship-esque Chemosphere) and Frank Gehry (the ebullient Disney Hall). "This will really shed an incredible light on understanding architecture better in Los Angeles that it wasn't just individual architects, but a network of professionals," says Maristella Casciato, the GRI's senior curator of architecture. She notes that though Williams worked independently as the principal of his own studio, he also collaborated with many of the big Los Angeles firms of the era on major projects, including LAX. A view of the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz House in Palm Springs, designed by architect Paul Williams and completed in 1954-55. (Julius Shulman / Getty Research Institute) His archive also serves as a chronicle of almost a century of architecture in the region. Williams was born in 1894 and died in 1980 and his career as a designer spans the graceful, undulating forms of Spanish Revival architecture to the more rectilinear shapes of Modernism at mid-century. (Think: the series of intersecting boxes that comprise his firm's Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building at W. Adams Boulevard and S. Western Avenue, completed in 1949.) "It captures the beginning of the jet age with the design of LAX," says Casciato. "It captures this big change in the profession. It is a richness that I cannot even describe." "On the technical level, the level of detail, the crispness of the drawings ... it could have been drawn yesterday," adds Curry. "He had a command." Williams' archive will also function as a cornerstone of the Getty's 2-year-old African American History Initiative. That program, led by curator LeRonn P. Brooks, has already acquired critical documents in other areas, including the archive of Los Angeles artist Betye Saar, a key player in the Black Arts Movement, and the photographic archive of the Johnson Publishing Company, the publishers of Ebony and Jet magazines. (That latter archive was acquired in collaboration with three other philanthropic foundations and is shared by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and the GRI.) A view of the dramatic circular patio at the El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs, designed by Paul R. Williams in the early 1950s. (Julius Shulman / Getty Research Institute) The acquisition couldn't come at a more critical moment as the nation reckons with centuries of structural racism. Williams, Curry notes, "bore the battle scars of racism." The architect, quite famously, learned how to draw upside down so that he could sketch out ideas for white clients who may not have wanted to sit alongside him. And he often walked around construction sites with his hands clasped behind his back since he was unsure how a handshake from a Black man would be received. "The circumstance around which we find ourselves now give us additional impetus to reflect on the lack of diversity in our discipline," says Curry. "At USC, we talk about the citizen architect. We have been pushing the notion that architecture has to be more inclusive. But this is an accelerant for us. The acquisition of Paul Williams' archives is the moment to double down on creating diversity in our school." "We shouldn't," he adds, "have to wait another 100 years." For the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic, health and government officials assured the public that young people were at little or no risk of falling seriously ill from COVID-19. But many young people who have contracted the virus tell a very different story, one that should serve as a warning to young adults in the Southern and Western states where infections are surging. For younger people who think they dont need to worry and who havent followed guidelines, think again, Jade Townsend, 22, told Yahoo News in a Facebook message. Its had a major impact on my life these past few months and continues to have an impact. A worker at a nursery in Oxford, England, Townsend came down with mild COVID-19 symptoms a sore throat, tightness in the chest and a slight cough in early March. Her cough grew steadily worse and she began suffering debilitating headaches, lethargy and muscle pain. Eventually she lost her sense of smell and taste, and felt so bad that she planned my funeral song. I was admitted to hospital where I was overnight with fluids and antibiotics being pumped into me. I was also severely dehydrated. I got discharged and all the symptoms persisted. I was prescribed many antibiotics by my doctor to try to clear a chest infection, Townsend said. I ended up getting mouth and throat ulcers and then severe abdominal pain. After a second stint in the hospital, Townsend, who had no preexisting health conditions, says she was treated for oral thrush and ongoing nausea. Now 15 weeks into her battle with the disease caused by the coronavirus, shes far from back to normal. Ive had a total of six different antibiotics, Townsend said, adding, Im still suffering with chest pain, cough, extreme body aches and tiredness and slight tummy pains, ulcers and some days sore throat and I still cant go far without getting short of breath and some days I dont have much of an appetite. Last week President Trump discounted the risks COVID-19 poses to young people, saying that increased testing was inflating the numbers of the disease among young people that dont have a problem. Story continues But as the number of new cases of the disease has swelled by 76 percent in the U.S. over the past 14 days, young people who considered themselves in little danger from the virus are the ones being admitted to hospitals. Fans attend a live stream of a Garth Brooks concert in Ventura, Calif., on Saturday. (Rich Fury/Getty Images) In Houston, for instance, roughly 60 percent of COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized are under the age of 50. Were definitely seeing this affect young people, and theyre getting quite ill, Dr. Marc Bloom, CEO of Houston Methodist, told CNBC. A bookkeeper for her family business and a stay-at-home mom, Stephanie Taylor, 32, is still dealing with the effects of COVID-19, which she believes she contracted in early February. It started with a severe nosebleed, Taylor, who lives in Smethwick, England, told Yahoo News. Never had one before. Next came a burning sensation in her nose and chest, followed by a cough, then the loss of taste and smell. Taylor had not traveled abroad, and for that reason her doctors were skeptical that she had been exposed to the coronavirus. But as the days went by she developed more symptoms, including sore muscles, headaches, dizziness, tinnitus and a kidney infection. Then began the nerve pain: burning, pins and needles, Taylor said. Crawling and tingling starting in my hand and now its everywhere, even my head and face. I have now convinced a new doctor to send me to a neurologist. That was this morning. Like Townsend, Taylor is concerned that her generation doesnt seem to feel theyre at risk from the coronavirus. I find it worrying, the mentality that It wont happen to me, Taylor said, because it can happen to anyone. And I think ultimately they will become part of the problem and continue the spread of the virus. Medical staff members at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago in May. (Northwestern Medicine/Handout) Testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading expert on infectious diseases on the coronavirus task force, contradicted Trumps view that young people dont have a problem with COVID-19. To think young people have no deleterious consequences is not true. Were seeing more and more complications in young people, Fauci said, adding that some get mild symptoms and some get symptoms enough to put them at home for a few days. Some are in bed for weeks and have symptoms even after they recover, others go to the hospital, some require oxygen, some require intensive care, some get intubated and some die. While researchers are still trying to determine the extent of the lasting damage inflicted by COVID-19, one thing is clear: Just because the disease may not kill you doesnt mean it will make you stronger. Studies conducted so far point to possible long-term heart damage, scarring of the lungs, impact on the nervous system and a higher incidence of stroke. In mid-May, New York Times opinion writer Mara Gay detailed her own ongoing struggle with COVID-19. At the time, few people were raising concerns about how the disease was affecting younger people, but Gay, who is 33, developed a serious case that left her with viral pneumonia. While she is continuing to recover and has resumed jogging, the experience convinced her that all Americans, regardless of age, need to take the disease seriously. Its obviously unreasonable to ask people to fully shut down their lives indefinitely a year, two years, however long it takes to come up with a vaccine but it is not unreasonable to wear a mask when youre around others, within 6 feet of them, Gay told Yahoo News. Its not unreasonable to limit indoor gatherings. If you are going to see a friend, do so outside, wear a mask. New York Times opinion writer Mara Gay. (Mara Gay via Twitter) Gay said it is shameful that governors in states like Texas saw what happened in New York and pushed ahead with hasty plans for reopening anyway. You should also consider that you are rolling the dice because you dont know how your body is going to react. Even if you have a mild case, you dont know when you are or arent infectious, she said, adding, and you dont know how somebody elses body is going to react. As has become clearer over the past few months, people over the age of 60 arent the only ones who need to fear what the coronavirus might have in store for them. In part, thats because roughly one in four young adults has grown up with a chronic health condition such as asthma or diabetes. Those comorbidities can make diseases like COVID-19 potentially more dangerous, but even people without known preexisting conditions can be hit hard by the virus. Ive been dealing with this for 115 days, Yahoo News Senior Editor Ed Hornick said. Its changed my whole perspective on how I go about my life. Hornick, 40, an avid hiker who lives in London, came down with flu-like symptoms in early March that included a fever and difficulty breathing. He initially tested negative for COVID-19, but continued to feel sicker as the days went by and was eventually treated in the emergency room and diagnosed with the coronavirus. In the weeks that followed, however, more problems continued to develop, including extreme fatigue, headaches, joint and muscle pains, blurred vision and an overall confusion referred to as mind fog. You never seem to have that extra energy to do things. On Saturday, for example, I walked a mile because I had to go to the store and when I got there I was profusely sweating even though it was chilly, Hornick said. When I came back, my lungs hurt, my legs were aching, I was out of breath. I wasnt walking fast, I wasnt doing anything strenuous. All day Sunday I was in bed and I didnt wake up until 2 p.m. on Monday. Even just doing minor tasks puts you back like two days, essentially. While Hornick does continue to improve and has returned to work, theres no telling how long the lingering fatigue of the coronavirus will be with him. His doctors, who are struggling to better understand the virus, cant offer any clear prognosis either. Thats whats frustrating about it. Look, Ive been tired before. Exhaustion and tired are two different things, Hornick said. I forget my friends names. I forget names of co-workers. I find myself struggling a lot. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Mendez Middle School students walk to class in March 2019 in Austin, Texas. Austin district records show that Black and Latino students are suspended at higher rates than white students. AUSTIN, Texas As the nation focuses on racism in police departments after the death of George Floyd and widespread protests, similar conversations are happening in school districts, where, in places like Texas' capital, Black students are more likely to be suspended, charged with crimes for misbehavior and expelled. Black students were suspended at nearly five times the rate of white students in the Austin school district in the 2018-19 school year, according to records obtained by the American-Statesman of the USA TODAY Network through the Texas Public Information Act. These statistics mirror regional and national numbers that have for years shown racial inequality in suspension rates in schools. The U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights released data in 2014 showing that Black students are suspended and expelled at three times the rate of white students in the United States. The data obtained by the Statesman show that disparity in the Austin district in recent years has been even greater. In the 2018-19 school year, when the Austin district gave 2,599 out-of-school suspensions, 7.4% of the districts Black students were suspended, compared with 3.6% percent of Hispanic students and 1.5% of white students. Thats similar to the 2017-18 school year, when the district gave out-of-school suspensions to 8.2% of Black students, 3.9% of Hispanic students and 1.6% of white students. Numbers from across the state also show racial disparities. According to the Texas Education Agency, administrators suspended 20.7% of the states 685,775 Black students in the 2018-19 school year, 7.7% of its 2.9 million Latino students and just 4.1% of its 1.5 million white students. Parents: Download the free summer activity guide from the Smithsonian and USA TODAY 'The child is trying to tell us something' Austin school district administrators said they are aware of the racial disparities in out-of-school suspension rates and are continuing to address them, adding that progress has been made, albeit slowly, as the total number of out-of-school suspensions has decreased within the district each year. Story continues We are still working hard to make sure that we affect mindsets and beliefs around what is possible with children and what other options there are whenever a behavior is observed. Were not there 100% yet, but that is what were working on, said Gilbert Hicks, associate superintendent of elementary schools. Every behavior is an opportunity, and that is the way you need to look at it. The child is trying to tell us something, and we need to figure out what that is and then work with them on that. Hicks said the district has taken proactive steps to address suspension rates. In 2017, the school board unanimously banned at-home suspensions and expulsion for children in pre-kindergarten through second grade, except when required by law. From 2014 to 2016, less than 1% of students in that age range were suspended districtwide each school year. Since the ban, administrators said only a few cases have resulted in suspensions. Across campuses, the district has implemented restorative justice practices and wraparound services centered on student mental health. Restorative practices, which often involve a moderated conversation between parties, are intended to build a stronger community and strengthen individual relationships. You are trying to restore the relationship between the parties that are involved, said Ty Davidson, executive director of middle school operations. It is around the mindset that the typical and traditional discipline procedures that weve used are not always best for students. Sheila Henry, executive director of high school operations, said that in addition to restorative practices, high school administrators try to use less severe disciplinary measures, such as in-school suspension and detention, to keep students in the classroom. Henry said that school resource officers are rarely involved in suspensions unless an arrest is necessary. The district also offers professional learning opportunities for staffers, and sometimes community members including parents, on topics such as cultural proficiency, inclusivity and implicit bias. One workshop focuses on how to implement culturally responsive restorative practices instead of traditional disciplinary measures. While the training is not mandatory, last school year about 600 people attended the introductory Isolating Race workshop, a prerequisite for many of the other sessions, according to Angela Ward, the districts race equity administrative supervisor. 'A scary reality': Students react to colleges' reopening plans with mix of optimism, fear Groups call for school police reform A group of local social justice organizations called on the Austin school district to ensure greater equality on campuses and divest from school policing, citing the physical and psychological harms of over policing on students from minority communities as well as those with disabilities. In a letter sent June 9 to departing Superintendent Paul Cruz and copied to the Austin school board, four Texas-based partnering organizations the Childrens Defense Fund Texas, Disability Rights Texas, the Earl Carl Institute at Texas Southern University and Texas Appleseed asked the district to take measures to ensure equality, including reallocating money currently going toward policing to hiring and training mental health counselors and social workers to handle instances of bullying, harassment, disruptive behavior, vandalism, drug and alcohol abuse, and other nonviolent incidents. The groups also sent letters to school districts in Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. In this moment of heightened awareness of the trauma experienced by so many at the hands of police officers, AISD should follow in the footsteps of other districts, like Portland Public Schools and Minneapolis Public Schools, by divesting in school policing, the letter states. Many school districts have contracts with local police departments to supply school resource officers, while others, such as the Austin district, have their own internal police departments. School resource officer programs originated in the 1950s but grew dramatically nationwide during the 1990s, a trend that coincided with the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. In Texas today, more than 200 school districts have their own police forces. In recent weeks, school districts across the U.S. have reevaluated their relationships with the police. The Minneapolis and Denver school districts terminated their contracts with city police departments, and Charlottesville, Virginia, and Portland, Oregon, discontinued the regular presence of their school resource officers. 'This is hell': Parents and kids hate online learning, but they could face more of it The Austin district, with 130 school campuses and more than 80,000 students, employs 84 full-time officers in its police department, including 43 school resource officers, 20 patrol officers and two mental health officers. Students of color, particularly Black and Hispanic students, are overrepresented in law enforcement referrals for offenses, the letter states. Students can face expulsion or suspension when referred to law enforcement. In fact, when law enforcement charges students, they are almost always also suspended or expelled. Parents, residents call for shifting of funds At a school board meeting last week, several dozen parents and Austin residents called on the district to reallocate funds from its police department and put the money towards restorative justice practices, counseling and other support services. Speakers also asked for more transparency regarding the departments funding and the officers use-of-force statistics. The districts police department currently receives about $9.4 million in funding. In the $1.65 billion budget the board approved this week, the police budget increased by $250,000 for three new nonofficer positions, whose job will be to provide more social and emotional support, as well as threat assessment and security. Studies have shown a direct connection between incarceration and school disciplinary policies that disproportionately affect students of color, a relationship often called the school-to-prison pipeline. A study of Texas discipline policies by the Council of State Governments Justice Center and Texas A&M Universitys Public Policy Research Institute in 2011 found that for students in middle or high school, 23% of those suspended at least once ended up in contact with a juvenile probation officer, compared with just 2% of those not disciplined. So little grace and compassion is extended to young people in schools. When you have an internal police force, that just makes it that much worse, said Andrew Hairston, director of the School-to-Prison Pipeline Project at the Austin-based Texas Appleseed and a co-author of the letter. A gold stance that AISD could take right now is to say we are not going to invest further in the criminalization of young black students. Austin school board President Geronimo Rodriguez said that despite the districts progress, including banning suspensions for students in pre-kindergarten to second grade, and investing in social and emotional learning, the district has more work to do when it comes to racial disparities in out-of-school suspensions in the district. Are (suspensions) still disproportionately impacting Latino and Black children? Absolutely. We have to do better, he said. The board has a responsibility and obligation to create a culture of dignity and respect, and that includes eliminating racial disparities. High-quality child care is too expensive: Government subsidies are too low to help Experts: We're one-third of the way to a widely available coronavirus vaccine This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin, Texas schools suspend Black students disproportionately more A pedestrian walks past the Bank of England in London as BOE chief economist Andy Haldane said that 'early' evidence indicated the UK economy was set for a rapid V-shaped recovery. Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane said on Tuesday that early evidence continued to indicate that the UK economy was set for a rapid V-shaped recovery. There is a debate about which letter of the alphabet will best describe the path of the economy, Haldane said, noting that there was scepticism about the swift recovery predicted in the central banks May Monetary Policy Report. It is early days, but my reading of the evidence is so far, so V, he said, speaking during an online webinar. During a V-shaped recession, an economy suffers a sharp but short-lived period of economic contraction, which is immediately followed by a quick return to pre-crisis levels of growth. Haldane said that several unofficial economic indicators, such as data on credit card transactions, Google searches, and measures of footfall on the high street, suggested that the UK recovery had come sooner and faster than any forecasters had predicted. READ MORE: UK economy suffered biggest fall since 1979 as pandemic struck He said that, if the recovery was to continue at this pace, then the UK economy could end up contracting by just 8% in 2020, far lower than the 17% the Bank of England had predicted in May. Forecasters at the bank have revised their forecast for global GDP growth, suggesting a contraction of just 10% in the second quarter a marked improvement from the previously predicted 23% contraction. Even relative to the scale of the fall, this is a large upward revision, Haldane said. One reason is because social distancing measures have been loosened more rapidly than expected. But Haldane said that the pace at which coronavirus restrictions were eased in the UK was broadly in line with what the Bank of England had predicted, meaning that the strong recovery thus far could indicate underlying strength in UK consumer spending. Haldane also said that the evidence suggested that UK consumers were not simply bringing future spending forward. Story continues Looking ahead, the opening of pubs, restaurants, hotels, cinemas and other hospitality outlets on 4 July will provide further impetus to spending, he said. My own market intelligence suggests considerable pent-up demand. READ MORE: Boris Johnson warns UK faces 'a real, real crisis' on economy Haldanes comments come after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Tuesday that UK economic output shrunk by 2.2% in the first three months of the year, the largest quarter-on-quarter contraction in GDP in 40 years. The final tally was worse than an earlier estimate, published in May, that said GDP contracted by 2%. Speaking earlier this month, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said that the bank did not spend any time trying to determine the letter used to describe the shape of the economic recovery. We dont want to get too carried away by this. I mean, lets be clear, I mean, were still living in very unusual times, he said, noting that a lifting of restrictions would result in a jump in economic activity. Three customs centres (Hamriya, Creek and Deira Wharfage) at Dubai Customs have dealt with 5,700 traditional dhows and vessels in the last five months of 2020. The positive figures, during what has been a testing time, reflects a resilient economy that maintains diversity, even during crises. The customs centres, operated by the Coastal Customs Center Management, have been active and busy as ever during the pandemic in dealing with large volume of goods. Creek and Deira Wharfage centres dealt with 3,300 dhows, carrying 124,000 tons of cargo worth AED3.3 billion ($898 million). Hamriya Port dealt with 2,402 vessels (1,165 wooden dhows and 1,237 vessels). Cargo included vehicles, electronics, spare parts and foodstuff. During the coronavirus pandemic, Dubai Customs maintained its swift response to ensure streamlined trade traffic whilst safeguarding the society and the borders from the hazards of prohibited goods. This also helped in fostering Dubais reputation as a global hub of business and tourism. Sea trade is a very important source of income in Dubai and the wise leadership focuses on this sector to help diversify the economy, said Abdullah Busnad, Executive Director of Customs Inspection Division at Dubai Customs. Whether at sea, land or air, Dubai always seeks to lead and provide the best services and most modern infrastructure. Dubai Customs ensures, even during testing times, a streamlined undisrupted trade activity thanks to an experienced and skilled staff, advanced technologies and sophisticated infrastructure. Busnad explained that Dubai Customs equipped its centres with the best equipment during the pandemic and implemented strict precautionary measures to ensure the safety of its workforce and clients. Yousef Al Hashimi, Director of Jebel Ali Customs Centers Management, said: The Coastal Customs Center Management at Dubai Customs managed to meet the needs of its clients efficiently during the pandemic. Clearance of goods has never been faster to meet the market incessant needs of medical supplies and foodstuff. The frontline officers have done their job professionally while maintaining safety and security. For centuries dhows have been the trading lifeline that has linked countries around the Gulf to east Africa, India and Pakistan, carrying cargoes of dates, fish and mangrove timber. TradeArabia News Service The White House and Commerce Department forced the Census Bureau to take two new political appointees last week whose unexpected arrival has deepened fears at the agency that the 2020 census will be politicized, according to three people familiar with the matter. Last Monday, Commerce deputy secretary Karen Dunn Kelley informed Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham and his career deputy, Ron Jarmin, that the two new appointees, Commerce aides Nathaniel T. Cogley and Adam Korzeniewski, had been installed in senior roles at the Census Bureau a move that blindsided both of them, according to a Census Bureau official. Cogley, a frequent radio commentator who received a Ph.D. in political science from Yale in 2013 and was the head of the department of government, legal studies and philosophy at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, will be deputy director for policy. Korzeniewski, now a senior adviser for Cogley, once worked as a Republican political consultant for the failed Staten Island congressional run of Joey Saladino, a Trumpy young YouTube star known as Joey Salads. On Tuesday, Dillingham issued a statement announcing that Cogley and Korzeniewski were joining the agency. He praised Cogleys distinguished academic background and said that Korzeniewski had exemplary military and public service experience, including prior Census Bureau fieldwork. He also said that the support of Dr. Cogley and Mr. Korzeniewski will help the Census Bureau achieve a complete and accurate 2020 Census and study future improvements. But inside the Census Bureau, a technocratic agency long accustomed to carrying out its work without political meddling, the hires were viewed with suspicion. Not only had they occurred while the 2020 census was already well underway, officials didnt view them as particularly qualified for their new positions. The fact that the White House had installed them only raised further alarms. No one has expressed any support for the decision at the bureau for the decision to hire the two new appointees, according to the Census Bureau official. Theres great concern. Story continues They basically swallowed hard, a person close to the bureau said. They have no choice, and they must do it. Prior to Mondays notification, the Commerce Department, which houses the Census Bureau, and the White House had held zero discussions with both Dillingham, a Trump appointee, and Jarmin about the prospect of those people joining the bureau and they had no input into their placement into the agency, according to the three people familiar with the matter. Senior Census officials also werent told of the hires by the deputy White House liaison at the Commerce Department, Anthony LaBruna, who deals with political appointees, until after it was a done deal. LaBruna pushed back on the notion that Census officials werent told about the hires in advance, but he did not dispute the claim that the White House had chosen them. The notion that Census wasnt provided a heads up is simply inaccurate, LaBruna said in a text message. Senior Census officials were given advance notice by the Department of Commerce about the hiring of Nathaniel Cogley and Adam Korzeniewski. Not only was Census notified but Director Dillingham put out a statement announcing that Nathaniel and Adam were joining his staff. But to Census officials, the arrival of the two political hires came as a shock. Even though Cogley and Korzeniewski started early last week, their titles didnt come with the usual defined job descriptions and Korzeniewskis paperwork hasnt even been given to senior Census leadership yet. Potential responsibilities under discussion for the two include working on census assessments, potential improvements for the census, strategic planning and planning the 2030 census, and working to implement the 2018 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. Jarmin is not expected to lose any of his responsibilities. After being informed that they were coming on board, the two top Census officials decided to notify the senior Census Bureau staff last Tuesday morning and then made an announcement for employees that was later in the day posted on the website. There was also a notification to Capitol Hill, where Democrats have complained about the move. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, ripped the hires as starkly partisan. The decision to create two new senior positions at the Census Bureau and fill them with political operatives is yet another unprecedented attempt by the Trump administration to politicize the 2020 Census, Maloney said in a statement. Both Cogley and Korzeniewski had worked since April in Kelleys office at the Department of Commerce, where Cogley was a senior adviser and Korzeniewski was an adviser. Kelley didnt respond to a request for comment. The appointment of Cogley, in particular, was met with deep skepticism inside the Census Bureau. During meetings and briefing calls in his previous role, he had raised some questions about how the census was conducted a delicate subject given that small changes in methodology could lead to dramatic swings in numbers. Everything from congressional redistricting to the apportionment of certain federal programs relies on the figures, lending what might otherwise seem like wonkish data collection questions vast political weight. Thats why, the official said, when political appointees begin asking questions about changing the methodology, some people get nervous. For instance, there are ongoing discussions about how vigorously the Census Bureau must try to reach people who havent responded to the census questionnaire. That follow-up, which begins August 11, can mean making as many as 16 attempts to reach someone at their suspected residence. Minority groups, especially Black Americans, have historically been underrepresented in census data; for various reasons, they have traditionally been harder to reach. If you change methodologies, it should be evidence-based and its unlikely, in my opinion, that were going to find a need for significant changes in methodology at this point in time, said the official. This has been planned for about 10 years and its based on research. Cogleys new job, as the deputy director for policy, also raised internal eyebrows; in recent decades, there hasnt been a political appointee who was put in at such a senior level. Career employees at the bureau have strong concerns about the new hires, the official said, because they dont know why they were placed at the agency and Census officials dont know who pushed them to be hired. At this point in the census cycle, its disturbing that these two positions would be created, and it gives the appearance that the administration is attempting to politicize the 2020 census, said John H. Thompson, who was director of the Census Bureau in the last few years of the Obama administration and first five months of the Trump administration. If the career people at the Census Bureau were ordered to do something that was not in the best interest of getting an accurate count, they would just walk out of the building. A person close to the bureau said the expectation is that the two will not have any hand in direct operation of the 2020 census and no line authority. That will prevent them from telling Census employees which Americans to count, and which not to. They are also expected to not have access to the data files that store Americans responses to the census or from any of the statistical surveys, which is highly restricted to a very small number of the Census Bureaus thousands of employees. Even though Cogley has a Ph.D., albeit in political science, not statistics, the data is highly confidential, not to mention extremely complex: It can take someone trained in the requisite quantitative methods a year to fully understand, according to the person close to the bureau. The new hires come as the Census Bureau deals with the coronavirus pandemic, which poses a challenge as the agency seeks to keep employees in the field safe as they start to collect data in August. All of their offices are now open, and they have a fusion center that monitors how state and county reopenings are affecting Census offices. The bureau had a one-hour briefing last Friday for more than 350 congressional staffers about how the pandemic has affected its data collection. The biggest concern to me is the reputation of the Census Bureau as a nonpartisan non-political agency that provides information and supports the democracy and helps drive it so to the extent that additional political appointees are fabricated and inserted into a federal statistical agency you really really run the risk of damaging the reputation and it raises questions in peoples minds, said the person close to the bureau. Controversy at the Census Bureau is not new for the Trump administration; early in the presidents term, officials tried to add a controversial citizenship question to the Census, but courts said that official explanations for the attempted addition were implausible and legally inadequate. A GOP operative, Thomas Hofeller, who died in 2018, also played a key role in getting the Trump administration to add the citizenship question to help in his words, Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites. A Commerce spokesperson said in a statement: We thank Dr. Cogley and Mr. Korzeniewski for their service to our country at the Department of Commerce, and are pleased they will continue their service at the Census Bureau. As Director Dillingham stated, they will assist the great work already underway at the Bureau and help achieve a complete and accurate 2020 Census. A White House spokesperson said the White House doesnt comment on personnel matters. There are two people ill equipped to actually manage the census, said Kenneth Prewitt, a former director of the bureau at the end of the Clinton administration. Theyre very well equipped to advance political interests, especially of the Republican Party. Thats their background and their career goals. Its unprecedented for two political appointees to be added to the bureau in the middle of a census count in the recent history of the Census Bureau. - Financial health: New branches underscore the bank's 5-year strategic plan launched in early 2020 - Digital: Branch personnel to help facilitate learning and engagement in the bank's digital capabilities - Mobile App 9.0: The announcement comes on the heels of the bank's launch of two digital updates designed to strengthen financial freedom HOUSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BBVA USA announced today that it has received approval to open 15 new branches across Texas, the bank's largest market in its U.S. footprint. BBVA's new logo (PRNewsfoto/BBVA) The branches, set to open in early 2021, underscore the bank's 5-year strategic plan launched in early 2020, which aims to help clients improve their financial health. Adding branches at a time when digital transactions are increasing demonstrates the bank's belief that the branch format naturally facilitates face-to-face relationships between bankers and their customers, building a deep understanding of their financial needs. "Though COVID-19 has expedited the migration of transactions from branches to digital channels, for the short term if not longer, the fact remains that banking is a people business," said BBVA USA Head of Retail Larry Franco. "We recognize the power of the digital channel, but have an equally strong belief that banking is not an either/or scenario. There are pivotal moments in banking that require deep understanding, and during them, our bankers will offer solutions and highlight our relevant digital capabilities. This combines the best of both worlds." The bank's 5-year strategic plan is underscored by six pillars that are guiding BBVA globally, including pillar no. 1, which is focused around helping clients improve their financial health as a means to subsequently improve society's overall health. The bank's data-driven placement model is the enabler by which it was able to strategically expand its branch network to 15 new locations with more than 30 percent of the planned branches located in low-to-moderate income communities. All 15 new branches are positioned to create opportunities for financial success and sustainability. Story continues To maximize clients experience, all 15 branches will feature an updated model - the traditional teller line is now a one-stop-shop Personal Banker bar where customers can sit while the same team member that processes your transaction can originate a new account and teach customers about the bank's latest digital capabilities. All branch bankers also have data-driven customer insights to provide personalized recommendations based on the customer's transactional behavior and relationship. Branches will also feature a dedicated area for bankers to proactively contact our customers about the bank's latest product or provide a recommendation based on their unique financial situation. For interested customers, there is no need to come to the branch, as all bankers are trained to guide the customer through originating the account via the BBVA Mobile Banking app. "Branches are more than a place to conduct transactions, and engaging customers digitally is integrated into the branch experience - more than simply transaction takers, our bankers have become technology facilitators and advisors," said BBVA USA Relationship Model Discipline Leader Cody Sparks. "Ultimately, we are people serving people, whether that means acting as a trusted advisor or helping our clients understand the latest in technology. We see branches as fully complementary to our digital strategy, and this will not change in a post-pandemic world." The 15 new branches will be located in the following cities and locations: Carpenters Landing Branch 15701 Wallisville Road, Houston, TX Crossing at Fort Bend Branch 7414 South Sam Houston Parkway West, Houston, TX Culebra Commons Branch 6626 West Loop 1604 North, San Antonio, TX Custer Road Branch 7119 Custer Road, McKinney, TX Grand Parkway Branch 2892 West Grand Parkway South, Richmond, TX Grand Prairie Branch 902 West Pioneer Parkway, Grand Prairie, TX Grant & Louetta Branch 13105 Louetta Road, Cypress, TX Hickory Creek Branch 4600 Farm to Market 2181 (also known as Swisher Road), Hickory Creek, TX Hutto Branch 722 U.S. Highway 79 West, Hutto, TX Marketplace Branch 651 North I-35BL, New Braunfels, TX Millstone/FM 1960 Branch 2503 Farm to Market 1960 East, Houston, TX Park West Branch 1010 Katy Fort Bend Road, Katy, TX Slaughter & South Congress Branch 8900 South Congress Avenue, Austin, TX Spring Green Branch 9615 Spring Green Boulevard, Katy, TX 1 West Lake Village Branch 12230 West Lake Houston Parkway, Houston, TX Last week, BBVA USA announced the launch of two digital updates designed to strengthen financial freedom. The bank launched its new mobile banking app, Mobile 9.0, and expanded transaction detail screen in mobile and online banking, both aimed at leveraging the bank's technology expertise to provide a better experience and more transparency and control for customers. Both services also reflect the bank's strategic plan. Click here for more. For more BBVA news visit, www.bbva.com and the U.S. Newsroom . Additional news updates can be found via Twitter and Instagram . For more financial information about BBVA in the U.S., visit bbvausa.investorroom.com . About BBVA BBVA Group BBVA (NYSE: BBVA) is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group has a strong leadership position in the Spanish market, is the largest financial institution in Mexico, and has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States. It is also the leading shareholder in Turkey's Garanti BBVA. BBVA's purpose is to bring the age of opportunities to customers by providing the best solutions and helping them make the best financial decisions through an easy and convenient experience. The institution's responsible banking model aspires to achieve a more inclusive and sustainable society. BBVA rests on three solid values: customer comes first, we think big and we are one team. BBVA USA In the U.S., BBVA is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 641 branches, including 330 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 44 in Florida, 37 in Colorado and 17 in New Mexico. The bank ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (6th). In the U.S., BBVA has been recognized as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and ranked 14th nationally in terms of dollar volume of SBA loans originated in fiscal year 2019. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bbva-usa-announces-it-will-open-15-new-branches-across-its-texas-footprint-301085346.html SOURCE BBVA USA MINSK, Belarus (AP) The central elections commission in Belarus has rejected a top challengers bid to run against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in this summers election. The commisions decision Tuesday to bar Valery Tsepkalo from the ballot removes any serious competition for Lukashenko, who has stifled opposition and news media during a quarter-century in power. Tsepkalo, a former ambassador to the United States and a founder of a successful high-technology park, submitted 160,000 signatures on petitions to get on the ballot for the Aug. 9 election, but the commission said only 75,000 were valid less than the 100,000 needed. Another strong challenger, former banker Viktor Babariko, has been jailed and is facing charges of money-laundering. Popular opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky has been jailed on charges of attacking a police officer. Tikhanovksy's wife, who was running for president, has suspended her campaign. For the first time in Belgiums history, a reigning king has expressed regret for the violence carried out by the former colonial power when it ruled over what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. King Philippe conveyed his deepest regrets for acts of violence and cruelty and the suffering and humiliation inflicted on Belgian Congo, in a letter to the president of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, published on the 60th anniversary of the African countrys independence. Philippe wrote: To further strengthen our ties and develop an even more fruitful friendship, we must be able to talk to each other about our long common history in all truth and serenity. The letter was sent amid growing demands that Belgium should reassess its colonial past. King Philippe of Belgium (Chris Jackson/PA) In the wake of the protests against racial inequality triggered by the death of George Floyd in the United States, several statues of King Leopold II, who is blamed for the deaths of millions of Africans during Belgiums colonial rule, have been vandalised, while a petition called for the country to remove all statues of the former monarch. A bust of Leopold II is expected to be taken down from display later on Tuesday in the city of Ghent following a decision from local authorities. Earlier this month, regional authorities also promised history course reforms to better explain the true character of colonialism. Our history is made of common achievements, but has also known painful episodes. At the time of the independent State of the Congo, acts of violence and cruelty were committed that still weigh on our collective memory, Philippe wrote, referring to the period when the country was privately ruled by Leopold II from 1885 to 1908. And the reigning monarch acknowledged: The colonial period that followed also caused suffering and humiliation. Handout photo issued by Ilse de Schutter showing a statue of Belgian king Leopold II being removed by local authorities in Antwerp (Ilse de Schutter/PA) Leopold ruled Congo as a fiefdom, forcing many of its people into slavery to extract resources for his personal profit. Story continues His early rule, starting in 1885, was famous for its brutality, which some experts say left as many as 10 million dead. After his ownership of Congo ended in 1908, he handed the central African country over to the Belgian state, which continued to rule over an area 75 times its size until the nation became independent in 1960. I want to express my most deepest regrets for these wounds of the past, the pain of which is today revived by discrimination that is all too present in our societies, the king wrote, insisting that he is determined to keep fighting all forms of racism. Philippe also congratulated President Tshisekedi on the 60th anniversary of independence, ruing the fact that he was not able to attend celebrations to which he had been invited given current circumstances related to the coronavirus crisis. Top-rated baby brand aden + anais rose to fame in 2013 when new parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wrapped Prince George in a bird print swaddle as they exited hospital. (aden + anais) Yahoo Lifestyle is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. A lot of babies are born in the UK each year. In 2018, 731,213 live births were recorded by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and 755,042 the year before. Thats a lot of tiny humans who need clothing. While you dont need a lot for a newborn (the NHS has a fantastic list of whats actually required) there are some wardrobe essentials that are unavoidable. Bodysuits for day and night, vests, hats and cardigans, to name a few. Its helpful if all of these items are easy to wash, will last the multiple washes they are subjected to and are easy to get your baby in and out of. When it comes to baby clothes, many parents will also want their teeny tots wardrobe to be stylish, sustainable and gender-neutral, too. Plus, theres the matter of suiting different budgets. So, which baby brands tick all the boxes? Top-rated baby clothing brands to shop online in the UK Style-conscious, sustainably-aware clothing and homewares brand Arket is a one-stop shop for all the family. The baby range is created with specific attention to quality - much like the companys men and women collections. Expect a muted palette, naturally-dyed fabrics and minimalist designs. Prices range from 10 to 30, depending on the garment. Arket's baby range has a focus on sustainability and style. (Arket/Yahoo UK) If youre after quality basics, you cant go wrong with M&S. The British retailer, which has a fantastic online presence, stocks multipacks of 100% cotton vest, short-sleeved and long-sleeved bodysuits and more to make your first few months as a parent as simple and fuss-free as possible. Baby lifestyle range MORI has become something of a cult baby brand in the past few years. Known for its signature fabric crafted from organic cotton and bamboo, the clothing and accessories are exceptionally soft, breathable and thermoregulating to keep little ones safe and comfortable. Their 'hero' products are their zip up sleepsuits in a range of soft colours and their Clever Sleeping Bag which fits babies from 0 - 2 years. Story continues Leading muslin brand aden + anais became a household name when Prince George was pictured on the steps of the Lindo Wing wrapped in the bird print swaddle. Their over-sized multi-use swaddle blankets are a must for parents and they come in a wide range of prints. Their Comfort Knit gown is their latest launch which features a clever tie at the bottom for easy nappy changes. Baby brand aden + anais creates beautifully soft sleeping bags, swaddles and muslin cloths in addition to printed bodysuits. (aden + anais/Yahoo UK) Another royal-approved baby brand, Rachel Riley has been worn by Prince George on numerous occasions, including the Queen's 90th birthday and Princess Charlotte's christening. The luxury British designer is widely acknowledged for reviving traditional techniques such as her signature hand-smocking and her designs make perfect heirloom pieces and keepsakes. French label Petit Bateau, which is available to shop online in the UK, is a lovely, playful brand that stocks everything from classic Breton tops for all the family to bright yellow fisherman-inspired raincoats. The brands newborn section is stuffed with chic bodysuits, ribbed sleepsuits and waxed coats. Petit Bateau's baby clothing range includes printed bodysuits, durable raincoats and multipacks of basics. (Petit Bateau/Yahoo UK) Arkets sister brand COS offers a slightly more colourful approach to baby clothing, with a wealth of fun designs printed on cotton bodysuits, linen-blend tops and more. Ideal for parents after something a little more jazzy than other brands offer. Much like M&S, Baby Gap is a fantastic go-to for essentials but also great for super cute pieces such as dungarees and ruffled dresses. An added bonus? You can stock up on maternity clothing for yourself while shopping for items for your baby in one fell swoop. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: Tokyo built one of the biggest ships ever to exist. It was deadly, but too lumbering to stand against a massive air assault.Japan withdrew from the London Naval Treaty in 1936. The chief Japanese negotiator, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, feared that concessions on the part of his negotiating team would lead directly to his assassination upon return to Japan. Japanese nationalists believed that the Washington Naval Treaty system was holding Japan back and preventing it from becoming a first-rate power. Freed from the constraints of international treaties, they believed that Japan could build a world-beating fleet that would push the Western powers out of Asia and help usher in a new era of Japanese dominance. Musashi was the second ship of the Yamato class, the first of this new generation of battleships. The Imperial Japanese Navy believed that the United States would never build battleships too large to move through the Panama Canal, and calculated that the maximum displacement of such ships would amount to about sixty thousand tons. Ships of that size could not, it was thought, carry guns larger than sixteen inches. The IJNs engineering problem was thus to design and build battleships that could destroy the largest ships the Americans were likely to build. The Japanese ships were to have a speed of at least thirty knots, carry eighteen-inch or larger guns, and have a long range with good fuel economy. With three triple 18.1-inch gun turrets, the Yamato class met one of the three conditions. Initially designed with diesel engines for economical cruising, problems with the diesels led to the use of a standard, fuel-intensive power plant. A well-armored thirty-one-knot version was rejected as too large (the Yamatos displaced sixty-five thousand tons), and the IJN unwisely decided to sacrifice speed for armor, settling on twenty-seven knots. As it was, its armor weighed more than an entire World War I dreadnought, and could absorb enormous damage. Musashi and its sister were immensely powerful ships, but the sacrifice of operational mobility for surface tactical effectiveness would limit the impact that they would have on the war.The IJN ordered five ships of the Yamato class, but only Musashi and its elder sister were completed as intended. Shinano, the third sister, was completed as an aircraft carrier support vessel. Japan took elaborate precautions to prevent details of the ships construction from reaching the United States. Indeed, the United States only acquired good intelligence as to the size and armament of the battleships in 1944. When Japan surrendered, the IJN attempted to destroy all photographic and technical data on Yamato and Musashi, leaving Western analysts guessing as to its exact characteristics well into the Cold War. Story continues Named after an ancient province on Honshu, Musashi was laid down in March 1938, and commissioned in August 1942. It arrived in Truk in January 1943, and became Admiral Yamamotos flagship in February. Because of its speed and enormous fuel requirements, the IJN had not used Yamato in the Guadalcanal campaign, and was similarly reticent about Musashi. While Japanese caution in context of oil shortages is understandable, the course of the war in 1942 and 1943 demanded a more risk-acceptant posture; this was not a time at which the IJN should have emphasized fuel economy. Musashi sortied three times in efforts to intercept U.S. naval movements, but never engaged the enemy. In February 1944 it was withdrawn from Truk out of concerns over U.S. carrier raids. In March, it received light damage from a U.S. submarine attack. Musashi served at both the battles of Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. At the latter it, Yamato, and three other battleships served as the core of Adm. Takeo Kuritas strike force, intended to destroy U.S. landing craft off Leyte. Before that could happen, however, Kuritas task force needed to run a gauntlet of submarine and carrier aircraft attacks. During the latter, Musashi became the focus of U.S. naval aviators. Despite withering antiaircraft fire, it received enormous punishment from American pilots. Over five hours of attacks, Musashi took nearly twenty bomb and torpedo hits each, slowing its speed and causing extensive flooding. No other battleship could have survived half that, but eventually the flooding got the best of damage control crews, and at 19:36 on October 24, 1944, Musashi rolled over and sank. Nearly a thousand of its 2,400-man crew sank with it. Its loss was in vain; although an elaborate sacrifice of carriers decoyed American battleships away from Leyte, Kuritas attack on U.S. transports and escort carriers was foiled by the extraordinary courage of a few American destroyer captains. In 2015, Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft and owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers, led a team of researchers who discovered Musashis wreck. It lies in several pieces at the bottom of Sibuyan Sea. Over the years, a variety of reports of turned up on the expected successor classes to Yamato. The next iteration would have been slightly larger, slightly more heavily armored, and would have carried six twenty-inch guns in three twin turrets, probably with roughly the same speed and range as Yamato. Designs for these ships were finalized, but wartime demands meant that they were never laid down. Indeed, the effort that went into Musashis construction would better have been spent on aircraft carriers and other ships. Expectations of a further follow-on class, with a speed above thirty knots and four twin twenty-inch guns, have emerged over the years, although the construction of such ships would have been purely notional. The Yamatos were the zenith of the Japanese battleship aesthetic, with a beautiful swept-back pagoda mast that managed to convey speed, grace and power. This, undoubtedly, is one of the reasons why the ships have continued to hold a place in the public imagination, even seventy years on. However, Musashi has never earned the popular cultural attention of its sister, HIJMS Yamato. The latter took the starring role in the animated television show (and later film) Space Battleship Yamato, known in the United States as Star Blazers. Yamato also served as the subject of a live-action film in 2005. Robert Farley, a frequent contributor to TNI, is author of The Battleship Book. This first appeared in 2019 and is being reposted due to reader interest. Image: Wikimedia Recommended: America Can't Shoot Down a North Korean Nuke Recommended: The Case for War with North Korea Recommended: China's New Stealth Fighter Has Arrived Click here to read the full article. An alliance to grow Royal Dutch Distillers' portfolio in the US ATLANTA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing today announced a partnership with Royal Dutch Distillers to further the growth of Royal Dutch Distillers' brands in the US. Royal Dutch Distillers is the US subsidiary of the 325-year-old family company, De Kuyper Royal Distillers, and acts as an importer and marketing company for the brands. Blue Ridge will be the sales and distribution management partner in the US. There is no intention of altering the current successful distributor partnerships in the US for any Royal Dutch Distillers' brands. Royal Dutch Distillers specializes in crafting ultra-premium and bartender-focused spirits and cream-based wines. In the last 6 years, Royal Dutch Distillers has grown its premium spirits and wine portfolio, including ChocoVine, a cream-based wine, as well as premium spirits like Rutte gins and genevers, Mandarine Napoleon liqueur, Cherry Heering, BEBO Cuban Coffee Liqueur and Fiorito Limoncello to over 100,000 9l cases in the US. Chief executive officer of Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing, Carlos Carreras commented, "It is an honor to represent Royal Dutch Distillers' portfolio and we look forward to building on the success they've already achieved as we help them expand across the country." Chief operating officer of Royal Dutch Distillers, Peter Iglesias adds, "We are thrilled to partner with Blue Ridge's team of industry veterans who provide sales and distribution expertise and a collaborative morale that we know will take the Royal Dutch Distillers' portfolio to the next level." About Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing (BRSWM) is an American sales and marketing company that focuses primarily on premium spirit and wine brands. It provides a strong sales force with established distributor and retailer relationships. Carlos Carreras added: "Our team has over a century of combined experience in the industry and is committed to fostering and promoting quality brand building nationwide. Blue Ridge aims to grow brands and build legacies." For more information, visit www.blueridgespirits.com. Story continues About Royal Dutch Distillers Royal Dutch Distillers is the American subsidiary of the family owned De Kuyper Royal Distillers company. With US operations based in Miami, Royal Dutch Distillers is a sales and marketing company which specializes in building brands and launching them into the US market. The company's award-winning portfolio is made up of ultra-premium spirits and cream wines, to include: Rutte gins and genevers, Mandarine Napoleon liqueur, Cherry Heering , BEBO Cuban Coffee Liqueur, Fiorito Limoncello and the original chocolate wine ChocoVine. Royal Dutch Distillers is led by Peter Iglesias, Chief Operating Officer. For more information, visit www.royaldistillers.com. About De Kuyper Royal Distillers De Kuyper Royal Distillers is a family-owned premium liqueur and premium spirits company founded in 1695 by Petrus De Kuyper, today operating in more than 100 markets worldwide. The company, headquartered in Schiedam near Rotterdam (NL), holds the global market leading brand in cocktail liqueurs and is owner as well as producer of a number of world-famous liqueurs, such as Peachtree, Cherry Heering, Mandarine Napoleon and the juniper-based spirits of the Rutte Gin and Genever range. The premium liqueur specialist has been awarded "Liqueur Producer of the Year" at the International Spirits Challenge (ISC) in 2019. Mark de Witte is the Global CEO of the company. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blue-ridge-spirits--wine-marketing-partners-with-royal-dutch-distillers-301085568.html SOURCE Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need To Remember: Though the Mercury doesnt carry any weapons of its own, it may be in a sense the deadliest aircraft operated by the Pentagon, as its job is to command the launch of land-based and sea-based nuclear ballistic missiles. In a military that operates Raptor stealth fighters, A-10 tank busters, B-52 bombers and Harrier jump jets, the U.S. Navys placid-looking E-6 Mercury, based on the 707 airliner, seems particularly inoffensive. But dont be deceived by appearances. Though the Mercury doesnt carry any weapons of its own, it may be in a sense the deadliest aircraft operated by the Pentagon, as its job is to command the launch of land-based and sea-based nuclear ballistic missiles. Video: Retired U.S. Navy Captain on intel that Russia put bounties on U.S. troops Of course, the U.S. military has a ground-based strategic Global Operations Center in Nebraska, and land-based transmitters for communicating with the nuclear triad. However, the E-6s sinister purpose is to maintain the communication link between the national command authority (starting with the president and secretary of defense) and U.S. nuclear forces, even if ground-based command centers are destroyed by an enemy first strike. In other words, you can chop off the head of the U.S. nuclear forces, but the body will keep on coming at you, thanks to these doomsday planes. The E-6s basic mission is known as Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO). Prior to the development of the E-6, the TACAMO mission was undertaken by land-based transmitter and later EC-130G and Q Hercules aircraft, which had Very Low Frequency radios for communication with navy submarines. Interestingly, France also operated its own TACAMO aircraft until 2001, four modified Transall C-160H Astarte transports, which maintained VLF communications with French ballistic-missile submarines. The first of sixteen E-6s entered service between 1989 and 1992. These were the last built in a very long line of military variants of the venerable Boeing 707 airliner, in particular the 707-320B Advanced, also used in the E-3 Sentry. Bristling with thirty-one communication antennas, the E-6As were originally tasked solely with communicating with submerged Navy submarines. Retrofitted with more fuel-efficient CFM-56 turbojets and benefiting from expanded fuel tanks, the E-6A could remain in the air up to fifteen hours, or seventy-two with inflight refueling. Story continues To use its Very Low Frequency radios, an E-6 has to fly in a continuous orbit at a high altitude, with its fuselage- and tail-mounted VLF radios trailing one- and five-mile-long wire antennas at a near-vertical attitude! The VLF signals can be received by Ohio-class nuclear ballistic-missile submarines hiding deep underwater, thousands of miles away. However, the VLF transmitters limited bandwidth means they can only send raw data at around thirty-five alphanumeric characters per secondmaking them a lot slower than even the old 14k internet modems of the 1990s. Still, its enough to transmit Emergency Action Messages, instructing the ballistic-missile subs to execute one of a diverse menu of preplanned nuclear attacks, ranging from limited to full-scale nuclear strikes. The E-6s systems are also hardened to survive the electromagnetic pulse from nuclear weapons detonating below. Between 1997 and 2006, the Pentagon upgraded the entire E-6A fleet to the dual-role E-6B, which expanded the Mercurys capabilities by allowing it to serve as an Airborne Nuclear Command Post with its own battle staff area for the job. In this role it serves as a backup for four huge E-4 command post aircraft based on the 747 Jumbo jet. The E-6B has ultra-high-frequency radios in its Airborne Launch Control system that enable it to remotely launch land-based ballistic missiles from their underground silos, a task formerly assigned to U.S. Air Force EC-135 Looking Glass aircraftyet another 707 variant. The E-6s crew was expanded from fourteen to twenty-two for the command post mission, usually including an onboard admiral or general. Additional UHF radios give the E-6B access to the survivable MILSTAR satellite communications network, while the cockpit is upgraded up with new avionics and instruments from the 737NG airliner. The E-6B can be distinguished in photos by its additional wing-mounted pods. The Mercurys abundant communications gear allows it to perform nonnuclear Command, Control and Communications (C3) operations as well. For this reason, E-6s have at times been deployed to Europe and the Middle East to serve as flying C3 hubs. For example, VQ-4 was deployed in Qatar for three years from 2006 to 2009, where it relayed information such as IED blast reports and medical evacuation requests from U.S. troops in Iraq who were out of contact with their headquarters. Two Navy Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadrons currently operate the E-6: VQ-3 Ironmen and VQ-4 Shadows, both under the Navy Strategic Communications Wing 1. These have their home at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, but also routinely forward deploy out of Travis AFB in California and Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. At least one E-6 is kept airborne at all times. E-6s on the submarine-communication mission often fly in circles over the ocean at the lowest possible speedfor as long as ten hours at a time. Those performing the nuclear command post mission typically remain on alert near Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. The E-6s nuclear mission has also made its operations occasional fodder for conspiracy theorists and foreign propaganda outlets. The E-6 platform should remain in service until 2040 thanks to a service-life extension program and continual tweaks to its systems and radios. While the Mercury has demonstrated its usefulness as an airborne communication hub for supporting troops in the field, the airborne command post will be considered a success if it never has to execute its primary mission. The heart of nuclear deterrence, after all, is convincing potential adversaries that no first strike will be adequate to prevent a devastating riposte. The E-6s are vital component in making that threat a credible one. Sebastien Roblin holds a masters degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring. This first appeared in December 2017 and is being republished due to reader interest. Image: Wikimedia Click here to read the full article. WASHINGTON U.S. intelligence reports suggesting Russia offered bounty payments to the Taliban to kill American troops have sparked outrage in Washington and questions about how the White House handled the information. But former U.S. officials say that whether or not bounties were paid, Moscow has been a thorn in America's side for years in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world, working to sabotage and embarrass the U.S. at every opportunity. The U.S. military has complained openly about active Russian support for the Taliban, with commanders accusing Moscow of providing weapons and political backing to the insurgents. "We're going to have to confront Russia," then-Defense Secretary James Mattis said in 2017, referring to Moscow's record in Afghanistan. Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan from 2016 to 2018, accused Russia of "arming belligerents" in 2017 and in 2018 said, "Clearly, they are acting to undermine our interests." Although Russia has professed support for planned peace negotiations brokered by the Trump administration, Moscow also cultivated ties and provided aid to the Afghan Taliban, according to former U.S. officials. Douglas London, a former CIA official who worked on Afghanistan matters before he retired in late 2018, said U.S. officials closely tracked Russian support to the Taliban. While unable to comment on classified intelligence, London told NBC News the idea that the Russians were paying the Taliban to "incentivize" American deaths is "not inconsistent with our understanding of Moscow's efforts to be a disruptive force and inflict harm on our people and interests." Whether the intelligence reports prove accurate, "there should be no illusion that Russia is a 'partner for peace' in Afghanistan,'" said James Cunningham of the Atlantic Council think tank, a former U.S. ambassador to Kabul. Story continues For Moscow, a planned U.S. troop withdrawal and years of stalemate in Afghanistan are seen as a strategic gain, according to Cunningham, who served as ambassador from 2012 to 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin "hopes to see the United States discredited and dispirited as it withdraws, further undermining the United States, NATO, and the West," Cunningham wrote. Russia's stance changes Nearly 20 years ago, when the U.S. launched military action against the Taliban regime after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks for offering refuge to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, Russia played a supportive role backing Washington's "war on terrorism." The U.S. quickly toppled the Taliban and Russia backed the new Afghan government led by President Hamid Karzai. Over time, however, Russia became wary of America's open-ended military presence, fearing permanent U.S. bases in what considers its backyard, former officials said. As relations deteriorated between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine, Syria and other issues, Russia chose to re-enter the arena in Afghanistan, in keeping with its self-image as a global power. Russia reopened a cultural center in Kabul in 2014, and provided Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition to the Afghan government. Moscow took advantage of its contacts in Kabul, which include officials who were educated or trained in the Soviet Union, renewed its long-established ties with ethnic power brokers in the north, and quietly courted the Taliban. "Russia did not seem confident that Afghanistan would be stable after the Americans eventually withdrew, and therefore the Russians would need a variety of Afghan partners," said Johnny Walsh of the U.S. Institute for Peace, a former U.S. diplomat who worked in Afghanistan. The Russians worry about Islamist extremism spreading from Afghanistan to Russia's southern flank, and they see the Taliban as useful for taking the fight to ISIS, Walsh said. But the Russians have appeared to calibrate their recent support for the Taliban, stopping short of a full-blown alliance, he said. "I would say it often appeared that Russia was not willing to go as far as the Taliban wanted them to in terms of lethal assistance," Walsh said. For Russia, "it's not even a marriage of convenience with the Taliban, it's a liaison of convenience," said Carter Malkasian, who served as an adviser to the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, and as a State Department political officer in Afghanistan. Just because the Russians have friendly ties with the Taliban, and share an interest in seeing the Americans leave, "that doesn't mean Russia wants to see the Taliban take over the government," said Malkasian. For the Taliban, ties with Russia offered a way to gain a degree of legitimacy on the world stage, according to Malkasian. Russia has defended its outreach to the Taliban, saying it was aimed at persuading the insurgents to enter into peace talks. "We maintain these contacts primarily for the sake of the security of Russian nationals in Afghanistan, Russian agencies there, and also to convince the Taliban to renounce armed conflict and join the national dialogue with the government," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in 2018. Russia denies it has armed the Taliban, and vehemently rejected U.S. intelligence reports about a bounty operation targeting American troops in Afghanistan. Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told NBC News the reports of such a program were "ridiculous." "It's a little bit rude, but this is 100 percent bulls---," Peskov said. "It's as simple as that." The Taliban also has denied it agreed to a bounty operation backed by Russia. 'I don't think it's been decisive' The precise scale and scope of Russia's support for the Taliban has been subject to debate in recent years. But even taking into account the latest intelligence reports about a possible bounty program, Moscow does not appear to have had a major impact on the battlefield, several former officials and two foreign diplomats told NBC News. "I don't think it's been decisive in the military equation," one former senior U.S. official said. The Taliban, which steadily gained ground against Afghan security forces in recent years, has no shortage of money or recruits, and continue to reap profits from the opium trade, said Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies' Long War Journal. "The Taliban doesn't need bounties from Russia," Joscelyn said. "It's not like the money is going to sway the motivations or behavior of the Taliban." Russia is not the only regional power trying to shape events in Afghanistan, nor the most powerful. Pakistan is the longtime patron of the Taliban and has allowed it to operate from sanctuaries on its territory for years, according to the U.S. and other Western governments. Pakistan's support of the Taliban, reinforced by cultural and linguistic ties, is on a whole other level from Russia's, said Laurel Miller of the International Crisis Group. "Pakistan, for sure, is number one in influence in Afghanistan," said Miller, who was deputy and then acting special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department from 2013 to mid-2017. When the Trump administration opted to pursue talks with the Taliban, Khalilzad turned to Pakistan to secure the release of key Taliban figures so they could attend the negotiations. Iran, which like Pakistan shares a border with Afghanistan, exerts considerable political and economic clout in the country's west. The Iranians have chosen to overlook a history of tension with the Taliban to ensure they maintain influence and keep up the pressure on the U.S. to pull out, Malkasian said. "They, like Russia, are willing to explore some relationships with the Taliban in order to improve their position," he said. Russia's moves in Afghanistan are part of a wider global contest with the U.S. to assert Moscow's military or political might where it sees openings with relatively low risk, including in Syria, according to Walsh. Moscow is "trying to assert itself in a wide range of conflicts across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, often to counter U.S. interests or to step into vacuums where the United States is not playing," he said. Zamir Kabulov (Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP file) Russia organized several Afghan peace conferences in Moscow in 2018 and 2019, inviting Taliban leaders in a move that sometimes irritated the Afghan government. But Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin's influential envoy to Kabul, touted Russia's more prominent profile and said last year the U.S. "has completely failed" in Afghanistan. Russia has its own dismal history in Afghanistan. The former Soviet Union's 1979-1989 war, in support of an allied communist government, left an estimated one million Afghans dead and ended in a humiliating withdrawal for the Soviets. The Islamist guerrilla force that defeated the Soviets had been armed covertly by the U.S. and Pakistan. Now the Taliban, who portray themselves as carrying on the legacy of the Afghans who fought against the Soviets, have warmly accepted Russia's diplomatic overtures. Despite the Pentagon's concerns about Russia's double-game in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump's envoy for Afghan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, has looked to Russia to boost the fragile peace effort, frequently holding talks with his Russian counterpart. Khalilzad traveled to Pakistan and Doha this week in his latest bid to get long-delayed peace talks started between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The peace talks were supposed to begin in March, following a deal between the Taliban and the U.S. Under the U.S.-Taliban accord signed in February, the U.S. promised to withdraw all of its troops in return for the Taliban promising not to allow Afghanistan to be a staging ground for terrorist attacks and agreeing to enter into direct talks with its foes in the Afghan government. MIAMI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Virgin Hotels , the growing lifestyle hotel brand by Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson, announces an updated version of their mobile app Lucy, rolling out even more contactless features for guests to employ from their own smartphones. The updated app, which the hotel launched in 2015 as one's "personal comfort assistant," will debut alongside the recent reopening of Virgin Hotels Dallas and the grand opening of Virgin Hotels Nashville this July. Virgin Hotels logo (PRNewsFoto/Virgin Hotels) The upgraded app will bring some exciting new features; mobile key functionality and chamber selection will be available when joining Virgin Hotels' Loyalty and Preferences program, The Know . The Know members can avoid touching and keeping track of a plastic room key, as Lucy can now handle everything from checking in to unlocking the room directly with mobile key capabilities. For all hotel guests, Lucy can also control the lights from the palm of their hand, unveiling three new lighting themes: "Get Lit," a bright, master setting; "Get in the Mood," a dimmed, relaxed setting; and "Do Not Disturb," a dark setting for sleep. These features join Lucy's current capabilities including "Get Comfy" controls (thermostat and TV remote functionality) and the ability to order room service anywhere on property. Virgin Hotels understands that now more than ever, comfort and peace of mind is crucial as people look to begin traveling again. With these new app functions, guests will be able to effectively socially distance and minimize the use of shared devices such as remotes, while still ensuring their stay is hospitable and enjoyable. Moreover, users of the Lucy app can access Apple Music and jam out to their playlists, exercise in the hotel fitness center with custom routines powered by Fitbod, and purchase hotel gift cards. "Since the very beginning, Lucy has brought a personal touch to each guest. Now she'll have the ability to help our guests personalize their stay entirely, while also helping them to feel safe and comfortable when traveling," stated Denise Walker, Vice President of Information Technology. "Virgin Hotels has always prioritized the ease of stay and overall guest experience, so we are incredibly enthusiastic about this new rollout." Story continues The updated mobile app will debut tied to the Virgin Hotels Nashville grand opening on July 1st, 2020, while simultaneously launching at Virgin Hotels Dallas which reopened recently. All future hotel openings will be fully compatible with the new mobile app offerings as well. Virgin Hotels Chicago will see an individual rollout of the functionalities with all above capabilities implemented later in July 2020. The new version of the app also includes the opportunity for guests to provide feedback on their stay in real time, letting the properties work to improve the guest experience almost immediately. Virgin Hotels' mobile app Lucy will keep its original features, including the ability to book stays, provide local recommendations, order room service, initiate service requests, and provide an up-to-date look at individual hotel happenings, news and programming. The Virgin Hotels app is available for both Apple and Android mobile devices. To download, search Virgin Hotels or click here . To learn more about Virgin Hotels and Lucy, please visit www.virginhotels.com . For future developments, please visit https://development.virginhotels.com/ . Image: Here About Virgin Hotels: Virgin Hotels is a lifestyle hospitality brand that combines heartfelt service, straightforward value and a seamless, personalized hotel experience with the track record of innovation and smart disruption that Sir Richard Branson's global Virgin Group has pioneered for 50 years. Each property intermixes a passion for food and beverage with music and culture, fusing with the local landscape and providing a vibrant and inclusive environment for travelers and locals alike. Virgin Hotels Chicago - named the "#1 Hotel in United States" in 2016 and "#1 Hotel in Chicago" in both 2016 and 2017, by the Conde Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards - Virgin Hotels Dallas are now open. Locations in Nashville, New York, New Orleans, Miami, Edinburgh and Las Vegas to follow. Virgin Hotels continues to explore hotel and office conversions as well as ground-up development in cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, and London. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bypass-room-keys-and-the-check-in-desk-with-latest-virgin-hotels-mobile-app-301085462.html SOURCE Virgin Hotels Trendsetter Engineering, a privately owned oil and gas service company based in Houston, has won a contract from Subsea 7 for Murphy Exploration and Production Companys Kings Quay Development. The scope of supply comprise more than 40 connectors spanning Trendsetters TC2, TC7, and TC16 products and are to be used in gas lift, production, and export service. The contract was awarded in Q2 2020 and equipment deliveries will complete in Q3 2021. Tony Matson, Vice President of Projects for Trendsetter Engineering said: Trendsetter Connection Systems has an excellent performance and delivery track record and we are excited to supply our solutions to one of the most high-profile projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The Trendsetter Connection System (TCS) is a family of subsea connector solutions developed to meet industry needs for reliable, innovative connector products. Trendsetter connection systems are available with bores from 2 through 16 nominal sizes, as well as multibore, 400F and 20,000 psi. TCS is designed and manufactured in Houston. Trendsetter Engineering provides specialised subsea hardware and offshore service solutions globally, from exploration drilling through abandonment. -- Tradearabia News Service Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Coats Group plc (LON:COA) as an investment opportunity by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex. We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for Coats Group Step by step through the calculation We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years. A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate: 10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$29.0m US$59.7m US$89.8m US$91.0m US$92.1m US$93.3m US$94.4m US$95.6m US$96.8m US$98.0m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x3 Analyst x2 Est @ 1.28% Est @ 1.26% Est @ 1.25% Est @ 1.24% Est @ 1.23% Est @ 1.23% Est @ 1.23% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.8% US$26.7 US$50.5 US$69.8 US$65.0 US$60.5 US$56.3 US$52.4 US$48.7 US$45.3 US$42.2 ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$517m Story continues The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (1.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.8%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2029 (1 + g) (r g) = US$98m (1 + 1.2%) (8.8% 1.2%) = US$1.3b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$1.3b ( 1 + 8.8%)10= US$564m The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$1.1b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of UK0.6, the company appears about fair value at a 8.4% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. LSE:COA Discounted Cash Flow June 30th 2020 Important assumptions Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Coats Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.094. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. Moving On: Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Coats Group, we've compiled three further aspects you should assess: Risks: We feel that you should assess the 2 warning signs for Coats Group we've flagged before making an investment in the company. Future Earnings: How does COA's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every GB stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. 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. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com. Friends Adrian Sanchez, 20, left, Matthew Gonzalez, 22, and Justice Arreola, all of Santa Monica, arrive at the Santa Monica Pier to fish. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) California plummeted deeper into a new coronavirus crisis Monday as new cases spiked to record levels, some hospitals filled up, and officials expressed growing alarm and frustration with people refusing to follow safety rules despite the increasingly perilous conditions. The state broke its record Monday for the greatest number of new coronavirus cases reported in a single day, tallying more than 8,000. That's the third time in eight days the state has broken a record of new daily cases, according to the Los Angeles Times' California coronavirus tracker. A Times analysis found that California is on track to roughly double the number of coronavirus cases in June over those it recorded in May. In May, there were 61,666 cases reported statewide; by Monday night, there were 114,196 cases reported for the first 28 days of June. By Monday evening, there were a cumulative reported 223,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,900 coronavirus-related deaths in California. The coronavirus has rapidly spread through communities as the economy has reopened and people reverted to old behaviors, returning to bars, barbecues and birthday parties. The new data show "alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalization," L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. Los Angeles County, long the center of coronavirus in California, hit another grim milestone, surpassing 100,000 confirmed cumulative cases and more than 3,330 deaths. The county reported more than 3,000 new COVID-19 cases on Monday alone, also recording its largest single-day number of new infections, according to The Times' coronavirus tracker. The number of hospitalizations of confirmed COVID-19 patients has also soared in L.A. County, rising by 44% in the past two weeks. On Sunday, 1,732 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, up from 1,206 two weeks earlier. L.A. County is now projecting the possibility of running out of its existing supply of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in two to three weeks. Likewise, the number of intensive-care beds available could be exhausted sometime in July. Hospitals can, however, make more room for coronavirus patients by canceling elective surgeries and making other moves to increase capacity. Story continues "This is the time to hunker down back in your home whenever you can," Ferrer said, urging people to wear face coverings and practice social distancing. "Please, let's not let go of everything we worked hard and sacrificed for." She urged people to avoid crowds: "It's just not safe right now." Ferrer said the surge is proof "definitively" that community transmission has increased, with the cumulative rate of those testing positive for infection increasing from 8% to 9%. Officials are now warning that 1 in 140 residents are probably unknowingly infected with the virus and contagious to others, a threefold increase over last weeks projection of 1 in 400. That means a typical large, busy store would probably have multiple infectious persons enter and shop every day, officials said. In addition, health officials revealed that on the weekend after June 19 the day Los Angeles County gave the green light for bars, breweries, wineries and similar businesses to reopen more than 500,000 people visited the countys newly reopened nightlife spots. Inspectors, however, found over the weekend that employees at about half of bars and restaurants were not wearing face masks or shields. Half of bars and one-third of restaurants were not adhering to social distancing protocols. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered bars in L.A. County and four other counties in the San Joaquin Valley closed Sunday because of the increasing case numbers. The effective transmission rate of the coronavirus has now increased across the county. Previously, through the beginning of May, for every one person infected, fewer than one other person on average was infected a testament to the success of the stay-at-home order. But by early June, as the reopening accelerated, the coronavirus transmission rate had crept above 1, meaning for every one person infected, an additional 1.26 people are infected on average. During the strictest version of the stay-at-home order, officials believed that the effective transmission rate of the coronavirus was under 1, meaning that every one person on averaged infected fewer than one person. But now, officials believe the effective transmission rate is now 1.26, meaning every infected person now infects on average 1.26 other people. (L.A. County Department of Health Services) Orange County confirmed 57 coronavirus-related deaths for the seven-day period that ended Sunday, the highest weekly death toll that the county has reported since the pandemic began in the U.S. It was the third consecutive week Orange County broke a weekly record for COVID-19 deaths. There are now 19 counties on the state's coronavirus watch list, including L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Officials are growing increasingly alarmed by the upcoming Fourth of July weekend because they fear more crowds and gatherings could spread COVID-19 further. Los Angeles County will close its beaches Friday and ban fireworks displays in anticipation of the holiday. All public beaches, piers, public beach parking lots, beach bike paths that traverse that sanded portion of the beach and beach access points will be closed from 12:01 a.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. The ban on fireworks displays applies to the long Fourth of July weekend. Times staff writer Ryan Murphy contributed to this report. Catholic Conference Applauds SCOTUS Decision Against Blaine Amendments Catholic Conference Applauds SCOTUS Decision Against Blaine Amendments PR Newswire LANSING, Mich., June 30, 2020 LANSING, Mich., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Michigan Catholic Conference released the following statement after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 today in Espinoza v. Montana. The Court found unconstitutional that state's policy to prohibit religious schools from equal access to a public education benefit. The full impact of the ruling on the State of Michigan and Article 8 Section 2 of the state constitution Michigan's "Blaine Amendment" - will require additional review and study. "We're pleased with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court and believe it is an important step toward bringing an end to 50 years of systemic and state-recognized discrimination and injustice against Michigan's non-public schools, students and families," said Michigan Catholic Conference President and CEO Paul A. Long. "While the decision will require a full review for its impact in Michigan, it is clear that the Court has handed down a path forward toward educational freedom and opportunity for all." In 1970 the Michigan Constitution was amended to prohibit state aid to nonpublic schools and is considered among the most prohibitive "Blaine" amendments in the country. Such amendments are named after James G. Blaine, a former U.S. Senator from Maine, who sought a federal constitutional amendment in the late 19th Century to prohibit state aid to Catholic schools. Although Blaine was unsuccessful at the federal level, his legacy endured at the state level as 37 states, including Michigan, prohibit aid to religious schools. Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state. Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/catholic-conference-applauds-scotus-decision-against-blaine-amendments-301086185.html SOURCE Michigan Catholic Conference CCC Parts Network experiences significant growth with the volume of electronic parts orders by collision repairers increasing nearly 20x over four years and daily live parts quotes from suppliers climbing from 12 million to 20 million year-over-year CHICAGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CCC Information Services Inc. (CCC) announces today significant growth in the adoption of its parts eCommerce and marketing capabilities, signaling a shift in how collision parts are promoted and purchased within the industry. The volume of electronic parts orders through its system by collision repairers has grown nearly 20x over four years. The company also reports that daily live parts quotes delivered by participating CCC Parts Network suppliers grew from 12 million to 20 million year over year. The CCC Parts Network connects a dynamic community of collision parts buyers and sellers using a single platform, improving sales, and delivering efficiencies for everyone involved. CCC processes 24 million auto repair estimates and $13 billion in parts annually. (PRNewsfoto/CCC Information Services Inc.) "With CCC, we can connect with suppliers and purchase parts without needing to visit multiple websites or manually reconcile invoices," said Toan Nguyen, CEO, Classic Collision. "For as long as I've been in business, parts ordering has been cumbersome and time-consuming. Too many phone calls, faxes, and emails. CCC's technology stands out for its seamless integration into our estimating workflow. One system, one process, beginning to end." Automotive dealer participation in the CCC Parts Network has grown 50 percent year-over-year and a majority of automakers now use CCC's promotional parts offering. "As the industry experiences some uncertainty, wholesale parts sales have taken center stage," said Robert Troub, Wholesale Parts Manager, Zeigler Automotive of Orland Park. "CCC has the industry's most comprehensive solution, allowing us to present our parts, availability, and promotional pricing at the point of decision. This eliminates unnecessary back and forth, which slows down a process that requires expediency. We have realized tremendous value using CCC." Story continues Beyond seamless connections, CCC offers network participants a unique suite of tools that support real-time parts quoting, upfront promotional pricing, integrated parts ordering, invoice and rebate processing, and analytics. Capabilities are integrated to create a single continuous workflow, increasing part visibility as estimates are being written, delivering efficiency, and offering supplier insights to inform parts-related decisions. CCC integrates with leading DMS providers. "The CCC solution is central to our parts strategy," said John Lancaster, National Wholesale Parts Manager, Subaru of America, Inc. "The platform's dynamic workflow solutions automatically present our parts for applicable estimates directly within the estimating application, resulting in improved parts-ordering and rebate processing efficiency." Added Andreas Hecht, GM, senior vice president, OEM services group, CCC: "The strong growth of our parts business and rapid adoption of our solutions by automakers and their wholesale dealers suggests we've entered into a new era of parts sales and management. By integrating and automating the parts marketing and sales processes, users realize fewer parts returned, shorter cycle times, and increased sales. We're proud to help the industry advance and are excited to connect even more parties to our network." The CCC Parts Network includes original equipment, aftermarket, and recycled parts suppliers. Learn more about CCC parts eCommerce and marketing capabilities for collision repairers, dealers, and aftermarket and recycled parts suppliers. About CCC CCC, together with its affiliates, provides cross-industry solutions to support the vehicle lifecycle. Founded in 1980, CCC's solutions and big data insights are delivered through the CCC ONE platform to a vibrant network of 350+ insurance companies, 25,000+ repair facilities, OEMs, hundreds of parts suppliers, and dozens of third-party data and service providers. Annually, over 24 million estimates and 16 million repairs are processed on CCC's products and services, and CCC also provides access to car-related services for millions of consumers via Carwise (www.carwise.com). Additionally, CCC Casualty, operated by Auto Injury Solutions Inc., a CCC company, provides end-to-end casualty solutions for first- and third-party auto claims. The collective set of CCC's solutions inform decision-making, enhance productivity, and help customers optimize experiences for end consumers. Learn more about CCC at www.cccis.com. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ccc-reports-strong-industry-adoption-of-parts-ecommerce-and-marketing-capabilities-301085842.html SOURCE CCC Information Services Inc. China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong Tuesday, dramatically tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city in a historic move decried by Western nations as a threat to the financial hub's freedoms. Described by Beijing as a "sword" hanging over the heads of those endangering national security, the law took effect hours after it was signed by President Xi Jinping and just six weeks since it was first unveiled. Fed up with pro-democracy protests that rocked the city last year, China's top lawmaking body enacted the legislation following closed-door deliberations that kept details secret until its passage. The law gives Beijing jurisdiction over "very serious" national security crimes, with offenders facing up to life in prison, according to the text published late Tuesday. The controversial law also empowers China to set up a national security agency in the city, staffed by officials who are not bound by local law when carrying out duties. The new suite of powers radically restructures the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between the city's independent judiciary and the mainland's party-controlled courts. "It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before," prominent democracy campaigner Joshua Wong tweeted as his political party Demosisto announced it was disbanding. "With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a #secretpolicestate." Some Hong Kongers responded by deleting Twitter accounts and scrubbing other social media platforms. In contrast, former city leader Leung Chun-ying took to Facebook to offer bounties of up to HK$1 million ($130,000) for anyone who could help secure the first prosecutions under the new legislation or track down people who have recently fled the city. Twenty-seven countries, including Britain, France, Germany and Japan, urged Beijing to "reconsider the imposition" of the legislation, saying in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council that it "undermines" the city's freedoms. Story continues The move has also added fuel to tensions between Beijing and Washington, where condemnation of the move crossed the aisle. Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi said its "brutal purpose" was to "frighten, intimidate & suppress the speech of Hong Kongers," and Republican Mitt Romney tweeted that his "heart aches for the people of Hong Kong. Any semblance of freedom and autonomy has vanished." - 'Fundamental change' - As part of the 1997 handover from Britain, Hong Kong was guaranteed certain freedoms -- as well as judicial and legislative autonomy -- for 50 years in a deal known as "One Country, Two Systems." The formula helped to cement the city's status as a world-class business hub, bolstered by a reliable judiciary and political freedoms unseen on the mainland. Critics have long accused Beijing of chipping away at that status, but they describe the new security law as the most brazen move yet. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply concerned" and that London would scrutinise the law "to understand whether it is in conflict" with the handover agreement. The law bans four types of national security crimes: subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security. The text gave three scenarios in which China might take over a prosecution -- complicated foreign interference cases, "very serious" cases and when national security faces "serious and realistic threats." Cases can be passed to mainland China, with the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme Court designating the judicial authorities handling them. Lead perpetrators and serious offenders can receive 10 years to life in prison for engaging in one of the national security crimes. The law also said certain national security cases could be held behind closed doors without juries in Hong Kong if they contained state secrets, although the verdict and eventual judgments would be made public. "It's a fundamental change that dramatically undermines both the local and international community's confidence towards Hong Kong's 'One Country, Two Systems' model and its status as a robust financial centre," Hong Kong political analyst Dixon Sing told AFP. - Restore stability - On the mainland, national security laws are routinely used to jail critics, especially for the vague offence of "subversion." Beijing and Hong Kong's government reject those allegations. They have said the law will only target a minority of people, will not harm political freedoms in the city and will restore business confidence after a year of historic pro-democracy protests. "I urge the international community to respect our country's right to safeguard national security and Hong Kong people's aspirations for stability and harmony," Hong Kong city leader Carrie Lam told the UN Human Rights Council in a video message on Tuesday. Millions took to the streets last year, while a hard core of protesters frequently battled police in often violent confrontations that saw more than 9,000 arrested. Hong Kong has banned protests in recent months, citing previous unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, although local transmissions have ended. Some Western nations warned of potential repercussions ahead of the security law's passing. However, many are also wary of incurring Beijing's wrath and losing lucrative access to the mainland's huge economy. "We deplore this decision," said European Council head Charles Michel. Washington -- which has embarked on a trade war with China -- has said the security law means Hong Kong no longer enjoys sufficient autonomy from the mainland to justify special status. The United States on Monday ended sensitive defence exports to Hong Kong over the law, prompting China to threaten unspecified "countermeasures." Protesters wave flags outside the Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong - Bloomberg Hong Kong's pro-Beijing premier Carrie Lam has defended China's sweeping national security law for the city before the United Nations, urging the international community to "respect our country's right to safeguard national security." "I urge the international community to respect our country's right to safeguard national security and Hong Kong people's aspirations for stability and harmony," she told the Human Rights Council in a video message. Ms Lam added that the legislation would fill a "gaping hole" and would not undermine its autonomy. "The legislation aims to prevent, curb and punish acts of cessation, subversion of state power, terrorist activities and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security. These crimes will be clearly defined in the law," she said. "We will only target an extremely small minority of people who have breached the law, while the life and property, basic rights and freedoms of the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong residents will be protected." Ms Lam also confirmed that the law would come in to effect today. The top decision-making body of the Chinese legislature voted unanimously to adopt the Hong Kong national security legislation on Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress also adopted a decision to list the law in Annex III to Hong Kong's Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution, Xinhua reported Beijing says the law banning subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces is needed to return stability to Hong Kong after a year of angry pro-democracy protests. Opponents fear it will demolish the business hub's cherished political freedoms and hollow out its autonomy given similar laws are used to crush dissent on the authoritarian mainland. Story continues In an unprecedented move, Beijing bypassed Hong Kong's legislature to pass the law, which was signed off just six weeks after it was first announced. Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents have yet to see the contents of the law. Authorities in Beijing said "for the small minority who endanger national security, this law will be a sword hanging over their heads." But "for the vast majority of Hong Kong residents and foreigners in Hong Kong, this law is a guardian spirit that protects their freedoms," the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said. In response, EU leaders decried the new law. "We deplore the decision," EU Council President Charles Michel told reporters following a video summit with South Korea's president. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the bloc is now discussing with "international partners" on any possible measures in response. Rights groups, many western governments and the United Nations' rights body have expressed alarm over the law. China on Tuesday morning passed a controversial national security law aimed at tightening Beijings control over Hong Kong, a measure pro-democracy critics say will erode the civil liberties of Hong Kong residents. Beijings National Peoples Congress bypassed Hong Kongs legislature and passed the law unanimously. The law will reportedly go into effect immediately. China claims that the national security law is necessary to crack down on separatism, subversion, terrorism, and foreign intervention in Hong Kong. The measure would also allow Chinas state security agencies to operate in the territory, although details of the legislation have not been released. Critics and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have warned that the law, which comes after months of pro-democracy demonstrations among residents of the territory, will erase the one country, two systems arrangement between Hong Kong and Beijing and will subvert the freedoms currently enjoyed by Hong Kong residents, including the right to assembly, a free press, and a judiciary system independent of mainland China. President Xi Jinping signed the law, which will be entered in Hong Kongs mini-constitution and will enable China to crack down on protests. Hong Kongs leader, Carrie Lam, spoke in favor of the law, saying it fills a gaping hole in national security and promising that it would not harm Hong Kongs autonomy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress last month that the city of Hong Kong no longer maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, an appraisal that indicates the U.S. may end its special trading relationship with the financial hub. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier this month that the United Kingdom is ready to offer refuge and a path to citizenship to nearly three million Hong Kong citizens should China follow through on implementing the national security laws. Johnson said the laws violate the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the agreement the U.K. reached with China after Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Story continues However, HSBC, the large U.K.-based bank, has signaled its support for the law earlier this month, the chief executive for the global banks Asia-Pacific region signing a petition in favor of it. More from National Review The technology group Wartsila, with Knutsen OAS Shipping, Repsol and Sustainable Energy Catapult Centre, will commence the worlds first long term, full-scale, testing of ammonia as a fuel in a marine four-stroke combustion engine. The testing is made possible by a 20 MNOK grant from the Norwegian Research Council through the DEMO 2000 programme, a statement said. This is a great example that illustrates the importance of dedicated petroleum R&D. This DEMO 2000 project is another steppingstone for reaching our ambitious climate targets and it is also aligned with our recently published hydrogen strategy. We need to develop and use new technologies that reduce emissions. We are very happy to support development work that can lead to increased use of ammonia as a fuel in shipping and in the offshore sector. Know-how from this project will also provide important input to the development of regulations for the use of ammonia and other low-carbon fuels, says Tina Bru, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy. Ammonia is promising as a carbon-free fuel for marine applications, in view of the maritime industrys need to fulfil the International Maritime Organisations vision of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by at least 50 percent by 2050. Furthermore, ammonia has huge potential for providing green energy to remote power systems, such as offshore installations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Development work by Wartsila, as it prepares for the use of ammonia as a fuel, continues with this testing programme, which will be the world`s first full-scale four-stroke combustion engine test. The project will commence in the Sustainable Energy Catapult Centres testing facilities at Stord, Norway during the first quarter of 2021. We are really excited to further develop and understand the combustion properties of ammonia as a carbon free fuel in one of our multi-fuel engines, says Egil Hystad, General Manager, Market Innovation at Wartsila Marine Business. "Ammonia storage and supply systems will be designed and developed for maximum personal safety, and in parallel with the Fuel Gas Handling System under development as part of the EU project ShipFC. This project is coordinated by NCE Maritime CleanTech, and it involves an ammonia driven fuel cell which will be tested on the Eidesvik Offshore supply vessel, Viking Energy, Hystad continues. From testing to real operations Wartsila, as part of its development work on future fuels, has studied the use of ammonia as a future carbon-free fuel through the ZEEDS initiative. The companys first ammonia combustions tests were commenced in Vaasa, Finland, in winter 2020, and will continue with this long-term testing at the Sustainable Energy Catapult Centre facilities in Stord. We are extremely pleased to be part of this project that will prove for the industry the robustness of ammonia as fuel. The project confirms our test facilities and Norways leading position within the testing and development of solutions for the use of maritime carbon-free fuels, says Willie Wagen, CEO of Sustainable Energy Catapult Centre. The centre is part of the Norwegian Catapult programme that facilitates a national infrastructure for innovation. The programme is run by SIVA in close cooperation with Innovation Norway and the Norwegian Research Council and financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. The full-scale fuel testing programme can pave the way for ammonia engines to be used in real vessel operations within few years, and several shipowners have shown interest in this possibility. It will also provide important insights into the long-term effect of an ammonia fuelled engine in relation to other systems and components in a vessel, including the required safety measures. Close cooperation between the government and industry A future implementation of ammonia as a carbon free fuel, combined with clean energy production from offshore wind or other renewable energy sources can be the start of a new industrial era for the Norwegian industry, Egil Hystad points out. The Norwegian culture for collaboration and knowledge sharing across different companies and sectors, is a great support in closing big technology gaps. The assistance, cooperation and funding from governmental institutions are essential to drive the change towards a carbon free future, he continues.TradeArabia News Service Chrissy Teigen has issued an important reminder to women not to skip their smear test during coronavirus pandemic. (Getty Images) Chrissy Teigen has sent an important reminder to women to still attend their smear test appointments during the coronavirus pandemic. The star shared an image of her wearing a protective face mask and sheet while waiting to have her own smear test carried out. Dont forget to keep up with your paps and have your boobs touched even though the world is ending! she wrote in the accompanying caption. And fans were keen to thank the model and TV chef for the important reminder. So true! Regular screenings helped my mum find her cancer when it was treatable 20 years ago! one user wrote. Thanks for spreading such an important public health message! another agreed. The impact of this pandemic on cancer diagnosis and treatment is truly terrifying. Dont forget to see your doctors if you need to! Thank you for sending this message many women out there are oblivious to how important these appointments are, a third user commented. Read more: Smear test uptake to 'check for cervical cancer hits an all time low This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Charities have estimated that at least one million women may have had cervical screening appointments cancelled or delayed as a result of coronavirus lockdown. Cervical screening in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has largely paused, while in England cervical screening services have been affected in certain areas. Jo's Trust estimates that around 571,000 tests would normally have been carried out in England in April and May, 68,000 in Scotland and 28,500 in Wales. It does not have figures for Northern Ireland. But according to the charity cancelled or delayed appointments has left 39% of women feeling worried. Even as lockdown restrictions in England are beginning to ease, which has seen cervical screenings now start to be sent out again, it seems COVID-19 has had a knock-on impact on womens attitudes to the vital check. New research from Jos Cervical Cancer Trust has found that while 40% of women would feel relieved to be able to attend their smear test, around one in eight women (12%) say they feel less likely to attend than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Story continues Similar numbers (13%) think it is best to put off going for cervical screening at the moment. The charity says it has seen a growing level of anxiety and confusion among women calling its helpline. Read more: HPV vaccine could 'eliminate cervical cancer in young women' A survey of 851 women in the first week of June suggests 25% worry they will catch coronavirus, while 13% think it is best to put off going. A further third (36%) of women claim to be unsure of what to expect if they go to a GP practice for a cervical screening now. Something the charity is keen to rectify via the launch of their new FAQs which will address common questions such as Is it safe to attend? and Is the test the same still? The hope is to reassure women that, while visiting the GP might look a bit different, cervical screening itself remains the same. While it can be difficult if you are unable to get an appointment at the moment, providers of cervical screening services and the government are weighing up the risk of a delayed appointment against the risk of coronavirus, Robert Music, CEO of Jos Cervical Cancer Trust explains. The aim is to keep you, and health workers, as protected as possible. Many women saw their smear tests cancelled or postponed during lockdown. (Getty Images) Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and director of primary care for the NHS in England is also keen to reassure women about the measures in place to help protect women from COVID-19 while attending their screening. Where local providers decided to reschedule cervical screening appointments during the pandemic, plans are now in place to start offering appointments as soon as possible and services will have measures in place to protect people from coronavirus, she says. While cervical cancer takes a long time to develop, we would strongly encourage any patients who are worried to seek help from their GP if they have symptoms, and if you are invited to attend a screening appointment, please do. Read more: One in 10 women think the HPV virus is dirty Its an important reminder for anyone who has missed their smear test over the last few months to make sure they book one in as soon as possible. The most effective method of preventing cervical cancer is through regular cervical screening, which allows detection of any early changes to the cells of the cervix. These changes are fully treatable, but if undetected and untreated they can lead to cervical cancer in a some women. Cervical screening is a preventative measure thats thought to save around 5,000 lives a year in the UK. You can find out how to book a smear test on the NHS website. Alternatively, call your GP to arrange an appointment. If youre experiencing symptoms such as bleeding after sex, bleeding between periods, bleeding after menopause, or unusual vaginal discharge, you do not need to wait until youre due a routine smear. Call your GP right away to arrange an appointment. Alternatively you can find more information on the Jos Cervical Cancer Trust website. Michel Barnier has suggested London should lose its crown as the pre-eminant financial hub in Europe after Brexit. - Reuters British trade negotiators will fail in their efforts to insulate the City of London from the worst consequences of Brexit, Michel Barnier warned a meeting of finance chiefs on Tuesday. The EUs chief negotiator said that British demands in the ongoing trade talks in Brussels were unacceptable and that UK plans to ditch EU financial regulation risked another crisis that could hurt the bloc. UK proposals would make it easy to continue to run EU businesses from London after the end of the transition period on December 31, he said, and prevent the EU from freezing UK financial services out of the Single Market at short notice. "I will be blunt. Its proposals are unacceptable, he said as negotiations continued in the Belgian capital, The UK is trying to keep as many Single Market benefits as it can. London remains Europes pre-eminent financial hub but that status is coveted by Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, which hope to profit from Brexit. [The UK] would like to make it easy to continue to run EU businesses from London,with minimal operations and staff on the continent," Mr Barnier, said. It wants to ban residence requirements for senior managers and boards of directors, to ensure that all essential functions remain in London, he added. We are asking for arrangements just like those the EU agreed with Japan, a UK spokesman said, Japan is not in the single market. UK financial services lose their EU passport to the Single Market at the end of the year. Brussels insists that future access will be based on equivalence, a system of regulatory approval that can be withdrawn by the European Commission unilaterally and at as little as 30 days notice in some cases. British negotiators have called for a joint committee on equivalence decisions, which Mr Barnier said was attempting to turn unilateral decisions into co-managed ones. Story continues These are autonomous, unilateral tools. And, as such, they are not part of our current negotiations, Mr Barnier said. Last year, the commission froze Swiss stock exchanges out of the Single Market in a bid to force Bern back to the negotiating table over a new treaty governing their relationship. London and Bern said on Tuesday they would begin negotiating a bilateral financial services agreement. Mr Barnier was internal market commissioner during the financial crisis and was responsible for much of the post-crisis regulation that was introduced by Brussels after 2008. Mr Barnier told the Eurofi think tank that the UK planned to ditch EU financial services regulations after Brexit. "Let us have no illusions: The UK will progressively start diverging from the EU framework. This is even one of the main purposes of Brexit," he said. He said, The size of the UK financial market and the very close links between the EU and UK financial systems mean we need to be extra careful. We need to capture all potential risks: for financial stability, market integrity, investor and consumer protection, and the level playing field. EU and UK negotiators will continue discussion until the end of the week before another round of talks is held in London next week. In London, it emerged that UK companies exporting into the EU will have to wait for permission from tax authorities before moving their goods. Lorries will only be able to move loads into the EU if they have a valid reference from the so-called Goods Vehicle Movement Service, a new and untested IT platform, under plans being drawn up by the government. British exporters will be the biggest losers from this, said Naomi Smith, chief executive officer of Best for Britain, a pro-EU campaigning group. Additional bureaucracy threatens to clog up our trade arteries. Statement Pursuant to Section 19(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 DENVER, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 30, 2020, the Clough Global Opportunities Fund (NYSE MKT: GLO) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund, paid a monthly distribution on its common stock of $0.0897 per share to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 19, 2020. Clough Capital Partners Logo (PRNewsfoto/Clough Capital Partners) The following table sets forth the estimated amount of the sources of distribution for purposes of Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the related rules adopted thereunder. The Fund estimates the following percentages, of the total distribution amount per share, attributable to (i) current and prior fiscal year net investment income, (ii) net realized short-term capital gain, (iii) net realized long-term capital gain and (iv) return of capital or other capital source as a percentage of the total distribution amount. These percentages are disclosed for the current distribution as well as the fiscal year-to-date cumulative distribution amount per share for the Fund. Current Distribution from: Per Share ($) % Net Investment Income 0.0000 0.00% Net Realized Short-Term Capital Gain 0.0000 0.00% Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gain 0.0000 0.00% Return of Capital or other Capital Source 0.0897 100.00% Total (per common share) 0.0897 100.00% Fiscal Year-to-Date Cumulative Distributions from: Per Share ($) % Net Investment Income 0.0061 0.86% Net Realized Short-Term Capital Gain 0.2208 31.00% Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gain 0.0083 1.16% Return of Capital or other Capital Source 0.4771 66.98% Total (per common share) 0.7123 100.00% The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this 19(a) Notice are only estimates and not for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with 'yield' or 'income.' Story continues Presented below are return figures, based on the change in the Fund's Net Asset Value per share ("NAV"), compared to the annualized distribution rate for this current distribution as a percentage of the NAV on the last business day of the month prior to distribution record date. Fund Performance & Distribution Information Fiscal Year to Date (11/01/2019 through 5/31/2020) Annualized Distribution Rate as a Percentage of NAV^ 11.17% Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV^+ 7.39% Cumulative Total Return on NAV* -1.91% Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 5/31/2020** 3.60% Past performance is not indicative of future results. ^ Based on the Fund's NAV as of May 31, 2020. +Cumulative distribution rate is based on distributions paid to date for the period November 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. *Cumulative fiscal year-to-date return is based on the change in NAV including distributions paid and assuming reinvestment of these distributions for the period November 1, 2019 through May 31, 2020. **The 5 year average annual total return is based on change in NAV including distributions paid and assuming reinvestment of these distributions and is through the last business day of the month prior to the month of the current distribution record date. While the NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market. Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's Managed Distribution Plan. Furthermore, the Board of Trustees reviews the amount of any potential distribution and the income, capital gain or capital available. The Board of Trustees will continue to monitor the Fund's distribution level, taking into consideration the Fund's net asset value and the financial market environment. The Fund's distribution policy is subject to modification by the Board of Trustees at any time. The distribution rate should not be considered the dividend yield or total return on an investment in the Fund. ALPS Portfolio Solutions Distributor, Inc. FINRA Member Firm. Clough Global Opportunities Fund (NYSE MKT: GLO) 1290 Broadway Suite 1000 Denver, Colorado 80203 1.877.256.8445 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clough-global-opportunities-fund-section-19a-notice-301083925.html SOURCE Clough Global Opportunities Fund Officers from the Aurora, Colorado, police department have been placed on paid leave after allegations that "multiple" police officers were depicted in photos near the site where Elijah McClain died, the interim police chief said Monday night. McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, died last year after he was put in a chokehold by police. His death has sparked protests, and on Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis appointed a special prosecutor to investigate his death. Aurora police interim chief Vanessa Wilson did not detail the photographs or indicate when they were taken. Wilson said in a statement that she was apprised of the allegations reported to internal affairs Thursday afternoon. "I immediately ordered Internal Affairs to make this investigation their top priority," Wilson said in the statement. "This accelerated investigation was completed this evening." Wilson said that the investigation, including reports and photographic evidence, "will be publicly released in its entirety promptly upon its conclusion." Aurora police did not immediately respond to a request for more details about what the photos entail or say how many officers were disciplined. "All involved officers were immediately placed on administrative leave with pay in non-enforcement capacities," Wilson said in the statement. McClain was stopped by police Aug. 24 after someone called to report a suspicious person. Officers applied a chokehold during the confrontation, authorities have said. McClain went into cardiac arrest and was later taken off life support. The three officers involved in the McClain case have been moved to "non-enforcement" duties. The caller who reported a suspicious person said that someone wearing a mask was walking on Billings Street and looks "sketchy," but makes no mention of any crime, according to audio of the call. Image: People protest the death of Elijah McClain (KEVIN MOHATT / Reuters) McClain often wore a ski mask when he felt cold, his family has said. He had bought iced tea at a convenience store and told officers during the encounter that he was an introvert and on his way home, video shows. Story continues Police said in a statement at the time that "the male would not stop walking down the street from the officer" and "resisted contact, a struggle ensued, and he was taken into custody." In video, McClain could be heard telling police "I can't breathe correctly." He suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital after paramedics administered a sedative to calm him. He was later declared brain dead and taken off life support less than a week later. The coroner for Adams and Broomfield counties found that McClain's death was due to "undetermined causes." The coroner did not rule out whether the police chokehold, in addition to the sedative, might have contributed to his death. President Richard M. Nixon told the nation he would resign in August 1974, after a visit from a delegation of Republicans. (Associated Press) As the Trump campaign flounders under the accumulated weight of the pandemic, the economic crisis, the mass protests, and a Twitter account plugged straight into the presidents limbic system, I wonder: What if the parties mattered? Im a subscriber to a counterintuitive school of thought popular among some political scientists. Their belief is that partisanship is so strong today because our parties are so weak. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have become incapable of defining and protecting their long-term interests on a time horizon longer than the news cycle. Prior to the reforms of the early 1970s, our democratic system depended in large part on the internally undemocratic nature of the parties. Under the pre-1972 system, independent socialist Bernie Sanders would never have been allowed to run for president as a Democrat and Donald Trump would never have gotten within a hundred miles of the Republican nomination. Because we live in such an unthinkingly populist time, in which even the president can whine that the system is rigged without irony or fear of correction, its difficult for many people to grasp how totally democratized the parties have become. Consider two examples. In 1968, then-President Lyndon Johnson beat Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire primary, but by such a small margin a mere 7 points! that Johnson dropped out of the race. Yes, he wanted to avoid humiliation, but he also believed it was the best way to help his party and his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, the candidate Johnson preferred over McCarthy. McCarthy received 39% of the popular vote in the primaries. Humphrey? Just 2%. Humphrey got the nomination because the party mattered. On Aug. 7, 1974, a contingent of Republicans visited President Nixon to explain that, for the good of the party and the country, he should resign. He announced his resignation 24 hours later. Fast forward to today. Right now, things look very bad for Trump. His coalition which pulled an inside straight in the electoral college but lost the popular vote has shrunk. In 2016, he won the suburbs by 4 points. In the current race, hes losing them by 25 points, according to the latest NBC/Marist poll. His hold on white voters and older voters is eroding, too, though not as dramatically. Story continues Of course, he can turn it around. As poll mavens like to say, the polls are just a snapshot. But the funny thing about that snapshot cliche is that people use it almost exclusively to make the point that things can get better. True enough. But they can also get worse. There are plenty of snapshots of the Titanic leaving port in Southampton. Assume things do get worse for Trump. Maybe the pandemic will run rampant in red states, leaving Trump with the no-win choice of admitting failure or sticking with his wish-it-away strategy, as many core voters literally die off before they even get the chance to prove their patriotism by voting maskless and in person. The economy could tank again. He might even tweet a video of a supporter shouting, White power! whoops, bad example. Over the weekend, former Trump advisor Sam Nunberg told Politico that if Trumps standing eroded much further, hed be facing a landslide electoral college loss and would need to strongly reconsider whether he wants to continue to run as the Republican presidential nominee. Nunbergs right. But notice what he doesnt say: that at some point the Republican Party would need to strongly consider throwing him overboard. In a sense it would be a silly thing to say, of course. Because no one thinks of the GOP as an institution capable of such a move. Also, no one but the most Kool-Aid-besotted loyalists think Trump is capable of putting the interests of the party or nation above his own. If Trump were a somewhat normal president under similar circumstances, it would be easy to see Republican candidates breaking with the White House. But partisanship today doesnt mean mere excessive loyalty to a party and its program. It generally implies a kind of secular faith. And on the right in particular it resembles a Trumpian cult of personality. Undemocratically defenestrating Trump for the good of the party would be like the Vatican firing the pope for the good of the church. The Manichean logic of Trumps campaign message is that the Democrats are so terrible and evil that patriotic Americans must vote Republican regardless of their qualms about the GOP candidate. A Republican Party that believed this was true but also cared about its long-term viability would recognize that this argument would work just as well for a Pence 2020 candidacy. But for a Republican Party that is merely a pliant vessel for the loudest bloc of its customer base at any given moment, such thinking is unthinkable. @JonahDispatch Boris Johnson: 'Of course we face a real, real crisis and we have to deal with it'. Photo: Paul Ellis/WPA Pool/Getty Images UK prime minister Boris Johnson has admitted the UK faces a worse economic crash than the financial crisis of 2008 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. We all knew, when we went into lockdown, that there would be huge economic cost, Johnson said on Tuesday. The prime minister said the 2008 crisis, which saw the economy shrink by 6%, was actually not as bad as the current situation. Of course we face a real, real crisis and we have to deal with it, he said. But were going to deal with it in the most energetic way possible. New figures from the Treasury show that 9.3 million people are now on furlough, almost a third of the UKs total workforce. Fears are growing that many will lose their jobs when the scheme ends in October. READ MORE: Furlough number hits 9.3 million days before cut off Speaking on Tuesday, Johnson refused to say whether the governments job retention scheme will be extended but hinted that chancellor Rishi Sunak would announce more measures on jobs next week. The prime minister would not be drawn on the possibility of regional support for areas like Leicester, which has been forced to extend its lockdown in response to a local outbreak of COVID-19. Boris Johnson visits the Speller Metcalfe's construction site for the The Dudley Institute of Technology after warning the UK faces a worse economic crash than the financial crisis of 2008. Photo: Jeremy Selwyn/WPA Pool/Getty Images It came as the prime minister delivered a speech in Dudley on Tuesday setting out plans to jump-start the UKs ailing economy. Johnson pledged to build, build, build with 5bn ($6.1bn) of spending on infrastructure projects brought forward. We will not be responding to this crisis with what some people call austerity, he said. The world has moved on since 2008. Flagship measures include 1bn to build new schools and 1.5bn to repair hospitals. Johnson announced a new taskforce, dubbed Project Speed, that will scythe through red tape and get things done. He also promised the most radical reforms of our planning system since the Second World War to encourage housebuilding. Other commitments include a new National Science Funding Agency that will back high risk, high reward projects. Story continues READ MORE: UK government promises 5bn 'New Deal' to kickstart recovery I fully accept that there are going to be economic aftershocks but there are also big opportunities to take this country forward, Johnson said. We need pace and this is the moment to inject that pace into the ambitions of the government. The spending pledges came hours after official data showed the UK economy suffered its steepest decline in output in 40 years. GDP shrank by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2020, before the full effects of lockdown were even felt. We must work fast, Johnson said. Weve already seen the vertiginous drop in GDP and we know that people are worried now, about their jobs and their businesses. Were waiting, as if between the flash of lighting and the thunderclap, with our hearts in our mouths, for the full economic reverberations to appear. We must use this moment now, this interval, to plan our response. Boris Johnson's spending pledges came hours after official data showed the UK economy suffered its steepest decline in output in 40 years. Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images Business groups welcomed the governments plans and urged it to act quickly. The key now is to ensure that these projects get off the ground as a matter of urgency so that the benefits flow down through supply chains, safeguarding and creating as many jobs as possible across all UK regions, said Stephen Phipson, chief executive of manufacturers group Make UK. READ MORE: UK economy suffered biggest fall since 1979 as pandemic struck Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chamber of Commerce, said: The infrastructure delivery plans announced by the prime minister are welcome, but they must take shape on the ground swiftly to give a real confidence boost to businesses and communities. The government must go even further over the coming days to rekindle business and consumer confidence, as part of a wider roadmap to economic recovery. This is a critical moment, and business communities need this government to be bolder than any previous government has ever been. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who was appointed by President Donald Trump and is on the Coronavirus Task Force, says he's focusing on racial disparities in health. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images Surgeon General Jerome Adams says "structural racism" and social determinants of health, including poverty, are to blame for why the novel coronavirus has caused more hospitalizations and deaths among communities of color. Communities of color already had worse health outcomes than white people before the pandemic, but the coronavirus brought renewed attention to the disparities. The surgeon general plans to roll out two calls to action in the coming months, one on high blood pressure and the other on maternal mortality. Adams told Business Insider that healthcare providers needed to partner with community groups so people could turn to someone they trusted. For more stories like this, sign up here for our healthcare newsletter Dispensed. Surgeon General Jerome Adams says that "structural racism" has played a role in why communities of color have been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with Business Insider on Friday, Adams reflected on federal data released last week that found Black seniors were nearly four times as likely as white seniors to be hospitalized because of the coronavirus pandemic and that Latino seniors were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized. He said some of the outbreaks among communities of color could be attributed to what are known as "social determinants of health" including that they were more likely to have lower incomes and live in households where grandparents, parents, and children all lived together. They were also more likely to have jobs where they couldn't work from home, making it more likely that they'd be exposed to the coronavirus. "But there are also factors that we don't measure, and those include things like structural racism," Adams said. "We have to acknowledge that these things are occurring and that they are occurring to people in many cases because of the color of their skin." Before the pandemic, it was already well known that Black and Latino people in the US were more likely to have health conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease. There's been renewed national attention to these health inequities as data shows these communities have been harder hit by the coronavirus. Story continues Adams plans to draw national attention to health issues Congressional Democrats had criticized the lack of data on race in the Trump administration's reporting on coronavirus cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced June 4 that states must start collecting data about race, ethnicity, gender, and ZIP code for coronavirus cases, and the agency's website now displays the data. The CDC's data shows the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on communities of color. More than half of cases have been reported in Black or Latino Americans. In response to health disparities in America, Adams is readying two calls to action in the coming months on hypertension and maternal mortality both issues that disproportionately affect communities of color. A "call to action" from a surgeon general involves publishing and publicizing a document that's supposed to encourage businesses, local governments, healthcare providers, and private citizens to take action on an urgent public-health problem. The last call to action urged people to walk at least 20 minutes a day and came from Dr. Vivek Murthy, who was surgeon general under President Barack Obama. Vivek Murthy, then the surgeon general, with then-President Barack Obama. Reuters/Gary Cameron The hypertension and maternal-mortality calls to action have been in the works for a while, even before the pandemic, but have renewed relevancy, the surgeon general's office said. Adams said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar asked him to move up the call to action on hypertension, given that it's one of the top health issues that puts people at higher risk for hospitalization and deaths from the coronavirus. "We really need to focus on making sure we're paying attention to these disparities, because they're only going to widen after COVID if we don't focus on them," he said, using the shortened name for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, leads to heart disease, strokes, heart attacks, and kidney disease, and affects 40% of Black Americans. Adams said he was concerned about how women had to put off prenatal checkups during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic, data showed Black women were more than three times as likely to die during or after childbirth than white women were. Read more: How the coronavirus will permanently reshape the healthcare industry, according to 26 top industry leaders. Adams stressed the importance of community partnerships As the nation's top doctor, Adams is responsible for getting the word out about how people can improve their health. He also oversees 6,000 public-health service members who work throughout the government. Last week, he called up the celebrity chef Jose Andres, who he said had a "unique megaphone within the Latinx community." The chef Jose Andres. AP Images He said they spoke about how to encourage people to wear masks and about how to protect restaurant workers, such as the people in Andres' kitchens. "We talked about the fact that many of his frontline workers in restaurants are at particularly high risk and the measures that he's taking to protect them, because we know that we can face things from a scientific point of view and from a governmental point of view," he said. "But in some cases we just aren't going to have that trust with certain communities who were at risk, and so we need to find intermediaries." Adams has talked openly about being a Black man in America. Last week he told Politico's "Pulse Check" podcast that he felt George Floyd's death at the hands of the police "could have been me." At a White House press briefing in April, he said growing up as a poor Black child in America predisposed him to having asthma and high blood pressure. The surgeon general's plans to take on hypertension and maternal health His office plans to recommend home blood-pressure monitoring and will stress to patients why it's important to stay on top of their hypertension medications. On maternal mortality, Adams says he will recommend hospitals work with community groups so women have someone they trust to turn to "so that a Black woman doesn't have to go in and feel that her only option to talk about some of her concerns is with an older white man who she can't relate to and who may know nothing about her community." "Black women don't feel welcomed into the healthcare settings that are often available," Adams continued. "They feel stigmatized, they feel not heard, they feel disregarded." Read more: We combed through the political donations of 75 healthcare companies. They reveal execs are making a surprising choice in how they give their cash. Adams, who used to run Indiana's health department when Vice President Mike Pence was governor of the state, said he believed his attention to racial disparities in his role would make a difference in people's lives. "I'm a Christian, and I believe God doesn't put you where you're going to be comfy and where it's going to be easy," he said. "God puts you where you're needed. And so I just continue to have faith in the fact that I am where I'm needed. I really do feel like I am making a difference, particularly in terms of outreach to minority populations and communities, and also to public-health departments." Read the original article on Business Insider RALEIGH, North Carolina, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the fleet management industry, resulting in a sharp reduction in vehicle sales across the world. Car manufacturers are exploring contactless delivery through online booking channels. Beroe_Logo As manufacturers return to production, global automotive sales forecast is revised to 20 percent reduction from the previous forecast of 22 percent, with sales of approximately 72 million units, according to Beroe Inc, a procurement intelligence firm. The impact of COVID-19 is high on car manufacturers and alternate mobility, and medium on leasing companies. Car manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe are returning to production with limited capacities and adequate health safety measures. There has been a slow resumption of fleet activities across the globe, majorly by the essential service operators. It is almost certain that the demand for fleet vehicles has reduced worldwide. OEMs are expected to offer high discounts, as the residual value is likely to reduce. Lease prices are expected to go up as residual values and profitability reduce. https://www.beroeinc.com/category-intelligence Beroe, which is based in North Carolina, further stated that procurement experts can access this report on market intelligence platform Beroe LiVE: live.beroeinc.com Demands from organizations have reduced as there is limited business activity. The economic impact of the pandemic is visible with organizations preparing strategic cost saving plans. Organizations with vehicle assets are considering sale and lease back options to improve cash flow. The B2C segment is affected the most now, some of the organizations are inking fresh deals as they are able to obtain good deals. If the pandemic continues, leasing companies are expected to face payment default risk from SMEs and private lease portfolios. The residual value of vehicles are expected to go down in the coming months as car manufacturers are expected to offer high discounts. Economic challenges are visible, which can stand as a hindrance to demand for fleet vehicles. Organizations are expected to extend their buying cycles by holding on to their assets for a longer period of time while leasing companies are expected to support this by offering contract extensions. OEMs are accepting new orders while production orders are being evaluated for delivery (units, timeline) adjustments. Story continues Key Findings: As new leasing activities are slowly resuming, there will be extended lead times, and leasing companies are also offering contract extensions to retain customers. Profitability is expected to reduce, and this in turn, will have an impact on lease prices in the future. Organizations can swap high mileage cars with low mileage cars, which can help them to extend the buying cycle. Carpooling and ride sharing programs to be minimized for the next few months. Once the pandemic is over, organizations can take measures to improve the total cost of mobility by adopting ride sharing, carpooling, mobility budgets and other alternate mobility models to reduce the overall fleet budget It is an opportune time for fleet owners/operators to begin or continue the direct negotiations with OEMs. Purchase agreements can be inked only in regions where production has resumed with pricing/rebates and availability of new models varying by region. Alternate mobility services like ride hailing, carpooling are suspended. Ride hailing companies are operating only to cater to essential services. A decrease in adoption of shared mobility is expected for a short term. Organizations to have a close watch on the TCO of the vehicles and utilization rates. Essential service providers and cash rich companies are preparing plans to benefit from the current market situation The research methodology adopted for the report included: Experts with twenty years of domain experience Interaction with buyers Inputs from supply chain partners Similar to the 2008 global financial crisis, the fleet industry is at the beginning of a cycle, which can extend for a few years. Discounts can be expected in the form of penalties for delivery delays in the 2020 program year and normalizing price increases for the 2021 program year. Higher discounts can be expected for large fleet orders, and discounts can go as high as 20 percent for direct fleet purchases. Delayed payments from the two critical segments SMEs and B2C can have significant financial burden on the leasing companies. The report also includes: Market Analysis: Fleet Management Vehicle Sales Major Risk Factors Industry Risk Drivers Risk Probability Impact Analysis: Fleet Management Industry Car Manufacturers Leasing Companies Alternate Mobility Market Outlook: Short-Term Impact Long-Term Impact Measures Taken By Companies Supplier Outlook About Beroe Inc.: Beroe is the world's leading provider of procurement intelligence and supplier compliance solutions. We provide critical market information and analysis that enables companies to make smart sourcing decisionsleading to lower costs, greater profits and reduced risk. Beroe has been providing these services for more than 13 years and currently works with more than 10,000 companies worldwide, including 400 of the Fortune 500 companies. To learn more about Beroe Inc., please visit: http://www.beroeinc.com Media Contact: Debobrata Hembram debobrata.hembram@beroe-inc.com Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/coronavirus-impact-on-fleet-management-beroe-analysis-301085637.html SOURCE Beroe Inc. Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), a graduate-level, research-based artificial intelligence (AI) university in the UAE, said it has signed a MoU with Virgin Hyperloop, the California-based category leader in hyperloop development, to initiate a collaborative approach to research and innovation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and accelerate transport innovation. In a virtual ceremony, the MoU was signed by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at MBZUAI, and Sultan Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World and Chairman of Virgin Hyperloop, in the presence of Virgin Hyperloop Managing Director (Middle East and India) Harj Dhaliwal and other senior faculty members at the university. As per the deal, MBZUAI and Hyperloop will engage the best AI minds of both teams to pursue three core objectives: joint fundamental research in several key AI domains, such as computer vision; massively parallel cloud computing initiatives, and a range of solution-oriented commercial projects in the smart transportation industry. Transporting passengers and goods at speeds exceeding 1,000km/h, hyperloop is a completely new form of transport with the ambition to become the most sustainable means of mass transportation of the 21st century. The potential of AI, which is fundamental to Virgin Hyperloops future operations in the Middle East, will form the core basis to explore knowledge exchange opportunities between MBZUAI and Virgin Hyperloop. On the strategic deal, Dr Al Jaber said: "This partnership exemplifies the immense capacity of AI to reshape the world around us by breaking boundaries. Virgin Hyperloop will change the way we move around the world. MBZUAI will help enable this by providing access to some of the worlds most talented AI professionals, as well as superior research facilities, which can contribute to realizing Virgin Hyperloops vision. Bin Sulayem said: Our region has great potential to emerge as a global powerhouse from the current economic situation. The transportation and technology sector and that includes advancements in AI in particular will define our regional capabilities in the long-term. Supported by AI, we are ultimately offering time with this disruptive, completely new, and sustainable technology that will help us to create an on-demand economy. Wzseek to revolutionize regional transport and trade sectors through a passenger and cargo hyperloop-enabled system, powered by AI." "We can transport people and high-priority goods at the speed of an airliner, moving them between economic zones, cities and emirates. The UAEs education sector, through partnerships such as our new collaboration with MBZUAI, will have a meaningful role in enabling and driving this very exciting and growing industry, he added. Two-fifths of employees said the coronavirus had not impacted their confidence in their career prospects, according to a study. Photo: Getty Over 70% of UK workers are currently reassessing their career options despite high levels of job insecurity and rising unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic, a study has found. Almost a quarter (24%) of employees are actively searching for a new role, according to the latest research by international recruitment consultancy Robert Half UK. This is despite the latest employment update from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing that job vacancies fell to a record low in April suggesting that the jobs market is likely to become increasingly competitive as a result of rising levels of unemployment in the short term Two-fifths (42%) of employees said the coronavirus had not impacted their confidence in their career prospects. A further 14% said they felt more positive about their career prospects now compared with before the pandemic, suggesting confidence in the UKs economic recovery and optimism brought on by the easing of lockdown restrictions. The coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on workers priorities and views on the workplace and the way they work as 28% said they are assessing their work-life balance and considering alternative options. READ MORE: Furlough number hits 9.3 million days before cut off Over half of respondents said they were contemplating a new career path with only 28% saying they are happy in their current role. Across Europe and the UAE, workers sentiment mirrors that of UK employees 66% feel their longer-term career prospects are unaffected by COVID-19, although 53% are worried about losing their current job as a result of the pandemic in the short term. Over half (57%) think working from home offers a better work-life balance and 80% would like to continue working from home post-coronavirus as avoiding a daily commute saves time and money. The term unprecedented times has been used a lot over the last few months to describe the COVID-19 pandemic, said Matt Weston, managing director of Robert Half UK. Story continues The implications of these unprecedented times for business owners and employees alike, however, are not only being felt now but will likely influence working practices and recruitment planning well into the future, given the strength of worker sentiment were seeing expressed here. READ MORE: UK business confidence still near record low Whilst no-one knows precisely what the post-pandemic future will bring, the silver lining is that we're all discovering new ways of working together. With many businesses re-opening their offices and beginning to navigate a path back to normality or, at least, the next new normal, post-pandemic the need for companies to evolve their flexible working policies and practices; (re)assess employees core skills, competencies and behaviours in response to evolving business priorities; and foster a supportive and inclusive workplace culture in order to retain and attract the best talent has arguably never been more urgent. Guests at the 'Capturing The Rainbow' exhibition launch at M&C Saatchi in London, England, on 26 June 2019. Photo: Joe Maher/Getty Images Advertising agency M&C Saatchi (SAA.L) revealed that it has secured major assignments from a number of governments across the world, helping it weather the impact from the coronavirus pandemic. The group, worth 56.5m ($69.3m) in market capitalisation, said in a trading update on Tuesday, even during the lockdown period, we have continued to engage with clients and have successfully secured a number of new client assignments including the UK government, Australia government, Iceland Tourism and others. Our companies have shown considerable agility in adapting their business and client servicing to the unprecedented pressures of recent months. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), ad spends are down 9% on average across Europe, with Germany and France falling by 7% and 12% respectively, as companies slash marketing budgets to weather the storm. READ MORE: How diversity and inclusion during COVID-19 has flipped a key element of advertising M&C Saatchi said results in the first two months of 2020 was in line with the board's expectations and since that date, although COVID-19 has affected the business worldwide, results from April and May were not quite as severe as we had first expected. In addition, the early actions we have taken to reduce costs and access government support programmes across the world have protected the group from the most severe effects of the crisis to date. However, it is still too early for us to predict with any certainty the likely impact of the economic slowdown on full year 2020 results. It added that the group has a solid balance sheet and as at 23 June had total cash of 52m and is also seeking additional funding it calls headroom through the UK government's Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) for the period to 31 July 2021. READ MORE: Coronavirus: UK economy shrank more than thought at start of 2020 We anticipate a favourable outcome from these discussions which we expect will be agreed in July. The additional headroom from the CLBILS facility is not expected to be drawn under anticipated trading scenarios, but the board believes it to be prudent at this stage to secure the extra headroom, it said. Story continues The advertising industry is likely to be hit further in 2020. It is a common rule of thumb in the advertising industry that ad spend tracks any rise or fall in GDP. On Tuesday, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that UK GDP contracted by 2.2% between January and the end of March 2020. This is the worst slump for the UK economy since 2008 before the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic had even hit. The UK is forecast to experience the most severe downturn out of any developed economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. EY Item Club, a highly regarded City forecaster, expects the UK economy will not fully recover from the impact until 2023. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the UK economy is likely to shrink by 10.2% this year. The swine flu epidemic of 2009 was the second time in history humans have been the victim of the H1N1 virus, the first being the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 - Karl Tapales/Getty Images Contributor New swine flu 'has pandemic potential' Researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic, according to a study published in the US science journal PNAS. Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009. It possesses "all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans," say the authors, scientists at Chinese universities and China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2011 to 2018, researchers took 30,000 nasal swabs from pigs in slaughterhouses in 10 Chinese provinces and in a veterinary hospital, allowing them to isolate 179 swine flu viruses. The authors called for urgent measures to monitor people working with pigs. Read more: Chinese scientists discover a new swine flu capable of triggering a pandemic Experts fear the virus could jump from pigs to humans - AP 300 new cases of rare Covid-linked syndrome Nearly 300 cases of a rare, life-threatening syndrome in children and adolescents associated with the novel coronavirus have been identified in the United States in two studies in The New England Journal of Medicine. The US studies published on Monday follow several reports of the syndrome among Covid-19 patients in Britain France, Italy and Spain. Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), shares symptoms with toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, including fever, rashes, swollen glands and, in severe cases, heart inflammation. A consistent picture is emerging of the syndrome occurring two to four weeks after infection by the coronavirus, Michael Levin, professor of pediatrics and international child health at Imperial College London, said in an accompanying editorial. The syndrome affects 2 in 100,000 young people, defined as under age 21, out of 322 in 100,000 in that group who get Covid-19, he wrote. Story continues Read more: Rare syndrome affecting young people weeks after Covid-19 infection, study finds Four out of five cases needed intensive care and one out of five required mechanical ventilation - EPA Baby boom in Philippines More than 214,000 extra babies could be born in the Philippines next year as strict coronavirus lockdowns have left hundreds of thousands unable to access family planning services. It is thought that around 10 per cent of the unplanned pregnancies will be among teenagers aged 15-19, according to the country's Commission on Population and Development (Popcom). The spike in births - expected to be the highest in two decades - has been caused by restrictions on movement preventing access to clinics, and the lack of availability of contraceptives, like condoms, in the wake of the pandemic. Nearly 3.6m women aged between 15 and 49 years old have had an unmet need for family planning in the outbreak, Popcom said, almost a fifth more than usual. Read more: Families in Philippines unable to access contraception The Philippines has had one of the world's longest and strictest coronavirus lockdowns - REUTERS Tracing app finds no contacts The Australian government has admitted its Covid-19 contact tracing app has not identified a single contact not already known as the country recorded its highest number of daily new cases since April. The surge was largely in the state of Victoria where 75 new cases were recorded in 24 hours, making up the vast majority of the 85 new infections recorded across the entire country. The state's health minister Jenny Mikakos said the latest cases were overwhelmingly concentrated in ten suburbs of the states capital, Melbourne, which had been identified as community transmission hotspots. The rise marked the 13th consecutive day of double-digit increases in the number of coronavirus cases in the state, whose tally since the pandemic began now stands at 2,099. Read more: Surge of cases in Australia as government admits app failures Australia's Covid-19 app has had issues around functionality since its launch earlier this year - EPA China approves vaccine for military China's military has approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by its own research staff and a Chinese biotech firm, it was announced on Monday. The vaccine was given the green light for use by troops after trials proved it was both safe and effective, said CanSino Biologics, the biotech firm involved. However, its use for the time being will be restricted to military personnel, who offer a tighter medical control group than the general public. The vaccine candidate, named Ad5-nCoV, was developed jointly by CanSino and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology in the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. It has been in development since March. Read more: Chinese vaccine to be used by military Measured reopening in Thailand Thailand's celebrated nightlife will restart this week - with some restrictions. The kingdom's tourism-reliant economy has suffered badly and the move forms part of a much needed return to normality. Business travellers and "medical tourists" will also soon be allowed to visit. So far Thailand has had just 3,169 cases with 58 deaths from Covid-19, perhaps due to the country being the first outside China to register a case, in mid-January. Antibodies from SARS could help treatment A drug derived from the antibodies of patients who recovered from the SARS coronavirus is one of a new type of treatments being developed to help people with Covid-19. The monoclonal antibodies are the first treatments specifically designed for coronavirus and can be given at an early stage of the disease. Two US pharmaceutical firms, Eli Lilly and Regeneron, launched safety studies of the antibodies earlier this month, with trials expected in the autumn. Air-flow filters can make masks less effective Masks with air-flow filters do not work as well as plain cloth masks, experts in the US have warned, as the coin-sized valves can allow droplets to escape. Masks with filters were designed mainly for use on construction sites, to stop dust being inhaled and to let air out easily to keep the wearer cool. The San Francisco Department of Public Health said a valve "allows droplets to be released from the mask, putting others nearby at risk". What you might have missed When Rae Garringer was growing up on a farm in southeastern West Virginia in the 1980s and the 1990s, LGBTQ people both real or fictional were nowhere to be found. I grew up without TV, and it was mostly pre-internet, so I just didnt know any queer people, Garringer, 35, told NBC News. I never met queer people my age, and I wasnt seeing queer representation in the place that I existed; I just think I didnt even realize that it was kind of an option. It wasnt until Garringer, who uses nonbinary they/them pronouns, moved away to Massachusetts for college in 2003 that they met other LGBTQ people and embraced their sexual orientation and gender identity. After living away for several years, first at university and then in liberal Austin, Texas, Garringer questioned whether they could live openly and find a queer community of friends back home. Then in 2011, after eight years away, Garringer headed back to the farm for a job opportunity and to be closer to family. Rae Garringer, the creator of Country Queers, an oral history project that will become a podcast. (Theresa Smith-Garringer ) Garringer, who now lives in neighboring Kentucky, said their move back to West Virginia was healing and filled with joy. But while queerness was not as hidden as it had been, it was still far from easily visible. I was just really frustrated that it was so hard to find rural queer stories and histories, and it was also very hard to find each other in small-town spaces, Garringer said. So in 2013, feeling a need to find a sense of community, Garringer had an idea. They saved $200 to buy a tape recorder and set out to document the diverse experiences of LGBTQ individuals living in rural towns across the United States. Those interviews turned into Country Queers, a multimedia, oral-history project. The stories collected by Garringer over the years have been shared on the Country Queers website and Instagram page, and starting June 30, the new Country Queers podcast will debut on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher. The monotony and fabulosity of rural life Story continues For the past seven years, Garringer has interviewed 65 people from 15 states from Arizona all the way to Vermont and has collaborated with queer organizations including the Two Spirit National Cultural Exchange, the Kansas Queer Youth Network and the International Gay Rodeo Association. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign, Garringer was able to buy a camera and take a long road trip to six states in the summer of 2014, driving a total of 7,000 miles to interview 30 people in 30 days. In a piece Garringer wrote for Scalawag, a Southern storytelling website, they said their aim is to share stories that portray the full contradictory glory that is human life. I believe in the power of those of us living an experience daily sharing stories of the messy complicated joy, pain, monotony and fabulosity of rural and small town queer life, Garringer wrote. Robyn Thirkill at home in Prospect, Va., in September 2016 on land that's been in her family for four generations. (Rae Garringer) Early on in the project, it was clear to Garringer that rural queer experiences are not monolithic, which is why Country Queers first as an oral history project and now as a podcast aims to document rural, queer people of different races, ages, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds and occupations. Garringer serves as the "Country Queers podcasts host, producer and lead editor. They have one additional person helping with production and a group of editorial advisers including journalists, professors and activists. The podcasts first season, which starts Tuesday, is slated to have nine episodes, each featuring a different individuals oral history interview. Sam Gleaves at his home in Berea, Ky., in July 2016. (Rae Garringer) Its not going to be a highly narrated podcast with a lot of interjections from me, Garringer said. Its just mostly going to be excerpts from someone sharing some of their life story. Since its inception, Country Queers has been powered by crowdfunding, grant money and volunteers who have helped Garringer transcribe the interviews. grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women in June 2019 helped fund a Country Queers traveling gallery exhibit. Some of that grant money, as well as a January 2020 Kickstarter campaign, enabled Garringer to quit their job to focus on producing the Country Queers podcast. Coming out as Two Spirit Episode 1 of the Country Queers podcast, which airs July 7, features Crisosto Apache, 49, a Two Spirit advocate, writer and English professor currently living in Colorado. Apache grew up on the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico in a community of no more than 6,000 people, they said. Apache, who uses they/them pronouns, was the first one in their family to go to college and get an advanced degree. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Two Spirit is an umbrella term used by North American indigenous communities to describe a person whose body simultaneously houses a masculine spirit and a feminine spirit, according to an educational booklet created by the Minnesota Indian Womens Sexual Assault Coalition. Apache said their encounter with the Two Spirit Society of Denver changed their life and their understanding of being gay. While the understanding of the term Two Spirit can vary from one tribal community to another, the term typically encompasses gender and sexual minorities. When I tell my story, I tell people that I came out twice: one is the Western sense of being gay, and the second was more of a cultural sense of being gay, Apache told NBC News. When I have conversations with people back home, there was a sort of fear or a kind of apprehension when I said I was gay, because in their concept, they think of the gay person as somebody not living under reservation, who didnt have any responsible ties to the cultural aspect of the tribe, which I thought was kind of an interesting perception, but it wasnt until I declared that I was coming out as a Two Spirit person that that connection made more sense" I had to go back to the mountains Hermelinda Cortes, who serves as an editorial adviser for the new podcast, was featured in one of Country Queers Instagram takeovers. Cortes grew up in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, raised by a Mexican immigrant father and a white, working-class mother from West Virginia. Her parents, as well as much of her extended family, worked in a poultry plant. Cortes paternal side of the family came from Florencia, Mexico, another small, agricultural town. Over the course of her childhood, she saw how many people from Florencia migrated to the Shenandoah Valley. She would spend much of her time teaching people English, informally, and helping people who dont speak English fill out a variety of forms. She remembers how her father was working on getting U.S. citizenship when she was a child. I felt I had to grow up really fast, Cortes said. Im the oldest of three girls; Im the oldest of 30-some cousins. Were just kind of always in this position of kind of overseeing and caretaking for people who were living between multiple worlds. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Eventually in the early 2010s, after years of living in Richmond, Virginia, Cortes moved back to the Shenandoah Valley with her son. Some of the major themes explored in the Country Queers interviews is the emotional whirlwind of leaving a hometown, returning to ones roots and the childhood connection to family land. Never thought in a million years that I was going to come back, and then like flash forward by 2010, every time I was kind of driving over the mountain I would just like sob, Cortes said. I couldnt really pinpoint what was happening emotionally and spiritually and just for having this kind of feeling in my stomach that I had to go back to the mountains, and it felt very visceral. Cortes became involved with the Country Queers project in 2014, when she was working as an organizer for Southerners on New Ground, a social justice organization that supports LGBTQ communities in the South. At the time, Cortes was working on a report that focused on organizing strategies for queer communities in small towns. Related: Amid LGBTQ Pride Month and anti-racism protests, activists, leaders and creators share their favorite books about the Black queer experience. Garringer said they hope the Country Queers podcast, as well as the existing oral history project, will help people rethink their preconceived notions about both LGBTQ people and rural America. Part of what this project is doing, Garringer said, is questioning where queerness shows up and can even thrive and who exists in rural spaces and feels at home in rural spaces. Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram While many cruise customers are missing out on refunds because of a technicality that says they only get their money back if the cruise line cancels their trip first, those who have been promised refunds have faced extensive waits to receive their money back well outside the time window in which the cruise lines said their refunds would be processed. Carrollton, Texas, resident Farah Derebery Miller had booked a Feb. 17 sailing on Norwegian Cruise Line out of Singapore that was canceled on Feb. 13. The voyage had already been moved from Hong Kong to Singapore prior due to port closures. "We switch[ed] all of our travel plans to Singapore and then they cancel[ed] on us," she told USA TODAY. "They wouldn't let any of us cancel leading up to Feb. 13 or said we would lose all our money." Her travel insurance wouldn't cover COVID-19-related cancellations and so she was stuck until Norwegian canceled for her. Miller was told that her credit card would be refunded automatically. But as of June 24 132 days later she still hasn't gotten all of her money back. She has received most money back but is still waiting for Norwegian to refund $625.30 of her payment to make her whole. By the time they pay it all back, the total sum she will be refund sum should be $3,028.05. She also hasn't received the 25% discount voucher promised in the February email that announced her cruise cancellation. "They have different stories every time you call them," she told USA TODAY. "Or they tell you the person we need to speak with is out of the office or unavailable." Getting the runaround has been "beyond frustrating." Miller's story isn't unique. Norwegian spokesperson Christine Da Silva told USA TODAY that the line has canceled an "unprecedented number" of sailings, resulting in a higher than normal volume of refund requests. Norwegian canceled Shelley Campbell Greenwald's cruise on March 13 and she requested a refund 10 days later. In the meantime, the Groveland, Florida, resident decided to form a Facebook group to commiserate with other customers in monetary limbo. Story continues "I formed the group because so many were struggling to get information from NCL," she told USA TODAY. "There was a lot of anxiety, due to the length of time it was taking for refunds to go out." A week into the group's existence, there were around 400 members, all clamoring for their money back. Now, after three weeks, there are more than 900. Within a week of starting the Facebook group, Greenwald got some good news: her refund was processed June 15. Norwegian isn't the only culprit when it comes to being tardy with refunds. Other cruise lines have been slow to process them as well. Jacquie Tyndall told USA TODAY via Twitter that she has been waiting for a refund from P&O Cruises, a British subsidiary of Carnival Corp., since March 14. Likewise, Helen Gordon tweeted that she has been waiting for a P&O refund since March 30. And C.J. Hayden and her partner, both from San Francisco, were actually on board the Pacific Princess during a world cruise that departed from Los Angeles on Jan. 20 and went westward toward Asia and Australia, when the remainder of their voyage, set to end May 21, was canceled. "That was canceled mid-voyage in March," Hayden told USA TODAY. They disembarked in Fremantle, Australia after spending 18 days at sea without being accepted at any ports. Princess Cruises promised them a full refund of the missed days on the cruise beginning March 1, when the ship's itinerary began to change, plus a future cruise credit for 100% of missed time. "They owe us a total of $37,500 and we have seen none of that," Hayden said. The timeline for getting their money back has been murky ever since the refund was announced. "They have told us a number of things, none of which have turned out to be true," she said. "Initially, they said two to three weeks, then 30 days then 60 days after 60 days, [they] stopped making up a new date and started saying we have no estimate." Earlier this week, Hayden finally saw the future cruise credit in her Princess account, but still no refund. What are cruise lines saying about refunds? For some lines, including Carnival Cruise Line, the delay in refunding customers has been due to the number of requests coming in and an inability to keep up. Carnival Cruise Line "Early on in this pause in service, refunds were taking longer than we would have liked because of the sheer volume," Vance Gulliksen, spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line, told USA TODAY. Over time, Carnival has collaborated with their bank processor to distribute the refunds more efficiently. "For the most part, we have worked through the backlog and feel that we can now process and issue refunds in a much more timely manner," he said. Princess Cruises In a letter, Princess Cruises told their customers that they understand "the frustration over delays" for refunds, according to spokesperson Negin Kamali. The cruise line offered details in the letter about what it needed to do in order to better keep up with refund requests,such as increasing more staff resources and system capabilities to handle the higher volume and more complexity. "With a global scope, our refund process is an involved one, dealing with 13 different currencies and various payment methods," the letter explained. As a result of the changes, Princess Cruises had completed almost 60% of requested refunds by the time the letter was sent out the week of June 22. They also let their customers know that refunds and future cruise credits are handled separately so it is normal, as part of their process, to receive them at different times. They also noted that a full future cruise credit could be made up of two or three separate credits in total. Refunds may also come to Princess customers as a series of payments rather than in one lump sum. "Although we cant give a specific date as to when the refund will be received, please know that were working as hard as we can to get it to you as quickly as possible," the letter said. Royal Caribbean Jonathon Fishman, spokesperson for Royal Caribbean, told USA TODAY that as of Tuesday, it could take up to 45 business days for a passenger who had a canceled cruise to receive a refund. "We appreciate our guests' patience during these times," he said. Holland America Line Erik Elvejord, spokesperson for Holland America Line, echoed Princess and Carnival's sentiments in that they were not equipped to handle the vast count of refunds that they had been presented with in a timely manner. "To date, Holland America Line has refunded tens of millions of dollars in cruises and continues to work through outstanding requests," Elvejord told USA TODAY. "Our reservation and payment systems were not designed to handle the volume of refunds in a short period of time, and it had been taking longer to process." Like Princess, Holland America increased the staff supporting the refund effort and modified booking systems. "Nearly all refunds for guests who were asked to submit their compensation decision by June 1st have been processed," he added. "Refunds for guests with a June 15th selection date are in process and will be completed in the coming weeks." Norwegian Cruise Line Christine Da Silva, vice president of communications at Norwegian, told USA TODAY. said that the cruise line has canceled an "unprecedented number" of sailings, resulting in a higher than normal volume of refund requests. "Refunds are being handled by voyage departure date and according to the date that refunds were initially requested," she said. "Regrettably, we are experiencing delays with our ability to deliver within the 90-day time frame but we are moving as quickly as possible." Will there be ramifications for cruise lines that delay refunds? The timing of a refund from a travel organization is not typically governed by law, Jeff Ment, a travel attorney who practices in New York and Connecticut, told USA TODAY in May. That's why some people are being told it could take longer than expected to see a refund. "There are some obvious reasons for delays: furloughed staff, thousands of refunds and, likely, some cash flow problems," he said. Ment said he isn't holding his breath on any lasting legal changes, either. "No new, imminent law changes are expected, but consumers could contact their credit card company or local attorney generals office to lodge a complaint," he added. Would cruisers still waiting for refunds sail with assorted cruise lines again? "Most likely not," said Greenwald. "My trust in (Norwegian) is lost because how the refund process has been handled up to this point." Miller was in the same camp as Greenwald. "Never again," she said. Her plan is to sell her Norwegian cruise credit to someone else. "The most frustrating thing about all this is dealing with their lies," Miller added noting that Norwegian attempted at one point to skirt around her refund by claiming she canceled before they did, which she was able to disprove with an email. "I could never trust a company like this on the open seas with my family if they are this deceptive." My cruise was canceled due to coronavirus: Here's how experts say you should navigate refunds, credits This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cruise passengers have been waiting months for refunds on canceled trips BEIJING, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix Tree Holdings Limited ("Danke" or the "Company") (NYSE: DNK), one of the largest co-living platforms in China with the fastest growth, unveiled its brand-new live streamed program, Danke Roast, which aims to address frequently asked questions and concerns users have about the residential rental industry. It's the first-ever live streamed show in China's co-living industry. Danke Logo (PRNewsfoto/Phoenix Tree Holdings Limited) With a sitcom format, Danke Roast features three professional Danke housekeepers in situations that showcase common questions and concerns users have about the co-living industry. While providing detailed explanations and answers to these questions, the program also demonstrates how to effectively use the Danke Apartment app. The program is interactive, with real-time responses to audience questions posted in online chats on topics including early lease termination, apartment subleases and rent financing, while also featuring "red packet" cash prizes and gift giveaways. The first Danke Roast live stream on June 23 attracted a total of 9,000 viewers, with more than 17,000 playbacks of the 42-minute-long program. Danke Roast provides an opportunity to bring together Danke users, the platform, and the public for a livestreaming discussion of the audience's most asked questions and concerns. For any issues not covered during the live stream, the audience can follow up with professional Danke housekeepers to get answers. "The most direct way to address a problem is to face it," said Guangjing He, Danke's Head of Branding & PR. "We took that approach with Danke Roast to put all of the misunderstandings and challenges related to our industry on the table, to discuss them with others directly and transparently. Things can be demystified once people talk through them. It can help people see that things may be quite different from what they had thought." Story continues Danke aims to make Danke Roast a regular series not only to increase transparency by conveying information and knowledge on the residential rental industry to the public, but also to strengthen resident engagement, which leads to more efficient communication and a deeper connection. By capturing users' needs and concerns through their live feedback, Danke is able to improve its business operations, deliver more refined and effective services, and continue to fulfill its mission "to help people live better". As a leading co-living platform in China, Danke pioneered an innovative ''new rental'' business model, which features centralization, standardization and online experience to address the numerous pain points suffered by both individual property owners and renters. Founded in 2015, Danke now operates in 13 major cities around the country and provides its young and well-educated residents with affordable, comfortable and stylish apartments. ABOUT DANKE Danke, one of the largest co-living platforms in China with the fastest growth, is redefining the residential rental market through technology and aims to help people live better. Empowered by data, technology, and a large-scale apartment network, Danke's vibrant and expanding ecosystem connects and benefits property owners, residents, and third-party service providers, and delivers quality and best-in-class services through an innovative "new rental" business model featuring centralization, standardization, and a seamless online experience. Danke was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Beijing, China. For more information, please visit ir.danke.com. CONTACTS Danke PR Email: pr@danke.com Edmond Lococo ICR, Inc. Email: Edmond.lococo@icrinc.com Phone: +86 138-1079-1408 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/danke-rolls-out-its-brand-new-live-streamed-program-danke-roast-301085515.html SOURCE Phoenix Tree Holdings Limited DUBLIN, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Data Center Construction Market in Nordic - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Research and Markets Logo In-depth Analysis and Data-driven Insights on the Impact of COVID-19 Included The study considers the present scenario of the Nordic data center construction market and its market dynamics for the period 2019-2025. It covers a detailed overview of several market growth enablers, restraints, and trends. The report offers both the demand and supply aspect of the market. It profiles and examines leading companies and other prominent ones operating in the market. The Nordic data center construction market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 1% during the period 2019-2025 The Nordic data center market has been a favorable destination for data center developments and investments for hyperscale data center operators, colocation providers, and cryptocurrency operators. The adoption of cloud-based services, big data analytics, and IoT services has grown significantly by local enterprises across countries in the Nordic region, boosting local colocation demand in the market. Public cloud and hybrid infrastructure services have witnessed strong growth in recent years. The market is witnessing significant investments in submarine cable projects from service providers. Telecommunication providers are investing heavily to strengthen the broadband services in the region. The availability of renewable sources of energy is the major market driver, with majority of data centers powered through renewable energy sources. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has significantly increased data traffic from March 2020 onwards. The global data center construction market is facing a major slowdown due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19. To provide high availability services, operators are taking precautionary measures for their on-site employees. Colocation data center operators have reduced onsite staff and postponed non-critical maintenance and construction projects. The following factors are likely to contribute to the growth of the Nordic data center construction market during the forecast period: Story continues Increasing Adoption of Distinct Heating Concept Growing Construction of Cryptocurrency Data Centers Rising Modular Data Center Deployment Increasing Adoption of Cloud-based Services Nordic Data Center Construction Market Segmentation This research report includes a detailed segmentation by electrical infrastructure, mechanical infrastructure, general construction, tier standards, and geography. The increased data centers construction in Denmark is expected to observe the demand for intelligent and efficient power infrastructure solutions during the forecast period. The redundancy in infrastructures such as UPS systems and PDUs is likely to be over 2N, whereas for switchgears it will be N+1 configuration with dual power line inside and outside facilities. Several facilities in Sweden have adopted N+N redundant power infrastructure. Data centers must be flexible enough to facilitate additional redundancy. A majority of facilities will be powered by dual power lines, and rural developments will include on-site substations. The use of redundant diesel generators might reduce due to a strong power grid supply in the Nordic region. Generators and switchgears with N+1 redundant configuration are being adopted in the facilities. The UPS and PDUs in N+N, 2N, 2N+1 configuration are being installed due to their flexible designs. In terms of cooling, data centers in Denmark have an advantage as the region offers 85% free cooling annually. This reduces electricity consumption by cooling units by up to 50%. The data centers in Norway use free cooling chillers, adiabatic dry coolers, and evaporative coolers to cool down the IT infrastructure. The adoption of cooling techniques is highly dependent on the location and design of the facility. It is expected that most future investments will involve evaporative coolers, whereas the possibility of using an abundance of water resources is also high. In Nordic, the market is completely dominated by greenfield development. In these projects, building development is carried out by major construction contractors in coordination with design and infrastructure providers and service operators. The involvement of sub-contractors is high as they have strong expertise in building structures in a particular location. Denmark continues to dominate with hyperscale greenfield development. These data center projects provide high revenue opportunities for general contractors. Local sub-contractors are also expected to witness continuous growth in their revenues during the forecast period. With the increased construction of hyperscale facilities, the demand for skilled professionals is likely to grow in the country. The growth in greenfield hyperscale facilities will generate more revenue for installation and commission service providers in Nordic. The Tier I & Tier II data center market is expected to register a negative CAGR during the forecast period. The number of Tier I and Tier II facilities has reduced significantly over the past five years because of the increasing awareness of the use of redundant infrastructure. UPS and PDU systems in Tier II data centers are equipped with minimum N+N redundancy. A majority of under-developed projects across the Nordic region fall under the Tier III category. This trend is likely to continue during the forecast period. Many operators are expected to move to the Tier IV category based on the growth in rack power capacity and critical applications. In Finland and Iceland, there are three data centers that are Uptime Institute Certified under the Tier III category. Insights by Geography Facebook investments in its Odense Data Center Facility in Denmark is followed by Google broke ground on its first Denmark data center, which is likely to be functional by 2021. In terms of colocation providers, Bulk Infrastructure invested in its DK01 Campus along with investments from DigiPlex, GlobalConnect, and Interxion are investing in the data center market in Denmark. In Norway, Microsoft and Equinor contributed to the investment along with Green Mountain with investments in facilities such as DC2 Telemark and Telemark & Stavanger Data Center. In 2019, Stockholm was the major investment destination Sweden that includes seven facility development activities with an estimated investment of over $350 million. Hyperscale renewable procurement is growing YOY in the region. For instance, Google has signed a 12-year contract with a power company in Norway to supply 160 MW of wind energy to power its data centers in Europe. The country has ample renewable energy sources to support large facilities. Insights by Vendors The Nordic data center construction market is witnessing a steady growth in terms of greenfield and modular data center construction, with the high adoption of efficient and modular data center infrastructure solutions. The market has evolved over the years with multiple innovations focused on reducing power and water consumption and decreasing carbon dioxide emissions. Schneider Electric, Eaton, Rittal, Vertiv, and ABB are leading vendors in the electrical infrastructure market. Vendors are also partnering with modular data center developers and direct liquid cooling providers to increase revenues. This trend is likely to continue during the forecast period. Key Topics Covered 1 Research Methodology 2 Research Objectives 3 Research Process 4 Scope & Coverage 4.1 Market Definition 4.2 Base Year 4.3 Scope of the Study 4.4 Market Segments 5 Report Assumptions & Caveats 5.1 Key Caveats 5.2 Currency Conversion 5.3 Market Derivation 6 Market at a Glance 7 Introduction 7.1 Internet & Data Growth 7.2 Data Center Site Selection Criteria 7.3 Electricity Pricing Across Major Data Center Locations 7.4 Submarine Cables 8 Impact of COVID-19 8.1 Impact of COVID-19 on Data Center Industry 8.2 Impact of COVID-19 in Nordic 9 Market Opportunities & Trends 9.1 Increasing Adoption of Distinct Heating Concept 9.2 Growing Construction of Cryptocurrency Data Centers 9.3 Increasing Construction Hyperscale Data Center Facilities 9.4 Rising Modular Data Center Deployment 10 Market Growth Enablers 10.1 Rising Adoption of Cloud-Based Services 10.2 Growing Investments in Data Centers by Colocation Operators 10.3 Availability of Renewable Energy Sources 10.4 Free Cooling Lowers Pue of Data Centers 10.5 Tax Incentives & Land Availability for Development 11 Market Growth Restraints 11.1 Lack of Skilled Workforce 11.2 High Procurement Cost of Efficient Infrastructure 11.3 Physical Security Constraints 12 Market Landscape 12.1 Market Overview 12.2 Investment: Market Size & Forecast 12.3 Area: Market Size & Forecast 12.4 Power Capacity: Market Size & Forecast 12.5 Five Forces Analysis 13 Infrastructure Segmentation 13.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 13.2 Market Overview 13.3 Electrical Infrastructure 13.4 Mechanical Infrastructure 13.5 General Construction 14 Electrical Infrastructure 14.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 14.2 UPS Systems 14.3 Generators 14.4 Transfer Switches & Switchgear 14.5 Power Distribution Units 14.6 Other Electrical Infrastructure 15 Mechanical Infrastructure 15.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 15.2 Cooling Systems 15.3 Racks 15.4 Other Mechanical Infrastructure 16 Cooling Systems 16.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 16.2 CRAC & CRAH Units 16.3 Chiller Units 16.4 Cooling Towers, Dry Coolers, & Condenser 16.5 Economizers & Evaporative Coolers 16.6 Other Cooling Units 17 Cooling Technique 17.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 17.2 Air-Based Cooling Techniques 17.3 Liquid-Based Cooling Techniques 18 General Construction 18.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 18.2 Building Development 18.3 Installation & Commissioning Services 18.4 Building Design 18.5 Physical Security 18.6 DCIM/BMS 19 Tier Standards 19.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 19.2 Overview Of Tier Standards 19.3 Tier I & II 19.4 Tier III 19.5 Tier IV 20 Country Segmentation 20.1 Investment: Snapshot & Growth Engine 20.2 Area: Snapshot & Growth Engine 20.3 Power Capacity: Snapshot & Growth Engine 20.4 Denmark 20.5 Norway 20.6 Sweden 20.7 Finland & Iceland 21 Competitive Landscape 21.1 Overview 21.2 Electrical Infrastructure 21.3 Mechanical Infrastructure 21.4 General Construction 22 Prominent Data Center Support Infrastructure Providers 22.1 ABB 22.2 Airedale Air Conditioning 22.3 ALFA LAVAL 22.4 ASETEK 22.5 Bosch Security Systems (Robert Bosch) 22.6 Caterpillar 22.7 Cummins 22.8 Delta Group 22.9 Eaton 22.10 Euro-Diesel (KINOLT) 22.11 Hitech Power Protection 22.12 KOHLER (SDMO) 22.13 Legrand 22.14 Piller Power Systems 22.15 Riello UPS 22.16 Rittal 22.17 MTU On Site Energy (Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG) 22.18 Schneider Electric 22.19 Socomec 22.20 Stulz 22.21 Trane (Ingersoll Rand) 22.22 Vertiv 23 Prominent Data Center Contractors 23.1 Aecom 23.2 Arup Group 23.3 Bravida 23.4 COWI 23.5 Dornan 23.6 DPR Construction 23.7 ENACO 23.8 Etix Everywhere (Vantage Data Center) 23.9 Fortis Construction 23.10 Granlund 23.11 HDR Architecture 23.12 KMCS 23.13 Mace Group 23.14 Mercury Engineering 23.15 MTH Group 23.16 NCC 23.17 Ramboll 23.18 Royal Haskoningdhv 23.19 SKANSKA 23.20 SRV Group 23.21 Sweco 24 Prominent Data Center Investors 24.1 Bahnhof 24.2 Boderlight AB (GoGREENHOST) 24.3 Bulk Infrastructure 24.4 DIGIPLEX 24.5 Equinix 24.6 Facebook 24.7 GlobalConnect 24.8 INTERXION 24.9 MICROSOFT 24.10 MULTIGRID 24.11 Green Mountain AS 24.12 Ecodatacenter For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4qzyrr Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior 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 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/data-center-construction-markets-in-the-nordic-region-forecast-to-2025---increasing-adoption-of-the-distinct-heating-concept-growing-construction-of-cryptocurrency-data-centers-301085784.html SOURCE Research and Markets Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), the leading UAE-based global satellite operator, has appointed Andrew Cole as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He will assume the position from July 1 onwards. Cole joins Yahsat soon after the company boosted its leadership with four Emirati executive appointments to lead its government, commercial, operational and technical business units. Cole has 25 years of cross-sector experience in senior finance, operational and advisory roles. From 2015 to 2019, he was the Group Financial Controller at SES, a company with a constellation of Geostationary and Medium Earth Orbit Satellites. His primary functions covered all aspects of Finance including Financial Planning, Governance, Risk (including satellite insurance) and Compliance, Accounting and Global Controlling operations. He has also worked for EY and KPMG London as an external auditor and business advisor to many global enterprises. Cole is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). He has an Executive MBA degree from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees and a Post Graduate certificate in International Business from the University of Edinburgh. He succeeds the current CFO, Balakrishnan Doraisamy, who will be retiring, having served Yahsat for almost 12 years. Doraisamy will continue to be part of the company as Strategic Advisor. Masood M Sharif Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer of Yahsat, said: I am most happy to welcome Andrew into our midst as the new CFO of Yahsat. As we continue to intensify our expansion program across the globe, Andrews wealth of experience, especially in the satellite sector, will be highly beneficial to us. He has an excellent record at all finance and operational leadership levels, and I am sure he will bring great value to Yahsat. Cole said: Yahsat is a young, ambitious company that has grown exponentially in a short span of time. I am delighted to join its dynamic leadership team at a most exciting phase, and thank the Board of Directors for the confidence they have placed in me. I look forward to working with its multicultural workforce, and together we aim to continue the legacy and deliver a strong future for the company. TradeArabia News Service Click here to read the full article. Key Point: The German fleet was supposed to surrender. Its sailors decided instead to destroy their own ships. A little over one hundred years ago, the German High Seas Fleet committed suicide. On June 21, 1919, the crews of seventy-four German warships attempted to scuttle their vessels in order to prevent the Allies from taking them. Over the course of a few hours, fifty-two modern warships sank. In the modern history of naval combat, there has never been an event as devastating as the self-destruction of the German fleet at Scapa Flow. The scuttling immediately became legendary, closing one chapter of German naval history and opening another. Context Shortly after the armistice that ended World War I, the Germans surrendered their fleet to the Allies. The British in particular very strongly believed that Germany should be deprived of her fleet at the earliest opportunity, in no small part because of the role of that fleet in Britains war calculations. In addition to concerns about militarist revanchism, the Allies also had to worry about communist revolution. The High Seas Fleet had experienced a mutiny in the last two weeks of the war that had spread across Germany and helped precipitate the fall of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Allies had no interest whatsoever in watching the fleet fall into the hands of German revolutionaries so soon after the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia. The terms of the armistice required the fleet to depart from Kiel for Scapa Flow. The Grand Fleet met the Germans near Kiel on November 21, 1918, and escorted them north to Scapa. For much of the journey, the Allied escort included American and French warships. The mere existence of the fleet posed a political problem. While many of the German ships were approaching obsolescence (less because of German workmanship than because of the rapid pace of technological change) some of the units were still worthy of front line service. France, Italy, and Japan all coveted the most modern German vessels, which included the super-dreadnoughts Baden and Bayern, as well as several modern battlecruisers. Story continues Most, although not all, of the warships interned at Scapa Flow were veterans of Jutland, the colossal clash between the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet. Relations between the Germans and their British hosts were periodically tense. Germany was forced to maintain upkeep for its crews and ships, including regular shipments of food. The persistent Allied naval blockade had combined with influenza to ravage the country, making even paltry deliveries of food a trial. Moreover, unlike their British, Japanese, and American counterparts, the warships of the High Seas Fleet were not designed for long-range deployment and habitation. The German sailors had few creature comforts, and morale reportedly bottomed out very quickly. Event With the Germans still in physical control of the ships, the Royal Navy understood that an attempt at scuttling might ensue. The honor of the German navy, the German Empire, and the war effort itself were at stake. The British had considered simply seizing the ships from the Germans, although this risked violating the armistice and at the very least would have led to bloodshed with the crews. Indeed, the Germans had prepped the ships for scuttling over the previous several months, removing doors and taking other steps to reduce watertight integrity. They waited for motive and opportunity. As the Paris Peace Conference dragged on, both the French and the Italians had made claims upon the fleet. As the deadline for signing the treaty approached, both the Germans and the British made their preparations, the latter to seize the ships and the former to scuttle them. On June 21, a comedy of errors ensued. The signing of the treaty was postponed two days, although it is unclear how aware the German sailors were made of this fact. The British commander decided that the fabulous early summer weather offered a great opportunity for practice, and the bulk of the Grand Fleet left Scapa Flow for maneuvers on the morning of June 21. Only a few patrol and utility ships remained. Admiral Ludwig von Reuter gave the order for scuttling, and every German ship obeyed. The British didnt notice until around noon, when the battleship Friederich der Grosse began to list noticeably. At this point, the rest of the fleet raised the Imperial German Naval ensign, which the British had officially forbidden. At that point, the scuttling became a race between the water and the Royal Navy. The Grand Fleet, notified by radio of the sinking, began to return immediately. The few Royal Navy ships in attendance picked up survivors, but were unable to save very many of the sinking ships. Aftermath Ten battleships, five battlecruisers, four cruisers, and thirty-two destroyers were successfully scuttled. From the German point of view, the operation was an enormous success. The stain of surrender had been removed from the navy, at least. Hundreds of thousands of tons of steel, and many millions of German marks, slid beneath the waves as the fleet that Tirpitz had championed came to an end. When the German admiral was plucked from the sea, a tense confrontation with the Royal Navy Admiral Sydney Fremantle ensued. Von Reuter took full responsibility for the order to scuttle the ships, with Fremantle responding that the action as an act of base treachery. Nine Germans were killed during the fights that ensued following the return of the British warships. Mostly, this seems to have happened because the German disobeyed direct orders to stop scuttling the ships, but in a few cases, Royal Navy sailors may have taken more violent steps than were strictly necessary. The super-dreadnought battleship Baden was beached, and later used for testing by the Royal Navy. Had the ships survived, several might have served effectively through the interwar period and into the Second World War. Baden and Bayern, modern super-dreadnoughts carrying 15 guns, were the equals of any battleships afloat, and could have served creditably in the French or Italian navies. The battlecruisers Derfflinger and Hindenburg would also have represented an improvement for a few different navies. Recovery Although some of the ships scuttled in relatively shallow water, the British initially expressed little interest in recovery efforts. The Germans had, after all, solved a major political problem by eliminating a point of dispute between the victorious Allies. Refloating the battleships would only reopen the thorny question of which country was most entitled to them. Moreover, global scrap iron prices had plummeted at the end of the war as excess material flooded the market. A few ships of the High Seas Fleet remained in Kiel, where they had steadily deteriorated in physical condition. The Treaty of Versailles parceled these ships out, but also prohibited the recipients from putting them back into serviceable conditions. Most were quickly scrapped or sunk as targets. The most famous of these, SMS Ostfriesland, became one of the victims of Billy Mitchells obsession with naval bombing. A few years later, the Royal Navy determined that the wrecks had become a hazard to shipping. There was also renewed interest in acquiring the ships for scrap. An engineer named Ernest Cox eventually acquired the rights to several of the ships, and developed innovative techniques for refloating them. This involved patching the hull and pumping in air in order to provide flotation. Overall, Cox refloated thirty-three of the ships, including two battlecruisers and five battleships. Wrap Today, many of the ships of the High Seas Fleet remain at the bottom of Scapa Flow, where wreck-divers often visit them. Given the enthusiasm with which scrappers have taken to robbing the Pacific of naval wrecks, the vessels at the bottom of Scapa may soon be the last easily accessible ships of their era. The destruction of the High Seas Fleet on June 21, 1919 still marks the greatest destruction of naval power in a single day in modern military history. In a few hours, Germany went from being a first-rate naval power (behind only the United Kingdom and the United States) to completely lacking a modern fleet. Memories of 1919 would color Germanys efforts to rebuild its fleet in the 1930s, as well as British wariness about the expansion of German power. Robert Farley, a frequent contributor to TNI, is a Visiting Professor at the United States Army War College. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. This first appeared in 2019 and is being reposted due to reader interest. Image: Wikipedia. Click here to read the full article. The number of deaths registered in England and Wales over one week has fallen below the five-year average for the first time since the week ending March 13, the Office for National Statistics said. - T. Narayan /Bloomberg The number of people dying across the UK has fallen back to average levels for the first time since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the latest figures. In total, there have now been 65,517 excess deaths (above the five year average) recorded across the UK between March 6 and June 19. But as the number of deaths linked to coronavirus continues to fall, the total of weekly deaths has now returned to the level that would be expected for the time of year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Deaths which have officially been linked to Covid-19, either following a test or with the virus mentioned on a death certificate, have now reached 53,857. Excess deaths vanish In the week to June 19, there were 9,339 deaths across England and Wales 65 lower than the five-year average, according to the Office for National Statistics. Across all nations of the UK there were 10,687 deaths, just 18 above the five year average after tens of thousands of excess deaths in previous weeks. Of the 9,339 deaths which occurred in the week to June 19, 783 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate just 8.4 per cent of all deaths in England and Wales, and the lowest proportion in the last 12 weeks. Though the number of deaths was highest in the South East (1,411 deaths), this was 3.8 per cent lower than the five-year average for the region. Wales had the highest percentage of deaths above the five-year average in the week to June 19 (7.7 per cent), and the East Midlands had the highest percentage above the five-year average (6.6 per cent) in the English regions. The number of deaths registered in the week to June 19 was similar to, or lower than, the five-year average in the West Midlands, the north-west, the east of England, the south-east and the south-west. In both hospitals and care homes, the number of deaths fell below the average, with 782 and 49 fewer deaths respectively. However, there were 827 excess deaths in people's private homes. Story continues Deaths at home remain an issue Problems remain in the community. While deaths are now at below average levels in hospitals and care homes, in the week to June 19 there were more than 3,000 deaths in people's homes in England and Wales 867 more than would be expected. Across England and Wales, there have now been almost twice as many excess deaths in care homes as in hospitals. Since March 6, there have been 26,696 excess deaths in care homes and 14,221 in hospitals, all of which can be linked to Covid-19. ONS researchers said: "It is acknowledged that care homes will be feeling the effects of the deaths of any of their residents including those that died outside of care homes for example, in hospitals." In people's homes in the community, there have been a total of 17,624 excess deaths in the same period. Just 1,969 (11 per cent) of those have been officially linked to Covid-19. Responding to the data, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said: "The ONS figures show that the number of deaths in the UK in the last week was below average for this time of year. "Each one is a tragedy, and we must keep the virus under control, but we are making real progress in our national effort." WILMINGTON, Del. Delaware was the last state to stop tying people to whipping posts and lashing their bare backs as criminal punishment, so recently that witnessing a beating is still a memory for some. On Wednesday, less than 50 years after the state rid its laws of the punishment, the whipping post displayed on public property in Georgetown, Delaware, for decades will be pulled from the ground and tucked in a warehouse. State officials said the 8-foot tall concrete post standing beside the historic Sussex County Courthouse will be removed "in recognition of the violence and racial discrimination that its display signified to many Delawareans." The post was first used to bind people for beatings at what is now the Sussex Correctional Institution. Delaware whipped people, disproportionately Black people, until 1952 for many crimes ranging from petty theft to rape in what often were public displays outside local jails and prisons. The post was put on display in 1993, about two decades after Delaware formally removed whippings from its criminal justice laws in 1972. Since then, it has been referenced as an attraction in articles and advertisements about the town's history. A whipping post stands outside the Old Courthouse in Georgetown, Delaware. It's believed to be the last such post on display outside a museum or education building in the state. Some see it as a monument to brutality carried out under the law. "People should not have to ride by and be reminded of the atrocities that people faced at some points in Delawares history," said Jane Hovington, a Georgetown resident who has advocated for the post's removal. Hovington, who is also treasurer for the Delaware NAACP, said advocates began lobbying state officials to take down the post months before the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis Police Officer in May. Floyd's death set off protests against police brutality and publicly celebrated symbols that are at odds with racial equality. This weekend, Mississippi lawmakers agreed to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state's flag after decades of ebbing and rising protests. Story continues Bill to change the Mississippi state flag: What we know, and what's next Delaware officials removed the statue of Caesar Rodney, famously a signer of the Declaration of Independence and infamously a slaveholder, from its iconic overlook of Rodney Square in downtown Wilmington. That was shortly after removing the city's statue honoring Christopher Columbus. 'It was the lashes I remember' Advocates like Reba Hollingsworth, a native Delawarean, Dover resident and educator, say "inhumane" relics like the post belong in a museum, not displayed in public nor destroyed. "Down the road, after I am long gone, people will not believe some of the things that did occur in that period," Hollingsworth said in a telephone interview Monday. "If you put them in museums and teach Black history, they will understand some of these things." In her 90s, Hollingsworth's recollection of Delaware's relationship with the whipping post began in the 1930s. She was living with her family in Milford. He father used to take her and her siblings on errands. One Saturday, when she was around 10, their trip took them within sight of the old Kent County Jail in Dover, where a crowd had gathered. They approached and peered through a wire mesh fence and saw a man shackled against a post. "I remember the silence of the crowd and each time (the warden) would give him the lash he would count the number of lashes," said Hollingsworth, who is vice chair of the state's Heritage Commission. She remembers the man, who was white, would wince and cry out. "It was the lashes I remember and the cracking on this mans naked back," she said. By then, Delaware's use of the post was already the subject of dark awe and ridicule in the newspapers of other states. Thirty years before that, most states had abolished the punishment and regarded it as inhumane and ineffective in deterring crime, according to the writings of longtime Delaware reporter Bill Frank. The practice was brought with Delaware's earliest European settlers and lasted more than three centuries. The first recorded whipping took place in 1654 for the crime of "seditious utterances against the British rule in the Delaware Valley," Frank wrote. Most often, custom dictated that a cat-o'-nine tails a broomstick-like handle with nine 2-foot-long leather thongs was used to administer the beatings. They were sometimes doled out for what many would consider petty crimes like stealing a chicken and often accompanied a prison sentence. For a period, both men, women and children as young as 10, were flogged. Later, the law was changed so, in addition to men, only Black women would be lashed. In 1889, the whipping of women was outlawed altogether, Frank wrote. There is no official count of how many people were flogged by the government in Delaware. Robert Caldwell, former head of the sociology department at the University of Delaware, wrote "Red Hannah, Delaware's Whipping Post," which published in 1947 and looked at 45 years of data on whippings in the First State. Photocopy from Delaware archives showing whipping post that was believed to exist at the Kent County Jail in Dover, Del. This photo dates back to about 1910. He found that between 1900 and 1945, 1,604 whippings were administered by the law in Delaware. People off all races were subject to flogging, but like prison populations of Delaware and the United States today, Black people disproportionately found themselves subject to that punishment. Caldwell wrote that some 68 percent of those beaten were Black during a period when Black people made up less than 20 percent of the state's population. The flogged were most often farm hands or unskilled laborers, were often whipped multiple times and were also not less likely to commit another crime undercutting the idea that the post was a deterrent, Caldwell argued. Supreme Court: Religious school education eligible for public aid 'A reminder of a hateful past' Hollingsworth said family members would talk about it. She recalls how it was often poor people accused of petty property crimes that got the lash. She described the post as a "negative symbol for Black people." "When you see it all the time, it is just a reminder of a hateful past," she said. Use of the post was frequently debated in Delaware for at least a century, but even as other states had abandoned it, Delaware politicians clung to the whip. The post in Georgetown is currently accompanied by an informational placard that soft-plays the prominence of the punishment in Delaware, advocates for its removal note. It states the last whipping in Sussex County occurred in 1903. In reality, the last person to receive the government-sanctioned lash in the southern most county was in 1950, according to archives of the USA TODAY Network's Delaware News Journal. Pat Doleck, a volunteer at the historic Sussex County Courthouse, walks toward the whipping post in Georgetown in 2012. The whipping post will be removed Wednesday, July 1, 2020, and stored in a warehouse. The Georgetown Historical Society, which was responsible for erecting the post, did not return a phone call seeking comment. The final lashes were administered by Delaware in 1952, when a prisoner was tied to a post in the yard of the New Castle County Workhouse, now known as Greenbank Park, and whipped 20 times for beating a woman. The last whipping post was at the former New County Correctional Institution known as the workhouse, on Greenbank Road, near Prices Corner. The complex was emptied and torn down in the early 1970s and is now a park off Kirkwood Highway and Newport-Gap Pike. A judge again sentenced a man to a whipping in the 1960s, casting Delaware as the subject of another round of out-of-state pillorying. Ultimately, and after a protracted legal battle, the man was spared the lash. The law remained on the books until then-Gov. Russell Peterson signed a complete revision of Delaware's Criminal Code, the last overhaul to occur, in 1972, banishing the post to history. Museum displays have featured different Delaware whipping posts since then. That's the likely future for the Georgetown post. Tim Slavin, director of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, said the post is appropriate for the state's collection of artifacts. "Its quite another thing to allow a whipping post to remain in place along a busy public street a cold, deadpan display that does not adequately account for the traumatic legacy it represents," Slavin said in a written statement through a spokesperson. While not on public display, posts that were part of Delaware's history are still around. The last post used in Kent County is already a part of the state's collection in a warehouse in Dover. A reporter and photographer for The Delaware News Journal touring an abandoned farm house on the grounds of James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna earlier this year encountered a long-forgotten whipping post from Kent County's jail in the building's basement. A believed whipping post rest in the basement of the Clearfield House, on the grounds of James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna. It is known by prison staff as the Warden's House. Built in the 1700s, the crumbling structure is listed on the National Historic Register of Places. Officials are looking into razing the home. While the post is making a quiet exit from public display, activists continue to pressure the Georgetown Historical Society to remove a Confederate flag from a 6-foot-tall stone monument honoring Confederate soldiers outside the Marvel Museum on private property in the town. History or hate? As historical monuments fall nationwide, Delaware grapples with what these symbols represent Hollingsworth said removal of the post is a "sign of the times" as the public becomes more aware its past. She said it should accompany education toward a more full understanding of the state's heritage and action to right wrongs. "All of this needs to be continued. There ought to be bigger actions," she said. "There must be dialog." Follow reporter Xerxes Wilson on Twitter: @Ber_Xerxes We looked at coronavirus in 8,500 ZIP codes across America: Here's what we found Hilton apologizes: Hampton Inn employee fired for calling cops on Black guests at the pool This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware to remove whipping post near Georgetown courthouse Following a White House briefing Tuesday morning regarding reports that Russia offered bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. military personnel, House Democrats renewed their call for an all-Member briefing from the intelligence community so wed have direct evidence and discussion from intelligence community into how credible they assess the information. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the intelligence a red flag and said the American people must understand whether the United States relationship with Russia is compromised by the relationship between the president and Mr. Putin. It either was not waved, or the president ignored the wave, Hoyer, D-Md., said. We need to get to the bottom of this. What we need is a briefing by the intelligence community to give us their assessment of the credibility of this information and we need to know from the White House what action would have been taken. PHOTO: House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill on June 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) MORE: Russians offered Taliban bounties to kill US troops: Military official The Democrats were briefed by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the same three officials who briefed a group of Republicans at the White House on Monday. While there are reports that the bounty program was not fully verified by the U.S., House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff insisted Trump should have been briefed with caveats. Dont deprive the president of information he needs to keep the troops safe because you dont have it sign, sealed and delivered, Schiff, D-Calif., said. If youre going to be on the phone with Putin, this is something you ought to know. PHOTO: Adam Schiff departs the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol after the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump concluded on February 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) MORE: Trump still not briefed on reports Russia put bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan: WH Schiff said that as Congress examines the reports on the bounties, Trump should not be inviting Russia into G7 or G8 or further ingratiating Russia into the community of civilized nations. Story continues I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that president hasnt come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether the Russians are putting a bounty on the heads of American troops, Schiff said. And that he will do everything in his power to protect American troops. If theres a problem with being able to brief the president on intelligence he doesnt want to hear, thats a problem for entire countrys national security, Schiff added. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel said that if the bounty report isnt something to go crazy about, then I dont know what is. It just makes no sense at all, Engel, D-N.Y., said. Why doesnt the president question Putin? Why doesnt the president condemn what Putin has done? Why doesnt the president stand up for the United States? I mean, for Gods sake, these are our soldiers and if were not going to protect them, what are we going to do? Hoyer said he received a phone call Sunday evening from White House chief of Staff Mark Meadows inviting him to put a group of eight to 10 Democrats together for a briefing at the White House, but he maintained that the briefing was not as a substitute for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumers requests for a full briefing for all Members of Congress. The president called this a hoax publicly. Nothing in the briefing that we have just received led me to believe it is a hoax, Hoyer added. There may be different judgments as to the level of credibly but there was no assertion that the information we had was a hoax. While the lawmakers refused to discuss details of the briefing due to its secret nature, Schiff emphasized that the briefing fell short complaining that the right people to give the briefing really were not in the room. We need to hear from the heads of the intelligence agencies about how do they assess the allegations, Schiff said. What can they tell us about the truth or falsity of these allegations? What can they tell us about steps they are taking or undertaking to vet the information they may have? Hoyer added that the White House briefing did not reveal any new substantive information and the White House did not assure Democrats that their request for an all-Member briefing would be fulfilled. Several House Republicans received a similar briefing on Monday, while Senate Republicans planned to attend their own briefing later Tuesday. House GOP leaders on Tuesday forcefully condemned Russia following briefings on the intelligence regarding their bounties reportedly put on U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- using much sharper language than the White House on the subject. "Americas adversaries should know, and should have no doubt, that any targeting of U.S. forces by Russians, by anyone else, will meet a swift and deadly response," Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the No. 3 House Republican, said Tuesday. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, defended the Trump administration's record on Russia - touting the sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles for Ukraine - while slamming what he called the "selective leaking" behind the initial New York Times report and accusing Democrats of "playing politics." "The idea that someone would try to do something selective, inside a report, to play games, is unacceptable. It doesn't matter what party you are in. And we should not play any games with this," he said. As Trump faces criticism for not responding to the intelligence suggesting the targeting of U.S. troops, McCarthy offered a defense of the president, calling the safety of service members his "top priority." "I've been with this president when we've gone to Dover. I've watched his face. I've watched him console families. I've spoken with him at night when he has to call families. I will tell you it is his top priority," he said. Dems say Russia bounty intel is 'red flag' that Trump-Putin relationship could be compromised originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Thomas Manzo, ex-husband of "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Dina Manzo, hired a mob figure to assault her boyfriend David Cantin, in 2015, federal prosecutors allege. The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey said Thomas Manzo, 55, and John Perna, 43, face multiple charges over a 2015 assault on the Bravo star's now-husband Cantin, according to an indictment obtained by TODAY. The indictment states that Manzo hired Perna, an alleged member of the Lucchese organized crime family, to assault Cantin, 40, in exchange for a discounted wedding reception at Manzo's upscale New Jersey restaurant. The indictment also charges Perna with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud related to the submission of a false car insurance claim, and Manzo with charges of falsifying and concealing records related to the federal investigation of the violent crime. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Both men face up to 20 years in prison on the most serious of the charges against them. According to the indictment, Manzo, one of the owners of the Brownstone Restaurant in Paterson, commissioned Perna, a "made" man in the Lucchese crime family, to commit the assault on Cantin in exchange for a "deeply discounted" wedding reception at the venue. Perna allegedly worked with his associates to plan and carry out the assault, which took place in July 2015. In August 2015, Perna held a "lavish" wedding reception at Manzo's restaurant for a discounted price. The wedding was paid for by another Lucchese associate and close friend of Manzos. About 330 guests, including many members of the Lucchese crime family, attended the event. Police found 97 packages each containing around a kilo of cocaine in the back of a van carrying frozen fish. (SWNS) A pair of suspected drug smugglers have been charged after they attempted to smuggle 10 million worth of cocaine into the UK hidden in a van full of frozen fish. Police seized 97 packages each containing around a kilo of cocaine from the back of a van at Newhaven port in East Sussex last November. Jean-Pierre Labelle, 43, was arrested in March this year over the early morning drugs bust and charged on Sunday last week with importing class A drugs. The vans driver James Satterley, 50, from Cookham, Berkshire, was also later charged with the same offence and is now awaiting trial. The haul of class A drugs was discovered in the early hours of the morning at Newhaven port in East Sussex last November. (SWNS) Labelle, from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, appeared at Newport Magistrates Court on the island last month and was remanded into custody until his next appearance at Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex on 27 July. Peter Stevens, branch commander of the National Crime Agency, said: Working with partners like Border Force we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks involved in attempts to circumvent border controls. Illegal drugs are linked to violence on our streets and the exploitation of the vulnerable, that is why this type of crime is a priority for us. Tim Kingsberry, regional director at Border Force, praised the seizure for disrupting international drugs smuggling. He said: This was an excellent seizure by Border Force officers, who have prevented a large amount of lethal class A drugs from reaching the UKs streets. Alongside our law enforcement partners, we will continue to do all we can to disrupt the international trade in drug smuggling. WILMINGTON, Del., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPont today announced that Kimberly Markiewicz has been appointed Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I). She will report to Darrell Ford, Chief Human Resources Officer. DuPont Logo (PRNewsfoto/DuPont) In this role, Markiewicz will advance DuPont's global DE&I programs and initiatives to help fuel innovation that leads to business success. "I am thrilled with Kimberly's appointment as she brings the knowledge, passion and leadership to further our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion so everyone in and outside our DuPont community can feel safe, valued, seen and heard," said Ford. "Kim is the right person at this unique time in our history to drive meaningful change." Markiewicz currently serves as a leader of DuPont PRIDE Employee Resource Group, and is an active sponsor and presenter of LGBTQ+ workshops at national conferences and events. Her appointment elevates DuPont's ongoing focus on and commitment to DE&I programs and initiatives, as she takes full responsibility for DE&I globally. Throughout her career, Markiewicz has been a leader in advancing underrepresented populations in STEM fields and women and minorities in the workplace. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers Corporate Partnership Council, the Women in Engineering Pro-active Network, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) which includes serving on the DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award Committee. "I look forward to what we can accomplish in cultivating an even more diverse, equitable and inclusive work culture that leads toward sustainable organizational progress," said Markiewicz. "I fundamentally believe we can effect that change to meet the challenges we face today and support a diverse workforce that delivers on a promise of innovation and drives positive change in the communities we call home." Markiewicz is also actively engaged in community organizations, including the Delaware Fund for Women, YWCA, the Human Rights Campaign and mentoring in her local school district. Story continues Markiewicz joined DuPont in 1995 as a chemical engineer. Since that time, she has held roles of increasing responsibility in engineering, operations, human resources, and environmental, health and safety. She most recently served as Vice President, Environmental, Health & Safety. She received a BS in chemical engineering from University of Texas. To learn more about DuPont's DE&I actions and efforts, please visit www.dupont.com/careers/diversity-and-inclusion.html. About DuPont DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a global innovation leader with technology-based materials, ingredients and solutions that help transform industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics, transportation, construction, water, health and wellness, food, and worker safety. More information can be found at www.dupont.com/. DuPont, the DuPont Oval Logo, and all trademarks and service marks denoted with , or are owned by affiliates of DuPont de Nemours, Inc. unless otherwise noted. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dupont-appoints-kimberly-markiewicz-vice-president-of-diversity-equity--inclusion-301085891.html SOURCE DuPont NEW YORK, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DXIN (Dong & Xing), a well-known brand in China, has seen rapid growth over the past 6 years and become a striking leader in global skin care market. DXIN thoroughly investigates market expectations, rigorously controls product quality, and collaborates with a international ODM supplier to develop competitive products of exceptional quality and make the brand widely recognized by consumers DXIN, since 2014, has launched numerous sought-after products and achieved considerable sales growth with social commerce, so far the hottest e-commerce trend worldwide. Social commerce connects consumers around the world based on interpersonal communication of user experience and users' direct feedback on social media platforms. The key to the success of this trending business model lies in that consumers can truly feel the effectiveness of products and that the products really help improve their lives. Thus, DXIN thoroughly investigates market expectations, rigorously controls product quality, and collaborates with TCI (TWE:8436), international ODM supplier to develop competitive products of exceptional quality and make the brand widely recognized by consumers, who are willing to recommend products by DXIN to their friends and followers on social networks. 2020 is a crucial year for DXIN's further business expansion. DXIN, from its' years of experience in social commerce, has discovered that the combination of internal and external treatment, a highly-valued strategy in traditional Chinese medicine, is the ultimate skincare solution. Therefore, DXIN joins hands with TCI, a world-famous scientific R&D manufacturer sophisticated in health and skin care, to develop a variety of premium functional foods for beauty purposes, including the anti-aging Collagen Cubilose Drink, the skin-whitening Pomegranate and Rosa roxburghii Tablet, the fat-burning Vegetable Fruits and Vegetables Baking Powder, and the immunity-boosting Coniferous Cherry Probiotic Powder. Exceeding consumers' expectations, these groundbreaking products with incredible health effects have literally made DXIN a market leader whose launches of new products are always expected by consumers. Currently, DXIN and TCI have embarked on the co-development of the energy-boosting Polygonatum sibiricum drink for males, the blueberry eye care jelly, which will be produced at the Sunrise Park in Pingtung, Taiwan, and the blood-enriching red jinseng drink. Story continues DXIN has indicated in an interview that its products, such as the Cubilose Drink easy to take in modern life, the fermented Fruits and Vegetables Powder, and Probiotic Powder, are produced based on the integration of Chinese traditional herbal treatment and the R&D partner TCI's unique extraction technology. DXIN believes that with the strict quality control in accordance with international standards and innovative strategy in formula design, its brand-new collection of functional foods will again take social commerce platforms by storm and create a better future for the health and beauty of consumers and that DXIN is definitely becoming a China-based pioneer navigating the global skin care market. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dxin-joins-hands-with-tci-to-develop-a-variety-of-premium-functional-foods-for-beauty-purposes-301085481.html SOURCE TCI Demonstrators rallied outside the Supreme Court on March 4 when the court heard a case against a Louisiana abortion case. (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press) The Supreme Court struck down an onerous and unnecessary Louisiana restriction on abortion, offering a striking rebuke to the state for passing the same version of a law the high court ruled was unconstitutional four years ago. In a 5-4 decision in June Medical Services L.L.C. vs. Russo, the court found that the Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals provided no health benefits to women and would drastically curtail access to the procedure, most likely leaving one clinic and one doctor in the state to provide abortions. Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing the principal opinion, made it clear in his opening sentence that the Louisiana law was almost word-for-word identical to the Texas law that the court struck down in the Whole Womans Health vs. Hellerstedt case four years ago. As in the Texas case, the tribunal upheld a lower court's finding that requiring hospital admitting privileges would make it impossible for many women and arduous for most others to obtain a safe, legal abortion in Louisiana and would not make an already very safe procedure any safer. According to a comprehensive review of published studies, office-based abortion clinics reported a less than 0.5% risk of hospitalization after a first-trimester abortion, the most common type. However, there was plenty of evidence that getting admitting privileges can be difficult. Hospitals denied doctors privileges for reasons having nothing to do with their skills providing outpatient abortions. The court also found that the vetting for privileges added nothing to the vetting already conducted by the State Board of Medical Examiners. The Supreme Court has, yet again, made clear that it rejects the pretext that these laws are intended to protect womens health. Nothing could be farther from the truth. All these laws do and the court has said this is make it profoundly difficult to get an extremely safe and legal procedure. And that burden of difficulty falls hardest on those with the least means poor women and women of color and those who live in rural areas. Story continues You would think one ruling of the Supreme Court in 2016 would be enough to discourage abortion opponents from passing a law identical to the one the court threw out. But of course they were hoping that the court in 2020 with two new conservative justices would see the admitting privileges law differently. In fact, they did. Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh dissented from the majority. The surprise (somewhat) was conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. siding with the liberal justices even though he did not join their opinion. He made it clear, in his separate opinion, that he never supported the decision in the original Texas case, but that the Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons. Roberts is no champion of abortion rights, but he is a stickler for precedent and he noted that Louisiana's law could not stand given the Texas decision. And he did recognize the burdens that women face in states with restrictive abortion laws. (Louisiana's are among the most restrictive.) And that was heartening at a time when abortion rights are still under attack. Now that the Supreme Court has twice invalidated laws about admitting privileges, maybe abortion opponents will give up on this ruse. But these rulings are unlikely to stop what Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights, whose lawyers argued the Louisiana case, calls an avalanche of anti-abortion laws. Its appalling that nearly 50 years since the passage of Roe vs. Wade guaranteed a right to a safe, legal abortion and after landmark Supreme Court cases in 1992 and 2016 reaffirmed that decision women are still fighting to preserve their legal right to an abortion. The Womens Health Protection Act would guarantee a right to abortion and bar the onerous restrictions various states have placed on providers and patients. But that faces an uphill climb in Congress. We expect the courts everywhere to stop these attempts in their tracks and that is exactly what the Supreme Court did Tuesday. The race to secure Saudi Arabian digital talent will intensify in the coming years, according to ICT and human resources professionals in the kingdom. A study commissioned by F5 Networks and conducted by Think Positive indicates that organisations are still struggling to find talent integral to Saudi Vision 2030s digital transformation agenda. More than half (58%) of surveyed ICT and HR professionals across the country believe recruiting general ICT staff is a challenge, albeit one that can be addressed with measures like enhanced internal training and structured development programmes. For 77% of respondents, the availability of local professionals was a pressing challenge, while 95% cited a shortage of female candidates as a key issue to address. According to Think Positive, the Saudi ICT skills gap widens the more advanced technology gets. 86% of respondents agree it is difficult to locate cloud computing experts, and 82% said the same for cybersecurity. Talent deficits also exist for increasingly influential specialisms such as Security Operations (an issue for 91%), Network Operations (77%) and Development Operations (74%). There will be enormous competition for specialist talent as the Vision 2030 momentum picks up pace, said Mamduh Allam, Regional Director for Saudi Arabia and North Africa, F5 Networks. Organisations digital transformation requirements will drive the growth and use of applications, changing the way apps are developed, delivered, integrated, and even consumed. That also means changes to the way they are secured, scaled, and operated. Identifying, nurturing and developing the skills needed to make that happen has never been more important. Think Positives study follows F5s recent annual State of Application Services (SOAS) report, wherein 66% of surveyed EMEA organisations said they depend on applications to run their business the highest of any region worldwide. Nearly one in three (32%) believe that apps provide a strategic competitive advantage. The lack of available talent is a global challenge, but Saudi Arabia is in an enviable position to make rapid progress on the ICT talent development front. Strong, visionary leadership combined with a burgeoning population of tech-literate youth is a potent combination, added Allam. The power of Saudi Arabias human and technical potential is echoed by Think Positives findings. Last year, the Council of Ministers endorsed a five-year strategy for the communications and information technology sector. Saudi Arabias ICT Strategy 2019-2023 features 13 priorities aligned with the goals of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and linked to eight distinct programs. Key aims include a 50% increase in workforce localisation by the year 2023. It will also attract foreign investment and contribute to empowering women in the industry. At the same time, the region benefits from a young and connected population. Figures from the Saudi Arabian General Authority for Statistics show that 58,5% of the population is under the age of 30, whereas mobile subscribers stood at 43.8 million in 2019, representing a 129% penetration of the total population. At the same time, estimates cited in recent E&Y report (Unlocking the digital economy potential of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) shows that 5G penetration is set to grow at a remarkable compounded rate of 103% over the next decade. Last year, Saudi Arabia also climbed 16 places in World Economic Forums Global Competitive Index for ICT adoption, as well as topping the rankings for ease of doing business. Meanwhile, initiatives like the formation of the National Digitisation Unit are changing both mindsets and behaviours, digitising sectors, incubating innovation and creating jobs. Other notable new developments include the establishment of the Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and the National Data Management Office. Towards the end of 2019, the Council of Arab Ministers of Communications and Information Technology announced that Riyadh is set to be named the Arab worlds first-ever digital capital city. Todays specialisms are tomorrows norm. In the future, all organisations will operate with a digital-first mindset, said Allam. It is our collective responsibility to develop the talent required to make that happen. Businesses like F5 need to ensure they play influential roles both in terms of providing training and career opportunities, but also through collaborations with industry, educational institutions and government. F5 Networks is currently engaged in several knowledge transfer, educational and upskilling initiatives in the region. This includes working with a range of government ministries to provide specific training on F5 technologies critical to cybersecurity and business continuity. We are delighted to work with F5 to improve the technical skills of our engineers, said Nasser Al-Muqati, F5 Senior Consultant at the Saudi Arabian National Information Centers Applications Support Department. We embrace a consultative process that is specifically tailored to empower our IT team. There is no room for technological complacency when it comes to digital transformation, cybersecurity and delivering on Vision 2030. Partnering with companies F5 is an important element of ensuring our workforce is futureproofed, innovative and capable of delivering the world-class services expected by the kingdoms citizens. -- Tradearabia News Service Danny Lopez of Chino Hills and his date Frances Pluma of Norwalk wear face coverings as they stroll on the pier in Huntington Beach on June 26, 2020. (Raul Roa/Times Community News) We stand with Hugos Tacos. On Sunday, the Los Angeles business took the extreme measure of temporarily closing its two locations, in Studio City and Atwater Village, to give employees "a break" from verbal and physical abuse by customers outraged that employees were enforcing the law requiring face coverings. During the closure, the staff will strategize ways to reopen in a way that complies with rules to limit spread of COVID-19 as well as insulates employees from having to endure the misplaced hostility of defiant patrons. It was the responsible, if economically difficult, choice but its a situation that no business should be forced into. People who don't like the laws made by county and state officials to control spread of infection should not take it out on workers just trying to earn a living. Sadly, this is no isolated incident. Even as coronavirus cases are rebounding in many U.S. states, this same conflict is playing out in grocery stores, in restaurants, on busy streets and in other public places as people confronted for violating rules regarding wearing face masks or social distancing protocols lash out with unusual vitriol. A store owner in rural California summed up the sentiment behind this defiance of scientifically sound measures and disregard for civic responsibility: The deal is, you have no right to tell me I have to wear a mask. Im an American. ... I refuse to bow to anybody. Hes wrong about that. Authorities do have the right, not to mention the responsibility, to require that Americans refrain from actions that endanger the lives of others. Some people may enjoy driving while drunk, and feel it is their God-given right to do so, but because so many drunk drivers have caused injury and death to others it is not permitted. But more importantly, he is wrong about refusing to bow down to others. That's a crude way to put it, but being an American is not an excuse. It is the reason he should observe the laws and help others. That's just part of the deal of living in a modern civil society. Story continues If the U.S. ever needed a reminder of the importance of the social contract that binds us to one other, it is now, as a new virus is raging through the land and civil discourse is so raw and ugly that there is open defiance of even the most simple protective measures. How hard is it to wear a face covering while ordering tacos, especially if it might save the life of a neighbor? Americas deep-seated spirit of rugged individualism seems to have metastasized into a cultural cancer that promotes distrust of any type of authority and disdain for fellow humans. And it may well doom the U.S. to a longer, deadlier and more economically destructive outbreak than we've already endured. There are signs of that already as several governors have stated backtracking on reopening plans as infection rates rise. The Republican governors of Texas and Florida, who resisted shutting down businesses in the early days of the pandemic, closed bars and other businesses last week after record rates of new coronavirus cases. In California, one of the states where COVID-19 cases are spiking, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, ordered bars closed in seven counties including Los Angeles. If things get worse, more counties and more types of businesses might be shut down. That's not just harmful for the people who get sick; it harms the economic stability of communities and, by extension, the entire nation. In his inaugural address in 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued a call to public service and sacrifice. My fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. That message of putting the public good ahead of one's own personal desires has never resonated more strongly. And as we head into a holiday weekend when people may be tempted to proclaim their individual freedom to throw off the uncomfortable mask and revel in a crowd of strangers, we hope they will imagine what Kennedy, or someone of equal stature, might have said if he were president today: United we can stand against the virus. Divided we all fall. Combination of two leading EMS providers offers customers global reach, expanded scale, geographic flexibility and end-to-end product life-cycle support SALEM, N.H., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Principals in DataED and Bestronics announced today the merger of the two leading global EMS providers to form Emerald Electronics Manufacturing Services (Emerald EMS). Emerald EMS is a high-tech contract manufacturing and design firm with global, cost-effective, and high value manufacturing solutions servicing high-reliability end users in the industrial controls, semiconductor, utilities infrastructure, aerospace/defense and medical sectors. Emerald will offer its customers integrated manufacturing services, including prototyping, new product development and testing, volume production, supply chain management, direct order fulfillment and end-of-product life cycle management with superior quality, advanced technology and exceptional service. Domestically, the company will have a bi-coastal footprint, with two manufacturing facilities located in Boston's "high-tech corridor," including a dedicated New Product Introduction facility, and two more, including a dedicated box build facility, in San Jose, the heart of California's Silicon Valley. Additionally, the company has two manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen, China. Vic Giglio, President of DataED, will serve as CEO of Emerald EMS, and Nat Mani, CEO of Bestronics, will serve as President of the new company. Both executives said the new company is optimally structured to meet their customers' growing technical and capacity needs, while continuing to execute upon its strategic growth initiatives, both organically and through acquisition. "DataED and Bestronics have grown to develop outstanding reputations and relationships in their current networks, and therefore, will continue to operate day-to-day under their current brands," Giglio said. "Emerald will serve as the platform for which our current global footprint, and all future locations, can share resources, knowledge, and best practices. As a result, Emerald EMS will offer our customers expanded capabilities, increased geographic flexibility, and complete product life-cycle supportfrom concept, through design and manufacturing, to maintenance and phase-out." Story continues "One thing that distinguishes Emerald is the closeness and longevity of our customer relationships," Mani said. "With this combination, we are able to offer our long-standing customers both the immediacy of domestic design, testing and manufacturing capability, and expanded global reach as their needs change." DataED and Bestronics joined New Water Capital's portfolio of companies with recapitalizations of both companies in November 2019, as New Water pursued new strategic investments in the EMS sector. "At New Water, we aim to support and invest in businesses with enduring value propositions," said New Water Capital partner Brian McGee. "Emerald EMS is uniquely well positioned, offering both global scale and geographical flexibility, to support the 'smart' electronics products that are increasingly permeating nearly every sector of the economy and our society." About Emerald EMS With design and manufacturing facilities in Silicon Valley and Boston's high-tech corridor, as well as in Shenzhen, China, Emerald EMS specializes in high mix, low- to medium-volume manufacturing for high-reliability markets in the Medical, Aerospace/Defense, Industrial Controls, Semiconductor and Utilities Infrastructure sectors. Emerald EMS offers facilities and trained staff supporting electro-mechanical and system assembly, reliability, precision touch-ups, in-circuit and functional tests, rework and failure analysis, complex repair depot services, final test, integration and box builds, a wide variety of sophisticated SMT placement, and clean room assembly and packaging capability. For more information, please visit www.emeraldems.com/. About New Water Capital L.P. New Water Capital L.P. is a private equity firm focused on lower-middle market companies in the consumer, retail and industrial manufacturing and services sectors, with revenues of $30 million to $300 million. New Water Capital's collaborative transaction and operating model is built specifically to support companies in transition, building on their unique cultures and strengths. For more information, please visit www.newwatercap.com . CONTACT: Bonnie Osborn bonnieosborn@comcast.net 916-212-9110 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/electronic-manufacturing-service-providers-dataed-and-bestronics-merge-to-launch-emerald-ems-301085782.html SOURCE New Water Capital, L.P. Lilly could build upon their existing payer relationships to construct favorable migraine portfolio contracting and position Reyvow as the preferred acute treatment for patients concurrently treated with calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibodies - a growing segment of the population EXTON, Pa., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of companies active in the migraine space continues to expand, with Biohaven and Lundbeck providing the newest additions following their respective launches of Nurtec ODT and Vyepti. However, only AbbVie and Eli Lilly offer multiple options for both the acute and preventive treatment of migraines. While AbbVie's Botox and Eli Lilly's Emgality are both executing well in the preventive segment, AbbVie's Ubrelvy consistently outperforms Eli Lilly's Reyvow in the acute segment, according to the most recent quarterly report included in Spherix's RealTime Dynamix: Migraine (US) service. Invest In Intelligence That Delivers The report, which collected the responses of 101 migraine specialists and neurologists in the United States surveyed between May 18th and May 22nd, found that reported Ubrelvy share has more than doubled over the past three months, while Reyvow share has remained almost flat. In addition, the Ubrelvy prescriber base is now twice that of Reyvow, although both brands were launched in January. Perhaps more concerning for the Lilly brand, physicians now estimate fewer of their patients to be appropriate candidates for Reyvow compared to last quarter a trend which is going in the opposite, more favorable, direction for Ubrelvy. Reyvow's opportunity within the migraine market appears to be weakening due to strong acceptance of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists or gepants (i.e., Ubrelvy and Nurtec ODT), as well as concern over potential safety and tolerability issues associated with the brand. Compared to the gepants, few physicians perceive Reyvow to offer a substantial advance over triptans, historically the standards of care and still the first- (and often second-) line treatment for acute control of migraines. Story continues With the new therapies relegated to patients who are covered by the medical necessity clause (i.e., contraindicated for or have previously failed triptans), it is especially notable that physicians are less likely to prescribe Reyvow to patients who are contraindicated for triptan use compared to its competitors. Reyvow reluctance appears tied to the brand's risk profile, with long-term safety profile, driving impairment, and dizziness among the most common barriers to greater uptake. AbbVie looks to be benefiting from increased familiarity, patient support programsincluding their Upscript collaboration to support Ubrelvy access through telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemicand patient requests. While face-to-face interactions have been greatly curtailed in light of the coronavirus, one-third of physicians have participated in some form of personal Ubrelvy engagement with AbbVie representatives over the previous month. These engagements appear effective, as lack of familiarity has decreased significantly as a barrier to brand adoption compared to the previous quarter. In addition, recently detailed physicians are more likely to recall discussing patient support services, such as the Upscript partnership, compared to three months ago. While Ubrelvy lags behind Nurtec ODT on telemedicine platform awareness and use, many recent Ubrelvy prescriptions were prescribed following remote evaluation. Highlighting the importance of patient engagement, physicians are increasingly likely to not only report receiving patient requests for Ubrelvy, but also to start these patients on the brand compared to in February. Conversely, Reyvow has remained flat or declined on these metrics. Digging into the most recent Spherix data, some glimmers of hope for Lilly and Reyvow do emerge. Current prescribers report that significantly more Reyvow-treated patients are concurrently treated with CGRP monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for prevention compared to patients treated with the CGRP receptor antagonists. The manufacturer has an opportunity to position Reyvow as the most appropriate acute treatment option in the growing pool of patients being treated concurrently with Amgen/Novartis' Aimovig, Teva's Ajovy, Lundbeck's Vyepti, or Lilly's own Emgality for migraine prevention. In addition, slightly fewer prescribers have experienced extremely difficult payer approval processes with Reyvow, which was an early and impactful differentiator for Emgality from its competitors, suggesting that Lilly could benefit from constructive migraine portfolio contracting with payers. Similarly, not all is rosy for AbbVie and Ubrelvy, with Biohaven's recently launched Nurtec ODT proving to be a formidable adversary. Out of the gate, Nurtec ODT is gaining a greater share of its recent business from Biohaven's telemedicine platform collaboration with Cove compared to the AbbVie and Upscript partnership. In addition, physicians are more likely to believe that Nurtec ODT performs better than Ubrelvy on effect duration and less redosing need, providing a rationale for the greater willingness to use the Biohaven therapy in patients with migraine recurrence and those who overuse or re-dose acute migraine medications. All told, Nurtec ODT has already garnered a slightly higher reported share among patients treated with an acute therapy compared to that obtained by Ubrelvy in the first quarter postlaunch, and the prescriber bases for both gepants are anticipated to be similar by year's end. In the future, AbbVie and Biohaven are also positioned to compete directly within the preventive segment of the migraine market. While AbbVie's atogepant is top-of-mind as a late-stage pipeline therapy for few physicians, those with at least moderate familiarity tend to be extremely interested in the gepant, impelled by a desire for a greater number of therapeutic options and its familiar CGRP receptor antagonistic mechanism of action. For Biohaven, after a positive March readout of the pivotal rimegepant prevention trial, the company plans to submit an sNDA for preventive treatment with Nurtec ODT, which could result in the first dual-indication label for migraine. Data suggest that, if atogepant and Nurtec ODT receive favorable regulatory decisions, the migraine prevention landscape would drastically change over the next two years, with oral anti-CGRPs capturing an estimated half of the anti-CGRP class share, primarily at the expense of the existing subcutaneous CGRP mAbs. About RealTime Dynamix RealTime Dynamix: Migraine (US) is an independent service providing strategic guidance through rapid and comprehensive quarterly reports, which include market trending, launch tracking, and a fresh infusion of unique content with each wave. The 9th wave of research will publish in September 2020. About Spherix Global Insights Spherix Global Insights is a hyper-focused market intelligence firm that leverages our own independent data and expertise to provide strategic guidance, so biopharma stakeholders make decisions with confidence. We specialize in select immunology, nephrology, and neurology markets. All company, brand or product names in this document are trademarks of their respective holders. For more information contact: Kristen Henn, Business Development Manager Email: info@spherixglobalinsights.com www.spherixglobalinsights.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eli-lillys-reyvow-struggles-to-gain-ground-in-the-acute-segment-of-the-us-migraine-market-overshadowed-by-abbvies-ubrelvy-and-biohavens-nurtec-odt-according-to-spherix-global-insights-301085575.html SOURCE Spherix Global Insights Officers brought McClain to the ground and used a carotid hold, which restricts blood to the brain to render someone unconscious: CBS Three police officers from Aurora, Colorado have been put on paid leave after a photo emerged that shows them posing in the spot where Elijah McClain was killed by police. The 23-year-old, who was described by his family as "gentle", died in August 2019 after being stopped by police on his way back from the shop after someone called police about a "suspicious" person in the neighbourhood. The city's interim police chief, Vanessa Wilson, said the department became aware of the photos when another officer reported them to the department's internal affairs division. According to Ms Wilson's statement, "multiple Aurora police officers were depicted in photographs near the site where Elijah McClain died". "Thursday afternoon, I was apprised of allegations reported to Internal Affairs by an Aurora Police Officer alleging multiple Aurora Police officers were depicted in photographs near the site where Elijah McClain died," she wrote. "All involved officers were immediately placed on administrative leave with pay in non-enforcement capacities." Ms Wilson said she then ordered Internal Affairs to begin an investigation, which she said was completed on the evening of 29 June. "This investigation will be publicly released in its entirety promptly upon its conclusion. This will include reports, photographic evidence obtained, officers' names, and my final determination which can rise to the level of termination," she wrote. Until the photos are released with the department's report, it is unknown what the officers were doing at the site of Mr McClain's death. However, CBS Denver reported the photos show the officers allegedly reenacting the chokehold that was used on Mr McClain before his death. Mr McClain was arrested on 24 August, 2019, when someone saw him and called the police on him, calling him "suspicious". Responding officers tackled Mr McClain and handcuffed him. He was unarmed and restrained, but responding officers put him in a chokehold. Paramedics then gave him ketamine to sedate him. Body camera footage from the arrest shows Mr McClain pleading for help, claiming he was having problems breathing. Story continues "I just can't breathe correctly," he said. On the way to the hospital, he went into cardiac arrest and died a few days later. The officers involved in his death were found to have not violated the department's policies and the district attorney overseeing the case decided not to pursue prosecution. NBC News reported that those officers - Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema - have been removed from patrol duty for their own protection. Mr McClain's death has received newfound attention in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breona Taylor. Protests against systemic racism and police brutality have been under way across the country for weeks. Aurora police recently broke up a violin vigil honouring Mr McClain during which officers pepper sprayed attendees. The city's mayor announced it would hold a special city council meeting to discuss the department's use of force. "The tragic death of Elijah McClain brought out many peaceful people over the weekend who want their voices heard, and unfortunately there were disruptions that overshadowed the broader message," Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said. "I look forward to working with City Council to understand more and make sure we are upfront and transparent with our residents." Read more Everything you need to know about Elijah McClains death Read the full article on Motorious Tesla's eccentric CEO has an enviable collection of cars that range from normal to over-the-top. If you were worth approximately $42 billion, the chances are you'd have an envious car collection, too. According to Forbes, Elon Musk is worth that much. The eccentric Tesla CEO is known for his love of spaceships and other things, but it only makes sense for the titan of a car company to also love, well, cars. The face behind the massive electric car brand loves his collection of cars and has also had his fair share of planes. Musk's worth doesn't make him the wealthiest man in the world, but it does land him in the top 40, an accomplishment to be proud of. One would rack up the moolah being an entrepreneur, philanthropist, engineer, and a space dude among other things, so the South African-born businessman surely can afford any car he sets his sights on without looking twice at his bank account. Musk, 49, is not stingy as he has a large family to look after including five children from his first marriage, his partner Grimes, and their young son, X A-Xii. Let's check out some of the rides that sit inside Elon Musk's car collection. 1920 Ford Model T imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Photo Released in October of 1908, the Ford Model T was Henry Ford's very first attempt to build and mass produce a car to offer to the public. The most influential car of the 20th century, the Model T was a gift to Musk from a friend, which makes sense as an influential car to an influential man. The Ford Model T was just $850 when it was released. 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Phil Talbot / Alamy Stock Photo Before Musk moved to Canada in 1988, he was 17 and fell in love for the very first time. No, this isn't about a relationship, but it was at this point in time that he was given a book of the greatest classic convertibles ever made. The one I liked the best was the E-Type and I said, Well, if I can ever afford it, that is the car I am going to get. And so thats why I bought it. Musk launched his first company in 1995 called Zip2, a software business. Some of the capitalist investors gave Musk a healthy $40,000, and he spent most of that dough on a E-Type, a car that was so unreliable that it broke down on the way home from the dealership where he purchased it. He still owns this Jaguar E-Type. Story continues 1976 Lotus Esprit Wet Nellie Danjaq/Eon/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock Back in 2013, a representative for Elon Musk entered a building to bid on an iconic piece of James Bond memorabilia, a modified 1976 Lotus Espirit "Wet Nellie". Created by a Florida company for $100,000, the Lotus served a purpose as strictly an underwater prop in The Spy Who Loved Me. Musk shelled out almost $1 million for the Lotus, which was a prop as mentioned above and not a real amphibious car. "It was amazing as a little kid in South Africa to watch James Bond drive his Lotus Esprit off a pier, press a button and have it transform into a submarine underwater," said Musk. "I was disappointed to learn that it can't actually transform. What I'm going to do is upgrade it with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real." 1978 BMW 320i Car Collection / Alamy Stock Photo A 1978 BMW 320i was Elon Musk's very first car. It was the first version of the BMW 3 Series that was unveiled in 1975 at Munich's Olympic Stadium. With it's distinctive kidney grille and ready-to-please fuel-injected 2.0-liter engine, the car could sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in ten seconds and could top out at 112 mph. When it first debuted, the car took off in popularity in Europe and was finally available in the United States in 1977. Back in 1994, Elon Musk bought a used 1978 BMW 320i for just $1,400, and one of the wheels fell off the car after a few of his Zip2 interns occupied the car as they ran a few errands. That may have cost a few dollars to get the BMW fixed up, but that would soon be chump change after Musk sold his company and received $22 million for his 7 percent. 1994 Aero L-39 Albatros Jan Kouba For an eccentric man is the love for anything eccentric with wheels. In Musk's collection is an Aero L-39 Albatros designed by Aero Vodochody in the 1960s, and made its debut with the Czech military in the early 1970s. "Probably the most fun plane I have is a Russian fighter jet," Musk said. "It has a Czech air frame, a Ukrainian engine, Russian avionics. It's what they used to train their fighter pilots on, so it's incredibly acrobatic." Literally, it was just like in Top Gun, he tells GQ. "You're no more than a couple of hundred feet above the ground, following the contour of the mountains. We came up to a mountain, did a vertical climb up the side of it, inverted. Turned upside down. Yeah, that was fun. It's like a roller coaster. Only you go much farther up and down. But your butt hurts if you fly in it for more than an hour. The seats are really hard." 1997 McLaren F1 Dave Adams / Alamy Stock Photo The best car ever to exist in Musks's opinion is the McLaren F1. When he first sold his company, he was faced with the decision of buying a house in Palo Alto or pulling the trigger on a McLaren F1. He went with the latter. According to Musk, the decision was no contest. With the funds he received from Zip2, he purchased the supercar along with a small condo, with the condominium much cheaper than his vehicle of choice. A rare car to behold, only 106 McLaren F1s were ever made with Musk buying number 067 which was just one of seven imported to the United States in 1997. Given a top speed of 240 mph, Musk claimed to have urged the hypercar to 215 mph on a private runway. Used as one heck of a commuter car, Musk would drive the McLaren on his trips from LA to San Francisco. Musk didn't even bother with insurance as he thought he would never be someone who wrecks a McLaren F1, but the impossible sometimes does happen and Musk wrecked the car after heading to an investment meeting with his friend Peter Thiel. At that point, the car only accumulated 11,000 miles. Nobody was injured, except the McLaren suffered quite a bit of damage. At this point in time, Musk was the founder of a X.com, a payment company, that was merged with Confinity (which would become PayPal). The giant virtual auction site eBay bought Musk's company back in 2002 which paid Musk a stout $165 million which certainly helped repair the F1. Musk eventually sold the car in 2007 and made a profit. 2006 Hamman BMW M5 GQ Hamman is a BMW-tuning specialist that turned an already-incredible M5 into something even greater. With a factory 5.0-liter V10 engine under the hood, Hamman was able to tap into the car and increase its horsepower rating to 603-brake-horsepower while also increasing the speed from 155 mph to an insane 199 miles per hour. The four-seater car was so fast that it may have helped Musk as he launched the Tesla Model S with "Ludicrous" mode. 2008 Tesla Roadster Dan Tuffs/Shutterstock Back in 2008, Tesla unveiled the first electric car known as the Roadster also known as project Dark Star. Utilizing lithium-ion batteries, the car sat on a Lotus Elise chassis and had a range of 227 miles. The Roadster was no slouch as it could launch from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a lightning quick 3.7 seconds, which was the same acceleration speed of a Lamborghini Gallardo at the time. The first person to own the Roadster was none other than Elon Musk who used the car as his daily driver for years. After it had served its driving duties everyday, Musk decided to send it off in Musk fashion. No, he didn't sell the car, but launched it into space aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018 with "Starman" sitting in the passenger seat. Of course, "Space Oddity" was bumping through the radio during this feat. You can still check out the Roadster's space journey at whereisroadster.com. Its just going to be out there in deep space for millions, maybe billions of years. Who knows? Musk said. "Maybe discovered by some alien race thatll be like, What were they doing? Did they worship this car? Why did they have a little car in the car? 2010 Audi Q7 VCG Back when Elon Musk was married to his first wife Justine, he had quite the large family after she gave birth to twins in 2004 and triplets back in 2006. At that point in time, Tesla was in the process of building a two-seater car, but Musk needed something a bit bigger to lug around his big family. Musk chose an Audi Q7, an SUV known for extreme luxury, although he wasn't super impressed with the substance of the vehicle. Launched in 2006, the luxury SUV was one of the most refined as well as one of the largest off-roading vehicles offered at the time, but the big problem was that the third-row seating wasn't easily accessible. Of course, Musk had a solution for the problem, and he added falcon wing doors to the Tesla Model X that allowed for easy access to the rear seats. This came in handy particularly in tight parking spots next to other vehicles. The Audi Q7 is particularly horrendous, said Musk. "Even in the best-case scenario, you need to be a dwarf mountain climber to get into the back seat." 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo Car Collection / Alamy Stock Photo Elon Musk has a strong love for the Porsche 911, an iconic German car that has been fine-tuned to perfection for decades. The Porsche 911 is still highly coveted and one of the top cars to own for a car enthusiast to this day. Musk's one issue with the Porsche 911 was the engine's strong thirst for gas. In 2003, Musk met up with engineer JB Straubel to discuss ideas for future technology, and his ears perked at the thought of cars that were powered strictly by battery. Straubel had been working closely with Alan Cocconi, a man who successfully made a prototype electric car called the T-Zero. Musk was enamored and tried to buy it. When Cocconi refused to sell the car, Musk asked if he could turn his 911 into an EV car. "Put a lithium-ion pack in my car," Musk begged Cocconi. "I have a Porsche. You can take the guts out of it and make it an electric. I'd be willing to pay you up to a quarter-million dollars." Cocconi still wouldn't take the bait, but he did point Musk in the right direction by getting him in touch with a few people who had an e-car company of their own, a company known now as Tesla. Musk paid $30 million to get involved, and well, we all know how this turns out. Still unsure of whether the Porsche was turned electric. 2019 Tesla Model S Performance GQ Musk was asked which car he drives the most, the answer is his Tesla Model S. This four-door electric car sits up to five people, and it can sprint from 0 to 62 mph in less than 3 seconds thanks to the "Ludicrous" mode launch system. Called a "game-changer" by Top Gear magazine, the Tesla Model S is said to be getting a powertrain upgrade that will top Ludicrous mode. Those who are fans of Spaceballs by Mel Brooks should be familiar with the term "plaid". 2020 Tesla Cybertruck We are all familiar with the Cybertruck recently introduced by Tesla with its big, blocky design that looks like it came straight from the future. Tesla's new EV truck sits 6 people, has a range of 500 miles, and is made of hard 30x cold-rolled stainless steel and armored glass that doesn't break unless hit with extreme force. We would say unbreakable, but Musk was embarrassed during the vehicle's introduction when the glass was actually shattered by a metal ball. Some believe the vehicle is just hyped up by Tesla, but Musk did drive the Cybertruck prototype to dinner at Nobu in Malibu just last year along with his partner, Grimes. Over 200,000 people already put down $100 deposits to secure their very own EV Cybertruck pickup. While others may laugh at the truck, Tesla raised $20 million during the Cybertruck process. That concludes the list of Elon Musk's car collection that ranges from normal vehicles to over-the-top, and of course, with a few Tesla vehicles sprinkled in the mix. Source: GQ Sign up for the Motorious Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. ONTARIO, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of commercial flights through Ontario International Airport (ONT) is expected to increase in July, the third straight month airlines will restore flights to their schedules at the Southern California airport. The number of commercial flights through Ontario International Airport (ONT) is expected to increase in July, the third straight month airlines will restore flights to their schedules at the Southern California airport. Based on current airline schedules, ONT will have average daily departures of 44 in July, more than the 37 in June and 24 in May. While the number of July flights is approximately 38% lower than July last year, it represents a significant improvement since April when the global coronavirus pandemic led to sudden and dramatic decreases in passenger volume of 90% or more at airports around the world. A noteworthy development is the resumption of Delta Air Lines' nonstop service to its Atlanta hub. "We are pleased to see demand for air travel returning and, while increases in recent months may be modest, we are encouraged by the emerging trend," said Mark Thorpe, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority. "Airports across the U.S. took a real gut punch in April, but we have worked hard at Ontario to maintain facilities and enhance many services with an eye toward the day when our customers resume more normal travel routines." To accommodate the return of passengers, Parking Lot 3 will reopen on July 1. Thorpe reiterated that all customers, visitors and employees must wear appropriate face coverings while at ONT and onboard flights. The airport continues to utilize enhanced safeguards to keep facilities clean and germ-free, including frequent sanitizing of high-touch surfaces with highly effective disinfectant and security screening trays treated with powerful antimicrobial technology. Passengers are also reminded to wash hands with soap and water frequently and use the many hand sanitizing stations that have been added throughout ONT terminals. In the meantime, Parking Lot 3 the summer drive-in movie series continues at ONT in July with showings of "The Sandlot" (July 3), "Princess Bride" (July 17) and "Napoleon Dynamite" (July 31). These movies are being shown in Lot 5 at the airport. Story continues About Ontario International Airport Ontario International Airport (ONT) is the fastest growing airport in the United States, according to Global Traveler, a leading publication for frequent fliers. Located in the Inland Empire, ONT is approximately 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in the center of Southern California. It is a full-service airport which, before the coronavirus pandemic, offered nonstop commercial jet service to 26 major airports in the U.S., Mexico and Taiwan. More information is available at www.flyOntario.com. Follow @flyONT on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram About the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) The OIAA was formed in August 2012 by a Joint Powers Agreement between the City of Ontario and the County of San Bernardino to provide overall direction for the management, operations, development and marketing of ONT for the benefit of the Southern California economy and the residents of the airport's four-county catchment area. OIAA Commissioners are Ontario City Council Member Alan D. Wapner (President), Retired Riverside Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge (Vice President), Ontario City Council Member Jim W. Bowman (Secretary), San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman (Commissioner) and retired business executive Julia Gouw (Commissioner). OIAA Media Contact: Steve Lambert, (909) 841-7527 slambert@flyontario.com Ontario International Airport (ONT) (PRNewsfoto/Ontario International Airport) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/encouraging-signs-for-travel-at-ontario-international-airport-in-july-as-more-flights-resume-301085576.html SOURCE Ontario International Airport Germany's foreign minister has called on all 27 countries in the European Union to "speak with a single voice" and unite against China's imminent national security law for Hong Kong. The move comes as the bloc's foreign policy and competition chiefs on Monday asked for "assertive" measures on Beijing's trade practices, with one of them calling China's technological supremacy a "matter of survival" for Europe. The Hong Kong issue arises at the same time the EU is urging China to finalise an investment agreement with Brussels. Under the treaty, China will open up its market to European firms. But the talks have progressed slowly, as China is reluctant to make concessions on state-owned enterprises. Outlining the German presidency of the EU Council, starting in July, Berlin's foreign minister Heiko Maas made no mention of the agreement, which the two sides said should be finalised by the end of the year. Instead, Maas made reference to China's action in Hong Kong, a day before the National People's Congress is expected to pass the security law. It is "indispensable for Europe to speak with a single voice to China," Maas told a conference at the European Council of Foreign Relations, a think tank. "This is all the more important now, given the need to investigate the pandemic and the increasingly robust action taken by China in Hong Kong and its neighbourhood." "For this reason, too, we should reschedule the EU-China summit as soon as possible," he said. The meeting was supposed to take place in September, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier announced that it would be postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview with major European newspapers over the weekend, Merkel made a similar point by calling for a common European approach to China. "The summit is forcing us to develop a joint European position vis-a-vis China. That is no easy task. We should develop a policy that reflects our interests and values," Merkel said, according to a transcript of the interview as published in The Guardian. "After all, respect for human rights, the rule of law and our concerns about the future of Hong Kong stand between China and ourselves and are addressed openly." Story continues Maas said the global health crisis also illustrated the problem of Europe's overreliance on Asian supply chains. "The fact that Europe now imports almost 90 per cent of all medicines the WHO considers essential from China or India illustrates where action is needed," he said, referring to the World Health Organisation. "Or just think of 5G, storage and information technologies, logistics, energy and the natural resource sector," he added. His EU counterpart, High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, shed light on the threat facing Europe if China's technological advancement went unchecked. "China is taking advantage of the industrial revolution of the future because they know very well that they were humiliated by the West when the West discovered this steam machine," Borrell said in another session at the same think tank's event. "And the steam machine of the future, they are fighting very hard to be the master of them. So we have to be assertive because it's a matter of survival for us " a matter of survival, not from the military point of view, but today the power is not just about who fights the better, but who controls technology, military and civilian." Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president of the European Commission responsible for anti-competition policy, says China's state-owned enterprises will have to abide by EU rules. Photo: Reuters alt=Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president of the European Commission responsible for anti-competition policy, says China's state-owned enterprises will have to abide by EU rules. Photo: Reuters Borrell's idea of setting up a transatlantic dialogue on China was approved by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, despite the EU's scepticism over siding too closely with Washington. A joint think tank report published on Monday said such a transatlantic partnership should focus on seven areas, including trade and investment concerns; China's technology challenge; the Belt and Road Initiative; human rights in China; China's influence activities; China and global governance; and challenges in the security arena. "Engagement can no longer be the only paradigm in framing policies towards China," according to the report published by the Asia Society's Centre on US-China Relations, the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the George Washington University China policy programme. Already, the EU has been focusing on the trade aspect. Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president of the European Commission, who is responsible for anti-competition policy, said on Monday that China's state-owned enterprises would have to abide by EU rules. "It cannot be that European businesses would have to compete against bidders who have foreign taxpayers picking up their bills," she said. "It's, I think, about being more assertive and recognising some of the competitive strengths of European businesses being able to compete on their own merits, while at the same time saying, now we want to see this competition [not] being rigged because of foreign subsidies," she said in her remarks. Under the EU's latest proposal, unveiled earlier this month, non-EU firms seeking to buy a stake of more than 35 per cent in an EU company with a turnover of more than 100 million (US$112 million) would have to tell the commission if they have received more than 10 million in state aid. Failure to do so could lead to fines or a veto of the deal, and the buyers could have to sell assets to make up for any unfair advantage gained. Companies already present in the EU could be forced to report foreign subsidies to the commission if they exceeded 200,000 over three years. 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. Click here to read the full article. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been waiting for this moment for a long time. The top U.S. diplomat began his term in office in May 2018 by pulling out of the JCPOA, a 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers over the Iranian nuclear program. And he is heading into Election Day with a move that could kill the deal on a global scale. Pompeo has been hinting for months that the United States wants to restore United Nations sanctions on Iran. He formally set the process in motion last week, just in time for a biannual UN Security Council meeting on the JCPOA scheduled for June 30. The video meeting followed a familiar pattern. The United States claimed that the JCPOA has failed to clamp down on Irans rogue activities. Iran and its allies accused the United States itself of being a rogue actor that tramples on international law. The European nations urged restraint on both sides, warning that any move to kill the JCPOA would be dangerous. But it was the first time all three sides had a chance to duke it out directly. If Pompeo was hoping to build an international consensus against Iran, the meeting was a disappointment. Many representatives at the meeting placed Iran and the United States on the same level, portraying both sides as threats to diplomacy. Germany accused the Trump administration of violating international law, and even the United Nations own undersecretary-general criticized Pompeos decisions. Pompeo focused his own comments on the UN arms embargo against Iran, which is set to expire in October, but could be extended if the Security Council snaps back sanctions. The United Nations confirmed earlier this month that Iranian weapons were used to attack Saudi oil facilities last year, and that someone in Iran has been illegally shipping weapons to war-torn Yemen. The United Nations now has a chance to stand for international peace and security, as the United Nations founders intended, or let the arms embargo on the Islamic Republic of Iran expire, Pompeo said. The regime doesn't moderate when we lift sanctions or weaken accountability. In fact, it does just the opposite. Story continues If you fail to act, Iran will be free to purchase Russian-made fighter jets that can strike up to a three thousand kilometer radius, putting cities like Riyadh, New Delhi, Rome and Warsaw in Iranian crosshairs, Pompeo claimed. He was referring to Russias Su-30 fighter jet. Pompeo admitted on Twitterbut failed to mention in his UN speechthat the plane could only make it that far in a one-way flight. He appealed to U.S. adversaries as well, claiming that Iran's threat to the oil industry harms "nations like Russia and China that rely on stable energy prices." Chinas representative to the Security Council, Zhang Jun, wasnt buying Pompeos line. The root cause of current crises is the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA and reimposition of its unilateral sanctions, he said. Iran has clarified the defensive nature of its missile program on numerous occasions. Neither was Russian envoy Vasiliy Nebenzya, who accused the United States of pursuing regime change through its maximum suffocation campaign against Iran. This is like putting a knee to one's neck, he said, apparently referring to the death of African-American citizen George Floyd at the hands of police. What we get at the end is uncontrollable escalation with lasting implications for the international community. Pompeo had logged off before Nebenzya began his speech. But China and Russia were not the only countries to criticize U.S. actions. European Union representative Olof Skoog questioned whether Pompeo even had a right to call for sanctions snapback, as the United States had already left the JCPOA. In May 2018 the US announced that it was ending its participation in the JCPOA. This announcement was confirmed in a presidential memorandum, Skoog said. Since then the US has not participated in any meetings or activities within the framework of the agreement. And he criticized Pompeos decision to re-impose sanctions on companies working to convert Irans nuclear reactors to civilian use last month. These projects, endorsed by Security Council Resolution 2231, serve the non-proliferation interests of all and provide the international community with assurances of the exclusively peaceful and safe nature of Iranian nuclear activities, Skoog said. UN Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said the same thing: Pompeos new sanctions have impeded the ability of Iran and other member states to fully implement the JCPOA. German representative Christoph Heusgen went as far as accusing both the United States and Iran of lawbreaking. It is very unfortunate that the United States left the JCPOA and by doing this, and leaving, actually violating international law, the German diplomat said, but when someone runs a red light, and is violating the law, it's no excuse for another driver to also run the red light. Britain, France, and Germany all praised the JCPOA as a masterstroke of diplomacy, emphasized the danger of nuclear weapons, blamed both sides for violating the deal, and said that U.S. concerns with Iran should be handled within the JCPOA. The three countries had released a joint statement on June 19 claiming that U.S.-led snapback would be incompatible with our current efforts to preserve the JCPOA. Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, after all, said that the arms embargo was inseparable from the JCPOA. The Iranian diplomat had appeared at the end of the meeting in order to deliver Irans much-awaited response to Pompeos speech. Zarif claimed that Europes failure to shield Iran from U.S. sanctionsor to rebuke the United States diplomaticallyhad forced Iran to ramp up its own nuclear program in retaliation. And he accused the United States of punishing states and private citizens for not violating UN resolutions on Iran by enforcing its sanctions extraterritorially. Zarif also seemed to throw cold water on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's pledge to negotiate a stronger deal than the JCPOA, instead demanding more U.S. concessions. The United States must fully compensate the Iranian people for all damages it has inflicted upon them, Zarif said, as sanctions have irreparably harmed [Irans] economy and standard of living. Matthew Petti is a national security reporter at the National Interest. Follow him on Twitter: @matthew_petti. Image: Reuters. Click here to read the full article. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: It's an impressive system, but Russia could fear that releasing the S-500 would poach on the massive export success of the S-400. (This first appeared last year.) The much-vaunted next generation of Russian missile defense, the S-500 boasts a host of best-in-class performance features. The Triumfator is purportedly able to engage anti-ballistic missiles at six hundred kilometers, an improvement of two hundred km over the already-formidable S-400. The S-500s range is matched by its no less impressive ability to track and intercept up to ten missile warheads flying at a speed of over 4 miles a second, as previously outlines by a National Interest report citing Russian state news. Considerably less concrete information is available on the S-500s armaments suite. Initial leaks suggested modified NPO 9M82MD anti-aircraft missiles, but later reports have settled on the S-400s 48N6 line as the likelier prospect. As for anti-missile options, the S-500 is widely believed to feature specially designed 77N6 and 77N6-N1 missiles. Russian media and military experts believe that the S-500 will be the first missile defense system able to reliably target and neutralize fifth-generation stealth fighters like the F-35, a claim too early to meaningfully evaluate at this stage in the S-500s development cycle. The S-500 is a blow against American prestige, Almaz-Antey head engineer Pavel Sozinov told Russian media. Our system neutralizes American offensive weapons, and surpasses all of Americas much-hyped anti-air and anti-missile systems. The S-500 rests on impressive specifications and ambitious manufacturer claims, but not all is well in Russian missile defense paradise. Triumfator-M was first declared to be completed in 2011, with serial production to begin in 2014. That date was promptly pushed back to mid 2017, and then again to 2020. So, what accounts for these almost cyclical delays? The most immediate cause that springs to mind are development troubles, and for good reason; unexpected, costly technical hitches on the heels of wildly-optimistic deadlines are an all too common story in strategic weapons development. Story continues Russian sources remain tight-lipped concerning the S-500s development, let alone on any possible technical problems. Still, recent reports have offered an alternative explanation: The S-500 is virtually complete, but the Kremlin is dragging their heels for commercial reasons. That is, they are afraid that releasing the S-500 would poach on the massive export success of the S-400. Prospective clients may lose interest in the S-400 if they come to believe that its on the verge of obsolescence. Strategically vital clients like Turkey and India may very well be annoyed that they crossed major US diplomatic hurdles only to buy expensive S-400 systems that will be outdated by the time of delivery. Further compounding the problem, Russia will want to proliferate the S-500 among their own armed forces before offering it to foreign buyers. Concrete S-500 export plans remain a distant blimp on the horizon, an impossibility until 2021 even in the best of circumstances. The Kremlin therefore risks not only jeopardizing ongoing S-400 deals, but doing so with no immediate substitute to offer. By this line of reasoning, The Kremlin shot itself in the foot by revealing the S-500 too early, and is now stalling until the S-400 reaches the end of its market cycle. At a time when Russias preferred approach for defending beleaguered projects is to go on high-profile marketing offensives (See their recent documentary series on the Su-57 as a case in point), this theory explains why the Kremlin has been so uncharacteristically silent about the S-500. It also aligns with the underlying goals behind Russias arms export strategy: if they want to foster stable, long-term trade relationships with key buyers like Turkey, then they have to go out of their way to show that they stand behind their product. Mark Episkopos is a frequent contributor toThe National Interest and serves as research assistant at the Center for the National Interest. Mark is also a PhD student in History at American University. This article first appeared last year. Image: Russian servicemen sit in the cabins of S-400 missile air defence systems in Tverskaya Street before a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia April 29, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva Click here to read the full article. The number of billionaires globally rose strongly by 8.5% to 2,825 individuals in 2019, while their combined wealth was boosted by 10.3% to a total of $9.4 trillion more than reversing the previous years decline, says a report. The North America and Asia regions saw the strongest growth in billionaire numbers and collective net worth, says latest edition of the Wealth-X Billionaire Census 2020. Both regions enjoyed double-digit growth on both measures. There were below-average, but still healthy, gains in billionaire wealth in Europe, the Pacific and Africa. In contrast, wealth creation in the Middle East and Latin America and the Caribbean was subdued, with declines in the overall billionaire population. China recorded the strongest growth in billionaire population and combined wealth, according to the report. The US also showed robust growth and remains by far the dominant billionaire country, accounting for 28% of the global billionaire population. The top 15 countries are home to more than three-quarters of the worlds billionaires all but one (the UAE) recorded an increase in their billionaire population and cumulative wealth in 2019. Meanwhile, billionaires net worth has been affected significantly by the fallout from the Covid-19, says the report. Not all billionaires are created equal. The number of billionaires in technology, insurance, business services and healthcare grew by between 6% and 9% during the first five months of 2020 compared with 2019. Billionaires in shipping, apparel (including luxury) and aerospace experienced the worst performances during the period. Despite a loss of momentum in the global economy and a still turbulent geopolitical environment, financial markets saw a bullish performance on the whole. More than 10% of billionaires made a pledge in the fight against Covid-19 during January to May 2020. Other giving was in the form of non-monetary commitments or was made anonymously. Philanthropy is the favourite passion of many billionaires, followed by sports, aviation and politics. The wealthy, and the wealthiest in particular, have been expected to step up during this time of crisis. Billionaires pledging to the Covid-19 cause differ from billionaire major philanthropists. The former tend to be younger, wealthier and more likely to have created their own wealth largely a reflection of a significantly greater representation of those with technology as their primary industry. Major philanthropists tend to be older and are more likely to be attached to the banking and finance sector. TradeArabia News Service Click here to read the full article. Key Point: Rather than fully replacing the last generation of jets, the F-35 may best fit in as a complement to them. The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is estimated to be the most expensive weapons system in human history, based on its projected lifetime cost of $1.5 trillion dollars ($406 billion for the aircraft, the rest in lifetime operating costs)and thats before we factor in the endless cost overruns. One could argue there is a certain logic to this. The United States spends greater sums on the military than any other country (though some spend a greater percentage of GDP), and it has emphasized air power as its chief military instrument in recent decades. Additionally, different variants of the F-35 are prepared to equip the Air Force, Navy and Marines through most of the twenty-first century, and the type is also slated to serve in the air forces or navies of Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and Turkeywith more countries likely to join the list. However, the F-35 program has been notoriously mismanaged and perpetually over budget, and remains far behind schedule. The Pentagon was persuaded to pay for concurrent production of F-35s before it had been developed into a fully operational prototype; today Lockheed is shipping non-feature-complete F-35s, which will need to be expensively upgraded later when new components and systems are finally ready. Listing everything that was and continues to be wrong with the F-35 procurement process could be the subject of many articles. But at the end of the day, however mismanaged the program may have been, does the F-35 at least amount to a decent jet fighter? How Did the F-35 Come to Be? Back in the 1990s, the U.S. Air Force developed the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, which arguably still reigns as the top air-superiority fighter in service: it is fast, highly maneuverable and extremely stealthy. However, the Raptor was less optimized for ground-attack roles and deemed too expensive to build and operate to serve as a replacement of the Pentagons large inventory of fourth-generation fightersso production was cut to just 180 aircraft, 120 of which serve in operational units. Story continues The Navy and Marines also needed a new fighter, so the Pentagon committed to building a more multirole joint stealth fighter that would eventually replace the F-15, F-16, FA-18 and AV-8 Harriers serving in all four branches. The last time an interservice fighter-bomber was pursued, it didnt work out, but Lockheed and Boeing both gave their best shot anyway, and the former won the competition. The JSF was supposed to a more affordable stealth fighter that could also be marketed to friendly nations, unlike the Raptor. The trickiest requirement for the JSF was the Marine Corps insistence on making its version of the F-35 a jump jet. For historical reasons, the leathernecks want jets like the Harrier that can fly off smaller Marine-operated amphibious carriers or remote forward bases. However, the compromises needed to make them work leave them significantly inferior to conventional fighters. Lockheed actually acquired schematics for a prototype Russian jump jet called the Yak-41, and tried to make the most aerodynamic airframe possible. Sniper, Not a Sword-Fighter To cut a long story short, the additional weight and bulkier fuselage necessary to make the F-35B jump jet version left all variants of the F-35 saddled with performance thresholds that are objectively inferior to the fourth-generation fighters it is intended to replace. The F-35 has a maximum speed of Mach 1.6, compared to Mach 2 to 2.5 for the F-16 and F-15, respectively. Its service ceiling is fifty thousand feet, compared to sixty thousand for the other models. In 2015, the Air Force tested the F-35 in a short-range dogfight with an F-16D mounting external fuel tanks, and the test pilot complained that it was simply out-turned and less energy efficient than its more agile opponent. This critique doesnt mean that the F-35 is a terrible plane. In one post (scroll down for English), a Norwegian F-35 pilot praises its ability to maintain high angles of attack. Nonetheless, the Lightning remains less kinematically optimized for air-to-air combat than most fourth-generation fighters. The Air Force and Lockheed, however, insist that the F-35 isnt meant to engage in a within-visual-range dogfight in the first place. After all, low-observable aircraft are stealthier when they are more distant from adversariesand new beyond-visual-range missiles like the AIM-120D or British Meteor that can strike enemies up to a hundred miles away potentially allow an F-35 to sneak up on enemy aircraft and engage them with missiles without having to get close. Such a strategy is aided by the superior characteristics of U.S. Active Electronically Scanned Array radars. In this view of things, the F-35 would act as a sort of sniper in air-to-air engagements, stalking its prey from a distance until it has a good angle for a shot, releasing its weapons and then hightailing it for home before the (possibly faster, more maneuverable) enemy has a chance to come close enough to detect it and retaliate. And if more intense air battles are anticipated, then the more specialized F-22 could take some of the heat. No stealth fighter has ever shot down another jet in actual combat, and long-range air-to-air missiles have only been used a few times in action, so how the F-35 performs versus fourth-generation fighters depends a great deal on theory rather than operational experience. The Air Force feels this strategy has been validated by the results of repeated air combat exercises in which stealth fighters have racked up kill ratios as lopsided as 15:1 against faster, more maneuverable fourth-generation jets. And because of its low-observable characteristics, the F-35 can pick and choose when to engage and when to withdraw from a dangerous opponents in a good position. Of course, those exercises are only good predictors of performance if they are built around correct assumptions about air warfare will work out. A big question remains, concerning how high the hit rate will be for long-range air-to-air missiles, which have seen limited use in actual combat. An estimated hit rate of 50 percent may prove optimistic. Here, F-35 doubters may point out that the Air Force overestimated the hit rate of its air-to-air missiles during the Vietnam War, resulting in disappointing kill ratios when pitted against North Vietnamese fighters in that conflict. Critics also point out that stealth would not prevent an F-35 from being detected if an enemy got close, as stealth fighters begin to appear on X-band targeting radars once the distance is short enough. Furthermore, though optimized for minimal infrared signature, stealth fighters remain susceptible to detection by infrared-search and track (IRST) systems. Finally, the stealth fighters can be tracked using low-bandwidth radars, which are typically found on ground-based installations. Such radars lack the resolution to engage a stealth fighter with missiles from distance, but they could be used to direct intercepts by fighters, or to stage short-range ambushes with the targeting radars of surface-to-air missile systemsthe latter a technique used to down an F-117 stealth fighter over Yugoslavia in 1999. Another tactic could be to overwhelm stealth fighters with a swarm of lower-cost jets, accepting some losses while charging into the short-range envelope the F-35 is vulnerable ina tactic that caused the defeat of F-35s by inferior Chinese jets in a RAND Corporation simulation. F-35 proponents, in turn, are skeptical that the ability to pull off tight maneuvers is as useful as it once wasa view in sharp contrast to that of Russian aircraft manufacturers, which continue to produce super-maneuverable jets with vector thrust engines. American air-combat doctrine emphasizes maintaining a high energy state through speed, and altitude that can be traded for speed. Pulling off extremely tight turns may help dodge a missile, but usually at the cost of so much energy that the aircraft will have little speed and altitude left to evade a follow-up attack. Furthermore, modern short-range heat-seeking missiles like the American AIM-9X and Russian R-73 can target hostile aircraft through a helmet-mounted sight without needing to point the aircrafts nose at a target (though doing so still confers additional momentum, of course). Such missiles are believed to have hit probabilities as high as 80 percent, quite possibly making short-range dogfighting agility a moot issuethough an F-35 configured for stealth cant carry any AIM-9s. Insufficient Payload and Range? Theres another issue in play: can the F-35 carry a worthwhile payload? If a Lightning is to remain stealthy, it cannot carry external weapons, limiting it to just four (or, eventually, six) missiles carried in a stealthy internal-weapons bay, plus a twenty-five-millimeter cannon. This does not compare favorably to the eight to ten hardpoints on most fourth-generation fighters. This issue is even more salient when considering the F-35s ground-attack capabilities in stealth mode, amounting to 5,700 pounds of internal stores, leaving them at a deficit compared to the roughly fifteen thousand pounds or more of external stores that can be carried on U.S. fourth-generation aircraft. To be fair, Lockheed has advertised a nonstealthy beast mode configuration of the F-35 with sixteen wing-mounted bombs and missiles, allowing a full twenty-two-thousand-pounds payload. However, this configuration remains only hypothetical. Payload brings us to the matter of range. Once again, the F-35 cannot rely upon externally-mounted fuel tanks if it wishes to retain its stealthy radar cross-section. In compensation, the Lightning has longer range on purely internal fuel than most fourth-generation fighters. Unfortunately, this still means that both land- and carrier-based F-35s will need to be based within range of intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) that are quite capable of devastating airbases or sinking carriers. Mid-air refueling could help with this problem, but tanker aircraft too may be vulnerable to attack, unless the Navy chooses to acquire a stealthy tanker drone. The Pentagon remains optimistic about the F-35s ground-attack capabilities for a simple reason: they believe the F-35 will give it a convenient tool for penetrating increasingly deadly integrated air-defense systems without having to put together a huge strike package, including jamming planes, Wild Weasel anti-SAM aircraft, escort fighters and so forth. As discussed above, F-35s wouldnt be invulnerable to ground-based air defenses, but they would have an easier time slipping past and dismantling ground-based missile batteries with fewer support planes put at risk. New Paradigm of Networked Warfare F-35 proponents also emphasize that the F-35 is designed around new digital technology to an unprecedented level. It has sophisticated sensors that not only soak up copious data from the surrounding environment, but then funnel it back for use by friendly forces via high-capacity datalinks. F-35 pilots use state-of-the-art helmets that allow them to see through their own aircraft (which is good, as the canopy on the F-35 has poor visibility to the rear). The F-35s mission systems computer is designed to automatically download mission parameters, while its logistics computer can offload status reports for technicians through a proprietary encrypted system. Thus, in the F-35, the futurists of the Pentagon envision a new networked way of war, wherein each fighter will serve as much as a sensor node for a larger war machine as it does as a distinct weapons platform. Of the course, the flipside of seeing the F-35 as the apotheosis of a networked paradigm is that it may be more vulnerable to hacking attacks and other electronic warfare systems than any warplane before, potentially allowing for a Battlestar Galactica scenario in which a digital surprise attack leaves many of the stealth fighters compromised. Particularly unpromising is that Chinese hackers apparently broken into Lockheeds computers twice and acquired F-35 blueprintswhich may explain why Chinas J-31 Gyrfalcon stealth fighter bears more than a passing resemblance to the American stealth jet. All in all, the F-35s rising costs and mounting delays towards achieving full operational capability have caused the Pentagon to appreciably begin downsizing or delaying F-35 orders in the near term, and advance plans on keeping the older F-15, F-16s and FA-18 in service into the 2040s. For example, the Navy now plans on phasing in two squadrons of F-35s on its carriers alongside three squadrons of FA-18 Super Hornets. One can imagine a similar force mix of F-35s cooperating with F-15s, -16s and -22s. Rather than fully replacing the last generation of jets, the F-35 may best fit in as a complement to them by undertaking missions that take maximum advantage of its stealth characteristics and networked sensors. For example, F-35s could range ahead and ferret out the location of enemy fighters, radars and missile batteries. Then the data they gather could then be used to coordinate intercepts and attack runs by more heavily armed Eagle or Super Hornet fighters following in their wake, or even guide their missiles to their targets. The F-35 program has long been criticized as too big to fail, and that may in fact be true given the enormous resources already sunk into it. The Pentagon, and many other countries, are betting that the new (promising but not combat-tested) air-warfare paradigm will limit the impact of its shortcomings. However, due to mounting expenses, continual delays and breakdowns, and high operating costs, the Lightning is likely to serve alongside its predecessors for a long time to come. Sebastien Roblin holds a masters degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring. This article first appeared in April and is reprinted here due to reader interest. Image: U.S. Air Force / Flickr Click here to read the full article. The Federal Communications Commission has banned Huawei and the ZTE Coroporation from receiving federal funds because of the companies ties to the Chinese government. The ban prevents both companies from drawing on the FCCs Universal Service Fund, an $8.3 billion fund paid for by Americans via phone bill fees. The [FCC] has designated Huawei and ZTE as national security risks to Americas communications networksand to our 5G future, FCC chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. We cannot and will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to exploit network vulnerabilities and compromise our critical communications infrastructure. Both companies have been criticized by the U.S. for sharing data and information with the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly urged allies including Germany and the U.K. not to allow Huawei to develop local 5G networks. Additionally, Pentagon Defense Innovation Board chairman Eric Schmidt, a former CEO of Google, has said Huawei can essentially act as signals intelligence for the CCP. The CCP has gained footholds in countries around the world with Huawei and ZTE under the premise that they are independent companies, Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) said in a statement. The United States will not put US dollars in the communists pockets and todays decision shows that. This is good for our national security and for our shared fight against China becoming the worlds leading superpower. More from National Review MIAMI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ferraro Law Firm announced today that it is naming James Ferraro, Jr. and Marc Kunen as partners, and hiring Natalia Salas as trial counsel, effective July 2020. Since joining Ferraro Law in 2013, James Ferraro, Jr. has not only grown as a trial attorney, but has been instrumental to the firm's expansion into several high-profile mass tort areas, including, but not limited to, environmental litigation and pharmaceutical litigation involving harmful chemicals, opioids, and Zantac. Part of Mr. Ferraro, Jr.'s expansion initiative has involved representing municipal clients in both opioid and environmental litigation. Additionally, he has been involved in several multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. For example, in 2015, he served as co-lead counsel in Taylor v. Georgia-Pacific LLC (Miami-Dade County) and secured a $17,175,000 verdict. Mr. Ferraro, Jr. was also named to the list of "Top 40 Under 40" lawyers in South Florida. He currently sits on two different subcommittees within the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee in In re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams (AFFF) Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2873. Marc Kunen joined Ferraro Law as a law clerk in 2009, and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2011. Since that time, Mr. Kunen has tried numerous cases and recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for the firm. Within the last year alone, Mr. Kunen has secured verdicts in the amount of $70,102,000 in Thornton v. GEA Mechanical Equipment US, Inc., $2,854,159 in Hernandez v. Union Carbide Corporation, and $9,000,000 in Moure-Cabrera v. Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Kunen's $70 million verdict in Thornton was the third largest verdict in the State of Florida last year. Mr. Kunen's $9 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in February of this year was the first verdict against a talcum powder manufacturer in the State of Florida. Mr. Kunen has been named to the National Trial Lawyer's "Top 40 Under 40" for the last three years and has served on the Board of Directors for the Miami-Dade Trial Lawyers Association since 2016. Story continues "Both James and Marc have exceeded my expectations. They are both instrumental in the current success of the firm and a cornerstone for its future. We are proud to elevate them to partner status," said Jim Ferraro, Ferraro Law's founding partner. Ferraro Law is also is also pleased to announce the hiring of Natalia Salas. Prior to joining Ferraro Law, Mrs. Salas served as Assistant General Counsel for the University of Miami, in the areas of litigation, healthcare, data privacy, intellectual property, research, and technology transfer. From 2012 to 2018, Salas was Senior Counsel in the business litigation group of Foley & Lardner LLP, where she was recognized as a "40 Under 40" Outstanding Lawyers of South Florida. Mrs. Salas was the MDL law clerk for the Honorable James Lawrence King of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida from 2011 to 2012. She also worked as a litigation associate for Coffey Burlington, P.L. from 2007 to 2011. Throughout her career, Mrs. Salas has litigated a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters through trial and appellate levels, including, but not limited to, healthcare, intellectual property, real estate, and government enforcement actions. Mrs. Salas is an experienced litigator who will represent plaintiffs in both Federal and State courts and provide trial support to trial lawyers, preparing major trial-level motions and memoranda, with an emphasis on multi-district litigation. "Natalia has a stellar reputation as a litigator," said Mr. Ferraro. "She is a key strategic hire for Ferraro Law, particularly for our growing multi-district litigation practice. Her long track record of success and experience at the highest levels will greatly benefit our clients." Established in 1985, The Ferraro Law Firm has recovered billions of dollars handling a broad range of complex tort lawsuits, including dozens of multi-million-dollar verdicts, and in the process has successfully participated in some of the most important and groundbreaking cases and appeals in Florida legal history. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-ferraro-law-firm-names-two-new-partners-and-hires-university-of-miami-assistant-general-counsel-as-a-trial-attorney-301086233.html SOURCE The Ferraro Law Firm More people are having to pay for their fertility treatment in England. (Getty Images) Access to fertility treatment can be a postcode lottery, research suggests. A report by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) the UKs fertility regulator reveals the NHS funded 60% of therapies in Scotland, but less than 30% in parts of England in 2018. Read more: Freezing your eggs: everything you need to know Outside of England, NHS fertility funding is set nationally. In England, however, it is decided by local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), leading to considerable regional variation. Many CCGs have cut funding, resulting in just 35% of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments across England being covered in 2018, down from 41% in 2013. One expert called the figures hugely disappointing, emphasising the huge distress infertility can cause hopeful parents. IVF involves an egg being removed from a woman's ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg is then returned to the womb. (Getty Images) CCG criteria for funding may be strict In its report Fertility treatment 2018: trends and figures, the HFEA writes nearly half (45%) of all related therapies were covered in Northern Ireland. In Wales, just over two in five (41%) patients did not have to foot the bill themselves. England is the only devolved nation where the percentage of NHS funded IVF cycles has gone down. The east of the country has been hit hardest, with more than half (55%) of the cycles carried out in 2013 being covered by the health service, compared to just over a quarter (26%) five years later. Patients in Yorkshire and Humber have also seen support go from 45% to 26%. In Scotland and Wales funding has gone up, from 51% to 60% and 23% to 41%, respectively. Northern Ireland covered 45% of IVF cycles in both 2013 and 2018. Overall, around 2,000 fewer patients had their first round of IVF funded by the NHS in 2018 compared to 2017. Read more: Love Island star Amy Hart will 'definitely' freeze her eggs The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommends three cycles of IVF be offered on the NHS to women under 40 who have been trying to get pregnant through regular unprotected sex for two years, or who have had 12 cycles of artificial insemination directly inserting sperm into the womb. Story continues For women aged 40 to 42, Nice recommends one IVF cycle if they meet the above criteria, have never had in vitro fertilisation before, show no evidence of low egg numbers, and are aware of the risks of IVF and pregnancy at their age. The NHS warns, however, CCGs make the final decision and their criteria may be stricter than those recommended by Nice. Some insist on a woman not having children already, being a healthy weight and not smoking. Certain CCGs also only fund treatment for women under 35, while others only consider footing the bill in exceptional circumstances. If someone is ineligible for funded treatment, the cost of going private varies. A single IVF cycle could set you back 5,000 ($6,139) or more. This is often on top on the expense of medicine, consultations and tests. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Infertility is a serious medical condition In better news, the report reveals IVF birth rates have improved for patients under 43, with younger age groups particularly benefiting. In 2018, patients under 35 had a birth rate of 31% per embryo transferred, compared to only 9% when the HFEA was established in 1991. Patients between 40 and 42 also had a higher chance of a live birth in 2018 than those under 35 in 1991, at 11% per embryo transferred compared to 9%. Professor Adam Balen from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists praised this development, but added: What is hugely disappointing is the continued fall in NHS funded cycles. Infertility is a serious medical condition, resulting in huge stress and distress, and caused itself by a large number of different medical problems. Read more: Nurse gives birth after funding IVF with 1million lottery win Indeed, it is the second commonest reason for women of reproductive years to visit their GP. IVF is cost effective and has shown to be an economic benefit to society. Fertility treatments were one of many medical services forced to shut amid the coronavirus outbreak. NHS and private fertility clinics were instructed to stop all treatment by 15 April, with some closing their doors beforehand. They were allowed to reopen from 11 May, providing social distancing was in place. Our government made a special case for fertility treatments to restart as health services began to re-open during COVID restrictions, said Dr Jane Stewart from the British Fertility Society. COVID-19 is the respiratory disease that can be triggered by the coronavirus. It would be good to see proper funding backing up that support, added Dr Stewart. From Popular Mechanics You may have noticed a new series at the top of Netflixs most-watched list this week: Floor Is Lava, an extraordinarily silly, albeit endlessly watchable reality show based on the game you probably played when you were a kid. The premise? The floor is lava. If you fall in the lava, youre out. Thats literally it. On the hit show, of course, contestants dont dodge actual, fiery lava as they navigate tricky obstacles in pursuit of a $10,000 cash prize; instead, the slimy stuff is most similar to Panda Express orange sauce, according to producers . But just for kicks, lets say the lava in Floor Is Lava is, in fact, extremely real and extremely dangerous lava. This would raise the stakes considerably. If you were competing in this scenario, would you even stand a chance? To find out, we asked real volcanologists for their lava intel and hypothetical survival strategies. Spoiler: Youre much better off trying to steer clear of the orange sauce. What is lava, anyway? Basically, its partially liquid rock. Earths core can get so hotwere talking as high as 6,000 degrees Celsiusthat it melts rocks and minerals in the Upper Mantle, the layer about 30 to 60 miles below ground. But because different minerals melt at different temperatures, some of the rocks stay solid. The result is a super hot, thick, mostly liquid substance with tiny shards of rock and glass throughout. Just how hot is lava? That depends on the composition of the rock it comes from. Basaltic lava, for example, can reach up to 1,200 degrees Celsius because it contains lots of iron and magnesium, which melt at higher temperatures. Cooler lavas pack less iron and magnesium, so they arent hot enough to melt those elements in the surrounding rock. But the coolest (felsic) lavas are still around 800 degrees Celsius. That sounds like it would easily melt the rooms in Floor Is Lava. It sure would. Any type of lava would be hot enough to combust standard walls made of wood, which immediately bursts into flames at around 373 degrees Celsius. Even felsic lava could ignite obstacles made of wood, plastic, rubber, or similar materials. Each of those substances would melt if temperatures reached 300 degrees Celsius. At around 550 degrees Celsius, theyd ignite immediately. Story continues Photo credit: Netflix What if I was in an all-metal room? We see where youre going with this, and you might be safer. Some metalslike steel, platinum, or titaniumhave melting points that exceed 1,500 degrees Celsius. Walls made of those materials would stay intact. But metals are really good heat conductors, because some of the electrons inside can move freely. That means when the metal heats up, those electrons vibrate quickly, passing energy in the form of heat throughout the entire metalor into any unlucky fingertips that touch it. So you definitely wouldnt be able to shimmy along the wall or fling yourself onto, say, a metal spaceship. Is there any environment that wont automatically kill me before we even talk about falling into the lava? Actually, yes. The best way to keep the lava from melting or breaking the walls is to build the room out of rocklots and lots of rock, Janine Krippner, a volcanologist with the Smithsonians Global Volcanism Program, tells Popular Mechanics. Basically, the room would have to be constructed just like a volcanic crater, she says. While the lava would melt some of the rock, it would cool pretty quickly when its exposed to the (likely air-conditioned) air and wouldnt have enough time to melt through all of it. So lets assume the walls and obstacles in Floor Is Lava are made of super thick rock, or the producers have access to some kind of futuristic, heat-proof material that doesnt actually exist. You might be able to make it through the course if not for one small problem: your body is still going to burn. That would suck. Is there anything I can wear for protection? Certainly not the gym shorts that the Floor Is Lava contestants wear. While scientists can sport long-sleeve tees and pants to collect lava samples in 30-second spurts, theres no way in hellwhere, we presume, theres quite a bit of lavathat a human could survive volcanic temperatures for the 8 to 10 minutes it takes most athletes to complete the Floor Is Lava courses. Thats especially true if youre directly above the lava, hanging from something mounted to the ceiling. Since heat rises, the heat released by the lava would move straight up, cooking anyone trying to monkey-bar their way overhead like a rotisserie chicken. Youd get a third-degree burn in less than a second. So what should I wear to prevent that from happening? A heat-resistant outfit, for starters. George Kourounis has ventured down to the bubbling surface of several lava lakes as an explorer and adventurer for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He wears a full-body suit with an insulated inner layer and an aluminum coating that reflects the lavas heat away from his body. The inner layer is like a firefighters suit, he says; its made of a fabric like Kevlar that absorbs heat. The suit is coated in aluminum, a shiny metal thats bad at emitting heat. Aluminum looks shiny because it bounces lightand heataway rather than absorbing it. The suits coating reflects most of the lavas heat, and its inner layer absorbs more heat. But Kourounis says its still some of the most intense heat hes felt. [The suit] keeps you from getting burned, but it most certainly doesnt keep you cool, he tells Popular Mechanics. Youd probably survive wearing a suit like that, but only for a few minutes, which isnt enough time to make it to the exit in one piece. Shuffling around in a silver spacesuit is downright exhausting, and thats before you leap across platforms. Your body overheats and dehydrates inside the suit, Kouronis says, which makes you sluggish and clumsy. Plus, its hard to see with your helmet oneven more so while youre wearing a specialized gas mask. Wait, you didnt tell me about a specialized gas mask. Oh yeah, youll definitely need one of those, too, to avoid noxious gases or hot air scorching inside your lungs. Otherwise, the sulfur dioxide released from the bubbling lava would turn the watery fluid in your eyes mucus membranes into sulfurous acid. Is that worth $10k? Probably not. But hey, if I decide to do this anyway, is there anything else I have to worry about? Well, you should definitely hope the lava forms a crust. If the lava were a roiling liquid, it would give off so much heat that youd probably burst into flames as soon as you entered the room, says Kourounis. I dont want that. No, you dont. Lava at the surface cools at a few hundred degrees per second when it comes into contact with ambient air. If you set the thermostat in the room to any temperature at which humans could survive, the lava would quickly form a dark, silvery crust atop the hotter lava oozing below. Sometimes that crust is up to a foot thickenough to stand on, but its a dangerous gamble. The crust could break at any moment, plunging your foot into molten rock. What if I tried to pull myself free? Good luck. Even if you did, molten lava is pliable and sticky, like taffy. It would cling to your skin and burn your flesh down to the bone. Photo credit: Netflix Fun. On Floor Is Lava, the contestants sink quickly beneath the surface when they fall into the fake lava. Would that happen to me with real lava? Not quite. Youd actually stay near the surface, Jess Phoenix, a volcanologist and owner of the environmental nonprofit Blueprint Earth, tells Popular Mechanics. The density of lava is 3,100 kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3), which is about three times more dense than water. And since humans are made up of around 60 percent water, that means the lava is around three times as dense as you are. So in theory, youd float like oil on water. Has anyone ever fallen into a lava lake? Thankfully, noat least not as far as we know. But scientists have conducted experiments to simulate what would happen. When a water canister or organic matter is thrown into lava, it explodes and incinerates on impact, like Mentos in Coke. If you fall in, well youre the Mentos. And what would happen if I got splattered by real lava? You know, just in case? One of two things. The lava droplets would either cool and harden as they sailed through the air, and youd be hit by hot rocks. Or the lava would stay molten, in which case it would stick to you and burn through your clothes and skin until it cooled and hardened enough to fall off. Each outcome depends on how big and how hot the glob of lava is. In general, smaller droplets would cool faster and turn into solid rock, whereas larger globs would stay semi-liquid for longer. Best case scenario: You get pelted with a tiny piece of rock hot enough to burn your regular clothes or your skin. Worst case? The volcano spits a car-sized chunk of molten lava at you. So youre saying this is all a pretty bad idea. Yes. You Might Also Like As the United States prepares to celebrate its 244th birthday, this year's time-honored festivities, like barbecues, lawn games and fireworks, may look and feel a little different than usual for many. Amid a pandemic and social distancing concerns, smaller groups and fewer parties may mean more eyes from home will be looking toward the skies -- or the flatscreen TVs -- to see the annual firework displays. However, not every area of the country will enjoy an equally great view of the spectacular pyrotechnics shows. In New York City, the Independence Day celebration has been turned into a week-long affair with fireworks starting to light up the sky on Monday night and running through July Fourth on Saturday. In South Dakota, a firework display was launched over Mt. Rushmore for the first time since 2009, and President Donald Trump was in attendance. Annual shows in some major cities, like Washington, D.C., are still on, but the weather in other cities, such as Denver and Santa Fe, New Mexico, has forced planned events to be canceled. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has forced many other cities to shutter celebrations as well. For those cities still putting on events, read on to see how the weather and conditions may affect the celebration: In this Friday, June 19, 2020 photo, fireworks explode during Juneteenth celebrations above the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The Manhattan skyline is seen in the background. They light up the sky in celebration, best known in the U.S. as a way to highlight Independence Day. This year, fireworks aren't being saved for special events. They've become a nightly nuisance from Connecticut to California, angering sleep-deprived citizens and alarming local officials. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) Some places in the Northeast, like Boston, have canceled annual shows weeks ago because of the pandemic, but New York City went in the opposite direction and ramped up its celebrations to make this year's Fourth of July a weeklong event that aims to discourage people from congregating on one specific night. Story continues After daily showers and thunderstorms for much of the week, any festivities have the potential for interruptions this weekend as well. AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dean Devore stated: "Some models think it could be pretty nice this holiday weekend," referring to computer weather models meteorologists look at when formulating a forecast, but that "there are other models that there may be some chances of thunderstorms popping up in the afternoons and evenings. We'll have to wait to see how it plays out." Devore said more stormy concerns could arrive from a system moving through the Great Lakes. "There's a system that will come through the Great Lakes and bring just general thunderstorm and shower chances into the weekend," Devore said. "The concern is towards the weekend: Is enough of the system going to stamp itself out towards the Eastern Seaboard? We could get, in addition to daily thunderstorm chances, an enhancement of even more than that." Fireworks explode near the White House in Washington Saturday, July 4, 2009.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The annual fireworks extravaganza in the nation's capital famously draws large crowds and is one of the premiere fireworks shows in the country. While the crowds won't be as dense this year, the weather may make for a tough year for the spectators that do attend. AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures in D.C. will near the triple digits during the day and cool off only to the middle 80s during the evening hours. "D.C. will be one of those battlezones as we head into the weekend," Devore said. "There's a slight chance there may be some showers and thunderstorms in the area." In the Southwest, particularly in states that have already seen heightened wildfire risks, many locations are canceling fireworks plans due to drought conditions. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an executive order earlier this week urging New Mexico cities and counties to ban the retail sale of fireworks due to drought as the state face high risks of wildfires. According to The Santa Fe New Mexican, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service also have bans. Farther north in Colorado, most communities around Denver have also canceled fireworks shows due to a mix of coronavirus and wildfire risk concerns. Throughout the nation, Devore said residents should keep an updated eye on the forecasts as holiday plans may need to be shifted around with Mother Nature's plans. Android users and iPhone users can do that easily by using the free AccuWeather app, which offers minute-by-minute forecasts and fast delivery of severe weather alerts. "As your weekend plans evolve including fireworks or a trip to the beach, this will be one of those patterns where you'll need to continue checking in because the amount and frequency of thunderstorms can change by day and even times of the day," Devore said. "There may be some days where it'll be really nice in the morning and then get not so nice by the afternoon, or vice versa. So those are the kinds of things that people should keep checking back with us for as we get towards the end of the week." Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy repeatedly pushed influential Republicans on Tuesday to convince President Donald Trump to publicly wear a face mask amid the surging coronavirus pandemic, telling them that it would be a powerful symbol and set a good example. With the virus now raging through several Republican-led states, many conservative elected officials and leaders have openly supported mask-wearing to help stem the spread of the disease. On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence implored Americans to wear face coverings during an event in Texas, where new cases are exploding. The president, however, continues to refuse to don a mask in public, prompting Doocy to devote much of Tuesdays broadcast of Trumps favorite morning show to personally convince him otherwise. I wish the president would put on a mask every once in a while because it would make him look as if he is taking it seriously and is listening to the CDC, Doocy said in an interview with Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. Because they have made it very clear, and I know he is tested all the time, but the masks work. After McDaniel insisted that the president takes the pandemic incredibly seriously before pivoting to the presidents partial China travel ban, Doocy refocused the discussion back to pushing Trump to wear a mask. More states every day are mandating people, their citizens, to wear masks, and I think that if the president wore one, it would just set a good example, he declared. He would be a good role model. I dont see any downside to the president wearing a mask in public. He concluded his pitch to McDaniel by appealing to Trumps well-known love for branding and slogans. I think by wearing a mask you can keep the economy open, Doocy proclaimed. MAGA should now stand for Masks Are Great Again. Let me give you some marketing advice right there. Later in the program, Doocy continued to sell the idea of the president regularly wearing a face mask in public, this time to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Story continues What about the president? Hes made it clear he doesnt want to wear a mask, but his federal government says everybody should wear a mask, the veteran Fox host stated. Dont you think it would be a powerful symbol if the president of the United States would put on a mask and understand what so many people around the country are doing to try to slow down the spread of this thing? McCarthy mildly defended the president by saying hes worn a mask at times and that he supposedly practices social distancing when he speaks. At the same time, the California lawmaker said that face coverings are the best opportunity to keep the economy open. Doocy, meanwhile, pointed out that every Fox News employee must wear masks to enter the building, adding that he just doesnt see any downside in the president being seen more often wearing it. Its symbolic, he declared. Obviously, its patriotic because youre not only protecting yourself, youre protecting other people. Doocys remarks came the morning after Fox News host and Trump confidant Sean Hannity called on his viewers to wear masks in public. I was in the epicenter of this. I went to my grocery store every week. Guess what? They wore masks, Hannity exclaimed on his Monday night show. Nobody at my grocery store, thank God, got coronavirus. I think they work. 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. In the wake of George Floyds killing, there have been calls for defunding police departments and demands for the removal of statues. The issue of reparations for slavery has also resurfaced. Much of the reparations debate has revolved around whether the United States and the United Kingdom should finally compensate some of their citizens for the economic and social costs of slavery that still linger today. But to me, theres never been a more clear-cut case for reparations than that of Haiti. Im a specialist on colonialism and slavery, and what France did to the Haitian people after the Haitian Revolution is a particularly notorious examples of colonial theft. France instituted slavery on the island in the 17th century, but, in the late 18th century, the enslaved population rebelled and eventually declared independence. Yet, somehow, in the 19th century, the thinking went that the former enslavers of the Haitian people needed to be compensated, rather than the other way around. Just as the legacy of slavery in the United States has created a gross economic disparity between Black and white Americans, the tax on its freedom that France forced Haiti to pay referred to as an indemnity at the time severely damaged the newly independent countrys ability to prosper. The cost of independence Haiti officially declared its independence from France in 1804. In October 1806, the country was split into two, with Alexandre Petion ruling in the south and Henry Christophe ruling in the north. Despite the fact that both of Haitis rulers were veterans of the Haitian Revolution, the French had never quite given up on reconquering their former colony. In 1814 King Louis XVIII, who had helped overthrow Napoleon earlier that year, sent three commissioners to Haiti to assess the willingness of the countrys rulers to surrender. Christophe, having made himself a king in 1811, remained obstinate in the face of Frances exposed plan to bring back slavery. Threatening war, the most prominent member of Christophes cabinet, Baron de Vastey, insisted, Our independence will be guaranteed by the tips of our bayonets! Story continues Alfred Nemours Archive of Haitian History, University of Puerto Rico In contrast, Petion, the ruler of the south, was willing to negotiate, hoping that the country might be able to pay France for recognition of its independence. In 1803, Napoleon had sold Louisiana to the United States for 15 million francs. Using this number as his compass, Petion proposed paying the same amount. Unwilling to compromise with those he viewed as runaway slaves, Louis XVIII rejected the offer. Petion died suddenly in 1818, but Jean-Pierre Boyer, his successor, kept up the negotiations. Talks, however, continued to stall due to Christophes stubborn opposition. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter.] Any indemnification of the ex-colonists, Christophes government stated, was inadmissible. Once Christophe died in October 1820, Boyer was able to reunify the two sides of the country. However, even with the obstacle of Christophe gone, Boyer repeatedly failed to successfully negotiate Frances recognition of independence. Determined to gain at least suzerainty over the island which would have made Haiti a protectorate of France Louis XVIIIs successor, Charles X, rebuked the two commissioners Boyer sent to Paris in 1824 to try to negotiate an indemnity in exchange for recognition. On April 17, 1825, the French king suddenly changed his mind. He issued a decree stating France would recognize Haitian independence but only at the price of 150 million francs or 10 times the amount the U.S. had paid for the Louisiana territory. The sum was meant to compensate the French colonists for their lost revenues from slavery. Baron de Mackau, whom Charles X sent to deliver the ordinance, arrived in Haiti in July, accompanied by a squadron of 14 brigs of war carrying more than 500 cannons. Rejection of the ordinance almost certainly meant war. This was not diplomacy. It was extortion. With the threat of violence looming, on July 11, 1825, Boyer signed the fatal document, which stated, The present inhabitants of the French part of St. Domingue shall pay in five equal installments the sum of 150,000,000 francs, destined to indemnify the former colonists. French prosperity built on Haitian poverty Newspaper articles from the period reveal that the French king knew the Haitian government was hardly capable of making these payments, as the total was more than 10 times Haitis annual budget. The rest of the world seemed to agree that the amount was absurd. One British journalist noted that the enormous price constituted a sum which few states in Europe could bear to sacrifice. Forced to borrow 30 million francs from French banks to make the first two payments, it was hardly a surprise to anyone when Haiti defaulted soon thereafter. Still, the new French king sent another expedition in 1838 with 12 warships to force the Haitian presidents hand. The 1838 revision, inaccurately labeled Traite dAmitie or Treaty of Friendship reduced the outstanding amount owed to 60 million francs, but the Haitian government was once again ordered to take out crushing loans to pay the balance. Although the colonists claimed that the indemnity would only cover one-twelfth the value of their lost properties, including the people they claimed as their slaves, the total amount of 90 million francs was actually five times Frances annual budget. The Haitian people suffered the brunt of the consequences of Frances theft. Boyer levied draconian taxes in order to pay back the loans. And while Christophe had been busy developing a national school system during his reign, under Boyer, and all subsequent presidents, such projects had to be put on hold. Moreover, researchers have found that the independence debt and the resulting drain on the Haitian treasury were directly responsible not only for the underfunding of education in 20th-century Haiti, but also lack of health care and the countrys inability to develop public infrastructure. Contemporary assessments, furthermore, reveal that with the interest from all the loans, which were not completely paid off until 1947, Haitians ended up paying more than twice the value of the colonists claims. Recognizing the gravity of this scandal, French economist Thomas Piketty acknowledged that France should repay at least US$28 billion to Haiti in restitution. A debt thats both moral and material Former French presidents, from Jacques Chirac, to Nicolas Sarkozy, to Francois Hollande, have a history of punishing, skirting or downplaying Haitian demands for recompense. In May 2015, when French President Francois Hollande became only Frances second head of state to visit Haiti, he admitted that his country needed to settle the debt. Later, realizing he had unwittingly provided fuel for the legal claims already prepared by attorney Ira Kurzban on behalf of the Haitian people former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had demanded formal recompense in 2002 Hollande clarified that he meant Frances debt was merely moral. To deny that the consequences of slavery were also material is to deny French history itself. France belatedly abolished slavery in 1848 in its remaining colonies of Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion and French Guyana, which are still territories of France today. Afterwards, the French government demonstrated once again its understanding of slaverys relationship to economics when it took it upon itself to financially compensate the former owners of enslaved people. The resulting racial wealth gap is no metaphor. In metropolitan France 14.1% of the population lives below the poverty line. In Martinique and Guadeloupe, in contrast, where more than 80% of the population is of African descent, the poverty rates are 38% and 46%, respectively. The poverty rate in Haiti is even more dire at 59%. And whereas the median annual income of a French family is $31,112, its only $450 for a Haitian family. These discrepancies are the concrete consequence of stolen labor from generations of Africans and their descendants. And because the indemnity Haiti paid to France is the first and only time a formerly enslaved people were forced to compensate those who had once enslaved them, Haiti should be at the center of the global movement for reparations. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Read more: Marlene Daut 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. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Update July 9, 2020: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced that the number of people with confirmed cyclospora infections rose to 509 and 33 people have been hospitalized. The new illnesses occured in the same eight states: Illinois (151), Iowa (160), Kansas (5), Minnesota (63), Missouri (46) Nebraska (48), North Dakota (6), and Wisconsin (30). Fresh Express announced an expansion of a recall that originally included bagged salads produced by the company and sold under the Aldi, Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco, and Walmart store brands in states in the Midwest. Fresh Express is now recalling its own brand of bagged salads from stores across the U.S., as well as a number of other supermarket brands. All of the recalled products contain iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots, and are produced at the Fresh Express facility in Streamwood, Ill. These products are linked to an outbreak of illnesses due to infection with cyclospora parasite, which has sickened more than 200 people in the Midwest. The products were shipped to stores between June 6 and June 26, and have Best By dates through July 14. Iceberg lettuce, carrots, and red cabbage are found in several Fresh Express bagged coleslaws, salads, and salad kits; more than 30 branded products are part of the recall. In addition to Aldi, Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco, and Walmart, store brands involved are Giant Eagle and ShopRite. (For a full list, download the PDF.) The products were shipped to stores in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. Story continues The company says the affected bagged salad productsboth brand name and store brandare clearly marked with the letter Z at the beginning of the product code, which is located on the upper right-hand corner of the front of the package. Those products containing iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and/or carrots and displaying the Product Code Z178, or a lower Z number, are recalled. No other Fresh Express products have been recalled. The cyclospora parasite causes an illness known as cyclosporiasis. The symptoms are frequent bowel movements and/or watery, even explosive, diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as appetite loss, stomach cramps, nausea, and fatigue. These symptoms can last a few days to a month or longer. The Food and Drug Administration is conducting an inspection at the Streamwood Fresh Express plant. Barbara Hines, a spokesperson for Fresh Express, says the company has temporarily suspended production of salads with iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots at this plant. The Details Products recalled: Fresh Express bagged salads containing iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and carrots, both branded and private label, produced at the companys Streamwood, Ill., facility. Fresh Express salads containing these ingredients with product code Z178 or lower. The product code is located in the upper right-hand corner on the front of the package. The "Use by or Before" dates run through July 14. The following store-brand bagged salads produced by Fresh Express have also been recalled. They also bear the product code Z178 or lower. For a full list, download the PDF: Various Aldi Little Salad Bar brand coleslaw, salad, and salad kits sold in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin with "Use by or Before" dates through July 12. Various Giant Eagle and Giant Eagle Lifes Getting Fresher coleslaw, salad, and salad kits sold in stores in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia with "Use by or Before" dates through July 12. Various Hy-Vee brand coleslaw, salad, and salad kits sold in stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin with "Use by or Before" dates through July 12. Various Jewel-Osco Signature Farms coleslaw and salads sold in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa with "Use by or Before" dates through July 14. ShopRite Wholesome Pantry Organic Chopped Sesame Asian Salad Kit (10.9-ounce package) with a "Use by or Before" date of July 12 and UPC code 041190066308 and Wholesome Pantry Organic Sesame Asian Salad Kit (13-ounce package) with a "Use by or Before" date of July 11 and UPC code 041190066292 sold in stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Various Walmart Marketside coleslaw, salad, and salad kits sold in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin with "Use by or Before" dates through July 10. The problem: The products may be contaminated with the parasite cyclospora. The fix: Check packages before purchasing these products for the above information. If you have any of these products in your refrigerator, do not eat them, even if some of it has already been eaten and no one became sick. How to contact the manufacturer: If you have questions or to obtain a refund, call Fresh Express Consumer Response Center toll-free at 800-242-5472 Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time. Or go to the companys website, at freshexpress.com/contact-us. 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. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) is set to host the ninth edition of its webinar on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, as part of its ongoing bid to sustain robust trade activities and partnerships between Arab and Brazilian firms amid the current pandemic. Titled Tools for Global Competitiveness, the upcoming webinar will highlight effective business development strategies and devices for a more resilient market presence and leadership in Brazil and key Arab states. Brazilian companies planning to expand their footprint in major Arab industries are some of the participants of the virtual event, during which the speakers will discuss, among others, proven and strategic approaches to building business operations overseas according to their corporate goals. Rubens Hannun, President, Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, said: Similar to our previous webinars, sharing of expertise and experiences will be at the heart of our latest event. During the upcoming webinar, our speakers will provide comprehensive points on the benefits of expanding internationally as well as outline their recommended strategies - including the significance of global certifications and an efficient product traceability system - to help raise the global competitiveness of any business organisation. The participants, on the other hand, will gain new insights as they interact with the experts and their like-minded peers. At the end of the webinar, everyone will gain new perspectives and inputs, which is in line with our goal of helping our members flourish even during these challenging times. On product traceability, the attendees will learn how to monitor the movement of a product, from production to purchase by end-users, through QR codes or bar codes. The webinar will also tackle the distinct features of large Arab markets; the customer profiles; the relevance of offering products with higher appeal and value to the Arab consumers; and different negotiation strategies. The Tools for Global Competitiveness event is the latest in a series of webinars and special virtual meetings organized by ABCC to discuss urgent, relevant issues regarding Brazil-Arab ties. Each online event had attracted around 800 representatives from Brazilian and Arab companies. -- Tradearabia News Service ATLANTA The former Atlanta police officer charged with fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks can be released on bond, a judge ruled Tuesday. Fulton County Judge Jane Barwick said she does not believe Garrett Rolfe is a flight risk or would intimidate witnesses. Barwick set Rolfe's bond at $500,000. Conditions of the bond include wearing an ankle monitor, honoring a 6 p.m.- 6 a.m. curfew with the exception of work, medical or legal obligations, surrendering his passport, not possessing any firearms, and not having contact with any witnesses or Atlanta police officers. There is sufficient convincing factors in front of me that he does have sufficient ties to the community and he is not a flight risk, Barwick said at the hearing. I do not believe that he is a danger to the community. Rolfe, who was fired from the department after the incident, was charged with 11 counts, including felony murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Authorities say Rolfe shot Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, twice in the back in a Wendy's parking lot near downtown Atlanta on June 12. Atlanta Police Department officers Devin Brosnan, left, and Garrett Rolfe. Both were involved in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks. Rolfe and Officer Devin Brosnan were responding to a call about Brooks being asleep in his car in the drive-thru lane. Brooks failed a sobriety test and officers tried to handcuff him. Videos from the scene show Brooks wrestling with the officers and taking one of their Tasers. Brooks aimed the Taser at the officers while running away. The video shows an officer aim his gun at Brooks before Brooks falls to the ground. Rolfes attorneys argued at the hearing that the shooting was justified and that he was not a threat to the community. Criminal defense attorney Bill Thomas cited 28 character letters submitted to the court on behalf of Rolfe saying he is professional, trustworthy and a community pillar. Rolfe was a seven-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department and has lived in Georgia all his life, Thomas said. This is not a case of someone who is a gang banger who decided to go do a drive-by shooting, Thomas said. Its not a home invasion. Its not a burglary where somebody was killed in the process. This is an officer who was in the performance of his duty, a suspect escalated a situation and a death resulted. Story continues Fulton County Chief Assistant District Attorney Clinton Rucker had asked for the judge to deny bond suggesting Rolfe might attempt to influence witnesses. Rucker noted video evidence that shows Rolfe kicking Brooks after shooting him and the two minutes it took Rolfe to render medical aid to Brooks. At the time Rolfe shot him twice in the back. Mr. Brooks was not a physical threat to Rolfe in any way, he was running away, Rucker said. It doesnt show Officer Rolfe treating Mr. Books with the utmost respect after he shot him. Tomika Miller, Brooks widow, also spoke during the hearing saying Rolfes release would further traumatize her. My life is completely turned upside down since this has happened, Miller said. I should not have to live in fear while waiting for a man who killed my husband to be tried in court. L. Chris Stewart and Justin Miller, attorneys for the Brooks' family, said in a statement that the family was disappointed that Rolfe was granted bond but understands there will be a long quest for justice. "Rather than looking at this process as a series of 'wins' or 'losses,' it's imperative that we continue to push for systemic change within our criminal justice system," the statement said. From hate crime laws being passed to increasing oversight of members of law enforcement, our job is to ensure that positive change comes from this tragic situation. We will be diligent in our pursuit of justice for this family and will do everything in our power to make sure that Rayshard Brooks did not lose his life in vain." The shooting sparked protests, one of which turned violent when the Wendy's was set on the fire the night after the shooting. A private funeral for Brooks, who was a married father of three daughters and a stepson, was held last week in Atlanta. Contributing: Joel Shannon of USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Garrett Rolfe, charged with murder in Rayshard Brooks case, gets bond Trump Merkel Reuters President Donald Trump's phone conversations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel were "so unusual" that German officials were prompted to keep them under wraps, the journalist Carl Bernstein reported Monday in an investigation for CNN. Sources told CNN that Trump disparaged Merkel in a "very aggressive" manner, calling her "stupid" and accusing her of "being in the pocket of the Russians." "He's toughest [in the phone calls] with those he looks at as weaklings and weakest with the ones he ought to be tough with," a source told CNN. Though extraordinary measures were taken in response to Trump's conversations with Merkel, the German chancellor took the US president's comments "like water off a duck's back," a source told CNN. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Related video: The rise and fall of Donald Trumps airline German officials were so alarmed by President Donald Trump's "very aggressive" conversations with Chancellor Angela Merkel that they kept their calls secret, sources told CNN. In calls with the German chancellor, Trump bullied and disparaged Merkel in a "near-sadistic" fashion, according to the CNN report by Carl Bernstein, the longtime journalist known for his reporting on the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post. "Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are just unbelievable: He called her 'stupid,' and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians," unnamed sources told CNN, adding: "He's toughest [in the phone calls] with those he looks at as weaklings and weakest with the ones he ought to be tough with." A group of officials assigned to monitor Merkel's calls with Trump also shrank, leaving "just a small circle of people who are involved and the reason, the main reason, is that they are indeed problematic," a German official told CNN. The official added that Trump's conversations with Merkel were deemed "so unusual" that extra steps were taken to keep the calls secret. Though extraordinary measures were taken in response to Trump's conversations with Merkel, the German chancellor took the US president's comments "like water off a duck's back," a source told CNN, adding that she responded to his disparaging remarks by stating facts. Story continues "President Trump is a world-class negotiator who has consistently furthered America's interests on the world stage," the White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews told Business Insider in a statement in response to the CNN report. "From negotiating the phase-one China deal and the USMCA to NATO allies contributing more and defeating ISIS, President Trump has shown his ability to advance America's strategic interests." The CNN report suggested that Trump's behavior extended to other female world leaders including Theresa May, the UK prime minister until 2019. The US president's behavior was described as "humiliating and bullying" to May, after he called her a "fool" when it came to foreign- and public-policy decisions, one source told CNN. "He'd get agitated about something with Theresa May, then he'd get nasty with her on the phone call," one source said. "It's the same interaction in every setting coronavirus or Brexit with just no filter applied." Read the original article on Business Insider Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses his revised 2020-21 state budget on May 14. The final budget was signed by Newsom on Monday, two days before the beginning of the new fiscal year. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law the key provisions of a new state budget, a spending plan that seeks to erase a historic deficit while preserving service levels for schools, healthcare and social services. The $202.1-billion budget, a blueprint for the fiscal year that begins on Wednesday, is unlikely to be the final effort to address the economic impacts of the state's COVID-19 pandemic. A handful of budget-related items remain pending in the California Legislature, and lawmakers may revisit funding levels once a more clear picture of tax receipts develops after July 15. "In the face of a global pandemic that has also caused a recession across the world and here in California, our state has passed a budget that is balanced, responsible and protects public safety and health, education, and services to Californians facing the greatest hardships, Newsom said in a statement. Legislators persuaded Newsom to largely replace the cuts he proposed last month to some of the state's core programs with an assortment of other budget-balancing solutions: delayed payment plans, borrowing from various internal funds and more optimistic tax revenue estimates. The final agreement also relies heavily on cash reserves, withdrawing almost half the money in California's $16-billion "rainy day" fund. While some budget choices were supported by lawmakers from both major political parties, the enacted plan largely reflects the priorities of majority Democrats. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times) Schools hold their own, but just barely When measured by total local and state tax dollars, the new budget essentially holds school spending flat at an average of about $12,000 per student. But those numbers can be deceiving because K-12 schools and community colleges won't be receiving all of the money in a timely fashion. The budget authorizes up to $12.5 billion in school funds some of it owed now, most in the new fiscal year to be paid late through a system of "deferrals" last used during the Great Recession. School districts will be mostly on their own to replace the missing dollars, either by tapping district reserve funds or taking out loans. The state agrees to pay back the borrowed money down the road. Story continues One other budget provision could help schools find cash: The state will temporarily pick up some of the employer's contribution to pension payments covering teachers and other employees. Outside of required spending, the state will allocate $5.5 billion in one-time funds to mitigate the impacts of changes brought on by the coronavirus crisis. Most of the money will be divvied up based on a school district's concentration of low-income and English-learning students, while another portion is focused on the effects on special education students. Schools will also receive some new flexibility in requirements for instructional minutes, given the pandemic's impact on teaching plans for the new academic year. These cuts get erased with Washington's help A key component of the final deal between Newsom and Democratic lawmakers was how much new coronavirus relief California might receive this year from President Trump and Congress and what to do until it arrives. The spending plan includes a list of more than $11 billion in spending cuts that will be reversed if at least $14 billion in new federal dollars arrive this fall. Education programs dominate the list, and the budget envisions federal dollars would allow some of the payment deferrals to be avoided. Cuts to housing programs, court operations and child support administration would also be erased. And steep pay cuts to state workers would be offset. If less than $14 billion arrives from Washington, the budget requires those dollars to be doled out proportionally among the various programs slated for reinstatement. Sweeping COVID-19 relief efforts California's new budget has a variety of ways to assist Californians and government services hit hard by the costs of the unprecedented public health crisis. Counties and cities will receive $1.8 billion of the state's share of existing federal coronavirus relief, much of it divvied up based on population. The state's infectious disease operations will be boosted, while recipients of various programs normally requiring in-person interviews to determine eligibility those who receive in-home care and services for aged and blind, for example will be able to renew participation by phone or videoconference. Food bank services will receive additional state support. So too will people with developmental disabilities as well as their families. A new program will offer housing and mental health services to college students who left school after the onset of the coronavirus in the spring. State tax dollars will continue to back child-care vouchers for essential workers. Up to $15 million will be set aside as emergency financial aid for students at state colleges and universities who were denied federal help because of their immigration status. And general fund dollars will be used to mitigate other coronavirus shortfalls, such as lost entrance fees and fuel taxes that usually help fund California parks. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg) A single time limit for welfare programs In 2012, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a limit of 48 months for Californians to receive aid from the state's welfare assistance program, CalWorks. Subsequent changes created a pair of 24-month maximum time limits on other work requirements. The new budget sets the stage for erasing all of that and going back to what existed before Brown's push: a single lifetime limit of 60 months for access to CalWorks services consistent with federal rules and possibly offering new help to some who ran out of time in recent years. "The pandemic has bought into very clear relief the reality faced by lower-income people," said Frank Mecca, executive director of the County Welfare Directors Assn. of California. "Their lives aren't linear." Local officials, Mecca said, have spent so much energy trying to manage the different "clocks" of eligibility that it's left less time for helping clients get back on their feet. The budget protects overall CalWorks funding by using a portion of a special cash reserve for health and welfare services, a backup pool of funds that didn't exist in previous recessions. Elsewhere, the budget adds four more years of additional CalFresh benefits for those who live in communities without reliable access to safe drinking water. And it offers new access to the state's earned income tax credit for some Californians without legal immigration status if they have a child younger than 6. Health services largely protected from cuts Medi-Cal, the state's version of the federal Medicaid program, serves about 1 in every 3 Californians a stark reminder of the divide between rich and poor. While almost two-thirds of the funding comes from the federal government, Newsom targeted a wide array of healthcare services for cuts under the budget he proposed last month. Democratic legislators rejected many of those cuts, maintaining access to dental and vision services, occupational and physical therapy, and a diabetes prevention program. They also refused to cut payments to doctors who treat Medi-Cal patients, an effort funded by new tobacco taxes that voters approved in 2016. Some programs will be expanded. Medi-Cal pregnancy coverage will extend for up to 12 months after childbirth for women diagnosed with a maternal mental health condition. As part of a federal program, California will ensure Medi-Cal eligibility for people younger than 21, or a former foster care youth under 26, while incarcerated. Additional services will be offered to treat opioid use disorders. And the state Department of Health Care Services will have almost $200 million in tax revenues from the sale of legalized marijuana for education, prevention and treatment of youth substance use disorders. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) Buying hotels to house the homeless Coronavirus prevention efforts brought a new idea into vogue for addressing the state's homelessness crisis: purchasing empty hotels and running them for those in need of shelter. The budget spends $550 million from this spring's federal coronavirus relief aid to buy and refurbish motels, hotels and hostels for homeless Californians. Local officials are already involved in this effort under the state-local partnership known as Project Roomkey, though the local effort in Los Angeles has struggled and Newsom's push met with early resistance in other communities. Counties will receive an additional $50 million to help operate those facilities over the coming 12 months. In many cases, these renovations will be exempt from provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act in hopes of speedy completion. More state funding for homelessness efforts is also in the budget: $300 million will be spent on the homeless relief program that began last year. Counties and cities will receive funding through the program. And the budget boosts housing assistance, spending $300 million for housing counseling and mortgage relief programs and $31 million for tenant legal aid. The money comes from the state's share of a 2012 national legal settlement after the mortgage crisis of the last recession money the state tried to use to balance the budget in the past and was forced last year by the courts to spend specifically on housing help. Fewer business tax breaks California's projected budget deficit will be erased for the coming year mostly by surplus cash and longer payment plans, with only about $4.4 billion in new tax revenue. Most of that money will come from two changes directed largely at businesses. Deductions for net operating loss, where deductions total more than taxable revenues, will be canceled for three years retroactive to Jan. 1 on net incomes of more than $1 million. New limits will also be placed for three years on business incentive tax credits, capped at offsetting no more than $5 million in tax liability for the same three-year period. Notable efforts to spend 'budget dust' Budget watchers often dismiss small spending items in the annual spending plan as "budget dust," costing so little relative to the overall dollar amounts as to not merit significant debate. Perhaps, but the fine print offers a peek at how state government really operates. A review by the Assembly Budget Committee cites more than $1.3 million in litigation costs for some of the environmental lawsuits the state has filed against the Trump administration, citing efforts to defend provisions of the Endangered Species Act and recent federal biological opinions affecting water use in California. Cleanup costs continue to mount for California's Mendocino Complex blaze, which burned some 410,000 acres in 2018. The budget sets aside $2.2 million for debris removal in rural Lake County. That's on top of $3.2 million that's already been spent. It's possible, but not certain, that the federal government will ultimately reimburse some of the costs. The budget allocates $700,000 for the creation of a "working group" to help guide the state's new Fair Pay to Play Act, the law that allows college athletes to receive endorsement deals. Carrying out California's new law imposing a moratorium on bobcat hunting will boost the budget of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife by more than $2.7 million. Implementing California's smoking ban on state beaches and parks will cost $2 million in the coming year. But those costs pale in comparison to the cost for picking up trash strewn alongside California's highways: The budget boosts Caltrans' litter abatement program by $31.8 million. That's expected to grow to an increase of $43.4 million a year by the summer of 2024. The Daily Beast Tom BrennerMoving Merrick Garland off the federal bench to make him Attorney General seemed like a stroke of genius at the time. Hed gained a reputation over more than 20 years as a fair-minded judge, liked and respected by all those who dealt with him. Who better to become the nations top law enforcement officer at this troubled time of division than a man whose ability to bind up the nations wounds had been tested in the courts of law?For Democrats, his appointment had the added allure of s Goodwin University, Sacred Heart University and Paier College of Art to Provide an Innovative Educational Collaboration with the University of Bridgeport and Its Students Goodwin University, Sacred Heart University and Paier College of Art to Provide an Innovative Educational Collaboration with the University of Bridgeport and Its Students PR Newswire BRIDGEPORT, Conn., June 30, 2020 Project Recasts Higher Education to Better Serve Students, Strengthen Economy BRIDGEPORT, Conn., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Goodwin University and Sacred Heart University, along with Paier College of Art, announced today they intend to work with the University of Bridgeport to create a new model for higher education that capitalizes on the programmatic strengths of each school. Sacred Heart University, Goodwin University, the University of Bridgeport, and Paier College of Art will be the initial higher education institutions to form a unique educational opportunity in the city of Bridgeport. The shared goal of the four schools is to separately serve certificate- and degree-seeking students at all academic levels in a centralized setting on the current University of Bridgeport campus. The advantages of co-locating multiple and distinct schools within a single learning environment are considerable. Within an educational consortium model that makes use of co-located facilities, students will be able to take advantage of the strengths of each institution to chart academic courses that best position them for career readiness. When appropriate, students may navigate from one school to another to continue their educations at progressively higher levels, depending on their degree focus. "This is an exciting time for the University of Bridgeport as higher education is reimagined in collaboration with three institutions that are each known for excellence in academic concentrations," said Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim. "I am looking forward to seeing these expanded opportunities become reality for students as they strive to reach their educational goals and employment dreams. Bridgeport welcomes the educational leadership with this innovative plan as businesses and organizational structures are reinvented in our city and throughout the state." Story continues The University of Bridgeport will continue to operate as an independent institution under the governance of its Board of Trustees. The schedule for full realization of the plan depends in part on approval from the accrediting organizations of the various academic programs. Considerations must also be allowed for the vetting and approval of each institution's board of trustees, as well as a transition period to examine and align resources and programs. "This venture presents a proactive plan to strengthen the University of Bridgeport in order to protect the futures of our students," offered University of Bridgeport Board Chair Robert Berchem. "Goodwin University's president, Mark Scheinberg, has a vision to bring together educational organizations, economic drivers, and city leaders in a collaboration that gives students a solid path through higher education that enables them to build the future they envision." "I want to extend my appreciation to President Scheinberg and Sacred Heart University's President John J. Petillo for their visionary thinking and collaboration in securing a strong future for the University's innovative programs for careers of the future," said Stephen Healey, interim president of the University of Bridgeport. A Model for the Future of Higher Education Depending on requirements, facilities, and faculty expertise, some programs are likely to be combined or to shift from one school to another. In some cases, completely new programs will be introduced. Goodwin, Sacred Heart, and Paier will assume a number of academic programs now being offered by the University of Bridgeport. Current University of Bridgeport students will be guided through to the completion of their planned courses of study on time and with financial aid packages that mirror their current package as closely as possible. "Sacred Heart University is excited to explore participation in this project and the chance to help strengthen educational opportunities in Bridgeport," Petillo shared. "We always welcome the opportunity to be an engine of innovation in the region while expanding our own programs in engineering, health sciences, and education." "The concept of forming a melting pot of motivated students across multiple disciplines resonates with our vision of a progressive academic community," said Paier President Joseph M. Bierbaum. "Paier's inclusion in this venture will allow us to engage with local arts organizations and provide a foothold for artistic creativity in the region." More Pathways, Greater Opportunity Area high school students will be able to take advantage of this initiative as well. Strong educational pathways, which would likely include early college programming, credit-bearing course options, and internships leading to employment are under consideration for development. This would significantly impact the way area high school students would be able to plan their education. "We plan to follow pathways that have proven so successful at our East Hartford campus," said Scheinberg. "High school students get an early appreciation for the career choices that speak to them. Then, through a scaffolding approach to learning, they can go from earning certificates, to associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, adjusting as their programs of study necessitate." The new educational initiative will benefit greater Bridgeport by ensuring that higher education maintains its critical presence in the city, aligns appropriately trained professionals with area employers, and supports local businesses with associated revenue. Goodwin's strengths lie in workforce training based on employer needs, including addressing incumbent worker skills. The school is well recognized for its health care and manufacturing programs and would likely establish a presence for those disciplines in Bridgeport. "It's clear that the face of higher education has changed dramatically," remarked Scheinberg. "If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that we have to think unconventionally. One size no longer fits all in education. Our academic programs, and especially the way they are delivered, have to address the interests of the students and the demands of the workplace. Educational organizations have to collaborate and contribute their strengths for the greater good, and the resulting solutions will undoubtedly be something totally new and exciting." About Goodwin University: Goodwin University is a nonprofit institution of higher education accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. Founded in 1999, Goodwin University is focused on serving a diverse student population in a dynamic environment that aligns education, commerce and community. Its innovative programs of study prepare students for professional careers while promoting lifelong learning and civic responsibility. As a nurturing university community, Goodwin challenges its students, faculty, staff and administration to fully realize their highest academic, professional and personal potential. To learn more about Goodwin University, please visit www.goodwin.edu. About Sacred Heart University: As the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, and one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., Sacred Heart University is a national leader in shaping higher education for the 21st century. SHU offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its Fairfield, Conn., campus. Sacred Heart also has satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland and offers online programs. More than 9,000 students attend the University's nine colleges and schools. Sacred Heart is home to the award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio station, WSHU, a Division I athletics program and an impressive performing arts program that includes choir, band, dance and theater. About University of Bridgeport: The University of Bridgeport offers career-oriented undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees and programs for people seeking personal and professional growth. The University promotes academic excellence, personal responsibility and commitment to service. Distinctive curricula in an international, culturally diverse and supportive learning environment prepare graduates for life and leadership in an increasingly interconnected world. The University is independent and non-sectarian. www.bridgeport.edu About Paier College of Art: Paier College of Art is the only independent art college in the State of Connecticut. Founded in 1946, Paier's master artists train students in the disciplines of illustration, graphic design, interior design, and photography in a personalized manner that encourages individual creativity. Our alumni have gone on to establish marketing agencies, illustrate children's books, and create internationally recognized logos. Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/goodwin-university-sacred-heart-university-and-paier-college-of-art-to-provide-an-innovative-educational-collaboration-with-the-university-of-bridgeport-and-its-students-301085913.html SOURCE Goodwin University SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HandiGuruTM provides sleek, wearable protection from germs, sun, and other outdoor elements, giving families and individuals extra peace of mind when they leave home. Developed by Santa Barbara-based innovator Ben Anderson, HandiGuruTM is a lightweight, refillable wristband designed to carry a variety of gels and lotions for easy, on-the-go access. Replacing bulky bottles that can leak or get lost at the bottom of a backpack or purse, HandiGuru wears comfortably like a watch and features FDA-approved, recyclable silicone perfect for storing hand sanitizer, bug repellent, sunscreen, and more. Discover modern, wearable protection from the outdoor elements with HandiGuru Refillable wristband kit (just $11.95) includes a one-size-fits-all silicone wristband (10ml) and a BPA-free squeeze bottle, complete with a BPA-free applicator tip for easy refills. "In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, guarding against germs is more important than ever," explains Anderson. "With HandiGuru, the protection my family needs is always right at our fingertips, giving us peace of mind whenever we leave home." Available in a variety of modern colors, including "Guru Gray", "Infinite Black" and "Transcendental Blue" HandiGuru is a functional accessory that's easy to adjust. To use, load any gel or lotion into HandiGuru's self-sealing compartment with the help of the applicator bottle (included with purchase). When it's time to reapply, simply squeeze the silicone band to release the desired amount of product - no mess, no hassle, no worries. Discover modern, wearable protection from the outdoor elements with HandiGuru. Refillable wristband kit (just $11.95) includes a one-size-fits-all silicone wristband (10ml) and a BPA-free squeeze bottle, complete with a BPA-free applicator tip for easy refills. For each of the first 2,500 kits sold, HandiGuru will donate one kit to communities in need to help keep them safe during these difficult times. Stock up on protection for the entire family at HandiGuru.com and follow on Instagram @HandiGuru for updates, how-to videos, and more. About HandiGuru: Story continues HandiGuru was developed by California Native, Benjamin Anderson, Tired of carrying around bottles of gels and lotions during excursions away from home, Anderson created HandiGuru to help protect his family and community by keeping essential liquids like hand sanitizer, sunscreen, and bug repellent close at hand. Each refillable wristband kit (just $11.95) includes a fully recyclable, one-size-fits-all silicone wristband (10ml) and a BPA-free squeeze bottle, complete with a BPA-free applicator tip for easy refills. Stock up on protection for the entire family at HandiGuru.com and follow on Instagram @HandiGuru for updates, how-to videos, and more. Coming soon: HandiGuru bulk sanitizer, sunscreen, and bug repellent. HandiGuru: Protect your OM when you leave home. Media Contact: Leigh-Anne Anderson 310.990.5752 242678@email4pr.com Available in a variety of colors, including "Guru Gray", "Infinite Black" and "Transcendental Blue" HandiGuru is a functional accessory that's easy to adjust. To use, load any gel or lotion into HandiGuru's self-sealing compartment with the help of the applicator bottle (included with purchase). Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/handigurutm-offers-refillable-wristband-putting-protection-from-germs-sun-and-outdoor-elements-at-your-fingertips-301085698.html SOURCE HandiGuru With Black Lives Matter protests ongoing across the country, many workplaces have been renewing their commitment to diversity and inclusion and saying that this time, theyre serious. Former and current employees of many companies, including Refinery29, have come forward to relay exactly how those institutions failed to uphold a commitment to diversity and support their Black employees. Before Refinery29 was purchased by Vice Media Group in November of 2019, only one executive among eight was a person of color the companys CFO, an Asian woman. Earlier this month, Vice Media Group committed to 50% BIPOC managers by 2024, but has not made a public statement regarding executive leadership. But why has it taken so long for anti-Black workplaces to be considered an emergency, rather than the standard? By treating diversity as a nice-to-have almost as a generosity to POC rather than a must-have, businesses arent just being racist. Theyre undermining their ability to operate. Despite outward-facing support for diversity, the numbers across corporate workplaces especially at leadership levels show that Black representation has been tokenistic, with nowhere close to proportionate representation of Black employees in top-level roles. Black and other non-white professionals who are the only representative of their race among peers at work deal with all the stress of being the token with none of the resources to ensure their perspective is heard and implemented. Tokenism is a PR move. The Center for Talent Innovation released a study at the end of last year showing the big, damning picture of where Black professionals stand within the corporate hierarchy. Among executive and senior-level officials and managers, only 3.2% are Black, despite Black people comprising about 13.4% of the U.S. population. The Fortune 500 list also makes it crystal-clear who in America gets to hold corporate wealth and power. Only four companies among the 500 are led by Black men. Not a single one is led by a Black woman. Story continues The fact is, when leadership is only white and male, companies lack the ability to see the world as it really is everything is filtered through a white male lens. And without diversity among leadership, inclusivity efforts are often short-lived, as it becomes difficult to create a workplace culture that can retain employees of color. It also creates an environment actively harmful to minorities who have no choice but to be at turns silent about their pain, and at other times the token representative for an entire community. Theres no overtime or bonus pay for the energy it takes to project your voice over an entire racial identity. The Center for Talent Innovation study last year found that while 65% of Black people in corporate America said that they had to work harder than their white counterparts to advance, only 16% of their white colleagues agreed that Black people have had to work harder. Among the Black professionals surveyed, 35% said they intended to leave their current workplace within two years; a quarter said they planned to eventually leave their jobs to start their own ventures, where they would be certain to be in a leadership position. The burden of being one of the few minorities at work cant be overstated and its a burden that even the most well-intentioned workplaces will be guilty of, as long as the reins of authority remain in overwhelmingly white, male hands. In the last few weeks, we spoke to several Black professionals about their experiences at workplaces where there are few to no Black people in leadership roles, to highlight how the lack of top-down commitment to anti-Blackness leads to workplace hypocrisy, performative empathy, and the strengthening of tokenism that works against racial equality at work. Lillian, 26, works in the special events industry. She says that no one in upper management or leadership roles at her company is Black. Of her coworkers reactions to the most recent Black Lives Matter protests, she says, They chose to only focus on the looting going on. In group texts she shared with Refinery29, her coworkers express horror and anger about the damage of businesses near the protests, claiming the movement had turned into mere opportunism. They basically argued with me when I tried to explain why I was offended by their response, says Lillian. Prior to the damage done these past few days, I havent heard many of you discuss the destruction of people in Black and Brown communities effected by years of systematic oppression and police brutality, she wrote in one reply to the group chat. Some of you clearly havent been touched by this in the ways that I have. They discussed whats going on as if they were isolated incidents, she says. Saying that their family feels bad for what happened to Floyd but dont excuse the actions theyve seen. She also notes that it wasnt just colleagues showing a failure of empathy management also failed to be responsible leaders during a crisis that called for sound judgment and sensitivity. My boss started the conversation of looting in our DM and stopped responding as frequently to the group message, and just continued to look at what we all were saying without constructive input, Lillian says. Only two of my coworkers texted to check on me and apologize for the behavior of those present in the group message. Erin, 31, works in human services. Of the 11 top-level managers at her company, she is the only Black person. Her companys response to BLM? Silence, she says. Theyve ignored events and made no comments. Id like for my company to acknowledge current events. We work in marginalized communities, but the leadership of the company is homogenous and doesnt reflect those that were serving. The silence reflects the kind of organizational inequalities that are baked into many workplaces. Ive been here for 4 years, and in my previous role with this company I worked with the white male colleague who outearned me, she continues. He left the company a few years ago. In conversations with me, he indicated that he was uncomfortable with the structure of our office; he was very aware of the disparity and wanted to be an ally but never used his voice to advocate. Nicole, 29, works for a medical device supplier. She estimates there are somewhere between 10 to 20 executives and top-level managers, but none of them are Black. My company hasnt said anything internally or externally. I have every reason to believe that they have not made any contribution and that they dont plan to, she says. I would like them to speak up about what is going on the same way that they spoke up and provided resources for COVID-19. Mia, 26, works in public health. We do not have a single Black person who works at the director level or higher, she says. The response [to protests] has been really poor. Our CEO issued a poorly put together statement about Black Lives Matter that essentially ignored the point of the movement. She also talks about how difficult upward mobility can be for Black employees, who are told nebulous things when they ask about advancement now is never the right time. I have been denied a promotion because there wasnt space for me to move up, Mia says. However, theyve increased my workload significantly since I began working here. My work is comparable to individuals who work one level up from me and who are making at least $20k more than I do. Stephanie, 39, works at a non-profit for preventing gun violence. There are no top-level managers or executives who are Black. [The non-profits response to BLM was] disingenuous, communications fluff with no real stance, and they only shared on a platform that has minimum constituents, she says. They havent made any commitments. Im the only Black person that works in the organization and yet I was hired to serve my community only. She has been working at this non-profit for almost three years now. Im aware of pay gaps, she says. I was underpaid coming in and was only given a raise after begging for one my boss gave one to everyone since it would only be fair, if I got one, that they got one as well. I have more education and experience, yet Im treated like Im the help. They steal my ideas and dont give me credit, work me beyond what anyone else does. I just came back from medical leave and there was no transition. They had paused my work and just let it wait until I got back. Sierra, 21, works for a non-profit in music education. There are 13 top-level managers and executives at our company, she says. None of them are Black. She says her workplace hasnt mentioned the protests explicitly. [They] made a social media post stating their solidarity with the Black community, participated in Black Out Tuesday. I was asked to engage in an internal conversation with the highest-ranking member of the company about the protests, to demonstrate to some constituents how the company was responding to them, but despite my efforts it was quite disorganized and essentially pointless. The other party was constantly redirecting the conversation instead of centering issues of anti-Blackness, and even upper-level management was clearly afraid to say anything about it, so I redirected as best I could, she says. The only commitment theyve made so far is declaring Juneteenth a company-wide holiday. Suddenly realizing that they need to talk about race, workplaces without Black leadership are putting the burden of leadership on Black employees who arent receiving the salaries of leaders. I currently make $20 an hour, says Sierra. When I first started a year ago, I was an intern and made $14.25/hr. After my title had changed, I continued to be paid at that rate for a while, but my hourly wage was eventually increased to be on par with others who had the same title. Sierra isnt sure if her company is truly sincere about its commitment to anti-racism, even though it has a progressive aim and is well-intentioned. Our company is certainly among the most forward-thinking in our industry, she says. Before the pandemic, we were in the middle of a festival that featured many Black artists and thinkers most notably Dr. Angela Davis in over a months worth of events about social change. On the other hand, she continues, the programs we have that are geared toward serving under-resourced youth have very low retention rates for Black students, and there has been no discussion of that until now. And so far, it has not gone past simply stating that fact. Names have been changed to preserve anonymity. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? Why Keeping Politics Outside Of Work Is Outdated Layla Saad On BLM, Allyship, & Racist Workplaces Racism In Medicine Has The Power To Kill OAKLAND, CA and TORONTO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Harborside Inc. ("Harborside" or the "Company") (CSE: HBOR), a California-focused, vertically integrated cannabis enterprise, is providing an update to its previously disclosed management cease trade order ("MCTO") in respect of the late filing of the Company's audited annual financial statements and corresponding management's discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2019 (collectively, the "Annual Filings"). Harborside (CNW Group/Harborside Inc.) As previously disclosed, the delay in completing the Annual Filings occurred due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, as previously announced, the Company is relying on the blanket exemptions issued by provincial securities commissions due to COVID-19 to extend the date of filing its interim financial report for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and related management's discussion and analysis (collectively, the "Interim Filings"). The Company does not expect to file the Interim Filings before the expiry of the 45 day extension on July 14, 2020. The Company continues to expect to file the Annual Filings, as well as the financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 (the "Restated Audit"), no later than July 10, 2020 and will apply to have its previously disclosed cease trade order (the "CTO") revoked. The Company expects trading to resume on the CSE shortly after the revocation of the CTO. The Company expects that upon the CTO being revoked by the Ontario Securities Commission, the MCTO will remain in place, while the Company continues to work diligently with its auditor to file the interim financial reports for the periods ended March 31, 2019, June 30, 2019, and September 30, 2019, and any corresponding management's discussion and analyses (collectively, the "Restated Interims") and the Interim Filings. The Company expects to file the Restated Interim and Interim Filings within 30 days following the revocation of the CTO. Story continues As required under Canadian securities laws, the Company will provide a further update on or about July 14, 2020. Additionally, to the knowledge of the Company, there have been no material business developments as of the date of this news release that have not been generally disclosed. For the latest news, activities, and media coverage, please visit the Harborside corporate website at www.investharborside.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook , and Twitter . About Harborside: Harborside Inc. is one of the oldest and most respected cannabis retailers in California, operating three of the major dispensaries in the San Francisco Bay Area, a dispensary in Desert Hot Springs outfitted with Southern California's only cannabis drive-thru window, a dispensary in Oregon and a cultivation facility in Salinas, California. Harborside has played an instrumental role in making cannabis safe and accessible to a broad and diverse community of California consumers. Co-founded by Steve DeAngelo and dress wedding in 2006, Harborside was awarded one of the first six medical cannabis licenses granted in the United States. Harborside is currently a publicly listed company on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") trading under the ticker symbol "HBOR". Additional information regarding Harborside is available under Harborside's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com . Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward looking-statements relate to, among other things, the timing of filing the Annual Filings, Interim Filings, Restated Audit and Restated Interims, and revocation of the MCTO and the CTO. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: management's perceptions of the anticipated timeline in which the Annual Filings, Interim Filings, Restated Audit and Restated Interims can be completed and filed, and the MCTO and CTO can be revoked; implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's operations; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; expectations regarding the size of the California cannabis market and changing consumer habits; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives; plans for expansion; political and social uncertainties; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on cultivation, production, distribution and sale of cannabis and cannabis related products in the State of California; litigation risk; and employee relations. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law. The Company is indirectly involved in the manufacture, possession, use, sale and distribution of cannabis in the recreational and medicinal cannabis marketplace in the United States. Local state laws where the Company operates permit such activities however, these activities are currently illegal under United States federal law. Additional information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Listing Statement dated May 30, 2019, filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/harborside-inc-provides-update-on-mcto-and-financial-statement-filings-301086282.html SOURCE Harborside Inc. Hilco Streambank Offering Up To 41 Credits With No Reserve; Offers Due August 14, 2020 NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hilco Streambank, a leading intellectual property advisory firm specializing in the valuation and sale of intangible assets, is offering real estate developers and investors in Hawaii County, Hawaii the opportunity to acquire affordable housing credits (the "Credits") that can be used to satisfy the affordable housing obligations under the Hawaii County Code. There is no reserve price for each Credit. The Credits do not expire, and may be resold, in whole or in part, to other developers or investors, and are transferable to other projects. Offers for the Credits are due on August 14, 2020. Hilco Streambank Executive Vice President David Peress stated, "offering is a prime opportunity for real estate developers and investors in Hawaii to obtain numerous credits with no minimum price which can be used for developments underway or in the future." Mr. Peress stated that the Credits are especially valuable because there are no radius restrictions, adding that "the Credits may be utilized to satisfy a developer's affordable housing obligations throughout Hawaii County (the Big Island), including projects in Kona and Hilo." Housing, hotel and industrial project developers and investors with Hawaii County projects in the planning or initial stages of development or rezoning should CLICK HERE or contact Hilco Streambank directly using the contact information provided below to learn more. David Peress EVP Hilco Streambank dperess@hilcoglobal.com 617.642.1909 Richelle Kalnit Senior Vice President Hilco Streambank rkalnit@hilcoglobal.com 212.993.7214 About Hilco Streambank : Hilco Streambank (www.hilcostreambank.com) is one of the foremost authorities on intellectual property asset valuation and monetization. Acting as an agent or principal, Hilco Streambank advises upon and executes strategies for both healthy and distressed clients seeking to maximize the value of their intellectual property assets including brands, trademarks, domain names, patents, copyrights, IPv4 addresses and customer lists. Hilco Streambank has established itself as the premier intermediary in the consumer brand, internet and telecom communities with successes in publicly reported Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, private transactions, and online sales through IPv4.Global. Hilco Streambank is part of Northbrook, Illinois based Hilco Global (www.hilcoglobal.com), the world's leading authority on maximizing the value of business assets by delivering valuation, monetization and advisory solutions to an international marketplace. Hilco Global operates more than twenty specialized business units offering services that include asset valuation and appraisal, retail and industrial inventory acquisition and disposition, real estate and strategic capital equity investments. Story continues For media and press: Gary C. Epstein EVP Chief Marketing Officer Hilco Global gepstein@hilcoglobal.com 847.418.2712 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hawaii-county-hawaii-affordable-housing-credits-available-for-sale-301086225.html SOURCE Hilco Streambank As UNWTO leads the restart of tourism, African member states have set out their vision for the sector, building on the UNWTO Agenda for Africa Tourism for Inclusive Growth - the roadmap for African tourism that was adopted at the UNWTO General Assembly in 2019, and is based on the responses to a survey sent out by the Regional Department for Africa. As with every other global region, African destinations have been hit hard by the restrictions on travel introduced in response to the pandemic. The sudden and unexpected drop in tourist arrivals has placed many millions of jobs at risk and threatened to roll back the progress made in sustainable development. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: This feedback from our African Member States will help us guide tourism through the challenging months ahead. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on tourism across the continent. However, UNWTO is committed to helping Africa grow back stronger and better and for tourism to emerge from this crisis as an important pillar of economies, jobs and sustainability. Investment and innovation key priorities at continental level At the continental level, the survey revealed that the five key areas of the UNWTO Agenda for Africa that Member States would like to see prioritized in order to better support them as they recover from the impact of Covid-19 are: Unlocking growth through investment promotion and public-private partnerships Promoting innovation and technology, Promoting travel facilitation, including enhanced connectivity and tourism visa policies Fostering resilience, including through promoting safety and security and crisis communications Advocating for Brand Africa At the same time, the survey answers showed that Member States would like to see the part of the Agenda for Africa focusing on Fostering Resilience to be realigned to reflect the current situation. This will allow for a more effective response to the impact of Covid-19 on tourism and to accelerate recovery. Alongside this, Member States across Africa also expressed a wish for UNWTO to focus future capacity building and training sessions on the topics of crisis management and communications, marketing, developing domestic tourism and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. Sub-regional priorities outlined The survey also revealed the different priorities of Member States from different parts of Africa. In North Africa, the number one priority is expanding capacity building, including through the provision of more training; in both Western and Eastern Africa, Members named promoting better travel facilitation and unlocking tourism growth through investments and public-private partnerships as their priorities. Meanwhile, advocating for Brand Africa emerged as the number one priority for Member States in Southern Africa, and in Central Africa, the focus is on strengthening tourism statistics systems. Furthermore, the survey also found that Member States from across the continent would like to see UNWTO add a new section to the Agenda for Africa focusing on the promotion of regional and domestic tourism. Last but not least, Member States also suggested UNWTO undertake a range of actions both at the political and technical level, including strengthening collaboration between governments, facilitate the creation of investment funds to support tourism and provide practical support to SMEs. These actions would be particularly beneficial to countries whose GDP heavily depends on the tourism sector including the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). - TradeArabia News Service New appointments, including Board Chair Betsy Peters, to oversee strategic direction of industrial software company PORTLAND, Maine, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HighByte, an industrial software company, today announced the appointment of both Betsy Peters and Corson Ellis to the company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. The appointments follow the recent close of the company's pre-seed funding round and mark the company's transition from an initial founder-only board to one with external representation. HighByte Board of Directors (left to right): Betsy Peters, Tony Paine, Corson Ellis The board will provide perspective and guidance on the company's ongoing strategic direction, including go-to-market planning and future fundraising. Both board appointments bring extensive and proven executive management experience to their new roles. The inaugural appointments joining HighByte co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tony Paine on the Board of Directors include: Betsy Peters, Independent Board Chair. Peters has worked as intrapreneur and entrepreneur for the past twenty-five yearsbuilding products, leading teams, raising funds, and managing growth. During her career, she has answered directly to various boards, constructed her own startup board, served as a publicly elected board official, and helped lead the strategic direction of Maine-based software startup CourseStorm as Board Chair for the past four years. Peters is currently the CEO of Cambium Enterprises, an innovation strategy firm, and an adjunct instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Corson Ellis, Investor Director. Ellis was previously Founder and Chairman of Kepware, an industrial software communications company that sold to PTC, a Boston-based enterprise software company, in January 2016. Ellis has served as Board Chair of Maine Venture Fund (MVF) and Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) and is currently a board member of Coastal Ventures, a Maine-based venture capital firm. Ellis also invests in and advises software startups, serves on several technical investment boards, and supports the Lewiston, Maine public school system in their effort to institute a K-12 software coding curriculum. Ellis was an investor in the HighByte pre-seed funding round and will now represent investors on the company's Board of Directors. "I was honored to accept the role of Board Chair because of the talented and experienced HighByte team who have demonstrated success working together in this market," said Peters. "They've developed a promising and desirable solution to help customers unlock the potential of their industrial data. I'm committed to supporting them as they achieve the next stages of growth, feasibility, and viability." Story continues Board observers include Joe Powers of MVF and Matthew Hoffner of Maine Technology Institute (MTI) whose institutions participated in the pre-seed funding round. John Harrington and Torey Penrod-Cambra, both HighByte co-founders, will also serve as board observers. Prior to founding HighByte in August 2018, Paine, Harrington, and Penrod-Cambra have worked together since 2012 and have more than 50 years of experience delivering software to the industrial automation market. Additional Resources About HighByte HighByte is an industrial software development company in Portland, Maine building solutions that address the data architecture and security challenges created by Industry 4.0. We've developed the first DataOps solution purpose-built to meet the unique requirements of industrial assets, products, processes, and systems at the Edge. Learn more at https://highbyte.com. HighByte is a registered trademark of HighByte, Inc. Media Contact HighByte Torey Penrod-Cambra Chief Marketing Officer +1 844.328.2677 x701 torey.penrod-cambra@highbyte.com HighByte logo. All rights reserved. (PRNewsfoto/HighByte) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/highbyte-announces-formation-of-board-of-directors-301085148.html SOURCE HighByte Hillary and Bill Clinton in Iowa in 2015, as seen in the Hulu documentary "Hillary." (Barbara Kinney / Hulu) "Hillary," Hulu's four-part documentary about Hillary Clinton, came out of 2,000 hours of footage shot during her 2016 presidential campaign, 35 hours of fresh interviews with the subject herself and a bevy of archival material that filmmaker Nanette Burstein found while researching the project. When Burstein had a version of the movie that was close to locked, she sent it to Clinton at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., where she watched it in a single sitting. As you might expect, taking it all in, Clinton says, chuckling, was an "overwhelming experience." "It's daunting to watch your life unfold on the screen," Clinton says. She's on the phone, along with Burstein, in early June, as America continues to reel from the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests following the police killing of George Floyd. Clinton understands the despair that drives the protests and pervades the country in the wake of more than 120,000 (and counting) pandemic deaths and months of economic hardship. But she also sees signs for cautious optimism. "If you look at the young people who are the primary movers of the peaceful protests in response to Mr. Floyd's killing, I'm hopeful that this can break open not only some hearts but some structural impediments to equality and justice in a way that defies the distraction of the second-to-second demands of social media," Clinton says. "And it may well be that a leader like [Donald] Trump, who depends upon distraction, has finally been brought down to earth because people are watching in real time what is happening and how inadequate his response has been to these historic moments." Over the course of a quick 45 minutes, we discussed the news, the documentary and the ways the two intersect. Were there things in the documentary that surprised you? Maybe the footage of your daughter Chelsea putting herself between you and Bill, holding both your hands, "filling in the empty space," as Bill puts it, that existed after he addressed the nation about his relationship with Monica Lewinski? Story continues Clinton: That was one of those moments that I remembered but I hadn't seen the footage for years until I saw the movie. Watching it again was pretty emotional. I had no idea Chelsea was going to do that. Nanette found things, like me being burned in effigy when I was working for healthcare, that I had forgotten about. And I have to say, I was struck again about how trying to get people universal healthcare could be whipped up into such a frenzy. That was kind of a moment. Burstein: I thought that clip was iconic of where our country is at right now, so divided. That's what made me passionate as a filmmaker, understanding the antecedents to when partisan politics became so entrenched. The documentary ends on a positive tenor, noting the number of women elected to Congress in 2018 and with you saying that maybe your loss will be remembered as a turning point that lit the fuse. Rewatching it, the phrase "lit the fuse" hit me in a much different way. Clinton: I can understand that. I've had people contact me about the documentary, and it's interesting because people who watched it early had a different take than people who watched it recently. So much of what we're seeing now, sadly, was known about Trump and the kind of people who were loyal to him. But it turned out to be even worse than what I thought it would be. Despite having my own front-row seat and being concerned about his character and behavior, he has gone further and broken more norms and undermined our institutions more deeply than I thought would have been possible in such a short period of time. We see you in the movie at his inauguration, showing up, taking a deep breath and worrying that he wouldn't rise to the occasion. Clinton: Whathas been so surprising to me is how he can barely make an effort to rise to the occasion. I truly don't think he can get out of his own way. Everything has to be all about him. If its about a terrible pandemic with an unprecedented virus, he tries to ignore it, tries to keep the attention on himself. Then when it becomes impossible to do that, he tries to seize the moment and turn it into a daily rally, like he loves to do. And then when it becomes impossible to ignore, he tries to change the subject; he tries to withdraw from the spotlight so he can come up with some other diversion and distraction for the body politic and the press. Then when we have a terrible killing like we did in Minneapolis, he makes some steps toward in the very early hours after we all saw that horrific video to look like hes going to be empathetic, to look like hes going to try to talk about this stripping bare of the continuing racism and inequities of law enforcement and the justice system. And then he pivots again because hes not comfortable doing that. He doesnt have even the minor amount of empathy to fake it, to look like he is concerned, and he reverts to the belligerence and the threat-making and the photo-opping, all the tried-and-true tactics that feed his need for control and dominance and attention. You tweeted about his recent photo op, when troops used tear gas to clear protesters so Trump could walk to St. John's Church and hold up a Bible, calling it a "horrifying use of presidential power." What was that like to watch? Clinton: It was beyond my comprehension. We have never seen anything like this. He is without shame. It is a mystery why anybody with a beating heart and a working mind still supports him. You mentioned the inauguration. I'd been to every inauguration since 1993, and I had a really hard time going to that one, but I thought, "OK. The moment might very well transform him, and the awesome responsibility of the office as well." And yet I heard him get up and give that speech that was the absolute opposite of anything that could have brought the country together. Politics should be about addition, about finding common ground. No, he was speaking to his outraged base. And in the movie, I say, I was sitting next to George W. Bush who has now spoken out twice, trying to provide some ballast in this time we're going through, which I appreciate, despite my political disagreements with him and he just turned to me and said, "That was some weird [stuff]." And every single day has been a surprise, an unpleasant surprise, about how there seems to be no bottom to this man and his presidency. "Hillary" documents the media's gender bias in your presidential campaigns. How do you think the women running for president this year were treated? It was a very mixed picture. On the one hand, we had more women running, which was a big positive because then you could see that women, just like men, had different styles, different approaches, different platforms. And yet at the same time, there were still some of the same tropes and attitudes being expressed about women becoming president and what kind of person could beat Donald Trump and all of the usual questioning. It was a step forward, but not as big a step as I wish it had been. Watching those clips in the movie, men screaming, "Iron my shirt," or John Edwards saying, "I'm not sure about that coat" during a debate, made me crazy. Did you ever come close to snapping? We all have that choice. You can escalate or you can try to take a deep breath and deal with it thoughtfully. I believe strongly in what I think is right. And I am willing to stand up for it. But I'm not interested in engaging in some kind of verbal confrontation for the sake of delivering a flashpoint. What's fascinating to me is the thoughtful, deliberate response or the careful thinking before you speak is somehow viewed as less authentic than the blowing up. And we've seen the result of that now, sadly, for 3 years, someone who doesn't have the discipline, someone who doesn't care what he says because he came from reality TV. He was a bankrupt businessman who got a second wind because he could scream at people, "You're fired." By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite a renewed focus on wrongful arrests and racial discrimination after the death of George Floyd, meaningful reform of the massive U.S. criminal justice system is unlikely ahead of the November election, politicians and activists say. The United States, where evidence points to COVID-19 tearing unchecked through some jails, has the world's largest prison population and highest incarceration rate, studies show. A toxic relationship between some city police departments and their communities was highlighted by the May death of Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police office pressed his neck into the pavement. But Congress has been unable to reach a bipartisan agreement on how to respond to demands for change in recent weeks, making it unlikely in months to come. As such, nationwide protests under the umbrella of the burgeoning Black Lives Matter movement are unlikely to end anytime soon. "It was kind of shocking, the huge gap between where your congressional Democrats are, where a lot of people in the movement on the ground are and where Republicans appear to be, and I think that's really disappointing," said Ames Grawert, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal-leaning group, speaking of police reform legislation. "They're farther apart than ever," said Randy Petersen, a former police officer and now senior researcher at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative group. GRAPHIC: Who is running in 2020 - https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION/010091471JC/index.html BITTER REALITY On June 25, Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a police reform bill that Republicans have said they are unlikely to support. A day earlier, Democrats in the Senate blocked the Republicans' reform bill. Both sides have accused the other of acting in bad faith. The breakdown is especially bitter to members of the Brennan Center, the Texas foundation, and other deep-pocketed groups who helped push through a sweeping prison sentencing reform bill in late 2018, heralded as the most significant change to sentencing in at least a decade. Story continues The First Step Act led to the release of thousands of inmates. Supporters included Republican President Donald Trump, White House adviser Jared Kushner, billionaire libertarian Charles Koch, celebrity couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West, police unions, faith groups and Democratic Senator Cory Booker. The unusual coalition was no accident, lobbyists and activists who worked behind the scenes say. They pushed for years to make sentencing reform and police restructuring appear above politics, appealing to religious leaders' belief in redemption, small government advocates' belief in budget cuts and civil rights groups' concern about racial inequity. "If you have law enforcement and the faith community on the right and then you have civil rights and social justice organizations on the left that has proven to be a strong and muscular coalition," said Ralph Reed, a Republican strategist and founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, which endorsed the 2018 bill. Republicans claim Democrats, in a position to potentially take control of the Senate and the White House in the November elections, want to avoid giving the president a police reform bill he can sign or a victory he can tout. Democrats "have decided that it is more politically expedient to align themselves with the angry mob rather than uphold their primary responsibility to protect the American public," said Republican Senator Ted Cruz in a statement. Democrats and civil rights groups including the NAACP say they opposed the Republican bill because it relies on incentives to effect reforms and seeks data collection on issues such as no-knock warrants, rather than mandating changes as the Democratic bill does. It also failed to scale back "qualified immunity," which shields police from excessive force lawsuits. Senator Kamala Harris, who is on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's shortlist for possible running mates, called Republicans' efforts a "political trap" and "crumbs on the table." Reformers say they are still working with both parties behind the scenes to broker a deal. But with little more than 100 weekdays to the election, and Congress out of session for much of the summer, the window of opportunity is closing. "If we can't get people in our communities to believe there is justice, and that they can be protected by law enforcement, nothing else is going to matter in our society," said Mark Holden, a consultant for Koch Industries. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York and Nandita Bose in Washington; editing by Heather Timmons and Tom Brown) HIGHLAND PARK, IL A fashion model and Highland Park native nicknamed 'Banana Hands' managed to make it through the first two rounds of an elimination-based televised cooking competition for a chance to win the $25,000 grand prize. Zach Ignoffo, a 2011 Highland Park High School graduate, won a jerk chicken challenge in the season 20 premiere of Food Network's "Worst Cooks in America." "Obviously, cooking is a craft," Ignoffo said. "I love food, I've been around food my entire life. My dad's a great cook. All throughout my travels I've had food. But I'm super clumsy." On the season's second episode, Ignoffo again managed to avoid getting cut which has historically been a challenge for him, even leading to a visit to the hospital a couple years ago. "I was cutting garlic and I wasn't paying attention, and I cut the top tendon of my thumb to the point where I saw bone and my thumb just went limp," Ignoffo told Patch. Following surgery and rehab for that injury, Ignoffo said he mostly stopped using knives, donning oven mitts for protection whenever he did. Appearing on a cooking show required him get over his fear of knives and take on the challenge of a range of new tools, he said. "Their kitchen's magnificent, in 'Worst Cooks.' They have huge whisks, hammers, tools, automated screwdriver things," he said. "I didn't even know what half the stuff on the walls were." Ignoffo, who launched his full-time modeling career shortly before the coronavirus halted entertainment industry, spent several years in China after studying Mandarin in college. In 2016, he earned a graduate certificate in sustainable development and consumer preferences from Nanjing University before returning to the United States and becoming a cybersecurity consultant. Cooking was not a priority in either role, he said. Ignoffo said lunch in China would set him back about 50 cents, and he could splurge on a large dinner for just $2. Back in the U.S., he has found new reasons not to develop cooking skills. Story continues "When I was working late in a corporate job you don't eat. And now that I'm a model, you really don't eat," he said. "You wake up, you inhale a big gust of wind that's breakfast. You have a kale for lunch, and you swallow your feelings for dinner." Chefs Canne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli were joined by contestants Dolores Aguilar-Fernandez, Evan Baker, Darian Barnes, Holly Brooks, Zack Ignoffo, Domaine Javier, Jewels McIlroy, Johannes "Yo" Phelps, Ari Robinson, Denise Schroder, Louisa Sharamatyan, Eric Smart, Erin Sullivan and Brianna Weidenbach. (Food Network) The 14 contestants on "Worst Cooks in America" were divided among teams mentored by celebrity chefs Alex Guarnaschelli and Anne Burrell. Ignoffo is on Burrell's team. By the third episode, which airs Sunday, both teams are down to five members. The finale of the seven-episode season is set to air Aug. 2. It will feature the cast's two "most-improved" cooks, who will prepare a three-course meal for judges Mary Giuliani, Julian Rodarte and James Tahhan, who will determine the winner of the $25,000 grand prize in a blind taste test, according to Food Network representatives. The show was filmed over four weeks in Queens, New York, ending in mid-February, according to a casting call. A Food Network spokesperson said the COVID-19 pandemic had no impact on the show's production or post-production. Part of his motivation for improving his cooking skills, Ignoffo said, is the risk of missing out on a symbolic hand-me-down. "[There's] a longstanding tradition in my family, on my dad's side, of passing down this Italian flag apron, kind of like a family heirloom, for the male chefs. I was at risk of course of not getting this apron," he said. "My dad really held it over my head and said, 'You're not going to get it, your sister's going to get it.' It's going to be the first in the long line I think it's going back four generations of this heirloom, and without knowing how to cook I was going to miss out on it." This article originally appeared on the Highland Park Patch - Hyundai again applauds NHTSA and the DOT for raising awareness of rear seat reminder systems - Popular Palisade, Santa Fe, Sonata and Sonata Hybrid models already offer this life saving technology - All-new 2021 Elantra to offer Hyundai's Rear Occupant Alert - Hyundai is voluntarily making its Rear Occupant Alert (ROA) door-logic system standard on most of its new vehicles by 2022 FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Heading into summer, Hyundai Motor America wants to remind everyone to check the rear seats when exiting a vehicle. This simple act can help prevent child deaths from heatstroke in vehicles. Heading into summer, Hyundai Motor America wants to remind everyone to check the rear seats when exiting a vehicle. "It only takes a second to check the back seat and save a child's life on a hot summer day," said Brian Latouf, chief safety officer, Hyundai Motor North America. "We have great systems to help drivers remember to do just that, but there are lots of methods that work. All of them can save a life." More information about NHTSA's best practices can be found at https://www.nhtsa.gov/child-safety/help-prevent-hot-car-deaths. Other Tips for Adults with Kids in the Car Place a briefcase, purse, or cell phone next to the child's car seat so that you'll always check the back seat before leaving the car. Keep a stuffed animal or another memento in your child's car seat when it's empty. Move it to the front seat as a visual reminder when your child is in the back seat. Set a rule for your child care provider; have them call you if your child doesn't arrive as scheduled. To do its part, Hyundai is voluntarily making its Rear Occupant Alert (ROA) door-logic system standard on most of its new vehicles by 2022. It recently added standard ROA to the 2020 Sonata and Sonata Hybrid and will add the system to the all-new 2021 Elantra, by the end of the year. Hyundai will also make its optional Ultrasonic Rear Occupant Alert, or a similar sensor-based system, available on more of its models in the future. It is available today in the popular Palisade and Santa Fe SUVs, vehicles most driven by families with young children. Story continues NHTSA and Hyundai are now calling on the public via social media to help prevent children from dying in hot cars this summer. Four Hyundai models are available today with door-logic ROA as standard equipment: the 2020 Santa Fe, Palisade, Sonata and Sonata Hybrid. Both of the SUVs have the Ultrasonic ROA available as an option. The 2019 Santa Fe also has the Ultrasonic ROA feature available as an option. Hyundai currently offers two types of ROA systems to help prevent these tragedies from occurring. The ROA door-logic system detects if a rear door was opened or closed before the car was started, then reminds the driver to check the rear seat with a message on the center cluster when exiting the vehicle. The Ultrasonic ROA has the door-logic technology and an ultrasonic sensor that helps to detect the movements of children and pets in the second-row seats. If the system detects movement in the second-row seats after the driver leaves the vehicle and locks the doors, it will honk the horn and send an alert to the driver's smartphone via Hyundai's Blue Link connected car system (if equipped with Blue Link and the Blue Link service is active). These videos have more information on how the systems work. 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. Hyundai's 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. Please visit our media website at www.HyundaiNews.com Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram Heading into summer, Hyundai Motor America wants to remind everyone to check the rear seats when exiting a vehicle. Heading into summer, Hyundai Motor America wants to remind everyone to check the rear seats when exiting a vehicle. Heading into summer, Hyundai Motor America wants to remind everyone to check the rear seats when exiting a vehicle. Hyundai Motor America. (PRNewsFoto/Hyundai Motor America) (PRNewsfoto/Hyundai Motor America) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hyundai-wants-to-make-sure-drivers-check-the-back-seat-301086116.html SOURCE Hyundai Motor America Presenting PRiZiM, a platform designed for the full healthcare operation, from quality improvement to care management, supporting streamlined and superior delivery of quality care for every patient. FRANKLIN, Tenn., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- i2i Population Health is pleased to announce the latest release of PRiZiM to the market. This is i2i's second release of the PRiZiM platform, designed with the entire enterprise in mind, from quality improvement to care management. All stakeholders can access one synchronized data set to explore, analyze, and act. Users can configure and customize unlimited "pages" of dashboards and scorecards to examine performance across clinics, hospitals, networks and providers, using benchmarks to drive measurable performance improvement. One Patient. One Population. One Platform. (PRNewsfoto/i2i Population Health) Improving the health of communities is a core passion of the i2i Team. This starts with providing innovative technology solutions that integrate with the users workflow. With PRiZiM and LINKS 2020, care teams can analyze quality performance, interactively, with highlighted trends and alerts across hundreds of measures, drilling down into drivers of utilization, cost, and even patient records, which will drive significant quality improvement across your community. Whether you are an individual health center, private practice, hospital, health plan, or network, PRiZiM powers a 360 degree view of your organization's quality performance. A single source of truth enabling providers and health plans to focus on Patients not Technology. Altura Centers for Health in Tulare, California, teamed with i2i to implement PRiZiM across their community health centers. Altura provides quality, community-driven, healthcare across six different clinics which include primary care, behavioral health, and dental services. Leveraging i2iTracks for daily operational population health management, Altura has been an i2i client for over 14 years. Adding PRiZiM to Altura's population health strategies was a key component to enhancing quality program performance and further building continuity of care programs across their network of clinics. Story continues "We are proud to partner with i2i in launching PRiZiM in addition to i2iTracks as our complete population health platform," states Eric Medina, Altura Quality Improvement Director. "PRiZiM will support our health center's overall mission and vision of providing quality healthcare to several communities. Our care teams, quality management, and finance staff will utilize PRiZiM to better identify care opportunities that help Altura Centers and our thousands of patients live healthier lives." i2i CEO, Justin L. Neece, echoes these statements. "We are grateful for Altura Centers for Health's leadership and partnership. i2i's mission, Serving Others for Healthy Communities, is exemplified in our continued efforts to innovate and transform population health technologies that meet our customers' needs. PRiZiM delivers one interoperable platform that connects, data-rich solutions to meet the dynamic needs of health centers, hospitals, health plans, and government." Along with the launch of the latest version of PRiZiM, i2i is pleased to announce the unveiling of a new website, i2ipophealth.com. The new site provides up-to-date information and news on the company's latest solutions and services, as well as success stories. For existing customers, the i2i Support Community portal is still one click away from great service, training content, and many more valuable resources. The content provided throughout the website speaks to the significant growth and contributions many have made to the i2i Family. About Altura Centers for Health Altura Centers for Health has been providing medical and dental care to the community since 1995. Historically the clinic was formerly owned and operated by Tulare Local Health Care District. It was purchased from Tulare District Hospital (TDH) on July 1998. Altura first became a Federal Qualified Look A-Like Clinic in 1997 and in 2000 became a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), and is a deemed federal public health service employee. In addition, the clinic is a 501 (C) 3 Non-profit Organization. Altura is governed by a committed Volunteer Community Board of Directors which meet once a month and serve on several committees. The majority of the Board of Directors are patients of Altura. Hence, it is a clinic governed by its patients as well as the community. About i2i Population Health i2i is the nation's largest population health technology company serving the underserved, safety net market. With 20 years of experience spanning 37 states and 30 million lives, i2i has consistently ranked as a category leader of KLAS' annual software review. The i2i platform powers an advanced data integration and aggregation engine that publishes normalized clinical and administrative data through a unique quality management and care coordination application. Driving improved outcomes in quality program performance is a core competency of i2i. The results are demonstrative through an expansive base of clients in the Federally Qualified Health Center, Community Hospital, Managed Care Health Plan, and Government market segments. For more information about and the latest news from i2i Population Health, visit i2ipophealth.com or follow @i2iPopHealth on Twitter, and @i2i Population Health on LinkedIn. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/i2i-announces-new-population-health-solution-driving-whole-patient-care-301086047.html SOURCE i2i Population Health Multi-layered global identity verification deters fraud and delivers a seamless end-user experience ATLANTA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IDology, a GBG company, today announced a partnership with Microsoft to integrate its innovative ExpectID identity verification and anti-fraud solution with the Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) External Identities. ExpectID is now available to Azure Active Directory customers for easy, plug-and-play access to multi-layered global identity verification as a service that elevates trust, facilitates onboarding, increases business identity assurance and shuts down fraud. Sue Bohn, Partner Director of Program Experience, Microsoft Identity Division, at Microsoft Corp. said, "We're pleased to enable our customers to utilize IDology's ExpectID solutions with Microsoft Azure Active Directory. Our B2B and B2C customers can obtain the power of a multi-layered solution that rapidly detects fraud and provides identity verification, while not compromising on end-user experience." The ability to quickly verify identities and deliver a secure and seamless experience has become both a critical business initiative and a competitive differentiator. Additionally, customers today expect frictionless onboarding experiences and, if presented with lengthy vetting and identity checking processes, may turn to a competitor instead. According to IDology's Second Annual Consumer Digital Identity Study, 83 million Americans abandoned account signup due to friction. "In today's threat-heavy environment, detecting and preventing fraud require more than basic identity matching," said Christina Luttrell, COO of IDology. "ExpectID accesses thousands of data sources and analyzes multiple layers of identity attributes that seamlessly work together to instantly verify identities and detect fraud so that Azure AD External Identities customers can quickly greenlight legitimate individuals with confidence or dynamically escalate to other methods if needed." Story continues The depth of data ExpectID analyzes and the control it provides businesses help prevent revenue loss and deliver an experience that safeguards trust and builds loyalty. With ExpectID, customers can quickly verify external identities such as third-party contractors, guests, customers and other companies. In just a few simple steps, Microsoft customers can deploy IDology's market-leading identity verification into Azure Active Directory for seamless identity verification and identity management across all of their external identities. At the same time, ExpectID gives Azure Active Directory customers fast, seamless identity verification to meet the demands of today's consumers who want to be protected but also expect convenience. With ExpectID, it's easy to introduce the right amount of friction at the right time, deploy dynamic escalation methods only when needed and fulfill the need for identity verification without driving away customers. Learn more about IDology integration with Azure Active Directory External Identities for external user collaboration (B2B) or consumers (B2C). Click here to schedule a demo and see firsthand what makes IDology's ExpectID the preferred identity verification solution for businesses worldwide. About IDology IDology, a GBG company, provides real-time technology solutions that verify an individual's identity and age for anyone conducting business in a consumer-not-present environment to help drive revenue, decrease costs, prevent fraud and meet compliance regulations. Founded in 2003, IDology offers a solution-driven approach to identity verification and fraud prevention that ultimately helps increase customer acquisition and improve the customer experience. IDology has developed an innovative and on-demand technology platform that allows customers to control the entire proofing process and provides the flexibility to make configuration changes that are deployed automaticallywithout having to rely on internal IT resources or IDology's customer service so businesses can stay ahead of the fraud landscape while maintaining compliance. For more information, visit www.IDology.com or call 866-520-1234. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Media Contact: Jenn Pratt Carabiner Communications 404.655.2273 jpratt@carabinercomms.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/idologys-expectid-identity-verification-and-anti-fraud-solution-now-available-to-microsoft-azure-active-directory-customers-301085766.html SOURCE IDology The deal reflects the company's long-term commitment to the Greater Philadelphia region PHILADELPHIA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Independence Health Group ("Independence") today announced that it has completed the purchase of its corporate headquarters located at 1901 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia. The purchase builds upon Independence's ongoing commitment to the Greater Philadelphia region and continued investment in the West Market Street neighborhood. In addition to 1901 Market Street, Independence's Center City campus includes a leased state-of-the-art customer service call center at 1900 Market Street and Independence LIVE, an award-winning customer experience center at 1919 Market Street, which connects to the company's headquarters via a courtyard that is open to the community. "The purchase of our headquarters at 1901 Market Street is a special moment for our company. More importantly, it signifies our long-term commitment to this neighborhood, the City of Philadelphia and to the amazing people who live and work here," said Independence Health Group CEO Daniel J. Hilferty during a ceremony at Independence headquarters. "This building is the cornerstone of our Center City campus, which is dedicated to the health and well-being of our associates, members, and our entire community. As we navigate the challenges of returning to a new normal amid COVID-19, our commitment remains as strong as ever." Construction of 1901 Market Street began in 1987, specifically for Independence, and occupancy began in 1989. The building spans approximately 800,000 square feet, consists of 45 floors and occupies three quarters of an acre along the bustling West Market Street corridor. It is the eighth tallest office tower in Philadelphia and houses nearly 2,500 Independence associates. Over the last decade, Independence reinvested in the building, named for former Independence CEO G. Fred DiBona, Jr., through key renovations and improvements, including the opening of The Center for Innovation, the Joseph A. Frick Training and Conference Center, an expanded cafeteria, a recently renovated associate fitness center, a revamped lobby, modernized workspaces on all floors, and updated building mechanicals and controls to improve overall efficiency. The building received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR certification for the past five years in a row, receiving a score of 84 in 2019. Story continues "We are always looking for strategic ways to invest in the growth and efficiency of our organization, to ultimately better serve our members and the community," said Gregory E. Deavens, Independence executive vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer. "Our commitment to Philadelphia through the purchase of our corporate headquarters is both an important development for our company and a vote of confidence in the bright future of this region." The building was acquired from Piedmont Realty Trust. For more than 80 years, Independence has continued to serve the Greater Philadelphia region as a leading health care company and one of its largest employers. Contact: Laura Hanes 215-241-2736 (office) 215-910-0966 (cell) Laura.Hanes@ibx.com ibx.com @ibx (Twitter) @ibxfearless (Instagram) Facebook.com/ibx (PRNewsfoto/Independence Health Group) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/independence-purchases-corporate-headquarters-building-at-1901-market-st-301085954.html SOURCE Independence Blue Cross South Africa: Collins Khosa case still receiving attention: Defence Minister Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says the case in which soldiers are accused of brutality in an incident that led to the death of Alexandra resident Collins Khosa during lockdown is still receiving attention from several law enforcement entities. The Minister said this when Ministers in the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster appeared before the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to field oral questions on Tuesday. I am singling out the [Collings Khosa] case in particular because it is a matter of interest right now in South Africa and it is a matter which relates to the death of a human being and therefore, it is necessary for me to indicate to honourable members and to South Africans that [because] at some point we said the board of inquiry has completed its work and thats it, does not mean this case is not receiving attention. This case is receiving attention from three different entities, which is namely your [SANDF] board of inquiry, your military ombudsman and the last one, which is the joint investigation conducted by the military police and the South African Police Service, she said. Mapisa-Nqakula was responding to a question on whether government has taken responsibility on the reported incidents where SANDF officers had been accused of alleged acts of brutality against civilians. She said government has expressed empathy with the families, and in particular, the Khosa family, for what happened to them. Obviously I am the executive in the department and anything that happens to members of our society. Anything that happens to that structure you get ashamed, you get embarrassed. And I must say that when the allegations emerged, I am on record of having made a statement to the effect that we do not accept instances where law enforcement agencies abuse power. Even when the matter of the Khosa case, even though there hasnt been an investigation that gives us a finding as to who should be accountable for this case, I am still on record as having said, on behalf of the South African government, we have our hands in shame for what has happened, for the loss of life. I dont think an impression should be created that we do not take responsibility, we take responsibility. We make these statements because we do take responsibility for whatever action whether good or bad. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-06-30. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Australian Senator Backs Calls for Recognition of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocide Sarah Hanson-Young. Federal Senator for South Australia, Sarah Hanson-Young has joined calls from the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities for national recognition of the 1915 Genocide committed against their ancestors by the Ottoman Empire, by signing an Affirmation of Support backing the Joint Justice Initiative. The February 2020 launch of the Joint Justice Initiative at Australia's Parliament House featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) and Australian Hellenic Council (AHC), which declares Australia's recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides as a priority on behalf of their communities. Hanson-Young, who in 2008 became the youngest woman elected to Federal Parliament at 25, chairs the Senate References Committee on Environment and Communications, and has been a prominent campaigner for refugees throughout her career in public life. Her Australian Greens has a party position calling for for Federal Australian recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and Hanson-Young's addition to the Joint Justice Initiative continues the development of a growing bipartisan caucus across both Houses of Australia's Parliament in support of truth and justice on the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides. "We Armenian-Australians, Assyrian-Australians and Greek-Australians thank Senator Sarah Hanson-Young for adding her significant voice to Australian recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides," said Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) Executive Director, Haig Kayserian. "It is time Australia joins the righteous nations in standing for truth and justice on this issue, and Senator Hanson-Young's advocacy will add to our hopes of achieving that goal." The Joint Justice Initiative has so far announced the support of Hanson-Young, Senator Hollie Hughes, Senator Rex Patrick, Mike Freelander MP, Senator Eric Abetz, Senator Larissa Waters, Senator Pat Dodson, Jason Falinski MP, Josh Burns MP, John Alexander MP, Senator Andrew Bragg and Bob Katter MP, with a promise of more announcements to come. On 25th February 2020, over 100 Federal Australian parliamentarians, diplomats, departmental officials, political staffers, academics, media and community leaders were treated to cultural performances, food, wine and brandy, as well as the historic signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which affirmed that the signatory public affairs representatives of the three communities were jointly committed to seeing Australia recognise the Turkish-committed Genocide against the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian citizens of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. TCN News Women in Governance Network and Purva Bharati Educational Trust of Assam in partnership with HP Workers Solidarity of Himachal Pradesh have made an urgent appeal against forceful detention of Assamese women workers in Baddi Industrial Area. Support TwoCircles Hailing from various districts in Assam, a total of 19 girls among the age group of 18 to 34, have been stuck in Himachal Pradesh initially due to the COVID-19 lockdown and now, by the employers extending their stay on fabricated cases. IPS Mrigakhi Deka, who is a part of Assam state nodal team for facilitating the return of migrant workers, has raised this issues calling it a matter of pressing concern of forceful holding back of Assam girls against their will through fear, intimidation and manipulation as well as a violation of labour and human rights. These young girls from Assams Jorhat, Sivasagar, Golaghat and Charaideo belong to socio-economically marginalized families and are mostly employed as Daily Wage Workers on tea plantations. Before the lockdown, these girls were admitted to a training programme under the machine-based sewing project named PIA (Project Implementing Agency) in association with Society for Social Security and Empowerment (SANSE) of the Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission (ASRLM). Subsequently, the block personnel of Jeevika Sakhis had facilitated the travel of these girls for training purposes that took place from August 2019 to November 2019 at Himachal Pradeshs Vardhaman Textiles. Under Jeevika Sakhis, the girls are to be trained free of cost as SMO(Sewing Machine Operator) along with courses in spoken English language, soft skill for Personality Development and Computer operations. After the training, they were to be placed in a clothes production factory thus ensuring their better future and livelihood. However, things changed once the lockdown was implemented. The girls reported having faced strict restrictions on their movement in the campus and socialization with people in neighbouring colonies, and they were not even acquainted with the entire campus or the area. Additionally, they even complained about the machine load, lack of rest hours, injuries and wounds they received in the work coupled with declining health conditions. But all of these issues were not taken in cognizance, and instead were given vague and apathetic responses. Women in Governance Network and Purva Bharati Educational Trust of Assam have therefore written to various local, state and national administrative organizations to highlight this forced intimidation of young girls. It has mentioned in its letter that neither the block personnel nor the Jeevika Sakhis, whether during the training at SANSE or job at Vardhaman, monitored and contacted the girls to understand their concerns and grievances.In fact, adding to the existing violations, the girls who were to receive Rs. 7500 after placement, received even lesser. The pay further lacked uniformity in the following months, causing further confusion and mistrust among the stranded women workers. The womens networks from Assam contacted the employers at Baddi Industrial Area in Himachal Pradesh but nothing helped. According to the network, the institutions involved in the recruitment, training and employment of the girls have continued the intimidation along with circulation of vicious rumours about them, going to the extent that they registered a false and baseless FIR against one of the members with the motive of only causing them further harassment. They informed in the letter that this was done to threaten them from speaking the truth and demand for justice. However, the womens group was finally helped by a local civil society group Himachal Pradesh Workers Solidarity who inquired and discussed the situation with girls, assisting them to facilitate their travel back to home. With the help of the workers solidarity group, the girls were registered on the online portal created by Himachal government for registration of labourers and eventually the nodal officers in both Himachal and Assam were communicated about this issue. In the latest, the womens network has coordinated with Assam Police, local administration and nodal officers to report the intimidating actions of both these institutions and demand an urgent probe in the matter. Also, they have condemned the treatment of women workers and urged an inquiry to ensure respect and rights of the women and labourers are not derogated further and a safe, secure environment is created. The network has also shed light on the false FIR against Pranamika Saikia, one of the girls among the 19 workers from Assam. Calling the forceful detention of workers as an act of violation of constitutional rights, they have demanded immediate action against the management of both SANSE- Society for Social Security and Empowerment and Vardhaman textiles for using intimidating and harassment approaches against the girls. They have contacted concerned civil societies and individuals to register cases against trauma and derogation of women along with unhealthy working conditions and violation of labour rights. In addition, Women in Governance Network and Purva Bharati Educational Trust of Assam and HP Workers Solidarity of Himachal Pradesh have urged ASRLM to take appropriate action against the concerned officers of ASRLM for their negligence of duties, violation of SOP protocols, negligence of the wellbeing of the girls who are on placement under the program and for not supporting the girls to come back home during COVID-19 pandemic. Cases have also been filed against Vardhman Textiles for blatant violation of MHA and SC guidelines on facilitation of return of migrant labourers by forcefully holding back the girls from returning home during COVID-19 pandemic. Survey Finds That One-Third of Companies are Having Challenges Meeting Customer Satisfaction Goals and Expectations in the Era of COVID-19 BELLEVUE, Wash., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- K2 , the leader in intelligent process automation, today announced the results of the recent Harris Poll "Accelerating Automation: How Businesses are Adapting to a Post-COVID World" survey. The survey reveals how business leaders are adapting to COVID-19, how they are preparing for business continuity in the future and the value of automation technology to meet customer expectations. K2 Process Automation (PRNewsfoto/K2 Software) "Even before COVID-19, companies recognized the need to accelerate the pace of digital transformation. The impact of the pandemic has made it even more challenging as we are seeing close to fifty-percent of companies still using manual and paper-based processes, which puts them at a competitive disadvantage," said Carlos Carvajal, chief marketing officer at K2. "In this new work environment there is a renewed sense of urgency for companies to accelerate the automation of their business processes to drive operational efficiency and improve their customer experience." According to the survey results, 92 percent of business leaders agree that to survive and flourish, companies must enable digital channels and process automation in the workplace. Across industries and countries, it is clear that process automation and digitization are viewed as critical to long-term organizational success. However, it is equally apparent that achieving the desired end state is no easy task. Eighty-six percent of businesses say they face one or more key barriers to process automation. The complexity of process automation is the top challenge. However, limited budgets are also a common roadblock. The Impact of COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken most businesses to their core forcing a complete departure from 'status quo'. Businesses are prioritizing the development of new, automated processes to address COVID-19 realities, but only seven percent are prepared to deal with the breadth of issues COVID-19 brings. The survey also found that: Story continues 80 percent of businesses are facing new challenges related to COVID-19 60 percent need to develop new processes to address COVID realities 59 percent are having challenges maintaining operational efficiencies in a distributed environment and enabling remote employees The Disconnect between C-Suite and their Directs C-level executives and their teams agree on the top COVID-driven priorities but disagree in many cases about how prepared companies are to actually address new process needs. For example, 53 percent of C-level execs believe their companies are very prepared for outbreak response planning versus only 40 percent of lower-level leaders. A similar disconnect is seen for many other COVID needs, such as safety equipment and resource tracking, employee self-screening and visitor screening. Adoption of Automation Many organizations are still in very early stages of process automation and still rely heavily on manual processes. On average, only about half (51%) of business processes are automated. However, businesses are expecting to significantly increase the number of processes that are digitized or automated over the next 12 months. By Region Across regions, only 1 in 5 are embracing process automation in its most advanced forms, and nearly 1 in 10 are at the beginning, having only taken initial steps toward automation. Businesses in the United States are further along the adoption curve than are those in the United Kingdom and Germany. And in all countries, Enterprise organizations (1000+ employees) have embraced more sophisticated forms of automation than their Mid-Market (250-999 employees) counterparts. Automation is key to Customer Satisfaction Thirty-six percent of companies across regions are having difficulty meeting customer satisfaction goals. Nearly all of those companies (92%) acknowledge that effective use of process automation and digital transformational is key to addressing this aspect of their business. To learn more, download the Accelerating Automation: How Businesses are Adapting to a Post-COVID World white paper. Methodology This research was conducted online in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany by The Harris Poll from May 22 May 30, 2020 among Business Leaders (VP, SVP or C-level roles) within organizations of 250+ employees and who have decision making authority as it relates to automating business processes. About K2 Software, Inc. K2 , the leader in intelligent process automation, enables enterprises to speed time-to-market and simplify the creation of modern process applications, automate workflows and transform their businesses. More than 4 million users in over 84 countries are using K2 to take control of their business processes, increase visibility and improve operational efficiency. To learn more, visit K2.com . About the Harris Poll The Harris Poll is one of the longest-running surveys in the U.S., tracking public opinion, motivations and social sentiment since 1963. It is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that strives to reveal the authentic values of modern society to inspire leaders to create a better tomorrow. We work with clients in three primary areas; building twenty-first-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and advisory to help leaders make the best decisions possible. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-industry-survey-reveals-that-92-percent-of-business-leaders-agree-enabling-more-business-process-automation-is-critical-to-thrive-in-the-post-covid-world-301085499.html SOURCE K2 DUBLIN, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --The "Electrical Protective Equipment Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Product; End User" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Research and Markets Logo The global electrical protective equipment market was valued at US$ 12.89 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 15.65 billion by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.6% during 2020-2027, the forecast period considered in the study. Electrical protective equipment includes insulated tools, face and eye protection tools, respiratory protection tools, protective apparels, and head protection tools, which protect the workers from electric shocks, electric blasts, and other hazards. The equipment is primarily used in the manufacturing, construction, oil & gas, healthcare, and transportation industries to ensure the protection of workers and engineers while working in the proximity of the electrical equipment. The rising awareness regarding workers' safety and health, and the increasing industrial fatalities - primarily in oil & gas and mining industries - due to the lack of electrical protective equipment are the major factors that would continue to drive the market growth in the coming years; moreover, advancements in technologies, accompanied by changing consumer needs for electrical protective equipment, is further expected to accelerate the market expansion. The rising investments in the electrical network, growth of the manufacturing sector, and regulations from associations such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are among the other key factors contributing to the market growth. As per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is an increasing number of electrocution accidents in the manufacturing sector. Severe certification standards that compel manufacturers to produce high-quality products are favoring the growth of the industry. Further, the power generation industries worldwide are witnessing huge growth; also, various construction and electrical projects are in the pipeline in most of the Southeast Asian countries. All these factors are anticipated to fuel the demand for electrical protective equipment in the coming years. Moreover, the growth of the global electric vehicle industry and the escalating demand for electric vehicles are also encouraging manufacturers to set up new production plants, which would create new manufacturing jobs; thus, adding to the demand for electrical protective equipment. Reasons to Buy: Story continues Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global electrical protective equipment market Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the global electrical protective equipment market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long-term strategies Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Electrical Protective Equipment Market The high growth rate of urbanization and industrialization in various developing countries across the globe is anticipated to offer ample growth opportunities to the market players operating in the global electrical protective equipment market, as the investments in industrial development are quite high. In addition to this, APAC is a global manufacturing hub with countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and India; it is also a leading contributor to the global electronics and semiconductor industry growth. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is anticipated to cause huge disruptions in the growth of various industries in APAC. For instance, China is the global hub of manufacturing and the largest raw material supplier for various industries, and it is among one of the worst-affected COVID-19 countries. The lockdown of various plants and factories in across the globe is affecting the global supply chains and negatively impacting manufacturing, delivery schedules, and sales of various electrical protective equipment products. Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 1.1 Study Scope 1.2 Report Guidance 1.3 Market Segmentation 2. Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 3.1 Coverage 3.2 Secondary Research 3.3 Primary Research 4. Electrical Protective Equipment Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 PEST Analysis 4.2.1 North America 4.2.2 Europe 4.2.3 Asia Pacfic 4.2.4 Middle East & Africa 4.2.5 South America 4.3 Ecosystem Analysis 4.4 Expert Opinion 5. Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Key Market Dynamics 5.1 Market Drivers 5.1.1 Emerging Power Transmission Line Projects 5.1.2 Dynamic Power Generation Industry 5.2 Market Restraints 5.2.1 High Price of Speciality Materials and Fabrics 5.3 Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Electrification of Rail Lines 5.4 Future Trends 5.4.1 Emergence of Smart Grid and Adoption of New Technologies 5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints 6. Electrical Protective Equipment - Global Market Analysis 6.1 Electrical Protective Equipment Global Overview 6.2 Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Billion) 6.3 Market Positioning - Global Market Players Ranking 7. Electrical Protective Equipment Market Analysis - By Product 7.1 Overview 7.2 Electrical Protective Equipment Market, By Product (2019 and 2027) 7.3 Insulated Tool 7.3.1 Overview 7.3.2 Insulated Tool: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 7.4 Face and Eye Protection 7.4.1 Overview 7.4.2 Face and Eye Protection: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 7.5 Respiratory Protection 7.5.1 Overview 7.5.2 Respiratory Protection: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 7.6 Protective Apparels 7.6.1 Overview 7.6.2 Protective Apparels: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 7.7 Head Protection 7.7.1 Overview 7.7.2 Head Protection: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 7.8 Others 7.8.1 Overview 7.8.2 Others: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 8. Electrical Protective Equipment Market Analysis - By End-user 8.1 Overview 8.2 Electrical Protective Equipment Market, By End-user (2019 and 2027) 8.3 Manufacturing 8.3.1 Overview 8.3.2 Manufacturing: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 8.4 Construction 8.4.1 Overview 8.4.2 Construction: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 8.5 Oil & Gas 8.5.1 Overview 8.5.2 Oil & Gas: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 8.6 Healthcare 8.6.1 Overview 8.6.2 Healthcare: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 8.7 Transportation 8.7.1 Overview 8.7.2 Transportation: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 8.8 Others 8.8.1 Overview 8.8.2 Others: Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Revenue, and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 9. Electrical Protective Equipment Market - Geographic Analysis 9.1 Overview 9.2 North America: Electrical Protective Equipment Market 9.3 Europe: Electrical Protective Equipment Market 9.4 APAC: Electrical Protective Equipment Market 9.5 MEA: Electrical Protective Equipment Market 9.6 SAM: Electrical Protective Equipment Market 10. Electrical Protective Equipment Market- COVID-19 Impact Analysis 10.1 Overview 10.2 North America 10.3 Europe 10.4 Asia-Pacific 10.5 Middle East and Africa 10.6 South America 11. Industry Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.2 Market Initiative 11.3 New Product Development 11.4 Merger and Acquisition 12. Company Profiles 12.1 Ansell Limited 12.1.1 Key Facts 12.1.2 Business Description 12.1.3 Products and Services 12.1.4 Financial Overview 12.1.5 SWOT Analysis 12.1.6 Key Developments 12.2 MSA Safety Incorporated 12.3 Delta Plus Group 12.4 ALPHA PRO TECH, LTD. 12.5 Honeywell International Inc. 12.6 3M 12.7 Mallcom (India) Limited 12.8 NSA - National Safety Apparel 12.9 Lakeland Industries Inc. 12.10 Cintas Corporation 13. Appendix 13.1 About the Publisher 13.2 Word Index Companies Mentioned Ansell Limited MSA Safety Incorporated Delta Plus Group ALPHA PRO TECH, LTD. Honeywell International Inc. 3M Mallcom (India) Limited NSA - National Safety Apparel Lakeland Industries Inc. Cintas Corporation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/x8t4wt 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 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 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/insights-on-the-electrical-protective-equipment-global-market-2019-to-2027---by-product-and-end-user-301085879.html SOURCE Research and Markets (Reuters) - Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump and 35 others over the killing of top general Qassem Soleimani and has asked Interpol for help, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on Monday, according to the Fars news agency. The United States and Interpol both dismissed the idea of acting on such a warrant. The United States killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, with a drone strike in Iraq on Jan. 3. Washington accused Soleimani of masterminding attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on U.S. forces in the region. Alqasimehr said the warrants had been issued on charges of murder and terrorist action. He said Iran had asked Interpol to issue a "red notice" seeking the arrest of Trump and the other individuals the Islamic Republic accuses of taking part in the killing of Soleimani. Alqasimehr said the group included other U.S. military and civilian officials but did not provide further details. U.S. Iran envoy Brian Hook said the warrant was a "propaganda stunt" at a news conference in Saudi Arabia. "Our assessment is that Interpol does not intervene and issue red notices ... (of) a political nature," he said. "This is a political nature. This has nothing to do with national security, international peace or promoting stability ... It is a propaganda stunt that no-one takes seriously." Interpol said in a statement that its constitution forbade it to undertake "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character". "Therefore, if or when any such requests were to be sent to the General Secretariat," it added, "... Interpol would not consider requests of this nature." Alqasimehr said Iran would continue to pursue the matter after Trump left office. The killing of Soleimani brought the United States and Iran to the brink of armed conflict after Iran retaliated by firing missiles at American targets in Iraq several days later. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Additional reporting by Lisa Barrington in Dubai and Richard Lough in Paris; Editing by Kevin Liffey) (Reuters) - Iran recorded its highest number of deaths from COVID-19 within a 24-hour period, official health ministry figures showed on Monday. The 162 deaths reported on Monday exceed the previous record on April 4, when the health ministry reported 158 deaths in a day. The Islamic Republic has recorded a total of 10,670 deaths and 225,205 infections from the coronavirus, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said in a statement on state TV. There have been 186,180 recoveries, she said. The number of new daily infections and deaths has increased sharply in the last week following the gradual lifting of restrictions that began in mid-April. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, expressed concern on Monday about the rising number of deaths. He said government officials should wear masks to set an example for Iranian youth. Masks will become mandatory in gathering places determined by the health ministry starting on July 5, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, according to his official website. The government will assess whether to extend the policy on July 22. Senior officials caution that restrictions will be reimposed if health regulations to contain infections are not observed. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Howard Goller) Pope Francis. Reuters Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 when he was 15, will be beatified in October, after Pope Francis attributed a miracle to him in February. If a second miracle is attributed to him, he would be the first millennial saint. Acutis was a devout young Catholic who taught himself how to program, and used the internet as a tool to spread the message of the Catholic church. He is said to have saved a young Brazilian boy from a terrible illness through prayer. His mother Antonia Acutis told the National Catholic Register: "Carlo understood that the internet can be used as an atomic bomb for good, but it can also be used for bad, to diminish the human person." Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. A young Italian computer whiz who died when he was 15 is one miracle away from become the first millennial saint. Carlo Acutis, who used the internet to spread the Roman Catholic message, and is said to have saved a young Brazilian boy from a terrible illness through prayer, will be beatified in October, after the ceremony was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to NBC News. Beatification is the final step before a person becomes a saint the church recognizes a person has made it to heaven and has the ability to help those who pray in their name. Acutis, who was born in London in 1991 and lived in Milan, taught himself how to program before building a website that documented miracles globally, compiling 196 miracles altogether. He helped his classmates who were bullied, gave his pocket money to people living in poverty, and built websites for priests. In 2006, he died of leukemia when he was 15. Last year, Pope Francis said Acutis' use of the internet, communicating "values and beauty," was a perfect response to the pitfalls of social media, according to the Los Angeles Times. In February, Francis attributed a miracle to him based on an unexplainable healing in 2013, when a boy from Brazil recovered from a severe problem with his pancreas, after a priest prayed to Acutis on his behalf for three days. Story continues President of Catholic Faith Technologies Jay Breeden told NBC that Carlo's canonization might be a sign that Francis, who often uses his Twitter account with 4.9 million followers, is pushing for the Catholic Church to embrace technology. Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who leads the Vatican's department that chooses saints, told the Los Angeles Times Acutis was the right candidate to protect people using the internet. "That's my hope he would be an ideal example for all young people," he said. His mother Antonia Acutis told the National Catholic Register: "Carlo understood that the internet can be used as an atomic bomb for good, but it can also be used for bad, to diminish the human person." Acutis also coined a phrase about not letting people lose their individuality on the internet: "Everyone is born an original, but many die like photocopies." If a second miracle is approved then Acutis will become a saint. For the moment, his body, which is in a tomb in Assisi, is being livestreamed at all times. Read the original article on Insider Reimagining the way organizations communicate with stakeholders and communities DALLAS, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacobs (NYSE:J) is continuing its leadership in public engagement solutions, with the launch of a new, fully customized, online and interactive Jacobs' Virtual Event Space. As part of Jacobs' global suite of digital solutions, the Virtual Event Space can be tailored to deliver deep and meaningful engagement for any client, partner or project. Jacobs Strengthens Public Engagement Solutions with New Virtual Event Space Around the world, Jacobs develops and delivers public communication strategies and community involvement plans for clients' projects. Most often and until recently, these were facilitated via face-to-face public meetings. As projects look to continue important stakeholder engagement and avoid program delays, alternative solutions to face-to-face events are required. Jacobs' Virtual Event Space enables clients to provide their stakeholders with a rich, interactive, virtual experience that they can easily access straight from any computer or mobile device, without the need for virtual reality headsets. "With the recent restrictions on the way we interact with people, Jacobs specialists have enabled a way for our clients to accelerate and redefine how they connect and consult with stakeholders and end users in the future," said Jacobs Vice President and Global Digital Market Director Dr. Raja Kadiyala. "Leveraging our global digital solutions capability, we are challenging what's possible today and reinventing a new way forward providing more accessible, more inclusive, more resilient and lower carbon impact engagement." From real time feedback and information gathering sessions, to exhibitions, to public consultations sharing plans for major infrastructure and community developments, this customized virtual event experience allows public participation and engagement from the safety and comfort of home. Mirroring every aspect of face-to-face meetings, Jacobs' Virtual Event Space extends engagement with a wider audience and gives unparalleled access to people who cannot be at an event in person. It enables events to be held more safely, more sustainably, more cost-effectively and delivered more rapidly. It offers flexible configuration, an interactive visitor experience, real-time feedback, and can be integrated with clients' other digital and social media platforms. Story continues A demonstration of the Virtual Events Space is available here, or for more information about the virtual tool, please contact JacobsVES@jacobs.com or go to Jacobs' Virtual Events Space. Jacobs combines leading edge technology expertise with deep domain experience to help clients understand and deploy digital technologies that help them make better decisions and unlock new value. From Jacobs' ION solutions, Flood Cloud service and Replica digital twin software, to the new Virtual Events Space, Jacobs is tailoring digital-related technologies to readily support clients' challenges and leverage a different, more sustainable future. At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $13 billion in revenue and a talent force of more than 55,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector. Visit jacobs.com and connect with Jacobs on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management's current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related reaction of governments on global and regional market conditions and the company's business. For a description of some additional factors that may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 27, 2019, and in particular the discussions contained under Item 1 - Business; Item 1A - Risk Factors; Item 3 - Legal Proceedings; and Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, as well as the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company is not under any duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release to conform to actual results, except as required by applicable law. For press/media inquiries: Kerrie Sparks 214.583.8433 Jacobs Logo (PRNewsfoto/Jacobs) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jacobs-strengthens-public-engagement-solutions-with-new-virtual-event-space-301085556.html SOURCE Jacobs - QuickFire Challenge calls on innovators to identify and accelerate potential solutions aiming to improve patient care in our post-COVID world. - Awardees will receive up to KRW150,000,000 (approximately US $125,000)[1], residence at the Seoul Bio Hub, and mentorship and coaching from experts at the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.. SEOUL, Korea, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Janssen Korea Ltd. and Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC today announced the launch of the Seoul Innovation QuickFire Challenge for Healthcare in the New Normal in collaboration with the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI). The challenge invites innovators from around the world to submit ideas aiming to address and enable potential healthcare solutions for these challenging times. Specific areas of interest include: Health technologies including big data, artificial intelligence, and block chain E-health platforms that can improve the patient journey, empowering decision making for physicians and leading to better patient outcomes Rapid diagnostics for early detection and monitoring of rare diseases in particular for Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) Companion diagnostics for oncology Smart systems for vaccine distribution and patient adherence Up to two awardees will receive up to KRW150,000,000 (approximately US$125,000)2 in grant funding, one year of residency at the Seoul Bio Hub, and access to mentorship, programming, and resources from the Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JLABS ecosystem. "As the world continues to rapidly respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, forward-thinking innovations are critical to fill the gaps in medical care, addressing the needs of patients now and preparing for what may lie ahead,'" said Melinda Richter, Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation JLABS3. "COVID-19 has changed our everyday lives, and we recognize that this 'new normal' may likely be long-lasting." Story continues JLABS a global network of open innovation ecosystems has developed the QuickFire Challenge platform with the aim to empower and enable potential groundbreaking science and health solutions by encouraging students, entrepreneurs, researchers and start-up companies to tackle some of the world's most challenging problems in healthcare. "Almost overnight, the life sciences community around the world has mobilized to respond to COVID-19. At the same time, the pandemic is a pressure test on innovators' ability to bring their ideas to life. In collaboration with local leaders, we are working to support the entrepreneurial community to provide much needed resources in this new normal in healthcare. We must innovate more and innovate fast," said Jenny Zheng, Area Managing Director, Janssen North Asia4. The QuickFire Challenge aims to advance breakthrough innovations by combining Johnson & Johnson Innovation's unique vision for collaboration in an open innovation model with the Seoul Metropolitan Government's efforts to drive innovation and commercialize its research outcomes; KHIDI's professional and systems-building support; and the Seoul Bio Hub's ability to accelerate the development and commercialization of potential early-stage, life-science solutions. This announcement marks the fourth QuickFire Challenge in Korea, following the launch of the previous Seoul Innovation QuickFire Challenges in August 2017, August 2018, and July 2019. The deadline to apply is August 31, 2020. For more information about the Seoul Innovation QuickFire Challenge: Healthcare in the New Normal (including the terms and conditions of entry), please visit: jlabs.buzz/seoul-innovation. About Johnson & Johnson Innovation Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC focuses on accelerating all stages of innovation worldwide and forming collaborations between entrepreneurs and Johnson & Johnson's global healthcare businesses. Johnson & Johnson Innovation provides scientists, entrepreneurs and emerging companies with one-stop access to science and technology experts who can facilitate collaborations across the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer companies of Johnson & Johnson. Under the Johnson & Johnson Innovation umbrella of businesses, we connect with innovators through our regional Innovation Centers; Johnson & Johnson Innovation JLABS; Johnson & Johnson Innovation JJDC, Inc.; and our business development teams to create customized deals and novel collaborations that speed development of innovations to solve unmet needs in patients. JLABS provides the laboratories, expertise, education, tools and resources needed to help life science startups thrive, all with no strings attached. A Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center for Device Innovation at the Texas Medical Center (CDI @ TMC) has been established to accelerate the development of medical devices. For more information about Johnson & Johnson Innovation, please visit: www.jnjinnovation.com. About Johnson & Johnson Innovation JLABS Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JLABS (JLABS) is a global network of open innovation ecosystems, enabling and empowering innovators across a broad healthcare spectrum including pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and health tech sectors to create and accelerate the delivery of life-saving, life-enhancing health and wellness solutions to patients around the world. JLABS achieves this by providing the optimal environment for emerging companies to catalyze growth and optimize their research and development by opening them to vital industry connections, delivering entrepreneurial programs and providing a capital-efficient, flexible platform where they can transform the scientific discoveries of today into the breakthrough healthcare solutions of tomorrow. At JLABS, we value great ideas and are passionate about removing obstacles to success to help innovators unleash the potential of their early scientific discoveries. JLABS is a no-strings-attached model, which means entrepreneurs are free to develop their science while holding on to their intellectual property. JLABS also produces campaigns to seek out the best science called QuickFire Challenges. For more information, visit www.jlabs.jnjinnovation.com or follow @JLABS. About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension. Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at www.twitter.com/JanssenGlobal. Janssen Korea Ltd. is one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 related to a new collaboration and product development. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Janssen Korea Ltd., any of the other Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the potential that the expected benefits and opportunities related to the collaboration may not be realized or may take longer to realize than expected; challenges inherent in new product development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and obtaining regulatory approvals; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; uncertainty of commercial success for new products; the ability of the company to successfully execute strategic plans; impact of business combinations and divestitures; challenges to patents; changes in behavior and spending patterns or financial distress of purchasers of health care products and services; and global health care reforms and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2019, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," and in the company's most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. Janssen Korea Ltd., any of the other Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC and Johnson & Johnson do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments. 1 1 South Korean won equals 0.00083 United States Dollar 2 From the KRW150 million grant, each awardee will receive a KRW75 million grant including one-year mandatory residency, which must be used toward the rent and utilities at the Seoul Bio Hub for a year. 3 Melinda Richter is employed by Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC 4 Jenny Zheng is employed by Janssen Korea Ltd. Logo - https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/c575c5344841a1f774b93ba04847fdb1 SOURCE Johnson & Johnson Innovation By Ritsuko Ando TOKYO (Reuters) - The coronavirus has forced Japan's notoriously fussy food shoppers to abandon doubts about online grocery stores, sending retailers such as Aeon Co <8267.T> scrambling to meet a surge in delivery demand. Although Japanese shoppers aren't alone in going online during the outbreak, the shift is remarkable for a country that had been expected to take years to embrace online food shopping because of a zeal for fresh and perfectly presented produce. "I think that this pandemic has triggered an inflection point in the adoption of grocery e-commerce," said Luke Jensen, executive director of Ocado Group , hired to build a grocery e-commerce business for Japanese retail giant Aeon. Most companies won't disclose numbers, but retail executives and analysts estimate internet sales now account for about 5% or more of Japan's total grocery sales, compared with 2.5% before the pandemic. Although that is still lower than some pre-crisis estimates of 15% in China and even 7% in broadband laggard Britain, it challenges a long-held belief that Japanese shoppers will always on shopping daily and in person, checking the goods first-hand. Yuri Ohtaka, a graphic designer living in Tokyo's western suburbs, began ordering from multiple online supermarkets in March after seeing shoppers emptying shelves at a nearby store. Although fears of shortages have subsided, online deliveries have made it easier as she works from home, making three meals a day for her family, including her 3-year-old son. She's also happy to avoid stores amid fears of infections. "There's no need for face-to-face, dealing with registers, or standing in line," she said, adding that she's also persuaded her parents to go online. "They were shopping every day in the supermarket, and I really didn't want them to." As more households have two people working, analysts say, people want to spend less time shopping. But they still have exacting standards for service and produce quality, which have perplexed previous foreign entrants such as Carrefour and Tesco . Story continues Such changes are closely watched as Japan is one of the world's most valuable grocery markets, worth over 50 trillion yen ($466.42 billion) a year. Per capita, only countries such as Switzerland, Norway and Israel spend more on food. SUDDEN DEMAND Major Japanese supermarkets, despite talking about online services for years, have only recently begun large-scale spending on e-commerce infrastructure. Most have struggled to meet the spike in demand, and would-be-shoppers on Twitter have complained of difficulty securing delivery slots throughout the crisis. Aeon hired British online grocery pioneer Ocado in November to build state-of-the-art robotic warehouses, aiming to fend off rivals such as Amazon , Seven & i Holdings' <3382.T> Ito-Yokado and a venture between Walmart-owned Seiyu and e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc <4755.T>. But the first of those warehouses won't start operating until 2023. In the meantime, Aeon said it is hiring more staff to help pack online grocery orders, although it is having difficulty hiring more delivery drivers. Despite such constraints, Aeon expects online grocery sales to grow 50 percent and account for about 10 percent of sales by the end of its financial year ending next February, according to company executives. That is not an official target unveiled to investors, but the company confirmed President Akio Yoshida, who was appointed to the top job in March, set it as a goal. Executives expect the shift to last. "When people increase their use of online, they stay with it rather than going back. In Japan we'd expect there to be a step up in the growth of e-commerce," said Ocado's Jensen, who is also chief executive of the group's Ocado Solutions technology business. SMART WAREHOUSES VS MOM AND POP Analysts say the shift is also likely to favour bigger retailers who can invest in high-tech warehouses capable of handling large volumes rather than just having store staff pick items from retail shelves and package them for delivery. That could put smaller supermarkets and mom-and-pop stores, already struggling to match the likes of Aeon and Ito-Yokado in pricing, at a further disadvantage. But Violetta Volovich, who has researched global grocery industry trends for e-commerce consultancy Edge by Ascential, said remote and costly high-tech fulfilment centres were not the answer for all retailers. Instead, she envisions many retailers adopting automating more jobs in existing brick-and-mortar stores and embracing features such as "click and collect", in which shoppers pick up online purchases at the stores. She also said the rise in food e-commerce didn't mean an end to traditional grocery shopping. "Just because people get pizza delivery doesn't mean they will stop going to pizza restaurants," she said. ($1 = 107.2000 yen) (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando. Editing by Gerry Doyle) Jim Carrey's new book, "Memoirs and Misinformation," is a strange work of autofiction, satirizing Hollywood's self-absorption. He is photographed remotely via Facetime on an iPad from his home. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) In Jim Carrey's new semi-autobiographical novel, "Memoirs and Misinformation," there are flying saucers and a fire-bombing on Rodeo Drive, apocalyptic fires devouring Malibu and a mega-budget Hungry Hungry Hippos movie written by Kenneth Lonergan. One moment, "Carrey" dreams of strangling his late mother; the next, he pines for Renee Zellweger ("his last great love") and challenges Nicolas Cage, a man "whose artistic bravery had always given him courage," to a jujitsu duel. (Warning: Cage fights dirty.) Cowritten with novelist Dana Vachon in the third person to capture what Carrey calls the "wholeness that has an infinite knowledge of all of its parts," "Memoirs and Misinformation" is, like the twisted political drawings Carrey posts on Twitter, entirely its own thing. A satire of Hollywood's self-absorption coinciding with the end of the planet, none of it is real ... except when it is. And given the extreme circumstances that have marked Carrey's life, it's sometimes difficult to sort out fact from fiction. When Sonny Mehta, Alfred A. Knopf's late publisher, bought the book several years ago, he wrote Carrey a note, congratulating him for steering clear of "'There is a town in North Ontario' bull," referencing the opening line from Neil Young's autobiographical song "Helpless." "Memoirs and Misinformation" is a deconstruction of the standard-issue show biz chronicle. There aren't any fun anecdotes about the making of "Dumb and Dumber" or "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." Instead, there is a wholly strange work of autofiction, laden with symbolism and metaphor, sometimes beautiful, sometimes tragic, often inscrutable. Book jacket for "Memoirs and Misinformation" by Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon. (Knopf) In a recent FaceTime call with Vachon first joining, followed by another good hour one-on-one Carrey, 58, says he didn't want to write a memoir that dryly cataloged his life. "You can tell a lot about somebody through their fictional choices," he says, with Vachon adding that they wanted to use heightened reality to create a "super-position of truth." Story continues That reality, as you might expect from Carrey's career of infiltrating fiends, clowns and sad men trying to stave off loneliness, naturally tilts toward the surreal a tone consistent with the experience of speaking with Carrey himself. For instance, when the conversation turns to Las Vegas, a place the book's "Jim Carrey" fears he'll wind up "when he's old, jowly with bleached teeth and hair plugs, whoring for the bingo crowds," Carrey describes his own visits to Sin City in feverish prose that surpasses the book. "Whenever I go to Vegas, I go crazy," Carrey says. "The only way I can live there is if I put all the faucets on scalding hot so the room becomes some sort of terrarium for tropical plants where literally you can't see out the windows after awhile. They're just bleeding with sweat. It's what I imagine living on Mars is going to be like. 'I don't give a damn how you think you're controlling my environment! I'm going tropical!' I might have to break a window at some point to stick my head out." "Memoirs and Misinformation," which Carrey describes as "burning myself to the ground and telling you that's not who I was anyway," began its life eight years ago when Vachon walked into Carrey's West Village artist workspace, checked out his paintings and thought, "There's a story here." In one corner, there was a depiction of Malibu engulfed in flames. In another, a self-portrait had been slashed. Vachon told Carrey that the scene reminded him of Aeneas standing in Juno's temple, lamenting the hardships of his life. Instantly, a friendship was born. Early in the collaboration, Carrey spilled his life story his family's financial struggles, his mother's pain-medication addiction, his eight-hour shifts at a tire factory, his father's "sweet, incredible soul," his stand-up days in Toronto and his meteoric rise to fame so that Vachon could upload those memories before composing the fictionalized "Carrey." They Skyped constantly, Carrey spewing ideas, Vachon struggling to turn them into cohesive prose. That process continued regularly for nearly a decade, ending only in February with a final draft. The book was originally set for a May release with an accompanying promotional tour, but the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled those plans. It's now due July 7. Jim Carrey, right, with Dana Vachon, the co-author of Carrey's novel, "Memoirs and Misinformation," photographed on an iPad screen, connected from his home. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) "We're still not sure it's done," Carrey says, only half-joking. Adds Vachon: "The book is the product of an epic, open conversation. Who spends eight years on a project? To me, that was a gift." Writing, Carrey says, felt like "somebody opened the doors of an ancient temple for me." What he saw inside and what he wished to convey can be glimpsed in the image on the book's cover. The painting, by Carrey, incorporates a photo accidentally taken of him in Maui in 2018 when an early-morning emergency alert warned, by mistake, of an incoming ballistic missile attack. "My assistant, Linda, called me and said, 'Chief, we have 10 minutes,' and I said, 'What do you mean?' And she said, 'The missiles are coming.' And she was squeezing the phone and accidentally took a screen shot," Carrey says. "That's the cover of the book, my actual face after being told I had 10 minutes to live." After initially trying to reach his daughter from Maui, Carrey walked outside, sat on the lanai and spent eight minutes going through a "gratitude list." Staggered by the bounty of his life, he reached a state of grace, closed his eyes and waited for the missiles. "Now, I walk around the world knowing what that is for me, and if that should happen, where my head's going to be," Carrey says haltingly, wiping away tears. "I'll sit and thank God for the blessings in my life. If I was anybody, who was I? And I don't really believe that I'm anybody. I believe there's nothing that isn't you." "Memoirs and Misinformation" features a comparable apocalyptic accounting, with similar results. Yet the real Carrey has been anticipating oblivion for most of his life. In the book's sixth chapter, our hero goes to the Saharan Motor Hotel to meet screenwriter Charlie Kaufman to discuss playing Mao Zedong in a biopic that "Carrey" believes "will be his 'Raging Bull.'" It's the same seedy Sunset Boulevard lodge Carrey checked into in 1982, freshly arrived from Toronto with just a suitcase of clothes and a second-hand copy of Hal Lindsey's doomsday bestseller, "The Late Great Planet Earth." "I walked through a parade of hookers and took my little green ass to some motel room that would make Baretta jealous," Carrey says. "And I'm reading this book saying the world is going to end soon and I'm like, 'But I just got here. I gotta make it before I die.' So, literally, I've been making it before I die for almost 40 years. But we all have the sword of Damocles over our heads. That mushroom cloud is a character in our lives. And we have to learn how to dance and smile and do all the proper and appropriate things." Dave Holstein, creator of the Showtime series "Kidding," starring Carrey as a children's television personality coping with tragedy, believes his star has reached a tenuous peace with a life of "peaks and valleys we can only begin to understand." "When you go to enough therapy your whole life, you eventually become your own therapist ... and I think Jim has mastered the art of self-study," Holstein adds. "He's so unsatisfied, in a way that most incredibly ambitious people are, that there's always something they feel they can accomplish that they haven't yet done." The two seasons of "Kidding" survey similar ground as "Memoirs and Misinformation," picking at family wounds, excoriating celebrity and mulling mortality, engaging in what Holstein calls a "full-throttled emotionality." "He is sensitive," Holstein says, "and not afraid to really tap into the raw, honest feelings that we go through in the dark." Jim Carrey, novelist, photographed via Facetime from an iPad. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) Midway through our FaceTime conversation, Carrey says he wants to show me something. Scrolling through his phone, he lands on a drawing he's making of his father, Percy, wearing a navy suit, the only suit he ever owned. It's a work in progress, illustrating a scene from the book in which Percy holds his son's wounded hands (which "Carrey" had gnawed away in a fever dream, thinking they were Slim Jims) and reveals nothing less than the meaning of existence. "There is one spirit guiding all things," the father tells the son. "The universe, one verse. The stars and the sea and the wind through the wheat fields. And us, you and me. Once through flesh. Now through memory. See? Im in you and youre within me." "It's Dad to the rescue," Carrey says softly, looking at the image. "At a certain point, when you're at your lowest, those are the voices that you go to, the people that taught you how to live." A drawing by Jim Carrey of his late father, Percy Carrey, depicting a scene from "Memoirs and Misinformation." (Jim Carrey) He puts the phone down. The house is quiet, and neither of us wants to break the spell. "There's freedom in creating, man," Carrey finally says. "I swear to God, I couldn't live without it. I'm drawing my father, and there's joy because I'm remembering my dad, how hurt he was in life, but still what a beautiful gentleman and joyful soul. Creating these things makes me happy." It's all in the book, he continues. "I said a lot of things I want to convey. About my way of thinking. About going down a red carpet and seeing an almost Wile E. Coyote blueprint of the physical bit I'm about to do for people. How I'm inspired that way. How I feel every time I tell a joke or take a chance on humor, no matter what it is, it's like being a cliff diver and hoping you timed it right so the tide is in when you hit the water." Carrey pauses and then, slowly, that elastic smile that has sold millions of tickets over the last quarter century washes over his face. "But you never really know if you're going to hit the rocks." Jim Carrey and Tom Cruise (WireImage-Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Actor Jim Carrey is set to publish his new semi-autobiographical book Memoirs and Misinformation in July, and the Ace Ventura star thinks Tom Cruise may want to punch him after hes read it. Memoirs and Misinformation, co-written with Mergers and Acquisitions author Dana Vachon, is a Hollywood-set satire about an actor called Jim Carrey whose fictional career closely mirrors that of the rubber-faced Canadian comic. "None of this is real and all of it is true," Carrey describes it on Amazon. Talking to The New York Times, Carrey explained: Jim Carrey in this book is really a representative hes an avatar of anybody in my position. Of the artist, of the celebrity, of the star. That world and all its excesses and gluttony and self-focus and vanity. Some of it is very actual. You just wont know which is which. But even the fictional qualities of the book reveal a truth. Although the name of Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise doesnt appear in the book for legal reasons, hes represented by a fictional character who goes by the name of Laser Jack Lightning. Thats just us poking fun at the litigiousness of Hollywood, Carrey adds. I know Tom Cruise. He may sock me, but hey, Ill take the beating for a piece of art. I think hes going to love it. Tom Cruise (BFC/Getty Images) Carrey attended the 2006 wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in Italy, with his then-partner Jenny McCarthy. According to the NY Times, Memoirs and Misinformation finds the fictional Carrey in the midst of an existential crisis addicted to Netflix, YouTube and TMZ, and fixated on his own inevitable demise and the eventual end of the universe. Read more: Mission: Impossible 7 to resume shooting in September The synopsis on Amazon further adds: Memoirs and Misinformation is a fearless semi-autobiographical novel, a deconstruction of persona. In it, Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon have fashioned a story about acting, Hollywood, agents, celebrity, privilege, friendship, romance, addiction to relevance, fear of personal erasure, our one big soul, Canada, and a cataclysmic ending of the world apocalypses within and without. Story continues Jim Carrey and actor Nicolas Cage, pictured in 1994. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images) The faux-Carreys best friend in the book is Nicolas Cage, who Carrey says was thrilled to learn about his role in the novel. I hadnt told him anything about the book and then one day I sprung it on him, and he just said, [Nicolas Cage voice] Jim, Im so honoured, man. You have no idea I said, I gave you all the best lines. [Cage voice] Its unheard of! Hes so excited about it. Memoirs and Misinformation is available to pre-order now for release on 7 July. Auqib Javeed, TwoCircles.net Srinagar: Stating that the new Domicile law is not only a threat to Kashmir Muslims but for the minorities of the erstwhile state as well, minorities in Jammu and Kashmir which include Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs have rejected the new domicile law and urged the Government of India to revoke it. Support TwoCircles On 26 June, a senior IAS officer from Bihar, Navin Kumar Choudhary along with 25,000 people, was granted a domicile certificate by the government in Jammu and Kashmir. Choudhary became the first IAS officer who has been granted the domicile certificate. The new domicile law, which gives non-locals the legal basis to own property in Kashmir, has triggered a fresh wave of concern from residents of Jammu as well as Kashmir, who see the new domicile law as a step towards changing the demography of the state and deprive residents of local government jobs. TwoCircles.net spoke to members of minority communities in Jammu and Kashmir, who expressed strong resentment against the new law saying that the new law is more of a threat to the minorities of J&K than the majority Muslim population. Sampath Prakash, a Kashmir Pandit told TwoCircles.net that since the beginning of 1990 most of the Kashmiri Pandits have sold their property in Kashmir and settled in different states of India. It will be difficult for them to prove their identity, added. I am asking how they will prove that they are Kashmiri and with the new domicile law they will lose their culture and identity, Prakash told TwoCircles.net. Prakash said they will fight against the policy shoulder to shoulder with their fellow Kashmiri Muslim brethren. We will give our lives to save Kashmir civilisation, culture and heritage and its in our blood, Prakash said. He cautioned other Pandits of falling in the trap of BJP and said some selfish members from his community are praising the government for the domicile law for their personal gains and to defame the rest of the community. Another Kashmir Pandit, Sanjeev Raina, who is settled in New Delhi, echoed the views of Prakash, said they are against the new domicile law. It was a treaty between the Maharaja and New Delhi in 1947 that Kashmir acceded to India only if they assured protection of jobs and land. So, now the Modi government has snatched the right from us, why shouldnt we speak against it, Raina told TwoCircles.net. Raina said its unacceptable for them that any non-local can settle in Jammu and Kashmir and they will explore all options to oppose it. Raina said those KPs who are welcoming the new Domicile law are BJP sponsored agents and dont represent the entire Kashmiri Hindus. These BJP puppets cant speak on behalf of us. They are making their careers out of this, Raina said. It may be noted, the BJP government, On April 1, notified a law spelling out domicile of Jammu and Kashmir and also the eligibility for employment in the region. Under the law, the domiciles have been defined as those who have resided for a period of 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir or have studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10th/12th examination in an educational institution located in J&K. While Kashmir Muslims who are in majority have spoken against the law openly, the minorities havent expressed their views so far, except few Kashmiri Pandit groups who are allegedly backed by BJP. However, several members from the minority groups told TwoCircles.net that they are against the new law. Jagmohan Sing Raina, a Kashmiri Sikh based in Srinagar, told TwoCircles.net that New Delhi should have consulted people of Kashmir before framing and invoking any law here. How can they make laws for us when we dont belong to them. The truth is this law was made without our consent so we are opposing it, Raina said. There is strong resentment among the Sikh community. People arent speaking out due to fear but I must tell you we are also against the law, Raina added. Sudershan Singh Wazir, a Sikh from Jammu argues that the original state subjects should be treated as a domicile. The new policy is just to invite the settlers here and is a threat to our Kashmir identity, Wazir told TwoCircles.net Before August 5, when Article 370 and Article 35-A were in place, all jobs in the erstwhile state of J&K were exclusively reserved for permanent residents of the State. Under Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir was governed under the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir while Article 35-A prohibited people from outside from buying property in the erstwhile state and ensuring job reservation for permanent residents. Following the announcement of new laws, a sense of fear grew among the people who see it as a threat to their existence and identity. The fear is echoed by minorities of the state. Former Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks, in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 30, 2020. Alex Wong/Getty Images Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday ticked through, month by month, what he described as the Trump administration's failed response to the coronavirus crisis, while offering his own plan for how to better contain the pandemic. Biden reiterated his call for Americans to wear masks in public: "It may be inconvenient. It may be uncomfortable. But it's the right thing to do as an American." He also called for more support for older people isolating themselves from COVID-19, nationwide standards for reopening, weekly updates on the virus, and making Dr. Anthony Fauci more available. "The American people don't make enormous sacrifices over the past four months so they could just waste their time, and you can waste all the efforts that they have undertaken with your midnight rantings and tweets," Biden said of President Trump. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday delivered a forceful rebuke of the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus. It was the first time Biden took questions from the press aside from one-on-one interviews since March. "We don't need a cheerleader, Mr. President," Biden said. "We need a president, Mr. President." Biden ticked through what he described as the Trump administration's failed response month by month, while offering his plan to contain the virus. He called for a nationwide testing and contact-tracing program, nationwide standards for reopening, mandatory masks in public, support for seniors and other vulnerable Americans who have to isolate themselves from the virus, and ramped-up production of personal protective equipment, in addition to COVID-19 tests and flu vaccines. "If you suspect these steps are a lot of the same things I was talking about in March when I released my first COVID-19 response, you'd be right," Biden said. Story continues "If it feels like you're hearing the experts talk about the same issues for months, you'd be right." Regarding older people a vulnerable group to the virus, and a key constituency with which Biden has begun peeling away from Trump in recent polling Biden offered empathy and consideration for their plight in isolation. "People, especially older Americans and those with loved ones in nursing homes I get calls all the time they're simply scared," Biden said. "They're frightened. "This isn't just taking a toll on their physical health. There's an emotional cost as well. We can't expect vulnerable populations to quarantine indefinitely without support. "I want them to know that their health and safety will be my responsibility if I'm your president, and I will not abandon you." Underscoring what he described as the American public's frustration and confusion over the best ways to protect themselves from the virus, Biden tore into Trump for his refusal to wear a mask, or even endorse their use. Biden also reiterated his call for Americans to wear masks in public to protect one another from spreading the virus, with studies showing face coverings drastically reducing transmission if they are widely used. "Wear a mask," Biden said. "It's not just about you [...] It's about keeping other people safe. "It may be inconvenient. It may be uncomfortable. But it's the right thing to do as an American. Protect your coworkers and neighbors." Further lambasting the president, Biden called for Trump to take responsibility for the pandemic response as commander in chief. "Now, it's almost July, and it seems like our wartime president has surrendered," Biden said, referring to Trump briefly calling himself a "wartime president," before sidelining his top health officials from official White House appearances. Biden also said he would call Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious-disease expert, on day one of his administration, and ask the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to remain in his post with unfettered access to the Oval Office and American public. While Biden's default setting has been to refrain from any over-the-top attacks on opponents going so far as to caution against backseat driving while Trump is in office he did not mince words Tuesday. "The American people don't make enormous sacrifices over the past four months so they could just waste their time, and you can waste all the efforts that they have undertaken with your midnight rantings and tweets," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider A Florida fish and wildlife officer was justified in shooting a man on a Key West boat three times during a welfare check in October 2019, prosecutors said Monday. In fact, the man who was shot is facing charges of assault on an officer after police said he dumped gasoline on himself and lit a cigarette lighter, saying he would blow this whole place to hell, with the officers on the boat, according to the incident report. I couldnt believe it, said Capt. David Dipre, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, during an interview with state investigators three days after the shooting. It was a shock to see [someone] pouring gasoline all over yourself and youve got a lighter and the flame is going, Dipre said. Dipre acted reasonably and justifiably when firing three rounds into Adam Bruce Bounds, 43, according to Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Wards office. Adam Bruce Bounds The evidence, including video and audio from body-worn cameras, indicates that Mr. Bounds conduct posed an immediate threat to the life and safety of law enforcement officers who were present for a wellness check, said Wards spokesman Larry Kahn in a two-paragraph statement. The State Attorneys Office began its review of the case March 12, the day it received a report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which investigates officer-involved shootings. Bounds on Monday remained in the Lee County jail without bond on a Monroe County arrest warrant for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and attempted arson. The shooting happened during a welfare check by FWC and Monroe County Sheriffs Office deputies at about 12:19 p.m. Oct. 15, 2019. 19OFF007669 Redacted by Gwen Filosa on Scribd This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Bounds had called the FWCs Tallahassee office earlier that day, making suicidal threats after he had received a citation from the agency. He mentioned throwing himself in front of a bus, Dipre said. Id rather die than go back to jail, Bounds reportedly said during the call, according to FWC. I want to go off myself. Story continues Seven officers went out to Bounds floating home in the Cow Key Channel, which separates Key West from Stock Island, according to a 45-page report by MCSO investigators. Bounds didnt pick up his cellphone but Rodriguez left a message asking him to respond, police said. We did not know whether Mr. Bounds was inside the cabin, or whether he was in distress and needed our assistance, wrote Deputy Freddy Rodriguez in his statement. Officers next boarded the makeshift houseboat and, still hearing no response from Bounds, decided to pry open the sliding glass door entrance. Dipre first tried to pry open the door but couldnt, the report states, so Deputy Tom Fricke took a turn and the door slid open. Adam Bounds houseboat was in the Cow Key Channel at the time he was shot during a welfare check on Oct. 15, 2019. Thats when the officers said they heard Bounds shout, Im going to blow us all up. Youre trespassing on my boat. Im taking you all with me, according to Rodriguez.. Dipre was standing in front of the sliding glass door with his Glock 9mm gun drawn and began to loudly instruct Bounds to step back and drop the lighter, the report states. Put it down, Dipre said. Dont do it. Put it down. Dont do it. Bounds replied that he was going to kill everyone, said FWC Officer John Hettel. After numerous loud verbal commands from Capt. Dipre, and no compliance from Mr. Bounds, Capt. Dipre felt that our lives were all in danger and fired three shots at Mr. Bounds, Rodriguez said. Dipres FWC-issued handgun when fully loaded holds 17 rounds including one in the chamber. Officers said Bounds had his hands above his head when they entered the boat. He was holding a lit cigarette lighter while covered in gasoline, which they found spilling about the cabin, according to the report, and in his other hand a 6-gallon gas container. I only thought of one thing: The lighter has to go out, Dipre told investigators later. There was no time to run and grab the lighter out of his hand. So I drew my weapon and I shot three times. Dipre said Bounds was lying on the floor with his hands up in the air saying, I give up. Dont move or Ill shoot you again, Dipre told him. I was concerned he still had the lighter. I almost fell going into the door because there was so much gas on the floor. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Capt. David Dipre gives an interview to investigators about the Oct. 15, 2019, incident in which he shot a man three times during a welfare check. This image was taken from an officers body camera footage. Dipre said he grabbed Bounds hands, rolled him over and handcuffed him. Bounds was airlifted to a Miami hospital for treatment. The gasoline fumes were so intense inside the boat that one investigator said they couldnt spend more than five minutes inside at a time. Police said Bounds was shot three times, including in the torso area and forearm, literally blowing my guts out, Bounds wrote on a GoFundMe page that asks for a total of $25,000 for a defense attorney. As of Monday, no one had donated to the online fundraiser, which was first posted on June 12. Bounds has said on Facebook he was being harassed by FWC. Police described his floating home as two pontoons secured together. One of the pontoons had two enclosed wooden structures on it that were attached together. On one side of the boat, 4th Amendment was written in large letters. TELEMMGLPICT000215296659.jpeg Ministers are to introduce a new law to prevent alleged killers using the fifty shades defence of rough sex to counter murder charges. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) introduced an amendment to the domestic abuse bill last night that will enshrine in law that consent cannot be used as a defence to actual bodily harm. At least 60 British women have been killed in episodes of so-called "consensual" sexual violence since 1972, with at least 18 women dying in the last five years, according to the advocacy group We Can't Consent To This. In 45 per cent of those killings, the claim that a woman's injuries were sustained during a sex game "gone wrong" resulted in a lesser charge, a lighter sentence, an acquittal, or the death not being investigated, the group said. Earlier this year police criticised the rough sex defence in the trial of the killer of Grace Millane, the 21 year old Essex backpacker murdered in New Zealand, warning that the term retraumatises victims and their families. The legislative change by the MoJ will enshrine in law a House of Lords ruling, known as R v Brown, where a group of men who willingly engaged in sado-masochistic sex were convicted of wounding and assault despite their defence claims that it was consensual. It follows a campaign by a cross-party group of MPs including former deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman and the Conservative MP Mark Garnier. Ms Harman, a former solicitor general, said: This is a highly significant step forward in protecting women from male violence. Now men will no longer be able to say it was her fault I killed her, because I was only doing what she wanted. It was rough sex gone wrong. The law will now be there unequivocally to protect women from this male sexual violence. This will send a strong message to men that they cannot beat women and get away with it. They cannot drag their victim's name through the mud in court. Story continues And it will strengthen women by telling them that the law will protect them. It will tell the police, prosecutors and courts that the 50 shades of grey defence has ended - and it must be rigorously enforced. Mr Garnier campaigned on behalf of Natalie Connolly, 26, whose killer, millionaire property developer John Broadhurst, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence after insisting she had died because of rough sex she had consented to. He was jailed for three years and eight months. Natalie's death was one that is the stuff of nightmares, said Mr Garnier. What we hope to achieve from it is a way to make sure that people take more responsibility for their actions, and that killers get the right sentences, whilst victims get justice. "The case of my constituent Natalie Connolly, and the woeful underperformance of the system with regards to her killer John Broadhurst, highlighted a rising menace of justice game-playing by killers and abusers. This response by the Government is a breakthrough in how we tackle the rough sex defence. But it is also a textbook example of Parliament at its best, with a genuine cross-party approach and a willing government, all seeking the same outcome." Justice Minister Alex Chalk said: No death or other serious injury whatever the circumstances should be defended as rough sex gone wrong. Perpetrators of these crimes should be under no illusions their actions will never be justifiable in any way, and they will be pursued rigorously through the courts to seek justice. Great credit is due to the MPs and campaigners who have worked so tirelessly to further the protections on offer to victims of sexual violence and their families. -- Survey of Customer Service Professionals Identified Limited Staff, Budget and Access to Technology as Major Impediments to Efficiency Mandate -- NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kustomer, the omnichannel SaaS platform reimagining enterprise customer service to deliver standout experiences, today announced new data on the state of the customer service industry which underscores the need for greater efficiency, particularly in today's rapidly shifting business environment. The survey of over 120 customer service professionals, across a variety of industries, found that 92% of organizations say more efficiency is needed, and 51% reported that there is a greater need for efficiency than a year ago. Kustomer (PRNewsfoto/Kustomer) "When business is booming and a wealth of resources are available, efficiency may not be the number one priority for a customer service organization, but as the pandemic continues to challenge brands and customer expectations continue to shift, the power of an efficient and effective customer service organization cannot be underestimated," said Brad Birnbaum, Co-Founder and CEO of Kustomer. "As businesses have no choice but to do more with less, having the technology tools in place that can minimize the impact of decreased resources and make agents' jobs easier will play an increasingly important role in delivering a stellar customer experience while ensuring profitability." Key Survey Findings Kustomer surveyed customer service professionals across twenty industries including healthcare, food, beverage and grocery, and finance and insurance industries to better understand the current customer service environment, what tools and strategies businesses are currently using to achieve efficiency, and how technology can play a more central role in turning customer service organizations into profit centers. Key findings include: Limited staff, budget and executive buy-in pose significant efficiency challenges: Sixty-three percent of respondents reported having limited staff, while 44% reported being on a strict budget. Fifty-six percent of agents said that budget prevented their organizations from implementing efficiency tools, while 34% pointed to the absence of executive buy-in. Agents perceive immediacy and accuracy of responses to be key customer priorities : Ninety-one percent of respondents said their customers simply cannot stand long wait times, while 79% said their customers won't tolerate having to repeat information. Type and volume of inquiries are the biggest obstacles to delivering efficient support: Thirty-eight percent of respondents point to challenging inquiries as the main reason for inability to provide efficient support, followed by 29% of respondents that say too many inquiries are problematic. Adoption of the right tools is necessary to stay efficient and effective: While 57% reported that they are not using any of the typical tools and strategies to deliver efficient support, organizations are considering adopting a variety of tools, including intelligent routing, knowledge base deflection, auto responses and chatbots. "Now that we have a greater understanding of the efficiency pressures and challenges facing today's customer service organizations, the adoption of intelligent tools that can handle low level tasks and free up agents' time to handle challenging inquiries becomes even more essential," added Birnbaum. "By combining tools like AI-powered technology, sentiment analysis, intelligent routing and chatbots, the Kustomer platform provides agents what they need to deliver highly efficient service, build long-lasting customer relationships, boost brand loyalty and make valuable contributions to the company's bottom line." Story continues Survey Methodology The results presented in this report are from a survey conducted online within the United States by Qualtrics on behalf of Kustomer between May 28th and June 2nd, 2020. A total of 121 responses were recorded, of adults 18+ who reside within the United States and are employed full time in a customer service role. Respondents worked at organizations with an annual revenue of at least $10M in one of the following industries: Consumer Products / Packaged Goods, Education, Financial Services, Food / Beverage / Grocery, Government / Environmental, Healthcare, Hospitality, Insurance, Media / Advertising, Retail, and Technology / Software. Kustomer developed the survey in conjunction with the Qualtrics Expert Method team and data was scrubbed twice during the course of the research to ensure accurate responses. No personal information was gathered from respondents during the course of the survey. Our "Special Report: The Efficiency Mandate in Customer Service" can be accessed here . About Kustomer Kustomer is the omnichannel SaaS CRM platform reimagining enterprise customer service to deliver standout experiences. Built with intelligent automation, Kustomer scales to meet the needs of any contact center and business by unifying data from multiple sources and enabling companies to deliver effortless, consistent and personalized service and support through a single timeline view. Today, Kustomer is the core platform of some of the leading customer service brands like Ring, Glovo, Glossier and Sweetgreen. Headquartered in NYC, Kustomer was founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneurs Brad Birnbaum and Jeremy Suriel, has raised over $174M in venture funding, and is backed by leading VCs including: Coatue, Tiger Global Management, Battery Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Cisco Investments, Canaan Partners, Boldstart Ventures and Social Leverage. Media Contact: Cari Sommer Raise Communications cari@raisecg.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kustomer-releases-new-report-on-the-growing-need-for-efficiency-in-customer-service-across-wide-range-of-industries-301086093.html SOURCE Kustomer Faced with a major budget crisis, Los Angeles city leaders moved forward with a plan to offer buyouts to thousands of city employees. (Richard Vogel / Associated Press) The Los Angeles City Council is poised to offer thousands of city employees cash payouts to retire, part of a major push to cut payroll costs during an unfolding financial crisis. About 2,850 employees, or roughly 8.2% of the city workforce, would be eligible for buyouts of up to $80,000 if they retire in the coming year, city budget analysts said. The program would result in a major downsizing of the workforce, the largest since the 2008 recession, triggering new reductions in services. Still, Mayor Eric Garcetti praised the initiative, saying it would cut employee costs while relying on fewer employee furlough days to balance the budget. "It'll save money. It'll save costs. And it can perhaps lessen the furloughs," he said. The council's Budget and Finance Committee endorsed the buyouts Monday, setting the stage for a full council vote on Tuesday. If approved, city employees who are eligible to retire and have been facing the threat of furloughs can begin applying for the retirement payouts next week. The proposal comes as City Hall faces a range of dire financial scenarios, triggered both by a drop in projected tax revenue and by costly union contracts backed by Garcetti and the council in recent years. The city's employee unions had lobbied aggressively for the retirement program, describing it as a way to avert Garcetti's furlough plan. Furloughs would have delivered a 10% pay cut to nearly 16,000 civilian city employees, saving the city about $150 million in the next budget year, according to city estimates. The city will save $23.2 million in the upcoming year if half of the eligible workers agree to retire, said City Administrative Officer Rich Llewellyn, the high-level budget analyst. If every eligible worker takes part in the program, the city will save $58.7 million, he said. Councilman Bob Blumenfield voiced fears about the buyout strategy, saying it poses risks to the city's finances and its operations. Story continues "If the economy gets worse and we end up having to do furloughs anyway, then we've made a mistake," he said. "Then we've just made it worse by paying out these big lump sum payments." Llewellyn said he expects the average retirement buyout will range from $60,000 to $70,000. For each employee, the size of the buyout will depend their salary and years of service. Jack Humphreville, who serves on the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates, voiced alarm over the proposal, saying the public has been given little time to study it. The retirement program will be more expensive than furloughs or layoffs and leave the city with a big balloon payment roughly a year from now, he said. Under the proposal, the city would pay $10,000 to each employee who retires during the fiscal year that starts Wednesday. The remainder of the employee buyouts would be paid out in the 2021-22 fiscal year. "What they're doing is kicking the can down the road," Humphreville said. If every eligible employee takes part in the program, the city would spend $28.5 million on buyouts this year and another $128.6 million next fiscal year, Llewellyn said. Bob Schoonover, president of Service Employees International Union Local 721, praised city leaders for moving ahead with the initiative. "City workers are giving us their all during this pandemic," he said. "This is a key step in the right direction because at the end of the day, we owe these front-line heroes every possible effort to minimize the impact of the current budget crisis on them and their families. During the city's last major budget crisis, the mayor and council gave early retirement to 2,400 civilian city workers. The decision abruptly cut the size of the workforce. But because it required the city to give workers their pensions ahead of schedule, city leaders had to spread the additional cost over 15 years. This time around, city workers won't be eligible for additional pension benefits. The buyout initiative has been modeled after a program carried out recently at Los Angeles World Airports, which runs Los Angeles International Airport. Agency spokeswoman Becca Doten said 331 employees, or 9% of the department's workers, have applied for the retirement incentives. Doten said the airport program was sparked by a dramatic loss of revenue following the coronavirus shutdowns. Co-director of the intensive care unit at CommonSpirit's Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center, Dr. Zafia Anklesaria, 35, who is seven months pregnant, attends to a COVID-19 patient in the hospital where she works, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 18, 2020. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters Los Angeles County health officials warned of a potential hospital bed shortage amid the highest single-day rise in new infections reported in the county since the pandemic began. Dr. Christina Ghaly, director for the LA County Department of Health Services, said the county is currently meeting the demand for hospital beds, but expressed concern that may not be the case in the coming weeks. "In many cases, the people who will need these beds have already been exposed to COVID-19 because what's happening in our hospitals are reflective of what happened a few weeks ago in our communities," Ghaly said. Out of 1,089,000 people who have been tested in Los Angeles County, 9% of tests yielded positive, the county health department said. "I need to say to all of us, businesses and individuals across the county, at this point If you're not part of the solution to slowing the spread, you're ending up being part of the problem," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County Public Health Director, said. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Los Angeles County health officials warned of a possible hospital bed shortage, as coronavirus cases surge in the county and California as a whole. On Monday, California reported its highest single-day rise in new cases since the pandemic began with 2,903 new infections, bringing the county's total to nearly 100,800 confirmed cases. Daily hospitalizations increased by 27%, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a live broadcast. It's unclear if that refers to LA county or just the city. "Whether we continue on this recovery journey is debatable," Garcetti said. "COVID-19 is taking control, and we need to take control back." With the surge in cases, Dr. Christina Ghaly, director for the LA County Department of Health Services, said coronavirus hospitalizations are also on the rise, which leads to an increase in demand for hospital beds, KABC reported. Story continues "We're meeting the demand right now for hospital beds, but if the predicted increase in new patients requiring hospitalizations materializes, the number of hospital beds could become inadequate in the next few weeks," Ghaly said. "In many cases, the people who will need these beds have already been exposed to COVID-19 because what's happening in our hospitals are reflective of what happened a few weeks ago in our communities," she continued. The rise in cases prompted local officials to close all public beaches, piers, public beach parking lots, and beach bike paths, as well as cancel fireworks displays for the Fourth of July weekend "to prevent dangerous crowding that results in the spread of deadly COVID-19," the health department said in a statement. More than 1 million people have been tested for the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, according to a statement from the public health department. Out of 1,089,000 individuals, the county health department said 9% of tests yielded positive. Local health officials projected one in 400 people were positive for the coronavirus and not self-quarantining, a figure which rose in likelihood to one in 140 individuals, according to Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County Public Health Director. "I need to say to all of us, businesses and individuals across the county, at this point, if you're not part of the solution to slowing the spread, you're ending up being part of the problem," Ferrer said. Read the original article on Insider Bartender Christina Flintland serves drinks in Covina on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) As coronavirus cases rocket upward in many parts of the state, bars across California many of which only recently reopened are being forced to again announce last call. The taps will tighten Tuesday in Riverside County under a new health order. People dont social distance well after a couple drinks, and its one of the hardest environments to trace contacts in, Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser said in announcing the decision Monday. My hope is that this will be only temporary and further closures wont be needed, but it all depends on what every one of us as a county do to slow more spread. The county had allowed bars to reopen June 12. However, Riverside, like many areas of California and the country at large, has seen a worrying spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks forcing officials to slow down or walk back plans to reopen businesses that have been closed during the pandemic. Restaurants, breweries and pubs that offer dine-in services can still serve alcoholic drinks, but only as part of a meal, county officials said. Riverside was one of eight counties that the state recently recommended issue local health orders closing bars. The others were Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Stanislaus. Others weren't given the choice. On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered seven counties Los Angeles, Fresno, Kern, San Joaquin, Tulare, Kings and Imperial to close bars, breweries and pubs that sell alcoholic drinks without serving food at the same time. COVID-19 is still circulating in California, and in some parts of the state, growing stronger, Newsom said in a written statement. Thats why it is critical we take this step to limit the spread of the virus in the counties that are seeing the biggest increases. In light of the state's recommendation, Sacramento County has amended its public health order "to take bars off of the list of allowable activities," officials said in a statement. That revised order went into effect Monday. Story continues Santa Barbara County had done the same. The order there stipulates that brewpubs, breweries, bars and pubs should close starting Wednesday unless they also offer dine-in meals. However, wineries and tasting rooms can remain open. "This action, particularly in anticipation of the holiday weekend, is a proactive measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 locally, said County Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg. We have to keep each other safe during this time." San Bernardino County officials said Monday that they were examining the matter. This renewed growth in infections not only increases the risk of people getting sick and even dying, but also threatens our ability to continue reopening our economy, Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman said. It is critical that you continue practicing social distancing and wearing a mask when youre around other people. Officials in Ventura County said they are already in line with the guidance, and bars were not open in four other named counties Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Joaquin and Imperial at the time of the state's announcement. "You are much more likely to run into someone who has no symptoms but is positive if you gather with others," Ventura County Public Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin said. "Its important that we collectively work together to stop the spread so that lives can be saved, and businesses can remain open." Other areas that were not listed by the state, including San Diego County, have also taken action to close some alcohol-serving establishments in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Michelle Steel, chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, said Tuesday that the health officer "is considering the issuance of health orders to close bars in Orange County if, in his medical opinion, it is appropriate to do so." "Throughout our pandemic response, and in our phased reopening, we have consistently stated that we would closely monitor the data and correct course as needed," she said. "I, and my colleagues on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, remain dedicated to protecting the health and safety of our residents." People wear masks, some only partially, in downtown Los Angeles onThursday. (Los Angeles Times) To the editor: Racism strikes again in the aversion to masks. Many people in parts of Asia wear masks, and some Muslim women cover their faces. Racism is visceral, profoundly and personally physical. ("California's mask order tests the limits of Newsom's executive power," June 29) Plus, law-and-order types might not like masks. Terrorists, outlaws and taggers wear them, they say. Then there's classism. Manual laborers and farm workers wear masks. These are some reasons why masks are seen as political. Just wear one already. Barbara May, Eagle Rock .. To the editor: I was 19 years old when I was drafted into the U.S. Army. I was opposed to the Vietnam War. Going into the Army was not appealing to me, but many of my friends were getting drafted, so I thought it was my duty to serve. I never saw combat but spent 13 months in South Korea just miles from the de-militarized zone. I never got shot at doing my office job. What I remember is the loneliness and feeling a bit uncomfortable in a far-off land. Fast forward to 2020. I survived a bout with pancreatic cancer eight years ago but was left with a very compromised immune system. In my condition at 73, I am no match for COVID-19. I might have had a fighting chance in Vietnam, but I have little ammunition in this pandemic. Bottom line: I am very blessed. My wife and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary in July. If I die tomorrow, I'm good. But if I get infected and cash in because one of my fellow citizens was "uncomfortable" in a mask or felt his rights were being violated, I will be angry. Be a patriot, do your duty and wear a mask. Bob Baedeker, Capistrano Beach .. To the editor: Trying to sell people on wearing a mask to protect others from an infectious disease that we may be carrying is a fool's mission and a waste of time. Average people are not concerned enough with a stranger's well being to inconvenience themselves or mess with their makeup. Story continues So, I wear a mask to protect myself from you. Sandra Dannenbaum, Los Angeles .. To the editor: It's clear that wearing masks to slow the spread of COVID-19 has become politicized. Since the president won't model good behavior, let's give his supporters some new swag. Will some creative, entrepreneurial person please start mass-producing red masks that say, "Make America Great Again"? Kathleen Zakoski, Carlsbad .. To the editor: Sad to say, but there's a virtually unbridgeable divide between young and old that makes it unlikely the former will lend a hand at bringing the pandemic under control. The older segment of the population views COVID-19 as an existential threat, while the younger sees it as a potential bad cold. Mark Steinberg, Los Angeles DETROIT, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new market research report on Lightweight Fillers Market by Material Type (Hollow Glass Microspheres, Foam Glass Granulates, Cenosphere, Perlite Microspheres, Expanded Polymer Microspheres, Ceramic Microspheres, Solid Glass Microspheres, Solid Polymer Microspheres, Metallic Microspheres, Wollastonite, Ground Mica, and Calcined Clay), by Microsphere Type (Hollow Microspheres and Solid Microspheres), by Application Type (Paints & Coatings, Plastics & Rubber, Construction Materials, Life Sciences & Pharmaceutical, Agriculture Materials, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2020-2025. Stratview_Research_Logo This report is the most comprehensive study ever built on the fillers market by any company and provides a detailed market assessment for 12 fillers/microspheres by region and application type in terms of both, value and volume. The report compares both lightweight as well as high-density fillers intending to portray a clear view about the future market directions/growth. The report provides detailed analysis including the short as well as long-term revenue loss of the lightweight fillers market due to the pandemic. Also, it estimates the total opportunity loss by comparing pre-COVID and post-COVID market scenarios. The report proves to be extremely beneficial, particularly to those companies, willing to build short-term strategies with an aim to protect themselves from the current uncertain market environment. The report also portrays the long-term market view (post-pandemic), identifying future growth avenues for the market participants and other stakeholders. Lightweight Fillers Market: Highlights Lightweight fillers are the substitutes of heavier substances offering greater weight reduction without compromising the volume of the end products. Further, these fillers enhance several properties of products such as durability, flexibility, thermal stability, and dimensional stability. They also save raw material cost by reducing the demand for binders/resins. Lightweight fillers majorly include microspheres that can expand up to 60 times from their original size without significantly gaining weight. These are functional additives, used to enhance the performance of the product, used for a variety of applications. Story continues There are a variety of fillers present in the market. Each filler type is widely used in specific applications, driven by their distinct advantages and compete with some filler types having similar advantages. Lightweight fillers are majorly made from either glass, polymer, or ceramics. Thus, we have broadly classified materials into Glass Microspheres (hollow glass microspheres, foam glass granulates, perlite microspheres, and solid glass microspheres), Polymer Microspheres (expanded polymer microspheres and solid polymer microspheres), Ceramic Microspheres (cenosphere and ceramic microspheres), Mineral Fillers (wollastonite, ground mica, and calcined clay), and Others (metallic microspheres). Click Here and Run Through the Detailed TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/869/lightweight-fillers-market.html Impact of COVID-19 on the Lightweight Fillers Market The market was about to continue its journey of tremendous growth in the market with good growth opportunities in most of the application types. However, the rapid spread of COVID-19 has entirely flipped the market dynamics and because of that, the market is expected to log a negative growth (decline) in the year 2020. The construction industry is among one of the worst-impacted industries due to the pandemic. The industry has witnessed a downturn since the lockdown announced by several countries to control the spread of COVID-19. As per recent estimates of the IMF's World Economic Outlook, there could be a possible cumulative loss of US$ 9 trillion to global GDP during 2020-2021 with a decline of -3% in global real GDP in 2020. Currently, the construction industry accounts for more than 12% of the global GDP. The lightweight fillers market is strongly depended on the organic growth of construction and automotive industries. The pandemic has already deteriorated the lightweight fillers market health by taking the major economies into its grip. However, the market participants are still optimist about the market recovery, hoping for a similar curve as it was during the previous pandemics, such as SARS (2003) and MERS (2015) and great recession (2008). Considering the current market scenario coupled with primary interviews' results of the market stakeholders and industry experts, the lightweight fillers market is projected to recover at a healthy pace from 2021, ultimately pushing the market to reach US$ 7.7 billion in 2025. Continuous increase in the penetration of plastics/composites in the transportation sector, especially in the automotive industry, to achieve the fuel efficiency targets; rising demand for energy-efficient building coupled with expected growth in building & construction industry; stringent regulations regarding carbon emissions and VOC-free coatings; and high demand for lighter, brighter, and aesthetically pleasing products in the cosmetics & personal care, are some of the factors suggesting healthy long-term growth opportunities in the market once the pandemic starts to fade away. Register Here and Ask for a Free Sample of the Exclusive Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/869/lightweight-fillers-market.html Market Share Analysis Based on the application type, the market is segmented as paints & coatings, plastics & rubber, construction materials, life sciences and pharmaceutical, agriculture materials, and others. Paints & coatings are projected to remain the most dominant application in the lightweight fillers market during the forecast period, owing to its widespread usage and excellent benefits. Fillers, especially the lightweight fillers have been gaining penetration in paints & coatings. For instance, there is greater use of lightweight fillers in roof paints/coatings of commercial & residential buildings, solar reflective coatings on vehicle's roof, and reflective markings on roads. Lightweight fillers added into paints & coatings offer huge reduction in VOCs, improve flowability, gloss control, solar reflectivity, thermal insulation, shrinkage resistance, and heat resistance and hardness; in addition to weight reduction. Based on the material type, the market is segmented as hollow glass microspheres, foam glass granulates, cenosphere, perlite microspheres, expanded polymer microspheres, ceramic microspheres, solid glass microspheres, solid polymer microspheres, metallic microspheres, wollastonite, ground mica, and calcined clay. Hollow glass microsphere is likely to remain the most dominant material in the market during the forecast period, in terms of value, mainly driven by its excellent properties such as low density, thermal stability, and dimensional stability and widespread usage in various industries. In terms of region, Europe is projected to remain the largest market for lightweight fillers during the forecast period in terms of value, propelled by Germany, France, and the UK. Rising demand for energy-efficient buildings and architectures, high penetration of lightweight fillers, and the presence of several market stakeholders including paints & coatings manufacturers, automotive OEMs, as well as lightweight filler manufacturers (Imerys S.A., Nouryon, Merck KGaA, Omya AG, Trelleborg AB, and BASF SE) are the major factors behind the dominance of the region. Many major countries of the European region are among the worst-affected nations of the world due to the pandemic, causing a greater decline in the regions' market. Asia-Pacific is expected to recover at the fastest pace from 2021 onwards, driven by an early recovery expected in China, which is among one of the leading countries for several industries, such as Automotive, Electrical & Electronics, Construction, and Consumer Goods. As per The United States Geological Survey, China is the world's leading producer of minerals including wollastonite and calcined clay. Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd, Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd., Sinosteel Maanshan New Material Technology Co., Ltd, and Kureha Corporation are some of the major lightweight filler manufacturers based in the region. Key Players There are many players in lightweight fillers, serving various end-use industries of the market. Each player is catering to a multitude of applications by providing two or three lightweight filler materials and competing with the players providing similar materials. Key players of the market are focusing on product development/innovations to address the emerging market requirements such as lightweight, cost-effective, higher performance, and environmentally safe products. Some of the key players in the lightweight fillers market are Imerys S.A., Kureha Corporation, Matsumoto Yushi-Seiyaku Co., Ltd, Merck KGaA, Nouryon, Omya AG, PQ Corporation, Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd., Sinosteel Maanshan New Material Technology Co., Ltd, and The 3M Company. Report Features This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis. Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis. Market trend and forecast analysis. Market segment trend and forecast. Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities. Emerging trends. Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players. Key success factors This report studies the global lightweight fillers market and has segmented the market in five ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the five ways in which the market is segmented: Lightweight Fillers Market, by Material Type Hollow Glass Microspheres Foam Glass Granulates Cenosphere Perlite Microspheres Expanded Polymer Microspheres Solid Glass Microspheres Solid Polymer Microspheres Metallic Microspheres Wollastonite Ground Mica Calcined Clay Microspheres Market, by Microsphere Type Hollow Microspheres (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Solid Microspheres (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Lightweight Fillers Market, by Application Type Paint & Coatings (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Plastics & Rubber (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Construction Materials (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Life Sciences & Pharmaceutical (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Agriculture Materials (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Perlite Microspheres Market, by Application Type Paint & Coatings (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Plastics & Rubber (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Construction Materials (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Agriculture Materials (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) Lightweight Fillers Market, by Region North America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico) Europe (Country Analysis: France, Germany, the UK, Spain, and Rest of Europe) Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, India, Japan, and Rest of Asia-Pacific) Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: The Middle East, Latin America, and Others) and (Country Analysis: Brazil, Argentina, and Others) Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the advanced materials industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Advanced-Materials.html Our other related premium market report: Microspheres Market By Microsphere Type (Hollow Microspheres and Solid Microspheres), By Material Type (Hollow Glass Microspheres, Foam Glass Granulates, Cenosphere, Perlite Microspheres, Expanded Polymer Microspheres, Ceramic Microspheres, Solid Glass Microspheres, Solid Polymer Microspheres, and Metallic Microspheres,), By Application Type (Paints & Coatings, Plastics & Rubber, Construction Materials, Life Sciences & Pharmaceutical, Agriculture Materials, and Others), and By Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Market Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, and Competitive Analysis: 2020-2025. About Stratview Research Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas. We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies. Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making. For enquiries, Contact: Stratview Research E-mail: sales@stratviewresearch.com Direct: +1-313-307-4176 Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lightweight-fillers-market-size-impacted-by-covid-19--to-reach-us-7-7-billion-in-2025--says-stratview-research-301086005.html SOURCE Stratview Research --Uncommon Scents Collection by Top Men's Grooming Brand to Feature Two, New Walmart Fragrance Exclusives-- LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Men who prefer to smell uncommon without over-spending now can find CREMO cologne at Walmart, as the men's grooming brand launches two new fragrances, "Bourbon Vanilla" and "Iced Citron & Driftwood," at select locations of the nation's largest retailer. Known for its sophisticated, clean scents for men, the CREMO cologne collection at Walmart also will include its most popular uncommon scents of "Blue Cedar & Cypress" and "Spice & Black Vanilla." Limited edition men's cologne "Bourbon Vanilla" by CREMO is now available at select Walmart stores nationwide. "Each CREMO cologne has a luxurious scent that you'd expect to find at a high-end boutique," said Matthew Biggins, CEO and president of Cremo Company. "We work together with the finest fragrance houses in the world to develop the best smelling, long-lasting scents that men would want to wear." Cremo Company's fragrance research indicates men prefer more refined, fresh scents that are distinctive but not over powering. Designed by its team of professional scent experts, CREMO fragrances are layered and complex and last well throughout the day. Each cologne is made with a careful blend of quality ingredients, not a pre-mixed formula, and intentionally designed for the modern man. "Our mission is to make men's grooming products that are best in class but also accessible," noted Biggins. "CREMO believes everyone deserves high performance at an affordable price point, and now we're able to bring our cologne to more men across the country, thanks to Walmart." The two new Walmart exclusives are "Bourbon Vanilla," a clean but distinctive blend of distiller spices, aged oak and vanilla bourbon, and "Iced Citron & Driftwood," a cooling, fresh scent blend of citron, mint, cedar and moss. The CREMO original "Blue Cedar & Cypress" offers a refreshing, woodsy scent, while "Spice & Black Vanilla" features a bold, vibrant spice fragrance. Beginning this week, 775 Walmart locations across America will offer CREMO fragrances, available in four spray colognes, with each bottle of eau de toilette at 3.4 fl. oz. (MSRP: $20). More information about the CREMO cologne collection, in both spray and solid formulas, is available online at CremoCompany.com. Story continues About CREMO As the fastest growing men's grooming company in the U.S., CREMO offers a full line of shave, beard, hair and body products that deliver astonishingly superior results. CREMO's category-defining products are made by an experienced team of chemists and curators who are experts in skin care. We are committed to developing superior performing CREMO products that use the best ingredients to deliver noticeable, dramatic results. More information about CREMO products may be found online at http://cremocompany.com . CREMO is also on Instagram @cremocompany and Twitter at http://twitter.com/cremocompany and can be found through the social media hashtags #cremo and #cremocompany. Limited edition men's cologne "Iced Citron & Driftwood" by CREMO is now available at select Walmart stores nationwide. CREMO brings its "uncommon scents" spray colognes for men to Walmart, including two new exclusives "Bourbon Vanilla" and "Iced Citron & Driftwood." Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/limited-edition-mens-cologne-by-cremo-now-available-at-walmart-301085865.html SOURCE Cremo Company LivsMed Inc. receives 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its ArtiSential articulating bipolar energy instruments for electrosurgical cutting and coagulation. ArtiSential devices feature the patented, double-jointed end effector, which allows surgeons to overcome the challenges presented by difficult angles of approach, especially in complex procedures. SAN DIEGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LivsMed Inc. recently announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the new ArtiSential Bipolar Maryland Dissectors. This completes its energy product line, which also includes the Bipolar Fenestrated Forceps, Monopolar Hook and Monopolar Spatula. ArtiSential instruments feature a double-jointed end effector and an ergonomic grip that facilitates wristed movements to provide 7 degrees of freedom. These capabilities are incorporated into a low cost, fully mechanical instrument, enabling surgeons the same advantages as robotic platforms while also providing tactile feedback, which robotic systems lack. ArtiSential devices can be used with any 8mm, or larger, sized trocar, and can be immediately incorporated into any surgical setting without the need for additional capital equipment or large footprint in the operating room. "We are pleased to offer a full suite of wristed Instruments, which has only been afforded via robotics until now," says Karl Im, President of LivsMed USA Inc. "ArtiSential is gaining interest with institutions and surgeons alike, who are looking for alternative options to a robotic procedure. We have essentially revolutionized traditional laparoscopy by introducing the dexterity of a robotic system to a laparoscopic instrument without the loss of tactile feedback," says Im. The ArtiSential energy instruments join LivsMed's existing product line that includes the Needle Holder, Clip Applier, non-energy Fenestrated Forceps and Maryland Dissector. These instruments are available in three different lengths (25cm, 38cm and 45cm) and optionally feature a locking mechanism that secures the articulating joints. Dr. Joel Dunning, a thoracic surgeon from the UK, summarizes by saying, "We want to mimic our hands in the body, and ArtiSential does this." Story continues "We are excited that Dr. Dunning has been a great spokesperson for ArtiSential," says Dr. Jung Joo Lee, founder and CEO of LivsMed Inc. "Now, with more surgeons in the US experiencing ArtiSential, we are on our way to fulfill our mission of 'bringing precision surgery into the hands of surgeons, one patient at a time.'" Dr. Lee further states, "There has been a tremendous amount of interest from surgeons in South Korea where we first launched the product in 2018. Today, we now have a surgeon who has completed over 1000 cases using ArtiSential devices who says that he 'can't go back to using straight instruments'. We plan to continue to innovate and support the US market, which is largest in the world." About LivsMed: LivsMed Inc. is a medical device company that brings groundbreaking technology to minimally invasive surgery. Founded in South Korea, LivsMed is the creation of Dr. Jung Joo Lee, who envisioned a new paradigm of laparoscopic surgery where articulating technology is available to every surgeon. With this vision, the ArtiSential product line was introduced to the Korean medical device market in 2018 and expanded into the US in 2019. Upon entering the US market, ArtiSential was immediately met with excitement from surgeons around the world, receiving the Red Dot Design Award and recognition from SAGES. Working with physicians worldwide, LivsMed focuses on revolutionizing the capabilities of minimally invasive surgery, advancing patient outcomes and extending life for patients around the world. For more information about LivsMed, visit www.livsmed.com. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/livsmed-receives-fda-510k-clearance-for-artisential-articulating-energy-laparoscopic-instruments-301085422.html SOURCE LivsMed OmniSci's Platform Allows Leading Multinationals in Retail, CPG, Automotive, and Financial Services to Visualize and Explore Massive Amounts of Location-Based Data in Milliseconds SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- InMarket , the leader in 360 degree consumer intelligence and real-time activation, has chosen OmniSci as a key visualization partner. With OmniSci's accelerated analytics at its core, InMarket clients can explore and map terabytes of data at the speed of curiosity, to better understand local consumers and build precise audiences that drive foot traffic and purchase lift. OmniSci (PRNewsfoto/OmniSci) InMarket's location-based advertising platform, GeoLink, enables brands from consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail, to healthcare, financial services and others, to plan, build, execute and analyze location-based advertising initiatives. The platform leverages InMarket's first-party SDK-derived, opt-in consumer data as well as its proprietary location score technology to provide subscribers access to the most accurate and precise location data to drive performance. Access to this massive data is then visualized in geospatial form to provide enterprise customers the ability to build location-based advertising campaigns. "OmniSci allows users to map and explore critical information at speeds not possible through any other analytics technology," said Michael Della Penna, InMarket Chief Strategy Officer. "When working with location data, exploration and visualization is important. Users will often start with a single campaign tactic, but then add additional strategies such as conquesting to expand their customer base. With OmniSci, users can identify and analyze optimal segments as fast as they can imagine them." OmniSci uniquely harnesses the massive parallel processing capabilities of modern CPU and GPU hardware to produce the world's fastest analytics solution. Comprised of a lightning-fast SQL engine, rendering engine and visualization system, OmniSci allows users to combine, filter, plot and examine complex datasets geospatially, in milliseconds. Story continues "InMarket has become the market leader because it is committed to helping brands sense and respond to consumer needs easily, and in real time," noted Joe Lee, OmniSci's VP Global Sales. "By integrating the OmniSci platform, InMarket helps its advertisers focus on what they know wellbuilding audiencesthrough an effortless, interactive user experience, instead of trying to learn SQL or other programmatic tools." InMarket, winner of Best Mobile Marketing Platform at the 2019 Digiday Awards, provides a suite of location-based solutions to deliver transformational 360-degree consumer intelligence and real-time activation. Founded in 2010, the company helps leading brands and agencies better sense and respond to their consumer needs in real-time and at scale. To learn more about InMarket, visit www.inmarket.com . About OmniSci: OmniSci is the pioneer in accelerated analytics. The OmniSci platform is used in business and government to find insights in data beyond the limits of mainstream analytics tools. Harnessing the massive parallelism of modern CPU and GPU hardware, the platform is available in the cloud and on-premise. OmniSci originated from research at Harvard and MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). OmniSci is funded by GV, In-Q-Tel, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), NVIDIA, Tiger Global Management, Vanedge Capital and Verizon Ventures. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. Learn more about OmniSci at www.omnisci.com . MEDIA CONTACT: Amy Dardinger SSPR 802/762-3094 (office) 574/286-5629 (mobile) adardinger@sspr.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/location-technology-company-inmarket-selects-omnisci-to-provide-accelerated-geospatial-analytics-for-marketing-clients-301085904.html SOURCE OmniSci More charges have been filed against an Idaho woman after the remains of two of her children were found months after they disappeared. The woman, Lori Vallow, was charged Monday with two felony counts of conspiracy to destroy, alter or conceal evidence, according to court documents. Wearing a medical-style mask, Vallow appeared remotely from Idaho's Madison County Jail for a videoconference hearing during which the new charges were heard and she said she understood the allegations. The next hearing was scheduled for Aug. 10. She was initially jailed on charges of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. Her bond remains at $1 million. An attorney for Vallow could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. Human remains were found this month on the property of Vallow's fifth husband, Chad Daybell, and were identified as those of Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7. The children were reported missing in September. IMAGE: Joshua Vallow and Tylee Ryan (Freemont County Sheriff's Office) Daybell was arrested several weeks ago and charged with two counts of concealing evidence. A complaint alleges that he concealed the remains on his Fremont County property sometime from Sept. 22 to June 9. He has pleaded not guilty. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and alerts Court documents say that Joshua was buried in a pet cemetery and that Tylee's remains were dismembered and burned in a fire pit. Authorities have not said how the children died, and Daybell and Vallow have not been charged in their deaths. A search for the siblings began in November after police in Rexburg tried to conduct a welfare check on Joshua. Vallow and Daybell refused to cooperate and left the state, police said in a statement in December. They were found the following month in Hawaii, and Vallow was arrested and extradited to Idaho. Vallow who pleaded not guilty to the previous charges is also being investigated in the death of Daybell's former wife, Tammy Daybell, who was found dead in her home in October. Tammy Daybell's death was initially ruled natural, but it has since been classified as suspicious, and her remains were exhumed for an autopsy in December. Chad Daybell and Vallow married weeks after Tammy Daybell's death. Its hard to feel sorry for millionaire movie stars, but spare a thought for these poor souls who suffered for their art by submitting to some seriously painful prosthetics. Jim Carrey How The Grinch Stole Christmas Jim Carrey looking through phone directory in a scene from the film 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas', 2000. (Photo by Universal/Getty Images) The comedians transformation into Dr Seusss grumpy creation is extraordinary and earned make-up artists Rick Baker and Gail Rowell-Ryan an Oscar. But it came at a price. The latex took eight hours to apply and the yellow contact lenses were so sore that in some shots, the colour had to be added in post-production because it was too painful to wear them. A make-up face cast from the Jim Carrey movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is displayed with other movie memorabilia at the Heritage Auction Gallery in Beverly Hills on April 8, 2010. (MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images) Still, the actor had some help getting used to the costume the production hired an ex-CIA agent who trained the star in torture-resistance techniques to get him through it. Jennifer Lawrence X-Men: First Class Jennifer Lawrence as Raven in X-Men: First Class. (20th Century Fox) A doctor had to be called to set during shooting when the actress experienced a skin reaction to the blue paint she wore as Mystique, causing irritation, boils and blisters. Taking eight hours to apply and requiring seven artists, the experience was so unpleasant that the star insisted on wearing a full-body suit instead for the sequels. Robin Williams Popeye Comedy actor Robin Williams, as Popeye, and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oil. They star in the film adaptation of the famous comic strip, which opens at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London, tonight. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images) The sailor man is one of the great Williams performances, even if the film was an epic flop. But he suffered for it. The prosthetic arms he wore to emulate Popeyes famous muscles actually cut off his circulation, meaning he was in pain every time he had to put them on. Buddy Ebsen The Wizard of Oz Actor Buddy Ebsen, 93, points to a book that shows him wearing the costume of the Wizard of Oz' Tin Man, during an interview at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., May 24, 2001. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) You dont actually see Ebsen in the final movie because despite being cast as the Tin Man, he almost died after wearing the make-up during early production and was replaced by Jack Haley. The original Tin Man make-up contained aluminium dust, which Ebsen ingested into his lungs, causing him to be rushed to hospital with respiratory distress and severe cramps. The dust was later switched to paste after hed been recast. John Hurt The Elephant Man Photograph of John Hurt as "Joseph Merrick" in the Elephant Man movie. (Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images) The movie make-up for John Merrick was designed from real casts taken from him when he was alive and took eight hours to put on as well as two to remove. Story continues Hurt would get to set at five in the morning every day and would be ready to shoot by noon, filming until ten at night. The star found the process incredibly difficult and strenuous, calling his wife to say, I think they finally managed to make me hate acting. John Rhys-Davies The Lord of the Rings John Rhys-Davies as Gimlin in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. (New Line/Warner Bros.) Turning the 61 actor into Gimli regularly took three hours, but Rhys-Davies also suffered an allergic reaction to the make-up, causing his face to swell. It meant that he could only work on alternate days so that his skin had a day off to recover. Rebecca Romijn X-Men Rebecca Romijn in a scene from the film 'X-Men', 2000. (Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images) Proving just how arduous it is to play a mutant, this is the second time Mystique has appeared on this list. Romijn originated the role of the shapeshifter and her costume took a staggering nine hours to attach, including 110 different prosthetic pieces. Not only that, but she had to be extremely careful to maintain the state of her body chemistry otherwise the scales would fall off, meaning she couldnt drink alcohol, fly or use skin creams. Max von Sydow The Exorcist Max von Sydow as Father Merrin from movie "The Exorcist", photo on black The Swede was only 44 when he played the 80-year-old Father Merrin, meaning he had to wear old-age make-up during the film. Created by legendary artist Dick Smith, his face was stretched and pulled and covered in latex on a daily basis, which von Sydow found very tough to endure. Supply Chain Provider Offers New Storage Options for Cell and Gene Therapies RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Marken, the clinical supply chain leader, announced today it will double the space of its GMP facility in Frankfurt to further expand its frozen room storage capabilities in anticipation of the COVID-19 vaccine and storage needs. Marken Logo. (PRNewsfoto/Marken) "Cell and gene therapies are a strategic focus for Marken due to their high complexity and the exacting quality standards they require, both in transport and storage," said Marken President Ariette van Strien. "In addition to the growing need for cryogenic storage, Marken's expansion of the Frankfurt facility is driven by the high demand to provide up to -80C storage for future vaccines and treatments." Marken's expansion of its facilities in Frankfurt will add an additional 16,000 square feet of space, increasing total available space for client materials to over 40,000 square feet. This additional space is expected to be fully operational by October, 2020. In addition, Marken is proud to announce the integration of its cryogenic storage services which went live in June in both Frankfurt and Philadelphia. These latest additions to the Marken GMP network service portfolio further reinforces the company's dedication to serving its clients as a complete, end-to-end service provider. Future cryogenic storage locations will include the APAC region. Offering a comprehensive cryogenic transport and storage solution enables cell and gene therapy companies to simplify their supply chain by allowing them to consolidate processes with Marken, an established and trusted service provider. Fewer handoffs mean fewer variables, less risk and an unbroken chain of custody. About Marken Marken is a wholly owned subsidiary of the UPS Healthcare division. With Polar Speed and Marken included, the UPS division staffs 128 locations with 5500 employees worldwide. Marken maintains the leading position for Direct to Patient and Home Health care services, biological sample shipments and offers a state-of-the-art GMP-compliant depot network and logistic hubs in 54 locations worldwide for clinical trial product storage and distribution. Marken's dedicated 1200 staff members manage 85,000 drug product and biological sample shipments every month at all temperature ranges in more than 220 countries. Additional services such as biological kit production, ancillary material sourcing, storage and distribution, shipment lane verification and qualifications, as well as GDP, regulatory and compliance consultancy add to Marken's unique position in the pharma and logistics industry. Story continues Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/marken-doubles-gmp-facility-in-frankfurt-and-adds-cryogenic-storage-services-301085438.html SOURCE Marken New Markets Tax Credit Coalition Releases 2020 NMTC Progress Report New Markets Tax Credit Coalition Releases 2020 NMTC Progress Report PR Newswire WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 NMTC Celebrates 20 Years, Nearly 6,400 Projects Financed and Over One Million Jobs WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Markets Tax Credit Coalition today released its 2020 New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Progress Report, the sixteenth edition of the reportproviding analysis of NMTC activities in 2019 as well as a special insert commemorating the 20th anniversary of the NMTC. An interactive, online toolkit included in the report highlights the nearly 6,400 projects financed by the NMTC since 2000. NMTC Logo (PRNewsfoto/New Markets Tax Credit Coalition) The report showcases the importance of the NMTC in providing two decades worth of patient, flexible capital to businesses and projects located in distressed rural and urban communities, thereby creating jobs and growing business opportunities. The NMTC financing ranges from more traditional industry and community sectors to new and cutting-edge technology. Projects and businesses that benefited from the Credit in the past year include manufacturing, healthcare, schools and many supporting childcare, youth, and families. The report was prepared for the NMTC Coalition, a national membership organization of Community Development Entities (CDEs) and investors organized to advocate on behalf of the NMTC. Every year since 2005, the NMTC Coalition surveys CDEs on their work delivering billions of dollars to businesses, creating jobs, and rejuvenating the parts of the country that have been left behind. The annual NMTC Progress Report presents the findings of the CDE survey and provides policymakers and practitioners with the latest trends and successes of the NMTC. "The Coalition's annual survey asks CDEs to report on the deployment of their allocation, investor trends, and a variety of community impact metrics," said Yvette Ittu, NMTC Coalition Board President and the President of Cleveland Development Advisors, a CDE in Cleveland, Ohio. "The findings clearly demonstrate the continued improvement and refinement of the program's efficiency and impact in low-income communities. Two decades after its introduction, the NMTC is no longer simply just a tool for delivering investment instead, it has become one of the federal government's most effective tools for job creation and economic stabilization." Story continues Sixty-five CDEs participated in the 2020 survey and provided data on their progress raising capital, lending, and investing in 2019 with the NMTC. The survey findings show that competition for credits continues to drive gains in efficiency. The data collected shows that CDEs used $2.7 billion in NMTC allocation in 2019 to finance 288 NMTC projects, amounting to $4.5 billion in total project investment to low-income communities. This financing resulted in the creation of 57,414 total jobs including 35,440 permanent full-time-equivalent jobs and 21,973 construction jobs. "Year after year, the data shows the NMTC not only delivers an unprecedented level of capital to low-income rural and urban communities, but it also creates much-needed jobshelping individuals and families thrive and, in turn, grows those local economies where they live and work. In fact, since 2003 the NMTC has created over one million jobs. Communities that were already struggling have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and need this important incentive for community revitalization now more than ever," said Coalition spokesperson Bob Rapoza. Across 48 states and territories, CDEs rehabilitated or constructed 15.1 million square feet of space in 2019, thanks to NMTC financing. NMTC financing supported 232 manufacturing and industrial businesses with loans for working capital, new equipment, and 7 million sq. ft. of new space, often through incubators and multi-business facilities, creating over 11,000 manufacturing jobs. Furthermore, there were 1.7 million people served by NMTC-financed community facilities including 1.1 million patients in healthcare facilities and 116,000 children in childcare, schools, recreational facilities, mentorship programs, and other youth-related social services. Fifty-five percent of mixed-use projects included at least one community facility, nonprofit, or social service component. Those new community resources add up to over 300 nonprofit facilities, health centers, childcare centers, libraries, community centers, and other community facilities. Additionally, 86 percent of projects were in severely distressed communities. The report profiles NMTC financed businesses, including a women's and children's center in Baltimore, MD, a non-profit office space and community food center in Denton, TX, and a teen center in Belle Grande, FL, and it describes the impact of the NMTC in native communities in 2019. Rapoza notes, "The authorization for the NMTC is set to expire yet again as the end of this year. This report is further proof that the Credit is working and Congress should expand and make the NMTC permanent." There is currently bipartisan legislation in Congress aimed expanding the allocation level and investor base of the NMTC as well as making it permanent. The NMTC Extension Act of 2020, H.R. 1680 in the House and S. 750 in the Senate. There are presently 37 Senators signed on in support of S. 750, which was introduced by Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Ben Cardin (D-MD). H.R. 1680 has 126 cosponsors and is led by Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Tom Reed (R-NY). In addition, the House is debating on the floor this week a proposal to modernize America's infrastructure, H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, which includes a permanent extension and expansion of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) at $5 billion in annual allocation with additional Credits provided over the next three years to help communities combat the economic downturn. About New Markets Tax Credit Program the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) was enacted in 2000 in an effort to stimulate private investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities that lack access to the patient capital needed to support and grow businesses, create jobs, and sustain healthy local economies. Since its inception, the NMTC has generated more than one million jobs. Today due to NMTC, more than $95 billion is hard at work in underserved communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit www.NMTCCoalition.org. Contact: Ayrianne Parks ayrianne@rapoza.org (202) 393-5225 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-markets-tax-credit-coalition-releases-2020-nmtc-progress-report-301085664.html SOURCE New Markets Tax Credit Coalition VANCOUVER, BC, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Maverix Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Maverix") (NYSE American & TSX: MMX) is pleased to announce the voting results of its Annual General Meeting (the "Meeting") of Shareholders held today, June 30th, 2020. Maverix shareholders voted in favour of all resolutions presented at the Meeting, including the re-election of the Company's eight director nominees. Detailed results of the vote for directors are shown below: Maverix Metals Inc. Logo (CNW Group/Maverix Metals Inc.) Nominee Votes For Votes Withheld Number Percent (%) Number Percent (%) Geoffrey Burns 98,437,693 99.97% 32,620 0.033% Dr. Christopher Barnes 98,379,897 99.91% 90,416 0.092% Robert Doyle 98,433,869 99.96% 36,444 0.037% Daniel O'Flaherty 98,438,493 99.97% 31,820 0.032% Brian Penny 98,414,077 99.94% 56,236 0.057% Blake Rhodes 98,414,391 99.94% 55,922 0.057% David Scott 98,455,439 99.94% 54,874 0.056% J.C. Stefan Spicer 98,369,795 99.89% 100,518 0.102% Shareholders also voted in favour of the re-appointment of KPMG LLP as the auditor of the Company and for the approval of the Company's amended and restated Stock Option and Share Compensation Plan, as well as the Restricted Share Unit Plan. Each of the resolutions approved at the meeting were described in detail in the Company's Management Information Circular dated May 11th, 2020 available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and the Company's website (www.maverixmetals.com). A report on all items of business voted on at the Meeting has been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). 2020 Asset Handbook Maverix has released its 2020 Asset Handbook, which provides detailed information on the Company's extensive portfolio of assets. The report is available on the Company's website at www.maverixmetals.com. About Maverix Maverix is a gold-focused royalty and streaming company with a globally diversified portfolio of over 100 assets. Maverix's mission is to increase per share value by continuing to add new precious metals royalties and streams. Its shares trade on both the NYSE American and the TSX under the ticker symbol "MMX". Story continues Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/maverix-metals-announces-results-of-annual-general-meeting-and-publishes-2020-asset-handbook-301086397.html SOURCE Maverix Metals Inc. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: These weapon platforms are the ones everyone wanted. Here is the definitive list. In today's world, where everyday it seems a new piece of military technology is poised to take over the battlefield and make everything else obsolete, there are several weapons of war that seem to have some staying power. Aircraft carriers, while some may consider them obsolete, remain one of the ultimate ways to display national power and prestige, with the unique capability to attack targets from the world's seas with deadly accuracy. Submarines have many uses. Whether it is to exercise sea control, deter an enemy with underwater nuclear weapons or ensure you have the ability to strike with various types of conventional weapons like cruise missiles on land, subs seem to be only gaining in prominence. Then there is the bomber. Some are old, like the B-52. Some are just getting started, like the B-21 Raider. Some we don't know much about, like Russia's PAK-FA. Yet, one thing is clear: Bombers can still make or break any conflict that could occur now or in the future. And fighter jets are not going anywhere. The F-35 is the ultimate example--considering the massive cost--of this important military asset having clear staying power (the only debate at this point is whether it will be manned or unmanned). So what are the best carriers, submarines, bombers and fighters ever? Robert Farley, one of the world's best defense experts and frequent TNI contributor, has written on this subject extensively. For your reading pleasure, we have packed together several pieces that take this subject on into this one post, which were written several years ago. Let the debate begin. *** The first true aircraft carriers entered service at the end of World War I, as the Royal Navy converted several of its excess warships into large, floating airfields. During the interwar period, Japan and the United States would make their own conversions, and all three navies would supplement these ships with purpose-built carriers. Within months of the beginning of hostilities in September 1939, the carrier demonstrated its worth in a variety of maritime tasks. Story continues By the end of 1941, carriers would become the worlds dominant capital ship. These are the five most lethal carriers to serve in the worlds navies, selected on the basis of their contribution to critical operations, and on their longevity and resilience. USS Enterprise: The U.S. Navy supplemented Lexington and Saratoga, the most effective of the interwar battlecruiser conversions, with the purpose-built USS Ranger. Experience with all three ships demonstrated that the next purpose-built class would require a larger hull and flight deck, as well as a heavier anti-aircraft armament. This resulted in USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise, which along with their third sister (USS Hornet) would play a critical role in stopping the Imperial Japanese Navys advance in 1942. Capable of cruising at 33 knots, Enterprise displaced around 24,000 tons and could carry up to 90 aircraft. While both Hornet and Yorktown were lost in the carrier battles of 1942, Enterprise served throughout the entire war. She helped search for the Japanese fleet in the wake of Pearl Harbor, and carried out the first reprisal raids in the early months of the war. She escorted Hornet on the Doolittle Raid, then helped sink four Japanese flattops at the Battle of Midway. She filled a crucial role during the Battles of Guadalcanal, surviving several near-catastrophic Japanese attacks. Later in the war, Enterprise operated with the growing American carrier fleet as it formed core of the counter-offensive that would roll up Japanese possessions in the Pacific. Enterprise fought at Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf, helping to destroy the heart of Japanese naval aviation. She served in the final raids against Japan in 1945 until a kamikaze caused critical damage in May. Returning to service just as the war ended, she helped return American soldiers to the United States in Operation Magic Carpet. Enterprise was the most decorated ship in any navy during World War II, but sadly post-war preservation efforts failed, and the carrier was scrapped in 1960. HMS Illustrious: Between September 1939 and April 1942, the Royal Navy lost five of its seven pre-war aircraft carriers. HMS Illustrious and her three sisters filled the gap. Laid down in 1937, Illustrious traded aircraft complement for an armored deck, an innovation that would make the ship more robust than her Japanese or American counterparts. Displacing 23,000 tons, Illustrious could make 30 knots and carrying 36 aircraft. Illustrious first major achievement came in November 1940, when her Swordfish torpedo bombers attacked the battleships of the Italian navy at anchor at Taranto. The attack, carried out on a shoestring compared to the great raids of the Pacific War, nevertheless managed to sink or heavily damage three Italian battleships. Illustrious spent the next few months carrying out raids in the Mediterranean and covering the evacuation of Greece. In the course of the latter, she survived several hits from German divebombers. After receiving repairs in the United States, Illustrious operated against the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. She returned to the European theater in 1943, making additional raids on Norway and in support of Allied landings in Italy. Later Illustrious returned to the Pacific, where supplied with superior American carrier aircraft, she helped spearhead the Royal Navy counter-offensive into Southeast Asia. After surviving a kamikaze attack, she returned to Great Britain and eventually served as a training carrier before being scrapped in 1957. HIJMS Zuikaku: Zuikaku represented the zenith of pre-war Japanese carrier development. Along with her sister Shokaku, Zuikaku filled out Kido Butai with the addition of two large, fast, modern carriers. Displacing 32,000 tons and capable of carrying 72 aircraft, Zuikaku could make 34 knots, and absorb a relatively large amount of battle damage. The size and modernity of the carriers meant that they could handle a greater operational tempo early in the war. After the Pearl Harbor raid, they participated in the Indian Ocean Raid, helping to sink the British carrier Hermes and several other ships. Afterward, Zuikaku and her sister deployed to Port Moresby to cover Japanese landings in what became the Battle of Coral Sea. Zuikaku survived undamaged, and contributed to the sinking of USS Lexington, but because of a lack of aircraft could not participate in the Battle of Midway. Zuikaku continued to form the core of the Japanese carrier fleet into 1944, participating in and surviving the battles of Guadalcanal (where her aircraft helped sink USS Hornet) and the Battle of Philippine Sea. By October 1944, her supply of aircraft and pilots was almost completely exhausted. At the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Zuikaku and several other carriers served as bait for Halseys battleships and carriers, luring them away from the center of the Japanese attack. The last survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, Zuikaku sank under a barrage of bombs and torpedoes. USS Midway: USS Midway entered service in September 1945, shortly after the end of hostilities against Japan. She displaced 45,000 tons, could make 33 knots, and could carry roughly 100 aircraft. Midway and her sisters represented a step beyond the Essex-class carriers that had won the Pacific War, and promised to introduce a new era of naval aviation. Upon commissioning, Midway became the worlds most lethal aircraft carrier. The offensive power of her air group exceeded that of the Essex carriers then in service, and with the introduction of jet aircraft the gap would grow. With the A-2 Savage carrier-based bomber, Midway and her sisters briefly became the only carriers in the world capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Midway underwent extensive modification over the course of her career, eventually acquiring an angled flight deck and other innovations. Although she missed Korea, Midway operated off Vietnam, and continued to serve as the larger supercarriers came online. She found heavy use in the Gulf War of 1990, as her (relative) small size gave her an advantage in maneuverability over the more modern supercarriers. Midway left service in 1992, having spanned the history of naval aviation from the F6F Hellcat to the F/A-18 Hornet. USS Theodore Roosevelt: The ten Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers have been the worlds dominant capital ships since they began to enter service in the late 1970s. Constructed over a period spanning nearly 35 years, the class continues to provide the core of American naval power. Among the most active of the Nimitz class has been the USS Theodore Roosevelt, first of the second group of ships. Roosevelt entered service in 1986; she displaces over 100,000 tons, carries between 75-80 aircraft, and can make 30 knots top speed. Roosevelt has served in most of the conflicts of the post Cold-War era. In 1991 she launched strikes against Iraqi targets during Operation Desert Storm. In 1999, her aircraft conducted strikes in Kosovo and Serbia in service of Operation Allied Force. After the September 11 attacks, Roosevelt deployed to the Middle East and participated in the first sorties against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Operation Enduring Freedom. Two years later, her aircraft flew against Iraqi targets again in the first days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After a refit, Roosevelt launched strikes against both Afghan and Iraqi targets in the latter part of the decade. Most recently, Roosevelt helped blockade Yemeni ports against a suspected Iranian arms convoy. Like her sister ships, Roosevelt has already undergone substantial modification across the course of her thirty year career, and the Navy expects that these refits will continue into the future. Current projections suggest that she will leave service around 2035, which would give the carrier a nearly fifty-year span of lethality. Wrap: Pundits and analysts have predicted the obsolescence and demise of the aircraft carrier since the waning days of World War II. At the moment, however, the Russian, Indian, British, Chinese, French, and American navies continue to put faith, and resources, into carrier aviation. Despite the vulnerability of the big ships to attack, they provide a unique combination of presence, prestige, and lethality that continues to make them attractive to the worlds most powerful navies. *** There have been three great submarine campaigns in history, and one prolonged duel. The First and Second Battles of the Atlantic pitted German U-boats against the escorts and aircraft of the United Kingdom and the United States. The Germans very nearly won World War I with the first campaign, and badly drained Allied resources in the second. In the third great campaign, the submarines of the US Navy destroyed virtually the entire commercial fleet of Japan, bringing the Japanese economy to its knees. US subs also devastated the Imperial Japanese Navy, sinking several of Tokyos most important capital ships. But the period most evocative of our modern sense of submarine warfare was surely the forty year duel between the submarines of the USSR and the boats of the various NATO navies. Over the course of the Cold War, the strategic nature of the submarine changed; it moved from being a cheap, effective killer of capital ships to a capital ship in its own right. This was especially the case with the boomers, submarines that carried enough nuclear weapons to kill millions in a few minutes. As with previous 5 Greatest lists, the answers depend on the parameters; different sets of metrics will generate different lists. Our metrics concentrate on the strategic utility of specific submarine classes, rather than solely on their technical capabilities. Was the submarine a cost-effective solution to a national strategic problem? Did the submarine compare favorably with its contemporaries? Was the submarines design innovative? And with that, the five best submarines of all time: U-31: The eleven boats of the U-31 class were constructed between 1912 and 1915. They operated in both of the periods of heavy action for German U-boats, early in the war before the suspension of unrestricted warfare, and again in 1917 when Germany decided to go for broke and cut the British Empire off at the knees. Four of these eleven boats (U-35, U-39, U-38, and U-34) were the four top killers of World War I; indeed, they were four of the five top submarines of all time in terms of tonnage sunk (the Type VII boat U-48 sneaks in at number 3). U-35, the top killer, sank 224 ships amounting to over half a million tons. The U-31 boats were evolutionary, rather than revolutionary; they represented the latest in German submarine technology for the time, but did not differ dramatically from their immediate predecessors or successors. These boats had good range, a deck gun for destroying small shipping, and faster speeds surfaced than submerged. These characteristics allowed the U-31 class and their peers to wreak havoc while avoiding faster, more powerful surface units. They did offer a secure, stealthy platform for carrying out a campaign that nearly forced Great Britain from the war. Only the entry of the United States, combined with the development of innovative convoy tactics by the Royal Navy, would stifle the submarine offensive. Three of the eleven boats survived the war, and were eventually surrendered to the Allies. Balao: The potential for a submarine campaign against the Japanese Empire was clear from early in the war. Japanese industry depended for survival on access to the natural resources of Southeast Asia. Separating Japan from those resources could win the war. However, the pre-war USN submarine arm was relatively small, and operated with poor doctrine and bad torpedoes. Boats built during the war, including primarily the Gato and Balao class, would eventually destroy virtually the entire Japanese merchant marine. The Balao class represented very nearly the zenith of the pre-streamline submarine type. War in the Pacific demanded longer ranges and more habitability than the relatively snug Atlantic. Like their predecessors the Gato, the Balaos were less maneuverable than the German Type VII subs, but they made up for this in strength of hull and quality of construction. Compared with the Type VII, the Balaos had longer range, a larger gun, more torpedo tubes, and a higher speed. Of course, the Balaos operated in a much different environment, and against an opponent less skilled in anti-submarine warfare. The greatest victory of a Balao was the sinking of the 58000 ton HIJMS Shinano by Archerfish. Eleven of 120 boats were lost, two in post-war accidents. After the war Balao class subs were transferred to several friendly navies, and continued to serve for decades. One, the former USS Tusk, remains in partial commission in Taiwan as Hai Pao. Type XXI In some ways akin to the Me 262, the Type XXI was a potentially war-winning weapon that arrived too late to have serious effect. The Type XXI was the first mass produced, ocean-going streamlined or true submarine, capable of better performance submerged than on the surface. It gave up its deck gun in return for speed and stealth, and set the terms of design for generations of submarines. Allied anti-submarine efforts focused on identifying boats on the surface (usually in transit to their patrol areas) then vectoring killers (including ships and aircraft) to those areas. In 1944 the Allies began developing techniques for fighting schnorkel U-boats that did not need to surface, but remained unprepared for combat against a submarine that could move at 20 knots submerged. In effect, the Type XXI had the stealth to avoid detection prior to an attack, and the speed to escape afterward. Germany completed 118 of these boats, but because of a variety of industrial problems could only put four into service, none of which sank an enemy ship. All of the Allies seized surviving examples of the Type XXI, using them both as models for their own designs and in order to develop more advanced anti-submarine technologies and techniques. For example, the Type XXI was the model for the Soviet Whiskey class, and eventually for a large flotilla of Chinese submarines. George Washington: We take for granted the most common form of todays nuclear deterrent; a nuclear submarine, bristling with missiles, capable of destroying a dozen cities a continent away. These submarines provide the most secure leg of the deterrent triad, as no foe could reasonably expect to destroy the entire submarine fleet before the missiles fly. The secure submarine deterrent began in 1960, with the USS George Washington. An enlarged version of the Skipjack class nuclear attack sub, George Washingtons design incorporated space for sixteen Polaris ballistic missiles. When the Polaris became operational, USS George Washington had the capability from striking targets up to 1000 miles distant with 600 KT warheads. The boats would eventually upgrade to the Polaris A3, with three warheads and a 2500 mile range. Slow relative to attack subs but extremely quiet, the George Washington class pioneered the go away and hide form of nuclear deterrence that is still practiced by five of the worlds nine nuclear powers. And until 1967, the George Washington and her sisters were the only modern boomers. Their clunky Soviet counterparts carried only three missiles each, and usually had to surface in order to fire. This made them of limited deterrent value. But soon, virtually every nuclear power copied the George Washington class. The first Yankee class SSBN entered service in 1967, the first Resolution boat in 1968, and the first of the French Redoutables in 1971. China would eventually follow suit, although the PLANs first genuinely modern SSBNs have only entered service recently. The Indian Navys INS Arihant will likely enter service in the next year or so. The five boats of the George Washington class conducted deterrent patrols until 1982, when the SALT II Treaty forced their retirement. Three of the five (including George Washington) continued in service as nuclear attack submarines for several more years. Los Angeles: Immortalized in the Tom Clancy novels Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising, the U.S. Los Angeles class is the longest production line of nuclear submarines in history, constituting sixty-two boats and first entering service in 1976. Forty-one subs remain in commission today, continuing to form the backbone of the USNs submarine fleet. The Los Angeles (or 688) class are outstanding examples of Cold War submarines, equally capable of conducting anti-surface or anti-submarine warfare. In wartime, they would have been used to penetrate Soviet base areas, where Russian boomers were protected by rings of subs, surface ships, and aircraft, and to protect American carrier battle groups. In 1991, two Los Angeles class attack boats launched the first ever salvo of cruise missiles against land targets, ushering in an entirely new vision of how submarines could impact warfare. While cruise missile armed submarines had long been part of the Cold War duel between the United States and the Soviet Union, most attention focused either on nuclear delivery or anti-ship attacks. Submarine launched Tomahawks gave the United States a new means for kicking in the doors of anti-access/area denial systems. The concept has proven so successful that four Ohio class boomers were refitted as cruise missile submarines, with the USS Florida delivering the initial strikes of the Libya intervention. The last Los Angeles class submarine is expected to leave service in at some point in the 2020s, although outside factors may delay that date. By that time, new designs will undoubtedly have exceeded the 688 in terms of striking land targets, and in capacity for conducting anti-submarine warfare. Nevertheless, the Los Angeles class will have carved out a space as the sub-surface mainstay of the worlds most powerful Navy for five decades. Conclusion: Fortunately, the United States and the Soviet Union avoided direct conflict during the Cold War, meaning that many of the technologies and practices of advanced submarine warfare were never employed in anger. However, every country in the world that pretends to serious maritime power is building or acquiring advanced submarines. The next submarine war will look very different from the last, and its difficult to predict how it will play out. We can be certain, however, that the fight will be conducted in silence. Honorable Mention: Ohio, 260O-21, Akula, Alfa, Seawolf, Swiftsure, I-201, Kilo, S class, Type VII *** Bombers are the essence of strategic airpower. While fighters have often been important to air forces, it was the promise of the heavy bomber than won and kept independence for the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force. At different points in time, air forces in the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Italy have treated bomber design and construction as a virtually all-consuming obsession, setting fighter and attack aviation aside. However, even the best bombers are effective over only limited timespans. The unlucky state-of-the-art bombers of the early 1930s met disaster when put into service against the pursuit aircraft of the late 1930s. The B-29s that ruled the skies over Japan in 1945 were cut to pieces above North Korea in 1950. The B-36 Peacemaker, obsolete before it was even built, left service in a decade. Most of the early Cold War bombers were expensive failures, eventually to be superseded by ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. States procure bombers, like all weapons, to serve strategic purposes. This list employs the following metrics of evaluation: Did the bomber serve the strategic purpose envisioned by its developers? Was the bomber a sufficiently flexible platform to perform other missions, and to persist in service? How did the bomber compare with its contemporaries in terms of price, capability, and effectiveness? And with that, the five best bombers of all time: Handley Page Type O 400: The first strategic bombing raids of World War I were carried out by German zeppelins, enormous lighter than aircraft that could travel at higher altitudes than the interceptors of the day, and deliver payloads against London and other targets. Over time, the capabilities of interceptors and anti-aircraft artillery grew, driving the Zeppelins to other missions. Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and others began working on bombers capable of delivering heavy loads over long distance, a trail blazed (oddly enough) by the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets. Even the modest capabilities of the early bombers excited the airpower theorists of the day, who imagined the idea of fleets of bombers striking enemy cities and enemy industry. The Italians developed the Caproni family of bombers, which operated in the service of most Allied countries at one time or another. German Gotha bombers would eventually terrorize London again, catalyzing the Smuts Report and the creation of the worlds first air force. Faster and capable of carrying more bombs than either the Gotha IVs or the Caproni Ca.3, the Type O 400 had a wingspan nearly as large as the Avro Lancaster. With a maximum speed of 97 miles per hour with a payload of up to 2000 lbs, O 400s were the mainstay of Hugh Trenchards Independent Air Force near the end of the war, a unit which struck German airfields and logistics concentration well behind German lines. These raids helped lay the foundation of interwar airpower theory, which (at least in the US and the UK) envisioned self-protecting bombers striking enemy targets en masse. Roughly 600 Type O bombers were produced during World War I, with the last retiring in 1922. Small numbers served in the Chinese, Australian, and American armed forces. Junkers Ju 88: The Junkers Ju-88 was one of the most versatile aircraft of World War II. Although it spent most of its career as a medium bomber, it moonlighted as a close attack aircraft, a naval attack aircraft, a reconnaissance plane, and a night fighter. Effective and relatively cheap, the Luftwaffe used the Ju 88 to good effect in most theaters of war, but especially on the Eastern Front and in the Mediterranean. Designed with dive bomber capability, the Ju 88 served in relatively small numbers in the invasion of Poland, the invasion of Norway, and the Battle of France. The Ju-88 was not well suited to the strategic bombing role into which it was forced during the Battle of Britain, especially in its early variants. It lacked the armament to sufficiently defend itself, and the payload to cause much destruction to British industry and infrastructure. The measure of an excellent bomber, however, goes well beyond its effectiveness at any particular mission. Ju 88s were devastating in Operation Barbarossa, tearing apart Soviet tank formations and destroying much of the Soviet Air Forces on the ground. Later variants were built as or converted into night fighters, attacking Royal Air Force bomber formations on the way to their targets. In spite of heavy Allied bombing of the German aviation industry, Germany built over 15,000 Ju 88s between 1939 and 1945. They operated in several Axis air forces. De Havilland Mosquito: The de Havilland Mosquito was a remarkable little aircraft, capable of a wide variety of different missions. Not unlike the Ju 88, the Mosquito operated in bomber, fighter, night fighter, attack, and reconnaissance roles. The RAF was better positioned than the Luftwaffe to utilized the specific qualities of the Mosquito, and avoid forcing it into missions in could not perform. Relatively lightly armed and constructed entirely of wood, the Mosquito was quite unlike the rest of the RAF bomber fleet. Barely escaping design committee, the Mosquito was regarded as easy to fly, and featured a pressurized cockpit with a high service ceiling. Most of all, however, the Mosquito was fast. With advanced Merlin engines, a Mosquito could outpace the German Bf109 and most other Axis fighters. Although the bomb load of the Mosquito was limited, its great speed, combined with sophisticated instrumentation, allowed it to deliver ordnance with more precision than most other bombers. During the war, the RAF used Mosquitoes for various precision attacks against high value targets, including German government installations and V weapon launching sites. As pathfinders, Mosquitoes flew point on bomber formations, leading night time bombing raids that might otherwise have missed their targets. Mosquitos also served in a diversionary role, distracting German night fighters from the streams of Halifaxes and Lancasters striking urban areas. De Havilland produced over 7000 Mosquitoes for the RAF and other allied air forces. Examples persisted in post-war service with countries as varied as Israel, the Republic of China, Yugoslavia, and the Dominican Republic Avro Lancaster: The workhorse of the RAF in World War II, the Lancaster carried out the greater part of the British portion of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). Led by Arthur Harris, Bomber Command believed that area bombing raids, targeted against German civilians, conducted at night, would destroy German morale and economic capacity and bring the war to a close. Accordingly, the Lancaster was less heavily armed than its American contemporaries, as it depended less on self-defense in order to carry out its mission. The first Lancasters entered service in 1942. The Lancaster could carry a much heavier bomb load than the B-17 or the B-24, while operating at similar speeds and at a slightly longer range. The Lancaster also enjoyed a payload advantage over the Handley Page Halifax. From 1942 until 1945, the Lancaster would anchor the British half of the CBO, eventually resulting in the destruction of most of urban Germany and the death of several hundred thousand German civilians. There are reasons to be skeptical of the inclusion of the Lancaster. The Combined Bomber Offensive was a strategic dead-end, serving up expensive four-engine bombers as a feast for smaller, cheaper German fighters. Battles were fought under conditions deeply advantageous to the Germans, as damaged German planes could land, and shot down German pilots rescued and returned to service. Overall, the enormous Western investment in strategic bombing was probably one of the greatest grand strategic miscalculations of the Second World War. Nevertheless, this list needs a bomber from the most identifiable bomber offensive in history, and the Lancaster was the best of the bunch. Over 7000 Lancasters were built, with the last retiring in the early 1960s after Canadian service as recon and maritime patrol aircraft. Boeing B-52 Stratofortress: The disastrous experience of B-29 Superfortresses over North Korea in 1950 demonstrated that the United States would require a new strategic bomber, and soon. Unfortunately, the first two generations of bombers chosen by the USAF were almost uniformly duds; the hopeless B-36, the short-legged B-47, the dangerous-to-its-own-pilots B-58, and the obsolete-before-it-flew XB-70. The vast bulk of these bombers quickly went from wastes of taxpayer money to wastes of space at the Boneyard. None of the over 2500 early Cold War bombers ever dropped a bomb in anger. The exception was the B-52.The BUFF was originally intended for high altitude penetration bombing into the Soviet Union. It replaced the B-36 and the B-47, the former too slow and vulnerable to continue in the nuclear strike mission, and the latter too short-legged to reach the USSR from U.S. bases. Slated for replacement by the B-58 and the B-70, the B-52 survived because it was versatile enough to shift to low altitude penetration after the increasing sophistication of Soviet SAMs made the high altitude mission suicidal. And this versatility has been the real story of the B-52. The BUFF was first committed to conventional strike missions in service of Operation Arc Light during the Vietnam War. In Operation Linebacker II, the vulnerability of the B-52 to air defenses was made manifest when nine Stratofortresses were lost in the first days of the campaign. But the B-52 persisted. In the Gulf War, B-52s carried out saturation bombing campaigns against the forward positions of the Iraqi Army, softening and demoralizing the Iraqis for the eventual ground campaign. In the War on Terror, the B-52 has acted in a close air support role, delivering precision-guided ordnance against small concentrations of Iraqi and Taliban insurgents. Most recently, the B-52 showed its diplomatic chops when two BUFFs were dispatched to violate Chinas newly declared Air Defense Zone. The BUFF was perfect for this mission; the Chinese could not pretend not to notice two enormous bombers travelling at slow speed through the ADIZ. 742 B-52s were delivered between 1954 and 1963. Seventy-eight remain in service, having undergone multiple upgrades over the decades that promise to extend their lives into the 2030s, or potentially beyond. In a family of short-lived airframes, the B-52 has demonstrated remarkable endurance and longevity. Conclusion: Over the last century, nations have invested tremendous resources in bomber aircraft. More often than not, this investment has failed to bear strategic fruit. The very best aircraft have been those that could not only conduct their primary mission effectively, but that were also sufficiently flexible to perform other tasks that might be asked of them. Current air forces have, with some exceptions, effectively done away with the distinctions between fighters and bombers, instead relying on multi-role fighter-bombers for both missions. The last big, manned bomber may be the American LRS-B, assuming that project ever gets off the ground. Honorable Mention: Grumman A-6 Intruder, MQ-1 Predator, Caproni Ca.3, Tupolev Tu-95 Bear, Avro Vulcan, Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire. *** What are the five greatest fighter aircraft of all time? Like the same question asked of tanks, cars, or rock and roll guitarists, the answer invariably depends on parameters. For example, there are few sets of consistent parameters that would include both the T-34 and the King Tiger among the greatest of all tanks. I know which one Id like to be driving in a fight, but I also appreciate that this isnt the most appropriate way to approach the question. Similarly, while Id love to drive a Porsche 959 to work every morning, Id be hesitant to list it ahead of the Toyota Corolla on a best of compilation. Nations buy fighter aircraft to resolve national strategic problems, and the aircraft should accordingly be evaluated on their ability to solve or ameliorate these problems. Thus, the motivating question is this: how well did this aircraft help solve the strategic problems of the nations that built or bought it? This question leads to the following points of evaluation: Fighting characteristics: How did this plane stack up against the competition, including not just other fighters but also bombers and ground installations? Reliability: Could people count on this aircraft to fight when it needed to, or did it spend more time under repair than in the air? Cost: What did the organization and the nation have to pay in terms of blood and treasure to make this aircraft fly? These are the parameters; here are my answers: Spad S.XIII In the early era of military aviation, technological innovation moved at such speed that state of the art aircraft became obsolete deathtraps within a year. Engineers in France, Britain, Germany and Italy worked constantly to outpace their competitors, producing new aircraft every year to throw into the fight. The development of operational tactics trailed technology, although the input of the best flyers played an important role in how designers put new aircraft together. In this context, picking a dominant fighter from the era is difficult. Nevertheless, the Spad S.XIII stands out in terms of its fighting characteristics and ease of production. Based in significant part on the advice of French aviators such as Georges Guynemer, the XIII lacked the maneuverability of some of its contemporaries, but could outpace most of them and performed very well in either a climb or a dive. It was simple enough to produce that nearly 8,500 such aircraft eventually entered service. Significant early reliability problems were worked out by the end of the war, and in any case were overwhelmed by the XIIIs fighting ability. The S.XIII filled out not only French fighter squadrons, but also the air services of Allied countries. American ace Eddie Rickenbacker scored twenty of his kills flying an XIII, many over the most advanced German fighters of the day, including the Fokker D.VII. The Spad XIII helped the Allies hold the line during the Ludendorff Offensive, and controlled the skies above France during the counter-offensive. After the war, it remained in service in France, the United States, and a dozen other countries for several years. In an important sense, the Spad XIII set the post-war standard for what a pursuit aircraft needed to do. Grumman F6F Hellcat Of course, it is not only air forces that fly fighter aircraft. The F6F Hellcat cant compare with the Spitfire, the P-51, or the Bf 109 on many basic flight characteristics, although its ability to climb was first-rate. What the F6F could do, however, was reliably fly from aircraft carriers, and it rode point on the great, decisive U.S. Navy carrier offensive of World War II. Entering the war in September 1943, it won 75% of USN aerial victories in the Pacific. USN ace David McCampbell shot down nine Japanese aircraft in one day flying a Hellcat .The F6F was heavily armed, and could take considerably more battle damage than its contemporaries. Overall, the F6F claimed nearly 5,200 kills at a loss of 270 aircraft in aerial combat, including a 13:1 ratio against the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. The USN carrier offensive of the latter part of World War II is probably the greatest single example of the use of decisive airpower in world history. Hellcats and their kin (the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber and the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber) destroyed the fighting power of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), cracked open Japans island empire, and exposed the Japanese homeland to devastating air attack and the threat of invasion. In 1943, the United States needed a fighter robust enough to endure a campaign fought distant from most bases, yet fast and agile enough to defeat the best that the IJN could offer. Tough and reliable as a brick, the Hellcat fit that role. Put simply, the Honda Accord is, in its own way, a great car; the Honda Accords of the fighter world also deserve their day. Messerschmitt Me-262 Swallow The Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow, in English) failed to win the war for Germany, and couldnt stop the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). Had German military authorities made the right decisions, however, it might at least have accomplished the second. Known as the worlds first operational jet fighter, full-scale production of the Me 262 was delayed by resistance within the German government and the Luftwaffe to devoting resources to an experimental aircraft without a clear role. Early efforts to turn it into a fighter-bomber fell flat. As the need for a superlative interceptor become apparent, however, the Me 262 found its place. The Swallow proved devastating against American bomber formations, and could outrun American pursuit aircraft. The Me 262 was hardly a perfect fighter: it lacked the maneuverability of the best American interceptors, and both American and British pilots developed tactics for managing the Swallow. Although production suffered from some early problems with engines, by the later stages of the conflict, manufacturing was sufficiently easy that the plane could be mass-produced in dispersed, underground facilities. But had it come on line a bit earlier, the Me 262 might have torn the heart out of the CBO. The CBO in 1943 was a touch and go affair; dramatically higher bomber losses in 1943 could well have led Churchill and Roosevelt to scale back the production of four engine bombers in favor of additional tactical aircraft. Without the advantage of long-range escorts, American bombers would have proven easy prey for the German jet. Moreover, the Me 262 would have been far more effective without the constant worry of P-47s and P-51s strafing its airfields and tracking its landings. Nazi Germany needed a game changer, a plane capable of making the price too high for the Allies to keep up the CBO. The Me 262 came onto the scene too late to solve that problem, but its hard to imagine any aircraft that could have come closer. Ironically, this might have accelerated Allied victory, as the Combined Bomber Offensive resulted in not only the destruction of urban Germany, but in the waste of substantial Allied resources. Win-win. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed An odd choice for this list? The MiG-21 is known largely as fodder for the other great fighters of the Cold War, and for having an abysmal kill ratio. The Fishbed (in NATO terminology) has served as a convenient victim in Vietnam and in a variety of Middle Eastern wars, some of which it fought on both sides. But the MiG-21 is cheap, fast, maneuverable, has low maintenance requirements. Its relatively easy to learn to fly, although not necessarily easy to learn how to fly well. Air forces continued to buy the MiG-21 for a long time. Counting the Chengdu J-7 variant, perhaps 13,000 MiG-21s have entered service around the world. In some sense, the Fishbed is the AK-47 (or the T-34, if you prefer) of the fighter world. Fifty countries have flown the MiG-21, and it has flown for fifty-five years. It continues to fly as a key part of twenty-six different air forces, including the Indian Air Force, the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force, the Vietnamese Peoples Air Force, and the Romanian Air Force. Would anyone be surprised if the Fishbed and its variants are still flying in 2034? The MiG-21 won plaudits from American aggressor pilots at Red Flag, who celebrated its speed and maneuverability, and played (through the contribution of North Vietnamese aces such as Nguyen Van Coc ) an important role in redefining the requirements of air superiority in the United States. When flown well, it remains a dangerous foe. Most of life is about just showing up, and since 1960 no fighter has shown up as consistently, and in as many places, as has the MiG-21. For countries needing a cheap option for claiming control of their national airspace, the MiG-21 has long solved problems, and will likely continue to serve in this role. McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle What to say about the F-15 Eagle? When it came into service in 1976, it was immediately recognized as the best fighter in the world. Today, it is arguably still the best all-around, cost-adjusted fighter, even if the Su-27 and F-22 have surpassed it in some ways. If one fighter in American history could take the name of the national symbol of the United States, how could it be anything other than the F-15? The Eagle symbolizes the era of American hegemony, from the Vietnam hangover to the post-Cold War period of dominance. Designed in light of the lessons of Vietnam, at a time where tactical aviation was taking control of the US Air Force, the F-15 outperformed existing fighters and set a new standard for a modern air superiority aircraft. Despite repeated tests in combat, no F-15 has ever been lost to an aerial foe. The production line for the F-15 will run until at least 2019, and longer if Boeing can manage to sell anyone on the Silent Eagle. In the wake of Vietnam, the United States needed an air superiority platform that could consistently defeat the best that the Soviet Union had to offer. The F-15 (eventually complemented by the F-16) provided this platform, and then some. After the end of the Cold War, the United States needed an airframe versatile enough to carry out the air superiority mission while also becoming an effective strike aircraft. Again, the F-15 solved the problem. And its a plane that can land with one wing. Hard to beat that. A Contest Based on Parameters Again, this exercise depends entirely on decisions about the parameters. A different set of criteria of effectiveness would generate an entirely different list (although the F-15 would probably still be here; its invulnerable). Nevertheless, the basic elements of the argument are sound: weapons should be evaluated in terms of how they help achieve national objectives. Honorable mentions include the North American Aviation F-86 Sabre, the Fokker D.VII, the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Supermarine Spitfire, the North American Aviation P-51 Mustang, the McDonnell Douglas EA-18 Growler, the English Electric Lightning, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. This first appeared in 2017 and is being reposted due to reader interest. Image: Reuters Click here to read the full article. HERIKA MARTINEZ Mexico, the worlds 6th most popular tourist destination, is open for tourism business despite its cases of COVID-19 being on the rise. The pressure to reopen comes from economic need, as tourism accounts for about 10 percent of Mexico's economy, directly. And thats just the tip of the iceberg in a country where the informal economy dominates at about 60 percent of the workforce. Reluctant to close before its big bang Easter tourism season, Mexico eventually did so. Still, the flights kept coming, from the U.S. and Europe. The cruise ships kept docking. And many people (including its president, the populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, aka AMLO) hoped that somehow, Mexico would simply weather the storm, out of as much of a stubborn sense of nationalistic pride as a very staunch reality: staying at home and not going out to work is a privilege afforded to few, who in general already are privileged enough to have savings or a job that can be done without having to leave the house. Mexico was closed to tourism until June 1, when the first tourists arrived in Los Cabos and then to Cancun on June 11. Cancun (the countrys most visited international tourist destination besides Mexico City) was the 8th most-searched-for destination from within the U.S. in June, according to Skyscanner. Meanwhile, Mexican Finance Minister Arturo Herrera announced on Thursday (June 25) that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Just days prior, he had stood next to AMLO at a pair of events: neither wore a face mask. But for now, from Mexico City to Oaxaca and beyond, many parts of the country are bustling in a more or less typical manner. Markets are open with many workers wearing face masks and others not. People are walking the streets of Puerto Vallarta again, though the federal government still recommends that people stay at home unless its necessary to go out. The states that are open, among them the countrys top destinations, as of this publication, are open at 30 percent capacity. Story continues Half of the country remains on lockdown: no restaurants, no hotels, no beaches. Even in states with lower cases of COVID-19, like Baja California Sur, individual businesses alert mostly obliging patrons that face masks are required, especially upon entering supermarkets and pharmacies, while waiters call out from behind a face mask to passersby on the streets, offering margaritas now that the months-long restrictions on alcohol sales (to prevent gatherings) have been lifted. While the land border is closed, if you go to Mexico via air, you will not be alone. Cancun is getting back on track with dozens of flights per day and Mexico City receiving hundreds, including international. These numbers represent about a quarter of pre-pandemic normalcy, but flight frequency is expected to rise soon. You are likely to have your temperature tested at the airport. In international tourist towns such as Los Cabos, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, and Mexico City, youll find that every business aimed at travelers is eager to welcome you inside. Perhaps only a small percentage would do so begrudgingly. Mexico entered its lockdown a bit later than the rest of the world and like everyone else, hoped it would be short. But reality sank in. There would be no quick way around COVID-19, especially not for a country without stimulus packages and vast unemployment options. Eventually, and sooner than later, people would have to get back to work. Which is exactly where we find ourselves now. Being willing to forgo its traditionally busy national tourism explosion around Easter was a big step, and likely prevented an outbreak at that time. But the outbreak has arrived. And the bills wont pay themselves. In Todos Santos during what would typically have been Easter vacation, citizens blocked the city off from the hour-plus highway route north from Los Cabos with mounds of dirt and sand; and east from La Paz with a citizens brigade wearing face masks and monitoring people for their own face masks as they left and re-entered the town. The goal of the blockade, which lasted more than a week, was to prevent the spread of COVID-19 into the town, which has a small emergency medical center but depends on the La Paz and Los Cabos areas for hospitals. This just weeks after a group of University of Texas-Austin spring breakers, with the blessing of their travel agents, decided to continue with their trip to Los Cabos and 27 wound up testing positive for the virus. Juan David Orozco, chef and co-owner of Jardin Alquimia in Todos Santos, has picked up side jobs as he found himself without work. To reinvent how the bar can sell cocktails, Jardin Alquimia began bottling signature cocktails for home delivery. To cover the income hes lost from the bar, Orozco has taken to delivering fruit and veggie boxes from a local organic farm and selling his home-baked bread across the town. We closed really early; at the beginning of March and have been closed since, Orozco says. The timing of this crisis came at a really inconvenient moment of the year. We were having a good season, and here the tourist season starts to go down in the summer, so we lost four months of our good season. Heavily populated by full-time foreign residents (many retired) who followed the World Health Organizations recommended lockdown from the beginning, Orozco doesnt imagine even the slow season seeing normal revenue as many such residents, loyal clients who help the bar get through the slow summer months, continue with voluntary shelter-in-place lifestyles. Now, Jardin Alquimia is set to open the last week of June, right as Todos Santos enters the slowest part of the year for tourism. State laws in Baja California Sur have forced the bar to close by 10 p.m. Without typical revenue, the bar wont be able to pay musicians and so, Orozco says, temporarily the bar will lose its beloved music vibe and its regular Wednesday night popularity even as it ups food options in effort to counterbalance. The number of COVID-19 infections has doubled in Latin America over the past two months, topping 2 million in late June; Mexico with 200,000 cases since the pandemic began. Numerous sources estimate the number to be much higher, with wide reports of falsely attributed deaths to pneumonia for lack of testing and in effort to avoid offering financial assistance, per government order, to families who lost someone to the pandemic. In late June, the World Bank estimated that Mexicos economy would fall by about 7.5 percent, compared with 6.1 percent in the U.S. and 5.2 percent worldwide. Much of this fall can be directly linked to the sudden drop in international tourism brought on by the pandemic. Mexico confirmed its first three cases on February 28, during the height of the countrys international tourism season. Receiving 10 million cruiseship and 50 million international airline passengers per year, most of those between Thanksgiving and Easter, its likely the virus was here sooner. It then went into various stages of lockdown in late March and early April, depending on the state and municipality. Undersecretary of Health Hugo Lopez-Gatell, who has held daily, televised conferences since early March argued from the beginning that Mexicos social situation as a developing country (with 50 percent of the population living in poverty and the street economy accounting for more than half of the workforce) meant the vast majority of people would not be able to quarantine for a long period of time. And this has proved largely true. With differentiation from state to state, businesses which were forced to close in April reopened in early June, despite rising numbers of COVID-19. The only economic assistance afforded to Mexican citizens during the lockdown period were advances in social security pensions for older citizens. Back when many of us thought of the pandemic as more of an extreme weather phenomenon that might last a few weeks, Cancun and Riviera Maya resorts and hotels, including extremely popular Xcaret (a Mayan-themed complex including amusement parks, beaches, hotels and restaurants), deemed their properties the best place to isolate and ride out the storm. That was short lived, as the shutdown reached Quintana Roo state in late March. Xcaret now has a page on its website dedicated to its new safety measures and strongly recommends the use of face masks which it provides to guests and visitors upon arrival in a health kit. It would not be inaccurate to gesture that any nonessential business operating during a pandemic in a country with increasing cases of infection, receiving primarily tourists from a country with increasing rates of infection, is putting at risk the health of its employees in exchange for profit. In Mexico, where minimum wage is the equivalent of $5.34 per DAY (the Mexican peso dropped to a record low in March) and staff at hotels and restaurants typically pool tips, there is extreme disparity in the economy of the tourists and the locals. Yet, in many ways, going to a resort at 30 percent or 60 percent capacity where you can order room service delivered under highly sanitized conditions and spend most of the day isolated with a view or outside, appropriately distanced from other people, is the best way to travel to Mexico right now. On the other hand, knowing how much of your money is going to staff who depend on it versus the hotel owners who make a killing off of paying low wages, is nearly impossible. Other destinations in Mexico which are more off the radar to foreign tourists will likely experience a slight boom of national tourism under the reopening that will help restore the economy. But that presents its own problems. Many of the countrys official pueblos magicos or magic towns have a high concentration of elderly people, are small and remote and lack sufficient health care as it is. Acapulco, Mexicos first international beach town, remains closed as the countrys daily rate of COVID-19 infections on the rise, with between 3-5,000 new cases per day as of mid June. Abraham Garay Velazquez, General Director of Trust for Acapulcos tourism board, says the city is suffering. Blasted by a bad international reputation and competing markets from other touristic centers in the country, Acapulco went from being Hollywoods starry-eyed vision of Mexico with primarily international tourists from the 1950s-80s to a 90 percent domestic travel destination since the 1990s. Numbers of international travelers were up significantly earlier this year, as people find themselves attracted to the old port town and its combination of beach beauty, history and party zone, but COVID-19 halted it all. About 300,000 jobs in Acapulco are directly tied to tourism, not including jobs which form the informal economy. The state of Guerrero has lost 50,000 formal jobs since the beginning of the pandemic, most of which were in Acapulco, Garay Velazquez says. As stated by the governor of the state, Hector Astudillo, the most important thing at the moment is the health of the people of Guerrero, however, after three months of contingency, the economic situation is very difficult for companies and workers in Acapulco and the social pressure is increasing, Garay Velazquez says, pointing to Mexicos color-coded alert system, divided by state, for the COVID-19 phases. For now, Acapulco remains in the red, which means its beach and tourist establishments are not open. Once it changes to orange, hotels will be able to 30 percent capacity, in yellow at 60 percent and in green at 100 percent. At press time, half of Mexicos states remain under level red and half under level orange. With half of its population living in poverty and a middle class that lives in delicate balance of having just enough, many people in Mexico have no choice but to barrel through the pandemic head first. Unfortunately, people who depend on tourism will have to make choices between COVID-19 risk and earning money. Traveling to a country for fun during the middle of its pandemic crisis is silly. Even more so when cases are rising in your own country. Are there people who need you to travel here in order for them to survive? Without changing anything about our social and economic systems, yes. And that is immensely screwed up. That said, for tourists insisting on visiting Mexico, whether next week or six months from now, consider supporting Mexican-owned boutique hotels (keep local businesses alive, financially, somewhat), Airbnbs, and Vrbos. Drink and dine away from the chains, and tip well. Most restaurants, including small mom and pop shops, have added delivery as a commonplace option. As in the U.S., probably the people running these hotels and other accommodations are in the upper middle to upper class range, but they are more likely to directly support small, local businesses than big block hotels and can help you find an appropriate way to do so as well. If youre going to travel anywhere, especially by air, you have to consider what youll be bringing with you. Mexico does not have a policy that enforces people to quarantine in place upon arrival. The ethical, honorable and only reasonable way to travel right now (besides not traveling right now) is to assume you could be a carrier, and realize that the people whom you come into contact with might not have the same access to quality healthcare that you do. In the case of Mexico, while it has a decent socialized and solid privatized health care system, both options are limited outside of larger cities and even then so, they are already taxed. Wherever you go, maintain six feet of distance between yourself and others. Follow the recommendations of wearing face masks in public, especially if youre flying in, and take the sanitary precautions recommended for air travel. While it might seem like this pandemic thing has gone on long enough, travel officials are now frank that the new normal will not be in any way fleeting. Freddy Dominguez, VP of Account Management in Latin America for Travel Partners Group at Expedia Group, the worlds largest online travel booking system, says restoring travel in the region will take an unprecedented level of partnership between the public and private sectors. Most Latin American countries are in or about to reach their peak of COVID-19 infection, so the recovery process will take longer than other regions or countries of the world, Dominguez says, adding that special funding has been allocated to support Latin American destinations and to enforce specific sanitary conditions and more flexible cancellation policies. To overcome this crisis, the tourism industry, and, especially, small businesses, need support and concrete actions. Dominguez cites 2019 World Travel & Tourism Council data that states the travel sector generated almost 17 million jobs in Latin America, this is, almost 8 percent of the total workforce in Latin America. It also contributed almost 305 million dollars to GDP, which represented 8.1 percent for the Latin American economy. Across the globe, countries, states and cities are experiencing different waves of the virus. But none of it is good. We could all benefit from taking a moment to consider how our travel impacts the places we visit and how our economic systems are essentially a house of cards. One strong blow, and the entire machine crashes. Mexico has long been good to foreign tourists who are eager to return. But how to care for those whose livelihoods depend on our whims and vices? We havent got that nearly figured out yet. Choosing to support local businesses on your next trip would be a good start. Seeking out restaurants and shops that work directly with producers and artists is another start. In Mexico, the middleman is the one who makes bank. How can you make sure your money goes directly to the people who are providing a service for you (and who depend on your money for their economic survival) and not to Mexican or international elite? Mostly by going off the beaten path and finding things for yourself and paying those people directly. But for right now, pandemic now, sipping room delivery cocktails at a low-capacity resort might be the safest route for all involved. If you are to go down that route at all. Megan Frye is an independent journalist and translator living in Mexico. She has a history of newsroom journalism as well as non-profit administration and works with international and Mexican publications. 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. Submitted for FDA Priority Review as a Rare Pediatric Disease Product Application SEOUL, South Korea, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mezzion Pharma Co. Ltd. (140410.KQ), announced today that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of udenafil to improve the physiology of patients 12 years of age and older with single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) who have undergone the Fontan operation. Udenafil is a long acting highly selective phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor that is orally administered. The NDA includes a request for Priority Review, which, if granted, may shorten the FDA's review of the NDA to six months from the time of filing, versus a standard review timeline of 10 months from filing. Mezzion Pharma Co. Ltd. Logo (PRNewsfoto/Mezzion Pharma Co. Ltd.) The NDA submission, which totals nearly 100,000 pages, is supported by data from more than 700 documents including more than 200 studies that Mezzion has completed during the last 2 decades since its founding in 2002. The NDA package includes a pivotal Phase 3 clinical study conducted globally in close collaboration with the Pediatric Heart Network (PHN), which is funded by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). This was the largest pharmacotherapeutic study ever to be conducted in those with a congenital heart condition and involved the recruitment and treatment of 400 male and female adolescents from 30 PHN and auxiliary sites throughout the U.S.A., Canada, and the Republic of Korea. The results of this study, the Fontan Udenafil Exercise Longitudinal (FUEL) trial, were published in Circulation (December 2019) abstract #20942 . https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.044352 The American Heart Association (AHA) recognized Mezzion's FUEL trial as the biggest victory in congenital heart disease (CHD) advancement for 2019. Dr. Stephen Paridon, the principal investigator of the FUEL trial had the following comment, "The unique collaboration between Mezzion and the PHN allowed for the successful completion of the FUEL trial, a study that demonstrated an important effect of udenafil on exercise performance and heart function in those born with SVHD." Story continues The results of the landmark FUEL trial demonstrated statistically significant improvements in multiple measures of exercise performance and cardiac function in patients treated with udenafil who had undergone the Fontan operation. The improvements in exercise were most pronounced at moderate levels of activity while the improvement in cardiac function was determined using the myocardial performance index, a standard echocardiographic measurement technique. Dr. James Yeager, Chief Operating Officer of Mezzion Pharmaceuticals Inc., commented, "This large-scale Phase 3 study for an orphan disease indication using a drug designated for a rare pediatric disease took five years to complete and was challenging to execute. We owe a major debt of gratitude to all of the patients who participated in the study, their parents and the clinical investigators who led the study. Our thanks also go out to the PHN and the NHLBI along with a countless number of consultants, contract research and manufacturing organization partners. We now look forward to the potential approval and launch of udenafil over the next year. If approved, udenafil would provide the first and only approved therapy for this underserved population of patients." Jodi Smith, Esq., Program Director for Mended Hearts and Mended Little Hearts, a USA-based advocacy group for patients with heart disease and their families, states, "As a parent of a child with Fontan palliation who had participated in this study, I am encouraged to see the results that show improvement in day-to-day life activities. I have seen this improvement firsthand in my son. I am also glad to see that the clinical data seem to show improvement in numbers that impact heart function and decrease heart failure. All of this, together, can improve the quality of life for single-ventricle patients like my son." Mezzion looks forward to the FDA review process and to bringing a novel pharmacotherapeutic option to this unique patient population. Dr. David Goldberg, co-Principal Investigator summed it up nicely. "After years of borrowing medical therapies from the adult heart failure experience, we finally have a drug that specifically targets the unique physiology of SVHD after Fontan palliation." About the Fontan Procedure and Subsequent Expectations The Fontan procedure is a surgical intervention that allows for the survival of children born with congenital heart disease characterized by only a single functional pumping chamber. This procedure consists of re-configuring the circulation to allow the single ventricle to pump blood to the body while connecting the great veins directly to the arteries that bring blood to the lungs. In this "Fontan circulation" the blood returning from the body bypasses the heart and travels to the lungs without the presence of a right ventricle pumping chamber. The goal of the Fontan procedure is to separate the systemic and pulmonary circulations and to improve oxygen levels by redirecting venous blood directly to the lungs. While the Fontan procedure creates a stable circulation, the risk of hospitalization and cardiac death rises significantly in the second and third decades after Fontan completion, a risk that is associated with a decline in exercise capacity. The Fontan circulation is also associated with non-cardiac complications such as protein-losing enteropathy, plastic bronchitis, and liver failure, all of which can be attributed to a chronic elevation in central venous pressure and a chronically reduced cardiac output. For all of these reasons, a 35 year-old patient who has gone through Fontan palliation has the approximate life expectancy of a 75 year old with normal cardiac physiology. Mezzion Pharma Co., Ltd. Mezzion Pharma Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Korea. Mezzion and its wholly owned subsidiary, Mezzion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., have administrative offices in Deerfield, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida. Mezzion Pharma is an innovation-driven pharmaceutical company that is focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel therapeutics in the field of rare pediatric diseases. Mezzion Pharma is a publicly-listed pharmaceutical company in Korea on the Korean stock exchange under (140410:KOSDAQ). Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the potential benefits of udenafil; Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the anticipated timing of any future clinical trials; Mezzion Pharma's expectations on regulatory submissions for marketing approval of udenafil for the treatment of patients that have undergone the Fontan operation, to improve exercise capacity in the United States, including the timing of these submissions; and Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the potential commercial launch of udenafil, including the timing of a potential approval of udenafil. Risks and uncertainties that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: the expectation that Mezzion Pharma will need additional funds to finance its operations; Mezzion Pharma's or any of its collaborative partners' ability to initiate and/or complete clinical trials; the unpredictability of the regulatory process; the possibility that Mezzion Pharma's or any of its clinical trials will not be successful; Mezzion Pharma's dependence on the success of udenafil; Mezzion Pharma's reliance on third parties for the manufacture of Mezzion Pharma's udenafil and udenafil tablets; possible regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries; and Mezzion Pharma's ability to attract and retain senior management personnel. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Mezzion Pharma's most recent filings with the Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act: with the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described, including but not limited to FDA review and approval, product development and acceptance, manufacturing, competition, and/or other factors, which are outside the control of Mezzion Pharma. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Mezzion undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made. Contact : Dr. James Yeager, Deerfield, Illinois, USA, Tel: +1-847-2122679 Email: james.yeager@mezzion.com Mr. YT Song, Seoul, Korea, Tel: +82 2 560 8011 Email: ytsong@mezzion.co.kr Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mezzion-announces-submission-of-new-drug-application-for-its-orphan-drug-udenafil-to-treat-patients-who-have-undergone-the-fontan-operation-for-single-ventricle-heart-disease-301086011.html SOURCE Mezzion Pharma Co. Ltd. SVP John Sorensen Succeeds MHS Co-Founder Greg Judge MT. WASHINGTON, Ky., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MHS, a single-source provider of material handling automation and software solutions, today announced that it has named Senior Vice President John Sorensen as the head of its North America Parcel division. Sorensen succeeds MHS Co-Founder Greg Judge, as Greg steps down from his position as the company's President in a well-planned leadership transition. Co-Founder Scott McReynolds remains the company's CEO. (PRNewsfoto/Material Handling Systems, Inc.) MHS was jointly founded in 1999 by McReynolds, Judge and Tony Mouser, who was the company's previous CEO and continues to serve as Special Advisor. Together, they grew the company into a nearly $1 billion enterprise that counts among its customers some of the world's largest logistics providers and e-commerce retailers. In April 2017, the trio led MHS to a recapitalization in partnership with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. ("THL"), followed by a series of acquisitions that expanded the company's global footprint, capabilities and product and service lines. "Greg has shown tremendous vision and leadership as he has helped build MHS into the successful, growing company it is today," said Jim Carlisle, Managing Director for THL. "We appreciate his contributions as a company founder and valued partner to THL." "Meanwhile, John has more than lived up to his impressive resume, leading MHS's Lifecycle Performance Services (aftermarket) division during the past two years," Carlisle added. "His deep industry knowledge, relentless determination and unwavering commitment to the MHS vision and culture make him the ideal candidate to lead MHS's largest business unit." "It has been an incredible journey to build MHS alongside Scott and Tony, and I am excited to see the company continue to reach new heights," Judge said. "We have always placed a premium on orderly succession planning, and this was no different. John is a rare find and a tremendous asset to MHS, which is why I recommended him for the role. I appreciate that Scott and the Board chose to support my recommendation, and I know he will successfully carry the NAP division well into the future." Story continues Sorensen has more than 17 years' experience in the material handling industry, including senior leadership roles with Evergreen Industrial Services and Intelligrated (now Honeywell Intelligrated). He holds a bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering Technology from DeVry University and an MBA from Webster University. "Building a company with someone is a bonding experience like no other, and I consider it a great privilege to have worked alongside Greg for the past 20 years," McReynolds said. "He has left a permanent imprint on this company and his legacy is irreplaceable. He will always be a part of the MHS family." "We are also fortunate to have a worthy successor in John," McReynolds continued. "Since joining our company in 2018, he has proven himself many times over and commands respect for all the right reasons. John is perceptive, practical and forward-thinking, while managing to balance strength and humility all of which makes him a great fit for our culture. I am eager to see his continued impact on our company as he moves into his new role." "I'm grateful for this opportunity and look forward to helping lead MHS toward a bright and promising future," Sorensen said. "I am proud to be part of a company whose values so closely reflect my own, and I know we will continue to advance toward our goal of becoming one of the top intralogistics providers worldwide." About MHS Founded in 1999, MHS Global is a full-service provider of innovative material handling systems that solve the challenges of distribution and fulfillment operations. We take a comprehensive, customer-centric approach that includes custom engineering, design, manufacturing and turnkey integration services. Our quality solutions leverage a broad range of controls and automated equipment, including but not limited to sorters, conveyors, extendable loading and unloading systems. We provide complete, responsive support to maintain systems for peak performance, with predictive analytics and local technicians to maximize long-term value and return on investment. MHS has a global installed base of over $5 billion for small to large distribution and fulfillment projects in a variety of industries, including e-commerce, parcel, third party logistics and outside integrators. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mhs-names-new-head-of-north-america-parcel-division-301085475.html SOURCE Material Handling Systems, Inc. Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at Beth's Burger Bar in Orlando on May 20. Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Florida is reporting more COVID-19 cases than ever before: more than 5,000 a day for a week straight, as of Monday. In May, fewer than 5% of people tested in Florida were found to have COVID-19. On Monday, the number was three times that, hitting a seven-day average of just under 16%. "When everything started to open up and ease up, then our volume picked up," Dr. Mark Supino, an emergency-medicine physician at Jackson Health System in Miami, told Business Insider. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Eight weeks ago, conservative media outlets and politicians hailed Florida as a model for addressing the coronavirus pandemic, showing that there was no need to shut down a state for months to ride out the first wave of infections. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former military prosecutor and Republican representative, was all but saying, I told you so. And his allies were singing his praise. "He's done a spectacular job," US President Donald Trump said at a joint news conference in April, as The Washington Post reported in May in a story on the apparent victory of business as usual. "He's going to be opening up large portions, and ultimately pretty quickly because he's got great numbers in all of Florida." Related video: How long will social distancing last? Its complicated By early May, Florida's restaurants were once again entertaining guests, and the governor's office was boasting. "He's just not doing it the way Cuomo is doing it," Helen Ferre, a spokeswoman for DeSantis, told The Tampa Bay Times on May 4, referring to New York's Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo. "He's doing it the conservative way." Weeks later, the numbers have changed. While New York reported 624 new coronavirus cases on Sunday down from highs of more than 10,000 a day Florida is reporting more cases than ever before: more than 5,000 a day for a week straight, as of Monday. DeSantis has attributed that increase in part to young people. "You can't control" them, he said on Sunday, adding, "They're going to do what they're going to do." Story continues He's also attributed it to the larger number of tests. "As you're testing more, you're going to see more cases," he said earlier in the month. But while young people have indeed accounted for a large share of new coronavirus cases, many were drinking at bars that the state reopened only to close them again last Friday. And though the increase in cases has come amid an increase in testing, more people being swabbed have tested positive. In May, fewer than 5% of people tested were found to have COVID-19. On Monday, the number was three times that, hitting a seven-day average of just under 16%. DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But frontline workers see a link between public policy and public health. "When everything started to open up and ease up, then our volume picked up," Dr. Mark Supino, an emergency-medicine physician at Jackson Health System in Miami, told Business Insider. The New York Times reported on Sunday that a third of the people admitted through Jackson Memorial Hospital's emergency room in the past two weeks had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Statewide, many of those who've tested positive are young: The rate was 20% for people between 25 and 34, DeSantis said. And younger people can carry the virus to older people. "We've certainly seen clusters within families, within the homeless shelters, with anywhere where anybody's confined," Supino said. "That, I think, creates a big risk factor for transmission." If there is an upside to the latest surge it's not another "wave," as we are still riding the first it's that we are better prepared, which means better outcomes for people who are hospitalized, Supino said. "I think there is reason to be optimistic," Supino said. Patients today are receiving antibody-rich plasma from people who have already recovered. Remdesivir, an antiviral drug that showed promise for treating COVID-19 in a recent clinical trial, is another option that wasn't around at the start of the pandemic. And it's better understood that even something as basic as flipping patients onto their stomachs can help improve airflow for those struggling to breathe. Experts are hopeful that this all should help decrease the lethality of the coronavirus but that can happen only if hospitals aren't overwhelmed by an influx of sick people competing for limited resources such as drugs or beds in the intensive-care unit. At Jackson Health System, the ICU is almost always approaching capacity, and that was before COVID-19. Complacency, increasing alongside the rate of infection, could push hospitals to the tipping point. The virus becoming old news and increasingly politicized is already hurting the mental health of patients and providers alike, Supino said. "We were all in it together for the first months," Supino said. "It feels like those gains have been somewhat diminished, and that can leave people feeling a little gloomy." Have a news tip? Email this reporter at cdavis@insider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider The COVID-19 pandemic has had an almost immeasurable negative impact on the wider economy. Specifically in the job market, there have been millions of job losses, and in the U.S. alone unemployment numbers like these have not been seen since the Great Depression. Now, tech companies are slowly stepping up to try to address the crisis, and the latest development on that front comes from Microsoft. The company today announced a wide-ranging, global portal for free skills training for people who are out of work. Alongside that, Microsoft said it plans to disperse $20 million in grants to nonprofit organizations that are working to help those who have lost jobs due to COVID-19 and subsequent shifts in the economy, and with a specific emphasis on those that are working with groups that are underrepresented in the tech world. The move comes as we are seeing other tech companies try to make their own efforts to leverage their platforms to provide their own versions of relief efforts connected to COVID-19. Google has built special portals to keep people informed on local, national and global progress of COVID-19 and related news. Facebook has built an information portal and has also created an avenue for people to offer volunteering help to those in need specifically in their community. The money that Microsoft will be granting to nonprofits is aimed at a wide swathe of organizations, not just those focused on helping groups learn new skills, but just those helping specific groups. Those that Microsoft already works with include Trust for the Americas, Fondazione Mundo Digitale in Italy, the Nasscom Foundation in India, Tech4Dev across Africa, NPower in Canada, the National Urban League aimed at long-term unemployed and African Americans, and Skillful. The education and training news, meanwhile, is interesting not only because of the push that Microsoft is trying to make by leveraging the assets that it already has, but that it's doing so in tandem with LinkedIn, the social network and professional education platform it acquired for $26.2 billion in 2016. Even though they are the same company, it's often the case that you see less collaboration between the two than you might think would exist, but this seems to be a shift from that position. Story continues Microsoft notes that using data from LinkedIn, it identified 10 specific tech jobs that are in particular demand right now and will continue to be in demand, offer a livable wage and require skills that can be learned online if you don't already have them. They are software developer, sales rep, project manager, IT admin, customer services rep, digital marketer, IT support, data analyst, financial analyst and graphic designer. LinkedIn has designed "Learning Paths" that it offers through its online education portal for these jobs, and these will now be available to everyone free to use, globally, until the end of March 2021, in English, French, Spanish and German, with content getting updated in the tracks as needed. Alongside these, Microsoft Learn is offering supplemental technical content to these Paths, and Microsoft is also making GitHub's Learning Lab free to practice if you're learning software developer skills. Alongside these, Microsoft is also giving a push to so-called "soft skills" that complement hunting for a job at the moment, including tips on looking for a job right now, learning "critical" soft skills, more on the concept and meaning of digital transformation, and a learning track focused on diversity, inclusion and allyship. You can look at a list of all the content available and ultimately relevant jobs on LinkedIn's purpose-built portal. Image Credits: LinkedIn In addition to the online learning efforts, LinkedIn is also launching a separate track for those who want to either leverage LinkedIn to get spotted more easily for job opportunities, and for those who want to volunteer to help others, to offer advice and mentorship for those looking for work, or get more training to get through interviews. For those who want to signal their job seeking, they can now add an "OpenToWork" frame on their profile pictures, which links to a separate banner that runs under your profile picture that lets people see what kinds of jobs you would like to consider. The offer to help is not unlike LinkedIn's efforts at cultivating a mentorship program: The idea is that there are people who have the time and desire to use their skills to help others than just themselves and the companies they work for. As with the mentoring, those interested can indicate what they would like to do -- making introductions, resume help or just providing advice. LinkedIn's interview preparations, meanwhile, are another step into working closer with Microsoft: LinkedIn's built a set of tools that uses Microsoft's AI platform for feedback throughout the training. Good design comes from myriad influences across the globe, whether its cars, clothing, or interiors but few can claim shining examples in all those categories and more like Lilly Reich, a German designer whos well-documented work subtly dominated the first half of the 20th century. Lilly Reich, a longtime collaborator of famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the namesake of the Mies van der Rohe Foundation's newest research grant. Hoping to shine a spotlight on Reichs under-recognized skills as a designer, the Mies van der Rohe Foundation recently launched the second phase of a grant program set up in her name. The foundation previously set up a research grant along the same lines, and the resulting exhibition by Laura Martinez de Guerenu, Re-enactment: Lilly Reichs Work still occupies the Barcelona Pavilion (designed by Reich herself), where it will remain on display until July 15th, 2020. Specifically, the research-based exhibit represents Lilly Reichs influence by reconstructing two display cases similar to the ones she designed herself for the International Exposition of 1929. It also transforms the spatial experience of the pavilion by reclaiming its connection with Reichs work on the Noucentista Palaces of Montjuic. Inside the timeless Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Lilly Reich in collaboration with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Inside the timeless Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Lilly Reich in collaboration with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Foundation has previously stated that the results of the first-edition research show the need to continue studying the person and work of Lilly Reich: the Lilly Reich Grant of Academic research will insist on deepening the knowledge and dissemination of this essential figure in the history of modern architecture. The Mies van der Rohe Foundation has a special reason to honor this particular designer, since she worked in a partnership with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe on several notable projects in the past, including the aforementioned German section of the 1929 World Exhibition in Barcelona. The two also collaborated on the acclaimed Tugendhat House in Brno, Czech Republic and, perhaps most notably, the masterpiece of modern architecture that is the Barcelona Pavilion. Story continues Exterior view of the famed Tugendhat House, designed by Lilly Reich in collaboration with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Marking the 135th anniversary of Lilly Reichs birth (June 16th, 1885, Berlin), the second edition of the Lilly Reich Grant for equality in architecture is focused on high-school aged students in an effort to encourage further research into the designers life and work. We are thrilled to present the new call of the Lilly Reich Grant for equality in architecture, and we are especially happy to include the teenage community in this fight for equality through research and knowledge, says the foundations Executive Director Anna Ramos. A total of five grants will be awarded with a cash value of 300 each, with winners also receiving bibliographical or educational material worth 200 for the educational center of their choosing. Each winning project will also be published on the official FMVDR website. Inside the timeless Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Lilly Reich in collaboration with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Inside the timeless Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Lilly Reich in collaboration with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Inside the timeless Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Lilly Reich in collaboration with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The brief regarding the project reads: Lilly Reich Grant for Senior High School Students Research Projects focuses on the study, dissemination, and visibilization of contributions to architecture that have been unduly relegated or forgotten, or carried out by architectural professionals that have received discriminatory treatment, and that promote equal access to the practice of architecture worldwide. With any luck, grants like these will continue inspiring youth, encouraging an interest in the history of design as a foundation for the future, and honoring equality within all professions. While millions of Americans are losing financial assistance that has kept them afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, several states and 21 localities are partly offsetting the pain with a different kind of lifeline: minimum wage hikes. On Wednesday, Illinois, Nevada and Oregon are set to raise their pay floors as part of large increases that are being phased in over several years, according to the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group. The minimum wage in Illinois will rise to $10 an hour from $9.25, the states second increase this year. On Jan. 1, its minimum increased from $8.25, meaning the states base hourly pay will have jumped nearly $2 in just six months. In Nevada, the minimum wage will increase to $8 from $7.25 for workers with health insurance, and to $9 from $8.25 for those without health coverage. In Oregon, the hourly pay floor will increase to $12 from $11.25, while Portlands base climbs to $13.25 from $12.50. Eighteen municipalities -- including 13 in California and three counties are also boosting their pay minimums Wednesday. The standard will go up to $15 from $14 in Washington, D.C.; to as much as $15 (for large employers) from $14.25 in Los Angeles; to as much as $13.25 (for large employers) from $12.25 in Minneapolis; and to $16.07 from $15.59 in San Francisco as part of an annual cost-of-living increase, NELP figures show. The increases had been scheduled before the pandemic but theyre poised to help restaurant, retail and other low-paid workers hit hardest by state shutdowns of nonessential businesses. Although many lost their jobs and are now receiving unemployment benefits, others saw their hours reduced and minimum wage hikes can help ease their financial struggles, says NELP policy analyst Yannet Lathrop. 'Thank you' bonuses: Amazon paying more than $500 million to front line employees Other financial assistance programs are phasing out. A $600 weekly federal supplement to state jobless benefits is scheduled to end July 31. Some states are allowing landlords to evict tenants for nonpayment of rent now that moratoriums have expired. And Americans must pay their income taxes by July 15 after the deadline was pushed back from April 15. Story continues Standing 6 feet apart, staff at Oneida Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Utica protested from 2:30 to 3 p.m. Thursday outside their workplace on Kemble Street. Workers were asking for hazard pay, more staff and an acknowledgment that they are working in hazardous conditions during the coronavirus pandemic. "I think it's something that's long overdue ... ," said LPN Fatima Howard. "The workload has started to triple." A minimum wage increase makes even more sense at a time of economic uncertainty, Lathrop says. When you put money in the pockets of these workers, theyre going to spend it right away. That can lift an economy hammered by the deepest recession since the Great Depression in the second quarter. More money in the pockets of workers means more consumer spending at local businesses, says Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. The base pay increases should also aid essential workers who stayed on the job and endured health risks during the crisis. Several retailers -- including Amazon, Rite Aid and Kroger paid premiums of about $2 an hour to those front-line workers to compensate them for those risks. But they rolled back the hazard pay last month. All told, 24 states and 48 cities and counties have raised or will bump up -- their minimum wages this year, with most occurring on or about Jan. 1. Just a few years ago, a $15 minimum was the seemingly quixotic goal of a national coalition of fast food workers, but the number of cities and counties already at that benchmark is set to double this year to 32. Bankruptcy wave: With bankruptcies surging, 2020 may become one of the busiest years for Chapter 11 filings since the Great Recession Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009, with Republicans refusing to take up Democratic legislation to raise it. Twenty-nine states, with more than 60% of the U.S. workforce, now have pay floors above the federal governments, according to the NELP. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Minimum wage 2020: Hikes in 3 states, 21 localities to help struggling workers DENVER, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) recently won a second task order from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to manage all of NASA's voice traffic and provide fast, secure network connectivity to NASA's more than 15 space centers and regional research facilities. CenturyLink is proud to provide mission-critical services that help support NASA's space exploration programs. The company previously won a task order to provide NASA headquarters with core backbone network services with speeds of up to 100 Gbps. These mission-critical modern voice and network services will support NASA's space exploration programs. Both contracts were awarded to CenturyLink under the General Services Administration's 15-year, $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) program and both have a period of performance of nine and a half years. "We're honored to provide mission-critical voice services and network connectivity that allow NASA to focus on its vision to discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity," said David Young, CenturyLink senior vice president for the public sector. "NASA entrusted CenturyLink with a second EIS award to provide agency-wide voice services and run its regional network that connects its celebrated space centers and regional research facilities with headquarters locations." CenturyLink won the first task order ever awarded under GSA's EIS program to provide core backbone network connectivity to NASA in spring of 2019. The company was also the first supplier to receive authority to operate under GSA's EIS contract last year. EIS is a multiple-award contract vehicle for federal government agencies to purchase information technology and telecommunications infrastructure services. It gives federal agencies the flexibility and agility to migrate to modern communications and IT services that meet strict government security standards. Key Facts By supplying cybersecurity, cloud, managed hosting and IT services over its carrier-class network, CenturyLink provides government agencies with the security and reliability they need to carry out their important missions. CenturyLink is ranked No. 29 on Washington Technology's 2018 Top 100 list of federal government IT contractors. Additional Resources Story continues Learn more about CenturyLink winning the first EIS task order to provide fast, secure connectivity to NASA: https://news.centurylink.com/2019-04-08-CenturyLink-Wins-First-EIS-Task-Order-to-Provide-Fast-Secure-Connectivity-to-NASA Learn more about CenturyLink winning an EIS task order worth up to $1.6 billion to provide secure network services and IT modernization solutions to the U.S. Department of the Interior: http://news.centurylink.com/2020-01-16-U-S-Dept-of-the-Interior-Awards-CenturyLink-1-6-Billion-EIS-Network-Services-Win About CenturyLink CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a technology leader delivering hybrid networking, cloud connectivity, and security solutions to customers around the world. Through its extensive global fiber network, CenturyLink provides secure and reliable services to meet the growing digital demands of businesses and consumers. CenturyLink strives to be the trusted connection to the networked world and is focused on delivering technology that enhances the customer experience. Learn more at http://news.centurylink.com/ CenturyLink logo (PRNewsfoto/CenturyLink, Inc.) (PRNewsfoto/CenturyLink, Inc.) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-entrusts-centurylink-with-more-network-connectivity-business-301085447.html SOURCE CenturyLink, Inc. NASA, University Hospitals Join Forces in Response to COVID-19 NASA, University Hospitals Join Forces in Response to COVID-19 PR Newswire WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's Glenn Research Center and University Hospitals (UH) in Cleveland have collaborated to develop new methods and technologies for decontaminating personal protective equipment (PPE) for aerospace applications and for safeguarding the health of workers caring for patients with coronavirus (COVID-19). Doctors Amrita John and Shine Raju at UH Cleveland Medical Center with the device that decontaminates masks using atomic oxygen. Courtesy: University Hospitals A team of researchers recently developed and tested two new approaches that could enable health care professionals to sanitize masks on-site and safely reuse them. These approaches also may be useful to the aerospace community when traditional sterilization techniques might not be available. "NASA strives to ensure the technology we develop for space exploration and aeronautics is broadly available to benefit the public and the nation," said Glenn Center Director Marla Perez-Davis, Ph.D. "If our technology can lend a hand in overcoming this crisis, we will do whatever we can to put it in the hands of those who need it." Results of tests on both methods atomic oxygen and peracetic acid are promising. The atomic oxygen decontamination method currently is being evaluated and early results are favorable. The peracetic acid method has been proven to work for five cycles of decontamination, and the Food and Drug Administration is reviewing this method for an emergency use authorization. "While we currently have sufficient PPE on hand to care for the patients we have in our facilities today, we need to proactively and prudently plan for potential future needs," said Dr. Daniel I. Simon, chief clinical and scientific officer at University Hospitals and president of UH Cleveland Medical Center. "This includes factoring in the potential for supply chain shortages due to COVID-19 surges in other states while also taking into account our need to restart non-emergent and elective services, which requires being mindful about current usage and putting in place go-forward conservation strategies. The opportunity to pool resources and quickly bring about PPE sterilization solutions for the benefit of our caregivers is truly remarkable." Story continues Atomic Oxygen Method Glenn research engineer Sharon Miller and physicist Bruce Banks of SAIC developed a process and hardware to decontaminate masks using atomic oxygen. Pervasive in low-Earth orbit, these single oxygen atoms can remove organic materials that can't easily be cleaned by other methods. "On Earth, we create atomic oxygen by putting ozone (O3) in a chamber and heating it," Miller said. "As the ozone decomposes into atomic oxygen, it can kill organisms like viruses." Further testing is needed to verify the method can be used to perform multiple decontamination cycles without damaging the PPE. Recent filtration tests performed at an independent testing laboratory showed N95 masks filter well and pass acceptance testing after 20 minutes of atomic oxygen treatment. In early May, NASA provided a prototype for UH to test on N95 masks. Early results confirm the method deactivates the virus, and continued testing will determine the minimum ozone concentration and exposure time needed for disinfection. "Ozone diffuses easily through and around objects, which makes it promising for sterilizing inside an N95 mask filter or loosely stacked masks, and it could potentially sterilize without leaving a residue," said Banks, who supports Glenn's Environmental Effects and Coatings branch. "The process could be scaled up to treat multiple batches of PPE or made portable for small hospitals in rural areas. No liquid chemicals would be needed, just oxygen and nitrogen gas." Peracetic Acid Method Doctors Amrita John and Shine Raju, infectious disease and critical care physicians in the Department of Medicine at UH Cleveland Medical Center, are examining peracetic acid a chemical disinfectant commonly used in the health care, food, and water treatment industries as an option for decontaminating PPE. "We have some exciting results," said Raju. "We found that the peracetic acid disinfection method is very effective in killing 99.9999% of viruses and even highly resistant bacterial spores from contaminated N95 masks without any detectable loss of filtration, structural integrity and strap elasticity for up to five decontamination cycles. We believe that the peracetic acid disinfection method is the fastest method of mass-decontamination of N95 respirators currently available." The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Case Western Reserve University, and Glenn are participants in this multi-institutional study. "It has been amazing to collaborate with such a multidisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners to discover innovative ways to conserve PPE," said John. "As physicians and researchers, we aim to develop solutions that can work for the multitude of PPE categories as well as the variety of operational needs of a given hospital or health system. In some instances, there may be needs beyond the FDA-approved methods currently in place, and we want to ensure we are well-positioned to offer options for our patients and health care workers should circumstances arise." Dr. Curtis Donskey, an infectious disease physician at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, supervised the microbiology testing for the peracetic acid study. "The disinfection system could provide a means for in-hospital decontamination of large amounts of PPE during the coronavirus pandemic," said Donskey. "Further testing is needed to determine if more than five decontamination cycles can be performed with no adverse effects on PPE performance and we aim to assess that over the next several weeks." This collaboration was facilitated by UH Ventures, the innovation and commercialization arm of University Hospitals. "We have been successfully leveraging relationships with health care, technology, and supply chain providers across the state to bring to fruition several innovations that have addressed caregiver needs during this pandemic," said Kipum Lee, managing director of the UH Ventures Innovation Center and co-lead of the alternative PPE strategy team. "We have been honored to join forces with the NASA team, as well as researchers at the VA and Case, to promote innovation discovery in this new frontier." To receive Glenn news releases via e-mail, send an e-mail message to grc-subscribe@newsletters.nasa.gov. Leave the subject and body blank. The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription. You must reply to that message to begin your subscription. Glenn news releases are also archived online at http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/news/ The decontamination room at University Hospitals where N95 masks are disinfected using the peracetic acid method. Courtesy: University Hospitals NASA Logo. (PRNewsFoto/NASA) (PRNewsFoto/) (PRNewsfoto/NASA) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-university-hospitals-join-forces-in-response-to-covid-19-301086053.html SOURCE NASA Annie Jones (r) and Charlotte Chimes (l) are joining the cast of 'Neighbours' as Jane Harris and her daughter. (Channel 5) Neighbours star Annie Jones is returning to Ramsay Street after taking a 20 year career break. The 52-year-old actress starred in the Australian soap opera as schoolgirl Plain Jane Superbrain Harris back in the 1980s, alongside Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Guy Pierce. Jones left the show in 1989 and put her acting career on hold for 20 years to care for her mother Elizabeth after she was diagnosed with Alzheimers. She told the Daily Mirror: I left just after Kylie and Jason, it was my decision. I just wanted to do other things, join other shows and do other jobs. A great number of actors had gone on to do amazing things after Neighbours. Read more: 'EastEnders' to use CGI in 'almost every shot' for social distancing filming Neighbours star Annie Jones with co--stars Craig McLachlan and Stefan Dennis in the 80s. (PA) I dont regret it. Its probably made me a better person in many ways. I think you learn from the stuff that life throws at you, thats what its all about, life experiences. Anyone who has had anything to do with Alzheimer's or dementia will know what it's like. It's heartbreaking, seeing someone disappear before your eyes. Jones mother sadly passed away in 2016 and after making a guest appearance as part of Neighbours 35th anniversary celebrations in March, the actress is set to return to the Channel 5 soap as a fulltime cast member. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Jane famously left Ramsay Street to care for Mrs Mangel, her grandmother, played by Vivean Gray. She is returning to Erinsborough with her grown-up daughter Nicolette, played by Charlotte Chimes. Read more: Kylie Minogue shares throwback snap especially for Jason Donovan on his birthday Jones revealed: Jane's absorbed a bit of Mrs Mangel along the way. Jane always has her grandmother's voice in her head, she's always got that disapproving things in her head. Neighbours was the first soap opera to resume filming amid the coronavirus pandemic. Stefan Dennis - who has played Ramsay Streets Paul Robinson since the shows first episode in 1985 - has revealed the set is a very different place to how it used to be, with temperature checks, colour coded teams, a strict no touching policy and crew members clad in gloves and masks. Click here to read the full article. Netflix said it will allocate 2% of its cash on hand with an initial outlay of up to $100 million to banks and other financial institutions that directly support Black communities in the U.S. The streamer announced the initiative Tuesday, saying banks led or owned by Black people represent a minuscule portion of the countrys banking assets. We believe bringing more capital to these communities can make a meaningful difference for the people and businesses in them, helping more families buy their first home or save for college, and more small businesses get started or grow, Netflix director of talent acquisition Aaron Mitchell and treasury directory Shannon Alwyn wrote in a blog post. Netflix reported $5.15 billion in cash and equivalents as of March 31, 2020, so 2% of that is about $100 million. The funding for financial institutions serving Black communities will increase as the company grows, Netflix said. The announcement comes after Netflix earlier this month said it will donate $5 million to organizations dedicated to creating opportunities for Black creators, Black youth and Black-owned businesses. Also this month, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, announced $120 million in grants to Spelman College, Morehouse College and the United Negro College Fund in support of scholarships, with the couple saying we believe that investing in the education of Black youth is one of the best ways to invest in Americas future. For its first investments under the new program, Netflix said it is putting $35 million of its cash into two vehicles. The first, funded with $25 million, is a newly established fund called the Black Economic Development Initiative, managed by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a nonprofit organization with a track record of developing underinvested communities. They will invest the funds into Black financial institutions serving low- and moderate-income communities and Black community development corporations in the U.S. Story continues Netflix is putting another $10 million into Hope Credit Union, based in Jackson, Miss., in the form of a Transformational Deposit to fuel economic opportunity in underserved communities across the Deep South, the executives wrote. Mitchell and Alwyn cited Netflix originals like Ava DuVernays 13th and Explaineds Racial Wealth Gap as illustrating how systemic racism in America has sustained a centuries-long financial gap between Black and White families. According to the FDIC, banks that are Black-owned or led represent just 1% of Americas commercial banking assets. That, the Netflix execs said, is one factor contributing to 19% of Black families having either negative wealth or no assets at all, which is more than twice the rate of white households. Netflix hopes to inspire other large companies to do the same with their cash deposits, Mitchell and Alwyn added. If every company in the S&P 500 allocated a modest amount of their cash holdings into similar efforts, each percentage of that cash would represent $20 billion-$30 billion of new capital. Netflix said Mitchell has long been passionate about these issues and worked with Alwyn to develop the 2% cash investment commitment within a matter of weeks. Mitchell was inspired by the book The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran, according to Netflix. Jaden Veal, 7, left, and his father James Veal, right, purchase fireworks in Hawthorne. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he planned to announce new restrictions leading up the the July 4 holiday weekend. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Gov. Gavin Newsom said he planned to announce new restrictions on Wednesday ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend, continuing to reverse course on reopening California as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rise. "Tomorrow we'll be making some additional announcements on efforts to use that dimmer switch that we've referred to and begin to toggle back on our stay-at-home order and tighten things up," Newsom said. "The framework for us is this: If you're not going to stay home and you're not going to wear masks in public, we have to enforce, and we will." The governor, who often foreshadows his actions before he unveils them, warned that changes would also include restrictions on indoor gatherings but did not provide details. Newsom said family gatherings had been one of the "areas of biggest concern" as immediate and extended family members mixed together. The average rate of positive cases in the state has grown to 5.6% in the last two weeks, with a sharper jump of 5.9% over seven days, Newsom said. The state is monitoring 19 counties that have fallen short of meeting guidelines for at least three days due to an increase in the spread of the virus, growing hospitalizations or a lack of hospital capacity. Newsom said he expected four additional counties to be added to the list on Wednesday. California has 226,850 confirmed cases and more than 6,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to the Los Angeles Times tracker of the outbreak. "We bent the curve in the state of California once. We will bend the curve again, mark my word," Newsom said. "We will crush this pandemic. We will annihilate it. We'll get past this, but we're going to have to be tougher, and we're going to have to be smarter in terms of our approaches." The governor provided an update on the virus Tuesday at a news conference outside a Motel 6 in the Bay Area city of Pittsburg, where he called attention to efforts to house the state's homeless population. Story continues The state launched an effort called Project Roomkey in April, with the goal of securing 15,000 hotel and motel rooms to provide short-term shelter for vulnerable homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a month into the program, a review of state records found that only about half of the rooms were occupied. The Newsom administration claims the state has worked to house an estimated 13,000 people in 10,600 rooms. Newsom said on Tuesday that, to date, 14,200 people had been sheltered, and he touted an 85% occupancy rate for rooms under the program. The Newsom administration expects the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ultimately reimburse state and local governments for up 75% of the cost of rooms, meals, security and custodial services. The 2020-2021 state budget Newsom signed on Monday included $300 million for local governments to help protect Californians experiencing homelessness and $50 million to the Department of Social Services to secure hotel and motel rooms and trailers to shelter the homeless. Now the state is attempting to transition the temporary program into more permanent housing under a new effort Newsom has dubbed Project Homekey, with $550 million from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund to acquire rooms for longterm shelter. The funding, which will be provided to local governments through the Department of Housing and Community Development, must be spent by Dec. 30. The budget also includes another $50 million in state money to help locals operate the program. "We're providing unprecedented support for cities and counties to support a program for our most vulnerable residents," Newsom said. "We're making a real impact." Officials in Los Angeles separately had set their own goal of placing 15,000 homeless people who were either medically vulnerable or older than 65 in motels and hotels that they had leased. City and county officials prioritized the part of the population they thought was most likely to die on the streets with or without the pandemic. After scrutinizing their own data, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency estimated that about 15,000 homeless people met the criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being the most susceptible to the virus. They are 65 or older and have multiple health conditions, including respiratory problems or diabetes. As of Monday, 3,781 people had been housed and the pace of hotel and motel rooms being added to the county program had come to a standstill. Homeless people and outreach workers have complained about long waits as demand for the rooms has far outpaced the supply. Sacramento bureau chief John Myers contributed to this report. Click here to read the full article. To be fair, very few people who are hawkish on Iran have called for a military campaign to overthrow the Islamic Republic, and generally for good reason; there is little prospect for success and little appetite for paying the costs necessary to succeed. Still, its worth evaluating what a war for regime change might look like. The decision of the Bush administration to commit itself to regime change in Iraq undoubtedly helped lead to the war, even if war was not initially the intention. If the Trump administration similarly commits itself to regime change, then war may come sooner or later. Invasion? Invading Iran and dictating terms to an occupied Tehran would be one way to achieve regime change. However, the United States would struggle to directly overthrow the Islamic Republic regime through force of arms. The United States lacks regional bases necessary to build up the forces that would be required to invade Iran, destroy its armed forces, displace the revolutionary regime in Tehran, and then control the country on behalf of a new, more amenable government. Conceivably, the U.S. military could deploy in Iraq, but this would likely require another war of regime change against the current Baghdad government. Alternatively, the U.S. could ameliorate some of the basing requirements by undertaking an amphibious forced entry into Iran. This would make U.S. forces particularly vulnerable to Tehrans arsenal of ballistic missiles, however, likely incurring very heavy casualties. Moreover, it would not resolve the problem of occupying the country post-conflict. Strangulation One of the core critiques of the JCPOA from regime change advocates is the argument that the sanctions regime installed by the United States could have, eventually, induced the collapse of the Islamic Republic. Consequently, any military campaign of regime change would likely concentrate on undercutting the economic stability of Iran, in the hopes of creating popular discontent and a counterrevolution. Instead of an invasion, the United States would probably try to induce regime collapse through a policy of military and economic strangulation, led by airstrikes, sea-launched cruise missile strikes and the vigorous employment of special operations forces. Story continues An economic strangulation campaign would lean very heavily into the U.S. financial and trade toolkits in order to limit Irans commerce with the rest of the world. However, since few international partners are likely to be enthusiastic about the campaign, it would probably include some kinetic measures designed to prevent the transit of cargoes to and from Iran, especially of sensitive technical equipment. The early stages of the campaign would target Irans existing military infrastructure, including air bases, naval bases and ballistic missile installations. These attacks would do significant damage, notwithstanding existing Iranian air defenses, which would also come under attack. Irans naval and air forces would suffer terribly, and widespread strikes would also exact a toll on Irans missile forces. Basing would presumably be provided by U.S. Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, although the willingness of the Saudis to sponsor a long-term military campaign against Iran is in serious question. While attacks on Iranian military and political infrastructure would inflict serious damage, the U.S. goal would be undermining domestic support for the Iranian government. To this end, the U.S. could target Irans economy, including oil installations and transport infrastructure. Such attacks could effectively destroy Irans oil industry, at least in the short term, and cause serious economic damage to the Islamic Republic (not to mention its trading partners). However, attacks against civilian industrial and economic targets would risk running afoul of U.S. policy and the Law of Armed Conflict. The U.S. could argue that Irans economic infrastructure represent a legitimate military target because of Iranian state control and the military utility of transport infrastructure, but this would be a hard sell, especially as civilian casualties mount. Still, the United States successfully targeted ISIS oil infrastructure during the recent air campaign. This allowed the destruction of ISIS oil facilities, as well as transportation assets such as tanker trucks. This campaign would take place in concert with the aggressive support of Iranian anti-government groups, such as those associated with the People's Mujahedin of Iran. This would include the transfer of weapons, intelligence, and training to any available resistance forces, as well as the recruitment of new forces, possibly in Kurdistan. However, building a viable ground force would take a very long time. Without a significant ground force to compel Iranian army units to deploy and maneuver, it would be difficult for U.S. air attacks to significantly degrade Iranian ground capabilities. Moreover, many Iranian Army and Revolutionary Guard units would likely deploy in urban areas, both to undercut the prospects of domestic disturbance and to avoid attacks by intermingling with civilians. Iranian Reaction Iran would enjoy a range of options to respond to the U,S. attacks. Iran could step up efforts to destabilize Iraq and Afghanistan through the use of proxies and arms shipments. Similarly, it could try to induce its proxies in the region to attack U.S. allies. Iran could use its extensive fleet of ballistic missiles to attack U.S. bases, ships, and the military and economic installations of U.S. allies, although this missile force would represent a depreciating asset as its numbers declined over time. Most likely, however, is that Iran could simply wait, under the logic that international opinion against the U.S. campaign would steadily build until Washington could no longer maintain its belligerence. Conclusion Regime change is unlikely to succeed, and is more likely to exacerbate the problems it was designed to solve. First, any attack against Iran will likely trigger a nationalist backlash, making the public more supportive of the regime in the short term. An attack would also enable the regime to install more draconian social and economic controls. These controls might generate backlash over time, but counterrevolution is by no means certain. Second, the United States lacks broad international support for a campaign of regime change. Even allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel would likely blanch at the long-term costs that the war would create. Neither Russia nor China would support the war at all, and both would likely intervene in ways designed to ease the pressure on Tehran. Europeans would react with heavy public disapproval, eventually forcing even sympathetic leaders in France and the U.K. to distance themselves from Washington. Third, it is unclear how such a military intervention would end. The U.S. lacks the international support to undertake the sort of militarized containment that is used against Iraq during the 1990s. International sympathy for Iran would only increase over time, a fact that Irans leaders surely understand. If the Islamic Republic didnt not collapse, the U.S. would eventually have to either admit defeat or open the door to dangerous escalation. On the upside, even if the campaign failed to dislodge the Tehran government, it could cause significant long-term damage to Irans military, economic and scientific infrastructure, setting back Tehrans military ambitions in the region. This outcome is probably most amenable to US allies in the Middle East, who dont worry overmuch about the prospect of committing the United States to an open-ended military conflict with Iran. Regime change might work, but theres little good reason to believe the chances of such are high. A war would incur serious costs on Iran, but would also commit the United States to the destruction of the Islamic Republic, a process that could take decades, if it succeeds at all. Robert Farley, a frequent contributor to TNI, is a Visiting Professor at the United States Army War College. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. This first appeared in 2019 and is being reposted due to reader interest. Image: Reuters Recommended: Why Doesn't America Kill Kim Jong Un? Click here to read the full article. VERO BEACH, Fla., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, the residents, families and associates of Palm Bay Memory Care unified to support the Alzheimer's Association's global initiative, 'The Longest Day.' The longest day of the year is the day with most light, therefore 'The Longest Day' initiative symbolizes the unity of participants to fight the darkness of Alzheimer's through various activities and fundraising events. Palm Bay Memory Care Residents Participate in Fundraising Events to Raise Awareness of the Alzheimers Associations Global Initiative "The Longest Day" The team at Palm Bay Memory Care used their creativity and community partnerships to honor this occasion while maintaining current safety guidelines regarding social distancing. Residents prepared for the day by creating a variety of upcycled and recycled art for their craft sale. On event day, participants enjoyed sno-cones provided by community partner, Vitas; the Executive Chef and team prepared box lunches for fundraising; and gift certificates were awarded during an in-house raffle. "I'm so proud of our team who has worked tirelessly the past few months to not only keep our residents safe and healthy, but to continue honoring and prioritizing our seniors," says Michele Lyon, Executive Director of Palm Bay Memory Care. "Our team collaborated wholeheartedly for this event to raise awareness of The Longest Day in an effort to eliminate Alzheimer's disease." Operated by Watercrest Senior Living, Palm Bay Memory Care is a 72-unit, all memory-care community with gracious accommodations and upscale amenities. At Watercrest-operated communities, common unity initiatives inspire a sense of community, while fulfilling needs in their hometowns and supporting residents in staying connected in meaningful ways. As part of a themed series of Common Unity initiatives, residents and associates spent weeks in fundraising and preparation for 'The Longest Day.' Watercrest Senior Living Group is unique in their growth mindset, modeling servant leadership and exceptional standards of customer service within every level of the organization. Watercrest associates champion a culture which nurtures relationships in the interest of acting as trusted advisors. By continuously investing in these servant hearts, Watercrest develops value-centered leaders who deliver personalized service. Story continues Palm Bay Memory Care is ideally located at 350 Malabar Road SW in Palm Bay, Fl. Residents enjoy state-of-the-art wellness, enhanced culinary, and exceptional care programs, all tailored to individual resident preferences. To schedule a tour, contact the community at 321-574-6290. A certified Great Place to Work, Watercrest Senior Living Group specializes in the development and operations of assisted living and memory care communities and the growth of servant leaders. Visit www.watercrestseniorliving.com or www.palmbaymemorycare.com. www.watercrestseniorliving.com (PRNewsfoto/Watercrest Senior Living Group) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/palm-bay-memory-care-raises-awareness-of-the-alzheimers-associations-global-initiative-the-longest-day-301086320.html SOURCE Watercrest Senior Living Group Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Funds $4.75 Million Of Innovative Research Through 2020 Competitive Grants Program Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Funds $4.75 Million Of Innovative Research Through 2020 Competitive Grants Program PR Newswire MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., June 30, 2020 Choice of Funding Start Dates Provides New Grantees Support and Flexibility in the Midst of Coronavirus Pandemic MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), a leading patient advocacy organization, announced today the recipients of its 2020 research grants and grant extensions. This year, 10 grants are being newly awarded and five previously funded grants are being extended. As such, PanCAN's total research investment in fiscal year 2020 is $21 million with $4.75 million toward competitive grants, bringing the organization's total projected research investment, including its grants program and clinical and scientific initiatives, to approximately $126 million. PanCAN is funding $4.75 million worth of competitive grants in 2020. The organization's total research investment for this fiscal year amounts to $21 million. "Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and diagnoses continue to rise," said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, president and CEO of PanCAN. "Research is key as we fight to improve patient outcomes, and we are so grateful to our generous donors who allow us to fund this important science." The following researchers are recipients of PanCAN grants this year: Susan Bates, MD, Columbia University Daria Esterhazy, PhD, University of Chicago Gillian Gresham, PhD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, funded in memory of Skip Viragh Fengzhi Li, PhD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute Alexander Muir, PhD, University of Chicago Kenneth Olive, PhD, Columbia University Krushana Patra, PhD, University of Cincinnati Xiaoyang Qi, PhD, University of Cincinnati Mustafa Raoof, MD, FACS, City of Hope, funded in memory of Skip Viragh Jill Smith, MD, Georgetown University In addition to the new 2020 funding, PanCAN and its scientific reviewers have also awarded five grant extensions to previously funded investigators to continue their highly promising projects. Extension recipients include: Story continues Darren Carpizo, MD, PhD, University of Rochester Nicholas Cosford, PhD, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute Sharon Gorski, PhD, British Columbia Cancer Agency Branch Sunil Hingorani, MD, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Wantong Yao, MD, PhD, MD Anderson Cancer Center Of the newly awarded grants, this year's recipients include eight first-time PanCAN grantees and three new institutions. Five grants awarded support projects led by early-career researchers, helping them further establish themselves in order to secure funding from other sources in the future. The other five grantees received translational grants, which support projects aiming to take important discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic for patient benefit. All grantees and extensions were selected through an open and highly competitive, peer-review process. Like much of the world, the pancreatic cancer research community has been heavily affected this year due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and resulting global pandemic. In many instances, laboratories were forced to shut their doors costing investigators precious resources, progress and most importantly time. The impact has been especially challenging for early-career investigators who don't yet have robust foundational data and experimental results to build from. To help solve for this, for the first time ever, PanCAN has offered a flexible start date to allow grantees time to prepare their labs and teams before undertaking the experiments they proposed for their PanCAN research grant. Recipients were given the option to initiate their funded period on July 1, marking the beginning of PanCAN's fiscal year, or to postpone their start date until September or even January 2021. In addition, PanCAN is allowing flexibility with reporting deadlines and other requirements for active grantees. "We realize this is an extremely difficult time to be running a lab, so we are taking measures to support our grantees however we can," said Lynn Matrisian, PhD, MBA, chief science officer at PanCAN. "Even in the midst of a pandemic, pancreatic cancer does not slow down or stop, and the research our grantees are conducting is more important than ever." Since 2003, PanCAN's grants program has awarded 199 grants to 187 scientists at 71 institutions. Beyond research funding, grant recipients also gain access to PanCAN's Community for Progress, a cohesive network of researchers focused on improving pancreatic cancer patient outcomes through mentorship and collaboration. About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) is dedicated to fighting the world's toughest cancer. In our urgent mission to save lives, we attack pancreatic cancer on all fronts: research, clinical initiatives, patient services and advocacy. Our effort is amplified by a nationwide network of grassroots support. We are determined to improve outcomes for today's patients and those diagnosed in the future. Learn more at pancan.org. Follow the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Media Contact: Jillian Scholten Senior Manager, Public Relations Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Direct: 310-706-3360 Cell: 949-244-2561 Email: jscholten@pancan.org The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) is dedicated to fighting the worlds toughest cancer. In our urgent mission to save lives, we attack pancreatic cancer on all fronts: research, clinical initiatives, patient services and advocacy. Our effort is amplified by a nationwide network of grassroots support. We are determined to improve outcomes for todays patients and those diagnosed in the future. (PRNewsfoto/Pancreatic Cancer Action Network) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pancreatic-cancer-action-network-funds-4-75-million-of-innovative-research-through-2020-competitive-grants-program-301085583.html SOURCE Pancreatic Cancer Action Network COLLEGE PARK, Md., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- When times are tough, access to credit becomes crucial. Policymakers know this, so when faced with an economic downturn, they tend to adopt measures that will ensure that consumers get that access, and at a fair price. But sometimes, the measures that lawmakers adopt have consequences they didn't intend. Unfortunately, that's the case with two bills recently introduced in Congress, says Clifford Rossi, professor of the practice and executive-in-residence in the finance department at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. Rossi spent 25 years of his career in banking and in government. In the financial crisis of 2008-2009, he was chief risk officer for Citigroup's Consumer Lending Division, overseeing the risk of the bank's $300-billion secured consumer asset portfolio. His recent paper, "Economic Impacts of a Moratorium on Consumer Credit Reporting," examines H.R. 6370 and S. 3508, ''Disaster Protection for Workers' Credit Act of 2020,'' and uncovers what he says are significant flaws. If enacted, the measures would impose a moratorium on credit reporting of "adverse information" for as long as we are in the coronavirus crisis. And while that sounds like a responsible goal, he says, the measures would end up "severely" reducing the availability of credit to consumers in general. Credit scores are vital to the consumer credit underwriting process their ability to gauge the likelihood of borrower default has been time-tested as well as empirically tested. In the absence of viable mechanisms to effectively distinguish between high-risk and low-risk borrowers, lenders are likely to ration credit, Rossi says. "A credit reporting moratorium would disproportionately harm low-income and minority consumers with marginal credit already struggling to maintain access to credit due to market responses to this legislation," he explains. "Such legislation could also set a credit constraining precedent for every other federally declared emergency in the future." Story continues And there are a lot of those. Already in 2020, Rossi notes, the United States has had multiple flood and tornado disasters. Meanwhile, forecasters are predicting a busier than normal hurricane season. If the proposed legislation established a regular practice of forcing a moratorium on consumer credit reporting in the wake of every major disaster, it would do more harm than good, he adds. "Instead of helping affected people recover from these events it would have just the opposite effect by restricting their access to credit when they most need it," he says. Under a credit reporting moratorium, the reliability of credit scores would come into question. And that would make lenders particularly risk-averse, raising minimum credit score requirements or charging higher interest rates to offset potential unseen risk, he says. He says that during that crisis, lenders raised the minimum mandated credit score on FHA loans, for example, beyond those set by the agency as a response to uncertainty over indemnification provisions that posed significant costs to lenders. "And today, during the coronavirus, a number of Ginnie Mae originators have raised credit scores to blunt some of the risk they face due to requirements to pass-through mortgage payments to investors, including those in default or subject to forbearance," he says. That's why the House and Senate bills have Rossi worried. A credit reporting moratorium is likely to "severely restrict credit to millions of consumers," with potentially disproportionate impacts on lower-income, minority, and first-time homebuyer borrowers. That would affect everyone significantly delaying the timing, speed and trajectory of economic recovery. Here's what Rossi recommends policymakers do, instead of H.R. 6370 and S. 3508: The CFPB should ensure that financial institutions or mortgage servicers reporting credit information to credit reporting agencies on federally-backed mortgages in forbearance are correctly reporting this information pursuant to CARES Act provisions on this issue. Consumers would be better off by having access to credit counseling and financial education programs during the crisis funded either by the next coronavirus stimulus package or out of the CFPB Civil Penalty Fund with appropriate oversight. Go to Smith Brain Trust for related content at http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/faculty-research/smithbraintrust and follow on Twitter @SmithBrainTrust. About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia. Contact: Greg Muraski at gmuraski@rhsmith.umd.edu. Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-paper-identifies-flaws-in-disaster-protection-for-workers-credit-act-of-2020-and-prescribes-fixes-301086114.html SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business Patch Expert to Expand into "Routines" Starting with First Topical Treatment SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Peace Out Skincare , award-winning creator of cutting edge, first-to-market skincare, is announcing the launch of Acne Serum and with it plans for a greatly expanded product line. The move marks the first topical for Peace Out and the debut of a new product strategy built around skincare "routines." The bold plan is for each of its core patch and dot treatments to anchor a suite of related products. The brand began in 2017 with its groundbreaking Acne Dot, the first to combine a medical grade hydrocolloid bandage with active ingredients, proven to reduce the appearance of acne blemishes in six hours or less. Over the last three years as an exclusive partner with Sephorawhere it is the number one acne brandPeace Out Skincare brought new technologies to five other best-selling productsPores, Wrinkles, Puffy Eyes, Dark Spots and Dullness. Acne Serum follows with the same innovative approach as its predecessors. The serum's proprietary combination of salicylic acid, niacinamide, vitamin C and zinc create a gentle, yet powerful treatment to reduce acne and improve the look and feel of your skin, intended for application twice daily. Used in tandem with Peace Out Skincare's Acne Dots or Peace Out Pores, the combo attacks current blemishes while working to prevent future breakouts. Founder Enrico Frezza shares, "Acne Serum is just the beginning of the new products launching throughout the next year. Our customer is looking for effective ways to fight skin issues without overthinking the process. We're going to address each step of your skincare routine and each skin problem with state-of-the art delivery systems and unique formulations of the highest quality ingredients." Sephora will pre-launch Acne Serum on June 30th, Acne Serum will be available for sale on Sephora and Peace Out Skincare websites July 7th for $34. Acne Serum will also be available in-store at Sephoras on August 8th in the U.S. Story continues The brand plans to keep building out its "routines" with a new anti-aging product launching at the end of 2020 and the expansion of their acne category at the beginning of 2021. Peace Out Skincare will continue to add more high-tech skincare offerings to their roster throughout the next two years. 2020 continues to be an incredible year for Peace Out Skincare as products sell out and the brand sets records for its ecomm sales. Last month, Peace Out Skincare entered the Canadian market selling out of all three products at different times within the first two months. Further global expansion into Australia and New Zealand is slated for this summer, with East Asia set for 2020. Sephora is the exclusive partner for all markets. Peace Out is currently sold at 2,300 Sephora doors across North America and Europe. About Peace Out Skincare Beauty-technology leader, Peace Out Skincare is committed to creating first-to-market, innovative solutions for everyday skin problems. Launched in 2017, the brand is known for skin care that effectively targets Acne, Pores, Puffy Eyes, Wrinkles, Dark Spots and Dullness so you can live a life unfiltered. Media Contact Stephanie Kraeutler The Lead PR stephanie@theleadpr.com 212.584.5668 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peace-out-skincare-unveils-new-product-strategy-with-acne-serum-release-301079730.html SOURCE Peace Out Skincare There were reports on a man with a gun in Les Quatre Temps shopping centre in Paris - NA/NA A French police operation in the business district of La Defense in western Paris has ended, with concerns about a possible armed man in the area proving unfounded, police said. "Operation over, doubts lifted," a police source told Reuters. Earlier in the day the police said on Twitter that Les Quatre Temps shopping centre in La Defense was being evacuated to allow for checks. Trains were no longer stopping at La Defense subway station, the message said. "Investigations of the area are ending. At this stage no suspicious individual has been spotted," the police department said in a tweet signalling the end of the operation. Google veteran Erik Garr joins growing Policygenius team as Vice President of Property and Casualty Operations DURHAM, N.C., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading online insurance marketplace Policygenius announced its first executive hire in its North Carolina headquarters today. Erik Garr, who established Google Fiber's operation in Durham and was the director of strategy and operations at Google Cloud, will oversee property and casualty operations from Policygenius' Durham, North Carolina headquarters. Garr brings more than 25 years of experience to Policygenius, where he will be working to advance the company's property and casualty insurance division at a critical phase in the startup's rapid growth. Policygenius has grown by 200% every year since launching in 2014 and just surpassed the 400 employee mark. In 2019, Policygenius launched its property and casualty insurance offering, which scaled to more than $10 million in revenue in less than 12 months. Earlier this year, Policygenius announced $100 million in Series D funding as well as an exclusive accelerated underwriting life insurance product in collaboration with Brighthouse Financial. Garr spent five years at Google, as the general manager for Google Fiber in North Carolina and was one of the first senior leaders Google Fiber hired in its eastern branch, establishing sales and business operations across several markets. Before his time at Google, Garr was a partner at consulting firm PwC, and prior to that helped scale Diamond Management and Technology Consultants from a small VC-funded company to a global publicly traded firm with more than 600 employees. Policygenius announced its second headquarters in North Carolina in September 2019, where the company plans to bring more than 370 jobs. Policygenius worked with ON Partners executive search consultants to help make this hire. "Erik's robust experience developing best practices in operations made him an excellent fit for Policygenius and we are thrilled to welcome him to our growing team," Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO and co-founder of Policygenius, said. "Particularly as our property and casualty division is set to continue to expand quickly this year, Erik's leadership will be invaluable. We're also delighted to expand our executive leadership presence in the Durham headquarters." Story continues "I am thrilled to be joining the Policygenius team in Durham," Garr said. "The company has built a strong reputation as a household name for financial protection, and I'm enthusiastic about how we can continue to elevate our insurance offerings for American consumers." In the early days of the Obama administration, Erik was the General Manager of the National Broadband Plan at the Federal Communications Commission. He spent an extended period of time as a technology and operations consultant to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Erik has a Bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Michigan and a Master's degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. He is also a visiting professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, where he teaches a course on technology policy. About Policygenius Policygenius is the nation's leading online insurance marketplace, with headquarters in New York City and Durham, North Carolina. We've helped more than 30 million people shop for all types of insurance like they shop for everything else online and have placed over $60 billion in coverage. Policygenius launched in 2014 and is one of the early insurtech pioneers. Policygenius was named to Forbes list of Best Startup Employers (2020), Crain's Fast 50 (2019) and Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces (2018, 2019, 2020). View open roles at Policygenius here: https://www.policygenius.com/careers/ . For more information: Brooke Niemeyer Associate Director of Media Relations, Policygenius brooke.niemeyer@policygenius.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/policygenius-expands-executive-team-with-key-new-hire-301085834.html SOURCE Policygenius The owner of the news outlet that published the columns at the center of the Ukraine scandal helped secure an unpaid White House position for his wife a fact the publication did not disclose to readers. Jimmy Finkelstein, a wealthy Manhattanite who owns The Hill, was sufficiently involved that he personally discussed his wifes arrangement with White House lawyers. His wife, former CNN producer Pamela Gross, is a longtime friend of Melania Trump, and she volunteered to help the new first lady find her footing in the East Wing. Hope we can get contract soon as Pamela looks forward serving [sic] the country and the First Lady, Finkelstein emailed Stefan Passantino, the White Houses top ethics lawyer at the time, on July 5, 2017. The White House never announced Gross hiring, though she spent around six months advising the first lady. Gross primarily worked from New York, but her arrangement had some trappings of White House employment: She filled out a security clearance questionnaire and was granted a White House email and cellphone, and a temporary access badge for use when she was in Washington. Many a White House has deployed the presidents spouse to soften her husbands hard edges, though Melania Trump, a reticent figure by the standards of recent first ladies, has shied away from the roles more political aspects. Her primary initiative is Be Best, a program aimed at helping children develop healthy habits that developed out of Gross work. Gross unpaid arrangement was not disclosed in the several dozen articles The Hill published about the first lady while Gross was advising her from August 2017 to February 2018, nor were more than a select few Hill employees informed that their boss wife was an East Wing adviser. The Hill covers Washington and politics, including frequent coverage of Trump and the White House. The publication late last year endured fierce criticism for a series of investigative articles on Ukraine by journalist John Solomon that figured prominently in the presidents attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden. A monthslong internal review of Solomons work concluded he had failed to identify important details about his sources, and faulted the outlet for blurring the line between opinion and reporting in his columns. Solomon has stood by his work. Story continues When reached for comment, Finkelstein disputed the idea that his wifes work for the White House posed any conflict of interest. Pamela was proud to help the first lady serve our country and the nations children in this way. For Pamela, this was not simply a very worthwhile effort. It was deeply meaningful on a personal level. As the daughter of a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor sent to the Auschwitz death camp as a child, she felt that joining the first lady in helping children, here and around the globe, was tremendously humbling and personally rewarding. Gross arrangement was codified as a gratuitous service agreement, a multi-page document that laid out the terms of her work for the White House. She also signed a nondisclosure agreement that prevented her from telling most people about her position, according to several people familiar with the situation. Its somewhat like being a special government part-time employee but not exactly the same, said a person familiar with the arrangement. At the time, White House employees did not think Finkelsteins direct involvement in helping his wife secure the job was unusual, several of them said. It is unclear, however, whether they knew he owned a prominent Washington news outlet. The arrangement had been in the works for months during Trumps first year in office, as the White House untangled several potential logistical and financial disclosure issues surrounding Gross potential work for the East Wing. I believe I recall you stating that you are most comfortable with the friend or contractor option because neither prohibits the earning of outside income, family asset disclosure, or many of the conflict of interest restrictions that accompany being an employee of one form or another, Passantino, the White House ethics lawyer, wrote to Gross and Finkelstein on July 21, 2017. By August 2017, Gross had left her job at CNN as a producer for CNN Tonight with Don Lemon to begin her work with the first ladys office on what would eventually become the Be Best initiative. Gross specifically worked on the social and emotional aspects of the program, which focuses on the well-being of children. She wanted to be with Melania more than anything in the world, said a person familiar with the arrangement. She wanted to do the work together. She wanted to create the initiative to help children. Aides who worked for Michelle Obamas East Wing office did not recall the former first lady engaging her friends for unpaid work. Stephanie Grisham, who served as Melania Trumps spokesperson before becoming White House press secretary and is now back in the East Wing as her chief of staff attributed the unorthodox nature of Gross engagement to the first ladys fiscal discipline though she also said it was Gross choice not to accept payment for her work. We never looked into how Mrs. Obama paid her staff of over 30 people, Grisham said. Mrs. Trump does things her own way, as evidenced by the small and effective team she has in place, saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Grisham noted that Gross was one of two unpaid advisers the White House hired on a temporary basis in order to assist Mrs. Trump in getting the East Wing set up. Pamela was an asset to the East Wing who worked tirelessly to help the first ladys office in a variety of areas and asked for nothing in return, Grisham added. Some people choose to work quietly and dont require attention or recognition a trait that is admirable. Finkelstein, who fielded questions on his wifes behalf, characterized her work for the White House as that of an unpaid part-time volunteer. She was not an employee; she never even submitted for reimbursement of her expenses; and she did most of her volunteering from New York, not D.C., he said. In this Oct. 3, 2019 file photo, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham listens as President Donald Trump speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Grisham is leaving her post after never holding a single press briefing. Grisham will be assuming a new role as chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) And Finkelstein disputed the idea that he had an obligation to publicly disclose the arrangement, which he said was nevertheless widely known by our friends, those at CNN, as well as by the editor-in-chief and others at The Hill. Pamelas volunteer work had no impact on Hill coverage, and any suggestion that it did is an antiquated form of bias, reflecting the view that a spouse, particularly a woman, should not pursue important work because the spouse is incapable of doing her job without unduly influencing her husband, Finkelstein said. Bob Cusack, The Hills editor in chief, confirmed he was told of Grosss arrangement by Finkelstein, but did not respond to follow-up questions asking whether he informed others at The Hill. Eight current or former Hill reporters, several of whom had worked on stories related to the first lady, said they had no inkling that the owners wife worked for Melania Trump. During Gross tenure at the White House, The Hill published at least 56 stories about the first lady, including her anti-bullying speech at the United Nations and a trip she took to a Detroit middle school to bring awareness to child inclusion during National Bullying Prevention Month, none of which disclosed Gross work for the East Wing or her close relationship with Melania Trump. The friendship between the two women stretches back decades. In 2006, a report in Vogue magazine noted that Gross helped host a private baby shower for Melania Trumps inner circle, including Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who also worked for Melania at the White House, and Judith Nathan Giuliani, then married to Rudy Giuliani. Finkelstein often bragged about this connection to others at The Hill, said several former employees. He had been talking about it for years. He talked about it all the time. Oh, well, my wife is best friends with Melania, said one former employee. Finkelstein stressed that The Hill is a nonpartisan news organization and that he had donated to members of both political parties in the past. If anything, its high volume of stories reflects a bias toward viral web traffic rather than any discernible political tilt. But on at least one occasion, staffers there perceived him as eager to curry the Trumps favor. As Trumps path to the nomination became nearly certain, Hill employees became worried that Finkelstein had started affiliating himself closely with Trump. Two employees who were on the business side at the time told POLITICO they spotted Finkelstein at a victory party for Trumps primary campaign on April 26, 2016, while watching cable news, and C-SPAN footage shows him standing behind the then-candidate as he addressed the media. (Finkelstein did not dispute this.) One former employee recalled that in 2016, during the Republican National Convention, Finkelstein called Cusack and Ian Swanson, the managing editor, upset that The Hill had run an article about the speech the first lady had given, parts of which were widely deemed as plagiarized. Asked what Finkelsteins concerns were, the person said: It was the critical part. He didnt want it to be critical of Melania. Swanson was upset and nearly quit over the incident, this person recalled. (Neither Swanson nor Finkelstein responded to questions about the encounter.) The Hill went on to publish 20 articles about Melania Trumps convention speech, with headlines that largely chronicled campaign surrogates rushing to her defense: Trump camp blames Clinton, media for plagiarism accusations; Trump: Media spent more time analyzing Melania than FBI spent on Clinton and RNC official offers My Little Pony defense for Melania Trumps speech. Current and former Hill reporters told POLITICO that, as far as they knew, there was no process in place at the time for disclosing conflicts of interest, nor did Finkelstein, Cusack or Swanson respond when asked whether such a process existed. The only such guidance POLITICO could find came in the Hills review of Solomons work: Disclosures are vital to credibility in journalism, and reporters and editors must tell their readers when there might be a conflict of interest or an appearance of a conflict of interest. Gross worked closely on East Wing projects with Winston Wolkoff, whose prior involvement in the presidents inauguration planning became the subject of critical reporting in The New York Times in February 2018 that embarrassed the White House, leading to the end of her work there. In comments that were aggregated by The Hill, she later said she had been thrown under the bus. Gross own arrangement with the White House also ended in late February 2018, but her departure was much quieter: Melania Trump sent both women an email on Feb. 20 thanking them for their work and saying their friendship would continue. DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar has made a new pledge of $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria, the Gulf state's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Total Qatari assistance for the war-torn country has reached $2 billion, the ministry added in a Twitter post. The new pledge was made at a United Nations' virtual conference in Brussels where the organization is seeking nearly $10 billion in aid for Syria. (Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Alison Williams) When Jun Young came out at the age of 45, he thought back to his childhood. He was raised in a Catholic household in the Philippines, where he was taught early on that being gay was against God's will. So when he realized around the age of 12 that he was attracted to other boys, he kept it locked away for more than three decades. "I felt like I didn't really have a choice," Young told NBC Asian America. "I couldn't really come out or accept that I was gay or even explore what that meant without giving up my faith. And my faith was so important to me and continues to be important to me." IMAGE: Jun Young (Zoey Vong) Today, he sees that many LGBTQ Christian youth in the U.S. still feel reluctant to come out because of their faith and that there are few resources to help them. "That's when I decided I want to help my younger self," said Young, 47, who is based in Seattle. "What would I have wanted growing up as a teenager?" Young this year launched Beloved Arise, a Christian group that celebrates and empowers LGBTQ youth of faith. Through online events, regular meetings, publications and social media, Beloved Arise encourages youth to be proud of being LGBTQ and to see themselves as part of "God's creation" and worthy of celebration, the organization says. To mark Pride Month, the group is hosting a Queer Youth of Faith Day on Tuesday to celebrate LGBTQ youth from all faiths. Along with several cosponsors, Beloved Arise will use the event to affirm youth and let them know they are loved for exactly who they are, Young said. There will also be a virtual gathering for queer youth to share their stories and to announce the winners of an essay contest held this year. Young said he hopes the event will allow people to initiate conversations about LGBTQ acceptance with their faith communities. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and alerts Research from a cosponsor of the event, The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization, found that 1 in 4 LGBTQ+ youth report that religion is important or very important to them. But those who hear their parents' using religion to say negative things about being LGBTQ face a higher risk of attempting suicide. Story continues LGBTQ youth who have at least one accepting adult in their lives are 40 percent less likely to attempt suicide. "In some cases, that affirming adult can be a faith leader, whether that's somebody who's in their church, a minister, imam, rabbi," said Casey Pick, senior fellow for advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project. "Having places that are explicitly LGBTQ-plus-affirming goes a long way toward healing some of the deep wounds that too many LGBTQ-plus people have associated with religion and faith." Maliha Khan, director of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Muslims for Progressive Values, another cosponsor, said LGBTQ people are a big part of the community her group serves, and she welcomed the opportunity to collaborate. "We've seen a lot of people of faith move away from traditional spaces of worship, and oftentimes that's because their values don't align with what's being taught at those spaces," she said. When Young decided to come out about a year and a half ago, he was a father of two children and had ended a 20-year marriage to a woman a few years earlier. While his family was accepting, he was soon removed as board president at a Christian nonprofit organization. Young, who is now Protestant Christian, credits his decision to come out to LGBTQ-affirming theology, which he had spent some time exploring a few years ago. The Bible is full of discussions of love and justice and standing with the oppressed and the marginalized, but he noted that only a few verses directly address same-sex acts. "Why would I focus on that if I can lead with Jesus' command, which is to love each other? It surprises me how we miss that so much," he said. When the Supreme Court ruled this month that job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status is illegal, it was a meaningful for Young, who has experienced that type of discrimination. "It gives me hope that LGBTQ-plus youth will enter workplaces that are safe and inclusive to all people, including sexual minorities," he said. Now four months old, Young's organization has about three dozen LGBTQ youth and allies from Hawaii to Mississippi regularly attend its weekly virtual gatherings. He estimates that 20 percent are Asian Americans and that a third are people of color. The meetings, which typically run about two hours, offer youth a space to play games, worship and discuss topics like what it means to be LGBTQ as a Christian, said Lucy Roedel, one of the young people involved in the group. IMAGE: Lucy Roedel (Studio B Portraits) Roedel, 18, said having a community of LGBTQ youth and allies through Beloved Arise has become an important part of her life. Her family had always been supportive of her sexuality since she came out, she said, but she didn't feel the same way about her faith community. Roedel, who was raised in a Christian household in Seattle, was an active volunteer at her church until late last year, when, she said, she was required to formally agree to teach that marriage is between one man and one woman. That led her to make the difficult decision to leave the church she had attended for her entire life, she said. "It was very hard for me, because I had always supported my senior pastor and really liked him and liked hearing him preach," she said. "It was earth-shattering to go from listening to him every week to not even going to church, just knowing that the church didn't agree with who I was at all." Although Beloved Arise is a Christian group, Young said he someday hopes to expand it to become a multifaith organization. "Faith is something that for a lot of people adds value to their life," he said. "And that should never be taken away just because someone has a point of view that is not compatible with your faith." Follow NBC Asian America on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Darrell Park, a former candidate for Los Angeles County supervisor, speaks at an Oct. 23, 2019, rally in L.A.'s Porter Ranch neighborhood marking the fourth anniversary of the Aliso Canyon methane blowout. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) State regulators have blocked Southern California Gas Co.'s effort to delay required safety testing at the company's Aliso Canyon storage field, the site of a record-setting gas leak that spewed more than 100,000 tons of heat-trapping methane into the atmosphere and sickened residents of the nearby Porter Ranch neighborhood. The company asked Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration to temporarily suspend a requirement that all gas storage wells at Aliso be tested every two years, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and associated stay-at-home orders, newly released documents show. The state's oil and gas regulator, known as CalGEM, denied the request Monday. State Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk said in a letter that the well testing requirements "are a central part of the comprehensive regulations that CalGEM adopted in response to the Aliso Canyon well blow out incident, and they are central to CalGEMs commitment that all possible steps will be taken to ensure safe operation of underground gas storage projects." "CalGEM understands that compliance with the [mechanical integrity testing] requirements for gas storage wells are challenging and that COVID-19 has compounded that challenge," Ntuk wrote. "Nonetheless, adherence to the recently adopted regulations is essential and CalGEM will only approve changes in testing frequency that are consistent with the regulatory framework." The request from SoCalGas for a six-month extension hasn't previously been reported. SoCalGas executive Rodger Schwecke highlighted the very safety rules the company was simultaneously working to delay in a June 4 interview with The Times less than three weeks after the utility's most recent request for delayed enforcement. Schwecke said the requirement that all wells be tested every two years was part of an enhanced safety regime that had made Aliso Canyon and the gas company's other underground storage fields "the safest in the state, if not the safest in the nation." Story continues "Of the 66 wells that we currently have available at Aliso Canyon, we're going to have 30 or 40 of them reassessed this year and they are required to be assessed every two years," Schwecke said at the time. Issam Najm, president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council, said in an email that the gas company's request to delay well testing is "yet another example of how SoCalGas appears to treat safety measures as mere regulatory burdens, instead of integral components of the responsible operation of a hazardous facility such as Aliso Canyon." The Aliso Canyon gas storage field and the Porter Ranch neighborhood in May. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) In an emailed statement, SoCalGas spokeswoman Christine Detz said the company "is ahead of all other operators in the state, fully completing its baseline assessments for all its underground gas storage wells earlier than required by regulatory requirements." The utility is already proceeding with its next round of well testing, which must be completed by Oct. 1. "We believe a six-month extension for completing the second round of assessments does not pose a safety risk, while supporting the reliability of natural gas service to customers this coming winter," Detz said. "However, we will meet the Oct. 1, 2020, date." Aliso Canyon has become a flashpoint in a debate over how quickly Califorina might phase out natural gas, a planet-warming fossil fuel used for heating, cooking and electricity generation. SoCalGas, a shareholder-owned utility that serves 22 million people, has mounted a forceful campaign to maintain its role in powering society and considers Aliso a key tool for maintaining reliability and limiting costs to consumers. Newsom has said he's committed to shutting down Aliso, and last year he asked the state's Public Utilities Commsion to expedite planning for its closure. But in the meantime, the commission has allowed SoCalGas to ramp up use of the facility dramatically since Newsom took office in 2019, compared to the two years after the October 2015 blowout, when Aliso was hardly used at all. In a letter to Newsom on Monday, three L.A.-area lawmakers state Assemblywoman Christy Smith, state Sen. Henry Stern and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman urged the governor to direct the utilities commission "to immediately act to prevent future unnecessary withdrawals from Aliso Canyon." "Overreliance on the facility sets the dangerous precedent of delaying the phase-out of facility use ahead of its proposed closure dates, and needlessly delays the transition to the states future renewable energy supply goals," the lawmakers wrote. Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. An in-depth analysis commissioned by state officials determined the October 2015 blowout was caused by a faulty well casing at the former oil field, nestled in the Santa Susana Mountains just north of Los Angeles city limits. The outer casing of well SS-25 ruptured due to microbial corrosion caused by contact with groundwater, the consulting firm Blade Energy Partners found. Blade concluded SoCalGas "did not conduct detailed follow-up inspections or analyses after previous leaks" at Aliso Canyon going back to the 1970s and "lacked any form of risk assessment focused on well integrity management," according to a Public Utilities Commission summary of the consultant's findings. The consultant also found that "updated well safety practices and regulations adopted by [CalGEM] address most of the root causes of the leak" identified during its investigation, the commission wrote. One of those regulations is the requirement that all wells undergo mechanical integrity tests at least once every two years. In a March 23 letter to CalGEM, SoCalGas executive Gina Orozco described the gas company's concerns "over the continuation of certain activities not deemed critical or essential for safe, reliable delivery of natural gas service under these exigent circumstances," referring to the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, Orozco wrote, "SoCalGas requests that CalGEM consider a temporary stay of enforcement for two-year well reassessments" at the utility's underground storage facilities, including Aliso. "This temporary suspension will enable employees, contractors, and agency personnel, who need to witness certain activities related to this work, to fully engage in federal, state, and local social distancing and 'stay home where possible' orders," she wrote. SoCalGas crews and technical experts try to stop the flow of natural gas leaking from the Aliso Canyon storage field on Nov. 3, 2015. (Javier Mendoza / Associated Press) Orozco did not suggest a timeframe for lifting the requested temporary suspension. But she did urge the oil and gas regulator to approve a "risk management plan" that SoCalGas submitted in 2019, under which the company might test some wells at Aliso no more than once every 10 years, rather than every two years, based on an assessment of the risks posed by each well. When CalGEM didn't grant those requests, the utility tried again. SoCalGas executive Paul Goldstein wrote to CalGEM on May 18 requesting a six-month enforcement delay, which would extend the deadline for the next round of well integrity tests from Oct. 1, 2020 to April 1, 2021. In addition to discussing the effects of the pandemic, Goldstein wrote that the extension "would protect the gas deliverability for our customers this upcoming winter." That claim echoes previous arguments the gas company has made for state officials to allow greater use of Aliso Canyon. The Public Utilities Commission has partially loosened its restrictions on Aliso. But SoCalGas has argued that continued limits on gas withdrawals can create supply constraints that at times have forced consumers to pay more for energy, including during a summer 2018 heat wave when price spikes landed Southern Califonria Edison customers with an unexpected $850-million bill. The gas company's critics counter that there would be no supply constraints and no price spikes if SoCalGas could fix a key pipeline that runs through the desert toward Los Angeles. The pipeline has been out of service most of the last three years. Critics also say SoCalGas has a financial interest in convincing regulators that Aliso is needed to provide cheap, reliable energy. The facility was worth $769 million to the gas company's corporate parent, San Diego-based Sempra Energy, at the end of 2019. As long as it remains in use, SoCalGas customers will be on the hook to pay off the companys investment, plus shareholder profits. Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, slammed SoCalGas for promoting the two-year testing requirement to the public even as it quietly asked regulators for permission to reassess storage wells at Aliso less frequently. "That company is the last company that should get a pass on safety and environmental regulations," he said. In the gas company's May 18 letter, Goldstein said the requested enforcement delay would apply only to wells that have already passed baseline inspections. He also cited new federal guidelines that don't require gas storage wells to be tested every two years. "The industry and experts continue to evaluate the risk of well entry inspections. While this research is still new and ongoing, to date there has not been any fact-based or science-based research affirming that two-year well reassessment intervals requiring well entry decreases the risk of damage to life, health, property, or natural resources," Goldstein wrote. Tera Lecuona of Porter Ranch holds a protest sign during a hearing in Granada Hills over the October 2015 blowout at Southern California Gas Co.'s Aliso Canyon storage facility. (Richard Vogel / Associated Press) CalGEM posted the utility's letters as well as other requests from oil and gas companies seeking to extend regulatory deadlines due to COVID-19 on its website last week. A spreadsheet shows the agency has approved six requests, rejected 18 and is still considering 13 others, including one from the oil giant Chevron to delay remediation for 19 wells in Kern County by one year. State officials fined Chevron $2.7 million last year after a Kern County spill that saw more than 1.3 million gallons of oil and wastewater seep into a dry creek bed from one of the company's wells at the Cymric Oil Field, about 35 miles west of Bakersfield. One of California's other major gas utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric, made a request similar to the one submitted by SoCalGas, for its McDonald Island storage field in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. PG&E acknowledged it had already expected to have trouble completing its planned 2020 well inspections even before the pandemic. But with COVID-19, PG&E wrote, the company "anticipates the well work schedule ... to be impacted such that completion of the well work" is unlikely to be achieved by Oct. 1. CalGEM says it's still considering PG&E's request. Click here to read the full article. Key Point: Lawmakers should recognize the capability inherent in the weapons system and culture that surrounds the A-10. Recently, Rep. Martha McSally suggested that the Air Force conduct a fly-off between the F-35 and the A-10 to see which did better at providing Close Air Support (CAS). But effective CAS is about more than just the capabilities of the aircraft involved. It requires an Air Force community with intimate knowledge of the Armys maneuver tactics, mindset and intent. The A-10 community has this knowledge. But that understanding will be lost if and when the Air Force retires the A-10 weapons systemunless its leadership takes a different course of action than the one currently planned. Sizing up the Equipment The A-10 was designed specifically to provide CAS. It can carry a great deal of ordnance; its thirty-millimeter cannon can fire at greater range and with more accuracy than any other fighter, and it can loiter over a target area longer than any other fourth-generation platform. That capability, paired with pilots who are intimately familiar with the faculties, movement, mindsets and limitations of the Army, puts the A-10 weapons system heads above all others in the CAS environment. Unfortunately, limited numbers of A-10s have forced other aircraft to step into the role. Over the last decade, A-10s have accounted for just 24 percent of all CAS sorties flown in Afghanistan. Though not ideally suited for CAS, other aircraft have played the role admirably. F-16s and F-15Es flew thousands of CAS sorties over Iraq in 200405, dropping munitions on more than two hundred targets in that year alone. Many of those strikes occurred when there was little to no safe separation between the enemy and friendly forces, yet they delivered those munitions flawlessly. Unlike the F-35, the A-10 was not designed to operate in a modern-day, high threat CAS environment, where Stealth and sensor fusion technologies are critical. But not all future operations will be played out in such an environment, so for the sake of sizing up the two aircraft, lets compare them in the context of a low-threat scenario. Story continues The F-35s internal munitions bay, coupled with racks of ordnance mounted externally, will dwarf the ordnance capacity of an F-16, and hold its own with the A-10 and F-15E. Its outsized fuel capacity will likely give it more time over a target area than the A-10. Its internal targeting system and precision guided munition capability is excellent now and will eventually meet or exceed the capability and accuracy of any other CAS platform in the world. Moreover, the F-35s air-to-surface cockpit visibility is very good andshould the need ariseits twenty-five-millimeter cannon can get the job done. Bottom line: The F-35 may never be perceived as the premier close air support fighter, but in a low threat environment it will perform every current CAS role at least as well as any other fourth-generation fighter, with the exception of the A-10. And it is one of only two fighters in or entering any service inventory that has the faculties and survivability required to fulfill that role in a denied environment. Culture Matters CAS is more than a matter of equipment. One of the most underrated aspects of the A-10 system is the community of pilots who fly it. Every man or woman who enters the operational world of the Hog is taught not just how to employ ordnance in the Close Air Support fight, but to embrace the culture and environment that go with it. As the F-16s and F-15Es have proved in Iraq, any aircraft capable of delivering ordnance can operate effectively in a low-threat, slow-moving insurgency environment. But employing ordnance effectively in support of a rapidly moving, sizable force-on-force environment is something completely different. There the organization, language, nomenclature, formations, mindsets, tactics and silhouettes of both friend and foe have to be resident in the pilots. Much like the air-superiority community of the F-15C, the single mission of the A-10 has allowed its community to embrace the Army and focus their efforts on the mission of supporting them. Those faculties cant be developed overnightits impossible to build a culture that will embrace the Army within a squadron that plays multiple roles in combat. In the early 2000s, much of the opposition to the F-35 came from the Army. The generals feared that, with the retirement of the A-10, the Air Force would move away from its commitment to the CAS mission. Not only was the Army well satisfied with the A-10, it really didnt want the job shifted to F-35s tasked with multiple missions (interdiction, suppression of enemy air defenses, air superiority and special weapons) on top of CAS. Those other missions, Army brass felt, would drive its need for CAS to the bottom of the list. To answer that concern, the Air Force altered its F-35 purchase plans to include enough short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B variants to replace the A-10 and keep CAS as a high priority. Following through with that plan would have sustained the CAS community. Unfortunately, the Air Force later reversed the F-35B decision and resumed looking to retire the A-10. Its All About the Community Keeping the A-10 in the inventory solely because of its exceptional CAS faculties isnt a viable argument. Other air-to-surface-capable aircraft have performed well in low-threat employment situations, and there is little question the F-35 will meet or exceed those jets in a low- or high-threat environment. But the A-10 system is more than just a capable aircraft. Its a weapons system built on a community that has been the cornerstone of the Air Forces commitment of support to the Army for the last four decades. If the Air Force shifts the CAS mission to the F-35A, whatever part of the A-10 community that survives the initial transition will die the same, slow death suffered by other Air Force missions that supported the Army. Consider the fate of the Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center mission, which dissolved into the ether when the EC-130 was retired. The argument that future CAS engagements will almost all occur in denied environments, requiring the stealth and fusion of the F-35, also isnt viable. Projected trends in global demographics, assessments of future operating environments, intelligence estimates and common sense all point to the likely need for CAS in low-threat/low-intensity environments for many years to come. All 1,753 operational F-35As will be needed to train forand facethe threats posed by China, Russia and North Korea. It would be foolish to use an F-35 in an environment where an equally effective, but less costly platform like the A-10 thrives. Rather than demand a hardware-centric fly-off, lawmakers should recognize and value the capability inherent in the weapons system and culture that surrounds the A-10. They are second to none. The Army needs the expertise, culture and community surrounding the A-10 to remain a vibrant part of the Air Force for the foreseeable future. A twenty-five-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, John JV Venable is a senior research fellow in The Heritage Foundations Center for National Defense. This article first appeared in 2016 and is reprinted here due to reader interest. Image: U.S. Air Force / Flickr Click here to read the full article. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. in the filmed version of the Broadway production of "Hamilton." (Lin-Manuel Miranda and Nevis Productions LLC) As the Revolutionary War nears its climax in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Mirandas great American barnstormer of a musical, Gen. George Washington orders a hotheaded young aide to return home and cool his heels. Fiercely ambitious and eager to command troops of his own, Alexander Hamilton still years from becoming the first Treasury secretary or co-authoring the Federalist Papers is disappointed by this forced respite from duty. It falls to his wife, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with their first child, to offer some clarity and perspective in song: Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now. Of all the dazzlingly articulated sentiments in Hamilton, few may sound more incongruous right now than that one or, paradoxically, more fitting. To be a living, thinking American in 2020, during a health crisis that has claimed thousands of lives and may claim many more, is to experience a strange commingling of relief, horror and guilt. To see a nation protesting (again) the destruction and oppression of Black lives is to be flooded with disorienting bursts of despair and hope. We live in a contradictory moment, and Hamilton a joyous synthesis of popular culture and peoples history, a utopian vision of equality set in profoundly unequal times is nothing if not animated by its own contradictions. That remains entirely apparent in this straightforward, stirring visual record of the original Broadway production, which was filmed over two June 2016 performances directed (for stage and screen) by the multitasking Thomas Kail. For those of us who have never seen the stage show, and have compensated by spending many happy hours with the soundtrack, its a particular pleasure to be figuratively ushered into the live Richard Rodgers Theatre audience, whose applause you often hear and whose presence you sometimes glimpse in passing. Unaltered from that initial staging, apart from some seamless editing (by Jonah Moran) and the silencing of a few family-unfriendly expletives, this filmed Hamilton is somehow both a four-year-old time capsule and a timely encounter with the present. Story continues Disney, which acquired the film earlier this year, had originally planned an October 2021 theatrical release. But when theaters closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it decided to make Hamilton available for streaming on Disney+ more than a year early just in time for a July 4 holiday under quarantine and, less expectedly, for our latest convulsive nationwide referendum on systemic racism and authoritarian violence. Its hard to imagine a more receptive backdrop for a drama that ingeniously recasts the Founding Fathers as people of color, placing America's oft-repeated "nation of immigrants" rhetoric into the most literal terms imaginable. Nor can I think of a better moment for a musical that reminds us anew that the language of hip-hop is a language of protest. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Phillipa Soo in "Hamilton." (Lin-Manuel Miranda and Nevis Productions LLC) None of which is meant to suggest that this is the film we need right now or to burden Hamilton with messianic claims that the show a celebration of a once-unsung hero and a pointed reminder of the limitations of heroism would never make for itself. Reviewing the touring production at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in 2017, my Times colleague Charles McNulty noted that "its embodiment of pluralism and diversity will touch anyone who longs to see America live up to its ideals," and the same holds true of this filmed version. Mirandas rap-sodic historical epic may not save the soul of a battered republic, but its consolations are real, its pleasures revivifying, its emotional force galvanic. Arriving at a moment of intensifying darkness, it shines a light that is both warm and persistent. This is a work that understands the improbability of its own existence and success and assuredly shrugs it off, much as the low-born, high-minded Hamilton must have had to do at some point. The entire story is framed as an answer to the question slyly posed at the outset: How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a / Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten / spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor, / grow up to be a hero and a scholar? Those are the words of Aaron Burr (the splendid Leslie Odom Jr., winner of one of the shows 11 Tony Awards), the coolly calculating politico and future vice president who will emerge as Hamiltons chief rival and fire the fatal shot in their famous duel. But not, of course, until after he spends years bearing frustrated witness to Hamiltons prodigious rise from poverty and illegitimacy to achieve lasting fame and influence as a military strategist, constitutional defender and economic mastermind. Even in this chronicle of a death foretold, that journey never feels like a foregone conclusion, due in no small part to the modulated intensity and often-exquisite delicacy of Mirandas performance in the title role. His delivery is as expressive as it is virtuosic; his lyrics become a poetic analog for Hamiltons own strengths and weaknesses his emotional earnestness, political transparency and formidable, sometimes insufferable intellect. Mirandas book and lyrics (inspired by Ron Chernows 2004 Hamilton biography) may elide the finer complexities of the banking system, but you recognize instinctively, in those syncopated verbal rhythms and coruscating rhymes, the internal circuitry of a gifted writers mind. Daveed Diggs in "Hamilton." (Lin-Manuel Miranda and Nevis Productions LLC) Those gifts are happily doled out across the entirety of this sprawling and pointedly egalitarian production. David Korins' spare maritime set, versatile enough to evoke Hamiltons St. Croix childhood as well as the war-ravaged harbors of Boston and New York, is soon bustling with rivals, allies and admirers, played by predominantly Black and Latino actors dressed in 18th century finery. We see Hamilton carousing with friends like the Marquis de Lafayette (the sensational Daveed Diggs), John Laurens (Anthony Ramos) and Hercules Mulligan (Okieriete Onaodowan), drinking and sparring and plotting their response (Rise up!) to the ever-wearying millstone of British rule. We also see him and Burr make competitive strides into society life, where Hamilton wins the heart and hand of the wealthy Elizabeth Schuyler (Phillipa Soo), even though her sharp-witted older sister, Angelica (Renee Elise Goldsberry), is in many ways his truer match. Its no knock to observe that the camera coverage is mostly fluid and functional, given the tight timing of the shoot, the size of the ensemble and the fact that the play really is the thing here. Declan Quinns photography complements rather than obscures Kails stagecraft, and allows you to enjoy the dynamism of Howell Binkleys lighting and of Andy Blankenbuehlers frame-spilling choreography. Nine cameras were installed around the theater for these performances, and at no point not even with the occasional Gods-eye flourish does any of them seem to be in the wrong place. Due to the abundance of long shots and smooth cutting, the intermittent closeups are all the more striking in their intimacy. And sometimes their comedy, as whenever King George III (the wonderfully imperious Jonathan Groff) checks in to roll his eyes at the progress of the American Revolution and, after Englands defeat, the messiness and grandeur of the American experiment. Act 2 finds Hamilton and his associates scaling new heights of influence and opportunity, including the opportunity for heartache. There are the joys and tragedies of parenthood, as well as the temptations of an affair with the married Maria Reynolds (Jasmine Cephas Jones), placing Hamilton at the center of the nations first political sex scandal. Most satisfyingly, there are the furious Cabinet jousts over the merits of Hamiltons proposed banking system and the agrarian ideologies of his other major nemesis, Thomas Jefferson (Diggs again, one of several actors who played dual roles on Broadway). You are reminded that the art of statecraft remains fertile, under-tilled dramatic territory, even if real-life policymaking rarely makes room for insults as delightful as Would you like to join us, or stay mellow / Doin whatever the hell it is you do in Monticello. And through it all, the music both the magnificence of the actors singing and the infectious loveliness of Alex Lacamoires orchestrations acts as a sustaining force, ironing out brief lapses in the storytelling and lending this 161-minute work its furious momentum. Jonathan Groff in "Hamilton." (Lin-Manuel Miranda and Nevis Productions LLC) One tendency of so much biographical fiction, whether on page, stage or screen, is to flatter and flatten the lives of major historical figures. That tendency is held in check here by the recurring perspective of Odom's Burr, whose calculating, close-to-the-vest approach proves both the equal and the antithesis of Hamiltons own heart-on-his-sleeve ambition. Burr is harder to warm to but perhaps easier to pity, depending on whether you see him as more of an Iago or a Salieri. Those reference points are hardly accidental: Hamilton draws lyrical, narrative and stylistic energy from every direction, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Gilbert and Sullivan, from the Notorious B.I.G. to Destinys Child to Shakespeare. This delirious style of cultural-historical fusion is meant to leave you with as many questions as answers, and Hamilton, like any breathless phenomenon, has not gone unchallenged. Historians have unsurprisingly taken the show to task for its inaccuracies, and also for perpetuating the dubious aesthetics of Founders Chic. Some see in Mirandas work an uncritical glorification of a Wall Street forerunner; others see a story that is considerably more progressive on race than gender. And speaking of race, perhaps the most trenchant criticism has been that Hamilton glosses over its heros ambivalent position on slavery, adding a note of dissonance, less fatal than fascinating, to the racially inclusive casting that remains its most significant masterstroke. As I said: contradictions. And contradictions, which lie at the heart of democracy itself, are nothing to be feared. Really, they are only likely to deepen as this film turns living rooms into makeshift cinemas and auditoriums, igniting fresh admiration and dissent along the way. How could it do otherwise? Its worth remembering that Hamilton, the consummate theatrical work of the Obama years, also claimed one of the earliest cultural skirmishes of the Trump era, when Vice President-elect Mike Pence attended the show in November 2016 and was personally called out from the stage. Four years later, its hard not to feel that Hamilton has never really gone away (and not only because a former national security advisor just published a controversial memoir whose title riffs on one of Mirandas best songs, The Room Where It Happens). Such confrontations are only to be expected from a work that not only engages with history but, through its reach and renown, becomes a part of it. One of the shows more obvious lessons is that history is a living, breathing entity, and that the cyclical rise-and-fall narratives of leaders and empires can be studied and recounted in ways that uncover bold new patterns of meaning. This film, a solid capture of a momentous work of art, illuminates those patterns in ways both sobering and thrilling. I still hesitate to call Hamilton the film we need right now, partly because it deserves better than boilerplate hype. And partly because I suspect that, as with all reverberant history, its most significant work may still be ahead of it. "Grisha," left, reuniting with his boyfriend, "Bogdan," in the documentary "Welcome to Chechnya." (HBO) With 2020 such a nightmare (and we're still in the first act), its sometimes a challenge to wrap our brains around the worlds many pre-existing crises. David Frances daring new documentary Welcome to Chechnya goes undercover to detail one such horrific situation, the extrajudicial persecution of gays and lesbians in the Chechen Republic. First reported in 2017, the anti-gay purge has targeted people based on their perceived sexual orientation, exposing them to unlawful detainment, torture and worse. Republic head Ramzan Kadyrov has angrily denied there is a purge, unwilling even to acknowledge the existence of gay men in the largely Muslim Chechnya, saying they would have been killed by their families. Sadly, hes not far wrong, as honor killings are not uncommon. In the wake of the killings, mutilations and disappearances, LGBTQ activists have stepped in. An elaborate underground network of international organizations utilize secret identities, safe houses and clandestine extractions to transport as many victims to safety as possible. France wisely zeros in on two activists and two people who find themselves targeted one by the Chechen government, the other by her own family. Embedded with the rescue teams, France and his minimalist crew craftily record audio and video while these high-stakes operations play out with the intensity of a Bourne thriller. We first meet David Isteev, crisis response coordinator for the Russian LGBT Network, who possesses the calm, cool demeanor of a special ops agent. Brimming with empathy and understanding, Isteev is nevertheless able to make split-second decisions to ensure the safety of his charges. Likewise, Olga Baranova, director of the Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives, offers clear-eyed support balanced by the warmth of a mom (which she is) to those who pass through the Moscow safe house. Those fleeing for their lives are typically channeled through the Russian capital before being spirited to a nearby country identified in the film as Somewhere in Europe or Somewhere in Eurasia for security reasons. Story continues Among those aided by the network is 21-year-old Anya, the daughter of a high-ranking Chechen official. She was being blackmailed by an uncle who discovered she is a lesbian. If she refused to have sex with him, he threatened to out her to her family, putting her at grave risk of an honor killing. Grisha, a Russian presenter and event planner, was working in Chechnya when he was detained and tortured. He was mistakenly released but then sought sanctuary when he realized the Chechens were looking for him. Eventually, in the face of threats to their safety, Grishas boyfriend, his mother and sister, along with her two young children, also needed to take refuge, creating a greater challenge and more middle-of-the-night maneuvers for their rescuers. A scene from the documentary "Welcome to Chechnya." (HBO) In addition to using subjects' aliases and keeping the geography vague, France deploys digital means to distort identities but preserve emotions and facial reactions think The Irishman but ultimately less distracting. The effect is initially disorienting but preferable to subjects speaking in the shadows. If Chechnya seems like a far and distant land, beyond our sphere of concern, keep these numbers from the film in mind: In two years, the Russian LGBT Network resettled 151 survivors, 44 of them in Canada. The Trump administration has accepted no Chechen LGBTQ refugees. None. Reportedly, more than 40,000 people remain in hiding. As in his previous films, the Oscar-nominated How to Survive a Plague and The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, France, an investigative reporter, presents ordinary citizens doing remarkable things. If only our governments could learn to follow suit. ILLINOIS Proceed with caution. That seems to be the consensus among most Illinois Patch readers when it comes to reopening schools this fall. Most of the nearly 8,600 readers who responded to the school reopening survey said it's time to reopen schools, but that masks should be required. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education have offered guidance based on plans to reopen schools for in-person learning in the fall, although the governor said Illinois could move backwards to previous phases of the Restore Illinois plan prompting a return to e-learning if coronavirus cases surge here. But many parents were also wary about sending their kids back to in-person classes as coronavirus surges in other parts of the country, even as cases are on the decline in Illinois. Nearly half 46.9 percent of those who responded said it's time for schools to reopen. But 37.6 percent said it's too soon, and 15.6 percent said they weren't sure whether schools should reopen. The Great Mask Debate: How Illinois Residents Feel About Them Meanwhile, echoing the sentiment of many readers who responded to a Patch survey last week, 65.2 percent said schools should require students to wear masks. Only 24.1 percent opposed requiring students to wear masks, and 10.7 percent weren't sure. Opinion was divided as parents were asked, "Will you send your children back to school in the fall?" Nearly 43 percent said they will, but another 41.2 percent said it will depend on how coronavirus cases are trending in Illinois when school starts. Nearly 16 percent weren't sure yet. As for how afraid they are of sending their kids back to school, the largest percentage 27.9 percent rated their fear at a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5, showing that many parents are anxious about the prospect of their children resuming classes amid the pandemic. The next-largest group, 21.3 percent, rated their fear at a mere 1 out of 5. Just over 12 percent rated their fear at a 2; 20 percent rated it at a 3 and 18.2 percent rated it at a 4 out of 5. This article originally appeared on the Across Illinois Patch Seagram's 7 Crown, along with the Diageo family of brands, is Giving Back to Bartenders and Donating more than $1.75 million through Diageo's #TipsFromHome Program NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seagram's 7 Crown has always been at home in dive bars, and now these local havens and their bartenders are facing unprecedented challenges. To show support as bars begin to re-open this summer, Seagram's 7 Crown is joining Diageo's #TipsFromHome social program, a movement providing the bartending community with ongoing financial relief. As part of the initiative, Seagram's 7 Crown has teamed up with bartenders from across the country to mix up unique twists on the classic 7&7 cocktail through a social video series. These recipes tap into the spirit of ease, comfort and total lack of pretension we've missed from our neighborhood dives while they've been closed. In addition to walking through a unique 7&7 recipe, each bartender shares what dive bars mean to them. Now, each time someone shares the brand's #TipsFromHome posts and tags up to seven friends, Seagram's 7 Crown & Diageo will donate $1 up to $1 million to the USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Program. Through the #TipsFromHome program, the brand is helping hundreds of bartenders get back to work, while also pledging financial support to the USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Fund. Seagram's 7 Crown hopes adults of legal age can join in raising a glass and tip the local bartenders they've missed seeing. "Bartenders are truly the heart and soul of our favorite dive bars and it's important we continue to support this community. While we would normally celebrate National Dive Bar Day in July, we realize it will take more than one day to help our friends across the hospitality industry, so we'll be supporting them all summer long with #TipsFromHome," said Diageo Brand Director Jason Sorley. "We're hoping this program helps our friends in the hospitality industry, while giving loyal patrons an opportunity to raise a glass and support their favorite bars across the country for years to come." Story continues Diageo first launched the #TipsFromHome program in April, giving people recipes to make delicious cocktails at-home, along with the ability to "tip" those in the bar and restaurant community who are in need across a selection of national and local charities. As part of the #TipsFromHome program, Seagram's 7 Crown partnered with five bartenders working at dive bars across the country, including St. Louis Bartender Meggan Hunott, Houston Bartender Kamikka McQueen, Indianapolis Bartender Alli King, Los Angeles Bartender Dorian Dorsey and Jacksonville Bartender Fernando Meza. You can find their take on the classic 7&7 on Seagram's Instagram. Seagram's 7 Crown is a carefully blended American whiskey aged in oak with a rich and casual history. The whiskey shares a storied past with dive bars, as both have been an integral part of American drinking culture. To learn more about #TipsFromHome and the USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Program, adults 21 and older can visit seagrams7.com or follow the #TipsFromHome conversation on social media. No matter how you choose to celebrate dive bars re-opening this summer, Seagram's 7 Crown reminds you to always drink responsibly. About Seagram's 7 Crown Seagram's 7 Crown is an American icon with a rich heritage dating back to the 1930s. A blended American whiskey, Seagram's 7 Crown has a legacy of bringing people together through its easy-to-drink, smooth liquid. Seagram's 7 Crown is casual, approachable and has a taste profile that stands the test of time on its own and in its signature drink, the 7 & 7. For more information, visit seagrams7.com and follow us on Instagram @seagrams7. Seagram's 7 Crown encourages all consumers to please enjoy responsibly. About Diageo Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Casamigos, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Follow us on Twitter for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA. Celebrating life, every day, everywhere. Media Contacts Jason Sorley DIAGEO Jason.D.Sorley@diageo.com (203) 229-4002 Joe Clarkson Taylor Strategy JClarkson@taylorstategy.com 704-644-6912 Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seagrams-7-crown-joins-social-pledge-to-rally-further-support-for-bartending-community-all-summer-long-301086095.html SOURCE Seagram's 7 Crown After severe thunderstorms produced damaging winds, large hail and even a tornado across the western Dakotas on Monday, a similar area will be at risk into Tuesday night. However, the threat will also extend farther to the east. The combination of a cold front and a disturbance at the level of the atmosphere where jets fly will move eastward and trigger the risk for severe weather for more than 25 million people over parts of the northern and central Plains, as well as part of the Upper MIdwest. Cities such as Fargo, North Dakota; Omaha, Nebraska, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, are in the zone where severe weather may strike. Places like Dickinson and Minot, North Dakota, that were hit hard on Monday may experience rough weather again into Tuesday night. This threat will extend into southeastern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba in Canada as well. "Parts of southwest Manitoba that have already seen quite a bit of rainfall this past week will once again be under the gun for flash flooding this afternoon into the evening hours," said Storm Warning Meteorologist Michael Youman. Meteorologists are monitoring the risk for flash flooding, large hail and damaging winds. While the risk is low, there is also a nonzero risk for a tornado. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP "Even a tornado or two couldn't be ruled out as these storms initially develop in central parts of the Dakotas," Youman mentioned. "During the evening and early overnight hours, multiple lines of thunderstorms will move across the northern and central Plains and as far south as northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri, with high wind gusts up to 80 mph and localized areas of flash flooding expected across these areas," Youman continued. While storms in portions of the middle Mississippi, lower Ohio and Tennessee valleys, as well as the southern Appalachians and part of the Atlantic coast are unlikely to produce any organized severe weather, isolated instances of damaging winds could occur. In addition, with ample moisture in place in many locations, any thunderstorms can produce very heavy rain and cause localized flooding. Story continues The risk of downpours will be enhanced slightly in the Northeast as a stationary storm system increases thunderstorm coverage a bit. As the jet stream disturbance from the northern Plains comes into northern portions of the Upper Midwest on Wednesday, parts of Minnesota will be at risk for thunderstorms. Even though severe weather will be less of a risk than on Tuesday, the storms could still have some hail and strong wind gusts. Elsewhere in the region, the main hazard with any storms will primarily be heavy rain. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. Daniel Gonzalez, a 17-year-old rising senior at Miami Lakes Educational Center, found an email from a lawyer in his inbox Monday afternoon. If Gonzalez didnt remove a series of posts he had made the previous day on Twitter, he could get hit with a defamation lawsuit, the letter said. The posts in question featured photographs Gonzalez had taken at a rally Sunday in Miami Lakes, where supporters of President Donald Trump had organized a caravan in response to a Black Lives Matter protest that was happening in the same location along Northwest 154th Street. Gonzalez tweeted dozens of pictures from the rally, showing the faces of attendees sitting in their cars. Each one featured the same hashtag: #RacistsofMiamiLakes. Hundreds of people retweeted them. You have published false and defamatory statements on Twitter regarding D.F., G.B., F.M., and others, attorney Douglas Jeffrey wrote in his letter to Gonzalez, saying he represents several individuals whose photographs were shared. D.F. is a minor, and G.B. and F.M. are both prominent, well respected members of the Miami Lakes community. They are not racists. In addition to the three people referenced anonymously in the letter, Jeffrey said he is representing Julio Martinez, a former interim mayor of neighboring Hialeah from 1990 to 1993. Martinez also ran for mayor of Hialeah in 2013. He responded on Twitter to the photograph Gonzalez shared of him, highlighting his military service. I am a Cuban American US Army Veteran who served to protect our Country from communism and could care less what tag you try to give me, Martinez wrote. If it wasnt for folks like myself you wouldnt be allowed to make such an idiotic statement. See my 25th Infantry Div.Cap and American flag. Former Miami Lakes councilman Frank Mingo is also pictured in one of Gonzalezs photographs. Jeffrey declined to comment on whether Mingo is one of his clients. In his letter, Jeffrey demanded that Gonzalez delete his posts by 8 p.m. Monday and issue an apology. Otherwise, he said, his clients would pursue all legal remedies, including potentially suing not only Gonzalez, but also his parents for vicarious liability and negligent supervision. Story continues Shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, Gonzalez posted a screenshot of the letter from Jeffrey on Twitter, along with the message: Imagine suing a 17 year old high school student. I photographed some Trump supporters I didnt know that were counter protesting a #BLM protest in Miami Lakes and called them racist. Their lawyers told me that theyre not. I guess Ill take their word for it. Sorry. Gonzalez subsequently deleted most of the posts, although at least seven remained on Twitter as of around 11 p.m. Monday. They had all been deleted shortly before midnight. He told the Miami Herald he had intended to delete all of them after a friend who is a lawyer told him it wasnt worth the risk of getting sued. But other lawyers reached out to him via Twitter, he said, and told him they thought the rally attendees had no grounds to sue him. One person wrote: Mr. Gonzalez: I help people threatened with bogus defamation suits find pro bono legal help. This threat is unusually frivolous and thuggish. Feel free to reach out for help. After Gonzalez had deleted most of the tweets, someone else on Twitter posted a link to a page where 21 of Gonzalezs photos had been uploaded. Gonzalez retweeted the post but said he wasnt behind the move. Gonzalez, who is the photo editor for his high school newspaper but wasnt working for the paper Sunday, said he decided to post the photographs as he thought about reports of police tracking Black Lives Matter protesters, possibly by using images of their faces. Opponents of the movement are really the ones who ought to be publicly exposed, Gonzalez argued. How come the same thing isnt being done for the counter-protesters? he said. If you want to [counter-protest], thats fine, but then show that to everyone else. If youre gonna do something, at least own up to it. Gonzalez added that he didnt understand why Sundays pro-Trump caravan had been organized in response to a Black Lives Matter protest. In a message circulated privately, the caravan organizers, led by a group called Cubans4Trump, said they would be riding on opposite side of the street of a BLM sit in. They asked people not to announce the event publicly, but word got out after someone posted it on Twitter. Black Lives Matter isnt a movement against Trump. ... They see it as a way to reform the police, Gonzalez said, noting that he believes fellow Hispanics like many of the people who attended Sundays caravan who support Trump are racist. The person that theyre supporting has openly discriminated against them, yet they still support him, he said. If youre Hispanic and youre supporting Trump, then youre racist as well. Jeffrey, the Miami Lakes attorney who contacted Gonzalez, told the Herald on Monday night that he had not yet seen Gonzalezs response to his letter on Twitter, but that he was told the apology was insufficient and that Gonzalez hadnt taken down all the photos. I havent decided what course were gonna pursue yet, Jeffrey said. He disparaged a bunch of good citizens who are not racist, who he did not know, who hed never spoken to. The word racist, Jeffrey added, is a very bad word where I come from. Theres nothing racist about waving an American flag and being proud of the United States, he said. Jeffrey said he wasnt aware that the caravan had been planned in response to a Black Lives Matter protest, and that he believed some people who attended were only told it was a pro-Trump rally and in support of the police. He pointed out that he has represented victims of police brutality and discrimination in the past. But in this case, he said, social media posts were sullying the excellent reputations of members of the community. How do you call someone a racist if you dont know them? he said. Its unfortunate because its upending peoples lives. Collapsing demand from rental car companies, corporations and government agencies has sapped U.S. auto sales during the coronavirus pandemic, and a recovery will likely be slow, threatening autoworkers whose jobs depend on fleet sales. Weak fleet orders are expected to hurt June sales, which automakers will report on Wednesday. Cox Automotive forecasts fleet sales will fall nearly 56% to 1.3 million vehicles after plunging 83% in May and 77% in April. In the short term, fleet sales are not a major concern for automakers focused on ramping up production to beef up anemic dealer inventories for higher-profit sales to consumers. They will become a challenge when inventories are replenished, however, since production must be maintained to keep automakers profitable. Any sustained production cuts could trigger job cuts in an industry that accounts for roughly one fifth of U.S. retail sales. "If we don't see a rebound in 2021, this will be a problem for automakers," said Zohaib Rahim, economic and industry insights manager at Cox Automotive. "But right now they're using all their production to supply dealers." Commercial sales are seen coming back in 2021, but government orders may take a hit next year once the pandemic's impact on tax revenue becomes clear. The rental car industry where Hertz Global filed for bankruptcy protection in May faces a deeply uncertain future. Around 62% of nearly 2.8 million vehicles sold to fleet buyers in 2019 went to rental car companies. Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, says the car models facing greater risk because of their reliance on lower-margin rental fleet sales include the Nissan Altima and Chevrolet Malibu. U.S. fleet sales are dominated by GM, Ford, Nissan and FCA and accounted for 16.4% of new vehicle sales in 2019. In 2019, fleet sales accounted for nearly 22% of GM's sales, with about half going to rental fleets and the other half to corporations and government agencies. Fleet sales accounted for nearly 28% of Nissan's 2019 sales, with almost 93% of those sales going to rental car companies. Story continues John Ruppert, Ford's general manager of commercial and government fleet sales, said the impact on commercial sales has been mixed. Ford is the market leader for higher-margin commercial and government fleet sales. On the positive side, Ruppert said work-from-home policies have boosted orders from telecommunications companies and created new demand for delivery vehicles. However, after a historic decline in oil prices, Ruppert said it "could be some time in 2021" before industry-wide vehicle orders from oil and gas producers recover. Contract talks for commercial fleet orders usually begin March or April, but did not this year as the economy shut down. "We're seeing those contract talks happening now in earnest," Ruppert said. Some orders could be delayed a quarter or two, he said, meaning overall commercial fleet sales should recover some time in 2021. Ruppert said government orders are based on the previous year's tax base, so 2021 orders will reflect this year's pandemic. FCA is "bullish" on fleet sales in the second half of 2020 thanks to commercial and government purchases, U.S. head of sales Jeff Kommor said. "Despite vehicles sitting idle for a few months in 2020, most commercial and government fleet operators have a schedule they adhere to maximize their residual value," he said. The Kansas City, Kansas, plant where GM makes the Malibu will be shut down for an extra week this summer, which a spokeswoman said reflected both consumer and fleet demand. GM does not intend to halt Malibu production, she said. "Rental companies have been an important customer of ours," she added. "We expect that to continue in the future, when the rental market recovers." The Malibu and Altima sedans have both seen a long decline in consumer demand. Nissan spokeswoman Lloryn Love-Carter said the Japanese automaker "continuously considers a number of opportunities to drive efficiencies within our manufacturing operations." Nissan declined to comment on fleet sales. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- The John Roberts show continued today at the Supreme Court. The chief justice cast the deciding vote to overturn a decision by the Montana Supreme Court that barred a state scholarship program from funding education at religious schools. In effect, the decision says that if a state has a program that provides scholarship funding for schools, it has to make those scholarships available to religious institutions even when the state constitution has a provision barring aid to religion. The conservative ruling followed others in previous years by Roberts. Like those that came before, it took yet another brick out of the wall separating church and state. In the foreseeable future, there may be no wall left at all. The context for todays decision, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, goes all the way back to the 19th century and the earliest days of the public school movement. From the start, public schools in the U.S. were labeled as non-denominational or non-sectarian. As Catholic immigrants began to arrive in large numbers, some of them pointed out that the public schools were effectively Protestant, often featuring Bible readings from the King James version of the Bible and recitation of the Protestant version of the Lords Prayer. Catholics sought state funding for their own schools, or, barring that, the elimination of what they saw as distinctively Protestant practices. The response of Americas Protestant majority was essentially to tell Catholics, No way. In the run-up to the 1876 election, the Republican Party introduced a federal constitutional amendment that would have gone so far as to bar states from providing any funding to sectarian institutions, which meant Catholic ones. There was lots of anti-Catholic rhetoric in the public discussions of the proposed amendment, including on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The amendment did not pass. (Nor was it expected to it was proposed as a wedge issue to help the Republicans in the national election.) Nonetheless, many states adopted state constitutional amendments modeled on the failed federal one. As new states were admitted to the union, many of them also incorporated versions of the no-aid amendment in their constitutions. Story continues Montana has such a provision that bars state aid to any school controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination. The Montana Legislature passed a law that gave tax credits for donations to organizations that award scholarships to students in private schools. The Montana Supreme Court interpreted the no-aid provision of the Montana Constitution to bar the law because it gave aid to religious schools and struck down the program in its entirety. Robertss opinion for the court reversed the Montana Supreme Court decision. But because the U.S. Supreme Court can only interpret the federal Constitution, not state constitutions, Roberts couldnt just say that the Montana court misread the Montana Constitution. Instead, Roberts held that the Montana decision violated the free-exercise rights of people in Montana who want to donate to scholarship programs or attend religious schools using scholarship money. His logic was that the no-aid provision as applied by the Montana court amounted to discrimination against religious schools simply because they were religious. In reaching this conclusion, Roberts applied one of his own precedents, a 2017 decision called Trinity Lutheran v. Comer. In that case, Roberts established the principle that while a state is allowed to prohibit funding of religious activities, like the study of theology, it cant prohibit funding to people or institutions just because they happen to be religious. The distinction between a religious activity and a religious person or institution is pretty tenuous, as Justice Neil Gorsuch pointed out at the time in a concurrence. But Roberts insisted on maintaining the distinction because he did not want to overturn a 2004 decision by his old boss, then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist. In the 2004 case, Locke v. Davey, Rehnquist took the position that the state of Washington could apply its no-aid provision to deny funding to a student who wanted to use his state scholarship to fund a degree in devotional theology. Roberts doesnt like to overturn precedent. He likes to use his doctrinal scalpel to cut away at the precedent until its so minimal that you almost cant see it. Thats what Roberts has done to the Locke principle. He hasnt overturned it; hes cut it down to nothing. In practice, however, todays decision essentially does reverse Rehnquists ruling in Locke v. Davey. In separate dissents, liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor each made versions of the argument that Montana wasnt discriminating against religious schools, because the Montana Supreme Court struck down the entire private school scholarship tax credit, not only the part that would have gone to religious schools. This argument is, I think, a bit too clever for its own good. Seen this way, the Montana ruling looks uncomfortably like a segregated Southern town shutting down its public swimming pool rather than allowing it to become integrated. Technically, closing the pool leaves no discrimination in place, since no one, Black or White, can swim. Practically, however, shutting down the pool looks like racial discrimination. It would be a different matter if the state Legislature had never created the scholarship program in the first place. The upshot is that John Roberts is continuing the courts gradual erosion of the separation between church and state. Government funding of religion is becoming not merely permissible but even obligatory under some circumstances. I started my career as a law professor focusing on the church-state aspect of the First Amendment. Fifteen years ago, I would have considered the courts decision a disaster. Now it seems to me that the Republic faces far greater problems. Roberts is to the right of Rehnquist on the separation of church and state. But as we have seen in the last week, Roberts is well to Rehnquists left on some other issues, including upholding basic abortion rights and checking the Donald Trump administrations unlawfulness. Ill take it. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and host of the podcast Deep Background. He is a professor of law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. His books include The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Montana may not bar religious schools from participating in the states tax-credit scholarship program, a major win for school choice advocates and parents who wish to use their scholarship funds to send their children to religious schools. The court ruled 5-to-4 in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that Montana violated the Constitution by prohibiting religious schools from participating in the tax-credit program. The case arose when three families sued Montanas Department of Revenue after they were blocked from using scholarship funds for their childrens tuition at Stillwater Christian School. The Montana Supreme Court previously decided that the solution would be to scrap the entire scholarship program, a move that an attorney for the families argued was only made because the program included religious schools. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion for the majority, which included the courts conservative justices, and expressed his agreement with the familys attorney. The Supreme Court reversed the ruling of Montana Supreme Court, which Roberts said was to the detriment of religious and non-religious schools alike. The Montana Supreme Court invalidated the program pursuant to a state law provision that expressly discriminates on the basis of religious status, Roberts wrote. The Court applied that provision to hold that religious schools were barred from participating in the program. Then, seeing no other mechanism to make absolutely sure that religious schools received no aid, the court chose to invalidate the entire program. More from National Review Supreme Court building in Washington. (AFP / Getty Images) The Supreme Court bolstered religious schools on Tuesday, ruling that states that give scholarships or tuition grants to children in private schools may not deny the same aid to parents who enrolled their child in a religious school. In a 5-4 decision, the court said excluding them amounted to unconstitutional discrimination based on religion and a violation of the 1st Amendment. The decision is a victory for advocates of school choice, and a setback for those favoring a strict separation of church and state. Court scholars said the decision in the Montana case marked the first time the court has ruled states must provide aid to children in religious schools, at least under some circumstances. Montana, like more than 30 other states, has a long-standing state constitutional provision that forbids using tax money to support churches and their affiliates. On that basis, the state supreme court blocked a state-sponsored scholarship program because it gave $500 grants to low-income parents who sent their children to private and parochial schools. Kendra Espinoza and two other mothers whose children were enrolled in the Stillwater Christian School in Kalispell, Montana sued with the backing of the Virginia-based Institute for Justice. "A state need not subsidize private education," Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in Espinoza vs. Montana, joined by the four other conservative justices. "But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious." The Constitution "condemns discrimination against religious schools and the families whose children attend them. They are members of the community too and their exclusion from the scholarship program here is 'odious to our Constitution' and cannot stand," he said. Roberts, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh, pointed to the anti-Catholic bigotry of the late 19th century, which they said led to the bans on funding "sectarian schools" in most state constitutions. The five conservatives on the court, as well as liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, either grew up Catholic or attended Catholic schools. Story continues These state provisions are referred to as "Blaine amendments" because they were based on a failed constitutional amendment sponsored by then-Speaker of the House James G. Blaine, although the proposal originated with President Ulysses S. Grant. In a speech to Civil War veterans in 1875, Grant called for church-state separation and government support for a "good common school education," not funding for "sectarian schools" that are affiliated with a religion. Blaine's proposed amendment said "no money raised through taxation" to support schools shall go to any "under the control of a religious sect." The proposal won overwhelmingly in the House, but fell just short of the needed two-thirds vote in the Senate. But most states added a similar provision to their state constitutions, including Montana. "The Blaine amendment was born of bigotry and arose at a time of pervasive hostility to the Catholic Church and to Catholics in general," Roberts said. Alito said the Blaine amendments were "prompted by virulent prejudice against immigrants, particularly Catholic immigrants" and had the backing of the Ku Klux Klan. In their defense, Montana's lawyers argued that while the state's provision dates to 1889, the current version was adopted in 1972 in a constitutional convention and did not reflect such bigotry or bias. Sotomayor joined the court's other liberals, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Elena Kagan, who are Jewish, to support the separation of church and state, including a ban on government funding of religious schools. "We all recognize that the 1st Amendment prohibits discrimination against religion," Breyer wrote in dissent. "At the same time, our history and federal constitutional precedent reflect a deep concern that state funding for religious teaching, by stirring fears of preference or in other ways, might fuel religious discord and division and thereby threaten religious freedom itself." Advocates for school choice say only a handful of states provide grants or scholarships for children enrolled in private elementary or secondary schools, but the court's decision in favor of religious schools could encourage more of them to do so. "It was high time for the Blaine amendments to bite the dust, said Diana Verm, counsel for the Becket Fund on Religious Liberty. Our Constitution requires equal treatment for religious people and institutions. Relying on century-old state laws designed to target Catholics to exclude all people of faith was legally, constitutionally, and morally wrong." Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called the decision a setback for religious freedom. Forcing taxpayers to pay for private religious education as Montanas tax-credit voucher program does is a fundamental violation of their religious freedom," she said. It also "has the effect of forcing Montana taxpayers to support a program that funds discrimination. Too often, religious schools reject civil rights for women and LGBTQ people." Two new tinctures will provide Texas patients with high-quality, highly-consistent, plant-based cannabinoid medicine for an expanded set of medical conditions AUSTIN, TX, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Surterra Wellness, an established health and wellness medical cannabis retail and product brand, today announced an expansion of its line of medical cannabis Surterra Wellness tinctures for patients across the state of Texas. The new tinctures are available immediately for delivery across the state. Delivery is free for orders over $100 (or when ordering two or more products), and contactless delivery is available upon request. Surterra Wellness (CNW Group/Surterra Wellness) Surterra Wellness has introduced two new therapeutic tinctures and has revamped its existing line including: TranquilTM, a 19:1 CBD:THC ratio; SereneTM, a 4:1 CBD:THC ratio; and SootheTM, a 1:1 CBD:THC ratio. Each of the tincture blends has been formulated with proprietary terpene profiles to enhance the experience of the cannabinoid ratios. "We are thrilled to expand our Surterra Wellness product line of medical tinctures in the Texas market to provide patients with high-quality, plant-based cannabis products formulated for conditions such as cancer, autism, spasticity, epilepsy, and neurodegenerative diseases," said Marcus Ruark, President of Surterra Wellness, Texas. "We are committed to making natural and effective medical cannabis products accessible to patients across Texas." Surterra Wellness continues to offer compassionate pricing for its products in the Texas market. The newly launched Soothe tincture is compassionately priced at $60, compared to similar products on the market priced at $75. Surterra Wellness' parent company, Parallel, is a leading, global company pioneering human well-being through proprietary cannabis brands and technology-led innovation. With operations in Texas, Florida, Nevada, and Massachusetts, Parallel is one of the largest providers of medical, wellness and lifestyle cannabis products in the United States. Story continues For more information on Surterra Wellness' products in Texas, access www.surterra.com/Texas. About Parallel Parallel is a leading, global company that is pioneering human wellbeing and improving the quality of lives of humanity through the benefits of cannabinoids. Parallel is one of the fastest growing cannabis companies in the world, with vertical operations in Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Massachusetts, and a diverse portfolio of high quality, proprietary consumer brands, including Surterra Wellness, Coral Reefer, and Float. Parallel's business also includes Massachusetts' New England Treatment Access (NETA), a leading vertical cannabis operation with regional retail dispensaries and consumer brands; Molecular Infusions (Mi), a cannabis-based biopharmaceutical company; and Nevada's The Apothecary Shoppe, a vertical cannabis dispensary. Parallel's integrated footprint includes 42 retail dispensaries across the United States (US), including 39 in Florida; almost one million total square feet of cultivation and manufacturing operations across the platform; and R&D facilities in Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, and Budapest, Hungary. Parallel follows rigorous operations and business practices to ensure the quality, safety, consistency and efficacy of its products and is building a business based on strong values to be the gold standard for the industry. For more information: www.liveParallel.com. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/surterra-wellness-expands-line-of-medical-cannabis-tinctures-in-texas-301086001.html SOURCE Surterra Wellness -- Initial Indication Will Seek to Reduce Acute Intestinal Side Effects Associated with Radiation Therapy in Cancer Patients -- ROCKVILLE, Md., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Synthetic Biologics, Inc. (NYSE American: SYN), a diversified clinical-stage company leveraging the microbiome to develop therapeutics designed to prevent and treat gastrointestinal ("GI") diseases in areas of high unmet need, today announced that it submitted an Investigational New Drug ("IND") application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for its SYN-020 Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase ("IAP") program. The IND application supports an initial indication of SYN-020 for the treatment of radiation enteropathy secondary to pelvic cancer therapy. Under the IND application, the Company intends to conduct a Phase 1 single ascending dose study in healthy volunteers, designed to evaluate SYN-020 for safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic parameters. Synthetic Biologics, Inc. www.syntheticbiologics.com (PRNewsFoto/Synthetic Biologics, Inc.) "This IND submission is a key milestone in the clinical development program of SYN-020, which we believe can play an important role in regulating and maintaining gastrointestinal ("GI") and microbiome health," said Steven A. Shallcross, Chief Executive and Financial Officer. "We are excited about SYN-020's potential to mitigate the intestinal damage caused by radiation therapy routinely used to treat pelvic cancers, and look forward to exploring additional indications where the use of orally administered IAP may have a profound impact on treating and preventing age-related metabolic and inflammatory diseases." Synthetic Biologics previously announced an agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital ("MGH") granting the Company an option for an exclusive worldwide license to intellectual property and technology related to the use of IAP to maintain GI and microbiome health, diminish systemic inflammation, and treat age-related diseases. If executed, the Company plans to use this license in the advancement of an expanded clinical development program for SYN-020. Story continues About SYN-020 Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase (IAP) SYN-020 is a purified recombinant bovine IAP formulated for oral delivery to the intestines. The published literature indicates that IAP functions to diminish intestinal inflammation, tighten the gut barrier to diminish "leaky gut," and promote a healthy microbiome. Despite its broad therapeutic potential, a key hurdle to commercialization has been the high cost of IAP manufacture. Synthetic Biologics has overcome this hurdle and has the ability to produce SYN-020 at a scale and cost viable for clinical and commercial development. Synthetic Biologics is currently developing SYN-020 to reduce acute intestinal side effects associated with radiation therapy in patients with pelvic cancers. The Company has completed the IND-enabling nonclinical studies and early GMP manufacturing and has filed an IND application for this program. About Synthetic Biologics, Inc. Synthetic Biologics, Inc. (NYSE American: SYN) is a clinical-stage company leveraging the microbiome to develop therapeutics designed to prevent and treat gastrointestinal (GI) diseases in areas of high unmet need. The Company's lead clinical candidates are: (1) SYN-004 (ribaxamase) which is designed to degrade certain commonly used intravenous (IV) beta-lactam antibiotics within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to prevent microbiome damage, C. difficile infection (CDI), overgrowth of pathogenic organisms, the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGVHD) in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients, and (2) SYN-010, which is intended to reduce the impact of methane-producing organisms in the gut microbiome to treat an underlying cause of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). The Company is also advancing SYN-020, an oral formulation of the enzyme intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) to treat both local GI and systemic diseases. For more information, please visit Synthetic Biologics' website at www.syntheticbiologics.com. This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions, and include statements regarding conducting a Phase 1 single ascending dose study in healthy volunteers, designed to evaluate SYN-020 for safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic parameters, SYN-020 playing an important role in regulating and maintaining gastrointestinal and microbiome health, SYN-020's potential to mitigate the intestinal damage caused by radiation therapy routinely used to treat pelvic cancers, the use of orally administered IAP having a profound impact on treating and preventing age-related metabolic and inflammatory diseases and plans to use the license in the advancement of an expanded clinical development program for SYN-020. These forward-looking statements are based on management's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, ability to obtain FDA clearance of the IND for the SYN-020 program, a failure of additional pre-clinical studies of SYN-020 to achieve similar results to those previously achieved or to provide support for exercise of the option, the ability to enter into a license to advance an expanded clinical development program for SYN-020, a failure to receive the necessary regulatory approvals for commercialization of Synthetic Biologics' therapeutics, a failure of Synthetic Biologics' clinical trials, and those conducted by investigators, for SYN-004 and SYN-010 to be commenced or completed on time or to achieve desired results and benefits, especially in light of COVID-19, a failure of Synthetic Biologics' clinical trials to continue enrollment as expected or receive anticipated funding, a failure of Synthetic Biologics to successfully develop, market or sell its products, Synthetic Biologics' inability to maintain its material licensing agreements, or a failure by Synthetic Biologics or its strategic partners to successfully commercialize products and other factors described in Synthetic Biologics' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and its other filings with the SEC, including subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and Synthetic Biologics undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/synthetic-biologics-announces-submission-of-ind-application-to-us-fda-for-syn-020-intestinal-alkaline-phosphatase-301085631.html SOURCE Synthetic Biologics, Inc. A file photo shows the FSO Safer supertanker permanently anchored off Yemen's Red Sea coast, west of Hodeida. / Credit: HANDOUT Amman, Jordan Yemen's raging civil war has created a ticking time bomb just off the country's Red Sea coast. The FSO Safer, a 45-year-old supertanker loaded with more than 1 million barrels of crude oil has been caught between the warring sides and left to decay. Activists and officials warn that the Safer could hemorrhage its cargo into the sea at any time, with devastating consequences for nature and the already-beleaguered people of Yemen. Yemen's government says the Safer is in "bad and deteriorating" condition. The single-hulled vessel was part of Yemen's national oil infrastructure before the war started. Permanently anchored off the vital ports of Ras Issa, Saleef, and Hodeidah, it was used as an offloading terminal for Yemeni oil exports until the war stopped virtually all of that activity. Since then, these ports have become the gateway for about 85% of the vital, but still insufficient humanitarian aid coming into war-torn Yemen. In 2015, along with the nearby coastline, the Safer fell under the control of Yemen's Iranian-back Houthi rebels, who now hold much of country's north, including the capital city of Sanaa. Since then the majority of the crew of the state-owned tanker has left and access barred by the Houthis. The FSO Safer supertanker, loaded with 1.1 million barrels of Yemeni crude oil, has gone largely unmaintained since Houthi rebels seized control of the vessel from the Yemeni state-run oil company in 2015. / Credit: HANDOUT Without routine maintenance to prevent corrosion and keep vital systems running over the last five years, the supertanker is starting to fall apart. An "imminent" catastrophe Last week, The Associated Press quoted an official with Yemen's state-run oil company as saying seawater had entered the engine room, forcing the shutdown of engines used, among other things, to keep inert gas pumping through the empty space in the oil storage tanks. That gas maintains pressure in the tanks to prevent the build-up of oxygen or other potentially flammable gases. The fact that inert gas is no longer being pumped into the tanks creates a serious risk of explosion. Story continues Photos posted online by the Yemeni environmental campaign group Holm Akhdar (Green Dream) show various parts of the vessel severely corroded, which could lead to significant leaks even without an explosion. Corroded pipework is seen on the FSO Safer supertanker, off the coast of Yemen, in a photo provided by Yemeni environmental campaign group Holm Akhdar. / Credit: Handout/Holm Akhdar "The hull of the vessel has been deteriorating and one of its pipes has been punctured," the group's founder Mohammed al-Hokaimi told CBS News. He warned of an "increased risk of crude oil spilling from storage tanks while parties to the conflict continue to show indifference to this serious issue." The Yemeni government has said that if the tanker ruptures, it could create an oil spill four times larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. In a letter to the United Nations, the government said the vessel posed an "imminent environmental and humanitarian catastrophe in the Red Sea." Corroded pipes, part of a boiler system, are seen below deck on the FSO Safer supertanker, permanently anchored off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea, in an image provided by environmental group Holm Akhdar. / Credit: Handout/Holm Akhdar In a tweet earlier this month, calling on the Houthis to allow an international team to access the vessel, Britain's Ambassador to Yemen drew a comparison to a widely reported fuel leak in Russia. "20,000 tonnes of fuel in Russia is causing massive environmental damage in Siberia. The SAFER tanker in Yemen has 150,000 tonnes of crude which would devastate the Red Sea and its coast if it leaked," warned Ambassador Michael Aron. The recent spillage of 20,000 tonnes of fuel in Russia is causing massive environmental damage in Siberia. The SAFER tanker in Yemen has 150,000 tonnes of crude which would devastate the Red Sea and its coast if it leaked. The Houthis must allow the UN to tackle the issue. pic.twitter.com/m5YbMdBy5a Michael Aron (@HMAMichaelAron) June 5, 2020 Al-Hokaimi, of the environmental group, estimates that if the Safer ruptures, the resulting spill would kill off 850,000 tons of fish, put 1.5 million migratory birds at risk and put more than 125,000 Yemeni fishermen out of work. Leveraging a disaster Along with the Rea Sea environment, the tanker's valuable cargo is also at stake. The U.N. and the Yemeni government want access to the vessel, while the cash-strapped Houthi rebels want guarantees they'll be able to control the revenue from the sale of the oil, estimated at $45 million. Just like in the wider war, the two sides accuse each other of refusing to make any concessions to avert disaster. The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government's backers, chiefly Saudi Arabia and the U.S., of refusing to allow the Houthis any benefit from the sale of the crude. Houthi leader Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi vented his anger in a recent Twitter post: "The U.S., British, Saudis, Emiratis, and their coalition are mournful that a possible leak from SAFER would kill the sea creatures, while they are killing human beings in Yemen." He asked sarcastically why "the U.S. State Department is worried about Yemeni shrimp," asking if "the life of sea creatures is more important than the lives of Yemeni people." In a Twitter exchange with the British Ambassador over the weekend, al-Houthi said "any solution for the Safer must be" part of a wider peace deal, and include an easing of the Saudi-imposed blockade on Houthi-controlled Yemen. U.S. may be "guilty of war crimes" in Yemen, expert warns "It's clear that both sides have been politicizing this issue. I think the Houthis would like to use this as leverage to lift the embargo on their exports, because they need the money," Doug Weir, Director at the U.K.-based Conflict and Environment Observatory told CBS News. "From the Yemeni and the Saudi coalition side, they see this as an example of poor, corrupt governance from the Houthis, and also genuine concerns around the Red Sea environment." "If the Houthis are intent on state-building and becoming a state, then that comes with certain responsibilities for protecting the environment," noted Weir, who stressed the urgency of the matter in a new series of tweets on Monday, mounting pressure on the Houthis. "In a rational world, cooperation over the vessel would be used as a confidence-building measure," he suggested. "The situation is too serious and too urgent for the SAFER's fate, and that of the Red Sea, to be part of a wider deal at an unspecified point in the future." Faulty COVID-19 antibody tests now complicating efforts to know reach of virus Americans excluded from first federal stimulus payments speak out California orders bars and nightclubs closed in 7 counties as coronavirus cases spread A Tesla employee demonstrates the company's autopilot software. Beck Diefenbach / Reuters A Tesla slammed into a police cruiser during a traffic stop in Massachusetts in December 2019. The driver told the state trooper at the time that the car was on Autopilot, according to an incident report first reported by NBC 10 Boston. The state police say he's now facing criminal negligence charges related to the wreck. Tesla's Autopilot instructions say a driver should always be ready to take over from the computer at any time. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. A Massachusetts state trooper was in the middle of a traffic stop in December when a Tesla slammed into his patrol car, pinning him between it and the stopped vehicle. Now, the driver of the Model 3 which was apparently on Autopilot at the time of the crash is facing criminal charges of negligent driving, NBC 10 Boston reports, citing court documents. Maria Smith, a college student, recounted the scary crash to the local news channel this week. "Before I knew it, my car was flying forward," she said. "I looked behind me, and my whole back windshield was blown out. There was glass in my hair." A copy of the incident report, as published by NBC10 Boston. NBC10 Boston The driver, Nicholas Ciarlone, told the trooper at the scene of the crash that the car was on Autopilot and he "must not have been paying attention," NBC 10 Boston reported, citing the incident report. He could not be reached for comment, and is set to be arraigned in September. The Massachusetts State Police confirmed the charges to Business Insider. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tesla's Autopilot has been front-and-center in several high-profile incidents. Under normal circumstances, the software can maintain speed and direction while monitoring for obstacles so long as the driver is paying attention. But while Tesla's instructions tell drivers to constantly monitor the program and remain ready to take over on moments notice, there have been plenty of instances caught on video of drivers sleeping, leaving the drivers seat, or even filming an adult movie. Read the original article on Business Insider Several Texas bar owners on Monday sued over Governor Greg Abbotts order to shut down their businesses again as coronavirus cases in the state soar. Texas reported a record high on Monday of 5,913 individuals hospitalized for the coronavirus, and new cases of the virus rose on Saturday to a record daily high of 6,263 confirmed new cases. Deaths from the virus have remained level, however. The bar owners filed lawsuits in Austin, Houston, and Galveston, charging that the governor has exceeded his authority under the state constitution to order bars to close again and claiming that the restrictions are being unfairly imposed on bars while other businesses, such as nail and hair salons, are allowed to continue operating. The owners are demanding that Abbott call the state legislature into a special session to handle the issue. Gov. Abbott continues to act like a king, said Jared Woodfill, a lawyer representing the bar owners. Abbott is unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights. Abbott rolled back his states reopening process on Friday, singling out activity in bars as a driving factor of the spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations Texas has experienced. As I said from the start, if the positivity rate rose above 10%, the State of Texas would take further action to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the Republican governor said. At this time, it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars. The governors slowdown of the reopening process reimposes restrictions on businesses he had allowed to reopen at partial capacity, including bars, restaurants, gyms, malls, and bowling alleys. Bars were required to close at 12 p.m. on Friday but are allowed to remain open for delivery and take-out orders. Restaurants may operate dine-in service at 50 percent capacity, down from the 75 percent capacity Abbott approved earlier this month. The majority of gatherings of 100 or more people must gain approval from local governments. Story continues The announcement came two days after Abbott warned that the coronavirus is now spreading in Texas at an unacceptable rate and pleaded with residents to wear masks in public and continue practicing social distancing. Several other states have seen their coronavirus cases spike in the last several weeks, including Florida, Arizona, and California. Along with Texas, Alabama, Missouri and Nevada. More from National Review Nurses set up oxygen equipment for a newly arrived COVID-19 patient in the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, on May 6, 2020. Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The Texas Medical Center removed crucial data from its website on Sunday that showed its ICU beds at full capacity, the Houston Chronicle first reported. The move was temporary, a spokesperson said: "After the events of this week, everyone realized the capacity question was complicated and misunderstood. So new slides are being made that better explain." Coronavirus cases in Texas are surging, and may soon put ICUs at "unsustainable" capacity. Just two states, Connecticut and Rhode Island, are seeing a decline in infections. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. On Sunday, the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston, the largest medical complex in the world, scrubbed data from its website showing how beds in its intensive care units were at capacity, along with other data about coronavirus infections in the state. The move came as the area is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases, and hospitals around the state are scrambling to increase their ICU capacities. According to the Houston Chronicle, the data was deleted from the website after a conversation between hospital administrators and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who expressed displeasure at the metrics on the website. Most of the charts with hospital data were restored and modified after the Chronicle story ran. More than half of the state's hospitalizations for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have occured in the last two weeks, Newsweek reported. Days before the TMC removed ICU-bed data, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Houston hospitals to stop conducting elective surgeries, a space-saving measure for COVID-19 patients. He also put statewide reopening plans on pause. A TMC spokesperson told NBC News reporter Mike Hixenbaugh that the data was removed only temporarily. "After the events of this week, everyone realized the capacity question was complicated and misunderstood," the spokesperson said on Sunday. "So new slides are being made that better explain. That's all it is." Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The TMC had no empty ICU beds by Thursday, KHOU 11, a local media outlet, reported. Its ICU capacity is usually between 70% and 80% of its total stock. By late last week, the medical center had hit a "sustainable surge capacity." If the hospitalization rate continues at the same pace for the next two weeks, the TMC will reach an "unsustainable surge capacity," according to charts from the TMC's website. In Houston alone, hospitalizations have nearly tripled over the past month, and infections are spreading apace across the state. "Over just the past few weeks, the daily number of cases have gone from an average of about 2,000, to more than 5,000," Abbott told reporters on Sunday, by which time the statewide infection count stood at 150,200 people, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Texas's coronavirus trend is not unique: Infections are skyrocketing across southern and southwestern states, according to Johns Hopkins University. And Connecticut and Rhode Island are the only two states where coronavirus cases are declining. Some states are experiencing surges so pronounced that their medical facilities may not be able to handle the new cases. "We've reached a point in communities throughout Arizona, Texas and Florida where the epidemic is accelerating at an alarming pace and may quickly overwhelm local health care systemssignaling a need to pause reopening plans," David Rubin, director of PolicyLab and a professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, told Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider Theresa May David Frost has "no proven expertise in national security", Theresa May has said in a blistering attack on Number 10s Whitehall shake-up. The former Prime Minister made her most adversarial appearance in the Commons since she became a backbencher, criticising the governments decision to remove its most senior civil servant. Mr Frost, currently the UKs chief Brexit negotiator, will replace Sir Mark Sedwill as National Security Adviser - the first political appointee to the role since its creation in 2010. Speaking in the Commons, Mrs May, who appointed Sir Mark to the role, described the expert independent advice she received from national security advisers in the nine years she spent on the national security council, first as Home Secretary then as Prime Minister. She said "On Saturday [Michael Gove] said: 'We must be able to promote those with proven expertise.' "Why then is the new national security adviser a political appointee with no proven expertise in national security?" Mrs Mays attack on the government will be seen as a personal defence of one of her closest allies while she was in government. Sir Mark, a former ambassador to Afghanistan, was appointed Political Director to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2010, while William Hague was Foreign Secretary. In 2013 he was appointed Permanent Secretary to the Home Office, while Mrs May was Home Secretary. As Prime Minister she made Sir Mark National Security Advisor in 2017, before giving him the additional role of Cabinet Secretary a year later. Sir Mark Sedwill Responding to Mrs May, Mr Gove, minister for the Cabinet office, said: "We have had previous national security advisers, all of them excellent, not all of them necessarily people who were steeped in the security world, some of whom were distinguished diplomats in their own right. "David Frost is a distinguished diplomat in his own right, and it is entirely appropriate that the prime minister of the day should choose an adviser appropriate to the needs of the hour." Story continues The head of the civil services departure on Sunday came amid reports of increasing clashes with Dominic Cummings, the Prime Ministers chief aide. Mr Gove said the decision to separate out the NSA role from Cabinet Secretary was agreed some time ago, and praised Sir Marks exemplary service. Mrs May made her intervention following an urgent question by shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds over the Whitehall shakeup. Mr Thomas-Symonds questioned by the new NSA was a political appointee, and raised concern at reports earlier this year that Downing Street had a hit list of permanent secretaries they wanted to replace. David Frost The Prime Ministers spokesman said: It is not unusual in other countries for ambassadors to serve as national security advisers and ambassadors can be political appointees. David Frost has the status of an ambassador. The First Civil Service Commissioner has agreed the appointment. Mr Gove said that when David Cameron decided to create the role while he was in opposition, he had a political appointee in mind. However under the coalition government, Lord Ricketts was chosen instead, Mr Gove added. Meanwhile Lord Ricketts said of Mr Frost's appointment: Those advising ministers on national security do need the mastery of deep knowledge at a time when the government is formulating a new national strategy in a dangerous world. But the message of Frosts appointment is that the prime minister accords absolute priority not to expertise and experience, but to political loyalty among his closest advisers, Lord Ricketts wrote for the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, the think tank. Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, praised Sir Mark as a hugely talented person adding he would make a fantastic secretary-general of Nato. The government is expected to back Sir Marks candidature to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as part of an exit package agreed with the outgoing cabinet secretary. Health and human services secretary Alex Azar speaking to Jake Tapper: (CNN) The US health and human services secretary, Alex Azar, has warned that the window is closing for the country to control the coronavirus pandemic, amid rising cases across the US. Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday, Mr Azar said that with cases rising across the US, following an easing of lockdown measures, the pandemic still needs to be treated seriously. Things are very different from two months ago...so it is a very different situation, but this is a very, very serious situation, he said. And the window is closing for us to take action and get this under control, Mr Azar told the host. At least 36 states across the US have seen a rise in Covid-19 cases over the past few weeks, after two months of steady decline, as states have eased lockdown measures and businesses have reopened. States including Florida, California and Texas have recorded their highest daily case totals in recent weeks and the US as a whole announced its highest total last Friday. Despite the rise in cases, vice president Mike Pence said during a Coronavirus Task Force press conference on Friday, that the US has flattened the curve. He added: As we see new cases rising and were tracking them very carefully, there may be a tendency among the American people to think that we are back to that place that we were two months ago. That were in a time of great losses and great hardship on the American people. The reality is were in a much better place. In contradiction to the vice presidents optimistic comments, Mr Azar said that the US public needs to continue to take precautions, to prevent further spread. We have to act, and people as individuals have to act responsibly. We need to social-distance, he said. Mr Azar, who was appointed to his position by president Donald Trump, also called for people to wear face coverings, despite the president refusing to wear one. He added: We need to wear our face coverings if were in settings where we cant social-distance, particularly in these hot zones. Story continues Mr Trump made it clear in early April that he will not wear a face mask in public, and has only been pictured wearing one once. I just dont want to wear one, he said in April, and his attitude has been adopted by some supporters of the president, who feel that by not wearing a mask, they are showing their support for Mr Trump. Speaking to CNN, Republican senator Lamar Alexander said that the US would be in a better position to deal with the crisis, if the president led by example and regularly wore a mask. I wish the president would wear a mask, because millions of Americans admire him and would follow his lead, Mr Alexander said. It also would help get rid of this political debate that if youre for President Trump you dont wear a mask and if youre against President Trump you do wear a mask. The stakes are much too high for that. Read more Pence boasts of remarkable progress even as Covid-19 cases surge GPS III SV03 increases number of secure Military Code (M-Code) enabled satellites in GPS Constellation to 22 total DENVER, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After a successful launch this afternoon, the third Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)-built GPS III satellite is now headed to orbit under its own propulsion. The satellite has separated from its rocket and is using onboard power to climb to its operational orbit, approximately 12,550 miles above the Earth. Lockheed Martin Logo. (PRNewsfoto/Lockheed Martin) GPS III Space Vehicle 03 (GPS III SV03) is responding to commands from U.S. Space Force and Lockheed Martin engineers in the Launch & Checkout Center at the company's Denver facility. There, they declared rocket booster separation and satellite control about 90 minutes after the satellite's 4:10 p.m. EST launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. "In the coming days, GPS III SV03's onboard liquid apogee engines will continue to propel the satellite towards its operational orbit," said Tonya Ladwig, Lockheed Martin's Acting Vice President for Navigation Systems. "Once it arrives, we'll send the satellite commands to deploy its solar arrays and antennas, and prepare the satellite for handover to Space Operations Command." After on-orbit testing, GPS III SV03 is expected to join the GPS constellation including GPS III SV01 and SV02, which were declared operational in January and April in providing positioning, navigation and timing signals for more than four billion military, civil and commercial users. Lockheed Martin designed GPS III to help the Space Force modernize the GPS constellation with new technology and capabilities. The new GPS IIIs provide three times better accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities over any previous GPS satellite. They also offer a new L1C civil signal, which is compatible with other international global navigation satellite systems, like Europe's Galileo, to improve civilian user connectivity. Story continues GPS III also continues the Space Force's plan to field M-Code, a more-secure, harder-to-jam and spoof GPS signal for our military forces. GPS III SV03 brings the number of M-Code enabled satellites to 22 in the 31-satellite GPS constellation. "As a nation, we use GPS signals every day -- they time-stamp all our financial transactions, they make aviation safe, they make precision farming possible, and so much more. GPS has become a critical part of our national infrastructure. In fact, the U.S. economic benefit of GPS is estimated to be over $300 billion per year and $1.4 trillion since its inception," added Ladwig. "Continued investment in modernizing GPS updating technology, improving its capabilities is well worth it." Lockheed Martin is proud to be a part of the GPS III team led by the Space Production Corps Medium Earth Orbit Division, at the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base. The GPS Operational Control Segment sustainment is managed by the Enterprise Corps, GPS Sustainment Division at Peterson Air Force Base. The 2nd Space Operations Squadron, at Schriever Air Force Base, manages and operates the GPS constellation for both civil and military users. For additional GPS III information, photos and video visit: www.lockheedmartin.com/gps. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/third-lockheed-martin-built-gps-iii-satellite-now-climbing-to-orbit-on-its-own-power-301086390.html SOURCE Lockheed Martin In a Time of Crisis, the Sixth Annual Co-op Innovation Award Supports Co-op Expansion and Education In a Time of Crisis, the Sixth Annual Co-op Innovation Award Supports Co-op Expansion and Education PR Newswire ARLINGTON, Va., June 30, 2020 The Guild and Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative each receive $25,000; ChiFresh Kitchen receives $50,000 prize ARLINGTON, Va., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The cooperative development model creates opportunities for economic mobility and for financial and community resilience, including during times of crisis. Three cooperative organizations were chosen to receive Capital Impact Partners' Co-op Innovation Award, which aims to increase co-op development in communities with low incomes and/or communities of color. In partnership with the National Cooperative Bank (NCB), the 2020 awardees ChiFresh, The Guild, and the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative received a total of $100,000. Capital Impact Partners and National Cooperative Bank announce the winners of the 2020 Co-op Innovation Award: ChiFresh Kitchen, Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative, and The Guild. This years Co-op Innovation Award focused on organizations educating new audiences on the impact and potential of the cooperative model to disrupt income inequality, steward community ownership, and create strong vibrant places of opportunity. "In our sixth year of offering the Co-op Innovation Award, we are turning our minds not just to innovative ideas, but also toward ideas that expand the co-op model to more communities that could benefit from it," said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners. "Workers deserve the opportunity not only for financial stability and mobility, but also for dignified work at a living wage. We are glad to partner with National Cooperative Bank to use this award as a tool to augment equity and justice for communities nationwide." "The National Cooperative Bank is proud to work with Capital Impact Partners to award these three deserving organizations," stated Charles Snyder, CEO of NCB. "Each one is deeply rooted in their community and will enhance the cooperative model to address income inequality and increase community ownership. We look forward to seeing the impact of their work in the years to come." This year's Co-op Innovation Award focused on organizations educating new audiences on the impact and potential of the cooperative model to disrupt income inequality, steward community ownership, and create strong vibrant places of opportunity. Priority was given to food, worker, and housing cooperatives, but all sectors were invited to apply. Story continues While the award was advertised before restrictions were implemented around the COVID-19 pandemic, co-ops provide community stability which is critical in weathering crises that can be crippling to small businesses and workers with low wages. Working in community, co-ops allow their members to determine what is best for everyone. ChiFresh Kitchen is being awarded $50,000 to expand its commercial kitchen, owned and determined by formerly incarcerated Chicagoans, primarily Black women. ChiFresh pushed forward its intended launch in response to the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on Chicagoans of color and residents with low incomes. ChiFresh is now delivering prepared meals that are freshly cooked, healthy, delicious, and rooted in the culture and traditions of the people being served. Many of the members lost jobs because of COVID so launching the co-op provided much needed income in addition to getting food out to the community. They are working closely with local government and anchor institutions to become the go-to prepared meal vendor for anchor institutions implementing good food purchasing policies. ChiFresh hopes to influence the narrative around worker cooperatives and their impact on the lives of the most marginalized community members. "ChiFresh planned to serve meals to after school and summer programs, but as we launch in the midst of this crisis, we have pivoted to meet the immediate needs facing our communities," said Camille Kerr, ChiFresh Coordinator. "This grant allows us to partner with our fellow Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)-owned worker cooperative farms and food operators to address COVID-related food insecurity. With Capital Impact's support, we can use this moment to build up the infrastructure for cooperatives to play a larger role in our local food ecosystem long-term." The Guild in Atlanta is being awarded $25,000 to support its mission of building community wealth through real estate, entrepreneurship programs, and access to capital, creating equitable and sustainable communities by addressing the root causes of economic inequality. The grant will support the Guild's "whole systems" approach, allowing the Guild to continue providing technical assistance to Black and Brown enterprises through its Community Wealth Building Accelerator; launch its Integrated Capital Fund that will coordinate and deploy different types of capital and investments to entrepreneurs of color; and launch the Groundcover Community Investment Trust to introduce an alternative real estate development model to the Atlanta community. "The Guild offers equitable real estate, entrepreneurship programs, and access to non-extractive capital to build community wealth and resilience," said Avery Ebron, Head of Product at The Guild. "Capital Impact Partners' Co-op Innovation Award will help The Guild democratize ownership of businesses and real estate through a racial equity lens. The Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI) is being awarded $25,000 to bring worker ownership to an entirely new audience of minority business owners and workers through an industry focused strategy. The grant will support the creation of a worker-owned integrated pest management (IPM) co-op that provides living wages and the opportunity to scale through demand from institutional purchasers. BCDI is a community-led economic development organization focused on building an equitable, democratic economy that creates shared wealth and ownership for people of color with low incomes. They are an inclusive organization that provides materials, training, and workshops in several different languages. A key objective for the organization is localizing procurement to Bronx-based minority/women-owned businesses and worker-owned cooperatives by leveraging stakeholder relationships. "Through the Co-op Innovation Award, grant, BCDI and DAWI are forming an Integrated Pest Management cooperative that will be owned and operated by its workers," said Michael Partis, Executive Director of BCDI. "Our intervention promises to create jobs, generate shared wealth, and move us closer to ending generational poverty in the poorest urban county in the United States." During times of crisis, the cooperative model encourages greater civic engagement, as well as community self-determination, agency, and resilience. Worker cooperatives, in particular, have been increasing through innovative organizing and growth strategies that empower workers and build wealth for those who locked out the mainstream economy. As mission-driven organizations focus more on expanding economic, social, and racial justice across the country, cooperatives and organizations that empower them will continue to be partners in broadening opportunities for all. About Capital Impact Partners Through capital and commitment, Capital Impact Partners helps people build communities of opportunity that break barriers to success. Through mission-driven financing, social innovation programs, capacity building, and impact investing, we work to champion key issues of equity and social and economic justice. Our commitment to community focuses on ensuring that individuals with low-to-moderate incomes have access to quality health care and education, healthy foods, affordable housing, and the ability to age with dignity. A nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, Capital Impact has disbursed more than $2.5 billion since 1982 to ensure that individuals with low-to-moderate incomes have access to quality health care and education, healthy foods, affordable housing, and the ability to age with dignity. Our leadership in delivering financial and social impact has resulted in Capital Impact being rated by S&P Global and recognized by Aeris for our performance. Headquartered in Arlington, VA, Capital Impact Partners operates nationally, with local offices in Detroit, MI, New York, NY, and Oakland, CA. Learn more at www.capitalimpact.org. About National Cooperative Bank: National Cooperative Bank is dedicated to strengthening communities nationwide through the delivery of banking and financial services, complemented by a special focus on cooperative expansion and economic development. NCB provides financial products and services for the nation's cooperatives, their members, and socially responsible organizations. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Bank has offices in Alaska, California, New York, Ohio and Virginia. To learn more, visit www.ncb.coop, National Cooperative Bank on Facebook and Instagram, or on Twitter @natlcoopbank. Capital Impact Partners champions social and economic justice to help people build communities of opportunity that break barriers to success. Through mission-driven lending, incubating social impact programs, impact investing, and policy reform, we partner with local communities to help create equitable access to critical social services that foster economic growth and healthy communities. Our leadership in delivering financial and social impact has earned us an "A+" rating from S&P Global. (PRNewsfoto/Capital Impact Partners) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/in-a-time-of-crisis-the-sixth-annual-co-op-innovation-award-supports-co-op-expansion-and-education-301085461.html SOURCE Capital Impact Partners MILWAUKEE, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TKO Miller is pleased to announce that Power Test Inc., an industry leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of dynamometers has acquired Taylor Dynamometer, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of market-leading engine, chassis, and towing dynamometers, as well as hydraulic test centers and controls. TKO Miller www.TKOMiller.com (PRNewsfoto/TKO Miller, LLC) Power Test, based in Sussex, WI, designs, manufactures, and sells dynamometers, heavy equipment testing systems, and related data acquisition and control systems. The Company's test equipment is sold to manufacturers, rebuild facilities, and distributors in the mining, oil and gas, power generation, marine, trucking, construction, rail, and military markets in more than 90 countries on six continents. Founded in 1929, Taylor Dynamometer designs and manufactures market-leading engine, chassis, and towing dynamometers, as well as hydraulic test centers and controls. The Company's products are used in construction, marine, mining, military, oil and gas, and transportation industries. Taylor is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, with an additional office in Guangzhou, China. "Taylor Dynamometer is one of the strongest brands and had the best-regarded products in the dynamometer industry. The combination of Power Test and Taylor Dynamometer will allow us to meet all our customers' product and service needs and rapidly accelerate our new product development efforts," said Alan Petelinsek, Chief Executive Officer, Power Test. This is Power Test's second acquisition in 2020 and will further strengthen their position as the market leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of dynamometers, heavy equipment testing systems, and related data acquisition and control systems. "With our combined strength, we can ensure continued job creation and exciting advancement opportunities for the team at Taylor Dynamometer," said Art Downey, former majority owner of Taylor Dynamometer. Story continues "Combined, these two entities and brands will dominate the Dynamometer and Hydraulic Testing industry," said Joe Froehlich, Managing Director at TKO Miller. "Power Test's leading market position will further benefit from the strong reputation of Taylor Dynamometer, creating a true powerhouse in the industry." About TKO Miller TKO Miller, LLC is an independent, advisory-focused, middle market investment bank. With over 130 years of collective transaction experience, TKO Miller provides merger and acquisition and financial advisory services for privately held and private equity-owned businesses, with a special focus on family-and-founder-held businesses. TKO Miller aims to bring value to clients by combining outstanding people with a results-oriented, flexible approach to transactions. Our services include company sales, recapitalizations, asset divestitures, and management buyouts. TKO Miller has a generalist focus but has served clients in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, business services, consumer products, and industrial products and services. For more information, visit our website at www.tkomiller.com Contact: Katie Yde, 414.375.2660 Office Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tko-miller-llc-advises-power-test-inc-on-its-acquisition-of-taylor-dynamometer-301086096.html SOURCE TKO Miller Photo: Tuur Tissegham/Pexels Missed the most recent top news in New York City? Read on for everything you need to know. New York City's Broadway to remain dark through the rest of 2020 On Monday, the Broadway League, a trade organization representing producers and theater owners, announced that Broadway performances in New York City will be suspended through the remainder of 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Read the full story on CNBC. NYC man, 76, dies in hospital after being found unconscious with head trauma; man sought for questioning Police in New York City are looking for a man in connection with the death of a 76-year-old Queens man, who was found with head trauma before he died. Read the full story on Fox News. New York City may delay indoor dining amid coronavirus surges in many states Indoor dining in New York City was scheduled for Monday, but city and state officials may delay the plan. New Jersey has postponed reopening indoor dining indefinitely. Read the full story on The Wall Street Journal. Naked Jesus squatter pops up again in Washington Square Park Matthew Mishefksi, 25 who has been arrested twice since Saturday after strolling around the Greenwich Village park and laying in its fountain naked popped up again. Read the full story on New York Post. 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. Photo: Marcin Wichary/Flickr Missed the most recent top news in Sacramento? Read on for everything you need to know. Golden State Killer pleads guilty to Visalia murder, multiple other rapes, murders Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. plead guilty to 13 murders and acknowledged dozens of rapes in Sacramento. Read the full story on Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register. Missing 12-year-old boy and mother located, CHP says; advisory canceled The California Highway Patrol late Monday deactivated an alert for a 12-year-old Colorado boy after he and his mother were found. Read the full story on The Modesto Bee. No passengers hurt after electrical fire on SacRT light rail train No one was hurt after an electrical fire inside a SacRT train in Downtown Sacramento late Monday morning. Read the full story on CBS Sacramento. 2 homes damaged in West Sacramento fire Flames destroyed two homes in West Sacramento overnight, and investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked the blaze. Read the full story on CBS Sacramento. 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. Company achieves its 2017 commitment to deliver nearly $13 billion U.S. investment by 2021 in just four years, adding more than 6,500 new jobs Toyota ready to meet aggressive content requirements of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) PLANO, Texas, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- For more than 60 years, Toyota has been growing its presence in the United States, and today the company announced it will reach its January 2017 pledge to invest $13 billion over a five-year period one year earlier than anticipated. Key investments include: DATE LOCATION NEW INVESTMENT NEW JOBS DETAILS January 2020 Princeton, IN $700 million 150 Completion of plant modernization project; added 40,000 units of vehicle capacity September 2019 San Antonio, TX $391 million --- Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) and advanced technologies March 2019 Huntsville, AL Georgetown, KY Troy, MO Jackson, TN Buffalo, WV $750 million 600 Vehicle and unit plant expansion April 2018 Blue Springs, MS $170 million 400 TNGA for 12th generation Corolla September 2017 Huntsville, AL Georgetown, KY Troy, MO Jackson, TN Buffalo, WV $373.8 million 50 Support production of TNGA hybrid powertrain August 2017 Huntsville, AL $800 million *4,000 Greenfield vehicle manufacturing facility with Mazda (*Mazda Toyota Manufacturing JV) July 2017 Plano, TX $1 billion 1,000 Completion of new regional corporate headquarters April 2017 Georgetown, KY $1.33 billion --- TNGA and advanced technologies January 2017 Princeton, IN $600 million 400 Plant modernization project In addition to the investments previously announced, the company invested $5.9 billion in supplier tooling, general plant upgrades, research & development, and other selling, general administrative costs, as well as a $1 billion investment into the Toyota Research Institute. "For more than six decades, we have been committed to serving our U.S. customers by investing locally and building cars where we sell them," said Ted Ogawa, chief executive officer for Toyota Motor North America. "Our commitment to the U.S. market is unwavering, and we are underscoring this point today with the completion of a $13 billion investment and over 6,500 new jobs since 2017 as we focus on advancing electrification and improving mobility for more Americans." Story continues As the new USMCA takes effect on July 1, Toyota is well-positioned to meet the aggressive new content requirements. Toyota has created a tremendous value chain in the U.S., with more than $28.4 billion direct investment in the U.S., nine manufacturing facilities, 10 including our joint venture with Mazda, nearly 1,500 dealerships and over 184,000 people working across the U.S. About Toyota Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019. Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com. Contact: Victor Vanov 469.292.1318 (PRNewsfoto/Toyota Motor North America) Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toyota-to-achieve-its-five-year-us-investment-commitment-one-year-early-301086205.html SOURCE Toyota Motor North America Ceribell Rapid Response EEG Significantly Improves Clinical Accuracy Results from A Prospective, Multi-center Clinical Trial to Assess Ceribell Rapid Response EEG Impact on Clinical Decision-Making Published in Critical Care Medicine MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ceribell, Inc. announced the publication of a research study in Critical Care Medicine that demonstrated the clinical impact of the Ceribell Rapid Response EEG system. The study found that without Ceribell Rapid Response EEG, top academic centers with 24/7 EEG capability experience a 4-hour wait-time for conventional EEG. Further, diagnostic accuracy of physicians relying on clinical judgement alone is only slightly better than chance when making empiric decisions. Having access to the Ceribell Rapid Response EEG system reduced the time to EEG to 5-minutes and had a significant impact on diagnostic accuracy and confidence. Ceribell Logo (PRNewsfoto/Ceribell, Inc.) Results from the study show that Ceribell Rapid Response EEG enabled physicians to easily make more accurate judgments regarding the presence or absence of seizure activity compared to clinical suspicion alone. Physicians with access to Ceribell EEG had 90% diagnostic accuracy versus just 65% when using clinical judgement alone. Additionally, physician confidence in their own diagnostic decisions was significantly affected. With Ceribell EEG available, physicians rated their confidence as high and very high 86% of the time versus just 40% of the time when making decisions with EEG information. According to Neurocritical Care Society (NCS) guidelines, an EEG is required within 15-60 minutes for the evaluation and management of status epilepticus. Prior clinical studies indicate that the wait time to conventional EEG is about 4-hours. This study confirms these long wait times occur both during and after hours with conventional EEG practice, even in facilities with 24/7 onsite EEG technologists. The Ceribell Rapid Response EEG system was delivered in under 10-minutes, providing clinicians with the diagnostic information they need when they need it so they can make informed treatment decisions quickly. Story continues "The results from this trial demonstrate Ceribell Rapid Response EEG's dramatic impact for managing critically ill patients. It provides patients with more precise and accurate care, physicians with a reliable diagnostic tool, and hospitals with clear cost saving opportunities. We are excited to be able to bring this revolutionary technology to medical facilities across the United States. Our rapid adoption across so many medical centers in such a short time speaks for the great unmet need that we address with our technology," said Jane Chao, CEO, Ceribell. This prospective, multi-center study was conducted at 5 top tier facilities in the United States, with 24/7 EEG access. 181 patients were evaluated by 37 physicians. The study objective was to understand the clinical impact of Ceribell Rapid Response EEG. Key measures included: diagnostic assessment, therapeutic plan to escalate anti-seizure medication, physicians' confidence in diagnosis, physicians' confidence in treatment plan, time to EEG, ease of use, and adverse events. TO LEARN MORE: Manuscript: https://bit.ly/2BrRRkB www.ceribell.com ABOUT NON-CONVULSIVE STATUS EPILEPTICUS: TIME IS BRAIN Non-convulsive seizures are common in critically ill patients. 90% of these seizures are non-convulsive and can only be detected using EEG. Prolonged seizures of this type lead to permanent brain injury, higher risk of morbidity and mortality, and longer hospital stay. As a result, guidelines from the Neurocritical Care Society recommend EEG should be initiated within 15-60 minutes of suspected status epilepticus. However, meeting this guideline has proven difficult due to limitations of conventional EEG systems. The Ceribell Rapid Response EEG system was developed to address limitations in EEG acquisition and interpretation so patients at risk of seizure can be triaged more quickly. ABOUT THE CERIBELL RAPID RESPONSE EEG SYSTEM The Ceribell Rapid Response EEG System consists of a 10-electrode (8-channel) headband, an EEG recorder with Brain Stethoscope feature, and a cloud portal for continuous seizure monitoring, EEG data storing and remote EEG reviewing. The simplified electrode configuration enables easy set-up of EEG within minutes without the need specialized training. With the Brain Stethoscope and Clarity features, EEG interpretation for spot-checking and continuous seizure detection are possible in just seconds. The Ceribell EEG System received FDA 510(k) clearance in 2017 and is commercially available in the United States. ABOUT CERIBELL Ceribell, Inc. ( www.ceribell.com ), is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. Ceribell is focused on making EEG widely available, more efficient, and more cost-effective to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients at risk for seizures. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/treat-patients-with-precision-when-seconds-count-in-critical-care-301086338.html SOURCE Ceribell, Inc. Computers benefit several non-profits, school districts, and other organizations across the state TALLAHASSEE, Fla., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Trulieve Cannabis Corp (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF) ("Trulieve" or the "Company") announced this week the continuation of dedicated investments in majority minority communities by donating over 130 computers to local non-profits and organizations throughout the months of May and June. The computers were donated as part of Trulieve's ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts to support student education and provide valuable resources to local majority minority communities statewide, especially those hardest hit by COVID-19. Trulieve Cannabis Corp. Logo (CNW Group/Trulieve Cannabis Corp.) Partner organizations include the Northwest Neighborhood Community Center, which hired teachers to help students with schoolwork during coronavirus; United Against Poverty in Orlando; Lodging and Hospitality Association of Volusia County to distribute to various schools throughout the community; and the Junior League of Greater Lakeland, which distributed to smaller non-profits throughout Lakeland. These computers join the 20 donated in early March to Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee, benefitting the school's Pre-Information Technology Program, bringing the total donated this year to 155. "As a company, we've always focused on giving back, supporting, and investing in the majority minority communities we call home. Coronavirus has affected everyone not only patients, but students and seniors alike. Our goal is to ensure that as many of our neighbors as possible have the resources they need to succeed," said Valda Coryat, Trulieve's Chief Marketing Officer. "Partnering with local organizations allows us to connect with these communities across the state and provide resources that they might otherwise not have had access to. We're always looking for ways to further invest in the spaces we move into and are excited to continue our social responsibility efforts." Story continues Currently, Trulieve operates 50 dispensaries throughout the State of Florida, spanning from Pensacola to Key West. The company also owns and operates multiple cultivation and processing facilities throughout Leon, Gadsden, and Hillsborough counties. As the state's leading medical cannabis provider, Trulieve presently employs nearly 3,300 employees, with a majority in Florida. For more information, please visit www.Trulieve.com. About Trulieve Trulieve is a vertically integrated "seed-to-sale" company and is the first and largest fully licensed medical cannabis company in the State of Florida. Trulieve cultivates and produces all of its products in-house and distributes those products to Trulieve-branded stores (dispensaries) throughout the State of Florida, as well as directly to patients via home delivery. Trulieve also operates in California, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Trulieve is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol TRUL and trades on the OTCQX market under the symbol TCNNF. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. 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 the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption from such registration requirements. To learn more about Trulieve, visit www.Trulieve.com. Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trulieve-donates-over-150-computers-to-local-organizations-across-florida-301085453.html SOURCE Trulieve Cannabis Corp. Donald Trump and Theresa May during the president's visit to the UK in June 2019: PA Donald Trump repeatedly tried to demean Theresa May when she was UK prime minister during a series of humiliating and bullying conversations, according to a US report. The US president is said to have attacked Ms May as weak calling her a fool in her approach to Brexit, NATO and immigration during phone calls held between 2016 and 2019. Stunning new claims about Mr Trumps calls with world leaders were made by Carl Bernstein in CNN report, based on accounts from dozens of top officials privy to the conversations in real time or printouts soon afterwards. Hed get agitated about something with Theresa May, then hed get nasty with her on the phone call, one source told Mr Bernstein, best known for his involvement in breaking the Watergate scandal. Ms May reportedly became flustered and nervous during her conversations with the US president. He clearly intimidated her and meant to, said one of the CNN sources. Mr Trumps most savage verbal attacks have been aimed at female heads of state, officials suggested with German chancellor Angel Merkel reportedly coming in for especially rough treatment. Like Ms May, Ms Merkel was subjected to near-sadistic diatribes during her calls with the American leader. Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are just unbelievable: he called her stupid, and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians, said one official. However, unlike the ex-prime minister, Ms Merkel is said to have remained completely calm in the face of the rants, often reciting facts and figures in response, like water off a ducks back. The calls were felt to be so unusual that special measures were taken to make sure they remained secret, according to a German official who claimed that the circle of people involved in monitoring the calls had been reduced. By contrast, Mr Trump is said to have enjoyed friendly calls with Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkish president Recep Erdogan, despite being unprepared and outplayed by these autocratic leaders. Story continues One official said Mr Trump thinks he can build himself up enough as a businessman and tough guy that Putin will respect him, while another said the conversations with the Russian leader sounded like two guys in a steam bath. The US president also boasted about his own personal wealth to heads of state such as Saudi heir Mohammed bin Salman and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Two sources told CNN that the calls led several former Trump officials including national security adviser John Bolton, defence secretary James Mattis, secretary of state Rex Tillerson and White House chief of staff John Kelly to conclude that the president was often delusional. The White Houses deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews responded to the claims by stating: President Trump is a world class negotiator who has consistently furthered Americas interests on the world stage President Trump has shown his ability to advance Americas strategic interests. The Independent has approached Downing Street for comment. Read more White House denies intelligence on Russia bounty threat President Donald Trump. Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post via Getty Images President Donald Trump's freewheeling and unprepared approach to phone calls with world leaders tended to turn ugly if the recipient was a woman, according to a new CNN report. Trump was "near-sadistic" when speaking with leaders like former UK Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling them "stupid" and "a fool," according to Carl Bernstein, a longtime Washington Post reporter of Watergate fame who reported the story for CNN. One source called Trump's calls with May "humiliating and bullying," while Merkel reportedly took Trump's antics "like water off a duck's back." "He'd get agitated about something with Theresa May, then he'd get nasty with her on the phone call," one source told CNN. "It's the same interaction in every setting coronavirus or Brexit with just no filter applied." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Related Video: The rise and fall of Donald Trumps airline President Donald Trump was chummy with male world leaders in phone calls but turned "near-sadistic" when he was speaking with women in the same positions, according to a new report from Carl Bernstein for CNN. Bernstein, who rose to fame at The Washington Post during the Watergate scandal, cited White House and intelligence-community sources familiar with highly classified calls. Trump's "most vicious attacks, said the sources, were aimed at women heads of state," he wrote. The president's overall conduct on these calls was described to Bernstein as a "danger to the national security of the United States" because of how unprepared Trump was. "The calls caused former top Trump deputies including national security advisers H.R. McMaster and John Bolton, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and White House chief of staff John Kelly, as well as intelligence officials to conclude that the President was often 'delusional,' as two sources put it, in his dealings with foreign leaders," Bernstein wrote. Story continues He added: "More than a dozen officials either listened to the President's phone calls in real time or were provided detailed summaries and rough-text recording printouts of the calls soon after their completion, CNN's sources said. The sources were interviewed by CNN repeatedly over a four-month period extending into June." Trump got belligerent with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, the report said. "Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are just unbelievable: he called her 'stupid,' and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians," one source told Bernstein. "He's toughest [in the phone calls] with those he looks at as weaklings and weakest with the ones he ought to be tough with." Merkel took Trump's vitriol "like water off a duck's back," Bernstein quoted a source as saying, and would simply respond "with recitations of fact." May, on the other hand, was taken aback by Trump's conduct, the report said. The then-prime minister would get "flustered and nervous" when Trump attacked her, according to a source Bernstein cited. "He clearly intimidated her and meant to," a person familiar with the calls told CNN. The behavior extended to in-person interactions too, a German official told CNN. When Merkel visited the White House in 2018, Trump "displayed 'very questionable behavior' that 'was quite aggressive ... [T]he Chancellor indeed stayed calm, and that's what she does on the phone,'" the official said, according to the report. Read the original article on Business Insider President Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump on Tuesday vowed an "immediate appeal" after a New York judge temporarily blocked the publication of her family tell-all ahead of a July hearing on the matter. The president's brother Robert Trump, another of Mary's uncles, had sued earlier this month to stop her from releasing Too Much and Never Enough, citing a 2001 confidentiality agreement Mary signed with other immediate members of the Trump family. Mary's father is Fred Trump Jr., the president's older brother, who died in 1981. The nondisclosure agreement she signed was concerning a past legal battle over her grandfather Fred Trump Sr.'s will, Robert's filing stated. (The Trump patriarch died in 1999.) A state Supreme Court judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of Robert, granting a temporary restraining order until a July 10 hearing and a determination on Robert's motion for a preliminary injunction, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. The judge ordered Mary and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, to make their cases against Robert in July. Too Much and Never Enough was scheduled for release on July 28. RELATED: What We Know About Mary Trump's Tell-All In dueling statements on Tuesday, Mary and Simon & Schuster likened the judge's decision to censorship and said they would appeal it while Robert's attorney celebrated the ruling. "The trial courts temporary restraining order is only temporary but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment," said Theodore Boutrous Jr., Mary's attorney. "We will immediately appeal. This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in election year, should not be suppressed even for one day." A spokesman for Simon & Schuster echoed that: "We are disappointed that the court has granted this temporary restraining order. We plan to immediately appeal this decision to the appellate division and look forward to prevailing in this case based on well-established precedents regarding prior restraint." Story continues But an attorney for Robert who told The New York Times earlier this month that Mary's book was "a disgrace" said he was "very pleased" by the temporary block. Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage; Mary Trump/Twitter From left: Robert Trump and Mary Trump Olivier Douliery/Pool/Getty President Donald Trump RELATED: Ivanka Trump Has Mocked Melania Trump as 'The Portrait' Because She Rarely Spoke, Biography Claims "The actions of Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster are truly reprehensible," attorney Charles Harder said. "We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trumps breach of contract and Simon & Schusters intentional interference with that contract. Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end." Mary, a 55-year-old clinical psychologist living on Long Island, had been set to share revealing details of her years in the Trump family, according to Simon & Schuster. She has largely avoided the spotlight following the battle over her grandfathers will 20 years ago, which saw her and her brother swap sharp words with their aunts and uncles over the estate. Her publisher advertised Too Much and Never Enough as a "revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him" that describes "a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse." "She explains how specific events and general family patterns created the damaged man who currently occupies the Oval Office, including the strange and harmful relationship between Fred Trump and his two oldest sons, Fred Jr. and Donald," her publisher said. The book is also expected to confirm Mary as a key source in a Times investigation of Trump family finances published in 2018, for which she provided confidential documents. President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands ahead of their private meeting in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP-Getty Images) President Trump's deference to Vladimir Putin is back under the microscope amid accusations that he ignored intelligence that Russia offered to pay Taliban militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Democrats returning from a classified briefing at the White House on Tuesday pledged to get to the bottom of the matter and questioned whether the president was unaware of the intelligence and why he hadn't taken a harder line against Moscow. "The president called this a hoax, publicly," said Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), the House majority leader. "Nothing in the briefing that we have just received led me to believe it is a hoax." Trump tweeted two days earlier that reports of Russian bounties could be "another fabricated Russia Hoax" and claimed that intelligence officials "did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me." The president has said nothing critical of Moscow or indicated that he would take new steps to protect troops serving in Afghanistan, where he's focused on withdrawing U.S. forces after nearly two decades of conflict. The New York Times reported Monday that information about Russian bounties had been included in February in the presidential daily brief, a top secret summary of the nation's intelligence. According to an Associated Press report, intelligence on the topic began circulating in the White House last year. Joe Biden, the former vice president and Trump's presumptive Democratic opponent in this year's election, said it was "a dereliction of duty" if Trump refused to read his intelligence report or failed to take action if he was briefed on the issue. "This president talks about cognitive capability. He doesn't seem to be cognitively aware of what's going on," Biden said during an appearance in Wilmington, Del. A senior U.S. official said Tuesday there was a strong circumstantial case that a Russian military intelligence unit was providing funds to Afghans with ties to the Taliban, ostensibly for bounties for killing American troops. Story continues The evidence isnt ironclad, but then it never is, the official told the Los Angeles Times. The intelligence about the bounties originated from interrogations of Taliban militants. Afghan security forces, with assistance from the U.S., raided several houses in the northern city of Kunduz in March in an effort to capture two Afghans involved in the bounty effort, the official said. The pair had already fled the country, but more than a dozen others were arrested, added the official, who agreed to discuss the intelligence in return for anonymity. It appeared that funds provided by Russia went to the two Afghans, but tracing the money has proved difficult, he said. U.S. spies and analysts are reportedly examining whether Russian payments can be tied to the death of any U.S. troops, with the deaths of three Marines killed by a car bomb on April 8, 2019, being a main focus. Moscow has denied any role. "I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that the president hasn't come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether Russians are putting a bounty on the heads of American troops, and that he will do everything in his power to make sure that we protect American troops," said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Trump's refusal to confront Putin continues a pattern of submissive behavior toward the autocratic Russian leader. Trump welcomed Moscow's interference in his successful campaign for the presidency, then sought to limit the subsequent investigation, led by Robert S. Mueller III. And Trump withheld military assistance for Ukraine, which is battling Russian aggression, as he attempted to force the Eastern European country to investigate his political enemies, including Biden. Republicans did not criticize Trump directly, but they expressed concern about the intelligence collected on Russian bounties. "I want to be absolutely clear that Americas adversaries should know, and they should have no doubt, that any targeting of U.S. forces by Russians, by anyone else will face a very swift and deadly response," said Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Russia should "absolutely not" be allowed back into the Group of Seven leading industrial nations, an idea floated by Trump. Moscow was booted after its invasion of Crimea six years ago. Facing an escalating controversy, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany called a last-minute briefing Tuesday where she attacked the media for reporting on intelligence that she said "still has not been verified." She said Trump had now been briefed on the issue but avoided saying whether he was considering any response to Russia. She ended the briefing after just 15 minutes, appearing frustrated with repeated questions about why Trump would be unaware of such intelligence and whether he read his daily briefings. "The president does read," McEnany said, calling him "the most informed person on planet Earth when it comes to the threats that we face." The latest controversy threatens to exacerbate the partisan divide over intelligence issues that has widened since Trump's election. Although there's a bipartisan tradition of holding joint briefings, administration officials met with Republicans on Monday and Democrats on Tuesday. Mike Rogers, a former Republican congressman from Michigan who chaired the House Intelligence Committee, said the separation was "unfortunate" because "you want everybody to hear the same thing." Holding separate sessions raises the question, "Are they crafting a message? Or are they getting a briefing?" he said. Administration officials have reserved their harshest condemnation for the media and their anonymous sources. Robert O'Brien, Trump's national security advisor, said late Monday night that officials who leak classified information "betray the trust of the people of the United States." He also claimed that the allegations regarding Russian bounties "have not been verified or substantiated," and Trump "had not been briefed on the items." Officials appear to be drawing a distinction between a verbal briefing and inclusion in the president's daily brief. Trump is widely known to avoid reading the document, which has alarmed national security experts who fear the president's ignorance is leaving the country vulnerable. He also meets with intelligence officials for briefings less often than his predecessors did. "A president who neither reads the PDB nor takes daily in-person briefings on its content is like a wrestler who puts on a blindfold and earmuffs before a match," tweeted David Priess, a former CIA official who wrote a book about how presidents receive intelligence. Schiff said including intelligence about Russian bounties in Trump's written briefing was no excuse to avoid directly confronting the president with the information. Administration officials may be reluctant "to brief the president on things he doesn't want to hear, and that may be more true with respect to Putin and Putin's Russia than with respect to any other subject matter," Schiff said. "You brief the president in the manner in which he or she receives information. If a president doesn't read the briefs," he said, "it doesn't work to give him written product and not tell him what's in it." Schiff added, "If he doesn't read, he doesn't read. They should know that by now. And if something the president needs to know before he talks to Putin needs to be shared with him, it needs to be shared with him in the form that he takes it." Reports of Russia-financed violence against U.S. troops come as Washington is gradually withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan. Pentagon officials said the number of troops had been brought down to about 8,600 troops, from 12,000, ahead of schedule. At the same time, U.S. diplomats are working to launch "intra-Afghan" talks as the next step in a peace process that envisions a role for the Taliban in government. The talks were supposed to begin March 10, but the Taliban and Afghan officials have continued to bicker over prisoner releases and bomb attacks that have killed dozens of people, mostly civilians, in recent weeks. The Taliban blamed those massacres on Al Qaeda. Under the peace deal reached with Washington, the Taliban agreed to disavow Al Qaeda and prevent it from harboring inside Afghanistan. But a recent report from the United Nations said the Taliban has not broken its ties to the terrorist group behind the 9/11 attacks. A spokesman for the Taliban, Suhail Shaheen, said Tuesday that U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo telephoned the chief Taliban negotiator late Monday to urge an end to violence, according to news agencies' translation of Shaheen's Twitter feed. Shaheen said the reports on bounties did not come up in the conversation, but he quoted the negotiator, Abdullah Ghani Baradar, as saying, "according to the agreement, we do not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against the U.S. and other countries." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he held a video conference with Mullah Ghani Baradar, a senior Taliban official who negotiated the withdrawal deal. During the call, which occurred Monday, Pompeo pressed the Taliban to live up to their commitments under the U.S.-Taliban Agreement, including not to attack Americans, he said in a tweet. Times staff writers Tracy Wilkinson, Jennifer Haberkorn, Eli Stokols and Evan Halper contributed to this report. President Trump on the phone in the Oval Office in 2017 with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Mark Wilson/Getty Images The Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein on Monday painted a scathing portrait of President Donald Trump's conduct on the world stage, particularly as it relates to his conversations with other leaders. Multiple sources described the US president as bullying and belittling allies while fawning over autocratic leaders. Sources said that Trump behaved in a "near-sadistic" fashion with female leaders; that he talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin as if they're "two guys in a steam bath"; and that Turkey's president "took him to the cleaners." Trump's behavior was said to be so unusual and erratic that it convinced several senior administration officials that the president was "delusional." In some cases, Bernstein's CNN report said, Trump's actions led White House officials to conclude that the president posed a national security threat. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Turns of phrase like "baked in the cake" and "shocking, but unsurprising," have become cliche in the Trump era, but a Monday report by the journalist Carl Bernstein presented a damning overview of President Donald Trump's conduct on the world stage, particularly as it relates to his conversations with other leaders. Writing for CNN, Bernstein, who is best known for his reporting on the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, talked to multiple sources over a four-month period. The sources were anonymously cited in the story but largely confirmed details that had been previously reported by other outlets and testified to in public hearings. Overall, these sources painted a scathing portrait of a US president who bullies and belittles allies while fawning over autocratic leaders. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from CNN before publication. One person familiar with Trump's conversations with leaders from Russia, Turkey, Canada, Australia, and Western Europe described the calls to CNN as "abominations." A source told the outlet that Trump subjected French President Emmanuel Macron to lectures and verbal "whippings" on issues like trade, immigration, and NATO. Trump behaved in a "near-sadistic" manner toward German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, according to one source. Several other sources confirmed the detail to CNN as well. Some of the harshest depictions of Trump as lacking preparedness on critical issues stem from his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During their phone calls, according to CNN and previous media reports, Trump often boasts about himself and builds up his business acumen while repeatedly praising the Russian leader and seeking his approval. The US president "gives away the advantage that was hard won in the Cold War" and has "given Russia a lifeline," a high-level administration official told CNN. Another administration official told CNN that Putin "just outplays" Trump. Another source said that sometimes their conversations resemble that of "two guys in a steam bath." One source told CNN that Trump "gave away the store" when he decided to pull US troops from Syria, handing a massive victory to both Turkey and Russia. More broadly, Trump is said to have little knowledge of issues related to Syria and the Middle East and to have been unprepared to discuss critical policy issues with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Erdogan took him to the cleaners," one source told CNN. Trump with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the UN General Assembly in New York City in 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Story continues Taken together, Trump's actions convinced senior administration officials like the former national security advisers John Bolton and HR McMaster, former Defense Secretary James Mattis, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former chief of staff John Kelly, and multiple intelligence officials that Trump was "delusional," according to Bernstein. Indeed, Trump's controversial approach to handling phone calls on issues of national security with foreign leaders has been well documented in both media reports and congressional testimony. Overall, as Bernstein reported, Trump's behavior led many officials to believe that the president himself posed a national security threat to the US. The highest-profile example is a July 25 phone call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which the US president asked his Ukrainian counterpart to launch investigations targeting one of Trump's political rivals, Joe Biden, ahead of the 2020 US election. That phone call and subsequent attempts to cover up its contents led to Trump's impeachment, during which Democratic lawmakers accused the president of compromising national security for his personal political interests. Trump "instinctively" decided to pull US troops from northern Syria a move that had far-reaching consequences in the region after a phone call with Turkey's Erdogan. In a March 2018 phone call with Putin, Trump congratulated the Russian leader on his victory in a rigged election even after US national security officials warned him "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" in briefing materials before the call. Trump's phone calls with foreign leaders were so concerning that the White House tried to conceal transcripts of the conversations, especially those with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Putin, as previously reported. White House staffers were "genuinely horrified" by Trump's phone calls with Putin and Crown Prince Mohammed. The president at one point weighed barring all officials from listening to his calls with foreign leaders, which intelligence veterans said would've been catastrophic for US national security. White House staffers reportedly need to "babysit" during the president's phone calls with foreign leaders because he is often unprepared and goes off-script. Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, used to mute the line during Trump's calls with foreign leaders to urge the president not to discuss sensitive topics. Read the original article on Business Insider Latosha Clemons, the first Black female deputy fire chief and the only Black female firefighter in Boynton Beach, Florida, was to have been depicted on a long-planned public arts mural. But when the mural was unveiled at a ribbon-cutting this month, Clemons' image had been replaced by a white face. The mural also was to have featured the image of Glenn Joseph, a Black former fire chief. He was also replaced by a white face. Now Clemons has hired a lawyer to find out how the mural ended up featuring only white firefighters "I wanted little Black girls to look at that mural and know they can have their face on a mural," said Clemons, who had retired from the department a few months earlier. Image: Latosha Clemons (Courtesy Sandy Collier) In response to a request for an interview with the city manager, a spokesperson for the city of Boynton Beach said in an emailed statement: "The City Manager has concluded her inquiry into this matter and issued a public apology to Deputy Chief of Operations Latosha Clemons and Chief Glenn Joseph for the alterations of their photos ... and the mural was removed Thursday, June 4. The mural is to be replaced with the original design, although no date has been announced. But Clemons wants more than the dismissal of two city employees and a new mural. Nicole Hunt Jackson, Clemons' attorney, said: "My role is to get to who is responsible, how they came to the conclusion it was acceptable and to push the issue for the need to examine policies and determine whether or not there needs to be racial sensitivity training. "It's a huge racial insult. For them to unilaterally take this and decide to not only remove her face but to whitewash the face, it is beyond offensive," said Jackson, who has filed requests for all records related to the planning of the mural. Image: Latosha Clemons (Courtesy Sandy Collier) Clemons has not spoken to her colleague Joseph, and he has not commented publicly on being erased from the mural. NBC News was unable to reach Joseph, who has also retired as fire chief in Boca Raton. Story continues Clemons did not attend the mural dedication ceremony, but she received a flood of texts and photos from friends and colleagues who were there. "I had an event to do that night. I was stunned, hurt, shocked," Clemons said. "I had to suppress my emotions, but after the event a ton of emotions came over me." When she thinks about all the challenges of her career and the public insult, Clemons said, "Sometimes I get overwhelmed with tears. ... "Growing up in the community where I grew up, you didn't see Blacks, particularly Black women in the fire department," she said. But when she noticed other women of color working as firefighters, she thought that perhaps becoming a firefighter was a possibility for her, too. She scheduled an appointment with the fire chief, who at the time was Black. He encouraged her, even writing a letter of recommendation to the fire academy She was hired June 20, 1996, "as the first and only Black woman in a department established in 1924," Clemons said. "I was the first and the only Black woman ever." Of her experience, Clemons said, "I worked hard, treated people with respect, persevered and was able to overcome obstacles that came my way." Pastor Rae Whitely of the Boynton Beach Coalition of Clergy, an interfaith group that "works to empower the black and brown communities," Whitely said. "Just to know the fire chief was a part of that conversation makes you ask, What else has been going on? What other influence has he had in decisions?'" Whitely said "social media erupted" after the unveiling of the mural. He said he and other leaders have had to calm down some activists "who really want to do some stuff. Young people are pissed, and so are people who served with her Black and white. It was obvious that this was not a mistake." The coalition sent a letter to the city manager and the city commissioners and put in a public records request to discover who was involved in the process that led to the approval of the art. Clemons is a "local hero" to some people, Whitely said. "To have this happen to her in the climate we are in, it just reaggravated the trauma. It was unreal." US president Donald Trump in 2018, speaks alongside Russian president Vladimir Putin: AFP via Getty Images Private calls between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have the tone of "two guys in a steam bath" according to an aide's account of the conversations described to CNN. The US president is often ousmarted by his Russian counterart, according to the aide's summary. It comes amid concerns that the Trump administration did not act on reports that Russia planned on paying Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. Mr Trump dismissed those claims as another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News. Russian authorities added that president Putin had not discussed the claims with president Trump, and denied the Taliban plan. [Trump] sits there and thinks he can build himself up enough as a businessman and tough guy that Putin will respect him", one source told CNN, bemoaning how Russias president could destabilise the West whilst president Trump discussed his time in Moscow with the Miss Universe Pageant. Sources alleged that Mr Trump also trashed previous US presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and touted his own successes as president, on the phone. Mr Trump was almost never prepared for phone calls with his Russian and Turkish counterparts, said the CNN source. Two high-level sources within the Trump administration told CNN that Mr Trump had both pandered to Mr Putin, whilst undermining US Congress, US intelligence and US relations with its European allies. "He [Trump] gives away the advantage that was hard won in the Cold War, by giving Putin and Russia a legitimacy they never had," said another source. "He's given Russia a lifeline because there is no doubt that they're a declining power. He's playing with something he doesn't understand and he's giving them power that they would use [aggressively]", added the source. The phone calls led two US intelligence personnel and ex-Trump advisors, including John Bolton, James Mattis, and John Kelly, to conclude that the US president was "delusional," as two sources put it. Story continues Read more Reddit bans Donald Trump fan page in move against hate speech Delusional Trump accused of humiliating and bullying world leaders Twitch bans Trump accounts for 'hateful conduct' Van Jones denies he secretly helped craft Trumps police reform order Anti-Trump ads seize on claims over Russian bounties By Huw Jones and Iain Withers LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Financial Conduct Authority said late on Monday it would lift restrictions on German payments company Wirecard AG, allowing it to resume operations. The markets watchdog imposed restrictions on the company's UK unit after its collapse last week. "We have been working closely with Wirecard UK and other authorities over the last few days to ensure that the firm was able to meet certain conditions required to lift the restrictions we imposed on it," the regulator said. (https://bit.ly/2YHMxSX) Several British fintech firms were forced to suspend services following the FCA's restrictions on Wirecard, leaving hundreds of thousands of accounts blocked. "Customers will now, or very shortly, be able to use their cards as usual," the FCA said. Wirecard said on Saturday it would proceed with business activities after filing for insolvency and an administrator was appointed on Monday. Firms providing finance to poorer and vulnerable Britons who have difficulty accessing mainstream banking were among those hit, including Pockit and U Account, part of subprime lender Morses Club. The government said anyone worried about not being able to receive welfare payments should contact its helplines. Wirecard's woes have forced some firms to accelerate existing projects to switch to other services, including card provider Curve which said on Monday its services were back online. But industry forum Emerging Payments Association (EPA) warned it could take months for others to do the same and urged the FCA to lift its Wirecard freeze as soon as possible. "We predict dozens of corporate failures, hundreds of job losses and significant reductions in tax payments, unless it is removed right away," EPA said in a letter to the FCA. Martin Lewis, founder of consumer website moneysavingexpert.com, said there was a reasonable expectation that consumers affected would get access to their money again by Wednesday or Thursday. (Reporting by Huw Jones, Iain Withers in London and Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; Editing by David Evans, David Clarke and Shounak Dasgupta) The website PredictIt now shows California senator Kamala Harris as the clear frontrunner in the Biden veepstakes, with close to a 50 percent chance of getting the nod. The second most likely Biden VP, according to the site, is Florida congresswoman Val Demings who is at 14 percent and in third place is Susan Rice, the former national-security adviser to President Obama, who is at 12 percent. The conventional wisdom appears to get the three finalists in the veepstakes correct. Biden seems increasingly likely to pick an African-American woman, so that rules out Elizabeth Warren. And other potential female African-American running mates, such as former Georgia legislator Stacey Abrams or Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, lack experience in federal government, which is a real deficiency during a pandemic. So, which of the three will it be? I think its closer to a tossup than conventional wisdom has it. Kamala Harriss strengths and weaknesses are well known to anyone who followed the Democratic primary. She is the only black woman to hold statewide office. Shes been vetted by the national press and is cautious enough that its likely she wouldnt commit any earth-shattering gaffes that would sink the Democratic ticket. On the other hand, Harris endorsed a radical and unpopular plan to abolish private health insurance by passing Medicare for All, so she could alienate some of the suburban voters that abandoned the GOP for the Democrats in 2018. At the same time, she waffled on the issue and generated little enthusiasm on the left. She also effectively accused Biden of being racist for opposing busing policies, and she could face withering attacks from the left and the right for her record on criminal justice. If Biden comes to see Harris as the wrong choice, who has the upper hand: Demings or Rice? If youre trying to get a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of Demings and Rice as political campaigners, watch these two recent interviews. Story continues Heres Rice on MSNBC on June 19: Heres Demings on CNN on June 22: This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The contrast in demeanor and tone is pretty striking. Rice comes across as cold and negative, while there is a certain warmth and positivity to Demings. Rice hammers the Trump administration, calling racist to its core, and repeatedly denounces the disgraceful despicable lies that this president tells. Demings, by contrast, seeks to establish a sense of empathy with viewers, discussing how she grew up in the South as the daughter of a maid and a janitor. I know what racism feels like, she says. Asked if shes seeking the VP slot, she tells Anderson Cooper: Im not sure I want the job as much as the job may want me. People are chosen, I believe, at certain times to address certain things, Demings says. Is she the one Bidens been waiting for? As an outsider and a natural politician, Demings seems to follow in the footsteps of candidate Barack Obama, while Rice, a creature of Washington, seems to be in the mold of Hillary Clinton. And yet, I wouldnt write off Rice. Demings might be exactly who Biden would want to pick during a period of relative normalcy or if he were behind and needed to generate excitement. But during a time of crisis, Biden, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, may come to see Rices State Department and National Security Council resume as a strong asset. And if his wide lead over Trump endures, Rice or Harris could seem like a safer pick than Demings, whose record as police chief in Orlando hasnt been fully vetted. With the Democratic National Convention looming in mid-August, the 77-year-old Democratic presidential nominee has about six weeks left to make the most important political decision of his life. More from National Review VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Vatican police on Tuesday raided the department in charge of maintenance and restoration at St. Peter's Basilica, seizing documents and computers for an investigation into suspected corruption. The raid was similar to one last October that involved another investigation into a separate department over the purchase of a building in a posh area of London. A statement from the Vatican press office said the material was seized from the technical and administrative offices of the Fabbrica di San Pietro. It traces its origins to the 15th century, even before construction of the current basilica began. Vatican magistrates ordered the raid following a tip from the office of the general auditor, the statement said, without giving details. It said Pope Francis appointed a commissioner to run the department temporarily. The commissioner was tasked with reorganising the department and updating its statutes in the wake of a June 1 papal document that introduced sweeping new rules for procurement and spending to reduce the risk of corruption in awarding contracts.. The statement specifically mentioned the new rules, which suggested Tuesday's raid may have something to do with the awarding of a contract. The department is currently overseeing the restoration of the basilica's dome, which recently has been partly covered by scaffolding. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) A nun walks across St. Peter's Square past St. Peter's Basilica - AFP Vatican police seized computers and files from a 500-year-old department that looks after the bricks and mortar maintenance of St Peters Basilica, amid the latest claims of financial skulduggery within the Holy See. Pope Francis vowed to clean up the Vaticans opaque and frequently corrupt finances when he was elected in 2013 after the unprecedented resignation of Benedict XVI. But in a new front against graft, officers from the tiny city states police force raided the offices of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, which was founded in 1523 by Pope Clement VII, before the building of the current basilica began. The imposing basilica was built in the 17th century over the supposed tomb of St Peter and was worked on by the greatest Italian architects of the day, including Bernini and Bramante. Police seized documents and computers from the technical and administrative offices of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the Vatican said in a statement. There were no details of what crimes may have been committed or who might be behind them, but prosecutors acted on information provided by the office of the general auditor. The Vatican said Pope Francis had appointed a new commissioner of the department, who will be expected to implement new anti-corruption rules which the Pope announced earlier this month about the awarding of contracts. The fact that the Vatican mentioned the rules introduced on June 1 suggested that Tuesdays raid could have something to do with suspected contract-rigging or procurement. The man appointed as the new commissioner, Bishop Mario Giordana, was involved in the investigation of suspected financial irregularities within the Sistine Chapel Choir. That investigation resulted in the early retirement of the choirmaster last year. He was not convicted of any crime. Pope Francis vowed to clean up financial corruption in the Vatican - Getty The Vatican is also mired in an investigation into its purchase two years ago of a luxury property in Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, amid allegations that it was fleeced out of millions of euros by middlemen. Story continues Gianluigi Torzi, a broker and businessman, was arrested by Vatican police earlier this month, accused of extortion, embezzlement, aggravated fraud and money laundering in relation to the 160m London deal. It is alleged that the price was hugely inflated. He has denied the allegations but faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty. The Popes campaign against corruption has faced several obstacles, not least the scandal that engulfed Cardinal George Pell. The Pope appointed the Australian his treasurer or economy minister, only to see him spectacularly fall from grace after being convicted in 2018 of abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in Melbourne in the 1990s. In April, Australias highest court overturned his conviction, bringing an end to his six-year prison sentence. WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pence received nearly $500,000 from a dozen contributors to pay his legal bills from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, according to his annual financial disclosure report that was released Tuesday. The biggest backers were Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon and the California couple Michael Hayde and Laura Khouri who develop and manage apartment complexes. They each gave $100,000. Other contributors include Pence's political adviser Marty Obst; national GOP fundraiser Ronald Weiser of Michigan; Florida real estate investor Leo Wells; Indiana businessmen Lawrence Sonny Beck, Paul Thrift and Tony Moravec; and Georgia businessman Brian McPheely, head of the countrys fifth largest corrugated packaging company. The legal defense fund was created in December 2018 by Jim Atterholt, who served as Pence's chief of staff when he was Indiana's governor. John Bolton: Pence was a 'consistent ally' and equally 'stunned' by some Trump actions Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Vehicle Assembly Building on May 23, 2020, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Pence hired an attorney, former U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen, after Mueller was appointed in 2017. But he was not billed until the end of Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Expenses were paid last June and the fund was terminated in August, according to the disclosure report. Atterholt previously told USA TODAY that he volunteered to start the fund because he doesn't believe legal bills should be the cost of public service. Pence's disclosure report shows his largest asset is a pension from the state of Indiana valued between $500,000 and $1 million. Pence and his wife, Karen, have a modest bank account and owe between $100,001 and $250,000 in loans that were taken out to help pay for their children's educations. Karen Pence reported earning between $2,501 and $5,000 in royalties for children's books she illustrated. Donors to the defense fund certified that Pence himself had not requested the money and that the contribution comes from personal funds. Donors were also required to be U.S. citizens and could not be a registered lobbyist, government employee, government contractor or agent of a foreign government. Story continues Pence was not asked by Mueller's team for an interview but provided documents, a White House official previously said. Pence had been on the periphery of the investigation. His exposure was primarily through statements he'd made that were later contradicted. Pence had publicly announced on Jan. 15, 2017, that former national security adviser Michael Flynn assured him he had not discussed with Russian officials the sanctions that then-President Barack Obama had imposed on Russia before leaving office. Flynn was fired after the White House was told by the Justice Department that Flynn had lied about those conversations. Trump's pressure on former FBI director James Comey not to go after Flynn was one of the "key issues and events" that Mueller's team considered when investigating whether Trump tried to illegally thwart the investigation. More: What the Mueller report on the Russia investigation says about Vice President Mike Pence This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vice President Mike Pence discloses donors to Mueller defense fund. JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jax, the Easier getaway! Jacksonville is slowly and safely opening its doors for visitors to come relax and unwind after months of isolation. Our extensive park system with hundreds of miles of hiking trails and more than 22 miles of beaches offers plenty of room for movement, fresh air, and outdoor fun. Jax, It's Easier Here. (PRNewsfoto/Visit Jacksonville and the Beac) Fourth of July: Let's celebrate America, the socially distanced way! For the first time, the City of Jacksonville will offer multiple fireworks locations for visitors to safely enjoy the festivities wherever they may be in the city without feeling overcrowded. From Downtown, to the Southside and the Beaches. More info: www.visitjacksonville.com/events/holidays/fourth-of-july/ The New Florida Road Trip: Jax, as locals call it, is a quick ride away from Atlanta, Charleston, Orlando, Tampa and Miami making us an ideal destination to escape home and explore the outdoors! Located at the super convenient intersection of I-95 and I-10, you can get from anywhere in the nation to Jax via car. Follow I-10 from the West Coast and end up in Downtown Jacksonville or come along the I-95 corridor from New York and end up all the way in Key West (making a stop in Jax, of course!). Jacksonville has the easy going and relaxed beach vibes to make for the ideal road trip destination this summer. Curious what is on the next stop in Jax? www.visitjacksonville.com/blog/i-95-exits-to-do-list/ The Outdoors Connection: There is less stress and more space in our city with more than 400 City Parks, 7 State Parks and 2 National Parks to discover. Hike, bike, run, camp, swim, explore and have the ultimate green adventure in unique spots like the remote Talbot Islands, don't miss Blackrock Beach and Boneyard Beach. Visit Huguenot Park and drive your car on the sand and bring everything you need for the ultimate beach day. Go for a hike at Hanna Park, enjoy one of its 15+ miles of trails and end the visit with a surf lesson in the park! If you are an avid cyclist, test your skills at the Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail in Jacksonville's Westside. It has 14.5 miles of paved riding trails mostly shaded. Plan your eco-adventure: www.visitjacksonville.com/things-to-do/outdoors/outdoors-guide/ Story continues Best Places to Camp in Florida: What could be better than casting a line with the kids or snuggling close to someone special by the campfire? How about doing all that and sleeping under the stars! Jacksonville's best campsites are just steps from white, sandy beaches along the coast. Huguenot Park, Little Talbot Island State Park, Hanna Park and Flamingo Lake Resort are all waterfront camping sites to get immersed in nature. They offer facilities, electricity and great adventure! Read more: https://www.visitjacksonville.com/things-to-do/outdoors/camping/ Black History Sites + Monuments: As a city filled with rich culture and historical treasures, visitors can celebrate Black history in Northeast Florida year-round. From the Ritz Theatre and Museum to the Norman Film Studios and the Mandarin School House, Jacksonville has preserved its outstanding African American Heritage. Take a virtual tour: www.jaxheritagetrail.com/ Media contact: Patty Winters pwinters@visitjacksonville.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/visit-jacksonville-july-in-jax-301086405.html SOURCE Visit Jacksonville and the Beaches Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's state-owned automaker FAW Group established a wholly-owned subsidiary on June 22, which is likely to help Hongqi forge ahead with its ICV (intelligent-connected vehicle) development. Involving a registered capital of 45 million yuan ($6,359,166), the new subsidiary, named Beijing Qicai Intelligent Technology Co.,Ltd., has a line of businesses including the technology development, consultation, transfer and promotion, the sale of computers, software, electronic products, communications equipment and automobile accessories, the Internet information service, as well as the engineering design, according to the Chinese business data query platform Tianyancha. On October 30, 2018, FAW Group announced its R.Flag Plan a technology development plan for Hongqi brand in Shanghai. As a key measure of implementing New Hongqi Brand Strategy, the R.Flag Plan is also a major achievement in promoting brand image and product competitiveness of Hongqi brand. The R.Flag Plan, stands for Rise, Future, Leading, Autonomous and Genes, comprises of four strategic plans i.RFlag, e.RFlag, 5f.RFlag, and m.RFlag. The i.RFlag, dubbed Qicai in Chinese, is Hongqi's technology brand for ICV. Given the correlation in name, the newborn subsidiary may involve the implementation of the premium brand's ICV strategy. (Hongqi H9, photo source: Hongqi's WeChat account) Under the i.RFlag plan, Hongqi has yielded some substantial fruits. At the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2019, the automaker unveiled three Hongqi-branded intelligent models, including an electric mini bus, the E-HS3 and the H7 PHEV. Moreover, the e.RFlag, the 5f.RFlag, and the m.RFlag focus on electrification, experience and ride-sharing segments respectively. Hongqi saw its May sales rose precipitously 133.3% from the previous year to 15,103 units, and its production outputs soared 97.2% to 16,002 units. The premium auto brand has six models on sales to-day, namely, the H5, the H7, the L5, the HS5, the HS7 and the E-HS3 BEV, including both SUVs and sedans, and is ambitious to form a massive product matrix composed of 21 models by 2025, 18 of which will be NEVs. Click here to read the full article. Flying helicopters behind enemy lines, overwhelming enemy surface ships with small boats, conducting clandestine rescue missions and offering a floating port from which forces can operate, all demonstrate some of the key reasons why the Navy is increasing its sea basing strategy. The service recently commenced construction on its fourth Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) at the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, California. The U.S. Navys construction of ESBs reflects the services increased need to adjust to new kinds of land-based and maritime threats, to include the changing character of amphibious warfare. Navy officials explain that ESBs, as well as some larger mothership amphibs, will function as seaports, floating hospitals, logistics warehouses and specific launching bases for expeditionary attacks. The ESBs are engineered with a flat-top flight-deck helicopter landing area and side pocket areas from which to launch Rigid-Hull-Inflatable Boats for small, fast strike, rescue or reconnaissance missions. They also have ammunition storage, command and control facilities as well as a reconfigurable mission deck area to store force equipment such as mine sleds and small boats. The ESBs can also naturally function as floating command and control bases from which to operate attack missions or coordinate large fleets of autonomous surface, air or undersea drones. A 2014 paper from the Marine Corps Association, the professional journal of the U.S. Marine Corps, points to sea-basing as a foundation upon which the Navy will shift away from traditional amphibious warfare. Seabased operations enable Marines to conduct highly mobile, specialized, small unit, amphibious landings by stealth from over the horizon at multiple undefended locations of our own choosing, the paper writes. In effect, future ship-to-shore amphibious attacks will look nothing like the more linear, aggregated Iwo Jima assault. A Naval War College essay on this topic both predicts and reinforces this kind of modern strategic thinking. Story continues The basic requirements of amphibious assault, long held to be vital to success, may no longer be attainable. Unlike the Pacific landings of World War II amphibious objective areas could prove impossible to isolate, the paper, called Blitzkrieg From the Sea: Maneuver Warfare and Amphibious Operations, states. The essay, written in the 80s during the height of the Cold War, seems to anticipate future threats from major-power adversaries. Interestingly, drawing from some elements of a Cold War mentality, the essay foreshadows current great-power competition strategy for the Navy as it continues its transition from more than a decade of counterinsurgency to a new threat environment. In fact, when discussing its now-underway distributed maritime operations strategy, Navy leaders often refer to this need to return its focus upon heavily fortified littoral defenses and open, blue-water warfare against a near-peer adversaryas having some roots in the Cold War era. Seabasing also of course introduces additional multi-domain operational flexibility, offering new points from which to attack, project power or launch small-boat Special Operations missions. For instance, the Commander of Air Force Combatant Command, General James Holmes, says it is important for cross-domain attack forces to decrease their dependence upon known, fixed-sites from which to operate near enemy territory. With the situation we are in with Russia and China, if they know they only have to target 10s of airfields, or even 100 ports and airfields where we have to get resources to get close enough to operate, we simplify their problem. What can we do to move away from our dependence upon those ports and airfields? Holmes told Lieutenant General Dave Deptula (retired), Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace studies in a recent interview. Kris Osborn is the new Defense Editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the ArmyAcquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. Image: U.S. military Click here to read the full article. AFP via Getty Images New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed cutting $1bn (814m) from the police forces $6bn (4.48bn) yearly budget, amid calls for reform. Mr de Blasio announced the plan during his daily City Hall press briefing on Monday, and said the proposed budget would help reform the New York City Police Department (NYPD). My office presented to City Council a plan that would achieve the billion in savings for the NYPD and shift resources to young people, to communities in a way that would help address a lot of the underlying issues that we know are the cause of so many problems in our society, Mr de Blasio told reporters. Im excited to say we have a plan that can achieve real reform, that can achieve real redistribution while at the same time ensure that we keep our city safe, while we make sure that our officers are on patrol around where we need them around this city, the mayor added. A renewed discussion around police reform has emerged in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who was killed by Derek Chauvin, who was a Minneapolis police officer at the time, but has now been charged with second degree murder and manslaughter. Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests took place following the death of Mr Floyd, and protesters have called for reform of police departments all across the US. The mayor acknowledged that the protests influenced the decisions in the plan, but wanted to reassure New Yorkers that we can strike the balance, we can keep this city safe. Mr de Blasios plan comes amid a spike in gun violence in the city, that saw 18 people shot over the weekend and 70 in total last week. This was in comparison to the 26 people who were shot over the same time period in 2019. Last week when asked about a spike in shootings in the city, Mr de Blasio said that it was time to try new strategies to combat gun violence. Were going to use new strategies and approaches in policing, new strategies and approaches at the community level. Were going to do whatever it takes to fight back gun violence. Story continues Mr De Blasio confirmed that no final decision have yet been made on the NYPDs budget, and said he was unsure whether the 36,000 officers currently working for the NYPD would all keep their jobs, according to the New York Post. He added that with the plan its important to show that we are going to make changes in this city. We are going to refocus our efforts on young people in particular. Its being done in a smart safe manner and I know the NYPD can handle it effectively. Read more NYC mayor proud of daughter after she is arrested at protest Click here to read the full article. While advertisers are pulling away from Facebook, Apple is having its own issues. The New York Times has ended its partnership with Apple News, effective June 29, after the service failed to boost readership numbers, chief operating officer Meredith Levien said Monday. She also pointed out that Apple does not give partners enough information about user data. The Times, which has been a member for several years, is the largest organization to quit the app, which was launched in 2015 and allows users to peruse stories from a plethora of publishers. Apple News does not align with our strategy to fund quality journalism by building direct relationships with paying readers, a Times spokesman said. We believe quality publishers should be fairly compensated for the expensive proposition of creating and providing platforms valuable independent journalism. Instead, the Times plans to put its energy into attracting readers directly to its web site and app. It added 587,000 net new digital subscriptions in the three months ended March 29, compared with the previous quarter. This was the biggest quarterly jump on record. Its not completely severing ties with the tech giant, though, stating that it will continue to have strong partnerships with Apple through a variety of other products. This no doubt includes podcasts. A spokesperson for Apple said that the Times has only offered Apple News a few stories a day. We are committed to providing the more than 125 million people who use Apple News with the most trusted information and will continue to do so through our collaboration with thousands of publishers, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, the Miami Herald, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and we will continue to add great new outlets for readers, it added. Apple News recently unveiled a NewsPlus subscription costing $9.99 a month. The Times did not join the latter. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Here's What You Need To Remember: Although a .50 caliber sniper rifle bullet can fly as far as five miles, a host of factors including gravity, wind speed and direction, altitude, barometric pressure, humidity and even the Coriolis Effect act upon the bullet as it travels. Even worse, these effects increase the farther the bullet travels. A successful sniper team operating at extreme distances must do its best to predict exactly how these factors will affect the bullet and calculate how to get the bullet back onto target. In mid-2017, the sniping community was rocked by incredible news: a Canadian sniper team operating in the Middle East had made a successful kill at a distance of more than two miles. The team, deployed to fight the Islamic State, killed an ISIS fighter at a distance of 3,871 yards. The shot was a record breaker and more than a thousand yards farther than the previous world record. The shot, which bordered on the impossible, was made only slightly less so by the skill of the snipers involved. On June 22, 2017 the Globe and Mail reported that two snipers assigned to Joint Task Force 2, Canadas elite special forces unit, had shot an Islamic State fighter in Iraq at a distance of 3,540 meters, or 3,871 yards. The sniper team was stationed on top of a highrise building when it took the shot, which took almost ten seconds to reach its target. The sniper and his spotter had used a McMillan TAC-50 .50 heavy caliber sniper rifle. According to the Globe and Mail, the kill was verified by video and other data. To understand the complexity of the shot, its best to start with a sniper maxim: sniping is weaponized math. Although a .50 caliber sniper rifle bullet can fly as far as five miles, a host of factors including gravity, wind speed and direction, altitude, barometric pressure, humidity and even the Coriolis Effect act upon the bullet as it travels. Even worse, these effects increase the farther the bullet travels. A successful sniper team operating at extreme distances must do its best to predict exactly how these factors will affect the bullet and calculate how to get the bullet back onto target. Story continues The first and most influential factor on a bullet is gravity. A bullet begins to lose energy as soon as it leaves the muzzle of a gun, and as it loses energy it loses the ability to counteract gravity. The farther and slower a bullet flies, the more Earths gravity will pull the bullet downward. This is known as bullet drop, and even the most powerful bullet, such as the .50 caliber round used by the TAC-50, will invariably experience it. In most shooting shooting situations, bullet drop is only a matter of a few inches or more. The Canadian snipers, on the other hand, had to deal with a phenomenal amount of bullet drop: at 3,450 meters, the bullet would be expected to drop 6,705 inches! Ryan Cleckner, a former U.S. Army Ranger sniper and author shows the ballistic data for the shot here. As the bullet is traveling subsonic at a spend of 940 feet per second, the bullet is diving an average of nearly two inches per foot of forward travel, with the problem getting much worse as distance increases. In order to make the shot the Canadian snipers had to counteract the staggering amount of drop. Being on a highrise building, or hilltop was a must. The rest of the drop correction had to be done within the rifles scope, which can be adjusted for drop, and a scope mount that was angled upward for extreme long distance shooting. Cleckners data also provides other useful information. Bullet flight time, from the muzzle of the Canadian snipers gun to target was just over seven seconds. The bullet was traveling at 940 feet per second when it hit, which means it slowed to below the speed of sound. Finally, after traveling more than two miles the bullet hit with 1,472 foot pounds of energy, greater than most M16 bullets at point blank range. Another major factor that would have affected the shot was windage. When shooting at extreme distances, even a mild wind of five miles an hour will have an effect on the flight of a bullet, slowly but surely nudging it off its flight path toward the direction of the wind. At 400 yards, a .50 caliber bullet will be nudged 2.5 inches off its path by a five mile an hour wind. At 3,800 yards that balloons to an incredible 366 inches. In other words, the snipers had to assume their bullet would impact just over thirty feet in the direction of wind travel and plan accordingly. Other environmental factors played a hand in the shot. Air pressure (generally a function of altitude), temperature, and humidity are factors most shooters at ranges of 500 yards or less rarely encounter, become major issues at 3,800 meters. These factors are mitigated by the use of wind sensors, barometric pressure readers, and a knowledge of local weather conditions. To complicate matters, these conditions may change so that a shot taken on a cold morning will be much different in the heat of the afternoon and snipers must recalculate the shot accordingly. Earth itself, and the position of the shooter and target on the globe become factors at long range. The Coriolis Effect dictates that bullets shot in the northern hemisphere drift to the right, while those shot in the southern hemisphere drift to the left, and this phenomenon increases the farther one gets to the poles. Furthermore, shooting east with the rotation of the earth will cause bullets to strike high, while shooting west will cause the same bullet to strike low. Even the construction of the rifle itself affects the shot. A high quality barrel will naturally be more accurate and the rifle involved in the shot, the McMillan TAC-50, is one of the best around. The barrel rifling, a spiral-like pattern that makes the bullet spin in flight, stabilizing it, imparts spin drift. According to Cleckner, a rifle with a right-hand spiral twist will send a bullet up to ten inches to the right at 1,000 yards. How much spin drift would affect the shot at 3,800 yards was essential information for the Canadian snipers. In taking their record-breaking shot, the Canadian sniper team had to consider all of these factorsmerely misjudging one would have caused a clean missand it is an incredible testament to their skill that they were successful. The average man-sized target is just twenty-four inches wide, leaving zero room for error in a two mile shot. The shot took place at the extreme edge of viability, given the current levels of sniper technology. While the JTF-2 shot will almost certainly be equalled, it seems unlikely it will be decisively beaten for the foreseeable future. Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. This first appeared last year. Image: Flickr. Recommended: The Colt Python: The Best Revolver Ever Made? Recommended: Smith & Wesson 500: The Gun That Has As Much Firepower As a Rifle Recommended: Smith & Wesson's .44 Magnum Revolver: Why You Should Fear the 'Dirty Harry' Gun Click here to read the full article. The National Coordinator, PTF , Dr. Sani Aliyu who announced the lifting of the ban on domestic flight operations in the country, said domestic operations are allowed to open as soon as practicable but in line with existing international and local guidelines on COVID-19. Dr. Aliyu said passengers must observe all the health protocols put in place by the airport authority. You must observe the social distance, wear a face mask, wash your hands, sanitize it, your luggage must be disinfected, temperature taking, and so on, he said. He also appealed to passengers to adhere strictly to the protocols for their good and the good of others. While answering the question on whether there will be an increase in airfares Chairman of the PTF and the SGF, Boss Mustapha said with the reality on the ground, passengers should expect a review in airfares and other services at the airports. Mustapha also said that with the increase in the Passenger service charge, PSC, by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, by 100% it was clear that charges for services would no longer be the same including that of other government aviation agencies and private businesses in the industry. He added that with such a review, less should not be expected from the airlines. Because that is the nature of what the COVID-19 has thrust on the people and all over the world, he said. The chairman of PTF stressed that the industry had been hard hit with the loss of huge revenue due to no flight operations for over 3 months, adding that to recoup these losses both passengers and business owners would have to share the cost. And there is going to be a maintenance of social distancing a bit of it inside the aircraft, if an aircraft has a capacity of 150 people, they might now be restricted to about a 100 or 75. Flying comes with a component; aviation fuel is one of it, salaries for the pilots and the cabin crew is one of it, services that are paid for to the aviation industry institutions. Every time you see a plane take off, there is the attendant cost to that, who will bear the cost, it will be shared, the passengers will take part in it, the business owners will take part in the cost, Boss Mustapha said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers The EFCC had last week stormed Umuahia and sealed off some properties allegedly belonging to a top politician in the state. The properties sealed by the EFCC include; Abia Mall, Adelabu Housing Estate, Millenium Luxury Apartment, Abia hotels, Linto Estate and Old Timber Market, among others. Briefing newsmen in Umuahia, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Uche Ihediwa, who issued the ultimatum, demanded the anti-graft agency to tender an unreserved apology to the State within the specific period, failing which the State would seek redress in court. Ihediwa disclosed that most of the properties marked by the EFCC belong to the state government, adding that the state duly entered into partnership arrangements with credible investors for the development of those properties under Public Private Partnership, PPP. The Commissioner described the action of the EFCC as unlawful, lamenting that the agency didnt contact the State government to find out the ownership of the said properties whose title documents are domiciled in the State Ministry of Lands. He explained that the law establishing the EFCC makes it clear that the Commission can only seal property of persons under investigation, insisting that the ownership of the property in question is not under investigation. The Attorney General noted that in 2016, the EFCC also investigated the ownership of most of the properties and the certificates of occupancy and as well as the public-private partnership agreements between the State government and investors of the various assets. He further stated that the EFCCs action is capable of scaring investors from the State. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers According to reports, the Parakoyi of Ibadanland died Monday morning at his Apapa, Lagos residence. He was aged 88. Chief Bode Akindeles business empire operates under the name Modandola Group of Companies. The Madandola Groups areas of interest cover maritime, properties, manufacturing, real estate, investments, finance, and flour milling with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. Chief Bode Akindele was born 88 years ago, precisely on the 2nd of June 1932. His father, Pa Joshua Laniyan Akindele, was a Chief Tax Clerk for the whole of the Western Region and his mother, Rabiatu Adedigba, a wealthy and politically influential Ibadan trader, was the first woman to go to Mecca in Ibadan. Condolence messages have started pouring in for the late industrialist. Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, in his condolence message, described the death of the foremost Ibadan businessman and philanthropist as a great loss to the state and indeed, Nigeria. Makinde, who described the late Parakoyi of Ibadanland and chairman of Modandola Group, as a worthy elder statesman and someone who was genuinely interested in the wellbeing of others, said that the late businessman would be sorely missed. A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted the governor as saying that the late Akindele contributed in no small measure to the growth of the state and his community. The governor also commiserated with the family of the late statesman, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, and the entire people of Oyo State, praying that the good Lord would grant them the fortitude to bear the loss. The governor said, The news of the death of our revered elder statesman, Chief Bode Akindele, the Parakoyi of Ibadanland and chairman, Modandola Group, came to us as a shock. Baba Akindele was one of the worthy elder statesmen in the state and he lived a life worthy of emulation. As an elder, he was always after the progress and wellbeing of the state and its people. I remember that only a few months ago when the state put out calls for support towards the Oyo State COVID-19 Endowment Fund, Baba Akindele was one of the elders who responded by donating N25 million to the state. It is sad that we lost such a noble elder and philanthropist at such a moment as this. I pray to God to grant his entire family and the state the fortitude to bear this loss Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement on Monday. According to the statement, Musa from Nigerian Police Force Zone 5, Benin City, as his last station, hails from Niger State. Musas appointment follows the redeployment of his predecessor, Commissioner of Police, Abdulkarim Dauda, Shehu wrote. Dauda is one of the security operatives redeployed from the Presidential Villa in the wake of the shooting incident that involved security aides attached to the Presidents wife, Aisha. Aisha and her security details had stormed the official residence of the Presidents Personal Assistant, Sabiu Yusuf, in an attempt to force him into 14-day isolation after his travel to Lagos considered to be the epicentre of COVID-19 in Nigeria. It was learnt that Musa resumed work officially on Monday. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers Wike said the ongoing increased testing for coronavirus in the state was part of his governments commitment to save more life ives. A statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, said the governor spoke when the Executive Director of BUA Foundation presented three ambulances to him at Government house, Port Harcourt. The governor insisted that more testing would reveal more covid-19 cases to enable the vovernment dedicate prompt medical attention to the people. He said: The more we test, the more the number will increase and we are willing to continue to test. Let our people know that this not the kind of sickness to be ashamed of. Nobody knows who you have shook hands with. Im sure, in Rivers State, we have lost not less than 38 lives on the record. Nobody will be happy that each day you wake up, you hear that somebody, probably a bread winner of the family, is no longer there because of covid-19 pandemic. In fact, I have given a directive that all staff of government House must go for testing, Nobody knows who is a carrier and we must save everybody as much as we can. Wike lauded the sustained support from BUA Foundation to the Rivers state government particularly at the period of covid-19 pandemic. He said most companies in the state were only interested in making profit but would not support the government to save lives. He said: BUA group has not only come to support us at this critical period but they have shown that really, they are part and parcel of the state. I sincerely commend you. So many companies shy away from identifying with the state where they operate because of lack of understanding. Making profit alone is what is important to them but to support government to save life is very difficulty for them. You have donated to the Rivers state government the sum N100million before, you have given us a lorry load of other items. Today, you have given us three life support ambulances. I want to sincerely say that Rivers State government will continue to identify with you and to make sure that we make the environment easy for you to continue to do your business. All those who are here and not supporting us to save life in the state should not also expect to get cooperation from the Rivers state government. Those I consider as brothers and sisters are persons who identify with me when Im in trouble. Do not relent in supporting the government of the state. This is where youre doing business. We are a peaceful people and have fought insecurity to the lowest ebb. You can attest to the fact today that, apart to covid-19, Rivers state is safe, he added. In his remarks, the Executive Director of BUA Foundation, Khalifa Rabiu expressed appreciation to Wike for creating conducive business environment for their operations. He said, they had donated N100 million and a lorry load of covid-19 preventive items included the three ambulances. Rabiu said the donation was a show of their support to the Rivers state government to enable it succeed in the fight against covid-19. Also, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Princewill Chike said 3,434 samples had been tested and that the state treatment centre successfully managed and discharged about 584 patients. Chike also said there are about 284 medical personnel engaged and catered for by the state government at the treatment centres, and surveillance offices. This is exclusive of those sponsored by the international oil companies. The state government also released over 40 ambulances to strengthen the response capacity of the team, he said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers The Chairman, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, has urged Nigerians to thank God for the countrys low mortality rate being recorded following the community spread of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic. Mustapha said this when he briefed State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday. According to him, the mortality rate of the virus is also low due to the age bracket of most of those infected by the virus in the country, saying most victims of the disease are in the age bracket of 31 to 40 years. We should remain grateful to God why the mortality is not very, very high is a thing that it should be subject of even study because we have the same climatic environment with countries like South American countries like Brazil. Thee rate of mortality in other countries falls within the bracket of about five-point-something while ours is about two-point-four and two-point-five per cent mortality. The age bracket in Nigeria is between 31 and 40, years and that is a very, very active age. Those are the ones that within the percentage of about 80 per cent can wither the infections; some will show mild symptoms and not take ill severely. The 20 per cent that is remaining from that are those that are likely to fall sick and five per cent of the 20 per cent are likely to be critically ill that they would require even the level of oxygenation and ventilation, he added. Mustapha disclosed that 18 Local Government Areas (as against the previous 21) have been identified out of the 774 local governments as high burdened with 60 per cent rate of the reported 24,077 infections in the country. PTF has identified 18 Local Governments out of the 774 local governments that are considered to be high-burdened with this infection, they account for 60 per cent of the 24, 077 infections, he added. Mustapha was accompanied by Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, the Coordinator of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu and the Director-General of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers Home | News | General | Buratai relocates to Katsina as banditry attacks escalate in president's home state - The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai says he has relocated to Katsina state - The state has been under siege by bandits in the last few months - Buratai says he is in the state to coordinate activities of the new Operation Sahel Sanity, designed to flush out bandits PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai, on Monday, June 29 announced that he has relocated to Katsina following continuous attacks on the state by bandits. Buratai is in the state to coordinate activities of the new Operation Sahel Sanity, designed to flush out bandits terrorising parts of the northwest zone. I came here two days ago and we will be here for some time to coordinate activities of the troops here in order to get some succour and also be able to resolve some of the challenges, Buratai told Governor Aminu Masari during a courtesy call. Nigerian man with 2 wives laments hardship under Buhari's administration, says he wants a 3rd wife Buratai also announced that the 2020 Nigerian Army Day celebration will be held in the state. Photo credit: NA Source: UGC He further said: We are aware of the deteriorating security situation in the northwest which calls for concern. President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that appropriate steps be taken by the security agencies. As part of our efforts to ensure that the presidents directives are followed, to stabilise the security situation, the Nigerian Army is carrying out an operation in collaboration with existing operations here in the northwest. Responding, Governor Masari lamented that activities of bandits have rendered parts of the state virtually ungovernable. According to the governor, the state has witnessed massive dislodgement of the people by bandits in the last one month. His words: The only thing that these people know is force and unless we are able to subdue them completely, that is when we can bring the issue of talking with them, if necessary. So, I call on the security agencies to understand that the only language these bandits respect is the superiority of firepower. Do not display cowardice on war front- Military warns commanders PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news Meanwhile, a security expert and public affairs commentator, Terrence Kuanum, has attributed the incessant cases of violence and bandit attacks in parts of northern Nigeria to the activities of failed politicians. Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Sunday, June 21, Kuanum said information available to him indicates that most of the cases of violence and banditry in northern Nigeria are politically motivated. 'Nigeria needs a leader, not a president' | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Planned hike in electricity tariffs postponed after intervention by NASS leadership - The leadership of the National Assembly has waded into the controversy on the planned hike in electricity tariffs - The plan has now been postponed until the first quarter of 2021 - National Assembly leaders were emphatic at the meeting that the timing of the planned hike was wrong PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed Federal government's planned hike in electricity tariffs from Wednesday, July 1 has been postponed. The decision was arrived at after the leadership of the National Assembly on Monday, June 29 convinced the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to defer the plan until the first quarter of 2021. A statement on Monday, June 29 by Ola Awoniyi, media aide to Senate President Ahmad Lawan, revealed that his principal, alongside the Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, met with the DISCOs to resolve the issue. Kaduna, Gombe and others named among 32 states that may find it difficult to pay salaries after Covid-19 The Buhari administration had already hinted on the start of the new tariffs in July. Photo credit: Presidency Source: Twitter PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! The statement noted that the National Assembly leaders were emphatic at the meeting that the timing of the planned hike was wrong. It added that in the course of the meeting, the DISCOs admitted that they were not well prepared for the planned hike in tariffs even though they so much desired the increase. The meeting agreed to defer the planned hike till the first quarter of 2021 while the leadership of the National Assembly promised to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue. The potential increase in the tariffs is definitely something that will be of concern to us in the National Assembly. There is too much stress in the lives of Nigerians today and indeed across the world because of the challenges imposed by COVID-19 pandemic and even before then, we had issues that would always make it tough for our people to effectively pay the tariffs, Lawan said at the meeting. Edo, Ondo 2020: Falana names one major thing to reduce tension On his part, Gbajabiamila said: There is time for everything. A well-intended programme or policy of government can fall flat on the face and never recover if you do it at a wrong time. I think we all agree to that. There cannot be a time as bad as this for us to increase anything. Forget about electricity, anything. Whereas, even in time of decreasing revenue, we are even reducing the pump price. I dont know how we can justify an increase in the cost of electricity at this time in Nigeria. The proposed increase had sparked outrage in the country as citizens are still recovering from the economic effects of COVID-19. Ibrahim Salawu wrote on social media: Nigeria is about to increase electricity bills. If Nigeria doesnt kill you, nothing will; thats why were still hustling for US visa. Wale Adetona wrote: If I had the opportunity of fixing anything in Nigeria, power (electricity) and the Health sector would be my top priority. A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. And a nation with constant power would automatically mean other sectors remain productive. ASUU lambasts Ngige, calls him minister of dispute escalation and disinformation Experts say electricity deregulation is still evolving in Nigeria, stressing that the longer it takes, the more costly it is financially for Nigerians. Economists say for every 1 per cent increase in electricity, an economy is expected to grow by 3.94 per cent. At this rate, Nigeria loses about $25billion yearly to an irregular electricity supply across the country, stifling economic growth and prosperity. Engineer Sale Mamman, Nigeria's minister of power, recently stated that the new increment on electricity tariff will take off in July. Mamman disclosed this on Tuesday, June 16 when he appeared before the Senate committee on power. He said the government is going ahead with the plan because the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had also affected its plans for the repositioning of the electricity market toward financial sustainability. 5 years after, Nigerians speak about Buhari's administration | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | FG slashes fees for conduct of marriages in Nigeria - The fees to conduct a statutory marriage in Nigeria has been slashed by the federal government - The new fees come under the Marriage Act CAP M6 LFN 2004, according to the federal ministry of interior - The minister of interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola called on stakeholders to take advantage of the reduction in fees PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The federal government has slashed the fees to conduct a statutory marriage in Nigeria. The review of the fees would commence from Wednesday, July 1. The new fees come under the Marriage Act CAP M6 LFN 2004, according to public notice by the permanent secretary and principal registrar of marriages in Nigeria, Georgina Ehuriah. The minister of interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola called on stakeholders to take advantage of the reduction in fees. Photo credit: Min. Of Interior Source: UGC PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! A statement from the director of press in the federal ministry of interior, Mohammed Manga, noted that the adjustment was an off-shoot of the recommendations made by stakeholders recently. Menstrual Day: FG launches sanitary pads distribution project for menstruating women, girls The issuance of a fresh marriage licence to a place of public worship has been reduced from N30,000 for two (2) years to N6,000 yearly, payable for five years in the first instance. The renewal of marriage licence by a place of public worship, N5,000 has been approved per year, payable for three (3) years at each instance, as against the N30,000 earlier charged annually. The fees chargeable for statutory ordinary marriage has also been cut down from N21,000 to N15,000 while that of statutory special licence has been slashed from N35,000 to N25,000. Meanwhile, the Niger government has approved the reduction of tax payments in the state as part of measures to cushion the economic impact of coronavirus on residents. This was revealed in a statewide broadcast by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Matene on behalf of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello. Subsidy: NLC accuses federal government of paying oil marketers N168 billion He said the filing date of annual tax returns by all businesses and individuals have been extended to Wednesday, September 30 while the filing of monthly PAYE returns by businesses has been granted 10 days extension beginning from the 10th to 20th of every month. He also stated that the penalties and interests on late filings, payments, and remittances as well as default on tax liabilities have been reduced to 5% per cent for penalties and 10% per cent for interests charges. I have two wives, but I can still marry another if my life gets better - street hustler | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Breaking: FG finally approves reopening of schools, says daycare centres remain closed - The federal government has approved the resumption of schools across the country - Boss Mustapha, the PTF chairman, made this known on Monday, June 29 - Mustapha, however, said that daycare centres remain closed PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! As the second phase of eased lockdown ended on Monday, June 29, the federal government has approved what it called safe reopening of schools nationwide in the next phase of the gradual easing of lockdown in order to curtail further spread of COVID-19. The Nation reports that the chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this on Monday, June 29, at the ongoing daily briefing of the task force in Abuja. Legit.ng gathered that he said the reopening of schools was meant to allow students in graduating classes to resume preparation for examinations. Operation Katsina: We've killed 392 bandits, says Nigerian military He disclosed that the latest developments were contained in the task forces fifth interim report which was submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari earlier in the day. Mustapha said: I am pleased to inform you that Mr. President has carefully considered the 5th Interim Report of the PTF and has accordingly approved that, safe re-opening of schools to allow students in graduating classes resume in-person in preparation for examinations; Safe reopening of domestic aviation services as soon as practicable; publication of revised guidelines around the three thematic areas of general movement, industry and labour; and community activities; provision of technical support for states to mobilise additional resources for the response. Mustapha, however, said that the students expected to resume are in Primary 6 who are to write the Common Entrance Examination; Junior Secondary School 3 students and Senior Secondary School 3 students. The PTF added that though it asked those categories of students to resume, students in other classes are not allowed to resume. Kaduna, Gombe and others named among 32 states that may find it difficult to pay salaries after Covid-19 PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that After three months of hues and cries, the federal government on Monday, June 29, finally lifted the ban on interstate movement effective from Wednesday, July 1. It was gathered that Mustapha disclosed this on Monday, June 29, during the daily media briefing in Abuja. The national coordinator of PTF, Sani Aliyu, also added that only fifty percent of the passengers of the buses are allowed during travels. Many Nigerians still don't believe Coronavirus exists - NOA DG | - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Bye daddy, they've removed my ventilator - Covid-19 patient shared final moment with father before he died - A Covid-19 patient has caused a huge media stir after he archived his last moment before he died of the virus - In his final moment, he could be seen saying he is struggling for breath as ventilators were pulled off him - The grief-stricken father of the deceased performed final rites for his son on Saturday, June 27 PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Just minutes before dying, a 26-year-old coronavirus patient documented his last moments in a selfie video he sent to his father on Friday night, June 26. The video showed him saying that he could not breathe as the ventilator was taken off him by doctors. By Sunday, June 28, the video had become a massive sensation online. In the clip, the man also accused health officials of earlier ignoring his call for oxygen for three hours. The deceaseds dad did the final rites for his son on Saturday, June 27. Proudly a cosmetic surgery baby - Tonto Dikeh says as she shares throwback photo They have removed ventilator My heart has stopped and only lungs are working, but I am unable to breathe, daddy. Bye daddy, bye all, bye daddy, he said. The hospital, however, dismissed the allegation the deceased made, saying that he was at a very medically bad state that he could not sense the supply of oxygen being given to him. Representative images of an isolation centre and Covid-19. Photo source: NewScientist/Daily Mail Source: UGC Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Sheriff Mark Lamb who went against the lockdown order when the governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, wanted to extend it, tested positive for coronavirus. In early May, the police chief said that the numbers dont justify the actions anymore, adding that three hundred deaths is not a reason enough to shut down the economy. He said that he would talk to people, especially those near Phoenix, about following the order, but he would not "criminally" enforce it. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news Defence minister says Nigerian military is short of manpower In less than two months of saying that, Mark made it known on Wednesday, June 17, that he has tested positive for the deadly virus. It should be noted that as at Wednesday, June 17, there are over 40,000 confirmed cases of the deadly virus as over 1,800 new cases sprung up that same day. The state is one of the 10 hotbeds for the virus in America as it has recorded over 1,200 deaths from the virus since the pandemic started. How Nigeria's Covid-19 cases rose from 7000 to over 20,000 in one month | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Amazing transformation photos of boy who used to beg on the street go viral - Irene Ubani has helped a young boy, Abolude Ayodeji, become a better person in life as she guided him towards the right path - Once an ordinary beggar, Deji is now enrolled in school in Lagos state - Irene thanked everyone who helped her in rehabilitating Deji PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! A Nigerian woman, Irene Ubani, has done humanity a great service as she gave a street beggar, Abolude Ayodeji, an opportunity to become better in life. She said the boy, Deji, used to ask for alms at her bus stop alongside other teenagers like him. She was able to help him with the collaboration of the commissioner of education in Lagos state, Folashade Adefisayo. Irene said the boy is not only better but now off the street. She also appreciated her friends who supported her and all the Lagos state staff at the Ministry of Education, who welcomed him. Temi Otedola celebrates autistic brother lovingly on his 20th birthday (photos) A collage of Irene and Deji. Photo source: LinkedIn/Irene Ubani Source: UGC Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that 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. 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. With other people's financial help, he was treated at SDA hospital in Ile-Ife of his ulcer and other diseases. See what happened to this Nigerian after an American lady picked him off the street 19 years ago (photo) In other news, Egoagwuagwu Agnes Maduafokwa is one of the beautiful minds the country is blessed with. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update She is the candidate with the highest score in the 2020 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations otherwise known as Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Egoagwuagwu scored 365 out of 400. Insideschool Nigeria reports that she is the president of the maths club and the first assistant head girl of Louisville Girls High School, Ijebu-Itele in Ogun state. She said she wants to study engineering at the university where she will be able to apply mathematical concepts to solve societal issues. HEART OF GOLD: Williams gets sponsor for varsity education | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Prepare for hike in airfare as domestic flights resume FG The Nigerian government has approved the resumption of domestic flight as soon as practicable inline with existing international and local guidelines on COVID-19. The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, who made this known at its bi-weekly briefing on Monday, said Nigerians should expect a hike in airfare. The domestic aviation services is allowed to resume operations as soon as practicable in line with existing international and local guidelines on COVID-19, he said.. He said the resumption of flight operations would come with an increase in airfare. He explained that the increment of products and services was not peculiar to the aviation sector. According to him, prices of things have surged since the coronavirus outbreak. Prices have increased generally. The prices of things prior to COVID-19 is different from what it used to be. Even in the market, things have increased. That is the difficult thing that is going to confront us as a people and because of the protocols that are going to be introduced in the whole aviation business, you will definitely expect an increase in the prices, he said. Nigeria shut its airports, except for essential flights, in March as the country began to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic which has caused over 500 deaths in the country. The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 had earlier announced that some domestic flights would resume on June 21. The aviation ministry, however, said it needed more time to prepare. The ministry on Saturday conducted a test run of airports facilities to determine their readiness for the resumption of domestic flight operations. Hike Mr Mustapha said the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has already increased its customer service fare by hundred per cent. He said this review in fare is expected in government institutions responsible for managing the aviation industry. Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has already increased its customer service fare with a hundred per cent. Dangote adbanner 728x90_2 (1) It used to be a thousand naira for customer service but I think it has increased to N2000 and that is even before the operation starts. So, it is not only the airlines. Even government institutions who have the responsibility of managing the aviation industry will review their charges because that is the nature of what COVID-19 has thrust on the people of the country and all over the world, he said. He also said the social distancing measures have an influence on the airfare increase. There is also going to be the maintenance of social distancing in the aircraft. If an aircraft has a capacity of 150 people, they might now be restricted to about a 100 or 75 passengers. Flying comes with a component of costs. Aviation fuel is one of it, salaries for the pilots, services that are paid for to the aviation industry institutions are also things to consider. Every time you see a plane take off, there is an attendant cost to that. Who will bear the cost? It will be shared; the passengers will take part of it and the business owners will also take part in the cost and you know that nobody runs a business at a loss, he said. Intervention The PTF chairman said the federal government will assist the aviation industry at a time the world is fighting this pandemic. I believe that the aviation industry is one of the industries that is hard hit by this COVID-19 because it is an industry that is designed for moving people up and down and for the last three months, they have not done anything. So, I think as part of the intervention of government through either the Central Bank of Nigeria or the stimulus package in the economic sustainability plan of the (N) 2.3 trillion, I believe the aviation industry will have a part of it. How is it going to be administered? The minister for aviation will be in a better position to say how, he said. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Police Arrest Woman Who Went To Bury An Aborted Child In Anambra (Graphic Photo) Police operatives nab a woman who went to bury an aborted child. Also arrested a quack chemist who allegedly carried out the abortion,recover expired drugs in his shop It would be recalled that on the 20/6/20 at about 9:pm,following a tip off, Police operatives attached 33 Division in collaboration with Nsugbe Vigilante group arrested one Chidera Nwaoga f aged 24 years of Ofianta village Nsugbe but Native of Izzi LGA of Ebonyi State.. Suspect was arrested with a premature baby girl concealed inside a rubber bucket on her way to bury the child inside the bush before she was apprehended. Preliminary investigation revealed that the woman who was heavenly pregnant approached a quack and untrained chemist one Odimegwu Ikunne m aged 51 years of Nando village but resides at Akpalagu village,Nsugbe who allegedly administered injection on her and aborted the pregnancy. Meanwhile, search was executed at the premises of the quack chemist and some quantity of expired drugs/ syringes were recovered while the said Chidera, who was weak and lost much blood when arrested has now fully recovered due to urgent medical attention she received at multicare hospital 33 since 20th June,2020. Consequently, the decomposing baby was buried based on experts advise in order not to constitute health hazard to the public. The Commissioner of Police *CP John B.Abang,fdc* has ordered that the case be transferred to the State CID Awka for discreet investigation please. SP Haruna Mohammed,PPRO Anambra State Police Command, For-Commissioner of Police Anambra State Command Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Dont reopen schools now ASUU president urges govt The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday kicked against the reopening of schools by the federal government due to the COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging the country. Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU national president, who spoke with the with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ota, Ogun, said the federal government needs to address the challenges of education sector before it can talk of reopening schools.. Mr Ogunyemi, a professor, urged the federal government to provide ideal environment and should take the lead by meeting the conditions spelt out by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) before reopening schools. The Federal Government must lead and show the ways by meeting the conditions for reopening of schools before any school can be allowed to open, because COVID-19 pandemic is a health challenge. When it comes to public health, it is something that should not be left in the hands of individual, but the Federal Government must take the lead, he said. The ASUU president listed the conditions spelt out by NCDC to include: provision of materials for regular washing of hands, face mask, isolations centres, space for social distancing and hands sanitiser. Mr Ogunyemi said that many of the schools do not have financial capacities to meet those conditions and requirements for reopening of schools. It is suicidal to reopen schools now, if the Federal Government itself could not meet the conditions spelt out by NCDC and World Health Organisation (WHO). The nation will expose the innocent children to risks which is avoidable, he said. Mr Ogunyemi, who expressed concerns on how many schools could afford to provide hand sanitisers, said that many of them do not even have running water, not to mention having facilities for washing hands. He added that many schools do not have enough spaces to promote physical distancing. The ASUU president said that putting all these requirements needed together, to reopen schools in the country now would run to millions of Naira, which most schools could not afford. Mr Ogunyemi appealed to the federal government to provide the running funds for the principals and head teachers so that they could provide some of these facilities in their schools. He further said that inadequate funds by many parents would hinder them from providing some of these amenities needed for reopening of schools. Mr Ogunyemi said that the federal government needs to tell Nigerians the steps they intend to take in reopening schools. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | 114 COVID-19 patients have been healed in winners Chapel Bishop David Oyedepo Founder of Living Faith Church AKA Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo last Sunday, disclosed that his church has recorded 114 COVID-19 healings. The General overseer of the church, gave this revelation during his sermon at the churchs headquarters in Ota, Ogun State, while faulting the partial reopening of markets and lamented that market places where people no longer observe social distancing or hygiene remain open but the church is being suppressed.. According to Oyedepo, Can anybody silence the church? Never! I have never heard of anybody that God healed in the market but people get healed in every church day and night, real tangible healing. He continued, We have recorded 114 coronavirus healing testimonies. We got 10 this week. And that is the place that is vulnerable, not the market. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | COVID-19: Why Nigerian mortality is low PTF The Presidential Task Force, PTF, on COVID-19 on Monday explained that the mortality rate of the disease is low in Nigeria compared to other countries with similar climatic characteristics. The PTF said that the mortality rate of the disease is low due to the age bracket of most of those infected by the virus.. Chairman of the task force and Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, stated this after he led his team to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the progress of the national response to the pandemic at the presidential villa, Abuja on Monday. Speaking to State House correspondents, he said 80 percent of the infections were in the age bracket of 31 to 40 years, which he described as a very active part of the population. According to him, even when they have the infection, they are able to surmount it because of their level of energy. However, he added that the PTF was worried about the remaining 20 percent as he said nobody knows who may become a victim among them. Therefore, he said, everything was being done to protect the vulnerable such as the elderly and those with underlying illnesses. He also hinted that the government may introduce precision lockdown for pinpoint management of coronavirus hotspots. According to him, 18 out of the 774 local governments in the country have been identified as responsible for 60 percent of the confirmed cases in the country. He added that the reason for the precision lockdown will be to place specific measures in certain places especially by state governments to enable aggressive testing for the disease and management. He said, We always meet with Mr. President to do a review of the national response to COVID-19. This is critical because its the 5th interim report that we submit a review, it also provides the opportunity to brief him on the progress made so far. Today is the last day of the second phase ease lockdown so we needed to update him on the successes, the consolidation that has taken place, and the challenges. He was quite responsive to the issues that we raised and the considerations that we put in place. We drew a comparison of what the infections were one month ago and what it is now. On the 28th of March, 2020, globally we had about 5.5 million infections, on the African continent we had 89,000 infections and in Nigeria on the 28th of May, we had eight thousand plus infections. Mortality rate, most countries see about five point something percent, while in Nigeria we are seeing a figure of two-point something percent. So we have been able to keep our mortality rate down. No lives lost can be ignored, its sad but we are trying to do the best we can in the circumstance in trying to balance lives and livelihood as we prepare for the next phase of the response. One of our major appeals is that right now we are at the advance stage of the community transmission and at that stage, there is hardly much that government can do, the best we can is to push the narrative that we have been saying over last three months, realizing and being conscious of the fact that there is no vaccine in sight, no drugs have gotten for the cure of Covid-19, the only thing that we will continue to preach to our people to adhere to is the non-pharmaceutical interventions we have pushed in the last three months. Maintain physical distancing wearing of non-medical masks in public places, maintaining proper hygiene of washing of hands and sanitizing of hands. These are the only form or remedies available now. The precision lockdown like I have said, we have identified 18 local governments out of the 774 local government that is considered to be high burden with this infection and they account for 60 percent of 24, 077 infections. The reason for the precision lockdown is to place in those places specific measures that will be administered by state governments and local authorities. It is not for the federal government, its the responsibilities of State and local authorities. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Outrageous lies being peddled about COVID-19 revealed and this is what Legit.ng is doing to stop them New cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) are being reported daily around the world since the first case emerged in Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. As at Monday, June 29, over 503,000 people have died across the globe due to the virus while more than 10.2 million infections have been confirmed. However, more than 5.1 million people have recovered to date. In Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Health confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in Lagos state on Thursday, February 27. The case was an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos on Tuesday, February 25. He was being treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos, until he recovered. How Legit.ng is sensitizing Nigerians on COVID-19 to stop the outrageous lies Source: UGC But since then, 25,133 infections have been confirmed in the country as at Monday, June 29, among which 9,402 people have recovered while 573 people have lost the battle to the virus. Fight against Covid-19 may suffer setback as poll shows majority of Nigerians do not believe it is real As soon as the first coronavirus case was reported in Nigeria, the government, through the Federal Ministry of Health strengthened measures to ensure an outbreak in the country is controlled and contained. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) immediately activated its national Emergency Operations Centre and started working closely with Lagos state health authorities to respond to cases of COVID-19 and implement firm control measures. However, the overwhelming nature of combating the virus in a short time, forced President Muhammadu Buhari to announce cessation of movement in Lagos, Ogun and in the Federal Capital Territory to take effect as from Monday, March 30. The restriction of movement in Lagos and Ogun states as well as the FCT which was extended for another 14 days effective from 11:59 pm on Monday, April 13, got Nigerians talking on social media and it became clear that in order to manage the COVID-19 crisis, the government will have to tackle both the virus and misinformation, as Nigerians became eager for updates. State by state breakdown of Covid-19 cases in Nigeria as total exceeds 11,000 Some citizens began to abuse social media and indulge in spreading misinformation about COVID-19 that caused fear and panic. PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! This forced the government to build sources of credible coronavirus-related information such as frequent press briefings and regularly updating the NCDC online data portal. But the media in all of these must play a vital role in combating the spread of fake news on social media and in this case Legit.ng has done a lot in sensitizing Nigerians about the novel coronavirus. From useful explainers of how the Nigerian government is tackling COVID-19, to insightful analysis of unverified cures and remedies for the virus, Legit.ng has informed the public about the outrageous lies and fake stories people tell concerning COVID-19. In our first exclusive video on COVID-19 published on March 4, Legit TV revealed six of the many outrageous lies being peddled due to outbreak of the virus. Lagos records fresh 142 cases as NCDC announces 241 new cases, total now 10819 [embedded content] One of such lies is that the 'Blood of Jesus' can save one from contracting the virus. Legit TV further went on to explain the five interesting ways the Nigerian government are trying to curb the spread of COVID-19 in a video published on March 23. [embedded content] In a video published on March 31, Legit TV explained the distinct ways people are coping during the lockdown. [embedded content] While on April 4, Legit tv correspondents paid a visit to the Lagos Isolation Centre at Onikan, Lagos, to check out some measures being put in place by the state government to take care of Coronavirus patients. Our team was however, turned back at the entrance, as the security men stated that it was out of bounds to unauthorized personnel. [embedded content] During this visit, we spoke with a young man who stated that he was also turned back even though he was willing to volunteer as a health worker. Is coronavirus in USA? Facts you should know On May 10, Legit TV answered some frequently asked questions on who is to blame for the increase of coronavirus cases in Nigeria as the number of cases in Lagos were projected to increase to at least 120,000 between July and August. [embedded content] While on May 18, Legit TV discussed the supposed Madagascar Covid-Organic herbal medicine which the country announced as the cure for COVID-19 and why the rest of the world is skeptical about it. [embedded content] Following the clamour in some quarters of Nigeria for the re-opening of churches and mosques, Legit TV made a video on May 20 to discuss whether the time is right for churches, mosques, and other religious centres to be opened. [embedded content] Legit TV recently in a video posted on June 23, examined the reasons for the increase of coronavirus cases in Nigeria from 7000 to over 20000 in one month. What you should know about coronavirus mask [embedded content] We have constantly sensitized Nigerians on the importance of keeping safe during this pandemic while supporting the government in providing useful updates on the novel coronavirus. We will continue to lead the way with breaking and insightful news updates on COVID-19 until the virus is defeated in Nigeria. Together we can win the battle against COVID-19. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Police avert tension in Osun over alleged dethronement of monarch - There was a palpable tension in Ikire, Irewole local government area of Osun state - Some residents of the town took to the street on Monday, June 29, to celebrate purported removal of their monarch, Oba Olatunde Falabi - The palace had sued Prince Tajudeen Olanrewaju for threatening the peace of the community and the people but the case was struck out by the court - Prince Olanrewaju's supporters, however, took the court's judgement for the sacking of the monarch PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The timely intervention of the security agencies averted a major crisis in Ikire, the headquarters of the Irewole local government area of Osun state, on Monday, June 29. Legit.ng's regional reporter in Osun state, Ibrahim Akinola, reports that fear gripped people of the town when the rumour of dethronement of the Alakire of Ikire, Oba Olatunde Falabi Olambeloye III, rented the air after a purported court judgement was said to have sacked the monarch. Edo election 2020: Three APC chieftains drag Obaseki to court over alleged certificate forgery It was gathered the judgement was allegedly delivered in the Ikire division of the Federal High Court on Monday, June 29, in favour of a newly recognised ruling family member, Prince Tajudeen Olarewaju against Oba Falabi. The police personnel beefed up security at the entrance of Akire palace, Ikire in Irewole local government area of Osun state. Credit: Ibrahim Akinola. Source: Original According to the report, this led to wild jubilations among Prince Olanrewaju's supporters claiming that the monarch has been sacked, dethroned and subsequently banished. It was said that Prince Olanrewaju is the new Alakire by the judgement as some of his supporters claimed that the said new king has entered "Ilofi", the traditional temporary seclusion of the new king, preparatory to the ascendancy of his father's stool. Legit.ng's investigation revealed that police personnel were strategically positioned at various "flashpoints" with one armoured vehicle at the entrance of the palace to forestall any security breach. The report added that all his efforts to have a chat with the Kabiyebi was rebuffed by the policemen as nobody was allowed to enter except the chiefs and some princes who were allowed free entrance and exit. Governor Bello insists Kogi state remains COVID-19-free, lifts lockdown A man simply identified as Akande and one of the supporters of Prince Olarewaju, was full of joy and boastful when approached by Legit.ng. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app "Yes, Falabi is gone, yes, he is gone for good. The court has sacked him. My new Oba is in "Ilofi" now. We will enter the palace soon," he said. The supporters of Prince Olanrewaju jubilation over purported dethronement of Oba Falabi. Credit: Ibrahim Akinola. Source: Original A young police officer who declined to have his name in print said: "We are only here to forestall any security breach. Just to ensure that nothing untoward happens. But I learnt that it was the palace that sued the man but the court dismissed the petition for lacking in merit. I don't actually know the content of the case. What I know is that the Oba and his chiefs are in the palace." Edo election 2020: Obaseki fights hard to secure APC ticket, names Lalong, Sanwo-Olu to reconcile aggrieved members A high chief who spoke confidently while shedding light on the matter noted: "You see those jubilating over and celebrating the purported sack of the Oba are stack illiterates. Perhaps, they are ignorant of what's on the ground and oblivious of what's truly happening. "It was the Kabiyesi that sued him for causing chaos and threatening the peace of the community and the people. Unfortunately, the court struck out the case. The next thing is what we are witnessing. Can't you see? Assembling thugs and miscreants to disturb the peace of the people by way of causing the unnecessary pandemonium all in the name of celebrating purported dethronement of the king." Also speaking on the incident, a prince from Oba Falabi's royal family, Olabisi Saheed, who came out of the palace after a lengthy discussion with the Oba said it was the palace that sued Prince Olanrewaju for his unruly behaviour and that of his supporters. COVID-19 hits northern state again as lawmaker, 3 others die He said: "Gentleman of the press, the truth of the matter is that it was the palace that sued him for his unruly behaviour and that of his supporters. But the case was dismissed by the high court. What I don't understand is the nexus between that and the fabricated sack of the Kabiyesi. "Do you remember that he did the same thing in 2014 when the Supreme Court included his family in the ruling houses? Perhaps something extraordinary is wrong with him and his miscreant supporters. "Do you know that despite the clear unambiguous judgement of the Supreme Court, he still went back to the high court ( lower court for that matter) seeking the interpretation of the 2014 Supreme Court judgement? The hearing is slated for July 26, 2020. Don't worry my brother, perhaps he will spend his entire life in court." Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that there was tension in Ikire over purported death of Oba Olatunde Falabi. APC national leader Tinubu raises placard, seeks justice for Uwa, Tina, Jennifer (photo) It was reported that the said rumour which emanated from untraceable sources lingered for long and refused to die down for some weeks. It was gathered that the palace and the queen were overwhelmed with several calls from the sons and daughters of the town, both home and in the Diaspora to ascertain the truth of the matter. There is light at the end of the tunnel - Ooni of Ife | - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Security agencies pocketed N44billion bribe while enforcing lockdown Group - Nigerian security forces have been accused of collecting N44 billion from Nigerians to enforce COVID-19 lockdown - The accusation was made by a civil rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law - The group said their investigation covered lands and borders and was from March 30 to June 30 PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! A civil rights group, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), has alleged that Nigerian security forces criminally collected monies estimated at not less than N44 billion from Monday, March 30 to Tuesday, June 30 while enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown. The report which was released by Intersociety on Sunday, June 28, was signed by the group's board chair, Emeka Umeagbalasi and other senior officers of the organisation. The group said their investigation covered lands and borders and did not include railways, coastal lines, waterways and airports. Retention of military chiefs is a disservice to Nigeria - Group tells Buhari The security chiefs have not yet responded to the report. Photo credit: Presidency Source: Facebook PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app According to them, those pocketing the bribes include officers and personnel of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and Nigeria Customs Service. Officers and personnel of the Nigerian Air Force and Nigerian Navy were also indicted. Intersociety called for the scrapping of the inter-state lockdowns adding that they have become counterproductive and conduit pipe for bribery and corruption. Nigerian government must also end the long-suffering of the Nigerian road users owing to the counterproductive and corruption-prone interstate lockdowns and device better and result-oriented ways of preventing and managing the COVID-19 pandemic, Intersociety said. Meanwhile, 24 hours after Intersociety's report, the federal government on Monday, June 29, lifted the ban on interstate movement effective from Wednesday, July 1. Operation Katsina: We've killed 392 bandits, says Nigerian military The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, disclosed this on Monday, June 29, during the daily media briefing in Abuja. The PTF, however, reaffirmed the continuation of the nationwide curfew between 10 pm and 4 am adding that travels are not expected at this period. Mustapha also said the government has approved the safe resumption of domestic flights in the country. COVID-19: Parents speak on allowing their children return to school | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | I wont support Obaseki in Edo governorship election, says Afegbua - A member of the PDP in Edo state, Kassim Afegbua, says he will not support Governor Godwin Obaseki's re-election bid - Afegbua is a former commissioner of information under the administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole - The former APC chieftain, however, worked as one of the PDP spokespersons in the 2019 presidential election PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state, Kassim Afegbua, says he will not support Governor Godwin Obaseki's ambition to be re-elected for a second term in office. Afegbua, a former spokesman to General Ibrahim Babangida, disclosed this on Monday, June 29 during an interview with Channels Television. At least I am bold enough to come out in the open and say that I will not support Obaseki. It would have been different if I was hiding or pretending to be supporting him and doing some damages, he said. Edo election: Obaseki will win any form of primary - Edo deputy governor declares Despite Afegbua's stance, Gov Obaseki still enjoys the support of the PDP leadership. Photo credit: PDP media Source: Twitter PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update He noted that his position on the governor is not borne out of greed, resentment or hatred, but based on the way he emerged as the PDP candidate in the party's primary election. My position on Obaseki is not borne out of desperation, greed or money politics. My position on Obaseki is borne out of the fact that there has to be a difference in the way and manner that democracy is run in this country. Someone cannot just join a party within 24 hours, you surrender every whims and caprice of the party to him and then you sit back and tell me that you are celebrating your Christmas early enough in the day, he said. Afegbua, a largely controversial figure has always been inconsistent with his political leanings. After serving as Comrade Adams Oshiomhole's commissioner of information in Edo state, he went on to one of the spokespersons for the PDP's presidential campaign in 2019. Ize-Iyamu betrayed us as consensus candidate - Ogiemwonyi His former boss, Babangida, had to denounce him at some point publicly, denying he still speaks on his behalf. About a month ago, Afegbua defended Oshiomholes actions in regards to the upfront payment of 75% for the construction of the Edo Specialist Hospital. Oshiomhole had come under fire for allegedly breaching the states Public Procurement Law as governor, which states that any contractor working on a government project should not receive more than 25% upfront payment upon the award of a contract. But according to Afegbua, the 75% upfront payment was done in view of the fact that the equipment are state of the art items, so that the company would not default in terms of manufacturing them. His comments were in response to allegations by Andrew Emwanta, an aide to Governor Obaseki, against the Oshiomhole administration. APC disqualifies Obaseki from Edo guber primaries | Legit TV Obaseki to Oshiomhole: Stay clear of Edo APC primary [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Victoria Ogunsomi, 58, and Shafe Abayomi were detained last week after the operatives uncovered two wells filled with petrol suspected to have been siphoned from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline near their homes at Surprise Avenue, Ejigbo, Lagos. It was gathered that the operatives were tipped off about vandals siphoning PMS into the 75ft wells located a few metres away from the pipelines where they connected it to waiting tankers and jerry cans for commercial purposes. The operatives, upon arrival in the community, located the wells at No 2, and 4 Surprise Avenue and apprehended them. It was learnt that at Ogunsomis residence, the police found kegs of petrol but Abayomi was said to have smartly dismantled the pipes and pumping machine from the pipeline before the cops arrived. A source said residents have been tapping petroleum products from NNPC pipeline located close to their area. The source said that these people have wells with underground pipes connected to the NNPC pipeline within the area and whenever the NNPC is transporting it products along that pipeline, their products usually surge into those wells and they are swiftly pumped into tanker trucks by owners of the wells. The source told us that the big trucks normally come by night to carry the products. When we acted on the information, we stormed the buildings and found the wells with pipes and pumps in it and the stench of fuel was everywhere. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily readers Home | News | General | Political leaders are blackmailing me over 774,000 jobs - Keyamo cries out - Festus Keyamo has revealed that he is being blackmailed by some politicians over the 774,000 jobs meant for poor Nigerians - The minister of state for labour and employment also accused some political leaders of trying to hijack the programme - Keyamo, however, noted that he is only answerable to his boss, President Muhammadu Buhari PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Festus Keyamo, Nigeria's minister of state for labour and employment, has cried out noting that he is being blackmailed and pressurized by some politicians to enable them dictate who gets a slot among the 774,000 jobs. In a report by The Nation, Keyamo during the inauguration of the selection committee revealed that there have been attempts to blackmail him to see certain political leaders to determine who gets allocated. He explained that he would not sacrifice his reputation and principles by going beyond 10% to 15% that is allocated to political officers, noting that nobody can dictate to him. Retention of military chiefs is a disservice to Nigeria - Group tells Buhari The minister while stressing that majority of the jobs must be allotted to people who need them, added that it is only the president who appointed him that could make him do otherwise. Festus Keyamo has said some political leaders are blackmailing him over 774,000 jobs Source: UGC There has been an attempt at blackmailing in this particular programme too to make us also yield to political leaders. Except Mr. President, who appointed and gave me the opportunity and rare privilege to drive this programme stops me, no other political leader or person can stop me. I am answerable only to Mr. President. This programme is for all Nigerians, he said. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update The minister appealed to the committee chairmen not to allow politicians to hijack the programme and warned that anyone caught would be replaced immediately. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the federal government gave an update about its plan to employ at 1,000 persons from each of the 774 local government areas in the country. Kaduna, Gombe and others named among 32 states that may find it difficult to pay salaries after Covid-19 The minister of state for labour and employment, on Thursday, May 28, at a press conference that the employment initiative will start by October 1. He said the beneficiaries of the projects will be selected by special committees constituted in each state of the federation. In a related development, the federal government on Wednesday, April 29 inaugurated an inter-ministerial committee on extended special public works across the 774 local government areas of the federation to employ 774,000 Nigerians for a period of 3 months. The committee inaugurated by the minister of state for labour and employment is expected to work out strategies for the implementation of the programme. Legit.ng gathered that the programme is designed to employ 1,000 mostly unskilled persons in each of the countrys 774 local government areas. N-Power Project: I Graduated in 2005 and Have Been Unemployed Before N-Power Fixed Me Up Legit TV Subsidy: NLC accuses federal government of paying oil marketers N168 billion [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | If youre married to a man with greedy in-laws, put the properties in your childrens names - Toke Makinwa - Nigerian socialite and media personality, Toke Makinwa, has taken to social media to complain about the trouble women face with greedy in-laws - Toke said that if a lady is married to a man with greedy in-laws, the properties should be in their childrens names - The media personality said that the entitlement of in-laws after their son dies is nothing short of disgusting PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! In the African society, men are given more importance than women and this becomes more evident when the male head of the home dies and leaves his wife and kids behind. It has become a common thing for greedy in-laws to gather like vultures to attack the widow and her kids as they tussle to get a hold of her late husbands properties. Just recently, Nigerian socialite and media personality, Toke Makinwa, took to social media via her Twitter page to speak on the issue. Nigerian man with 2 wives laments hardship under Buhari's administration, says he wants a 3rd wife Toke Makinwa lambastes greedy in-laws who terrorize the wife after her husband's death Source: Instagram The young lady said that she has never heard of men being kicked out of the house after his wife dies or properties being seized like it is done to women if the reverse was the case. Toke said that the way in-laws feel entitled after a husband dies is disgusting and that relatives start to do things they could never have done of the man was still alive. The media personality wondered how neighbours have to come in and rescue a mourning wife from vultures called relatives. See her tweet below: In another post, Toke advised that if a woman is married to someone who has a greedy family then she should make sure their properties are in the childrens names if their husbands are not comfortable with them owning the properties jointly. See the post below: HmmInteresting. In other news, Legit.ng reported that Nollywood actor, Browny Igboegwu, took to social media to share adorable photos of his newborn daughter. Nigerian man calls out Dbanj, accuses him of molesting his female friend in 2018 The actor announced the good news of his daughters birth on social media seeing as it was their first child after 10 years of childlessness. PAY ATTENTION: Do you have news to share? Contact Legit.ng instantly STREET GIST: Would you allow your mother in-law live with you as a newly-wed? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | COVID-19: Why Nigerians must thank God over low death rate - FG - The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has disclosed the reason why the coronavirus mortality rate in Nigeria is low - The chairman of the task force, Boss Mustapha, said most of those infected by COVID-19 in Nigeria fall within the age bracket of 31 to 40 years - Mustapha stated that it is surprising that Nigeria is having a low COVID-19 mortality rate when compared to South American countries like Brazil PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has disclosed that the coronavirus the mortality rate in Nigerian is low because most of those infected by the virus in the country fall within the age bracket of 31 to 40 years. The chairman of the task force, Boss Mustapha, on Monday, June 29, said those who fall within the age bracket of 31 to 40 years mostly show mild symptoms and not take ill severely, The Nation reported. Kano begins house-to-house sample collection for Covid-19 test, relaxes lockdown on these days The Nigerian government has said its citizens must be thankful to God that many in the country are not dying of COVID-19. Photo credits: Daily Trust Source: UGC He made the disclosure shortly after he emerged from a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa. He stated that Nigerians must be thankful to God that the COVID-19 death rate is low when compared to other countries. Mustapha stated that it was surprising that Nigeria was having a low COVID-19 mortality rate when compared to South American countries like Brazil that have the same climatic conditions. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, all the staff of Rivers state government house have been directed by Governor Nyesom Wike to go for COVID-19 testing to know their status, The Nation reports. Wike disclosed this in Port Harcourt, on Monday, June 29, while receiving the donation of three ambulances from a foundation to the state. The south-south governor went on to note that despite the fact that the number will increase with the test, Rivers state government is willing to continue COVID-19 testing. If you have fever, its more likely due to malaria than COVID-19 - PTF coordinator says, begs private hospitals not to reject patients of other diseases "Nobody knows who you have shaken hands with. Im sure, in Rivers state, we have lost not less than 38 lives on the record. I have given a directive that all staff of Government House must go for testing. Nobody knows who is a carrier and we must save everybody as much as we can," he said. Many Nigerians still don't believe Coronavirus exists - NOA DG | - on Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | As elections draw nearer, these Nigerians are running for secretary of state, House of Rep, other top offices in the US Nigerians abroad are excelling in their chosen fields and their success is a testament to the fact that Nigerians are capable of changing the world for better. Legit.ng brings you Nigerian Americans making Nigeria proud and currently running for top positions in the United States. PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! 1. Yinka Faleti Yinka Faleti is the Democratic nominee for Missouri secretary of state The Nigerian American, who immigrated to the United States at the age of seven, said he is running for secretary of state to protect the right to vote for Missouri families. Yinka Faleti. Photo credit: Yinkafaleti.com Source: UGC 2. Esther Agbaje Esther Agbaje is running for Minnesota state representative for District 59B in Minneapolis. She was born in St. Paul, lived in Brainerd, and went to high school in Faribault. After law school, Esther moved to downtown Minneapolis in 2017 to contribute to the place she calls home. 10 richest men of all time, is your favourite billionaire among? See details (photos) Yinka's parents moved to Minnesota from Nigeria to further their education, after which they started a family in the North American country. Esther Agbaje. Photo credit: Estheragbaje.com Source: UGC 3. Jude Ezeh Jude Ezeh is running for New Milford (New Jersey) City Council Jude Eze. Photo credit: Insidernj.com Source: UGC 4. Oye Owolewa Oye Owolewa is Washington DC's candidate for US House of Representatives. He is a licensed pharmacist who is committed to the community. Oye was elected commissioner of his neighbourhood in South East DC. Oye Owolewa. Photo credit: Oye4dc.com Source: UGC Legit.ng previously reported that Nigeria is a country blessed with people whose purpose on earth is to serve humanity, and these nationals are fulfilling purpose in every nook and cranny of the world. In other news, a Nigerian man who arrived Canada as a student five years ago has taken to Twitter to share his success story. The man identified as Tunde Omotoye said he arrived Canada five years ago as a student who was unsure of what the future had for him in the North American country. Learn how the NOUN portal works: Easy login and registration PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Despite the uncertainty, he revealed that he has launched his own company five years after leaving the shores of Nigeria. According to Omotoye, his company's aim is to help immigrants like him navigate their immigration and career journeys confidently and swiftly. He tweeted: "5 years ago, I arrived Canada. A student, unsure of what the future had for me in Canada." Which country would you leave Nigeria for? | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Abia no more Gods Own State, but Miyetti Allah Cattle Market Nnamdi Kanu Kindly Share This Story: Overall Leader of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu By Chimaobi Nwaiwu Nnewi The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, Monday alleged that Abia State has changed from Gods Own State to Miyetti Allah owned cattle market. In a statement, titled: Finally the reason why they initiated Operation Python Dance and proscription of IPOB become very clear. made available to newsmen through IPOBs Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, Nnamdi Kanu, all alleged that the more Miyetti Allah terrorists kill the people of Abia and South East in general in their own land, the more the so-called governors are prepared to give to them more land. Nnamdi Kanu also blamed Ohaneze Ndigbo for the alleged borrowing the people of Southeast are going through in the hands of the hands of the Miyetti Allah terrorists pretending to be herdsmen. Abia State from Gods Own State to Miyetti Allah owned cattle market. Mind you Lokpanta in the same Abia is now a full-fledged Fulani town. The more Miyetti Allah terrorists kill us in our own land, the more of it the so-called governors are prepared to give to them. What a sick sad joke. When the history of Fulani terrorist conquest of Igboland is written in the next 100 years, it will be recalled that a certain group of men called Ohaneze Ndigbo and a band of traitors working for the Caliphate sadly referred to as Igbo governors plotted the Islamic takeover of the land of their ancestors. Apparently, all the Fulani terrorists did was to promise each South-East state governor the same unrealisable slot of Vice President of the Nigeria Republic. For this token promise, each governor is now falling over themselves to please the caliphate by ceding our ancestral lands to Fulani Caliphate. These are the workers of iniquity some misguided people want us to regard as elders worthy of respect. Vanguard Kindly Share This Story: CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Eight points as FG reopens schools, borders, others By David Royal Here are the highlights of the last presidential taskforce briefing that announced the reopening of borders, return of graduating students to schools among others. 1] The Federal Government extended the Phase Two of the eased lockdown by four weeks with effect from Tuesday, June 30, 2020, through Midnight of Monday, 27 July 2020. 2] Interstate movement partially lifted only outside curfew hours 3] Safe reopening of domestic aviation services as soon as practicable 4] Safe re-opening of schools to allow students in graduating classes resume in-person in preparation for examinations. Speaking during a COVID-19 briefing in Abuja, the Secretary to Government of the Federation and Chairman, Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said that students in graduating classes were to resume in preparation for their exams while tertiary institutions still remain closed. 5] FG lamented the continued and general non-compliance with safety measures, noting that Nigeria could experience a resurgence of Covid-19 infections. 6] FG said there is a general increase in the prices of goods and services, saying airlines would have to increase their fares to remain afloat. 7] It would also work with state governments to see how 18 high burden local government areas can be locked down across the country. As of May 29, about 11 of the local governments were in Lagos State. They were Lagos mainland, Mushin, Eti-Osa, Alimosho, Kosofe, Ikeja, Oshodi/Isolo, Apapa, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos Island and Surulere. Others that were listed include Abuja Municipal, Tarauni (Kano), Nassarawa (Kano), Katsina, Maiduguri (Borno), Dutse (Jigawa), Oredo (Edo), Bauchi and Ado Odo/Ota (Ogun). 8] Only essential movements would be allowed during curfew hours. Vanguard Nigeria News Related CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | APC Crisis: We Plan To Visit Tinubu Buni The Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will visit the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, before the end of the week. It was learned that the Chairman of the committee and Governor of Yobe, Mai Mala Buni, will lead the party caretaker committee members on a visit to the Lagos residence of Tinubu.. Edujandon.com also gathered that this was part of the decisions taken during the inaugural meeting of the committee held at the partys National Secretariat in Abuja, on Monday. This newspaper understands that the visit was to brief Tinubu on the plan to reconcile aggrieved members and leaders at all levels and to seek his support and blessing. Also the visit was meant to assure the APC national leader that the dissolution of the partys National Working Committee was not targeted at him. An APC chieftain told the PUNCH the visit will take place on Tuesday or before the end of the week in order to recognise and appreciate his enormous contributions to the party. He said: It was agreed that the committee should go and meet our national leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, to pacify and assure him that the dissolution of the Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee of our great party was not targeted at him. He is one of our most revered leaders. We recognise and appreciate his enormous contributions to this party. We plan to visit him tomorrow (Tuesday). If the visit does not take place tomorrow, it will take place before the end of the week. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | UK Based Influencer, Dr Funmilayo Accused Of Rape A popular UK based Nigerian Medical Doctor and Twitter Influencer, Dr Harvey Olufunmilayo, simply identified as Dr Funmilayo has been accused of rape by another female medical doctor, News9naija reoprts. The Lady, @bola_aseyan, also a medical doctor in the UK took to the the micro blogging platform, Twiter, to call him out for sexually and emotionally abusing her in the UK. @bola_aseyan alleged that Dr Funmilayo has sexually and emotionally abused her for so long but she hid it in order not to be in the news for the wrong reasons. On while she didnt press charges against him for rape, she said, I didnt press charges, only because you would lose your license to practise, and I cannot bear to carry that much guilt in my heart. Even with everything that youve done, Im still not a mean spirited person. I leave you to God to judge you, and my head will judge you!! She went to share screenshot of her chat with another lady who claimed Dr Funmilayo attempted to rape her. At the time of filing this report, Dr Funmilayo has not commented on the alleged rape saga, read details as she posted below. A woman can only tolerate so much abuse from a man. A completely different persona online, and a truly horrible man in person, an abuser to say the least, both sexually and emotionally. A human can only tolerate so much! I have proof all these madness. And God in heaven knows I dread the negative type of attention but people deserve to know what a horrible human being this man is!!!! Horribly terrible!!!! Now you are calling people to call me and speak to me ba?!!! You are calling frantically. When you were sexually and emotionally abusing, you didnt know it would resort to this. Because Bola doesnt air dirty laundry, Bola is private, you think Im stupid??! Your fav influencer has sexually and emotionally abused me for so long, and Ive been hiding it. I didnt want to say anything because I DESPERATELY didnt want to be in the news for anything bad here. I kept telling myself it would be over soon. I cannot take it anymore! Everyone is telling me to consider his profession and not say anything, i shouldnt say anything. How about how I feel? Everytime. Im tired. I havent done a thing to deserve this. I have lodged a formal complaint with the police today! I cannot and will not take this anymore! We are both doctors. Both of us. And Ive been too nice just because I thought it would end soon. You bully me everytime. You know I hate social media issues and you have a lot of followers so its okay to do all these to me ba? Right!! I didnt press charges, only because you would lose your license to practise, and I cannot bear to carry that much guilt in my heart. Even with everything that youve done, Im still not a mean spirited person. I leave you to God to judge you, and my head will judge you!!! I am irritated to say the least at those who think my life occurrence is a gist thats waiting to happen. You think Im tweeting with eagerness and happiness. You think I want to be in this position or its a joke. I am hurting.I am sad and Ive never thought itll resort to this I use God to beg our fellow medical doctors in my DM asking me not to tweet or let it go. Please and please, they wont abuse your children. Pls dont give me unsolicited advise. I didnt press charges even though the cops here in the UK asked me to, dont push it. Your favorite online influencer also a medical doctor in the UK who always has an opinion on every topic on Twitter, he is morally upright on the Internet, yet does the exact opposite of what he preaches online, preaching against rape and doing the exact opposite in person. Im not the victim in this case thankfully!!! The women who went through same in the hands of this doctor and didnt have the courage to come out. Those are the real victims. Undermining my privacy for gullibility was his first mistake. Online Bullies are the reason a lot of people do not narrate their ordeals in the hands of their so called favorite influencers.They have 150K+ followers,the fear of taking their supporters on dissuades people from coming forward. I have filed a complaint legally and done my part Dr FUNMILAYO is the accused! https://mobile.twitter.com/bola_aseyan/status/1277766379840643073 Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Private Labs In Lagos To Conduct COVID-19 Tests, To Cost Between 40,000 50,400 Lagos residents who are unable to get themselves tested in government own facilities would henceforth pay N50,400 in a private laboratory to conduct COVID-19 test. The states commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi disclosed this while launching the Lagos State Private-Public Consortium on the management of COVID-19 to increase the capacity of the state government in the management of the pandemic.. He said though the tests were being conducted in government owned laboratories free, the approved private laboratories will conduct COVID-19 tests in the state at a cost of between N40,000 and N50,400. With this development most residents, particularly those with suspected symptoms are apprehensive that they might not get adequate attention from the public hospitals or other facilities, where they usually undergo the screening free of charge on the excuse that the testing kits are inadequate. The state Commissioner for Health, Professor Abayomi said the inclusion of the private consortium in the testing was part of the moves to expand the state governments COVID-19 response capacity Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline will benefit Niger state - Gov Sani Bello - The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano natural gas pipeline was launched on Tuesday, June 30 - The project is intended to boost Nigerias electricity generation capacity, as well as strengthen the industrial sector - Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, as one of the key stakeholders, was part of the launch virtually PAY ATTENTION:Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger state on Tuesday, June 30 joined President Muhammadu Buhari in a virtual flag-off of the construction phase of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project. Governors of Kano, Kaduna and Kogi also participated in the event which took place through video conferencing. The pipeline, which is expected to be completed within 24 months, is a section of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) with the capacity to transport 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day. Kaduna, Gombe and others named among 32 states that may find it difficult to pay salaries after Covid-19 Legit.ng gathered that the pipeline will start from Ajaokuta, in Kogi state and traverse through Abuja (FCT), Niger, Kaduna and terminates in Kano state. Governor Bello commended the president for awarding the project, noting that it will be of immense benefit to the people of Nigeria and to residents of Niger state in particular. Participants at the flag-off of the project. Photo credit: Presidency Source: Twitter The project has been divided into three phases, under a build and transfer model, in a public-private partnership arrangement, which involves the contractor providing 100 per cent of the financing. When completed, the project will unlock 2.2billion cubic feet of gas to the domestic market, support the addition of 3,600 megawatts of power to the national grid. The pipeline is also said to have the potential of generating employment as it would support the development of petrochemicals, fertilizer, methanol and other gas-based industries. It is also expected that the project when completed, will boost domestic utilization of natural gas thereby bringing about social-economic development. Lagos governor reveals when schools will likely resume PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! Meanwhile, the Niger government has approved the reduction of tax payments in the state as part of measures to cushion the economic impact of coronavirus on residents. This was revealed recently in a statewide broadcast by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Matene on behalf of Governor Bello. He said the filing date of annual tax returns by all businesses and individuals have been extended to Wednesday, September 30 while the filing of monthly PAYE returns by businesses has been granted 10 days extension beginning from the 10th to 20th of every month. Yaba trader has a message for the government | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | 774,000 jobs: Senators walk Keyamo out of meeting - Festus Keyamo was walked out of a meeting by angry senators - The minister was walked out following his decision not to apologise to the lawmakers - Keyamo had refused to go into a closed session after an early disagreement PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, was reportedly walked out of a meeting by some senators, Channels TV reports. The news outlet reports that members of the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on Labour had invited Keyamo to give details of the Special Public Works Programme. Specifically, they want to find out the method of selection of a 20-man committee from each state for the programme The committee members would be responsible for the recruitment of 774,000 people under the NDE programme. Problem, however, arose over who should be in charge of the programme which was to be domiciled under the NDE. Retention of military chiefs is a disservice to Nigeria - Group tells Buhari Keyamo was walked out following his decision not to apologise to the lawmakers. Credit: Keyamo Source: Twitter This forced the committee to go into a close session which the minister refused. He said he wants the meeting to be held before journalists. The angry lawmakers asked to apologised which he refused. they consequently asked him to leave the meeting which was held at at the National Assembly in Abuja. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported the minister of state for labour and employment, Festus Keyamo, has denied claims that he fabricated threats against those who are opposed to President Muhammadu Buhari. On his Twitter page, Keyamo brought the notice of Nigerians to a statement (falsely attributed to him) to persons who did not vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC). The statement claimed the SAN told Nigerians who did not support President Buhari during the last presidential election not to expect anything from him now. The minister lamented the fact that even after the elections are over, mischief-makers are still bent on their evil. You have case to answer over your certificate - Tribunal tells Bayelsa deputy governor Legit.ng had also reported that Keyamo had threatened to resign his appointment if politicians hijack job slots approved by President Buhari for unskilled rural persons. Keyamo made the threat when speaking at the inauguration of the inter-ministerial committee on extended special public works across the 774 local governments of the federation. The minister stated that the programme was designed to provide job opportunity in rural areas through short term engagement of one thousand (1000) unemployed persons per local government for a period of three months. He said the jobs were for ordinary Nigerians and should not be hijacked by politicians. Keyamo noted that he would quit his position if politicians hijack the recruitment process. I will leave this job, if they want to insist that it will happen. Mr President is targeting ordinary Nigerians who are neither PDP or APC or just anything. They just want to get jobs, they just want to feed their family, the minister said. Breaking: President Buhari reacts to murder of Vera Omozuwa, mandates police to arrest culprits N-Power Project: I Graduated in 2005 and Have Been Unemployed Before N-Power Fixed Me Up Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | This is what I get from people because I'm a graduate - 'Ponmo' seller who speaks English fluently reveals - A market woman who speaks English fluently has complained of low patronage to the coronavirus pandemic - The woman, who sells ponmo (cow skin), says she graduated from Kwara State Polytechnic in 2016 - She said she decided to embrace the business because she couldn't find a job - The trader says people make jest of her, but there are others who appreciate what she does PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! A market woman who speaks English fluently has lamented low patronage due to the coronavirus pandemic Nigeria is currently battling with. The woman, who graduated from Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, said she no longer sell like she used to due to the pandemic. She said some of her ex-coursemates make jest of her because she sells ponmo (cow skin). According to her, she had to take over her mother's business because she couldn't find a job. Nigerian man with 2 wives laments hardship under Buhari's administration, says he wants a 3rd wife The trader, however, said there are former coursemates of hers who are proud of the business she does. She said the ones that are proud of her are aware that she's doing well. She said she intends to continue with the business for two more years, after which she will travel out of the country. Watch the video below: [embedded content] In other news, a Nigerian market woman has lamented the situation of things in the country amid COVID-19 pandemic and wondered why she would sit at home when she doesn't have a husband to support her. The woman, who said her husband is late, called on the federal government to support her because things are hard. According to her, she decided to face her business instead of begging like others in her shoes currently do. Legit TV spoke with the woman who sells yam and plantain, and she made it known that some of her children are unemployed despite going to school. Nigerian lady accuses Uti Nwachukwu of sexual abuse, narrates experience PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a deaf husband and wife in Indonesia have reportedly created special face masks that will enable hearing-impaired people to lip-read amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, the use of face masks has been on the rise globally. With the invention by the deaf couple, others like them are now being considered in the production of safety kits as the pandemic continues. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better Coronavirus: Nigerians take advantage of every situation | Legit TV [embedded content] CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | COVID-19: RSUTH gets N15 million medical equipment support Kindly Share This Story: Rotary By Davies Iheamnachor, Port-Harcourt The Rotary International has donated some medical equipment worth N15million to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, RSUTH, Port Harcourt, to support in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 in the state. Presenting the equipment to the management of the hospital yesterday, Dr Nze Anizor, District Governor, Rotary International District 9141, said it is part of the club area of focus in health delivery. Anizor, disclosed that the same equipment was distributed to other hospitals across the states of the district coverage. He said: We are here to donate medical equipment to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, RSUTH from Rotary. We are actually doing this for five hospitals, Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, RSUTH, Asaba Specialist Hospital, Irua Specialist Hospital, Central Hospital Warri, Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. We just selected hospitals in each of the states that handle COVID-19 patients and this is part of our contributions supporting the hospitals get better care of patients during this pandemic. Some of the pieces of equipment were donated are Patient Monitor, Oxygen Concentrator, Pulse Oximeter, Suction machine, AED, Automatic hand sanitizer dispenser, 3- part Haematology Analyser, Haemoglobinometer with strips and Chemistry Analyser. We have roughly about N15million worth of equipments here. However, Dr Aaron Friday, the Chief Medical Director of RSUTH, thanked Rotary Club District 9141 for their benevolent in supporting the well-being of the state in terms of provision of health equipment. Vanguard Kindly Share This Story: CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Iran sentences ex-opposition leader to death Iran on Tuesday said it has sentenced to death Ruhollah Zam, a former opposition figure who had lived in exile in France and had been implicated in anti-government protests. The court has considered 13 counts of charges together as instances of corruption on earth and therefore passed the death sentence, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said.. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the arrest of Zam in October last year, describing him as a counter-revolutionary who was directed by Frances intelligence service. Corruption on earth is one of the most serious offences under Iranian law. Zam was also sentenced to time served over other charges, Esmaili added, without elaborating. The sentence could be appealed before the supreme court, he said, quoted by the judiciarys official website. Zam, who reportedly lived in Paris, ran a channel on the Telegram messaging application called Amadnews. At the time, he was accused by authorities of playing an active role in anti-government protests sparked by economic hardships during the winter of 2017-18. Telegram shut down Amadnews after Iran demanded it remove the account for inciting an armed uprising. According to Zams indictment published in February, he was accused of having committed offences against the countrys internal and external security and espionage for the French intelligence service, alongside corruption on earth. He was also accused of having insulted the sanctity of Islam. (AFP) Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... Home | News | General | Kim Kardashian Celebrates Her New Billionaire Status With Kanye West (Photos) Social media sensation Kim Kardashian has celebrated her new billionaire status with her husband Kanye West. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, 39, has reportedly sold a $200 million stake in her cosmetics business KKW Beauty to the French beauty company Coty. Due to the fact that one fifth of the company is valued at that amount, this means the entirety of KKW Beauty is believed to be worth $1 billion alone, excluding all of Kims other business ventures.. Coty previously paid $600 million for a majority (51%) stake in Kims half-sister Kylie Jenners beauty company. This led to Kylie being estimated to be worth 1.2 billion, until Forbes magazine reported that she was believed to have forged her tax returns and inflate figures, estimating her to be worth closer to $950 million than a billionaire It would now seem that Kim is worthy of the title, however, and she would be joining her husband, rapper Kanye West, who was reported to be a billionaire earlier this year. The pair have now been seen out on a date after leaving restaurant Nobu in Malibu together, according to the Daily Mail. Kanye was wearing a golden camouflage sweater with black trousers and a neon orange hoodie around his face to protect himself and others from coronavirus, while Kim opted for snakeskin-print trousers, neon orange bralet and a classic black leather jacket. Kim was mask-free for the outing and sported bright red locks for the date. They soon climbed into Kanyes Lamborghini SUV as they made their stylish gettaway. Nobu is renowned for its Sushi, so we hope they celebrated in fishy style that Kim is now the billionaire sister of the Kardashian-Jenner clan. Meanwhile, Kylie previously hit back at accusations from Forbes that she had misrepresented her financial status. The 22-year-old ranted on Twitter : What am i even waking up to. i thought this was a reputable site.. all i see are a number of inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions lol. ive never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER. period. She added: Even creating tax returns that were likely forged thats your proof? so you just THOUGHT they were forged? like actually what am i reading. But okay i am blessed beyond my years, i have a beautiful daughter, and a successful business and im doing perfectly fine, she quipped. She concluded by noting: I can name a list of 100 things more important right now than fixating on how much money I have. Advertisements CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Loading... I'm writing this to Emerson Mnangagwa, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Central Intelligence Officer or whatever he or she might be called. Please do not unleash armed Soldiers, police and CIO to us. We are just civilians and have no power to fight back. When your trained guys come to us, they come armed, they torture us while we hide our faces. All what we can do is to cry for forgiveness and beg for freedom. Some of civilians have died, some crippled during torture process. Some ladies raped, some forced to drink urine or faeces. All this is because we have no power. Rest in peace Tonderai Ndira, Rebecca Mafikeni, Itai Dzamara and many civilians who have disappeared, abducted by the state agents. Sorry to Joanna Mamombe, Netsai Marova, Cecilia Chimbiri, Davison Chamisa and other civilians who were abducted and brutalized. It is not stubbornness that makes us express our feelings, demonstrating and call for rule of law, but it's love of our dear Zimbabwe. When you see us demonstrating in the streets, we are just saying no to corruption. We are simply saying Zimbabwe must be a better Country with jobs, real and stable currency, better education system, better health system among others. Zimbabwe must return to a breadbasket of Africa status. We have good soil for farming. Grass for ranching, good quality diamond in Manicaland, gold in Manicaland, Midlands and Mashonaland, granite rock in Mutoko. We have platinum, coal, chrome around our Country. We are simply saying all these must be well managed so that we enjoy. It is diabolical to send armed state agents to beat up and kill innocent and un armed citizens who are just calling for the development of their country. We are just civilians, we have no power to fight you back. Home | World | Africa | Journalist arrested for 'insulting' Mnangagwa MASVINGO-based journalist and Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) vice president, Godfrey Mtimba was arrested Monday on charges of insulting and undermining the authority of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mtimba was initially charged with taking pictures of police details arresting MDC Alliance activists including the party's national youth organising secretary and Masvingo councillor, Godfrey Kurauone without a valid press card. However, the charge was later changed to undermining the authority of the President. According to the police, Mtimba addressed commuters at a bus rank in the city Friday evening and told them that they were suffering because Mnangagwa and his sons were looting Zimbabwe's resources. Mtimba is denying the charges and insists that he was never at the said rank. "Muri muqueue imomo nokutamba nhamo nenyaya yaMnangagwa nevana vake vari kuba (You are standing in that long queue and suffering because of Mnangagwa and his children who are stealing)," reads part of the charge sheet. Masvingo police spokesperson chief inspector Charity Mazula was not reachable on her mobile phone. Efforts to get a comment from Mtimba's lawyer Philip Shumba were also futile. However, ZUJ secretary general, Foster Dongozi confirmed the arrest. Sources said Mtimba got details last Friday that police were involved in a high speed car chase in pursuit of Kurauone after the youth leader had addressed commuters in the city. Kurauone and two other activists later abandoned their vehicle in Mucheke and ran away. Mtimba made a follow-up and found some police details guarding the abandoned car. Police accused Mtimba of using an expired press card and ordered him to leave the scene. However, Mtimba was shocked when he was summoned to the police Law and Order Section Saturday morning. He went back Monday and was arrested and charged for allegedly insulting Mnangagwa. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Cain Mathema summoned over schools reopening PARLIAMENT has summoned the minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Cain Mathema, junior MPs and the deaf community to share their views on the reopening of schools amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the Daily News reports. This comes as the government through Mathema announced last month that schools would reopen in phases starting this month with final examinations classes. It also comes as MPs have suggested to the contrary that the safest time to reopen schools in the country is in the summer as Covid-19 cases continue to surge. According to Parliament's schedule of committees for this week, today the parliamentary portfolio committee on Primary and Secondary Education would receive "oral evidence from the ministryDeaf Zimbabwe Trust and Junior Parliament on schools opening in light of the Covid-19 pandemic" Zimbabwe's confirmed Covid-19 cases as of yesterday afternoon stood at 567, including 142 recoveries and six deaths. Today's evidence gathering session would be open to the public. While debating a report that had been tabled by Primary and Secondary Education parliamentary portfolio committee chairperson Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga on Thursday, MPs said when it comes to reopening of schools they were guided by the evidence they had gathered from teachers. "We are being too general in our conversations. There are legal issues, social distancing, and teacher to child ratio of 1:70 at times. Let us focus on examinations, but not in winter. Let us do them in warm periods, in September or November maybe. Let us embrace e-learning and adopt it as a new norm. Let us also licence private partners who supply gadgets to the ministry which will then pay for the services," Misihairabwi-Mushonga said. Schools, colleges, and universities have been closed since mid-March as part of the government's measures to halt the spread of Covid-19. MPs said the committee's interactions with various stakeholders had revealed that the country was not ready for the reopening of schools considering the increase in new Covid-19 infections across the country. "Teachers' unions made it clear that schools were not yet ready for opening. Though the ministry wanted to proceed with June exams, we should not be held to ransom by a curriculum," Misihairabwi-Mushonga said. "All these stakeholders said we cannot proceed to reopen because of lack of basics like running water, personal protective equipment, and basic screening equipment that are needed for that and are not there." In the report that was compiled after gathering evidence from various stakeholders, including the ministry, teachers through their various unions and the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council, the committee recommended that the government should establish a task force to look into how best schools could reopen without exposing learners and teachers to Covid-19. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Bogus CIO agent arrested A 46-YEAR-OLD man is in trouble for allegedly posing as a Central Intelligence Organisation officer from the president's office and making fake State security agents' identity cards. He also stands accused of having access to government offices and classified information. Niven Nyarungwe is also accused of forging ruling Zanu-PF party identity cards which gave him access to their building hence compromising State security. He was not asked to plead to allegations of subverting a constitutional government when he appeared in court on Saturday. Nyarungwe was remanded in custody to July 10 and he was advised to apply for bail at the High Court. It is the State's case that Nyarungwe and his accomplices who are still at large hatched a plan to usurp the functions of the government and created a template and manufactured fake State security agents' identity cards. It is further alleged that the suspects would put their identity details on the fake cards yet they are not members of State security. It is said the identity cards would give Nyarungwe and his team privileges of State security agents and give them access to classified information. The cards would give them access to government security institutions and even possession and handling of weapons. It is also alleged that the gang created fake Zanu-PF identity cards that give them access to Zanu-PF institutions where government officials are office bearers. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Zimbabwe switches to substitute ARV drugs THE government says it has a substitute for the second line drugs for anti-retroviral treatment (ART) which is currently in short supply. In an interview with the Daily News yesterday, deputy minister of Health John Mangwiro said Ritonavir or Kaletra drugs were in short supply not only in Zimbabwe but the world over. In 2016, the ministry of Health and Child Care launched new ART national guidelines which recommended the use of Atazanavir/Ritonavir by both adolescents and adults on second line ART. "We are switching some of the patients to the alternative Dolutegravir combination. "We wanted to do this gradually and according to a plan that we have mapped out, but now we are accelerating the switch due to the shortage. "We have already sent out communication to our various centres that they must not shortchange patients. "The patients are safe and should not be worried as we are putting them on this new drug," Mangwiro said on the side-lines of a donation of personal protective equipment to Chitungwiza Hospital by Pretoria Portland Cement recently. The deputy minister emphasised that patients were safe to use the new drug as government was already making headways to introduce new combinations. "There are about four or five drugs that people living with HIV used to take that have since been replaced and that is what happens with medicines. "Some of them become old-fashioned and need to be replaced according to international standards and trends," he said. In a statement last week, acting permanent secretary in the ministry of Health, Gibson Mhlanga, advised that people living with HIV would only be given one months' supply of drugs instead of the three months they were accustomed to. An HIV drug regimen has three lines, with the first taken by most patients who seek treatment early after infection while the second is more expensive and is given to people who are resistant to the first while the third line is the most expensive and most toxic. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | WATCH: ZANU PF Youths demand Chihuri to be taken to mental hospital ZANU PF Acting Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs Tendai Chirau has condemned former police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri for telling the media that President Emmerson Mnangagwa snatched his pregnant wife during the war of liberation. Chihuri had said Mnangagwa's hatred for him is deeply personal and stems from that era. Addressing journalists on Monday, the Youth League also threw a jibe at former Youth leader Godfrey Tsenengamu and journalist Hopewell Chin'ono saying their antics to incite progressive Zimbabweans are in vain. Watch the video below: CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... It is possible in theory to distinguish revolutionary parties, from those parties working within the mandate of temporal popularity. But the distinction is not always easy to make, because the same parties may sometimes make use of both procedures, either simultaneously or successively, depending upon the circumstances. Africa saw the revolutionary parties taking over from the colonial masters. But terrorist and disruptive activities by the colonial puppets mobilised citizens and to demonstrate against legitimate governments. The People's leaders were called dictators and indeed many revolutionary parties were booted out of power in a fashion celebrated as democratic yet it was a lot of steps backwards. At the beginning of the 20th century, leftist trade unionists extolled the revolutionary general strike, a total stoppage of all economic activity that would paralyze society completely and put the government at the mercy of the chancers known as opposition.In order for citizens to be able to make an intelligent choice of representative or president, it is necessary for them to know the real political orientation of each candidate. Party membership provides the clearest indication of this. The programs and promises of each individual candidate are not too significant or informative, because most candidates, in their attempt to gain the most votes, try to avoid difficult subjects; they all tend to speak the same language - that is, to camouflage their real opinions. Zimbabweans were so excited by the results of the elections in Malawi where the Malawian Congress Party with the help of some few parties romped to victory. the electoral triumph of Mr Lazarus Chakwera in the Malawian presidential election re-run had sent people thinking. It is this Malawian Victory which makes Zimbabweans think very hard about their own country. Mr Chakwera won the elections with 2.6 (million votes, ahead of incumbent president Peter Mutharika who polled 1.75 million followed by a little-known Peter Kuwani who had 32 400 votes. As Mr Chakwera was sworn in as the new President of Malawi Rightfully most Zimbabweans wished this was done in their own country. The only reality was that our wishes are already our horses. Mr Chakwera's win is a statement and a stuck warning to the so called progressive parties in Africa. Looking deeper in this victory Zimbabwe must learn that it is a blessing to remain with the party you know better. An evangelist, Mr Chakwera is not new to the Malawi political scene. He won the elections as a candidate for a nine-party coalition, the Tonse Alliance. Since the departure of Kamuzu Banda Malawi has never been better. All the opposition party leaders who ruled Malawi after Banda made the country poorer and poorer. The joy shown when MCP won the elections reflected the suffering the Malawians has under the opposition leadership. From 1994 the MC has been out of power and Malawians experienced the worst governments and their economy crumbled. Malawi wanted the first love to come and restore order in Malawi. That is the period the MCP has been out of power since the 1994 elections. The MCP is back to restore the country to the right path. It has been diverted from the freedoms the revolutionary fathers had fought for. Malawi groaned under the opposition for too long and they wrote their regret with their own blood and understandably they had to fight again to get their liberators back. During his inauguration speech, Mr Chakwera mentioned that there was good governance under MCP."Now, I am no stranger to the beneFits of good government. Although I was raised in a poor village like most Malawians; raised without inherited riches or political connections like most Malawians; raised without electricity or running water like most Malawians; I stand here today because I had one of the blessings of God that young Malawians today do not: The blessing of growing up in a well-governed Malawi," The revolutionary parties have demonstrated good governance. Malawi has to stand resolute to bring back sanity by voting for the original liberators and the patriots. Malawi has been plunged in great darkness by the opposition. It took courage blood and sweating for Malawi to be steered back I. The path of freedom honouring the dream of the founding fathers. It took the masses to restore whatever good the MCP was originally founded upon. The Chetechete mantra. which has gripped Malawian Mtharika followers had dragged the whole nation to the grave. This Mantra is very common in the Zimbabwean political table and indeed as in Malawi it will drag the whole nation to the grave. Mr Chakwera in his speeches he made it clear that the wind of change only changes your future for the worst. Malawi has simply taken the country back from the regime change agents and place it back in the hands of capable original legitimate people. When people refer to Malawi's struggle as a struggle to give an opposition a chance make me squeal. Malawi made its mistake and it burnt its fingers. This vote was a vote to correct the mistakes of the born-free generation which was being persuaded by money and empty words. Although Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi were once under one administration during the Rhodesia Federation and Nyasaland, the former remains distinctively different in that zimbabwe is the only one which literally took arms to liberate itself. The only important lesson we learn from Malawi is that you must learn to trust your liberators. Do not be swayed by the Mafikizokos. By electing Mr Chakwera, Malawians are expressing their will to end family dynasties and rediscover their soul by going back to the source. Malawi now stands with Zimbabwe shoulder to shoulder in having the liberation parties in-charge of the administration of the nation. The message sent to us is that put your trust where your source of inspiration is. In South Africa, we have ANC, Namibia (SWAPO), Angola (MPLA), Zimbabwe (ZANU PF), Mozambique (FRELIMO) and Tanzania's Chama Cha Mapinduzi. Malawi is the latest addition to the golden pride of Africa. Zimbabwe has been given a good lesson to trust former liberation movements to govern their national affairs. The lies by the opposition has been exposed by the people in Malawi. Zambia is looking forward to the return of liberation powers. Zimbabwe has now learnt that all that glitters is not gold. All promised by the opposition is but just promises. Realities are found in your original party. As Malawi celebrates today let's all join them and say it is better to stay home with the home party than to wonder away from home with the Mafikizolos. Vazet2000@yahoo.co.uk. Home | World | Africa | Zanu-PF youths, CIOs threaten nurses NURSES at St Alberts Mission Hospital, Mt Darwin, were reportedly threatened by Zanu-PF youths and State spy agents after notifying the district medical officer Kelvin Mupunga last week of their intention to down tools starting yesterday. The nurses had, through the Muzarabani/centenary District Health Workers Union told Mupunga in a letter on Friday that they shared similar grievances with fellow nurses from public hospitals who had joined the nationwide strike. A health worker who preferred anonymity for fear of victimisation said Zanu-PF youths have been threatening the nurses to abort their planned strike action. "They were threatened by CIOs and Zanu-PF youths at the weekend. They were intimidated through a landline 0662102423," the official said. The district's nursing officer and Zimbabwe nurses association district chairperson Michael Kangundu refused to comment, referring questions to Mupunga. Mupunga said he was yet to assess the situation, but claimed all nurses reported to work, dismissing the claims that they had been intimidated. "The nurses have come to work. I received their letter on Friday and forwarded their grievances to the province the next day for onward transmission because the issues raised are beyond my capacity," he said. Constituency legislator Tapera Size denied that his youths were threatening the nurses with unspecified action if they joined the nationwide strike declared by their association. "Those people are even surprised and asking where the information is coming from," Size said. "You are saying they used a landline? Whom have you communicated with? There is no any youth going out, and secondly, in centenary there are no landlines. even at St alberts, so where did the landline come from?" In their letter to Mupunga, the nurses wrote: "It is with deep regret that we inform you that we will be withdrawing our services at St alberts Mission Hospital starting on Monday (yesterday). "We share the same grievances with all other health workers countrywide who are currently incapacitated due to eroded income, while our decision may seem harsh, we feel it is the only way our genuine concerns may be taken seriously." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Journalist arrested over expired Press card Freelance journalist and Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) vice-president Godfrey Mtimba was arrested yesterday for allegedly taking pictures of stranded commuters who were demonstrating at a Zupco pick-up point in Masvingo. Police claim he was also using an expired Press card. Mtimba faces yet another charge of insulting and undermining the authority of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. His lawyer, Philip Tanaka Shumba of Shumba and Mutendi law firm confirmed the arrest, saying his client had been released into his custody and was awaiting a court date. "It is true that Mtimba has been arrested for taking pictures of demonstrators over the weekend and using an expired Press card. We went to the police and they released him under my custody pending a court appearance after investigations are complete. He denies the charges," Shumba said. "My client has been charged for allegedly breaking section 33 paragraph 2(a) of the criminal code." Later in the day, Shumba told NewsDay more charges were added to include "addressing passengers waiting for Zupco, telling them that they are suffering because of eD (Mnangagwa) and his sons who are looting the economy". Shumba said a warned and cautioned statement was recorded from Mtimba and he would appear in court this week. Contacted for comment, Masvingo provincial police spokesperson chief Inspector charity Mazula said: "From what I was briefed, the police officers just wanted to interview him on a certain case which happened. I am not aware they went on to arrest him. I will have to find out what later happened." Mtimba joins a long list of journalists arrested on duty for simply doing their work under the current cOVID-19 lockdown. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | 2 die in separate scotchcart accidents TWO people died in separate accidents involving scotchcarts in Odzi and nyazura at the weekend. The tragic events took place on Saturday. Manicaland police spokesperson Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa confirmed both incidents. In the first incident, albert Matiza (40) was travelling in a scotchcart with a minor in nyamajura village, Odzi, but the cart reportedly hit a stone and overturned, killing him on the spot. In another incident, Farirai njangu, a female juvenile aged 15 from Village 5B nyadzonya in nyazura died on the spot when the scotchcart she was travelling in while in the company of roderick Mavhuna also hit a stone and overturned. She was hit on the head and died on the spot. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | Only MDC Alliance vendors getting vending bays in Bulawayo INFORMAL traders have accused the MDC-Alliance dominated Bulawayo City Council (BCC) of politicising allocation of vending bays by sidelining vendors with Zanu-PF links. Speaking at a meeting with Small-to-medium enterprises Development minister Sithembiso Nyoni, Provincial affairs minister Judith Ncube and BCC representatives in the city, Bulawayo Upcoming Traders association secretary-general Dumisani Ncube accused the council of not entertaining vendors aligned to the ruling party. "Some people failed to renew their vending licences after threats that the council will confiscate their licences. You can take a survey, the bulk of them are suffering because they are from the ruling party. The reason is as you go to Makokoba at Fife Street, BCC officers are saying go to Zanu-PF and we will see what it can do for you," he said. "We have one member who was arrested when council raided vendors and confiscated their wares where they were being evicted. The vendors lost their vending bays." Nyoni said registered informal traders were not political entities, but economic entities that played a major role in developing the country. "Vendors are not political entities, they are economic entities and for that matter, they fall under my ministry, they do not fall under a political party. They are not supposed to be mistreated because they belong to a certain party or others treated well judging from which party they come from," she said. Nyoni urged the traders to develop and advance their businesses. She said small-to-medium enterprises were not functioning due to the COVID-19 outbreak. "We had stopped functioning due to the outbreak of COVID-19. even now, some enterprises are still not functioning ... I want you to go read Statutory Instrument (SI) 136, what the President said when he said people who must return are informal sectors that are registered from designated areas," Nyoni said. "I have been consulting. We have a new strategy and policy which the cabinet has approved following the SI 133. (On) local authorities, the cabinet has stated that informal traders are supposed to be allocated in their places phase by phase because they want to manage COVID-19." However, council engineering deputy director Wisdom Siziba said they were introducing the suburban vending bays and allocations had since started, adding the move would decongest the central business district. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... Home | World | Africa | 'Mnangagwa's govt neglecting COVID-19 positive nurses' THE Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) has accused the government of neglecting Mpilo Central Hospital nurses who contracted COVID-19 in the line of duty and are now quarantined at the Elangeni Training Centre in Bulawayo. As many as 13 nurses at Mpilo recently tested positive to COVID-19. On May 28, 197 health workers at the hospital were placed on self-isolation after a colleague tested positive for coronavirus. Zina president Enock Dongo bemoaned the "inhumane" conditions at the quarantine centre where the nurses are staying, saying they have been left with no option, but to sue authorities for redress. "We are very much worried with the conditions where our nurses are quarantined. We are not pleased as the government is turning a blind eye on the need to make sure they create a conducive environment for the nurses who contracted the disease while on duty," Dongo told Southern Eye yesterday. According to Dongo, inmates at Elangeni use cold water for bathing and are poorly fed, among other inadequacies. "There has not been any response from the authorities. It is the responsibility of the government to make sure they take care of those nurses who contracted COVID-19 at work. This neglect leaves us with no option, but to protest and sue to protect our members who are now in this sorry situation not out of their making," he said. "They could be COVID-19 negative had the government provided all necessary protective clothing and other essentials as we always pleaded." The High Court in April ordered government to provide personal protective equipment for frontline health workers across the country to protect them against contracting COVID-19 while attending to patients, an order the administration has failed to fulfil. Contacted for comment, Bulawayo provincial medical director Welcome Mlilo said he had not received any official complaint from Zina. "My office has not received complaints on the issue, but I have come across the reports on social media. Upon receipt of this public message, my office is now engaged in addressing the issues that have been raised. We are actively looking to solve some of the issues highlighted through both government and the private sector," he said. Returnees have been complaining of poor services at quarantine centres, forcing the government to yield to demands to allow hotels and lodges to offer quarantine services. Under this arrangement, returnees pay the costs of their stay. As of last week, 184 returnees were reported to have fled quarantine centres because of inhospitable living conditions and lack of food, among others. Nurses are already on strike protesting poor salaries and working conditions, a situation that could hamper efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. About 100 000 healthcare workers were infected by COVID-19 with more than 260 casualties worldwide as of May, according to the International Council of Nurses. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa Loading... RICHMOND When Greg Milefsky temporarily closed his bicycle shop in downtown Richmond in March, he did so amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic that caused other businesses around the region and the country to shutter. After a couple weeks, as he saw other bike shops continue operating, Milefsky reopened his Balance Bicycle Shop at 904 W. Broad St. and saw business spike at a time when the virus was spurring people to get back on a bike for some outdoor exercise. But then demonstrations in Richmond sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis turned destructive. Looters broke into his store during the overnight hours between May 30 and May 31. They stole 70 to 80 bikes that had been in the shop, he said, including his own inventory he had planned to sell as well as dozens of bikes owned by customers. And then Im out of a job. I have no income, Milefsky said during an interview at his store where a row of bike hooks along the wall were bare. So insurance is going to cover some of that, but realistically I couldnt even reopen this year. COVID-19 and social distancing are keeping many apart, but a Stafford County firm has found a way to bring people in different countries together. RingLeader, an internet phone services provider, provides customers with a local phone number in the United States and one in either Mexico or Canada through its CrowdVoice app, which eliminates international fees for calls. When the pandemic hit, CEO Neil Darling said that he and his staff brainstormed a way to help. We are a small company and we saw large companies that were offering some things that were very significant, like making PPE or masks doing other things. We cant make PPE, but what can we do? We said we can provide secure access for free, or as much as we can. RingLeader extended its one-month free trial to three months for those who take a short survey, and pledged a total of 25,000 months of free service on its app. The promotion gives each user free messaging and VoIP services including unlimited inbound international calling and 500 minutes of free outbound calling per month where service is available. New customers also receive a U.S. phone number and an international phone number in Canada or Mexico. As a result, we feel that were doing good and the employees feel that theyre doing something meaningful, Darling said. Try to identify a different piece of Lynchburg-area history every week. If you have any mystery pictures of your own (or any old photos of Lyn Please register or log in to keep reading Stay logged in to skip the surveys. Foy and McClellan are making a different kind of history and hope to make some more. They are the first Black women to seek their partys nomination for governor. Virginia has only elected one woman to statewide office Mary Sue Terry was elected attorney general in 1985 and re-elected in 1989 but she lost her bid for the governorship in 1993. Thirty states have had women as governors, some multiple times. Virginia is not one of those 30. Should either Foy or McClellan be standing on the steps of the State Capitol in January 2022 to take the oath of office, shed make another kind of history: No state has elected a Black woman as governor. 3. Were seeing the avenues to the governorship broaden. The traditional route to the governorship has been through either the office of lieutenant governor or attorney general and sometimes the U.S. House of Representatives. McAuliffe, Warner and Linwood Holton in 1969 were notable because theyd never held any elected office. The last candidate to jump from the state Senate to the governorship something McClellan is trying was Battle in 1949. The last candidate whose only previous experience was in the House of Delegates something Foy is trying was Phil McKinney in 1889. Even then, his service in the House had come 31 years before. He also ran for governor on a platform of unabashed white supremacy. Weve never had someone go straight from a mayorship to the governors office as Stoney might try. Languages make U.S. strong, not weak Thank you News & Advance for printing the excellent editorial from The Roanoke Times: Good wants to upend some historic American Values. Specifically, Good wants ... to make English the official national language and stop accommodating immigrants and their native tongues, because its our unity that is our strength. I agree that in unity we are strong; in division we are weak, but I do not see how excluding other languages from usage creates unity. Instead, Mr. Goods use of language stop accommodating ... is in itself divisive. Perhaps that is his real intention. I do not know. I do know that encouraging Americans to learn other languages has always been a good in the past because learning other languages makes us smarter, not only because we can converse in more than one language, but also because the very act of learning another language, like the study of music (which is another language) increases intelligence. If we Americans have the opportunity as Europeans have to hear, learn and speak other languages, everyone benefits. Since we are isolated from other countries, as Europe is not, our only way to hear other languages would be to listen to those who visit here or immigrate here. OGALLALA, Neb. A 24-year-old Kansas man was sentenced to four years probation on Friday morning in connection with a 2017 vehicle-motorcycle crash that killed four Iowa residents. Jeser I. Cisneros-Hernandez was also ordered to serve 400 hours of community service as part of the sentence handed down by Judge Michael Piccolo in Keith County (Nebraska) District Court. Cisnernos-Hernandez had been scheduled to be sentenced on April 3, but the case was continued to Friday. Cisneros-Hernandez was out on bail at the time and living in Kansas. Travel restrictions due to the coronavirus were noted in the motion to continue the case at the time. Cisneros-Hernandez pleaded no contest on Feb. 4 to one amended felony charge of motor vehicle homicide that covers all four victims. The plea agreement came the day his trial was to have begun. He initially was charged with four counts of motor vehicle homicide, and three counts were dropped in the plea agreement. Cisneros-Hernandez could have been sentenced to up to three years in prison under the felony guidelines with a post-release supervision term of 18 months. A fine of up to $10,000 could have been imposed as well. Pottawattamie County reported seven Council Bluffs residents have contracted COVID-19, bringing the total tracked by the county to 748. The residents making up the seven new cases were tested from June 22 to June 27, according to Pottawattamie County Public Health. None of the cases are epidemiologically-linked. Five of the individuals are in the 18 to 40 age range, one is 41 to 60 and one is 81 or older. Around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the state COVID-19 website, coronavirus.iowa.gov, listed 691 cases in the county out of 9,216 tests, for a positive rate of 7.5%. The state does not track epi-linked cases. Pottawattamie County Public Health has said epi-linked cases are individuals whove had contact with a confirmed positive individual and are exhibiting symptoms, but have not been tested. The department provides assistant to those individuals and treats them like individuals who have tested positive. The county public health department said there have been 544 recoveries in the county, with 162 residents self-isolating and five hospitalized, the same as reported Monday. There have been 11 COVID-19 deaths in the county. The county noted 26 of the cases were among non-residents/residents who have moved. Pottawattamie County Public Health reported 17 new cases of COVID-19, covering the weekend and Monday. The report includes seven cases each on Saturday and Sunday and three cases on Monday. Sixteen are Council Bluffs residents and one person is from Crescent. They were tested between June 23 and June 26, the department said. None of the cases were epidemiologically-linked. The new cases bring the total tracked by Pottawattamie County Public Health to 741. Around 2:30 p.m. on Monday, coronavirus.iowa.gov, the state COVID-19 website, showed 680 cases for the county out of 9,094 residents tested, for a 7.5% positive rate, down from last week, when the rate hovered in the 7.9-8% range. The state does not track epi-linked cases. Of the county-tracked cases, 160 positive individuals are self-isolating, five are hospitalized, 539 are listed as recovered and there have been 11 deaths. The county notes 26 of the cases were among non-residents/residents who have moved. Porter has been police chief since December 2011. Baier said she could not pinpoint the social media Porter used. In a June 23 statement from the mayor and city council posted on the city's website, "A recent incident involved a response to a post on social media by a member of the police representing Sioux Rapids. This is being investigated and will be addressed with the officer. The city will take any and all action deemed necessary in this situation." Baier said a second action taken in the Monday meeting is that Porter and the city council members will soon participate in a sensitivity training session. "Public trust and accountability are the foundations of policing. When an officer violates that trust, it is our responsibility to ensure that it does not occur again," the Sioux Rapids Council statement of last week said. Sioux Rapids is a town of 754 residents in Buena Vista County. The police department is a one-person department. While some jobs are down, traffic for pharmacy technician jobs has increased. The increased need for pharmacy technicians was apparent before COVID-19-related events affected our health care system. And the need for skilled and knowledgeable pharmacy technicians in our workforce remains steady throughout current times. Its true that many pharmacies are remodeling how staffing looks in a forced need to meet COVID-related financial constraints. But, these adjusted staffing models keep pharmacy technicians in the essential need category. Pharmacy technicians are essential, because they serve as front line individuals in the pharmacy. In most cases, it is the pharmacy technician who first meets with the patient to gather information and determine patient needs. Based on acuity, the pharmacy technician triages tasks and workflow within the medication dispensing process. The great thing about a career as a pharmacy technician is the variety of job descriptions. A community pharmacy setting offers the pharmacy technician a wide array of responsibilities that focus on face to face patient interaction. Accepting prescriptions, taking blood pressure readings and helping to improve patient mobility by fitting the patient with a walker are just a few examples of the importance a pharmacy technician in the community pharmacy has on the patient experience. By Richard Mallory Allnutt (editor) Echoing loudly across the expansive, high-bay hangar, one can hear the staccato clatter of rivet guns and high-pitched squeal of air-powered drills tearing into sheet aluminum. There is a whole team of technicians, engineers and master craftsmen at work here in Bridgewater, Virginia, home to Dynamic Aviation. While the bulk of their labors are directed towards converting former turbo-prop airliners into sophisticated aerial platforms for government contracts, a dozen or so of these capable, highly trained personnel are dedicated to resurrecting an iconic piece of aviation history. They are restoring Columbine II, a Lockheed VC-121A Constellation (USAF s/n 48-610) which was once the official U.S. Air Force transport for President Dwight D. Eisenhower back in the early 1950s. This is the first aircraft which ever used the radio call sign Air Force One. We have been reporting on this story for some time now, ever since Karl Stoltzfus Dynamic Aviations founder decided to rescue this extraordinary aircraft from almost certain doom in May, 2015. We covered his teams nearly year-long endeavor to breath life back into the old bird for the ferry flight from her decades-long sojourn in the Arizona desert in Marana back to Bridgewater for a more formal restoration. Columbine II made that epic flight to her new home back in March, 2016, which we reported on HERE. However, it was to be more than a year before Dynamic Aviation began to work on the Connies restoration in earnest. In that time, the company partially disassembled the airframe, removing the outer wing panels and tail feathers, many redundant internal systems and hosed the aircraft down to clean off a half-century of accumulated dirt and grime. They completed construction of a dual-purpose hangar to perform the restoration work, tucking the historic transport into the corner of this massive structure, and shrouding the work perimeter in darkened curtains to allow photography of their progress without risking images of the sensitive government work going on beyond them. Dynamic Aviations goal is to transform this gutted Constellation back into her original guise as Columbine II, complete with an authentic executive interior which matches, as closely as possible, her appearance during the time she served in the Presidential fleet. This is a mammoth and expensive operation as they are taking the time and effort to ensure that the airframe has a long and secure future ahead of her as a flying exhibit, traveling across the country essentially as a flying classroom on American presidential history. The work to restore Columbine II is also a classroom in and of itself for Dynamic Aviations work force, as young aviation technicians gain experience under the tutelage of more seasoned hands in her restoration. So there is a keen understanding in Karl Stoltzfuss intentions with the aircraft. During our visit to Bridgewater, we talked to both Karl Stoltzfus and Brad Holliday about their work on the aircraft. Holliday is in overall charge of the restoration, and described how they were approaching the project. He noted that, The prime focus has been to break the aircraft into sections. We started with the wing. If you dont have a sound wing you dont have an airplane To this point, that has been the majority of our focus not the sole focus, but weve really put a lot of effort into the internals and the externals of the wing, so weve opened up everything, weve pulled off the outer wing panels (we have them sitting over here) so we can have people focused on those specific areas. Its a wet wing, so weve got fuel basically from Station 80, right here, this wing joint, all the way out to the next wing joint. And in the outer wings, [the fuel is stored] pretty much right to where the tip attaches, within the spars. The center section this middle section of the wing it includes the leading edge [for a total of 5,820 gallons]. The team has also been working on the engine nacelles, as well as documenting what remains of the original Presidential interior and removing it for refurbishment or replacement. One of the key interior features they are trying to replicate involves the foldout beds which once stowed in the upper half of the fuselage, much like sleeper berths in an old Pullman railway car. For this, the team has had to rely upon photographs, vestigial mounting assemblies left on the airframe, and some incomplete assembly drawings which they have been able to locate. Even something as simple as this detail has required a significant investment of research and design time to complete, so its easy to imagine how much effort has gone into the aircraft as a whole. While only one of the four sleeper-berths will be functional, it will make for a more authentic experience for visitors to witness. The team has also been replacing all of the wiring in the airframe and the bulk of the hydraulic lines, a mammoth and complex undertaking on an aircraft this size. Karl Stoltzfus has also been busy acquiring components for the project over the past few years, including whole sections of other C-121s to aid in the restoration. Indeed, the carcasses of three Super Constellations are now on site. These include C-121G 54-4062 which was stored alongside Columbine in Marana for many years, NC-121K Bu.141292 which was once part of the sadly long-gone Florence Air & Missile Museum in Florence, South Carolina, and also the forward fuselage of EC-121H 53-535. Each of these airframes has provided parts for the project, as well as interior fuselage fitments and reference details for restoration technicians to review. Stoltzfus also has other relevant components in storage for future use, such as the items needed to equip the Connies galley. During our visit, Dynamic Aviation was in the final stages of erecting a new hangar into which Columbine II would move for the completion of her restoration work. This hangar is now complete, so back in mid-March before the pandemic shut down, Dynamic Aviations team towed the Connie inside her new home. This same hangar will also house the other historic aircraft in Dynamic Aviations Legacy Fleet, which includes, among others, C-47A 43-30665 Miss Virginia which Karl flew to Europe last year as part of the D-Day Squadrons fleet in commemoration of D-Day 75, a Beech 18, T-6G and the original Travelair 4000 which once belonged to Chris Stoltzfus, Karls father, when he first got into the aviation business back in 1936. The intention is to turn this into a flying museum which the general public can visit. Given the attention to detail which Karl Stoltzfus and the rest of the team at Dynamic Aviation are famous for, it is sure to be a first class endeavor, and we cant wait to see what they have in store for those with a passion for aviation history. We look forwards to bringing further updates on this important project sometime soon. Many, many thanks indeed to Karl Stoltzfus, Brad Holliday and Sarah Hendricks for making this article possible! Most of what we fear in life never becomes true. As children we were afraid of the shadows in our bedroom and that the Boogeyman would come and take us away. As adults, most of our fears switch to lack of security. Fear that our home would be broken into, our family will be harmed or fear of lack of financial security. Regardless of what frightens us, most of us will admit were living with some form of fear and/or anxiety. Fear of sickness from COVID-19, fear of job loss or economic collapse, fear of racist cops, fear of rioters, looters on the streets that are openly committing harm to property or others. If you believe cable news, there is much to be afraid of ... and we are. Gun dealers across the country are selling their shelves empty. Citizens are stocking up on toiletries and food supplies, buying guns at a record pace and loading up on ammunition. Whats driving these actions? Fear. Fear is a healthy sensation, as it can keep some of us from what Ill call the Oh yeah? Hold my beer syndrome. Fear kept our early ancestors from being eaten by saber-toothed tigers. I can go on, but you get the picture. However, fear can also make you react irrationally at times where rational thinking is needed. Fear can negatively impact your health and ruin your life. The following editorial appeared in the June 25 edition of The Ford Dodge Messenger: Iowas lawmakers recently demonstrated that they are capable of getting things done in a short period of time. After an unprecedented recess prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic sent the legislators home in the spring, they returned to Des Moines during the first week of June and proceeded to wrap up all of their essential business before adjourning on June 14. During that time they finished a no-frills budget totaling about $7.78 billion. Its a largely status quo budget that keeps most spending categories pretty much the same. There is one important exception, however. Funding for k-12 education was increased by about $100 million. Rural school districts will get a little extra money to compensate them for the high transportation costs they incur because of the long bus routes needed to get kids to and from school. A state budget that increases school aid without raising taxes is a notable achievement. There were a few things that did not get done during the legislative session that are disappointing. 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. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Some Nebraska lawmakers are calling for changes in how the state picks contractors, after a child welfare service that succeeded in winning a contract with an unusually low bid failed to deliver and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The chief justice remains a swing vote. Photo: Leah Millis-Pool/Getty Images A day after he dismayed cultural conservatives by writing an opinion for a 5-4 majority that struck down a restrictive abortion law in Louisiana, Chief Justice John Roberts rejoined the Supreme Courts right wing in a major church-state case. Writing for a conservative 5-4 majority in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, Roberts overruled a Montana Supreme Court decision that killed a state aid program for children in private schools on grounds that it violated a state constitutional prohibition on public aid for religious activities. That prohibition, wrote Roberts, violates the First Amendments Free Exercise of religion clause insofar as aid was denied students strictly because they attend religious schools. A state need not subsidize private education, Chief Justice Roberts wrote. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious. Robertss opinion sought to chart a path between the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses of the First Amendment, expanding the narrow argument he made in 2017 in a case involving a Missouri program for playground improvements that collided with a state constitutional provision similar to Montanas. There, too, aid was made available to all schools, public or private, other than religious schools. But Roberts took care to distinguish both situations from a Washington State decision to disqualify a student pursuing theological training from a scholarship program, which the Court upheld in 2004. At least three of Robertss fellow-conservatives werent that enamored of the distinction he drew between discrimination based on religious status (impermissible) rather than religious acts (permissible). Justice Clarence Thomas doesnt believe the Establishment Clause applies to the states at all. Justice Neil Gorsuch supports broader protections for religious activities. And Justice Samuel Alito penned a long concurrence making the point that state constitutional no-aid provisions like Montanas (and Missouris) are a legacy of 19th century anti-Catholic bigotry. The four liberal dissenters werent entirely in accord, either. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor argued that by shutting down the entire private school scholarship program Montana eliminated any grounds for a religious discrimination claim. Justice Breyer took issue with Robertss claim that the schools in question were being excluded from the scholarship program because of religious status rather than activity: If, for 250 years, we have drawn a line at forcing taxpayers to pay the salaries of those who teach their faith from the pulpit, I do not see how we can today require Montana to adopt a different view respecting those who teach it in the classroom. All in all, the decision represents a limited if significant erosion of church-state separation, and indicates that several conservative justices are champing at the big to go further. The impact of Espinoza is also likely to be limited if significant, as Matt Barnum explains: Its unclear whether the decision will have far-reaching implications in the short term, as the decision explicitly says that states without voucher programs will not have to open the funding floodgates to private schools. But small voucher programs in Maine and Vermont that do bar religious schools are likely to have to change their rules. Laws that prohibit churches from operating secular charter schools might also be under threat. Politically, this decision may mitigate some of the unhappiness being expressed by religious conservatives toward Roberts and the Courts conservatives generally over their handling of LGBTQ rights and abortion laws. Espinoza does not constitute a full-blown judicial counter-revolution, but does hint at where a future Court might go if Donald Trump is reelected and SCOTUSs right wing is strengthened. In the past week, American Airlines AAL grabbed headlines by virtue of its announcement that flights will be operated to full capacity beginning Jul 1. The decision, which implies that the practice of safe distancing while aboard will no longer be followed amid the rising coronavirus cases, drew flak from multiple corners. Meanwhile, United Airlines UAL, which too is booking flights to 100% capacity, announced plans to resume services to China. Effective Jul 8, the carrier will reinitiate its China services with twice-weekly flights between San Francisco and Shanghai's Pudong International Airport via Seoul's Incheon International Airport. United Airlines decision follows that of Delta Air Lines DAL, which was announced in the previous week. With air-travel demand still remaining way below the pre-coronavirus levels, despite the recent improvement, Delta intends to notify its pilots about possible furloughs by sending them notices later this week. Recap of the Past Weeks Most Important Stories 1. American Airlines decision to sell every ticket available means that the carriers policy (effective since April) of curtailing bookings to about 85% of a plane's capacity will stand invalid. Although this currently Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) carrier has a number of measures in place complying with anti-pandemic directives like cleaning and sanitizing planes with extra care and requiring passengers to wear face masks throughout their journey at most of its hub airports, its resolve to load the entire plane amid the ongoing pandemic crisis invited criticisms from many quarters. Evidently, travel analyst Henry Harteveldt expressed his disappointment over the issue and said that the carrier is clearly putting its profitability ahead of the health of both passengers and its own employees. However, airlines like Delta, Southwest Airlines LUV and JetBlue JBLU are still adhering to the rule of restrictive seating capacity, thereby ensuring social distancing. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 2. Apart from resuming service to Shanghai, United Airlines will reinstate flights between Chicago and Tokyo, adding a service to Tokyo's Haneda Airport in July. It will also restart flight operations to Seoul and Hong Kong. Some of the measures that United Airlines is taking to ensure a safe journey for passengers amid the current situation of uncertainty include enhanced aircraft sanitization, touch-less baggage check-ins, usage of filters to circulate air and removal of up to 99.9% airborne particles. Customers are required to confirm that they do not show COVID-19 symptoms and should wear a mask onboard. Non-compliance with wearing a mask will cause temporary revocation of the customers travel privileges by the airline. 3. In a bid to address the issue of pilot overstaffing in the current scenario of below-par demand, Delta intends to send notices to 2,558 pilots in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to inform them about potential furloughs so that they are better prepared. In a separate development, Deltas CEO Ed Bastian stated that beyond August, there might not be many more flight additions through the remainder of the year as coronavirus cases shoot up in certain parts of the country. 4. Per a Reuters report, management at European low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings RYAAY warned of laying off up to 120 pilots in Ireland apart from shutting down two regional bases. The carrier threatened to take such drastic actions unless pilots bypass their union and accept a pay cut. It proposed salary reduction of maximum 20% apart from demanding changes to work practices across Europe. 5. In a bid to combat the coronavirus crisis and subsequently recover from economic slowdown, Azul AZUL inked collective labor agreements with unions to be effective for the next 18 months. The deals, backed by its pilots and flight attendant unions, allow full flexibility to the Latin American carrier pertaining to its labor costs. Story continues Performance The following table shows the price movement of major airline players over the past week and during the past six months. The table above shows that most airline stocks have traded in the red in the past week due to apprehensions of a second wave of coronavirus as cases spike in the United States. The downside further caused a 3.6% decline in the NYSE ARCA Airline Index to $55.15. Over the course of the past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has appreciated 14.1%. What's Next in the Airline Space? June traffic reports from the likes of Ryanair will be awaited by investors in the coming days. Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, its expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity. A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time. See 8 breakthrough 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 Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) : Free Stock Analysis Report JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) : 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 AZUL SA (AZUL) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research FILE - In this June 16, 2020, file photo Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., holds a face mask in his hands during a news conference following a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington. Throughout the pandemic, some politicians have worn masks and others have refused. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) PHOTO:AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File McConnell: 'No Stigma' in Wearing Masks for Virus By The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has become the highest-ranking Republican in Congress to encourage Americans to wear a facial mask as COVID-19 cases surge in states nationwide. In a speech Monday, McConnell did not mention President Donald Trump's refusal to abide by the public health guidelines. Instead, the GOP leader joined those trying to set an example for a wary population that's deeply divided over masks, which experts say is a simple and effective way to help protect the spread of the virus. We must have no stigma none about wearing masks when we leave our homes, McConnell said in the Senate. The Kentucky Republican was careful not to confront Trump directly over bucking the health recommendations. But with an alarming surge in virus cases forcing a reversal of states' efforts to reopen businesses and shops, it's becoming clear to leaders that more public health guidance is needed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has mocked Trump's refusal to wear a mask as a vanity thing." Several other top-ranking Republicans have encouraged Trump to follow the Centers for Disease Control and prevention guidelines, but Americans are deeply divided on the issue in a worrisome trend for health experts as hospitals become overburdened with sick people. McConnell counted mask-wearing as one common sense example ordinary Americans could apply during this time, before there is a vaccine. We cannot go right back to normal. We need new routines," he said. Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves, he said. It is about protecting everyone we encounter. At the Capitol, the situation is dividing lawmakers with several of Trump's key allies declining to wear masks, against the advice of the attending physician. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is one of the few senators who routinely refuses to wear a mask during Senate votes. In the House, many of Trump's Republican allies decline to wear masks at hearings or during House floor proceedings. Pelosi required lawmakers to wear masks for all in-person House committee hearings. But last Friday, as the nation's was recording highest one-day tallies of new cases, several GOP lawmakers refused to wear masks at a coronavirus hearing. On Monday, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the chairman of the select committee on the coronavirus, said he would no longer call on lawmakers to speak during committee hearings unless the follow the physician's guidance to wear a mask. My Republican colleagues refusal to wear masks is perplexing because you have asked repeatedly to hold in-person hearings, and you assured me that this could be done safely, Clyburn wrote in a letter to colleagues. I told you that I would work in good faith to hold in-person hearings if we could do so safely and consistent with the Attending Physicians guidelines." Donald Trump received a written briefing about alleged Russian bounties offered to Afghan militants to kill American troops as early as February, The New York Times said Monday in a new report undercutting the US president's assertion that he was not told of the threat. Trump has come under increasing pressure to explain mounting media reports saying he was informed that Russian military intelligence had offered and paid cash to Taliban-linked militants for US soldiers' deaths -- and did nothing in response. The Times, citing two unnamed officials, said the claim had been included in a written version of the president's daily briefing in late February. CNN confirmed the story but cited an official saying the document was produced "sometime in the spring." Trump has denied being informed of the assessment while the White House said Monday the claim had been kept from him because the intelligence underpinning it was unverified. The president is known for not regularly reading the daily brief, preferring to rely on conservative media reports on the day's big issues -- but he is reportedly orally briefed by intelligence officials up to three times a week. Crucially, the officials told the Times the Russia assessment was considered sufficiently serious and credible to include in a May 4 article in the CIA's classified World Intelligence Review, its flagship intelligence product. The White House briefed a small group of Republican lawmakers on its position Monday but top congressional Democrats have demanded that all members of Congress be briefed by the intelligence community. "The questions that arise are: was the president briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and CIA director Gina Haspel. The Times previously reported that US intelligence officers and special forces in Afghanistan began raising the alarm as early as January, and that the National Security Council (NSA) held an interagency meeting in late March to discuss possible responses -- but the White House didn't authorize any action. - 'State sponsor of terrorism' - "I am disgusted by Trump's incompetence," tweeted Tammy Duckworth, a former US Army helicopter pilot and combat veteran who is now a Democratic senator from Illinois. "He either didn't know that Russia was offering bounties for killing American troops or didn't care enough to remember a briefing that told him. Neither is acceptable for a Commander in Chief." Since the Times first broke the story on Friday, several American and British media outlets have reported the US intelligence conclusion that Russia offered cash incentives for dead US troops in Afghanistan. The mushrooming scandal comes with Trump trying to withdraw troops from the conflict-torn country -- one of the Taliban's key demands -- and end America's longest war. Trump on Sunday denied having been briefed on the matter, as the reporting renewed questions about his reluctance to confront Russia over behavior that, if accurate, would represent a serious national security challenge. "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP," he tweeted. But even in Republican ranks, there were expressions of concern at the gravity of the allegations. "If intelligence reports are verified that Russia or any other country is placing bounties on American troops, then they need to be treated as a state sponsor of terrorism," said Thom Tillis, a Republican on the Senate Armed Forces committee, on Twitter. Ratcliffe and national security advisor Robert O'Brien condemned leaks to the media over the intelligence in statements late Monday. "Because the allegations in recent press articles have not been verified or substantiated by the intelligence community, President Trump had not been briefed on the items," O'Brien said. "Nevertheless, the administration, including the National Security Council staff, have been preparing should the situation warrant action." The suggestion that unverified security is not given to the president has been mocked by officials in previous administrations including Barack Obama's NSA spokesman Ned Price. "And since when is Trump briefed only on fully verified information? After all, his team made sure to tell him about the outlandish claim that his predecessor wiretapped Trump Tower!" he tweeted. Ratcliffe said unauthorized disclosures had jeopardized the effort to "ever find out the full story" behind the allegations. Meanwhile the Pentagon said in a statement it had "no corroborating evidence" for the allegations. President Donald Trump has come under increasing pressure to explain US media reports that he was informed that Russian military intelligence had offered and paid cash to Taliban-linked militants for US soldiers' deaths US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi asked for an interagency briefing for the House of Representatives on 'President Trump's inexplicable behavior towards Russia' The mushrooming scandal comes with Trump trying to withdraw troops from the conflict-torn country (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Get Jonathan Bernsteins newsletter every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe. Whats wrong with President Donald Trumps campaign? That seemed to have been the big theme of the weekend, as in this long Washington Post story, which includes the detail that Trump himself is obsessed with what denigrating nickname he should use for his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. In reality, theres probably nothing important wrong with Trumps campaign. But there are several things wrong with his presidency. And, more important, there are a few things going seriously wrong for the nation: the coronavirus outbreak, the economic disaster that has followed and the injustice that has pushed protesters out into the streets. Those things will all likely affect the election far more than both campaigns put together, to say nothing of the presidents choice of insults. Trump probably cant do much about systemic racism in time for it to help him in November, but he certainly could be a whole lot more aggressive about controlling the virus. And while the governments reaction to the economic collapse in March seems to have been reasonably successful, since then Trump has effectively sided with the wait and see Senate Republicans rather than doing whatever it takes to get things moving again. Overall, his approach to both the pandemic and the recession since mid-April has been to wish them away an approach that now has case levels at record highs and reopening suspended or reversing in several areas. This isnt really about Trump. Its about the larger issues. Ive been saying for some time that its not clear how the fundamentals that is, factors other than the candidates and campaigns will work this year. Perhaps voters would be willing to overlook a recession if its caused by a pandemic; perhaps they wouldnt. But what I have little doubt about is that those fundamentals will be extremely important, that campaigns are relatively unimportant and therefore that each individual campaign decision is almost completely irrelevant. What slogan to use? Where, when and how often to hold rallies? What insults to hurl? Some pundits may spend time assessing those things, but theres just not very much evidence that they make any difference. Jobless statistics? Those matter. Story continues The presidents main focus, then, really should be on better governing, not the trivia of campaigning. In an extremely close race, its certainly possible that lots of decisions with small effects could in aggregate be enough to swing the whole thing. So it makes sense for both campaigns to give it their best shot. But presidents have a job to do, and the good news is that doing the job well actually tends to help them win a second term. The bad news is that Trump seems to believe third-rate pundits and his own self-aggrandizing interpretation of the 2016 campaign and thus is focused way more on spinning reality than on actually improving it. 1. Nate Persily and Charles Stewart III on what could go wrong with in-person voting in November. One thing needed: a major campaign to get people to volunteer to work the polls on Election Day. Hey, celebrities! This is a worthwhile cause to champion. 2. Kim Yi Dionne and Boniface Dulani on elections in Malawi. 3. Solomon Messing argues that Trumps chances are better than they seem. 4. Josh Bivens on the danger to the economy in allowing the generous unemployment insurance in the CARES act to lapse. 5. Caroline Randall Williams on monuments and what we remember. 6. Harry Enten on Trumps unpopularity. 7. I tend to agree with Megan McArdle on Trump and the virus. Id say we certainly can judge him harshly on the communications side right from the start, but its hard to know the baseline for assessing other errors early on. That is, its easy to spot mistakes; its a lot more difficult to guess how many mistakes the average administration wouldve made in similar circumstances, and how damaging they wouldve been. But as time goes on, the average administration surely would improve a lot more than this one has. 8. And Jennifer Senior on Trump and Newt Gingrich. Very nice, but I have to point out that like several other southern Republicans of his generation, Gingrich isnt from the South at all; hes originally from Pennsylvania. Get Early Returns every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe. Also subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more. Youll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, the Bloomberg Open and the Bloomberg Close. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics. 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. Washington, PA (15301) Today Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight with light rain possible. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. The leaders of groups affiliated with the Libyan National Army have offered to lift a blockade on oil export terminals that started in January and has so far cost the countrys oil industry some $6 billion in losses, the AP reports. One of the leaders, Ahmed Idris al-Senussi, said in a statement that the terminals were reopened and that his and other leaders groups had given LNAs leader, General Khalifa Haftar, a mandate to renegotiate the restart of oil production at fields shut down because of the blockade. A spokesman for Haftar said the LNA welcomed any popular mandate to protect oil installations. A group of tribes and paramilitary groups occupied Libyas oil export terminals in mid-January as LNAs Haftar launched an offensive against the UN-recognized government pledging that the country would soon have a single government. The LNA is affiliated with the eastern Libyan government. Soon after the blockade, NOC declared force majeure on oil exports, with Sanalla warning that the blockade could end up costing Libya $55 million daily. At the time, the losses in production were estimated at between 500,000 bpd and 800,000 bpd. By the end of January, Libyas production was around 300,000 bpd, but Sanalla told Bloomberg it could go as low as 72,000 bpd. Thats down from over 1.2 million bpd before the blockade. By April, production had gone below 100,000 bpd, and NOCs Sanalla said losses had reached $4 billion. In early June, there were reports about restarting production at the countrys largest field, El Sharara, which has a capacity of 300,000 bpd. Initial production was to be set at 30,000 bpd, however, to gradually ramp up to maximum over 90 days. Now, the NOC has expressed hope that other fields will restart soon, amid talks supervised by the UN and the U.S. between Western powers and the UN-backed government. The talks seek to settle the issue of oil revenue distribution between the East and the West. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: As the worlds largest net importer of crude oil and other liquids since September 2013, any significant variation in Chinese demand for oil resonates quickly and profoundly in global oil pricing. Having come out of lockdown against COVID-19 earlier than most other countries, Chinas oil demand has already recovered very quickly, to over 90 per cent of pre-coronavirus outbreak levels, supporting crude oil pricing. However, June saw a new outbreak of COVID-19 in Beijing, after 50 days without a new case being recorded, prompting fears over a widespread second wave that, aside from any other effects, could seriously affect Chinas oil demand and, therefore, oil prices. The COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing is the highest-level test of the ability of the Chinese authorities to contain the pandemic after the initial outbreak in Wuhan, and the citys status as the national capital, political centre and focus of international attention give it an importance which reaches beyond its economic weight, Bo Zhuang, the Singapore-based chief economist and director of China research for TS Lombard told OilPrice.com last week. A city-wide tightening of the lockdown could undermine Chinas narrative about the success of its anti-virus campaign, setting a high political threshold for escalation of protection measures, he added. For the moment, it appears that the same localised lockdown strategy that was implemented against second-wave outbreaks in northern China in April and May is being applied in Beijing. However, if these Level-2 measures - concentrated in the areas around the Xinfadi wholesale food market where the outbreak is believed to have originated and focussed on mass testing and contract tracing - fail to contain the outbreak by the middle of July, then the city is likely to move to a higher Level-1 lockdown. This would include significant prohibitions on mobility, among other measures. As things stand, a localised lockdown in Beijing remains our base case and we assign the prospect of a move to Level-1 a 30 per cent probability, said Bo. The Level-2 lockdown measures are likely to have a negative impact on the services sectors but that impact will not be as severe on overall economic activity as it was in February and March, he added. Related: Chinese Oil Majors Could Form A Powerful Buyers Club More specifically, Beijing did not downgrade its emergency response to Level-3 until 6 June so the extremely recent re-designation to Level-2 simply returned the coronavirus-related restrictions to where they were at the beginning of June and had been for all of May. Over the April to May period under Level-2 lockdown measures - both industrial production and retail sales continued to recover, Bo told OilPrice.com. What would be more serious would be the spread of infections to surrounding provinces causing lockdowns there as well and, as it stands, we put the probability of this happening at 10 per cent, he said. If this were to happen, China would be dealing with a major second wave and an outright recession would be on the table once again, he underlined. Although there are no official guidelines about what factors will prompt a shift into the full Level-1 emergency response, he identifies two as being key in this respect. One is new clusters being found that cannot be linked to existing clusters through contact tracing. So far in the latest outbreak, most of the confirmed cases detected in Beijing can be traced back to merchants or visitors to the Xinfadi market and their family members. The other one is the number of daily new infections exceeding 100 for more than three consecutive days. On the proviso that the outbreak trajectory of the coronavirus in China does not move into Level-1 territory, the outlook for Chinese oil demand in the coming months is healthy, albeit to a differing degree depending on which forecasts are believed. On the one hand, a number of independent analysis firms expect Chinas oil consumption to increase by just over 2 per cent in the second half of this year compared to the same period last year, to just over 13.5 million barrels per day (bpd), driven principally by increased transportation and industrial use. On the other hand, the International Energy Agency stated in its May report that Chinas demand will fall by 5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y), to total 13.2 million bpd in the second half of this year. Chinas tight hold on new coronavirus outbreaks and its corollary response to the initial widespread outbreak are likely to militate towards a relatively positive resumption of its engagement with the Phase 1 trade deal with the U.S., which, prior to the pandemic, was a key mover of oil prices and markets in general. Overall, Chinas imports under Phase 1 are lagging seriously, but a catch-up is likely during the second half of this year, and generally China appears willing and able to meet most of its commitments, Lawrence Brainard, chairman of the emerging markets panel for TS Lombard, in London, told OilPrice.com. The target for energy imports so far this year reflects the largest shortfall, less than 5 per cent, of the prorated target [but] the failure to meet this target undoubtedly reflects the collapse of energy prices in recent months and the delays caused by the global recession, he said. However, it should be relatively easy for China to step up purchases of U.S. energy products, including crude oil and LNG [liquefied natural gas], provided U.S. export prices are in line with world market prices, he underlined. On the other side of the equation as well the omens look broadly positive. We, like many others, were surprised by United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizers, comment that he feels very good about progress in fulfilling Phase 1 of the U.S.-China trade deal, Brainard told OilPrice.com. [During a speech to members of the Economic Club of New York at the beginning of June] Lighthizer said Beijing has done a pretty good job fulfilling its commitments under the deal even against the backdrop of a global pandemic, he added. These comments were made despite the increasingly sharp rhetoric from the White House and elsewhere in Washington against Chinese moves in Hong Kong and the passage of legislation providing for sanctions against those responsible for the repression of Uighurs and other Muslim groups in China, and President Trump is expected to sign the bill soon, he underlined. Related: Suppliers Fight For Dominance In This Crucial Gas Market At the same time, from the domestic economic perspective, after dropping its GDP growth target at the National Peoples Congress (NPC), China seems to be taking a more realistic approach to stepping up stimulus measures. During the recent weekend sessions of the NPC, Premier Li Keqiang stated that policy focus will be on three critical battles, six stabilities and six securities, Eugenia Victorino, head of Asia strategy for SEB, in Singapore, told OilPrice.com. Although the six securities were only introduced in a Politburo meeting in April this year, it is notable that employment remained at the top of the list and while the three lists of policy focus may seem complicated, we can summarise the policy target as finding a balance between full employment and financial stability, she said. Whilst the statements from the NPC have taken a cautious tone on stimulus, the announced fiscal targets delivered on expectations and the fiscal impulse is expected to be significant, according to Victorino. Combining the rise in the target for central government deficit to the additional COVID-19 special bonds to be issued by the central government and the increase in local government special bond issuance, the announced fiscal impulse is around 4 per cent of GDP, she said. Nevertheless, the use of a budget stabilisation fund could further augment actual fiscal spending but we will not know how much stimulus will be released until we see how overall credit growth evolves in the coming months, she added. This said, despite this careful messaging from Beijing, it is clear that significant monetary stimulus is already in progress. As of April, aggregate financing had risen by 13.2 per cent y-o-y, up from 12 per cent by end-2019. Historically, based on previous easing cycles, monetary stimulus tends to lead economic activity by six to nine months. All other factors remaining equal, this backdrop should militate into the same sort of pricing range into which the markets had settled prior to the OPEC+ deal falling apart in December and the subsequent disastrous Saudi-led oil price war. The lower point of the band (US$40 per barrel of Brent and above) is the level at which the vast majority of U.S. shale producers in good areas can make a profit and also hedge out a year or two (or more) into the future for the possibility of a sudden drop in oil prices. It is also the budget breakeven price per barrel of oil for Russia. The higher point of the band (US70 per barrel of Brent and below) is the level at which senior U.S. economic advisers are comfortable that no threat is on the horizon for the U.S. economy in general and for gasoline prices in particular. Above this price point, U.S. President Donald Trump historically starts to Tweet threats to the Saudis and to OPEC about prices being too high and the fact that the Saudi Royal Family would not last in power for two weeks without the backing of the U.S. military. By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Royal Dutch Shell said that it could cut the value of its oil and gas assets by as much as $22 billion, as it takes a dim view of the state of the oil market. The move adds more evidence to the notion that a huge slice of oil reserves will wind up as stranded assets. Shell cut its Brent oil prices forecast from $60 per barrel to $35 for this year, and lowered its 2021 and 2022 forecasts to $40 and $50 per barrel, respectively, down from $60 previously. The lower outlook reflects the expected damage to the oil market due to the coronavirus and the negative impacts on the global economy, Shell said. As a result, the value of Shells assets will be cut by between $15 and $22 billion. Broken down by segment, Shells integrated gas unit will take an $8 to $9 billion hit, mostly related to Australian LNG assets, including its gargantuan Prelude project, a floating LNG vessel, which came in over budget and is now underutilized in a weak LNG market. Shells upstream unit will be impaired by $4 to $6 billion, a cut related to Brazil and U.S. shale. Finally, its refining portfolio will be reduced by $3 to $7 billion. Shells gearing, a ratio of equity to debt, will rise by 3 percent due to the impairment. The massive write down is the companys largest in more than a decade, and it comes a week after BP also announced a major $17.5 billion impairment. Shells write down is a wake up call for the industry, according to Credit Suisse. In April, Shell cut its dividend by two-thirds, upending a longstanding position by the majors to protect shareholder payouts at all costs. It was the first cut to its dividend in about 75 years. The devaluation of large segments of the oil majors business operations is not only a reflection of a temporary downturn in the oil market. The majors are essentially acknowledging that a substantial portion of their oil and gas reserves are going to be left in the ground. Calls to avoid stranded assets have floated around for years, sometimes by environmental groups, but increasingly from investor groups and shareholders. Now, the majors themselves are recognizing the reality of stranded assets. Its about fundamental change hitting the entire oil and gas sector, Luke Parker, vice president, corporate analysis at consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, told the Wall Street Journal. Within this write down, Shell is giving us a message about stranded assets, just like BP did a few weeks ago. Related: Chinese Oil Majors Could Form A Powerful Buyers Club Shells CEO Ben van Beurden recently said that the company would announce a major restructuring of the company by the end of the year intended to reorient its operations to prepare for the coming energy transition. BP has already professed a commitment to transitioning to a low-carbon company. The British oil major just announced that it was selling off its entire petrochemical unit, although that move likely has more to do with an effort to raise cash. Indeed, there are questions about how deep the plans for a transformation go, as Drilled News has reported. While BP and Shell struggle with how to deal with these stranded assets, Exxon Mobil is so far ignoring the issue and has yet to write down any shale assets. Some accounting experts say Exxons stubborn refusal to cut the value of its assets amounts to fraud, according to the Wall Street Journal. A former accountant at the company told the WSJ that Exxons refusal to impair part of XTO Energy is part of an arrogant, aberrant, long-standingposture. The $31 billion purchase of XTO more than a decade ago is widely considered a colossal failure. Exxon bought the shale gas driller at the top of the market. The accountant said that the value of XTO should probably be cut by at least $17 billion, and that Exxon should probably take another $20 billion write down on its other assets. He has sent repeated complaints to the Justice Department over Exxons accounting practices. Exxon has denied the allegations. More broadly, the oil industry could see much larger write-downs as the energy transition appears to be accelerating. Deloitte said that the industry could write-down another $300 billion in assets, after impairing $450 billion over the past 15 years. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Oil is in the midst of a tug-of-war, with accelerating COVID-19 transmissions and a recovery in demand pulling prices in all directions. (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) Chart of the Week (Click to enlarge) - U.S. commercial oil inventories reached an all-time high of 541 million barrels for the week ending on June 19, breaking a record last set in March 2017. These numbers exclude the SPR. - As of June 19, inventories were at 62 percent of their total available storage capacity, according to the EIA. - Inventories have increased by 64 million barrels since March 13. Market Movers - Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) filed for bankruptcy protection (more below) and sought a bankruptcy court to toss out $311 million in pipeline contracts, setting up a court battle with Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET). - More fallout from Chesapeakes bankruptcy: Hi-Crush (NYSE: HCR), a frack-sand miner, was already teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, according to BloombergLaw, but is in an even more precarious position after customer Chesapeake Energy Corp. went under. - Lilis Energy (NYSEMKT: LLEX), a Fort Worth-based driller, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Oil continues to trade around $40 per barrel. There are offsetting forces at play continued economic rebound creates upward pressure but fears of accelerating Covid-19 transmission magnifies downside risk. In the oil market, the possibility of new Libyan oil is offset by tighter compliance from OPEC+. Shell takes $22 billion write down. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) said it would write down $22 billion, as it revised down its assumed oil price in the years to come. The writedown included an $8-$9 billion impairment in its integrated gas unit, $4-$6 billion in upstream, and $3-$7 billion in its refining portfolio. The move will increase deb gearing by 3 percent. Chesapeake Energy files for bankruptcy. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) is arguably the highest-profile shale driller to succumb to bankruptcy to date. The company will continue to operate six to eight rigs for the next two years, about half of the number of rigs from the first quarter. The bankruptcy will wipe out $7 billion in debt. Chesapeake reported a first-quarter loss of $8.3 billion earlier this year. IEA to host July 9 international clean energy summit for governments. China, India, the European Union and the United States will join other countries in a green recovery summit hosted by the IEA. The agency is pushing the world to undertake green stimulus. Even if governments do not take climate change as a key priority, they should still implement our sustainable recovery plan just to create jobs and to give economic growth. Renovating buildings, for instance, is a job machine, the IEAs Fatih Birol said. Related: Suppliers Fight For Dominance In This Crucial Gas Market Reuters poll: Brent to average $40 this year. A Reuters survey of 45 analysts finds an average Brent price of $40 per barrel for 2020, with price gains towards the end of 2020 and into 2021. ExxonMobil makes job cuts. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is preparing to let go between 5% and 10% of its US-based employees subject to performance reviewed, anonymous sources told BNN Bloomberg. Frack crews rise. The number of active U.S. frack crews, which bottomed out at 45 last month, has since jumped to 78 last week, according to industry consultant Primary Vision Inc. and Bloomberg. Libyan oil could resume. Negotiations between the U.S. and regional governments in the Middle East could pave the way for oil exports. BP to sell petrochemical business to Ineos for $5 billion. BP (NYSE: BP) agreed to sell off its entire petrochemical unit to Ineos for $5 billion. The oil market downturn has accelerated BPs plans to transition into a low-carbon energy company. The oil companys shares jumped on the news. Exxon reports spill at Beaumont refinery. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) reported that a storage tanks floating roof at its Beaumont, Texas refinery broke and spilled thousands of pounds of chemicals. Iraq cuts June oil exports. Iraqs oil exports declined by 9 percent or 310,000 bpd in June, according to Reuters. This is the lowest level of Basra exports in five years, Daniel Gerber, CEO of Petro-Logistics, told Reuters. But Iraq still needs to cut by a further 300,000 bpd to achieve full compliance with the OPEC+ agreement. Satellites reveal new methane leaks. New satellite data from Kayrros found that methane leaking from the Yamal pipeline that carries natural gas from Siberia to Europe was leaking 93 tonnes of methane every hour, or the equivalent annual CO2 of 15,000 cars. That was one data point in a series of new findings that suggest that methane leak data over the past decade understates the true scale of the problem. Trump admin cuts royalty rates. The Trump administration cut royalty rates for drilling on public lands from 12.5 percent of sales to 0.5 percent, according to the FT. The cuts negatively impact state budgets. Second wave of Covid in China could derail oil recovery. Chinas oil demand has rebounded rapidly to about 90 percent of pre-Covid levels. If measures to contain a recent outbreak in Beijing fail, by mid-July the city could move into a stricter lockdown phase. Related: Chinas Oil Imports From Saudi Arabia Jump To Record High Natural gas shut-ins possible. Natural gas prices plunged below $1.50/MMBtu last week, even as prices rebounded sharply on Monday. LNG cancellations could back up supply within the U.S., exacerbating a glut. Goldman Sachs says that shut-ins are now incorporated into the banks base case, rather than a remote risk. New oil benchmarks to challenge WTI. S&P Global Platts launched the Platts American GulfCoast Select (AGS) crude benchmark, which would better reflect waterborne light sweet crude from the Permian than WTI, which is landlocked. Also, Argus launched the Argus AGS, with a similar profile. House Democrats launch cleantech bill. House Democrats will unveil legislation on Tuesday that calls for 100 percent clean cars by 2035. Saudi Aramco promises to protect $75 billion in dividends. Saudi Aramco will have totake on debt to finance its dividend, which, at nearly $75 billion, is more than all of the dividend payouts from the oil majors combined. Renewables cheaper almost everywhere. A new report finds that renewables are cheaper than coal virtually everywhere. Renewables plus batteries are even cheaper than one-third of existing coal plants. By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed and the president of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari, discussed the progress of the OPEC+ oil production cut deal this week in a phone call, the Saudi Press Agency reported without providing any details about the contents of the call. Nigeria, along with Iraq, has been lagging in compliance with the production quotas set by OPEC+ in April, aiming to shave off some 9.7 million bpd in oil supply until the end of July. In fact, Iraq and Nigeriaespecially Nigeriawere so bad at compliance that Saudi Arabias Energy Minister had to put his foot down at the last OPEC+ meeting and demand from them that they start cutting production more deeply to improve their compliance rates. Iraq and Nigerias non-compliance with the record OPEC+ cuts in May nearly wrecked the June meeting of the pact, ahead of which the two leaders of the group, Saudi Arabia and Russia, had insisted that there would be an extension by one month to the current level of cuts only if laggards in compliance ensured over-compliance going forward to compensate for flouting their quotas so far. Iraq and Nigeria had little choice but to cave, and undertook to deepen their production cuts not just in July but also in August and September, to compensate for their under compliance in May when the deep cuts began. For now, the agreement is to cut a total of 9.7 million bpd until the end of July. According to Russias Energy Minister, a further extension of the deep cuts would not be needed as the market will have begun to rebalance by the end of July. Yet another extension remains a possibility: the latest production data on OPEC, from Petro-Logistics, overall OPEC output was down by 1.25 million bpd in June from May but was still above the amount it was supposed to be producing per its agreement with Russia and the other non-OPEC states in OPEC+ By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: South Koreas largest electric utility, state-controlled Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), has decided to buy a minority stake in a coal project in Indonesia despite local opposition and growing pressure from investors for companies to ditch investments in the dirtiest fossil fuels. KEPCOs board of directors decided on Tuesday to pursue the US$-51 million investment to buy 15 percent in the Jawa 9 & 10 coal project in Indonesia, a company spokesman told Bloomberg. The Jawa 9 and 10 coal-fired power plants will have a total capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) and are estimated to cost US$3.2 billion to build. PT Indo Raya Tenega will own and operate the two plants expected to be commissioned in 2023 and 2024. Earlier this month, environmental activists and local residents protested outside the South Korean embassy in Indonesias capital Jakarta against KEPCOs expected decision to move ahead with the project. The opponents of the project and South Koreas involvement argue that investing in coal contradicts South Koreas Green New Deal from earlier this year, under which it vowed to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and end coal financing. KEPCO was also called out by BlackRock for investing in overseas coal assets in the Global Quarterly Stewardship Report for Q1 in April. The worlds top fund manager, BlackRock, has made sustainability and transparency the center of its investment strategy as it expects investment risks presented by climate change to speed up a significant reallocation of capital. While BlackRock was encouraged by KEPCOs emissions reduction plans, it raised concerns about the companys recent push into overseas coal assets in Vietnam and Indonesia, which seem to contravene its above-mentioned energy transition commitments. This is exacerbated by the fact that other companies in the region, including banks, have publicly announced their decision to exit these projects. Commenting on KEPCOs investment in Indonesia, Julien Vincent, executive director of Market Forces, an affiliate project of Friends of the Earth Australia, said, as carried by RenewEconomy: They have decided to continue supporting overseas coal finance without fully considering the implications on Koreas reputation overseas and our shared climate. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Great Wall Motors new BEV model likely to be named ORA Cat Shanghai (Gasgoo)- ORA, a BEV-focused brand owned by Great Wall Motor, recently unveiled the images of its all-new vehicle, which is set to hit the market in July. The yet-to-be-launched car is highly expected to be named ORA Cat as the elements of the adorable animal are greatly used in both exterior and interior designs. The outer appearance conveys a design idea of less is more. Featuring a flowing silhouette coupled with sleek form lines, the new car resembles a cat that is ready to catch its prey, delivering a sense of agility and strength. Adopting an integrated design, the front face features less multi-layered sense, while is able to draw more visual attention to the overall front. The badge of ORA is located between the headlights and the grille carrying numerous oval ventilation holes, triggering the imagination of a cats face. The brevity of the side profile is highlighted by the floating roof coupled with hidden door handles. The two-tone boomerang-shaped rims cater to the taste of consumers who favor avant-garde looks. The vehicle also offers a simple and pure rear. The LED taillight that stretches across the tailgate is pretty unmistakable. Highly in tune with the exterior, the interior also features a spiffy style. Within the wraparound cockpit, the seamless combination of the dashboard and the console-mounted display renders a massive screen measuring up to 23 inch long. Apart from the 173-liter trunk room, the internal storage capacity can be increased to 867 liters by putting down the back seats. Besides, an occupant can also discover many clever designs for placing or storing goods at places like the auxiliary dashboard, front & rear door plates and front seats. The mini-sized new car will be driven by a 48PS electric motor. Powered by a ternary-lithium battery pack developed by CATL, the car boasts a NEDC-rated range of 401km (photo source: ORA's WeChat account). Abilene, KS (67410) Today Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. Cooler. High near 80F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 59F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. New Law in Iran Threatens More Arrests of Christians Legislation passed by parliament in Iran could make it easier to arrest and imprison Christians and other religious minorities, rights advocates said. Under amendments to articles 499 and 500 of the Islamic Penal Code, those found guilty of "deviant psychological manipulation" or "propaganda contrary to Islam," whether in the "real or virtual sphere," could be labeled as "sects," according to advocacy group Article 18. The law enables the regime to ban any group as a sect and may lead to punishment that could be escalated to include the death penalty, said Hamid Garagozloo, U.S. representative of The International Organization to Preserve Human Rights (IOPHR), while moderating a recent webinar panel discussion with representatives of religious minorities who could be affected by the law. Expanding the margin for Iranian authorities to justify discriminatory actions against Christian converts, the law would make it more difficult for lawyers to defend them and other religious minorities, according to a Middle East expert at advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). While the amendment has been in the pipeline for two years, it was recently approved by parliament in the middle of May, according to a researcher at advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC). "The last couple of weeks, religious minorities have started to take notice and are thinking about what to do and how to raise awareness," he said. "It is quite worrying, because the amendments made, rather than protecting religious freedom at all, try to define exactly who is following fundamental theology or not." Before the law is implemented, it must be approved by the Guardian Council in Iran, he said, adding that it is unclear when that decision could be made. The government has been arresting Christian converts and giving them sentences of up to 15 years under vague terms such as, "acting against national security," said Mansour Borji, advocacy director of Article 18 in the webinar hosted by IOPHR. In the past decade, these charges have been used to replace more obvious religious charges such as apostasy, he said. This obscuring of religious freedom violations by shying away from terms like "apostasy" was largely due to international pressure, according to Article 18. Advocates believe this effort to extend greater control could be the regime's reaction to losing credibility among its people amid economic difficulties and poor handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic. As crises in the country mount, they said, religious minorities and Western Christianity may become an easy scapegoat. "Many Christian groups and church leaders are worried because this would add another layer to their ongoing suffering at the hands of the Islamic regime," said the expert at CSW. Other religious minorities that would be affected by the law include Sunni and Sufi Muslims and the Baha'i. Aside from Shia Islam and Judaism, Christianity is one of the three recognized religions in Iran. Protections, however, apply only to a small number of approved Christian groups, namely ethnically Christian Assyrians and Armenians. All but a handful of churches who offered their services in the national language of Farsi have been forced to close since the Islamic revolution in the 1970s, Borji said in the webinar. The remaining churches are monitored to make sure that no Muslim-born Iranians attend them. Converts are forced to practice their faith in secret, underground churches and are routinely harassed and arrested, he said. Recent Arrests Most recently, four Iranian Christian converts accused of endangering state security and promoting Zionism obeyed a summons issued at the end of May and presented themselves to Evin Prison to begin serving sentences of five years each, according to MEC. Hossein Kadivar, Khalil Dehghanpour, Kamal Naamanian and Mohammed Vafadar had been released on bail of about $13,000 each last July. All but Vafadar are married with children. The four were among nine Christian converts belonging to the Church of Iran who were arrested at the beginning of 2019 over a four-week period. In October 2019, all nine were convicted of "acting against national security" and given five-year sentences, which were held on appeal in February. "It is very sad, of course, for those people involved," the MEC representative said. "It's easy to say five years, but for the people who actually experience this, it's so difficult." The remaining five men out of nine have been in Evin Prison, unable to post bail following a disagreement with a judge over their choice of a defense lawyer. About a year-and-a-half ago, Iran set which lawyers would be able to defend political prisoners. The five were unwilling to let go of the lawyer they chose, who was not on the list. This angered the judge and caused him to set the exorbitant bail, according to the researcher at MEC. They were immediately transferred to Evin Prison after not being able to meet the bail amount of $130,000 each, according to MEC. Reduction in Sentences After an appeal, three other Christian converts who had been handed sentences of 10-years were given a reduction of their sentences. Sentences against Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and Zaman (Saheb) Fadaie were reduced to six years, and for Mohammadreza (Yuhan) Omidi, to two years, according to MEC. Omidi was expected to be eligible for release in July. The decision regarding a fourth church member who was arrested and convicted at the same time, Yasser Mossaybezadeh, was not yet known. The men will appeal again, said the expert at CSW. The men and their families were hoping that the sentences would be completely overturned, said the expert at MEC, as they should never have been in prison in the first place. "On the one hand it's great that it's been reduced, but on the other hand, they were expecting more," he said. Hearing Delayed An appeal hearing to review the cases of Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz, his wife Shamiram Issavi Khabizeh and three Christian converts was canceled with no reason given, according to MEC. Advocates are not sure why the appeal has been delayed but it could be because the case of Tamraz has become publicized, said the researcher at MEC. There are many inconsistencies and mistakes in handling the case, he said, which could be another reason for the delay. Continually delayed hearings are also often used as a form of harassment, he added. New Arrests Four other Christians belonging to the Church of Iran denomination were accused of spreading "Zionist Evangelical Christianity" and "home church meetings," according to a CSW press statement. They received a summons from the third branch of the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Tehran on June 19, according to the release. Judges Hassan Babaie and Zenjani signed a verdict based on Article 498 of the Islamic Penal Code, which criminalizes the establishment of groups that aim to "overthrow the system," according to CSW. Iran was ranked ninth on Christian support organization Open Doors' 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Iraqi Assyrians Worry Over Militia Power Struggle International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on the night of June 25, 2020, Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Services (ICTS) launched a raid in Baghdad and arrested multiple members of the militia Kataib Hezbollah. The raid was triggered after one of the militia leaders threatened Prime Minister al-Kadhimi that he would lead forces into the Green Zone and siege governmental offices. This militia is under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also referred to as the Hashid al-Shaabi, an Iranian-backed group that has been accused of multiple human rights violations. The PMF suffered a significant setback earlier this year when the US assassinated key leaders. The PMF also controls the Nineveh Plains, the home of Christians displaced by the Islamic State (ISIS). This raid represents the first significant attempt by Iraq's current prime minister to control the militias, and has sparked a fresh wave of security tension. "People believe Hashid is not going to lose the Nineveh Plains easily," said one Christian after speaking with several Nineveh residents about the raid's implications. These militias often create significant obstacles for rebuilding the Nineveh Plains, and thus any significant pushback on the militias is often met by residents with great caution regarding possible retaliation. "Kadhimi promised that he will rid (Iraq) of militias and armed groups regardless under which cover they are," observed an Iraqi Christian journalist. "He said weapons should be only under governmental authorities. This breaking (of the rule) results in arrests. Consider that from time to time the Green Zone and Baghdad Airport used to be under unknown rocket (attacks), but now we know who was doing that." "Those militias have no difference than ISIS. Actually, they are worse because they have power, influence, and politicians," added a Baghdad Christian. "Hezbollah is doing exactly what ISIS did; that's why the ICTS attacked them last night. The difference is that ISIS is based on some sort of theology while those Iranian militias pretend they are protecting you while they are stealing the country's wealth." Iraqi Christian journalist Steven Nabil tweeted, "Military sources confirmed to me that nearly 600 armed group members (militias) arrived in Baghdad coming from the southern provinces. They had started their arrivals around 4:00 a.m. and continue doing so until now... White Toyota trucks filled with armed men wearing masks parading and threatening the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism units is not the way your militia will win hearts and minds." Many Christians have complained that historically an absence of law and a strong central government in Iraq have led to the rise of terrorist groups and other paramilitary forces. Iraq has faced significant international pressure within the last year to find ways which would solve these issues. But several Christians have expressed that while this desired outcome is necessary, the process would likely cause new and unpredictable security problems. Claire Evans, ICC's Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "The militias which helped defeat ISIS have placed Iraq into a difficult position. These militias have become so empowered that many local Christians afterwards have commented that they see no practical difference between the militias and ISIS. The Iraqi Central Government is under pressure to find ways to control these militias, but the militias do not want to be controlled. This current situation is yet another example of how quickly tensions can flare in Iraq. It also shows the depth to which Iraqi Christians must constantly be on the defense as new potential threats against their existence continue to emerge." " " Salt is a necessary nutrient and makes up about 0.4 percent of the human body, but what does taking something with a grain of salt mean? BSIP/Universal Images Group/Getty Images We're often advised to take things we hear or read with a grain of salt. We understand that this means we should be skeptical about the information, maybe because the source is obviously biased or the facts are unreliable. But why a grain of salt? Why not a spritz of lemon or a nibble of chocolate? Let's get in our time machine and head back to the Roman Empire to find out. Advertisement Poison Pen In 77 C.E., Pliny the Elder wrote a remedy for poison in his massive treatise "The Natural History." It's in chapter 77, on walnuts: Take two dried walnuts, two figs and twenty leaves of rue; pound them all together, with the addition of a grain of salt; if a person takes this mixture fasting, he will be proof against all poisons for that day. In the original, which is of course in Latin, Pliny wrote "addito salis grano." In modern versions of the Latin phrase, we usually use "cum grano salis," which means "with a grain of salt." But Pliny means this literally: when mixing this potion against poison, add an actual grain of salt. So when did it become a metaphorical grain of skeptical salt? Advertisement The Modern Metaphor The phrase didn't really pop up again until 1647, when John Trapp used it in his "Commentary on the Old and New Testaments." Specifically, he wrote, "This is to be taken with a grain of salt." The trouble is that scholars aren't quite sure it meant the same thing to Trapp as it means to us now. There was a period of time after this when the phrase doesn't really seem to have been used; it did pop up occasionally, but it usually referred to actual grains of salt. But in 1908, "The Athenaeum," an American literary journal included this line: "Our reasons for not accepting the author's pictures of early Ireland without many grains of salt." You have to feel a little bad for that author learning that his photography skills weren't up to the standards of this magazine through the use of this fresh, new idiom. It does seem that the modern meaning of the phrase is American, as the Brits seemingly picked up the similar "with a pinch of salt" only after World War II. The earliest printed British citation seems to be found in F.R. Cowell's "Cicero & the Roman Republic," from 1948: "A more critical spirit slowly developed, so that Cicero and his friends took more than the proverbial pinch of salt before swallowing everything written by these earlier authors." HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Walnuts, figs and salt are all common today, but what exactly is rue? It's actually really common too. It's a native evergreen herb in Europe and Asia that has yellow flower clusters. It's been used to treat everything from diarrhea to ear aches. It is slightly toxic, though, so stay away from it if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. THE Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD) 7 targets to start the digital payment for the second tranche of cash assistance under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in Cebu next week. Shalaine Lucero, DSWD 7 assistant regional director, said they are now waiting for the final confirmation from their central office on which of the 132 LGUs in the region will be included in the first batch of the distribution of the second tranche. Mao nay giingon at the central nga hopefully next week maka-start na. Basin, we can also comply with that. So far, daghan daghan naman ang atong LGUs (local government units) nga 100 percent na ang encoding percentage, Shalaine Lucero, DWSD 7 assistant regional director told SunStar Cebu. She said they have identified and submitted 10 names of LGUs which have already completed the encoding process of the names of their verified and eligible beneficiaries for the second tranche. She said the majority of which are from northern Cebu and Talisay City. Two of which in northern Cebu, she said, are considered as geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas; thus, they will be accommodated by the agencys special disbursing officers. The DSWD said it is now finalizing important details of the distribution process of the second tranche of SAP with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the participating financial service providers (FSPs.) The LBP will be the main depository bank and will be responsible for downloading funds to the FSPs. The DSWD, through the assistance of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has tapped various FSPs to conduct digital payment of the emergency cash subsidy. The BSP provided technical assistance to DSWD in identifying the qualified FSPs that will undertake the digital payment. At present, BSP has identified six FSPs that are compliant with the minimum qualification requirements for the engagement. These are GCash, RCBC, Robinsons Bank, PayMaya, Starpay, and Unionbank. Story continues LBP will credit the program fund into the FSPs funding accounts maintained with its Batasan Branch or in other financial institutions based on the instruction and payroll documents provided by DSWD within twenty-four hours from receipt of payroll documents. The FSPs, on one hand, will credit the emergency subsidies into the beneficiaries restricted nominated accounts within 24 hours upon receipt of the funds from LBP. FSPs will send notification to the beneficiaries using their provided contact numbers as soon as the cash aid is available for release to them. The DSWD reminded the beneficiaries that similar to the regular transaction for digital accounts, there will be a minimal amount of cash out fee of not more than P50 to be deducted from their subsidies, if they opt to withdraw from the partner-outlets of the FSPs. The DSWD initially said only qualified low-income households in Cebu will benefit from the SAPs second tranche as its the only province in the region to remain under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) as of May 1. A total of 585,376 non-Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) low-income households in Cebu are initially qualified for the second tranche. This is equivalent to about P3.5 billion. While a total of 139, 312 4Ps household beneficiaries in Cebu have already received their P4,650 in emergency cash subsidy last June 11. The P4,650 serves as a top-up amount to the beneficiaries regular cash grant of P1,350, which includes a health grant of P750 and P600 rice subsidy. (WBS with PR) California and Texas marked record jumps in COVID-19 cases on Monday (June 29). It's part of a nationwide surge in new infections that have hamstrung states' efforts to reopen. California's spike comes just a day after Governor Gavin Newsom ordered bars in Los Angeles and six other counties to close. Newsom defended the decision to close up again on Monday. "Many people were not necessarily being as responsible as they otherwise, well, as we would like them to be as, it relates to practicing physical distancing, social distancing. People weren't wearing their facemasks." Los Angeles itself has become a new epicenter in the pandemic. The city alone reached a grim milestone Monday when it hit over 100,000 cases. Meanwhile Arizona is clamping down. Governor Doug Ducey ordered bars, gyms, cinemas and more to close for at least 30 days. Arizona's grappling with a wave of new cases, as well as Texas and Florida, both of which ordered their reopened bars to shut again on Friday. Beaches in several of Florida's counties will not open for the Fourth of July weekend. All in all, over 20 U.S. states have reported record increases in new cases this month, including New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Utah. Meanwhile some leading Republican lawmakers have begun advocating for face masks, including Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy. It's a rare split from President Donald Trump, who has mostly resisted wearing a mask. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany reiterated Monday that the president sees masks as a personal choice. "He - it's his choice to wear a mask. It's the personal choice of any individual as to whether to wear a mask or not. He encourages people to make whatever decision is best for their safety. But he did say to me he has no problem with masks and to do whatever your local jurisdiction request of you." Face mask orders have become a largely political issue in the U.S. -- with many of Trump's most stringent supporters calling them unconstitutional. THE Cebu City Health Department has logged 353 new coronavirus (Covid-19) cases on Tuesday, June 30, 2020the highest number, so far, reported in a single day in Cebu City. This eclipses the prior single-day record of 203 new Covid-19 cases reported on June 16, 2020. Tuesdays new cases bring the total number of confirmed Covid-19 infections in Cebu City to 5,494. The City also reported 10 new recoveries, bringing the total number of recoveries in the city to 2,723. The number of deaths remained at 169, while the number of active Covid-19 cases rose to 2,602. The 353 new cases were spread out in 47 of the citys 80 barangays, with four cases having unverified addresses. Barangay Guadalupe had the most number of new cases, with 44; followed by Sambag 2 (27), Labangon (19), Lahug (18), Capitol (16), Mabolo (14), Tejero (14), Sambag 1 (13) and Talamban (12). Also reporting new cases were Barangays Apas (8), Bacayan (6), Banilad (4), Basak Pardo (6), Basak San Nicolas (7), Barangay Luz (6), Buhisan (3), Bulacao (3), Calamba (6), Camputhaw (6), Carreta (1), Cogon Pardo (7), Day-as (2), Duljo (1), Ermita (1), Hipodromo (10), Inayawan (1), Kalubihan (1), Kalunasan (2), Kasambagan (3) and Kinasang-an (9). Other barangays with new cases were Lorega (3), Mambaling (6), Pahina Central (4), Pardo (9), Parian (1), Punta Princesa (11), Quiot (7), San Nicolas Proper (3), San Roque (5), Sto. Nino (2), Suba (1), T. Padilla (7), Taptap (7), Tinago (1), Tisa (9), and Zapatera (2). Cebu Province Elsewhere, 37 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Lapu-Lapu City on Tuesday. According to Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Ahong Chan, the new cases came from barangays Babag (2), Bankal (1), Basak (1), Buaya (1), Calawisan (13), Canjulao (5), Gun-ob (3), Ibo (1), Mactan (1), Marigondon (2), Pajac (1), Pajo (1), Punta Engano (1) and Pusok (4). Lapu-Lapu City now has a total of 604 Covid-19 cases, 129 recoveries and 20 deaths. Chan called on barangay captains to roam their areas and reprimand those found violating the city's quarantine protocols. Story continues In Toledo City on the western coast of Cebu, five new cases were recorded on Tuesday. One of the new cases is a 27-year-old man from Sta. Rosa, Laguna employed in a private company in Toledo City, while another is his 62-year-old colleague who hails from Bacolod City. The patients are all in isolation and monitored by the Citys health personnel. As of Tuesday, Toledo City recorded a a total of 23 Covid-19 cases, with two recoveries and one death. In Carcar City, southern Cebu, seven new cases were recorded on Tuesday, bringing the total number of coronavirus infections in the City to 27. The barangays with Covid-19 cases are Bolinawan (1), Can-asujan (3), Guadalupe (1), Liburon (1), Napo (1), Ocana (1), Perrelos (1), Poblacion I (5), Poblacion II (3), Poblacion III (1), Tuyom (2) and Valladolid (7). One new recovery was also recorded Tuesday, bringing the total count to three. Three patients died. Meanwhile, officials of Balamban town assured that confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the municipality are being monitored and contact tracing is ongoing. This came as four additional cases of Covid-19 were reported on Tuesday from barangays Buanoy, Arpili, and Sta. Cruz. As of Tuesday, Balamban reported a total of 11 Covid-19 cases, with two deaths and one recovery. First Covid-related death In Badian, the southern town has recorded its first Covid-related death, a 54-year-old male from Barangay Manduyong who was a dialysis patient at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. Badian now has a total of six Covid-19 cases, with one death. National tally For the second day in a row, around 1,000 Covid cases were added to the Philippines total case count. Of the 1,080 additional cases, nearly half or 468 came from Central Visayas. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the total cases of infection in the country have reached 37,514. She also reported 277 recoveries, which brought the total number to 10,233. Eleven more patients died, raising the death toll to 1,266. Nine of these mortalities died in June. Of the 1,080 new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours, 858 were considered fresh cases while 222 were late cases. Among the fresh cases, 430 came from Central Visayas, 158 from the National Capital Region (NCR) and 270 from other regions. Of the 222 late cases, 45 were from NCR or Metro Manila, 38 from Central Visayas and 139 from other regions. As of June 29, Vergeire said, the national case doubling timeor the length of time it takes for cases to doublewas 7.66. In Cebu City, the case doubling time was faster at 7.47 days. As of June 11, Vergeire said the reproductive number in the country was 1.3, which means that an infected individual can infect more than one person. Cebu City had a reproductive number of 2.16 as of June 10, Vergeire said, which means an infected person transmitted the virus to more than two persons. (CTL, RDR, MVI / SunStar Philippines) By Meg Shen and Yew Lun Tian HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing on Tuesday unveiled new national security laws for Hong Kong that will punish crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, heralding a more authoritarian era for China's freest city. As the law came into force, authorities were set to throw a security blanket across the heart of the city's financial centre on Wednesday after activists vowed to defy a police ban and rally against the measures. Local media said up to 4,000 officers would be deployed to stamp out any protests. China's parliament passed the detailed legislation earlier on Tuesday, giving Beijing sweeping powers and setting the stage for radical changes to the global financial hub's way of life. Beijing had kept full details shrouded in secrecy, giving Hong Kong's 7.5 million people no time to digest the complex legislation before it entered into force at 11 p.m. (1500 GMT) on June 30. The timing was seen as a symbolic humiliation for Britain, coming just an hour before the 23rd anniversary of when Hong Kong's last colonial governor, Chris Patten, a staunch critic of the law, tearfully handed back Hong Kong to Chinese rule. Amid fears the law will crush the city's freedoms, prominent activist Joshua Wong's Demosisto and other pro-democracy groups said they would dissolve. "The punitive elements of the law are stupefying," Simon Young, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong's law school and a barrister, told Reuters. "Let us hope no one tries to test this law, for the consequences to the individual and the legal system will be irreparable." The legislation pushes Beijing further along a collision course with the United States, Britain and other Western governments, which have said it erodes the high degree of autonomy the city was granted at its July 1, 1997, handover. Britain and some two dozen Western countries urged China to reconsider the law, saying Beijing must preserve the right to assembly and free press. Story continues "The United States will not stand idly by while China swallows Hong Kong into its authoritarian maw," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. He said the United States would stand with the people of Hong Kong and "respond to Beijing's attacks on freedoms of speech, the press, and assembly, as well as the rule of law." Washington, already in dispute with China over trade, the South China Sea and the coronavirus, began eliminating Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law on Monday, halting defence exports and restricting technology access. China, which has rejected criticism of the law by Britain, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and others, said it would retaliate. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, in a video message to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, urged the international community to "respect our country's right to safeguard national security". She said the law would not undermine the city's autonomy or its independent judiciary. Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have repeatedly said the legislation is aimed at a few "troublemakers" and will not affect rights and freedoms, nor investor interests. As the law was passed in Beijing, the Chinese People's Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong held a drill which included exercises to stop suspicious vessels and arrest fugitives, according to the Weibo social media account of state-run CCTV's military channel. GRAPHIC: Hong Kongs national security framework - https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HONGKONG/SECURITY/xklpyznbjvg/SecurityCommision.jpg 'OVERPOWERING' In their most severe form, crimes will be punishable with life in prison. Punishments otherwise largely go up to 10 years. Properties related to crimes could be frozen or confiscated. The security legislation will supersede existing Hong Kong laws where there is a conflict and mainland Chinese authorities could exercise jurisdiction over some major cases. Interpretation powers belong to the Chinese parliament's top decision-making body. Judges for security cases will be appointed by the city's chief executive. According to the law, a new national security agency will be set up for the first time in Hong Kong and will not be under the jurisdiction of the local government. Authorities can carry out surveillance and wire-tap people suspected of endangering national security, it said. Those asking foreign countries to sanction, blockade or take other hostile action against Hong Kong or China could be guilty of colluding with foreign forces. Authorities shall take necessary measures to strengthen the management and servicing of foreign countries' and international organisations' branches in Hong Kong, as well as foreign media and NGOs in the city, the law says. "We can all start again," pro-Beijing heavyweight Maria Tam, a member of Chinas National Peoples Congress, told reporters. Activists and pro-democracy politicians said they would defy a police ban on a rally on the handover anniversary on Wednesday. "We will never accept the passing of the law, even though it is so overpowering," said Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai. A majority in Hong Kong opposes the legislation, a poll conducted for Reuters in June showed, but support for the protests has fallen to only a slim majority. Dozens of supporters of Beijing popped champagne corks and waved Chinese flags in celebration in front of government headquarters. "I'm very happy," said one elderly man, surnamed Lee. "This will leave anti-China spies and people who brought chaos to Hong Kong with nowhere to go." (Additional reporting by Clare Jim, Yanni Chow, Carol Mang, Joyce Zhou, Tyrone Siu, Jessie Pang, James Pomfret, Greg Torode and Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel and Giles Elgood) Cineworld cinemas (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images) Cineworld has delayed its reopening date in the UK and US to 31 July. The global chain was set to reopen in both regions on 10 July, but that date has now been pushed back three weeks. Cinemas have been closed nationwide since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, the chain stated its plan to reopen screens in other regions ahead of that date, subject to conditions: Cineworld has and will continue to reopen cinemas however upcoming reopenings remain subject to final clarifications and confirmation in relation to various government COVID-19 restrictions. Commenting on the news, Cineworld CEO Mooky Greidinger said: "Movie fans around the world continue to be excited by the strong slate of summer films ahead, including Tenet, Mulan, A Quiet Place Part II, Unhinged, The Broken Hearts Gallery, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Greenland, and Antebellum as well as a special re-release of Christopher Nolan's Inception on IMAX. Read more: Cineworld staff petition company to enforce face masks Cineworld looks forward to welcoming these moviegoers back to our cinemas next month and believes that they will once again be immersed in the timeless theatrical experience they know and love." Cineworld has updated its Twitter banner with the new date. (Twitter) The 10 July date for reopening was only announced on 22 June, with the chain outlining the precautions it was taking across its sites to ensure the safety of its staff and customers. Cinemas in England are able to welcome back customers from 4 July, when the coronavirus lockdown is due to ease further. Cineworld, which has about 100 cinemas around the UK, said it had updated its booking system to ensure social distancing, and adapted its daily movie schedules to manage queues and avoid the build-up of crowds in lobbies. It has also said it has enhanced cleanliness and sanitation procedures across all sites. Notices at Cineworld cinema on April 05, 2020 in Weymouth, United Kingdom. (Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images) Due to spikes of confirmed coronavirus infections in North America, most big July releases including Tenet and Mulan have already been pushed back to August. Cineworlds delay follows news that AMC theatres in America has also pushed back its date for reopening to 30 July. AMC is the owner of Odeon cinemas, which is still aiming to reopen on 4 July. Story continues Cineworld has 128 sites in UK and Ireland, 102 under the Cineworld brand and 26 under the Picturehouse banner. In North America, it operates 546 Regal Cinemas with 7,178 screens. Globally the company operates in 10 countries with 787 sites and a total of 9,500 screens. In preparation for cinemas reopening, the UK Cinema Association (UKCA) released guidance for the safe re-opening of movie theatres, following consultation with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The advice, while dependent on any nation-specific restrictions, has been developed to ensure the continued safety of both audiences and staff, the UKCA said. Guidance includes measures to ensure social distancing throughout cinemas, with an emphasis on auditoriums and enhanced cleaning and hygiene procedures. Coronavirus: what happened today Customers will be asked to use contactless payment where possible, the guidance said, while online booking will also be encouraged. Plastic screens will be installed at key contact points and film schedules will be adjusted to allow cleaning of auditoriums between screenings and to avoid crowding in corridors. The guidance is intended to apply to both cinemas in fixed buildings and mobile cinemas, the UKCA said, but it does not include drive-in cinemas and other open air screenings. MANILA, Philippines Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Ano has ordered the disarming of the nine policemen involved in a shooting incident with soldiers in Jolo, Sulu. Based on the investigation of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the nine policemen responded to a call from a colleague from the Drug Enforcement Unit after seeing an alleged suspicious vehicle believed to have been watching them for days. Tawag ng isang taga-DEU na iyong sighted na sasakyan noong isang araw ay nakita na naman doon sa tapat niya, explained PBGen. Manuel Abu, Director of Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR). [There was a call from a member of the Drug Enforcement Unit saying the vehicle that was sighted days before appeared again in the area.] The official said the nine policemen, who were patrolling in the area at that time, immediately fled to the scene and accosted the four armed men in civilian clothing. Abu said the soldiers identified themselves but instead of presenting proper documents for identification, the soldiers shouted at the cops. Sabi ng pulis para hindi na lamang sila magtalo doon sa daan, doon na lamang sila mag usap sa istasyon for identification talaga, General Abu continued. [The cop explained that to avoid an altercation, they invited the men to the police station so they could talk and for proper identification of the men.] Pagdating sa police station imbes na tumigil sila, nauuna iyong sasakyan ng Army kasi, tumakbo. Hinabol ng pulis sakay ng mobile. Naka uniform naman ang pulis. Sila ay naka-sibilyan, he added. [Upon reaching the police station, the soldiers vehicle which was at the front of the convoy did not stop. The police mobile chased them. The police were in uniform, they were in civilian clothes.] The police pursued the soldiers and were able to catch them in the midst of the traffic. Abu said two of the soldiers got off the vehicle with their firearms on. Story continues Iyong isa may bitbit na M4 at nagkaputukan na. Iyong isa naka short firearms. So may intensyon, he said. [One of them was holding an M4 (rifle) then a gunfight erupted. The other one was holding a shorter firearm. The intention was there.] The Philippine Army Western Mindanao Command (WESMINCOM), on the other hand, said that the four men were members of the military intelligence unit and were on official mission thus they were in civilian clothes. [The four soldiers] were on official function, said WESMINCOM Spokesperson Major Arvin Encinas. They were doing their jobs during that time at yan po ang malinaw at sila po ay binaril ng [and its very clear that they were shot by] PNP personnel, he added. The DILG has now placed the involved policemen under custody at the PNP Provincial Headquarters and were asked to surrender their firearms for ballistic tests. For now, both the leadership of the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) agreed to allow the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to handle the investigation for impartiality. Gusto po naming mabigyan ng kasagutan ang lahat ng mga [We want to get answers for all the] allegations on both side, Encinas noted. The four soldiers killed in the incident were: Major Marvin Indammog; Capt. Irwin Managuelod; Sgt. Jaime Velasco: and Corporal Abdal Asula MNP (with reports from Lea Ylagan) The post DILG disarms cops in Sulu fatal shooting; NBI to investigate appeared first on UNTV News. INDICATORS OF WHAT'S TO COME. (1) National Task Force chief implementer Carlito Galvez said Monday, June 29, that Cebu City still needs "more stringent restrictions" amid the spike in new cases and alleged overload on local hospitals. (2) University of the Philippines Forecast Report #11 dated June 29, based on data of June 25, says the rate of transmission remains high. The bit of good news is that the "pandemic is slowing down." The ECQ from June 16 "has reduced the number of cases in Cebu." It now projects the number of cases by June 30 at less than 8,000, lower than the projection of 11,000 in its Report #10. It sees 15,000 cases in the province of Cebu by July 31. But if ECQ is shifted to MECQ and restrictions are relaxed, the UP study projects a surge to 20,000 to 30,000 cases by July 31. FIGURES AND WARNING. The numbers in Cebu affect the public health statistics on Covid-19 in the entire county. The UP report says the current situation in Cebu is reflected in the "positivity rate" of new cases in the Philippines in the past two weeks. The surge of infections in Cebu is what has increased the total in the country, by 50 per cent from one period to the next, since the eruption of the crisis, UP says. The Inter-Agency Task Force on Management of Emerging Diseases (IATF-MEID) may heed UP's warning. And what Galvez has noted: the increase of critical care shown in the "overflow at hospitals," along with a surge of cases in Cebu City spanning two to three weeks, "similar to that experienced in NCR during the March till mid-April period." Plus: the comment through an adviser of Roy Cimatu, the overseer President Rodrigo Duterte sent to Cebu, that the total lockdown just imposed in at least 12 barangays in Cebu City still had to show results. Thus the heavy betting is on a continued ECQ for at least another 15 days starting July 1. CONDITION FOR PROJECTION. The condition in the June 29 UP forecast of new cases and deaths is specific about the continued enforcement of an enhanced quarantine. Story continues That, plus this requirement: "rapidly identifying and breaking chains of viral transmission" to stop or lower the projected number of illnesses and casualties. WHAT STILL BUGS CEBUANOS. Many Cebu residents brace for continued, even tougher quarantine times ahead. They want to know however: [1] If the IATF -- and its adjuncts such as the National Task Force, the Regional Task Force, along with its national implementer and Cebu overseer -- considers Cebu province separately from Cebu City. Some of their officials and advisers appear to confuse the province with the city in assessing the "lack of coordination, politics, and mistruths" that they largely blame for the local fiasco. The UP panel seems to consider the entire island of Cebu in its study and projections, despite the insistence of Gov. Gwen Garcia that the two LGUs be considered separately. [2] Whether Cimatu has already harmonized the data on cases, deaths and recoveries that come from Department of Health and the health departments of local governments, as well as health centers, clinics and hospitals. Since the national government distrusts the numbers, the system of collecting and reporting data must be corrected and improved. The same demand for openness and trustworthiness in the release of data to the public is made for the situation in critical hospital care: the hospitals association must vouch for accuracy of numbers. City Hall has been clashing with other sources on the rates of occupancy on hospitals, clinics and quarantine centers. [3] What changes IATF, through Galvez and Cimatu or the regional task force, has made, to show that it was breach of health protocols that actually caused the surge of new cases. Or was the Cebuanos' alleged stubbornness just made the scapegoat for wrong strategies primarily dictated by Manila? ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines An alleged misencounter with police resulted in the death of four members of a Philippine Army intelligence unit in Jolo, Sulu, on Monday afternoon (June 29). In a statement, the Philippine Army confirmed that the fatalities were two intelligence officers and two enlisted personnel under the 11th Infantry Division who were on a mission to identify the location of known terrorists in the area. The PA said the team was flagged by members of the Jolo Municipal Police Station manning a checkpoint in front of Jolo Central Fire Station in Barangay Walled City, Jolo, Sulu. But even after properly identifying themselves, the police allegedly approached the soldiers and fired at them though the exact reasons behind the incident remain unknown. We are yet to establish the motive of the police, said Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Western Mindanao Command. The Philippine Army has already requested a full-blown investigation on the incident. We also requested the NBI to investigate to ensure impartiality. We dont want any escalation of hostilities out of the incident. Our interest is to know the facts and give justice, he added. While investigation is still ongoing, the Philippine Army has appealed to the public not to sensationalize the incident through social media or any other means. We will wait for the investigation to be completed, Sobejena said. Meanwhile, Army Commanding General Lt.Gen. Gilbert Gapay said there were no altercations that transpired between the police and soldiers based on witnesses accounts. Gapay assured, however, that there was no provocation on the part of the Army personnel that might have triggered the gunfight. He clarified that it was not anti-drug operations thus no member of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency was involved. The Army grieves and condoles with the families of our fallen men. There will be no let up in our quest for truth and justice, Gapay concluded. The post Misencounter between soldiers and police in Jolo kills 4 appeared first on UNTV News. MANILA, Philippines (AP) Philippine policemen fatally shot four army soldiers, including two officers, who were trying to locate a suicide bomber Monday but were suspected of being criminals by the police in the volatile south, officials said. Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said he asked the National Bureau of Investigation, Manilas version of the FBI, to investigate the killings in Jolo town due to conflicting accounts of what happened. But Sobejana stood by the slain officers, saying they were doing their job. Whatever is the reason, they were shot by the policemen, Sobejana told reporters. Were having that investigated. An initial military report seen by The Associated Press and accounts by two army officers said the four army intelligence men, including a major and a captain, were trying to locate a suspected foreign suicide bomber who was believed to be with local Abu Sayyaf militants when their SUV was stopped at a police checkpoint in Jolo. They identified themselves to the policemen but were later fired upon by them, the military report said. An army officer with knowledge of what happened told the AP that after identifying themselves to the police, the army intelligence men left but were tailed by a van of policemen. Sensing that they were being followed, the soldiers stopped their SUV and one of the officers got out with both of his hands up, apparently to indicate he had no hostile intent. But the policemen opened fire and killed the four soldiers for still unexplained reasons, said the army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of what transpired. When the police left, other army officers arrived and found their colleagues already dead, the army officer said. An initial police report, however, had a different account. It said Jolo policemen were on patrol with anti-illegal drug agents in the towns Bus-Bus village when they spotted the SUV with four armed male persons, whom they stopped. The four were directed to drive to the Jolo police station for verification but when they arrived there, the said persons fled, the police report said. Story continues Police chased the four, who got out and pointed their firearms toward the policemen, the report said. Before they could pull the trigger, the Philippine National Police personnel were able to shoot them in defense, sparking an exchange of shots that killed the four suspects, the police report said. Thousands of troops have been deployed to the predominantly Muslim province of Sulu, where Jolo is the capital, in recent years on orders of President Rodrigo Duterte to try to finish off the Abu Sayyaf. The group of a few hundred fighters has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and the Philippines for bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings. The Abu Sayyaf, which includes factions aligned with the Islamic State group, has been weakened considerably by battle setbacks, surrenders and infighting but remains a national security threat. Splashing mud and drinking local rice beer, Nepali farmers this week celebrated National Paddy Day to mark the beginning of the rice-planting season, despite some coronavirus lockdown measures still in place. Traditional farming songs and laughter echoed in the air as farmers waded into waterlogged fields to sow green paddy. "It is an important day for us. Our family and friends all came together in the fields to plant and have fun," farmer Ramesh Dongol, 35, told AFP. Nepali farmers across the country mark the 15th of the Nepali month of Asar every year with celebrations. Standing on fields flooded by the onset of monsoon, the farmers dance and sling mud on each other as they plant the seedlings. Locals also feast on curd and beaten rice, traditionally eaten on the day. A staple food, rice accounts for almost half of cereal production in Nepal. The country produced over five million tonnes of paddy last year, according to the agriculture ministry. Government data shows that early 70 percent of Nepal's population depends directly on agriculture, and the sector contributes to about a third of the country's GDP. This year, lockdown measures against coronavirus have disrupted farm supplies, creating shortages of seeds and fertilisers, prompting worries for the country's agricultural production. Asian needle ants have a powerful sting, but UK entomologists encourage people not to panic if they find them. Credit: Jessica Louque, Smithers Viscient, Bugwood.org. University of Kentucky entomologists want people to be aware of a new stinging pest in the state, the Asian needle ant. Recently, Asian needle ants invaded a home in south central Kentucky and stung the homeowner. This is one of the state's first reports of the ants coming indoors. The insect has been in Kentucky since at least 2013 and in the U.S. since the 1930s. It is found throughout the state, but tends to stay outdoors, preying on other ants and termites. Like other insects who live primarily outdoors, they are most active during warmer months with populations declining as the weather gets cooler. Fortunately, Asian needle ants do not tend to be aggressive and only sting when they feel threatened. However, the chances of a person getting stung greatly increase when the Asian needle ant moves indoors. "Their sting is painful, and people report that they have a burning sensation paired with a pins-and-needles feeling for a couple of weeks after being stung," said Jonathan Larson, extension entomologist with the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. "Most people do not need to seek medical treatment if they are stung by an Asian needle ant, unless they have a known allergy to other insect stings, such as from a bee or a wasp. The literature suggests that the venom from this ant may be more hazardous than bee and wasp stings." Asian needle ants look similar to other ant species, but UK entomologists say the insect has some distinguishing features. "This ant has a large stinger at the end of its abdomen, which is usually visible to the naked eye," said Zachary DeVries, UK assistant professor of urban entomology. "The Asian needle ant is about twice as long as the odorous house ant but considerably smaller than carpenter ants." Not much information is available on effective Asian needle ant control, but DeVries encourages people who find the ants to not panic. "Physically removing ants from the home using a vacuum cleaner will help prevent stings and provide immediate control, but given this ant's ability to deliver a nasty sting, it may be worth contacting a licensed pest control company if ants are found," he said. If individuals discover the ants outdoors, they can use granular baits and target their nesting sites and other areas with high ant activity. Kentuckians can make their home less appealing to ants in general by sealing up cracks and crevices, keeping their grass mowed, eliminating standing water areas and removing dead trees from their property. Explore further As climate warms, fire ants head north More information: UK entomologists encourage people who think they have encountered an Asian needle ant to submit a sample to their local office of the UK Cooperative Extension Service for identification: href="https://extension.ca.uky.edu/ A Michigan State University researcher conducted a study to quantify what makes people happy with their neighborhoods and discovered that it has almost nothing to do with the neighborhood itself. Credit: Royalty free via Upsplash How do you feel about your neighborhood now that you've been confined during a pandemic? A Michigan State University researcher conducted a study to quantify what makes people happy with their neighborhoods and discovered that it has almost nothing to do with the neighborhood itself. "It's all in our heads," said Zachary Neal, associate professor of psychology at MSU and author of the study. "Contrary to what many would think, characteristics of your neighborhood have little to do with how satisfied you are with it." Published in the journal Urban Studies, Neal's research revisited findings from 27 earlier studies that spanned 11 countries in North America, Europe and Asia, and included a sample of more than 400,000 adults living in those neighborhoods. Each study estimated how much an individual's satisfaction with his or her neighborhood depended on the neighborhood itself. "I was interested in what makes people satisfied with their neighborhoods and whether there's anything the residents or city planners could do to improve satisfaction," Neal said. "Previous research about what matters has been mixed, which made me wonder if this research is looking for something that doesn't exist and that maybe neighborhoods really don't have much to do with how satisfied people say they are." By combining each study's estimate using meta-analysis, Neal computed a more precise estimate of the true impact of neighborhoods. He found that all the characteristics of a community neighborhoodfrom curb appeal to its services, like snow plowingaccount for just about 16% of a person's satisfaction with the neighborhood. "Each study included an ICC, or intraclass correlation coefficient, which indicates how similar satisfaction is among people in the same neighborhood," Neal said. "Across these studies, the ICC values were quite low, which means there is a lot of variation in satisfaction even among people in the same neighborhood. That tells us something besides the neighborhood itself is responsible for how much satisfaction each person reports having." Neal explained that having a clear understanding of what makes people satisfied with their communities is critical for people whose jobs are connected with building and maintaining neighborhoods, such as local officials, developers and city planners. Additionally, enormous amounts of money go into neighborhood maintenance; but, if people aren't so concerned with neighborhood characteristics, then these efforts may not translate into increased satisfaction. So, what does satisfaction depend on? Neal shared two likely prospects. "One possible explanation is that a person's satisfaction may depend more on the person than on the neighborhood," Neal said. "Agreeable people are likely to be satisfied with their neighborhood, but there will always be others who think that the grass is greener elsewhere." The second possible determinant relates to a resident's perception of the neighborhood as opposed to what it actually is. "Perhaps neighborhood satisfaction, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder," Neal said. "We might expect residents to be more satisfied with their neighborhood if its schools are good. But, in practice, they will be more satisfied if they merely think its schools are good, even if the schools aren't actually that great." With millions of people staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Neal said there's a chance they might see their communities through a different lens. "It's still early to tell, but the longer we are confined to our own neighborhoods, the more perceptions of them might change," Neal said. "I'm collecting new data about neighborhood satisfaction in Michigan during the stay-at-home order and hope to collect these data again after the order is lifted so we can understand how things are changing." More information: Zachary Neal, Does the neighbourhood matter for neighbourhood satisfaction? A meta-analysis, Urban Studies (2020). Zachary Neal, Does the neighbourhood matter for neighbourhood satisfaction? A meta-analysis,(2020). DOI: 10.1177/0042098020926091 Credit: Texas A&M University Since the release of information about Asian giant hornets, Texas A&M AgriLife entomologists are being inundated with cicada killers and other lookalike insects submitted for identification as a possible "murder hornet," which thus far has only been found in Washington state in the U.S. While the agency wants to continue to encourage Texans to be vigilant in watching for the Asian giant hornet, they also want to help provide guidance that will help narrow the focus. David Ragsdale, Ph.D., chief scientific officer and associate director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, and professor in the Department of Entomology, said many photos of Texas native cicada killers, or ground hornets, are being submitted as suspected Asian giant hornets. He said their website receives five to 10 photos a day, and agency pest management agents and specialists around the state have also been handling inquiries. It's a bird, it's a plane it's a cicada killer In May, the concern about Asian giant hornet was enough to prompt Gov. Greg Abbott to request a task force be mobilized to prepare Texas against the Asian giant hornet's arrival. But June is the normal month for the cicada killer wasp, a common large wasp in Texas, to start showing up and this prompted posts on Facebook and in news feeds mistakenly reporting cicada killer wasps as sightings of the Asian giant hornet. "Most everyone has seen the cicada killer wasp that is very large, but has mostly been ignored in the past," Ragsdale said. "With the most recent news of the Asian giant hornet, they are now paying attention to the native Texas insect." While some people thought they had been seeing the newly pictured murder hornets for years, AgriLife Extension experts want to clarify, "No, you haven't." Now they are providing outlets to help tell the difference between the Asian giant hornet and similar looking pests. Many insects are being mistaken for the Asian giant hornet. Credit: Texas A&M University Holly Davis, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist in Weslaco, and Pat Porter, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension entomologist in Lubbock, recently developed a short video explaining the differences between the "murder hornet" and several common lookalikes here in Texas. "To date, we have identified hundreds of insects that people in Texas suspect might be Asian giant hornets (murder hornets)," Porter said. "Eighty percent of these have been either the eastern cicada killer or western cicada killer. It is understandable how non-entomologists would have trouble deciding which was which." How to tell the difference "First, the Asian giant hornet is native to Japan and South Korea, and it has only been found in parts of British Columbia, Canada and the northwestern corner of Washington state," Davis said. "There have been no confirmed reports of these hornets in other U.S. locations, including Texas." There are a number of Texas native species of wasp, hornet, yellow jacket and bees, but what really separates Asian giant hornet and a few of our native species is their size. The ones most likely to be confused with Asian giant hornet are three species of cicada killers and the pigeon horntail. The Asian giant hornet is the world's largest known hornet measuring 1.5-2 inches in length. It has a head as wide as its shoulders, where the wings and legs are located, or wider, and it is a bright orange or yellow. The thorax, or shoulder portion where the wings and legs are connected, is a dark brown, as are the antenna. It has a much smaller or pinched waist and then smooth looking brown and orange stripes cover the abdomen. The cicada killers, of which there are three different species here in Texas, are also quite large, measuring 1-1.5 inches in length. But they will all typically have a head that is narrower than the thorax. The head and the thorax are typically the same color, a darker orange or brown color. It does also have a pinched waist. But the stripes on the abdomen will be jagged and sometimes look like mountains. The eastern cicada killer tends to be black and yellow. The western cicada killer is closer in color to the Asian giant hornet, being reddish brown and yellow. But there is no contrasting color between the head and thorax and the stripes are jagged on the western cicada killer. The other group of insects that are most commonly confused with the Asian giant hornet are the horntail or wood wasps. They are large, have a distinct head that is as wide or wider than the thorax, and may share the same coloration as the Asian giant hornet. However, there is one trait that is easy to spot that is different, and that is the waist. Horntails lack any appearance of a waist. A cicada killer wasp and burrow. These are being confused for Asian giant hornets. Credit: Dr. Pat Porter Harmful or just alarming The Asian giant hornet preys on bees and can decimate local honey bee populations, essential for most fruit and vegetable crop production. The Asian giant hornets also are fiercely protective of their nests and will deploy painful stings that can cause fatal allergic reactions in people already sensitive to bee stings. The cicada killer and wood wasps, however, are solitary and thus do not aggressively protect their nesting sites by attacking in large numbers, Davis said. Cicada killers, however, may cause alarm due to the males' territorial behavior, dive-bombing or buzzing people and animals that walk into their territory. "Although cicada killers are solitary, you can often find numerous individuals in areas with sandy soils where females dig nests in the ground," she said. "These nests appear as dime to quarter sized holes. As females come and go, provisioning their nest with cicadas they paralyze with a sting and carry back to their nests. "The males are more interested in mating. Thus, they may try to chase off intruders they perceive as a threat to their mating opportunities. However, male wasps are not capable of stinging, thus they are not dangerous, just a nuisance for a few weeks out of the year during the nesting season. Females can sting but are not aggressive and reports of stings are rare." Horntails and wood wasps may have what appear to be very long stingers, but they are unable to sting. They lack venom glands and instead they use this structure, called an ovipositor, to insert eggs into plant tissue, hence the name wood wasp, Davis said. Explore further Another Asian giant hornet found in northwestern Washington Preparing SWCNT fllms for the experiment. Credit: Pavel Odinev / Skoltech Scientists from Skoltech and their colleagues from Russia and Finland have figured out a non-invasive way to measure the thickness of single-walled carbon nanotube films, which may find applications in a wide variety of fields from solar energy to smart textiles. The paper was published in the journal Applied Physics Letters. A single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is essentially a sheet of graphite one atom thick that is rolled into a tube. They are an allotrope (a physical form) of carbon, much like fullerenes, graphene, diamond, and graphite. SWCNTs hold a lot of promise in various industrial applications, ranging from solar cells and LEDs to ultrafast lasers, transparent electrodes, and smart textiles. All these applications, however, require rather precise measurements of SWCNT film thickness and optical properties. "Film thickness is quite important for many applications and usually characterized by how much light can be transferred through the film in the visible spectral range: the higher the transparency, the less the thickness of the film. However, precise control over film thickness and optical constants is critical when one needs to design efficient transparent electrodes. For instance, we need to know the thickness to improve antireflection properties of the surface based on transparent SWCNT window layer for solar cells. To estimate and subsequently utilize the mechanical properties of SWCNT films, we need to predict the geometrical dimensions of the films," says Professor Albert Nasibulin, head of Laboratory of Nanomaterials at Skoltech Center for Photonics and Quantum Materials Existing methods for optical constant measurements include absorption and electron energy-loss spectroscopies, while geometric parameters can be determined by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy or atomic force microscopy. These methods are resource-inefficient and require sample preparation, which might affect the very properties of SWCNT films that one is trying to measure. A team of researchers led by Albert Nasibulin of Skoltech and Aalto University was able to design a rapid, contactless, and universal technique for accurate estimation of both SWCNT film thickness and their dielectric functions. They figured out a workaround to use spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), a non-destructive, fast, and very sensitive measurement technique, for SWCNT films. "Ellipsometry is an indirect method that we can use to determine film parameters, and standard methods of data processing are not always applicable here. At first glance, a carbon nanotube thin film is a very difficult object for this technique: consisting of many millions of randomly oriented nanometer-sized individual and bundled tubes, it has strong absorption in the entire spectral range, low reflection and anisotropy in its optical properties. Nevertheless, the first author of the paper, Georgy Ermolaev, a student of a joint Skoltech-MIPT Master's program, has found an elegant algorithm to retrieve the thickness and optical constants in a single set of optical measurements," says Yuriy Gladush, one of the coauthors of the paper. The researchers manufactured SWCNT films of varying thickness and absorption between 90% and 45% at 550 nm and determined the broadband (2503300 nm) refractive index and corresponding thickness of the films. "It was expected that optical properties would depend on the density of packaging of the carbon nanotubes in the film, but the surprise was in how large this effect is. A single droplet of ethanol can compress or densify the film and change the refractive index from 1.07 to 1.7, opening simple opportunities to adjust the optial properties of the SWCNT films," Albert Nasibulin adds. The team believes other scientists can build on their work and, among other things, use their approach beyond the realm of carbon nanotubes for other kinds of these structures. Explore further Scientists develop a novel method to fine-tune the properties of carbon nanotubes More information: Georgy A. Ermolaev et al. Express determination of thickness and dielectric function of single-walled carbon nanotube films, Applied Physics Letters (2020). Journal information: Applied Physics Letters Georgy A. Ermolaev et al. Express determination of thickness and dielectric function of single-walled carbon nanotube films,(2020). DOI: 10.1063/5.0012933 LEFT: Heat maps track the changing cluster membership of the fifteen most severely impacted countries with respect to numbers of COVID-19 cases. Cluster membership depicts COVID-19 severity relative to the rest of the world. Clusters are ordered with 1 being the worst impacted at any time. Darker and lighter colors correspond to smaller and greater numbered cluster labels and represent worse and less affected clusters, respectively. RIGHT: Same as image on the left but for deaths. Credit: Nick James and Max Menzies Mathematicians based in Australia and China have developed a method to analyze the large amount of data accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The technique, described in the journal Chaos, can identify anomalous countriesthose that are more successful than expected at responding to the pandemic and those that are particularly unsuccessful. The data comes from Our World in Data, a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales. This organization collected information from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for cumulative daily case counts and deaths for 208 countries over a period of 122 days from Dec. 31, 2019, to April 30, 2020. The investigators analyzed the data with a variation of a statistical technique known as a cluster analysis. In this approach, data points are grouped according to similarity. The countries form clusters as individual outbreaks become more similar. For all of January, the investigators found only two clusters: China in one cluster, and all the other 207 countries in the other. As the virus spread, additional countries jumped into the China cluster. Italy was the first to join, followed by the U.S., Spain, France, Germany, Iran and the U.K. By mid-March, case counts for countries around the world grouped into 16 clusters. By April, a similar grouping was seen in death counts. In mid-March, China moved out of the worst death cluster, while the U.S., Spain, Italy, France and the U.K. moved into it. The investigators found a notable break in the cluster structure for cases between March 1 and March 2. This date is significant, because numerous countries reported their first COVID-19 cases at that time, mostly coming from Iran and Italy. Another break in the cluster structure occurs between March 18 and March 19 for deaths, a 17-day difference from that of cases. This offset suggests a 17-day lag for deaths behind cases and agrees with medical data. Once the investigators identified the 17-day offset between cases and deaths, they were able to compare countries' case and death numbers at the same point in time. This revealed countries with anomalous results. "Anomalies may signify either disproportionately high or low number of deaths relative to the number of cases," said co-author Nick James. Iran and Italy both had anomalously high death rates early in the pandemic, while Singapore was anomalously low, as were South Korea, Qatar and Australia. "We also noticed a sort of critical mass effect in the progression of cases to deaths," said co-author Max Menzies. "Spain's death count as of March 28 was over twice that of its case count just 16 days earlier. This is an astonishing explosion of COVID-19. It also applies to the U.S. Its dramatic elevation in death count hit after the case count reached a critical mass in early March." More information: "Cluster-based dual evolution for multivariate time series: Analyzing COVID-19," Chaos (2020). Journal information: Chaos "Cluster-based dual evolution for multivariate time series: Analyzing COVID-19,"(2020). aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0013156 Ecology professor John Drake discusses research with then-Honors undergraduate student Mallory Harris, who is lead author on this malaria study, along with student Aditya Krisnaswamy. Credit: Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA taken in 2017 Researchers at the University of Georgia have demonstrated that disease surveillance data can be used to predict certain infectious disease outbreaks. The team detected early warning signals of a 1993 resurgence of malaria in Kenya in case reports from the roughly 10 years before the outbreak began. Their findings appear in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. The study was based on a theoretical framework for a disease forecasting system being developed by Distinguished Research Professor John Drake and his colleagues at the UGA Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases. It relies on the theory of "critical slowing down," which predicts that telltale statistical patterns appear when a system under stress is nearing a tipping pointa point at which it changes irrevocably from one state to another. Tipping points occur in all kinds of systems, from financial markets to Earth's climate. In the case of infectious diseases, it is the point at which conditions become favorable for an outbreak to occur. "A tipping point is when something about the underlying properties of the system cause you to move from low, stable transmission to an epidemic," said Mallory Harris, the paper's lead author. "And we can detect that through increases in these really simple summary statistics like mean, variancethings that you learn about in high school," she said. The researchers tested their methods by examining a resurgence of malaria that began in 1993 in Kericho, Kenya. Malaria had been controlled in the area since the 1940s with insecticide and medication. In late 1981, however, the parasite that causes malaria began to develop resistance to chloroquine, the drug being used to control its transmission. Based on the theory of critical slowing down, the team expected that statistical indicators should have started appearing in malaria case reports as the underlying conditions changed. They predicted that as the tipping point approached, values for certain summary statistics would increase. Using case data collected from 1982 through the resurgence by the hospital serving workers at Kericho's two remote tea plantations, Harris analyzed the changes in 10 summary statistics over time. She found that five of them did indeed provide early warning signals that an outbreak was approaching, as early as 65 months prior to the resurgence event. "The theory says that we should be able to do it but it's really exciting to see the signal in the vector-borne diseases, especially because this was about malaria, which has one of the largest economic global burdens of diseases," said Harris. "This is a disease that we would hope the method would work on, and based off of this historical case, this is evidence that it could." Harris, at the time of the research an undergraduate Honors student, explained that the study's findings could be applied to many, but not all, infectious disease systems. In particular, such an approach could work to provide an early warning about the resurgence of diseases already circulating within a population. "It's not a crystal ball," said Harris. "We can't say, 'A traveler is going to come and they're going to have this mystery illness and then it's going to be transmitted to the rest of the population.' But what we can potentially say is that there's something going on under the surfacewhether that be the development of drug resistance, in the case of this study, or some sort of slow environmental forcingand it's changing the properties of the system in a way that will make it more conducive to disease transmission," she said. According to the World Health Organization, existing infectious diseases like malaria remain a leading cause of death in developing countries. An early warning system for disease resurgence could therefore be a valuable tool for public health officials. "A lot of the time when you're making these public health decisions you're monitoring a bunch of locations, maybe thousands, and you're trying to figure out, where do we need to allocate resources, where is there the greatest risk that we're going to have a resurgence next?" said Harris, now a doctoral student in biology at Stanford. "The hope is that this would be a tool public health officials can use to help steer their decisions." Another key benefit of the team's approach is its cost-effectiveness. For one thing, it relies on case report data that is already routinely collected. For another, early intervention can be far less costly than waiting until after an outbreak is underway to act. "A lot of the time what ends up happening is we start responding to outbreaks and doubling down on public health measures once it's already too late," said Harris. "Whereas if we can detect these underlying signals that something is changing and an outbreak is headed our way, that would give more time to act proactively and that will also end up being a lot less expensive than trying to chase after thousands of cases." Explore further Study explains factors that influence the timing of infectious disease outbreaks More information: Mallory J. Harris et al. Early warning signals of malaria resurgence in Kericho, Kenya, Biology Letters (2020). Journal information: Biology Letters Mallory J. Harris et al. Early warning signals of malaria resurgence in Kericho, Kenya,(2020). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0713 UVA economist Anton Korinek said the United States needs to contain the coronavirus to allow for a real economic recovery. Credit: Dan Addison, University Communications Over the past month, as states began to reopen their economies, COVID-19 infection rates began increasing. With 2.4 million cases diagnosed in the United States so far, last week, 32 states reported an increase in new cases of the COVID-19 virus over the previous week. Some states slowed or reversed reopening plans in the face of the increases, with Texas closing bars and scaling restaurants back to 50% capacity. As states reassess their economic responses to the spread of the virus, economist Anton Korinek, an associate professor with a joint appointment in the University of Virginia's Department of Economics and the Darden School of Business, has turned his attention to COVID-19 and its impact on the economy. Korinek and UVA colleague Zachary A. Bethune, an assistant professor of economics, have written a paper, "COVID-19 Infection Externalities: Trading Off Lives vs. Livelihoods," which has been distributed by both the U.S.-based National Bureau of Economic Research and the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research and published in COVID Economics. Korinek's areas of expertise include macroeconomics, international finance and inequality, with other recent research investigating the implications of automation and artificial intelligence for macroeconomic dynamics and inequality. In their paper, Korinek and Bethune analyzed the individual and societal costs of dealing with the virus and determined that the societal costs are significantly greater than the individual ones. UVA Today asked Korinek about his findings. Q. As an economist, what is your reaction to the current response to the virus? A. What we find, based on our cost-benefit analysis, is that the best public health strategy would be to do whatever we can to contain the virus. The best strategy is what we call a "smart containment strategy" that focuses on testing, tracing and quarantining the infected. This strategy would save the U.S. economy about $10 trillion compared to letting the disease spread uncontrolled. But even if we have difficulty testing and tracing, some social distancing is still desirable. People sometimes frame the policy response to COVID-19 as a trade-off between lives and livelihoods, and they ask whether it's worth killing our economy to save people's lives. But what they forget is that people won't go back to a normal life and consumer demand won't really recover if the virus is spreading through our country and killing people. We need to contain the virus to allow for a real economic recovery as opposed to a temporary sugar high. What I am concerned about is that a number of states are easing lockdowns even though disease rates are still rising and they are pursuing this sugar high, but the strategy will come back to haunt them since infection numbers are going up again. Q. You determined that the "social cost" of a person becoming infected with COVID-19 is roughly $55,000. How did you arrive at this figure? A. We used a concept called the "statistical value of life," which reflects how much people are willing to pay to reduce their risk of deathfor example, by buying safety equipment such as airbags, or how much they must be compensated to work in jobs that involve a small risk of death. These numbers are what the U.S. federal government uses in cost-benefit calculations, for example, when it decides on regulations to clean up the air that will save lives. In the U.S., a common "statistical value of life" is around $10 million. Roughly speaking, if we multiply the risk of death from COVID-19 with the value of a statistical life, then we obtain the "statistical cost of COVID" in terms of mortality risk. Our actual calculations also took into account that people's risk of death depends on their age, which reduces the number a little. When we look at what overall cost it imposes on an individual to become infected, we also needed to consider a benefit: once you recover, you no longer need to worry about the disease and you no longer need to distance, which is an economic benefit. Taking into account all these considerations, we found that the statistical cost of becoming infected is worth the equivalent of $18,000 for an individual. When we talk about the social cost, we also need to take into account that each individual passes on the disease to others, who will in turn infect more people. Based on that, the true social cost of a person becoming infected with COVID-19 is close to $55,000. Q. What conclusions do you reach from these figures? A. What the discrepancy between these numbers points out is that it is really crucial that we impose public health measures that make sure we contain the disease. If the cost of an infection for society is three times larger than the cost for the individual, it suggests that decisions on what to do to contain and avoid the disease cannot be left solely in the hands of individual people because they don't have sufficient incentives to contain it. We really need public health measures. Q. How have these numbers evolved as the virus has spread? A. The cost numbers depend quite heavily on how society responds to the virus, and to some extent also on how far the virus has spread. One could say that when the virus was first brought to the U.S., it imposed a social cost of trillions of dollars on us. Now, an additional infection costs more like $55,000. We recently had to revise this number because the virus had spread more widely than we thought a month ago. If we as a society had been able to better contain the virus, the cost would have been lower. If we let it spread, the cost will be higher. Q. According to your analysis, was the economic cost of the lockdowns worth it? A. If it were true that we were already close to the end of this pandemic, and the population already had close to herd immunity, then I would say it wasn't worth it. If you add up the number of people who die in car accidents over four years, then you get to 120,000, but we are not banning cars. But I think that we are nowhere near herd immunity at present. In a bunch of studies, from Los Angeles, from Santa Clara County in Northern California and from New York City, they reported that up to 5% of the population in those areas may already be immune, but you need about 60% of the population immune for the virus to stop spreading, and those studies suggested that we are nowhere near that. The initial idea of the lockdowns was to buy time to get the testing, tracing and quarantining in place that we need so we can effectively contain the virus. In a number of advanced countries, this has worked relatively well and was absolutely worth it. Here in the U.S., we have ended the lockdowns before the virus was really under control, and now it continues to spread. This has lowered the benefits of the lockdowns and has reduced the value proposition. But overall, in my view, I would still say that having had some lockdowns was worth it. I should also add that if we as a society impose lockdowns on everybody, we really owe those who suffer the most severe consequencesfor example the workers who become unemployed or the small business owners who face financial ruin. We should do our best to compensate them for the economic damage that we as a society have imposed on them and that they are suffering through no fault of their own. These are not handouts, but payments for damages. Q. As an economist, when and how do you see the economy getting up and running again? A. A full recovery won't be possible until we have a vaccine, which will probably take until next year. If we do follow a "smart containment" strategy before then, we could reduce the number of cases so much so that we can go back to a more normal life within a month or two without having to worry about catching a deadly disease at every step. Right now, I am not convinced that we are on the path of "smart containment." I anticipate that there will be significant outbreaks in different parts of the country in coming months and that economic activity will remain subdued. One of the problems is that the U.S. is a very integrated economy. If one part experiences a rapid rise in cases, some of them will be exported to other parts of the country, including states that have been successful in containing the virus. This will make it difficult for the country as a whole to go back to normal, even though some states are pursuing very reasonable containment policies. The fundamental question I am asking myself is whether it is even possible to contain the virus and salvage the economy in the U.S., or whether there is something that prevents us from implementing this strategy herefor example, that people have more individualism than people in other countries where they have successfully contained the virus. Maybe our political system does not allow us to come to a consensus. If we are convinced it is impossible to contain the virus in the U.S., then the strict lockdowns would not have made sense in the first place. Frankly it is an unknown to me. If we had tried really hard, would we have been able to contain it or not? And at this point it seems increasingly to me that there just isn't the political will anymore and, even if we wanted to now, we are past that point where we can really contain this virusit is no longer possible. Q. As an economist, what long-range changes do you see this introducing into the economy? A. This is actually a question about which I have been thinking quite a lot recently. I organized a webinar on the topic recently. There are two significant long-run changes that I expect, and of which we are already seeing some signs: First, companies have responded to the pandemic by automating labor. People are a risk factor right now because they can carry the disease and, in areas where machines can do the same work, this makes machines preferable. To give a tangible example, there are startups that deliver pizza via robots, and they have seen a large rise in their business. So you can say that COVID-19 is really accelerating automation. The pandemic is also accelerating the shift of our economy into the virtual world. For example, all of our classes at UVA have been delivered virtually in recent months. Second, the move toward a more virtual world accelerates the so-called superstars effect, whereby a small number of individuals serve an ever larger fraction of the population. For example, once classes are virtual, why not have just a few superstar professors teach all college students in the country? This is bound to lead to greater inequality between the superstars and regular people. Q. What have you learned about yourself in researching this? A. One thing that I have learned is that it was easier than I thought to start doing research on a new topic, in my case it's epidemiological models. I wanted to better understand what's going on in the world around me, and so I started reading up on epidemiological models and then working on my own models, with my coauthor Zachary Bethune, that combine epidemiology and economics. The other thing that I hope I have learned was some humility; the pandemic has questioned so many of the things that I took for granted, and I realized how little we actually really know about the world. Everything has changed so much. If you had told me four months ago that we would be having this Zoom call, that I would go to a supermarket today wearing a face mask and that my children have not left the house, or at least the neighborhood, for a long time, I wouldn't have ever believed you. I have taken our way of life for granted. And I just could never have imagined our life would have changed so much in such a short period of time. I could have never imagined what a huge economic cost a health crisis could have imposed on this country, could never had imagined an unemployment rate of 15% as of today, I could never have imagined so many thingsthat was all beyond my imagination four months ago. Explore further What is herd immunity and could it work with COVID-19? More information: Zachary Bethune et al. Covid-19 Infection Externalities: Trading Off Lives vs. Livelihoods, (2020). Zachary Bethune et al. Covid-19 Infection Externalities: Trading Off Lives vs. Livelihoods,(2020). DOI: 10.3386/w27009 The US Space Force will have a command unit known as SpOC, raising eyebrows from "Star Trek" fans The United States' new Space Force military wing revealed Tuesday that one of its units would be named "Space Operations Command"or "SpOC" for short, in an echo of pointy-eared "Star Trek" character Spock. An earnest statement from Space Force unveiled its organizational structure, but made no reference to SpOC's fictional predecessor who was the unflappable science officer on the Starship Enterprise. "SpOC will be the primary force provider of space forces and capabilities for combatant commanders, coalition partners, the joint force and the nation," the statement said, adding SpOC would be headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. In the "Star Trek" television series and movies, Spock is a half-Vulcan alien, half-human character known for the catchphrase "highly illogical," who was most famously played by Leonard Nimoy. President Donald Trump, who has described space as "the world's newest warfighting domain," founded Space Force as the country's sixth military branch after the army, air force, navy, marines and coast guard. The SpOC unit is not the force's first brush with "Star Trek." When Trump unveiled Space Force's logo in January, the design was widely compared to the "Star Trek" insignia of the franchise's Starfleeta fictional peacekeeping and exploration force of the United Federation of Planets alliance. The logo has appeared as a pin on the uniforms of Spock and fellow crew member Captain Kirk ever since the sci-fi classic debuted in 1966. Fans say "Star Trek" has a long history of foreshadowing real innovations from tablet computers to needle-free medicine injectors and real-time translators. 2020 AFP Oil from the Deepwater Horizon poured into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days, making it the largest ever accidental oil spill on the planet. Eleven men died in the accident. Credit: Breck P. Kent/Shutterstock/NTB scanpix Ten years ago, the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico killed eleven men and resulted in the largest accidental oil spill in history. Years of investigations concluded that the drilling crew missed critical warning signals that would have stopped the problem. A new analysis suggests that wasn't the case. The magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon accident is almost impossible to fathom. On April 20, 2010, eleven men died when the drilling rig exploded. An estimated 507 million litres of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days, coating nearly 1000 km of coastline with sticky black goo. Birds and marine life took a beating, and shrimpers who relied on the Gulf of Mexico were deeply affected when fishing grounds were closed. Years of investigations and legal proceedings found many reasons for the accident, including that the crew itself had missed critical information which, had they noticed in time, would have allowed them to address the problem before it exploded. But a new analysis of data from the drilling platform paints a very different picture of what has previously been found, said Dag Vavik, a Norwegian engineer with 30 years in the industry. Vavik recently defended his Ph.D. on the accident at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. "In previous investigation reports we have been told how the drilling crew failed to observe that the well was flowing during the last 20 minutes before the explosion," Vavik said. "However, real time data and witnesses from the Deepwater Horizon tell a different story." Questioned industry standard Vavik has nearly 25 years' experience designing offshore floating drilling units, like the Deepwater Horizon, and was well aware of the problems these rigs could face. His experience made him question an industry practice recommended in 2001 for separating natural gas from drilling mud. Vavik felt the recommendation could result in an uncontrolled release of mud and gas onto the rig. The oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon accident affected marine life and hundreds of birds, like this pelican. Credit: Breck P. Kent / Shutterstock / NTB scanpix The Deepwater Horizon's mud gas separator system was based on this recommendation. The problem was that the system was designed to allow gas and mud to return from the well by being routed directly to the mud gas separator without any restrictions, Vavik said. His concerns about the industry practice led him to warn clients and alert his colleagues to the problem. Ultimately, he ended up designing a new system for handling the mix of mud and gas for deep water drilling ships commissioned by Petrobras in Brazil. He ultimately patented the design. Vavik became deeply interested in the Deepwater Horizon accident after reading BP's own report on the disaster. The company found that one of the main problems contributing to the explosion was the design of the mud-gas separator systemthe exact issue that Vavik himself had flagged years before, when the industry instituted its 2001 practice. "When I read this in the investigation report, I blamed myself for not having done more than I did to get the industry to change the industry practice with having a mud gas separator directly connected to the diverter system," he said. "At the time I promised myself to do whatever I could to prevent such a disaster ever happening again." Years later, however, Vavik found out that the drilling crew probably didn't use the mud gas separator system during the accident, and likely tried to divert this fluid directly overboard, which is what the written instructions said they were supposed to do. "In one way this was a relief," he said. "On the other hand, this meant that something else must have caused this accident." And that is what Vavik really wanted to find out. Cleaning up some of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon accident. Oil from the spill coated nearly 1000 km of coastline. Credit: Breck P. Kent / Shutterstock / NTB scanpix Previously overlooked data What launched Vavik on his Ph.D., however, was the discovery in 2014 that some information from the Deepwater Horizon had simply been dismissed as improbable. To understand what Vavik foundand why it mattersyou need to first understand what the drilling crew would have been looking forand what they found. The Deepwater Horizon drill ship was an exploration ship, looking for oil and gas. It was not designed to produce oil and gas, just to find it. Once the find at this particular drill site had been confirmed, the crew sealed off the well so it could be later developed for production. If all had gone according to plan, the drill ship would have moved on. But things didn't go to plan. The well wasn't actually sealed off properly, and instead, there was a huge build-up of gas in the well's piping system in the days before drilling stopped and as the crew tried to seal off the well. This gas exploded on April 20 and caught fire. Gas influx is a known problem, Vavik said, and the Deepwater Horizon had two independent sensors that should have detected it. In fact, the two sensors actually showed that there was no flow in the system until right before the explosion. But somehow investigators decided that the crew hadn't detected the problem. In their accident assessment report, BP wrote that the "rig crew did not recognize the influx and did not act to control the well until hydrocarbons had passed through the BOP (blow out preventor) and into the riser." Vavik says that's not quite right. Platform supply vessels battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. A US Coast Guard MH-65C dolphin rescue helicopter and crew documented the fire on the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon, while searching for survivors. Multiple Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters responded to rescue the Deepwater Horizons 126 person crew. Credit: US Coast Guard, public domain Data suggests well was plugged Using data from the sensors and a series of simulations in the lab, Vavik says that part of the problem was that the system was plugged with gas hydrates, which can form when natural gas encounters cold water and freezes into a kind of natural gas ice. The plug of natural gas hydrates means that there was no way for the crew to know exactly what was going on until right before it happened. Vavik said BP's investigations and simulations predicted that thousands of gallons of fluid were coming up from the well every minute during the last 30 minutes before the explosion. However, he said, the two flow sensors showed that there was no return flow from the well until right before the accident. "Several witness statements support what the recovered flow meter data was telling us. The situation developed extremely fast," he said. "Flow from the riser started to come back only a couple of minutes before the first explosion." Furthermore, Vavik said, some of the actions known to have been taken by the crew just before the explosion suggested that they knew there was a plug in the system. The crew was troubleshooting and investigating what may have caused the anomalies they had detected when the hydrate plug suddenly loosened, Vavik said. "This caused rapid gas expansion and pressure built up underneath the gas hydrate plug, allowing the plug to move like a "bullet" in a gun barrel," he said. "Then it was too late to avoid the accident." The Deepwater Horizon drill ship before the accident. Credit: Wikipedia A forensic study Among Vavik's dissertation opponents was Jerome Schubert , an associate professor in petroleum engineering at Texas A&M University. "Your dissertation was like a forensic study, step-by-step," he said during the defence. "You used simulations to back up your ideas. I liked your work, and it was great work." Schubert said it was important for the industry to have a better understanding of what can go wrong in deep water drilling situations, and that Vavik's findings did just that. "That is the value of your work," Schubert told Vavik. "There were a lot of questions there (in the accident) that no one had the answer to. You offer potential reasons as to why things didn't look normal." Among the recommendations Vavik offered based on his research was that the industry needs a better way to detect influx of gas and gas hydrates earlier than was done on the Deepwater Horizon. The explosion couldn't have happened without tons of natural gas entering the drilling system undetected until it was too late, he said. "The people who can tell the real story of what happened are not here anymore," he said. "I hope that the research work I have done will contribute to give the families and colleagues of the eleven men a better understanding of what really happened in the last 45 minutes before the explosion." Explore further Ten years after huge US oil spill, fears of offshore drilling persist Holocene global mean surface temperature. Credit: Victor O. Leshyk, Northern Arizona University Over the past 150 years, global warming has more than undone the global cooling that occurred over the past six millennia, according to a major study published June 30 in Nature Research's Scientific Data, "Holocene global mean surface temperature, a multi-method reconstruction approach." The findings show that the millennial-scale global cooling began approximately 6,500 years ago when the long-term average global temperature topped out at around 0.7C warmer than the mid-19th century. Since then, accelerating greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to global average temperatures that are now surpassing 1C above the mid-19th century. Four researchers of Northern Arizona University's School of Earth and Sustainability (SES) led the study, with Regents' professor Darrell Kaufman as lead author and associate professor Nicholas McKay as co-author, along with assistant research professors Cody Routson and Michael Erb. The team worked in collaboration with scientists from research institutions all over the world to reconstruct the global average temperature over the Holocene Epochthe period following the Ice Age and beginning about 12,000 years ago. "Before global warming, there was global cooling," said Kaufman. "Previous work has shown convincingly that the world naturally and slowly cooled for at least 1,000 years prior to the middle of the 19th century, when the global average temperature reversed course along with the build-up of greenhouse gases. This study, based on a major new compilation of previously published paleoclimate data, combined with new statistical analyses, shows more confidently than ever that the millennial-scale global cooling began approximately 6,500 years ago." Earlier this year, an international group of 93 paleoclimate scientists from 23 countriesalso led by Kaufman, McKay, Routson and Erbpublished the most comprehensive set of paleoclimate data ever compiled for the past 12,000 years, compressing 1,319 data records based on samples taken from 679 sites globally. At each site, researchers analyzed ecological, geochemical and biophysical evidence from both marine and terrestrial archives, such as lake deposits, marine sediments, peat and glacier ice, to infer past temperature changes. Countless scientists working around the world over many decades conducted the basic research contributing to the global database. "The rate of cooling that followed the peak warmth was subtle, only around 0.1C per 1,000 years. This cooling seems to be driven by slow cycles in the Earth's orbit, which reduced the amount of summer sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, culminating in the 'Little Ice Age' of recent centuries," said Erb, who analyzed the temperature reconstructions. Since the mid-19th century, global warming has climbed to about 1C, suggesting that the global average temperature of the last decade (2010-2019) was warmer than anytime during the present post-glacial period. McKay, who developed some of the statistical approaches to synthesizing data from around the world, notes that individual decades are not resolved in the 12,000-year-long temperature reconstruction, making it difficult to compare it with any recent decade. "On the other hand, this past decade was likely cooler than what the average temperatures will be for the rest of this century and beyond, which are very likely to continue to exceed 1C above pre-industrial temperatures," McKay said. "It's possible," Kaufman said, "that the last time the sustained average global temperature was 1C above the 19th century was prior to the last Ice Age, back around 125,000 years ago when sea level was around 20 feet higher than today." "Investigating the patterns of natural temperature changes over space and time helps us understand and quantify the processes that cause climate to change, which is important as we prepare for the full range of future climate changes due to both human and natural causes," said Routson. He used an earlier version of the database to link Arctic warming to a reduction in precipitation at mid latitudes (see related article). "Our future climate will largely depend on the influence of human factors, especially the build-up of greenhouse gases. However, future climate will also be influenced by natural factors, and it will be complicated by the natural variability within the climate system. Future projections of climate change will be improved by better accounting for both anthropogenic and natural factors," he said. The reconstruction of past global temperature is the outgrowth of several NAU research projects aimed at understanding the causes and effects of natural climate variability, work that was funded through more than $1.2 million in grants from the National Science Foundation. The team was recently awarded another $678,000 in grants from the NSF for related work extending through 2023. Explore further April 2020 tied for warmest on record: EU climate service More information: Holocene global mean surface temperature, a multi-method reconstruction approach, Scientific Data, DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-0530-7 Holocene global mean surface temperature, a multi-method reconstruction approach, Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A Western Australian scientist has compiled the largest global dataset ever on the travel habits of large marine animals. The collaboration involves hundreds of researchers from around the world and catalogs the migrations of some of the ocean's most charismatic animals. There's more than 100 species featured, including whales, sharks, turtles, seals, penguins, dugongs and albatrosses. Passionate about the ocean The monumental task is the work of UWA senior researcher Dr. Ana Sequeira. With a vision for a global perspective on the movement of marine megafauna, she reached out to scientists around the world and invited them to contribute. So far, more than 300 researchers have shared their data. Ana admits it's a big project but says there are currently few scientific publications about the migrations of marine animals at global scale. "I've always been passionate about the ocean," she says. Where are the wild things? Ana was recently awarded a prestigious Pew Fellowship to analyze the data she's amassed. One of the challenges is accounting for differences in how the researchers collected data in different regions of the globe. For instance, if 100 sharks were recorded in one location and 10 in another, it doesn't necessarily mean there are more sharks in the first location. The difference could be because the scientists spent more time searching for them. So to understand the data, Ana needs to develop mathematical models to account for the biases in each dataset. A global perspective Ana says working on a global scale offers a different perspective on the number of animals, the amount of habitat available to them and the different regions they may move through as they migrate around the world. Whales, for instance, can migrate from the Southern Ocean to the equator and back again every year. "Observations of individuals in particular locations can be very relevant for local management," Ana says. "But they don't provide insight about which other areas the same individuals visit while they go about their migrations." Animals know no borders The research could help target conservation efforts to where they're needed most. Large marine animals travel through different countries' waters and into the high seas, which make up approximately two-thirds of the world's oceans. In Western Australia, for instance, whale sharks are a protected species and ecotourism activities are highly managed. But the same individuals migrate to regions where they're afforded far fewer protections. "These animals don't know jurisdictional boundaries," Ana says. "They don't know where the exclusive economic zone finishes and if some waters are part of a country or another. To understand what they do, we need to investigate their movements at the scale they perform them." Explore further Rezone marine parks to better conserve sharks This article first appeared on Particle, a science news website based at Scitech, Perth, Australia. Read the original article. Credit: CC0 Public Domain With faces covered to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, some of the facial cues that people rely on to connect with otherssuch as a smile that shows supportare also obscured. As people navigate a masked world, they will need to focus more on the eyes and voice to connect with those around them, says Stanford psychologist Jeanne Tsai. This will be particularly true for North Americans, she said, who value high energy emotionssuch as excitement or enthusiasm, which are associated with big, open smilesmore than East Asians. Here, Tsai shares how some of those cultural differences may explain why some people resist face coverings more than others. For example, research has shown that North Americans judge people with bigger smiles to be friendlier and more trustworthy than East Asians, so face coverings may make it harder for them to connect with strangers, she said. Moreover, Tsai's research has shown that these cultural differences have consequences for things like resource sharingNorth Americans give more to people who show bigger smiles than do East Asians. This may make North Americans less likely to share with people whose faces are covered, at a time when sharing is critical, according to Tsai. However, understanding these differences can also help guide workarounds to overcome barriers to connection, Tsai said, pointing to the smiling photos that healthcare workers at Stanford Hospital taped over their personal protective equipment to help their patients feel more at ease as an example. Tsai is a professor of psychology in Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences who studies cultural differences in emotion; she is also the director of the Stanford Culture and Emotion Lab. What emotions do our faces reveal? We express many different emotions on our facesexcitement, calm, and happiness as well as anger, sadness, and fear. The face isn't the only channel we use to express our emotionswe use our words, our voices, and our bodies, but it is obviously an important one. In fact, scholars have been interested in the face as a channel for expressing our emotions since Charles Darwin, and it was the first channel that psychologists like Paul Ekman turned to when trying to categorize and measure emotion in the 1960s and 70s. What happens when our faces are hidden behind a facial covering? The face coverings that are the most relevant now cover the nose and mouth. These face coverings make it harder for people to see others' emotions, including their smiles, which facilitate social connection. This is particularly true for North Americans, who tend to focus on people's mouths when reading their emotions. Since researchers have shown that in many East Asian cultures, people tend to focus more on the eyes, covering the mouth may interfere less with their feelings of social connection. Can you explain some of the cultural differences that you found in your research? The mouth seems particularly important in the United States partly because mouths are a critical part of conveying big smiles, and for Americans, bigger smiles are better. Our work finds that North Americans judge people with bigger smiles to be more friendly and trustworthy. In fact, smiles have an even stronger influence on judgments of friendliness and trustworthiness than more structural facial features associated with race or sex. This is because North Americans value high energy positive emotions (like excitement and enthusiasm), which tend to evoke big open smiles. East Asians, however, don't value these high energy emotions as much, and so do not rely on smile size to the same extent as East Asians to judge others' approachability. These cultural differences are even reflected in brain activityNorth Americans show more activity in brain regions associated with rewards like money when gazing at bigger vs. smaller smiles, in comparison with Chinese. Thus, masks cover up the part of the face that North Americans may find most pleasing, and that they rely upon to distinguish friend from foe. This may be why North Americans have complained that masks make them feel disconnected from others. What are some non-verbal communication strategies that people can use when trying to connect with other masked people? At the very least, I think people will have to learn to smile with their eyes and voices, and to read the eyes and voices of others more. But there may be other innovative workarounds. North Americans have already come up with a few. For example, some people have created surrogates for smiles, like the clever health care workers here at Stanford who pasted their smiling pictures on their lab coats, or the emergence of novel masks designed to show or even emulate the mouth. These and other simple solutions might offset the costs of covering smiles. In the meantime, it might be safest to assume the bestthat under their masks, people are still friendly, trustworthy, and deserving of helpparticularly since they are trying to protect others as well as themselves from illnesses like COVID-19. Are there other lessons from your research that you think applies to these current times? In our work, we've found that North Americans are not only more likely to judge people with big toothy smiles as more approachable and to share resources with them, they are also more likely to hire those people as employees or physicians. Because cultures differ in how much they value high energy emotions (and therefore, big smiles), individuals from some cultures don't want to show big smiles. North Americans often underestimate how approachable these people are, and this can lead to cultural biases in hiring. I worry that these cultural biases may take an even greater toll when interactions move to online platforms that focus on the face. So one general lesson is that how approachable someone seems might have more to do with your cultural conditioning than with their actual character. Explore further Culture shapes how leaders smile, research shows MCG-02-04-026: The pre-flare images (left panels), flare images (middle panels), and the residual images (right panels) by subtracting the pre-flare images from the flare images. Credit: Sun et al., 2020. Chinese astronomers have reported the discovery of a mid-infrared flare in a nearby star-forming galaxy known as MCG-02-04-026. The finding is detailed in a paper published June 22 on arXiv.org, in which the authors try to explain what could be responsible for the observed flaring event. Observations show that many transient events in active galaxies are accompanied by mid-infrared (MIR) flares, generally lasting for several to 10 years. These flares are known to strengthen the mid-infrared radiation of galaxies and while their origin is still debated; one of the most plausible hypotheses is that they come from dust echoes of transient events. One of the most important instruments for finding hidden transient events via accompanied MIR flares is NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. A team of astronomers led by Luming Sun of the University of Science and Technology of China, has employed it to conduct a comprehensive search of MIR flares in nearby galaxies. The observations resulted in the detection of one such flare in MCG-02-04-026a nearby, dusty star-forming galaxy hosting a partially obscured supermassive black hole. The newfound MIR flare started in the first half of 2014, peaked around the end of 2015, and faded in 2017. "We report the discovery of a mid-infrared (MIR) flare using WISE data in the center of the nearby Seyfert 1.9 galaxy MCG-02-04-026," the astronomers wrote in the paper. The position of the flare coincided with the nucleus of MCG-02-04-026 with an accuracy of about 3,300 light years. The researchers observed the flare's mid-infrared color to be generally turning red. No evidence was found for optical or ultraviolet variations corresponding to the MIR flare. According to the paper, the MIR flare released a total energy (in the range of 2.85.3 m) of about 740 quindecillion erg. The astronomers estimate that the total infrared energy must be higher than this value, and they calculated it to be at a level of approximately 2,000 quindecillion erg/s. Moreover, WISE data revealed that X-ray net count rate changed by a factor of about 2.4 between two observations taken around the MIR flare. This suggests a variation in the X-ray luminosity of MCG-02-04-026. However it is still unclear if such behavior in the studied galaxy is related to the MIR flare. The researchers concluded that the results point out to a dust echo of the primary nuclear transient event as the nature of the observed MIR flare. "With a dust echo model in which radiative transfer is involved, we interpreted the MIR flare as the reradiation of dust heated by UV-optical radiation from a primary nuclear transient event. The model reproduces the MIR data, and also explains the variation of the MIR color. The no detection of optical or UV variation can be explained as the dust obscuration to the galaxy nucleus," the paper reads. The astronomers noted that the total energy of the assumed primary transient event must be at least 1,000 quindecillion erg, and most of the energy must be released over less than about three years. They suppose that this event could be a tidal disruption event (TDE), a superluminous supernova, or an enhancement of the existing accretion onto the galaxy's supermassive black hole. Explore further Studies find echoes of black holes eating stars More information: A Mid-infrared Flare in the Active Galaxy MCG-02-04-026: Dust Echo of a Nuclear Transient Event, arXiv:2006.11963 [astro-ph.GA] A Mid-infrared Flare in the Active Galaxy MCG-02-04-026: Dust Echo of a Nuclear Transient Event, arXiv:2006.11963 [astro-ph.GA] arxiv.org/abs/2006.11963 2020 Science X Network Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The coronavirus pandemic has led a growing number of Westerners to see China as a top power, with the lead of the United States slipping, a study said Tuesday. A survey of French, German and US opinion released by the German Marshall Fund of the United States found significant increases in perceptions of Chinese influence since the outbreak of COVID-19in which Beijing has alternately been portrayed as a culprit and an aid provider. The proportion of people who said China was the most influential global player shot up from 13 to 28 percent in France between surveys in January to May, from 12 to 20 percent in Germany and from six to 14 percent in the United States. "Chinese influence in the world was kind of an abstract idea before the crisis," said Martin Quencez, deputy director of the German Marshall Fund's Paris office. "When you think about the dependency on China for mask and medical equipment, for instance, this has become very concrete," he said. Quencez expected a lasting impact, saying that the changes in perceptions were seen across generational and political lines. "It seems more structural than just a quick response to the crisis," he said. The public in all three countries still said that the United States was the most influential nation but less overwhelmingly. In France, 55 percent of people said the United States was the top global player in May, down from 67 percent in January. Similar figures were reported in Germany. One comparative loser was the European Union, which the French and Germans had put solidly in second place, over China, before the pandemic. Despite China's perceived influence, the survey found that majorities in both Germany and France said their countries should get tougher on Beijing over climate change, human rights and cybersecurity. The figures were lower in the United States, possibly because President Donald Trump's administration has already been championing a hard line and pushing Europe to do likewise. The Trump administration has blamed COVID-19 on poor management in China, where the virus was first detected late last year. Critics say Trump is trying to deflect from his own handling of COVID-19 in the United States, which has suffered by far the highest death toll of any country. The survey also showed a sharp transatlantic divide on the influence of Britain, which left the European Union this year. Fifty-three percent of Americans said Britain was the most influential country in Europe, an opinion shared by just eight percent of Germans and six percent of French. The study, conducted with the Bertelsmann Foundation in Germany and Institut Montaigne in Paris, surveyed more than 1,000 different people in each country both from January 9-22 and May 11-19. Explore further US poised to ban travel from Brazil: White House aide 2020 AFP Credit: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay A new study from an international team of researchers has looked at how residents in Vietnam and Kenya perceive those forced to migrate because of extreme climates. The research team, including Dr. Quynh Nguyen from The Australian National University (ANU) say climate-induced migration is becoming more common. "Less developed countries are the most vulnerable to climate change," Dr. Nguyen said. "We also know most climate change-induced migrationor environmental migrationhappens within countries rather than across borders, with people relocating to big cities. This in turn can lead to competition for jobs, put pressure on facilities, and stir existing cultural or ethnic tensions." The researchers found short term climate events and long-term climate conditions are seen as legitimate reasons to migrate in both countries. However, the study also showed climate migrants are seen as no more deserving than economic migrants, according to Dr. Nguyen. "These findings need to be interpreted in the broader socio-economic context of both countries," she said. "Both Vietnam and Kenya are low-income countries in which a lot of people move to cities to improve their economic situation. Because of this, citizens might have a more positive view of economic migration. Whether people have been exposed to many climate migrants could also be a factor. For instance, in Vietnam, residents were significantly less likely to report sympathy towards climate migrants compared to migrants seeking to be reunited with their families." Dr. Nguyen added, "If residents are less exposed to a certain type of migrant, they might be less welcoming of that group than others with which they are more familiar." The research has been published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Explore further Climate change increases migration at the expense of the poor More information: Gabriele Spilker et al. Attitudes of urban residents towards environmental migration in Kenya and Vietnam, Nature Climate Change (2020). Journal information: Nature Climate Change Gabriele Spilker et al. Attitudes of urban residents towards environmental migration in Kenya and Vietnam,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0805-1 Malate flow during C3 photosynthesis. Credit: The University of Hong Kong By developing innovative methods to visualize energy changes in subcellular compartments in live plants, the team of Dr. Boon Leong Lim, Associate Professor of the School of Biological Sciences of The University of Hong Kong, after showing how chloroplasts optimizes its energy efficiency 2 years ago, recently solved a controversial question in photosynthesis: What is the source of NADH (Reduced Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) for mitochondria to generate ATP (Adenosine triphosphate)? The results were just published in the journal Nature Communications. Photosynthesis utilizes light as an energy source for plant chloroplasts to synthesize carbohydrates from water and CO 2 molecules. ATPplays an important role in this process, as it promotes plant growth and supply energy for various cellular activities. It had been a general belief that mature plant chloroplasts can import ATP from cytosol since 1969, but it was shown to be untrue by Dr. Lim and his team in 2018, through introducing a novel ATP sensor in the subcellular compartments of a C3 model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. This finding has revised our understanding on chloroplast bioenergetics during daytime and nighttime and how mature chloroplasts optimize energy efficiency. Another unresolved problem in photo-energy is that the source of NADH as a fuel for mitochondria (the major ATP synthesizing organelle in cells) to produce ATP during photosynthesis is unclear. Some researchers suggested that excess reducing equivalents carried by surplus NADPH (Reduced Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) can be exported to the cytosol in the form of malate, which can then enter mitochondria through the malate-OAA shuttle, and converted into OAA and NADH in the mitochondrial matrix. On the other hand, some researchers proposed that during photorespiration glycine decarboxylase generates a large amount of NADH in mitochondria for ATP production and surplus reducing equivalents carried by NADH is exported by the mitochondrial malate-OAA shuttle to the cytosol. 7-day-old seedlings with NADPH sensor in plastids. Credit: The University of Hong Kong In the above two pathways, the directions of the malate-OAA shuttle across the mitochondrial membrane during photosynthesis are opposite to each other and therefore this issue had been a matter of debate. To study this problem, Dr. Lim's group introduced two novel sensors that measure real-time dynamic changes in NADPH levels and NADH/NAD+ ratios (this ratio reflects the reduction/oxidation status of the cellular compartments) in Arabidopsis thaliana. The conventional detection methods require extraction and purification of plant metabolites and determination by chemical methods. These methods have a few drawbacks: in planta measurement and real-time dynamic measurement not feasible; incapable of measurement the energy molecules in different cell types or different subcellular compartments. "Our novel technique solves all of the problems above. By employing these energy sensors, we found that photorespiration supplies a large amount of NADH to mitochondria during photosynthesis, which exceeds the NADH-dissipating capacity of the mitochondria. Consequently, the surplus NADH must be exported from the mitochondria to the cytosol through the mitochondrial malate-OAA shuttle," said Ms Sheyli Lim, a Ph.D. student and the first author of a manuscript published in Nature Communications. "Solving this question allows us to understand more about the energy flow between chloroplasts and mitochondria during photosynthesis, which could help us to booth the efficiency of photosynthesis in the future." "We are the first group to introduce these three novel energy sensors in plants. They will have wide applications in researches regarding plant bioenergetics. Now we are employing them to study bioenergetics of guard cells, pollen tube growth and C4 plants with international collaborators," said Dr. Lim. "It is a great satisfaction to revisit and clarify some general believes in my field. I wish our findings can eventually help humans to boost agriculture production," he added. Explore further Cell biology: Compartments and complexity More information: Shey-Li Lim et al. In planta study of photosynthesis and photorespiration using NADPH and NADH/NAD+ fluorescent protein sensors, Nature Communications (2020). Journal information: Nature Communications Shey-Li Lim et al. In planta study of photosynthesis and photorespiration using NADPH and NADH/NAD+ fluorescent protein sensors,(2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17056-0 All per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) should be treated as one class and avoided for nonessential uses, according to a peer-reviewed article published today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The authors16 scientists from universities, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the European Environment Agency, and NGOssay the extreme persistence and known toxicity of PFAS that have been studied render traditional chemical-by-chemical management dangerously inadequate. The article lays out how businesses and government can apply a class-based approach to reduce harm from PFAS, including fluoropolymers, which are large molecules. "With thousands of PFAS in existence, assessing and managing their risks individually is like trying to drink from a fire hose," said Tom Bruton, Senior Scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute. "Phased-out PFAS that were used to make products like non-stick cookware have been replaced with other PFAS that have turned out to be similarly toxic. By avoiding the entire class of PFAS, we can avoid further rounds of replacing a banned substance with a chemical cousin which is also later banned." Studied PFAS have been associated with cancer, decreased fertility, endocrine disruption, immune system harms, adverse developmental effects, and other serious health problems. The authors note that people are exposed to multiple PFAS at once, and there is little research on the effects of combined exposures. Less than one percent of PFAS have been tested for toxicity, but all PFAS are either extremely persistent in the environment or break down into extremely persistent PFAS. Cleaning up contamination can take decades to centuries or more and every time an individual "forever chemical" has been studied, it was found to be harmful. "When it comes to harm from PFAS, it is much more than our own health that's at stake. It is the health of our children, grandchildren and generations to comeindeed, of every creature on our planet," said Arlene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute. "The longer we continue the unnecessary use of PFAS, the more likely the overall future harm to our world will rival, or even surpass, that of the coronavirus." The article notes that some companies have already employed a class-based approach to PFAS. For example, IKEA phased out all PFAS in its textile products and Levi Strauss & Co. has committed to a similar phase-out. "We're proud that our class-based approach to chemicals has helped protect our customers and the environment, for example by removing all PFAS from IKEA's textiles in 2016," said Therese Lilliebladh of IKEA. "It also helps us stay ahead of the curve and avoid falling into a problematic cycle of substituting a similar chemical for one that has been phased out." Some government bodies have banned the entire class of PFAS for use in some products. For example, Maine and Washington have banned all PFAS in food contact materials and Denmark has banned PFAS from paper-based food packaging. The authors recommend expanding such regulation to all nonessential uses. Contrary to recent PFAS manufacturer messaging, the authors emphasize that fluorinated polymers should be included in a class-based approach to PFAS. "These large molecule chemicals can release smaller toxic PFAS and other hazardous substances into the environment throughout their lifecycle, from production, to use, to disposal," said author Carol Kwiatkowski, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. "Fluoropolymer microplastics also contribute to global plastic and microplastics debris." "PFAS are a complex class of chemicals, but there is a clear pattern of persistence and potential for health harm that unites them all," said retired NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum. "The use of any PFAS should be avoided whenever possible." Explore further Fecal excretion of PFAS by pets Provided by Green Science Policy Institute Solar Orbiter instruments. Credit: ESA-S.Poletti ESA's Solar Orbiter has successfully completed four months of painstaking technical verification, known as commissioning. Despite the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the spacecraft is now ready to begin performing science as it continues its cruise towards the sun. When Solar Obiter blasted into space on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 10 February, the teams behind the 1.5 billion mission did not anticipate that within weeks, the spread of COVID-19 would evict them from their high-tech control rooms, making the challenging process of commissioning the spacecraft's instruments even harder. In normal circumstances, many of the project's scientists and engineers would have gathered at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. Together, they would have worked in close cooperation with the spacecraft operators, to bring the spacecraft and its instruments to life. This happened more or less as usual during the most challenging early weeks of Solar Orbiter's in-orbit existence, but when the instrument teams were invited to ESOC in March, the situation in Europe was rapidly changing. Each of the ten instrument teams needed many representatives on site. Two or three from each team were allowed in a dedicated Solar Orbiter control room. "The other representatives worked from a dedicated support area," says Sylvain Lodiot, ESA's Solar Orbiter Spacecraft Operations Manager. It was not unusual to have 15 or more people in the main control room working too. But within a week, it became clear that European countries were heading into lockdown and so the external teams were asked to return home. The Italian-German-Czech team behind the METIS coronograph, an instrument measuring the visible, ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet emissions of the solar corona in unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution, was just getting ready to switch on the instrument for the first time when the decision was made that people from that time coronavirus hotspots in Italian regions Piemonte and Lombardy were no longer allowed to enter ESOC for safety reasons. "We had a hard time in trying to re-arrange the team skills on the fly with those who could enter," says Marco Romoli, METIS principle investigator. "And thanks to ESOC people and to the steady nerves of those present, we were able to successfully complete the activity." The situation became even more serious when several workers at ESOC tested positive for the virus, and the site effectively closed. "We had to protect the people," says Sylvain, whose last task before going home was to switch off all the instruments on Solar Orbiter. "It felt horrible because I didn't know when those instruments were coming back online," he says. In the event, it was only about a week later that a skeleton staff returned and with full social distancing measures in place began working remotely with the instrument teams to get the commissioning done. Solar Orbiters first close approach to the sun. Credit: ESA/MediaLab One of the instrument teams most affected was the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) team. The solar wind, which is constantly released from the sun, is composed of a mixture of electrically charged particles called ions, and electrons. The SWA instrument comprises three different sensors to measure the fluxes and composition of these various particle populations. Each sensor operates as a kind of 'electrical periscope' that uses high voltages, up to 30 kilovolts in one case, to divert the solar wind particles into the detector. To operate those high voltages safely, the team had planned not to turn on the instrument until at least a month after launch. This was intended so no traces of Earth's atmosphere would remain within the SWA sensors. If there were, these high voltages could cause arcing and damage the sensors. The switch on process for each of the SWA detectors is long because each high-voltage subsystem must be powered up in steps of just 20 or 50 volts at a time. After each increase, the instrument is checked to make sure nothing untoward has happened. When SWA's principal investigator Christopher Owen, of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London (MSSL/UCL), had left Germany, he and his team had begun to make plans to commission the instrument from their lab in the UK. But then the UK lockdown was announced, meaning a move to working from the home office for almost everybody. "When I left the lab, I grabbed a couple of laptops and four screens, and brought them home. I then evicted my two-year-old from his nursery and set everything up in there," says Christopher. And from this temporary control centre, once ESOC had returned to work, he worked remotely with the rest of the SWA team and the skeleton staff in Darmstadt to get the instrument commissioned. "We had serious doubts about whether we could work like this," says Sylvain about the process in general, "but we adapted and in the end, it worked very well because the team all knew each other." Ready for science The other instrument teams also successfully finished their commissioning. "This is undoubtedly the first mission whose instruments were completely commissioned from people's homes," says David Berghmans, from the Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium, and principal investigator of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI). Not only did the job get done, but they made up for lost time and managed to complete their commissioning on the original timeline. "Even in a normal world I would be very happy with where we are now," says Daniel Muller, Solar Orbiter Project Scientist at ESA, "I never expected that almost everything would work flawlessly out of the box." That's testimony to the expertise with which the spacecraft was made by the prime contractor Airbus DS (UK) and its instruments were made by the various instrument teams. On 25 June, the Solar Orbiter Review Board endorsed this achievement by declaring the Mission Commissioning Results Review successful. Timothy Horbury and his team from Imperial College London connected via Zoom to run experiments on Solar Orbiters magnetometer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Solar Orbiter was launched on 10 February 2020, only a few weeks before the pandemic struck Europe, enforcing strict measures including temporary closures of non-essential facilities. Credit: Tim Horbury For Cesar Garcia Marirrodriga, ESA's Solar Orbiter's Project Manager, it was a big moment because with commissioning over, his job is done and he hands over the spacecraft to the mission operations manager. "I'm very happy to hand it over because I know it is going in the right direction," says Cesar. And for Daniel, it is a big moment too because now the mission is ready to perform science. "In these four months since launch, the 10 instruments onboard have been carefully checked and calibrated one by one, like tuning individual musical instruments. And now it is time for them to perform together," he says. This month's 'remote-sensing checkout window' from 17 to 22 June presented the first opportunity to have all the instruments play together. Receiving the recordings from the spacecraft, which is currently more than 160 million kilometres away, will be completed in the next few days. "We're very excited about this first 'concert'. For the first time, we will be able to put together the images from all our telescopes and see how they take complementary data of the various parts of the sun including the surface; the outer atmosphere, or corona; and the wider heliosphere around it. This is what the mission was built for," says Daniel. These first light images will be released to the public in mid-July. 100 days worth of data Other instruments are already collecting data too. In the case of the Magnetometer (MAG), this was first switched on just a day after launch. "We got just under 100 days' worth of data through the commissioning period, and it's wonderful data," says Helen O'Brien, from Imperial College and MAG's chief engineer. MAG was switched on early so that it could take readings as it was carried away from the spacecraft as its boom arm was deployed. "The instrument behaved beautifully. It was wonderful to see the field decay as we moved away from the spacecraft," says Helen. That data will allow the team to understand the magnetic field being generated by the spacecraft itself, so that they can now remove it from their science data to leave just the magnetic field being carried into space away from the sun. And there is plenty of data already. The team already has more than two billion scientific measurements to analyse. "The data is outstanding, really, really good, so we're very happy," says Tim Horbury, Imperial College, UK, and principal investigator for the instrument. The mission now continues on course to the sun. During this cruise phase, the spacecraft's in-situ instruments will gather scientific data about the environment around the spacecraft, while the remote-sensing instruments will be fine-tuned by the teams in preparation for science operations in closer vicinity of the sun. The cruise phase lasts until November 2021, after which Solar Orbiter will begin the science phase of its mission. Explore further Solar Orbiter makes first close approach to the sun Christy Bell, a Ph.D. student in the University of Wyoming Department of Zoology and Physiology, observes a Western bumblebee. Bell and Lusha Tronstad, lead invertebrate zoologist with the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, are co-authors of a paper about Western bumblebees. Credit: Christy Bell A University of Wyoming researcher and her Ph.D. student have spent the last three years studying the decline of the Western bumblebee. The two have been working with a group of bumblebee experts to fill in gaps of missing information from previous data collected in the western United States. Their goal is to provide information on the Western bumblebee to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service while it considers listing this species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. "The decline of the Western bumblebee is likely not limited to one culprit but, instead, due to several factors that interact such as pesticides, pathogens, climate change and habitat loss," says Lusha Tronstad, lead invertebrate zoologist with the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (WYNDD). "Western bumblebees were once the most abundant bumblebees on the West Coast of the U.S., but they are much less frequently observed there now. Pathogens (or parasites) are thought to be a major reason for their decline." Tronstad and Christy Bell, her Ph.D. student in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, from Laramie, are co-authors of a paper, titled "Western Bumble Bee: Declines in the United States and Range-Wide Information Gaps," that was published online June 26 in Ecosphere, a journal that publishes papers from all subdisciplines of ecological science, as well as interdisciplinary studies relating to ecology. The two are co-authors because they are members of the Western Bumble Bee Working Group and serve as experts of the Western bumblebee in Wyoming, Tronstad says. Other contributors to the paper are from the U.S. Geological Survey; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Canadian Wildlife Service; Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in Portland, Ore.; British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy; University of Hawaii-Hilo; U.S. Department of Agriculture; The Institute for Bird Populations; University of Vermont; Utah State University; Ohio State University; Denali National Park and Preserve; and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. This paper is the result of the Western Bumble Bee Working Group, which is a group of experts on this species who came together to assemble the state of knowledge on this species in the United States and Canada, Tronstad says. The paper shows both what is known and knowledge gaps, specifically in the lack of samples and lack of knowledge about the species. Some prime examples of where spatial gaps in limited sampling exist include most of Alaska, northwestern Canada and the southwestern United States. Christy Bell (foreground) sets up traps to collect Western bumblebees in southwestern Wyoming. Credit: Lusha Tronstad "Some areas in the U.S. have less bumblebee sampling in the past and present," Tronstad explains. "This could be for a variety of reasons such as lack of funding for such inventories, lack of bee expertise in that state, etc." Using occupancy modeling, the probability of detecting the Western bumblebee decreased by 93 percent from 1998-2018, Tronstad says. Occupancy modeling is a complex model that estimates how often the Western bumblebee was detected from sampling events between 1998-2018 in the western United States. "The data we assembled will be used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to inform its decision on whether or not to protect the Western bumblebee under the U.S. Endangered Species Act," Tronstad says. "At WYNDD, we collect data, and that data is used by managers. Our mission is to provide the most up-to-date data on which management decisions can be based." Tronstad says there are several things that homeowners or landowners can do to help this species of bumblebee survive and thrive. These include: Plant flowers that bloom throughout the summer. Make sure these flowers have pollen and produce nectar, and are not strictly ornamental. Provide a water source for bees. Tronstad says she adds a piece of wood to all of her stock tanks so bees can safely get a drink. Provide nesting and overwintering habitat. Most bumblebees nest in the ground, so leaving patches of bare ground covered with litter or small mammal holes will benefit these bees. Be sure not to work these areas until after you see large bumblebees (queen bees) buzzing around in the spring, usually in April for much of Wyoming, so you can find out where they are nesting. Tronstad says Bell's research will continue this summer, as Bell will investigate pathogens in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming that affect Western bumblebees there. Max Packebush, a UW sophomore majoring in microbiology and molecular biology, from Littleton, Colo.; and Matt Green, a 2018 UW graduate from Camdenton, Mo., will assist Bell in her research. NASA and the Wyoming Research Scholars Program will fund Packebush to conduct his work.The U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funded the research for this paper. Explore further Bumblebees found coast to coast are studied for protection More information: Tabitha A. Graves et al, Western bumble bee: declines in the continental United States and rangewide information gaps, Ecosphere (2020). Journal information: Ecosphere Tabitha A. Graves et al, Western bumble bee: declines in the continental United States and rangewide information gaps,(2020). DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3141 A computer program that mimics in software the social interactions of the humpback whale has been used by researchers in Egypt to build a system for the identification of Arabian horses. Identification of Arabian racehorses is critical to owner provenance, vaccination handling, disease control, animal traceability, food management, and animal safety. Traditionally, the horses are hot or freeze branded. Today, the branding might be by electronic tag or implant, or even biometric. Classical approaches are invasive and vulnerable to fraud. Writing in the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, Ayat Taha and Ahmed ElKholy of Al-Azhar University in Cairo and colleagues Ashraf Darwish of Helwan University, and Aboul Ella Hassanien Cairo University, explain how the whale optimization algorithm helps avoid fraud. The WOA is inspired by the hunting behavior of humpback whales. These marine mammals use a special strategy for hunting fish called bubble-net hunting. The whales produce bubbles in a spiral or a ring around a target school of fish and then swim to shrink this ephemeral boundary, pushing the fish into a smaller volume of water. They then pinpoint fish to capture within this boundary, which not only confuses the fish and confines them but gives the whales an almost fixed area to focus on. The WOA mathematically models this in two phases: creating a bubble boundary and then allowing "prey" features to be identified. The team has now built their algorithm on an optimized Multi-Class Support Vector Machine. The system analyzes muzzle imprints from the horses, it having been trained on known horses. It is possible to identify a horse quickly using this system to an accuracy of more than 97%, which surpasses previous machine learning systems that do not rely on biomimetic models such as the whale optimization algorithm. Explore further Are these humpback whales too close for comfort? More information: Ayat Taha et al. Arabian horse identification based on whale optimized multi-class support vector machine, International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology (2020). Ayat Taha et al. Arabian horse identification based on whale optimized multi-class support vector machine,(2020). DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2020.10030079 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Increasing gender diversity has been a long-sought goal across many of the sciences, and interventions and programs to attract more women into fields like physics and math often happen at the undergraduate level. But is representation enough to improve gender diversity in science? In a new study, Colorado State University researchers say there's more to the story: They've found that even when undergraduate women outnumber men in science courses, women may still be experiencing gender biases from their peers. The CSU team, combining expertise in gender psychology, instructional intervention and physical sciences, conducted a survey-based study among both physical and life science undergraduate courses at CSU, asking students how they perceived each other's abilities within those courses. Their results were published online June 25 in the journal PLOS ONE. "The assumption has been that if you have the numbers, if you just increase the number of women, you won't have bias," said study co-author Meena Balgopal, professor in science education in the CSU Department of Biology. "But we find that's not the case." For their study, the researchers focused on courses with a peer-to-peer learning component, such as group lab work, partner work or breakout sessions during lectures. They recruited instructors to administer surveys asking students how they perceived each other, with questions including: Are there any students in your class you are more likely to go to if you need help with the class? Thinking about your course, do any students stand out as particularly knowledgeable? Thinking about your course, who would you consider to be the best student(s) in the class? In total, they surveyed about 1,000 students. Outnumbered and undervalued Here's what the researchers found: In physical science classeswhere women are more traditionally underrepresentedwomen were indeed outnumbered, and they had higher average GPAs, statistically higher course grades, and were 1.5 times more likely to earn an A or A-plus than men. However, the researchers found that both men and women presumed that the men in the class outperformed the women. In these classes, both women and men were less likely to select a woman as someone they would seek help from, find knowledgeable, or perceive as best in the class. They saw a similar, albeit lesser effect in life science classes, where, in contrast to physical sciences, women tend to outnumber men, particularly in biology classes. In their study results, women both outnumbered and outperformed men in terms of GPA and statistically higher course grades. In these courses, men were equally likely to identify a woman or a man in all categories such as someone they'd seek help from, or find knowledgeable, or consider best in the class, and women identified women and men equally only in the category of "best in the class." The researchers acknowledged limitations in their study: Although the surveys allowed participants to self-identify their own genders, when they referred to classmates, the researchers only recorded how students perceived the genders of their classmates. They also found that the surveys were not representative of the overall demographics of the courses; students who chose to answer the surveys were more likely to be STEM majors, white students, physical science students, and students with overall higher class grades and GPAs. Also, while they wanted to perform intersectional analyses for women of color or gender minorities and how their peers perceived them, they did not have a large enough sample to draw meaningful conclusions from the data. The researchers were inspired to conduct the study after a 2016 study by University of Washington researchers found a pro-male bias for ratings of students' abilities among male students in undergraduate biology courses. The CSU team wanted to see if the same effect could be found here, and their choice of methodology was intentionally similar. Learning from the results Balgopal said from an instructional design point of view, their results could reveal opportunities for more thoughtful attention to things like group work, and how instructors guide active learning. "It would be really interesting to understand where these biases originate," said Balgopal, who, along with co-author A.M. Aramati Casper, is interested in pedagogical interventions that improve classroom learning outcomes. For first author and gender psychologist Brittany Bloodhart, the most striking aspect of the study was not that gender bias persists among undergraduate STEM students, but that it's happening at the same time when women are consistently outperforming men in these fields, rather than being negatively affected in performance. Among the research that shows girls and women are better in STEM, it's often discounted in various waysgirls work harder, are more attentive in class, study more, etc., which leads to better grades, Bloodhart said. When women perform worse than men on standardized tests, some claim that this reflects a difference in natural ability because they consider such tests the "real" measures of STEM ability. However, many studies support the view that standardized tests are also biased, and a poor predictor of actual STEM ability. There is also a "variability hypothesis," which says that on average, girls and women have better outcomes in STEM than boys and men, but there is less variation in women's natural STEM talent compared to men. "Our study refutes that variability hypothesis," Bloodhart said. "We didn't find any evidence that men were more variable than women or that they were more likely to get the top scores." More information: Brittany Bloodhart et al, Outperforming yet undervalued: Undergraduate women in STEM, PLOS ONE (2020). Journal information: PLoS ONE Brittany Bloodhart et al, Outperforming yet undervalued: Undergraduate women in STEM,(2020). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234685 But former Whitehall Supervisor Vernon Scribner, a longtime farm owner who lives on county Route 12 and knows members of the Amish community, said hes aware of some negative impact the pandemic has had on them. One Amish farm was sold a couple of months ago to another Amish family, but because of the pandemic, the new owner has been unable to sell milk because the state hasnt been doing inspections, he said. He also wondered how an Amish pallet maker was faring with decreased demand for construction materials like local slate. Its impacted them somewhat, but not all that much, said Scribner, who lost a cousin from Burlington, Vermont, to COVID-19. Nick Deutch, Safkas partner, attended an Amish auction in Hampton last Wednesday that was attended by an estimated 150 people, half who were Amish, he said. He said the community is aware of the pandemic, but that they arent really impacted much by it. They have been going about business as usual in their own little secluded society. Stefanik voted against a Democratic bill. She criticized Democratic opponent Tedra Cobb for saying that she would have voted for that bill, which Stefanik said allows more rights for violent criminals than it does for good police officers doing their jobs to protect our North Country communities. This is an unacceptable position in our district, where we have productive and effective relationships with our brave law enforcement who put their lives on the line for us each day. Cobb said in a statement that she does not support defunding the police, but believes reforms are needed. She supports the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which bans chokeholds, eliminates no-knock warrants, requires de-escalating and demands the duty of officers to intervene when excessive force is being used. Student loan relief Stefanik has introduced a bipartisan bill to provide temporary relief for Perkins student loan borrowers. The legislation would allow the nearly 2 million borrowers to forgo making payments on the loans until October, according to a news release. This bill would close a loophole in which certain borrowers were not eligible for the student loan program under the federal stimulus package. Helping apple farmers The discussion, to be held during Tuesday's meeting, comes as school districts across the country are reconsidering such contracts with police officers placed within school buildings. The intent is to have officers to build relationships with students and serve as liaisons between districts and law enforcement, but nationally, some studies have found disparities in school-based arrests of minority students, that it criminalizes poor decisions made by students as young as middle school and created a school-to-prison pipeline for some students. School districts in Minneapolis, Seattle and Portland, Ore., have pledged to remove officers, the New York Times reported, and teachers unions in Los Angeles and Chicago are also advocating to remove police from districts. On June 24, Chicago Public Schools voted 4-3 to keep its contract with the Chicago Police Department. The Zuccardi Malbec is produced from 100% Malbec and is fermented and aged in concrete vessels (inert vessels) which impart no outside flavors on the wine and allow the grapes to speak true to their essence. Cultivated in chalky soils of the Zuccardis Paraje Altamira vineyards in the Uco Valley south of Mendoza, the wine showcases deep purple hues in the glass and showcases aromas of stewed plum, red cherry and ripe blackberry. Hints of tobacco and leather with mineral elements are ever so slight as you continue to smell the wine. Dry to the taste, flavors of ripe black and blue fruits come through to the palate with tastes of blackberries, blueberries, and striking mineral flavors that boasts a sleek finish to this wine. High in acidity and 14% alcohol, this is a great example of Malbecs powerful flavors and refined presentation. This wine creates a perfect pairing by combining the sweet dark flavors of the black mission figs and the dark fruit flavors in the wine. Accentuating the sweetness of the shallot and complementing the smoky flavors of the Ancho Chili fig jam with its aromas of tobacco and vanilla and the cool flavors from the blue and blackberries taming the heat from the jalapenos. While some may think it strange to pair a red wine with a dish with some heat, I found that in this particular case it worked quite well. As you venture to the grocery store to prepare your next meal I encourage you to take a look for the unusual ingredients on the shelves. These often lead to new discoveries and wonderful pairings. The 2017 Zuccardi Concreto Malbec is one that Im sure you will love and will be a mainstay in your cellar during the summer. Carson Bodnarek, a self-proclaimed cork dork, is a certificate recipient from the Court of Master Sommeliers, WSET Level II and is currently studying for his certified sommelier exam. Always on the hunt for his next great bottle of wine for his collection, he is an avid jetsetter and devout foodie. After moving to Quad-Cities from Iowa City in 2013, Carson now resides in Bettendorf. Contact Carson Bodnarek at 563-383-2299 or cbodnarek@qctimes.com. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 What's next? 3D home tours can be supplemented (or replaced) by video showings via FaceTime or Skype, during which your real estate agent carries a smartphone through the house while answering questions. Buyers can direct their agent to focus the camera on the things they care about, Street says. And, yes, technology exists for buyers to don virtual reality headsets and "walk" through homes immersively. But virtual reality hasn't taken off, Yelkovan says, and it seems like overkill when you can get the information you need on a computer or tablet. Nerdy tips to keep in mind Pay attention to pricing: Matterport and VPiX offer subscription plans to real estate agents, and professional photographers often do the work. If the agent wants to pass along some of the cost to the seller, that's subject to negotiation. Zillow 3D Home is a free app, and the seller or seller's agent can take the photos with a supported camera or hire a photographer. Beware buying without visiting: It's possible to buy a home without setting foot in it, with or without using a 3D virtual tour. But you can't experience smells or sounds through a virtual tour. An in-person visit is recommended. Posted on: June 30, 2020 2:13 PM CSI chief speaks out after father and son die after Covid-19 lockdown arrests The General Secretary of the united Church of South India (CSI) has added his voice to the growing international furore over the deaths of a father and son in police custody in Tamil Nadu. P Jeyaraj, 58, and his son Fenix, 38, were arrested on 19 June for allegedly keeping their store in Thoothukudi open past the permitted hours during a Covid-19 lockdown in the State. Both men, members of the Thoothukudi- Nazareth Diocese of the Church of South India, died days later. Their relatives say that they had been subjected to brutal torture while in police custody. In an open letter, the General Secretary of the CSI, Advocate Fernandas Rathina Raja, called for stringent action to be taken against the police personnel involved in what he called the custodial murder of Jayaraj Fenix. He said that that the police personnel who used the excessive force did not follow the guidelines in the law and procedures authorised by the Indias Supreme Courts. He also said that the Duty Doctor who gave the fitness certificate had deliberately ignored and violated the rules in issuing the certificate; and he said that the Magistrate who remanded the pair in custody had not exercised his judicial conscience. Mr Raja said that the CSI joined with the general public at large in expecting the personal intervention of the Chief Minister and the Minority Commission Chairperson to initiate firm action against all the culprits in accordance with the law and take stringent measures so that such brutal incidents does not take place in future. Covid-19 Lockdown Khyber Pakhtunkhwa churches re-open with Pentecost service Pigeons and balloons were flown on Pentecost Sunday (31 May) to mark the return to worship in the Pakistan province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Moderator of the united Church of Pakistan, Bishop Humphrey Peters, led a special service in All Saints Church in Peshawar after a three-month suspension of public worship. Congregation members wore face masks and other measures were taken to prevent the spread of the virus. The Frontier News, the magazine of the Diocese of Peshawar, reported that worshipers showed immense happiness over opening of the Churches. In his sermon, Archbishop Humphrey said that the character of Christians must reflect traits of true believers of Christ and must stay stronger in faith in these testing times. Prayers were also offered for healing those affected by the virus. Mothers Union says thank you to Covid-19 key workers in Britain and Ireland The Britain and Ireland branch of the Mothers Union Anglican mission agency is preparing to say a big thank you to key workers in the two countries. It has joined with the Together coalition and says that it wants its 55,000-strong membership to come together to say the biggest thank you possible to all those who have helped us to get us through Covid-19 On Saturday (4 July) the Mothers Union is holding an online service of reflection and celebration for community and kindness Love Thy Neighbour. The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, will preach during the service. The Together coalition is bringing together community groups alongside some of the UKs biggest organisations, including the BBC and the Womens Institute, with the aim of bringing people together and bridge divides, to help build a kinder, closer and more connected country. Its steering committee is chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. The ethos of the Together coalition couldnt have chimed more clearly with us, not just because of the work that we do, but especially at this moment in time when we are focused on the exceptional need for recovery and rebuilding within families and communities., the Chief Executive of the Mothers Union, Bev Jullien, said. At our best and through our own 55,000 local members we know that when people come together locally to solve their own challenges, amazing things happen. By coming together as Mothers Union in our new initiative to say thank you to our more unrecognised key workers, we want to create some amazing experiences and memories for them and their families. The Mothers Union have also announced a thank you to key workers appeal. Through it, they want to recognise the work of a range of professions, including nurses, delivery drivers, careworkers and cleaners, who they save have made a great deal of personal sacrifice through the lockdown, including the loss of quality family time. The appeal will fund day experiences and short breaks for key workers to help rebuild family connections and togetherness, especially for families who have been kept apart or who are on low incomes. You can take part in Saturdays online Love Thy Neighbour service at 9 pm BST (8 am GMT) on Saturday 4 July at facebook.com/pg/MothersUnion. Archbishop of Canterbury presents 32 Lambeth Awards The Chair of the Jerusalem and Middle East Church Association (JMECA), a Kenyan theologian and a Kenyan bishop have been awarded the Archbishop of Canterburys Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion. They are amongst 32 Lambeth Awards presented by the Archbishop of Canterbury today (Tuesday). The majority of recipients are from England; but award winners include members of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia; the US-based Episcopal Church, the Church of Ireland and the Church in Wales. The Lambeth Awards are a suite of Awards named after former Archbishops of Canterbury presented each year by the Archbishop of Canterbury. They are usually presented at an awards ceremony at Lambeth Palace in London; but this years recipients will receive their awards by post because of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Recipients of the Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion including John Clark, for an outstanding and selfless contribution to the life and witness of churches of the Anglican Communion, especially in the Middle East and specifically Iran, over 50 years. Between the 1970s and 1992 he worked as a missionary, desk officer, and then Communications Director for the Church Mission Society before becoming Secretary of the Church of Englands Partnership for World Mission. He has served on successive Anglican Communion Commissions for Mission and was the first Director for Mission and Public Affairs for the Archbishops Councils. He has chaired the Friends of the Diocese of Iran and the Diocese of Iran Trust Fund; the Jerusalem & East Mission Trust; and the JMECA. He has consistently demonstrated the tireless, level-headed, solution-orientated approach which has long characterised his outstanding contribution, his citation reads. Another recipient is Professor Joseph Galgalo, a leading Anglican African theologian and Vice Chancellor of St Pauls University in Kenya who is described as a significant influence in the vitality of the Anglican Communion. In 2015 he gave the inaugural seminar papers of the Mission Theology in the Anglican Communion project at both Durham University and Lambeth Palace in the UK. He has served on the Anglican Communions Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission, The Archbishop of Canterburys Panel of Reference, and was part of the Listening Process of the Anglican Communion contributing a chapter on Christian Spirituality and Sexuality to the book The Anglican Communion and Homosexuality (2008). His citation says that he has demonstrated a rare combination of profound scholarship, lucid writing, prayerful humility, and administrative acumen. The third recipient of the Cross of St Augustine is Dr Joseph Wasonga, the former Bishop of Maseno West and Dean of the Anglican Church of Kenya, for his role as a researcher and facilitator for Bishops Peer Mentoring workshops across the African continent. Bishop Joseph had been one of the longest serving bishops in the Anglican Church of Kenya, having served Maseno West for 28 years, from 1991 until his retirement last year. He has been a member of the Anglican Communion Bishops in Dialogue Consultation and participated in many Anglican and ecumenical meetings. Throughout his ministry, Bishop Wasonga has committed himself to bringing his knowledge, skills and experience, as a teacher, preacher, counsellor, and leader, for the benefit of the Church and all people, and to the Glory of God, his citation read. This is the fifth year of the Lambeth Awards, and I am constantly impressed and humbled by the work that recipients have accomplished, sometimes in the most challenging circumstances, Archbishop Justin said. Not all are followers of Jesus Christ, but all contribute through their faith to the mutual respect and maintenance of human dignity which are so vital to spiritual and social health. The full list of winners with brief citation follows; the full citations can be read by clicking here (pdf). The Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion Mr John Mullin Clark For an outstanding and selfless contribution to the life and witness of churches of the Anglican Communion, especially in the Middle East and specifically Iran, over 50 years. For an outstanding and selfless contribution to the life and witness of churches of the Anglican Communion, especially in the Middle East and specifically Iran, over 50 years. Joseph Galgalo For being a leading Anglican African theologian, an entrepreneurial Vice Chancellor of a Kenyan University and a significant influence in the vitality of the Anglican Communion. For being a leading Anglican African theologian, an entrepreneurial Vice Chancellor of a Kenyan University and a significant influence in the vitality of the Anglican Communion. The Right Revd Dr Joseph Wasonga The Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion. For services to the Anglican Communion, particularly in his role as Bishop of Maseno West, Dean of the Province of Kenya, and his role as a researcher and facilitator for Bishops Peer Mentoring workshops across the African continent. The Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation Mrs Jocelyn Armstrong For her outstanding contribution to interfaith relations in New Zealand. For her outstanding contribution to interfaith relations in New Zealand. The Revd Canon Paul-Gordon Chandler For his distinct and exceptional contribution in using the arts for interreligious peacebuilding around the world. For his distinct and exceptional contribution in using the arts for interreligious peacebuilding around the world. Mr Abdul Muquaddas Choudhuri For outstanding work in the area of Interfaith Cooperation. For outstanding work in the area of Interfaith Cooperation. Jan Pike For her outstanding commitment and contribution to grass roots inter-faith and cross-cultural work. For her outstanding commitment and contribution to grass roots inter-faith and cross-cultural work. The Revd Canon Stephen Williams For an outstanding contribution and commitment to building relationships between Christians and Jews in Manchester. The Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness Jonathan Bryan In the face of extraordinary challenges, Jonathan has become a communicator of the good news of Jesus Christ and an embodiment of the hope he brings. In the face of extraordinary challenges, Jonathan has become a communicator of the good news of Jesus Christ and an embodiment of the hope he brings. Canon Richard Fisher For outstanding innovative work in supporting and developing Fresh Expressions of Church such as Messy Church, Who Let The Dads Out? and, more recently, Anna Chaplaincy. For outstanding innovative work in supporting and developing Fresh Expressions of Church such as Messy Church, Who Let The Dads Out? and, more recently, Anna Chaplaincy. Jonathan Osborne For exemplary service as Senior Chaplain of the Metropolitan Police Service. For exemplary service as Senior Chaplain of the Metropolitan Police Service. Mike Pilavachi For his outstanding contribution to evangelism and discipleship amongst young people in the United Kingdom For his outstanding contribution to evangelism and discipleship amongst young people in the United Kingdom The Revd David Williams For outstanding work across two decades, ministering and witnessing to the families of sick and dying children. The Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England Christopher Charles Holland Cook For his outstanding work on inter-disciplinary issues between theology and psychiatry. For his outstanding work on inter-disciplinary issues between theology and psychiatry. Mr Charles Curnock For sustained, voluntary contributions to church leadership and governance, the care of the elderly, and political action, as well as direction of two major church renovation projects. For sustained, voluntary contributions to church leadership and governance, the care of the elderly, and political action, as well as direction of two major church renovation projects. Alan Fletcher For outstanding service to the Church of England Pensions Board over a period of eleven years and to the Church of England more generally through service on the General Synod, to the Diocese of Leicester, to Leicester Cathedral and as a member of the Ethical Investment Advisory Group. For outstanding service to the Church of England Pensions Board over a period of eleven years and to the Church of England more generally through service on the General Synod, to the Diocese of Leicester, to Leicester Cathedral and as a member of the Ethical Investment Advisory Group. Phil Johnson For outstanding service to improving safeguarding practice in the Church of England. For outstanding service to improving safeguarding practice in the Church of England. Jo Kind For outstanding service to improving safeguarding practice in the Church of England. For outstanding service to improving safeguarding practice in the Church of England. Hugh McCurdy For dedication, loyalty and service to the mission of the Church of England with a particular focus on the mentoring and discipling of others, especially junior clergy. For dedication, loyalty and service to the mission of the Church of England with a particular focus on the mentoring and discipling of others, especially junior clergy. Melvyn Redgers For outstanding continuous service in the vocation of Lay Reader since 1958. The Langton Award for Community Service Kenneth Good For giving strategic leadership to the local church to engage fully with the community, throughout his ordained ministry, most of which was in the complex community of Northern Ireland. For giving strategic leadership to the local church to engage fully with the community, throughout his ordained ministry, most of which was in the complex community of Northern Ireland. Mother Jennifer Anne Goodeve For outstanding leadership skills in transforming a Victorian convent into a modern nursing home and driving forward change for over thirty years. For outstanding leadership skills in transforming a Victorian convent into a modern nursing home and driving forward change for over thirty years. Bernice Hardie (on behalf of WAVE: Were All Valued Equally) For creating places of true inclusion for people with and without learning disabilities. For creating places of true inclusion for people with and without learning disabilities. Dr Margaret Kennedy For rendering outstanding service to victims and survivors of Church- related sexual abuse through founding MACSAS. For rendering outstanding service to victims and survivors of Church- related sexual abuse through founding MACSAS. Bishop Donal Mckeown For his exceptional and sustained dedication to the cause of peace and social cohesion in an environment of traditional interdenominational tension. For his exceptional and sustained dedication to the cause of peace and social cohesion in an environment of traditional interdenominational tension. Celia Webster For creating places of true inclusion for people with and without learning disabilities. The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship The Revd Dr Lydia Muthoni Mwaniki For her prayerful, post-colonial interpretation of the New Testament, astute advocacy of gender justice, and articulate joy in Christ, which have influenced church leaders and the education and hope of innumerable women throughout Africa. For her prayerful, post-colonial interpretation of the New Testament, astute advocacy of gender justice, and articulate joy in Christ, which have influenced church leaders and the education and hope of innumerable women throughout Africa. Anthony G. Reddie The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship. For his exceptional and sustained contribution to Black Theology in Britain and beyond. The Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship. For his exceptional and sustained contribution to Black Theology in Britain and beyond. Professor John Swinton The Lanfranc award for Education and Scholarship. For his outstanding contribution to practical theology, particularly in the area of disability. The Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship Pam Rhodes For her outstanding work in hosting Songs of Praise on the BBC for over 30 years. For her outstanding work in hosting Songs of Praise on the BBC for over 30 years. Professor Richard Watson For his unparalleled contribution to the study and promotion of the use of our heritage of hymnody in Christian worship. The Dunstan Award for Prayer and the Religious Life I do know when we were in our late 20s or early 30s, one of her very good friends was very ill, Glover said. Doneen mentioned shed written her a letter and was writing to her every day. She felt its much easier to write every day because you get continuity going. She felt that was easier than to write once a week. Writing is Grimms spiritual mission, an opportunity to give people attention and encouragement, Glover said. Doneen believes in building people up, affirming them in their activities and successes, Glover said. (Her cards and letters) always affirmed our friendship, which is very tight. It was always encouragement and congratulations for a new grandchild and every aspect of our lives. She could pick up on it and make a positive of it. I am blessed to have been the recipient of many such cards, and if I kept them all, Id have at least a hundred, Glover said. OMearas earliest childhood memories include her mother writing letters, always by hand in her beautiful cursive handwriting. Swier said the three discussed partnering with the city Parks and Recreation Department, having community BBQs and more, although nothing is concrete during the pandemic. Huffmon said as VFW members age, it gets more difficult to participate in projects, so its time for the younger generation to pick up the mantle and carry on the mission. Miller said thats one of his main goals as senior vice commander. I dont want this to be another place that just gets shut down, that gets left (behind) or forgotten, he said. I really sat down with them and said I want to focus on making this more vibrant and getting the people I want to see in here. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} This may include reaching out to those at Ellsworth Air Force Base, but it also means reaching out to college students and those who pass by the VFWs Main Street door. Miller said everyone is welcome at the post and are encouraged to ask questions about its history. Malaysians returning from abroad will now need to pay a fee of between RM30 to RM150 for the Covid-19 tests that are conducted upon entering the country, said a new federal gazette effective immediately. Non-citizens, meanwhile, will be charged between RM60 to RM250 for the same tests. The new ruling, known as the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Fee for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Detection Test) Regulations 2020, was published on 26 June by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba. It stated that the fee will depend on the type of Covid-19 detection tests administered before returning individuals can proceed for immigration clearance at any points of entry. The types of tests used will be determined by the health director-general. Heres a breakdown of the test fees: Type of Covid-19 detection test Citizen (RM) Foreigner (RM) Polymerase chain reaction 150 250 Antigen rapid test kit 60 120 Antibody rapid test kit 30 60 Three categories are, however, exempted from paying: disabled individuals (OKU) carrying the OKU card issued by the Social Welfare Department (JKM), government officers returning to Malaysia on official assignments, and students returning to the country for the first time. Anyone in these three categories who have paid for their screening before this decision on fee waiver was made can claim for a refund from the Health Ministry, said senior minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. The regulation further noted that any Malaysians or non-citizens within the country can request to undergo Covid-19 detection tests at any government hospitals. These include government clinics and medical institutions declared by the government as federal medical institutions, or any other locations declared by the health director-general as testing areas. The same pricing applies. Aside from that, the new gazette also allows the health minister to make full or partial waivers of the Covid-19 test fees according to his discretion. Prior to this, Datuk Seri Ismail had said that Malaysians returning from abroad will need to undergo a swab test upon arrival. Those testing positive will be sent for treatment at designated hospitals. Meanwhile, those who tested negative are required to go through a mandatory 14-day quarantine period at home. They must also download the MySejahtera app and wear the quarantine wristbands for monitoring and identification purposes. (Source: Malay Mail, Bernama) 0 0 votes Article Rating SHARE "The Limits of Fairer Fines: Lessons from Germany" | Main | "Judicial Authority under the First Step Act What Congress Conferred through Section 404" June 29, 2020 Is it a death penalty success or failure when worst-of-the-worst plead guilty to avoid capital trial? The question in the title of this post is prompted by this AP story out of California headlined "Accused Golden State Killer admits murders, will avoid death penalty." Here are the basics: A former police officer who terrorized California as a serial burglar and rapist and went on to kill more than a dozen people while evading capture for decades pleaded guilty Monday to murders attributed to a criminal dubbed the Golden State Killer. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. had remained almost silent in court since his 2018 arrest until he uttered the word guilty in a hushed and raspy voice multiple times in a plea agreement that will spare him the death penalty for a life sentence with no chance of parole. DeAngelo, 74, has never publicly acknowledged the killings, but offered up a confession of sorts after his arrest that cryptically referred to an inner personality named Jerry that had apparently forced him to commit the wave of crimes that ended abruptly in 1986. I did all that, DeAngelo said to himself while alone in a police interrogation room after his arrest in April 2018, Sacramento County prosecutor Thien Ho said.... DeAngelo, seated in a wheelchair on a makeshift stage in a university ballroom that could accommodate hundreds of observers a safe distance apart during the coronavirus pandemic, acknowledged he would plead guilty to 13 counts of murder and dozens of rapes that are too old to prosecute. The scope of Joseph DeAngelos crimes is simply staggering, Ho said. Each time he escaped, slipping away silently into the night.... DeAngelo, a Vietnam veteran and a grandfather, had never been on the radar of investigators who spent years trying to track down the culprit. It wasnt until after the crimes ended that investigators connected a series of assaults in central and Northern California to slayings in Southern California and settled on the umbrella Golden State Killer nickname for the mysterious assailant. DeAngelo was caught after police used DNA from crime scenes to find a distant relative through a popular genealogy website database and then built a family tree that eventually led them to him. They then tailed DeAngelo and were able to secretly collect DNA from his car door and a discarded tissue to get an arrest warrant.... He tied up husbands and boyfriends and told them hed kill them if they made a sound while he assaulted the women. Eventually he slipped off into the dark on foot or by bicycle and even managed to evade police who at times believed they came close to catching him. DeAngelo knew the territory well. He had started on the police force in the San Joaquin Valley farm town of Exeter in 1973, where he is believed to have committed his first burglaries and first killing.... Victims family members were anxious about what to expect before the court hearing began. Ive been on pins and needles because I just dont like that our lives are tied to him, again, said Jennifer Carole, the daughter of Lyman Smith, a lawyer who was slain in 1980 at age 43 in Ventura County. His wife, 33-year-old Charlene Smith, was also raped and killed. A guilty plea and life sentence avoids a trial or even the planned weeks-long preliminary hearing. The victims expect to confront him at his sentencing in August, where its expected to take several days to tell DeAngelo and Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman what they have suffered. Gay and Bob Hardwick were among the survivors looking forward to DeAngelo admitting to their 1978 assault. The death penalty was never realistic anyway, Gay Hardwick said, given DeAngelos age and Gov. Gavin Newsoms moratorium on executions. He certainly does deserve to die, in my view, so I am seeing that he is trading the death penalty for death in prison, she said. It will be good to put the thing to rest. I think he will never serve the sentence that we have served weve served the sentence for 42 years. A person who murdered more than a dozen and raped many more would certainly seem to qualify as one of the "worst-of-the-worst" offenders that are often said to be those for whom the death penalty is reserved. But DeAngelo is not getting the ultimately penalty of death, so this case is arguably a story of death penalty failure. And yet, without the death penalty as a (remote) possibility, DeAngelo would have arguably had no reason to plead guilty and spare victims the pain of a trial and other court proceedings. And so maybe this case is still a story of death penalty success. June 29, 2020 at 07:06 PM | Permalink Comments DeAngelo is 74, even if he went to trial and got the death penalty and even if California was actually executing people he would still not live long enough to see an execution date, so I think it is inaccurate to theorize that he didn't go to trial to avoid the death penalty. In my experience defendants like this really have little incentive to go to trial and rarely do so merely because, "they have nothing to lose." You can spin this any way you like but I don't think you can seriously say that the death penalty in California by any measure could be called a success. Posted by: s. Milani | Jul 1, 2020 12:48:53 PM Post a comment LEO Pharma, a global leader in medical dermatology, today announced that Dr. Monica Shaw, M.D., and Nathalie Joannes will join the executive leadership team adding seasoned experience and international profile to LEO Pharma. The company is on an ambitious growth journey to become a leading provider of innovative medicines helping patients with skin diseases around the world. To align with its strategic objectives, it re-organizes its executive leadership team. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005651/en/ Monica Shaw (Photo: Business Wire) Dr. Monica Shaw, M.D., will assume the position of Executive Vice President, Region Europe+, effective July 1, 2020. Shaw joins LEO Pharma from GSK/ViiV Healthcare in Singapore, where she was VP Commercial, Head of Asia Pacific Region. She is a medical doctor with broad leadership experience across commercial and medical roles. She has a proven track record of developing high performing teams and an extensive specialty experience within the pharmaceutical industry including dermatology, immunology and rare diseases. She has held several leadership positions internationally in Europe, Asia and Latin America. "Monica Shaws experience in biologics, dermatology and specialty pharma will help us to be successful in our move to launch innovative treatments and become a global leader in medical dermatology. Her combination of global experience, great leadership skills and clinical background will contribute significantly to reach our ambitions," said Catherine Mazzacco, President and CEO of LEO Pharma. Nathalie Joannes will join LEO Pharma as Executive Vice President, Legal and Compliance and General Counsel from September 1, 2020. She joins LEO Pharma from Roquette Freres based at in the Paris headquarters, where she has been Group General Counsel. During Joannes long-standing career in the life-sciences and pharmaceutical industries, she successfully built international teams in legal, risk management and compliance for publicly traded and privately owned global companies. She holds a Juris Doctor Degree from Universite de Liege, Belgium, a Master of Law from University of Pennsylvania Law School and has been admitted to the New York Bar. Story continues "Nathalie Joannes has a proven track record in counseling international companies and her global pharma and life-science industry experience will be of great value to support the future development of LEO Pharma towards a global leadership position and a strong entry in the innovative space. She is a highly experienced lawyer and builder of strong international teams, which will help us immensely," said Mazzacco. Effective July 1, 2020, Guillaume Clement, currently Executive Vice President, Region Europe+, will assume responsibility for Region International and the thrombosis business, after having successfully led Region Europe+ in the last four years. Official bios Monica Shaw Dr. Monica Shaw, M.D., is a medical doctor with broad leadership experience across commercial and medical roles. She has a proven track record of developing high performing teams to deliver business performance and successful drug development. Monica Shaw has extensive specialty experience within the pharma industry working within dermatology, immuno-inflammation, HIV, neurology and oncology. She has held several leadership positions in the global pharma industry located in i.e. Europe, Asia and Latin America. Monica Shaw earned an M.D. M.A. and is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians. Employment History VP Commercial Head Asia Pacific region, GSK/ViiV Healthcare 2018 to current General Manager, GlaxoSmithKline 2016 2018 VP Global Franchise Medical Head for Specialty, GlaxoSmithKline 2014 2016 UK Chief Scientific Officer, Novartis 2013 2014 Global Therapy Area Director for Clinical Development and Business Development, Norgine 2011 2013 Global Clinical Director ADHD, Shire 2009 2011 Nathalie Joannes Nathalie Joannes holds a Juris Doctor Degree from Universite de Liege, a Master of Law from University of Pennsylvania Law School and has been admitted to the New York Bar since 1987. During her long-standing career as general counsel in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, she successfully built international teams and guided listed pharma companies through the legal aspects of mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, high-risk litigations, anti-trust investigations, corporate governance and compliance. Employment History Group General Counsel, Roquette Freres 2016 to current EVP and Group General Counsel, IPSEN 2011 2015 SVP and Chief European Counsel, Genzyme 2008 2011 General Counsel International, Cardinal Health 2007 2008 Group General Counsel, Serono International 2001 2007 About LEO Pharma LEO Pharma helps people achieve healthy skin. The company is a leader in medical dermatology with a robust R&D pipeline, a wide range of therapies and a pioneering spirit. Founded in 1908 and owned by the LEO Foundation, LEO Pharma has devoted decades of research and development to advance the science of dermatology, setting new standards of care for people with skin conditions. LEO Pharma is headquartered in Denmark with a global team of 6,000 people, serving 92 million patients in 130 countries. In 2019, the company generated net sales of DKK 10,805 million. For more information please visit: www.leo-pharma.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005651/en/ Contacts Media Contacts: Henrik Kyndlev +45 3140 6180 HDTDK@LEO-Pharma.com Resorts World Sentosa is Reopening: Should You Take A Gamble on Genting Singapore? Over the weekend, Genting Singapore Ltd (SGX: G13) announced that Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) will be welcoming back guests from 1 July onwards. Universal Studios Singapore, its theme park attraction, will reopen on 1 July with shortened operating hours (Thursdays to Sundays, 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.); while the S.E.A. Aquarium will reopen on 4 July with operations from Saturdays to Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This move follows the commencement of the Phase II post circuit breaker transition that will see Singapore opening up the bulk of its economy. Prior to the announcement, RWS had to cease operations and suspend its service offerings since 4 April, aside from food and beverage operators that were deemed essential services. The temporary closure, along with the plunge in tourist numbers due to lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, led to the group issuing a profit warning for the first half of 2020s results. With RWS coming back to life and welcoming visitors once again, is it time for investors to have a relook at Gentings investment thesis? Strong track record, solid balance sheet Genting Singapore has been operating profitably for many years, as evidenced by steady revenues above S$2 billion over the last six years. Gross profit margin has climbed from the 30% plus level between 2014 and2016 to average around 42% in the last three fiscal years. The groups crown jewel, RWS, also churns out copious amounts of operating cash flow, to the tune of around S$1 billion per year. With minimal capital expenditure requirements, Genting has been a free cash flow generation machine. Dividends have also been climbing steadily, from just S$0.01 in 2014 to S$0.03 in 2016 and increasing to S$0.04 last year. The groups balance sheet also remains rock-solid, with S$3.9 billion of cash and just S$260.6 million of gross debt as at end-2019. Significant but short-term hit to net profits However, the adverse impact from the pandemic could not be avoided. Story continues In its 2020 first-quarter business update, Genting reported a sharp year on year fall of 38% and 34% in gaming and non-gaming revenue, respectively. While net profit was not disclosed, the group did report that its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) plunged by 55% year on year. If we factor in a layer of fixed operating cost required to maintain RWS facilities, its not too far-fetched to imagine that the fall in net profit should be greater than 55% year on year. Furthermore, the impact will be worse for the second quarter, as this was the period when the circuit breaker measures kicked in. Investors can expect a horrible-looking report card, but need to be mindful that this poor performance is only temporary. As RWS reopens on 1 July, revenue should start flowing again, albeit slowly due to the reduced operating hours. The worst seems to be over for the group, at least for now. However, it may be a slow and painful climb back to pre-pandemic visitor levels. The group envisages that travel and tourism spending could return to pre-crisis levels only in late-2021 or the early part of 2022. Expansion initiatives in place The good news is that Genting has, in place, expansion initiatives that can help to grow the business over the longer-term. The first is the planned expansion of RWS, termed RWS 2.0, that will add around 50% new gross floor area to RWS existing space. New attractions such as an oceanarium and waterfront lifestyle complex are slated to be built. With COVID-19, the construction schedule may be pushed back somewhat but is still expected to be completed within the next five to six years. The second initiative is the planned bid for an integrated resort (IR) in Osaka, Japan. Genting has confirmed that the investment amount should not exceed US$10 billion, and that funding will include a combination of cash investment, equity partner contributions and project financing (i.e. debt). Although these two projects will significantly increase capital expenditures for the group, they will also open up new revenue streams for Genting. Get Smart: A wager you can bet on We should take a step back and take a hard look at Gentings core business. Being one of only two IR operators in Singapore, the group has a natural competitive advantage and will benefit from increased tourism after the effects of the pandemic have passed. Historically, the business has also been extremely cash-generative and boasts high net profit margins. The group has also been generously rewarding shareholders with increased dividend payouts over the years. With expansion plans in place, investors may wish to consider keeping Genting in mind as a potential investment. With share prices battered to multi-year lows, many attractive investment opportunities have emerged. In a special FREE report, we show you 3 stocks that we think will be suitable for our portfolio. Simply click here to scoop up your FREE copy before the next stock market rally. Click here to like and follow us on Facebook and here for our Telegram group. Disclaimer: Royston Yang does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned. The post Resorts World Sentosa is Reopening: Should You Take A Gamble on Genting Singapore? appeared first on The Smart Investor. Beijing will likely name a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security who is familiar with foreign intelligence agencies to head its new national security office in Hong Kong, according to sources and observers. Official sources said the candidate who will lead the mainland agency mandated under the new national security law that Beijing is imposing on Hong Kong will be announced soon after the legislation process is completed. According to state news agency Xinhua, Li Fei, head of the Constitution and Law Committee of the National Peoples Congress, reported amendments to the draft law at a meeting of the legislature on Sunday. The controversial law targeting secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign and external forces to endanger national security is expected to be passed by the Standing Committee of Chinas legislature on Tuesday at the close of the three-day meeting. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China. A source familiar with the situation in Hong Kong said that since the new office would report directly to the Communist Partys Central National Security Commission, it would be headed by a senior security official with solid experience of Hong Kong matters and who understands the rules of engagement with foreign intelligence agencies. The source also said that Beijing would likely choose a senior member of the public security ministry, which controls the police, since leaders of its spy agency, the Ministry of State Security, rarely took up public roles. A mainland expert on Hong Kong affairs said knowledge of the city, as well as Macau and Taiwan, would also be an important factor in making the selection. This official must have in-depth knowledge of Hong Kong matters and understand how they are linked to issues like Taiwan and foreign relations. Theyll need to have a helicopter view on these matters, said the expert who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to comment on the issue. Story continues Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, agreed that a candidate with a strong security background would be chosen given Hong Kongs unique position. It is well-known that Western countries have established extensive intelligence networks in Hong Kong, Lau said. Their main target is the mainland, not Hong Kong. Lau also said that the United States and Britain had expressed strong opposition to the new law because they would have to retreat [from Hong Kong] once the new law is implemented and Chinese national security personnel come in. Chen Siyuan, assistant public security minister, is seen as a front runner to head the new office. Photo: Handout Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, believed the assistant public security minister, Chen Siyuan, was a front runner for the job. He said sending Chen as part of a tough and capable team to the city would give a clear message that Beijing had put Hong Kong high on its security agenda. It would also be a step up, as the new position was at the higher vice-ministerial level. Chen, who is from Anhui province and has spent much of his career in the Beijing police force, was appointed head of the ministrys Domestic Security Protection Bureau in August. But the 55-year-old took part in official meetings in the capacity of director of the ministrys Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs Office back in January. Liu Yuejin is another potential candidate for the Hong Kong posting. Photo: Xinhua Along with Chen, there is speculation two other senior public security officials could be candidates for the Hong Kong posting after they recently stepped down from their roles: Liu Yuejin, 61, who was the counterterrorism commissioner; and Meng Qingfeng, 63, who was the deputy public security minister and specialises in commercial crimes. Meng Qingfeng recently stepped down as deputy public security minister. Photo: Handout Separately, a pro-Beijing think tank based in Hong Kong on Monday said it had conducted a telephone survey on the national security law last week. The Bauhinia Research Institute said its poll of 1,297 residents found that 67.8 per cent believed Hong Kong had a responsibility to safeguard Chinas national security, while 55.7 per cent supported Beijing setting up a national security office in the city. It said 57 per cent of those surveyed were not worried about being charged under the new law, while 55.7 per cent did not believe their freedom of speech would be affected by the legislation. Sign up now for a 50% early bird discount on the 100+ page China Internet Report 2020 Pro Edition, which includes deep-dive analysis, trends, and case studies on the 10 most important internet sectors. Now in its 3rd year, this go-to source for understanding China tech also comes with exclusive access to 6 webinars with C-level executives. Offer valid until 30 June 2020. More from South China Morning Post: This article Beijing likely to send senior police official to head national security office in Hong Kong first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. The United States on Monday ended sensitive defense exports to Hong Kong, further ramping up pressure in a row over the financial capital's autonomy from China. The US announced the decision hours after China said it would curb visas to some Americans heading to Hong Kong, itself a tit-for-tat response to a US move. The United States has been leading a global uproar over a national security law expected to be shortly approved by China, which Hong Kong activists say would destroy the city's freedoms. "We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China," Pompeo said in a statement. "We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People's Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the CCP by any means necessary," he said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. The direct impact will be modest. The State Department last year approved $2.4 million in defense sales to Hong Kong, of which $1.4 million worth were actually sent, including firearms and ammunition for law enforcement, according to official figures. The Commerce Department simultaneously said it was revoking its special status for Hong Kong. It will now treat the financial hub the same as China for so-called dual-use exports that have both military and civilian applications -- and which are highly restricted when sought by Beijing. China promised autonomy for Hong Kong before Britain returned the territory in 1997 but wants no repeat of massive and sometimes destructive protests that rocked the territory last year. "It gives us no pleasure to take this action, which is a direct consequence of Beijing's decision to violate its own commitments under the UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration," Pompeo said. - Tit-for-tat visa curbs - President Donald Trump's administration has already declared that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous in US eyes and has been rolling out a series of measures in response. On Friday, the State Department said it was restricting visas for an unspecified number of Chinese officials seen as responsible for infringing on the autonomy of the Asian financial hub. In response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday that the US "scheme... to obstruct the passage of the Hong Kong national security law will never prevail." "To target the US's above wrongful actions, China has decided to impose visa restrictions against American individuals who have behaved egregiously on matters concerning Hong Kong," Zhao said. China's top lawmaking committee is expected to adopt the law, already approved by Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament, during sessions that end on Tuesday. While outlawing acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces, the legislation will allow China's security agencies to set up shop publicly in the city for the first time. Britain, the European Union and the United Nations rights watchdog have all voiced fears the law could be used to stifle criticism of Beijing, which uses similar laws on the authoritarian mainland to crush dissent. In Washington, some US lawmakers fear that Trump will take primarily symbolic action on Hong Kong, preferring to prioritize trade concerns that could affect his re-election campaign. Last week, the US Senate unanimously approved a bill that would impose mandatory economic sanctions against Chinese officials, Hong Kong police -- and banks that work with them -- if they are identified as hurting the city's autonomous status. Zhao, the foreign ministry spokesman, warned that the US "should not review, advance or implement relevant negative bills concerning Hong Kong, even less impose so-called sanctions on China, otherwise China will firmly take strong countermeasures." Hong Kong was upended by seven straight months of protests last year, initially sparked by an eventually abandoned plan to allow extraditions to the mainland. But they soon morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing's rule and widespread calls for democracy. COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A majority coalition of parties in Denmark has agreed to introduce a tax on emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases, the government said late on Sunday. Denmark has one of the most ambitious climate change targets in the world, aiming to reduce its emissions by 70% by 2030 and become completely climate neutral no later than in 2050. As part of a broader climate deal set to reduce Denmark's carbon emissions by 3.4 million tonnes, the government will negotiate a green tax reform later this year, which will see companies pay a levy on the amount of CO2 they emit, the government said. In March, the Danish Council on Climate Change, a government advisory group, said Denmark should sharply increase carbon taxes to meet its climate targets. (Reporting by Andreas Mortensen; Editing by Mark Potter) North Korea's fury over anti-Pyongyang leaflets launched from the South is driven by "dirty, insulting" depictions of leader Kim Jong Un's spouse, Russia's top envoy in the reclusive country has said. In recent weeks Pyongyang has issued a series of vitriolic condemnations over anti-North leaflets which defectors based in the South send across the militarised border -- usually attached to balloons or floated in bottles. The campaigns have long been a point of contention between the two Koreas, but this time, Pyongyang upped the pressure, blowing up a liaison office and threatening military measures. One of the most recent launches -- carried out on May 31 -- had included provocative imagery of the North's First Lady Ri Sol Ju, sparking "serious outrage" in Pyongyang, according to Russian ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora. Russia is a key ally of the isolated North and Matsegora is one of the longest serving ambassadors in Pyongyang. "The leaflets bore a special kind of dirty, insulting propaganda, aimed at the leader's spouse," Matsegora told Russia's TASS news agency on Monday. They were photoshopped "in such a low-grade way", he added, and served as "the last straw" for the North. Inter-Korean relations have been in deep freeze following the collapse of a summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump early last year over what the nuclear-armed North would be willing to give up in exchange for a loosening of sanctions. Pyongyang turned its anger against Seoul rather than Washington, despite three summits between the North's leader and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who brokered the first Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore. The impoverished country is subject to multiple UN Security Council sanctions over its banned weapons programmes. The Russian diplomat also dismissed speculation that Kim's younger sister was being trained as the next leader of North Korea. Since early June, Kim Yo Jong -- a key adviser to her brother -- has been the face of Pyongyang's highly aggressive stance towards the South over the leaflets. North Korea blew up the liaison office days after she warned it would soon be seen "completely collapsed", and later she called Moon "disgusting" and apparently "insane". Despite her "serious political and foreign policy experience", Matsegora said Kim Yo Jong was "rather young". "There is absolutely no reason to say that she is being trained" to take the helm, Matsegora said. "No one dares to call themselves number two in the country," he added. "I think that if you asked comrade Kim Yo Jong whether she was number two, she would answer with a strong 'no'." The European Union reopened its borders Wednesday to visitors from 15 countries -- but not the virus-stricken United States, where a top health official warned the country is headed in the "wrong direction" as cases spike in multiple states. US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said that the United States could see 100,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, and several US states imposed 14-day quarantines on travelers from other states. Also in the US, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced he will not hold rallies during the outbreak, a move that is in stark contrast with President Donald Trump, who has already held large campaign gatherings. The 77-year-old former vice president delivered a blistering critique of his November opponent's handling of the virus, saying the Republican president had "failed" the country. "This is the most unusual campaign I think in modern history," Biden said. "I'm going to follow the doc's orders -- not just for me but for the country -- and that means that I am not going to be holding rallies." In Brussels, the EU finalized the list of countries whose health situation was deemed safe enough to allow residents to enter the bloc starting on Wednesday. Notably excluded were Russia and Brazil, as well as the United States, whose daily death toll passed 1,000 Tuesday for the first time since June 10. The countries that made it onto the EU's list are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Japan, Georgia, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. Travelers from China, where the virus first emerged late last year, will be allowed on the condition that Beijing reciprocates and opens the door to EU residents. The border relaxation, to be reviewed in two weeks and left to member states to implement, is a bid to help rescue the continent's battered tourism sector, which has been choked by a ban on non-essential travel in place since mid-March. But with some 10.4 million known infections worldwide, the pandemic is "not even close to being over," the World Health Organization has warned. - 'Very disturbing' - In Washington, Fauci, a member of Trump's coronavirus task force, warned Congress that "clearly we are not in total control right now." "I would not be surprised if it goes up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around." Alarming spikes in Texas and Florida are driving the national total of new cases to over 40,000 per day, and they need to be tamped down quickly to avoid dangerous surges elsewhere in the country, Fauci stressed. Texas alone reported 6,975 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, its highest tally yet. "I'm very concerned and I'm not satisfied with what's going on, because we're going in the wrong direction," Fauci said. The pandemic has claimed some 127,000 American lives so far and more than 508,000 around the globe. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Republican who chairs the Senate panel, urged Trump to end the politicization of mask-wearing by putting on one himself. "The president has plenty of admirers, they would follow his lead," Alexander said. "It would help end this political debate." New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Tuesday doubled to 16 the number of US states whose residents must go into quarantine for 14 days if they visit any of the northeastern states. The Pan American Health Organization warned, meanwhile, that the coronavirus death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean could top 400,000 by October without stricter public health measures. That would represent a quadrupling of the fatal cases of COVID-19 in the region. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, meanwhile, scored a victory Tuesday when a judge overturned a ruling that had forced him to wear a mask in public. The judge deemed the rule redundant since face masks are already mandatory in Brasilia. - 'Infrastructure revolution' - European aircraft maker Airbus said it is planning to cut around 15,000 jobs worldwide, 11 percent of its total workforce. Britain, home to Europe's deadliest outbreak, has already seen its sharpest quarterly contraction in 40 years, shrinking 2.2 percent from January-March. The worst is yet to come, with economists predicting a double-digit slump in output during the second quarter, tipping Britain into a technical recession. Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed Tuesday to deliver an "infrastructure revolution" to help the country out of the economic downturn. Germany, which has been praised for its handling of COVID-19, saw its North Rhine-Westphalia state extend a lockdown on a district hit hard by a slaughterhouse outbreak. And in Australia, a spike in cases in parts of Melbourne spurred new stay-at-home measures affecting some 300,000 people. Around the world, sporting events continued to fall off the calendar, including the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and the remainder of this year's World Rugby Sevens Series. The European Union is reopening to travelers from 14 countries, but not the United States. American visitors will have to wait at least another two weeks because of rises in coronavirus cases stateside, according to the Tuesday announcement. Travelers from Russia, Brazil and India are also missing out, for now. The 14 countries whose residents will be allowed to travel to the EU are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. Also Read: Trump Contradicts White House Defense He Was Joking About Rolling Back Coronavirus Tests: 'I Don't Kid' (Video) China will be the 15th country on the list, pending confirmation of reciprocity, according to the release. Decisions on the possible lifting of the restriction on non-essential travel into the EU should take into account the epidemiological situation within the EU, i.e. the average number of COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100 000 inhabitants, explained the document. The pandemic is still gripping the United States, where some regions have re-opened certain locations and activity sites, only to shut them down again. Los Angeles County announced Monday it will be closing its beaches again July 3-July 6 and prohibiting fireworks displays in light of the rising number of COVID-19 cases. Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer urged residents to stay home whenever possible and comply with physical distancing and face-covering guidelines as the total number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 100,000 on Monday. Read original story Americans Barred From European Union as Borders Open At TheWrap By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will boost defence spending by nearly 40% over the next 10 years as Canberra shifts its military assets to focus on the Indo-Pacific region, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will say on Wednesday. In a speech that threatens to inflame tensions with China, Morrison will say Australia will spend A$270 billion ($184.8 billion) over the next 10 years to acquire longer-range strike capabilities across air, sea and land. In 2016, Australia promised to spend A$195 billion over the next 10 years. Morrison will say that Australia's defence policy will also pivot to prioritise the Indo-Pacific region, an area that he will describe as the "epicentre of rising strategic competition." "We want an open, sovereign Indo-Pacific, free from coercion and hegemony. We want a region where all countries, large and small, can engage freely with each other, guided by international rules and norms," Morrison will say, according to excepts sent to Reuters. Morrison will not name China specifically but Australia's military shift to Indo-Pacific comes amid rising competition between the two for influence in the Pacific. Already elevated by Australia's 2018 decision to ban China's Huawei from its nascent 5G broadband network, bilateral ties have in recent months been soured by Canberra's call for an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. Then in June, Australia said a "sophisticated state-actor" has spent months trying to hack all levels of the government, political bodies, essential service providers and operators of critical infrastructure. Australia sees China as the chief suspect, three sources told Reuters. China denies it is behind the spate of cyber-attacks, but Morrison will on Wednesday commit to spend A$15 billion to bolster its offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. ($1 = 1.4607 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) Sahel countries and their ally France on Tuesday vowed to press ahead with a tactical shift in their campaign against an eight-year-old jihadist insurgency, saying the change had notched up substantial gains although major challenges also remain. After a summit in the Mauritanian capital Noukchott to review the new strategy at the six-month mark, French President Emmanuel Macron said there had been "spectacular results." "We are convinced that victory is possible in the Sahel, and that it is decisive for stability in Africa and Europe," he said. "We are in the process of finding the right path thanks to the efforts that have been made over these last six months." The one-day summit gathered the presidents of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, as well as their former colonial ruler France. It was called to take stock of a more aggressive approach, driven by a string of setbacks last year crowned by the loss of 13 French soldiers in a helicopter crash. Under the change, France deployed an extra 500 troops to its Barkhane anti-jihad force in the Sahel, bringing its complement to 5,100. Since then, the jihadists have continued to carry out attacks almost daily, but they also lost a key leader to a French raid and are fighting internally, according to security sources. Coalition forces have focussed on the "three-border region," a hotspot of jihadism where the frontiers of Burkina, Niger and Mali converge. "Areas have been taken back from the terrorist groups (and) the armies have redeployed," said Macron, adding that the tactics "have shifted the dynamic." "We now have to consolidate this dynamic and strengthen it... The ground that we have recovered will not be given back," he warned. In contrast, summit host President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani of Mauritania earlier sounded a more cautious note, saying there had been "significant progress" but this was "insufficient in the face of the mounting challanges that we have to meet." "Violent extremism in all its forms continues to hit several zones... and is expanding in a worrying manner," he said. - Tactical shift - The insurgency kicked off in northern Mali in 2012, during a rebellion by Tuareg separatists that was later overtaken by the jihadists. Despite thousands of UN and French troops, the conflict spread to central Mali, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, stirring feuds between ethnic groups and triggering fears for states further south. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and the economies of the three countries, already among the poorest in the world, have been grievously damaged. Macron arrived for a round trip from Europe for the summit, with representatives from the UN, African Union and European Union in attendance. The leaders of Spain, Germany and Italy also joined, by video link or in person. The meeting marked the first time that Sahel allies had gathered physically since the start of the coronavirus crisis. The campaign in the three-border region is targeting an Islamic State-affiliated group led by Abou Walid al-Sahraoui. On June 5, French forces in northern Mali, helped by a US drone, killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the notorious head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). And in a new development, jihadists respectively linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have clashed several times since the start of the year in Mali and Burkina Faso, after long steering clear of one another, according to security experts. - Troubled region - Despite this, problems in the Sahel run deep. Local armies are poorly equipped and under-funded and in some areas, essential services and the presence of government have evaporated. Rights group say troops are to blame for hundreds of killings and other abuses of civilians -- a concern that the summit addressed by warning of "exemplary punishment" if such cases are confirmed. Staunch French ally Chad has yet to fulfil a promise to send troops to the three-border region, and a much-trumpeted initiative to create a joint 5,000-man G5 Sahel force is making poor progress. In Mali, anger at insecurity has fuelled discontent over coronavirus restrictions and the outcome of elections, creating a political crisis for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Both Burkina and Niger are due to hold presidential elections by year's end, fuelling concerns about the outcome. On Monday, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the 13,000-troop MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali for another year, to June 30 2021. The next summit of the Sahel allies was set for early 2021. MADRID (Reuters) - Morocco right back Achraf Hakimi is set to join Inter Milan from Real Madrid for 50 million euros ($56.05 million) after spending two years on loan at Borussia Dortmund, Spanish newspapers AS and Marca said on Tuesday. Hakimi was photographed arriving in Milan on Tuesday for a medical and also published a farewell letter to Dortmund on his Instagram account. The report in AS said the 21-year-old is about to sign a five-year contract with Inter. A product of Real's academy, Hakimi made 16 appearances for their first team in the 2017-18 season but his long-term prospects were limited by the consistency of Dani Carvajal and the signing of Spain international Alvaro Odriozola in 2018. He made 45 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund this season, scoring nine goals and providing 10 assists to help the team finish second in the Bundesliga. "The moment has come to bring a great period of my life to a close," Hakimi wrote on Instagram. "After two marvellous years, I have to leave this club which has given me so many happy moments." ($1 = 0.8921 euros) (Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Christian Radnedge) Iran reported on Monday 162 more deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest single-day toll since the country's outbreak began in February. "This increase in numbers is in fact a reflection of our overall performance, both in terms of reopening and in compliance with health protocols," health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said at a news conference. The previous record daily toll of 158 deaths was reported by health authorities in early April. Official figures have shown an upward trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, when Iran hit a near two-month low in daily recorded infections. Iran reported its first COVID-19 cases on February 19 and it has since struggled to contain the outbreak, the deadliest in the Middle East. Lari announced an additional 2,536 new cases on Monday, bringing the total to 225,205. The overall official death toll is now at 10,670 Iranian authorities have refrained from enforcing full lockdowns to stop the pandemic's spread and the use of masks and protective equipment has been optional in most areas. Iran closed schools, cancelled public events and banned movement between its 31 provinces in March, but the government progressively lifted restrictions from April to try to reopen its sanctions-hit economy. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that "momentum and effort has waned among some of the people and authorities" to combat the virus, warning the country's economic problems would worsen if the disease spreads unchecked. Authorities launched a campaign over the weekend to encourage people to wear masks and decreed mandatory mask-wearing "in covered spaces where there are gatherings" from Saturday, the beginning of the week in Iran. The increasing virus caseload has seen some previously unscathed provinces classified as "red" -- the highest level on Iran's colour-coded risk scale -- with authorities allowing them to reimpose restrictive measures if required. According to Lari, the provinces of Khuzestan, Hormozgan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Boushehr, West and East Azerbaijan and Khorasan Razavi are classified as "red". The provinces of Ilam, Lorestan and Golestan are on alert, she added. By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli minister played down on Tuesday the likelihood of major moves to annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank on July 1, the planned start date for cabinet debate on the issue. Zeev Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, said Israel still did not have the green light it seeks from Washington to begin extending its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, territory Palestinians seek for a state. Netanyahu said in a speech he had met U.S. Ambassador David Friedman and White House adviser Avi Berkowitz to discuss "the sovereignty question," adding: "We are working on it in these very days and will continue working on it in the coming days." Palestinian leaders, the United Nations, European powers and Arab countries have all denounced any annexation of land that Israeli forces captured in a 1967 war. "Whoever painted a picture of everything happening in one day on July 1, did so at their own risk," Elkin, minister of higher education, told Army Radio when asked what would happen on Wednesday. "From tomorrow, the clock will start ticking." No cabinet session for Wednesday has been announced. Friedman and Berkowitz are in Israel as part of the White House's efforts to win consensus within its government for annexation as envisioned in an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in January. The proposal calls for Israeli sovereignty over about 30% of the West Bank - land on which Israel has built settlements for decades - as well as creation of a Palestinian state under strict conditions. Palestinians say the blueprint would make the state they seek in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem unviable. Most world powers view Israel's settlements as illegal. Netanyahu says the Jewish people have a legal, historic and moral claim to the West Bank, the biblical Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu and his main coalition government partner, Defence Minister Benny Gantz, are at odds over annexation, which the right-wing prime minister has promoted. (Editing by Maayan Lubell and Timothy Heritage) Progress Singapore Party member Lee Hsien Yang with voters near the Nomination Centre at Bendemeer Primary School on 30 June 2020. (PHOTO: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo News Sinagpore) SINGAPORE Progress Singapore Party member Lee Hsien Yang will not be contesting at the upcoming General Election (GE) as his name did not appear in nomination papers on Nomination Day after the closing of submission on Tuesday noon (30 June). Lee was seen arriving at the Bendemeer Primary School Nomination Centre (NC) with the PSP team earlier Tuesday. The NC oversees nominations for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Jalan Besar GRC and Tanjong Pagar GRC, and Radin Mas SMC. When asked earlier by Yahoo News Singapore if he would be running, he said with a laugh, Youll see. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. MORE TO COME For our #NominationDay live coverage, follow yhoo.it/SGNominationDayLive. For extensive #SGElections coverage, visit yhoo.it/SGGE2020. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at t.me/YahooSingapore By Alan Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) - McLaren's Formula One future was never in doubt despite a cash crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and now resolved by a fresh injection of funds, team principal Andreas Seidl said on Tuesday. The National Bank of Bahrain announced on Monday a 150 million pound ($184.26 million) financing facility for the McLaren Group, which includes the team and supercar manufacturer. Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Co is McLaren's majority shareholder. "It was a tough period for the team, steering a team through these financial difficulties we were in," Seidl told reporters on a Zoom call. "The positive news we had yesterday about the funding which is in place now, is I think an extra boost, an extra motivation for all of us who are fully focused again on what we like to do most and what we do best." McLaren were the first team to furlough staff, with drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz also taking pay cuts, and have had to implement redundancies -- a move that also reflects Formula One's 2021 budget cap. "With me and (McLaren Racing Chief Executive) Zak (Brown) having detailed knowledge of what was actually going on... there was never a doubt of McLaren not being on the grid next year," said Seidl. The financial issues had not affected this season, he added, with regular performance upgrades planned. While some infrastructure projects had been put on hold, Seidl said he was pushing to get them going again although McLaren still had to be cautious due to uncertainty over how many races there would be and the impact on revenues. The German suggested some headlines that triggered alarm, with talk of mortgaging assets or selling a minority stake in the team, reflected McLaren's search for the best possible option in terms of funding. "(It was) finding the right funding which would not only get us through this crisis but also put us in the best possible position to be competitive in the future. So I am very happy with the news from yesterday," he said. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge) ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told parliament on Tuesday he had no doubt that India was behind an attack on the stock exchange building in the southern city of Karachi. Four gunmen armed with grenades attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, killing two guards and a policeman before security forces killed the attackers. "There is no doubt that India is behind the attack," Khan said in his address to parliament - a charge that India had denied a day earlier. Khna offered no evidence for his allegation, but he said there had been intelligence reports warning of attacks in Pakistan and he had informed his cabinet about the threat. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist insurgent group from the southwestern province of Balochistan, claimed responsibility for the attack in a message on Twitter. Khan said Pakistan's intelligence agencies had successfully preempted at least four major attacks in the country, two of which targeted Islamabad - but he said it was not possible to stop all such attacks. The gunmen carried a heavy supply of arms and equipment and security officials believe they planned to storm the stock exchange building and take hostages. Khan termed their failure to do so and the rapid response by security forces, as a "big victory". Separatists have been fighting for years in Balochistan, complaining its mineral wealth is unfairly exploited by Pakistan's richer, more powerful provinces. Pakistan has regularly blamed India for supporting Baloch separatists - a charge Delhi has repeatedly continuously denied. The BLA also took responsibility for an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018. Several projects linked to China's Belt and Road initiative are in Balochistan. (Reporting by Syed Raza Hasan; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Angus MacSwan) In a bid to capitalise on the advantages of Home-based Learning (HBL), including cultivating more independent and self-directed learners, schools will allocate several days a month for online instruction regardless of whether or not the pandemic is present in our midst. Speaking in his video address to school leaders at the Annual Workplan Seminar on June 25, Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung, noted that while HBL will not replace a school in terms of social interaction, the building of soft skills and values transmission, it fosters one of the most important lifelong skills of independent and self-directed learning. The main point is to get students to chart their own learning journey, at their own pace, the Minister said. home-based learning Home-based learning to continue on selected days regardless of the pandemic MOE. Photo: iStock Home-based learning in Singapore Extended run of HBL on selected days However, he further added that HBL should not mimic a regular school lesson and should not be crammed with curriculum teaching, and instead should follow a free-for-all approach allowing students to focus on whatever they wanted. According to Minister Ong, students may benefit from time to peruse the curriculum themselves, allow them time to read at their own pace, and even explore topics outside the curriculum. In his video address which was uploaded on Facebook yesterday (June 28), Minister Ong noted that while everyone including teachers, students, and parents, underwent an unexpected crash course in remote-learning, he asked to keep the momentum going and to start it off, suggested that HBL could be held every fortnight. The sensible thing to do is to complement classroom teaching with HBL, and make HBL a permanent and regular feature of education, Minister Ong noted. home-based learning Home-based learning to tap into fostering independent and self-directed learners. Photo: iStock Story continues In a bid to make online remote-learning accessible to all students, the Ministry of Education (MOE) will bring forward the National Digital Literacy Programme to ensure all students have access to appropriate devices and a stable Internet connection at home. The plan that was unveiled earlier this year detailed that all secondary students would receive a personal learning device by 2028. However, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced last week that MOE will be advancing the plan to ensure that every secondary school students will get a personal laptop or tablet by the end of next year. Overnight, all teachers shifted to delivering online lessons Parents helped to set up spaces at home where their kids could focus on learning. Out of this crisis, and by virtue of necessity, we gained something quite extraordinary mass acceptance of online learning, Minister Ong said. Calling the circuit breaker period a time of the the universal adoption of digital learning, Minister Ong noted that this was a step towards digital inclusion and targeting gaps that the Ministry had noticed in certain households during the pandemic. Education will not be the same post Covid-19. It will be better, he noted. Home-based Learning, and other initiatives to be implemented MOE to implement financial education, from young. Photo: iStock In addition to calling for extending Home-based learning on selected days a month, Minister Ong also spoke about financial initiatives in place for students. Students under The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund were given cash to buy food that they were missing out had they been in school, but many of the students on the programme did not have bank accounts to facilitate banking in of the monies. According to a survey conducted by the MOE, approximately one-third of Primary 1 pupils do not have bank accounts, pointing out the need to ensure greater financial inclusion and awareness from young. In a bid to tackle this problem, MOE, along with other ministries and agencies, will look into guiding parents to set up a child savings account, together with the activation of the Child Development Account. The child savings account will require no minimum balance, fees, or charges, with the MOE looking into possibly including digital payment, to facilitate easier reception of monies from awards or financial assistance for the student. Schools will further educate students on the topic of financial literacy, including lessons in managing their accounts, budgeting and savings. The proposed new initiatives will ensure that Singapores education system will roll with the Covid-19 punches, seizing opportunities even in the most difficult of times, Minister Ong noted. The post Schools to Implement Home-based Learning on Selected Days Regardless of the Pandemic: Ong Ye Kung appeared first on theAsianparent - Your Guide to Pregnancy, Baby & Raising Kids. Wall Street stocks capped an historically strong quarter on a positive note Tuesday, again ending decisively higher and shrugging off a resurgence in US coronavirus cases. The S&P 500, the broadest of the three major indices, finished at 3,100.29, up 1.5 percent for the day and around 20 percent for the quarter, the biggest gain since 1998. Earlier, European markets experienced a mixed session, while Asian bourses advanced. The second quarter comprised the period just after Wall Street stocks bottomed out in March in the immediate aftermath of sweeping shutdowns in the United States and Europe to stop COVID-19 outbreaks. As it enters the second half of 2020, the US is still embroiled in the coronavirus crisis, with major states including Texas and Florida rolling back some reopening measures as they face mounting public health problems. On Tuesday, northeastern states facing elevated cases ordered visitors from additional states to quarantine. Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warned the country was heading in the "wrong direction," and cases could reach 100,000 a day if actions aren't taken. Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare questioned the market's response to the gloomy coronavirus trends in the US, but said investors may be concluding that restrictions imposed at the local level will succeed. "Collectively, everyone is on the page that we can flatten the curve again without having to go into a lockdown phase," O'Hare said. The market is having a "momentum-driven rally," he added. "A lot of people think the market should be where it is, yet it keeps going up." Elsewhere, London underperformed its peers after a worse-than-expected UK growth contraction, along with gloomy corporate news from energy major Royal Dutch Shell and renewed lockdown measures in the central English city of Leicester. But stocks in Shanghai gained after China said its June purchasing managers index of factory activity improved in May, beating forecasts. The non-manufacturing reading was also better than hoped. The data bolstered hopes for an economic rebound, helped by the reopening of businesses around the world. Oil prices dipped on virus-linked demand concerns and the prospect of the return of Libyan production, dealers said. - Shell, Boeing fall - Among individual companies, Royal Dutch slumped around four percent after announcing it would take a charge of up to $22 billion (19.6 billion euros) due to chronic fallout from coronavirus and collapsing oil prices. Boeing plunged 5.8 percent after Norwegian Air Shuttle announced it canceled an order for 92 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and five 787 Dreamliners. The decline gave back some of the 14.4 percent the company gained on Monday as US air safety regulators undertook a long-delayed test flight of the 737 MAX, which has been grounded since March 2019 following two crashes. - Key figures around 2040 GMT - New York - Dow: UP 0.9 percent at 25,812.88 (close) New York - S&P 500: UP 1.5 percent at 3,100.29 (close) New York - Nasdaq: UP 1.9 percent at 10,058.77 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 6,169.74 (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.6 percent at 12,310.93 (close) Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,935.99 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.1 percent at 3,234.07 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 22,288.14 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.5 percent at 24,427.19 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 2,984.67 (close) West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.1 percent at $39.27 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.3 percent at $41.15 per barrel Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1234 from $1.1242 at 2100 GMT Dollar/yen: UP at 107.97 yen from 107.58 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2391 from $1.2298 Euro/pound: DOWN at 90.65 pence from 91.41 burs-jmb/cs The local arm of Japanese automaker Suzuki in the country continuously putting up additional measures to address the new normal scenario as they are retailing their vehicles online. Aside from the resumption of business at dealerships around the country, Suzuki Philippines Incorporated (SPH) has made more features and services available in the digital space via their Online Showroom https://auto.suzuki.com.ph/. One of the main features in the official SPH website is the 360 viewer for their vehicle offerings. The feature provides site visitors an exterior and interior view of the chosen model from every angle imaginable with only a few swipes. To add to that the viewer is also equipped with a color choice setting. https://www.facebook.com/SuzukiAutoPh/posts/10159875133915278 SPH has also made it more accessible to customers as they made their offerings available in Lazada. The companys website has a portal that directs one to Lazadas Lazmall that allows customers to shop Genuine Parts, accessories, and oil products with just a few taps on your mobile phones for the same price one can find in Suzuki showrooms. Further, SPH continues to make sure that requests of vehicle quotes from customers are well-accommodated, as well as bookings of test drives for those interested in Suzuki vehicles are easily accessible. SPH has also reiterated the availability of the Auto Loan feature where those who are looking to purchase their own car with flexible payment schemes will directly be able to access their preferred banks loan page. Downloadable brochures are also made available supported by a product comparison feature, allowing customers to pick over three Suzuki models to help them decide for their vehicle purchase. With these services found online, SPH aims to give their customers the closest experience to how store visits would feel like even through virtual browsing. Suzuki Philippines believes that this time, now more than ever, is the opportunity to make their customers lives easier and to champion the Suzuki Way of Life! to both old and new patrons. Story continues Photos from Suzuki Philippines Also read: Suzuki PH Announces New Suzuki Vitara Suzuki PH Now Ranks 5th in Overall PH Auto Industry Suzuki PH Brings In All-New Suzuki Carry Deep01s AI system can detect and locate intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) on non-contrast brain CT images for faster triage or notification in the emergency room Deep01, a Taiwanese startup that develops software to help doctors interpret CT brain scans more quickly, announced today that it has raised $2.7 million. The funding was led by PC maker ASUSTek. Deep01s product has obtained clearance from both Taiwan and the United States Food and Drug Administrations, and the company received its first purchase order, worth about $700,000, in February. Other investors included the Digital Economy Fund, which is co-funded by Taiwanese research organizations Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and the Institute for Information Industry (III), and BE Capital. Deep01s software is currently used in two medical centers and four hospitals in Taiwan and has already helped doctors check more than 2,000 brain scans. Created for use by emergency departments, Deep01 says its software can detect acute intracerebral hemorrhage with an accuracy rate of 93% to 95%, within 30 seconds. The startup was launched in 2016 by founder and CEO David Chou, who earned his masters degree in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and was a Harvard University research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital between 2018 and 2019. In a press statement, Albert Chang, ASUS corporate vice president and co-head of its AIoT Business Group, said "Deep01 is a leading startup in the AI medical area. The collaboration is promising for smart medical applications." The Taliban reaffirmed their commitment to a February deal to draw down the war in Afghanistan during a call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the group's spokesman has said. The discussion came as US President Donald Trump faces mounting pressure to explain why he did nothing after being reportedly told that Russian spies had offered and paid cash to Taliban-linked militants for killing American soldiers. The Taliban have denied that their fighters received any Russian bounties, and the group's Qatar-based chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar reiterated their pledge not to strike against the US. Baradar told Pompeo that "according to the agreement, we do not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against the US and other countries", Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Monday in a statement on Twitter. The New York Times, citing anonymous officials, had reported last week that Trump had been told about the alleged Russian bounties but he did nothing in response. Trump denied being informed of the assessment while the White House said the claim had been kept from him because the intelligence underpinning it was unverified. But another report from the Times on Monday said the president had received a report about the alleged Russian bounties as early as February. That month, the United States had pledged to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan by mid-2021 in return for security guarantees in a bid to pave the way for negotiations between warring sides. Under the landmark agreement, which excluded the Afghan government, Washington and the militants said they would refrain from attacking each other. The Taliban spokesman said Baradar and Pompeo discussed concerns about the deal, including intra-Afghan talks and the release of 5,000 imprisoned insurgents. "We are committed to starting intra-Afghan talks," Baradar told Pompeo, blaming the hold-up on the delayed release of prisoners, according to Shaheen. The Afghan government in Kabul has said it has freed nearly 4,000 Taliban prisoners so far in a bid to kickstart the negotiations. Pompeo acknowledged the Taliban had refrained from attacking urban centres and military bases under the deal, but called on them to do more to reduce overall violence, according to Shaheen. Violence had dropped across much of the country after the Taliban offered a brief ceasefire to mark the Islamic Eid al-Fitr festival last month, but officials say the insurgents have stepped up attacks in recent weeks. Most attacks by the Taliban have targeted Afghan security forces, although there are regular police reports that civilians have been killed in roadside bomb blasts. TikTok on Tuesday denied sharing users' data with the Chinese government, after India banned the wildly popular app as ties with Beijing deteriorate sharply following a deadly border clash. Blaming each other for the brutal hand-to-hand battle on June 15 as talks make little headway, the Asian giants have been bolstering their border forces as anti-China sentiment grows in India. As India reportedly considered hiking tariffs and with some Chinese imports held up at ports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and Weibo. The ministry of information technology said the apps "are engaged in activities... prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". The move mirrored growing unease about Chinese tech firms in other countries, in particular regarding telecom giant Huawei. TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, allows users to upload and share short videos and is spectacularly popular in India -- its 120 million users have made it the app's top international market. On Tuesday, the head of TikTok India issued a statement saying the firm has "not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government". "Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so," Nikhil Gandhi said, adding that "hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers... (depend) on it for their livelihood." It remains unclear how the bans would work. But even Indians who already had downloaded TikTok on their phones were not able to use the app from late Tuesday. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing that China is "strongly concerned" about the announcement and looking into the situation. He said the country has always asked Chinese firms to abide by international rules and local laws as they work with foreign parties, adding that China-India cooperation is mutually beneficial and damaging this is not in India's interest. - 'Befitting response' - China and India have long had a prickly relationship. But the border clash was the first deadly violence on their disputed Himalayan frontier in 45 years, claiming the lives of 20 Indian soldiers. Chinese casualties are unknown. The Indian deaths triggered outrage on social media with calls to boycott Chinese products. Chinese flags were set on fire and traders destroyed Chinese goods at scattered street protests. Ties were strained last August when New Delhi revoked the semi-autonomous status of Indian-controlled Kashmir and split off Ladakh -- parts of which are claimed by China -- into a new administrative territory. India shares US unease about growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean and New Delhi has bolstered defence cooperation with Washington as well as Australia and Japan. India has also been irked by China's backing of arch-rival Pakistan and the construction of an economic corridor going through parts of Kashmir controlled by Islamabad but claimed by India. Since the latest clash, the nuclear-armed neighbours have reinforced the border between Ladakh and Tibet. India has deployed thousands more troops and is conducting extra military flights over the mountainous region. "Those who cast an evil eye on Indian soil in Ladakh have got a befitting response," Modi said in his weekly radio address on Sunday. - 'Self-reliant' - With Asia's third-biggest economy dealt a sucker punch by the coronavirus, the apps ban fits in with Modi's vision outlined in May of a "self-reliant India" able to produce all it needs at home. But New Delhi has a trade deficit of around $50 billion with China, with India's pharmaceutical, electronics and automotive sectors hugely reliant on imports of Chinese raw materials and components. Chinese electronic firms also have a major presence in India, with cellphone brands like Xiaomi -- which manufactures in India -- enjoying a market share of almost 65 percent. The ban on the apps "is fine as a gesture of protest but we should be very careful with escalation right now," said Manoj Joshi from the Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank. "Right now I don't think there are any easy options for New Delhi." ZHEJIANG, CHINA - OCTOBER 18 2019 Two us senators have sent a letter to the us national intelligence agency saying TikTok could pose a threat to us national security and should be investigated. Visitors visit the booth of douyin(Tiktok) at the 2019 smart expo in hangzhou, east China's zhejiang province, Oct. 18, 2019.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Costfoto / Barcroft Media (Photo credit should read Costfoto / Barcroft Media via Getty Images) A growing number of internet service providers in India have started to block their subscribers from accessing TikTok a day after New Delhi banned the popular short-video app and 58 other services in the world's second-largest internet market over security and privacy concerns. Many users on Airtel, Vodafone and other service providers reported Tuesday afternoon (local time) that the TikTok app on their phone was no longer accessible. Opening the TikTok app, users said, showed they were no longer connected to the internet. (Update: ISPs said they were not blocking TikTok; the app itself had shut its access in India. India's Department of Telecommunications has since ordered them to block TikTok with "immediate effect.") For many others, opening the TikTok app promoted an error message that said the popular app was complying with the Indian government's order and could no longer offer its service. Opening TikTok's website in India prompts a similar message. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Earlier on Tuesday, the TikTok app became unavailable for download on Apple's App Store and Google Play Store in India. Two people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that ByteDance, the developer of TikTok, had voluntarily pulled the app from the app stores. The vast majority of other apps, including Alibaba Group's UC Browser and UC News, as well as e-commerce service Club Factory, that India blocked on Monday evening remain available for download on the marquee app stores, suggesting that Google and Apple are yet to comply with New Delhi's direction. TikTok, which has amassed more than 200 million users in India, identifies Asia's third-largest economy as its biggest overseas market. Nikhil Gandhi, who oversees TikTok's operations in India, said the firm was "in the process" of complying with India's order and was looking forward to engaging with lawmakers in the nation to assuage their concerns. Story continues The TikTok app has been installed about 2 billion times globally, according to mobile insights firm Sensor Tower. India accounted for 611 million of those downloads, the firm said. In the quarter that would end Tuesday, the 59 apps that India has ordered banned were installed about 330 million times, the firm said. These apps had a combined monthly active user base of 505 million last month, according to mobile insights firm App Annie, the data of which an industry executive shared with TechCrunch. This is the first time that India, the worlds second-largest internet market with nearly half of its 1.3 billion population online, has ordered to ban so many foreign apps. New Delhi said the nations Computer Emergency Response Team had received many representations from citizens regarding security of data and breach of privacy impacting upon public order issues. [...] The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India. The surprising announcement created confusion as to how the Indian government was planning to go about "blocking" these services in India. Things are becoming clearer now. TikTok, which was blocked in India for a week last year but was accessible to users who had already installed the app on their smartphones, said last year in a court filing that it was losing more than $500,000 a day. Reuters reported on Tuesday that ByteDance had planned to invest $1 billion in India to expand the reach of TikTok, a plan that now appears derailed. Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday that China was concerned with India's move and that India "has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including those from China." A stoic German chancellor Angela Merkel is seemingly unimpressed with US president Donald Trump at the NATO summit in London in December 2019. Photo: Michael Kappeler/Picture Alliance via Getty German foreign minister Heiko Maas said that even if president Donald Trump lost the US election in November, it did not follow that relations between Germany and the US would automatically improve. "Everyone who thinks everything in the transatlantic partnership will be as it once was with a Democratic president underestimates the structural changes, Maas said in an interview with the German Press Agency (DPA), published on Sunday (28 June). "The transatlantic relations are extraordinarily important, they remain important, and we are working to ensure they have a future," Maas said. "But with the way they are now, they are no longer fulfilling the demands both sides have of them." German chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview with several leading European newspapers, including The Guardian, last week that the world can no longer take it for granted that the US wants to be a global leader. Should the US now wish to withdraw from that role of its own free will, we would have to reflect on that very deeply, Merkel said. Trump has targeted Germany repeatedly since he took office over a number of issues. He has criticised the countrys trade deficit and threatened to slap US tariffs on German cars. Trump is also vehemently opposed to the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline being built from Russia to Germany, and approved sanctions on companies involved in the project in December 2019. Trumps biggest bugbear when it comes to Germany is its financial contributions to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) he has demanded that they be increased to 2% of the countrys GDP. Currently, German is aiming to increase its contribution to 1.5% by 2024. This month, Trump confirmed plans to withdraw around 9,500 of the 35,000 US troops stationed in US bases in Germany. Trump said in a cabinet meeting about the troop withdrawal that we're protecting Germany and they're delinquent. That doesn't make sense. So I said, we're going to bring down the count to 25,000 soldiers." American troops in Germany help to protect not only Germany and the European part of NATO but also the interests of the United States of America, Merkel said in the wide-ranging interview last week. She did however, acknowledge that Germany needed to up its military spending, saying: We in Germany know that we have to spend more on defence; we have achieved considerable increases in recent years, and we will continue on that path to enhance our military capabilities. During the council's June 22 meeting, members voiced concerns about early fireworks discharges and implored residents to respect the city's fireworks ordinance. Councilwoman Julie Schoenherr asked residents to hold off on discharging fireworks so that "... it doesn't turn into a disaster; and we don't have to reconsider what we're already doing." Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Amid the more than 300 complaints, McClure said only one person has been charged with a fireworks violation. Oftentimes, he said the police department will receive a fireworks complaint, and then, by the time officers arrive in the area, the individual will have already stopped shooting them off. Under the ordinance, a person is only permitted to use fireworks on his or her own property or a property where written permission is given. People under the age of 18 are not allowed to purchase, possess or discharge fireworks without parental supervision, and fireworks are also not be possessed or discharged by people showing visible signs of intoxication or drug use. Illegal fireworks discharge carries a minimum $250 fine on private property and $500 on city property. The court should apply the same third-party standing requirements to Planned Parenthood as it does anybody else, he argued. Ogden also argued that the title of bill explains what is in it An act relating to medical procedures including abortion and limitations regarding the withdrawal of a life-sustaining procedure from a minor child. That the bill passed on a party-line vote at the end of the session earlier this month wasnt unusual, he said. Sixth Judicial District Judge Mitchell Turner questioned Ogden on that timing. According to the information he said he read about the bill, he didnt know if abortion was mentioned in the title before 10:18 p.m. that night. The bill then passed the Iowa House 40 minutes later. It went to the Iowa Senate and passed about 4 a.m. without public debate. Most Iowans were probably asleep by then, he noted. Ogden said its not uncommon that bills are passed at the last minute. Turner noted there were other abortion bills introduced in the 2020 session that were subject to public debate but none passed. He said it seemed like lawmakers didnt want to pass an abortion bill. There are plenty of opportunities for Iowans to impact their future in 2020 - from the caucuses earlier this year to the general election in November. However, another important opportunity may be flying under your radar: the 2020 Census. Every 10 years, the U.S. Constitution mandates we take a detailed count of Iowans. The Census is not only a major element in the foundation of our representative form of government, but is also the basis on which billions of our taxpayer dollars are allocated. The Census is key to Iowas future. With so much at stake, shouldnt we strive to be No. 1? Given Iowas competitive spirit, there is perhaps no better way to get to the top than a little friendly competition - with our neighbors and among ourselves. Iowa has traditionally had one of the highest self-response rates to the Census, ranking third in 2010 and second in 2000. For the 2020 Census, Gov. Kim Reynolds set a goal of being number one in the nation. So far, weve been hovering at number three, behind Minnesota and Wisconsin. Michigan and Nebraska are nipping at our heels. Already, more than two-thirds of Iowa households have completed the 2020 Census. We can do better and we are asking for your help. On Friday, for the second time since the pandemic hit the U.S., Florida ordered bars to shut down after the state nearly doubled its single-day record for new infections. Officials claim that the spike is largely due to young people frequenting drinking establishments. Texas and California have also imposed a second shutdown of bars in recent days. Florida thought it was past this. The state instituted its first lockdown order, which included bars, at the beginning of Apriland for a while, Florida appeared to have avoided the worst despite its relatively lax efforts to contain the coronavirus. In the first week of June, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state would move into phase two of its reopening plan, allowing bars to serve drinks on their premises. Go enjoy. Have a drink. Its fine, DeSantis said at the time. A few weeks later, here we are. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whats it like to shut down, reopen, and then shut down again? To get a sense of what the pandemic and Floridas response have meant for the nightlife business, I spoke to Hana Ferguson, the marketing director for the Volstead bar in Jacksonville, Florida. Despite being named after the Prohibition-era Volstead Act and styled like a speakeasy, the bar is very much closedand like many establishments in Florida, now faces an even more uncertain future. Aaron Mak: What was it like to close the bar when Florida instituted its first lockdown order in April? Hana Ferguson: It was pretty tough for us, being in downtown Jacksonville. A lot of our business is lawyers and city officials and other business owners. We really rely on those types of guests to come in to our bar. With the shutdown and everyone being mandated to work from home, it really put us in quite a predicament, as far as not being able to serve alcohol inside the bar and trying to find creative ways to keep the bar going during the shutdown. So we had to switch over to to-go cocktails and, under our packaging license, be treated as a liquor store. It helped us get through the first go-around, but just barely. Advertisement Advertisement How did you prepare for reopening? They announced on June 5 that we could open soon, which was only a few days notice. It wasnt really a lot of time for us to go through and clean the bar and stock all the inventory we had lostwhether it was just by trying to sell it or because a lot of our produce rotted. So we needed to clean the bars, stock the bar, bring up our inventory, and create a new menu. We call it our COVID menujust a smaller menu offering specific classics and then some cocktails that bartenders had made up. Even with that reopening, we were only really open for two weeks before we decided to voluntarily shut down for a mandatory employee testing and then another cleaning. And then the day we were wanting to reopen after all the testing had cleared is when [Florida] announced that we had to close down again. Advertisement Why did you decide to voluntarily shut down two weeks after reopening? We noticed a lot of the bars in Jacksonville were announcing that their employees were testing positive or a customer had tested positive. We didnt want to take that risk. We thought that it was probably smart to just go ahead and make sure everyone was tested and cleared. Also while we were closed, we just did another thorough clean for the bar, because we didnt want that to happen to us. Advertisement We voluntarily shut down for five days, and then we were planning to reopen this past Friday. But thats when Florida announced via tweet that we had to shut down again. So this is our third time. Advertisement During that brief window while you were open, what sorts of precautions were you taking? We of course regulated the number of people that came in, but we had never reached a point to where it was outrageously packed inside the bar. Being a speakeasy, we tend to have a more calm, relaxing atmosphere. Our bartenders wore masks the whole time they were working. We had little hand sanitizers spread out through the entire bar for our guests to use when they came in. All of our seating was spread out and scattered. We also continuously cleaned the countertops and all of our tables throughout the evening while we were open. What was everyones reaction to the new order to close everything down again? Advertisement It was honestly really frustrating. We were kind of going back-and-forth. Do we close? What do we do? Because we had only seen it in a tweet. We hadnt seen an official executive order yet. The second shutdown is only being targeted toward bars. Its not bars and restaurants. Its not any other social gathering place. Were kind of seen as just the odd ones out in this whole scenario. Advertisement What was challenging about closing again? We still have to pay utilities and still have to pay rent, just everything to keep the bar running as if nothing happened. Were essentially just losing money every single day that we are closed. During the first shutdown we did receive the PPP loan, but that only can keep us going for so long. And now were just back to where we started with losing inventory and revenue. Advertisement A lot of our cocktails that we make, especially our signature cocktails, are all either pre-batched or require fresh ingredients. All of the fruits, all of the herbswe had stocked up on everything as we ramped back up to be open again. We had just purchased everything brand-new. Were losing all of that. Its a lot of work were just losing. What happens now? Were trying to figure out different strategies right now as far as how to keep the bar going, but Im not sure we can keep going like this for much longer. Were doing to-go cocktails. The other thing is were trying to partner with local food vendors as another incentive to encourage people to support local businesses: Grab your food to go and grab a drink to go. Make it a full meal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Was it worse to close the first time or the second time? Oh man. I feel like both times were just as tough. I think with the first shutdown, they waited too long to shut everything down and then opened up too soon. And then they reopened and shut us down a second time but didnt really give us any time to prepare. If we knew that we were going to be forced to shut down again, maybe that would have stopped us from placing all of these orders and spending all this money on things that we knew would go bad. This recipe originally appeared on Food52. Padma Lakshmi poses a difficult question to her daughter, Krishna, in the third episode of her new Hulu docu-series, Taste the Nation: Do you prefer American pancakes to dosas? Dosa being the paper-thin, crispy-edged, savory South Indian crepes made of ground lentils and rice flour that she grew up eating three of in one sitting, and American pancakes being the fluffy stacks topped with butter and syrup. After some deliberation, Krishna replies, I like pancakes but I think I prefer dosas to waffles. Advertisement Lakshmi has dealt with the duality of her food identities as an Indian-American person since she moved to the States when she was four years old. The pitting of dosaswhich are her most nostalgic, homey comfort foodagainst the diner staple isnt something she does often. Instead, she makes room for both in her Sunday brunches at home with her daughter, and applies that mindset to the rest of her life too. She doesnt have to choose to be Indian or American on any given day. Advertisement Advertisement In Lakshmis new show, she explores immigrant food and what American food really means. At first, she was hesitant to put the spotlight on herself, instead wanting to highlight and support the chefs and cooks across the country as a tour guide for communities that dont often get mainstream coverage, she explains over a Zoom call. But ultimately, with the encouragement of her executive producer, Sarina Romaone talented member of the shows mostly women-of-color crewshe was able to show off Jackson Heights, Queens (the neighborhood she grew up in) and its complex and expansive offerings of Indian cuisine. Advertisement Another episode of Taste the Nation explores San Franciscos Chinatown and the origins of the Chinese-American dish, chop suey. (Half-Chinese comedian, Ali Wong, is her tour guide in the episode, and has no earthly idea what it is.) Lakshmi likens chicken tikka masala as the chop suey of Indian cookinga dish that is well-known to Americans and acts as a generalization of all Indian food just being gravy with mystery meat floating in it. While, in fact, there is so much more to regional Indian cuisine that has not really been tapped in the United States, according to me. Advertisement Why? Lakshmi explains: The reason that people have a lot of misconceptions about Indian food is because India is such a vast country, not just geographically, but also culturally. You have to picture it almost like Europe under one federal government. You can travel by car for an hour and [even within that short distance] people will be speaking a whole other language. Theyre wearing different clothes, theyre eating different foods, theyre maybe praying to a different god, and yet theyre all Indian. Advertisement The goal of the show is to showcase many different sides of cuisines and cultures that are overlooked. Were eating [immigrants] foods, but were not that often letting them speak for themselves or showing us whats behind the food, whats their culture, and where it comes from. And thats what Lakshmi is here to do, to showcase to everything from Thai food (that isnt just pad Thai) to burritos at the Mexican border to an in-depth look at Gullah Geechee cuisine in the South. Of all the dishes Lakshmi explores throughout the series, dosa hits the closest to home, because its one of her earliest food memories. At two years old, she sat and watched her grandmother grind rice for the batter in the reservoir of a huge, flat, two-foot-wide stone. Recalling the tedious process, Lakshmi demonstrates with movements of her hands how the fermented rice and lentils are carefully combined into a paste and thinned with water for fresh dosa batter. Her grandmother did that every day for 10 people when Lakshmi was a child; when she grew old enough to use the stovetop, at age 12, her grandmother eventually taught her the technique for the perfect dosa. Advertisement Advertisement Her Aunt Bhanuwhose recipe she shared with us for masala dosas and coconut chutney, all coordinated via a long WhatsApp chaincontinued that tradition whenever Lakshmi visited her in India. Even after partying until 4 a.m., if a group of them came back to the house, Bhanu would ask if they wanted some fresh dosas. It became a love language that Lakshmi has passed down to her daughter, tooeven if Krishna sometimes prefers pancakes. Masala Dosa With Coconut Chutney From Padma Lakshmi Serves 4 Homemade Dosa Batter (Note: You can also buy prepared batter from your local Indian store): 3 cups white long grain rice 1 1/ 4 cups urad dal (white gram lentils) 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste 1/ 4 cup canola or untoasted sesame oil Aloo Masala: 4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cups) 2 tablespoons canola or untoasted sesame oil 1/ 2 teaspoon brown or black mustard seeds 1 teaspoon urad dal (white gram lentils) 2 yellow onions, cut into thin crescents 1 to 2 green chilies, such as serranos, sliced into thin strips lengthwise 1/ 2 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste 1 1/ 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon) 1/ 3 cup fresh cilantro (leaves and stems), chopped Coconut Chutney: 1 splash canola or untoasted sesame oil 1/ 2 teaspoon chana dal (split yellow gram lentils) 1 fresh coconut, drained and peeled, cut into small chunks (or 10 ounces frozen and grated coconut) 2 to 3 fresh green chilies, such as serrano 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste Tadka (Tempered Spices) for Coconut Chutney 1 1/ 2 tablespoons canola oil 1/ 2 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds 1 tablespoon urad dal (white gram lentils) 1 dried red chile 1/ 4 teaspoon asafetida 12 to 15 fresh curry leaves See full recipe on Food52. More from Food52: How to Make Perfect Iced Coffee The 2-Ingredient Southern Side Dish That Needs No Salt 68 Recipes From Black Creators to Celebrate Juneteenth Olive OilBraised Chickpeas From Joy the Baker Oat Gnocchi With Shaved Asparagus & Brown Butter Vinaigrette Koji Makes Anything Taste Better. Heres How to Get Started. On Monday, abortion rights activists celebrated as the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law that would have shut down two of the states three abortion clinics. The law, which was similar to the Texas law struck down in 2016s Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt, required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, a credential that can be prohibitively difficult to obtain.* John Roberts cast the deciding vote in the 54 decision, siding with the courts liberal wing for the third time in just a few weeks. Advertisement For social conservatives and anti-abortion activists, the ruling in June Medical Services v. Russo hurt, and the fact that the defeat came from a justice nominated by Republican George W. Bush only sharpened the sting. Were disappointed, obviously, said Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America. We see this as an act of betrayal and an act of cowardice. She described Roberts as a turncoat. Other anti-abortion leaders described the chief justice as useless and a big disappointment. Alexandra DeSanctis, a staff writer at National Review, called Roberts opinion armchair philosophizing straight out of a freshman-year dorm room debate. Advertisement Advertisement But if the anti-abortion movement is united in its disappointment over Roberts role in the setback, it is slightly less unified on its significance for the movements strategy going forward. The institutional anti-abortion movement has spent years instructing people with anti-abortion convictions to vote pro-life. In presidential elections, this means voting for the candidate who will install federal judges seen as friendly to their cause. What does it say about that strategy that a Republican-nominated justice has handed their movement a major defeat? Advertisement We see this as an act of betrayal and an act of cowardice. Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America Some activists argue that the loss is simply another reminder that judges matter. Vice President Mike Pence, for example, declared that the ruling indicates we need more Conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. Just because Roberts is a letdown does not mean it makes sense to stop investing in the judicial strategy, such thinking goes. Roberts has sided with the courts liberal wing in several major cases over the past few years, including votes to preserve key aspects of Obamacare. But the presidents supporters within the anti-abortion movement pointed out that the two Supreme Court justices he nominated, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, faithfully dissented. President Trumps two nominees who were confirmed, they were on the right side, Hawkins told me. He has upheld his promises to the pro-life community. Advertisement Advertisement Other Trump supporters were even more blunt about what they see as potentially imminent progress. Johnnie Moore, a member of the presidents evangelical advisory board, tweeted that despite the setback, conservatives know they are on the one-yard line and suggested that evangelical turnout in November will therefore be unprecedented. Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, observed to the Associated Press that the oldest two members of the court, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, are liberals. Nobody can predict the future, but whos going to name their replacements when the time comes? Pavone said. That is a question that motivates a lot of voters. Other social conservatives are not so sure. At some point, even the most ardent pro-life white evangelicals are going to grow weary of Republicans More Justices! sales pitch, tweeted Matthew Anderson, a writer in Texas. Andrew Walker, a professor of Christian ethics at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, echoed this sentiment. I dont know how a conservative would look at what weve gotten from so-called conservative justices and not be completely disheartened, he told me on Monday. I dont think this nullifies the conservative legal movement. I dont think it negates the importance of how judges factor into voting decisions. But it significantly weakens it. Advertisement Advertisement The decision in June Medical Services came just weeks after another disappointing ruling for social conservatives: a 63 decision protecting gay and transgender workers from discrimination on the job. In that decision, Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, with Roberts and the four liberal justices joining him. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a rising star within social conservative circles, decried that decision as the end of the conservative legal movement from the floor of the Senate on June 16: The bargain has never been explicitly articulated, but religious conservatives know what it is. The bargain is that you go along with the party establishment, you support their policies and prioritiesor at least keep your mouth shut about itand, in return, the establishment will put some judges on the bench who supposedly will protect your constitutional rights to freedom of worship, to freedom of exercise. Thats what weve been told for years now. Advertisement For Walker and the religious conservatives he described earlier this year as Reluctant Trump voters, Mondays ruling was a reminder that so far, that bargain has not paid off to their satisfaction. Walker said he has not decided how to vote in November, but the Supreme Court decisions of the past two weeks have substantively altered how he factors judicial nominations into his decision. One of the major premises of why religious conservatives have been willing to pull the lever for someone they think is seriously morally flawed is because we would get good judges, he said. I think its a major inflection point. China passed new national security legislation Tuesday, further extending its reach into Hong Kong and giving Beijing greater power to crack down on a wide range of expression, including protesters and Democratic activists in the former British colony. The measure was sped through a secretive legislative process, unanimously voted for, and signed off on by Chinese President Xi Jinping, but very little is known about the exact contents of the law that is expected to widely suppress civil liberties, bringing the territory more in line with the Communist Partys control of daily life on the mainland. Despite the lack of clarity over what exactly the new law will forbid, Hong Kongs Beijing-friendly leader, Carrie Lam, said it would go into effect at midnight Tuesday, the same day of its passage. That means the so-called national security law will be operational in time for the July 1 anniversary of the British handover of Hong Kong back to China in 1997, a day that is a lightning rod for pro-democracy protests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The law is notionally framed as an anti-terrorism bill, aimed at preventing and punishing anti-Beijing activities and speech and branding those groups as collaborators with foreign governments. Since its return to China, Hong Kong has enjoyed a parallel existence to the mainland, engaging in local democratic elections and maintaining wide swath of civil liberties, including freedom of speech. Beijing, however, has been slowly reeling in these protections for the city-state, which has responded with sweeping protests over the past two years that, before the spread of the coronavirus, had already brought the territory to a standstill. According to a summary of draft provisions released this month, the law allows the central government to supervise the policing of subversive activities in Hong Kong, and in some cases, intervene directly, the Wall Street Journal reports. The standing committee of Chinas National Peoples Congress would also reserve the right to interpret the law, meaning Beijing has the final say over how it is implemented, rather than the citys courts. Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest Newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. The specter of the legislative change has already had a significantand desiredchilling effect within the territory. Twitter users deleted their accounts en masse. Political parties disbanded, including the one founded by democracy activist Joshua Wong. Restaurants and cafes removed posters showing their support for the movement, the Washington Post reports. Though details remained vague, the legislation will allow Chinese secret police to operate in Hong Kong and target those perceived to hold secessionist views. Democratic activists see the new law, which will ultimately be interpreted by Beijing, as just the latest step in its dissolution of the terms of the agreement of Hong Kongs handover. A new office in Hong Kong would deal with national security cases, but would also have other powers such as overseeing education about national security in Hong Kong schools, the BBC reports. In addition, the city will have to establish its own national security commission to enforce the laws, with a Beijing-appointed adviser. Its not yet clear if or when President Donald Trump heard or read the intelligence report that Russia was paying bounties to Taliban militias for killing U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. But whichever version of the story is true, he and his senior advisers come off looking very badimmoral, vaguely traitorous, astoundingly incompetent, or all three. The most hideous version of the story is that Trump heard the reportit is well established that the finding was included in the presidents daily intelligence briefing sometime in Februaryand, apparently, didnt care. Advertisement A somewhat less heinous, but still appalling, variation is that Trump asked Russian President Vladimir Putin if the report was true, Putin denied it, and Trump took Putins word over that of his own spy services. (The two did talk on the phone at least five times in the weeks after the intelligence report.) This wouldnt be unprecedented. Trump believed Putin when he denied interfering in the 2016 presidential electionand that meant believing the accused over the unanimous verdict of the entire U.S. intelligence community. Since there was reportedly at least one dissenting view of the intel about Russian bounty, Trump may have been even more likely to dismiss the finding. Advertisement Advertisement White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that Trump hadnt been briefed because there was no consensus within the intelligence community on these allegations. This is nonsense. Few intelligence findings are 100 percent sure things; many include dissenting footnotes; some inspire lengthy minority reports. But if the subject affects national security in some big or urgent way (and Russia plotting to pay the Taliban to kill U.S. troops would meet that criterion), the president would be notified. Advertisement There is another possibility, which would reflect the dysfunctional chaos reported in several accounts and memoirs of the Trump White House. U.S. intelligence chiefs have learned that it does them no goodit only wrecks their influence, which they might need in a real crisisto tell Trump news he doesnt want to hear. In January, they wriggled out of their annual briefing to Congress on worldwide threats so they wouldnt have to appear on TV disagreeing with Trump. Their reluctance made sense. At the previous years hearing, the chiefs testified that Iran was abiding by the nuclear deal, that North Korea would never give up its nuclear weapons, that ISIS continued to stoke violence in Iraq and Syria, and that Russian hackers still posed a threat to Americas electionsas a result of which Dan Coats, the national intelligence director at the time, was fired. Advertisement Advertisement Since then, Trumps national security adviser, Robert OBrien, has often opened interagency meetings by passing around printouts of Trumps latest tweets on the subjects under discussion. The message is clear: The groups purpose is not to offer professional advice to the president but rather to justify and implement Trumps prejudices. The New York Times, which first reported this story, noted that the intelligence about Russian bounty payments was mentioned in the written version of the presidents daily briefing. A former senior CIA official and a former senior White House official affirmed to me that intelligence chiefs would have discussed an issue of this magnitude with the national security adviser during one of their weekly meetingsand that, afterward, if not before, it would have been included in the presidents briefing. Advertisement However, it is well known that Trump rarely reads this document and relies instead on an orally delivered summary. It is possible, then, that the briefers duly noted the intelligence about Russia in the written documentso that, if the facts were ever publicized, they could show that theyd informed the presidentbut skipped over it in the oral presentation to avoid arousing his wrath. Advertisement Finally, it is possible that Trump was told about the bounty payment in the oral and written versions of the briefingand the fact just hop-skipped in and out of his brain. John Boltons recent memoir and Carl Bernsteins CNN story about Trumps phone calls with world leaders provide ample anecdotes suggesting that the president has the attention span of a fruit fly, that he flits from one subject to another with abandon, and that, during briefings, including intelligence briefings, he often does more talking than the briefer does. Those who talk more than they listen often forget what they are told. Advertisement So, on one level, the question to askand many in Congress, including some Republicans, are asking itis the old saw from the Watergate inquiry: What did the president know, and when did he know it? But on another level, the answer is almost irrelevant. We have a president who either doesnt know or doesnt care whats happening in the worldand a gaggle of senior advisers whose main job is to comply with his whims and cover up his inadequacies. And all the other leaders in the world know it. Thats the peril we face, as a nation, for as long as Trump is still in power. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to The Gist on Apple Podcasts or listen below. On Tuesday, in a sweeping 54 decision, the Supreme Court forced a majority of states to fund private religious schools in a ruling that compels millions of U.S. taxpayers to subsidize Christian educationeven if financing another religion violates their own beliefs. Incredibly, this maximalist decision did not go far enough for two conservative justices who would apparently let states establish an official religion. In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor described the majoritys decision as perverse. That may be an understatement: Its decision is the culmination of a yearslong assault on secular governance and augurs even more radical rulings down the road. Advertisement The basis for Tuesdays decision in Espinoza v. Montana originated in a creative scheme devised by the Montana Legislature to fund sectarian schools. The Montana Constitution contains a no-aid provision that bars the state from providing public funds to religious institutions, as do 37 other state constitutions. To work around this rule, the Legislature granted tax credits to residents who donate money to Big Sky Scholarships, which pays for students to attend private schools, both secular and sectarian. (Montanas demographics ensure that the only sectarian schools that participate are Christian.) In other words, residents get money from the state when they help children obtain a private education, including religious indoctrination. In 2018, the Montana Supreme Court found that this program violated the state constitutions no-aid clause. But instead of excluding sectarian schools, the court struck down the whole scheme for all private education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chief Justice John Roberts revived Montanas tax credit scheme on Monday in a convoluted opinion that announces a startling new constitutional principle: Once a state funds private education, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious. Twenty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico all provide tax credits or vouchers to families that send their children to private schools. Under Espinoza, they must now extend these programs to private religious schools. The upshot: Taxpayers in most of the country will soon start funding overtly religious educationincluding the indoctrination of children into a faith that might clash with their own conscience. For example, multiple schools that participate in Montanas scholarship program inculcate students with a virulent anti-LGBTQ ideology that compares homosexuality to bestiality and incest. But many Montanans of faith believe LGBTQ people deserve respect and equality because they are made in the image of God. What does the Supreme Court have to say to Montanans who do not wish to fund religious indoctrination that contradicts their own beliefs? In short, too bad: Your rights just dont matter as much. This decision flips the First Amendment on its head. The amendments free exercise clause protects religious liberty, while its establishment clause commands that the government make no law respecting an establishment of religion. Just 18 years ago in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, a bare majority of the Supreme Court ruled that, under the establishment clause, states were allowed to fund private schools through vouchers or tax credits, over vigorous dissents from the four liberal justices. Now the court has declared that, under the free exercise clause, most states are compelled to fund private religious schools. The conservative majority has revolutionized church-state law in record time. Advertisement The conservative majority has revolutionized church-state law in record time. How did the court chart this catastrophic course? The barrier between church and state took a hit when five justices permitted state financing of sectarian schools in Zelman. It nearly collapsed when the court expanded religious institutions access to taxpayer money in 2017s Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, which held that states cannot deny public benefits to religious institutions because they are religious. The court claimed to find this dangerous rule in the First Amendments free exercise clauseeven though, as Sotomayor pointed out in her searing dissent, separating church and state does not limit anyones ability to exercise their religion. She closed with a warning: In the end, the soundness of todays decision may matter less than what it might enable tomorrow. Advertisement Tomorrow has arrived, and it is as absurd as Sotomayor predicted. Roberts majority opinion follows Trinity Lutheran to its logical, outrageous conclusion: A state violates free exercise, the chief justice wrote, when it discriminate[s] against schools based on the religious character of the school. The government, Roberts explained, has no compelling interest in preserving the separation of church and state beyond what the First Amendment requires. Nor does the government have any interest in protecting taxpayers right not to fund religious exercise that infringes upon their own beliefs. We do not see how the no-aid provision promotes religious freedom, the chief justice wrote tersely. Advertisement Perhaps Roberts cant see it, but James Madison certainly could. As Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in dissent, Madison famously opposed a Virginia bill that would have taxed residents to support teachers of the Christian Religion, condemning it as a signal of persecution that violates religious liberty. Montanas Christians-schools-only program illustrates how states that fund religion wind up funding the faith shared by a majority of residents. Breyer, quoting Madison, noted that state funding of a particular religion may destroy that moderation and harmony among different faiths that is a hallmark of Americas religious tolerance. Advertisement This extreme outcome was not enough for Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito. Thomas, joined by Gorsuch, asserted that the very concept of separating church and state communicates a message that religion is dangerous and in need of policing, which in turn has the effect of tilting society in favor of devaluing religion. According to Thomas, enforcing church-state separation amounts to religious hostility and must end immediately. The justice reached this conclusion by reiterating his conviction that the First Amendments establishment clause was likely designed to preserve states ability to establish official religions. In his own separate opinion, Alito attacked the no-aid clauses in 38 state constitutions, including Montanas. He claimed that these provisions were motivated by anti-Catholic animus, and it is true that nativists supported them in the 19th century. But Alito omitted the fact that advocates for universal education also encouraged these provisions for perfectly legitimate reasons before nativists rallied around them. And he waved away the fact that Montana readopted its no-aid clause in 1972 for the express purpose of shielding religion from state entanglement. Alito will not let inconvenient facts stand in the way of his campaign to invalidate 38 states constitutional guarantees against state subsidization of religion. Advertisement If there is any silver lining to Roberts opinion, it is that he did not adopt Thomas, Gorsuchs, or Alitos radical positions. At least, not yet. The only limiting principle Roberts lays out is that states need not subsidize private education in the first placeso, in theory, states can abolish public funding of private schools entirely to avoid funding religious ones. But thats what the Montana Supreme Court did here, yet Roberts condemned its decision as discrimination against religious schools. If a legislature tries to end a voucher program in light of Espinoza, the Supreme Courts conservatives could easily find more proof of anti-religious discrimination and force it to revive the program. Having gutted protections against the establishment of religion, the majority is limited only by its own sense of what it can get away with. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to the Political Gabfest on Apple Podcasts or listen below. After the New York Times reported Friday that Donald Trump had ignored warnings that a Russian military intelligence unit may have paid bounties for killing American troops in Afghanistan, the White House claimed that the president had never been told about the alleged scheme. According to a Monday New York Times article, though, information about the bounties was included in the Presidents Daily Brief, a summary of foreign affairs and national security information, on Feb. 27. The fact that the warning was in the presidents briefing does not necessarily disprove the White House claim that the president didnt know about it, however. Trump has long been known to ignore the Presidents Daily Brief because he doesnt like to read (seriously). Sometimes people try to tell him what it says, but they cant force him to process the information. So the White Houses plea of ignorance is somewhat plausible, if not, like, good for the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What was Trump doing on Feb. 27 instead of reading the brief? According to the transcript of a White House Black History Month event held that Thursday, his attention was mainly occupied by the idea that he hadnt gotten enough credit for preventing a coronavirus outbreak in the United States. We have a situation with the virus. Weve done a great job. The press wont give us credit for it, he said, describing the United States response to the threat as an incredible achievement on which his administration was doing incredibly, doing great, had done an incredible job and a fantastic job, and was prepared like we never have been prepared. At the time, there were 15 known cases of the virus in the country, a number he predicted will soon be down to three or four. (There have been an additional 2.59 million COVID-19 cases reported in the U.S. since this prediction.) Said Trump: Its going to disappear. One dayits like a miracleit will disappear. Advertisement On the ostensible topic of the day, Trump said that nobody has done more for Black people than I have and praised himself for passing a criminal justice reform bill. The event also included minuteslong digressions about the medias alleged failure to report on the impressive size of his rally audiences, the medias alleged failure to report on Joe Bidens verbal gaffes, and CNN commentator Van Jones failure to thank him by name for supporting the reform bill during a TV appearance. The complaint about Jones lasted more than three minutes and went on for 633 words. The Black history event and a subsequent reception were the only activities listed on Trumps public schedule for Feb. 27 besides morning pool call time, which is the White Houses term of art for periods in which the president isnt doing any tangible work, and the 2:30 p.m. intelligence briefing at which, according to the White House, he did not absorb any intelligence about the alleged Russian bounties. Advertisement Later, on Twitter, Trump focused his attention on amplifying Fox Business host Trish Regans criticism of CNNs coronavirus coverage: Anti-Trump Network @CNN doing whatever it can to stoke a national Coronavirus panic. The far left Network pretty much ignoring anyone who they interview who doesnt blame President Trump. @trish_regan @FoxNews Media refuses to discuss the great job our professionals are doing! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2020 Advertisement Advertisement Diagnosis positive: @CNN is infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome. Im calling out CNN for irresponsibly politicizing what should be a unifying battle against a virus that doesnt choose sides. @trish_regan @FoxNews Like I say, they are Fake News! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2020 Regan parted ways from Fox in March after having repeatedly described the virus as a minimally threatening problem that liberal politicians and media figures were overhyping because they wanted to ruin the stock market and damage Trumps reputation. Advertisement And that was it, one day out of the 1,258 and counting since Trump took office. Who knows what he was or wasnt being briefed about on all the others? Not him! UPDATE [3:55 p.m.]: A Feb. 27 story from the Daily Beast reported that Trumps activities that day also included a meeting, not on the official schedule, with the cast and playwright of a low-budget conservative play about the so-called Deep State, the script of which drew on the text messages between former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who discussed the FBIs investigation into Trumps campaign and Russia while having an affair. The meeting, featuring Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson, was reportedly supposed to last 15 minutes but stretched on for 45. For more of Slates news coverage, subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or listen below. Matthew Long-Middleton is a media training manager at KCUR in Kansas City, Missouri. For over 90 days now, hes felt many of the reported symptoms of the coronavirus, and they dont seem to be going away. He doesnt have definitive proof he has COVID, due to testing troubles, and he doesnt know where he would have picked it up. But having had to travel a lot for his job, he knew he was at risk. Like a lot of people now living with what some are calling long haul COVID, figuring out whats going wrong has been an ongoing project. Long-Middleton is one of a growing number of people who say that this coronavirus could last longer than you think, and affect you more severely than you realize. After all, he once was able to bike across the country. Now he has trouble biking down the block. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Tuesdays episode of What Next, I spoke with Long-Middleton about his symptoms, his struggles with figuring out whats wrong, and how hell know when hes recovered. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Mary Harris: This started at the beginning of March, as coronavirus numbers were surging. You were journeying around the country, visiting one public radio station after another. Then you got back home in Missouri and felt this cough. Matthew Long-Middleton: This little cough felt like a tickle. But I couldnt suppress it. It was always two at a time. I chalked it up to allergies, with the change of seasons. But then, on March 11, essentially two weeks to the day I returned from all my travelsthat was the day I got really, really sick. Advertisement My principal symptoms, to start, were the cough and this incredible chest pain and discomfort. The other weird one I had, and I think still do to a degree, is this cold shiver from the base of my skull that would wash down my entire back. Its so bizarre to describe. And then there was profound fatigue, muscle aches. The thing I really didnt develop in a serious way at all, particularly in those first few weeks, was the shortness of breath. That was challenging because early on, thats what physicians were looking for, and that would also be the thing that would then, under certain circumstances, get you admitted to a hospital for more intense care. Advertisement Advertisement Youre talking about getting sick in early March. But youre in Missouri, which is not, like, a COVID hot spot. So Im kind of curious what happened when you started to think it was COVID and then looked for a test. I went to an urgent care clinic and told them all my symptoms and explained that I had been traveling. But at that point, you either had to have been exposed to someone with a positive COVID test or you had to have just returned from Wuhan, China. Those were the criteria for a test at the time. But for some reason, after I came back negative for the flu test, they said to go get a COVID test. So I did that. They did the nasal swab test and told me Id have results in 24 to 48 hours. Advertisement The urgent care clinic calls me the next Thursday and says, We have some weird news: Your test came back as an unsatisfactory sample. Well, what does that mean? It means the sample we have isnt good enough to give you any results. They told me to assume I have it, to stay home, to not go out near people. OK, great. Thats exactly what Ive been doing. Ill continue to do that. Thanks. Then on Sunday, I get a call from the central office. And theyre like, Oh, we have great news. You came back negative for COVID. I was like, Wait, I just got a call a few days ago from the urgent care clinic telling me I had an unsatisfactory sample. They said, Private labs have come online. So we sent your sample there to be tested. And I was like, So let me get this straight. You took what was by definition an unsatisfactory sample and sent it to a private lab to be sampled? At this point, my wife was on speakerphone and shes like, Has any unsatisfactory sample ever come back positive? They said no. Advertisement Advertisement You had a second negative test, weeks after your symptoms had begun. What did your doctor tell you? Whats your relationship like with your physician? Ive been disappointed in the care Ive received. In a survey of other long-term COVID patients, a quarter of them reported a negative test, just like you. You also have one more reason to believe you have the disease: your mom. She got sick around the same time you did. Shes a nurse practitioner. She got much more acutely sick than I did. She developed bad shortness of breath. I remember FaceTiming with her and I could see her lips turning a grayish blue. She couldnt finish a sentence without taking a breath. Advertisement I wonder what your conversations with her are like. Is she convinced you have COVID too? Oh yeah, shes very certain I have it. And she is unequivocal about it. But shes also my mom. I didnt have shortness of breath, but all the other experiences I did share with my mom. She also had this mercurial kind of experience: I remember one day, she was literally singing, like I feel so much better. And then the next day she was back in bed, just absolutely miserable. What is this disease? Youre describing your mom having one experience and you having another, both similar in some ways, but then quite different in other ways. My mom is part of the Harvard Medical School Continuing Medical Education program. As she was recovering, she put together this webinar with three other medical professionals, some of whom had tested positive for COVID. I remember one doctor saying, What is the similarity between all of our experiences? That every single one of them is different. I thought that rings so true with what Ive witnessed and with everything Ive read about this virus. Advertisement How are you now? Today, right now, is a better day. Yesterday was a really hard day. Not in the sense of, like, I was horribly sick, but I had the ambition to do a very light 30-minute bicycle ride yesterday. Then I played some video games with my brother in Vermont in the morning and by 11 I was like ahhh man. And then I was on the couch the rest of the day. I just couldnt. I was so profoundly fatigued and weak. That was mentally really challenging because Id had this string of days where I had been doing things like a 30-minute walk, a 30-minute bicycle ride, a full week of work. I participated in more Zoom meetings. I wasnt symptom-free, but I was able to do these other things. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I spent all of yesterday just wondering, should I have walked less? Should I have cycled less? Should I have done less work? Was there anything I could have done differently that would have helped prevent this day from happening? Maybe there was. Maybe there wasnt. I dont know. How are you going to know that youre better? Like when? Its a great question. When will I know? So the last three symptoms Im dealing with are: moderate to profound fatigue, sometimes my minor sore throat or cough comes back, and then there is this buzzing, tingling, vibration sensation. Theres also the sleep disturbance. Once all those symptoms go away, I would say Im better. The hard thing that relapse questionlike if I push too hard, then I feel it again. So I guess Ill know Im better when I can do high-intensity interval training and I dont pay for it later. Advertisement I was talking to a neighbor the other day about school and she was like, I think we just need to rip the Band-Aid off and get the kids back in school full time because it is hard to have our kids here. I wonder what you make of that, having gone through what youve gone through over the last few months. Advertisement I would say I empathize with the feeling. Its so hard for so many people. But I guess I just keep coming back to: You dont know how badly its going to hurt. You just dont know. Not only that, there are inherent risks to what that idea is proposing. I understand childrens development is going to be severely affected, our own personal lives have been extremely affected, the well-being of all of our neighbors has been affected. But that analogy isnt fair. This aint ripping off a Band-Aid. You need to make a new calculation, and honestly, its a really hard one to make. Listen to the full episode using the player below, or subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Black Lives Matter is reverberating around the world, triggering a fresh reckoning with the racist global history of colonialism and slavery. While Confederate statues began to tumble across the American South, in Bristol, England, a diverse group felled a statue of a slave trader that has long provoked offense. Statues of colonial conquerors of Africa and South Asia have followed, along with a robust discussion of the ways in which such actions make history rather than erase it. These movements abroad are not merely echoes of BLM; BLM itself is global. Advertisement The shared impetus is a common opposition to racism, of which anti-Black racism has been the most lethal and traumatic. But the history of policing also bridges them. No historical figure makes this clearer than George Orwell, whose name has been increasingly bandied about in recent weeksby those fretting about the erasure of history as well as those calling out the euphemistic language around policing, such as the use of nonlethal bullets against protesters. Advertisement Advertisement The right and left have long fought over Orwell, who identified as a socialist but authored what many consider the iconic literary critique of socialism, 1984. This is a man who showed us the moral evil of the totalitarian quest for mind control and a culture of denunciation but also compiled a list of untrustworthy leftists for the British Foreign Office; a critic of empire and believer in human equality who persisted in writing and thinking in blatantly racist ways. But his central beef was always with policing, whose tyrannical power he discovered through his own experiences as a colonial police officer. Advertisement Born Eric Blair, Orwell described himself with characteristic precision and irony as a member of the lower-upper-middle class. He went to Eton but on a scholarship. His family had status but not money. Through University College Londons Legacies of British Slave-ownership project, we know that the Blairs traced whatever status they still had in Orwells lifetime to earlier ownership of slaves. Orwells great-great-grandfather was a slave owner in Jamaica in a time in which slavery was part of a colonial system connecting Europe, West Africa, South Asia, and the Americas. The Blairs were among the 3,000 slave-owning families who received a total 20 million pounds in compensation (now worth more than $2 billion) when slavery was abolished in the British empire. Advertisement Advertisement The Blair family held on to its status thanks to opportunities that continued to be afforded by British colonialism. Orwell was born in India, where his father was an official in the Indian Civil Service. His mother was the daughter of a teak merchant in Burma (today, Myanmar; then part of British India). The humiliation he felt at boarding school for his relatively poorer means prepared him for a life of ruin, which he understood variously as: the colonies or an office stool, perhaps prison or an early death. Fatefully, he wound up a police officer in British India. But he quit after five years out of a deep sense of shame, evident in his first published piece of writing (still under the name Eric Blair), a short piece titled A Hanging (1931), in which the narrator, a police officer in Burma, is quietly complicit in the execution of a colonial subject whose crime we are not toldit is irrelevant to the point Orwell wanted to make about the inhumanity of the system that policed and killed him. A dog is the only being that acknowledges the prisoners humanity, jumping up to lick his face, to the crowds horror. It was in Burma that Orwell first discovered thought-policing: You are not free to think for yourself, he explained in his first novel, Burmese Days (1934). Your opinion on every subject is dictated for you by the pukka sahibs code, in which you too are complicit so that your whole life is a life of lies. Advertisement Advertisement What if all police officers heeded the pangs of conscience as Orwell did? Colonial policing also sharpened Orwells awareness of the anesthetizing effects of sanitized language, whose apotheosis, he showed us, was the soulless Newspeak of 1984. In this period, in the Middle East, on the Indian frontier, and in East Africa, work previously performed by policemen and sticks was undertaken by the Royal Air Force, with aircraft and bombs. Orwell summarized aerial policings abuse of humanity and language: Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. These British innovations would deeply influence the development of American military and policing power. Orwell came to see British rule in India as an unjustifiable tyranny in which the police were the actual machinery of despotism, as he confessed in The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). He came to loathe the whole machinery of so-called justice, never entering a jail without feeling that his place was on the other side of the bars. The claim that colonialism spread the rule of law was a cover story for theft. He suspected police officers in England were likewise haunted by a secret horror of what they do. Indeed, in England too, modern policing had evolved from an effort to enforce the theft of the commons and suppress the collective values on which they depended in favor of private property and individualistic values. In a 1933 work, Orwell called out the police as the true source of the immoral conduct that they routinely pinned on the poor to justify their brutality. Advertisement Advertisement In Burmese Days, the moral path of the colonizer leads to suicide, anticipating the bleak destiny of the Inner Party member in 1984. Orwell himself, however, escaped and sought redemption from bad conscience by living several years as a tramp in Paris and London. He wanted to expiate an immense weight of guilt and determined to submerge myself, to get right down among the oppressed, to be one of them and on their side against their tyrants. The English working class, then struggling with deep poverty and high unemployment during the Depression, struck him as analogous to the Burmese: They were the symbolic victims of injustice, playing the same part in England as the Burmese played in Burma. In Burma the issue had been quite simple. The whites were up and the blacks were down, and therefore ones sympathy was with the blacks. I now realized that there was no need to go as far as Burma to find tyranny and exploitation. Here in England were the submerged working class, suffering miseries. Advertisement And among them were preserved the collective values the modern world still needed. For Orwell, at home and abroad, policing and incarceration were the essence of oppression; they thus defined his vision of dystopia in 1984. Cold War Americans liked to read the work as a narrow attack on Stalinism, but its target was far more universal. Policing works by corrupting the soul of both police officers and the policed, destroying human bondsdestroying community, as racism does too. A police officers normal feelings are abject bitterness and moral confusion, Orwell told us in Shooting an Elephant (1936), an essay routinely assigned in high school English classes: With one part of my mind, I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny ; with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priests guts. His experiences in Burma and among the poor turned Eric Blair into a political writer; in taking the pen name George Orwell in 1933, he was partly forging a new self from the moral ruin of his policing life. To the extent that Orwells ideas now saturate our common understanding of liberty and threats to it, that understanding is based on a realization of the fundamental immorality of policing. We have always known policing is the problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Orwell wrote 1984 in 194749 (it appeared six months before his death), just as the British Empire was beginning to fall apart and spawn an afterlife at home. Policing methods designed to pacify and invigilate subversives abroad were used to discipline the unemployed, women, and crowds at home, precisely (and not coincidentally) when nonwhite immigration to Britain from its former colonies was increasing. Those immigrants also endured the insult of living among statues of slave traders and brutal conquerorsat last being toppled by their descendants today. For many, including perhaps Orwell himself, the totalitarian world of Big Brother and doublethink was not merely the exotic trajectory of Stalinist Russia but the fate of imperial policing everywhere, including Britain. What could be more Orwellian than the proud display of statues of conquerors and slavers in a society continually protesting imperial innocence and devotion to liberty and equality? Ignorance is Strength, the Ministry of Truth would say. Advertisement And, War is Peace: Racist militarized American policing remains part of wider racist policing abroad, often from the skies and in the very regions in which the British first devised such policing tactics. Aerial policing is now being applied to the BLM protests against policing. However much we may try to reform modern policing, its fundamental purpose is social control, which, in unhealed parts of the world that are continually retraumatized by a racist past, cannot but depend on a dynamic of criminalizing particular racial and social groups. Advertisement Orwell may have felt he ought to be on the other side of the prison bars, but he did not seek penance by surrendering himself to the police or prison for his sins; those institutions had no moral legitimacy. Rather, he felt he would find expiation in understanding and giving voice to an oppressed community. What if all police officers heeded the pangs of conscience as Orwell did? It is time for us too to recover the cooperative values that policing seeks to suppress and find community-based forms of moving forward, of redeeming the past and keeping societies safe and just. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Police raided a social insurer. The intervention could be linked to Kocner Kocner may have had illegal access to the social insurer's database. Font size: A - | A + The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) raided the social insurer Socialna Poistovna. Workgroup Journalist searched the company space with the aim to secure proof needed in connection to the illegal screening carried out in the social insurer's systems. The first to report on the raid was the website noviny.sk. Police confirmed the raid but did not state more information. The police screened journalists and they may turn to court Read more Television JOJ reported that this could be linked to Marian Kocner. He could have had illegal access to the database. Last week, Slovak police detained and subsequently placed in custody former police officer Pavol Vorobjov in connection with the case of the illegal screening of journalists in police databases in the months leading up to the murder of Jan Kuciak. 30. Jun 2020 at 21:01 | Compiled by Spectator staff Just over eight months since her last appearance at Woodbine Mohawk Park, three-year-old pacing filly Alicorn returned to the Milton oval on Monday evening and marched straight back into the winners circle. Making her sophomore debut in the first of three $73,067 Gold Series divisions, Canadas Two-year-old Pacing Filly of the Year eased away from Post 5 as Betalady led the field to a :26.2 opening quarter. After sitting briefly on the rail in third, driver Louis-Philippe Roy sent the fan favourite to the front and Alicorn rolled on to a :55 half and 1:23.3 three-quarters. Lauras Love and Rose Run Victoria mounted an attack in the lane, but Alicorn held them off for a three-quarter length victory in 1:50.4. To come off of an eight month layoff and have to pace 1:50 and change her first start, thats not easy for any horse, said Chantal Mitchell, who trains Alicorn for Windermere Stable LLC of New York, NY and Robert Muscara of Ivyland, PA. She did the vast majority of the work in there tonight. I dont know if she could have gone faster if she was pushed, but she did what she had to do and Im quite happy with her. The Bettors Delight daughter came into Mondays Gold Series season opener off a trio of qualifiers on June 4, 11 and 18, with the most recent clocked in 1:52.2. Mitchell was confident that Alicorn was ready, but the Waterdown resident was still happy to get the win in the books. Theres always a lot of expectations. When the stakes schedule came out and she didnt have any races for a month then I scratched her from the (May 29) qualifier, and it was, you know people were losing their minds, Mitchell recalled. They said, Whats wrong with her? Its fine, its just I dont have anywhere to race her so Im not going to qualify her this week, well qualify next week. I mapped out a plan for her after I had a stakes schedule so then it was because everybody was questioning what I was doing it was, hopefully I made the right decision. The winner of $536,907 wintered in North Carolina and Mitchell said, while she did not grow taller, Alicorn did fill out and looks stronger than she did as a two-year-old. Shes a lot thicker. She filled out a lot, and I think she filled out quite a bit just in the last two months. With all this extra time it did her some good. A lot of people were calling her fat tonight. I said its a good thing she doesnt care what other people think because she would develop a complex, said Mitchell with a laugh. Its like I said to one of her owners, itll take a couple more of those 1:50 miles to get her back to her fighting weight, but shes starting in a good spot. Sex Appeal also started her sophomore campaign in a good spot, finding the OSS winners circle for the first time. The Bettors Delight daughter and driver Trevor Henry caught the pacesetting Rose Run Vantage in the stretch to record the victory in a personal best 1:51. Fan favourite Rose Run Vantage settled for second and Saulsbrook Raven was third. Shes a nice filly, shes just starting to learn how to race. She grew up a lot from last year, said Henry, who drives Sex Appeal for trainer Bob McIntosh of Windsor and Al McIntosh Holdings Inc. of Leamington. Hopefully she keeps it up. A Grassroots competitor at two, Sex Appeal now has three wins to her credit in four sophomore starts. The final Gold Series division went to All Day Sunshine and driver James MacDonald, who tracked Probert through the mile and then circled the stalled favourite in the stretch. All Day Sunshine sprinted all the way to the wire, getting a nose in front of So Delightful in a 1:52 personal best. Keystone Kalimba completed the top three. I was hoping to find a nice trip with her and get as much as we could, but Dan (Lagace) has the horse great and the trip worked out, said MacDonald. When I gave her some racetrack, she did the rest. A Gold winner at two, Sunshine Beach daughter All Day Sunshine is owned by trainer Dan Lagace of Cambridge, Christopher Nicol of Caledonia, ON and Billy Joe Timmins of Birmingham, GB. The three-year-old pacing fillies will return to Woodbine Mohawk Park on July 17 for their second Gold Series Leg. (OSS) To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results Woodbine Mohawk Park. Dancin Dragon sat comfortably in the pocket behind the duelling leaders, and then blew by in the lane to capture Mondays $17,900 Open Handicap Pace in a career-best 1:49.3. While the first-over Rock Candy threw down a protracted challenge to Windsong Leo on the point, Dancin Dragon and Jim Pantaleano were saving ground in the pocket. When Rock Candy finally backed off at the top of the lane, Dancin Dragon wheeled by Windsong Leo and downed him by 3/4 lengths. Major Nemesis came from far back for show. Randy Bendis conditions Dancin Dragon, a five-year-old Dragon Again-Mcdance Desire gelding who lifted his bankroll to $271,625, and owns with Pollack Racing LLC. Dave Palone and Mike Wilder each collected three wins on the 14-race card. Tuesdays 15-race program at The Meadows features a trio of rich wagering opportunities: a $5,014.15 carryover in the final-race Super Hi-5; a $5,000 total pool guarantee for the Early Pick 4 (race 3); a $2,025.10 carryover in the early Pick 5 (race 2). First post is 12:45 p.m. (Meadows Standardbred Owners Association) The United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) will host the next free harness racing handicapping contest on Scott Albergs Facebook page on Independence Day, Saturday, July 4 at the Meadowlands Racetrack. One special race will be selected from the Meadowlands Saturday program and contestants can enter free of charge. All you have to do is select the correct exacta (first two official finishers in the race, either by their starting post position number or by the name of the horse). The Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame have arranged for the three swag-bag prizes that will be given away in this weeks contest. If more than three correct answers are submitted, then a drawing will take place with all the correct winners and the first three names drawn will win a swag bag prize package. This weeks prizes come from the Harness Racing Museum and includes a copy of the USTAs Care & Training of the Trotter and Pacer book, a copy of Bill Hellers novel on Billy Haughton, plus other surprise items. Scott Alberg, the 2006 National Harness Handicapping Champion, who also has numerous other handicapping titles, has been a Standardbred owner in the past, and has agreed to partner with USHWA as the contests new title sponsor. Since USHWA came on board with this contest, we are setting records with every event, said Alberg, Our last contest set the bar now at 287 people entering. We have never had that many people enter before. This contest is all about having fun and we hope even more people will enter this week. To enter the contest, fans must go to Scott Albergs Facebook page (facebook.com/scott.alberg.3), where the contest will be prominently displayed. Alberg, as he has done in the past, will run the contests. All contest winners will have their name posted after the event and the ranking they finished in from the prize drawings. As soon as the draw takes place at the Meadowlands this week, the program proof page for the race selected will be posted for race fans to handicap from. For more information check out Scott Albergs Facebook Page, USHWAs Facebook Page, Twitter and Instagram accounts or the new USHWA website (usharnesswriters.com). (USHWA) Taiwan wants to buy several dozen American Harpoon II anti-ship missiles for use on truck-mounted launchers. The land-based missiles would quickly be moved to where needed and fired at oncoming Chinese ships. While Taiwan already manufactures locally designed anti-ship missiles, it needs to import Harpoons to get its land-based missile force up to strength by 2022. Taiwan believes that with enough truck-mounted anti-ship missiles they could cripple any Chinese invasion fleet. Taiwan calculated it would be cheaper, and faster, to import Harpoon IIs than to expand their own anti-ship missile production capability. Taiwan first faced this shortage in early 2019 when they approved the production of Hsiung Feng 2B anti-ship missile. Only 36 of these new models were ordered because that was how many could be produced by 2023. Hsiung Feng 2B has greater range (250 kilometers compared to 160 in earlier versions) and is better able to resist jamming and other countermeasures. The 685 kg (1,507 pound) Hsiung Feng 2 surface to surface version is stored in a firing container. The missile is 4.8 meters (14.9 feet) long, 400mm in diameter and has a 180 kg (400 pound) warhead. The Hsiung Feng 2 first appeared in the 1990s and has undergone several upgrades since then. These improvements concentrate on extending the range and improving the guidance system. Current versions of Hsiung Feng 2 use GPS/INS to reach the general vicinity of the target then employ pattern recognition (via an onboard electronic database) to select a specific (or one of several worth hitting) targets and go after that ship. For its final approach, Hsiung Feng 2 speeds up to near-supersonic (250 meters a second) speed. Chinas rapidly growing fleet has many newer ships with defensive weapons designed to deal with sub-sonic anti-ship missiles like Hsiung Feng 2, but even with that chance is still a factor, especially if the Chinese ship can be attacked when it does not expect it. That is not the most likely use of Hsiung Feng 2 as these are built to defend the 180 kilometers wide Taiwan Straits that separate China and the island nation of Taiwan. There is a belief that American support will be sufficient to deter or defeat a Chinese attack. Everyone expects any such war to be short. Thus, less than a thousand (possibly only a few hundred) Hsiung Feng 2s have been produced. Taiwan releases few details of upgrades or production and usually only does so when such information has become difficult to hide. Details of upgrading older missiles are easier to conceal while that is less expensive than building new ones and easier to get past the usually parsimonious parliament. The extreme secrecy forces China to spend more time, effort and money on espionage efforts in Taiwan. Since Taiwan develops its own electronics and has plenty of qualified people to do it China has to be wary of some new development they dont know about and wont discover until it starts sinking their ships. With that in mind, Hsiung Feng 2 appears to have been built in larger (than a few hundred) numbers and upgraded regularly. Hsiung Feng 2 is mainly used as a surface-to-surface weapon from both ships and land-based launchers. Some, the exact number is not public, Hsiung Feng 2 launchers are hidden around the island, disguised as other structures on hillsides overlooking coastal waters. There is also an air-launched version. The new truck-mounted missile batteries are a solution to the problems created by China installing more short-range ballistic missiles that could hit the fixed land-based missile batteries once their location was known. Apparently, China has figured out where most of the carefully hidden batteries are. Taiwan mounted some of the land-based missiles on trucks but this required a tractor-trailer rig. The Harpoons can be mounted on an 8x8 truck, as Denmark did between 1988 and 2002, putting four missiles on an 8x8 flatbed truck. Taiwan realized it could do the same with the 19-ton 8x8 HEMTT military trucks they bought from the United States. HEMTT is one of the most widely used heavy military trucks currently in use. Over 35,000 have been built since 1981 and it is still in production. HEMTT can carry up to 20 tons. This is more than sufficient to mount four Harpoons in storage/launch containers, in addition to fire control equipment. HEMTT is much more mobile than the tractor-trailer used for locally built Hsiung Feng missiles. Since 2000 Taiwan has been attempting to upgrade its military with new weapons and better training to deal with the rapidly growing quality of Chinese weapons and training standards for military personnel (especially pilots and sailors). Yet Taiwan has made little progress in either area. The purchase of new weapons is often quietly delayed and training reforms put off. While making the military stronger is popular with Taiwanese in general, for too long government officials seemed more concerned with not upsetting China. Despite that China has vigorously opposed any efforts to help build a stronger Taiwanese military. This growing military weakness versus China has become more of an issue in Taiwan and there was growing pressure to improve training and reduce corruption within the military before it was too late. Yet many Taiwanese prefer to believe that the United States will protect Taiwan from Chinese aggression. That is no longer a sure thing either and since 2010 Taiwan has become more serious about preparing for the worse. In response, the Taiwanese Navy has been building more heavily armed (with Hsiung Feng 2) Tuo Chiang class missile corvettes. For example, in late 2014, four years after issuing the contract (to design and build the first of twelve 600-ton stealthy twin-hulled missile boats) Taiwan commissioned (put into service) the first of them. Construction took about two years and the first ship cost $72 million. These are actually large missile boats designated as corvettes. Each carries 16 anti-ship missiles (eight Hsiung Feng 2 and eight Hsiung Feng 3 supersonic/range 130 kilometers), a 76mm gun, a 20mm Phalanx autocannon (for missile defense), two 12.7mm machine-gun and six torpedo tubes plus a large array of electronics, including electronic countermeasures. The stealth and defensive electronics are meant to keep these ships afloat long enough to use most of their missiles against their more numerous Chinese counterparts. This includes the new Chinese aircraft carriers. These corvettes have a crew of 41, a top speed of 71 kilometers an hour and a helicopter pad. Tuo Chiang class ships carry sufficient fuel, water and food to stay at sea up to a week at a time. They are basically coastal defense ships. These new corvettes are the continuation of a trend in the Taiwanese Navy, which sees small ships carrying lots of anti-ship missiles as the key to success against the Chinese navy. But in typical fashion orders for more Tuo Chiang class ships were slow in coming and only recently did construction begin on more of them. In 2010 the first of 31 smaller Kuang Hua (KH-6) class guided-missile patrol boats entered service. These 34.2 meter (106 foot) long, seven meter (22 foot) wide, 170 ton ships have a crew of 19. They were armed with four Hsiung Feng-2 anti-ship missiles, a 20mm autocannon, two 7.62mm machine-guns, and two decoy (for incoming missiles) launchers. Top speed is 55 kilometers an hour. At cruising speed of 22 kilometers an hour, the ships can stay at sea for about two days at a time. All 31 KH-6s are now in service. The KH-6s replace thirty older and smaller (57 ton) Hai Ou class boats. These patrol boats guard the coast, and especially the Taiwan Straits that separate China and Taiwan. Construction on these boats proceeded according to schedule. The one major weakness of these Kuang Hua missile boats is that they have no real air defenses and depend on the Taiwanese maintaining air superiority whenever and wherever these small craft are operating. Without that air cover, these small ships would be target practice for Chinese warplanes. That appears to be one reason for the new program to build locally what could not be obtained overseas (because of Chinese diplomacy and threats). Theres nothing unusual about tiny Taiwan developing and building world-class weapons. Israel, Norway and Sweden all do that and have the large export sales to show for it. Taiwan is blocked from most export opportunities by the relentless pressure from China to block such independent activity but that does not prevent Taiwanese firms from doing a good job. Unfortunately, China makes it impossible to export weapons. Using diplomacy, financial pressure and threats China blocks Taiwanese arms exports and makes it difficult for Taiwan to import weapons. Without the export potential it is much more expensive to develop and produce weapons for the Taiwanese military. GRAFENWOEHR, BY, GERMANY 04.16.2020 - A U.S. Soldier with the 15th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armor Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division fires a M2 .50-caliber heavy-machine gun from a M88 Recovery Vehicle during the battalions Table 4 mounted machine gun range at the 7th Army Training Commands Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, April 16, 2020. (U.S. Army photo by Gertrud Zach) X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: June 29, 2020: Governments dont function well in Somalia but criminal organizations are another matter. The largest criminal organization in Somalia is al Shabaab. Given the history of Somalia that should not be a surprise. Britain administered Somalia from 1884 to 1960 and after much effort imposed more peace, prosperity and unity than the region had ever known. That lasted until about two decades after independence and then the usual bad habits began tearing Somalia apart again. The tribal/clan rivalries kept the pot boiling and even the rise of a "clean government" party (the Islamic Courts) after 2001, based on installing a religious dictatorship, backfired and turned into another warlord group called al Shabaab. That caused even more Somalis to flee their homeland and led to even more problems as Somali refugees throughout Africa and worldwide. While doing that Somalis acquired a reputation for organized violence and criminal behavior as well as entrepreneurial success. Meanwhile, al Shabaab still has a lot of popular support. The majority of Somalis oppose Islamic terrorism but a significant minority (up to 20 percent) support or tolerate groups like al Shabaab. The main reason for the support is desperation for a solution to the poverty, corruption, factionalism and chaos that makes Somalia such a dangerous place to live in. Overcoming those ancient traditions is the main obstacle to peace and there is no quick solution. Al Shabaab survives because its leaders concentrated on finances and pay its bills. For example, since 2018 al Shabaab has had an arrangement with Kenyan peacekeeper force commanders who will take bribes to allow al Shabaab controlled charcoal production and export of that charcoal to Dubai. This has long been the main source of income for al Shabaab. When al Shabaab lost control of the southern port of Kismayo in 2014, al Shabaab's income fell by more than half. Since then al Shabaab has established other income sources, mainly smuggling in areas it controls, along with extortion and anything else it can get away with. The charcoal operations is worth about $15 million a year to al Shabaab, which comprises over a third of the income that currently keeps about 7,000 al Shabaab members going. So far Kenya has been reluctant to crack down, apparently because some prominent Kenyan families are involved. At least that is usually the main reason for ignoring clear evidence of corruption. While not as corrupt as Somalia, which is ranked the most corrupt of 180 nations worldwide, Kenya comes in 137th. Al Shabaab has worked a little harder to find a corruptible Kenyan official but finding someone is not impossible. Al Shabaab still uses force when bribes wont work. Force is not only cheaper but often more lucrative. In the last year about a thousand violent acts can be traced back to al Shabaab. Most of this violence took place in southern Somalia and northern Kenya and most were about economics, not religion. Al Shabaab members are more gangsters than religious fanatics. There are still religious fanatics in Somalia and some are in al Shabaab. There they either keep their fanatic beliefs to themselves or move on and join the local ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) group in northern Somalia. That ISIL group has a hard time surviving because they dont get along with the government security forces, local clan militias or with al Shabaab itself. As a result of all those distractions the local ISIL group could only carry out four terror attacks in May and in June there were even fewer attacks. The problem was the Somali ISIL group has fewer than a hundred active members and, despite their fanaticism, they get killed and there are not enough new recruits to grow the organization. Covid19 Come And Gone For a while, there was a growing fear of a covid19 coronavirus epidemic that would kill key political, military and terrorist leaders. The virus seemed to be more fatal to older people and most leaders were older and felt vulnerable. In early April the Somali Minister of Justice died of covid19. He was brought to the capital a week earlier and taken to the only hospital in the country that can treat covid19. Tests showed that he was infected and he was isolated. This was the second covid19 death in Somalia. The first victim was a 58-year-old man who had not been outside the country and died four days before the Finance Minister. In March the government announced that one of four Somalis who had just returned from China had covid19. This was the first such case known to be in Somalia. If covid19 gets loose in Somalia the local health system wont be of much help because the local health system is largely non-existent. So far about 3,000 Somali covid19 cases have been confirmed and 90 Somalis have died. That comes to 182 confirmed cases per million population and six confirmed covid19 deaths per million. There has been no widespread quarantines or restrictions on movement. Most Somalis still live in rural villages that get few outside visitors. But several million Somalis live in cities, refugee camps or large towns. In those urban areas, there are many epidemic diseases and covid19 is not considered as much of a threat as existing threats like cholera, infections and a lack of antibiotics or annual influenza. In the West, there are easy cures available for all that but in Somalia, a lot of curable conditions are incurable threats. Covid19 is another incurable condition and not as nasty as many others Somalis deal with daily. In Kenya, there are 113 infections per million and three deaths. Ethiopia has 50 cases per million and 0.9 deaths. Most of Africa is showing low rates of infection and death because health care throughout Africa is unable to handle, much less count, something like this. June 27, 2020: The National Independent Electoral Commission has told parliament that it is impossible to hold elections for parliament and a new president as scheduled on November 27. That current presidential term expires on February 8, 2021. The delay was blamed on the usual suspects; political deadlocks, poor security (bandits and Islamic terrorists), bad weather (floods this time) and covid19. To assure a minimum level of legitimacy the six million eligible Somali voters must be registered biometrically and requires special equipment that has not yet been obtained because the Electoral Commission does not have enough money and needs at least $70 million to set up 5,000 polling stations and carry out the biometric registration. More time is also required but it is not going to be enough. None of this is a surprise. The first parliamentary elections finally took place in 2016 and the new legislature was installed at the end of 2016. This was supposed to have taken place months earlier but did not because too many of the current politicians regard elections as a threat to their income (from corruption). Some foreign donors correctly saw the delays as a ploy so the interim government could stay in power longer and steal more aid money. This led to threats to halt aid if elections for parliament and president were not held. That worked, sort of, and the electoral process lurches forward, if only to keep the free money coming. The presidential election (or selection, by the parliament) was supposed to take place by the end of January 2017 but took a lot longer. Part of the problem is political with many of the clans (tribes) maintaining armed militias and refusing to abide by a one man, one vote system. That is, some clans demand more (foreign aid and other resources) than their numbers justify. A compromise was worked out to accommodate that. In effect, the new parliament was created by a selection rather than a national election. The national parliament has 275 members who were elected by 14,025 voters selected by 135 clan elders. The 54 members of the upper house of parliament are selected by local (state or regional) assemblies. A Western style election (in which all adult citizens can vote) was not expected until the early 2020s, if ever. The current president was selected by the 2016 parliament and what means all manner of deals were made in return for support of one candidate or another. The major aid donors have quietly made it clear if the new government does not curb the rampant theft of foreign aid, there will be a lot less of it and thus the new president is expected to be more effective in curbing corruption. The current government did not do much to reduce the corruption and foreign aid has declined. Somalia has a hard time pleading poverty because so much foreign aid gets stolen by Somalis before it can reach the people who need it and whose desperate plight caused foreign donors to donate. The failed, so far, election preparations can be expected to continue failing with or without additional time and money. No one wants to admit that Somalia is a failed state but fewer and fewer donors want to keep sending aid to Somalia only to find that most, or all of it was stolen. There are many other needy areas where most of the aid gets to those who need it. June 23, 2020: In Mogadishu, an al Shabaab suicide bomber tried to attack the Turkish military training center compound but was shot by Somali guards and detonated his explosives far from the entrance. A civilian was killed and two Somali trainees were wounded. Al Shabaab took credit for the attack. Al Shabaab is particularly hostile to the Turks because the Turks will not pay protection money to the Islamic terrorists to avoid violence like this. The Turkish training facility has, since 2017, trained four Somali infantry battalions and a fifth is being trained. The Turks ran separate training programs for officers (150 graduates so far) and NCOs (250 grads so far). The Turkish military reputation is respected by Somalis and the training is tough, thorough and effective. The Turk trained battalions are visibly more effective against al Shabaab and the Islamic terrorists would like to see it shut down. June 14, 2020: In the southeast, a cross the border in Kenya (Mandera country) two al Shabaab gunmen were killed when Kenyan police caught them trying to destroy a cell phone tower. A policeman also died. Al Shabaab extorts money from Kenyan and Somali cell phone companies to ensure al Shabaab does not attack cell phone company property. That extortion effort works better in Somalia than in Kenya, where the security forces are more effective. June 8, 2020: In the southeast (Lower Shabelle region), peacekeepers defeated an ambush attempt by al Shabaab gunmen. None of the peacekeepers were injured in the brief firefight and the al Shabaab got away with at least one wounded man. The ambush took place in a populated area and three nearby civilians were killed and two wounded by the crossfire. June 1, 2020: Outside Mogadishu, a roadside bomb hit a civilian van carrying family members to a funeral. The bomb may have been meant for one of the many security forces and government vehicles that use the road. No one, including al Shabaab, took credit for the attack indicating someone screwed up and set off the bomb on the wrong vehicle. May 28, 2020: Outside Balad (30 kilometers north of Mogadishu), soldiers were accused of kidnapping and killing seven health workers and another civilian in response to a recent roadside bomb attack that had killed nine soldiers. The army denied the accusation and pointed out that al Shabaab and bandits often wear army uniforms when they carry out attacks. Al Shabaab may have been trying to extort money from the medical foreign aid group the victims worked for. May 17, 2020: About 125 kilometers off the south coast of Yemen two pirate speed boats tried to seize a British chemical tanker. The armed guards on the tanker fired on the approaching speedboats and the pirates fired back. There was some bullet damage to the tanker, including some glass that was shattered on the bridge. The armed guard on the tanker was more accurate and disabled one of the speedboats and the other one also stopped to deal with that. It was unclear if the pirates were from Somalia or Yemen. Some of the Islamic terror groups in Yemen has tried to rob or seize ships off the coast. There are still some pirates operating out of small northern Somali ports but of late the more successful attacks have come from Yemen based pirates. Meanwhile, the piracy threat has moved to the other coast of Africa. The waters off the Nigerian coast have, over the last few years, become the scene of most pirate activity on the planet. This happened gradually and Nigeria does not want to keep this dubious achievement. No one ever does. In 2015 there were 178 attacks on ships at sea worldwide but none off Somalia and less than a hundred off Nigeria. The most active area was Southeast Asia. In 2016 Southeast Asia accounted for over 35 percent of the pirate attacks worldwide. By 2017 anti-piracy efforts by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia had reduced the local threat and the current piracy hotspot is off the West Africa coast, particularly off Nigeria. By 2019 the Nigerian coast was the scene of most pirate activity. Worldwide piracy has been declining since 2012 because most of the Somali pirates were shut down, showing that it could be done. At that point activity shifted back to areas where it had been a problem for centuries, like the coasts of Malaysia and Indonesia and areas near the Malacca Strait. There most of the attacks are robberies of the crew and the stealing of portable valuables. The crewmen are usually not hurt and based on their experience it appears most of the pirates come from Malaysia and Indonesia and were largely amateurs. There were some professionals in action in 2014. These fellows were able to hijack ships long enough for cargo to be transferred at sea to someone who could resell it and this provided far more money for the pirates than the more common robbery incidents. But those professional pirates are gone, in part because theft that large left a data trail that police and intelligence agencies could pick up and follow. In 2015 Malaysia and Indonesia joined forces to run more helicopter and warship patrols through areas where most of these less costly robbery attacks were taking place. This sort of quick reaction patrol could move in quickly enough to catch pirates before they and their loot could disappear into one of the many coves or villages that dot the Malaysian and Indonesian coasts. Police also went after the middlemen (fences) who buy the valuable (and portable) electronics these grab and go pirates prefer. If you find the fence you can often find his suppliers. In any event, these robber pirates are more numerous and being amateurs can quickly drop out and, as far as the police are concerned disappear. Some of these small-time pirates are believed to have been in the business, on and off, for over a decade. The police want to make some arrests and well publicized prosecutions (and convictions) to discourage many of these amateur pirates from returning to robbery. The Somali pirates are victims of their own success. Because of their continued threat, the International Anti-Piracy Patrol remains and large ships take many precautions to avoid capture. Some nations have stopped sending ships to the patrol but most continue to do so because its good training for the crews and gives the ships a realistic workout. It also helps keep insurance rates down in the area and that translates into lower shipping costs for goods to and from northeast Africa. Syrians and countries that support Syria are working to establish an idea of what Syria will be after a political solution and how the country can come together reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. The enacting of the Caesar Act, which imposes economic and political sanctions on the Syrian regime, has significantly reduced the manoeuvrings of most parties involved in Syrian affairs, especially those supportive of the regime. At the same time, some Syrian political bodies and groups have begun searching for a formula for a social contract that can bring Syrians together prior to entering any political solution, which the United States has waved around as the only solution to the Syrian issue, in accordance with UN resolutions. At the level of the representative party in the opposition, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) held a meeting on Saturday with the World Council of Churches and AFAK. They discussed 20 items related to the social contract among Syrians and the political solution. With the implementation of the Caesar Act, around 400 Syrian personalities, including political dissidents, intellectuals, artists, writers and journalists from various parts of Syrian society issued a statement affirming that they had adopted a concept of a comprehensive vision of Syrian citizenship through the post-political solution stage. They clarified their vision of the social contract that binds together all parts of Syrian society, and their relationship to authority. As for the international level, Russia has made the most moves. It has met with representatives of different sectarian and political entities in order to find out their views on authority following a political solution, as well as the nature of the political solution that they want. Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhael Bognanov met with former SNC president Muath al-Khatib, as well as members of the Motherland Movement. Sergey Metoshin, the Secretary of Russias Permanent Mission to the UN met with influential representatives from the Alawite community residing outside Syria. Meanwhile, a meeting is being coordinated to gather Syrian opposition figures with a representative from Russia. Turkey has not lost sight of holding meetings with influential figures from the Syrian opposition for the same reason. Foremost among them is the former prime minister of Syria, Riyad Hijab, who defected from the government and is now the president of the High Negotiations Committee. These moves all coincided with the enforcement of the Caesar Act. There are those who see the Caesar Act as an opportunity to discuss this transitional period in Syria in case the US continues to maintain its strictness in enforcing the act. There are those who found themselves unable to defend the regime in its current form, amid the Caesar Act, such as Russia. They have begun work on a political solution with the greatest possible benefits. 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. A Russian delegation has visited the al-Ward oil field in Deir ez-Zor, amid tensions between militias in al-Mayadeen city reports Deir Ezzor 24. On Sunday, a Russian delegation visited the al-Ward oil field in the eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside, west of the Euphrates, a source told Deir Ezzor 24. The source added that a patrol of the military security forces accompanied the Russian delegation to visit the al-Ward oil field, which is occupied by Russian troops. In a different context, Deir Ezzor 24s correspondent said that the National Defense Militia has replaced all its elements in al-Mayadeen city east of Deir ez-Zor after the old elements caused many troubles with the other militias in the city. It is indicated that Iranian militias, groups of Assads forces, Russian troops and the national defense militia all share control of al-Mayadeen city, which is one of the most important cities of Deir ez-Zor. 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. Ali Junaid, who is known for singing sectarian songs, sought asylum in Germany, but is accused of taking part in the Khalidiya massacre writes Zaman Al-Wasl. Syrian rapper Ali Junaid is yet another Syrian militant who was granted asylum in Germany in 2016, despite his service in the National Defense Units, the main armed wing of Bashar al-Assad. Junaid, 26, entered Germany through Turkey and earlier this year he moved from Brandenburg to Berlin. He currently lives alone but rarely goes out on his own, being very cautious with the people he deals with and never speaking about Syria. Since moving there, he has never traveled outside of Germany, satisfied with having only an ID card and no passport. According to activists, Junaid was born in the al-Zahra neighborhood in central Homs city, where he lived with his mother. He and Wannous participated in a number of rap battles, singing hateful sectarian songs and boasting about the crimes committed against the Syrian people since the beginning of the revolution. Junaid later joined the National Defense Militia. Activists confirmed that Junaid participated in the Khalidiya massacre that took place on Feb. 3, 2012, and in the killings, rape and looting that affected the neighborhood. 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. Rami Makhlouf has been dealt a further blow with the announcement that the Ministry of Economy and Trade has rescinded contracts made with the businessman writes Baladi News. The Syrian regimes Ministry of Economy and Trade issued a decision to rescind contracts that had been signed with the Makhlouf Company for Management and Duty Free Investment. The ministry published the text of the decree, No. 526, noting that it had cancelled all its contracts with Makhlouf to invest in free zones, after establishing that, the investor in those markets was involved in smuggling money and goods, so it was decided to cancel the contracts. According to the text of the decision, Makhloufs duty free investment contracts were cancelled in Jdeidat Yabous, Nassib Center, Bab al-Hawa Center, Port of Lattakia, Port of Tartous Governorate, Damascus Airport, Aleppo Airport and Bassel Airport in Lattakia. Makhloufs companies have enjoyed a monopoly over duty free zones since 2010, with no competition due to his closeness to Assad. The origin of the dispute between Assad and Makhlouf is the governments request, through the Communications Ministry, for payment of taxes, while Makhlouf insists that the matter is illegal. This prompted him to post a series of videos over a period of three months in which he attacked Assad. In the latest video, on Jun. 2, 2020, Makhlouf affirms that for all of the threats that his company has faced since the beginning of the dispute with the Syrian regime, there are hidden hands behind them that dare to possess private property, according to his own words. He stressed that he would not give up any of his companies, bearing responsibility for people in the regime, as there are no official or systematic measures against him. 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. A photo of Bashar al-Assad was torn up in Daraa, amid rising tensions and clashes between rival groups reports Enab Baladi. A number of young men in the rural eastern Daraa town of Saida tore up a photo of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday at a regime checkpoint in the area. An Enab Baladi correspondent in Daraa said the incident came after the death of a member of the Russian-backed Fifth Corps, who died from injuries he sustained when regime forces opened fire on him and his companions in the town of Muhajja in rural eastern Daraa. Demonstrations broke out yesterday in the towns of Kaheel and Muhajja in rural eastern Daraa during the funeral of Fifth Corps fighters killed at the Muhajja checkpoint. Protesters raised slogans calling for the fall of the regime and President Bashar al-Assad. Clashes flared up on Jun. 27, 2020, between fighters from the Fifth Corps and regime forces, after personnel at the Muhajja checkpoint attacked former local council president Wassim Muhammad. The clashes resulted in the killing of three Fifth Corps fighters and a regime officer and personnel member. Members of the Fifth Corps removed regime checkpoints in the towns of Saida and Kaheel in rural eastern Daraa. These tensions come after an explosive device on a Fifth Corps bus on Jun. 20, 2020, killed 10 fighters and wounded 25 others. Ahmad al-Audeh, the commander of the Eighth Brigade of the Fifth Corps and a former opposition commander, declared his intention to form a new army in Houran after the incident. In the mourning tent, in front of delegations of mourners for those killed in the bombing, Audeh said, Soon, Houran will have one body and one army. This is not just for the defense of Houran, but rather it will be the most powerful tool for defending Syria. The Fifth Corps was formed at the end of 2016 by Russian orders to be an auxiliary force to the Syrian regime, which was advancing on opposition forces. After the regime captured southern Syria, Audeh joined the Fifth Corps and entered into a direct relationship with the Russian guarantor. 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. Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Jakub Bartoszewski (Texas A&M) & Andrew P. Morriss (Texas A&M), An Archipelago of Contrasts: Blacklists, Caribbean Autonomy and the New Tax Colonialism: Blacklists generally, and European blacklists in particular, are effectively discouraging the only successful development strategy in the Caribbean. We label this effort to forcibly impose European policies the New Tax Colonialism. Many of the same European powers who once colonised the Caribbean and forced its societies into sugar plantation economies now seek to fiscally recolonise it, crippling the most effective way to achieve economic prosperity in the region. ... We are not advocating a standardless world, in which rogue jurisdictions undermine governance by enabling fraudsters to find safe havens. IFCs in the Caribbean and worldwide have repeatedly demonstrated their interest in making financial regulation both effective and efficient through their participation in multilateral organisations like the Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and many others. Collaboration, not coercion, combined with mutual respect for sovereignty is what is needed. The EU and European nations should be working with Caribbean jurisdictions to solve problems, rather than regressing to their earlier role as colonialists and attempting to impose a restructuring of tax systems, governments, and international relations on the Caribbean. In the end, this is ultimately a question of money. What can EU states do to protect their tax revenue? They could, of course, get their own houses in order and simplify their tax codes, reduce rates, and rationalise rate structures. Designing an efficient tax regime is not difficult; finding the political will to do so is. And since that seems much harder than imposing the New Tax Colonialism, Europe is embarking once again on an attempt to impose its will on Caribbean peoples and islands. Lets hope the results this time are less costly for the region than was the first round of European colonialism in the Caribbean. https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2020/06/blacklists-caribbean-autonomy-and-the-new-tax-colonialism.html The Redondo Beach lagoon reopened on Friday, June 18, for the first time in more than a year, after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to shutter all last summer. It just kind of becomes a part of you after a few minutes of wearing it, she said. Other Walmart shoppers noted drawbacks of wearing masks. Crista DeMicon, an Oregon City resident in town visiting her daughter, said it is harder to breathe in her mask and sometimes her glasses fog up because of it. Still, DeMicon kept her mask on to shop and load her car. It wont really protect, but it will help slow the spread, she said. She estimated that about half of the people she saw while shopping werent wearing masks, despite signs posted on the door explaining that masks were required to enter. Vickie, a Clatskanie resident who declined to give her last name, said it frustrated her to see shoppers without masks. If there is a rule, everyone should have to follow it. And (the employees) should make sure they follow it, said Vickie, who wears her mask only because they say I have to. A corporate Walmart spokesperson told TDN on Monday that the stores follow all local and statewide mandates, but customers play a part in keeping workers and each other safe. Google, over the past couple of weeks, has been sharing what people have been searching for on Google Search. Ever since countries imposed a lockdown in their territories and the fight against the pandemic intensified, people all over the world searched for ways to help others in their community. We also saw people searching for 'teddy bears in windows' and 'microwaved bread' among other things. This week, searches pertaining to the Black Lives Matter campaign gained momentum. Google in a thread on Twitter revealed that this week people searched for blm pride flag and black trans protest donation fund among others. In a video shared in the Twitter thread said that the global search interest in pride fist, Black and gay rights and trans rights reached an all-time high. This week in Search: Were looking for ways to authentically represent ourselves and support one another. From blm pride flag to black trans protest donation fund, heres what the world searched for this Pride month. pic.twitter.com/8swqkvdfMx Google (@Google) June 29, 2020 In addition to this people have also been searching for black trans travel fund, black trans women fund, black trans solidarity fund, black trans protest emergency fund and black trans donation fund. The company said that the search for blm pride flag and pride flag black brown spiked by 5,000% in the past 30 days. In addition to this, people also searched for Black trans women activist Marsha P Johnson, who played a vital role in the LGBQT rights movement. This prominent figure from the Stonewall uprising of 1969 is being searched at record highs throughout the world, Google wrote in another tweet. Lastly, the company revealed that the searches for leading trans thinkers and creatives like Laverne Cox, who is currently starring in Netflixs Disclosure, have been soaring. The Indian governments decision to ban Chinese apps may have the biggest effect on TikTok as it loses its biggest user base. India has been consecutively contributing the most number of downloads and users to TikTok globally. TikTok has been the most downloaded app globally in the past few months except for April when Zoom shot past it. Last month, TikTok received over 111.9 million installs with India contributing 20% of its total downloads, according to Sensor Tower. This behaviour has been constant for the past few months. Its no surprise that TikTok is massively popular in India. Not just creators but TikTok has roped in many Bollywood celebrities on its platform as well. The Indian government also joined TikTok earlier this month. TikTok had been facing backlash stemming from various reasons for hosting offensive content, data privacy issues and anti-China sentiments. TikTok says that it has over 200 million users in India. It hasnt clarified how many of these are active users though. Last June, TikTok said it has around 120 million monthly active users. So in addition to downloads, TikTok also gets its most number of users from India. TikTok has been removed from Google Play Store and App Store. The app still works for those who already have it on their phones. But its likely that internet service providers (ISPs) will block access to TikTok soon. The app will surely lose a huge number of users but its user revenue may not have the same impact. India is known to have large user bases for apps but spending is still very limited. TikTok was the highest grossed app last month with over $95.7 million user spending coming from China. This is followed by 6.2% from the US, and 1.2% from Turkey. TikTok said that it has acknowledged the governments decision but the company has been invited to meet with stakeholders where a possible review of the app will take place. After banning 59 Chinese apps last night, including the likes of TikTok, UC Browser, WeChat etc, the Indian government will be giving the companies behind these apps a chance to explain their case regarding compliance to privacy and security parameters. The apps were banned for security reasons. A senior government official said that what was released on Monday night was an interim order and a more detailed order would be released by the government committee dealing with cyber law soon. The official said that the due process of law requires analysis of the matter on record. There is a process defined in the information technology law as far as blocking apps is concerned, the official said, adding that the government committee will be looking into it and passing a more detailed order. The official added that these companies would be given a fair opportunity to explain their case. Following the ban last night some of these apps like TikTok disappeared from the app stores for Google and Apple both. Those who had these apps on their smartphones already could continue to use them, but it only seemed like a matter of time. As far as TikTok is concerned, it has now stopped working for all users. TikToks India head Nikhil Gandhi had announced via a statement in the morning that they were working with the government to come up with a solve and that security and privacy were most vital for them. Gandhi also added in the statement that the app never sent out data from Indian users to any foreign country. However, once TikTok stopped working for users, this is the statement they shared - Dear Users, On June 29, 2020 the Govt. of India decided to block 59 apps, including TikTok. We are in the process of complying with the Government of India's directive and also working with the government to better understand the issue and explore a course of action. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users in India remains our utmost priority. TikTok India Team. You can see the full list of banned apps here. Together, these 59 banned apps accounted for a 5% of total installs in iOS and Android smartphones in India in Q2, 2020 so far, according to data from Sensor Tower sourced by Mint. The total install count for these apps had dropped by 21% from Q1,2020, with 330 million downloads so far in this quarter as compared to 420 million in the last quarter thanks to a growing anti-China sentiment in the country. TikTok on Tuesday responded to the Indian governments decision to ban the platform and 58 other Chinese apps. Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok India, said that the company had been invited to meet the government stakeholders to respond and submit clarifications. He further said that TikTok places the highest importance on user privacy and integrity. Here's his full statement. "The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity. TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first time internet users." Separately, TikTok has also issued a statement to Reuters echoing the same sentiment. Building empowered local management teams in the countries where TikTok operates, including India, has been critical to our global success, the company said in a statement. Our team of around 2,000 employees in India is committed to working with the government to demonstrate our dedication to user security and our commitment to the country overall. The ban is said to be a big blow to parent ByteDance as India is one of its biggest markets for TikTok. According to a recent report, TikTok had roughly 200 million users in the country. This is not the first time TikTok has been banned in India. Last year, the platform faced a brief suspension over pornographic material on the app. It is worth noting that TikTok has faced similar bans and scrutiny in several other countries. In the US, key agencies such as Navy, Army and the Department of Homeland Security have barred the usage of app on the government-issued devices. TikTok has vanished from Indias Google Play Store and Apple App Store versions for many users. Some of the other apps that were banned by the government are still appearing on the app stores. Today, realme Malaysia have once again released another new phone (again and again). This time, it's the realme C11 which is a super budget-friendly phone packing some respectable tech specs. It is priced RM429 and will be exclusively sold on their Shopee platform from 7 July 2020. In terms of tech specs, this is realme's first phone to feature a MediaTek Helio G35 chipset but for some reason, the memory capacity is questionable as it's only 2GB of RAM and 32GB ROM (expandable memory up to 256GB via microSD card). Besides that, everything else is fine featuring a nice 6.5-inch LCD screen panel and 5000mAh battery pack which can support reverse charging. The camera setup is simple as well, sporting a 13MP + 2MP dual rear camera and a 5MP front camera. For a budget camera, there's also a Nightscape Mode for taking photos in low-light environments. In addition, customers who purchase realme C11 can get a pair of realme Buds 2 headphones for free. What do you think of the phone? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for the latest tech gadget news at TechNave.com. Airbus says coronavirus represents the gravest crisis the aerospace industry has ever seen European aircraft maker Airbus said on Tuesday it is planning to cut around 15,000 jobs worldwide, 11 percent of its total workforce, in response to the "gravest crisis" the industry has ever seen caused by the coronavirus. The cuts are to be implemented by the summer of 2021, Airbus said in a statement, and follow a drop of nearly 40 percent of the commercial aviation business in recent months. "With air traffic not expected to recover to pre-COVID levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025, Airbus now needs to take additional measures to reflect the post COVID-19 industry outlook," it said in a statement. The company said 5,000 positions would be cut France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain, 1,700 positions in Britain and 1,300 positions at Airbus' other worldwide sites. Airbus warned that "compulsory actions cannot be ruled out at this stage", in an indication that some employees could be made redundant. It said the plan would now be discussed with unions and Airbus would seek to use different measures to bring about the reductions, including voluntary departures, early retirement, and long-term partial unemployment schemes. 'Brutal, lasting shock' In a sign of the controversy that may be ahead, the French economy ministry said the number of job cuts was "excessive" and urged Airbus to do everything to limit the number of forced departures. "The aviation sector is facing a massive, brutal and lasting shock. It is highly likely that the recovery will be gradual," said the ministry. But it added: "However, the figure of job cuts announced by Airbus is excessive." The French government on earlier this month pledged 15 billion euros ($17 billion) for the country's aviation industry in a bid to preserve jobs. The French economy ministry said the number of job cuts was "excessive" The sector has been hammered by the travel restrictions imposed to contain the outbreak, with firms worldwide still uncertain when they will be able to get grounded planes back into the air. Its main rival Boeing said in April it plans reduce its workforce by 10 percent through voluntary and involuntary layoffs to face the new situation. "Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced," said Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury. The company had already in April said it was cutting production of its planes by around a third. "These measures allowed us to weather the early stages of the economic shock," Faury added in a video message. But "given the scale of the crisis and the share of our business that has disappeared for the foreseeable future, there is still a need for adaptation." "It is our duty to face the reality," he said, while expressing confidence that Airbus would "recover". Air France to cut jobs Airbus's announcement came as union sources told AFP that French flag carrier Air France would cut 7,500 jobs by the end of 2022 as part of a cost-cutting drive that has gained new urgency in the wake of the pandemic. Most of the job cuts will come from non-replacement of retiring workers or voluntary departures, though layoffs have not been excluded, the union sources said ahead of a works council meeting with management on Friday. The group joins a long list of airlines that have announced job cuts in recent weeks. Air France has been offered seven billion euros in emergency loans from the French state or backed by it. Lufthansa is to slash 22,000 jobs, British Airways 12,000, Delta Air Lines 10,000 and Qantas 6,000. Explore further Coronavirus pushes Airbus into Q1 loss 2020 AFP Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country would spend an additional Aus$1.35 billion ($928 million) on cybersecurity Australia unveiled the "largest-ever" boost in cybersecurity spending Tuesday, days after Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke out about a wave of state-sponsored attacks suspected to have been carried out by China. Morrison and government officials said the country would spend an additional Aus$1.35 billion ($928 million) on cybersecurity, around a 10 percent hike, taking the budget for the next decade to Aus$15 billion. The largest chunk of the new money will help create 500 jobs within the Australian Signals Directorate, the government's communications intelligence agency. Morrison revealed earlier this month that a "state-based actor" was targeting a host of government entities, public services and businesses. As with state-backed cyberattacks on Australia's parliament, political parties and universities last year, China was seen as the likely culprit. Morrison said Tuesday that malicious cyber activity against Australia was increasing in frequency, scale and sophistication. Australian is a part of the FiveEyes intelligence networkalong with Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United Statesbut its cybersecurity funding pales compared to cyberpowers such as the US, China or Russia. But Morrison said the funding was designed to "help ensure we have the tools and capabilities we need to fight back and keep Australians safe". Beijing has clashed repeatedly with Canberra as it looks to increase the cost of Australia speaking out against Communist Party interests, but has publicly denied orchestrating the cyberattacks. Most recently, Australia enraged China by calling for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. But Canberra has also pushed back against what it describes as China's economic "coercion", covert influence campaigns and the use of technology companies like Huawei as a tool of intelligence-gathering and geopolitical leverage. China has warned its students and tourists against going to Australia, slapped trade sanctions on Australian goods and sentenced an Australian citizen to death for drug trafficking. Explore further Australia under cyberattacks from state actor 2020 AFP Automated or semi-automated shipping, which requires fewer people aboard vessels, could help expand the capacity of Europe's shipping industry. Credit: Kongsberg Maritime Moving more goods by water could reduce pressure on roads and cut emissions, yet Europe's shipping industry is held back by labour shortages. Automated shippingwhich would work in a similar way to self-driving carscould help expand capacity but safety and regulatory hurdles remain. Imagine a ship sailing into port, only with no captain on the bridge, and nobody to be seen on board. In the past such a vessel might have been known as a ghost ship, but in the future it might just be our new normal. European researchers are participating in this push and designing ships with varying degrees of autonomy. Two ships bound for automation already sail across Europe today. The first is a carrier that delivers fish feed along the west coast of Norway. The second is an inland cargo barge that operates in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium. Both are to be retrofitted for autonomous sailing as part of a project called AUTOSHIP. "The use-cases are very different," said Jason McFarlane, Research & Innovation Manager at the Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime, a participant in AUTOSHIP. "One is a short sea route off Norway, which has significant weather challenges. The inland route, in turn, requires the ship to operate in a confined waterway, often in areas where navigation is more challenging than in open seas." Three parts The technology that will make these boats autonomous is composed of three main parts. "First you have the vessel control systems," said McFarlane. "Second there is digital connectivity from vessel to shore. And finally you have the shore-based systems." The first part is what makes the ships sail autonomously. This includes the sub-systems for situational awareness, such as sensors, positioning systems or cameras and other technologies that enable detection of obstacles. The data from these sensors is then joined together, something called sensor fusion, and feeds back into the ship's autonomous navigation system which makes steering decisions based on it. It's similar to self-driving cars in terms of scanning surroundings and detecting obstacles using AI-based computer vision systems. But there are differences too. McFarlane for example notes how every ship over a certain size is tracked using a transponder under a system called Automatic identification system (AIS), which potentially provides more information to vessel autonomous navigation systems than is available for cars. Ships on the open sea also go slower and have more space to manoeuvre than cars. Two systems Kongsberg Maritime has developed are auto berthing and auto crossing. "Essentially the crew press a button, and the ship will dock," said McFarlane. "A range of sensors, that, for example, know the position or orientation of the boat, interact with our system. That allows the ship to dock without a captain on board." For now, the crew is still on the vessel and can take action if they see a problem. The automatic system is installed on a passenger and car ferry operating in the Oslofjord and has been used in more than 80% of voyages. Yet even when a ship that uses this technology is fully uncrewed it would still be connected to a control centre on shore. Here, humans would remotely monitor the ships and its sensors, and be able to take over control manually. Costs McFarlane says there are several reasons to automate shipping. One is to increase the attractiveness of water-based transport, where labour can often be a significant proportion of operating costs. Another is to reduce road traffic and cut emissions. McFarlane notes that one barge, like the one they are testing in Flanders, can carry 300 tons of cargo which would replace 7,500 truck journeys per year. According to calculations from AUTOSHIP, this would reduce CO 2 emissions per km by 90%. McFarlane says that automated ships could also sail more efficiently than if they had human operators, optimising for engine power and speed. Nevertheless full autonomy isn't always the first step, and intermediate levels of automation might reach us before we go fully uncrewed. The NOVIMAR project works on 'platooning' for inland and short-sea transport, where a partly automated ship follows a fully crewed leader vessel. "We don't sail fully autonomously," said Danitsja van Heusden-van Winden, project coordinator of NOVIMAR and innovation manager at the Dutch company Netherlands Maritime Technology. "For now there's always at least one person on the ship." In their model, a lead vessel sets out a 'line' or course along a waterway, which is then imitated by the follower vessels. Instead of full autonomy, the follower vessels copy the route the lead ship took, keeping it on the desired path, while maintaining its distance to the next vessel. It's a concept they want to demonstrate at the end of the year in the Netherlands, and which they already tested using one-sixteenth-scale model ships in a laboratory basin in the German city of Duisburg. Labour shortage This partial automation could be important for reducing costs and filling in labour shortages. Instead of having to operate a number of ships with full crews, a company could operate one fully crewed lead ship and a few follower ships with limited staff. "Labour shortage is a known problem in shipping," said van Heusden-van Winden. "It's hard to find qualified people." In 2016 BIMCO, the largest association of shipping companies in the world, published a study which projected that by 2025 there would be a shortage of 150,000 maritime officers worldwide. Automation, whether full autonomy or a partial system like NOVIMAR's, could help fill that gap. It's also why van Heusden-van Winden argues that NOVIMAR wouldn't deeply impact the prospects of workers in the shipping industry. "Our technology is not a threat to them," she said. "It will probably require workers to become more qualified, but it will also mean that their skills and labour will be utilised more efficiently. ' A study of the social impact is also a part of AUTOSHIP. McFarlane notes that there might be job losses for workers in inland shipping, and even for truck drivers. Yet their technology doesn't always replace workers. In the case of the Norwegian fish-feed carrier, the operating company mainly wants to use autonomous systems for efficiency, for example by allowing crews to rest right before docking and unloading the ship. At the same time new jobs might be created, like retrofitting boats for autonomous operations or controlling them remotely. "Our boats have a constrained form of autonomy," McFarlane said. "There will always be a control centre. It will mean a shift of jobs. Instead of people living and working on barges, which young people sometimes don't want to do anymore, we can move to office jobs. ' Hurdles Nevertheless, there are hurdles to overcome before autonomous shipping will be rolled out. "There are risks to having less people on board, which could undermine the business case," said van Heusden-van Winden. A vessel train might be caught in a storm, which might be more dangerous when there's only one person on board instead of a full crew, a problem for which NOVIMAR is currently searching for solutions. Regulation equally remains a key issue. Many jurisdictions require a certain amount of people to be on board a vessel, defeating the purpose of automation. Both projects are in touch with regulators. "Some regulations, for example, require ships to have a watch on the bridge," explained McFarlane. '"But does that mean a physical person needs to be there? Or can we specify that it doesn't have to be a person standing watch?" For now both projects are moving full steam ahead. NOVIMAR wants to do a real-life test at the end of 2020. And AUTOSHIP wants to follow with a demonstration of their own in 2022. After these trials, which includes a sea crossing from Norway to Denmark for AUTOSHIP, ships could start becoming more autonomous, although much depends on how fast regulatory changes are implemented. So in a few years ghost ships might be a common sight across European waters. Explore further Ship autopilot steers during evasive manoeuvres and docking Credit: CC0 Public Domain Facebook plans to build an $800 million data center in DeKalb, Ill., that will rely solely on renewable energy and create about 100 jobs. The data center, a 505-acre project will use 80% less water than other data centers, the social media giant said. The Facebook-owned land can accommodate five buildings, and two will be completed by 2022. "As time progresses, we will decide if it makes sense for us to continue to expand," said Rachel Peterson, vice president of data center strategy for Facebook. It will be Facebook's first data center in Illinois. The company has 15 others globally. The 100 employees will include technicians, engineers, construction management, facilities management, logistic professionals and security personnel, Facebook said. "It's a boon to our community, and once online, this data center will be part of a network that connects people all over the world," DeKalb Mayor Jerry Smith said in a news release. Facebook chose DeKalb, in Chicago's western suburbs, because of its access to renewable energy, talent pool and strong community partners, Peterson said. Facebook pledged in 2018 to powering its facilities with 100% renewable energy by the end of 2020. Specifics on what kind of renewable energy will be used in DeKalb are under development, Peterson said. In 2019, Illinois lawmakers approved a data center tax incentive to attract technology companies and other firms to build their data storage facilities in the state. Among other requirements, companies must invest at least $250 million in a facility and hire at least 20 full-time employees over five years to qualify for the program. Facebook has not applied for the state's incentive program, Peterson said. The Chicago area ranked third last year in the U.S. for data center capacity, according to a report paid for by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Foundation and several data center owners and operators. Explore further Facebook invests in renewables with Texas solar project 2020 Chicago Tribune Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Starbucks on Sunday joined the drumbeat of brands pledging to pull advertising from Facebook and other social media platforms or taking other actions, putting economic pressure on the companies to address concerns about containing hate speech. The coffee chain joins big brands including Coca-Cola, Unilever, Hershey, Honda, Eddie Bauer, The North Face, Levi's, Ben & Jerry's and Verizon in taking various steps. Much of the activity stems from the #StopHateForProfit campaign, which includes the NAACP, Anti-Defamation League, Sleeping Giants, Color of Change, Free Press and Common Sense. While some of the brands have pledged to halt advertising in July, some are taking additional steps or different approaches. "We will pause advertising on all social media platforms while we continue discussions internally, with our media partners and with civil rights organizations in the effort to stop the spread of hate speech," Starbucks said in a statement. The company said it's not part of the boycott. Hershey said it will cut spending on Facebook and Instagram by a third for the rest of the year. Coca-Cola said it plans to pause advertising on all social media platforms for at least 30 days while it revisits its advertising policies. "We also expect greater accountability and transparency from our social media partners," reads a statement from James Quincey, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola. Patagonia, REI, Mozilla and Upwork and about 100 smaller companies have said they are committed to the advertising boycott. After Coke joined the boycott, Rashad Robinson, president of civil rights organization Color Of Change, tweeted: "One of the most recognizable global brands in the world is halting their @Facebook advertising. Coke's commitment to #StopHateForProfit, along with Unilever and Verizon just in the last 24 hours, is a warning sign for Facebook." On Friday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined in a livestream several steps he said the social network will take ahead of the 2020 presidential election to combat hate speech. Among the planned steps: pushing back against voter suppression, boosting standards for hateful content in ads, and labeling content deemed newsworthy. Facebook's policies surrounding divisive posts have been scrutinized after the platform left published a post from President Donald Trump following protests over the death of George Floyd. In the post, Trump said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." Zuckerberg has defended leaving the post untouched, saying Facebook should allow for as much free expression as possible. A similar post published to Twitter carried a warning the tweet was "glorifying violence." "I'm optimistic that we can make progress on public health and racial justice while maintaining our democratic traditions around free expression and voting," wrote Zuckerberg Friday. "I'm committed to making sure Facebook is a force for good on this journey." How much the campaign hurts Facebook depends on how many companies get involved. "If we're limited to 10 to 15 big-name advertisers who join the boycott, I think it's more symbolic and it would have limited impact on Facebook's business." said Baird analyst Colin Sebastian. "The fear is that this snowballs into something much larger." Last week, during a speech at Cannes Lion Live, Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer for P&G, said the company would conduct a "comprehensive review" of where it is advertising. "Where standards of responsibility and civility are not met, we will stop our spending, just like we've done before," he said. Among the steps outlined by Zuckerberg Friday: posts that would typically violate its policies but remain on the platform will include a label noting the content they are sharing may violate their policies. He also said the company would not provide any exemptions to content that incites violence or suppresses voting. "Even if a politician or government official says it, if we determine that content may lead to violence or deprive people of their right to vote, we will take that content down," he said. "Similarly, there are no exceptions for politicians in any of the policies I'm announcing here today." "People can agree or disagree on where we should draw the line, but I hope they understand our overall philosophy is that it is better to have this discussion out in the open, especially when the stakes are so high," Zuckerberg said earlier this month. The decision prompted outcry from both current and former employees urging more action. Several employees went on Twitter to protest the decision, while a group of former Facebook employees wrote an open letter published by The New York Times calling the company's move "cowardly." Zuckerberg said Friday Facebook plans to expand what qualifies as hateful content in ads, prohibiting "claims that people from a specific race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, gender identity or immigration status are a threat to the physical safety, health or survival of others." The policies will also focus on ads targeting immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. "We already restrict certain types of content in ads that we allow in regular posts, but we want to do more to prohibit the kind of divisive and inflammatory language that has been used to sow discord," said Zuckerberg. (c)2020 U.S. Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Microsoft and LinkedIn want to put a dent in the nationand the world'sunemployment numbers. The software giant and the professional networking site, which Microsoft acquired in 2016 for $26.2 billion, identified in-demand jobs and are offering free, online training to help job seekers improve their skills and land positions. LinkedIn data showed 10 specific jobs with the most current openings and a four-year trend of being in demand, pay "a livable wage," and have skills that can be learned online and remotely. LinkedIn's CEO Ryan Roslansky posted the details on the site's blog about the initiative. LinkedIn's top 10 in-demand jobs 1. Software developer 2. Sales representative 3. Project manager 4. IT Administrator 5. Customer service specialist 6. Digital marketer 7. IT support/Help desk 8. Graphic designer 9. Financial analyst 10. Data analyst LinkedIn and Microsoft created Learning Path training modules for those 10 positions. Microsoft has a goal of getting these digital-centric skills to 25 million people globally by the end of 2020. The training is available through LinkedIn Learning, an online training library, and Microsoft Learn, the software company's learning site. Some of the courses will also take place on GitHubthe software development platform Microsoft acquired for $7.5 billion in 2018. Those interested can go to opportunity.linkedin.com to see the Learning Paths (you do not need to belong to LinkedIn to participate). Available free through the end of the year, the courses and content is available in English, Spanish, French and German. Those who complete a path will get a certification they can post on their LinkedIn profile. The network LinkedIn is also making available an #OpenToWork profile photo frame for users and more ways within the network for members to help others' job hunts. Other content will help job seekers prepare for job interview and develop skills, such as collaborating with others remotely. "We have the right data to know what the right courses are to create," Roslansky told U.S. TODAY. "We use that to get (these courses) in front of the right people, then connect that back with their LinkedIn profile, to make sure they showcase the skills they have ... to help these people end up in those roles." Microsoft and LinkedIn begun in January to develop a new comprehensive skill initiative, but the coronavirus pandemic changed the employment dynamic, said Microsoft president Brad Smith. "One ingredient in getting people back to work is getting them the skills that they are going to need," Smith told U.S. TODAY. "I think we have to assume that many workplaces are going to be more digital than they were when the year began. Clearly that's a long-term trend, as well as a short-term phenomenon with COVID-19. That is really the genesis for this." Global unemployment in 2020 will rise by 40%, or 74 million people, resulting in 252 million unemployed, Smith says in a blog post, citing Microsoft estimates. The tech giant is also donating $20 million to non-profit organizations worldwide to assist people in finding jobs, especially women, minorities or low-income people. About $5 million of that sum will be donated to 50 U.S. community groups that support people of color. Later this year, Microsoft Teams will get a similar "system of learning" app to help train company's new and existing employees using Microsoft Learn, LinkedIn Learning, third-party training providers and a company's own employee learning content. The free Learning Path courses "are principally for individuals, people who want to acquire skills and seek a job," Smith said. What will come to Microsoft Teams in September will be "a new tool that employers can use," Smith said. "To bring people back to the workplace or to hire new employees, (employers) are going to need to train people up and up-skill them more efficiently. So that was a new area of focus that was really responsive to this changing economic time." Explore further LinkedIn CEO steps aside after 11 years, says time is right (c)2020 U.S. Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Credit: Microsoft It's hard to believe in this age of computer viruses, phishing attacks, ransomware, trojan horses, denial-of-service attacks and keystroke logging that there was once a time before the Internet when just about the only worry a computer user had was accidentally deleting a file. Today, decades after the first personal computers rolled off assembly lines, a deleted file still stirs those same old fears. Victims of accidental erasures have long relied on either old shareware programs or more comprehensive professional toolsRecuva, EaseUS Data Recovery, Disk Drill, Stellar Data Recovery, among othersto recover deleted data. Curiously, Windows never offered users its own version of an undelete utility. Until now. Microsoft is offering its new Windows 10 File Recovery tool for free online. It's a command-line only tool, which means it doesn't sport the attractive interface most popular undelete utilities have. But it relies on the same principle more sophisticated shareware and professional undelete utilities have long used: deleted files are not actually immediately erased. Instead, the computer merely removes pointers to the locations of the "erased" data, notifying the system that the containers holding those data are available for use should they be needed to store newer files. The new Windows File Recovery Tool offers three modes of recovery. The default setting is used mainly for NTFS file systems and is ideal for resurrecting recently deleted files. A more aggressive Segment mode may do a better job retrieving older deleted files, though it will likely take longer. The third mode, Signature, is the preferred option for retrieving files stored on external devices using FAT, exFAT and ReFS file systems. The Recovery Tool has only limited usefulness on solid state drives. That is because those drives, unlike traditional hard disk drives, immediately wipe out deleted files. Windows 10 users have an alternative to undelete utilities: the Recycle Bin. But there are limitations. Only those files deleted from fixed disks are sent there; deleted files originating on removable media, USB drives or other external drives are not sent to the Recycle Bin but are deleted immediately. The same applies to files deleted from the Windows command prompt. In addition, the Recycle Bin holds only a limited amount of data and removes the oldest files first as new files are sent there. Although it is not listed as such, the new tool appears to be a beta offering given its version number is 0.0.11761.0. Users must have the latest Windows 10 update (May 2020). As always, users who need to retrieve an accidentally deleted file should act quickly. File segments remaining on a hard drive with address pointers removed will be overridden as new files are continually created. For the same reason, it is best to have the Windows File Recovery Tool already loaded before an emergency arises. Installing the program after a file is accidentally deleted increases the odds that deleted file fragments will be overridden by the new program. Explore further Forensic finder exploring Windows calls attention to mail pile 2020 Science X Network Credit: CC0 Public Domain The technology company Red Hat said Tuesday that it would take measures to remove contentious terms like "master/slave" from its source code and other areas, in an effort to make its products more inclusive. The world of coding and software, in which Red Hat is an influential institution, is rife with industry jargon and terms that most people have never heard. Some of them, which have developed over the course of decades, are now under the microscope as examples of how unconscious bias can creep into the workplace. In recent weeks, popular coding and development terms like "master/slave" and "whitelist/blacklist" have become targets of criticism again, though there has been some pushback to replacing the terms. "Master/slave" refers to how things like databases or devices have control over others in a system or code. "Whitelist" and "blacklist" are terms used to delineate what items or devices are allowed access into things, like what IP addresses can enter a website or what email addresses are accepted or denied. The terms have been a topic of debate in the tech community for more than a decade. But in the wake of the death of George Floyd and a larger national conversation around race, companies and software developers have revisited the topic in earnest. Earlier this month, GitHub, a prominent software development platform owned by Microsoft, said it would remove the term "master" from its coding platform, Vice News reported. Other tech institutions made the move away from these terms years ago. The "master/slave" terminology was removed from the Python coding language, one of the most popular languages in the world, in 2018, according to tech news site Gizmodo. Chris Wright, Red Hat's chief technology officer, said in an interview that he hopes the change will be the start of a more inclusive development community. He said while the conversations have been happening for years, the industry delayed making changes because of the logistical problems involved. Now, though, there is an understanding that the change needs to happen now. "It's not just the change in language, but it's the notion of how we think about inclusivity and where we can recognize what I would call systemic bias, where you're just unaware, and you create an unwelcoming environment that was so not the intention," Wright said. "We talk a lot about being able to take good ideas from anywhere in open-source communities. But part of that is being open to people being in the community." Red Hat said it is reviewing all of its code, documentation and content for "potentially divisive language," and will have conversations with its employees and the communities that use its platforms on how to replace those words. In addition to changing coding language, Red Hat has been holding town halls with its employees to discuss how to improve the experience of Black Red Hatters, and it recently gave a donation to two equal-rights organizations. The two groups that received donations, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Color of Change, were selected by an internal Red Hat group led by Black employees. Red Hat didn't disclose the size of its donations. In a blog post, Wright told Red Hat employees that he has seen "all sorts of arguments" about why change to the language is unnecessary. "Some view these efforts as exercises in political correctness. Others argue that the intent behind the language was not malicious or that they do not find the use of these terms to be offensive or racially-charged because they are not being used to refer to people," Wright wrote. But "if any person or groups of people feel unwelcome because of the language being used in a community, code or documentation, then the words should change," he added. Many software development communities and companies use platforms or source code from Red Hat. One platform called Ansible, which is owned by Red Hat, has already begun to phase out the use of "master branch," instead using "main branch." And instead of using "whitelist" or "blacklist," it uses the terms "allowlist" and "denylist," Wright said. Because Red Hat's source code and documentation that employs some of this controversial language stretches back years, it isn't a simple task to replace the language. Wright said it is a process that will take monthsthough it will be easier for new projects. "There's language in source code ... that include terms that we would like to change," Wright said. "But changing those (terms) could have a real impact on the functioning software, so if we just change it and issued an update, you could potentially break things." Since there are companies whose software is based on that source code, Red Hat has to be careful about how it updates the language. "It could be over a year of work to slowly make all of those changes in a way that doesn't create massive disruption," Wright said. Wright said that he hopes making these changes will allow tech companies and developers to move onto bigger issues. "I'd like to get past (language) to a different set of discussions around where we can use technology to really support the evolution of our society," he said, "rather than propagate systemic biases." Explore further Apple releases Swift programming language as open source 2020 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Example of an experimental environment used in the study. Credit: Tang et al. Over the past decade or so, researchers have been trying to develop techniques that could enable effective collaborative strategies among teams of robots. One of the tasks that teams of robots could complete better than individual robots is simultaneously searching for several targets or objects in their surrounding environment. The ability of a team of robots to collectively seek and identify numerous targets at once could be useful for a wide range of applications. For instance, it could aid surveillance applications and help to better track individuals or vehicles. Researchers at Tongji University and University of Stuttgart have recently devised a systematic framework for enabling more effective multiple target search in swarm robots. This framework, presented in a paper published in IEEE Access, is based on the use of a mechanical particle swarm optimization method and artificial potential fields. "The innovative extension makes the bio-inspired particle swarm optimization first endowed with the robots' mechanical properties, which reduces the control expense and is already beyond the conventional application scope of this algorithm," the researchers wrote in their paper. In their paper, the researchers first summarize the key characteristics of previously developed techniques for multiple target search, highlighting how well these techniques performed in evaluations. Subsequently, they present their own scheme based on mechanical particle swarm optimization and artificial potential fields. The researchers' scheme takes real-world swarm robot applications that could benefit from multiple target search into consideration. To enable more efficient searches, it organizes the overall robot swarm into subgroups that search for targets based on differences (e.g., signal frequencies) between these targets. When a sub-group moves toward a target that is not the one assigned to it, it receives a penalty. In addition to guiding a swarm's collective behavior to search for multiple targets more efficiently, the framework proposed by the researchers helps the robots to avoid obstacles in their surroundings or that are blocking their path. "Robot groups that move toward non-aimed targets are applied with penalties, thus, a unimodal objective function for each robot group is built," the researchers explained in their paper. "Meanwhile the developed method contains the ability for obstacle avoidance based on a module-switching strategy that works according to their priorities." The researchers at Tongji University and University of Stuttgart evaluated their scheme both in simulations and in experiments involving real mobile robots that they developed. They found that their framework allowed robot swarms to collectively search for and find several targets, even when only a few robots were conducting the search. In the future, the new scheme introduced in this recent paper could allow teams of robots to search for several targets or objects at once in a highly efficient and organized way. This could open up new interesting possibilities for a wide variety of applications, for instance enhancing surveillance methods or enabling the use of robot teams as a means to search for specific items in a variety of environments. In their next studies, the researchers plan to further evaluate the effectiveness of their method and its value for specific real-world applications. In addition, they would like to develop their scheme further to improve the overall localization accuracy achieved by the robots. Explore further Scientists working to make molecule-sized robots swarm together to perform tasks More information: Qirong Tang et al. Swarm Robots Search for Multiple Targets, IEEE Access (2020). Qirong Tang et al. Swarm Robots Search for Multiple Targets,(2020). DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2994151 2020 Science X Network This Monday, June 29, 2020 photo shows the Reddit logo on a mobile device in New York. Reddit, an online comment forum that is one of the internet's most popular websites, on Monday, June 29, 2020 banned a pro-Donald Trump forum as part of a crackdown on hate speech. Reddit banned a total of 2,000 of these forums, or subreddits, most of which it said were inactive or had few users. (AP Photo/Tali Arbel) For years, social media platforms have fueled political polarization and hosted an explosion of hate speech. Now, with four months until the U.S. presidential election and the country's divisions reaching a boiling point, these companies are upping their game against bigotry and threats of violence. What's not yet clear is whether this action is too little, too latenor whether the pressure on these companies, including a growing advertiser boycott, will be enough to produce lasting change. Reddit, an online comment forum that is one of the world's most popular websites, on Monday banned a Civil rights groups have called on large advertisers to stop Facebook ad campaigns during July, saying the social network isn't doing enough to curtail racist and violent content on its platform. Companies such as the consumer goods giant Unileverone of the world's largest advertisersas well as Verizon, Ford and many smaller brands have joined the boycott, some for the month of July and others for the rest of the year. New companies have been signing on to the boycott almost every day. While some are pausing ads only on Facebook, others have also stepped back from advertising on Twitter and other platforms. On Monday, Ford Motor Co. put the brakes on all national social media advertising for the next 30 days. The company says hate speech, as well as posts advocating violence and racial injustice, need to be eradicated from the sites. This April 9, 2020 file photo shows a closed Patagonia clothing store in Freeport, Maine. The outdoor gear company Patagonia is the latest brand to announce an advertising boycott of Facebook and its Instagram app, saying the social media giant has "failed to take steps to stop the spread of hateful lies and dangerous propaganda on its platform." Patagonia joins The North Face and the outdoor gear company REI, which have announced similar boycotts in recent days. It is not clear how much the boycotts will affect Facebook's advertising revenue, which was nearly $70 billion in 2019, making up nearly all of its total revenue. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) While the ad boycott has dinged Facebook's and Twitter's shares, analysts who follow the social media business don't see it as having a lasting effect. Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler noted that YouTube has faced several ad boycotts in the past over hate speech and other objectionable material. Each time, it adjusted its policies and the advertisers returned. In addition, July is generally a slow month for advertising. Companies have also been cutting their ad budgets due to COVID-19, so the spending declines are not a surprise for investors. Kessler called Facebook's stock pullbackits shares fell more than 8% on Friday, then rallied a bit Mondaya "buying opportunity." Reddit's action was part of a larger purge at the San Francisco-based site. The company said it took banned forums for white nationalists over the years in an attempt to rid its platform of vitriol, sometimes producing significant user backlash as a result. CEO Steve Huffman said earlier this month that Reddit was working with moderators to explicitly address hate speech. Explore further US civil rights groups call for Facebook ad boycott over hate speech 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. TikTok is wildly popular in India, the app's biggest international market TikTok on Tuesday denied sharing users' data with the Chinese government, after India banned the wildly popular app as ties with Beijing deteriorate sharply following a deadly border clash. Blaming each other for the brutal hand-to-hand battle on June 15 as talks make little headway, the Asian giants have been bolstering their border forces as anti-China sentiment grows in India. As India reportedly considered hiking tariffs and with some Chinese imports held up at ports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and Weibo. The ministry of information technology said the apps "are engaged in activities... prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". The move mirrored growing unease about Chinese tech firms in other countries, in particular regarding telecom giant Huawei. TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, allows users to upload and share short videos and is spectacularly popular in Indiaits 120 million users have made it the app's top international market. On Tuesday, the head of TikTok India issued a statement saying the firm has "not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government". "Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so," Nikhil Gandhi said, adding that "hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers... (depend) on it for their livelihood." It remains unclear, however, how the bans would work, with Indians who have downloaded TikTok on their phones still able to use the app on Tuesday. India-China tensions have deteriorated after a deadly border clash Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing that China is "strongly concerned" about the announcement and looking into the situation. He said the country has always asked Chinese firms to abide by international rules and local laws as they work with foreign parties, adding that China-India cooperation is mutually beneficial and damaging this is not in India's interest. 'Befitting response' China and India have long had a prickly relationship. But the border clash was the first deadly violence on their disputed Himalayan border in 45 years, claiming the lives of 20 Indian soldiers. Chinese casualties are unknown. The Indian deaths triggered outrage on social media with calls to boycott Chinese products. Chinese flags were set on fire and traders destroyed Chinese goods at scattered street protests. Ties were strained last August when New Delhi revoked the semi-autonomous status of Indian-controlled Kashmir and split off Ladakhparts of which are claimed by Chinainto a new administrative territory. India shares US unease about growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean and New Delhi has bolstered defence cooperation with Washington as well as Australia and Japan. India has also been irked by China's backing of arch-rival Pakistan and the construction of an economic corridor going through parts of Kashmir controlled by Islamabad but claimed by India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps citing security concerns Since the latest clash, the nuclear-armed neighbours have reinforced the border between Ladakh and Tibet. India has deployed thousands more troops and is conducting extra military flights over the mountainous region. "Those who cast an evil eye on Indian soil in Ladakh have got a befitting response," Modi said in his weekly radio address on Sunday. He was due to address the nation again at 4:00 pm (1030 GMT) on Tuesday. 'Self-reliant' With Asia's third-biggest economy dealt a sucker punch by the coronavirus, the apps ban fits in with Modi's vision outlined in May of a "self-reliant India" able to produce all it needs at home. But New Delhi has a trade deficit of around $50 billion with China, with India's pharmaceutical, electronics and automotive sectors hugely reliant on imports of Chinese raw materials and components. Chinese electronic firms also have a major presence in India, with cellphone brands like Xiaomiwhich manufactures in Indiaenjoying a market share of almost 65 percent. The ban on the apps "is fine as a gesture of protest but we should be very careful with escalation right now," said Manoj Joshi from the Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank. "Right now I don't think there are any easy options for New Delhi." Explore further India to let Huawei take part in 5G trials 2020 AFP Credit: CC0 Public Domain German car giant Volkswagen said Tuesday its German factories would end in July a shorter hours scheme used to cushion the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as production ramps back up. After around 80,000 workers' hours were slashed from March, a remaining cohort of around 20,000 at VW's own-brand passenger cars, utility vehicles and components works will also return to normal schedules at sites across Europe's top economy, the sprawling 12-brand group said in a statement. At present, production levels in the German factories stand at between 75 and 95 percent of pre-coronavirus levels, VW said. But with the outlook for the car industry uncertain as businesses and consumers emerge from months of infection-control lockdown, "we'll continue to manage production very precisely according to how markets develop and customer demand," VW brand production and logistics chief Andreas Tostmann said. Official data released earlier this month showed that new car registrations on German roads alone fell 16.1 percent year-on-year between January and May, to 2.5 million. Sales were down almost 50 percent on May 2019 last month, after a more than 60-percent drop in April and almost 40 in March. A similar picture has been seen across Europe and further afield, after the pandemic hit an already shrinking global car market. Looking to other major carmakers' German operations, BMW told AFP that workers were still on shorter hours "here and there" in June, for a total around 4,000 compared with over 30,000 in April and May. Explore further VW says to suspend production again as car sales drop 2020 AFP The Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce combined two of its annual events The Chamber Experience and Business and Bites to bring the business community together for fun, networking and fundraising for the chamber. It was the chambers first large-scale in-person event since early 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. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} "Food is a peacemaker." Sorensen said the real stars of the show are the people he interviews. They are chefs and Im a chef. Being in the food business, we kind of speak the same language, he said. He believes people will be surprised at how diverse the food in in St. Louis. He said when Toms Place is closed, he can find any type of cuisine he wants in St. Louis. One of the restaurants he features in this first season is a Korean restaurant that features Korean fried chicken. I am hooked now, he said. He believes the show is more relevant now than ever. He hopes people will see it and try different types of cuisine. He also hopes some fans of the show will make the drive to De Soto to try Toms Place. The 13-episode series is written and produced by Pinkston, along with support from Executive Producer Julie Chen Moonves. Lasse has an approachable way about him that makes others comfortable opening up to him, especially chefs, but also people who have had the same struggles he had when he first came to America, Pinkston said. I really feel like this series is a breath of fresh air because at the heart of it, its about love, positivity and appreciating the heritage of others. A use of force review is being conducted as a part of the full investigation into this incident. There were no reported or known injuries as a result of this incident, he wrote in an email to a Southern Illinoisan reporter. As for those who had been pepper-sprayed, he wrote, It is policy to arrest and decontaminate subjects who are pepper sprayed, when possible and when safe to do so for all involved. As the video clip shows, police left the scene as soon as the suspect was in custody." Wilson also said that further arrests and decontamination efforts were not made at the scene in order to avoid further conflict. Futch wasnt the only one filming. A video was posted to the WTF? Carbondale Facebook page Sunday night by Dan Milam, who said he captured the video not long after protesters walked by Italian Village. The video shows a group of about four people gathered near two Carbondale police cruisers one of them was detained against the car. In the video, Milam says he saw a Carbondale officer slam that girl into the car, face first into the car. In an interview with The Southern, Milam said this happened moments before he started filming. When facial pigmentation first appears, its important to see a dermatologist for a definitive diagnosis because melasma may be subtle and can look like other skin conditions. Once diagnosed, the goal of melasma treatment is to decrease the production of pigment and remove areas of excess pigmentation that already have appeared. Intense-pulsed light treatment for melasma uses a broad spectrum of light to generate heat to target and remove pigment. But the heat diffuses to all the surrounding tissues. That can lead to complications, including a condition known as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which causes more dark patches to appear. Research shows that intense-pulsed light can improve melasma in the short term, but relapse often is seen within three months. More recently, fractional nonablative lasers have been studied for the treatment of melasma. These lasers resurface the skin and remove pigment through heated columns, but they leave the skin around the columns untouched. Different devices with different levels of power are available, so the treatment can be individualized for each patient. Unlike the set 100% coverage of intense-pulsed light, these lasers can treat as low as 5% of the skin to slowly remove pigment with a much lower risk of relapse or worsening of melasma. The 33-foot granite statue, which was designed by Theo Markwalter of Augusta, Georgia, is topped with a bronze replica of Capt. John D. Palmer of the Hampton Legion. The statue was erected in 1893. Council also unanimously passed a resolution to rename John C. Calhoun Drive. Calhoun, who served as a state senator and vice president of the United States, was a supporter of slavery. City Attorney James Walsh stated that renaming the road would also fall under the Heritage Act. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} A committee of no more than 10 individuals will be formed with the task of submitting three names to the council for the purpose of naming the road, Walsh said. Stroman stated that he would like for the city to offer support to business owners along John C. Calhoun Drive. Renaming John C. Calhoun Drive, its going to cost the people that operate businesses there a lot of money to change the name of the address of their business. If that happens I think we should give some kind of support to that. I would just like to say I dont think it should be a persons name, Stroman said. The public maybe should vote on that. The public should have some input on it, Stroman said. SUMMER SPECIAL!!! - Sign up at 20% OFF for Full Access to all of the online content and E-Editions on the www.thewordlink.com website here! (The charge will appear as "Country Media Inc." on your credit card statement) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Here Daniel Itai The Zimbabwe Daily Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Despite having more than 500 COVID-19 confirmed cases and 21 deaths, Tanzanian schools yesterday welcomed back learners after schools were suspended for three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tanzania is one of the very few countries in Africa that never imposed a nationwide lockdown but rather insisted on having COVID-19 restrictions. The government has instructed schools to install hand-washing facilities and arrange running water and also educate school children about safety measures like wearing of masks in school assembly and classrooms, except for students with underlying health problems, such as diabetes, sickle cell, asthma, all students should wear face masks most of the time, said Gerald Chama, the Ministry of Healths spokesperson. However, the reopening of schools has been received with mixed feelings among parents and teachers, with some teachers citing that they are very happy to be back at work, emphasising that students were very much affected psychologically for missing classes. - Advertisement - There were however others, who said the decision of reopening schools was premature in the wake of the continuous threat of a pandemic pointing out that it was inappropriate to decide to send children back to school while the masses dont know clearly whether theres still a high threat of people being infected, citing that the decision to reopen schools is political and therefore might have dire consequences since the COVID-19 guidelines recommend by the World Health Organization are not being strictly followed. Like this: Like Loading... By Daniel Itai The Zimbabwe Daily Harare, Zimbabwe -Various stakeholders across the southern African country have expressed mixed feelings over the reopening of schools on the 28th of July this year. Prior to the reopening of schools, the government is supposed to test over 136 000 teachers and ensure that schools comply to the 1:20 teacher, pupil ratio as per the World Health Organization (WHO) regulations. With over 4.6 million learners expected to go back to school, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has said there is no urgency to reopen schools. Schools must not reopen now, its still winter time. The academic year can simply be forwarded to next year, said Nation Muzvidziwa, ARTUZs spokesperson. - Advertisement - Dr. Takavafira Zhou, president of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) also pointed out that the reopening of schools was not feasible. Schools can only open on the 28th of July subject to Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education meeting WHO standards in their entirety, but to assume that the government which has tested only 65 000 people since March can test 4.6 million students, 136 000 teachers and 50 000 ancillary staff in 26 days is to hope for a miracle to happen and its impossible. Worse still, government that is supposed to employ an additional 50 000 teachers and improve infrastructure in schools in order to guarantee social distancing and teacher-pupil ratio of 1:20 has not done anything so far. Moreover, we are witnessing a quantum leap of COVID-19 cases in Zimbabwe and it would be suicidal and genocidal to open schools without COVID-19 abatement equipment such as testing kits, thermometers, sanitizers, PPEs, let alone training of teachers on how best to respond to the pandemic and health officials stationed in schools, as well as cleaning and disinfection of schools currently used as COVID-19 quarantine centres for returnees, said the leader of PTUZ. Dr. Zhou further highlighted that their members will not be going back to work if government fails to meet WHO COVID-19 guidelines. Teachers can never be willing to go back when their health, safety and welfare are not prioritised. Other than threats over their health and safety, teachers have a dispute of right which the employer is failing to address. Their salary was unilaterally and callously culled by the employer from US$550 to US$26. Teachers therefore, want the employer to restore their salarys purchasing power parity, let alone pay a reasonable risk allowance of US$150, said Dr.Zhou. However, James Maiden the chief of communications at the countrys United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said schools should go ahead and reopen provided they meet the COVID-19 regulations. Children and schools are not the main drivers of the epidemic across countries, and there is no known evidence of the correlation between the rate of disease transmission and whether or not schools remain open or closed. Evidence on the negative impacts of school closures is overwhelming, with long-term implications for childrens learning, safety, health and wellbeing. We know that the longer children stay out of school, the more exposed they are to dangers. This is especially true for children who are already vulnerable. We are calling for schools to be among the first services to open when the appropriate safety measures are put into place, said Maiden. Like this: Like Loading... On Monday, the director of the CLC said it would be "a catastrophe" for shops and businesses if another lockdown took place. The number of new infections in Luxembourg rose again at the weekend, in part due to the wide-scale screening project launched by the government. Nicolas Henckes, director of the CLC, spoke to RTL radio regarding a potential new lockdown in case a second wave of the virus takes place in Luxembourg. Henckes described a second closure for businesses as a "catastrophe", fearing it would bring more problems than the virus itself. He believed shops could remain open as long as hygiene measures are observed, stating the virus was not spreading in stores, but at private parties or barbecues. Interview (in Luxembourgish) Henckes went on to discuss the summer sales, which began on Friday in Luxembourg. According to the director, the weekend went well from a commercial point of view, despite fewer shoppers than in previous years. Travel agencies and events businesses would be most affected by the situation. Despite the positive outlook, Henckers warned the sector would continue to struggle, and to expect bankruptcies. According to RTL sources, two classes in Differdange have been placed in complete quarantine. Both classes had reported a case of coronavirus. This is the first instance in which an entire class has been placed in quarantine due to a single positive case. As deconfinement continues, more situations such as these are expected to appear, with a similar case in Wiltz this week. Claude Meisch, Minister of Education, told fellow MPs on Monday that 11 cases of coronavirus had been reported in Luxembourg secondary schools since the latest phase of deconfinement. RTL sources reported that a further three cases were confirmed in one class at the Lycee Aline Mayrisch in Luxembourg City, despite mandatory masks in the building. The first positive case was discovered a week ago as a result of the widespread testing taking place in schools. The affected class will continue be taught in separate groups until the term ends. Other health measures have been put in place. The affected group was studying at home last week when two more pupils tested positive for the virus. Parents were quickly informed by the school's leadership. A number of pupils and staff have said they feel overwhelmed at the number of people within the school now that all classes have returned at once. It is said to be difficult to maintain distance within classrooms. Leaders from five West African countries and their ally France meet Tuesday to confer over their troubled efforts to stem a jihadist offensive unfolding in the Sahel. Meeting in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, presidents will take stock nearly six months after rebooting their campaign in Pau, southwestern France. Since then, the jihadists have continued to carry out almost daily attacks, although they have also lost a key leader and two rebel groups are said to be at odds. French President Emmanuel Macron hosted the summit in January to secure a public commitment from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger at a time of deepening concern in France after it lost 13 troops in a helicopter crash. The insurgency kicked off in northern Mali in 2012, during a rebellion by Touareg separatists that was later overtaken by the jihadists. Despite thousands of UN and French troops, the conflict spread to central Mali, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, stirring feuds between ethnic groups and triggering fears for states farther south. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and the economies of the three countries, already among the poorest in the world, have been grievously damaged. - 'Three-border' region - Macron will make a one-day round trip to Mauritania for the summit. The talks are expected to last only a few hours, but they will also mark the first time that Sahel allies have gathered since the coronavirus pandemic crimped meetings in person. Security in the G5 Sahel region / AFP One priority will be to assess affairs in the "three-border region," a hotspot of jihadism where the frontiers of Burkina, Niger and Mali converge. France, which added 500 troops to its Sahel mission after Pau, is co-leading the campaign in this region, targeting an Islamic State-affiliated group led by Abou Walid al-Sahraoui. Earlier this month, French forces in northern Mali, helped by a US drone, killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). And in a new development, jihadists respectively linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have clashed several times since the start of the year in Mali and Burkina, after long steering clear of one another, according to security experts. Despite this, problems in the Sahel run deep. Local armies are poorly equipped and under-funded, rights groups say troops are to blame for hundreds of killings and other abuses of civilians, and in some areas the presence of government has evaporated. General Oumarou Namata Gazama, head of the five-nation G5 Sahel force, has made little progress organising the troops / AFP/File Staunch French ally Chad has yet to fulfil a promise to send troops to the three-border region, and a much-trumpeted initiative to create a joint 5,000-man G5 Sahel force is making poor progress. In Mali, meanwhile, anger at insecurity has fuelled discontent over coronavirus restrictions and the outcome of elections, creating a political crisis for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Both Burkina and Niger are due to hold presidential elections by year's end, fuelling concerns about the outcome. At its core, the platform seeks to harness existing talent and ideas to build a more economically stable future for coal mining families and future generations. It places coal workers, families and leaders in the drivers seat, according to the proposal. The plans specifics, and the details on what it could mean for Wyoming, have yet to be ironed out. It will also require widespread buy-in from the states coal miners, many of whom still hope coal economies will recover. But the organizers behind the bold proposal emphasized the need to defer to people most directly impacted by the sweeping economic changes before rolling out new projects. Everything Ive studied on just transitions is that it takes the community to brainstorm how were going to bring other revenue streams into the state, and how were going to promote peoples ideas and businesses, said Lynne Huskinson, who worked in Wyomings coal mines for 39 years. Were going to have to think out of the box ... were going to have to mend the division and get ideas from everyone. The awards for the Heartland region, which includes Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, will be announced July 25. Information about the livestream Heartland Emmy Awards Gala will be announced, according to the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences website. The State of Equality also re-airs at 7 p.m. July 7 on Wyoming PBS. The State of Equality, a co-production with Wyoming PBS written and directed by Caldera president Geoff OGara was an effort by many people, Barksdale said. I just feel so grateful to be a part of it, I think is really the overarching feeling with this Emmy nomination and really grateful to the other people whove been involved, she said. Its been such a team effort. Making an impact A mother told Barksdale that her 12-year-old daughter saw The State of Equality at the Lander library and found the courage to stand up to her grandfather whod said she cant do things like lift a bale of hay because shes a girl. Then she completed a school history project on womens suffrage. JACKSON Every day, at some point, Brianna Moteberg has to tell someone to wear a mask. Its not a conversation she relishes, but the owner of Altitude, a boutique on Town Square, requires that masks be worn in her store, and every day a potential customer comes in and tries to shop without one. When she asks those customers to don one, which she provides, some do, others simply leave, and a few lay into her over the rule, sometimes using coarse language. Most people are civil, but you do have the ones who come into the store and want to make a scene, Moteberg said. She and other business owners find themselves in the unenviable position of telling customers to cover their faces in part because Teton County doesnt have a mask requirement. Not every shopkeeper requires face coverings, but those who do are forced to defend such decisions without the benefit of a government edict. If that existed, Moteberg said, it would give business owners cover, allowing them to point to communitywide restrictions rather than a personal decision. Beyond the public health aspect of wearing masks, she sees it as a financial necessity. Never mind the lockdown measures currently in place in Trinidad and Tobago and other countries around the world ; music must be made. A passionate level of execution has gone into the new seven track EP thats fresh on all streaming platforms everywhere, courtesy the hard work and talent of Trinidad and Tobago artist, M1. The Sangre Grande native released his EP, he calls Hecktik, on Friday, delivering music that undeniably showcases his versatility and unmistakeable flow. This is the question being asked on the heels of the police killing of three men in Morvant on Saturday and the release of two videos. A somewhat fuzzy video surfaced on social media on Saturday night showing the police encounter with the men and what seemed to be one of the men with his hands up in the air. IT was a Christmas Eve-like atmosphere in supermarkets yesterday as people rushed out to stock up on supplies for the Labour Day and Fathers Day weekend during which curfew hours have been extended. During today which marks the Labour Day holiday and Fathers Day which is tomorrow, people are only permitted to be outdoors between the hours of 5.01 a.m. to 10.01 a.m. The curfew in effect on these days is 10.02 a.m. to 5 a.m. the following day. Even though there was a plea by Supermarket Association president Rajiv Diptee not to crowd the supermarkets yesterday, he said most of his member stores described the last-minute rush like Christmas Eve. CONSPIRACY theorists with too much time on their hands were the ones who created an issue over the arrival of 80 vials of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine that came to the country last week for use by officials at the National Security Ministry. So said Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday at the Covid-19 media conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Anns. ON Sunday morning, just like Saturday morning, there was a lot of loud talking coming from the back of a mini- mart in Santa Cruz. A mini-bar that has no bar licence (because it is in the middle of a residential community) but is a liming spot that has some great ties that apparently keep their loose practices untouched. AT THE recent annual Energy Conference, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley finally acknowledged the need for energy transition and for the greater inclusion of renewables in our local energy mix. Five and a half years late! And this country simply accepted this utterly scandalous irresponsibility. Dont we realise the enormity of his error? Restaurants across the country saw fewer customers in mid-June as coronavirus cases surged in multiple states, Arizona included. Customer transactions at chain restaurants fell 13% from the previous year in the week ending June 21, according to The NPD Group, a data and consulting firm. It was the first time in two months that transactions didnt improve week-over-week. Restaurant transactions fell in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and Nevada, all of which reported spikes in coronavirus cases. The U.S. restaurant industrys road to recovery is going to have some bumps along the way, said NPD food industry analyst David Portalatin. Some of the states that have been reporting the highest number of new cases experienced steeper declines in major restaurant chain customer transactions, NPD said in a news release. Arizona, with a well-publicized surge in cases, saw a 5-point decline in year-over-year transactions in the week, according to NPD. Restaurant transactions in Florida, Nevada, and North Carolina, all of which reported spikes in COVID cases, declined 2 points, 4 points and 5 points respectively, the news release said. Customer transactions in California and Texas, both of which have a large number of restaurants, were flat compared to prior week. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Crews fighting the Bighorn Fire north of Tucson will take a pause this afternoon to remember members of an Arizona wildfire hotshot team who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013. The 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were overcome after a change in wind direction pushed the flames back toward their position. One member of the crew survived. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered flags to fly at half-staff at all state buildings Tuesday to honor the elite firefighters from Prescott . Ducey called it was one of the most tragic days in state history. The brave Yarnell 19 had their whole lives ahead of them," the governor said. They had families, loved ones and friends who cared deeply about them. They knew the dangers of their job, but they did it anyway, with courage and an abiding sense of duty and commitment to our communities. Ducey offered his prayers to the families of the firefighters and said the crew's sacrifices will be forever remembered and honored. The community of Yarnell remembers the 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots every June 30. This year's 7th anniversary remembrance is taking place virtually. A day with less wind and more humidity will help firefighters today in their efforts to contain the massive Bighorn Fire, officials say. "We're starting to transition from hot, dry, windy to more of that monsoonal moisture that's supposed to show up tomorrow," Scott Schuster with the the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team said in the Tuesday morning briefing after pointing out that clouds were already forming above the Santa Catalinas. That moisture is expected to bring scattered evening showers and thunderstorms to most of the Tucson area starting Wednesday, the U.S. National Weather Service said. Schuster said wind gusts on top of Mount Lemmon Monday topped 50 miles an hour and that it was the windiest June 29 on record in Tucson. Despite several windy days, Schuster says three-quarters of the containment lines have held up. "We survived two days of wind, with that we're feeling confident," he said. "We feel we'll survive another one." The wildfire sparked by lightning on June 5, has grown to more than 115,000 acres almost 180 square miles and was 45 percent contained. On Tuesday, 1,018 people were assigned to help fight the wildfire. It has cost more than $32 million to fight the fire. The southeast edge of the fire around the Redington area continues to be the most active, Schuster said. The fire has reached Redington Road, which is being used as a barrier. A section of fire crossed the road Monday. Crews held the incursion to about 20 acres, he said. Pima County officials issued evacuation orders for the Redington area over the weekend and Tuesday morning. The Cascabel and San Pedro Valley area are now in a "ready" stage of evacuation orders the first stage of the "ready, set, go" evacuation stages meaning residents there should prepare for potential threats to the community. About 70 firefighters battling the Bighorn Fire are bunking at the Triangle Y Ranch Camp while they fight the fire. The fire and the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Triangle Y to cancel its overnight summer camps this year. The camps staff was forced to evacuate recently because of the Bighorn Fire but has since been allowed to return. This has allowed the camp to be used by firefighters, providing them with beds and air conditioning at the facility, which is in the Coronado National Forest, according to the YMCA of Southern Arizona. We are heartbroken that our campers, counselors and staff will not be able to make special memories at camp this summer. But the bright spot in all of this is that Tri-Y can provide air-conditioned lodging, beds and a cup of coffee for all of the brave firefighters who are working so hard to keep us safe, said Andy Hockenbrock, Triangle Y Ranch Camps executive director. The U.S. Forest Service is paying Triangle Y $400 per day for use of its facilities. In 2019, more than 800 youths from all over the United States attended Triangle Y Ranch Camp. A 72-year-old California woman was gored by a bison in Yellowstone National Park, a news release from the park said. The woman approached the bison to take a picture and got within 10 feet of it multiple times before it gored her on June 25, according to the release. See photos from Yellowstone's reopening after the COVID-19 shutdown in a gallery at the end of this story She sustained multiple goring wounds and was treated by rangers before being flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for further treatment. The news release said the woman approached the bison several times near her campsite at Bridge Bay Campground in northwest Wyoming before the bison charged. "The series of events that led to the goring suggest the bison was threatened by being repeatedly approached to within 10 feet," Yellowstone's senior bison biologist Chris Geremia said in the release. Taiwans Foxconn Technology Group is waiting for authorities approval for its plan to spend more than US$325 million implementing three social housing projects for its workers in Vietnam. The projects will be developed in Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, and Vinh Phuc, all located in the northern region of the Southeast Asian country, according to Foxconns proposal submitted to the Government Office, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The majority of workers long for housing but they cannot afford it, Foxconn said, explaining why it seeks permission to build affordable houses. Foxconn is better known as an Apple parts maker which has 800 subsidiaries and branches in many countries around the world. Its revenue topped $220 billion last year, ranking 24th among the worlds 500 largest corporations according to Fortune magazine. The Taiwanese group registered a small investment in Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, and Vinh Phuc in 2007 before expanding to Quang Ninh Province, also in northern Vietnam, in 2019. It decided to make a large-scale investment in Bac Giang the same year. Foxconns factories in Vietnam raked in around $3 billion in exports in 2019, which is projected to rise to $6 billion this year. The electronic components manufacturer employs 50,000 workers in Vietnam and pays them a monthly average of VND10-12 million ($429-515) each. Its number of employees is forecast to rapidly increase soon amid a trend to shift production to Vietnam from China post-COVID-19. Vietnam has kept the coronavirus under control, having reported 355 cases, 335 recoveries, and zero deaths. Through its subsidiaries, Foxconn wants to implement the three projects to accommodate its workers in Que Vo District, Bac Ninh; in Viet Yen District, Bac Giang; and in Binh Xuyen District, Vinh Phuc. It is projected to cost Foxconn more than $325 million to develop the social housing units in the three locales, where its subsidiaries have investments in local industrial parks. Foxconn is also asking for the Vietnamese governments permission to build a 600ha industrial park in Bac Giang in order to move production to Vietnam, said Duong Van Thai, chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! For the last three years, 22-year-old Phan Trung Hai from District 7 of Ho Chi Minh City has been keeping a special classroom, where underprivileged students can have access to proper education, alive. The class was initially created and taught by Hais mother. After she could not continue the work due to old age, Hai decided to stand in his mothers place when he was still a freshman at the Ho Chi Minh City College of Transportation. Hai has been with the class for three years since then, and he still expresses a burning passion for helping underprivileged children by sharing his knowledge and setting them up for life. His classroom is a small room built with the support of local authorities; its space barely fits a dozen student desks. The desks were donated by local benefactors, but he had to pay for notebooks, textbooks, pens, rulers, and all the other necessary school supplies for the students from his own pocket, according to Hai. In this class, Hai teaches Vietnamese, math, and ethics as he wishes the children to grow up to be well versed in words and numbers as well as the manners required to be upstanding members of the community. Phan Trung Hai (left) walks with his students on the way to his class for underprivileged kids in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre His students are at different educational stages of the K-12 curriculum, ranging from first to sixth grades. In order to ensure the lessons are appropriate for all levels, Hai has to segment them very carefully. After three years of operation with two generations of teachers, the tiny class has delivered much-needed lessons to some 30 students whose parents could not afford to send them to conventional schools. I am delighted to be able to teach the class. Despite their struggles, all the kids are eager to learn. They have motivated me to continue teaching, Hai said. Every student in this class has a dream: becoming a doctor or teacher is one. The future is hard to tell but I will try my best to support and educate the children." A student cleans the classroom in this special class for underprivileged children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre Phan Trung Hai instructs a student in solving a problem in this special class for underprivileged children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre Phan Trung Hai works in the teachers seat in this special class for underprivileged children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre Phan Trung Hai teaches math in this special class for underprivileged children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre Phan Trung Hai helps a student solve math problems in this special class for underprivileged children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu (right) sits with her disabled child as he is taught by Phan Trung Hai in a special class for underprivileged children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre A student (right) helps his fellow classmate with homework in this special class for underprivileged children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre Phan Trung Hai walks through his special class for underprivileged children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! All residents who share a floor of an apartment block in Ho Chi Minh City with a recovered COVID-19 patient who had recently had a "weak positive" retest have tested negative for the novel coronavirus, according to the Vietnam General Department of Preventive Medicine. The patient also tested negative again on Monday. All samples taken from people living on the 12th floor of Block D at the Pham Viet Chanh apartment buildings in Ward 19, Binh Thanh District on Monday have returned negative for COVID-19, the General Department of Preventive Medicine announced on Tuesday morning. The mass sampling, which was ordered by the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control to prevent the transmission of the virus, took place after the retest of a recovered COVID-19 patient living on the same floor had returned positive. The 20-year-old patient is an overseas Vietnamese student who returned to Vietnam from France on May 24, according to the Ministry of Health. The student was quarantined upon entry and tested positive for the novel coronavirus on May 25. The patient was declared free of the virus on June 9 after treatment at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. The recovered patient was then sent to a quarantine center in Binh Thanh District for 14 more days after being discharged from the hospital, as per regulations. The patient has lived in his apartment at the Pham Viet Chanh condo for the week. Health workers have tested the person for the pathogen regularly during this time. One of the tests yielded a weak positive result on June 20. But the students retest on Monday came back negative for the virus. All family members of the patient have also had the same results. The health ministry has advised people not to be too worried about the case, as there have been other recovered patients who retested positive for the coronavirus after leaving the hospital, but they cannot transmit the pathogen. Patients retesting positive after having beaten COVID-19 are not infectious, according to Nguyen Van Kinh, former director of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi. The retests simply detect the inactive fragments of the virus, Kinh added. Vietnam has reported 355 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday morning, with 335 recoveries and zero deaths, according to the health ministrys statistics. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Authorities in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai have issued a warning after two black panthers were reportedly spotted near a local residential area. Residents of Tan An Commune, Vinh Cuu District in Dong Nai reported they had seen two animals that looked like black panthers near the border of the commune. Witnesses estimated the animals to weigh about 100 kilograms each, according to the report. Police in Tan An Commune have alerted all residents to the sightings. Locals have been advised to promptly inform local authorities of any further sighting of the animals. It is possible that the animals are raised by some local residents and have escaped from their captivity, officers stated. A representative of the Dong Nai Culture and Nature Reserve confirmed that no black panther has been spotted at the venue. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Bachchan proposed doing a food documentary with his Manmarziyaan co-star Vicky Kaushal As Abhishek Bachchan completes 20 years in the industry, the actor has been uploading a series of memories from the films that he has done over the years as part of his #RoadTo20 series on Instagram. Recently, the Run actor shared a video which concludes with his last release Manmarziyaan along with Taapsee Pannu and Vicky Kaushal. In the video, Abhishek shares his experience on the set in Amritsar and working with director Anurag Kashyap. Year-2018 I didnt have a release in 2017. 2018 saw the coming together of @anuragkashyap10 @aanandlrai @taapsee @vickykaushal09 @kanika.d and @itsamittrivedi Ive written so much about my experiences of working on Manmarziyaan ( if you scroll back on my feed you can read it) a young energetic unit who gave it their all. Made a wonderful film about modern love. Made good memories and ate the best food and drank the best lassi in Amritsar.(sic), he captioned the post. Alongside the video, Abhishek also floated the idea of cooking with co-star Vicky and making a food documentary to be directed by Anurag Kashyap. I have an idea... Anurag, lets make documentary on food across India. Vicky and I will host it. Kanika can write it. You and Anand direct it. Amit will give the soundtrack. Taapsee will handle all public relations and production (since she will probably not eat anything!!) Im on! Over to you.(sic), wrote the Dhoom actor. To this, Vicky took to the comment section and replied, The pot boiler I would love to be a part of! Here are todays leading news stories: Society -- Firefighters and local residents had to stay up all night on Monday to put out a fire at two forests in Dien An and Dien Phu Communes in Dien Chau District, located in the north-central Vietnamese province of Nghe An. -- A newborn baby who was found abandoned in Hanoi in early June passed away on Monday afternoon despite relentless efforts of doctors at Xanh Pon Hospital over the past 21 days. -- Seven men were sentenced to a combined 32 years in prison for poisoning ten hectares of pine tree forest in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, the provincial Peoples Court announced on Monday. -- Police in Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi have initiated legal proceedings against a 65-year-old man for allegedly molesting an eight-year-old boy inside an elevator of an apartment building on June 17. -- Officers in Ho Chi Minh City are verifying a viral video showing a man beating a young boy believed to be his step son in a house in Tan Phu District. -- Two eighth-grade students drowned and another went missing after having a swim in a stream in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on Monday afternoon. Business -- About 7.8 million laborers in Vietnam lost their jobs or had to be furloughed, while 17.6 million people saw a decrease in their salary due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, according to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs. -- Vietnams export turnover in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries was estimated at $18.81 billion in the first half of 2020, a year-on-year decline of 3.4 percent, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported. World news -- The novel coronavirus has infected over 10.4 million people around the world while killing more than 507,500, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Healths statistics. Over 5.6 million patients have recovered from COVID-19. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Firefighters and residents had to stay up past midnight to put out fires that had started in two different pine tree forests in the north-central Vietnamese province of Nghe An on Monday. It took firefighters five hours to extinguish the first fire, which broke out in a forest in Dien An Commune, Dien Chau District, according to Colonel Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy director of the provincial Department of Police. The efforts were supported by military, forest protection, and police officers, as well as many local residents. The most important task was to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to other forests or nearby residential areas, Col. Hung stated. Even after the flame had been put out, multiple officers were tasked with keeping a close watch on any possible reignition. During the afternoon of the same day, another fire broke out in a forest in Dien Phu Commune, also in Dien Chau District. A fire breaks out in a forest in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre The area had been consumed by flames a day earlier, causing firefighters to respond, but the conflagration reportedly reignited on Monday due to hot, dry weather. It was only put under control at around 12:10 am on Tuesday morning. Officers put out a forest fire in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre A total of eight forest fires have occurred across Nghe An Province in the first six months of this year, leveling 87 hectares of forest, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Monday. A heatwave has been scorching the province over the past month, resulting in high temperatures and an absence of rain, which in turn entails high risks of forest fire, the agency added. Military officers climb up a wooden ladder as they head to the location of a forest fire in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre Officers put out a forest fire in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre Officers head to the location of a forest fire in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre Officers put out a forest fire in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre Firefighters prepare a water hose to extinguish a forest fire in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre Officers and local residents take a break during an effort to contain a forest fire in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre A man carries bread to supply to firefighters in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre An area of a forest is burned down by a fire in Nghe An Province, Vietnam, June 29, 2020. Photo: Doan Hoa / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Seven men have been sentenced to a combined 32 years and three months in prison for their involvement in the poisoning of ten hectares of pine tree forest in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong last year. Their trial took place at the provincial Peoples Court on Monday. The defendants were indicted for property destruction and lack of responsibility that cause damage to the property of the state, agencies, organizations, and enterprises. Authorities discovered that many pine trees had been poisoned in two forests in Tan Thanh Commune, Lam Ha District, Lam Dong in April 2019, according to the indictment. The affected area of forest was determined to be ten hectares. About 638 cubic meters of timber was damaged, costing approximately VND750 million (US$32,200). An investigation later revealed that Bach Dinh Ke, 38, had hired Duong Van Hong, Ngo Van Diem, and Phan Van Truong to poison seven hectares of pine tree forest in Tan Thanh Commune. Nguyen Quoc Huy, 31, then paid Hong, Diem, Truong, and another man named Nguyen Van Loi to do the same thing to 2.9 hectares of forest nearby. Duong Van Hong shows police officers how he poisoned pine trees in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam. Photo: M.V. / Tuoi Tre At the police station, Ke and Huy claimed they had had the tree poisoned to occupy the land plots with a plan to resell them to others. Ke added he had supplied Diem, Hong, and Truong with portable electric drills and herbicide, and agreed to pay them VND500,000-700,000 (U$21-30) per day for the job. At the trial, Ke was sentenced to six years in prison. Diem, who had a record of assault and consumption of illegal property, was jailed for seven years. Hong and Loi were each slapped with a five-year jail term, while Huy and Truong were put behind bars for four years. All of the six defendants were convicted of destruction of property. Mai Ngoc Hien, 41, an official in charge of protecting the pine tree forests, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for lack of responsibility that led to damage to state, agencies, organizations, and enterprises property. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Adam Liaw, Susie Youssef, Hunter Page-Lochard and Claudia Karvan will be sketching in SBS event Life Drawing Live. Rove McManus hosts the live 2 hour event this Saturday, joined by art experts, Head of Drawing at the National Art School Maryanne Coutts and award-winning artist Wendy Sharpe. Adam Liaw said: I used to draw a lot as a kid. My mum is a good artist and she taught me a few things when I was young. At school I loved art and was always doodling or drawing comics. I won the school art prize in Year 9, but gave up art the next year to focus on sciences. I dont think I drew anything at all for maybe 20 years after that. Now as a father I end up drawing a little with my kids, just little sketches with them and birthday invitations. When I was asked to participate in Life Drawing Live, I didnt even really know what life drawing was! I actually laughed out loud when I found out it was nudes. I dont know if Ill be any good at it, but it sounds like a lot of fun! Claudia Karvan said: Its funny that our consistent response is that we start drawing again when we have kids. Thats true for me too. I did 3 Unit Art at school and did drawing classes, (using the left-hand side of my brain no less!). I love nothing more than to sit still and draw, regardless of whether the outcome is good or bad, but unfortunately life pressures usually take priority and you find yourself neglecting these really important pleasures. So, thank you Covid and Life Drawing Live for nailing me to the floor for two hours this Saturday so I can indulge in doing something I love. Hunter Page-Lochard said: Ive always loved imagining that Im the next Picasso, but I know Im probably just the next Van Gogh as I continue to live my life existentially. I grew up drawing superheroes and spent most of my art schooling mastering mise en scene paintings. And who doesnt love a little bit of Bob Ross in the morning. I may be rusty but Im ready to pull out my pencils and dive head first into this mystery we call art. Susie Youssef said: I love drawing and Im absolutely fascinated by great artists and their ability to move people with their work. I mean I have sketched a sad tree in every notebook Ive ever owned and instead of crossing out mistakes in handwriting exercises, I used to draw a flower pot over the top of the error, but sadly I am not a great artist. So even though I will be undoubtedly rubbish, I am very excited for Life Drawing Live. I promise to arrive sober unlike my first and only other life drawing experience at my sisters Hens Party. Sorry Tess. Viewers are invited to pick up their pencils and draw along in real-time and be guided by Australias best. For those wanting to participate, a Pose Cam will provide an uninterrupted stream of the life models via sbs.com.au/lifedrawinglive. SBS is encouraging home viewers to share drawings on social using #SBSLifeDrawingLive or via email at [email protected] for the chance to have their artwork featured during the broadcast and analysed by our experts. On Saturday 11 and 18 July at 8.30pm, SBS will broadcast Life Drawing UK from the BBC. Presenter and artists Josie dArby will be joined by some of the UKs leading art experts and special guests. Viewers are invited to hone their life drawing skills with the uninterrupted stream of the life models available via sbs.com.au/lifedrawinglive. Life Drawing Live is produced by CJZ for SBS. It is based on a format created by Avanti Media and broadcast by the BBC in the UK. Live 8:30pm Saturday on SBS. Related Former Daily Edition presenter Ryan Phelan this morning pleaded not guilty to allegedly assaulting his partner, Chelsea Franklin. Police allege Phelan assaulted Ms Franklin at their Frenchs Forest home on June 20, with Franklin attending police station later that evening. Police arrested Phelan the same evening and charged him with the two alleged offences on Monday June 23. Seven subsequently sacked Phelan, during the final week of the shows broadcast, after reportedly learning of the events. He is charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault, while an AVO against him has been applied for by police on behalf of Ms Franklin. He entered his pleas via the court registry and is on bail under conditions he does not stalk or harass Ms Franklin, or destroy or damage any of her property. Court papers stated Phelan has no history of violence and no criminal record. Outside Manly Local Court today lawyer Claudette Chua said, Mr Phelan has been cooperating with police. He respects and understands that the police, and the courts, have an obligation to take any allegation of domestic violence very seriously. False allegations of domestic violence are extremely serious, they result in the total unacceptable victimisation of the accused person, and they also are unhelpful to women everywhere. Chelsea Franklin last week claimed the impact of Phelans sacking from Seven led to an argument that saw her report him to police. She has told media the alleged incident had been a horrible mistake and said she still loves him. Last week Daily Edition presenter Sally Obermeder told viewers, Before we go on, I want to address Ryan Phelans absence from the programme. Ryan will not be returning to The Daily Edition due to the serious allegations made against him. The network was unaware of these allegations until notified last night. We were all understandably shocked by the allegations, but as the matter is now before the courts we will not be commenting further. He was subsequently wiped from the shows finale highlights. The matter was adjourned and will return to Manly Local Court on August 8. 1800respect.org.au Lifeline: 13 11 14 Source: news.com.au, Daily Mail Related Mystery Road screenwriter Kodie Bedford has recalled issues of racism when she worked at SBS in 2008 as a cadet journalist. On social media she described a workplace culture that maligned Indigenous journalists at the multicultural broadcaster. Thread: My first career. This has taken me a long time to get over because I still carry trauma and feel sick about it. Colleagues have been sharing their story and Im adding my voice. We need to change the system. Aunty Kodie (@Ms_Kodie) June 29, 2020 Further posts said: I won out a journalist cadetship for SBS. I only mention SBS because its touted as a champion of diverse voices. It wasnt a champion for me. I still believe in SBS charter & mission, and personally think they have the best content in Oz. A lot of good people in the newsroom I started out as a pretty solid journalist. I could string a story together pretty quickly. Sure I was always introduced as the Indigenous cadet journalist while the others were just the cadet journalists but this was my dream job. Ill put up with the othering. But by the end of 2 yrs: my writing was worse, my self-esteem destroyed, I had suicidal thoughts. The stress on my body meant I developed eczema, I lost my period for 4 months, I stopped eating; a piece of toast filled me for the day because of anxiety. THIS IS WHAT RACISM DOES. Bedford notes the issue was largely confined to one person. She indicates she is not bitter towards SBS but claims the system is still broken. Im told that me writing that status is now an example in their induction program of what not to do. Least I have some legacy, she adds. She has previously documented difficulties, telling MediaRing in 2016 I didnt realise the difficulties that would present themselves because I was a journalist who was Aboriginal. I had more of a responsibility than non-Indigenous journalists because of the relationships I would build with mob. But I wasnt quite seen as an equal in the industry, dismissed as just an Aboriginal journalist who wasnt able move out of Indigenous affairs and tell mainstream stories. It was beyond frustrating and sometimes humiliating to see your non-Indigenous peers given more responsibility and ability to add to their skill set. My career in the media took a different turn when I left SBS to join ABCs documentary series Message Stick. An SBS spokesperson told The Australian, We were deeply saddened to read Kodies account of her experiences at SBS in 2008. Racism is abhorrent and we are committed to ensuring it has no place in SBS. Bedford has also written for Squinters, Robbie Hood, Grace Beside Me and the upcoming Blood Sisters. You can read more here. Related Screen Producers Australia has issued a copy of its opening statement to the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19. Matthew Deaner, CEO, Screen Producers Australia: Impact of the coronavirus The impact of the coronavirus on our industry has been devastating. Following the introduction of social distancing requirements and restrictions on large gatherings in March, much of Australian film and television activity, particularly drama and other large productions, ceased. This affected around 120 productions, impacted about half a billion dollars in budgets and left thousands of hard-working creative Australians out of work. We worked constructively with the Government to maximise the availability of JobKeeper to our industry, but due to the way our businesses are structured, and the way people are employed, its availability has been patchy and inconsistent. The net result is an industry in crisis, and we are therefore relieved by the Governments announcement on 25 June of a $50 million package to help screen producers secure finance and get the cameras rolling. We are awaiting details of the Temporary Interruption Fund, but understand it will be aimed at helping negate the impact of the insurance crisis that has developed in the industry. This has the potential to allow us to properly restart the production of quality Australian content, re-employ thousands and contribute to economic recovery. Impact of Government decision-making However, we remain extremely concerned regarding a recent Government decision which has compounded the impact of the coronavirus and will delay recovery. Namely, the decision of the media regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), to temporarily suspend the Australian content quotas that apply to commercial television and subscription television. This decision was enacted to reflect interruptions in the supply of Australian content, which is understandable, to a point. Unfortunately, the complete suspension of the quotas fails to recognise that some productions (childrens animation, documentaries) have been able to continue. The other distressing impact has been that this decision has also removed from the market all demand for new commissions, as broadcasters use the decision as cover to pull out of deals and turn down new commissions. If there is to be further supply problems, these will be due to the behaviour of broadcasters in pulling out of commissions, and not because of a lack of capacity in the production industry. This is having a devastating effect on our members at exactly the time when new demand is critical to keeping production businesses sustainable and people in jobs. We are asking the ACMA to issue a statement that regulatory forbearance will only be available in regards to contracted productions which suffer interruptions directly due to COVID related restrictions. Related The Equity Foundation has named Brisbane-based performer Tatiana E. Silva as the winner of the 2020 Neighbours Internship. A graduate of the Australian Performing Arts Conservatory, in Queensland, she was selected from more than 150 applicants. The internship entails behind the scenes training and a potential role. She will receive return flights and accommodation for the duration of an internship, and paid at the award rate. Neighbours casting director Thea McLeod, McLeod Casting, says: We were absolutely spoilt for choice and are delighted to see such a wide variety of talented actors emerging in the industry. Tatiana shone through with her dynamic and natural performance. She is going to be an amazing asset to this industry and we look forward to watching her journey. I am really looking forward to this new adventure and excited to gain experience for the future. Thank you Equity, Fremantle, Showcast and Media Super, this is such a wonderful opportunity, Tatiana said. Media Super CEO Tony Griffin says: Australians are a talented group of people and more than ever, its important to provide opportunities for emerging talent. As the industrys own super fund were proud to support the internship and give Tatiana the opportunity to both work and learn from some very talented people on one of the countrys iconic television productions. Related The Living Room is back from the brink -and in a major format twist will feature one family, one story per episode. Gone are the unrelated lifestyle stories linked by hosts before a studio audience. Instead the show is filmed in a warehouse home-base with the hosts helping out a hero family each week. No longer produced by WTFN, the show is now in-house at 10 under new executive producers Sarah Thornton and Caroline Swift. As Amanda Keller tells TV Tonight, (Caroline) did a lot of thinking and spoke to a lot of people about what Friday night viewing should be, what our strengths were, and what our point of difference could be. And thats why the show, I think, is slightly different this time around. We take one family or one couple, one story, for the hour, and we film and do offshoots from that. But rather than all of us doing disparate stories and just linking them in the studio, we go on a journey from beginning to end. There are stories with heart, theres still lots of laugh There are stories with heart, theres still lots of laughs and we merge lanes a little in that Chris (Brown) might be there to help Barry (du Bois) with a renovation -with disastrous results usually- but we all kind of pitch in around each other. So were not just filming in isolation, were with each other as well, a lot of the time. So does that make the show Backyard Blitz or even Ian Thorpes Undercover Angels? If I could remember how Thorpies Angels went I could actually answer that! laughs Keller. I remember the the imagery of it but I dont even know how the show worked? But no, its not Backyard Blitz. It might be more those shows meets Queer Eye It might be more those shows meets Queer Eye in that we set out on a vision. Were not just making over someones backyard, weve asked people to come to us and say What is it you need? Some people need a rev up in their lives. Some need a new kitchen. Some are empty-nesters whose kids have grown up asking, What do we do now? We look at various aspects of their life. Its not just as simple as coming in and fixing up a house. We come in and chat to them find out what we can do for them, what our various skill sets can bring them. Together with Miguel Maestre, the show retains the chemistry for which is has become famous. Keller promises it will still allow for humour and spontaneity, if filmed on location in daylight. We always felt that The Living Room was part-Tonight Show. So we sort of have our own stupidity within those elements in home base, as well. I think we are show where we can laugh and cry in the same sentence Weve tried to give breathing space to how we interact with each other. Ive said before I think we are show where we can laugh and cry in the same sentence. We rip each other to shreds but love each other, like families do. The new home-base is a converted warehouse in Newtown in inner Sydney. Filming during COVID restrictions means there is naturally less travel, and for now the hero families are Sydney-based. Its been hard for the production team who have been trying not to be siloed with everybody working from home. Weve been filming stories, using social distancing and following all the rules, she continues. We started doing our home base recordings a couple of months ago, maybe six weeks. But the promo sees the fab four ignoring social distancing? Weve been in a bubble with each other Thats because weve been in a bubble with each other. We film with each other in the same way your family has a bubble, and certain friendships can have a bubble. Hmmm 10 announced the shows return after a deal with former producers WTFN, who retained rights in the format and all international rights. This enabled 10 to stick with the title despite previously confirming The Living Room would not return. We knew we were coming back We knew we were coming back. We didnt know if wed still be called The Living Room, which is probably what that was about, Keller explains. We were always assured by Channel 10 There will be a show on Friday night for the four of you. So yes, weve had a lick of paint. Were now being made by in house by Channel 10 and weve had a renovation, I guess. Its been so strange being off air for this period of time, but we dont have an audience and I think that we wouldnt have been able to anyway. Keller doesnt weigh into why the revamp led to the exit of the original production company WTFN, which has also not commented directly. I assume there were tensions I assume there were tensions in there, or else why would we be where we are? But I would just turn up and do my job, Keller continues. There wasnt any particular personnel, and I can say that hand on heart, thats led to any of this. I think it was probably just that after 7 years they wanted a refresh and they felt they could do that themselves. And after 4 Logies the taste will be, as they say, in the pudding. Keller and her team are optimistic viewers will want a large, second helping at their new home base. Its a fantastic space Its a fantastic space. Theres a pool, theres a working kitchen, a fireplace, a lounge room it feels like a home. What I love about it is they actually came to see my home and theyve painted some of the walls like my place. Theyve got some of my husbands artworks on the walls. Weve all brought in bits from our own home. It feels like ours. The Living Room returns 7:30pm Friday on 10. Related Out of the total 59 deaths in the force, three were officers, who were infected in the line of duty. Mumbai: As many as 67 police personnel tested positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of active cases to 1,097 and death toll to 59 in the police force. Out of 67, five are police officers and the rest are constables. So far more than 4,000 personnel of the state police force have till now tested positive for coronavirus Out of the total 59 deaths in the force, three were officers, who were infected in the line of duty. These include 34 personnel of the Mumbai Police force Speaking with The Asian Age, assistant IGP (Law and Order), Vinayak Deshmukh, said, We have set up a dedicated Covid Care Centres (CCC) for policemen as well as their families in each district. Around 3,000 beds are available across the state only for police personnel. In a bid to prevent the spread of the deadly infection in the police force, the Mumbai police commissioner had issued an order stating that the officials with serious health issues will be sent on leave immediately. It also said that officials with no serious ailment but above 50 years, would be deployed on safer duties to avoid any kind of contraction or complications in their health. In addition, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government has promised to give the family of the deceased policemen a compensation of Rs 50 lakh each. Besides, Rs 10 lakh would also be given from the police welfare fund or martyrs funds. "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38) Tyler, TX (75702) Today Thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 88F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely in the evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms later on. Low 66F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. 4finance S.A. / Key word(s): Bond 4finance S.A.: 4finance commences EUR bond amendment 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. 4finance commences process to extend EUR 2021 bond maturity Follows supportive feedback from investor consultation period 29 June 2020. 4finance Holding S.A. (the "Group"), one of Europe's largest digital consumer lending groups, announces it has commenced the formal process to amend the terms & conditions of its EUR 2021 bonds. The notice of invitation to vote on a nine-month extension to the maturity, to February 2022, has been published today in the German Federal Gazette and on the Group's website, alongside other supporting documents. After a consultation process involving investors owning nearly half of the outstanding EUR bonds by value, there has been robust support for the proposed amendment terms. If the amendment is successfully passed, all EUR bondholders will receive an amendment fee of 25bps, and holders who participate in the vote will receive an additional 50bps. All other terms, except the maturity date and associated interest payment dates, will remain unchanged. The Group also commits to add its operating entity in the Czech Republic to the list of guarantors for its EUR and USD bonds. The result of the vote is expected in mid-July, and if the required quorum of 50% is not obtained, a second vote with a quorum of 25% could take place in mid-August. The full documentation is available on the Group's website at https://www.4finance.com/investors-and-media/bonds/. Paul Goldfinch, CFO of 4finance, commented: "Whilst this was not part of our original refinancing plans at the start of the year, we have been encouraged by the response of EUR bondholders in recent weeks. The overwhelming majority have understood the rationale for this proposed extension to the maturity of the EUR bonds and have indicated their support. We welcome further engagement with any of our investors and encourage EUR bondholders to participate in the upcoming voting process. If successful, it will allow us a proper opportunity to refinance the business when high yield capital markets, and our financial results, are less impacted by the Covid-19 situation. "Operationally we have continued to make good progress since our Q1 results call. So far in June, both online loan issuance volumes, and online loan repayment dynamics, have further improved from the levels seen in May." For more information, please contact: 4finance Email: james.etherington@4finance.com Email: press@4finance.com Aalto Capital Email: manfred.steinbeisser@aaltocapital.de Tel.: +49 89 898 67 77 0 www.4finance.com This announcement contains inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation. Certain statements in this document are "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from those included in these statements. Notes to Editors About 4finance Established in 2008, 4finance is one of Europe's largest digital consumer lending groups with operations in 14 countries. Leveraging a high degree of automation and data-driven insights across all aspects of the business, 4finance has grown rapidly, issuing over 7 billion since inception in single payment loans, instalment loans and lines of credit. 4finance operates a portfolio of market leading brands, through which, as a responsible lender, the firm offers simple, convenient and transparent products to millions of customers who are typically underserved by conventional providers. 4finance has group offices in Riga (Latvia), London, Luxembourg and Miami, and currently operates in 12 countries in Europe as well as in Argentina and Mexico. The Group also offers deposits, in addition to consumer and SME loans through its TBI Bank subsidiary, an EU licensed institution with operations primarily in Bulgaria and Romania. 29-Jun-2020 CET/CEST The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de One of the UKs largest private companies has struck a five billion dollar (4 billion) deal to buy a wing of BP that had fallen out of favour at the oil giant. Ineos will pay BP in six installments until June next year for its petrochemicals business which makes a key component in polyester. The business employs around 1,700 staff, spread mainly across the Asia, the US, Belgium and a plant in Hull. It means that a changing BP has met its promise to sell off 15 billion dollars (12 billion) of assets a year earlier than initially promised. It is another step in a revamp led by the FTSE 100 listed oil giants new boss Bernard Looney. Mr Looney has promised to set a new course for BP, which includes tackling emissions a potential existential crisis for the oil industry. This is another significant step as we steadily work to reinvent BP, the new boss said on Monday, about five months after taking charge. The business fell out of favour with bosses who thought it would be too costly to grow on its own. Strategically, the overlap with the rest of BP is limited and it would take considerable capital for us to grow these businesses, Mr Looney said. As we work to build a more focused, more integrated BP, we have other opportunities that are more aligned with our future direction. Todays agreement is another deliberate step in building a BP that can compete and succeed through the energy transition. Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who was once named the UKs richest person by the Sunday Times Rich List, said: We are delighted to acquire these top-class businesses from BP, extending the Ineos position in global petrochemicals and providing great scope for expansion and integration with our existing business. This acquisition is a logical development of our existing petrochemicals business extending our interest in acetyls and adding a world leading aromatics business supporting the global polyester industry. The 1,700 jobs at BP petrochemicals are expected to transfer over to Ineos, BP said. Education groups and activists on all sides of the debate over private school choice agree that a Tuesday ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court will be tremendously consequential. But it may take some time for the ripple effects to spread. In a 5-4 decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the court held that a Montana prohibition on families from using state tax-credit scholarships at religious schools was an unconstitutional violation of religious freedom. Heres a rundown of what that means, and what comes next. What Is a No-Aid Rule? Montana is one of 38 states that have state consitutional amendments or no-aid rules that bar distribution of public funds to religious institutions. Such amendments are sometimes refered to as Blaine amendments. Montanas state department of revenuewhich administers its program that provides tax-credits in exchange for donations to modest scholarships had determined that, under the no-aid provision, families benefiting from the states program could not use those scholarships to send their children to religiously affiliated private schools. Parent plaintiffs at the center of the Montana case, joined by the Trump administration, argued that decision violated their religious liberty. The state argued that that the constitutional provision kept Montanas own state legislature out of the business of funding of religious schools and that it didnt disciminate because the same rules applied to all scholarship families, regardless of their religion. The court sided with the families Tuesday. To be eligible for government aid under the Montana Constitution, a school must divorce itself from any religious control or affiliation, Chief Justice John Roberts said in his majority opinion. Placing such a condition on benefits or privileges inevitably deters or discourages the exercise of First Amendment rights, he wrote, citing the courts 2017 opinion in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer , which held that Missouri couldnt bar a church from receiving state support for playground safety because of its religious affiliation. Does This Mean States Have to Fund Private Education Now? Seventeen states operate 22 tax-credit scholarship programs that provided awards to about 300,000 students in 2017, said a 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office. Some public education groups that oppose public funding for private school choice programs have argued that a ruling for the families in the Espinoza case could swing open the doors for greater public funding of private, religious education. But, if thats true, the effect wont be immediate in most states. Some states with large voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs, like Florida and Indiana, allow those funds to be used at private schools, even though their state constitutions contain no-aid provisions. And theres nothing in the courts opinion that would require a state to start a private school choice program if it doesnt already have one. A State need not subsidize private education, Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious. Attorneys for the Institute for Justice, who argued on behalf of parents in the case, said they will next turn their attention to the two statesMaine and Vermontthat bar religious schools from their private school choice programs. The organization has an active case in Maine , in which three families challenged the exclusion of relligious schools from a tuitioning towns program, through which some school districts that dont have high schools instead provide funds to families to send their children to public and private schools elsewhere. A district court judge upheld Maines exclusion last year, and the famillies appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Massachusetts. Attorneys for the Institute for Justice plan to file a new brief in that case, citing the Espinoza decision, attorney Tim Keller said. And the organization hopes to file a similar lawsuit in Vermont, applying the Espinoza ruling in its arguments. We are going to build upon this decision...to make sure that any further legal impediments dont stand in the way of school choice programs, IJ President General Counsel Scott Bullock said on a call with reporters Tuesday. Of the states with no-aid provisions, 14 have determined those rules bar the use of publicly funded school choice programs to private religious schools, the attorneys said. Some of those states have not established voucher or tax-credit scholarship programs, and the IJ attorneys hope Tuesdays decision will encourage them to do so. The legal impediments to effective school choice programs are now removed, and its up to the legislators now to move forward, said attorney Dick Komer, who argued for the Espinoza plaintiffs in court. States most likely to act on the decision are Idaho, Missouri, South Dakota, and Texas, the attorneys speculated, citing previous discussions about how those states consitutions who affect potential tax-credit scholarships proposals. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos , who has proposed a federal tax-credit scholarship program and has championed state-level efforts, praised the ruling. She issued a statement calling on all states to now seize the extraordinary opportunity to expand all education options at all schools to every single student in America. The White House, in a statement, praised the ruling, saying it removes one of the biggest obstacles to better educational opportunities for all children. Why Are Some Advocates Worried About What Comes Next? Opponents of voucher and tax-credit scholarships argue they siphon public funds away from public schools, which provide education to the vast majority of U.S. students. In its ruling, the Supreme Court has opened the door for voucher proponents in states to aggressively pursue the diversion of taxpayer dollars to private schoolsschools that can pick and choose who they educate and are not accountable to taxpayers, said a statement by the National Coalition for Public Education, a group of organizations that oppose private school choice programs. Now more than ever, as our country tries to rectify our history of racial injustice, we need to invest in our public schools that welcome all children and unite our communities, not in private schools that further divide us. Some civil rights groups have argued that religious schools, in particular, may discriminate against students because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This was an issue in debates over expanding Floridas school choice programs recently after a January Orlando Sentinel investigation found 83 participating private schools had written policies barring attendance by LGBTQ students and, in some cases, the children of gay and lesbian couples. GLSEN, an organization that represents LGBTQ students, said Tuesday that the Supreme Courts decision would essentially force taxpayers to fund discrimination. Our opponents have made it clear that they intend to leverage this decision to pave the way for further privatization across the country, GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said in a statement. If we are ever to achieve liberation for LGBTQ people and undo the legacy of racism and slavery in this country, we must block these efforts and ensure we are using our taxpayer dollars to make our nations schools safe and enriching for all students, not starving our public schools of essential funds and sustaining anti-LGBTQ school environments that put our young people at risk. Where Will This Take Debate Over the Church-State Divide in Education? The Espinoza decision fits into a canon of religious liberty cases, all heavily watched for their potential application in future arguments. At oral arguments in January, Justice Stephen Breyer gave a hint to the complicated web of questions that will follow the ruling when he asked about the possibility of church-run charter schools. Say in San Francisco or Boston or take any city or state, and they give many, many, many millions of dollars to the public school system, and a lot of them give a lot of money to charter schools, Breyer said to Jeffrey Wall, the principal deputy U.S. solicitor general, who argued against Montanas no-aid clause. Now, they dont give money to Catholic schools. All right? Now, if we decide youre right, does that all change? Legal experts who spoke to Education Week in January about that line of questioning agreed its quite complicated and that a ruling against Montana wouldnt immediately pave the way for a religious charter school. But the question itself demonstrated the kinds of complicated questions that may come next, they said. Asked Tuesday by a reporter about the possibility of religious charter schools, lawyers for the parents in Espinoza rejected the idea. Charter schools are public schools, and they receive direct public funding, Keller said. There is not an opportunity under this ruling for states to authorize religiously affiliated charter schools. Photo: School choice supporters from eight schools demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments in the Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case in January--Graeme Sloan/Education Week Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa . It is due to this `expansionist policy that China has now started moving towards Ladakh, he said. New Delhi: President of Central Administration of Tibet (CTA) in exile, Dr Lobsang Sangay, on Monday urged India to take a proactive and prominent role in containing 'expansionist' China in the region and help in resolving the issue of Tibet. According to him, it is due to this `expansionist policy that China has now started moving towards Ladakh. Dr Sangay said the military aggression by PLA is not the first time in the region and will not be the last time, hence, it was time for India to review its `One China policy. He added that after invading Tibet, China has militarized the entire region and is now also disturbing peace in South China Sea. In a conversation with journalists of Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia, Dr Sangay said that after controlling Tibet, China has already started occupying areas of Nepal and is now eyeing Ladakh and Bhutan which is dangerous for the region. He added that occupation of Tibet is the main reason for tension between India and China and New Delhi should help resolve the Tibet issue to solve its own problems with Beijing. Tibetans are religiously and culturally closer to India and we never had a border with India. Tibet is very important for South Asia. Tibet has historically acted as the buffer between India and China and after occupying Tibet, China is now moving to capture areas of Ladakh. India for various reasons has a lot at stake, it should intervene and take up the leadership in solving the issue of Tibet, Dr Sangay said. He added that all major rivers that feed India originate from Tibet and China is diverting the flow of these rivers to stop water to India. In this 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between two countries lot many big events were planned but see what India has got killing of soldiers of at the borders. Instead of following the principles of Panchsheel, China has always betrayed India. It occupied Tibet, it forced a war with India and today what is happening in an example of the same betrayal, Dr Sangay said. CTA has urged Human Rights Council of the United Nations to hold a special session on the human rights violations by China in the Tibet region. By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - BP has agreed to sell its global petrochemicals business to billionaire Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos for $5 billion, pulling out of a sector widely seen as a key driver of oil demand growth in the coming decades. The surprise move means BP has hit its $15 billion asset sales target a year ahead of schedule as CEO Bernard Looney prepares the company for a shift to low-carbon energy. Progress towards the sales target had taken a dent after BP had to renegotiate terms of its sale of two oil and gas portfolios in Alaska and the North Sea in recent months in light of the unprecedented demand slump triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company's London-listed shares gained on Monday's news, rising 3% by 1320 GMT. Looney acknowledged that the sale of the business, which employs 1,700 people and produced 9.7 million tonnes of petrochemicals last year, "will come as a surprise". "Strategically, the overlap with the rest of BP is limited and it would take considerable capital for us to grow these (petrochemical) businesses," Looney said in a statement. "Today's agreement is another deliberate step in building a BP that can compete and succeed through the energy transition." The business includes stakes in manufacturing plants in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Britain, Belgium, China, Malaysia and Indonesia. The petrochemical plant attached to BP's oil refineries in Gelsenkirchen and Mulheim in Germany are not included. Plastics and other petrochemical products will drive global oil demand to 2050, offsetting slower consumption of motor fuel, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a 2018 report. BP's petrochemicals business was smaller relative to rivals such as Exon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell after it sold a large part of its operations in 2005 to Ineos, which today has a network of more than 180 sites in 26 countries and about 22,000 employees. Story continues 'POSITIVE CHANGE' That left BP's petrochemicals business focused on aromatics, which are used in polymers for plastic bottles and packaging, and acetyles, which are used in paints, solvents and pharmaceuticals. However, growing consumer concern over marine pollution from chemicals has made those sectors a less likely long-term bet for BP as it focuses on improving its green credentials. Santander analyst Jason Kenney said the decision to offload those now is a "positive change" for BP because of the limited overlap with its other operations. It also strengthens expectations that BP will not cut its dividend, he added. Looney took office in February and quickly set out a plan to reinvent BP by shifting its focus from oil and gas to low-carbon energy and renewables. He has since announced plans for a sharp reduction in the company's carbon emissions by 2050 and a major restructuring of the 112-year-old company. BP also announced plans to cut 2020 spending by 25% and axe 10,000 jobs as the coronavirus crisis accelerates the company's transition plans. Ineos will pay a deposit of $400 million and a further $3.6 billion on completion of the deal, which is expected by the end of the year. The remaining $1 billion will be paid in instalments in 2021. "This acquisition is a logical development of our existing petrochemicals business, extending our interest in acetyls and adding a world leading aromatics business supporting the global polyester industry," Ineos Chairman Ratcliffe said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and David Goodman) DGAP-News: Brockhaus Capital Management AG / Key word(s): IPO The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. OTHER RESTRICTIONS ARE APPLICABLE. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THE PRESS RELEASE. PRESS RELEASE: Technology group BCM envisages listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange - Brockhaus Capital Management AG (BCM) is planning a listing of its shares on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Q3 2020 - BCM focuses on the acquisition of high-margin and high-growth technology champions in the German small/medium-sized enterprise sector - the so called "Mittelstand" - with B2B business models, which are otherwise not accessible for public investors - The long-term oriented technology group offers its subsidiaries in-depth know-how, the relevant network and a platform for further growth - Private Placement with institutional investors to comprise of new shares from a capital increase only - To fund its inorganic growth strategy, BCM plans to use the targeted gross proceeds of approx. 100 million (plus 15% greenshoe) to execute on its accretive acquisition pipeline - BCM benefits from multiple growth trends and in 2019, its second full year of operations, realized with its two acquisitions fully consolidated (pro-forma) revenues of approximately 54 million and 16 million EBITDA representing an EBITDA margin of c. 30% Frankfurt/Main, 29 June 2020. Brockhaus Capital Management AG (BCM), a long-term oriented technology group focusing on high-margin and high-growth technology champions within the German Mittelstand, is preparing its listing on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for the third quarter of 2020. BCM focuses on acquiring majority stakes in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the technology sector whose business-to-business models (B2B) are driven by long-term megatrends across different industries. Specific areas of interest include, inter alia, environmental technologies, security technologies, med-tech and software. The BCM management team has a track record of successfully operating in this sector for almost 20 years and delivering significant value creation through its past acquisitions, over three successful private equity fund generations under the brand of Brockhaus Private Equity. As a technology platform, BCM offers its subsidiaries the necessary know-how and network to support the respective management teams in developing the company through professionalization and internationalization. In this way, BCM enables long-term profitable growth and value enhancement. BCM to date has acquired two companies that are representative of its disciplined acquisition strategy: Palas GmbH Partikel- und Lasermetechnik ("Palas"), a leading developer of particle measurement technology for high-precision measurement and characterization of air quality (e.g. fine dust and nanoparticles); and IHSE Group, a global technology leader for high performance KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) data transmission technology for highly secure, low latency and loss-free transmission of data in "mission critical" applications. The gateway into German Mittelstand technology champions Through its structure as a long-term oriented technology group, BCM positions itself as the ideal partner for technology leaders in the German Mittelstand, offering businesses a path to the next phases of their development and growth. Founders of technology companies are typically faced with two succession alternatives of either selling to a classical financial investor or strategic buyer. Financial investors (due to their pre-defined investment horizon) often look to sell businesses again in a relatively short period of time, while strategic buyers are usually more interested in the underlying technologies than in maintaining brands, identity, workforce or production facilities. As a long-term oriented technology group in the form of a German stock corporation, BCM offers entrepreneurs a highly attractive alternative that allows their businesses - and work of a lifetime - to maintain their respective core identities while enjoying the upside benefits of belonging to a growth platform and not being sold to the next investor after some years. Deals are sourced through three main channels: active sourcing by direct approach of entrepreneurs (e.g. attendance of trade shows); a cross-industry network based on BCM's 20 years experience in the Mittelstand; and long-term relationships with investment banks who are well-connected with M&A activity in BCM's core areas of focus. "We discover and develop champions of the German technology midmarket. It is precisely these champions, in their similarities as well as their differences, that are an example of the recipe for success of German Mittelstand and their ability to lead their niches not only in Europe, but also the Americas and Asia", says Marco Brockhaus, Founder and CEO of BCM. "Technology champions within our strict focus are typically characterized by a wide range of organic growth opportunities. With BCM we offer those businesses a long-term platform with the necessary expertise, including technological know-how and network, to actively support and systematically develop these companies together with the respective management teams. The goal of long-term, profitable growth and value enhancement is at the heart of our business activities." Subsidiaries Palas and IHSE are clear examples of BCM's platform business model After inception as a technology group in 2017, the first subsidiary of BCM, Palas, was acquired in 2018. Palas, based in Karlsruhe, Germany, is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-precision instruments for the measurement, characterization and generation of particles in air. With more than 70 employees, Palas sells technologically leading and certified fine dust and nanoparticle measuring instruments, aerosol spectrometers, generators and sensors under a multitude of active patents. Product demand is driven by the growing awareness of increasing air pollution and its resulting risks, underpinned by rising air quality regulation globally. Palas' products are used particularly in the public sector, industrials, process monitoring, pharmaceutical and medical technology as well as in laboratories and clean rooms. The relevance of Palas' technology and innovation strength is currently being underlined by the rapid development and successful launch of new devices for testing the permeability of respiratory masks. The COVID-19 crisis shows how important it is that masks are tested for their actual effectiveness before they are used in the medical field and in the general population, with customers for example from the governmental space. In 2019, BCM acquired its second subsidiary IHSE, one of the global technology leaders for high-performance information technology components in the KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) field. With around 120 employees at its headquarters in Oberteuringen at Lake Constance and subsidiaries in the USA and Singapore, IHSE develops a cross-sectional technology benefting from an ever increasing relevance of data in any endmarket and thus being fueled by a variety of megatrends, such as autonomous driving, Industry 4.0 and networked production. The core of IHSE's business model is serving the requirement for highly secure, low latency and loss-free transmission of "mission critical" data. KVM technology switches, converts and extends computer signals, which enables employees to gain highly secure access to one server in the context of sharing, or several in the context of switching. IHSE's technology is used across a broad range of sectors including financial services, air traffic control, transportation (e.g. rail and maritime), healthcare and government institutions. The potential dangers of system failures and cyber-attacks in IHSE's markets result in increasing demands for secure data transmission. Work from home trends during the COVID-19 crisis also offer opportunities for the future development of IHSE. Marco Brockhaus, CEO of BCM, says: "Our broad and deep network as well as our understanding of market trends, business models and prospects enables us to select the right companies. The key in our view is to remain focused on our strict acquisition criteria and not be distracted by anything that does not fit 100%. We know Germany. We know the Mittelstand and we understand technologies. That is why we acquire champions! Our previous acquisitions reflect the demands we make on ourselves - clear B2B technology leadership on the basis of which strong growth and high profitability can be achieved." High growth, profitability and cash conversion As a result of the technology leadership and corresponding pricing power of its subsidiaries, BCM was able to achieve extremely strong, consolidated (pro forma) financial results in the second full financial year after its foundation (reporting date 31 December 2019) with sales of 54 million and EBITDA of 16 million. In addition, businesses within BCM's focus are not only characterized by high profitability but also strong cash conversion that enables them to finance organic growth initiatives intrinsically without the need for any outside financing. For example, in 2019 Palas and IHSE achieved a cash conversion to EBITDA of >90% and >100% respectively. In the three months ending 31 March 2020, BCM reported pro forma revenue growth of just over 20% and adjusted EBITDA of 2.6 million. Revenues in April and May were clearly below 2019 due to the impact of COVID-19 with a lower order intake and some postponed projects. This is expected to be a temporary development. As a result, BCM expects a high single digit percentage revenue decline in H1 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 on a like-for-like basis. With strengthening signs of a rebound in economic activity, management believes the low point for market activity has passed, with the recent weeks showing a clear pick-up in order intake, strong sales pipeline and overall growth drivers of the group's subsidiaries remaining very much in place. If these trends continue without further COVID-19 complications, such as a second wave or another lockdown, management expects overall revenue growth in 2020 to be mid-single digit with a return to double digit percentage growth in the high-teens in 2021. Planned private placement and listing to fund more acquisitions In order to finance the further growth of BCM through new acquisitions and thus enable the long-term development of BCM into a leading Mittelstand technology group in Germany, the Company is planning to issue new shares through a capital increase of approximately 100 million (plus 15% standard greenshoe-option) - primary shares only - exclusively among institutional investors by way of a private placement. On the back of a proven, multi-channel sourcing system, BCM aims to quickly deploy the funds raised through the private placement with 1-2 acquisitions per annum in line with its strict acquisition criteria. The current pipeline of short-term acquisition opportunities includes technology leaders from the fields of healthcare, environmental technologies and med-tech, as well as potential add-on acquisitions for IHSE and Palas. Existing shareholders of BCM are fully committed to the long-term development of the Company and do not intend to sell shares in the course of the Private Placement. Additionally, the BCM management team, who are the largest shareholder group prior to the private placement and listing with an approximate shareholding of 33% of the share capital in total, will be subject to a lock-up period of two years (subject to customary exceptions) - thereof one year vis-a-vis the underwriters and a following year vis-a-vis the Company - while the other existing shareholders will each be subject to a lock-up of 180 days. "The planned listing is the logical next step on our way to building a leading German technology group with a focus on the Mittelstand, with the intended capital increase enabling us to drive further momentum and execute on our strong acquisition pipeline", says Dr. Marcel Wilhelm, COO of BCM. The international private placement is expected to comprise of newly issued shares from a capital increase only. The Company aims to have its shares listed on the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with simultaneous admission to the sub-segment of the regulated market with additional post-admission obligations (Prime Standard). Citi and Jefferies are acting as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners and Commerzbank as Joint Bookrunner. Further information on BCM can be found at www.bcm-ag.com. About Brockhaus Capital Management BCM AG, based in Franfurt/Main, is a technology group acquiring high-margin and high-growth technology champions with B2B business models in the German Mittelstand. With a unique platform approach and a long-term horizon, BCM actively and strategically supports its subsidiaries in achieving long-term profitable growth beyond industry and country boundaries. At the same time, BCM offers a gateway into these non-listed German technology champions, which are otherwise inaccessible to capital market investors. Contact Details For investors: Brockhaus Capital Management - Paul Gohring Head of Investor Relations Phone: +49 69 20 43 40 978 Mobile: +49 151 4616 0724 Fax: +49 69 20 43 40 971 E-Mail: goehring@bcm-ag.com For media: USC - Iris C. Sistemich Phone: +49 221 280 655 10 E-Mail: presse@us-communications.de Disclaimer This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus. This release is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States (including its territories and dependencies, any State of the United States and the District of Columbia). The shares in Brockhaus Capital Management AG (the "Shares") mentioned herein may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an available exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and in compliance with applicable state securities laws. The Shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act and will not be offered or sold in the United States, except on the basis of applicable exemptions from registration. The Company has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940 and investors will not be entitled to the protections of that Act. In the United Kingdom, this communication is and will be only addressed to, and directed at "qualified investors" as defined in the Prospectus Regulation, who are also (i) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within the definition of "investment professionals" in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order"), (ii) high net worth bodies corporate, unincorporated associations and partnerships and trustees of high value trust as described in Article 49(2) of the Order or (iii) other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into the United States or to a US Person or into Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Japan. No public offering of securities is currently planned in any jurisdiction. This release contains forward-looking statements. "Statements contained herein may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of the words "may", "will", "should", "plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate," "believe", "intend", "project", "goal" or "target" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve a number of nown and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Group's or its industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and the Group does not undertake publicly to update or revise any forward-looking statement that may be made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Joint Global Coordinators and Bookrunners are acting exclusively for the Company and no-one else in connection with the planned private placement and listing. It will not regard any other person as their respective clients in relation to the planned private placement and listing and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients, nor for providing advice in relation to the planned private placement and listing, the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein. In connection with the private placement, the Joint Global Coordinators and Bookrunners and its affiliates may take up a portion of the shares offered in the planned private placement as a principal position and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell for their own accounts such shares and other securities of the Company or related investments. In addition the Joint Global Coordinators and Bookrunners and its affiliates may enter into financing arrangements (including swaps or contracts for differences) with investors in connection with which the Joint Global Coordinators and Bookrunners and its affiliates may from time to time acquire, hold or dispose of shares of the Company. The Joint Global Coordinators and Bookrunners do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions, other than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so. None of the Joint Global Coordinators and Bookrunners or any of its directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this release (or whether any information has been omitted from the release) or any other information relating to BCM, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available, or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this release or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. 29.06.2020 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de HE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY IMC TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014, AS AMENDED ("MAR"). ON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE ("RIS"), THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. IMC Exploration Group plc (IMC or the Company) Trinity College Dublin / IMC Exploration Group plc significant developments on Avoca Mine Property IMC Exploration Group plc is pleased to report significant progress on its collaboration with the Raw Materials Group at Trinity College Dublin. Research has focused on: (i) resolving the styles and occurrences of gold in the highly prospective Caledonian terranes across Ireland; and (ii) through detailed petrographic work, characterising the gold-rich Kilmacoo zone at IMC's Avoca Mine property in Co. Wicklow. At Kilmacoo, this work has shown that: Gold is associated with chalcopyrite; Gold is present as discrete recoverable phases of electrum; Gold - copper mineralisation is focused in late veins, which cut across the Avoca massive sulphide sequence. Through the ERAMIN2 Gold Insight Project, researchers at Trinity College Dublin and the Geological Survey of Ireland are tracing this gold - copper association across the region to discover how it relates to copper signatures in East and West Avoca as well as regional copper occurrences at the adjacent Ballard, Moneyteige and Ballycoog deposits. Research work is expanding to include the Connary Zone and West-Avoca. A regional geochemical survey of ironstone occurrences along trend (and within IMC property licences) aims to resolve their relationship with the Avoca mineralisation. IMC Chairman, Eamon O'Brien, said, 'We are pleased with the progress being made and the update thus far. This is a very positive development and demonstrates the valuable scientific and geological work being carried out by our collaborative partners, Trinity College Dublin. We expect this strategic partnership to be expanded in the coming months as we continue to assess the gold resource at Avoca. With the price of gold at an eight-year high, this is good news for IMCs Avoca Gold project. Story continues Eamon P. OBrien, Chairman, 29th June 2020 . This RIS release has been approved by Eur Geol Professor Garth Earls, PGeo, FSEG, who is an independent consulting geologist and a Competent Person as defined in the JORC 2012 reporting code. The Directors of IMC, after due and careful enquiry, accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. REGULATORY ANNOUNCEMENT ENDS. Enquiries : IMC Exploration Group plc Kathryn Byrne: +353 85 233 6033 Keith, Bayley, Rogers & Co. Limited Graham Atthill-Beck: +44 20 7464 4091 / +44 7506 43 41 07 / +971 50 856 9408 Graham.Atthill-Beck@kbrl.co.uk / blackpearladvisers@gmail.com Brinsley Holman: +44 7776 30 22 28 / Brinsley.Holman@kbrl.co.uk Logo of McLaren is seen at a showroom in Opfikon DUBAI (Reuters) - British supercar manufacturer McLaren Group, which includes the Formula One team, has arranged a 150 million pound ($185.2 million) financing facility with the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) , the Gulf bank said on Monday. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the company hard, with sales plunging during a factory shutdown. It announced 1,200 redundancies in May. [nL4N2D82MZ "Final documentation has been signed and all the necessary approvals have been granted in relation to a ... 150 million (pound) financing facility," NBB said in a bourse statement. Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Co is the majority shareholder in McLaren Group, with a 56% stake. Mumtalakat also holds a 44.06% stake in NBB while the government of Bahrain holds a 10.85% stake, Refinitiv data showed. (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; editing by Jason Neely) OSLO (Reuters) - A European monitoring body said on Tuesday it had fined Norwegian telecoms company Telenor 112 million euros for anticompetitive practices. "Telenor abused its market dominance by a pricing strategy that resulted in rivals making a loss when selling residential mobile broadband services on tablets and laptops," the EFTA Surveillance Authority said in a statement. Telenor said it would appeal the decision. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Nerijus Adomaitis) Luxembourg 30 June 2020 - Subsea 7 S.A. (Oslo Brs: SUBC, ADR: SUBCY) today announced the award of a sizeable(1) contract by Aker BP for the Hod Field Development Project, located 12 km from the Valhall area in the southern part of the North Sea. The re-development concept includes a new Wellhead platform (Hod B) tied back to Valhall Field Centre with rigid pipelines and an umbilical. The contract scope includes EPCI for pipelines, umbilicals and tie-ins using key vessels from Subsea 7s modern fleet. The production pipeline is a pipe-in-pipe design and will include the worlds first application of mechanically lined pipe based on GluBi(2) technology from BUTTING. Project management and engineering will commence immediately at Subsea 7s offices in Stavanger, Norway. Fabrication of the pipelines will take place at Subsea 7s spoolbase at Vigra, Norway and offshore operations will take place in 2020 and 2021. Monica Bjrkmann, Vice President for Subsea 7 Norway said: Subsea 7 is very pleased with this award by Aker BP, through the Aker BP Subsea Alliance. It acknowledges Subsea 7 as a key partner in the delivery of pioneering technology, transforming the economics of field development. We look forward to continuing our alliance with Aker BP for the Hod Field Development, with safety, reliability and quality at the forefront throughout. (1) Subsea 7 defines a sizeable contract as being between USD 50 million and USD 150 million. (2) GluBi : A glue-bonded, mechanically lined product, developed by BUTTING, that can be installed by the reel-lay process without using inner pressure or increasing the wall thickness of the corrosion-resistant alloy (CRA) liner, resulting in reduced spooling times and efficient installation. ******************************************************************************* Subsea 7 is a global leader in the delivery of offshore projects and services for the evolving energy industry, creating sustainable value by being the industrys partner and employer of choice in delivering the efficient offshore solutions the world needs. Story continues Subsea 7 is listed on the Oslo Brs (SUBC), ISIN LU0075646355, LEI 222100AIF0CBCY80AH62. ******************************************************************************* Contact for investment community enquiries: Katherine Tonks Investor Relations Director Tel +44 (0)20 8210 5568 katherine.tonks@subsea7.com Contact for media enquiries: Jan Roger Moksnes Communications Manager, Norway Tel +47 415 15 777 janroger.moksnes@subsea7.com www.subsea7.com Forward-Looking Statements: This announcement may contain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the safe harbour provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These statements relate to our current expectations, beliefs, intentions, assumptions or strategies regarding the future and are subject to known and unknown risks that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, future, goal, intend, likely may, plan, project, seek, should, strategy will, and similar expressions. The principal risks which could affect future operations of the Group are described in the Risk Management section of the Groups Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2019. Factors that may cause actual and future results and trends to differ materially from our forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to): (i) our ability to deliver fixed price projects in accordance with client expectations and within the parameters of our bids, and to avoid cost overruns; (ii) our ability to collect receivables, negotiate variation orders and collect the related revenue; (iii) our ability to recover costs on significant projects; (iv) capital expenditure by oil and gas companies, which is affected by fluctuations in the price of, and demand for, crude oil and natural gas; (v) unanticipated delays or cancellation of projects included in our backlog; (vi) competition and price fluctuations in the markets and businesses in which we operate; (vii) the loss of, or deterioration in our relationship with, any significant clients; (viii) the outcome of legal proceedings or governmental inquiries; (ix) uncertainties inherent in operating internationally, including economic, political and social instability, boycotts or embargoes, labour unrest, changes in foreign governmental regulations, corruption and currency fluctuations; (x) the effects of a pandemic or epidemic or a natural disaster; (xi) liability to third parties for the failure of our joint venture partners to fulfil their obligations; (xii) changes in, or our failure to comply with, applicable laws and regulations (including regulatory measures addressing climate change); (xiii) operating hazards, including spills, environmental damage, personal or property damage and business interruptions caused by adverse weather; (xiv) equipment or mechanical failures, which could increase costs, impair revenue and result in penalties for failure to meet project completion requirements; (xv) the timely delivery of vessels on order and the timely completion of ship conversion programmes; (xvi) our ability to keep pace with technological changes and the impact of potential information technology, cyber security or data security breaches; and (xvii) the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting;. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.. Attachment (Getty Images) Tim Hortons says its sales are gradually recovering as the coffee and doughnut chain reopens nearly all of its locations and customers begin returning to restaurants. With 90 per cent of Tim Hortons locations now reopened, comparable sales have improved from down in the mid-40s as of mid-March to in the negative high teens as of last week, according to a letter released Monday by parent company Restaurant Brands International chief executive Jose Cil. The remaining Tim Hortons restaurants that have not reopened are located in malls, food courts, sporting complexes and other public facilities that remain closed. However, the recovery at Tim Hortons lags those of the two other brands Burger King and Popeyes operated by RBI (QSR). Burger Kings comparable sales are flat compared to the same time last year, up from negative mid-30s as of mid-March. Cil cited strong drive-thru demand as a factor that helped boost Burger King sales. Popeyes, meanwhile, continues to thrive amid the pandemic, with comparable sales in the United States up in the high 20s, compared to being flat in mid-March. Duncan Fulton, RBIs chief corporate officer, said the slower pace of recovery at Tim Hortons is due in part to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on breakfast demand, typically an area of strength for the chain. Morning routines have been far more disrupted than lunch and dinner time, Fulton said in an interview. Theres been a continued demand for lunch and dinner, whether or not youre in lockdown or whether you are at the office. But those morning routines dropping in to get your coffee on the way to work, meeting friends on a Saturday and catching up those have been completely disrupted. While the pandemic continues to disrupt regular routines, Tim Hortons has undertaken several initiatives to try to bring-in customers and revenue while its dining rooms a driver of 40 per cent of its sales remained closed. The company has seen delivery demand across its chain grow as more restaurants signed up with third-party delivery services. Before the pandemic, Tim Hortons had approximately 250 restaurants signed up for delivery with Skip the Dishes. As of late May, approximately 1,100 locations across the country were offering delivery through Skip the Dishes and Uber Eats. Story continues Tim Hortons also said it will open 1,000 patios across the country by early July, with the chain providing some funding to franchise owners to make the investment. Mike Hancock, Tim Hortons chief operating officer, said the company saw most demand for patio investments from franchise owners in Ontario. Meanwhile, Canadas Privacy Commissioner has launched an investigation into Tim Hortons mobile app over the use and collection of geolocation data. A spokesperson for the company said it will fully cooperate with the investigation and we are confident well be able to resolve this matter. RBI to address racial diversity In the letter to shareholders, Cil also addressed racial diversity at RBI, which he said was insufficient. Starting immediately, I am making a commitment to ensure at least half of all final-round candidates interviewing for roles with our four RBI offices will be from groups that are demonstrably diverse, including race, Cil wrote. Fulton said the company will also review all aspects of its business when in comes to diversity, including its franchisee base and suppliers. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android and sign up for the Yahoo Finance Canada Weekly Brief. In the past also, the funeral of local as well as foreign militants would attract thousands of mourners in the Valley Anger is brewing in Kashmiri families against the authorities denying the families of slain militants a right to give them what they say decent burial as per Islamic and local traditions. Laikin yeh zulm aur ziyadti hai (This is but cruelty and injustice), nitpicked Farooq Ahmed Langoo whose teenage son Shakoor Farooqui was killed along with two other cadres of Jammu and Kashmir chapter of the Islamic State (ISJK) in a gunfight with security forces in Srinagars Pozwalpora, Zonimar locality on June 21. The police had claimed that Shakoor was involved in the sneak attack carried out by motorbike-borne gunmen in Ahmed Nagar, Pandach area on the peripheries of Srinagar on May 20, leaving two Border Security Force (BSF) jawans Rana Mandal and Zia ul-Haq dead. They said that the SLR rifle snatched from one of the slain BSF men was recovered from the June 21 encounter site. We begged before them and they told us that they will give us the body of my child by 5 pm. They didnt. We told them they may bury it but in front of usat least, two persons from among us should also be allowed to attend the funeral. But they refused, Mr. Ahmed said. His spouse Gulshan Farooq said, They have been unkind to me. Now no other mother should face what I did. The slain militants uncle Muhammad Maqbool too is quite unhappy over the police authorities conduct. He said, We too should have been allowed to fulfill our responsibilityjust oversee how our children are laid to rest. This would have given us some relief but they refused. This is human tragedy and a blunder on their part too. Expressing her dismay, Shakoors aunt Naseema Maqbool said that heavens would not have fallen if he was buried at a cemetery close to his home. We would go there to kiss it or just have a glimpse of it. What else could we do? But by denying us it they have inflicted such a wound on our hearts which will go only on the Day of Judgment. J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh said that the Shakoor and two other militants holed up in a private house were before the start of the combat given the opportunity to surrender. He said Shakoors parents and other family members made appeals to them to lay down their arms through the public address system. When they ignored it, the owner of the house was asked to make one last attempt to persuade the militants to surrender but to no avail. In their stepped-up operations against separatists, the security forces have over the past two weeks killed 27 and, so far, this year 135 militants in the hinterland and a couple of dozen more along the Line of Control. Mr. Singh said, The operations against militants are taking place at regular frequency now. Our forces on ground are strengthening and stabilizing further peace in this region and Im happy over the outcome of these operations. Lately, the security forces are, however, also instead of handing the corpses of the slain militants to their families burying them quietly at far off places. This is for the first time since the outbreak of militancy in J&K in 1989 that the families of local slain militants and even civilians caught in cross fires are being denied the right to give their kin burial. The authorities say that the decision-not to hand over the corpses to the families of the militants-was taken with a view to prevent mourners from attending funerals in large numbers as part of the effort to stem COVID-19. They said that in April a large number of mourners had after ignoring the warning of the local police authorities gathered at the funeral of a slain militant of Jaish-e-Muhammad in Sopore area of Baramulla district, risking their own and others lives. Inspector General of Police, Vijay Kumar said, We will not be handing over the bodies to (militants) families till this pandemic is gone. However, the families of slain militants are quite unhappy and human rights activists too have termed the decision as inhuman and also against international law. This goes against our own laws, not to speak about Geneva Convention or other international laws, which recognize the right of the family members of a person which is killed in conflict to give him a decent burial. If you ask me, denying the families this right is also a human rights violation, said Khurram Pervez, human rights activist and office-bearer of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies. In the past also, the funeral of local as well as foreign militants would attract thousands of mourners in the Valley and each such gathering would be turned into a pro-freedom rally outburst, much to the discomfiture of the government. Former professor of law and international relations at University of Kashmir said that the authorities are using the pandemic as an excuse to evade such embarrassment. IGP Mr. Kumar said that the slain militants are being given burial strictly as per their faith and local customs and before all necessary medico-legal formalities including collection of their DNA samples are conducted. Also, were conducting burial in the presence of magistrates, he said. A wedding planner is fighting to have more Black and queer love stories told in the mainstream wedding industry. Earlier this month, Jordan A. Maney the San Antonio, Texas-based CEO and chief wedding planner at All The Days posted a video to Instagram calling for mainstream publications to showcase more love stories that center Black relationships. STEP UP Wedding Industry! We need more than black boxes we need pledges of anti-racism by your company heads and action plans. You have the resources, you can make the time, she captioned the video. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Maney followed up her video with a petition on Change.org calling for wedding publications and registry sites like Zola, The Knot, Pinterest, Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings and more to not only make a pledge to tell more Black stories, but to also be actively anti-racist and implement action plans to provide better representation. So far, more than 1,100 supporters have signed. The wedding planner tells Yahoo Life that she has gotten such a heartwarming response to her petition, adding that businesses that were not named in the petition have even reached out to her. Small business owners in an industry massively economically impacted by coronavirus are dedicating themselves to learning, hiring and doing better, she says. That reminded me of the beauty of the industry. Seeing companies in the U.K. and New Zealand reaching out surprised me. Seeing companies like Joy App, that I didn't call out, respond so positively surprised me too. I didn't think anyone would really hear me because I was beginning to think my voice didn't matter. But it does and I'm really grateful for the people who took it to heart. Maney explained that she was inspired to create this petition after seeing a report by Splendid Media, a wedding marketing firm, which found that 2020 wedding media represented just 2 percent of non-white couples. Haney's petition calls for wedding publications to feature more Black couples. (Photo: Getty Creative) I didn't understand how businesses with valuations of $600 million and more struggled with representation when they had resources and platforms small businesses like mine do not, she says. I couldn't believe the rush to say they support Black lives when we're dying, but their track record of support for us while living and loving was scarce. Story continues Thats especially true when it comes to Black queer stories, Maney notes. All people want is to be seen and celebrated, she says. For an industry that's predicated on that, we all need to do better, myself included. I think it ultimately comes down to implicit bias in editorial teams and fear of being seen as taking a political stand. But weddings have always been political. People are politics. So shying away from it is a choice majority white, straight, thin, able-bodied teams and brands can make. Maney adds that she would like the wedding industry to become less reactive and more proactive about their hiring practices, evaluating their own biases and being willing to make mistakes in the effort of doing better. So far, of the companies that she named in her petition and Instagram post, only half have responded to communications she has sent them. The narratives we have about who has access to power, wealth and happiness dictate the trajectory of our lives, she says. If you don't see yourself in an industry dedicated to love, you can begin to believe you don't deserve any. I've had people tell me they've had identity crises because their hair texture, body, skin color, gender identity, the totality of who they are doesn't exist in wedding media. That's heartbreaking. If they don't see you, you begin to think you're invisible or you don't matter. We can convince ourselves that weddings are inconsequential, that the industry is froufrou, but it's not true. If you don't believe love is available to you, if you don't believe it's even possible, what kind of choices do you make? What kind of life is that? Read more from Yahoo Life: Want daily lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Lifes newsletter. By Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) - The British are far fatter than any other nation in Europe bar the Maltese so there needs to be a debate about how to tackle soaring rates of obesity which cost the country dearly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday. Johnson, who said at the start of the year that he needed to lose weight, was hospitalised in April with coronavirus and treated in intensive care with oxygen. He later said doctors in the National Health Service (NHS) had saved his life. Asked about how ill he had been in an interview with Times Radio, Johnson said: "I did lose some weight - that is perfectly true - as you do in ICU (Intensive Care Unit)." "I have taken a very libertarian stance on obesity but actually when you look at the numbers, when you look at the pressure on the NHS, compare, I'm afraid this wonderful country of ours to other European countries, we are significantly fatter than most others, apart from the Maltese for some reason. It is an issue." The United Kingdom has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world: nearly one in three adults are obese, according to the OECD. Worldwide, obesity has nearly tripled since 1975 and more than 650 million people are obese - defined by the World Health Organization as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater. "HUGELY COSTLY" Johnson, who in his youth was slender, has ditched takeaways since his illness and even told meetings that its all right for you thinnies when discussing the novel coronavirus, British media reported. "I am not going to pretend I have original thinking about this nor am I going to pretend that it is easy for politicians to solve - everybody knows that this is a tough one," Johnson said. "It's something we all need to address." Asked if he was now an interventionist who would support a sugar tax, Johnson did not give a direct answer. "We certainly must have a care for the health of our population and we will be happier and fitter and more resistant to diseases like COVID if we can tackle obesity," Johnson said. "It is hugely costly for the NHS." Story continues Johnson did some press ups to show he was "as fit as a butcher's dog" in an interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper. Asked if he did the press ups because there was a narrative that he was not fit, he said: "Well I certainly hope not. Well no, yes." "When I came out of hospital I did notice there were occasional pieces in the papers saying I was looking a bit wraithlike, or something someone said," Johnson said. "Complete nonsense I want you to know." "I am feeling very well, yes thank you, again thanks to our National Health Service," he said. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton and Paul Sandle; Writing by Elizabeth Piperand Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Alison Williams) The United States has been excluded from the European Union's list of 14 countries now considered safe for non-essential travel. Residents of the 27 EU member states will be able to travel to any of the 14 countries for leisure or business purposes from tomorrow and will not have to self-isolate on arrival, the EU Council said in a statement. The countries are: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The US, Russia , Brazil and Turkey have not been included because their coronavirus infection rates are deemed worse than the EU average. :: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker They will have to wait another two weeks until the bloc reviews the situation and considers whether they have contained COVID-19 infections. Some US states have gone back into lockdown after cases spiralled in certain areas. China has been provisionally approved by the EU, but Beijing officials would have to agree to welcome European visitors - as reciprocity is a condition of the list. The move is aimed at giving EU tourism a boost, particularly in southern European countries such as Italy that have been hit hardest by the pandemic. However, the list only acts as a recommendation for member states, which means they could still impose their own restrictions on travellers from the "safe" countries. And the bloc's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly among the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors. British tourists can travel to France and Spain without having to quarantine for 14 days at either end of their trip, it was announced last week. Greece was also originally due to be included, but Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis yesterday said UK visitors would have to wait at least another two weeks before they are allowed in. Story continues Greek officials are making visitors from most EU countries undergo tests on arrival, ordering people to self-isolate until they get a negative result. The Czech Republic is not allowing tourists from Portugal and Sweden, with Greece also continuing to ban Swedish visitors. Most non-essential travellers to Britain are currently required to self-isolate when they arrive. Coronavirus misinformation spread by Russian and Chinese journalists is finding a bigger audience on social media in France and Germany than content from the European nations' own premier news outlets, according to new research. Whether it is distorted coverage or outright conspiracy theories, articles written in French and German by foreign state media are resonating widely on Facebook and Twitter, often with their origins unclear, the Oxford Internet Institute said in a report published on Monday. The institute, which is part of Oxford University, looked at content generated by leading media outlets from Russia and China, as well as from Iran and Turkey -- all of which are state-controlled or closely aligned to regimes in power. Its report comes as the US government imposes new restrictions on Chinese state media, and builds on previous research by the institute that laid bare the penetration of such foreign outlets in English-language markets. In their French, German as well as Spanish output, state media groups have "politicised the coronavirus by criticising Western democracies, praising their home countries, and promoting conspiracy theories about the origins of the virus," the institute said. "A majority of the content in these outlets is factually based. But what they have, especially if you look at the Russian outlets, is an agenda to discredit democratic countries," Oxford researcher Jonathan Bright told AFP. "The subtle weave in the overarching narrative is that democracy is on the verge of collapse." The institute looked at output from Russia's RT broadcaster and Sputnik news agency; China Global Television Network (CGTN), China Radio International (CRI) and Xinhua News Agency; plus foreign-language output from Iranian and Turkish networks. It measured median engagement per shared article -- how many times a user actively shares or likes an article on Facebook, or comments about it and retweets it on Twitter. The study covered each outlet's 20 most popular stories from May 18 to June 5. - What's the source? - French-language content from RT scored an average of 528 in user engagement on the two platforms, and 374 for Xinhua, compared to 105 for the newspaper Le Monde. In German, RT articles scored 158 on Facebook and Twitter, against 90 for Der Spiegel. The institute's previous study in April found that in English, heavily politicised news stories from the same state media groups could achieve as much as 10 times the level of user engagement as more sober sources such as the BBC. Bright added: "A significant portion of social media is people consuming content that is directly funded by foreign governments, and it's not very clear to the reader that that's the case." Similar engagement levels showed in Spanish-language content, including from the Iranian state broadcaster's service HispanTV, which the report said shares the Russian outlets' promotion of "anti-US sentiments" for audiences in Latin America. Examples in French and German included heated coverage from the Russian outlets of the "gilets jaunes" protest movement in France, and the COVID-19 and ensuing economic crises in Europe. The report also examined content in German, French and Spanish from Turkey's TRT network, which it said focused more on positive portrayals of the Turkish government's actions against the pandemic. In contrast, it said that Russian, Chinese and Iranian media all promoted baseless theories, including that the US military unleashed the coronavirus, which originated late last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The media organisations in question claim to offer a non-Western perspective on news and deny they are propagandists. In a statement responding to the Oxford report, RT France said it "vigorously contests these allegations" and insisted that it had covered the global pandemic on the same lines as other French media. "That has nothing to do with the accusation of criticising 'Western democracies' or of 'discrediting democratic countries'," it said. In France, President Emmanuel Macron accused RT of spreading "deceitful propaganda" during the 2017 presidential election. In Britain, the Russian network has been fined for breaking rules on media impartiality. Last week, China threatened to retaliate after four more of its media groups were reclassified as "foreign missions" in the United States. The quartet joined CGTN, CRI and Xinhua, which were already designated by Washington as state-sponsored actors, rather than as media. A former police officer who terrorised California as a serial burglar and rapist and went on to kill more than a dozen people while evading capture for decades has pleaded guilty to murders attributed to a criminal dubbed the Golden State Killer. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr had remained almost silent in court since his 2018 arrest until he repeatedly uttered the words guilty and I admit in a hushed and raspy voice as part of a plea agreement that will spare him the death penalty for a life sentence with no chance of parole. DeAngelo, 74, had never publicly acknowledged the killings, but offered a confession of sorts after his arrest that cryptically referred to an inner personality named Jerry who he said forced him to commit the wave of crimes that ended abruptly in 1986. I did all that, DeAngelo said to himself while alone in a police interrogation room after his arrest in April 2018, Sacramento County prosecutor Thien Ho said. I didnt have the strength to push him out, DeAngelo said. He made me. He went with me. It was like in my head, I mean, hes a part of me. I didnt want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I destroyed all their lives. So now Ive got to pay the price. The scope of Joseph DeAngelos crimes is simply staggering, Mr Ho said. Each time he escaped, slipping away silently into the night. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr is wheeled into the courtroom (Rich Pedroncelli/AP) DeAngelo, seated in a wheelchair on a makeshift stage in a university ballroom that could accommodate hundreds of observers a safe distance apart during the coronavirus pandemic, acknowledged he would plead guilty to 13 counts of murder and dozens of rapes that are too old to prosecute. The large room at Sacramento State University was made to look like a state courtroom with the seal of the Sacramento County Superior Court behind the judges chair and US and state flags on the waist-high riser that served as a stage for a proceeding that had a theatre-like feel. Large screens flanked the makeshift stage so spectators in the ballroom could follow the hearing. Story continues Temperatures were taken of everyone in the room and even the judge wore a mask at times when he was not speaking. DeAngelo, who wore orange jail overalls and a plastic face shield to prevent possible spread of the virus, leaned to one side and his mouth appeared agape as prosecutors read graphic details of crimes where he raped and killed and then snacked before leaving. DeAngelo, a Vietnam veteran and a grandfather, had never been on the radar of investigators who spent years trying to track down the culprit. It was not until after the crimes ended that investigators connected a series of assaults in central and northern California to killings in southern California and settled on the umbrella Golden State Killer nickname for the mysterious assailant. Police used DNA from crime scenes to find a distant relative through a popular genealogy website database then built a family tree that eventually led to DeAngelo. They tailed him and secretly collected DNA from his car door and a discarded tissue to get an arrest warrant. The retired truck mechanic was arrested at his home in the Sacramento suburbs the same area he terrorised in the mid-1970s, earning the title East Area Rapist. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr during the hearing in Sacramento Superior Court (Rich Pedroncelli/AP) Prosecutors detailed sadistic acts he committed after slipping into homes undetected and surprising couples in bed by shining a flashlight in their faces and threatening to kill everyone in the house including young children if they did not follow his orders. The masked prowler initially said he only wanted money, then made the women bind their husbands or boyfriends face down in bed with shoelaces, and then he would bind the women. Victims described being prodded with the barrel of a gun or the tip of a knife. He piled dishes on the backs of men and said they would both be killed if he heard the plates crash while he raped the women. At a home in Contra Costa County in autumn 1978, he told a woman he would cut her baby boys ear off if she did not perform oral sex after he had raped her. He stole whatever he could find, sometimes a few bottles of beer and cash, other times diamond rings. He slipped off into the dark on foot or by bicycle and evaded police who at times believed they came close to catching him. DeAngelo started on the police force in the San Joaquin Valley farm town of Exeter in 1973, where he is believed to have committed his first break-ins and killing. After three years he moved back to the Sacramento area, where he got a job with the Auburn Police Department in the Sierra foothills. He held that job until 1979 when he was caught shoplifting dog repellent and a hammer two items that could be of use to a burglar. DeAngelo killed a couple walking their dog in a Sacramento suburb in 1978, but the majority of murders came after he left the police force and moved to southern California. A guilty plea and life sentence avoids a trial and even a planned weeks-long preliminary hearing. Victims will be able to confront DeAngelo at length during an August sentencing expected to last several days. One of the victims of the Glasgow hotel attack has now been discharged from hospital. Police Scotland confirmed that one person attacked at the Park Inn Hotel on Friday has been released from hospital. Badreddin Abadlla Adam, 28, from Sudan, was shot dead by officers after six people including 42-year-old police constable David Whyte were injured in the incident at the hotel on West George Street. The others injured were men aged 17, 18, 20, 38 and 53. Two are staff members at the hotel and three are asylum seekers. Police Scotland said on Tuesday following one of the people injured being released, four victims are in a stable condition in hospital while one is in a critical but stable condition. By Paresh Dave OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's Google upended plans by European media companies to block it from harvesting data about their readers and slash some of its dominance in online advertising, seven people involved in the talks said this month. Publishers had expected to use data privacy measures going into effect Aug. 15 to bar Google from storing insights about readers, sapping the data advantage that has enabled it to dominate a market filled with advertisers hungry for information to target potential customers. But Google said it will cut off publishers from a lucrative flow of ads if they follow through with curbing its data collection. Negotiations continue, but Google holds greater leverage because it dominates in both advertising tools and access to advertisers within the $100 billion annual global banner ads market. "You have to basically implement what (Google) expect from you or you're out of the market - you cant do without them," said Thomas Adhumeau, general counsel at S4M, which competes with Google in software for advertisers. The publishers' strategy and the ongoing discussions have not been previously reported. Google repeatedly has outmaneuvered website owners and its competitors over the last decade to ensure its dominance. In several cases, publishers circumvented Google to attract higher prices for ads, only to see Google reassert itself as an indispensable cog. Rivals and publishers contend some of Google's actions were unlawfully anticompetitive, and authorities in United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Australia this year are considering pursuing penalties, with some even mulling breaking up Google. Media giant News Corp this year publicly complained to Australian regulators about Google gaining an advantage over publishers by harvesting audience data. Other companies said they will complain if Google does cut off some ads in August. Story continues Google describes the online ads industry as competitive and says its policies aim to square European Union privacy law with how its ad tools work. PROTOCOL CHALLENGED The EU's two-year-old General Data Protection Regulation requires companies to get users' permission or have a legitimate reason before handling their data. It prompted the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Europe (IAB), a consortium involving Google along with its clients and partners, to develop a technical protocol known as the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) for ensuring all of them had the appropriate approvals from consumers. IAB Chief Executive Townsend Feehan said that pushed by major publishers, the consortium last year agreed to ask users for two separate permissions previously tied together: one to be shown personalized ads, the other to have their personal data collected in a profile. Some websites and apps planned to omit the second permission. That would starve Google's profile-building, while still allowing those properties to serve up personalized ads from Google's clients. But Google now says consumers must grant both permissions to get personalized ads. "This is contrary to what was agreed" by the consortium, said Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the European Publishers' Council. Chetna Bindra, a senior product manager at Google, said its policy around TCF keeps the status quo. It "doesn't change any of our policies for publishers, including our consent policy, which helps ensure users have transparency into and control over how their data is being collected and used to serve personalized ads," Bindra said. Some Google rivals such as advertiser software maker MediaMath said they may split the data permissions, giving publishers another way to undercut Google. But they still would have to forgo its bountiful ad supply. Media groups Axel Springer of Germany and Schibsted of Norway are among those frustrated with Google's stance. "We are concerned when big players seek to dictate the ways we should process data," said Schibsted Chief Privacy Officer Ingvild Ness. "It's concerning and problematic if we end up in a situation where certain companies become gatekeepers." Google uses software, which millions of partner websites rely on to display ads, to track readers' location, characteristics and the pages and content they consume. These rich profiles allow marketers to target ads to particular users as they browse online. Publishers, no matter how vast their own audiences, have struggled to compete with the breadth of Google's profiles. "When Google harvests that data and enriches their profiles, Google could be seen as bleeding publishers dry one drop at a time," said Adrien Thil, chief privacy officer at Smart, which competes with Google in publisher software. Media companies must share revenue with Google to access the unparalleled number of advertiser clients it attracts with its data. Globally, publishers' share of Google ad revenue has fallen in half to 16% over the last decade, according to a paper released this month by Dina Srinivasan, an antitrust consultant to News Corp. (Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Greg Mitchell and Lisa Shumaker) By Syed Raza Hassan KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A group armed with guns and grenades attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange in the city of Karachi on Monday in a bid to take hostages, killing two guards and a policeman before security forces killed all four attackers, security officials said. Separatist insurgents from the troubled southwestern province of Balochistan claimed responsibility, a senior counter-terrorism official, Raja Umar Khattab, told Reuters. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) had claimed the attack on Twitter but Reuters could not verify the account. Spokesmen for the group were not available. "They had come to carry out an attack inside the building and take hostages inside," the director-general of the Sindh Rangers, a paramilitary force, Omer Ahmed Bukhari, told media, adding all attackers had been killed within eight minutes. The police chief of Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and financial hub, Ghulam Nabi Memon, told Reuters the gunmen attacked with grenades and guns after pulling up in a silver Corolla car. Two guards and a policeman were killed and seven people were wounded, Deputy Inspector General of Police Sharjil Kharal told media. A counter-terrorism official told Reuters the attackers were carrying significant quantities of ammunition and grenades in backpacks. "We locked ourselves in our offices," said Asad Javed, who works at a brokerage in the stock exchange building, which is in a high-security zone that also houses the head offices of several banks. Javed said he heard gunfire and an explosion and people scattered for safety. Bukhari said the attack could not have been carried out without the support of "hostile intelligence agencies" and India's Research and Analysis Wing was one of the primary suspects. "But at the moment we have to collect evidence to establish the supporters." An aide to Pakistan's prime minister on national security matters, Moeed Yusuf, and the country's foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, both said the attack was sponsored by hostile foreign elements. Story continues Nuclear-armed foes India and Pakistan often accuse each other of being behind cross-border attacks. Pakistan has regularly blamed India for supporting Baloch separatists. Delhi rejected the charge, which external affairs spokesman Anurag Srivastava said was an attempt by Pakistan to blame India for domestic problems. "Unlike Pakistan, India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world, including in Karachi." The BLA claimed responsibility in a brief message on a Twitter account set up shortly before the raid, describing it as a "self-sacrificing" attack by its Majeed brigade. The account was suspended shortly after the attack. Separatists have been fighting for years in Balochistan, complaining its gas and mineral wealth is unfairly exploited by Pakistan's richer, more powerful provinces. The Majeed brigade also took responsibility for an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018. Several projects linked to China's Belt and Road initiative are in Balochistan. This month, three explosions on the same day claimed by a little-known separatist group killed four people including two soldiers in the southern province of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital. The Pakistan Stock Exchange did not suspend trading during Monday's attack. Its main KSE-100 index dropped 220 points briefly but later recovered and closed the day 242 points (0.7%) higher. Islamist militants have also launched attacks in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan over the years but their violence has become less frequent after military operations against various factions in strongholds on the Afghan border. (Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan in Karachi; Additional reporting by Umar Farooq in Istanbul and Sanjeev Miglani in New Delhi; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Robert Birsel, Nick Macfie and Giles Elgood) (Reuters) - Iran's appeals court has confirmed a five-year prison sentence for Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah on security charges, the judiciary's official Mizan news agency reported on Tuesday. Adelkhah was sentenced in May to a total of six years in prison. She denied the charges and her lawyer said at the time that she would appeal against the sentence. An Iranian judiciary spokesman said the charges involved "gathering and collusion towards taking action against the security of the country". French authorities have called the charges baseless and earlier this month demanded that Adelkhah be released immediately, saying her detention was harming trust between the two countries. "The appeals court has upheld Adelkhah's five-year jail sentence," Mizan quoted Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili as saying. "Of course she has another sentence which is one-and-half years but considering the time she has been in jail, she will only serve five years in total." Iran does not recognise dual nationality and has rejected France's calls to free the 60-year-old anthropologist detained since June 2019, saying the case is an Iranian domestic legal matter. "We condemn this decision by the Iranian authorities, who persist in detaining Fariba Adelkhah despite the absence of serious evidence or fact, with an exclusively political objective," French Foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll told reporters in an online briefing. "We remain determined to secure the release of our compatriot." (Writing and reporting by Parisa Hafezi with Additional reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva and John Irish in Paris; Editing by Alison Williams and Mark Heinrich) Israel's aim to annex parts of the occupied West Bank is clearly "illegal", the UN's human rights chief said on Monday, warning that the consequences could be "disastrous". In a move condemned by Israel, Michelle Bachelet added her voice to the chorus urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to drop a proposal to annex its West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley. "Annexation is illegal. Period," the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. "Any annexation. Whether it is 30 percent of the West Bank, or five percent," she said. She urged Israel to "listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path." International condemnation of the possible Israeli annexations has mounted ahead of July 1, when the Jewish state could take its first steps toward implementing part of a US-proposed Middle East peace plan. US President Donald Trump's proposals, rejected outright by the Palestinians, pave the way for annexing key parts of the West Bank, including settlements long considered illegal by the majority of the international community. - 'One-sided' - Bachelet urged Israel to shift course, warning that "the shockwaves of annexation will last for decades, and will be extremely damaging to Israel, as well as to the Palestinians". Israel's foreign ministry reacted angrily to the statement, noting that it was "not the first time" that Bachelet "has politicised her office against Israel, in a one-sided manner. "For a while now, Israel has lost any faith in (her) abilities to promote human rights in our region in a fair manner," a spokesperson said, recalling that Israel had frozen its ties with Bachelet in February. The UN rights chief meanwhile stressed that there was still time to reverse the annexation plans. The precise consequence of the move were difficult to predict, she said. "But they are likely to be disastrous for the Palestinians, for Israel itself, and for the wider region." The UN rights chief warned that "any attempt to annex any part of the occupied Palestinian territory will not only seriously damage efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region, it is likely to entrench, perpetuate and further heighten serious human rights violations that have characterised the conflict for decades". Her statement cautioned that such a move would almost certainly lead to increased restrictions on Palestinians' right to freedom of movement, as their population centres would become enclaves. In addition, significant tracts of private land would likely be illegally expropriated, and even in cases where this does not occur, many Palestinians could lose access to cultivate their own lands. And Palestinians who found themselves living inside the annexed areas would likely experience greater difficulty accessing essential services like healthcare and education, while humanitarian access could also be blocked. - 'Highly combustible mix' - Bachelet's office warned that Palestinians inside the annexed area would come under heavy pressure to move out, pointing out that entire communities currently not recognised under Israeli planning would be at high risk of "forcible transfer". And settlements, which are already recognised as a clear violation of international law, would almost certainly expand. "This is a highly combustible mix," Bachelet said. The UN rights chief stressed that illegal annexation would not change Israel's obligations under international law as an occupying power towards the occupied population. "Instead, it will grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution, undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations, and perpetuate the serious existing human rights and international humanitarian law violations we witness today." Satellite imagery confirms that the tent our men died trying to remove has now become a series of Chinese structures on our side Even the critics of Narendra Modi and his party have been taken aback by his position on Chinas intrusions. Of all the things that he has advertised himself, even Modi haters had accepted that he was a nationalist, whether or not they agreed with nationalism or the kind of ultra-nationalism that he promotes. But nobody expected him to run away from an invasion of Bharat Mata, as he has done. Modi made only one public statement on the issue of China and that was to say: Na koi wahan hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai, na hi hamari koi post kisi dusre ke kabze mein hain. This was used by China to claim control over all of the Galwan Valley, where it has intruded. The PM's words have become such an embarrassment that they were removed from the official PMO video. Modi hasnt spoken on the issue after this and seems to pretend that there is no intrusion. Satellite imagery confirms that the tent our men died trying to remove has now become a series of Chinese structures on our side. Reports, which havent been denied by the government, claim China has made a fourth intrusion at Depsang, where it is 18 km inside India. Our response is so muted as to be shocking. Everyone in the government seems to be worried, and there was a long statement from the External Affairs ministry and an interview with the Indian ambassador in Beijing asking China to respect the Line of Actual Control. But at the same time nobody is saying China has intruded, because they fear contradicting Modi. The defence ministry has said anonymously to reporters that the Army has been given a free hand. But that doesnt mean anything. The Army cannot decide whether or not we are at war with China. This is a political decision. It is the PM who must decide that India will use force to kick the Chinese out, like Nehru decided, and only after that does the military come into the picture. Saying that the forces have a free hand in this situation is an abdication of duty and responsibility and passing off political accountability to the armed forces. The government is treating this as a localised policing issue, but clearly the intent of the Chinese is strategic. India is facing danger, but the government is not prepared or willing to acknowledge it. Because we are speaking in so many different voices, we have lost the opportunity to mobilise international support on Chinas aggression. If we had been transparent about the aggression, we could have put Xi Jinping on the backfoot. Instead, what has happened is that China has publicly used Modis statement about no intrusion and not only blamed India for the standoff but expanded its claim over our land. Narendra Modis very vocal backers have gone silent on this because even they have been taken aback by the incompetence with which this is being handled. And to go back to where we started, on an issue on which nobody thought Modi would be soft. After all the brave words from him when the UPA was in power with respect to Chinas temporary intrusions, to have him waffle and dissemble when they are making the intrusion permanent is unexpected. What does that say about his nationalism? We can call it pseudo-nationalism. It is fake. The dictionary defines nationalism as a patriotic feeling, and extreme devotion to ones nation. It is an ideology that promotes sovereignty and resists foreign influence. What we are seeing unfolding in Ladakh is the opposite of that. It is pseudo-nationalism of the sort that only talks big and attacks its own citizens while cowering in the presence of the foreign bully. It is surprising to me that being as politically smart as he is, Modi does not grasp the value of resistance here. It does not matter if we are a poorer, smaller and less powerful nation than China. We cannot be pushed around without resistance as is now happening. The bully wants the victim to not look him in the eye. It makes pushing them around easier. Modi must realise the value of our unity at this time. Even those who do not like him (Modi haters) will rally to his call if he says that the countrys sovereignty is being threatened by Chinas aggressive intrusions. The other political fights that we have in our democracy will be put aside and can wait till we see off this immediate and external threat. Rallying and bringing us together is the responsibility of the government and of the Prime Minister. He has chosen instead to side with the opponent and agree that there is no aggression. Whatever else we can call his behaviour at this crucial time it cannot be called nationalism. The propellers of Ivory Coast's national carrier are once again in motion as the airline returned to runways following a government bailout. While several struggling carriers have collapsed under the weight of a world in lockdown and aviation giants have seen record losses, Air Cote d'Ivoire has resumed domestic flights following a three month suspension. They've been able to take to the skies again, says CEO Rene Decurey, because of a 24 million U.S. dollar bailout from the government. "We had grounded planes with no revenue, but we still had fixed charges like the hiring of planes which we had to keep paying for. We had to continue paying the personnel [...] So we contacted the state, we calculated all our fixed costs for the three-month period which had been foreseen until the end of the month of June, and the state was favorable and supported us." Boarding and preparations are more complicated than before with, among other measures, passengers getting their temperatures taken before boarding, crews wearing masks and gloves and planes being disinfected before boarding and after arrival. But passengers doing business in Ivory Coast expressed relief. Etienne Kouadio was on the first flight since lockdown. "I am really pleased that the flights have resumed because we - our company and our country - needs it." International flights are expected to resume on July 1 and Decurey said he hopes Africa's greater reliance on air travel will help his business recoup losses faster than in other parts of the world. Air Cote d'Ivoire, which carried 750,000 passengers last year, was intending to get into the long haul business, but those plans have now been shelved. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for a "strong" and "efficient" coronavirus recovery fund for the European Union, urging a deal to be sealed next month. The two leaders met for talks at the German government retreat in Meseberg, days before Germany takes on the rotating presidency of the bloc with an economy mired in the worst crisis since World War II. Berlin's chairing of the 27-member bloc will be the last with Merkel in charge, and could be the one that defines the legacy of the leader dubbed the "eternal chancellor". With the future of the bloc's relationship with Britain still to be determined, a shift to a lower-carbon world in the balance and deteriorating US-China ties all jostling for attention, there is no shortage of issues to tackle. But it is the coronavirus pandemic and the economic devastation it has wrought that will concentrate minds. At talks at the German government retreat in Meseberg, both leaders made a push for 750-billion euro recovery fund proposed by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The Franco-German pair had sketched out the backbone of the fund but it has run into opposition from so-called "frugal nations" like the Netherlands and Austria. Hard-hit southern European countries such as Italy and Spain have called on the EU to loosen its purse strings in the response to the crisis. "We hope we'll find a deal (in July), even if the road is still long," said Merkel. "What is important for me is that we come out of the debate with a strong instrument. There will of course be changes that must be discussed. But it must remain a fund that... really helps countries that are hardest hit by the crisis." Macron had blunt words for the hold-out nations, warning that it would "not be in their interest to see certain members -- in particular, members of economic significance in the European economy -- affected" by a scuppered deal. "So it's solidarity to have this transfer but also it is in their own interests." - German 'bulldozer' - Germany takes on custodianship of the bloc with a strong hand as it has withstood the health emergency better than most other member states. Once an obstinate champion of budgetary rigour, Merkel's government has ditched its no-new-debt dogma to throw resources at the crisis. Its programme to shore up the German economy totals more than one trillion euros in spending, loans and guarantees. Together with Macron, Merkel last month proposed a massive recovery fund to jumpstart the bloc's economy. The fund would offer grants with no repayment obligation to countries hardest hit by the pandemic, a major policy U-turn for Berlin. With an eye on the devastating blow taken by Spain or Italy, Merkel had said that it was "imperative that Germany not only thinks of itself but is prepared for an extraordinary act of solidarity". On Monday, she noted that perhaps sceptical nations could be placated as long as beneficiary nations took action at home to improve their economy. "What is very important for many that are still sceptical is the wish that we all come out of the crisis strong," she said. "That means that the work with a financial plan for Europe and a recovery fund alone won't be enough, but that everyone looks at home how they make themselves resistant for the future." - 'Swan song' - Observers have said that they believe Berlin will ram through an accord. An EU diplomat agreed, saying: "On the recovery fund, I expect Germany to dictate the whole process. Merkel is holding all the cards and (EU Council chief) Charles Michel will follow that. "She also wants to get Brexit out of the way and she will always go for the deal as she wants to keep the West together. The third leg will be restoring ties with US after the election there." Merkel, who has ruled out running for a fifth term next year, will not have much time. Brexit talks will have to be done by the year's end, and in November the focus will be on whether US President Donald Trump wins reelection. What is clear is that Merkel's fingerprints will be all over the EU's roadmap. "This will be a very Merkel presidency, her swan song," said the EU diplomat, adding that she would be using it "to craft her legacy". A worker sat on a platform that dangled beneath a flying helicopter as they performed maintenance on a power line, in Richardton, North Dakota. Erin Sio filmed a video on May 25 which shows a person putting small round objects on the power line from a dizzying height. While working, the worker waves at the recorder, the video goes on to show. I have never seen this before, Sio told Storyful. A local power company released a photo that showed a helicopter being used to maintain a power line in a similar way. It appears that the worker in the video was placing bird diverters on the power line. Credit: Erin Sio via Storyful A pair of Nigerian Igbo statues that were allegedly looted during Nigeria's Biafra War in the 1960s were sold in Paris at auction on Monday to the tune of 212,500 euros in the latest case where antiquities stolen from their origin sell for high profit in the West. Princeton scholar and art historian Chika Okeke-Agulu argues that the two statues were taken through an act of violence and should not have been for sale. Okeke-Agulu is an Igbo, one of the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. Christies auction house, who sold the pieces, admitted that there are nuanced and complex debates around cultural property, but added that by officially selling pieces like these can prevent art sales on the black market. These objects are being lawfully sold having been publicly exhibited and previously sold over the last decades prior to Christies involvement, the auctioneers said in a statement to The Associated Press. Nigeria does not agree After Okeke-Agulu called on Christies not to sell the pieces, an online petition started circulating appealing for the auction not to take place with hashtags #BlackArtsMatter and #MyHeritageMatters that garnered 3,000 signatures. According to the petition, as the world awakens to the reality of systemic racial injustice and inequality, thanks to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, we must not forget that it is not just the Black body, but also Black culture, identity and especially art that is being misappropriated. An adviser to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments of Nigeria had contacted Christies on 17 June to ask for the sale to be suspended until the items could be further investigated. We are shocked the sales went on, legal adviser Babatunde E. Adebiyi told AP. It represents a major setback in our effort to get our antiquities from abroad, he added. France has long-resisted calls to not sell sacred objects, and auction houses have regularly been backed in French courts, even when rights groups enter the fray. Tribal representatives contesting Native American Hopi tribal masks were dismissed in Paris, and the auction went forward. France has a long-standing tradition of selling tribal and sacred artifacts connected to its colonial past. Sky News The UK could open up "sooner rather than later" thanks to the huge numbers of people being vaccinated - and the country is not experiencing a third wave of infections, a vaccine expert has told Sky News. Brendan Wren, professor of vaccinology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that having more than 81% of the adult population with a first coronavirus jab, and 59% with both doses is "very encouraging". Professor Calum Semple, member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), which advises the government, has said that children and elderly people will be vulnerable to endemic viruses at the end of the year. (Reuters) - Seattle police said they were investigating a reported shooting inside the Capital Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone in what would be the second such incident there in the past 48 hours. In the earlier shooting, a teenager was killed and another person wounded on Saturday in the part of the city occupied by activists protesting against police brutality and racial inequality across the United States. "Police investigating reported shooting inside CHOP zone. One person at HMC (Harborview Medical Center) with gunshot wound," the police department in the city in the Pacific coast state of Washington said in a tweet https://bit.ly/317iIwO. "Hearing reports of a second shooting, but have not be able to verify at this time," it said, adding that further updates would be issued later. A Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman said a person was being treated at HMC for a bullet wound attained around the protest zone. Anti-racism protests and demonstrations against police brutality have spread across the country since the death of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while detaining him in Minneapolis on May 25. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Heinrich) By Michelle Nichols NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to extend an arms embargo on Iran before it expires in October, prompting Russia to slam Washington's policy toward Tehran as like "putting a knee" to the country's neck. The United States has circulated a draft resolution to the 15-member council that would indefinitely extend the arms embargo on Tehran, but council veto-powers Russia and China have already signaled their opposition to the move. "Don't just take it from the United States, listen to countries in the region. From Israel to the Gulf, countries in the Middle East who are most exposed to Iran's predations are speaking with one voice: Extend the arms embargo," Pompeo told a virtual Security Council meeting. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has long argued that the arms embargo on Iran should not be lifted. The arms embargo is set to end in mid-October under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with Britain, Germany, France, China, Russia and the administration of Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama. Since Trump took office in 2017, his administration has quit the nuclear deal and steadily ramped up sanctions on Iran in what Washington describes as a maximum-pressure approach. Addressing the council, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia described the policy as "a maximum suffocation policy." "The task is to achieve regime change or create a situation where Iran literally wouldn't be able to breath. This is like putting a knee to one's neck," he said in a veiled reference to the death of a Black man in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck. The death of George Floyd sparked protests across the United States and around the world. 'LAW OF THE JUNGLE' The Security Council was meeting on Tuesday to discuss a report by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that determined that cruise missiles used in several attacks on oil facilities and an international airport in Saudi Arabia last year were of "Iranian origin." Story continues Saudi Arabia's U.N. Ambassador Abdullah Al Mouallimi said Russia and China had been "sympathetic" to Riyadh's situation, but when it came to the proposal to extend the arms embargo on Iran they "presumably had scores to settle with the United States." "We're trying to separate the two issues in our discussions with them, which ... are open, are friendly discussions, are based on the good relations that we enjoy with both countries," he told a news conference later on Tuesday. If Washington is unsuccessful in extending the arms embargo, it has threatened to trigger at the Security Council a return of all U.N. sanctions on Iran under the nuclear deal, even though it left the accord in 2018. Diplomats say Washington would face a tough, messy battle. Iran has breached parts of the nuclear deal in response to the U.S. withdrawal and Washington's reimposition of sanctions. U.N. political affairs and peacebuilding chief Rosemary DiCarlo said the nuclear deal was crucial to regional and international security, adding: "It is therefore regrettable that the future of this agreement is in doubt." Britain, France and Germany all expressed concern to the council that lifting the arms embargo on Iran would have major implications for regional security and stability. However, they also said they would not back U.S. efforts to unilaterally trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Iran. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said: "The international community in general and the U.N. Security Council in particular are facing an important decision: Do we maintain respect for the rule of law, or do we return to the law of the jungle by surrendering to the whims of an outlaw bully?" (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Jonathan Oatis) By Abdul Qadir Sediqi KABUL (Reuters) - The head of the Taliban's political office in Doha and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a video conference to discuss the Afghan peace process, the Islamist group and the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday, in a bid to remove hurdles in the path to peace talks. Increasing violence and a contentious prisoner swap between the Afghan government and the Taliban have delayed talks that were to have begun in March between the insurgent group and a team mandated by Kabul. On Twitter, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Monday's talks between the official, Mullah Baradar, and Pompeo discussed full implementation of the Doha accord and the withdrawal of foreign troops, as well as the release of prisoners, intra-Afghan talks and a reduction in fighting. The Doha agreement, signed between the United States and Taliban in February, drew up plans for a withdrawal of foreign forces from the war-torn country in exchange for security guarantees from the insurgent group. "Baradar once again reiterated that the Taliban are committed not to let anyone use Afghan soil (to launch attacks) against any country," Shaheen said. Pompeo acknowledged the insurgent group had "lowered the war graph by not attacking cities and major military bases" but said more needed to be done by all parties, the spokesman added. "The Secretary made clear the expectation for the Taliban to live up to their commitments, which include not attacking Americans," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. The Baradar-Pompeo conference came amidst U.S. media reports that American intelligence had briefed President Donald Trump about Taliban-linked fighters collecting bounties from Russia to attack foreign troops in Afghanistan. The White House has said Trump did not receive a personal briefing on the issue but has yet to squarely address whether he had received a written briefing, whether he had read it, and why he had not responded more aggressively if he had. Story continues Shaheen said Baradar told Pompeo the delay in talks was because the Afghan government did not release the agreed number of prisoners. Kabul and some foreign countries have raised concerns about the release of about 200 prisoners they say are involved in major attacks in Afghanistan. Since the Doha pact, Taliban fighters have launched 44 attacks and killed or wounded an average of 24 civilians each day, Javid Faisal, the spokesman for the Afghan national security adviser, said on Tuesday. Baradar told Pompeo the increased attacks were because of provocation by the government in areas under Taliban control, Shaheen added. (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington and Orooj Hakimi in Kabul; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Jonathan Oatis) FILE PHOTO: Empty chairs are seen on a beach which is usually full of tourists, amid fear of coronavirus in Phuket BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand is expected to see at most 8 million foreign tourists this year, down 80% from a year earlier, as the coronavirus pandemic curbs global travel, a tourism body said on Tuesday. The sector is expected to recover in 2021, Chairat Triratanajaraspon, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, an industry group, told reporters. Last year, Thailand attracted a record 39.8 million foreign tourists, whose spending accounted for about 11% of Thai GDP. Earlier this week, Bangkok lifted the ban on international flights, but only for passengers that meet certain requirements. The tourism council urged the government to sign travel agreements with other countries that have contained coronavirus outbreaks, like China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. Thailand on Tuesday marked 36 days without a case of local transmission. "The opening only accounts for 5% of inbound travel and the rest are tourists. In the third quarter, if there are no new measures, it will be zero," said the tourism council's vice president, Wichit Prakobkosol. He added that 1.6 trillion baht ($51.78 billion) of revenues could be wiped out this year. The government is looking to boost the industry with domestic tourism, targeting 80 to 100 million trips, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn told a separate briefing. There were 166.84 million domestic trips last year, government data shows. Thailand previously approved a $722 million stimulus to boost domestic travel to cushion the industry. The support for domestic travel will be rolled out in mid-July, he said. The first group of foreign arrivals from "travel bubble" arrangements could arrive in one to two months, TAT deputy governor Chutchant Kunchorn Na Ayutthaya said, without naming any countries. The TAT is targeting 10 to 12 million foreign arrivals this year. ($1 = 30.9000 baht) (Reporting by Satawasin Staporncharnchai and Chayut Setboonsarng; Writing by Orathai Sriring; Editing by Ed Davies and Catherine Evans) In 2020, a military confrontation may not materialise, but the Chinese have evidently prepared for one over a long period There is a fundamental similarity between the border situation with China under Prime Minister Narendra Modi now, and the one during the tenure of the countrys first leader, Jawaharlal Nehru, leading eventually to the month-long clash in 1962 in which Indian forces were routed, though they showed determination in icy conditions, and rare courage. But there is also a major fundamental difference that highlights leadership qualities in one case and not the other, that privileges the idea of not shirking the responsibility of advancing the countrys claims even in the face of a military reverse, as Nehru showed. For China, this never ceased to be a matter of anxiety, despite its formidable military capability. Here is the principal similarity between then and now. In 1962, in the western (Ladakh) sector and the eastern (NEFA) sector, China presented a vast array of forces and an assemblage of armaments long before battle was joined, taking us by surprise. In 2020, a military confrontation may not materialise, but the Chinese have evidently prepared for one over a long period, catching the Indian side wholly unawares. Unlike 60 years ago we now have satellite imagery, enough fighting forces on the ground, and infrastructure and logistics right up to the Line of Actual Control, in addition to functioning airfields and suitable aircraft all across the Chinese front. But none of this removed the factor of surprise. In sum, despite the continual and rapid buildup of our preparedness, especially over the last 15 years, we were not prepared. We were found wanting when the crunch came. We were presented with a fait accompli, with Chinas Peoples Liberation Army crossing our front yard and knocking on our door in the Galwan Valley, the north bank of Pangong Lake, and apparently yet again in Depsang, from where we had compelled them to vacate in 2013. These locations of Chinese penetration prejudice our security inordinately and in a deeply disturbing way in that, if the PLA were to have its way, our base at Daultat Beg Oldie, practically the northeastern-most tip of the former J&K state (now in Ladakh UT) still under our jurisdiction, can be cut off and be severely compromised. This base affords us the geographical lookout to the Karakoram Pass to the east, and to the west to Gilgit (through which Chinas vital road to Gwadar port crosses) and is in close proximity to the Siachen Glacier. A key factor that lends great strategic value to this area is that it is one region where the military forces of China can physically unite with Pakistans against India. Although the facts arent entirely clear due to the government keeping a tight lid on them, it is hard to believe reporting on Chinas military buildup in Ladakh (and elsewhere) by our intelligence and military system will have failed in its entirety -- to such a degree that the higher military command and political masters in Delhi wont get a whiff of it (as evidently happened in the case of Kargil, when the Pakistanis penetrated fairly deep without New Delhi knowing). To effectively prepare for the worst case scenario, and to maximise our state of security readiness, its critical to keep asking the right questions and task independent experts without losing time to present a report to Parliament within a tight timeframe, in weeks, not months, since time is of the essence as there is a long summer ahead, which may be ideal to initiate hostilities from the Chinese end, or conceivably our own. In case of a confrontation with a foreign power, the country will stand four square behind our armed forces and the government, but to give confidence to the country the government must give the people transparency which does not mean disclosing operational secrets. Prime Minister Modi can take a leaf out of Prime Minister Nehrus book in this regard, and in stating this countrys position upfront, as Nehru did in his continual communication with Chinese PM Zhou Enlai before, during and after Chinas invasion across our frontier in 1962. Now it is quite apparent that Mr Modi failed to broach the border question with Chinese President Xi Jinping in any substantive fashion in his numerous meetings with Mr Xi. The two so-called informal summits (Wuhan and Mamallapuram), after the 2017 Doklam crisis, had been proposed by the Indian side but evidently turned out to be wasted opportunities. As a country, we need to know what their purpose was, besides being photo-ops to build the two leaders image. In spectacular contrast -- and this is the real difference between 1962 and now -- Nehru maintained strategic communication, detailing points of Indias core security interests, not only with the adversary but also with the people of India. He came under sharp criticism by leading political figures, including in his own Congress Party, and yet held a week-long session of Parliament while the disastrous military conflict in the Himalayas was still on. More than 150 MPs participated in the debate. Nehru presented white papers to Parliament in this period on Indias and Chinas actions, and on November 14 a resolution was passed, reaffirming Indias claim to Aksai Chin. Nehru accepted the Colombo Proposals of early 1963 -- for the two armies to withdraw 20 km and to fill the gap with civilians (police) -- only after Indias position on territory was lodged with China yet again. In his June 19 meeting with the Opposition parties, Mr Modi stated --whether he knowingly dissembled or not is not clear -- that Chinese forces had not entered the Indian side. He was not upfront with the country. Beijing took advantage of his statement and immediately made an official claim to the Galwan Valley. It must be clearly understood by the country -- not just the government --that the 1962 debacle was due to a severe troops shortage, with the Indians being outmanned one to five, a serious equipment shortage, and absence of supply lines in the high mountainous terrain. These do not hold good now. FILE PHOTO: The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Bangkok BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will allow pubs and bars to re-open on Wednesday and plans to let in some foreign travellers after recording five weeks without any community transmission of the coronavirus, a government official said. Pubs, bars and karaoke venues will be able to operate until midnight as long as they follow safety guidelines such as ensuring two metre (6.6 ft) spaces between tables. "Alcohol consumption could reduce discipline so there will be close monitoring before customers enter venues," Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the governments Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, told a briefing on Monday. Foreigners with work permits, residency and families in Thailand will also be able to enter the country, but will be subject to a 14-day quarantine. Taweesin said foreigners seeking certain types of medical treatment such as some cosmetic surgery or fertility treatment could also be allowed into the country. Business visitors from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and Hong Kong could also be exempted from a two-week quarantine period under a fast track entry if they have certificates to show they were free from COVID-19 and were tested upon arrival. Thailand's aviation regulator said later on Monday it would allow international flights from July 1 carrying passengers who met the government's conditions. The ban was first introduced in April. The government's coronavirus task force will recommend the extension of the emergency decree until the end of July for cabinet's approval on Tuesday. Thailand has so far reported 3,169 COVID-19 infections, including 58 deaths, while 3,053 patients have recovered. But the country has gone 35 days without community transmission and new cases have been among Thais returning from abroad and detected during quarantine. (Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Martin Petty and Gareth Jones) DUBAI (Reuters) - Employees of the United Arab Emirates federal government will return their work sites from July 5, while implementing social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the UAE official news agency WAM said on Monday. Only employees suffering chronic disease are exempted from the decision to return to on-site working, it added on Twitter, citing the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Alex Richardson) The United Nations Security Council has renewed the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, for a further twelve months. The seven-year operation has been beefed up and given extra powers, despite a divergence between the United States and France over the missions effectiveness. UN Security Council members on Monday voted unanimously to extend the mandate of MINUSMA, the organisation's peacekeeping mission to Mali, until 30 June 2021. The number of personnel will be increased to 13,289 soldiers and 1,920 police officers. The missions budget has also been boosted to 1.2 billion dollars, making MINUSMA - the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali - the third most expensive peacekeeping operation in the world. It is also one of the most dangerous, and many observers agree that the extra resources are vitally necessary. "The news is better than I expected," says Alexandra Lamarche, Senior Advocate for West and Central Africa at the non-profit organisation Refugees International. "Now they have an expanded mandate plus resources," she tells RFI. Fear of cuts It is a very different situation from last year when the mission mandate was renewed. "Last year, the operation was given a new strategic priority to protect civilians, but no money. "I was extremely worried following a statement from the US in January saying 'if you dont improve your work we will call for cuts'," Lamarche comments. The Trump administration, which is keen to spend less on UN missions in Africa to free up more money for the US military, has repeatedly questioned the efficacy of MINUSMA in tackling ongoing violence in the west African nation. There were fears that MINUSMAs effectiveness would be hampered further after 73 of its members contracted the coronavirus in May. "A lot of its funding went to support the health ministry with its response, spreading the personnel even thinner," says Lamarche. Story continues She hopes that the new mandate, which offers "more money and less talk of decreasing at a time where violence is skyrocketing," will enable MINUSMA to do its job of protecting civilians. Central Mali violence That is what the operation has been trying to do in the centre of the country, where violence so far this year has killed nearly 600 civilians. The violence has been blamed on tensions between Dogon farmers and Fulani herders, which has increased since a militant uprising in the north of the country in 2012, which triggered Malis crisis. "Every day there is a tragedy in the centre of the country due to attacks by the Dogon self-defence group, Dan Na Ambassagou, and reprisals from the Peulh community," says Leslie Varenne, director of French research institute IVERIS, referring to the Malian name of the Fulani herdsmen. Some experts accuse armed groups such as Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an offshoot of al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Greater Sahara, an ISIS affiliate, of inflaming tensions between the two ethnic groups. "There are more civilians killed by intercommunal violence than by terrorist groups," Varenne tells RFI, denouncing the often heavy-handed response of the Malian military. Last Saturday, the office for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights documented "230 extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions" attributed to the Malian military in the central regions of Mopti and Segou. This week's UN proposal calls for a return of stability and government control in central Mali and will for the first time measure MINUSMAs progress in this arid zone. G5 Support For the first time too, MINUSMA will provide support to the G5 Sahel Joint force, notably through the appointment of its former Africa bureau chief, Bruno Mpondo-Epo, as special adviser to the UNs special representative to Mali, Mahamat Saleh Annadif. "I think its an attempt to better coordinate efforts," reckons Varenne. Currently, there are several military operations in the Sahel, including Frances 5,000-strong Operation Barkhane, the G5 force, comprising troops from neighbouring Sahel countries, a European Union training mission known as Takuba, due to be set up in 2021, and the MINUSMA operation. "MINUSMA's new political mandate can be seen as a compromise between the US and France," Leslie Varenne explains. "The United States were incredibly skittish about spending any more money," she says. "The fact that theyve accepted a bigger budget and agreed to enlarge the missions mandate suggests that they must have received guarantees in return." The renewal does commit to presenting a "possible exit strategy" for the mission by March 2021, but Varenne reckons the Americans may have obtained more during negotiations. "The Americans have been lobbying for their candidate David Gressly to take over MINUSMA from Chadian boss Mahamat Saleh Annadif," she says. Gressly is the current head of the UN peacekeeping force in the DR Congo. "If they succeed, the Americans wont mind that MINUSMA takes on a bigger political role if that role is in their hands." Building trust Whatever role MINUSMA plays, the challenges facing the mission are enormous. Since its launch in 2013, the operation has witnessed the Malian state teeter over the edge, an instability compounded by recent anti-government protests and rising resentment against the presence of foreign troops. "Unfortunately, a lot of the peacekeeping troops that we see being deployed in Mali don't speak the local language, many don't even speak French," says Lamarche of Refugees International. "So, building trust is very difficult," and that can hamper efforts to obtain credible information from the local population, crucial in stamping out violence, she says. Still, "things would be worse without MINUSMA," reckons IVERIS' Varenne. "Where MINUSMA is based, terrorist groups do not come." To fulfil its essential mandate of protecting civilians, Lamarche argues that the mission needs to regain public trust. "They were supposed to play an important role in the peace deal and people have not seen that come to fruition. They see them supporting the G5 and that isnt doing any good either. So there is a lot of disappointment among the Malian population." That resentment has spilled over into the political realm, with recent protests from northern civilians against marginalisation and government corruption. "There is a possibility for change," says Lamarche. "Before, such protests would have been unheard of." This desire for change can be "maximised by peacekeepers," she concludes. Arizonas Republican governor shut down bars, movie theatres, gyms and water parks on Monday amid an alarming resurgence of coronavirus cases nationwide. Meanwhile leaders in several states ordered residents to wear masks in public in a dramatic course reversal. (PA Graphics) Among those implementing the face covering orders is the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August. Mr Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them. Arizona Governor Doug Duceys order went into effect immediately and will last for at least 30 days. Mr Ducey also ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17 (Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool) Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governors stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May. Arizona health officials reported 3,858 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the seventh time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Since the pandemic began, 74,500 cases and 1,588 deaths stemming from the virus have been reported in Arizona. Our expectation is that our numbers next week will be worse, Mr Ducey said Monday. The state is not alone in its reversal. Places such as Texas, Florida and California are backtracking, closing beaches and bars in some cases amid a resurgence of the virus. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced on Monday that he is postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing. Global coronavirus cases and deaths (PA Graphics) New Jersey has been slowly reopening, and on Monday indoor shopping malls were cleared to start business again. Democratic governors in Oregon and Kansas said on Monday that they would require people to wear masks. Idaho is moving in a different direction, at least when it comes to the elections. Story continues Despite the continuing spread of the virus, state elections officials have said that they would allow in-person voting as well as mail-in ballots for August primaries and the November general election, the Idaho Statesman reported. Idahos May 19 primary was the first statewide election held by mail only. The primary had record voter turnout. In Texas, a group of bar owners sued on Monday to try to overturn Republican Governor Greg Abbotts order closing their businesses. They contend Mr Abbott does not have the authority, and they complained that other businesses, such as nail salons and tattoo studios, remain open. Governor Abbott continues to act like a king, said Jared Woodfill, attorney for the bar owners. Mr Abbott is unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights. Mr Ducey also announced bars, nightclubs and water parks must close again for at least a month (Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool) But Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that Mr Abbott is on the right path, and he added that Mr Trump should order the wearing of masks. States that were recalcitrant are doing a 180, and you have the same states now wearing masks, Mr Cuomo said. Let the president have the same sense to do that as an executive order, and then let the president lead by example and let the president put a mask on it, because we know it works. Less than a week after Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said there would be no mask requirement, city officials announced on Monday that coverings must be worn in situations where individuals cannot socially distance. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany responded by saying the presidents advice is to do whatever your local jurisdiction requests of you. Russian president Vladimir Putin and his counterpart from Belarus unveiled a monument honouring fallen Red Army soldiers who fought in one of the most bloody battles of the Second World War. Mr Putin and Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko travelled to the village of Khoroshevo, just outside Rzhev, about 125 miles northwest of Moscow for a sombre ceremony that involved goose-stepping troops laying wreaths to the towering figure of a soldier. The battle of Rzhev, in which the Red Army launched a series of offensives in 1942-1943 to dislodge the Wehrmacht from its positions close to Moscow, involved enormous Soviet losses from persistent, poorly prepared attacks against well-fortified Nazi positions. Mr Putin said that 1.3 million Red Army soldiers were killed, wounded in combat or went missing in action during the fighting around Rzhev that raged for more than a year. The battle, which became known as the Rzhev meat grinder, was largely neglected by Soviet propaganda and official historians because of the Red Armys huge losses and its generals blunders. Russian President Vladimir Putin, background second right, and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, right, attend an opening ceremony of the monument (Andrei Stasevich/AP) Its impossible to think without pain about the colossal losses that the Red Army suffered, Mr Putin said. He added that not so long ago, official history didnt consider it proper to talk too much about the fighting near Rzhev. The Russian president, who takes a deeply emotional attitude to Second World War history, said that we will always remember the high price the Soviet people paid for the victory. The Soviet Union lost a staggering 27 million people in what it called the Great Patriotic War. Victory Day, which is celebrated on May 9, is the nations most important secular holiday. The Red Square parade, postponed this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, was held on June 24, marking the day in 1945 when the first parade was held on Red Square after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko (Mikhail Klimentyev/AP) Mr Putins insistence on holding the ceremony reflected not only his desire to showcase Russias military might but also to boost patriotic sentiments before a constitutional vote that could allow him to remain in office until 2036. Story continues The nationwide plebiscite on the amendments that would reset the clock on Mr Putins tenure and enable him to serve two more six-year terms is set to wrap up on Wednesday after a week of early balloting. Speaking in a televised address to the nation with the towering war monument behind him, Mr Putin invoked the heroism of Red Army soldiers to urge people to cast ballots, describing the vote as a landmark step in the nations history. We are continuing on that unstoppable, millennium-long journey, Mr Putin said. And we know that when we are together we can tackle the most difficult tasks even in a critical situation. A rally #REaction 3.0 in support of freedom of speech took place in Bishkek's Ala-Too square. The reason was the bill "On manipulation of information" adopted by members of parliament to officially introduce censorship in the country. The protesters want President Sooronbay Jeenbekov to veto the draconian law and bring the speaker of parliament to justice. The peaceful rally was initiated by civic activists. It was led by leader of the Ata-Menen party Omurbek Tekebayev. The protesters moved across the city from the railway station to Ala-Too Square, where they held a rally. The authorities did not interfere with the rally, although on the eve it was reported that street disinfection would be carried out along the procession's route. About 500 people demanded that President Sooronbay Jeenbekov veto a bill on information manipulation, which was adopted by parliamentarians last week. The rally participants organized a signature campaign under a statement addressed to chairman of the State Committee for National Security Orozbek Opumbayev. The statement reports on the violations committed by MPs led by the speaker during the adoption of the bill. The draconian law was initiated by MPs Gulshat Asylbaeva and Ainur Osmonova. The bill was adopted behind closed doors. Journalists under the pretext of coronavirus were not allowed into the White House (government and parliament buildings). The MPs were in a hurry, therefore, they passed the bill in the second and third readings with 79 votes, although only 30 MPs attended the meeting. 10 of them voted against, 20 of them voted for themselves and colleagues who did not come to work. "In particular, there's MP Ekmat Baybakpayev in the list of those who supported the adoption of the law. However, he was absent from the meeting because of COVID-19. Thus, the MPs maliciously and deliberately used official powers," the statement reads. "Participants of the rally demand bringing speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh Dastanbek Dzhumabekov and other MPs to criminal liability. Lawyers, journalists, experts, politicians and common citizens say that the bill establishes state censorship on the Internet, which will affect absolutely all users in the Kyrgyz Republic." However, the document has already been put on the president's table. After signing, it will be published and enter into force. The document states that "the owner of the website and (or) the Internet page is obliged to post his data - name, surname, email address to send him legally significant messages. Obviously, this is done in order to hold accountable those who expressed an opinion objectionable to the authorities or published some fact that a particular MP wanted to hide. The Ministry of Culture was appointed the authorized body to monitor fakes. Its officials will identify false and inaccurate information and make decisions regarding the owner of a website or a page on pre-trial restriction of access to information. Simply said, block resources without any trial. Civil activists sent an open letter to Sooronbay Jeenbekov, in which they asked him to veto the bill. Ex-judge of the Constitutional Chamber Klara Sooronkulova drew attention to the violation of the parliamentary meeting's regulation, which occurred in front of the chairman of the parliament and his deputy. "Speaker Dastanbek Dzhumabekov and his deputy Aida Kasymalieva saw how MP Umbetaly Kydyraliev pressed buttons instead of absent MPs during the voting. They silently watched it. In addition, a large number of in violation of the law on the regulations of the Jogorku Kenesh," the lawyer explained. President Sooronbai Jeenbekov intends to deal with the situation personally. The head of state will attend the extraordinary parliamentary meeting. After returning from Moscow, he was forced to work remotely, since two members of the delegation which visited Russia to participate in the Victory Parade contracted COVID-19. Jeenbekov was already twice tested for COVID-19, but the result was negative. Meanwhile, 17 employees of the presidential apparatus, including its leader Dosaly Esenaliev, also contracted COVID-19. A bombshell report from The New York Times -- that Russians had tried to bribe Taliban fighters to kill US troops -- has brought Russia roaring back into the political conversation. Trump denies ever being briefed about it, but there's already pushback on both sides of the aisle. Third-ranking House Republican Liz Cheney is demanding answers from the White House, while Democrats say this fits Trump's pattern of behavior with Russia. Consider what Joe Biden tweeted on Sunday afternoon: "Donald Trump's entire presidency has been a gift to Putin, but this is beyond the pale." CNN reports in its article Things do not look good for Trump 2020 right now on this and other problems Donald Trump faces during the presidential race. With rising coronavirus cases in nearly every state, the pandemic's grip is tightening. And without a vaccine, the nation's resources to combat it is limited to two tried-and-true things: Mask-wearing and social distancing. Biden, last week, said he would require masks by law, and has criticized Trump's handling of the pandemic. "He hasn't done any of what needs to be done," Biden said during a Saturday night virtual fundraiser. "And now he's sending even more people back to work without a plan to safely reopen, hanging the open sign in the economy, crossing his fingers and telling his staff to slow down testing." Pelosi also doubled down on mask-wearing (and Trump's reluctance to be seen wearing one) on Sunday, calling a federal mask mandate "long overdue." Trump and Pence have consistently punted mask regulations to cities and states, rather than issue a federal mandate. On Sunday in Texas, Pence encouraged Americans to wear masks, but again deferred to local ordinances on mask requirements. Trump has long been reluctant to wear a mask in public even as efforts to protect the President's health ramp up. But don't hold your breath on Trump changing course ... even if other Republicans say "it would help" if he wore a mask. President Trump's administration is forging ahead with its efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act -- a move that would take away health care for Americans in the middle of a pandemic. The Republican-led battle against the ACA is a decade old, but even more Americans are turning to the health care option amid job losses and the coronavirus. New federal data shows nearly half a million Americans turned to the federal Obamacare exchanges after losing health insurance coverage this year. President Trump is digging in, tweeting on Saturday that "Obamacare is a joke," and "I will ALWAYS PROTECT PEOPLE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS,ALWAYS!!!" As a result, health care is again proving to be a central fight of the presidential race. Priorities USA Action, a major Democratic super PAC supporting Biden, is already airing a television ad in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan arguing that Trump is "failing on health care" by highlighting both the impact of the pandemic and the administration's effort to nullify the ACA. Right now, nearly every poll paints the same picture for Trump - If voters headed to the polls today, he'd lose. Significantly. Like, landslide loss. Biden is leading nationally and essentially every swing state that matters. And consider the backdrop: The economy is down, the pandemic is raging, many Americans are being confronted by just how insidious and deep the racism that exists in this country truly is. Of course, there's still five months until Election Day. That means there are likely at least 128 news cycles until then, and Trump has faced unpopularity before. Just ... never like this. Iran launched a campaign on Saturday to motivate a reluctant public to use face masks as the country faces a sharp increase in infections and deaths from the coronavirus, The National writes in the article Iran launches face mask campaign amid coronavirus spikes. Iran was one of the worst-hit countries early in the pandemic, and since restrictions to stem its spread were gradually lifted from mid-April, cases have increased again, with the death toll topping 100 a day in the past nine days for the first time in two months. In the previous 24 hours, 2,456 new cases were recorded, taking the total to 220,180, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state television. She said 125 people had died, bringing the total to 10,364. Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi told the Irans Young Journalists Club semi-official news website that in one province, 120 people had been infected after attending a wedding party. He did not identify the province. Launching the #I wear mask campaign, he pleaded with citizens, especially young Iranians, to take the disease seriously. In our country, every 33 seconds, one person is infected with the coronavirus, and every 13 minutes, one person dies from it, he said. I desperately and in a friendly way plead with people to co-operate in observing medical protocols for their own sake and that of others. Wearing a face covering to avoid spreading the virus is not mandatory in Iran and the guidance is widely flouted. Mr Harirchi said on television that wearing masks reduced the risk of the spread of the virus by 85 per cent. State television on Friday aired interviews with several patients in hospitals who said they contracted the virus after attending wedding parties, wakes and other gatherings. The director of Cinema Organisation of Iran Hossein Entezami said 18,000 people went to movie theatres when they reopened on Friday. Starting July 1, Turkey will remove all restrictions on business activities introduced in the spring in connection with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The Vestnik Kavkaza talked with the economist Aydin Sezer about the results of the economic lockdown and the prospects for the business sector of the republic. - What is the attitude towards lifting the latest restrictions on business in Turkey right now? - Indeed, most of the restrictions have already been lifted, and the rest will be lifted from July 1. At the same time, Turkey is quite actively criticizing the government because of this, calling the abandonment of epidemiological restrictions premature. The decision to allow the operation of enterprises is fully understood: the Turkish economy is not strong enough to hold restrictions for a long time. - Is it possible to predict a recession in the economy this year? Is there government support for the affected sectors of the economy? - So far, it is impossible to predict the nature of the recession in the economy, because it is not only about the consequences of government decisions - the situation in international markets also has an impact. The state is currently trying to create incentives for each sector of the economy, primarily by suspending tax revenues, but at the same time, entrepreneurs complain that government measures are not enough. The main reason here is, of course, the lack of public resources. - How will the tourism industry be restored in Turkey? What measures have the authorities taken to attract tourists? - This is one of the most problematic sectors of our economy. In addition to the urgent need of the budget for tourism revenues, it is also about the fact that millions of people work in this sector. I believe this is the highest priority sector for government assistance. The fact that Germany and some other Western countries have imposed travel restrictions on Turkey has negatively impacted our tourism industry. At present, a high-level meeting is planned in Germany, where the leaders of the Turkish ministries will try to lift travel bans. We are also looking forward to receiving news from Russia about the possibility of tourist trips to Turkey. In general, here we are faced with the fact that the restoration of the tourism industry mainly depends on the decisions of foreign countries, and not on the measures we are taking. - How did the pandemic affect property prices? - Real estate prices are gradually falling, but so far this has not led to massive activity in buying and selling. From Europe there is still no stream of people wishing to acquire ownership of a house in Turkey. The government provides cheap loans to stimulate the domestic real estate market, but this has not yet had any effect. - Is it expected that the Turkish authorities will re-introduce the regime of restrictions? - Although now in Turkey more than 1000 cases of infection are registered per day on average, a significant reduction in mortality has been achieved. Discussions are still ongoing about the need for general quarantine, but for economic reasons this is no longer possible. Currently, the government believes that people at the current pandemic level will quickly form collective immunity. Iran has sent the black box flight recorder from a Ukrainian passenger jet that it mistakenly shot down in January to France for further analysis following months of delays, state-run media reported. The IRNA news agency quoted Tehran military prosecutor Gholamabbas Torki as saying that the recorder was sent to France, without elaborating. He said the recorder was "physically damaged" and that the data could only be recovered with "sophisticated" technology. He said Iran's own experts were unable to acquire the necessary converter because of U.S. sanctions, The AP reported. Iran accidentally shot down the Boeing 737-800, killing all 176 people aboard, after mistaking it for an incoming missile. Iran had been bracing for a counterattack after launching missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq in response to the killing of its top commander, Gen. Qassim Soleimani, in a U.S. strike earlier in January. Since, then it has been in negotiations with Ukraine, Canada and other nations that had citizens aboard the plane, and which have demanded a thorough investigation. Iran initially blamed the crash on technical problems and only acknowledged shooting down the plane days later. Civil Human Rights Front calls on Hongkongers to protest against the security law and for the "five demands". For Figo Chan, if we stay silent because of fear, our freedoms will be undermined for sure. Organisers urge participant to protest peacefully. Some 4,000 police agents will be deployed. Hong Kong (AsiaNews) Civil Human Rights Front, a pro-democracy group, has decided to hold the traditional 1 July march despite a ban imposed by police on "health" grounds and the fear of violence. The announcement comes a few hours after Chinas National Peoples Congress (NPC) unanimously passed a national security law for Hong Kong, which targets secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces that endanger national security. The law takes effect tomorrow. A march has been held every year since 1 July 2003, when hundreds of thousands of people came together to oppose a security law drafted by the Hong Kong government of the time, deemed too restrictive of freedoms. Civil Human Rights Front deputy convenor Figo Chan said that the main slogans of the march are oppose the national security law and five demands, not one less. The five demands stem from the past years protest movement in favour of democracy and against a draft extradition bill, which attracted up to two million people, with protesters raising their arm with an open hand to represent the five demands. The demands include universal suffrage and an independent investigation into police brutality. To prevent and contain tomorrows rally, at least 4,000 policemen will be deployed. We hope all Hongkongers can take to the streets to oppose the national security law, said Chan. I know it is difficult for Beijing to withdraw it, but we have to stand up and voice out. We are aware of the risks of being prosecuted, Chan added. But we insist on taking the lead, as we want to tell Hongkongers not to fear. If we stay silent because of fear, our freedoms will be undermined for sure. Chan urged participants to protest peacefully. The rally is set to begin at East Point Road in Causeway Bay at 2pm and start marching to Central at 3pm. (P.W.) Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Erkin Asrandiyev tested positive for COVID-19, the government said. Asrandiyev continues to work remotely, the virus form is mild, he feels good and receives treatment, AKIpress reported. Asrandiyev and a number of government members will not be able to take part in the oath taking ceremony of the new Prime Minister, as they contacted with infected person. Head of the Government Office, Minister Taalaibek Temiraliyev, Culture Minister Azamat Jamankulov, Minister of Justice Marat Jamankulov and Minister of Transport and Roads Janat Beishenov are isolated. The oath taking ceremony of Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov is expected today at the parliament meeting, President Sooronbai Jeenbekov will attend the meeting. Despite the fact that the Azerbaijani economy is facing difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, the negative impact of the pandemic on the structure of the country's national economy is minimal, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov said during a press conference. He explained that the ministry is working on improving the business environment. According to Jabbarov, since January 2019, reforms have been carried out in relation to labor contracts. "If, as of January 1, 2019, 539 522 labor contracts were concluded, by June 26, 2020, the number of the contracts reached 751,705. In other words, about 210,000 labor contracts were concluded during 18 months," the minister said. Mikayil Jabbarov noted that every three out of four manat from the taxes is coming from the private sector. He said that the areas affected by the pandemic have been identified, and there are a number of business projects managed by the Ministry on the provision of financial support to reduce the harm of the pandemic. The minister added that in total, 130,000 entrepreneurs were provided with financial support during the pandemic period, and taking into account workers of the suffered areas 310,000 people. The purchase of Russian S-400 defence systems by Ankara drew a response from Washington, as the Trump administration expelled Turkey from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program and threatened sanctions against the country for buying Russian-made defence weapons. A Republican member of the US Senate has proposed legislation that would make it possible for the United States to buy Turkey's S-400 Russian-made defence system amid issues between Washington and Ankara over Turkey's purchase of Russian gear. The proposal was made by Senate Majority Whip John Thune, which envisaged an amendment to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that could allow Washington to purchase the gear via the U.S. Army procurement budget. "Such sums as may be necessary are authorized to be appropriated for the Army for Missile Procurement, Army for the purchase of an S-400 missile defense system," the proposed amendment's text reads. The amendment also suggested that proceeds of the S-400 purchase "will not be utilized to purchase or otherwise acquire military apparatus deemed by the United States to be incompatible with NATO". Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch introduced a tougher amendment that would make the Trump administration impose sanctions on Turkey under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), 30 days after the proposed NDAA is passed, Sputnik recalls. CAATSA envisages putting any country that buys major defence equipment from Russia under sanctions. Because of Turkey's purchase of S-400, the US threatened to sanction the country, while also expelling the country from its multinational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program and pressuring Turkey to give up on the Russian S-400 it bought in 2019. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to do so and weighed the possibility of continued cooperation with Russia on the S-400, despite delays resulting from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. claimed that S-400 defence systems may compromise F-35 fighter jet operations and do not fit NATO standards, assertions that Ankara has denied. Airlines restored most of the domestic flight network after the social distancing campaign ended, and is considering resuming international flights with countries that have controlled COVID-19 well. Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways and Vietjet Air in February and March had to cancel thousands of flights, closing international air routes. They stopped 98 percent of domestic air routes during the social distancing in April. According to Vietnam Airlines CEO Duong Tri Thanh, Vietnams air carriers only used 2 percent of their capacity. He predicted that if Vietnam Airlines can do business well after the epidemic, it would be able to recover the loss after five years. As there has been no infections from the community over the last two months, air carriers returned to the sky on April 23. Since June 1, they have flown all domestic air routes and are considering restoring international air routes. According to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), 2.88 million passengers went through the airports throughout the country in May. Air carriers provided 8,623 flights, which means a 30 percent market recovery. The figure is modest as international flights still have not resumed, but it shows an excellent recovery compared with other countries in the region and the world. Bamboo Airways had the highest recovery rate of flights. The number of flights it provided from April led 19 to May 18, just after social distancing, was 64 percent of the same period last year. Airlines restored most of the domestic flight network after the social distancing campaign ended, and is considering resuming international flights with countries that have controlled COVID-19 well. The figures were 33.6 percent for Vietnam Airlines, 30.8 percent for Vietjet Air, 26.2 percent for VASCO and 7.3 percent for Pacific Airlines. On May 30, Trinh Van Quyet, president of FLC and Bamboo Airways, stated that the air carrier will cover all the domestic air routes by early June or July at the latest. The strong recovery of the aviation industry can be seen in the green color of the airline shares in the stock market. HVN shares of Vietnam Airlines, VJC of Vietjet Air and ACV all bounced back in accordance with the V shape after reaching the bottom. However, the upward trend stopped in late April and then went flat most of the time in May. As of the end of May, HVN, VJC and ACV had seen 54.5 percent, 16.3 percent and 39.8 percent price increases, respectively, compared with the lowest, a very satisfactory recovery compared with the VN Index recovery rate of 30.5 percent. Vietnam Airlines has informed its booking agents that it may restore some international flights in early July to South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Laos and Cambodia. Le Ha Vietnam confirms 12 Pakistani pilots are working for local airlines The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) confirmed on June 28 that it has licensed a total of 27 Pakistani pilots to work in Vietnam, but only 12 of them are currently flying for local airlines. The Cambodian government and management agencies have yet to issue any official documents banning the import of Vietnamese vegetables and fruits, according to the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Earlier, the MoIT asked the Vietnamese commercial affairs office in Cambodia to make a fact-finding trip to the Chrey Thom border gate in Cambodias Kandal province. The office reported that Cambodian authorities on June 16 checked 22 types of vegetables and fruits imported from Vietnam through the Chrey Thom border gate, and found pesticide residues that exceeded the permissible quantity in six Vietnamese agricultural products, comprising cabbages, broccoli, okra, pumpkins, limes and chives. Cambodian authorities then destroyed the above-said vegetables and so far they have yet to provide specific information about the names of the pesticides whose residues were found on these vegetables. However, the MoIT recommended that Vietnamese authorities and localities further guide farmers how to use pesticides in line with regulations while cultivating. It also suggested intensifying inspections to ensure that vegetables and fruits sold in the domestic market and exported are safe for consumers, thus avoiding similar incidents in the time ahead./.VNA Experts have urged Vietnamese exporters to shift their attention to neighbouring ASEAN markets given that COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on major markets such as the EU and the US, a recent conference heard. Co-hosted by the HCM City Centre of International Integration Support and the Ministry of Industry and Trades Asia-Africa Market Department last week, those at the conference discussed ways domestic enterprises could boost exports to ASEAN countries. There is still plenty of room for Vietnamese goods to expand their foothold in the region, said Nguyen Phuc Nam, deputy head of the Asia-Africa Market Department. Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines are now Vietnams top markets in ASEAN. While Thailand primarily imports dried fruit and garments, Indonesia and the Philippines mostly purchase power generators, water pumps, electrical appliances, and telecom products, Nam said. ASEAN remains the largest importer of Vietnamese rice, with the Philippines leading the way, he continued. Rice exports from Vietnam to the bloc stood at 1 billion USD last year and are expected to rise further in the time to come, driven by COVID-19. Vietnamese seafood, coffee, and fruit all hold substantial potential to gain broader access to ASEAN, he added. However, most Vietnamese exporters to ASEAN are small and medium-sized enterprises using old technologies that are only suitable for shipments to relatively undemanding markets like Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, according to Vice Chairman of the HCM City Union of Business Associations Pham Ngoc Hung. In regional markets with higher standards, such as Thailand and Singapore, Vietnamese goods face stiff competition from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and India, he said. Vietnamese enterprises are yet to pay sufficient attention to ASEAN markets, though they are now offered various preferential customs duties and can benefit greatly from geographic proximity, he noted. He added the pandemic caused Vietnams exports to ASEAN to plunge 13.4 percent in the first half of this year. A view widely held among experts at the conference is that Vietnamese enterprises need to restructure their product portfolios to match the new circumstances and at the same time must improve product quality by using modern technologies. Truong Xuan Trung, chief of the Vietnamese trade office in Indonesia, suggested Vietnamese enterprises expand distribution channels through local networks of wholesalers in order to gain easier access to local markets and save costs. They are also advised to keep in close contact with Vietnamese trade offices in ASEAN markets to receive support and consultation in terms of local policies, procedures, and customs clearance, according to Trung./.VNA Vietnamese enterprises encouraged to focus on home market Focusing on the home market is one of the important solutions that will help enterprises restore production and business after Covid-19 ends, experts say. It is anticipated that local textile and apparel firms will not be able to enjoy any immediate benefits from the European Union -Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) once it enters into force due to rules of origin, according to insiders. A representative from the Thanh Cong Textile Garment - Investment - Trading Joint Stock Company (TCM) stated that the average import duties imposed on the companys clothing products in the EU market currently stands at approximately 12%. Once the EVFTA comes into effect, several tariff lines will be slashed to 0%, with the firm aiming to increase the export rate to this market from between 5% and 8% this year to between 12% and 15% next year. In line with the commitments outlined in the EVFTA, the EU has pledged to exempt import duties on 42.5% of tariff lines for garment and textile products exported to the bloc, while the remaining tariff lines will be gradually reduced to 0% over the course of the next five to seven years. Garment and textile enterprises are therefore being advised to strictly follow the rules of origin on fabric and other requirements which relate to the outsourcing stage as stipulated by the trade pact in an effort to boost exports to the EU and enjoy the tax reductions set out by the EVFTA. Accordingly, fabric used when making clothes must be woven within the country, EU member states, or third-party nations that have signed FTAs with the EU. Tran Nhu Tung, deputy general director of TCM, expressed his belief that the companys clothing products will be able to enjoy preferential tax from the EVFTA as TMC is also a supplier of yarn and producer of fabric. Tung therefore predicts that Vietnamese clothing manufacturers will move to increase the purchase of the companys fabric products in order to enjoy preferential tariffs, rather than simply importing fabric from the Chinese market. At present, TCM will continue to expand fabric production in an effort to seize opportunities from the EVFTA, Tung noted. Pham Van Viet, chairman of Viet Thang Jean's board of directors, said the companys garment exports to the EU are now subject to a tax rate of between 14% and 18%, depending on their respective product category. Viet emphasied that the trade deal will allow businesses to lower their production costs and move to enhance their competitiveness, while simultaneously increasing the proportion of exports to EU market in the near future due to import duties being slashed to 0%. The representative from Viet Thang Jean stated that the company has already changed its the supply source of fabric from China to Thailand and the Republic of Korea (RoK), both of which have signed an FTA with EU. Despite this, not all garment enterprises have followed the example of TCM or Viet Thang Jean by making timely preparations in an effort to enjoy the full benefits from the EVFTA. In fact, Vietnam largely imports fabrics from the Chinese market or from countries at the request of foreign customers. To resolve the shortage of fabric materials and enjoy the incentives of the EVFTA, some firms use imported fabrics from the RoK for sewing in Vietnam. However, the rate of importing fabric from the RoK market still remains low due to local businesses prioritising the import of fabrics from China thanks to lower prices, geographical advantages, and diversification of designs. Moreover, it is estimated that 60% of fabrics imported into the country come from either China or Taiwan (China), with prices far lower than those which are imported from the RoK. This has led to difficulties for local companies enjoying preferential tax rates from the EVFTA. This shortage of fabric materials can also be attributed to the fact that some localities do not grant investment licenses to dyeing and weaving projects due to increasing concerns regarding their impact on the environment. According to a representative from the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), some localities have decided to reject projects with investment capital of up to hundreds of millions of US dollars due to worries surrounding their environmental impact. Vitas stated that this represents a major challenge for the industry as they try to meet regulations whilst enjoying export tax benefits to European markets. Most notably, the injection of money into the country by foreign investors will contribute to developing supporting industries for the textile sector, thereby helping to boost the localisation rate and avoid a heavy reliance on imports. Vitas leaders point out that whilst only a few textile and dyeing projects have violated environmental regulations, many localities turn down the majority of projects, causing difficulties for businesses as they are dependent on the supply source of fabric materials from the country. As such, economic experts have advised localities not to worry much about missing out on opportunities to enjoy preferential tariffs in numerous markets. Economists underscored the importance of zoning plans for projects and application of advanced technologies in a bid to ensure the environment protection and the supply source of fabric materials within the country. VOV Vietnamese textile and garment industry: difficulties still ahead With demand decreasing sharply, the textile and garment industry is expected to continue facing difficulties in Q2. Vietnamese seafood producers are developing their material in a sustainable way to make use of incentives for rising exports to the EU market. Workers process frog for export to the EU at a factory in the southern province of Long An. Photo: VNA Accounting for about 5 per cent of the worlds shrimp market share and 19 per cent of Vietnams shrimp export turnover, Minh Phu Seafood Corporation is the countrys biggest exporter of the product. With 20 per cent of its exporting turnover entering the EU market, Minh Phu is expecting to benefit significantly from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). We hope that the EVFTA coming into effect soon will help us reach the target of consolidated export turnover of $709 million with 63,000 tonnes of shrimp in 2020, Le Van Diep, deputy general director of Minh Phu, told VIR. Over the years, the EU has always been a highly demanding market for Minh Phu. Under the deal, the requirements of origin and sustainable elements will be very high. Therefore, since late last year, we have invested more in technology in order to offer more products which answer the demand, Diep said. The technology that Diep refers to is called 2, 3, 4 technology meaning two feeding periods, three harvesting periods, and four principles of shrimp breeding namely no disease, no antibiotics, clean water, and an isolated feeding environment. The technology helps us to exploit the feeding area with the highest productivity while protecting the environment, ensuring Vietnamese-made shrimp of the highest quality the European market, Diep added. This technology has also been applied for both the groups feeding facilities and those of farmers that we co-operate with. We aim to increase self-provided material from 20 to 50 per cent. Meanwhile, shrimp producer Viet Uc Seafood Corporation, has also paid more attention to sustainability. We are striving to build the trademark of Vietnamese shrimp by using advanced technologies of automatic feeding, membrane technology, automatic measurement, and sustainable inventions such as a biofloc farming process, biological culturing process, and circulating water treatment, Luong Thanh Van, president and chief executive officer, told VIR. According to Van, Viet Uc will indirectly benefit from the EVFTA when the demand of Vietnamese-originated shrimp increases. The EVFTA creates advantages for Vietnams seafood to compete with its rivals. To welcome the chance of better supply, since the middle of 2019 we have built two new shrimp seedling facilities in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh and the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, raising the number of our facilities of this type to nine nationwide, with a capacity of 50 billion breeding shrimps, Van said. Besides the two facilities, Viet Uc also boasts three feeding facilities, providing 25,000-30,000 tonnes of shrimp feed to serve both domestic and export demand. Particularly, the corporation has just invested millions of US dollars in 104 hectares of catfish hatching using high technology. We are one of four companies joining in the three-level catfish hatching chain implemented in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, aiming to improve the quality of breeders, Van added. An Giang has 1,530ha of farming with a productivity of nearly 441,000 tonnes per year. To recover the industry after COVID-19 and get ready for the EVFTA, the province has called for investment in the sustainable farming of catfish using high technology. Among the companies responding to the provinces call, Nam Viet Corporation (Navico) has also spent VND4 trillion ($173.9 million) on 600ha of catfish farm. Our entire catfish farm uses modern equipment, nano-aeration technology, and a bakture catalyst for water treatment. With this technology, our farm does not discharge waste water into the environment, and does not need to dredge sediment via physical methods, said Le Doan Toi, general director of Navico. We hope that this will be a good foundation for us to benefit from the EVFTA. Currently, the EU market has been steadily reopening after coronavirus lockdowns. The EVFTA promises to bring Vietnams seafood companies good prospects, particularly when their rivals from India, Ecuador, and Indonesia are still suffering from supply chain disruption due to the pandemic. To grasp the chance, enterprises need to be honest with the rules of origin of the agreement. Along with finding and developing local raw materials and from FTA partners, businesses need to attract foreign investment and improve production technology and product quality, as well as join the regional supply chain, said Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). According to Nam, the EVFTA also requires an active fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. This is an urgent and important task for Vietnam to ensure compliance with the terms in the EVFTA, he explained. The data from the VASEP shows that the EU is the second-biggest import market of Vietnams seafood, accounting for 18 per cent of Vietnams total seafood export turnover, in which shrimp holds 22 per cent and catfish accounts for 11 per cent. When the EVFTA comes into effect this year, about 50 per cent of assorted tariffs for aquatic products will be removed, while the rest will be omitted within three to seven years. Meanwhile, Bui Kim Thuy, country representative for Vietnam at the US-ASEAN Business Council told VIR, The EVFTA is a wide gate to Vietnams seafood sector while some rivals in the EU market have not made any FTAs with the bloc. Moreover, producers are still able to keep the initial origin for a good batch exported to many different countries in the region. VIR Phuong Hao How will seafood companies fare this year? Analysts believe that Vietnams seafood industry will face difficulties until the end of June. Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) estimates a loss of nearly VND1.4 trillion (US$60 million) after tax in 2020, a massive blow to the company due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Passengers board a train of Sai Gon Railway Transport.Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) estimates a loss of nearly VND1.4 trillion (US$60 million) after tax in 2020. Photo laodong.vn In the recent filing to the State Securities Commission on business results in the last three years, the corporation expected this years combined production and revenue will decrease by 23 per cent compared to 2019. Last year, the corporation posted a consolidated revenue of more than VND8.3 trillion and pre-tax profit of VND180 billion. According to VNR, the loss is mainly due to the falling demand for transportation and travel as the result of the pandemic and the corporations re-adjustment of its operation to upgrade and repair the Ha Noi HCM City railway line. Of the VND1.4 trillion loss, VND711 billion came from main railway business operation, of which two subsidiaries Ha Noi Railway Transport and Sai Gon Railway Transport are expected to record a combined loss of VND618 billion The parent company VNR estimates a loss of VND168 billion. Three subsidiaries in the mechanical industries and 20 railways joint stock companies are the only firms expecting profits of VND75 billion. Other burdens include financial losses from previous years, provisional expenses for contingency plans and bad debts worth a combined total of VND682 billion. Also depreciation and amortisation expenses reached VND59 billion this year but has no revenue to offset. In terms of investment, apart from improving infrastructure, VNR plans to invest more than VND602 billion in locomotive assemblies. The corporation also seeks to mobilise VND414 billion from investors to carry out new carriage building project. Under fierce competition According to VNR Chairman Vu Anh Minh, the railway industry is facing fierce competition from other modes of transport, especially low-cost carriers in both air and road transport, while there is a lack of mechanisms and policies to boost railway development. Last year was also a difficult year for VNR when all business indicators declined. "The direct infrastructure and the train stations are owned by the Government, but there is no mechanism for enterprises to invest by themselves, Minh was quoted by vietnamnet.vn. The State does not have capital, businesses have money but cannot spend to invest. He cited an example of Song Luy station in Binh Thuan Province which needs about VND30 billion to extend the railway lines and can generate an annual revenue of VND200 billion but cannot be invested. Nguyen Thi Phu Ha, vice chairwoman of the Committee for Management of State Capital, said the railway industry still relied heavily on ticket revenue while its management and competition is weak and infrastructure underdeveloped. She has asked VNR to work with ministries and local authorities to submit to the Government a plan to improve competitiveness and reshape sector development strategy in the future. Due to the pandemic, the railway industry saw a decline in number of passengers but still had to maintain operations. Since February, about 3,000 workers have been furloughed or worked only on a shift basis. VNR has proposed the Government support its business with tax exemptions, fee reductions or by freezing debts. In a move to revitalise the railway industry post-COVID-19, VNR is offering discounted prices and promotion programmes to stimulate domestic tourism, as well as focusing on more on freight transport. It plans to operate more international freight trains with plans to transport fruits and aquatic products directly from southern provinces to China using refrigerated containers and onward to third countries such as Russia and others in Europe this year. VNS. VN railway operator requests $2.5 million bailout to support local routes The Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) has asked the Government for a bailout of VND60 billion (US$2.5 billion) to support three local routes suffering devastating drops in travel demand due to COVID-19. The EVIPA will officially take effect for Vietnam after 30 days from the date the country notifies to the European Union authorities (Article 4.13.2). The two-level arbitration mechanism stipulated in the EVFTA applies not only for Vietnamese investors in the EU but also for EU investors in Vietnam The biggest difference between the EVIPA and common international free trade agreements like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)(1) or the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)(2) is the agreement does not regulate tariff cut and market opening for goods and services, but sets up the investment dispute settlement mechanism for EU and Vietnam investors instead. Once effective, the EVIPA will encourage and protect investment across the board for all EU members and replace 21 out of 67 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) which Vietnam has signed separately with EU members since 1990(3). Once an investment dispute arises, EU investors in Vietnam or Vietnamese investors in the EU will have the rights to negotiation and/or mediation. If this effort fails, investors can file a lawsuit with the permanent arbitration council in charge. The council comprises three members in the list of nine arbitrators designated earlier by Vietnam and the EU. In case the parties to the dispute do not agree with the verdict of this first-instant arbitration council, they can make an appeal to the appeal arbitration council. This is also a permanent arbitration council with three out of six arbitrators. Benefits The arbitration mechanism of the EVIPA will benefit Vietnamese investors in the EU because the agreement allows Vietnamese enterprises intending to sue the EU to designate one of the three Vietnamese arbitrators as the first-instant arbitrator, and, in case of appeal, one of the two Vietnamese arbitrators as the appeal arbitrator. In other words, whether the arbitration council is at the first-instant or the appeal level, there is always a Vietnamese arbitrator among the three arbitrators of the corresponding arbitration council (Article 3.38.6 and Article 3.39.8 of the EVIPA). Obviously, this will give Vietnamese investors more confidence over the protection for their investments in the EU than the case where all the three arbitrators are foreigners. Previously, Vietnam only recognized the authority for investment dispute settlement by the court of the host country and/or the one-level investment arbitration. Therefore, when there is a dispute arising from investment overseas, Vietnamese enterprises hesitate to file a lawsuit for fear that the foreign court will have an unfair, biased award. Further, the one-level investment arbitration mechanism under the BITs is very costly and risky, as the financial capacity of Vietnamese enterprises is more limited against the budget of the host country to allow them to pursue lawsuits for international investment disputes. Meanwhile, the award of the one-level arbitration council cannot be altered, except for small errors like spelling mistakes. So, it can be said that the lawsuit for international investment disputes at the one-level investment arbitration by Vietnamese enterprises is nearly like throwing eggs against rocks. Meanwhile, in view of dispute settlement, the EVIPA gives many advantages to enterprises. Previously, some arbitrators were protested by disputing parties due to conflict of interests, as those arbitrators had assumed many roles, such as lawyers, experts and arbitrators for disputes related to the disputing parties. An example is the cases of investment disputes where foreign investors protested against Argentina and Venezuela. Many arbitrators were protested because they had defended or counseled one of the two disputing parties in previous lawsuits. With the EVIPA, it is recognized that proving the conflict of interests between arbitrators and the disputing parties is actually impossible. Therefore, instead of asking arbitrators of the one-level arbitration council under the BITs to self declare information about conflict of interests, the EVIPA rules that arbitrators must choose the settlement of international disputes as a permanent, continuous paid job over a certain period to be more specialized and impartial and to minimize cases of conflict of interests. This two-level arbitration mechanism applies not only for Vietnamese investors in the EU but also for EU investors in Vietnam. With this mechanism, EU enterprises can have more motivation to participate in merger and acquisition (M&A) with Vietnamese enterprises, especially in M&A with a value of 50% of shares of an enterprise (Article 1.2 (c)(i) of the EVIPA), because they can sue the Vietnamese Government at the two-level arbitration once there are disputes. Bottleneck? To restrict lawsuits against the governments of parties to the agreement, the EVIPA affirms that the representative offices of EU enterprises in Vietnam or those Vietnamese enterprises in the EU are not investors (Article 1.2(ii), quotation 2 of the EVIPA). Therefore, representative offices of EU enterprises in Vietnam and those of Vietnamese enterprises in the EU member countries cannot initiate a lawsuit against the host government at this two-level arbitration mechanism if they have disputes with that government. In the lawsuit by Recofi against Vietnam in 2013, the arbitration council and the court in Switzerland refused the file of Recofi because the arbitration council argued that Recofi only had a representative office in Vietnam and did not make any investment except expenses arising from the administrative cost for operating the office(4). In legal terms, under Article 45 of Vietnams 2014 Enterprise Law, the representative office is an affiliate of an enterprise responsible for authorized representation for and protection of its interests. Under Article 52 of the 2014 Investment Law, investments overseas by Vietnamese enterprises do not include opening representative offices there. However, in economic terms, its easy to recognize that Vietnamese enterprises always need a certain sum to buy or lease an office, recruit employees and pay salaries and insurance for them, and even to pay the principal operational cost. This expense is nothing other than an investment. Its undeniable that opening a representative office is the first step for a Vietnamese enterprise to search the market and promote trade to gradually invest more in a certain foreign market. What is the thing for Vietnamese enterprises to do when they have to bear risks for this preliminary expense for the representative office? Do they have other more effective and impartial dispute settlement mechanisms to protect their interests? Prevention better than cure The elimination of representative offices from the scope of investment under the EVIPA more or less restricts the opportunity to protect the investments in representative offices in the EU of Vietnamese enterprises. However, in terms of the interest of the Vietnamese Government, this regulation clearly helps restrict the number of international investment suits initiated by EU representative offices in Vietnam, especially in the context that Vietnam is the EUs second largest trade partner in Southeast Asia after Singapore and is expected to receive a wave of investments by small and medium enterprises from the EU. Overall, the EVIPA is expected to reduce the concern for Vietnamese investors in the EU when there is a change in the investment legislation such as tax, environment and other policies for the interest of the community there. The agreement also restricts the risk for the Vietnamese Government to face lawsuits by EU enterprises, especially by EU representative offices in Vietnam. This is a sustainable solution for the State and enterprises to share risks and to win in the global economic integration. SGT Dr. Le Thi Anh Nguyet(*) (*) Senior lawyer of Phuoc & Partners Law Company, member of the scientific council of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center. (1) The CPTPP was signed by Vietnam, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru and Singapore on March 3, 2018 and was effective from December 30, 2018. (2) The EVFTA was signed between Vietnam and the 27-member EU on June 30, 2019 and was approved by the European Parliament on February 12, 2020 and Vietnams National Assembly on June 8, 2020. (3) https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/international-investment-agreements/countries/229/viet-nam?type=bits, updated June 12, 2020. (4) https://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/italaw7631.pdf, updated June 6, 2020. According to German researcher Adrian Zenz, Chinese authorities are conducting a sterilization campaign to control the growth of the Uyghur population. The women who refuse are locked up in internment camps. Demographic collapse of the Uyghurs in 2017 and 2018. US and European parliamentarians demand an international investigation. Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Chinese government is conducting a forced sterilization campaign in Xinjiang to control the growth of the population of Uyghur origin, according to a report published yesterday by Adrian Zenz, the German researcher who first revealed the existence of internment camps for the Uyghurs in the region. According to data produced by Zenz, confirmed later by the United Nations, over one million Uyghurs (out of a population of almost 10 million) and other Turkic minorities of Islamic faith are being held arbitrarily in Xinjiang, which the local population calls "Eastern Turkestan ". Zenz's work is based on official data, government documents and direct testimony. The German researcher claims that the Beijing authorities force Uyghur women to undergo sterilization surgery or treatment to block their menstrual cycle. If they refuse to abort to respect the limits of two children per family, they are locked up in internment camps. Local administrators, especially in rural areas, subject the Uyghurs in fertile age to mandatory gynecological checks. To back up the data contained in his study, Zenz points out that in 2017 and 2018 the growth rate of the Uyghur population was lower than the average of the Han ethnicity, which is the majority in China. The German analyst maintains that China is carrying out a "demographic genocide" in Xinjiang. Motivated by the contents of Zenzs report, the Interparliamentary Alliance on China, a group of North American, European and Australian legislators are demanding an international investigation to verify whether Beijing is responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide in Xinjiang. Australia, Canada and Japan are currently on the safe list, but the US, China and Brazil are not. Passport control at Larnaca airport, Cyprus Image copyrightReuters The EU has named 14 countries whose citizens are deemed "safe" to be let in from 1 July, despite the pandemic - but the US, Brazil and China are excluded. Those named include Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco and South Korea. The EU is ready to add China if the Chinese government offers a reciprocal deal for EU travellers, diplomats say. EU border controls have been lifted for EU citizens travelling inside the bloc. Rules for UK travellers are covered separately in the Brexit negotiations. UK nationals are still to be treated in the same way as EU citizens until the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December. Therefore, during that time UK nationals and their family members are exempt from the temporary travel restriction. On the current "safe" list, still likely to be amended, are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The UK is currently negotiating "air bridges" with several EU member states, so that coronavirus does not totally block summer holidays - the busiest season in Europe for tourism, which employs millions of people. The EU procedure to formalise the list, and criteria by which countries are judged safe or not, are to be finalised by midday on Tuesday. A qualified majority of EU countries - at least 55% of the EU countries, representing 65% of the EU population - have signed off on list. There were splits between those such as Spain - wanting the boost of tourism, but preferring to play safe because they have been hit so hard by Covid-19 - and others like Greece and Portugal, which depend on tourism but are less scarred by the virus. You'd think it'd be quite straightforward, deciding which non-EU countries to consider "safe". But it's been a tortuous, divisive process, mixing politics and economics, as well as public health. Countries like Germany and Spain, horrified by the devastation of Covid-19, wanted to play it safe. They pushed to have a short list of countries with low infection rates, a good health service and reliable health data. But Greece and Portugal had other ideas. Anxious to boost their post-lockdown, flagging economies with tourism, and less scarred by widespread infection at the height of the pandemic, they wanted as long a list as possible. Then came France, insisting on reciprocity. If a non-EU country was barring flights from the bloc, argued Paris, they shouldn't appear on the list. And finally: diplomatic considerations. How awkward for the EU to include some countries but not others. Thumbs up to visitors from Canada, Japan and China from 1 July - if Beijing allows EU visitors entry - but not travellers from the US. After days of haggling, the final list is an attempted compromise. Much metaphorical sweat, blood and tears for a list that is advisory only, open to exceptions and will be regularly tweaked and updated. Last week reports said member states were assessing two different lists. The Politico website said one covered countries with fewer than 16 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people and the other with up to 20 cases, which would include Canada and Turkey. The list is expected to be revised every two weeks, so the US could be added later. Earlier this month the European Commission also stressed that reopening borders with non-EU states in the Western Balkans was a priority from 1 July. However, EU member Croatia said last week that travellers from Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and North Macedonia would all face 14-day self-isolation, because of an increase in infections. BBC EU Ambassador to ASEAN Igor Driesmans talks to on the outcomes of the 36th ASEAN Summit which was hosted online by Vietnam last Friday. EU Ambassador to ASEAN Igor Driesmans. Photo courtesy of the Mission of the EU to ASEAN What do you think about the role of Vietnam in organising the 36th ASEAN Summit, as well as its efforts during the past six months to promote a 'cohesive and proactive ASEAN'? Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you. Let me start by saying that Vietnam has just successfully hosted the ASEAN Summit by overcoming some truly unprecedented challenges. For the first time in over half a century of relations, ASEAN leaders met and spoke virtually, by videoconference. The technical and logistical aspects of this undertaking are impressive, and Vietnam was able to achieve this even including a colourful opening ceremony! As Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasised in his speech during the summit, the world is changing irreversibly, and this event proves that ASEAN is readily adapting to these changes. Vietnams focus on strengthening a cohesive and proactive ASEAN could not be more relevant than it is today when the pandemic has provoked a global economic shock unlike any other in recent history. The Prime Minister spoke of the need to uphold the spirit of solidarity, co-operation and the sense of responsibility towards the international community, and I believe that this has been the driving force behind Vietnams chairmanship of ASEAN since the early days of this crisis. Under the leadership of Vietnam, ASEAN has shown a real willingness to come together to find regional solutions and to mitigate the effects of this crisis. ASEAN agreed the statement of the Economic Ministers on Strengthening Economic Resilience in Response to COVID-19, which paved the way for the adoption of the declaration of the Special ASEAN Summit on the Coronavirus Disease in April. ASEAN leaders agreed to co-operate on health and research, consular assistance, supply chains and the post-COVID recovery, and since then ASEAN countries have been actively sharing information and co-ordinating on disease control at the regional level. Vietnam has also been able to reaffirm the centrality and unity of ASEAN by maintaining the regular, substantive engagement between the region and its partners since the outbreak of the pandemic. One example of such dialogue was the EU-ASEAN Ministerial Video Conference on the Coronavirus Disease in March, where ASEAN showed itself to be a united and cohesive group. I think that these efforts are also bearing fruit in the fight against COVID-19, with the region currently displaying a high proportion of recoveries from confirmed cases, low fatality rates and few incidents of community transmission. How do you assess the results of the 36th ASEAN Summit? What were the most important outcomes? This was the first official summit hosted by Vietnam as the 2020 ASEAN Chair, and despite the difficult circumstances, it was able to achieve several major outcomes. It was very encouraging to see that ASEAN leaders continued to pursue an ambitious regional integration agenda, with the announcement of the 'Vision Statement on A Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN: Rising Above Challenges And Sustaining Growth'. With this comprehensive document, they reaffirmed their commitment to pursuing progress across a wide range of areas, in pursuit of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025. In particular, the vision statement recognised the need to deal effectively with the COVID-19 pandemic and at the same time to promote socio-economic recovery in the region. The leaders agreed to support a post-pandemic recovery plan for ASEAN with wide-ranging actions that aim to strengthen resilience of the regional economy. The leaders also endorsed a number of important initiatives presented to them at the summit, including the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund, the ASEAN Regional Reserve of Medical Supplies for Public Health Emergencies, and the ASEAN Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Public Health Emergencies. They also approved the Hanoi Plan of Action on Strengthening ASEAN Economic Co-operation and Supply Chain Connectivity, demonstrating their determination to ensure the flow of food, medicines, as well as medical and other essential supplies in the region. These are all significant deliverables under Vietnams theme of 'Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN'. What issues should ASEAN and Vietnam - as ASEAN chair this year - focus on in the next six months? What will the EU do to promote these key issues? In the immediate future, the focus should be on keeping control of the outbreak, while also launching a post-pandemic recovery. While global growth rates this year will likely be slower, with careful planning and the right actions there is a chance that ASEAN economies remain reasonably stable and avoid recession. The key issues will be solidarity and co-operation based on jointly agreed proposals, and this is why initiatives like the Hanoi Plan of Action are so important. The EU will continue to support ASEANs efforts to achieve a prosperous, safe and united community, as this brings benefits to both our regions. We were among the first partners to hold a meeting between our foreign ministers on COVID-19, and we will continue to exchange information to identify ways to tackle the crisis. We are currently collaborating on research into COVID-19, with 18 new EU-funded research projects open to ASEAN scientific organisations. The EU and its member states have so far mobilised over 350 million euros (US$392.6 million) to support health systems and economic recovery in ASEAN under a collective 'Team Europe' approach. We will continue working with ASEAN to ensure that supply chain connectivity is maintained. And while we will continue to expand our free trade and investment agreements in the region, such as the free trade agreement with Vietnam that eliminated 99 per cent of customs duties, our relationship is no longer only about trade and co-operation. Increasingly, the EU and ASEAN are working together on security and defence in areas such as maritime security. We are also intensifying our co-operation on non-traditional security threats related to issues such as resource scarcity, infectious diseases, natural disasters, people smuggling, drug trafficking and transnational crime. Looking ahead, green economy, digitalisation in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the fight against climate change will increasingly become major areas of co-operation between the EU and ASEAN. The green agenda, in particular, is a top priority for the EU and for our partnership with ASEAN. The EU sees ASEAN as an indispensable partner in this regard together, we can protect the international rules-based order and preserve our 'global commons'. VNS US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo affirmed on June 28 that the US welcomes the vision statement of ASEAN leaders, which was adopted at the recent 36th ASEAN Summit. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo The diplomat tweeted The United States welcomes ASEAN Leaders insistence that South China Sea disputes be resolved in line with international law, including UNCLOS. China cannot be allowed to treat the SCS as its maritime empire. We will have more to say on this topic soon. The South China Sea is known in Vietnam as the East Sea. He also included a link to the ASEAN Leaders' Vision Statement on a Cohesive And Responsive ASEAN: Rising Above Challenges And Sustaining Growth. The 36th ASEAN Summit was held via video conferencing on June 26 under the chair of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Vietnam is the Chair of ASEAN in 2020. ASEAN leaders affirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea. They also emphasised the need to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in East Sea (DOC) and soon build a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The blocs leaders expressed concerns over land reclamations, recent developments, activities and serious incidents, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region. They reaffirmed the need to enhance mutual trust and confidence, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS. They also emphasised the importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities by claimants and all other states that could further complicate the situation and escalate tensions in the East Sea. Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups 10 member countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam./.VNA Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnam Mission to the UN, has called on the international community to continue providing humanitarian aid for Syria and emphasised the necessity for a consensus on the humanitarian aid issue. Delegates discuss at UN Security Council's regular briefing on Syrian issue (Source: VNA) Addressing the UN Security Council regular briefing on the Syrian humanitarian situation on June 29, Ambassador Quy shared his concern with the councils member states over the worrying situation in Syria. He urged the Western Asian country, the UN and partners to continue stepping up cooperation to make relief goods reach hands of Syrians. The long-term solution to the current crisis is to boost a comprehensive political measure for the Syrian issue on the basis of respecting international law and the UN Charter. Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that prices for food, medicine, fuel and other essentials are soaring, while the Syrian pound has lost more value in the past six months than in the first nine years of war. Inside Syria, more than 11 million people need aid and protection, Lowcock said, adding that more and more infants and children show signs of malnutrition, as mothers say they must rely on food packages because they cannot afford shopping in regular markets. In the statement, Mark Lowcock said that a whole generation of children has known nothing but hardship, destruction and deprivation. He told participants that the UN and its partners are exerting efforts in humanitarian relief and support Syria in dealing with the COVID-9 pandemic./.VNA Nguyen Tu Quang, CEO of Bach Khoa Corporation (BKAV), the manufacturer of BPhone, said BPhone is being attacked by people who receive money from foreign brands. Quang affirmed that the intentional attack to BPhone is well organized and BKAV is preparing to sue the institutions and individuals who give false information about BPhone. BPhone B86, the fourth generation of BPhone, has had mixed opinions recently. Some analysts speak highly of BPhone B86 and praise the effort by the Vietnamese manufacturer, while others point out a lot of flaws of the next generation BPhone. The phone lacks a Play Protect certificate and uses ineffective BMS security software. More recently, on cyber security forums, some said that BPhone arbitrarily sends messages and automatically deducts money from users accounts, or arbitrarily takes photos of users. Amid the repeated criticism, Quang said on a very long post on Facebook that it is being "beaten badly and persistently" by "those who receive money from foreign phone brands". Amid the repeated criticism, Quang said on a very long post on Facebook that it is being "beaten badly and persistently" by "those who receive money from foreign phone brands". There are those who receive money from foreign phone brands and do this (criticizing BPhone). This aims to sabotage Vietnam's smartphone industry. We are taking an investigation into the case and will take appropriate measures to stop this, Quang said. B86 has been selling well thanks to its high quality and technological capability. So many dirty tricks have been played to attack B86, he said. Regarding the criticism that BPhone takes photos behind users backs and saves the photos as hidden .image files, Quang said this is slander. The truth is that the images are created when users access camera setting. The device will take the images on the preview window of the camera to use as a blur background of the Settings interface. This image file wont be used for any other purposes, he explained. The CEO affirmed that BPhone has been attacked for many years and the attacks are well organized. We know that they even created a chatbot that automatically makes 24/7 comments on forums and posts articles to speak ill of BPhone, he said. According to Quang, the attacks are all organized very carefully with a lot of posts, clips and comments on many different forums. Local newspapers accidentally make common cause with them to criticize Vietnam-made products. Quang affirmed that BKAV will sue the institutions and individuals who give false information about BPhone under the Cyber Security Law which took effect on January 1, 2019. BKAV plans to launch a series of new products into the market in July, including two mid-end smartphone models BPhone B60 and BPhone B40, and wireless earphone AirB. Mai Lan Made-in-Vietnam Bphone failed to get Google's certification BKAV's smartphone Bphone B86 failed to reach Google's Play Protect certificate due to Google's demand that at least a million devices be sold each year. Strengthening legislation and communication to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products was the main theme of a dialogue held by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Assemblys Office in Hanoi today. Member of the National Assembly, Vice Chairman of the Office of the National Assembly Pham Dinh Toan speaks at the dialogue in Hanoi on Tuesday. The event is the second in a series of three dialogues organised by the USAID Wildlife Asia project aimed at ending the illegal consumption of wildlife products in Vietnam. The event is a chance for Vietnamese government leaders and conservation experts to discuss how Vietnam can improve its wildlife-related policies and legal system for wildlife management and protection, as well as promote demand reduction activities to enhance wildlife conservation. Since the first high-level discussion in July 2019, robust progress has been made to combat wildlife crime in Vietnam. For example, on January 28, 2020, Vietnam banned the import of wild animals in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. We hope that todays event will bring even more progress, including guidance for comprehensive, focused social and behaviour change communication strategies that will lead to a reduction in demand for illegal wildlife products in Vietnam, said Member of the National Assembly, Vice Chairman of the Office of the National Assembly Pham Dinh Toan. We are pleased that the Government of Vietnam is in favour of introducing effective initiatives to deter wildlife crime and reduce consumer demand. This event is vital to translate political will into action, said USAID/Vietnam Mission Director Michael Greene. International pressure and the COVID-19 pandemic are driving the country to adopt stronger policies and effective consumer demand reduction measures. The wildlife trade is not only pushing wildlife species to extinction, but also spreads zoonotic diseases that threaten human lives and even economic development. Protecting wildlife and their habitats can help prevent future pandemics, and promote global security and sustainable development, said Greene. At the second dialogue, participants focused discussions to promote widespread understanding of the negative consequences of illegal wildlife consumption, showcasing best practices from other countries. Looking beyond awareness raising campaigns, the event championed social and behaviour change communication initiatives that use evidence-based behavioural science to change the consumption habits of target audiences and help reduce demand for illegal wildlife in Vietnam. International conservation experts also shared lessons learnt from other countries and called on the National Assembly to adopt best practices of other governments to counter wildlife trafficking. In recent years, Vietnam has been active in passing legislation to counter wildlife trafficking and the country has one of the most comprehensive legal frameworks in the region. Since the beginning of 2018, Vietnam's amended penal code has strengthened penalties for wildlife trafficking by introducing fines of up to VN15 billion (around US$630,000) and prison sentences of up to 15 years. However, the country continues to be both a destination and transit hub for wildlife products. Recommendations from the dialogues will be compiled into guidance for policymakers in planning and implementing new wildlife-focused legislation and demand reduction campaigns. VNS Wildlife supply chains for human consumption increases coronaviruses transmission risk to people Samples taken from animals in the wild destined for human consumption contain a high proportion of coronavirus, a new study has revealed. Thousands of people have been sent to deal with huge forest fires in two central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh on June 29. Forest fire in Ha Tinh Province on June 29 At 2 pm on June 29, a forest fire broke out in An Phu Commune, Ha Tinh Province and spread to other areas in Son Long Commune. 400 people including the local, police, forest rangers, firefighters and the military were sent out to put out the fire. Due to the terrain and thick vegetation, the fire spread very quickly and caused trouble for the firefighters. 400 people sent out to put out the fire Initial investigations showed that the fire was caused when the locals burnt incense and offerings at Vu Quang Cemetery. The sparks were blown away across a long distance to the Son Tra commune and caused the fire. The fire was still out of control as of the early morning of June 30. Also on June 29, a huge fire broke out in Dien Chau, Nghe An Province. Forest fire in Nghe An on June 29 Over 2,000 people worked to put out the fire, prevent it from spreading and protecting the residents. Over 200 households were evacuated. At 1 am on June 30, the fire was basically under control despite various smouldering spots. The authorities sent employees to monitor the scene to prevent the fire from breaking out again. Another fire broke out in Son Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District, Nghe An Provine on June 26 and spread to three other communes in Dien Chau, Nghi Loc and Yen Thanh districts. It was put under control on June 28 but broke out again. Dtinews The integrated circuit (IC) industry of HCM City has witnessed much development since 2017 thanks to a series of successful products that were able to attract attention of leading experts in the field. Pressure sensor equipment to calculate water levels a product of the IC industry in HCMC (Photo: SGGP) However, lately, there seems to be a decrease in this growth speed, asking the municipal authorities to adjust direction and introduce more practical policies to effectively boost the industry. In the Congress for the 2nd term (lasting from 2019 2024) of HCMC Semiconductor Industry Association (HSIA), nine key programs were approved. They focus on perfecting the Associations structure, ensuring member rights, participating in mechanism and policy preparation stages, training human resources of the IC field, organizing international conferences and contests. In this Congress, HSIA also signed collaboration agreements with Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP) to build an IC board laboratory, with Vietnam National University HCMC to promote IC training programs, and with HCMC Computer Association (HCA) to host major events for HSIA. Other activities aiming encouraging the development of the microchip industry in the city soon followed this event. SHTP Incubation Center and HSIA co-organized a meeting to help hi-tech startups commercialize their products in March 2020 at ITO VN Co. Ltd. This company specializes in manufacturing hi-tech automatic equipment for the electronics industry and has branch offices in 18 nations, and thus being able to aid technological startups to expand their market worldwide. HSIA also connected with Qualcomm Incorporated in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in proposing a suitable mechanism for the growth of the IC industry in HCMC, based on the support of Qualcomms product ecosystem. HSIA then hosted an informal meeting between startups in the microchip industry and DunAn Sensing a company specializing in supplying adapters and pressure sensors to help products enter the market more smoothly. President of HSIA Nguyen Anh Tuan stated that the municipal authorities have whole-heartedly created advantageous conditions for the development of the IC industry in HCMC. What is more, members of HSIA are prestigious and strong businesses that are able to collaborate well with one another for the sustainable growth if this industry. He added that these companies can attract a large quantity of talented human resources via their own partnerships with educational institutes. As a results, their products can easily dominate the domestic market and are intended to enter the international one. Leading enterprises like Sao Bac Dau, Lac Viet, ITO, and SENVI, along with the support of global giants such as IBM and Japanese partners, are planning to form an ecosystem for a close supply chain in order to expand the market more conveniently. We are highly aware of the expectation of the authorities toward our industry since it is identified as the field with a significant growth rate and the foundation for the general development of HCMC, in particular the transformation into a smart city. We also know that our industry need to contribute to addressing current issues of the city, ranging from traffic congestions, urban flooding, air pollution, to infrastructure upgrading. Therefore, HSIA is actively seeking proper development directions to create breakthroughs to fulfill those goals, said Mr. Tuan. SGGP Vien Hong Hanoi offers good opportunities for high-tech agriculture for investors A number of high-tech agricultural projects have been proposed in Hanoi, a trend encouraged by the recent Hanoi investment promotion conference. Patroling the most remote part of Pu Mat National Park to stop illegal hunting of animals and illegal logging is a tough job, but the dedicated members of the local forest task force are up to the challenge. Members of the task force team share simple meals during their days going patrol around the forest. Photo giadinh.net.vn The national park covers Tuong Duong, Con Cuong and Anh Son districts in the central province of Nghe An and has more than 94,800ha of central zone and 86,000ha of buffer zone, housing more than 1,100 kinds of plants, 259 kinds of rare birds and many animals. Special task force The team was founded in May 2018 by Save Vietnams Wildlife with 15 members, most of whom graduated from the Vietnam National University of Forestry. To win a spot on the team you have to be healthy, love the forest and animals and have enough skills to live in the forest for a long time. According to Nguyen Huu Trung, a member of the team, for a patrol trip in the forest, they need to carry medicine, first aid tools and mobile phones because they must come across hundreds of streams. They also have to consider other things like pots, bowls and dishes so that they are as light as possible. Vi Van Dinh, another member, said on the average, each member must carry about 20kg of gear. The teams food is roasted peanuts, dried fish and pork. The pork is fresh for the first few first meals only, and then it gradually gets worse but the team must try to eat because they do not have another source of meat. Once, they brought some chicken and ducks along with them but they were eaten by foxes and weasels. They have their main meals in the morning and evening. For lunch, they often have quick meals with dried provisions or uncooked noodles. Their dinner starts early and at about 4pm, the team sets up tents and prepares for cooking because it gets dark quickly in the forest. Travelling for long days in the forest also brings difficulties. Task force member Loc Van Tao still remembers the day when a member took a false step and fell from a high waterfall into a stream on January 6, 2020. He was unconscious and Tao rushed to the stream to search for his comrade. At that time, all the team was afraid he would die because he had lost so much blood. But the team gave him emergency aid, took turns to carry him on their back to the nearest village and he survived. They also face water shortages during stays in high mountains. They must search for water in small caves and filter it using their shirts. Tran Xuan Long, head of the Pu Mat National Parks Mobile Forest Ranger Team, said the task force was a unique team in Vietnam. "Their work is very hard and dangerous, but they are still brave," he said. For each patrol trip, they spend 10-12 days in the most remote parts of the forest. Miraculous medicines Travelling in the forest, the team often encounters mosquitoes, flies, leeches and snakes. Sometimes they meet big animals such as wild elephants and boars. Le Tat Thanh, head of the task force, said: The animals have never attacked us. Maybe they know we are their friends. We are very sad if we see animals struggle in iron traps. Some of them even die, said Thanh. To prevent this, the team patrols regularly. So far the team has conducted 270 patrols which last thousands of kilometres which they go on foot or by motorbikes. They have removed more than 8,500 traps, destroyed more than 600 tents of forest destroyers and seized 63 shotguns. The team is also on duty at supervision stations around the forest. The forest now has 11 stations and each station has five people on duty. Thanh said that thanks to the regular patrols, there were fewer traps and more animals had come back to the forest. Seeing animals rescued, we forget all our tiredness. We consider it as miraculous medicine for us to continue our journey of protecting the forest and wild animals, he said. VNS The pandemic "is not even close to being over", the World Health Organization's chief says. Image copyrightReuters The worst could be still to come in the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, six months on from when the outbreak began. WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the virus would infect many more people if governments did not start to implement the right policies. His message remained "Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine", he said. More than 10m cases have been recorded worldwide since coronavirus emerged in China late last year. The number of patients who died is now above 500,000. Half the world's cases have been in the US and Europe but Covid-19 is rapidly growing in the Americas. The virus is also affecting South Asia and Africa, where it is not expected to peak until the end of July. Dr Tedros told a virtual briefing on Monday: "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over. "Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up." "With 10 million cases now and half a million deaths, unless we address the problems we've already identified at WHO, the lack of national unity and lack of global solidarity and the divided world which is actually helping the virus to spread... the worst is yet to come," he said. "I'm sorry to say that, but with this kind of environment and conditions we fear the worst." He also urged more governments to follow the examples of Germany, South Korea and Japan, which kept their outbreak in check through policies that included rigorous testing and tracing. What are the worst-affected countries? The US has reported more than 2.5 million cases and about 126,000 deaths with Covid-19 so far - more than any other nation. US states that emerged from lockdown in recent weeks - notably in the south - have been reporting sharp increases in new infections in recent weeks. The spike has led officials in Texas, Florida and other states to tighten restrictions on business again. The country with the second-highest number of recorded cases is Brazil, with a total of 1.3 million, and deaths in excess of 57,000. On Monday a state of emergency was declared in the capital Brasilia, following a surge there. Like most Brazilian governors and mayors, the local authorities in Brasilia eased social distancing restrictions earlier this month and allowed shops to reopen In the UK - the country with the greatest number of deaths in Western Europe -the mayor of Leicester said pubs and restaurants might stay closed for two more weeks due to a spike in cases. Restrictions in the rest of England are due to be eased at the weekend, with pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and hotels allowed to reopen. BBC In the message to the Catholic Press Association during the Catholic Media Conference, Francis writes that Only with that gaze can we effectively work to overcome the diseases of racism, injustice and indifference that disfigure the face of our common family. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis sent a message to this year's Catholic Media Conference (30 June-2 July), organised by the Catholic Press Association. The event was held via teleconferencing for the first time, centred on the topic Together While Apart. In his message, the pontiff notes that the pandemic is evidence of how essential the media are in keeping people united, but only if they are "capable of building bridges, defending life and breaking down the walls. The theme of the conference expresses the sense of togetherness that emerged, paradoxically, from the experience of social distancing imposed by the pandemic. [. . .] Indeed, the experience of these past months has shown how essential is the mission of the communications media for bringing people together, shortening distances, providing necessary information, and opening minds and hearts to truth. What is more, our communities count on newspapers, radio, TV and social media to share, to communicate, to inform and to unite. E pluribus unum the ideal of unity amid diversity, reflected in the motto of the United States, must also inspire the service you offer to the common good. We need media capable of building bridges, defending life and breaking down the walls, visible and invisible, that prevent sincere dialogue and truthful communication between individuals and communities. We need media that can help people, especially the young, to distinguish good from evil, to develop sound judgments based on a clear and unbiased presentation of the facts, and to understand the importance of working for justice, social concord and respect for our common home. We need men and women of conviction who protect communication from all that would distort it or bend it to other purposes. The Holy Father ends his message calling on the Holy Spirit to help people in media. Only the gaze of the Spirit allows us not to close our eyes to those who suffer and to seek the true good of all. Only with that gaze can we effectively work to overcome the diseases of racism, injustice and indifference that disfigure the face of our common family. Through your dedication and daily work, may you help others to contemplate situations and people with the eyes of the Spirit. Where our world all too readily speaks with adjectives and adverbs, may Christian communicators speak with nouns that acknowledge and advance the quiet claims of truth and promote human dignity. Where the world sees conflicts and divisions, may you look to the suffering and the poor, and give voice to the plea of our brothers and sisters in need of mercy and understanding. The Department of Information and Communications of central Da Nang city on June 29 commissioned a hotline to support the protection of children and adolescents from sexual abuse. At the launching ceremony (Photo: VNA) The call centre, No. 1022, will receive all information regarding child protection as from the launching day, while providing consultations for parents regarding cyber child sexual abuse. The hotline was established on the basis of a project on safeguarding children and adolescents from cyber sexual abuse by the World Vision International in Vietnam and the End Violence Against Children (EVAC) Fund. Statistics from the Criminal Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security showed 2,643 cases of sexual violence against children were reported in 2017-2018. But it was only the tip of the iceberg as a lot of cases have gone undetected or the victims and their families failed to report the cases to authorities./. Children should be protected from violence and sexual abuse While efforts are being made to prevent violence against children, much more work still needs to be done. Whether to maintain schools for the gifted is an annual topic of discussion among many parents. The Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted has announced its enrollment plan for the 2020-2021 academic year, which says students must get a 10 score for nearly all subjects and a 9 score for one subject over the last five years at primary school to be eligible to apply to the school. The Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted The students who meet the strict requirements will be shortlisted and will have to attend an entrance exam to the school. Hang, a parent in Ba Dinh district, said she has doubts about the 10 score requirement. My cousin last year got a GPA at 10, but he had only a 3 score when attending the entrance exam, she said. On education forums, many parents have criticized the schools enrollment policy. The Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted has announced its enrollment plan for the 2020-2021 academic year, which says students must get a 10 score for nearly all subjects and a 9 score for one subject over the last five years at primary school to be eligible to apply to the school. Why does the school set such overly high requirements? a parent asked. Are they education establishments that create excellent students or are they establishments which only receive excellent students," another parent said. Meanwhile, many other parents said that the existence of the schools for the gifted creates social inequality, and others complained that the high requirements put a heavy burden on students. Everyone understands that students wont pass the exam to the school if they dont attend extra classes to review for the exam, a parent wrote. As such, only the students born in well-off families can go to private tutoring classes to review for exam, while poor students cant. So, I can say that schools for the gifted are just the playing fields for the rich," he explained. Ha My, a parent in Hoang Mai district, admitted that her daughter began preparing for the entrance exam to the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the gifted when the girl entered the first grade. My daughter began learning English at the age of 4. She practices speaking and listening with native speaker teachers, and grammar as well. She also goes to mathematics and literature classes, My said. According to My, the cost for 12-week English course is VND5 million and she has to pay VND20 million a year for the childs English courses. The total amount of money she has spent on English learning has reached VND160 million over the last six years. While many parents are against the existence of schools for the gifted, My and others believe that the schools give more opportunities to excellent students to promote their talents. The graduates from schools for the gifted clearly gain bigger success in their lives than the graduates from other schools, My said. Kim Chi HCM City has 16 more high schools to be develop advanced library The HCM City Department of Education and Training plans to build modern libraries at 16 more high schools under a programme that provides preferential loans. Ex-policeman Joseph DeAngelo terrorised Californian communities in the 1970s and 80s. Joseph DeAngelo Image copyrightReuters Joseph DeAngelo, the man known as the Golden State Killer, has admitted to 13 murders in a deal with US prosecutors meant to spare him the death penalty. DeAngelo, who was a Californian police officer during his crimes in the 1970s and 80s, was arrested in 2018 after his DNA was found via a genealogy website. The hearing in Sacramento took place in a large university ballroom, to allow for victims and families to attend. He also admitted to numerous rapes, burglaries and other crimes. DeAngelo, 74, is expected to be sentenced to life in prison in August at a second court hearing, where people hurt by his crimes will be allowed to read victim impact statements. The sentencing is expected to be the culmination of a crime investigation that began in the 1970s and attracted worldwide attention. DeAngelo's crimes stretched across the state of California and led to nicknames such as the Visalia Ransacker, the Diamond Knot Killer, the Original Night Stalker and the East Area Rapist. Officials only later realised the crimes were all the work of one man. The former police officer, Vietnam War veteran and auto mechanic was arrested in April 2018 after police tracked him down by matching his DNA with a genealogy website. Investigators created a family tree dating back to the 1800s in order to identify him as a suspect. Detectives followed him and collected a piece of rubbish he had thrown away, finding the same DNA recovered from several crime scenes. Since then he has been kept in isolation in a Sacramento jail. Prosecutors from the six counties where his crimes were committed agreed to hold Monday's hearing at the Sacramento State University auditorium, which can seat 2,000 people, to allow for social distancing. During Monday's hearing, DeAngelo and his lawyers wore plastic face shields to prevent the spread of coronavirus. He was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair and used a cane. Prosecutors noted his crimes had all taken place between 34 and 45 years ago and called the geographical scope "simply staggering". During the hearing, he was forced to say "guilty" to all his crimes and "I admit" to offences for which he had not been charged. Sacramento County prosecutor Thien Ho said that after he was arrested in 2018, and left alone in an interrogation room, DeAngelo began speaking to himself, seeming to address a person within that he could not control. "I did all that," DeAngelo said, according to Mr Ho. "I didn't have the strength to push him out. He made me. He went with me. It was like in my head, I mean, he's a part of me. "I didn't want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I destroyed all their lives. So now I've got to pay the price." However, prosecutors have expresses scepticism over whether DeAngelo's words and actions are authentic, noting he once faked a heart attack after he was sacked from a job for shoplifting. BBC The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has proposed establishing a travel bubble with a number of safe countries post COVID-19 to welcome back foreign travelers to Vietnam by the end of July. The CAAV proposes that if the 'travel bubble' plan is approved, foreign travellers arriving in Vietnam are required to abide by regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control A travel bubble is a corona corridor or a free travel zone between countries that have brought the novel coronavirus pandemic under control for 30 straight days. The Vietnamese government, for the time being, has now permitted foreign specialists, business executives and highly skilled workers to come back and work in Vietnam, in an effort to reboot the economy. However, in its proposal, the CAAV wants the government to open the door for even foreign travelers from safe countries to resume tourism services, providing they meet certain conditions. Accordingly, passengers should stay in a country in the corona corridor for at least 30 days before boarding a flight to Vietnam. Passengers who transit through a third country will not be accepted. Moreover, they should present an immune passport a certificate indicating they test negative for the virus three days before their flight. Upon arrival in Vietnam, passengers will be required to undergo a quick test at the airport and will subsequently be quarantined for 14 days at a paying facility according to regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control. According to CAAV director Dinh Viet Thang, several airlines of Taiwan (China) have proposed resuming flights to Vietnam, while local airlines are also ready to reopen international flights. The CAAV recommended the Ministry of Transport report to the Prime Minister to consider the plan which it believes will help stimulate the hardest hit tourism market in the post coronavirus period. At the June 24 Government meeting, the Prime Minister said Vietnam is not yet to reopen the door for foreign travelers to nip in the bud a possible recurrence of the virus. He only proposed increasing the frequency of flights to bring investors, experts, skilled workers to Vietnam, as well as to send Vietnamese people abroad to work and study if they are allowed by that country. Vietnam has brought the COVID-19 epidemic under control with no new locally transmitted infections detected for the past 74 consecutive days. VOV A tour of Hoa Lo Prison Relic at night will be launched from July 24, according to the administration board of the tourist site. The tour of Hoa Lo Prison Relic at night is not recommended for children under 16. Photo courtesy of Hoa Lo Prison Relic The tour is being organised with Hanoitourist Travel Company to offer more experience to travellers but it is not recommended for children under 16. It is part of activities to attract tourists throughout the country and stimulate domestic tourism that has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As one of the points within the tourism stimulus package of Hanoi City, Hoa Lo Prison Relic will open until night. It is expected to be the first success on overcoming the effects of the pandemic on domestic tourism, said a representative of the administration board of Hoa Lo Prison. In the 45-minute journey backwards in time, visitors will witness the harshness of the colonial region during the wars in Vietnam, the noble sacrifice of the national heroes and see the special spiritual space dedicated to the gratitude for the predecessors. The space within the relic at night will utilise both light and sound effects to awaken visitors emotions and senses. Each visitor will be presented with a gift of spiritual value and symbolic meaning of the relic. Tours exploring Hoa Lo Prison at night will be conducted from 7pm every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from July 24. For more information about the tour and ticket purchase, please contact the Facebook page of Hoa Lo Prison Relic (https://www.facebook.com/hoaloprisonrelic) or by calling 0825112668. Hoa Lo Prison is a special historical relic of Hanoi, built by the French colonists in 1896 to imprison Vietnamese patriots. Called Maison Centrale, it used to be one of the biggest prisons of French colonialism in Indochina at that time. The space within the Hoa Lo Prison Relic at night will utilise both light and sound effects to awaken visitors emotions and senses. Photo courtesy of Hoa Lo Prison Relic Many patriots, revolutionary leaders of Vietnam, were captured in Hoa Lo prison, such as Phan Boi Chau, Luong Van Can, Ho Tung Mau, Nguyen Luong Bang, and five General Secretaries of the Party including Nguyen Van Cu, Truong Chinh, Le Duan, Nguyen Van Linh and Do Muoi. From August 5, 1964, to March 31, 1973, part of the prison was used to capture American pilots who were shot down during bombing raids against North Vietnam. In this period, the prison was euphemistically called the Hanoi Hilton by the prisoners in detention. Alumni of Hoa Lo include Douglas Peter Peterson, who later became the first US Ambassador to Vietnam, and John McCain, the late US Senator. In 1993, the Government retained a part of Hoa Lo Prison to transform into a historical relic. This part located in southeast of the prison was preserved, renovated and upgraded. Here, there is a memorial monument in dedication to the Vietnamese patriotic and revolutionary fighters. VNS Hoa Lo prison set to launch unique night programme The Management Board of the Hoa Lo Prison relic site have announced plans to start a unique programme aimed at providing tourists with a unique experience when learning about the colonial prison, with the scheme set to run from July 24. WATERLOO An estimated 40 to 50 gravestones, some dating back more than a century, were damaged in an overnight vandalism spree at Elmwood Cemetery. Its very devastating historically and for the respect of families, said Joe Fox, the cemeterys manager, as he surveyed the overturned stones. They toppled some huge markers. It would take two or three adults to cause some of this. To do that many, and that many large ones, they had to of really intentionally wanted to come out and do some damage, he said. A small, weathered stone for a 2-month-old baby named Allen who died in the 1800s appears to have been punted, resting about five feet from the infants burial spot. Fox said Allen was one of two children found buried on the Hanna Settlement property off of University Avenue years ago during a building project, and they were re-interred at Elm-wood. Thankfully, Allens marker remained intact. Others were shattered. Some of these old ones that are in pieces, sometimes we cant get those fixed, Fox said. Crews were working at Elmwood until about 10 p.m. Monday, and workers discovered the damage on Tuesday morning, Fox said. Statewide All information from the Iowa Department of Public Health, except where noted. The total number of people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus since testing began in March 2020. Hospitalized patients with COVID-19: 133 (+14) Patients admitted in last 24 hours: 25 (+6) Hospitalized in intensive care units: 34 (-1) Hospitalized on a ventilator: 20 (+2) Recoveries: 23,111 (+5400) As of June 30, IDPH now classifies anyone not hospitalized or deceased after 28 days to be recovered. Deaths: 714 (+5) The total number of people whose deaths were attributable to the novel coronavirus since IDPH began tracking such deaths in March 2020. Positive serology tests: 2,299 (+18) The Federal Aviation Administration test flights over the next three days will evaluate Boeings proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the Max. This is the software called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System that activated erroneously on two flights that crashed, killing 346 people. Since the second accident in March 2019, the jet has been grounded. Planned Parenthood asked for a temporary injunction while this case is further litigated. Sixth Judicial District Judge Mitchell Turner questioned Ogden on that timing. According to the information he said he read about the bill, he didnt know if abortion was mentioned in the title before 10:18 p.m. that night. The bill passed the Iowa House 40 minutes later. It went to the Iowa Senate and passed about 4 a.m. without public debate. Most Iowans were probably asleep by then, he noted. Ogden said its not uncommon that bills are passed at the last minute. Turner noted there were other abortion bills introduced in the 2020 session that were subject to public debate but none passed. He said it seemed like lawmakers didnt want to pass an abortion bill. Ogden said this one may have been a higher priority than the others. But legislators knew a similar bill was struck down two years ago. The judge said it now gave him pause because he would be telling the Iowa Supreme Court it got that decision wrong. Airswift has formed a joint venture with Source of Asia (SOA) in Vietnam as it targets growth in the offshore wind sector. Based in Ho Chi Minh City, SOA will provide on-the-ground support to Airswifts candidates and clients working in the regions burgeoning offshore wind market. Charles Pfauwadel, VP Asia at Airswift comments: Vietnams 3,200km long coastline means theres huge potential for the country to be a leader in offshore wind. With more than 70 projects slated for development, there is a significant opportunity to develop the local economy and decarbonise its electricity supply. Together with SOA, we believe our local knowledge and extensive network can help wind developers and the country achieve these goals. Airswift has more than 20 operational locations across the region, including its delivery centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and one of its three corporate hubs in Singapore. Globally, the company now has over 60 fully interconnected offices. Thierry Mermet, CEO at SOA adds: Vietnam is a booming market, but it can be increasingly complex for companies to navigate how to operate here from visas and immigration to relocation services. From working with Airswift on projects over the last 18 months, we believe we can be a catalyst to ensuring the country has the very best talent to unlock the value of offshore wind. The ever-increasing electricity consumption, averaging 10% a year during the past decade and dependence on imported fossil fuels, has made Vietnam search for additional clean sources of power generation in its upcoming 10-year power development plan (PDP8). With over 3.000 km of coastline and some of the best offshore wind conditions in South East Asia, Vietnam is at the forefront of most coveted prospective offshore wind markets. For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here . At the African-American Shakespeare Company (AASC), Julius Caesar isn't a Roman dictator, he's a West African warlord. A Midsummer Night's Dream doesn't take place in the forested fairylands outside Athens but amid a raucous Carnaval celebration in the West Indies. And Cinderella? She's not a down-on-her-luck white woman but an extraordinary Black one, who finds not just her prince at the end of the fairytale, but her voice, too. Twenty-five years ago, these types of productionsclassic plays reframed in ways that spoke to the Black community and their experiencessimply didn't exist. Although the theater industry was slowly beginning to grapple with issues of diversity on stage, the classics were too opaque, too elitist, too emotionally and experientially distant to draw many Black people to their productions. "I would call myself the only chocolate chip in the audience," laughs Sherri Young. In African-American Shakespeare Company's production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' Hermia and Lysander are portrayed by Black actors Antonette Bracks and Ryan Marchand. (Jay Yamada) Young, who founded the African-American Shakespeare Company in 1994 and has served as its executive director ever since, understood the disconnect. She felt the same way once, too. "I had a hate-love experience with Shakespeare," she explains. "Hate came first." Like many people, Young first encountered the Bard during her freshman year of high school, through the tale of Romeo and Juliet. And like many teens, she found reading the play painful, an experience guided by an unskilled teacher who focused on the play's objective facts, not its powerful emotions. Even years later, after she had become a professional actorYoung trained at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)she still had her doubts about the classics. "Everyone would say 'oh Shakespeare's wonderful and Shakespeare's this and Shakespeare's that' and 'only the well-trained actors could ever do it, you can't do it because you're not really well trained,'" she remembers. "I hated that because it kind of negated in my mind that, well, does that mean if you [don't do Shakespeare] that you're not a well-trained actor?" After she graduated from A.C.T., Young's perspective began to shift. As an actress, she had been made to feel that she didn't have the chops to perform Shakespeare, but instead of internalizing the critique, she turned the narrative on its head. She would break Shakespeare and the Greek classics out of a prison of fuddy-duddy elite expectations and re-frame them through the cultural competency of the Black community. The productions put on by her company wouldn't just pay lip service to diversity, they would move the needle to build greater equity in the theater. Young mounted her first Shakespeare production with just a credit card, a 60-seat theater, and a little help from fellow A.C.T. actors in 1994. The sold-out two-night showcase was well received but it didn't generate the kind of funding that AASC needed to really get off the ground. It would be another decade before Young could quit her job in finance to run the company full time. In 2009, she was able to hire the acclaimed actor L. Peter Callender as artistic director and AASC came into full bloom, drawing new, diverse audiences to classic theater and providing opportunities for actors of color to hone their skills with the works of cherished classical and American playwrights. "If you really want diversity, you've got to change the cultural perception of who's telling the story, and who's in it, and where the locations are, and what kind of music are you listening to, and what kind of costumes are you wearing, and whose icons are you looking at, and what character parallels images from my community," says Young. It's how Julius Cesar ended up being set in West Africa and A Midsummer Night's Dream in the West Indies. "We find ways to parallel the different communities of the African Diaspora," she explains. After 25 years of productions, the space AASC has carved out within the theater world has been embraced by diverse members of the Black community. "Our audience, they feel very powerful for just being part of our theater company," says Young. "They're really just in awe that we've dared to do something and be in a space that we weren't really supposed to be in originally. We're showing up in plays that we normally haven't been invited to, and we're showing up in a way where we're unapologetic." Actors Devin Cunningham as Prince Charming and Funmi Lola in the title role of AASC's 'Cinderella'. (Lance Huntley) While the AASC continues to put on Shakespearean and Greek classics annually, in recent years they have expanded their focus to also include American classics like Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Fairy tales also show up on the AASC stage. Every holiday season since 2015, Young has directed the company's popular production of Cinderella. "A lot of Black girls are ignored, not elevated, and watching Disney movies you just didn't see us. So I wanted to do a show that spoke to the positivity of young Black girls. Cinderella is a favorite because there aren't a lot of family shows for Black youth to see," says Young. The AASC is empowering off stage, too, with drama workshops oriented towards Black youth. Showing up consistently with programs that are embedded in the community is one way the company is working to build equity both on the stage and behind the scenes. While workshops are on hiatus due to COVID-19, Young continues to look for ways to keep youth engaged at home while simultaneously supporting artists who are temporarily on out of work, offering those they work with the opportunity to develop activities for youth to do at home or in a classroom setting. As for the company's performances, those are on hiatus too, at least for now. In the meantime, Young and her team are moving to an online platform, putting together a documentary to celebrate their 25th anniversary, and planning for the 2021-2022 season, which will include The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams' Glass Menagerie. In commemoration of Juneteenth, AASC released a video of artistic director Peter Callender interviewing Selma actor Colman Domingo and, soon, they'll also be offering a new play-reading program featuring contemporary playwrights and works on-demand. "With every thorn there are roses and I think that there are going to be more opportunities for artists to have space to create," says Young. "So I'm looking forward to seeing where we're going down the road as a community, a society and an industry." // Partial and full season subscriptions are available ($60-$100, african-americanshakes.org; follow on Instagram at @aa_shakes. Getty Images En espanol | Fireworks shows, blow-out backyard barbecues, and cannonballs off the diving board are just some of the hallmarks of a typical Independence Day celebration. This year is a little different. Some fireworks displays are canceled due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, and social distancing discourages big bashes. But we all need a bit of celebrating right now and there are still lots of ways to enjoy the July 4th holiday, whatever mode of quarantine you're practicing. "We can't necessarily celebrate the same way we have in the past, says Mariah Leeson, who runs GigglesGalore, a lifestyle blog to help families create celebrations on a budget, but everyone is looking for a ray of sunshine and something memorable." Here are some ways to make the Independence Day weekend festive. Go all in on patriotic decor Start with displaying the American flag to show your patriotism. We've got the advice you need to properly display the Stars and Stripes with respect. For starters, never let the flag touch the ground. But decorations don't have to stop with the flag. Napkins, tablecloths, streamers and bunting in red, white and blue can amp up the celebratory feeling. Same goes for front-door wreaths, candleholders and mason jar lanterns. You can make many of these yourself. Flowers are a great way to brighten up a gathering, says Shayla Copas, of Little Rock, Arkansas, the author of Four Seasons of Entertaining. Tropical flowers or red roses paired with blue hydrangeas and some variety of flowers boost the patriotism factor. Don't forget your own red, white and blue. Stick with the theme, with a spangled hat, T-shirt, accessories or even just clothes that match the colors of the day. "We don't want to lose that sense of having a party, Copas says, even if it's a scaled-down version. We've got to make things as special as we can going through this." Pawleys Island, S.C. The skinny barrier island boasting wide, serene sands is low-key compared with better-known Myrtle Beach 25 miles to the north. Connected to the mainland by two small causeways, Pawleys is nicknamed arrogantly shabby for its unpretentious oceanfront houses that can be rented for multigenerational getaways. For centuries, the area has appealed to low-key Southern gentry, including former vice president Al Gore. Summer residents and day-trippers get in their 10,000 steps striding up and down four miles of sand backed by dunes and sea oats. Take home a locally made rope hammock. The Democratic governor didnt put a timeline for when the restrictions might be lifted, saying at a news conference that the reopening will be delayed until we get a better handle on where this surge is coming from and make sure that we nip it in the bud so it [coronavirus] doesnt return. Lura Roti South Dakota Farmers Union With more than 6,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Dakota, theres a chance you may know someone who has been impacted by the disease. But theres also a good chance you dont. So, South Dakota Farmers Union reached out to nurses who not only know rural community members impacted by COVID-19, but they also have some suggestions on how to protect you and those you love from this highly contagious virus. Donni Van Santen, Sioux Falls Theres a photo of a flight nurse walking toward the Avera helicopter hanging on the wall where Donni Van Santen and the other members of the flight team prepare to provide emergency care across the state and region via helicopter and airplane. It says, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, who will go for them? I said, here I am Lord, send me, shares Van Santen. If we ever forget why we do what we do, we are quickly reminded. I love being able to help save lives and be the light to brighten someones possibly worst day. And as the base supervisor in Sioux Falls for Careflight, the registered nurse says she also appreciates the fact that no two flights are the same. I enjoy the autonomy and variety of flight nursing. On a typical flight, it is myself and a partner. We make decisions together just the two of us. Because of the nature of emergency care, Van Santen says once they land, she and her partner typically rush to the patient. It is in our blood and our nature to rush into the hospital room or scene of an accident because if we are called, things are really bad, and they need our help. With COVID, they make sure to slow down long enough to put on appropriate protective gear first. Her fast-paced workdays do differ a bit from the work underway on her familys Blue Mound Dairy Farm near Luverne, Minn. Also essential workers, her husband, Brad and his brothers are the third generation to operate the dairy. They milk around 1,000 cows three times a day. What is your advice to farmers like your husband and brothers-in-law? Dont let your guard down. If you get sick, and you cant work for two weeks, what does that look like on your farm? Just because COVID may not be in our community, or you are hearing less about it, does not mean it is any less serious. Wear your mask. Follow CDC guidelines. Practice social distancing and stay home if you are sick. If wearing a mask or practicing social distancing when you are in a public space is not something you feel comfortable doing for yourself, do it for those your care about family, neighbors and friends. It is possible to spread COVID and not know you have the virus. Because of COVID, I cancelled my annual physical. Is it safe to go to the doctor for preventative care? Yes. Special measures have been put into place in hospitals and clinics to protect patients. And although some procedures, like colonoscopies and mammograms were put on hold for a period of time, you can schedule them now. One more thought. Its OK to not be OK. Unfortunately, we have seen quite a rise in suicide rates. This is a scary time. If you are struggling with what is going on with the ag economy and additional stress from COVID, there is help. Please reach out to the Farm & Rural Stress Hotline: 1-800-691-4336. Natalie Bartel, Wessington Springs When Natalie Bartel first heard about the COVID-19 pandemic in China, her first thoughts were, I hope it doesnt get here. Unfortunately, it did. To date, there have been 40 cases in Jerauld County. Some have been severe enough to land in the rural, at Avera WesKota Memorial Hospital. At first Bartel was nervous. However, the hospital protocols and personal protective equipment eased her fears. If a patient is positive, or possibly positive, for COVID, they stay in a negative pressure room so that the virus doesnt escape into the rest of the hospital. Nurses who care for COVID patients are provided with a special forced-air hood and other protective equipment. I think were doing an excellent job taking care of our patients in our little hospital, but also we are vigilant about protecting the staff, she explains. Patient care is what Bartel appreciates about her work as a nurse in a rural hospital. I enjoy taking care of the people in my community. I know them and I care about them. Nursing is the career Bartel chose because she knew she wanted to live and work in a rural community and she knew there would always be a need for healthcare workers. She grew up on a farm and married a farmer. Together with her husband, Josh, the couple run a cow/calf herd and grow corn and soybeans. Natalie says nursing is also a career that provides her with the flexibility she needs with three young children and a husband working long, farmer hours. I work about five night shifts a month, so it works out pretty well because I can take a nap in the afternoon and on those days Josh can typically get home to take care of the girls when I need to leave for work a little after 6 p.m. Whats your advice? Its important when you are out in the community that you practice social distancing. If everyone would wear a mask, I think that we would see a reduction in the number of cases. I know its not the cool thing to do and its not convenient. But this isnt forever. This too shall pass. If you run errands, keep hand sanitizer in your vehicle so you can clean your hands before you go home. Washing hands is a really simple thing to do. But it can make all the difference. What if Im young and healthy, do I still need to be careful? You need to think about the people youre coming in contact with. So, it might not just be you. It might be your elderly mom who has heart disease, or even a neighbors child that has asthma COVID could really affect them in detrimental ways, so you have to consider your loved ones too and make sure that youre protecting them as well as protecting yourself. Hannah Sumption, Aberdeen The other day, Hannah Sumption, a licensed practical nurse, was having a conversation with a patient about the pandemic and the patient said, I am OK if the Lord gives it to me, if that is what happens. In the meantime, he has also given me all the supplies and information I need to take care and not get it. Educating patients on how to protect themselves is something Sumption takes seriously and enjoys. Especially now with the pandemic, there is fear, I like to educate people, because fear can take over the mind so quick and cause people to jump to conclusions, explains Sumption, who works for Sanford Aberdeen Clinic in the Internal Medicine Department. If people are educated and know about the disease, they will know how to protect themselves. Also, with all the media attention, people dont know what to believe to make the right decision. As a nurse, patients know the information we give them comes from a credible source. Educating others was always part of Sumptions career plan. She just thought she would do it as an agriculture communicator. Growing up on my familys farm, I love agriculture and I want to tell everyone about what we do, she says of her familys Frederick crop and livestock operation. As she began to explore career options her senior year of high school, her sister, Haileys career as a nurse, inspired her to look at pursuing a degree in the medical field. She visited Mitchell Technical Institute and met with the nursing instructors. Her decision was solidified when she received a full ride, Build Dakota scholarship. It really helped my decision that I got my LPN degree paid for and knowing I would always have a stable job. Nurses are always needed in rural areas. Sumption was only six months into her first job when the pandemic broke. At first, like many of her patients, she was nervous. The most nerve-wracking thing about it is what we dont know about it. Today, what she does know about the virus does not inflict fear. It empowers her to protect herself, the patients she serves and the family she loves. In addition to the usual clinic work checking vitals, assisting with procedures and giving immunizations and other shots, Sumption is also a member of the COVID testing team. As she swabs patients, she wears a disposable gown, glove, mask and face shield. Even when she is not at work, Sumption is careful. She avoids congested shopping areas, washes her hands frequently and does not touch her cell phone while she is grocery shopping or running other errands. I am careful because we are a close-knit family and I am most afraid of giving it to my grandparents, because statistically, they cant fight it as well as the rest of us can, Sumption explains. My advice to my family is, dont freak out about it. Take precautions and wash your hands. What other advice do you have to share? Even when you get together with family, be smart about it. Dont be hugging on people. Wash your hands. Maybe, dont use public restrooms. Being in the open air helps. If you can have an outside gathering that is best and keep the numbers down. What about going to bars and restaurants? I get if you want to go to the local bar because you have not been there in a while. But keep your distance. Wash your hands. I would not recommend bar hopping or drinking too much because alcohol suppresses the immune system. Mary Jo Nemec, Pierre As a high school senior, Mary Jo Nemec ran into one of her friends filling out an application to attend Pierre School of Practical Nursing. Because she didnt have any solid plans after graduation, she decided to follow her friends lead. Funny thing is, I went and finished, and she ended up not going. Although happenstance is how she began her nursing career, Mary Jo Nemec has been very intentional about its progression. Throughout her 40-year career, she has periodically returned to school to pursue advanced nursing degrees. Today, she is a nurse practitioner and works for South Dakota Urban Indian Health. I enjoy working with people. I have never been attracted to management positions. I just want to do patient care and work one-on-one with patients. Toward the beginning of the outbreak, Nemec actually thinks she contracted the virus, but there was not any testing to confirm. So, she quarantined for a month. I had a sore throat, but I did not have strep. I had a fever, felt short of breath, fatigue and body aches. Now back in the clinic, she says personal protective gear makes her feel safe to interact with patients and continue doing the work she loves. When she is not with her patients, she continues to wear a mask whenever she is around anyone other than her husband, Nick, who farms near Holabird. We got together with our children for Mothers Day. We ate outside and sat around 6-feet apart with our masks on and visited, she explains. What are your recommendations for farm and ranch families? Wear a mask wherever you go. Wash your hands. Be careful where you go. Look around. If someone is walking toward you without a mask, stay away from them as much as possible. And I would not go into a big crowd. What about getting together with friends and family? Social distancing outside is fairly safe. Wear your mask. Be more than 6 feet apart. And limit your contact with people. Elisa Sand esand@aberdeennews.com Two men received multi-year prison sentences in separate cases, one involving rape and the other sexual contact with a child under the age of 16. Derek E. Simmons, 24, of Aberdeen pleaded guilty to rape and was sentenced to 15 years in prison with five years suspended. He received credit for seven days served. He was fined $104. According to court documents, the incident was in August 2015. The victim was 16 at the time. David L. Stewart, 46, of Aberdeen pleaded guilty to felony sexual contact with a child under the age of 16. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years suspended and given credit for 94 days served. He was fined $1,907 and ordered to pay $5,120 in restitution. According to court documents, the incident was between April 2017 and April 2018 when the victim was 10. Gun discharged at officer Jasten R. Casey, 16, of Aberdeen pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault for firing a gun at a police officer who was conducting a welfare check at Caseys home. Casey, who was charged in adult court, pleaded guilty, received a 10-year suspended prison sentence and was placed on probation for five years. He was also fined $907. Brown County States Attorney Ernest Thompson said officers were called to Caseys house for a welfare check and, while they were knocking on the window to get inside, Casey fired a shot out the window before shooting and injuring himself. The officer was not injured. Thompson said due to the nature of the charge the case started in adult court. He said his office sought a longer term of probation to ensure Casey receives the mental health care he needs. In other recent court news: Global Teaming Agreement with Samsung re 4G/5G Public Safety Sydney, June 30, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Etherstack plc ( ASX:ESK ) has entered a global teaming agreement with Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) to deliver next generation Mission Critical Push To Talk (MCPTT) over LTE solutions to telecommunications carriers and governments across the globe, utilising Etherstack's digital LMR (Land Mobile Radio) softswitching technologies embedded within Samsung's advanced network solutions.The partnership combines Etherstack's two decades of experience in digital LMR and Push to Talk softswitching with Samsung's latest mobile network offerings to carriers for public safety communications used by first responders such as police, fire and EMT (ambulance) officers.Etherstack is the world's leading licensor of wireless technologies for the LMR industry and the Company develops wireless products for the main digital radio communications standards known as APCO P25, TETRA and DMR. Over the past 25 years, over twenty wireless equipment manufacturers have licensed LMR technologies from Etherstack for use in their products.MCPTT over LTE is an emerging cellular standard that provides public safety grade PTT (Push-To-Talk) solutions within 4G and 5G cellular networks. Demand for MCPTT services and equipment by telecommunications carriers and end user agencies has been steadily growing in the past few years and is expected to rise rapidly over the next 36-48 months.Samsung Networks is a pioneer in the successful delivery of 4G and 5G end-to-end networks solutions. Its advanced solutions are used by mobile carriers across the globe and Samsung continues to expand its presence in Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, United States and more.Senior Vice President and Head of Product Strategy, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics, Wonil Roh, said, "We recognised Etherstack's unique technologies and experience in the global LMR market, so they were the obvious choice to partner with in the MCPTT market. Etherstack's global footprint in mission critical markets and innovative technologies, as well as its commitment to open standards, will allow us to deliver premier solutions to the world's mobile carriers for MCPTT".Etherstack CEO, David Deacon, said, "Etherstack has been quietly working with Samsung over the past twelve months developing secure and efficient solutions to integrate public safety networks used by first responders to next generation cellular networks. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with this global leader to solve via innovation and existing Etherstack standards-based technology the intractable interoperability problems that have plagued the LMR industry for decades. In Samsung, we have a partner committed to open standards-based solutions for the LMR industry."About Etherstack Plc Etherstack (ASX:ESK) is a wireless technology company specialising in developing, manufacturing and licensing mission critical radio technologies for wireless equipment manufacturers and network operators around the globe. With a particular focus in the public safety, defence, utilities, transportation and resource sectors, Etherstack's technology and solutions can be found in radio communications equipment used in the most demanding situations. The company has Research and Development facilities in London, Sydney, New York and Yokohama. Appointment Of New Chairman Perth, June 30, 2020 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) wishes to advise that Mr Peter Bilbe will step down as Chair of the Company effective 1 July 2020 due to other work commitments, but will remain an Independent Non-Executive Director of Horizon.Non-Executive Director, Mr Ashok Parekh, will assume the role of Chair, serving alongside Mr Bilbe and Managing Director Mr Jon Price. All terms and conditions for Directors remain unchanged.Commenting on the transition of role of Horizon Chair, Mr Parekh said:"On behalf of the Horizon team, we would like to thank Peter for his invaluable contribution as Chair during his three and a half years and look forward to his continued active involvement as the Company moves into an exciting growth phase.""Together our Board has extensive corporate and mining industry experience, particularly in the West Australian Goldfields where we are aiming to build Horizon into a new mid-tier gold producer."About Horizon Minerals Limited Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed. Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline. Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage. The positivity-rate figure Hopkins includes in its daily reports is consistently higher than that of the state. The difference comes from the data used in the calculations. Maryland officials calculate the positivity rate as the number of positive tests divided by total testing volume over a seven-day period. Rather than the total testing volume, Hopkins uses the number of people tested, or the combination of new cases and people who tested negative, and arrives at its figure by dividing the number of new cases by the number of people tested. Prior to the pandemic, between 15 and 16 million U.S. students out of 50 million total lived in a household that lacked either Internet access, a digital device, or both, according to a new report from Common Sense Media. The same was true for between 300,000 and 400,000 public school teachers, or slightly less than one out of every ten nationwide. The majority of those 15 to 16 million studentsbetween 55 and 60 percentlacked both an internet connection and a digital device, the report says. These significant gaps call for a massive investment from the federal government, the report argues: The cost of closing the digital divide for K-12 public school students ranges from $6 billion to $11 billion in the first year, and up to an additional $1 billion for teachers. Those numbers exceed ed-tech groups demands this spring for federal relief on digital divide issues. The report adds statistical context to the challenges many educators witnessed during several months of school shutdowns for COVID-19 this spring. Some teachers were forced to work in school parking lots or empty buildings because they didnt have access at home, leading to some arguments that schools ought to pay for teachers at-home internet usage. A complex tangle of federal and state regulations prevents some jurisdictions from expanding Internet access, and states have been working on creative approache s to addressing the issues. Heres a bit more on whats in the full report, which is also available here . How did Common Sense Media get these numbers? The organization synthesized existing federal, state, and school district data, as well as information from surveys and company press releases. What are the caveats to keep in mind? Its notoriously difficult to reliably gauge Internet access gaps in the United States, thanks to incomplete data collection from the Federal Communications Commission . The pandemic adds another wrinkle: With increased attention on Internet access gaps, some service providers have stepped in to offer temporary service to households, and many school districts have scrambled to meet students digital device needs . The precise scale of the digital divide is constantly in flux. It also doesnt account for nuances like three-child households where children have to share devices during the school day, or technical glitches that keep the internet service from running consistently at its maximum capacity. Access to a device and an Internet connection do not guarantee that learning can efficiently, reliably occur. How do these numbers break down along geographic and demographic lines? The states with the lowest proportion of adequately connected students are concentrated in the southern and western parts of the United States in Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Those states have a high concentration of rural areas or tribal lands, which generally struggle for broadband access. All 50 states, though, have a substantial percentage of residents who arent adequately connected for remote learning. Heres the breakdown of broadband access by race: White: 18 percent of households with at least one K-12 student lack connection Latinx: 26 percent Black: 30 percent Native American: 35 percent What at-home setup qualifies as viable for remote learning? The report breaks down the adequately connected distinction into four categories: High-speed broadband access Access to an internet-enabled device Instructional content Support from teachers and counselors Households that have access to cellular networks but not broadband service count as adequately connected, but schools should keep in mind that those services often come with limits on the amount of data users can access monthly, according to the report. What should schools be doing now? The report urges policymakers to rapidly invest billions of dollars toward closing the digital divide and providing more access to technology for students, as the possibility of widespread remote learning this fall and beyond continues to loom . In the meantime, the report urges districts to make a three- to five-year plan for how theyll expand technology access over time, whether switching from hotspots to lower-cost broadband options, or scaling up the supply of digital devices. Education groups ought to team up to find ways for districts to share resources and help improve their communities infrastructure using collective power. Part of that is acknowledging the ways non-white students, rural students, and low-income students bear the brunt of the gaps in technology access. This is an opportunity to rethink how to support students and families to weather the crisis, and level the playing field between those with full access and those without, the report says. Image: Getty I want to thank everybody who made this possible, especially my wife of 55 years who I met here on the College Park campus. Weve been together ever since, Miller said in the release. This is our home away from home and I am very grateful for this honor. WENN Celebrity The 'Harry Potter' author initially expressed her delight upon learning that the King of Horror re-tweeted her post about violence against women in response to Lloyd Russell-Moyle's apology. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - J.K. Rowling appeared to remove a Twitter post praising American author Stephen King after he told his followers that "trans women are women" over Pride weekend (June 27-28). The 72-year-old found himself being branded a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) when he re-tweeted posts made by the 54-year-old "Harry Potter" author, relating to violence against women. On Sunday, Rowling shared a series of posts in response to an apology from British politician Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who accused the author of "using" her domestic violence experience as "justification for discriminating against" the transgender community, after she questioned the idea that "sex isn't real" in a series of tweets that LGBTQ+ activists condemned as transphobic. Addressing Russell-Moyle's apology following his Tribune magazine article, Rowling released a series of tweets relating to violence against women. "Andrea Dworkin wrote: 'Men often react to women's wordsspeaking and writing-as if they were acts of violence; sometimes men react to women's words with violence.' It isn't hateful for women speak about their own experiences, nor do they deserve shaming for doing so," she penned, with King later retweeting the post. J.K. Rowling addressed Lloyd Russell-Moyle's apology. While she appeared delighted to receive support from a fellow writer, later adding, "I've always revered @StephenKing, but today my love reached... new heights," and insisting she "won't ever forget the men who stood up when they didn't need to," fans weren't so forgiving. As a backlash grew, one fan tweeted King to ask: "You should address the TERF tweet. By telling us constant readers if you believe trans women are women." He replied: "Yes. Trans women are women." A fan demanded Stephen King to address the TERF tweet. Rowling subsequently appeared to have deleted her tweet praising the "Carrie" author. WENN Celebrity Michael Johnson, the President of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County, is delighted that the wife of Prince Harry has also agreed to play motivational speaker for young girls in the Wisconsin area. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, has given a morale boost to a biracial teen who was allegedly set alight in a brutal hate crime in Wisconsin. The former "Suits" star connected with Althea Bernstein in a 40-minute phone call on Saturday, June 27, to offer her support to the 18-year-old, who was in her car when she was reportedly targeted by four white men in a racially-charged attack last week. Meghan's husband, Britain's Prince Harry, also briefly joined the chat to share a few words of encouragement for Althea, according to Michael Johnson, CEO and President of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, who helped to put the trio in touch. In an interview with local news outlet Channel 3000, Johnson, who has been speaking out on behalf of Bernstein, revealed the Duchess encouraged the youngster to avoid the negativity on social media and focus on her own wellbeing. "(Bernstein) and Meghan talked about the importance of self care and allowing herself to heal," he said. The mother-of-one also expressed her desire to "stay in touch" with Bernstein, who was thrilled with the royal call. Discussing how Bernstein has been coping in the aftermath of her attack, he explained, "She's struggling. It's a challenge for her; it's very, very emotional. I talked to her three or four times today, and I'll tell you, Meghan lifted her spirits." And the Duchess has even offered to play motivational speaker for young girls in the Wisconsin-area Boys & Girls Clubs, addressing kids in a virtual town hall, which Johnson plans to set up in the coming weeks. "As I heard her, I thought, 'She has to talk to more kids,' and I'm thankful she agreed to do it," he explained. Police are still investigating the attack on Bernstein, who claims she was called a racial slur by a white man while she was stopped at a red light. She was then sprayed with what is thought to have been lighter fluid, as a lit lighter was hurled at her. Bernstein suffered burns to her face, but was able to put out the rest of the flames. WENN/Avalon Celebrity The 'American Idol' host has been caught on camera soaking up the sun accompanied by a woman, who bears a striking resemblance to his chef ex, during a getaway in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - Ryan Seacrest is back on the single market. More than one month after wishing Shayna Taylor a "happy third anniversary" during an episode of "Live With Kelly and Ryan", the daytime TV host went public with the news that he and his on-and-off girlfriend have once again called it quits. In a statement to the press, a representative for the 45-year-old noted that the former couple "decided to end their romantic relationship amicably some time ago." His rep further added, "They remain good friends, each other's biggest supporters and will always cherish their time together as a couple." The split confirmation came after Daily Mail released a series of photos that saw the "American Idol" host being joined by a mystery blonde during his June vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Most of the pictures displayed the two soaking up the sun on a sun lounger in a resort. One in particular captured them holding hands. E! News reported that Seacrest took private jet along with real estate mogul Mike Meldman and a group of friends to catch up on some rest in Cabo San Lucas. As for his time there, an inside source told the publication, "He spent the whole time with his new lady at their private villa." Describing Seacrest's getaway as a "romantic" one, the insider went on to spill, "Ryan looked relaxed and was able to just sit and chat. He didn't have his phone or computer around and was very attentive and always having deep conversations with his new girl." The source added that the pair later left Cabo San Lucas together. Seacrest was first linked romantically to Taylor in March 2013. They went separate ways in late 2014, but reconciled in 2016. Three years later, the pair broke up in February, and got back together by September. In May 2020, Seacrest touched on their relationship during an episode of "Live With Kelly and Ryan". At the time, he declared, "I just want to say happy third anniversary to Shayna. It is our third time together. So we've gotten together, broken up, gotten together, broken up. This is No. 3 of being together." Instagram Celebrity The 'Die Another Day' star adopted Charlotte, who lost her battle with ovarian cancer in 2013, back in 1980, while he was married to her mother Cassandra Harris. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - Pierce Brosnan has honored the memory of his adopted daughter, Charlotte, on the seventh anniversary of her death. Charlotte lost her battle with ovarian cancer in 2013, aged 42. The "Die Another Day" star adopted her in 1980, while he was married to her mother Cassandra Harris, who also succumbed to cancer in 1991. The Irish actor took to Instagram on Monday, June 29, and shared an image of himself enjoying the sun at his home in Hawaii, adding the caption, "Here's looking at you kid... in remembrance of Charlotte and with happy birthday wishes for my darling Marley May." Marley May is the daughter of Brosnan and Harris' son Sean Brosnan, 36. He also adopted the late actress' son Christopher, 47. Brosnan has been married to Keely Shaye Smith since 2001. The pair share sons Dylan Brosnan, 23, and Paris, 19. WENN Celebrity Along with TV writer Kenya Barris and CNN contributor Van Jones, the 'Happy' hitmaker and the comedienne seek to ensure the day marking the end of slavery becomes a fully paid holiday. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - Pharrell Williams is leading a host of stars launching The Juneteenth Pledge campaign to ensure the day marking the end of slavery in the U.S. becomes a fully paid holiday. Pharrell, Ellen DeGeneres, TV writer Kenya Barris and CNN contributor Van Jones launched the initiative on Monday, June 29, partnering with international advocacy organisation Global Citizen and global CEO advisory firm Teneo. Their formal campaign builds upon similar calls for states to mark the holiday the "Happy" hitmaker made when Juneteenth was celebrated on 19th June, as African-Americans poignantly marked the 155th anniversary of the last slaves in Texas being emancipated. In a press release announcing the new campaign, Pharrell says: "I love America for its progression, but I'm really in love with the untapped potential of this country." "It was incredible to have powerful minds come together and really listen and be open to celebrating Juneteenth as a paid holiday. These companies influence which way the wind blows, they influence the economy and this was a very meaningful step in the right direction." Ellen adds: "This is a time to be on the right side of history. As a white person I cannot do enough. My wish is for everyone to join together in this fight." The pledge calls on companies to not only declare Juneteenth a paid holiday for U.S. employees but also to identify a relevant day in international offices to recognise the emancipation of enslaved people in other counties, as well as supporting education for their employees teaching them to respect all cultures. It will also include a social media campaign backing efforts in the U.S. Congress to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Companies that have already agreed to the pledge include Adidas, Airbnb, Amblin Partners, Greensill, HP, Participant, The J. M. Smucker Company, Starbucks, and Under Armour. Celebrity Graham Linehan, who also created 'The IT Crowd', has had his account shut down by app officials after his reaction to a Pride Month message on the Women's Institute page drew complaints. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - "Father Ted" co-creator Graham Linehan has been banned from Twitter after violating the social media platform's "hateful conduct" policy with comments deemed offensive to the transgender community. The Irish writer, who has hit headlines in the past for his transphobic views, had his @glinner account shut down by app officials on Saturday (June 27) after drawing complaints with his reaction to a Pride Month message on the Women's Institute page, which paid tribute to its trans members. "Men aren't women tho (sic)," Linehan wrote in response. The post led Twitter bosses to boot the 52-year-old from the site altogether, with a representative confirming: "The account has been permanently suspended after repeated violations of our rules against hateful conduct and platform manipulation." The news was welcomed by LBGTQ supporters and equal rights activists, with British transgender model Munroe Bergdorf personally applauding the swift action. "As someone who Graham Linehan repeatedly abused, I am happy that today @twitter is a little bit safer for all trans people," she shared. "Transphobia is not an opinion, it is not 'free speach', it is violent, toxic and harmful." Munroe Bergdorf applauded Twitter for permanently suspending Graham Linehan's account. The suspension of Linehan, who also created U.K. sitcom "The IT Crowd", comes as Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling continues to draw criticism for questioning the idea that "sex isn't real" in a series of recent tweets that LGBTQ activists condemned as transphobic. The project also included plans to redevelop City Dock, estimated to cost $50 million, most of which would go to improving infrastructure designed to cope with sea-level rise and increased flooding. The redevelopment would be paid for, in part, by a resilience authority that would issue and sell bonds. A new state law authorizing creating of the authority goes into effect Wednesday. WENN/DJDM Celebrity Local politicians demand a rebranding of the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana over comments the late actor made about the black, Native American and LGBTQ+ communities in a 1971 interview. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - John Wayne's son is appalled by demands to remove the movie icon's name from an Orange County, California airport over his alleged ties to racism. Local politicians have called for a rebranding of the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana over comments the late actor made about the black, Native American and LGBTQ+ communities in a 1971 interview with Playboy magazine. During the chat the "True Grit" star reportedly said, "I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people." He also said he felt no remorse in the subjugation of Native Americans, sharing, "I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them... Our so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival." Wayne also used a homophobic slur. But Wayne's son, Ethan Wayne, insists his father was not a racist, stating, "I know that term is casually tossed around these days, but I take it very seriously. I also understand how we got to this point." "There is no question that the words spoken by John Wayne in an interview 50 years ago have caused pain and anger. They pained him as well, as he realised his true feelings were wrongly conveyed... He did not support white supremacy in any way and believed that responsible people should gain power without the use of violence." And recalling the death of George Floyd last month (May), which sparked the recent Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality, Wayne's son adds, "He would have pulled those officers off of George Floyd, because that was the right thing to do. He would stand for everyone's right to protest and work toward change." Instagram Celebrity The 'Live Your Life' hitmaker will be a special guest for Dr. Melva K. Williams' class wherein undergraduate students will learn all about the origin and culture of the rap style. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - Rapper/actor T.I. is joining the faculty at Georgia's Clark Atlanta University to help teach a course about the hip-hop subgenre of trap music. The "Live Your Life" hitmaker will be a special guest for Dr. Melva K. Williams' Business of Trap Music class, during which undergraduate students will learn all about the origin and culture of the rap style, which began emerging in the U.S. South in the late 1990s, when T.I. was first embarking on his professional music career. "I am excited to be partnering with Clark Atlanta University in my hometown - Atlanta," he shared in a statement, as he celebrated the "innovative approach" to providing an education "beyond the traditional textbook curriculum" adopted at a number of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), like CAU. School president George T. French Jr. added, "In higher education it is important that we challenge, empower and equip our students with the proper resources to excel." "I believe the best way to do this is to understand their culture and create life-long experiences that will not only motivate our scholars but present them with opportunities to help them become globally competitive." The first Business of Trap Music classes will begin this autumn. Instagram Celebrity During an appearance on Nick Viall's podcast 'The Viall Files', the star of 'The Hills: New Beginnings' also expresses her frustration over having to put label on her sexuality. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - Kaitlynn Carter will never again put her relationship under public scrutiny. Nine months after calling it quits with ex-girlfriend Miley Cyrus, the cast member of "The Hills: New Beginnings" opened up about the lessons she learned from their headline-grabbing romance and breakup. On Monday, June 29, the 31-year-old made an appearance on Nick Viall's podcast "The Viall Files", and noted that she is now keeping things to herself. "What I've really realized is now with dating, I'm super private about it. Since last fall, once that whole situation [with Cyrus] came to a wrap, I was like, 'That's the last time I'm doing a public thing,' " she stated. Carter went on to confess that she and Cyrus did actually try to stay away from the spotlight when they were together. "We actually did work pretty hard to keep it as private as we could, but it is what it is," she admitted. "It's so hard to go through a breakup in the public eye too It's so rough. But there's also a lot to be gained and learned from that." During the chat, the ex-partner of Brody Jenner revealed that she is dating again without going into further details. "With the person that I've been seeing recently, I'm trying to take it really slow and make sure that everything is in place," she spilled. She additionally stressed, "We're not boyfriend/girlfriend." When touching on the subject of her sexuality, Carter stated that she "doesn't put any pressure on herself." Pointing out that she is equally attracted to bot men and women, she confessed, "I do think it would be kind of fun to explore that side of myself more. [But] If I meet a man first that I want to be with long-term, I'm not going to put that off because I want to try dating a woman." Expressing her frustration at the labels others put on relationships, Carter stated, "I do feel there's this attitude when someone dates a woman one time that maybe it was just an experiment. People will put that on you. I don't think the labels are what matters." She added, "A relationship with a woman is so different than a relationship with a man. It's a very different dynamic." Carter and Cyrus sparked romance rumors in August 2019 after the two were caught locking lips during their Italian getaway. They ended their whirlwind romance by September. A few months later, she addressed their brief fling in an essay for Elle magazine. "I fell just as hard for her as I had the older man so many years before," she noted. "While it (romance) was short-lived, I'll remain eternally grateful to my most recent relationship for opening my eyes to this unexplored part of myself, and for inspiring a new level of self-discovery and wonder at all the possibilities of life," she continued. "I've been forced to get to know myself in a far deeper way than ever before, and not just in terms of my sexual preferences. I've also been forced to reckon with who I am as a person." WENN Celebrity After handing out similar amount to aid those fighting racial injustice, the Deadpool star and his actress wife offer to help fund the leadership initiative in Nova Scotia. Jun 30, 2020 AceShowbiz - Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are handing out more summer cash - this time to a leadership initiative for indigenous women in Nova Scotia. The couple recently donated $200,000 (162,500) to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense Fund to aid those fighting racial injustice, and now the actors have offered up the same amount to the St. Francis Xavier University's Coady Institute in Reynolds' native Canada to help fund the Circle of Abundance, which aids indigenous women seeking leadership roles. "We're so happy to support the incredible work of the Coady Institute's program with Indigenous Women," a statement from the pair reads. "We're blown away by the conversations we've had and the work they do and look forward to joining them on this journey." The donation comes as Canada's National Indigenous History Month comes to a close on Tuesday, June 30. Instagram Celebrity In an Instagram video, the VH1 reality star gets candid about the pain of going through a public breakup, claiming that she was never 'in a real relationship' before this one. Jul 1, 2020 AceShowbiz - Tokyo Vanity is officially single, but she may not be ready to mingle. Months after speculation about the end of her romance with BC Jay, the "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" star has decided to get honest with her fans about her relationship status and confirmed that she has broken up with her boyfriend. On Monday, June 29, Tokyo posted an Instagram video to confide with her followers about the pain of going through a public breakup. "Moment of transparency: IM SINGLE," she wrote in the caption. "I won't lie outside of being single I'm hurt, human, and healing." Despite having been romantically to a number of other guys before, the raptress claimed she was never in "a real relationship" before she was with BC. "I've never been through a public break up, because I've never been in a real relationship outside of this one despite contrary beliefs," she shared. She went on asking people to stop rubbing salt into the wound, pleading, "So there's no need to send me things that's my ex post or others post thank you." To her haters who may say bad things about her video, she preemptively shut them down, "And before y'all get to trolling and laughing at me if you don't care this video isn't for you it's only for my curious followers and fans who wanted to know ... thanks." Tokyo and BC reportedly first met in spring 2019. The two would often capture their moments together and share them on social media, including Instagram and TikTok. However, earlier this year she hinted that their relationship had turned sour after she deleted many of her posts featuring BC. Tokyo also posted several tweets that alluded to her recent experience with heartbreak. "You say you love me but you leavinggggg meeeeee," she tweeted on April 3. She additionally posted on April 11, "I only been in love once ... lol anything I thought was love wasn't ." An Ohio couple say they were shocked and disappointed when they opened their ready-made pizza to see pepperonis arranged in the shape of a reverse swastika Saturday. "Things like this are keeping hate alive in this world," Jason Laska told CNN. "We all need the exact opposite of that right now." Laska said he was on his way home from his mother-in-law's house when he stopped to pick up dinner for his family. He says he grabbed a "hot and ready pizza" from the warmer at Little Caesars in Brook Park, Ohio, about 14 miles south of Cleveland. He got home, ready to dig in when the couple opened the box and say they found the symbol on their pizza. "We were literally silent for a few moments," Laska said. "Misty (his wife) asked me if I had ordered it and they had to make it and they gave me that on purpose thinking they were targeting me because they stereotyped me or something." Laska said he tried to call the store prior to 10 p.m., close to closing time, but says their line was busy. "That's when we posted to social media, wanting to express our anger and show our family and friends what kind of place it (Little Caesars) was." Two employees admitted responsibility and were immediately terminated, Jill Proctor, a Little Caesar Enterprises spokeswoman, told CNN in a statement Monday. "We have zero tolerance for racism and discrimination in any form," Proctor said. "We're deeply disappointed that this happened, as this conduct is completely against our values. We have also reached out to the customer to discuss this personally with him." While he says he's glad Little Caesars reached out to him and acknowledged the wrongdoing by taking swift action, Laska said he isn't entirely satisfied, but hopes the former employees learned a valuable lesson through the ordeal. "This is an example of what needs to change in our world," he said, "And we hope that people start to realize that and use their time to make those changes and not blast us for trying to do it." CHICO, Calif. Officers are searching for a suspect who they say robbed the Self-Help Federal Credit Union at gunpoint Monday morning. Chico Police Officers arrived at 221 Pillsbury Rd. just before 11 a.m. Monday due to a reported armed robbery. A man entered the credit union, approached a teller, removed a handgun from his waistband, and demanded money, according to the police. The suspect was given cash and then left the scene on foot. Detectives with the Chico Police Department are investigating the robbery and asking anyone with information to contact them at 530-897-4900. At this time, no description of the suspect was provided. REDDING, Calif. - The Redding Police Department is working to find a missing person who they say left the Shasta County city on June 19 for Nevada but never made it. Redding officials say the family of Jered Stefansky reported him missing on June 21, saying he left Redding two days earlier around noon to go to Carson City, Nevada for a business transaction. Stefansky, though, never arrived in Carson City and since that Friday, his friends and family say they have not been able to get in touch with him. Since first being reported, the Redding Police Department Investigations Division has been conducting follow-up and working with other agencies to try and find Stefansky. Stefansky is described as a white man about 5'7" and weighing 135 pounds, with short black hair and green eyes. He was last seen wearing dark grey shorts and a loose beige tank top. The 26-year-old left Redding driving a blue 2019 Nissan Versa bearing Washington license plate BNR0354. If you have any information about where he might be, please call the department's investigations division at 225-4200. Police investigating after car crashes into entrance of Big 5 Sporting Goods Chico Police say a car crashed into the entrance of Big 5 Sporting Goods on Mangrove Ave. just after midnight. Employees of the Big 5 confirmed that someone stole items from the business. Action News Now is working to find out if the driver of the crashed vehicle was the one responsible for the theft. Last day to apply for Paycheck Protection Program Today is the last day to apply for financial assistance through the small business association's Paycheck Protection Program as of late Friday, the Small Business Association had approved more than 4.7 million loans, worth nearly $518 billion. Applications must be submitted for participating lenders by 11:59 Tuesday Eastern Time or 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Cal Fire to conduct 249-acre controlled burn in Tehama County Cal Fire Tehama - Glenn Unit will be conducting a controlled burn of 249 acres of vegetation. The burning starts around 4 p.m. - and goes until 4 a.m. Wednesday morning - in the area of Highway 36 east from Stice Road to Paynes Creek Bridge. This burn is to reduce fire fuel and provide crews with fire training. Expect plenty of emergency vehicles in the area so use caution. Redding Police looking for missing 26-year-old Police are searching for a man missing out of Redding last seen June 19. Officers say 26-year-old Jared Stafansky left for a trip to Carson City, Nevada for a business transaction. His family told investigators Stafanski never arrived at his destination. Stefansky was driving a blue Nissan versa with a Washington license plate. Glenn County among 19 counties on the states coronavirus watch list State health representatives say they are monitoring Glenn County. A spokesperson for California Public Health says the increase in cases is due to contact between people in households, social gatherings, local businesses, and a church gatherings. The state is also giving new guidance to the county to increase contact tracing and testing -- and develop a process to handle incoming cases. The US has 4% of the world's population but 25% of its coronavirus cases More than 126,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus and surging infection numbers in many states are putting a pause on the country's reopening. Arizona is the latest state to roll back its reopening. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called on President Trump to issue an executive order mandating masks. Top health officials testify on safe reopening amid COVID-19 pandemic Dr. Anthony Fauci is testifying Tuesday before a Senate committee about the federal response to the pandemic. Dr. Fauci is one of four doctors expected to testify during the hearing. The committee chair says he will ask Dr. Fauci what the federal government is doing to address virus hotspots. Click here to watch it live. Rise Above Aerial Arts, located in Slayton House in Columbia, held an Open House introducing students to the fine art of Pole Dancing, Saturday June 19, 2021. Godrej & Boyce (G&B), the RPG Foundation and FromU2Them today announced a new partnership with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), to support an online platform - Milkar for Mumbai - bringing together local government, NGOs, citizens and corporate partners to ensure that the ongoing city-wide food relief distribution efforts are data-led, aligned and focused. Milkar for Mumbai will enable concerned Mumbaikars to support food relief efforts. Individual donations will be matched 5X by Milkars corporate partners like G&B, RPG Foundation and ATE Chandra Foundation. Donations can be made on Milkar.org. which has been built in association with the crowd funding platform Ketto. Speaking at the launch of this important initiative on Thursday, June 27, 2020 the Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Uddhav Thackeray said, In these uncertain times, food security is very important for those left most vulnerable by the Covid-19 pandemic. I would like to congratulate all the stakeholders - large corporates, NGOs, BMC and Mumbaikars - on the occasion of launching Milkar for Mumbai - an online platform that will help provide food safety to those vulnerable over the long-term in Mumbai and I hope every Mumbaikar will donate to this noble cause where every rupee raised will be matched five times by corporates. Mr. Anant Goenka, MD & CEO CEAT Tyres said, We, at RPG Foundation are grateful to the BMC and to the Government of Maharashtra for giving us the opportunity to support this unique initiative. With Milkar, we aim to feed the many people that are going hungry due to the Covid 19 crisis. We urge everybody to come forward, contribute generously to ensure that every person in Mumbai city is free from hunger and can live with dignity. Ms. Nyrika Holkar, Executive Director, Godrej & Boyce said, We believe Milkar is a great example of Mumbais stakeholders collectively making an impact during a time of great adversity. We would like to thank the Honble Chief Minister and members of the BMC for supporting the innovative Milkar model to enhance the efficiency of ration distribution in Mumbai. With Milkar, we aim to empower all Mumbaikars to play their part to ensure the food safety of those at-risk in a transparent and sustainable manner. We hope that this platform can evolve into a sustainable crowd-funded initiative, with engaged Mumbaikars, to tackle urgent civic issues like access to healthcare, sanitation, education, upskilling and re-skilling in a focused manner. Mr. Kunal Kapoor, Founder, Ketto said, We at Ketto are proud to be part of a unique initiative like Milkar. Its the first of its kind in various aspects. Never before have I seen the BMC, corporates and so many NGOs coming together to help those in need especially when the world is battling with the COVID-19 crisis. The corporates matching five times the funds that have been donated by the general public is another example of what makes Milkar so unique. We are looking forward to helping and touching more lives through this initiative. The platform, Milkar for Mumbai (Together for Mumbai) will aim to: - Unite and focus food and grain distribution relief efforts in Mumbai through a transparent online platform which provides real time and authentic information of families who require food assistance. - The Milkar platform is supported by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, to give real time data on the citys urgent Food & Grain needs, while the NGOs will use the individuals donations, multiplied 5X by corporate partners to source, package and distribute food and grain to a list of pre-determined beneficiaries. - Pratham, FromU2Them, Magic Bus, Yuva, Akshaypatra, International Association for Human values, Cry, and Salaam Mumbai are some of the NGOs who will be responsible for implementing and for fundraising to support the relief work on the platform. - The Milkar platform maps the ration requirement across all 24 wards of Mumbai. The need is represented on a map of Mumbai, empowering individual citizens to donate by selecting a ward in the city and the NGOs working in those wards. By enabling all stakeholders to work with a common data set of beneficiaries. Milkar will enhance the efficiency and efficacy of ration distribution. - Corporate partners like Godrej & Boyce, the RPG Foundation and others will boost all Individual donations five times on the platform. The 5x multiplier has never been done before and is a first of its kind in India. The objective of the platform is to engage with Mumbaikars and civic society to crowd-fund and encourage online donations to help vulnerable communities across the city. Rail Transport Commission RailCom Berne, 30.06.2020 - From 1 July 2020, the Railways Arbitration Commission RACO will be known as the Rail Transport Commission RailCom. The entry into force of the Rail Infrastructure Organisation (RIO) bill means that RailCom will acquire additional responsibilities as well as a new name. As a result, RailCom will therefore see an expansion of its supervisory activities as regards non-discriminatory access to the Swiss rail network. Non-discriminatory access to the rail network enhancing the powers of the regulatory authority Railway Reform 1, which entered into effect in 1999, obliged rail transport companies in Switzerland to manage their infrastructure and transport divisions separately from a financial and, in part, organisational point of view. This created a basis for the introduction of free network access, since which time rail infrastructure operators have been obliged to grant all rail companies non-discriminatory access to their rail network. RailCom adjudicates complaints and initiates investigations ex officio if there is reason to suspect that access to the network is being impeded or granted on a non-discriminatory basis. Since mid-2016, the operators of cargo handling facilities combining transport and railway sidings subsidised by the federal government have also had to grant non-discriminatory access and are therefore subject to RailCom supervision. RailComs new responsibilities The entry into force of the Rail Infrastructure Organisation (RIO) bill on 1 July 2020 will further extend RailComs remit. In particular, RailCom will acquire new responsibilities in the following areas: Prime contracting: Prime contracting is where the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) transfers the performance of a superordinate task by assigning a mandate to what is known as a prime contractor. The contract setting out this mandate is published. The prime contractor is commissioned to take on the mandate (such as the development of a technical system) on behalf of several companies concerned. It must ensure that it fulfils this mandate in a non-discriminatory manner. If a prime contractor violates the principle of non-discrimination in the performance or exercise of its mandate, the companies affected may submit a complaint to RailCom. As of 1 July 2020, RailCom will adjudicate on such disputes between the companies involved and the prime contractor and may independently conduct investigations ex officio within the framework of its responsibility for market surveillance. Participation rights: From 1 January 2021, infrastructure operators must grant the rail companies and railway sidings concerned the right of participation in the short and medium-term planning of investments on their network. This means that the infrastructure operators are obliged to publish their investment plans periodically and to consult the rail companies and sidings. The infrastructure operators must provide companies wishing to exercise their right of participation with the necessary information on the projects in their investment plans. Rail companies or railway sidings may submit a complaint to RailCom if their right to information and participation is infringed. RailCom is responsible for enforcing the non-discriminatory participation process and may independently initiate ex officio investigations within the framework of its responsibility for market surveillance. Access to the last mile in freight transport by rail: The principle of non-discrimination already applies to access to cargo handling facilities combining transport and railway sidings that are co-financed by the federal government. As of 1 July 2020, this principle will be extended to short-distance haulage, i.e. to serving the last mile. Companies which provide trains, wagons or rakes of wagons between the rail infrastructure and railway sidings or combined cargo handling facilities must provide this service on a non-discriminatory basis. RailCom monitors non-discriminatory short-distance haulage and adjudicates on any complaints lodged in this regard. RACO to become RailCom From 1 July 2020, the Railways Arbitration Commission RACO will be renamed Rail Transport Commission RailCom. This independent agency has been active since 1 January 2000 and is based in Bern. Its members are chosen by the Federal Council. RailCom comes under the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) for administrative purposes, as do the regulatory authorities ElCom, ComCom and PostCom. Address for enquiries Railways Arbitration Commission RACO Christoffelgasse 5 3003 Bern Patrizia Danioth Halter, RACO Chair Tel. +41 58 467 41 05, info@ske.admin.ch Publisher Rail Transport Commission RailCom https://www.railcom.admin.ch/en/welcome/ Swiss Federal Office of Energy Bern, 30.06.2020 - The Confederation increases the exploration grant for the deep geothermal pilot project of Geo-Energie Suisse AG at Haute-Sorne (Canton Jura) from around CHF 64 to 90 million. This will support additional measures to minimise earthquake risks. The geothermal power plant will have a maximum capacity of 5 megawatts and will produce electricity for around 6,000 households from geothermal energy stored in granitic rock. The pilot project in Haute-Sorne intends to demonstrate the technical feasibility of enhanced geothermal systems in Switzerland and, at a later stage, to enable this technology to be used in other parts of Switzerland. In September 2019, the SFOE had already awarded the project in Haute-Sorne an exploration grant of at most CHF 64.1 million. In February 2020, Geo-Energie Suisse AG submitted an application to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) to increase the exploration grant to cover additional measures that will further reduce the risk of damaging earthquakes. These additional measures were recommended by the Swiss Seismological Service (SED). Last year, the Canton of Jura commissioned the SED to review a report of Geo-Energie Suisse AG on earthquake risk management for the Haute-Sorne Project. Geo-Energie Suisse AG had to prepare this report in the follow-up of a damaging earthquake triggered in November 2017 by stimulation measures in a geothermal energy project in South Korea. The currently valid cantonal permit requires that the seismic risk management to go beyond the state of the art. This includes analysing events in other projects and, depending on the results of the analysis, making adjustments to Geo-Energie Suisse AGs risk management. In their report submitted to the Canton of Jura in January 2019, Geo-Energie Suisse AG concluded that their fundamentally different stimulation concept and corresponding risk management plan for Haute-Sorne did not warrant an adaptation based on the findings from the South-Korean events. The SED expert analysis on the Geo-Energie Suisse AG report was published by the Canton of Jura at the beginning of April 2020. In it, the SED confirms that the measures envisaged for the management of earthquake risks (use of seismometers in shallow boreholes) are in line with the recognised state of the art and meet the strict requirements of the cantonal permit to ensure safety. The SED recommended additional measures that go beyond the current state of knowledge and technology. These measures have an innovative and pilot character, as they are not yet used in enhanced geothermal energy projects. Geo-Energie Suisse AG intends to implement the recommendations of the SED in order to further reduce the risk of damage from earthquakes. This will lead to additional costs totalling around CHF 43 million. Specifically, the additional measures are: Installation of seismic monitoring systems directly in the boreholes Networking data from a range of safety systems in one control system Stress measurements in the subsurface to better estimate the magnitude of any earthquake A 3D seismic survey to identify earthquake-prone faults in the region of the reservoir Novel design of well stimulation to predict required pressures and stimulation fluid volumes The application by Geo-Energie Suisse AG was examined in detail by a group of experts mandated by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). The group of experts certified that the project planning is of high-quality, which now includes everything humanly possible to reduce the earthquake risk as far as possible. Based on the expert opinion and the importance of deep geothermal energy for the implementation of the Energy Strategy 2050, the SFOE has now increased the geothermal energy exploration contribution of Geo-Energie Suisse AG by around CHF 26 million to CHF 90 million. Payment will be made in stages, depending on the progress of the work. If the Canton of Jura revokes the permit, which is legally valid and has been confirmed by Switzerlands highest court, the Federal Tribunal, the Confederation will stop the subsidy payments and oblige Geo-Energie Suisse AG to unwind the project as quickly as possible. Address for enquiries Marianne Zund, Head of Media + Political Affairs SFOE, 058 462 56 75, marianne.zuend@bfe.admin.ch Publisher Swiss Federal Office of Energy http://www.bfe.admin.ch Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 30.06.2020 - Many countries are facing a severe shortage of ventilators. Access to this life-saving technology is critical for people with breathing difficulties, such as patients suffering from COVID-19. The FDFA is therefore making a humanitarian contribution to the production of simple and affordable ventilators. Through start-up financing, it is supporting an ETH Zurich project to produce cost-effective ventilators in Ukraine which will also be accessible to emerging and developing countries. On 30 June 2020 Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis and Ukraine's ambassador to Switzerland, Artem Rybchenko, signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining the terms of the start-up funding. According to aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Central African Republic has only three ventilators for a population of five million. The UN has reported a severe shortage of such equipment throughout all of Africa. ETH Zurich has therefore launched a project to produce ventilators simply and cheaply using, for the most part, standardised components that are locally available. The first large batch of such devices is to be produced in Ukraine. They will initially be delivered to health centres and first aid posts in Ukraine, where demand is high, and may subsequently also be exported, for example to developing countries. Such ventilators can be used not only to treat the symptoms of COVID-19 but also for a wider range of needs, for example in outpatient clinics. This allows the high-end ventilators to be reserved for critical patients. The FDFA considers this a humanitarian project and is therefore providing CHF 1.5 million in start-up funding to support the production of low-cost ventilators. This contribution will be made through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). On 30 June Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis and Ukraine's ambassador to Switzerland, Artem Rybchenko, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Bern setting out the criteria for the start-up funding. "This project is an example of science diplomacy," said Mr Cassis. "It also demonstrates the potential of cooperation with the scientific community for sustainable development." In developing these ventilators, for example, ETH Zurich is using open source academic data, thereby saving on research and development costs. This project illustrates the effectiveness of the FDFA's cooperation with other actors in sustainable development. Within the Tech4Good programme, the FDFA is working with industry and science worldwide to promote innovative technological approaches and thereby increase their effectiveness. Increased engagement with the private sector and academia is also one of the priorities of Switzerland's international cooperation strategy for 202124. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53 Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 30.06.2020 - Over the past decade, the war in Syria has resulted in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Continued fighting and violations of international humanitarian law are impeding the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid. At the fourth Brussels conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region co-chaired by the EU and UN on 30 June, Switzerland announced that in 2020 it would allocate CHF 61 million for measures to assist the Syrian people. The international community pledged a total of USD 7.7 billion. In addition, as host state of the UN peace process in Geneva, Switzerland continues to actively support efforts for a political solution to the conflict. In the tenth year of the Syrian conflict, two thirds of Syria's population are reliant on humanitarian aid. The ongoing armed conflict has led to one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. Over half a million people, mostly civilians, have been killed and countless others have been injured. Violations of international humanitarian law are frequent: civil infrastructure, including medical and educational facilities, is not spared by the conflict. Millions of people have inadequate access to water, food or medical care. Six million people have fled the country, five million of whom to Syria's neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, continued fighting and administrative and operational restrictions are hampering the implementation of humanitarian actions. Syria's humanitarian situation was fragile even before the worldwide COVID-19 crisis, but the global pandemic now poses an additional threat to millions of people. Many of these people have no or inadequate access to clean water, which further exacerbates the risk of epidemics. To prevent the situation getting even worse for the affected population, the EU and the UN hold an annual conference in Brussels on the situation in Syria. At the fourth meeting of the conference which took place on 30 June in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 crisis the international community pledged USD 7.7 billion. In the presence of Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Switzerland also reaffirmed its commitment, pledging CHF 61 million for the second year running to support people in need in Syria and the surrounding neighbouring countries. As a geopolitical and humanitarian hotspot on Europe's doorstep, the ongoing Syrian conflict also directly affects Switzerland's foreign policy and security policy interests. Switzerland not only provides financial support for the needy population in Syria, it also works to advocate peacebuilding, in particular efforts to find a political solution to the conflict. Furthermore, Switzerland is committed to promoting respect for international humanitarian law and human rights, and to combating impunity. It is the host country of the UN peace process in Geneva. At the same time, the civil war in Syria is an important issue for the UN Security Council in the area of peace and security, and as such is also crucial to Switzerland's candidacy for a seat on the UN Security Council in 202324. Switzerland is also committed to respecting and promoting international humanitarian law and human rights, and to combating impunity. In this context, Switzerland, together with the ICRC, organised a discussion on the fate of arrested and missing persons in Syria in the run-up to the conference. Tens of thousands of Syrians are considered missing as a result of the conflict. This represents a great burden for the people concerned, their families and society. The event discussed concrete approaches to support affected families and prevent new cases. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53 Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55 E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch Twitter: @SwissMFA Publisher Federal Department of Foreign Affairs https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html Commercial flights from Norwich Airport are restarting, with KLM resuming daily flights to Amsterdam Schiphol from 3rd August 2020, offering onward international connectivity. Above: Richard Pace, Managing Director of Norwich Airport Courtesy Norwich Airport TUI Tenerife returns in time for the winter season from 8th October 2020, whilst Loganair will increase the frequency of its Aberdeen route in August and recommence Edinburgh in September (dates TBC). The first flight to recommence is to Bourgas, Bulgaria, operated by Balkan Holidays, scheduled for Thursday, 16th July 2020. Norwich Airport has remained open for offshore helicopter flights, medical and military flights and General Aviation, whilst Loganair operated a reduced Aberdeen schedule. The airport has welcomed the return of commercial flying with proactive measures in place to ensure the safety and well-being of staff and passengers. Some of the measures which are currently in place at the airport include: Enhanced cleaning in the terminal and throughout the site Installation of additional hand sanitiser units Installation of floor markings and signage (where feasible) so passengers can maintain a safe social distance Protective desk screens and reduced capacity in public areas Access and egress restrictions (one-way system) Displaying the latest public health information throughout the airport, including regular announcements Richard Pace, Managing Director of Norwich Airport said: The safety and well-being of our staff and passengers is our number one priority. We are continuing to rigorously implement all Government guidance and remain in regular contact with all relevant authorities. In the middle a difficult period for aviation and UK business as a whole, a return to commercial flying marks the first signs of recovery and gives a much-needed boost to regional and international air connectivity. See the latest flight start date information here: https://www.norwichairport.co.uk/flight-start-dates/ See the latest COVID-19 passenger information here: https://www.norwichairport.co.uk/covid-19/ The NAACP has been a powerful ally in the fight for equality and justice located in the heart of our state for more than 30 years, spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver Churchill wrote in an email. While we hope to continue this partnership regardless of where they are based, the governors chief legislative officer Keiffer Mitchell, whose family has a long and proud legacy both in Baltimore and the NAACP, has reached out to Mr. Johnson on behalf of the administration. Prof Pollard highlighted HIV, a virus for which no vaccine has been found because it mutates, saying scientists' great fear was that coronavirus could be the same. In that case, he said 'there is nothing we could do apart from social distancing forever' - a prospect William described as 'frightening'. The Oxford vaccine has a shaky history, funded to the tune of 90m million by the British government and taxpayer, and already in manufacture in billions of doses, the human trials began in April amid false reports that the animal trials had been successful: the product is arguably commercially too big to be allowed to fail. It also has the advantage that its lead developer Andrew Pollard heads the committee that will advise the British government on its use . Admittedly, last week he was in an apparently non-committal mood in conversation with Prince William: Having systematically screwed up the hydoxychloroquine (HCQ) trials for the treatment of the Covid virus and otherwise prevented its general use, all of which likely ended up in countless unnecessary deaths ( see Dr Meryl Nass's despairing assessment ) the WHO are now turning their attention to the first crop of vaccines , created at reckless speed with new technologies. The WHO's chief scientist told Reuters on Friday: Given his position as chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation it may be getting ahead of himself to show too much enthusiasm at this stage, but the world deserves better than this false alternative. Nor would anyone be very surprised if he gives the product the go-ahead when the time comes. As if to make the point director of NIAID Anthony Fauci was reported as saying on CNN yesterday he would settle for a vaccine which gave 70 or 75% immunity. Swaminathan also has her eye on the Moderna vaccine which goes ahead despite the fact that it passed over animal trials altogether and had a 20% serious adverse rate in its initial human trial, as reported by Robert F Kennedy,Jr. Unlike HCQ it is impossible to see how there could be any true assessment of safety and effectiveness of these products for years to come. And it is hard to see that the WHO is at all interested providing their corporate sponsors are pleased. Both Moderna and the Oxford consortium have the backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation among others. Back in December Swaminathan came to attention because of her contradictory fronts at the WHO vaccine safety summit where she had one message for the public: "Vaccines are very safe. If someone gets sick after vaccination it is usually either a coincidence, an error in administering the vaccines, or very rarely a problem with the vaccine itself.That's why we have vaccine safety systems - robust vaccine safety systems allow health workers and experts to react immediately to any problems that may arise. They can examine the problem rigorously and scientifically look at the data and then promptly address the problem. "WHO works closely with countries to make sure that vaccines do what can do best to prevent disease without risks. New vaccines against malaria, meningitis and encephalitis in Asia and Africa are now being thoroughly monitored with support from WHO. Vaccines are one of the safest tools we have to prevent disease and ensure a healthy future for all children." And a rather more candid one for the conference: "I think we cannot over-emphasise the fact that we really don't have very good safety monitoring systems in many countries and this adds to the miscommunication and the misapprehensions because we're not able to give clear cut answers when people ask questions about the deaths which have occurred to particular vaccines and this always gets blown up in the media - one should be able to give a very factual account to what exactly has happened and what the causes of deaths are but in most cases there is some obfuscation at that level and therefore there is less and less trust then in the system... Putting in place the mechanisms, whether they are cohort studies or whether they are sentinel surveillance sites to be able to monitor what is going on and report back and then for corrective action to be taken because unexpected things could arise after introduction and one always has to be prepared as we have seen. You know the history of many drugs you've heard about, I mean learnt about adverse events only after the drugs have been licensed and introduced into the population.So I think that the risk is always there and the population needs to understand that and feel confident that mechanisms are being put in place to understand some of those things." Perhaps one might add that the monitoring systems in the developed world may be even more efficient at processing out serious events than undeveloped, AND WHAT WE ALL NEED NOW IS STRAIGHT TALKING. ADDENDUM: It has just been drawn to my attention that Prof Andrew Pollard recused himself from an extraordinary meeting of the JCVI on 7 May (minutes published 18 June) to discuss the COVID crisis because of his conflict as developer of the Oxford vaccine: this may be viewed as a surprise since the Oxford Vaccine Group of which he is director was involved in research or development of manifold products that have been recommended to the schedule by the JCVI, notably in his second meeting as chair in 2014 recomending the Bexsero Men B vaccine to the the infant schedule for which he himself was lead developer. It remains problematic that this situation was acceptable to successive Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care, and to be seen whether the process becomes any more credible as a result (or whether they are just covering their backs). His role has been taken by Prof Wei Shen Lim one of the directors of the controversial Oxford Recovery Trial which included the discontinued trial of HCQ. The website for the trial records. This trial is supported by a grant to the University of Oxford from UK Research and Innovation/National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and by core funding provided by NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Wellcome, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Department for International Development, Health Data Research UK, the Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit, and NIHR Clinical Trials Unit Support Funding. Joe Dulin, chief philanthropy officer for A New Leaf, and Laura Bode, the nonprofits director of community and civic engagement, hold their gift from 100+ Women Who Care Valley of the Sun. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. After almost two years of litigation and months of discussion, the state of Nevada and the federal government, namely the U.S. Department of Energy, have settled a heated dispute over the clandestine shipment of defense plutonium from the Savannah River Site to the Nevada National Security Site. Terms of the settlement include relocating the plutonium a half metric-ton, to be used in plutonium pit production, the forging of nuclear weapon cores beginning next year and wrapping the effort by the end of 2026, according to Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat. Both the previous and current U.S. secretaries of energy, Rick Perry and Dan Brouillette, and National Nuclear Security Administration chief Lisa Gordon-Hagerty committed to that timeline before the settlement was struck. Federal court documents did not offer more detail or insight on the settlement. U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du dismissed the case Monday. "I am pleased to see the results of the hard work and persistence on behalf of Nevadans from the Attorney General's Office and our federal delegation to reach this settlement agreement," Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak said in a statement. "This settlement is a significant victory in our state's efforts to keep the weapons-grade material out of our state." The National Nuclear Security Administration in 2018 moved a half metric-ton of weapons-grade plutonium from the Savannah River Site, south of Aiken and New Ellenton, to the Nevada National Security Site, near Las Vegas, in a bid to partially satisfy a separate federal court order. The NNSA, the Energy Department's weapons-and-nonproliferation arm, publicized the planned relocation in a July 2018 environmental review. The study explained up to 10 shipments could leave the Savannah River Site, bound for either the Nevada complex or the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas. The plutonium would be staged there and eventually moved to Los Alamos National Laboratory, near Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, for use in nuclear weapons programs. Nevada in late 2018 sued the Energy Department, its NNSA and various officials in an attempt to stop the shipments to the Silver State. They had, though, already been completed, as was later revealed in court documents. Relatedly, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last summer dismissed Nevada's plutonium arguments as moot; any alleged damage the state was trying to preempt was already wrought, a panel of judges commented. Nevada officials have long maintained they were unaware of the plutonium being trucked into their tourism-heavy state. Sisolak in February 2019 said the secretive campaign kept quiet for security and safety reasons, other officials have noted "destroyed any semblance of trust" between the department and the state. Later that month, the Democratic governor requested a sit-down with President Donald Trump to discuss the matter. "The Trump administration attempted to mislead the courts and secretly dump radioactive plutonium in our backyard. Nevadans have Governor Sisolak, Attorney General Ford, and our congressional delegation to thank for not letting the Department of Energy get away with it," U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, said in a statement last week. "Time and again, the Trump administration has treated our state as a trash can for the nation's waste." Both Perry, the former energy secretary, and William "Ike" White, previously the NNSA's chief of staff, in letters described the plutonium sent from the Savannah River Site as explicitly not waste and, among other things, vital to national security missions. The potential for a settlement was first disclosed earlier this year. In one court filing, the parties said they were engaged in "substantive and promising" negotiations and that judicial intervention could jeopardize an "amicable" solution. In another filing, in late May, the parties said they had agreed on the "final language" of the deal but more time was needed to secure "final authorization." These events point to three disturbing aspects of Trumps and Barrs conduct: Trump desperately hopes to escape the scrutiny of federal investigators; Barr is his willing tool in suppressing them. Trump callously retaliates against those whom he thinks oppose him; Barr is his accomplice. Trump is not above violence against Americans exercising their First Amendment rights, as witnessed in Lafayette Square; Barr gave the orders. Bill Barr is a lieutenant in Trumps march toward an autocratic presidency putting itself above the rule of law. They both need to go. The future of our democracy is at stake. CAIRO The Egyptian Ministry of Interior announced its decision to collect entry visa fees to Egyptian territories from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens, specifically from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. The decision, which was published in the official gazette on June 17, did not specify the value of the fee yet. Egypt has been collecting a $25 fee since 2019 from visitors who are not visa-exempt for a single entry visa, and $60 for a multiple entry visa. The official gazette also published June 17 another decision from the Ministry of Interior to exempt tourists coming to Egypt on charter flights to touristic governorates from visa fees until Oct. 31, 2020, the end of the summer tourist season. Hamdi al-Chami, former undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism, told Al-Monitor the decision to impose visa fees on Gulf citizens is the right one, but the timing is inconvenient. Under current circumstances, tourism must be encouraged to breathe life back into the sector, especially in light of the global coronavirus pandemic, according to Chami. The Egyptian state should have capitalized on factors to attract Arab tourism, which is important for the country because many Arab tourists flock to Cairo and coastal cities, he added. Chami said any Egyptian citizen who wants to travel to a GCC state pays an entry visa fee, but the decision should have been taken under better circumstances. The period set until Oct. 31 for the exemption of visa fees for tourists will be enough to revive Arab and foreign tourism in coastal cities in south Sinai, Matrouh and Hurghada, he added, saying the Egyptian state is set to open sea resorts on July 1 to welcome foreign tourists. Amr Sadki, head of the parliaments tourism committee, said officials examined the decision before taking it and decided to treat other countries as they treat Egyptian tourists. All Egyptians pay an entry visa fee in GCC countries, and most countries in the world have also imposed fees for entering their territories. Attracting Arab tourism to Egypt wont really be affected because tourism around the entire world is currently suspended, he said. Sadki said the country is opening its air space to give the economy and tourism a chance to recover. But, he added, some countries, like Austria, have warned their citizens not to travel to certain states because of concerns over a second wave of the virus. He asserted that no airlines have thus far reported a resumption of flights with Egypt, except for private aviation. He said Egypt will not welcome tourists except in south Sinai, Matrouh and Hurghada, and when they land in these cities directly, they will be exempt from visa fees. The fees will allow Egypt to boost its resources. Sayed Khodr, an economist, told Al-Monitor that tourism is a main source of income in foreign currency, in addition to the Suez Canal and the remittances from workers abroad, which impacted the value of the Egyptian pound against other currencies. Egypt had to find alternatives and solutions, he said. Consequently, it opened the door to internal and foreign tourism to curb losses, according to Khodr, who believes that imposing entry visa fees from GCC countries will have a positive impact. The UN Security Council heard remarks from Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan and other countries today on Ethiopias mega dam on the Nile River, officially known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The countries maintained their firm positions in the hearing requested by Egypt, with Ethiopia saying the council should not be involved in the matter at all. This council should not be a forum for exerting diplomatic pressure, Taye Atske Selassie, Ethiopias Ambassador to the United Nations, said during his remarks. Ethiopia wants to fill the dam it built on the Blue Nile River a tributary of the Nile. Addis Ababa believes doing so will alleviate poverty in the country. The upstream nations of Egypt and Sudan, however, believe filling the dam will endanger water levels in the river. The body of water is a major part of the East African economy. The meeting was announced last week as Ethiopias planned July filling nears and negotiations have failed to reach an agreement. At todays Security Council session, Egypt reiterated its position that there must be an agreement before the dam is filled. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry painted a bleak picture for Egypt if the dam is to be filled unilaterally. A threat of potentially existential proportions has emerged that could encroach on the single source of livelihood of over 100 million Egyptians, said Shoukry in his remarks. Shoukry spoke of survival several times, saying the dam could endanger the security and survival of an entire nation. Egypt has worked to get Sudan on its side in the dispute this year, and that continued today. Shoukry mentioned the potential threats to Sudan a few times during his address. Sudans Ambassador to the UN Omer Siddig took a stance similar to Egypt during the meeting, saying his country will be most affected by the dam. It is the immediate downstream country to the GERD, said Siddig. However, Ethiopia rejected the meetings premise entirely. Selassie cited Article 33 of the UN Charter, which says disputes should first be handled at the regional level. The three countries have had talks this month with South African and African Union participation. The dialogue was not entirely tense. Shoukry said he would refrain from disputing Selassie at the end, and Selassie extended greetings to both Shoukry and Siddig. It is rare for the UN Security Council to deliberate on water issues, but tensions remain high between the involved countries. It is unclear what will happen next. Other countries present on the Security Council at the hearing, including South Africa, Indonesia, the United States and France, called for continued dialogue. The United States and the World Bank had mediated what it hoped would be a roadmap among the three countries in February on how to proceed with some of the technical issues that have concerned Egypt in particular, but Ethiopia never signed onto the final document. We strongly believe that with constructive dialogue and cooperation, a solution is within reach, US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft said. Gulf economies will shrink more than twice as much as predicted, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said today. The dual threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and price drops in oil threaten economic growth in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, according to the institutions Middle East department director. We expect the GCC economies to contract by 7.6% this year; the contraction will be across all sectors, oil and non-oil, said Jihad Azour at a forum today, according to Reuters. In April, the IMFs forecasts for GCC economic contraction were around 3%. The GCC consists of Arab states in the Gulf, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The region is rich in oil and the commodity is a major revenue source for these states. A fall in oil demand caused by the coronavirus and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia led to a massive drop in global oil prices this year. Brent crude, a global benchmark for oil prices, fell to a 21-year low of under $16 a barrel in April. In May, prices began to recover after dialogue led to production cuts. Brent was priced at more than $41 a barrel today. In March and April, both the Emirati and Saudi private sector non-oil economies were already shrinking, according to the global information firm IHS Markit. The pandemic continues to hit the Gulf hard, particularly Saudi Arabia, which is registering thousands of cases per day. However, several Gulf countries have recently lifted their virus-related lockdowns in bids to restart their economies. Saudi Arabia lifted its curfew last week, as did the Emirates. Qatar will begin reopening businesses Wednesday. Restrictions remain in place in the region, though. Saudi Arabia will have a limited hajj pilgrimage this year, only allowing travelers who are already in the country to be pilgrims, for example. The Saudi-led coalition intercepted a boat carrying light weapons of Iranian origin bound for war-wracked Yemen, Saudi and US officials said today amid a US push in the United Nations Security Council toward renewing an international arms embargo on Tehran. What appeared to be recoilless, anti-material, and Kalashnikov-style rifles, as well as thermal scopes and documents written in Farsi, were reportedly among the cargo of a dhow seized by Arab coalition forces off western Yemens port city of Mocha in April, according to images and statements released by coalition officials. Saudi Arabias Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir unveiled the results of the seizure at a press conference today in Riyadh alongside US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook. Al-Arabiya, which broadcast the press conference, cited a Saudi-led coalition official as saying the weapons were captured on April 17. Why it Matters: The United States and Saudi Arabia are ramping up the pressure on Iran ahead of a UN Security Council decision on whether to renew an arms embargo on Tehran, which is set to expire in October. If what Hook and Jubeir announced is accurate, the seizure would be the latest reported example of Iran violating an arms embargo on Yemen, which has been torn apart by civil war since 2015. The United States has announced two prior seizures of shipments of Iranian-made weapons bound for Yemen, including small arms, rocket launchers and drone parts. The United States has distributed a draft resolution to the Security Council to renew the embargo on Iran. Russia and China have voiced opposition to the move. Hook said Monday the weapons displayed in Riyadh are all the evidence we need that the arms embargo on Iran must not be lifted. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier this month that cruise missiles used in a large attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities last year were of Iranian origin. Whats Next: The United States has threatened to snap-back international sanctions on Tehran if the Security Council does not renew the embargo. Russias foreign minister has argued the United States does not have the authority to do that because the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018. International sanctions against Iran were lifted in 2015 under the nuclear deal but can be brought back if Iran violates its obligations. UN officials have reported that Iran violated some of its obligations in response to the United States withdrawal from the deal and imposition of unilateral sanctions in 2018. Germany, Britain and France said this month they will not support the Trump administrations effort if it decides to snap-back sanctions on Tehran, calling instead for a return to dialogue. Neither the Trump administration nor Iran is likely to back down soon. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rebuffed Rouhanis offer to return to negotiations with the United States if Washington apologizes to Tehran. Iran continues to deny UN nuclear inspectors access to two defunct sites over the objections of international member states. Meanwhile, Yemens Iran-supported Houthi rebels continue to lob ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia. Know More: Iran slammed US threats to reimpose sanctions, but the Trump administration appears intent to box Tehran in, Al-Monitor reports. Following monthslong proceedings, the Iranian judiciary has given the death penalty to Rouhollah Zam, the 47-year-old journalist who founded and operated Amad News, which served as an opposition outlet on the social media platform Telegram. Judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esameeli told a televised briefing June 30 that the verdict is still subject to appeal and a final ruling lies with Irans Supreme Court. Given the sensitivity and high-profile nature of the case, however, an acquittal appears unlikely. Zam was tried on 17 counts of "security" charges, ranging from espionage for Israel and France to inciting deadly violence, leaking classified intelligence and insulting the Iranian supreme leader. Esmaeeli said 13 of those charges were instances of corruption on earth, a wide-ranging felony punishable by execution under the Islamic Republics penal code. The court was presided over by Judge Abol-Qasem Salavati, who owes his notoriety to harsh verdicts against Iranian journalists, dissidents and protesters. During the previous session June 9, Zam pleaded not guilty to the leading charges, arguing that what he has done is nothing but journalism. The son of a once-influential cleric, Zam was arrested in October in what Iran boasted about as a sophisticated operation. The dissident journalist was reportedly enticed into landing in neighboring Iraq. The exact details of how he was apprehended in Iraq and transferred to Iran remain unclear. But according to an exclusive BBC Persian report, Iraqi authorities captured the journalist upon arrival in Baghdad and turned him in to Iranian intelligence authorities under a bilateral extradition agreement. Zams known political activities date to 2009, when he was arrested in the aftermath of protests that rocked Iran amid the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After his release, Zam lived in exile in France, and wrote a public letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that spoke of torture and mistreatment at Iranian detention centers. Zam increasingly drew the ire of Iranian authorities with his coverage of the deadly unrest in early 2018 when, according to his indictment, he promoted violence through his Telegram channel. Zam also released documents that allegedly showed prevalent fraud in the Iranian judicial system, particularly implicating former chief justice Sadegh Amoli Larijani. Some in Iran have questioned Zams reporting, saying his writing has been marred by bias, misinformation and breaches of journalistic integrity. As Zams audience expanded exponentially, he was placed further under the spotlight by Iranian officials. In a documentary series aired by the state broadcaster in February 2019, Irans intelligence forces appeared to have gained rare access to Zams private conversations with an extended network of Iranian dissidents abroad. In another development on the same day Zams verdict was made public, Irans Supreme Court upheld the five-year sentence given to French-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah; she was arrested in June 2019 on security charges. The case has been at the center of high-level diplomatic exchanges between Tehran and Paris. The latters persistent calls for the release of the academician have been rejected by the Islamic Republic, which does not recognize dual citizenships in its judicial proceedings. Adelkhahs French partner, Roland Marchal, was also arrested during a visit to Tehran. He, however, was flown back home in March in what has been reported as a French-Iranian prisoner swap, which secured the release of Jalal Rouhollah-Nejad, an Iranian engineer who was awaiting extradition to the United States over violating US sanctions on business with the Islamic Republic. Unidentified individuals vandalized June 4 the statue of cleric and poet Mohammed Saeed al-Haboubi in Al-Haboubi Square, the center of protest in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq. No official Iraqi authority has released any information revealing those behind the attacks on public property, especially monuments and statues. Protesters claimed on Facebook that the assault on the statue of Haboubi took place after the protesters had left the square, [and that it happened] in order to discredit the demonstrators. Protesters in Al-Habboubi Square are innocent of such acts. At the same time, members of parliament hinted at the increase of vandalism in the central and southern regions, thus alluding to protesters being behind such acts. On Jan. 19, leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq Mahmoud al-Rubaie accused a bunch of bastards of tearing up the image of the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was assassinated in a US raid in January, thus clearly pointing fingers at the demonstrators. Meanwhile, Noureddine Ahmed al-Kheliyawi, an activist participating in the demonstrations at Al-Habboubi Square, told Al-Monitor, The parties make it a point to repeatedly infringe upon the statue of Haboubi, which witnessed previous attacks. It is not demonstrators who are behind such acts but those representing the ruling parties and the influential forces controlling the reins of power. They have erected tents in the squares and the demonstrators have been infiltrated by them. He added, The assault on public property, monuments and statues continues so that protesters can be accused of being behind such acts. Demonstrators are well aware of this and volunteered to restore the statue without the support of the local government. The various attacks on statues, monuments and murals lead the public to believe that there is a systematic and ongoing campaign taking place. On June 12, 2019, unidentified individuals removed the fingers of the statue of Turkmen figure Salahuddin Uji in Kirkuk, and on Dec. 31, 2019, an unidentified group vandalized the murals of the revolution in Tahrir Square in Baghdad. Iraqi intellectuals were shocked about the news of the sabotaging of statues of historical figures in central Baghdad, including the statue of poet Abu Nuwas, on Sept. 13, 2018. Shabib al-Medhati, a painter and sculptor and the director of the Iraq National Library and Archive in Baghdad, told Al-Monitor, Deliberate attacks are carried out by the Iraqi youths in protest against the authorities. Most artworks are suffering from neglect on the part of the government agencies in charge, and tampering with such artworks has become a noticeable phenomenon. Indifference is the result of political attitudes and religious beliefs. The rebellion against urban symbols and murals belonging to the ruling parties was exemplified by the burning of a part of the mausoleum of former Supreme Islamic Council leader Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim on Dec. 1, 2019. Hakim was killed in a car bomb in Najaf in August 2003. On May 28, young protesters attacked the grave in Najaf of the father of Muqtada al-Sadr, the Sadrist movement leader. A close associate of Sadr called on his supporters to withdraw from the burial site, indicating a conflict between the protesters and the Sardists who had attacked the protesters several times before. Artistic works often fall prey to political revenge. As soon as a new political era begins, the symbols of the previous era are removed or destroyed. The current political era began in 2003 with the pulling down of Saddam Hussein's statue in Firdos Square by demonstrators with the help of US forces. In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Gov. of Baghdad Salah Abdul-Razzaq gave historical examples of the influence of politics on monuments erected in public squares, including the toppling of the statues of Gen. Maude and King Faisal [after the revolution against the monarchy in Iraq in 1958], the demolition of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier following the arrival of the Baath party to power [in the late 1980s], the demolition of the mural in Aviation Square and the statue of the combat soldier near the suspension bridge [in Baghdad in 1991] and the attack on the statues of Scheherazade and Shahryar in Abu Nuwas [in 2011]. Abdul-Razzaq added, Those sabotaging the statues of national figures do not understand the meaning of the statue and think of it as a piece of stone or iron they do not like. Their cultural ignorance prevents them from realizing the importance of such monuments. Basem al-Zamili, former director of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, told Al-Monitor that attacking monuments and artistic symbols shows public discontent with the authorities and parties. He ruled out the possibility of the demonstrators calling for reforms being behind such acts, as the demonstrators are repairing the damage themselves. In an interview with Al-Monitor, a member of the Security Committee at the Baghdad Provincial Council, Saad al-Muttalibi, talked about the populist mentality that does not distinguish between what is cultural heritage and government monuments. He said that one of the goals is to destroy the sense of collective security, which is easily achieved when attacking symbols and cultural and religious monuments. While Muttalibi referred to a political agenda being behind the phenomenon, he stressed, the difficulty of identifying one party as being behind it. The beneficiaries are those taking advantage of the protests to create chaos. Spokesman for the Interior Ministry Khaled al-Muhanna told Al-Monitor, Not only does the phenomenon of attacking monuments, statues and symbols erected in public squares affect the security side, it also constitutes a reflection of a social culture that arose in times of wars, crises, and political and economic corruption thus leading to social rebellion against anything related to the government, media outlets, art, heritage and values. Legal expert and former Judge Ali al-Tamimi told Al-Monitor, The Antiquities and Heritage Law No. 55 of 2008 provides for the preservation of heritage and artistic symbols that people cherish, and the penalties for violating this law may include incarceration for up to 10 years in addition to a penalty for the value of the damage. However, it does not seem likely based on past experience that the perpetrators ot these crimes will be caught any time soon. Such initiatives were put in place during Gahlers first term, which started in late 2014, not because of public pressure or a national tragedy such as the death of an unarmed Black person while in police custody but because they are the right thing to do, the sheriff said during the recent community event, An Uncomfortable Conversation: National Events with Local Implications Concerning Race, Equity, and Justice. The prevailing wisdom among many Israelis, politicians and pundits has it that Defense Minister Benny Gantz, chair of the Blue and White Party, is politically finished. Barely seven weeks after he was accorded the title of alternate prime minister, Gantz center-left camp is shopping for an alternative to the alternate. A poll conducted this week gives Gantz party nine Knesset seats compared with the 33 or more that voters gave it in three consecutive elections in 2019 and 2020. True, Gantz ran in them at the head of a much bigger party that included the Yesh Atid and Telem factions before they split from him when he joined the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late April. Nevertheless, nine seats are still only half the number his party currently controls in the legislature. People in his camp are asking not whether Gantz is finished, but how much longer he can last in his position. Another bet is on how long it will be before his party sinks into oblivion as did the centrist Kadima Party of Tzipi Livni and Shaul Mofaz or even the center-left Labor party, which took its final breath this past winter. The strangest ingredient in this political stew is the fact that under his power-sharing deal with Netanyahu, Gantz is scheduled to take over as prime minister in November 2021. The former army chief is the first contender in decades who could potentially remove Netanyahu from office. He is the first and only politician to successfully position himself as an alternative to Netanyahu, and did so within 18 months of entering politics. There is even a target date anchored in Knesset legislation for him to assume the premiership, making it hard for Netanyahu to avoid the rotation, although not impossible. Gantz camp, however, is ignoring those gains. Gantz bitter political fate highlights the difference between Israels right-wing voters and supporters of the political center and left, or more precisely between the pro-Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu camps. While Netanyahus supporters will circle the wagons around their leader no matter what, his opponents will rush to stab their candidate in the back at the earliest opportunity. Refusing to accept political exigencies, they do not care that Gantz had no option but to join Netanyahu after running against him three times and they ignore that the route Gantz took will allow him to move Netanyahu aside within less than 18 months. They view his decision to go with Netanyahu as a stamp of approval for a politician under criminal indictment. Netanyahus supporters, on the other hand, are willing to continue marching to his tune even after his indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Gantz finds himself in a Catch-22. He has already been sworn in as Israels next premier, positioned alongside Netanyahu in the government leadership. If he wants to step into Netanyahus shoes, he cannot give him any excuse to renege on their rotation deal. However, the policies he has adopted to appease Netanyahu have been a polling disaster. He has to distinguish himself from Netanyahu, challenge his policies and record achievements. He has avoided doing so to ensure the November 2021 handover. When he drops down to five seats in the 120-member Knesset, Netanyahu will tell his Likud supporters and the Israeli public at large that it makes no sense to hand the premiership over to a man who enjoys such paltry public support. Gantz could end up not only humiliated by Netanyahu and losing his credibility and voters, but could also find himself dumped. Nonetheless, it is too soon to deal him out of the game. Gantz still has a good hand against Netanyahu. He has already been sworn in, so Netanyahu would have to come up with a watertight reason for dismantling the government. The law that anchored the unprecedented power-sharing agreement stipulates that if Netanyahu dismantles the government, Gantz would assume automatically power until elections take place. Gantz insurance policy is only invalidated if the government falls apart over a failure to obtain Knesset approval for the state budget. It is the only loophole through which Netanyahu could drag Israelis to a fourth round of elections without immediately forfeiting his incumbency. This is where the coronavirus come in. Israel is in the throes of what might be the worst economic crisis in its history. The hardship experienced by millions of Israelis is worse than initially estimated. Netanyahu knows that current polls giving his Likud 38 seats or more are in fact a lie. The real results could be very different. He also realizes he will have a hard time blaming Gantz for the crisis that could quickly upend his favorable poll figures. Nonetheless, let us not forget that Netanyahu enjoys particularly favorable political circumstances. By partnering with Gantz, he has eliminated the only viable alternative to his reign. His only current rival, the chair of the opposition Yesh Atid party Yair Lapid, while rising in the polls, needs time to truly take off. Former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman is still licking the wounds of his failure to engineer Netanyahus downfall in three elections, and no one in the political system is ready to take on Netanyahu. Gantz needs to reinvent himself. In a meeting with leaders of the ultra-Orthodox parties, he once again elicited their promise to prevent Netanyahu from violating the rotation agreement. At the same time, Gantz is trying to create an agenda, display independence and court his disappointed voters. Gantz does not stand much of a chance. Many in his camp are blindly groping for their next leader who will mobilize the anti-Netanyahu energy and create an alternative, a task even tougher than the one Gantz faces. No one visiting the town of Lod at dusk can miss the muezzins call to prayer. Though it originates in only certain neighborhoods, it can be heard throughout the entire city. Lod lies in the center of the country. Some 30% of its population is Muslim. Recent complaints about the muezzin are a sorry reminder of the challenges facing the town. Nevertheless, it is worth recalling that its Muslim and Jewish populations have lived together in a rare state of harmony for several decades. There is, however, one issue that comes up again and again, causing tensions between the two communities. In fact, it comes up five times a day, when the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer. It might seem innocuous from a distance, but the call to prayer from the mosques raises tensions that threaten the fragile state of coexistence in the city. Officially, the municipality holds that the call of the muezzin, particularly at high volume and in the early hours of the morning, is a violation of city ordinances. For several months now, the authorities have actually measured the volume and issued warnings to the imams of the local mosques. Now those same authorities are asking the police to enforce the law, claiming that the mosques are disturbing the peace. The municipality also asked the Ministry of Interior to summon one of the imams to a hearing, reasoning that the calls to prayer coming from his mosque are in violation of municipal ordinances, and his salary is paid by the ministry. In response to these charges, Arab members of the city council, local imams and the Peoples Committee of Lod sent a letter demanding that the municipality refrain from intervening in the call of the muezzin. The letter, sent two months ago, was distributed in the mosques and posted to the Al-Omari Mosques website. It contends that while Lod Mayor Yair Revivo is complaining publicly that he cant sleep because of the call to prayer, what really bothers him is that the muezzin represents our Islamic presence, identity and roots. The letter goes on to claim that the mayor is motivated by a group of settlers who want to Judaize Lod. The imams wrote, The muezzins call to prayer is our faith. We will not agree to make it the subject of any dialogue whatsoever with anyone, regardless of that dialogues title or argument. They went on to claim that the efforts to stifle the calls were a declaration of religious war, and that the Arab leadership and clerics in the city cannot be held responsible if things get out of control. This war against the muezzins call to prayer, being waged by the municipality and the police in Lod, is a religious war in every sense of the term, the missive states. The letter ended with a call to the residents of Lod to defend the mosques and protect them from zealots, haters and schemers. Yossi Londin, who lives in Lod, tells Al-Monitor that while the muezzin has a certain Oriental charm, the volume makes it a nuisance. My neighborhood is fairly distant from the mosques, but at 4:00 a.m., you cant ignore it, especially on Muslim holidays. It can last as long as an hour. It is very disturbing to thousands of residents. City council member Mohammed Abu Shriqi rejects these arguments. I dont hear them complaining about the noise made by the train, or the noise from jets coming in for a landing right above us." The city is next to Ben Gurion Airport. "The call to prayer lasts for less than a minute. So what if it is at 4:00 a.m.? We dont describe it as noise. To us it is a religious call. Abu Shriqi also insists that despite all claims to the contrary, the calls are not violating the law, since the volume does not exceed the 20-decibel limit set by the Ministry of Environmental Affairs. On the other hand, Londin is convinced that there is a deeper national component to the issue beyond an innocent desire to maintain a time-honored tradition. I know that the volume is lower in Muslim cities across Israel, so as not to disturb the people living there. He went on, I believe that there is a desire among certain factors to make it clear who is really in charge. Abu Shriqi made a similar argument, but from the other direction: Everyone complaining about the noise is part of a religious Jewish group that came to settle in the Arab neighborhoods. They are now looking for some provocation or other. They knew that they were moving into a mixed city, and now they are whining about it. We welcome every neighbor, but this extreme nationalist group came here to drive a wedge between the Jews and Arabs of Lod, who had a very good relationship until now. Lod is an intriguing place, an example of how coexistence can work between two ostensibly rival populations. The majority of the citys Jewish population identifies with the Israeli right. The mayor is a member of the Likud Party. His coalition with HaBayit HaYehudi and the Lod Beitenu party (aligned with Avigdor Liberman) holds a majority of seats in city council. However, when Revivo first became mayor two years ago, he brought the largest Arab party, Al-Nidah al-Araby al-Lidawiya wa-al-Nadhada, into a wide Jewish-Arab coalition. Londin insists that the whole debate has not created any tangible tension in the city. Coexistence here is very strong. The residents of Lod, Jewish and Arab alike, live together here. The Arabs of Lod and the Jews of Lod are known for their desire to live together in peace. Abu Shriqi agrees. He says that coexistence in the city is much stronger than any issues surrounding the call to prayer. Lod has a longstanding mindset rooted in coexistence. Everyone works together. Relations are very neighborly. There are business partnerships and genuine friendships. There may be efforts to cause trouble, instigated by all sorts of groups within the city, but in the end, we are stronger than that. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook today that more sanctions are needed in order to curb Iranian nuclear ambitions. I believe its time to implement snapback sanctions. I dont think we can afford to wait. We should not wait for Iran to start its breakout to a nuclear weapon, because then it will be too late for sanctions, stated Netanyahu at the meeting. Netanyahu warned the Iranian regime that Israel will continue to take the actions necessary to prevent you from creating another terror and military front against Israel in Syria. I say to [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad, 'You're risking the future of your country and your regime.'" The prime minister also used the opportunity to indirectly snap at his political partner, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who said yesterday that the battle against the coronavirus is more urgent than Netanyahus July 1 annexation target. We have very important topics to discuss, even ones that cant wait until after corona, Netanyahu said. In a Facebook post about the meeting, Netanyahu clarified, "We regularly carry out military operations against Iran and its allies in Syria and elsewhere as soon as it is necessary to do so." Hook came to Israel after visiting other US allies in the region Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain seeking support for Washingtons demand of extending the United Nations arms embargo on Iran. During the meeting with Netanyahu, Hook said that the United States and Israel see eye to eye on extending the arms embargo, adding, In four short months, Iran will be able to freely import fighter jets, attack helicopters, warships, submarines, large-caliber artillery systems and missiles of certain ranges. Iran will then be in a position to export these weapons and their technologies to their proxies, including Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Shiite militia groups in Iraq, Syrian militant networks in Bahrain and the Houthis in Yemen." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to discuss the embargo extension in the UN Security Council later today. For Netanyahu, the meeting comes at a perfect time, offering him the possibility to feature yet again his strong partnership with the White House and his security agenda. The mediatized meeting also offered Netanyahu an opportunity to show Israelis that he and not Gantz is still the one controlling the Iranian file and contacts with Washington on the issue. Former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gantz, who holds both the defense portfolio and the title of alternate prime minister, has made a point in recent weeks of engaging in the Iranian file. Reacting May 22 to threats against Israel by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Gantz warned Iran that "as someone who is very familiar with the Iranian issue, and as someone who prepared the IDFs operational capabilities, I would not suggest to anyone that they try and test us." Still, as far as Washington is concerned, neither Netanyahu nor Gantz are the only Israeli interlocutors on Iran. Gabi Ashkenazi, foreign minister and former chief of staff, also met today with Hook, at his office in Jerusalem. With both men emphasizing the very good meeting they had, and judging by Ashkenazis determined attitude at the joint press conference, it is obvious that he too intends to take a leading role in the Israeli campaign against Iran. The Kurds of northeast Syria shot to global renown for their valiance against the Islamic State (IS). But today, they face a scourge that is potentially even more devastating, putting the lives of millions of local residents at risk: oil pollution. Across the Kurdish-administered region, which is home to some 4 million people and sits on most of Syrias contested oil, crude oil leaking from dilapidated pipelines and carcinogenic oil waste are contaminating rivers and streams. When the rivers flood, as they did most recently in April, they spread their poison over agricultural crops, just as thousands of rudimentary refineries belch their own toxic fumes into the air. Dystopian images of scorched earth and blackened water have failed to make an impact. Sporadic protests have resulted in makeshift refineries being shut down, only for them to pop up elsewhere. In telephone interviews with Al-Monitor, locals in affected areas say that diseases, including cancers, are multiplying. All requested anonymity for fear of retribution from authorities, a telling sign of just how neuralgic the issue is. A pharmacist from eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside, where primitive refining runs rampant, said, Sicknesses that previously had disappeared have started to spread in our areas. Birth defects, meningitis, skin inflammation, severe respiratory illnesses. As for the birth defects were seeing a lot of cases. Hypothyroidism at birth, thalassemia, hemophilia. What I know is that they are spread across the entire province but are more common and more concentrated in areas with oil wells. He added, Im from the area; our agricultural harvests now are terrible compared to 10 years ago. Green space has diminished. Most of the trees have died because of the soil and air pollution. Mohammed Khalaf, the pseudonym of a researcher and journalist in Deir ez-Zor, described the process of primitive refining: The refinery is a container, which is filled with crude oil. They light a fire beneath it, and thats how the refining happens. Diesel, gasoline, gas and grease are produced. This operation produces foul-smelling smoke that causes diseases and damages the environment, peoples health and animals. Khalaf said, Even clothing after you wash it, youll hang it up on clotheslines on the roof. In the morning, youll find the clothing is black from the smoke. Once I filled up my house's water tank but forgot to cover it at night. I woke up in the morning to find the surface of the water was all diesel. He added, "Imagine sometimes during the day theres a black cloud above Deir ez-Zor in general, like black clouds. Rogue refining can be addressed through tighter supervision. But contamination from leaking pipelines, oil spills and authorities outright dumping waste into rivers will affect human and animal health for decades to come. As Western donors gather in Brussels today to discuss aid for Syria, the looming environmental crisis in northeast Syria is unlikely to make the agenda, and Syrian Kurdish officials wont rush to complain. Abdelkareem Malek, the energy minister of the autonomous administration, did not respond to Al-Monitors repeated requests for comment, nor did the environment minister, Joseph Lahdu. Pressure to sustain the autonomous administration's fragile economy, which relies in large part on ever-dwindling oil revenues, together with the fraught nature of its relations with the Syrian regime mean that the environment is treated almost as a boutique issue. The matter of who sells the oil to where and to whom and where the profits go remains extremely opaque. Sales to the regime and the less documented yet significant trade with Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey remain controversial, as people living under the Kurdish-run region suffer chronic fuel shortages. Its no secret, however, that shares in the oil pie buy the local government peace with restive Arab tribes, notably the Shammar, who populate the border with Iraq. In October 2019, faced by the outcry caused by Turkeys Operation Peace Spring assault against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), President Donald Trump said he had ordered several hundred US forces to remain in northeast Syria to secure the oil and prevent proceeds from its sale from winding up in ISs coffers again. But US officials have yet to comment on the life-threatening effects of unsafe production. A senior official from the autonomous administration confirmed to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity that the United States is not providing either financial or technical assistance to help address the problem. President Trump pledged to protect oil facilities, and we are grateful to him. But of course, it is not their responsibility to ensure production, the official noted, adding, But if there is any assistance in this regard, that would be welcome. The State Department did not respond to Al-Monitors request for comment. The official asserted that the autonomous administration had issued a law to stop illegal refineries, but there was leniency in implementation due to difficult economic conditions. He added that seminars were being organized by local authorities to raise awareness about the dangers of oil pollution. River of death A chilling report by Dutch nongovernmental organization PAX that is due to be launched tomorrow offers a rare glimpse into the effects of chronic leakage and dumping from a large storage facility that lies 15 kilometers (9 miles) southwest from the town of Derik, which used to be owned by the state-run Syrian Petroleum Company. It collects all the crude carried via a pipeline running directly from the Rmeilan oil field, which is protected by US forces. Using satellite imagery, PAX tracked leakage from the facility called Gir Zero, which began in the summer of 2013. Open-air reservoirs around the facility started to leak, and a significant part of the facilitys grounds turned black as oil and/or oil waste spilled over, the report notes. Then, sometime in September 2014, satellite images show that a canal was dug to connect to a local river. This likely functioned as a sort of valve to release pressure from on-site spills, as local authorities did not have sufficient resources or capacity to deal with the problem. The waste made its way into a small creek flowing southward into the Wadi Rumaila, a tributary of the larger Wadi Awarid seasonal river that runs through 30 villages and connects with the Euphrates River. Crude oil creeks are pictured in the fields of Kharab Abu Ghalib, April 26, 2020 (photo by Abdullah Mohammed) The leaks and the pollution are ongoing, according to PAXs Humanitarian Disarmament program leader Wim Zwijnenburg, who is also one of the authors of the report titled River of Death. A rough estimate indicates that tens of thousands of barrels of oil and wastewater have already been released into the rivers, and if this isnt stopped soon, it will only worsen the environmental catastrophe for thousands of families living in the area, Zwijnenburg told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. A local woman quoted in the report blamed a series of miscarriages she had on the pollution. Samir Madani, a co-founder of tankertrackers.com, a website dedicated to tracking storage and shipment of crude oil, reckons that the leakage may have gone on for at least 730 days. With an estimated buildup of around 60 barrels of crude daily, this would amount to 50,000 so far, Madani told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. Madani, who collaborated with PAX on the report, added, This is a leak that is continuing and still flowing out of the area. A new wave of crude oil washed over fields and villages in Rmeilan in March after an explosion occurred in a corroded pipeline network in the area. The oil made its way to nearby rivers and contaminated at least 18,000 square meters of land in and around the village of Kharab Abu Ghalib. A goat grazes near a crude oil-polluted riverbank near Gir Zero, northeast Syria, April 27, 2020 (photo by Abdullah Mohammed) Seasonal flooding compounds the problem. Over 80,000 acres of agricultural land around Tel Hamis in Hasakah governorate were flooded in April with oil-contaminated water. A further 20,000 acres in Jazah also in Hasakah and 10,000 in Rmeilan were submerged as well. A resident from Jazah who asked to remain anonymous told Al-Monitor, In the past, people used the river to water their fields. Now its oil, so people dont use it for irrigation. As for the authorities, the municipality was here, they saw what was going on, we talked. But they dont have the ability to solve the issue at its core. They only did one thing. They sent a bulldozer and made an earthen berm; they raised a berm on both sides of the river. But this isnt a solution. The berm isnt along the entire river only at specific points for 500 or 600 meters. This wasnt to protect the fields but to prevent the water from flooding the village. The water used to get into the village, into residential homes, along with the oil. So they raised the berm. The man echoed complaints that the autonomous administration was generally unresponsive to citizens woes. For someone to say I want to go to the autonomous administration and make a complaint, ask for help, hes definitely playing a joke on you. Impossible. For there to be a positive outcome, they wouldnt have built up those oil facilities and dumped the oil in the running water [in the first place], he groused. According to Hassan Partow, an environment expert at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the environmental and health hazards posed by oil contamination in northeast Syria far outweigh those encountered in Iraq in the aftermath of the US-led coalitions targeting of oil assets controlled by IS. They are also far harder to fix, especially as the scope of the problem and its overall impact remain unassessed. Oil pollution in Iraq was largely caused by [IS] sabotage during their forced retreat. While there were major pollution incidents, some lasting for months, these were by and large one-off events, Partow told Al-Monitor in emailed comments. He continued, The situation in northeast Syria is more complex in that oil pollution is a chronic problem dating from the outbreak of the crisis nearly a decade ago. While in Iraqs case the oil industry remains intact and under central [government] command, in northeast Syria there are thousands of artisanal oil refining clusters that are very difficult to control due to their freestyle and itinerant nature. Finally, unlike in Iraq, the oil spills are occurring in the countrys prime agricultural breadbasket. The dense stream network of northeast Syria is acting as a conduit carrying the oil pollution into the Khabur River, a tributary of the Euphrates River, and there is no clear end in sight or game plan on how to deal with this serious problem, Partow observed. Sheep wander through fields contaminated with oil after a pipeline burst and spilled through the village of Kharab Abu Ghalib, April 26, 2020 (photo by Abdullah Mohammed) International politics stand in the way. Just as the World Health Organization has been reluctant to engage directly with the autonomous administration to help it cope with the coronavirus pandemic for fear of upsetting the central government in Damascus, UNEP would likely await a formal invitation from Bashar al-Assad's regime in order to intervene in the northeast. But the Assad regime has little interest in helping to repair the oil infrastructure unless it is allowed to regain control over the oil fields, something Russia, its top ally, literally pushed for when Wagner mercenaries tried to overrun SDF-protected fields in Deir ez-Zor, only to be repelled by US forces. Further sanctions introduced under the Caesar Act means no Western company would risk investing in Syrias crumbling oil network. And Damascus lacks the means to finance repairs. An SDF official speaking not for attribution said it would take up to $100 million to get the Rmeilan and al-Omar fields, where most of the oil lies, back to full productive capacity. Prior to the war, Syria was producing around 380,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Current production is estimated at 60,000 barrels per day, much of it low grade. A staffer at a local NGO, however, maintained that the Syrian Oil Company continues to send spare parts to oil facilities in the northeast along with technical staff. This dynamic allows local authorities to avoid taking responsibility for oil pollution, as the autonomous administration office can direct resident complaints to central government staff, who in turn can tell residents to take their complaints to the autonomous administration. The senior autonomous administration official disputed this version of events, saying there was no staff currently employed by the state but rather some technicians and engineers who opted to stay on and work on the local payroll. Either way, the US presence at the oil facilities may well have upended existing agreements. Fabrice Balanche, a geographer and associate professor at Frances Lyon II University who has studied Syria closely from the ground, airs skepticism over just how long the US presence will last. Its apparent commitment and credibility were badly weakened by Trumps decision to pull back US forces from the Turkish border ahead of the Turkish invasion last fall. Satellite imagery shows al-Qahtaniyah (photo by MAXAR/ESRI Maps 2018 via Zoom.Earth) I believe there will be a new Turkish offensive and that it will target Qahtaniyah, he told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview, referring to an Arab majority town that lies east of Qamishli and has oil nearby. Ankara would likely profit from Washingtons wobbles during the transition period between the US presidential election in November and January when the new president is sworn in to make a final move that would cut off Qamishli from the Iraqi border, which is the Kurdish-run regions sole outlet to the outside world. The Russians would likely support the Turkish move on the grounds that it would squeeze the Americans in nearby Rmeilan and compel them to leave. SDF Commander in Chief Mazlum Kobane aired worries about Turkish designs on al-Qahtaniyah in a January interview with Al-Monitor. In the meantime, oil pollution is spreading unchecked, Abdel Nasser al-Ayed, editor-in-chief of online newspaper JesrPress, told Al-Monitor. Ayed added, Day after day, there is something accumulating in the air, in the soil, in peoples bodies, and when it reaches a certain level, it causes illness or death. The US State Department announced today that it would be providing an additional $696 million in humanitarian assistance for Syrians, bringing its total contribution since the start of the war to more than $11.3 billion. The international community, both traditional and new donors, must remain committed to meeting the growing needs of the Syrian people, a responsibility the Assad regime has proven unwilling to uphold, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. At a virtual pledging conference co-hosted by the European Union today, the United Nations appealed for $10 billion in aid to support Syrians and the countries hosting them. The UN estimates more than 5.6 million people have fled Syria since the uprising began in 2011. Why it matters: The fundraising push comes as Syrias already-gutted economy teeters on collapse. After nearly a decade of war, relentless Western sanctions and financial turmoil in neighboring Lebanon, the currency has fallen to record lows this summer. Basic goods and medicines are increasingly out of reach for Syrians, more than 80% of whom live below the poverty line. The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on supply chains, and food prices have soared by more than 200% in less than a year. President Bashar al-Assad, having cemented control over roughly two-thirds of Syria, now faces the immense challenge of rebuilding the country with little help from the international community. The United States and European powers have stressed that reconstruction cannot happen without a lasting political solution a nonstarter for Syrias longtime dictator. We are at a critical juncture, the US special representative for Syria engagement, Ambassador James Jeffrey, said today. "Together the international community must stand firm, that there will be no diplomatic nor economic normalization of the Assad regime until there is a political solution to the conflict." Sweeping US sanctions under the Caesar Act could choke off the regimes access to the billions of outside dollars it needs to rebuild. The new authority, which took effect earlier this month, allows for sanctions on foreign companies or persons doing business with Damascus, specifically in the construction, engineering, energy or aviation sectors. The regime has slammed the new sanctions campaign as economic terrorism, but the United States maintains that the Syrian governments own actions are responsible for the current financial crisis. Whats next: The situation in Idlib province, where a Russian-backed campaign displaced over a million people earlier this year, is especially bleak. At least 70% of the population requires humanitarian assistance, the UN estimates. Ankara and Moscow, which support opposing sides of the war, brokered a cease-fire in March that paused the bloodshed in Idlib. On Wednesday, the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran the trio of countries that make up the so-called Astana group will discuss the situation in Syria during a video conference, a Kremlin spokesperson announced. Know more: The UN Security Council faces a July 10 deadline to vote on renewing cross-border aid deliveries to civilians in Syria. Amberin Zaman has the inside story on efforts to lobby Assads main patron on the council, Russia, to reauthorize the Yarubiyah crossing to Syria's northeast. Tunisian President Kais Saied visited France June 22, in his first trip to Europe since his election in October 2019. Saied met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as regional developments, namely the Libyan crisis. During a joint press conference on the sideline of his meeting with Saied, Macron condemned the dangerous game Turkey is playing in Libya, saying it is a direct threat to the region and Europe. Macron called for the cessation of foreign interventions and unilateral actions of those who claim to be making new gains in the war in Libya. Saied said that Tunisia refuses to line up behind any alliance in Libya and called for a dialogue away from the language of arms and war, saying, The authority in Libya is based on international legitimacy. However, he added that this legitimate authority is temporary and should be replaced by a new one that stems from the will of the Libyan people. Contrary to the expectations of many Tunisian pundits, the issue of the French apology was not discussed during the talks. Tunisias parliament rejected June 9 a motion calling on France to apologize for crimes committed during its colonial rule of the North African country. Only 77 parliamentarians voted in favor of the motion, far short of the 109 votes needed to pass. Former Foreign Minister Ahmed Wanis told Al-Monitor that Tunisia does not wish to take any sides and that its position on Libya is clear. Going to war will have disastrous consequences on neighboring countries, he said, stressing that the Tunisian presidents visit to France comes at a time of tension vis-a-vis the French presence in Tunisia and the region, and Frances suspicious diplomatic moves. Wanis noted that Tunisia is committed to remain neutral on the ongoing conflict in Libya, which has turned into a battlefield between Turkey and the forces led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He explained that while the Ennahda movement, which supports the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya, has reservations about Tunisias neutrality, the Constitutional Liberal Party (Destour) supporting eastern military strongman Khalifa Hifter, rejects any intervention in Libya. Abdel-Jabbar al-Madouri, former editor-in-chief of Sawt al-Shaab newspaper, told Al-Monitor that Ennahda believes that Saeids invitation to visit France is an attempt to galvanize the president into taking action against the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Ennahda. Saeid is less inclined to Tunisias Islamists. Salim Basbas, a leader in Ennahda, said that his party considers that it is in Tunisias interest to support the GNA against Hifters force. He told Al-Monitor that the major powers involved in Libya seek to control the countrys wealth and riches. Since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi's regime on Oct. 20, 2011, Libya has turned into a military quagmire in light of ongoing infighting between Hifter and the GNA forces, led by Fayez al-Sarraj. Saieds visit to France sparked a wave of criticism, as many political analysts saw it as a failed attempt by Ennahda supporters who are pushing for a change in the Tuninsian official stance toward supporting Turkey, which is throwing its weight behind the GNA. Zuhair al-Maghzawi, secretary-general of the Peoples Movement, which holds 15 seats in parliament out of 217, told Al-Monitor that the best solution for Libya lies in an internal Libyan dialogue and political settlement away from the language of war. He stressed that Tunisias security is tied to Libyas as is the case with the rest of its neighboring countries. Maghzawi praised Saieds stance vis-a-vis the GNA and its ending legitimacy as articulated at the Elysee Palace, saying that it has been over four years since the Skhirat Political Agreement, which was signed between Libyas warring parties in 2015 in Morocco under UN auspices. He said the agreement has expired and became renewable. According to the agreement, the GNA was formed and an 18-month transitional period was set for the government to fulfill its tasks. In case of failure, the transitional period may be extended for six additional months. In a June 22 meeting between Tunisian Minister of Defense Imad al-Hizqi and Commander of US Africa Command Gen. Stephen Townsend, in the presence of the US ambassadors to Tunisia and Libya, Hizqi stressed the Tunisian official position in support of the legitimate authority in Libya and on the need to reach a political settlement. On Jan. 19, Algeria, Egypt and Turkey, along with US and European Union leaders, took part in a conference on Libya hosted by Berlin. Noteworthy was the absence of Tunisia, which rejected the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Saied, who spoke to the Tunisian official TV, said back then that the decision to skip the meeting was because Germanys invitation came late. Since the Berlin conference, Tunisia has rejected any foreign military intervention in Libya, calling for internal dialogue between the warring parties to reach a political solution. Tunisia fears that any military escalation in Libya could have negative repercussions on its situation at home. Despite the reservations expressed by Tunisian parties about supporting Hifter or Sarraj in Libya, the Tunisian authorities believe the solution lies in an intra-Libyan dialogue. They also call on the conflicting countries in Libya to end the war and allow the Libyan people to choose their own fate away from the Turkish-Qatari axis supporting Sarraj, or the Saudi-Egyptian-Emirati axis backing Hifter or even away from Russia and France. ISTANBUL Turkey lashed out at LGBT propaganda, claiming it undermined free speech, and defended the head of the Turkish Red Crescent after the humanitarian organizations international umbrella body said his comments violated its rules against homophobia. Kerem Kinik, who also serves as one of five vice-presidents at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), appeared to equate homosexuality with pedophilia in a tweet he made Sunday, when the Turkish LGBTI community typically celebrates Pride Day. We will not allow human dignity to be trampled. We will protect natality and the mental health of our children. We will fight whomever violates healthy creation, uses the power of communication to portray the abnormal as normal [and] injects their pedophilic fantasies into young minds as if it were modernity, Kinik wrote. His use of the words dignity, adopted by the Turkish LGBTI community for their march, and natality for birth rate, were interpreted as veiled barbs at the gay community. Kinik later said his tweet was about protecting children and that his approach was fully coherent with IFRC values. These words are both wrong and offend us all. We condemn homophobia and hate speech of all kinds, the IFRC said. The Geneva-based organization said its code of conduct forbid Kinik from engaging in homophobia, hate speech and prejudice. We are assessing our next course of action, the statement read. In response, Fahrettin Altun, a senior adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tweeted, LGBT propaganda poses a grave threat to freedom of speech. The IFRC became complicit in that attack by targeting [Kinik] a doctor who devoted his entire life to protecting children around the world. We wont be silenced! Erdogan weighed in on morality in a speech on Monday, without specifically addressing homosexuality. He suggested an assault on traditional values that is on par with national security threats was underway. Some people insidiously attack our national and moral values by normalizing perversions that have been condemned throughout history and aim to poison young minds, he said. I invite all members of my nation to watch out for and take a stance against those displaying any type of perversion forbidden by our God and those who support them. In April, Erdogan defended Ali Erbas, the head of the states religious affairs directorate, after he said homosexuality caused disease and corruption. Prosecutors opened probes into bar associations that accused Erbas of inciting hatred. Such messages could imperil a community that is already to subject to violence, including the murder of trans women, activists said. A report from the advocacy group SPoD this month showed discrimination and violence due to sexual identity and preference doubled in the 45 days following Erbas remarks, compared with the preceding period. Statements targeting [gays] from institutions that are supposed to protect citizens make attacks more likely since there is no fear of punishment, lawyer and gay rights activist Levent Piskin told Al-Monitor. Turkey ranks 48th out of 49 countries tracked by ILGA Europe, a nongovernmental organization advocating for human rights, in its survey of the impact of laws and policies on LGBTI lives. The lack of legal protections contributes to discrimination and harassment. The European Union said hate speech and crimes and violations of LGBTI peoples rights in Turkey cause it serious concern. The government has banned the Pride March since 2015, citing security concerns. Restricting this freedom of expression, assembly and association means Turkey is contravening international obligations, Human Rights Watch has said. With the ban [on Pride], this issue becomes criminalized in societys eyes and [LGBTI people] are more at risk. Without protective mechanisms, these kinds of prohibitions on rights and freedoms and peoples very existence increase violence, Piskin said. Homosexuality has been legal in Turkey, a conservative Muslim nation with a secular constitution, since the mid-19th century, and attitudes toward gays are generally more tolerant than in other parts of the Middle East. Support for gay rights is growing, with 45% of respondents saying gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans individuals should have equal rights in a 2020 survey by Kadir Has University, compared with 36% last year. But 77% of respondents said same-sex relationships were against our social norms. The rise in anti-gay rhetoric in a country already deeply polarized along cultural fault lines may be an appeal to hard-line voters or to shift the discussion to identity issues and away from an economic slowdown during the coronavirus outbreak. Louis Fishman, a history professor at Brooklyn College who writes on Turkish affairs for Haaretz newspaper, pointed out that Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) had long avoided targeting LGBTI people, preferring to sweep it under the carpet and leave it within the private realm, because Turkish society is very uncomfortable with it out in the open. Ahead of his partys first election in 2002, Erdogan said gay rights should be codified into law and that he found treatment of homosexuals at times to be inhumane. Until Pride was banned, the AKP allowed some loosening of curbs on gay life and expression, though progress was always uneven. In recent years, the leftist opposition has embraced a progressive platform on gay issues, which may be forcing conservative circles to confront the matter as well, Fishman said. While Turkey does not face elections until 2023, the AKP may be seeking to consolidate support as polling shows it has fallen as the economy teeters during the pandemic. This may appeal to extreme nationalist or religious voters the AKP has been unable to incorporate into its bloc, but this isnt a major electoral issue for most Turks. The AKP is going off course from a well-thought-out strategy that existed for years, Fishman said. The Turkish publics trust in Russia has declined while trust in the United States has increased, a public opinion poll published this month shows, revealing the impact of the conflict between Ankara and Moscows regional policies. The Turkish Foreign Policy Public Perceptions survey conducted by Istanbul's Kadir Has University in April found that support for Russia declined by 14 percentage points from last year as the number of people who see Russia as a threat jumped to 55% from 44.2% in 2019. In parallel, the poll suggests that the overall trust in the United States has increased. The number of people who see the United States as a threat declined by some 11 percentage points, decreasing 70% from 81.3% in 2019. The United States support for the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Washington administrations policies vis-a-vis the Kurds in the Middle East were the top two answers from respondents about what they saw as the most important problem in ties between the two NATO allies. Washingtons support for the PYD was the top reason for distrust at 34%, while 27.2% of respondents pointed to the United States "Kurdish policies in the Middle East. Turkey sees the PYD and its military arm the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units as terrorist organizations and wants the United States to designate them as such. Yet the Kurdish groups remain the United States' most reliable ally in Syria. There might be a correlation between the decline in the distrust and the personal ties between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump, according to Mustafa Aydin, the coordinator of the survey and professor of international relations at Kadir Has. Yet the current positive outlook in the bilateral relation might be cosmetic, Aydin warned. There are important problems between Turkey and the United States, but Trump is able to act as if these problems do not exist thanks to his personal relations, Aydin told Al-Monitor. Despite these results, it is difficult to expect a lasting positive change. As for relations with Russia, Aydin believes the ties between Ankara and Moscow are a better fit for cooperation. Despite ups and downs, the relationship seems like it will continue based on both cooperation and rivalry, Aydin said, adding that support for rival parties in Syrian and Libyan civil wars contributed to the results of the survey. The results reflect the developments over the past three months, Aydin said, pointing out that Erdogans recent positive messages about the United States have also been influential. Earlier this month, Erdogan said Turkey and the United States are headed for a new era in their relations following his phone conversation with Trump on June 7. Huseyin Bagci, professor of international relations at Ankaras Middle East Technical University, said that conflicts of interests in Libya with Moscow played a role in the decline of the Turks trust in Russia. Bagci believes that Moscows refusal to withdraw the Russian Wagner Group mercenaries supporting Khalifa Hifters Libyan National Army affected the Turkish publics view of Moscow. The relations with the United States always had ups and downs. Turkey remains a strategic partner of the United States and it doesnt want to drift away from the US orbit, Bagci told Al-Monitor. Another striking result of the survey was a five-point decline in the publics support of NATO. Yet, Bagci does not find the change very significant, as the majority of the respondents said that the Turkish government would not leave NATO. Leaving NATO means becoming a third world country in regards to security, Bagci said. No government would risk it. The survey revealed that public perception of the foreign policy is not balanced, as knowledge of foreign policy matters is dependent on reporting by the Turkish press, which is not free, and Erdogans remarks, according to Unal Cevikoz, deputy chair of the main opposition Republican Peoples Party and a former diplomat. The president is always on the screen. Thus, these two factors have been determinant in shaping the public perception of the foreign policy, Cevikoz told Al-Monitor, adding that 69% of the respondents consider Erdogan the person with the last word in foreign policy. Erdogans criticism of Washington over its alliance with the PYD has subsided recently. This, of course, has a role in the decline of both trust in Russia and distrust in the United States, according to the former diplomat. Ozgur Ozmadar, assistant professor of international relations at Bilkent University, meanwhile, believes that the survey reveals the public's grasp of foreign policy developments. According to Ozdamar, the deep-rooted anti-Americanism among the public may diminish if the conflicts between Ankara and Washington lessen. The Turkish public has never been in favor of extreme foreign policy choices, Ozdamar tol Al-Monitor, explaining, [The public] has never been in favor of a foreign policy which fully supports the West or East over the other. I can say that Turkeys public opinion has been for the middle road when it comes to foreign policy, Ozdamar said. The presumption that democracy and a well-functioning market economy are the best remedies for the political-economical struggles Turkey faces can explain the increasing approval of the Western institutions, he added. The poll also spotted a change in Turks perception of Turkish identity. Those who see Turkey as a primarily Islamic country have decreased by some 34% in two years, declining from 56.3% in 2018 to 22.4% in 2020. A loss of support for the ruling Justice and Development Party and its Islamic outlook might explain the results, according to Aydin. The overall results of the survey indicates an important shift in Turkeys axis from the East to West, Aydin said. We dont know if its a permanent change, but I dont expect this trend to [stop]. Bagci says the results are not surprising. There is disappointment toward the Arab world. Turkey is a European country, he said. Im not even a bit surprised. What has been going on in the name of Islam began drawing angry reactions from the public. Cevikoz thinks the results show that the public has begun to associate more with the West than with the Islamic world. The acquisition of a Renaissance painting of Mehmed the Conqueror by the municipality of Istanbul, the very city he conquered in 1453, has brought a wave of applause for Ekrem Imamoglu, the citys media-savvy mayor from the opposition Republican Peoples Party. But it has brought an even bigger wave of controversy on whether it was the municipality or the Ministry of Culture and Tourism that should have bought this painting, and whether the painting was overpriced or even authentic. Imamoglu himself broke the news of the purchase with a June 25 tweet: A 15th-century portrait of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror was bought by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality at a live auction in London today. We are thrilled and cannot wait to welcome this celebrated work of art in Istanbul soon. The painting, acquired at an auction, shows Mehmed II in profile, facing a pale-faced man in Ottoman costume. The Christies catalog says that it was made circa 1429-1507 at the workshop of Gentile Bellini, who spent 1480 in Istanbul, doing several paintings of the sultan. The date Nov. 25, 1480, is written in Latin in the lower right corner of the painting. The announcement followed a fortnight of wholl-buy-it ever since Christies announced that one of the three known paintings of Mehmed the Conqueror known as Fatih among Turks would go up for auction. Some Turkish opinion-leaders predicted that the ruling the Ministry of Culture and Tourism would seek to buy the painting, at a time that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his cronies pay ever louder lip service to Mehmed IIs conquest of Istanbul and his decision to turn the citys monumental Hagia Sophia church into a mosque. Istanbuls conquest has been an integral part of Erdogans rhetoric that aims to evoke ancestral pride in having reigned over Christians and the citys conquest is celebrated with extravagant festivities every year on May 29. Culture and cultural heritage have long been bones of contention between the Ministry and the Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul, the countrys cultural capital. The countrys top cultural attractions old and new are based in the 16-million metropolis, which hosted an annual 15 million tourists in the pre-COVID-19 days. Given the lucrative pie, it is no surprise that Istanbuls local administration often finds itself at loggerheads with the ministry. Earlier this year, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced a plan to transform the Galata Tower and its surroundings into an integrated space for cultural events, revoking the municipality's operating rights, much to the chagrin of Imamoglu. Imamoglu scored a goal as the Ministry of Culture slept, reported Yenicag, a nationalist newspaper. The article read that many Turks, including followers of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), had supported the move. But it quoted some tweets that said while the AKP was simply paying lip service to its Ottoman ancestors, Imamoglu was taking action to bring their lost heritage back to Turkey. In response, the Directorate of National Palaces, which runs Ottoman mansions under the presidency, announced that its Painting Museum would open a new wing that would display for the first time two paintings of Mehmed II by Italian painter Paolo Veronese and Ottoman painter Halil Pasha. Mehmed II (1432-1481) is the first Ottoman sultan to bring painted portraits to the Ottoman Empire. None of the sultans before and few after ever commissioned portraits of themselves, as conservative Islam frowned upon this type of representation. In 1479, shortly after concluding a peace accord with Venice, Mehmed II requested a good painter and was presented to Gentile Bellini by the Bailo of Venice. For the next year and quarter [Bellini] painted portraits of Mehmed II and his court and erotic frescoes for the inner chambers of the palace the sultan was building on the easternmost point of Constantinople, wrote Philip Mansel in Constantinople: City of Worlds Desire. The most famous of these paintings, Sultan Mehmet II is in the National Gallery in London. The painting, dated 1480, shows the sultans face and body in profile and includes two sets of three golden crowns, probably intended to represent Greece, Trebizond and Asia, where he ruled. The one bought by Istanbul Municipality is about half its size at 33.4 x 45.4 cm (13 1/8 x 17 7/8 inches). An oil painting in somber colors, its full title is Portrait of Sultan Mehmed II with dignitary and shows Fatih with a young man whose identity has been an artistic riddle. This person is said to be one of his three sons, but the little age gap between the two does not quite confirm this theory. Another view is that this person could be European because of his shaven face and white complexion," Sara Plumbly, head of the Islamic and Indian Art Department at Christie's, said before the sale. The identity of the person is hotly debated among Turkeys historians. Ilber Ortayli, former director of the Topkapi Palace, said that the person was likely to be Cem Sultan, Fatihs favorite son who shared his fathers open-minded policies. This may partly explain why Bayezid II, his conservative son who ended up taking the throne, had this and the other paintings removed from the palace and sold to a Venetian tradesman. Murat Bardakci, another popular historian, said the figure cannot be one of Fatihs sons, as Ottomans never depicted a ruler and his heir together. In a column in daily Haberturk, Bardakci expressed doubt that the painting was unlikely to be done by Gentile Bellini himself, claiming that it must have been one of his disciples. Mahir Polat, the director of culture for Istanbul Municipality, says the painting is most likely to be by Gentile Bellini himself while he was in Istanbul, not later. It is with great pride that we brought back this painting to Istanbul we had our eye on this painting for a while and strongly believe that its rightful place is in Istanbul, he told Al-Monitor. Polat also brushed aside claims that the municipality overpaid for the painting, which was sold at GDP 935,000 ($1.15 million). Its value to Istanbul is beyond the sum paid it is a symbol of the citys heritage, he said. In online debates, critics accuse the municipality of extravagance at a time funds are needed for COVID-19 measures and social assistance and supporters point out that at least Imamoglu spent the money on real art, rather than tasteless dinosaur statues like former AKP Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek. Bishop Kee Sloan, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, has extended the suspension of in-person group worship services through July 15. Episcopal churches in the diocese last met for regular group worship services on Sunday, March 8, so it will be at least four months that churches have been largely empty on Sundays. Most of the 88 parishes in the diocese, with combined membership of about 30,000, continue to hold online worship services, and occasionally hold outdoors services with social distancing guidelines. This shouldnt be a surprise to any of you, as were all watching the news and seeing that the rate of new cases and hospitalizations is not consistently falling in Alabama, Sloan wrote in a statement released Monday. If anything, the virus seems to be gaining momentum. At the same time, we know that people are getting impatient with staying at home and wearing face masks to go to the store; some of our folks think its time we all go back to church. I understand that, and Im looking forward to coming back to church, to celebrate the love of God with all of you when its safe for us to do so. I am not making this decision based on the politics of the day, or based on being bored, or tired of being unable to see my friends, but based on the numbers of new cases and new hospitalization rates in Alabama. We have so far proceeded with an abundance of caution, and I think weve been right; I think its right to continue with caution until the data indicates that its time to for us to come back to worshipping in person indoors. On Saturday, Sloans elected successor, Bishop Glenda Curry, was consecrated as a bishop and took the office of coadjutor, or assistant bishop. Sloan retires at the end of 2020 and Curry will take over as head of the diocese. The consecration of Bishop Curry was held with fewer than 30 people in attendance at Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, with strict social distancing and face-mask requirements. Bishops laying hands on Bishop Curry frequently used hand sanitizer during the service. In an email obtained by The Capital, a property manager for the Flats 170 at Academy Yard complex emailed residents just after 10 a.m. to explain why so many police were around, as their presence may have caused concern. After a longtime employee at beloved Tuscaloosa restaurant Taco Casa lost other his mode of transportation and spent many days and miles walking to work, an anonymous customer gave him a car. Taco Casa filmed and shared the reveal to the employee, whose name the restaurant has not released, on their social media channels as his colleagues joined him in the parking lot. There is a gentleman here in town that wants to remain anonymous, but wants to surprise you, Rod Wilkin II, part of the Wilkin family who owns Taco Casa, says in the video. And he has just given me keys to a car for you, and its right there. For me? the man asks. Surrounded by his applauding colleagues, the man graciously takes the keys and walks over to check out his new, fully paid-off white Acura sedan. Some days are better than others and today was a great one, the Taco Casa Instagram posts caption said. One of our longtime, hardworking employees was rewarded today with some of Gods grace. A couple of weeks back, a loyal customer had noticed that even though our employee had lost his means of transportation, that didnt keep him from walking to work. So, our customer felt led to anonymously reward our employee with a fully paid for vehicle...that he surprised him with today. God is good. A staple in the community since 1974, Taco Casa remains arguably residents favorite homegrown restaurant day-to-day. With locations in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, the Mexican food eatery really started as a $2,500 inheritance owner Rod Wilkin and his wife Susan eventually turned into this dependable local franchise whose legend continues to grow. Watch the video in the post below. As soon as he picks up the phone for an interview, Jay Hendrix apologizes for any noise in the background. You might hear sewing machines, he says. Ive got some stuff to get out this afternoon. Hes also on daddy duty with his three-year-old daughter. Jay is often sewing away in his workshop, located in the west Mobile home he shares with his wife, Adrian (who goes by A.J.). His business, Knotted Handcrafted Bowties, specializes in custom, hand-sewn bowties that are sold online and at art festivals and shows all over the Southeast. I make every single one, he says thus the warning about the occasional whir of the sewing machine. Theyre all hand-cut. The only thing pre-made is the fabric. A native of Mobile, Jay graduated from Murphy High School, where he took enough college classes to make him a sophomore when he started at UAB. But I was not quite ready, he says. I wasnt disciplined enough. He stuck with it, though, and five years later he earned a degree in healthcare management. Almost immediately, he landed a job in his field at a hospital in the Mobile area. But he and his then-girlfriend A.J. had similar aspirations, he says. Both of them wanted to own their own business and work together. They brainstormed ways to do that, determined to think of a creative, unique product you couldnt find. One day, the idea of bowties came to Jays mind. His own father had taught him how to tie a tie when he was just 9 years old. In high school, hed been in an organization that helped other young men learn that skill. And in college, he had helped a few friends learn how to do it. As it happened, A.J. had a sewing machine and is a crafty, handy person, he says. While Jay was a longtime bowtie fan, he didnt know how to make one. Long story short, I went to YouTube University for a while and learned the basics, he says. What sets his ties apart, other than the wide array of fabrics and patterns, is that theyre suitable for first-timers or experts. I can send him home with that tie that day, he says. In other words, no previous bowtie experience is necessary. Jays bowties can be either pre-tied or self-tied. No matter how its done, bowties are a classic look that never goes out of style. Bowties are a thing of pride, he says. People make assumptions about a guy in a bowtie. Jay and A.J. started Knotted Handcrafted Bowties in 2015. They found a niche for themselves at gift shows and art festivals, where Knotted is usually one of only a handful of vendors with items geared toward men. In addition to bowties, they also carry fun patterned socks and neckties. He kept the bowtie business going, in addition to his full-time hospital job, until 2018, when he found himself a victim of budget cuts and lost his position in a mass layoff. I signed up for as many shows as possible, he says and he managed to turn his side hustle into a full-time job with Knotted. Jays line has a couple of staples, like a conservative navy bowtie with white polka dots thats perfect for any college student or doctor. Then he has some more creative items like an unconventional purple, blue and yellow paisley. His ultimate goal is to help men showcase their personalities as they display a gentlemanly vibe. Weddings comprise 10 to 15 percent of his business, he says. He can outfit a wedding party with bowties, which double as gifts for the groomsmen and give the guys a chance to get snazzy just like the ladies are. At Mardi Gras, Knotted sees another boom in business as men accessorize their formal wear with Carnival-themed ties. Earlier this year, Jay invested in Facebook advertising in the Mobile and New Orleans areas and was rewarded with orders from all over the Southeast for bowties in fleur-de-lis patterns and purple and gold colors for Mardi Gras balls. Unfortunately, like so many other businesses nationwide, Knotted has taken a hit in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic that has canceled weddings, proms and other events that often call for unique ties. Jay started making masks as a source of income, which helped him stay afloat. The masks, as well as his other products, are available through his website. His bread and butter, though, is the show season from September through November. One annual favorite is the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs, Miss., where some 100,000 people spend two days walking past his booth. He always enjoys chatting with them. I get to meet all kinds of people, he says. Hes been known to give ties away to customers who cant afford the $25 price tag. Sometimes, hell throw in a pair of socks with a purchase to show appreciation, he says. Last year, he took his dad along with him to a large event in Birmingham. He credits his father with nurturing his entrepreneurial spirit. He told me, Son, I can see what you do this and why youre so happy doing it, he says. About 1 in 9 Alabamians age 65 and older who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 has died, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris on Tuesday highlighted the states alarming fatality rate for people age 65 and older and appealed for Alabamians to practice social distancing and wear face masks in public to help control the spread of the disease. About three quarters of all of [Alabamas] deaths have occurred in our seniors, even though theyre only about 17% of our cases, Harris said. If you do that math, that works out to seniors who are infected with this disease have about a 1-in-9 chance of not surviving. And thats a tragedy. Harris made the comments during a Tuesday press conference with Gov. Kay Ivey, in which Ivey announced that she was extending the states Safer at Home order limiting public gatherings and requiring certain businesses to take precautions to avoid spreading the disease. The order will now be effective through at least July 31. Despite the Safer at Home restrictions, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Alabama continues to increase. The ADPH dashboard tracking confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in the state shows more than 37,500 total cases as of June 30. The state is now reporting 926 deaths from COVID-19, of which 726, or 78%, were people 65 or older. Harris pointed out that more than 10,000 cases have been added in the last 14 days, about 28% of Alabamas total number of cases. Even though were testing more, were finding a greater percentage of people who are positive, Harris said. And that means we know that we have increasing transmission going on in the community. Harris said hospitals in the state are seeing the highest number of COVID patients yet, and UAB Hospital in Birmingham reported its highest total as well. Our hospitals today are actually reporting more confirmed COVID-19 in-patients than they have seen so far during the outbreak, Harris said. [There are] more than 750 Alabamians hospitalized today around the state. About 300 more are hospitalized awaiting confirmation, awaiting test results, so these numbers are higher than we have seen so far. Harris continued to urge Alabamians to continue social distancing as much as possible, wear masks in public and take precautions to avoid spreading the virus. I just want to use this opportunity just to plead with Alabamians please continue to take this seriously, Harris said. I know so many of you have, and we have heard from so many people who are helpful and supportive, but we know that there are many people that have not yet gotten the message. Our our state has opened back up in many ways, but this is not the time to let our guard down. Iveys office on Tuesday also released a series of video public service announcements from prominent Alabamians like Bo Jackson, Charles Barkley, Brittney Howard and members of Alabama (the band), urging people to wear masks. Several Alabama cities and Jefferson County have required people wear face masks or coverings in most public spaces, and others will consider similar orders this week. Ivey and Harris chose not to issue a statewide order requiring masks, citing public opposition to such mandates. Our goal really is to try to make sure people have the information at the local level to make the best decisions they can, Harris said. We certainly understand that trying to enforce new restrictions on people is an option that some other states have pursued. Thats been real challenging for us, as you know. We certainly need to have local buy-in, we need to have local support. We need people to be in favor of what were doing. And so were trying to give them more information to make it clearer to them and hopefully theyre gonna make the right decision. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed Birmingham attorney James P. Jim Naftel II as one of Jefferson Countys two probate judges. Naftel will replace Alan King, who announced his retirement last month. Naftel, who has been an attorney with Maynard, Coooper & Gale, P.C., since 1998, said in an email that he thanked the governor for the appointment. It is an honor to be appointed and I look forward to serving Jefferson County in this role, he said. Naftel earned a bachelors degree from the University of Mississippi in 1994 and graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1998. King served as probate judge for 19 years. Naftel fills his position as Jefferson County Probate Judge, Place 1. Sherri Friday has served as Jefferson County Probate Judge Place 2 since she was elected in 2006. Naftels appointment is effective immediately. The feds are investigating nursing homes in Alabama where nurses died from coronavirus. Remington Arms Co. is preparing to file for bankruptcy for the second time and is in talks with the Navajo Nation for a potential sale. Two slain Alabama police officers were remembered Monday as part of a 30-state tour to honor 146 officers killed in the line of duty countrywide in 2019. Hear more from Ike Morgan by clicking the player above. Get this post and more in your weekday Down in Alabama newsletter by subscribing here. You can also hear Ike each weekday by looking for Down in Alabama on the device of your choosing. Click here for the Spotify podcast page Click here for the Alexa skill page on Amazon Click here for the iTunes podcast page Click here for the Stitcher podcast page Personal-injury lawyers Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who pointed a rifle and pistol at protesters Sunday night in front of their Portland Place mansion in St. Louis, said through their lawyer Monday that they felt threatened by two bad actors who destroyed an iron gate to their private street and lobbed insults at them. My clients, as melanin-deficient human beings, are completely respectful of the message Black Lives Matter needs to get out, especially to whites, said lawyer Albert Watkins. He said the McCloskeys acted lawfully out of fear and apprehension, the genesis of which was not race-related. A live stream from the protest seemed to contradict that protesters gained access to the street by breaking down the gate, and one protester who witnessed the showdown told the Post-Dispatch that marchers took notice of the McCloskeys only when the couple emerged from their home armed and threatening to kill them. Several people were asking them to put their guns away or to stop pointing them at us, said protester James Cooper. I was afraid (Patricia McCloskey) would open fire or accidentally discharge into the crowd. I was afraid someone among us would legitimately fear for their life and react defensively, which couldve sparked a bloodbath. The encounter played out as protesters marched through the Central West End toward Mayor Lyda Krewsons home to demand her resignation because she had aired the names and addresses Friday of several protesters calling for the closure of the Medium Security Institution known as the workhouse. In addition to a Post-Dispatch photographer documenting the confrontation, a video of the incident posted to Twitter had been viewed more than 15 million times Monday. Private property! Mark McCloskey shouted repeatedly at the crowd, as he held a rifle. Get out! Private property, get out! Patricia McCloskey pointed a small handgun. Someone in the crowd replied, Calm down. A woman protester yelled, Then call the (expletive) cops, you idiot! and Its a public street (expletive). To access Portland Place, the crowd entered through an iron pedestrian gate. The McCloskeys told police the protesters broke the gate to get in. The couples renovation of their storied Renaissance palazzo mansion on Portland Place was featured several years ago in St. Louis Magazine. City records show the property is appraised at $1.15 million. The windows at the couples law firm were boarded up Monday. City police said the couple had called for help once they saw the large crowd enter Portland Place. The McCloskeys had been at home and heard a loud commotion coming from the street; they went to investigate and saw a large group of subjects forcefully break an iron gate marked with No Trespassing and Private Street signs, police said. The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims, police said. When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police. The crowd of protesters eventually moved to Krewsons home on Lake Avenue a block away. Police said they are investigating the incident on Portland Place but are labeling it as a case of trespassing and fourth-degree assault by intimidation. A police spokeswoman referred a reporter to the courts as to whether the couple were within their rights to point guns at protesters. Castle doctrine Anders Walker, a constitutional law professor at St. Louis University, said Monday that it was very dangerous for the McCloskeys to engage with protesters by brandishing guns, but Missouris Castle Doctrine allows them to defend their property on Portland Place, a private street. At any point that you enter the property, they can then, in Missouri, use deadly force to get you off the lawn, Walker said, calling the states Castle Doctrine a force field that indemnifies you, and you can even pull the trigger in Missouri. Luckily, Walker said, no one got shot. Theres no right to protest on those streets, Walker said. The protesters thought they had a right to protest, but as a technical matter, they were not allowed to be there. Its essentially a private estate. If anyone was violating the law, it was the protesters. In fact, if (the McCloskeys) have photos of the protesters, they could go after them for trespassing. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner released a statement Monday saying shes alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend where peaceful protestors (sic) were met by guns and a violent assault. Gardner said her office is investigating the incident on Portland Place as well as an assault among protesters Saturday afternoon at the King Louis IX statue atop Art Hill in Forest Park. We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated, Gardner said. Make no mistake: we will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights, and will use the full power of Missouri law to hold people accountable. On Monday, Rep. Steven Roberts, a St. Louis Democrat running for a state Senate seat, said his campaign wont keep a $250 contribution he received last year from Mark McCloskey. He said he would donate it to Moms Demand Action, a group that pushes for stricter gun laws. Campaign finance reports say Mark McCloskey has supported other Democratic candidates including a $3,250 donation to Russ Carnahan in 2016 when the former U.S. representative ran for lieutenant governor. McCloskey also supported Donald Trumps election in 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records. Sundays protest culminated at Krewsons house. Her spokesman did not reply to a reporter asking if Krewson was at home Sunday night. At least 500 people demonstrated, chanting Resign Lyda, take the cops with you. They were upset that the mayor had released on a Facebook Live briefing the names and addresses of several residents who suggested defunding the police department. The video has been removed, and Krewson has apologized, saying she did not intend to cause distress or harm to anyone. Jack Suntrup of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. 2020 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Two capital murder suspects in the June 4 slaying of seven people in Valhermoso Springs are back in Morgan County and are on suicide watch in the county jail, authorities said. Morgan County Sheriffs Office spokesman Mike Swafford said John Michael Legg, 19, and Frederic Allen Rogers, 22, were returned from the Marion County Jail in Salem, Oregon, on Sunday via a prisoner transport service to Birmingham. He said Morgan deputies escorted the pair to the county jail in Decatur. Jail records show the pair were booked into jail at 11:14 p.m. Sunday. Rogers was placed in maximum security and Legg in medium security to keep them apart, records show. Capital murder suspects are not granted bail in Alabama and a capital murder sentence is either life in prison without parole or the death sentence. Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson did not return a call Monday asking if he planned on seeking the death penalty in the case. No court appearances had been set for the two men as of Monday afternoon, according to court records. Sgt. Anna Jefferson, of the Marion County Sheriffs Office, said the suspects were transferred out of the facility in Salem on Sunday morning. While they were in the Marion County Jail for eight days, Jefferson said they had their own cells. Due to COVID, all of our adults in custody are housed in individual cells, she said. I dont see that they had any disciplinary issues while they were in our jail. Morgan County Sheriff Ron Puckett said the pair knew the seven victims in the house at 522 Talucah Road, where the fatal shootings occurred. He said Legg and Rogers and three of the people killed, James Wayne Benford, 22, of Decatur, Roger Lee Jones Jr., 20, of Decatur, and Jeramy Wade Roberts, 31, of Athens, were members of a local group called Seven Deadly Sins. Authorities said at a press conference June 21 they did not know much about the group. Coroner Jeff Chunn identified the other victims as William Zane Hodgin, 18, of Somerville; Tammy England Muzzey, 45, of Valhermoso Springs; Emily Brooke Payne, 21, of Valhermoso Springs; and a female, 17, whose name has not been released because she was a juvenile. County records listed Muzzey and Payne as residents at the house. Chunn said the seven victims died of multiple gunshot wounds. A dog also was fatally shot in the house, Puckett said. Jail records list 2479 Vaughn Bridge Road, Hartselle, as the suspects address. The residence is owned by Carl T. Legg and Nola J. Legg, according to the Morgan County Revenue Department. On Monday afternoon, the residence near Vaughn Bridge Road and Oak Ridge Road was overgrown and appeared abandoned. The suspects were detained by Marion County sheriffs deputies in Stayton, Oregon, at 12:30 p.m. on June 21 following a traffic stop. They did not resist arrest, according to Jefferson. SWAT and the Portland, Oregon, FBI assisted in the arrests, she said. 2020 The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.) Visit The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.) at www.decaturdaily.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. UAB Hospital is treating its largest number of COVID-19 patients yet, as hospitalizations reach all-time highs statewide. On Monday, University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital reported 74 confirmed in-house COVID-19 patients, outstripping previous highs. At the height of the initial coronavirus surge in early April, UAB treated as many as 63 in-house COVID-19 patients. But UAB Hospital has set new record highs for in-house coronavirus patients three times in the past five days. Officials from hospitals around the Birmingham held meetings on Monday to discuss rising COVID-19 hospitalization issues, said Jordan DeMoss, UAB Hospital vice president for clinical operations. Using rough math, it looks like 40% of the Birmingham-area (COVID-19 inpatients) are at UAB, he said, with other area hospitals treating scores more. Were all working together to make sure we manage this. Many hospitals around the state are seeing rising numbers of COVID-19 patients. Late last week, Alabamas 7-day average for current hospitalizations hit an all-time high of 659. In North Alabama, Huntsville Hospital CEO David Spillers announced the Huntsville Hospital system is now treating 115 COVID-19 patients, compared with just 28 at the beginning of June. In South Alabama, Mobile was an early hotspot, then saw a leveling out of cases. But Mobile added 520 cases in the past week and city officials are now considering a public masking ordinance to try to slow infection rates. One of the biggest concerns for hospitals now is treating COVID-19 patients while also still treating the usual load of acute-care and non-emergency patients. During the initial surge in April, hospitals had temporarily halted most elective surgical procedures. Where were concerned is the fact we have ramped up many of our clinical services and are trying to figure out how to continue to do that safely, as well as take care of an increasing number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, said DeMoss. The appetite to shut back down the way we did doesnt seem to be there, and that forces us as a healthcare system to not have that in our back pocket anymore and to figure out how to manage both. He linked the rise in hospitalizations to increased community transmission of coronavirus in the Birmingham area. Last Friday, Jefferson County added 149 new cases, the most by any one Alabama county in a day since the start of the pandemic. Its seven-day average is the highest its ever been. I think people have taken their guard down a little bit, DeMoss said. We want people to make good, safe, smart decisions so we can avoid causing a healthcare system overrun. DeMoss said UAB has been able to prevent outbreaks among its staff, due in part to strict mask-wearing policies at the hospital. The majority of any positive faculty and staff infection has been community-acquired and not hospital-acquired, he said. To speak from our own experience, masking is absolutely effective. UABs call center, which fields requests from people seeking coronavirus tests, has seen a doubling in calls in the past few days, from about 50 to about 100 patients per day wanting to get tested. UAB can perform about 1,000 COVID-19 tests per day, which DeMoss said is a 500% increase from the beginning of the epidemic. In the early days, swabs and other specimen collecting supplies were hard to find. Now those are easier to get, but reagents the substances used to analyze COVID-19 samples arent as available as hed like. DeMoss said hes cautiously optimistic about protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers, like masks, gowns and gloves. The manufacturers are really ramping up their manufacturing of those supplies, but they still havent come to us in a volume that makes us comfortable with where we are, he said. I think were in an OK place (regarding PPE) but not a place where we can take our eye off the ball. The Mobile City Council will vote Wednesday on whether to join the cities of Birmingham and Montgomery and Jefferson County in mandating residents wear a mask or face covering within city limits. The special-called meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m., will take place about 24 hours after Councilman John Williams requested on Tuesday that the vote be laid over for one week while city officials studied the ramifications of an ordinance that assesses a $50 fine for first-time offenders who opt not to wear a mask. Council rules allow a single council member to hold a council agenda item for one week after its first introduced for consideration. The mask ordinance would have then been scheduled for a vote during the councils July 7 meeting. But a majority at the urging of the citys medical leaders who spoke during Tuesdays council meeting opted to act before the Fourth of July weekend. There are a lot of questions out there, said Williams. I am a little disappointed in the whole process. The opinions I disagree with, the action by the council I disagree with. But because I have a difference of opinion on government does not make me a bad person. It doesnt make me wrong or right. He added, I am not against masks. I am simply against our government saying, you got to wear a mask in a parking lot, and I dont own a parking lot. Neither does any other taxpayer. The ordinance has the five-vote supermajority to pass, and its likely to be adopted during the Wednesday meeting. To not act upon anything is not good leadership in my role, said Councilman C.J. Small, who called Wednesday an emergency meeting. Its absolutely clear the coronavirus remains active in our community and more needs to be done to slow the spread of the disease. This is an urgent matter affecting our citizens. Enforcement Under the ordinance, a mask or face covering is required for people to wear outdoors in parking lots, shopping malls, congested sidewalks or other populated areas. Exempted activities include parks and other open spaces provided that 6-foot social distancing is maintained. Children ages 2 and under are also exempt. An exemption also exists for people who could suffer substantial mental or physical health, safety or security risks by wearing a mask. The ordinance is scheduled to last for 30 days but could be renewed beyond that time frame. It carries fines of $50 for a first offense and $100 for the second and subsequent offenses. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, who supports the ordinance, said there needs to be some tweaks to it both with enforcement aspect and amendments that would remove certain phrases. Stimpson said he would discuss how the ordinance plans to be enforced on Wednesday. Officials in Birmingham and Montgomery cannot confirm that any tickets have been issued since their ordinances went into effect. The Birmingham city ordinance went into effect on May 1, while the Montgomery ordinance instituted through an executive order by Mayor Steven Reed has also not resulted in any fines. David Agee, chief deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department, said that his agency plans to take a first approach of educating and give people an opportunity to comply. The Jefferson County mask mandate went into effect Monday. Selma Mayor Darrio Melton has also signed an executive order mandating masks within city limits. In Decatur on Monday night, the City Council voted to support a recommendation for people to wear masks, but stopped short of a mandate. What got my attention was the impassioned pleas from the medical community to take another look at this because of escalating numbers, Stimpson said. The city, in early May, backed away from voting on a similar ordinance. We knew when we opened the doors for Memorial Day, wed probably see a spike. Thats what is exactly happening. Start with Mobile Indeed, medial executives expressed concerns over the spike in COVID-19 cases in recent days. According to Mobile County Health Officer Dr. Bert Eichold, the spike includes 117 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday in Mobile County. The county has the third-most cases in Alabama, behind Jefferson and Montgomery counties. Tuscaloosa County is fourth, and city leaders in Tuscaloosa are planning to vote on a mask ordinance later tonight. Councilwoman Gina Gregory asked Eichold why the mask-mandate wasnt being pushed to other cities in Mobile County. On Monday, for instance, Saraland Mayor Howard Rubenstein said there were no plans for his council to discuss or vote on a mask-wearing ordinance. Alabama has no statewide mask-wearing mandate. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has left the decision on whether people should be required to wear masks up to cities and county leaders. Said Eichold, Weve got to start with the largest municipality first based on the governors recommendation and the State Health Order. Added Councilman Joel Daves, Someone has to take the first step. If youre Chickasaw, Bayou La Batre it makes no sense for you to ban masks if you dont ban them (in Mobile). Medical support Dr. George Koulianos, president of the Mobile County Medical Society, speaks during the Mobile City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 30, 2020,at Government Plaza in downtown Mobile, Ala. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com). Nine leaders in Mobiles medical community spoke in support of the ordinance. Some of them said that wearing a mask along with maintaining social distancing, frequent washing of hands are collectively important toward preventing the spread of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people age 2 and over wear face coverings as a barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling in the air and onto other people. According to the CDC, facial coverings are more likely to stop the spread of COVID-19 when widely used in public settings. The CDC shows that when you wear it, you are not protecting yourself from the virus, you are protecting from you giving it to someone else, said Dr. William Admire, Chief Medical Officer of Mobile Infirmary. If were having this surge across the Sun Belt area, and we can make a difference in 30 days to decrease the severity and numbers and contain it, then weve done our job. Other medical officers addressed the polarization of mask wearing in recent weeks as some Americans view wearing a mask as governmental intrusion. They are also viewed through the countrys deep partisan divisions: According to Pew Research Center, 76% of Democrats and those who lean Democratic say they personally wore a mask all or most of the time in the past month, while 53% of Republicans or Republican leaners did the same. Conservative Republicans, according to Pew, were among the least likely to have worn a mask at all or most of the time the past month with slightly less than half 49% -- saying they did. Liberal Democrats, by contrast, were 83% likely to have worn them, according to Pew. COVID does not care about you, said Dr. Todd Kennedy, president and CEO with Providence Health System. It does not care about your political affiliation or who you voted for or your race, color or creed. It spreads a huge and a kiss and it doesnt rest. It doesnt take weekends off. It doesnt break for lunch and it doesnt pause on Sunday for prayer. He added, The President of the United States says we are at war with COVID-19, but we have no weapons. Once you contract COVID-19, there is little we can do. Another concern expressed by the medical officers revolved around the surge in younger people contracting the virus and potentially spreading it to older, and more vulnerable residents. Its a question of when the young adults infect the 50 and above (group) and then you have hospitalizations (increasing), said Dr. George Koulianos, president of the Mobile County Medical Society. All we have to offer is wearing a mask. At least, give it a month and see if we can clam it down. If the curve isnt doing what it should do, we can always take it back. Civil liberties Ordinance opponents expressed dismay over the city potentially pass a mandate that they viewed as a violation of civil liberties. One might argue that fear and anxiety are better countered with data and education than the marginally beneficial masks, said Susan Murphy of Mobile, who argued that the low number of fatalities compared to the overall population of Mobile County didnt warrant a requirement for people to wear masks. Feleda Keene of Mobile, who has four grandchildren, said she was concerned about what masks could do to the emotional well-being of children. There is not one piece of scientific proof to say (a mask) will stop a disease, said Keene. Its our responsibility to take care of ourselves. It is not yours. The advantages of wearing a mask is based on nothing but feel-good solutions. I should not be asked to give up my freedoms for someone elses. A man was seriously injured in a Birmingham shooting Monday evening. Birmingham police were notified at 6:13 p.m. that a victim had shown up at Princeton Baptist Medical Center with a gunshot wound, said Sgt. Rod Mauldin. According to police radio traffic, the man was driven to the hospital by a woman in a private vehicle. She initially stopped on the opposite side of the hospitals emergency room and was pleading with officers over her cell phone for help. Police found her and the victim was then taken to the emergency room. From there, it is believed he was transported to UAB Hospitals Trauma Center. A man was seriously injured in a shooting Monday, June 29, at Second Street and Sixth Avenue North. Police said he had been shot in the neck. Mauldin said his injuries are life-threatening. Investigators believe the shooting happened on Second Street and Sixth Avenue North. Crime scene detectives marked multiple shell casings in the street at that location. No additional details were available. But taking money away from Baltimores police department right now would be harmful, he said, especially as it already is undergoing a transformation as part of widespread reforms mandated under a federal consent decree. The consent decree, among many requirements, calls for increasing the number of police officers, improved training and better technology all of which cost money. An American woman rescued in a U.S. military operation in Honduras several months was not Natalee Holloway, according to her family. Holloway, who disappeared May 30, 2005 while in Aruba with more than 100 of her classmates, was trending on Twitter Tuesday, and reports of her supposed rescue also were making the rounds on Facebook. Her father, Dave Holloway, has one word for the wild rumors: FAKE. Natalee Holloway was trending on Twitter following false speculation that she was rescued by U.S. military in Honduras in March. (Twitter) Its not clear how the speculation started. The Twitter chatter references news released in March by U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper who announced the rescue of an unidentified woman who had been the victim of a violent crime in Honduras. We had a young lady, a young American, who was the victim of a violent crime in Honduras, I believe. She has been returned to the United States. Dave Holloway told AL.com he was not aware of the newest speculation. There have been multiple, similar incidents of speculation in the 15 years since her disappearance. For several days during that 2005 graduation trip, the teens - of legal drinking age in Aruba - sunned and snorkeled during the day, and at night donned their sundresses for dinner and partying at Carlos' N Charlie's, which at the time was located in downtown Oranjestad, a decent cab ride from the high-rise district. The group often ended up at Excelsior Casino, which was, and still is, connected to the Holiday Inn where the Mountain Brook group stayed. On their last night, Natalee and her friends met Joran van der Sloot, who lived with his family in the nearby Montana neighborhood and attended the Aruba International School. She was last seen about 1 a.m. getting into a gray Honda with van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers as they left Carlo 'N Charlie's. Natalee was scheduled to fly home on May 30 but failed to show up when the group met in the lobby to leave for their flight. Van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, reportedly the last people to see Natalee alive, were arrested multiple times in her disappearance, but were always released without being charged. The Kalpoes continue to live and work in Aruba. Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year sentence in Stephanie Flores death. He also faces charges in Alabama for extorting $25,000 from Holloway. An Alabama judge declared Natalee legally dead in 2012. Free DNA cancer risk screening is now available to adults in five north Alabama counties through a program offered by the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. The Huntsville research institute has already tested more than 4,500 adults 28-30 years old in a research program called Information is Power. Now, the tests are available to adults 19 and older in Madison, Morgan, Marshall, Jackson and Limestone counties. The tests screen for genes linked breast, ovarian, prostate, pancreatic and other cancers. They are offered by Kailos Genetics, a resident company at the institute. A free virtual event July 15 will give more information on genetic testing for cancer risk. HudsonAlpha and the Princess Theatre in Decatur are hosting the event featuring cancer researcher Sara Cooper, PhD, and genetic counselor Veronica Greve. Click here to learn more about the test. Register for the virtual event here. To order a test or gift a test to someone, follow this link. Chevy Chases frustrations about an inability to exit a traffic circle while laughing hysterically that he simply cannot get left is among the more iconic scenes in National Lampoons European Vacation. But motorists in coastal Alabama can be rest assured they wont have the same aggravations as the fictional Clark Griswold, according to transportation officials. Thats because when they first encounter the diverging diamond interchange, theyll have no choice: Like the Europeans, youll be momentarily driving in the left side of the road. We believe these traffic patterns improve efficiency and safety, said Haley Ansley, spokeswoman with the Alabama Department of Transportation. Shifting left Ready or not, the exotic oddity that is the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) is opening at Alabama State Route 181 and Interstate 10. Come 5 a.m. Wednesday, an interchange that averages close to 60,000 motorists per day, will become transformed into states first diverging diamond interchange. The $7.3 million reconfiguration of the congested area that links Spanish Fort with Daphne will be mostly completed and the area reopened for traffic. The area has been closed off to traffic since 9 p.m. Sunday. Sometimes called a double crossover diamond, the new interchange will require drivers to cross to the left or the opposite side of the road through a designed crossover section. Drivers then travel a limited distance before crossing back to the traditional side of the road. At first glance, the design looks complex and can be intimidating for someone who hasnt encountered one before. But proponents say they are easy to traverse and bring about safety and cost efficiencies to areas where congestion is a routine headache. Surrounded by the I-10/181 interchange are car dealerships, restaurants, big-box stores, shopping centers, a bowling alley, multiplex movie theater, and the historic Malbis neighborhood. New residential development has also popped up nearby, helping to fuel the traffic congestion within Alabamas fastest growing county. People are surprised it adds to the uneasiness of it all, Spanish Fort Mayor Mike McMillan said. But Ive driven one before, and the way its designed, (traffic) will be flowing and it will take you where you need to go on a normal basis. Said Daphne Mayor Dane Haygood, who has not driven through one yet, Its foreign to people here. Its the first one in Alabama. This is a known point of congestion and if this project provides that relief, then I think it will be very much welcomed and everyone will hopefully get accustomed to it quickly without too many incidences along the way. Safer alternative Proponents believe the DDI is much safer than a conventional, signalized interchange. Studies backed by the Federal Highway Administration show there are fewer conflict points (14 for a DDI, 26 for conventional interchanges), and that those conflict points for drivers are spread out throughout the interchange. The design eliminates left turns against traffic coming from the opposite side of the road. The concept was born in the U.S. through a term paper written in 2000 by University of Maryland graduate student Gilbert Chlewicki, who is now the division director at ATS/American and is known as the father if the diverging diamond. The design had previously been incorporated in France. The nations first DDI opened in Springfield, Mo., in 2009, and the project saved Missouri officials $13 million on what wouldve been a conventional interchange without the diamond-shaped structure. A Missouri Department of Transportation survey has since shown that 97% of drivers feel safer in the new Springfield DDI compared to the previous interchange, and that 95% of drivers felt there was less congestion in the new DDI compared to the previous interchange. Crash data has also shown the DDI, over a five-month comparison, reducing collisions by 60%. Praveen Edara, a professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Missouri, was a part of a team that evaluated safety of DDIs in Missouri, where the interchange is most prevalent. His team found that as compared to conventional interchanges, a DDI experiences a 62.2% reduction in fatal and injury crashes, a 35.1% reduction in property damage-only crashes, and a 40.8% reduction in overall crashes within the interchange itself. Right angle crashes occurring at the interchange ramp terminals were significantly reduced due to the reorientation of traffic flow (i.e. left turns not conflicting with oncoming traffic through movements), said Edara in an email to AL.com. Missouri has installed DDI in both urban and rural locations across the state and we have found it safer than conventional designs. Forever benefit A Google map locating the site of the new diverging diamond interchange at Interstate 10 and Alabama State Route 181. It will open under the new configuration on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The closest DDIs in Alabama are in DIberville, Mississippi and Atlanta. ALDOT officials are working on a joint project with the city of Homewood for the states second DDI at I-65 and Lakeshore Drive. Ansley said the state hopes to bid on the project later this year or early in 2021. Baldwin County officials have been preparing for the new interchange for over five years. In 2015, during then-Obama Administration Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx visited Mobile and Baldwin county officials and touted the efficiencies of the interchange in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. State Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Daphne, was a county commissioner at the time and recalled how the new design was embraced by transportation officials as a way toward tackling the high-traffic area. Unlike expensive and elaborate interchange reconstruction projects, the DDI doesnt require much if any purchases of right of way land by the government nor does it require the widening of a bridge that could lead to expensive and time consuming replacement of entire spans of roadway. It was a novel thing and was something the (ALDOT) administration wanted to try and (Transportation Director) John Cooper had his eye on it and wanted to see how it works, Elliott said. It was in the budget of what the (Metropolitan Planning Organization) could look at and what ALDOT could afford and would really fix this problem, believe it or not, with minimal interruption. Back in 2015, there were fewer than 50 DDI interchanges in the U.S. According to a website that tracks new DDI openings, the Baldwin County interchange could be the countrys 100th to open. For Kevin Spriggs, who owns businesses along 181 including Malbis Shell, said hes anxious to see it open and is excited to see it work. Im convinced its a better flow improvement that what weve had before, said Spriggs. On Wednesday, we should realize that type of benefit. Thats a forever benefit we will have with us every day. Diverging diamond interchange at Ala. 181 emerges as a top priority as ALDOT explores exotic design Alabama ramps up public information blitz ahead of diverging diamond interchange opening Diverging diamond interchange races toward completion despite coronavirus Charges have been dismissed against an Alabama grandmother accused of livestreaming her ex-son-in-law performing sex acts on a child. According to court records, the womans co-defendant her former son-in-law used an elaborate internet scheme to make it appear she was involved in the crimes. Lisa Williamson, 41, was arrested in May on five felony charges including sex abuse of a child under the age of 12 and production of porn with a minor. Steven Anthony Jackson, 19, is charged with first-degree sodomy and production of child pornography. Jackson is the father of the 1-year-old victim. Williamson is the girls maternal grandmother. Geneva County Sheriff Tony Helms previously said investigators received a tip from the FBI in another state. They were able to identify a general location where the alleged crime had taken place which was on March 19 and contacted FBI in the Dothan area. Steven Anthony Jackson (Geneva County Jail) From there, Helms said, they were able to narrow down the location and the suspects. On Wednesday and Thursday, May 6 and 7, the FBI, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Geneva County Sheriffs Office carried out search warrants at the suspects two homes. Both Jackson and Williamson live in Hartford. We did find some things we needed to look at as evidence and thats being analyzed in Montgomery,' Helms said. Were still early in the investigation. The cases against Jackson are moving forward and have been sent to a grand jury for indictment consideration. According to court records, however, the charges against Williamson were dropped this month after Jackson admitted he perpetrated a very elaborate scheme using Williamsons identification and fraudulent social media accounts to make it appear she was involved in the alleged crimes. Although the matter remains under investigation, the state believes that at this time justice requires these charges pending against Ms. Williamson be dismissed,' records state. Geneva County District Judge Stephen Smith did just that. Efforts to reach Williamson and her attorney for comment werent immediately successful. The State Bureau of Investigation is probing the June 17 death of a 29-year-old man while in custody of a west Alabama sheriffs office, the agency said Monday. Joshua David Keeton, 29, of Winfield, was reported dead at the Fayette County Sheriffs Office on June 17, according to the SBI. Keetons body was released to Fayette County Coroner Tim Kimbrell. After conducting the investigation, the SBI said, the findings will be turned over to the Fayette County District Attorneys Office. No further information was available on Keetons death. In the wake of the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, renewed public attention has been focused on Confederate monuments as symbols of systemic racism within the United States. Here in Florence, the presence of a Confederate monument outside the Lauderdale County Courthouse has been a source of public concern for several years. Project Say Something is actively campaigning to have the statue moved from the courthouse grounds to the Soldiers Rest in the Florence City Cemetery. Some argue that the call to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces is an attempt to rewrite American history. However, its important to recognize that these monuments were actually meant to celebrate a mythic view of life in the antebellum South. Most were financed and erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy well after the Civil War based on the organizations defense of a Lost Cause ideology. Thus, to understand the origins of the UDCs crusade, its important to have a basic grasp on the reality of race relations from the end of the Civil War through the middle of the 20th century. Once slavery was abolished, white southerners searched for ways to constrain black southerners. For instance, black codes required African Americans to sign labor contracts and allowed so-called vagrants to be hired out to white landowners. These codes restricted when and where blacks could work and created a scheme that would mimic as closely as possible the old slave system. Then, after the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s, efforts known collectively as Jim Crow laws further disenfranchised and segregated African Americans creating a racial caste system that has continued effects today. In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation was legal based on the separate but equal doctrine. It was in the years immediately following this ruling that there was a spike in the placement of Confederate monuments such as the one in front of the Lauderdale County Courthouse erected in 1903. Confederate veteran Dr. H.A. Moody gave the dedication speech in front of the Lauderdale County monument. Noting what he saw as the differences between the North and the South, Moody affirmed a racist ideology that he considered to be the basis for the work of the UDC. Northern civilization, according to Moody: differs from ours in one essential that creates an impassable barrier. They look upon a Negro as a white man with a colored skin and believe education to be the one thing needful. We of the south know better. No other people know him so well or love him so well, but nowhere here is he accorded social equality. (UNVEILING MONUMENT: Eloquent Oration of Dr. H.A. Moody, Florence Times, May 1, 1903). In the 1950s and 60s, African Americans pushed back in earnest against legal racial discrimination. One of the early victories was the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954 that dismantled the separate but equal doctrine and ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. In response to the Brown ruling, 19 United States Senators and 81 U.S. Representatives signed the Southern Manifesto indicating their intentions to defy the Supreme Court decision. Around this time (and also coinciding with the centennial of the Civil War), there was another flurry of monument building, as well as the naming of schools after prominent Confederate leaders. Its clear that these Confederate monuments were created to galvanize the white majority in order to maintain a white supremacy that was being threatened by movement toward African American freedom and equal protection under the law. Placing these monuments in public spaces wasnt part of any true democratic process disenfranchised African Americans protested their original placementand removing them isnt erasing history or keeping people from learning about the past. Thats best done through good scholarship and good public history. These monuments arent Civil War relics. They were 20th century political tools used to intimidate and marginalize African Americans. They present a distorted view of the past that is neither enlightening nor welcoming. Confederate statues are better understood as attempts to intimidate black southerners than as commemorations of the Civil War. As a historian I appreciate the desire to preserve these statues and monuments as artifacts, but it isnt just or fair to ask African American citizens to pass a Confederate monument erected during the Jim Crow era as they register to vote, appear in court, or serve as jurors. (Its not healthy for white Americans either). These monuments can be preserved in more appropriate places. Too, the movement to remove them is just as historical in that its indicative of the cultural environment of our time and who we believe as a society should be honored. These monuments cause legitimate pain that cannot be resolved without their removal. Where they currently stand, these monuments do nothing to help average citizens understand the past. They only paper over a sordid history of slavery, Jim Crow, and an institutional racism that lives on today. Brad McKinnon is Associate Professor of History at Heritage Christian University and Adjunct Instructor of History at the University of North Alabama. The views expressed are the authors and do not imply endorsement from an affiliate institution. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! I woke up abruptly around 5:15 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, May 23, to a male holding a gun to the back of my head and shouting at me not to turn around or he would blow my [expletive] brains out, the man told troopers. I turned around anyways and saw a young white man in his early 20s who was dressed in a black t-shirt and black sweat pants that appeared to be soiled like he had been in the woods and he was barefoot. He had a blank look on his face. Heres the political reality of where things stand: President Trump needed a cause to rally his troops. Polls show him so far behind in a race against former Vice President Joe Biden in crucial swing states that experts are beginning to question whether he can be competitive let alone win. Supreme Court appointments were a winning issue for him in 2016 and with this ruling, the hunger to replace a Stephen Breyer (who turns 82 in August) or Ruth Bader Ginsburg (87 and a cancer survivor) among evangelicals and their kindred spirits is palpable. Pro-choice groups certainly have their fervent following, too, but while a majority of Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, the issue never seems to motivate the left quite like it does the religious right. Perhaps at some point, Democrats will notice the ramifications of a far-right tilted Supreme Court on a variety of issues from civil rights to climate change but at the moment they seem more transfixed by the latest Trump tweets. Tuesday marks the 60th anniversary of the Democratic Republic of the Congos (DRC) independence from Belgium. After decades of brutal colonial rule, the vast, resource-rich country declared its independence from the European nation on June 30, 1960. This gallery shows some of the key moments in the DRCs history over the past 60 years. The blueprints and rationale for the West Bank annexation can be found in the Galilee. US President Donald Trumps Middle East peace plan is clearer in the original Hebrew. The Israeli version is bold on annexation, bleak on peace and low on diplomatic humbug. And thanks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus right-wing politics, the peace process has been exposed for what it is a colonisation operation. This surreal process has long served as a cover up for deep Israeli entrenchment in the West Bank and Jerusalem, rendering civilian and military withdrawal improbable if not unthinkable for most Israelis. Having secured Trumps approval, Netanyahu will go forward with annexation despite warnings of an international backlash, the demise of the two-state solution, and the erosion of the democratic Jewish state. Netanyahu will likely once again rebuff such warnings, relying on unconditional US support. With Washington on its side, Israel has long acted with impunity. Its annexation of East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights are a case in point. International fretting and frowning eventually subsided after the Trump administration recognised these annexations. Israel has long opposed the establishment of a truly sovereign Palestinian state in the occupied territories. The governing Likud party supports only limited autonomy for the Palestinians, or at best, half a state on half of the West Bank. Regardless of annexation, Netanyahu knows all too well that Israel is not in reality a democratic Jewish state, not when a quarter of its population are not Jewish and mostly oppose its Zionist creed. In fact, for the Palestinians, Israel is neither democratic, Jewish, nor a normal state. It is a colonial occupation, a garrison state, always at war, expanding its frontiers and deepening its domination of Palestine. For these reasons, annexation is only a matter of when, not if, it will happen. The more complicated question is, how and to what end? From the Galilee to the West Bank To understand where Israel is going in the West Bank, which is home to 60 percent of all Palestinians living under occupation, look at its record in the Galilee where some 60 percent of all Palestinian citizens of Israel live. The similarities between Israeli policies towards these two predominantly Palestinian regions are as disturbing as they are instructive. In 1947, the UN Partition Plan allocated much of the Galilee to a future Palestinian state. After the Palestinians rejected the ridiculous unenforceable plan and war broke out, Israel occupied the Galilee and imposed military rule for almost two decades with three goals in mind. First, confiscate large swaths of Palestinian land, especially rich agricultural land belonging to Palestinian refugees, to settle Jews and eventually create a Jewish majority. Second, thwart the return of Palestinians to their homes and towns. And third, break up Palestinian contiguity to block Palestinian national unity and prevent a potential secession. The plan worked. After Israels 1967 war and occupation, Israel carried out similar confiscations of Palestinian land to build Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including in and around East Jerusalem. In both regions, Israel established three major Jewish centres in the south, middle and north to break up Palestinian contiguity of the newly occupied territories: Nazareth Illit, Karmiel and Maalot in the Galilee, Gush Etzion, Maaleh Adumim and Ariel in the West Bank. To solidify the enlarged Jewish presence in the Galilee and later in the occupied West Bank, Israel connected the Jewish settlements with bypass roads and outsourced regional development to networks of exclusively Jewish councils at the expense of Palestinian localities. The newly erected apartheid system empowered new expansive and affluent Jewish settlements to the detriment of tightly controlled Palestinian peripheries in all the regions under its control. Formalising apartheid After five decades of occupation, Israel has now decided the time has come to extend its sovereignty to the illegal Jewish settlements over a third of the West Bank territory. Netanyahu reckons the Trump administration is offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go for the kill. He aims for a gradual annexation. He could start with annexing the three main settlement blocks followed by the areas adjacent to the Jordan River. This will pave the way for overall permanent Israeli control over historical Palestine. But Netanyahu will not stop there. Hoping to overcome his reputation, indeed his legacy of corruption, he is reinventing himself as a latter-day King of Israel, who fulfils the theological fantasies of the Israeli and American evangelical right for full Israeli control over Palestine. In that way, Netanyahu aims to consolidate and annex dozens of smaller settlements deep inside the West Bank as Israel has done in the Galilee, enabling Israel to keep its military in, the Palestinians down, and the refugees out. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has signalled its willingness to compensate the Palestinians for the loss of their national rights, with money and autonomy Gulf money and Israeli-controlled autonomy. To do so, Israel and the US have been pressuring rich Arab and European states to help turn their peace into prosperity. They convened a conference in Bahrain especially for that purpose last year. And they may attempt a similar regional initiative in the coming weeks to present the Palestinians with an ultimatum: acquiesce to their plan or face the consequences. The future of Israeli hubris While Israel bets on weak Arab dictatorships to succumb to US pressure, the Palestinians share the Arab masses eagerness for freedom and rely on their sweeping rejection of Israel. They overwhelmingly oppose the Trump-Netanyahu plans that facilitate Israels illegitimate control over their lives, rendering them powerless guests in their own homeland, utterly dependent on Israels goodwill. They wish the international community would stop pleading with Israel over annexation and start punishing it for all its military transgressions and crimes in Palestine. But if Israel goes ahead with annexation, the Palestinians will have no choice but to drop the goal of a mini-state on one-fifth of their homeland, and struggle for equal rights in the entirety of their homeland, seeking freedom from Israeli control and justice after decades of dispossession. Contrary to the hopes of the Israeli right, the Palestinians will not be bribed or intimidated to pack and leave; they will remain steadfast in their homeland. If anything, it is the Israelis who seemingly are leaving. According to Israels embassy in the US, 750,000-1 million Israelis live in the US alone. Thousands still are moving to Europe and seeking EU citizenship. With an equal number of Jews and Palestinians living in very close proximity between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River, political and physical barriers will come down sooner or later, albeit after shedding much blood and tears in the process. If Israel devours all of Palestine, it will be a matter of time before Israel becomes Palestine. The women who lived and died for African liberation should no longer be confined to the margins of history. Days before the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared independence, a woman walked onto the tarmac of the Congolese airport with quick, assured steps. Her name was Andree Blouin, a known anti-colonial activist who was being deported by the Belgian government. All eyes were on her as she made her way to the plane bound for Rome. But among those watching, few knew that she had hidden, in her glamorous chignon hairdo, a damning political document that bore the signatures of Congos nationalist leaders. She planned to take advantage of her expulsion to call an international press conference at which she would reveal evidence of Belgiums interference in the transition to independence. As she walked on board, a colonial official blocked her path and asked, Madame Blouin, are you expecting to return to the Congo? She responded with as much sarcasm as she could muster, Are you expecting to leave the Congo? Today, 60 years after the tumultuous events that led to Congolese independence, Andree Blouin and the women who fought for African liberation are all but forgotten. But in her time, Blouin battled three colonial powers as an adviser to Congos Patrice Lumumba, Ghanas Kwame Nkrumah, and Guineas Ahmed Sekou Toure. In our current moment, as Black female activists lead movements against state violence in the United States, France, Brazil, and elsewhere, the narratives of African female freedom fighters can shed light on the historic roles women have played in the struggle for justice, and offer lessons for the present. In particular, Blouins activism showed that womens liberation could not be separated from decolonisation. The Woman Behind Lumumba Who was Andree Blouin? Some said she was a spy for the Russians or the Americans. Others claimed she was the Congolese prime ministers lover. On October 15, 1960, the Baltimore Afro-American ran a headline describing her as The Woman Behind Lumumba. What is certain is that Blouin was a self-proclaimed Pan-Africanist who made important contributions to the anti-imperialist project of liberation for African-descended people. A journalist once asked her whether she was a Communist. She responded, Let small fools call me what they like. I am an African nationalist. Blouin was born in the Central African Republic in 1921 and grew up separated from her family in an orphanage for mixed-race children in Brazzaville. Belgium has since apologised for this colonial atrocity. France has not. Years later, when her two-year-old son, Rene, was ill with malaria, the French colonial administration refused to grant Blouin access to life-saving quinine medicine, it was reserved for Europeans only. She had to watch her son die. Throughout her life, her movements back and forth between French and Belgian colonies gave her first-hand knowledge of the particular cruelties of each imperial power. Blouin came to political activism in the Belgian Congo armed with insight gained from her intimate knowledge of colonial violence under French rule. She led a mass grassroots effort to mobilise Congolese women to participate in the independence movement. She stated that one could not separate the problem of the African continents resources from the problem of the African woman. Blouin criticised colonial education, which limited women and girls to training such as housekeeping and needlework and advocated for a more comprehensive vision of education to be implemented in the new, independent nation. By 1960, she had become one of three members of Lumumbas inner circle, working so closely with the Congolese prime minister that the press nicknamed them team Lumum-Blouin. On the international front, Blouin criticised Belgium for sabotaging Congolese decolonisation. When she called the press conference in Rome at which she highlighted this fact, she faced an assassination attempt that forced her to flee to Guinea. It was on Blouins suggestion that Lumumba requested US assistance in pressuring Belgium to remove its troops from Congolese soil. In her autobiography, she reveals that her motive was to force Washingtons hand to reveal that its alliance lay with the Belgian imperial power. She never believed the US to be a genuine ally. With the assassination of Lumumba and several of his close advisers, Blouin was sentenced to death. She fled once again, this time to Paris where she lived in exile until her death in 1986. Other women in her family were not as fortunate. Her daughter, Eve Blouin, recalls that the military detained her and her maternal grandmother. Like her mother before her who watched helplessly as her son died of malaria, Eve watched the soldiers beat her grandmother to death. Blouins story is unique. But she was also only one of many overlooked women who were active in decolonisation. She worked with the Feminine Movement for African Solidarity, founded on April 8, 1960. 6,000 Congolese women attended its first meeting. By the end of May, their numbers had grown to 45,000 registered members. As their political influence grew, the colonial administration banned their meetings. Congolese politicians, in turn, tried to capitalise on the movement to boost their own popularity. The organisation remained focused on womens enfranchisement. They outlined a vision for womens health, literacy, and recognition as citizens of the emerging postcolonial nation. They also created chapters throughout the provinces and empowered local women to take up leadership roles in the movement. Lessons learned In some ways, Blouin was indeed the woman behind Lumumba, because her legacy continues to be overshadowed by that of the great men of Congolese independence. She is elusive, not because she was the shadowy manipulator of Lumumbas leadership, but rather because like many of the women who lived and died for African liberation, she remains on the margins of history. Likewise, the work of the Feminine Movement for African Solidarity remains relatively unknown in historical narratives about the long and painful march towards Congolese independence. Today, 60 years later, as global protests against the murder of George Floyd have led to the swift arrest of his killers while those of Breonna Taylor remain free, the decolonisation struggle of the women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a clear reminder of the need to recognise female victims of state violence and to remember their contributions to liberation. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a Montana state constitutional provision barring aid to religion discriminated against religious schools and families seeking to benefit from a tax credit for donations for scholarships. Montanas no-aid provision bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the court in a 5-4 decision. The provision also bars parents who wish to send their children to a religious school from those same benefits, again solely because of the religious character of the school. The decision came in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (Case No. 18-1195), which involves a $150 state tax credit for contributions to funds that provide scholarships for students to attend private schools, including religious schools. The chief justices opinion was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, and Brett M. Kavanaugh, with Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch filing concurring opinions. The courts more liberal members issued or joined three separate dissents, offering different grounds. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a dissent joined by Justice Elena Kagan, said there was no burden put on the First Amendment free exercise of religion rights of the parents or religious schools in the case. Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote a dissent, joined by Kagan in part. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent for herself, said the majority was wrong to decide the merits of the case because the tax credit program was struck down by the Montana Supreme Court in its entirety. Todays ruling is perverse, Sotomayor said. Without any need or power to do so, the Court appears to require a State to reinstate a tax-credit program that the Constitution did not demand in the first place. Montanas Prohibition Montanas revenue department, which administers the tax credit, issued an administrative rule that barred the scholarships from being used at religious schools. It cited a state constitutional provision that says the state shall not make any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies ... for any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination. Montana is among 38 states that have state constitutional provisions that bar aid to religion. Some call these measures baby Blaine amendments after the federal Blaine amendment, introduced in Congress in 1875 by James G. Blaine, then a member of the House of Representatives from Maine. The amendment would have made the U.S. Constitutions bar on government establishment of religion applicable to the states and declared that no state tax money shall ever be under the control of any religious sect. Although the federal measure failed, more than 20 states subsequently adopted state constitutional measures that in some form or other bar government aid to religious denominations and religious schools. Montanas rule limiting the scholarships to secular private schools was challenged as a violation of the free-exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution by parents who sought to use the scholarship aid at religious schools. The Montana supreme court in 2018 invalidated the entire tax-credit program, for both religious and nonreligious schools, based on the state constitutional provision. But it stayed its decision, and money from scholarship contributors claiming the tax credit in the 2018 tax year was used by a private organization to give $500 scholarships to about 40 families during the 2019-20 school year. Education Week will update its coverage of this decision later today. Dress codes have been used to control and exclude people for generations in varying environments, from schoolrooms to barrooms. And, wed like to see all venues and institutions that have such policies take a hard look at their rules and ask themselves what it is theyre truly trying to promote or prevent. But whatever your view of dress codes, its clear that when restaurants and other venues try to maintain an atmosphere, or whatever they want to call it, by barring fashion specific to certain groups of people, theyre no longer looking to elevate their clientele, theyre looking to separate it. A company as concerned with appearances as Atlas apparently is, should recognize that this is not a good look. At All Star Code, we are developing black unicorns by investing directly in our youth. We run a six-week Summer Intensive program for hundreds of students, and most of them come with little to no coding experience, but 85 percent of ASC alumni have gone on to major or minor in computer science or a related field at college. Our students are on track to be successful in tech and were proud to be one of the largest black-led, learn-to-code programs in the country with close to 300 graduates.With the right skills and support system behind them, and just knowing that their success is possible, there is no limit to what our young men can do my father proved it. Now we need more people of color making it real. I have the honor and privilege to teach history to the children of Maryland. This is a source of great joy, but also a stark responsibility. This is the song that I must direct our students to if I want them to learn our state anthem. It is no surprise they do not know it. We do not sing or celebrate it. Once they get past their surprise that it is set to the tune of the carol, O Christmas Tree, they are shocked at the language of the sixth and eighth stanzas, which describe President Lincoln as a tyrant and Union forces as vandals. You may find the whole text on the Kids Page of the Maryland Secretary of State. ReAnna Dunlap of Kiowa, Kansas, was recently awarded the title of National Miss Agriculture Advocacy Ambassador. Dunlap is the 19-year-old daughter of Kyle and Angie Jacobs and Randy Dunlap. Dunlap is a student at Kansas State University studying Agriculture Education. She is a South Barber graduate and was involved in FCCLA, StuCo, forensics and FFA where she served as a district officer and received her State FFA Degree. Dunlap discovered her passion for agriculture through FFA where she showed goats, cattle and sheep. Dunlap is honored to be an advocate queen for the Miss United States... Lake Charles, Louisiana (70615) Today Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 88F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. I was reading a long think piece on the Brit UnHerd.com about Scott Alexander shuttering his Slate Star Codex blog because he was afraid of being outed by the New York Times. Then I had an idea. Heres how to stop the Cancel Culture dead in its tracks. If any social media user accuses someone of being a racist or a sexist -- or any category in the lefts Codex of Preferred Progressive Pejoratives -- then that users social media account is canceled forthwith. Hey @Jack! Whaddya think of that, pal? And as a gesture of good faith I propose that the same should apply to right-wing pejoratives, such as Commie bastard or pinko. Or poofter, for, according to the EU, homophobic hate speech is #1 in social media takedowns. Of course, nobody has been canceled over being called a leftie in over half a century, not since the dreaded cancel culture of McCarthyism was defeated by heroic Hollywood foes of the Hollywood Blacklist. Anyone that really wants to go ahead with an accusation of racism should be required to post a $1,000,000 bond against the possibility of a suit of libel or slander. Because, I propose, the burden of proof for a racism accuser should be the same as in criminal accusations: proof beyond a reasonable doubt. What I want to know is: how come you battalions of civil-rights lawyers and law professors and anti-hate activists, committed as you are to bending the arc of history towards justice, have not already proposed this remedy? Whaddya say, civil-rights lawyers and law professors, and activists? Yes, I heard you: white privilege, centuries of colonialism, systemic racism, blah, blah, blah. Would that apply to the white working class dying of despair from the opioid epidemic? Hey, how about white college professors? And whatabout Brahmin professors in U.S. universities from South Asia, the highest income group in the USA? When we are talking about Brahmins, we are talking about thousands of years of caste privilege. Yep. I got it. You chaps are as addicted to canceling racists, sexists, and homophobes as the late George Floyd was to fentanyl. To give up the delicious emotional high of canceling far-right social-media white-supremacist terrorists would be as hard as kicking the fentanyl habit. And worse, how would the left recruit its activists and activistes if they werent being enticed into the left by the cancel entry drug? Why, the nations mental health professionals may need to invent a new PCSD, a Post-Cancel Stress Disorder, for the post-cancel culture sufferers, and enforce a lockdown of all deplorables until a cure for PCSD has been developed in double-blind testing protocols. Of course, I realize that there would be recidivists, people that just could not stop calling other people racists or other less toxic pejoratives. What should we do with them? Obviously, simple punishment is not enough. Humiliation is necessary. How about banning them for life from Whole Foods and Trader Joes on the second offense and forcing them to buy their groceries at Walmart for life on the third offense? But then theres another problem that has emerged in the last month. The Maenads, or raving ones from the Greek. Yes, I know, they were the rabid female followers of the Greek god Dionysius, way back, and should have retired to mythological retirement communities by now. Except that they have turned up at BLM mostly peaceful protests like here at the Emancipation Monument , yelling in the face of a role-playing Frederick Douglass. Call it a modern expression of the Maenad philosophy. Back then women were following Dionysius around and getting into all kinds of mischief. According to Walter Friedrich Otto: [T]hey gird themselves with snakes and give suck to fawns and wolf cubs as if they were infants at the breast. Fire does not burn them. No weapon of iron can wound them, and the snakes harmlessly lick up the sweat from their heated cheeks. Fierce bulls fall to the ground, victims to numberless, tearing female hands, and sturdy trees are torn up by the roots with their combined efforts. You mean to say that women were that angry way back in ancient Greece, even while modeling prettily for painters of Greek vases? And as to how we cancel the rabid Maenad cancelers, well, I suppose it will require another One Simple Trick. For if the world of social media is an instantiation of the male Culture of Insult that the soy boys of Big Tech are determined to cancel, the new Maenads are clearly overwrought representatives of the female Culture of Complaint. And I suppose that their screaming and yelling is merely a form of complaining, ramped up to the max. I notice that the young girls in my Seattle neighborhood are obviously in training for this immortal experience, as there is nothing they like better than screaming their heads off. Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class. As a university president, I understand poverty, racism, inequality and injustice. This has been my lived experience. I do not hide it from my students. When they walk into my office and look at my bookshelves my full life is on display. A sample bale of cotton is a reminder that I picked it while growing up on a sharecroppers plantation in rural Alabama. A small jar of black dirt was taken from the grounds around the shanty where I grew up, and a replica of a $5 bill was given to me by my late father on the morning I headed to Tuskegee Institute. I want them to know that I understand what it means to see wealth in the hands of the people who exploited the labor of my ancestors. In the wake of the George Floyd riots, police are being demonized across the country, each and every officer now being held responsible for the action of its least-worthy members. They're also being targeted for 'defunding' as if any society on earth could exist without some measure of policing without turning into Lord of the Flies. It's getting little coverage, but the stories are dribbling out in rapidly about a collective call for help: Some 272 New York police officers retired in the wake of George Floyd riots, a 49% spike over the year earlier. Seattle was similar - its forces are operating at just 65% capacity. Minneapolis has seen at least seven resignations. Joel Pollak, at Breitbart News has an astonishing report about police demoralization in Los Angeles: Morale within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is currently at a record low, thanks to the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests and the vilification of police by local politicians. Robert Harris, the director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, told CBS Los Angeles that officers feel beaten and bruised by the ongoing protests. That was corroborated by a Breitbart News source within the LAPD, who said: Morale across the rank-and-file is at a record low. Especially out on the street in patrol. We have been vilified and abandoned by the mayor, all but three of the city council members, as well as many business owners and residents of the city of Los Angeles. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced at the height of the riots in early June with the National Guard on the streets that he would be cutting the LAPD budget by up to $150 million, answering calls from activists to defund the police. It's bad, and it portends some bad times as police jobs are abandoned, and early retirements spike upward. The citizens think crime and homelessness is bad now? They have seen nothing yet, the LAPD source told Breitbart News. Wait till a couple of months go by. Pro-activity is all but gone. It sucks. But the community has allowed cops to be vilified. When there is blood in the streets, due to a drastic increase of out-of-control violent crime? Then all the people, including businesses who have turned their backs on cops, will learn of the mistake they made on selling us out! Police demonization didn't start with the George Floyd case -- it doesn't help that every major city in America is under one-party blue rule, and in the absence of Republicans, the ruling leftist elites use police as a proxy since they have no Republicans to fight against. Yet police don't stand for Republican or Democrat sides - they are actually a proxy for fairness and rule of law. Law is what the left really despises, the left has always been about obtaining unfettered power without burden of law. A good guess for when the rot started and the downhill slide in respect for law and order could be argued to be the decriminalization of marijuana laws, and from there, the emptying of prisons, which began in earnest shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. The academic rhetoric against "mass incarceration" likely had some effect, and the calls to end prisons, such as came from longtime lionized communist, Angela Davis, in a speech as UCLA a few years ago, added to the slide. Meanwhile, leftist protestors rocked the streets and looted shops with the George Floyd riots. Hollywood jumped in and took police shows off the air. Suddenly cops were en masse painted as evil instead of heroes. Now there's talk of defunding the police, and police are moving out ahead of it by resigning first. The failure of Democrat blue city pols (and their voters) to back the police forces under their command is driving it most of all. These cowards may preen and posture about not wanting a police force, but heaven help them if they get it - the result is going to be hellishness. In the meantime, the existing forces are showing signs of distress which will make itself felt in many ways: Recruiting will be down. Recruiting will attract the worst, including organized criminals with an interest in controlling and corrupting the system rather than protecting their community. Police themselves will retire at their desks, seeing nothing, doing nothing proactive, taking no chances. Those that remain will focus only on making an early retirement for their pensions. In these instances, police won't be defunded, they'll just be expensiv zombies for the cities. The burden rests then on mid-sized and small cities to develop a new culture of supporting police forces. Police are human beings and respond to incentives. Any town that wants them had better be prepared to defend them. Right now that's not seen in the crumbling blue cities that by no coincidence, are also seeing citizens flee. Image credit: Pixabay public domain Seeing more evidence daily that the lockdown was unnecessary and that the hysteria over COVID-19 was nothing more than a political attack against Trump, it is frustrating to watch the craziness continue. Mary and I drove to Costco in Virginia to purchase their awesome crab meat. As former Marylanders, Mary is an admitted crab cake snob and fanatic. We have traveled America for over 10 years campaigning for conservative/Republican candidates. Nowhere have we found a crab cake equal to a Maryland crab cake. As we pulled into Costco's parking lot, I noticed that the Golden Corral Buffet across the street was closed, its parking lot empty. It depressed me a bit. I remember several family gatherings over the years at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Forcing this business to remain closed is absolutely nuts and evil. Several Virginia stores are relaxing the governor's mandate that all shoppers wear masks. Upon entering Costco, a staffer at the entrance immediately offered us masks. Mary will tolerate pretty much anything for a good crab cake. Social distancing signs were everywhere, even on the floor. In the men's room, new Plexiglas walls were installed among all the sinks and urinals. There were Plexiglas walls separating checkout clerks from shoppers. It all just seemed so crazy and over the top. Most disturbing was seeing so many toddlers and younger faces covered with masks. The CDC and pediatric experts say you shouldn't mask children two and under. They say masks "may pose more harm than benefit in terms of safety for children under the age of two years old." With fake news media and Democrats despicably continuing to flood the airwaves with the lie that COVID-19 equals the Black Death and anyone who catches it will die, it is understandable why parents mask their entire family. The truth is, COVID-19 has very little impact on the young. Ninety-eight percent of those who catch COVID-19 recover from it. In their all-consuming blind-rage quest to stop Trump's re-election in a few months, Democrats and fake news media are hell-bent on forcing a new national lockdown, kids, families, and businesses be damned. Rush Limbaugh said masks are symbols of fear. I agree with Rush. This is why fake news media are desperately attempting to shame and intimidate Trump into wearing a mask. They want people to conclude, "Oh, my gosh, if the president is wearing a mask, COVID must be really deadly!" Our nation is under attack by an army of enraged indoctrinated youths, determined to destroy our way of life. Rush advised President Trump to reassure Americans that he will preserve the American way of life. I say, "Amen, brother!" Mary's crab cakes were delicious, although she did go a bit heavy on the Old Bay Seasoning. However, as a married man of over 40 years, I know that it is wise not to say that out loud. Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American Help Lloyd Spread the Truth https://www.trumptrainusa2020.com/ http://LloydMarcus.com In her excellent AT piece on the FBI's recently released debriefing notes on the infamous January 5, 2017 White House meeting, Andrea Widburg begins by noting that the breaking story is so big that both the New York Times and Washington Post promptly ignored it. Suppression of that sort appears to be a reliable gauge on how damaging the news is for privileged actors in the Democrat Party. Normally, the NYT will respond with immediate damage control buried somewhere under page one, spinning the news to create the narrative for other news outlets. But in this instance, the spin cycle is a little more challenging. This requires some real effort and creativity. Andrea gave the partisan media their angle for the bombshell of President Obama directing the FBI to ensure that it puts "the right people" on the Flynn persecution: "The phrase 'the right people' also raises the possibility that Obama was not merely ensuring that a delicate project got proper staffing. Instead, it suggests he was making sure a conspiracy stayed within a small group of trusted Deep State operatives." The narrative for the establishment media has to be that Obama was referring to having the right people in the sense of having true professionals to ensure that everything was done by the book for such a sensitive matter. Mr. Obama didn't want to come across as being political, let alone directly engaged in a criminal enterprise against the president-elect. The problem for the narrative is that it is intellectually impossible to make the argument that Obama was ensuring professionalism. Why? Because the same FBI debriefing notes show that Director James Comey told Obama that the basis for the Flynn investigation the Flynn phone calls with Ambassador Kislyak "appear[ed] legit." With no legal predicate to "investigate" the incoming national security adviser, the delicate project was making sure that the corrupt Obama administration didn't get caught not only in its efforts against Lt. General Michael Flynn, but in the overarching plot to destroy and get rid of Trump. Criminologists will tell you that most criminals give themselves away in one way or another. They leave signs. Guilty consciences cause them to make awkward and telling statements. This brings us to Obama's last press conference on December 16, 2016. It is a must re-see. The context of the press conference was within Obama's full knowledge that even with the press having his back, there was a remote possibility that the criminal spying operation to destroy the opposition party's presidential nominee and then president-elect could be exposed in the near future. Mr. Obama felt compelled to announce that he stays out of the FBI's investigations. To a spellbound press corps already focused on Russian collusion to explain Trump's victory, Obama confidently proclaimed: Particularly, in this hyper-partisan environment that we have been in everything is suspect. Everything you do, one way or the other. Umm. One thing that I have done, is, to be pretty scrupulous about not wading into investigation decisions or prosecution decisions or decisions not to prosecute. Uh, I have tried to be really strict in my own behavior about, uh, preserving the independence of law enforcement, uh, free from my own judgments and political assessments in some cases. Uh, and, I don't know why I would stop now. Well, we now know that Mr. Obama did a little more than wade into investigation decisions. Who could have predicted that the public would become privy to the real reason for the January 5 meeting? In a virtual celebration of International Quds Day held by the Muslim Congress on May 22, Shiite Islamists loyal to Iran's supreme religious leader said America is controlled by Israel, accused Zionists of creating Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East, and promised that the Jewish state will be annihilated in 20 years. Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, was launched by the late Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini just after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. It is held annually on the last Friday of Ramadan to express solidarity with Palestinians while pledging to "liberate" the Al Aqsa Mosque from Israel's territorial control. The hosting Muslim Congress is a Texas-based Shiite group that looks to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's ruling clerical establishment as its religious authority. Its members have made virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic statements during past Al Quds Day demonstrations. Observing a 2009 Muslim Congress rally, the Associated Press noted that one speaker "sounded like a spokesman for the Iranian government." At this year's virtual Quds Day, the participants continued calling for the destruction of Israel. "Jerusalem is waiting for the blood of those who believe in Muhammad, Ali, and Fatimah ..." Shiite American cleric Syed Abbas Ayleya said, referring to the pantheon of Shiite holy figures. Ayleya is a Pakistani-American who attended the Shiite Hawza seminary in Najaf, Iraq. He is a Muslim Congress board member and the founder of its legal project, Justice360. According to Ayleya, Khamenei possesses God's mystical knowledge, and the ayatollah believes "there will be no Zionism" and "no Zionist regime after 20 years." "We are guaranteed that Palestine will definitely be free," Ayleya added. Ayleya's political activities and calls for "blood" are not limited to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Shiite cleric has supported terrorist groups that propped up the Syrian regime and massacred innocent civilians in the sectarian Syrian war. On May 4, 2019, Ayleya led a demonstration in Seattle, Washington that called on the Pakistani government to release militants belonging to the jihadist Zaynabiyoun Brigade who fought in Syria and were arrested upon returning home to Pakistan. According to Ayleya, those Pakistanis were arrested merely for defending the Shrine of Sayyida Zaynab, a Shiite mosque near Damascus marked as the final resting place of the granddaughter of Muhammad. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) enlists, trains, and supervises Pakistani nationals fighting for the Zaynabiyoun Brigade in Syria and Iraq. The U.S. Treasury blacklisted the Zaynabiyoun Brigade in January 2019, while the U.S. State Department added the IRGC to its Specially Designated Global Terrorist list three months later. While Ayleya supports Iran-backed militias, another Quds Day speaker echoed Iranian regime talking points. Muslim Congress activist Mona Shahrebani said, "Takfiris [apostates], Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Boko Haram are Zionist puppets," and "the U.S. is a puppet of Saudi Arabia and Israel that fund terrorism." Shahrebani said Zionism is "the clear enemy that creates terrorist groups." In the same sense, event moderator Nessrein Abu Shahba claimed that the world's oppressive leaders were getting their directives from Zionist powers. Zahra Ali, identified as a member of the Washington "al Quds Team," said Israel is carrying out a "genocide" by "murdering tens of thousands" of Palestinians. She complained that Israel has killed American citizens who were advocating for peace, citing the case of Rachel Corrie, a pro-Palestinian activist who was accidentally killed in 2003 when she deliberately placed herself in the path of an Israeli military bulldozer during an operation to remove enemy safehouses and weapons-smuggling tunnels. Yet another speaker, Canadian Shiite cleric Salim Yusufali, argued that America's loyalty to Israel is clear. He explained that while the U.S. was financially suffering under the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration was planning to grant Israel $38 billion in military aid. (Broken down over ten years, the $3.8 billion the U.S. contributes annually to its closest ally in the Middle East is considered a high-yield investment with numerous benefits to American taxpayers.) Finally, adding to the chorus of extremist voices, a young female speaker identified only as sister Nuzaiba called upon Americans to support the radical Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, an international movement that seeks the destruction of Israel through economic and diplomatic isolation. Nuzaiba confirmed the boycott movement's destructive objective when she called for "freedom for Palestine from the River to the Sea," an anti-Semitic political slogan that fully rejects any compromise with Israel. Although the coronavirus forced event organizers to stream this year's Quds Day speeches online, the guest speakers were no less vitriolic than those featured at last year's in-person protest. On May 31, 2019, the Muslim Congress organized a rally that was held in front of the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest Shiite population in the West. At this event, an unidentified speaker declared that terrorist groups such as "Hamas, Hezbollah, IRGC, and anybody else fighting against Israel have a God-given right to resist." He also described Israel as a "cancer" and cited Khamenei's prediction that it "will crumble in less than 25 years." The Muslim Congress's efforts to radicalize Shiite Americans, promote the destruction of Israel, and support terrorist networks are detrimental to Muslim Americans and hinder their integration into American society. The U.S. is still waging a War on Terror, and those who glamorize terrorist groups and refer to America's enemy as their "beloved leader" represent a fifth column that should be investigated as a foreign agent and a national security threat. Hesham Shehab is the Chicago associate at the Counter-Islamist Grid, a project of the Middle East Forum. Anne-Christine Hoff is the Dallas Associate at the Counter-Islamist Grid. Last Friday, the New York Times carried an article that claimed that the Russian military had offered bounties to the Taliban in Afghanistan last year to kill U.S. and coalition troops. The NYT also claimed that President Trump was briefed about this at an emergency meeting in March and that intelligence officials had recommended myriad tough measures such as sanctions against Russia, but the White House did not approve of them. The White House categorically denied the allegations on Saturday. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that neither the president nor the vice president had been briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence. The Russians also dismissed reports, according to Reuters, quoting the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. "This primitive informational dump clearly demonstrates low intellectual abilities of the propagandists at the American intelligence service." The Taliban also rejected the allegations, claiming they were committed to the peace accord signed with the United States earlier this February. Despite the resounding denials, as expected, there were no explanations, retractions, or apologies from the NYT. Most of the mainstream news outlets, meanwhile, continued to carry this story as if it were God's truth. Democrats, including presidential candidate Joe Biden, used it to attack President Trump and even accuse him of treason. This much debunked news story is just another in a series of anti-Trump articles that emanated from "senior White House officials" and "sources close to an individual" or "administration officials." In this particular case, it was "intelligence officials." There are a few questions that must be asked of news media outlets. Should any news organization publish a story when the source is unwilling to be identified? If the source is averse to being held accountable, why should the story even be considered? The source could be planted by an adversary or may just be a gossip-monger or a Walter Mitty sort of fantasist. The "unnamed source" can be misused to peddle fake news. For the casual consumer "according to top aides of the president" or "intelligence sources" automatically grant gravitas to a report. Since the relation between the source and the journalist is as sacred as the relationship between a lawyer and his client, there is no compulsion to identify the source. A media outfit can claim that it needs to protect a source, and the detrimental accusations would remain unresolved. There have been situations such as that of Judith Miller, who went to jail for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury and revealing the identity of a CIA operative source for a story. So do we assume that unnamed sources are too risky and open to misuse, hence the practice is better abandoned? Let's remember Watergate, where disgruntled FBI official Mark Felt nicknamed "Deep Throat" was the anonymous informant to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post. Without Felt, the scandal that led to the resignation of President Nixon would never have never come to light. The best way to judge this is to place yourself right at the center and hypothesize your reaction. Would you go on record and reveal your name should you learn of corruption, abuse, and harassment in your place of work? Would you go on record knowing that the senior leadership of your place of work is either complicit or turning a blind eye to the malpractice? Would you go on record if you knew that your superiors could retaliate if your identity were known? Would you be willing to go on the record if malpractice emanates from government officials who can trap you in a Kafkaesque maze and send you to jail if your identity is revealed? In the absence of the facility of anonymity, perhaps you would just remain silent. There would be no other way of exposing malpractice when the perpetrators are powerful and connected. There has also been a surfeit of stories where information emanating from named sources has turned out to be incorrect. It is, therefore, a question of having a well defined set of guidelines while dealing with sources both named and unnamed. For an anonymous source, the following conditions must be true: The information is of grave significance to a large group of people such as citizens of a nation, employees of an organization, students of a university, patients in a hospital, etc, Disclosure of the identity of the individual could pose a threat to his/her life or harm to reputation. There are no other methods of obtaining the information. There is no other source is prepared to go on record. For an anonymous source, journalists must adhere to the following practices: A thorough background vetting of the source via multiple agencies. Establish and verify the source of the information being provided. Establish and verify the method being used to acquire information. Establish and verify the possible motive behind the revelation. Establish and verify the reason for anonymity. Attempt to acquire other independent sources who can corroborate the information. Have multiple individuals, including those not actively working on the story, independently question the source to evaluate the authenticity of the information and the individual. Have a multilevel approval process in place that goes right up to the top of the editorial team such that the identity of the source is known to key people. The above-mentioned practices have been compiled from the AP, the NYT, WaPo, the BBC, and several other prominent news organizations. They have existed for ages, and yet we see this occur over and over again. This is because these practices apply to those whose goal is to report facts and nothing but facts. That ship has sailed past a long time ago for the U.S. mainstream media. In fact, it would be grossly erroneous to call them the news media. In reality, they are left-wing activists and lobbyists whose goal is to push their agenda and create talking points for the Democrats to run on. When they are not in government they are in the media spouting propaganda. Project Veritas has continued to expose Trump hatred among personnel in the news media. This also proves their blatant lack of faith in democracy. Since Donald J. Trump, an individual they despise was elected, they did not step back, cover him fairly, and respect the people's mandate and wait for the next election. They instead went on a mission to attempt to remove him from office. This also applies to the Democrats, it is ironic that they are called Democrats. With almost all their attack stories on Trump especially the Russian Collusion story that was carried with great gusto for almost three years proving to be untrue. But if you ask any of the propagandists to admit their folly, they will insist that they were right and blame it on 'Republican' Mueller or claim that the law could not prove beyond reasonable doubt hence Trump was let go. The fact that some among them won a Pulitzer is an obscene joke. Yet the baseless attacks and inventions about Trump continue. Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Insanity is the only word that perfectly describes most of the US mainstream media. They probably don't even realize that their coverage now appears like a parody sketch on a comedy show. The U.S. news media has been sounding like the boy who cried 'wolf'. In a strange way, this will help Trump because nothing they publish or say affect the consumer/voter anymore. There can be no October, September, August or any other surprise because they have called Trump every name under the sun, they exhausted their ammunition. It would appear that the bounty story is being positioned as a sequel to the now-debunked Russia Collusion story. The NYT knows that the overwhelming anti-Trump media will use it without question. The report can also be used to pre-empt any impact of the Durham Probe that is on route to expose the involvement of the Obama administration officials to initiate the phony Russia investigation. In fact, such is the dishonesty and bias of the media that, Matt Taibi who by no stretch of the imagination is a Trump supporter excoriated the media for its blatant partisanship and bias in his recent article. He had previously stated that such is the bias in the U.S. news media that he was compelled to turn to the BBC and the AFP for facts about the operation carried out by his own country. This is a truly sad state of affairs for the multi-million dollar organizations. As the election date draws closer, expect more such stories to emanate from the anonymous 'sources.' The sensible consumer has no option but to think of every news item as false until proven true, a healthy amount of skepticism but an open mind. Image credit: Pixabay public domain. I'm trying to find a place where they will cut my wife's hair. Let me explain by way of an email I sent to a good friend that describes what we have gone through (e-mail headers and other info removed for privacy): Hi Paul, I'd like your opinion on something. On June 13 Bobbie and I got haircuts at Rob Roy at White City [in Shrewsbury. Mass.]. Bobbie told them ahead of time that she can't wear a mask due to a medical condition (asthma), but they said it was mandatory, so she relented. During her haircut she had trouble breathing, so with her fingers she pushed the mask away from her face a little bit so she could take in more air. She did her best to wear the mask under the circumstances. She then scheduled appointments for her and me for July 11, and left, whereupon I got out of the car and went in to get my haircut with no issues. Bobbie also left with them a paper copy of this statement which we each carry with us in our wallet/purse to try to educate the mask fascists: Today Bobbie got this e-mail from Debra Cooke, the CEO of Rob Roy: Subject: Rob Roy Hair Salon Appointment Hi Bobby, Hope you are doing well. I wanted to reach out in regards to your haircut appointment on Sat, July 11th. At this time I think its best to cancel your appointment and reschedule for when its no longer necessary to wear masks in the salon. When you came in on June 13th the staff was very uncomfortable with the distance you had between the mask and your face. The mask is needed to keep us safe right now and its our policy to wear them at this time and wear them properly. I did receive the information you left for me but unfortunately that is related to essential businesses, we are not considered an essential business therefore it does not apply. I understand due to health concerns its hard for you to wear a mask and Im sorry for that and I sympathize with you but I cant put my staff at risk. This is a very hard time for all of us and we are concerned for our own health as well as our clients health. So at this time I will be cancelling your appointment for Saturday, July 11th and when masks are no longer needed we will call you to reschedule. Thank you for understanding. Best, Debra As I understand this e-mail, Bobbie is banned from Rob Roy until Rob Roy decides to drop the mask requirement. That could be months, maybe extending into next year. Hair salons are Phase II Step 2 businesses, and the latest guidelines from the state (June 19) include: SECTOR SPECIFIC WORKPLACE SAFETY STANDARDS FOR RETAIL BUSINESSES TO ADDRESS COVID-19 Updated as of June 19, 2020 Require face coverings for all workers and customers, except where unsafe due to medical condition or disability Clearly, it was the intent of the bureaucrats to extend the medical conditions exemption beyond "essential" businesses to all businesses as they reopened, so Debra Cooke's statement that the medical exemption does not apply to Rob Roy is an outright lie. On June 11, after our Rob Roy haircuts, Bobbie checked with Great Clips at the other end of the parking lot, and they were even more rigid than Rob Roy (at the time). Today I called Supercuts (Shrewsbury location) and they also do not allow for medical condition exemptions. The nice receptionist who answered the phone told me they even refuse to cut the hair of 2-, 3-, or 4-year-old kids who are too fidgety to keep the masks on their faces. So I've exhausted the supply of "chain" hair salons that I know about. I haven't a clue how to find a mom-and-pop hair salon that has not been frightened into rigidity about masks well beyond what the state requires. I find it hard to believe that the entire hair-cutting industry in Massachusetts has decided that people with certain medical conditions, such as asthma, will be unable to get haircuts for the foreseeable future. But that may well be the case. Any suggestions? So far, my friend Paul is stumped, and he's a bright, legally sharp guy. He's still thinking about it. I've been asking other friends for suggestions; they've come up dry. A reply to an e-mail I sent to Great Clips corporate said they follow CDC guidelines, and I would have to check with individual salons. So I went on a multi-state search. At Great Clips in Nashua, N.H., you must wear a mask. No exemption for medical conditions, State of New Hampshire requirements. The Great Clips locations in Rhode Island are still closed. At Supercuts in Putnam, Conn., masks are mandatory, and the receptionist at Great Clips in Enfield, Conn. volunteered that the salon would lose its license if they cut the hair of a maskless customer. My wife says she will cut her own hair. She hasn't done that since 1974, and I know what's coming. She will attempt it with the best tools we have in the house, give up, and ask me to cut it for her. Planning ahead, I expect I will be buying a home haircutting kit so I won't end up butchering her hair when that inevitable moment arrives. Nick Chase is a retired but still very active writer, editor, and webmaster and records classical music concerts for radio broadcast. You can read more of his work on the American Thinker website and at contrariansview.org. No sooner had the ink dried on President Trump's executive order that broadened his original April 22 immigration pause to include several categories of temporary, employment-based visas than globalists put up a collective howl. To powerful interests like corporate lobbyists, immigration lawyers, the donor class, and some in Congress, the concept that available jobs in the United States should go to American citizens or legally present immigrants is distasteful. The visas that President Trump put on hold until the year's end the H-1B, the H-2B, the J-1, and the L-1 represent either a lost job that an American would do or a missed opportunity for a citizen to get a job because of the ready availability of cheaper foreign-born labor. President Trump's executive order means that regardless of an American worker's skill level, he'll have a better chance to get hired. Tech companies that heavily rely on the H-1B visa decried the president's action as one that will shut out "high-skilled talent" and "is short-sighted and deeply damaging to the economic strength of the United States." This commonly made argument disregards U.S. tech workers that H-1B holders have steadily displaced, and also harms recent U.S. college graduates, some of whom have amassed substantial debt to earn their degrees. For three decades since the Immigration Act of 1990, the H-1B has, because of corporate greed and a donor-dependent Congress, relentlessly displaced skilled U.S. tech workers. As a result, about 70% of Silicon Valley tech workers are foreign-born and doing white-collar jobs that Americans once held. Pausing the H-2B visa represents a great chance for lower-skilled workers to get back to work. Supposedly, the visa's intent is to fill a void in "jobs Americans won't do." The truth, however, is that the H-2B facilitates the entry of cheap, pliant labor that employers can mistreat. According to 2017 Justice Department press release, the H-2B discriminates against American workers. Even the anti-Trump, expansionist New York Times conceded that guest workers are easily exploited and that employers' worker shortage claims don't stand up. The J-1, also known as the Exchange Visitor Program, is another visa that has strayed from its original mission as a goodwill program to foster improved international relationships into a cheap labor vehicle. The Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning, pro-immigration Washington, D.C. think-tank, wrote that hundreds of thousands of workers arrive in the U.S. annually on J-1 visas without adequate protections and thereby put at a disadvantage the countless U.S. workers struggling to find jobs in the same industries. The jobs are often in leisure categories that young Americans would eagerly do on resorts like Martha's Vineyard and Bar Harbor. Finally, the L-1 visa allows corporations to transfer international employees and their families from aboard to their U.S.-based offices. The domestic jobs are rarely posted. From day one, American workers are shut out even though there may be an abundance of qualified local talent. Moreover, the L-1 has no cap, and its holders can be fast-tracked into permanent residency. While temporarily restricting immigration is unpopular with Fortune 500 companies and the elite class, Americans support President Trump's executive order. The Federation for American Immigration Reform commissioned a Zogby Analytics poll in swing states Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The results showed that the majority of registered voters, about 60%, said they favor less immigration during this period, when nearly 45 million Americans seek productive employment. For those 45 million unemployed U.S. workers, the stakes are high. With his executive order, President Trump made about 525,000 jobs available so that the millions of unemployed Americans will have a better opportunity to return to the payroll, and to earn a fair wage so that they can support their families. Editor's update: Joe Biden is against the restrictions on H-1B visas, with an absurd claim, as Neil Munro reports at Breitbart: Joe Biden told NBC News that he would immediately lift President Donald Trump's June 22 moratorium on the inflow of H-1B contract workers if he wins the 2020 election. Trump "ended H1B visas the rest of this year," Biden said in a June 27 town hall meeting organized by NBC News. "That will not be in my administration." "The people coming on these [H-1B] visas have built this country," Biden added. "He said the H-1Bs built this country? So the country didn't exist before 1998? That is interesting," responded Rosemary Jenks, policy director at NumbersUSA. If Biden is elected, she said[.] Ken Blackwell is the former United States ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Graphic credit: Public Domain Pictures. Have any questions? Please give us a call at 907-561-7737 The alternative would be to merge the District back into Maryland from which it came. Maryland in 1791 donated the land that now comprises Washington, D.C. Establishing Washington as an independent city within Maryland like Baltimore, the equivalent of a county would ensure Washingtonians representation in Congress. They would vote with their fellow Marylanders for our two senators; the addition of their population to ours would likely qualify Maryland for a ninth House seat. Washingtons population is large enough that the new House district could be, essentially, the city of Washington, perhaps with a small section of either Montgomery or Prince Georges County. India Shocks China: Imposes Ban On 59 Chinese Apps:- The Indian government imposed a ban on 59 Chinese mobile applications including TikTok which happens to be one of the most used applications by the Indian users. The move has been taken to counter the threat posed by these applications to the security of the country. They have been blocked amid rising tensions between India and China after a clash at the border recently. The Indian government said that the ban has been imposed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act with relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009. The Indian government said that information of the users has been transferred abroad without any authorization. The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) issued a statement about the same. TikTok, UC Browser, Hello and Club Factory are the most famous Chinese apps that are banned. Here is the complete list of 59 apps that are banned in the country: 1. TikTok 2. Shareit 3. Kwai 4. UC Browser 5. Baidu map 6. Shein 7. Clash of Kings 8. DU battery saver 9. Helo 10. Likee 11. YouCam makeup 12. Mi Community 13. CM Browers 14. Virus Cleaner 15. APUS Browser 16. ROMWE 17. Club Factory 18. Newsdog 19. Beutry Plus 20. WeChat 21. UC News 22. QQ Mail 23. Weibo 24. Xender 25. QQ Music 26. QQ Newsfeed 27. Bigo Live 28. SelfieCity 29. Mail Master 30. Parallel Space 31. Mi Video Call Xiaomi 32. WeSync 33. ES File Explorer 34. Viva Video QU Video Inc 35. Meitu 36. Vigo Video 37. New Video Status 38. DU Recorder 39. Vault- Hide 40. Cache Cleaner DU App studio 41. DU Cleaner 42. DU Browser 43. Hago Play With New Friends 44. Cam Scanner 45. Clean Master Cheetah Mobile 46. Wonder Camera 47. Photo Wonder 48. QQ Player 49. We Meet 50. Sweet Selfie 51. Baidu Translate 52. Vmate 53. QQ International 54. QQ Security Center 55. QQ Launcher 56. U Video 57. V fly Status Video 58. Mobile Legends 59. DU Privacy (Image source from: Economictimes.indiatimes.com) NSA Ajit Doval Hinted About China, Pak Alliance Seven Years Ago:- There is a growing tension across the border of India and China. The discussions are going on at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Almost 20 Indian jawans have been killed in a recent battle after which the talks were initiated. As per a report from Zee Media, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval hinted in 2013 about China and Pakistan spying against India. Doval who worked as the former Intelligence Bureau Chief, penned an article titled 'Chinese Intelligence: From a Party Outfit to Cyber?? Warriors'. Ajit Doval said that the Chinese spies are active in several countries and they are helping China. Ajit Doval was associated with Delhi's Think Tank Vivekananda International Foundation when he penned the article. Soon after this, Ajit Doval was handled over NSA. After Dalai Lama along with his 80,000 followers took refuge in India, China intensified their activities against India. China also started constructing a road on NH 219 connecting Lhasa and Jinjiang. In 2013, a Chinese spy named Pema Tsering was arrested in Dharmashala, Himachal Pradesh. The Chinese spies involved in northeast militant organizations and supported anti-India activities. Ajit Doval penned several incidents as reasons supporting his word that China kept a close eye and was spying on India. AP Official Held For Assaulting Woman Over Mask Issue:- A video byte went viral across social media today after a government official has been spotted assaulting woman who is on duty. The woman has been brutally attacked after she suggested the official to wear a mask in this coronavirus season. The differently-abled woman was attacked with an iron rod and the other fellow officials tried hard to control the official. This incident took place in AP Tourism Department office in Nellore on June 27th. It came to light today after the video recorded on the CCTV went viral. Deputy Manager CA Bhaskar who committed the crime was suspended by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). Bhaskar was bookeed under Section 354, Section 355 and Section 324. He was arrested and is sent for judicial remand. The Nellore cops responded on time and the accused as taken into custody. DGP Gautam Sawang lauded the efforts of the Nellore cops for being quick and taking action in the case. The video went viral all over and the accused was slammed by the netizens. There was huge outrage against him for assaulting a woman so brutally by dragging her and pulling her hair. (Video Source: TV9 Trending) (Image source from: Indiatoday.in) Rajinikanth To Take A Long Break:- Superstar Rajinikanth is no exception for coronavirus. He is spending time with his family from the shoots and is enjoying the unexpected break. Though he wished that the movie shoots will resume from July or August, things changed drastically after the number of cases started rising. Tamil Nadu is one of the worst-hit states due to coronavirus. Rajinikanth recently shifted to his farmhouse along with his family which is located on the outskirts of Chennai. Rajinikanth even took his personal staff so that there would be no chance of moving out. The actor informed the makers of his next that he would not join the sets this year. His next film Annaatthe completed two schedules and the shoot was put on hold due to coronavirus pandemic. Siva is the director and Keerthy Suresh is the leading lady. The shoot of Annaatthe will resume only in 2021 as per Rajinikanth's request. Sun Pictures are producing this action entertainer and the film releases during the second half of 2021. Andover, MA (01810) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High near 90F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. In lieu of its annual I/O conference, Google is hosting a Smart Home Virtual Summit to connect with its users. I/O was cancelled back in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 9to5 reports that the summit will be aimed at helping the Assistant developer community. The summit will begin with a keynote similar to the traditional first day of I/O. This will be shorter on this occasion and will then transition into a panel discussion afterwards. The virtual summit will take place on July 8 via live stream. Tailored schedules will vary based on geographic regions. Different setups are expected for the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. Advertisement Google Announces Smart Home Virtual Summit Google said in a statement that COVID-19 has made it difficult for us to meet you at I/O, Global Developer Summits, and EMEA Smart Home Summit. However, the company wanted the opportunity to connect, and we decided to take things virtual! As a result, this virtual summit was born. Michele Turner, the Product Management director of the Smart Home Ecosystem will lead the keynote. She will also share recent smart home product initiatives. She will also discuss how developers can benefit from these capabilities. Topics covered in the keynote may also include new tools that make it easier for you to develop with Google Assistant. The partner panel will then consist of industry leaders. They will discuss how the sector intends to navigate through Covid-19. This discussion will also see thoughts shared on the state of the industry going forwards. Advertisement Upcoming Features Teased? Traditionally I/O has teased new smartphone and developer features. It is unclear whether this will happen at this years event. Perhaps we will see some new features but whether this is going to be on the same scale as normal remains to be seen. At CES in January, Google previewed Smart Display capabilities like sticky notes. It also showed us the capability of Household Contacts. Google has also released a number of new features to Google Photos in recent weeks. Advertisement A total overhaul of the system did not please users. However, the ability to not have social media pictures automatically backed up and a mute toggle button for videos has impressed. Hopefully the event will go off without a hitch and serve as an adequate replacement for I/O. It is going to be a tall order to live up to but if Google can pull it off then it will be a welcome event over the summer. Given we have been starved of these events anything the company can offer will probably be well received. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now officially labeled Huawei and ZTE as national security threats. Measures were technically already in place in the US with regard to Huawei, at the very least. In particular, that was to prevent US telecoms from using federal funds to buy Huawei and now ZTE equipment. But this makes that stance official. Now, no telecom companies in the US will be able to gain subsidy money from the $8.3 billion Universal Service Fund. Or at least as that pertains to purchasing equipment from the two companies. In effect, this closes off any loopholes that may have existed before. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has released a statement alongside the commission marking ZTE and Huawei as security risks. The statement further outlines the commissions position. Both companies, the statement says, have close ties to both the Chinese Communist Party and Chinas military apparatus. And both are subject to Chinese laws that require them to cooperate with its intelligence services. Because of those points, the FCC says, as well as the overwhelming weight of evidence the companies are a threat to the USs 5G future. Advertisement This order from the FCC was reportedly the result of a unanimous vote. Why the hard stance against Huawei and ZTE from the FCC? ZTE has been flying largely under the radar in the US since it resumed its normal business in the region back in 2018. That followed on a lengthy restructuring deal with other concessions made in the wake of a ban against ZTE. The company was forced to stop buying US-made equipment following the discovery that it has been selling equipment in violation of US sanctions. Unlike ZTE though, Huawei has been directly in the spotlight for the past couple of years, even beyond the FCC, due to security concerns. The accusations, which have largely been denied by Huawei, center around alleged cooperation with the Chinese government and intelligence agencies. Thats sent Huawei through a veritable rollercoaster of bans and reprieve over the past several years. But, despite being the worlds top smartphone seller and integral to 5G standards, it has primarily remained cut off. Advertisement Thats a sentiment thats been echoed across much of the industry, particularly as it regards Huawei as integral to 5G and future networking. And several other countries have begun looking more closely at Huawei too. Those inquiries have, at least in part, been under threat from the US government too. The country has previously proposed to cut off intelligence sharing. Specifically, thats between itself and any who are interacting with Huawei on networking. The FCCs latest decision cements that disposition and was likely based in part on recent documents claimed to prove how big a risk Huawei is. Does this FCC decision change anything for these companies? Both companies have faced increasing scrutiny and were already essentially banned. So, aside from making this official on paper, this really doesnt seem to change much. In fact, it may ultimately be more harmful to ZTE than to Huawei since ZTE also makes networking equipment. But hadnt, at least officially, been banned from selling that equipment to US telecoms. MediaTek has just announced two new mobile processors in its gaming-focused Helio G series. The new MediaTek Helio G25 and Helio G35 budget chips aimed at low-cost gaming smartphones. These chipsets come just about two months after the Taiwanese chipmaker launched the Helio G85, a mid-range gaming chipset. MediaTek Helio G25 & Helio G35 specifications Like MediaTeks other Helio G chipsets, the new Helio G25 and Helio G35 are also octa-core SoCs fabricated on a 12nm FinFET process from TSMC. The former is an entry-level processor featuring eight ARM Cortex A-53 CPU cores clocked at 2.0GHz. It gets an Imagination PowerVR GE8320 GPU operating at a maximum frequency of 650MHz. The Helio G25 supports displays at up to 1600720 resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. Advertisement The Helio G35 is slightly better specced of the two. It also features eight ARM Cortex A-53 CPU cores but with a higher clock speed of 2.3GHz. Its Imagination PowerVR GE8320 GPU is also clocked at 680MHz. This chipset capable of running 24001080 resolution displays at 60Hz. These two chipsets also differ in the camera department. The Helio G25 supports dual 13-megapixel+8-megapixel cameras or a single 21-megapixel camera. The G35, on the other hand, supports dual 13-megapixel+13-megapixel cameras or a single 25-megapixel camera. They offer the same set of camera features though, with MediaTek promising dual-cam bokeh, rolling shutter compensation (RSC) engine, hardware warping engine (EIS), multi-frame noise reduction, and more. Both the chipsets support 1080P video encoding (H.264) and playback (H.264, H.265/HEVC) at 30 fps. Advertisement The Helio G25 and G35 also share many more features. They both support LPDDR3 and LPDDR4x RAM up to 6GB and up to 1,600MHz memory frequency. The two chipsets also come with the eMMC 5.1 storage standard. Connectivity features include LTE Cat. 7 DL/Cat.13 UL, dual 4G VoLTE, 4G carrier aggregation (CA), dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 5.0, and FM Radio. The new MediaTek chipsets further support Beidou, Galileo, Glonass, GPS, and QZSS navigation systems. MediaTeks HyperEngine technology promises smooth gaming performance The MediaTek Helio G25 and Helio G35 both feature the companys HyperEngine game technology. This technology ensures intelligent and dynamic management of the CPU, GPU, and memory for faster, smoother, and low-latency gaming performance along with enhanced power efficiency and brilliant graphics. Advertisement MediaTek HyperEngine also lets users defer calls, while in a game, so you never drop a connection or have to stop your game-play, the company said in a press release. The MediaTek Helio G25 makes its debut on Xiaomis Redmi 9A. The entry-level smartphone will go on sale in Malaysia on July 7, starting at RM359 (roughly $85). The MediaTek Helio G35, on the other hand, powers the Redmi 9C and Realme C11. Both of these handsets will arrive in the Malaysian market next month for a price of RM429 (~$100). OnePlus will release its budget smartphone offering in the near future, the rumored OnePlus Nord. Were still not sure if that will be its name, but that will be confirmed later today as part of the companys documentary. Ahead of it, Android Central got an opportunity to interview Carl Pei, the companys co-founder, and get an answer as to why OnePlus decided to release a budget smartphone. The company will release the first part of its documentary later today, during which it will confirm the phones name. That documentary will show you what it takes to release a new smartphone, the struggles behind the scenes, and so on. The documentary will come in four parts, and only the first one is launching later today. The company will publish it on Instagram, on the newly-opened OnePlusLiteZThing Instagram account. Advertisement That being said, Carl Pei did share some information with Android Central, as did the Vice President of OnePlus, France Akis Evangelidis. Both of which have been interviewed. Mr. Evangelidis did say that this documentary will give OnePlus fans great insight. It will show you the ins and outs of a smartphone launch, and how stressful it can be to launch one. That documentary is actually the backbone of the whole launch. Carl Pei said that he wants OnePlus fans to feel closer to the company. That is what this documentary is supposed to achieve. He mentioned that he never felt close to the companies he loved while growing up, which is why OnePlus often turns to its community for interaction. Advertisement OnePlus felt its time to release a budget smartphone, for a couple of reasons The companys co-founder said that the company felt its time to release a budget offering. He feels that OnePlus kept releasing better and better flagships over the years, but that part of the community wants a much more affordable device. On top of that, the global health crisis also played a part in the decision. People will be looking for more affordable phones these days. He sees that as the companys new beginning, which is why OnePlus is using the New Beginnings caption for the first part of the documentary and this product launch, basically. OnePlus usually takes 9 to 12 months on the development of one phone, while this launch took much less. The whole team had six months to do everything, which is why it was more stressful than usual. Advertisement Carl Pei also said that this phone will have its own visual identity. It will be targetted at a completely different consumer base, so that makes sense. It should differentiate from the companys flagships. The companys advertising push thus far indicates that it is aiming at a younger audience with this phone. The device is rumored to cost around $299, though that estimate may be off. Were guessing it will be between $299 and $349. The device is rumored to arrive on July 10, but nothing has been confirmed thus far. If youd like to know more about the phone itself, check out our preview. The humiliation experienced by Marcia Grant and her son Dallas at Ouzo Bay last week was the result of a deliberate discriminatory policy that has no place in Baltimore or anywhere else (Mother, son who were denied service at Ouzo Bay discuss racism on GMA: It was based on the fact that Dallas was Black, June 24). It is understandable that Ms. Grant would not be interested in meeting with Alex Smith, especially after his cringeworthy comment about wanting to mentor Dallas. Samsung is looking to bolster its smartphone battery life via new hybrid OLED tech for displays called HOP, sources report. Short for hybrid oxide and polycrystalline silicon, HOP is a combination of LTPO TFT and oxide TFT. Summarily, thats meant to represent the best of both worlds the former is typically used in smartphones and the latter in notebooks and tablets. The savings, however, will be anything but typical. Samsung reportedly says its technology can reduce smartphone power consumption by the display by between 15- and 20-percent. That wont equate to overall savings from 15- to 20-percent, of course. But a good portion of the batter capacity eaten away by smartphones is attributable to the display. The South Korean tech giant will allegedly apply its technology to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series. The devices are currently expected to start out with a 4,300mAh unit in the Galaxy Note 20 or a 4,500mAh unit for the Note 20+. That places the new screen tech in a position for big gains over the Samsung Galaxy S20 series. Or at least with regard to the smaller of the two. Advertisement The Samsung Galaxy S20, for instance, packs a 4,000mAh cell. The companys Galaxy S20+ packs a 4,500mAh unit. The latter gadget has been widely reported with a battery life of just over 10.5-hours. Even a 10-percent increase there, with the new HOP technology, could equate to an extra hour of use. What else do we know about Note series displays from Samsung aside from HOP? This will mark the first use of Samsung HOP or LTPO technology outside of wearables. While new, they arent brand new. They first made an appearance in the Apple Watch Series 4 and Galaxy Watch Active2. Beyond this newly-reported Samsung HOP technology for smartphone displays, Samsung is also expected to utilize a flat panel on the new Galaxy Note 20 series. Thats a decision that may or may not be made in light of refresh rate inconsistencies seen in its Galaxy S20 series. Particularly where 120Hz mode is concerned as compared to the default 60Hz mode. If it opts to utilize 120Hz panels, both HOP But regardless, the upcoming series is expected to utilize QHD+ 120Hz panels. Advertisement Rumors are somewhat lighter this year regarding the note series Looking past the display, an array of leaks and rumors has surfaced in advance of this handset series launch later this year. To begin with, the handsets are expected to include three rear-mounted cameras. Or at least the Samsung Galaxy Note 20+ is. The device will reportedly pack a 108-megapixel main snapper with an f/1.33 aperture. Thatll be coupled with a 12-megapixel ultra-wide f/2.55 aperture lens and a 13-megapixel sensor f/3.4 periscope lens for zoom. The latter of those wont be entirely dissimilar to the one found at the top of the Galaxy S20 series. Under the hood, a Snapdragon 865 SoC will be used in the US and China. The companys in-house Exynos 990 will appear in Europe and India. That tracks closely with past releases but, this time, Samsung will allegedly back that with 12GB RAM in the base model. Advertisement Of course, a new S Pen will be part of the package well and will be a central selling point. But its unclear what new features that will deliver. A smaller punch-hole camera will be utilized under the display. Snapdragon 865 will fuel the Galaxy Note 20+ in the US and China, while the Exynos 990 will probably do it in Europe and India. The device is rumored to pack in 12GB of RAM, its base model. That will be driving Android 10 if rumors bear out. Gov. Kay Ivey announced Tuesday that state officials will extend for another month their "safer-at-home" order that contains some restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The governor also acknowledged that the current order isn't being universally followed, and she said she has no plans to issue an order to require people to wear face coverings. "Folks are not following the restrictions we've offered," Ivey said. Ivey and other health policy and political leaders spoke in a live-streamed news conference at the Alabama State Capitol on Tuesday, just days before the state's public health order was set to expire. Alabama has stepped back from most of the stay-home restrictions imposed in April, though stores and restaurants are supposed to practice social-distancing rules and limit the number of customers allowed inside. Under the current public health order, the public is encouraged but not ordered to wear face masks. Spread of virus quickening Spread of the virus has accelerated throughout June. As of Tuesday morning, 37,536 people in Alabama had been diagnosed with the virus, with 926 dead after becoming infected. More than 10,000 of those infections emerged in just the past two weeks. Calhoun County reported 15 new cases Tuesday, for a total of 268 people infected to date. Seventy of those infections were found in the past two weeks, a clear upward surge for a county that has averaged three or four new cases per day for most of the pandemic. Ivey and other officials acknowledged the surge and pleaded with the public to wear face coverings. Ivey also said the state reserved the right to impose another stay-home order in the future if hospitals become overcrowded. But the governor announced no new or tightened restrictions on the public. "I firmly believe that you cannot have a life without a livelihood," Ivey said. She said a long-term shutdown is not sustainable. An emotional state Rep. Dexter Grimsley, D-Newville, took to the podium to talk about his sister's death from COVID-19 and to urge the public to wear masks. Grimsley said that much is unsure in the world in 2020, but that the usefulness of masks in preventing the spread of the virus is clear. "Today I challenge the state of Alabama to live off what we know," he said. Tested positive for COVID-19? Help us tell the story. Your voice could help us better tell the story of the COVID-19 crisis in Alabama. Follow this link to share your story with us. Greenville Mayor Dexter McLendon, who along with his wife and his mother was infected with COVID-19 early in the pandemic, said Alabamians should take the illness seriously. "I'm here to tell you today: This is not rocket science. Pay attention," he said. McLendon said he believes people should wear masks, though, like Ivey, he said he believed a statewide order would be difficult to enforce. Local risk level moves up State health officer Dr. Scott Harris said the state would soon unveil a color-coded system to differentiate counties at high risk for COVID-19 from low-risk counties. Health officials had already used similar terminology in the past, without the color-coded system. Calhoun County was in the low-risk category, under that system, until this week, according to local health officials. The county is now in the "moderate risk" category. Despite the surge, only three people were hospitalized with the virus at Regional Medical Center in Anniston, hospital CEO Louis Bass said Monday. "I don't have an answer for you on that one," Bass said. "Maybe it's due to the virus spreading through a younger population." Health officials have reported a growing percentage of confirmed cases in people of working age. While the virus can kill people at any age, it's generally considered a more serious health risk for older people. Most of the state's deaths from COVID-19 have been in patients 65 or older. Running a business during the COVID-19 crisis? Share your story. Your voice could help us better tell the story of the COVID-19 crisis in Alabama. Follow this link to share your story with us. The recent surge in the virus has become visible locally in other ways. Oxford Police Chief Bill Partridge over the weekend reported that a police officer in Oxford has tested positive for the virus. A Calhoun County deputy tested positive last week, Sheriff Matthew Wade said in messages on social media. Jails and other institutional settings are potential hot spots for the virus, but Wade said last week that there have been no cases of the illness in the county jail. Schools affected Saks High School and Oxford High School both put football workouts on hold in recent days after students tested positive for the virus. School administrators are also working to figure out how to safely reopen schools this fall, after state school officials announced Friday their plan to see all schools reopen for some sort of in-person instruction in the coming school year. Anniston City Schools superintendent Ray Hill said he's meeting with faculty and staff this week to work on a reopening plan he can present to the school board on July 16. School officials in Anniston had discussed opening school later than its original early August start date. Hill on Monday said it's possible the school system will open with as much as three weeks of online or at-home work. He said he was confident that at least the first week of class would be done at home. About half of Anniston parents, in a poll by the school system, said they'd prefer to keep their kids home next year. Hill said the system will offer that option and is working to provide every student with a laptop computer for that purpose. Other specifics have been harder to work out. Hill said the system may hold staggered classes, with students coming to school only on some days of the week, but that requires complex scheduling. Setting up classrooms for social distancing will be difficult, he said. "Some things we want to do, like provide shields on the desks, we can't do because it's so expensive," he said. Purchase an online subscription to our website for $7.99 a month with automatic renewal. Each online subscription gives you full access to all of our newspaper websites and mobile applications. To cancel you may contact Customer Service @ 256-235-9253 or email JPAYNE@ANNISTONSTAR.COM For a limited time, for NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY a NEW ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION is just $59.99 for the first year. Existing customers do not qualify for the specials! After the first year, well automatically renew your subscription to continue your access at the regular price of $69.99 per year. Please note *Your Subscription will Automatically Renew unless you contact Customer Service To Cancel* Talladega, AL (35160) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 68F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. (ANSA) - BARI, JUN 30 - A Carabinieri police officer was among 37 people arrested in Italy and Albania as police broke up what they called a "massive" trans-Adriatic drug smuggling operation on Tuesday. The Carabiniere, working in Bari in Puglia, is suspected of tipping off an Albanian narco trafficker about police operations, police said. Some 27 people were arrested in Italy and 10 more in Albania. The alleged drug trafficking offences took place between 2017 and 2018, police said. Two Albanian informants helped police with their inquiries. A swathe of assets were seized including a coffee factory in Albania. Police said the gang smuggled "huge" quantities of drugs including marijuana, cocaine and hashish, with a street value of over 40 million euros, and the equivalent of seven million doses. (ANSA). (ANSA) - ROME, JUN 30 - There is tension between the two biggest parties supporting Premier Giuseppe Conte's government, the 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD), over whether Italy should apply for funding from the European Stability Mechanism in the wake of the coronavirus emergency. The PD is in favour of taking up the option to obtain dozens of billions of euros from the bailout fund at zero interest. But the M5S is against this, fearful that use of the fund could come with strings attached, even though the EU says there will not be any as long as the money is used for health spending. Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri, a PD member, has been trying to mediate. "We can examine all the pro and cons with the M5S experts when the time is right," he said. In an interview with Tuesday's edition of La Stampa, meanwhile, Foreign Minister and M5S heavyweight Luigi Di Maio called for a "profound fiscal reform starting from (income tax) IRPEF". Di Maio also said that any reform would not affect the 'citizenship wage basic income that was one of the M5S's key manifesto pledges. On the use of the ESM, the head of the CIGL trade union, Italy's biggest and most leftwing, Maurizio Landini, said "we cannot squander this unrepeatable opportunity." He said "it is also an opportunity to change Europe". But one of the M5S's representatives on the Lower House finance committee, Giovanni Curro , said his party's opposition to using the bailout mechanism did not stem from "stubborn ideological positions" but from "serious economic arguments". Curro said "those who say the ESM is an adequate instrument, able to boost our country's economy, cannot be more wrong. "The ESM is an inefficient, anachronistic and potentially damaging tool". The centre-right opposition is also against using the ESM for fear it would put Italian taxpayers' savings at risk, according to the leader of the largest opposition force, Matteo Salvini of the nationalist and formerly regionalist League party. On Tuesday he urged the government to put the ESM issue to a debate in parliament "and we will see how parliament, which is sovereign, decides". (ANSA). Japan's reported protest against South Korea joining an expanded Group of Seven (G7) summit reflects its typical "shameless" behavior, a Blue House official said Monday, according to Yonhap News Agency. The official was responding to a news report that the Shinzo Abe administration has delivered its objection to U.S. President Donald Trump's idea of inviting President Moon Jae-in to the envisioned session. "There's nothing to be surprised anymore by Japan's consistent attitude not to admit or atone for its wrongdoings," the official said, describing Japan as accustomed to "harming" a neighboring country. "The level of Japan's shameless (stance) is something of the world's top," the official added. "I don't expect any major impact (to Trump's plan to expand the G7 and include South Korea as a member), as the international community, especially advanced nations, is sufficiently aware of Japan's such level." In late May, Trump said he would postpone the G7 summit until at least September and expand the list of invitees to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India. Kyodo reported that Japan conveyed the objection immediately after Trump raised the prospect, saying that South Korea is not "in lockstep with G7 members on China and North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) issues." The G7 groups the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada, and the European Union also attends. Trump's suggestion that the G7 could be expanded to include Russia was quickly rejected by Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the European Union. (CGTN) Saudi Arabian and U.S. officials on Monday called on the international community to extend a United Nations arms embargo on Iran, warning that the expiry would allow Tehran to destabilize the region. Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir and U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook held a joint press conference in Riyadh, where weapons, including drones and missiles, which were used in recent Houthi attacks on Saudi cities, were displayed. Al-Jubeir said that Saudi Arabia is consulting with all the countries on the UN Security Council on the dangers of letting the arms embargo on Iran expire. Hook warned if the UN arms embargo against Iran is lifted, Iran will be able to further develop its military capabilities and acquire new sensitive technologies and re-export to its proxies in the region. "The weapons that we see here today are all the evidence we need that the arms embargo on Iran must not be lifted," Hook added, highlighting that Iran will never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. Hook arrived in Riyadh after his visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he discussed with UAE officials about extending the UN arms embargo on Iran, which expires on October 18, 2020. (CGTN) The two Democratic members of the Maryland elections board voted in favor of holding another mostly mail-in election because they believe its the best way to ensure the greatest number of people can successfully vote. Under their preferred method, every eligible voter would be mailed an absentee ballot and there would be additional in-person centers open for early voting and on Election Day. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that the Israeli plan of annexing parts of the West Bank is rejected, whether it is partial or complete. Abbas's announcement was made in a telephone conversation with Simonetta Sommaruga, president of the Swiss Confederation, the official WAFA news agency reported. The report said that Abbas stressed that the Palestinians reject the U.S. Mideast peace plan, adding that it violates all the international resolutions. The Swiss president said that Switzerland opposes any unilateral actions or any changes that violate international law and international legitimacy, and called for Israel and the Palestinians for a dialogue. Sommaruga told Abbas that her country will continue providing support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, mainly in the field of health to combat the coronavirus pandemic. In another development, during an online meeting with 40 British lawmakers, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye accused Israel of planning to dissolve the Palestinian Authority (PA), adding that the Palestinians will not let Israel do so "because the PA was the result of the Palestinian struggle." "The Israeli annexation plan threatens the existence of the Palestinian people and their just cause and also threatens security and stability in the region," said Ishtaye. The Israeli government is planning to annex more than 30 percent of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley. It also plans to impose sovereignty on several Israeli settlements in the territory. The tension between the two sides has mounted after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his annexation plan will be implemented on July 1. (CGTN) Marysville, CA (95901) Today Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. Hot. High 97F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A mostly clear sky. Low near 60F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. In 2010 Spains Constitutional Court announced the ruling that struck down Catalonias 2006 special charter the Statute. Ten years later we have no shared diagnostic of that historical event. Last Sunday the PSOE and [its Catalan chapter] the PSC insisted that dialogue is the only possible way forward, but they failed to point out that the 2006 Statute is precisely an example of the shortcomings that path. Catalan president Quim Torra stated that the ruling is evidence to the futility of any dialogue that is limited by the Spanish Constitution. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight markets in May showing a slight improvement in the air cargo market, although African airlines post smallest cargo contraction. Middle Eastern carriers report decline of 25% year-on-year in May. Image: IATA However, capacity remains unable to meet demand as a result of the loss of belly cargo operations on passenger aircraft that have been parked. Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs), fell by 20.3% in May (-21.5% for international operations) compared to the previous year. That is an improvement from the 25.6% year-on-year drop recorded in April. Global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), shrank by 34.7% in May (-32.2% for international operations) compared to the previous year, a slight deceleration from the 41.6% year-on-year drop in April. Belly capacity for international air cargo shrank by 66.4% in May compared to the previous year due to the withdrawal of passenger services amid the COVID-19 crisis (up slightly from the 75.1% year-on-year decline in April). This was partially offset by a 25.2% increase in capacity through expanded use of freighter aircraft. The cargo load factor (CLF) rose 10.4 percentage points in May. This was a slight decrease from the 12.8 percentage point rise in April. However, the extent of the increase suggests that there is still pent-up demand for air cargo which cannot be met due to the continued grounding of many passenger flights. Global export orders continue to fall but at a slower pace. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) tracking new manufacturing export orders improved from the trough seen in April despite remaining in contractionary territory. Air cargo demand is down by over 20% compared to 2019. And with most of the passenger fleet grounded capacity was down 34.7%. The gap between demand and capacity shows the challenge in finding the space on the aircraft still flying to get goods to market. For that the prospects for air cargo remain stronger than for the passenger business but the future is very uncertain. Economic activity is picking up from April lows as some economies unlock. But predicting the length and depth of the recession remains difficult, said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's Director General and CEO. Middle Eastern carriers reported a decline of 25% year-on-year in May, a significant improvement from the 36.2% fall in April. Despite a number of carriers in the region maintaining some cargo capacity, traffic on all key routes was low. International capacity decreased 24.4%. Other Regional Performance African airlines posted the smallest contraction of any region in May, extending a run of resilient performance. Africa has now ranked in the top two regions for 15 consecutive months. Year-on-year international demand fell by 6.3%. The small Africa-Asia market was particularly resilient in May, down only 0.4%. International capacity decreased 37.7%. Asia-Pacific airlines saw demand for international air cargo fall by 21.3% in May 2020 compared to the same period a year earlier. This was a solid improvement over the 25.2% drop in April. Seasonally adjusted freight volumes also rebounded slightly in May and have now reached 75% of their pre-COVID-19 crisis levels. Shipments of personal protective equipment (PPE) are helping support airlines in the region. International capacity decreased 31%. North American carriers reported a single digit fall in international cargo demand of 9.0% year-on-year in May. This was the smallest contraction of all regions except Africa. The resilient performance is due to shorter and less stringent lockdowns in certain regions, the large freighter fleets of a few regional airlines as well as robust US-China trade volumes. Demand on the large AsiaNorth America route was down only 0.4% year-on-year in May. International capacity decreased 28%. European carriers reported a 29.7% annual drop in international cargo volumes in May, the weakest performance of all regions. Limited manufacturing output and lockdowns through to mid-May contributed to the weak performance. International capacity decreased 40.1% Latin American carriers posted a 22.1% drop in year-on-year international demand. This was a significant improvement from the 40.7% decline in April. The COVID-19 crisis is particularly challenging for airlines based in Latin America owing to strict lock-down measures. International capacity decreased 39.5%. Maryland and other state governments across the country have lost a significant portion of their projected revenue due to stay-at-home orders and other restrictions. Particularly hard hit are income tax withholding from people working in the state and sales tax revenues. Each contributes heavily to the general fund. The general fund, which consists of revenues not dedicated by law for a specific program, amounts to $19.5 billion and is part of an overall budget of $47.9 billion. Owosso, MI (48867) Today Windy with showers and thunderstorms this morning, then cloudy this afternoon. High near 70F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 41F. NW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Vallarta Living Puerto Vallarta Inspired Living: Times are Changing Where we once found large Mexican communities in cities and towns in the U.S., we now have pockets of expats all over Mexico, not just in resort cities but in small towns, far away from the hustle and bustle. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - As we watch Puerto Vallarta continue to grow on an annual basis, it's clear, there are people moving here from all over the world. There's no doubt as to where they are coming from, though who are they? According to the Pew Research Center, hundreds of thousands of Mexicans are returning to Mexico, where they are optimistically finding life more livable than NOTB. Given that, and the amount of US citizens who continue to migrate south, there is a burgeoning scene that has affected all of Mexico, especially coastal towns. This is a phenomena occurring on both the east and west coasts and having an impressive impact on Puerto Vallarta. These migrations have a profound and positive effect on schools, neighborhoods and the local economy overall. Where we once found large Mexican communities in cities and towns in the United States, we now have pockets of expats all over Mexico, not just in resort cities but in small settlements, far away from the hustle and bustle. An area that has seen change and improvement is medical services and hospitals. We have always felt more than comfortable in the hands of dentists and doctors in Puerto Vallarta, appreciating not only the state-of-the-art treatment and facilities, but with the added benefit of costs that are reasonable and won't bankrupt the Average Joe if you need serious medical attention. Expats and Mexicans returning to Mexico have all heavily affected these services, as well as certain imports. More items that were previously available only NOTB have made appearances in Puerto Vallarta over the past decade. Big box stores like Costco and Wal-Mart have been very happy to cater to the needs of those who aren't willing to give up certain lifestyle needs. People traveling back and forth from the two countries once had lists of things to bring both for themselves and others. We remember when Campbell's Tomato Soup was in high demand. Carrying cans of soup and albacore tuna, among other treasures, in baggage on airplanes was not unheard of. Enforcement of weight restrictions has also changed that. If traveling by auto, it wasn't unusual to cart cheddar cheese, by the pound in a cooler. What some would consider decent wine was in short supply and though rum, tequila and gin were easy to get, good Scotch was pricy. Liqueurs, such as KahlAa and TAa MarAa were plentiful, but imports like Anisette or Drambuie could be requested at the local liquor store year after year with no response. Now you can find them at Wal-Mart. Bed sheets with high thread count is a holdout but when we search we find stores like Chedraui carry all kinds of surprises. Road travel has certainly changed. With autos and buses rerouted, time and again, the pressure eases and then builds again. But the introduction of services like Uber to Puerto Vallarta has brought tremendous relief. We follow the premise that change is good, though sometimes it can be head-turning. We make our best efforts to appreciate all the good stuff. Que es cAmo es. The number one selling and listing agency in the greater Bay of Banderas region since 2011, Timothy Real Estate Group is a locally-owned and operated real estate brokerage with a strategic location in the city's Romantic Zone. Because the Puerto Vallarta area has varying neighborhood personalities, we practice localized real estate and, with 5 sales offices around the bay, we know our communities well. If you are looking to sell or purchase a property in the Banderas Bay area, please contact one of the Timothy Real Estate Group agents for the best experience in Puerto Vallarta real estate. For more information, visit Click HERE to learn more about Timothy Real Estate Group - As we watch Puerto Vallarta continue to grow on an annual basis, it's clear, there are people moving here from all over the world. There's no doubt as to where they are coming from, though who are they?According to the Pew Research Center, hundreds of thousands of Mexicans are returning to Mexico, where they are optimistically finding life more livable than NOTB. Given that, and the amount of US citizens who continue to migrate south, there is a burgeoning scene that has affected all of Mexico, especially coastal towns. This is a phenomena occurring on both the east and west coasts and having an impressive impact on Puerto Vallarta.These migrations have a profound and positive effect on schools, neighborhoods and the local economy overall. Where we once found large Mexican communities in cities and towns in the United States, we now have pockets of expats all over Mexico, not just in resort cities but in small settlements, far away from the hustle and bustle.An area that has seen change and improvement is medical services and hospitals. We have always felt more than comfortable in the hands of dentists and doctors in Puerto Vallarta, appreciating not only the state-of-the-art treatment and facilities, but with the added benefit of costs that are reasonable and won't bankrupt the Average Joe if you need serious medical attention. Expats and Mexicans returning to Mexico have all heavily affected these services, as well as certain imports.More items that were previously available only NOTB have made appearances in Puerto Vallarta over the past decade. Big box stores like Costco and Wal-Mart have been very happy to cater to the needs of those who aren't willing to give up certain lifestyle needs.People traveling back and forth from the two countries once had lists of things to bring both for themselves and others. We remember when Campbell's Tomato Soup was in high demand. Carrying cans of soup and albacore tuna, among other treasures, in baggage on airplanes was not unheard of. Enforcement of weight restrictions has also changed that.If traveling by auto, it wasn't unusual to cart cheddar cheese, by the pound in a cooler. What some would consider decent wine was in short supply and though rum, tequila and gin were easy to get, good Scotch was pricy.Liqueurs, such as KahlAa and TAa MarAa were plentiful, but imports like Anisette or Drambuie could be requested at the local liquor store year after year with no response. Now you can find them at Wal-Mart. Bed sheets with high thread count is a holdout but when we search we find stores like Chedraui carry all kinds of surprises.Road travel has certainly changed. With autos and buses rerouted, time and again, the pressure eases and then builds again. But the introduction of services like Uber to Puerto Vallarta has brought tremendous relief.We follow the premise that change is good, though sometimes it can be head-turning. We make our best efforts to appreciate all the good stuff.The number one selling and listing agency in the greater Bay of Banderas region since 2011, Timothy Real Estate Group is a locally-owned and operated real estate brokerage with a strategic location in the city's Romantic Zone. Because the Puerto Vallarta area has varying neighborhood personalities, we practice localized real estate and, with 5 sales offices around the bay, we know our communities well. If you are looking to sell or purchase a property in the Banderas Bay area, please contact one of the Timothy Real Estate Group agents for the best experience in Puerto Vallarta real estate. For more information, visit TimothyRealEstateGroup.com. Site Map Print this Page Email Us Top Support local journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Sources privy to the development said the nonagenarian politicians move was being anticipated for quite some time within the amalgam. SRINAGAR: Feeling hurt at being sidelined in certain decision-making and underhand disparagement of his role within the amalgam, Kashmirs separatist patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday announced his decision to quit the Hurriyat Conference. Sources privy to the development said the nonagenarian politicians move may have come as a surprise to many outside the Hurriyat Conference but within the amalgam it was being anticipated for quite some time. However, it was the endorsement by the Hurriyat Conference (G)s Valley-based advisory council of an earlier decision taken by its Pakistan and PoK chapter to remove his close confidante, Syed Abdullah Geelani, as its emissary in Islamabad that pulled the trigger, sources said. Geelani, while announcing his decision to sever his association with the Hurriyat Conference, said that Abdullah will continue to work as his representative in PoK and overseas. He accused his colleagues in Jammu & Kashmir of having failed to respond to his repeated requests to meet up to evolve a strategy to face the post-5 August 2019 situation in the erstwhile state but hurdling up at the drop of a hat in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic to endorse the unconstitutional decision and then getting it publicised through their favourite broadcasting houses. I sent messages to you through various means so that the next course of action could be decided, but all my efforts (to get in touch) went in vain. Now that the naked sword of accountability is hanging over your heads, you have started feeling the heat of answerability. The curtain over financial irregularities is taking off and you are terrified of losing your positions (within the amalgam). In spite of the pandemic and official curbs, you huddled up for the advisory committee meeting, supporting and endorsing the unconstitutional decision taken by your representatives. By doing this, you have set a strange example of solidarity and uniformity, Geelani alleged in his signed letter. The Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of 27 separatist Kashmiri parties and groups, was launched in March 1993 as a political platform to pursue the aazadi campaign. It split in 2003 following differences between what are often referred to as being moderate and hard-line factions. The battle lines got entrenched when the so-called moderate faction of the alliance headed by Kashmirs chief Muslim cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq began peace talks with the Centre despite sharp criticism at home. The rival faction termed the move as betrayal and elected Geelani as its chairperson. He was subsequently declared the lifetime head of the amalgam faction. Pakistan officially, however, recognized the Mirwaiz-led faction, and the reason behind this was believed to be Geelanis stiff and open opposition to General Pervez Musharrafs four-point formula on Kashmir. It was then believed in some political circles in J&K and Pakistan that Musharraf himself had prompted the split in the Hurriyat Conference in an attempt to isolate the defiant Geelani though the former Pakistan President had, in an interview to this correspondent in autumn 2004, denied the charge. There are some internal differences and I dont want to get involved in that. For the sake of peace and reconciliation they have to reunite or, at least, have a common agenda on vital issues, he had said. Yet, for some political watchers here, history may tend to repeat itself as Geelani has failed to live up to Islamabads expectation in post-August 5, 2019, scenario in J&K whereas the Mirwaiz and other separatist leaders who are not under detention have miserably failed to play any predictable or even customary role during this period, pushing the separatist camp in disarray and its supporters in public dispirited and bewildered. But as Geelanis letter on Monday suggested, he is not to be blamed for hibernation. He claimed that it were his colleagues in the Hurriyat Conference who let him down. The 91-year-old leader, who has been under house arrest for the past many years, with only occasional restricted liberty, has vowed to continue to fight against Indian colonialism, adding that his age or failing health will not act as an impediment in the struggle. He, however, said that it was in view of the current state of the Hurriyat Conference that he is announcing his complete dissociation from the forum. Kashmir political watchers believe that if his health permits it, he would continue to use his veto power on issues that may surface in the separatist camp, as he has the capacity and the capability of holding sway on diehard Kashmiri youth by flaunting his intense views on issues. First responders on scene at a fatal accident near Holland Hills in Basalt. One driver was killed on the scene, and two more were critically injured in the June 19 T-bone wreck. On Monday, the Pitkin County Coroner's Office announced that one of the injured parties, a passenger in the vehicle of the driver who died, was taken off life support. An election is underway today at the Pitkin County administration building, 530 E. Main St., from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters can participate in party primaries for U.S. Senate and U.S. House District 3, among others. You are the owner of this article. Athens, TX (75751) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 88F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 66F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. PH-spec 2020 Jeep Gladiator to be available in Sport and Rubicon variants Brent Co, Jeep Philippines June 30, 2020 13:44 Late last year, Jeep Philippines announced that the Gladiator pick-up truck will be launched in the country sometime this year. Now, after making its global launch in New Zealand last December, Jeep Philippines stated that the 2020 Gladiator will be arriving soon. No exact details have been revealed yet by the automaker. But according to Luxury Cars Manila, the PH-spec Gladiator will supposedly be available in Rubicon and Sport trim models. The former will reportedly be priced at PhP 4,790,000 while the latter will purportedly retail for PhP 3,890,000. There are no specifications available yet for the two Gladiator variants. More than likely, however, the local-spec models may come with Fox shock absorbers, front and rear skid plates, heavy-duty steel front and rear bumpers, large off-road style alloy wheels wrapped in 32-inch tires, and massive wheel arches. Like the Wrangler, the Gladiator will get the same cabin layout. A choice of either a 7-inch or 8.4inch Uconnect touchscreen infotainment could be available, along with the satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, as well as Bluetooth. Other features like automatic climate control, USB-C port, and 230V A/C charging outlet may be part of the interior package as well. Under the hood, the Gladiator is powered by the familiar 3.6-liter Pentastar V6. The naturally-aspirated six-cylinder puts out 289 PS along with 352 Nm of torque. Power is then transferred to an eight-speed automatic transmission with manual select. A Selec-Trac (or Rock-Trac) 4x4 system, a two-speed transfer case with a long-range transfer box, locking differentials, and heavy-duty Dana front and rear axles allow the Gladiator to go anywhere it pleases no matter the terrain. When will Jeep Philippine officially launch the 2020 Gladiator? There's no date yet but given that the supposed pricing of the pick-up truck is already out, it might be sooner than later. 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. Laying out his plans to combat the coronavirus during a speech on Tuesday, Joe Biden stared into the camera, addressed President Trump and questioned his fitness to lead the nation: "America needs a president." The state of play: The former vice president pleaded with Trump to wear a mask, institute a national plan for reopening the country and economy, and unite the American people amid the pandemic. "The crisis is real and its surging, Mr. President. America knows that this crisis isnt behind us, even if you dont," Biden said. "The American people didnt make enormous sacrifices over the past four months so you could waste your time with late-night rantings and tweets," he added. The big picture: Biden used the address in Wilmington, Delaware, with a giant American flag as his backdrop, to explain how he would handle the coronavirus differently than Trump. His coronavirus plan was an updated version of the one he first unveiled in March, but he salted it with criticism of what the president has done since then and focused on the country's rising caseload. He also promised to keep Anthony Fauci in government to help him respond to the crisis. The other side: The Trump campaign fired back and said Biden "botched" his criticism. A China-based supplier of clothing items to U.S. construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar participates in a coercive labor program known as "Xinjiang Aid," according to documents and evidence reviewed by Axios. Why it matters: It is against U.S. federal law to import products made through forced labor. What's happening: Summit Resource International, the exclusive wholesaler of Caterpillar-branded mens and womens clothing to retail, received multiple shipments of tens of thousands of pounds of Triton jackets and Trademark trousers from Xinjiang Ainuoxin Garment Co. and Jinan Ainuoxin Garment Co. between August 2019 and June 2020, according to research compiled by Worker Rights Consortium, an independent labor monitoring organization, and reviewed by Axios. These two factories participate in Xinjiang Aid, a Chinese government labor transfer scheme that has been widely denounced by researchers and human rights groups as coerced labor and a forced assimilation campaign targeting Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority. in Xinjiang Aid, a Chinese government labor transfer scheme that has been widely denounced by researchers and human rights groups as coerced labor and a forced assimilation campaign targeting Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority. It's difficult to trace whether Uighurs working at the factories were directly involved in the production of Caterpillar-branded clothing. "Caterpillars decision to continue sourcing from Xinjiang is a display of gross irresponsibility," said Penelope Kyritsis, assistant research director at Worker Rights Consortium. What they're saying: "We do not condone and strive to eliminate all forms of forced labor, child labor, and discrimination in the workplace," Caterpillar has said in its online statement on human rights. "Caterpillar believes the risk of modern slavery is low in its operations and those of its direct suppliers," the company has said. "Caterpillar currently does not utilize a third party in its verification process. We also do not currently perform on-site audits for social compliance," the online statement read. Caterpillar instead asks its suppliers to perform self-assessments. The company declined to provide further comment. Background: Xinjiang Ainuoxin Garment Co. is located in Yarkant County in southern Xinjiang, where the Chinese Communist Party has rounded up hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and kept them in mass internment camps, eventually transferring some into forced labor facilities under the guise of "alleviating poverty." The Xinjiang Aid program takes former detainees, as well as Uighurs from surrounding villages, and puts them to work in factories where they are often subject to political indoctrination, Chinese language classes (part of a region-wide effort to weaken Uighur cultural identity through reducing their reliance on the Uighur language), and extremely tight surveillance under the constant supervision of security guards. Tens of thousands of workers have been separated from their families and sent to work in factories in distant provinces under similar conditions. Details: The Yarkant County Poverty Alleviation and Development Office stated on July 2, 2019, that the local Chinese Communist Party secretary helped bring in Xinjiang Ainuoxin Garment Co. as part of the county's "poverty alleviation" program, according to a document provided to Axios by Adrian Zenz, a leading expert on Xinjiang mass detention camps and forced labor policies. The document mentions Mandarin classes and strict discipline. Subsidies: Xinjiang Ainuoxin Garment Co. is included on a list of companies receiving subsidies for their participation in Xinjiang Aid, according to a notice issued by the Yarkant County government. Screenshot of a list of companies receiving subsidies through Xinjiang Aid in Yarkant County. Labor transfers: Xinjiang Ainuoxin has also engaged in labor transfers, according to official media reports. Xinjiang Ainuoxin has also engaged in labor transfers, according to official media reports. The village committee "coordinated with the factory to obtain training opportunities inland, and organized 15 female employees to study sewing techniques in Jinan, Shandong," according to a November 2018 report from a Kashgar radio station. The big picture: Many state media reports cast Xinjiang Aid as a benevolent program focused on poverty alleviation and skills training, featuring quotes from grateful Uighurs. But "the reality is drastically different from what is described in state media," said Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, the lead author of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute report "Uyghurs for Sale," in an interview with Axios. The program "isnt designed for the benefit of the Uighurs," said Xu, but is rather intended to achieve state objectives through total surveillance and threat of detention in Xinjiang's ubiquitous internment camps for anyone who pushes back. And sadly, the Han employees at factories participating in Xinjiang Aid often don't see any problem, said Xu. "It says so much about systemic Han racism against Uighurs." Go deeper: The U.S. has the tools to fight Uighur forced labor The novel coronavirus is spreading too widely and quickly to contain, CDC principal deputy director Anne Schuchat told The Journal of the American Medical Association Monday, warning she expects "this virus to continue to circulate." Why it matters: Per Schuchat, "This is really the beginning, and what we hope is that we can take it seriously and slow the transmission." Her comments are in contrast to those of senior members of the Trump administration notably Vice President Mike Pence, who said on Friday "we have made truly remarkable progress." COVID-19 cases are surging across the U.S., prompting states including Texas, Arizona and New Jersey to pause plans to reopen their economies in recent days. What else she's saying: "We have way too much virus across the country for that right now, so its very discouraging," Schuchat said in her interview with the Journal's Howard Bauchner. She said there was "a lot of wishful thinking around the country" that the pandemic would be over by the summer. "We are not even beginning to be over this," Schuchat said. "There are a lot of worrisome factors about the last week or so." "We're not in the situation of New Zealand or Singapore or Korea, where a new case is rapidly identified and all the contacts are traced and people are isolated who are sick and people who are exposed are quarantined and they can keep things under control." Of note: World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday the pandemic is "far from over" and "is actually speeding up." "The worst is yet to come," he added. By the numbers: Over 126,100 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S., per Johns Hopkins. Almost 2.6 million Americans have tested positive from over 31 million tests. More than 705,200 have recovered from the virus. What they're saying: White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at a briefing Monday, "We're aware that there are embers that need to be put out, but these signs of decreasing fatality, increased and enhanced therapeutics that weve identified four of them: dexamethasone, convalescent plasma, and remdesivir, and one other that they are working. Remdesivir, in particular, reduces hospital time by a third. "So these things make us uniquely equipped to handle the increasing cases that weve seen." Go deeper: Pence disputes that virus surge was caused by states reopening too quickly Gov. Laura Kelly (D) announced in a statement on Monday that people in Kansas will be required to wear face masks while in public due to the coronavirus pandemic. Driving the news: The order, effective this Friday, comes as several states are seeing spikes in COVID-19 cases following local economies reopening from lockdown. "This is a simple, proactive step we can take to keep Kansans at work, get our kids back to school, and keep ourselves and our neighbors healthy," Kelly said. The big picture: Other states to have introduced mandatory measures for face masks are: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington. The District of Columbia has also introduced measures on face coverings. Go deeper: Mask mandates may have prevented hundreds of thousands of coronavirus cases Across the country, schools are planning a return to at least some in-person instruction in the fallbut teachers say they still have many unanswered questions about how it will all work. If a teacher is exposed to someone with COVID-19, will they have to use their sick days to self-quarantine for two weeks? What extra responsibilities will teachers be tasked with to ensure the safety and cleanliness of the classroom? What accommodations will be made for teachers who are high-risk , or who live with a high-risk person? Will they be guaranteed their jobs if they opt to teach remotely? What options will teachers have if they cant wear a mask for medical reasons? Many of these details have not been hammered out yet, despite the initial guidance released by many states . And while teachers say they miss their students and the normalcy of school, many are apprehensiveand scaredabout returning to in-person instruction amid so much uncertainty. Some teachers unions are pushing back against opening school buildings at all until theres a vaccine for COVID-19, while others say they think modified in-person instruction can return in the fallbut they need more details on how it will work. What does classroom life look like post-quarantine? ... Are we living in a delusion that were going back to a classroom thats a normal room? said Abigail Lund, a 5th grade math and science teacher in Cincinnati. We have six weeks or seven weeks [left of summer]. Are these questions really going to be answered when we walk into the building? Shes waiting for Ohio and her school district to provide some clarity. But for many teachers, the initial guidance from their states and districts has prompted more questions than answers. When the [New Jersey] guidance came out , almost immediately there was a lot of questions, said Sarah Mulhern Gross, a high school English teacher in the Monmouth County Vocational school district. It was pretty obvious to a lot of people that not all situations were taken into account when making the guidance. She started compiling questions from hundreds of teachers from across the state who teach various subject areas and grade levels. The resulting document now has more than 300 questions on typical school routines, quarantine procedures, extracurriculars, and health and safety measures. For example: How can teachers provide non-verbal cues like a desk tap if maintaining social distance? Will students/families have to tell school personnel if they/members of their household have traveled to COVID hotspots? How will staff be evaluated on the many standards that require collaboration (professionally and in the classroom)? If a teacher dies from COVID contracted while at school, does the state still pay their surviving spouse the [state-funded] life insurance payout? Gross has sent the document to the New Jersey Education Association, and she has heard that the governors office is aware of it. She also heard from school board members and administrators who have looked at it. One told her that he hadnt thought of half of these questions. Obviously what we did in the spring was crisis schooling, we flipped in a day, Gross said. "[Now], I know a lot of teachers wanted more than guidancethey wanted a decision. Difficult Choices In Fairfax, Va., administrators asked parents to choose an enrollment optionentirely remote instruction or a hybrid approach. In the first option, students would receive virtual, interactive instruction four days a week. In the second option, students would attend schools in person for at least two days and be engaged in independent study and work on the other days. One day a week would be set aside for teacher planning and student intervention in both scenarios. Teachers are also being surveyed about what option theyd prefer. But the three teachers unions that represent the districtone of the largest in the countryhave asked their members to choose the entirely remote option, at least until administrators can present a more detailed plan for how they will keep students and staff safe. It doesnt seem like theyre going to be able to protect everyone because of how this disease spreads and how schools function, said Kimberly Adams, the president of the Fairfax Education Association. She doesnt think itll be safe to reopen schools until theres a vaccine. Logistically, we dont know a lot of the answers, she said. To say youre going to sign a contract saying youll do this is very high risk. The teachers associations have been told that accommodations will be made for teachers who dont want to go back to school based on a tiered system of necessity, Adams said. The first tier will be for teachers who are personally at high risk for serious illness due to COVID-19. The second tier will be for teachers who live with someone who is high-risk. The next tier will be for teachers who have child-care challenges or another reason they cant go back to school, and the last tier will be for teachers who simply dont feel comfortable going back without an underlying reason. The district will accommodate as many teachers as they can, starting with the first tier and working their way down, Adams said. But teachers are worried about disclosing their medical conditions, Adams said, and childcare will be a major challenge. If students are only in school two days a week, but teachers are expected to teach for four days and spend the fifth day planning, its unclear where teachers children will go the three days theyre not in class. Adams said the associations are pushing the school system to establish a child-care center for teachers kids. Waiting for a Vaccine? An EdWeek Research Center survey of teachers, principals, and district leaders administered in June found that 62 percent of respondents are somewhat or very concerned about the health implications of resuming in-person instruction in the fall. Thats down from 67 percent when the survey was administered at the end of May. In May, nearly a quarter of respondents said they would leave their job if schools reopened without social distancing measures. Eleven percent said they would quit if schools reopened before widespread coronavirus testing is available. And 7 percent said they would leave their job if schools reopen before a coronavirus vaccine is available. Richard Franklin, the president of the Birmingham, Ala., chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, said he thinks it will be irresponsible to open school back up before theres a vaccine. Local school districts, he said, dont have the resources to put in place the proper safety precautions that were recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Alabama education department has issued guidance for districts recommending that schools provide options for both in-person and remote learning. The state recommends spacing desks at least six feet apart, facing in one direction, but leaves the specifics up to districts. When was the last time people who came up with this plan went into a classroom? Franklin said, citing concerns about the feasibility of social distancing. I really think were putting peoples lives in jeopardy when we dont have to. I think were trying to make a situation thats not normal be normal. Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics has released guidance strongly advocat[ing] for students to be physically present at school, saying that schools are fundamental to providing academic instruction, social and emotional skills, safety, nutrition, physical activity, and mental health supports. And other teachers union officials elsewhere say they would rather work to come up with a plan to safely bring teachers and students back to school. We dont think its safe to leave kids alone or outside of school for what would eventually be over a year now if we wait until a vaccination is out there, said Jeff Leake, the president of the Connecticut Education Association, which is in one of two states that have reported a decline in new coronavirus cases compared to last week. We know weve got to get back, we know kids need ushow are we going to do that safely? Right now, he said, teachers are waiting for more clarity on how they will be protected come fall. Until then, many educators say theyre worried about their own health and that of their families. Theres a sentiment that teachers should be ready to jump in and give it all up for our families and students like we always do, but [this time] we have our own families so its a little different, said Adams, the Fairfax teachers association president. "[People say] health care workers did it, why cant teachers? We didnt sign up to be health care workers. Image via Getty Anthony Fauci warned a Senate committee on Tuesday that states are "skipping over" coronavirus reopening guidelines and that many of the new infections from young people could be potentially deadly to others. The big picture: More than 50% of the new infections in the U.S. are from states like Florida, Texas, California and Arizona that have hot spots. Fauci forewarned the consequences of reopening too soon during his previous congressional testimony last month. Yes, but: Fauci noted that states and localities that "did it right" regarding reopening still had individuals who engaged in an "all or none phenomenon" disregarding social-distancing measures and face mask usage while out socially. What he's saying: "I think we need to emphasize the responsibility that we have both as individuals and as part of a societal effort to end the epidemic that we all have to play a part in that." "We've got to get that message out that we're all in this together, and if we're going to contain this, we've got to contain it together," Fauci added. Go deeper: New York to require travelers from 16 states to quarantine Hong Kong's government released the text of a new national security law imposed by Beijing just as the law came into force on Tuesday. What it says: The law defines crimes such as terrorism and sedition broadly, but mandates harsh sentences in many cases life imprisonment for those found to have committed them. It will be enforced by a National Security Committee, headed by Hong Kong's chief executive, without any input from the judiciary. Between the lines: The national security law manifests the Chinese Communist Party's approach to governance known as "rule by law," rather than "rule of law." It includes sweeping definitions of crimes and penalties that gives the government broad power to limit people's political freedom, while explicitly denying any kind of independent oversight of the law or how it is carried out. The big picture: The security law is the clearest encroachment to date on the autonomy that has allowed Hong Kong to flourish as a global financial hub, with political and legal protections unimaginable on the mainland. Hong Kong's future is currently unclear, with the U.S. revoking special trading privileges on the grounds that the city is no longer autonomous from China, and everyone from activists to international corporations concerned about how the law will be implemented. It was approved in response to last year's massive pro-democracy protests in the city, and appears designed in part to prevent further mass displays of dissent. Zoom in: The law describes the bureaucratic and organizational outlines of the new security state. It establishes a Hong Kong government national security committee, exempts decisions made by the committee from judicial overview, and mandates that the committee must have a Beijing-appointed advisor. It prohibits "collusion" with foreign governments or institutions, which could potentially target those who have called on international bodies to condemn China or lobbied the U.S. Congress for sanctions. More details: Leading a terrorist organization carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, but it's unclear what sorts of organizations that designation will apply to. There is concern in Hong Kong that the prohibition of "terrorist activity" will be applied broadly and arbitrarily. The law does get specific in some instances, with "destroying a vehicle" cited as possible terrorist activity. The law requires Hong Kong to carry out "national security education" a particularly controversial element given local resistance to propaganda in schools. The law also requires Hong Kong's police to establish a national security division, and states that it may hire "specialists and technicians from outside the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" meaning mainland China. What to watch: The law explicitly states that it applies beyond Hong Kongs borders and to everyone, whether they are a Hong Kong resident or not. The legal implications of that are unclear but potentially could be extraordinarily contentious if applied as written. The world is awaiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision on whether to annex up to 30% of the West Bank as soon as July 1 likely further eroding relations with Arab governments and sparking a new wave of protests in the territory. Why it matters: If Israel moves forward with annexation, decades of tensions could explode across the region, and progress toward a peace agreement tw0-state or otherwise could be stalled indefinitely. The act of annexation itself is forbidden by international law, adding to the plan's controversy. Yes, but: Netanyahu will only move forward with annexation if he gets a green light from the White House, which proposed that Israel gain 30% of the territory under its Middle East peace plan, but has been divided over the process and timing. The impact: Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Axios that plans to annex parts of the West Bank could force a mass displacement of Palestinians as they leave their homes or have them destroyed. Elgindy said there is "no doubt" that the movement of Palestinians in or near the annexed areas will likely become restricted as well. Where things stand: The West Bank territory is, in effect, governed by the Israeli military. Israeli settlers must have building and zoning requests in the area approved by Israel's defense minister and prime minister. Annexation would make at least some of the settlements officially part of Israel, and make additional building by settlers much easier, BBC reports. Palestinian leaders are protesting Netanyahu's proposal by refusing to coordinate with Israel over things such as tax collection, policing and cancer treatments, NPR reports. Palestinian leaders declared in May that, given Israel's decision to annex, they are no longer bound by the 1990s-era peace accords. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said, "This is an issue in which we cannot be silent on. Annexation is an existential threat for our future." Palestinians have consistently and emphatically declared annexation a non-starter for any path to peace, per the Washington Post. Between the lines: Regardless of its decision on annexation, Israel has already shifted the debate. Israel is no longer under pressure for enforcing a contentious status quo, but for moving beyond it. What they're saying: United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef al-Otaiba wrote in an op-ed in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest newspaper: Annexation will definitely, and immediately, reverse all of the Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and the United Arab Emirates." wrote in an op-ed in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest newspaper: Annexation will definitely, and immediately, reverse all of the Israeli aspirations for improved security, economic and cultural ties with the Arab world and the United Arab Emirates." Jordan, home to 2 million Palestinian refugees, has threatened to sever its security pact with Israel if Netanyahu's government proceeds with annexation. has threatened to sever its security pact with Israel if Netanyahu's government proceeds with annexation. Qatar has informed Israel it will suspend money transfers intended to keep the peace in the Gaza Strip because of Israel's annexation plans. it will suspend money transfers intended to keep the peace in the Gaza Strip because of Israel's annexation plans. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has continually asked Israel to abandon annexation plans, saying, "Annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law, grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution and undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations." has continually asked Israel to abandon annexation plans, saying, "Annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law, grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution and undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations." The European Union, Israel's largest trading partner, has said it will use diplomatic means to "discourage" Israel from moving forward with annexation, the BBC notes. The bottom line: "Formal annexation really has the potential to radically alter the situation on the ground, even though de facto annexation has been happening for decades," Elgindy says. Go deeper: Netanyahu lobbies evangelicals to back West Bank annexation in attempt to press Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany condemned the New York Times at a briefing Tuesday for publishing "unverified" allegations about intelligence on Russian bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, suggesting that "rogue intelligence officers" are undermining President Trump and the country's security. Driving the news: McEnany insisted that the president had not been briefed on the intelligence because it has not been fully verified by the intelligence community. She declined to comment on a recent New York Times report that the finding was included in late February in the written President's Daily Brief (PDB), which Trump has been reported to seldom read. Pressed on this question, McEnany responded: "The president does read. And he also consumes intelligence verbally. This president, I'll tell you, is the most informed person on planet earth when it comes to the threats that we face." McEnany went on to again attack the New York Times for the "irresponsible leak," and said that Trump would absolutely take action if intelligence showed that U.S. troops were in danger. Worth noting: While the Times was the first to report on the story, elements of the alleged intelligence have also been reported by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, AP and NBC News. What they're saying: MCENANY: "These are rogue intelligence officers who are imperiling our troops' lives. We will very likely not be able to get a consensus on this intelligence because of what was leaked to the New York Times. And you have the NSC, ODNI and CIA all noting what damage this leak does, not just to the safety of our troops, which is paramount, but to the ability for the United States to aggregate information from our allies and have assets and get this valuable information." REPORTER: "Members of the IC are going after Trump? Is that what you're saying?" MCENANY: "It very possibly could be. And if that's the case, it's absolutely despicable." The big picture: House Democrats who received a briefing on the Russia allegations from the White House on Tuesday morning rebuked Trump for suggesting that the reports were a "hoax," and called for a full House briefing by the intelligence community. "Nothing in the briefing that we have just received led me to believe it is a hoax," Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. "There may be different judgments as to the level of credibility, but there was no assertion that the information we had was a hoax." Go deeper: GOP senator demands accountability over reports of Russian bounties on U.S. troops It was not easy to force Malawi's president, Peter Mutharika, from power after a rigged election last year. How it happened: It took the anger of protesters, the restraint of the army which protected them rather than cracking down and the bravery of judges who threw out the result despite attempts to intimidate them. It also took a united opposition. Finally, last week, it took a new election. The latest: Malawi's electoral commission over the weekend declared Lazarus Chakwera, an opposition leader and former preacher, the runaway winner. Why it matters: This is a surprising victory for democracy in the southern African country, and it could have ended very differently. Martha Chizuma, who leads Malawi's Human Rights Commission, hopes it will permanently shift Malawi's political trajectory: "People have seen how politics affects their daily lives. For the past 13 months or so, Malawis democracy has matured, probably ten times over. The people of Malawi are quite awake now. I dont think any Malawian will ever take any rubbish again." Martha Chizuma, writing in The Continent What to watch: The new government faces major challenges, and the surge of optimism may not last. But with democracy under strain around the world, Malawi has bucked the trend. 75-year-old Martin Gugino has been released from the hospital almost a month after two police officers shoved him to the ground during a Black Lives Matter protest in Buffalo, fracturing his skull, his attorney confirmed to WKBW. The backdrop: A viral video of the June 4 confrontation showed Gugino peacefully approaching officers before being pushed and stumbling backwards, hitting his head on the concrete. Gugino could be seen laying on the ground and bleeding from his ears while officers continued to walk by. The officers involved Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe are both facing second-degree assault charges and have been suspended without pay. The big picture: President Trump tweeted on June 9, on the morning of George Floyd's funeral, that Gugino "could be an ANTIFA provocateur" and that he "fell harder than he was pushed." The bizarre conspiracy theory, which originated on a far-right blog, left White House aides despondent, Axios' Jonathan Swan reported at the time. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said in a statement Monday night it's a "crime" to leak sensitive information, after Democratic and Republican lawmakers demanded answers over reports that intel alleged Russian operatives placed bounties on U.S. troops. Details: "We are still investigating the alleged interference referenced in media reporting and we will brief the President and Congressional leaders at the appropriate time," Ratcliffe said. "Unfortunately, the unauthorized disclosures now jeopardize our ability to find out the full story with respect to these allegations." CIA Director Gina Haspel said in a statement Monday evening "initial tactical reports often require additional collection and validation" and preliminary details are in general shared in the national security community and with U.S. allies. "Leaks compromise and disrupt the critical interagency work to collect assess, and ascribe culpability," she said. Why it matters: House Democrats are due to examine the intelligence on Tuesday morning, including Trump's comments Sunday night that officials did not brief him on the allegations because "they did not find this info credible." What they're saying: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement late Monday that she had spoken with both Ratcliffe and Haspel to urge them to follow up on her formal request for a full House briefing on the intelligence surrounding Russian bounties. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) sent a letter to Trump earlier Monday calling for Senate hearings over the matter.. House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Monday evening called on the Trump administration to provide a full House briefing on the report and indicated that congressional hearings were likely. Sen. Chris Murphy Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said later in the night that he had reviewed the intel, tweeting to President Trump: "It's not a hoax ... if you continue ignoring the facts, more soldiers and marines are going to die." Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 House Republican, said in a Twitter post on Sunday morning that the Trump administration must provide answers. "If reporting about Russian bounties on US forces is true, the White House must explain: 1. Why werent the president or vice president briefed? Was the info in the PDB? 2. Who did know and when? 3. What has been done in response to protect our forces & hold Putin accountable?" Cheney's tweet Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout. President Trump tweeted Sunday night that officials didn't brief him on alleged intelligence that a Russian military spy unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan because "they did not find this info credible." Why it matters: Kremlin involvement with the Taliban that resulted in the death of American troops would mark a massive escalation in the U.S.-Russian relationship. Trump has already faced intense criticism over reports that he knew about the intelligence and took no action. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany issued a statement on Saturday denying the New York Times report that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had been briefed, but noted that her statement "does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence." Trump tweeted earlier on Sunday that "everybody is denying it" and that "there have not been many attacks on us," adding that neither he, Pence nor chief of staff Mark Meadows had been briefed on the report. 22 U.S. service members were killed in Afghanistan in 2019, according to Stars and Stripes. The backdrop: The Times reported Friday that Trump was briefed on the finding and that the White Houses National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March. The report was confirmed by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and CNN. The Times reported that despite knowing about the bounties, Trump floated expanding the upcoming G7 summit meeting in September in the U.S. to include Russia. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke in May about his plans to expand the G7 meeting to include Russia. The U.K. and Canada vehemently opposed the move. Russia was disinvited from attending the annual meeting of the eight largest advanced economies in the world in 2014 for illegally annexing Crimea from Ukraine. What he's saying: On Sunday night, Trump retweeted a Twitter post by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) saying it's "[i]mperative Congress get to the bottom" of the reports. Trump added the comment: "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!" Trump tweeted earlier, "Nobody briefed or told me, @VP Pence, or Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an anonymous source by the Fake News @nytimes. Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us. "Nobody's been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration. With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine - Wheres Hunter? Probably just another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax. Who is their 'source'?" Trump's tweet Worth noting: Trump's tweet about "so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians" is not an accurate characterization of the Times story, which reported on intelligence about Russians paying bounties to Taliban-linked militants. Joe Biden slammed Trump over the allegations at a virtual town hall on Saturday, saying that the report if true marks a truly shocking revelation about Trump's failure to protect troops in Afghanistan. The truly shocking revelation that if the Times report is true, and I emphasize that again, is that President Trump, the commander in chief of American troops serving in a dangerous theater of war, has known about this for months, according to the Times, and done worse than nothing," Biden said, according to AP. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the report an "unsophisticated plant" that "clearly illustrates the low intellectual abilities of the propagandists of American intelligence, who instead of inventing something more plausible have to make up this nonsense." A spokesperson for the Taliban also denied any involvement with foreign intelligence, according to the Times. "These kinds of deals with the Russian intelligence agency are baseless our target killings and assassinations were ongoing in years before, and we did it on our own resources, the spokesperson said. That changed after our deal with the Americans, and their lives are secure and we dont attack them." Editor's note: This article has been updated with Trump's later comments. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Monday that he reviewed intel alleging Russian operatives placed bounties on U.S. troops, telling President Trump in a tweet: "It's not a hoax ... if you continue ignoring the facts, more soldiers and marines are going to die." Why it matters: House Democrats are set to review the intelligence Tuesday morning, and will specifically be looking into Trump's comments Sunday night that he was never briefed on the bounties because officials did not find intelligence on the matter to be credible. House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told CNN Monday night that it would not be "sufficient" for officials to have denied the president a briefing on the bounties just because it was inconclusive. Schiff has called on the administration to provide a full House briefing on the matters and signaled that congressional hearings are likely. What they're saying: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has denied that Trump or Vice President Mike Pence were briefed, as first reported by the New York Times. The National Assembly will debate and almost certainly pass on Tuesday further legal amendments designed to complete the controversial dismissal of three of the nine members of Armenias Constitutional Court. The parliament already approved on June 22 amendments to the Armenian constitution calling for their replacement by other judges to be appointed by its pro-government majority. The constitutional changes rejected by the opposition bar current and future Constitutional Court judges from serving more than 12 years. The 12-year term limit was already included in the constitution when it was previously amended in April 2018. But it did not apply to the judges already serving. A clause in the amended constitution allowed these judges to retain their positions until reaching retirement age. The latest amendments scrapped the clause, requiring the gradual resignation of seven members of the high court installed before April 2018. Three of them -- Alvina Gyulumian, Felix Tokhian and Hrant Nazarian -- are to resign with immediate effect. The amendments also stipulate that Hrayr Tovmasian must quit as court chairman but remain a judge. Tovmasian and the three judges refused to step down, however. In a joint statement issued on Thursday, they argued that the authorities have not made similar changes to a separate law on the Constitutional Court which also exempts them from the 12-year term limit. Justice Minister Rustam Badasian dismissed their objections, saying that the constitution takes precedence over the law cited by them. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians My Step was quick to draft relevant changes to the law in question. A senior My Step deputy, Vahagn Hovakimian, announced on Monday that they will be debated at an emergency session of the parliament scheduled for Tuesday. With Pashinians bloc controlling at least 88 of the 132 parliament seats, their swift passage is all but a forgone conclusion. The chief of the Constitutional Court staff, Edgar Ghazarian insisted on Saturday that Tovmasian and the three other judges technically continue to perform their duties. Tovmasian formally went on vacation late on Thursday, just hours before the constitutional changes came into force. Gyulumian said that she will temporarily head the court in his absence. Pashinian and parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan countered, however, that the courts acting chairman is Ashot Khachatrian, the oldest of the six other judges. Mirzoyan made a point of meeting with Khachatrian on Saturday. In a weekend interview with RFE/RLs Armenian service, Gyulumian maintained that she remains a high court justice. She further stood by her claims that the 12-year term limit does not apply to her also because she most recently took the bench in 2014. Gyulumian, 64, had also served as a Constitutional Court judge from 1996-2003. She says that those years cannot be added to the length of her current tenure. Gyulumian again warned that she will challenge the legality of her ouster in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). She was a member of the Strasbourg-based court from 2003-2014. Tovmasian, Gyulumian and five other judges have been under strong government pressure to step down over the past year. Pashinian has accused them of maintaining close ties to the countrys former government and impeding his judicial reforms. Tovmasian and opposition figures have dismissed Pashinians claims and in turn accused the prime minister of seeking to take control of the Constitutional Court. In a written opinion made public on June 22, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe largely backed the amendments drafted by the Armenian authorities. But it criticized the authorities refusal to introduce a transitional period that would allow for a gradual change in the composition of the court in order to avoid any abrupt and immediate change endangering the independence of this institution. The Strasbourg-based body also said that the authorities should not rush to have Tovmasian replaced by another Constitutional Court chairman. In a letter to Tovmasian publicized by the Constitutional Court on Friday, Venice Commission President Gianni Buquicchio reiterated that the amendments are not in line with the commissions recommendations. A senior member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) on Monday challenged Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to substantiate his allegations that it has illegally bought votes in various national and local elections. Naira Zohrabian said that law-enforcement authorities must summon Pashinian for questioning in connection with the allegations. The National Security Service (NSS) indicted BHK leader Gagik Tsarukian immediately after the Armenian parliament lifted his immunity from prosecution on June 16. The NSS claims that the wealthy businessman created and led an organized group that bought more than 17,000 votes for the BHK during parliamentary elections held in 2017. Tsarukian and his political allies reject the accusations as politically motivated. They say that Pashinian ordered the criminal proceedings in response to the BHK leaders recent calls for the Armenian governments resignation. Pashinian again denied that when he spoke in the parliament controlled by his My Step bloc on June 25. Is the fact that Prosperous Armenia has earned votes with bribes a revelation? he said. Is that a revelation for anyone? I think that our law-enforcement system must also summon the prime minister and tell him to substantiate his information with facts, countered Zohrabian. We expect facts. If I had made such a statement they would have definitely summoned me the next day. If I had said, for example, that we have information that various oligarchs, who used to work for the former authorities, very actively worked for one or another candidate of My Step in the 2018 parliamentary elections I would have been immediately summoned for questioning and told to come up with facts, she said. Pashinians spokeswoman, Mane Gevorgian, dismissed Zohrabians demand. Yes, the prime minister said such a thing and he is not renouncing that statement, she told RFE/RLs Armenian service. As for who should be interrogated, that is decided by the relevant [investigating] body. In that regard, Gevorgian noted that a former Tsarukian associate, Abraham Manukian, was arrested late last week as part of the same inquiry. Zohrabian claimed that Manukians arrest is aimed at extracting testimony against Tsarukian. A spokesman for Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian denied that. On June 21, a Yerevan court refused to allow the NSS to arrest Tsarukian pending investigation. Prosecutors appealed against the ruling. Tsarukians party controls 25 seats in Armenias 132-member National Assembly, making it the countrys leading parliamentary opposition force. Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of the main opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), said on Tuesday that he has been infected with the coronavirus. Tsarukian posted on his Facebook page a short video of him saying jokingly earlier this year that the coronavirus doesnt hit good people. So the coronavirus does not bypass good people either, he wrote. Quick recovery to all carriers of the virus! Speaking to RFE/RLs Armenian service, Iveta Tonoyan, Tsarukians spokeswoman, confirmed that he has caught the disease. It was not immediately clear whether the 63-year-old businessman and former arm-wrestler, who also heads Armenias National Olympic Committee, is receiving treatment at home or in hospital. Several other members of the Armenian parliament affiliated with the BHK tested positive for the virus late last week. At least seven deputies representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians My Step bloc also reportedly got infected and had to self-isolate in recent days. The Armenian health authorities have registered 25,542 coronavirus cases in the country of about 3 million so far. They said on Tuesday that 14 more people infected with COVID-19 have died in the past 24 hours. According to the Ministry of Health, the virus was the main cause of 10 of those deaths. The official death toll from the epidemic thus rose to 443. Despite the reported infection of at least a dozen lawmakers, Armenias 132-seat parliament convened in the morning for an emergency session initiated by My Step. The BHKs 25-strong parliamentary group has boycotted parliament sessions for the last two weeks in protest against its pro-government majoritys June 16 decision to lift Tsarukians immunity from prosecution. The BHK leader is facing accusations of vote buying which he rejects as politically motivated. On June 21, a Yerevan court refused to allow law-enforcement authorities to arrest Tsarukian pending investigation. Prosecutors appealed against the ruling. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians My Step bloc pushed through the parliament on Tuesday more legal amendments meant to complete the controversial dismissal of three of the nine members of Armenias Constitutional Court. President Armen Sarkissian pointedly declined to sign the relevant bill into law, however. Sarkissians office said he notified parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan about his decision. The office gave no reasons for the decision. Nor it did say whether Sarkissian will ask the Constitutional Court to evaluate the amendments conformity with the Armenian constitution. Under the constitution, the parliament speaker must sign a bill into law if the president refuses to do so. The parliament already approved on June 22 constitutional changes calling for their replacement by other judges to be appointed by its pro-government majority. The changes require the gradual resignation of seven members of the high court installed before April 2018. Three of them are to resign with immediate effect. Also, Hrayr Tovmasian must quit as court chairman but remain a judge. Tovmasian and the three judges refused to step down, however. In a joint statement issued last week, they argued that the authorities have not made similar changes to a separate Armenian law on the Constitutional Court. The National Assembly did just that on Tuesday. Another amendment passed by it made the ousted justices eligible for a state pension. The parliament controlled by My Step also altered a legal procedure for the appointed of the new Constitutional Court members. They will be nominated by the Armenian government, President Armen Sarkissian and an assembly of the countrys judges. The high court will pick its new chairperson shortly after the three vacancies are filled by the parliament. The latest amendments were passed after a short debate that was boycotted by the two opposition parties represented in the parliament. One of them, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), says that the constitutional changes contradict other articles of the Armenian constitution and were enacted with serious procedural violations. The BHK as well as two other, extraparliamentary opposition parties -- the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and Hayrenik (Fatherland) -- demanded on Tuesday a criminal investigation into what they called a usurpation of power. In a 9-page crime report submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor-General, they claimed that Pashinians political team has illegally seized control of the Constitutional Court. Tovmasian and the three ousted judges -- Alvina Gyulumian, Felix Tokhian and Hrant Nazarian -- also challenge the legality of the constitutional changes. Gyulumian has pledged to ask the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to reinstate her. Pashinian and his political allies maintain that the constitution was amended in a lawful manner. A senior My Step lawmaker said last week that the amendments will eventually result in a Constitutional Court enjoying the publics trust. Tovmasian and most other court justices have been under strong government pressure to step down over the past year. Pashinian has accused them of maintaining close ties to the countrys former government and impeding his judicial reforms. Tovmasian and opposition figures have dismissed Pashinians claims and in turn accused the prime minister of seeking to make the Constitutional Court loyal to the current government. In a written opinion made public on June 22, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe largely backed the constitutional amendments drafted by the Armenian authorities. But it criticized the authorities refusal to introduce a transitional period that would allow for a gradual change in the composition of the court in order to avoid any abrupt and immediate change endangering the independence of this institution. The Strasbourg-based body also said that the authorities should not rush to have Tovmasian replaced by another Constitutional Court chairman. In a letter to Tovmasian publicized by the Constitutional Court on Friday, Venice Commission President Gianni Buquicchio reiterated that the amendments are not in line with the commissions recommendations. Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of hampering a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh during a fresh video of conference of their foreign ministers and international mediators held on Tuesday. Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanian and Elmar Mammadyarov spoke with each other and the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group for the second time in two months. Mnatsakanian was quoted by his press office as condemning Azerbaijani leaders latest bellicose and unconstructive statements. He said that they damage international efforts to end the conflict. Mnatsakanian apparently referred to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs June 25 remarks made at a meeting with Azerbaijani army officers. Aliyev described Armenias post-Soviet history as shameful, saying that his countrys arch-foe was for decades ruled by criminals and thieves. He also said that the 2018 popular protests that brought Nikol Pashinian to power were not a democratic revolution. An Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman hit back at Aliyev, saying that he leads one of the worlds most corrupt and repressive regimes which feels threatened by democratic changes taking place in Armenia. Mammadyarov was reported to say during the video conference that the recent aggressive rhetoric deplored by the mediators is the result of Armenias provocative actions taken in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Those include illegal infrastructure changes carried out there, he said in an apparent reference to the planned reconstruction of another road connecting Karabakh to Armenia. According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Mnatsakanian stressed the importance of ensuring Karabakh residents free and safe movements. This is an important element of Karabakhs comprehensive security, he said. In a joint statement on the talks, the Minsk Group co-chairs said they noted with concern that recent provocative statements, inflammatory rhetoric, and possible steps intended to change the situation on the ground in tangible ways could undermine the settlement process. The CoChairs stressed that there is no military solution to the conflict, read the statement. They urged the sides to take additional steps to strengthen the ceasefire and to prepare the populations for peace. The CoChairs and Foreign Ministers agreed to hold another joint video conference in July and to meet in person as soon as possible, concluded the mediators. Prime Minister Pashinian criticized Aliyev in unusually strong terms as he chaired a meeting of Armenias and Karabakhs top security officials on June 19. He said that Aliyev is sticking to maximalist demands instead of reciprocating his repeated calls for an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal that would satisfy all parties to the conflict. By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 35 times, Trend reports on June 30 referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns. 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 By Trend Poland is ready to share experience on developing of port infrastructure with Azerbaijan, Press Office Director at Polands Foreign Ministry Andrzej Fafara told Trend. "The institutional contacts between Polish and Azerbaijani sea ports have been established. We look forward to Azerbaijans plans to create free trade zone in Baku-Alat port as well. The potential in this area is still big, having in mind the ports being developed on the other bank of the Caspian Sea and vicinity of the Central Asia and Far East markets," he said. Fafara noted that Poland and Azerbaijan have to work together in order to effectively connect their ports, multimodal terminals and railways. Development of ports demands investments and stable, clear conditions and smooth interstate cooperation. Poland has undergone significant changes in this field and is ready to share our experience on developing of port infrastructure as well as legislation in this area," he said. Fafara pointed out that the importance of multi-modal transportation, especially using of container transshipment has been increasing. "Ensuring smooth functioning of the supply chain is of utmost importance, not only in emergency situations. That is why the diversification of transportation routes is essential and beneficial for all subjects of the globalized economy," he concluded. The Port of Baku is located in Alat (a township 70 km south of Baku), at the crossroads of two major transportation corridors East-West and North-South. It is also where Azerbaijans main railway and highway networks converge, facilitating the implementation of the vision of the port as a grand hub becoming key to regional and global supply chains. The Port of Baku serves as a major intermodal distribution hub, but will also employ an integrated development model that involves port activities, bonded zone, the Alat township and various transport and non-transport projects. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Akbar Mammadov The volume of Azerbaijan's exports amounted to 6.9 billion USD in the period between January-May in 2020, the Center for Economic Reform Analysis and Communication reported in its "Export Review" on June 30. Exports in non-oil sectors decreased by 8.9 percent in the reported period amounting to 721 million US dollars. Top importers of Azerbaijans non-oil goods in quarters one were Russia ($271 million), Turkey ($144.3 million), Georgia ($70.5 million), Switzerland ($71.5 million) and China ($23.6 million). Compared to the same period in 2019, non-oil exports to Russia increased by 3.6 per cent, while non-oil exports to Switzerland and China grew by 26 and 40.3 per cent respectively in the first five months of 2020. Regarding the list of non-oil exports in January-May 2020, tomatoes ($123.1 million) ranked first, whereas gold (not used in coinage, other unprocessed forms - $64.7 million) was second and peeled hazelnuts ($ 51 million) were third. In general, in January-May of 2020, exports of fruits and vegetables amounted to $236.5 million, which was the highest among all the non-oil products. In the case of other non-oil products, exports of cotton fibre amounted 49.5 million, aluminium and aluminium products - 31.5 million, chemical products - 34.4 million, ferrous metals and exports of their products amounted to 19.5 million US dollars, cotton yarn - 9.2 million US dollars, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages - 5.7 million US dollars, sugar - 5.9 million US dollars. In May 2020, exports in the non-oil sector amounted to $172.6 million, meaning that it decreased by 17.8 per cent compared to the previous period. Furthermore, in May 2020, most non-oil and gas products were exported to Russia ($84.8 million), Switzerland ($23 million), Turkey ($22.2 million), Georgia ($11.7 million) and to China ($5.4 million). Similarly, in May 2020, in the non-oil sector, exports of tomatoes ($49.7 million) were the leader, while gold (not used in coinage, in other unprocessed forms - $21 million) ranked second. However, during this month, exports of potatoes were $19.9 million, which ranked the third. The "Export Review" also provides information on export orders received by the Azexport.az portal in January-May 2020. Thus, in January-May 2020, the Azexport.az portal received export orders worth $273.9 million. During this period, the value of export orders received by the portal amounted to 64.7 million US dollars. In May, the largest export orders to the portal Azexport.az were recorded for tomatoes, hazelnuts, liquorice root, tobacco, eggs, wheat flour, potatoes, jasmine, beets, cabbage, garlic, onions, wine, confectionery, metal construction, paint, tea, pomegranate concentrate, honey, cherries, fruit compote, and other goods. It should be noted that from January 2017 to May 30, 2020 (for 41 months), the value of export orders received by the portal Azexport.az from 141 countries amounted to $1.9 billion. In addition, the Export Review publicized the value of non-oil exports through the "Single Window" Export Support Center in June this year. According to the report, the value of non-oil exports through the "Single Window" amounted $23.7 million. In January-June 2020, the Single Window Export Support Center issued relevant export certificates to hundreds of entrepreneurs, resulting in non-oil exports worth $70.3 million. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) held a foreign exchange auction with the participation of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), during which Azerbaijani banks acquired $50.8 million, Trend reports on June 30 citing CBA. According to CBA, demand from the banks at the auction increased by 22.1 percent or by $9.2 million compared to the previous auction. Considering the number of days remaining before the next scheduled auction, as well as with the aim of ensuring uninterrupted currency trading by the banks, the demand of banks at the auction will be fully provided during weekends. The first foreign exchange auction in a long time was held with the participation of SOFAZ on March 10, 2020, during which Azerbaijani banks acquired $323.2 million. The CBA began to hold foreign exchange auctions through unilateral sale of foreign currency in competitive conditions since mid-January 2017. In March 2020, it was decided to hold extraordinary foreign exchange auctions in connection with the increased demand of the population for foreign currency amid the failed OPEC+ deal, which entailed a sharp decline in oil prices. (1 USD = 1.7 AZN on June 30) --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijani sweets will be presented at the 14th International Good Taste Festival to be held in Poznan, Poland, on August 13-16. Every year, in the middle of August, Poznan becomes a true magnet for food lovers from all over Poland. The Good Taste Festival is a foodie holiday with an international food fair, culinary shows and workshops, concerts, and competitions. The festival offers visitors a chance to enjoy various culinary delights from Bungarian langosze and Turkish baklava to Balkan burek and delicious Azerbaijani desserts. Street artists performances and jazz concerts by the Old Market Square fountains will immense you into the wonderful atmosphere of Poznan Food Days. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan Youth Union and Azerbaijan Dance Association invite you to join the 5th International ARTS OLIMPIA Contest on July 5-12. In connection with COVID-19 and quarantine regime, those who wish to take part in the contest, should send all required information to [email protected] until July 5. Speaking about the competition, the head of the Azerbaijan Dance Association and board member of the Youth Union, Aziz Azizov stressed that the jury will include highly qualified specialists, honored workers of culture and art, Trend Life reported. The contest participants will be evaluated in terms of performance technique, composition, image, criteria of the show. Notably, the Organizing Committee is not associated with the jury. The jury has the right not to assign or duplicate individual places. For the first time, the project will feature clothing design and fine art competition. The traditional international art Olympiad in previous years was held for two days. The number of participants grew, and in 2019, 7000 participants took part in the contest, including from foreign countries. "This year the competition was to be held in May, and participants from Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Iran and Georgia had already registered. Two concert halls were booked - for three days each. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic prevented the implementation of great plans. But we still continue our creative activities, " said the Secretary General of Azerbaijan Dance Association Natavan Zeynalova. Chairperson of Youth Union Coordinating Council Chinara Mikailzade noted that the organization took part in world-class events, held international competitions and implemented many projects. "The Azerbaijan Youth Union has more than 300 volunteers. Very successful youth projects have been already implemented by the Union. Some projects are underway. Recently, our volunteers composed and performed the Union's own song. So far, we have discovered many talented young people, both from Baku and from the country's regions and supported them. Youth is our future!," she said. Representatives of all types of art can participate in the competition: stringed and wind music instruments, keyboards, classical, pop and folk vocals, artistic expression, all types of dances, fashion designer, visual arts, etc. Participants are divided into age categories: 3-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-15, 16 years and older. For more information, please contact: +994 50 250 22 93/96. Media partners of the event are Azernews.az, Trend.az, Day.az and Milli.az. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on June 29, the Azerbaijani presidential press-service reported. President Aliyev congratulated President Berdimuhamedov on his birthday, and wished him the best of health and new success in his activity for the prosperity of Turkmenistan. The Turkmen president thanked President Aliyev for his attention and congratulations. During the phone conversation, the presidents hailed the development of friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan in various areas, and expressed confidence that the bilateral cooperation would continue successfully. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Ayya Lmahamad Azerbaijani and Romanian Foreign Ministers discussed development of bilateral cooperation in political, economic, trade, transport and energy fields, Romanian ministrys press service reported on June 29. During the phone conversation, the talks focused on the stage and prospects of the bilateral relations, stressing intensification of the political dialogue and the extension of cooperation in the context of the strategic partnership between Romania and Azerbaijan. High on the agenda was also the issue of developing ties between Romania and Azerbaijan through the implementation of projects with regional impact, such as Black Sea-Caspian Sea transport corridor. The minister noted the importance of this joint project initiated and supported by Romania and involving Azerbaijan, as well as Georgia and Turkmenistan, stressing the goal of advancing the discussions on the Intergovernmental agreement on the route. On his part, Azerbaijan foreign affairs minister Elmar Mammadyarov stressed the role of bilateral strategic partnership in boosting political dialogue and bilateral cooperation and pointed out the possibilities of expanding and consolidating the Romanian- Azerbaijani cooperation in various fields, especially in the economic, transport and energy sectors, with the capitalization of the existing openness on both sides. Additionally, the ministers also discussed the support for the Southern Gas Corridor, noting in the context of the relevance of the Bulgaria- Romania- Hungary- Austria (BRUA) regional project. Furthermore, the parties discussed the socio-economic impact of COVID-19, as well as the measures taken by two states to counteract the medical, economic and social consequences of the crisis. Both ministers stressed the importance of international solidarity as the main lesson learned from this experience. Aurescu informed that Romania supports Azerbaijans initiative to convene a special session of the UN General Assembly in video format-conference to discuss the international communitys response to the COVID-19 pandemic. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Ayya Lmahamad On June 30, a shuttle train consisting of 43 containers departing from China (XIan) and heading to Turkey (Istanbul) passed through Baku port, local media reported. After unloading of containers, the cargo will be delivered to Turkey by Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. The 40-feet containers mainly consisted of electronic products produced in China. The operator of cargo is the logistics company ADY Container, one of the members of the consortium Trans- Caspian International Transport Route. It should be noted that this is the second shuttle train on the Xian- Istanbul route organized by Xian Free Trade Port Construction and Operation logistics platform, which will regularly transport cargoes from China to Turkey. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars is a 828- kilometer railway, that was put into operation in 2007, stretching from the Azeri coast of the Caspian Sea to the Georgian capital, and from there to Turkey, connecting the countrys extensive railway system and gaining access to European borders. As of today, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars cargo turnover is 6 million tons, passenger turnover is 1 million people. The Trans Caspian transport rout is one of the Chinas Belt and Road Initiative important integrated trade corridors that was established in February 2014. Currently the route begins in Chinese port of Lianyungang and passes through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, expanding further to Europe either through Georgian Black Sea Ports or through Turkey by BakuTbilisiKars railway. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Ayya Lmahamad Despite the fact that Azerbaijan's economy is facing difficulties during the pandemic, the negative impact on the structure of the national economy is minimal, Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said at a press conference held on June 30. He said that the ministry is working to improve the business environment, noting that since January 2019, reforms related to labor contracts have been carried out. "As of January 1, 2019, 539,522 employment contracts were concluded, their number reached 751,705 by June 26, 2020. In other words, 210 thousand employment contracts were concluded in 18 months," he stated. The minister added that three out of every four manats from taxes come from the private sector. He also noted that the industrial parks are working on the presentation of a new generation investment project worth about $ 150-200 million. "In recent years, the business environment in the country has been improving and the number of various interventions in it has been decreasing. We believe the country's economy will recover by the end of the year, and encouragement of entrepreneurs will continue. Today, we feel a great interest in the country's industrial parks and investment projects," the minister said. Furthermore, he emphasized that the areas affected by the pandemic have been identified, and today there are a number of business projects managed by the ministry to provide financial support to reduce harm from the pandemic. A total of 130,000 entrepreneurs have received financial support during the pandemic, and 310,000 workers in the affected areas have been included, Jabbarov added. In addition, the minister stressed that the process of digitalization of the countrys economy should be supported in Azerbaijan. He said that the ministry is considering different directions of national economy development in the post-pandemic period, and that several important projects are already being implemented in the country. "For example, infrastructure in the Alat port creates conditions for transportation of new types of cargo from Central Asia. We are confident that the port's transit potential will expand in the future," he said. Likewise, it was noted that the issue of amnesty for property and capital is being discussed at the working group level, as entrepreneurs are interested in this issue as well as international experience is currently being studied in this regard. Minister noted that the public will be informed about the results of this process. Additionally, Jabbarov said that the Ministry of Economy is presenting a new platform for entrepreneurs, called Electronic Credit Platform, through which they will have the opportunity to apply to two banks for a soft loan for those affected by the pandemic, and will be able to take a loan of up to AZN 3 million ($1.7M). The loan has a 12-month grace period. The minister said that with the creation of the platform, the opportunities for entrepreneurs to apply will become even easier. It should be noted that this platform is designed to promote the development of the economy and macroeconomic stability of Azerbaijan in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers' order. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Since the beginning of the supply of the first batch of gas on June 30, 2018 up till now, over 5.8 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas have been transported to Turkey via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Adviser to Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Zamina Aliyeva told Trend on June 30. According to the ministry's earlier report, the export of Azerbaijani gas via TANAP amounted to 1.6 billion cubic meters from January through May 2020. Opening ceremony of TANAP's Phase 0 took place in the Turkish province of Eskisehir on June 12, 2018, and commercial gas deliveries to Turkey began in late June 2018. The opening ceremony of the TANAP-Europe connection was held in Ipsala, Edirne province of Turkey on Nov. 30, 2019. In this area, near the Greek border, TANAP is connected to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), through which natural gas from Azerbaijan will be delivered to European countries. The initial capacity of TANAP, which is the main segment of the Southern Gas Corridor, is 16 billion cubic meters of gas. Around six billion cubic meters of this gas will be supplied to Turkey while the remaining volume - to Europe. After the completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) construction, gas will be supplied to Europe in late 2020. The share distribution of TANAP shareholders is as follows: Southern Gas Corridor CJSC - 51 percent, SOCAR Turkey Enerji - 7 percent, Botas - 30 percent, BP - 12 percent. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The number of Turkish citizens looking for job in Georgia decreased, Trend reports referring to the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR). The number of Turkish citizens, who visited Georgia through ISKUR for the employment purposes, decreased by 54.5 percent from January through May 2020 compared to the same period of 2019. ISKUR stressed that 20 Turkish citizens visited Georgia through ISKUR during the reporting period. From January through May 2020, 4,288 Turkish citizens went abroad via ISKUR, which is 50.2 percent less compared to the same period of 2019. Some 41,235 citizens were provided with jobs through ISKUR in Turkey in May 2020, 35.6 percent of them accounted for women, while 64.4 percent - men. Some 97.1 percent of the total number of those provided with jobs in May 2020 accounted for the private sector. The number of unemployed in Turkey reached 3.5 million people in May 2020, 48.4 percent of them accounted for women while 51.6 percent - men. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz PHOENIX (AP) Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered flags to fly at half-staff at all state buildings Tuesday to honor the elite firefighters from Prescott who died in 2013 while battling a wildfire northwest of Phoenix. The 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots were overcome after a change in wind direction pushed the flames back toward their position. Ducey called it was one of the most tragic days in state history. The brave Yarnell 19 had their whole lives ahead of them, the governor said. They had families, loved ones and friends who cared deeply about them. They knew the dangers of their job, but they did it anyway, with courage and an abiding sense of duty and commitment to our communities. Ducey offered his prayers to the families of the firefighters and said the crews sacrifices will be forever remembered and honored. PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Members of a small Eritrean immigrant community are mourning the loss of two children and a young woman who were stabbed to death this weekend. A family friend says the mother of the two children walked into the gruesome scene Sunday morning at the Santa Fe Springs apartments near 17th and Glendale avenues and then ran to neighbors begging for help in her native language. Phoenix Police identified the victims as 7-year-old Meadn Meles-Hebtom, 9-year-old Arsema Kidane, and 19-year-old Abraha Danait. Investigators say they also found a 28-year-old man who is in the hospital in critical condition. In an email Monday morning, Phoenix Police called him a victim. Investigators say there are no outstanding suspects, yet they have not named the person responsible for the horrific crime. Two children, woman killed in Phoenix stabbing No additional information was available regarding the identities of the people involved or if a suspect was taken into custody. It was really shocking, you know, says Mengsteab Solomon, a member of St. Michael Eritrean Orthodox Church. I havent heard anything like this in our community. Priest Yonas Tsegave says he visited with the mother of the two children and recited a prayer to comfort her. He says, because of COVID-19, there is no way for the congregation to safely gather to remember the lives lost. The family arrived in the United States about three years ago, says Solomon, and they visited the church occasionally. He says everyone is rallying to raise money to help the mother through these difficult times. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family. After losing all your children and stuff like that, she don't have nothing you know, says Solomon. I cannot say how she feels, you know, I cannot imagine. PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- We are learning more information about the Dion Johnson investigation and Phoenix polices role in the case. DPS trooper shoots and kills man on Loop 101 in north Phoenix A man is dead after a shooting involving the Arizona Department of Public Safety on Memorial Day morning. Arizonas Family has confirmed Phoenix police is completing their investigation involving the death of the 28-year-old man and the case will be forwarded to the Maricopa County Attorneys Office for review. It has also been confirmed that the two Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers initially involved in the incident have been interviewed as part of the investigation process. Johnson was shot and killed by an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper on May 25 at the Loop 101 and Tatum Boulevard. Video shows apparent moments after Dion Johnson was shot by DPS in Phoenix New video shows the moments after 28-year-old Dion Johnson was shot and killed by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Video from the Arizona Department of Transportation camera does not show the actual shooting but does show Johnson behind his car. Two DPS troopers are with him. One of the troopers appears to be next to Dion while another trooper is standing over him. Arizona's Family started recording on this scene after hearing about a shooting on the freeway. The camera shown in the video is controlled by ADOT and is not operated by Arizona's Family. FBI will review DPS shooting death of Dion Johnson "Experienced prosecutors and agents will be assigned to review the matter for potential federal civil rights violations." On June 12, Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed federal agencies will review the death of Johnson. Arizonas Family asked for an update from the FBI on Tuesday to determine if a federal response is warranted and a spokesperson said the agency had no further update at this time. The names of the DPS troopers involved in the incident have not been released. Stay with Arizonas Family for updates on this story. PHOENIX (3 TV / CBS 5) -- Some Arizonans are receiving unemployment benefits that they didn't sign up for, and the Arizona Attorney General's Office is warning that it could be tied to identity theft. The AG's Office says they've received around 50 criminal complaints in the past few weeks from Arizonans who've gotten a letter from the Arizona Department of Economic Security regarding unsolicited unemployment benefits. Investigators with the AG's Office believe fraudsters are signing up for these benefits using stolen personal information. "It's kind of unnerving," said Marsha Rosenbarger, a retiree in Cottonwood who received an unsolicited debit card in the mail last Friday. "I've always been vigilant about personal information." The goal of these criminals is likely to receive the benefits themselves, but in some of these cases people whose identities had been stolen were mailed a debit card. AZ investigates 5,000 unemployment claims for fraud In Arizona, DES says there have been 251 confirmed cases of unemployment insurance fraud related to identity theft since February. "If you did receive a debit card and you didn't sign up for those benefits and you use the money, you could be at risk actually of being charged for theft," said Katie Conner with the Arizona Attorney General's Office. "So we want Arizonans to know that as well. So if you did receive one of those debit cards and you didn't sign up, what you need to do is first report it to DES, report it to our website, and then destroy that card." You think you're a victim, you can file a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General's Office here. You can also call (602) 542-8888. Victims are also urged to get in contact with the Arizona Department of Economic Security here. Bluefield, WV (24701) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening. A steady rain arriving overnight. Low 59F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. GREEN VALLEY A surge of coronavirus cases in Mercer County coupled with an apparent lack of adherence to safety practices has health officials concerned about a continued spread of the illness locally. As of Tuesday morning, the number of active infections in Mercer County had climbed to 25, and the cumulative total of virus cases to date has increased to 38. Thus far, 13 people have recovered from the virus, including one individual who was hospitalized for a period of time in Mercer County. Public Health Officer Dr. Kathy Wides said the first Mercer County case was reported on March 15. From that date to June 19, Mercer only reported 13 cases of coronavirus. However, from June 20 to Monday, the county has reported 24 new cases, Wides said. Thats 24 new cases in one and one-half weeks. And a new case confirmed by health officials Tuesday morning brings the number of active cases to date to 25. Justice concerned about virus infecting young people CHARLESTON Younger people are now seeing more positive COVID-19 cases around the country, Of the individuals who tested positive, Wides said four were related to travel to North Carolina Lake Norman and Wilmington 10 were related to travel to Myrtle Beach, and one was related to travel to Pigeon Forge, Tenn. The thing that scares me, is we have two people (who tested positive) with no contact with any person of interest, Wides said. There is a high likelihood they got this just by going about their business in the county. This business could include standing in line while shopping for essentials and going to church, Mercer County Health Department Director Susan Kadar said. Wides and Kadar emphasized that wearing masks, hand washing, social distancing and avoiding crowds can stem the spread of the disease. When individuals test positive, they must provide a list of people they have come in contact with to the health departments Covid nurse. She (the Covid nurse) is calling like a hundred people a day, and she has to ask them to isolate and ask them about symptoms, Wides said. Shes getting an uncomfortable response from some people, regarding quarantining, but a lot are gracious. Kadar said other health department employees are making contact list calls as well. We still have some people who are not happy to be quarantined. I think the people of Mercer County have been blessed until now, Wides said. This could become real for us. Wides also cited concerns about the county being down one hospital with the sale of Bluefield Regional Medical Center to Princeton Community Hospital. Princeton is limited as to how many patients they can take care of, she said. If were at capacity then other hospitals we would send patients to are likely at capacity, Wides said. Wides and Kadar also discussed how the coronavirus can be spread by travel. Please dont go to Myrtle Beach, Wides said. Or Dollywood, or anyplace where there is a lot of people, Kadar said. You are putting yourself at risk and your community at risk. You may be positive and not know it. The importance of wearing masks in public was also emphasized by the public health officials. Its not that anyone is trying to take away your civil liberties, Wides said. It (mask wearing) could save your life, Kadar said. It could save Grandmas life, Wides added. Kadar said not wearing a mask puts an individual at the luck of the draw for contracting the virus. Why put yourself in front of the bullet? Wides asked. Mercer County is surging. It doesnt sound like a lot of cases, but its 24 people that may have infected a hundred and some, Kadar said. Its here, Wides said. Covid has arrived in our county. Contact Samantha Perry at sperry@bdtonline.com. Tourism In Manzanita In 1914 A Rugged But Enticing N. Oregon Coast Adventure Published 06/30/020 at 5:44 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Manzanita, Oregon) - Back in those early days of Oregon coast tourism, in 1914, hotels were still a recent invention and most people, it seemed, stayed in tents. The route from Portland or Salem to Tillamook County was via train, and a rather dramatic ride apparently. Beaches were still the only highway up and down the coastline, and the regional press stood in awe of the region, fawning over it with heaps of hyperbole and flowery praise. (Above: just north of Manzanita and what is called Cube Rock below back in 1912). Manzanita and northern Tillamook County were just getting discovered and coming into their own, with places like Newport and Seaside having already been steady attractions for a couple of decades. Checking out old newspaper clippings about Manzanita from 1914 is like a trip through time, especially one large piece that ran in Salems Oregon Statesman on July 12 of that year. There doesnt appear to be a byline, so the writer is unknown, but he or she starts off with the now-eyebrow-raising statement: Manzanita Beach on the Oregon coast resembles the Florida coast, which it rivals. OK. The writer describes white sands that go on for five miles and depicts a Manzanita that in some ways is not that different from today. Boating, hunting agates, fishing and all that good stuff is talked about, although the coastline north of Oceanside doesnt have that many agates these days. The marked difference is discussing beeswax digging, which was still a thing then. For decades, chunks of beeswax were mysteriously washing up around Manzanita and the Nehalem Spit, and it wasnt until the first years of the 21st century that the shipwreck that was coughing it up from the deep was IDd. That beeswax stopped by the 60s or so. (See Five Facts About Oregon Coast Shipwrecks) Back in 1914, the trip by train was $5 round trip, which was a bit of a cost back then but not bad. The article details a winding, forested ride through long tunnels, dark canopies of fir that have grown as high as 300 feet, and dizzying chasms and ravines. At one point, the writer mentions various trestles that are wooziness-inducing on their own: one soaring above the forest floor at around 186 feet. The tunnels are so long the train personnel keep the lights on in the passenger cars for several hours during the daytime. Its 92 miles from Portland to Wheeler, but the trip seems to take around eight hours or so, maybe longer. (Also see Manzanita's Wreck of the Glenesslin: Historical Oregon Coast Controversy) Once you make it to the beach, there are tents everywhere. Its still a wide beach, and when the tide is far out you can really walk around parts of Neahkahnie Mountain. The beaches of Tillamook County had become so popular that in 1913 some 75,000 people had stayed in July and August of that year. The tourist count seems to also include Bayocean, which was the resort town that was to rival Atlantic City back about then, sprawled out over miles of roads on the spit at Tillamook Bay. That disappeared into the ocean by the 40s. One curiosity is the reference to the story of buried treasure that lingers here today. By 1914 there were the remnants of an old shack inhabited by a man who spent years looking for it. At least thats the lore. In this area, the writer notes its blessed with good hotel accommodations, but theres a meager few between Bay City and Manzanita. Manzanita itself only seems to offer two about then: the Manzanita Inn and the famed Neah-kah-nie Tavern (which the San Dune Pub has nicely emulated with its interior). Nightly rates at the Manzanita Inn were two bucks a day to ten dollars for a week. The article mentions some hotel options in Rockaway Beach and Bayocean, as well as one in Garibaldi. In Rockaway Beach theres a nasty reminder of Oregons racist past, with The Elmore proclaiming Europeans only. The Neah-kah-nie Tavern, 1910s. Theres lots of free camping in various areas between Garibaldi and Manzanita, although the article doesnt say where. Typically, families lived in tents for weeks at a time while staying on the coast, and places like tiny Oceanside were known to have as many as 500 tents set up for the summer. Showers and bathroom facilities? Those options largely depended on the natural surroundings, but some businesses provided use of the toilet for a few pennies or so. For those who wanted to build their own cottages on the Oregon coast there were lots going for $20 to $40. Those in Garibaldi were part of a temperance resort, meaning a no liquor clause was part of the deed. Prohibition was still six years away, but that movement had its hooks in many things around the U.S. by this time. The article makes some interesting predictions for the future, like Bay City would soon be a major shipping and railroad center. It likely hasnt grown much since then. Despite odd comparisons to Florida and even a claim the waters here get the warmest north of Los Angeles, the whole piece is a fascinating and smile-inducing glimpse into the past of a north Oregon coast spot we all know and love. Little Manzanita has exploded in the last 20 years, and tourists from 1914 would be truly be freaked out by the town even in 2014. Yet one thing remains: that beauty is addicting. Hotels in Manzanita, Wheeler - Where to eat - Manzanita, Wheeler Maps and Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted COVID-19 Are Americans a Pride of Lions or a Herd of Cattle America has always been a nation of individualists that acted like a Pride of Lions. We have always coupled our individualism with a fierce belief in the freedom to choose for individuals and stubbornness to fight anyone who tries to impede that freedom. We have been like a Pride of Lions, fiercely independent, strong individualists yet supportive of other members of the pride. This is especially true when it comes to family and defense of the pride. The pride will fight until the end, much like he American spirit of the past. Contrast that to a herd of cattle. Though great in numbers, they are weak, easily controlled and picked off. Cattle can be manipulated to run, and gather together yet at the same time led to slaughter without much if any protest. Democrats are using COVID19 to purposely turn Americans into a herd of cattle that can be easily controlled through fear and subtle intimidation tactics. Governor Cooper just announced he is keeping the State in phase 2 lockdown and is still refusing to allow gyms and bars to reopen. In addition he is trying to get all of us to wear masks outside if we cannot guarantee the 6 ft. recommended distancing. Let us look at the facts about the virus. Nationwide the virus has claimed over 121,000 lives out of the over 56,000 confirmed cases. Do not take me wrong all lives are precious but the facts remain this is primarily attacking the elderly, especially those with some underlying previous condition. It could be issues with breathing, heart disease, or fighting some form of cancer. Add to that the mistake made by many governors that sent infected patients to recover in senior care facilities where the death toll hit 50% of the residents living there. The actual virus death rate nationally is about 5%. In North Carolina the numbers are similar yet better. There have confirmed approximately 56,500 people to have the disease. Yet the Death rate is just over 1300 or a rate of about 2.3%. In New Hanover County there are 611 confirmed cases with 5 deaths or a rate of .008%. Should there be targeted steps taken by government? Obviously is the answer. Seniors need to be careful, especially those with some preexisting conditions. Do we need to be pushed into a fear mode? I think not. Some Democrats are claiming this would be the new normal. One Democratic Governor claims we need to lock down until a vaccine is developed. I would like to remind him we have been working on an AIDS vaccine since the 1980's. Kids need to go back to school or we will never end this virus lock up. The fact is we need to develop as a nation what is called a "herd immunity" Kids basically do not get the virus so exposing them at school to someone who might have had it does little in illness but builds up immunity to prevent further rounds on any grand scale. This immunity would be shared at home and families would eventually be immune. Granted extended families with grandparents who are ill might need additional protection but in the long run it will be the immunity that defeats this virus not masks or lockdowns. Medical Science now states the virus has an extremely short life in the outdoors especially when exposed to the sun. Yet for a while we were not allowed on beaches and other outdoor activities. How come it is impossible for us to gather in groups more than 10? It is different and allowed if you are part of a demonstration or rioting in the streets. Then there are no COVID issues. No one has yet projected the deaths that will come from the lockdown and isolation. How many thousands of people were denied elective surgery that has now developed into something serious? How many will lose their lives to Cancer as chemo therapy was denied for months as part of the shutdown? How many people with mental illnesses hurt themselves due to the isolation from family and friends? If the masks work then why not require everyone to wear masks and leave businesses open and alone? If they do not work why are we wearing them? Is this really about the virus or an attempt to sabotage an election by creating a situation where many will vote by absentee ballot or mandated mail in ballots where the Democrats can manipulate the results as they deem necessary? Are we turning into a herd of cattle? Ae we so afraid of the virus we have become afraid to live life? If so these controls by government are just the beginning. We are in the process of forfeiting our individualism and like a herd of cattle gathering together to be controlled and slaughtered? It is my hope that others will join me in seeing folly of what is going on. It is my hope we will begin to stand up to government and demand common sense solutions to issues not controlling ones with political agendas. I for one will not wear a mask in public. Enough is enough. It is time for Americans to face unreasonable fears and demand our freedoms not be infringed. I for one prefer to be in the Pride not the Herd. President Trump is moving toward his 2024 candidacy as per all indications from his enlightening address to the NC GOP on June 5, 2021. Considering this political vector as a distinct possibility: What is your electoral pleasure as an integral cog in this Representative Republic? No Vote: Mr. Trump will never be president again as we boldly march toward a Socialist society. Yes Vote: Mr. Trump was the best president since Ronald Reagan, and we need a real leader, who is fully cognitive of that responsibility in these tumultuous times.. Sacha Baron Cohen drew eyes to Olympia, Wash., over the weekend by attending a far-right March for Our Rights rally. The comedian, known for bringing his satirical characters into real-world settings, posed as an event sponsor and led the crowd in an absurd singalong for several minutes. In a video uploaded to YouTube and shared on social media, a rally organizer said the production company at the last minute added a sponsor they hadn't worked with before. That man got onstage and about halfway through the set, according to the organizer, sang "pretty racist and divisive lyrics." The group attempted to get him off the stage, but Cohen's hired security stood in the way. They also blocked the generators, impeding the organizers' ability to cut power to the microphone. Dressed in a cowboy hat and overalls, Cohen sang racist lyrics attacking President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Anthony Fauci, as well as CNN and the World Health Organization. He repeatedly mentioned "the Wuhan Flu," a phrase some lawmakers have used to blame China for the spread of the novel coronavirus, and talked about "chopping them up like the Saudis do." The crowd cheered and joined in. The Saturday rally was a gathering of "constitutionalist" factions like the Washington Three Percent, which, as NPR noted in an interview with its founder, is associated with "the far-right Patriot and militia movement" as well as other groups that extremism trackers have placed in the anti-government category. The Washington Three Percent denied organizing the rally in a Facebook post, but expressed support for the cause and condemned Cohen's actions as a way of "tarnishing the image of our attendees, spreading hate, encouraging divide, and promoting their popularity in the current viral culture." The prank falls in line with the satirical performances Cohen has built a career out of - most prominently with the British gangster character Ali G and Borat, the Kazakh journalist who interviews unwitting Americans in the incisive mockumentary sharing his name. After the rally video went viral, social media users wondered whether it would figure into a second season of Showtime's "Who Is America?" series, which aired two years ago and also featured the comedian in disguise. On that show, Cohen duped the likes of former vice president Dick Cheney, who autographed a "waterboard kit"; former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, who flew across the country to meet a veteran who was actually Cohen in disguise; and former Senate candidate Roy Moore, on whom Cohen used a fake pedophile detector. Though Showtime executives were reportedly eager to renew the series, for which Cohen earned a Golden Globe nomination, he told Deadline that it would be "impossible." "We relied on the fact that no one was expecting me," Cohen said. "I hadn't done anything undercover for over a decade and so nobody thought, 'Oh, wait a minute, is this a Sacha Baron Cohen character?' That's the problem. You'd have to wait another 10 years to get away with it again." WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans are calling for a tougher posture against Russia following reports that the country's military spy unit offered to pay Taliban-linked militants to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan - putting the GOP lawmakers once again potentially at odds with President Donald Trump over how to combat Moscow's aggression toward the United States. Trump and the White House repeatedly denied Monday that the president had been briefed on the efforts against the coalition forces in Afghanistan, which are believed to have led to the deaths of several U.S. service members. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump had not been told of the intelligence because it had not been verified and declined to say if the president had been briefed since news of the bounties became public. But on Capitol Hill, Republican senators demanded more information from the administration and called for Russia to be punished if reports from the New York Times, The Washington Post and other media outlets were deemed accurate. The Republicans took a notably tougher public tone than Trump did, although they mostly avoided the question of whether the president should have been aware of the intelligence. While the Trump administration has taken some aggressive measures against Russia, the president's concilitary tone toward Russian President Vladmir Putin continues to be a thorny political problem for Republicans who have advocated a more hawkish approach toward the authoritarian leader. The latest reports that the Russian bounties may have resulted in the deaths of several U.S. service members only increase the potential problems for Republicans looking to take a tougher stance toward Moscow without appearing to be at odds with a president who has considerable sway with the party's voters. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., called the reports "deeply troubling" and said he wanted the Senate to pass his legislation that would require the State Department to consider naming Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who like Gardner is in a tough reelection race this fall, similarly called for the U.S. government to treat Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. "From propping up the murderous Assad regime (in Syria) and our enemies in Afghanistan, Putin's Russia has made clear they are no friend to the United States," Gardner wrote Monday on Twitter. "They've targeted our institutions and our troops - the US must respond." Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., a former intelligence officer in the Marines, said the Russia-financed bounty effort, if confirmed, "deserves a strong and immediate response from our government." Young, who also heads the Senate Republicans' campaign arm, called for hearings and for Trump to rescind any invitation for Russia to rejoin the Group of Seven, which is composed of the world's major industrialized nations, as well as direct sanctions on Putin. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., also called for an aggressive response if the information from U.S. intelligence agencies holds up. "If true, what we're talking about here is putting the target crosshairs on the backs of American servicemen and women in uniform, and I have heard from a lot of Nebraskan military families this weekend, And they're livid. They have a right to be livid," he said. He said Congress needs to find out what Trump was or was not told. "Who knew what, when, and did the commander in chief know? And if not, how the hell not? What is going on in that process?" he asked, adding, "What are we going to do to Impose proportional cost in response? In a situation like this, that would mean Taliban and GRU body bags." The reaction from congressional Republicans on Monday was markedly different than the comments from Trump, who dismissed the reports as "possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax" - his reference to the probe earlier in his presidency led by special counsel Robert Mueller III on potential collusion between Trump associates and Russia. Trump has continued to dismiss the conclusion of U.S. intelligence officials that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election in his favor. Left largely unaddressed in many GOP senators' public comments, however, was Trump's role in the matter and what he should do now, with few questions from Senate Republicans on Monday about the White House's contention that the president was left in the dark about an intelligence issue that had prompted a restricted high-level White House meeting in late March. Russia and the Taliban have denied the existence of the program. "Well, I think the president can't single-handedly remember everything, I'm sure, that he's briefed on, but the intelligence officials are familiar with it, and briefed him," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. But again somebody's leaking classified information and then trying to further a narrative that isn't necessarily supported by - by the facts." McEnany repeatedly said at a White House briefing on Monday that there was not a consensus among intelligence officials about the accuracy of the information about the bounties. "When our adversaries have directly targeted U.S. or coalition partners, the president has not hesitated to act," McEnany said. "But this was not briefed up to the president because it was not, in fact, verified." Congressional Democrats raised alarm at the reports, published over the weekend, and both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for briefings of their full chambers by intelligence officials. A group of House Democrats, led by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, will be briefed on the issue at the White House at 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to an aide to the Maryland Democrat. Hoyer has asked that the following Democrats be included: Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York, Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith of Washington, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California, Gregory Meeks of New York, Brad Sherman of California, William Keating of Massachusetts, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. But the briefing was not an adequate substitute for an all-member briefing, said the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a national security matter. Schumer suggested that lawmakers should use the national defense authorization bill, the annual bill detailing policy priorities for the Pentagon that senators are working on this week, to punish the Russian government. "President Trump, you lose either way," Schumer said Monday during a speech on the Senate floor. "If you weren't briefed on this important report, how can you run an administration where something this important is not brought to your level? Schumer continued: "If you were told about the report and did nothing, that's even worse." Some of the president's closest allies in the House GOP ranks took a different stance after a briefing at the White House, with at least one emerging from the closed door session by accusing journalists of damaging an ongoing intelligence investigation. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., lashed out at the New York Times, which first published the report, by accusing the newspaper of compromising an ongoing national security probe. "The blood is on their hands," Banks tweeted. "Having served in Afghanistan during the time the alleged bounties were placed, no one is angrier about this than me. Now it's impossible to finish the investigation." But two Republicans who received the briefing - Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois - called for the administration to take "swift and serious action" against Putin should the intelligence bear out to be true. Senior Senate Republican leadership and heads of key committees did not disclose how much, if at all, they were aware of the intelligence. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to respond when asked whether he had been briefed on the matter. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, declined to comment on specifics but said that the "targeting of our troops by foreign adversaries via proxies is a well established threat." Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., signaled he was unaware of the intelligence, saying Monday that he has "asked the administration to share what it knows" and that he expects to have more information in the coming days. "We've known for a long time that Putin is a thug and a murderer, and if the allegations reported in the New York Times are true, I will work with President Trump on a strong response," Inhofe said. "My number-one priority is the safety of our troops." ORANGE It wasnt uncommon for Daviana Landry, 5, to want to be with Brenika Lott, the woman she called Nana. Lott had grown up in Thibodeaux, Louisiana near Daviana and her family. The child described as energetic and outgoing had visited with Lott after the 32-year-old woman moved to Orange. Now, the childs family is in shock after the young girl was found dead, and her Nana jailed on a capital murder charge with a $1 million bond. The cause of death, a preliminary autopsy revealed, was blunt force trauma. Davianas body was found Friday around noon when Orange police were dispatched to a residence in the 700 block of 10th Street. At the time, it was called an unattended death, pending autopsy results. On Monday, Lott was arrested and charged with capital murder. The following day, police still were investigating the circumstances around the childs death, as well as testing multiple objects that could have been used in the homicide, Capt. Robert Enmon said. Pertiyyah Landry, the girls maternal aunt, spoke Tuesday with The Enterprise about the bright child who never met a stranger. If you walked into the house and she didnt know who you are, she would get to know you, Pertiyyah Landry said. She would always ask me why I am over at her house. Pertiyyah Landry said her family had known Lott their entire lives, with Lotts mother still living down the street from their Thibodeaux home. Lott had come to visit her mother a little over a week ago, Pertiyyah Landry said, when Daviana asked her mom if she could go stay with Nana. This was the second time (Diviana) had stayed with (Lott), she said. The first time was for a couple of days, and no one thought twice about her going again. No one thought this would happen. She didnt deserve that at all. Diviana wasnt the only child on the mind of those on 10th Street Tuesday, as Lotts neighbors described a mom that struggled prior to the jarring homicide. One neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, said Lott moved into the neighborhood approximately six years ago with her husband and son, estimated to be about 11 years old. But after her husband left, the neighbor said, Lott appeared to become more stressed. She wasnt working, the neighbor said. She said she was going to beauty school until it closed due to COVID. Then her behavior seemed to change. She was constantly yelling at her little boy, she said. She would berate him. She would ask him why he was being so stupid and saying he should know how to do things. Hes a special needs child. He is deaf and very sweet. He has been in and out of all of our homes. He and his friends know where all of our water hoses are and they would just grab one when they need a drink. Enmon said the boy was taken into custody by Child Protective Services, but declined to say whether he showed signs of abuse. Pertiyyah Landry said she will always remember her nieces smile and personality, adding that she will continue to watch the TikTok videos that her 2-year-old daughter and niece frequently made. chris.moore@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/chris_moore09 Bedford, PA (15522) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 87F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely late. Low 61F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Lockdown has brought a resurgence in drive-in cinemas and drive-thru restaurants - now a Belfast law firm is offering a 'pop-up' signing station. McKees Solicitors in Belfast - along with a digital tech developer and a building firm offering 'part-exchange' when buying a home - are coming up with a new way of doing business as lockdown eases but concerns remain over Covid-19. McKees said the new centre on Boucher Road would be a handy place for clients to park up and see to things such as the swearing of affidavits and statutory declarations, and the witnessing of deeds and wills. Chris Ross, managing partner of McKees, said: "Due to the restrictions that have been in place over recent months, people are more conscious of their movements and the places they visit. "We hope that this convenient location with free parking outside the front door, will help people avoid busy buildings and confined spaces and enable our clients and colleagues to have documents signed and witnessed in a matter of minutes." And he said the firm is also throwing open use of the facility to other legal practices. Meanwhile, a tech developer has come up with a digital booking service which integrates businesses' Facebook pages with a user friendly appointment system. Expand Close Dean Walker / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dean Walker Dean Walker said his Diary Angel system would allow firms such as hairdressers and beauticians to manage remote bookings 24/7. Mr Walker said his system would make the reopening of such businesses - hairdressers reopen next Monday - more efficient and cost-effective. It adds a 'call to action' button to a business Facebook page, providing clients with access to a business's online diary. Meanwhile, housebuilder Braidwater has announced a new 'part-exchange' scheme for buyers of its new Beech Hill View and Gleann Elagh developments in Londonderry. Expand Close Houses at Beech Hill View / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Houses at Beech Hill View It said the scheme was intended to remove some of the stress of house moves. Buyers can secure, buy and move into their new Braidwater home, while the company takes ownership of their existing home for future sale. Plans by the Executive to make the wearing of face covers compulsory on public transport have hit a stumbling block. It had been expected that Stormont leaders would confirm yesterday that it would be mandatory for passengers to wear face masks. However, a delay in legal advice has pushed any move back. Face coverings on public transport became a requirement in the Republic yesterday, and have been in parts of the UK for a number of weeks. At their joint Stormont Covid-19 briefing yesterday First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said the matter will be addressed on Thursday when the legal advice is made available. The DUP leader said Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon wanted Executive colleagues to consider mandatory face coverings on buses and trains. "We don't want to criminalise people because many people will not be able to wear masks because of medical issues," said Mrs Foster. "It is important that we don't rush into things just for the sake of it. People expect us to do that as Government ministers." The delay comes as the Department of Health confirmed that one further person has died, bringing the total Covid-19 death toll here to 551. Yesterday it was also confirmed that a further six positive cases had been detected out of 964 people tested in the previous 24 hours. The total number of infections now stands at 5,757, and yesterday was the third consecutive day there were no Covid-19 patients in intensive care. Meanwhile, there are 33 confirmed Covid-19 outbreaks in care homes, with 16 suspected cases. Mrs O'Neill said it was important to have all the necessary information in order to make a call on the issue of masks. "We will come back to this issue on Thursday when we have the legal advice about how best to put things in place," the Sinn Fein vice-president said. "As Friday comes and more things open up and more people are moving around, then wearing face coverings is obviously going to be a key part of that in terms of mitigations and being able to at least help to prevent the spread of the virus." Mrs Foster said that while the matter wasn't on the Executive's agenda yesterday, because there was a "need for clarity" regarding the legal advice, wearing coverings was good practice for the public to follow. "The current position of the Executive is that we strongly recommend that people wear face coverings in closed settings such as public transport or other small areas," she added. "We would strongly recommend that at present." She also dismissed suggestions that if Northern Ireland had different rules on masks from the Republic, it would cause confusion for cross-border commuters and travellers. Mrs Foster said anyone travelling over the border on public transport should wear a mask for the entire journey - and vice versa. "(If) you're on a train that's going to Dublin, then you should be wearing the mask," she added. Meanwhile, it was announced that groups of up to 30 will be allowed to meet outdoors in line with plans to further ease the lockdown. Mrs Foster said Health Minister Robin Swann would lay regulations on the issue, but rules around indoor meetings will remain at a maximum of six people. In the coming weeks hotels, bars servings food, restaurants, coffee shops, attractions, hair salons and gyms are set to reopen, but the DUP leader warned that this is "not business as usual". "While we have managed to suppress the spread of the virus here, it has not been beaten and while the hunt for a vaccine continues and while the rate of infection remains under control, we cannot assume that that will always be the case," she said. Mrs O'Neill said the message around people sticking to two-metre social distancing if it was possible had not been heard well enough after it had been reduced to one metre to help the hospitality sector. "I would urge all businesses to act responsibly, as so many already are. It is encouraging to see the work going on for reopening," she said. Mrs Foster also spoke of the importance of church services resuming and revealed that she had attended St Macartin's Cathedral in Enniskillen on Sunday day morning. She said it was important for worshippers to be able to "come together" with social distancing in place. "It has been incredibly difficult, particularly for those who have been mourning," she added. The Northern Ireland-born Dean of Leicester has said the city has been "stunned" to see lockdown restrictions return after a spike in Covid-19 cases. The Very Rev David Monteith, from Enniskillen, said he wanted to offer a message of support to those now facing added weeks of uncertainty. He also called on the government not to forget the most vulnerable, with many of those testing positive for the virus in Leicester coming from low income and BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) backgrounds. The first localised lockdown in the UK was announced after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said around 10% of all positive cases in England were detected there over the last week. Non-essential shops have closed and schools will follow for at least two weeks for the city centre and some suburbs, with citizens advised not to make unnecessary journeys. Rev Monteith said he is now uncertain about when he can return to Enniskillen to visit his parents, or when Leicester Cathedral can reopen. "It's quite sombre here, people are quite stunned," he told the Belfast Telegraph. "The city is quieter today but clearly not everyone has got the message so it's not quite back to how it was in March or April." He noted how coronavirus death figures in Leicester during the worst parts of the pandemic were lower than expected, adding: "Hospitals were pretty much managing to keep on top of things so this suddenly coming into the public arena has really surprised people." Places of worship in England were allowed to open for private prayer earlier this month, with full worship supposed to follow on July 4. "In a very multicultural city like Leicester, that includes mosques, temples, churches and synagogues," he said. "Private prayer has worked for some traditions, but in mosques you're supposed to pray in public. "This weekend many faith communities, including the Christian community, would have been able to have a much more normal sense of worship." The cathedral is now closed until further notice, and funerals will again have to be held outside with limited numbers. It sits at the burial site of Richard III, and just this week a large group of tourists had been welcomed inside. "This was the first time (since lockdown) that any of us have been in a room with 30 or more people and there was a real delight and joy about it even if you couldn't shake hands or hug," Rev Monteith said. "Initially lockdown was a big shock for us. We've been doing online weekly services and sometimes we get very significant numbers of people, far more than would ever come to church. But there's something about physical presence which is still important even though online offers new possibilities. "Somehow we're going to have to work with both of these realities moving forward." Offering hope to those dreading the latest restrictions, he said: "I think I've noticed that this whole process has affected people very differently. Some have found the space and the clear air to have been a delight, while other people have struggled incredibly. "But the human spirit is incredibly resilient and hope has not died at all. If anything in Leicester we've learned over the years that hope is a gift that comes from community. "That's been my experience over the years, if I find myself locked away in a dark place, often the way to get out of it is to break out and reach out." As Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to spend billions on infrastructure projects, Rev Monteith said those in need must be included. "A lot of the people who are being tested positive in Leicester come from BAME backgrounds, and people living in poverty and working in very low paid jobs. "We've seen a way in which we as a society have revalued care workers who are also not paid very much. I suppose moving forward, in thinking about the type of society we want to try and create, I think church and faith leaders are up for playing their part in creating a much more equitable society." On Tuesday Matt Hancock told BBC Breakfast there was an "unusually high" incidence of coronavirus in children in Leicester. The Health Secretary said that while work was still being done to understand why Leicester had been so badly affected, extra testing had found under-18s testing positive for the virus. He added that the decision to shut the city's schools was made to try to halt further transmissions. Paula and John Elliott from Co Down at Doheny and Nesbitts pub in Dublin Belfast and beyond should be braced for busy bars and restaurants boasting large queues ahead of reopening this Friday, industry experts have said. But some say there must also be long-term government support for those that are too small to cope with distancing. Rajesh Rana, director of Andras Hotels, says, optimistically, that "there will be queues outside every pub in Belfast" at 11am on Friday, when bars which serve food or have an outside area are allowed to reopen. But there remain fears that small bars and pubs which cannot operate with social distancing may never reopen. Colin Neill, chief executive of Hospitality Ulster, said: "What we have been asking the Executive for is to give us a date for 'wet pubs' reopening. "They see it more high risk than food only. If they are all table service, that should alleviate any problems. "It's really important that government gives us a date. Regrettably, I do think this virus, and therefore social distancing, will be here for a very long time. We need government to help those businesses which just physically cannot reopen." Speaking on the Ulster Business Podcast, Janice Gault, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation, said while "everyone is looking forward to coming back", there is a "little bit of nervousness around it". "We have discovered that people miss the type of product we provide," she said. But many spots, even those which are technically able to open their doors to serve food, will not open this weekend. "The days of the shoulder-to-shoulder pub and back-to-back restaurant will not be with us for a while," Mr Neill says. "There will be a responsibility on customers, businesses and staff to do everything to stop the spread of this virus." Mr Rana, whose company owns hotels such as The Crowne Plaza and Ibis in Belfast, said while the "core of hotels won't have changed", customers will start noticing differences. "Hotels are about hospitality ... the fundamentals won't change. There will be more distance between yourself and fellow diners, but the real work is behind the scenes," he said. "In our four star hotels, breakfast will be largely served. The buffet is a touch point we are trying to avoid. "In the mid-market and budget hotels there will be a range of 'to go' options, just presented in a different manner." Ms Gault says while businesses are now keen to bring staff back to work, getting through to March next year "is going to be a challenge". A brave little boy with Down's syndrome is taking on a fundraising challenge just six months after learning to walk. Lucius Corry (3) from Belfast will complete a 50-jump challenge to raise money for learning disability charity Mencap. At two years old Lucius began attending the Mencap Children's Centre in the city to help him take his first steps. He was also born with a hearing impairment and the heart condition ventricular septal defect, which will require surgery at a later stage. Proud mum Joanne Corry said the extra support has now helped her son to jump for joy. "He learned to walk in December, which was a major achievement for him," she explained. "He couldn't have done it without the support from Mencap. "The staff at Mencap have been brilliant to us and are always there for support. We have got to meet so many other families who were in a similar situation and could relate to what we were going through, which really helped. The workshops and training courses were a great help to me and my family." She said the latest milestone came after weeks of practice by her son. "His feet never left the ground, but he was so determined to do it. Then suddenly his feet lifted, and he was so excited," she said. "He loves jumping now. We decided we would like to help raise as much as we can for Mencap so they can go on supporting other families like ours, and to also say thank you to Mencap for everything that they have done for us so far." The Covid-19 pandemic has meant the Children's Centre has had to pause face to face support for families and provide as many services as possible online. Margaret Kelly, director of Mencap Northern Ireland, said: "I just want to say a huge thank you to Lucius and Joanne for fundraising for Mencap. It means so, so much to us that our families so value our services that they are willing to fundraise on top of everything else they do." She added: "Our extraordinary teams are working extremely hard in challenging circumstances to help many children and adults with a learning disability and their families in need of support during this difficult time. "Lucius's jumping is a very special 'Move it for Mencap' challenge. It is really wonderful that Lucius and Joanne are helping us to transform the lives of other children with a learning disability and their families to help them build independent and fulfilling lives." Approximately 42,000 people in Northern Ireland have a learning disability, with Mencap also providing support to their families and carers with a helpline, online support services and lobbying. For further information on how to donate or take part in the fundraising campaign, visit northernirelaned.mencap.org.uk Some 65 million earmarked to help businesses in Northern Ireland cope with coronavirus restrictions has not yet been spent, finance minister Conor Murphy said. Mr Murphy said areas like childcare, sole traders and firms with multiple premises had made bids for the surplus cash. The Executive has delivered rates holidays and support schemes aimed at small businesses and those particularly hard-hit like tourism, retail and hospitality. Mr Murphy told the Assembly: One thing you learned over the last couple of months is that there is such huge variety and complexity of businesses we have here, that it was very hard to design a scheme that will capture everybody. A total of 53 million has been received back by the finance department and the rest is set aside for legal costs. The minister said some fell between supports designed for businesses and charities. That will come as a body blow to many sectors who have not received support John O'Dowd His Sinn Fein colleague John ODowd expressed frustration. Mr ODowd said: That will come as a body blow to many sectors who have not received support. Mr Murphy also warned it may be difficult for parties to spend their full capital allocation for building projects this year following the restrictions. He said he was watching closely the British Governments plans to bolster the recovery which could mean additional funding for Northern Ireland. SDLP Assembly member Matthew OToole said there were long term issues of under investment, as well as consistent capital under spending. It is not acceptable, he added. Ulster Unionist Party leader Steve Aiken called for the VAT rate to be reduced to 15%. Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has expressed frustration that the powersharing Executive has yet to approve the mandatory wearing of face coverings on public transport (Brian Lawless/PA) A Stormont minister has expressed frustration that the powersharing Executive has yet to approve the mandatory wearing of face coverings on public transport. Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon, who expected the move to be approved at Mondays meeting of the coalition Executive, said she only found out minutes before the start that the item was not on the agenda. The omission came after First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill sought further legal advice on the proposal. But Ms Mallon said: I am not clear at all what that legal advice is. With England, Scotland & the south all making the move to mandatory face coverings on public transport, there is growing evidence of its wider benefits. With clear exemptions, face coverings help keep other passengers safe especially as we reopen more of our economy & society. pic.twitter.com/qTzOmiG5IY Nichola Mallon (@NicholaMallon) June 28, 2020 The minister said Northern Ireland is lagging behind other parts of the UK and the Irish Republic, where face coverings are already compulsory on public transport. I have set out the case for mandatory face coverings, I dont understand why Northern Ireland is being left behind in this move, she told BBC Radio Ulster. Ms Mallon said she hoped the proposal could be agreed at Thursdays meeting of the Executive. However, she expressed concern that that would only be 24 hours before a series of lockdown relaxations come into effect in the region. I am frustrated that it doesnt leave much time because we are opening up on quite a large scale on Friday, she said. The minister said that, under her proposal, enforcement would be light touch. On Monday, one more Covid-19-related death was reported in Northern Ireland, taking the total recorded by the Department of Health to 551. Those attending the funeral of prominent republican Bobby Storey have shown "no respect" for Covid-19 restrictions, the DUP has claimed. Mr Storey, who died last week aged 64, was laid to rest after Requiem Mass at St Agnes church in west Belfast. By 10am, an hour before Mass, hundreds had already gathered outside and lined the Andersonstown Road, which was eventually closed to traffic. The mourners included Sinn Fein presidents past and present Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald, the party's northern leader and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and members of her late predecessor Martin McGuinness's family. There was a low-profile but visible police presence, and scores of volunteer stewards in place to manage the large crowd on a cold, grey morning. However, DUP MP Gregory Campbell said the size of the funeral will be a "kick in the teeth" for many families who have adhered to Covid-19 restrictions and prevented people from attending their loved one's funeral. Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams as the funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams as the funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Gerry Kelly and Michelle O'Neill as the funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Pictured: Conor Murphy MLA. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams as the funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) He said: Last week I emailed the Chief Constable alerting him to the funeral of Bobby Storey and the potential for a mass gathering given the Covid-19 restrictions and previous mass gatherings at paramilitary funerals. "With hundreds of people gathered for the IRA mans funeral on Tuesday, it will have felt like a kick in the teeth for the many families who over recent weeks have gone to considerable lengths to discourage people from attending their loved ones funeral. "The scenes in west Belfast showed no respect for the Covid-19 restrictions. The presence of senior Sinn Fein personnel such as deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill and others will lead many to conclude it is 'do as I say not as I do'. Police action needs to follow and be seen to take effect. Mr Campbell's comments were echoed by UUP leader Steve Aiken who said that Sinn Fein had shown contempt for the coronavirus regulations and the general public. "It is hard to see how Michelle O`Neill can now stand at an Executive press conference with any credibility, integrity and authority and ask the people of Northern Ireland to listen to her. Any normal political leader would be considering their position," he said. Read More In his homily during Requiem Mass, Fr Gary Donegan quoted from a tweet written by Sinn Fein veteran Gerry Kelly shortly after Mr Storey died, in which the MLA wrote: Bobby ran the marathon of life at a sprint, in conflict and in peace... his legacy will drive us all forward. Fr Donegan who earlier this week hit out at keyboard warriors criticising him for taking on the former IRA leaders funeral said: Over these days, many comments and eulogies have and will be written about Bobby. This is different. He added: A Requiem Mass is a time for us to remember the mercy of God and it opens us to a pathway of understanding of Gods unconditional love. Fr Donegan told the small, restricted congregation inside the church that Mr Storey, who was born in north Belfast in 1956, was raised during a time when communities were under threat and the army were constantly patrolling the streets... ultimately the family were intimidated from their home and spent several days sheltering in Girdwood Army Barracks. Mr Storey would later rise in the republican ranks, becoming the IRAs director of intelligence and the northern chairman of Sinn Fein. He spent many years in jail for various offences, and played a key role in the mass IRA breakout from the Maze Prison in 1983. A powerfully built man, 6ft 4ins tall, he was widely regarded as one of the most feared and formidable members of the republican organisation. He is also credited with a prominent role in the Northern Ireland peace process. At the funeral, Fr Donegan described him as a devoted partner to Teresa with a gift of humour extended to all he met. Rarely would you be in his presence, even in moments of extreme tension, without him making you laugh, Fr Donegan said. Its hard to credit that Bobby was on first name terms with the lady behind the face cream counter at Debenhams. There arent too many men here today who can say that. Fr Donegan recalled how Mr Storeys 30-year relationship with Teresa began to develop from the time of Bobbys first parole in 1989 and how his long-term partner spoke of Bobby the family man and the great love he had for his sister Geraldine and brothers Seamus and Brian. She told us of the great mutual love shared between Bobby and her sons Emmett, Fergal and Sean, he said. Over the years his character rubbed off onto them and Bobby played his part in making them the men they are today. Bobby was a natural with children. He came alive when he was with them. When it came to grandchildren, he took centre stage. Teresa could cook and clean for them all day but when Granda Bobby appeared she was shoved to one side and he became the centre of attention. He never forgot the birthdays of the grandchildren and his godchildren. Fr Donegan said that, having worked as a confessor for the past 29 years, he thanks God for not being confined to the limitations of human compassion and mercy. Often the biggest task of a confessor is to convince people to follow Gods example and to forgive themselves. Another aspect, ironically found within the most fervent people of faith is their inability to be able to cast the net of compassion and forgiveness wider than within the narrow confines of their humanity. Mr Storey was buried in the republican plot at Milltown Cemetery, where Gerry Adams delivered a eulogy. The Health Minister has said there was a very clear breach of regulations at the funeral of leading republican Bobby Storey in west Belfast on Tuesday. Robin Swann told the Executives daily conference that he was very concerned with what he saw and that no-one should be immune from following the guidelines. He was speaking as it was confirmed there had been no further deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, but said Northern Ireland cannot afford to become another Leicester. A spike in infections saw lockdown restrictions reimposed on Leicester earlier on Tuesday. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill was among mourners as thousands took to the streets for Tuesday's funeral of Mr Storey. There is no person or position or point of privilege that is above the guidance we had laid down, no one is immune from it, the Minister said. I do hope what we saw today does not undermine the message in Northern Ireland that has got us to where we are today. The virus remains a serious threat in Northern Ireland, despite the actions and words of some. Expand Close Health Minister Robin Swann during the daily media broadcast in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, Stormont on Tuesday. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Health Minister Robin Swann during the daily media broadcast in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, Stormont on Tuesday. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye Mr Swann said that he understood the PSNI would investigate any potential breaches of the guidelines. The regulations we have put in place are there to save lives, he said. I seriously hope this is not the Dominic Cummings effect in Northern Ireland. Please dont let this weaken your resolve, two wrongs do not make a right. I ask people to keep with what they have been doing because it has saved lives. The Minister also announced that general visits to hospitals and care homes will be allowed to resume under a number of conditions from Monday. Partners of pregnant women will also be allowed to accompany them to hospital and doctor visits throughout the pregnancy from baby scans to labour and post-natal care. In hospital wards and intensive care units one person will be allowed to visit a patient at any one time. In Covid-19 free care homes two people will be allowed to visit a resident at any one time. Masks must be worn by those visiting hospitals and care homes and social distancing and other public health advice must be adhered to. There have been three positive tests for the virus, bringing to 23 the total number of positive tests over the past week. The Northern Ireland coronavirus death toll remains at 551 and there are no coronavirus-related cases in ICU. Chief Medical officer Dr Michael McBride said he anticipated huge anxiety as Northern Ireland exits lockdown. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams as the funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Gerry Kelly and Michelle O'Neill as the funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 30th June 2020 The funeral of Bobby Storey has taken place in Belfast. Pictured: Conor Murphy MLA. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye Philip Magowan / PressEye The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams as the funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The funeral of Bobby Storey takes place in Andersonstown, west Belfast on June 30th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) The full impact the virus has had will not be realised for some time to come, he said. The virus doesnt read our plans and it doesnt read our guidance and despite our best efforts, we will see clusters and outbreaks in the weeks and months ahead. This is something we may have to live with for some time to come. Taoiseach Micheal Martin will visit Northern Ireland over the coming days, the deputy First Minister has said. Michelle O'Neill said Mr Martin had spoken on the telephone to her and to First Minister Arlene Foster yesterday. She believes that the new Taoiseach intends a cross-border visit "at some stage over the next number of days". Speaking at Stormont, Ms O'Neill congratulated Mr Martin on his election. "I look forward to working with him in terms of delivering on the commitments of New Decade New Approach and the commitments that were made by both governments," she continued. "I look forward to a good working relationship in the time ahead." Ms O'Neill said she had raised the issue of the North-South Ministerial Council, which "hasn't met for some time", with Mr Martin. She said one should be held soon. "I think the North-South Ministerial Council meeting will be an opportunity for us to get to know one another and form good working relationships for the time ahead," she added. Mrs Foster said she looked forward to meeting the Taoiseach and working with him on "matters of mutual concern for both jurisdictions". She added that she wanted "a positive relationship with him - he is our nearest neighbour and it's important we have a good relationship". The deputy First Minister expressed her disappointment that no-one from Northern Ireland was among Mr Martin's Seanad nominees. "It is very unfortunate that they chose not to nominate someone from the North, and particularly someone from the unionist community," she said. "Ian Marshall's appointment in the past was something that was very positive and very engaging, and something that is right and proper for when we plan for what the future looks like here on this island. "It is disappointing that one of the first actions that this government has taken has ignored the people of the North." Mrs Foster said that, as a unionist, she had no view on who the Taoiseach appointed to the Seanad. "We look to London and the UK in relationship to representation. We don't look to the Republic of Ireland and Dublin," she said. "It is of course entirely a matter for the Taoiseach as to who he puts onto the Seanad as one of his 11 representatives. It is a matter for him and not really for me." The deputy First Minister defended her decision to travel to Dublin at the weekend for the formation of the new three-way coalition government of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party. TDs gathered in Dublin's Convention Centre to officially elect Mr Martin as Taoiseach. His family didn't travel to Dublin from Cork for the event because of the Covid-19 restrictions in place in the Republic. Ms O'Neill said she had every right to be there. "Yes, I think it was a good decision to go on Saturday. "I am the vice-president of an all-island party. It is well within the regulations for me to be allowed to travel to be there and to talk to our strong TD team." Ms O'Neill added that it was an important day given that "my party president, Mary Lou McDonald was becoming the official leader of the Opposition." The deputy First Minister's attendance has however been criticised. Finglas Fianna Fail councillor, Keith Connolly, asked: "On a day when the incoming Taoiseach couldn't have his family in attendance due to Covid restrictions on travel, why did Michelle O'Neill travel to Dublin?" Tragic schoolboy Noah Donohoe will be laid to rest after a private funeral in Belfast on Wednesday. The 14-year-old boy's body was discovered on Saturday morning by a specialist search team in a storm drain in north Belfast. Read More Noah's funeral will take place at 11am in St Patrick's Church on Donegall Street, but will be strictly private at the request of his family due to coronavirus restrictions. Hundreds of volunteers had joined the PSNI and the Community Rescue Service (CRS) in Northern Ireland in the search for Noah. CRS regional commander Sean McCarry - who led the rescue team - said it had been the first time in 13 years of the organisation that people had so publicly demonstrated their appreciation for their efforts. And for Sean, it is a gesture he will never forget. "Twice we had massive rounds of applause which was so emotional and moving and at the same time so uplifting," he said. "It will stay in our hearts for years. That people so openly expressed their thanks to us is so amazing. "Noah's mum said she thought he would change the world. "He certainly changed our world." Health Minister Robin Swann and Chief Medical officer Dr Michael McBride both paid tribute to Noah during yesterday's Executive Covid-19 briefing. "Like many I didn't know Noah or his family," the Health Minister said. "But when the news started to filter through that a young boy was missing there was hardly a person in Northern Ireland, or a parent that didn't follow the search and hope and pray that he would be found safe and well. "Sadly that wasn't to be. "My thoughts are with Noah's family and school friends at this deeply distressing time." Dr McBride said that "for anyone to lose a family member, particularly a child, is deeply distressing". "To lose such a life is an absolute tragedy," he continued. "As a parent, a father, I like everyone else in Northern Ireland felt a deep sense of sadness at the recent news." The discovery of Noah's body came after a week of police appeals and painstaking searches, at one point involving hundreds of members of the public. His family have asked for donations in lieu of flowers to Northern Ireland Action for Children, care of O'Kane's Funeral Directors. In his death notice, Noah's family said "love has no boundaries" and that their son's love reached "the selfless hearts of north Belfast and beyond as they showed overwhelming compassion and empathy in bringing Noah home". "Noah's beautiful pure young soul fills the hearts of his mother Fiona, his aunts Niamh and Shona and their beautiful children and his uncle Gearoid." An online book of condolence in memory of Noah has now been opened by Belfast City Council. A veteran republican has been remembered as an IRA man who helped to build Sinn Fein into the political party it is today. Large crowds turned out in west Belfast to pay a final farewell to Bobby Storey despite social-distancing rules, prompting sharp criticism. Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill, Finance minister Conor Murphy, Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald and former Sinn Fein chief Gerry Adams were among those who took part. Mr Storey died earlier this month at the age of 64 following an unsuccessful lung transplant. During his life he became a highly influential presence within his community throughout the Troubles and subsequent peace process. Expand Close Mary Lou McDonald, Gerry Adams and Michelle ONeill at Bobby Storeys funeral in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mary Lou McDonald, Gerry Adams and Michelle ONeill at Bobby Storeys funeral in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) A guard of honour lined the streets of Andersonstown on Tuesday morning as his remains were transported to St Agnes Church for a funeral service conducted by Father Gary Donegan. The coffin was draped in an Irish tricolour. Police maintained a low key presence in the area during proceedings. Fr Donegan reflected on how Mr Storey had grown up in north Belfast where his family were intimidated from their home. He also described Mr Storey as devoted to his partner Teresa and the delight he took in his children and grandchildren. Following the service, the guard of honour continued for just over a mile to Milltown Cemetery where there was spontaneous applause as a procession passed. A large crowd gathered at the republican plot in the historic graveyard where Mr Adams and Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly were among those who helped carry the coffin. Donegal TD Pearse Doherty described Mr Storey as an inspirational republican leader, before deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill read the Robert Frost poem The Road Not Taken in his memory. Mr Adams delivered the main oration during which he credited Mr Storey with building Sinn Fein to the size and influence it has today. Expand Close Mary Lou McDonald, Gerry Adams and Michelle ONeill at Bobby Storeys funeral in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mary Lou McDonald, Gerry Adams and Michelle ONeill at Bobby Storeys funeral in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) Mr Adams said that when released from jail for the final time in 1998, Mr Storey was 44 years old and had spent more than 20 years of his life in prison. He went on to quote Mr Storey saying a life of struggle is a life well lived, before telling those gathered that Sinn Fein was and remains proud of those who were involved in the IRA. We are proud and glad that Bob and other former IRA volunteers are part of what we are, he said. We are also proud of Bob and the others when they were IRA Volunteers. Expand Close Funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) They and their support base and republican Ireland defeated the British Army. They brought us and their political masters to the negotiating table. Mr Adams went on to describe Mr Storeys death as a huge political blow for republicans, adding: There is a void in our lives. He would want us to continue our struggle and to win that struggle. And that my friends and comrades is what we will do, he said. The size of the crowds that gathered for Mr Storey drew immediate criticism from Sinn Feins political rivals amid claims of multiple breaches of coronavirus regulations limiting the size of public gatherings in Northern Ireland. Expand Close Members of the Storey family carry his coffin (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Members of the Storey family carry his coffin (Liam McBurney/PA) Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie contrasted Deputy First Minister Ms ONeills public utterances on limiting numbers at funerals to her attendance at Tuesdays event. Having watched families unable to attend funerals or be with their loved one as they passed away I think this undermines the credibility of our Executive Office, he tweeted. Expand Close Crowds line the roadside as the cortege passes following the funeral at St Agnes Church (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Crowds line the roadside as the cortege passes following the funeral at St Agnes Church (Liam McBurney/PA) Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister said Ms ONeills position was no longer tenable. In light of the fact that Ms ONeill is today present with many hundreds of others at the funeral of Bobby Storey her position is untenable, he said. Her conduct is grossly offensive and insulting to the many law-abiding people who have made the huge sacrifice of foregoing a normal funeral as they said farewell to family members who died recently. The education minister has expressed confidence he will be able to change school reopening plans during the summer to allow for a full return to the classroom in the autumn. Peter Weir told the Assembly that he hoped to bring proposals to the executive in the next two months that would enable all pupils to return full time, five days a week when the next term starts. Under current plans, schools must comply with a one-metre social distancing guidance for pupils when classes restart at the end of August. Many school leaders have said it will be impossible to accommodate all pupils in their buildings at the same time under the one-metre guidance. For those schools unable to reach maximum capacity, Mr Weirs department has recommended minimum levels of classroom time for pupils two days a week for primary schools and 50% for secondary schools, with children likely to attend for one week in every two. I believe we are on the right pathway, I believe that we are on trajectory for further changes to be made Peter Weir During Assembly question time on Tuesday, the minister was asked by party colleague Jonathan Buckley about the prospect of the one-metre guidance being axed and schools instead relying on a classroom bubble model to minimise infection risks. Mr Weir said if the trajectory of the Covid-19 pandemic continued on its current course in Northern Ireland then he was hopeful that schools could return as normal in the autumn. Let me make it absolutely clear to the member, I believe we are on the right pathway, I believe that we are on trajectory for further changes to be made and if that continues it would be my intention therefore to bring proposals before the end of this summer to enable all schools to be there five days a week for every pupil, he said. That is something, I think, which is to the advantage of teachers, to parents, to schools but most of all to pupils themselves, and if we can reach that point I think that is highly desirable and I think it is the case that I believe that the levels of protection that are needed to be put in place can under those circumstances be achieved by different methods (than the one-metre model). Under the current plan, schools have been urged to utilise all the space at their disposal to allow them to accommodate the full school population and, where this is not possible, they have been encouraged by the department to use nearby community facilities, such as church halls, GAA clubs or Orange Halls. Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, left, speaks alongside Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty during the funeral of senior Irish republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has delivered a broadside against the new coalition government for excluding his party. The new government was formed between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens last weekend several months after the inconclusive general election result in February. Sinn Fein won the popular vote in the proportional representation poll but did not run enough candidates to fully translate votes into seats and was unable to form a coalition of the left with other parties of similar views. Expand Close Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar at the post-Cabinet press briefing in Dublin Castle (Julien Behal/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar at the post-Cabinet press briefing in Dublin Castle (Julien Behal/PA) Delivering the oration at the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey in Belfast on Tuesday, Mr Adams accused the Irish parties of excluding Sinn Fein, comparing the situation to when unionist parties in Northern Ireland refused to speak to them, then in protest at the actions of the IRA. This weekend saw the election of Micheal Martin as Taoiseach as part of the manoeuvre by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, aided and abetted by the Greens, to maintain the status quo and to prevent Mary Lou McDonald from becoming taoiseach, he told the gathering at the republican plot at Milltown Cemetery. They are entitled to do that but their refusal to talk to the Sinn Fein leadership is a sad little undemocratic throwback to the way the unionist leaders used to behave. Denying Sinn Fein voters their right to be included in talks shows how far the Dublin establishment is prepared to go to minimise and to delay the ongoing process of change across this island, including the movement towards Irish unity. So, let me say loud and clear. They will fail. Just as unionists failed in their exclusion policies. Mr Adams also hit out at claims Sinn Fein is controlled by shadowy figures. We are an open democratic national movement with our elected leadership, led by two fine women and other national leaders and countless regional and local leaders, he said. Expand Close Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams offers an embrace of condolence to Teresa Storey at the funeral of her partner Bobby Storey (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams offers an embrace of condolence to Teresa Storey at the funeral of her partner Bobby Storey (Liam McBurney/PA) We are proud and glad that Bob and other former IRA volunteers are part of what we are. We are also proud of Bob and the others when they were IRA volunteers. They and their support base and republican Ireland defeated the British Army. They brought us and their political masters to the negotiating table. With reference to the portraits that will be hung in the new Taoiseachs office, Mr Adams added: Leo Varadkar has Michael Collins. Micheal Martin has De Valera. We have Bobby Storey. Bobby has done more for Irish freedom, peace and unity on this island than either Leo Varadkar or Micheal Martin. The number of reported new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland has begun to increase in a worrying trend, the chief medical officer warned, which could halt plans for further easing of restrictions. At least six fresh diagnoses were associated with international travel, the Governments top health advisers said, as they reiterated warnings against encouraging overseas tourism too soon. Some new clusters have been established, and one in the north west of the Republic involved travel links with Iraq, said Tony Holohan, the doctor leading the states pandemic response. He said: We are starting to see a worrying trend, with the number of reported cases increasing, and some new clusters. More than 1.1 million cases were reported globally last week. The Republic had driven down the number of infections but medical experts have warned against non-essential travel and cautioned young people against ignoring lockdown restrictions or thinking coronavirus was defeated. There were no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre on Monday. There have now been 1,735 Covid-19 related deaths. As of midnight June 28, public health chiefs have been notified of 24 confirmed cases, bringing the total to 25,462. The chief medical officer has said he is deeply worried at the prospect of greater foreign travel associated with easing restrictions next month. Irish ministers had been intending to put in place air bridges with countries with low coronavirus infection rates by July 9, allowing them to bypass quarantine in an effort to boost international tourism and allow more people to take overseas holidays. Dr Holohan expressed concern at the plan and said many of the most popular European holiday spots did not have good enough statistics for controlling the virus. Many countries around the world are still experiencing high and increasing levels of this disease Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, said: Today we are reporting at least six cases associated with international travel. Many countries around the world are still experiencing high and increasing levels of this disease. Last week, there were over 1.1 million cases reported and there have now been over 10 million cases reported globally to date. The risk of imported cases remains high. Its important that we continue to avoid all unnecessary travel at this time. Dr Holohan said the number of people who were likely to travel from Ireland for non-essential trips and then return was greater than the total of tourists from outside the country coming in. He noted a cluster of infection in the north west of the country was associated with travel involving Iraq. Expand Close A cluster in the north west of the country is associated with travel involving Iraq, the chief medical officer said (Steve Parson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A cluster in the north west of the country is associated with travel involving Iraq, the chief medical officer said (Steve Parson/PA) Dr Holohan said Europe had not yet seen a widespread resurgence of the virus across entire countries but had faced outbreaks and clusters. He said: If we do find ourselves in a situation where we come to the end of phase four and do run into further challenges across the country or in a region, what measures will we need to take? It wont be the same set of measures. The population has a far higher understanding of this virus. Research conducted on behalf of the Department of Health showed a further increase in the proportion of people who self-reported to be wearing face coverings, now at 45%. The level of worry was increasing, with 49% believing the worst is behind us and 23% thinking it lies ahead, the survey disclosed. A total of 64% still believe Ireland will see a second wave, with a quarter now believing the country should introduce more restrictions, and 31% now feel the authorities are trying to return to normal too fast. Ministers have suggested that new US sanctions on Huawei could force it to rethink the companys role within the UKs 5G network. In May, the Trump administration tightened sanctions against the tech giant over fears of close ties to the Chinese state. Stricter rules around Huaweis ability to buy semiconductor chips from firms which use US technology in their manufacturing has led the UKs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to carry out a review assessing the possible impact it could have on the UKs networks. Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden told MPs the new review is needed to determine the reliability and viability of Huaweis future within the UK infrastructure in the face of such restrictions. Given that the US government has imposed sanctions on Huawei, given that those are focused on 5G, we do need to fully understand those and understand how that impacts on how much we can rely on Huawei equipment in the system given that it is subject to those restraints from the sanctions, he said. Mr Dowden wants to see the playing field become more diverse so the UK is not dependent on a limited number of firms currently just Huawei, Nokia and Siemens lead on 5G technology. He added that it is the Governments ambition to remove Huawei from the network over time but refused to set a timeframe for such a move. An earlier review before the tougher sanctions were put in place concluded that Huawei would be allowed to have a reduced role in Britains 5G infrastructure. However, the company was classed as a high-risk vendor, locked out of sensitive parts of the network and told it would be limited to no more than 35% of non-core areas of the network. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who was also present at the hearing, disputed suggestions that the US was bullying the UK into taking tougher action against Huawei. Its not an American sanction against us, its an American sanction against the use of American IP (intellectual property) not British IP that seems to render part of Huawei equipment inoperable, so the United States are perfectly free to sanction whoever they want, he said to the Defence Committee. Expand Close Defence Secretary Ben Wallace spoke alongside Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden at an evidence session with the Defence Committee (Aaron Chown/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Defence Secretary Ben Wallace spoke alongside Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden at an evidence session with the Defence Committee (Aaron Chown/PA) If it was British IP being sanctioned by a third country, you might say youre being bullied or pressurised but its not, my understanding its about chip manufacturers and things coming out of Taiwan using US IP and we would impose our view and we still do on IP that we own, so I dont think its a matter of US bullying. It comes as the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially designated Huawei as a national threat. Following the Tuesdays session, Huawei vice president, Victor Zhang, said: We are investing billions to make the Prime Ministers vision of a connected Kingdom a reality so that British families and businesses have access to fast, reliable mobile and broadband networks wherever they live. We have been in the UK for 20 years and remain focused on working with our customers and the government to ensure the country gets the jobs and economic growth created by 5G as quickly as possible. Were the Irish ever slaves? There appear to be two competing reasons for saying that they were. On the one hand, it makes the case that the Irish have a history of oppression equal to the worst that any people on Earth have suffered and deserve some recognition of that. It identifies us with the African Americans and what they have come through; from being herded like beasts out of their native lands, sold like cattle and denied all recognition of their humanity. This argument is one of identification with the oppressed of the world. It says: we understand you and stand beside you, because our experience is the same. The other argument ends at a different point. It says: we Irish were slaves and we got over it, so why don't you? It blames black Americans for the condition they are in as over-represented in the prison population, among the poor and the least educated. It acknowledges that their forebears were kidnapped and worked to death - and worse - but reckons they should have established their own equality by now. One argument offers compassion with a presumption of understanding and identification. The other offers a kind of derision that refuses to be accountable. And why should we be accountable? The Irish in America contributed to racism. They told Daniel O'Connell to butt out when he urged them to work to end slavery. Tens of thousands of them fought for the Confederacy and the defence of slavery. Even today Irish republicans revere John Mitchel, who thought slavery was a good thing. But, actually, we are not answerable for what our forebears did and can take no credit onto ourselves today for O'Connell or blame for the Irish in the Confederacy. That past is not still alive with us in the way that the history of slavery is still alive for many in the US. For the problem is that the United States never purged itself of its wariness and contempt of black people. That guilt lives on. Some have compared racism with sectarianism and there is something in that. Children here have been firebombed for being Catholic. Worshippers have been gunned down at prayer for being Protestant. We know about that stuff. American universities have brought students here to study the similarities, but there is no Irish disaffection from the British state today like there was when Punch portrayed us as ape-like and dark-skinned, too. I have read articles making the case that there were Irish slaves and articles that say there weren't and, ultimately, I conclude that I don't need to come down on one side or other because the argument is not about the past. really; it is about the present. Frame the question a little differently. Were there Irish people who suffered the deepest pain and humiliation that it is possible to inflict on a human person? Of course there were. Some starved in ditches in the Famine of the 1840s. Some were shanghaied into foreign armies and flogged and keel-hauled. Some were imprisoned in laundries and denied all freedom, had babies taken away from them and sold abroad. Some suffer mental anguish they cannot account for and some live with the physical pain of past injuries from accidents and violence. There is probably no ledger in Heaven that tallies who got the worst out of life, whether as a people or as individuals. But, collectively, we Europeans - most of us - are in a good place compared to the lives of past generations. We eat better food, live longer and we are housed in far better accommodation. And we have freedoms that our forebears found inconceivable. My parents' generation had to endure toothache in a way that no one today needs to. Their parents' generation suffered infant mortality on a scale that must have broken most hearts, or hardened them. And still we haven't extinguished human misery. The argument about whether the Irish suffered more or less than others in the past is not important compared to the question of how they fare now. And we are doing very well. This is a First World country. It is in economic decline compared to the rate of growth 20 years ago, on both sides of the border. Some people live wretched lives on account of mental or physical illness, low income, or abuse from others, but compare the life of, say, a taxi driver here with one in Delhi or Kinshasa and this country looks fine. There is an argument that we have suffered under colonialism and still bear the scars. I have heard some claim that there is a race memory of the Famine, a native hurt that runs deep. But, usually, when psychotherapy probes the source of underlying anguish it finds it in early life experience, not in the suffering of one's great-great-grandparents. But, then, maybe the shadow cast over one's life by a surly parent is a legacy from a similarly surly grandparent. And, who knows, but that the habits of today might have been cultivated in our lineage a thousand years ago. The question is not whether that is true, but what can be done about it. And surely the answer is education and healthcare and material comfort and a civilised culture in which people are accorded dignity and opportunity. These are all things which are available within our society and which considerable endeavour goes into defending against political forces which would deplete them to the level they are at in, for instance, India or the United States. Pain inherited from the past today in Northern Ireland is more likely to be a legacy of the Troubles period, but there are probably effects still being felt in families from the horrors of the Second World War and the Great Depression. Some have used the word Holocaust to describe the Famine in order to imply that commonality of experience between those who starved in Belsen and those who died trying to claw a decent spud out of a blighted land. But what really matters is the extent to which the pain and injustice linger still. We can oppose racism without bearing the guilt for how our forebears compounded it and also without seeking to assert that we suffered it, too. Much of that is an unseemly pitch for sympathy that is properly due to others. We are privileged to be more free than others, though, and we should know it. It is how we shape the world we live in now that matters. Listening to Mary Lou McDonald over the weekend, it was difficult to avoid the conclusion that not being a mandatory component in the Irish Government had come as a bit of a shock to Sinn Fein: "It was absolutely wrong and flew in the face of the democratic choice of the people to deliberately exclude Sinn Fein." Fair enough, Sinn Fein had a very good election in February - much, much better than even it expected - but McDonald wasn't able to build a majority during a series of negotiations with other parties and independent TDs. That failure to build her own coalition left the door open for others to try. And that's precisely what Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens did. Mind you, until the very last moment, when the Greens declared in favour of the deal, Sinn Fein still hoped it could be included in some sort of coalition. Speaking to the Irish Independent on Friday about what his party would do if the Greens didn't agree to back the deal, Eoin O Broin said: "So, in the first instance, what Sinn Fein would try and do is engage with the kind of pro-change, progressive parties to see if we can take the programme for government draft that's there and turn it into a genuinely pro-change programme for government. And, of course, I'd be willing to sit down with Fianna Fail and say, 'Would you be willing to support that kind of agenda?'" Sinn Fein has been spoiled when it comes to its experience of government. In Northern Ireland, there can't be an Executive unless it chooses to be in it. It can block any policy it doesn't like. It can override the views of a majority of the other parties in the Executive and ignore the votes of the majority of MLAs in the Assembly. It can, if and when it so desires, bring down the entire structures of government. It can insist that every decision is built around a quid pro quo process. In other words, if it doesn't get what it wants, it can simply lift the ball, walk off the pitch and lock down the grounds. That's not how it works in other places. All that is required for a government in the south is a majority of TDs to support it. How that majority is made up is neither here nor there. However unusual the make-up of the coalition may be is neither here nor there. There is no requirement for the party which did best at the election to be included. And no amount of Sinn Fein tweeting photographs of Mary Lou McDonald under the mantra, The People's Taoiseach, is going to change any of these realities. Basically, it's a case of suck it up and work out what to do next. Sinn Fein is not afraid of Opposition. McDonald has been sounding out her 36 TDs about what roles they might have on the shadow frontbench and she has already talked about building the "most coherent and effective Opposition in history". But Opposition, particularly the role of "official Opposition", was never her preferred choice. That's because you can't walk out of Opposition in the same way you can walk out of government. And Sinn Fein has a history of walking out of government in Northern Ireland when circumstances demand, or the grassroots dictate. A role in a coalition government (and I think it was always unlikely that she would have been Taoiseach this time around) would have left open the walk-out option if the party detected a shift against it in the polls, or found itself facing the prospect of some difficult, unpopular decisions further down the line. More important, though, a role in a coalition would probably have involved a promise that the government committed to a border poll and a substantial game-plan for unity. The Fianna Fail/Fine Gael/Green coalition's proposals on "A Shared Island" come nowhere close to Sinn Fein's hopes of just a few months ago. And it will be keenly aware that five years is a long time for their "unity project" to be gathering dust on the Martin/Varadkar back-burner. While Opposition is clearly not the party's first choice, for now it is the only choice. And, in some ways, that is no bad thing. It has a lot of new blood with little experience at this level of politics and Opposition is the perfect testing and learning ground for those TDs. Some of the greatest careers in politics have been honed and forged during early years in Opposition, particularly, like now, with an unlikely coalition government handling the aftermath of a crisis. And the coalition itself may not prove as stable as it will need to be. Indeed, there are no guarantees that the government will even last a full term. But Opposition also comes with enormous risks and challenges. Sinn Fein will have to prove that it can land significant blows on the government; but those blows will depend on it being able to pick apart government policy and setting out a clear, popular alternative of its own. And while you'll never see a hint of it in even the smallest of small print in the programme for government, you can bet your bottom euro that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael will have a group of people within a Press office whose only job is to deconstruct and destroy Sinn Fein's economic figures and broader policies. Martin and Varadkar have a joint vested interest in keeping Sinn Fein out of government and they will throw everything at the party, including a lot of money at new voters who voted for the party in February. What Sinn Fein really needs to get its head around is the fact that politics in the Dail is not the same as politics in the Assembly. The nature of the power it has in both institutions is entirely different. It cannot make or break the coalition in Dublin the way it can make and break a coalition in Belfast. It may also discover that increasing numbers of the southern electorate - faced with a pressing array of post-lockdown problems - will have no interest in Sinn Fein's prioritising a unity agenda. At times like this, the realities of the here-and-now will usually trump constitutional aspirations. Which is why, I think, the new coalition is so woolly on the all-island stuff. This is a huge moment for Sinn Fein. The role of official Opposition gives it the chance to present itself as the alternative government, as voters see how it responds to challenges it hasn't really had before. It won't be easy. Sinn Fein has sounded a bit needy and self-important over the past few weeks and absurdly whiny - as well as wrong - about being "kept out" of government (which it wasn't). It needs to get over itself and rise to new and unexpected possibilities. Today Partly cloudy. High around 70F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 47F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Intervals of clouds and sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. 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. Hundreds of Indonesian workers rally in front of the Ministry of Manpower building in Jakarta, demanding an increase of the minimum wage as the country seeks foreign investment, Oct. 31, 2019. Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo announced on Tuesday that seven multinational companies, including LG Electronics and Panasonic, plan to move manufacturing facilities valued at $850 million to Central Java from Japan, South Korea and China, creating thousands of jobs. Jokowi also said other foreign companies planned to relocate factories to Indonesia, as he urged officials to fast-track permits and offer land at competitive prices. His announcement comes as the nations economy has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the Manila-based Asian Development Bank projected that the gross domestic product was to contract by 1 percent this year. I am happy that seven companies have already confirmed relocation. There are also 17 others that have expressed commitments, about 60 percent (certain), Jokowi said during a video conference as part of a ceremony marking the start of construction of the Batang Integrated Industrial Zone in Central Java. The first phase covering 450 hectares (1,100) is expected to be completed in six months, according to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir. When completed, the industrial zone in Batang is to cover 4,500 hectares (11,100 acres). Five companies including Taiwans Meiloon Technology, U.S. lighting maker Alpan Lighting Products and Japans Panasonic Corp. will move manufacturing facilities from China to the Central Java site, according to Indonesias National Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). LG Electronics Inc. and automotive part maker Denso will move their plants from South Korea and Japan, respectively, the agency said. BKPM said the seven companies would invest a combined total of U.S. $850 million (12.1 trillion rupiah) and create up to 30,000 jobs. Jokowi urged ministries and government agencies to speed up business permits. I have ordered the ministers and the head of BKPM, for those companies wanting to relocate from China to Indonesia be they from Japan, Taiwan, Korea or the United States give them the best service possible, Jokowi said. Explain to them what facilities we can provide. He said he did not want a repeat of last year when none of 33 global companies that announced plans to relocate from China or expand abroad decided to move to Indonesia. Erick said investors would be offered long-term leases in the Batang Integrated Industrial Zone. We will buy land so that this entire area will belong to the Ministry of State Owned Enterprises and will facilitate investors, Erick told reporters in Batang, adding the ministry would construct infrastructure to support bringing in new industries. Task force Meanwhile, BKPM chief Bahlil Lahadalia said he has formed a special task force to attract investors to Indonesia. The process is intensive. We immediately knocked on the doors of the companies one by one to convince them that Indonesia is the right location for their factories, Bahlil said in a statement without providing details on most the 17 companies mentioned by Jokowi. He did say one of the companies, South Koreas LG Chemicals, expressed a desire to invest an estimated $9.8 billion (140 trillion rupiah) to construct a factory to produce batteries for electric vehicles. Tuesdays announcement followed one in mid-May when government officials said an unspecified number of U.S. companies, including a pharmaceutical company, wanted to relocate from China to Indonesia in the wake of a trade war between Washington and Beijing. The coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Pandjaitan, said Jokowi and U.S. President Donald Trump had discussed the matter the previous month. Officials have not updated the status of those companies seeking to move to Indonesia. Post-pandemic opportunities Tauhid Ahmad, executive director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), a private think-tank, said Indonesia stood to attract foreign investment if it could bring COVID-19 under control. Investors will look for large markets and Indonesia is one. Investors still believe Indonesias market has room to grow, Tauhid told BenarNews, adding government officials need to improve Indonesias outlook as being competitive for business. Japanese investors, for example, consider tax rules in Indonesia to be complicated, he said. Inefficient bureaucracy, rigid labor laws that make it difficult for companies to hire and fire employees and legal uncertainty have been cited as disincentives to foreign investment in Indonesia. To aid investment, the Jokowi government has proposed a series of bills to override laws seen as discouraging job creation, but widespread public opposition forced the parliament to postpone debating the draft legislation. Labor unions have said proposed legislation could remove some protections enjoyed by workers and make it easier for companies to fire employees and hire temporary staff. Indonesian government data indicate that the average minimum wage in Indonesia is 3.94 million rupiah ($276) per month, according to the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration. By comparison, the top monthly minimum wage in Vietnam is $190 (2.7 million rupiah), according to government figures. In this photo released by the Philippine Coast Guard, personnel in Batangas, Philippines, inspect the cargo ship MV Vienna Wood for signs of damage after it allegedly was involved in a collision with a Filipino fishing boat, June 30, 2020. A Hong Kong-flagged ship that collided with a Filipino boat, leaving 14 people missing at sea off Mindoro Island, did not deploy rescue boats and delayed its distress call about the incident to Philippine authorities, the coast guard said Tuesday. Rescuers carried on throughout the day with searching for survivors from the FV Liberty 5, the Philippine fishing boat that capsized after the collision in waters near the South China Sea, but found none of the boats 12 crewmembers or two passengers, officials said. The incident in fact occurred on Saturday although the crew from the MV Vienna Wood, a Hong Kong-registered cargo ship, waited till the pre-dawn hours on Sunday to alert Philippine authorities about the incident that occurred about 15 nautical miles (27 km) off Tayamaan, a town in Occidental Mindoro province, which lies south of Luzon Island, said Vice Admiral George Ursabia, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard. According to them, they just stopped and remained in the area without deploying any small boats for search and rescue for immediate assistance to the fishing vessel, Ursabia said. The ship moved a distance from the capsized Philippine boat because, the crew of the Vienna Wood reported, other fishing boats had already arrived and were helping in the rescue effort, Ursabia said. However, it was possible that the captain and crew of the Vienna Wood may face criminal and civil liabilities for not helping the crew of the FV Liberty 5, he said. The crew of the cargo ship waited about three hours before informing Philippine authorities about the collision, precious time that could have been used to scramble rescue personnel to the scene, Ursabia told reporters. That was very crucial, Ursabia said, disclosing that the mishap occurred at 10:20 p.m, Saturday, but the coast guard only received an email about the accident at 1:45 a.m. Sunday. He said they would also investigate why the ship sent an electronic mail to relay information about the accident rather than alert the coast guard by radio or telephone. Based on the damage sustained by both vessels, it appears that the Vienna Wood hit the smaller vessel, he said. It appears the fishing vessel was crossing the path of the bulk carrier from the right side, Ursabia said. The collision came more than a year after the Philippines lodged a diplomatic protest about the ramming and sinking of a Filipino boat by a Chinese boat in disputed waters of the South China Sea. In that incident, 22 Filipino crew members were left floating at sea until they were picked up by a Vietnamese boat. A mans body lies next to a motorbike as security forces guard the site while police crime-scene and bomb disposal personnel conduct an investigation after a blast at a temporary camp of the 1st Brigade Combat Team in Indanan, Sulu, Philippines, June 28, 2019. Philippine authorities late Monday said they were investigating the killing of four army intelligence personnel by police officers in an apparent friendly fire incident in southern Sulu province, a hotbed of activity involving Abu Sayyaf militants linked with Islamic State. In a statement released late Monday night, the militarys regional command confirmed that policemen shot soldiers boarding a private vehicle in front of a fire station in Jolo, the provincial capital, at 2:26 p.m. Monday. The members of the intelligence unit were in the area to search for Abu Sayyaf suicide bombers under the command of an operative allegedly linked to four suspected militants who were killed during a raid by government security forces in Metro Manila on Friday, according to officials. We are yet to establish the motive of the police, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said in a statement posted on its Facebook page. We also requested the NBI to investigate to ensure impartiality. We dont want any escalation of hostilities out of the incident. Our interest is to know the facts and give justice, he said, referring to the National Bureau of Investigation. According to a police incident report seen by BenarNews, police flagged down a vehicle carrying the soldiers who had introduced themselves properly. The police then directed the soldiers to a nearby municipal police station to verify their identities, but the vehicle sped away, the report said. When police officers gave chase the said persons disembarked from their vehicle with their firearms, the report said. Subsequently, the said persons lifted and pointed their firearms toward the PNP (police) personnel (but) before they could pull the trigger, the PNP personnel were able to shoot them in defense, it said. The Sulu Police Provincial Office, in a report to the Police Regional Office of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), identified the fatalities as officers and personnel of the army intelligence unit. Jolo police identified the dead soldiers as Maj. Marvin Indamog, commanding officer of the 9th Intelligence Service Unit (ISU); Capt. Irwin Managuelod; Sgt. Eric Velasco and Cpl. Abdal Asula. A military officer with information about Mondays shootings in Jolo said police tailed the soldiers van after they had identified themselves, the Associated Press reported. The soldiers then stopped their vehicle and one of them got out with his hands up, but the police opened fire on the soldiers, the source told AP. The army team was conducting an intelligence operation to locate suspected bombers linked to an Abu Sayyaf unit led by Mundi Sawadjaan, an operative identified last week by police intelligence sources as a key planner of twin suicide bombings that killed 23 people at a church in Jolo in January 2019. The four Abu Sayyaf suspects killed in Fridays raid in Paranaque City, outside Manila, were believed to be planning terrorist activities and were financial conduits for the Philippine affiliate of Islamic State (IS), sources in military and police intelligence said. The four suspects also had an established connection with Mundi Sawadjaan, officials said after last weeks raid. According to local media, Mundi is the nephew of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, the top leader of the Philippine branch of IS. Troops in Manila carry the coffin of Philippine Army Capt. Irwin Managuelod, one of four military intelligence specialists allegedly killed by police on southern Jolo Island, June 30, 2020. Four soldiers were murdered by rogue policemen while on a mission to track down Islamic State-linked militants on southern Jolo Island, the Philippine Army chief said Tuesday, rejecting reports that they were killed in a friendly fire incident. The army intelligence specialists two officers and two enlisted men with the 11th Infantry Division were hot on the trail of Abu Sayyaf members, bomb makers, and suicide bombers when members of the Jolo police force flagged them down on Monday, the army said in a statement. It said local police allegedly shot the four without any provocation, although local police, in an incident report a day earlier, described the shootings as a misencounter. They were murdered, army chief Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay said, as he demanded a full blown investigation into the incident. The soldiers were on a mission to identify the location of known terrorists in the area. Based on eyewitness accounts, no altercation transpired between the two parties nor was there any provocation on the part of the army personnel to warrant such carnage, Gapay said. He said that while the army was grieving for those killed, there would be no let-up in our quest for truth and justice. Nine police officers have been identified as being involved in what originally was reported as a friendly fire incident. National police spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said police leadership had ordered the police officers be disarmed and restricted to the Jolo municipal police station. An investigation is under way. No stones will be left unturned, Banac told BenarNews. Meanwhile, Harry Roque, spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte, had little to say about the case. We defer from making any statement other than the NBI has been asked to investigate the incident, he said, referring to the Justice Departments National Bureau of Investigation. A few rotten eggs Army spokesman Col. Ramon Zagala said security forces in Jolo knew of the soldiers mission, so it was unlikely that police were not aware of their movements on the island. This is a setback to our anti-terror operations, Zagala told BenarNews. These were seasoned intelligence officers who could have contributed more to our anti-terror fight had they not been killed. He said the soldiers were about to identify the homes of key militants when they were gunned down. This is a crime done by a few rotten eggs in the police, Zagala said. But we cannot just let the deaths of our officers end there. Justice must be served. The bodies of Maj. Marvin Indamog, Capt. Irwin Managuelod and Sgt. Eric Velasco were flown to Manila on Tuesday for proper military funerals. The fourth victim, Cpl. Abdal Asula, was a native of Jolo and his body was claimed by his family. The team of intelligence specialists was tracking militants serving under Mundi Sawadjaan, an operative identified as a key planner of suicide bombings that killed 23 people at a church in Jolo in January 2019. He is believed to be a nephew of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, the top leader of the Philippine branch of Islamic State (IS). During a raid in Metro Manila last Friday, police and military operatives killed four suspected Abu Sayyaf members who allegedly were working with Mundi Sawadjaans group to plot attacks in the majority Catholic nation, authorities said. A year-long investigation has found near-total impunity for perpetrators of killings under the Duterte administrations anti-drug campaign as Philippine national security laws are being used to undermine human rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Tuesday. Michelle Bachelet, the high commissioner, made the assertions during a speech in Geneva, where she presented the findings of the investigation into the Philippines before the U.N.s Human Rights Council as it opened its 44th session. A year ago, the council instructed her office to probe allegations of massive rights abuses linked to the drug war, which has gone on for four years. The campaign against illegal drugs is being carried out without due regard for the rule of law, due process and the human rights of people who may be using or selling drugs. The report finds that the killings have been widespread and systematic and they are ongoing, Bachelet said. We also found near-total impunity, indicating an unwillingness by the state to hold to account perpetrators of extrajudicial killings, she said. Families of the victims, understandably, feel powerless, with the odds firmly stacked against justice. The campaign, meanwhile, has been ineffective in reducing the supply of illegal drugs in the Philippines, Bachelet alleged. The findings of the report are very serious, Bachelet said. Laws and policies to counter national security threats and illegal drugs have been crafted and implemented in ways that severely impact human rights. She said the policies had resulted in thousands of killings, arbitrary detention and the vilification of those who challenge these severe human rights violations. Since the campaign against illegal drugs began, Philippine police have claimed more than 6,000 deaths of alleged dealers and addicts in operations carried out since Duterte became president in mid-2016. Rights groups, however, said the number could be four times higher, with many of the killings carried out by pro-government vigilantes. The report, she said, also found that more than 248 human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and labor unionists were killed in the Philippines between 2015 and 2019, with rights defenders routinely smeared as terrorists and enemies of the government. Bachelet called on President Rodrigo Duterte to not sign the countrys anti-terror bill, which she said blurred distinctions between criticism and terrorism. To become law, the bill needs the signature of Duterte, who, according to his office, was studying it closely. If signed, it would have a chilling effect on humanitarian work in the country, Bachelet said. I urge the president to refrain from signing the law, and to initiate a broad-cased consultation process to draft legislation that can effectively prevent and counter violent extremism but which contains safeguards to prevent its misuse against people engaged in peaceful criticism and advocacy, she said. Philippine Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra rejected her criticism as he delivered the governments rebuttal. He said the Southeast Asian country was a democracy where all opposing voices are heard. In the Philippine situation, where the option of righting every possible wrong evidently and vigorously exists, there is no reasonable basis to allege impunity or lack of accountability for human rights violations, he said. Guevarra said there should be no moral ambiguity in Dutertes efforts to boost the countrys weak terrorism laws which he stressed was only meant to protect the safety and security of the country. The terrorism index has consistently ranked the Philippines among countries most impacted by terrorism, he said. TUMWATER - Updates to Washingtons rules that spell out what type of workers dont have to receive overtime pay will take effect Wednesday, July 1. The rules establish the criteria for certain workers to be considered exempt from getting overtime pay and other protections under the State Minimum Wage Act. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) announced the changes last December after a lengthy public process. It involved numerous public hearings and taking comments and input from more than 2,400 people. The July update is primarily to the part of the rules known as the job duties test. In general, it helps determine which workers are considered executive, administrative, and professional employees, as well as computer professionals and outsides salespeople. Workers who fit into these categories based on the duties they perform, and earn more than the required salary threshold, can be considered exempt. Washington currently uses two job duties tests to determine if an employee could be classified as exempt, but starting July 1 the state will use a single test aligned more closely with federal standards. The test for each exemption spells out what duties an employee must perform to be classified as exempt, regardless of the employees job title or job description. Under the rules changes, the state will base the salary threshold on a multiplier of the state minimum wage. That threshold will increase incrementally until it reaches 2.5 times the minimum wage in 2028. The change will not impact most salaried workers this year because Washington employers will continue to follow the federal standard for the rest of 2020. Thats because the federal requirement that a salaried worker needs to earn at least $684 per week to be exempt from overtime is still slightly more favorable to employees than the new state threshold. Employers will have to meet the state threshold beginning Jan. 1, 2021, when it exceeds the federal level. On this Tuesday, I continue to be astounded by the lunacy on display in America. Now the radicals want to banish St. Louis. Thats correct - the name St. Louis is apparently triggering negative feelings in some far left kooks. But why? I dont know. St. Louis was named by French trappers who floated the Mississippi River in the 18th century. They established an outpost near the river and named it after the famous French king and canonized saint... Louis the ninth. Born in 1214, Louis by most accounts was a good guy. He fed his poor subjects, reformed the French justice system introducing due process, and upheld the Christian belief system - unusual for a King back then... hello Henry the Eighth. Other countries actually used King Louis to arbitrate disputes because of his quote: moral integrity. So whats the beef with St. Louis, far left loons? What new city name do you want? Actually, Im foolish for even asking that question. The radicals could brand the city Fidelville ... or Che - Fransisco. Wait, San Francisco is also named after a saint ... and Los Angeles after angels. Sorry I brought it up. Power to the people. Leave St. Louis alone. Tonight on the No Spin News, well have reaction to our Stand Up for Your Country campaign. Hope you check in beginning at six eastern. Worried Chinese away from home can turn to the 7885 Mustard Seed Helpline to ease their concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic In response to the severe and negative effect that COVID-19 has had on people's physical and mental health, Taiwan-based social welfare organization, The Mustard Seed Mission, has launched an official account on Line, a popular social media application. The new service - the 7885 Mustard Seed Helpline - brings inner peace to callers by providing a venue where worried individuals can chat one on one with a pastor in tandem with the loving care and assistance of over 100 pastors. Due to the fast spread of the virus worldwide, the service is in the process of adding pastors who can converse in more than 20 languages with the aim of lending a comforting ear to Chinese travellers and residents abroad and easing their concerns. Since the outbreak of the virus, many people have felt themselves trapped into negative thought patterns due to shrinking income, unemployment, limitation on daily activities or social distancing. Thanks to a collaboration with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and the Taiwan Graduate School of Theology, the Mustard Seed Mission brings together experienced pastors to care and pray for callers voicing concerns. While Taiwan has recorded a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, many countries are experiencing a widening outbreak, making the service that will soon be available in more than 20 languages, including Mandarin, English, Japanese and German, all the more indispensable. Yu-Fen Chien, training director of the 7885 Mustard Seed Helpline as well as professor and Counseling Center director at the Taiwan Graduate School of Theology, said that training in empathy is an important concept in the counseling industry. Callers are greatly comforted in the process of feeling understood, as their negative emotions have an appropriate outlet. Shu-Ti Chang, a pastor who has been living in Germany for the last eight years, attends to callers in four languages, Mandarin, Taiwanese, English and German. Anyone interested can log on via the LINE app, search ID: @187yfeyj and access the service at no charge by voice or by text, or visit https://www.facebook.com/MSelearing, where anyone who would like to study at home can access and safely share an abundance of educational materials. Epidax, which is a microfluidics-based PCR diagnostic system, is about the size of a toaster and very portable A team of researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a portable COVID-19 micro-PCR diagnostic system called Epidax that enables rapid and accurate on-site screening of infectious diseases and significantly reduces the time required to analyse patient samples. Epidax, which is a microfluidics-based PCR diagnostic system, is about the size of a toaster and very portable. It can be deployed quickly and easily on-site for virus infection screening. Currently, nasal swab samples are first collected at a clinic or testing site, and sent to a laboratory for processing to extract the RNA, before the PCR test is conducted. The Epidax system uses a specially designed microfluidic chip that comprises micro-channels where samples are processed. By employing microfluidic technology, the system is able to process a smaller amount of sample for quicker detection of COVID-19 infection. Using a reagent which enables both RNA extraction and amplification on the chip, the PCR test can be performed right after a nasal swab sample is collected, thus bypassing the intermediate step of RNA extraction. All these features significantly minimise sample handling and shorten the test and waiting time, so patients can get their test results in about an hour. The NUS team has filed a patent for this invention, and is in talks with a medical technology company to commercialise this technology. To assist preclinical exploratory testings with discovery and development of druggable formulations Hyderabad based Transcell Oncologics introduces Transtoxbio, a unique portfolio for COVID-19 Vaccines and Drug candidates (Pharma assets pipeline). Transtoxbio offers a comprehensive collection of human derived ethically immune configured progenitor cell/tissue platforms as human surrogate systems to support the growing community of pharma and preclinical research industry. Their state of the art capacities takes pride in sourcing, isolating, and preserving the authenticity of all configured cell/tissue based systems with predictive powers needed to assist preclinical exploratory testings with discovery and development of druggable formulations. It is the only portfolio with specialized capabilities to test Bio/therapeutics (vaccine/drug candidates) induced species specific hematotoxicity, relevant transcriptomics, cytokine involved inflammatory pathways, Pulmonotoxicity on human surrogate in vitro models to predict their prognosis in clinical trials. Advantages with opting Transtoxbio in preclinical research and testing: Collaboration will enable global development, manufacturing and distribution of the candidate vaccine New Delhi based Panacea Biotec is advancing its response to address the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 by collaborating with Refana Inc. USA to make candidate Covid-19 vaccine widely accessible around the world in an equitable manner through a Joint Venture company based in Ireland. The collaboration aims to bring to patients a whole inactivated virus-based vaccine for Covid-19. Under the collaboration, Panacea Biotec will be responsible for product development and commercial manufacturing, with the Joint Venture undertaking clinical development and regulatory submissions across the World. Both Panacea and Refana will undertake sales and distribution of the vaccine in their respective territories. Dr. Rajesh Jain, Managing Director, Panacea Biotec, said, The world needs a vaccine that is safe, effective, and scalable in a cGMP compliant manufacturing facility that has sizeable capacity and capability to cater to global demand. Our collaboration with Refana aims to manufacture over 500 million doses of our Covid-19 candidate vaccine, with over 40 million doses expected to be available for delivery early next year. Our candidate vaccine is based on tried and tested technologies that have been proven over decades with existing vaccines. Whole inactivated viral vaccines have a higher probability of being safe and efficacious, given their long history and better understanding of their mechanism of action, which has been elucidated over many decades. Our vaccine leverages a dose-sparing Adjuvant to maximise the number of immunisations available for distribution. Additionally, intramuscular/sub-cutaneous mode of administration with pre-existing, compatible infrastructure ensures adequate supply chain availability until the last mile. This vaccine has the potential to become the Vaccine of Choice for the global fight against Covid-19. We believe and hope that our vaccine candidate will enable the world to get back to work fearlessly as soon as possible. Dr Phillip Schwartz stated "Refana and its international network of scientific researchers and practitioners are dedicated to finding practical solutions to complex and urgent global medical problems. We are grateful for the input we have obtained from dozens of medical scientists and epidemiologists in more than a dozen countries in this unprecedented worldwide collaboration to end Covid-19. Our partnership with Panacea Biotec brings this dream to a practical realization with the ability to manufacture 500 million Covid-19 vaccines over 12 months. Utilizing proven models of viral pathogenesis and parallel conduct of multiple pre-clinical and clinical studies, Refana believes it can significantly accelerate the vaccine development and approval process for its tried and true whole inactivated viral vaccine approach. We are very excited to combine this approach with Panacea Biotecs world class technology, development and production capabilities." This collaboration brings together the Panacea Biotecs expertise in vaccinology, R&D, manufacturing and distribution capabilities with Refanas Scientific teams strong ability to work on complex challenges through innovative technologies. We believe that by joining forces, we can accelerate the globalisation of a vaccine to combat the virus and protect people from most contagious virus in more than a century. The platform is offered by a consortium of Octaware Technologies Limited, Transpact Enterprise Limited, Centrium Healthcare, and RIDA Foundation The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the acute shortage of VENTILATORS/BIPAPS for "Respiratory Intensive Care Unit" for the acutely ill patients. Valuable time is lost and the patient's lives are unnecessarily endangered. Even for patients willing to pay for the costs, many times relatives are left to fend for themselves running between many hospitals. This adds to severe mental trauma to close family and relatives. The consortium of Octaware Technologies Limited (Aggregator Platform), Transpact Enterprise Limited (MedTech), Centrium Healthcare, and RIDA Foundation (NGO) offer a Tech-enabled aggregator platform to address this challenge as follows: Problem: Mumbai has approx. 5000 ICU Beds, but the number of ICU beds with Ventilator is only 600. With COVID-19 impacting respiratory system of patients, the number of deaths is increasing daily due to a shortage of Ventilators in ICU. Current Gap: Smaller hospitals in Mumbai do have ICU units (Avg. 5-10 beds) but with only 1 or 2 Ventilators. Solution: A platform like "Uber for Ventilators" with Ventilator owner (Car owner), Hospital ICU unit (Driver), and patients (Passenger) offering online access to ICU Beds with Ventilators. Mobile/Web App: A mobile application "Air-Venti" for patients to search for available ICU beds with/without Ventilator and book. A backend mobile tracker application for Hospitals to update the allocation of ICU beds and patient discharge. At a later stage, integration of the IoT Ventilator machine for the real-time update of machine availability. Working Model: Individual sponsorer/Investor in Mumbai will invest Rs. 2 lacs and own the Ventilator or BiPAPs. These Ventilators will be deployed to the Hospitals to be managed by Intensivist and Respiratory Physicians. Mobile App "Air-Venti" available on App store will generate and direct the patients flow to the Hospitals registered on Air-Venti that includes VOD network Hospitals, private hospitals with ICU beds and government hospitals. A portion of the profit generated out of the billed amount will be shared with the Ventilator Owner. In case of a medical emergency with the Ventilator owner, he can request to block for himself, and a Ventilator from the cloud (pool of Ventilators) or Standby Ventilator will be blocked on the first preference. Break-Even in approx. 12 months. Post- Pandemic, opportunity to sell in depreciated cost, or donate to charitable hospitals in India. The Ventilator can also be contributed as Endowment (Waqf)/CSR with 80(G) benefits. Needy patients will be provided discounted fees for using these donated Ventilators. The contributors (Endowment) can still be beneficiaries of the Ventilator in case of his emergency needs. Benefits of Owning Ventilator: Peace of mind for nears and dears Large pool to access when in need of Ventilator in ICU Or use Standby Ventilator Or Take Ventilator offline for personal quarantine use at home Opportunity to generate income Help society during this crisis time. Current Status: Availability of 50 Portable Ventilators and 100 BiPAPS with Manufacturer. A network of 10 Hospitals in the Mumbai suburb to allocate 50 ICU beds Respiratory Physicians and Intensivist on board to manage ICU Units, if required by Hospitals Mobile App already developed and being uploaded on play store. The legalstructure in place to kick start the Future Plan: The platform will be enhanced to incorporate the accessibility of other medical devices such as dialysis machines for Kidney patients, Vestibulators for autistic children Next Step: Helps users to quit smoking and other forms of tobacco consumption On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, Quitx Wellness launches first of its kind an app-based smoking and tobacco cessation program to help users quit smoking and other forms of tobacco consumption. Quitx, the app has been developed and curated using Cognitive-behavioral and Nicotine Replacement Therapies. With the help of the healthcare professionals, Quitx has curated a 90 days cessation program that enables a tobacco user to quit and reduce his nicotine dependence from products like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco products and even bidis. Study states that there are a total 266.8 million Tobacco users in India out of which 7% use smoking tobacco products, 17% use smokeless tobacco product users, 4% use both the forms. Due to the lack of awareness about the harm, ingrained cultural attitudes and lack of support for cessation escalates the tobacco use in the community, resulting in more than 10 million deaths yearly. Deprived tobacco cessation advice and support acts as a significant barrier for the implementation of tobacco cessation programs. 2 million people enroll for Indias quit tobacco programme in a year but 80% of these tobacco users relapse at least once when trying to quit on their own. Francie Patel, co-founder of Quitx Wellness said, The first step to quitting is by recognizing and acknowledging the level of dependence on tobacco. The foundation of any cessation program is to understand the users dependence on nicotine and willingness to quit. By keeping these two parameters at the center, Quitx will make the quitting journey a lot easier. Its an excellent platform for users who want to go cold turkey but are afraid to do so. It will help them make their choice of going cold turkey easy and stay on course by constantly conversing with them and guiding through the process until they achieve their goal. According to a recent poll-study, 72% of Indias exclusive combustible tobacco users between the age group of 18-24 years have attempted to quit smoking during the COVID19 lockdown. In the wake of the current situation, it is essential to empower these users with the right tools and techniques that will enable them to continue their quit journey. For a high nicotine-dependent user, the probability of him relapsing is very high. If we take advantage of new cessation and harm reduction technologies we can save millions of lives from tobacco-related death. Quitx is focused on creating a tailored experience for the smoker during his journey. We understand that every individuals reasons & triggers for using tobacco are different and also their cravings and coping mechanisms need to be tailored accordingly. Algorithm-based Cognitive-behavioral therapies have been curated with the help of psychologists who understand the behavioural differences and the need for an effective and efficient program that provides real-time support. Francie further added. The start up is currently doing a pilot with limited audience in Mumbai. It will be soon available on the android and iOS app stores. Quitx uses a very empathetic approach in building these cessation programmes. The program uses various techniques and coping mechanisms to engage with the user through in-app interactions. It also offers personalized virtual counseling and access to a community of users trying to quit tobacco. It focuses on understanding a user's journey, his triggers, his circumstance that led him to his addiction and then curating a quitting or harm reduction programme depending on his own goal. The facility will add to the testing capacity of Uttar Pradesh The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow, has established an Advanced Virology Lab for testing COVID-19. The facility has been developed based on the guidelines of the Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It is a Bio Safety Level (BSL) 3 level facility. Biosafety levels are assigned to a facility depending on the pathogen it deals with. According to ICMR guidelines, BSL2 level facility is recommended for COVID-19 but this is an advanced version, said Dr Samir Sawant, Senior Principal Scientist, NBRI. This advanced version has a Negative Pressure, which means it has a suction facility that can suck any aerosol and pass it through filters. It can filter virus or bacteria to make it a safe COVID-19 testing facility. It reduces the possibilities of infections at culturing facilities. Prof. S K Barik, Director, NBRI, said that the facility will add to the testing capacity of Uttar Pradesh (UP). At present, UP is testing about 20,000 samples per day. To follow the protocol, we will start testing 100 samples a day in the first week and later we will scale it up to 500 samples a day, said Dr Sawant. As requested by the higher authorities of the Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (DG-CSIR), NBRI took up the initiative for developing the testing facility in the wake of coronavirus pandemic as a service to the people of Uttar Pradesh, Prof Barik said. Prof. Barik also informed that a team of scientists and researchers from the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, will also join the NBRI team for the testing of COVID samples. Clinimed organises webinar in association with ISCR The Webinar on Strategies to Conduct Clinical Trials effectively in Covid-19 era organized by CliniMed LifeSciences Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata in association with Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) and Peerless Hospital, Kolkata as knowledge partners and BioSpectrum as media partner, was held at 3 pm on June 6, 2020. Around 500 plus participants attended this informative webinar amongst 1000 plus registrants for this webinar. We got lot of appreciations from many research enthusiasts from the different parts of our country as well as from abroad saying it was really a timely webinar and informative one said Mr. Snehendu Konar, Business Development Manager of CliniMed LifeSciences, organizer of this event. The event was moderated by Dr. Subhroyoti Bhowmick, Clinical Director, Research and Academics, Peerless Hospital, Kolkata and he introduced all of our distinguished panelists with their short bio -sketch. In the opening remarks, Dr. V. G. Somani, Drug Controller General of India ( DCGI ) stated the significance of artificial intelligence with risk benefits as one of the most important strategies of conducting clinical research during Covid-19 pandemic. We have to take advantage of such validated technologies to collect data and analysis purposes to avoid physical visits said Dr. Somani. He clearly differentiated what should be the acceptability for routine and that of pandemic situation. Dr. Roli Mathur, head of ICMR Bioethics Unit pointed out that we should follow the strategies like virtual meeting, e-documents, e-consent, e-EC in such constraint environment. ICMR is planning for enabling all EC committee awareness and they have enabled FAQs and forms in their website said Dr. Roli Mathur. She also opined, central EC can do evaluations and monitoring can be done by local EC. Dr. Sanis Davis, General Secretary of ISCR emphasized on how to ensure patient safety and sensitized ethics committee (EC) can support large number of studies. According to Ms. Suneela Thatte, VP and Head, R&D Solutions, IQVIA India, the biggest challenge is to be responsible for patient safety and maintaining health status. Some mechanisms should be there to maintain their safety. IP supply is going to be a long-term challenge- how do we bring the entire focus on handling pandemic for clinical trials research and how can we bring them back on clinical research. We need to make sure we provide tools and techniques to fulfil administrative and logistic requirements. We need to adopt virtual clinical trials in a way where patient safety is not being compromised. Remote working should be done for not only EC but for all possible committee. Mr. Anirban Roy Chowdhury, Co-Director, CDSA, THSTI, DBT, Govt. of India spoke about the statistical approach of clinical trial where data collection method for data analysis and interpretation results become very important factors keeping scientific integrity. Dr. Alben Sigamani, Group Head, Dept. of Clinical Research, Narayana Health shared his insights and thoughts on telephonic conversation adoption for which ICMR has released the new guidelines for follow up. We need to plan the entire phase in one period format just to see what happens amidst this COVID era. Dr. Soma Mukhopadhaya explained the challenges of conducting clinical trial at sites. She told that the communication is the basic key. At site, SMO should arrange meeting their staff twice a week to boost them mentally up for having clear idea to attend patients, how to use precautionary measures. She appealed to the sponsors or CROs to provide protective gears like PPE kits for the frontline research staff. SMO is encouraging the sites or hospitals to conduct COVID tests before enrolling the patients for clinical trials. Dr. Bhowmick, the moderator, then set the tone for discussion by asking the panelists the questions came from attendees via mail and Q&A session of the webinar. After this, all the panelists answered the participants queries and the webinar concluded with the vote of thanks given by the moderator and the organizer of this webinar. Partnership with Hospitality players in Bengaluru to set up COVID care centres for mild and asymptomatic patients In an endeavour to intensify the fight against the pandemic, Manipal Health Enterprises part of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) collaborates with the Government of Karnataka and converts its 100 bed fully equipped facility at Malleshwaram as a dedicated COVID unit. The facility is equipped with a 14-bed respiratory ICU and state of the art equipment to ensure seamless and efficient treatment to COVID patients. The facility also has back up imaging and a full-fledged laboratory to ensure the highest level of care to COVID 19 patients. The Group has also been approved by the regulatory authorities to perform COVID 19 Testing at its Hospital on Old Airport, Bangalore and Udupi. The group has been working closely with the Government of Karnataka since March when the pandemic started to breakout in the State. The Chairman of Manipal Hospitals, Dr. Sudarshan Ballal was a key member of the Task Force formed by the Govt to help combat the spread of the virus. Over the last 3 months, a specialist team comprising of a Physician/Geriatrician, Intensivist, Pulmonologists, Anaesthesiologist and Nephrologist have been monitoring critically ill COVID 19 patients across 7 districts of Karnataka via the E-Rounds initiative. The dedicated team of specialists were part of the war room to provide video consultations to critically ill patients twice a day. In the month of April, Dr TMA Hospital, a 150 bed facility in Udupi was converted to a dedicated COVID centre and became the only private Hospital in Karnataka to be designated as a COVID 19 Hospital and has treated over 150 patients. RB Hygiene has extended its support to the COVID-19 Control Room of the Maharashtra Government by donating 1,60,000 litres of Lizol and Harpic for disinfection. In an attempt to break the chain of this fast spreading COVID-19 infection, Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB Hygiene) has extended its support to the COVID-19 Control Room of the Maharashtra Government by donating 1,60,000 litres of Lizol and Harpic for disinfection. COVID-19 Control Room has been working relentlessly with the municipal corporations and the state government since the onset of the pandemic by disinfecting public areas including hospitals and public facilities in Covid-19 affected zones. Through this alliance with RB they are looking at cleaning and disinfecting public and community toilets with Harpic and using Lizol to disinfect hospitals and public areas across Maharashtra. Commenting on this donation, Narasimhan Eswar, Senior Vice President, RB Hygiene, South Asia said, Amidst these unprecedented times, we wanted to extend our support to public healthcare institutions and frontline workers who are working tirelessly to keep our citizens safe. The donation of our trusted disinfection brands Lizol and Harpic to the Maharashtra government will aid in cleaning and disinfecting areas to help break the chain of infection. Shri. Bhushan Gagrani, Incharge- CSR Cell, COVID-19 Control Room, Maharashtra said, With the number of cases increasing daily, it is getting even more critical to clean and disinfect public areas and healthcare institutions at regular intervals. We are grateful to RB for extending support in this collective fight against COVID-19 pandemic and for their generous contribution of disinfectants Lizol and Harpic. RB India recently announced a donation of 1 million litres of Lizol and Harpic to aid Indian states in fighting this crisis especially in public health institutions and at the frontline with health and sanitation workers. People with diabetes should adapt to the new reality in seeking medical assistance while navigating through the fast-changing situation on the ground With more than 1.5 lakh cases infected with COVID-19, the countrys health system is undergoing a tumultuous time where hospitals and medical facilities are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. This may affect people living with diabetes, especially a sub-group whose blood glucose level is uncontrolled due to which immediate medical attention is required. Studies from countries heavily affected with SARS-CoV-2, CDC and other national health databases indicate that the risk of death from COVID-19 is up to 50% higher in those with diabetes compared to compared to those without diabetes, which is an important risk factor associated with severe pneumonia and sepsis due to the viral infection. Unfortunately, if diabetes is combined with other metabolic diseases like high blood pressure, long-term heart and kidney diseases, the risk of severity of COVID-19 further worsens. While people with diabetes are not more likely to get COVID-19 as compared to non-diabetic population, a good glycemic control is the key in staying away from severe symptoms and complications of COVID-19, if it develops. Maintaining a good glycaemic control boosts the immune system. Most of the physicians may consider reviewing the prescription over continuing current therapy or intensifying them, in order to achieve a good glycaemic control. Furthermore, the American Diabetes Association suggests that it important to monitor glycaemic status to watch out for both very low and very high blood sugars and monitor blood glucose frequently throughout the day and night. In preparation, staying hydrated and keeping simple carbohydrates handy like hard candies, honey, jam, etc., to manage very low blood sugars is crucial. If people with diabetes are suspected or diagnosed with COVID-19, immediate medical attention should be sought. Along with medications, people with diabetes should also do regular home-based exercises for good sugar control and boost immunity. A workout routine not only promotes healthy lifestyle but also balances both physical and mental health. In particular, elderly people with type 2 diabetes should take additional measures maintain good glycemic control since studies have shown higher fasting plasma glucose levels during COVID-19 outbreak in this sub-group. Pregnant women with diabetes should use flash systems to access blood sugar values remotely and avoid commuting to outdoor medical facilities for blood sugar testing. Since the onset of the pandemic, several studies have recommended insulin as one of the most effective treatments for people with diabetes, owing to its multiple benefits such as better glycemic control, making the pH unfavorable viral infection. Insulin is the single most effective therapy for people with type 1 diabetes, and a superior alternative in people with type 2 diabetes. If blood glucose level is high at any time, the use of insulin can hasten and intensify control. A study published by Dr Ewen and colleagues in BMJ Global Health on Insulin prices suggests that improving insulin availability and affordability is of utmost importance. In view of this study and the new realities of social distancing due to COVID-19 pandemic, Novo Nordisk India, one of the pioneers in providing innovative insulins has reduced the price of Ryzodeg, an Insulin analogue that controls both mealtime and in between meal blood sugars, in India by 30%. People with diabetes should adapt to the new reality in seeking medical assistance while navigating through the fast-changing situation on the ground. Remote consultations using telemedicine should be utilized to reduce exposure. Moreover, blood glucose should be tested routinely along with the prescribed medications for diabetes. Keeping the glucose level under control through effective management is a critical medium through which, risks from COVID-19 and possibility of severe disease can be tackled with, by people living with diabetes. Dr. Siddharth N Shah, Consulting Physician & Diabetologist, Mumbai BioSpectrum interacts with Hemant Gupta, MD, Zone Startups India, Mumbai focusing on the growth of women biotech entrepreneurs What are the key highlights of Zone Startups India? One of the oldest incubators in India, ZSI started in 2013 with the objective of creating a world-class incubator to promote startups and support the Government of Indias vision for entrepreneurship development and a culture of innovation. We follow a sector-agnostic approach and have created a curated incubation framework for startups that caters to their individual needs. We also work in close collaboration with our corporate partners and sponsors on focus areas based around their interest or problem statements. This year we have enhanced the reach of our physical incubator by converting to a phygital format. We will be soon launching a virtual approach to support startups remotely. How many startups are incubated at the Zone Startups India? In the last 7 odd years we have worked with 118 startups from diverse fields at our flagship incubator and over 250 startups through our various accelerator programs. How many of those startups are run by women? We have incubated eight startups led by women founders, including BabyChakra. Additionally, for the last 4 years we have been running an accelerator program for women founders called empoWer, through which we have nurtured 79 startups. DBT has set a target of $150 B by 2025 for the bio-economy. How can women entrepreneurs contribute to this? Women have always played a leading role in Biotech. Just to give you an example, the ratio of women student to men in biosciences is 5:1. As per the last data I saw, while women founders comprise only 9% of overall startups; in Biotech, 33% of the startups are founded by women. India is among the top 12 destinations for biotechnology in the world, with approximately 3% share in the global biotechnology industry. There are more than 1,000 biotechnology startups in India, and more than half of these had been established within the previous five years. And, according to BIRAC, the biotechnology sector in India is growing at about 15% per year. The pandemic has accelerated this pace of growth dramatically. To my mind, the enhanced focus on Biotech opens up more doors for women to enter and flourish in this space. Believe me, women entrepreneurs are going to play a significant role in reaching this target by 2025. How is Zone Startups India pushing the growth of women biotech entrepreneurs in India? Our role as an incubator and an accelerator is to create the right environment for women biotech startups to grow and succeed. We do this by making sure that we provide them infrastructure, mentoring, market access and access to funding. Depending on the stage and the business model, we curate programs for them. One of the largest hurdles that a Biotech startup faces is access to infrastructure, as the equipment required can be very expensive and tough to maintain. BIRAC has setup several incubators across India under their BioNEST program such as C-CAMP in Bengaluru or RiiDL in Mumbai. We provide access to our incubatees to such facilities also, if required. What needs to be done to enhance the participation of women entrepreneurs in the biotech industry? We need to ensure that we create a level playing field, where it is easy for a woman with an idea to convert it into a business and the environment to scale up the business. With this in mind, there needs to be strong support institutions in place, especially for startups that are in their early stage. Getting the right mentoring, growth funds, peer network, co-working space, and research laboratory create a sturdy foundation that provide women entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to navigate through challenges. In addition to empoWer, we are launching our Virtual Incubation Program for Women Entrepreneurs (VIP-WE). The program is for early stage startups, where one of our focus areas will be Biotech. We firmly believe that women entrepreneurs, especially in the current times, bring greater innovation and resilience to the startup ecosystem and shall continue to enhance our support for them. Homeopathy is a form of holistic medicine based on the principle of like cures like, in which a substance given in small doses will cure the same symptoms of illness they are known to cause in high doses. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new coronavirus discovered after an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As yet, theres no vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Researchers are currently working on creating a vaccine specifically for this virus, as well as potential treatments for COVID-19. Considering there is no treatment available at the moment with conventional medicines, there is a demand for an alternative therapy that could mitigate/prevent the symptoms associated with Covid-19. A lot is known about increasing immunity with homeopathy in India & across the world. Homeopathy is a form of holistic medicine based on the principle of like cures like, in which a substance given in small doses will cure the same symptoms of illness they are known to cause in high doses. Historically homeopathy was used for epidemics by its founder Dr. Samuel Hahnemann who recommended Belladonna for scarlet fever. Homeopathy became popular in the 19 th century due to its success in treating epidemic diseases such ascholera, yellow fever and typhus. Homeopathic treatment may be divided into at least five types, depending on the way of prescribing. Clinical prescription aims at treating the disorder using symptoms of the ailment. For example, local symptoms of flu are looked at and a remedy is prescribed. Combination Remedies uses combining several different remedies that are commonly prescribed for a specific disease into one medication and treat people during an epidemic. It is important to match the correct remedies with the symptoms of the epidemic being treated. Constitutional prescription aims to bolster the entire constitution of the patient. A detailed description of the patients physical, mental and emotional symptoms are taken into account and a specific single remedy is prescribed. As a result different people receive different prescriptions for the same ailment, as their constitution is different. Other homeopathic researchers have reported treating other epidemic diseases, such as Chikungunya fever, pulmonary tuberculosis, and malaria, using individualized prescribing. Isopathy/Nosode: Isopathic remedies are made from the actual cause of the illness, or from its by-products, to treat that same condition. It is somewhat similar to conventional vaccination, although the preparation is in accordance with homeopathic pharmacy guidelines. A study involved using a nosode exhibited prophylactic effect of homeopathic medicines prepared by dilutions of the causative organism of a disease called leptospirosis in Cuba. Over 2 million inhabitants in Cuba who were treated with the nosode prophylatically had a much lower than expected incidence of the infection that year. In contrast, the incidence of leptospirosis in the other, untreated, provinces of Cuba rose by 21.7%. Furthermore an interesting fact is that Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that humans contract from animals!. Genus Epidemicus: A prescription using this principle is based on the concept that during a true epidemic of acute disease a majority of cases will respond to the same specific remedy, provided the remedy is similar to the characteristic symptoms of the epidemic. There is anecdotal evidence of homeopathic prophylaxis and specific treatment against infectious diseases. Homeopathic medicines exhibited efficacy and prophylactic effect was noted against the Spanish flu epidemic after World War 1, swine flu and dengue. There is a need to combine the traditional knowledge of homeopathy with the scientific parameters of clinical trials to prove the remedys efficacy in prophylaxis. Conclusion: Homeopathy is an integral part of treatment in many countries. India is considered as a hub in homeopathy as it is recognised by the Government in the form of educational institutions, research organizations, drug manufacturers, professional associations etc with its specific funding of AYUSH. Prospective, Randomized, Parallel-groups and Placebo-controlled trials may be conducted to explore the efficacy of homeopathy both in prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Several different homeopathic methods can be used to treat the pandemic and homeopathy could be seen as an attractive alternative, but only if there is a robust experimental evidence of its success. Dr Vinita Pandey (PhD, LCHE, RSHom) is a qualified Homeopath and practices at Health Zone Clinic, Wimbledon, London, UK. An understanding of the complexity of the brain is demonstrated in each and every innovation as the pursuit of safer and more precise methods of diagnosis increases each year Since the 1970s, with the development of computed tomography (CT) scanning, new advancements to aid the diagnosis of the extremely malignant brain cancer has proliferated. With the alarming estimate of about 40,000-50,000 people diagnosed in India with brain cancer per year, developing faster and more effective ways for detecting the tumour is imperative. Only once it has been identified will the doctors be able to administer the most suitable treatment, hopefully increasing the grim 5-year survival rate. Every year, we celebrate World Brain Tumor Day to raise awareness and encourage innovations in this field. Only with these innovations and new technology will we be able to completely revolutionize cancer diagnosis and treatment. The research and development of artificial intelligence (AI) have manifested in several fields, notably while testing for brain tumours. The use of this technology increases the accuracy and speed of diagnosis tremendously. Recent experiments have shown the detection of a brain tumour in less than 3 minutes as compared to older methods that would range from 20 to 30 minutes. This is possible due to specific algorithms which are programmed to scan pictures and make accurate distinctions between healthy and cancerous tissue. To fully make use of this technology, scientists have coded the identification of 10 of the most prevalent cancers. Hence, this advancement in technology would propel faster identification of brain tumour and use of the most effective treatment for each patient. Recently, Yashoda Hospital in Hyderabad used a novel form of technology- intraoperative Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). By allowing doctors to view the brain during surgery, stress on precision is alleviated, making surgery safer. This is because, while accounting for safety, surgeons are likely keep a part of the tumour in the patient. With an iMRI, they are aided by a clear and complete picture of the brain and its components, allowing them to operate completely and receive a scan checking for any remainders of the tumour. Furthermore, through the introduction of Stereotactic Radio Surgery in several hospitals in India, doctors hope to revolutionise the treatment of brain tumours. Unlike surgery, this method relies on a ray of radiation that is only concentrated on the tumour, leaving the neighbouring organs completely unharmed. By carrying out 3D imaging such as CT or MRI, one is able to locate the tumour and the type of tissue surrounding it. Thus doctors are made more aware of its nature and are able to guide treatment in the best possible way. Despite only being able to treat tumours smaller than 3 cm, its applicability in children and the elderly, is making it more popular as a form of quick and safe treatment. Also, the discovery of fibre-guided tractography seems to play an essential part in gaining a deeper understanding of the brains structure and nerve cells which will surely improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours. Through the use of an imaging method known as diffusion MRI, this software will be able to create 3D renders of a patients brain, including detailed structures of nerves. These coloured and intricately formed images will help surgeons gain a deeper understanding of the connections in ones brain as well as assist them while isolating the tumour from the brain tissue. To test this new development, SMS Medical College in Jaipur, conducted a study to devise the location of various small tumours. The results proved the efficiency and accuracy of this method, as patients with language disorders and frequent seizures were diagnosed for the root of their problems- brain cancer. An understanding of the complexity of the brain is demonstrated in each and every innovation as the pursuit of safer and more precise methods of diagnosis increases each year. The combination of science and technology has allowed doctors and researchers to help provide patients with the earliest possible diagnosis, which in turn speeds up the process of treatment. Thus these advancements hope to reduce the risk of brain cancer, control its growth and hopefully, cure it. Nysa Adurkar, Mumbai Ravi Kaushik, CEO, Transasia Bio-Medicals, Mumbai talks about the company's recent contribution in the fights against COVID-19 "We are glad and proud to be the technology partner of choice for AMTZ and Department of Biotechnology, GoI and to extend our technical and clinical expertise in developing an innovative 'lab on wheels' in the nation's mission to fight against COVID-19. This collaboration with GoI builds on Transasia's 41-years-old legacy of providing high quality products at affordable cost across the heartland of India. Named Infectious Disease Diagnostic Lab (iLAB), this state-of-the-art mobile microbial containment (BSL-2) laboratory was made in Transasia's Vizag manufacturing facility at AMTZ, Asia's first medical device manufacturing park at Vishakhapatnam in partnership with Bharat Benz and support of Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Government of India. We take pride in driving this idea from concept to reality, working closely with AMTZ. The iLAB will allow for COVID-19 testing access to thousands of patients in remote areas who would otherwise find it difficult to reach a lab and get a test done. It goes beyond free testing by providing diagnosis at the doorstep of needy patients. - Ravi Kaushik, CEO, Transasia Bio-Medicals, Mumbai One of the things which has gone into self-isolation in the past few months is optimism. Along with its sibling, confidence, it's what our country needs now as we battle the coronavirus and the carnage it has wrought on our economy. Tsogo Sun Hotels to take over Mount Grace, The Edward and Protea Hotel Hazyview. Click https://t.co/YQ2dE0ac7E for more info. pic.twitter.com/pd8Da5HBad Tsogo Sun (@tsogosun) June 20, 2020 Neither are traits you see often in business people but Marcel von Aulock, chief executive of Tsogo Sun, is one top businessman bucking the trend. Hes either very brave or exceedingly foolish. But he is sending out the right messages and vibes as he and his group get ready for a return to business.This week, he announced Tsogo would be taking over three iconic hotels from Marriott International which Marriott had said it would have to close. These are the Mount Grace in Magaliesburg, the Edward in Durban and the Protea Hotel Hazyview in Mpumalanga.Now that the government has announced casinos, restaurants and theatres can reopen, Tsogo's Gaming division already had an upbeat back to normal TV commercial prepared which, like Von Auluck, is optimistic but realistic at the same time.The ad is shot in and around the MonteCasino precinct in Joburg and it shows the echoingly empty casino floor, devoid of gamblers and populated only by silent slot machines. Then we see scenes of the slots and the tables back in operation.Over the visuals are the messages: We have to open, We have to entertain and then Its what we do.Its simple but its effective in passing along a call to action message (so patrons will know its gambling as usual), but also as subtle brand building, because it shows Tsogo Gaming as having confidence and confidence and optimism can be as contagious as the virus.In that sense, the ad also performs the work of a responsible corporate citizen: we know its tough, but we want to get back to work. And getting back to work is what will help us stagger back from the brink. So, an Orchid to Tsogo Gaming and another to Von Aulock, because plenty of other CEOs can learn from the way he communicates.In my youth, when I was a beer drinker (I much prefer red wine these days), I would have run a mile if my favourite brand had tried to pitch its product at me using my grandmother.So I do have to wonder about the rationale behind the latest ad for Castle Lite (which, in any event, only has a nodding acquaintance to real beer) which features a gogo who looks remarkably like Helen Zille.That was probably what got my attention but the fact that when this old dear arrives home, she puts a record on the record player (dont know what that is? Ask your gran) and then pulls out a Castle Lite and twists off the cap. Then she proceeds, one assumes, to get blasted.The message is supposed to be one that encourages safe drinking and socialising in the midst of a pandemic: so stay at home and get mellow.Perhaps there was some clever who reasoned that doing something different will get people to pay attention, dude but beer marketing has always been about marketing a lifestyle. Even though we know lots of different people consume it, its aimed at attracting the cool, younger crowd, or those who hanker after their youth.Maybe that latter target audience was what the makers of the ad had in mind. But you clearly dont understand the mindset of the largely male, young audience which drinks Castle Lite.Who wants to drink a beer knowing that your mates at the pub will say something like: Well its good enough for your granny, so its good enough for you as they reach for a rival ale. Maybe drinking Castle Lite does destroy your creative braincells You get an Onion, Castle Lite. Even your granny would understand that. As the South African economy flails under Covid-19 and a downgrade to junk status, The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) talks to chartered accountants [CA(SA)] Ignatius Sehoole about the importance of ensuring we continue to bring top-quality CAs(SA) into the system. CA(SA) Ignatius Sehoole, CEO of KPMG Let us not forget that Covid-19 came to us at a very difficult time for South Africa. So says CA(SA) Ignatius Sehoole, CEO of KPMG. When it hit, we had just been downgraded to junk status, and as such we already had a huge task ahead of us to pull ourselves back up to investment level.As accountants, we understand how integral the financial services sector will be to this process of bringing back the resilience of the economy and, in turn, what an important role CAs(SA) play in this sector. As such, it is not only important, but imperative that we maintain and grow the chartered accountant pipeline during this difficult period.Which is why Saica, as part of ourseries, called upon Ignatius Sehoole to share his views on the importance of chartered accountants to the economy, and also, to share what is being done to maintain and grow the pipeline.For many years, Saica has worked tirelessly to ensure transformation and growth within the industry. The question now, is how do we continue this process under the impact of Covid-19? If we drop the ball now, we are going to live with the consequences for a long time to come, warns Sehoole. Saica needs to continue to meet the demands of the financial services sector in providing appropriately qualified CAs to play a role in this very important objective of restoring the economy.Sehoole is aware that the many challenges the education sector is facing under Covid-19, such as data access, academic programming, the academic year, lack of career awareness and career support initiatives, need to be overcome in order to produce the quantity and quality of CAs we require.This is why it is so important that we look after our pipeline, from schools to training level, to ensure that no prospective CA(SA) is left behind, he says. We need to look at every single challenge, and ensure we find a solution for each one.Sehoole begins by stressing that, despite aspiring CAs(SA) worrying about the future of the industry, the demand for chartered accountants is increasing. People worry that artificial intelligence and technology are making them redundant, or that the job market is going to suffer after Covid-19, he says. However, he is adamant that the intake of firms is going up and not down. Were all looking for more trainees, and if youre in the pipeline, we have a place for you, he assures.On the subject of AI, he says that what many people are not aware of, is how much AI is already being used in the consulting environment right now. He goes on to explain that when we do audits, there are nowadays, thanks to AI, areas where we do 100% checks. Volumes are going up, and because of this, the demand for CAs is going up, he says. AI wont take your job away, in fact it will assist you to do your job better, he says. Volume is done by technology, while the creative thinking is done by you.For this reason, Sehoole acknowledges that the education system needs to encourage skills such as creative thinking, right from the beginning. Many students are trained in silos, but they need integrated knowledge and skills, he says. This is where the question of quality becomes so important, and we need to work together with schools and universities to make sure the right skills and competencies are being taught and assessed.Because of the increasing demand for CAs(SA), we need to ensure that there is a constant stream of high-quality candidates passing through each phase of the pipeline. As such, Sehoole takes us through the three education phases in the pipeline schools, universities and trainees and training offices and tells us about Saicas interventions, in each.Sehoole reminds us that when Level 5 of lockdown hit, Saica had to cease all face-to-face interactions with schools, out of necessity. All initiatives came to a halt, including career promotions initiatives and maths development camps, all of which are good sources of interacting with learners and guiding them towards CA(SA) as a career choice, he says.He goes on to explain that in lieu of face-to-face contact, Saica has been in touch with learners online, through radio and via social media, to promote awareness of the profession and to offer career guidance. We reach a lot of learners through these channels, and these interventions have been successful.Saica has also continued to recruit learners for the Thuthuka Bursary. Youll be pleased to know the Thuthuka Bursary application is now digital and students can apply online to be considered for the 2021 intake, says Sehoole, while urging all readers to please help spread the message and make sure people are aware of this.While face-to-face communications are on hold, Saica has been communicating with universities and students remotely, and Sehoole says this is a reminder of the importance of blended learning. Whatever initiatives we come up with collectively are not just for this year, he says. Covid-19 is going to be with us for a while, and all the positives that come from it will be taken into the system beyond the pandemic, to make our pipeline more agile and innovative.Sehoole explains that the design of modalities for blended learning requires a number of elements, such as proper planning, as the instructional design for blended learning is very different from that of contact learning. Saica can put together designs for this quite easily, he assures.Saica has also been engaging with universities regarding the academic year. Timing, the curriculum, exams, all of these matters need to be scrutinised to make sure they are fit for purpose in terms of where we are, he says. Its about envisioning the university of the future, one that is flexible and able to accommodate different challenges, while still producing good-quality students at the end of the day.Accessibility is of course key and Sehoole acknowledges that Covid-19 has highlighted the differences between the haves and have-nots. He believes the government is lacking in rural areas, and that they can do a lot more to ensure equal access to data. Weve seen other countries do this, where the government owns the fibre and the network operators compete with the service offerings, he says. This allows the government to keep data as cost-effective as possible for the end user, he says.Focussing on areas that can be immediately addressed, Saica has already ensured all Thuthuka bursary recipients have received computers this year. We cannot afford to ignore one part of the community, says Sehoole. We need to ensure equal access where possible.Whats more, Saica is piloting a student online support programme with the Universities of Zululand, Western Cape and Johannesburg, with the hopes of eventually spreading it to all universities. The programme is designed to encourage students to self-manage and to grow in purpose, while experiencing the advantage of creative thinking habits, he explains. This is important, as its not only geared towards assisting students in passing exams, but gives them a lifelong skill of creative thinking that will help them both in academic and non-academic life.Finally, Saica is engaging with universities on the topic of academic assessment, and researching what other methods exist that are more accessible and flexible, while still delivering good students. At the end of the day, all of these initiatives and changes cannot come at the expense of quality, says Sehoole. Because quality is very important and it is key we do not lose this in the process.Sehoole admits that creating quality candidates is a costly exercise. We need to reduce the dropout rate, so the unit cost of producing one accountant will reduce, he says, explaining that we can do this by providing additional resources and support programmes. We cant rely on the government increasing taxes, we need to find other ways to mobilise finance, he says.He believes that if we chip at this problem all the time, both at school and university level, we will have success, as corporate sponsors are very generous. If we can innovate and come up with ways to make things better, I think we can always get the support of our funders, he says.At this level, much of Saicas support is already remote, which has worked well during Covid-19. At the moment Saica is very much focussed on rescheduling qualification exams to give the trainees the best chance of success, explains Sehoole.Saicas Trainee Tuesday webinars and CA Nights are popular initiatives that are extremely important for the wellbeing and support of aspiring CAs(SA), especially in this time of social distancing.Saica has also ensured the availability of various Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) support programmes, as well as online repeat programmes, several of which have received funding from the Fasset. To add to this, the Saica APC Support Academy is a six-week complimentary programme that helps students develop specific competencies to assist them in their ability to successfully complete the APC in November, explains Sehoole. Students are encouraged to dedicate a minimum of 30 minutes a day continuously for six weeks, and hopefully their ability to tackle the APC will be much improved.All of the above solutions are integral to ensuring our pipeline is solid and continues to grow. The reality is, the chartered accountancy profession needs all of us right now, more than ever before, says Sehoole. We all need to work together to ensure the pipeline does not collapse, as if it does, we will be shooting ourselves in the foot, not only as a profession, but as a country.As such, Sehoole believes we have to focus on what is working and, also, what more can be done. For this, feedback and support are imperative. We encourage all of you to make every contribution you can make, whether it is feedback, or, if possible, a financial contribution.Sehoole reminds us that education is a very costly exercise. We need money from every single person that can afford to put it on the table, he says. After all, charity begins at home, and this is our professional home.Sehoole believes that if we come together, and support the profession, whether in kind or financially, we can grow the pipeline and contribute meaningfully to our country. This is important if we want to take our country out of junk status, take it to investment level and improve the lives of all South Africans. The Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was brokered by the African Union (AU) and adopted by 44 of its 55 member states on 21 March 2018. By February 2019, all AU countries, save for Eritrea, had become signatories to the AfCFTA, which came into force on 30 May 2019. Protocol on Trade in Goods; Protocol on Trade in Services; Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes; Protocol on Investment; Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights; and Protocol on Competition Policy What has been implemented? the final schedules of Tariff Concessions and outstanding Rules of Origin, which will formulate annexures to the AfCFTA, would be submitted at the next ordinary session of the Assembly in February 2020, and the dismantling of tariffs would commence no later than 1 July 2020, with the goal of elimination of tariffs on 90% of goods within five years for non-LDC countries, 10 years for LDC countries and 15 years for G6 countries. Commentary difficulty with ongoing negotiations, particularly the services liberalisation, given the number of State Parties and their varying economic positions; confusion regarding integration between AfCFTA and the various other regional economic arrangements already in existence, such as the SADC Protocol on Trade and the Tripartite Free Trade Area; and the potential effect of increasing the economic imbalance among member countries due to concentration of economic activities in a few African countries with low production costs. The AfCFTA aims to increase Africas presence in the global economy by improving intra-African trade flows and attracting foreign investment. Once the AfCFTA is fully operational, it will be the worlds largest free trade area by number of countries.However, in order for the AfCFTA to be binding on the signatory states, it must be ratified in accordance with each countrys internal procedures, and to date, only 28 AU member states have ratified the agreement.The AfCFTA is to contain the following six protocols, of which only the first three have been concluded:The Protocol on the Trade in Goods is aimed at creating a liberalised single market for the free flow of goods within the African continent. This is to be achieved through progressive elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs), such as customs and administration requirements.State Parties are to accord products imported from other State Parties no less favourable treatment than that accorded to similar domestic products. However, State Parties are permitted to apply some protectionist measures, such as anti-dumping measures and measures to protect infant industries, when necessary.The Protocol on the Trade in Services is aimed at inter alia enhancing competitiveness of services, fostering domestic and foreign investment and accelerating efforts on industrial development. It allows State Parties to enter into agreements for the recognition of the education or experience obtained or license or certifications granted by other member states and requires each State Party to regulate territorial monopolies.The AfCFTA promises significant gains for the continent in respect of welfare gains, GDP, employment and intra-African trade growth and a reduction of Africas trade deficit.However, little has been achieved thus far in terms of its implementation. The operational phase of the AfCFTA was launched at the 12th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU held on 7 July 2019, where it was decided that inter aliaAlthough the February 2020 session took place, final schedules of Tariff Concessions were not submitted and the Assembly urged State Parties to submit these at the Extraordinary Summit of the AfCFTA Council of Ministers to be held in May 2020 in order to start trading under the AfCFTA on 1 July 2020.As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting of the Council of Ministers took place virtually; however, it is unclear what decisions were taken and whether all schedules of Tariff Concessions were submitted.Africa is one of the least integrated continents, with intra-African exports constituting only 16.6% of total exports in 2017, which is one of the issues the AfCFTA aims to improve. However, some of the initial concerns commentators have identified include:Studies have shown that there will only be small gains from a reduction of import tariffs, with the larger gains occurring as a result of the reduction of NTBs. Furthermore, African countries generate significant revenue from trade tariffs. While the agreement is meant to offset those losses by resulting in higher tax revenue from increased consumption and income, there will be a period of loss and the gains will be determined by how countries pursue the necessary steps to lower NTBs.As most African countries have significant NTBs and other protectionist measures, this will pose a significant challenge. The continent will also need to reduce infrastructure deficits, such as poor quality roads and ports, if the agreement is to operate effectively.Ultimately, the view seems to be that there is promise in AfCFTA achieving its goal of increasing intra-Africa trade and foreign investment in the continent, but there is a lot for African countries to do before the agreement can actually achieve those goals.The Covid-19 pandemic arguably creates a pressing need to reduce Africas high trade dependence on non-African states. The AfCFTA could help facilitate this, but it would mean intensifying the process and reducing the current five-year timeline for the liberalisation of tariffs.Reducing this timeline, however, becomes even more challenging in light of the current lockdowns and border closures across the continent in addition to the Secretary General of the AfCFTA having postponed the commencement date of 1 July 2020. Although it is unclear to when the commencement has been postponed, some reports suggest trade under the AfCFTA will only take off in January 2021. When the Covid-19 pandemic arrived on our shores earlier this year, Old Mutual's seven-year Education Flagship Project (OMEFP) had come to a close (in December 2019), and we were applying our minds to a new strategy for our CSI work in education. Because our funds were not yet committed to any specific programmes, we were in a position to be exceptionally responsive to the crisis and able to allocate the funds to much-needed Covid-19 relief efforts. Kanyisa Diamond Given where we are, funders will need to think carefully about the kind of outcomes they expect from non-profit organisations. NPOs are closest to beneficiaries and we must be flexible to allow them to meet changing needs. We cant be stuck on what we expected from them before Covid-19, since the funds allocated to them may now be used best to help with other needs. When we needed to be highly responsive, we realised that our administrative processes were tedious, in terms of contracting and loading vendors onto our system. We had to adapt quickly, and I am sure most funders had similar experiences. Its worth asking whether the CSI application and funding processes needs to be simpler going forward, without contravening governance, compliance, and risk mitigation processes. We have learnt so much over the past few months and I hope that, as a sector, we will continue to reflect on these experiences to improve the responsiveness of the CSI community. When the president announced Level 5 lockdown, the Old Mutual Foundation engaged with some of the Provincial Departments of Education (PEDs), the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) and some of our colleagues to understand how the sector was responding to the crisis and how best to allocate the available funds. We are part of a group of companies contributing to the Department of Basic Educations (DBE) Covid-19 Education Support Intervention Plan to help the DBE to reach more than 13 million pupils at home through integrated online and broadcast platforms such as TV and radio.What was immediately apparent was that we were not willing to respond at the expense of existing contracts, putting them at risk. Instead, we asked our service providers to look closely at their projects and see how they could provide value during the crisis. Reviewing and restructuring certain activities was essential and our service providers had to consider whether their projects would be manageable once schools resumed, particularly as teachers and learners are under significant pressure, and to manage funders expectations for their projects.We saw our beneficiary organisations adapting quickly to a new reality. Many considered offering online programmes but had to think carefully about how this would work practically. Not all teachers are comfortable with technology and many learners do not have access to online digital resources.One of the programmes that did adapt quickly was the Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Centre (GMMDC) at Nelson Mandela University. Learners already had handheld devices containing content so there was no need for data and internet connectivity. The Centre did however respond quickly by providing learners with data so that they could continue their lessons via Zoom and WhatsApp. They engaged confidently with learners and tracked the use of content.Clearly, this crisis will provide an opportunity for non-profits to reaffirm their commitment to the schooling system by streamlining their offering and ensuring they remain relevant. There is so much that the schools, districts, and provinces need to manage as learners gradually return to schools. Now more than ever, the sector will need cooperation and support from NGOs. Those who are able to should consider becoming thinking partners with the districts, provinces and schools they have been working with, in order to reengineer education.With children in rural schools mostly unable to connect to the internet, we require innovative thinking for access. In Kenya, Googles Loon, in partnership with Telkom Kenya, has introduced internet-by-balloon for rural communities, which means expensive infrastructure might no longer be an impediment. This approach is something South Africa could consider in future. Closer to home, it has been suggested that petrol stations could be used to house servers and act as Wi-Fi hot spots in rural areas since these garages are widespread, and its an option one of our service providers is currently exploring.Introducing technology in rural schools has always been a challenge and the pandemic has only heightened this. For online learning to work you need access to devices, data, and the internet, as well as parental support and the ability for learners to self-direct their learning. Designing content for online learning versus presenting in front of a class is also very different. Introducing virtual learning in under-resourced schools is a dual challenge because teachers not only need access to platforms and software, but their teaching methods will require skills capacitation.Another important area is instructional leadership. Schools must communicate regularly and effectively with parent bodies and their learners, providing plans for each grade and guiding parents on how to support their childrens learning while at home. Being a parent myself, I found that the support and constant communication I received from my childrens schools was reassuring. I knew what I needed to support my children with on a daily basis, but I wondered whether the same was happening across the board. It will be necessary for all schools to put together databases of parents phone numbers, for example, and update this regularly to keep the lines of communication open.The SA School Administration and Management System (SA-SAMS) can store parent information, but are schools using the functionality? Are they in a position to access the data when they need it? Besides cell phones, what other platforms can be used, and are school websites dormant or active? The system was not ready for this shock. Now more than ever the teaching profession has an opportunity to take charge, and school leadership and teachers need to work together to direct their pupils learning.I also observed with interest how provinces differed in their response to the crisis. I would have expected to see a seamless reaction, given that they all work for the same department, but some were more agile and responsive than others. Each province was pulling in a different direction, and this was evident on the various online learning platforms. Some websites were zero-rated for data, and some were not. We need to strive for an education system that offers every learner in South Africa the same experience, regardless of their geographical location. If we cannot achieve that through bricks and mortar, we can at least begin to explore it through access to online learning opportunities of a consistent quality and accessible to all.Old Mutual is the sponsor of the School Leadership and Management topic on the Trialogue Knowledge Hub, a digital platform for social investment information: http://www.trialogueknowledgehub.co.za Chelsea Brown is a student representative at the South African Institute of Valuers (SAIV) Northern Branch executive. A University of Johannesburg alumna, Brown has found her passion in property, especially after recognising the many opportunities the field holds for SA's youth. Chelsea Brown, student representative, South African Institute of Valuers (SAIV) Northern Branch executive Tell us a bit about yourself and your background. What drew you to a career in the property industry? #YouthMonth: How Hasheel Tularam developed his outdoor addiction into a fulfilling career Hasheel Tularam is a senior environmental scientist at SRK Consulting. He's passionate about protecting and preserving the natural environment and feels blessed to live in a country so full of natural beauty... What are some of your achievements in your field of which you are most proud? #YouthMonth: Working to get our youth ready for life in a post-Covid-19 world For the first time in our history - and hopefully the last - Youth Month 2020 falls in the middle of a global health crisis, which has had a staggering social and economic impact on the people of South Africa... What aspects of your field are you most passionate about? What or who inspires you? What are some of the challenges young people face in your industry? How would you suggest they be overcome? #YouthMonth: Use your time effectively and challenge the norms This Youth Month we talk to one of the Design Indaba's emerging creatives for 2020, Morena Moletsane... The Covid-19 crisis is likely to have a significant impact on the opportunities available for professional development for young South Africans. Do you have any words of encouragement? What, to you, is the significance of Youth Month in 2020? You've been voted SA's president for the day. What's the first thing on your to-do list? Closing the chapter on this year's #YouthMonth, Brown shares a bit about her journey in her chosen career, her achievements thus far, and how some of the challenges young people face in her industry could be overcome.I was born and raised in Johannesburg, where I still reside. I am currently 22 years old and I matriculated back in 2015. I then went on to complete my Bcom finance degree at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). I am currently doing my honours in property valuations and management at UJ, as well as working as a candidate valuer at DDP.I started off studying Bcom Accounting at UJ, thinking I would one day become a CA. By the end of my first year, I realised that was not where my passions lay. I then switched to the Bcom Finance degree in my second year which allowed me to take Property Valuations and Management as my elective. This allowed me to completely drop accounting by my third year. Although my journey may have started with me running away from accounting, I realised property was actually something I had an interest in, especially after realising the various opportunities it hosts for the youth of today. In todays economic climate, I think it's important that we consider what we study wisely.I am most proud of being part of the first Womens Property Network (WPN) committee at UJ. I am extremely proud that we were able to start the UJ chapter last year to help draw an interest to the property industry and the various career paths one could follow. This was extremely important to me because many students do not necessarily consider property valuations as a degree or even a career path. And, as previously mentioned, it is important that we, as the youth, truly consider what we study, considering how saturated the job market is in South Africa and our high youth unemployment rates.I am also extremely proud of being a student representative for the South African Institute of Valuers on the Northern Branch executive. It's inspiring working with such passionate individuals who have made it a personal mission to provide the youth opportunities in the property valuations field as they are successfully doing through their mentorship programme.I am most passionate about learning and engaging with others. It is not a field where one works in isolation, but rather encourages networking and communication. Through that, I am able to learn new ways of approaching challenges.My uncle inspires me the most. He is honestly like a father to me. Through his hard work and dedication, he's offered me and my family opportunities we wouldnt have otherwise had. And I am eternally grateful.A major issue young people in my industry face is simply access to the industry. In many industries in South Africa, such as the finance industry, a simple Google search will bring about various job opportunities and internships. However, in the property industry, especially within the valuations space, this is not the case.I think this could be overcome be by embracing technology and making such opportunities available on various job portals, social media platforms, as well as their own websites. This would allow a lot of youth more access to the space. As the youth, we definitely understand the value and importance of having experience.I would say do not underestimate the value of working for a smaller firm or even gaining experience through volunteering. You would be surprised how much you could learn. Especially from a small dedicated team who is invested in you.Youth Month has encouraged many of the youth to highlight racism and racial injustices in our private institutions. We have seen this through hashtags such as #WakeupStAnnes #WearetiredStMartins and #TimesupStMarys. And I think it's important that we are once again having these conversations. As many BIPOC have sacrificed a lot to get their children into these spaces. And it's about time that they're treated with respect and dignity.Given the Covid-19 crisis, the first thing on my to-do list would be disassociating from the Red Ants. It goes against human rights and human dignity to be evicting citizens and tearing down shacks during this pandemic, whether lawful or not. As we have seen throughout history, being on the right side of the law does not mean being on the right side of humanity. We are connected on so many levels. From sport, music, friends and experiences, to culture, food and fashion. All of these connective elements are amazing to target consumers, but it is even more important to understand what makes them tick. Samantha Joshua, CEO and co-founder of S&S Culture Can you tell us a bit about S&S Culture? I am extremely passionate about pushing the boundaries of media into creative concepts and custom partnerships that are mutually beneficial and have resonance. When, how and why did you get started? What is the core function of S&S Culture? Advertising and media, and to a lesser extent marketing, are still industries lacking in real diversity. I am extremely passionate about changing the face of these industries through future education and transformation platforms within the business. What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome since starting out? Covid-19 and the national lockdown has impacted many businesses. What impact did it have on S&S Culture? How did you prepare for the lockdown? What's the biggest challenge you are facing during this pandemic? What sort of assistance will you need going forward? Webinars Sharing key content that is not only informative but also useful Articles orientated around narratives that are of interest to brands, products, marketers and consumers. What have you discovered about S&S Culture during this lockdown period? We are fluid and agile. Our collective knowledge, expertise and insight is our most powerful tools. We have empowered our current and future clients with this knowledge via info-driven emails. We are extremely persistent about keeping abreast of all narratives. For example Covid-19 in South Africa and its effects; Covid-19 Globally and it's effects on South Africa, but also what are the learnings or insights and how Covid-19 has changed the media landscape and the consumption use of media, etc. We have empowered our current and future clients with this knowledge via info-driven emails. We are extremely persistent about keeping abreast of all narratives. For example Covid-19 in South Africa and its effects; Covid-19 Globally and it's effects on South Africa, but also what are the learnings or insights and how Covid-19 has changed the media landscape and the consumption use of media, etc. What do you predict the next 6 months will be like? What has been your biggest lesson from all this? Samantha Joshua believes that too often we use race as a criterion to identify and understand our target markets, but this is not always accurate as the colour of your skin cannot be a deciding factor as to why people love and do certain things.With nearly 25 years of working in the media and advertising industry, as a media strategist, a planner and a buyer for brands including Takealot, Mr. D, Hunters, Savanna, FNB, Canopy Growth, Samantha Joshua was encouraged to take her passion and skills and start S&S Culture.We find out about the core of S&S Culture, how Covid-19 has impacted the creative agency and Samantha's goal of a diverse industry...S&S Culture offers businesses an omni-channel and creative solution, across all markets and audiences.My in-depth understanding of the media landscape is what enables me to drive success for my clients' businesses.Well, I have always wanted to have my own business, but fear held me back. Then January of 2019 my partner in life and business asked me what my plan was in this regard. He said that now more than ever was the time to turn my talent, passion and skill into a successful business. Still nervous as hell, but knowing that he was right, I gave it serious thought. A week later, my partner presented me with some papers during dinner and said, here you go, now all you have to do is start. He had bought and registered a shelf company. Overwhelmed with surprise, gratitude and still fear we started laying the foundation for what S&S Culture would be and represent.Education and transformation is at the forefront of S&S Culture as an agency. I have been in this industry for so long and have seen how people are put into positions, but never given the right tools and education to fully succeed in those respective roles.My view is that radicle diversity is what our clients are expecting from both media and creative agencies.Firstly, being a female in a rather male-dominant industry. There aren't many female-owned independent advertising agencies in South Africa. This is another required aspect of diversity. I have many plans and becoming a mentor to girls who find themselves in disadvantageous locations, with no hope of being able to visualise a successful future, is another passion of mine.It has had a fundamental shutdown of all potential business prior to lockdown, which was dreadful. However, it forced and encouraged me to keep up with educational presentations and sharing key snippets of knowledge.I don't think any of us could fully prepare or even had the time to prepare for lockdown, especially small businesses such as myself. This said, what I did during the Level 5 lockdown was equip myself with global knowledge and research. I wrote a couple of articles as well as developed a couple of info-driven presentations which I shared on all our social media platforms. Something I called "paying forward".I suppose the biggest challenge has been the awareness of our business during a time where basically all services, except for essential services, had to cease all operations. Being a fairly new agency requires consistent recruitment and top of mind awareness, which in our industry is normally done face-to-face.Awareness, really. Right now the core focus is to drive momentum in support of this, via these key pillars:It is going to be tough for everyone! However, now is the time to propel and go full steam ahead, but not without hearing what our clients and their audiences truly need. Being more attentive, reliable and relevant.Finally giving our clients and audiences what they truly need and not selling/promoting all we can offer. In doing so we build trust through achieving success. Law enforcement in America is facing a day of reckoning over its systemic, institutionalized racism and ongoing brutality against the people it was designed to protect. Virtually every aspect of the system is now under scrutiny, from budgeting and staffing levels to the data-driven prevention tools it deploys. A handful of local governments have already placed moratoriums on facial recognition systems in recent months and on Wednesday, Santa Cruz, California became the first city in the nation to outright ban the use of predictive policing algorithms. While its easy to see the privacy risks that facial recognition poses, predictive policing programs have the potential to quietly erode our constitutional rights and exacerbate existing racial and economic biases in the law enforcement community. Simply put, predictive policing technology uses algorithms to pore over massive amounts of data to predict when and where future crimes will occur. Yes, just like Minority Report. These algorithms can guesstimate the times and locations of crimes, the potential perpetrators, and even their upcoming victims based on a variety of risk factors. For example, if the system recognizes a pattern of physical altercations outside a bar every Saturday at 2am, it could suggest increasing police presence there at that time to prevent the fights from occurring. Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 814-368-3173 or email nfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com. Boulder, MT (59632) Today Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 84F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A mostly clear sky. Low 52F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Scientists urge business and government to treat PFAS chemicals as a class BERKELEY, Calif.--All per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) should be treated as one class and avoided for nonessential uses, according to a peer-reviewed article published today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The authors--16 scientists from universities, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the European Environment Agency, and NGOs--say the extreme persistence and known toxicity of PFAS that have been studied render traditional chemical-by-chemical management dangerously inadequate. The article lays out how businesses and government can apply a class-based approach to reduce harm from PFAS, including fluoropolymers, which are large molecules. "With thousands of PFAS in existence, assessing and managing their risks individually is like trying to drink from a fire hose," said Tom Bruton, Senior Scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute. "Phased-out PFAS that were used to make products like non-stick cookware have been replaced with other PFAS that have turned out to be similarly toxic. By avoiding the entire class of PFAS, we can avoid further rounds of replacing a banned substance with a chemical cousin which is also later banned." Studied PFAS have been associated with cancer, decreased fertility, endocrine disruption, immune system harms, adverse developmental effects, and other serious health problems. The authors note that people are exposed to multiple PFAS at once, and there is little research on the effects of combined exposures. Less than one percent of PFAS have been tested for toxicity, but all PFAS are either extremely persistent in the environment or break down into extremely persistent PFAS. Cleaning up contamination can take decades to centuries or more and every time an individual "forever chemical" has been studied, it was found to be harmful. "When it comes to harm from PFAS, it is much more than our own health that's at stake. It is the health of our children, grandchildren and generations to come--indeed, of every creature on our planet," said Arlene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute. "The longer we continue the unnecessary use of PFAS, the more likely the overall future harm to our world will rival, or even surpass, that of the coronavirus." The article notes that some companies have already employed a class-based approach to PFAS. For example, IKEA phased out all PFAS in its textile products and Levi Strauss & Co. has committed to a similar phase-out. "We're proud that our class-based approach to chemicals has helped protect our customers and the environment, for example by removing all PFAS from IKEA's textiles in 2016," said Therese Lilliebladh of IKEA. "It also helps us stay ahead of the curve and avoid falling into a problematic cycle of substituting a similar chemical for one that has been phased out." Some government bodies have banned the entire class of PFAS for use in some products. For example, Maine and Washington have banned all PFAS in food contact materials and Denmark has banned PFAS from paper-based food packaging. The authors recommend expanding such regulation to all nonessential uses. Contrary to recent PFAS manufacturer messaging, the authors emphasize that fluorinated polymers should be included in a class-based approach to PFAS. "These large molecule chemicals can release smaller toxic PFAS and other hazardous substances into the environment throughout their lifecycle, from production, to use, to disposal," said author Carol Kwiatkowski, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. "Fluoropolymer microplastics also contribute to global plastic and microplastics debris." "PFAS are a complex class of chemicals, but there is a clear pattern of persistence and potential for health harm that unites them all," said retired NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum. "The use of any PFAS should be avoided whenever possible." ### This story has been published on: 2020-06-30. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. As southwestern Manitobans clean up after a string of severe thunderstorms Sunday night, an Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist said residents should brace themselves for more ahead because the overall pattern in the sky lingers into the week. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us As southwestern Manitobans clean up after a string of severe thunderstorms Sunday night, an Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist said residents should brace themselves for more ahead because the overall pattern in the sky lingers into the week. "The big picture yesterday was a low pressure system sitting in North Dakota and a frontal structure extending from that to southwestern Manitoba were the lifting mechanisms or the triggers for these storms," said warning preparedness meteorologist Natalie Hasell. ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA The trough caused by a front extending out from a low pressure system in North Dakota created a string of severe thunderstorms in southwestern Manitoba Sunday night. Residents should brace themselves for a repeat event tonight. (Submitted) The system is very slow moving, which meant storms stuck around a long time or lines of storms travelled over the same areas. Torrential rainfall and hail were reported. One tornado hit three miles southeast of Rapid City. There is great potential for more of the same into the week, beginning again late Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning, with showers Tuesday and Wednesday. The greater risk is in southwestern Manitoba. "Not huge amounts of precipitation (Tuesday and Wednesday), but considering how much youve already gotten, this will be a problem," said Hasell. Downtown Brandon gets pelted with rain around 5 p.m. Sunday. As of Sunday evening, at 5:52 p.m, meteorologists from Environment Canada warned about a line of thunderstorms that stretched from south of Elgin to just north of Dauphin Lake, traveling northeast at 25 kilometres an hour. (Kyle Darbyson/The Brandon Sun) "If you are in an area that did not get significant precipitation, check your sump pump. Take that opportunity now to make sure that there isnt anything wrong with the failsafes that you have in place. Check your roof, check your shingles." She said there isnt much people in the areas who have already seen a lot rainfall can do at this point for tonights possible onslaught. Hasell strongly suggests going to Environment Canada's warm season weather hazards page to plan and prepare. "Were nowhere near out of it," she said. People should remember its only late June. "All of July is active usually. A lot of August is active. Even into September and sometimes October. Being prepared now will put you in good stead for the rest of the sseason," Hasell said. A broken tree lies in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery following Sunday's storm. On Monday morning several broken branches were visible scattered throughout the cemetery. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun) Much of Southern Manitoba is also under a heat warning. Hasell said more than 100,000 cloud-to-ground lightening strikes occurred in the area Sunday. Across Manitoba there were approximately 300,000 such strikes. "That is more than Manitoba usually gets in one year," she said. In terms of precipitation, the areas with the greatest rainfall were just to the west and northwest of Brandon, and not far from Dauphin. Environment Canada registered 156 mm at Oak River, 155 mm at Brandon airport, 153 mm at Minnedosa, 151 mm at Forrest, 135 mm at Rivers 120 mm at Alonsa and 115 mm at Newdale. Those numbers are from actual measuring sites and Hasell said its possible some places without sites received more rain, while places just outside any one of the storms could have seen as little as 20 mm. Each storm along the line or trough was small and focused. "They might be small but theyre really pretty powerful and frightening," Hasell said. "We dont have a count for how many storms, but we know the line more or less." Environment and Climate Change Canada accepts reports and photos from people who have experienced severe weather events. "We are still looking for more information," Hasell said. Those with information or photos can call 1-800-239-0484 or email mbstorm@canada.ca The department monitors the hashtag #mbstorm on Twitter. 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. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Two days after a violent thunderstorm that flooded much of the region, Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch once again for Westman. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/6/2020 (355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us Two days after a violent thunderstorm that flooded much of the region, Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch once again for Westman. "Severe thunderstorms associated with a low pressure system currently in North Dakota are expected to push northwards into Canada by early this afternoon," Enviroment Canada's website reads. "Large hail, torrential downpours and damaging wind gusts will be associated with the strongest of these thunderstorms. The threat of severe weather will begin to push eastward tonight as the low pressure system evolves." The severe thunderstorm watch is in addition to the severe heat warning in place for almost all of southern Manitoba. The Brandon Sun EDMONTON - Alberta is cutting business taxes, pumping billions into infrastructure and making a full court press to lure jobs from Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney delivers remarks at a conference in Calgary on February 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh EDMONTON - Alberta is cutting business taxes, pumping billions into infrastructure and making a full court press to lure jobs from Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. "We're going to be placing a huge emphasis on finance and financial technology," Kenney said Monday in Calgary. "All of those banks and insurance companies down on Bay Street that are paying way more taxes. Their workers are paying way more taxes. They are paying way more for rent. They're fighting Toronto traffic. "We're going to be telling them that they can save money for their shareholders, for their workers, for their operations by relocating financial and fin-tech jobs to places like downtown Calgary, downtown Edmonton." Kenney said they will also target companies in other locations such as Montreal, Houston and New York as his province works to dig out of a cratered provincial economy caused by the pandemic and by a global oil price war that sent profits into a tailspin. Alberta has flattened the curve on COVID-19 and has reopened much of its economy, albeit with health safety conditions, and Kenney said now is the time to get the economy back on its feet. This year's budget deficit is expected to balloon from $7 billion to $20 billion. Kenney announced an immediate $10 billion will be spent on a range of infrastructure projects, including roads, health-care facilities, and schools to create construction jobs, with spinoff benefits to other service providers. Kenney cut the corporate income tax rate to 10 per cent from 12 per cent after taking office last year. That figure was to go down to eight per cent in the coming years, but Kenney announced it will be done this week. That makes it four percentage points lower than key competitors such as British Columbia. Albertans already have the lowest tax regime in Canada and pay no sales tax. There will also be an Innovation Employment grant to encourage high-tech companies and investment. The grant replaces tax incentives put in place by the previous NDP government, which Kenney scrapped on the grounds the incentives were too narrowly focused. Details on this fund, and other sector-specific initiatives are expected in the coming days. NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley said the $10 billion will help as a short term "shock absorber" but called Kenney's other ideas unimaginative, adding the corporate income tax cut didn't bring back jobs before the pandemic, and won't bring them back after. "There's very little new that is in here and it proves that this government is already out of ideas," said Notley. Ken Kobly, head of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, said the announcement delivers critical aid. "The measures announced today will help business operators get back on their feet so they can begin rebuilding our economy," he said. The plan is a marked departure from the laissez-faire economic platform Kenney championed and won on in the election. Kenney chastised then-premier Notley's NDP at the time for heavy spending on infrastructure and on day-to-day operations, saying it would cripple future generations with unsustainable debt. Since then, as the oil and gas economy has been slow to recover, Kenney assumed a more direct interventionist approach. In March, his government agreed to provide $1.5-billion, plus a $6-billion loan guarantee, to Calgary-based TC Energy Corporation, enabling the completion of the KXL pipeline. Finance Minister Travis Toews said Monday that "there's good debt and bad debt." Bad debt, he said, is borrowed money for operations while good debt invests in infrastructure that in turn lures businesses to the province. "This is an incredible ditch that we have to get through, and so it warrants a significant investment," said Toews. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2020 VICTORIA - British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says he wants to see the evidence that it's safe for the country's two largest airlines to drop their in-flight distancing policies during the pandemic. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. An Air Canada flight departing for Toronto, bottom, taxis to a runway as a Westjet flight bound for Palm Springs takes off at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Friday, March 20, 2020. British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says he wants to see the evidence that it's safe for the country's two largest airlines to drop their in-flight distancing policies during the pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck VICTORIA - British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says he wants to see the evidence that it's safe for the country's two largest airlines to drop their in-flight distancing policies during the pandemic. "What I'd like to hear from Transport Canada, from Health Canada is do they agree with this," Dix told a news conference on Monday. "The safety of passengers and the safety of all people in B.C., of Canada, in particular for us in B.C. is very important." Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said spacing policies on airplanes are not within her jurisdiction, but she assumed there was evidence to support the move. "We are concerned," Henry said. "It's an environment that we know people spend a lot of time in close contact with each other." She said it is important that people wear masks during flights and continue to practise physical distancing. People should not be travelling if they are ill, Henry said, adding that she would like to see passenger screening for signs of sickness before flights. Air Canada and WestJet announced they are ending their on-board seat distancing policies starting Wednesday. The carriers said Friday they will follow health recommendations from the United Nation's aviation agency and the International Air Transport Association trade group. Transport Canada said in a statement it issued guidance to the aviation industry, including recommendations for passenger spacing, but it is not mandatory. "As physical distancing may not always be possible, all travellers, except those under the age of two years, and certain individuals with medical conditions, are required to wear a non-medical mask or face covering when travelling by air," said the statement. "Transport Canada will also now require temperature screenings for passengers at select airports." Air Canada said it is offering flexible rebooking options to those travelling in its economy class on flights that are close to capacity. "While we would all like a single measure that reduces risk, we are left to use a combination of approaches to mitigate risk as far as practical," it said in a statement. The airline says it has taken steps that allow passengers to travel using touchless processes at the airport to obtain bag tags and boarding cards. "We intend to continue evaluating new processes and technologies as they become available to further enhance safety." WestJet could not be reached for comment, but it has said its cabin crew can assist customers if there is space to accommodate them. Dix said he would like to hear from the federal agencies to allay fears or explain why they've allowed Air Canada and WestJet to end the seat-distancing policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The minister said he will discuss the policy change with his provincial counterparts, adding he's looking for more than just a business case from the airlines. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2020. Companies in this story: (TSX:AC, TSX:WJA) OTTAWA - The federal government's ongoing review about the good, bad and possibly ugly parts of its response to COVID-19 will feed into plans for an improved response to a potential second wave of the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to a question during a news conference outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Monday, June 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - The federal government's ongoing review about the good, bad and possibly ugly parts of its response to COVID-19 will feed into plans for an improved response to a potential second wave of the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. Speaking outside his Ottawa residence, Trudeau said there are plenty of things that in hindsight the government might have done differently or sooner to respond to the economic fallout from the pandemic. He didn't go into details about how things could have changed. Looking ahead, Trudeau said the federal government will be able to respond with sufficient fiscal room if economic lockdowns are required to combat a second wave of COVID-19. He said the government is planning for a worst-case scenario and hoping for the best. Finance Minister Bill Morneau is scheduled to provide an updated snapshot of federal finances next week, which will give an idea of how the government sees the rest of the fiscal year playing out, including figures for a potential deficit. "There's certainly plenty of things we would have done differently," Trudeau said. "Some things we might have done a little sooner. Some things we might have done a little later but we spent very little time analyzing, wishing we'd done things differently. Those reflections, of course, are ongoing and will continue to be ongoing so that we're better positioned for a potential second wave and moving forward." Reflecting on one of his most recent announcements, Trudeau defended the government's decision to have WE Charity run a $912-million student service grant that pays students who volunteer this summer up to $5,000. The design of the volunteer grant has also faced heat for replacing paid work with volunteers earning below minimum wage, and rules that may limit the top payments to students with the financial means to volunteer large amounts of their time. Trudeau said some 25,000 young people from across the country applied for the grant over the past few days, pointing to the need for a large organization with the necessary reach to deliver the program. "The WE organization is the largest national youth service organization in the country," Trudeau said. "Quite frankly, when our public servants looked at the potential partners," he added a moment later, "only the WE organization had the capacity to deliver the ambitious program that young people need for this summer." He also said it wasn't a new idea to give "bonus grants" to young people who volunteer "to recognize the value of service." The latest federal figures show direct spending at just over $174 billion, including another increase to the budget for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. That is now expected to cost $80 billion. As of June 21, the government had paid $52.14 billion in benefits to nearly 8.1 million people a revised figure after officials found counting errors that previously showed over 8.4 million unique applicants. Just over half of those people nearly 4.1 million are workers who exhausted their employment insurance benefits as a result of the pandemic, accounting for nearly $23.7 billion in payments, according to the most recent update the government provided to the House of Commons finance committee. On top of that are tens of billions more in measures designed to leave money in individuals' and businesses' pockets. Income taxes aren't due until the end of the summer, but the Finance Department said Monday that deferrals on remitting sales taxes and customs duty payments won't last past June 30. The next day, rent is due. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which represents many small- and medium-sized companies across the country, said a survey of its members showed just under one-third of respondents said they couldn't afford rent for July unless the Liberals extended a commercial rent relief program. As of June 21, the program had doled out $152 million in forgivable loans to landlords that agreed to give a rent break to more than 20,000 tenants. Trudeau said the government intends to extend the program by another month and is working with provinces on a plan to do it, acknowledging that many business owners continue to struggle with cash flow issues. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2020.. ANTIGONISH, N.S. - Movie stars Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are donating $200,000 to an institute at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia to help promote Indigenous women's leadership. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Actor Ryan Reynolds, left, is joined by his wife, actress Blake Lively at the premiere of "Pokemon Detective Pikachu" at Military Island in Times Square on Thursday, May 2, 2019, in New York. Movie stars Reynolds and Lively are donating $200,000 to an institute at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia to help promote Indigenous women's leadership. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP ANTIGONISH, N.S. - Movie stars Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are donating $200,000 to an institute at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia to help promote Indigenous women's leadership. A release says the donation by the Hollywood couple is to kick-start the Coady Institute's goal of raising $1 million for its International Centre for Womens Leadership and the centre's Indigenous programming. Reynolds is a Canadian actor who has starred in films such as "Deadpool" and "Green Lantern," while his spouse Blake Lively is an American film actor whose credits include "Green Lantern" and "A Simple Favor." In a statement issued through the university, Reynolds said he and Lively are proud to be associated with the Coady Institute. "The world's changing quickly, and one thing we're sure of is that communities are best led from within," Reynolds said. "Indigenous women are the leaders who will develop and implement approaches to increase social capital of their own communities, organizations and nations." Karri-Lynn Paul, the lead facilitator of the Indigenous women in community leadership program and one of its graduates, says a group of mentors and graduates from the past 10 years is examining ways to develop the program at the institute in Antigonish. The institute is aiming to expand its offerings of leadership programs across the country for First Nations, Metis and Inuit women leaders. Paul, a Maliseet from the Woodstock First Nation in New Brunswick, said the program currently lasts five months and the institute is testing shorter, one-week courses based in Indigenous communities. She says the expansion of the one-week programs in communities around the country is a particular priority. "For many Indigenous women, there is a lot of work to do caring for our communities," Paul said, and travelling to the Nova Scotia campus for several weeks is not always feasible. Paul said she came to St. Francis Xavier as a new mother to take the program in 2011, and it funded her mother to provide child care while she was studying. She interviewed female chiefs and councillors in Maliseet communities for her study project, preparing a paper, a documentary and a website to showcase their stories. Paul said when students come to Antigonish, they typically spend several weeks on the campus learning about their leadership strengths and areas they need to work on. From this stage, the students study how to build up their home communities. The students then spend three months in the community working on a project. Paul, who is now based in Calgary, said the projects range widely, from a recent one in Vancouver that helped women learn safety and self-protection skills to another in rural Ontario that surveyed women on the most urgent needs of their island reserve. "The projects are an opportunity for the women to showcase their leadership, and to lift them up," said Paul. Graduates have gone on to become leaders on band councils and, in one case, a member of the legislative assembly in Nunavut, Paul said. Many carry on to undergraduate and graduate level university programs. Paul said Marie Delorme, an adviser to the Coady Institute and chief executive of the Imagination Group of Companies, met Reynolds and recommended some potential ways for him to provide philanthropic support to Canadian Indigenous communities. "He did some research on the programs she recommended, and he chose Coady," Paul said. "Reynolds supports Black Lives Matter, but he also said, 'I need to look to my own country and what's going on there.' " Eileen Alma, director of Coady's International Centre for Women's Leadership, says the actors' commitment to learning more about Indigenous issues has been energizing to the Coady Institute. "They have added a tremendous boost to our effort to amplify Indigenous women's voices locally and globally," she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2020. By Michael Tutton in Halifax. MONTREAL - Quebec Superior Court has granted the federal government a five-month extension to revise its legislation on medical assistance in dying, giving Ottawa until just before Christmas to conform with a provincial court ruling. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Nicole Gladu, left, and Jean Truchon attend a news conference in Montreal, Thursday, September 12, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes MONTREAL - Quebec Superior Court has granted the federal government a five-month extension to revise its legislation on medical assistance in dying, giving Ottawa until just before Christmas to conform with a provincial court ruling. In a written decision released Monday, Justice Frederic Bachand wrote that Ottawa will have until Dec. 18, 2020, to make the necessary changes allowing a delay requested by federal lawyers last week. It's the second extension granted by the Quebec court since it found parts of both the federal and provincial legislation unconstitutional last fall. That ruling struck down a provision that allows only individuals whose natural deaths are "reasonably foreseeable" to be eligible to end their lives with a doctor's help. The federal government had sought a previous four-month extension of the deadline to July 11, citing the federal election last fall. A bill revising the federal law was still at the initial stage of the legislative process when the House of Commons adjourned due to the pandemic in mid-March. "Unless the COVID-19 pandemic leads to another interruption of parliamentary work, this extension will ensure that Parliament will have a total period of six months, which is in accordance with the decision by Justice (Christine) Baudouin," Bachand ruled. The COVID-19 pandemic and the interruption in Parliament's schedule only scheduled to resume regular sittings in September made it impossible to be ready for the July deadline. Last September, Quebec Superior Court Justice Christine Baudouin ruled in favour of two Quebec residents, Jean Truchon and Nicole Gladu, who suffered from incurable degenerative diseases but did not meet the criteria for assisted death. The judge declared unconstitutional the "reasonably foreseeable natural death" requirement of the Criminal Code and the section of the Quebec law stating people must "be at the end of life." She suspended that decision for six months to give the federal and provincial legislators time to modify their laws. The Quebec government simply allowed the provision to drop, but the federal government is still working on its legislative changes. Under the proposed bill, reasonably foreseeable death would no longer be an eligibility requirement for an assisted death. However, Canadians whose natural deaths are not imminent would still face more restrictive conditions than those who are considered near death. In the interim, Bachand followed a previous ruling by Baudouin saying those who meet the other criteria for the procedure but whose natural death is not "reasonably foreseeable" can apply to a court for an exemption to receive an assisted death. Initially, the ruling had called for changes to come into effect by March 11. With the two extensions, the total grace period will now be 15 months, but shouldn't raise any problems as it wasn't contested either time. "Interested persons will continue to be able to benefit from the constitutional exemption granted during the first extension," Bachand ruled. Truchon and Gladu both received such exemptions at the time of her initial ruling and Truchon followed through with a medically-assisted death in April. In a final letter, he said he decided to push up his chosen date in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 29, 2020. OTTAWA - The federal government will hire hundreds more temporary staff as part of a broader plan to tackle the growing backlog of requests for support and benefits from disabled veterans, many of whom are being forced to wait years for an answer. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Canadian soldiers help a comrade, center, get on a helicopter after he was injured in an IED blast during a patrol outside Salavat, in the Panjwayi district, southwest of Kandahar, Afghanistan on June 7, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Anja Niedringhaus OTTAWA - The federal government will hire hundreds more temporary staff as part of a broader plan to tackle the growing backlog of requests for support and benefits from disabled veterans, many of whom are being forced to wait years for an answer. The measure was announced Monday as new figures showed almost 50,000 claims for disability benefits were sitting in the queue at Veterans Affairs Canada at the end of March an increase of nearly 10,000 from the same time last year. The backlog has emerged as a major source of frustration and anger for the Canadian veterans' community, with advocates repeatedly warning that delays in processing applications add undue stress on injured ex-soldiers and exacerbate already difficult financial and medical conditions. The decision to hire more staff even on a temporary basis is surprising, as the government has repeatedly pointed to other initiatives such as automating some decision-making functions and cutting down on paperwork as ways to speed up the process. Those efforts will continue, but senior Veterans Affairs officials at a technical briefing Monday acknowledged the importance of immediately adding 300 more staff at a cost of $87.7 million to get the backlog under control, even as the department looks at new ways for the longer term. The briefing was provided to media on the condition that officials not be named. "Veterans should receive the benefits and services they're entitled to in a timely manner, and the current backlog is unacceptable," Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay's spokesman Cameron McNeill said in a statement. "The recent investment of nearly $90 million that our government made will allow Veterans Affairs to hire hundreds of new staff and speed up processes to ensure veterans receive faster decisions. This has been the minister's number 1 priority since he was sworn in." The 300 new hires are in addition to around 160 adjudicators who were hired more than two years ago, when the backlog first started to explode in size. Those employees were also supposed to be temporary, but officials said they will be retained for the foreseeable future. Veterans Affairs plans to have the new staff up and running by January, and hopes to have the backlog dramatically reduced by March 2022. "We know that human resources alone will not eliminate those waiting beyond the service standards completely," the department added in a statement. "We must change the way we work. When we can, we will implement processes and digital solutions as fast as possible." One change that is not being implemented at least not right now is the automatic approval of disability claims. Veterans' advocates have repeatedly called for such a measure for years, but those requests have taken on an added urgency in light of COVID-19. Not only are approval rates for most categories of injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder extremely high, advocates say the pandemic has created new hurdles for processing claims because of the need for doctors' assessments and other requirements. While senior Veterans Affairs officials said Monday research and analysis is being done on the idea, they did not give a timeframe for when such a concept could come to fruition. The department reported another 3,000 applications were added to the queue in the three months leading up to March 31, bringing the total to 49,216. Around 4,500 had been sitting in the queue for less than 16 weeks, which is the department's target for responding to requests for assistance. But about 22,000 had been waiting to be reviewed for longer than 16 weeks nearly 2,000 more than three months earlier. There were also around 22,000 claims deemed "incomplete" a number that has nearly doubled since last year. Officials were unable to explain the increase in incomplete applications. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2020. Tabenchung Robinson Ashu Tabenchung Robinson Ashu Tabenchung Robinson Ashu alias Tabe Mbella is the new Mayor of the Mamfe Council, Manyu Division of Cameroons South West Region. He was unanimously elected Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at the Mamfe Council hall during an extraordinary session. Born in 1982, the native of Eshobi replaces his fellow village man, Ashu Prisley Ojong, murdered by armed separatists on May 10, 2020. The late Mamfe Mayor, reports say, was shot and killed around Berore quarters, precisely at Charles Eyongechaws Hill, about some 500 meters before entering Eshobi, his hometown, on Sunday, May 10, 2020, His death was received with shock, forcing the population to stage a protest Saturday, May 16, 2020, demanding justice for the Mayors death. They accused a Cameroonian-US based activist, Eric Tataw for being behind the brutal assassination. Traditional powers have since been evoked to avenge the killing. Ojong was heading to his village to receive Ambazonian fighters who claimed they had dropped their weapons before he was brutally ambushed and murdered. He received a bullet on the head fired by the enemy using an automatic weapon of the AK47 brand and died on the spot. In the same vein, two elements of the defense forces who were escorting the Mayor were also severely wounded and immediately rushed to the Mamfe District Hospital for emergency medical assistance, said Bernard Okalia Bilai, governor of Cameroons South West Region. The 35-year-old politician was buried at his residence in Laterite Pit in Mamfe Town Saturday, June 6, 2020. It followed an official funeral at the Mamfe Grandstand attended among others by Mengot Victor Arrey-Nkongho, Minister in charge of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic, who represented the Head of State President Paul Biya. Mengot called on the people of Manyu to show their commitment to peace and a united Cameroon. When things like this happen, then love doesnt exist. When you love each other, you cannot hurt each other. Today, what do we find in our communities petty jealousies envy. That is why we need to find that ethos, the ethos of how to love one another, said Special Duties Minister Mengot. Manyu Senior Divisional Officer Um II Joseph said although Mayor Ashu Prisley Ojong has been killed, they are hopeful that his death will be useful for this division, for peace to reign and for unity also to reign. Monday, June 29, 2020 at 10:45PM Google-owned Waze wanted to refresh its look to celebrate its community of users. And with that, the company set about revamping its branding to make it "friendly, organic, and joyful." The logo looks similar to the old one, but a few tweaks are added to it. Like, the wheels look like they're coming from both sides of the character instead of on one side. The text looks like it fits more into the aesthetic of modern smartphones. Waze is also introducing Moods into its app. There are 30 different feelings you can express, and the company promises to add more. The app gets brighter and bolder colours, with icons getting thicker black borders to emphasize them. It seems cartoon-like, but it adds a bit of fun. We don't know yet when this redesign will make its way to Android and iOS apps. In a blog post, Waze explains this decision, "We weren't interested in being a clean, minimal, 'elevated' tech brand because we're not just about technology. We have the community with us. We need to reflect that." Source: 9to5Google The nation's heaviest polluter, AGL, will link executive pay to climate goals such as investing in more renewable energy and selling more "carbon-neutral" power plans, but has no intention of bringing forward the closures of coal-fired power stations. The energy supplier said on Tuesday it would expand carbon-neutral offerings to all its products by the end of 2021, meaning it would purchase "carbon offsets" such as tree-planting programs on behalf of gas, electricity and telco customers who wanted to help mitigate their emissions footprint. AGL operates the Loy Yang A coal-fired power plant in Victoria's Latrobe Valley. Credit:Justin McManus In the first such move by a major ASX-listed company, AGL said one-third of long-term bonus pay incentives for about 50 senior managers would be tied to carbon-reduction efforts. Metrics would include the share of sales coming from green energy and lower-carbon products, and lowering the emissions intensity of its generation fleet. "We understand that, as Australia's largest carbon emitter, our management team has a role to play in the transition and we want to hold ourselves accountable to this," AGL chief Brett Redman said. As of 11 a.m. Monday, there were 146,341 cases of the new coronavirus confirmed in Florida, an increase of 5,266 since FDOHs last update Sunday morning. Mondays increase in positive cases in down from the explosion of cases over the weekend, which was three straight days that represent the three highest total case days in Florida since testing began. Test results reported by the state on Monday were down dramatically from the previous three days, when the state reported more then 70,000 test results each day. While the number of test results may have gone down, the percentage positive actually increased. More than 41,600 test results were reported to the Department of Health on Sunday, June 28. Of those reported tests, 13.76 percent tested positive. The number of tests reported on June 28 is the lowest since June 23. On Friday, June 26, 78,318 tests were processed by the state the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. The death toll increased by 28 from 11 a.m. Sunday to 11 a.m. Monday, reported among Citrus, Dade, Hillsborough and Volusia counties. A total of 1,914,151 individuals have been tested: 1,766,402 have tested negative, 1,408 tests were inconclusive and 1,744 tests are pending results. Of those testing positive, 14,244 (+110) have been hospitalized at some point during their illness. There have been 3,546 deaths. The age groups of Florida residents that have yielded the most positive test results are 25-34 years old (20%), followed by 35-44 (16%), 45-54 (15%), and 15-24 (15%). The highest hospitalization rate is found in patients 65-74 (19%), 75-84 (18%) and 55-64 (17%) years old. In Lee County, 5,363 (+175) individuals have tested positive as of 11 a.m. Monday; 2,330 in Fort Myers (+75), 999 in Cape Coral (+51), 1,175 in Lehigh Acres (+26), 321 in Bonita Springs (+1), 155 in North Fort Myers (+5), 123 in Estero (+7), 29 on Fort Myers Beach (+1), 17 in Sanibel (+1), 21 in Alva (+4), seven in Bokeelia (+1), four on Matlacha (+0), three in Tice (+0), two in Miromar Lakes (+0), two in Boca Grande (+0), one in Saint James City (+0), one on Captiva (+0), one in Buckingham (+0), one in San Carlos Park (+0). Fifty-four cases were not identified by community. Positive COVID-19 cases in the county have ranged from infants to a 101-year-old. Lee County saw its first two cases on March 7, when a man and a woman, each 77, tested positive. They had traveled to the Dominican Republic. There have been 156 deaths in Lee County and a total of 601 hospitalizations. All but nine deaths occurred in patients over 60; 113 deaths were reported in residents or staff of long-term care facilities. As of Monday, Lee Health had 219 COVID-19 patients isolated in system hospitals. A total of 879 patients who had tested positive have been discharged since the beginning of the pandemic. The system has submitted a total of 27,400 specimens for testing, with 1,034 results currently pending. Lee Healths mobile collection site over the weekend collected 873 specimens. Bed capacity as of Monday is at 78 percent, with 15.4 percent of those being COVID-19 patients. As of Monday, 71 percent of ventilators and 32 percent of ICU rooms are available for use across Lee Health facilities. The system is at 72 percent bed capacity with 19.5 percent being COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 is a highly contagious viral disease. For most individuals, symptoms are mild. For a minority, the disease becomes a type of viral pneumonia with severe complications. Especially at risk are those who are older, those with underlying health conditions and the immune-compromised. Officials strongly urge all members of the public who are at risk to remain at home so as to limit exposure. All others are urged to observe social distancing and to wear a mask for all public interactions. For more detail on Florida resident cases, visit the live DOH Dashboard. To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, visit the Department of Healths dedicated COVID-19 webpage. For information and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control, visit the CDC COVID-19 website. For more information about current travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State, visit the travel advisory website. For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida, contact the Departments dedicated COVID-19 Call Center by calling 1-866-779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day. Inquiries may also be emailed to COVID-19@flhealth.gov. Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj Telecommuting was a technology-driven innovation that seemed to offer benefits to both employees and executives. The former could eliminate ever-lengthening commutes and work the hours that suited them best. Management would save on high-priced real estate and could hire applicants who lived far from the office, deepening the talent pool. And yet many of the ventures were eventually downsized or abandoned. Apart from IBM, companies that publicly pulled back on telecommuting over the past decade include Bank of America, Yahoo, AT&T and Reddit. Remote employees often felt marginalised, which made them less loyal. Creativity, innovation and serendipity seemed to suffer. Former Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer brought workers back into the office. Credit:AP Marissa Mayer, chief executive of Yahoo, created a furor when she forced employees back into offices in 2013. "Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people and impromptu team meetings," a company memo explained. Tech companies proceeded to spend billions on ever more lavish campuses that employees need never leave. Facebook announced plans in 2018 for what were essentially dormitories. Amazon redeveloped an entire Seattle surburb. When Patrick Pichette, the former chief financial officer at Google, was asked, "How many people telecommute at Google?" he said he liked to answer, "As few as possible." That calculus has abruptly changed. Facebook expects up to half its workers to be remote as soon as 2025. The chief executive of Shopify, a Canadian e-commerce company that employs 5000 people, tweeted in May that most of them "will permanently work remotely. Office centricity is over." Walmart's tech chief told his workers that "working virtually will be the new normal." Quora, a question-and-answer site, said last week that "all existing employees can immediately relocate to anywhere we can legally employ them." Those who do not want to go anywhere can still use the Silicon Valley headquarters, which would become a coworking space. Quora declined to say how many employees it has. Adam D'Angelo, Quora's chief executive, said that he and the rest of the leadership team would push against the notion that remote workers were second class by working remotely themselves. All meetings would be virtual. The future of work, he wrote, would be a paradise for the rank and file. Quora said 60 per cent of its workers expressed a preference for remote work, in line with national surveys. In a Morning Consult survey in late May on behalf of Prudential, 54 per cent said they wanted to work remotely. In a warning sign for managers, the same percentage of remote workers said they felt less connected to their company. We need to create a different kind of work culture, where everyone is 100 per cent accountable and 100 per cent autonomous. Just manage the work, not the people. Former Best Buy worker Jody Thompson One very public setback for remote work was at Minneapolis-based electronics retailer Best Buy. The original program, which drew national attention, began in 2004. It aimed to judge employees by what they accomplished, not the hours a project took or the location where it was done. Best Buy killed the program in 2013, saying it gave the employees too much freedom. "Anyone who has led a team knows that delegation is not always the most effective leadership style," the chief executive, Hubert Joly, said at the time. Jody Thompson, a co-founder of the program who left Best Buy in 2007 to become a consultant, said the company was doing poorly and panicked. "It went back to a philosophy of 'If I can see people, that means they must be working,'" she said. The coronavirus shutdown, in which 95 per cent of Best Buy's corporate campus workers are currently remote, might now be prompting another shift in company philosophy. "We expect to continue on a permanent basis some form of flexible work options," a spokeswoman said. People have been going to work for a thousand years, but it's going to stop, and it's going to change everyone's life. Professor John Sullivan, San Francisco State University Flexible work gives employees more freedom with their schedules but does not fundamentally change how they are managed, which was Thompson's goal. "This is a moment when working can change for the better," she said. "We need to create a different kind of work culture, where everyone is 100 per cent accountable and 100 per cent autonomous. Just manage the work, not the people." But it is also a moment, she acknowledged, when working can change for the worse. "It's a crazy time," Thompson said. "When you're a manager, there is a temptation to manage someone harder if you can't see them. There's an increase in managers looking at spyware." Remote workers might be free of commuting costs, but they are traditionally more vulnerable. Jeffrey Gundlach, who runs Los Angeles investment firm DoubleLine Capital, said in his monthly webcast that he had started seeing his newly remote staff in a new light. "I kind of learned who was really doing the work and who was not really doing as much work as it looked like on paper that they might have been doing," he said. With "some of the supervisory, middle-management people," he added, "I'm starting to wonder if I really need them." At the beginning of the year, the unemployment rate was low, and workers had some leverage. All that has been lost, at least for the next year or two. Widespread remote work could consolidate that shift. "When people are in turmoil, you take advantage of them," said John Sullivan, a professor of management at San Francisco State University. "The data over the last three months is so powerful," he said. "People are shocked. No one found a drop in productivity. Most found an increase. People have been going to work for a thousand years, but it's going to stop, and it's going to change everyone's life." Loading Innovation, Sullivan added, might even catch up eventually. "When you hire remotely, you can get the best talent around and not just the best talent that wants to live in California or New York," he said. "You get true diversity. And it turns out that affects innovation." Laermer, the public relations executive, is more cautious about the implications of the crisis. In March, when he shut down his office, he anticipated disaster like what happened on Fridays in 2017, but five times worse. Instead, things have been pretty good. He even hired a few people he had never met, via Zoom, "and they've been phenomenal." What changed? Well, the technology, including Zoom, is better. Moreover, "we have rules now," he said. "You have to be available between 9 am and 5:30 pm. You can't use this as child care." A culture of silence about sexual harassment has failed a generation of women in the legal profession and leadership from the top including the judiciary would send a powerful message, one of the country's leading barristers says. Victorian barrister Fiona McLeod, SC, a top silk who has led a series of professional bodies including the Law Council of Australia and the Australian Bar Association, said it would make an "incredible difference" if legal leaders, including current and former judges, spoke out about harassment. Barrister Fiona McLeod, SC, says it would make an "incredible difference" if legal leaders, including current and former judges, spoke out about sexual harassment. Credit:Louis Porter "My perception over the decades [is that] there has been a culture of, 'Well, we'll have a quiet word, that will deal with it' and that has failed a generation of women," Ms McLeod said. "It's time for people to speak up, and we've seen the extraordinary leadership of many of the courts." The number of people in Victoria who tested positive for COVID-19 recently but whose infection source cannot be traced to an existing case has increased by 20, the biggest single-day increase in community transmission since the start of the pandemic. In total there are 301 people in Victoria who have tested positive for coronavirus but for which the source of infection is unknown. This means they were not overseas travellers and did not have any contact with a known coronavirus case. What the above graph shows is the running total for community transmission each day, going all the way back to March 13, when the state recorded its first coronavirus infection with an unknown source. About 13 per cent of coronavirus infections statewide since the start of the outbreak are suspected to be due to community transmission but over the past fortnight a far higher percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Victoria did not have a connection with a known case. Keep in mind this increase of 20 new community transmission cases does not mean 20 of the 73 new coronavirus cases confirmed today were a result of community transmission. It takes the health department several days to determine the source of infection, so this increase is most likely showing cases that were picked up in the recent testing blitz in Melbourne hotspots. You can also see from the graph that the running total has decreased on some days. That is because as more information comes to hand, sometimes the health department realises a case they thought did not have a source turns out to have a connection to an existing person who was infected so they no longer count as a case of community transmission. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd said that the Commonwealth had encouraged Victoria to seek more support, citing more than 200 members of the Defence Force, assisting on the ground at this time, with more available if needed. Overnight, Victoria requested an additional 800 people to provide support including 200 clinical staff to carry out testing, 100 people to assist with the on-ground coordination of community engagement and doorknocking, and 500 to assist with further testing, contact tracing and public engagement. Professor Kidd said the government was very concerned about the rate of asymptomatic cases. Many people are not asymptomatic but have very mild symptoms, which may indicate COVID-19, and this is why it is absolutely essential that anyone who has even the mildest symptoms of fever, cold, flu-like symptoms arrange to get tested and especially for those in the areas of community transmission in Melbourne, stay-at-home waiting for the results, he said. He said that anyone who was offered a test should accept it. "My request to all the people in Victoria is if someone approaches you and asks you to please do a test, please comply. These tests are there to protect us all. ''They'll be protecting you and your health and wellbeing. They'll be protecting your family, they'll be protecting the wider community. Testing is a fundamental tenet of the work we're doing." The Berejiklian government has been accused of using COVID-19 as a cover to speed up approvals for a mine expansion that won't alter operations significantly or create many jobs until after 2035. Mining giant Glencore last year sought approval for works that would allow the life of its Bulga Coal mine in the Hunter Valley to extend four years beyond its permit date to the end of 2039. Bulga Coal is one of the Hunter Valley coal mines. It has been granted 'fast-track' status for a mine extension that won't start until 2035. Credit:Dean Osland The government last week revealed the plan made it to the third batch of "Fast-Tracked Assessments" worthy of quicker approval because it would generate 1000 jobs and trigger $95 million in investments. It would also enable the extraction of an extra 63 million tonnes of coal. The listing cited the benefits of "the economic recovery of available coal resources using the existing infrastructure, facilities and experienced personnel" as another reason for the priority billing. The new multibillion-dollar second stage of WestConnex in Sydney's south-west could open within a week. NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance on Tuesday hinted the nine-kilometre M8 motorway tunnels could open in the next seven days, almost four years after tunnelling began on the project. "We'll see that open possibly within the week," Mr Constance told a Committee for Sydney webinar. The $4.3 billion duplication of the M5 between Kingsgrove and St Peters is slated to help reduce travel time between Liverpool and south Sydney by 30 minutes. The City of Sydney council has awarded one of the largest advertising contracts in Australian history to QMS Media, a move that will lead to bus stops, toilets and news kiosks being ripped from the CBD after more than 20 years. QMS Media, which was bought by private equity firm Quadrant earlier this year, has been confirmed as the successful bidder after a bitter struggle against incumbent, global advertising giant JCDecaux, which has held the contract since the late 1990s. JCDecaux CEO Steve O'Connor next to a bus stop. The decision by the City of Sydney will see inventory like this disappear. Credit:Janie Barrett The decision to appoint QMS will result in the removal of JCDecaux's existing street furniture, such as bins, chairs and stand-alone advertising billboards, from the city. The process is expected to occur between 2021 and 2022. Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said the new furniture would refresh the city. An at-risk mental health patient died in a north Queensland hospital after being placed in an unauthorised choke-hold so he could be sedated, a coroner has found. Taare Tamakehu Rangi died in the Townsville Hospital's Acute Mental Health Unit on July 7, 2018, after the incident sparked by his refusal of medication. Northern Coroner Nerida Wilson ultimately found there had been a lack of compliance with hospital policies rather than any gaps. After a seven-day inquest in November last year, which was shown "confronting" CCTV and body-camera footage, Northern Coroner Nerida Wilson found the incidents leading to the 44-year-old's death had been avoidable. "It was not necessary to administer ... medication to Mr Rangi at the time," she said in her findings published this week. Australian Twitter users were ahead of the curve when it came to the public health response to COVID-19, calling for lockdowns weeks before they were introduced, new analysis has shown. Researchers from QUTs Digital Observatory looked at the posts made on the social media platform over the first 100 days of the pandemic, from early January until the end of April. New data shows Australian Twitter users were ahead of the curve on coronavirus information. Credit:AP Associate Professor Daniel Angus, who led the project, said they looked at 2.8 million tweets directly referencing the coronavirus. Over that period of time we can look at the initial response to the outbreak, through the peak of the pandemic and then almost tailing off in terms of how it was framing the discussion, Professor Angus said. Police have charged a man with grievous bodily harm after a baby was found unresponsive with "serious injuries" west of Brisbane. Emergency services were called to the Ipswich suburb of Bundamba about 3.30pm last Tuesday after the five-month-old boy was found with "multiple serious injuries" in a home. The infant was taken to the Queensland Children's Hospital and remains in a critical condition, a police statement said. Ongoing investigations sparked by the discovery led Ipswich child protection detectives to a 23-year-old Lockrose man, who is known to the family. He has since been charged with grievous bodily harm and is due to appear in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Wednesday. The Cape Coral City Council will hold a Special Meeting on Thursday, July 2, at 2:30 p.m., at City Hall to discuss face masks. The agenda item is listed as: Emergency Ordinance 1-20 AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF CAPE CORAL, FLORIDA, MANDATING THAT INDIVIDUALS WEAR A FACE COVERING IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; PROVIDING FOR INCORPORATION OF RECITALS AS LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS; PROVIDING FOR DEFINITIONS; PROVIDING FOR MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT; PROVIDING SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. For more information, visit the Citys website at: www.capecoral.net; Department; City Clerk; public meeting calendar. To view a copy of the agenda once available, go to www.capecoral.net/department/clerk/agendas_and_videos.php or pick up a copy at the Clerks Office. City Hall is at 1015 Cultural Park Boulevard. Source: City of Cape Coral The cyclist who died in an accident outside a hospital in Brisbane's north on Tuesday morning has been identified as Carolyn Lister, who worked at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. Cycling groups have paid tribute to Carolyn Lister. Credit:Twitter Emergency services were called to the scene on Bowen Bridge Road in front of her workplace at Herston after reports of the incident about 7.30am. A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said paramedics had assessed her for critical injuries after the collision at the O'Connell Terrace intersection. "Carolyn was a very strong rider, who recently took up racing with Hamilton Wheelers Cycling Club. She was excited to win her first race late last year," a Cycling Queensland statement read. All-terrain vehicles are being used along the water's edge of a popular tourist beach to search for a sailor who went missing from a vessel off the Queensland coast at the weekend. A 54-year-old man was with at least one other person when he fell off the boat in rough seas and 20-knot winds about 20 kilometres east of Bustard Head, south of Gladstone, on Saturday. Weather hindered the second day of search efforts. Credit:Volunteer Marine Rescue Bundaberg / Facebook Police are using ATVs to scour Agnes Water Beach while jet skis have been deployed along the shoreline on Tuesday. The search has been scaled back to the shoreline and beach areas. A union official has been rushed to hospital unconscious after he and a colleague were allegedly attacked at a construction site in Melbourne's inner east. Police are investigating after two officials from the CFMMEU were allegedly assaulted after turning up to a Hawthorn East worksite on Toorak Road just before 7.30am. Toorak Road was closed between Auburn Road and Tooronga Road following the incident. Credit:VicTraffic One of the men was taken to The Alfred hospital with non-life-threatening injuries to his upper body. He was released from hospital about midday. The other man did not need to go to hospital. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The miraculous discovery of Jane Rimmers body on August 3, 1996, was the breakthrough Perth homicide detectives had been waiting for. They finally had a body, and with it a major lead. The 23-year-old childcare worker had vanished off the streets of Claremont 55 days earlier after a night out with friends at The Continental Hotel. Jane Rimmer. She was the second suspected victim of the Claremont serial killer and her crime scene offered the first clues as to what had happened to the missing women. A family made the grim discovery after a rooster ran out in front of their car while they were driving down a semi-rural road in Wellard, 40 kilometres south of Perth. "The kids all looked at me and I said, 'Oh, go for it', so they all got out and they all chased the chook, mother Tammy Van Raalte-Evans said. While the children played, Ms Van Raalte-Evans walked down a bush path, drawn to the biggest death lily shed ever seen. Advertisement As she admired the lily in what she described as a bush cocoon, she saw a persons feet and followed the body up to find Ms Rimmer lying naked, concealed under branches. Dozens of police descended on the scene within hours. The cross erected at the location where Jane Rimmer's body was found in Wellard in 1996. Credit:Nine News Perth Fronting the media the next day, Detective Inspector Paul Ferguson said the area was being searched for any clues to the identity of the killer. By finding Janes body what that has done is given us a second phase to move into and that is that we now have a crime scene and a body to work from, he said. One of those clues was a Telecom pocket knife found on Woolcoot Road, less than a kilometre from the crime scene. After Ms Rimmers death, WA Police launched Macro Taskforce to investigate her disappearance and that of Sarah Spiers. Their symbol became the death lily, also known as the arum lily. Advertisement Two husband and wife couples who lived in Wellard told detectives they heard a woman screaming and shouting on the night Ms Rimmer was murdered. Kenneth Mitchell said he heard a woman screaming leave me alone, let me out of here, before noticing a car drive away in the direction of the site where Ms Rimmers body was found. Another couple closer to her final resting place recalled blood-curdling cries that stopped mid-scream. It would take 20 years for detectives to unravel the mystery and charge Bradley Edwards with Ms Rimmers murder. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video During the 51-year-olds Supreme Court trial, prosecutors claimed residents had heard the moment he cut his victims throat. Defensive wounds on Ms Rimmers forearm showed she had tried to fight back. Fibres recovered from Ms Rimmers hair suggested she had been bundled into the rear cargo area of a 1996 Holden Commodore VS Series 1 station wagon, the same type of vehicle the accused drove at the time. Advertisement Other fibres recovered also indicated she had had contact with a seat in the same vehicle. However, a single blue polyester fibre would prove the most important in her case. The rare fibre had also been found on the shorts of a teenager who was abducted from Claremont in 1995 and raped in a nearby cemetery. A similar fibre would eventually also be recovered from the body of Ciara Glennon, the Claremont serial killers suspected third victim. Following Mr Edwards arrest in 2016, the fibres were linked to custom-made Telstra trousers worn by technicians in the mid-90s. Mr Edwards was a Telstra technician and uniform records showed he owned pairs of the trousers. Bradley Edwards in the mid-1990s. Advertisement Mr Edwards eventually confessed to the cemetery rape on the eve of his triple murder trial but denies murdering the three women. His lawyer Paul Yovich said Ms Rimmer and Ms Glennons crime scenes mirrored one another and it could be reasonably assumed the same person murdered them but he said that man was not Mr Edwards. Mr Yovich said the state had managed to prove only that Mr Edwards fit into a category of people who could have committed the crimes based on the type of vehicle he drove, his employment, and his history of sexually motivated attacks on strangers. Although he is unquestionably in the class of persons [who could be involved in the crimes] the size of that class and the uncertainty of the evidence would be unsafe to draw the conclusion the accuseds clothing or vehicle is the source [of the fibres], he said. The single piece of evidence linking Mr Edwards directly to the killings is his DNA profile, which was recovered from underneath Ms Glennons fingernails. Mr Yovich said the DNA contaminated Ms Glennons exhibit in a lab. Mr Edwards did not provide an alibi for the evening Ms Rimmer was killed, as he was unable to recall his movements 20 years on. Advertisement A man who strangled a woman when she lashed out at him shortly after a chance encounter on the street has been sentenced to eight years in a West Australian prison. Amos Ryan Gunn, 23, and the 30-year-old woman had been drinking at different locations when they met on a street in the Wheatbelt town of Moora in March last year, the WA Supreme Court heard on Tuesday. Gunn claimed the mother-of-one, named only as Ms Dann for cultural reasons, was initially "pretty angry" before helping him find his way home, where they had sex, then she had a shower but became irate again. Ms Dann allegedly swung at Gunn's head with a metal pole, then he snatched it off her and held it against her neck. He mistakenly believed he had killed her and it took him another 15 minutes to call for help, the court heard. The Morrison government's 10-year defence strategy also opens the door to pursuing cutting-edge weaponry, including directed energy weapons and hypersonic glide vehicles, still in early phases of deployment in the US and China. Australia intends to join the great powers in developing a specific capability to enter the once-futuristic realms of war in space and cyber and information war. Canberra is looking to the US to supply and support Australia's new weapons, extending its deep existing dependency on Washington. The LRASM missiles have a range of more than 300km, about triple the range of Australia's current missile options. Credit:US Navy Australia has previously rejected an offer by the United States to deploy its own long-range missiles in Darwin, but has been investigating the option of buying about 200 of the Lockheed Martin missiles for its fleet of Super Hornets and possibly other aircraft. The purchase of the missiles - which can travel up to 370 kilometres - will cost about $800 million. Loading The new air missiles would be a significant upgrade from the ADF's current Harpoon anti-ship missile, which was introduced in the early 1980s and only has a reach of 124 kilometres. The Prime Minister will say tensions over territorial claims are rising across the Indo-Pacific region, including disputed border clashes between India and China, the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Since the government's 2016 Defence White Paper was released, Mr Morrison will say the world has witnessed an acceleration of the strategic trends that were already under way. "The risk of miscalculation - and even conflict - is heightening," he is expected to say. Mr Morrison will say relations between China and the US are fractious as they compete for political, economic and technological supremacy, but "they are not the only actors of consequence". "Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, the countries of south-east Asia, and the Pacific all have agency - choices to make and parts to play. So too does Australia," Mr Morrison will say. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "There is a new dynamic of strategic competition, and the largely benign security environment Australia has enjoyed - roughly from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Global Financial Crisis - is gone." The new update will prioritise the ADF's geographical focus on the immediate region - the area ranging from the north-east Indian Ocean, through maritime and mainland south-east Asia to Papua New Guinea and the south-west Pacific. The strategy has three main objectives: to shape Australia's strategic environment, deter actions against Australia's interests and respond with credible military force, when required. The rationale of the new strategy is that global capability is no longer as important - a sign that Australia will get involved in less Middle East ventures and concentrate its defences in the Indo-Pacific region. The government strategy emphasises "shaping" the strategic environment by intensifying relationships with friendly countries in the region, including south-east Asia and the south Pacific. It aims to stop unfriendly states building new military bases and infrastructure in the region. While China is not named, it is the overwhelming cause for concern among government strategists. The plan pledges $270 billion over 10 years, a commitment designed to give planning certainty well beyond the normal four-year budget cycle. This is not an increase in Australia's defence spending in real terms beyond the status quo. Loading It does not anticipate major new delivery platforms - that is, submarines, ships or planes - beyond the pre-existing decisions. The government is earmarking $7 billion for space warfare, $15 billion for cyber and information war, $55 billion for land combat, $65 billion for aviation and $75 billion for maritime capability. Some lesser defence contracts will be cancelled to save money for the new weaponry, but experts are bound to question the adequacy of the new budget promises. The defence budget for next year is anticipated to reach 2 per cent of Australia pre-pandemic GDP, fulfilling a Coalition promise. But the new strategy says that the government will no longer use a GDP-related target for defence spending. A theme of the strategy is adding to domestic capability wherever possible. About $50 billion is earmarked for developing domestic defence enterprise and workforce. The boost to defences follows a virtual meeting between foreign ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations on Tuesday night. Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced Australia would make a $23 million commitment to help ASEAN nations bolster health security, maintain stability and stage an economic recovery in the wake of the coronavirus. The release of the new defence strategy comes after the government announced on Tuesday Australia's chief cyber defence agency would recruit 500 new staff under a $1.35 billion package. The money will come out of elsewhere in the defence budget. Labor leader Anthony Albanese is promising to restore $84 million of funding to the ABC in his first national spending commitment since taking charge of the federal opposition. Seizing on the public broadcaster's budget woes days out from the Eden-Monaro byelection, Mr Albanese will announce on Wednesday a Labor government would reinstate funding the ABC has lost through an indexation freeze imposed by the Coalition. Labor leader Anthony Albanese, alongside Labor's Eden-Monaro byelection candidate Kristy McBain, is promising to restore ABC funding. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Under its current three-year funding period between 2019-20 and 2021-22, the broadcaster is subject to a freeze that will deny it up to $84 million. Last week, ABC managing director David Anderson announced a range of budget cuts, including 250 job losses and the end of the 7.45am radio news bulletin, in a bid to save $40 million. Mr Albanese says Labor would "reverse Scott Morrison's $83.7 million cut to the ABC to save regional jobs, protect critical emergency broadcasting and support local news and content". The Australian Services Union has vowed to target every business that has reduced hours for administrative workers after the national industrial tribunal agreed to extend the arrangement in a win for employers. Employers and the union agreed to let companies reduce working hours and times when penalty rates are triggered for administrative staff in a deal struck at the height of the pandemic in April to help businesses keep their staff while the economy shut down. Retail workers at malls across Australia will see their penalty rates fall 15 per cent this Sunday. Credit:Janie Barrett The union wanted the deal to end this week but after talks between the two sides failed, the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday decided the changes should continue to protect jobs but with stronger safeguards. Australian Services Union national secretary Robert Potter said the union would help workers who were working the reduced hours to get back to their normal shifts by voting down the changes. "We're in a position to support all workers to remove these provisions and are prepared to go workplace to workplace to do so if necessary," Mr Potter said. Workplace deaths in Victoria could trigger fines up to $16.5 million and jail terms stretching to 25 years for negligent bosses under new industrial manslaughter laws that come into effect on Wednesday. And in a further expansion of the state's workplace laws, the Andrews government will expand the definition of a workplace death to capture people who suicide because of workplace bullying, deaths on the road while working and industrial illnesses like silicosis. Employers responsible for the worst breaches of work health and safety laws face being hit with jail terms under workplace manslaughter laws. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Those changes will almost double the official workplace death toll in the state from 25 to 41 this year. The move comes as state and federal governments halve the amount of silica dust workers can be exposed to as part of measures designed to stop tradespeople dying from silicosis after inhaling the harmful particles, which are commonly contained in some benchtops. "Employers need to understand that if their negligence costs someone their life, they will be prosecuted and may go to jail," said Attorney-General Jill Hennessy. NSW upper house MP Shaoquett Moselmane will continue to be paid his annual $170,000 salary despite being on indefinite leave and vowing not to undertake any parliamentary work. Mr Moselmane says he will not access his office nor use his work email, computer or phones while Australian Federal Police investigate allegations that Chinese government agents have infiltrated his office. Shaoquett Moselmane will remain on full pay while on indefinite leave. Credit:Peter Rae The MP was suspended from the Labor Party on Friday just hours after his Rockdale home and Macquarie Street office were raided by the federal police. He is now listed on the parliamentary website as an independent MP in the upper house. For the first time, SCORE Chapters within the nonprofits District 480 are joining forces to offer small business owners throughout the region the critical guidance needed today to determine whether they should stay in business and the best steps for moving forward. In a special six-part webinar series, presenters from five SCORE Chapters will guide small business owners-the backbone of the local and national economy-through an easy-to-follow, four-step process for meeting todays small business challenges and creating a path for the future. Small business owners need to learn how to take action to preserve their livelihoods and those of their employees now more than ever, a release issued Tuesday states. According to an April survey from Main Street America, 7.5 million small businesses nationwide will shut permanently if business disruption caused by COVID-19 continues unabated. In Southwest Florida, in Lee County alone, a recent survey by Florida Gulf Coast Universitys Regional Economic Research Institute shows that 56% surveyed businesses reported a decrease in demand of more than 50% as a result of the pandemic. Each webinar will take place from noon to 1 p.m. The series is free. Participants are encouraged to attend each one for comprehensive guidance. Registrants will be enrolled in the entire series upon registration. The schedule is: * July 16: Close, Survive or Thrive The Small Business Challenge Today: Assess your current financial situation, analyze the state of your business, and communicate your plan to staff and customers. (Presented by Eileen Buchanan, SWFL SCORE) * July 23: Show Me the Money Assessing Your Financial Situation: In this webinar, participants will be shown how to use financial information to assess the current state of their business, how to use that information for making critical decisions about closing or surviving and thriving, and how to manage cash flow in the short term to set the stage for thriving in the future. (Presented by Henry McCabe, Port Charlotte SCORE) * July 30: Analyze Your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and Act on Your Results: Its time to re-analyze and document your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities and threats since the emergence of COVID-19. Then the brainstorming begins to develop your best path forward. (Presented by Walter McCracken, Pinellas SCORE) * Aug. 6: Putting It Together in an Actionable Plan the Business Model Canvas: Learn how to use the Business Model Canvas, a tool that allows you to capture the key ingredients of your plan on a single page, using a rigorous, thoughtful process. (Presented by Doug Barber, Manasota SCORE) * Aug. 13: The In-Business Guide to Tough Times Marketing on a Dime: Get your name and product out to potential customers and clients without spending a lot of money. (Presented by Sharon Schulman, SWFL SCORE) * Aug. 20: The Small Business Legal Challenges in the Age of COVID-19: What new risks does your business face today and how will you protect yourself and your business from liability? (Presented by Patrick H. Neale, Attorney at Law, Naples) Participants may register for one or all of the Zoom webinars. To register: https://bit.ly/SCORESWFL Queensland will reopen its borders on July 10, but travel from Victoria will remain restricted. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said anyone who had travelled from Victoria, including Queensland residents, would be prevented from entering the state unless they quarantined at a hotel at their own expense. We cannot risk removing our border restrictions for those people coming from areas in Victoria right now, she said. The government will open the borders to other states from Friday, July 10, provided travellers complete a border declaration stating they have not been to local government areas in Victoria in the previous 14 days. New Delhi: At least 32 people, including three children, have drowned after the passenger boat they were on collided with a ferry and capsized in Bangladesh's capital city, the latest disaster for a country haunted by maritime accidents. The capsized ship, called the Morning Bird, had just completed an hour-long journey to the Sadarghat river port in the city of Dhaka on Monday when it collided with the other vessel, officials said. The boat was carrying more than 50 passengers, including local government officers. A boat carries ethnic Rohingya off North Aceh, Indonesia, on June 24. Credit:AP Commodore Golam Sadeqk, an official of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport, told Agence France-Presse that the ship had sunk because of "carelessness" and had not been overcrowded. Authorities said that they had opened an investigation and seized the ferry involved in the accident. Beijing: Satellite images show that construction on both the Indian and Chinese sides high in the Himalayas, a week after a deadly clash in the area left 20 Indian soldiers dead, is continuing apace. A June 15 clash in the disputed area - the Line of Actual Control - was the deadliest in 45 years between the world's most populous nations. Images taken on May 22 and June 23 this year show construction in the Galwan River Valley near the disputed border known as the Line of Actual Control between India and China. Credit:Maxar Technologies The images appeared to show that the Indians built a wall on their side and the Chinese had expanded an outpost camp at the end of a long road connected to Chinese military bases farther from the poorly defined border The images released by Maxar, a Colorado-based satellite imagery company, shows the new construction along the Galwan River Valley, occurring against a backdrop of worsening relations between the two countries. London: Britain's economic recovery has hit its first serious hurdle, with Leicester being the first city in the United Kingdom to be plunged back into lockdown after officials expressed alarm at a significant rise in COVID-19 cases that threatens the rest of the country. Shops that only restarted trading will have to close again, restaurants and pubs that planned to reopen this weekend will have to stay shut, and school has been cancelled for thousands of students to halt a growing number of infections in the East Midlands city of 350,000 people. A member of the British armed forces directs a driver at a COVID-19 mobile testing centre in Leicester. Credit:Bloomberg Health Secretary Matt Hancock emerged from a meeting of scientists, medical experts and local officials on Monday night to announce the new lockdown, warning "difficult but important decisions" were needed to stamp out local clusters. "We recommend to people in Leicester: stay at home as much as you can and we recommend against all but essential travel too, from and within Leicester," Hancock told the House of Commons. His remarks dovetailed with warnings by health officials that some Americans, particularly younger adults, have let down their guard since the end of mandatory lockdowns put in place in March and April to stop the pandemic. Asked what had gone wrong, he said several states may have gone "too quickly" and skipped over some of the checkpoints laid out for a safe reopening. But even in areas where state and local officials followed the federal guidelines, individuals acted as if all restrictions had been lifted. "What we saw were a lot of people who maybe felt that because they think they are invulnerable, and we know many young people are not because they're getting serious disease, that therefore they're getting infected has nothing at all to do with anyone else, when in fact it does," Fauci said. Australia included on EU 'safe list', US excluded It came as the European Union excluded the US from its initial "safe list" of countries from which the bloc will allow non-essential travel from Wednesday. The 27-member bloc gave approval on Tuesday to leisure or business travel from 14 countries beyond its borders, the Council of the EU, which represents EU governments, said in a statement. The countries are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. Workers wearing protective gear disinfect a plane in South Korea early in the coronavirus pandemic. Credit:AP China has also been provisionally approved, although travel would only open up if Chinese authorities also allowed in EU visitors. Reciprocity is a condition of being on the list. Russia, Brazil and Turkey, along with the US, are among countries whose containment of the virus is considered worse than that of the EU average and so will have to wait at least two weeks. The bloc will carry out fortnightly reviews. The move is aimed at supporting the EU travel industry and tourist destinations, particularly countries in southern Europe hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The list needed a "qualified majority" of EU countries to be passed, meaning 15 EU countries representing 65 per cent of the population. It acts as a recommendation to EU members, meaning they could potentially set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations and will almost certainly not allow access to travellers from other countries. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The EU's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly among the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors. Greece is mandating COVID-19 tests for arrivals from a range of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, with self-isolation until results are known. The Czech Republic is not allowing in tourists from Portugal and Sweden. British residents can also travel to many EU countries, although non-essential travellers to Britain are required to self-isolate for 14 days. Airbus to cut 15,000 jobs to survive coronavirus crisis Airbus on Tuesday unveiled plans to shed around 15,000 jobs including 900 already earmarked in Germany, saying its future was at stake after the coronavirus pandemic rocked the air travel industry. Europe's biggest aerospace group said it would cut some 5000 posts in France, 5100 in Germany, 900 in Spain, 1700 in the UK and 1300 elsewhere for a core total of 14,000. Additionally, the company has already agreed to cut 900 jobs at its Premium AEROTEC unit in Germany. The move is subject to talks with unions which immediately renewed pledges to oppose compulsory redundancies. Airbus has refused to rule them out as it seeks voluntary departures, early retirements and long-term partial employment schemes. Airbus said it wanted a deal on the job cuts by 2021. "It's going to be a mighty battle to save jobs," said Francoise Vallin of the CFE-CGC union. Infections rise in Tokyo Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has announced a new set of criteria to monitor coronavirus infections. The revised guideline comes as Tokyo's daily new cases have risen to around 50, its highest levels since early May. "I believe our task now is to balance measures against the further spread of the infections and social and economic activities," Koike said. "Instead of relying on specific numbers to switch on and off (caution levels), we will look at the whole picture and make a comprehensive decision." Yuriko Koike, the Governor of Tokyo, where new coronavirus cases have risen to around 50 a day. Credit:AP Koike and doctors on a panel of experts say their evaluation will be based on seven factors, including the number of new cases, details of untraceable cases, number of emergency calls and consultations, capacity at emergency hospitals, ratio of patients per test takers and the state of medical systems. Koike says Tokyo had set three caution scales for hospitals, requiring them to secure up to 4000 beds at level three. She says she designated Tokyo hospitals to be on "level two" preparedness on Monday, asking to secure up to 3000 beds in case the current rise in infections worsens. Tokyo reported 54 new cases on Tuesday, exceeding an earlier threshold of 50 for a fifth day in a row for a confirmed total of 6225. Officials say half of the cases are linked to a group testing among employees in nightclubs in downtown Tokyo. Tokyo accounts for about one-third of the Japanese national total of 18,593 confirmed cases and 972 deaths. Fifth Nigerian governor tests positive A fifth state governor in Nigeria has tested positive for COVID-19. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu from Ondo state in Nigeria's south-west tweeted his test results on Tuesday. "All is well. I'm asymptomatic and have been self-isolating. Work continues," he said in a video posted on Twitter. Five of Nigeria's 36 state governors now have tested positive for the coronavirus. Nigeria has recorded 25,133 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 573 deaths. As the number of cases rise rapidly, authorities are warning that the country's health facilities are being overwhelmed with bed spaces in short supply in parts of the country including Lagos, the commercial capital. Republican senator urges Trump to wear a mask A leading Republican senator says President Donald Trump should start wearing a mask at least some of the time because politics is getting in the way of protecting the American people from COVID-19. "The stakes are too high for the political debate about pro-Trump, anti-Trump masks to continue," said Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Loading Alexander is chairing a hearing of the Health, Education, Labour and Pensions committee that is focused on ways to safely reopen schools and workplaces. Alexander had to self-quarantine after he was exposed to a staff member who tested positive. But the senator says he was protected because the staffer was wearing a mask. Reuters, AP, with staff reporters British Prime Minister Boris Johnson toughened his rhetoric on China's telecommunications giant Huawei, cautioning Beijing that he would protect critical infrastructure from "hostile state vendors" as he expressed deep concern over new security laws for Hong Kong. Johnson, who in January allowed Huawei a limited role in Britain's 5G network, has faced intense pressure from the United States and Australia to ban the company on security grounds. Boris Johnson is toughening his rhetoric on telecommunications giant Huawei after China introduced new laws for Hong Kong. Credit:Getty But the COVID-19 crisis and a row with China over a crackdown in the former British colony of Hong Kong has damaged relations between Beijing and London just as Johnson prepares to revisit his decision on Huawei Technologies. Asked if the security law would influence Britain's decision on whether or not to restrict Huawei, Johnson said: "I'm not going to get drawn into Sinophobia because I'm not a Sinophobe." Wellington: New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has challenged opposition leader Todd Muller to "stand up for this country" and address Dr Jian Yang's membership of the National party room. The secretive Yang has been an MP since 2011 and has not given an English-language interview in this term of Parliament. Nationals MP Jian Yang at Chinese and Korean New Year festivities in the Auckland suburb of Northcote. Credit:Denise Piper In 2017, Yang was outed as a former member of Chinese military intelligence agencies and the Communist Party of China prior to his arrival in New Zealand in the 1990s. Then, Yang admitted he taught Chinese spies while denying he had ever acted as one. Bryan, OH (43506) Today Thunderstorms this morning, then cloudy skies this afternoon. High 73F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Low around 45F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. On the whole, hand sanitizers are not as reliable as soap. Sanitizers with at least 60% ethanol do act similarly, defeating bacteria and viruses by destabilizing their lipid membranes. But they cannot easily remove microorganisms from the skin. There are also viruses that do not depend on lipid membranes to infect cells, as well as bacteria that protect their delicate membranes with sturdy shields of protein and sugar. Examples include bacteria that can cause meningitis, pneumonia, diarrhea and skin infections, as well as the hepatitis A virus, poliovirus, rhinoviruses and adenoviruses (frequent causes of the common cold). Lansdale, PA (19446) Today A few isolated thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High around 90F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 67F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. 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 ban on Mi Community could not have come at a worse time for Xiaomi. Just when the Chinese smartphone giant was recovering from poor sales and supply chain issues, the ban has hit right at the core of its India business model. Since its entry into India in 2014, the community has played a crucial role in its rapid growth and continues to remain at the centre of its consumer outreach programme. With over 10 million downloads on the Play Store, the Mi Community is the most convenient medium for the 100-million-member platform. Xiaomi may be pushed to changing its business model ... Maharashtra Tourism Minister has said the Civil Aviation Ministry should coordinate with state governments on the repatriation flights under the Missionfor effectively reaching out to Indians stranded around the world. In a letter, dated June 29, to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Thackeray said most evacuees are in touch with their respective state governments. Thackeray said in his earlier communication to the Ministry of External Affairs and the managing director of Air India, he had requested flights for the Middle East, Australia, Russia along with other routes. "Although some flights were organised, we need many more for the same," the minister said in his letter. The Mission-4 schedule has been handed over to the state. "There is not a single flight from the Middle East to Maharashtra, despite repeated requests from the state and the people stuck in the Middle East," he said. All the 21 flights under the fourth phase of the Mission from seven cities of six countries are hopping flights, which means not many passengers would be from Maharashtra. "We would like you to address this issue and injustice meted out to Maharashtra. Every state should have its people repatriated, but it should be in equal measure and in a fair way," the minister said. He said the feedback from those who have already come back is about unaffordable air fares for repatriationand the poor in-flight facilities provided against it, like the food quality, delays and absence of food services at hop-overs. "This causes more stress to the ones being repatriated from various countries after a stressful extended stay abroad," he said. The central government started the Vande Bharat Mission on May 6 to help stranded people reach their destinations using special repatriation flights. Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the pandemic. (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.) has apprehended a US-bound passenger at the for allegedly carrying a bullet in his baggage, officials said on Tuesday. Bhagwant Singh, travelling to Washington on an Air India flight, was intercepted with a 7.65 mm calibre bulletin his bag at the Indira Gandhi International Airport Monday night. The Central Industrial Security Force personnel immediately segregated him and questioned him. As Singh had no documents for carrying the bullet, a prohibited item on an aircraft, he was handed over to Delhi police, they said. Limited domestic and international (only under the Vande Bharat Mission) flights are operational in the country in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. (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.) China said on Tuesday it was concerned about India's decision to ban Chinese mobile apps such as Bytedance's TikTok and Tencent's WeChat and was making checks to verify the situation. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing that India has a responsibility to uphold the rights of Chinese businesses. India on Monday banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since a border crisis erupted between the two countries this month. In a unique initiative, the government has set up a 'COVID warrior club' in Murshidabad district, comprising people who have recovered from the disease and willing to aid the administration and health workers in containing the pandemic. At present, 60 people who had recovered from the disease, have been enrolled as members of the club, set up at Behrampore in Murshidabad district, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday. "We held counselling sessions for those who had defeated COVID-19, and are now leading a normal life. Some of them have come forward to serve others suffering from the disease. They can work as helpers at different hospitals, serve food, or talk to other COVID-19 patients... They should not feel scared," the chief minister said. Of the 60 members, 10 each have agreed to work in Murshidabad Medical College and Malda Medical College, while 40 others will serve at the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, Banerjee stated. The government will pay the members an honorarium, and bear expenses of their food and accommodation, she said. The CM insisted that her government will set up similar clubs in every district of Bengal. "We request all those who have defeated the disease to come forward and serve others," the CM said, and asked chief secretary and home secretary to issue instructions for constituting such clubs in other parts of the state. Expressing concern over the growing number of cases in the state, Banerjee requested the Centre to immediately stop long distance and special trains as well as flights to from five states with high incidence of COVID-19 cases. She, however, did not mention the names of the states. "This (number of infections) went up once people from outside started returning, and the curve continued to move upward. The chief secretary has made a request to temporarily stop trains (to Bengal) from places having high incidence of COVID-19 cases so that the spread of the virus can be arrested," she said. The TMC supremo also urged the Union government to limit domestic flights to the state to just one day a week. "We have no problem if flights come to Bengal from other states, barring from those places which have registered the maximum number of COVID-19 cases. We, however, request the Centre to limit the number of flights from other states, and allow these to land in Bengal just once every week. "We will try and manage the number of people coming to the state on that day. Managing them throughout the week is impossible for us... Neither the civil aviation ministry nor the railways have come up with any mechanism (for handling these returnees)," Banerjee added. Hailing the doctors and other health workers who have been working day in and day out to combat the pandemic, the chief minister declared July 1 as Doctors' Day and announced statewide holiday as a mark of respect to them. She also urged the Centre to declare the day as a national holiday, and requested other states to follow suit. Banerjee, who holds the health portfolio, said a telemedicine service to help patients who are unable to visit doctors amid the current pandemic, will soon be made functional. "We are planning to start a telemedicine service on COVID-19 and other diseases. Hopefully, from July 1, we will be able to start the initiative. Several people are finding it difficult to visit doctors amid the lockdown. This initiative will give them a chance to consult doctors over phone. There will be separate phone numbers allotted for every district," she added. (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.) That difference was clear by the relaxed atmosphere, with ensigns commenting that it was far different than the I-Day they experienced. Everyone still dressed in their formal uniforms, although masks were now the accessory to wear. Some like Commandant of the Midshipman Capt. Thomas Buchanan walked around with an orange pool noodle. It was a social distancing noodle, meant to keep people 6 feet apart. Union Home Minister on Tuesday said the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a programme to provide free ration for over 80 crore people, shows the sensitivity of Prime Minister to the millions of poor and their welfare. Congratulating the prime minister for extending the scheme till November, Shah also thanked farmers and honest taxpayers of the country, saying their hard work and dedication was helping the benefits reach the poor. "The extension of Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana shows the sensitivity of Shri @NarendraModi ji to the millions of poor and his commitment for their welfare. Nobody slept hungry in a large country like India during the Corona period, thanks to Modiji's foresight and successful implementation of the scheme," he tweeted in Hindi. The prime minister on Tuesday announced extension of the PMGKAY by five more months till November end. In a televised address to the nation, the prime minister said over Rs 90,000 crore will be spent on the programme's extension, and if the last three months expenditure on account of the free ration scheme is added then the total budget will be about Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The scheme was rolled out for three months from April soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced to combat the COVID-19. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Tuesday declined to entertain a plea seeking free of cost COVID-19 testing and treatment at all private labs and hospitals in the national capital for everyone, rich or poor, saying PILs should be filed with "some responsibility". A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said it would dismiss the petition with costs after which the petitioner''s counsel sought to withdraw the plea. "The petition is disposed of as not pressed at this stage," the court said. The petitioner, Sushant Mishra, sought directions to the Centre and the Delhi government to bear the cost of testing and treatment for COVID-19 at private labs and hospitals, do away with reservation of beds for the economically weaker section (EWS), reimburse costs on testing and treatment already incurred by patients and providing ex-gratia compensation to families of those who succumbed to After perusing the relief sought by Mishra, the court remarked that the petition has been filed for the benefit of rich people. The court suggested that the petitioner file such pleas for the benefit of the poor who cannot afford the costly treatment or testing for COVID-19. "Don't mix it up like this," it said. The bench also said that the reliefs sought are part of the policy decisions of the government, the Centre or states, which will decide who is eligible for benefits like free treatment and ex-gratia compensation. It further said the Delhi government was the only one to offer Rs 1 crore as ex-gratia to families of frontline healthworkers who have succumbed to the virus, so "let them work". "It is better that we do not interfere." the bench said. During the hearing, the Delhi government told the court that it was providing free treatment for COVID at all of its hospitals. (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.) Security outside Mumbai's two Taj hotels - Colaba and Bandra - and the nearby areas has been tightened after a bomb threat call from Karachi said the Mumbai Police on Tuesday. "Security tightened outside Taj Hotels and nearby areas after a threat call was received yesterday from Karachi, Pakistan to blow up the hotels with bombs," said the Mumbai Police. The police further added that the call from Karachi came in the late hours on Monday. 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 A plea has been filed in the by the parents of children from different States seeking declaration of moratorium or deferment of payment of during the induced lockdown. The plea also seeks direction to Centre and all the States for directing all the private unaided/aided schools to only charge the proportionate fees based on actual expenditure towards the conduct of the online virtual classes and no other fees from the students since April 1 till the commencement of physical classes. The Petitioners belonging to different states of the country have come together being constrained to approach this Court seeking inter alia the protection of fundamental right to life as well as education guaranteed under the Constitution of India, 1950 which the children & students enrolled up to the Class XII of various Indian states are being deprived of due to supervening factors namely, the ongoing pandemic- period.the plea said. It said that due to induced lockdown, financially incapacitated parents have to bear the brunt of the fees of the children, even after being faced with constant financial and emotional hardships which may leave a few of them with no option but to withdraw their children or students from seeking institutional/school education for an unforeseeable period of time. The Petitioners are also aggrieved apart from other issues as raised in the present petition by the unorganised and adversely influencing education imparted in the name of online classes, without addressing the supervening factors of incapacity of 25 per cent EWS category students, adverse impact of education of children of unregulated online education for students of Standard Nursery to 5th and for other students as well, the plea said. The parents through the petition filed through advocate Mayank Kshirsagar and drawn by advocate Pankhuri said that they are highlighting various factors leading to creation of hostile discrimination of children and parents of various states in India as some protection may be available for children or students in some states and the same may not be available in other states. Parents of the school going children who have moved the top court hail from Rajasthan, Odisha, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Maharashtra. In their plea they said that considering the adverse impact of online education, ban has been imposed by Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh while other States have not considered its impact. It said that after COVID-19 disease was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, on March 25, 2020, a country wide lockdown was announced whereby all the activities including the educational sector were shut down completely having a catastrophic effect over the economy of the country with many people losing their jobs or getting a deducted or nil income and facing immense sufferings in their daily life. The school going children and students were unable to attend the physical classes at their respective schools. Some of the private aided/unaided schools made arrangements for online classes in April, 2020 however the same has not been universally made available and even cases where no online classes are being conducted the schools are charging normal fees and rather some schools have hiked the fees, the plea said. It added that many of the schools hiked their fees and/or started harassing the students' parents to pay the entire quarterly fees in advance despite the non-functioning of the schools and the students not availing any of the services provided by the schools. The petition said that despite circulars issued by various States asking private aided/unaided schools ought not to hike their fees in the times of the pandemic, no substantial relief in the form of waiver of fees, or reduced fees, or proportionate fees as per actual expenditure etc. was granted to the students in most of the states, leaving their parents with a huge financial burden to bear, impliedly resulting in the student's right to life and education getting infringed and violated. It is further noteworthy that no specific provision/direction was issued by various states as mentioned with regard to the 25 per cent economically and socially backward/weaker students under the RTE Act, 2009, it said. The plea sought directions to Centre and all the States for directing all the private unaided/aided schools to not charge any fees whatsoever from the enrolled students of such schools for a period of three months starting from April 1 till July 1 or till the commencement of offline/physical school classes. It also sought directions to Centre and all the States for directing schools to only charge the proportionate fees based on actual expenditure towards the conduct of the online virtual classes and no other fees whatsoever from the enrolled students of such schools since April 1 till the commencement of offline/physical school classes. The petition said that direction be issued to schools to only charge the tuition fees' and no other fees whatsoever from the enrolled students since April 1 till physical classes resumes. (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.) In his address to the nation, the prime minister also promised the roll-out of the one nation, one ration card scheme, which has been in the works for some years now, to help migrant workers get access to free food grains anywhere in the country. The Opposition, particularly Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, had demanded that the PM also speak on issues such as China allegedly occupying Indian territory ... 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 Before the 25-year-old could write down the discrimination she says she experienced as a student at The Catholic High School of Baltimore, dozens of fellow Black alumnae began commenting with their own memories of racism below the private schools Facebook and Instagram statement. Their comments recounted instances when white classmates used racial slurs on social media but werent disciplined, or when administrators seemed unable to relate to the experiences of their Black students. The Superintendent of of Tuticorin, where a father-son duo died after being allegedly thrashed by the last week, was on Tuesday shunted out of the district and placed under "compulsory wait" by the government. Arun Balagopalan IPS "is brought to the compulsory wait at office of the Director General of Police," a Home Department order said. Villupuram SP S Jeyakumar has been appointed in place of Balagopalan. The government also posted S Murugan, IG, Economic Offences Wing, Chennai as the IG, South Zone, vice KP Shanmuga Rajeswaran, who is retiring today. Menawhile, the Tuticorin district administration on Tuesday deputed officials to take "control" of Sathankulam station, in line with a Madras High Court directive that it be brought under the Revenue department. Collector Sandeep Nanduri deputed a Tahsildar and a deputy Tahsildar to take "control" of the police station, official sources said. Further, a forensic team from Madurai was involved in collecting evidence at the police station, as directed by the court. The Madurai bench of the High Court had on Monday directed deputing revenue officers to the Police station to preserve "clue materials" seized following the death of the two, after the Principal district judge submitted policemen there were not cooperating with the Judicial Magistrate on conducting the enquiry under Cr.PC. P Jayaraj and his son Bennicks, arrested for 'violating' lockdown norms over business hours of their cellphone shop, died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23, with the relatives alleging that they were severely thrashed at the Sathankulam police station by the personnel earlier. The incident had triggered a nation-wide furore, leading to the suspension of five policemen, including an inspector and two Sub-Inspectors. All the personnel posted at Sathankulam police station earlier have been transferred out. The probe into the case has been since transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the government, even as the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has taken up the matter. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States government's top infectious diseases expert on Tuesday warned that daily Covid-19 cases could more than double if Americans fail to take countermeasures and cautioned against pinning hopes on a vaccine. California, Texas and several other states are reporting record increases in cases of the sometimes deadly illness caused by the novel coronavirus, leading to a sobering reassessment of efforts to contain it and raising the stakes for the scores of vaccine candidates being developed at unprecedented speed. Unless Americans wear masks and recommit to social ... Though critics might say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the free foodgrain distribution programme with the upcoming Bihar elections in mind, the state is a laggard when it comes to distribution of grain and pulses under the scheme. West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar all performed unsatisfactorily in implementing the scheme, under which 5 kg of grains and 1 kg of pulses are distributed free of cost to ration cardholders for the months of April, May and June. 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 output of the eight core sectors of the economy shrank 23.4 per cent in May, against 37 per cent in the previous month, as factories remained hamstrung by a lack of labour and cash shortages owing to the nationwide lockdown. Experts say the aftershocks of the lockdown will continue to weigh on domestic industry, which is expected to post a lower but certain contraction in coming months. ICRA predicts industrial production may see a contraction of 35-45 per cent in May, down from 55.5 per cent in April. The updated figures released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on ... As India comes to terms with Chinese border aggression, New Delhi is working on a number of options across a range of domains in order to impose costs on Beijing for its misadventure. One sector in focus is trade and economics. It is indeed ironical that this should be the case as one of the claims made by those supporting greater economic engagement has been that it induces cooperative behaviour between state actors. For a relationship like India and China's, which has been fundamentally fractured since 1962, economic ties were viewed as the much-needed balm that would reduce ... Its clearly a way for the university to ride the national discontent and outrage over police killings and police violence against communities of color, he said. We see this as clearly a strategic move on the part of the university to still have its police force and avoid some of the public-relations disaster that comes along with that announcement. For now, the new Ordinance has been made effective from June 29 to cover multi-state co-operative banks, according to a notification issued by the finance ministry on Tuesday. However, a large majority of co-operative banks that operate only in one state, or state co-operative banks, will be covered under the new law from a later date, a top government official said, requesting anonymity. We will notify the new ... 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 Chinas parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colonys way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago. State media is expected to publish details of the law - which comes in response to last years often-violent pro-democracy protests in the city and aims to tackle subversion, terrorism, separatism and collusion with foreign forces - later on Tuesday. Amid fears the legislation will crush the global financial hubs rights and freedoms, and ... German Chancellor said that Germany would spearhead efforts to ensure an effective post-pandemic EU recovery, after she held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. "We are going to work together and make Europe fit for tackling this crisis," Merkel said on Monday following talks with Macron at the German government guesthouse in Meseberg, north of Berlin. It is the first face-to-face meeting between the chancellor and another state leader after the outbreak, Xinhua news agency reported. "I'm very happy that we agree on the challenges that we want to overcome together," added Merkel, who noted that "expectations are high" -- referring to Germany's EU presidency starting from July 1 -- but Berlin and Paris are ready to rise to the task, in a bid to invest more into the future to meet those challenges after the pandemic. "It is important to me that we come out of the debate with a strong instrument at the end," said the German Chancellor. She said there would be changes to the European Commission's proposal, "but it has to remain a fund that helps, that really also helps the countries that otherwise threaten to be much more affected by the crisis." Macron stressed that the fund needs to be effective and defended the price tag of the current proposal. The 500-billion-euro recovery fund is the joint commitment of both France and Germany. Solidarity is needed to transfer the Franco-German consensus to the success of Europe. France and Germany are backing a European Commission proposal for a recovery fund including 500 billion euros in budgetary transfers and 250 billion euros in loans. Opposing that idea are Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, who reject any pooling of member states' debts. Macron warned the four countries, nicknamed "frugal four," that they were acting against their own best interests. They "gain a lot -- more than others -- from taking part in a common space of prosperity and exchange," he argued. "And so it is not in their interest to see some members, especially important markets in the European economy, affected," said Macron. He said the pandemic is not yet at its peak, and that steps needed to be taken at the EU level to deal with challenges on the horizon. "The chancellor and I put it on paper: It's our absolute priority. Without this, Europe wouldn't rise to the challenge," Macron said, referring to the post-pandemic recovery plan. EU leaders are due to meet up in person next month to try to reach an agreement on the recovery package. --IANS rt/ (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.) has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January, CNN reported citing Iran's local media sources on Monday. According to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, Trump is one of 36 people whom has issued arrest warrants for in relation to the death of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), but the Tehran attorney general Ali Alqasi Mehr said Trump was at the top of the list. Mehr claimed that Trump would be prosecuted as soon as he stands down presidency after his term ends, Fars reported. also said it had asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice for these 36 individuals, semi-official state news agency ISNA reported. Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike at Baghdad Airport in January along with five others, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The strike, condemned by Iran and its allies as an "assassination," raised the spectre of further regional destabilization. A spokesman for Iran's judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, announced in early June that an Iranian citizen had been sentenced to death for allegedly working for foreign intelligence agencies. Esmaili claimed that Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi Majd disclosed the whereabouts of Soleimani to US intelligence officials. The Trump administration viewed Soleimani as a ruthless killer, and the President told reporters in January that the general should have been taken out by previous presidents. The Pentagon blamed Soleimani for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and US allies in the months leading up to his killing. "General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region," the Pentagon said at the time, calling the strike "decisive defensive" action aimed at deterring future Iranian attacks. (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.) This city has been on the front lines in the fight for justice and equality for people of color for generations, Scott said. And he NAACPs history runs deep in Baltimore, where it fought for civil rights for Black people during some of the most turbulent times this country has seen over the last 30 years. A group of Pakistani dissidents have expressed dismay over Prime Minister calling slain al-Qaeda chief and 9/11 mastermind a "martyr," saying this could be out of a "sinister reason" of putting the West, especially the US on notice. Under the banner of South Asians Against Terrorism & For Human Rights (SAATH) Forum, the group that includes Pakistan's former envoy to the US Hussain Haqqani, condemned Khan for making such a statement in Parliament. What makes this doubly disgusting is that made this claim on the floor of Pakistan's National Assembly. For, another Prime Minister of Pakistan, Yusaf Raza Gillani, had in selfsame, National Assembly on May 9, 2011, denounced bin Laden as a terrorist and had welcomed his elimination, it said in a statement. Speaking in Parliament during the budget session on June 25, Khan called bin Laden a "shaheed" (martyr) and said that Islamabad faced "embarrassment" by taking part in America's war on terror. "For Pakistanis across the globe, it was an embarrassing moment when the Americans came and killed at Abottabad...martyred him. The whole world started abusing us after that. Our ally came inside our country and killed someone without informing us. And, 70,000 Pakistanis died because of the US' war on terror," Khan had said. Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals in Pakistan's garrison city of Abbottabad in May, 2011. Criticising Khan's statement, SAATH said, It should be noted that in addition to the havoc wreaked on 9/11, and later upon the wider world, bin Laden was directly responsible for the deaths and maiming of tens of thousands of Pakistanis and Afghans during the years he was plotting his terrible schemes whilst remaining hidden in and Afghanistan, according to former president General Pervez Musharraf probably known to certain people in Pakistan's Intelligence Services." "Many people explain this classification of bin Laden as a martyr' to Khan's known proclivity to be appreciative of extremist, Jihadist thought, therefore coming to be known by the nickname Taliban Khan' some years ago, a nickname which has stuck, it added. "However, there could be a deeper, even more sinister reason: that of putting the West, especially the US on notice, now that the endgame in Afghanistan is in sight, and the state of the economy is in shambles," the SAATH members said. The group termed it as a "ploy" to inveigle more money out of Pakistan's traditional donors. Prominent SAATH members include former ambassadors Haqqani and Kamran Shafi, parliamentarians Bushra Gohar and Afrasiab Khattak and columnists Mohammed Taqi, Marvi Sirmed, Gul Bukhari and Taha Siddiqui. Khan's remarks also drew criticism from Opposition parties in (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.) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson toughened his rhetoric on Chinas Huawei on Tuesday, cautioning Beijing that he would protect critical infrastructure from hostile state vendors as he expressed deep concern over a new security law for Hong Kong. Johnson, who in January allowed Huawei a limited role in Britains 5G network, has faced intense pressure from the United States and some British lawmakers to ban the telecommunications equipment maker on security grounds. But the Covid-19 crisis and a row with China over a crackdown in the former ... Shares of Vodafone Idea dipped as much as 4.6 per cent to Rs 10.60 on the BSE on Tuesday ahead of the announcement of the March quarter results for FY20 (Q4FY20). The stock had closed higher in the last three trading sessions and has bounced back as much as 23.5 per cent from Fridays intra-day low of Rs 9.27 per share. The stock hit a recent high of Rs 12.62 in intra-day trade on June 8. Around 48 crore shares have changed hands on the NSE and BSE combined so far. At 10:55 AM, the stock was trading 2.7 per cent lower as compared to 0.67 per cent gain in the S&P BSE ... As world opinion turns agains China's decision to impose a national security law in Hong Kong, Beijing is imposing a visa ban on certain US government officials. According to the South China Morning Post, Beijing has imposed visa restrictions on the United States officials who have "behaved extremely badly" on the issue of Hong Kong. Earlier, the US had imposed visa restrictions against Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials in retaliation for Beijing's policies in Hong Kong. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said, "President Trump promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong's freedoms. Today, we are taking action to do just that." "Beijing's continued actions undermine its commitments and obligations in the Sino-British Joint Declaration to respect Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy. At the same time, Beijing continues to undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong by putting pressure on local authorities to arrest pro-democracy activists and disqualify pro-democracy electoral candidates," he added. The protests in Hong Kong have been taking place sporadically in Hong Kong since June 2019, with protesters claiming to oppose China's increasing influence on the special administrative region. The latest wave of protests was caused by a security bill specially tailored by Beijing for Hong Kong. The security legislation, which bans secessionist activities, among other things, is seen by Hong Kong residents as undermining their liberties. However, both Hong Kong's leadership and the central government say the bill would not affect the legitimate rights of the residents. Beijing maintains that the unrest in Hong Kong is a result of interference and vows to respect the "one country, two systems" principle. As China moves forward with bringing national security legislation in Hong Kong, the US has announced the ending of the US-origin defense equipment exports to "Today, the United States is ending exports of @StateDeptPM controlled U.S. origin defense equipment and sensitive @CommerceGov controlled dual-use technologies to If Beijing now treats as "One Country, One System," so must we," US Secretary of State Pompeo tweeted on Monday (local time). During a press briefing, he said, "The Chinese Communist Party's decision to eviscerate Hong Kong's freedoms has forced the Trump Administration to re-evaluate its policies toward the territory. As Beijing moves forward with passing the national security law, the United States will today end exports of U.S.-origin defense equipment and will take steps toward imposing the same restrictions on U.S. defense and dual-use technologies to Hong Kong as it does for China." He also said that the decision has been taken to protect US national security as "We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People's Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the CCP by any means necessary." "It gives us no pleasure to take this action, which is a direct consequence of Beijing's decision to violate its own commitments under the UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration. Our actions target the regime, not the Chinese people. But given Beijing now treats Hong Kong as 'One Country, One System,' so must we," Pompeo said while adding that the US will be reviewing other authorities and will take additional measures to reflect the reality on the ground in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been witnessing anti-government protests since June 2019, with protesters claiming to oppose China's increasing influence on the special administrative region. The latest wave of protests was caused by a security bill specially tailored by Beijing for Hong Kong. The security legislation, which bans secessionist activities, among other things, is seen by Hong Kong residents as undermining their liberties. However, both Hong Kong's leadership and the central government say the bill would not affect the legitimate rights of the residents. Beijing maintains that the unrest in Hong Kong is a result of interference and vows to respect the "one country, two systems" principle. Bharat Electronics (BEL) gained 3.15% to Rs 90 after consolidated net profit jumped 74.27% to Rs 1,046.97 crore on 49.18% increase in total revenue from operations to Rs 5,816.77 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Profit before tax (PBT) rose 60.89% to Rs 1,420.09 crore during the period under review. Total tax expense rose 32.31% to Rs 381.17 crore in Q4 FY20 over Q4 FY19. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 29 June 2020. BEL's order book stood at Rs 51,970 crore as of 1 April 2020. The company received a total order of Rs 13,200 crore during fiscal year 2019-2020. It exported $48.59 million during FY19-20. Meanwhile, the company has declared a final dividend of Rs 1.40 per equity share for the financial year 2019-20. BEL is a state-owned aerospace and defense company with about nine factories, and several regional offices in India. It primarily manufactures advanced electronic products for the Indian Armed Forces. The Government of India held 51.14% stake in the company as on 31 March 2020. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key equity benchmarks pared gains in morning trade. At 10:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 135.09 points or 0.39% at 35,096.61. The Nifty 50 index added 50.65 points or 0.49% at 10,363.05. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.41% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was trading flat. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1297 shares rose and 926 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged. PM's Address to the nation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 16:00 IST today, 30 June 2020. This would be the prime minister's sixth address to the nation since the outbreak of the pandemic. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Auto index added 0.50% 6,679.35 amid value buying. The index lost 2.11% in the past four sessions. Among the index constituents, Motherson Sumi Systems (up 2.15%), Amara Raja Batteries (up 1.36%), MRF (up 1.31%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.92%), Tata Motors (up 0.85%), Apollo Tyres (up 0.92%), Bosch (up 0.86%), Eicher Motors (up 0.72%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.81%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.82%), Maruti Suzuki (up 0.38%), Exide Industries (up 0.31%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.12%) advanced while Bharat Forge (down 1.3%) and Bajaj Auto (down 0.4%) declined. As per media reports, India is drawing up an incentive scheme for the autos sector aimed at doubling exports of vehicles and components in the next five years. The Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) has reportedly sought feedback from auto industry groups on the initial proposal, which suggests giving incentives over five years to increase local production and procurement for export. The incentives would be based on the sales value of vehicles or components and eligible companies would need to meet certain conditions, including a minimum revenue and profit threshold and presence in at least 10 countries, the reports added. Q4 Results Today: ONGC (up 0.73%) and Vodafone Idea (down 0.45%) will announce their quarterly earnings today. Stocks in Spotlight: Axis Bank advanced 0.94% to Rs 408.55 after the bank informed about a board meeting scheduled for Thursday (2 July 2020) to explore raising funds by issue of equity shares or depository receipts. Gujarat Gas gained 3.25% to Rs 319.50 after Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) sanctioned the transfer Amritsar District GA (Geographical Area) and Bhatinda District GA from Gujarat State Petronet to the company. The regulator has permitted the company to take over activities of laying, building, operating or expanding CGD (city gas distribution) network in the said areas. 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 symbolism of the Association headquartered in a city of the south that tore families apart during slavery, but later became a place of [emancipation] and hope for so many is incomparable, Scott said in a statement. Baltimore has always been and continues to be a city on the frontlines of civil rights. It is my hope that we do not run away from our history, but continue to build upon it. The Hong Kong stock market finished session marginally higher on Tuesday, 30 June 2020, snapping a three-session losing streak, as stronger-than-expected U. S. and Chinese economic data overshadowed Chinese legislature's shock announcement of its national security law for Hong Kong and concerns over the health of the global economy. At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index declined 1.01%, or 248.71 points, to 24,301.28. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.97%, or 95.49 points, to 9,757.69. For the month, Hang Seng Index gained 6.4%, while Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 2.1%. Hong Kong stock market will be closed on Wednesday for the Establishment Day holiday that recognises the British handover of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997. The US Pending Home Sales Index, an advance look at home sales based on signed purchase and sale agreements, fell 5.1% in May compared to the same month last year, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). When compared to April of 2020, the news was much better. Pending sales increased by 44.3% last month after two consecutive months of decline, NAR reported. China manufacturing sector continued to expand in June, and at a slightly faster rate, the latest survey from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.9, up from 50.6 in May. It also moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The bureau also noted that its non-manufacturing index came in with a score of 54.4, up from 53.6 in the previous month. But the market saw its topside capped as investors refrained from active buying amid concerns about a deeper-than-feared recession and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassing 10 million worldwide. China's parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, a day after Washington moved to suspend Hong Kong's preferential treatment under the U. S. law. Pro-democracy activists and some western governments expects the law will erode Hong Kong's high degree of freedom. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the city's stock exchange operator, gained 3% Tuesday, as investors continued to pile in as US-listed Chinese companies seek secondary listings in the city. 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 heavy engineering arm of Larsen & Toubro, India's leading engineering, construction, technology, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, has flagged-off the most complex and final assembly of Cryostat, the largest stainless-steel, high-vacuum pressure chamber in the world. This is an important milestone in the global nuclear fusion arena as well as a moment of pride for the Make in India initiative. The Cryostat assembly referred as the Top Lid, weighing 650 MT (metric tons), is to be installed with other Cryostat segments for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) in a Reactor pit in southern France. L&T has already delivered the Base section, the Lower Cylinder and the Upper Cylinder for the Cryostat. The Cryostat's function is to provide cooling to the fusion reactor and to keep very high temperatures at its core under control. The project scope for L&T Heavy Engineering is divided into three aspects. Firstly, the company was to manufacture assemblies at its state-of-the-art Hazira manufacturing complex. The second aspect involved constructing a temporary workshop at the project site in Cadarache, France for the assembly of various sectors. And finally, it is to integrate the Cryostat with the Tokamak Reactor building. With this flag-off, L&T Heavy Engineering has completed the manufacturing work planned in India. L&T's Heavy Engineering business won this prestigious contract from ITER India, a wing of Department of Atomic Energy, for the ambitious mega scientific project, conducted in collaboration of seven elite countries including India and with a project outlay of around $20 billion. 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 steel major reported a consolidated net loss (from continuing operations) of Rs 1,236 crore in Q4 March 2020 as against net profit of Rs 2,353 crore in Q4 March 2019. Consolidated turnover declined 20.40% to Rs 33,770 crore in Q4 FY20 from Rs 42,424 crore in the same period last year. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 29 June 2020. The steel major reported an exceptional loss of Rs 3,406 crore in Q4 FY20 on the back of impairment of non-current assets and loss on preference share investments. Profit before exceptional items stood at Rs 1906.40 crore in Q4 FY20, declining 55% from Rs 4241.01 crore in Q4 FY19. Tata Steel received a tax rebate of Rs 263.28 crore in Q4 FY20 as against total tax expense of Rs 1,899.06 crore in Q4 FY19. Consolidated EBITDA declined 39.85% to Rs 4,669 crore in Q4 FY20 over Q4 FY19. EBITDA per ton fell 30.43% to Rs 7,183 crore during the period under review. Consolidated production during the quarter stood at 7.37 million tonne, rising 2.22% from 7.21 million tonne in Q4 FY19. Consolidated deliveries fell 13.56% to 6.50 million tonne in Q4 FY20 over Q4 FY19. Tata Steel said that the COVID-19 outbreak has led to an unprecedented health crisis and hasdisrupted economic activities and global trade while weighing on consumer sentiment. Consequently, global steel demand is expected to be sharply lower in 2020 before a meaningful recovery in 2021. After witnessing a decline in steel demand growth in 2019, EU expects a steel demand recovery onlyin 2021. With the phased removal of the lockdown restrictions in India, the company's upstream steel making operations have been ramped up and are currently operating at about 80% utilization levels. The company's downstream units have reopened and are steadily ramping up. There are early signs of a recovery in steel demand on the back of increased spending on infrastructure projects as well as rural demand. In Europe, Tata Steel Europe continues to operate at about 70% utilization level. Key steel consuming sectors such as automotive and construction sector continue to be adversely affected, though demand for packaging material has seen a sharp upsurge. The steel manufacturer clarified that given the uncertain business environment, capex is being curtailed sharply and restricted to safety and sustenance projects. The capex plans will be revisited in H2 or when business conditions normalize. Commenting on company's performance, T V Narendran, CEO & Managing Director said, "FY20 has been a challenging year. The Indian economy slowed down in the first half with key steel consuming sectors like automotive contracting sharply. While the economy began recovering in the second half, the outbreak of Covid-19 in end March led to unprecedented disruption and heightened economic uncertainty. We have recalibrated our operations in line with the evolving business environment and are focused on conserving cash while actively de-risking the business. While deliveries in India were marred by the nationwide lockdown in late March 2020, margins improved on the back of stronger performance in the early part of the quarter. Both our acquisitions, Tata Steel BSL and Tata Steel Long Products continue to deliver improvements in operating KPIs which has translated into better profitability. Tata Steel Europe showed a turnaround in performance with positive EBITDA for the quarter. While there will be a sharp drop in volumes in 1QFY21, we are seeing early signs of recovery and remain poised to leverage our position on normalization of business conditions." On a consolidated basis, Tata Steel's PAT (from continuing operations) tumbled 74.56% to Rs 2,337 crore on 11.32% decline in turnover to Rs 139,817 crore in the year ended March 2020 (FY20) over the year ended March 2019 (FY19). EBITDA fell 40.43% to Rs 17,735 crore in FY20 over FY19. Meanwhile, the board recommended a dividend of Rs 10 per fully paid equity share and Rs. 2.504 per partly paid equity share. Shares of Tata Steel were up 3.5% at Rs 332.50 on BSE. Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 33 million tonnes per annum (MnTPA). Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was made with an eye on Thorat, who is the state's revenue minister, also pointed out that the PM did not say anything about the stand- off with China in eastern Ladakh in his address. "The prime minister's speech was a let-down....he did not provide any relief to the poor nor did he show his 'red eyes' (gave any stern message to) to China," the Congress leader said. "After the pandemic broke out, the free foodgrains scheme was launched to provide five kg of foodgrainsto the poor. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had demanded that the scheme be extendedtill September. The decision to extendan existing schemeis administrativematter and there was no need to mention it through a address," Thorat said. "But he announced the extension of the scheme with an eye on Bihar polls in November. The poor have other needs besides food. Five kg of rice, wheat and chana dal is a meager help. This will not last even for a month," he said. Rs 7,500 in cash must be deposited in bank accounts of the poor every month, Thorat demanded. "The PM has indicated that the pandemic will stay till November," he quipped. Prime minister Modi on Tuesday announced extension of the PMGKAY, a programme to provide free ration to over 80 crore people, till November end. (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.) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has been camping in Delhi for two days with key leaders for consensus on cabinet expansion, returned to Bhopal on Tuesday morning. Chouhan had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Monday to discuss cabinet expansion in the state, but that seems to have delayed as no consensus could emerge. Chouhan and state government officials along with Madhya Pradesh president Vishnu Dutt Sharma and State General Secretary Suhas Bhagat had gone to Delhi on Sunday and there was a possibility that a second extension of the cabinet could take place on Tuesday or Wednesday. Apart from Prime Minister, Chouhan met party's national president J.P. Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, newly elected Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia in Delhi to reach a consensus on cabinet expansion. Sources have said, no consensus could be arrived at on the cabinet berths in meetings in Delhi as there is a tussle between Scindia camp and the loyalists. Chief Minister Chouhan has several meetings scheduled on Tuesday. He will discuss the Covid situation in the state after a meeting with Finance Department officials. --IANS hindi-skp/ (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.) With18,522 people testing positive for COVID-19 in a single day, India's case count reached 5,66,840 on Tuesday while the death toll rose to 16,893with 418 new fatalities, according to the Union data. The number of active cases stands at 2,15,125, while 3,34,821 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, according to the updated data at 8 am. "Thus, around 59.07 per cent of patients have recovered so far," an official said. The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners. Of the 418 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 181 are from Maharashtra; 62 from Tamil Nadu; 57 from Delhi; 19 each from Gujarat and Karnataka; 14 from West Bengal; 12 from Uttar Pradesh; 11 from Andhra Pradesh; nine from Haryana; seven from Madhya Pradesh; six each from Rajasthan and Telangana; five from Punjab; three from Jharkhand; two each from Bihar and Odisha and one each from Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. Unemployment in Maryland has soared since the pandemic began in March. Efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 have dealt devastating blows the economy, especially in Baltimore, where so much prosperity relies on hotels, restaurants and tourism. The citys unemployment rate has outpaced the states, jumping from 4.9% in March to 11.9% in April, the most recent data available locally. The rate across Maryland was 3.3% in March and 10.1% in April. Expressing solidarity with the people of India on the Ladakh face-off with China, a top US senator has said India had made it clear that it would not be bullied by Beijing. Republican Senator Marco Rubio spoke with India's ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, to "express our solidarity with the people of #India as they firmly confront unwarranted and lawless armed aggression by the Communist Party of China". "India has made it clear, they will not be bullied by Beijing," the senator from Florida tweeted. On the Senate Floor, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for the second time in less than a week, accused China of aggression against India. Today I spoke to @SandhuTaranjitS to express our solidarity with the people of #India as they firmly confront unwarranted & lawless armed aggression by the Communist Party of #China. India has made it clear,they will not be bullied by Beijing. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 29, 2020 A day earlier, Senator Tom Cotton slammed China for its aggression against India. "China has resumed its submarine intrusions in the Japanese contiguous zones and picked deadly fights with India at high altitude," the top Republican Senator had said. UK Minister for Asia Nigel Adams responded to say that the UK government has been regularly raising its concerns with China over various issues. British MPs have raised concerns in Parliament over China's "bullying behaviour" in the border dispute with India and the "delayed declaration" of Covid-19 and urged an internal review into the UK's dependence on China with a view to reducing collaboration with the country. Conservative Party MP Ian Duncan Smith raised the issue as part of an urgent question in the House of Commons on Monday evening on the mistreatment by the Chinese government of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang province. Given the Chinese government's appalling record on human rights, their attack on freedoms in Hong Kong, their bullying behaviour in border disputes from the South China seas to India, their blatant breaching of the rules-based order governing the free market and their delayed declaration on Covid-19, will the government now initiate an internal review of the UK's dependence on China, with a view to significantly reducing that dependence, questioned Smith. UK Minister for Asia Nigel Adams responded to say that the UK government has been regularly raising its concerns with China over various issues. On a full government review, our approach to China remains clear-eyed and is rooted in our values and interests. It has always been the case that when we have concerns we raise them, and that where we need to intervene we will, he said. Opposition Labour Party MP Stephen Kinnock also pressed the minister over the increasingly belligerent behaviour of China towards its own people and neighbouring countries. Does the Minister recognise that the CCP's [Chinese Communist Party] actions in Xinjiang reflect a wider pattern of behaviour of increasingly authoritarian policies at home and aggressive expansionism abroad, including in Hong Kong, Ladakh and the South China sea, he questioned. Adams responded to say that the UK had been very active on these issues and has played a leading role in raising all concerns bilaterally and at the United Nations and also called on UK companies active in the Xinjiang province to carry out due diligence over the treatment of minorities. All British companies involved in the region must consider carrying out proper due diligence to ensure that human rights violations have not been taking place in their supply chains, he said. Last week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had made his first statement related to the India-China border conflict, describing it as a very serious and worrying situation. We are encouraging both parties to engage in dialogue on the issues on the border and sort it out between them, Johnson told the Commons in response to a question related to the conflict in eastern Ladakh. (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.) India added 18,522 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 566,840, an increase of 3.4 per cent. Meanwhile, the death toll has reached 16,893, with 418 fatalities in a day. India is the fourth-most-affected country by total cases, and eighth by death toll. However, with 13,099 new recoveries being reported, Indias recovery rate has improved marginally to 59.1 per cent but death rate remains unchanged at 3 per cent. The government issued the guidelines yesterday in which it further eased the restrictions imposed due to the Domestic flights and train services, already allowed, would be further expanded in a calibrated manner while night curfew has also been relaxed. Click podcast for more Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is reportedly close to inking a deal that would give the conglomerate a controlling stake in the retail businesses of Kishore Biyani's Future Group. According to the deal, Biyani will relinquish control over all businesses under the Future Retail basket (comprising FBB, Big Bazaar, Food Hall and Central), Future Lifestyle Ltd, and Future Supply Chain Solutions. All three entities will be merged and the combined business will be acquired by RIL. Biyani will be left with control of Future Group's FMCG business and some other smaller group companies, according to a report in the Times of India. Also Read: Retail war: Meet the competition of Kishore Biyani's Future Group Worth mentioning here is that this development will give RIL the much-needed firepower to catapult to numero uno position in retail space across categories such as fashion, general merchandise and groceries. Discussions between RIL and Future Group are reportedly at an advanced stage, and RIL wants to sign the final deal before the upcoming AGM (Annual General Meeting on July 15. But both companies are still deliberating on the finer points of the deal. Negotiations on the deal began earlier this year as one of Biyani's holding entities defaulted on the loan payment. According to several news reports earlier, Biyani, once the poster boy of India's retail sector, held several discussions with many other potential investors as well. Also Read: How loan moratorium, IBC saved Kishore Biyani from debt crisis Various big players like US-based retail giant Amazon had shown interest in Future Group, but a deal with RIL offered a thorough solution to Biyani's debt issues. "It is likely to be a complex transaction as, first, Future Group will announce a scheme of arrangement to merge into one company. RIL is most likely to completely buy out this combined entity in exchange for it's shares," a source in the know of the matter told the news daily. Future Retail has around 1,500 retail stores across several formats, comprising brands like Big Bazaar, Ezone, Foodhall, Fashion at Big Bazaar (FBB), Nilgiris and Easyday. Meanwhile, Future Lifestyle has 300 stores under brands such as Central and Brand Factory. Also Read: Mukesh Ambani gets 5,52,000 shares in RIL rights issue China has said it is "strongly concerned" and is verifying the development after India banned 59 Chinese apps. "China is strongly concerned and verifying the situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian was quoted by ANI as saying. Tensions between India and China have been high since the Galwan Valley incident on June 14, in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. The anti-China sentiment has been growing with many politicians and public figures calling for the boycott of Chinese products. On Monday evening, the government ordered a ban on 59 Chinese apps, including popular video-sharing app TikTok. The Ministry of Information Technology in its official notice to ban the apps said that the apps are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". In an official statement, Nikhil Gandhi, head of TikTok India said that TikTok is in the process of complying with the "interim order" of the government. "We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government," Gandhi said. Other popular apps that have also been banned include the instant-file sharing app Shareit, UC Browser and CamScanner. Also Read: Coronavirus update: 18,522 new cases, 418 deaths in 24 hours; tally surges to 5.6 lakh Also Read: Coronavirus in Delhi: NDMC mayor inspects Hindu Rao hospital, says beds to be increased to 200 North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash on Monday visited the civic-run Hindu Rao Hospital and said the number of beds at the recently-converted dedicated COVID-19 facility will be increased to 200 in a phased manner. Initially, it is having 50 beds and gradually the facility will be expanded, he said. A senior official of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) which runs the hospital, the largest civic body-run facility here, said Prakash inspected the hospital to check the facilities available for novel coronavirus patients. He also inspected the helpdesk facility, COVID-19 sampling centre and coronavirus wards at the hospital. The senior official said, the COVID-19 facility has been started with 45 beds, and five ICU beds, besides 84 isolation beds. More are planned to be added as and when logistics and financial requirements are met, the official said. During the inspection, Leader of House in NDMC Yogesh Verma, Standing Committee member Chhail Bihari Goswami, NDMC Additional Commissioner Rashmi Singh, Medical Superintendent Anu Kapoor and other officials were also present. Prakash said the Hindu Rao Hospital has started functioning as a COVID-19 dedicated hospital. He said a help desk has been created in the hospital for the convenience of patients so that all information be available at one place. The mayor said that initially 50 bed facility is available for COVID-19 patients, which will be increased to 200 beds in a phased manner. Prakash interacted with doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of the hospital and said, "we all have to work together only then we can defeat coronavirus". The hospital was declared a dedicated COVID-19 facility on June 14. Officials of the NDMC said the hospital's strength is 980 beds. "Out of these, 37 are unavailable due to a building being declared dangerous. Also, 111 of these are complement beds," the official had earlier said. On Monday, when asked about the delay in converting the entire hospital into a dedicated facility, a senior official said, "When we mention a 'bed', it implies other services also like specialist doctors of that field, staff nurses, monitors, oxygen supply points among others." These are supposed to be dedicated for COVID-only. Also structural requirements like separate donning-doffing areas, separate entry exit points, dedicated OT are to be catered to, the official added. Also read: Coronavirus update: Delhi govt will create plasma bank for COVID-19 patients, says CM Kejriwal TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer will address employees in India tomorrow after Indian authorities announced a ban on the app along with 58 other Chinese apps. TikTok's India head Nikhil Gandhi also spoke to employees to assure there would be no layoffs as a fall out of the ban. He told the panic-stricken employees that the company was engaging with the government to understand its concerns so that they could address them. TikTok earlier in a statement said that it would be meeting government stakeholders to respond and submit clarifications. Details of the meeting are awaited. India is undeniably an important market for TikTok. Out of the nearly 2 billion downloads in April, on Google and Apple play stores put together, over 30 percent came from India. Among all the other offerings in the country, Bytedance's monetisation (largest overseas market) has been led by TikTok and Helo. Both the offerings put together were making a quarterly revenue of Rs 20-24 crore and were aiming to cross Rs 100 crores in revenues this year, sources told BusinessToday.In. The company also saw some of the biggest FMCG, hygiene brands advertise heavily on the platform even during coronavirus lockdown. While no one is certain how the issue will unfold, the company will have to resort to legal recourse if the ban is not lifted. Since the government has cited national security concerns for the ban, experts say TikToK will have to swim against the tide overcome the current crisis. Archana Tewary, partner at J Sagar Associates, welcomes the government's intention to protect data of Indian citizens, but believes banning specific apps can be of little help in absence of laws to back them. "We need robust laws that will regulate companies' ability to share and retain data of individuals, and a robust enforcement mechanism for the same. We must also pay close attention to consents we as individuals provide when using apps," she said. On the other hand, TikTok India in its statement has maintained it complies "with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared information of our users in India with any foreign government including Chinese government". Also Read: TikTok ban: What'll happen to Chinese apps on your phone? Also Read: No legal framework to ban TikTok! Crackdown on Chinese apps easier said than done Also Read: '$100 billion? May be not!': How TikTok ban will impact ByteDance's valuation The Indian Army will procure multipurpose survival kits for foot soldiers as part of its infantry modernisation plan, said Army sources on Monday. The sources stated that the Army will be floating an open tender to procure these kits in which foreign vendors will also be able to bid. Each such kit should consist of components such as drop point blade, wire cutter, electric wire stripper, flat blade screwdriver and can opener, the sources noted. The Indian Army has drawn a mega plan for infantry modernisation under which various equipment are being procured. Also read: India-China clash: Rafale jets with Meteor missiles to arrive next month Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address to the nation on Tuesday, said India will do everything to become a self-reliant nation. Asking people to be 'vocal for local', the PM said all the countrymen will have to work together with this resolve. He also said that under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, the Centre had earlier announced a package of Rs 1.75 lakh crore. While extending the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana till November, the PM said: "In the last 3 months, Rs 31,000 crore were deposited in bank accounts of 20 crore poor families. Also, Rs 18,000 crore deposited in bank accounts of more than 9 crore farmers." Check out all the latest updates on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on BusinessToday.In live blog 4.27 PM: Need special focus on containment zones: PM Modi During lockdown, rules were strictly abided by. Now, govts, local administration and citizens again have to show similar caution. We need to have a special focus on containment zones. If you see someone flouting norms, tell them to not do so: PM Modi 4.22 PM: Be vocal for local: PM India will do everything to become a self-reliant nation, says PM Modi. Economic Activities 130 , , : PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 30, 2020 4.16 PM: Today if the government is able to provide free food grains to the poor, the credit goes to hardworking farmers and honest taxpayer. ?? ???? ??????? ????? ??? Economic Activities ?? ?? ??? ????????? ?? ?????????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? ??? ?? 130 ????? ?????????? ?? ?????? ?? ??, ?????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??, ??? ?? ????? ??: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 30, 2020 4.13 PM: Now a ration card is also being arranged for the whole of India. The biggest benefit of this will be to those poor: PM Modi 4.12 PM: More than Rs 90,000 crore rupees will be spent in this expansion of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, says PM. , , - , - : PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 30, 2020 4.11 PM: Ever since Unlock-1 started in the country, negligence in personal and social behaviour has been increasing. Earlier, we were more cautious about the use of masks, 'do gaj doori' and washing hands several times a day for 20 seconds: PM Modi COVID-19 4.10 PM: In comparison to other countries across the globe, India is still in a very stable situation, in the battle against COVID-19. Timely decisions and measures have played a great role: Prime Minister Narendra Modi 4.08 PM: This exercise is to save the lives of 1.3 billion people. No one is above the norms: PM Modi 4.05 PM: We need to be fully alert: PM Modi "We now need to be more careful but it is concerning to see that people have become more careless. We need to be fully alert now. We must rebuke, stop and explain to violators," says PM Modi 4.03 PM: People have become careless since the restrictions were relaxed in Unlock 1, says PM Modi 4.02 PM: We have reached Unlock 2 phase: Modi We have reached Unlock 2 phase. We have already reached the season where you witness a lot of cold and cough. I urge you to take care of yourself: PM Modi 3.59 PM: Prime Minister Modi's address to begin shortly - , one nation one ration card , : PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 30, 2020 3.57 PM: India-China military-level talks continue Indian and Chinese militaries on Tuesday held another round of Lt General-level talks with a focus on finalising modalities for disengagement of troops from several friction points in eastern Ladakh, government sources said. The talks took place at a meeting point in Chushul sector on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they said. 3.50 PM: PM may talk about India-China border tension During his Sunday Mann ki Baat address, the Prime Minister said, "The world has seen India's commitment to protecting its borders and sovereignty. In Ladakh, a befitting reply has been given to those eyeing our territories." He said that India knows the true value of friendship but also knows how to give a befitting reply if the situation demands. "India bows to our brave martyrs who lost their lives in Ladakh. Their valour will always be remembered," he said. 3.49 PM: PM's addresses in past PM Modi's last address was on May 12 when he announced the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package to revive the economy. In his last Mann ki Baat address, PM Modi had spoken about the India-China clash in Ladakh and said that the jawans gave a befitting reply to those eyeing Indian territory. While it is unclear what he is going to talk about, the PM is likely to address both or either of the issues during his Tuesday address. READ: PM Modi Speech Live Updates: PM speech to begin shortly; chairs meet to review vaccination preparedness 3.30 PM: The ICMR study on plasma therapy (PLACID Trial) is still ongoing. Sample size is 452. An interim analysis of 300 patients has not been conducted. The results will be shared on completion of the study from a scientific perspective: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 3.00 PM: During his meeting with officials on coronavirus preparedness today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed officials to evaluate various technology tools to ensure efficient and timely vaccination in due course of time. Prime Minister also directed that detailed planning for such large scale vaccination should be undertaken immediately. 90 - : PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 30, 2020 READ: PM Modi to address the nation at 4 pm: What to expect The incidents began in 2014, the woman said, but she didnt write the email to HR until about two years ago because she felt stupid for falling for a notorious emotional grift. She did not say what prompted her to post the email to Twitter, saying only, f--- it, heres an email I wrote almost exactly two years ago, to administration and HR at MICA. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Monday said a cyber attack took place on its email server on Sunday night but prompt action resulted in no data loss. As a precaution, the Authority had shut down the server. "A ransom ware attack on NHAI email server took place yesterday night. The attack was foiled by the security system and email servers were shut down from safety point of view," NHAI Chief General Manager, IT, Akhilesh Srivastava, said. The system is restored now, Srivastava added. "No data loss took place. NHAI data lake and other systems remained unaffected from this attack," he said. The government had warned against a large-scale cyber attack against individuals and businesses earlier this month. India's cyber security nodal agency, CERT-In had issued an advisory warning that the potential phishing attacks could impersonate government agencies, departments and trade bodies that have been tasked to oversee disbursement of government fiscal aid. The NHAI has been mandated the task to develop, maintain and manage National Highways, the arterial roads of the country, for inter-state movement of passengers and goods. Also read: India-China standoff: ITBP internal memo warns personnel of Chinese phishing attack KEY HIGHLIGHTS: Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, ShareIt India accounts for highest downloads -- 30.3% -- of TikTok worldwide Parent company ByteDance had plans to invest $1 billion in India ByteDance IPO plans might be impacted Chinese investors in almost all of India's unicorns TikTok to now respond to govt on ban order On Monday evening, the government ordered a ban on a list of 59 Chinese apps, including popular video sharing app TikTok. Bytedance's app is not only a popular option among young netizens, it is also responsible for catapulting video-makers overnight to stardom. The app has had its fair share of controversies in the past few years but nothing affected its popularity as much as the recent clash between Indian and Chinese troops. And now with the ban on Chinese apps, TikTok is staring at a negative impact not only on its popularity but also its valuation. To put things in perspective, India accounts for a sizeable chunk of TikTok installs worldwide. In April, TikTok hit 2 billion downloads from Apple App Store and Google Play Store combined. Out of that India accounted for 611 million downloads or about 30.3 per cent. According to mobile intelligence firm Sensor Tower, India even surpassed China in terms of downloads. China, where the app originates, accounted for 196.6 million downloads, or 9.7 per cent -- not including third party Android store installs. As such, India is a significant market for the app. When the Madras High Court banned TikTok for a while over 'offensive' content last year, the parent company had said that it is planning to invest around $1 billion in India, with plans to hire around 1,000 people. Till then the company had already invested $100 million in the country. "We are constantly learning. We are in India for the long term. We are a very young company and this is the beginning of our journey. This is the market where we want to do the right things and we are very patient," Zhen Liu, SVP, corporate development, ByteDance had then said. The ban has simply put a spanner in the works. Moreover, there have been reports about a likely IPO of parent company ByteDance, which is one of the highest-valued startups in the world. Whether it would achieve that valuation of over $100 billion is another discussion. Blaise Fernandes, Director of think tank Gateway House believes that the ban would impact the apps and their respective promoters. "There are essentially four types of Chinese apps functioning in India -- Economic Activity Apps, Service Oriented Apps, Vanity Apps and Strategic Apps. The Digital India story is globally tracked. Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are part of the digital 'Silk Route' of China. The ban of the 59 Chinese apps in India, will negatively impact the valuations of these apps and their respective promoters. Case in point - the upcoming IPO of TikTok - 30% user base comes from India. This will impact the TikTok valuations negatively." The BAT companies or Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are the holy trinity when it comes to soft power projects such as AI, IoT and fintech. Chinese companies poured in $5 billion in Indian companies in 2018. With an increase in mobile users in the country, this is only likely to go up. India's smartphone users are expected to double to 1.25 billion by 2024. According to App Annie's 'The State of Mobile in 2019' report, there was an increase of 165 per cent in app store downloads between 2016 and 2018. Out of that, 50 per cent of top downloads in India in 2018, including TikTok, UC Browser, SHAREit were apps with Chinese investments. Not only apps, Chinese investments have penetrated Indian streaming services segment as well as e-commerce and payments platforms, including Paytm parent One97 Communications, Snapdeal, and more. In fact, Chinese manufacturers account for 72 per cent of the smartphone market share in India. As of March, 18 of the 30 unicorns in India were backed by Chinese investors, stated Gateway House. After the call of ban on the app, the future of TikTok and its plans in India remain uncertain. The apps have been called to submit clarifications and respond to the ban by the government. TikTok has said that it complies with all data privacy requirements and does not share any information with foreign governments. "The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok, and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications," said Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok India. Also read: Ban on TikTok, other Chinese apps gives India's 'Chingari' fresh hope; 5 lakh downloads in 72 hours Also read: TikTok removed from Android, Apple play stores after govt ban on 59 Chinese apps The European Union on Tuesday is announcing a list of nations whose citizens will be allowed to enter 31 European countries, but most Americans are likely to be refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. As Europe's economies reel from the impact of the coronavirus, southern EU countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving visitors and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries. More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic. Still, many people both inside and outside Europe remain wary of travel in the coronavirus era, given the unpredictability of the pandemic and the possibility of second waves of infection that could affect flights and hotel bookings. Tens of thousands of travelers had a frantic, chaotic scramble in March to get home as the pandemic swept across the world and borders slammed shut. EU envoys to Brussels have launched a written procedure which would see the list endorsed Tuesday as long as no objections are raised by member countries. The list is expected to contain up to 15 countries that have virus infection rates comparable to those in the EU. Infection rates in Brazil, Russia and India are high too, and they are also unlikely to make the cut. The countries would also have to lift any bans they might have on European travelers. The list of permitted nations is to be updated every 14 days, with new countries being added or even dropping off depending on if they are keeping the disease under control. The daily number of new confirmed cases in the United States has surged over the past week. The U.S. has the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 2.6 million people confirmed infected and over 126,000 dead, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University that experts say understates the pandemic's true toll due to limited testing and other reasons. In contrast, aside from a notable recent outbreak tied to a slaughterhouse in western Germany, the virus's spread has generally stabilized across much of continental Europe. In March, President Donald Trump suspended all people from Europe's ID check-free travel zone from entering the U.S., making it unlikely now that U.S. citizens would qualify to enter the EU. The EU imposed restrictions on non-essential travel to its 27 nations, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which are part of the Schengen open-borders area, in March to halt the spread of the virus. Non- EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban. The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January. Britain now requires all incoming travelers - bar a few exceptions like truck drivers - to go into a self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks. The requirement also applies to U.K. citizens. Also Read: Coronavirus update: 18,522 new cases, 418 deaths in 24 hours; tally surges to 5.6 lakh Also Read: Coronavirus in Delhi: NDMC mayor inspects Hindu Rao hospital, says beds to be increased to 200 To democratise quality education and remove barriers, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras has launched an online B.Sc. degree in programming and data science. Data science is one of the fastest growing sectors that is predicted to create 11.5 million jobs by 2026. The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2022, data analyst and scientist will be among number one emerging job roles in the world. Speaking at the launch, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, "This programme not only embraces the trend of moving education online but also provides a platform to create skilled and employable women and men in a data-driven world." Over a call, Ramamurthi told Business Today that the reason they have chosen these courses is because of their suitability for online delivery. He added that while the lectures will be in English, it will have transcription in regional languages as subtitles to enable better understanding. "We recognise the problem of language in India but the job market needs English as the medium of language. We have found in other online courses that transcription in multiple regional languages works very well. It is a great way for students to hone their English language skills also." The programme will be delivered via the institutes' online portal. The program will have videos from the faculty that will be sent to students at regular intervals following which they will have weekly assignments. There will also be in-person invigilated exams just like any other regular course every month for which students will be required to go to an exam centre in their city. The course has multiple entry and exit points that allow learners to choose whether they want to do a Certificate, Diploma or a Degree course. At each stage, students will have the freedom to exit from the program. Applicants can be from any discipline and based anywhere in India. The programme is open to anyone who has passed Class XII, with English and Maths at the Class X level, and is enrolled in any on-campus UG course. Even the current batch of students who are completing their Class XII in 2020 are eligible to apply. Graduates and working professionals can also take up this programme. Based on the eligibility, interested candidates will have to fill a form and pay a nominal fee of Rs 3,000 for the qualifier exam. In contrast to the typical admission procedure of IITs in which various students compete for limited number of in-campus seats, in this programme the ones who clear (with an overall score of 50 per cent) the qualifier exam will be eligible to register for the foundational program. HRD union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' launched the programme along with minister of state for HRD Sanjay Dhotre and Dr. Pawan Kumar Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors, Director and the faculty of the institute. Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman of AICTE was also part of this launch. "Analysis reveals that every year 7 to 7.5 lakh Indian students go abroad in search of better education and our talent as well as our revenue goes outside the country. Institutions such as IIT Madras have the vision and mission to help the nation move forward on its path to self-reliance by bringing such quality education and unique courses right here in India," Pokhriyal said. "In the world today, education is a continuous process. Students and professionals have to continue to upgrade their knowledge to stay competitive and work within the constraints of time and location...Data science and programming is a field of most significant growth for the industry and with this online degree opportunity in this important area, IIT Madras will be able to reach many more students," Dhotre said. Also Read: TikTok influencers in a fix post ban on the app; expect huge cut in earnings Also Read: PM Garib Kalyan Yojana extended till November end; to cost govt Rs 90,000 crore Also Read: 'Never claimed Coronil can cure coronavirus': Patanjali does U-turn as doubts grow stronger Indian corporate heads perceive the ban on 59 Chinese apps as an opportunity for domestic entrepreneurs. Voicing his support for India Inc, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra gave a strong response to taunts from China's state-run Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin on India's decision to ban 59 Chinese apps. Commenting over the ban on Chinese apps, Hu Xijin had tweeted, "Well, even if Chinese people want to boycott Indian products, they can't really find many Indian goods. Indian friends, you need to have some things that are more important than nationalism." In response to this, Mahindra tweeted: "I suspect this comment might well be the most effective & motivating rallying cry that India Inc. has ever received. Thank you for the provocation. We will rise to the occasion..." On Monday, the Centre announced ban on 59 Chinese apps, including popular titles like TikTok, Shareit, UC Browser and Shein, "in view of information available that they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order." India and China have been at loggerheads on more than one front recently. Tensions between the two nations came to fore and were aggravated after conflict between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh's Galwan Valley, which led to casualties on both sides. Opposition towards Chinese goods and services has been growing in the country since then. A day after the government banned 59 Chinese apps, Tik Tok has stopped working in India. The users can no longer access the app even on the website. Searching for the app, which has over 200 millions users in India, now shows error messages such as "network error" and "no internet connection" on almost all cellular and broadband networks in the country. "Dear Users, On June 29, 2020 the Govt. of India decided to block 59 apps, including TikTok. We are in the process of complying with the Government of India's directive and also working with the government to better understand the issue and explore a course of action. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users in India remains our utmost priority. TikTok India Team," the message reads. Earlier in the day TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi issued a statement saying that the app complies with all data and security requirements. "The government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications," Nikhil Gandhi said. "TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further, if we are requested to in the future, we could not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity", Gandhi added. On Monday evening, the government announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps. Also read: TikTok removed from Android, Apple play stores after govt ban on 59 Chinese apps Also read: Mukesh Ambani's RIL set to acquire Kishore Biyani-led Future Group Mainly youth-driven with the largest group aged between 16 and 24, TikTok emerged as a preferred medium for influencer marketing and digital advertising over a short period. With brands paying content creators for direct branding or participating in hashtag challenges, it turned out to be a quick and convenient way of earning revenues. However, the sudden ban on ByteDance's TikTok will cause a significant loss to the influencer community. Influencers who confined to TikTok and didn't expand their presence across other social media platforms are likely to be impacted the most. However, those who also had a presence on Instagram and YouTube, among others, will manage to channelise their campaigns and continue to earn. Also Read: TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer to address 2,000 panic-stricken ByteDance India employees "Anti-China sentiment had already started depleting the wallets of influencers. Creators having large followings on other channels like Instagram/Youtube may recover, but there will be a significant loss for them," explains Honey Singh, co-founder, #ARM Worldwide. Unlike Youtube, TikTok does not have a revenue-sharing model with influencers. Whatever the influencers have been earning was directly through the brands who would rope in the influencer for TikTok challengers, promotions and sponsorships. Most content creators stay active across social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, among others. They will also face monetary losses since brands have already started pausing their planned TikTok activities for now. "The platform was used for influencer engagement. Given the massive fan following most influencers enjoyed, brands were engaging with them directly for promotion. I see those rates dropping down significantly now," says Nimesh Shah, Head Maven, Windchimes Communications. The ban on ByteDance apps including TikTok and Helo isn't a sudden surprise for influencers. Business Today has learned that post-anti-china sentiment, which started with the outbreak of COVID-19 and spread with the current clash at the border, there has already been an impact in the earnings of influencers. While the apps have been removed from the respective app stores now, existing users continue to access the platform. Leveraging the gap, influencers have been posting live videos requesting their followers to stay in touch through their instagram profiles. Also Read: No legal framework to ban TikTok! Crackdown on Chinese apps easier said than done Industry experts believe that while there are no clear guidelines or clarity on the current situation, brands should quickly complete planned commitments with an additional post on linked channels like Instagram. Influencers are in a fix over their promotions, campaigns and revenue. However, they continue to support the government's decision. "The ban of TikTok is a big loss for creators as well as the ecosystem. However, irrespective of the business loss I might encounter, if the app has leaked any kind of data at some point of time, I would not like to use the app," says Abhishek Bhatnagar, creator of verified handle 'gadgetstouse' with close to 3 lakh followers, and over three million likes on TikTok. Bhatnagar has over 48,000 followers on his Instagram profile and close to 10 lakh subscribers on the YouTube page. "Tiktok was just in its initial phases in terms of influencer marketing; it was hardly 15-20 per cent of overall budgets assigned for influencers marketing. So while it was a part of influencer marketing - it was not the backbone of it," adds Singh. In a short span of time, TikTok helped change brand perception since marketers recently started experimenting with the platform for influencers and paid media. In last two years since TikTok entered the Indian market, the platform has had over 155 million users in India as of November 2019. During the short period the company has been present in the country, it has registered 6x growth in one year. Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Indore have been the top 10 cities in terms of users for TikTok. Also Read: TikTok ban: What'll happen to Chinese apps on your phone? Also Read: '$100 billion? May be not!': How TikTok ban will impact ByteDance's valuation The Indian benchmark equity indices - Sensex and Nifty - ended marginally lower on the last trading session of June amid rising uncertainty around economic recovery. Weakness in global equities also weighed on the indices. Sensex closed 45 points lower at 34,915, while NSE Nifty fell 10 points to 10,302 today. On Monday, Sensex had closed 209 points lower at 34,961 and NSE Nifty 70 points down at 10,312. Here are 7 things to look forward in tomorrow's trade PM Modi's speech: The stock market is expected to react to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech and the announcements made by him. "In spite of trading positive for most part of the day, the benchmark indices gave up its gains and ended flat with a negative bias. The markets were impacted by the uncertainties surrounding the PM's address to the nation. Irrespective of this, many Indian cities are extending their lockdowns in the face of unabated growth in virus infections, which has added to the uncertainty surrounding economic recovery. The market direction for tomorrow may also largely be guided by the content of the PM's address and global cues," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said. Auto sales data: Automakers will start reporting monthly sales numbers from Wednesday. After recording poor numbers in April and May, sales are expected to show recovery in June. PMI data: Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data will be released on June 1. Core sector output: The output of eight core infrastructure industries shrank by 23.4 per cent in May due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The eight core sectors had expanded by 3.8 per cent in May 2019. The impact of this weak data is expected in tomorrow's trade. Fiscal deficit: India's federal fiscal deficit in the first two months through May stood at Rs 4.66 trillion ($61.67 billion), or 58.6 per cent of the budgeted target for the current fiscal year. It's to be seen how investors and traders react on Wednesday. FOMC minutes: The investors will also keep an eye on the US Federal Open Market Committee Meeting (FOMC) minutes for the June 9-10 meeting. The minutes will be released on Wednesday night. Coronavirus cases: Coronavirus cases are constantly rising in the country. India reported 418 deaths and 18,522 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Tuesday. With this, positive cases in India stand at 5,66,840, including 2,15,125 active cases, 3,34,822 recoveries and 16,893 deaths. Technical insight "Markets will take cues from the PM speech on further unlocking of the economic activities amid the rising cases and we'll see the reaction in the early trade on Wednesday i.e. July 1. Besides, the auto sales data will also be closely watched by the participants to access the pace of recovery in the economy. Nifty has been hovering within 10,200-10,400 for the last four sessions and either side break may trigger the next directional move. Meanwhile, limit your trades and use dips to accumulate quality stocks," Ajit Mishra, VP Research, Religare Broking, said. "Long term charts like weekly and monthly time frame are intact with near term uptrend in the market. The long term study signals that any weakness in the Nifty could be a buying opportunity in the near term. A decisive move below the immediate support of 10200 could find a strong lower base around the 10K mark. A sustainable move above the resistance of 10400 could bring bulls back into action and could lead towards 10550-10600 levels in the near term," Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said. ALSO READ: Sensex, Nifty fall in volatile trade; log biggest quarterly gain in 10 years ALSO READ: PM Modi speech key highlights: From free food to lockdown norms; here's what PM said ALSO READ: India's fiscal deficit touches 58.6% of annual target in 2 months ALSO READ: Coronavirus impact: Eight core industries' output shrinks 23.4% in May The plunge in global gas prices is credit positive for the domestic consumers in the medium-term because it will compel industrial and commercial consumers to convert from alternate fuels, ICRA said in its latest report. Asian spot prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have declined to about $2 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) due to increase in supplies coupled with slow demand in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 29 million tons of liquefaction capacity was added in calendar year (CY) 2019 over 37 million tons added in CY2018. "Even though LNG trade grew by the highest ever at 40 million tons in CY2019, the demand was outpaced by supply, depressing spot prices. Going forward, another 163 million tonnes of LNG capacity is expected to be added over 2020 to 2025 leading to supply outstripping demand which would continue to weigh on prices," ICRA said. The report added that the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to drag the world GDP into 3 per cent contraction. "The timing of the recovery in the global economy is uncertain and expected to be prolonged, due to which the demand growth of natural gas is expected to remain muted over the medium term, owing to which prices are expected to remain under pressure," it said. Besides, crude oil prices have also declined precipitously due to slump in demand on account of coronavirus outbreak which would also pressurise LNG prices, it added. Also Read: No change in fuel prices on Tuesday; petrol at Rs 80.43, diesel Rs 80.53 in Delhi "Owing to the unprecedented supply additions, high inventories and demand destruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, LNG prices have declined to all time low levels. Mirroring the trend in LNG prices, gas prices at various international hubs have also declined to multi-year lows. Henry Hub prices currently at around $1.5/mmbtu, reflect the excess supply despite the recent production cuts amid unprecedented demand destruction due to Covid pandemic and high inventories," said K. Ravichandran, Senior Vice-President and Group Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA. "While record low prices are unlikely to sustain beyond the shock of the coronavirus, the surplus of LNG supply means prices will remain subdued. From an LNG aggregators perspective low spot prices could compress marketing margins on contracted long-term LNG as consumers would pressurise for reducing delivered prices," he added. According to ICRA, low spot LNG prices are positive from a consumer perspective, however, due to the current low demand across different sectors, most production facilities are operating at moderate capacity utilisations and accordingly consumers which have long-term LNG procurement contracts are unable to exhaust the current contracted quantities of gas and take advantage of spot gas. With ease in lockdown restrictions and recovery in demand, consumers would be in a position to benefit from low spot prices, it said. Also Read: India-China tension: India to inspect power equipment for malware, Trojan horses In case of ultra low spot prices, a key beneficiary would be domestic city gas distribution (CGD) companies who are expected to roll out networks in a large number of geographical areas (GAs) and low spot gas prices could provide compelling economics to convert industrial and commercial consumers from alternate fuels, ICRA said. Moreover, standalone LNG dispensing stations, on which greater regulatory clarity was received recently, could also benefit from demand fillip, it added. Additionally, in an effort towards enabling gas market and fostering gas trading in the country, the Indian government launched a natural gas trading platform - Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) on June 15, 2020. To begin with, trading has started at the physical hubs at Hazira and Dahej in Gujarat and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. The exchange provides six market products such as daily, weekly, fortnightly etc. The contracts traded at IGX are for compulsory physical delivery and are non-transferable. "While a gas trading exchange would provide efficient and competitive discovery of gas prices, there are several impediments to overcome such as low domestic production vis-a-vis demand, bulk of domestic gas governed by the modified Rangarajan formula, lack of pan India trunk pipeline infrastructure, distance bases transportation tariff regime, different taxation rates across states etc," it said. By Chitranjan Kumar Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro on Tuesday said it has achieved a major milestone under 'Make in India' initiative by building a cryostat for USD 20 billion global fusion project. The final assembly or top lid sectors of the cryostat, a key part of the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor being built in France, were dispatched on Tuesday from the company's Hazira manufacturing complex in Surat district in Gujarat. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) in 2012 chosen by ITER-India to manufacture and install cryostat - a vacuum pressure vessel made of 3,850 tonnes of stainless steel. L&T Group Chairman AM Naik termed it a "moment of pride for India and Larsen & Toubro". "The heavy engineering arm of L&T, India's leading engineering, construction, technology, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, has flagged-off the most complex and final assembly of cryostat, the largest stainless-steel, high-vacuum pressure chamber in the world. "This is an important milestone in the global nuclear fusion arena as well as a moment of pride for the Make in India initiative," the company said in a statement. The cryostat assembly weighing 650 tonne is to be installed with other cryostat segments for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) in a reactor pit in southern France. L&T has already delivered the base section, the lower cylinder and the upper cylinder for the cryostat. The cryostat's function is to provide cooling to the fusion reactor and to keep very high temperatures at its core under control. A virtual flag-off ceremony of the final assembly was held at the company's Hazira manufacturing complex. Dr Bernard Bigot, Director-General, ITER Global, KN Vyas, Chairman Atomic Energy Commission, India, UK Baruah, Project Director, ITER-India, V K Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, A M Naik, Group Chairman L&T and SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, L&T, joined the ceremony virtually. Naik said: "It is a moment of pride for India and for L&T in particular -- as we have gathered to flag-off the last section of the Cryostat Vessel for the most ambitious clean energy project limitless carbon free energy that will power the future. L&T has always been proud of this global collaborative research to build a greener planet." Subrahmanyan the company has used innovative and digital manufacturing techniques to ensure uninterrupted supply of high-precision assemblies to ITER. "This will further pave a way for the installation of cryostat at the project site in France and eventually lead to the demonstration of largescale feasibility of fusion power. It has empowered India to tread towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat by acquiring knowledge in this highly specialised field of science and technology, Subrahmanyan added. Anil V Parab, Executive Vice President and Head, L&T Heavy Engineering told PTI that ITER is a USD 20 billion project and India is contributing 9 per cent of the project component. "With the supply of the Top Lid sector, we have successfully completed our India scope of the project ahead of the schedule. The fabrication of these components has been an engineering marvel both in terms of its massive size and its stringent quality standards. The project scope for L&T Heavy Engineering is divided into three aspects, the company said. L&T's Heavy Engineering business won this prestigious contract from ITER India, a wing of Department of Atomic Energy, for the ambitious mega scientific project, conducted in collaboration of seven elite countries, including India, and with a project outlay of around USD 20 billion. Also Read: Coronavirus update: 18,522 new cases, 418 deaths in 24 hours; tally surges to 5.6 lakh Also Read: Coronavirus in Delhi: NDMC mayor inspects Hindu Rao hospital, says beds to be increased to 200 Police say the man was found in a parking lot with gunshot wounds. He was airlifted to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where police say he is in critical but stable condition. Patanjali Ayurved CEO Acharya Balkrishna has clarified that the company never positioned Coronil as a cure or means to control coronavirus. The company is already facing a criminal complaint in Bihar and an FIR in Jaipur over claims that the ayurvedic medicine can cure the virus. "We never told the medicine (Coronil) can cure or control coronavirus. We said that we had made medicines and used them in clinical controlled trial which cured corona patients. There is no confusion in it," Balkrishna told news agency ANI. We never told the medicine (coronil) can cure or control corona, we said that we had made medicines and used them in clinical controlled trial which cured corona patients. There is no confusion in it: Acharya Balkrishna, CEO Patanjali pic.twitter.com/LfPCxML0jg a ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2020 In a series of tweets on Friday last week, Balkrishna had said that a concoction of ayurvedic medicines succeeded in clinical trials at NIMS University, Jaipur, results for which were publicised on June 23. Coronil, the medicine prepared by combining these components, was lawfully registered and that "Patanjali never called Coronil clinically and legally COVID-19 medication before the clinical control trial was completed," he had further said. On June 23, Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved had released "research-based medicine" Coronil tablet and Swasari vati. At the press conference in Haridwar, Baba Ramdev had claimed that the two Ayurveda-based medicines had shown 100 per cent favourable results during clinical trials on COVID-19 infected patients except those on a life support system. ALSO READ: Patanjali's Coronil row: FIR against Ramdev, Balkrishna, 4 others over coronavirus medicine claims ALSO READ: Jaipur hospital served notice for conducting trials of Patanjali's 'Coronil' on COVID-19 patients However, shortly after its release, AYUSH Ministry had said that it was unaware of the facts of the claim and details of the stated scientific study behind it. The ministry had then asked for relevant details, asking the company to stop marketing it. Maharashtra and Rajasthan had refused to allow Patanjali to sell Coronil without required authorisations. "The National Institute of Medical Sciences, Jaipur will find out whether clinical trials of @PypAyurved's 'Coronil' were done at all. An abundant warning to @yogrishiramdev that Maharashtra won't allow sale of spurious medicines," Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had tweeted last week. Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma said last week that Coronil cannot be used as a medicine in the state without the permission of AYUSH Ministry. ALSO READ: Will take action against Patanjali if COVID-19 drug not approved by AYUSH ministry: Rajasthan govt ALSO READ: Patanjali says it broke no rules amid Coronil row Both Mahindra group Chairman Anand Mahindra and Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal in their tweets endorsed desi social media app 'Chingari', hailed as Indian's own TikTok. Bengaluru based start-up, Chingari's founders Sumit Ghosh and Biswatma Nayak (former colleagues at Globussoft) are riding the anti-China wave with a sudden surge in the downloads. With nearly 2.5 million downloads, interface in nine regional languages along with English and Hindi, the founders are now dreaming to turn it into a super app for 'Bharat'. Chingari has been up on play store since November of 2018. Before launching Chingari, Sumit says both co-founders dabbled with a lot of other social media apps to understand what the 'Bharat' audience was consuming as content. Having witnessed the growth of a popular lip-sync app Musical.ly (which later got acquired by ByteDance and later rebranded as TikTok), Chingari founders wanted to build short content app and build tech around user feedback. Interestingly, Sumit points out that their research on other apps showed that content creators on social media app were less than 2 per and the rest, just share and consume it. So to get the first one lakh downloads, the earlier version of the app was optimised to let people share videos on Whatsapp status. However, after looking at the traction on apps such as Dailyhunt and LudoKing, news and games were further integrated on the platform. Recently having seen another social app 'Mitron' go viral in matter of days on the back of boycott China sentiment (and equally fall flat), 'mobile app' nationalism was an opportunity hard to pass, says Sumit. Since the creative tools on the app were as good as those available on TikTok, "I started hiring Instagram influencers and we spent a lot on viral marketing and when we crossed 5 lakh users in less than 72 hours, people started noticing us," he added. With both founders hailing from non-metros, understanding the Bharat preference comes quite naturally. "We don't want to be Facebook or Insta," says Sumit. Bombarding the tier 2-3 users with too many tools would be off-putting as users prefer simple easy to use feature app. Completely bootstrapped, Chingari currently is a 20 member team, with 5-6 members each in engineering as well as content moderation team. Chingari's user base is largely the 18-24 years and 90 per cent of downloads come from India. The app also has traction from Singapore, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to the founders. Like other apps, though content can't be screened at the time of getting uploaded, Sumit says that they have strong reporting tool through which action is taken in less than 24 hours of such a report. The in-built algorithm also helps screen content depending on the time spent by users, which can be applied to increase or decrease the exposure of content on the platform .The monetisation of the app is currently very limited to banner ads, which the company plans to remove once funding is secured . Even as the company is in definitive talks with investors to close its maiden funds, Sumit says,"We have a big product roadmap, that we have planned" - with chats, messaging and live video streaming integration on the anvil. Also read: TikTok and over 50 other Chinese apps now banned in India but not blocked: Here is why Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, which the Indian government banned yesterday, had donated Rs 30 crore to PM-CARES Fund in April. TikTok had facilitated donations to the PM CARES Fund with an in-app quiz called 'Kheloge Aap, Jeetega India'. We got an overwhelming response from our users for our in-app quiz to raise awareness about COVID-19. To commemorate this effort, we're making a humble contribution of INR 30 crore to PM Cares. https://t.co/MzbqIDAaYv @PMOIndia@narendramodi@rsprasad - TikTok India (@TikTok_IN) April 27, 2020 The PM CARES Fund was set up in March after the coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the fund would be used to fight coronavirus. The fund has received donations from several domestic and foreign companies. Also read: TikTok removed from Android, Apple play stores after govt ban on 59 Chinese apps Apart from TikTok, other China-based companies such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo and OnePlus had also donated to the fund. For instance, Xiaomi donated Rs 10 crore; Huawei donated Rs 7 crore; OnePlus and Oppo donated Rs 1 crore each. Yesterday, the government banned 59 Chinese apps, including hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity, and security of the country. The ban, which comes in the backdrop of the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, is also applicable for WeChat and Beauty Plus. The list of applications that have been banned includes Helo, Likee, CamScanner, Vigo Video, Mi Video Call - Xiaomi, Clash of Kings as well as e-commerce platforms Club Factory and Shein. Also read: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma hails ban on 59 Chinese apps; faces backlash Meanwhile, Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok, India said, "TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity". All app companies which were banned yesterday will be heard within 48 hours. The hearing will be carried out by a committee comprising of IT ministry, Home Ministry, Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Ministry of Law, and CERT-in. The committee will enquire into charges of unauthorised use of data. A day after the Indian government ordered a ban on 59 Chinese mobile apps over security reasons amid the India-China border tension, the popular video app TikTok has been removed from Android's Play Store and Apple store. The popular Chinese app has over 120 million active users, mostly those in the 20s, in India alone. Other popular Chinese apps that have been banned in India include Shareit, UC Browser, Clean-master, Shein, Likee, Club Factory, Mi Video Call- Xiaomi, CamScanner, among others. These apps have been banned in both mobile and non-mobile internet-enabled devices. In a notification issued on Monday, the Ministry of Information Technology said it has banned 59 mobile apps, which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence, security of the state and public order. READ: TikTok, Cam Scanner, Helo banned in India! Govt cracks down on 59 Chinese apps The government said it took this action to safeguard the public safety and to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India. "This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace," the release said. The ministry said it has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. "The compilation of these data, mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," it said. The development comes in the wake of heightened tensions between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) after the Galwan Valley clash in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a pre-meditated and planned attack by Chinese soldiers on June 15. Several Chinese soldiers were also killed in the clash. This was the biggest military confrontation in over five decades which has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff between the two countries. READ: Coronavirus: Govt asks TikTok, Facebook to remove users spreading misinformation Highlights The apps that are banned by the government are TikTok, UC Browser, Club Factory, CamScanner, Shareit and others. TikTok has been removed from Play Store and App Store. WhatsApp, Zoom and PUBg are not banned by the government. Ever since the ban on 59 Chinese apps was announced by the Indian government, reports claiming that WhatsApp and PUBG are also banned in India started doing the rounds. However, that's not true as the apps are still very much alive and kicking. The only apps that are banned by the government are TikTok, UC Browser, Club Factory, CamScanner, Shareit and others. Some fake news peddlers had circulated messages claiming that WhatsApp is owned by a Chinese company and therefore it should be banned. There is absolutely no truth to it as WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook many years before the fake news business came into existence. WhatsApp might have some flaws that cannot be overlooked but it certainly has no connection with China in any which way. WhatsApp is available across all platforms and still the most preferred messaging app. Hence, it is wrong to believe everything that the WhatsApp forwards say because most of the time there is no truth to it. Similarly, some people also claimed that Zoom was developed by a Chinese company and hence it should be banned too. But there is little truth to it too as the founder of the company Eric Yuan, who is of a Chinese origin but has a US citizenship and the company that owns the video conferencing app is also s US-based company. So here too, there is no connection with China, other than Yuan's roots. Having said that, Zoom has its own shares of problems. It was pulled up multiple times for its security issues and was even banned by companies like Google and some governments. However, It doesn't feature on the list of apps that were banned by the government. So don't believe on any message that tries to tell you that the Zoom app has been banned in the country. People were quick to spot PUBG's connection with China as well. The popular game was developed by Bluehole game studio in South Korea but many years later a Chinese company Tencent struck a deal with the studio to sell it in China. So there is a bit of a mishmash in the ownership of PUBG and this could be one of the reasons why it didn't face the ire of the Indian government. So for now, you continue playing your favorite game as it is still alive and kicking on the Play Store but the day any security flaw is detected on the app, it will be taken down as the other apps. For now, don't rely on the WhatsApp forwards for your information, wait for official announcements to hit your TV screens. Bank of Ireland has today announced a number of measures to support Irelands economic recovery with a particular focus on housing, local enterprise and communities, and customers impacted by COVID-19. With the Irish economy now reopening more quickly than originally planned, the Bank has also called on the new Government to put in place the COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme for Irish SMEs as quickly as possible. The new measures announced today include: 1. Homebuilding and green investment 1.4 billion in new funding 2. Local enterprise and communities 1 million boost 3. COVID-19 support teams and resources for customers impacted by the pandemic The Bank is making an additional 1 billion in funding for green mortgages, loans and discounts available over the coming year through the Bank of Ireland Sustainable Finance Fund. To support homebuilding, the Bank is also increasing the amount earmarked for residential development lending by 400 million to a total of 2 billion. Bank of Ireland is currently providing financial support for the development of a range of housing types including environmentally sustainable Nearly Zero Energy Building Standard (NZEB), A Rated, and social housing. Following the donation of 1 million in emergency funding to communities impacted by COVID-19 in March, the bank will be injecting an additional 1 million to local communities and a range of organisations over the coming months. Source: www.businessworld.ie Weve had the capacity to see patients within our facility, he said. Right now, theres only about a 50% demand [against the supply] that our beneficiaries are using. There is excess capacity for you to be seen so please do not delay [your] care. BDMS would like to fill more of its 8,000 beds in 49 hospitals across the country with wealthy Chinese. Photo: Nikkei (Nikkei Asian Review) Bangkok Dusit Medical Services, Thailands largest private hospital chain, has partnered with Chinas leading Ping An Health Insurance in a move to provide wealthy Chinese clients with high-end care when the coronavirus pandemic ebbs sufficiently to allow air travel. According to an agreement signed on Monday, certain Ping An policy holders will be offered care at hospitals in BDMSs network. Ping An Health Insurance is a member of the Ping An Insurance Group, which has interests in banking, asset management and other areas, with more than 100 million customers across China. BDMS President Narumol Noi-am said the company expected to add 1 billion baht ($32 million) to 2 billion baht of revenue this year from the tie-up. This is an initial forecast based on the pandemic ending by the last quarter of this year, when international flights are expected to be allowed, said Narumol. The medical giant has 8,000 beds in 49 hospitals across the country, with revenue of 83.7 billion baht, of which 70% was from Thai patients. Chinese patients account for only 1% to 2% of total foreign patients. BDMS expects around 1,000 to 4,000 Chinese patients to be treated in Thailands hospitals over the next few years. The company is banking on an early end to the pandemic. Thailand has recorded no new domestic cases for more than a month a plus which could attract wealthy Chinese patients. This project with Ping An Health Insurance targets wealthy patients, who have more medical needs as they grow older in Chinas aging society, said Buranut Limjitti, senior vice president of BDMS. Specific polices will provide patients a wide range of services, including teleconsulting, visa processing, interpretation, ground transportation and care in a private room. Since Thailand has dealt comparatively well with the pandemic, Buranut said BDMS is also thinking about partnering with other insurance companies in China to expand its services for Chinese patients. This story was originally published by Nikkei Asian Review Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) St. Johnsbury, VT (05819) Today Scattered thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 87F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. June 30, 2020 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia - The Government of Canada is working with Indigenous peoples to right the wrongs of our past and pave the way for a new relationship based on rights, respect, cooperation, and partnership. In that spirit, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan announced today, alongside Chief Terry Paul, that she will ask the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mikmaw Chiefs to recommend a new name for the Canadian Coast Guard ship (CCGS) Edward Cornwallis. The Minister will announce the name of the vessel before it leaves the Shelburne Shipyard later this year. The Mikmaq and many other citizens of Nova Scotia have raised numerous concerns about the namesake over his treatment of the Mikmaq people. In 1749, Edward Cornwallis sought to drive the Mikmaq from their lands on peninsular Nova Scotia through barbaric measures including a bounty against the Mikmaq men, women, and children. As Canadians continue to listen to the voices of Indigenous peoples and learn about the darker chapters of our countrys history, they are questioning the way we continue to commemorate former leaders. Cornwallis legacy does not reflect the values Canadians hold today, and his name is a painful reminder to many Indigenous peoples of the racism and inequality their ancestors endured and that many still face today. As a result, his name has already been removed from various places throughout Nova Scotia. The CCGS Edward Cornwallis will soon have a new name, to be chosen in partnership with the Mikmaq of Nova Scotia. The renaming will follow Coast Guards formal policy for this vessel class, which is named to honour former leaders who have made significant contributions to the country. The ship is currently in Shelburne, Nova Scotia undergoing vessel life extension work through early 2021. The CCG will hold a re-dedication to service ceremony to honour this change. Canada is committed to building a nation-to-nation, government-to-government, and Inuit-Crown relationship with Indigenous peoples in Canada. Who we choose to commemorate can help further that relationship. The core values of the Canadian Coast Guard are honour, respect, and devotion to duty, and we are proud that this vessel will soon have a name that reflects those principles. Installation Calendar: This medium for tracking upcoming events is an outgrowth from members of the community who are part of the Community Council. Put in place last September, this calendar will be the go-to place for the community to keep up with upcoming community and garrison events available for community participation. June 30, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada The Syrian crisis continues to affect millions of people in Syria and neighbouring countries. Canada thanks Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, as well as Turkey and Egypt, for their generous support in hosting so many Syrian refugees. Canada is committed to continuing its work with the international community and Syrians to put an end to the conflict through a sustainable political solution. The Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, today participated in the Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region. The focus of the conference was on addressing the critical needs of millions of people across the region and supporting a lasting political resolution to the Syrian war. During the event, Minister Gould delivered remarks underscoring Canadas response to the situation in Syria and the region. Canada has committed up to $3.5 billion in funding for the region from 2016 to 2021, including significant humanitarian, development and stabilization assistance. As part of that total, Canada is providing $339 million in assistance in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq for 2020 and $281 million for 2021. New modeling of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 is spreading more rapidly in Oregon, according to the latest model released recently by remaining of Thank you for reading! This is your last free article before you will be asked to subscribe. Already have a paid subscription? Sign in * Username This is the name that will be used to identify you within the system. Choose wisely! * First name * Last name Your real name will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more! * Email Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. We won't share it with anyone else. * Password Create a password that only you will remember. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. Do you have an athlete in mind that contributes to the team or sport, holds sportsmanship and team spirit, has epic playmaker moments and/or in general makes the the sports fun? If yes, please make your nominations for our edition of Athlete Spotlight. CLICK TO NOMINATE I didnt have the strength to push him out, DeAngelo said. He made me. He went with me. It was like in my head, I mean, hes a part of me. I didnt want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I destroyed all their lives. So now Ive got to pay the price. Opening Say hello to the new, fifth generation Honda City; also known as the All New City. And though it will co-exist with the current model in our market, it is still a very important car. Not only because the Honda City has managed to set new benchmarks in its class with every new model. But, if theres a sedan that can claw back some sort of advantage that SUVs enjoy especially in the 13-17 lakh bracket the City is that car. Now, as far as platforms go, the new City is based on the same platform as the current generation car. But, significant upgrades have been made. For starters, even though the new car sits on the same wheelbase as the older City, it is now longer. And Honda has widened the track lengths as well. It also sits lower than the current City, but thankfully, the ground clearance hasnt changed. The result is a car that looks hunkered down, sportier and less sedate. There are other visual clues that help the new car too. The new all-LED headlamps look more modern and technical. The thick slab of chrome has a very look-at-me bling character to it. And at the rear, the tail lamps are new and very likeable with the whole pronounced 3D effect. Appearance Interior This is an all-new car, and that shows on the inside. The new steering is chunky and good to hold. And though the clocks arent the most modern in terms of design, these are easy to read. Plus, they pack in a whole lot of info. The dashboard design is simple but with the chrome outlines all around, the wood inserts, and the liberal use of leather, it makes the insides of the All New City feel more premium than before. Even the operability of the dials, the buttons and the rollers now have a crisp, well-engineered feel to them. However, if theres something we arent pleased about, it is the lack of soft grain plastic, especially on the dash and on the doors. As far as space goes, the City was always right up there with the competition. But on the new car, that goal post has moved further. The new City has acres of legroom for the rear occupants, which is also comfortably best in its class. And the shoulder and headroom arent bad either, even though they're more par for the course than exceptional. Equipment wise, theres ample of storage space and smart solutions for holding ones pen and cellphone at the rear. Theres a sunroof, height adjustable seat for the driver, a multifunctional steering wheel, cruise control, a colour TFT screen as part of the instrumentation; and an eight-inch touchscreen multimedia system with everything from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to Weblink. The new car also gets a retractable rear windscreen sunshade. It has ambient lighting. It gets LaneWatch courtesy a Camera mounted on the left ORVM. Theres a reversing camera with normal, wide and top view options. And it gets climate control, voice command, and a connectivity suite in the form of Honda Connect. Honda Connect is the new Citys big party trick. It essentially has the same functionality as the connectivity solutions offered by the likes of the new Creta, the Kia Seltos, and the MG Hector. So on this automatic version, you can start the car, turn on the AC, check the fuel levels, find the car, check air pressures, and get to know if your driver has been driving too fast! You can also geo-fence the car. But its USP is the compatibility with Amazon Echo, also popularly known as Alexa. Sitting at home you can say stuff like Alexa, start the car, Alexa, turn on the car AC, and impress your kids. Who can in turn impress their friends once this whole social distancing thing fades away. Honda Connect App also allows the car user to book a service appointment, and keep a keen eye on the work being performed at the service station. Theres fair amount of safety built into the car too. It gets a 5-star ASEAN crash test rating courtesy a lighter, but stiffer body structure. And in equipment terms, it gets six airbags, ESP, ABS, and tyre pressure monitoring system. Performance Drive The All New City comes with three drivetrain options. The diesel powertrain has been carried over from the older car with some refinements. It is essentially the same engine as on the new Amaze, but tuned to work better for the larger City. It is more refined than the one on the current City, but it hasnt lost any of its mid-range grunt and driveability. Plus, the clutch is light, and this engine is great for those looking for fuel efficiency and highway munching ability. The petrol engine meanwhile is a much-improved version of the older 1.5-iVTEC engine. So, even though it makes the same max power and torque outputs as the older petrol engine, its mid-range and NVH have improved significantly. It uses a twin-cam layout and gets variable valve timing now to go with variable valve lift. Honda has also worked towards reducing friction, improving airflow, and making the engine lighter. This engine can be had with either a six-speed manual or a CVT. The latter is one of the better ones on the market, and though it still has that rubber-band effect typical of CVTs, it is greatly reduced on this Honda unit. The petrol engine with the CVT is a great combo to have for city driving quiet, refined and serene. Even on a fast, spirited drive with the CVT in S mode and the driver making use of the paddle shifters, the All New City can be fun. Add to it the lovely driving position, the well-bolstered seats, great visibility all round, and spot-on ergonomics, and the City feels right from the get go. Having a comfy and cosseting ride doesnt hurt either. The car rounds the small bumps and ditches without bother and even at high speeds the car remains poised and flat and predictable. Handling too is reassuring. It remains planted and unwavering even over undulated roads. And around corners, it feels light footed and agile and precise as well. Now, the steering on the City isnt exactly brimming with feel, but it is light and accurate and surprisingly quick! Overall, the fifth generation City is a car you will enjoy driving, no question. Conclusion The All New City has most certainly moved the goal posts further. In fact, it is a better Honda City no matter how you look at it. But yes, it is more of an evolution than a revolution. But it is a car that is quiet, refined, feature-rich, and good on quality. Its easy and engaging to drive. And it has a strong street presence as well. Yes, we would have liked to see a few more features. And maybe a little more luxury built into it mainly to give it an edge against the SUVs in this price segment. But even as things stand right now, it remains a car that you cant go wrong with. Photography by - Kapil Angane and Kaustubh Gandhi Honda City 9.30 Lakh Onwards Honda City | Honda city | Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda But this may be the most striking statistic: He has been in the majority in every one of the 10 rulings decided by 5-4 or 5-3 votes so far this term. No chief justice has been in the majority in every closely divided case over an entire term since Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes in the term that ended in 1938 and that was in only four cases. Photo: Contributed Yes, you have the right to resist an unlawful arrest. But doing so is not an advisable way to enforce your rights! One problem is that you have no way of knowing, at the time of an arrest, whether or not it is lawful. A police officer might have reasonable grounds to make an arrest even if youre squeaky clean innocent of any wrongdoing. The officer in the case I wrote about last week (Joseph v. Meier, 2020 BCSC 778) was investigating Ms. Joseph for shoplifting. Had a store employee told the officer they witnessed Ms. Joseph slipping an item in her bag, the officer would have had reasonable grounds to make the arrest even if the store employee had been mistaken. Resisting a lawful arrest is a criminal offence, even if youre innocent. A more significant problem is the practical matter that resistance is futile when it comes to the police. There is no rights angel that will step in and stop the police from acting unlawfully. If they are intent on arresting you, they will. It doesnt matter how big, well trained in fighting, or armed you are. The more you resist, the more likely you will be hurt or even killed. If it turns out later that the arrest was unlawful, as it did for Ms. Joseph, you can pursue compensation for your injuries and losses. But compensation under our law just balances out your losses. Theres no bonus. And just like Ms. Joseph, youre likely to need a lawyer to get that compensation. The significant fees you pay to your lawyer will leave you undercompensated. And Im glad I was hurt so that I could get compensation was said by no client of mine, ever. So are your rights meaningless? How else do you enforce your right not to be unlawfully arrested, besides resisting that arrest? If you submit to the arrest and the police search your bag, havent your rights already fluttered away? Your rights are not meaningless. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms includes an enforcement mechanism. Section 24(1) states: Anyone whose rights or freedoms, as guaranteed by this Charter, have been infringed or denied may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances. An unlawful arrest is a breach of your right under Section 9 of the Charter not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned. And if your bag is searched as part of an unlawful arrest, as was the case with Ms. Joseph, thats a breach of your right under Section 8 to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure. The police officers lawyer minimized the Charter breaches. They argued that the search of her purse and phone was brief and the items were returned to her within minutes. They noted that she was detained only a brief period of time and released at the scene. The court quoted from an authority from the Supreme Court of Canada that an award of damages (money) for a Charter breach might be appropriate to fulfil one or more of three functions, i.e. compensation, vindication of the right, and/or deterrence of future breaches. Compensation for loss arising from those breaches was not appropriate because Ms. Joseph had already been awarded compensation for her injuries and losses. For the important functions of vindication of the right and deterrence of future breaches, Ms. Joseph was awarded $5,000. A deterrent is important. Next week I will discuss why, and whether or not the amounts being awarded for Charter breaches are meaningful deterrents. Photo: Yelp A Western Canadian grocery company has topped the list of most loved brands in B.C. for 2020. Save-On-Foods has topped the list of 40 B.C.-based businesses to take the number one spot in BC Business Magazines brand love index annual survey. I am absolutely thrilled that Save-On-Foods was named B.C.s Most Loved Brand for 2020, said Save-On-Foods president Darrell Jones. BC Business Magazine and research firm Ipsos surveyed more than 1,000 British Columbians to rate different businesses based in B.C. on 47 attributes to get its list of the top 40 Most Loved Brands for 2020. Since this company started in New Westminster, B.C. more than 100 years ago, team members have been committed to going the extra mile for their customers, communities and one another and that continues today despite the challenges 2020 has brought so far. I am so proud of this team and cant thank our customers enough for voting Save-On-Foods as B.C.s Most Loved Brand," Jones says. This year's ranking included a new category about social values, which Save-On-Foods topped for its tradition of supporting good causes and its culture of strong social values. BC Hydro, YVR, London Drugs and A&W rounded out the top five most loved B.C. brands. The full list can be found here. Photo: Contributed The number of surgeries performed in British Columbia in a week has now returned to normal levels, says B.C. Minister of Health Adrian Dix. For the past three weeks, between 6,100 and 6,500 surgeries per week have been performed. Dix made the announcement during Monday's COVID-19 provincial briefing, calling it a very impressive effort from those working in the healthcare system. He also noted an increase in the number of B.C. residents requiring emergency medical assistance. On Friday, June 26, there were 5,869 emergency visits - the highest number since March 9. "Clearly our hospitals are again - theyve been busy all along - but again, dealing with very significant number of cases in the emergency room, and doing enormous and extraordinary work with respect to surgeries. We express appreciation to everyone whos doing that work." The province is continuing to receive significant numbers of PPE in the past week, including 214,920 additional N95 or equivalent respirators, 2,346,454 surgical or procedure masks and 2,843,300 pairs of gloves since June 22. A husband and wife made national news when photos captured them pointing guns at protesters Sunday night outside of their Central West End home. It was like the storming of the Bastille, the gate came down and a large crowd of angry, aggressive people poured through, Mark McCloskey said. Taxes on sugary drinks, a new study has revealed, can lead to major health gains and reductions in health care costs The Pentagons chief spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, declined to comment on any connection between the Marines deaths and the suspected Russian plot. Hoffman also declined to say whether or when Defense Secretary Mark Esper was briefed on the intelligence assessment and whether the deaths of U.S. troops in Afghanistan resulted from the Russian bounties. Col. DeDe Halfhill, a spokeswoman for Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also declined to comment on the same questions. Preparing for a financial crisis Dr Michael Clark By Published 30 June 2020 Dr Michael Clark looks at how the global health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic is expected develop into a financial crisis, and the potential impacts of this for the cement industry. By looking back over the past 30 years, we can see the effects the Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis had on the sector. With this in mind, what can we expect in the near future? Back in 2018, Thomas Armstrong, managing editor of International Cement Review (ICR), asked Dr Clark to reflect on what had changed in the cement industry over the past 30 years to coincide with ICRs 30th anniversary. Dr Clark went on to present the same topic at the Cemtech conferences in Hanoi and Istanbul in 2018. Both the article and the presentations reviewed the huge changes in the industry over those first three decades of ICR. At the conferences, Dr Clark signed off with the observation that there was another way to characterise the 30 years of ICR this was through the financial crises at roughly 10-year intervals. Starting around 10 years after the launch of ICR, there was the Asian financial crisis in 1997-99. Another 10 years later, there was the global financial crisis. To continue reading this story and get access to all News, Articles and Video sections of the CemNet.com website, please Register for a subscription to International Cement Review or Login Bashundhara Industrial Complex secures land for bagging factory 30 June 2020 Bangladeshs Bashundhara Industrial Complex has signed an agreement for 16 acres of land, located 1km away from Mongla port and another 20km away from the site of a proposed airport in Bagerhat. The company intends to use the land for the construction of a factory that will produce cement bags for its two cement plants. Published under Cemex cancels El Musel project due to COVID-19 ICR Newsroom By 30 June 2020 Cemex is cancelling its terminal project that would see the company import 150,000tpa of cement via the Ingeniero Olano dock in El Musel, Gijon, Spain. In February 2019 Cemex applied for a concession at the Olano quay to unload cement to build two storage silos and a bagging plant, representing an investment of approximately EUR5m. Forecasts at the time expected 50,000t of cement to be imported in the first year to 150,000t from the sixth year. The concession was granted after 10 months. The project was seen as a countermove to Tudela Veguin starting exports to the US, one of Cemexs key markets. The imports into El Musel would enable Cemex to distribute cement to the northwest of the Iberian peninsula. Published under A little rain did not dissuade demonstrators from gathering in Miller Park on a rainy Monday evening. It was a shorter and more poignant rally, one that went from the open space of Miller Park to the new Black Lives Matter mural in front of the Bessie Smith Center on MLK. Rev. Charlotte S.N.N. Williams christened the mural by going through the history of the ancestors of the black community and paying homage to their struggles. As she went from the history of the great kingdoms of ancient Africa to the civil rights movement, Rev. Williams punctuated each monologue with the word a??. (pronounced ah-shay), which means so be it in Yoruba. For all of those that after the Civil War, they just wanted to live in peace and created their own towns like Rosewood, Black Wall Street were destroyed, said Rev. Williams. Fires and bombs were dropped on them. All because they wanted their own freedom and even though separate and unequal, they wanted their own communities. Why dont black people have their own stores or businesses? Its because of state-sanctioned violence. Dreams were gone and hope was gone. I say a??. As she said the word a??, organizers Cameron C-Grimey Williams and Marie Mott poured out a small dash of water onto the pavement. Earlier that night, Mr. Williams denounced violence or threats of violence, and said the protests are explicitly non-violent. Our movement I Cant Breathe Chatt and all of the other organizations we work with advocate for peaceful and non-violent demonstrations. We do advocate for using civic engagement, so if a business is engaging in racism, do call and express your disdain. Or do a Google or Yelp review. But dont ever threaten violence. Thats not our motive at all. So if that did happen, it was nobody within our organization. We dont want fear in anybodys heart. Were acting in peace and love and are getting death threats. Mr. Williams and protesters had been under scrutiny after Shufords BBQ said someone threatened to burn down their business after it became public Shufords had been paid to cater a Back the Blue Rally. Mr. Williams also briefly spoke about the Sheriffs Department, and asked about who would be held accountable for the department losing hundreds of hours of video. If all of this is happening, then someone should be held accountable, said Mr. Williams. Who is getting fired? Theres no way I can lose a year and a halfs worth of material from my job and at least not get written up. So where is the disciplinary actions? So again, were disappointed in the Sheriffs Department and how justice isnt being served. When Marie Mott had the microphone, she praised Central High Schools valedictorian DayOnna Carson, whose microphone was cut off prior to her reciting, "No Justice. No Peace" at the end of her speech. I want to thank you, miss DayOnna Carson, and I want you to show them that the best revenge is massive success, said Ms. Mott. Go to school, keep on being great, and I look forward to seeing her here in person on Friday, or having a recording of her entire speech without interruption. Not only was she valedictorian, but that young African American woman is going to Harvard. One of the most prestigious universities in the world, and walking the same halls W.E.B DuBois walked in family. Thats major. She also said, Its not good enough for you to be a county commissioner and your way of speaking to the issue is wearing a doggone T-shirt that says I cant breathe, but youre not going to demand these five badges fervently. To me thats capping. That means not only holding the sheriff accountable, who needs to resign, but that means holding the D.A. Neal Pinkston accountable too. Hes the one responsible for bringing charges against these officers. Back at the mural, Rev. Williams closed out her speech by imploring the protesters to continue to demonstrate. Dont let nobody turn you around. Dont you let anything or nobody turn you around, said Rev. Williams. You are created in the image of God, and because he gave you breath, nobody has the right to take that away from you. During the last quarter of the 1900s, my grandfather Roy McDonald was the owner and publisher of the Chattanooga News-Free Press and in the early 70s he went head-to-head with the delusional International Typographical Union which had a hammer hold on all the nations newspapers. These were the guys who set the type that would be formed into the plates that would then be bolted onto printing presses across the country. I know we offered every typesetter in our building the deal of a lifetime and each one of them knew it, too. But the contract we offered cut out a bunch of national union tomfoolery. Our contract was designed for our people. But, no, in a way where today union participation in the United States is at an all-time low because the labor lords have lost the publics respect, who we had prayed were our people sided with the International. The morning they went out on strike they were convinced we would immediately come begging. As a matter of fact they had flown in the unions top labor lawyers to write a ridiculous list of demands and were said to be within minutes of the knock-out blow when at 11:30 a.m. (ours was an afternoon paper) the union chanting on the sidewalk in front of our plant on East 11Street suddenly stopped and the air became still. Each striking union member was handed a 36-page newspaper, i.e. We dont need you. You are never coming back. Game over. They picketed our plant for 5 years but they knew what had just happened. Ten years or so later, the International Typographical Union in the United States became like a dodo bird extinct. A little newspaper in Chattanooga had just slain the giant, and all the nations great newspapers were in glee. Obviously, there are reams more I could tell you, but todays lesson is that our familys friendships in the newspaper industry grew exponentially. A strong bond developed between Roy McDonald and Katherine Graham, who as the publisher of The Washington Post, was, indeed, the most powerful woman in our nations capital. She and my mother got to be friends, she read several of my stories and liked the fact my style didnt include a lot of Ivy League poetry. Mrs. Graham believed I had great promise and called my grandfather to sell him on a wonderful opportunity. He politely told her family is off-limits and asked if she would spread the word among other newspapers, Little Roy is absolutely unavailable, or so to speak. (Dont worry, Ive had much more fun here at home.) Because I once came close to dancing the Potomac Waltz, Ive always been a reader and a big fan of The Washington Post. Sadly, and even tragically, Mrs. Grahams newspaper has changed dramatically, quite more in recent years. Today everything that President Trump does is stupid and every word he says is a lie. The extremely liberal have infiltrated the media in a way that is devoid of common sense, in my opinion, this as I recognize there are many leftists who believe that to claim Roy Exum is devoid of common sense would be the kindest comment I might be afforded. Last week President Trump persistently claimed Democrat politicians are soft on crime -- which I know is true after the past weekend in Portland, Seattle, Detroit, Minneapolis, et al. Chicago, where in last week which ended on Saturday midnight in the nations shooting gallery, the Sunday tally was 125 shot and wounded, 25 killed. Thats in one week. In just the month of June which ends tonight at midnight -- there have been 533 human beings these are Americans shot in their hometown and 87 pronounced homicides. That computes to the mathematical summation that a person is shot within the Chicago city limits every two hours, 33 minutes, and that is in an entire 24/7 month. (30 days x 24 hours = 720 hours) Last Thursday President Trump repeated that Americas most dangerous cities are all run by Democrats. Washington Post reporter Phillip Bump loudly proclaimed in a front-page story, that was a lie. The reporter, using the FBIs Criminal Crime Report, cited for example, that while the top 20 most dangerous cities in America per capita have 19 Democratic mayors, the mayor for Springfield, Mo., is independent. On the Top 20 Most Violent Cities overall, there are two mayors who are independent and aha the mayor of Jacksonville is a Republican. You see, out of 40 cities on the two lists (some overlap) there are 36 Democrat mayors, three independents, and one Republican. Advantage: Mr. Trump. For the record, Chattanooga is 18th on the FBIs Worst 20 in the U.S. per capita. The city experienced 783 cases of aggravated assault per 100,000 people in 2018 more than triple the national average. Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke is a Democrat and, in my opinion and the majority of others, will be known as one of the most disappointing weve had in our history. Memphis is now the worst city in the country, with 1,943 crimes per 10,000 capita, and Nashville is 14th overall (25,000 capita). Both have Democratic mayors and lets face it factually, Trump is right. As Beckett Adams of the Washington Times responded, In other words, Trump is wrong because he is only 95 percent correct when he says that Democrats control the 20 most dangerous cities in the United States because the mayor of one of the 20 cities with the most violent crime per capita is a registered independent, according to the Washington Post. This is an embarrassment for everyone involved. It is also a disservice to the papers readers, who deserve a bit better than desperate 'gotcha' attempts. * * * Yes, our once responsible and accountable giants, like my beloved Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and even USA Today, have fallen badly off plumb and unless someone jerks them up and returns them to common decency, there will not be a newspaper to be found in America in about 15 or 20 years. And we with printers ink still in our veins we weep. royexum@aol.com In an "opinion" written by Judy Frank on June 24, 2020, she makes several assumptions or assertions which are false and misleading. Ms. Frank accuses the Hamilton County Election Commission of extending the qualifying deadline at the request of Tom Decosimo to allow him to qualify as a candidate for the school board race for District 2. It appears that Ms. Frank did not research either the facts or the applicable law in this situation. The facts are simple. Kathy Lennon is the incumbent school board member from District 2, and her treasurer during her term from 2016 to March of 2020 was Marco Perez. Ms. Lennon picked up papers to qualify to run for re-election in March of 2020, as did her treasurer who also picked up papers to run for the same elected position. The qualifying deadline was set for April 2, 2020, by the State Election Office. Both Ms. Lennon and Mr. Perez qualified prior to the deadline. The withdrawal deadline was noon on April 9, 2020 which was also set by the Tennessee State Election Commission. Before the withdrawal deadline, but after the qualifying deadline, Ms. Lennon withdrew from the race as the incumbent on April 9, 2020, leaving her former campaign treasurer as the only candidate to be listed on the ballot for the August 6, 2020 election. Ms. Frank claims in her "opinion" piece that the Hamilton County Election Officials complied with his (Tom Decosimo) request, enabling Mr. Decosimo to qualify late and his name appear on the ballot. This statement by Ms. Frank is false. Mr. Decosimo never made such a request nor did the Hamilton County Election Commission make such a determination. It did not have to. T.C.A. Section 2-5-101(h) is known as the Anti-Skullduggery Act of 1991. T.C.A. 2-5-101(h)(3) clearly states, If an incumbent withdraws during the period the provisions of this subsection (h) shall operate to Extend the period a person may qualify for a nonpartisan general election. Any time an incumbent in Tennessee withdraws after the qualifying deadline but before the withdrawal deadline, the qualifying deadline is automatically extended to allow any person to qualify as a candidate. The Hamilton County Election Commission did not have to meet and vote to extend the qualifying deadline. Ms. Lennons withdrawing after the qualifying deadline created a situation where T.C.A. 2-5-101(h)(3) automatically extended the qualifying deadline. This law has been in effect since 1991. The Anti-Skullduggery Act seeks to prevent incumbents from orchestrating their own replacement. A powerful incumbent may be tempted to step aside if their protege or friend can replace them. In that case, both the powerful incumbent as well as their protege qualifies to run. If no one else qualifies, then the incumbent withdraws from the race after the qualifying deadline leaving the protege unopposed. If an unexpected powerful challenger qualifies, then the protege withdraws, leaving the incumbent to run for re-election. Skullduggery is defined as underhanded or unscrupulous behavior. The Hamilton County Election Commission never considered whether Ms. Lennon secretly conspired with her campaign treasurer to orchestrate that he would be the only candidate on the ballot. The Anti-Skullduggery Act of 1991 applied to Ms. Lennons actions regardless of her motives or intentions. Accordingly, Mr. Decosimo never requested, and the Hamilton County Election Commission never needed to vote to extend the qualifying deadline. Ms. Franks claims or implications of special treatment by the Hamilton County Election Commission are false. The Hamilton County Election Commission has voted unanimously (all Republicans and all Democrats) on every issue in 2020. Despite Ms. Franks accusation this commission has not granted any request by any candidate to extend any deadlines. Chris Clem Hamilton County Election Commissioner For Karen Shavin, her parents former home she now hopes to live in is not your typical family residence. For starters, it is cherished by plenty of others besides just her family, and it might also be considered to have museum qualities. Such is the life of about any structure these days that had been designed by the very famous and popular late architect Frank Lloyd Wright, especially one that is located in a part of the country where not as many Wright structures can be found. Even if someone does not know the architect, his homes and structures for decades have stood out due to their appearances featuring unique lines and shapes features that often make them look definitely different from other homes. And the buildings also usually fit a landscape in an aesthetically appealing way. Ms. Shavin understands all this affection, and she is incorporating this into her plans for the home at 334 N. Crest Road on Missionary Ridge, a structure that, unlike most of the homes on the ridge, is uniquely almost hidden from the main street. My long-term plan is to restore the home and move in it and also use it in ways to share with the community, she said. Ms. Shavin talked over the phone on Monday from her Baltimore, Md., area home in connection with the planned public tours of the home scheduled for July 11 and 12 for $250 each. The small tours, which will follow strict COVID-19 safety protocols, are to benefit the Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative. Tickets can be purchased here. https://flwrevivalinitiative. org/2020-events/shavin-house- fundraiser-tour/ According to the non-profit groups website, The Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative aims to promote the legacy of this celebrated architect by rebuilding certain structures that, for various reasons, have been demolished. The proceeds from the event will benefit the Revival Initiatives overall work replacing razed Wright structures and is not related to the future plans for the restoration of the Shavin home. Ms. Shavin said the group contacted her about a year ago while her mother, Gerte Shavin, was still living before her death on May 15 at the age of 99. She said that as of Monday, all of the tickets so far had actually been sold to out-of-towners, who are likely fans of the architect and are taking advantage of a rare opportunity to see one of his homes in private hands. They are coming from afar but we havent gotten anyone locally, she said. Ms. Shavin said she will be on hand to greet the visitors and answer any questions. I plan to put together a slide show of pictures of the building as it was being built, she said. It should be fun for people to see. I dont have a formal presentation but will be there to share the story. Ms. Shavin said she was a very small child when the structure was completed, but remembers moving there in 1952 after they had lived at her grandparents residence while it was under construction. Her brother, David Shavin, was born shortly after they moved in, and she remembers the excitement of having a new brother and a new home at that time. They also have another brother, Eliot Shavin. Their father, Seamour Shavin, died in 2005. Karen Shavin still has the same love and fascination for the home that existed when she was young, and she hopes to impart that love in the coming months and years and restore the now-68-year-old home. For example, some carpenter bees have damaged some of the wood, and she recently discovered some issues with running water that need to get fixed. Some native plants have also recently been planted around the home in connection with the upcoming tour and in keeping with the landscaping theme of a Wright home. And a New York architect was on site this week with the help of the Frank Lloyd Wright Initiative to look over the home and offer suggestions for future work, she said. Her goal with the home is to restore it and eventually live in it if she can get away from extended family near her current home, etc., she added with a laugh. She said that she is just now trying to formulate plans with her mothers recent passing, and she knows money will be needed. Because of that and because of her late parents love for the home, she also hopes to have other future events at the home. I want to carry on my parents tradition of sharing the house, she said, pointing out that this home is one of a number of Wrights Usonian homes that were considered affordable to the average person, despite the maintenance his homes often require. In recent years, with her mother reaching her 90s and Karens name having been put as a contact person at a Wright Foundation website, she said she received a number of inquiries about the home. Some people have wanted to buy it, while one person asked if he could propose to his architecturally focused girlfriend on the grounds. As would be expected, the home has drawn a lot of curiosity seekers over the years, she added. One person still curious and fascinated with the home was her mother, who often gave tours to people who would contact her while she lived there. Despite having moved in recent years to the Northern Virginia town of Leesburg where son David is, she still loved to return to visit her beloved home designed by the noted architect, including a trip she took just weeks before she died. She came down pretty regularly because she missed the house, said her daughter with emotion. Jcshearer2@comcast.net Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) said $15.4 million in deferred maintenance projects at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park would be addressed through a fund created by the Great American Outdoors Act. The bill passed the Senate on June 17 by a vote of 73 to 25, and is in the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration. President Trump said he will sign the legislation into law. Senator Loeffler said the bill "will fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and help address the nearly $20 billion maintenance backlog in national parks and other land management agencies. The funding is from drilling royalties paid to the federal government. Georgians of all ages have long looked to our state parks to enjoy fresh air, preserve natural treasures, honor state history and promote Georgia tourism. The Great American Outdoors Act will help to ensure both current and future generations can enjoy the pristine beauty of our natural resources in Georgia and across the county. This funding will invest in our states infrastructure, create jobs and support our local economies. "I call on the U.S. House of Representatives to pass this bipartisan legislation so Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will receive this critical federal investment to restore, enhance and protect Georgias national parks. Now is the time to fix the problem by restricting the 1033 program and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants for military equipment to police departments. Municipalities and states should monitor how, why and when police are using certain types of equipment that are more suitable to battlefield situations than to the streets of American cities. Chattanooga States Marsha Barker demonstrates a deep dedication to her students. Recently, this was evidenced when the Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education (ANTSHE) presented her with the Outstanding Foundation & Leadership for NonTrads award. After careful review of your program, and out of a number nominations from colleges and universities across the country, your Adult Student Services program at Chattanooga State Community College, was selected to receive this award because of your commitment and obvious devotion to non-traditional student success. This recognition serves as a true inspiration for other colleges and universities across the country. said Lori Viar, executive director of Pinnacle and Spire Honor Societies, in a congratulatory letter to Ms. Barker.I am incredibly proud of the Chattanooga State Adult Services department under Marsha Barkers leadership for receiving this recognition from ANTSHE. Chattanooga State is an exceptional place for adult students to complete their degrees and either transfer or advance in the workforce, states Dr. Rebecca Ashford, Chattanooga State president. This award confirms that.Adult Student Services has helped to provide adult students with the resources and support they need to aide in their degree success. As its director, Ms. Barker is heavily focused on Tennessee Reconnect and the opportunities this program presents to adults seeking to further their educational goals. ChattState adults participate in special events such as the Adult Student Club Picnic (C.AD.R.E.), Adult Student Recognition Day, Adult Student Group Chats, and Spire Honor Society. Marshas personal dedication to helping students succeed includes recognizing adult students for their accomplishments during a weekly TN Reconnect Tuesday on social media and Adult Student Success Stories used to inspire other adult students.I am deeply honored to be the recipient of such an important award and truly grateful to ANTSHE for recognizing my work with adult students. Mere words are inadequate to express my gratitude, noted Ms. Barker.Chattanooga States Adult Student Services provides information about Tennessee Reconnect and guidance with the Reconnect process; assistance with admissions, readmission and/or transfer; understanding academic policies, rules and regulations; information about other college services and departments, childcare, financial aid, Spire, and acknowledgement through college credit of prior work experience (PLA); as well as mentoring and special student success sessions, seminars and special events. Due to the pandemic, the April ANTSHE Conference was canceled, however, ANTSHE plans to recognize Chattanooga State during the 2021 conference. For more information about Adult Student Services, contact Ms. Barker at 423-697-4753 or email marsha.barker@chattanoogastate.edu. UTC is defending the actions of its police department in the traffic stop of a former staff member, but said it will cut down on the number of cars and personnel going to a non-threatening issue. The investigation was conducted by Executive Vice Chancellor Dr. Richard Brown and reviewed by Dr. Yancy Freeman, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, and Terry Denniston, Chief of Staff, and approved by Chancellor Steve Angle. Chancellor Angle and Executive Vice Chancellor Brown said, "A former UTC staff member and alumna was recently stopped by campus police for a traffic violation. The University conducted and has completed an investigation of the traffic stop that occurred near campus on June 24. With the investigation completed, we are sharing information, both written and visual, and the results and recommendations. "As we report our findings, we first want to apologize to the driver for the actions that occurred during the traffic stop that made her feel profiled, targeted and shaken" by the encounter with UTC police. Our actions support and demonstrate our work to eliminate racism as part of our core values as an institution. "The investigation found there was no racial profiling, and the officers involved with the traffic stop stated they did not know the race of the person in the vehicle. The review also showed the officers treated the driver with respect and dignity and followed standard training and protocols for making the stop. "The review shows that campus police handled this matter according to policy and professionally; therefore, no disciplinary action is warranted. However, we will continue with de-escalation training, community policing strategies, and we are implementing policy revisions and clarifications. "The University administration will use the knowledge gained from the review of the June 24 traffic stop to examine our campus police vehicle stop policy and to limit the number of police vehicles and personnel responding to future incidents. Officers will understand to limit their engagement in making non-life threatening traffic stops that do not threaten the health and safety of the UTC community. "Following the completed internal review of video evidence from dash cameras and officer body cameras and interviews with our police personnel, we are sharing additional information about the June 24 traffic stop. The key points are included in this communication, and the UTCPD is making a summary of the incident and the full videos available online HERE. "We will create an advisory board that assists the ongoing dialogue between our campus community and our campus police. "From the video and written information, these are the reviewed facts: A total of four officers in three vehicles responded to the traffic stop. There are seven videos five from body cameras on the four officers and two from the dash camera on the lead UTCPD vehicle that made the stop which activated when the headlights of the vehicle turned on. The officers' statements indicate that, prior to the stop, they could not tell the race or gender of the person driving the vehicle. Just prior to the driver being pulled over on 8 th Street, another officer in a second police vehicle who was traveling east on 8 th Street ahead of the driver made a U-turn on 8 th Street to go to a call at McKenzie Arena, which may have been perceived by the driver as related to her stop and a perception of being "boxed in." In talking with the driver, the officer mistakenly said the reason for the stop was running a stop sign at 8 th and Douglas, when the stop sign at issue was at the intersection of 8 th and Houston. The officer gave the driver a community health and safety reason for pulling her over for the stop sign violation. No traffic citation was issued. The officers followed standard protocols for making the traffic stop. "The complete UTC police department traffic stop summary report for June 24, 2020, is accessible by clicking HERE. "The UTCPD has posted online the dash camera and body camera videos, which are accessible HERE. "Earlier in June, as Chancellor, I sent out a campus-wide memo that challenged each of us, individually and as an institution, to create the future our students deserve; the future our community and nation deserve. If we are to achieve significant change, each of us faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other stakeholders has a role. "We have to learn how a history of actions and at times inactions shapes opinions of racial bias. We will teach and learn, our future actions will measure change and we will be accountable." The Hamilton County Health Department, in partnership with Hamilton County Schools, is notifying the community about potential COVID-19 exposures that occurred at the Central High School and Hixson High School graduations this past Saturday. Officials said, "Case investigations have revealed that each event had a person in attendance while in their infectious period. In both incidences, the individual was an audience member and sat in the stands. They were not students on the field. It is recommended that anyone who attended these events get tested and monitor their symptoms." For a link to COVID-19 symptoms, visit CDC. Free Health Department testing opportunities are available each day this week through Friday from 7AM to 11AM at Brainerd High School. Health Department testing sites will be closed Saturday and Sunday for the holiday weekend and will resume testing the following week at East Lake Academy. We cant stress enough how vital it is to stay at home if you are sick, said Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes, If you are having any respiratory symptoms or you have tested positive, stay home, do not go out into public. She said the July Fourth holiday weekend "brings opportunity for family and friends to celebrate our national holiday, yet it brings further occasion to spread the COVID-19 virus." The Health Department urges everyone attending or organizing such an event to have protocols in place to: If you are organizing an event, have masks available. Masks are available at the Health Department for pick up during hotline hours. Maintain social distance of 6 feet Wear masks when not eating Wash hands often and have hand sanitizer available Do not attend any functions if you have had any contact with a person known to be positive with COVID-19 or if you are sick with any respiratory symptoms Restrict attendance to as few people as possible. Free Health Department testing opportunities are available each day this week through Friday from 7AM to 11AM at Brainerd High School. Health Department testing sites will be closed Saturday and Sunday for the holiday weekend and will resume testing the following week at East Lake Academy. Response to testing in our community continues to be robust. This past week, from Monday, June 22 through Sunday, June 28, the Health Department tested 2,817 individuals at the school and church testing sites at East Lake Academy, Hardy Elementary and Greater Tucker Baptist Church. The Health Department thanks the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga for funding the church testing sites. This Monday and Tuesday, the Health Departments testing site at Brainerd High School processed a total of 923 tests in two days. For more information, please call the Health Departments COVID-19 hotline at (423) 209-8383. Do not call Hamilton County Schools for information related to COVID-19 exposures. Visit these additional Health Department COVID-19 resources: COVID-19 hotline: (423) 209-8383 English Facebook page: https://www.facebook. com/HamiltonTNHealthDept/ Spanish Facebook page: https://www.facebook. com/SaludHamiltonTN/ Press Briefings: https://www. youtube.com/user/ HamiltonCountyTN YouTube English: https://www.youtube.com/ channel/ UCCkF8VUBQFLiJoxh8Sk10mA YouTube Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/ channel/ UCwHuLpBFuLOf6hDTOCFbfyQ COVID-19 Testing Calendar: http://health.hamiltontn.org/ AllServices/Coronavirus(COVID- 19)/ HealthDepartmentAffiliatedFREE TestingSitesinHamiltonCounty. aspx Website: http://health.hamiltontn.org/ One of the worst days in Chattanooga history was July 16, 2015. As the community prepares to remember the five service members who were killed, Chapter 203 of Vietnam Veterans of America Tuesday replaced the American and Service flags at the permanent monument. The marker is outside the Military recruiting station at Highway 153 and Lee Highway where the gunman started his shooting rampage. He exited that location and sped over to the Naval operations support center and Marine Corp service center on Amnicola Highway. The gunman opened fire there killing five service members. A permanent memorial was erected in Brainerd as a tribute to the Fallen 5 and those who were injured. President Charlie Hobbs said chapter 203 wanted to do something to remember the fallen five. He said the original flags were getting a little worn so the chapter decided to replace them before the anniversary next month. Mr. Hobbs said some of the chapter members, local recruiters and several service members attended the ceremony. Vietnam Veterans chapter 203 meets the 3rd Monday of every month at American Legion Post 95 in East Ridge. A meal is served at 6 and the meeting starts at 7. All Vietnam veterans are invited to attend. Any Vietnam era vet is also welcome. A 55-year-old man from Knoxville, sexually enticed a female minor while she was online. Evidence revealed at trial showed the man communicated with the minor, on numerous occasions, using a social media site, sending explicit sexual messages and requesting a meeting. A family member of the minor reported the inappropriate messages to law enforcement. After law enforcement initiated an undercover operation posing as the young girl, and within 48 hours, the perpetrator sent additional explicit sexual messages. The perpetrator received 10 years in federal prison.This despicable act is just one of far too many instances where vulnerable individuals fall victim to online predators, scammers and hackers who perpetrate their crimes in our communities using technology. Fortunately, law enforcement was able to access the evidence necessary to bring this particular predator to justice. However, due to the spread of technology like "end-to-end" and "warrant proof" encryption, it is becoming increasingly difficult for law enforcement to access critical digital evidence, even when permitted by a court. This makes the job of protecting all Americans from terrorists, drug traffickers and hackers, and in particular protecting children from online predators who seek to violate and exploit them, exceedingly difficult.The COVID-19 pandemic has massively increased our online presence. While digital technology helps children continue their studies and stay connected with friends and families, this increased online presence also exposes children to predatory individuals on a previously unimaginable scale.Child predators rely on digital apps and social media platforms to message and share images with potential victims, outside of the view of their caregivers and law enforcement. Increasingly, these internet platforms, through their own deliberate design, are unable to safeguard against criminals who can maintain anonymity due to "end-to-end" encryption."End-to-end" encryption prevents everyone except the participants in a digital conversation from viewing the content of messages, even when criminal activity is involved.As a result, service providers can neither monitor their own platforms for illicit behavior nor produce readable content to law enforcement in response to court issued wiretap orders and search warrants. While encryption technology in general is an essential tool for protecting cybersecurity and privacy, "warrant-proof" forms of encryption allow perpetrators to avoid detection by law enforcement and limit access to vital evidence needed to bring criminals to justice or prevent crimes from happening in the first place.Frequently, Attorney General William Barr has outlined the problems that arise when technology companies protect the privacy of individuals who seek to evade law enforcement and operate free of consequences without considering the other important values at stake. "End-to-end" encryption platforms turn the privacy of the unscrupulous into an absolute right contrary to societys interests in public safety and without regard to the rights of potential victims of online exploitation.A reasonable approach to encryption would balance the privacy and public safety interests of the community, by requiring makers of consumer devices and providers of online communication services to provide law enforcement with lawful access to encrypted data when authorized by a court of law.As Attorney General Barr observed when commenting on a bill recently introduced in the United States Senate to address "warrant-proof" encryption, "Data security and public safety are not mutually exclusive. Encryption should keep us safe and secure, not provide an impenetrable safe haven for predators, terrorists and criminals."Cybersecurity is a central part of the DOJs mission. It is one part of the broader safety net we can provide the American people: keeping data safe, personal information safe and communities and schools safe. We all want safe and secure private data; we also want safe and secure communities. And we can have both.J. Douglas OverbeyUnited States AttorneyEastern District of Tennessee * * * The dream of secure, but not warrant-proof encryption is a pipe dream. Of course no one wants criminals to have uncrackable communications; the problem is that once a vulnerability is introduced into a platform, there is no way to control who uses it. Either an encryption scheme is mathematically difficult to decipher or not; the math doesnt care whether the party using the backdoor is Mr. Overbey with a warrant or identity thieves in China. Insecure communications by fiat, when cracked by hackers or a bad actor nation-state, will halt the entire modern economy; e-commerce, proprietary information, even the electric grid, all gone. In any case, whos to say a warrant will always be required, even if it is at first? I hope weve learned from the misuse of the Patriot Act not to give the government more spying powers. If I recall, the old chestnut but its for the children was used to justify that one too. Charles McCullough East Ridge The ongoing case involving Chad Daybell, his wife Lori Vallow, their extreme religious beliefs, and Vallows recently-discovered (and tragically, late) children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, has many moving parts. Recently, a Dateline special on NBC attempted to parse some of the more complicated aspects of the case. Suspicious deaths plagued Daybell and Vallow before their arrests, from Vallows fourth husband, Charles Vallowwho died at the hands of Vallows brother, Alex Cox, during an altercationto the passing of Daybells wife, Tammy Daybell, just weeks before he married Vallow. In the wake of Daybells recent arrest and the June 9 discovery of the bodies of Vallows children on his property, the couples former friend and confidante, Melanie Gibb, appeared on Dateline NBC. In an interview with Keith Morrison, Gibb revealed that Daybell and Vallow werent shy about their extramarital affair before the childrens disappearance. Keith Morrison | Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images RELATED: Dateline: Lori Vallows Friend Claims She Had a Premonition of Her Husbands Death Before He Passed Daybell and Vallow secretly married behind Tammys back Tammy and Chad were married for 28 years and had five children together. According to Morrison, Daybell even called his wife of nearly three decades the love of his life. But almost as soon as Daybell met Vallow, that all changed. The pair shared the same religious beliefs and believed they had a secret mission to fulfill togetherone involving the end times, which they argued were soon to come. On the Dateline special, East Idaho News journalist Nate Eaton (himself a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or the mainstream Mormon church) explained that Daybell and Vallow secretly sealed themselves as husband and wife at an LDS temple. In LDS tradition, those who are married, or sealed, are bound together for all time and eternity. But their marriage was against all mainstream LDS traditions, especially because they were carrying on an affair and cheating on their respective spouses. The couple believed that angels were sealing them, and Jesus Christ was a witness, Eaton said on Dateline NBC, which is frankly blasphemous. If the church officials were to learn of this, theyd say, Youre desecrating the temple. This cannot happen here, Eaton explained. Gibb claimed Tammy may have suspected Daybell was cheating on her According to Gibb, Daybell and Vallow didnt exactly try to hide their ongoing affair. In Rexburg, they often went for walks at the BYU Idaho walking track. Gibb claimed they were often openly holding hands, hugging, and kissing, without much regard for who might see them. When Gibb asked Vallow if she was worried, she claimed that Tammy didnt come out much, so the couple wasnt concerned about being discovered. Still, Morrison suggested that Daybells wife did, in fact, become suspicious of a potential affair. During the Dateline special, Gibb revealed that her former friend told her Tammy had confronted Chad in a heated moment. I had heard that from Lori, that she became suspicious, the Dateline NBC guest explained. Gibb said she didnt recall exactly what Vallow said, but she was apparently worried at the time about being found out. Daybell allegedly predicted his wifes death in advance But Vallow and Daybell didnt stay concerned about their extramarital affair for long. Both of them predicted their spouses deaths before they happened. Gibb told Morrison that Daybell claimed his wife would pass away soon, and that she had turned into a dark spirit. Of people involved with Vallow and Daybell, Gibb said sarcastically, People were always dark or zombies, or turning into zombies. She added that it seemed a zombie was somebody thats preventing you from being with Chad, basically. They didnt want anybody to stop them from being together. The Dateline guest even suggested that Daybell claimed his wife would accept passing away for his benefit. Shed understand. Thats what he would say. Shed understand, Gibb said of Daybells description of how his wife would have responded. Less than three weeks later, Tammy died in her sleep and was buried without an autopsy at her familys request. Daybell and Vallow quickly went off to Hawaii to marry happily and enjoy their honeymoon. Tammys body has since been exhumed, and her death is now under investigation. The notorious, ongoing mystery involving recently-married Idaho couple Lori Vallow and Chad Daybellboth of whom are currently awaiting trial on related charges, and who met as members of an extreme religious group that many called a doomsday cultand the deaths of Vallows two formerly missing children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, was the subject of a recent Dateline NBC special. Vallows former friend, Melanie Gibb, opened up to Keith Morrison about the possibly related deaths involved in the ongoing investigationsuch as the death of Daybells wife, Tammy Daybell, in her sleep just a few weeks before he married Vallow. Vallows late brother, Alex Cox, was deeply involved with the couples religious beliefs as well. He has also become the subject of some scrutiny in recent weeks, as pings from his cell phone led investigators to the bodies of Vallows missing children on Daybells property. Whats more, Cox shot Vallows former husband, Charles Vallowallegedly in self-defensein the summer of 2019. Gibb claimed on Dateline NBC that Cox may have, in fact, known more than he let on at the time when it came to the whereabouts of Vallows missing kids. Keith Morrison | Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images RELATED: Dateline NBC: Melanie Gibb Opens Up About What First Attracted Lori Vallow to Chad Daybell Vallow allegedly told Gibb her daughter was away at college Before JJ and Tylee made national news for their disappearance, they allegedly visited Yellowstone National Park in Sept. 2019. There, the last known photos of Tylee were taken. During the same month, Gibb told Morrison during her recent Dateline interview, she visited Vallow over a weekend. The Dateline host asked Gibb if shed wondered about the teens whereabouts. Gibb said Vallow told [her Tylee] was at BYU Idaho, at school with some friends. While Gibb tried to believe her friends story, she admitted to finding it suspiciousespecially because Vallows daughter only had a GED and would likely have had trouble getting into the school. I was like, huh, the Dateline NBC guest said. She got into BYU, I wonder how she did that. Later, Gibb alleged, Vallow claime her daughter turned into what she and Daybell referred to as a zombie, or a dark spirit. Gibb said Vallow told her her son turned into a zombie Vallow also allegedly believed her seven-year-old son, JJ, was a zombie. She even reportedly told Gibb that JJ had turned into a zombie shortly before her arrival for the weekend. She said he became a zombie the day before I arrived, Gibb claimed in her Dateline interview. But Vallows former friend made it clear that she thought this was a pointedand falseclaim. He was gonna stop Chad and Lori from being together. He was in the way, she told Morrison. And I think thats why he became a zombieShe was obsessed about talking about it, to the point where she wasplanting ideas. To my mind, he was typical JJ. And what happens to zombies? Morrison asked. Gibb paused meaningfully before admitting, It seems like they are dying. Vallows brother allegedly hinted at JJs ultimate fate But it wasnt just Vallow and Daybell who allegedly interacted with JJ shortly before he went missing. Cox, Vallows brotherwho died of natural causes in Dec. 2019moved out to Vallows apartment complex around the time that the two children disappeared. JJ allegedly spent the night with Cox before he disappeared. Vallow then checked JJ out of his school. Soon afterward, Vallow and Daybell quickly rented a storage unit, bought wedding rings, and headed off to Hawaii for a honeymoon. Gibb told Morrison on the Dateline special that she confronted Cox after the children went missing. She claimed that Cox had been evasive, but also strangely forthcoming with her. I said, Do I want to know what happened to JJ? Gibb claimed. He said, You dont want to know. Thats when Gibb said she realized her gut feeling about the kids fate might be right. And I thought, whoa. I need to go the police about this, she said on Dateline. Lin-Manuel Mirandas life appears to be a happy success story. His musical Hamilton was a Broadway smash and led to his movie career as an actor and continuing as a songwriter. Miranda recalled a sad time from his childhood though, and it turned out to be an incident that inspired some of his lifes work. Lin-Manuel Miranda | Disney+ RELATED: How Hamilton and Lin-Manuel Miranda Are Supporting the George Floyd Protests, and How You Can Help Miranda was a guest on NPRs Fresh Air podcast on June 29 discussing the Disney+ movie of Hamilton. He told host Terry Gross about the theme in his work that derived from a childhood tragedy. Hamilton is on Disney+ July 3. Alexander Hamilton got a lot done before he was Lin-Manuel Mirandas age Miranda based Hamilton on Ron Chernows biography, Alexander Hamilton. Reading Chernows book illuminated Miranda on all the Founding Father accomplished. He grew up in the Caribbean with a Dickensian childhood, and then wrote his way to the mainland, wrote his way into the American Revolutionary War, wrote his way into the first Cabinet, wrote his way into trouble, wrote his way into his duel He founds the Coast Guard, he founds the New York Post, he founds so many things and I think my feeling when I was reading his biography was like why is the only thing I know about him that he died in a duel? Lin-Manuel Miranda, Fresh Air podcast, 6/29/2020 Miranda likened Hamiton to another Broadway legend. Jonathan Larson wrote Rent but died before its first preview show. L-R: Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Anthony Ramos | Disney+ RELATED: Lin-Manuel Miranda Explains How Hamilton Got a PG-13 Rating on Disney+ What I keyed in on was the relentlessnes, Miranda told Gross. How is there three lifetimes of work coming from this one guy who died in his 40s? Im drawn to those. Im drawn to the Jonathan Larsons of the world who hear the ticking clock louder than other folks. Lin-Manuel Miranda is trying to cram a lot of life in like Alexander Hamilton By 40, Miranda has accomplished a lot too. A hit musical, writing the music to Moana, playing a role in Mary Poppins Returns and having a movie adaptation of In the Heights is a lot. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Phillipa Soo | Disney+ RELATED: Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals His Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Role I think I feel that ticking clock very acutely, Miranda said. I think that part of thats just being a New Yorker, I think part of that is an early awareness of mortality which I had at a pretty young age. The incident that gave Lin-Manuel Miranda a sense of mortality Gross followed up on Mirandas comment about his awareness of mortality. Miranda told the story about the incident that taught him life was fleeting at a very young age. When I was about three or four years old, my best friend drowned, Miranda said. [It was] one of those sort of horrible stories that is no ones fault. I have like this sort of six months of gray in my childhood memories that is just her being absent at the nursery school uptown that we both attended. Lin-Manuel Miranda | Disney+ RELATED: How Hamilton Prepared Lin-Manuel Miranda for His Dark Materials Miranda attributes that with the affinity he feels towards Hamilton and other people who had limited time to accomplish a lot. So I think that weirdly works its way into everything, that notion of what we leave behind and what we do with the time were given, Miranda said. I think that incident probably works its way into a lot of my subconscious. JoJo Fletchers final rose pick on The Bachelorette Season 12 was an emotional rollercoaster, as the real estate developer made her choice between Jordan Rodgers and Robby Hayes. The big decision was filmed back in 2016. And now, were going to relive every moment when The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons Ever airs Fletchers episode in a condensed 3-hour special. But for those of you who cant wait another moment, who did Fletcher end up with, and are they still together now? Heres everything thats happened in the past four years. JoJo Fletcher picked Jordan Rodgers over Robby Hayes on The Bachelorette The Bachelorette stars JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers | Steven Ferdman/Getty Images RELATED: Exclusive: What Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers Have Been up to During Quarantine In The Bachelorette Season 12 finale, Fletcher wasnt sure whether to pick Rodgers or Hayes. After the two contestants met Fletchers family, the now-29-year-old admitted she would always wonder what if were she to choose Hayes over Rodgers. But if she gave her final rose to Rodgers and things didnt work out, she would regret not picking Hayes. Nevertheless, Fletcher picked Rodgers over Hayes by the end of the emotional Bachelorette episode. And she seemed confident in her decision. Jordan, I love you so much. Ive been waiting to tell you that I love you, Fletcher told Rodgers at the time. I didnt want you to get down on one knee until you knew that. Then Rodgers proposed to Fletcher and the two were happily engaged. JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers ended up together after The Bachelorette RELATED: Exclusive: Why Former Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher Thinks She Self-Sabotaged Throughout Her Season After The Bachelorette ended, Fletcher admitted she thought Rodgers would leave her broken-hearted and that the safe choice could have been Robby. However, she followed her heart and it paid off. Now, Fletcher and Rodgers are still very much together four years after The Bachelorette. They are still engaged and were planning to get married in 2020. However, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic changed their plans. On June 13, Fletcher wrote on Instagram: Happy What would have been Wedding Day to us! As you guys know, we have spent the last 11 months planning the wedding of our dreams but given the circumstances of 2020, we had to make the difficult decision to postpone our special day. Even though I dont get to marry you todayyyyy @jrodgers11, I know it will be all more worth the wait. Even so, Fletcher and Rodgers are still staying positive about their wedding day, which they hope will happen sometime in 2021. Jordan and I have a really good outlook on this, Fletcher told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. We werent sure how 2020 was going to go, so we waited as long as we could. But, of course, its a bummer. Weve been engaged for four years. I feel like weve waited our due time. She later added, Honestly, its just that build-up to the big day and not getting to have it. But were totally at peace with it now. What happened to Robby Hayes after The Bachelorette? While Fletcher and Rodgers received their happy ending after The Bachelorette, Hayes moved on to other reality TV endeavors. In 2017, he appeared on Bachelor in Paradise Season 4 and sparked something with Amanda Stanton. However, the romance fizzled out on the ABC reality series. Hayes also briefly dated Scheana Shay during Vanderpump Rules Season 7. Then Hayes struck up a relationship with Juliette Porter and he starred in the third season of MTVs Siesta Key. But the pair broke up toward the end of June 2019, according to E! News. So now, it appears Hayes is single. Regardless, dont expect Hayes to return to Bachelor Nation as an official cast member anytime soon. In an interview with OK! Magazine published in December 2019, Hayes shared he wouldnt come back for The Bachelor or Bachelor in Paradise. [Im] done with ABC, Hayes said at the time. Its a bridge wed cross when we get there. But I did the ABC thing. You know, I get it They use you. Americas sweetheart one season, laughing stock next. Then theyre done with you, throw you out. Done, bye. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle first met after Prince Harry started dating the former American actress back in 2016. But not long after Meghan and Harry wed in 2018, the press started to suggest Meghan and Kate didnt get along. Though the feud has always been questionable, experts now claim that things went sour between Meghan and Kate long before anyone realized. Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle | Stephen Pond/Getty Images Meghan Markle met the royal family back in 2016 Meghan and Harry were set up by a mutual friend back in 2016, and by the end of their first date, they knew there was something different about the other one. The two immediately wanted to see each other again, and after only a few dates, Harry asked Meghan to accompany him to Botswana. Before long, Harry was introducing Meghan to the royal family, and she seemed to click well with the other royals. In the couples engagement interview, Meghan said that Kate had been wonderful to her. Meghan and Kate have been at the center of a supposed feud After Harry and Meghan wed, the public was hoping Meghan and Kate would become close friends. However, the rumors started that Meghan and Kate werent getting along as well as everyone had hoped, and from there, it spiraled. The two duchesses were reportedly feuding behind the scenes, with rumors that Meghan was rude to Kates staff and that Meghan had made Kate cry before the royal wedding in 2018. Still, the women made appearances together and appeared to get along well, though it didnt stop the rumor mill. And now, royal experts think there were problems from the start. Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton | Clive Mason/Getty Images RELATED: 4 Photos of Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton the Press Doesnt Want You to See Kate Middleton reportedly protested the couples relationship early on When Meghan first met the royal family, things seemed to be going well. But according to Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett, authors of Royals At War, Kate was actually unhappy with Meghan long before Meghan and Harry tied the knot. Though Kate had nothing against Meghan, she was aware that Meghan was from a much different life than Harry. According to Daily Mail, Kate reportedly pulled Harry aside and warned him to take things slowly with Meghan, since it would take time for their lives to blend together. She gently reminded him that he was dating someone with a completely different life, past, and career and it would take time, care and attention for them to integrate, Howard and Tillett wrote. This suggests the supposed tension between Kate and Meghan might have started long before the press became aware of it (after Harry and Meghans wedding). Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton have always gotten along in public. | Chris Jackson/WPA Pool/Getty Images RELATED: When Did Prince Harry Meet Meghan Markle? The true details of the duchess relationship remains unknown The new book reveals some new details about Harry and Meghans relationship with the royal family, though it seems the accusations arent entirely based in fact. There have been reports that Kate and Meghan dont get along, but nothing is fully known. The only version of the two we can see is the one that appears in public, and they always seem civil together. Its possible Meghan and Kates feud had something to do with Harry and Meghans royal exit, though it seemed the press was more responsible for Kate and Meghans supposed feud than either of the women were. It still remains to be seen how the two actually feel about each other behind the scenes. The executive director and president of the Trustees met with the residents in early June and compassionately shared the situation. When residents come to the Chase Lloyd House they have sponsors who are willing to accommodate them in emergencies. All sponsors except one has provided accommodations or assisted in finding new housing in this current circumstance. Further, the Chase Lloyd House is funding moving expenses for each resident. Married to Medicine fans are eagerly awaiting the return of the reality series for its eighth season. The LA spinoff is currently airing but the Atlanta franchise will be returning soon and Mariah Huq is said to be noticeably absent. Like RHOAs Nene Leakes, Huq is calling out Bravo for their alleged racist behavior and discriminatory practices she deems unfair and sharing her frustrations about the network. Married to Medicine cast | Greg Endries/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank Mariah Huq is the creator and executive producer of Married to Medicine Huq was part of the show inaugural season of Married to Medicine. As both a star, creator, and executive producer of the show, Huq started off as the nucleus of her friendship circle, having ties to all cast members thanks to her role as the wife of a prominent Atlanta doctor. Huq touted herself as the queen bee of the ring and an Atlanta socialite. Source: YouTube I came up with the idea because it was my life. Like I live, work, and play with doctors in the medical field, she told Atlanta Black Star in a recent interview. Our neighbors were doctors, my husband is a doctor, so I felt like it was a good opportunity to show the world a glimpse into their lives and our lives without the scrubs and without the stethoscopes. By season 2, her relationships with her co-stars began to deteriorate. Much of the drama was centered around the dramatic demise of her once close relationship with longtime BFF, Quad Webb. Source: YouTube Despite several attempts to reconcile, Huq and Webb could not move past the hurt. Huq also had a falling out with other cast members and was accused of having a superiority complex. She was axed from many social gatherings by her co-stars as a result. Aside from the drama, Huq attempted to showcase her business acumen and family life by starting a healthy juice line and showcasing her blended interracial and interfaith family. Huqs husband was born in Bangladesh and raised as Muslim. Together, they raise Huqs daughter from a previous relationship and share a son. The couple incorporates traditions of the Bangladesh and African American culture, while also celebrating both religions. Season 4 also followed the unfortunate miscarriage of the couples twins. Mariah Huq insinuates racism and discrimination at Bravo In April 2020, Huq took to Instagram to share with her fans that she had not received her contract for the upcoming season of the show. Morting-ting-ting Where is my contract? Huq captioned a video of her at her mailbox. Last time I checked I was #MarriedToMed Now I have to worry about Covid & Contracts. Related: Is Mariah Huq Returning to Married To Medicine? Her co-stars, Dr. Heavenly Kimes and Dr. Contessa Metcalfe, joked about Huqs video, while also confirming that unlike Huq, they received their contract renewals. Months later, it appears Huq has been informed that shes officially not been asked to return and shes pissed at Bravo over the news. Huq aired her grievances with Atlanta Black Star. According to Huq, Bravo does not give the same treatment to its African American employees as they do their counterparts who are not of color, and shes sick of it. Im the first African-American woman to create a franchise at Bravo. Im one of three people. Its me, its Lisa Vanderpump, that created Vanderpump Rules, and Whitney Sudler that did Southern Charm, she told the outlet. Theyre still with their franchises. Theyre still a part of [them]. Why would I not be? This would not be Huqs first absence from the show. She took a step back in season 3 to deal with family issues, including a family death and the loss of her twins. But, she still does not feel shes been treated fairly along the way, nor given the respect she feels she deserves despite the success of the show and its LA spinoff. I wouldnt even be questioned why as an African-American creator and executive producer am I not at the table when decisions about the show that I created are being made. Thats the bigger question, she said. Just recently, Huq posted a cryptic image to Instagram of an infamous photo from the film The Color Purple that read, Til you do right by me, everything you think about gonna fail. Many believe it was a dig at Bravo. Cheers! Members of the British royal family have been known to enjoy a drink or two. The leader of the monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II, is particularly fond of gin. She even has her own brand of wine thanks to seven acres of grapes planted at Windsor Palace in 2011. Keep reading to learn more about royals drink preferences and see photos of them sipping on alcoholic beverages. Queen Elizabeth II drinking | Yui Mok WPA Pool/Getty Images Royals drink beer on the job Working and alcoholic beverages dont typically mix. But for working royals aka those whose job it is to carry out official engagements on behalf of the queen, drinking comes with the territory. On more than a few occasions, royals have sipped a glass of beer during a visit or while attending an event. During a 2008 visit to Southwold, England, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall sampled carbon-neutral beer outside The Swan Hotel. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles drink beer on a visit Suffolk | POOL/Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images RELATED: Does Queen Elizabeth II Drink? They likely only had a few sips because they are, after all, working. Camillas drink of choice is supposedly wine or a gin and tonic. As for Charles, hes said to unwind with Laphroaig whisky, preferably a batch thats been aged 15 years. Royals and beer come up more often than one might think. Attending a St. Patricks Day parade in 2017, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge sipped on a tall glass of Guinness. Kate Middleton takes a sip of Guinness at a St. Patricks Day Parade | Richard Pohle WPA Pool/Getty Images RELATED: What Is Prince Williams Favorite Alcoholic Drink? Again, she probably didnt finish her beer because shed been there representing the queen and the rest of the royal family. Some royal sources say Catherine drinks beer in public to appear more relatable while in reality, she prefers other beverages such as vodka or whiskey. During an official visit to Belfast, Ireland, in February 2019, Catherine and her husband, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, got to try their hands at pouring pints of beer. Stopping by Empire Music Hall, Catherine cheered William on as he filled a glass. Prince William pours a pint of beer while Kate Middleton watches | SAMIR HUSSEIN/AFP via Getty Images Its reported that William is the bigger beer drinker of the two but that they arent major fans of the beverage with some saying thats why they didnt serve beer at their 2011 royal wedding. And wine too Royals drink beer and wine. And believe it or not, wine sometimes becomes part of their duties as working royals. In 2014, during a royal tour of Australia and New Zealand, Catherine and William toured a vineyard. No trip to a vineyard is complete without a taste test. Kate Middleton and Prince William sample wine at a vineyard | Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage RELATED: What Are Kate Middletons Favorite Alcoholic Beverages? Their first royal tour as parents, the Duchess of Cambridge shared shed been happy to be able to drink again. Although her favorite alcoholic beverage contains gin, the queen enjoys a glass of wine too. During an official tour of Australia in 2002, she sampled wine during a visit to Chateau Barrosa. Queen Elizabeth II samples wine | RUSSEL MILLARD/AFP via Getty Images All smiles at an agricultural fair in 2007, Camilla and Charles sipped wine. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles drink wine at an agricultural show | Matt Cardy/Getty Images They give lots of toasts Working royals attend all sorts of functions ranging from casual events to more formal affairs. When the occasion calls for it, they give speeches or take part in toasts, which normally means champagne. Raising a glass during a visit to Ireland in 2018, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex toasted their host. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry toast with champagne while in Ireland | Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage RELATED: Does Meghan Markle Drink? Find Out Where the Duchess of Sussex Stands After Motherhood Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is a well-documented fan of wine, preferably Tignanello. In fact, the Italian red wine blend inspired the name of her now-defunct blog, The Tig. Its been several months since Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex announced that they were stepping back as senior members of the royal family. Speculation continues to swirl about why they stepped down with many royal watchers pointing to a rift between the couple and members of Harrys family as the reason for their decision. Now, a new book is examining some of those reported feuds and claiming that one occurred after Meghan and Harry announced that they were expecting their first child. Read on to find out why the books authors say the princes family was so angry over the announcement. Meghan Markle | ABC News/Frame Grab via Getty Images RELATED: Meghan Markle Silenced and Ignored Friend Who Tried to Warn Her About Royal Life With Prince Harry When Meghan and Harry announced they were having a baby Meghan and Harry shared the news that they were expecting with the rest of the world not long after they told the royal family in 2018. Its been reported that the pair shared the news with many members of the family when they got together at Princess Eugenies wedding on Oct. 12, 2018. The public announcement was made just a few days later as the duke and duchess embarked on their royal tour to Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji. Book claims the timing sparked anger from some royals The new book titled Royals at War by journalists Andy Tillett and Dylan Howard claims that the timing of Harry and Meghans baby announcement caused outrage within the family. Meghan Markle and Princess Anne | Owen Humphreys WPA Pool/Getty Images According to the authors, some royals were concerned that Meghan became pregnant so quickly after her May 2018 wedding to ensure her connection with the family was now irrevocable and ceding even more power to her. Tillett and Howard added that many of their relatives were also upset that the pair decided to tell everyone on Princess Eugenies special day. Meghan put her foot in it when she decided that it would be the ideal moment to announce that she and Harry were expecting their first child, the authors wrote. This was a huge social gaffe, even if you were not a royalstealing the limelight from Eugenie, who was furious, as was her mother, Sarah. Claims such as these have been disputed in the past, however, with palace sources countering them and stating that Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, and even Princess Eugenie all knew prior to the wedding. Are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex planning to have more kids? Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Archie | Dominic Lipinski WPA Pool/Getty Images On May 6, 2019, Meghan gave birth to Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. There have been constant rumors following his birth about when and if the couple is planning on having more children. Well, in September 2019, Harry confirmed that they would like to have another little one. During an interview with British Vogue, the prince told conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall that he and his wife would have only two kids total to be kinder to the environment. Ive always had a connection and a love for nature. I view it differently now, without question, the duke said. But Ive always wanted to try and ensure that, even before having a child and hoping to have children Not too many! Dr. Goodall interjected to which Harry responded, Two, maximum! No matter how Harrys family felt about their announcement, the Sussexes fans were excited and that will likely be the case the next time they share baby news. RELATED: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Know They Will Be Heavily Scrutinized When They Visit U.K., According to Royal Expert The British press has watched every intricate detail of the British royal family for generations. The press and public watched Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William grow up in front of their eyes. Even during his tumultuous teen years, the red-head prince was always beloved by fans. Therefore, when he found love with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, people were overjoyed. Though he was deeply in love with his wife, the media frenzy surrounding Meghan was very reminiscent of what Princess Diana had endured. As a result and having very little support from his family, the prince began to shift and change. In fact, months before Megxit was announced, royal experts realized something was very wrong. RELATED: Prince William and Kate Middleton Reportedly Miss Prince Harry More Than Meghan Markle But Heres Why Its Normal Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were struggling in the British royal family It was no secret that the Sussexes were having a challenging time weathering the storm that the Britsh press threw upon then following their 2018 wedding. Though they seemed to adore Meghan at first, the press quickly found ways to pick her apart, often using her paternal family to terrorize her and hurl racist and sexist rhetoric her way. Determined to protect his wife, Prince Harry often went to his father and grandmother for help. Unfortunately, he was told to simply ignore it. Meghan said Harry made it crystal clear that they could not function in good faith under the current systemand that if it wasnt revised and updated to their liking, they would have no other choice than to break from the royal family, an insider explained to Daily Mail. She said no one took his pleas seriously, so they had to take the issue into their own hands. This was about protecting the family and doing right by Princess Diana. She said the British tabloids have haunted Harry since childhood and should have been kicked out of the media pool long ago. The system is broken and Harry wanted to fix it. She said he needed to take a stand and now they are doing it together. RELATED: Prince William Is Beginning to Question If the Stiff Upper Lip Policy Is Still Relevant Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth had grown increasingly concerned about Prince Harrys behavior Though the senior royals were well aware of the harassment the Duchess of Sussex had been ensuring, Prince Harrys behavior was also extremely alarming. On many occasions, he has also seemed to be a shadow of himself: miserable, tense, sulky, and even emasculated, royal expert Angela Levin wrote in her 2019 book, Harry: Conversations with the Prince, Its hard to pinpoint exactly why, but perhaps all the changes Meghan has encouraged him to adopt have temporarily made him no longer feel quite himself. He also seems to be less active. In 2018 he only fulfilled 193 royal engagements compared to 507 undertaken by Prince Charles. He is emotionally vulnerable and has no wish to contradict a charismatic and extremely determined wife. I have been told from an insider that both the Queen and Prince Charles are very worried about him. RELATED: Fans Are Furious That the Royal Family Is Defending Kate Middleton but Not Meghan Markle Royal experts realized there was something wrong after seeing Prince Harry on tour in South Africa For the most part, the Sussxes presented a united front with the royal family. However, in October 2019, during their royal tour to South Africa, royal experts began to realize something was wrong. In ITVs Harry and Meghan: An African Journey, Prince Harry gave a shockingly candid interview about his current mental health and the tension he was having with his brother., Prince William. It raised all kinds of alarms. Somethings wrong, royal expert Penny Juror said at the time. He looked burdened and playing the victim, which does not sit comfortably with him. Less than three months later the Sussexes announced Megxit. After the postponement to the fall, there are now increasing signs for a success of analytica in October. The number of exhibitors has currently almost reached the level of the previous event. Most recently, the Bavarian State Government has cleared the way for analytica: From September 01 onwards, trade fairs may again be held in Bavaria. To this end, the government has adopted a protection and hygiene concept, which analytica is now implementing. Not quite four months before the next trade fair (October 19 to 22), analytica is recording growth in particular from European countries that have already been well represented, such as France (area bookings up by 8%), Austria (up by 10%) and Italy (up by 22%). Switzerland likewise continues to be one of the most strongly present exhibitor countries. In total, almost as many exhibitors have registered by now as did back in 2018 at that time, there were 1168 exhibitors. This proves that companies and partners of analytica continue to support the COVID-19-related postponement from the March date to the fall. Protection and hygiene concept In addition, on June 23 the Bavarian State Government created the legal requirements for analytica: From September 01 onwards, trade fairs may again be held in Bavaria. To this end, the state government has adopted a protection and hygiene concept for the trade fair and congress business. This provides safety for exhibitors, visitors and service providers, but at the same time leaves all participants with a maximum of freedom. The guidelines are similar to the rules that currently apply in public life, and are based on three cornerstones: Distance requirement, hygiene, and traceability of the participants. Hygiene measures include, among other things, more closely timed cleaning cycles and installation of sufficient numbers of disinfectant dispensers for all the participants. As for a possible requirement to wear mouth and nose covers: In September, before the start of the autumnal fairs, the government will ascertain once more whether this is really necessary. In any case, however, the mouth and nose cover may be removed when talking to customers at tablesa similar regulation also applies in the catering trade. This is the current state of affairs, emphasizes Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Messe Munchen: However, we hope that there will be further easing in the course of a continued favorable course of the pandemic. analytica can support economic recovery The recent abrogation of travel restrictions is giving the trade fair additional impetus. Positive signals were also received from the recent meeting of the exhibitor advisory board. Dr. Pfeiffer is therefore optimistic about the event: We are pleased that even in these difficult times our customers continue to rely on analytica as the most important platform for laboratory innovations. In Q4, there may be a significant economic upturn if investments are made up for that have not been made recently. analytica can support this process sustainably. Exhibitors at analytica emphasize the importance of the autumnal trade fair for overcoming the economic doldrums: Despite alternative formats and possibilities, analytica remains indispensable as a distribution channel for us. We are looking forward to presenting our innovations live in fall, and to resuming direct exchange with our customers, says Dr. Jurgen Blumm, Managing Director of Netzsch Geratebau GmbH. Exchange of knowledge on coronavirus However, the worlds leading trade fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology is doing more than just setting economic beacons in the current stagnation, as Siegbert Holtermuller, chairman of the analytica exhibitor advisory board and Head of Sales Life Sciences at Olympus, emphasizes: analytica is the meeting place for top experts from analysis, quality control and life sciences. This year, in addition the exchange of knowledge about the coronavirus will play an important role. For months, exhibitors and visitors of analytica have been making enormous contributions to the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic with their innovations and know-how. The trade fair supports this exchange of knowledge with an extensive supporting program. All the events that we had prepared for the March date are now going to take place on the new dateenriched with sessions dealing with the current situation regarding the coronavirus, announces analytica Exhibition Director Susanne Grodl. Thus, analytica 2020 will once again be the most comprehensive meeting place for the laboratory industry worldwide. When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Connecticut and schools began to shut down, many families were worried that the school meals their children rely on would no longer be available. For Cheshire, the Districts food service team quickly sprang into action to ensure that children and their families would have access to appropriate nutrition and meals while school moved to a virtual platform. At the end of it all, we served a little more than 155,000 meals, both breakfast and lunch, to our students, said the Director of Food and Nutrition Services Madeline Diker. The program worked out really well, but it was quite the effort. Diker and her team of food service employees, instructional assistants, custodians, and school nurses all banded together in order to serve and provide meals for all Cheshire students and their siblings who were under the age of 18. We were really lucky that our staff was so positive and committed, Diker added. I have never worked with a more positive and dedicated group of people. Diker and her team were even able to facilitate food delivery to the homes of students who were ill, children of first responders, or students who would otherwise be unable to pick up the food. We had about 24 families who couldnt physically pick up food, so we were able to utilize a few bus drivers to help with those deliveries, she added. The program, which began in mid-March, was an immediate hit from the start, which initially took Diker by surprise. The first day, we were only expecting about 150-175 [students], but we ended up serving about 325 kids that day and it just took off from there, she explained, with a laugh. The Cheshire community also rallied behind Diker and her team, sewing and donating many face masks in order to keep them safe while they prepared meals and stocked cars. Now that school is out for the summer, Diker is looking forward to what the fall might look like in terms of food service in the local schools. She has been a part of multiple planning meetings, and her staff is now preparing for whatever school might look like in a few months. We know that whatever is decided for the fall, we will be prepared for it, she said. If we have to do meals in the classroom, were ready. If we have to do meals in the cafeteria, were ready. If we have to do a combination of that and what we just recently did, we will be ready for that, too. Ultimately, Diker believes strongly that without the help of the community, the meal program would not have been as successful as it was. I am so thankful for my staff, the Dodd Middle School kitchen manager Eileen Mankus, and the businesses that helped us out like Bozzutos and Wades Dairy Incorporated, for making it such a successful program, Diker stated. It was quite the operation, but we were so glad to be able to serve so many in our community. And that will be their introduction to the academy and the Navy. It will be a grueling few weeks like any other Plebe Summer, designed to bond them in small companies, train them in the basics of Navy life and set them up for their first academic year in Annapolis. But it will be different in many ways, all designed to prevent the virus sweeping through the academy. Pacific and other phase 3 counties staying there for now Offer a personal message of sympathy... By sharing a fond memory or writing a kind tribute, you will be providing a comforting keepsake to those in mourning. If you have an existing account with this site, you may log in with that below. Otherwise, you can create an account by clicking on the Log in button below, and then register to create your account. After spending three weeks in intensive care, Christian Blanc, president of the National Council of French Evangelicals (CNEF), shared his testimony of healing from COVID-19 in a cover story for French magazine La Vie. CT interviewed Blanc on how the experience has incarnated the Bibles teachings in his life and his advice for how churches can better serve the sick. Summarize your medical journey, including why your mother renamed you Lazarus. During February and March, my responsibilities as CNEF president meant I had to make several trips to Paris by train and plane and used public transit to move around, and it was during one of these trips that I contracted the COVID-19 virus. When the first symptoms appeared (dry cough and fever), I stayed home thinking that my condition would improve quickly. But it got so bad that I was in respiratory distress and had to be hospitalized. I ended up in the intensive care unit, where everything got so complicated in the following days that the medical staff were rather pessimistic about my future. A doctor even phoned my wife and told her that I was probably going to die during the night. However, the very next day he called to say that everything was starting to work again, so there was hope. From then on, my recovery began and continued during the weeks that followed. When I came out of the ICU, I phoned my motheralso an evangelicalwho was 300 miles away and thinking she would never see me again. When she heard my voice, she thought someone was playing a bad joke on her. I had to insist that I was indeed her son, Christian, whose health was improving. She replied: I will no longer call you Christian but Lazarus. Its as if youve risen from the dead! She wept all afternoon with gratitude and joy. What sustained you during your hospital stay? Biblical texts that I had read so often, meditated on, and preached to others were for me a rock on which I was able to build my trust in God and my hope in his goodness and faithfulness. I kept one verse in my mind, Isaiah 30:15: Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength (New Living Translation). I also thought a lot about the prophet Jeremiah, who experienced a very difficult situation during the fall and destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldean armies. He regained hope by meditating on Gods goodness, which is new every morning, on his unfailing faithfulness and generous kindness (Lamentations 3). Other promises in the Bible nourished a deep conviction: God was there with me, as he had been with Joseph in prison. Do you think you challenged your doctors and medical staff by your example of patience and faithfulness in suffering? I couldnt tell. However, I did have the opportunity to speak with a Muslim nurse who asked me what my job was. It was an opportunity to talk to her a little. What was noticed by the hospital staff was my quick recovery, and they said they hoped to see me again later but under different circumstances. What a man sows, he will also reap, wrote the Apostle Paul. Has this experience transformed your faith? Neither my faith nor my theology have been transformed, but rather theyve been strengthened. The Bible texts have been incarnated in my experience. They are no longer just points of doctrine or mere spiritual truths; those sacred words have become a living reality in me. This allows me to speak about them with more conviction. It is as the Apostle John writes in his Gospel: The Word became flesh. It is a truth that is now embodied in my own story. Article continues below How has this experience changed the way you preside over the French evangelical alliance? What advice would you give to French churches? My way of chairing CNEF will remain the same internally; what has changed is more in terms of public testimony. I am being given many opportunities to testify to Gods goodness in various media. This has allowed evangelicals to be in the headlines more positively, especially after the bad treatment they received in the wake of the evangelical gathering organized in Mulhouse in February 2020 [see editors note below]. My testimony has given CNEF a new face. If I had one piece of advice to give for a credible witness, it is the following: Evangelical preachers must be concerned with biblical preaching that builds faith in a balanced and robust way. Preachers are not emcees or communication technicians, but heralds of the truth. A humble, healthy, and robust faith naturally contributes to a good witness, and speaks more than long speeches when it is put into practice. Summarize the recent CNEF survey that found a third of French evangelical churches have been affected by COVID-19. We surveyed 2,500 evangelical churches and their leaders to find out whether many of them had suffered from the pandemic. We received 580 responses, and 1 in 3 had seen members become ill, sometimes even dying. While some churches only had a few cases, others saw up to a third of their congregation sick and a small minority had more than two-thirds of their members with COVID-19. There have been at least 72 deaths. [Editors note: An evangelical megachurch in Mulhouse, La Porte Ouverte Chretienne, became one of Frances first important coronavirus clusters following a nationwide prayer convention, though the event did not violate any government directives in force at the time. A media whirlwind ensued, prompting 31 percent of CNEF survey respondents to state a major challenge is to restore the bad image of evangelicals in the media, both locally and nationally.] How has CNEF defended the church in Mulhouse, and how has it tried to restore the image of evangelicals in France? La Porte Ouverte church is a member of an evangelical federation, which itself is a member of CNEF, so we felt it was CNEFs responsibility to provide help and advice for those in charge of managing the crisis. This was done by our chief executive and director of communication. Our local CNEF delegate for the Haut-Rhin region (where the church is based) did not spare his efforts to defend this evangelical church in meetings with local government authorities and in general interviews. CNEF also defended this church on social media and every time I as president of CNEF have been interviewed by journalists. CNEF published several communiques during the pandemic to show the seriousness with which evangelicals had respected the instructions from the government. It has also widely distributed to its members, as well as to the media and the French government and administration, a guide of good practices to help church leaders resume worship in the best conditions of health safety. This guide has been noticed and its quality has often been appreciated and highlighted in the press. What lessons can churches, whether in France or the US or elsewhere, learn from the coronavirus pandemic? There are several ways churches can be actively involved in spreading a message of solidarity. They can show closeness and compassion for their communities by offering help through their charities or by providing appropriate services where they are lacking. As for those who are sick, the church can help by investing in chaplaincy services and by supporting hospital visitor programs, where a human presence softens the ordeal. Churches also need to establish a prayer program to call upon the Lords kindness and compassion towards those afflicted. Article continues below This crisis has brought new technologies to the forefront, yet there are still a number of our contemporaries who do not have access to digital technology or who are afraid of it. The church must be present with these isolated people and help them. The Christian values that we defend cannot remain mere words and speeches, but must be translated into concrete projects and actions that will embody the truth that sums up the whole divine law in which we believe: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Translated by Andrew Wiles For translations of other select CT coronavirus articles, click You can now follow our best articles on our new Telegram channel. Editors note: Want to read or share in French ? Now you can!For translations of other select CT coronavirus articles, click here and look for the yellow links.You can now follow our best articles on our new Telegram channel. Come join us [ This article is also available in Francais. ] Israeli regulators on Sunday announced they ordered a US-based evangelical broadcaster taken off the air, saying the channel hid its missionary agenda when it applied for a license. In his decision, Asher Biton, chairman of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, said he had informed GOD TV on Thursday last week that it had seven days to stop broadcasting its new Shelanu channel. The channel appeals to Jews with Christian content, he wrote. Its original request, he said, stated that it was a station targeting the Christian population. The decision was first reported by the Haaretz daily. And today, Shelanu announced that its satellite provider, HOT, has dropped the channel altogetherlikely due to Israeli pressure. In a free and democratic society such as Israel, we would have received approval for our new license, and if not, we would have won in court, stated Ron Cantor, Shelanus Israeli spokesman, in a press release. The only thing that could have stopped our channel from being aired was if HOT broke our relationship. If there is no public apology and clarification, Shelanu plans to sue Biton. The channel said its existing license stated unequivocally that it would broadcast its content in Hebrew to the Israeli public. Most Christians in the Holy Land speak Arabic. Therefore it is not at all clear what was wrong beyond political considerations, it said. According to a copy of its original application and approval, obtained by CT, Shelanu identified itself as a Christian religion channel broadcasting Christian content for the audience of Israeli viewers ... [in] Hebrew and English. Nowhere did the channel state it was for Christian viewership, Cantor said. According to the copy seen by CT, Bitons approval also stated: The channel is intended for the Israeli viewing audience. Cantor said 70 percent of Shelanu content is produced by Israelisan outlet for Messianic Jews and Christian Arabs. It is also resolutely patriotic. It is absurd that anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist content is broadcast freely every day on cable television in Israel, and a pro-Israel Zionist channel like ours is under investigation, said Avi Mizachi, a Shelanu board member. We should be free to broadcast content of our community as well. The community, however, is easily misunderstood. In a video message that was later taken down, GOD TV CEO Ward Simpson suggested the new channels real aim was to convince Jews to accept Jesus as their Messiah. God has supernaturally opened the door for us to take the gospel of Jesus into the homes and lives and hearts of his Jewish people, Simpson said in the video. In a subsequent video, Simpson apologized for any offensive remarks and said GOD TV would comply with all regulations. Freedom of religion is enshrined in Israeli law, and proselytizing is allowed as long as missionary activities are not directed at minors and do not involve economic coercion. In its application, Shelanu highlighted its agreement to the regulations. Maybe there was some confusion in his understanding of Shelanu. But to say that we tricked him into broadcasting content that is not allowed under our license is simply not true, Cantor said. If we really lied to get a license, of course we would have been caught. It does not make sense. It goes against everything we teach. Shelanu means ours in Hebrew, referring to Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. Cantor said the decision to cancel the channels approval came after relentless pressure on Biton from Jewish anti-missionary groups. Yad LAchim, a leading organization, called it a huge victory for its behind the scenes efforts. But until HOT joined the council in yielding to such pressure, Cantor had hoped a reversal on appeal would avoid a severe diplomatic incident with hundreds of millions of pro-Israel evangelical Christians worldwide. GOD TV was founded in the UK in 1995 and eventually grew into a 24-hour network with offices in several countries. Its international broadcasting licenses are held by a Florida-based non-profit. It claims to reach 300 million households worldwide. The controversy over its Shelanu station has put Israel and its evangelical supporters in an awkward position, exposing tensions the two sides have long papered over. Evangelicals, particularly in the US, are among the strongest supporters of Israel, viewing it as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Some see it as the harbinger of a second coming of Jesus Christ and the end of days. Israel has long welcomed American evangelicals political and financial support, especially as their influence over the White House has risen during the Trump administration, and it has largely shrugged off concerns about any hidden religious agenda. But most Jews view any effort to convert them to Christianity as deeply offensive, a legacy of centuries of persecution and forced conversion at the hands of Christian rulers. In part because of those sensitivities, many evangelicals, who believe salvation can only come through Jesus and preach the gospel worldwide, rarely target Jews. Some even reacted negatively to Shelanu, fearing that backlash to the channel will damage Jewish-evangelical relations. Cantor does not believe the incident will cause a split in the Christian Zionist movement, but does see it as a readjustment. The mistake of some, not all, is that they have not been upfront with their Jewish friends, he said, understanding that it comes from a long Christian history of anti-Semitism. The problem is that most of the Jewish people with whom they seek friendship believe that they are not concerned at all with whether they believe in Yeshua [Jesus]. This is not Western Christians seeking to force their religion on Jews, he said. We are speaking of Israeli citizens, who fought in the army and pay their taxes, sharing their faith. Before HOTs decision not to reapply on Shelanus behalf, Cantor had no doubt that Israel will renew the license. Israel believes in freedom of speech and expression. We are hurt and devastated that our countrys leaders would act against us, he said today. But at the same, we are happy that they put pressure on HOT to drop us rather than to take the unprecedented, anti-democratic move of stripping the Messianic Jewish and Christian Arab communities of their freedoms of speech and expression. So instead, Shelanu will go online only. As Israelis who love our country and know the laws, we will not be silenced, said Cantor. We will continue, in a spirit of love, despite being persecuted by our own government, to be a voice against BDS and seek support from evangelicals all over the world for Israel. We will stand with Israel, even if our government does not stand with us. Additional reporting by Jeremy Weber On June 2, as protests over the death of George Floyd raged across the United States, President Donald Trump elevated the stature of religious freedom within the State Department. Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority, read the executive order (EO) he signed, and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom. It received almost no media attention. The provisionslong called for by many advocates of international religious freedom (IRF)could overhaul a US foreign policy that has historically sidelined support for Americas first freedom. That is, if the order survives a potential Joe Biden administration. It is common for a new president to reverse EOs issued by their predecessor. In his eight years in office, President Obama issued 30 to amend or rescind Bush-era policies. In his first year in office, Trump issued 17 directed at Obama-era policies. While IRF has typically enjoyed bipartisan support, current political polarization leaves few sacred cows. Trump signed the EO after a visit to the Pope John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, DC. It was previously scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the Polish-born popes 1979 return to his home nation, which set off a political and spiritual revolution that defied the Soviet Union and eventually ended the Cold War. However, Washingtons Catholic archbishop called it baffling and reprehensible the facility would allow itself to be manipulated one day after Trump lifted a Bible in front of St. Johns Anglican Church across from the White House in the wake of the aggressive dispersal of protesters opposing police brutality and racial injustice. The presidents gesture risked corroborating critics who argue that Trumps religious freedom policies are a nod only to evangelical Christians concerned for fellow believers. But while the Bible photo op divided evangelicals, should Trumps IRF credentials definitively tilt the scale come elections in November? President Trumps executive order will make the commitment to international religious freedom more robust, said former congressman Frank Wolf, arguing the Trump administration has been markedly stronger on the issue than those of either party. If you care about religious freedom, this is an issue to vote on. Wolf, a Republican from Virginia who retired from the House in 2015 after 34 years of service, was a forceful advocate for the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). The bill, passed 980 by the Senate, provided for an ambassador-at-large position, responsible for producing an annual State Department Report on International Religious Freedom, and designating violators as Countries of Particular Concern. It also created the independent and bipartisan US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), to advise on foreign policy. A third provision, for a special advisor on IRF to serve at the National Security Council, went unheeded until February this past year, when Trump appointed Sarah Makin to the position. A 2016 amendment to IRFA, named in honor of Wolf, re-clarified that the ambassador-at-large must report directly to the secretary of state. Some did not respect this arrangement, following presidential delays even to fill the position. George W. Bush presented his candidate 16 months after assuming office; Barack Obama waited 28 months. By contrast, Trump nominated current ambassador Sam Brownback, previously the Republican governor of Kansas, only six months into his term. The US government has slow-walked international religious freedom, said Paul Marshall, professor of religious freedom at Baylor Universitys Institute for Studies of Religion. It is a difficult and sensitive issue, raises tensions with other countries, and tends to get siloed within the State Department. Wolf stated that under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the department resisted declaring Nigerias Boko Haram a terrorist organization. It viewed this issue through an economic lens only. Under current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, Nigeria was listed for the first time as a Special Watch List nation. Trumps EO authorizes a minimum of $50 million for programs to advance IRF through the prevention of attacks on religious minority communities as well as the preservation of pluralistic cultural heritage. It also stipulates there must be no discrimination against faith-based entities in funding awarded through the State Departments US Agency for International Development (USAID). Vice President Mike Pences 2017 pledge to directly assist beleaguered Christian communities in Iraq serves as a case-in-point why Trumps EO will be helpful. Eight months later, no funds had been distributed. Many State Department officials have a religion deficit in knowing how to engage, said Chris Seiple, who serves as a senior advisor for the Center for Faith Opportunities and Initiatives at USAID. They dont have the skill set, and fear it could risk their career if they violate the religious establishment clause [of the First Amendment], so they back off. USAID likes to give big grants to large organizations with a proven track record, Seiple said, but this runs against current wisdom in development circles, which emphasizes local actors. And around the world, these are often people of faith. Seiple, also president emeritus of the Institute for Global Engagement, said better development comes when communities work together across religious divides in a respectful, robust pluralism. A new analysis of a 2018 survey by the Pew Research Center, released this month, found a 15-point increase in the favorability rating by Hindus toward Muslims in India, from 56 percent to 71 percent, if they reported frequent interaction together. In the Philippines, Christian favorability towards Muslims increased from 50 percent to 61 percent. And in Lebanon, already favorable Sunni Muslim attitudes towards Christians improved from 81 percent to 87 percent. Harness self-interest, said Seiple. If there is a serious religious divide and yet officials bring peace and development, they will get a good job evaluation. Wolf wants to see this same attitude at the State Department. For years, he said, he pushed for greater IRF training and the creation of a career track. The 2016 IRFA amendment made such training mandatory for all foreign service officers (which today number about 8,000) before deployment overseas. But it took time to develop the resources. An Obama administration fact sheet on its efforts to promote and protect IRF stated it dramatically increased such training, to reach 330 diplomats and embassy staff. In 2019, Trumps administration developed and launched an IRF distance learning course, also made available as an elective (described in Appendix E of this years IRF report). According to the State Department, since the Wolf Acts implementation, more than 10,000 employees have completed IRF training. Trumps EO expanded the training to include an additional 2,000 State Department civil service personnel. It also added a deadline. Within 90 days of the order, all heads of agencies assigning overseas personnel must detail their plans to ensure IRF training is conducted before departure, as well as in three-year cycles. This executive order could massively expand the number of people taking training on international religious freedom, said Judd Birdsall, director of the religion program at Cambridge Universitys Centre for Geopolitics. Birdsall, a former diplomat in the State Departments Office of International Religious Freedom, worked under both Secretaries Condoleezza Rice and Clinton. In 2011, he helped to design the departments first training course on religion and foreign policy. Birdsall said that several Obama officials were initially highly skeptical of his office, viewing it as an evangelical outpost. This was unfair, he said, because the diverse staff promotes the rights of people of all beliefs. Even so, the timing of Trumps EO will reinforce the perception. This is a plank-in-your-own-eye moment for America, Birdsall said. Its release amid the unrest made the executive order look like a diversionary tactic. Kent Hill, senior fellow for Eurasia, Middle East, and Islam at the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI), believes similarly. Though tragic in its timing, the EO embraces universal values and ought to enjoy tremendous bipartisan support, he said. It is imperative that Americans disentangle their feelings about this administrationpro or conand recognize [the orders] exceptional importance. His colleague Jeremy Barker, director of the Middle East Action Team at RFI, centered the importance on a second EO-stipulated deadline. Within 180 days of the order, the Secretary of State must develop a plan, in consultation with USAID, to prioritize IRF in US foreign policy. The secretary will furthermore direct US embassies to write comprehensive action plans on how it will encourage local governments to eliminate religious freedom violations. The deadline will expire in December, one month after the 2020 presidential election. Might foreign service bureaucrats drag their feet until they know the outcome? Barker thought it would be unlikely for Bidenone of the 98 senators to endorse IRFAto rescind Trumps EO, given the issues long history of bipartisan support. After all, IRFA was signed by President Bill Clinton, he noted; the 2016 amendment, by Obama. And Nancy Pelosi lent her aid to Trumps second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. But scholar Elizabeth Prodromou, appointed by Pelosi as a commissioner on USCIRF from 20042012, thought it possible, even likely, that State Department officials might take a wait-and-see approachnot for political reasons, but simply because there is too much institutional inertia. The government treats IRF as important, she said, but not always as a priority. But a Biden administration, Prodromou anticipates, would not abrogate the EO, as she believes the presidential candidate appreciates the linkages between religious freedom and national and human security. Having served as a member of the State Departments Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group under Secretaries Clinton and John Kerry, she pushed back against the idea that Trump has been better on IRF than other presidents. Across administrations, Prodromou said, there has been a growing realization that national security must incorporate a commitment to civil and political libertiesinclusive of religious freedom. In recognition, the Obama fact sheet stated his administration allotted more personnel, resources, and funding to IRF than any president since IRFA was established. In 2013, Obama created the Office of Religion and Global Affairs (RGA) in order to include an international religious perspective not only on traditional security concerns, but also on development, gender rights, and climate change. He additionally created a special envoy to represent the US at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Trumps first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, eliminated the position, and controversially condensed the RGA office into the IRF office. But while Prodromou praises the EO and Trumps IRF promotion in general, the problem lies in the conflation of message and messenger. This executive through his language disrespects human dignity, and unfortunately the perception of confessional bias undermines his impact, she said, mentioning issues of immigration and the rhetoric employed against ethnic minorities. Paradoxically, the Presidents statements weaken the possibility and great potential for these [IRF] measures to have lasting positive outcomes. Birdsall suspected that a Biden administration would look much like Obamas inclusion of IRF within a broad human rights agenda. Operating from England, he said much of Europe is suspicious of Trumps approach. Birdsall highlighted one of Trumps signature accomplishmentsthe creation of an International Religious Freedom Alliance launched with 27 nations. It includes Hungary and Poland, two nations cited for violations in the annual State Department report and whose reputation in Europe is souring. But while Trumps EO was praised by Christian leaders in Syria, Iraq, and Nigeria, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) voiced overall concern. We are grateful for US leadership in the defense of religious freedom, and recognize that the Trump administration has been vocal in an unprecedented manner, mobilizing governments worldwide in support, said Wissam al-Saliby, WEA advocacy officer. The current US administration, however, more than those previous, has indicated repeatedly that human rights are far from a foreign policy priority. Saliby centered his critique on the US withdrawal from global leadership. He urged America to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council, the World Health Organization, and to stop its attacks on the International Criminal Court. US partnership in the multilateral systemprioritizing human rights, hosting refugees, fighting pandemics, illiteracy, and povertywill give greater credibility and impact to its advocacy on religious freedom. But independent of these global bodies, the Trump administration is pushing ahead. A fourth provision of the EO calls for collaboration with the Secretary of the Treasury to advance the cause of IRF. Tools include economic sanctions, the reallocation of foreign aid, and the restriction of US visas. Though these measures are not new, previous administrations have been reluctant to employ them, regularly exercising waivers for the sake of national security. And therefore, all steps must be taken in consultation with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the position Trump filled for the first time since 1998. Will this be enough for conflicted voters to check the Republican box in November? Or will the Democratic critique of Trumps administration undermine bipartisan and lasting approval for his EO? Perhaps the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention offers the best approach. Supportive of US foreign policy on IRF while concerned about the timing of the EO amid Floyd protests, Travis Wussow leaves voters to their own conscience. We will continue to be missionaries for the gospel in the public square, and a voice on these issues regardless of the national political environment from election to election, said the ERLC vice president for public policy. Whoever is in office, we will continue to advocate for these fundamental freedoms. For 45 years, I have been talking about racism and reconciliation. The tragic and unnecessary deaths of Auhmad Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd; the nationwide protests; civil unrest; and political turmoil lead to me lean on the hymn: Just a few more weary days and then, I'll fly away; To a land where joy shall never end, I'll fly away. Im weary and I want something better. While sometimes helpless and often answerless, Im not hopeless. My spirits are buoyed by the psalmists declaration, I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lordin the land of the living (Ps. 27:13). The promised goodness of the Lord is the gospel of Jesus Christ. After graduating from college, I returned home to minister in my impoverished hometown of Pembroke Township, Illinois. In addition to the 6070 hours a week I spent teaching in high school and after-school and family programs, I also founded and published a newspaper, ran for political office, and sat on the board of a health clinic. Understandably, I wore myself out trying to fix all that ailed my community. As I lay flat on my back, God asked me, Are you done yet? He spoke a word into my life that has shaped everything I have done since: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). God impressed upon my heart that my vehicle and focus for community transformation was not going to be education, the media, or politics, but preaching the gospel. There were members of my community work who now wondered whether I was becoming too heavenly-minded and hence no earthly good. They asked if this gospel was only about the great by and by, a gospel that encourages the broken to patiently suffer hell now and look for heaven later, a gospel that ignores injustice with the hope that in that great getting-up morning, all will be well. These colleagues questioned my commitment to a gospel that seemingly lacked power to change present circumstances. This gospel had often been used to enslave and oppress rather than liberate as promised. I understand. This gospel has been obscured by centuries of racism, religion, cultural, and ethnic genocide; denominationalism; politics; money; and power plays. I dont blame people for wanting no part of it. You have to scrape past the centuries of bad paint to uncover and get back to gospel power. Our hope lies in the simplicity and purity of Jesus Christ and his calling: The Spirit of the Lord is on me,because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lords favor (Luke 4:1819) If we are going to see transformation in our culture, we must preach the unpainted, unfinished, gospel of the heavy, rough-hewn, blood splattered, sweat soaked, and nail-scarred old rugged cross. This is the gospel that brings about personal and cultural transformation in todays broken world. This gospel speaks to racism and brokenness, to despair and helplessness, to disenfranchised masses and disillusioned warriors. The gospel is illustrated in the account we read in Matthew 14:2233 where the disciples are in a desperate fight for their lives, boat-bound on a lake at night, facing a fierce storm. In the midst of the struggle, Jesus walks to them on the water. This story illustrates the unpainted gospel that is good news to an exhausted and stressed-out world. The good news is that Jesus is one of us. Jesus assured the disciples that he was not of a different world, he was not wholly other, he was not an enemy, but that he was one of them. In becoming human and making his home among us (John 1:14), hetore down the walls of us and them and built a bridge of we. The good news is that Jesus is with us. Because he was one of them and with them, Jesus was fully aware of the impact of the storm they faced. He knew the fear and anxiety it produced. Jesus is with us in the storm we face now. As he invited Peter , to come to him on the water, so he invites us to walk with, rest in and learn from him (Matt. 11:2830). He shows us how to live in the brokenness the storm produces but not allow the brokenness to live within us (Heb. 4:15). The good news is that Jesus saves us. Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus and relied on his own capacity to walk on water. We sink when we try to live a life apart from God, attempting to solve our problems solely with political action, military solutions, and social welfare programs. Like Peter, some of us arrogantly try to water-walk without God. Some of us stay in the boat because we have lost hope. In either case, we have lost sight of God as the source of salvation. When Peter realized his inability to save himself, he cried out to Jesus, Lord, save me. Jesus calls us to look to him for salvation and humbly to take his outstretched hand of grace. Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus death sets us free from the bondage, the brokenness, that causes us to focus on self rather than the Savior (2 Cor. 5:21). The good news is that Jesus empowers us. Jesus died for us to set us free from our brokenness, but he rose again to give us power to live. It is the presence of God in our lives in the person of the Holy Spirit that gives us power to live the life that Jesus demonstrated by living with us. Our mandate as the body of Christ is to live in this world in the same way that Jesus did. When we do, we change the world. We are to break down the walls of us and them and build bridges of we. Conflict arises from categorizing neighbors as other. The gospel calls us to live into the reality that the blood of Christ has already broken down the walls of hostility that keep us apart (Eph. 2:14). We need to believe this and treat each other like we believe it. We are to live with one another. We change the narrative of racial strife and national division when we begin to walk with others, learn to hear their stories, feel their pain, cry with those who cry, and weep with those who weep. We are to die. We are to emulate the attitude of Christ that humbly set aside his privileges in order to help others gain their privilege. A heart transformed by the love of God will sacrifice itself for the good of others. Dying to self is more than the willingness to take a bullet or step in front of a bus (its easy to say we will do those things because in reality, we will rarely be in a position to make such a choice). Its the willingness to give up our prime position in line, to sacrifice our time to humbly serve others (John 13:18), and to put others needs before our own (Phil. 2: 3) who have been denied even a place in line, even though it wearies us. We must tap into resurrection power. As Jesus rose in power to empower, so must we. When we live in resurrection power, we overcome our naturally selfishness and divisive desires. Then, when we let our light shine, we have the capacity to bring light to others because we have the light of life. When we live as people transformed by the gospel, we become change agents that transform relationships, communities, systems, and organizations. The gospel is not mere words we confess, but a life to be emulated. Jason Perry currently serves as the Co-Pastor of Living Springs Community Church (Glenwood, IL) and as the Director of Oak Tree Leadership. He has been in full time ministry for nearly 40 years serving in a variety of local, national and international pastoral and leadership roles. I no longer see Common Nighthawks in our neighborhood. (Not the bird for the article image, by the way.) One day I made a couple calls to find someone who knew why and he said their nesting habitat of all things, graveled cover roofs was no longer as much available. They are in steep decline because of pesticides, insecticides, habitat loss and the predatory work of other animals (see here). I loved watching them flit and dive and soar through the air in summer evenings, but Ive seen them around us only one evening in the last decade. I was hoping they were back when I saw them. Not so. Decades back we saw them every evening. We are assigned by God from creation on to superintend and care for this world and its animals. Sandra Richter, in Stewards of Eden, examines what the Old Testament says about care for Gods wild creatures and animals. Those who will pause long enough to look or listen we are hearing a Common Yellowthroat in our neighborhood daily will be drawn into worship with Sandra Richter, who says, Why is my heart moved to worship by the splendor of an eagle on the wind, the staggering realities oflife in all its complex forms ? Why do I sit in front of my television watching March of the Penguins with my seven-year-old and find myself in awe of a God who could instill in the heart of a penguin a level of self-sacrificial obedience that puts this believer to shame? The answer is most simply because the cosmos, in all its beauty and complexity, is a reflection of the God who made it. And I am made in the image of that same God. Which means care for Gods creation. Notice how Gods care and provision is perceived by the psalmist: You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst t p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px 'Times New Roman'}span.s1 {font: 11.0px 'Times New Roman'}span.Apple-tab-span {white-space:pre}he trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys (104:10-11,16-18). Image: Cover Photo Ask my students who have traveled with us to the Holy Land: Do I watch for the birds? (Hoopoes are my favorite.) But Richter reminds us, as any environmentalist would tell us, the single greatest cause of the extinction of an animal species is the destruction of its habitat. And in America we are presently devouring nearly two million acres a year in the noble quest for urban sprawl. 2 million acres per year. This destroys habitat and destroys the animals dependent on that habitat. Her example, later in the chapter, is about black bears in the Mississippi delta. Israel, and therefore its scriptures, was filled with animals and many of them are no longer there. As a result of its diverse ecosystem and critical role in animal migration, the variety of species that have inhabited this small territory is extraordinary. The white oryx, the Syrian brown bear, the Asiatic lion and cheetah, and the Syrian wild ass were here before their habitats were destroyed. The jungle cat once occupied the now-defunct Hulah River basin. The sand cat, wild cat, caracal, and leopard were once found here as well. Aurochs, bubal hartebeest, the Nile crocodile, and the hippopotamus once inhabited the Jordan River and its densely vegetated alluvial plain. Some believe the Syrian elephant passed through this region. The acacia and dorcas gazelle, Persian fallow, roe, and red deer, the Nubian ibex, and wild boar were all food sources (see Deut 12:15, 22; 14:5; 15:22). The Arabian and north African ostrich, hoopoe bird, eagles, hawks, owls, and songbirds too numerous to name either currently inhabit this region or are known via zooarchaeology (bones retrieved from excavation). There are more snakes in the southern Levant than you want to know about. Lions, leopards, bears, jackals, foxes and wolves have all been identified either through biblical references or excavated remains. Then there is the Eilat Coral Beach Nature Reserve just off the southern tip of Israel, filled with a staggering array of sea life. This is the sort of space that the Nature Conservancy would purchase if it could. And what about us? Are we gobbling up acres of habitat for Gods creatures? Deuteronomy tells Israelites not to take a mother bird and its eggs at the same time and the reason was because of sustainability. Take the eggs, but not the mother. Assyria gloated in the sport of slaughtering lions, and brazenly displayed taking the mother bird and the eggs she provides pictures of the scenes but not Israel. It was to be different. Sustainability is not a modern invention. It runs deep in the Bible. A bomb threat was given to the Taj Palace hotel and Taj Lands End hotel in Mumbai, on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. The caller, who established himself to be a member of the Lashkar-e-Tiaba (LeT), threatened to burst apart the two hotels in Mumbai. Security has been enhanced at and around the hotels after the threat calls from were received from Pakistan. Initial call was received at around 12:30 am by the Taj Mahal palace staffers. The call was made from a Pakistani number. The caller established himself to be a member of the LeT and stated that the hotel would be attacked by their associates. He said that the Taj Mahal Palace and Taj Lands End hotels would be destroyed like it happened in 2008. Another phone call was received by the staffer at the Taj Lands End. The caller, from Pakistan, threatened to blow up the hotel. Both the calls were received from the same number. Despite the fact that the hotel remain shut for business because of the coronavirus induced lockdown, the Mumbai police has intensified the security in and around the hotels and all viable steps are being taken to fortify the area. The cyber cell has been asked to investigate the matter further and the help of telecom departments is also being asked in order to probe the location of the call. Also Read: J-K: Terrorists who killed CRPF jawan, child eliminated, says DGP From ESPN: Barack Obama tipped his cap. So did three other former presidents and a host of prominent civil rights leaders, entertainers and sports greats in a virtual salute to the 100-year anniversary of the founding of baseball's Negro Leagues. The campaign launched Monday with photos and videos from, among others, Hank Aaron, Rachel Robinson, Derek Jeter, Colin Powell, Michael Jordan, Obama and former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter at tippingyourcap.com. On the receiving end of those tributes are many of the Negro Leagues' greatest alumni: Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, "Cool Papa" Bell and Jackie Robinson, who began with the Kansas City Monarchs and went on to break the color barrier in the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Not long after, with many of its best players gradually following Robinson's path, the Negro Leagues ceased operations. As part of the tribute, singer Tony Bennett showed his heart by tipping a San Francisco Giants cap. Californian Billie Jean King opted for the Los Angeles Dodgers. President Clinton said he chose a Chicago Cubs cap in honor of Ernie Banks, the late Hall of Famer who got his start in the Negro Leagues. "This cap is for Hillary, too, when finally, the Cubs won the championship," Clinton said in reference to his wife, a Chicago native and former Democratic presidential candidate. "Long before that, the Negro Leagues made baseball better and America better." The celebration was moved online after a major-league-wide tribute to baseball's Black pioneers scheduled for June 27 was shelved -- along with MLB games -- because of the coronavirus pandemic. At first, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick worried that his long-standing plan to honor the men and women who battled long odds for a game of their own would have to be postponed, at best. "In our game, there's nothing more honorable than tipping your cap," Kendrick said. "And once I realized that national day of recognition was going to fall by the wayside, I thought, 'OK, maybe we can do it next year.' But that didn't really do it. "So then I thought, 'How about a virtual tip of the cap?" Another disappointment: 4 pro-life reactions to Supreme Court blocking La. abortion clinic law Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June Medical Services v. Russo that a Louisiana state law holding abortion clinics to the same standards as surgical centers was unconstitutional. Justice Stephen Breyer announced the judgment, being joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John Roberts filed a concurring opinion. The opinion was built off of an earlier 5-3 Supreme Court ruling known as Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt, which struck down a similar law in Texas. In this case, we consider the constitutionality of a Louisiana statute, Act 620, that is almost word-for-word identical to Texas admitting-privileges law, wrote Breyer. Those findings mirror those made in Whole Womans Health in every relevant respect and require the same result. We consequently hold that the Louisiana statute is unconstitutional. Pro-choice groups celebrated the decision, with organizations like Planned Parenthood hailing it as a victory for womens health and abortion access. Many patients seeking abortion in Louisiana can [breathe] a sigh of relief, stated Planned Parenthood on Twitter. Your ability to access abortion shouldnt be determined by where you live, how much money you make, and the color of your skin and well keep working to make that a reality for ALL people. However, many pro-life activists and conservatives denounced the decision. Here are four pro-life reactions to the latest Supreme Court decision. Archbishop of San Francisco calls toppling of St. Junipero Serra statue work of Satan Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco called the recent toppling of a statue of celebrated missionary Father Junipero Serra in the California citys Golden Gate Park the work of Satan when he exorcised the site of the attack on Saturday. Evil is present here," Cordileone said in a video of the exorcism posted by the archdiocese on YouTube. "This is the activity of the evil one who wants to bring down the Church, who wants to bring down all Christian believers. So, we offer now prayer and bless this ground with holy water so that God might purify it, sanctify it and that we, in turn, might be sanctified." Serra, who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015 during his first visit to the United States, is known for bringing Catholicism to California in the 1700s when the state was a Spanish colony. While Cordileone remembers Serra as a "great hero" and "great defender" of indigenous peoples, activists told USA Today that Serra was far from being a defender of the indigenous peoples. They want his statues to be removed throughout the state. "It is an act of violence to even have the statues in our homelands," Elena Ortiz, chair of the Santa Fe Freedom Council of The Red Nation social justice organization, said. "Its not just the statue, but its what it represented: the celebration of our genocide." According to PBS, native tribes in Alta California, including the Chumash and Tongva, were often forced to convert nearly at gunpoint. They also reportedly faced beatings and imprisonment for disobedience. According to USA Today, Serra was noted for his role in enslaving Native American people. Many of the native tribe members did not survive mission life as diseases introduced by the Spanish led to a significant decline in their population. Cordileone urged Catholics, however, to pray the rosary, fast and inform themselves about the real history of the Church and Serra. "I would ask our people to learn the history of Father Serra, the missions, the whole history of the Church, so they can appreciate the great legacy the Church has given us, given the world, he said. So much truth, beauty and goodness. Its a wonderful legacy that we should be proud of. There are those that want to make us feel ashamed of it. The archbishop noted that Serra was a big part of his life as he grew up very close to the first mission that Serra founded in San Diego. As he prayed with other Catholics at the site of Serras toppled statue, Cordileone said the attack, which took place on June 19, was being driven by an evil intent to bring down the Church. Ive been feeling great distress and sort of a deep wound in my soul when I see these horrendous acts of blasphemy and disparaging of the memory of Serra who was such a great hero, such a great defender of the indigenous people of this land," Cordileone said. Supreme Court strikes down state ban on public aid to religious schools Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that religious schools can qualify for a state tax credit program even when the state constitution explicitly bans public aid to religious entities. In a decision released Tuesday morning, the high court ruled 5-4 in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that parents could take advantage of a public scholarship program to send their children to religious schools. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion of the court, being joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch. Roberts noted that the high court has held that the Establishment Clause is not offended when religious observers and organizations benefit from neutral government programs. Montanas no-aid provision bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools. The provision also bars parents who wish to send their children to a religious school from those same benefits, again solely because of the religious character of the school, wrote Roberts. A State need not subsidize private education. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg authored a dissenting opinion, being joined by Justice Elena Kagan. Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor also wrote dissents. The no-aid provision can be implemented in two ways. A State may distinguish within a benefit program between secular and sectarian schools, or it may decline to fund all private schools, wrote Ginsburg. The Court agrees that the First Amendment permits the latter course Because that is the path the Montana Supreme Court took in this case, there was no reason for this Court to address the alternative. The Becket Fund, a religious liberty law firm that represented the plaintiffs, celebrated the ruling as a victory over Blaine Amendments, which prohibits funding religious institutions, including schools, and which several states have in place. Bye-bye Blaine! #SCOTUS just ruled that anti-religious Blaine Amendments are unconstitutional, making it clear that religious organizations cannot be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to widely available public benefit programs, tweeted the group. Rachel Laser, head of Americans United for Separation of Church & State, denounced the decision as unprecedented and said it looks like it's forcing taxpayers to fund religious education. In 2015, Montana passed Senate Bill 410, allowing tax credits for donations of up to $150 to either private school scholarships or educational programs in public schools. Originally, Montanas Department of Revenue barred religious schools from the program, citing Article X, Section 6 of the state constitution, which banned any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies to aid any church, school, academy controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination. However, three mothers filed suit against the government wanting to use the program for religious schools, getting a trial court victory which lifted the no aid ban. In December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court opted to strike down the program due to it allowing for religious schools to be included, arguing that it violated the state constitution. We conclude that Montanas Constitution more broadly prohibits any state aid to sectarian schools and draws a more stringent line than that drawn by its federal counterpart, concluded the states high court. The Legislature, by enacting the Tax Credit Program, involved itself in donations to religiously-affiliated private schools The Legislature, by enacting a statute that provides a dollar-for-dollar credit against taxes owed to the state, is the entity providing aid to sectarian schools via tax credits in violation of Article X, Section 6. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, with Becket Senior Counsel Diana Verm telling The Christian Post at the time that she thought that the argument went well. It was clear that at bottom, the justices realized that this case is about religious discrimination, and they grappled with the question of whether the state can take away a state benefit just because people can use that benefit at a religious school, said Verm. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Yesterday, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law restricting abortion by a five-to-four vote, with Chief Justice Roberts siding with the four-judge liberal wing. The Louisiana law, enacted in 2014, requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Its supporters said the law protects the health and safety of women seeking abortions and that requirements for obtaining admitting privileges help ensure the competence of doctors. Opponents claimed that hospitalizations after abortions are rare, that women would receive medical care at a hospital whether their doctors had admitting privileges or not, and that abortion providers are often unable to obtain admitting privileges for reasons unrelated to their competence. Arguments for and against the ruling The Federal District Court in Baton Rouge struck down the Louisiana law in 2017. Its judge, John W. deGravelles, said it created an undue burden on womens constitutional right to abortion. He stated that in the last twenty-three years, Hope Clinic [an abortion clinic in Shreveport], which serves in excess of 3,000 patients per year, had only four patients who required transfer to a hospital for treatment. In each instance, regardless of whether the physician had admitting privileges, the patient received appropriate care. He added that only one of six doctors who perform abortions in Louisiana had admitting privileges when the law passed; the remaining five faced obstacles to obtaining them for reasons unrelated to their competence. He found that implementing the law would force two of the states three abortion clinics to close. The judge also stated that the law was essentially identical to Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt, a Texas law that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016. Chief Justice Roberts agreed, voting with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court out of what he described as respect for precedent. By contrast, Louisianas solicitor general, Elizabeth Murrill, testified before the court in March that the states law would help vet doctors and bring abortion regulations in line with those for other outpatient procedures. Damon Cudihy, an ob-gyn with more than twenty years of medical experience, agrees. He has cared for patients who presented with complications from induced surgical abortions performed by doctors who did not have admitting privileges to treat them in the hospital. He states that precious time was lost while attempting to contact the abortion provider or at least to obtain medical records that would have helped me to better care for this patient who presented to the emergency room. He was frustrated that there was no way to contact the doctor or to obtain pertinent medical records and has no doubt that more lives could be saved and many lifelong health complications avoided if patients could have continuity of care from the doctor who originally performed the surgery. He adds: Needless to say, this kind of routine abandonment is not tolerated in any other medical specialty. Why only within the specialty purportedly dedicated to womens health? Jen Hatmaker announces a 'moment of pride' Another headline of the day is the disclosure by well-known Christian author Jen Hatmaker that her daughter is gay. She called this statement a moment of pride. Sydney Hatmaker, with the agreement of her mother, said, Its not enough, Christians, to say, Well, we love you, anyway. I dont want to be loved anyway.' She thinks it is maybe even more cruel for Christians to love LGBT people while also believing homosexuality to be contrary to biblical teaching. I am sure these stories will be discussed at length by evangelicals over the coming days. For today, lets focus on a fact they share: biblical morality is too important to be left to our secular courts and culture. We should work and pray for justices who will rule in a manner consistent with original intent and orthodox morality. But we cannot know whether Supreme Court justices will make decisions aligned with their perceived worldview, as demonstrated by Justice Gorsuchs position on LGBTQ employment and Chief Justice Roberts decision on abortion clinics. We can champion biblical sexuality in the courts and larger culture, but we cannot predict or control secular outcomes. Nor can we predict when well-known Christian authors and speakers will change their minds about key biblical imperatives. The key to godly character In a week focused on the consequences of character, it is therefore vital that Christians do what is needed to become the change we wish to see. We cannot control what others do, but we can control our words and actions and the values they reflect. We can use our influence for biblical morality, but only if we are people others are willing to follow. I am grieved by the Supreme Courts decision because I believe it will lead to more lives lost, not only for preborn children but also for their mothers. I am grieved by Jen Hatmakers disclosure because I believe biblical sexuality is best for her daughter as well as for those her mother influences. But I should expect neither abortion activists nor LGBTQ advocates to care about my biblical position if I do not exhibit biblical character. Such character is best exemplified by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control (Galatians 5:2223). Our Father can produce such character in me only to the degree that I submit to his Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and seek to be more like his Son (Romans 8:29). For our fallen culture to seek Jesus, it needs to see Jesus in us. More today than yesterday, and more tomorrow than today. Do you agree? This piece was originally published at the Denison Forum Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Do you remember when Ann Coulter shocked Bill Mahers audience in 2015, announcing that Donald Trump was the most likely of the declared Republican candidates to win the election? To the shock of many, she was right. And do you remember when she wrote In Trump We Trust in 2016? Thats how deeply she believed that Trump was the man. Today, she is one of Trumps most vehement critics, to the point of crude insult. What happened? The title of her book says it all. She put too much trust in a man. That kind of trust belongs in God alone. Everyone else will disappoint us and fall short, one way or another. And the greater trust we put in someone to turn the tide of our nation, the more likely we are to be disappointed. Of that, you can be sure. In May, Yahoo News reported that, Coulters relationship with Trump has been strained for several months, largely because, she said, she is disappointed the president has not done more to stop illegal immigration. But a few days ago things took a turn for the worse when Coulter became enraged over the presidents renewed criticism of Sessions, who is seeking to be reelected to his old seat in the U.S. Senate in his home state of Alabama. As a result of Trumps attacks on Sessions, Coulter blasted him as a defective man and worse actually, much worse. This marks quite a dramatic change from the days of In Trump We Trust. Obviously, there was a degree of tongue in cheek in the book title. And Coulter specializes in being a provocateur. But there was meant to be substance behind the title as well, enough to fill the pages of a book. Now Ann Coulter doesnt even know if she can cast a vote for President Trumps reelection. She no longer trusts in Trump. But I bring up Coulter because theres a lesson here for all of us who voted for Trump, especially those of us who are people of faith. Its great that he has kept many of his campaign promises. How many presidents manage to do that? Its great that he has not abandoned his evangelical base once elected, something which weve seen happen before. We help vote a president into office, then, once elected, he forgets about his voting base that is, until the next election cycle. To his credit, Trump has not done this. Trump has even done things that no president before him has done, including moving our embassy to Jerusalem and speaking at the annual pro-life rally in D.C. But he is neither a savior nor a savior figure, and the more we trust in him, the more disappointed we will be. Donald Trump cannot save America. No one, outside of God Himself, possibly can. In my new book, Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test?, I emphasized that it is not enough for us to say, Jesus is our Savior. Trump is our president. I added, Its also crucial that our attitudes reflect this reality, that our hope for the nation is in the Lord, not in a man, that our expectations are tied in with the name of Jesus, not the name of Trump. If there is a name that is on our lips, a name that we love to talk about, a name that we honor and adore, let it be the name of the Lord. No other name deserves such adoration and praise. I also wrote that, on that final great day, the entire universe will bow down and confess Jesus as Lord, willingly or unwillingly. At that moment, not only will the name of Trump be forgotten, along with all of our names, but no one will notice him among the billions bowing the knee with awe and wonder. Only Jesus is Lord. Only Jesus saves. Donald Trump is just one of many billions created by the Son and for whom the Son died. Let us not lose our perspective. I know that some readers will take issue with me here, not because you believe Trump is the savior, but because you feel articles like this will help to deflate Trumps base. In reality, the opposite is true. If we put our trust in the Lord, do everything we know how to do as His followers, and then vote our convictions we have a much better chance of improving the state of our nation. As we have seen vividly this year, not even a bold leader like Donald Trump can stop a pandemic. Or prevent an economic meltdown. Or unite a fractured nation. He cant even guarantee that his Supreme Court appointees will live up to his expectations or ours. So enough with our foolish, over-the-top trust in people, especially political leaders. Passing the Trump test doesnt mean casting our vote for the best presidential candidate, whoever that may be. It means that, in the midst of our voting and political campaigning, our mantra can never be, In Trump we trust. That is a recipe for failure and disappointment. And this reminds me of a classic Christian hymn, addressing something even bigger than the turning of a nation. Let me leave you with these words: China's top legislative body approved a landmark national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday, a sweeping attempt to quell dissent that risks U.S. retaliation and the city's appeal as a financial hub. The National People's Congress Standing Committee voted unanimously to approve the law on the former British colony when it wrapped up a three-day meeting in Beijing, Hong Kong media organizations reported, citing unidentified people. The official Xinhua News Agency will publish details of the law this afternoon, marking the first time the law will be fully disclosed to the public, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a source familiar with the situation. Speaking shortly after the reports, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she couldn't confirm whether the law had been approved. She acknowledged that residents in the city had many concerns about the measure before pivoting to discuss job-support subsidies. "The National People's Congress is still in a meeting, and on the agenda today there's the relevant national security law for Hong Kong," Lam said. "At this moment it is inappropriate for me to respond to any questions or give any explanations." The measure to punish acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces comes on the eve of the July 1 anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in 1997. The organizer of the march is making a last-minute appeal to hold the event, after being denied permission by police, who cited coronavirus risk and the potential for violence. The new law will shape the future of Hong Kong, whose civil liberties, free markets and independent judicial system have attracted hundreds of international companies. President Donald Trump warned last month that the U.S. would start rolling back Hong Kong's preferential trade status, while the U.K. and Taiwan have offered new paths to residency for the city's 7.5 million inhabitants. Hong Kong's freedoms have become increasingly tenuous as President Xi Jinping grows more confident in China's ability to withstand foreign pressure and Hong Kong protesters embrace more radical positions such as independence. Beijing's steady moves to further integrate the city boiled over into historic and sometimes violent protests last year, after Lam attempted to pass a bill allowing extraditions to the mainland. The new law goes further toward revising the "one country, two systems" framework designed to protect Hong Kong's liberal institutions and Common Law legal system. The legislation will let Chinese security agents operate in Hong Kong, allow China to prosecute some cases and give the chief executive the power to pick judges to hear national security matters. "You have in Hong Kong the Common Law system and imposing on it what passes as the law in China will produce chaos which will be intolerable for the people of Hong Kong and eventually will be intolerable for business, as well," Chris Patten, the territory's last colonial governor, told Bloomberg Television on Monday. "Hong Kong represents all those aspects of liberal democracy which Xi Jinping so hates." Chinese officials have said the law is necessary to ensure peace after last year's chaos, which included vandalism of subway stations, regular use of Molotov cocktails and a brief occupation of Hong Kong's international airport. China has also said that only an "extremely small" number of people will be affected by the law. That has done little to reassure democracy advocates, who fear they could be jailed for expressing dissent, or for businesses that worry about executives getting tried before mainland courts. Hong Kong police arrested 53 people Sunday, saying they attended an unlawful assembly. Surveys show that a majority of Hong Kong residents oppose the law. The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said more than 80% of the companies it surveyed were concerned or very concerned about the legislation - though some companies have begun to endorse the law after HSBC Holdings came under pressure for remaining silent and backed it. The law brings yet more uncertainty as Hong Kong faces its deepest recession on record after last year's protests and the global pandemic. Unemployment has risen to a 15-year high, while investors are putting money elsewhere. Some expatriates and Hong Kong residents have said they're considering leaving the city. China didn't publish the full draft law or allow a public debate over the law, which is required under the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution. The process also bypassed Hong Kong's elected Legislative Council. Even Lam acknowledged last week that she hadn't seen a full draft. Opposition lawmakers have expressed concern the law will be used to bar them from seeking office in an upcoming legislative election in September. Those fears were elevated after the city's only representative to the NPC Standing Committee said candidates who opposed its passage should be disqualified. "As long as people abide by the law, I suppose we never have to use this piece of legislation," Bernard Chan, a convener of Hong Kong's advisory Executive Council, told Bloomberg Television on Monday. "It really is to warn people: Do not cross those red lines. You cannot ask for Hong Kong independence and we do not tolerate terrorist acts like what happened last year during the social unrest." The suspension of elective surgeries in parts of Texas rekindles risks for hospitals and medical devicemakers that were only just beginning to recover from a monthslong shutdown across the country. The halting of procedures is not only a negative for hospitals in Texas; it also represents a reaction that could be mimicked in other states that are struggling to control the spread of coronavirus, according to analysts at Bernstein. "We believe the political equation will make other states following this lead more likely," Bernstein analysts led by Lance Wilkes and Lee Hambright wrote in a June 26 report. "Halting of elective procedures instituted by the Republican Governor of Texas would certainly make it easier for other Republican Governors to institute lockdowns of procedures." Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's, R, executive order requires that the state's four most populous counties postpone non-urgent elective surgeries. HCA Healthcare Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corp. are most at risk as Texas accounts for more than a fifth of their total hospital beds, according to data compiled by Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut. The spread of infection is a "tangible head wind" for the two hospital stocks and could interrupt their recent rebound, Tanquilut wrote in a June 26 note. Tanquilut is keeping an eye on a potential shutdown in other states with a growing number of covid-19 cases. Arizona, California, Florida and Texas account for 70% of Tenet's total beds, more than half of HCA's and roughly a third of Community Health Systems Inc.'s capacity. As the initial shutdowns whipsawed the broader market through the end of March, an index of U.S. hospitals suffered its worst quarterly slide since the 2008 Financial Crisis. While many on Wall Street have stressed that hospitals are more equipped to weather a second wave of cases, the key is for the industry to get back to some form of normal by year end. "It's a question of how long does this last," Tanquilut said. "If this carries past the third quarter where we are at these depressed levels I think that will be a concern." Analysts say Governor Abbott's intention in Texas is not to shutter surgeries on a large scale, but to ensure that hospitals have the capacity to treat patients with the virus. "The order appears to leave a fair amount of discretion to local medical and hospital operators," Credit Suisse analyst A.J. Rice wrote. "However, the order may also impact patient willingness to re-engage for healthcare in the impacted areas." Concern that patients may defer elective surgeries until cases subside or a vaccine is approved has been a hot topic among investors since the pandemic began. In addition to hospitals, shares of medical device makers such as Boston Scientific Corp. and Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. had been under pressure amid a drop-off in new heart valve surgeries or knee and hip replacements. The two companies, which have lost more than one-fifth of their market value this year, have erased a recent rebound and now fallen 3.7% and 6.2% in the past five days. "One of the key variables that remains difficult to address is if the cases will be concentrated in one area or spread out, which can drive the need for targeted lockdowns to compensate for overwhelmed local hospitals," Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison wrote. In a June 29 report, Harrison said if Texas and Florida are unable to break their exponential growth within the next 10 days, that would make the outbreak "uncontrollable without more aggressive measures." Houston-area intensive-care unit wards were 95% full as of Sunday, although local hospitals could make hundreds of additional beds available, if needed. In Miami-Dade County, Florida, the number of covid-19 patients in ICU beds, and those on ventilators, were the highest since early May. Los Angeles County had its highest daily totals of new cases and people who are hospitalized due to the virus. Raymond James analyst Lawrence Keusch said that while the spike in covid-19 hot spots is concerning, and that the move by Texas is a negative for companies with exposure to elective surgeries, the "geographic whack-a-mole" is unlikely to have a broader impact. "The thinking is that we should exit the year in a much, much better situation," Tanquilut said. Chatham, VA (24531) Today Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 95F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy in the evening with more clouds for later at night. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Contributed photo WASHINGTON The Friends of Shakesperience in the Litchfield Hills and Gunn Memorial Library invite you to a virtual talk with Artistic Director Emily Mattina on Thursday, July 16 at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. Shakespeare in the Litchfield Hills has been postponed until 2021. Next summers interactive community event will culminate in five free outdoor Shakespeare in the Park presentations of Twelfth Night, produced by Shakesperience Productions, Inc. and featuring professional Equity actors. This project will engage the community with stage building, community discussions, actor instructed classes for young people, post-performance talk packs with the company and much more. Mariachi bands were once considered a male-dominated profession, but over the years, all-female mariachi groups have broken down those stereotypes to prove women can thrive in this business. Texas is home to a few talented and popular all-female groups that have gained notoriety for their award-winning mariachi music and unique style, enchanting fans, and empowering future generations of women in the mariachi genre. Mariachi music is one of the most beloved and endearing traditions dating back to the 18th century. The music represents the history and culture of Mexico as told through the poetic lyrics of songs such as "El Son de la Negra." "The enchanting charm of women proudly caring on the traditions of mariachi music has not always been seen with kind eyes by patriarchal beliefs and sexist stereotypes," said Mariachi Guerrera Quetzalli. "But each day, we challenge these ideas by sharing our talent and inspiration with new generations of passionate female musicians." AUTHENTIC MEXICAN RECIPES: Meet the Mexican Abuelita captivating YouTube with her authentic recipes Donned in their versions of the typical "traje de charro," and honing their skills playing the guitarron, vihuela, violin, and trumpet, these female trailblazers are changing the game. Gary Striar, Regional CEO of the American Red Cross of Eastern New York, center, is honored by staff and community members during a retirement parade held outside his home on Monday, June 29, 2020, in Delmar, N.Y. Striar served 14 years as CEO; 22 years serving the region. Traditional retirement parties are put on hold as New Yorkers observe coronavirus safety measures.) One of the largest and most popular ski resorts in the United States, and host of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games, Tahoe's Squaw Valley is considering changing its name. The nation is currently reckoning with its history on race and the honoring of problematic figures of the past, after a renewed swell in the Black Lives Matter movement following the police killing of George Floyd. Statues commemorating Star-Spangled Banner poet Francis Scott Key, Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant, and Junipero Serra were toppled in Golden Gate Park last weekend. Schools in Berkeley honoring slave-owning presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are being renamed. Now, focus has turned to ski resort Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows in North Lake Tahoe. The term squaw is considered an ethnic and racist slur. The American Indian Movement notes that in the Algonquin languages the word means vagina, and is a synonym for "prostitute, harlot, hussy, and floozy." Writer Alma Garcia once wrote that the term "treats non-white women as if they were second-class citizens or exotic objects." In response to the argument that the term "doesn't bother" Native American people, the A.I.M. states, "Were American Indian women ever asked? Have you ever asked an American Indian woman, man, or child how they feel about the word?" adding, "Do not say the word yourself, simply call it the 'S' word, then state that it has always been used to insult American Indian women." The use of the name in California has come under scrutiny before. In 2011, Squaw Frog Woman Rock in Mendocino County was scrubbed of its name to honor and respect the cultural heritage of the Pomo peoples of the region. California is still the home of Squaw Leap at San Joaquin Gorge and Squaw Dome in the Sierra Nevada, in addition to Squaw Valley. President and Chief Operating Officer of the Squaw Valley Alpine Meadow resort Ron Cohen spoke to KCRA this week about the ski resorts plans. He said that the name for the valley originated "sometime in the 1850s or so, as settlers came through here, the anecdotal stories are that they saw all of the (Native American) men were gone out hunting in the summer time and the (Native American) women and children were here in this beautiful valley." "Its something thats been a discussion point among me and my senior team for a little bit now as weve gotten into this sort of national reckoning thats going on," he added. "It would be impossible for us not to have really started thinking about it and talking about it again." Enacting a name change is no small task, but one that Cohen considers important and necessary in the current political climate. "We use the name squaw all over the place... it's emblazoned all over our resort. Its on our uniforms, our name tags, our public facing collateral. "It will take a lot of work for us to change the name out. It will take a period of time to do it. Cost a lot of money. None of those are reasons to not do it." While a concrete decision on renaming the resort has yet to be made, discussions are currently in place to enact the change. "I dont anticipate it will take too long," Cohen added. Andrew Chamings is a digital editor at SFGATE. Email: Andrew.Chamings@sfgate.com | Twitter: @AndrewChamings The Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a 2 percent compensation increase for district employees for the 2020-2021 academic year at its meeting on Monday, June 22. That includes a 1 percent annual increase and a 1 percent lump sum to be distributed in December, which has been paid in past Decembers. Related: Katy ISD to return to in-person instruction, offer a remote option in fall Chief Human Resources Officer Brian Schuss said according to conversations with his peers, the pay bump was in line with Katy ISDs competitors, who are considering no pay increases to increases of 2 percent. While we wish we could do more when, you know, as the conversations progress and budget development and then kind of the time that were in, considering that also information is kind of swirling around about potential budget cuts to education in the future. So taking that, taking all of that into consideration, thats why were going to be recommending the 1 percent annual and the 1 percent lump sum in 2020-2021, Schuss said. He said based on the districts hiring schedule, each teacher will receive $660 for the annual increase and $660 for the December lump sum for a total increase of $1,320. The $660, Schuss said, is based on a 20-year midpoint. Schuss added that the districts other employees will also get the 2 percent. Related: First Paetow H.S. class overcomes much to graduate This comes in Katy ISDs second year of a compensation plan that Schuss said includes an objective of being sustainable, equitable and market competitive. He said the 2020-2021 plan fits well with the goal and with bringing in highly qualified people. Schuss pointed out that in studying academic stipends, the district was below market competitors in some areas, so those had been adjusted. Also, the district will pay a $5 a day increase to its substitutes. Chief Financial Officer Christopher J. Smith shed some light on the budget situation. He said although House Bill 3 is in effect next year, it is unknown what the state legislature will do with funding going forward and that the decisions will likely depend on how much longer the COVID-19 pandemic hangs on. I know this comptroller later this summer is going to be readjusting his revenue estimates, Smith said. But we often also have to remember that and I mentioned this last month that House Bill 3 has been a little bit less expensive than the state had budgeted for; that property values rose higher than the state, which saved the state a little bit of money this last year. And then they use the federal funds to help make us whole. Top hits: Get Houston Chronicle stories sent directly to your inbox He said as an effect of House Bill 3, the school board had been very aggressive about giving out raises: $15 million for teachers, counselors, librarians and nurses and $5 million to other district staff members, excluding administration. Smith said the new budget is more conservative because of factors in the economy right now and because they do not know what future budget cuts could look like. Right now, were watching our future budgets carefully. But it is our commitment to this staff to take care of our employees, he said. We love them. They do a great job. And in future years, as soon as this economy turns back around, well be able to do a little bit more for our folks. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com COVID-19 cases have reached a fever pitch following Gov. Greg Abbotts process of reopening the state, causing the governor to backtrack on the reopening of several industries. Among these, bars have again been shuttered following a June 26 mandate from Abbott. For local bars that are also small businesses, the order has been crushing, and many bar owners are facing the possibility that they may have to close their bars for good. We feel like were being targeted, said Jessica Merritt, co-owner of Battlehops Brewing, a family-owned bar that specializes in custom beers and sodas. The bars on the news getting their licenses revoked for not following the rules- that's not us. MORE FROM CLAIRE GOODMAN: Battlehops Brewing blends custom brews with board games I feel like its damaging to shut us down again and make it seem like its our industrys fault for the spike in cases, added Jennifer Prothow, owner of ErmaRose winery. ErmaRose serves award-winning fruit wines made in house. Prothow operates the business with her family, and the winery has a loyal fanbase. Compounding their frustration- the bar owners believe that the size of their businesses and their personal pride in their establishments have made their bars safer than restaurants, which were spared in the governors order. I can speak for Battlehops and the rest of the (bar owners) to say we are taking every precaution possible to keep our employees and customers safe, said Merritt. We've been extremely cautious and have exceeded the state and local requirements for safety. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Texas reports record 5,100 COVID-19 hospitalizations as Gov. Abbott again closes all bars Prothow said that ErmaRose, too, added precautions beyond Abbotts mandate. Even though it wasnt required, ErmaRoses indoor tasting room remained closed, leaving only the open-air outdoor patio and pavilion for seating. Even her employees have been limiting their exposure by staying home as much as possible in an additional effort to keep customers safe, because they know a COVID-19 case in the winery would be devastating to the business and their livelihoods. I have a bunch of young kids working for me, and most live with their parents, but they are all saving money for college. I feel bad telling people, I cant keep you on schedule if we cant open, she said. MKT Distillery, owned by Nick and Nici Jessett, is also an outdoor establishment. It is a shame, because as a primarily outside establishment, social-distancing was very easy and we were able to continue to operate our tasting room while keeping everyone safe, said Nick Jessett. The Jessetts also feel a sense of betrayal, given that distilleries like theirs were the saving grace for the hand sanitizer shortage. When hand sanitizer supplies became critically low, distilleries like MKT Distillery mobilized to convert their distilling equipment into hand sanitizer manufacturing equipment. COVID-19 HEROES: For a few dollars, you can help a Katy distillery make and donate hand sanitizer to police and the public The Jessetts sold the hand sanitizer, but they also donated it to first responder groups that were on the ground level of the COVID-19 crisis. MKT Distillery alone donated more than 2,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to keep the community safe. It is a shame that the governor hasnt protected Texas distilleries that produced and handed out millions upon millions of gallons of hand sanitizer to keep Texans safe, Jessett said. We did our part to save lives, and now we ask the governor to do what he can to save us. ErmaRose, Battlehops and MKT Distillery are all in danger of shutting down permanently if the governor doesnt lift the ban on bars. Because the governor has treated us like bars and not recognized that tasting rooms dont have the same crowds as bars, we are in jeopardy of shutting down for good, Jessett added. Small business bars like ErmaRose, Battlehops and MKT Distillery do have one glimmer of hope for staying afloat through the executive order. To-go orders are still permitted under the governors mandate. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Abbott OKs mixed drinks to-go for certain bars and restaurants Patrons can still order pick up for wine, beer and spirits despite the shuttered establishments. The bar owners hope that the public will support their establishments through to-go sales. We appreciate all the support that has allowed us to continue business through the pandemic and want to encourage customers to keep ordering beer to go, Merritt said. claire.goodman@chron.com In his YouTube Live video on Monday evening, Conroe ISD Superintendent Curtis Null told the community that if the recent rise in positive COVID-19 cases continues, face-to-face instruction may not even be an option for next year. We are making every decision in Conroe ISD that we can with our focus being protect our community and protect the school year. What do we need to do today, to ensure that we can have a school year in August? Null said. Over the last few weeks, Ive become very worried about our ability to have school next year. In just the last few weeks weve had positive tests at all of our strength and conditioning programs at our high schools or almost all weve had positive tests at a few of our food distribution sites, and weve had positive tests here in our administration building. He reached out to the Montgomery County Health District for more information. He received a joint statement from the CEOs of the area hospitals that read We are asking our community and government leaders to help support our local hospitals and health care workers by encouraging mask coverings in all public places, social distancing with limited gathering of people, and proper hand hygiene. The recent rise in positive cases across the state and locally has Null concerned. According to the Texas Medical Center, the Houston area has 40,572 positive cases. This is 1.4 times what the caseload was a week ago and has been increasing over time. Null said he was warned that it would be a dire situation if that multiplier got up to 1.7. MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR: Conroe ISD board gives superintendent more authority during COVID-19 outbreak The higher rate of testing, while a valid point, does not entirely account for the higher rate of positive cases. According to the TMC data, the greater Houston area is over 10 percent positivity rate, while the state as a whole is over 14 percent. Hospitalization rates jumped from 400 the week of June 8, to 962 the week of June 15, to 1,598 the week of June 22. The data in Montgomery County shows the same upward trend with rises in positive cases and hospitalization rates. We have to find a way, somehow, to stop that, Null said. Weve proven that we know how to do this. Right? You go back into March, April, May, we were very successful at beating this curve, but here we are in June and its going the wrong way. Null invited Montgomery County Hospital District Chief of EMS James Campbell and Medical Director Dr. Rob Dickson onto the live stream to talk about the spread of the virus. Monday marked 110 days that the MCHD first responders have been responding to COVID related calls. Campbell shared that he has concerns about his staffing levels if the positive cases continue to climb. His staff have been equipped with PPE and are taking precautions and so far none of them have tested positive for COVID, but if one of the people they live with becomes positive, the EMS will have to quarantine. The spread of the virus could affect the school the same way, and if it gets worse could impact essential services like grocery stores and even police. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: TEA draft leaves most rules for fighting coronavirus in schools to local leaders Both Campbell and Dickson encouraged people to wear masks, stay socially distant, and use careful hygiene. The future of the school year is in the hands of the community, Campbell said. Without us taking this advice and changing this curve that we are currently seeing, were not going to have an opportunity to have next school year, Im just being 1,000 percent honest with you. That will be taken out of our hands, Null said. We expected TEA to release last week for us information about face-to-face schooling and they pulled it at the last minute because the governor had decided that he wasnt sure yet if that could happen. So, they have not released that information to us because theyre not sure if that will happen. Every one he has talked to, Null said, that the next two weeks are the most vital two weeks as a state to turn the curve around. According to a survey sent out by the district, 75 percent of survey respondents want to have face-to-face school. We want to bring that to you, but we all know that if we dont tackle this now if we dont get this under control now, were not going to have that opportunity, Null said. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox Without guidance from the state, the district wont be able to release a plan for next year to the community. Once TEA gives districts those requirements CISD will review them and decide if it can safely hold school while still adhering to all the rules. If it can, it will release a plan to the community with more details. But there will also need to be backup plans. What I would anticipate at this point is if we are able to open school, I would expect at some point were going to have to close schools and it might be at a moments notice, and it might be district-wide, and might be just one campus, it might be just one classroom, Null said. The district has convened a 71-person re-opening task force to address concerns and come up with contingency plans. jamie.swinnerton@chron.com A federal lawsuit argues a man in 2017 suffered seizures leading to an induced coma after not receiving proper treatment for his epilepsy while in custody at the Montgomery County Jail. The civil rights suit is asking for between $200,000 and $1 million from Montgomery County and the sheriffs office for damages including physical pain, medical bills and expenses, mental anguish, physical and mental impairment, disfigurement, lost wages and ability and fitness to work. Plaintiff now suffers debilitating seizures and increased risk of death that simply increases each day and with each seizure plaintiff has, the suit reads. The Montgomery County resident is suing under the Fourth Amendment for unreasonable detention, the Eighth Amendment for cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment for state-created danger. Filed in September in the Southern District of Texas, the 24-page suit details how the then 41-year-old man, his wife and a pharmacist were allegedly ignored by county jailers as they asked he receive specific dosages of medicine for his epilepsy. BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to your Inbox The man was jailed September 2017, charged with a state jail felony. In May 2018, charges were dismissed in the interest of justice, according to court records. But the plaintiff, the suit asserts, was only released from the county jail because he was denied proper medical care during the eight days he was held there. According to the suit, he suffered a partial seizure his sixth day jailed and a massive seizure the following day, leading to his hospitalization and him being placed in a coma. Unable to tell hospital staff either his medical history or precise medication needed, he had multiple smaller seizures and was released from the hospital after three days, according to the suit. LOCKED INSIDE: A COVID-19 outbreak at Harris County Jail was the "nightmare scenario." Then it actually happened. Still, the seizures left him entirely disabled and of unsound mind for a week after, and he only fully regained cognitive function in early October 2017, the suit states. Due to the severity of the seizures, the man was hospitalized twice in the following few months for multiple more seizures, the suit continues. The suit blames the county and the sheriffs office for so-called dangerous conditions faced by the plaintiff. It accuses them of failing to properly train doctors and of failing to properly supervise staff. It goes on to say defendants declined to consult with plaintiff on his medical care, lacked proper procedures and did not adequately establish and enforce safety regulations. The plaintiff is being represented by the Houston-based Nielsen Law Firm. When reached on Monday, the plaintiffs attorneys declined to comment on the case. The sheriffs office forwarded all comments to the Montgomery County Attorneys Office, which is representing it and the county in the lawsuit. Amy Dunham, the County Attorneys civil division chief, said a second motion to dismiss was filed Friday. Documents show the defense is arguing the county is immune from the suits claims. The defense also asserts the plaintiff failed to establish how the county may have violated his civil rights. jose.gonzalez@chron.com twitter.com/jrgzztx Four years after the San Jacinto River Authority filed a lawsuit against the city of Conroe for refusing to pay increased fees for water, a Montgomery County district court has dismissed the suit after a judge ruled the cities of Conroe and Magnolia were immune due to the contract not having a fixed water rate. However, SJRA officials said they are planning an immediate appeal. In a press release, Mayor Toby Powell said the citys actions have been to protect its water customers, both now and in the future and added SJRA needs to tighten its belt and stop spending whatever it wants and then simply add those expenditures into its rate base. Mayor Pro Tem Duke Coon said the dismissal is great news for residents. This is just one step closer to protecting our water rights, he said. KINGWOOD EXHALES: SJRA approves seasonal lowering of Lake Conroe SJRA General Manager Jace Houston fired back and called Conroes actions outlandish and irresponsible. To enter into a contract to partner with 80 other utilities and then claim youre immune from the contract is outlandish and irresponsible, Houston said. Once again Conroe feels they should be treated differently no matter the effect on all the other GRP participants. After this, Im not sure why any governmental entity would enter into a contract with Conroe. They are not above the law. Houston said adopting rates by a rate order and not having a fixed rate is common proactive with utility contracts. Nearly every major water provider across the state of Texas uses similar contracts to fund large-scale water supply projects. Rates are dependent upon operational costs as well as quantity of supply and cannot be predetermined with 100 percent certainty to include in a contract, Houston said noting some costs fluctuate and utilities take these into consideration when proposing annual rate orders. Our GRP Review Committee carefully considers various costs when approving rates. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox The local courts ruling could also jeopardize underlying Texas public bonds that were used to finance the $500 million GRP Water Treatment Plant at Lake Conroe and pipeline system throughout Montgomery County. This decision could undermine contracts all over the state, said Houston. Interlocal cooperation happens all the time in the utility business. Cities, water suppliers and retailers have to be able to work together to provide services. This decision adds even more costly litigation to a battle thats been going on since 2016. We will stand with the other GRP Participants and appeal this decision. According to SJRA, by the end of August Conroe and Magnolia will be $4.7 million in arrears to SJRA. In 2016, SJRA filed the suit against Conroe claiming the city breached its contract after the council refused to pay increased water fees as part of the Groundwater Reduction Plan. SJRA officials claimed the citys decision put the SJRA and other Groundwater Reduction Plan participants in immediate financial risk, specifically involving the repayment of over $400 million in debt to the state of Texas. SJRA notified the Texas Attorney General and the Texas Water Development Board of Conroes rejection of its contractual obligations regarding its GRP contract. The city of Conroe, along with 150 other entities, entered into a contract with SJRA in 2010 to meet a 30 percent reduction in groundwater usages by Jan. 1, 2016, as mandated by the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District. During an Aug. 16, 2016 meeting, the Conroe City Council approved a resolution refusing to pay the recent GRP fee increase to the San Jacinto River Authority. The SJRA board voted in June to raise its pumpage and surface-water fees by 18 cents per 1,000 gallons (7 percent) starting in September. The city of Magnolia quickly followed Conroes lead. The SJRA started constructing its $500 million pipeline project in 2012 as part of the GRP. The pipes pump Lake Conroe water to Conroe and The Woodlands in order to absorb the 30 percent groundwater reduction by Jan. 1, 2016, for all large-volume groundwater users (based on 2009 consumption) as mandated by the LSGCD. All large-volume users that entered the GRP pay fees to the SJRA for the construction project, which enabled those entities to continue to pump groundwater with no reductions. The project includes a surface-water treatment plant at the Lake Conroe Dam, 55 miles of treated water transmission pipelines and piping, metering and blending facilities at each of the surface-water delivery points. cdominguez@hcnonline.com **The opening of Barefoot in the Park on July 10 at Francas Real Italian Restaurant in Nassau Bay has been postponed. "A new opening date is still being discussed. Our top priority is the safety of our audiences and our casts," theater spokesperson Kathleen Pero said. ** Social distancing hasnt been a problem for Barefoot in the Park rehearsals, as a real-life couple were cast as the fledgling newlyweds in the July 10-25 production that will help reopen Francas Real Italian Restaurant in Nassau Bay. Producer Lina Pignataro, who played the plucky heroine, Corie Bratter, in a 1987 production of Neil Simons longest-running Broadway hit, said the restaurant is taking extra safety precautions for the show, to be presented at Dinner Theatre at Francas. With the new (city of Houston) ordinance, everyone must wear masks. Our entire restaurant has been deep-cleaned to better serve everyone, she said. With social distancing (table seating) there will be limited seating. In the show, Katherine Johnson of Houston will portray Corie opposite her boyfriend, Hunter Mehrens, a Bay Area favorite, as Paul Bratter. The shows cast is very small six in all and the players are very respectful of the guidelines and one another, said director Kathy Pero of Dickinson. The romantic comedy opens with Corie walking into the couples apartment for the first time. Its on the top floor of a New York City brownstone, a fact that inspires vintage Neil Simon lines about the difficulty each character faces climbing five flights. Six flights if you count the stoop outside, says Corie. I counted the stoop, wheezes her telephone repairman, played by Jeff Coletta. Next, Sam Gorashko of Baytown enters as a delivery man who is nearly out of breath. The audience also meets Patti Meiners of Clear Lake as Cories upper-crust mother, and Steve Quimby of Sugar Land as Victor Velasco, an eccentric neighbor whom Corie springs on her mother as a blind date. Cories meddling in her mothers affairs exposes a rift between the newlyweds on whether Paul and Corie can reconcile their contrasting outlooks on codes of behavior. When Barefoot in the Park opened on Broadway in 1963, Life magazine called it one of the funniest comedies ever. Simon adapted his show for a popular movie version in 1967, with Mildred Natwick reprising her role as Mother and winning an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. The movie begins with the newlyweds spending six days of loving at the Plaza Hotel before they move into their apartment, and Simons one-liners begin to fly. Pero said that her cast has enjoyed rehearsing on the stage where they will perform in the main dining room. Usually, when the restaurant is open, we rehearse in a back room for an upcoming production, she explained. We are also very excited about changes that are happening for our dinner theater, said Pero. We are in the middle of remodeling our stage with new, more versatile flats that will allow us more flexibility in set design and upgrading our sound and light systems. The stage manager and assistant director for Barefoot in the Park is Charleen Smith of Clear Lake. Gorashko is the set designer and stage crew. Mike Pero of Dickinson handles the sound and lighting. Before each performance of the show, pianist Claudio Sereni of Dickinson will serenade diners. The restaurant is at 1101 E. Nasa Parkway. Dining will start at 6:30 p.m. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $35 per person plus tax and gratuity. Call 281-488-2207 for reservations. For further information, including the dinner theater menu, visit francasrealitalian.com. Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be contacted at donmaines@att.net Galveston Bay Research Program A population of dolphins in Galveston Bay suffered from a variety of negative side effects, including freshwater skin lesions, directly after Hurricane Harvey inundated the Houston region for several days in 2017, according to a new study from the Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program. The study compared encounter rates and living conditions for bottlenose dolphins in upper Galveston Bay pre and post-Harvey and found that the record-breaking hurricane led to rapidly declining salinity rates that drastically affected the natural habitat for aquatic life. With the recent spike in positive COVID-19 cases in the greater Houston area and Montgomery County, some churches have chosen to close temporarily out of an abundance of caution. On June 26, Woodlands Church announced that it would not be holding in-person services for the next two weekends In response to the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in our area, according to a message sent to the churchs members. We decided to go online in an abundance of caution, and also to really protect the vulnerable, said Ryan Shook, creative director at Woodlands Church Our church always tries to think How do we love our community and show love to those around us? And after a lot of prayer and thought our church leaders came together and decided that the best way to love the community right now would be to not gather and to help prevent the spread of the disease. The church will continue to monitor the positivity and hospitalization rates in the county and if possible will try to meet in-person July 12. THE LATEST: Texas counties with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases so far But if the cases continue to rise as they do then well make changes, Shook said. Online services Church members who are part of an at-risk group are encouraged to watch online even if the church can meet in-person. For the services that the church has held in-person, masks were required and families are spaced six feet apart. Right now, Shook said he is not aware of any positive cases in the congregation. During this time it has presented a lot of challenges to churches large churches and small but its also presented a lot of great opportunities, Shook said. For us, its been a really great opportunity to reach out and increase our online presence through Zoom, Life groups, or small groups, through online streaming. But Woodlands Church is not the only church in the area that has made changes or been affected by the virus. On June 14, Alan and Joy Clayton, the pastors and creators of Ark Church in Conroe, were diagnosed with COVID-19. Just a week earlier, on June 7, Ark Church had re-opened to in-person services. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Daily coronavirus numbers for Houston, rest of Texas: June 30 According to the message sent to members of the church on June 16, the church decided to continue in-person services on Wednesdays and Sundays. We have experienced a rather challenging week dealing with what we initially thought was a sinus infection but turned out to be the COVID-19 virus, the Claytons told their congregation in the message. The good news is that we are at home recovering, praying, and doing better every day. Precautions and prayer In its message, the church reiterated the precautions it is taking, including cleaning and disinfecting the building often, taking the temperatures of all staff and volunteers, hand sanitizer available throughout the building, and encouraging the use of masks while also providing them, among others. Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe announced recently that it would be closing the week of June 29 because Pastor Philip Wilhite was positively diagnosed with COVID-19. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox I began feeling ill late Sunday evening June 21 and went to an urgent care clinic Monday where I was tested fr COVID 19, the pastors original message read on the churchs website. The results came back late this afternoon indicating I am positive for the coronavirus. Though my temperature has returned to normal, I still need to isolate. The church and parish offices were immediately closed and services were moved online. First communion masses have been canceled until further notice and in a message to the community Wilhite said it is the churchs hope to resume Masses at 25 percent capacity the weekend of July 11 and 12. Wilhite encouraged his members to consider getting tested themselves. Other members of the church leadership have been tested but as of June 30 were still awaiting their results. Masses will return contingent on all priests being found negative for COVID-19 and symptom-free for at least 10 days. While I have no idea from whom I contracted the virus, I take this as a good opportunity to remind myself and each of us to wear a mask and maintain social distancing, Wilhite said in his latest message to members. It would be too easy to be asymptomatic and infect others unknowingly. jamie.swinnerton@chron.com Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Meals on Wheels Montgomery County is getting $360,000 in federal funding over the next three years thanks to a federal program that helps improve mobility for seniors and those with disabilities. The Conroe City Council approved awarding the grant funds to the organizations Senior Rides program during its meeting on June 25. Montgomery County health officials reported the largest number of new COVID-19 cases in a day with 105 on Tuesday, bringing the countys total case count to 2,133. The number of people hospitalized in Montgomery County, both county residents and out-of-county residents, grew to 166 Tuesday with 46 of those in ICU. After banning elective surgeries in Dallas, Harris, Travis and Bexar counties, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he was banning elective surgeries in Cameron, Hidalgo, Nueces and Webb counties as well. Abbotts orders come as state officials try to get a handle on the surge of cases across the region. Last week Abbott closed all bars and river tubing businesses and reduced restaurant capacity to 50 percent. THE LATEST: Texas counties with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases so far I want to remind all Texans that each of us have a responsibility to help slow the spread of this virus, and I urge everyone to wear a mask, wash their hands regularly, practice social distancing, and stay home if possible, Abbott stated in a press release. According to data from the Montgomery Public Health District, of those 2,133 county cases, 832 are active. The countys death toll remained at 36. While Harris County remains under a mandatory mask requirement for all businesses, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough maintains he will not make masks mandatory but urged residents to follow CDC guidelines about masks, social distancing and staying home when possible. No such order exists in Montgomery County and there are no plans for any such order to be issued, Keough stated in a Facebook post. Individuals and businesses alike can and will make the decision for what is best for them with regard to wearing a mask. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Daily coronavirus numbers for Houston, rest of Texas The data continues to show ZIP code 77301 with the most active cases at 108. That postal code includes those being held at the Joe Corley Detention Center and the Montgomery County Jail. ZIP code 77365 surged to 95 active cases, followed by ZIP code 77386 with 75 cases and 77304 with 54 active cases. The MCHD/MCPHD COVID-19 call center is open for residents needing COVID-19 testing through the countys voucher program, or for general questions. Call 936-523-5040 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. cdominguez@hcnonline.com A New York judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the publication of Mary Trump's scathing book about her uncle, President Donald Trump, which describes him as the "world's most dangerous man," saying no copies can be distributed until he hears arguments in the case. The order leaves it uncertain whether the book will be published as scheduled on July 28. Judge Hal Greenwald ordered a hearing next month on a request for an injunction by Trump's brother Robert, who has argued that Mary Trump is not allowed to publish anything about her family as part of a settlement in an inheritance case. His attorney, Charles Harder, said in a statement Tuesday that he would seek the "maximum remedies available" for the "truly reprehensible" actions of Mary Trump and her publisher, which he said have caused "enormous damages" to his client. "Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end," Harder said. Mary Trump's attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr., said in a statement that while the judge's order is temporary, "it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment. We will immediately appeal. This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in an election year, should not be suppressed even for one day." Simon & Schuster said it also plans to appeal, adding in a statement that it looks forward "to prevailing in this case based on well-established precedents regarding prior restraint." The book, titled "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," has already ascended to the top of bestseller lists based on presales, underscoring the intense interest in a rare insider account by a Trump family member. In promotional material for the book, the publisher said Mary Trump "shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world's health, economic security, and social fabric." Simon & Schuster said in a filing late Tuesday night that it had already printed 75,000 copies and argued that it would be unconstitutional to stop it from distributing the book. At the same time, the publisher for the first time said that it did not know until recently that Mary Trump had signed a nondisclosure agreement as part of the inheritance settlement. "We did not learn anything about Ms. Trump signing any agreement concerning her ability to speak about her litigation with her family until shortly after press broke concerning Ms. Trump's Book about two weeks ago, well after the Book had been accepted, put into production, and printing had begun," Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp said in an affidavit filed Tuesday night. "And we never saw any purported agreement until this action was filed against Ms. Trump and Simon & Schuster." While it has long been known that the inheritance case was settled confidentially, the terms of that agreement were not made public until Robert Trump filed his petition last week to stop publication the book. Karp in his affidavit also confirmed that Mary Trump was the "primary source" for an investigation by the New York Times into the Trump family finances, which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize, as the Daily Beast first reported. Karp said that "knowing that no litigation resulted from the Times article, we were entirely confident in Ms. Trump's ability to tell her story regarding her own family." Karp said that even though the publication date is set for July 28, it may be too late to stop revelations in the book from being reported. He said that "thousands" of the printed copies "have already been shipped." Boutrous, asked to respond to Karp's statement that he didn't know about the confidentiality agreement, said in an email to The Washington Post that "we will be filing our brief Wednesday for Ms. Trump and will explain why this 20-year-old agreement is invalid, inapplicable and unenforceable." Mary Trump spent years pursuing an education that led her to become a clinical psychologist, as The Post recently reported. Using that background, she explores the "nightmare of traumas" within the Trump family, according to the publisher. "She explains how specific events and general family patterns created the damaged man who currently occupies the Oval Office, including the strange and harmful relationship between Fred Trump and his two oldest sons, Fred Jr. and Donald," according to the book's description. Mary Trump's father, Fred Jr. - the older brother of President Trump - died of an alcohol-related disease when she was 16 years old in 1981, an event that had a deep impact on the family. President Trump said in an interview with The Post last year that he made mistakes in dealing with his brother and regretted pushing him to join the family business. Mary Trump was involved in a bitter dispute in the family over an expected inheritance when her grandfather Fred Sr. died in 1999. She and her brother, Fred III, said in court papers that someone in or connected to the Trump family got Fred Sr. to change his will and give them less than they expected. The husband of a woman who was carjacked early Tuesday morning had strong words for the five teens who were hurt when they crashed the stolen car during a high-speed police pursuit. Theyre lucky I didn't get to them first, Jason Gomez said. They should have thought it through before they did what they did. SUSPECT KILLED: Houston store clerk fortunate to be alive after killing would-be robber Around 5 a.m., the man's wife who declined an interview request was at a location near Interstate 10 and Kress Street when a group stole her car at gunpoint, Gomez said. Houston police were investigating the carjacking, but Gomez was able to track the car himself to the 2000 block Cannonade Drive in Pasadena around noon, he said. He called Pasadena police to help recover the car, but the driver sped off as officers tried to pull the car over, according to Pasadena Police Department officer Jessica Ramirez. Officers chased the car through Pasadena until the driver got onto Interstate 10, where the car reached high speeds as it exited for Lathrop Street. As the driver approached the intersection reportedly at speeds of 65 mph the car crashed into a minivan in the intersection, sending both careening onto the sidewalk. The force of the crash mangled the two vehicles and knocked the wheel off of the minivan, which wound up about 100 feet away in a gas station parking lot. Paramedics took the five juveniles to the hospital, as well as the driver of the minivan. Their conditions were not immediately available. The minivans driver was the only occupant at the time. Firefighters pulled an empty car seat from the wreckage. Gomez said police told him about the crash moments after it happened. I already knew the car was going to be totaled, he said. Once I knew they were in a high-speed chase, I knew it was over. He said he was worried about the condition of the driver of the minivan. All of the juveniles were in custody in the hospital, according to Pasadena police at the crash site. What charges they will face remains unclear. 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 A would-be robber was shot dead after he opened fire inside a north Houston convenience store Monday night, police said. The 56-year-old man walked into the Super Qwik Food Store in the 8000 block of Fulton around 10 p.m., according to Houston Police Department detective Sgt. Joshua Horn. The clerk was helping other customers in line when the man tried to pass a fake $20 bill, but the clerk refused to accept it, police said. HARRIS COUNTY SHAKE-UP: Prosecutor resigns after post seems to link protests to Nazis The man then pulled a gun and shot at the clerk but missed, Horn said. He then walked around the counter and tried to get into the clerks kiosk. As he rounded the corner, the clerk pulled a gun and returned fire, striking the man several times. He collapsed in the store and was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, Horn said. From what surveillance shows, (the clerk is) very fortunate to be alive right now, Horn said. The bullet that the would-be robber fired at him was only a few inches away from him. The clerk cooperated with detectives. The case will be referred to a Harris County grand jury, which will determine if charges will be filed against the clerk. This is typical even in cases of self-defense. As of right now, it appears this shooting is completely justified, Horn said. The dead man was recently paroled from prison, where he was serving time for a robbery conviction, Horn said. His identity was not immediately released. 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 submitted rendering Construction is scheduled to begin in August on a new 118,386 square-foot industrial facility is Rosenberg, county officials recently confirmed. Wet Sounds, a maker of high-performance marine and powersports audio systems headquartered in Houston, is expected to begin construction on a new fabrication, warehouse and office facility with an anticipated project completion of spring 2021. Wet Sounds is a growth-oriented company that brings highly skilled, good-paying jobs and significant capital investment to Rosenberg as well as a willingness to engage in the community and work cooperatively with regional partners, Vincent Morales, Jr., Fort Bend County Commissioner Precinct 1 said in a press release. Also, this exciting new project expands the commerce core in Rosenberg and encourages additional development. We are thrilled to have Wet Sounds in the region. The Oslo-based company also said it had filed a legal claim seeking the return of payments made for the aircraft. It is also seeking compensation for losses it claims it incurred from the global grounding of the 737 Max planes as well as engine issues on the 787. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce an overhaul of Australia's defense strategy and force structure as the U.S. ally looks to counter an increasingly assertive China in an Indo-Pacific region he calls "the focus of the dominant global contest of our age." In a major speech to be delivered in Canberra on Wednesday, Morrison is set to announce that his government will spend $185 billion (A$270 billion) in defense capability over the next decade, up from about A$195 billion when the nation's previous strategic overhaul was announced in 2016. The spending will include Australia's purchase of AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles from the U.S. Navy for about A$800 million, tripling the range of its maritime strike capability to about 230 miles. In a sign that Morrison's defense and intelligence network sees the threat of actual military engagement with an enemy in its region growing, Australia will alter the focus of its 2016 Defence White Paper, which included an eye toward support around the globe for the rules-based order -- such as its aerial support of the U.S. coalition in Iraq and Syria. Instead, Australia will in the future limit its geographical focus to its immediate region -- "the area ranging from the north-east Indian Ocean, through maritime and mainland Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea and the South West Pacific." "We remain prepared to make military contributions outside of our immediate region where it is in our national interest to do so, including in support of U.S.-led coalitions," Morrison will say. "But we cannot allow consideration of such contingencies to drive our force structure to the detriment of ensuring we have credible capability to respond to any challenge in our immediate region." The renewed focus in protecting Australia's immediate borders may reflect the nation's concerns about being exposed by an increasingly distracted U.S. ally led by President Donald Trump, whose administration has shown disdain for some of his nation's traditional alliances. Though China remains Australia's largest trading partner, relations between the two nations have become increasingly fraught since 2018, when Morrison's government banned Huawei Technologies Co. from building its 5G network on national security grounds. That year, it also said Beijing's "meddling" was a catalyst for legislation designed to halt foreign interference in its governments, media and education sector. Relations have only worsened since April, when Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said an independent probe should be allowed to operate in the mainland city of Wuhan to investigate the origins of the coronavirus. China has imposed crippling tariffs on Australia's barley industry, halted beef imports from four meat plants, and urged its tourists and students to avoid going to the nation due to the risk of attacks from racists. In a seeming reference to recent tensions with Beijing, Morrison will say in the speech that "coercive activities are rife" and "disinformation and foreign interference have been enabled by new and emerging technologies." He said June 19 that Australia's government, health and education services and various industries were being targeted by a "sophisticated" actor conducting state-based cyber attacks that some defense academics said was likely China. "These must be able to hold potential adversaries' forces and infrastructure at risk from greater distance, and therefore influence their calculus of costs involved in threatening Australian interests," Morrison will say Wednesday. "This includes developing capabilities in areas such as longer-range strike weapons, cyber capabilities and area-denial systems." Since coming to power in 2013, Morrison's conservatives say they have increased the nation's defense spending from 1.56% of gross domestic product -- the lowest level since 1938 -- to an estimated 2% this year "despite the many pressures on the budget." In that period, the government has committed to building new frigates in a deal with BAE Systems Plc worth A$35 billion and to 12 submarines built by France's Naval Group SA in an agreement estimated in 2016 to be worth A$50 billion. It's also buying 72 Joint Strike Fighters estimated in 2018 at A$115.7 million each. The 2020 Force Structure Plan to be announced by Morrison on Wednesday now includes plans for the acquisition or upgrade of up to 23 different classes of navy and army vessels, representing a total investment of as much as A$183 billion. Australia needs to "prepare for a post-Covid world that is poorer, more dangerous and more disorderly," Morrison will say. "We have moved into a new and less benign strategic era -- one in which the institutions and patterns of cooperation that have benefited our prosperity and security for decades are under increasing strain." A breakdown of the A$270 billion defense spending budget over the next 10 years includes: - Maritime, A$75 billion - including capability for anti-submarine warfare, sea-lift, border security, maritime patrol, aerial warfare, area denial and undersea warfare; and up to A$500 million in long-range maritime strike missiles - Air, A$65 billion - including expanded air combat and mobility and new long range weapons and remotely piloted and autonomous systems; and up to A$17 billion in fighter aircraft - Land, A$55 billion - Including up to A$11.1 billion on future autonomous vehicles; up to A$11.5 billion for long range rocket fires and artillery systems including two regiments of self-propelled howitzers; and up to A$2.1 billion for army watercraft - Defense Enterprise, A$50 billion - Investments in key infrastructure and information and communications technology; up to A$10.2 billion in undersea warfare facilities and infrastructure - Information and cyber, A$15 billion - To bolster offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, enhance electronic warfare and command and control systems and improve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems - Space, A$7 billion - Investment to improve resilience and self-reliance, including to assure access to capabilities, enable situational awareness and deliver real-time communications and position, navigation and timing; up to A$6.9 billion in upgrades and future satellite communications systems When the first coronavirus cases in Chicago appeared in January, they bore the same genetic signatures as a germ that emerged in China weeks before. But as Egon Ozer, an infectious-disease specialist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examined the genetic structure of virus samples from local patients, he noticed something different. A change in the virus was appearing again and again. This mutation, associated with outbreaks in Europe and New York, eventually took over the city. By May, it was found in 95% of all the genomes Ozer sequenced. At a glance, the mutation seemed trivial. About 1,300 amino acids serve as building blocks for a protein on the surface of the virus. In the mutant virus, the genetic instructions for just one of those amino acids - number 614 - switched in the new variant from a "D" (shorthand for aspartic acid) to a "G" (short for glycine). But the location was significant, because the switch occurred in the part of the genome that codes for the all-important "spike protein" - the protruding structure that gives the coronavirus its crownlike profile and allows it to enter human cells the way a burglar picks a lock. And its ubiquity is undeniable. Of the approximately 50,000 genomes of the new virus that researchers worldwide have uploaded to a shared database, about 70% carry the mutation, officially designated D614G but known more familiarly to scientists as "G." More for you News Cuomo says malls won't open unless they install... "G" hasn't just dominated the outbreak in Chicago - it has taken over the world. Now scientists are racing to figure out what it means. At least four laboratory experiments suggest that the mutation makes the virus more infectious, although none of that work has been peer-reviewed. Another unpublished study led by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory asserts that patients with the G variant actually have more virus in their bodies, making them more likely to spread it to others. The mutation doesn't appear to make people sicker, but a growing number of scientists worry that it has made the virus more contagious. "The epidemiological study and our data together really explain why the [G variant's] spread in Europe and the U.S. was really fast," said Hyeryun Choe, a virologist at Scripps Research and a lead author of an unpublished study on the G variant's enhanced infectiousness in laboratory cell cultures. "This is not just accidental." But there may be other explanations for the G variant's dominance: biases in where genetic data are being collected, quirks of timing that gave the mutated virus an early foothold in susceptible populations. "The bottom line is, we haven't seen anything definitive yet," said Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The scramble to unravel this mutation mystery embodies the challenges of science during the coronavirus pandemic. With millions of people infected and thousands dying every day around the world, researchers must strike a high-stakes balance between getting information out quickly and making sure that it's right. --- SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes the disease covid-19, can be thought of as an extremely destructive burglar. Unable to live or reproduce on its own, it breaks into human cells and co-opts their biological machinery to make thousands of copies of itself. That leaves a trail of damaged tissue and triggers an immune system response that for some people can be disastrous. This replication process is messy. Even though it has a "proofreading" mechanism for copying its genome, the coronavirus frequently makes mistakes, or mutations. The vast majority of mutations have no effect on the behavior of the virus. But since the virus's genome was first sequenced in January, scientists have been on the lookout for changes that are meaningful. And few genetic mutations could be more significant than ones that affect the spike protein - the virus's most powerful tool. This protein attaches to a receptor on respiratory cells called ACE2, which opens the cell and lets the virus slip inside. The more effective the spike protein, the more easily the virus can break into the bodies of its hosts. Even when the original variant of the virus emerged in Wuhan, China, it was obvious that the spike protein on SARS-CoV-2 was already quite effective. But it could have been even better, said Choe, who has studied spike proteins and the way they bind to the ACE2 receptor since the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003. The spike protein for SARS-CoV-2 has two parts that don't always hold together well. In the version of the virus that arose in China, Choe said, the outer part - which the virus needs to attach to a human receptor - frequently broke off. Equipped with this faulty lock pick, the virus had a harder time invading host cells. "I think this mutation happened to compensate," Choe said. Studying both versions of the gene using a proxy virus in a petri dish of human cells, Choe and her colleagues found that viruses with the G variant had more spike proteins, and the outer parts of those proteins were less likely to break off. This made the virus approximately 10 times more infectious in the lab experiment. The mutation does not seem to lead to worse outcomes in patients. Nor did it alter the virus's response to antibodies from patients who had the D variant, Choe said, suggesting that vaccines being developed based on the original version of the virus will be effective against the new strain. Choe has uploaded a manuscript describing this study to the website BioRxiv, where scientists can post "preprint" research that has not yet been peer reviewed. She has also submitted the paper to an academic journal, which has not yet published it. The distinctive infectiousness of the G strain is so strong that scientists have been drawn to the mutation even when they weren't looking for it. Neville Sanjana, a geneticist at the New York Genome Center and New York University, was trying to figure out which genes enable SARS-CoV-2 to infiltrate human cells. But in experiments based on a gene sequence taken from an early case of the virus in Wuhan, he struggled to get that form of the virus to infect cells. Then the team switched to a model virus based on the G variant. "We were shocked," Sanjana said. "Voila! It was just this huge increase in viral transduction." They repeated the experiment in many types of cells, and every time the variant was many times more infectious. Their findings, published as a preprint on BioRxiv, generally matched what Choe and other laboratory scientists were seeing. But the New York team offers a different explanation as to why the variant is so infectious. Whereas Choe's study proposes that the mutation made the spike protein more stable, Sanjana said experiments in the past two weeks, not yet made public, suggest that the improvement is actually in the infection process. He hypothesized that the G variant is more efficient at beginning the process of invading the human cell and taking over its reproductive machinery. Luban, who has also been experimenting with the D614G mutation, has been drawn to a third possibility: His experiments suggest that the mutation allows the spike protein to change shape as it attaches to the ACE2 receptor, improving its ability to fuse to the host cell. Different approaches to making their model virus might explain these discrepancies, Luban said. "But it's quite clear that something is going on." --- Although these experiments are compelling, they're not conclusive, said Kristian Andersen, a Scripps virologist not involved in any of the studies. The scientists need to figure out why they've identified different mechanisms for the same effect. All the studies still have to pass peer review, and they have to be reproduced using the real version of the virus. Even then, Andersen said, it will be too soon to say that the G variant transmits faster among people. Cell culture experiments have been wrong before, noted Anderson Brito, a computational biologist at Yale University. Early experiments with hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, hinted that it was effective at fighting the coronavirus in a petri dish. The drug was touted by President Trump, and the Food and Drug Administration authorized it for emergency use in hospitalized covid-19 patients. But that authorization was withdrawn this month after evidence showed that the drug was "unlikely to be effective" against the virus and posed potential safety risks. So far, the biggest study of transmission has come from Bette Korber, a computational biologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who helped build one of the world's biggest viral genome databases for tracking HIV. In late April, she and colleagues at Duke University and the University of Sheffield in Britain released a draft of their work arguing that the mutation boosts transmission of the virus. Analyzing sequences from more than two dozen regions across the world, they found that most places where the original virus was dominant before March were eventually taken over by the mutated version. This switch was especially apparent in the United States: Ninety-six percent of early sequences here belonged to the D variant, but by the end of March, almost 70% of sequences carried the G amino acid instead. The British researchers also found evidence that people with the G variant had more viral particles in their bodies. Although this higher viral load didn't seem to make people sicker, it might explain the G variant's rapid spread, the scientists wrote. People with more virus to shed are more likely to infect others. The Los Alamos draft drew intense scrutiny when it was released in the spring, and many researchers remain skeptical of its conclusions. "There are so many biases in the data set here that you can't control for and you might not know exist," Andersen said. In a time when as many as 90% percent of U.S. infections are still undetected and countries with limited public health infrastructure are struggling to keep up with surging cases, a shortage of data means "we can't answer all the questions we want to answer." Pardis Sabeti, a computational biologist at Harvard University and the Broad Institute, noted that the vast majority of sequenced genomes come from Europe, where the G variant first emerged, and the United States, where infections thought to have been introduced by travelers from Europe spread undetected for weeks before the country shut down. This could at least partly explain why it appears so dominant. The mutation's success might also be a "founder effect," she said. Arriving in a place like Northern Italy - where the vast majority of sequenced infections are caused by the G variant - it found easy purchase in an older and largely unprepared population, which then unwittingly spread it far and wide. Scientists may be able to rule out these alternative explanations with more rigorous statistical analyses or a controlled experiment in an animal population. And as studies on the D614G mutation accumulate, researchers are starting to be convinced of its significance. "I think that slowly we're beginning to come to a consensus," said Judd Hultquist, a virologist at Northwestern University. Solving the mystery of the D614G mutation won't make much of a difference in the short term, Andersen said. "We were unable to deal with D," he said. "If G transmits even better, we're going to be unable to deal with that one." But it's still essential to understand how the genome influences the behavior of the virus, scientists say. Identifying emerging mutations allows researchers to track their spread. Knowing what genes affect how the virus transmits enables public health officials to tailor their efforts to contain it. Once therapeutics and vaccines are distributed on a large scale, having a baseline understanding of the genome will help pinpoint when drug resistance starts to evolve. "Understanding how transmissions are happening won't be a magic bullet, but it will help us respond better," Sabeti said. "This is a race against time." In 2019, Illinois lawmakers approved a data center tax incentive to attract technology companies and other firms to build their data storage facilities in the state. Among other requirements, companies must invest at least $250 million in a facility and hire at least 20 full-time employees over five years to qualify for the program. HOUSTON Melissa Estrada had tried to be so careful about the coronavirus. For months she kept her three children at home, and she always wore a mask at the grocery store. She and her daughter even stitched face coverings for relatives and friends. But over the weekend Estrada, 37, was fighting the virus at Houston Methodist Hospital after a week of treatments that included an experimental drug, steroids, intensive care and high doses of oxygen. She probably contracted the virus while attending a dinner with relatives who had also been cautious, she said. Within days, all four adults and several children who had been at the gathering tested positive for the coronavirus. It was really, really scary, Estrada said of her illness. She worried constantly about leaving her children motherless. You hear about it and you think its the older people or the people with underlying issues, she said. And Im healthy. I dont understand how I got this bad. Coronavirus cases are rising quickly in Houston, as they are in other hot spots across the South and the West. Harris County, which includes most of Houston and is one of the largest counties in the nation, has been averaging more than 1,100 new cases each day, among the most of any U.S. county. Just two weeks ago, Harris County was averaging about 313 new cases daily. Measures to cope with the surge and to plan for its peak were evident over the weekend at Methodist, which called nurses to work extra shifts, brought new laboratory instruments on line to test thousands more samples a day and placed extra hospital beds in an empty unit about to be reopened as patients filled new coronavirus wards. Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking in Dallas on Sunday, said the virus had taken a very swift and a very dangerous turn in Texas and the increase in the rate of positive coronavirus tests, to over 13% in the past month from less than 4%, was an alarm bell. He made the grim assessment after meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the coordinator of the White Houses coronavirus task force, who joined the governor in urging all Texans to wear masks and avoid close contact in crowds. Pence, appearing at a Dallas rally celebrating religious freedoms, threw his support behind Abbott and his efforts to reopen the states economy even as the governor made an about-face on Friday in his phased plan by ordering bars closed and capacity at restaurants cut. Many young people had socialized in them, standing close together, not wearing masks, some expressing skepticism that they could become infected. During the virus first peak in April, the majority of patients testing positive in the Methodist hospital system were older than 50. Now the majority are, like Estrada, relatively young. Nearly one-third of intensive care patients are now under 50, much higher than in the initial coronavirus surge. The stress on medical institutions burst into public view last week, when Texas Medical Center a downtown cluster of Houstons major public and private hospitals, including Methodist announced that the baseline intensive care unit capacity across its hospitals was full, with 28% of beds occupied by virus patients. That was nearly twice a threshold established by the state, which called for ICUs to have a maximum 15% of virus patients for hospitals to resume elective services. The hospitals typically operate with nearly full ICUs, and had planned to increase the number of critically ill patients they could treat. But the next morning, the governor issued an executive order that again restricted elective surgeries in Harris County. The order, however, allows hospitals to continue performing surgeries and procedures that will not deplete their capacity to care for coronavirus patients; some hospital executives and doctors, including ones at Methodist, said they were able to continue providing those services, which they viewed as particularly needed after being halted during the initial shutdown. The Texas Medical Center hospitals are collectively treating about 1,500 coronavirus patients, according to figures released Saturday. During the previous surge in mid-April, Methodists system had at most just over 200 coronavirus patients. On Sunday, it had nearly 400 inpatients with the virus, and about 150 more were being tested for it. Some models predict a peak in two to three weeks. Roberta L. Schwartz, an executive vice president and chief innovation officer at Methodist, who is serving as the coronavirus incident commander, walked from unit to unit on Saturday trolling for beds, as she described it. She spoke with nurses and doctors, troubleshooting to solve problems that could delay sending patients home or transferring them to lower levels of care when they were ready. She informed nurses in an intermediate care unit that it would soon transition into an ICU for coronavirus patients. She visited a huge laboratory with more than $3 million of new instrumentation that she referred to as the Taj Mahal, a former academic lab that was repurposed to process virus tests, and took her first look at two recently purchased new machines that can run 1,000 tests a day. In some parts of the country, laboratories, including Methodists, have experienced recent testing backlogs as demand and new cases increased. The hospital is hiring traveling nurses to bolster its staff and offering bonuses as incentives to some employees to take extra shifts. In recent days, hospital beds and mobile computers were rolled into an empty, 34-bed unit that had been shuttered and will now be used for coronavirus patients. This is why I dont have to put trailers out front and mobile hospitals out front, Schwartz said. The changes were also part of the hospitals efforts to maintain capacity to safely treat its many nonvirus patients. The Methodist hospital system, with nearly 2,400 beds in service, includes six community hospitals across greater Houston and the flagship academic medical center downtown. It sits near other renowned medical institutions including Baylor College of Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Childrens Hospital, which is opening a unit to treat adult coronavirus patients. Methodist and several other private hospitals have also agreed to accept virus patients from Harris Countys inundated public hospitals, part of the Harris Health System. Tritico Saranathan, a charge nurse on one of Methodists virus wards, said she had noticed that patients were younger than those first hit by the coronavirus several months ago. Were seeing a lot of people in their 30s theyre out there partying and not wearing their masks, she said. As soon as the city opened up, they were very eager to go to the bars, to the clubs, to the restaurants, just to hang out in groups. And no one was social distancing or wearing a mask. What Im seeing is that theyre pretty sick the younger ones are pretty sick, she said. Theyre struggling a lot with respiratory issues. Theyre having a hard time breathing, she added, just feeling like death. One of the newest coronavirus patients, Jessica Rios, 36, a mother of four with pneumonia, was transferred to Houston Methodist by ambulance from an urgent care center on Saturday. She said her husband was being treated in the hospital, too. She worried about her children and was frequently using FaceTime to call them. Her 18-year-old was looking after her 12-year-old, who has severe asthma and has also tested positive for the virus, and 5-year-old twins, one of whom has cerebral palsy and has tested positive, too. Its kind of hard to be here when I have them at home struggling, she said. Rios had not been out partying. She said she thought she had contracted the coronavirus while working as a clerk in a dialysis unit for children. She said that she has allergies that make it difficult to wear a mask, and that she would sometimes take her mask off at the unit, where one child later tested positive for the virus. I couldnt tell you if every time I talked to her I had a mask on, she said. In another room nearby was Curtis Ezell, 37. He had come to the hospital to be treated for heart failure, but tested positive for the virus when he had a routine test upon admission. He sometimes does deliveries for DoorDash, a food delivery service, and recently moved to Houston, staying at hotels. He said that he had no idea how he had contracted the virus, and that he was not experiencing common symptoms of the infection. If you know someone with COVID, everyone should get tested, he said. An even younger pneumonia patient, Alexander Nelson-Fryar, 25, was in a new ward for 15 coronavirus patients that just opened last week. He said that he worked training employees at a medical clinic nearby that sometimes saw virus patients. Nelson-Fryar said that he had worn the same mask at work every day, which he would keep in his car, and that he did not know how he had become infected. I go there and I go home, he said. I think I got a little unlucky. He said he feared that people his age were not taking the illness seriously enough, as he himself had not. I thought younger folks are not going to get symptoms; if I do get it, its not going to be a big deal, he said. That was not true in his case. It hit me like a truck, he said. Even if you are young and not at risk, its pretty scary. At Methodist, the majority of the coronavirus patients are in designated medical wards, not in the ICUs. That might be because of the increasing proportion of younger, healthier patients. Hospital leaders say they are also getting better at treating patients, avoiding the need to transfer them to ICUs. The length of hospital stays for virus patients at Methodist is about a day and a half shorter this month than it was in April and May. It remains possible that the proportion of patients in the ICUs could rise, because of the time lag between when a patient first gets sick and develops critical illness. On Saturday evening, after making rounds, Dr. Faisal Masud, the medical director for critical care across all of Houston Methodists hospitals, described the younger virus patients in the ICUs. Typically there are definitely 30-year-olds, 35-year-olds, he said, adding that the most severely ill young people often are obese or have medical problems such as diabetes, kidney disease and high blood pressure. One young patient was on an external heart-lung machine known as ECMO. During the first surge, Masud said, some young virus patients came to the hospital extremely sick and died soon after they arrived. Now, he said, they are coming earlier, but more often. I think that there was a sense of being invincible or this is not their problem, even if they caught it, no big deal, he said. That attitude has changed in the past few days, he said, including among his own three daughters, who are all in their 20s. Theyre now paying attention, he said. Estrada, the mother of three who was being treated for the coronavirus, said she worried that there would be more patients like her. They opened up our city way too quick our governor didnt want to let the bars be closed and the restaurants and functions, and they just wanted us to get back to normal, she said, adding, I knew it was a bad idea. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. While the return of tours brings at least some relief, its nowhere close to the volume of visitors and tour attendees we serve during whats typically our busiest time of the year. The CAC relies on earned revenue for as much as 85 percent of its income and operates without an endowment, Osmond wrote in an email. In April, Case painted a bleaker economic forecast when the pay cuts were announced, predicting in an email to employees that the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic were likely to play out for months, or even years to come, citing projections that one-third of American workers nearly 47 million people could lose their jobs. Midland County recorded two new confirmed coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing its pandemic total to 124 cases and nine deaths, according to daily state reports. Bay County added five new cases and Saginaw County seven, bringing their pandemic totals to 354 cases and 29 deaths and 1,225 cases and 120 deaths, respectively. Gladwin County and Isabella County recorded no new cases; their pandemic totals remain at 26 cases and one death and 101 cases and eight deaths. MidMichigan Health which covers a 23-county region and has medical centers at seven sites, including Midland was listed as having six COVID-19 patients on the state page, defined by the state as confirmed positive patients, including those in ICU and patients who are currently pending and under investigation. The health system reported no COVID-19 patients in ICU and 54% bed occupancy, the percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by any patient regardless of COVID-19 status. This data, according to the website, reflects the status in health systems and hospitals 48 hours prior to the time that it was posted to the state page, which was June 29. To date in Midland County, there have been 5,723 diagnostic (current infection) tests and 459 serology (look for antibodies) tests performed, totaling 6,182 tests, according to the state website. In Gladwin County, there have been 1,784 diagnostic tests and 77 serology tests, totaling 1,861 tests in all, according to the state. The state on Tuesday added 373 new cases and 32 deaths. Overall, Michigan is at 63,870 cases and 5,947 deaths. The state lists the total recovered at 51,099 cases, as of June 26, which represents COVID-19 confirmed individuals with an onset date on or prior to May 27, according to the state website, mich.gov. The numbers will be updated every Saturday. Midland County Health Department's website lists 103 recovered cases in Midland County. Dr. Catherine Bodnar, Midland County Department of Public Health medical director, said it is critical for people to take the following steps: Socially distance at least 6 feet from non-household members. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol based sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty. Wear face coverings in public. Stay home when sick. Covering coughs and sneezes. Throw used tissues in the trash right after use. Routinely clean frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning wipe or spray. If you think you've been exposed to COVID-19 and develop a fever and symptoms such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your health care provider for medical advice. If he/she isn't available call MidMichigan Urgent Care in Midland at 989- 633-1350 or MidMichigan Medical Center's Emergency Department in Midland at 989-839-3100. MidMichigan Health has a COVID-19 informational hotline with a reminder of CDC guidelines and recommendations. The hotline can be reached toll-free at 800-445-7356 or 989-794-7600. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services also has a hotline number for Michigan residents for questions about COVID-19. The number is 1-888-535-6136 and is available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can also send an e-mail to: COVID19@michigan.gov. E-mails will be answered seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. If you are feeling anxious, stressed, depressed and feel you need to talk to someone, reach out to Community Mental Health for Central Michigan by calling 800-317-0708. The Illinois Department of Public Health recently began allowing two visitors at a time if participants meet outside, wear masks and keep at least 6 feet apart. Facilities also must write rules for the visits, so not all homes have been ready for visitors at the same time. Workers at Hillcrest also checked visitors temperatures and blood oxygen. WASHINGTON - The most recent former Republican vice president, Dick Cheney, and his Wyoming congresswoman daughter, Liz, say wearing masks is manly. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says there should be no stigma associated with covering one's face as public health experts advise, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., says doing so is essential to fully reopening the economy. The GOP-led city of Jacksonville, Fla. - which President Donald Trump recently selected to host many of the Republican National Convention festivities in part because of its relatively lax public health restrictions - is now mandating that people wear masks at indoor public spaces. And even Sean Hannity and Steve Doocy, two of Trump's most fervent and loyal boosters on Fox News Channel, have joined the chorus of mask advocates. "I think that if the president wore one, it would just set a good example," Doocy said Tuesday on "Fox & Friends" as he interviewed Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. "MAGA should now stand for 'masks are great again.' Let me give you some marketing advice right there." McDaniel chuckled and said she would "take that under consideration" - but her laugh underscored the reality that Trump is unlikely to change his campaign slogan. The president has refused to trumpet his own administration's recommendation that people cover their faces. He he has set an example by not wearing a mask at public events, and he has used his bully pulpit to mock others who do and to cast doubt on the efficacy of masks. But with coronavirus cases soaring across the nation - and most precipitously across Florida, Texas and other parts of so-called Trump Country - many prominent Republicans are now echoing the pleas National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci and other health experts that people wear masks to slow the spread of the virus and to help the economy reopen safely. The recent shift on the political right has left Trump isolated, with the president and his White House staff openly resisting the calls for mask-wearing. "The president has said he has no problem with masks, that he encourages people to make whatever decision is best for their safety and to follow what their local jurisdictions say," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday. "CDC guidelines are still recommended but not required, and the president is the most tested man in America." That is a marked contrast in tone from other elected Republicans, who have been talking about the issue in recent days with fresh urgency. Particularly among GOP senators, there has been a noticeable uptick in public comments and social media posts proactively encouraging the public to adorn masks as the number of infection rises nationwide. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. - who usually wears a flag-emblazoned mask on Capitol Hill - tweeted Monday that wearing a mask is "one of the simplest and easiest ways to help stop the spread of #COVID19." Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the second-oldest member of the Senate, on Monday posted a photo on Instagram of himself wearing a mask with the logo of the University of Northern Iowa with the caption, "everybody's got to do their share." McConnell told reporters on Tuesday, as he waved his Washington Nationals logo mask, "What we're all trying to demonstrate for everybody in the country is, the single most important thing you can do - not only to protect yourself but to protect others - until we get a vaccine, is put on a mask. It's not complicated." At a coronavirus hearing Tuesday, Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said, "Unfortunately this simple lifesaving practice has become part of a political debate that says: If you're for Trump, you don't wear a mask. If you're against Trump, you do. That is why I have suggested the president should occasionally wear a mask even though there are not many occasions when it is necessary for him to do so. The president has millions of admirers. They would follow his lead." Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told reporters last week, "Everyone should just wear a damn mask." Michael Steele, a former RNC chairman, said Republican leaders have hardened their position on masks simply because the virus is infecting "the heart of their base, which we all knew it would." Residents in so-called red states, Steele said, "don't have superpowers and aren't somehow immune from the ravages of covid-19. That's why it was paramount for the president to be the voice of leadership here, not to undermine the scientists, not to berate the Dr. Faucis of the world. And now Fox says the president should set a good example and put on a mask. Really, now? After 120,000 deaths? After a million-plus people get infected?" The rise in cases has not changed the thinking inside the White House. Officials there have long defended the rejection of masks by Trump and many on his staff members by arguing that he and anyone who comes into close contact with the president is regularly tested for the coronavirus. Vice President Mike Pence has worn a mask on several recent occasions, including a trip over the weekend to Texas, one of the nation's virus hot spots. He decides when to cover his face based on state and local guidelines as well as a predetermination of whether social distancing can or cannot be maintained, according to a White House official. When Trump travels Friday to South Dakota to participate in an Independence Day fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore, masks will be available but not required, and there will be no social distancing mandates. "We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home, but those who want to come and join us, we'll be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we won't be social distancing," South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said Monday on Fox News. At Saturday's "Salute to America" fireworks extravaganza, which Trump is hosting at the White House, social distancing will be observed and facial coverings and personal hand sanitizer will be provided to guests, according to White House spokesman Judd Deere. The enthusiasm for mask-wearing among congressional Republicans is not universal. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is one of a very small minority who regularly does not cover his face on Capitol Hill. Paul, who was diagnosed with the coronavirus this year, insists that he is now immune and therefore cannot spread the virus to others, though the medical data on immunity is inconclusive. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., one of the youngest members of the Senate, usually does not wear a mask on Capitol Hill, though he wears one in situations where he is unable to maintain much distance from others. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., was spotted carrying - not wearing - his mask into a senators-only lunch on Tuesday and said, "I haven't seen how particularly effective these are." Health experts worldwide have strongly pushed for the use of masks to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, and the strategy has been deployed aggressively in many countries that have been more successful in combating the virus than the United States. In the U.S., one June 16 study by researchers at the University of Iowa found that states with mask mandates had an associated decline in the growth rate of coronavirus cases. Mask-wearing is popular with the public. An ABC News-Ipsos poll released last week found that 89% of adults who left home in the previous week said they wore a face mask, which was up from 55% in early April. A Pew Research survey in mid-June found that 71% of Americans overall say people in their community should wear masks at least most of the time when they go out to public places where they may be near others; 52% of Republicans said masks should be worn at least most of the time compared with 86% of Democrats. And an Axios-Ipsos poll released Tuesday found that 53% of Americans said they are wearing a mask "at all times" when leaving their home while 83% report wearing a mask at least "sometimes." Democrats are about twice as likely to say they wear a mask "at all times," 71% compared with 35% of Republicans. Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster whose firm, GBAO, has been regularly surveying the public on masks and other coronavirus topics, said, "Mask-wearing didn't have to be partisan. The data about mask-wearing hasn't changed. But Trump has been critical of masks, and many have been taking their cues from him. So when you see Republican leaders now suggesting people wear masks, you have to wonder whether they are just getting caught up on the science, or whether they're making a different political calculation." Alex Castellanos, a veteran Republican strategist, said the divide over whether to cover one's face is, like many things in the Trump era, political. "Mask wearing has become a totem, a secular religious symbol," Castellanos said. "Christians wear crosses, Muslims wear a hijab, and members of the Church of Secular Science bow to the gods of data by wearing a mask as their symbol, demonstrating that they are the elite; smarter, more rational, and morally superior to everyone else." - - - The Washington Post's Aaron Blake, Scott Clement and Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report. ALBANY An overwhelming majority of New Yorkers back federal police reforms including banning chokeholds and creating a national database of officer misconduct but are hesitant to support widespread calls to defund the police, according to a Siena College Research Institute poll released Tuesday. The calls for change heightened in recent weeks after the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have gained momentum as thousands took to the streets to protest police brutality and racial injustice. A majority of New Yorkers support efforts to reduce police violence, such as demilitarizing the police; requiring mental health professionals to respond with police on some 911 calls; and ending qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that shields officers from liability if they violate someone's civil rights while on duty. Respondents were less inclined to reduce funding to police departments or defund them entirely, with about 60 percent of those surveyed opposing those suggestions overall. There was a visible split in support for those notions by race, with a majority of black New Yorkers supporting both ideas. But New Yorkers are overall in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement and overwhelmingly agreed with the anti-police brutality protests that engulfed much of the nation at the beginning of the month. Support was strongest among Democrats, New York City voters and black residents. Republicans, meanwhile, opposed the demonstrations, associating them with rioting. About 20 percent of New Yorkers said that they or a member of their household participated in at least one protest over the past several weeks. New Yorkers also back the state's efforts to combat police brutality, with 80 percent of respondents throwing support behind the 10-bill criminal justice reform package passed by the state Legislature at the beginning of June. The measures included a requirement for state troopers to wear body cameras; a mandate that courts document race, ethnicity and sex data for arrests and court proceedings involving low-level offenses; and the repeal of 50-a, the statute that has long shielded the release of police disciplinary records. By an overwhelming 80-13 percent margin, voters say the recently passed legislation including a ban on chokeholds by police, making disciplinary measures public and having a special unit in the State Attorney Generals office to investigate and prosecute civilian killings by police officers will be good for New York," Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a news release. "At least two-thirds of voters from every race, party, region and age agree." Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the bills earlier this month in a New York City ceremony, where he was joined by the mothers of black men killed by police. Survey respondents, by a margin of 57-24 percent, said they approved of the governor's response to Floyd's killing. Floyd died May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer later charged with murder kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Tuesday's poll also surveyed overall sentiments about racism, police brutality and the criminal justice system. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said the police killings of Floyd and Rayshard Brooks are representative of longstanding police violence toward black people, and roughly the same number said racism is a "very" or "somewhat" serious problem. Sixty percent of those surveyed also said people of color are treated unfairly within New York's criminal justice system. New Yorkers overall hold favorable views of their local police departments by a 70-22 percent margin though that number is down from the 81 percent of voters that approved of their local police forces in January 2015. Meanwhile, Cuomo has maintained a roughly 65 percent favorability rating since last month's Siena survey, and 76 percent of voters approve of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Voters continue to give Cuomo high grades strong favorability and job performance ratings and continue to strongly approve of his overall handling of the pandemic, Greenberg said. While voters still give Cuomo a slightly negative rating for his handling of nursing homes, they give him exceptionally positive ratings for his communicating with New Yorkers about the pandemic and for his reopening plans." Siena polled 806 registered voters between June 23 and 25. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. WASHINGTON - Leading Republican lawmakers on Monday confirmed that U.S. intelligence agencies have developed information about a Russian military operation targeting U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan. But they said that any U.S. response should wait until intelligence agencies fully review the material, some of which was shared with members of Congress in a classified briefing at the White House. Current and former intelligence officials familiar with the intelligence said it was less ambiguous than White House officials and some lawmakers have portrayed and indicated that Russian military intelligence had offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants who killed U.S. military personnel. The CIA in particular has been analyzing the intelligence for several months and has assessed that the Russian program is real, according to these people. In a statement Monday evening, CIA Director Gina Haspel did not address the intelligence directly, nor did she dispute reports that it showed the Russians targeting U.S. forces. "When developing intelligence assessments, initial tactical reports often require additional collection and validation," Haspel said, adding that "in general" information that may protect military forces "is shared throughout the national security community - and with U.S. allies - as part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of coalition forces overseas." Without mentioning Russia or Afghan militants by name, Haspel said, "Hostile states' use of proxies in war zones to inflict damage on U.S. interests and troops is a constant, longstanding concern. CIA will continue to pursue every lead; analyze the information we collect with critical, objective eyes; and brief reliable intelligence to protect U.S. forces deployed around the world." Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe in a separate statement also did not mention Russia and said the intelligence community was "still investigating the alleged intelligence referenced in recent media reporting and we will brief the President and Congressional leaders at the appropriate time. This is the analytic process working the way it should." Haspel and Ratcliffe criticized leaks of classified information, which they said made it harder for the intelligence agencies to collect and assess information. The intelligence was considered significant and credible enough that it was included in the President's Daily Brief, according to two individuals familiar with the matter, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. The brief is a collection of the most significant analysis on issues affecting national security and foreign policy and is prepared for the president and his top advisers. Some officials think the Russian operation led to the deaths of several U.S. service members, according to intelligence gleaned from captured militants in recent months. It was unclear exactly how many Americans or coalition troops from other countries may have been killed or targeted, several people familiar with the matter said. "There was intelligence reported on the allegation that the Russians were offering a bounty to the Taliban to kill Americans, but at the same time there was a very strong dissenting view from another agency within the intelligence community," said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee. "This happens where you get one agency that does, say, human intelligence and another one does signals intelligence, and you'll have a difference in opinion as to the accuracy and credibility of the intelligence. It's got to be accurate and credible intelligence for them to present it to the president and for him to be able to make a decision on what action to take." He said there is a "massive scrub within the intelligence community to try to find out the veracity of this reporting." He also said separately on Monday that if the intelligence is verified, the administration should take "swift and serious action" to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable. The White House briefings, which were given exclusively to Republican lawmakers, came amid outrage from Democrats, and rising concern from members of his own party, that President Donald Trump was again playing down Russian threats to U.S. national interests. "I think we need to get the truth here, we need to find out - I mean, that's horrifying if it's true," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. "And so we need to find out where the intelligence reports were lodged, and what the intelligence community thought about them, and was told." Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN that he has asked the intelligence agencies to brief the panel in a closed session, in person, and hopes it can be done "as soon as possible." He said he will be at a Tuesday morning briefing at the White House for a handful of Democrats who wanted to know whether Trump was told about the intelligence. The president has said he was not. "Is this again a concern with speaking truth to power - that Donald Trump doesn't want to hear anything negative about Vladimir Putin?" Schiff said. Within the intelligence agencies, there remains some disagreement about the credibility of all the sources, according to people familiar with the matter. It's not unusual for agencies to disagree about some pieces of information and even question the accuracy of a source but still agree that the intelligence points toward a particular conclusion. Trump dismissed the intelligence reports and said he was never told that a Russian military spy unit offered bounties to militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan, including U.S. troops. "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP," Trump said in a tweet on Sunday, referring to Vice President Mike Pence. He added that he considers such reports "possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax" spread by the "Fake News . . . wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!" Earlier Sunday, Trump had tweeted that he had not been briefed about the intelligence, but he did little to clarify whether the administration was denying that the assessment existed or denying that he knew about it. The White House has not addressed whether the information was included in the PDB and if so, whether Trump read it or was spoken to about it. Trump routinely skips reading the report, officials have said. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany echoed Trump's tweet during a briefing, saying he hadn't been briefed and asserting that "there is no consensus within the intelligence community on these allegations." "In effect, there are dissenting opinions from some in the intelligence community with regards to the veracity of what's being reported, and the veracity of the underlying allegations continue to be evaluated," she said from the White House podium. Former intelligence officials said it was unusual not to inform the president about threats to U.S. forces, even if the information was still being assessed. They also noted reports that the United States shared the intelligence with British officials, given that their forces also were thought to have been targeted. Trump should have been briefed in case the issue came up in conversation with the British prime minister, the former officials said. Britain has nearly 1,000 troops in Afghanistan and has a close intelligence relationship with the United States. Officials there are said to be particularly interested in whether the Russian intelligence unit said to have spearheaded the bounty program is the same one that orchestrated the 2018 poisoning in the English city of Salisbury of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for British intelligence, and his daughter. The intelligence was also the subject of meetings at the White House National Security Council, another indication that intelligence officials thought it was credible and merited senior-level attention. "Given that there was an NSC meeting, I suspect that [Trump] did know" about the intelligence, former CIA director Michael Hayden said. "It is reprehensible that Trump has said nothing about it since it's become public other than, 'I didn't know.' What is he going to do about it?" "When people at Liberty Crossing go to get coffee today, what are they saying to one another?" Hayden said, referring to the headquarters building of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in Virginia. Nada Bakos, a former CIA officer who handled intelligence obtained from detainees, which appears to be a source of at least some of the information on the Russian bounty program, said she could not understand why it would not be shared with the president. Bakos said that fragmentary intelligence will at times be included in the President's Daily Brief "especially if it's about something fast moving, like in a war zone." "Not everything that goes to the president is sure and solid - that's not what intel is," Bakos said. "Especially if it's a threat." U.S. officials presented a "low key" briefing on the matter to NATO member countries in Brussels on Thursday, "including asking questions" about whether their own military and intelligence services had any information to add, a senior European official said. The official said the briefing took place on the "professional" level and did not rise to high-ranking officials involved in policymaking. Nearly every NATO member has some presence in the Afghanistan coalition, most of them in relatively low numbers. According to NATO figures for June, those with the highest number of troops are Germany, with 1,300; Italy, with 895; Romania, with 738; and Turkey, with 600. The United States has about 8,600 troops in Afghanistan, down from about 13,000 before withdrawals during the spring under the U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February. Afghanistan experts have questioned whether the mainline Taliban group would be involved in any plan to attack U.S. forces, particularly as it moves closer to implementing an agreement with the United States that would achieve its overall goal of removing all foreign troops from Afghanistan. Although implementation has been slow, the deal, signed in February, calls for the last U.S. forces to leave the country by May 2021. There are, however, thought to be a number of splinter Taliban groups opposed to the peace agreement. U.S. negotiators think Russia, after spending years trying to create obstacles for the NATO effort in Afghanistan, has been cooperative, and even helpful, since serious American talks with the Taliban began last summer. It is unclear whether the bounty program, allegedly launched before that time, was part of a high-level Russian strategy that is ongoing. - - - The Washington Post's John Wagner, Karoun Demirjian, Missy Ryan and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report. Weve never been in the situation before, she said. We just dont know what this is going to look like in six months. How are these patients going to do in six months? Are they going to continue to have straggling symptoms? Are they going to have other complications that we dont know or anticipate? And I think thats a lot of the research thats starting to develop now, to figure out what do we need to worry about weeks and months from now for these patients. Associated Press In a matter of weeks, San Antonio went from flattening the curve of the coronavirus pandemic to readying a field hospital to treat an overflow of patients. National media members are taking notice with Rachel Maddow being the latest. The journalist, who hosts "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC, tweeted an article published by the San Antonio Express-News Tuesday afternoon. The June 28 story delves into San Antonio's strained hospital capacity as San Antonio moves forward on a 'worst-case scenario' trajectory. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Florida, FL (34429) Today Scattered thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon hours. High 87F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 74F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. 5Gs Value to Industries: China Mobile Ningbo Zhejiang's 5G+ Smart Port Approximately 90% of global trade is carried by the shipping industry, and traditional ports are highly dependent on human proximal operation of container cranes and other machinery. With shortcomings in work and cost efficiency, it is becoming difficult for this approach to keep up with the rapid development of global shipping demands. Fortunately, the arrival of 5G is providing the necessary means and pressing the "fast forward button" for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, also benefiting the port industry. At the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, China Mobile Ningbo has worked with several partners to implement a number of innovative applications throughout the smart port workflow using the 5G industrial private network. China Mobile Ningbo aims to fully utilize 5G and other digital technologies to upgrade the port into a smart one, and to create a global exemplary commercial use model of 5G+ Smart Port. Xu Mengqiang, General Manager of China Mobile Ningbo, Zhejiang, recently spoke at the online 5G+ Better World Summit. Building the 5G+ smart port The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is the only port in the world with an annual throughput of over 1.1 billion tons, and it has held the title of the world's busiest port for 11 consecutive years. Given its recent transformation from a large port to one of the worlds most important, the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port needs to address challenges in three aspects. First, in terms of efficiency, the port faces great shipping pressure, low customs clearance efficiency, and difficulties in collaboration. Second, in terms of costs, cargo handling costs are increasing year-on-year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and competition in the industry. Third, in terms of safety and security, personal safety, equipment safety, and information security all need be improved. In September 2018, China Mobile Zhejiang and Zhejiang Seaport signed a 5G smart port strategic cooperation agreement. At the 5G+ Action Promotion Conference in May, China Mobile Zhejiang, Zhejiang Seaport, Huawei, and Zhenhua Heavy Industries signed a strategic cooperation agreement on 5G-powered smart port applications in the Meishan Port Area. According to Xu Mengqiang, through explorations and practices, China Mobile Ningbo has defined a 365 approach to developing a 5G-powered smart port. 3 represents its three goals: increasing work efficiency, reducing labor cost, and improving security management. 6 represents its six capabilities in artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, edge computing, and security. 5 represents its five scenarios: remote control of rubber-tired gantry cranes, horizontal transport of container trucks, bridge crane intelligent tallying, assisted berthing, and integrated scheduling of port operations. With the 365 approach, we are rapidly transforming Ningbo-Zhoushan Port into a 5G-powered smart port and making it one of China Mobile's leading demonstration projects and model use cases, said Xu. China Mobile Ningbo was among the first in China to deploy 5G macro base stations in harbor areas. It has built a 5G network that covers the five harbor areas, 35 berths, and 77 container yards at Ningbo. To leverage 5Gs core capabilities, the operator has deployed Chinas first mobile edge computing (MEC) server for ports and is among the worlds first to utilize 5G slicing. This addresses the critical requirements for low latency and large video uplink bandwidth for remotely controlling rubber-tired gantry cranes. Facing the risks and challenges of 5G infrastructure and business changes, the operator built a service-centric and risk-informed end-to-end security management and control system to ensure security. Its Smart Port MEC Security Application project was incorporated in GSMA's Powered-by-SA Use Cases. China Mobile Ningbo also provided self-service purchase services for industry customers. Atomic-level capabilities are encapsulated into a standard set of API-based slice products on China Mobile Zhejiangs 5G online store. Users can select the slices they need, customize specifications, place orders with one click, and activate services online. In addition, users can obtain network SLA monitoring data in real time on the self-service page. Innovative applications highlight 5Gs value to industries Traditional gantry cranes require on-site operation, which is inefficient and difficult to manage, and features a poor work environment. In April 2019, China Mobile Ningbo developed China's first 5G remote control application for rubber-tired gantry cranes. This application enables real-time backhaul of 16-channel HD videos and allows gantry cranes to be controlled remotely. In May 2020, six 5G-powered, remotely controlled gantry crane clusters entered production. This was the largest project of its kind in China, and the measured efficiency improved by over 260%. Next, they will promote the development of industry standards for 5G rubber-tired gantry crane remote control systems. Container trucks in the port areas need to run around the clock, and traditional trucks have high requirements for drivers. Drowsy driving poses a high safety risk. In May 2020, China Mobile Ningbo deployed 5G-powered Beidou reference stations, utilizing 5G, V2X, and high-precision positioning technologies to transfer Meishan Harbor Area's existing trucks into self-driving trucks. They also built an end-to-end integrated network covering container trucks, mobile port equipment, and roads to support autonomous driving. Once these trucks are mass deployed, efficiency will be improved by over 40% and labor costs will be reduced by over 50%. Digital, automated tallying is a key part of any smart port. In December 2019, China Mobile Ningbo worked with Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Communication Co., Ltd. to backhaul HD videos of quay cranes in real time with 5G, AI, and cloud computing technologies. This enabled container numbers and container damage to be automatically identified, improving container identification accuracy to at least 95%. These explorations and practices are just phased achievements of China Mobile Ningbos efforts to build a 5G+ smart port. According to Xu, future smart port applications will go beyond scenarios like container yards and berths to become an integrated network of solutions for the ground, sea, sky, and even space. China Mobile Zhejiang will work with its partners to continuously drive smart port upgrades through new technologies and applications. For more information, please visit here A black swan event is an incident that is unpredictable and has widespread ramifications and, after it occurs, many say it actually was predictable. Examples of recent black swan events include the dot-com crash in 2000, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and the 2008 global financial meltdown. And, many now believe the COVID-19 crisis is a black swan event. According to Investopedia, markets can only prepare for these events by building robust systems. The same can be said for businesses those that built robust IT systems prior to this crisis are probably faring better than those that did not. Of course, a successful digital transformation wont solve all the problems caused by a black swan event. Yet, odds are that it can help businesses better weather the storm because modern technologies allow businesses to be more agile and efficient. Adapt to unpredictable changes: A successful digital transformation story One example of a financial organization that furthered digital transformation prior to the COVID-19 event is Mizuho Bank. Headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Mizuho Bank provides financial products and services to a wide range of clients, including individuals, small- and medium-sized enterprises, large corporations, financial institutions, and public sector entities. With over 505 branches and offices in Japan and in 38 other countries, it is the only bank with branches in every prefecture in Japan. In 2018 Mizuho Bank decided to modernize their private cloud infrastructure (Mizuho Cloud IA a secure on-premises environment) with the goal of developing a service platform that could adapt to unpredictable changes. The main objectives of this infrastructure update were the automation of hardware layer construction and migration to an IT consumption model, says Ryota Tazuki, Mizuho Banks Deputy General Manager, IT and Systems Control Department No. 1, Common Platform Coordination Team. Our aim was to develop an environment similar to a public cloud that can be used on demand when it is needed, and the cost is determined according to how much its usedall in a secure on-premises environment. Yosuke Tokuda, Senior Manager, Common Platform Coordination Team adds, As well as delivering the right infrastructure application to the right place and the right person, we believe the next-generation service platform of Mizuho Cloud IA must also be flexible and as easy to use as the public cloud. Composable infrastructure: the key to adaptability As the foundation of its IT environment, Mizuho Bank chose composable infrastructure because it allowed better adaptation to unpredictable changes. By integrating compute, storage modules, and networking into one infrastructure, each resource is combined quickly and automatically to build an environment optimized for each workload. The company also selected a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) option, which enables it to deploy an on-premises environment with a consumption-based model. Mizuho Bank installed HPE Synergy composable infrastructure and HPE GreenLake for its on-premises environment and consumption model. We had an idea to combine the latest infrastructure devices and financial services to create a scalable IT infrastructure, says Tazuki. We conducted various studies and decided that we could create an environment that is closest to our ideal with HPE Synergy, which allows infrastructure control by API, and the addition of HPE GreenLake. This allows deployment of an on-premises environment on a consumption basis. As luck would have itdigitally transformed by July 2019 By July 2019, Mizuho Bank had taken its next step towards further digital transformation. Approximately 120 applications now run on the Mizuho Cloud IA, which consists of 1,000 servers and petabyte-class storage running about 3,000 virtual machines (VMs). Mizuho Cloud accommodates a wide variety of systems, from mission-critical requirements to services that emphasize speed, says Tokuda. Being able to use on-premises devices on consumption basis with HPE GreenLake is a big advantage, and HPE Synergy is also a tremendous benefit in building a scalable IT infrastructure, Tazuki continues. It is a big deal. With the increasing uncertainties in both business and technology, the development of a service platform with excellent adaptability to change is a major achievement. Preparing for a black swan eventas much as humanly possible No one knows what the future holds how long we will be in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic or when the next black swan event will occur. But we do know its always better to be prepared at least as much as humanly possible. And a good place to start is by modernizing your IT infrastructure with solutions that better prepare you for unpredictable changes. Click on these links to learn more about HPE Synergy or HPE GreenLake. You can also read the complete Mizuho Bank success story. ____________________________________ About Deepak Belani Deepak Belani is the Senior Product Marketing Leader for HPE Synergy and BladeSystem, leading the thought-leadership, enablement, and demand generation of the industrys first composable infrastructure platform. With over 20 years in the technology industry, he is passionate about customers, building and bringing to market new solution offerings, and collaborating with partners to enhance solution experiences. When African Americans come out to donate, they are helping support the health and wellness of the African American community, and meeting their responsibility to do outreach and support of other individuals in the community, she said. A lot of people will look at it as their social responsibility and civic duty to support members of their own community. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning. Thunderstorms likely during the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High near 90F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, mainly cloudy overnight with a few showers. Low 63F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. This year was meant to mark the end of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York state, which has killed tens of thousands of residents since the 1980s. But this year has been overwhelmed with a new epidemic where just like the HIV/AIDS crisis New York again found itself at the center of the outbreak. There are major differences between how AIDS initially emerged compared with the coronavirus. But to health experts and those who survived the worst of the HIV/AIDS crisis, a faltering government response, disparate health outcomes for people of color and heightened stigma during the coronavirus pandemic harken back to the HIV/AIDS crisis. The viruses themselves manifest quite differently. HIV transmits through certain bodily fluids, such as blood or semen, while the coronavirus spreads mainly through respiratory droplets from coughs or sneezes. This is like HIV fast forward, said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, deputy commissioner of the Division of Disease Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Its high speed because of the way this transmits. It feels like weve been through 10 years in four months. LGBTQ people, in particular gay and bisexual men, and people with substance abuse disorders were disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. AIDS also proved to be consistently deadly, unlike the coronavirus, and was even more poorly understood at the outset of the outbreak. Whereas the coronavirus was identified early on, it took two years after HIV/AIDS was declared an epidemic for scientists to discover the human immunodeficiency virus that caused acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Data and information on the spread of the coronavirus has also been significantly more accessible. Still, ongoing uncertainty about the coronavirus, the large numbers of deaths and no access to a cure reminded some of how the HIV/AIDS outbreak initially erupted. The early days of the COVID pandemic were really I think I and others who have been doing HIV work for decades were really struck, said Sharen Duke, founding executive director and CEO of the Alliance for Positive Change, a community-based organization created in response to the AIDS crisis. A lot of us almost felt like PTSD the early days of the AIDS epidemic where people were getting sick and dying and there was nothing we could do. Much of the failure to conduct sufficient research and support on HIV/AIDS back then came from stigma against the gay community and a weak government response. Then-President Ronald Reagan notoriously mostly ignored AIDS until his second term in office, four years after the first cases in America, and the media largely failed to press officials on their inaction. New York Citys mayor at the time, Ed Koch, also was widely lambasted by gay activists for also failing to promote risk reduction and education early on, which was especially distressing given that New York City became the epicenter of the outbreak. The failed government response to the coronavirus crisis evoked similar feelings, though their causes may be dissimilar. The federal government is mostly at fault for failing to boost the testing capacity needed to identify the disease and provide enough supplies to protect front-line workers. Though the response has been comparatively robust in New York on a state and local level, there has been plenty of criticism that delays in shelter-in-place policies and rules regarding nursing homes exacerbated the severity of the outbreak. The three months of neglect that we saw at all levels of government here in New York, where you have a much more virulent virus, had the same impact in terms of leaving folks woefully unprepared to address this, leaving a lot more death than needed to have happened, said Charles King, CEO of the nonprofit Housing Works and a former member of ACT UP, an early AIDS activist group. For Kelsey Louie, CEO of Gay Mens Health Crisis, the current approach still represents a major difference between both epidemics. Whether you like the government response or not with COVID, at least its happening and it is being paid attention to, he said. Many people familiar with the HIV/AIDS epidemic have suspected that the more robust response from government officials likely ties into the fact that the coronavirus can affect anyone, where HIV was largely seen as specific to the marginalized gay community. If this were a disease of Black, Latino, LGBTQ people and people who inject drugs only, would the federal response have been as robust? Daskalakis said. Absolutely not. Among the other major differences between both health crises has been the reaction from health care workers. Many attempted to eschew their responsibilities to treat HIV-positive patients throughout the 1980s because of fears that they would contract the disease, though research has since proven that there was minimal risk of transmission. Health care workers who did help people with HIV or AIDS were often shunned. It was a very hostile atmosphere towards the disease and towards the practitioners who worked with patients with the disease, said Gerald Oppenheimer, a historian with expertise in the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The patients were very unpopular and greatly feared. Some discussion has occurred among doctors who fear treating coronavirus patients, given the high transmission risk and shortages of personal protective equipment that marked the worst of the pandemic. But for the most part, it hasnt stopped health care workers from doing their jobs, and the public has celebrated them as heroes for continuing to work throughout the crisis. What also made the HIV/AIDS outbreak particularly pernicious was the fact that it heightened already existing homophobia and stigma against people using illegal drugs. Physicians designated four groups stigmatized as high-risk at the time, condensed in the term the 4-Hs, which stood for homosexuals, hemophiliacs, heroin addicts, and Haitians. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention erroneously included Haitians, who many at the time accused of carrying HIV to the United States, and as a result faced widespread discrimination not entirely dissimilar to that faced by Asians and Asian Americans during the coronavirus crisis. Also incorrectly targeted for bringing the coronavirus from China, Asian Americans have increasingly been the victims of hate crimes in New York City. Asian-owned businesses were also among the first to experience financial hardships in the coronavirus outbreak. There are indications that people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, even if they have recovered, have been shunned by their peers and felt stigmatized. Racism has also manifested in poor health outcomes for people suffering from either disease. Although Black people made up 13% of the countrys population in 2018, they represented 42% of new HIV diagnoses nationally, according to the CDC. The majority of transgender women who have tested positive for HIV are either Black or Latino as well. The coronavirus similarly disproportionately affects Black and Latino people, who have died at twice the rate of white people from the disease in New York City. Some valuable lessons have transferred over to the recent pandemic. For example, New York Citys health department issued a guide for how to safely have sex during the coronavirus pandemic. That is very directly from the HIV experience and looking at public health and government and how it failed in that era to be leading on giving people clear advice rather than waiting for community members to feel around in the dark to come up with a strategy, Daskalakis said. These harm-reduction strategies also led to the agency producing another guide for how to safely gather in groups with the understanding that while not gathering would be safer many will still do so despite the risk. Even with the great medical strides that have transformed HIV into a manageable chronic disease and slowed the viruss spread, some of that progress may be at risk because of the coronavirus. As health care transitioned to tackling the coronavirus, regular treatment of chronic health conditions became deprioritized, Daskalakis said. And organizations on the front lines of helping people with HIV are also concerned that funding for their initiatives could dissipate amid the immense fiscal crisis facing New York Citys government. They are now expressing concerns that New York state may not reach its goal of ending the AIDS epidemic this year. Im only half kidding I think we need an extension in terms of getting our 2020 target, Daskalakis said. Since the coronavirus pandemic has forced New Yorkers to stay at home, the state decided to allow anyone to vote via absentee ballot. But that transition came with lots of challenges, as people didnt get their absentee ballots mailed back in time for their votes to count in the June 23 primary. That problem was spurred in part by the New York City Board of Elections being flooded with requests for more than 700,000 absentee ballots. For comparison, only 23,775 absentee and military ballots were filed during the 2016 presidential primary. The glut of absentee ballots also means that election results are still pending because so many votes continue to come in by mail. City & State takes a look at when these ballots will be counted and what it means for finding out which candidates have emerged victorious. When will absentee ballots start to get counted? The New York City Board of Elections is legally required to start counting absentee ballots by July 1, but that wont happen because of the immense number of absentee ballots. The vote counting will begin on Staten Island on July 6, with the remaining boroughs beginning their counts on July 8. This slowdown is happening in part because ballots need to be processed before they can be counted, which involves checking information like whether ballots have been signed and dated, and if a voter who mailed an absentee ballot also voted in person. Normally, there are few enough absentee ballots that staff at the board can go through them and make a determination of validity, and be ready the next day to set up the count, said Sarah Steiner, an election lawyer who used to chair the Election Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. But I dont think thats going to happen here. What absentee ballots will be counted? Absentee ballots must have been postmarked by Election Day, June 23, to be counted. They also must be received by the Board of Elections within a week, so any ballots that arrive after June 30 will not be counted. When will we know who won these primary races? Finalizing New York Citys primary election results are contingent on the speed with which the Board of Elections can count absentee ballots a process that must be done by hand. If we have to sacrifice speed for accuracy, we will always err on the side of accuracy and not give into the pressure to speed things up, Michael Ryan, executive director of the city Board of Elections, said on Wednesday. Steiner estimated it could take two to three weeks for the results to be finalized. Certain races could also be officially confirmed earlier if the agency decides to release results on a rolling basis. The Board of Elections itself generally will not publicly update numbers until theyre ready to certify for the whole city, said Leo Glickman, an election lawyer and partner at Stoll, Glickman & Bellina LLP, though he noted that campaigns may still informally share unofficial results from overseeing the count. In some cases, the process may be even more drawn out if there are further legal challenges contesting the results. Could we see lawsuits disputing the results? Its likely that more candidates than usual will be filing lawsuits related to absentee ballots. Usually, absentee ballots constitute such a small portion of the vote that even in many tight races, it may not be worth the effort to contest them, Glickman said. But there are several competitive primaries this year that could hypothetically be flipped by the remaining absentee ballots. For example, the leading candidate in Assembly District 79 in the Bronx is only leading by 240 votes right now, while nearly 2,000 absentee ballots in the district remain to be counted. This means there is a greater incentive for candidates to monitor the counting process. Candidates only have until July 6 to decide whether they wish to pursue a lawsuit, however, which means theyll have to decide before the process of counting most absentee ballots has begun. I think there is going to be a lot of lawsuits, but I think in a lot of cases, theyre going to end up as insurance policies in case youre one of those cases that comes out very close, Glickman said. This years legal challenges will look different than the one in the Queens district attorney race last year. Because that race was close, it triggered a mandatory recount of all votes. The main issue this year only relates to counting absentee ballots. In some cases, litigation may likely be resolved based on the outcome of the absentee ballot count. If some races turn out to be close, those are more likely to see drawn out disputes on whether certain ballots should be counted. Steiner anticipates that whether absentee ballots were mailed and received in time to be counted may be a big issue in this years lawsuits. There also could be a greater number of absentee ballots that werent postmarked this year because the post office will sometimes omit them on mail with prepaid postage, she said. This is the first year that absentee ballots have been issued with prepaid postage. By custom, the New York City budget is passed with a handshake. After months of negotiation between the mayors office and the City Council, it signifies that the two sides of City Hall have reached agreement and met in the middle literally in the historic buildings marbled rotunda that falls halfway between the mayors office and the council chamber. This year, there would be no handshake. That is, in part, due to public health precautions by the citys top elected officials, Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who have maintained physical distance in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Their negotiating had been done entirely remotely, mostly on phone calls. But the two leaders didnt just have physical space between them. The lack of a traditional handshake underscored the disagreements between the two sides up until the final hours, primarily centered on the question of how much to cut the New York City Police Departments budget. Not to mention the disagreements that still remain among the 50 City Council members, with more than a dozen expressing their disapproval for the budget with a no vote on Tuesday night. Nonetheless, de Blasio and the Council reached a deal on an $88.2 billion budget that is greatly reduced from the citys plans before the coronavirus pandemic hit New York including a hefty cut to the NYPD budget sought by police reform activists. The City Council held a meeting late Tuesday night that lasted just past 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning to officially pass the budget for fiscal year 2021. The mayor was expected to sign it immediately, not long after the midnight deadline before the new fiscal year began on July 1. This years budget was in many ways, the toughest budget challenge this city has seen in a long, long time, de Blasio said Tuesday. The economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic is projected to cost the city $9 billion in revenue. This $88.2 billion budget represents a 5% cut from the $92.8 billion fiscal year 2020 budget passed one year ago. It is the first time the New York City budget has been reduced year-over-year since 2009, during the Great Recession. The new fiscal years budget is also 8% lower than the $95.3 billion preliminary budget de Blasio proposed in January, meaning the mayor and Council had to find some $7.1 billion in cuts and savings in the last few months. Few specifics were publicly available as of Tuesday evening, but many of the cuts and cost-savings proposed by de Blasio in April, such as reducing overnight service on the Staten Island Ferry, likely made it into the final budget. (De Blasios initial proposal included a minimal cut of just $24 million to the NYPD.) Additionally, de Blasio has said that if the federal government does not provide the city with more stimulus funds, he may have to lay off up to 22,000 city employees starting Oct. 1. The mayor also said the job cuts could be staved off if the state Senate were to agree with the Assembly and grant the city the authority to borrow money for its expense budget. But the state Senate has held firm, with a spokesman saying the mayor had not provided a detailed enough plan tied to the proposal. But in the financial crisis, police reform activists saw an opportunity. As early as April 30, a coalition led by the advocacy coalition Communities United for Police Reform called for a major cut to the NYPDs budget. Following the widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism in late May and early June, a more specific demand from CUPR and its allies crystalized: cutting the NYPDs budget by at least $1 billion and redirecting the savings towards services like summer programs for kids. Other activists took the demands further. The Democratic Socialists of Americas New York City chapter called for the NYPDs $5.6 billion budget to be cut in half. And in the week leading up the budget vote, hundreds of activists slept outside in Lower Manhattan as part of an ongoing Occupy City Hall protest in support of major NYPD budget cuts. Most New Yorkers may not agree with the activists demands. According to a Siena College poll released Tuesday, just 41% of registered voters in New York City support defunding the police, while 47% oppose it. But the demands dominated the discourse, and city leaders quickly warmed up to the cause. With just weeks before the budget deadline, Johnson and other City Council leaders agreed to set $1 billion in cuts as their goal. De Blasio, while initially opposed, eventually conceded, announcing on Tuesday that the NYPDs budget would be reduced by $1 billion, But an analysis of budget documents suggests that top-line number relies on an expansive view of police spending and associated costs. Nevertheless, the 12% year-over-year reduction is significant. The NYPDs budget for the upcoming fiscal year will be $4.92 billion $690 million less than the previous years $5.61 billion budget. Cuts counted toward the $1 billion number include reducing planned overtime spending by $352 million for the year and cutting spending on contracts by $12 million. The city will also cancel one of the four annual police academy classes a move which could reduce the NYPDs headcount of 36,000-plus uniformed officers by 1,163, saving more than $85 million. The reduction also includes significant cost shifts, like moving the budget for school safety agents, which patrol city schools, to the Department of Education. Some $430 million of the total cuts to the NYPD will be redirected towards youth and family initiatives, including $115 million for summer youth programming, de Blasio said Tuesday. This is real redistribution, the mayor said. This is taking real resources and putting them where theyre needed most. But Johnson refused to declare victory, knowing activists who pushed him to make the cuts were largely disappointed with the result. Jawanza Williams, an organizer with VOCAL-NY, which organized the Occupy City Hall protest, said the organization was outraged and appalled by our leaders' deceptive decisions, the lack of transparency in government, and stonewalling in the face of a national reckoning of racial injustice and police violence. Many criticized the shifting of school safety agents in particular. "Most of the so-called $1 billion in cuts to the NYPD are suspect, more budget-dancing than meaningful reductions, New York City Council Member Brad Lander said in a statement. Lander, a progressive Brooklyn Democrat, said he would vote no on the budget as a result. In total, the budget passed 32 to 17. City Council Member Costa Constantinides was absent for the vote, and one council seat in North Brooklyn is currently vacant. Of the 17 votes against the budget, nine members thought the cuts to the NYPD were not enough, and eight thought the cuts were too much. 9 NYC Council members voted no on the FY '21 budget because the NYPD cuts weren't enough: Barron, Kallos, Lander, Menchaca, Reynoso, Rivera, Richards, Rosenthal, Van Bramer 8 voted no b/c NYPD cuts were too much: Borelli, Diaz Sr., Deutsch, Gjonaj, Holden, Matteo, Ulrich, Yeger Jeff Coltin (@JCColtin) July 1, 2020 While he doesnt have a vote on the budget, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is among those dissenting on the left. Williams released a statement Tuesday morning threatening to withhold the budget if de Blasio and the council didnt freeze NYPD hiring and commit to major changes to the current school safety model. Even longtime political observers were confused by the move, questioning whether the typically weak public advocates office had the power. That includes the former public advocate, de Blasio. The budget is effective as soon as Council passes it and is certified only by the mayor, comptroller, and city clerk, de Blasios press secretary, Freddi Goldstein, said in an emailed statement. Unbowed, Williams vowed to follow through. The budget is one that I cannot support and will not sign off on, Williams said in a written statement released early Wednesday morning, after the council passed the budget. So he said he would be compelled to act in my charter mandated capacity as Public Advocate. Such a test of the offices powers is unprecedented, and could result in a court challenge from the de Blasio administration. Johnson seemed exhausted as he held his own virtual press conference Tuesday afternoon, just hours after the mayors. Personally, I did my best. And it was a really hard negotiation, Johnson said. The mayor didnt want to cut nearly as much as he did from the NYPDs budget, and there was major disagreement among members too. But I was trying to find consensus to do something meaningful, knowing this is the beginning. Correction: This story was updated to reflect details of the City Councils budget vote. A previous version of this article overstated the fiscal year 2020 NYPD budget and misstated the nature of the cuts to the fiscal year 2021 NYPD budget. Two weeks ago, in a move that surprised no one, a Philippine judge convicted journalists Maria Ressa, the executive editor of the independent news outlet Rappler, and Reynaldo Santos, Jr., a reporter there, of cyberlibel. The case against Ressa and Santos hinged on a May 2012 article that explored a possible link between the then-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a prominent businessman alleged to be involved in human-trafficking and the drug trade. Ressa and Santos remain free on bail, but face up to six years in prison. Their conviction is the culmination of an orchestrated campaign of government pressure and harassment directed against Rappler in response to its critical coverage of Philippine politics. In a tactic that has become increasingly common around the world, the government of President Rodrigo Duterte has sought to hide its repressive action behind a veneer of democratic legitimacy, using the courts as a cudgel. A close reading of the 37-page legal decisions handed down by Judge Rainelda H. Estacio-Montesa in a Manila Regional Trial Court shows the ways in which the law has been manipulated to achieve the outcome desired by the Duterte regime. ICYMI: The most feared owner in American journalism looks set to take some of its greatest assets The cyberlibel law itself violates international norms and democratic standards in classifying libel as a criminal, rather than civil, offense. The Rappler article at the center of the case was first published in 2012, months before the cyberlibel law was enacted by Congress. But Estacio-Montesa, the judge, determined the correction of a spelling error in 2014 constituted an act of republication; thus, by her reasoning, the law applied. (The Justice Department also extended the statute of limitations for cyberlibel to 12 years.) Estacio-Montesa also failed to take into account the public interest in determining the legal protections that should properly apply. The governments criminal case against Rappler is based on its contention that businessman Wilfredo Keng was libeled in the article. The article did, in fact, allege that Keng had engaged in a range of criminal activities, from human trafficking to cigarette smuggling. Keng has denied those allegations, which were based on intelligence reports and other news accounts. Sign up for CJR 's daily email But the article wasnt about Keng; it was about Renato Corona, then the chief justice of the Supreme Court, who, based on license plate records, was alleged to be driving Kengs bulletproof SUV. The fact that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court may have had a relationship with an alleged criminal was newsworthy and unquestionably an issue of public concern. In the United States, the public interest is codified in law in several ways, including the actual malice standard, articulated in the US Supreme Courts 1964 landmark decision in New York Times v. Sullivan. Justice William Brennan, writing for the majority, distinguished between private citizens and public officials who, in order to claim damages for libel, must demonstrate that information published is not only false but published in reckless disregard of the truth. The logic, in Brennans famous phrase, was that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials. The UKs 2013 Defamation Law reform, intended to curtail Libel Tourism, included a public-interest defense, limiting liability when journalists reasonably believed they were acting in the public interest. Legal protections for expression related to the public interest is less directly articulated in international law, according to David Kaye, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, and the UN special rapporteur for free expression. However, the principle that political speech should be granted robust protection is a well-understood and accepted international norm based on a recognition that, without a free press, there can be no accountabilityand that, without accountability, democracy does not exist. Yet, in her decision, Estacio-Montesa failed to grapple with the hard questions. While the actual malice standard exists in Philippine law, the judge determined that it was not relevant because Keng is a private individual and not a public figure. This determination is dubious on its face, since Keng is a prominent businessman who has been engaged in public activities and has been the subject of news coverage. But the chief justice of the Supreme Court is unquestionably a public official, and his activities and actions are a legitimate issue of public concern. The failure of Estacio-Montesa to consider this fact in her ruling was a dereliction of responsibility. In making her legal ruling, the judge looked solely at the protections to free expression in the Philippines. These, at least from a legal perspective, are admittedly robust, and provide the same protection to all Fiilipinos, whether a gossip columnist, a social media ranter, or an investigative journalist. But Estacio-Montesa emphasized in her ruling that freedom of expression is burdened with responsibility, asking in one instance, Can this right be invoked at all times even if a person has trampled on the rights of another? Freedom of expression is, of course, never absolute. But in her effort to determine the proper balance, Estacio-Montesa failed to consider the relevant legal standard. In a world where everyone has an opinion and the ability to express his or her ideas, special considerations and protections must be available to speech that serves a broader social purposewhether that speech comes from journalists, human-rights defenders, labor activists, or others. Defining the public interest is complex and not without risk, because it grants judges some level of discretion. But at a time when a record number of journalists are in prison around the world, and when autocratic leaders seek to use the law as an instrument of state repression, journalists demanding accountability and exposing government wrongdoing must be granted appropriate legal protection. This must start with Ressa and Santos. What is at stake, of course, is their freedom, as well as the survival of Rappler. But journalism is also on trial, and the decision in their case has implications for the media everywhere. Yesterday, Ressas legal team, led by Amal Clooney, filed a Motion for Reconsideration. Judge Estacio-Montesa has another chance to get things right. THE MEDIA TODAY: Could McClatchy become a nonprofit newspaper chain? Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Joel Simon is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the author of We Want to Negotiate: The Secret World of Kidnapping, Hostages and Ransom. In February, McClatchy, the newspaper chain that owns titles including the Miami Herald and the Charlotte Observer, filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. As bankruptcy proceedings have unspooled since then, a lot has changedboth in the world at large and for the already-beleaguered news business, which has been hammered by collapsing ad revenue amid the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic. In April, McClatchy furloughed more than a hundred non-editorial staffers and cut executive positions and pay; around the same time, the company asked the judge overseeing the bankruptcy to allow McClatchy to scale back its payments to its lawyers and creditors. McClatchys Kevin G. Hall reported at the time that the case now has one of the largest investigation budgets in the history of the Southern Districts bankruptcy court. Proceedings have been complicated by longer-term wrangling, too. Last week, for instance, a group of unsecured creditors asked the judge for permission to go after current and former leaders of McClatchy in relation to a 2018 debt-refinancing deal with Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund that is McClatchys biggest lender and investor. The creditors claim the deal was fraudulent and unfairly benefited Chatham. (A federal pensions agency has also raised concerns about the deal.) Both Chatham and McClatchy strongly deny this; the latter called such claims chicanery. ICYMI: Kayleigh McEnany, media critic Tomorrow, the case will reach an important milestonethe deadline for final bids for McClatchys newspaper assets. McClatchys board will disclose the winning bid next week, pending judicial approval at the end of July. Yesterday, Ken Doctor, an industry analyst who writes for Nieman Lab, assessed who might be in the running to take over. Chatham has long been seen as the frontrunner, and in May, it filed a formal bid in the area of $300 million. According to Doctor, however, Chathams lawyers have said theyre open to being outbid. As a hedge fund, its in McClatchy for a financial return, not long-term investment or community service, Doctor writes. If someone else thinks McClatchy is worth more than they do, theyll happily take their money. The someone else could be GannettAmericas biggest newspaper chain by circulation, which already merged with GateHouse last yearor Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund thats notorious for devastating cuts at its media properties, or an unnamed newish player from the financial sphere. Or, intriguingly, it could be a leader or leaders from the world of nonprofit journalism. Doctor reports that unnamed people in those circles are actively discussing whether to acquire McClatchy, or part thereof, with the idea of turning into a nonprofit newspaper chain. Its not certain whether all or any of the above suitors will bid by tomorrows deadline. Online, however, the prospect of the latter ideanonprofit conversionwas welcomed by many journalists and journalism-watchers. There were eyeball emojis. I imagine this will generate a very mixed reaction, Emily Bell, the director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism and CJR contributor who is jointly leading our Journalism Crisis Project, tweeted. However, taking an established for-profit group and *genuinely* reforming it as a non- profit would open some exciting possibilities, I think. Aron Pilhofer, a professor of journalism innovation at Temple University, said in reply to Bell, Speaking for myself, reaction very much not mixed. If there is a world in which McClatchy can end up in the hands of a civic-minded owner (regardless of that owners tax status), then Im not sure who would think thats a bad thing. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Amid the industry hellscape, the idea of nonprofit conversion has often been touted as a promising avenue for news organizations, especially on the local level, for whom the prevailing for-profit news model is scarcelyor notviable. Late last year, the Salt Lake Tribune became the first legacy daily to transition to nonprofit status in and of itself; surprisingly, the Internal Revenue Service processed the switch quickly and painlessly, offering an encouraging template for papers in a similar situation. More recently, Save Our Sun, a coalition of nonprofit, union, and civic leaders in Baltimore, launched a campaign to acquire the Baltimore Sunwhich is owned by Tribune, which is increasingly entangled with Aldenand take it nonprofit, too. Another group, the American Journalism Project, aims to establish a network of new nonprofit outlets across the US. In March, as the coronavirus crisis started to bite, Ben Smith, media columnist at the New York Times, endorsed that idea, and suggested that while were at it, we should let newspaper chains diesaving their journalists while jettisoning their hedge fund owners. Any move to take McClatchy nonprofit would in some ways represent a middle ground here: its a less radical idea than starting from scratch (and could retain some of what would be lost under Smiths proposal, such as the name recognition that established journalistic brands enjoy), but a much more ambitious project than converting a single title. Nonprofit status is not a silver bullet for any news organization, and certainly not for the whole of McClatchy, which has deep-rooted problems. The economic climate for news was already dire, and the pandemic has made it much more so. Yesterday, Doctor sounded a note of skepticism about the possible McClatchy nonprofit. How would a civic-minded nonprofit approach the tough transformations still ahead for local news, which is still highly dependent on print revenues smack in the middle of the COVID age? he asked. In this growing civic-good journalism world, there are many good people with the right motivesbut very uneven skills to transform beleaguered companies. Still, McClatchys many outstanding journalists deserve owners who at least try to prioritize investment over cuts, and news over profits. As Nieman Labs Joshua Benton put it on Twitter yesterday, after sharing Doctors article, there is a big difference between owner who demands an 18% profit margin and owner whos cool ~breaking even. Below, more media business news: Other notable stories: ICYMI: The most feared owner in American journalism looks set to take some of its greatest assets Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. A mail-order pharmacy that fought frequent court battles against workers compensation insurers will pay $11 million and change its business practices to settle a civil complaint by the Massachusetts attorney generals office. Injured Workers Pharmacy, or IWP, improperly dispensed opioids to injured workers after paying attorneys for referrals and contracting with physicians who prescribed drugs to known abusers, the office said. The company did not properly review prescriptions to ensure they were legitimate and engaged in unlawful marketing practices to boost sales, the complaint says. They dispensed thousands of prescriptions for dangerous drugs, including opioids like fentanyl, with a shocking lack of regard for whether those prescriptions were legitimate, Healey said in a press release. Combatting the opioid epidemic remains a top priority of my office and we will aggressively pursue those who break our laws to profit from this crisis. IWP is a familiar name to workers compensation insurance adjusters because it dispenses medications even for claims that have not been accepted as compensable, complicating settlement negotiations. The company, founded in 2001, has filed lawsuits against CompSource Mutual Insurance Co. and New York City seeking reimbursement for alleged underpayments for the drugs it delivered to workers compensation claimants. The complaint by Healeys office says that IWP used unlawful tactics to drive sales, including entering into illegal agreements to buy patient referrals and offering incentives to sales staff to engage in their own misconduct and ignore red flags by paying them based on dispensing volume. The complaint alleges IWP filled and shipped: Thousands of prescriptions written by problem prescribers who were ultimately disciplined, indicted or convicted for improper opioid prescribing. Thousands of dangerous, high-dose prescriptions, including for fentanyl formulations known to be especially dangerous. Thousands of prescriptions for dangerous drug combinations known to be indicators of drug misuse and potential overdose, including the so-called holy trinity a combination of an opioid, a benzodiazepine, and a muscle relaxant. IWP entered into a consent judgment that requires it to hire additional staff and change its operations and business practices. Among the required measures, IWP must: Hire a full-time compliance officer to assess whether to block and report prescribers and design and administer training programs to teach IWP staff about red flag prescribing behaviors. Hire a data analyst to review dispensing data to identify at-risk patients and suspicious prescribers and a pain management specialty pharmacist to counsel at-risk patients and their doctors. Consult state prescription drug monitoring programs prior to dispensing controlled substance prescriptions. Offer to dispense naloxone to all patients receiving Schedule II and III controlled substances, including opioids, at no out-of-pocket cost to the patient. Stop making unlawful payments for referrals. IWP did not admit to any wrongdoing when it agreed to the consent judgment. The company announced on its website the launch of a new compliance program following the attorney generals recent review of its business practices. We will continue to assess and evolve our practices in the best interest of our patients and in compliance with state and federal regulations, the company said. DENVER Police in Denver have apprehended three suspects in connection with an attempt to set fire to the pedestal of a Civil War statue that was toppled last week, authorities announced Sunday. About 75 protesters had been demonstrating peacefully around the Capitol late Saturday night when a small group broke off and went to the statue site, a Colorado State Patrol spokesperson told KUSA-TV. Just before 11 p.m. a fire was set atop the mostly concrete pedestal using wood and other materials. the spokesperson said. The Denver Fire Department extinguished the blaze within about 20 minutes, and the damage was minimal. Gov. Jared Polis said three suspects were later apprehended. They included a 22-year-old who was being held on suspicion of second-degree arson, according to the Denver Police Department. We hope this also provides a breakthrough into other ongoing investigations regarding destruction of public property, Polis said in a statement. There is a right way and a wrong way to have an open and honest conversation about our history. Destruction and vandalism are not the answer. The statue, erected in 1909, had been pulled down Thursday. It recognized a Union cavalry regiment that fought Confederate forces but also acknowledged the soldiers role in an 1864 massacre of Native Americans. Its toppling came as protesters across the nation have defaced and torn down statues of historic figures during recent demonstrations against racial injustice. Most of those pieces have explicit ties to colonialism, slavery and the Confederacy, including imagery of Christopher Columbus and former U.S. presidents who owned slaves. Polis has said the Denver statute will be repaired. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. LEHI, Utah Fireworks caused a wildfire in Utah that forced out residents of houses and an apartment building early Sunday before crews managed to turn back the blaze as it encroached on a neighborhood, officials said. A suspect was cooperating with law enforcement, Utah Fire Info said in a tweet. Fireworks are prohibited in the area. Strong wind gusts had been reported in the Lehi area as the Traverse Fire grew to about 450 acres (200 hectares), the agency said. It died down significantly midday Sunday. However, more strong winds were forecast and some evacuations would remain in effect until the threat of the fire flaring up again had passed, officials said. Photos showed the fire erupting in the background of a residential area and behind a large church. Evacuations were ordered in Lehi and Draper. About 20 homes were in imminent danger when crews first arrived. Early morning rain helped tamp down the flames and no structures were considered threatened by midday, Lehi Fire Chief Jeremy Craft . The fire-scarred hillside above the community is now at increased danger of mudslides, he added. That could threaten houses if heavy rain occurs before the vegetation can grow back, Craft told the Deseret News. A high school gym in Lehi and a middle school in Draper were offered as shelters, according to tweets from the cities. No injuries and only minor structural damage were immediately reported. The Red Cross said the Draper shelter was closed after about 40 people who sought assistance were no longer there. Dangerous fire conditions were forecast for Sunday afternoon through Monday across parts of Utah. Projected gusts of up to 50 mph (81 kph) and low relative humidity levels mean any fires that start could rapidly spread. Rocky Mountain Power tweeted that about 7,500 customers lost power. Lehi is about 28 miles (45 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. Craft told the fire started at an opportune time of high fire risk. Fireworks are prohibited in the area. Super dry fuels, all of the sudden we get kind of a dry wind storm that comes in, and this thing was explosive, the fire chief said. Its unfortunate that this incident happened. It caused a lot of people a long, sleepless night. In the meantime, a wildfire northwest of Reno had burned nearly 5 1/2 square miles of grass and brush as of Sunday with only 10% containment, but some of the evacuation restrictions have been lifted. About 400 people were evacuated by Saturday evening by the Poeville Fire that destroyed at least eight structures including a few homes and some outbuildings. Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District officials said the blaze was burning on the east side of of Peavine Mountain and its cause was under investigation. Washoe County Sheriffs officials said evacuation restrictions were lifted at noon Sunday for the Horizon Hills area in the North Valleys of Reno. Evacuation orders remain in effect for residences in Raleigh Heights and other areas including a mobile home park west of Golden Valley and all businesses north of Lemmon Drive and southwest of U.S. 395. The county remains under a red flag warning until 11 p.m. Sunday due to gusty winds and dry conditions. A federal incident management team was expected to take over the fire at some point Sunday, bringing in more firefighters and other resources. About the photo: The Traverse Fire burns behind homes in Lehi, Utah, Sunday, June 28, 2020. Officials say fireworks caused the wildfire and forced evacuations early Sunday morning. (Justin Reeves via AP) Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Yet any such news might already be outdated: The jobs report wont fully capture the impact of the COVID upsurge in the South and West and the desperate steps being pursued to try to control it. The re-closings of restaurants and bars, and resulting job cuts, mark an about-face from what appear to have been premature efforts to restart the economy before the pandemic had been contained. William Russell Allton was born in Dewey, Oklahoma on April 25, 1931 to Russell Frank and Alice Mae (Steffens) Allton. He attended school in Claremore and graduated with the class of 1948. On August 26, 1949 Bill married Jimmie Louise Reed and the couple made Tulsa home for the first 25 year WESTLAKE, Ohio -- Be-Red-Cross-Ready is what is currently being taught to Citizen Emergency Response Training (CERT) volunteers. Julie Morron, CERT instructor in the West Shore area, is providing some virtual disaster training through the Red Cross while the classes cannot meet in person yet due to the coronavirus. Recently, John Gareis, regional manager of disaster preparedness for the Northern Ohio Region of the Red Cross, held the first of three disaster trainings for CERT volunteers on Zoom. The first presentation focused on fires in the home -- the causes and the information that can save your life and that of your family members. Some of the information is well-known, but other information was new and prompted questions. The information called for homeowners to do many of the things most of us have learned over time: Have a fire extinguisher as well as a smoke detector in each room. But, for example, did you know the newest recommendation from fire departments is to have a smoke detector inside your bedroom as well as outside in the hall? How old are your smoke detectors? The Red Cross said they should be replaced after they are 10 years old due to new technology. Did you know that if a fire is heating up outside the door of your room, you should feel the door with the back of your hand, not your palm, as the back of the hand is more sensitive? Most people know there should be an exit plan if the smoke detectors go off. But did you know you should prepare beforehand two -- yes two -- escape routes from every room. For bedrooms, that means the plan may very well include an escape ladder to toss over the windowsill to get out. Have you and your family tried it? Gareis said statistics show there are less than five seconds to be up and going out your escape route -- or you may not make it out at all. And prepare your children, he said, by actually practicing the exit strategy twice a year. There are many more valuable, and some surprising, tips available through the Red Cross, including the preparation of a kit for each family member. For a clear, precise and interesting presentation to be presented to your group, Gareis can be contacted at 216-431-3219. Read more from the West Shore Sun. BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- City Council has begun impeachment and removal proceedings against Councilman Jack Petsche, who was charged earlier this month with unlawful interest in a public contract by a Cuyahoga County grand jury. Councils June 16 vote to schedule a public impeachment hearing -- after which council may decide whether to remove Petsche from office -- was 6-1, with Petsche casting the lone dissenting vote. The hearing is scheduled for July 21. At the June 16 meeting, Petsche pleaded with council to delay a removal hearing vote. He said he wasnt prepared for the vote and didnt know beforehand that council would consider taking action that night. Why do I have to be ambushed this way? Petsche asked Councilman Lou Carouse Jr. Why wasnt this on the agenda? Why wasnt I given the opportunity to have my attorney here? Carouse told Petsche that council had been patient with Petsche. He said council delayed acting even after the Ohio Ethics Commission, during the first half of 2019, opened an investigation into Petsche, and again after the commission referred the case to Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office for possible charges. To continue to wait on this is something that puts us in a bad spot with a lot of people, Carouse said. Theyre wondering: Why arent you taking action (against Petsche)? The charter requires you to. The city charter states that council can remove any member for gross misconduct or malfeasance or nonfeasance ... or upon conviction while in office of a felony or other crime involving moral turpitude, or for violation of his oath of office. Sergio DiGeronimo, the citys assistant law director, said the charter also states that a council member shall not directly or indirectly solicit ... in any profit or emolument from or on account of any contract, job, work or service with or for the municipality. A council member can be removed from office only with the votes of five of the seven council members, and only after a public hearing at which the council members attorney can defend his or her client, present evidence and examine witnesses. If council removes one of its members, its decision is final and cant be appealed, according to the charter. Contracts & subcontracts Petsche faces three felony counts of having an unlawful interest in a public contract and one felony count of attempting to have an unlawful interest in a contract. He is scheduled to be arraigned July 22 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas -- one day after his scheduled removal hearing before City Council. County prosecutors said Petsche, 66, voted as councilman to award city money to a construction firm, Panzica Construction Co., that had subcontracted with a Petsche-owned company, USA Roofing. The project was the construction of a new Brecksville police station. Panzica, after it won the police station contract, invited USA Roofing to bid on the job as a subcontractor. Panzica accepted USA Roofings bid in August 2017, before Petsche was elected to council in November 2017. Also, prosecutors said that In April and May 2018, respectively, Petsche voted with the rest of council to issue $500,000 in notes and $2 million in bonds to help pay for the police station project -- on which USA Roofing was then working. Petsche has stated that he didnt abstain from the vote because council had previously decided to borrow money for the police station project, although the amount might not have been determined. Prosecutors added that in March 2019, Petsche, along with the rest of council, voted to amend its pricing agreement with Panzica for the police station. Petsche said he participated in the vote because the additional costs had nothing to do with the roof USA Roofing was installing. At any rate, prosecutors said Petsche didnt disclose to his fellow council members the relationship between USA Roofing and Panzica until August, after USA Roofing had been paid $142,000. Finally, prosecutors said that in May 2019, USA Roofing -- while Petsche was on council -- bid as a subcontractor on the citys aquatics center renovation project. USA Roofing ultimately wasnt hired by the general contractor, Seitz Builders, after a city official noticed that Petsches firm had submitted a bid to Seitz. DiGeronimo said that under Ohio law, public officials cannot profit or benefit from a contract between the municipality he or she serves and another entity. One of Petsches attorneys, Paul Daiker, has stated that Petsche looks forward to his day in court and believes that he will be exonerated. Daiker said Petsche and USA Roofing had come to a subcontractor agreement with Panzica before he was first elected a Brecksville councilman, although the agreement wasnt formally signed until after his election that November. Daiker and Petsches other attorney, Peter Pattakos, told cleveland.com that Petsche didnt intentionally do anything wrong. He said Petsches contracts were with other contractors, not the City of Brecksville. Narrowing it down DiGeronimo said council would base its removal proceedings only on USA Roofings aquatics center bid, not the bid and work on the police station. He said the charge is gross misconduct, malfeasance, nonfeasance and disqualification from office because Petsche sought to benefit financially from a city contract or subcontract. DiGeronimo said it was councils choice not to seek removal of Petsche for matters related to the police station project. He said council will let the court deal with that issue. The aquatic bid by Mr. Petsche is already established in the public record and is the only violation of the citys charter that the City Council will consider at this time, DiGeronimo said in an email to cleveland.com. The issue is very narrow, and Mr. Petsche has publicly admitted at a council meeting that he bid on the aquatic center, DiGeronimo said. At the June 16 meeting, council President Michael Harwood told Petsche that in September 2019, he, Petsche, had promised to resign from council if the Ohio Ethics Commission investigation determined that he had violated the law. He asked Petsche if he would resign that night. Petsche said no. He said he hadnt yet seen the ethics commission report or any documents related to the charges against him. To do this would be premature, Petsche said regarding councils vote to schedule a removal hearing. What if Im found not guilty (in court)? I am entitled to the presumption of innocence. Petsche asked council to table the vote on the removal hearing until after his court trial. He said a removal hearing and his possible removal from office would prejudice his court case. What harm is done (by delaying a hearing)? Petsche said. Am I doing harm to council now? Am I doing harm to the city by doing my job here as a councilman? Councilwoman Ann Koepke said Petsche had a point, although she would later vote to schedule the removal hearing. If we find him guilty, other people might, and I hate to do that, Koepke said. So Im hesitant at doing that at this point without thinking more on it. Koepke also wondered why a vote to schedule a removal hearing wasnt on councils agenda that evening. She said residents, if they knew council would vote, likely would have wanted to attend. Harwood said the vote on Petsches removal hearing wasnt on the agenda because council had not received prior notification that Petsche had been indicted. He said DiGeronimo raised the issue during the regular law directors report. Carouse said councils decision whether to remove Petsche from office for allegedly violating the city charter is independent of the court trial. DiGeronimo added that a felony conviction isnt necessary to remove a council member. Harwood said everyone on council knows that they cannot bid on city projects. He said that should have been obvious to Petsche. Four Seasons revisited Pattakos said nothing that he or Daiker would have said at the June 16 meeting would have changed councils minds. He said councils vote to begin removal proceedings against Petsche is political retaliation over the Four Seasons issue. In 2018, the city and Cuyahoga County agreed to pay close to $682,000 in back sewer taxes for dozens of residents in the Four Seasons subdivision -- where Harwood and Councilwoman Kim Veras live. The citys contribution was $587,000. The bailout became necessary after the city discovered that the county, for the previous 15 years, had been undercharging Four Seasons property owners for sanitary sewers built in 2001. Harwood and Veras abstained from the vote to bailout Four Seasons. However, many residents believed council and the administration tried to hide their actions by discussing Four Seasons in private executive sessions, then voting to appropriate city money for the sewer taxes before the matter appeared on a council agenda. At the time, Petsche said council was not being transparent with residents. He opposed the Four Season bailout. Pattakos said the standard to remove someone from office is stricter than criteria needed to establish criminal charges. Council is undermining the choice of voters to elect (Petsche), Pattakos said. Under Ohio case law, you have to have substantial reasons to overturn the election of public officials. Pattakos said the Ohio Constitution guarantees due process, part of which involves an impartial tribunal. That makes councils removal hearing illegitimate. We dont believe council is impartial, Pattakos said. We have demanded that they submit this matter to the probate court, and there is an Ohio statute that allows for this process. We havent heard anything back from city officials. Read more from the Sun Star Courier. NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- Ten days ago, Councilman Dan Langshaw called the mayors newly hired part-time secretary and threatened to defund her job unless she convinced Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz to keep the city jail open. As a result, City Council, in a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday (June 30), will consider disciplinary action against Langshaw. Council will first meet in executive session to discuss the phone call, then may announce publicly how it would discipline him. In the profanity-laced June 20 call -- which the secretary, Jaime Anton, recorded -- Langshaw accused Antoskiewicz of misconduct in office for failing to tell council earlier of his plans to close the jail. (The following embedded voicemail message contains profanity.) Langshaw said some people, including unnamed council members, believe Antoskiewicz hired Anton, a former newspaper reporter, only to keep her quiet about alleged mayoral wrongdoings. Langshaw added that he didnt believe Anton did anything wrong, but nevertheless warned her that council would investigate Antoskiewicz and his office unless he reversed his decision to close the jail. He advised Anton to lawyer up because the investigation would include her. This could all be avoided if (Antoskiewicz) ... reopens the jail, Langshaw told Anton, according to a transcript of the call. If not, expect investigations every mother------- month, and Im gonna take full f------ pleasure in this bulls---. This is gonna be a fun f------ thing, and then youre gonna have to be dragged up there, Langshaw told Anton. Jail controversy In a prepared statement, Anton, whom Antoskiewicz hired in December after he was elected mayor, said: This situation has been very stressful and caused myself and my husband a great deal of emotional turmoil. I was made to feel fearful of losing my job, my security. As a woman and a public servant, it was very disturbing how I was spoken to, especially by an elected official, a city leader. I have been sick over this, Anton said. I was very upset I was put in the middle of this issue, due to an extremely inappropriate, offensive phone call. I wish (Langshaw) never would have called me. Antoskiewicz said he was disappointed that one of my employees was subjected to a difficult and upsetting experience with one of our elected council members. He said he referred the matter to council. Antoskiewicz said Langshaws accusations against him were baloney. There was no misconduct, Antoskiewicz told cleveland.com. I had full authority to close the jail. Antoskiewicz said he told council about his plans to shutter the jail during an executive session in March or April. He said Langshaw was absent from that meeting. If he had come to meetings, maybe he would have known what was going on, Antoskiewicz said. In a Tuesday (June 30) email, Langshaw told cleveland.com he had no comment. He said he would comment at the special council meeting that night. Antoskiewicz announced in May that he wanted to close the jail, which has housed prisoners from 19 communities in addition to North Royalton, because it was costing too much. He said the citys general fund subsidizes the jail operation to the tune of about $600,000 a year. North Royalton jailers, their union representatives and Police Chief Ken Bilinovich pushed back. Antoskiewicz subsequently chose to keep the jail open and give corrections officers a chance to find ways to reduce jail expenses and increase revenues. The decision to keep the jail open was announced June 22 -- two days after Langshaws phone call to Anton. Antoskiewicz said he made the decision to continue operating the jail before he learned of Langshaws phone call. A weekend call Langshaw called Anton on her personal cell phone on a Saturday. According to the call transcript, he told her that he wanted to give her a heads up on what would happen if Antoskiewicz followed through with plans to close the jail, because it would affect her financially and possibly her family. Just hear me out so that way I have at least advised you, and if necessary, you have to get a lawyer, Langshaw told Anton. Langshaw lambasted Antoskiewicz, saying his political career was over due to his decision to close the jail. He said Antoskiewicz lied to officials from neighboring communities and to North Royalton council regarding the jails closing, and said the mayor should resign or the public would try to recall him. Langshaw said North Royalton has burned so many bridges with other communities over the proposed jail closing. They are not going to call the mayor back, theyre going to ignore him, and believe me ... we look very bad, Langshaw said. I will fully support (council President) Paul Marnecheck as our acting mayor. ... Paul is at least smart politically and even he wouldnt pull this kind of bullcr-- , Langshaw said. On Monday (June 29), Marnecheck told cleveland.com that he has never supported removing Antoskiewicz from office. He said his plan is to remain council president until the end of his term. In no way did I prompt Dan to do this, Marnecheck said. I would have preferred that he had left my name out of the conversation. Marnecheck said he doesnt believe that Antoskiewicz lied to other communities, or that he waited too long to tell council about the proposed jail closing. He said he first learned of the jail-closing plan within the first four months of 2020, and added that Langshaw never spoke to him about investigating the mayors office. Marnecheck said he doesnt believe Anton was hired under suspicious circumstances. He said she won the job because she was qualified and that as a part-time secretary, she was in no position to address Langshaws concerns about the jail closing. I dont think the phone call (from Langshaw to Anton) was appropriate, Marnecheck said. Be ready Langshaw, in the phone call, told Anton that council has oversight authority over the mayor and subpoena power. And this is where it impacts you, and for that, Im sorry, Langshaw told Anton. (Antoskiewicz) may try to throw you under the bus. I wouldnt trust a damn thing he has to say, because theres some people I respect, and he ... lied to them. Langshaw said in the phone call that Antoskiewicz had planned the jails closing since December or January, but didnt tell council and others until later in 2020. He said council may subpoena witnesses who would testify to this, and that someone might file a lawsuit against Antoskiewicz. Langshaw suggested that Anton, who worked as a reporter for the North Royalton Post until Antoskiewicz hired her in December, might have known stuff about the mayor. He told Anton that Antoskiewicz might have offered a job to shut you up. Anton told cleveland.com that she didnt know about Antoskiewiczs plans to close the jail until March or April. Langshaw said in the phone call that Anton might have the mayors ear and asked her to talk this guy off the ledge and influence him to reverse his decision to close the jail. Langshaw reminded Anton that council controls city funding and said that if Antoskiewicz closed the jail, Langshaw would introduce legislation to defund the mayors office. Youre low on the totem pole, Langshaw told Anton. Im sorry, but were gonna cut your a--. Your f------ position will the first position thats cut, and then maybe some others. The mayor can work from f------ home. That money that pays you, unfortunately, and I hate to say this, will go to our f------ police officers for risking their god----, motherf------ lives, Langshaw told Anton. Langshaw said the fund cutting and investigations could be avoided if the jail stays open. If not, be ready for whats f------ coming, Langshaw told Anton. You poke the bear, the bears fighting back. Langshaw then said he hoped Anton had a great day. I hate for anything bad to happen to you, but at the end of the day, my obligation is to the city of North Royalton, the people who elected me, to follow the law, and ... this has crossed all lines, so be ready, Langshaw told Anton. If you want to have to pay lawyers out of the a--hole, so be it, but talk this motherf----- (Antoskiewicz) down, all right? Here is a full transcript (with some profanity redacted) of the phone call: Read more from the Sun Star Courier. SOLON, Ohio -- About 60 percent of families in the Solon City School District have reported that their childrens experience with remote learning was successful this year. That was a key finding of a survey sent to all families in the district in early June, Acting Superintendent Fred Bolden told the Solon Board of Education Tuesday (June 30). About 25 percent of families that took part in the survey indicated that remote learning was inconsistent for their children, Bolden said. More than 2,000 families -- representing about 80 percent of the student body -- submitted the survey to provide input about their childrens experience during the remote learning that took place this spring, as well as their preferences for a return to school in the fall, Bolden said. Its probably the most successful survey weve ever done districtwide, he said. All school districts in Ohio were forced into remote learning after Gov. Mike DeWine closed school buildings March 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The virtual instruction at home continued through the end of the school year. Bolden said he had hoped to present to the board at this meeting -- held at the Solon Board of Education building with social distancing in effect and live-streamed on YouTube -- the districts plans for reopening school in August. But Ohio schools have not yet received specific return-to-school guidance from DeWine, the Ohio Department of Health or the Ohio Department of Education, Bolden said. Whenever that guidance is issued, the Solon Schools will continue to follow the recommended public health guidelines, as well as consult locally with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, he said. To best prepare for what administrators anticipate will be a changing situation surrounding the impact of COVID-19, the district is finalizing detailed plans with contingencies for three different models, Bolden said. Those models are: All students attend class in their school buildings. All students continue full remote learning. Students attend school in a hybrid, blended model that combines some in-school learning and some remote learning at home. Bolden said the districts goal is to have school in person, if we can. But were living in a pandemic, and its very clear that we have to be prepared that some students may not be able to come to school, and the state might say, You cant go to school. We dont know what this coming year will bring, so we know we have to be prepared for that. Part of that preparation is giving our teachers additional ongoing training on how they can have those personal interactions with students in an efficient and successful manner, he said. In addition to input from staff at each school in the district, the return-to-school plans will incorporate feedback from the family survey, Bolden said. Personal interaction helps Getting back to the survey results, Bolden said families of older students reported having a bit more success with remote learning than families with younger children. But about 25 percent of our families said that it wasnt (successful), which obviously is a concern for us, he said. We have been looking at what remote learning should look like and how we can adjust that. The survey indicated that the level of personal interaction students had with teachers was a contributing factor to both those unsuccessful and successful experiences, Bolden said. The more successful positive live interactions that students had with their teachers, the better those students experiences were, he said. Were taking steps to adjust our instruction (accordingly). In the survey, families provided these preferences for a return to school: 53 percent selected full in-classroom learning as their first choice. 58 percent selected a blended model, combining in-school and remote learning -- such as alternate days or partial days -- as their second choice. 15 percent selected full remote distance learning as their first choice. It is clear from this data that an overwhelming majority of our families want their children receiving some or all of their instruction in person, Bolden said. The data does highlight a need to have a virtual option for those families that cannot access the learning in person, he said. Families also underscored the need for adhering to public health recommendations at school, the survey indicated. These include: 98 percent said increased cleaning and sanitization of classrooms, buildings and buses is important. 96 percent said frequent and monitored student hand washing is important. 74 percent said students wearing face coverings is important. 77 percent said staff members wearing face coverings is important. We have purchased new, specialized equipment to enable us to rapidly disinfect classrooms on a nightly basis, Bolden said, and special, safe products that we can use in the classroom on an ongoing basis so that we are continually sanitizing our schools. Bolden said he anticipates the states guidance on returning to school will be issued later this week. Once that happens, he said, the districts planning team will refine each of the plans to be sure all guidance is considered and incorporated, and then the district will share its plans with the community. Its going to be a very complicated thing, he said. Whatever decisions we make moving forward and what we communicate to our community, there is going to be a percentage of people that are going to be very pleased with the things that we do, and theres going to be a percentage of the community that is going to find challenges or difficulty with some of the things. I think its important for the community to know that the choices that we make are focused on being able to keep our kids safe and learning the best that we can. Bolden said results of the survey and other information conveyed at the meeting will likely be sent to the community via email by Wednesday (July 1). I think its important that we communicate now, because parents are very anxious about whats going to happen, and understandably so, board President Julie Glavin said. I know as a board, we all hope that parents can get that information (including the states guidelines) as soon as possible and that everyone in the district understands their concerns and how important it is for them to know as soon as they can, and that they will know as soon as we can tell them. Bolden said the district is well supplied with hand sanitizer and face masks for the coming school year. He added that the district is looking to add desk shields for students. So there are multiple layers of protection that were putting into place to do the best that we can to keep the kids as safe as possible, he said, knowing that were not going to be able to be 100 percent (safe), because nothing is ever, especially given as infectious a disease as this is. Retirements accepted In other action, the board approved: The retirement of Peg Osborne, first-grade teacher at Lewis Elementary School, after 33 years with the district. The retirement of Lara Reminder, bus driver for Solon City Schools, after 19 years with the district. The resignation of Joseph Gehring, kindergarten teacher at Parkside Elementary School, who has accepted a position with another district. The hiring of Justin Boe as an American Sign Language teacher at Solon High School for the 2020-21 school year. Bolden said Boe was hired in conjunction with Aurora High School, as the two schools will share his services. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. CLEVELAND, Ohio The state of Ohio has confirmed that 43 more Clevelanders have been infected with COVID-19 coronavirus, Mayor Frank Jacksons administration announced Monday. No new deaths from the coronavirus were reported. Seventy-five deaths in Cleveland have been linked to the virus. The new cases push the total confirmed cases in Cleveland to 2,288. The new cases involve males and females ranging in age from less than 12 years old into their 70s. Since mid-June, the daily case average, based on a 7-day rolling average, has quadrupled from less than 11 cases per day to more than 44 cases a day. Make no mistake - the virus has not gone away. If we dont double down on prevention and take these measures seriously, the effects will be devastating, Jackson said in a statement. Cleveland Department of Public Health has identified 473 probable case. Those cases lifted the citys total caseload to 2,762. Those infected have ranged in age from less than 1 year old to more than 100 years old. Eighteen percent of those cases required hospitalization, according to the Cleveland Department of Public Health. Fifty-four percent of the cases involve women. About 60% of all those infected are African American. About 16% are white. Asian residents comprise about 1% of the cases. Race is unknown for 15% of the cases. The Cleveland Department of Public Health will work to identify any people who were in close contact with the newly confirmed patients to determine who now would require testing or monitoring for symptoms of COVID-19. At least 51,046 people have confirmed or probable coronavirus to date, the Ohio Department of Health reported on Monday, up from 737 a day earlier. The Ohio case figure includes at least 2,818 confirmed or probable deaths, up 11 from Sundays state report. The figures to watch are hospitalizations and intensive-care unit admissions, which indicate serious cases, some of which can lead to death. Ohio is testing more people but Ohio physicians -- as well as Gov. Mike DeWine -- say the surge cant be blamed on increased testing alone. Hospitalizations are up 65 to a total 7,746. The median age of someone who is hospitalized is 64. The state reported 6,694 cases in Cuyahoga County as of Monday. There were 352 deaths reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions updated tally on Monday reported 2,545,250 cases and 126,369 deaths in the United States. Those numbers tend to lag other reporting sites. Johns Hopkins University of Medicine reported that as of Monday evening 2,564,163 people had become infected with the coronavirus. By its tally, deaths in the United States totaled 125,928. COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohios 737 newly reported coronavirus cases on Monday raised the rolling seven-day average to the highest point since mid-April, increasing the totals to date to 51,046 cases, 7,746 hospitalizations and 2,818 deaths, Ohio Department of Health data showed. One-in-229 Ohioans are now known to have contracted the virus this year. This map and data is updated frequently: see this link for the latest Ohio coronavirus maps. The case increases have followed a trend upward since June 18, with the daily totals ranging since then from 531 to 987 a day, after dipping to as low as 300 on June 14. The recent increases have pushed up the rolling seven-day average for new cases 787 a day over the last week, up from 381 for the seven days ending June 12. The seven-day average is a method to look at the trends to smooth out for issues such as delays in lab results or paperwork. The trend of newly reported coronavirus cases has been increasing. This graphic is based on per-day averages over seven-day periods to smooth out for situations in which test results or determinations lag, or arrive in clusters. The onset totals for most recent dates are not yet complete, as officials in the coming days likely will learn about new cases from these dates.Rich Exner, cleveland.com But increases as sharp have not shown up in hospitalizations and the number of patients in intensive care units. Data from the Ohio Hospital Association said the number of coronavirus patients in reporting hospitals across Ohio has also been going up since June 20, rising from 520 on June 20 to 669 on Monday. The number in intensive care had been stable, at around 200 for the last week, until jumping up to 245 Monday. Yet both the total patients and those in ICU remain well below previous levels. On April 20, there were 1,087 COVID-19 patients, with 520 in ICU. On June 1, there were 760 patients, including 217 in ICU. COVID-19 hospital stays until recently had been trending down in Ohio. This chart shows the number of patients on a given day, as reported by hospitals to the Ohio Hospital Association. Out-of-state patients are included. Totals for the most recent day or two may be revised later.Rich Exner, cleveland.com No region has reached a concern threshold of 80% (capacity), which is when the hospitals start getting concerned for overall hospitalization of ICU beds, Gov. Mike DeWine said. So were not there. But we do know from lessons in recent history in New York City, Houston, Arizona that this can fairly quickly change. Over the last week, the number of deaths increased by 114, or 4.2%, from the previous Mondays total of 2,704. Cases were up in the last week by 5,509, or 12.1%, from 45,537. The Ohio Department of Health reported 737 new coronavirus cases on Monday.Rich Exner, cleveland.com The number of deaths reported daily for the last week were 11, 3, 16, 16, 17, 20 and 31. The reports lag several days from the actual date of death and sometimes are reported by the state in clusters. DeWine attributed the increase in cases to both increased testing and a new spread of the virus. The state reported Monday that 770,860 tests have been conducted to date. This has included 114,542 in the last week, in comparison to 102,190 and 80,140 the previous two weeks. The state health department last updated the number of deaths for nursing home patients on Wednesday, with a total of 1,949, representing 71% of all known COVID-19 deaths in Ohio at that point. The case total includes 5,949 state prison inmates (4,260) or staff (1,479), 83% of whom have recovered, the prison department reported Sunday, with 91 deaths of inmates or staff. There are another 236 active inmate cases at a federal prison in Columbiana County, down from more than 400 previously. Ohio unlike some other states does not provide information on the number of current cases remaining, excluding those who no longer have coronavirus, saying that information is not available. This information is provided only by the prison department, and by the health department for nursing homes. Yet health officials have said coronavirus often runs its course in 14 days, longer for the most severe cases, indicating that many known cases no longer exist. Most of the known cases are older. Among the cases reported to date, excluding those who have died, 7,553 have had an onset in the last two weeks. The onset for 40,675 other cases was earlier. The state is now reporting that the onset of symptoms was as early as January for 29 cases. The two earliest cases date to Jan. 2. The age range for cases is from under 1 to 109, with a median age of 46. The median age for deaths is 81. The number of coronavirus deaths by day in Ohio peaked at 64 on April 28. The number of deaths has not topped 40 since May 23. Numbers for more recent dates will increase as more information becomes available.Rich Exner, cleveland.com More than three-fourths the deaths have been to people age 70 and up, with 688 (24%) in their 70s and 1,490 (53%) at least 80 years old. Those 80 and up accounted for 44% of deaths from all causes nationally in 2017. Death totals for other age groups are 405 in their 60s, 164 in their 50s, 41 in their 40s, 18 in their 30s, 11 in their 20s, and one under 20. But for hospitalizations, the cases are more spread out: 1,457 age 80 or above, 1,484 in their 70s, 1,694 in their 60s, 1,373 in their 50s, 760 in their 40s, 514 in their 30s, 334 in their 20s and 129 younger. Ohio's known coronavirus cases by age, for deaths and hospitalizations.Rich Exner, cleveland.com The counties with the most deaths are Franklin (395), Cuyahoga (352), Lucas (299), Mahoning (228), Summit (204) and Hamilton (191). For the deaths in which race was reported, 78% are white, and 19% are black. Yet for total cases, 54% are white and 29% black. Ohios population is 82% white and 13% black, census estimates say. Among all cases reported to date, 7,746 have been hospitalized, including 1,961. A week earlier, these totals were 7,292 and 1,852, meaning that in the last week the state learned of 454 new hospitalizations, with 109 new admissions to ICUs. The counties with the most cases are Franklin (8,982), Cuyahoga (6,694), Hamilton (4,922) Marion (2,724). Franklin (Columbus), Cuyahoga (Cleveland) and Hamilton (Cincinnati) are Ohios most populated counties. Marions cases have mostly been in prisons. The first three cases were confirmed on March 9. The total topped 100 on March 19, 1,000 on March 27, 10,000 on April 18 and 50,000 Sunday. Ohio reported its first three cases of coronavirus on March 9. The is how the total has grown since then.Rich Exner, cleveland.com The state on April 10 began new reporting standards to include more types of testing and cases identified from non-testing evidence. This has resulted in 3,522 probable cases being included in the total cases reported for Ohio to date. Corrections in the data are made from day to day by the state. Sometimes the state has reduced the number of cases in individual counties from one day to the next as corrected residency information is received. The chart below is based on the most recent case data from the Ohio Department of Health. Cleveland.com calculated the cases per 100,000 rates based on 2019 census population estimates. County Cases Hosp. Deaths Cases per 100,000 Adams 21 2 1 75.8 Allen 284 67 38 277.5 Ashland 51 9 1 95.4 Ashtabula 419 75 43 430.9 Athens 32 4 1 49.0 Auglaize 98 13 3 214.6 Belmont 524 39 21 782.0 Brown 53 8 1 122.0 Butler 1,388 221 44 362.3 Carroll 50 9 3 185.8 Champaign 37 4 1 95.2 Clark 728 62 8 542.9 Clermont 336 53 6 162.8 Clinton 60 13 0 143.0 Columbiana 1,202 145 59 1,179.8 Coshocton 75 10 1 204.9 Crawford 132 22 6 318.1 Cuyahoga 6,694 1,437 352 542.0 Darke 233 26 25 455.9 Defiance 45 15 3 118.2 Delaware 482 56 15 230.4 Erie 226 41 22 304.3 Fairfield 476 60 15 302.1 Fayette 46 6 0 161.3 Franklin 8,982 1,051 395 682.1 Fulton 57 7 0 135.3 Gallia 11 3 1 36.8 Geauga 383 86 41 409.0 Greene 201 31 9 119.0 Guernsey 59 11 3 151.8 Hamilton 4,922 698 191 602.1 Hancock 72 11 1 95.0 Hardin 111 15 12 353.9 Harrison 12 4 1 79.8 Henry 28 3 0 103.7 Highland 42 8 1 97.3 Hocking 76 16 7 268.9 Holmes 197 9 3 448.1 Huron 165 19 1 283.2 Jackson 17 2 0 52.4 Jefferson 76 17 2 116.3 Knox 38 9 1 61.0 Lake 422 81 17 183.4 Lawrence 60 4 0 100.9 Licking 396 49 11 223.9 Logan 56 6 0 122.6 Lorain 937 150 67 302.4 Lucas 2,584 626 299 603.2 Madison 185 24 8 413.6 Mahoning 1,736 356 228 759.1 Marion 2,724 84 37 4,184.8 Medina 469 74 31 260.9 Meigs 11 0 0 48.0 Mercer 266 45 8 646.1 Miami 431 57 31 402.9 Monroe 85 15 17 622.5 Montgomery 1,646 276 23 309.6 Morgan 7 0 0 48.2 Morrow 114 9 1 322.7 Muskingum 73 14 1 84.7 Noble 9 2 0 62.4 Ottawa 127 30 23 313.4 Paulding 22 5 0 117.8 Perry 28 7 1 77.5 Pickaway 2,169 67 41 3,710.4 Pike 20 4 0 72.0 Portage 409 89 58 251.7 Preble 60 10 1 146.8 Putnam 113 18 15 333.7 Richland 312 48 4 257.5 Ross 105 23 2 137.0 Sandusky 120 34 13 205.1 Scioto 34 6 0 45.1 Seneca 32 11 2 58.0 Shelby 58 18 4 119.4 Stark 1,026 194 111 276.8 Summit 1,920 417 204 354.9 Trumbull 824 202 61 416.2 Tuscarawas 498 60 10 541.4 Union 77 6 1 130.5 Van Wert 23 2 0 81.3 Vinton 22 6 2 168.1 Warren 731 77 20 311.6 Washington 124 15 20 207.0 Wayne 352 45 52 304.2 Williams 63 7 1 171.7 Wood 368 70 51 281.3 Wyandot 57 6 4 261.8 Statewide 51,046 7,746 2,818 436.7 Not seeing a county-by-county chart above. Some mobile users may need to use this link instead. Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. See other data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral. Read related coverage See coronavirus cases by day for each Ohio county 1,745 Ohio nursing home patients now dead with coronavirus; 71% of all known Ohio COVID-19 deaths Coronavirus-related impact on your tax returns, including the new filing deadline of July 15 What you need to know to get an unemployment check in Ohio, plus $600 extra: Thats Rich! Why Ohio widened criteria for counting coronavirus cases, what other states are doing, and the difference in numbers CLEVELAND, Ohio Clevelands spike in COVID-19 coronavirus cases that has set daily records twice since Thursday has its roots in the days immediately after the Black Lives Matter protest on May 30 in downtown, Public Health Director Merle Gordon said Monday. Addressing a City Council committee, Gordon said the onset of cases that are part of the current spike was about June 3 and 4, about the same time the city lifted its daytime travel restrictions in downtown and Ohio City. But Gordon did not tie the onset to the protest, a rally organized by Black Lives Matter that Cuyahoga Countys sheriff estimates involved 3,000 to 4,000 people and later devolved into rioting downtown. Rather, she said it is more related to people getting out and socializing. We do ask each individual in the contact tracing if they did attend a mass event, a rally of some sort, so we can see whether there is some affiliation, Gordon said. We dont get many of those responses, she said. What were starting to see right now, which is a more concerning trend, is how many people who have indicated that they have traveled perhaps traveled to a beach, eaten out. A lot of nightclubs have reopened, so people tend to relax the wearing of face coverings or how close they are getting to others. The spike in confirmed cases began in mid-June and quadrupled the daily average for new cases through Sunday, data tracked by cleveland.com found. At this point, anyone who leaves their house should consider wearing a mask to help stop spread of the virus, Gordon said. Gordon, Health Commissioner Persis Sosiak and Natoya Walker Minor, Mayor Frank Jacksons chief of public affairs, spoke for two and one-half hours to councils Health and Human Services Committee, which meet remotely via the Zoom online meeting app. There were a lot of pressures to reopen, Gordon said. What were starting to see right now, which has us concerned, is a lot of people are starting to travel. That means going to places such as nightclubs and bars, often without masks. That helps explain why the age group most hit by the coronavirus in Cleveland is people 20 to 29 years old. That group accounts for more than 21% of all cases. The next largest group, accounting for more than 17% of the cases, is people 30 to 39 years old. Through Sunday, Cleveland recorded nearly 2,650 cases of coronavirus, including nearly 475 probable cases. Cleveland.com has tracked the number of new daily cases since the first was reported March 14, computing a daily average using a rolling seven-day period. The 7-day average for new cases gradually rose through April and into May, peaking May 21 at nearly 36 new cases a day. It then declined into June, bottoming out at about 11 cases a day on June 16. But since then, the daily average for confirmed cases has spiked to new highs, reaching more than 44 cases Sunday. The city marked a record number of new cases last Thursday with 63. On Sunday, it surpassed that with 75 new cases reported. This virus is not behaving like influenza, where it essentially goes away in warmer weather, Gordon said. As people are continuing to go out to bars and restaurants and the numbers are continuing to go up, that is of great concern. Jacksons administration has preached the need to follow safe practices washing hands, maintaining physical distance from others and sheltering in place when possible. Wearing a mask, while not mandated by the state or the city, is recommended. And the mask needs to be worn properly, Walker Minor, told the committee. Too frequently were seeing people arent wearing face coverings or are wearing them below their nose or just dangling them like a necklace, she said. City workers idled from their regular jobs by the coronavirus, such as running recreation centers, went door to door in the city leaving information on those safe practices at every residence. Other outreach efforts have included distributing information through churches, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, senior centers and via council member newsletters. Councilman Basheer Jones said the messaging needs to be tailored to reach younger adults, who arent likely to see the information on newsletters or the citys public access channel, TV20. Im seeing a lot of our young people out and theyre not wearing any masks, Jones said. [The messaging] has to be aggressive and it has to be that people are dying. This story was updated to include more of Public Health Director Merle Gordons comments. More from Cleveland City Hall Social unrest will continue unless society addresses systemic inequities, disparities and racism, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson warns Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson approves final piece of $100-million incentive package for Sherwin-Williams headquarters Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson OKs ban on new dollar stores while city considers new regulations Clevelands bill for overtime pay tops $3M for quelling May 30 rioting, follow-up security and cleanup CLEVELAND, Ohio Recent genetic studies suggest that people with certain blood types may be more likely to develop a severe form of COVID-19. A genetic study of 1,610 COVID-19 patients in Italy and Spain suggested that having type A blood resulted in a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to press reports. These preliminary findings have not yet been peer-reviewed by other scientists. Other studies published earlier this year came to similar conclusions, including reports from a New York hospital, and a peer-reviewed study from Wuhan. This research could lead to the development of a DNA test to identify patients who will become the sickest, or help drug developers find new treatments for COVID-19, according to a report in The New York Times. Its very interesting, but theres more we need to learn, Dr. Erin Goodhue, executive medical director of direct patient care for the American Red Cross, said about the genetic studies. Much more research is needed before any possible links between COVID-19 and blood type is fully understood, Goodhue said. The reasons why blood types might affect COVID-19 are unknown, The New York Times said. Genetic variations may influence whether, in some people, the coronavirus triggers an overreaction of the immune system, leading to massive inflammation and lung damage. Announcements about these studies have raised questions about the science behind blood typing. Here are answers from Goodhue, the Red Cross, Healthline and WebMD. What is blood type? Blood types are determined by the presence or absence of certain antigens, which are proteins, fats and sugars that sit on red blood cells. Blood type is inherited based on the blood types of your parents. There are four major blood groups determined by the presence or absence of two antigens A and B on the surface of red blood cells. In addition to the A and B antigens, there is a protein called the Rh factor, which can be either present or absent. Why cant a person with type A blood receive a transfusion of type B blood? Antigens can trigger an immune response if they are foreign to the body. People with type A blood make strong antibodies against type B blood, and visa versa. There are no antibodies against type 0 blood. Safe blood transfusions depend on careful blood typing and cross-matching. How many different blood types are there? There are eight blood types: A positive or A negative B positive or B negative AB positive or AB negative O positive or O negative What is the most common blood type? O positive is the most common blood type in the United States (37%), followed closely by A positive (35.7%), according to the Stanford School of Medicine Blood Center. AB negative (.6%) and B negative (1.5%) are the two least common blood types among Americans. What is a universal blood donor? Universal red blood cell donors are those with an O negative blood type because their blood can is usable in transfusions in patients with any blood type. It is used for emergency transfusions and is usually in short supply and high demand by hospitals. Universal plasma donors have type AB blood. Plasma is the clear, liquid portion of blood that remains after red and white blood cells, platelets and other cellular components are removed. Rh-negative blood is given to Rh-negative patients, and Rh-positive or Rh-negative blood may be given to Rh-positive patients. How can I find out my blood type? Get a blood test at your physicians office, or register to donate blood. At-home blood type tests arent always accurate. RICHFIELD, Ohio -- A West Virginia man is accused of trafficking heroin after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers reported finding drugs in his car during a traffic stop along the Ohio Turnpike in Summit County, according to troopers and court records. Michael Kelly, 31, of Beckley, West Virginia, is charged with first-degree felonies of possession and trafficking in heroin, according to Akron Municipal Court records. Around 3:30 p.m. on June 25, Kelly was driving a 2013 Ford Fusion on the Ohio Turnpike, near Interstate 77 in Richfield and Brecksville, according to the highway patrol and court records. Troopers reported seeing him following too close and crossing over marked lanes, and pulled him over. During the traffic stop, troopers said they smelled marijuana, searched the car and found 140 grams of heroin and two grams of marijuana. If convicted, Kelly could face up to 22 years in prison and a $40,000 fine, troopers said. A judge set his bond at $50,000, and he is set to appear in court for a status hearing on July 15, court records show. The loan he received through the program April 16 gave him a financial safety net as he began to reopen with a host of new health precautions in early May. Sales are back to around 90% of normal, and Stansbury said he was cautiously optimistic that the worst had passed for his business. Nearly all of his workers are back on the job. ELYRIA, Ohio Police say they are searching for a male suspect after two people were wounded in a shooting late Monday night. Theo Ramon Thomas Jr., 18, is being charged with two counts of felonious assault, improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation, and tampering with evidence. Police say he should be considered armed and dangerous. Officers were called to a residence on the 100 block of Bohannon Court at about 11:09 p.m., where they found two people with gunshot wounds. Both were flown by helicopter to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. Police did not release information on the victims or their conditions. Anyone with information can contact police at 440-323-3302. CLEVELAND, Ohio A Cuyahoga County committee on Tuesday unanimously sent a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis on to the full council for a vote possible as soon as next week. If approved by the council and signed by county Executive Armond Budish, the resolution would require an Equity Commission to review county policies and programs and root out systemic racism. A Citizens Advisory Council on Equity would review and provide recommendations to reduce disparities between Black and white residents throughout the county. Both groups would be required to produce status reports by years end. Those disparities are well documented. Black people in America have shorter life expectancies, more chronic health conditions, generally poorer access to health care and on average, lower incomes. The groups would recommend ways to work with the Board of Health in collecting data on racial disparities, and develop a legislative agenda aimed at ending racism. The resolution specifically cites COVID-19 as one example of the adverse health problems that stem from racism. Health disparities are a consequence of racism and not race itself, Romona Brazile, co-director of prevention and wellness for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, told council members Tuesday. Councilman Scott Tuma said the disparate outcomes health outcomes for Black residents illustrate the need to involve the health-care industry in the communitywide efforts. The justice system courts and police also must be included, he said. The countys action comes on the heels of Cleveland declaring racism as a public health crisis. Several other governments in Ohio, including Akron and Summit County, also have taken such action. Councilwoman Shonel Brown, who initially proposed the legislation, has described it as a good first step, but has said the ultimate goal is doing the hard work and exercising the political will to change the policies and procedures that have been used to oppress Black people for centuries. AKRON, Ohio The University of Akrons Board of Trustees has scheduled a special meeting on July 15 to consider a plan for a substantial reduction of force as part of cost-saving measures due to the coronavirus pandemic. UA President Gary Miller said Tuesday in a message to employees that the university and legal staff are still negotiating with unions regarding what the plan will entail. The Akron chapter of the American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, has previously said the administration intends to cut 25% of the academic budget, which would include layoffs of full-time faculty, regardless of tenure or rank. In a statement, UA Executive Vice President and Provost John Wiencek said university leaders have been asked to reduce their budgets by 20%, which would not require a 25% reduction in personnel. Recognizing the significantly reduced revenue projections for the coming year, which were made all the more severe by the COVID-19 pandemic, the median target budget expenditure reduction provided to campus leaders was 20%, with reductions issued strategically and in a differential manner. Reductions are being met in a manner that assures our ongoing commitment to educational and scholarly excellence, Wiencek said. Recommendations from the vice presidents, deans and chairs for reductions in expenditures (both operating and personnel) are still being finalized and are under discussion with various collective bargaining units. UA officials have previously said they plan to cut $65 million of the $325 million budget to offset losses in revenue incurred due to the coronavirus pandemic. The universitys cost-saving measures include reorganizing its 11 colleges into five, and developing new budgets for the five colleges. Akron-AAUP President Pam Schulze said Tuesday that 63 union faculty members participated in a buyout or left this spring, and 25 non-union full-time faculty were notified that they wouldnt be returning to teach in the fall. In his message, Miller said the university could temporarily tighten its belt in a limited way through pay cuts or furloughs, but that he sought to significantly reduce recurring expenses to ensure our future Personnel costs make up 60% of the Universitys total budgets. Many other parts of the budget are fixed (debt service, utilities, etc.) and cant be significantly reduced, said Miller, who, along with other senior administration officials hired before April 1, is taking a 10% salary reduction. Thus, in order to design a budget under the conditions confronting us, we must undertake a substantial reduction in force, Miller wrote. The reduction in force plan is being reviewed by legal counsel and discussed with bargaining units. The plan will be presented to the Board of Trustees in a special meeting on July 15 and, if approved, take effect immediately with appropriate notice given to those who will be separated. Schulze said the union, which represents 518 full-time faculty, is holding a #ProtectOurStudents rally on Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. outside the Taber Student Union at UA. The rally is being held to express support for the Akron-AAUP negotiating team as they work to protect students and keep academics at the core of the Universitys mission during contract negotiations currently taking place between Akron-AAUP and the University, Akron-AAUP said in a news release. Speakers include Schulze, Ward 8 Akron City Councilman Shammas Malik and chief negotiator Katie Stoynoff, who will give an update on the negotiations. Attendees are asked to wear a mask and stay six feet away from others. After living in Cleveland Heights near Little Italy for four years, Ive grown tired of looking at the Christopher Columbus statue there (Petition seeks to replace Columbus with Chef Boyardee, June 27). Of course we learned in grade school that Columbus discovered America, in the white-centric curriculum we have been forced to absorb. But in reality, we all know that America was already inhabited for millennia prior. So what exactly are we celebrating or honoring? For what are we really giving Columbus credit? Imagine saying a nation is yours for the taking because the people there didnt look like you, or worship like you, or eat like you, or dress like you. He was a visitor with a bad attitude and no humility, so lets kick him out. If Columbus, Ohio, is taking down its Columbus statue near City Hall, what are we waiting for? Its a symbol of blatant white supremacy, and its not aging well. Lisa Mickey, Cleveland Heights CLEVELAND, Ohio Images of protesters in downtown Cleveland on May 30 marching close together, some not wearing masks, created concerns about the possible spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Those concerns might have been valid. You can listen online here. Cleveland Public Health Director Merle Gordon says the citys recent spike in coronavirus cases might have roots with the protests, as well as to a relaxing of daytime travel restrictions in the city. What is clear is that cases are on the rise as people increasingly socialize and interact. Despite the recent surge of cases, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says outdoor visits with nursing home residents can resume on July 20. However, DeWine is extending several public health orders related to the virus for another week. Hear cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn discuss these stories and more in todays podcast. The podcast is a summary of cleveland.coms morning newsletter The Wake Up. You can receive The Wake Up through email at 5:30 a.m. each weekday by subscribing here. You can get our podcasts delivered directly to your phone, and we have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here. Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here. If you use Stitcher, we are here. RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here. On Google Podcasts, we are here. On PodParadise, find us here. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Read more about a new flu strain that scientists are monitoring in China, Donald Trump in the news, get the latest coronavirus updates and check out more stories trending online today. Top trending headlines New strain of flu found in China has potential to become a pandemic, scientists warn (CNBC) China enacts Hong Kong security law, escalating confrontation with U.S. (Washington Post) Trumps phone calls alarm US officials (CNN) Trumps Twitch channel suspended, and Reddit bans pro-Trump online group (USA Today) Coronavirus news around the globe Newsom threatens to reverse Californias reopening as virus spreads (LA Times) Coronavirus mutation may have made virus more contagious (Fox News) Broadway coronavirus shutdown extended to January 2021 (NY Post) Boris Johnson pledges new deal to build post-virus (BBC) Arizona issues new shutdown order as virus cases spike (NPR) Read complete prior coronavirus coverage. More stories trending today Lunar eclipse to be visible night of July 4th (Accuweather) Wild bison gores 72-year-old woman in Yellowstone after she got too close (CBS News) Fresh Express bagged salads recalled after more than 200 illnesses reported (NBC News) Mets say theyre considering Tim Tebow for spot in 60-man player pool (Yahoo Sports) Nicole Young, Dr. Dres Wife of 24 Years, Files for Divorce (Vulture) American officials provided a written briefing in late February to President Trump laying out their conclusion that a Russian military intelligence unit offered and paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan, two officials familiar with the matter said. The investigation into the suspected Russian covert operation to incentivize such killings has focused in part on an April 2019 car bombing that killed three Marines as one such potential attack, according to multiple officials familiar with the matter. The new information emerged as the White House tried on Monday to play down the intelligence assessment that Russia sought to encourage and reward killings including reiterating a claim that Mr. Trump was never briefed about the matter and portraying the conclusion as disputed and dubious. (New York Times) Featured stories Trump white power tweet set off a scramble inside the White House but no clear condemnation (Washington Post) From pandering to Putin to abusing allies and ignoring his own advisers, Trumps phone calls alarm U.S. officials (CNN) Trumps Twitch channel suspended, and Reddit bans pro-Trump online group (USA Today) After 500,000 deaths, WHO warns worst of coronavirus pandemic is yet to come (AFP) National news Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana abortion law, with Roberts the deciding vote (New York Times) Coronavirus updates: U.S. reports over 41,500 new COVID-19 cases in a day (ABC News) An enduring coronavirus mystery: Why do only some get sick? (NBC News) Arizona closes bars, gyms and other businesses after brutal increase in COVID-19 cases (CNN) N.J. restaurants NOT reopening for indoor dining this week after knucklehead crowds at bars ruin it for everyone (nj.com) Coronavirus surge shuts down Los Angeles County beaches for July 4 weekend (Los Angeles Times) In George Floyd case, judge warns that public officials speaking out could force venue change (Minneapolis Star Tribune) He was inspired by everything: friends and family pay tribute to Elijah McClain (The Guardian) Man killed, 14-year-old boy in critical condition after shooting near Seattles CHOP zone (KHQ) Detroit Police Chief says officers did the right thing after driving through crowd (mlive.com) Hearing details ghastly crimes of Golden State Killer as he pleads guilty to killings (CNN) IRS is not extending tax deadline: 2019 returns must be filed by July 15 (USA Today) World news Flu virus with 'pandemic potential' found in China https://t.co/fcTmu5DhWC BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 29, 2020 China passes sweeping Hong Kong national security law: report (CNN) India bans nearly 60 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat (New York Times) Belgian king expresses deep regret for colonial past in Congo (Reuters) Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump over drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani (CNN) Netanyahus annexation plan in disarray as Gantz calls for delay (The Guardian) CanSinos COVID-19 vaccine candidate approved for military use in China (Reuters) Leicester lockdown tightened as coronavirus cases rise (BBC) French ex-prime minister Fillon, wife found guilty of fraud (Associated Press) CLEVELAND, Ohio - Clevelands public health director says the spike in coronavirus cases that has set daily records twice since Thursday has its roots in the days immediately after the Black Lives Matter protest on May 30 in downtown. But theres no evidence directly tying the onset directly to the protest. Were talking about what might be behind the spike on This Week in the CLE. Listen online here. Editor Chris Quinn hosts Tuesdays daily half-hour coronavirus news podcast, with help from editors Kris Wernowsky and Jane Kahoun. We answer many of the questions youve sent through our text message platform. Youve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom account, in which he shares once or twice a day what were thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802. And youve been offering all sorts of great perspective in our coronavirus alert account, which has 13,000-plus subscribers. You can sign up for free by texting 216-279-7784. Here are the questions were answering today: Did a Black Lives Matter protest in Cleveland May 30th cause coronavirus cases to surge? Public Health Director Merle Gordon told a City Council committee Monday that the onset of cases that are part of the current spike was about June 3 and 4, about the same time the city lifted its daytime travel restrictions in downtown and Ohio City. The spike in confirmed cases began in mid-June and quadrupled the daily average for new cases through Sunday. Gordon did not tie the onset directly to the protest. Does Mondays surprise U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion have ramifications for Ohio? The Louisiana abortion law the Supreme Court struck down is similar to one in Ohio, but not identical. The 5-4 decision by the high court said the Louisiana law placed an undue burden on the right to an abortion. What does the former Cuyahoga County budget director say is the reason she was fired in her lawsuit filed this week in federal court? Maggie Keenan says she was a victim of retaliation because she was a whistleblower, repeatedly raising concerns about safety at the jail, discrimination in the workplace and criminal misconduct by a top administrator. Do we finally have a date in Ohio where people can visit relatives in nursing homes? Outdoor nursing-home visits can begin July 20, but will only be allowed if all safety standards are met, including having all residents and staff at the facility tested for the virus, Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday. Why did Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine extend most of his coronavirus health orders by just one week? The orders were set to expire Wednesday, so DeWine said not to read too much into the extension. The orders include those that set the rules for bars and restaurants, salons and barbers, campgrounds, gyms, schools, social distancing for businesses, childcare and youth camps. DeWine said his team is working on each of the sectors operations, to revise how they operate now that theyve been open with limits. Has the surge in coronavirus cases persuaded Cedar Point operators to postpone their planned July 9 reopening? The park is going ahead, and opened its reservation system Monday morning to season passholders, who get first dibs on the park for the first two days of operation this summer. With all the discussion about the quality of police and defunding the police, do we know how much training Ohio police officers get before they are given their badges and guns? Each prospective law-enforcement officer must complete a basic training course, consisting of at least 737 hours in total, from one of Ohios 69 state-approved basic training academies. That includes training on use of force, overcoming bias and crowd control. Want more? You can find all our past episodes here. Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here. If you use Stitcher, we are here. RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here. On Google Podcasts, we are here. On PodParadise, find us here. And on PlayerFM, we are here. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Teachers pivot constantly for school events, assemblies and snow days, despite having detailed plans for every class. But the coronavirus pandemic, and the looming fall 2020 semester, are putting those skills to the test. After teachers were ripped out of classrooms in March to conduct the rest of the school year online, protecting students and staff against the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Mike DeWine announced that the plan is to open schools again this fall. The state hasnt released guidelines for this yet, and coronavirus case numbers steeply climbed on Friday by almost 1,000. District officials and teachers are waiting for state guidelines, which will define whats mandated for reopening plans -- shaping months of brainstorming and planning by districts. Teachers must prepare for a spectrum of scenarios, but that goes beyond filling binders with lesson plans and storing up material in Google Classroom. For many districts, that means undergoing professional development to get a better grasp on remote learning practices and technology and filling out an online learning experience with in-person content. For others, like the Cleveland Municipal School District, it means reviewing how students might be affected by the trauma of the pandemic. People may not be able to do the type of planning they normally would, but were still learning about various aspects of our work, Cleveland Teachers Union President Shari Obrenski said. Teachers are looped into work-groups to envision what next year might look like. But half of planning for the fall is coping with the fact that any situation might drastically change over the next several months. In a Quinnipiac University poll, 49% of 1,139 Ohioans surveyed think it will be safe to send students back to elementary, middle and high schools in the fall. That percentage increased among public school parents, with 53% thinking it would be safe. But the same survey found that 70% of voters think its very or somewhat likely that there will be another wave of coronavirus infections that will cause businesses in the state to close again. There is that unknown of what to expect, Cleveland Heights-University Heights teachers union president Karen Rego said. Even if you do choose (an) option, what is that going to look like for you? We dont know whats going to happen and Im sure its going to be a situation where things change over time. We might get into school and realize we need to add something or take something away, and just keep it to where everyones open to change as we go. Obrenski said teachers are encouraged to take some time for themselves as planning continues, because as soon as those plans are released teachers will need to prepare quickly. There isnt a whole lot that many can do, she said. Once we do have a plan, well be back and moving a 1,000 miles an hour. Rego said teachers are keeping a holding pattern. Without state guidelines, districts cant decide on in-person schooling plans. That includes how many students are in a classroom, or even if districts can afford to implement any mandates that the state issues, like disposable masks for each student or gallons of hand sanitizer. In Westlake schools, officials and teachers have planned out the first two weeks of school if case numbers spike and schools are closed once again. Theres a challenge with remote learning that comes with a new school year, Sarah Gorius, a first-grade teacher, said. While finishing out the school year meant teachers knew the students already, starting off remotely doesnt allow for that in-person connection. Teachers are talking to each other between grades, sharing critical information. Theyre throwing every angle at us, and we just have to try to keep up, Gorius said. Another moving part is standards and testing. Currently, teachers are moving forward with the same standards to be reached regardless of what format school takes in the fall -- a constant even as logistics are up in the air. A copy of a compressed English Language Arts and math curriculum K-12, created by a work-group, is currently under consideration by the state superintendents office. This document would define the core standards for learning, so teachers could have a focus if learning becomes compressed or remote again. But even if those standards come through the Ohio Department of Education, theres a chance they would only be suggested, not mandated. Coupled with the lack of state guidelines and the Ohio General Assembly not yet making decisions on standardized testing, theres even more uncertainty around accountability for school districts. The Ohio 8, an alliance of superintendents and teachers union presidents from eight Ohio districts, sent a memo to DeWine advocating for these standards to be mandated, not just used as a guidance document. DeWine said last week during both of his weekly coronavirus briefings that the state guidelines on reopening schools wouldnt contain any surprises, and would allow great flexibility for districts. With all of this still up in the air, teachers will need to be prepared for any situation. Rego used the example of the rapid switch to online learning as an example of teacher resilience. Though the spring transition to online learning meant starting fresh with new limitations, teachers jumped in, and when the school year was over, they continued and made it better, she said. For right now, going forward, I know teachers know remote learning is a possibility, and it might look like it did in the spring and it might not, Rego said. ...Thats the thing about teachers, they always know that things can change. Its not like theyre not used to change and adapting. CLEVELAND, Ohio Cuyahoga County had 52 opioid overdose deaths in May, second only to the 60 overdoses reported in February of 2017, County Medical Examiner Tom Gilson said Tuesday. With cocaine overdoses included, the toll for May rises to 68, the deadliest month ever, said Gilson, who was providing an update to the County Councils Public Safety and Justice Affairs Committee. Gilson gave two likely two reasons for the spike. While drug supplies from China and Mexico had probably been curtailed in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, they began to return in May. At the same time, more casual users who were able to cut back during the pandemic, returned to using after restrictions were lifted and couldnt handle the doses they previously had been accustomed to. The numbers also show a higher number of Cleveland residents among the opioid overdoses. Of the deaths, 28 were from Cleveland, 18 from other areas of the county and six from out of the area. The ratio of whites to African Americans was 3 to 1, representing a substantial increase in the proportion of overdoses among Black victims. Its not a new trend for us, Gilson said. Gilson said cocaine overdoses were much more prevalent 10 years ago in cities among Black victims, while the opioid crisis struck down more white victims from rural and suburban areas. But when opioids such as fentanyl started being added to cocaine three or four years ago, the demographics began to change. Asked if the countys plans for diversion centers that might keep drug users out of jail would help save lives, Gilson said intervention as demonstrated by the success of drug courts suggests it is worthwhile to offer addicts other solutions than the programs they might be exposed to in jail. We are limping through much better than I thought we were going to, he said. Since day one I have found myself not nearly as existentially stressed as I thought Id be because of the knowledge that every single person and brewery is dealing with this problem. AKRON, Ohio Hundreds of newsrooms across the country have started capitalizing the b in Black when writing about race, ethnicity and culture after the Associated Press and USA Today made changes earlier this month to their style guides. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer generally follow AP style, and are doing so in this case. The Associated Press wrote in its June 19 announcement that the change conveys an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa. APs decision to use Black came after two years of research and consideration, according to the announcement, but it happened just days after similar memos from the USA Today network of more than 250 local papers, The Los Angeles Times, NBC News, MSNBC, Buzzfeed and the McClatchy newspaper chain, and a recommendation from the National Association of Black Journalists. Capitalizing Black is aligned with capitalizing other racial and ethnic identifiers, including Latino, Asian American and Native American. AP also announced this month it is capitalizing Indigenous in reference to original inhabitants of a place. The language used to describe race and racial groups in America has shifted over the years, writes the Washington Posts Elahe Izadi. Enslaved Africans and their descendants were called colored for centuries, and in 1900, the U.S. Census Bureau used negro for the first time. In the 1920s, W.E.B. Du Bois led a successful letter-writing campaign to publications urging them to capitalize Negro. Afro-American and black were common after the civil rights movement, and Jesse Jackson called for standardizing African American in the 1980s. Most newspapers have alternated between African American and black. But there are some ways in which Black or black is more accurate than African American, which assumes someones citizenship and doesnt reflect the commonality between all people of African descent in the world. So, why not use lowercase black? To quote Du Bois: the use of a small letter for the name of twelve million Americans and two hundred million human beings [is] a personal insult. The Associated Press included similar language in their announcement, writing, The lowercase black is a color, not a person. The National Association of Black Journalists statement in support of capitalizing Black also includes capitalizing other racial identifiers, including White and Brown. The Columbia Journalism Review has cautioned against using capitalizing White, since that is the style used by white supremacists. AP said it is considering whether to capitalize white, and what implications that might have, including in countries outside of the United States. CLEVELAND, Ohio A general national mood of souring on Republican President Donald Trump has turned the 2020 election in Ohio into a competitive race. Recent polling confirms that, and with no top-tier statewide race to supplement the contest between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the focus will be squarely on the White House. Public opinion has turned on Trump for the time being, making the state he won by 8 percentage points in 2016 more competitive as of right now. Its a similar story nationwide, where the arguably top 10 states accounting for 179 Electoral College votes of the 270 needed to win can be credibly considered at least competitive. Trump must win most of them to have any shot of being re-elected to a second term. Ohio This state wasnt supposed to be competitive. Trump has routinely performed better in polling and job approval in the once-bellwether of the nation. But throw in a pandemic that has killed 120,000 Americans, a recession and civil unrest over policing in America and even the Buckeye State looks up for grabs right now. As of Monday, the Real Clear Politics polling average has Trump and Biden tied in the state. The last two from Fox News and Quinnipiac, two highly accurate pollsters, showed Biden narrowly up on Trump and well within the margin of error. Trump may have Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to thank for staying competitive in Ohio. DeWine essentially took the coronavirus pandemic into his own hands, ignoring much of what Trump said though mostly following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines leading to Ohio weathering the early days of the pandemic fairly well. DeWine is currently one of the most popular governors in the nation, which could help Trumps favorability. A happy electorate is a happy electorate, after all. However, a recent spike in cases could be catastrophic for Trump if deaths rise and the state shuts down again. Especially since Trump and his allies, including Vice President Mike Pence, have not taken the pandemic very seriously. Pence visited the state last week and did not wear a mask at his public appearance, against the advice of DeWine. There are still four months to go, and the Ohio Republican Party is a behemoth not to be underestimated. And while Democrats certainly could win here, they dont need the state to get to the White House. The 2018 blue wave that hit the rest of the country missed Ohio completely. While Ohio Democrats are energized about the recent polling, the ancillary benefits to aggressively pursue the state for Democrats are minimal, with no Senate seat up for grabs and only two or three mildly competitive U.S. House races. The two state Supreme Court races could become big ticket targets, especially for Democrats looking to have some say over gerrymandering lawsuits, though its difficult to see that rising to the level to attract more presidential spending. Race ratings: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Republican Cook Political Report: Lean Republican Inside Elections: Likely Republican Politico: Lean Republican Wisconsin Voters line up at Riverside High School for Wisconsin's April 7 primary election in Milwaukee.(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)AP Of the Big Three from 2016 former Democratic strongholds in the Midwest that voted Republican Wisconsin is probably the most competitive. Republicans have run strong there recently, but Democrats swept the executive offices in 2018. Gerrymandering in favor of the GOP has rendered most congressional and legislative seats moot in terms of competitiveness. Still, theres a reason Democrats selected Milwaukee as the site of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which will now be moved to a more digital format due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Biden up 6.2 percentage points in the state. The most recent poll taken had Trump up 1 percentage point, though it came from Trafalgar Group, a GOP polling firm. However, this firm was also one of the most accurate in the 2016 election. Trump probably needs the state more than Democrats do at this point, but if Democrats win Wisconsin along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, Biden is probably in the White House. Trump won the state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016, making it fertile toss-up territory. Certainly neither side will ignore it. Race ratings Sabatos Crystal Ball: Toss-Up Cook Political Report: Toss-Up Inside Elections: Toss-Up Politico: Toss-Up Michigan Another one of the Big Three. Trump won the state 2016 by just 10,704 votes. Since then, the state has snapped back to Democrats pretty aggressively. Democrats waltzed to victory in 2018, including Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Democrats flipped two U.S. House seats, five state Senate seats and five state House of Representatives seats as well. Of the Big Three, Michigan seems the most likely to go Democratic. Polling has consistently been in Democrats favor. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Biden up 8.6 percentage points. Polling has generally shown the Democrats up big in Michigan, though two recent polls from Trafalgar and CNBC/Change Research showed Biden up 1 point and 2 points, respectively. Three polls from the beginning to middle of June showed Biden with double-digit leads. Michigan is one of two states where Republicans are looking to gain ground in the U.S. Senate this year as well, with Democratic Sen. Gary Peters up for re-election against Republican John James, who lost to Stabenow in 2018 by 275,000 votes. Polling has consistently shown Peters up, often by double digits, but the fact James is a Black man makes for an interesting dynamic given the national debate right now. Race ratings President: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Democratic Cook Political Report: Lean Democratic Inside Elections: Tilt Democratic Politico: Toss-Up Race ratings Senate: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Democratic Cook Political Report: Leans Democratic Inside Elections: Lean Democratic Politico: Lean Democratic Pennsylvania In this June 17, 2020, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with small business owners in Yeadon, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)AP The final of the Big Three. Trump won the state by just more than 44,000 votes in 2016. Again, the state shifted pretty dramatically back to Democrats in 2018, with Scott Wagner and Lou Barletta losing their races for governor and Senate by huge margins. Democrats netted three U.S. House seats, five state Senate seats and 11 state House of Representatives seats that same year. The Biden team has long felt it has an advantage in Pennsylvania, given Bidens close ties to the state. Biden was born in Scranton and is often billed as the type of blue-collar Democrat who appeals to the Pennsylvania Democratic electorate. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Biden up 6.3 percentage points. The two most recent polls from CNBC/Change Research and the New York Times/Siena College had Biden up 3 points and 10 points, respectively. Race ratings: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Democratic Cook Political Report: Toss-Up Inside Elections: Tilt Democratic Politico: Toss-Up Florida Three months ago, Florida looked a lot like Ohio: a Republican strong point for Trump in 2016 that might be a little more competitive than expected. Democrats picked up two U.S. House seats in 2018, but Republicans ran pretty strong statewide, with both Ron DeSantis winning his governors race and Rick Scott flipping former Sen. Bill Nelsons Senate seat. After a feud with Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Trump selected Jacksonville as the site of his nominating speech. But if polling is any indication, the Sunshine State is edging toward Democrats. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Biden up 6.8 percentage points. The two most recent polls from Fox News and New York Times/Siena College have Biden up 9 percentage points and 6 percentage points, respectively. Biden has not trailed in a poll since early March, the outset of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Losing Florida would be catastrophic for Trumps chances at re-election. The Big Three states in the Midwest have gotten most of the limelight since 2016, largely because they account for 46 Electoral College votes that could swing the election either way. Florida, meanwhile, boasts 29 Electoral College votes. Florida being more competitive is not good for the Trump campaign. It would require the campaign to spend money in a state that it likely thought it would hold considering its older population. Thats money that cant be spent elsewhere. A loss would require Trump to hold every other state he won in 2016, which seems unlikely given Trumps negative approval ratings. Race ratings: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Toss-Up Cook Political Report: Toss-Up Inside Elections: Toss-Up Politico: Toss-Up Arizona President Donald Trump speaks at the Students for Trump conference at Dream City Church, Tuesday, June 23, 2020, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)AP Arizona certainly doesnt seem like a state that should be competitive. Its the home state of former Sen. Barry Goldwater, arguably the grandfather of modern American conservativism. Sen. John McCain represented the state for three decades and challenged Biden and then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the White House in 2008. A Democrat has won the presidential race exactly once Bill Clinton in 1996 since 1952. Trump won in 2016 by 90,000 votes. But the situation in Arizona is a little more complex. Both McCain and former Sen. Jeff Flake were among Trumps most vocal critics, which seems to align with much of electorates thinking. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Biden up 4 percentage points. The two most recent polls from CNBC/Change Research and New York Times/Siena College had Biden up 1 point and 7 points, respectively. Democrats will likely be aggressive in Arizona as they look to flip parts of the Sun Belt with its high Latino population. A victory in Arizona opens up the possibility for Democrats to play in other parts of the country as well. A Trump loss wouldnt necessarily be devastating, but would require Republicans to solidify their support, particularly in the Midwest. Biden may get an assist from a contested Senate race to fill the remainder of McCains term. NASA astronaut Mark Kelly has proven to be a strong Democratic candidate against GOP Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to her seat after losing to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in 2018. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Kelly up 11.6 percentage points on McSally. As an aside, Arizona is likely a decent indicator of political headwinds for the time being. Retirements, deaths and special elections mean the state will hold a statewide Senate election every year from 2016 through 2024. Race ratings President: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Toss-Up Cook Political Report: Toss-Up Inside Elections: Toss-Up Politico: Toss-Up Race ratings Senate: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Democratic Cook Political Report: Toss-Up Inside Elections: Toss-Up Politico: Toss-Up North Carolina North Carolina is often billed as swing territory, even though its generally voted Republican in the presidential race for the last 50 years. Only twice since 1968 has a Democrat won there Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Obama in 2008. Trump won in 2016 by more than 173,000 votes. Thats probably why Republicans initially selected Charlotte as the site of the Republican National Convention. But the state has shown its more than willing to elect Democrats statewide. In fact, over the same period of time, Republicans have only won the gubernatorial races held the same year as presidential races four times. That includes current Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers win in 2016 by just more than 10,000 votes. Oh, and that convention? Well its still happening, but after Cooper demanded the event have social distancing and other health guidelines in place due to the coronavirus, Trump decided to pull out and instead will give a quasi-nominating speech in Jacksonville, Florida. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Biden up 2.4 percentage points. The two most recent polls from Public Policy Polling and Fox News both had Biden up 2 percentage points. Recent polling has also shown Republican Sen. Tom Tillis in trouble against Democratic state Sen. Cal Cunningham. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Cunningham up 2 percentage points, which includes two polls from last week from Public Policy Polling and Fox News that show Cunningham up 2 percentage points and 4 percentage points, respectively. Race ratings President: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Toss-Up Cook Political Report: Toss-Up Inside Elections: Toss-Up Politico: Toss-Up Race ratings Senate: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Toss-Up Cook Political Report: Toss-Up Inside Elections: Toss-Up Politico: Toss-Up Iowa It seems like ages ago the country had to wait weeks to get official results for the Iowa Democratic Caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest in the nation. But it was only four months ago on Feb. 3 that every political reporter in the country was up all night wondering who won (former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was the official winner). Clearly a lot has happened since then, and the Trump campaign was hoping Democrats very public display of incompetence would put Iowa even more firmly in their corner. The state carries only six Electoral College votes, but has the added significance of GOP Sen. Joni Ernst being up for re-election in a state thats backed prairie populists plenty of times in the past. Polling is fairly limited in Iowa now, though the most recent surveys show both the presidential and Senate races could be in play. There isnt enough data for a useful polling average, but the most recent one from the Des Moines Register on June 15 shows Trump up by 1 percentage point. Another conducted by Public Policy Polling released June 5 had the same margin. Democrat Theresa Greenfield had a slight edge over Ernst in those same polls, with Greenfield up 3 percentage points in the Registers and 2 percentage points in PPPs. The state should be Republicans to lose if Trump wins at the top of the ticket. Race ratings President: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Republican Cook Political Report: Lean Republican Inside Elections: Lean Republican Politico: Lean Republican Race ratings Senate: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Republican Cook Political Report: Lean Republican Inside Elections: Lean Republican Politico: Lean Republican Georgia At this point, Georgia seems like a wish list state for Democrats, though it was more competitive than usual in 2016. Trump won the state by 5.1 percentage points, a lower margin than Republican Mitt Romney won by in 2012 and John McCain won by in 2008. However, Republican Gov. Brian Kemps narrow 2018 victory over Democrat Stacey Abrams after some serious irregularities has Democrats thinking they may be able to take Georgia. FiveThirtyEights weighted polling average has Biden up 1.7 percentage points in Georgia. The last two polls from Public Policy Polling and Fox News show Biden up 4 percentage points and 2 percentage points, respectively. Georgia also has the distinction of holding two Senate races this year. The regularly scheduled Senate race will be between Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff, who narrowly lost a special election for a U.S. House seat in 2017. Polls show Ossoff competitive. The most recent poll from Fox News on June 25 shows Perdue beating Ossoff 45% to 42%. The other Senate race, a special election, is an open nonpartisan election for the seat currently occupied by Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler to be held on Election Day. All candidates face off, with the top two going to a runoff if no candidate receives more than 50%. Loeffler is being challenged by Republican Rep. Doug Collins, a Trump ally, from within her own party and Democratic former Attorney General Ed Tarver, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Matt Lieberman, a businessman and son of former Sen. Joe Lieberman, among others. Polling has generally shown Democrats beating Loeffler and competitive with Collins in the event of a runoff. Race ratings - President: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Republican Cook Political Report: Lean Republican Inside Elections: Lean Republican Politico: Lean Republican Race ratings Senate (Perdue): Sabatos Crystal Ball: Likely Republican Cook Political Report: Lean Republican Inside Elections: Likely Republican Politico: Lean Republican Race ratings Senate (Loeffler): Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Republican Cook Political Report: Lean Republican Inside Elections: Likely Republican Politico: Lean Republican Texas Texas has been Democrats white whale for years. Every year, theres talk of Texas and its 38 Electoral College votes potentially going Democratic, but that hasnt happened since the state backed Jimmy Carter in 1976. Trump won the state by more than 807,000 votes in 2016. Democrats picked up two U.S. House seats in 2018, but Republicans won comfortably in every statewide race, save for polarizing Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs 2.6-percentage point victory over former Rep. and presidential hopeful Beto ORourke. The Real Clear Politics polling average has Trump up 2 percentage points. The two most recent polls from Fox News and Quinnipiac have Biden up 1 percentage point and Trump up 1 percentage point, respectively. If Texas goes blue on election night, the Republican Party is in landslide loss territory. Another interesting wrinkle to Texas is GOP Sen. John Cornyns re-election bid. Cornyn shouldnt be in any real trouble, though there has been some polling showing relatively soft support for an incumbent. Cornyns opponent will be either Air Force veteran MJ Hegar, who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. House in 2018, has shown some fundraising prowess and has backing from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or longtime state Sen. Royce West. If Trumps popularity sinks even more, its possible the Senate race becomes more competitive. Race ratings President: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Leans Republican Cook Political Report: Lean Republican Inside Elections: Likely Republican Politico: Lean Republican Race ratings Senate: Sabatos Crystal Ball: Likely Republican Cook Political Report: Likely Republican Inside Elections: Likely Republican Politico: Lean Republican Read more cleveland.com politics coverage: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine looking at county by county coronavirus restrictions, a reversal from the past Mike Pence says Donald Trump kept jobs promise in Lordstown plant that used to employ thousands Reopening guidelines for Ohio schools delayed again, to Thursday Ohio teachers planning during the pandemic prepare for drastic changes -- at any time COLUMBUS, Ohio - At least 51,789 people have confirmed or probable coronavirus to date, according to the Ohio Department of Health on Monday, up from 743 a day earlier. The Ohio case figure includes at least 2,863 confirmed or probable deaths, up 45 from Mondays state report. This is over twice as high as the 21-day average of deaths of 21. The increase in cases and deaths doesnt necessarily mean they all occurred in the past 24 hours. There is some lag time between when they occur and when local entities notify the state. The figures to watch are hospitalizations and intensive-care unit admissions, which indicate serious cases, some of which can lead to death. Ohio is testing more people but Ohio physicians -- as well as Gov. Mike DeWine -- say the surge cant be blamed on increased testing alone. On Tuesday, there were 93 hospitalizations. The averages hospitalizations over the past 21 days has been 58. There were 33 ICU admissions. The average number of new intensive-care unit admissions is has been 14 over the last 21 days. The number of patients on ventilators was 115, no change since Mondays report. Tuesdays report showed 13,502 more coronavirus tests performed in Ohio, for a total of 784,362. Ohios testing per 100,000 residents still remains at the bottom of states, territories and Washington, D.C.: 6,474. Thats 11th lowest, according to figures maintained by Johns Hopkins University. Across the globe, over 10 million people have been infected with coronavirus, with 507,000 people dead. The U.S. counts 2.6 million cases and 126,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday. State figures show that on Saturday, 4.8% of the tests came back positive. On Sunday, almost 5.1% of the coronavirus tests came back positive. Those are the most current figures for positive tests. On Friday, 5.2% were positive. On Thursday, it was 5.3%. On Wednesday, it was 5.4%. Gov. Mike DeWines next coronavirus briefing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday. More coverage: Workers, advocates push state Senate to pass bill aimed at improving Ohios broken unemployment system Gov. Mike DeWine is extending public health orders that were due to expire. Here is a list. New coronavirus cases exceed 700: Monday update U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana abortion law, similar to Ohios, requiring doctors to have agreements with nearby hospitals Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine looking at county by county coronavirus restrictions, a reversal from the past COLUMBUS, Ohio After more than a year of debate, the Ohio Senate on Tuesday approved a sweeping criminal-sentencing reform bill that would reclassify many nonviolent drug possession felonies as misdemeanors. Under Senate Bill 3, most drug possession crimes that currently are a fourth or fifth-degree felony, which carry the possibility of prison time and the stigma of being a convicted felon, would be changed to misdemeanors. It also makes it easier for someone whos been convicted of felony drug possession under the existing standard to have their record sealed, and allows courts to put an indefinite hold on a drug case if the defendant successfully complies with terms of treatment. The complex bill largely leaves intact existing felonies for having quantities of drugs deemed large enough that theyre assumed to be intended to be sold to others, although it creates a new felony crime of possession with intent to sell or distribute. The Senate passed it 25-4, with the no votes coming from four Republicans. SB3, a priority of Republican Senate President Larry Obhof, now heads to the House. If approved, it then would head to Gov. Mike DeWines desk. Its a big step in the right direction, Obhof told reporters Tuesday after the bill passed. The bill would reduce Ohios prison population by 2,700, saving the state $75 million, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission, the state legislatures research arm. The bill, however, could place a greater financial burden on local courts and jails that handle lower-level offenses. The bill has support from a coalition of libertarian and progressive groups that support reforming criminal laws to reduce state incarceration rates and to help people with a drug rap resume productive lives. Theres no escaping a scarlet letter, said Sen. John Eklund, a Geauga County Republican who co-sponsored the bill. This bill I believe will go a long way for people who want to get better. While the legislation was first introduced in February 2019, recent events the coronavirus pandemic and an increased national focus on racial equality before the criminal justice system have given the bill greater urgency, said Shakyra Diaz, Ohio state director for the Alliance for Safety and Justice. It just emphasizes why this bill was important 18 months ago, and its critical today, she said. We are still losing people every single day to overdoses. Our prisons continue to be over-crowded. The cost that were spending on keeping people incarcerated and preventing them from working and contributing to their families is so much more important now than ever before. But police and prosecutors groups have testified against it, saying the line between drug addicts and drug dealers is blurry. All of those people who are poisoning my community would remain on the street under the auspices of this bill, John Litle, an assistant prosecutor in rural Muskingum County, testified in a committee hearing last week. While criminal-sentencing reform has been on Ohio lawmakers agendas for more than a decade, the bill has its origins in a 2018 state ballot issue that would have had similar results. It was defeated by a more than two-to-one margin, but prompted bipartisan negotiations on a more moderate plan that eventually led to SB3. Read related coverage by cleveland.com: Ohio Senate could move criminal justice bill this year: Capitol Letter Advocates intensify efforts around Ohio bill that would make most felony drug possession a misdemeanor Ohio senators seek more treatment for addicts, tougher penalties for drug dealers Rotunda Rumblings Abortion decision: A majority on the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Louisiana law requiring doctors to gain hospital admitting privileges if theyre performing abortions. While the decision doesnt directly invalidate Ohios hospital transfer agreement requirement, some aspects of the case will affect Ohio, Sabrina Eaton and Laura Hancock report. A stitch in time saves nine? Gov. Mike DeWine said hes extending public health orders covering nine sectors of society for a week. That will buy him time to plan how to continue to allow the sectors -- which include bars and day cares -- to operate during the pandemic, Hancock reports. Revisiting state policy: Ohioans in nursing homes will be able to once again receive visitors (though only outdoors) starting July 20, DeWine announced. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, the governor said its very, very important for locked up nursing-home residents to be able to see their loved ones. School guidelines: State guidelines on school re-openings are delayed again likely a full week after the initial expected date. DeWine said he hopes to announce plans to take Ohio into the next phase of living with the pandemic on Thursday, Emily Bamforth reports. Making the grade: The coronavirus pandemic continues to test Ohio teachers. Leaders are planning, but need guidelines from the state to finalize decisions, Bamforth reports. In the meantime, teachers are left in a holding pattern and expected to adapt to change quickly, like they did in the spring when the pandemic shut down schools. Police academy: With all the attention paid to police training recently, its worth asking exactly what the training is like right now. Pelzer lays out what every officer in Ohio must learn about when to use force, crowd control, and overcoming bias. (Officers are also taught that during traffic stops, Do not quiz the person to see if the person knows why he/she was stopped.) Pink-slip eligible: The U.S. Supreme Court ended the semi-independent status of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, saying the president is allowed to fire its leader. This harkens back to the legal debate of whether Trump could fire Richard Cordray, former Ohio attorney general who ultimately left the office to run for governor. Cleveland concern: In the past week, Cleveland has set daily records in new coronavirus cases. The spike is likely related to the Black Lives Matter protest on May 30, since people reported first having symptoms June 3-4, Robert Higgs reports. On the up: Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday devoted time to discussing the spike in cases that Ohio is seeing statewide. On Monday, there were 737 newly reported cases, Hancock reports. COVID trending: Yes, newly reported coronavirus cases in Ohio continue to spike. But so far, hospitalizations have not followed up as sharply, notes cleveland.coms Rich Exner. Since June 20, the daily patient count statewide has increased from 520 to 669, but remains below earlier levels, including 760 on June 1 and 1,087 on April 20. However, since hospitalizations sometimes lag onset of symptoms by a week or two, these are numbers to watch. Full Disclosure Five things we learned from the Feb. 18 financial disclosure form of state Rep. Allison Russo, an Upper Arlington Democrat. 1. Aside from her legislative pay, Russo's lone source of income was $100,000 or more from consulting for Kennel and Associates. 2. Russo's investments included several mutual funds with T. Rowe Price and Ohio Deferred Compensation and a retirement fund through the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. 3. At some point in 2019, Russo owed more than $1,000 to Bank of America, USAA Federal Savings Bank and Synchrony Bank. 4. Russo's travel reimbursement included $141.50 from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, $899.19 from Women in Government, $690.60 from the Public Leadership Institute and $882.60 from Future Now. 5. Women in Government and Future Now gave Russo gifts worth more than $75. The Ohio State University Public Leadership Academy, Women in Government, Future Now and the Public Leadership Institute gave Russo meals, food and beverages worth more than $100. On the Move Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Champaign County, will be succeeded as ranking member on the Oversight and Reform Committee by Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, Politico reports. Jordan had been doing double duty, holding the oversight position temporarily after he was named to the Judiciary Committee. Birthdays State Sen. Theresa Gavarone State Rep. Lisa Sobecki Straight From The Source We could be feeling this for the next decade. -Athens Mayor Steve Patterson to the New York Times in a story about coronavirus and college campuses. Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free. President Donald Trumps plan to significantly reduce the number of American troops stationed in Germany has been causing ripples even among Republican lawmakers, who are and not for the first time expressing concern that the present administration cares little for maintaining the Western alliance formed at the end of World War II. A June 22 letter to Trump signed by six Republican representatives, including Michael McCaul, the ranking Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argued reducing the number of troops in Germany would fail to meet two expressly stated objectives. Firstly, a reduction would be unlikely to convince the German government that it should make good on its pledge to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defense, as agreed at the NATO Summit in Wales in 2014. This reluctance to spend, of course, lies at the root of Trumps ire with Germany, as well as with other European members of the NATO alliance who are deemed not to be pulling their weight in terms of financial contributions. Secondly, the reduction would place, in the words of the letter, U.S. strategic interests at risk. Urging Trump to reconsider his decision, the letter concluded the United States should continue to lead by example and remain fully committed to the NATO alliance, which has successfully deterred the outbreak of another costly world war on the continent since its formation. It is irrefutable that a peaceful and prosperous Europe is in the interests of not just our European allies and partners, but also the United States. Would Trump, as this congressional letter implies, imperil the fundamental security of the West by removing 9,500 U.S. troops from Germany, leaving 25,000 in place? This is not the first time that an American president has mooted the prospect of a diminished military presence in Germany. In the period of 30 years that witnessed the end of the Cold War and then the resurgence of Russian militarism under Vladimir Putins regime, Europes frontline moved eastwards from Germany to those countries with a land border with Russia, among them Poland and the Baltic nations (all NATO members), and Ukraine and Georgia (NATO allies who have nonetheless endured Russian military aggression during the last decade.) Former President Barack Obama never one to get sentimental about European allies either also faced criticism when he decided in 2011 to reduce the number of U.S. Brigade Combat Teams, each comprising 4,000 soldiers, that were based in Germany. Obama did this over the advice to the contrary of Adm. James Stavridis, then the commander of U.S. forces in Europe, and the objections of members of Congress. One of Obamas critics at the time, the late Indiana Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, expressed almost the same fear that Trump is being confronted with today. If Obama reduced U.S. troop numbers in Europe, Lugar said, that would raise uncertainty over Americas commitment to NATO allies, especially at a time when many NATO allies have questioned U.S. engagement on the European continent. These same questions have intensified under Trump, in part because of the combative, dismissive rhetoric he has employed when making the case that the other members of NATO have taken shameless advantage of Americas financial largesse. Defenders of the presidents approach have also made the strategic argument that the U.S. troop presence in Germany is a relic of Cold War days and unnecessary in an era of drone warfare, electronic and cyber warfare, and targeted airstrikes. And following the visit of Polish President Andrzej Duda to the White House last week, they can also argue that the issue is less about reduction, and more about redistribution, as some of the troops withdrawn from Germany will be restationed in Poland. Poland is one of the few countries that are (sic) fulfilling their obligations under NATO, in particular their monetary obligations, Trump said at his joint press conference with Duda. Theyll be paying for the sending of additional troops, and well probably be moving the m from Germany to Poland. That is a sound economic argument for some people at least, but does it have strategic value? Given that we are talking about slightly less than 10,000 troops and that no details have been forthcoming about their relocation, its hard to see how such a move would deter further Russian ambitions westwards. Moreover, Trump has had a sour relationship with the government of Angela Merkel in Germany and a much better one with Poland, presently governed by conservative nationalists who are predicted to win comfortably in this weekends national elections. So theres a case to be made that political considerations unrelated to national security are among the drivers of this decision. Yet the critical underlying factor in the dispute over U.S. troops in Germany isnt really about numbers and locations. Its about Trumps attitude to the Western alliance. When he has read from scripted speeches, Trump has reiterated Americas historic commitments. But when he has sounded off on his own volition, he has made clear his view that America is essentially doing the Europeans a favor by looking after their security, which has less and less to do with our security. When Trump held a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, the late, much-lamented Sen. John McCain lambasted him for his remark that the United States and Russia were equally responsible for the deterioration in their bilateral ties, along with his shielding of the Russian dictator from questions about Moscows interference in the 2016 U.S. election. The damage inflicted by President Trumps naivete, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate, McCain said in July 2018, a little more than a month before he passed away. The president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world. Trump hasnt said or done anything since that criticism was leveled to suggest that he would behave any differently now. To ensure that free and open societies triumph over the likes of Vladimir Putins regime and the Chinese Communist Party, the United States must continue to build and maintain a united coalition of like-minded allies, the six Republicans implored in their letter to Trump on Germany. Sadly, if a U.S. president needs to be reminded of this basic truth, he cannot be particularly wedded to it in the first place. Ben Cohen is a New York City-based journalist and author who writes a weekly column on Jewish and international affairs for JNS. Top read more of Cohens columns, visit cjn.org/cohen. In our world of divisiveness, generally, most people can agree crime is bad. But what about hate crimes? We have all heard the loaded-phrase before, but many remain unclear about what elevates a seemingly regular crime into a hate crime? Two recent incidents reported on by the Clevel Pork spareribs, from below the loin near the belly, have less meat than back ribs, but offer great flavor for less money. Before cooking, use a sharp paring knife to carefully remove the tough membrane that covers the underside of the rack of ribs. Then, cut the slabs in half and place in simmering salted water to cover over very low heat (do not allow the water to boil vigorously) for 20 minutes. Drain the ribs, pat dry and season with salt and pepper or a rib rub. Refrigerate up to two days. Grill the ribs over indirect heat until fork tender, about 1 to 1 hours. NETTETAL, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 11: A sign marks entry to Holland at the A61 highway on the German-Dutch border on February 11, 2016 near Kaldenkirchen, Germany. Despite an announcement by Dutch authorities two days before that effective immediately police would begin conducting stricter controls of incoming traffic at border crossings to Germany not a single Dutch police officer was present at at least 15 border crossings today. Dutch authorities made the announcement as part of an effort to prevent migrants who have no case for asylum from entering Holland. (Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images) Rabbi Howard Kutner, director of spiritual living at Menorah Park in Beachwood, was remembered as a meticulously observant Jew, an effective teacher and as a congregational rabbi for the residents in every sense. Kutner died June 29 at age 63. Rabbi Kutners friendship and guidance were felt throughout Menorah Park among staff, residents and families alike and we will cherish the memories of the times each of us spent with him, Menorah Park CEO Jim Newbrough said in a statement to the Cleveland Jewish News June 30. When I joined Menorah Park, Rabbi Kutner spent the first year teaching me many meaningful aspects of Judaism from holidays to traditions. I gained a deeper understanding in Judaism and great respect for Rabbi Kutner. His important Judaic lessons have and will stay with me, because of how he taught. Through humor and a quick wit, he helped all of us, including me, feel comfortable and open to learning with a strong sense of enthusiasm. Residents of Montefiore on the same campus praised his teaching, said Rabbi Akiva Feinstein, director of spiritual care at Montefiore. Residents often said they were surprised at how Kutner could present material in a way that was enjoyable, Feinstein said. He was really a great teacher because he could explain contents that were deep to anybody, Feinstein said. His persona was that he was a community rabbi. Many of the residents would always tell me, I feel like I have a rabbi. Feinstein said Kutner took that responsibility seriously and was, at the same time, approachable and at peoples level. Kutner, who was born May 8, 1957, became director of spiritual learning in 2017 after serving as associate rabbi under the mentorship of Rabbi David Bader at Menorah Park for 13 years. Rabbi Ephraim Nisenbaum, founder and director of Jewish Learning Connection in University Heights, said he first met Kutner at Menorah Park. At some point, Kutner began attending services at Jewish Learning Connection, and he regularly attended services there on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. He often led the davening, Nisenbaum said. He felt connected to G-d when he prayed, Nisenbaum told the CJN. He really did. He said each word so carefully. He enunciated each word carefully. Nisenbaum said the two engaged in discussions of Jewish law, or halacha, as well, both theoretical and practical concerns. Nisenbaum said while Kutner was meticulous in his observance, he was also respectful of the different levels of observance among residents at Menorah Park. He knew how to make people feel good, he said. Both in his personal life and his professional life, he walked a balance. Kutner grew up in Queens, N.Y., and received rabbinic training at Yeshiva University in New York City. He came to Beachwood after working as a pulpit rabbi at Beth Israel Synagogue in Omaha, Neb. He told the CJN in a 2017 interview he was drawn to the quality Cleveland-area educational opportunities for his four children, leading him to the Menorah Park position. He came to Menorah Park with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and dedication, and established relationships with his new congregation very quickly, a statement from Menorah Park read. In his role as associate rabbi, he increased the number of weekly classes and led well-attended Ask the Rabbi classes and conducted Shabbat services, the statement continued. On several occasions, questions arose during these services which then become part of the next Ask the Rabbi session. Rabbi Kutner observed women on campus stating they did not have a bat mitzvah as young girls. Acknowledging the void, he extended a bat mitzvah invitation to residents. Ten women, ages 89 through 96 signed up for bat mitzvah classes, and they named their group WOW, Women of Wiggins. They shared their life lessons with the nation as they studied and prepared. Kutner said in the 2017 CJN interview, When you become their rabbi, its a wonderful thing because many of them are no longer members of synagogues at their advanced age. They can still feel like they have a rabbi that cares about them and has taken care of their religious and spiritual needs. According to the statement, Their great sense of accomplishment is thanks to Rabbi Kutner and the way in which he made learning an engaging and interesting experience. He was not only an exceptional spiritual leader with a vast knowledge of Torah, but also an incredible teacher with ever-present warmth and humor. Several bar and bat mitzvot followed throughout the campus, and he also led vow renewals with several couples joining together in these heartfelt ceremonies. Along with Associate Rabbi Joseph Kirsch, the spiritual team offered services inclusive of all segments of the community, the statement said. Their focus was to enrich the lives of residents through spiritually uplifting services, educational opportunities and special programs. Rabbi Kutner furthered his education by studying chaplaincy and served as chaplain-in-training at the Cleveland Clinic. He along with Rabbi Kirsch supported pastoral and spiritual needs. He also implemented a strong kosher supervision process throughout campus. Pastoral visitation, intergenerational programming, hospice, end-of-life counseling and decision making, kosher supervision, Jewish holidays and special programming were all important aspects of his role. Kutner, who was trained as an Orthodox rabbi, led dVar Torah sessions at board meetings and acted as cantor while reading from the Torah at services. Kutner is survived by his wife, Nechama, and their four children: Yechiel, who is studying in Israel, and Eliyahu, Binyamin, who is studying at Yeshiva University, and Chana Lieba, who lives in Greater Cleveland. A graveside funeral was held June 30 at Mount Olive Cemetery in Solon. B.A.D. Golf Postponed Due to the forecast for cold weather and rain, B.A.D. Golf and Live After Six with The Jeremy DeWall Band ... Illinois has entered phase four of its reopening plan, so make the best of the situation and grab your mask and explore Chicago. Get out of the house and take a hike on the The 606 or lakefront, which have reopened with limited access. Catch a classic film at an urban drive-in like the Chicago Drive-In Theater in Bridgeview, or at Soldier Fields South Lot, or head to the University of Chicagos campus and tour Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie style masterpiece Robie House. Here are a few more great ways to vacation in your own backyard: "In a strange way, the furniture industry is benefiting from people not being able to travel, go on vacations and send kids to summer camp. That extra income families now have is letting them spend it on furniture, whether that is indoor or for patios. We were in a lull for a few months, but things are starting to get back to normal and it is catching." Dan Geller, owner of Fish Furniture Dan Geller CLINTON [mdash] George E. Kunau, Jr. age 78 of Clinton, passed away Thursday, June 10, 2021 at his home. In following George's wishes cremation rites have been accorded. Private services will be held at a later date. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery. Honorary pallbearers will be Mark Ho History is complex and nuanced and a lot of the figures we revere, like (George) Washington or Lincoln, are not perfect in all things, she said. We should be able to tell that complex story instead of saying, This guy was all bad and we should get rid of him. You could destroy our entire history because its based entirely on dispossession of Native Americans. The company raised around $226 million in its IPO, with shares surging that day by around 41% to close at $23.89. Today, shares in the electric vehicle maker closed at $1,009.35, meaning Tesla's stock has risen by 4,125 % since the close of its first day as a public company. That stock performance puts Tesla in rarified air, alongside Netflix, which was the top-performing stock on the S&P 500 during the 2010s. (Netflix rose 4,181% between Jan. 2010 and Dec. 2019. But Netflix shares more than doubled in price between Jan. 2010 and June 2010, when Tesla went public. That means Netflix has "only" gained 2,657% in value since Tesla's debut.) It also means Tesla stock has outperformed other big tech names like Amazon and Apple, as well as all the major automakers. The stock has had plenty of ups and downs along the way, including a 30% drop in the month after Aug. 7, 2018, when a CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he had "funding secured" to take the company private. The SEC accused Musk of misleading the public, as he allegedly knew the funding was contingent, and both Musk individually and Tesla as a company paid $20 million fines to settle the suit. But shares have been on a rally since early 2020, as Tesla got its factory in Shanghai up and running and began manufacturing the Model Y at its original U.S. car plant in Fremont, California. Investors also bought into the company's promises to deliver an electric semi truck called the Semi, electric pickup truck known as the Cybertruck and improvements in self-driving technology. Despite the Covid-19 epidemic, which shut down production in its California factory for several weeks, shares are up more than 140% this year. Since going public, Tesla has never achieved a full year of profitability. The company has reported seven quarters with net income greater than zero, since its IPO -- the first was Q1 of 2013. It has now reported three consecutive quarters of GAAP profit, with some accounting adjustments along the way, and is scheduled to report Q2 earnings next month. Tesla is now gunning for inclusion in the S&P 500, which requires a minimum of four consecutive quarters of profitability, among other things. U.S. President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One from the Marine One helicopter as he departs on a day trip to Arizona and a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, leaving Washington from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., June 23, 2020. President Donald Trump and the White House knew earlier than was previously reported about alleged Russian bounties offered to Afghan militants to kill American service members, according to new reports Monday night. Trump received a written briefing in February about intelligence regarding the alleged bounties, The New York Times reported Monday night, citing two officials with knowledge of the matter. The Associated Press, citing officials with direct knowledge of the matter, also reported that the White House was aware of the matter much earlier, in early 2019. Then-national security advisor John Bolton told colleagues that he briefed Trump on the matter in March 2019, the AP added. Bolton has published a tell-all memoir about his time in the White House. The narrative is full of withering condemnations of the president and unflattering anecdotes about him. Trump has slammed the book as full of lies, while the administration unsuccessfully sought to block the book's publication. Bolton declined to comment on the AP's report, NBC News reported. Trump and the White House have denied that the president had been briefed on the intelligence assessment regarding the Russian bounties. The White House had also said that the intelligence underpinning the claim was unverified. National security advisor Robert O'Brien, in a statement Monday night, condemned the leaks and asserted that the president had not been briefed. "Because the allegations in recent press articles have not been verified or substantiated by the Intelligence Community, President Trump had not been briefed on the items," O'Brien said. "Nevertheless, the Administration, including the National Security Council staff, have been preparing should the situation warrant action." Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement to NBC News, "The Department of Defense continues to evaluate intelligence that Russian GRU operatives were engaged in malign activity against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan." "To date, DOD has no corroborating evidence to validate the recent allegations found in open-source reports," he said. "Regardless, we always take the safety and security of our forces in Afghanistan and around the world - most seriously and therefore continuously adopt measures to prevent harm from potential threats." The Times said the investigation has homed in on a car bombing in April 2019 that killed three Marines. That attack occurred the month after Bolton reportedly briefed Trump about the bounties. Bolton's briefing for Trump didn't have "actionable intelligence," officials told the Associated Press. Felicia Arculeo, whose son Cpl. Robert Hendriks, 25, died in the attack, told CNBC earlier Monday that she wanted an investigation into the claims that the victims were targeted by Taliban fighters who may have been offered bounties by Russian military intelligence agents. Sgt. Benjamin Hines, 31, and Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman, 43, were the other Marines killed in the attack, which came days before they were due to return home from Afghanistan. The Times on Friday first reported that U.S. intelligence agencies had assessed that a Russian intelligence unit last year offered bounties to Islamist fighters in Afghanistan who killed U.S. soldiers. The Times also reported that Trump had been briefed on the matter in March, but as of yet had not decided on whether or how to retaliate against Russia after being presented with a menu of options. However, Monday, The Times reported that Trump had access to the information earlier, in February. The newspaper reported that one of the officials it cited had said it appeared in the president's daily brief on Feb. 27. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a press briefing Monday that the president had not been briefed. Pressed on the matter by reporters, including whether that applied to the president's daily briefing, she said: "He was not personally briefed on the matter. That is all I can share with you today, is that both the CIA director, the national security advisor, and the chief of staff can all confirm neither the president or the vice president was briefed." Read the full Times report here. An Airbus technician works in a fuselage segment in the new structural assembly of the Airbus A320 family in Hangar 245 at the Airbus plant in Finkenwerder. Battered by the coronavirus pandemic, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said Tuesday that it must eliminate 15,000 jobs, mostly in Europe, to safeguard its future and warned of more thin years ahead. "With air traffic not expected to recover to pre-COVID levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025, Airbus now needs to take additional measures," the company said in a statement. No later than the summer of 2021, Airbus wants to shed 5,000 workers in France, 5,100 in Germany, 1,700 in Britain, 900 in Spain and 1,300 others at facilities elsewhere. Airbus said it wants to start making the cuts within months, from this autumn. It will aim for voluntary departures and early retirements, but also said that compulsory job losses can't be ruled out. It said it is already consulting with unions. Airbus said its commercial aircraft business activity has plummeted by close to 40% as the pandemic has shut borders, brought mass tourism to a screeching halt and put airlines on their knees, thumping the European manufacturer and its rival Boeing. "Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced," the company's CEO, Guillaume Faury, said in the statement. "The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader." Airbus reported 481 million euros ($515 million) in losses in the first quarter, put thousands of workers on furlough and sought billions in loans to survive the coronavirus crisis. Amazon has maintained its position as the world's most valuable brand, increasing its worth by almost a third to $415.9 billion compared to last year, according to a ranking by consultancy Kantar published Tuesday. The annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranks companies by combining their market capitalization with consumer research of over 3.8 million people around the world. Apple came in at second on the list, valued at $352.2 billion followed by Microsoft at $326.5 billion, which this year overtook Google to become the world's third-most-valuable brand. This rise is due in part to the increased use of its Microsoft Teams collaboration software as employees worked from home during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the report. While news of the coronavirus outbreak caused stocks to plunge in March, the share prices of online businesses like Amazon, which deliver consumer staples saw a surge in April as brick-and-mortar stores shuttered (the e-commerce giant's response to the pandemic has been criticized, however). "Although consumer reliance on home delivery during the pandemic stretched Amazon's logistics capabilities, it also affirmed Amazon's strength," the Kantar report stated. Alibaba is ranked sixth in the BrandZ list, valued at $152.5 billion, up 16% on the year prior, while JD.com's brand valuation went up 24% to $25.5 billion, according to Kantar. "Brands that enabled people to navigate life with digital devices, and achieve convenience and comfort, generally increased in value or at least outperformed their category," the report said. Brands are also better placed to survive this financial crisis than they were in 2008-2009, according to David Roth, chair of BrandZ. "Businesses understand the importance of investing in brand-building and are stronger and more resilient as a result," he said in a release emailed to CNBC. Chinese video-sharing app TikTok is the highest new entry in the top 100 list, with a valuation of $16.9 billion and ranking higher than brands such as KFC, Uber and Adidas. "TikTok is one of the most exciting and creative brands we have seen for a while entering the Top 100 and has been a game-changer during the pandemic," Elspeth Cheung, global head of BrandZ valuations at Kantar, said in an emailed statement. But the ByteDance-owned brand is still dwarfed by rival social media app Instagram, whose brand is valued at $41.5 billion by Kantar, as well as Facebook. The total value of the 100 brands in the list reached $5 trillion, up 5.9%. Pre-pandemic, their value was expected to rise by 9% according to Kantar. The BrandZ ranking was commissioned by advertising group WPP and is conducted by Kantar. It looked at more than 17,000 brands in 51 countries. The large majority of consumers were researched online across a one-year period, with some in lower-income groups surveyed face-to face. For a typical brand the margin of error for survey data is less than 3%, according to Kantar. Travelers from a list of 15 nations will be allowed entry to the European Union starting Wednesday, but the United States is not on the list. Thirty countries in Europe (26 of which are members of the EU) closed their external borders in March to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. As most of them reopen their economies, they are also starting to welcome external visitors though at a much slower rate than before the pandemic. European Union governments decided Tuesday to open their external borders to Algeria, Tunisia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand and Uruguay. Chinese travelers will also be allowed in the EU, but only if China announces that it will also accept European visitors. The decision was taken based on the health situation of the countries of origin and will be reviewed every two weeks. For each country on the list, the EU said the following criteria needed to be met: the number of new Covid-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100 000 inhabitants needed to be close to or below the EU average; there should be a stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 day; and the overall response to Covid-19 needed to be considered. The recommendation was given to all EU member states and the Schengen-associated countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). JAMF's IPO prospectus names Apple 533 times. The company says its mission is to "help organizations succeed with Apple." One of its key risk factors is that customers become dissatisfied with Apple products. Founded 18 years ago, JAMF is finally headed for the public market. In its prospectus released on Tuesday, the company isn't shy about tying its fortunes to a tech giant that's now valued by investors at over $1.5 trillion. "Apple is ubiquitous," JAMF says in the industry background section of its filing. "It has transformed the technology landscape by placing the user first and designing everything around maximizing the Apple user experience." JAMF helps companies securely deploy all of those Apple products, connecting them together and giving IT teams the tools to manage them. In the first quarter, revenue climbed 37% from a year ago, to $60.4 million, and the company's gross margin rose to 75% from 70%, as more customers turned to its subscription offering. It's still losing money, though its net loss narrowed slightly from $9 million to $8.3 million. JAMF has been around for a long time, but its business has taken off in the last few years as Apple devices became more popular in business environments. Prior to the iPhone's rise last decade, companies tended to rely on PCs running software from Microsoft and other vendors, and a myriad of phones from different providers. The iPhone's popularity convinced some companies to take a closer look at other Apple products, including iPads and Macs. watchOS 7 includes sleep tracking support. Apple Apple fans have speculated for years about when the company's smartwatch would start tracking sleep. Now it's finally arriving with the next version of the Apple Watch's software, WatchOS 7, and it's a little different than what we've seen before. Apple unveiled its sleep tracking features at WWDC, its developer conference, last week. But it's not a new area of interest for the company. Kevin Lynch, Apple's vice president in charge of Apple Watch software, told CNBC that the company has been extensively researching sleep technology for years. "Some of these things are nonobvious when you first start working on sleep and it took us a while to get there," he said. Thanks to this research, Apple decided to focus its efforts on setting and achieving simple goals, rather than collecting and analyzing data about a user's sleep habits. It might not be the right tech for those who are fixated with data and tracking their phases, like the number of hours they logged rapid eye movement sleep. But sleep medicine experts, who are wary of arming consumers with too much information without sufficient context, told CNBC that it's one of the better approaches out there. Here's how Apple's sleep tracking tech works and why it stands out from the pack: The perils of too much data Some people love tracking their health data in the most granular way possible. Some devices from Fitbit and others offer a window into understanding these various sleep phases, including light sleep, deep sleep and rapid eye movement sleep, using motion sensors and heart rate tracking. But too much information can also create negative outcomes. Experts recently coined a new condition called "orthosomnia," which involves a person becoming so preoccupied with getting the perfect sleep via wearable devices that they develop sleep-related anxiety. That might make it harder for them to get a decent night's sleep. Dr. Seema Khosla, medical director of the North Dakota Center for Sleep, has seen these patients in her clinic. Armed with data from wearable devices, they've shared unfounded concerns about their sleep quality and duration. "I've had patients get really worked up," she said in an interview with CNBC. "It's made me come around to the idea that we need to be a lot more thoughtful about the data we show." Apple's Lynch suggested that information collected via smartwatches about sleep isn't always accurate. The company researched all kinds of sleep tracking, including to record brain waves via an EEG, over the years, and determined that it's very challenging to measure "a complete picture of what's going on in the brain" with just a wrist-worn device. Apple's Kevin Lynch speaks during the keynote address at the 2020 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on June 22, 2020. Brooks Kraft/Apple Inc/Handout In addition, Apple doesn't typically like to give bad news to its users, including that they aren't sleeping properly. So the company has provided very minimal data about sleep duration and sleep quality. It's possible to see periods of wakefulness and sleep, but not the most detailed information around sleep cycles. Instead, Apple asks Apple Watch wearers to set a goal around how much sleep they'd like to get, and then nudges them to wind down before they go to bed. Ultimately, Lynch said, it's about tapping into user psychology. "We wanted to be seen as a helpful addition, rather than another source of frustration and anxiety," he said. "We try to take the broad ideas of what is possible and hone it down as simply as we can, and then try to simplify it some more." Apple's former sleep czar, Roy Raymann, who is now the chief scientific officer at sleep tech company SleepScore Labs, agreed with that approach. "In general, consumers are looking for tools to improve, not for tools to measure," he said. For example, Raymann said that stepping on a bathroom scale isn't going to help a person lose weight tomorrow. In the same way, overloading a person with data about their hours of rapid eye movement sleep might not help them sleep better. "So [Apple] focused on the measurement as a way to hit sleep health goal behaviors, which is a holistic view I support," Raymann said. Winding down Stocks in Asia Pacific rose on Tuesday as China's official manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index for June came in above expectations. Mainland Chinese stocks were also higher on the day, with the Shenzhen component jumping 2.042% to approximately 11,992.35 while the Shanghai composite was up 0.78% to about 2,984.67. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 0.25%, as of its final hour of trading, with shares of life insurer AIA falling 1.17%. The moves came after China passed a controversial national security law for the city. Chinese officials are set to hold a media briefing regarding the security law on Wednesday morning local time. The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 1.33% to close at 22,288.14, following its more than 2% slide on Monday. The Topix index also added 0.62% to finish its trading day at 1,558.77. In South Korea, the Kospi closed 0.71% higher at 2,108.33. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia added 1.43% to end its trading day at 5,897.90. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 0.62%. China's official manufacturing PMI for June came in at 50.9, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Economists in a Reuters poll had a median forecast of 50.4 for the data print. PMI readings above 50 signify expansion, while those below that indicate contraction. In May, the official manufacturing PMI was at 50.6, according to the NBS. Meanwhile, Japan's industrial production in May dropped 8.4% month-on-month, according to data released Tuesday in a preliminary report by the country's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. That was a larger decline than a median market forecast of a 5.6% fall by economists in a Reuters poll. Developments surrounding the coronavirus pandemic will also continue to be watched, with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu warning Monday that "the worst is yet to come." "Although many countries have made some progress, globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up," he said during a virtual news conference from the agency's Geneva headquarters. "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives, but the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over." "We've seen a good sweep of data, macro data in particular, over the past few weeks coming out of the U.S., the euro zone and China and I think this Chinese data just reiterates the fact that we're seeing a faster than expected improvement from a macro perspective," Cedric Chehab, head of country risk and global strategy at Fitch Solutions, told CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Tuesday. He added that there's currently a "tug-of-war" in the markets between the improving macro data and "deteriorating" coronavirus data. "If we start to see the number of infections continue to rise very quickly and localized lockdowns starting to become more strict and blanket lockdowns across the U.S. or in other countries, then I think that would set up more risks for ... a much larger correction in equity markets," Chehab said. Billionaire global investor Barry Sternlicht told CNBC on Tuesday that the U.S. could end up in a downward spiral of economic pain if the businesses cannot get back to operating due to the coronavirus. "If we don't get people back to work and the enterprises back to getting revenues and profits, there is going to be extreme distress in the economy. Small businesses, hotels will go bankrupt. The airlines will go bankrupt," Sternlicht said on "Squawk Box." Sternlicht, founder of investment firm Starwood Capital, said he worries that serious, lasting damage to the U.S. economy could ensue from widespread, permanent business closures. He said it could result in an economic landscape where further government relief efforts would be inadequate. "Incomes will start to fall, and if they start to fall, housing prices will drop, rents will drop. And it will be a vicious cycle that you won't be able to have enough money in Washington to get out of," Sternlicht said. In remarks he will deliver Tuesday to Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to say the U.S. economy faces an unclear path forward due to the pandemic. The comments come as states across the U.S. move to pause or rollback some of their economic reopenings due to a spike in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. The governors of Texas, Florida and Arizona in recent days ordered bars to shut back down, citing a rise in new infections among young people. Arizona, which had almost 90% of its adult ICU beds in use as of Sunday, also moved to close down movie theaters, gyms and water parks for about a month, Gov. Doug Ducey announced Monday. Sternlicht stressed that he wanted businesses to open and operate in a "responsible" way, noting the importance of wearing masks and maintaining social distance. "I'm not sure we should go back to 60,000 people in a stadium. I don't think we need to have bars open. I don't think we should have gatherings in stadiums for political purposes," said Sternlicht, who founded Starwood Hotels, which is now part of Marriott. "I think we should be smart about it, but I think we should get back to work." Starwood Capital also has interests in luxury hotels and malls among its many other businesses. Sternlicht has been warning of the economic risks associated with the coronavirus crisis for months, saying in late March that President Donald Trump was "kind of right" to want to businesses to reopen soon. Sternlicht, whose Starwood Capital has about $60 billion in assets under management, told CNBC last month that the U.S. government should pay people to enroll in contact tracing programs. That kind of creative approach to public health would be a "game changer" in allowing the U.S. to control the virus and formulate a strong economic rebound, he said. The U.S. has not instituted any mandatory contact tracing programs. In fact, White House health advisor Anthony Fauci said last week that contract tracing efforts across the country are "not going well." Fauci and top U.S. health agency leaders are set to testify Tuesday morning before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, one day after a CDC official said the coronavirus is spreading too rapidly and too broadly for the U.S. to bring it under control. From January through May, 10.9% of the global population of 2,825 billionaires made confirmed monetary donations to Covid-19 pandemic-related causes, according to a report published Tuesday by Wealth-X, a market research firm covering the world's wealthiest people. Other billionaires could have given money through a third party or anonymously, a Wealth-X spokesperson tells CNBC Make It, and "more billionaires are expected to announce pledges in the second half of 2020," according to the report. Some billionaires have also given "non-monetary contributions, such as personal protective equipment," the Wealth X report says. During the pandemic, the ultra rich have been criticized for not giving generously enough. For instance, a Washington Post survey published in June found that public declarations of "money or in-kind contributions" to the fight against coronavirus from of the 50 richest people in the U.S. equated to less than 0.1% of their combined wealth. However, some have given hundreds of millions of dollars or more: In April, for example, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey donated $1 billion worth of Square stock to charity, including Covid-19 related causes. (Dorsey is currently worth $6.81 billion, according to Bloomberg.) And Bill Gates has donated at least $350 million through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. (Gates' net worth is currently $112 billion.) According to the Wealth-X report, taken as a group, the billionaires who confirmed giving money to Covid-19-related causes are wealthier and "quite a bit younger" than those who have not. (More than 15% of billionaires who have donated money are younger than 50, says the report.) Seventy-one percent of the billionaires who donated money to the fight the pandemic are also self-made. Though billionaires have been criticized for not giving generously enough ("The amounts involved are tiny relative to the fortunes behind them," Robert Reich wrote in Newsweek in April), others point out that billionaires should not be asked to do the work of the federal government. "It [would] be awesome if Silicon Valley billionaires could do a $6 trillion bailout. They cannot," Silicon Valley insider Sam Altman told CNBC Make It in April. "This is why we have powerful governments for moments like this." An ideal way for billionaires to help, according to Altman, is for them to pay more taxes so that the government could fund more research and development. See also: 2019 had a record-high number of billionaires here's how many and why Feeding America CEO: What it's like to get $100 million donation from Jeff Bezos Twitter billionaire Jack Dorsey on giving away his money: 'If someone is in pain, I am in pain' A top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official on Tuesday expressed "substantial disappointment" with American Airlines for announcing that it will resume full flights starting Wednesday. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, asked CDC Director Robert Redfield during a hearing on the coronavirus about the new policy, which was announced Friday. Redfield told members of Congress that the policy is currently under "critical review" at the agency as he said it doesn't send the right message to Americans amid a pandemic. "Obviously, when they announced that the other day, there was substantial disappointment with American Airlines," he told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during a hearing on U.S. efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic. "We don't think it sends the right message." American Airlines said Friday that it will continue to notify passengers when their planes are full and allow them to switch to less-crowded flights at no extra cost through Sept. 30. The company said passengers with flights booked through Sept. 30 can also change their flights, including adjusting origin and destination cities, without incurring a travel change fee but will have to pay for any difference in the fare. The announcement from American Airlines came as Covid-19 cases continue to soar throughout the United States. As of Monday, new cases grew by 5% or more in at least 40 states, based on a seven-day average, including Arizona, Texas, Florida and Oklahoma, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Airlines are scrambling to ensure travelers feel safe flying during the pandemic as demand remains low. While much higher than the five-decade lows hit in April, the number of people passing through U.S. airport checkpoints is still less than a quarter of the levels seen during June 2019, according to federal data. Some airlines including Delta, Southwest, JetBlue and Frontier continue to limit capacity onboard. United, which hasn't been limiting bookings on flights, notifies travelers when their planes are filling up and allows them to change to another. American also does that and will continue to do so. "We are unwavering in our commitment to the safety and well-being of our customers and team members," American said Tuesday in a statement to CNBC. "We have multiple layers of protection in place for those who fly with us, including required face coverings, enhanced cleaning procedures, and a pre-flight COVID-19 symptom checklist and we're providing additional flexibility for customers to change their travel plans, as well." Scientists say the virus can spread through respiratory droplets that pass when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can also spread on surfaces like airplane seats and tray tables. Scientists and public health officials fear that passengers crammed in an aircraft could be a breeding ground for the virus. Some industry members have warned that physical distancing on aircraft is extremely challenging. "You can't employ distancing on an airplane like you can on a grocery store line," said Nick Calio, CEO of Airlines for America, an industry group that represents major U.S. airlines including American and United. Major U.S. airlines now require passengers to wear masks and also that they answer questions about their health before flying. Whether it's a bus, train or a plane, social distancing and a face covering are important, Redfield said Tuesday. CNBC's Hannah Miller contributed to this report. China on Tuesday said manufacturing activity expanded in June with the official Purchasing Manager's Index coming in at 50.9. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the official manufacturing PMI number to come in at 50.4. PMI readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below that level signal contraction. In May, official manufacturing PMI came in at 50.6, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. PMI readings are sequential. The bureau said in its announcement of the PMI reading that supply and demand are starting to pick up, with the index for new orders rising for two straight months, according to a CNBC translation. Better readings in both the import and export indices are also helping, as major economies reopen. However, uncertainties remain, the bureau cautioned, adding that the pandemic has not been effectively controlled overseas. Data showed the index for new export orders was still in contractionary territory, even though the reading improved, coming in at 42.6 for the month of June from 35.3 in May. Hong Kong Police Guard of Honour raises a Chinese national flag and a Hong Kong flag during a flag raising ceremony at the Golden Bauhinia Square on June 15, 2020 in Hong Kong, China. Anthony Kwan | Getty Images Chinese President Xi Jinping has signed the Hong Kong national security law, state media reported on Tuesday saying the top decision-making body in China's parliament has voted to approve the legislation. Few details have been unveiled, but Beijing says the legislation is aimed at prohibiting secession, subversion of state power, terrorism activities and foreign interference. It will come into effect on Tuesday, according to a statement by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Critics say the security law will undermine the autonomy promised to Hong Kong for 50 years after it was handed over from the U.K. to China on July 1, 1997. Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the handover. Hong Kong a former British colony governed under the "one country, two systems" framework enjoys some freedoms that other Chinese cities do not have. They include limited election rights and a largely separate legal and economic system. China's State Council Information Office said a media briefing on the legislation will be held in Beijing at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The law was proposed during China's annual parliamentary meeting in late May and reignited protests in Hong Kong. Following reports of that the law had been passed, prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong announced that he would be stepping down as secretary general of pro-democracy party, Demosisto, and withdrawing from the group. Fellow members Nathan Law and Agnes Chow made similar announcements on Facebook. The party subsequently announced on Twitter that the group had decided to disband "given the circumstances." The South China Morning Post reported that Hong Kong delegates to China's top advisory body were asked to attend a meeting at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. A full draft of the law has not been publicly revealed thus far. 'Deterrent effect' of the law Many are concerned about Beijing encroaching on Hong Kong's rights and freedoms, in part because the new legislation bypassed the city's own lawmakers. It is also seen as a way for China to gain more control and crush dissent, after Hong Kong saw prolonged and sometimes violent protests over a now-withdrawn extradition bill. Earlier this week, Eurasia Group said that passing the law before the anniversary of the handover could be an indication that Beijing wants to "clamp down on protests far ahead" of Hong Kong's legislative council elections in September. If the law were to take effect before the annual march on July 1, it could expose demonstrators to new legal risks and "further sap momentum from protesters," Eurasia said. A research fellow at Lowy Institute agreed. "A lot of groups will be thinking twice about their behavior for tomorrow," Natasha Kassam told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Tuesday. "The law will have a deterrent effect even though we don't actually know the contents of it yet. And in that sense, I think Beijing will consider this to be a success story, at least in the short term." Meanwhile, businesses see the need for a security law, but want to know what it entails and how it will be implemented, David Dodwell, executive director of the Hong Kong-APEC Trade Policy Group, told CNBC in early June. Reuters reported that a national security office would be set up in Hong Kong to collect intelligence and handle related crimes, and that the city's leader, Carrie Lam, would be allowed to appoint specific judges to hear national security cases. Lam said she would not do so, but would select a panel of judges that the judiciary can choose from, according to Reuters. She has also said the new law would not infringe on Hong Kong's way of life, but would target a "small minority of illegal and criminal acts." International backlash In this article GS South Korea is battling coronavirus infections from new clusters after social distancing measures were relaxed on May 6. On Wednesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 51 cases up from 43 on Tuesday and 42 cases on Monday. In the U.S., New York is cracking down further on travelers heading to the state from regions where hotspots are seeing steep increases in new Covid-19 cases. Gov. Andrew Cuomo added eight new states to New York's travel advisory, bringing the total to 16 states from which residents who travel to New York are required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. The enhanced travel advisory comes as former Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb said he estimates roughly 25% of New York City residents have likely been infected with the virus. 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 10.45 million Global deaths: At least 510,632 Countries with the most cases: United States (more than 2.6 million); Brazil (more than 1.4 million); Russia (646,929); India (566,840); United Kingdom (314,160) The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Swing state voters not impressed with Trump's handling of epidemic 11:30 a.m. London time: Voters in six key 2020 election states are not impressed with President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis, according to a new CNBC/Change Research poll. As cases spike in pockets of the U.S. South and West, likely voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin say Trump shoulders much of the blame, the survey released Wednesday found. When asked to select two people or groups most responsible for the recent increase in hospitalizations, 35% said the president the largest share among the answers. Trump was followed by "people not wearing masks" at 34%, "states reopening their economies too soon" at 32% and "people not social distancing" at 29%. Jacob Pramuk Spain and Portugal reopen border after three month closure 10:45 a.m. London time: Spain and Portugal officially reopened their joint border Wednesday after a three-month closure amid the coronavirus pandemic. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa opened the border, accompanied by Spain's King Felipe and Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Reuters reported. "It is a reunion between neighbors, who are brothers and friends," Costa tweeted on Wednesday. "This shared frontier depends on our shared prosperity and a common destiny in the European project." He also added that "the pandemic offered us a new vision of the past we do not want to come back to: a continent with closed borders." Holly Ellyatt Tweet Russia vote takes place under shadow of coronavirus 10:00 a.m. London time: A week-long vote on constitutional changes in Russia comes to a close Wednesday, with citizens voting on changes which include an amendment that would allow President Vladimir Putin to run for further terms in office, and potentially lead the country until 2036. Unlike most votes, however, the one in Russia is seen as a foregone conclusion, with the amendments already passed by parliament. Still, the vote is seen as a litmus test of President Vladimir Putin's popularity. He has seen his popularity ratings decline in recent months as ordinary Russians have suffered during the coronavirus crisis: Russia has the third-largest number of cases in the world, with almost 647,000 reported infections, to date, and 9,306 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Public discontent with the worsening economic situation is expected to continue rising as the unemployment rate climbs, experts have warned. Holly Ellyatt Australia to lock down 300,00 in Melbourne suburbs as cases spike 1:55 p.m. Australia will lock down 300,000 people in Melbourne suburbs for a month after the state posted two weeks of double-digit increases in cases, Reuters reported. The lockdown will begin late Wednesday with more than 30 suburbs returning to the country's third-strictest movement restriction level. Residents will only be able to leave their homes for grocery shopping, health appointments, work or care giving and exercise. Australia has reported over 7,000 cases of the coronavirus and over 100 deaths so far. In June, Australia's chief medical office said the country had eliminated the novel coronavirus in many parts of the country, Reuters reported. The country recently began to loosen movement restrictions. Huileng Tan Asia's economy shrink will 'for the first time in living memory,' says IMF 1:35 p.m. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that Asia's economy will shrink by 1.6% this year the region's first economic contraction "in living memory." The fund had in April projected Asia may register no growth in 2020. The region is still in a better shape compared to others, Changyong Rhee, director of the Asia and Pacific department at IMF, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia." But "Asia cannot be the exception" when the rest of the world is suffering from the effects of the pandemic," he added. Rhee said Asia's economy is expected to rebound to a growth of 6.6% next year, but that level of economic activity would still be lower than what the IMF had projected before the virus outbreak. Yen Nee Lee Street vendors walk with their wares in Bangkok on June 18, 2020, as sectors of the Thai economy are being reopened following restrictions to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Romeo Gacad | AFP | Getty Images Japan may reimpose state of emergency in worst-case scenario, says official 1:00 p.m. Singapore time Japan could declare another state of emergency in a worst-case scenario, said Yoshihide Suga, the country's chief cabinet secretary, according to Reuters. That came as capital Tokyo reported five straight days of more than 50 new cases as of Tuesday, sparking concerns. Japan has reported over 18,500 cases of coronavirus and over 900 deaths so far. Huileng Tan Concerns in South Korea over new clusters 11:40 a.m. Singapore time South Korea is battling to contain new clusters after social distancing measures were relaxed on May 6. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 51 cases on Wednesday up from 43 on the day before and 42 cases on Monday. Most of the locally transmitted cases in June were from the densely populated Greater Seoul region, although outbreaks have also been reported in other parts of the country, according to Yonhap news agency. It said the main cause for the latest spike has been traced to clusters at small religious gatherings. Last Monday, health authorities in South Korea said the country was experiencing a "second wave" of coronavirus infections around the capital Seoul. Huileng Tan Couples wearing face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic walk through a market in Seoul on April 22, 2020. Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images Senate extends small business relief program 10:20 a.m. Singapore time Senate Democrats successfully drove a temporary extension of a popular relief program for small businesses, the Associated Press reported. The GOP-controlled chamber unexpectedly approved the extension amid growing pressure. Republicans had delayed consideration of a fifth coronavirus relief bill and are preparing to go home for a two-week recess. Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Small Business Committee, asked for unanimous approval of the extension of the Paycheck Protection Program through Aug. 8. The Associated Press Texas reports record number of new cases, bans elective surgeries in more counties People ride past murals painted on boards covering bar windows on 6th Street on May 20, 2020 in Austin, Texas. Tom Pennington | Getty Images 6:18 p.m. ET Texas reported more than 6,900 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, a record daily increase that brings the state's total to nearly 160,000 cases, according to the state's department of health. There are 6,533 people currently in Texas hospitals with Covid-19, after another record increase, according to the state's department of health. Earlier in the day, Gov. Greg Abbott suspended elective surgeries in Cameron, Hidalgo, Nueces and Webb counties to ensure hospital bed availability for Covid-19 patients. There are now eight counties in Texas, including those housing the state's largest cities Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin that have been ordered to postpone elective procedures. Noah Higgins-Dunn Experts tell Congress Trump's decision to cut ties with WHO is 'tragic' President Donald Trump reacts while holding a roundtable on the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act at the White House in Washington, August 23, 2018. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters 6:04 p.m. ET President Donald Trump's decision to cut ties with the World Health Organization is a "tragic" mistake and will hurt U.S. interests, four global health experts testified before members of the Senate. The witnesses, who included former U.S. Ambassador Jimmy Kolker; former head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Dr. Mark Dybul and others, acknowledged the WHO is an imperfect agency. However, they said the U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations agency hamstrings global pandemic preparedness and cedes influence to U.S. rivals, such as Russia and China. "You asked, Mr. Chairman, who's the fire department, who responds when there's an outbreak that threatens to become an epidemic," Kolker said, addressing Senator James Risch, a Republican from Idaho who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. "My reply to that question is there is no alternative to WHO." Will Feuer More states roll back or pause reopening measures 5:41 p.m. ET A growing number of states are rolling back or pausing reopening measures amid spikes in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations across the country. This week, Nevada and New Jersey delayed their reopening progress, while Arizona closed bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks. Over the weekend, California ordered bars and counties to close in select counties, while Washington delayed moving into the fourth phase of reopening. For more on states' reopening progress, click here.Hannah Miller What top U.S. health officials say we should do differently for the next pandemic 5:02 p.m. ET Appearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers that the U.S. would need to do a better job of responding to any future pandemic "in a coordinated way" rather than facing challenges with disparate responses during future pandemics. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said now is the time to make greater investments in the nation's public health infrastructure, saying that the U.S. has underinvested in the "core capabilities of public health" for decades. Adm. Brett Giroir warned lawmakers that other preventative procedures, such as cancer screenings and immunizations, fell drastically during the nation's Covid-19 response, posing a threat the health system. He added that the U.S. has to continue to focus on health disparities that have led to higher mortality rates for Black people and Hispanics. Noah Higgins-Dunn UAW wants GM to temporarily close SUV plant in Texas An employee uses a flash grinder to smooth out the metal frame of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) on the production line at the General Motors Co. (GM) assembly plant in Arlington, Texas. Matthew Busch | Bloomberg | Getty Images 4:44 p.m. ET A local chapter of the United Auto Workers union has asked General Motors to temporarily close its Arlington, Texas, SUV plant due to the growth of Covid-19 cases in the state. "Due to the most recent data on the Covid -19 outbreak, the Bargaining Committee has asked General Motors to shut down Arlington Assembly until the curve is flattened for the benefit and well-being of our members," reads a message on the organization's website. "Every day we are setting new records in the number of people who are testing positive in the Dallas-Fort Worth area." Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week announced he would roll back some of the state's reopening plans, closing bars and reducing capacity for indoor dining, among other modifications and closures. GM, in an emailed statement, said officials are aware of the request, but "there have been no changes to our production plans at Arlington because our safety protocols are working, thanks to a strong team effort." Michael Wayland Cirque du Soleil CEO eyes beginning of 2021 for shows to return 4:07 p.m. ET Cirque du Soleil is targeting early next year as the restart date for its shows, CEO Daniel Lamarre told CNBC. The circus would likely begin with its Las Vegas and Orlando shows because the cast and crew are based locally, Lamarre said on "Squawk on the Street." Lamarre's comments come one day after the Montreal-based Cirque filed for bankruptcy protection, citing the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on its business. While it may take about two years for the company to return to pre-pandemic profit levels, Lamarre said Cirque needs about 40% of its seats filled to break even. "With the social distancing, if we could operate with 50% of our capacity, we would start making a little bit of profit," he said. Kevin Stankiewicz Massachusetts to require visitors from most states to self-quarantine Mass. Gov Charlie Baker gives his daily update on the State on June 26, 2020 in Boston, MA. Stuart Cahill | Boston Herald | Getty Images 2:53 p.m. ET Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced that starting Wednesday, travelers arriving from most states will be instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days. Visitors from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York and New Jersey are exempt from the directive. Essential critical infrastructure workers are also exempt if they are traveling to Massachusetts for work purposes. Massachusetts follows other states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, in implementing travel restrictions on out-of-state visitors. Hannah Miller Airbus to cut 15,000 jobs amid long travel industry recovery 2:49 p.m. ET European aircraft manufacturer Airbus announced it will be cutting 15,000 jobs, mostly in Europe, the Associated Press reports. "With air traffic not expected to recover to pre-COVID levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025, Airbus now needs to take additional measures," the company said in a statement, according to the AP. The job cuts should begin within months, the AP reports. While the company will work toward voluntary cuts and early retirements, layoffs have not been ruled out. Airbus's commercial aircraft business activity has dropped around 40% since the pandemic shuttered mass tourism and the airline industry. Suzanne Blake CDC disappointed American Airlines will resume full flights 2:43 p.m. ET Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, expressed "substantial disappointment" with American Airlines over its plan to resume full flights starting Wednesday. Redfield told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that the new policy is currently under "critical review" at the agency as he said it doesn't send the right message to Americans amid a pandemic. American Airlines told CNBC that it is "unwavering in our commitment to the safety and well-being of our customers and team members." "We have multiple layers of protection in place for those who fly with us, including required face coverings, enhanced cleaning procedures, and a pre-flight COVID-19 symptom checklist and we're providing additional flexibility for customers to change their travel plans, as well," the airline said. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. TSA chief says passenger temperature checks aren't foolproof A TSA officer checks a man's ID at a screening checkpoint at Orlando International Airport. Paul Hennessy | SOPA Images | Getty Images 2:04 p.m. ET The head of the Transportation Security Administration said the federal government hasn't yet made a decision about whether to screen passengers for high temperatures and that the procedure might not be the most effective at weeding out travelers with Covid-19. "I know in talking to our medical professionals and talking to the Centers for Disease Control is that temperature checks are not a guarantee that passengers who don't have an elevated temperature also don't have Covid-19," Pekoske said. The reverse may also be true, where travelers could have temperatures but not Covid-19. Another issue is that travelers may come into close contact with one another in other areas, such as at car rental offices. The aviation industry is grappling with how to keep travelers and employees safe in the pandemic and ensure that customers feel comfortable flying again. U.S. airlines now require that travelers wear masks on board and have threatened to deny them flights if they don't comply. While demand has rebounded from lows hit in April, it's still off roughly 80% from a year ago, according to federal data. Leslie Josephs More states roll back or delay reopenings as cases climb 1:30 p.m. ET More than 12 states have now paused or rolled back their reopening plans as average new cases in the U.S. jumped 40% over the past week to about 39,750 per day on Monday, based on a seven-day moving average, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. New cases rose Monday by 5% or more in 40 states across the U.S., based on a seven-day average. Arizona, Florida and California are now seeing an average of more than 5,000 new cases a day. On Monday, more states rolled back or paused their reopening plans as coronavirus cases continue to spread in states across the West and South. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey shuttered the state's bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks and said the state will try to reopen the businesses in 30 days. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that the state's restaurants won't be allowed to resume indoor dining on Thursday as originally planned, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he may make a similar decision for restaurants in New York City. Noah Higgins-Dunn U.S. could see 100,000 new cases per day, Fauci says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on June 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch | AFP via Getty Images 1:14 p.m. ET The U.S. is "not in total control" of the country's coronavirus outbreak and the nation might see daily new cases top 100,000 per day unless action is taken, White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said. "I can't make an accurate prediction, but it's going to be very disturbing," Fauci told senators in a hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. "We are now having 40-plus-thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned." Fauci's comments come one day after Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the U.S. has "way too much virus" to control the outbreak right now. Will Feuer Minnesota Amazon warehouse workers were infected with Covid-19 at a higher rate than the surrounding area, memo shows 12:50 p.m. ET Coronavirus infection rates at an Amazon warehouse in Minnesota were far higher than the surrounding community, according to an internal memo obtained by CNBC. At least 45 workers at Amazon's Shakopee facility, known as MSP1, came down with the coronavirus, resulting in a rate of infection of 1.7%, according to the memo, which was first reported by Bloomberg. The memo, issued in mid-May, shows that infections were nearly five times the rate of surrounding counties and far higher than the rate of 0.1% in Scott County, where MSP1 is located. The memo contradicts Amazon's previous messaging about the rate of infections at warehouses. The company has previously rebuffed accusations that its warehouses have spread the virus, saying the "overall rate of infection and increase or decrease of total cases is highly correlated to the overall community rate of infection." Amazon continues to report new coronavirus cases at its facilities nationwide, including at MSP1, which as of Tuesday, has reported 92 cases total, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. A total of 198 coronavirus cases have been confirmed among Amazon workers throughout Minnesota, the agency said. Outbreaks have been reported at three other facilities in Minnesota. Annie Palmer Fauci says new virus in China has traits of swine flu and pandemic flu 12:14 p.m. ET Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, told lawmakers the new strain of flu carried by pigs in China has characteristics of the 2009 H1N1 virus and the 1918 pandemic flu. He told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that scientists are keeping an eye on the virus, which they call "G4 EA H1N1." "It's something that still is in the stage of examination," he said. It's not "an immediate threat where you're seeing infections, but it's something we need to keep our eye on, just the way we did in 2009 with the emergence of the swine flu." Both H1N1 and the 1918 flu were both considered horrific viruses. Fauci has often compared to Covid-19 to the 1918 flu, which is estimated to have killed between 30 million to 50 million. Berkeley Lovelace Jr. New York adds eight additional states to travel advisory 11:48 a.m. ET New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said eight additional states have now met the metrics to qualify for the state's travel advisory, requiring all travelers headed to New York from those states to quarantine for 14 days, according to a press release. The additional states include California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee, which "have significant community spread," according to the order. There are now 16 states that qualify for New York's travel advisory, which was first issued alongside New Jersey and Connecticut on June 24. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average, according to the order. Noah Higgins-Dunn U.S. consumer confidence for June jumps Women wearing masks carry shopping bags outside of the Jacadi clothing store as the city moves into Phase 2 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic on June 22, 2020 in New York City. Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images 10:57 a.m. ET Consumer confidence rose more than expected in June as the U.S. as some stay-at-home and quarantine restrictions were lifted. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index surged to 98.1 for the month, compared with economists expectation for a reading of 91 and up from May's reading of 85.9, CNBC's Fred Imbert reported. "The re-opening of the economy and relative improvement in unemployment claims helped improve consumers' assessment of current conditions," Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, said. Franco noted, however, "the Present Situation Index suggests that economic conditions remain weak. Looking ahead, consumers are less pessimistic about the short-term outlook, but do not foresee a significant pickup in economic activity." Terri Cullen About 25% of NYC likely infected, Dr. Gottlieb says 10:50 a.m. ET About 25% of people in the New York City area have probably been infected with the coronavirus by now, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Tuesday. Gottlieb cited a study published Monday by researchers at The Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, which suggested that 19.3% of people in the city had already been exposed to the virus through April 19. Researchers noted, however, that even if that portion of people has coronavirus antibodies, it would still be well below the estimated 67% required to achieve so-called herd immunity, which is needed to stop the spread of the virus. And scientists are still researching the relationship between coronavirus antibodies and immunity, which remains unclear. William Feuer U.S. hot spots spread in the Sun Belt Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards national UN labor agency estimates 400 million jobs lost in the second quarter due to coronavirus 9:49 a.m. ET The coronavirus pandemic is estimated to have resulted in a 14% drop in global working hours in the second quarter of 2020, the International Labour Organization said. This is the equivalent of 400 million full-time jobs, which marked a "sharp increase" on its previous forecast of 305 million potential job losses. The UN labor agency outlined three scenarios for the jobs market in the second half of 2020 and in the "pessimistic" model, it projected a 11.9% decline in working hours, the equivalent of 340 million jobs. Vicky McKeever Stocks open flat as Wall Street wraps up its best quarter in decades 9:35 a.m. ET Stocks opened flat as the major averages are headed for their biggest one-quarter gains in years, reports CNBC's Fred Imbert and Maggie Fitzgerald. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 52 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both hovered around the flatline. Both the Dow and S&P 500 were on pace for their best quarterly performance since 1998, surging more than 16% each. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was up 28.2% quarter to date and was headed for its biggest quarterly gain since 2001. Melodie Warner Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards New cases in the U.S. rise Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Goldman Sachs says national mask mandate could save economy from a 5% hit 9:02 a.m. ET Goldman Sachs told clients that a nationwide face mask mandate could both cut the daily growth rate of new confirmed cases of Covid-19 and save the U.S. economy from taking a 5% GDP hit in lieu of additional lockdowns. Jan Hatzius, Goldman's chief economist, said a national mask mandate could raise the percentage of people who wear masks by 15 percentage points and found that the rule could substitute for lockdowns that would subtract nearly 5% from GDP growth. Thomas Franck A rise in nationalism could lead to an even deadlier pandemic, professor warns 8:22 a.m. ET A rise in nationalism and inward-looking politics could lead to another, even deadlier, pandemic in the future, according to Ian Goldin, professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford. Goldin, who previously served as an advisor to Nelson Mandela and is a former vice president of the World Bank, told CNBC that if more protectionism arises from the coronavirus crisis, the world will face a slew of risks including an even bigger pandemic, more financial crises and "Cold War 2.0." "We face a choice," he said. "Either the pandemic teaches us to be more globalized in politics, to stop the next pandemic, to cooperate, to restore global growth, or we get more national, in which case we're in a downward spiral." Goldin has been predicting a pandemic for several years, warning in his 2014 book "The Butterfly Defect" and a 2018 BBC series that a disease outbreak would be the most likely cause of the next global economic crisis. Chloe Taylor U.K.'s Boris Johnson promises to 'build, build, build' announcing investment surge Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a daily briefing to update on the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, at 10 Downing Street in London. Andrew Parsons | 10 Downing St | via Reuters 7:34 a.m. ET U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a program of public investment that the government hopes will help the British economy recover from the coronavirus crisis. "We cannot continue simply to be prisoners of the crisis," Johnson said as he announced 5 billion ($6.15 billion) of government spending on various public infrastructure projects, ranging from hospitals to roads to schools. "We must work fast because we've already seen the vertiginous drop in GDP (gross domestic product)." Promising to "build, build, build", Johnson announced plans to increase government infrastructure spending and to cut bureaucracy around construction and development. He compared his plan to former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" program of public works in the 1930s. Holly Ellyatt Fauci, other health officials to testify in Congress Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci wears a face mask while he waits to testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on the Trump Administration's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S. June 23, 2020. Kevin Dietsch | Reuters House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) speaks to reporters next to U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) as House Democrats respond to a White House briefing on reports Russia paid the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. troops during a news conference following the briefing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., June 30, 2020. House Democrats came out of a closed-door White House briefing Tuesday taking swings at President Donald Trump's response to reports that Russia paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan to target and kill U.S. troops. "The president called this a hoax publicly. Nothing in the briefing that we have just received led me to believe it is a hoax," Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, told reporters after leaving the briefing. "There may be different judgments as to the level of credibility [of the reports], but there was no assertion that the information we had was a hoax," he added. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., another attendee in the briefing, said, "I find it inexplicable in light of these very public allegations that the president hasn't come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether Russians are putting a bounty on the heads of American troops." The briefing for the group of less than a dozen Democrats, all of whom have prior experience in national security or intelligence issues, came a day after the White House briefed a separate group of Republicans on the reported findings that a Russian military intelligence unit covertly offered Afghan militants rewards for killing coalition forces. One Republican, Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, left that briefing with harsh words for The New York Times, which broke the story. "The real scandal: We'll likely never know the truth Because the @nytimes used unconfirmed intel in an ONGOING investigation into targeted killing of American soldiers in order to smear the President," Banks tweeted. "The blood is on their hands." At a Tuesday morning presser, however, GOP Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas said he "of course" has additional questions after being briefed by the White House. Hoyer said he told chief of staff Mark Meadows, who invited him to the briefing, that he wanted to hear directly from intelligence sources about the "very, very troubling" reports. "We did not receive any new substantive information" from the briefing, Hoyer said. European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, wrapping up their best quarterly performance in five years. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up by 0.25% provisionally, but was up almost 13% in the first quarter. It marks the best quarter for the index since the first quarter of 2015. European markets whipsawed throughout Tuesday's session, struggling to follow the positive trend set by markets in Asia Pacific, which rose as China's official manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index for June came in above expectations. On Wall Street, the main stock indexes were mostly higher, but gains were capped with investors are wary of developments in the coronavirus pandemic. Still, U.S. equities were on track to wrap up their best quarterly performance in decades. More U.S. governors are walking back or delaying reopening plans as Covid-19 cases climb around the country due to a surge in new cases. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said Monday that the pandemic is still accelerating and without more collaborative global intervention, "the worst is yet to come." Facebook U.K. boss Steve Hatch said Tuesday "when there's hate in the world there will also be hate on Facebook" as companies continue to boycott the platform due to ongoing hate speech concerns. Patagonia, Ford, Adidas, HP, Coca-Cola, Unilever and Starbucks are just some of the companies that have joined the Stop Hate for Profit campaign and pulled their advertising from Facebook. The campaign argues that Facebook isn't doing enough to remove divisive, racist and hateful content. Hatch, who is also Facebook's vice president of Northern Europe as well as the director for U.K. & Ireland, said the company is doing all it can to tackle hate speech on its platform. "We have been working in this area for many years and we're actually investing millions in teams and systems to improve," he told BBC Radio 4's "Today" show. "If we look at particularly the area of hate speech ... our systems now detect and remove 90% automatically. Now that's not perfect but we do know that's up from 23% a couple of years ago." However on June 4, the number one post on Facebook was reportedly a video claiming that George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed by police, was a "horrible human being" and that "racially motivated police brutality is a myth." The video received 24 million views in 19 hours. White House staffer Ben Rhodes said on Twitter in early June: "Facebook profits off of an algorithm that mainlines hate. The worse it gets for us, the better it is for them. Their business model is the destruction of social cohesion." Hatch said he "couldn't disagree more" before going on to add "there is no profit to be had in content that is hateful." "There are 3 billion people around the world that use our platforms ... tens of billions of messages and posts are exchanged," said Hatch. "Now of course there is a small minority of those that are hateful and that's because as much as we do our very best and there's always more that we can do and we will do but when there's hate in the world there will also be hate on Facebook." Despite the admission, Hatch added there is "no tolerance on our platform for hate speech." Certain companies are at risk of becoming insolvent as governments lift the pedal on fiscal support, a former member of the European Central Bank warned Tuesday. Many governments have deployed massive fiscal stimulus to mitigate the economic fallout from Covid-19. In most cases, this has allowed firms to avoid bankruptcy and employees to have a job to return to once lockdowns are lifted. However, as this fiscal stimulus eases and without a fully-open economy, some companies will struggle to keep their doors open. "When it comes to corporate solvency, trouble is ahead of us," Benoit Coeure, who is now head of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub, told CNBC's Karen Tso. "We are going to see what are the underlying issues as governments gradually withdraw their support," Coeure added. In a report out Tuesday, the BIS warned that there are underlying financial fragilities despite some confidence among market participants in recent weeks regarding the reopening of many economies. "A wave of downgrades has started, alongside concerns that losses might cause widespread defaults," the BIS said in its annual economic report. ECB President Christine Lagarde said Friday that the recovery "is going to be incomplete and might be transformational" as some businesses will struggle to survive and adapt to a new reality. On the other hand, she also said that other firms will emerge to address a changed reality. Mark Dybul testifies before a Senate Appropriations State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee hearing in Dirksen Building on global health problems, May 6, 2015. Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call President Donald Trump's decision to cut ties with the World Health Organization due to their response to the coronavirus pandemic will ultimately hurt U.S. interests and empower international rivals, four global health experts testified in the Senate on Tuesday. Trump announced in late May that the U.S. would withdraw from the United Nations health agency after weeks of threats to cut funding and allegations of favoritism toward China. The WHO has defended its response to the pandemic, saying it warned members states of the threat the virus presented to the world and has provided technical support to countries throughout. Democratic lawmakers have previously argued that the president does not have the authority to withdraw the U.S. or its funding from the WHO without Congressional action. A panel of health experts testifying on Covid-19 and international pandemic preparedness acknowledged the WHO's shortcomings, but decried the president's decision as harmful to U.S. interests. 'Better, but not perfect' "WHO's response has been imperfect, but that does not mean it is in our interest, or the world's interest, for the U.S. to leave WHO," Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday. "The global pandemic is just getting started and the single biggest obligation that I believe we all have is to protect the lives and well being of the American people and the people around the globe. And this is why I believe that the administration's decision to withdraw from WHO is so deeply unwise." Jha, who described himself as "one of WHO's harshest critics" for the agency's mishandling of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, added that "WHO's response to Covid-19 has been better, but not perfect." He said his biggest criticism of the WHO's response to Covid-19 is that the agency has excessively praised China, which "is not worthy of praise." The WHO is irreplaceable in many parts of the world and has a unique relationship with many ministries of health, particularly in developing countries, Jha said. "During this pandemic when we have many, many difficult months ahead of us, walking away from WHO, I believe, makes controlling the virus globally harder and makes it harder to manage the virus here at home," he said. "Walking away from WHO leaves us without a voice at the table to better manage the disease globally." U.S. credibility With or without the WHO, the U.S. will need to forge a path forward for international pandemic preparedness response, former director of the U.S. Agency for International Development Jeremy Konyndyk told lawmakers. A virus with the potential to spark a pandemic will come again, he said, and countries need to invest in global surveillance now. "It is impossible to envision the U.S. succeeding in this kind of ambitious pandemic preparedness agenda without the full engagement of the World Health Organization and frankly it's hard to envision the rest of the world working together with us on this effort if they view it as a U.S. alternative or competitor rather than a complement and supporter or partner to the World Health Organization," he said. "Withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization will be tragic and it is entirely unjustified." The U.S. is poorly positioned to lead any kind of competing organization to the WHO, Konyndyk added, considering the country's response to the pandemic. The U.S. has reported more cases and more deaths than any other country in the world. While many countries in Europe and Asia have managed to drive spread of the virus down to a level at which it can be contained, the U.S. "has way too much virus" for that, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday. "It is a bit painful to say this, but I think we also have to acknowledge that the U.S.'s credibility to lead a global coalition on pandemic preparedness will really hinge on our ability to contain our domestic outbreak here at home," Konyndyk said. "Our credibility globally starts with our competence within our own borders." 'China and Russia' If the U.S. pulls out of the WHO, it risks ceding influence to the country's rivals, said Dr. Mark Dybul, the co-director of the Center for Global Health Practice at Georgetown University Medical Center and former head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "The US can best drive reform when we are fully engaged," he said. "You can't place a bet if you're not at the table and if we are not at the table others are ready to step in and take our place, including China and Russia." He pointed to the emergence of a new virus in China that White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said has pandemic potential as an example of why global coordination to stop outbreaks is crucial. While the WHO lacks enforcement capacity among other weaknesses, he said it is "a necessary although not sufficient player." "In my view, WHO has done a good job under the circumstances and vastly improved from Ebola," he said of the WHO's response to Covid-19. Global fire department After the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, advocates for police reform called to defund the police, ban chokeholds and more effectively punish officers who abuse their power or show racial bias. Before any of those proposed reforms can actually go into effect, lawmakers and department chiefs would first have to get past police unions. Over the course of decades, police unions have fought to secure generous benefits for rank-and-file officers and helped make the dangerous job of police work more attractive to hundreds of thousands of officers. But when their members come under scrutiny for police brutality and heavy-handed tactics, it's the union that often serves as their first line of defense. The New York Police Benevolent Association and the Fraternal Order of Police did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment. Watch the video above to learn about how police unions work in an age of increasing calls for law enforcement reform. Afghan officials this week described a sequence of events that dovetails with the account of the intelligence. They said that several businessmen who transfer money through the informal hawala system were arrested in Afghanistan over the past six months and are suspected of being part of a ring of middlemen who operated between the Russian intelligence agency, known as the GRU, and Taliban-linked militants. The businessmen were arrested in what the officials described as sweeping raids in the north of Afghanistan, as well as in Kabul. In this article Z63-CN In this photo illustration, the Huawei logo and Chinese flag is seen displayed on an Android mobile phone. Omar Marques | LightRocket | Getty Images Huawei could be banned from participating in India's 5G network rollout, just months after it was given the green light to participate in the country's trials for the technology. It comes after the Indian government said it would block 59 Chinese apps such as TikTok and WeChat, claiming they were a threat to national security. As part of those discussions, Indian government ministers discussed the country's 5G rollout plans and whether Chinese telecommunications equipment giants Huawei and ZTE should be allowed to participate, according to a report from the Times of India. India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, as well as Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE, were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. 5G refers to the next-generation mobile networks that promise super-fast download speeds and the ability to support critical infrastructure. India has lagged behind in its rollout of the technology, while other countries like South Korea and China have powered ahead. In December, India said it would allow all vendors to participate in 5G trials with vendors. But the latest report of a potential ban on the Chinese firms appears to be a U-turn. Tensions between India and China have been rising over their disputed border high in the Western Himalayas and a clash earlier this month left 20 Indian soldiers dead. "The China-India ... dispute, compounded with the economic stress caused due to the (coronavirus) pandemic, has likely forced the government thinking to adopt a strategy similar to U.S. to potentially retaliate in a way where it would hurt China the most," Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC. India's biggest mobile network, Reliance Jio, uses Samsung for its older 4G network. The other two largest players Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea use a mixture of vendors including Huawei. All three carriers have submitted applications to do 5G tests with various vendors including Huawei, Indian publication the Financial Express reported this month. Huawei gear makes up one-third of Bharti Airtel's current network and 40% of Vodafone Idea's network, according to Counterpoint Research. It would be a "significant loss" for Huawei and ZTE if the government goes ahead and bans them, Shah said. All three Indian telcos were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. 'Tide is turning' Interpol has resoundingly rejected the Iranian government's request for help in carrying out an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump, in a statement sent to CNBC late Monday. "Under Article 3 of INTERPOL's constitution 'it is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character'," the Lyon-based international organization said in the emailed statement. "Therefore, if or when any such requests were to be sent to the General Secretariat, in accordance with the provisions of our constitution and rules, INTERPOL would not consider requests of this nature." Iran on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Trump over the killing of its top commander, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, in January. Tehran Attorney General Ali Alghasi-Mehr was quoted in local press as naming Trump and 35 other people, who Iran has accused of involvement in Soleimani's death, as facing "murder and terrorism charges." He also reportedly asked Interpol to issue "red notices" for them the highest-level notice the organization can issue on an individual to pursue their arrest. Red notices enable local law enforcement authorities to arrest individuals on behalf of the requesting country, though they can't force countries' governments to arrest or extradite suspects. Still, they can cause diplomatic problems and restrict the travel and free movement of suspects. U.S. Special Envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, called the Iranian announcement a "propaganda stunt that no-one takes seriously," describing it as "political" and having "nothing to do with national security." Soleimani led Iran's Quds Force, the foreign operations wing of the elite paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Trump administration labeled him a terrorist, and Washington deemed him responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq but in Iran, he was widely revered as a hero. The 62-year-old Soleimani was killed in a drone strike directed by Trump in early January while in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. News of his death sent regional tensions and oil prices soaring and triggered a retaliatory attack by Iran and its proxies on Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. Jael Kerandi is a rising senior majoring in finance and marketing at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, a city that caught the attention of the world when protesters took to the streets to demand justice for George Floyd who was killed by police on May 25 roughly 15 minutes away from the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus. This summer, Kerandi ended her term as the University of Minnesota's first Black student body president, is working as a finance intern with Microsoft and is helping lead a movement to cut ties between police and universities. CNBC Make It spoke with Kerandi to learn how she convinced the University of Minnesota to change its relationship with police, why she is dedicated to reimagining police and safety and her advice to students across the country. A 24-hour response Tuesday, May 26 was the first day of Kerandi's finance internship with Microsoft, which she started remotely from Minneapolis rather than Seattle because of the coronavirus pandemic. By then, videos of Floyd's killing had already gone viral. She says the videos were hard for her and her classmates to watch. Some students urged her to wait before making a statement as the study body president. Kerandi said, "absolutely not." "We've been waiting for years for people to take action, and we just go from committee to committee and report to report and nothing ends up happening," she tells CNBC Make It. "It was important that something was said right away, to make sure that our Black students knew that their lives mattered on our campus and we were taking this seriously." With the help of her peers, she crafted a letter to university administrators that day. "The police are murdering Black men with no meaningful repercussions. This is not a problem of some other place or some other time. This is happening right here in Minneapolis. We no longer tolerate the ineffective, inconsistent 'bias training' that rarely serves as more than a fig leaf," she wrote. "We have no purview or jurisdiction over the operations of the Minneapolis Police Department except as citizens of Minneapolis. However, as student leaders, we do have a stake in the operations of the University of Minnesota Police Department. Therefore we clearly and without hesitation DEMAND that the University of Minnesota Police Department ceases any partnerships with the Minneapolis Police Department immediately." She cited data from the Mapping Police Violence database that indicates Black people have been killed by the Minneapolis Police Department at 13.2 times the rate of White people and ended the letter with: "We expect a reply to this concern within 24 hours of receipt." Accountability Joan Gabel, president of the University of Minnesota, responded the next day. In an email sent to students, faculty and staff, Gabel announced the school would "limit collaboration" with the Minneapolis Police Department and would no longer use the police for support during large campus events. Since then, the Minneapolis Public School System has also cut ties with the Minneapolis Police Department. Kerandi says that she and Gabel have a "very good relationship" and that she was "very pleased" the university acted so quickly even if the school is yet to commit to fully severing all ties with local police. "I do not have the words to fully express my pain and anger and I know that many in our community share those feelings, but also fear for their own safety. This will not stand," wrote Gabel. "We have a responsibility to uphold our values and a duty to honor them." Indeed, this duty is one reason Kerandi believes their demands to reconsider the University of Minnesota's relationship with police were so quickly met, adding that her advice to students hoping to enact change on their own campuses is to hold schools accountable to their own mission statements. "We're simply holding the administration accountable to what they've already said they value. I'm not putting any words into your mouth. I'm not making assumptions. I'm actually just simply quoting what you have already said," she says, pointing to the University's lengthy public commitments to equity and diversity. "The Minneapolis Police Department has a history of murdering Black lives. That would inherently negate the very values that you have put forth and told students that you have. When those two are in direct contradiction, there's no way they can co-exist." Reimagining safety Kerandi's belief that the current police system and racial equity cannot co-exist is also held by activists who are calling for cities to defund local police departments. Many believe that because of structural racism built into police systems and the prison industrial complex, defunding and abolishing the police and reinvesting funds into community programming is the only viable option. "The American policing system began as a racist system. It was meant to 'protect' slave owners," says Kerandi, referencing modern police systems' slave patrol origins. "The system itself and how it was built, is racist." Kerandi likens police reform to "trying to put a band-aid on a bleeding wound" and explains that for many Black students, the presence of police on campus makes them feel less safe. "We have to start to reimagine what policing and what safety looks like. What scares people is we have never seen anything different. What scares people is we have no idea what this new system looks like and what might work or what might not work," she says. "But what we have right now is no longer acceptable." While the 21-year-old understands why the concept may feel scary, she disagrees with critics who have told her that removing police from college campuses is "radical." "At one time, integrating schools was a 'radical' idea. People couldn't fathom the idea of having Black and White students learning in the same classroom or the idea of us using the same water fountain, or the same bathroom, or eating at the same restaurant," says Kerandi. "Those used to be 'radical' ideas." "You can be an activist wherever you go" CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday that Facebook must do more to regulate and restrict hate speech on its platforms, despite any impact it could have to the company's bottom line. "The time has come. History is turning against them," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street," calling on the company's board of directors to demand significant policy reforms. "The board has to address this, but they're largely silent. And you know what? They don't give a damn. They're making a lot of money," Cramer said. "They may think that they give a damn. What you do is you hire some people who may hurt your profits." Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cramer's remarks. Facebook has faced intense backlash in recent weeks over content on its platform, as hundreds of companies have temporarily pulled advertising from the social media giant as part of the #StopHateForProfit campaign. Organized by groups including the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, the boycott calls on companies to suspend advertising on Facebook for the month of July, arguing Facebook needs to do more to combat hate speech and misinformation on its vast online network. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Friday the company would now prohibit hate speech in advertisements. Zuckerberg, while not addressing the boycott specifically, also said the company would begin labeling posts that are newsworthy enough to leave up but violate other company policies. "I am committed to making sure Facebook remains a place where people can use their voice to discuss important issues," Zuckerberg said. "But I also stand against hate or anything that incites violence or suppresses voting, and we're committed to removing that content too, no matter where it comes from." Cramer, host of "Mad Money," said Facebook may not agree with companies' decisions to boycott. "Who cares if they're wrong?" Cramer said. "Why not do what's right? I'm not saying go left or right. " Facebook's content policies have been in focus for years, although Zuckerberg has said he believes the company should "err on the side of greater expression." The company has set up a Supreme Court-like board that will be able to reverse the company's content moderation decisions. Its first members were announced in May, and it's expected to begin hearing cases in coming months. In an interview Tuesday with the BBC, Steve Hatch, Facebook's director for the U.K. and England, also said the company's automatic content moderation has improved in recent years. "If we look at particularly the area of hate speech ... our systems now detect and remove 90% automatically. Now that's not perfect but we do know that's up from 23% a couple of years ago," Hatch said. Cramer acknowledged that increasing content moderation whether it's through software or hiring more people will be an expensive undertaking for Facebook, potentially costing "a couple billion" dollars. "But you know what, take the hit. Take the hit," Cramer said. Cramer said Facebook has to be more attentive to the concerns of advertisers and consumers alike. Much of Corporate America, in particular, has drawn a line in the sand, recognizing they do not want to be seen advertising next to hateful content, Cramer added. "Facebook has been trying to away with this for a long time. This seems to be one of those moments where Big Corporate America is not going to take it anymore," Cramer said. "Remember back in March when he called himself a wartime president?" Biden said in his remarks. "Remember when he exhorted the nation to 'sacrifice together' to face an 'invisible enemy'? What happened? Now it's almost July, and it seems the wartime president has surrendered has waved the white flag and left the field of battle." "All of the steps you've taken so far haven't gotten the job done, Mr. President," Biden said of Trump, who still insists that the recent surge in cases is due to broader testing and not a resurgence of the virus itself. Biden's remarks also came as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the administration's leading voice on the virus, warned Tuesday that the U.S. could top 100,000 cases a day . But with coronavirus cases surging across the country and several states rolling back their reopening plans, Biden's most effective lines against Trump were his critiques of the president's response to a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 125,000 Americans since February. Speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, over about an hour, Biden also staked out positions on a range of hot-button issues, including the alleged Russian bounties paid for dead American troops in Afghanistan, the removal of Confederate monuments and his own cognitive ability. WASHINGTON Former Vice President Joe Biden laid out his most comprehensive, detailed case to date against President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying the president "has waved the white flag and left the field of battle" against the resurgent coronavirus pandemic. "Today we're facing a serious threat, and we must meet it as one country. But this president gives us no direction. He pits us against one another," said Biden. Biden used the speech to lay out his own five-point plan to address the pandemic, one of several contrasts he drew between Trump and himself. The former vice president said he would provide free nationwide coronavirus testing, deploy 100,000 contact tracers, establish national standards for reopening, use the Defense Production Act to further increase protective equipment manufacturing, and provide additional federal support to the elderly and people of color, who have been especially hard-hit by the virus. Months of lockdowns that have crippled the U.S. economy, Biden said, "were intended to buy us the time to get our act together. But instead of using that time to prepare ourselves Donald Trump squandered it." "The American people didn't make enormous sacrifices over the past four months so you could waste your time with late night ranting and tweets," said the former vice president, addressing Trump. "They didn't make these sacrifices so you could ignore the science and turn responsible steps like wearing a mask into a political statement." "You've called yourself a 'cheerleader' for the nation. We don't need a cheerleader. We need a president," said Biden. Biden also took questions from the press for the first time in more than two months. In doing so, he deprived the rival Trump campaign of a consistent point of attack they have used against him, namely that he has avoided scrutiny so far in the race by evading the press. For Biden, the address effectively crystallized his campaign's most potent argument against Trump heading into the backstretch of a presidential race that has so far been defined by Trump's failure to stem the tide of coronavirus. It is a major factor in Biden's significant lead over Trump in national polls right now of almost 10 points, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average. Biden dismissed his lead, saying, "I know the polling data is very good, but I think it's really early. It's much too early to make any judgment. I think we've got a whole lot more work to do." Biden also confirmed that he will not be holding campaign rallies, saying, "I'm going to follow the doc's orders, not just for me, but for the country. And that means that I am not going to be holding rallies ... as soon as I finish this, I'll put my mask back on." The comments drew another contrast between Biden's plans over the coming months and the president's reelection campaign, which earlier Tuesday said on a call with reporters that Trump is very much looking forward to future campaign rallies. Asked about future rally plans, however, Trump's campaign declined to announce the dates or locations of any upcoming rallies. A Dutchess County, New York judge on Tuesday ordered attorneys for President Donald Trump's niece to respond to a lawsuit filed by Robert Trump, the president's brother, seeking to halt the publication of her forthcoming tell-all memoir. Judge Hal Greenwald of the New York Supreme Court also issued an order prohibiting Simon & Schuster from publishing the book before the case is decided and scheduled a hearing in the matter as soon as July 10. The book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" by Mary Trump, is scheduled for release July 28. The book "shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world's health, economic security, and social fabric," according to Simon & Schuster. The order temporarily bars Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster from "publishing, printing or distributing any book or any portions thereof" that contain "descriptions or accounts of Mary L. Trump's relationship with Robert S. Trump, Donald Trump, or Maryanne Trump Barry." Maryanne Trump Barry, the president's eldest sister, retired as a federal appeals court judge last year. The publisher and an attorney for Mary Trump said they planned to appeal the order immediately. Robert Trump challenged the publication of the book on the grounds that a nondisclosure agreement reached in connection with litigation over his father's will prohibits those involved from from publishing anything "concerning the litigation or their relationship with each other." In a statement, Charles Harder, Robert Trump's attorney, said his client was "very pleased" with the order. "We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trump's breach of contract and Simon & Schuster's intentional interference with that contract," Harder said. "Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end." Harder has represented President Trump in high-profile cases, including in litigation against the adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The president has said that his niece is subject to a nondisclosure agreement and is "not allowed" to publish the book. In a statement, Simon & Schuster said it was "disappointed" in the order. "We plan to immediately appeal this decision to the Appellate Division, and look forward to prevailing in this case based on well-established precedents regarding prior restraint," the publisher said. Theodore Boutrous Jr., an attorney for Mary Trump, said in a statement that the order "is only temporary but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment." "We will immediately appeal. This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in an election year, should not be suppressed even for one day," Boutrous said. An earlier effort by Robert Trump to halt publication of the book failed in Queens County Surrogate's Court, a venue that typically hears cases involving wills, the administration of estates, and adoptions. Amy McGrath address supporters after her loss during her Election Night Event at the EKU Center for the Arts on November 6, 2018 in Richmond, Kentucky. Democrat Amy McGrath defeated Charles Booker in a close Senate primary race in Kentucky shaped in its final stretch by a reckoning over systemic racism, NBC News projected. McGrath led Booker by about 2 percentage points as the state counted the final mail-in ballots a week after the election. She will try to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a November election closely watched by Democrats who hold a special ire for the top Republican senator. McGrath, a 45-year-old White Marine veteran, once seemed to have a tight grip on the election on the strength of more than $40 million in fundraising. But Booker, a 35-year-old Black state representative, gained traction as he joined recent protests against police violence and racism including the March police shooting of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, in his hometown of Louisville. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad wants to take down the current government just months after his resignation from the top job resulted in the collapse of the previous administration that he led. But the coalition of now-opposition parties can't agree on who should be prime minister if they succeed in wrestling back power. Mahathir had initially wanted to return as prime minister, but was reportedly rejected by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar was a deputy prime minister during Mahathir's first stint as Malaysia's leader. But the two men turned rivals after Anwar was sacked and charged with sodomy and corruption before they patched up and formed an alliance to take down the government of the day in the 2018 elections. Mahathir became prime minister for the second time after the elections, and had promised to hand over the reins to Anwar before the end of the five-year term. But the elder statesman, who will turn 95 next month, unexpectedly resigned from his position in February which paved the way for current Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to assume power. The nonagenarian has sought to challenge Muhyiddin's claim to the top job through a no-confidence motion in parliament, arguing that the current prime minister who's a former ally may not have the majority support of the 222-seat chamber. But Malaysia's parliament has so far only convened for an address by the king. "The new prime minister claims that he has the majority, but he's so worried about his majority that parliament has not been allowed to sit. When the parliament was opened by the king, only the speech of the king was heard, no debates were allowed," Mahathir told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Tuesday. "So he is still unsure of himself whereas the country needs a strong hand to handle the many problems including the ... pandemic," he added, referring to the coronavirus disease or Covid-19 which has spread globally. The next parliamentary sitting is scheduled for July, and analysts have warned that any further delays could hinder the government's response to challenges posed by the coronavirus outbreak and its economic implications. Racial politics In a twist over the weekend, Mahathir declared in a video posted on his social media channels that he's supporting Shafie Apdal a political leader from the East Malaysian state of Sabah to be the next prime minister. None of the opposition parties have officially endorsed the proposal, according to local media reports. When CNBC asked Mahathir why isn't he backing Anwar, the opposition leader, to be the next prime minister, he said: "He is not very popular with the Malays." Scientists have identified a new strain of flu carried by pigs in China that they say has the potential to become a pandemic. The new strain is descended from the type of flu known as "swine flu" that emerged in 2009 causing the first global flu pandemic in 40 years. The scientists published their peer-reviewed findings in U.S. science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. They said the new strain of flu, which they called "G4 EA H1N1," is a variation of swine flu, and includes the "G4" genotype that has become predominant in swine populations since 2016. As with swine flu, the new strain has been identified as having "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus." The scientists, who studied flu viruses in pig populations between 2011 and 2018, noted that around 10% of swine industry workers they tested in China had already been exposed to the virus, which they described as "of concern." That rate increased among younger workers, aged 18-35, "indicating that the predominant G4 EA H1N1 virus has acquired increased human infectivity." "Such infectivity greatly enhances the opportunity for virus adaptation in humans and raises concerns for the possible generation of pandemic viruses," the scientists, who work at several Chinese universities and the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, noted. They recommended close monitoring of swine populations and anyone working with them. "Controlling the prevailing G4 EA H1N1 viruses in pigs and close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in swine industry, should be urgently implemented," they wrote. "Pigs are intermediate hosts for the generation of pandemic influenza virus. Thus, systematic surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs is a key measure for prewarning the emergence of the next pandemic influenza." While "swine flu," that first emerged in Mexico in 2009, is seen now as one of a variety of seasonal flu viruses and is included in annual flu vaccines, the scientists said that any preexisting population immunity "does not provide protection against G4 viruses." They were keen to stress that the virus is not an immediate problem, however. Professor Kin-Chow Chang, one of scientists involved in the study and who works at Nottingham University in the U.K., told the BBC that "while this new virus is not an immediate problem ... We should not ignore it." "Right now we are distracted with coronavirus and rightly so. But we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses." Current flu vaccines do not appear to protect against it, although they could possibly be adapted if needed, the BBC reported. To conduct their research, scientists carried out flu surveillance in pigs in 10 Chinese provinces between January 2011 and April 2018, and collected almost 30,000 nasal swabs taken from slaughtered pigs from abattoirs, as well as over 1,000 nasal swabs or lung tissue from farmed pigs with signs of respiratory disease. The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S. November 24, 2019. Oil prices slipped on Tuesday amid rising COVID-19 cases and a possible return of Libyan oil production, which has slowed to a trickle since the start of the year. The more-active September contract for Brent fell 0.3% to $41.70 a barrel, paring Monday's 92-cent gain. The August contract, which expires on Tuesday, fell 51 cents, or 1.2%, to $41.20. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark, slid 1.08%, or 43 cents, to settle at $39.27 per barrel. Coronavirus cases continue to rise in southern and southwestern U.S. states. Northeastern states like New York and New Jersey doubled the number of states from which travelers face quarantine restrictions. Fuel demand has recovered from the worst weeks of the outbreak in April and early May, but there is a risk that the rebound is cut off by the resurgence in virus cases. "Sustaining the independent show of gasoline strength will be challenged by coronavirus headlines where news has seen a definite negative shift in recent weeks," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois, said in a report. Investors will be looking for signs of demand recovery in weekly inventory data due on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute industry group and from the U.S. government on Wednesday. Libya is trying to resume exports, which have been almost entirely blockaded since January amid the country's civil war. The state's oil company is hoping that talks will put an end to a blockade by eastern-based forces in the country's civil war. "If we do finally see a resumption in Libyan output, this would make the job of OPEC+ a little bit more difficult," said Dutch bank ING. A Reuters poll of analysts showed expectations that oil prices will consolidate at around $40 a barrel this year, with a recovery gaining steam in the fourth quarter. I dont think its should be a surprise to anybody that the Talibans been trying to kill Americans and that the Russians have been encouraging that, if not providing means to make that happen, said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, also a member of the intelligence panel. Intelligence committees have been briefed on that for months. so has Nancy Pelosi, so has (Democratic Senate leader) Chuck Schumer. So, this is, this is a more leaks and partisanship. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at the State Department on April 29, 2020, in Washington,DC. WASHINGTON The nation's top diplomat warned the Taliban's main negotiator during a videoconference call not to attack American citizens amid reports that a Russian military intelligence unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked fighters for the deaths of American soldiers. The Monday call, between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Taliban's deputy leader and chief negotiator, Mullah Baradar, focused on the full implementation of the Doha agreement, according to a State Department statement. The Doha accord, signed between the U.S. and the Taliban in February, plans for the withdrawal of foreign military forces from Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees and a reduction in fighting. Pompeo's conversation comes on the heels of an explosive report by The New York Times that Russia paid the Taliban cash bounties to target and kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The Times reported Monday night that Trump had received a written briefing in February about the intelligence and The Associated Press reported that the White House was aware of the matter in early 2019. "The Secretary made clear the expectation for the Taliban to live up to their commitments, which include not attacking Americans," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a Tuesday statement. Read more: Mothers of military sons killed in Afghanistan want probe of Russian death bounties In a statement issued just before midnight, the Pentagon said Monday that the intelligence regarding the bounties has not been confirmed. "The Department of Defense continues to evaluate intelligence that Russian GRU operatives were engaged in malign activity against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan. To date, DOD has no corroborating evidence to validate the recent allegations found in open-source reports," Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. "Regardless, we always take the safety and security of our forces in Afghanistan and around the world most seriously and therefore continuously adopt measures to prevent harm from potential threats," Hoffman added. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday that President Donald Trump was not briefed on the matter because the allegations had not been verified by the intelligence community. About 25% of New York City-area residents have probably been infected with the coronavirus by now, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Tuesday. Researchers at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City published a study Monday, which suggested that 19.3% of people in the city had already been exposed to the virus through April 19. Even if that many people have Covid-19 antibodies in New York City, the initial epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, the researchers noted that would still be well below the estimated 67% needed to achieve herd immunity which is necessary to give the general public broad protection from the virus. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed nor accepted by an official medical journal for publication. Based on their findings, the researchers concluded that about 0.7% of everyone infected with the virus in New York City died due to Covid-19. However, Gottlieb said the infection-fatality rate, which factors in asymptomatic patients who never develop symptoms, has likely risen since mid-April. "If you probably took that out to now, you did a seroprevalence study now, you'd probably see that the infection-fatality rate's a little higher because more people succumbed to the infection over the course of time from April to now," he said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "And you'd probably see that the seroprevalence is a little higher because more people have gotten infected, so my guess is probably around 25% of New York has now been infected with Covid." The infection-fatality rate is likely lower than the case-fatality rate, which looks at the percent of people who have symptoms and end up dying. Gottlieb said the case-fatality rate might be closer to 1.1% or 1.2%. The findings of the study are in line with what other researchers, including those for New York state who conducted their own seroprevalence study, have found, Gottlieb said, which helps bolster confidence in such studies. "We can start to believe that this probably represents an approximation of what the real result is," he said. The relationship between the presence of antibodies and immunity when it comes to the coronavirus remains unclear. The authors of the study noted that previous research into other coronaviruses has indicated that antibodies confer immunity. However, health officials, including Gottlieb and White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, have warned that the level and duration of immunity provided by antibodies is still unclear. The researchers said the antibody test used in the study has a sensitivity rate of 95%, meaning it picks up positive cases 95% of the time, and a specificity of 100%, meaning it accurately reflects negative cases 100% of the time. That means the tests could produce a false negative result, but not a false positive antibody test. All tests were analyzed in a research laboratory setting. The sample of patients used to determine the prevalence of the virus in the general population was composed of patients who presented at Mount Sinai for a regular medical procedure or check up, unrelated to Covid-19. The authors of the Mount Sinai study acknowledged some factors might have biased their sampling of the general population, but said "it nevertheless provides a window into the extent of seroprevalence in NYC." The study was partially funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers, the JPB foundation and other donors. Since April, New York and the tri-state region have managed to significantly drive down their level of spread, which means the "seroprevalence would likely not change significantly unless new infections rise again or vaccines would become available," the researchers said. Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic-testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. A demonstrator wearing a face mask and gloves as a precaution during the protest. Art workers gathered in front of the Greek Parliament at Syntagma Square to demand support after the government announced that all the summer events, festivals, concerts and public gatherings will take place with strict limitations or have to be cancelled to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Dimitrios Manis | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images More than a dozen major international stock indexes are on pace to end the first half of the year at least over 10% off their recent highs, as surging coronavirus cases exacerbate fears about the speed and scale of an economic recovery. Many countries across the globe have sought to tentatively relax lockdown restrictions through the second quarter, gradually loosening confinement measures in an effort to stimulate economic growth. Nonetheless, coronavirus cases continue to rise worldwide, with the World Health Organization warning "the worst is yet to come" and asking countries not to speed through reopening businesses. To date, more than 10.3 million people have contracted Covid-19, with 505,518 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. CNBC takes a look at the major international stock indexes that are set to end the first half of 2020 in correction territory or worse. To be sure, a correction refers to a 10% pullback in the value of a stock market index from its most recent peak, while a fall of 20% or more from recent highs reflects a bear market. Americas The WHO warned last week that coronavirus outbreaks in the Americas haven't yet reached their peak, with the United Nations health agency saying many countries in North, South and Central America were still suffering sustained community transmission. Brazil's stock market index, the Bovespa, has rallied over 31% during the second quarter. But, despite significant gains over the last three months, it remains on track to end the first half of the year around 20% lower from a year-to-date closing high reached on January 23. An aerial view of a nearly empty Saara region, a large shopping area in the center of the city during a lockdown aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic on March 24, 2020 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Buda Mendes | Getty Images South America's largest country has recorded the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, with over 1.3 million confirmed Covid-19 infections and 58,314 fatalities. Only the U.S. has recorded more cases of the coronavirus, with over 2.5 million cases so far. Argentina's leading Merval stock market index has slipped over 17%, after climbing to its year-to-date high on June 8. It has recorded far fewer coronavirus cases than neighboring Brazil, with around 50,000 Covid-19 infections confirmed to date. The Merval has fallen away from its closing intraday high as talks between the government and international creditors to restructure $65 billion in debt hit a roadblock. Meanwhile, Canada's Toronto Stock Exchange composite index has dipped over 14% since climbing to a closing intraday high on February 20. Europe Hans Kluge, regional director for Europe at WHO, said in a statement in mid-June that it was important for political leaders to keep in mind that: "We are not out of the woods." He added that while social-distancing measures had gained countries some time to fight the virus, the European region accounted for around 31% of confirmed cases and 43% of deaths globally. Therefore, Kluge said it would be a "priority" for the WHO's regional office for Europe to prepare for the fall. Several European stock markets were set to end the first half of the year in correction territory, with Greece, Spain and Russia leading the region's losses despite recording significant gains in the second quarter. Greece's ATHEX composite index has tumbled 33% since climbing to a closing intraday high on January 24. The southern European country, which has a relatively low number of coronavirus cases, is taking steps to lure visitors back to vacation hotspots in an effort to stimulate an economic recovery. Greece's tourism industry makes up roughly one-fifth of its economy, according to Reuters, and some economists are concerned that the economic impact of the pandemic could unravel progress made since the euro zone crisis a decade ago. A woman wearing a sanitary mask as a preventive measure, leaving the train during the first day of work for non-essential sectors. Barcelona faces its 31st day of house confinement due to the contagion of Covid-19. Paco Freire | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty Images Spain's IBEX 35 was down almost 28% from its closing intraday high on February 19, while Russia's dollar-denominated RTS stock market was down 24% from an intraday high reached on January 20. The stock market indexes of Italy, Portugal and the U.K. also appeared set to end the first half of the year either close to or in bear market territory. Italy's FTSE MIB index was down 23% from a closing intraday high reached on February 19, Portugal's PSI 20 index was almost 20% lower from the same date, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was off 19% from its closing high recorded on July 29 last year. France's CAC 40 index, the pan-European Stoxx 600, Germany's DAX and Switzerland's SMI index were also all on course to end the first half in correction territory. Asia To date, India has recorded the fourth-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, behind the U.S., Brazil and Russia respectively. The rising number of cases in the country of more than 1.3 billion people comes as state governments begin to ease confinement measures in place since lockdown was first imposed in late March. Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Surjeet Singh Deswal during an inspection of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas Bhati Mines facility that is being prepared as a Covid-19 care centre, in Chhatarpur, on June 26, 2020 in New Delhi, India. Sanjeev Verma | Hindustan Times via Getty Images People wait in line outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, March 18, 2019. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Tuesday that a Montana scholarship program that indirectly provided state funds to religious schools is protected by the Constitution, weighing in on a high-profile dispute over the separation of church and state. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. He was joined by fellow conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The court's four Democratic appointees dissented. Roberts wrote that a decision by the Montana Supreme Court to invalidate a scholarship program on the basis that it would provide funding to religious schools in addition to secular schools "bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools." "The provision also bars parents who wish to send their children to a religious school from those same benefits, again solely because of the religious character of the school," Roberts wrote. Roberts wrote that no state is required to subsidize private education, but if it does, "it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious." The decision comes after a string of cases in which Roberts sided with the court's liberal wing on issues involving LGBT rights, immigration and abortion. The case concerned a scholarship program enacted in Montana in 2015, which provided individuals and businesses with up to $150 in tax credits to match donations to private, nonprofit scholarship organizations. Shortly after the program was enacted, the Montana Department of Revenue put in place a rule that barred scholarship recipients from using funds from the program to pay for religious schools. That rule was intended to comply with a provision of the Montana Constitution, which forbids "any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies for any sectarian purpose," including "to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution." Similar prohibitions, known as Blaine Amendments, exist in the constitutions of 36 other states, and in many cases stemmed from anti-Catholic sentiments. Three mothers who relied on the scholarship program to help pay for their children's tuition at a nondenominational Christian school challenged the department's rule, arguing that it violated the First Amendment's religious protections. A trial court in Montana sided with the mothers, but the Montana Supreme Court reversed the decision, reasoning that the tax-credit program was in effect indirectly paying for tuition at religious schools, in violation of the state constitution. The Montana court struck down the tax-credit program in its entirety. The mothers took the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the lower court decision was impermissibly hostile to religion. "Prohibiting all religious options in otherwise generally available student-aid programs rejects that neutrality and shows inherent hostility toward religion," their attorney, Richard Komer, told the justices in a filing. The Montana Department of Revenue countered that the state Supreme Court decision "protects religious freedom." The state constitution's prohibition on funding religious schools "does not restrain individual liberty," wrote Adam Unikowsky, an attorney for the state. "Rather, it restrains the government by barring state aid to religious schools." Montana's tax-credit scholarship program was similar to programs run in 18 states, according to a friend-of-the-court brief submitted to the justices. Religious groups celebrated the Supreme Court's decision. Brian Burch, the president of Catholic Vote, a national faith-based advocacy organization, said the ruling was "long overdue victory for American families and a defeat for anti-Catholic bigotry." Kristen Waggoner, an attorney at the religious liberty group Alliance Defending Freedom, said "the Supreme Court sent a message loud and clear: Equal opportunity doesn't hinge on your religious beliefs and practices. That's what the First Amendment means." On the other side, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten condemned the court's move, saying calling it "a seismic shock that threatens both public education and religious liberty." "Never in more than two centuries of American history has the free exercise clause of the First Amendment been wielded as a weapon to defund and dismantle public education," Weingarten said. Daniel Mach, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the decision was the "the latest in a disturbing line of Supreme Court cases attacking the very foundations of the separation of church and state." "In the past, the court used to guard against government-funded religion. Today, the court has not only allowed, but actually required taxpayers to underwrite religious education," Mach said. The majority's decision also came under attack from the court's liberal wing, with multiple justices penning dissents. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, argued that the Montana Supreme Court's decision to strike down the scholarship program in its entirety, rather than just restricting its benefits for religious schools, meant that the state was not discriminating against those with religious views. "Under that decree, secular and sectarian schools alike are ineligible for benefits, so the decision cannot be said to entail differential treatment based on petitioners' religion," Ginsburg wrote. "Put somewhat differently, petitioners argue that the Free Exercise Clause requires a State to treat institutions and people neutrally when doling out a benefitand neutrally is how Montana treats them in the wake of the state court's decision." Justice Sonia Sotomayor relied on similar reasoning in a separate dissent. She added that the top court had "never before held unconstitutional government action that merely failed to benefit religious exercise." Justice Stephen Breyer, in a dissent joined by Kagan, wrote that the "majority's approach and its conclusion in this case, I fear, risk the kind of entanglement and conflict that the Religion Clauses are intended to prevent." The case is Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, No. 18-1195. The wealthy are preparing for tax increases, working with their accountants to give away money or shift their income to avoid some of the impact of higher rates. With rising deficits at the state and federal levels, as government spending soars and revenue drops from the Covid-19 crisis, taxes are likely to go up in coming years, especially for the highest earners. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden told wealthy donors at a fundraiser Monday that he planned to forge ahead with his campaign plan to hike taxes on the wealthy. "I'm going to get rid of the bulk of Trump's $2 trillion tax cut," Biden said, "and a lot of you may not like that, but I'm going to close loopholes like capital gains and stepped up basis." Accountants and tax lawyers say they're seeing a surge in calls and emails from wealthy clients asking about actions they can take now to avoid tax hikes in 2021 and beyond. "It's coming up in almost every conversation," said David Handler, partner in the trusts and estates practice at Kirkland & Ellis. "People are not just thinking about it, they're acting on it. They know that one way or another, tax rates may be headed up." The main action the wealthy are taking now is giving money to family and friends. Under the current estate and gift tax, individuals can give away up to $11.58 million and couples can give away up to $23.16 million over their lifetimes without paying the gift tax of 40%. Democrats in Congress have been pushing for years to lower the exemption for the gift and estate tax to raise more revenue. So accountants are advising the wealthy to give up to the maximum $11.58 million this year in case the exemption falls or the tax rate increases. "For many clients, this is a motivating factor for gifts they were planning to make all along," Handler said. Regardless of who wins the White House, accountants say the wealthy fear some form of tax increase at the state or federal level. At the center of Biden's tax plan is an increase in the capital gains tax and the elimination of the step-up in basis, which allows any appreciation in the value of property that occurred during the owner's life to go untaxed. Accountants say they're also advising the wealthy to sell assets now that have appreciated over a long period of time, and that they intended to sell soon anyway. That way they will pay a top tax rate of 20% rather than risk the 39.6% rate proposed under Biden's plan. Of course, given the decline in some asset values and the stock market so far this year, many of the wealthy may not want to sell yet. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 2 basis points to 0.663% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up 3 basis points at 1.427%. Yields move inversely to prices. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. In remarks prepared for a congressional hearing Tuesday, Powell said that despite a recent uptick in economic activity as lockdown measures are eased across the world's largest economy, the outlook is "extraordinarily uncertain" and will rely on both containing the virus and government support for the recovery. Mnuchin said he expects more stimulus funding to be approved by the end of July. Meanwhile, coronavirus cases continue to surge around the country, forcing states including New Jersey, Arizona and Kansas to walk back plans to further ease lockdown measures. A Reuters tally showed that California marked a record daily spike in new Covid-19 cases on Monday as Los Angeles health officials warned that hospitals could become overwhelmed. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. has now confirmed more than 2.59 million coronavirus cases with more than 126,000 deaths, and Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday that the virus is spreading too rapidly in the country to be brought under control. Auctions will be held Tuesday for $35 billion of 119-day Treasury bills and $35 billion of 42-day bills. Artificial intelligence expert Ferenc Huszar is set to leave his full-time role at Twitter and join the University of Cambridge. His departure comes four years after the micro-blogging platform acquired the London start-up he worked at, Magic Pony, for a reported $150 million. Huszar, who is a senior machine learning engineer at Twitter's London office, is joining Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology, where he completed a PhD in 2012. "I can confirm that I'm taking up a role at Cambridge," Huszar told CNBC via email. "This also means that I will not indeed be full-time employed by Twitter," he added. "I will miss the team and company very much." Huszar, who was one of the first employees at Magic Pony, is expected to start at Cambridge on July 7. Space tourism venture Virgin Galactic is steadily moving closer to flying customers to the edge of space, with the company expecting to clear remaining Federal Aviation Administration milestones after just one or two more rocket-powered test flights. Virgin Galactic completed its second glide flight test in New Mexico last week, a success that the company expects will allow it to once again fly to space. The company last conducted a spaceflight in February 2019, before Virgin Galactic moved its spacecraft from a testing facility in California's Mojave Desert to the company's operations center in New Mexico. The company has not said how many more test flights it will conduct before flying founder Sir Richard Branson, which will mark the beginning of commercial service. But Virgin Galactic told CNBC on Tuesday that, once it flies one or possibly two more rocket-powered test flights, it expects to pass the remaining FAA milestones needed for final regulatory approval to conduct regular spaceflights. As of May the company had cleared 24 of the FAA's 29 milestones toward the license. Virgin Galactic has its own set of test objectives to complete, which it emphasizes are in addition to the FAA's milestones. One of the objectives is to fly four of its employees as passengers on a spaceflight, in addition to the two pilots who control the spacecraft. Previously, Virgin Galactic has flown chief astronaut trainer Beth Moses as a passenger on a spaceflight one of five employees, including four pilots, who have become FAA-recognized astronauts. The EU on Tuesday released its much-anticipated list of countries whose residents will be permitted to travel into the region starting tomorrow. Who's in? Residents of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. If China reopens its borders to EU residents, it will also be included. Who's out? Everyone else, including the United States. The announcement was a heavy blow for Americans and not just those with summer travel plans to Europe. What happened? When EU draft lists failed to include the U.S. among countries likely to be welcomed next month, media reaction was swift. It was "embarrassing," a "blow to U.S. prestige," and a "stinging rebuke to the Trump administration's management of the coronavirus scourge." It was also entirely expected. On June 11, the EU published a four-part checklist that set forth "objective criteria" to create a "common list" of countries to lift travel restrictions into the EU and Schengen Area countries. The list was created by senior EU diplomats in Brussels after difficult negotiations; it will be reviewed every two weeks going forward. Alexander Spatari The checklist's main question: Is a country in a comparable or better "epidemiological situation" as the average EU nation in terms of new cases, infection trends and the ability to test, trace, contain, treat and report on the pandemic? Additional factors include the ability to apply containment measures during travel and whether a country has lifted travel restrictions toward the EU. So, what's the 'epidemiological situation' in the U.S.? Let's run the U.S.'s stats through the EU's checklist. New cases: On June 11 the day the EU announced the criteria necessary to gain entrance there were nearly 2 million confirmed Covid-19 cases in the U.S.; today there more than 2.6 million cases. Trends: Cases are rising in 36 states across the U.S., including the three most populous states of California, Texas and Florida. Last Wednesday, 12 states hit record highs in daily new cases based on their seven-day averages. Hospitalizations due to Covid-19 also rose in 16 states last week. Testing, tracing and containment: The U.S. has done more testing per capita than many EU nations, though contact tracing in the U.S. is stumbling, and only a handful of states are projected to be on track to contain the coronavirus. Travel containment measures: Airports and airlines have rolled out a host of new safety precautions, though U.S. airlines were slow to enforce mask usage during flights, a situation that is now changing. There is simply no cohesive national policy to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the United States. Annika Hinze professor of political science, Fordham University Reciprocity: Residents of Schengen Area countries, as well as the U.K., are still not allowed to enter the U.S. pursuant to a travel ban issued in March. All in all, EU officials were not impressed. "I would not expect the United States to be even close to make the cut at this time," said Annika Hinze, professor of political science at Fordham University. "There is simply no cohesive national policy to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the United States, whereas even comparably federalized systems in the EU, such as Germany, were able to devise a national strategy to combat the virus." Why the rejection hurts Beyond canceled travel plans, the list by EU senior diplomats is a hard pill to swallow as it is, in essence, the world's first government-backed, scientifically-applied, allies-be-damned analysis on which countries are successfully containing Covid-19 infections. Is the EU's approach flawless? Probably not. Making international comparisons is notoriously difficult; death counts are not standardized and testing rates vary as does government transparency. Several EU countries that are highly dependent on foreign tourism, like Greece (shown here), advocated for a common list that took economic criteria into consideration; this was rejected. Stanley Chen Xi But it represents a good faith effort to apply a neutral, apolitical approach to reopening global borders. The U.S. reportedly lobbied intensely to get onto the safe list. A little face can be saved for America in that the U.S. isn't so much being "banned" from entering Europe as it simply isn't being invited to the party (yet). Nobody likes to be left off the guest list though, especially not a soiree this big, and when peers like Canada and Australia and rivals like China made the cut. What the U.S. needs to do SHOWS February 22, 2021 10.00 am Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. Police say Sincere was riding with his mother after a visit to a laundromat when another car pulled alongside in the 6100 block of South Halsted Street shortly after 2 p.m. Someone inside fired at least seven times, hitting the boy in the chest and grazing his 22-year-old mother in the head. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) The Philippines' total debt load has grown to 8.89 trillion in May as authorities borrowed aggressively to fund programs aimed at easing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Bureau of the Treasury reported Tuesday that total loans moved closer to 9 trillion, growing by 12.3 percent or 975.2 billion compared to May 2019. The figure also rose from April's 8.6 trillion level. The Treasury said the spike is due to "increased reliance" on raising money through bond issuances as well as foreign loans as the state had to secure additional funds to support COVID-19 response measures, given a sharp drop in tax collections during the weeks under lockdown. RELATED: Government collections by end-May plunge amid COVID-19 pandemic Two-thirds of the debt burden was borrowed locally, amounting to 6.03 trillion which is 14.8 percent higher than a year ago. The bureau was forced to issue more Treasury bonds and bills as it sought to pad the government's cash for emergency purchases and benefits as the country saw coronavirus infections climb. Treasury note issuances have climbed to 5.73 trillion, up by a tenth from last year and by 3.1 percent compared to April. Foreign sources accounted for 32 percent of the total loans at 2.86 trillion as of end-May. The figure rose by 7.4 percent from the year before, representing the series of loans secured from four development finance agencies abroad to bolster local funding. Peso-dollar exchange rate movements also added to the debt burden, the bureau added. RELATED: DOF says nearly half of $4.8B foreign loans released for COVID-19 response As a developing economy, the Philippines spends more than what it can collect in funding so that it can begin new and high-impact projects in this case, the coronavirus response, with cases surging to more than 37,000 as of end-June. The Department of Finance earlier said that public debt will not go beyond 50 percent of the size of the Philippine economy to make these loans manageable to settle. The agency is looking to borrow 436.9 billion from foreign sources to support government spending for coronavirus response measures. The government has set aside 465.88 billion to settle maturing loans for the month. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 1) The Directors Guild of the Philippines Inc. (DGPI) called out the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) for its supposed intrusion into regulatory and oversight functions over production matters, as stated in the Councils latest advisory. In a statement released last Monday, DGPI stated they made their concern clear to FDCP in a prior meeting and were puzzled why such rule was still released. "Yet the release of this advisory underlines a disturbing turn of events about the mandate of FDCP," said the Filipino directors group. Under the FDCP Advisory No. 06 which was made public last June 27, the film body requires production companies to register their film and audiovisual productions with them at least seven days before their commencement. The FDCP directive covers productions in television, film, advertising, live events, and animation, among others. The FDCP advisory also outlined the health and safety protocols that should be followed in production shoots under the new normal brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The DGPI noted that while it appreciates the FDCP's development programs and achievements, the group protests and denounces its overreach into regulatory and oversight functions over productions. The Filipino directors' group also called on government agencies including the FDCP to consult stakeholders, particularly film workers, in deliberations on regulatory matters. It highlighted the FDCP "does not necessarily represent film workers or producers." As the film industry struggles to get back in its feet, the DGPI reiterates that it opposes any form of additional agency intrusion on productions. Not during a pandemic. Not ever. The slippery slope from 'reporting' to 'monitoring' to 'controlling' is steep and dangerous to freedom of expression, the directors guild added. Veteran film director Erik Matti supported the DGPIs statements, noting the agency has been outlining new industry practices that restrict the film business. The Film Development Council of the Philippines managed to divide this industry with their arbitrary mandates that are so far off from the needs of the industry that it just leaves everyone scratching their heads, said Matti in his Facebook post. Matti also lamented that none of their concerns were addressed by the FDCP despite numerous consultations with some film industry workers. "How hard is it to listen to us working on the ground? How difficult is it to see and feel the present economic situation of not just our industry but the entire country to know that we need help rather than inane restrictions and bureaucratic red tape?" he added. FDCP, headed by actress Liza Dino-Seguerra, has yet to issue their response on the concerns raised by DGPI and Matti. Manila (CNN Philippines Life) Its easy to miss the intricacies of a space in a city where establishments come and go so quickly. On an unassuming corner of Kamuning Road and T. Gener Street, Unit 41-B was, until recently, bustling with life. The building was shared by artist-run space Green Papaya Art Projects and the bar Catch 272 their histories and purposes inextricably linked. A space for those in need Green Papaya Art Projects is famed for being Manilas oldest artist-run space, founded by Norberto Peewee Roldan and Donna Miranda in 2000. It planted its roots in Kamuning in August 2008. They have been called numerous things, from multimedia gallery to artists collective, but according to program director Merv Espina, the keyword is space: We provide space and give space to others, especially those [who] need it most. This has been the aim of Green Papaya: to provide a space for creatives to experiment, interact, and engage. While they were not the first of their kind in the Philippines, Green Papaya was a part of a generation of successful artist-run spaces in Metro Manila such as Third Space, Surrounded by Water, Big Sky Mind, and Future Prospects the likes of which sought to circumvent the constraints of traditional galleries. They all had gallery and exhibition programs, but to call them galleries would be a disservice to all the experimentation and interdisciplinary practices that they gave space to, explains Espina. Gallery and collective doesnt quite encompass all the work that Green Papaya does; it provides a space for creatives to experiment, interact, and engage, circumventing the constraints of traditional galleries. Photo from GREEN PAPAYA ART PROJECTS/INSTAGRAM Artist-run spaces like Green Papaya provide an iterative environment for artists: the works informed the setup and vice versa. This led to the flourishing of experimentation and critical discourse in an environment where artists could present their works on their own terms the larger picture being that artists are empowered to produce art and organize autonomously. In that regard, gallery and collective doesnt quite encompass all the work that Green Papaya does: they operate on a per-project basis, which may entail physical exhibitions, but they also host experimental performances, film screenings, and avenues for discourse. Some of the more recent projects they have undertaken includes an exhibition entitled "DONT EVEN BRING WATER," where they headed the curatorial team of the 15th run of the biennial Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference. A good example of their desire to uplift new and diverse talents is their 2009 project "Wednesdays-Im-In-Love," an open-platform curatorial residency featuring six artists from different backgrounds Martha Atienza, Jed Escueta, Mark Salvatus, Diego Maranan, Angelo Suarez, and Andrea Teran. Today, each artist has carved their own path in contemporary art, for instance, with Martha Atienzas video installations and Jed Escuetas photography being of both local and international renown. Archiving is a necessary yet invisible task. Apart from artworks, Green Papaya housed a great deal of research and documentation dating back to the 70s. Photo from GREEN PAPAYA ART PROJECTS/INSTAGRAM Everyone was welcome In 2012, Catch 272 was known as Boho Sarapsody Bistro under the helm of owner and manager Aplue Apauls, later joined by assistant manager Tao Aves in 2015. Aves was friends with Roldan and Espina, and as fate would have it, Espina was there on the night that Boho was asked to stop operating. We know intimately what [Espina] meant when he said that Green Papaya provides space and gives space to others, especially those that need it the most, says Aves. The move to Kamuning was a necessity. It was in September 2015 that she and Apauls reached out to them for a space with a working kitchen that could accommodate live music. We are Green Papayas little sisters na maraming bisita, Aves muses. Since then, Catch 272 had become so much more than just a watering hole; it was acclaimed as a space for activists and members of the LGBTQIA+ community to freely express themselves. They have hosted fundraisers for workers on strike, for urban poor communities, for those directly affected by the government's war on drugs; the owners have been vocal about being queer, hosting Pride Month events and after-parties for the march itself. Catch 272 became a starting point for many performers careers. Photo from CATCH 272/INSTAGRAM Aves dispels notions that their bar favored any demographic. There is no particular group of people or ideas that we anchored ourselves to. We've been called a queer spot, an activist spot, et cetera. We're just a pub. And the openness of their space is precisely what has drawn so many to them Catch 272 has hosted events for causes at no charge. Everyone was welcome, as long as there was no hate or persecution of minority groups. Catch 272 was a regular venue for various advocacy groups and a starting point for many performers careers. At a time where government intervention has threatened its citizens clamoring for change, venues like Catch 272 protected its patrons rights and generously provided a space for expression free of censorship a space needed now more than ever. One particular incident that stands out was when artist-activist group SAKA (Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo) hosted an anniversary party in 2018, in which more than 20 armed policemen nearly arrested a guest, claiming that public smoking was the charge even when no other bars were searched. It was then that Catscratch Club organized a fundraiser called Landi Stories for Catch 272s outdoor roofing, bringing together disparate groups of regulars for a concerted effort. We had a roof go up so that the division between what belonged to us and what belonged to the city would be clear, says Aves. Catch 272 had become so much more than just a watering hole; it was acclaimed as a space for activists and members of the LGBTQIA+ community to freely express themselves. Photo from CATCH 272/INSTAGRAM In the wake of the fire It was on the morning of June 3 that the communities of both Green Papaya and Catch 272 mourned the devastating loss of Unit 41-B: a fire broke out from the furniture shop next door. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but the flames damaged both of their facilities, as well as nearly two decades worth of Green Papayas archives. Archiving is a necessary yet invisible task. Apart from artworks, Green Papaya housed a great deal of research and documentation dating back to the 70s. The artist-run space though has been working on their inventory throughout the years with the help of their archivist Lesley-Anne Cao, in coordination with their archiving partner, Asia Art Archive. This is now their most important project, especially in light of their projected closure in the year 2021. Cao explains, The structure that goes with working with the archive creating the necessary timelines, inventories, and categorizing of events and materials encouraged [Green Papaya] over the last three years to remember and rethink what its existence meant then and now and what it continues to do and stand for. Green Papayas archive contained a multitude of Philippine cultural artifacts. It had upwards of 300 works in their care; ongoing research and collections from members of their community and their team; community archives from past events; Filipino animator Rox Lee's drawings and comics from the 70s to the 80s; and rare documentation of experimental performances from the 80s and 90s. While substantial archival work has been done since 2017, the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent fire continue to be major setbacks to the process. We normally dont prioritize the organization and care of these things, and understandably so, due to economic reasons and crises, says Cao. We do our best with the resources we have, though Ive wondered since the fire if the blow would have been less painful had the archiving process been possibly quicker and less things completely lost. At the end of this project, the archive will be what it is; it wont ever be complete but were working to make it as rich as possible. The communities they have created, advocacies they have supported, and voices they gave a platform to cannot be touched by flames. Photo from GREEN PAPAYA ART PROJECTS/INSTAGRAM What cannot be touched by flames Espina notes that Green Papaya and Catch 272 have always been partners. Although we have our specific niches, our communities are intertwined. I particularly enjoyed the looks on peoples faces, especially first time visitors, when they came expecting a serious, critical discussion or some arty thing and saw an anime lip sync battle. It has been impossible for both spaces to operate as they used to. For Green Papaya, resuming operations means continuing their online projects, as well as archiving and chronicling their history in preparation for 2021. Some of their recent projects include the Mananita Anthology featuring 18 artists and a series of posters on their Instagram expressing their critiques of the current administration. However, on top of losing equipment and furniture, Catch 272 also has to contend with government-mandated COVID-19 restrictions on food establishments. Its now through their Facebook page that they update their community: We will have to make a shift in how we express ourselves as a public house. We have some ideas, not a lot. None of them will be easy, but thinking about them brings back a little spring in our step, they said in a post. The communities they have created, advocacies they have supported, and voices they gave a platform to cannot be touched by flames; online, many have expressed their grief at the loss of a safe space, the loss of irretrievable works. We have been getting a lot of encouraging messages from around the world, says Espina. These keep us and the team going. Green Papaya has had a hand-to-mouth existence for the past 20 years; money was always a problem. But it was this sense of community that kept us going this long, and we need our community now more than ever to help us piece back our history, says Espina. In spite of everything, Green Papaya and Catch 272 push onward knowing that they have made an indelible impact with the spaces they created. The last line of a Facebook post by Green Papaya reads, We are safe for now. But the house is still burning. While both establishments have lost their physical spaces, they continue to rouse their communities to express themselves online, just as they did all those years on that corner of Kamuning Road and T. Gener Street. "It was this sense of community that kept us going this long, and we need our community now more than ever to help us piece back our history." Photo from CATCH 272/INSTAGRAM *** For those looking to help, visit Green Papaya and Catch 272 to learn more about ongoing donation drives. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 29) Four Army intelligence personnel, including two officers, were killed when they were fired upon by policemen in Jolo, Sulu Monday afternoon, 11th Infantry Division commander MGen Corleto Vinluan said. The police, however, have a different version of the incident. An initial report from the Sulu Provincial Police Office said members of the Jolo Municipal Police Station and the Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit Sulu were patrolling Barangay Bus-Bus when they spotted a vehicle with four "armed" men. They were instructed to go to the Jolo Municipal Police Station for questioning. But upon arriving at the station, they allegedly defied the order and fled. A chase ensued but when they were collared in an area in downtown Jolo, those onboard the the vehicle disembarked and pointed their firearms at the police, according to the report. The police report further indicated that those subject for investigation "lifted and pointed their firearms towards the PNP (Philippine National Police) personnel." "However, before they could pull the trigger, the PNP personnel were able to shoot them in defense, thus an exchange of gunfire ensued which resulted in the death of the four suspects," the report said. But in a phone interview, Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Mindanao Command Chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana defended those on board the vehicle saying they were AFP personnel assigned to the 11th Infantry Division and were on an "official mission." Vinluan, on the other hand, insisted that the incident was not a misencounter since his troops were "unarmed." "(They) were gunned down by the PNP," Vinluan said in a text message to CNN Philippines. Sobejana said the vehicle the soldiers were riding was initially stopped at a PNP checkpoint where they immediately identified themselves as soldiers, and the parties agreed to have the soldiers go to the police station to clear things. Citing "several versions" of the incident, Sobejana said he does not know why the soldiers ended up being fired upon by the cops and is asking the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate what really happened. "I also requested the NBI to investigate to ensure impartiality. We don't want any escalation of hostilities out of the incident. Our interest is to know the facts and justice is given," he added. Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the incident was "very unfortunate," however he said he would not give additional comments while an inquiry was ongoing. "No additional comment muna while inquiry is ongoing. Very hazy pa dumadating na report incident report pa lang [Incoming reports are still very hazy just an incident report]. The NBI in Zamboanga will conduct inquiry," he said In a statement on Monday evening, Sobejana said, "We are yet to establish the motive of the police." They are also asking the public not to sensationalize the incident, adding they will wait for the completion of the investigation. CNN Philippines Senior Correspondent David Santos contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) The anti-terrorism bill has again been thrust into the global spotlight as the United Nations human rights chief advised President Rodrigo Duterte against signing the controversial measure into law. During the 44th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said the measure, which was passed by the Philippines Congress and is now awaiting Dutertes enactment, heightens our concerns about the blurring of important distinctions between criticism, criminality and terrorism. Human rights defenders are routinely smeared as terrorists, enemies of the State and even viruses akin to COVID-19, Bachelet said. She noted that 248 human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and trade unionists have been killed from 2015 to 2019. The law could have a further chilling effect on human rights and humanitarian work, hindering support to vulnerable and marginalized communities, Bacehelet said. So I would urge the President to refrain from signing the law, and to initiate a broad-based consultation process to draft legislation that can effectively prevent and counter violent extremism but which contains some safeguards to prevent its misuse against people engaged in peaceful criticism and advocacy, she said. She stressed her office is ready to assist Duterte in such review. The anti-terrorism bill, which is expected to be signed by Duterte, will repeal Human Security Act of 2007, giving more surveillance powers to government forces. Among its contentious provisions is allowing suspected terrorists to be arrested without warrant and detained without charges for up to 24 days. Critics of the measure say it relaxes safeguards on human rights and is open to abuse. Lawmakers who have authored and sponsored the measure, however, said it is actually at par with the laws of other countries and it would not be used against law-abiding citizens. READ: Cayetano to anti-terrorism bill critics: We can amend or repeal law if you're right Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the true state of the countrys health sector. In a virtual roundtable discussion on government transparency and accountability Tuesday, Morales said that years of neglect and corruption has led to a broken health care system. Public funds which should have been spent for hospital beds and other medical facilities ended up in the pockets of some people, she said. Morales, who retired in 2018, added that authorities can use the pandemic to enrich themselves and extend their power. She stressed the need for stronger vigilance and closer monitoring public spending and resource distribution. While doors are being shut almost everywhere, the door to transparency and accountability to the people should remain open, Morales said. The Office of the Ombudsman said it has received at least 30 complaints in relation to the distribution of emergency cash grants. Meanwhile, Morales trusts the Ombudsman will come up with a fair recommendation as it investigates alleged lapses in the Department of Healths COVID19 response. Her successor Ombudsman Samuel Martires initiated the probe which also looks into Health Chief Francisco Duques possible liability. I am fortunate to have left with the Office of the Ombudsman senior and junior officials who are people of integrity who cannot be culled by outside influence, Morales said in an online forum on transparency and accountability. Among the issues covered in the probe are alleged delays in the procurement of protective gear for health workers and confusing reports on corona virus cases and deaths. Despite the allegations, President Duterte said he still trusts the health chief. Morales said the presidents opinion should not matter at all in the probe. It has nothing to do with the integrity of the secretary of health. It has something to do with the alleged irregularities in the system itself, Morales explained. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) President Rodrigo Duterte may not need to call for a special session of Congress to pass a law that will grant special powers for COVID-19 response anymore, his spokesman said Tuesday. "Sa ngayon, wala pa po tayong request na mag-special session. Mukhang kakayanin naman na i-discuss itong Bayanihan 2 during the regular Congress [Right now, we do not have a request for a special session. It seems possible for the Bayanihan 2 bill to be discussed during regular Congress sessions]. After all, the State of the Nation [Address] is just around the corner in July," Roque said in his media briefing. Congress reopens after an almost two-month break on July 27, starting with Duterte's fourth SONA. RELATED: SONA 2020 to be held in Congress, but Duterte may take virtual route The economic cluster has proposed the Bayanihan 2 law, which is patterned after the original Bayanihan to Heal as One Act which granted the President the special authority to adjust fund allocations under the 2019 and 2020 budgets for coronavirus response. The measure also provided for extra benefits to frontliners especially those who got infected with the disease, and fast-tracked the purchase and importation of medical equipment. This expired on June 24. Roque said the proposal will provide for a 10 billion testing subsidy to provide for additional tests, as well as a 15 billion budget for a cash-for-work program, which includes salaries for 50,000 contact tracers. This will also include a 17 billion subsidy for public transport. RELATED: Proposed IATF rules seek quarterly COVID-19 tests for returning workers Roque said the Department of Finance is capping the cost of the proposed law at 140 billion. A separate measure called the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act, will serve as the stimulus package from the Executive, which combined is said to be worth 846 billion, lower than the 1.3 trillion proposal pending in Congress. Economic losses due to lockdown measures amid the pandemic are pegged at around 2 trillion, the President's economic managers earlier said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Tuesday said initial investigation revealed that the collision of a Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier and a Filipino fishing boat was not deliberate, but the foreign crew were found to have committed negligence that may lead to civil and criminal liability. PCG Commandant Vice Admiral George Ursabia, Jr. said the Hong Kong-flagged M/V Vienna Wood collided with local fishing boat F/V Liberty 5 several times in the vicinity of Occidental Mindoro. The incident occurred at around 10:20 pm of June 27, but Ursabia said they received the distress call from Vienna Wood via email three hours later. He said the time frame would have been crucial in the rescue of the 14 Filipinos on board 12 crew members and two passengers who remain missing as of Tuesday afternoon. "Habang maaga pa, it wasn't taking so much water yet, hindi pa siya submerged. Pwede pa sana mapasok at makuha ang na-trap na missing crew na hinahanap natin ngayon," Ursabia said in a Zoom media briefing. [Translation: There was still time, the boat wasn't submerged in water yet. It was still possible to enter and rescue the missing crew that we are now looking for.] The PCG said there have been no signs of the missing Filipinos, but the search and rescue operations will continue until Wednesday at the very least as the Coast Guard remains hopeful survivors will turn up soon. The top Coast Guard official said the Vienna Wood mariners did not abandon the Filipinos after the collision, but said they failed to offer immediate rescue or assistance which is required under maritime law. "Hindi nila iniwanan ang area," he pointed out. "But they were not able to launch their own team to conduct immediate assistance or search and rescue operations to the ill-fated fishing vessel." [Translation: They did not leave the area, but they also did not deploy their crew to conduct immediate assistance or rescue operations for the crew of the ill-fated fishing vessel.] Ursabia explained that the bulk carrier moved away from the incident area after seeing seven small fishing vessels helping the capsized Filipino boat. He said this was done so the 31,540 gross ton bulk carrier can avoid hitting the smaller boats. He added that the PCG is looking into the criminal and civil liabilities of the 20 foreign crew for their failure to extend immediate help to the Filipino fishermen even if their vessel had all the means to do so as it carried several life vests and small rescue boats. "They have done their part," the official said. "I would say 50 percent of what they're expected to do." Both vessels were allowed to traverse the area, Ursabia said. The PCG Commandant added the two vessels signaled that they were both moving towards the same direction, but the Hong Kong vessel got confused because it seemed like the Liberty 5 was moving in different directions. He said that according to the Vienna Wood crew master, he tried to move towards the right side to avoid hitting the small boat. Vienna Wood sustained a hole in its "stem," which is deemed to be the strongest part of the bulk carrier, after hitting the side of Liberty 5. Ursabia said the damage to the huge carrier proves the impact of the collision on the Filipinos' boat. Ursabia added there was poor visibility during the incident brought about by the bad weather. Due to the damage to Vienna Wood, it is currently docked in Batangas. All 20 foreign crew members are in the area, but PCG clarified they were neither arrested nor detained. The Coast Guard is set to finish its investigation by July 2. It said it will pursue cases against the foreign crew if they are proven to have been remiss in their duties that led to the incident. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) Manila City Mayor Francisco Isko Moreno Domagoso announced Tuesday that 31 barangays will be placed on 48-hour hard lockdown starting Saturday. Moreno signed Executive Order No. 31 implementing an enhanced community quarantine in certain barangays for purposes of disease surveillance, rapid risk assessment and COVID-19 testing. The executive order was issued upon verification of the Manila Health Department that said barangays recorded more than three COVID-19 positive cases from June 15 to 29. "The Manila Health Department issued a Certification verifying that there are a total of one hundred forty seven (147) number of COVID-19 positive cases in the said 31 barangays," the order said. The hard lockdown will take effect from 12 a.m. on Saturday, July 4 until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 5. Those included in the list are barangays 20, 41, 51, 56, 66, 96, 97, 101, 106, 116, 118, 120, 128 and 129 from District 1, barangays 163, 173, 180, 185 and 215 from District 2, barangays 275, 310, 343 and 380 from District 3, barangays 649, 724, 766, 775 and 811 from District 5, and barangays 836, 846 and 847 from District 6. Moreno said that residents of the 31 barangays will be strictly confined to their residences and are prohibited from leaving their homes. However, health workers, military personnel, service workers, utility workers, essential workers, barangay officials, and media practitioners accredited by the Presidential Communications Operations Office and the Inter-Agency Task Force will be exempt from the order. "All other commercial, industrial, retail, institutional and other activities not mentioned in above exemptions in the said district shall be suspended within the specified period of ECQ," the order said. "Station commanders of police stations in the said barangays are hereby directed to employ and deploy officers and personnel in strategic locations and areas necessary for the effective implementation of the ECQ," it added. CNN Philippines Correspondent Paolo Barcelon contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June July 1) It's status quo for Cebu City and Metro Manila as the enhanced community quarantine and general community quarantine status, respectively, are extended in these areas until July 15. President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday announced that the existing community quarantine will be extended for 15 more days to better control the health pandemic. This came after Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella said he hopes the national government will place their city under a more relaxed GCQ, as it is the "gateway" of business and tourism in Central Visayas. He added that the city has a recovery rate of 50 percent better than the national recovery rate of 25 percent. In his latest virtual address to the nation, however, Duterte reprimanded Cebuanos anew, citing their supposed noncompliance with quarantine rules and other health measures meant to stem the spread of coronavirus. Cebu is now the hotspot for COVID. Bakit? Marami sa inyo hindi sumunod [Why? Many of you did not follow rules], he said. He also compared the city to Metro Manila, which he noted showed substantial compliance. National and local government officials on Monday said Cebu City is now the epicenter of the Philippines' coronavirus cases. According to Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano, the concentration of COVID-19 cases in the country has shifted from the capital region to Cebu City. On June 28, out of 653 new cases recorded, 391 were attributed to the 17 cities and municipalities of National Capital Region, while 72 cases were recorded in Cebu City alone. Areas under GCQ Along with Metro Manila, areas which will be under general community quarantine starting July 1 include the following: - Benguet - Cavite - Rizal - Lapu-Lapu City - Mandaue City - Leyte - Ormoc - Southern Leyte In Cebu province: - Talisay City - Minglanilla - Consolacion Areas under MGCQ Meanwhile, officials have placed the following under modified general community quarantine: - CAR: Abra, Baguio, Ifugao, Kalinga - Region I: Ilocos Norte, La Union, Pangasinan - Region II: Cagayan, Isabela - Region III: Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Angeles City - Region IV-A: Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Lucena City - Region IV-B: Palawan, Puerto Princesa City - Region V: - Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Naga City - Region VI: Capiz, Iloilo, Iloilo City, Negros Occidental, Bacolod City - Region VII: Bohol, Negros Oriental, the rest of Cebu Province not under ECQ or GCQ - Region VIII: Tacloban, Western Samar* - Region IX: Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur - Region X: Bukidnon, Misamis Occidental*, Misamis Oriental*, Cagayan de Oro* - Region XI: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao City, Davao de Oro - Region XII: Cotabato, South Cotabato - Region XIII: Agusan del Norte, Butuan - BARMM: Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao [NOTE: Areas in asterisk (*) are those announced by Duque but werent mentioned by Duterte when he read the list during his virtual address.] The rest of the country will fall under low-risk modified general community quarantine classification, according to Duque. The nationwide COVID-19 tally has reached 37,514 cases, of which 4,639 were recorded in Cebu City and 18,384 in the entire region of National Capital Region. As the national government pays more attention to Cebu City, President Rodrigo Duterte on June 22 appointed Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu as the new COVID-19 response chief for Visayas. Cimatu brought in hundreds of security troops to enforce the strict stay-at-home measures. The Health Department has also ordered the deployment of doctors including doctors to the barrios to Cebu City to help aid its battle against the COVID-19 crisis. This came after Cebu nurses appealed for hazard pay amid surge in COVID-19 cases. One woman cried as a speaker asked whether there were others in the crowd who have lost a child. Some held signs that said Stop Gun Violence and Families are hurting. One woman handed out candles; a young boy with a balloon in his hand held his candle up to light a few more. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) The government is now seeking to "dramatically" increase COVID-19 testing and planning to conduct regular tests on construction workers, retail staff, and other returning employees every three months. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Tuesday that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has "approved in principle" the inclusion of more Filipinos in coronavirus testing. Filipinos living in hotspot areas such as barangays placed under lockdown due to active COVID-19 cases, as well as informal settlements where practicing social distancing is difficult, will be subject to testing once the risk of an outbreak is declared. "'Yung mga nagbabalik po sa trabaho, kailangan silang i-test bago bumalik sa trabaho at kada tatlong buwan [Those returning to work need to be tested before they return and every after three months]," Roque added. Among the workers covered by this protocol are drivers of public utility vehicles, conductors, flight attendants, delivery staff, security guards, janitors, waiters, and cooks. Also included are retail cashiers and staff, hairdressers, wellness therapists, market and street vendors, and construction workers, even if they do not show symptoms of the disease. RELATED: PH may now test asymptomatic patients, says COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Current rules prioritize testing to those exhibiting symptoms of the disease, those with pre-existing medical conditions, senior citizens, pregnant women, and frontliners. The official said that while testing individuals through rapid and swab tests may be costly, it's still cheaper when compared to treating individuals with the disease. He said widespread testing is also a way to revive consumer confidence and bring back household spending. "Importante talaga ito para magkaroon ng kumpyansa na pwedeng bumalik sa trabaho [This is really important so that people can feel confident enough to return to their offices]," Roque said. Back in May, Roque said the government did not have a program for mass testing and was leaving efforts to test returning workers to their employers in the private sector. Before, asymptomatic individuals were not subject to testing unless they had contact with a patient. Roque said the new goal is to accelerate testing capacity by end-July, with the state aiming to reduce the positivity rate or the number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in every 100 people to just 3 percent, from the current 6 percent level. RELATED: PH gov't: We are 'winning' fight against COVID-19 The government is proposing a 10-billion testing subsidy under a bill that will bring back President Rodrigo Duterte's special powers for COVID-19 response. The proposal has not yet been taken up in Congress. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) The United Nations human rights chief found serious human rights violations in the conduct of the Philippines bloody war on drugs. The campaign against illegal drugs is being carried out without due regard for the rule of law, due process, and the human rights of people who may be using or selling drugs, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in her report to the Human Rights Council on Tuesday. The killings have been widespread and systematic and they are ongoing, she added. Bachelet presented findings from her comprehensive review of the Philippines human rights situation, an investigation that was called for by 18 member states of the council in July 2019. She noted that the Philippine government did not allow her office to visit and that she used information submitted by local organizations and the state. Extrajudicial killings and other abuses were a result of the countrys anti-drug policies, Bachelet said, coupled with an incitement to violence from the highest levels of government. Local and international human rights groups have flagged thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings resulting from President Rodrigo Duterte's public pronouncements. Malacanang has repeatedly said there are no state-sanctioned killings. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told the council that an inter-agency panel chaired by his office is looking into all 5,655 anti-drug operations that resulted in deaths. He said the Philippine National Police conducts its own investigations, but the panel reevaluates the cases. The panel will release a report in November, he said. Claims that there is impunity or near impunity in the country find no anchor in a system that provides every avenue to examine, establish and pursue a claim of wrongdoing by a state actor if such claim is substantiated with facts, Guevarra said. Bachelet, however, is not ready to drop her case. She urged the 47-member council to remain active and vigilant by mandating her office to continue monitoring and reporting on the Philippines human rights situation. It is not enough to argue that the Governments heavy-handed policies remain popular in the country. Because victims tend to be from lower socio-economic classes and relatively disempowered communities, there is an even stronger imperative to ensure their protection. We must not let them down, she added. She also called on the Philippine government to strengthen its accountability mechanism, improve data gathering on alleged police violations, review its policies, and coordinate with civil society. "In the absence of clear and measurable outcomes from domestic mechanism, the council should consider options for international accountability measures," she stressed. Guevarra, who joined the 44th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council via video conferencing, banked on widespread public support of the drug war, adding that due diligence must be exercised to validate allegations against the controversial anti-drug campaign. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) The World Health Organization said it never made a comment comparing the Philippines to other countries as far as COVID-19 cases are concerned. World Health Organization Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said at the Laging Handa briefing on Tuesday that "It is unfair to say that WHO made that comment or assessment. We did not." "The World Health Organization actually has a dashboard with the numbers of cases, what happened was a journalist...used that dashboard and interpreted it this way. It's not the World Health Organization that did this," he added. Last week, the Department of Health issued a statement over reports which said the country had the fastest rise in COVID-19 cases in the Western Pacific. "Our socioeconomic context, particularly living conditions, as well as health system capacity, even prior to COVID, is different from Singapore," Health Undersecretary and Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a statement. "Please take that into account when we do our analysis. Let us not cherry pick the countries we want to compare ourselves to." The Department of Health said Sunday that the comparison made with Singapore and other countries requires a deeper understanding of population ratio versus number of cases. In Tuesday's televised briefing, Abeyasinghe also explained that the WHO does not compare countries' COVID-19 cases. The DOH has not issued a statement on Abeyasinghe's comment. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 1) - President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano to gather all locally stranded individuals (LSI), especially those camping near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), saying that the government will pay for their food and accommodation. I would like to remind si General Ano to gather all na naghihintay ng walang matulugan, matirhan, at nandiyan sa labas ng NAIA (everyone waiting, nowhere to sleep and to stay in, and staying outside NAIA), you will be transported to a place. I will pay, just bill me, pati pagkain (including the food), said Duterte in a late address early Wednesday. Thousands of LSIs have been camping near NAIA in hopes of getting flights amid the limited air travel due to the pandemic. The Manila International Airport Authority has already reminded the public not to proceed to the airport unless there is a confirmed flight. Duterte also told Ano to keep a tight budget on the food of the LSIs. Maghanap lang ng mga karinderya baka budget magreklamo. Wag kayong magkain ng mahal (Just look for small eateries out there because some might complain on the budget. Dont eat anything fancy). We are in a crisis, let us keep our senses close to the ground, he said. Moreover, Duterte also asked the Department of Transportation to remove nearby restaurants and replace them with more seats citing the situation of stranded individuals. Art [Secretary Arthur Tugade], lagyan mo ng silya lahat 'yan (Place chairs right there). Yung restaurant diyan, kung ma-terminate mo yung contracts (The restaurant there, if you can terminate the contracts), terminate them. Because I need them to sit the passengers waiting, he said. Duterte requested policemen assigned at NAIA to assist the LSIs in the meantime. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) Cebu City should remain under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until COVID-19 cases are contained in the area, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said on Tuesday. Cimatu, who leads government efforts to fight the coronavirus in the city, also recommended that the lockdown in barangays with high cases be maintained. "We have to contain cases bago luwagan ang ECQ. Then kung naluwagan ang ECQ, i-concentrate na dito sa lockdown, yung granular na tinatawag natin," he said during a virtual briefing in Malacanang. [Translation: We have to contain the cases first before easing the ECQ. When the ECQ is relaxed, we can concentrate on areas under lockdown, under what we call granular lockdown.] Out of 80 barangays in the city, 12 are currently registering high numbers of COVID-19 cases, according to Cimatu. These barangays were placed under hard lockdown and are currently being closely monitored by authorities. In an interview with CNN Philippines' News.PH on Thursday, Cimatu also bared his plans to tighten preventive measures in the said areas. Kung pwede, yung ibang mga tao na lang from the barangays ang magdadala ng kanilang ration, mga pagkain, ilagay lang doon sa harapan ng kanilang bahay. Kukunin na lang ng mga tao doon para hindi na sila mamamalengke, hindi na sila pupunta outside of their residence, he said. [Translation: If possible, other people from the barangays will deliver their ration, their food, in front of their houses. Residents would just have to get the commodities there so they wouldnt have to go to the market or leave their homes.] Ganyan ang pinaplano ko para hindi mag-spread nang mabilis dito, he continued. [Translation: Thats what Im planning to prevent the spread of the virus here.] Cimatu has described the statistics as "very alarming," noting that the average number of deaths in Cebu City had been increasing. On Monday alone, 13 deaths were recorded. Of 100 people tested, 30 would turn up positive. "Pataas 'yung mga namamatay, including cases for Cebu City lang. We have to contain muna ito," Cimatu stressed. [Translation: Deaths are rising, including cases for Cebu City alone. We have to contain this first.] Meanwhile, Dr. Tony Leachon, who formerly served as Special Adviser to the National Task Force on COVID-19, said Tuesday the surge of COVID-19 cases in Cebu City could have been avoided. "When we went to Cebu, the data that I got from the regional director from region 7 is quite far from the data that we got from the doctors, from the medical community, and this is a big problem considering you cannot anticipate problems if the data would not be transparent, open and straight-forward," Leachon said in a media briefing. "If let's say the data management and transparency were there, and the medical community were apprised together with the political leaders, then we would not right now have an ECQ in Cebu," he added. Cimatu also said he was thinking of relocating some isolation facilities that are too close to communities. He warned that administrative charges would be filed against local officials who violate quarantine rules. Fourteen people are facing criminal charges for holding a religious parade in Sitio Alumnos in Barangay Basak San Nicolas considered a COVID-19 hotspot with at least 90 confirmed cases. Cebu province, three other areas seek reclassification of quarantine status Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Cebu and and three other provinces are seeking reclassification of their quarantine status. The local government of Bulacan and Cagayan are reportedly among those who made the appeal. Roque did not identify the provinces, saying only that the majority wanted to have tighter quarantine restrictions. Two weeks ago, President Rodrigo Duterte placed Cebu City back to ECQ status from the more relaxed general community quarantine due to a spike in cases. Cimatu attributed the surge to overcrowding in barangays and the return of people stranded in Metro Manila who may have already been infected by the virus. The YMCA of Delaware announced this week that they will once again offer swim lessons throughout the state of Delaware. Registration is now op The Coastal Point is a local newspaper published each Friday and distributed in the Bethany Beach, South Bethany, Fenwick Island, Ocean View, Millville, Dagsboro, Frankford, Selbyville, Millsboro, Long Neck and Georgetown, Delaware areas. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Tuesday tweeted out a link to video footage and still images of some of the businesses and vehicles being set ablaze between May 30 and June 3, when protests over the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minnesota devolved into chaos. Kevin Carson has been named the acting superintendent of the Sussex Technical School District, after the recent resignation of Steven Guthrie. When a State College Police officer shot Osaze Osagie last year, Penn State professor of education Uju Anya was surprised not because an officer killed Osagie, but because Osagies death was a statistical improbability. There are like five Black people in this town, Anya said with a laugh. There are so few of us, and the police still found one to shoot. Osagie was a 29-year-old Black State College resident who was killed on March 20, 2019. Officers were serving a mental health warrant at Osagie's apartment. Osagie, who had autism and a history of schizophrenia, ran at the officers with a knife. After unsuccessfully attempting to deploy a Taser on him, an officer shot and killed Osagie. He was the first person to be killed by State College Police. After Osagies death, when the State College Police and the State College Borough Council enacted few reforms proposed by upset community members, Anya said she was disappointed, but not surprised. And when George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were added to the long list of Black people killed by police in the United States, Anya was still not surprised. As Black Lives Matter protests continue across the nation, many members of the 3/20 Coalition an organization formed in the wake of Osagies death are glad that the movement has garnered such widespread support. Recent protests have made clear what activists have argued for years: that police killings are the products of systemic racism rather than individual bigotry, according to Anya. Terry Watson whose organization, Strategies for Justice, works with the 3/20 Coalition said the protests are a response to generational trauma of racist violence and murders throughout history. In response to renewed national interest in police reform, lawmakers across the country have been voicing support and sometimes taking action to facilitate change. On Wednesday, the State College Borough Council created a community oversight board. Additionally, both the State College Police and the Penn State Police will be reviewing their policies regarding race and use of force. Penn State created a task force that will deal with issues of race and equity, and plans to review its Student Code of Conduct. University administrators have expressed a willingness to start requiring diversity training for faculty, as well. The 3/20 Coalition has held three protests since Floyds death. According to Leslie Laing, a local activist and member of the 3/20 Coalition, all three have drawn larger crowds than any of the coalitions past protests. RELATED Laing said that so far, the protests have been impactful and amplified the need for community oversight of police, which the borough council addressed last week when it passed a resolution aimed at increasing accountability and diversity in local law enforcement. Still, Watson worried that the protests window of efficacy might not last much longer. Im optimistic, but Im also somewhat hesitant to say that this type of energy will sustain, Watson said. Celeste Good, a member of the 3/20 Coalition and the former president of Penn States Queer and Trans People of Color organization, expressed skepticism that the protests would lead to change because the fate of many reforms demanded by protesters is now in the hands of the police. Based on the past year alone, some State College activists feel they have reason to be cynical, witnessing what Laing describes as a pattern of inaction. The delay tactics are exhausting. The research exists, best practices are explored, and yet they avoid implementation, Laing said via email. Legislatures often assemble task forces that provide lists of recommendations, but seldom does anyone follow through on more than one recommendation from the groups theyve assembled, according to Laing. Anya said inaction is driven by a lack of public interest in meaningful changes, which she said may be due to the political and demographic makeup of the Centre County region. The majority of people who live in this region believe everything is just fine, Anya said. They call it Happy Valley because theyre happy. A possible solution to inaction, according to Watson, would be a new policy mandating that legislatures set a timeline for when they will implement the results of any task force. In addition to protesting, Laing said anyone whos interested in reform should pressure lawmakers personally. Community members can submit written statements and read them during council meetings, or gather people to visit lawmakers offices and demand a reply. You have to be willing to follow up at events [lawmakers] will be attending or create events for them to attend to hold them accountable, Laing said. In terms of actual reforms, activists had varied preferences. Anya and Good both voiced support for defunding the police, a proposal that recently entered mainstream debate. Anya said she doesnt find most proposed reforms adequate when considering the entrenched problems in policing, and many changes that are theoretically effective, like anti-bias training, are ultimately unhelpful. The police that are out there doing all this damage, and harming entire communities and murdering individuals, they routinely go through anti-bias training and diversity workshops, et cetera, Anya said. Were seeing the results of that, and there are no results. In contrast, Laing said defunding the police is not one of her priorities. She would prefer to dismantle [police] union[s], reform policy, protocols and to implement a Community Oversight Board. Watson views police funding as a form of leverage legislators could pass a police reform law, and if the police department violates it, their funding will be cut. MORE BOROUGH COVERAGE Watson also voiced support for Cariols Law, a bill he helped write that is currently in the New York state legislature. The law mandates that officers intervene if they witness other officers committing acts of brutality or misconduct. It also protects officers who intervene from retaliation. The intersection between mental health and policing can play a role in officer-involved shootings and deaths, including Osagies death. Watson said this intersection has to be discussed more. This is all personal to me, Watson said. I have a child whos very similar [to Osagie]. Watson's organization, Strategies for Justice, trains police officers on issues of race, mental illness and neurodiversity. According to Watson, the culture in policing does not interact well with folks on the [autism] spectrum. Although symptoms of autism spectrum disorder vary widely from person to person, Watson said many common traits of autistic people like sensitivity to sound and light are in conflict with common police tactics. Laing said State College should assemble a specialized team to handle mental health warrants. The 3/20 Coalition is also pushing for the local government to address recommendations for increasing the number of beds open at Mount Nittany Hospital and The Meadows Psychiatric Center. However, Anya said policing is not the only area of law enforcement that mishandles cases of mental illness. We also use prisons and jails as a place to store the mentally ill because we have depleted the funds or defunded services for them, Anya said. Additionally, Anya and Watson both said the difficulties that Black women face are often overlooked during discussions of racism. We talk about the terror that police represent and actively impose on the lives of Black men, Anya said. We too often ignore the fact that they kill Black women, too. Even more often overlooked, Watson said, is the violence inflicted on women within police forces. Part of Strategies for Justices work is talking with police officers who have been the victims of violence from other officers. The most egregious stories, the most heart-wrenching stories have come from my female police officers, Watson said. Watson said police unions often side with the perpetrator over the officer that has been assaulted, but hopes police reforms address intra-police violence. At Penn State, some activists have called for the university to reconsider its relationships with local police or cut ties with the State College and Penn State Police Departments. Good said that because the State College Police Department has not released the names of the officers involved in Osagies death, Black students have no way of knowing whether any officer they interact with is the one who shot Osagie. Good said the fact that the university continues to partner with the department feels like a betrayal to these students. Watson and Laing said Penn State should exert its influence over the SCPD to push for reforms. If the department does not make adequate changes, then the university should cut ties, Watson said. However, Anya said she opposes the universitys relationship with both the State College Police and Penn State Police, considering the fact that she said Black students and faculty have had negative experiences at the hands of the police. RELATED For students and community members who are new to activism surrounding race and criminal justice, activists stressed the importance of persistence. Activism takes many forms, and when you do it, its tiring, Good said. Its hard work, its long hours, its dedicating yourself fully to it. Laing recommended finding strength in numbers, and Good said Penn State is a good place to find them, especially at the Paul Robeson Cultural Center. For white people supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, Anya said to be mindful of whether they are centering their feelings of guilt or shock rather than focusing on racial injustice. Activists calls for action are far older than the current movement, Anya said, and some are non-negotiable. Black lives matter is not a question. Black lives matter is not a suggestion. Black lives matter is not a maybe. No. Black lives matter, period, Anya said. Black lives matter, all Black lives matter, and were not asking you to argue about it, or give us other suggestions were not asking you for permission to exist. A Penn State student started a petition to adjust the fall 2020 semester tuition rate in light of some courses being moved to a virtual format. Rising sophomore Madison Borkovich said she and some members of the community started the petition, according to a post she made in several of the university class Facebook groups. In the post, Borkovich attached a letter addressed to President Eric Barron, executive vice president and provost Nicholas Jones, vice president for student affairs Damon Sims, vice president for human resources Lorraine Goffe, associate professor of biology Matthew Ferrari, and all other university leadership. The letter said that with several classes being moved online in the coming semester due to the coronavirus pandemic, students will be missing out on several aspects of the on-campus educational experience. RELATED Penn State enrollment experiences slight increase for summer and fall 2020 semesters Penn State undergraduate enrollment is up 0.4% for the summer and fall 2020 semesters, accor Because of this, the letter said students should not have to pay the full University Park tuition rate. Instead, it said students should only have to pay the typical tuition for the portions of their classes that are taught in person. For the online portion of students courses, the letter proposed the World Campus tuition be applied. The letter encouraged Penn State leadership to consider the suggestions and [secure] itself on the right side of what is quickly becoming unprecedented history. Ultimately, we hope that the school which has created and fostered so much pride will do what is morally and ethically right: for its students, for its reputation, for its history and for its legacy, the letter said. Borkovich said she has not yet sent the letter and petition to Penn State leadership, but that she hopes the recipients do not "view their efforts in a negative light." "Once the documents are sent to appropriate leadership, we sincerely hope that university personnel will be open to dialogue, discussion and further compromise, as students also have sacrificed for the good of others and continue to do so," Borkovich said. As of Friday, the petition has obtained 540 signatures. Penn State President Eric Barron held a virtual town hall at 3 p.m. on Monday to discuss racism and bias at the university and to address the future actions detailed in an email he sent on June 10. Accompanying Barron for the town hall were three members of the Select Penn State Presidential Commission on Racism, Bias and Community Safety Dean in the Dickinson College of Law Danielle Conway, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Clarence Lang and chair of the University Faculty Senate Elizabeth Seymour. Vice provost for educational equity Marcus Whitehurst and Penn State Board of Trustees member Brandon Short also joined the meeting to discuss student inequalities and the steps that should be taken to eliminate systemic racism at the university. Barron began the town hall by announcing a $50,000 endowment to the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship in Educational Equity and an additional $50,000 to the Osaze Osagie Memorial Scholarship for Educational Equity. The university will also match funds for diversity and equity scholarships, promising $10 million as an incentive to donors. After each individual on the call discussed their involvement in Penn State's pursuit of racial equity, Barron asked them to describe what needs to be done in order to reach university goals. RELATED Penn State faculty members express concerns regarding universitys fall reopening plan On June 14, Penn State announced that students will return to in-person instruction in the f Lang said he believes disrupting the idea of tradition and thinking creatively are important to discovering how Penn State can be made a more equal, inclusive and diverse institution. Conway said the university needs to invest in systemic anti-racism to reverse racial inequality. Seymour highlighted actions she and the University Faculty Senate have been working on in recent weeks, including rethinking the way teaching is assessed at Penn State, considering diversity training for faculty, reviewing policies regarding social and racial justice, redefining current curricular requirements for racial justice and supporting the student code of conduct task force. Seymour added that the senate will look into each of the issues students, faculty and staff have faced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Short said the Board of Trustees is working to restructure its organization and its bylaws to create a committee that will address issues of diversity and inclusion on a long-term basis at the university level. Another goal of the board is to diversify both its membership and the Penn State student population. Short said the board has debated setting a quota of diverse staff for itself, as well as a date by which the percentage would be achieved. Whitehurst said that he, in collaboration with the Penn State Alumni Association, will be hosting a three-part virtual roundtable entitled Toward Racial Equity at Penn State: Social Difference, Social Equity and Social Change. RELATED Virtual town hall event to address race, bias, diversity and fighting intolerance Penn State President Eric Barron announced Friday that a virtual town hall event on race, bi The first roundtable will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday at https://www.watch.psu.edu/toward-racial-equity/. The other two installments will take place at 6 p.m. on September 8 and November 5 of this year. Barron ended the town hall by encouraging all members of the Penn State community to speak out about racial equity and share any suggestions for future action with the Select Commission. The Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC Board of Directors released positions on potential November ballot questions on Tuesday, opposing raising taxes, the national popular vote and expanded paid leave, while supporting a repeal of the Gallagher amendment. Here are the official positions. Proponents talk taxing the rich to balance the budget Proponents of cutting taxes for most Coloradans and raising them for richer ones talked abou Initiative 271, tax hikes of high earners: oppose "Colorados flat tax helps attract high earners and good-paying jobs that have helped our states economy thrive. Tax structures are intended to incentive and de-incentivize certain behaviors; therefore, raising income taxes will affect that economic activity. In addition, many small business owners are on the cusp of the $250,000 joint filing threshold, and depending on how profitable they are in a given year, could get hit with a much higher tax bill, providing a disincentive to grow." National Popular Vote supporters launch campaign to keep Colorado law on books A statewide coalition of progressive and civic organizations are rolling out a campaign to urge voters to reject a ballot measure that would prevent the law from taking effect. National popular vote: oppose "The Electoral College ensures that less populous states still have influence over who becomes president, because candidates compete for swing voters in battleground states. Joining the Compact will mean candidates will bypass Colorado when campaigning and ignore the states issues and concerns, diminishing our ability to secure our fair share of federal funding and our influence on important federal policy debates. The Compact is being funded by out-of-state interests, particularly a handful of California billionaires, for a simple reason: it benefits large urban centers in California and New York." Paid leave ballot measure kicks off, backed by dark money groups Backed by $1.7 million in dark money contributions, the effort to put a paid family leave measure on the November ballot kicked off its petition drive on Monday. Initiative 283, Paid family and medical leave: oppose We will continue our long-standing opposition to this mandated, ill-defined and expensive approach, consistent with our legislative agenda. The Chamber & EDC has long supported an alternative approach that provides incentives and flexibility to provide employers the options they need to create competitive benefits packages. Gallagher repeal heads to the November ballot The General Assembly has approved a measure that will ask voters in November to repeal the 1982 Gallagher amendment. Repeal the Gallagher amendment: support "The Gallagher amendment places a disproportionate burden on businesses and commercial property owners to pick up the states property tax bill. As home values have risen so rapidly in recent decades, the state has had to ratchet down the assessment rate to maintain that ratio. That has hurt communities that rely more on residential property taxes for schools, and forced the state to backfill the cost of public education, reducing funds in the state budget available for other priorities. The Gallagher amendment was passed in 1982 under very different conditions in our state. Its time to update our property tax structure to reflect current conditions." Kathy Boe, who chairs the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC, citing the effects of the global pandemic that have the business community reeling. As a state, we need to ensure that policies we pass at the ballot box will give our businesses and workers the best shot at getting back to work and recovering, protecting our states competitiveness as a great place to make a living, Boe said in a statement Tuesday. Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. Columbia, MO (65201) Today Showers early, then cloudy in the afternoon. Cooler. High 74F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 52F. NNE winds shifting to SSW at 10 to 15 mph. With Illinois in phase four of coronavirus regulations, Sunrise Beach in north suburban Lake Bluff is among the many Illinois beaches and pools now open, with capacity and social distancing restrictions, after being shuttered because of the pandemic. While suburban beaches have opened, Chicagos iconic beaches remain officially closed. But closed has often been more of an idea than an ironclad rule recently, especially with the sultry summer weather during the final days of June. 06/30/2020 Photo (c) martin-dm - Getty Images 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 06/30/2020 Photo (c) MaryaV - Getty Images A new study conducted by researchers from the University of California Davis explored the risks associated with raw milk, which is typically sold to consumers on the idea that it has better health properties than pasteurized milk. According to the researchers, properly storing raw milk is crucial. When left out of the refrigerator, raw milk can develop antimicrobial-resistant genes. These genes dont respond to traditional antibiotic treatment and could potentially develop into a superbug. Two things surprised us, said researcher Jinxin Liu. We didnt find large quantities of beneficial bacteria in the raw milk samples, and if you leave raw milk at room temperature, it creates dramatically antimicrobial-resistant genes than pasteurized milk. We dont want to scare people, we want to educate them, Liu continued. If you want to keep drinking raw milk, keep it in your refrigerator to minimize the risk of it developing bacteria with antibiotic-resistant genes. Eliminating the raw milk risk To understand the risk that raw milk poses to consumers, the researchers analyzed over 2,000 raw milk samples. The samples hailed from five states and were all products that consumers could buy on store shelves. The researchers left the samples in a room-temperature environment and compared the results with more traditional-style milk that is pasteurized. Ultimately, when left outside the refrigerator, raw milk developed antibiotic-resistant bacteria much faster than pasteurized milk and in much higher quantities. The researchers say that bacteria are able to flourish in raw milk because of the subtraction of the pasteurization process, especially when not chilled properly. When raw milk curdles, it creates a yogurt-like substance known as clabber. Ingesting raw milk at warmer temperatures is particularly dangerous because antibiotic-resistant bacteria can multiply over time. You could just be flooding your gastrointestinal tract with these genes, said researcher David Mills. We dont live in an antibiotic-free world anymore. These genes are everywhere, and we need to do everything we can to stop that flow into our bodies. Our study shows that with any temperature abuse in raw milk, whether intentional or not, it can grow these bacteria with antimicrobial resistant genes, said researcher Michele Jay-Russell. Its not just going to spoil. Its really high risk if not handled correctly. 06/30/2020 Photo (c) borchee - Getty Images The clock is ticking fast for Americans who want to fly to Europe. Effective Wednesday, the European Union (EU) is closing its borders to all U.S.-based travelers. The EU has decided that the U.S. is being a little too freewheeling when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it established a new policy to protect the people within its borders. The U.S. isnt the only country being kept out. Both Russian and Brazilian citizens are also on the do-not-enter list. Whos in and whos out? The safe list of 15 nations that EU countries have signed off on includes Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. The Union says it will also let in travelers from China if the country offers the same in return. One little wrinkle in the policy is that the EU will take into account a travelers country of residence -- not of citizenship. That means if a citizen of Spain happens to be living in Chicago, theyll be treated the same as anyone else living in the United States. However, there are some marked exceptions. They include anyone from a country outside the safe list who meets one of the following descriptions: Asylum seeker Diplomat Foreign worker whose employment in Europe qualifies as essential Health care worker Humanitarian worker Someone traveling for imperative family reasons Students The EU said that its list is not etched in stone and that its list of countries will be reviewed every two weeks. Travel restrictions may be totally or partially lifted or reintroduced for a specific third country already listed according to changes in some of the conditions and, as a consequence, in the assessment of the epidemiological situation, the EU said in a news release. If the situation in a listed third country worsens quickly, rapid decision-making should be applied. Potential economic impact The move is a rather delicate dance for the EU. Since the coronavirus took over everyones life, it created a can of worms for the coalition of countries. In normal times, its 27 member states are free to travel and trade, much like we can go state-to-state in the U.S. But, as the pandemic started crossing borders within the bloc, individual countries created policies of their own which didnt always jive with the policies other members were creating. The EU made it clear it wants to get back to that same level of reciprocity it enjoyed prior to the outbreak. Meanwhile, U.S. officials have voiced their extreme disappointment with the EUs decision. Tori Emerson Barnes, the U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Policy, said that the travel ban will likely result in a stalled economic recovery. "The E.U.'s announcement is incredibly disappointing, and a step in the wrong direction as we seek to rebuild our global economy, she said. "In the U.S. alone, travel-related jobs account for more than a third of lost employment due to the fallout of the pandemic. Health is paramount, and the public has a major role to play by embracing best practices such as wearing masks, but we are at a stage when it should be possible to make progress. "This is unwelcome news, and will have major negative implications for an economic recovery -- particularly if this ban results in cycles of retaliation, as is so often the case, Barnes concluded. 06/30/2020 Photo (c) wildpixel - Getty Images A pair of U.S. senators are calling for an investigation of five states that ordered nursing homes to accept patients who had recently tested positive for COVID-19 and been discharged from hospitals. In a letter to Christi Grimm, Principal Deputy Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Republican senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Greg Walden of Oregon said they were concerned that a number of states are pressuring nursing facilities to admit residents who may be infected with the COVID-19 virus. With over 50,000 deaths in nursing homes now linked to COVID-19, such facilities remain hotspots for the coronavirus, the senators wrote. One in five nursing homes have reported COVID-19 cases and at least a third of all deaths attributable to the coronavirus have occurred in long-term care facilities. Nursing home spread Grassley and Walden added that the data suggests deaths in nursing homes could be responsible for more than half of all COVID-19 fatalities in more than a dozen states. The senators said they were seeking to determine if a handful of states violated federal health care guidelines and regulations in choosing to admit the patients. The senators said the governors of five states -- New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, and Michigan -- cleared nursing homes to accept patients with active COVID-19 infections who were being discharged from hospitals. These state directives were issued as the COVID-19 fatality rate in nursing homes soared. In Pennsylvania, which reportedly has the seventh-highest death rate for residents of these facilities,12 69 percent of the states COVID-19 fatalities are now attributable to nursing and personal care homes, the letter said. Similarly, in New Jersey, the rate was roughly 52 percent as of last month; 14 in New York, at least 6,000 deaths are attributable to nursing homes; and in Michigan, where the governors directive has yet to be rescinded, 34 percent of COVID-19 deaths reportedly are linked to nursing homes. Investigation requested The governors orders for nursing homes to accept individuals who recently tested positive for COVID-19 were originally issued to keep hospitals from being overrun with COVID-19 patients. However, the senators said in their letter that hospital overcrowding may not have been the sole factor in the decision. It appears that at least one governor reportedly reinforced this requirement well after the period in which COVID-19 cases at hospitals peakedsuggesting that its imposition on nursing homes was not entirely due to hospital overcrowding. Amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections that could crop up this fall, the senators are calling on the Inspector General to complete an investigation into the matter by September 30. We request that the Office of Inspector General initiate an investigation into whether the decision by these states to pressure nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients from hospitals violated, or was in any way inconsistent with, guidelines or requirements for participation in Federal health care programs. 06/30/2020 Photo source: Lippert Lippert Components (LCI) is recalling 15,758 3000 Series Frameless windows sold for installation into recreational vehicles. The adhesive bond between the glass and the metal hinge frame of the frameless crank out vent windows may fail which could then allow the glass to detach and fall out. If the window glass detaches while the vehicle is moving it could become a projectile, increasing the risk of injury or a crash. What to do LCI will notify the affected RV manufacturers whose dealers will inspect the frameless windows for proper adhesive bond strength, replacing the windows -- as necessary -- free of charge. LCI did not provide a manufacturer notification schedule. Owners may contact LCI customer service at (574) 537-8900 or by email at customerservice@lci1.com. LCI's number for this recall is 228-01-2020. Spyker then called Haran over and after a brief discussion ordered him to arrest Lee, an eight-year CTA employee with no criminal history or disciplinary record with the transit agency. She stood handcuffed on the platform for the next eight minutes, with tears running down her face as she wondered if her decision to speak out had just cost her job. Corsicana, TX (75110) Today Cloudy early, then thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 92F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 67F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Then, said ANROEV, LG promoted a Following this, said ANROEV, it tried to stop disbursement of an interim fine of of Rs 50 crore (~US$6.6 million, ~8.1 billion) for compensation and restoration, even as not responding to to questions from a state investigative committee more than a month after the tragedy.Then, said ANROEV, LG promoted a photo in Korean media and claimed that it displayed their hotline to address community concerns over the tragedy. Actually, the photo is not of a hotline operation, but ironically a National Green Tribunal investigation of LG. A local resident who called the claimed LG hotline phone numbers numerous times noted that no one answered. ANROEV added, LG South Korean LG Chem personnel were essentially invisible in the affected community and did not resolve any key community issues Not just this, LG also claimed in Korean media to be disbursing food to local residents. However, the State government already was distributing food to migrant workers struggling with the Covid-19 lockdown. Community residents received food from the State-managed food supply, not LG.ANROEV added, LG claimed that Suraksha Hospital would take care of all residents health check-ups and future treatment. However, the experience of community residents is that while the first visit was free, all subsequent treatment for LGs styrene gas release had to be paid by the victims. Asking LG to act more like a responsible corporate leader, ANROEV said, Absolute liability should be applied to both LG Chemical and LG Polymers, including accountability for deaths, injuries, crop damage, and environmental pollution, among others. Long-term health surveillance and support should be provided to the community and be paid for by the company. Insisting nsisted on a thorough and impartial investigation of the tragedy and civil society and victims representatives should be part of the investigation and any settlement with the company, the statement said, this is particularly necessary in view of the fact that LG Polymers uses styrene to make polystyrene plastic components for LG appliances sold in India, a chemical which is a probable human Styrene is In summary, contended ANROEV, Korean LG personnel were essentially invisible in the affected community and did not resolve any key community issues. LGs Korean personnel did not declare long-term measures to monitor the environmental and health impacts of their companys pollution. Instead, they ran away from the country on a chartered flight as government investigations started closing in.Asking LG to act more like a responsible corporate leader, ANROEV said, Absolute liability should be applied to both LG Chemical and LG Polymers, including accountability for deaths, injuries, crop damage, and environmental pollution, among others. Long-term health surveillance and support should be provided to the community and be paid for by the company.Insisting nsisted on a thorough and impartial investigation of the tragedy and civil society and victims representatives should be part of the investigation and any settlement with the company, the statement said, this is particularly necessary in view of the fact that LG Polymers uses styrene to make polystyrene plastic components for LG appliances sold in India, a chemical which is a probable human carcinogen , crosses the placenta and has a variety of harmful effects.Styrene is explosive and must be stored at low temperatures. However, LG failed to maintain the storage temperature below 20C during a Covid-19 lockdown period, leading to the harmful release, it added. Providing details of how LG has behaved following the deadly styrene leak, which led to the death of 13 persons and injury to up to 400 people on May 7, ANROEV said, the company hired the former Attorney General of India to petition the Supreme Court in an effort to remove the National Green Tribunal from investigating the tragedy. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Community News Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Ethiopia have always collaborated with and supported each other. While the Chinese government took active actions providing medical and financial support for Ethiopia and sending medical teams to carry out experience exchange and deeper cooperation, Chinese enterprises also did their best to support the local people to combat the virus. Chinese enterprises in Ethiopia not only actively donated medical and financial supplies, but also responded to the Ethiopian governments call, helping to deploy materials in Ethiopia, strengthening the ties between the two countries through concerted efforts. By June 2, there had been 1,344 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in Ethiopia, among which Addis Ababa, the capital city, accounted for more than 70%. The Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia called on Chinese enterprises in Ethiopia to actively donate medical materials to the Addis Ababa municipal government. CCECC actively implemented the requirements of the Embassy and made donations in various forms, winning broad acclaims from local communities. CCECC participated in the donation of medical supplies and financial support along with other Chinese enterprises in Ethiopia for the municipal government of Addis Ababa on June 2. The ceremony was organized by the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, during which the ambassador introduced more detailed information of this donation, and outlined Chinas measures to help Ethiopia fight the pandemic, stressing that global and regional cooperation is essential in the face of the sudden epidemic. Mayor Takele Uma Banti expressed his gratitude to the Chinese government, Chinese people and Chinese enterprises, saying that the donated materials would be preferentially distributed to medical personnel, public officials and police officers fighting on the front line. He also mentioned that the support was very important to Addis Ababa, with which he was full of confidence in overcoming the pandemic. He called on all sectors to take active actions and continue to support Ethiopia in combating the virus. [ Editor: WXY ] The Manichean logic of Trumps campaign message is that the Democrats are so terrible that patriotic Americans must vote Republican regardless of their qualms about the GOP candidate. A Republican Party that believed this was true but also cared about its long-term viability would recognize that this argument would work just as well for a Pence 2020 candidacy. But for a Republican Party that is merely a pliant vessel for the loudest bloc of its customer base at any given moment, such thinking is unthinkable. When Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, was asked how much he would benefit from his world-changing invention, he looked quizzically at his interviewer and answered: "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" At that moment, as the good doctor rejected an estimated $7 billion in potential profit, Salk set a benchmark for the entire pharmaceutical industry to always put human lives above profit, to not perceive pandemics as an opportunity for perverse profit but to provide a public good. And that is a tradition, as we see today, that Big Pharma managed to uphold for exactly zero seconds after Salk stopped speaking. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Gilead Sciences, a Biblical name most associated with the evil dystopian cabal in The Handmaid's Tale, will start selling the first approved COVID-19 drug treatment, the antiviral remdesivir, in July. Taken six times over five days, remdesivir has the chance to cut the infected's recovery time by several days, reducing both suffering and precious hospital bed occupation. And Gilead plans to make the treatment available across the world as quickly as possible -- starting November, as they made a backroom deal with the Trump government to give America dibs on the first 500,000 courses in return for getting to establish a non-negotiable price point. Johnsons gone now. This is less about his embarrassing exit than the culture of governance in Chicago. There should be no closing the books on this incident until the facts are out and all decisions about repercussions are justified in the light of day. The mayor should release the IG report because the public has a right to know what happened, who acted appropriately, and who didnt. To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Please click here to learn how. Crossville, TN (38555) Today Partly cloudy this morning with thunderstorms becoming likely this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 58F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. The Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri is trying to protect a statue of King Louis IX of France as protesters call for its removal. The statue, which stands in front of the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park, Missouri, depicts King Louis IX riding a horse. The history of the statue of St. Louis, the King is one founded in piety and reverence before God, and for non-believers, respect for ones neighbor, the archdiocese said in a statement on Sunday, the Christian Post reports. The reforms that St. Louis implemented in French government focused on impartial justice, protecting the rights of his subjects, steep penalties for royal officials abusing power, and a series of initiatives to help the poor. Protestors, however, say the statue should be taken down because of the kings history of persecuting Jews. Demonstrators have started a change.org petition asking for the statues removal and calling for the city to change its name from St. Louis. In 2017 St. Louis removed the Confederate Monument in Forest Park after protests. In 2020 the statue of Christopher Columbus was removed from Tower Grove Park. It is now time for St. Louis to take the bold step to remove the statue of King Louis IX from Forest Park and rename the city, the petition says. For those unfamiliar with King Louis IX, he was a rabid anti-semite who spearheaded many persecutions against the Jewish people. Centuries later Nazi Germany gained inspiration and ideas from Louis IX as they embarked on a campaign of murderous genocide against the Jewish people. Louis IX was also vehemently Islamophobic and led a murderous crusade against Muslims which ultimately cost him his life. During his reign, Louis IX ordered the destruction of 12,000 manuscript copies of the Talmud and other Jewish books. The Catholic archdiocese in St. Louis, however, says St. Louis was a saint who loved and obeyed God and worked to help the poor. Louis IX is the only king of France to be canonized in the Catholic Church. According to the statement from the St. Louis Archdiocese, [Louis IXs] daily suppers were shared with numerous beggars, whom he invited to the royal table. On many evenings, he would not let them leave before he washed their feet. He personally paid to feed more than 100 poor Parisians every day. His care for the sick was equally moving; St. Louis frequently ministered to lepers. He also created a number of hospitals, including one for the blind and another for ex-prostitutes. For Catholics, St. Louis is an example of an imperfect man who strived to live a life modeled after the life of Jesus Christ. For St. Louisans, he is a model for how we should care for our fellow citizen, and a namesake with whom we should be proud to identify. Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Lawrence Thornton/Staff Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner. Despite having pointed to July 1 as his initial target date to begin the annexation of the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated on Tuesday that the move would be delayed. According to the Associated Press, on Tuesday, after speaking with White House envoy Avi Berkowitz and the U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Netanyahu noted that discussions with the United States about the controversial annexation plan would continue in the days ahead. I spoke about the question of sovereignty, which we are working on these days and we will continue to work on in the coming days, Netanyahu said. The annexation, which is a part of President Donald Trumps Middle East peace plan, or the Peace to Prosperity plan, has been met with widespread criticism on the international stage. Among the plans critics are the United Nations secretary-general, the European Union and several Arab countries. Many of these same entities believe that Israels annexation of the West Bank a highly disputed area between Palestine and Israel would violate international law and hinder Palestines ability to become a viable independent state. As Christian Headlines previously reported, Trumps plan calls for an independent Palestinian state and declares Israel as sovereign over the West Bank settlements. Also under the plan, Jerusalem would remain Israels capital. After the plan was revealed in January, Palestines President Mahmoud Abbas called it a conspiracy. "I say to Trump and Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass, Abbas said in a TV interview. Despite opposition from the Palestinians, the Associated Press reports that Netanyahu who is a close ally to President Trump has been eager to redraw the map before the U.S. presidential election in November. Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Amir Levy/Stringer Kayla Koslosky has been the Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com since 2018. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket newspaper. She has written on her blog since 2012 and has also contributed to IBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com. What will the district do when a child tests positive for the coronavirus? Its not enough to quarantine the student CPS will need to make sure a contact tracing system is in place to track down that students recent contacts. The district can turn to the city and Illinois, which have begun forging contact tracing programs, and should inform students and parents about what contact tracing protocols to expect this fall. Australia is shifting to a more aggressive cyber security stance, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison making the governments largest-ever investment in cyber security in the form of a $1.4 billion package that includes measures explicitly designed to proactively target offshore cyber criminal actors. The newly announced Cyber Enhanced Situational Awareness and Response (CESAR) package has been formulated to boost protection and cyber resilience for all Australians, from individuals and small businesses through to the providers of critical services, the government said in releasing details of its ten-year plan. [ Keep up on the latest thought leadership, insights, how-to, and analysis on IT through CSO Onlines newsletters. ] How the $1.4 billion in cyber security funds will be spent The CESAR plan includes more than $31 million to help the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD)the governments military-intelligence and surveillance agencydisrupt cyber crime offshore, Morrison said, taking the fight to foreign criminals that seek to target Australians and supporting cyber crime efforts at all levels of government. It will also spend $35 million developing a new threat-sharing platformdesigned to facilitate the near real time sharing of information about emerging threats between industry and government. Last weekend my wife and I decided we had to get out of Dodge for 24 hours, so we took a little road trip, crossing state lines for the first time since last January, when life was normal. In doing so last Friday afternoon, we violated a new Massachusetts state law. When we returned to Connecticut we broke another law. (More on that one later.) I dont believe we were being reckless in terms of the coronavirus. We booked a room in a clean hotel in Northampton, Mass., we didnt socialize with anybody, we wore our masks outside and practiced social distancing. We had agreed that it certainly would have been risky if we had accepted the invitation from my cousin and his wife to spend the weekend with them in a house on Marthas Vineyard. Actually, we had been so stay-at-home antsy and excited about the idea that initially we said: Thanks! Well be there! But within a few days, after talking it over, we backed out. We simply didnt know enough about the safety logistics of the ferry ride, getting to the house and the protocols in place on that island. It hurt, but we canceled. Northampton became plan B. We have visited that pleasant town for many years and have always enjoyed it up there in the Berkshires. Of course we were aware of new restrictions about out-of-state travel imposed by our Gov. Ned Lamont, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy for anyone coming in to those three states from states with rising COVID-19 infection rates. We figured that since were Connecticut residents we were on solid legal ground going to Massachusetts. Well, no, technically we were scofflaws . Shortly before we left for our overnight stay, I read this announcement out of our neighboring state: Beginning March 27, all travelers arriving in Massachusetts are instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days. What?! Are they serious? How do they plan to enforce that one? New Hampshire state officials have gone even further; if you check in at a hotel there, you must sign a document stating you have completed a two-week quarantine. When we two outlaws arrived at our hotel in Northampton we were handed no such compliance form. The folks behind the desk were delighted to see us. I noticed there was nobody else in the lobby and so I asked how many guests they were expecting that night. The answer: 12. The capacity of the hotel: 107. Northampton (population circa 30,000) is akin to being a sister city to New Haven. Both are college towns (Northampton has Smith College, still all female); both have a nice assortment of bookstores, coffee shops and (in non-COVID times) thriving bars and restaurants. Both have a downtown farmers market and a small but dedicated group of peace demonstrators near a church. Both New Haven and Northampton have a 10,000 Villages store, which is a nonprofit fair trade group selling craftwork made by disadvantaged artisans worldwide. Northampton also has a head shop, as New Haven has the Group W Bench. Northampton still has a Fitzwillys bar-restaurant, which New Haven had a couple of decades ago. Runners, bikers and walkers in Northampton enjoy what up there is called the New Haven to Northampton Trail, which is the end point of the old canal and railroad line that begins in New Haven. We call it the Farmington Canal Greenway. But theres one significant thing Northampton has that New Haven lacks, per state law: a store where you can buy recreational marijuana. As I noted in a previous column, Massachusetts law legalizing recreational (not just medical) marijuana sales gives Connecticut residents a somewhat easy way to buy such products. And as I have previously pointed out, our state legislators continued unwillingness to pass a similar law means we are losing plenty of state revenue that instead goes to Massachusetts. Heres my eyewitness report of how things are going at the NETA Northampton marijuana outlet: its booming, as always. Last Friday afternoon a steady stream of customers, all having placed their orders ahead of time, lined up outside, six feet apart, waiting to be called inside and pick up their choices. (No browsing allowed in this time of the virus.) The operation is very well-run. If we ever wake up and legalize in Connecticut, those Nutmeggers preparing to set up shop should head north and see how its done. As for the rest of Northampton last weekend, it was pretty quiet, the way all towns and cities are quiet these days. It wasnt like living in a ghost town as the Rolling Stones sing it, but it was like living in a ghost hotel. One of our favorite restaurants is closed on account of the virus but we found a Japanese eatery where we could sit outside and not be required to wear masks. Our waitress of course kept hers on. We also happily browsed at Raven Used Books after applying the mandatory hand sanitizer at the door and obeying the rule to keep our masks on. It was nice to be browsing in a bookstore again. But when I embarked on my morning run Saturday just after 7 a.m. on that wonderful New Haven to Northampton Trail, I was surprised to come upon a sign midway announcing: Face coverings must be worn. Violators are subject to a fine of up to $300; its now a town law. But few, if any, of the other runners and bikers were wearing masks. Nor was I, as I had figured there would be little traffic so early in the day. (I have not seen such signs on our portion of the greenway.) Well, theres another law I broke! And yes, when we drove across the state line, coming back into Connecticut, a small portion of our cargo was illegal. Just shoot me; throw me in jail. Look: like virtually everybody else, were basically going nowhere this summer. We have zero travel plans. Were sure not flying to California to see our daughters and theyre sure as hell not flying to Connecticut to see their mom and dad. A little ol road trip is all weve got left to us. Contact Randall Beach at 203-865-8139 or randall.beach@hearstmediact.com. BRIDGEPORT Boston Avenue is closed to eastbound traffic after a car crashed into a pole Monday night, according to police. The crash happened around 8:50 p.m. near the intersection of Boston Avenue and Helen Street. WESTPORT Board of Education member Vik Muktavaram announced his resignation from the board at its meeting on Thursday. Its been an honor to serve, Muktavaram said. Im going to miss the Monday nights and everything about the board of education, the people, the work and most importantly, our students. Muktavaram, a Republican, had served four and a half years. He was appointed to the BOE in 2016 to fill the seat vacated by Paul Block and later won his seat in last years election. In an email to the Westport News, Muktavaram said, Unfortunately, due to increasing work commitments and the possibility of travel (when it is safe to do so), I decided to step down from the Board. It has been a privilege to have served on the Board of Education. I have enjoyed the work and while there have been crises and challenges, it was always gratifying knowing that everyone cared and worked toward a common goal. Muktavaram, born and raised in India, came to the United States in 1994 to pursue a masters degree in computer science from Oklahoma State University and in 2004 received an MBA from the Columbia University Business School. He moved to Westport with his family in 2009. He said some of his prouder moments have been meeting with people inside the school buildings. Oftentimes, my perspectives evolved and changed based on those conversations, Muktavram said. Sometimes its led me to change my propositions drastically. Board members lauded him for his work, saying they would miss his presence at meetings. Im very sad and disappointed personally to see you go, BOE member Elaine Whitney said. Im going to miss you terribly. She said she valued Muktavarams willingness to listen, ability to creatively look at the long term, his analytic strength and his focus on the districts kids. You have been someone I really valued for many years to help work through these tough issues, she said. You have been a huge resource and help to that. BOE member Karen Kleine said Muktavaram left his mark on the school board. Its going to be tough to fill your shoes, she said. Thanks for everything you do. There was always no question that you put the students first. School administrators also echoed the sentiments. I enjoyed working with you over the last two years, Anthony Buono, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, said. I think your insight and your contribution to the board will be missed. John Bayers, human resources director, also highlighted Muktavarams passion for the employees. I want people to know that about you, he said. You were really thoughtful about supporting the whole operation. Whitney said the school board will have 45 days to consider another Republican in town to replace Muktavaram. The deadline for applications is July 10 at 5 p.m. Our plan is to make an appointment on or about Aug. 10 of this year, Whitney said. dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com Consider the Pennsylvania statue to the Whiskey Rebellion. They were rebels and their cause, we can legitimately argue, led to changes to which our current values ascribe. But statues that celebrate traitors to the United States, whose actions led to the deaths of half a million Americans for the primary purpose of protecting the enslavement of other human beings those statues fail the two-question test. The story is largely inaccurate (the false states rights narrative), and to the extent that it is accurate, it doesnt deserve to be celebrated in the United States. Thus every statue honoring a Confederate leader that is there due to their efforts in support of the Confederacy should come down. And most likely every street, town, county and U.S. military base named after those traitors should be changed as well. WESTPORT After a year of pressure to create a Civilian Review Panel to oversee the police department, the town has now formed one. The panel will work closely with members of the police, fire and EMS departments to assist in hiring new employees and to review and provide feedback to civilian complaints, town officials said. They will seriously consider all the items before them to achieve an increasingly effective, transparent and equitable process in hiring public safety personnel and, when necessary, investigate civilian complaints, First Selectman Jim Marpe said in a statement Tuesday. Discussion about a CRP popped up back in the spring of 2019, when Westporter Jason Stiber was given a distracted driving ticket by Westport police who apparently mistook a hash brown for a cellphone. Stiber was later found not guilty. I received a motor vehicle infraction ticket issued in error that required me to defend myself in court, which got overturned, Stiber said Tuesday. In the process, I filed two complaints with the police department, the first of which was never (properly recorded) and the second did not result in any corrective action taken. Stiber said he found the process for civilian complaints to be biased and inadequate because fellow officers were the only ones to review complaints made about police. I think a civilian review panel will add transparency and will promote public confidence to the process of investigating civilian complaints, he said. It will help the police maintain public trust and improve the quality of services they provide through an unbiased review and disposition of complaints. Last year, Stiber petitioned for such a panel but was met with a mixed response from town officials. It was the numerous recent peaceful protests in Westport in response to the killing of George Floyd that had hundreds of people gather in protest against racism and police brutality, which should be ultimately credited for this change, Stiber said. TEAM Westport Chair Harold Bailey, who heads the towns diversity organization, said current events nationwide have emphasized a need to address systemic racial inequities, with a focus on policing people of color. The CRP should be an immediate, significant first step toward the comprehensive equity review/revision process for Westport public safety which should ultimately be conducted, he said. Bailey and Selectwomen Jennifer Tooker and Melissa Kane have been appointed to the CRP by Marpe. Kane said the panel will be an important step toward accountability and transparency for the towns public safety departments and personnel. I look forward to serving on the panel, and appreciate the openness with which our public safety leadership has welcomed the opportunity to review our public safety procedures, she said in a statement. When Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas was sworn in as chief of police, he said, his goal was to continue to build a foundation of public trust. Now, at a time when police departments across the country are looking introspectively at ways to better serve our communities, I believe that this is an important step in continuing to maintain complete transparency, in preserving public trust and in reassuring our residents that effective policing is truly a collaborative effort, he said. But Stiber said he was worried an appointed board of hand-picked individuals would not have true independence. Despite this, he said, the change will help to make Westport a better place. Our police department is made up of dedicated professionals who do a great job, but an organizational change in how our town government is structured was clearly needed for police accountability, he said. dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com Last week, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation denying visas for more than half a million foreigners to work in the United States for the next six months. The affected H-1B visas for high-skilled workers and issuance of green cards will prevent talented scientists and technicians from entering the country. I believe it will have lasting effects on the United States scientific and technological competitiveness. Although, I might be biased: 30 years ago I myself entered the U.S. on a H-1B visa. Since the 1980s, the worlds economic center of gravity, which is calculated using the average countrys location weighted by its GDP, has steadily shifted from America and Europe toward China. There is no world scientific center of gravity, but I believe it would also shift toward China, as they have overtaken the United States in total number of science publications. In 2000, China accounted for 5 percent of global spending on research and development, as the United States accounted for 40 percent. Just 15 years later, China was responsible for 21 percent of global research and development funding spend, with the United States spending 29 percent. Trumps proclamation is not going to help this situation. American universities consistently perform well in all global rankings of academic institutions and attract many foreign graduate students. In 2015, more than half of all computer science, engineering and mathematics graduate students were international students. Most of these students return to their native countries upon completing their graduate studies, but a significant number stay in the United States and become naturalized citizens. They are the engine of our academic research system and the talent pool that feeds our industries. And, since 2000, 37 of the 89 U.S. citizens awarded a Nobel Prize were born in another country. Most notably, all six American winners of the 2016 Nobel Prize in economics and STEM fields were immigrants. In a disturbing trend, the National Science Foundation reports that the number of international graduate students coming to the United States dropped by 22,000 (5.5 percent) in 2017. The presidents proclamation will dramatically decrease this number, which does not bode well for U.S. science. Not only do immigrants contribute to an high number of Nobel awards, but they also bring new ways of thinking to their research labs. They have studied science in different educational systems that place different emphases on rote learning, historic understanding and interdisciplinary research. They often bring an alternative and important perspective that a homogeneous scientific community cannot match. We need to attract and retain scientists from all nations, genders and creeds. According to data from the Institute of International Educations Open Door report, China is the leading source of STEM students in the U.S. Now, Chinese students feel under attack. On May 29, the U.S. government issued a Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the Peoples Republic of China. That resulted in the expulsion of thousands of Chinese STEM students. Mondays new proclamation fuels growing political tensions between the U.S. and China. It comes on the heels of a trade war, a COVID-19 blame game and a crackdown on foreign scientists (mainly Chinese) that has led to a great amount of unease among Chinese American scientists. This clampdown on Chinese scientists has included a government-instigated investigation of foreign entities for interfering in the funding, research and peer review of the National Institutes of Health. This investigation has led to the dismissal of five Chinese researchers for sharing grant proposals that they were reviewing, and for failing to disclose foreign funding and affiliations at institutions abroad. This is a bit like jailing someone for plagiarism. The situation compelled MIT president L. Rafael Reif to write a letter to the entire MIT community expressing his dismay at the situation. In it, he asserted that MIT and the United States have flourished because MIT has been a magnet for the worlds finest talent, who in turn energize the institution as the oxygen for our innovation. Without the foreign graduates and post-docs that decided to stay after coming here, U.S. science would be in a sad state. We should not lose touch with this very important talent pool. Our xenophobia is interfering with our scientific progress and limiting our scientific competitiveness. Marc Zimmer is the Jean C. Tempel 65 Professor of Chemistry at Connecticut College. BRIDGEPORT Tuesdays rainfall proved busy for the citys first responders, who were dispatched to a slew of weather-related calls for service, according to city officials. The calls came in between 1:15 p.m. and 3:35 p.m. as rain fell across the area. City units responded to 29 calls about flooded roadways, according to Scott Appleby, the citys director of emergency communications and emergency management. He said there were also three calls about flooded/stranded vehicles and two missing manhole covers. Appleby said there were four calls about flooded viaducts, two calls about wires down and three inland water rescues. Among the calls were three detailed on the Bridgeport Fire Departments Twitter page. The one at 1:55 p.m. indicated there was a stranded driver at the viaduct by East Washington Avenue and East Main Street. The next tweet, at 2:02 p.m., was another stranded motorist this one in the area of Hadley Street and Goddard Avenue. At 2:28 p.m., there was a vehicle trapped in flooded waters in the 30 block of Island Brook Avenue. After Tuesdays rain and flooding in the Park City, residents must remember to turn around when they see flooded roadway and never drive through flooding, especially when its unclear how deep the water is. In the few short months since the novel coronavirus outbreak and ensuing social distancing measures started disrupting communities and economies across the globe, the unemployment rate in America has soared to levels not seen since the Great Depression. At the time of writing, the unemployment rate sits at 13.3%, which translates to roughly 21 million jobless Americans. The subsequent spike in unemployment benefits claims has created a unique opportunity for imposter scammers, who are taking advantage of overwhelmed state and federal agencies, busy phone lines, and the heightened anxiety of those who have recently lost their jobs and financial security. In this article, well discuss some common tactics that fraudsters are employing to try to scam people out of their unemployment benefits, and give some practical next steps for credit unions to help insulate themselves from risk and keep their members from falling victim to imposter scams. Phishing for information One tactic that scammers use to get sensitive personal data such as Social Security numbers or bank and credit card information is through phishing emails. In this scam model, a cyber-criminal sends an email that looks like its from a trusted source, like the U.S. Department of Labor, the state unemployment office, or the individuals financial institution. The email is intended to play off the fears of the individual, and will often include threatening language such as Weve identified fraudulent activity on your account. Click here to resolve the issue and avoid further charges. If the email is successful in getting the recipient to click on the link, the attacker can then install malware to gain access to any sensitive information that is stored on the recipients computer, or even the entire network that their computer is connected to. The link may also take the individual to a fake website that looks legitimate and asks them to input valuable personal information. According to a recent article by Norton Security, One scam that has hit unemployed claimants in several states recently is an email from Unemployment Assist. Its subject line reads: ID Eligibility Requirement 1: Must be Available for Work, or Verification Required: 2nd Request. The fraudulent email claims that you must provide certain personal information to either file or complete your unemployment-insurance claim. Scammers target state unemployment agencies In May of this year, federal authorities became aware of a massive and sophisticated attack being carried out on many U.S unemployment systems. The attackers, using detailed personal data such as Social Security numbers and bank account information obtained from previous cyber hacks, have started filing fraudulent claims on behalf of individuals who are still employed, taking advantage of overrun state systems to successfully steal millions of dollars in relief payments that were intended to support those who have lost jobs due to the coronavirus. According to the New York Times, a secret service memo released in May revealed that, Washington State had emerged as the primary target thus far, but there was also evidence of attacks in Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Wyoming. The agency warned that every state was vulnerable and could be targeted, noting that the attackers appeared to have extensive records of personally identifiable information. Job search scams With so many millions of Americans out of work, many cyber criminals are ramping up their efforts to perpetrate job search scams. In fact, since the coronavirus first appeared on the world stage in December, the Better Business Bureau has reported more than 13,000 job listing scams in North America alone. In job search scams, cyber criminals attempt to position themselves as potential employers to obtain personal data or direct payments from unsuspecting individuals. According to Flex Jobs, There are some telltale signs that indicate a job posting is probably a scam: The ad uses words that are probably too good to be true: quick money, unlimited earning potential, free work-from-home jobs. There is a sense of urgency, or the recruiter is pushing you to accept the job now. Any legitimate company wont push anyone into accepting a job offer immediately. The job post or email has obvious grammatical or spelling errors. The company has an email domain from Gmail or other popular providers. The job description is unusually vague. Practical next steps for credit unions To help protect their members and minimize risk to their institutions, credit unions should help educate their borrowers about potential COVID-19 related scams and red flags. Other action items may include: Enhancing monitoring of unusual and suspicious account activity to identify patterns that point to potential fraud Closely following all regulatory reporting requirements Reviewing internal policies governing payment size and frequency and considering adding additional approvals for large transactions These are challenging times for credit unions as they try their best to adapt to change while still serving their members. But there is still plenty of opportunity for financial institutions to thrive in 2020. Keeping up with industry trends is going to be key to success for credit unions going forward. Download our free ebook to learn more about how payment preferences are evolving. Cullman, AL (35055) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Tell me how Trump campaigns against that. Tell me how he mocks her which is the only way he knows how to engage with opponents. Or, rather, tell me how he does so without seeming even more obscene than he already does and turning off everyone beyond the cultish segment of the electorate that will never abandon him. Duckworth on the Democratic ticket is like some psy-ops masterstroke, all the more so because it was she who nicknamed Trump Cadet Bone Spurs. Elizabeth City, NC (27909) Today Tropical storm conditions possible. Locally heavy thunderstorms during the morning will give way to partly cloudy skies this afternoon. High 92F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 77F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Staff reports The Daily American The spring 2020 deans list has been announced at Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport, a special mission affiliate of Penn State. Somerset County students are: Alexander M. Hay, Fairhope, Associate of Applied Science, building construction technology Noah Robert Kalp, Berlin, Associate of Applied Science, electrical technology Connor Logan Moon, Somerset, Certificate, diesel technician Hunter B. Younkin, Friedens, Associate of Applied Science, surveying technology * * * Geneva College announces the deans list of undergraduate students for the spring 2020 semester. To be eligible for this recognition, students in traditional programs must earn a GPA of at least 3.6 while passing 12 credit hours or more. Audrey Kenney from Somerset, was named to Geneva Colleges deans list for the spring 2020 semester. * * * Allison Baker, of Somerset, was named to the spring 2020 deans list at the University of Findlay. To earn this achievement, a student must attain a grade point average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. * * * More than 1,100 students were named to the presidents list at Coastal Carolina University for the spring 2020 semester, including Erin Berzonski, a psychology major from Davidsville. * * * Kasie Campbell, Meyersdale, was named to the spring 2020 deans list at Waynesburg University. * * * Westminster College recently named 431 students to the spring 2020 deans list. From Somerset County is Abigail Steinbeck of Windber, majoring in neuroscience. * * * More than 2,300 undergraduate students at Coastal Carolina University were named to the deans list for the spring 2020 semester, including Ezekiel Jano, a sociology major from Somerset. College Notes news The Daily American prints items of news interest about county residents at an institution of higher learning. News item submissions for the college notes are accepted only from the college and not from individuals. If your university does not send announcements to the newspaper, but does send notifications to the student, we will accept a copy of the announcement if its on official university letterhead. MICHELLE GANASSI michelleg@dailyamerican.com Somerset County 911 dispatchers, maintenance workers and clerks voted Monday to strike. The workers are part of the non-professional group represented by the Somerset County American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees. County employee union representative Sue McCormick said that the employees made the decision to strike. She said that she is sending the county commissioners a notice of the vote. The bargaining unit has approximately 70 employees, she said. McCormick said that the workers will now be planning their next steps. She added that the non-professionals group was offered a contract at the same time as the professionals group and sheriffs deputies. The non-professionals group voted down the offer in February. I had asked to go back to the table a week after that vote and I asked other times after that, she said. And of course COVID happened. McCormick said that last week the commissioners returned to the bargaining table. We were told our deal was the same as our Jan. 10 negotiations, she said. It was not going to change and there was no retroactivity. This could have all been avoided had there been retroactivity. The employees want to be paid raises retroactive to Jan. 1 when the old contract expired. COVID-19 has also delayed contract talks, delaying wage increases as well. During a March 10 commissioners meeting the board approved the new contracts for the other two AFSCME groups professional employees and sheriffs deputies. That agreement calls for raising the salaries of professional bargaining unit employees by $1,250 annually for workers with over 10 years of service. It calls for raises of $1,750 annually for employees with over 20 years. All other bargaining unit employees will receive a 2.5% raise retroactive to Jan. 1. It also increased starting salaries for caseworkers at both children and youth services and the area agency on aging. In the sheriffs office the new contract will increase the hourly rates for full-time deputies by $1 and part-time deputies by 40 cents. Somerset County solicitor Michael Barbera said that the county uses Pittsburgh labor attorney Chris Gabriel to handle county labor-related issues. Gabriels voicemail had a mailbox that was full and not accepting messages on Monday. Somerset County Commissioner Gerald Walker, board chairman, could not be reached for comment Monday evening. McCormick said that the maintenance workers, 911 dispatchers, clerks and other employees were working during the COVID-19 pandemic and should not be faulted for not being able to work on a contract during those months. She said that she will be working with labor attorneys and others to determine the 911 dispatchers next course of action. To my knowledge they (commissioners) would have to get an injunction (to force them to go to work) and they (dispatchers) can picket after work, she said. I have other union leaders and labor attorneys I will be working with to get our plan together. The Daily American (Editors note: This is the seventh in a series of articles on the unsolved homicide of Barbara Mangus, a 21-year-old wife and mother from Johnstowns West End who was killed in December of 1974.) Tom McMillen Jr. said he was 6 years old when he went on the police stakeout with his father, Tom McMillen Sr. He was with his dad in the vehicle as they overlooked the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn in Seward. They were there to keep an eye on the 1971 Mercury owned by his mother, Betty. She was getting death threats because of my father being so adamant on (solving) my aunts murder, Tom McMillen Jr. said from a seat at the dining room table of his home along Corrine Avenue in the West End of Johnstown. The first letter said that if my dad did not quit, that my mother was going to be next. Across the table from Tom McMillen Jr. for this discussion was his cousin, Jimmy Mangus, the son of Barbara Ann Mangus. Jimmys mother was strangled and killed in 1974 a homicide thats remained unsolved. To Jimmys left was his father, Walter Sonny Mangus Jr. Its the first time that Sonny Mangus, Jimmy Mangus and Tom McMillen have ever spoken publicly about the murder and the disturbing events that followed. I didnt have no hesitation, Sonny said of agreeing to the interview. If anybody wanted to talk to me, Id talk to them. Jimmy Mangus was not surprised to read about how early investigators may have mishandled his mothers case. Hed become aware of all those stories as he was growing up. I heard from the beginning about the crime scene . . . being disturbed, he said. They took no precautions, especially with the tire tracks and all that stuff . . . there was multiple vehicles up there destroying the tracks where they could have got a cast. These allegations infuriated Tom McMillen Jr.s father. Hed been Barbaras protective big brother. Badly injured in a coal mining accident the year before his sisters slaying, Tom McMillen Sr. immersed himself in the case. He was very heavy into talking to the police, his son said. He basically was the family advocate to find out what was going on. And I overheard this when I was probably 6 years old at the time. I went with him everywhere. The one investigator I dont know what his name was, I know he was a detective he told my dad straight out, he says, We know who did it, (but) we cant prove it. My dad asked him, Well, who is it? The detective stated . . . he goes, Its one of our own, and its possible that there is a second one involved (but) we cannot verify that. My dad went ballistic . . . he says, Well, I want him. The detective told my dad, he says, If you do anything, I will arrest you for impeding on a murder investigation. When they said one of our own, did they mean state police or city police? Tom McMillen Jr.: City. Decades later, Barbara Manguss son and nephew persisted with this line of inquiry. Jimmy Mangus and Tom McMillen Jr. said they visited the Ebensburg barracks of the state police in 1999 or 2000. They asked the chief investigator whether a former city policeman was the prime suspect. The investigator, they said, confirmed it. He would not tell us his name for fear of retribution against the family, but he did say that that officer passed away, Tom McMillen Jr. said. If true, he added, this would confirm his fathers early suspicion of police involvement. He found it odd that there wasnt a followup to his mothers first death threat letter which had been placed on the floor of her car until after the police stakeout of her workplace in Seward had ended. Nothing happened, Tom McMillen Jr. said. When surveillance stopped, the letters started back up again. So, to me, that would indicate it was (someone on the) inside. It was a total of four letters. Those death threats remain in police custody. But requests for the content of the letters, or a sample of the handwriting, was denied. From state police Cpl. Matthew Auker: The letters are still in evidence, however, I cannot release what they say due to the investigation still being open. Tom McMillen Jr. said one of the reasons he wanted to go on record was to clarify a recent statement from John Tomljanovic. From 1971 to 1978, Johns brother, Charles Kutch Tomljanovic, served as treasurer for the City of Johnstown. In 1978 he started a four-year term as mayor. David Romesburg, a retired city detective, told Our Town in a previous interview that two of his colleagues believed Kutch may have had information about the Mangus murder. Romesburg said they asked their chief for permission to question Kutch in 1983, but were blocked by Mayor Herb Pfuhl. The officers, according to Romesburg, were told by Pfuhl that theyd lose their jobs if they attempted to interview Kutch. Recently asked whether his brother knew the victim, Barbara Mangus, or her family, John Tomljanovic simply stated no. Tom McMillen Jr., however, said this is untrue. My dad, my Aunt Barbara and my Aunt Pat worked at the pizza shop that Kutch owned right up the street. We went to the same church together at St. Rochus and we delivered their Sunday papers down here on Corrine (Avenue), he said. My grandfather and Kutch were supposed to be friends. My grandmother knew their sister Barbara they were friends. We did know Kutch. As previously noted in this series, its possible that Kutch didnt know anything about who killed Barbara Mangus. The fact that he lived on the same street as the victim, hung out with her father and employed her as a high school student at his West End pizza shop mean little to nothing on their own and Detective Romesburg acknowledged that he cant remember the identity of the fellow city officers who wanted to question Kutch in 1983. But theres another angle to consider. As noted earlier in this article, the victims closest relatives claim that police investigators quietly confided twice over the years that their prime suspect was a member of local law enforcement. Is it possible that Kutch had information about the Mangus case because hed been briefed, as mayor, on the possibility that an officer or officers of his own city police department were involved in her killing? And is it possible that one of the unidentified officers who wanted to question Kutch had an ulterior motive? One of those officers could have been implicated in the crime. Could it be that he wanted to grill the former mayor in an attempt to discover how close authorities were coming to the truth? From Auker of the state police: I can tell you that a former member of the Johnstown City Police Department is on a list of suspects in this case. The name will not be released. He confirmed that this man is deceased. Sonny Mangus knows too well the suspicion hes lived under. I was looking to buy a car up in Portage, and this was like years later, he said. And (the salesman) says, Mangus? Are you the one who killed your wife? So thats something youve dealt with all this time? Yeah, up until now. In next weeks conclusion to the series, Sonny describes what he remembers from the night of his wifes disappearance and discusses with his son and nephew another piece of potential evidence that may have slipped away. (Editors note: This was the seventh in a series of articles on the unsolved homicide of Barbara Mangus, a 21-year-old wife and mother from Johnstowns West End who was killed in December of 1974. Pick up next Wednesdays edition of the Daily American or Our Town for the eighth installment of this series, and visit dailyamerican.com or ourtownjohnstown.com/dailyamerican for web extras, including podcast episodes.) Staff reports The Daily American Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine reports a partnership with CVS Health to assist with nursing home facility testing as part of the states COVID-19 response. The Pennsylvania Department of Health and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency are partnering with CVS Health to offer COVID-19 testing services to skilled nursing facilities statewide, free of charge. This is in order to make sure facilities are compliant with Levines universal testing order issued June 9. We are so pleased to have this level of collaboration and assistance from CVS Health, Levine said in a written statement. COVID-19 is a particularly challenging situation for congregate settings, particularly our nursing home facilities. This partnership strengthens and increases access to ensure universal testing is completed in nursing homes, as required in the order issued earlier this month. It will provide us the opportunity to better address outbreaks and work to prevent future outbreaks in nursing home facilities. These teams are assisting us in our response in the hardest-hit areas as we work to protect the public health and safety of Pennsylvanians. Omnicare, a CVS Health company, will administer up to 50,000 tests for skilled nursing residents and staff members. The department will roll out a three-tiered priority list for testing beginning with facilities with new or ongoing outbreaks, then to facilities with a history of a resolved outbreak and finishing with facilities with no outbreaks. At Omnicare, we are dedicated to providing outstanding service to our long-term care customers and their patients. Our COVID-19 testing solutions are a prime example of our capabilities, and a critical component of our broader response to the pandemic, Jim Love, president of Omnicare, said in the press release. We are pleased to partner with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to increase access and availability to testing for these critically important long-term care facilities and their vulnerable patient populations. Through the work of a number of entities, testing is accessible for Pennsylvanians through a variety of locations. Adding CVS Health, Patient First, Rite Aid, Walmart and other testing sites for symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals through select retail locations across the state has further allowed for Pennsylvanians to get tested close to home, the report states. The Daily American A native of the Ebensburg area has found himself in charge of some future leaders. Cambria Heights School District alumni Shaun Snyder left home for the military at the age of 19. He joined the Marine Corps and served for nearly three years. Today, instead of drilling with peers, he's leading approximately 20 kids and teenagers as unit commander of the Laurel Highlands Young Marines and commander of the Division I 4th Battalion. It's an experience that's been as rewarding for him as it has for the youth. I take a lot of pride in it, Snyder said. It's been a wonderful experience. I love working with kids and the challenge it's going to bring. A master technician at Fiore Toyota in Hollidaysburg who cut his teeth as a heavy equipment mechanic in the military, Snyder was asked to help spearhead the resurrection of the local Young Marines chapter in June of 2017. The unit had previously been disbanded for a few years. Snyder said his first objective was to inspire discipline. If you're gonna start a job, finish it. I'm trying to instill that as much in the kids as possible, he said. According to Snyder, one misconception has been that the program is only for children with severe behavioral problems. Though most of the kids who join do not have that sort of history, he said, many of them lack the ability to speak and act confidently in public. It was a little surprising to me. The kids, with all the technology . . . they never learned any social skills, he said. They have a lot of social anxiety. This, he added, is something that the Young Marines overcome through socialization efforts such as fundraising. We're community service-based, Snyder said. Among those enrolled in the program is Nicholas Silvis of Somerset. The 13-year-old has been with the Laurel Highlands Young Marines for the past three years. He said it's been an amazing experience. Me and my mom were talking about me going into Boy Scouts because I was interested in doing something military. I didn't want to do (the Young Marines program) at first, he said. (But) I am just blown away. It was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. According to Silvis, the program has taught him to be organized and the importance of giving back to the community. It's a very eventful organization It's just a great program, it really is, he said. Alayliah Reynolds joined more than two years ago because her brother, a previous enrollee, enjoyed his time in the program. The 12-year-old Johnstown resident echoed Snyder's sentiment about the Young Marines building social skills. It helps me with public speaking, Reynolds said. It helped me be more mature. It's just a great program. I would recommend it to a lot of people. Members of the Laurel Highlands Young Marines meet for approximately three Saturdays per month nearly year-round. They pause in December with the exception of a Christmas party and resume in early February. According to Snyder, the Laurel Highlands unit members are between the ages of 8 and 18 and live in a variety of municipalities across Cambria and Somerset counties. They participate in fundraisers and charity events, and hold encampments during the summer to learn how to build their own tents and fires. Young Marines are also educated during these excursions about wilderness, safety and map and compass navigation. A highlight of the experience, Snyder said, is an overnight stay on the Battleship New Jersey, the nation's most decorated battleship. It's been converted to a museum and memorial and is anchored in Camden, New Jersey. Overall, Snyder added, the goal is to teach kids that they'll need to work hard to earn their accomplishments in life. The biggest change is seeing them have a lot of respect (after enrolling). It's more than just a kids program it's more of a character-builder. For more information about the group, call 814-312-0868. We've launched a new site for events and entertainment all along the Flight 93 Memorial Highway. Read the latest articles and buzz around town. Keep up to date on upcoming events and submit your own. Visit What's NXT 219 Thats an important principle. I know the mayor understands and appreciates it. I know she acted decisively at the time and my inclination, if it was up to me, my inclination would be to be as open as possible and take whatever lumps are associated with that, Melton said. Jake Boone, who serves on the Cottage Grove City Council, is president of the League of Oregon Cities. Dalton, GA (30720) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning. Thunderstorms likely during the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 88F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab. (Courtesy of NIAID-RML) NEW YORK An appeals court has cleared the way for a publisher to distribute a tell-all book by President Donald Trumps niece over the objec KINGSTON, N.Y. Trustees are anxious to avoid giving the impression that discussions have stalled on the use of police as resource officers i The following items are based on information provided by officials in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Like many of you, I have to spend a lot of time planning how to get from one place to the next. Places which say they are inclusive and accessible will still have inclines that are a few degrees too steep, or an entrance that is a few inches off the ground preventing those of us in wheelchairs and being able to access it without assistance. That experience of being unable to independently enter a public space or even use a bathroom when I need to is humiliating, Duckworth said. Sunbury, PA (17801) Today Mixed clouds and sun this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High around 90F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Variable clouds with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms more numerous this evening. Low 63F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. featured Westtown Crebilly meeting to be held in garage Really? Amazon plays its cards close to its chest and as a corporate entity has refrained from publicly stating its position on the airport. But sure as two plus two equals four there is clear evidence that Amazon has accelerated the pace of its investment in the region in the year since the state committed $205 million toward an Interstate 57 interchange and other public improvements to serve the airport. Applications being taken New aid available for county renters, homeowners @ChescoCourtNews on Twitter Michael P. Rellahan has been a staff reporter and editor at the Daily Local News since 1982. He has covered all kinds of news over the years but is now assigned to report on court and legal news, as well as Chester County government news and politics. Better late than never, Sir Humphrey is on his bike. Why has it taken Boris so long to get rid of him? Mark Sedwill should have been given his P45 the day Johnson moved into Downing Street. I said as much in this column more than a year ago, when it became apparent that Mother Theresa was toast. Under Mrs May, this unelected civil servant had accumulated an unhealthy, unprecedented amount of power. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) relieved Sir Mark Sedwill from his duties as Head of the Civil Service last week, but why has it taken him so long to get rid of him? May was so hopelessly reliant on Sedwill that she made him Cabinet Secretary, Head of the Civil Service and National Security Adviser the first person to hold all three jobs simultaneously. Even that wasnt enough to satisfy Sedwills rapacious appetite for power. According to a Whitehall source quoted in a newspaper profile last summer: He cant cope with the fact that he is not Prime Minister. That didnt stop him behaving as if he was PM. He regularly treated Cabinet Ministers with disdain, warning Gavin Williamson, then Defence Secretary: Dont underestimate how vindictive I can be. That threat came after Williamson was accused of leaking details of Mays decision to involve Huawei in building Britains 5G mobile phone network, despite uneasy opposition from ministers, the security services and our closest allies. Under Johnson's predecessor Theresa May (pictured), Sedwill had accumulated an unhealthy, unprecedented amount of power Sedwill was the main cheerleader for Huawei, even leading a delegation of 15 senior Whitehall officials on a vainglorious jaunt to Beijing aimed at bypassing ministers and establishing himself as the main point of contact between the British government and the Chinese. A fervent Remainer, with undisguised contempt for elected politicians and the democratic process, Sedwill took it upon himself arbitrarily to order preparations for a No Deal Brexit scrapped. One of the architects of Project Fear, he authored a (conveniently leaked) memo warning of food price rises and civil unrest in Northern Ireland unless Mays dismal surrender deal was passed. He ruthlessly exploited her weakness to bolster his own position. Talk to anyone who attended meetings at Downing Street and, previously, the Home Office. They will tell you she contributed next to nothing and always deferred to Sedwill. Lets not forget, either, that the parlous state of the Home Office on everything from policing to the Windrush scandal and the chaotic asylum system owes much to the Sedwill/May double act. When Johnson arrived at Number 10, he clipped Sedwills wings but kept him around. We can only speculate as to why, but Im assuming that because Sedwill had spent so much time right at the heart of government he knows where all the bodies are buried. That would also explain why Boris has dreamed up a fancy new job title for Sedwill rather than simply giving him the elbow altogether. Hell be gone sooner rather than later, though, complete with his peerage and a few company directorships to soften the blow. Maybe the Chinese are looking for a consultant who knows his way around Whitehall. Still, dumping Sedwill is a promising start and a sign that BoJo is getting his mojo back. The fact that Johnson (pictured right) has got rid of Sedwill (left) is a sign that the PM is getting his mojo back Sir Humphrey represents everything thats wrong with the British Civil Service, a self-proclaimed Rolls-Royce which functions about as well as a clapped-out Lada. In the case of Brexit, the Civil Service attempted to thwart the democratically expressed will of the people. So did the Speaker of the Commons and a large number of MPs who had promised to honour the outcome of the referendum. The ghastly Bercow is now history, Boris has an 80-seat majority which will allow him to Get Brexit Done. But the hardest task now lies ahead. The Prime Minister needs to begin tearing down the Establishment with the same ruthless determination the Black Lives Matter mob is applying to toppling statues. The defenestration of Sedwill has to be more than symbolic. The whole system of civil administration is in dire need of urgent and comprehensive reform. Dominic Cummings understands this better than most, which is why Boris clung to him despite his difficulties over breaking lockdown rules he helped to write. If this Government is to succeed, the entire culture and ideology have to be overhauled. Here are a few ideas. More mandarins like Sedwill must be shown the door, pour encourager les autres, and replaced by competent Conservative-leaning business leaders from the private sector. No branch of government should be spared the hard rain of reform. Boris will be accused of politicising the system, but what the hell does anyone think has been happening for the past few decades? Its all been in one direction, too. Frankly, its incredible that after ten years of a Tory government (admittedly half of it in coalition with the Lib Dems) virtually every single institution remains in the hands of leaders who all subscribe to the self-styled liberal agenda. Look at the way the police have meekly and literally bent the knee to the quasi-Marxist rabble behind Black Lives Matter, however noble the cause of racial equality may be. Home Secretary Priti Flamingo should be told to remove any chief constables who refuse to enforce the law impartially and replace them with proper coppers. She should scrap the failed system of civilian police commissioners and make all those chief constables who want to play politics stand for election. Home Secretary Priti Patel (pictured) should be told to remove any chief constables who refuse to enforce the law impartially Then the Home Office should be broken up. It hasnt been fit for purpose for years. Boris has to withdraw from the pernicious European yuman rites racket, which lets judges interpret the law as they choose, like the Supreme Court did over Brexit. If judges want to be politicians, they too can stand for election, as they do in other countries. The hideously expensive and utterly superfluous Public Health England must be put out of its misery. While the frontline workers in the health service have performed heroically, the overmanned, overpaid bureaucrats in the back room have been spectacularly dysfunctional, concerned primarily with protecting their own little empires. The Treasury should get in a few of the finest minds from banking and hedge funds. That would shake the place to its foundations. The Foreign Office should be turned upside down, and handed over to people who see themselves as representatives of Britain abroad, not emissaries of foreign governments in Whitehall. Thats enough to be going on with. Im sure Boriss blue-eyed son Cummings has a few more ideas. The signs are encouraging. Boris is planning to replace Sedwill with a Brexiteer. Better late than never. Let the hard rain fall. When I saw that picture of Boris prostrate on his office floor, I feared for one awful moment that he, too, had capitulated to the Black Lives Matter madness and was taking the knee. Boris Johnson is not taking a knee here, he is proving to the Mail on Sunday that he has fully recovered from coronavirus by doing press-ups Turns out he was doing press-ups to convince The Mail on Sunday that he was fully recovered from Covid-19. He declared himself as fit as a butchers dog and said hed never felt better. Mind you, the photo also immediately reminded me of Norman Stanley Fletchers reaction, in Porridge, when he returns to his cell to find young Lennie Godber doing press-ups. Anyone we know? Mail reader Ray Norman was rebuffed when he tried to put a comment on the BBC website contrasting the different lifting of the lockdown in England and Scotland. Ray was puzzled to find hed fallen foul of the moderators. We reserve the right to fail comments which . . . are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others . . . Are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable . . . Contain swear words or other language likely to offend. Ray was still confused, so he sought further clarification. The BBC wrote back: Your comment was removed for referring to Nicola Sturgeon as Wee Burney . . . If white chefs are RAY-CIST!!! for using non-indigenous recipes, then Oddjob (pictured) should be cancelled for wearing a bowler hat, the cultural property of English City gents The Summer of Stupidity has moved on to cultural appropriation of curry by white chefs, who are now also damned as RAY-CIST!!! for using non-indigenous recipes. Some obscure white actress has apologised for having once worn her hair in cornrows, which are only culturally appropriate on women of African heritage. All this began with students being banned from wearing sombreros because it was RAY-CIST!!! towards Mexicans. On that basis, Oddjob would have to be cancelled for wearing a bowler hat, the cultural property of English City gents. Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the Bronte Parsonage museum contains a pair of Native American moccasins which belonged to Charlotte Bronte. Thats her off the reading list. And I give the Bronte statue outside her old home in Yorkshire a couple more days before some lunatic tears it down. Charlotte Bronte must fall! If those air bridges ever get up and running, don't be surprised to find them occupied by Extinction Rebellion and a copper on a skateboard. A love story about about a 22-year-old Irish woman who cashes in her 'abortion fund' to move from Dublin to Hong Kong and shacks up with a mysterious Etonian banker has been dubbed the must-read novel of the summer. Exciting Times, by Irish novelist Naoise Dolan has drawn comparisons to Sally Rooney's Normal People due to its depiction of a sexually-charged relationship with two lovers on either side of the class divide. Ava, the young protagonist from Dublin moves in with Julian, a 28-year-old banker and Oxford graduate from Cambridgeshire. The pair have a sexual relationship, but Ava sleeps in the spare room rent-free. 'I wasn't good at most things but I was good at men, and Julian was the richest man I'd ever been good at,' Ava says. Exciting Times, by Irish novelist Naoise Dolan has drawn comparisons to Sally Rooney's Normal People due to its depiction of a sexually-charged relationship with lovers on either side of the class divide An extract of the novel was first published in literary magazine The Stinging Fly, while Sally Rooney was the editor - and the New York Times said the debut echoes the work of Rooney, but with 'a queer twist'. It follows the the love story of Ava and Julian, who like Normal People's Marianne and Connell continue to have sex but can never commit to each other. 'I loved him potentially,' Ava thinks. 'That, or I wanted to be him.' The novel has won rave reviews, with the Irish Times saying it's likely to fill a 'Sally Rooney shaped hole in many readers lives' and the Times of London calling it the 'book of the summer'. Waterstones say it's perfect for fans of Sally Rooney and Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan. Like Normal People, the romance straddles the class divide, with Ava from a working class Irish family and Julian from the top of English society. 'Possibly to make fun of me in some obscure way, Julian remembered my parents' names and used them often' Ava writes. 'Have you spoken to Peggy recently?' he'd say, or: 'How's Joe?' His were called Miles and Florence. I found the comparison illuminating, but he didn't. For Brits, class was like humility: you only had it as long as you denied it' Ava tells the reader. An extract of the novel was first published in literary magazine The Stinging Fly, while Sally Rooney was the editor - and the New York Times said the debut echoes the work of Rooney, but with 'a queer twist'. Normal People, which was published in 2018, got a further lease life this year when the BBC debuted the TV adaptation which became an instant hit. Sally Rooney, was dubbed the voice of a generation after she became the youngest ever author to win the prestigious Costa prize at just 27. Normal People follows Connell and Marianne from their school days in County Sligo to university at Trinity College Dublin. At school, he's well-liked and popular, while she's lonely, proud and intimidating. But when Connell comes to pick up his mother from her cleaning job at Marianne's house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers - one they are determined to conceal. A year later, they're both studying in Dublin and Marianne has found her feet in a new social world but Connell hangs at the side lines, shy and uncertain. Normal People follows Connell and Marianne from their school days in County Sligo to university at Trinity College Dublin. Pictured: Daisy Edgar-Jones as Marianne and Paul Mescal as Connell in the BBC Three adaptation of the show Similarly, Ava leaves her native Dublin, where she believes everyone hates her, to become a badly-paid English Second Language teacher to primary school children in Hong Kong. 'Because I lacked warmth, I was mainly assigned grammar classes, where children not liking you was a positive performance indicator. I found this an invigorating respite from how people usually assessed women,' Ava confesses. She lives with Julian and they sleep together but are 'far too ironic' to be a couple, even though Ava gets on rather well with Julian's dad. 'At the start of October, I moved my things to Julian's. I told him I didn't have time to go around viewing places. He said I could stay until I did.' ''Take the guest room,' he said. 'I get calls at night.' We kept having sex.' she adds. Ava loves Julian's money, and he likes how much she likes it. 'I googled the salary range for junior vice presidents at his bank: 137,000 to 217,000 a year, plus bonus and housing allowance' Ava tells the reader. 'You're not easily pleased with how other people put sentences together,' Julian accuse, 'but when it comes to money, you've got no taste. And no squeamishness about asking for it, discussing it, hoarding it.' Ava does small tasks for Julian around the house too. 'As things really stood, I performed petty tasks in exchange for access to him. He jokingly asked me to organise his bookshelf, and when I actually did, he said I was brilliant. One weekend I made the mistake of pointing out that he should pack for Seoul, and thereafter he expected me to remind him whenever he went on a business trip.' 'I didn't include condoms, not because I minded his seeing other people but because I was afraid it woudl seem passive-aggressive,' she says. Ava also secretly hopes to find out that Julian is married, because it would be more exciting to be a mistress than simply sleeping with someone who doesn't want to commit. 'I liked imagining Julian had a wife back in England. I am a jezebel, I'd think. This wine rack was a wedding gift and I am using it to store Jack Daniel's because I have terrible taste in everything. 'She is Catholic in the English recusant aristocrat sense, not the Irish poverty sense and will never grant him a divorce, and I cannot in any case usurp her as the woman who loved him before life and investment banking strangled him, creatively. When Julian reveals he'd like her even if she was six years older, Ava adds: 'I was disappointed, and realised Id wanted him to be into the fact that I was twenty-two. There was nothing else I had that he didnt.' But when Julian leaves Hong Kong on business, Ava finds herself drawn towards Mei Ling 'Edith' Zhang, a glossy, Instagram-addicted lawyer from a prestigious Hong Kong family. 'I wanted her life,' Ava thinks. 'I worried this might endanger our friendship, but so far it seemed to be facilitating it.' She becomes entangled in a bisexual love triangle as their friendship moves from awkward flirtation into a romance. Their affair takes place mostly in Julian's expensive apartment secretly because Edith's parents are in the dark about her sexuality, but when Julian returns Ava must decide between living in an luxury flat for free or breaking up with Edith. Edith is enthusiastic and unapologetically earnest, in contrast to secretive and emotionally closed off Julian who can never tell Ava he loves her. But the pair are both rich, Oxbridge educated and members of society families, a world away from what Ava is used to in Dublin. Dolan, like Rooney, is in her mid-20s, from Dublin and went to Trinity College. As well as rave reviews in the papers, many social media users have share their thoughts about the story of Twitter and goodreads, with some calling it a cross between Sally Rooney and Fleabag. 'This is just really fantastic,' one wrote. As well as rave reviews in the papers, many social media users have share their thoughts about the story of Twitter and goodreads , with some calling it a cross between Sally Rooney and Fleabag 'Oh my goodness. This book is incredibly fine. Now I know what the phrase 'razor sharp wit' really means. On a sentence level the novel delivers one perfect zinger after another. 'Dolan is particularly good at capturing the way men talk to women whom they mistakenly think are not as smart as they are. 'The dialog is brilliant throughout. You have to understand that this is the kind of story I have very high standards for because the plot is an evergreen plot: young person at loose ends making her way in the world and deciding who to love. 'And yet it's so original. I dove right in and read from beginning to end, and now I'm giving thanks that such a book exists in the worldlight, sweet, sad, true.' said another. Last month, Dolan confirmed on Twitter that Black Bear Pictures, the production company behind The Imitation Game, have optioned the rights for a TV adaptation. Fashion must-haves can often be expensive designer buys. But the dress that's already tipped to become the hit of the summer is a high street number that costs just 20. H&M's pink puff-sleeved cotton dress has been spotted on Instagram style mavens from around the world after being released this month. H&M has released a 20 pink cotton dress with a striking resemblance to the style worn by Villanelle, as seen on British stylist Zeena Shah (pictured) French musician Dahlia Fotsing, donned a Gucci belt and chunky bracelets to give the dress a luxury fashion look Pink puff-sleeve dresses are becoming this season's must-have style, after being spotted on Killing Eve's Villanelle (pictured) in the first season of the hit drama series The frock, which boasts an on-trend square neckline and voluminous sleeves, is flattering on a range of body types and skin tones. Best of all, it also echoes the frothy Molly Goddard creation that made headlines around the world when it was worn by Villanelle (Jodie Comer) on Killing Eve - giving fashion devotees the chance to emulate the look at a fraction of the cost. The dress has proved so popular that it has already sold out in some sizes on the H&M website. It has also been chosen by the retailer to feature in the current window display across UK stores. Showcasing the dress online, the H&M model is seen dressing down the frock with a pair of casual black flip flops and gold hoop earrings. But it could just as easily be paired with wedges or nude summer sandals for an elevated evening look. Lifestyle content creator Joana Dente, wore the pink H&M dress without shoes as she posed for a fashion photoshoot H&M describe their bubblegum pink dress (pictured) as having a square neckline and voluminous half-length sleeve The dress has been spotted on influencers including Sarah and Philippa, who share fashion content with their 151,000 Instagram followers under the handle @wearetwinset. The pair gave the frock a formal look by coordinating with woven bags, glitzy heels and sparkling earrings. Elsewhere, British stylist Zeena Shah showed her 43,000 Instagram followers that the dress can be worn casually with a simple necklace. Instagram influencers have been quick to bag the puff-sleeve style, with Sarah and Philippa demonstrating the style to their 151,000 followers An influencer who lives in Ireland, styled the H&M dress with ombre sunglasses and a chunky necklace for a summery look From raunchy late night phone calls to ex partners to 'selflessly' jumping into bed with NHS workers, people have been sharing racy accounts of their lockdown sex lives with an eye-opening Instagram account. Founded by actors Joanna Scanlan and Alex Roach and theatre director and writer Jenny Duffy, Sex Lives has turned real lockdown tales into a drama series starring acclaimed British actors including Eastenders star Clare Perkins, who played Ava Hartman. The trio, who were inspired by Wendy Jones 2016 book The Sex Lives of English Women, put out a call for people to speak candidly about how lockdown has impacted their sex lives and were stunned by their initial responses. In one instance, a woman revealed she had started taking nude pictures every day to 'empower herself', while another admitted to inviting a a guy on a socially distanced date - knowing it would 'end in the bedroom'. Scroll down for video British women have contributed their sex life stories in the hopes of having them adapted for a web series created by Instagram trio Joanna Scanlan, Alex Roach and Jenny Duffy. One woman revealed she had been taking nudes every day to help herself feel 'empowered' One anonymous woman who lives alone, revealed she's committed herself to having sex with a man she met for a social distance date - breaking lockodown rules Another woman revealed her view of sex was changed by an individual she met last autumn, after being in a 15-year relationship, and she 'feels like a new woman;' 'People were really horny, just getting to grips with being stuck in the house. As it's gone on, we've had waves of anger, sadness, loneliness. It's been a real journey,' Alex told Refinery29. The account which has a growing following, recently posted its first episode based on an anoymous submission. Former Eastenders star Clare Perkins stars as 54-year-old 'Dominique', who tells Nyome, 31, played by Susan Wokoma about her most recent sexual encounter. In a Zoom call, she details how she spent four years without having sex, despite sharing her bed with her partner Graham, and explains how being complimented by a stranger reignited her sex life. A British woman who once had an 'amazing' sex life with her husband, explained that she's dusted her collection of toys because he's no longer interested in physical intimacy Spending lockdown away from her boyfriend, a woman told how her partner had delivered a collection of toys and other items to enjoy during isolation A woman who has been spending lockdown reading erotic literature revealed that she's been receiving nude photographs from two of her former colleagues 'I was dead, my face was dead, my body was dead,' she said. 'All of a sudden someone finds you sexy and you have all this energy. 'I felt like "I'm 54", but now I feel like "woo hoo".' The three-minute episode has been viewed almost 5,000 times, with viewers gushing that they love the series. Elsewhere, others have shared their tales of sexual encounters with NHS workers during the pandemic. One woman said she was 's****ing an ex' who is an intensive care nurse just before lockdown, and was then shunned by a neighbour for missing the weekly Clap By Carers. 'Felt like saying to her: "My vagina has done more for the NHS than your claping has, Pat",' she wrote. However, she later shared an update saying the ex had popped around for a 'thank you for all their hard work', but it hadn't ended well, and she recommended donating money rather than sexual favours to show support. In another post, an NHS worker complained that nobody had 'broken lockdown to f*** me', despite heroically saving lives. Still accepting admissions, the creators have received stories from women who have been experimenting with sex toys during lockdown - and those who've ignored government advice to social distance. One woman revealed she's been receiving nude photographs from two of her past male colleagues, while another said the sound from the porn she was watching mistakenly connected to the Bluetooth device being used by her mother. One woman told how an issue with her Bluetooth headphones caused the sound of the porn she was watching to connect to her mother's device Another woman revealed that her ex-girlfriend tried to reconnect, but ended up going back to her male fiance because she forgot to reply to a Facebook message A woman who was enjoying a casual relationship before lockdown, revealed that she's started to develop deeper feelings Elsewhere a woman admitted she got the 'best surprise' when her friend gifted her with her 'first ever vibrator', calling it the 'best surprise I've had in 2020. Another Instagram user told how she had to have 'careful FaceTime sex' during isolation, as she was staying at her parent's house and had to keep the bedroom door open for the cat. Meanwhile, one admitted to developing feelings for her 'sex buddy' during quarantine, in an insightful series of confessions. One woman said she was gifted a vibrator during lockdown, but her flatmates shamed her on a WhatsApp group chat for using it too loudly Jenna Bush Hager has revealed that she and her family were reunited with her in-laws for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. The 38-year-old Today host took to Instagram Stories on Sunday to share heartwarming footage of her daughters Mila, seven, and Poppy, four, hugging her husband Henry Hager's mother Maggie. Jenna, Henry, and their three children had been quarantined in their cottage in Long Island, New York, amid the global crisis, and she got emotional on the Today show on Monday as she opened up about the visit. Aww! Jenna Bush Hager shared heartwarming videos of her daughters Poppy (left) and Mila (right) reuniting with their paternal grandmother Maggie over the weekend 'We have been in the same location for months, and we haven't really seen anybody But for the first time, we got to see my in-laws, my mother-in-law Maggie, and I wanted to weep,' she said. 'We drove down, and just the way their faces lit up, the way her face lit up, reminded me what life is all about.' In the first video she shared, little Poppy is beaming as her grandmother Maggie gives her a big squeeze and tells her she loves her over and over again. So sweet: Jenna also captured the sweet moment Mila hugged her little sister Poppy after being temporarily separated Staying put: Jenna, Henry, and their three kids had been quarantined in their cottage in Long Island, New York, amid the global crisis 'Give a hug to your Grammy,' Jenna can be heard saying in the background as she films the heartwarming reunion. It seems as though Henry and Mila arrived in Virginia to see his parents after Jenna and Poppy. The couple also has a son Hal, who turns one in August. The second video Jenna shared shows her mother-in-law Maggie reuniting with her eldest daughter Mila. 'Oh, did you love coming up with your daddy?' Maggie asks her grandchild as she gives her a warm hug. Moved: Jenna said the emotional reunion reminder her 'what life is all about' Missing her family: Jenna has yet to see her own parents, former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, who live in Texas, since the global crisis started Jenna also captured the sweet moment Mila hugged her little sister Poppy after being temporarily separated, writing: 'Left the sissy for one night and this is what happens!' The mom has yet to see her own parents, former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, who live in Texas, since the global crisis started. 'Grandparents all over, my parents for sure, are missing their grandkids, and so to be reunited it felt really, really beautiful and special,' she told her Today co-host Willie Geist. 'I know a lot of people around the country cannot wait to hug their grandchildren,' she added. 'I miss my parents like crazy and FaceTime sometime isn't enough.' A mother has removed all traces of chewing gum from her daughter's hair by coating it in a thick layer of peanut butter. Marnie Pollock was horrified when her daughter Aria stole a packet of chewing gum from her handbag and stuck a large wad in her hair while her back was turned. Terrified she would have to shave the front of the three-year-old's head, the mother from Sydney begged for help in a parenting group on Facebook. Ms Pollock was inundated with advice from hundreds of Australians telling her to cover the gum with peanut butter and gently brush it out. She applied two spoonfuls of peanut butter over the gum, left it to soak for two minutes then combed it through the lengths of Aria's hair and washed it as normal. Ms Pollock told Daily Mail Australia she was 'so surprised' by how quickly it lifted the matted gum from her little girl's head. Scroll down for video Sydney woman Marie Pollock's daughter Aria stuck chewing gum in the front of her hair (left) leaving her mother no choice but to try coating the matted strands with peanut butter (right) Photos showing the successful removal have been 'liked' almost 1,000 times since Ms Pollock shared them on Saturday, thanking people for the tip which restored Aria's hair to perfect condition. The home remedy is supported by science. The fatty oils in peanut butter soak between the hair and gum, loosening it from the dry strands which makes it easier to pull out. 'These remedies are insane, I sometimes think how did someone figure out that peanut butter would get gum out of hair!' one woman wrote in the comments. Another said: 'Peanut butter works every time. Been there, done that more than once.' After Ms Pollock left the peanut butter for two minutes, combed it through the lengths and washed it as normal, Aria's hair (pictured) was restored to perfect condition The science behind peanut butter and chewing gum To understand how peanut butter pulls gum from hair, it's important to learn what each substance is made from and how they react when they come into contact. Chewing gum is made from a natural gum base, usually from plants or trees, mixed with sugar syrup, food colouring and flavouring. The sticky base which gives gum it's chewy texture will cling to the proteins in dry hair. Washing it with water will have no effect, because the base is 'hydrophobic', which means it repels and does not mix with water. Interestingly, because of this, chewing gum will not stick to wet hair, only dry. Peanut butter is made from ground and roasted peanuts and contains lots of oils an fats. It's also hydrophobic. The oils in peanut butter attract the gum base in the chewing gum, which causes the hydrophobic properties to stick to each other more easily than the proteins of dry hair. The oils in peanut butter soak between the hair and gum, loosening it and making it more pliable. Peanut butter works best when coated over the entire gum surface and massaged in until all the gum has lifted off. Salad oil and mayonnaise work the same way because of their oily, hydrophobic bases. Sources: Healthline and Leaf.tv Advertisement Others said baby oil, olive oil, coconut oil and mayonnaise work just as well because of their oily bases which draw stickiness from gum and loosen it from dry hair. One woman said she used cooking oil on her daughter's hair last week after she stuck multiple pieces of gum into her fringe when she was out of the room. 'Put heaps on leave it sit for 2 minutes and then spread apart and softly pull out with finger nails,' she said. Many suggested rubbing ice over the chewing gum for five to 15 minutes which reduces stickiness by hardening the base, allowing gum to slide easily out of hair. Some advised pouring Coke over the affected area, saying the acidity of the drink quickly dissolves the gum's sticky base. The peanut butter removal trick was made famous in a 1996 episode of The Simpsons called '22 Short Films about Springfield', in which Bart accidentally throws chewing gum in sister Lisa's hair. An unimpressed Marge tries to remove the gum by applying peanut butter and mayonnaise to her head. Australian cosmetic and beauty retailer Mecca has unveiled the top best-selling products of June that shoppers can't get enough of. The best must-have items are the Mac Glow Play Blush, Drunk Elephant's skincare kit and Corpus Naturals' California Deodorant. Each product is relatively affordable and all three have received hundreds of positive reviews online and on social media. Scroll down for video Australian cosmetic and beauty retailer Mecca has unveiled the top best-selling products of July shoppers can't get enough of Mac Glow Play Blush Cheeky Devil - $47 The Mac Cosmetics Glow Play Blush topped the most popular list for its variety of warm tones and subtle finish - but it's only available to purchase online. Priced at $47, the product is available in 11 different shades and the 'Cheeky Devil' creamy pink is the favourite among all. The blush has a lightweight but 'buildable' texture to create a delicate, sun kissed glow or a heavier peachy look. Rather than using a brush to apply the product, Mecca recommends using your fingertips as this will allow the blush to disperse well. Online Mecca said blush is 'possibly one of the most underrated makeup products' as not everyone uses it. The Mac Cosmetics Glow Play Blush topped the most popular list for its warm undertones and subtle finish, but it's only available to purchase online Drunk Elephant The Littles Kit 4.0 - $131 The Littles 4.0 kit by Drunk Elephant also made it onto Mecca's best-selling list this month and is the most expensive product of the trio. The skincare kit features seven 'small but mighty' miniature bottles that bundle a whole skincare routine into one small package. Some of the tiny bottles include hydrating serums, exfoliating creams, moisturisers, eye creams and cleansers. The Littles 4.0 kit by Drunk Elephant also made it onto Mecca's best-selling list this month and is the most expensive product of the trio The kit is the ideal way to test the brand's best products without committing to larger sized bottles. By using the items in the kit in the morning and night will lead to glowing skin The kit is the ideal way to test the brand's best products without committing to larger sized bottles. The Littles last for approximately one month and each product is fragrance and alcohol-free. By using the items from the kit in the morning and night will lead to glowing skin. The cheapest product of the three is the Corpus Naturals California Deodorant priced at $35 The product is a naturally derived, vegan deodorant Corpus Naturals California Deodorant - $35 The cheapest product of the three is the Corpus Naturals California Deodorant priced at $35. The product is a naturally derived, vegan deodorant that glides easily onto the skin without causing irritation. The formula is made from plant extracts and enzymes that are clinically proven to reduce body odour, while also providing a pleasant clean scent that's reminiscent of sea salt and soft floral notes. On the Mecca website the product has received an average of three out of five stars and more customers are choosing to purchase deodorant that's environmentally friendly. Australia's Koko Black is joining forces with Tokyo-based dessert business, Tokyo Lamington, to bring an exclusive first taste of the brand's cult lamingtons to Sydney and Melbourne. The three flavours set to arrive in the eastern states include caramelised coconut, Davidson Plum and Sao Thome and a triple chocolate lamington. The trio of new limited edition lamingtons will be available to purchase for $21 for one day only on Tuesday July 7 across selected Koko Black cafes. The fancy treats are the end result made by Eddie Stewart, Tokyo Lamington co-founder, and Remco Brigou, Head Chocolatier and Product Innovation Manager at Koko Black. One of Australia's most loved chocolate brands Koko Black is joining forces with Tokyo-based desserterie, Tokyo Lamington, to bring an exclusive first taste of the brand's cult lamingtons to Sydney and Melbourne The three flavours set to arrive in the eastern states include caramelised coconut, Davidson Plum and Sao Thome and a triple chocolate lamington Each flavour was inspired by hero Koko Black products and are reminiscent of the rich, unique flavours the brand is known for. While all three flavours vary from one another, each have a thick chocolate layer in the centre for a unique take on the traditional lamington. The collaboration between the two businesses will arrive in celebration of World Chocolate Day and only a limited number of lamingtons will be available to purchase at each store so customers should get in quick. Tokyo Lamington, which is currently only located in Singapore and Tokyo, was co-founded by Mr Stewart, who is also one of the pastry chefs behind Black Star Pastry's famous Strawberry and Watermelon Cake, as well as a mastermind behind the ever popular cult brand, N2 Extreme Gelato. WHAT ARE THE NEW THREE LAMINGTON FLAVOURS? Caramelised Coconut Lamington Celebrating a Koko Black classic, the Caramelised Coconut, this decadent lamington features almond and caramelised coconut cremeux coated in delicious white chocolate with a caramelised coconut finish Davidson Plum and Sao Thome Lamington This unique lamington delivers an exquisite sweet and sour flavour, combining Australia's native, sour Davidson Plum, with Koko Black's rich, fruity dark Sao Thome chocolate The Sao Thome ganache comes coated in white chocolate, mixed with Davidson Plum coated in coconut with Davidson Plum Triple Choc Lamington The ultimate chocolate indulgence this World Chocolate Day, the Triple Choc Lamington is 80% dark chocolate ganache coated in silky dark chocolate, finished off with crisp dark chocolate shavings Advertisement While all three flavours vary, each have a thick chocolate layer in the centre for a unique take on the traditional lamington The trio of new limited edition lamingtons will be available to purchase for $21 for one day only on Tuesday July 7 across selected Koko Black cafes 'With COVID-19 pushing off our plans to open as early as we would have liked in Australia, Koko Black presented us with a really fantastic opportunity to partner with a like-minded brand to bring our product to our home market,' Mr Stewart said. 'It's been a really exciting project and working with a master chocolatier like Remco Brigou, who demonstrates so much respect and sophistication when using native ingredients and creating new products has been incredible,' he said. 'It's pushed our boundaries for Tokyo Lamington even further and we're excited to see what the future holds for us here in Australia.' Mr Brigou said: 'The key for both Eddie and I when developing the lamington flavours was to reflect our joint passion for celebrating our brands' Australian heritage in a contemporary way.' The lamingtons are expected to sell out fast, so eager shoppers should act swiftly by visiting participating Koko Black cafes. Mike from Tinley has suggested alternatives to tearing down statues which is worth expanding on. What if storyboards or plaques were erected in front of the statue with the accomplishments on the left side and the falling from grace on the right half to show a more realistic snapshot of the persons life. Or offensive statues could be removed from public viewing to an area grouped by concept, such as a Confederacy Park. I worry about graffiti and destruction of property getting out of hand and haphazard or subject to one persons bias. The best shampoos contain avocado or peppermint and oil won't make your hair greasy if it's applied the right way, a Hollywood hair stylist to the stars has revealed. Philip Berkovitz - known professionally as Philip B - is a Los Angeles hair stylist whose celebrity client list includes Drew Barrymore, Halle Berry and Gwyneth Paltrow. He answered frequently asked questions from Australian Mecca customers, advising how to banish greasy roots and dry ends and keep hair in peak condition, especially through colder winter months. Philip said applying oil to the mid-lengths of hair is the most effective prevention for frizz and split ends, while regular brushing with nylon bristles is the best cure for an oily scalp. He recommended washing hair with shampoo that contains avocado or peppermint, which have been proven to seal follicles and smooth frazzled locks, making it look smoother and shinier. Scroll down for video For glossy hair without frizz or grease (pictured), celebrity hair stylist Philip B recommends applying oil through the mid-lengths and brushing regularly with a natural and nylon brush How to eliminate oily roots Philip said the easiest and cheapest - way to fix hair with oily roots and dry, brittle ends is to comb it regularly with a natural bristle and nylon combination brush, which brings natural oils from the scalp through the lengths and down to the ends. He said the thick, fatty substance that comes from the sebaceous glands on the scalp are what moisturise hair and give it a lustrous shine, but they accumulate at the roots without frequent brushing. 'The nutrition is needed down the hair shaft and especially at the ends, but it doesn't travel on its own,' he said. Nylon hairbrushes start from $40.35 online on Adore Beauty. Mecca also stocks a $41 Japanese nylon brush. Mr B said the easiest and cheapest - way to fix hair with oily roots and dry, brittle ends is to brush it regularly with a natural bristle and nylon combination brush (pictured) Celebrity hair stylist Philip B's top tips * Brush hair gently from roots to ends a few times everyday * Use oil generously it won't make your hair greasy * Wash with avocado or peppermint based shampoos * Gently squeeze conditioner into wet hair for best results Source: Mecca Advertisement How to fix dead or dry ends Oil is the best remedy for dry ends, reducing frizz without leaving hair oily. Philip said it's a common misconception that oil makes hair limp and greasy, when in fact it calms frizz and strengthens weak strands when used correctly. 'It needs to be applied on dry hair and the hair will absorb that way,' he said. Should conditioner be applied to roots? Philip said it's important to think of hair care just as we think of skincare, where certain areas of the face, neck and decolletage require different treatment at different times. 'Think of this as you would your moisturiser for the face; there may be areas that are oilier like the T-zone and some drier that need more hydration,' he said. While oily scalps may not require conditioner, dry scalps do, and in these cases it's best to apply from root to tip to reduce flakiness. For best results, Philip said conditioner should be applied to soaking wet hair and gently squeezed to work it in. 'Your hair should feel extremely silky, and if you can comb it through, great,' he said. Mr B said conditioner should be applied from root to tip to fix dry, flaking scalps, and gently squeezed to work it in (left), and the best shampoos contain peppermint or avocado (right) Should products be changed on a regular basis? Philip busted the common hair care myth that shampoo and conditioner brands should be changed every few months to stop hair growing accustomed to the formula. 'If you're giving your hair what it needs, why change?' he said. He said hair will tell you it's being properly treated if it is 'luscious, bouncy, shiny and strong'. The royal family were so concerned about Prince Harry rushing into marriage with Meghan Markle that even his sister-in-law Kate Middleton took him aside to warn him, an explosive new book has claimed. In Royal At War, published today on Kindle, investigative journalists Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett claim that Kate urged Prince Harry to take things slowly, because it would take 'time, care and attention' for Meghan to integrate with the family. The Duke of Sussex, 35, who married the former American actress, 38, in May 2018, enjoyed a close relationship with the Duchess of Cambridge who he referred to as 'the big sister I never had'. However, his relationship with Kate and his brother Prince William remains fractured, after he relocated to LA with his wife and their son, Archie, one, amid an apparent feud with his brother and rumours that Kate and Meghan did not get on. Here, FEMAIL reveals the shocking claims made in the book, including reports that part of the reason for the rift between the brothers was Harry's lavish spending in the wake of his wedding. He reportedly forked out more than 6,000 within months for acupuncture 'as part of a health drive' and enjoyed a 'babymoon' with the Duchess of Sussex at Heckfield Place, a luxury spa in Hampshire - the three-night stay is said to have cost up to 33,000. The Duchess of Cambridge reportedly advised Prince Harry not to rush into marriage with Meghan Markle because she would need time to integrate, due to her 'completely different' life before they met. Pictured: Harry and Kate at the ANZAX Day service in 2019 The Duke of Sussex, 35, who married the former American actress (pictured together), 38, in May 2018, with the pair currently living in LA with their son, Archie, one, is thought to have ditched his modest budget further when nearing Meghans due date a year later Prince William had concerns over Prince Harrys romance with Meghan Markle - and the Duchess of Cambridge warned he should take things slowly Prince William apparently had concerns over Prince Harrys romance with Meghan Markle and took his brother aside to ask Is she the right one? shortly after meeting her, according to insiders. Royals At War say the well-intentioned intervention didnt go down well with the Duke of Sussex who took it as a deliberate slight. The authors suggest Prince Harry was drawn to his future wifes confidence, commitment, drive and ambition because subconsciously he was seeking a figure to replace the mother so cruelly torn from him at a vulnerable age. But while he was quickly smitten after first dating Meghan in 2016, his sister-in-law Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, urged him to take things slowly. She gently reminded him that he was dating someone with a completely different life, past, and career and it would take time, care and attention for them to integrate, the authors write. But the concerns resulted in Prince Harry becoming convinced that the Royal family and even Palace aides were against him and his new partner. Yet Howard and Tillett suggest that Harrys misgivings were unfounded. Indeed, many Royal officials were fans of Meghan. After a meeting of senior Royals that the mother-of-one attended, one well-placed aide remarked: All their IQs put together would not equal hers. Another source explained: Its my opinion that Harry feels he couldnt protect his mother, so hes going all out to protect his wife. He is so sensitive he often sees criticism or negativity where there isnt any. As Howard and Tillett conclude: The rifts that eventually opened up in the Royal family after Meghan arrived could have been avoided if Harry was able to empathise and take his brothers concerns in the spirit they were intended. Kensington Palace and a representative for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been contacted for comment. Prince Harrys increased spending habits following his wedding to Meghan Markle helped spark rift with Prince William (pictured left with his brother in March), a new book has claimed Prince Harry's spending leads to rift with senior members of the Royal family Royal At War authors and investigative journalists Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett said: 'Harrys [spending] transformation is revealed as one of the fundamental factors behind the deep fissure that opened between him and his brother, Prince William.' In the book, insiders suggest Prince Harry first got the spending bug after leaving the Kensington Palace household which he shared with his brother and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 38. The Royals At War (above) authors look at how Meghans arrival into the Royal family unintentionally led to the split of the loved ones He moved into Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle with Meghan following their Windsor-based wedding and spent 2.4million of taxpayers money to refurbish the cottage, which they vowed to repay under the terms of Megxit. The cost of the modernisation works on the Grade II listed property sparked controversy, with the Queen reported to be privately unhappy over the expenditure. Meanwhile, Meghan topped up Prince Harry's wellness spending splurge with aromatherapy as well as massages, and was estimated to have spent over 478,920 on maternity clothes. In the book, sources claim that the eye-watering spree led to concerns at the very top of the Royal household, since the Queen is well-known for her modest tastes. 'The fact that Meghan splashed so much cash rang alarm bells with the traditionally conservative Queen Elizabeth,' said the authors. 'Growing up in the war left the monarch with a built-in sense of frugality and economy, despite being one of the richest women in the world.' Prince Harry and Meghan are now reportedly paying just shy of 18,000 a month to keep Frogmore as their official British base while they stay at Tyler Perry's $18 million, 12-bedroom villa in Hollywood. The Frogmore arrangement is being described as a 'rental-plus' agreement in which they pay more than what the commercial rate would be, enabling them to pay down the building costs with the excess. Elsewhere, Prince Harry and Meghan were also criticised for using private jets last year, including four trips in just 11 days in August, despite their eco credentials. The duke later defended his repeated use of private jets, claiming he needs them for his family's safety. Speaking at an event, he refused to apologise for private flights to Italy, France and Spain, saying: 'I spend 99 per cent of my life travelling the world by commercial. 'Occasionally there needs to be an opportunity [to fly privately] based on a unique circumstance to ensure that my family are safe - it's as simple as that.' Prince Harry dismissed concerns over his carbon footprint by insisting that he 'offsets' his emissions by donating to renewable energy incentives and planting trees. Sir Elton John said he did this on the prince's behalf when he provided a private plane to fly him and Meghan to his home in the south of France last August. Prince William and Kate and Prince Harry and Meghan: A 'royal rift' May 2018 Rumours have long swirled of a row between the Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan Markle at the former actress' wedding to Prince Harry two years ago, in May 2018. Then last month, society bible Tatler claimed the spat centred on whether Princess Charlotte and the other young bridesmaids should wear tights. In a profile of Kate, 38, titled Catherine the Great, it quotes one unnamed friend who claims she wanted to follow 'protocol', with the bridesmaids, including Charlotte, then three, wearing tights but Meghan disagreed. Pictures from the wedding at St George's Chapel, Windsor, appear to show the six bridesmaids with bare legs, while photographs from Prince William and Kate's wedding in April 2011 show bridesmaids wearing tights. However, Kensington Palace distanced itself from the lengthy article and said: 'This story contains a swathe of inaccuracies and false misrepresentations which were not put to Kensington Palace prior to publication.' November 2018 Royal reporter Katie Nicholl claimed sources close to the brothers said they had a falling out around Christmas 2017, when Harry reportedly told William he wasn't making enough of an effort to include Meghan in The Firm. 'Harry felt William wasnt rolling out the red carpet for Meghan and told him so,' her source claimed. 'They had a bit of a fall-out, which was only resolved when Charles stepped in and asked William to make an effort. 'Thats when the Cambridges invited the Sussexes to spend Christmas with them.' February 2019 In a TLC documentary - Kate v. Meghan: Princesses at War, Katie Nicholl said Harry had taken offence to a comment William made about his relationship with Meghan. 'William was quite concerned that the relationship had moved so quickly,' she said. 'And being close to Harry, probably the only person close enough to say to Harry, "This seems to be moving quickly, are you sure?" 'I think what was meant as well-intended brotherly advice just riled Harry. Harry is hugely protective of Meghan. He saw that as criticism. He interpreted that as his brother not really being behind this marriage, this union, and I dont think things have been quite right ever since.' In the same documentary, royal correspondent Emily Andrews claimed Harry 'went ballistic' and accused William of 'trying to wreck this relationship before its even started'. March 2019 Royal filmmaker Nick Bullen told Fox News that there was never a feud between Kate and Meghan - instead, 'William and Harry have had a rift'. 'All brothers fall out. All families fall out. Their fall-out at the moment is becoming public,' he said. April 2019 Prince Harry attended an Easter service at St George's Chapel - which happened to fall on the Queen's birthday. He arrived alone alongside Peter Philips and his then wife Autumn. While he was seen chatting to his cousin Zara Tindall and Kate, he didn't appear to speak to William. May 2019 Following the Easter service, Kate allegedly advised Harry to offer William 'an olive branch' to repair their fractured relationship and the 'complete and utter breakdown of communication' between them, The Mirror reported. It was her suggestion that led the Sussexes to invite the Cambridges to Frogmore Cottage, where they had tea and chatted for half an hour. June 2019 Meghan and Harry officially split from The Royal Foundation - the joint charity they shared with William and Kate. An official statement read: 'The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex has today announced the conclusions of a review into its structure, and how it will best support Their Royal Highnesses with future charitable activity. 'Later this year, The Royal Foundation will become the principal charitable and philanthropic vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will establish their own new charitable foundation with transitional operating support from The Royal Foundation. In addition, both couples will continue to work together on projects in the future, including on The Foundation's mental health program, Heads Together.' July 2019 Prince William and Kate attended Archie's Christening and posed for a group photo. However, a source told Us Weekly that the Cambridges 'weren't happy' about the Sussexes' decision to keep the celebration private. They reportedly said: 'William thinks his brother is going overboard keeping Archie out of the spotlight' and 'blames Meghan'. But in the same month, it appeared that Meghan and Kate were today determined to put feud rumours to bed with a truce at the tennis. The pair seemed to be getting on famously as they chatted and smiled in the Royal Box, after taking their seats to watch Meghan's good friend Serena Williams at Wimbledon. October 2019 In an ITV documentary, Prince Harry refused to deny there was a rift between him and his brother. Speaking to Tom Bradby in Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Harry said: 'Part of this role and part of this job, and this family, being under the pressure that its under, inevitably, you know, stuff happens. 'But look, were brothers, well always be brothers. And were certainly on different paths at the moment, but Ill always be there for him, as I know hell always be there for me.' He added: 'We dont see each other as much as we used to because were so busy, but you know, I love him dearly. The majority of this stuff [in the press] is created out of nothing, but you know, as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.' November 2019 The Sussexes announced they would be spending Christmas with Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, rather than at Sandringham with the Queen. While the decision was said to have the monarch's support, one source told Us Weekly that the 'rift' between William and Harry was 'one of the main reasons behind their decision'. Meanwhile a source told People: 'William is the future king. There is going to be some competitiveness between him and Harry... That already puts a rock in the relationship.' January 2020 Tom Bradby told Good Morning Britain that the brothers are hoping to rebuild their relationship. He said: 'There are lots of people who would love there to be, including, I think, the brothers themselves, love them to be closer again. And with any luck, that will happen. But with families, we all know stuff happens, things are said.' But later that month, Harry and Meghan announced they were quitting as senior members of the Royal Family, which 'blindsided' William, according to an Us Weekly source. However, a royal source told The Sun that, following the official Sandringham summit, William and Harry 'spent time together privately' to 'work on their relationship and discuss their future'. 'It has been groundbreaking in terms of saving their bond as brothers and has been totally driven by them,' the source added. 'But Kate and Meghan, who was in Canada, did join in with some of the talks on more than one occasion - which is another sign of a real thaw in their relationship. Things are better.' March 2020 The Commonwealth Day service - Meghan and Harry's final official engagement - was 'not exactly the warm reunion we were hoping for', according to body language expert Judi James. She said Harry's 'tension was palpable' as William seemingly failed to greet his brother. Towards the end of the month, when the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Dailymail.com reported that Meghan had confided in friends that her husband felt 'helpless' and was 'concerned' about the Queen and his father Prince Charles catching coronavirus. The friend added: 'Meghan told her inner circle of friends that Harry has been communicating with Prince William and the Queen on a pretty consistent basis. 'She said this world crisis has actually brought them all closer together, especially Harry and his brother. 'Harry has made it very clear to them that he will do whatever he can to help from Canada. Meghan said they are grateful, especially Harry, that they could spend time with his family before all this insanity began.' Advertisement Prince Harry is 'burdened' and 'not in great shape' after leaving the Royal family The Duke of Sussex is 'burdened' and 'not in great shape' after leaving the Royal family in March this year, according to the bombshell book. He is said to be struggling to adjust to his new Hollywood life and is 'secretly tortured' over his decision to step back from his royal duties, a source told the authors. It came after the news that his father Prince Charles, 71, was suffering with coronavirus - which he has now recovered from. The source claimed: 'On top of it all, hes got cabin fever. It was far from an ideal situation. Harrys gone from feeling excited about the move to feeling secretly tortured.' He is also missing his family, with it 'hit(ting) home for him that Charles and the Queen aren't going to be around forever', while in lockdown at Tyler Perry's mansion. Prince Harry (pictured), 35, refused to dismiss reports of a rift with his brother, Prince William, instead saying that they are on 'different paths' and have 'good days and bad days' when interviewed in October 2019 But an insider said that wife Meghan is doing her best to support her husband in their adventure, claiming: 'Shes assuring [Harry] that once things go back to normal, hell love their new life in LA. 'Meghan wants to take him hiking and talks about the local polo club and how much hell love surfing.' Prince Harry was struggling in the last months of 2019, according to the book, with the authors claiming his pressures 'had apparently finally broken him'. Insiders pointed to the royal's candid documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, in which the duke opened up about dealing with the spotlight. He told ITV broadcaster Tom Bradby about the lasting impact his mother's untimely death continues to have on his life, calling it a 'wound that festers'. 'I think being part of this family in this role, in this job, every single time I hear a camera, every single time I hear a click, every single time I see a flash it takes me straight back, so in that respect its the worst reminder of her life as opposed to her best,' Prince Harry admitted. Prince William, 37, and Prince Harry, 35, (pictured right, in November 2018). Mr Bradby, who followed Meghan and Harry during their 10-day tour to Africa between September and October last year, pointed out how the couple 'seemed a bit bruised and vulnerable' He also spoke about his relationship with his brother Prince William, explaining that they will always be there for each other but are on 'different paths'. 'Look, were brothers. Well always be brothers,' he said. 'Were certainly on different paths at the moment but I will always be there for him and, as I know, he will always be there for me.' Mr Bradby, who followed Meghan and Harry during their 10-day tour to Africa between September and October last year, pointed out how the couple 'seemed a bit bruised and vulnerable'. 'Somethings wrong,' explained royal biographer Penny Junor. 'He looked burdened and playing the victim, which does not sit comfortably with him.' In his research, Howard spoke to royal insiders who suggested that all was not well with the Prince. 'Harry is not in great shape,' Howard was told. 'Id say hes not well, declaring war on everyone, crying in public.' A few weeks after the end of their tour to Africa, Meghan and Harry took a six-week break and flew to Canada to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Upon their brief return to the UK in January, the couple made the shock announcement that they would be stepping down as senior royals. Meghan Markle realised she couldnt have the impact she wanted while in the gilded Royal cage which created a huge amount of frustration for her Meghan Markle realised she couldnt have the impact she wanted while in the gilded Royal cage which created a huge amount of frustration for her, according to Royals At War. The authors disclose that aides became increasingly concerned with the former actress' aspirations and showbiz lifestyle. Meghan Markle (pictured in October 2019 with Prince Harry) realised she couldnt have the impact she wanted while in the gilded Royal cage which created a huge amount of frustration for her, according to Royals At War Eventually, Meghan is thought to have believed that her dreams of being an iconic role model and spokesperson for issues including climate change, race relations and feminism 'could never be realised from within the confines of the palace'. As Howard and Tillett write in the book, published by Skyhorse Publishing, 'ultimately, as a Royal, Meghan wouldnt be able to do much about any of the problems.' They continue: 'In the gilded Royal cage, she quickly realized that her impact was limited. This paradox at the heart of Meghans new existence was generating a huge amount of frustration for her.' This inner turmoil was likely the catalyst that eventually led to Meghan and Harry turning their back on the Royal family and starting a new life in LA, according to the authors. 'It was this burning frustration that set the couple on the path they eventually took,' says Howard and Tillett. 'Other problems influenced their decisions further, but this was the start. It was the fuse that eventually created the explosion and caused the biggest royal scandal this century.' Meghan Markle drove palace staff 'to distraction' with her 'gung-ho Hollywood attitude' and rushing into situations 'without proper research' Meghan Markle has 'very high standards' and her 'Hollywood gung-ho attitude' put her at odds with royal aides, the explosive new book claims. The Duchess of Sussex is thought to have alienated herself from the staff tasked with easing her transition into royalty. Her 'West Coast energy' - which included 5am starts and 'text message bombardments' - drove staff to distraction, investigative journalists Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett claim in Royals At War. One insider told the authors: 'Meghan can be difficult. She has very high standards and is used to working in a Hollywood environment. However, there is a different degree of respect in the royal household.' The former American actress apparently failed to adapt to traditional royal protocol within the royal family, and has now 'burned too many bridges'. Meghan reportedly also raced to support charities without considering the details of her patronage, according to the book, with the author being told: 'It was all too rushed, without proper research.' The Duchess of Sussex (pictured recently), 38, who is currently living in LA with Prince Harry, 35, and their son Archie, one, is thought to have alienated herself from the staff tasked with easing her transition into royalty Meghan's exacting standards resulted in a 'remarkable' staff turnover, according to the book, with five aides having quit or relocated following the mother-of-one's wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018. One senior female protection officer allegedly left after becoming exasperated because Meghan 'ignored advice about venturing into risky crowd situations'. But insiders said to Howard and Tillett that Meghan found the constraints of royalty frustrating - especially the expectation that she would remain diplomatically impartial and not voice opinions. In September Prince Harry and Meghan Markle broke free of palace aides, and hired PR firm Sunshine Sachs, whose clients include Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lopez. Howard said of the move: 'Insiders told me that by that point, Meghan had burned too many bridges. 'The Palace is run by a hierarchy of advisors, aides and equerries who hold the real power. Once Meghan cut herself free of those strings, there was no way back.' Shawn Sachs and Keleigh Thomas Morgan, who represented the Duchess when she was an actress on Suits, guided her through high-profile matters - including her guest edit of British Vogue. Sunshine Sachs is considered one of the US's top crisis management firms, and was named the top PR company by the New York Observer in 2014. Founded in 1991, it has a workforce of about 185 people and counts high-profile corporations such as Microsoft and eBay among its clientele. Meghan Markle 'embarrassed' Prince Harry by announcing her pregnancy on Princess Eugenie's wedding day in a 'huge social gaffe' Meghan 'embarrassed' Prince Harry after divulging she was pregnant during Princess Eugenie's wedding day 'in a huge social gaffe' which left the bride and her mother Sarah Ferguson 'furious', the book claims. The Duchess of Sussex is said to have revealed she was carrying her first child when celebrating Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's nuptials with the rest of the Royal family on 12 October 2018. But the former American actress' announcement didn't go down well with the Duke of Sussex, 35, according to Howard and Tillett. 'Meghan put her foot in it when she decided that it would be the ideal moment to announce that she and Harry were expecting their first child,' the pair wrote. Meghan Markle 'embarrassed' Prince Harry after divulging she was pregnant during Princess Eugenie's wedding day (pictured at the event together), according to the book The Duchess of Sussex, 38, is said to have revealed she was carrying little Archie, now one, when celebrating Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's nuptials (pictured above) with the rest of the Royal family on 12 October 2018 'This was a huge social gaffe, even if you were not a royal stealing the limelight from Eugenie, who was furious, as was her mother, Sarah.' The authors claim the announcement left Prince Harry, who is currently living in LA with his wife and son, feeling embarrassed. Meghan and Prince Harry told the public they were expecting their first child on the eve of their royal tour of Australia and New Zealand on October 15, 2018. At the time, some fans criticised the couple for making the announcement so close to Eugenie's wedding. The news of Harry and Meghan's pregnancy was revealed at 8.40am on October 15 2018 - and at that exact time, Eugenie's mother Sarah, Duchess of York posted a tweet about her daughter's big day She posted three further messages (above) saying how 'proud' she was of her daughter and new son-in-law Jack - but made no mention of Harry and Meghan 'If Harry and Meghan did actually tell the royal family about their baby at Eugenies wedding on Friday, thats pretty shady,' one person wrote, while another added: 'Thunder stealer.' However, a source previously told BAZAAR.com that Prince Harry and Meghan did not break the news to their family at the wedding. They claimed that the Queen and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, and Eugenie and Jack all knew about Meghan's pregnancy before the nuptials, but the big day was the first time they saw the couple in person to congratulate them. They added that it was unclear whether the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge knew ahead of time. A representative for Kensington Palace later said the Royal family were 'delighted for the couple'. However, rumours of bad feeling went into overdrive when Princess Eugenie's mother tweeted a picture of her royal wedding outfit at the exact moment the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were having a baby. Kensington Palace officially revealed the pregnancy at 8.40am on October 15, 2018, on what was the 59th birthday of Eugenie's mother Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. And at the exact time of the announcement, Sarah posted a tweet thanking the designer of her dress for the outfit worn on her daughter's big day just days earlier. She then posted three further messages saying how 'proud' she was of her daughter and new son-in-law Jack - but made no mention of Harry and Meghan. Eugenie's father the Duke of York, who wished his ex-wife Sarah a 'very happy day' on her birthday, also retweeted one of Sarah's tweets featuring Eugenie and Jack. Prince Andrew also made no mention of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's news. Royals at War: The Untold Story of Harry and Meghan's Shocking Split with the House of Windsor by Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett is expected to be released on July, 23. Cherie Blair says husband Tony has got into the habit of thinking whatever he does is 'more important' than helping out with domestic chores. At the weekend the former prime minister and Labour leader revealed he hasn't done housework, laundry or cooked a family meal since 1997. Tony, 67, claims it was 'impossible' to return to ordinary life after leaving office and told The Sunday Times Magazine he hasn't done a weekly grocery shop or even driven a car since the month he entered Number 10. The ex PM, who runs a think tank and consultancy - Tony Blair Institute for Global Change - admitted that the bulk of the housework during lockdown has fallen to his wife Cherie and their children. Cherie Blair says husband Tony has got into the habit of thinking whatever he does is 'more important' than helping out with domestic chores Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Cherie, 65, said since the family left Downing Street, Tony has 'got into the habit of thinking that whatever he does is more important' - particularly when it comes to 'what he would probably regard as the more mundane things'. 'Reeducation is a process that, I'm afraid, is still going on,' she added. '[But] the more we talk about it, the more we see men talking about it, [the quicker] it stops being women's work.' Cherie said Tony was a 'very hands on father' when they were in Number 10, and played a big role in helping to look after their children when he was a backbench MP in the Eighties. Cherie (pictured with son Euan) added that her sons are more modern men than their father, explaining that Nicky is 'a very hands on father and actually does cook' But when he became Prime Minister and the couple welcomed their youngest son Leo, now 20, she recalled: 'The switchboard would ring up and say "The Prime Minister is coming back at 7pm, can you make sure the baby is ready so he can put the baby to bed, and his dinners ready".' Cherie told how there'd be times when Tony would be hours later than she expected, meaning his dinner was 'ruined', but she excused him because he'd had to take a call from the US President. 'It is fair enough, isn't it?' she said. 'Once upon time the dinner would have been in the bin, but I could see that that was actually more important.' Cherie added that her sons are more modern men than their father, explaining that Nicky is 'a very hands on father and actually does cook'. Cherie said Tony was a 'very hands on father' when they were in Number 10, and played a big role in helping to look after their children when he was a backbench MP in the Eighties. Pictured in 2005 with sons Nicky (Nicholas), Euan and Leo and their daughter Kathryn 'And he cleans up afterwards as well,' she added. 'So yes, definitely an improvement.' Though the ex-PM's lockdown cooking skills have stretched to an omelette, which he made for himself and Leo. Cherie, who runs The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, said she hopes the pandemic has shone a light on how caring and cleaning roles are the 'bedrock of what makes the rest of us able to go on and do what to us, at least, is more interesting work'. She said it's an important job and hopes people recognise going forward how much we rely on the people that do it The family have had no staff working at their seven-bedroom rural Buckinghamshire stately home - which Blair hasn't left in 11 weeks - since March, other than their nanny of 22 years who is like 'a member of the family'. Cherie, who runs The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, said she hopes the pandemic has shone a light on how caring and cleaning roles are the 'bedrock of what makes the rest of us able to go on and do what to us, at least, is more interesting work' Cherie said she feels lockdown is disproportionately affecting women and is concerned about reports that British society has 'regressed to a 1950s way of living' for many women. University of Sussex researchers found 45 per cent of mothers were responsible for the lion's share of childcare during the outbreak - up from 27 per cent before Covid-19 - while almost three quarters of mothers considered themselves as being the 'default' parent since lockdown was imposed on March 23. Cherie told The Telegraph that we're not seeing enough women or hearing about their experiences during public discussions about the pandemic, which means it's not translating into policy. 'If we'd heard more from women, we may have had more priority on getting the schools open than getting the pubs open,' she said. The Blairs have both said they are enjoying 'family time' and are in regular FaceTime contact with their daughter Kathryn, 32, who is due to give birth in July and lives in London, along with their eldest son Euan, 36. Tony added that he fears for the long-term impact of the coronavirus on the economy, stating: 'The thing that is terrifying at this stage is the economic damage at the end of it.' Blair accused the government of publishing 'confusing' guidelines which even leaves him unsure of what the rules are 'lies at the root of the trust problem'. 'The government has announced a confusing array of three "phases", three "steps", five "tests" and five "alert levels",' he said. 'These overlap with one another substantially, are poorly defined and assessed in opaque ways, and are not linked explicitly to the lifting of different restrictions. This opacity leaves the impression that considerations other than risk are governing the pace of easing.' He said he believes the government strategy for easing lockdown should focus more simply on the R rate and the number of new cases every day - a scheme that would require mass testing. Blair added that this is the only method he believes will ensure the economy open safely, and despairs that the government is 'not even debating' implementing testing on the scale required. Prince William and Kate Middleton face difficult decision over sending 'shy' Prince George to boarding school and will not make a choice until their children's personalities develop further, a royal expert has claimed. The Duke, 38, and the Duchess of Cambridge, 38, have been home-schooling Prince George, six, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, at their Norfolk home of Anmer Hall during the coronavirus pandemic. But Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine, has revealed how Prince William and Kate are 'very carefully' weighing up decisions about the future of their children's education. She told Ok! magazine that the duo are 'modern parents', adding: 'I think they'll wait to see how the children's personalities develop, and take into consideration whether or not they would be happy to live away from home. Having experienced terrible trauma in his own childhood, William is very tuned in to his children's mental health.' Prince William, 38, and Kate Middleton, 38, may take Prince George, six, and Princess Charlotte's, five, different personalities into account when considering whether to send them to boarding school, Ingrid Seward told Ok! magazine She pointed out that the parents might be particularly aware of the children's different personalities. While Princess Charlotte 'appears very confident' and 'would suit the boarding environment', Ingrid commented that Prince George is 'a shy little boy', and compared him to his grandfather, Prince Charles, 71. But Ingrid also revealed that Kate may 'feel more secure' if Prince George goes to a boarding school where he can be 'tucked away' and 'have more freedom'. The expert said that the schooling may allow the heir to the throne to be 'very protected from outside dangers.' The expert said Prince William would be particularly conscious of his children's mental health, having suffered 'terrible trauma' during his own childhood (pictured, arriving for his first day at Ludgrove Prep school, where he boarded, in 1990) The royal expert went on to say that the public has become 'used to' royals break away from tradition, so it wouldn't be a big shock if the Duke and Duchess did decide to keep their children in day school. Prince William was just eight years old when he became a full-time boarder at Ludgrove School in Berkshire, where he appeared to thrive. Kate also attended boarding schools, including Downe House, a girls boarding school in Berkshire, which she left after two terms for Marlborough College. But while both of Prince George's parents thrived at school, Prince Charles attended Cheam School in Hampshire and then Gordonstoun in Scotland, later calling the experience 'disastrous'. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been home-schooling their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, two, during the coronavirus pandemic Prince George is currently a pupil at Thomass Battersea, a 6,158-a-term co-educational school in south-west London, where he can stay for another seven years. Both Marlborough and 13,556-a-term Eton take full-time boarders from the age of 13. Friends previously said the couple are deliberating a less traditional educational route for the future king than previous heirs. Meanwhile Princess Charlotte also attends Thomas's Battersea, But while Thomas' Battersea has resumed its classes for five-year-old Princess Charlotte's reception year group, it is unlikely she will attend without her older brother, according to royal biographer Katie Nicholl. Six-year-old Prince George's Year 2 class remains closed in the phased reopening of the primary school. Both Kate and Prince William attended boarding schools during their youth (pictured, bottom left, the Duchess in an undated photograph by St Andrew's School) Speaking to 9Honey, Katie said: 'If they're based at Anmer Hall, it would be very logistically challenging to send Charlotte back and keep George and Louis at home. 'It would mean moving back to London for the sake of sending one child back to school and possibly, logistically with everything else they're juggling in terms of official duties, it might just be too challenging and that may be why they decided not to do it.' Katie added, however, that she believes the children could resume their studies at school in the near future. 'I think it's likely if George's year does go back, even if it's just for a short while before the end of term, then I think it's probably likely they will want him and Charlotte to go back,' she explained, pointing out that both children will be moving into a new year group in September. Princess Charlotte and Prince George currently attend Thomas's Battersea in London (pictured, arriving for Charlotte's first day in September) 'If nothing else it will be an opportunity to say hello and goodbye to their friends,' she added. Thomas's concludes its summer term on Friday July 3, with its summer extension coming to an end on July 17. Michaelmas term begins on September 7. Katie said she doesn't believe Prince William, 37, and Kate, 38, will make a 'big deal' of taking their children back to school as doing so would be 'too disruptive' amid the pandemic. She said if they do return, she imagines it will be kept 'pretty low key' and done 'quietly and below the radar'. With post-lockdown weddings given the green light from this weekend, couples desperate to tie the knot are having to rejig their plans to suit the strict new rules. Ceremonies are restricted to 30 people - which includes staff - and receptions are banned, while fathers cannot walk their daughter arm-in-arm down the aisle and couples must wash their hands before and after exchanging rings. More than 250,000 weddings usually take place in the UK each year, but most couples have been affected by restrictions that came into force in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Here couples share how they are planning their socially distanced celebrations. Terry Armstrong, 41, a pension administrator from Gateshead, is marrying his partner Lindsey Hill, 33, a building facilities operative, this Saturday. Terry Armstrong, 41, a pension Administrator from Gateshead, is marrying his partner Lindsey Hill, 33, a building facilities operative, this Saturday He told FEMAIL that, after pestering their venue 'for ages' and watching every daily briefing, only this week they've had it confirmed that their big day is going ahead. 'So despite planning for a year, it's all come down to a mad rush,' he said. 'The wedding is on July 4 at 12 noon. I believe we're the only couple getting married that day at Newcastle Civic Centre.' Terry told how they had the unenviable task of reducing their number of guests from 80 to just eight. 'We had to choose our two witnesses, one parent each - so we both went with our mothers - our son Jack and my brother Dean, who will act as camera man,' he explained. Terry told how they had the unenviable task of reducing their number of guests from 80 to just eight 'We had to cancel the reception which meant I wasted months on writing a speech!' After the ceremony the couple now plan to celebrate their wedding at home with their son and a takeaway. Terry added: 'We plan to have a big celebration on our one year wedding anniversary.' The couple weren't keen to postpone their legal union because they are concerned there will be another spike in coronavirus cases. 'We don't think people are taking Covid-19 seriously enough, despite the government warnings, so "normal" is a long way away,' Terry said. The couple weren't keen to postpone their legal wedding because they are concerned there will be another spike in coronavirus cases 'We just wanted to get the legality of marriage done while we can and begin our lives as husband and wife. 'Lindsey will miss having her dad walk her down the aisle, and I will not experience the same nervousness of waiting at the front to see her for the first time coming in with her walk-in music. 'Also the exchanging of rings is banned, so these are all things we will try to recreate in the future with a celebrant ceremony.' Stephen Toner, 32, from Accrington, Lancashire, and his fiancee Chloe Simpson, 26, have actually brought their October wedding forward to August out of fear of a second wave of Covid-19. Stephen Toner, 32, from Accrington, Lancashire, and his fiancee Chloe Simpson, 26, have actually brought their October wedding forward to August out of fear of a second wave of Covid-19 Stephen, who runs his own company SWT Catering, told how they were due to hold it on a rooftop terrace followed by a dinner at 20 Stories, a restaurant and cocktail bar in the heart of Spinningfields in Manchester - but they initially postponed their nuptials when the country went into lockdown in March. At a glance: What are the rules for weddings from this Saturday? Members of different households must maintain social distancing, so fathers cannot walk daughters arm-in-arm down the aisle Couples must wash their hands before and after exchanging rings Receptions are limited to two households indoors, or up to six people from different households outdoors Up to 30 people are allowed at the ceremony, including the couple, witnesses, officiants and guests, and staff not employed by the venue No food or drink is allowed to be consumed 'unless required for the purposes of solemnisation' There should be no singing during the service or use of instruments which have to be blown into Spoken responses should 'not be in a raised voice' If a small child is involved, they should be held a parent, guardian or member of that child's household Couples should consider using recordings instead of singing Organs music is allowed but they must be cleaned before and after Books, reusable and communal resources such as service sheets, prayer mats, or devotional material should be removed from use. Advertisement After waiting for months for news, they decided to hold the ceremony at Bury Town Hall - where they gave their notice of marriage in January - when it was announced small ceremonies are now allowed. Stephen told FEMAIL: 'Our new date was October 9, but myself and Chloe were concerned about reports of the possibility there being a second wave of Covid-19 in the later months of this year. 'We didn't want to take the chance of waiting for that date for it to possibly be cancelled and then having to wait a lot longer to get married. 'I paid for our notice of marriage on January 15 this year and I know you have to get married within a year of that notice. Also with our honeymoon to Paris booked this year, we cannot delay it for when Covid is over as there would be more cost involved - though saying that, it may not be over for a very long time which is frustrating.' Not only is it now not possible to have their big day at their dream venue, Stephen said 'almost everyone who should be involved will be missing from our wedding'. 'We've had to cancel all the decorations we'd planned for, and Chloe had to buy a new dress with extra funds due to the original not being appropriate for the limited space of the venue change.' The couple have also had to shave their guest list down from 50 to eight people, which includes two registrars and their son Riley, and are planning to hold a party in the future. 'It means my best man is not able to come, my fiancee will have to walk down the aisle on her own, and there'll also be no music due to the ceremony being cut down to only saying the law abiding words to conclude our marriage,' Stephen said. 'The only plus side is having additional funds in the later months to splash out on to make that future party as good as possible!' Becky Pearey, 31, and Jamie Hansell, 35, booked their big day at St Nicholas Church in Gosforth, Newcastle on July 11 a year ago after getting engaged in Kos in May 2019. Becky Pearey, 31, and Jamie Hansell, 35, booked their big day at St Nicholas Church in Gosforth, Newcastle on July 11 a year ago after getting engaged in Kos in May 2019 Becky told how she has known what she wanted for her big day since she was 10, and her parents Sue and Keith, who live in Paris, drove to the UK by car on Sunday so that they can quarantine for 14 days before the nuptials. But while Keith is allowed to walk her down the aisle, the duo won't be able to traditionally link arms if they are to maintain the one metre social distancing rule. Becky, a trainee primary school teacher, told ChronicleLive: 'We are trying to work out how Dad is going to walk me down the aisle. He'll have to walk a metre in front of me because of social distancing rules. 'My dress is amazing. My mother, mother-in-law and dad were there when I went to choose it and it was Dad who picked my dress. It wasn't something I would normally go for but when I tried it on, it was just perfect.' Becky told how she has known what she wanted for her big day since she was 10, and her parents Sue and Keith, who live in Paris, drove to the UK by car on Sunday so that they can quarantine for 14 days before the nuptials Becky said she has been 'so excited' for their wedding and had been emailing Rev Jane Nattrass every week asking questions. 'We had planned to have the reception and evening do at Doxford Hall, but because of coronavirus they aren't opening until later in the summer, so we are having to postpone that until next year,' she said. 'Instead we hope that we can have a glass of champagne and afternoon tea at the church.' Becky told FEMAIL she has reduced her bridesmaids from six to two - her sister-in-law and sister-in-law-to-be - while Jamie is having just two ushers out of his original five - his best man and Becky's brother. Becky said she has been 'so excited' for their wedding and had been emailing Rev Jane Nattrass every week asking questions. Pictured during a socially distanced rehearsal 'Next year when they can actually do what they normally would in the church and we have more guests, they will play their part,' she said. 'It's going to be fairly strict, so the more people just sitting as guests the easier to control social distancing and seating.' Sadly Becky's mother was unable to be with her daughter during the final preparations leading up to the big day, and they can't even hug when they reunite, but Sue will attend her last dress fitting via FaceTime. In order for their extended friends and family, especially those that are abroad, to 'attend', the couple are broadcasting the ceremony on Zoom. Keith told the publication it will be a 'very proud moment' when he walks Becky down the aisle, despite the social distancing restrictions. In order for their extended friends and family, especially those that are abroad, to 'attend', the couple are broadcasting the ceremony on Zoom 'We have honoured all the confinement guidelines over the past few months and as a result of this, we will now be able to enjoy an unforgettable day with our family. We can't wait,' he said. Another couple getting married later this month are Katie McGregor, 36, and Oliver Glaze, 38, of Ayrshire. The couple were due to wed on May 12, but rearranged to July 30 and, instead of the 100 evening guests and 30 at the ceremony, they have opted for an 'elopement' package. Katie and Oliver will enjoy a humanist ceremony on a beach in Scotland with just them, their six-month-old son Benji and their two dogs. Another couple getting married later this month are Katie McGregor, 36, and Oliver Glaze, 38, of Ayrshire, pictured with their son Benji Katie, a sustainability manager, said it was too short notice to organise rooms in hotels for everyone, so they're planning a blessing in Hertfordshire - where Oliver's family is from - next year. 'The original plans were that family and friends would come up to Scotland and make a week of it,' she told The Times. 'There is definitely some disappointment as obviously family want to be there, but on Oliver's side one of his parents is shielding and my dad is in remission from cancer. 'We're all on the same page. It was important for us to get married, to wait another year seemed too much.' Princess Sofia of Sweden has shared an adorable photograph of her two sons in the hope of encouraging people to enjoy staycations in their 'beautiful country'. The royal, 35, who is married to Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, 41, posted a snap of their children Alexander, four, and Gabriel, two, to their personal Instagram page over the weekend. Sitting on a wicker seat together, the siblings are dressed in shorts with Alexander sporting a brown hat and white T-shirt, while his brother dons a more formal buttoned shirt. The pair smiled for the camera as they enjoyed the sunshine in the countryside at Sodermanland County, where the Royal family's Stenhammar Palace is located. Princess Sofia of Sweden has shared an adorable photograph of her two sons (pictured) Alexander, four, and Gabriel, two The royal (pictured in November 2019), 35, who is married to Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, 41, posted a snap of their children to their personal Instagram page over the weekend The candid photograph was shared with the following caption, which has been translated from Swedish: 'We wish you a nice summer! 'Since many stay at home this year and discover Sweden up close, we here on Instagram will share some of our favorite spots where we are this summer. 'This is to show that our beautiful country has fantastic opportunities for a fun, wonderful and activity filled staycation.' The candid photograph was shared with the following caption, which has been translated from Swedish: 'We wish you a nice summer!' Pictured: Princess Sofia with her husband and their two sons in Christmas 2019 It comes after Princess Sofia offered royal fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her wedding day to Prince Carl Philip. The royal celebrated her fifth anniversary earlier this month and shared a collection of photographs from her big day to mark the occasion. Posting to her official Instagram account, which she shares with her husband, Sofia revealed a series of sweet snaps - including one of her kissing her groom and another showcasing her elegant bridal gown. Meanwhile, Princess Sofia offered royal fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her wedding day to Prince Carl Philip (pictured together) She shared the images with the caption: 'Sometimes every person comes to a decisive choice; a choice that determines one's future and is about who one is and above all, who one wants to be. 'And often it takes courage. Courage not to choose the easy path just because it is easy, without courage to stay on the hard road because it's right.' The royal couple added: 'Today we are celebrating our five-year wedding anniversary.' The son of domestic abuse survivor Sally Challen, who served nine years for killing her husband Richard Challen, has criticised television presenter Richard Madeley over advice offered in an agony uncle column. David Challen, who successfully campaigned for his mother's release when laws on coercive control were introduced in 2015 and her crime was reduced from murder to manslaughter, said he was 'deeply disappointed' by the former This Morning host's advice to a reader. In his regular column for The Telegraph newspaper, Madeley told 'anon' of Bedford, who was worried about fighting and loud bangs heard from a property next to their's, not to interfere, saying: 'If they were going to kill each other theyd have done it by now' and suggesting any abuse couldn't be serious or 'you'd have noticed black eyes, cut lips and the like'. Scroll down for video David Challen, right, with his mother Sally Challen pictured on June 7th 2019 after her conviction for murder was reduced to manslaughter for the killing of her abusive husband Richard. David today criticised television presenter Richard Madeley over advice offered in his Agony Uncle column for the Telegraph newspaper In the article, published this week, Madeley advised a reader who was concerned about a potential domestic violence situation in the property next door not to be overly concerned by loud noises and verbal fighting Challen said the author and broadcaster's advice to his reader, 'anon from Bedford' was 'dangerous' (Madeley pictured in October 2019) David took to his Twitter account yesterday to comment on Madeley's response to the reader, saying: 'Your advice is outright dangerous. You have advised a neighbour concerned about fighting and large bangs next door that: It is a private issue, if it was serious thered be physical marks and if they were going to kill each other theyd have done by now.' He later added: 'It's deeply disappointing the advice column by @richardm56 was published by @telegraph, especially as the day before I wrote a piece for them on #DomesticAbuseReporting calling for more responsible reporting across media on this. This extends to op-ed's and columns.' MailOnline has contacted Richard Madeley and the Telegraph for comment. Other domestic violence campaigners agreed, calling the former This Morning host's advice irresponsible. Domestic violence survivor Rachel Williams, @Dontlookback198 on Twitter, said: 'It shows still so much work needs to be done.' Another, @HBondgirl1965, wrote: 'If the neighbours ignored noise from my sons house it would have been two murders one possible suicide rather than one murder one attempted and one behind bars for life. Abuse does not always mean physical signs.' Sally Challen outside the Old Bailey with her sons James (left) and David. She walked free after the court accepted her guilty plea to manslaughter. Her 14 year prison sentence was reduced to nine years and four months @GudrunBurnet added: 'This advice is alarming @richardm56. In many Domestic Homicide Reviews the neighbours were aware but did nothing thinking it was a private issue. Saying I think theyre both just fine. If they were going to kill each other, theyd have done it by now is unhelpful. Pls retract.' David's mother Sally spent over nine years in prison for killing her husband Richard, after she bludgeoned him to death with a hammer. But a change in the law in 2015, when coercive control finally became an offence, enabled Sally to appeal her conviction. In a landmark case that gripped Britain, her legal team argued she was incapable of making a cold-blooded, premeditated decision to kill Richard, as all rational reasoning had been destroyed by years of his psychological abuse and controlling behaviour. In 2019, her charge was reduced to manslaughter and Sally was released from prison. David now campaigns against domestic violence and works as a Prison Advice ambassador. Tonight, Madeley said the criticism was justified, writing: Hi everyone. My critics today are absolutely right I misjudged this one, tonally and in content. SO annoyed with self. Have reached out this afternoon to various people to apologise, and will address it in Saturdays paper. Mea culpa. Princess Beatrice and Edo Mapelli Mozzi are 'considering a move to Italy' because 'the furore over Prince Andrew's scandal' has left the royal wanting 'to start a new life', a royal author has claimed. The Queen's granddaughter, 31, is currently spending lockdown with Edo and future mother-in-law Nikki Shale at her 1.5 million country house near Chipping Norton. Author Phil Dampier said the Duke of York's daughter and her future husband were considering moving abroad, adding that 'it wouldnt surprise' him if the couple did relocate to Europe. He told Australian site New Idea: 'She has had to put up with a lot, having her wedding postponed, and also the furore over her father Prince Andrew and the Epstein scandal.' Princess Beatrice, 31, and Edo Mapelli Mozzi, 37, are 'considering a move to Italy' because 'the furore over Prince Andrew's scandal' has left the royal wanting 'to start a new life', according to royal expert Phil Dampier Edo has ties to Italy as a descendant of an Italian noble family, while the expert said Princess Beatrice may be motivated by 'a desire to get away from it all.' Meanwhile he pointed out that Edo could run his multimillion pound property business from anywhere and Princess Beatrice is not a working royal and 'desires to be happy'. Beatrice, daughter of the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, was set to walk down the aisle in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace in London last month. Beatrice was overjoyed after becoming engaged on a weekend trip to Italy last September, and the couple said they could not wait to be married. Prince Andrew became embroiled in scandal in November and stepped back from royal duty after a disastrous Newsnight interview (pictured, with Princess Beatrice in May 2018) But her nuptials were overshadowed by the scandal that has engulfed her father Andrew, with the date changing twice to accommodate the Queen's second son. The duke retired from public royal duties in November after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has strenuously denied claims from Virginia Giuffre that he slept with her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein. As the granddaughter of a monarch, Beatrice would have been expected to wed in front of 800 guests in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, just like her sister Princess Eugenie, whose ceremony was televised and was followed by a carriage ride through the town. According to Phil, Princess Beatrice 'has put up with a lot' including the 'furore' around her father's scandal and wishes to 'get away from it all' Amid the controversy over her father, the princess opted for the more intimate, low-key option of the Chapel Royal and was due to invite 150 guests. Edo's son, Wolfie, from his relationship with architect Dara Huang, was set to be in the wedding party, alongside Eugenie as chief Bridesmaid. The Queen was to host the private reception in the grounds of her London residence. But plans were changed after the Government called on all people in the UK, particularly the over-70s, to avoid all non-essential contact and travel as part of unprecedented peacetime measures aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19. And in April, Boris Johnson put a ban on weddings as the virus raged through the UK public. Sources confirmed the wedding had been postponed in May, telling People that the invitations were never sent out, due to complications with the virus. The couple, who were set to marry in May, are staying with Edo's mother Nikki Shale at her 1.5 million home in Chipping Norton (pictured, Nikki) While Duchess of York, 61, and her ex-husband Prince Andrew, 60, have been joined by Princess Eugenie, 30, and her husband Jack Brooksbank, 34, at their home the Royal Lodge in Windsor during the pandemic, Beatrice and Edo have stayed with his mother. Speaking on the City Island podcast, Fergie explained: 'Edo and Beatrice have been living with her future mother-in-law who is lovely...I'm missing my [other] daughter but it's just like everybody else, we are just the same family as everybody else.' She went on to share a gushing tribute to her 'darling' Princess Beatrice on the date which was set to be her wedding day to fiance Edo. Sharing a childhood picture of Princess Beatrice on Instagram, Sarah commented: 'I am so excited to celebrate yours and Edos love when we all are out of lockdown.' Coles supermarket has today launched a new hot roast chicken to join its classic flavour in the deli section - and it will only set you back $12. The Australian grocer's new chook will be 'Mexican inspired' and seasoned with herbs used in traditional Mexican cooking like paprika, chilli and cumin. 'We've introduced a new Mexican flavoured hot roast chook for customers who are looking to save time on home-cooked roasts,' a Coles spokesperson told FEMAIL. Coles supermarket has today launched a new hot roast chicken to join its classic flavour in the deli section - and it will only set you back $12 'The Coles Australian RSPCA Approved Mexican Flavoured Hot Roast Chicken uses responsibly sourced chicken and has a delicious Mexican flavoured brine, stuffing core and sprinkle.' The chicken is cooked fresh in-store with a time stamp on the packaging so customers know exactly when it came out of the oven. It's ready to serve the moment you put it on the plate and has been sourced from Australian farms with no artificial colours or flavours added. It's ready to serve the moment you put it on the plate and has been sourced from Australian farms with no artificial colours or flavours added Coles has also added another hot meat to its selection, this time making one that's perfect for a Sunday roast. 'We've introduced a new Australian Hormone Free Roast Beef to help time-poor customers with a convenient, quick and easy meal solution for lunch and dinner,' said the spokesperson. It has been seasoned prior to baking and slowed cooked for eight hours before being served. A small study by researchers in Italy has found that COVID-19 patients who were tested for the novel coronavirus at a hospital there in May had fewer virus particles than those who were tested a month earlier. The researchers offered some theories for the lower 'viral load', including that lockdown measures may have reduced patients' exposure to the virus, but their study did not provide evidence to explain their finding. Another Italian doctor said last month that 'the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy', suggesting the interaction between the virus and its human host had changed and that the virus is no longer replicating at such a rapid rate inside the body. Alberto Zangrillo, head of intensive care at Italy's San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, said at the time that his comments would be reinforced by soon-to-be published research co-led by fellow scientist Massimo Clementi. But Clementi's study, published on Monday in the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, did not look for mutations in the virus or changes in patients that might explain why the illness seemed less severe overall in the May patients. Without that information, it is not possible to say whether the virus is changing in ways that give humans a fighting chance against the virus, or if - through testing, social distancing and mask-wearing - we are simply better at fighting it. Swabs taken in Italy in April showed greater viral loads than those take in May, but without sequencing viral genomes, it is unclear if this is the result of the virus growing weaker or of less exposure to the virus following lockdowns (file) HOW AND WHY CAN VIRUSES CHANGE OVER TIME? Viruses are known to change over time because they are subject to random genetic mutations in the same way that all living things are. These mutations can have various effects and many will only happen briefly and not become a permanent change as newer generations of viruses replace the mutated ones. However, some of the mutations might turn out to be advantageous to the virus, and get carried forward into future generations. A virus may change its structure by accident but turn out to be more infectious that way, meaning it can infect more hosts, reproduce more, and become more dominant than its less fertile predecessor. Or if a virus becomes less dangerous to its host - that is, it causes fewer symptoms or less death - it may find that it is able to live longer and reproduce more. As a result, more of these less dangerous viruses are produced and they may go on to spread more effectively than the more dangerous versions, which could be stamped out by medication because more people realise they are ill, for example. The mutation may then be taken forward in the stronger generations and become the dominant version of the virus. In an explanation of an scientific study about HIV, the NHS said in 2014: 'The optimal evolutionary strategy for a virus is to be infectious (so it creates more copies of itself) but non-lethal (so its host population doesnt die out). 'The "poster boy" for successful long-living viruses is, arguably, the family of viruses that cause the, which has existed for thousands of years.' Advertisement Instead, the new study looked for links between illness severity and the amount of virus - the viral load - in the patients. The researchers analysed 200 nasopharyngeal swabs taken at the San Raffaele hospital. Half were from patients treated in April - at the pandemic's peak - and half were from patients treated in May. Based on the results, the researchers calculated that patients' viral loads were higher in April. Patients swabbed in April also had more severe symptoms and were more likely to need hospitalisation and intensive care, they found. Viral loads were similar in men and women, but were higher in patients aged 60 and over, and in those with severe COVID-19. Clementi's team said that while it was theoretically possible that the new coronavirus had mutated, they did not have molecular data to prove it. Theirs is not the only hospital to see falling viral loads. Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania have noted anecdotally that their patients don't seem as sick, and that COVID-19 tests show lower viral loads. The most optimistic - and unproven - scenario is that, perhaps, the virus has mutated in such a way that it is less contagious than in the past several months. All viruses mutate, and usually the surviving viruses have mutated in ways that help them to make copies of themselves and spread more rapidly. That was not the case for SARS-CoV-1, which struck the world in 2002 and 2003. The strain that became dominant actually mutated to become less infectious, a shift partly credited for its sudden disappearance and the abrupt, unceremonious end of the epidemics. Scientists can hope SARS-CoC-2 might do the same - but so far, the evidence to suggest it will is thin. In fact a growing body of evidence suggests a stronger variation of the virus has become the dominant one in much of the world, including the US and Italy - though Italy's epidemic has certainly quieted. The spikes on the outside of the coronavirus (illustrated in red) are what it uses to latch onto cells on the inside of a victim's airways. A mutated version of the virus appears to have developed stronger spikes so it is more likely to infect someone if they breathe it in, Scripps University scientists say. This strong strain has become dominant, their research suggests In the US, however, cases are surging in new hotspots, like Texas, Arizona and Florida. There are varying explanations for these rises proposed, and they mirror explanations for the lower viral loads seen by scientists like those in Italy and Pittsburgh. President Trump and the CDC have credited the rising case rates to better (or in Trump's case, 'GREAT') testing. More tests are certainly being run in the US than were last month, or in the preceding months. More Americans are turning up to get tested, too. As of Monday, the US has run 31,557,407 coronavirus tests. With wider availability of tests and greater general awareness about coronavirus, more Americans may be getting tested earlier in the course of their infections, too, driving up the number of positives in asymptomatic people. The newer strain named G614 (blue) appeared later on in the pandemic but, since then, has dominated the older, slower-spreading strain D614 (orange) in most areas of the world. It was the only one recorded in England but all the patients sampled were taken from one city - Sheffield That may also drive down the viral loads detected in those tests, if indeed people are getting tested before the virus has had the opportunity to replicate extensively inside their cells. Other possible explanations include wider use of social distancing in May versus April, warmer temperatures, increased use of face masks and hand-washing, and less pollution, they said. In particular, may scientists theorize that people who are exposed to coronavirus repeatedly may be more bombarded by the infection - which could help explain the more severe illness seen in frontline and essential workers (especially black and Latinx people in the US) who are faced with a day-in and day-out onslaught of virus. More people leaving their homes amid states' reopenings may help explain rising infection rates in states like Texas and Arizona. And lower viral loads seen in Italy and Pittsburgh may be a natural follow-on to decreasing exposures after lockdowns. But it will take continued, consistent testing, genome sequencing studies of the coronavirus's mutations, I think youre going to see quite a bit change, Superintendent Tony Sanders said. This is what we know at this moment in time. But as I said in the beginning, by the time we get to August I think even more might change as we learn more about (COVID-19), as we learn what other states might be doing, as we learn what other districts across the state are doing. Fever is one of the major tell-tale signs of infection with coronavirus when we come down with an infection, our temperature can rise as part of our immune response to kill it off. The rise is triggered by chemical messengers released by immune cells travelling to the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls temperature, telling it to increase the heat within your body known as the core temperature. Most of our lives our body temperature hovers around 37c (between 36.5c and 37.5c). It's classed as a fever if it goes over 37.8c. 'Viruses are more likely to die off when temperature goes above 38c,' says Dr William Bird, a GP in Reading, Berks. Not only does a high temperature directly kill the virus, it also triggers a cascade of responses in the body that fire up immunity. For example, a temperature above 37c can speed up the activity of NF-kB proteins in our cells, which turn on genes involved in the immune response, a 2018 study from the University of Warwick found. Fever is one of the major tell-tale signs of infection with coronavirus when we come down with an infection, our temperature can rise as part of our immune response to kill it off Other research has shown that specific virus-killing cells, T-cells, also rev up their activity when temperature rises. 'There is a belief that lowering the temperature may delay getting better and prolong illness,' says Dr Bird. Saying that, though, fevers can be serious, so seek the advice of a GP, particularly with babies and young children. Here, experts reveal what everyone should know about this vital measurement and the surprising factors that can affect it. WORK OUT WHAT'S 'NORMAL' FOR YOU Our body temperature fluctuates naturally over the day and night. One study based on readings from more than 300 people found it is lowest between 3am and 5am and highest between 4pm and 6pm, with a difference of about half a degree celsius between the two times, according to U.S. researchers writing in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in 2018. This suggests that if you want to take a baseline temperature, first thing in the morning is the best time to measure. However, doctors have noticed that temperature may spike on and off throughout the day in those sick with coronavirus, says Dr Patricia Macnair, a specialist in ageing and palliative care in Surrey, although it is not yet known why this might be. 'If you're concerned, take more than one temperature reading a day say, morning, afternoon and evening,' she says. 'If you think you may be infected, keep an eye on other symptoms [for example, a dry cough, loss of smell or taste and fatigue] and if they become more severe, call 111.' Contrary to popular belief, you don't necessarily feel hot if you have a fever. 'This is one of the big misconceptions about high temperatures,' says Dr Bird WE BECOME COLDER AS WE GET OLDER Younger women with a normal body weight tend to have a higher body temperature than older men who are overweight, according to a 2011 study in the Journals of Gerontology, which analysed the body temperatures of more than 18,600 people. The analysis also found men were generally colder than women, with scientists suggesting female hormones may play a role (as temperature tends to fall after menopause and is known to fluctuate during the menstrual cycle). SHOULD YOU SHARE AT HOME? It's thought that coronavirus can live on hard surfaces such as plastic for up to 72 hours, if not longer, so right now you should not be sharing thermometers even at home between family members. But if you only have one at home, you can wash the end of an oral thermometer with soap and water, says London GP Dr Ross Perry, or wipe it down with an alcohol or antimicrobial wipe if you have them. With an ear thermometer, the best solution is to use disposable tips. Advertisement It also found women in their 20s had an average body temperature of 36.5c, while the women in their 80s had one of 36.1c. In men, a similar drop was found. 'We don't know why it happens, but the body generally slows down as we get older and this may be reflected in temperature,' says Dr Macnair. BEING FAT CAN MAKE YOU WARMER Also, the more someone weighed, the higher their average temperature was. Why exactly this should be so is unclear, but one theory is that inflammatory chemicals released by fat could be the cause of the increased temperature. ELDERLY CAN HAVE BUG BUT NO FEVER Another fascinating theory is a lower body temperature may be associated with living longer. It's been shown that lowering body temperature in mice increases lifespan by around 20 per cent. As well as this lower baseline temperature in older people, their immune systems don't trigger such intense responses to infections. As such, older people may not always develop a fever in response to infection. 'This means you shouldn't rely on the presence of a high temperature as the only sign of infection and people should pay extra attention to other symptoms such as pain, cough or breathlessness and unusual levels of confusion,' says Dr Macnair. EAR THERMOMETERS ARE BEST FOR HOME The most accurate body temperature reading, often used in intensive care units, comes from using a rectal thermometer as it measures inside the body rather than on the periphery. But as you're unlikely to want to use this approach at home, the next best option is in the ear, which takes the temperature of the tympanic membrane (the eardrum), says Dr Bird. The eardrum shares the same blood supply as the hypothalamus, so it gives a good idea of what's happening internally. Ear thermometers use an infrared light to measure energy coming off the eardrum (pictured, Braun ThermoScan 7 Ear Thermometer, 49.99, argos.co.uk) Ear thermometers use an infrared light to measure energy coming off the eardrum (pictured, Braun ThermoScan 7 Ear Thermometer, 49.99, argos.co.uk). But don't test the temperature in the ear if you have been lying on it, as this can lead to higher readings if the ear is warm, a study in Turkey found. Use the other ear instead then stick with that ear when measuring throughout the day to get the most accurate assessment of changes in body temperature. Ear thermometers also shouldn't be used if you have an ear infection, as the ear will already be hot due to inflammation. If you do have to use an oral thermometer, avoid using it within 20 to 30 minutes of a hot or cold drink, food, exercise or smoking, suggests Dr Ross Perry, a GP in London. This is because all of these can temporarily raise temperature in the mouth and, in the case of exercise, throughout the body. 'Leave the thermometer under the tongue for one or two minutes, and try to stay still for the most accurate reading,' he says. Despite the convenience, forehead strips or taking temperature in the armpit are believed to be the least accurate as they are truly external. 'If you do have to take a temperature under the arm, add 1c to the figure to get a more accurate reading,' says Dr Bird. YOUR MIND CAN BRING ON A FEVER Stress can cause a rise in body temperature a condition that's called psychogenic fever. It's most common in children and adolescents, with an analysis by researchers in Japan in 2007 finding that stress or psychological and emotional agitation accounted for 18 per cent of unexplained cases of fever in children. IF YOU FEEL HOT, IT COULD BE A COLD Contrary to popular belief, you don't necessarily feel hot if you have a fever. 'This is one of the big misconceptions about high temperatures,' says Dr Bird. 'If you feel hot, you almost certainly don't have a fever, more likely a cold. 'When we have a fever we usually feel cold and shivery and want to wrap ourselves up,' he explains. 'You do, however, feel hot to touch, so feeling the forehead with the back of a hand is actually a very good way to tell whether you have a fever if you don't have a thermometer. 'If your skin feels cold, you almost certainly don't have one.' The US Food and Drug Administration plans to release guidance on Tuesday outlining its conditions for approving a vaccine for the coronavirus, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a summary of the guidance. The agency would require drugmakers to show 'clearly demonstrated' proof of a vaccine's safety and effectiveness through a clinical study, and at least 50 percent more effectiveness than a placebo, the Wall Street Journal report said. There is currently no US-approved treatment or vaccine for the respiratory illness that has claimed over 129,500 lives in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University's tracking. More than 100 vaccines are being tested worldwide against the virus, with only a handful in the human testing phase, including candidates from AstraZeneca (which is working with the University of Oxford) and Moderna. At least 10 US-based companies have vaccines in phase 1 or later trials. Experts have suggested that it could take a minimum of 12 to 18 months to guarantee a safe and effective vaccine through clinical trials. The guidance is expected to be discussed by FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn in an appearance before a Senate committee on Tuesday, the report said. FDA officials are expected to require that drugmakers prove their coronavirus vaccines are safe and 50% more effective than a placebo (file) The new guidelines are expected to be announced by FDA Commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn (pictured) during a Tuesday appearance before the Senate So far, Moderna leads the US race to make a coronavirus shot. Last week, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientists, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, dubbed AstraZeneca's vaccine the candidate furthest ahead, but said Moderna's is 'not very far behind.' Vaccine development around the world has raced ahead of its normal pace amid the dire need for a way to prevent coronavirus infection. Typically, it might take as long as 10 years to make a vaccine, test it, and get it approved by regulators like the FDA. Companies may pour hundreds of millions of dollars into development, pre-clinical (or lab) trials only to have their shots fail in early clinical trials. In an effort to speed the development of a vaccine, the Trump administration launched Operation Warp Speed, an accelerator program that has signed contracts to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in five companies so far. Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Sanofi all have funding from Operation Warp Speed. Ironically, the breakneck pace of development through the US government program has inspired wariness, rather than confidence, among Americans. About a third of Americans said in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll that they would be less inclined to receive a coronavirus vaccine if President Trump said it was safe. Neal Browning was among the first people to be dosed with Moderna's prototype vaccine in March MOderna leads the US race to make a shot (file) In response to another poll, 70 percent of people in the US who said they would not get a coronavirus shot if it were available today (who accounted for about half of respondents) cited safety concerns. Public health experts have voiced concerns that if the FDA followed its own suit for issuing emergency use authorizations amid the coronavirus pandemic, a vaccine might go the route of hydroxychloroquine. 'If you give an emergency use authorization, youre likely going to make it hard to assess all these vaccines and to assess the thing we really care about: Are they effective in preventing infection? Thats the key,' Ezekiel Emanuel, chair of the department of medical ethics and health policy at University of Pennsylvania and health adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told Politico. According to the WSJ report, the FDA's requirements will address that question. Shots will not be able to get approval if studies only show that they lead to the development of antibodies in the bloodstream, which is not proof that the vaccine can actually prevent coronavirus infection. Given the fast development timelines, the FDA will also require companies to continue to monitor people who receive their shots to assess the potential risks of these vaccines beyond the scope of current clinical trials. Less than half of Americans diagnosed with coronavirus knew they had come into contact with someone who had tested positive, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report reveals. The CDC's interviews with 350 people tested for COVID-19 at academic medical centers across the US is among the first in the country to examine exposures outside of group-living settings like prisons. It reveals damning risk factors. Only 17 percent of people who tested positive and were able to work remotely amid the pandemic - the rest of those infected had to continue going to their places of work. And, echoing the findings of previous studies, that those who got sick enough to be hospitalized were more likely to have lower incomes and to be Hispanic or black. Public health officials have underlined the importance of not only testing, but contact tracing, to combatting the spread of coronavirus and lawmakers, eager to reopen their states, want to. know where people are getting sick. But a CDC study found that less than half of 350 covid-positive Americans knew they'd come into contact with someone with coronavirus (file) So far, more than 2,683,000 Americans have caught coronavirus. Test availability has improved dramatically in the US, with between 400,000 and 600,000 tests being run a day in June, compared to about 200,000 to 400,000 tests a day in May, according to tracking by 1point3acres.com. But in the rush to test as many people as possible for coronavirus as quickly as possible, the second portion of the public health initiative to control the virus's spread - contact tracing - may have fallen to the wayside. States have struggled to hire contact tracers, who will be key to identifying groups that may be on the cusp of burgeoning outbreaks. In the CDC's report, contact tracing was done for all 350 positive patients. Only 46 percent of those patients were aware of coming into contact with a COVID-19 patient. Of those who knew they'd interacted with an infected person, 45 percent said their covid-positive contact was a family member. More than a third of the patients reported having a co-worker sick with coronavirus. Only 10 percent reported seeing a covid-positive friend, and 19 percent had contacts in other categories, consisting mostly of healthcare or long-term care facilities and a few who reported contact with neighbors, clients or inmates. Perhaps surprisingly, coronavirus infection was not much more common among those who went to the grocery store once or more times a week compared to among those who shopped for food once or more a week. About a third of the people who tested positive said they never went to the grocery store, 28 percent went out for groceries 34 percent, and 27 percent of them said. they went to the grocery store two to three times a week. Only about two percent of those who tested positive went to the store on a daily basis. The majority of people diagnosed with coronavirus and surveyed by phone (59 percent) had to go to work outside their homes every day during the two weeks prior to their positive tests. Nineteen percent of people who were infected went to work two to three times a week, three percent went to their workplaces just once a week and 19 percent were employed but never had to work outside their homes. Only 17 percent of people who tested positive were able to telework, and a quarter of people infected worked in healthcare settings. 'A majority of COVID-19 patients reported working during the 2 weeks preceding illness, and few had the ability to telework, underscoring the need for enhanced measures to ensure workplace safety,' the CDC authors wrote. A disproportionate number of these people were black or Hispanic, and recent research suggests that the more frequently someone is exposed to coronavirus - vis a vis leaving their homes - the more likely they are to contract coronavirus and become more severely ill. Across the country, Americans are returning to work. The CDC published a list of recommendations for businesses to limit the risk of viral spread in their stores, restaurants or offices, but these 'considerations' are unenforceable and it's not clear if employers are acting on them. During a Tuesday Senate hearing where infectious disease specialist Dr Anthony Fauci and CDC Dr Robert Redfield, Utah Senator Mitt Romney pressed the public health officials for 'data on where people get infected,' pleading that they tell Americans whether they can safely see one another outdoors. The new report, published the same day, makes an effort to answer answer that question, but its findings also point to just how difficult it is pinpoint the exact time, place and person that led to a transmission. 'Fewer than one half of patients were aware of recent close contact with someone with COVID-19, highlighting a need for increased screening, case investigation, contact tracing, and isolation of infected persons during periods of community transmission,' the CDC authors wrote. 'This finding suggests that ensuring social distancing and more widespread use of cloth face coverings are warranted.' A New York man who suffered a heart attack earlier this year was afraid to go to the emergency room over fears of falling ill with the novel coronavirus. Two weeks ago, Deepak Gulati, 71, who lives in Manhattan, was suffering from horrible chest pain, swearing and was unable to breathe. He tried to sleep it off but the pain kept getting worse. However, Gulati didn't want to go to the ER because he was worried about contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. After pressure from his wife and cardiologist, he caved and his sought care. It turns out his pain was from a massive heart attack and had he waited a few hours longer, he would have died. Now, Gulati is sharing his story with DailyMail.com to encourage others not to delay seeking urgent medical attention because it could mean the difference between life and death. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Deepak Gulati, 71, from New York City, began feeling tightness in his chest on June 18. It continued over the next two days and progressed to severe pain, sweating and being unable to breathe. Pictured, left and right: Gulati being examined by Dr Annapoor Kini, a cardiologist at The Mount Sinai Hospital Gulati did not want to go to the emergency room because he was afraid of contracting coronavirus, but his wife and cardiologist finally convinced him. Pictured: Gulati (far left) with his wife (second from left) and two daughters after his heart attack Gulati says that before this incident occurred, he had had no health issues, let alone heart troubles. On Thursday night, June 18, he started feeling tightness in his chest. When he still felt it the next day, his wife called her colleague at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr Annapoorna Kini. Kini, who is a professor of cardiology and Interventional Director of the Structural Heart Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told Gulati to come see her at 1pm on Monday, June 23. 'Well, I didn't make it that far,' Gulati joked. On Saturday morning, he was walking uphill - after going on a morning stroll - when he felt tightness in his chest and started sweating. Gulati tried to sleep it off. 'I woke up close to 7pm.' he said. 'I went and sat in the living room and had a sip of water and suddenly that tightness in my chest came back, but this time, it didn't just come back. I found I couldn't breathe. 'It's like an iron fist clamping around your lungs.' Doctors discovered Gulati was suffering from a heart attack called a STEMI, in which there is a complete blockage in an artery leading to the heart. Pictured: Kini performing a procedure on Gulati Cardiologist Dr Annapoorna Kini told Gulati that if he had waited just two more hours to go to the hospital, he would have died. Pictured: Gulati (center) with Kini (far left) and members of Mount Sinai's cardiology team Gulati's wife wanted him to go to the emergency room, but he was hesitant. 'I said: "No, that place is full of coronavirus, I don't want to be there. It's full of people passing coronavirus to other people,"' he said. Gulati is not the only one who feels that way. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week found that ER visits for heart attacks fell by nearly a quarter from pre-pandemic levels. But scientists have warned that not seeking immediate care for severe health problems could result in hospitalization, or even death. Kini feels the same way. 'I told him he was likely having a heart attack and "You have to go to the emergency room",' she told DailyMail.com. 'Otherwise he would be making excuses to stay home.' It turns out that Gulati was suffering from an ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI heart attack). Also known as a 'widow-maker heart attack,' it's the same type that famed actor and director Kevin Smith suffered in February 2018. STEMI heart attacks occur when the left anterior descending artery, which carries blood to the heart, becomes almost or completely blocked. Gulati had a stent placed in his heart, has no heart damage, and was told he should be back to normal in just six weeks. Pictured: Gulati (center) with his wife (left) and Kini (right) Without emergency care, it's almost always fatal. However, if medical professions are able to open up the artery within the first few hours of blockage, survival odds increase and risk of muscle damage decrease. A 2018 study found that about 77 out of every 100,000 people suffer a STEMI heart attack. '[Dr Kini] told me that if I waited two more hours, I would have been dead,' Gulati said. 'She should change her name to "Angel in disguise." I can't praise her enough.' Within an hour of arriving at The Mount Sinai Hospital, he was having a stent inserted. He added that the emergency room was almost empty and that it had been split in two, one side to treat COVID-19 patients, and the other side for non-COVID patients. Kini says that Gulati has no heart damage because he arrived at the hospital on time and, within six weeks, he should be back to normal. She wants Americans to know that emergency rooms are safe.. 'I know the pandemic is still out there and that there's a scare of a second wave coming...but all precautions are being taken in every hospital,' Kini said. 'If someone has any medical issue, especially relating to the heart, don't wait at home. People need to see their regular doctor for checkups; their blood pressure may be out of control or their diabetes may be out of control.' Gulati concurs and says being afraid of seeking urgent medical care is not worth losing your life over. 'If you're sitting at home and, for any reason, you start getting a cold, hard sweat like I did and you start sweating profusely and you start getting tightness in chest. go to your nearest emergency room,' he said. 'Because death could only be two hours away.' The US government has bought up virtually the entire global supply of remdesivir, the only drug approved in the nation to treat coronavirus, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Monday. That means that any other country will be hard-pressed to get access to the potentially life-saving antiviral medication. Gilead Sciences, which makes remdesivir, has already donated about 120,000 treatment courses of the drug to the US stockpile - a supply set to run out next month. Now the US will have guaranteed access to all 500,000-plus treatment courses the company plans produce in July, and 90 percent of its production for August and September. It's good news for American coronavirus patients, and in line with President Trump's America-first approach to the pandemic, but could have devastating consequences for countries where cases are still on the rise, like Brazil and India. The US has purchased 100% of next month's global supply of the antiviral remdesivir to treat American coronavirus patients and 90% of the supply for August and September, meaning there will be very little left for other nations 'President Trump has struck an amazing deal to ensure Americans have access to the first authorized therapeutic for COVID-19,' said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. 'To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it. 'The Trump Administration is doing everything in our power to learn more about life-saving therapeutics for COVID-19 and secure access to these options for the American people.' The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that there were 98.4 people hospitalized for every 100,000 people in the US. Various models have estimated that by mid-July, between 1,000 and 15,000 Americans will be newly hospitalized a day. Many of those projections have shifted upwards in recent weeks, as the number of new cases in states like Texas and Arizona have hit new highs on a daily basis. By July 15, the University of Washington's Institute of Health Metrics (IHME) currently projects that 209,553.86 US. hospital beds will be full. President Trump and his administration have taken a resolutely 'America-first' approach to the coronavirus pandemic With 100 percent of Gilead's supply committed to the US next month, 94,200 patients will be able to receive a full treatment course. Gilead estimated that with 90 percent of its supply dedicated to the US government for August and September, there will be enough of the drug for 174,900 and 232,800 treatment courses, respectively, each of those months. Cases are expected to rise in much of the rest of the world as well. Brazil, for example, is projected to need more than five times as many beds per 100,000 people in its population as the by July 15, according to IHME's model. Saudi Arabia is projected to have 15 times as many full beds. But for those nations, there will be no remdesivir - an antiviral originally developed to treat Ebola, which can shorten recovery times markedly, and may improve survival odds, marginally - next month, and very little available through August and September. 'I suspect there will be enough demand [in the US] - even though remdesivir is not a wonder drug - that it will be used here and won't go anywhere else for many, many months,' New York University bioethicist Dr Arthur Caplan told DailyMail.com. 'It's not a huge loss, but it's a loss. It will mean more suffering. I don't think it's going to cost lives.' National Institutes of Health (NIH) tests of remdesivir indicated that patients treated with the drug recovered d31 percent faster than those who got a placebo. But the improvement of survival odds was minimal. Just over seven percent of those on remdesivir died, compared to 11.9 percent of those on not on the drug. Still, it's a potential benefit, and one that will be off the table for other countries, at least for the next three months. 'The WHO and other groups have said that it's not good to hoard a drug that you don't need...people may argue that we should give it to the countries that need it most,' Dr Caplan said. 'But Trump has made it clear that he is going to provide drugs and vaccines - if they become available - to Americans first. He feels it's the right thing to do and I suspect that there's a little bit of a political motivation, given that there's an election coming up, I'm not surprised at all.' By September, the IHME model projects that the number of hospitalizations for coronavirus will be higher in nations in Africa, the Middle East and South America than in the US It's also hardly unprecedented. The international community never managed to agree upon a way to fairly, much less universally distribute vaccines and treatments for the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. And there are no entities with the authority to enforce such distribution either. The WHO can call upon nations to behave in a philanthropic manner, but it has no punitive authority (and Trump has announced that the US will withdraw from the group any way). 'Who's in charge to say where [a drug or vaccine] will go? It's really just local governments and they tend to respond politically more than ethically or scientifically,' said Dr Caplan. Hoarding remdesivir away from the rest of the world may not have particularly deadly consequences for other countries, but it's the latest signal of a nationalist posture that could, if and when a vaccine is available, Dr Caplan said. 'I think when China has one, it's likely want to keep its vaccines [for itself], and India for India, and Britain for Britain, and the US for the US, too,' said Dr Caplan. 'We need to have a much more serious discussion about the future distribution for drugs and vaccines.' China has already approved an experimental COVID-19 vaccine for its military members, and the UK currently leads the race among the rest of the world's nations - so it could even be the US that loses out on the life-saving immunization as a result of the nationalist approach to development being taken by the Trump administration and, seemingly, much of the world. Holidaymakers have been warned to be on the lookout for scams this summer as criminals take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding coronavirus travel restrictions. With many now panicking into booking a last minute trip and not wanting to miss out, potential travellers are more vulnerable to falling into a trap. UK Finance has urged travellers to be aware of holiday scams including fake caravan and motorhome listings as well as refund offers and travel deals as fraudsters target victims looking to get away after the lockdown restrictions ease on 4 July. Fraudsters: Travellers have been warned to be careful when booking staycations this summer The trade association has warned consumers about criminals who are experts at impersonating trusted organisations such as airlines, travel agencies or banks. Such tactics to defraud people include scam emails, telephone calls, fake websites and posts on social media and auction websites. Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, said: 'Criminals will exploit the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people's holiday plans to commit fraud, whether it's advertising fake listings for caravans or pretending to offer refunds for cancelled flights. 'The banking and finance industry is working closely with law enforcement to crack down on these cruel scams, but we need others to play their part too. 'It's important that auction websites and social platforms take swift action to remove fraudulent posts and listings being used to promote holiday scams. Criminals could try to defraud people with phishing emails claiming offer refunds from airlines 'Always be wary of any requests to pay by bank transfer when buying goods or services online and instead use the secure payment options recommended by reputable websites. 'It's also important to question any emails, phone calls or social media posts offering refunds for cancelled holidays and not to click on links or attachments in case it's a scam. 'Instead, contact organisations directly to confirm requests using a known email or phone number such as the one on their official website.' It has listed three scams to watch out for: Fake refunds for cancellations The current travel restrictions imposed due to coronavirus have meant thousands of customers have applied for refunds for cancelled flights or holidays. Criminals are likely to exploit this situation to defraud people with phishing emails, 'spoofed' calls or social media posts and adverts claiming to be offering refunds from airlines, travel providers or banks. Many experienced this scam after the both Thomas Cook and Flybe recently stopped trading. Often emails and posts will include links leading to fake websites used to steal personal and financial information that can infect a victim's device with malware. Criminals can also create fake social media accounts imitating that of the real organisation, often claiming to assist with refunds. The links contained in the posts take consumers to fake websites requesting their personal and financial information. However, once entered, they will fail to receive any repayment. If you have any doubts, contact your airline or booking provider directly before opening a dodgy email. Always remember: - Don't click on links or attachments in social media posts or emails. - Question uninvited approaches and contact organisations directly to confirm requests using a known email or phone number. - Only give out your personal or financial information to services you have consented to and are expecting to be contacted by. Criminals could set up fake websites offering 'cheap travel deals' used to obtain your money Cheap travel deal scams Criminals will set up fake websites offering 'cheap travel deals' which are used to obtain your money and information. Websites may look similar to the genuine organisation's but subtle changes in the URL can indicate that it's fraudulent. These websites may also seem professional and convincing, often using images of luxury villas and apartments that don't exist to convince victims they're trusted and genuine. These are offered for rent, often at discounted prices, and require a deposit to be made which is never returned. Always remember: - Be suspicious of any 'too good to be true' offers or prices if it's at a rock bottom price ask yourself why. - Where possible, use a credit card when booking holidays over 100 and up to 30,000 as you receive protection under Section 75. - Use the secure payment options recommended by online travel providers and don't accept requests to pay separately via a bank transfer. - Read online reviews from reputable sources to check websites and bookings are legitimate. - Access the website you're purchasing from by typing it in to the web browser and avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails. Caravan scams Due to the current lockdown restrictions in place making it difficult for people to travel abroad, there has been an increase in people purchasing caravans and motorhomes as they opt for staycations. One of the scams that is likely to take place over the summer period is fraudsters advertising fake listings for caravans and motorhomes on auction sites. Criminals are taking advantage of growing demand for staycations in the UK this summer with these false adverts, citing lockdown restrictions as the reason vehicles can't be viewed in person. These vehicles are advertised at attractive prices to tempt people into believing they're getting a good deal, when in reality they simply don't exist or don't arrive once paid for. Payments are usually requested via bank transfer as opposed to using a recommended secure payment method. However, recently criminals are requesting the buyer pays using PayPal. The criminal then fails to send a PayPal invoice, at which point the buyer is contacted by someone pretending to be a representative from PayPal and receives a reference and bank account number for payment to be made into. Ultimately, the buyer doesnt receive their goods as payment has been made into an account controlled by a criminal so customers should be on the lookout for scams. Criminals are advertising fake listings for caravans and motor homes on auction sites Always remember: - Be suspicious of any 'too good to be true' offers or prices if it's at a rock bottom price ask yourself why. - Do your research before making any purchases and ask to see vehicles over video if you're unable to see them in person. - Use the secure payment methods recommended by reputable online retailers and auction sites and don't accept requests to pay separately via a bank transfer. - Where possible, use a credit card when making purchases over 100 and up to 30,000 as you receive protection under Section 75. John Crossley, head of money at Compare the Market, said: 'It is more important than ever that people remain cautious online. 'Our research shows that a significant proportion of people have seen an increase in scams during lockdown, as fraudsters seek to take advantage of the current situation. 'If it sounds too good to be true, it's worth taking a closer look before inputting your card details. 'There are steps you can take to reduce your vulnerability to scammers, especially as more of us are shopping online than ever before. 'If you feel you have fallen victim to a scam, or notice one, you should report the case to Action Fraud, the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre.' Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to open blue water between his Tory government and those that came before. No austerity and 'we are not going to cheese-pare' our way out of trouble, is his recipe for the coronavirus economic response. In terms of firing up output, there is much less on offer than the rhetoric. No austerity and 'we are not going to cheese-pare' our way out of trouble, is prime minister Boris Johnson's recipe for the Covid economic response. The 5billion of infrastructure investment brought forward to this year amounts to a fiscal boost of about 0.2 per cent. In the context of the 25.1billion and rising spend on furlough, it is no New Deal. But there is a strong sense of direction. The easing up of planning on the nation's high streets will give conservationists kittens but may be the only way to prevent dereliction. There is some encouragement also for free market advocates who argue red tape and regulation are enemies of productivity and growth. Johnson's speech provides little economic detail. For that we turn to Andy Haldane, the Bank of England's chief economist. On the plus side, Haldane suggests that the data seen so far means that the loss of GDP from the pandemic and lockdown will be around 8.5 per cent rather than the 17 per cent the Bank originally feared a huge improvement. Less welcome is the scarring in the labour market (irrespective of furlough) with private sector employment likely to be 10 per cent lower, rather than the 9 per cent originally envisaged, by the end of the year. We will have to wait until July 14 for the latest Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will keep his powder dry when he delivers his Covid-19 economic statement expected on July 8 in which the focus is likely to be on furlough, getting people back into permanent work and schemes for young people coming in and out of the workforce. For this staunch opponent of the takeovers of Arm Holdings in 2016, Imagination in 2017, Inmarsat last year and Cobham earlier this year the most satisfying aspect of Johnson's speech for me is recognition that this can't keep on happening. The Prime Minister vows that we cannot see British discovery disappear to California or China. British ideas need to translate into British jobs. Free markets have their limits. The UK is seeking to buy its way back into the satellite business, with a stake in One Web, currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US. Yet in the last 15 months Inmarsat and Cobham, both satellite pioneers, disappeared into foreign hands. Madness. Double Standard Douglas Flint has done what a newish chairman is meant to do. He replaced Keith Skeoch as chief executive of 6billion UK fund manager Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) with Citibank veteran Stephen Bird. The change is a milestone for SLA, for it means that for the first time decision-making at Standard Life, the dowager of Edinburgh asset management, will depart from its roots into conventional City hands. Skeoch's five-year leadership at SLA cannot be regarded as an unalloyed success. The best that can be said is that a tricky merger with Aberdeen was bedded down, he survived a potentially fraught relationship with gregarious Aberdeen boss Martin Gilbert and sold legacy life operations to Phoenix. What he failed to do was stem the outflow of assets, which shrank by 17billion last year. Bird's first job could be to slash or burn the dividend which gobbled up 500million in 2019-20 and way exceeds earnings per share. An 8 per cent yield suggests shareholders are prepared for the worst. Bird may be the right person for the job but it would be a pity if the Standard Life tradition of governance activism were to be lost. The salary of the new boss, at 875,000, is in line with the City norm. Pay arrangements which could yield up to 600 per cent of that in bonuses and shares are a banana skin to have been avoided. Shell shocked What is 17.8billion between friends? Shell's Covid-19 write-off of assets would be an earthquake anywhere else but big oil. It does represent a reality check for the oil majors which are recognising that a combination of the demand hit from the coronaviurus, the green agenda and abundant US supplies of energy represent sea change for the industry. Investors must be wondering whether chief executive Ben van Beurden's 47billion takeover of BG in 2015 was an act of corporate vanity now regretted. Hargreaves Lansdown has relaunched its best buy fund list just over a year after it was heavily criticised for sticking with Neil Woodfords stricken fund for too long. The new Wealth Shortlist replaces Britains biggest DIY investing platforms Wealth 50 list, but there is still no place for one of Britains favourite funds, Terry Smiths Fundsmith Equity. Hargreaves said that Fundsmith had an impressive track record and would have made the cut but it could not get the regular access to the manager and updates it needed to feature on the list. But Terry Smith hit back at Hargreaves Lansdown, saying: 'Given the poor track record of Hargreaves Lansdowns best buy lists and the fate of some other funds they have recommended, we would worry if we were included.' Terry Smith's Fundsmith Equity is an investor favourite that has delievered strong performance over the years, but it has once again failed to make Hargreaves Lansdown's best buy list Hargreaves Lansdown said the new Wealth Shortlist and its Fund Finder tool came after it had listened and learned and taken action over previous criticism of its highly influential fund recommendations. No funds have been removed from the previous Wealth 50 but 17 new funds have been added. Another highly popular fund manager Lindsell Train also remains off the list, due to its funds large holdings of Hargreaves Lansdown shares. Emma Wall, head of investment analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: Our clients own more than 10 per cent of Fundsmith Equity and it is one of the most popular funds on our platform. We really like the clear philosophy and consistent process as well as the impressive track record. However, it is a requirement for our analysis that we can we have regular access to the fund manager and monthly holdings and liquidity data. We need this data in order to do full qualitative and quantitative analysis of the fund and the manager's track record, determine how we might expect the fund to perform in the future, and keep up to date with portfolio changes. Some fund managers do not provide this data on a regular enough basis, and therefore we are unable to do the necessary analysis, including Fundsmith who prefer to provide data on a six-month basis rather than monthly. Analysis of the latest data we have suggests that it is likely Fundsmith would make the list, but we cant make exceptions to our enhanced commitment to governance and risk management. In response to the snub, Mr Smith said: 'We note the reasons put forward for Hargreaves Lansdowns continued failure to include Fundsmith in the best buy list. They cite our unwillingness to disclose our portfolio positions to them more frequently than we do to our other investors. Leaving aside the issues this would raise with Treating Customers Fairly, we would note that Hargreaves Lansdown has a fund which competes with ours - the HL Select Global Growth Shares Fund - and a highly questionable track record in handling conflicts of interest.' The Wealth Shortlist has some passive tracker funds but still contains no investment trusts. Hargreaves Lansdown has previously said that as investment trusts are listed on the stock exchange - meaning that investors must buy shares to put money in - they may struggle to cope with demand from a flood of savers cash when they are tipped. Rival DIY investing platforms produce their own recommended lists of funds and investment trusts, including Interactive Investor, AJ Bell, Fidelity, Share Centre and Chelsea Financial Services Fund Calibre ratings. Investing platforms best buy lists have come under greater scrutiny in the wake of the collapse of Neil Woodfords Equity Income fund. The fallen star investors flagship fund was frozen in summer last year, after poor performance and a drift in its investing style towards risky unlisted companies saw investors rush for the exit. Neil Woodford's fund collapsed after investors rushed to the exit following a bout of poor performance and a drift into risky unlisted companies Hargreaves Lansdown had stuck by Woodford and continued to recommend his fund up until the shutters were pulled down, arguing that his long investment track record justified the belief that he could turn things round. Hargreaves openly discussed why it was sticking with Woodford in January 2019 - five months before the fund was frozen - in response to criticism for doing so when it slimed down the Wealth 150 to a Wealth 50. However, after investors were locked into Woodford's fund last June, some of its customers said the platform should have more clearly flagged how far Woodford had drifted from the large company income investing that had made his reputation. The DIY investing giant apologised to its investors and has since overhauled its selection process, although it said the new list ws evolution not revolution. It says it has placed a greater focus on transparency, to help investors understand why funds have been chosen, and also looked at performance potential. In a sign that it was looking to avoid a repeat of the Woodford saga, Hargreaves said analysis considered the processes and the culture of management companies and that it had introduced further risk monitoring and control this includes analysis of additional data points and building further challenge into the investment process. Separate committees will also consider funds that are added to or removed from the Wealth Shortlist and those that are bought by its own-brand multi-manager funds. Again with Woodford, Hargreaves Lansdown had come under fire for a potential conflict of interest between the fund appearing on its best buy list and in its fund-of-funds. Holly Mackay, of investing website Boring Money, said: Its interesting that Hargreaves Lansdown has backtracked on its long-held insistence that any funds in their shortlist have to negotiate preferential discounts, or take a hike. Ironically, whilst this removes any talk of pay to play behaviour, it also diminishes the power of Hargreaves big boot when it comes to getting the cheapest fees in town for their customers. The Wealth Shortlist has launched with 68 funds, whereas the Wealth 50 actually had 51. Hargreaves had stood accused of only featuring funds that offered it a discount on charges and said that 16 of the 68 Wealth Shortlist funds do not have discounts or loyalty bonuses. A new charges comparison feature should help investors looking to push down costs that eat into their returns. Ms Wall said: We have been running the new investment process for some months and honed the Wealth 50 to the funds in which we had the highest conviction. Therefore today we are announcing no further removals, only 17 new additions to form the Wealth Shortlist which are the produce of our new enhanced investment process. I moved into a new-build home in December. The developer passed meter readings, meter numbers and my personal details to British Gas. I intended to switch from the expensive standard tariff. A bill arrived in April and, although it was in my name, it was addressed to a neighbour's house and had a different meter number. I wrote to British Gas but it did not respond, except to send me a reminder again to the wrong address a couple of weeks later. It said it could not respond to letters in this current national emergency. I assumed my problem would be put on hold and I was quite happy to wait. But I also wanted to clear my debt and change my tariff as soon as possible. British Gas refused to listen when a homeowner tried to explain how they had sent a neighbours' bill by mistake and instead threatened to send in the bailiffs The combined bills were 601.35. Since then, I have received several letters, including some threatening bailiffs or debt collectors all to the wrong address. I have tried to resolve the issue online and by telephone, but have been unsuccessful. My wife has a serious medical condition and we are grieving the loss of our son-in-law to coronavirus. F. B., Bexhill-on-Sea, E. Sussex. As soon as I read your email, I guessed what had gone wrong so why hadn't anyone at British Gas? When details of the meter numbers were sent to the national database and British Gas, the accounts had become muddled a fairly common occurrence on new developments. Your gas meter was correctly listed on the national database, but was incorrect on the British Gas one. The electricity meter was wrong on both databases. The gas details were corrected once I made contact, but British Gas had to work with industry meter administrators to update your electricity meter readings. The firm decided not to charge you for electricity while this mess was untangled, so you received at least six months' free electricity. What concerned me was that British Gas, which styles itself as a flagship UK company, was sending letters warning of debt collectors and bailiffs at this time, particularly when you say it told you it could not respond to letters. A spokesman says: 'We are offering support to any customer who is having difficulties at this time. 'We know some customers will need extra support and we want them to talk to us if they are falling behind on bills. 'Some of the ways we can help, for example, include pushing back bill due dates, removing debt charges for late payment, or setting up a repayment plan to spread the payments. 'We are not sending any debt recovery representatives out to our customers' homes or doing any disconnections (unless there is a safety issue from tampering with the meter).' You tell me that you are now on the correct tariff and are no longer worried. You received a 44 rebate on your gas bill, too. Straight to the point I have a boss from hell who is making work unbearable. I want to leave immediately but have a three-month notice period in my contract. Is there a way out? S. S., London. Adam Pennington, from law firm Stephensons, says you can if your contract allows it or your boss agrees. Otherwise, you will be breaching your contract. *** A flight I booked through Expedia was cancelled and I was forced to rebook another to Mumbai at short notice. This cost me another 1,784 on top of the 858 I had already paid. I want at least 1,500 in compensation from Expedia for the stress. D.O., via email. Expedia refunded the cost of the original ticket as it was unable to find you an alternative direct flight. It has suggested contacting Virgin direct to see if it will consider your out-of-pocket expenses. *** In January last year, I bought a valve for a boiler through eBay for 44.99. By summer, the boiler was not firing up as it should. A plumber confirmed the issue was with the valve. I contacted the seller, Movika Trading, but heard nothing. C. F., via email. Movika records only go back 90 days and you could not provide any refund request made to eBay or PayPal. As a result, Movika refused to offer a refund and added it cannot accept any returns after such a long period of time. For the past three years, HMRC has been crediting me with someone else's earnings, but not the tax they are paying. It says I owe more than 4,000. It is taking this through my tax code, meaning the monthly payment from my NHS pension has almost halved. The problem lies with my part-time job. I am employee number 12 and another lady with the same surname, who is full-time and on a higher grade than me, is employee 13. HMRC claimed it was impossible for it to get to people mixed up because HMRC works on National Insurance numbers. In February, my manager and I had long conversations with HMRC staff, who told me they were putting my case to the mismatch team. This was after informing me there was no protocol for this situation as it hadn't occurred before! I've heard nothing since. A. H., Horsham, W. Sussex. Mistakes can happen, but what is intensely irritating is when those charged with rectifying them try to brush us off. HMRC has now straightened things out. Someone has spoken to you and you have received 50 compensation. Most importantly, you don't owe 4,000. A spokesman says: 'We are sorry Mrs H. had to wait for this issue to be resolved. We have apologised to her.' *** I ordered a sofa and two armchairs from Harveys in December. Harveys arranged for a courier to deliver it. The courier received my furniture on March 19 and was due to deliver it on March 23. Lockdown meant delivery was indefinitely suspended. But Harveys has marked the sofa as delivered with its finance company, so I am being billed for a sofa I don't have. I am finding it impossible to get in touch with Harveys. A. P., Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute. Harveys confirms that when the sofa went to the courier company, it was logged as being delivered to you, which led to you being charged. Someone has now called you to apologise and you have accepted a 150 goodwill payment. Even better, your sofa and armchairs have been delivered so, hopefully, you are reading this in comfort. After months of closures and cancellations, holidays abroad are within reach. This week, holiday firms were bombarded with bookings from sunseeking Britons after the Government revealed it would open 'air bridges' to countries where the virus was contained. But those who go abroad this summer may find they cannot get travel insurance for cancellations linked to coronavirus, or must pay more than three times the price for it. Holiday firms are being bombarded with bookings from sunseeking Britons after the Government revealed it would open 'air bridges' to countries where the virus was contained Here, Money Mail tells you all you need to know to protect yourself and your money abroad, and save your summer holiday... Green means go A new traffic-light system, expected to be unveiled this week, will list countries as green, amber or red, depending on their coronavirus risk level. Holidaymakers can visit green or amber countries likely to include Spain, Italy and France without needing to quarantine for 14 days when they return. There has been a rush to book last-minute trips as travel firms slash costs by up to 60 per cent. Travel companies lost billions of pounds to the pandemic and are offering record low prices for this time of year to recoup bookings. Trips to popular destinations such as Spain have been offered for as little as 200 per person, when typically they cost at least 100 more. Beware of high insurance costs Be warned, though. Travel rules could still change at any time leaving your holiday plans in ruins. The travel insurance industry came under fire during lockdown for pulling cover and refusing to pay claims for anything related to coronavirus after it was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Travel companies lost billions of pounds to the pandemic and are offering record low prices And there is still a risk you could miss out if you book a holiday now. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised against non-essential overseas travel on March 17 and has still not changed this guidance. As it stands, no insurer will pay out for a cancelled holiday if you book now and the advice doesn't change. You are also unlikely to be covered if you book a trip now, then cannot travel because you catch coronavirus or have to self-isolate. Only a handful of insurers have changed their policy wording to cover such scenarios. But you can expect to pay more for the full cover. A policy from Trailfinders, which includes cover for coronavirus, would cost a couple in their 70s 138 for a week in Spain, whereas the cheapest standard policy found via GoCompare is 40.71 from Explorer Travel Insurance. However, it will not pay out if you have to cancel your trip because you catch Covid 19. Brian Brown, of finance data firm Defaqto, says: 'At present you should only book travel and accommodation that is cancellable with a full refund before your date of travel. 'If you are determined to go abroad this summer, I suggest you identify exactly when and where you want to go and be ready to book it once the Government changes its advice against non-essential travel. 'You should also be prepared to buy travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday, and make sure the insurer will cover you for both cancellation and medical treatment arising from Covid-19.' A few insurers have recently changed their policy wording to cover cancellations if you catch coronavirus or are told to self-isolate, including Trailfinders, Cedar Tree, Cover For You and Outbacker. Trailfinders says it will now provide Covid-19 cover for cancellation prior to travel (including quarantine if exposed to the virus), for curtailment of a trip, overseas medical expenses and extra accommodation costs if a doctor orders you to quarantine while you're on holiday. The Post Office, Saga and Staysure will cover medical claims if you become ill with coronavirus abroad but not cancellations. Holidaymakers can visit green or amber countries likely to include Spain, Italy and France without needing to quarantine for 14 days when they return What can you do after arriving? Tight coronavirus rules could also severely restrict what you can get up to on holiday. Travel expert Frank Brehany says: 'Cheap holidays really shouldn't be the motivator to book you need to examine what limitations will be present when you arrive at your destination. 'Will you be able to go freely to the beach, mix with people, use the swimming pool without limits? Will there be limitations on movement in the resort or hotel?' And he warns: 'Holidaymakers should be alert to the fact that if a fresh outbreak of Covid occurs, they will be subject to local lockdown conditions, and this will not only affect their holiday but could trap them in their resort until that lockdown is eased.' Currently, those travelling to Spain are not required to self-isolate when they get there but will be subjected to health checks. Face masks are obligatory on public transport and in public spaces where it is not possible to keep 1.5 metres away from others. UK arrivals to France are asked to self-isolate voluntarily for 14 days but those entering Italy will not have to quarantine unless they have been outside the UK in the 14 days before they arrive. The Greek government has decided to extend a ban on direct flights arriving from Britain, pushing it back to July 15. More countries could follow suit. You can search the Government's website to find out the rules of the destination you plan to travel to: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. Trips could be scrapped Tips to boost your cover... If you are going to Europe, check your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is up to date, to get medical care at the same cost as locals. Apply free at ehic.org.uk/Internet/ startApplication.do If you renewed an annual travel insurance policy before March, you should still be covered for Covid-related claims. Always declare any medical conditions you have, or a claim could be dismissed. Some premium bank accounts come with travel insurance, so you may already be covered against coronavirus. Nationwide offers cover with its FlexPlus and FlexAccount. If you hold these accounts and booked a trip before March 18, you may be covered for coronavirus-related claims. Even as air bridges open up, hopeful holidaymakers could still be in for a disappointment. Travel giant TUI has already cancelled 96 per cent of its planned flights between July 11 and 24. In August, fewer than half of short-haul and mid-haul journeys are due to go ahead. EasyJet plans to fly just half of its 1,022 routes in July and three quarters of flights in August. Mr Brehany says: 'Talk of air bridges is offering a false sense of security to people booking holidays because conditions may change and that could introduce holidaymakers to a new round of cancellations.' Booking a package holiday - which could include flights and accommodation bought at the same time - can give you added protection. You will be entitled to a refund or to be brought home if necessary should the travel company organising your package go out of business. Your holiday should also be refunded within 14 days under the Package Holiday Regulations. But thousands of people are still waiting for their money back for holidays already lost to the pandemic amid a backlog that is causing months of delays. Airlines have also been accused of fobbing people off with vouchers or rebookings when it is within those passengers' rights to request a full refund. Those who accept the voucher may not be able to claim a refund later if the airline collapses. If you choose the rebooking option and later decide you do not want to travel, you may not be able to ask for your money back. Travellers are also being kept in the dark as to whether they will receive refunds for hotel bookings this summer. Is it better to stay in the UK? English hotels, hostels, B&Bs, holiday cottages, campsites and caravan parks have been given the go-ahead to reopen from Saturday. Outdoor attractions such as national parks and beaches are also open to visitors, with museums and galleries opening soon. In Scotland, tourist hotspots including pubs, hotels and restaurants could open from Monday, July 15 provided safety measures are in place. However, English visitors may have to quarantine for 14 days if coronavirus cases continue to rise. You may be able to holiday in Wales from Saturday, July 13, when hotels and other accommodation could open, but a decision is not expected until a review of the rules next week. Northern Ireland has permitted holiday accommodation such as apartments, cottages, caravan parks and campsites to open since June 26. Hotels can reopen from Friday and hotel spas from Monday. Visitor attractions can also admit the public from Friday provided social distancing measures are in place. Airlines have also been accused of fobbing people off with vouchers or rebookings when it is within those passengers' rights to request a full refund Travel insurance may cover some parts of your UK holiday, but again there are gaps. One policy in 12 does not include cancellation as standard and only 6 per cent offer it as an optional add-on, according to Defaqto. You might also be covered under your home insurance policy. Defaqto says UK holidays are typically covered only if you pre-book your accommodation for two nights or more. You may also have to be a certain distance from home: LV= will pay out only if you are 25 miles from home or have gone over a sea. Watch out for bogus bargains Holidaymakers desperate to get away should beware of scams, including fake websites offering cheap holidays. Criminals are setting up fake sites offering low-cost travel deals that are designed to steal your money and personal information. As of May 28 last year, banks must refund customers who are tricked into transferring money to fraudsters if they meet the requirements of a new code. However, they can refuse if they believe victims have not done enough to protect themselves. So where possible, pay on a credit card when goods cost 100 or more. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act protects buyers in the case of non-delivery or if goods are faulty. Be wary of emails, calls and social media posts that come out of the blue offering refunds for cancelled flights, even if they look legitimate. Do not click on links in attachments if you are not sure the sender is genuine. If in doubt, check that the email address of the sender corresponds with what you have on file if you are waiting for a refund. Contact the company directly using information on its website. Those planning a summer holiday in Britain should also be aware of bogus caravan and motorhome listings on eBay and other auction websites. Fraudsters have been citing lockdown as the reason they cannot allow buyers to check over caravans and motorhomes in person before paying. They will also try to get you to communicate away from the website to avoid detection, and request that you pay by bank transfer. Ebay's Money Back Guarantee, which promises a refund for items that do not arrive, does not cover vehicles. a.murray@dailymail.co.uk A C919 large passenger aircraft lands at the Turpan Jiaohe Airport in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 28, 2020. China's indigenously-developed C919 large passenger aircraft has started high-temperature test flights in Turpan, a city known as the land of fire in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The C919 conducted a successful maiden flight in 2017. Now the aircraft has started intensive test flights from various airports to make sure performance can meet airworthiness standards. (Photo by Liu Jian/Xinhua) URUMQI, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China's indigenously-developed C919 large passenger aircraft has started high-temperature test flights in Turpan, a city known as the land of fire in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The test plane arrived in Turpan on Sunday and testing will last for a month. The test flight team from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the manufacturer, decided to hold the tests and collect performance data at Turpan airport after analyzing meteorological reports of airports nationwide, according to Wang Lifei, head of the airport's safety and quality supervision bureau. Turpan is renowned for its harsh desert climate, especially its extreme summer. Between June and August, the average temperature there can surpass 38 degrees Celsius. The C919 conducted a successful maiden flight in 2017. Now the aircraft has started intensive test flights from various airports to make sure performance can meet airworthiness standards. Enditem 5 1 [ Editor: ZY ] I believe that this is a time where weve been stuck at home with strong emotions about the health of each other, Swanson said. Lets use those to care for each other to keep each other healthy from a virus that we can see under a microscope, and a virus we see in our society, which is racism, and all those other viruses where we look down on others. We dont need that. We are better than that. Redrow has issued a profit warning and announced plans to scale back housebuilding in London as the coronavirus pandemic is shifting home buyers' priorities. The housebuilder said it will focus more on the regions, since following the lockdown there has been more demand for larger homes with space to work inside and closer to green spaces, both of which are cheaper to achieve outside the capital. But the costs associated with its decision to scale back its London operations and the wider impact of Covid will drag profits 'substantially' lower this year, the company said. Redrow has blamed the pandemic for building 2,400 fewer homes than last year Redrow, which has now reopened all its sites after shutting them down during lockdown, completed 4,032 homes this financial year, down significantly from the 6,443 it built a year ago. The firm blamed the lockdown for the large fall in completions, saying that new safety and social distancing measures have been slowing down the building of homes in the past weeks since sites were allowed to reopen. 'The timing of site closures due to Covid-19 towards the end of March had a profound impact upon the Group's results in a year which was budgeted to be disproportionately weighted to the end of the second-half,' it said in a statement. Redrow now expects revenues to fall by more than a third, or 36 per cent, this year to 1.34billion, which is below analyst consensus forecast of 1.46billion. The update sent shares in FTSE 250 listed Redrow falling. They closed down 6.8 per cent at 430.80p on Tuesday. Redrow said sales have been recovering thanks to 'strong pent-up demand' since reopening its sales offices five weeks ago, but that is being supported by buyers using the Help to Buy scheme. Hence, the company is urging the Government to extend the taxpayer-backed scheme beyond its current March 2021 end date, warning that deciding against it will threaten the sustainability of a housing market recovery. Housebuilders have made vast profits in recent years, fuelled in part by the the Help to Buy lending scheme. 'Help to Buy has been a major boost to housebuilders' sales and there is a growing fear that many companies are too dependent on it,' said Russ Mould at investing platform AJ Bell. 'Take it away and housebuilders' earnings could potentially suffer, despite there being an imbalance between supply and demand causing a housing shortage in the country.' Redrow said it has a record order book of 1.42billion, as a result of a strong sales performance earlier in the year and a 'significant shortfall in legal completions' due to the virus. In the update, it also said it will pack back the furlough money it received from the Government given its 'resilient cash flow'. Britain's biggest housebuilding companies, including Redrow, have furloughed more than 9,000 workers using taxpayer cash despite making billions of pounds in profit. Left in the lurch: Kate Solomonss small business has dried up in the crisis Small business owners have been forced to raid personal savings to prop up their cash-starved companies - 100 days after lockdown began. Back in March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a package worth more than 300 billion to support British businesses and workers through the virus crisis. But directors of the UK's two million limited companies have fallen through the net. Some have not received a penny in support. These businesses are often run by one or two directors who work from home and do not employ staff. They include freelancers, mobile hairdressers and consultants. But since they are registered as limited companies, they are not eligible for the self-employment support scheme. And because company dividends make up the majority of 700,000 company directors' incomes, if they try to furlough themselves on 80 per cent of salary up to 2,500 a month, the money often comes nowhere close to their usual income. Only income paid through HMRC's Pay As You Earn system is considered. For many, this reflects just a small part of their salaries, while some are paid entirely in dividends. However, at least limited company directors can do this. A chunk of the self-employed who are sole traders and pay income tax and NI on all of their earnings but have had trading profits of 50,000-plus per year are completely excluded from any help. Many director incomes have sustained drastic cuts pushing some into dire straits and fearing for their business's survival. Roger Barker, head of corporate governance at the trade body Institute of Directors, says: 'It's deeply disappointing that 100 days into this crisis, gaps in support haven't been filled. For the small company directors ... it's been a very difficult few months.' Kate Solomons set up her events company Kreative Group 11 years ago, after leaving her job as a primary school teacher. The mother-of-two's company usually turns over around 150,000 a year, but the outbreak has cut her takings to zero after every single booking for this year was cancelled. Kate, 38, furloughed herself and her one staff member - but as the majority of her 2,500 monthly income was dividends, she now earns just 570. She has had to use her savings to pay most of her 5,000 monthly business outgoings. And while Kate has an office, she has missed out on a cash grant of up to 25,000. This is because her landlord pays business rates to the council, so she couldn't claim. Back in March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a package worth more than 300 billion to support British businesses and workers through the virus crisis Her husband Daniel Freakley, also 38, has suffered similar problems as an electrician and limited company director. For months Kate was reluctant to take out a loan while the future was so uncertain, but she eventually applied for 45,000 through the BounceBack Loan scheme last week. Kate, who is part of the ForgottenLtd campaign calling for more help from government, says: 'The Chancellor introduced the furlough scheme to protect jobs, but I provide work to more than 200 freelancers and that will all be gone if my business goes bust.' Meanwhile, director Joe Johal fears redundancies at his aircraft parts courier firm AOG Couriers. The business is 12 years old, and Joe, 58, achieved a 1 million turnover last year, a record high for the company which employs ten others. But grounded flights have caused his takings to plummet by 75 pc and he has had to furlough three staff. Joe received a Bounce Back loan of 50,000 in May, but it was spent in just six weeks. And he has recently secured a 10,000 grant through the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund. But his own 4,000 monthly income has dropped to just 900 and he has paused his 3,000 pension payments. The father-of-two, who lives near Heathrow, says directors like him have been 'pushed to the back of the queue' when it comes to financial support. He adds: 'I'm not sure what is going to happen. I have good staff with their own families, rent and mortgages to pay, but if things don't improve by next month, I may have to start considering redundancies.' Last week the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 was introduced giving limited companies extra time to file accounts and more breathing space in the insolvency process. But while campaigners welcome the Act, they warn it only 'papers over the cracks' in government support and does not replace the collapsing incomes of many directors. Part of the difficulty in accepting dividend income, is it's hard to work out what is paid as a salary and what is a return on an investment. But MPs in the Treasury committee are now calling for the Government to pay out on dividend income now and investigate claims later with penalties for dishonesty. The committee's chairman Mel Stride says: 'The Prime Minister has said the Government will do everything it can to get the economy moving.' His 'fair deal' must include doing the right thing by these individuals so they can play their part in rebuilding the economy,' Mr Stride added. It followed calls for a 'pay now, claw back later' scheme from groups including the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE). Alasdair Hutchison, IPSE's policy development manager, says: 'The government must think again about this group and get them the financial support they so badly need to put them on par with others.' A Treasury spokesperson says it is offering a range of support, from income tax deferrals and mortgage holidays to Bounce Back loans. f.parker@dailymail.co.uk More than one in ten Britons do not have free access to cash within a mile of their homes, research shows. In some rural areas more than half of the population have to travel more than a mile to get it, according to the Financial Conduct Authority and Payment Systems Regulator. It comes amid warnings the most vulnerable risk being left isolated as they rely on cash to pay friends to buy essentials on their behalf. Urban privilege: In some rural areas more than half of the population have to travel more than a mile to get it, according to the Financial Conduct Authority and Payment Systems Regulator The survey collated data on around 19,000 branches, including post offices, and 60,000 cash machines. It shows only 45 per cent of the 51,751 residents in Ryedale, North Yorks, have free access to cash within a mile, the worst affected region in England. Eden, Cumbria, which has a population of 52,564, was the second worst, at just 49 per cent. Some 7 per cent of the public does not have any access within a mile. The survey's 'cold spots' are areas that lost cash access within three miles between April and June. This affects fewer than 0.1 per cent. Ryedale in North Yorkshire has the worst cash access in the country. Just 45% are within a mile of free cash Up to 12 per cent of bank branches and ATMs have been closed at any one time during the pandemic, it adds. m.dilworth@dailymail.co.uk A number of multinational corporations have pledged their support for small businesses that have taken a financial beating from the coronavirus. Tech giants Amazon and Facebook, among others, have launched major initiatives to help get SMEs back on their feet using a range of resources from funding to technology, to virtual events and more. This comes around three months after lockdowns were implemented to varying degrees by different governments across the globe and their respective economies hit. Small independent businesses have borne the brunt of the financial fallout. Amazon has teamed up with Enterprise Nation to launch the Amazon Small Business Accelerator programme designed to help 200,000 small businesses and start-ups in the UK An anticipated 531,000 businesses in the US are set to go under this year while the same is expected of a fifth of small businesses in the UK, according to the Future Strategy Club. There are various schemes available to help get businesses through this uncertain time, such as the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Small Business Grant Fund and Bounce Back Loans. But these have fallen short, with many ineligible to receive support and, according to a survey by Nucleus Commercial Finance, one in seven SME owners is being forced to dip into their own personal savings. In a bid to help, Amazon and Enterprise Nation, a small business support network, are launching the Amazon Small Business Accelerator, a major support package for more than 200,000 small businesses and startups across the UK. Businesses can take a free online diagnostic test to find the 'learning path' that best fits with the current stage of their business Start, Grow or Turbo. Week-long virtual bootcamps will be held to provide training and expertise for up to 1,000 mostly offline companies to help them start trading online while other industries can join a five-day live online course with access to experts and peer-to-peer networking. Bootcamp participants can also access 12 months of support from accredited advisers for marketing, operations and managing finances as well as a range of benefits including discounts and credits from Amazon and partners. Amazon and Enterprise Nation are running week-long virtual bootcamps to provide training and expertise for up to 1,000 mostly offline companies to help them start trading online Storage and removal fee waivers for new selling partners on fulfilment by Amazon are being introduced, while Amazon Launchpad, the companys scheme that promotes products from the latest startups, has offered ongoing fee relief and online training. Doug Gurr of Amazon, said: 'Small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy and by helping them we can help families, communities and the UK bounce back more quickly. 'We have a long track record of supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses, with more than half of all products sold on Amazon stores coming from our selling partners. 'Now the Amazon Small Business Accelerator with Enterprise Nation will provide thousands of offline and online businesses with the skills, tools and support they need to succeed in the digital world, to reach customers through Amazon or any other service.' Customer incentives Payments companies American Express and Visa have also announced schemes to support small businesses. The former has introduced the 'Shop Small Summer' offer which will see customers who use their Amex card in any participating small businesses receive a 5 statement credit, when they spend 10 or more. This is available until 13 September, and can be used up to 10 times for a total of 50 in statement credits. Lewis Freeman, owner of Dunns Bakery in Crouch End, is one of the many merchants Visa is working with as part of the 'Shop Local. Support Local' campaign Meanwhile the latter has launched 'Shop Local. Support Local.' - an initiative to help small businesses adapt, build digital capabilities and meet consumer demand for cashless payments, both online and in stores. Visa aims to help eight million small businesses in Europe and 50 million globally in addition to its commitment from its Visa Foundation to provide $210 million in Covid-19 relief funding to address the longer-term needs of the small and micro business community over the next five years. It is running this with support and resources from a number of other businesses including eBay, Deliveroo, Elavon and Shopify. For example, merchant processor Elavon has introduced more flexible and contactless solutions to help maintain social distancing rules while e-commerce brand Shopify is helping small businesses scale to the next level. Virtual roadshows and toolkits Social media giant Facebook, which already boasts success in supporting small businesses through its marketplace programme, is also doing its bit to help them further with a new scheme in partnership with Be the Business. Together they will launch a range of support measures designed to help 1.4million micro and small businesses. These include virtual events, peep-to-peer groups and a new 'Messenger Bot' offering tailored advice depending on the status of the business, whether they be hibernating, surviving, pivoting, or thriving. The bot will provide advice in areas such as how to access government resources, finances and forecasting, supply chains, business models and innovation, technology adoption and how to foster workforce wellbeing and leadership. Meanwhile a 'Boost with Be the Business' virtual roadshow will be held on 29 July, and will feature workshops and expert-led business advice. Steve Hatch, vice president for Northern Europe at Facebook, said: 'Small businesses are currently in survival mode. 'Digitally enabled businesses are resilient businesses, and we are committed to providing the tools and resources that enable SMEs to drive economic growth, create jobs and strengthen communities across the UK.' The coronavirus has drastically impacted businesses across the country as well as the way we work, live and interact with each other Another programme small businesses can benefit from is 'Back to Business' by Barclays Bank and the Cambridge Judge Business School. It is free to use for all UK SMEs - and not just those which bank with Barclays. It features a toolkit, which officially launched on 22 June, and contains practical advice, with a working capital calculator and strategies for managing cash flow. It is also designed to assess the overall health of a business and create a tailored resilience plan. Entrepreneurs have already shared how useful the toolkit has been Andy Moss, chief executive of Cube International, an events company based in Worcestershire, said: 'Covid-19 has had a big impact on our industry, which is predominantly sporting events and music. 'The Back to Business toolkit has been very enlightening it has not only refreshed my memory of the practicalities of running a business, but it has refocused my attention on the fundamentals. 'The next 12 months are going to be tough as we wait for the industry to return, but having the toolkit as an easy to follow resource will allow me to review new solutions for the business in the meantime.' Earlier this month, the bank also launched a Get Local partnership with Nextdoor, the neighbourhood hub, to help SMEs promote their skills and services to their local community in a safe way, and let them know that they are open for business. The company headed by a celebrity real estate guru who claims he bought 170 properties by his 30th birthday is accused of badly failing some of its clients. Nathan Birch, 35, who says he has a $55 million portfolio of more than 200 homes, runs property investment firm Binvested. The Bentley-driving wunderkind, who has been dubbed 'The Property Whisperer' on TV, boasts of rapidly building an empire by buying 'undervalued' homes and using the equity to finance the next mortgage. He gives the same advice to his clients and preaches relentless positivity for property values regardless of the economic climate. Nathan Birch, 35, who claims to have a $55 million portfolio of more than 200 homes, runs property investment firm Binvested - but not all his clients are satisfied Mr Birch will frequently trot out success stories to real estate media of young couples buying half a dozen properties in a year. But not all his clients are thrilled with the results, claiming their investments were mismanaged, or they were pushed to buy 'uninhabitable' homes no one could rent. One of Binvested's money-makers is charging a fee of $10,000 to $20,000 to find properties Mr Birch and his acolytes claim are bargains. For this, investors get information on suitable properties and suburbs along with assessments of potential homes they could buy. These payments are contractually non-refundable, even if the client doesn't end up buying a home as a result. Investors are then pushed for a quick sale on the promise that they don't even need to inspect the home - the firm will take care of everything. Mr Birch often personally spruiks 'opportunities' to clients in upbeat hard-sell emails, but some unhappy customers say staff are suddenly unreachable at the first sign of trouble. Former client Izzak Smit is now taking Binvested to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal claiming breach of contract. He and three other current and former clients told Daily Mail Australia of their horror stories with the company that cost them thousands of dollars. Within hours of Daily Mail Australia requesting comment from Binvested, all four were sent letters by the firm's in-house lawyers. The company said it was 'investigating' the claims and would not comment until that process was completed. Unit trashed by two tenants in a row Mr Smit engaged Binvested subsidiary Blink Property Management in November 2015 to look after his investment unit in Beenleigh, Brisbane, while he was living overseas. He claims he did not receive an inspection report until July 18, 2017, despite sending numerous emails asking for reports during the intervening time. After a year of more of the same, Mr Smit asked why he had not received more inspection reports, and was soon sent three for the wrong property. Zac Smit engaged Binvested subsidiary Blink Property Management in November 2015 to look after his investment unit in Beenleigh, Brisbane, while he was living overseas - and a tenant trashed it Mr Smit found his unit looking like this after it was trashed - holes in the walls and the shelves damaged and filthy The same day Blink inexplicably told him it did not even have a set of keys to the property with which to conduct an inspection. 'We are currently arranging a suitable time with the tenant to carry this out and will update you asap,' the email on July 9 read. Four days later Blink advised that the tenant had been evicted, and a property report revealed the awful state it was left in. 'The unit was uninhabitable,' then-property manager Emma Snowdon wrote in a signed statement to QCAT seen by Daily Mail Australia. 'There were several cats and even more birds running/flying wild inside, animal faeces on the walls and in the carpet throughout, as well as mould throughout. The small was disgusting.' Thousands of dollars was spent to repaint the house, repair holes in the walls, replace destroyed flyscreens, window locks, a towel rail, blinds, and the toilet cistern. Mr Smit claimed Blink didn't do inspections as it was supposed to do, and the property was trashed by two different tenants 'There were several cats and even more birds running/flying wild inside, animal faeces on the walls and in the carpet throughout, as well as mould throughout. The small was disgusting.' the then-property manager said The badly damaged front door also had to be repaired along with the bathroom ceiling that had signs of mould growing on it. A new tenant moved in on February 14, 2019, paying $270 a week and Mr Smit said he against received no inspection reports until they moved out six months later. There were several cats and even more birds running/flying wild inside, animal faeces on the walls and in the carpet throughout, as well as mould throughout. The small was disgusting. Mr Smit claimed Blink allowed the tenant to leave, and be paid their bond, and it was not until a new tenant was found that he discovered the unit had again been trashed. 'Please note in attached report that there is reported damage to the walls, ceilings, doors and floors, including a hole in the wall,' he wrote in his QCAT complaint. 'This is after the entire unit had been patched and painted.' Mr Smit once again spent thousands of dollars repairing the unit before firing Blink and appointing a different company. 'Blink Property Management have clearly not provided the service for which I have been paying for for years,' he claimed in his QCAT filing. Thousands of dollars was spent to repaint the house, repair holes in the walls, replace destroyed flyscreens, window locks, a towel rail, blinds, and the toilet cistern 'Due to this negligence, the property has suffered severe damages and multiple tenants have left due to issues not being resolved. 'Had the inspections been carried out as per the contract, this situation could have been avoided.' Mr Smit said he had repeatedly tried to get Blink to refund the costs associated with its alleged negligence, without success. 'They continue to string me along and show no evidence of wanting to take ownership of their behaviour by compensation,' he wrote. 'I have been as amicable as humanly possible and given them ample time and opportunity to find a resolution, but continue to be made a fool of.' Mr Smit said he paid $5265.54 in property management fees, and the damages cost him more than $10,000 to repair. Sold an 'uninhabitable' property A business development manager at an investment firm said he was inspired by a YouTube video of Mr Birch making property investment seem easy. He spoke to agents at Binvested who pushed him to fork out $20,000 in fees for two 'below market' properties they could arrange for him to buy. 'They reassured me that I didn't need to visit the properties because the team would organise inspections and every other detail of the transaction to be taken care of,' he said. The client said he paid the fees and was pitched a property in Woodridge, on Brisbane's outskirts, and Mr Birch personally emailed him to push for a quick sale. Another of Binvested's clients claims the company convinced him to buy this dilapidated house in St Marys, in western Sydney, without visiting it or knowing the condition 'This is a steal especially being only about 25km from Brisbane CBD you couldn't even build this property for this price lol,' Mr Birch claimed. 'I am taking advantage of the situation and making the sellers out there bleed on price.' Mr Birch warned he needed to jump in quickly as 'there are other scavengers out in the market and trying to get these bargains'. After noticing inconsistencies in what Mr Birch was saying about the property, he balked at the sale and was instead offered a house in St Marys, Sydney. He said Mr Birch, his staff, and a broker Mr Birch brought in all insisted that the property was a steal and would be rented within two weeks. The client, who lives in Melbourne, bought the house for $285,000 without visiting it, and the sale settled on June 21, 2018. The client, who lives in Melbourne, bought the house for $285,000 without visiting it, and the sale settled on June 21, 2018 Weeks went by and not only was the house not rented out, he was told the keys had not even been picked up. He said it was not until a month after settlement that advertising for tenants began, and four months later it had still not been rented out. Increasingly desperate, he flew to Sydney and found the house was unlivable, in contrast to what Binvested allegedly told him. 'The property was completely run down, there was no way someone could live in a place like that and the unit required a full renovation that would have cost thousands of dollars,' he said. 'The entire kitchen was rotten, the bathroom was disgusting and basically the whole place was completely rotten. 'Not to mention the smell inside and the condition of the staircase of the building. The garage wasn't even accessible as the door was broken.' He said he repeatedly tried to contact Binvested for an explanation and demand a refund, but was always told by assistants that they were unavailable. He was told it would have a tenant within two weeks but when this didn't happen and he couldn't get hold of the company, he flew to Sydney and found the house was unlivable, in contrast to what Binvested allegedly told him He said he had no choice but to hire another agent to sell the house, eventually offloading it for $5,000 less than he bought it for. All up, he alleges he lost more than $50,000 from the saga including fees, stamp duty, and minor renovations to get the house listed as a fix-up. 'The whole experience has been the worst nightmare I've ever gone through. I lost most of the money I saved since I was a child,' he said. The property was completely run down, there was no way someone could live in a place like that 'It took me over 20 years to save that $50,000 and everything was vanished in less than six months leaving me with an enormous amount of anxiety, grief, and the loss of all my capital. 'I've started having anxiety and panic attaches that took me nearly a year to overcome.' The client said he repeatedly asked for the $20,000 Binvested fees to be refunded, as he didn't even buy the second house. After Daily Mail Australia asked for comment on his case, he was sent a letter from Binvested's lawyers. 'You contracted to and were aware at the time that the Buyers Agency Agreement fee is a non refundable fee for presentation of prospective properties to you and that at your discretion you may choose to purchase or not purchase,' it read. Underquoted on land deal A third client and his wife were offered a house and land package in Fletcher, near Newcastle, and paid $16,500 to Binvested to set up the deal. 'Mr Birch and his team were very easy to access and would even call us quite frequently mainly to keep us motivated to sign up to one of their property deals,' he said. Emails showed before they paid the deposit, Mr Birch quoted them $450,000 to build the duplex, which was within their budget. Mr Birch in the same email to prospective buyers at several points pushed them to sign up within two days or the opportunity would be lost. 'The only catch is that the developer wants these properties sold before a deadline. That means first in, first out, sorry we can't wait!' he wrote. About six months later an information night on the development quoted more than $508,000 for the cheapest build, plus council contributions fees of $26,000 and subdivision costs of $50,000 to $100,000. Mr Birch, pictured with a friend, is something of phenomenon in real estate circles, claiming to own an ever-increasing number of properties aged just 35 He claimed Binvested never mentioned any of this before he and his wife paid the deposit. 'Nevertheless we had faith in the company to get us out of this mess. We approached management to get some answers and also advise us on what to do next,' he said. 'All of a sudden they were uncontactable, their staff would say that they would call us but that call never came.' The only catch is that the developer wants these properties sold before a deadline. That means first in, first out, sorry we can't wait! - Nathan Birch in hard-sell email to client He said that after six months of no communication, he and his wife had no choice but to give up their land back to the seller. He said the fees involved cost the couple more than $30,000. He said they eventually secured a meeting with Mr Birch where he claimed the couple were previously presented with a solution, but wasn't able to provide any record of it being communicated to them. 'They proceeded with an apology and acknowledged that their lack of help and communication lead us to lose a lot of money,' he said. Mr Birch allegedly promised to review the matter and consider refunding the $16,500 fee, but the client claimed he heard nothing. 'It's been months and we still haven't heard from him,' he said. After Daily Mail Australia asked Binvested for comment, the client was sent a letter offering to settle the matter, but declined the company's offer. Four years of poor management A fourth client had similar problems with Blink Property to Mr Smit over the course of four years from February 2016 until he sacked them last month. The man owns four properties in Labrador and Nerang on the Gold Coast, Beenleigh in southern Brisbane, and Gosford on the NSW Central Coast. Accounts and correspondence show a succession of a dozen Blink property managers were persistently late paying council rates and strata fees. This alleged mismanagement of his properties cost him thousands in late fees and missed on-time payment discounts. One one occasion in April 2019 he was sued by the strata management for $3,607 in unpaid fees on his Gosford property. 'I found that I was not informed ahead of time whenever there may have been a shortfall in my funds causing potential late payments,' he said. He also said fees were often not paid on time even when there was ample funds in his account, or they could be taken out of his rental income. 'I seem to be paying management fees without any return on them apart from the built-up stress of errors made, legal notices issued and the absence of good property management advice or quick decision making/follow-up of any raised concerns,' he wrote in an email to Blink in August 2019. Mr Birch preaches relentless positivity for property values regardless of the economic climate, as seen in this Seven News program On another occasion he wrote: 'I now pay all council and strata bills for this property myself as I couldn't trust Blink to do it in a timely or correct manner.' There were even bigger problems with his Beenleigh property, which was trashed by a tenant in September 2018 after Blink failed to conduct inspections. Correspondence showed he was advised by his then-property manager to lodge an insurance claim before carrying out repairs and renovations. However, Blink later admitted this was incorrect and the work should have been done immediately so another tenant could move in a rental income resume. A new tenant did not move in until June 2019, costing him more than $8,000 in lost rent. Repairs and renovations totalled about $25,500 but he only got $2,206 from insurance. Blink later admitted the claim was not done to an adequate standard. I am writing to you as a last resort... Blink Property has done little to rectify the issue In October 2019, he was informed that water was leaking into the unit below his as result of the bathroom repair and renovation. 'This water leak has destroyed half the power to unit 3 below and has caused fast growing and excessive black mould to unit 3,' Blink wrote in an email. Blink believed this would be covered by warranty and the client asked for his property manager to make a claim with the plumbing contractor. However, it was not until April that he was informed the repairs had not been carried out because money was still outstanding from the original renovation. 'Why was I not notified about this much earlier in the process of dealing with this?' he replied, noting that he would have paid the balance if told of the issue. Repairs were still not done by May 20 when the manager of the downstairs unit contacted the owner directly in a desperate attempt to get something done. 'I am writing to you as a last resort... Blink Property has done little to rectify the issue and we have been unable to get a satisfactory solution,' the latter read. 'Every day our unit suffers more and more damages due to the water leak and it is affecting the structure and habitability of our unit and tenants.' The unhappy client told Daily Mail Australia that instead of making his life easier as a landlord, it had added to his stress and expenses. Binvested success stories are frequently pitched to news outlets showing 20-something couples suddenly amassing a multimillion-dollar portfolio 'Blink have done the opposite of what they say they'll do (let me as a Landlord relax because my properties are in good hands and give me the best advise as a Property investor),' he said. 'I've endlessly been frustrated/stressed by having to micro-manage my properties because of the continual mistakes made, being terrible at communication, and basic lack of action or long delays in action taken.' Binvested recently agreed to manage his Gosford property free of charge for the next 12 months to make up for its past performance. When he asked instead for a 12-month refund so he would be free to change property management, he was told this was 'against company policy'. 'We have not been negligent, and the credit that we are offering is already in good faith,' a Binvested operations manager wrote. After Daily Mail Australia asked Binvested for comment, the company contacted him and agreed to meet his demands. Who is Nathan Birch? Mr Birch is something of phenomenon in real estate circles, claiming to own an ever-increasing number of properties aged just 35. He was all over the news in 2015 when he was said to have 170 properties at just 30 years old, and now claims to own more than 200 homes worth $55 million. Now he flaunts his wealth on social media, drives a $200,000 Bentley with personalised number plates, and brags about 'collecting properties like kids collect action figurines in a Happy Meals'. His origin story claims he bought his first investment property soon after turning 18, and by 24 had 14 in his portfolio. That year he quit his series of dead-end jobs and started Binvested, sometimes buying more than a dozen houses a year. Mr Birch's origin story claims he bought his first investment property soon after turning 18, and by 24 had 14 in his portfolio Mr Birch claims his strategy is so simple anyone can do it. 'I buy below market value in lower-priced suburbs and the rent has to be enough to cover my mortgage costs,' he said in one of countless puff pieces over the years. 'When the value of the home increases I use the equity I've gained to help buy more properties.' This is exactly the same procedure he spruiks to Binvested's clients - pitching them cheap homes on the outskirts of major cities he claims will grown in value. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Mr Birch or any of his companies have engaged in any wrongdoing, only that some of Binvested's and Blink Property's clients have been unimpressed by their experiences. Binvested success stories are frequently pitched to news outlets showing 20-something couples suddenly amassing a multimillion-dollar portfolio. This feeds into Mr Birch's mystique, along with relentlessly hocking himself as an expert commentator on the property market. His takes are always bullish, railing against 'negative Norman' experts even when the market is in the midst of a downturn. Just three weeks ago he was calling the coronavirus pandemic 'the greatest opportunity for property investors we'll ever see'. Having already purchased six new homes during the pandemic, Mr Birch said he hoped to buy another 20 to 30 properties by the end of the year. 'I'm really excited. I'm smiling ear to ear people are saying the property market is going to crash but it's not going to crash. It's going to go up,' he told Real Estate. However, Mr Birch's strategy is criticised by some property experts as being a house of cards that leaves owners open to disaster in a housing crash. The perpetual buying many of his success stories, and those of other investment companies with the same strategy, is to use equity in homes to borrow more cash. The first home is often subsidised by parents, or the deposit gained by living rent-free at home. Then the cheap home is given some cosmetic renovations and revalued. But this only works if the market keeps going up, and the speculation is correct that these cheap suburbs will become more desirable. 'Often the last part of the market to go up is the first part of the market to go down,' a senior real estate reporter told Buzzfeed in 2017. 'These are properties not serviced by real things that give them real value nearby infrastructure, public transport and job opportunities. 'The ones who jump in late in the cycle are the ones who are burnt the most.' One of the many 'motivational' memes Mr Birch shares on his Instagram Mr Birch later that year ended up in a small spot of bother himself when a lender for one of his properties sued him for failing to pay the mortgage. Permanent Mortgages, a subsidiary of La Trobe Financial, took him to the Brisbane Federal Court over a block of three units in Paradise Point, on the Gold Coast. Mr Birch had failed to meet repayments on his $535,000 interest-only mortgage and the lender had him declared in default by the court after he didn't file a defence. Mr Birch in January 2018 claimed he only 'briefly' fell behind because of tighter lending restrictions brought in by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. 'Most importantly, they're all paid up now and I'm coming to the end of this challenging year on top of things, still with an ever-growing net worth position,' he told the Australian Financial Review. About the same time as he was being sued in mid-2017, Mr Birch admitted he was selling off 20 or so properties to improve his cashflow. He said in a blog post on the Binvested website that the change in APRA, which limited the issuing of interest-only mortgages, made the finance market 'tight'. 'I don't want to sell them, but what I've realised is the finance market is really, really tight,' he said. 'My clients, in the past I'd help them buy 20 properties in two years, now they'll struggle to do eight in two years.' Mr Birch said he was still actively buying properties, but was just changing what was in his portfolio. 'It's like in Monopoly when you trade the four green houses for the red hotel,' he said. The APRA regulation change kicked off a fall in property prices around Australia and scared many investors off the market. Advertisement Binvested response The company rejected suggestions of a pattern of poor communication and service and said it was negotiating with two of the complainants. However, it promised to improve its practices to prevent similar issues from happening in the future. 'More stringent processes are currently under discussion to be in place as a matter of priority,' it said. 'Our core values centre around honesty and integrity and we always endeavour to manage expectations to the best of our capability. 'This is, however, sometimes compromised by developments that are beyond our control, but we are always very candid with our clients about the potential risk involved.' The first property Mr Birch bought in Mount Druitt, Sydney, it was riddled with termites. He bought it for $248,000 in 2004 and it was worth $600,000 by 2016 Binvested did not directly address general criticism, and insisted clients were advised to do their own due dilligence. 'We always stress the importance of our clients doing their own due diligence on the information that we present them with and ultimately, it is the client's choice on whether or not to move forward with the deal in question,' it said. 'Risk is inherent with any form of investment, and the property investment journey is neither linear nor a get-rich-quick-scheme. 'Potential investors need to be aware that there will be ups and downs during the process of building a property investment portfolio. 'That is why only 0.001 per cent of the Australian population ever make it to 6+ properties. Property investment is hard and it takes a lot of hard work, but if done correctly, with a solid strategy in place, the results yielded make it worth it.' A high school teacher went on a racist rant to her class about Aboriginal people taking money from the government while living in housing commissions. The teacher at Singleton High School, in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, made the derogatory comments during a year nine cooking class last Tuesday. Mary Franks, whose Aboriginal daughter was in the class, said four indigenous students were upset by the remarks and immediately left the classroom. 'The teacher's turned around and said the best thing to happen to Aboriginal people is the European colonisation,' Ms Franks told the ABC. 'My beautiful, brave 14-year-old daughter stopped at the door of the classroom and said, 'what you're saying is wrong, you have no idea what it's like to be Aboriginal, you've got no right to say what you're saying'.' Mary Franks (pictured), whose indigenous 14-year-old daughter was in the class, said four Aboriginal students were upset by the remarks and immediately left the classroom The teacher at Singleton High School (pictured), in the NSW Hunter Valley, made the derogatory comments during a year nine cooking class last Tuesday 'To which the teacher smiled in my daughter's face and replied: 'Look how white you are, no one is even going to know you're Aboriginal'.' It's alleged the teacher, whose name hasn't been revealed, also said indigenous Australians live in state housing and take money from the government. Ms Franks said the students watched a PowerPoint presentation on diversity in the school earlier that day. The Department of Education confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the teacher has been taken off classroom duties after students and parents complained to the school. 'The school received complaints that a teacher had made racist comments during a lesson on diversity,' a statement read. 'The complaints were immediately followed up with the school's Anti Racism Contact Officer and senior staff, the school met with the family, and support was arranged for students. 'The teacher apologised for her comments to the class, student and her family.' The Department said it is investigating the matter and the teacher is on alternate duties until investigations are complete. But Ms Franks said an apology simply isn't enough, and called for the teacher to be suspended. Her daughter was told she did not have to attend the class for the remainder of the term. GENEVA, June 29 (Reuters) - The COVID-19 pandemic is not even close to being over, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday. "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up," Tedros said. The global body was planning to convene a meeting this week to assess progress in research towards fighting the disease. (Editing by Alison Williams) A wind-driven wildfire has destroyed 40 homes and forced evacuations as it tore through a rural Southern California desert town near the Salton Sea. The fire erupted Sunday evening in Niland, a small and poor agricultural community about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from San Diego. Damage was still being assessed but the current estimate was 40 homes destroyed and about 130 people displaced, said Linsey Dale, a spokeswoman for Imperial County. Blocks of homes on Third St. lay in ashes the day after high winds stoked a wildfire A burnt out Chevrolet truck is among the ashes of somebody's home after the fire ripped through The American Red Cross Southern California Region said it was working to provide shelter. 'It's very devastating in that area right now,' Dale said. Fires have also knocked out power to hundreds of homes in the surrounding areas with residents warned to stay away. The Imperial County Public Health Department urged people to 'please keep out of the town. Sheriff's is conducting a home to home check.' Guadalupe and Daniel Altamirano comfort each other as they survey the ashes of their cousin's home on E. Fourth St. a day after high winds stoked a wildfire, taking out numerous homes Several vehicles lost to the fire as residents were told to evacuate immediately on Sunday A child's swing set and a shed are the only structures that remain on one property With the latest update reading: 'Imperial County Fire reports that the fire is Niland is contained. Crews are monitoring & extinguishing hot spots. 'A damage assessment team will be in Niland this morning. Waiting for updates from IID regarding how long it will take to get power back on.' Niland, population about 1,000, is located at the north end of an agricultural region that stretches south to the U.S.-Mexico border. The fire was pushed by strong winds, forcing evacuation of the entire township. Homes have been almost entirely flattened by the fire. It is not yet known how the fire started Surrounding areas were also left without power as the fire tore through from Sunday until Monday evening when authorities said it was under control Niland, population about 1,000, is located at the north end of an agricultural region that stretches south to the U.S.-Mexico border Every local fire truck and firefighting team responded and firefighting help also came from elsewhere. The fire is the latest blow to California's Imperial County, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 500 patients have been moved to hospitals in other counties over the past five weeks to relieve strain on the county's healthcare system. It is not yet clear how the fire began. The wind-driven wildfire has destroyed about 40 homes and forced evacuations A wildfire burning through an section of Niland, California on Sunday night Advertisement After months of being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, opened at reduced capacity earlier this month. DailyMail.com was there to witness what the new reality looks like, with social distancing guidelines in place and prevention tips printed on signs placed throughout the park. What once was a lively park of hour-long waits and children running free, is now a desolate area with families donning masks, gloves and other protective gear. This comes as Florida is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, having more than 146,341 confirmed cases and at least 3,447 coronavirus-related deaths. After months of being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, opened at reduced capacity earlier this month Universal Studios Florida is seen with less patrons than usual in Orlando as new Covid-19 cases surge to record highs throughout Florida and United States A special area was designated and monitored for visitors to take a break from wearing face masks at Universal Studios Florida Patrons walk outside the Hard Rock Live Orlando at Universal Studios Florida Blue signs reminding park-goers to wash their hands and remain socially distant have been erected at nearly every turn at the park Universal Studios, Universal's Islands of Adventure and Universals Volcano Bay all reopened in Orlando on June 5 and patrons who returned are expected to separate by six feet in line for rides and attractions. For enclosed attractions, including performance shows, guests were seen spaced out in the audience and performers wore face coverings. Cleaning staff wiped down the seats and handrails after each performance. A volunteer was called up on stage during one of the shows and was given hand sanitizer before participating. Indoor dining was available, but as a precaution mobile food and drink orders were taken. People could be seen socially distancing and wearing face masks at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley attraction. Those wanting to take pictures with characters and superheroes must stand 12 feet away to snap a selfie. Blue signs reminding park-goers to wash their hands and remain socially distant have been erected at nearly every turn at the park. And a special area, called the U-Rest area, is designated and monitored for visitors to take a break from wearing face masks at the park. Over on the rollercoasters, dare devils were seen enjoying the rides privately as only two rows were seen occupied. Over on the rollercoasters, dare devils were seen enjoying the rides privately as only two rows were seen occupied For enclosed attractions, including performance shows, guests were seen spaced out in the audience and performers wore face coverings Workers were seen cleaning seats and hand rails between shows at Universal Studios Indoor dining was available, but as a precaution mobile food and drink orders were taken People are seen socially distanced and wearing face masks at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley attraction at Universal Studios Performers are seen on stilts and wearing face coverings at Islands of Adventure Last week Universal Orlando laid off an unspecified number of workers less than three weeks after it reopened its theme parks. Universal spokesman Tom Schroder announced the news Tuesday, stating: 'We have made the difficult decision to reduce our parks and resorts workforce across multiple locations and business units'. 'We are working to structure and strengthen our business for the future in anticipation of the tourism industry taking time to fully recover. In that regard, we have already taken important steps such as adjusting budgets and implementing salary reductions and furloughs,' he added. Schroder stated that laid-off employees would be offered 'severance pay, subsidized health benefits and professional reemployment assistance', according to the Orlando Sentinel. He did not disclose which roles had been cut, nor which parks or hotels had been most affected. Back in April, many full-time Universal employees were hit with a 20 percent pay cut, and part-time hourly workers were furloughed Patrons were separated by six feet in line at the park and wearing masks while indoors People are seen watching a show while social distancing and wearing face masks at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley attraction Universal Studios Florida is seen with less patrons than usual as new Covid-19 cases surge to record highs throughout Florida Theme park expert Seth Kubersky says he has been informed by sources that 'those being laid off are not people guests see face to face'. Kubersky told FOX 35 that those at risk could include 'people in event management, people in the props department, folks that fabricate the props: things that maybe might not affect guests' day-to-day experience now but could down the line'. According to 2019 report from BizJournal, Universal Orlando is one of the city's largest employers, with 25,000 workers across their three parks and various resorts. Universal Studios Florida, Universals Islands of Adventure and Universals Volcano Bay were all forced to shutter amid the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March. Signs advising visitors on health precautions were seen throughout the theme park Visitors wanting to take pictures with characters must stand 12-feet away at Universal Studios Parkgoers are seen waiting in a socially distanced line for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts attraction On June 5, the parks reopened to the public at a reduced capacity and with a variety of other safety measures in effect Two actors outside Revenge of the Mummy attraction are seen wearing face masks at Universal Studios On June 5, the parks reopened to the public at a reduced capacity and with a variety of other safety measures in effect. However, Kubersky claims the parks have been struggling to attract visitors even while operating at half capacity. 'Having visited the parks over the last few weeks, although theyve had some large crowds on weekends, weekdays are extremely quiet,' he stated. It's possible that the surging number of coronavirus infections in the Sunshine State is keeping crowds away. Florida reported having more than 146,341 confirmed cases. The state has had at least 3,447 coronavirus-related deaths. Visitors wanting to take pictures with characters must stand 12 feet away, including outside The Simpsons Ride where Sideshow Bob is seen Patrons enter Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida, which opened at reduced capacity Some visitors wore gloves at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida wearing gloves as a precaution Walt Disney World, which is also located in Orlando, is scheduled to reopen on July 11. However, employees and unions are now pressuring executives to push back that date in light of the health risks. 'This virus is not gone, unfortunately it's only become worse in this state,' one Disney employee wrote on 'With a record high of 4,049 new COVID-19 cases in a single day on June 20, 2020, we are now backtracking from where we originally were.' Workers are refusing to take jobs thanks to JobSeeker handouts which make it more lucrative to stay unemployed, business owners have claimed. JobSeeker payments, formerly known as the Newstart allowance, were doubled from $275-a-week to $550-a-week during the coronavirus pandemic. The move has put more cash in the pockets of casual workers, making them reluctant to look for work now businesses have reopened, industry insiders say. People are seen wearing face masks in a long queue outside the Centrelink office in Southport on the Gold Coast on March 23 The move has put more cash in casual workers pockets, making them reluctant to return to work, industry insiders say (pictured, tradesmen head to work in Sydney on June 29) Robert Hall-Bowman, from the Queensland Chamber of Commerce, told The Courier Mail one worker admitted they would not be returning to work until September - when the coronavirus supplement is due to be cutback. 'There's been examples we have been given where it's difficult to find staff to come back, with particularly the casual work force.' Eddy Nader, who runs four BP service stations in Sydney, said he had been struggling to fill three positions because workers were better off on JobSeeker. 'People are just taking the mickey out of the scheme. It's become a farce,' he told The Australian. The JobKeeper program - which pays $1,500 a fortnight to those left temporarily unemployed by forced business closures - has also created problems for businesses. New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show one in five people on JobKeeper has been receiving more money through the wage subsidy than they would normally earn. Restaurant and Catering Association boss Wes Lambert said some business owners claim staff were choosing to go JobSeeker instead of returning to work. Prime Minister Scott Morrison raised similar concerns during a press conference on Monday. Business owners claim staff were choosing to go JobSeeker instead of returning to work (pictured, a reopened Melbourne cafe on June 21) 'What we have to be worried about now is that we can't allow the JobSeeker payment to become an impediment to people going out and doing work, getting extra shifts. 'And we are getting a lot of anecdotal feedback from small businesses, even large businesses where some of them are finding it hard to get people to come and take the shifts because they're on these higher levels of payment.' Mr Morrison said the government had to be careful when supporting people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and have little chance of getting another temporary job. 'And so we've just got to make sure that we continue to provide what is a reasonable level of support in the middle of the worst recession we've had since the Great Depression,' he said. 'But at the same time, we can't let the help get in the way that we're giving to people. And so these aren't easy decisions. They're very complex.' JobSeeker payments were doubled from $275-a-week to $550-a-week amid the coronavirus pandemic (pictured, people queue for access to a Centrelink Service Centre in Sydney) Mr Morrison is also concerned the government is 'burning through' almost $11billion a month on JobKeeper wage subsidies. He is looking to redirect support towards industries hardest hit by coronavirus and withdraw it from companies quicker to recover. 'There's still a lot of work to do there and that's what we're focused on,' Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney. 'There are many moving parts in this, this is not a simple issue.' The prime minister will receive a Treasury report on the coronavirus payments on Monday evening but will wait another month before making any changes. Labor has accused the prime minister of sitting on the Treasury report until after the upcoming by-election in Eden-Monaro. The coronavirus pandemic left many businesses forced to shut their doors, leaving thousands out of work (pictured, queues outside Centrelink on March 23) A shut down cafe for sale in Mollymook on the NSW south coast (pictured on April 7) after businesses across the country were hit by COVID-19 restrictions It has called on him to end the 'chaos and confusion' before voters go to the polls on Saturday. Mr Morrison has promised there will be a next phase of economic support, but says a series of complex decisions need to be made. There are growing calls to expand access to the pandemic payments and sustain them beyond September. The Grattan Institute wants JobSeeker permanently increased by at least $100 a week, provided to more people and tied to wages. The think-tank also wants JobKeeper extended into next year and expanded to ineligible arts, university and tourism workers. The institute has warned against withdrawing fiscal support too soon, echoing an early caution from the International Monetary Fund. Instead, it has recommended the federal government spend between $70billion and $90billion on extra economic stimulus measures, including cash cheques sent directly to households. Scott Morrison (pictured on Monday) has claimed unemployed Australians are refusing to work because JobSeeker's $550-a-week benefits are too high Mr Morrison is also concerned the government is 'burning through' almost $11billion a month on JobKeeper wage subsidies (pictured, queues outside a Melbourne Centrelink) Grattan also encouraged the government to introduce a higher, simpler, means-tested childcare subsidy that would cover 95 per cent of costs for low-income families. A separate report by analytics firms illion and AlphaBeta has found low income earners have carried the economy through the crisis. The data showed people earning less than $65,000 a year kept the economy propped up through discretionary and essential spending. By contrast, the economic advisory group found high income earners had kept their wallets sealed since the start of March. A new Australian Bureau of Statistics survey shows Australians are slowly getting back to work as coronavirus lockdowns ease. Sixty one per cent of Australian adults had a job working paid hours in June, the highest rate since early March. In announcing Sanders sentence, DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin said, On May 4, 2017, Dominic Sanders brutally and mercilessly took Andrea Urbans life. The pain and suffering he inflicted upon Andrea and the entire Hinsdale community that day will never go away. The physical pain Andrea endured at the hands of Dominic Sanders has now transformed into emotional and psychological pain thrust upon the shoulders of those who loved her. A pain they must now bear with no end in sight. John Wayne's family has defended the screen icon amid calls for his name to be removed from the title of an airport due to 'racist' comments made in 1971. Wayne's family dismissed comments made during a Playboy interview as a 'single outlier interview from half a century ago' that does not represent him. In a 1971 interview with Playboy magazine, Wayne was quoted saying 'I believe in white supremacy' and 'I don't feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves.' Ethan in a released statement said the word racist is 'casually tossed around these days, but I take it very seriously. I also understand how we got to this point.' Shortly after Wayne's son Ethan put out a statement insisting his father 'was not a racist,' the actor's widow Pillar Pallete, 91, made a rare appearance outside her home in Orange City. An image shows the widow holding her dog. Palette was married to Wayne until his death in 1979. Wayne is picture with his son Ethan around 1969. Wayne's family has dismissed the Playboy interview comments as a 'single outlier interview from half a century ago' that does not represent him A statement from John Wayne's son Ethan notes that the word racist is 'casually tossed around these days, but I take it very seriously. I also understand how we got to this point,' he said, in a reference to George Floyd protests and calls for an end to systematic racism Wayne - the late, macho star of Hollywood westerns such as 'True Grit' - held 'white supremacist, anti-LGBT, and anti-Indigenous views,' the Orange County Democratic Party said in a resolution calling for his name to be removed from the local airport. Ethan added: 'There is no question the words spoken by John Wayne in an interview 50 years ago have caused pain and anger. They pained him as well, as he realized his true feelings were wrongly conveyed.' 'The truth is, as we have seen in papers from his archives, he did not support "white supremacy" in any way and believes that responsible people should gain power without the use of violence.' The statement goes on to say that Wayne hired and worked with people of all 'races, creeds and sexual orientations'. 'John Wayne stood for the very best of all of us -- a society that doesn't discriminate against anyone seeking the American dream.' Wayne's family has dismissed the Playboy interview comments as a 'single outlier interview from half a century ago' that does not represent him. His son Ethan released a statement, pictured, insisting his father 'was not a racist' Palette married Wayne in 1954. Both are pictured two years later on a trip to Tripoli. The couple remained together until the actor's death in 1979 He added that the 'current focus on social justice is absolutely valid and necessary. But attempts by some to use it for political advantage distract from real opportunities for reform.' Wayne 'would be in the forefront demanding fairness and justice for all people. He would have pulled those officers off of George Floyd, because that was the right thing to do. He would stand for everyone's right to protest and work toward change,' Ethan added. 'It would be an injustice to judge him based on a single interview, as opposed to the full picture of who he was.' Wayne starred in more than 150 films over six decades. He was nominated for three Oscars, winning best actor for 1969's 'True Grit.' It comes after President Donald Trump rushed to his defence on Monday. Shortly after Wayne's son Ethan put out a statement insisting his father 'was not a racist,' the actor's widow Pillar Pallete, 91, made a rare appearance outside her home in Orange The Democrats' resolution noted the population of Orange County, near Los Angeles, has grown far more diverse since 1979 - the year Wayne died, and the airport was named for him. 'They have called for its name to be restored to Orange County Airport.' Trump, who took issue with Princeton for removing President Woodrow Wilson's name from its School of Public and International Affairs amid pressures similar to those calling for the removal of statues and monuments after George Floyd protests, ripped into the Democratic plan for the airport. 'Now the Do Nothing Democrats want to take off the name John Wayne from an airport,' tweeted Trump. 'Incredible stupidity!' US President Donald Trump leapt to the defence Monday of his movie idol John Wayne, after California Democrats called for the actor's name to be removed from a local airport due to 'racist' comments The Orange County Democratic Party said in a resolution last week that Wayne's name should come down from the county's local airport (pictured) after noting that he held 'white supremacist, anti-LGBT, and anti-Indigenous views' President Donald Trump took issue with Princeton for removing President Woodrow Wilson's name from its School of Public and International Affairs amid pressures similar to those calling for the removal of statues and monuments after George Floyd protests Trump added to his disapproval the effort to rename John Wayne Airport, in a tweet Monday The renaming comes at a time when historic statues and monuments are being removed across the country, as Americans grapple with the legacy of racism in the wake of the police-related slaying of George Floyd on Memorial Day in Minneapolis. Floyd, a 46-year-old black father-of-five, died after police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee on the man's neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest. Video footage of the incident taken by a bystander shows the slaying, which triggered Black Lives Matter protests calling for an end to police brutality and systematic racism. Coronavirus hot spots in Melbourne should be placed under strict lockdown to stem the rapidly growing second wave of the virus, an expert has claimed. WHO advisor Mary-Louise McLaws said the Victorian government should implement China's strategy of 'ring-fencing' COVID-19 concentrated areas to have any chance of containing the outbreak. The strategy involves locking down communities in high-infection areas and having them unable to leave without special exemptions, while restrictions are eased outside the region. The method was effective in containing coronavirus in China and during the SARS outbreak of 2003 and Professor McLaws believes it is what Melbourne needs. A WHO advisor said Melbourne must lockdown coronavirus hot spot suburbs immediately to stem the second spread of the disease. Pictured: an ADF member doing a coronavirus test at Melbourne Showgrounds on Monday A man leaves the Melbourne Showground testing facility on Wednesday. Professor Mary-Louise McLaws said China's 'ring-fencing' strategy of hotspot areas is the way to go 'They [China] put in place the ring-fencing of cities, but have then instigated ring-fencing in hotspots within cities, and the success of that emboldens my idea that this could be the way to go,' she told ABC. Professor McLaws said a local lockdown should be implemented immediately as results would not be known until after the two week virus incubation period. 'So now is the time to act, and to act very rapidly,' she said. Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the state's growing coronavirus outbreak 'will get worse before it gets better' after the state recorded 75 new cases of the disease on Monday. Victoria's sudden surge of cases has been described as 'of epic proportions' and a danger to other states which have shown little evidence of community transmission for weeks Premier Daniel Andrews will wait for the results of a three-day coronavirus testing blitz in 10 suburban hotspots before deciding on further measures to contain the virus CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement A testing blitz is underway in the suburbs of Albanvale, Broadmeadows, Brunswick West, Hallam, Fawkner, Keilor Downs, Maidstone, Pakenham, Reservoir and Sunshine West, which have seen high levels of community transmission in recent weeks. More than 50,000 COVID-19 tests have been done in the suburbs and Professor Sutton wants to see the results before deciding on any further measures to contain the virus. He expects to see 'at least' as many positive cases in the coming days as test results pour in and has kept the option of putting suburbs into a second lockdown on the table. 'It is absolutely an option and we flagged the possibility of using it and we will use it if it is required,' Professor Sutton said. The state government have not yet outlined how a localised lockdown would work, though Professor Sutton believes stay-at-home orders would be involved. 'It would be a significant logistical exercise to manage a stay-at-home [order] that is just about particular postcodes, particular suburbs or local government areas, so we have to think about all of those challenges,' he said. A cleaner leaves Keilor Views Primary School during contract tracing and cleaning after students tested positive for coronavirus Monday's increase is the fourth-highest daily total for the state since the beginning of the pandemic. The last time more than 70 new cases were recorded in Victoria was on March 31, when the state was in its strictest lockdown stage. Professor Hamish McCallum from Griffith University said the state is experiencing a second wave of the virus. 'The question is whether it is a ripple, or the start of a tsunami,' he said. 'In addition to the increased testing, I think there is a case to lockdown the hotspot suburbs.' Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has kept the option of putting suburbs into a second lockdown on the table. Pictured: a shopper wearing a face mask in Coburg on Thursday A guillotine has been set up by protesters outside the Washington DC home of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos demanding the company he founded be abolished. A number of videos have been posted to social media that show an old fashioned piece of apparatus commonly used for beheading during the French Revolution. A sign placed underneath read: 'Support our poor communities. Not our wealthy men.' The prop was erected on Sunday afternoon and a social media post invited people to head to the home near Dupont Circle. Activists set up a guillotine outside of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos's D.C. home Videos posted to Twitter showed protesters sitting down in the street outside the home The stunt was publicized online as being held on Sunday between 4-8pm DC protester says: when they become threatened, and we have no voice, the knives come out. In front of a guillotine set up in front of Jeff Bezos complex in DC pic.twitter.com/synjRwgD1H Drew Hernandez (@livesmattershow) June 28, 2020 One video showed a woman holding a megaphone chanting a message: 'When they become threatened, and we have no voice, the knives come out.' The group that assembled outside the mansion was relatively small despite the stunt being publicized online for Sunday afternoon. Although Bezos's main home is in Washington State close to Amazon's global headquarters, the founder of one of the biggest e-commerce companies in the world also occasionally lives in Manhattan with a residence on Fifth Avenue and Washington D.C. His Washington D.C. mansion, is a 27,000 sq ft property, worth $23 million and is the largest in the city according to the National Review. DC protesters have set up a guillotine in protest of Jeff Bezos in front of his complex in DC pic.twitter.com/VZ0AWTJqaV Drew Hernandez (@livesmattershow) June 28, 2020 Bezos Washington D.C. mansion, a 27,000sq ft property, worth $23m, is the largest in the city 'Amazon works directly with police to surveil us, stoking racist fears in the name of profit. Doubling down on their union-busting and mistreatment of workers, Amazon fired and racially slandered labor organizer Chris Smalls,' a digital flyer circulated online read according to Fox News. 'Join us to tell Jeff Bezos enough is enough!' 'END THE ABUSE AND PROFITEERING. ABOLISH THE POLICE, THE PRISONS, AND AMAZON,' the flier read. Smalls, who had worked at Amazon's Staten Island warehouse for five years was fired after he is alleged to have organized a walkout at work in protest at an apparent lack of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. Bezos is one of the richest people in the world with a net worth of around $113 billion, Amazon said Smalls was fired for 'violating social distancing guidelines and putting the safety of others at risk.' Earlier this month Bezos said that he was 'happy to lose' customers who did not support Black Lives Matter. The company has joined countless others seeking to end to institutional racism after the death George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while he was being taken into custody. Shortly after the incident he posted a note stating: 'We believe Black Lives Matter. We stand in solidarity with our Black employees, customers, and partners, and are committed to helping build a country and a world where everyone can live with dignity and free from fear.' The Amazon founder purchased the $23million Washington mansion that has undergone over three years of renovations and construction and is in the city's wealthy Kalorama district Jeff Bezos and girlfriend Lauren Sanchez were both at the lavish housewarming in January Bezos is one of the richest people in the world with a net worth of around $113 billion, according to Forbes. In January of this year Bezos threw a lavish party at his new mansion attended by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and actor Ben Stiller. The Amazon founder purchased the $23million Washington mansion in 2016 and it underwent three years of renovations and construction. The home is tucked in the city's wealthy Kalorama district near the residences of former President Barack Obama and the Trump-Kushner family. Also in attendance at Bezos' party were United States Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, businessman David Rubeinstein, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell, Case Foundation CEO Jean Case and husband AOL founder Steve Case, Politico founder Robert Allbritton, Barbie Allbritton, former House Speaker Paul Ryan and wife Janna, former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and wife Good Morning America correspondent Claire Shipman, former Defense for Public Affairs Geoff Morrell, and Hilton president Chris Nassetta, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared seemed loved up as they attended a grand welcoming party at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' new Washington DC mansion in January Actor Ben Stiller was seen in good spirits arriving to the sprawling mansion in January Bezos rubbed shoulders with his political friends inviting Senator Mitt Romney to the party with his wife Ann Australians who were financially affected by the coronavirus shutdown will have another chance to dip into their retirement savings. Those hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis will be allowed to access an additional $10,000 from their superannuation when the 2020-21 financial year begins on Wednesday. But because the scheme relies on 'self-reporting', the Australian Taxation Office has warned those who aren't honest will face heavy fines. Those hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis will be allowed to access an additional $10,000 when the 2020-21 financial year begins on Wednesday Are you eligible for early release of superannuation up to $10,000 Australians must fit at least one of these three conditions to be eligible for the early release of superannuation scheme 1. You must be eligible or already receiving government assistance such as JobSeeker payments, youth allowance, special benefit or farm household allowance. 2. You lost your job on or after January 1, 2020, or had your working hours cut by at least 20 per cent. 3. You are a sole trader who had their business suspended or shut down by the coronavirus crisis, reducing turnover by 20 per cent or more. Applications for early super access open July 1 and are available until September 24 via the MyGov website Advertisement 'If you are unable to demonstrate your eligibility when we ask for evidence we may revoke the determination that we issued in respect to your application,' Australian Taxation Office's deputy commissioner Will Day said. 'This means the amount paid to you under COVID-19 early release of super will become assessable income and need to be including in your tax return and you will pay tax on the released amount.' More than 2.3million hard-hit Australians have applied to access their retirement savings when the federal government announced the scheme in April. The extreme measure was brought in to cushion the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed about that 980,000 jobs have been lost as a result of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, bringing the unemployment rate to 7.1 per cent As a result, a total of $18.5billion dollars were withdrawn in the first round of the scheme. Australians are urged to consider the long term ramifications before accessing their super before retirement. Pictured is a Sydneysider getting an early morning workout on Monday Assistant Minister for Superannuation Jane Hume said the scheme helped Australians support themselves at a time of great financial uncertainty and provided a much-needed financial lifeline to those in need. But Industry Super Australia chief executive officer Bernie Dean had a dire warning, especially for those who have accessed their super recently. A 35-year-old who withdraws $10,000 now will see a $19,411 reduction in their super when they retire at 67, according to the MoneySmart calculator. 'It does come with a pretty hefty price tag but we recognise that young people don't necessarily think about the long-term,' Mr Dean told News Corp. 'We also recognise they may not be in a position to make up the lost ground themselves. He warned early withdrawals can 'wipe out' your life and income protection cover if your super balance falls low. More than 2.2 million Australians have dipped into their super since April after falling on hard times during the coronavirus pandemic (pictured are Centrelink queues in Melbourne) Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia's chief executive Dr Martin Fahy agreed and believes early release should be considered as a last resort. 'Drawing down on your super early will have a substantial impact on your long-term retirement savings and the more you take out the greater that impact will be,' he said. If you decide to withdraw from your super, Dr Fahy advises to make those funds last as long as possible and only spend it on necessities. Applications for early super access open July 1 and are available until September 24 via the MyGov website. Australians can only access their super if they're unemployed, are eligible to receive a job seeker payment, have been made redundant since January 1 or had their work hours reduced by at least 20 per cent. The MoneySmart website advises Australians to seek government assistance and speaking to their bank or lender about possible financial assistance before dipping into your super. A tattooed bikie nicknamed 'Kaos' (pictured) was arrested at an Airbnb in Perth on Friday A tattooed ex-bikie boss nicknamed 'Kaos' allegedly sent a threatening text message claiming police officers would be killed before being arrested at an Airbnb property. Brett Pechey, 34, was tracked down to a short-term rental in Belmont, east Perth, and heavily armed officers surrounded the property on Friday morning. Police swooped on Pechey after he allegedly sent a message reading 'coppers are going to die today' with a picture of a shotgun. Pechey, who is known to have had connections to the West End Bandidos gang and Brothers 4 Life, was arrested alongside his alleged associate Adam Iustini. Police say they found a shotgun in a white Holden Commodore that Mr Iustini was driving down the road from the raided property, The West Australian reported. Brett Pechey (pictured, right) with ex girlfriend Rikki-Louise (left) was arrested along with another man after allegedly sending a text message threatening police Pechey reportedly gave himself up without a fight and police say they also found a shotgun in a white Holden Commodore Pechey was tracked down with the help of drones and house-to-house searches before police established a road block on Frederick Street just after 11.30am. Officers used a loud speaker to demand Pechey come out of the house and he reportedly gave himself up without a fight. The former Bandidos boss appeared in Northbridge Magistrates Court on charges including threats to kill, aggravated possession of a weapon and breaching a police order. Neither Pechey or Iustini applied for bail on Saturday and are both set to face court again in the coming days. The high-profile bikie boasts a life of luxury on his highly curated Instagram account. Pechey, who also called himself 'Infamous' before 'Kaos', has been laying low in Perth since a warrant was issued for his arrest by Queensland Police in December 2018. Pechey faced court after his arrest (pictured) and did not apply for bail Pechey, a notorious ex-bikie boss, boasts a life of luxury on his curated instagram account Th ex-bikie boss failed to show up to Southport Magistrate's Court on charges including serious assault of a police officer and committing a public nuisance. His unresolved charges stem from an alleged three-hour stand-off with more than 26 police officers at a Gold Coast home in March 2018. A Queensland Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that Pechey has outstanding charges in Queensland but police are not seeking his extradition. Pechey also fled to Thailand in 2013 after a Broadbeach Bandidos bikie brawl. He hid in Bangkok and Phuket for over a year before negotiating his return to Australia with police and once dated colon hydrotherapist Rikki Louise Jones. The European Union will allow Australians to enter from July 1 - but Aussies will have to wait until the country's travel ban is lifted before they can jet overseas. The 27 EU nations are finalising a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter as restrictions ease. The list, to be announced on Tuesday, is expected to include Australia and New Zealand but not the US, Brazil, India or Russia, where coronavirus case numbers are surging as global cases reach 10.2million. The European Union will allow Australians to enter from July 1. Pictured: Barcelona Beach on June 13 A tourist wearing protective facemask is seen on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower for its partial reopening as France eases its COVID-19 lockdown measures on June 25 EU envoys in Brussels worked over the weekend to narrow down the exact criteria for countries to be included, mostly based on their ability to manage the spread of the disease. Importantly, the countries are also expected to drop any travel restrictions they have imposed on European citizens. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said he did not foresee the Australian borders opening to foreigners this year, meaning Aussies would not be let into the EU even if they were allowed to leave the country. US President Donald Trump has also banned EU citizens from entering the US, making it highly unlikely that US citizens would be let into Europe. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said the EU is considering whether to accept travelers from China if Beijing lifts restrictions on European citizens. Morocco is another possibility, although its government doesn't plan to open borders until July 10. The 27 EU nations are finalising a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter as restrictions ease. Pictured: Venice on June 21 Visitors wearing protective facemasks queue as they wait for the partial reopening of Eiffel Tower on June 25 The safe country list would be reviewed every 14 days, with new countries being added and some possibly dropping off, depending on how the spread of the disease is being managed. Non-EU nationals already in the bloc wouldn't be affected. The 27 EU nations and four other countries that are part of Europe's 'Schengen area' - a 26-nation bloc where goods and people move freely without document checks - appear on track to reopen borders between each other from Wednesday. Once that happens and the green light is given, restrictions on nonessential travel to Europe from the outside world, which were imposed in March to halt new virus cases from entering, would gradually be lifted. Brussels fears that opening up to countries outside in an ad hoc way could lead to the reintroduction of border controls between nations inside the Schengen area, threatening once again Europe's cherished principle of free movement, which allows people and goods to cross borders without checks. An amateur metal detector on a family holiday in Victoria's famous goldfields has found 14 coins potentially worth thousands of dollars. Bev Martin, 60, was searching for gold nuggets last week in Victoria's 'Golden Triangle', two hours north-west of Melbourne, when her metal detector blared out to let her know she had found something special. She started digging with her shovel before unearthing the rare coins thought to be over 150 years old. Bev Martin (pictured) discovered 14 coins while on a family trip to Victoria's 'Golden Triangle' two hours north-west of Melbourne 'This is a once in a lifetime find and I doubt anyone will ever find this many again,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'They are very, very hard to find, you are pretty lucky if you find even one.' Ms Martin, who has only recently taken up the hobby, was keen to share the discovery online with the Detecting Downunder Facebook group. 'We've all heard the story of that person out on their first treasure hunt with a metal detector and hits the mother load,' they said. 'Well, break out your tissues because it's happened again.' Ms Martin said it was her first trip out to the Golden Triangle, a location in the northern area of Greater Central Goldfields region, that is famous for unearthing a huge amount of gold nuggets in the early 1850s. Ms Martin said she was incredibly lucky to even find one of the rare coins and had yet to make up her mind on what to do with them It was her first trip to the Golden Triangle, a location in the northern area of Greater Central Goldfields region, that was famous for unearthing a huge amount of gold nuggets in the early 1850s Ms Martin said didn't quite know what to do with her very rare coins but would likely get them valued soon. 'I have no idea how much they are worth but just gold value alone they would be worth quite a bit,' she said. Joe Dettling, the owner of M.R.Roberts' Wynyard Coin Centre, said the collection of coins dated between 1842 to 1857 would be worth a minimum of $700 each. 'Sovereign coins can be worth hundreds of thousands or as little as $700, it all depends on when they were made, the type and their condition,' he said. Footage has emerged showing the moment a woman is dragged through a village by her hair. The man drags his alleged wife by her hair for trying to prevent his marriage to another woman in Bihar, northern India. The disturbing incident reportedly took place in Hussaina Khurd, a villiage in Vaishali district, on June 24. At the beginning of the clip, the woman is on the floor and the man continues pulling her hair while she gets up At the beginning of the clip, the woman is on the floor and the man is pulling her hair. She gets up and he continues to grab hold of her hair aggressively, parading her through the village and occasionally pulling her head forcefully. According to local reports, the victim had come to the village after being informed that her husband was set to marry another woman on June 25. The man drags his alleged wife by her hair as he parades her around the village According to local reports, the victim had come to the village after being informed that her husband was set to marry another woman on June 25 However, things took a nasty turn when the victim turned up and announced that her husband was already legally married to her. It is unclear whether or not the man was legally allowed to marry the second woman. After hearing the news, the bride-to-be's family reportedly called off the wedding. The woman is believed to be a resident of the city of Muzaffarpur in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bahir The man also calls someone on the phone while pulling the young woman and at one point the victim also talks to the person on the phone. The woman was also physically dragged out of a rickshaw and after being paraded through the village, she was locked in a room by the local men, according to local reports. The victim is believed to be a resident of the city of Muzaffarpur in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. The woman and her attackers are yet to be identified by the police. An Australian reporter who was filmed being 'attacked' by police while covering a Black Lives Matter protest has given a confronting account of the attack. Channel Seven correspondent Amelia Brace and cameraman Tim Myers were in Washington DC's Lafayette Square on June 1 covering protests when Park Police began aggressively clearing the area. Speaking to a US congressional committee investigating the incident, Ms Brace said the police had been shooting non-lethal rounds 'indiscriminately' at the crowd leaving her 'screaming' for help. The protests followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes. Scroll down for video Channel Seven correspondent Amelia Brace (pictured) told a US congressional committee how she was 'attacked' by police while covering a Black Lives matter protest Ms Brace and Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University Law School, testified before the US House Committee on Natural Resources on Monday. The committee is investigating the law enforcement crackdown against peaceful protesters at Lafayette Square ahead of the arrival of US President Donald Trump. President Trump was making his way to St John's Episcopal Church for a photo opportunity. Ms Brace told the committee she was shot in the legs and backside with non-lethal rounds from a police automatic weapon and hit with a truncheon. She said Mr Myers was shot, punched and struck with a police riot shield. 'I think that attack was unlawful,' Mr Turley told the hearing. Cameraman Tim Myers (pictured) was filming the protest before a police officer punched his camera and whacked him with a riot shield in Washington 'From the video it seems clear to me that any officer could have seen that the Australian journalists were in fact journalists. 'They identified themselves correctly as journalists. Channel Seven's Amelia Brace (pictured) was filmed screaming as police shot her 'I thought I saw media credentials on them, but also they knew there were journalists in the area. This one doesn't strike me as a very close call.' Ms Brace and Mr Myers were broadcasting live back to Australia when riot police began forming a line in front of them, before they charged at protesters and media members. 'When you were attacked by this police officer, were you resisting?' Democrat congressman Ruben Gallego asked Ms Brace. 'No,' she replied. 'Was your cameraman resisting?' Gallego asked. 'No,' Ms Brace replied. 'You had your back to them, as I remember, and you were fleeing?' he asked. 'That's correct,' she replied. Ms Brace told the committee it was imperative for democracy that journalists were allowed to safely report from the scenes of protests. 'As a reporter I have no interest in becoming the story, but over recent weeks many of us have been left with no choice,' she said. Protesters holding banners march from Capitol Hill toward the White House during a rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd on May 30 (pictured) Demonstrators put up their hands to protest the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington (pictured on June 1) 'I've been shocked to see how many journalists have been attacked, beaten and detained, just for doing their jobs. 'Covering protests does carry unavoidable risks, but the media's role is essential. 'We don't just have a right to be there, we have an obligation. 'As Australian journalists we are the eyes and the ears of our people. 'In this case witnessing civil unrest in the capital of our most powerful and closest ally. 'It is crucial to democracy that journalists be allowed to do their job freely and safely and that is certainly something we should expect in the world's greatest democracy.' US President Donald Trump (pictured) holds up a bible in front of St John's Episcopal church after walking across Lafayette Park from the White House in Washington following protests George Floyd (pictured) died after having his neck knelt on for eight minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis The footage outraged members of Australian media and parliament, who claim the pair shouldn't have been moved along for 'doing their job'. Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the incident as 'troubling' and called for an investigation. Sunrise hosts Sam Armytage and David Koch were shocked by the outburst, which occurred live on their morning show. They repeatedly asked whether Brace was okay as she and Mr Myers ran from the crowds. A gang of drivers known for terrorising neighbourhoods with dangerous driving have said they won't stop treating streets like racetracks unless the government builds a burnout facility for them. The Mexican Hoon Cartel on Queensland's Gold Coast said they want the state government to build and pay for a concrete skid pad that doesn't charge entry fees. The group said 90 per cent of their members would stop drifting - where a driver spins the rear wheels while taking a corner - on suburban roads if a designated location was available. 'Would you rather us cause havoc on public streets like we have been doing for years?' A Mexican Hoon Cartel member told the Gold Coast Bulletin. The Mexican Hoon Cartel on the Gold Coast in Queensland want the government to pay for and build them a concrete skid pan so they can do burnouts away from suburban streets (pictured: A 'cartel' member posing on top of a police car) The gang said 90 per cent of their members would stop drifting on suburban roads if a designated location was available (pictured - a still from a Mexican Hoon Cartel video of a car performing a burnout) The 'cartel' leader said they would not stop drifting illegally until the state government gives them what they want. 'All we want is an easy access affordable drift/burnout venue so we can safely perform our passions and not feel like we are just gold mines for police state revenue,' the gang member said. One member of the group said they believed their actions weren't dangerous as they haven't hurt or killed anyone. 'It's only dangerous if people don't know what they're doing. The average person wouldn't have a clue what to do if their car went sideways,' the cartel member said. The gang shares boastful videos on social media showing members doing burnouts and performing other reckless manoeuvres on the city's roads. One shows a driver drifting in the rain at high speed with one hand on the steering wheel while holding a burrito in the other. 'Coming for your driveway, coming for your street, coming for your culdesac, coming for your hate, report on us and we'll flood your street,' warns another post. One member of the group said they believed their actions weren't dangerous as they haven't hurt or killed anyone The cartel share boastful videos on social media which show members doing burnouts and performing other reckless manoeuvres on the city's roads Another video shows one member performing doughnuts and drifting on a quiet suburban street at 6am. The group's latest video shows one of their members drifting on a highway and through roundabouts in the middle of the night. The Mexican flag is shown on every video and members occasionally wave the country's flag while posing for photos. Queensland Police targeted the group in a series of dawn rains in August 2018. Police swooped on two Gilston homes west of the Gold Coast and arrested two alleged ringleaders of the group, both aged 18. Officers seized 14 knives, as well as a stockpile of tyres allegedly stolen from a Bob Jane T Mart and used to perform dangerous stunts on suburban streets. Although Thomas Jefferson had many contributions to society and his status at a Founding Father was enough to grant many institutions to be named after him, we feel there are just as many reasons to justify the removal from his name from the school, McIntyre said. A trio of concreters who found 10,000 rolls of toilet paper a business owner had delivered to a park next to her home have been slammed after stealing from the pile and offering it up for free in a live social media post. Elie Abousleiman and two of his colleagues stumbled upon the mountain of 48-packs in a park in Macquarie Fields in Sydney's south-west on June 16. Daily Mail Australia revealed on Monday that convenience store owner Celia Deng, 47, had imported the rolls from China to supply her two shops during the COVID-19 supply shortage and she and her staff were in the process of moving the shipment into her home. She claimed her toilet paper - which retails at $1.99 for a four-pack - would help the elderly and disadvantaged in the community who couldn't find any in supermarkets, and that her profit margin on the product was only five per cent. In bizarre scenes he streamed to Facebook Live, a furious Mr Abousleiman accused Ms Deng of 'taking everything off the shelves and hiding it in her garage' as his fellow tradesmen picked up some of the packs and carried them to their ute. 'Evelyn Street, Macquarie Fields... if you make it in ten minutes you can take,' he said, while telling passers-by they could have a packet if they gave him $5. Ms Deng told Daily Mail Australia some of her neighbours took a handful of packets from the suburban toilet paper mountain in response to the video - but she made the call not to report the opportunists to police. Concreter Elie Abousleiman (left) and two of his colleagues stumbled across a pile of toilet paper being temporarily stored by shop owner Celia Deng outside a home in Macquarie Fields in Sydney's south-west on June 16 Pictured: The huge mountain of toilet paper lying on public land in the suburb next to Ms Deng's home. She and her staff were in the process of moving the shipment into storage at her home 'People have asked me if I hate the people who came and took it,' she said. 'I'm not angry at all because they are my local neighbours - they are lovely people. 'They came to grab the toilet paper because they were told it was free.' She said many residents actually returned the toilet paper when they discovered who it belonged to. Both Mr Abousleiman and Ms Deng confirmed he started filming the altercation when she declined their offer to help move the shipment for $500. Reacting to the revelation Ms Deng had been stockpiling supplies to sell to the local community, one social media user said 'her intentions sounded fair and genuine'. 'So they offered to move it for her for $500 and when she declined they tried to sell them for $5 before 'giving them out for free' knowing they belonged to someone else,' one person said. TRADESMAN STUNNED BY SHOP OWNER STOCKPILING 10,000 LOO ROLLS Mr Abousleiman told Daily Mail Australia he couldn't believe his eyes when he found the huge mountain of toilet paper. 'I was just so surprised to see it,' he said. 'If it's her property then I suppose it's her business but it was on public land for all to see. 'I told her we'd help her to move all of it for $500 but she said that was too much. Mr Abousleiman and his colleagues took the toilet paper from Ms Deng's pile after discovering she had stashed thousands of rolls (pictured) outside her home 'I was going to put what I saw on Facebook Live anyway because everyone is fighting for toilet paper at the moment. I was speechless at such a mountain of toilet paper.' The concreter said he also took exception to Ms Deng, whose supermarket staff had emptied a container into the park, using public land as a temporary storage space for the thousands of toilet rolls. 'If it's her property then fair enough but if it's council land it's another thing altogether,' he said. Advertisement 'She had a convenience store - shipped them from China and was barely making a profit from her selling price.' 'She isn't hoarding it so this guy is in the wrong,' another said. Others rallied behind the tradesmen though, with one saying if she did not want the product taken she should not have left it in a public area - even temporarily. 'The toilet paper was in a park next to her home. This wasn't on her private property,' another commenter wrote. 'If that was her house in the pictures why couldn't she just put it on her property? Her property is big - there is a lot of space.' Ms Deng, who moved to Australia 12 years ago as a skilled migrant, said she took offence at being accused of trying to profit from the toilet paper shortage. Many social media users were sympathetic to Ms Deng following the revelation she had been stockpiling supplies to sell to the local community Others rallied behind the tradesmen though, with one arguing she shouldn't have left the haul in a public area She said her motivation to import the essential product in such a large quantity was to help her customers - especially those who are elderly - get access to toilet paper. 'The profit margins on toilet paper are small. From a $10,000 container, I make a profit of about $500 - so only five per cent,' she said. 'Normal profit margins can be between 10 to 30 per cent - you can't make money on toilet paper. Pictured: One of Ms Deng's shop assistants Roanna James with some of the toilet rolls imported from China by her manager. She said her boss had bought the large quantity of loo roll to help her community to get access to the product at a cheap price Ms Deng was moving the consignment into her home (pictured) next to park land to supply her two convenience stores 'I'm selling a 48 pack for $22 - or $1.99 for a four pack - I just want to help people at the most difficult of times.' One of Ms Deng's employees at her store in Appin, south-west of Sydney, said she found the earful her manager received for the shipment 'pretty disgusting'. 'She's buying the loo roll for the elderly in the community who can't get it,' shop assistant Roanna James, 23, said. Pictured: The Appin newsagent Ms Deng operates as a franchisee. She said she is selling the toilet roll at a profit margin of only five per cent 'Everyone here looks after each other.' Ms Deng operates a Spar in neighbouring Glenfield and an Australia Post-licenced post office in Appin - both within 30 minutes of her home. In the footage shared to the social media platform earlier this month, both Ms Deng and the tradesmen could be heard threatening to call the police on each other. 'We're going to call the police on you - too much f***ing toilet paper,' one of the tradesmen says when she threatens to notify authorities. The group appear to try and sell the goods to passers-by for $5, before Mr Abousleiman launched into an angry tirade. The trio filmed themselves picking up 48-packs from the mountain of toilet paper piled high outside the home in Macquarie Fields in Sydney's south west 'Do you know what you've done to Australia?' he asks Ms Deng. 'You guys have no work to do?' she responds, before the voice behind the camera says 'we've got plenty of work to do looking at you'. 'F**k me dead - what a f**king joke - hey boys take one home,' he said. 'Jason get your truck, it's higher than f**king me. It's higher than the fence.' When a passer-by asks if the woman had a shop nearby, the voice responds 'no - to send to China'. NSW supermarkets have started to again experience shortages in their supply of toilet paper amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria. Pictured: Empty shelves at Woolworths in Green Hills New South Wales Police said the force had not received any complaints relating to the video. Sydneysiders last week again started to flock to supermarkets to stock up on toilet paper - three months after panic buying first crippled the nation. Shoppers complained on social media on Friday that toilet paper was in short supply at Coles supermarkets in Leichhardt, Merrylands and Roselands in Sydney on Thursday. Shoppers leave Costco after stocking up on essentials. Costco, which has stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Adelaide, is limiting customers to one pack of toilet paper each Woolworths in Roselands and Coles Toronto in Lake Macquarie also experienced high demand for loo roll. All Coles and Coles Express stores across the country now limit toilet paper and paper towel purchases to just one pack. In addition, Victorian stores and those along the NSW border have two-item limits on hand sanitiser, flour, sugar, pasta, mince, UHT milk, eggs and rice. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Abousleiman and Ms Deng for further comment. He was hardly a conventional fit for an assassin. A club foot, a twitch and a nervous disposition all buttoned up inside a shabby brown suit He was hardly a conventional fit for an assassin. A club foot, a twitch and a nervous disposition all buttoned up inside a shabby brown suit. Consider also that he had removed the critical bullet from the first chamber of the loaded revolver he hid beneath a newspaper, suggesting that he wanted his shooting to be foiled. But on a hot July day almost 84 years ago this unremarkable figure stood amid the cheering crowds on Constitution Hill on the verge of a place in history as the would-be killer of a king. George McMahons target was King Edward VIII, barely six months into his reign and still uncrowned. The young monarch was on horseback returning to Buckingham Palace after reviewing a colours ceremony of the Brigade of Guards in Hyde Park. Every so often McMahon turned to look over his shoulder towards the railings of Green Park, an agitated movement that had already caught the attention of another sightseer, a woman called Alice Lawrence. At 12.25 the sound of distant cheering and applause told the crowd that the King was only moments away. As Edward drew near behind the massed bands of the Guards regiments, McMahon, whose left hand twitched nervously against his leg, let the newspaper fall to the ground revealing the revolver which he raised and levelled at the King. With a shout, Mrs Lawrence grabbed his arm while a police constable in front, alerted by her cry, spun round, punching McMahon on his outstretched arm, causing the gun to fly out of his hand. It flew into the road and struck the Kings horse. Edward, spotting the commotion, assumed it was a bomb and braced himself for the explosion which never came. He then rode on without another glance. The King rode on in complete calm, not even quickening his horses pace, his equerry John Aird would later write. By now after a blow to the chin by an outraged member of the public, McMahon was seized by four policemen and another had pocketed the gun. One of the first telegrams Edward, who at times attracted criticism for his alleged Nazi sympathies, received on his safe return to the Palace was from Adolf Hitler who wrote: I have just read of the abominable attempt on the life of your Majesty, and offer the heartiest congratulations on your deliverance from this danger. Italys fascist leader Mussolini added his goodwill, instructing his Charge dAffaires in London to call at the Palace to present his heartfelt felicitations at the Kings escape from danger. As for the would-be assassin, Scotland Yard later told the palace he was a frustrated Irish journalist with a grudge against the Home Secretary who had prevented him publishing a journal. With a shout, Mrs Lawrence grabbed his arm while a police constable in front, alerted by her cry, spun round, punching McMahon on his outstretched arm, causing the gun to fly out of his hand His action was not to harm the King, but to publicise this perceived injustice. But by the time McMahon went on trial at the Old Bailey that explanation was fast unravelling. He claimed a foreign power had paid him to kill the King but that he deliberately bungled the assassination. He was convicted of a lesser offence of unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition to endanger life and was jailed for 12 months. And that is where the story remained, even though police knew McMahon had warned of a plot against the King. Until this week. Now claims of a cover-up have emerged following the discovery of the would be assassins memoir, in which he detailed the plot, his subsequent arrest and trial. This account has been unearthed by historian Alexander Larman, who says its claims were explosive because significant details matched those in declassified MI5 documents, including memorandums of their meetings with him. In the memoir, entitled He Was My King, McMahon asserted that he was recruited by the Italian embassy in London to kill the King and his attempts to warn the security services and the then Home Secretary were ignored. His account corroborates a lot of previously . . . sealed MI5 papers in the National Archives, which reveal that McMahon was also a paid MI5 informant who passed them information about the workings of the Italian embassy in his guise as a double agent, says Larman, whose book The Crown In Crisis: Countdown To The Abdication is published on July 9. But why would MI5 ignore a warning about an attempt on Edwards life? Might the powers that be have wanted the King to be killed? Certainly the authorities ignored McMahons information because they considered him unreliable, says Larman. So when this attempt did take place on July 16, 1936, it was hugely embarrassing to the country and a cover-up took place. Why MI5 would want to recruit a hard-drinking petty criminal and fantasist like McMahon, who was suspected to have pro-Nazi sympathies, is another mystery. Larman describes some passages of the 40-page memoir as absolutely bonkers. But adds: It would be easy to write him off as nuts but there are declassified memos of all these meetings MI5 had with him. One of the documents records that some of his information was undoubtedly accurate. Whatever the truth, McMahon claimed he had been offered 150 to kill the King and, more fancifully, that the Vatican was behind the plot. Since the assassination attempt was so shocking, Larman claims that the best thing the establishment could do was essentially neutralise McMahon as an attention seeker. That is certainly what the King, who just five months later was to renounce the throne to marry divorcee Wallace Simpson, came to believe. So who was George McMahon and how did he become an MI5 asset? Special Branch had established his real name was Jerome Bannigan, born in Ireland but raised in Glasgow. If he had a career it was as a travelling salesman, but his main profession appears to have been fraud and embezzlement. He first came to MI5s attention when he wrote to the Communist Party chairman via the Daily Worker newspaper complaining about the police. By now he was involved in gun-running to Abyssinia now Ethiopia then under Italian rule. He was then offered cash inducements for information about British armaments. But in September 1935 he approached MI5 and, as his memoir records: I was to act thenceforth under the direction and supervision of the military intelligence department. Official records show he met with intelligence service figures frequently in late 1935 and early 1936. He was paid in cash, most of which he spent in the Hog in the Pound pub on Oxford Street. In the memoir, entitled He Was My King, McMahon asserted that he was recruited by the Italian embassy in London to kill the King (above and centre) and his attempts to warn the security services and the then Home Secretary were ignored As Larman cautions, McMahon was something of a Walter Mitty character, prone to exaggerating his achievements and accomplishments. But the MI5 files revealed a surprising degree of correlation between his stories and their own activities. Larman made the startling discovery of the memoir in the papers of Walter Monckton, who became Minister of Defence in the mid-Fifties, at Balliol College, Oxford. Monckton was Edwards advisor. He not only acted for him during the Abdication but also stayed in touch afterwards, says Larman. The accepted version of the events, writes Larman, is that McMahon was a confused attention-seeker who never had any serious intention of doing any harm to the King. However, [the] declassified MI5 files, to say nothing of an extraordinary autobiographical document . . . offer a stranger and more complex narrative. Certainly MI5 had an uneasy relationship with Edward they were bugging his telephone and following Mrs Simpson. And there were the Kings apparent pro-Hitler views. It is entirely possible MI5 were aware of McMahons planned attempt and were happy to let him assassinate Edward, thereby removing an internationally embarrassing monarch with believed Nazi sympathies from the throne. Or, alternatively, simply they were embarrassed by their arrogance and incompetence [at ignoring him]. As for McMahon, his life of larceny continued and he was in and out of prison. He died forgotten and penniless in 1970, hardly the dramatic ending he once had in mind. Women who served in the Armed Forces are sharing their harrowing stories of how they were sexually assaulted and harassed while on duty, using the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillen. Private First-Class Guillen, 20, has been missing for two months and was last seen at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, Texas on April 22. She disappeared shortly after she told her family she was being sexually harassed by an unnamed sergeant and felt unsafe. On Monday, a group of 30 volunteers searching for Guillen near the base discovered human remains and items believed to be linked to her. Following her disappearance and public outcry, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment commander ordered an investigation into Guillen's allegations that she was sexually harassed at the base. During the desperate search for Guillen, soldiers and veterans are sharing their own accounts, calling out sexual harassment in the Army. Women in the Armed Forces are sharing how they were sexually assaulted and harassed while serving, using the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillen. The 20-year-old soldier disappeared from the Fort Hood base in Texas in April after telling her family a sergeant sexually harassed her 'My name is Morgan and #IAMVANESSAGUILLEN I was 18. It was at my first duty station. He was 45. "Its just because youre fresh meat." "It will stop eventually." "Youll get a dishonorable discharge if you snitch," Your voice will not be silenced. #FindVanessaGuillen,' one veteran Coast Guard member shared on Twitter One veteran Navy member from Texas also spoke out, saying she was raped on duty over 30 years ago, revealing she was told she would be thrown overboard if she ever reported it 'My name is Morgan and #IAMVANESSAGUILLEN I was 18. It was at my first duty station. He was 45. "Its just because youre fresh meat." "It will stop eventually." "Youll get a dishonorable discharge if you snitch," Your voice will not be silenced. #FindVanessaGuillen,' one veteran Coast Guard member shared on Twitter. 'In 2006 I was brutally raped by a member of the United States Coast Guard. I was locked up in a closet for reporting the rape. I was blamed, shamed, and eventually lost my career. Help find #VanessaGuillen and prosecute all involved in this cover-up,' another former Coast Guard member named Panayiota Bertzikis shared on Twitter. 'In my almost 4 years in the navy, Ive been sexually assaulted 1 time and sexually harassed about 6 times... we very time I spoke up to anyone that was higher then me they helped so much. I was blessed. Not all females are.. #IAMVANESSAGUILLEN,' one woman enlisted in the Navy shared. One veteran Navy member from Texas also spoke out, saying she was raped on duty over 30 years ago, revealing she was told she would be thrown overboardf she ever reported it. 'This is not a new thing, but it's been silenced for so long. I was raped while on a Navy ship in the middle of the ocean. If I had reported it I was told they would throw me overboard and my body would never be found. That was 30 years ago. #IAMVANESSAGUILLEN'. A similar flurry of posts demanding change in the Army emerged on Facebook. 'Vanessas case feels so personal because it could have been me,' Army veteran Maira Carrier, shared on Facebook, posting her photo alongside Guillen's. 'I came in the Army when I was 17 years old. I was a victim of sexual assault and harassment as a child and I thought that the Army was my ticket out of that life, but instead I came into an even more painful world,' she explained. She said that when she was 17 and a Private First Class in the Army she was assaulted right before starting her basic training. 'Right before getting on the bus for basic training the airport reception NCO kept me back in the airport as the others went to the training center. He took me to a corner to avoid being seen, then proceeded to hit on me and grab the inside of my leg. I said I was 17 on multiple occasions,' she revealed. 'Vanessas case feels so personal because it could have been me,' Army veteran Maira Carrier, shared on Facebook, posting her photo alongside Guillen's She said that when she was 17 and a Private First Class in the Army she was assaulted right before starting her basic training Another soldier named Jasmine Maylott who had been stationed at Fort Hood also exposed the sexual harassment she suffered at the base in June 2019 on social media Maylott revealed she only felt comfortable speaking out about what she suffered following Guillen's disappearance 'He gave me his personal cell phone number, the reception number to contact him, his emails (work and personal), and explained to me that he could help me have fun when I get to advanced individual training. I turned all his information to my DS, who said they were going to take care of it. Later in my career I looked up this individual and he had been promoted twice. It was as if my complaint made no impact in his career,' she added. Another soldier, Jasmine Maylott, who had been stationed at Fort Hood also exposed the sexual harassment she suffered at the base in June 2019 on social media. 'Commands just sweep it under the rug. I have seen it with my own eyes. Enough is enough. I believe in Vanessa, and know how it feels to not be believed,' she shared. She said when her friends encouraged her to report it, she was 'relentlessly bullied'. 'I was a target for so much hate and cruel words. They made life harder on deployment for me,' she said. Another soldier named Nikki Williams, who had been stationed at the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, revealed she suffered sexual assault at the hands of leaders at the base and was ostracized when she reported it Emily Marie shared her photo alongside Guillens saying: 'We are the faces of military sexual trauma and assault. It needs to be acknowledged. You will be found and you WILL have justice served. We have your back and we will never leave you behind' Another soldier named Nikki Williams who had been stationed at the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana revealed she suffered sexual assault at the hands of leaders at the base. 'As long as I said nothing, stayed in my place and allowed those who out ranked me to take full advantage of their rank and position, I was fine. The moment I spoke out and began to seek help from legal, I was bombarded and inundated with letters of counseling, letters of reprimand, and was painted out to be the troubled young airman that simply refused to conform to the "Air Force way,"' the soldier said. 'I managed to make it through my enlistment, but it wasn't without mental breakdowns, counseling sessions, medications, losing my hair, plenty of tears, and leaning on the friends that kept me close to what one could consider sane. 'This culture needs to change among our military. #JusticeForVanessa #IAmVanessaGuillen,' she added. Another soldier named Emily Marie shared her photo alongside Guillens, saying the military failed to seek justice for victims who reported sexual assault and assailants weren't punished. 'The military sucks for women. Chances are you WILL be harassed, you WILL be assaulted, and most likely your command wont really care. Theyll sweep it under the rug, theyll make you face your assailant every day as if nothing was wrong,' Marie said. 'Your tires might be slashed because they know where you live and work, you might see them come into your work center JUST BECAUSE they know it triggers you and they get a kick out of it,' she added. 'We are the faces of military sexual trauma and assault. It needs to be acknowledged. You will be found and you WILL have justice served. We have your back and we will never leave you behind,' she said. The body of Pvt. Gregory Scott Morales, 24, of Oklahoma, was found on June 19 in a field near the 3200 block of Florence Road near Killeen, Texas after officials at the nearby Fort Hood base received a tip. He had disappeared from the base last August The volunteers came across the remains in an undisclosed area in Coryell County, not too far from the site where the remains of missing soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales were found on June 19 Troopers from Thunder Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, look over a map during search efforts for Guillen Both Morales and Guillen were stationed at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, Texas The powerful hashtag encouraged a string of women to come forward, breaking a taboo of speaking out, not so different from the #MeToo wave in 2017 that kicked off a worldwide reckoning for sexual assault and harassment. According to a fact sheet organized by Protect Our Defenders, a non profit that works for military sexual assault and harassment survivors, in the fiscal year of 2018 a total of 20,500 service members were sexually assaulted or raped, as per Task and Purpose. And more than 75 percent of those victims did not report a crime at the time. A third said they didnt report the abuse out of fear that theyd be ignored or that the process would not be fair. Less than half of the harassed or assaulted women said they 'felt well supported by their chain of command'. On Monday volunteer group Texas EquuSearch came across the remains in an undisclosed area in Coryell County. The discovery was not too far from the site where the remains of missing soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales were found on June 19. He went missing in August 2019. CNN host Jake Tapper was told to 'watch your mouth' by rapper Ice Cube after he called Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, 'a vile anti-LGBTQ anti-Semitic misogynist.' Tapper's full tweet read: 'Farrakhan is a vile anti-LGBTQ anti-Semitic misogynist. Why is a Fox channel airing his propaganda?' The tweet came after the Fox Soul network, a streaming channel, said it would be airing Farrakhan's Message to America later this week. Nation of Islam is an African American political and religious movement. Rapper Ice Cube called out Jake Tapper, pictured, after he criticized Louis Farrakhan on Twitter 'Farrakhan is a vile anti-LGBTQ anti-Semitic misogynist. Why is a Fox channel airing his propaganda?' tweeted Tapper Rapper Ice Cube was quick to respond to Tapper's outrage telling him to 'Watch your mouth' The new Fox 'Soul' network was to air Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan's 'Message to America' on a special July 4 program Ice Cube responded to the tweet telling the CNN host 'Watch your mouth Jake.' The rapper was criticized this month for sharing a number of Twitter posts which appeared to be anti-Semitic. 'It is hard to give Ice Cube the benefit of the doubt given the fact that his anti-Semitic activities have extended beyond the realm of the internet,' wrote Marlow Stern of the The Daily Beast. 'He's an ardent supporter of Louis Farrakhan, one of the world's most prominent anti-Semites, and, most troubling of all, the rapper and actor was accused in May 2015 of ordering his entourage to beat up a rabbi.' Farrakhan has a history of hateful rhetoric. In 2018, he compared Jews to termites and during a conversation with students in Iran he was criticized after he defended the phrase 'death to America'. Ice Cube was also criticized this month for sharing a number of Twitter posts which appeared to be anti-Semitic In the past, Tapper has also called out President Barack Obama and former Rep. Keith Ellison for associating with the Nation of Islam leader. Later on Monday Fox Soul said it would no longer be broadcasting Farrakhan's speech and would instead be airing a 'special program' featuring 'a compilation of the most powerful speeches from the greatest black leaders and thinkers about racial relations and civil rights in America.' The network has not elaborated to state which speeches would be included in the special program, which will air on Saturday. Fox Soul was launched in January in an effort to reach African American audiences. It offers four hours of streaming programming each day. Offending image: One particularly contentious image depicted a group of men with exaggerated facial features typical of antisemitic imagery playing Monopoly Earlier this month Ice Cube was accused of posting antisemitic memes. The N.W.A. frontman, 50, took to Twitter after fans called him out for disseminating an 'Anti-Semitic trope'. 'What the f*** are you doing?' demanded one user of the outspoken rapper. 'This is CUBE,' began the Straight Outta Compton hitmaker. 'My account has not been hacked.' 'We have to power of almighty God backing us all over the earth. NO MORE TALKING. Repent.' Ice Cube said his Twitter account wasn't hacked, following accusations he posted antisemitic memes 'I speak for no organization. I only speak for the meek people of thee earth. We will not expect crumbles [sic] from your table.' The statement appeared to be in response to many Twitter users pointing out that some of the many memes reposted by Cube - whose real name is O'Shea Jackson- were discriminatory against the Jewish faith in nature. One particularly contentious image depicted a group of men with exaggerated facial features typical of antisemitic imagery playing Monopoly, with the board resting on the backs of several black people. Cube captioned the post, 'F*** THE NEW NORMAL UNTIL THEY FIX THE OLD NORMAL!' Conspiracy theory: Another image tweeted out by Cube to his 5.3million followers seemed to suggest that the 'Black Cube of Saturn' lies within the Star of David Twitter user Tara Dublin called out the Three Kings actor, replying: 'Cube, this is an Anti-Semitic trope. Please take it down as it suggests Jews control everything. And trust me, we dont. Because if Jews controlled everything, I would be rich af & Donald Trump would be in prison #DoBetter'. Another image tweeted out by Cube to his 5.3million followers seemed to suggest that the 'Black Cube of Saturn' lies within the Star of David. The Black Cube of Saturn is claimed by conspiracy theorists to be an occult symbol. In the comments on the post, user Roxanne Gay wrote, 'It is impossible to take you seriously with regards to social justice or.. anything when you post anti-Semitic imagery. What the f*** are you doing?' Alarming new data has revealed Victoria's coronavirus infections have reached figures not seen since early April - and they're coming from within. The all-important curve in infections now resembles a morbid smile, with infection rates skyrocketing across Melbourne's suburbs. The data comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison urges Victoria to issue shutdown orders now or risk the coronavirus outbreak in the state getting even worse. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has also announced 800 staff from the PM's office would soon be coming to Victoria to help deal with the state's COVID-19 crisis The curve in Victoria has skyrocketed over the past couple of weeks as coronavirus infections continue to grow from within the suburbs of Melbourne Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been criticised for holding press conferences but refusing to appear on news programs that might ask him some tough questions A member of the Australian Defence Force administers a COVID-19 test at Melbourne Showgrounds on Monday The new shutdowns could force around one million Melburnians to work from home and not leave their local government areas. Months ago, as Victorians adhered to strict distancing laws, the war against COVID-19 was being fought at its international borders. Back then, overseas travellers were identified as the greatest threat to the nation, with community spread well below the figures they would reach months later. On Monday, Australia recorded 85 new coronavirus cases - 75 in Victoria, seven in New South Wales and three in South Australia. That figure is expected to be reflected again when the latest figures are released on Tuesday. A total of 10 schools in Melbourne have been closed for cleaning following positive coronavirus tests as local footy comps are cancelled and the AFL fixture is thrown into turmoil. South Australia announced on Tuesday it would not be letting Victorians in next month as planned. While it remains unclear who exactly the 800 'support staff' will be, residents living in Melbourne's COVID-19 hotspots fear they may soon be walled in by troops. Top 10 Suburbs Facing Lock Down Maidstone Albanvale Sunshine West Hallam Brunswick West Fawkner Reservoir Pakenham Keilor Downs Broadmeadows Advertisement The six areas include the municipalities of Hume, Brimbank, Moreland and Darebin, in Melbourne's north; and Casey and Cardinia, in Melbourne's south-east. About 200 Australian Defence Force soldiers were deployed into Victoria last week after Mr Andrews made the call to Canberra for assistance. Those soldiers are understood to be already carrying out door-to-door tests in hot spots. While Victorian government spin doctors refuse to call the surge in infection rates a 'second wave', some experts have declared they have no doubt about it. 'I think this is clearly a second wave the question is whether it is a ripple or the start of a tsunami,' Professor Hamish McCallum, an infectious diseases expert from Griffith University, said. 'Victoria needs to stamp out these emerging spikes as quickly as possible. In addition to the increased testing, I think there is a case to lockdown the hotspot suburbs. This is surely likely to lead to Queensland in particular reassessing whether to open the borders to Victoria and New South Wales.' Sunday's surge was Victoria's biggest increase since March 31, bringing the state's total to 2099 cases on Monday night, of which 288 were active. Victorians began to strip supermarket shelves again last week amid fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections and pending lock down Most of the new spike in infections came from community-based transmissions rather than from overseas travellers, with many new cases being transmitted from people going to work or social gatherings when sick. In March, Victorians largely agreed with the social distancing restrictions implemented as the country looked abroad at places like Italy that were at the time being decimated by COVID-19. Back then, Mr Andrews was applauded for his strong and powerful presence and tough stance against a national collective which at the time appeared a little complacent. Victorians got fully behind the restrictions aimed at community isolation measures designed to keep the daily number of disease cases at a manageable level for medical providers - known as the 'curve'. Mr Andrews was seen as a strong leader in a time that Prime Minister Scott Morrison was being openly mocked for his response to the crisis. Some mused that if the Victorian premier ran for prime minister in March, he probably would have been elected. Move forward to June 30 and Mr Andrews is under siege from within and the people who just months ago had backed his play. A Newspoll conducted for The Australian revealed on Tuesday a marked fall in voters trust for Mr Andrews. The poll came as Victorians were told at least 30 per cent of people who went through hotel quarantine in the state refused to take a test - but were allowed to leave after 14 days anyway. It was further revealed that security guards and cleaners at quarantine hotels had not been trained properly. This likely led to a spread of cases from quarantined travellers to the workers and then to their families, with the spread increased by the cold weather when socially connected large families gathered in closed spaces for longer. Mr Andrews has also come under fire for allowing 10,000 protesters to hit the streets of Melbourne just as restrictions were about to be eased. While Victorian Department of Health and Human Services officials continue to report that the current burst of cases does not stem from the Black Lives Matter rally, it has given the premier's enemies an open door to attack him. Liberal politicians have smashed the Andrews Government on social media in recent days. Mr Andrews was further set back by the corruption and branch-stacking scandal which saw him have to expel Labor minister Adem Somyurek. Soldiers in camo gear have converged on Melbourne amid fears suburbs may be locked down by Australian Defence Force troops Labor minister Adem Somyurek was dumped by Daniel Andrews amid a branch stacking scandal that has damaged the premier Mr Somyurek was forced out of the party after a 60 Minutes report alleged he used his own cash and the help of parliamentary employees to create fake branch members and amass political influence. Many Victorians believe Mr Andrews took his hands of the COVID-19 wheel as he worked to get his own house in order behind the scenes. The latest Newspoll showed voters have punished Mr Andrews for the scandal, marking down his overall performance as premier. On Tuesday, news commentators across the country noted that Mr Andrews had appeared to have gone missing. Talk back radio was again awash with calls of coronavirus concerns. Many were asking the same thing: 'Where is the premier and what is he hiding'. JK Rowling has deleted a tweet declaring her love for Stephen King has reached 'new heights' after the US author voiced his support for transgender women. The Harry Potter author, 54, had shared a quote from the late feminist and author Andrea Dworkin amid a much longer thread concerning recent comments made by Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle. The frontbencher claimed the author was 'using her own sexual assault' to justify her controversial views on transgender issues in an article for left-wing magazine Tribune. He has since apologised for the remarks. Towards the end of a lengthy Twitter thread concerning Russell-Moyle's apology, Rowling shared the quote about how men often 'react to women's words - speaking and writing - as if they were acts of violence.' King then shared the quote to his own 5.9 million followers, which led Rowling to tweet that her love for the author had reached 'new heights.' JK Rowling (left) has deleted a tweet declaring her love for Stephen King (right) has reached 'new heights' after the US author voiced his support for transgender women Taking to Twitter, Rowling said: 'I've always revered Stephen King, but today my love reached - maybe not Annie Wilkes levels - but new heights' She added: 'I've always revered Stephen King, but today my love reached - maybe not Annie Wilkes levels - but new heights. 'It's so much easier for men to ignore women's concerns, or to belittle them, but I won't ever forget the men who stood up when they didn't need to. Thank you, Stephen.' King was then asked for clarification on his views by a fan, who said: 'You should address the TERF tweet. By telling us constant readers if you believe trans women are women.' He replied: 'Yes. Trans women are women.' Following his comment, Rowling deleted her post praising the author. The term TERF, which stands for 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist', has been linked to Rowling amid a furious row over transgender issues throughout the past month. The Harry Potter author sparked fury in recent weeks when she reacted to an online article titled 'Opinion: Creating a more equal post COVID-19 world for people who menstruate.' King was asked for clarification on his views by a fan, who said: 'You should address the TERF tweet. By telling us constant readers if you believe trans women are women' The Harry Potter author sparked fury in recent weeks when she reacted to an online article titled 'Opinion: Creating a more equal post COVID-19 world for people who menstruate' ''People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?', the award-winning writer told her 14.5million followers. Stung by criticism, the writer whose Harry Potter books have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide sought to justify her decision to speak out in a deeply personal essay. Recalling how the trauma of 'a serious sexual assault I suffered in my twenties' had informed her thinking about the trans issue and women's rights, Ms Rowling explained: 'Like every other domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who've been abused by men.' Russell-Moyle accused Rowling of promoting 'hate' towards trans people and of exploiting the sexual assault she had endured in an article published last week in the Left-wing Tribune magazine. 'Recently, of course, we saw people like JK Rowling using her own sexual assault as justification for discriminating against a group of people who were not responsible for it,' he wrote. His words brought swift condemnation by women's rights campaigners in the Labour Party. Writing on Twitter on Sunday, Russell-Moyle, the MP for Brighton Kemptown, said: 'I want to apologies (sic) unreservedly about the comments in the article that I wrote last week in Tribune regarding Trans rights in which I mention J.K. Rowling. 'J.K. Rowling's first disclosures of domestic abuse and sexual assault in her recent article on Trans issues were heartfelt and must have been hard to say. 'Whilst I may disagree with some of her analysis on trans rights, it was wrong of me to suggest that she used her own dreadful experience in anything other than good faith. I have asked Tribune to remove the line in question.' Production has restarted, but new episodes will not be ready for broadcast yet They look around Queen Vic, Minute Mart and pass Walford East tube station Trespassers broke into Eastenders' Albert Square set and filmed themselves in the Queen Vic as studios stand idle during lockdown. While entering the iconic pub on the BBC soap's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, the cameraman can be heard joking: 'Guys, we're going for a pint.' The trio look at some props in a room towards the back of the pub, before the person filming says: 'This is insane. Can't believe we're on the Eastenders set. It is literally 5am in the morning.' Three people filmed themselves sneaking onto the BBC soap's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood by clambering over a fence and even venturing inside the Queen Vic They then look around the Minute Mart, which still has sweets inside, and pass Walford East before being spotted by a member of security. After running away, they are confronted by two security guards and escorted off the site. The group, who have sneaked into abandoned theatres, police headquarters and a power station, decided to explore the set while it was quiet during lockdown. A source told The Sun: 'They had the freedom of the place, filming inside the shop, pub and wandering around the square. 'But the soap's security team clocked them and led them out of the site not long after. 'They jumped the perimeter barriers and made a run for it before the police arrived.' While entering the pub, above, on the BBC soap's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, one of the trespassers can be heard joking: 'Guys, we're going for a pint' One of the trio pictured outside the Queen Vic pub. The group have previously sneaked into abandoned theatres, police headquarters and a power station A dressing room showing some props, located towards the back of the iconic Queen Vic pub. The explorers decided to sneak onto the set while it was quiet during lockdow Production on BBC One's veteran soap came to a halt in March, when the UK went into lockdown and most people were instructed to stay home, and work from home if they can. However, the soap could not be made in such circumstances, and it was put on hold - with only a couple of months worth of episodes in the can to air. The cast have returned to the set in recent weeks, and production has restarted on new episodes, but these will not be ready for broadcast just yet. In place of its Monday and Tuesday episodes, a new series called Secrets From The Square, hosted by Stacey Dooley, will be shown. BBC One will also unearth iconic past episodes and treat fans to a does of nostalgia for the time being. Inside the Minute Mart, which still has sweets inside. The cast have returned to the set in recent weeks, and production has restarted on new episodes After running away, they are confronted by two security guards, pictured above, and escorted off the site. Production on BBC One's veteran soap came to a halt in March The soap will return later in the summer, returning to its four days a week broadcasts, which were scrapped to eek out the instalments that were in the can. But the show returns with shortened episodes, rather than the standard half-hour slots, they will be 20 minutes long to begin with. Executive Producer of the show Jon Sen previously said: 'Resuming production is incredibly exciting and challenging in equal measure. 'Since we postponed filming we've been working non-stop trialling techniques, filming methods and new ways of working so that we can return to screens four times a week as EastEnders should be. 'Filming will inevitably be a more complex process now so creating 20 minute episodes will enable us to ensure that when we return, EastEnders will still be the show the audience know and love.' A family who were overcharged $16,900 for electricity over six years are warning others to check their power meters after being lumped with inaccurate charges. Angela and Brett Beveridge were shocked to see their energy bill, usually between $600 and $700 a quarter, had jumped to $1,280 after moving to an acreage on the outskirts of Rockhampton. A dodgy power meter was to blame for the increase but their provider, Ergon Energy, refused to offer assistance, the couple claimed. Angela and Brett Beveridge (pictured) were overcharged thousands of dollars on their electricity bill due to a dodgy power meter At first, the family began to turn off all their appliances when they were not using them, but the $5,000 per year bills kept rolling in - $3,000 above the national average. Even when the couple moved out in 2015 after their home was partially destroyed by Cyclone Marcia, the exorbitant charges continued - receiving a $1,000 bill. 'In that six month period we still got a very high power bill even though there was no power running to the house,' Mr Beveridge told A Current Affair. After realising the home was empty, Ergon Energy agreed to waive the bill, but did not take any steps to refund the couple for the previous years. 'At no point did they offer to come out and investigate, replace the meter, do a meter test on it, every single time they just kept saying your bills were consistent,' Mr Beveridge said. 'I told them over and over again that something is wrong with the meter but they refused to have a look at it,' Ms Beveridge said. Eventually, the Beveridge's had their old meter replaced without being notified. A dodgy power meter (pictured, the replacement) was to blame for the sky high bills but, Ergon Energy, refused to offer assistance, the couple claimed Their bills immediately halved from $500 to $250 per month, the couple said. When they asked to have the old meter examined to prove it was faulty, Ergon Energy informed them it had been destroyed. 'I think that's disgusting and convenient that the meter was all of a sudden, disappeared or destroyed,' Mr Beveridge said. 'Ergon refused to listen to us, and I believe now they're covering up the mistake that they've made,' Ms Beveridge said. The energy and water ombudsman investigating their complaint estimated the couple were overcharged $16,900 over six years, the couple claimed. But because the ombudsman cannot investigate complaints dating back more than a year, Ergon Energy was only required to credit the Beveridge's account $1,907 to cover the past 12 months. The Beverage's home was partially destroyed by Cyclone Marcia in 2015. Although no one was living in the house the family were still charged exorbitant bills The ombudsman for Queensland's energy and water sector warned faulty meters are 'uncommon', but do cause some problems - urging households to get in touch if a bill seems unusual. Daily Mail Australia contacted Ergon Energy for comment, but the company's executive general manager Ayesha Razzaq said in a statement they can not provide any specific details on the matter due to privacy laws. 'We regret the situation that has resulted for this customer,' he said. 'Our priority is to always work with our customers to help them understand their energy use and find the best solutions to meet their energy needs. 'Ergon Retail has been working with this customer to resolve their complaint and was advised by the Ombudsman Thursday 18 June 2020 that the customer had accepted the resolution.' Pictures of shoppers crowding a Victorian market have emerged as Melbourne battles to contain a second wave of coronavirus infections. Victoria has recorded case numbers surged by 75 on Sunday, 71 on Monday and 64 on Tuesday - an extra 210 cases in just three days - in the biggest jump in cases since the state was lockdown in March. Experts say the spike should be immediately stamped out with politicians on guard to reimpose strict lockdown conditions in the worst suburbs if cases are not immediately controlled. However, photographs taken on the weekend show hundreds of people ignoring social distancing at a market in Daylesford, 112km northwest of Melbourne. Crowds were pictured swarming Daylesford market on Sunday- the same day Victoria witnessed a 75 new cases of COVID-19, the biggest jump since March Photos shared across social media showed Victorians flouting social distancing regulations as they browsed through stalls The images shared on social media showed Victorians standing shoulder-to-shoulder browsing the stalls, in clear breach of social distancing recommendations. Labor MP for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas, expressed her 'disappointment' at the scenes in her electorate. 'I was shocked and very disappointed to see these photos on social media over the weekend,' she wrote on Facebook. 'Scenes like this in Daylesford are completely unacceptable, and while visitors are welcome you must follow the rules.' 'I have spoken to Council today and am ready to help as needed.' Ms Thomas said in response, the Council had begun working with Victoria police and the Department of Health and Human Service to prevent future incidents. 'Once again, to locals and visitors alike, please please use common sense,' she added. 'Keep your distance and wash your hands. And if you see a crowd don't join it, walk away and protect your health and that of your loved ones.' The images (one pictured) were shared on Facebook by Labor MP Mary-Anne Thomas, with many commentators expressing outrage over market-goers deliberately ignoring safety directives The images provoked outraged comments, with some calling for markets to be closed. 'I cant believe how arrogant people are, weve been told what not to do and these idiots just go along their merry way with no consideration for anyone else!' one person wrote. 'Its people like this that is going to put us further back so no one can leave their home!' 'Its almost like people are thinking it cant happen to them.' Another added:' Simple solution, you don't want a crowd. Close it. As long as these events are held crowds will come.' Others said market organisers had put safety directives in place, but they were being ignored by the vast majority of attendees. A medical professional administers a test to a member of the public at a pop-up coronavirus testing facility in Melbourne Australians have been warned to stay away from six council in Melbourne: Hume, Casey and Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin 'Following the rules is so easy and so important. I know market organisers work so hard to try and ensure the rules are observed. They then get blamed when people ignore the rules,' someone else said. 'Its really sad to see that despite all the efforts of organisers and authorities, people refuse to comply with simple directives,' a woman's comment read. Locals from other surrounding Victorian towns, such as Woodend, Malmsbury and Kyneton, said they had witnessed similar disregard for social distancing rules since restrictions were eased last month. 'I live off one of the tracks coming from Camels Hump in Mt. Macedon,' a man added. CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement 'The conduct of many visitors has left a lot to be desired. Absolutely no adherence to social distancing. Hoards of people up and down the tiny tracks.' Sunday's surge was Victoria's biggest increase since March 31, bringing the state's total to 2099 cases on Monday night, of which 288 were active. Most of the new spike in infections came from community-based transmissions rather than from overseas travellers. Australian National University (ANU) Professor Peter Collignon said many new cases came from those going to work or social gatherings when sick. 'We're going to live with this for the next two years. This virus isn't going away,' Professor Collignon told Nine's A Current Affair. Only four of Victoria's new cases recorded on Sunday were linked to known outbreaks, with 26 detected through routine testing and 19 under investigation. Six local government areas in Melbourne have been identified as coronavirus hotspots, with authorities conducting mass testing on around 10,000 residents daily. The areas include Hume and Brimbank, in Melbourne's north and west, Casey and Cardinia in the city's southeast and Moreland and Darebin in the north. Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos last week warned select localities may face mandatory lockdown if infection rates do not improve. Premier Daniel Andrews said authorities are waiting on the full results of a three-day coronavirus testing blitz in 10 suburban hotspots to come through before deciding on any further measures to contain the virus. Nationwide, there has been 7767 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 104 deaths. Of the total, 7008 have recovered. An elderly man is tested on Saturday in Melbourne. Plans to reopen state borders in WA, SA, NSW, VIC, and ACT have been shelved amid the spike in Victoria Plans to ease restrictions were put on hold by the state government last week, while the number of visitors allowed at homes was reduced to five. The second wave has made several Australian states wary of reopening borders to travellers. Plans to reopen Western Australia's interstate borders on August 8 have been shelved until Victoria's case numbers significantly improve. Queensland, which was considering opening its borders in early July, will announce on Tuesday whether the date will be set back a few more weeks in response to the surge. South Australia has scrapped a plan to lift all its remaining border restrictions on July 20. Premier Steven Marshall said on Tuesday the July 20 date to lift quarantine measures for Victoria, NSW and the ACT has been abandoned on the latest health advice. The heartbroken mother of a man stabbed after going to the gym has broke down in tears at the spot where he was killed in Melbourne. Thomas Tran, 20, died died when a fight broke out 'between a group of people' on Atherton Road in the southeastern suburb of Oakleigh. Mr Tran's distraught mother Amy said the family 'have no idea why this happened' to her only child. Pictures taken on Tuesday show distraught relatives collapse to the ground as they laid flowers in his memory. Thomas Tran, 20, (pictured, right, with his mum Amy, left) was fatally stabbed in the southeast Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh on Monday evening The heartbreaking image captures Mr Tran's family (pictured) praying at the scene of the incident Police were called to a brawl outside Alimonakis Pharmacy at the Eaton Mall at about 8pm (pictured) on Monday night She told Channel 9 her son had gone to the gym before he was killed. The victim's cousin and housemate Fiona Tran, received a call from him moments before the devastating incident occurred. 'I heard him shake his protein shaker about 7.30pm,' she told The Age. 'It was just a normal night.' Emergency services were called to Atherton Road around 7.55pm, following reports of a brawl outside Alimonakis Pharmacy at the Eaton Mall, Victoria Police said. 'Police arrested a 15-year-old Dandenong teenager, a 20-year-old Dandenong South man and two 19-year-olds, from Lynbrook and Lyndhurst.' 'They have since been released pending further inquiries.' Steve Dimopoulos, Victorian Labor MP for Oakleigh, took to Facebook to express his shock and horror over the tragedy. Mr Tran (pictured, left) has been mourned by his distraught mother Amy (right), who said the family 'have no idea why this happened' 'No person should ever die in these circumstances,' he said. 'This is a location that is loved across Melbourne. It is on the map as a safe place for people to dine and come together. 'There is no place for violence in our community. Not now. Not ever. 'Whatever disagreements people may have it is never worth someone's life.' The incident is the third fatal knife crime to rock Melbourne in the past two weeks. On Monday, Machar Kot, 21, died in hospital after being stabbed outside a Melbourne CBD hotel. On June 16, 15-year-old Solomone Taufeulungaki also died after after being stabbed in a brawl at Brimbank Shopping Centre in Deer Park. Mr Tran's mother Amy (pictured, right) said her son had gone to the gym before he was fatally stabbed Homicide squad detectives are continuing to investigate the fatal stabbing and are calling on members of the public for help. 'Police are also appealing for anyone who may have been in the area of Chester Street, Eaton Mall and Atherton Road between 7.30pm and 8pm that may have camera footage to come forward,' Victoria Police said. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Ann Maine, the Lake County Board member representing Lincolnshire, spoke during Mondays virtual meeting, telling village officials that the county has about $120 million available for grants for stormwater projects. She said the countys Stormwater Management Commission, on which she is a member, will meet next week to begin work on a ranking system to qualify stormwater projects so towns can apply for the grant money. Rose McGowan has revealed how she 'tricked' disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein into admitting his crimes. The actress, who accused the movie mogul of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, was one of the leading activists of the global #MeToo movement that ultimately saw him convicted and jailed earlier this year. Now the Charmed star has lifted the lid on how she helped bring Weinstein to justice. The actress, pictured left, who accused the movie mogul, pictured right, of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, was one of the leading activists of the global #MeToo movement that ultimately saw him convicted and jailed earlier this year McGowan spoke of being born 'with a fist up in the air' in an interview with Mariella Frostrup on the new Times Radio channel, and that injustice was something that made her angry from an early age. She explained how she would not be silenced in regards to Weinstein - who she claimed had been regularly making million dollar payments to ensure his victims didn't speak out - and that she 'tricked him' after she 'refused' to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). 'I said I wanted a hundred thousand dollars. And I think he got so excited. And I said I wanted less money but I don't want to sign a non-disclosure,' the Mirror reports. '....So I had a document that proved what he'd done and didn't have an NDA.' Weinstein was hospitalised with chest pains hours after receiving a 23-year sentence. Later in March, he reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and was put in isolation for 14-days at Wende Correctional Facility in Western New York. Rose McGowan and Harvey Weinstein pictured together at the 2007 ShoWest Award Ceremony in Las Vegas He is now being held in the prison's residential mental health unit, where he remains on suicide watch, a prison official said in April. Weinstein was convicted of raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. McGowan has previously claimed that she forwent having children so she could 'keep on fighting' against Weinstein and insisted she won't be free of the disgraced mogul until one of them is dead. In an interview with The Guardian, she told that her battle against the disgraced producer has been 'very calculated', but insisted it will not be over until 'he's dead or I am'. On the day of the conviction, McGowan claimed that Weinstein was running a 'rape factory' and feared he would be exonerated in his New York trial, and also admitted said she feared he would hire a hitman to kill her in the wake of her claims. McGowan told GMB the guilty verdicts were a 'huge moment' and that she hoped it would lead to more predators being convicted. Hobart has Australia's highest proportion of pot smokers and alcoholics. The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission analysed sewage samples at 53 wastewater sites nationally to pinpoint the areas with higher rates of drug addiction. Its National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program found Hobart had Australia's 'highest capital city consumption' for cannabis and alcohol. Hobart has Australia's highest proportion of pot smokers and alcoholics, an Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission analysis of sewage samples found. Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said higher rates of poverty in some parts of the Tasmanian capital had led to the drug abuse. Pictured is central Hobart on the Derwent River Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said higher rates of poverty in some parts of the Tasmanian capital had led to the drug abuse. 'It may be our socio-economic status: people are earning less than the Australian average income, we do have a lot of people that are either in poverty or are certainly underemployed,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'Sometimes, that can then mean that people have turned to alcohol and cannabis to basically try and deal with some of the challenges of life.' Darwin had the most tobacco smokers. The Northern Territory is Australia's epicentre of nicotine and alcohol, with Tasmania a close second in the state-wide drinking stakes Melbourne (Flinders Street Station pictured in October 2012) was Australia's heroin use capital while Sydney was the big city with the most ecstasy and cocaine users Darwin had the most smokers. When it came to the much deadlier drug ice, Adelaide was the capital city most likely to be home to meth heads. The drug capitals of Australia revealed HOBART: Cannabis, alcohol MELBOURNE: Heroin SYDNEY: Ecstasy/MDMA, cocaine ADELAIDE: Ice/methylamphetamine DARWIN: Nicotine Source: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program Advertisement The stimulant is Australia's most abused illegal drug, with addicts also more likely to be found in regional parts of Western Australia. 'Consistent with previous reports, findings show that of the substances monitored with known doses, nicotine and alcohol are the most consumed drugs in Australia, while methylamphetamine remains the most consumed illicit drug,' the report said. The Northern Territory is Australia's epicentre of nicotine and alcohol, with Tasmania a close second in the state-wide drinking stakes. Melbourne was the heroin use capital while Sydney was the big city with the most ecstasy and cocaine users. The wastewater monitoring program covers areas that are home to 10million people, or about 43 per cent of the Australian population. Drug use was generally higher in regional areas than Australia's capital cities. Samples were taken for analysis in October and December last year and again in February 2020, a month before the coronavirus lockdowns and business shutdowns. Researchers from the University of Queensland and the University of South Australia analysed the samples and provided data. An influential London club packed with business and political heavyweights is taking legal action against a book which claims Beijing is grooming the British establishment. The 48 Group Club, which counts former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine among its founders, took down its website after 'Hidden Hand' was published, The Times reported. Stephen Perry, a businessman and the club's chair, is suing to stop the book from being released in the UK and Canada, the book's Australian co-author Clive Hamilton told the paper. Prof. Hamilton's expose paints the 500-strong club as a networking hub 'through which Beijing courts Britain's elites.' The book claims to lift the lid on the creeping arm of Xi Jinping at a time of growing unease about Chinese influence in the UK. On a now deleted website, the 48 Group lists two KPMG partners on its board, former government ministers Lord Heseltine and Lord Prescott as its patrons and a raft of famous names 'fellows'. Relations between Beijing and the West have soured during the coronavirus crisis as many governments accuse China of covering up its early outbreak and allowing it to spread. Beijing is also being increasingly assertive in its foreign relations, taking greater control of Hong Kong and projecting its naval power in the South China Sea. China's President Xi Jinping (right) meets with the 48 Group Club chairman Stephen Perry at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 16, 2018 A leaked dossier from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance also accused Beijing of 'disappearing' whistle-blowers who exposed the seriousness of the coronavirus , while Donald Trump fanned conspiracies of Covid-19 spilling out of a Wuhan laboratory. And in Britain, a Tory backbench rebellion and mounting pressure from the White House has forced Boris Johnson to review the decision to allow Huawei to build the UK's 5G network. America is also urging the UK to ditch Huawei and Google has banned the Chinese telecoms giant from its apps. Critics fear that giving Huawei access to the country's vital telecoms infrastructure could be used by China to steal secrets from Britain or launch crippling cyber attacks. The club's website was pulled but an archived version of the site outlines its mission statement What is the 48 club? A group of British elites to foster relations with China The 48 Club is a 650-member strong organisation which helps British companies break into the Chinese market, according to its website. It dates back to the efforts of businessmen to forge greater Sino-Anglo alliances following the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The first trip in 1953 took 16 representatives of British companies, including current chairman Stephen Perry's father Jack, to China to discuss trade. It paved the way for a second visit in 1954 where 48 representatives from British companies embarked on a trade mission to China. Since its inception, the club claims to command gravitas among the Chinese businesses community to the extent that it is 'the most respected name in China-Britain trade'. According to its website, the 48 club's mission statement is to 'have a vital role in unfreezing the cultural deficit between China and the world'. The group was particularly close with former Chinese premier Hu Jintao, who is pictured with several of the 48 club's members, including Perry. The club hosts seminars and dinners for its members, while also offering 'support and consultancy services to British companies entering China's market'. The 48 Club claims to be funded by its members. Mr Perry is managing director of the London Export Corporation, a consultancy firm about the Chinese market. Advertisement Tory MP Bob Seely told MailOnline: 'There is a real need for foreign lobbying laws in this country. Our lobbying laws are very weak compared to other countries. 'The US brought in tight lobbying laws in the 1930s and Australia did so last year. 'We badly need a foreign lobbying law so if people in power - politicians, current officials, soldiers, the great and the good so to speak - are lobbied, the rest of us need to know.' The heightened nervousness surrounding Chinese influence in the UK and within the Five Eyes security alliance has ratcheted up the impact of the book. The London 48 Club claims to have sprung out of the first post-war UK trade delegation to China in 1953 and is named in the book as as a channel for President Xi to exert influence. Its current chairman Stephen Perry, a businessman who runs a China-UK import export business, met Xi in 2018 according to an archived version of the group's site which has since been taken down. Mr Perry's father was one of the founders of the 48 Group. The pair complimented each other and Mr Perry hailed Xi's vision 'of a community with a shared future for humanity.' Mr Perry was the only Briton among ten foreigners to be awarded the China Reform and Friendship Medal to mark the 40th anniversary of Bejing's economic reforms - the so-called 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics.' The book's authors cite Mr Perry's blog on the 48 Group Club website which provided details of his meeting with Xi. The club's website was pulled but an archived version which lists its members can still be viewed. Archives also show pictures with the China's previous premier, Hu Jinatao, suggesting the 48 Club's affiliation with the government stretches back years. The 'about us' section of the 48 Group's website says it grew into from the first UK trade delegation to China in 1953, The 1953 took 16 representatives of British companies, including current chairman Stephen Perry's father Jack, to China to discuss trade. It paved the way for a second visit in 1954 where 48 representatives from British companies embarked on a trade mission to China. The 48 Group takes its name from this from these delegates. Since its inception, the club has gone by various names including the the China-Britain Trade Group and the China-Britain Business Council. It says it is now 'the most respected name in China-Britain trade'. The glittering array of business, political and media figures listed as members by the 48 club is also visible on an archived version of the website from October 2019. It claims to include former Labour prime minister Tony Blair, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and TV journalist Angela Rippon. However sceptiscism has been poured on the accuracy of the list as some of the names approached have denied membership. Mr Blair's office said they had 'no idea' why the former PM was listed when approached by MailOnline. Richard Graham, Tory MP for Gloucester, told the Times he was unaware he was a fellow, but added that it was 'very kind' of them to offer him membership. Former Labour home secretary, Jack Straw, said he'd never heard of the 48 Group Club and told the newspaper, 'so why I'm on their website I've no idea.' The 48 Club is a 650-member strong organisation which helps British companies break into the Chinese market, according to its website. It offers a range of levels of membership and personal consultancy from chairman Stephen Perry China's President Xi Jinping accompanies the 48 Group Club chairman Stephen Perry (front left) for a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 16, 2018 Former deputy prime ministers Lord Prescott (left) and Lord Heseltine (right) are listed as club patrons Lord Heseltine acknowledged his affiliation with the group - also known as 'The Icebreakers' - and defended its aims. 'I've spoken at a number of their big dinners, when I have made comments that are frank about Chinese activity,' he told The Times. The 48 Group Club board told the paper: 'The 48 Group Club is not in any sense a vehicle for Beijing. It is an independent body promoting understanding of China and positive Sino-British relations, which we believe to be in the UK's national interest. Any suggestion to the contrary is quite false.' It added that Prof. Hamilton had not approached them for comment in the course of his research. The 48 club was founded to shore up Sino-Anglo relations following a period of friction between the two countries after the Korean War, which became a proxy battle between the Western and Communist states. The name itself is an homage to the 48 British businessmen known as the Icebreakers who embarked on a trade mission to China in 1954. According to its website, the 48 club's mission statement is to 'have a vital role in unfreezing the cultural deficit between China and the world'. The first of the four officers to indicate how he intends to plea in the killing of George Floyd will plead not guilty to all charges, DailyMail.com can reveal. J Alexander Kueng stated his intentions in a court filing seen by DailyMail.com. The papers filed by attorney Thomas Plunkett state that the ex-cop intends to plead not guilty and use the defenses of self defense, justifiable force and authorized use of force. It was filed just a few hours after he and his fellow defendants officers appeared in Hennepin County District Court for a pretrial hearing. J Alexander Kueng stated his intentions to plead not guilty and use the defenses of self defense, justifiable force and authorized use of force The papers filed by attorney Thomas Plunkett state that the ex-cop intends to plead not guilty and use the defenses of self defense, justifiable force and authorized use of force George Floyd, pictured, died on May 25 in police custody after Chauvin knelt on his neck Derek Chauvin, 44, was arrested on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. There was nobody in court to support Chauvin as he appeared, a tiny spec of prison regulation orange, on the monitor before the judge The judge presiding over pre-trial hearings of the four ex-cops accused of killing George Floyd has threatened to issue a gag order if attorneys cannot stem the flow of statements and information leaked by family members, friends and others close to the case. Judge Peter Cahill gave the stern warning today at a series of brief pre-trial hearings that saw Derek Chauvin, 44, Tou Thao, 34, Thomas Lane, 37 and J Alexander Kueng, 26 back before a judge for the second time since all four were charged. Chauvin is charged on three counts: second degree murder, third degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The three other officers face charges of aiding and abetting second degree murder and manslaughter. Speaking to each of their attorneys in turn and addressing Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, Hennepin County District Court Judge Cahill said, 'The court is not going to be happy reading aboutany discussions of the merits of the case or the guilt or innocence of any parties.' He urged the attorneys to silence all those over whom they had influence and added, 'From this day forward everyone has had their warning if they don't heed the court instruction it will be a gag order and possibly a change of venue.' The issue of where to hold the officers' trials has not yet been determined nor has it been decided if they are to be tried separately or jointly. But Judge Cahill was clear that the publicity, statements and leaks from various camps were all 'pushing the case towards a change of venue.' Benjamin Crump, attorney for George Floyd's family was singled out for particular criticism by both the judge and Assistant Attorney General Frank who accused Crump of leaking the details of a meeting at which he and Attorney General Keith Ellison had met with Floyd's family in confidence in Houston. Earlier the court had decided to ban televisual and audio recording of today and all pre-trial hearings despite strong objections from the defense of all four men who have argued that such a public airing is vital for the officers to receive a fair trial. Coverage of the actual trial has yet to be decided. The papers filed by attorney Thomas Plunkett state that the ex-cop intends to plead not guilty and use the defenses of self defense, justifiable force and authorized use of force. Rookie officers J. Alexander Keung (left) and Thomas Lane (right) were involved in the arrest and made their court appearance on Monday Former Minneapolis policeman Thomas Lane enters the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility after the first court appearance of officer Derek Chauvin In this courtroom sketch, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin appears in on closed-circuit television from a maximum security prison Chauvin was the first to appear and the only of the accused to do so via video link from the maximum security of Minnesota Correctional Facility Oak Park Heights, where he will be held until his trial. He spoke clearly but was barely visible on the screen that broadcast his brief appearance. He raised no objections when the court date for his trial was set as March 8, 2021 though the judge informed him that, as he was in custody, he could demand a trial within 60 days. The State and his defense both asked for more time to wade through discovery that, as of Friday, ran to 8130 documents and 750 audio visual recordings. Thao was next, he appeared in person, cuffed and standing behind a Perspex barrier. His expression was unreadable behind his mask. Four family members sat in the front row as he was taken through the same formalities as Chauvin had been just moments earlier. His attorney Robert Paule pushed for the court to intervene to stop prejudicial pre-trial publicity and noted that it was hard to see how the attorneys could hold sway when, he said, 'We've had public comments by Trump, the Governor or Minnesota, the Attorney General, the Chief of Police who's appeared on 60minutes and the Mayor as well as the Head of the Department of Public Safety.' Paule said that he no longer intended to give the public statement he had planned after today's proceedings and added, 'All of these [officials] have been making public comments and some of the stuff that's been said if inadmissible in evidence. 'Quite frankly I don't understand why they've been saying what they have.' Kueng's co-defendants (left to right), Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane Kueng was next dressed in dark suit pants and a vest with a striped shirt and tie he was mask less as he stood next to his attorney Thomas Plunkett. Lane was last. He strode confidently into courtroom 141, taking his mask off when he reached the podium before the judge. He stood a full head taller than his attorney Earl Gray but said little other than to offer no objections to the judge on any point though his attorney noted his intention to file motions between now and the next court date set for all four which was September 11. Judge Cahill informed him that, if the trials of all four officers are held individually, the two who remain in custody would be heard first and likely push Lane's trial well beyond the provision date of March 8. Asked if that was okay with him Lane simply replied, 'Yes your honor.' There was nobody in court to support Chauvin as he appeared, a tiny spec of prison regulation orange, on the monitor before the judge. Family members for the other officers came and went as each appeared including four members of Thaos family who walked stiffly into the courtroom to witness his second appearance and Kuengs mother, Joni, with her distinctive shock of peroxide blond hair. She showed no emotion in court but was seen embracing friends outside. Only Floyds family members were a constant throughout. Floyds uncle Selwyn Jones and aunt Angela Harrelson sat in the front row on the left of the courtroom, while the ex-cops supporters sat just feet away on the right. None made eye-contact. At one point the judge cautioned Jones not to react to proceedings though it was unclear what Floyds uncle, who was wearing a mask in keeping with the courts social distancing regulations had done or said. George Floyd was seen in a video pleading that he couldn't breathe as white officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against his neck The four officers are seen near a police truck while George Floyd is on the ground Lane had asked Chauvin if he should roll Floyd onto his side to help him breathe better. Chauvin replied 'No. Staying put where we got him' It is just over a month since the officers were arrested and video of Floyd's death ignited outrage that erupted into violence and protest across the world as millions bore witness to the 46-year-old father of three's agonizing final moments; 8minutes and 46 seconds, dying under Chauvin's knee while the other three accused held him down. In the time since then the city and the lives of all those immediately effected has changed almost beyond recognition. Last week the City Council voted 12 to 0 to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a 'department of community safety and violence prevention.' The new department, they envisioned, would offer 'a holistic, public health-oriented approach.' The move opposed by Mayor Jacob Frey - must overcome significant bureaucratic obstacles if it is to be ready to go to the ballot in November. On the same day it emerged that three members of the council had been provided with private security detail costing the taxpayers $63,000 after they received death threats for supporting proposals to defend the beleaguered police department. Council members Andrea Jenkins, Phillipe Cunningham and Alondra Cano have each received protection for the past three weeks at a rate of $4300 a day. Two of the three officers who failed to intervene as Floyd died have made bail which was set for all three at $1million unconditional, $750,000 conditional. Thomas Lane was released Wednesday June 10. J Alexander Kueng was released Friday June 19 and within hours had been accosted by an angry member of the public as he shopped at Cub Foods in Plymouth, Minnesota. A brief video clip showed Kueng clutching a packet of OREOs as the woman berated him, 'You're literally outside here comfortably as if you didn't kill that man? Did you think that people wouldn't recognize you? You don't have the right to be here. You killed somebody in cold blood you do not have the right to be here.' For his part Kueng's attorney, Thomas Plunkett has consistently painted his client as a 'young African American male who grew up with an absentee father and a single mother' who turned to law enforcement to make his community, 'a better place.' But members of Kueng's own family have spoken out against him. Kueng who has a Nigerian father and white mother was raised in 'a racially diverse family,' according to his mother Joni who adopted four at risk children who she raised along with Kueng. Angela Harrelson, George Floyd's aunt, was seen leaving the court house Monday Selwyn Jones, George Floyd's uncle, was seen leaving court Monday Lane's attorney Early Gray was seen with a mask as he entered the courtroom for Monday's hearing Speaking in a recent New York Times article his mother described what has happened with her son as a 'gut punch' while his adopted sister, Radiance, dismissed the idea that her brother's inexperience (he was three days on the job) was any excuse for his failure to stop the horror that unfolded that day. She told the publication, 'I don't care if it was his third day at work or not. He knows right from wrong.' According to Radiance there was no doubt in her mind that her brother should have intervened, and she is now considering changing her last name, so she is no longer associated with him. Lane has kept a low profile though his attorney Earl Gray has launched a vociferous media campaign to argue his client's innocence and place blame firmly on Chauvin's shoulders. Pointing to Chauvin's seniority Gray argued that Lane, who was also a rookie, raised objections but could not be expected to do anything more than he had done and ultimately had no choice but to fall in line with the senior officer. 'What was he supposed to do?' he asked in a string of media appearances, 'Tell Chauvin to get off?' He has maintained that his client is a 'good guy,' and has reminded all who will listen that Lane was the only one of the officers involved to have attempted to administer CPR to the already dead man. Tou Thao's family is pictured arriving to court. The judge has warned he will place a gag order on the officers and their families Both Thao and Chauvin, whose bail was set at $1.25million, have remained in custody; Tao in Hennepin County Jail and Chauvin, in the maximum-security Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights. The senior officer was moved there on June 1 amid security concerns. Eight correction officers half of whom are black, all of whom are people of color - have filed official complaints in the interim stating that they have been prevented from bringing Chauvin to his cell solely on the basis of their race. They claim that the orders which came from Ramsey County Superintendent Steve Lydon, who is white, amounted to segregation and suggested that he did not believe they could be trusted to do their jobs because they were not white. No family members have spoken and Chauvin's wife of ten years, former Minneapolis pageant queen Kellie, 45, swiftly off-loaded her disgraced husband, filing for divorce the day before he was charged. If convicted Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison for second degree murder. The men charged with aiding and abetting him face the same penalty if convicted on the most serious charges, while their second charge aiding and abetting second degree manslaughter - carries a sentence of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of $20,000. The actions of all four officers are now all too well-rehearsed and set down in a detailed Statement of Probable Cause pieced together from surveillance footage, interviews with witnesses and their 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. Cup Foods, the store where the cops were called on George Floyd for handing of a 'fake' $20 bill A protester in front of the Second Precinct Police Station in Minneapolis holds a 'Justice for George Floyd' placard. The Minneapolis city council is set to take the first step toward banning the police department The footage goes on to 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 Floyd's 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 pulse. 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. Schools could teach a slimmed-down curriculum focusing on English and maths to allow students time to catch up when classes restart in September. Secondary pupils taking their GCSEs may even need to drop subjects entirely so they can focus on the core classes, according to draft proposals seen by the Huffington Post. Some Year 7 students may be retaught parts of the English and maths syllabus from their final year of primary after their study was disrupted by coronavirus lockdown, reports said. The Government's plans to safely reopen classrooms in September could also see schools in England isolate up to 240 secondary pupils in 'year bubbles' to limit the number of interactions with pupils of other ages. It has been suggested that all children in a year group would be sent home to self-isolate for two weeks if one classmate in their 'bubble' tests positive for coronavirus. Schools may teach a reduced curriculum with a greater focus on the core subjects of English and maths when children return to classrooms, with some topics put on hold until 2021. Teacher Claire Juniper teaches maths to year six students inside a socially distanced classroom setting in a tent outside on the school playing fields at Llanishen Fach Primary School in Cardiff Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) is due to announce the finalised plans for reopening schools more widely to children on Thursday Students will be told to sit at desks facing forwards in the same direction, rather than at circular tables, when all children return to school in the autumn, reports suggest. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is due to announce the finalised plans for reopening schools more widely to children on Thursday. At present, only a small number of children in some year groups have returned to school - with most likely to not return to the classroom until September. Guidance is likely to advise teachers to remain two metres away from pupils as much as possible, and avoid coming into contact with their colleagues. Schools will also reportedly be required to engage with the NHS Test and Trace system, and will be advised daily temperature tests are 'not a reliable method' for detecting Covid-19. It was also reported teachers and students will not be required to wear face coverings inside schools. Speaking on Monday, Mr Williamson suggested a full return to school in September would not rely on social distancing restrictions in the same way as in pubs and shops. 'It's not about one metre, it's not about two metres,' he told BBC Breakfast, saying that safety would be based on 'reducing the number of transmission points' within schools. He also confirmed parents in England could be fined if they do not send their children back to school in September, as a return to school will be 'compulsory'. Boris Johnson speaks with year-ten pupils in a science room under construction at Ealing Fields High School today At present, only a small number of children in some year groups have returned to school - with most likely to not return to the classroom until September On the latest plans, Mr Williamson told LBC: 'It is going to be compulsory for children to return back to school unless there's a very good reason, or a local spike where there have had to be local lockdowns 'We do have to get back into compulsory education as part of that, obviously fines sit alongside that. 'Unless there is a good reason for the absence then we will be looking at the fact that we would be imposing fines on families if they are not sending their children back.' Last night, he told The Daily Telegraph he had been shocked at the 'level of resistance' he faced in attempting to get children back into classrooms. 'The fundamental priority is getting every child back to school,' he said. 'We have got almost 1.5 million children back at the moment and we have proven we can run schools safely for children and for staff.' 'I must confess I never believed we would face the level of resistance we ended up seeing over things that we know are right for the children.' Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said a return to schools in the autumn has to be done in a way that does not spark a new wave of coronavirus infections. He said: 'That is what the Government guidance is aimed at achieving. The processes involved are logistically problematic, so this is going to be the art of the possible, rather than an ideal solution. 'We are urging the Government to have a plan B in place in the event that we arrive at September and the situation with coronavirus is too precarious to allow a full reopening. 'Frankly, it seems to be on a knife-edge at the moment.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'Pupils have been returning to school since June 1 - we've already given primary schools the flexibility to invite more children back if they have the capacity, and 1.5 million children were in school at the end of last week. The latest Government figures show that around a third (34 per cent) of all Year 6 children attended school on June 18, up from 26 per cent on June 11 (Pictured: Pen-Y-Dre High School today) 'We've said we want to see all children back at school in September - returning to full primary and secondary class sizes in a safe way. 'We continue to engage with school leaders, teaching unions and the wider sector about our plans and will publish full details later this week.' Some children began returning to school at the beginning of this month but, ahead of the phased reopening, the Government confirmed that parents who do not feel safe sending their children back to school would not face fines. The latest Government figures show that around a third (34 per cent) of all Year 6 children attended school on June 18, up from 26 per cent on June 11. Attendance was around a quarter (26 per cent) in Year 1, up from a fifth the previous week, and 29% in Reception, up from 22 per cent on June 11, the figures show. Speaking today, Boris Johnson said the fact that more pupils are not back at school yet is a source of 'deep frustration' for him. The Prime Minister told Times Radio that teaching unions and councils should be saying 'loud and clear' that schools are safe. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), has called for a 'period of grace' before fining parents if they refuse to send their children back to school when they fully reopen. He said: 'We don't think that it is the right approach to fine parents for the non-attendance of children as soon as schools fully reopen in September, and the Government should not expect schools to take this action. 'There will be many frightened and anxious parents out there, and this is very much a case of building confidence that it is safe to return, rather than forcing the issue through the use of fines.' South Australia has scrapped a plan to lift all its remaining border restrictions next month due to a spike in coronavirus cases in Victoria. Premier Steven Marshall said the July 20 date to lift quarantine measures for Victoria, NSW and the ACT has been abandoned on the latest health advice. He said the state, which has already opened its border to people from Queensland, the NT and WA, may move separately on NSW and the ACT but can't set a date for Victoria in the current circumstances. 'Our number one priority is the health, welfare and safety of all South Australians. At this stage we cannot lift that border (with Victoria) on the 20th July as we were hoping to do,' the premier told reporters on Tuesday. Meanwhile, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has banned Victorians from buying tickets to sports games in NSW. 'Unfortunately Victorians aren't welcome to purchase tickets given the rate of community transmission down there,' she said. South Australia has scrapped a plan to lift all its remaining border restrictions next month due to a spike in coronavirus cases in Victoria. Pictured: Premier Steven Marshall 'I appreciate the cooperation all the codes have shown the New South Wales Government in ensuring that ticketses are not sold to Victorians.' Ms Berejiklian also urged NSW residents not to invite Victorians living in 'hotspot' suburbs into their homes. The Victorian government is considering fresh lockdown measures as the state is swamped by a second wave of coronavirus. Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton today said he would recommend 'anything necessary' to stop the spread after 75 new cases were reported on Monday. The last time Victoria recorded that many cases was on 31 March when 96 new patients tested positive. The state's highest new daily case number came on 28 March when 111 cases were reported. That day was the peak of the pandemic in Australia with 460 new cases nationwide. The Victorian government is considering fresh lockdown measures as the state is swamped by a second wave of coronavirus Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton today said he would recommend 'anything necessary' to stop the spread after 75 new cases were reported on Monday. Pictured: Testing at Melbourne Showgrounds on Monday Professor Sutton warned that 'things will get worse before they better' and said the government was planning new rules to limit the spread. But measures would be different to the sweeping shut downs initially imposed in March when the first wave of the virus hit. Shops, restaurants and bars, which only re-opened this month, would not have to close again because their COVID-safe plans including social distancing mean the risk of transmission is well-managed, Professor Sutton said. Lockdown 2.0: Which new rules would halt the spread? Surburb shut downs: Chief Health Office Brett Sutton said this was possible but very hard logistically Enforced quarantine: Rules forcing patients to stay in their homes could be enforced more strictly with daily check-ups Reducing limits on gatherings: Under current rules, Victorians are allowed five visitors in their home at once and can meet in public in groups of 10 - but these limits could be revised down Travellers kept in hotels: On Sunday the government extended the quarantine time for returned travellers to 24 days if they refuse to get tested after it was revealed that 30 per cent were being let out without a swab Advertisement Instead, any new rules would focus on limiting the number of people that residents can interact with. This is because most of the recent transmission has been happening at family gatherings. Under current rules, Victorians are allowed five visitors in their home at once and can meet in public in groups of 10 - but these limits could be revised down. Professor Sutton also said the government is looking at ways to encourage people to stay at home if they get flu-like symptoms or if they have tested positive for the virus. He said too many people were failing to self-isolate after police caught 13 people breaking quarantine orders last Monday. 'What we are seeing is transmission across settings because people are still going out with symptoms,' Professor Sutton said. 'Outbreaks are occurring across multiple households, across work and other settings.' One option would be to copy the system used in Taiwan where a person in self-isolation gets a daily phone call to check they are at home. If they do not answer, they are tracked down and fined. Professor Sutton also said the government was considering locking down entire suburbs which have outbreaks, although he admitted this would be a logistical challenge. 'We don't want to drive people out of suburban areas, into new, unaffected areas. So there is a balancing act in terms of making the call on a lockdown,' he said. 'But it is absolutely an option and we flagged the possibility of using it and we will use it, if it is required.' On Sunday the government extended the quarantine time for returned travellers from 14 days to 24 days if they refuse to get tested after it was revealed that 30 per cent were being let out without a swab. A teenager who was sexually abused as a child has expressed her fury after her abuser walked free from court - saying the sentence dissuades other victims from coming forward. The young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was just eight years old when Michael David Wockner, 42, placed his penis on the outside of her mouth. He forced the child to watch porn and asked her to touch his penis during the incident in 2009. After pleading guilty to two counts of indecent treatment of a child in the Brisbane District Court, he was sentenced to 18 months' behind bars, to be wholly suspended for three years. Speaking outside of court, the victim, who is now 18, shared her disappointment over the sentence. 'If it ever happened to me again after that sentence, I wouldn't report it,' she told the Courier Mail. A teenager who was sexually abused as a child has been left fuming after her abuser walked free from court (stock image pictured) 'He's going to go home tonight to have dinner. I'm going to go home tonight knowing he's still out there. 'Girls don't like to come forward because that's the kind of sentence you get.' Wockner was charged with two counts of indecent treatment of a child in 2015. He was due to face trial on Monday but changed his plea to guilty. Defence barrister David Crews argued for a lighter sentence as it was an 'isolated incident'. He told the court these were 'exceptional circumstances' because of the low-level of his offending and his client had no prior convictions for sexual offences. The victim told the court Wockner had taken her childhood from her. She said she lives in constant fear that this will happen again. Judge Orazio Rinaudo agreed that exceptional circumstances did apply. Jack Evans, 18, has been jailed for two years The father of a teenage rapist who turned his son in said he 'would do the same thing again'. The teenager who forced himself on a girl was jailed after his parents made him confess when they found he had texted his victim to say sorry. Top grade student Jack Evans, 18, nearly escaped justice over the sex attack because the student never complained. His father Jonathan, 47, told the Mirror: 'I would do the same thing again, I would have to because that is my moral standing on it, it is painful but it is right. 'You cannot get on with your life if you live your life under a lie, as much as this hurts it is the right thing to do. Evans apologised to the victim by text two months later and his appalled dad Jonathan and his stepmother Sarah Morris, 47, saw the message and told him to tell police. They marched him to a police station where he told officers his name and what he had done. Evans (pictured) had escaped justice for the rape but when his parents discovered a text from him saying sorry to his victim, they marched him to the police station to confess They tracked down his victim, who had been a virgin, who told them about the attack and he was charged with rape. She said she was left feeling 'worthless' and unable to trust men again. His father Jonathan said outside Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court: 'I wanted him to tell the truth, he had to do the right thing and admit his guilt. Jonathan Evans and his son Jack pictured in 2018 before he told him to confess to rape 'It's been difficult for all of us and it's caused quite a few arguments. 'Ive said to him that the best thing for him is to show everyone that youre doing your best to rectify what has happened. Evans' father Jonathan told his son to tell the go to officers to tell them what he had done 'It has been a shock to the system for him - Im hoping being in prison will give him time to reflect.' The court heard Evans' victim had told him to stop at the last minute but he had carried on during the attack in January last year. At the time he had been a top grade student studying maths, computing and history in college. Prosecutor Claire Pickthall said: 'She didn't make a complaint but two months later Evans and his stepmother turned up at a police station to say what had happened.' Evans, of Pontypool, South Wales, was jailed for two years and ordered to register as a sex offender. Jonathan Evans and wife Sarah Morris, both 47, who are Evans' dad and stepmother and who marched him to the police station to confess to the rape Evans' mother Deniz Stewart was the only parent allowed in court, because of social distancing rules. He mouthed 'I love you' to her as he was sent down He was watched by Deniz Stewart, his biological mother, who he told he loved as he was sent down. Only she was allowed into court because of strict social distancing rules. Gareth Williams, defending, had asked for a suspended sentence because of the 'exceptional circumstances.' Jack Evans, pictured right in evening dress and left with his father Jonathan on holiday, has been convicted of rape after he was marched to a police station to confess He said: 'It is extremely rare for anyone to admit to such a serious offence without there being a complaint.' But Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said there were aggravating features and Evans had to be locked up. She told him: 'Two months after the rape you apologised to your victim and said you understood why she was upset. Parc Young Offenders Institute in Bridgend, where Evans is understood to have been sent to serve his two-year sentence 'But that text came came to the attention of your father and mother who took you to a police station. 'You told an officer your name and said you'd has sex with the young woman.' He was sent to a Young Offenders' Institute for two years after being given discount for his age and his guilty plea. It is understood he is currently in Parc Young Offenders' Institution in Bridgend, which is in HMP Parc which has a capacity of up to 1,300. His father Jonathan wants him to join his software engineering company when he released next year. Flights between Australia and New Zealand as part of a 'trans-Tasman travel bubble' have been delayed due to Victoria's second wave of coronavirus. The first flight over the Tasman Sea was set to leave from Canberra for Wellington on Tuesday but was cancelled after the rapid increase in community-transmitted infections in Victoria, with the state recording 64 new cases on Tuesday. Managing director of Canberra Airport Stephen Byron told NCA NewsWire flights will now be planned for the end of July. 'The nature of the return of the virus into Melbourne, together with continuing discussions with governments in Australia and New Zealand has meant we've pushed back flights,' he said. The first flight over the Tasman Sea from Canberra Airport (pictured) to Wellington was cancelled after Victoria's coronavirus outbreak Managing director of Canberra Airport Stephen Byron said flights will be planned for the end of July Mr Byron said 4,000 travelers have expressed interest in crossing the Tasman. 'People do want to travel between Australia and New Zealand, people want to come home, so both ways, and they want to do it without quarantine,' he said. For the travel bubble to work Australians must be given permission to be able to fly to New Zealand and have mandatory two-week quarantine periods removed by the National Cabinet. Airports must also be organised to host passengers in two separated areas for those heading directly to their destination via a 'green lane' or away into quarantine. 'Not only are these areas entirely free from risk of infection from quarantining passengers, but all staff will be COVID safe because they will not be subject to processing passengers bound for quarantine,' Mr Byron said. Green lanes are being implemented at Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne airports, with each location looking to grant approval for travel in the next two weeks. A man is tested for coronavirus at a pop-up COVID-19 testing facility in Melbourne on Friday Mr Byron said Canberra would be the safest location for initial travel as international flights will only operate within the bubble and there have been no cases of COVID-19 community transmission in the city. He believes the governments should go ahead with Trans-Tasman travel bubble proposal despite the threat of a second wave. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand will not be involved if there is evidence of community transmission. Victoria's spike in coronavirus cases has caused South Australia to abandon plans to lift all its remaining border restrictions next month. Premier Steven Marshall said the July 20 date to lift quarantine measures for Victoria, NSW and the ACT has been scrapped on the latest health advice. He said the state may move separately on NSW and the ACT but can't make any move in relation to Victoria in the current circumstances. 'Our number one priority is the health, welfare and safety of all South Australians. At this stage we cannot lift that border (with Victoria) on the 20th July as we were hoping to do,' the premier said on Tuesday. Award-winning journalist Janet McIntyre has been charged with driving while more than four times the legal blood alcohol limit. The former TVNZ reporter was silent while her lawyer Marie Dyhrberg QC denied the charges on her behalf in the Auckland District Court. The alleged incident took place on February 28, 2020 in Auckland, on New Zealand's North Island, according to the New Zealand Herald. Court documents alleged McIntyre blew 1012 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. Award winning journalist Janet McIntyre has been accused of driving more than four times the legal blood alcohol limit In New Zealand the legal limit for people older than 20 is 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. People found guilty of having more than 400 micrograms of alcohol in their system face a penalty of three months in prison or a fine of NZD$4,500. Anything between 251 and 399 micrograms and the punishment is far less severe. It include demerit points being taken away and an infringement fee is issued however no criminal conviction is recorded. The 58-year-old was released on bail. McIntyre won the 2019 Voyager Broadcast Journalist of the Year award. She recently left TVNZ after working on 60 Minutes when it was purchased from TV3. The program was then rebranded into another current affairs program. The former TVNZ reporter (pictured in 2008) was silent while her lawyer Marie Dyhrberg QC denied the charges on her behalf McIntyre was twice named the nation's top television journalist while working on the show. She moved to Auckland from Brisbane, where she studied and worked in the Channel Nine newsroom. Her case will return to court again in August. Daily Mail Australia has contacted McIntyre's legal team for comment. Melanie Molitor, 14, of Morton Grove said, If one person bands together with people, they can make a powerful movement. Our Girl Scouts today are showing that we can do something even though we are just young. Qantas will reopen its domestic lounges for the first time in three months from tomorrow as coronavirus travel restrictions ease. The Australian airline will reopen 11 of its 35 domestic lounges including the Sydney, Perth and Canberra business lounges and the Adelaide Qantas Club on Wednesday. Regional lounges in Alice Springs, Kalgoorlie, Tamworth, Coffs Harbour, Broome, Karratha and Launceston will also reopen. But with social distancing measures still in place, Qantas lounges will operate very differently with their popular self-serve buffets noticeably absent. The reopening of Qantas lounges comes ahead of the Queensland, Northern Territory, and Tasmania borders reopening later this month. A Qantas Lounge worker applies hand sanitiser to a woman's hand. The Australian airline will reopen some of its domestic lounges with social distancing measures in place from July 1 Strict social distancing will be in place when Qantas reopens the popular facilities. Lounges will cap the number of guests to comply with restrictions on indoor gatherings, which vary from state to state. Disposable coffee cups will replace reusable ones, sanitising stations have been set up and extra cleaning procedures will be in place. 'All lounges have undergone a deep clean during their closure,' a Qantas press release read. Qantas' popular self-serve buffets will be replaced by a 'hosted All-Day Snacking Station' where a member of staff serves food. Lounge customers can also order 'bespoke dishes' from a 'personalised tray around service' as well as coffee from the lounge barista and alcohol from the bartender. Melbournes Spice Bar and Perths Pizza bar will also be in operation once the lounges reopen. A Qantas Lounge worker offers food from a 'hosted All-Day Snacking Station'. The stations will temporarily replace the lounges' popular self-serve buffets Qantas Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Tully said travellers will enjoy an 'extra personalised' experience at their lounges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 'This is a new world for everyone as we introduce and evolve our services to the new travel climate, but we're very confident that we can make this work well for our people and our customers,' Ms Tully said. 'Some initiatives will become the norm while others such as capacity restrictions will ease as time goes on. 'We haven't ruled out a return of the buffet, toastie and pancake maker in the future or the reintroduction of self-serve beverage stations when restrictions ease.' At this stage, Qantas will only reopen some of its business and regional lounges as well its Adelaide Qantas Club. A Qantas Lounge worker brings a woman 'bespoke dishes' as part of their 'personalised tray around service'. The airline is limiting customer contact with surfaces by replacing self-serve buffets with ordering from attendants Chairmans lounges will reopen in August while international lounges in Australia and overseas will remain closed since international travel has not fully resumed. Queensland and Victoria lounges are scheduled for progressive reopening from July 10 as current gathering restrictions are eased. Currently, both states only allow for 20 patrons to dine at businesses, which will increase to 100 in Queensland from July 10 and to 50 in Victoria from July 12. After closing their borders to travellers for months, Queensland and the Northern Territory will reopen their borders on July 10 and July 17, respectively. Tasmania will reopen on July 24 but South Australia remains closed to NSW, Victoria and the ACT while WA is still completely closed. NSW, Victoria and the ACT's borders are already open but international travel is not expected to resume until July next year. Amazon is set to build a huge warehouse in Sydney that will be run by an army of robots and create 2,200 new jobs. At 200,000 square-metres, the warehouse is the size of Taronga Zoo, and will be finished by 2021 on an industrial estate in Oakdale West, in western Sydney. The project will create 1,500 jobs along with 700 during construction of the warehouse and cut down delivery times in Australia. Amazon will build a new 200,000 square-metre warehouse in western Sydney that will create 1,500 jobs and 700 while it is being built. Pictured is an artist's impress of the warehouse The hi-tech robots will fetch items off of shelves before delivering them to workers who pack the deliveries to be sent off. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the injection of jobs came at a time when the country needed them most. 'This important commitment by one of the worlds leading multinationals highlights western Sydneys growing stature as a strong investment destination,' she said. The project announced on Tuesday will be completed by late 2021 and ramp up delivery times for people shopping in Australia. Pictured left is NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian during the launch with Amazon's Country Manager Matt Furlong (centre) Amazon Australia's director of operations Craig Fuller said the centre was necessary to meet the demand for online shopping in Australia. 'The Amazon Robotics fulfilment centre will more than double our operational footprint in Australia, enhance efficiency and safety for our associates while ultimately providing customers with wider selection and faster delivery,' he said. 'This investment will also benefit the 10,000 plus small & medium sized businesses who utilise Fulfilment By Amazon to seamlessly service customers across the country.' The warehouse has the ability to pack orders 24/7 and is located next to the western Sydney international airport which is expected to be completed by 2026. Amazon said the majority of the 1,500 positions would be permanent full time roles with subsidised healthcare and up to 20 weeks maternity pay. The positions will include roles in HR, IT and robotics professionals to keep the centre running. The fulfilment centre will be the second built in western Sydney, with other centres built in Perth and Melbourne since Amazon launched in Australia in 2017. It comes as Australia faces mass job cuts with even Qantas forced to cut 6,000 jobs after its services slowed to a crawl during the pandemic. The hi-tech robots will fetch items off of shelves before delivering them to workers who pack the deliveries to be sent off The heartbroken family of a baby boy who died before his first birthday have accused police of stalling the investigation into his mysterious death. Dexter Wilton's relatives claim he was found underweight, dehydrated and had nappy rashes up to his knees that looked like third-degree burns. One year after his death, his family have called on police to tell them why the cause of his death wasn't determined. The body of nine-month-old Dexter Wilton (pictured) was found at his family's home in the Ipswich suburb of Raceview in Queensland on June 21, 2019 and relatives claim he was underweight, dehydrated and had a nappy rash which looked like burns Dexter's aunt, Jodie Whitehead, said she doesn't know why the investigation was stalled and that her nephew 'deserves justice.' 'We still don't have a cause of death and we need closure. To me, once someone is buried it should mean they've got all they need to do the testing,' Ms Whitehead told The Courier Mail. 'I just can't understand how the system works and how they can brush someone under the rug like they ever existed.' Ms Whitehead claims the pathology report has still not been completed by police to determine how Dexter died. A Queensland police spokesperson said the investigation into Dexter's death is ongoing and they cannot comment further. One year after his death, Dexter's family have called on the police to tell them why the investigation has not progressed and a cause of death hasn't been determined In February 2020, laws were passed to establish the Queensland Child Death Review Board which will examine the deaths of children in the state from July 1. Child Safety Minister Di Farmer said any death under investigation by the child protection system would be reviewed. Ms Farmer didn't comment on whether Dexter's death would be investigated by the board. The Department said they do have the capacity to look at specific cases if needed. 'In cases where a child is known to the department, a systems and procedures investigation is undertaken,' a spokesman for Child Safety said. The Department said they will include agencies such as the police, health and education if they were involved in the child's welfare. Cpl. Robert Hendriks died in an April 2019 attack at Bagram Air Field days before he was due to return home The mother of Cpl. Robert Hendriks, 25, who died in Afghanistan in April 2019 in a car bomb attack is calling for an investigation into his death, following revelations that Russia may have been paying Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers. Felicia Arculeo has said she wants to see an investigation launched after the New York Times reported American intelligence agencies believe a Russian intelligence unit was offering cash to Islamist fighters if they took the lives of U.S. servicemen. 'The parties who are responsible should be held accountable, if that's even possible,' Arculeo said to CNBC. 'I just happened to randomly see the news about the report. I got pretty upset,' she said. Cpl. Robert Hendriks is pictured hugging his mother Felicia Arculeo Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines, 31, (left) and Staff Sgt. Christopher K.A. Slutman, 43, (right) were also killed in the bomb attack in April 2019 Hendriks, 25, along with two other Marines, Sgt. Benjamin Hines, 31, and 43-year-old Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman who were with the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, were killed by a car bomb at Bagram Air Field. The Taliban had originally claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. So far Arcuelo from Long Island, New York says she has not been spoken to by U.S. intelligence or military officials since the news broke. The Times noted that President Trump had been told of the possible link between Russia and the Taliban but has not yet decided how to respond. Hendriks' father told the Associated Press on Monday that even a rumor of Russian bounties should have been immediately addressed. 'If this was kind of swept under the carpet as to not make it a bigger issue with Russia, and one ounce of blood was spilled when they knew this, I lost all respect for this administration and everything,' Erik Hendriks said. The vehicles were on their way back to Bagram Airfield the largest US military installation in Afghanistan. The Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. The site of the car bomb attack is pictured Officials said the intelligence community has been investigating the April 2019 attack on an American convoy that killed three US Marines and wounded three other US service members and an Afghan contractor after a car was rigged with explosives and detonated near their armored vehicles, to see if it could be potentially linked to the Russian bounties. The site of the car bomb above on April 9, 2019 Felicia Arculeo, the mother of a Marine killed last year in Afghanistan wants to see an investigation into reports her son may have been killed by Taliban fighters paid for by Russia On Sunday, the president tweeted: 'Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or to Vice President Mike Pence.' Arculeo has said that despite not having verification from the White House, the claim should still be looked into. 'Absolutely, that should be investigated,' she said. '[But] at the end of the day, my son is still gone. He's still not coming home.' White House officials, including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, have so far offered a guarded response to whether Trump was informed about the bombshell claim. On Monday she declined to answer directly whether it was in the Presidential Daily Brief, the printed compendium which he is given but which he has repeatedly been accused of failing to read, most recently in John Bolton's excoriating memoir. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday that President Donald Trump was never briefed on reports that Russia offered to pay members of the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan because the intelligence was not 'verified' and there was 'dissent' in the intelligence community over its accuracy 'I have no further details on the presidents private correspondence,' she said. Cpl. Robert Hendriks pictured while on tour One source told CNN that the assessment that Russia had offered bounties in Afghanistan was backed up by 'several pieces of information.' Those included signals intelligence - material obtained by electronic monitoring of communications - and evidence from interrogating Taliban detainees. The source told the network that other information did not corroborate the claim, but said: 'This was a big deal. When it's about US troops you go after it 100%, with everything you got.' The uncertainty over whether the assessment was correct was echoed at the White House by McEnany who said on Monday that Trump was never briefed on the reports because the intelligence was not 'verified' and there was 'dissent' in the intelligence community over its accuracy. 'There was not a consensus among the intelligence community and in fact there were dissenting opinions and it would not be elevated to the president until it was verified,' she said at her press briefing. President Donald Trump has denied that he was made aware of an intelligence report that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan She would not say who in the intelligence community dissented on the report. 'I am telling you there is no consensus in the intelligence community and the dissenting opinions from some in the intelligence community exist,' she said. While it's not clear how many American or coalition troops from other countries were killed or targeted in the Russian-backed operation, fatalities are still believed to have taken place, according to intelligence from U.S. military interrogations of captured militants in recent months. U.S. forces in Afghanistan suffered a total of 10 deaths from hostile gunfire or improvised bombs in 2018, and 16 in 2019. Two have been killed in 2020. In each of those years some service members were killed in what's known as 'green on blue', hostile attacks launched by members of Afghan security forces, which are believed to be at times infiltrated by the Taliban. A petition calling for the destruction of statues of white explorers from Australia's colonial past has made the embarrassing mistake of including bush poet Henry Lawson on its hit list. Artist Ailie Banks, 28, started the petition to remove statues of explorers such as William Wentworth and Gregory Blaxland in the Blue Mountains, 50km north-west of Sydney, after witnessing the Black Lives Matter movement unfold around the world. Ms Banks wrongly identified a third statue as legendary Australian poet Henry Lawson - who wrote Freedom Of The Wallaby - instead of William Lawson, who joined Wentworth and Blaxland on the first European expedition to find a route across the mountains. Artist Ailie Banks, 28, started the petition to remove statues of white explorers such as William Wentworth, William Lawson and Gregory Blaxland from the Blue Mountains Ms Banks wrongly identified a third statue as legendary Australian poet Henry Lawson - who wrote Freedom Of The Wallaby - instead of William Lawson, who joined Wentworth and Blaxland on the first European expedition to find a route across the mountains An earlier version of the petition accidentally names Henry Lawson, a poet, as the third bust instead of William Laweson 'I would like to call for all glorified imagery such as "statues", "busts" and the like of William Wentworth, Gregory Blaxland and Henry Lawson to be removed from public spaces,' the petition read. But Ms Banks told Daily Mail Australia the reaction to her error, which has since been corrected, proves 'bigots will latch on to anything' to discredit the movement to take down statues. 'Rather than focusing on my typo let's talk about racism in this country,' she said. She said she doesn't want the statues defaced but instead replaced with busts of Indigenous people who have contributed to the community or Aboriginal art put up instead. 'I cant imagine what would it would be like to be a First Nations person and see colonisers glorified,' Ms Banks said. Ms Banks also said she has received a lot of abuse online following the popularity of the petition - including imagery of Indigenous people being compared to monkeys and white people sporting blackface. Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill told 2GB that the 'statues would not be coming down'. 'I just think there are much more important things when it comes to moving forward with Aboriginal communities than this conversation,' he said. He said the statues were put up in 2015 to honour the community coming together for the bi-centennial. Indigenous leaders were consulted when it came to erecting the busts in 2015. However Ms Banks said her error, which has now been rectified, is besides the point of the petition and that 'bigots will latch onto anything'. Pictured: Henry Lawson Politician Warren Mundine told the Daily Telegraph he thought the petition was racist. 'It's racist, quite frankly, they think they have to talk for us, we can talk for ourselves and make our own decisions,' Mr Mundine said. 'I laugh at some of these white people making these apologies, bowing and carrying on. 'People say they're pulling statues down because they're racist but these people need to learn the facts and the history before they start running around do not pretend you speak for Aboriginal people. We don't need you to speak for us.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Blue Mountains City Council for comment. Australians are one step closer to normality as state governments prepare to ease a number of coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday. Restaurants and cafes in New South Wales will be able to welcome more customers through their doors as the government scraps its 50-person limit on indoor venues. Instead, venues will have to abide by the one person per four square metres rule. And it's not just the hospitality industry that will see a boost after sweeping changes come into force in the state. Stadiums across NSW with a capacity of more than 40,000 people can host up to 10,000 fans at AFL and NRL games from July 1. Community sport will also return, meaning thousands of local teams can get back out on the field. Childrens and adult community sport will be back in action in NSW on July 1 (pictured, people playing volleyball on Bondi Beach on June 6) Cinemas will also be able to reopen with social distancing measures in place to reduce the risk of the disease spreading within the community (pictured, a Geelong cinema on June 22) Music festivals and nightclubs will remain closed (pictured, clubbers in the Gold Coast, where clubs can reopen but dancing is banned) Cinemas will also be able to reopen with social distancing measures in place to reduce the risk of the disease spreading within the community. Movie-goers will be seated 1.5 metre apart and screening times will be staggered to give time for staff to disinfect theatres in between showings. However, music festivals and nightclubs will remain closed in most states as they have been deemed to be risky to reopen during this time. Nightclubs are already open in the Northern Territory, with Queensland clubs also allowed to reopen - but with strict social distancing in place. Queenslanders are also in for a treat with amusement parks, zoos and concert venues reopening from July 10. Venues will be restricted to just 100 guests at one time but the government will consider a proposal to change to a one person per two square metres rule at Fridays National Cabinet meeting. Queensland will also reopen its borders on July 10, but Victorians will be forced to quarantine in hotels - paid for out of their own pocket. Coronavirus restrictions are slowly being eased across Australia (pictured, customers sit in the sun at a cafe in Bondi on June 6) From Wednesday, restaurants and cafes in NSW will be able to welcome more customers through their doors (pictured, customers rugged up as they waited in line for a cafe in Bondi) Queensland will stop Victorians entering the state while letting all other Australians in from July 10 (pictured, the border near the Gold Coast) ALL THE CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS BEING LIFTED AROUND AUSTRALIA IN JULY NEW SOUTH WALES: From July 1: * Childrens and adult community sport to resume * A 50-person cap on indoor venues will be scrapped, including at function centres, so long as people are seated. * Restrictions on indoor and outdoor funerals relaxed to allow one-person per four square metres. * However, limits on household visitors and outside gatherings will remain capped at 20 people. * Passenger limits will almost double on public transport: - Up to 68 people per train carriage - Up to 23 passengers on an average, two-door bus and - Ferries will be allowed to seat up to 250 passengers - Customers must leave an empty seat or space between them. A green dot will continue to be used to identify the safest place to sit or stand. No dot, no spot. * Large outdoor venues, such as sporting stadiums, with a maximum capacity of 40,000 people will be permitted to host up to 25 per cent of patrons for cultural and sporting events, which must be ticketed and seated only. QUEENSLAND: * From July 10, will allow up to 100 people at: - Outdoor and indoor gatherings including home visitors and venues such as pubs and cinemas - Places of worship and ceremonies including weddings and funerals - Museums, art galleries, libraries - Pools and community sports, gyms, health clubs and yoga studios - Outdoor amusement parks, zoos, concert venues, arenas, auditoriums and stadiums - Opens homes and auctions - Casino and gambling venues, nightclubs - Beauty and tattoo parlours, nail and tanning salons and non-therapeutic massage parlours. - Hiking, camping and other activities in national and state parks. - Borders reopening July 10 - but not to Victorians VICTORIA: Some restrictions to to be lifted from July 12 including: - Indoor and outdoor venue limits including restaurants, cafes and pubs allowed up to 50 - Limits will also be relaxed to 50 people at auction houses, community halls, libraries, museums and places of worship. NORTHERN TERRITORY: * Border and quarantine restrictions to be lifted July 17 WESTERN AUSTRALIA: * All gathering and capacity restriction rules to be lifted July 18 with the states borders - including travel to remote Aboriginal communities - to be re-opened at a later date. SOUTH AUSTRALIA: * To open its borders to NSW, Victoria and the ACT from July 20 TASMANIA: * Border restrictions to be lifted July 24 Advertisement The curve in Victoria has skyrocketed over the past couple of weeks as coronavirus infections continue to grow from within the suburbs of Melbourne Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made the long-awaited announcement on Tuesday. CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement However, anyone entering the state will be asked to declare they have not been in Victoria in the past two weeks. There will be fines of $4,000 for anyone who is caught lying on the online form. Authorities in Victoria have been scrambling since the state saw a spike in cases over the past week. Case numbers surged by 75 on Sunday, 71 on Monday and 64 on Tuesday - an extra 210 cases in just three days - in the biggest jump in cases since the state was lockdown in March. Experts said the spike should be immediately stamped out with politicians on guard to reimpose strict lockdown conditions in the worst suburbs if cases are not immediately controlled. Most of the new spike in infections came from community-based transmissions rather than from overseas travellers. Six local government areas in Melbourne have been identified as coronavirus hotspots, with authorities conducting mass testing on around 10,000 residents daily. The areas include Hume and Brimbank, in Melbourne's north and west, Casey and Cardinia in the city's southeast and Moreland and Darebin in the north. Premier Daniel Andrews said authorities are waiting on the full results of a three-day coronavirus testing blitz in 10 suburban hotspots to come through before deciding on any further measures to contain the virus. Victoria has been carrying out a testing blitz in ten suburbs across Melbourne (pictured, the ten 'hotspot' suburbs) Despite the rise in COVID-19 cases, Victoria will also ease restrictions from July 12. Indoor and outdoor venue limits, including restaurants, cafes and pubs, will be eased to allow up to 50 people. Limits at auction houses, community halls, libraries, museums and places of worship will also be relaxed to allow 50 people. The tourism industry in South Australia and Tasmania will be in for a boost at borders reopen. South Australia will open its borders to NSW, Victoria and the ACT from July 20. Border restrictions will also be lifted in Tasmania on July 24. Nationwide, there has been 7,767 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 104 deaths. Of the total, 7,008 have recovered. A top Sydney neurosurgeon's wife who claims physical and financial spousal abuse was paid $24,000 a month by her husband, a court has heard. Emma Steel accuses her husband Dr Timothy Steel of kicking, punching and slapping her after he came home heavily intoxicated early one morning last year. The former model alleges her husband had been with a woman with whom he was having an affair that evening and was 'on cocaine all night'. The 41-year-old also claims she was the victim of ongoing financial abuse. Dr Steel is facing charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and damaging property in Downing Centre Local Court. Experienced St Vincent's Hospital spinal and neurosurgeon Dr Timothy Steel pictured outside court on Tuesday. He allegedly kicked, punched and slapped his wife Emma Steel after he came home heavily intoxicated on December 14 last year Dr Tim Steel's wife Emma also claims she was the victim of ongoing financial abuse. She is pictured centre alongside Roxy Jacenko (left) and another friend (right) at a social event The 56-year-old surgeon denies attacking his wife of 11 years or submitting her to financial abuse. Mrs Steel told the court on Tuesday her husband gave her $10,000 a month for personal expenses and up to $14,000 to run their household. The second sum covered a nanny's wages but did not go towards bills such as rates or utilities. The court heard in total Mrs Steel received $175,902 in regular payment over seven months last year as well as an extra $30,902 for household expenses. Dr Steel's solicitor Paul McGirr said it was 'farcical' under those circumstances for Mrs Steel to claim financial abuse. 'I was living within our means of a four to six million annual salary,' she said. 'I was spending five per cent of our annual income.' Pictured: Dr Steel, a senior neurosurgeon and spine surgeon at St Vincent's Hospital Video footage of Mrs Steel in a police interview following the alleged domestic violence has been played to the court. Mrs Steel can be seen walking through the couple's Bellevue Hill home describing the assault she says occurred on December 14 after Dr Steel returned home between 4.30am and 6am. The couple had been due to dine that day at a well-known Rose Bay restaurant. 'I said to him, "Tim we're not going to be able to go to lunch with our neighbours at Catalina,"' Mrs Steel said. 'I was trying to talk to him and getting no response.' Dr Steel then allegedly attacked his wife, assaulting her four times, pinning her down and ripping her hair extensions out. After wrestling her mobile phone out of her grip he ran outside and jumped into the backyard pool, submerging the device. 'I'm petrified because of the ongoing abuse,' Mrs Steel told police. 'There's also been financial abuse... If I don't sign a post-nup our marriage is over.' Mr McGirr said Mrs Steel had lashed out at her husband after he spent the night in a hotel room with his receptionist. 'You woke him up then clawed him with your nails,' he said. But Ms Steel said the red scratch marks across Steel's body shown in photographs were inflicted in her self-defence. On the morning of the alleged assault, Dr Steel - a senior neurosurgeon and spine surgeon at St Vincent's Hospital - had spent the night in a hotel room with two women - his receptionist and personal assistant. Dr Steel outside court on Tuesday. He allegedly pinned his wife down and ripped her hair extensions out Dr Steel is seen leaving Downing Centre District Court during a break in proceedings on Tuesday 'He should have stayed in the hotel. I didn't want the kids to see him like that,' Mrs Steel said. Mrs Steel had known her husband's whereabouts by looking up his location using the family iPad synced to his mobile phone. 'I wasn't angry. I knew there was an affair going on. I had already caught them out,' she said. Mrs Steel said her husband had controlled her life and the couple's finances. 'Throughout my marriage I have been very controlled, not allowed to go out when I would like to go out,' she said. 'I'm not allowed to live my life under my rules. 'It's always been under Tim's rules.' Mr McGirr asked Mrs Steel if Dr Steel had paid her $175,902 between June 1 and December 31 last year. 'I don't know the exact amounts,' she said. 'My husband Dr Steel earns between four to six million each year.' Mr McGirr then asked if Mrs Steel had received an additional $30,902 over the same period. 'I wouldn't know any amounts,' she said. Dr Steel is one of Australia's leading neurosurgeons. His wife alleges he would reduce his payments to her if he was unhappy with her Mrs Steel insisted she had been the victim of financial abuse and that her husband reduced the payments if he was unhappy with her. 'I would send him a text message begging him to put the regular amount which was ($2,500) a week,' she said. 'The payments were going in regularly. He was just changing the payments. 'He would just decrease them if I didn't do what he said. 'I was bribed, Mr McGirr. I was bribed. I was a puppet.' Emma Steel (centre) pictured at a Christmas lunch at the Sydney Childrens Hospital Silver Committee in 2014 Mr McGirr questioned why Mrs Steele could not survive off an allowance of $24,000 a month from her husband. Mrs Steel said she would have to ask for further funds from her husband such as $2,500 to buy Christmas presents. 'A lot of the time he would say that's your budget and you have to live within your means,' she said. 'He would use the term advance - he would "advance" me.' Mr McGirr asked Mrs Steel if her husband had deposited $1million into her superannuation account in 2017. 'I haven't checked my super account,' she said. 'I don't know what's in my super account. I could log in and have a look. I don't know.' Dr Steel allegedly launched an attack on his wife, (pictured), assaulting her four times as he wrestled her mobile phone out of her grip Asked what evidence she had of her husband having an affair she said he had cancelled a date night to attend a Christmas party with his secretary. She had never seen them together 'kissing or being intimate'. 'I've seen text messages between the two of them and I'd heard conversations between them,' she said. Mrs Steel denied having told her husband she had hired a private investigator to follow him. On that night of the alleged assault Mrs Steel said in a Triple Zero call her husband had been 'on cocaine all night'. Under cross-examination she said she had never actually seen Dr Steel use the drug. The hearing continues. Republican Dan Crenshaw has suggested that Marxists are to blame for protests into Confederate statues across the country that have seen many pulled from their plinths. Crenshaw made the comments during a Fox News interview on Monday after writing a column in the National Review with the headline 'We Can't Let the Outrage Mob Win'. In the article he suggested that far-left 'radicals' coupled with a 'cancel culture and mob mentality' were looking to carry out a 'cultural revolution, a purge of traditional American narratives and icons,' which includes the removal of Confederate statues. Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw has suggested that Marxists are to blame for protests over Confederate statues across the country It was an argument he continued to pursue during Monday's televised interview. 'There's one party that will teach your kids to love America and there's one party that won't stand up for it,' the Texas Republican said. He was then asked what he found to be so objectionable about the attack on the historic monuments. 'We always knew that this would never stop with what is an honest and frankly a good debate to have about Confederate statues,' Crenshaw began. 'I think we should have that debate, but now it's gone to George Washington, now it's gone to former President Ulysses S. Grant, now it's gone to Abraham Lincoln, it's burning the flag It's getting rid of the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem,' Crenshaw said. During the interview to Fox & Friends, Crenshaw, right, suggested far-left radicals wanted to erase the country of its history and that part of the plan was to remove historic statues 'They [the mob] want to erase the very things that unite us as Americans and the very things that stand for equality and justice and freedom and this was always part of the plan, it has been for decades actually and it started well back into when Marxism made its way into the United States in the 60s,' he continued. 'And they're always looking to take advantage of some kind of situation, to make people think that their country is evil so that they can justify their own Marxist revolution. That is what's happening here and you can't be blind to that,' Crenshaw said. Historic monuments and statues have become a focus of anger and acts of vandalism during Black Lives Matter protests that have occurred in the wake of Minneapolis resident George Floyd's death at the end of May. Historic monuments and statues have become a focus of anger and acts of vandalism during Black Lives Matter protests that have occurred in the wake of Minneapolis resident George Floyd's death at the end of May. The statue of former US President George Washington is covered in red paint after being vandalized in Washington Square Park in New York, Monday 'The whole political correctness debate was always just some kind of nice-feeling platform from which to launch this thing, which is essentially a purge of American ideals and the things that bring us together as Americans,' Crenshaw declared as the interview on Fox & Friends rolled on. 'We can't give into it.' He said that 'it's not just protecting statues,' but also about protecting American ideals. 'I hope our local officials start to actually do that and get police out there and say, "You're not going to do this anymore." It's also up to each one of us.' Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost his eye in combat, was elected in 2018 and was one of the good stories of the night for Republicans, who lost control of the House in the midterm elections. Protesters attempted to pull down the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square near the White House last week in Washington, DC. Protests continue around the country over the deaths of African Americans while in police custody Crenshaw's article and interview come just days after President Trump signed an executive order to protect American monuments, memorials and statues. The president said those who tried to bring them down would face 'long prison time' Crenshaw shared his concerns that 'the mob' [of protesters] won't stop 'until the destruction of America is complete because that is what they're after fundamentally since Marxism runs deep in their ideology.' 'Tell corporate CEOs to stop giving in, stop letting them erase everything about us,' Crenshaw urged. 'Cancel culture has no end.' 'My well-intentioned liberal friends, they always want to give an inch and then another inch and then another inch because they want to be liked and they want to be liked by the far-left Progressives,' Crenshaw explained. President Trump signed an executive order to protect American monuments, memorials and statues 'They think they can be appeased, but you can never appease the mob and this is the lesson that Americans have to learn.' 'It's telling your teachers, start teaching why America is actually good, stop teaching the counter argument to America to our kids. They're growing up hating this country.' A local council will fine shoppers and supermarkets $187.50 for dumping trolleys. The City of Marion in Adelaide's southwestern suburbs has approved a new by-law that will allow offending people and businesses to be fined by the council. Marion Mayor Kris Hanna said on Tuesday that his council was responding to years of inaction on dumped trolleys from local supermarkets. Dumped trolleys gathered in a car park in Marion. The City of Marion in Adelaide's southwestern suburbs has approved a new by-law that will allow offending people and businesses to be fined $187.50 by the council 'We're acting out of strong community concern; we know that it's contentious to potentially fine retailers as well as shoppers who irresponsibly leave trolleys around (but) this by-law won't work unless we enforce the co-operation of retailers,' Mr Hanna told The Advertiser. 'We held a trolley summit two years ago, and that was very positive, but we didn't see action from the retailers. As a result and that has led us to create this by law.' Shoppers can be ordered by council staff to return dumped trolleys to a supermarket and fined if they fail to comply under the new by-law. Council staff will also alert supermarkets to dumped trolleys, giving them 72 hours to collect their property before issuing a fine to the business. The by-law has been approved by Marion Council and has been sent to SA Parliament's Legislative Review Committee for approval. Marion Mayor Kris Hanna (pictured) is pushing for a by-law that would allow the council to fine shoppers and supermarkets that dump shopping trolleys Once the by-law is approved, Mr Hanna said the council will have a $5,000 public education campaign to warn people about the new by-law. 'If this gets through, we will make it very clear that there are serious consequences if people are irresponsible with trolleys and that gives people an opportunity to do the right thing,' Mr Hanna said. The City of Marion includes 24 suburbs from six wards - Mullawirra, Southern Hills, Warracowie, Warriparinga, Woodlands and Coastal. Only shoppers and supermarkets within these wards would be affected should the by-law be approved by the Legislative Review Committee. Marion City Council previously called on locals for feedback on the proposed by-law in October last year. 'Marion Council is seeking to introduce new laws to clear our streets of dumped shopping trolleys, which are a hazard and an eyesore,' the council wrote on Facebook at the time. One local suggested supermarkets simply use coin-operated trolleys like Aldi to reduce the amount of abandoned trolleys. A desperate search is underway for a 20-year-old tourist who was swept off rocks at a popular selfie hotspot. The Singaporean man was standing on rocks at Injidup Nature Spa in Yallingup, 256km south of Perth, when a large wave swept him into the water on Monday afternoon. He had been exploring the popular selfie spot with five friends when the large swell knocked him off the rocks about 5.10pm. The Singaporean man was standing on rocks at Injidup Nature Spa (pictured) in Yallingup, 256km south of Pert He had been exploring the popular selfie spot with five friends when the large swell knocked him off the rocks about 5.10pm Emergency crews searched overnight but swells of up to 8 metres stopped the helicopter and marine search. The search resumed at first light on Tuesday with police looking at Wyadup Bay and Injidup Beach, but nothing has been found. Dunsborough police Sgt Jane Gillham said both police and the SES are searching on foot, Perth Now reported. The RAC Rescue Helicopter is also conducting a search of the area. WA Police say conditions in the water are hazardous and the safety of all people searching for the man is the main priority. Dunsborough Police, Police Air Wing, Naturaliste Volunteer Marine Rescue and Smiths Beach Surf Club are all involved in the rescue effort. WA Police are yet to release the man's identity as they are trying to reach his family, who do not live in Australia. I gradually discerned that God was calling me back to the United States and calling me to enter the seminary and to pursue the priesthood, said Gorman, 42. I worked at HOPE for three years and it was microfinance work, which was giving very small loans to the poor, largely to farmers and small shop owners to help them lift themselves up out of poverty. It was very meaningful work, very profound work, and it was in that context that I was able to begin the discernment. Queensland will open its borders to all tourists except Victorians from July 10. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said anyone entering the state will be asked to declare they have not been in Victoria in the past two weeks. There will be fines of $4,000 for anyone who is caught lying on the online form. Queensland will stop Victorians entering the state while letting all other Australians in from July 10. Pictured: The border near the Gold Coast Even Queenslanders returning home will be forced to quarantine at their own expense if they return from Victoria after 12pm on Friday. Victoria is battling a second wave of the virus with 139 new cases in the past two days. 'Anyone who has travelled from Victoria, including Queenslanders, will be prevented from entering or will have to quarantine at a hotel at their own expense for two weeks,' Ms Palaszczuk said. 'We just can't risk removing border restrictions for people coming from areas of Victoria right now.' It means that Australians can finally visit Queensland tourist hotspots including Cairns and the Gold coast, giving hope to ailing tourism businesses. The Australian Federation of Travel Agents welcomed the decision. CEO Darren Rudd told Daily Mail Australia: 'This is a step in the right direction which strikes the right balance between the necessary caution and getting the economy restarted.' The Queensland government also announced that it is moving to stage three of coronavirus restrictions from Friday as it relaxes rules. The curve in Victoria has skyrocketed over the past couple of weeks as coronavirus infections continue to grow from within the suburbs of Melbourne Australians will be able to take holidays in Noosa (pictured) after 10 July Motorists are stopped at a checkpoint on the Gold Coast Highway at Coolangatta on the Queensland/NSW border border in March The cap on numbers in venues is removed and replaced with social distancing and casinos have been allowed to open. Victoria's figure of 64 new cases on Tuesday is down from the 75 reported on Monday but is the state's sixth-worst figure since the pandemic began. On Monday night Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke to Premier Daniel Andrews and urged him to shut down 'hotspot' suburbs before the outbreak gets worse. The state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the government was considering 'anything required' to stop the spread. In April Tasmania successfully locked down sections of its northwest to halt an outbreak, providing a blueprint for local shut downs. Queensland is set to benefit most as state borders reopen and Qantas offers cheap flights, experts say. The Sunshine State is reopening on July 10 to interstate visitors, provided they aren't from Victoria - the scene of new coronavirus outbreaks. Westpac senior economist Elliot Clarke said Queensland, a tourism dependent state, would reap the most economic benefits from accepting visitors. Scroll down for video Queensland is set to benefit most as state borders reopen and Qantas offers cheap flights, experts say. The Sunshine State is reopening on July 10 to interstate visitors, provided they aren't from Victoria. Pictured are women at Surfers Paradise 'Australia's state economies should be able to open safely and sustainably in coming months,' he said. 'With international borders still closed, Australian residents will be encouraged to see more of our own nation, benefiting states such as Queensland first and foremost as well as regional areas around our major cities.' Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said the Gold Coast along with Cairns and the Whitsundays in the state's tropical north had the most to gain from the border reopening. 'This is not just about millions and billions of dollars, this is about the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in our industry in Queensland alone,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'This is about giving them a future and giving all those small businesses some hope.' Qantas budget carrier Jetstar is already offering cheap return flights from Sydney to Brisbane, typically priced at $71. Some Jetstar fares are as low as $19. Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said the Gold Coast, Cairns (pictured) and the Whitsundays had the most to gain from the border reopening 'Hopefully, this will also stimulate, encourage the airlines to put on additional flights,' Mr Gschwind said. Queensland's reopening rules From July 10, Queensland is admitting visitors from New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory They must sign a declaration at the border swearing they have not been in Victoria during the past 14 days Those who have must stay in hotel quarantine From July 3 until July 10, Queensland's borders will remain closed to anyone who has been in Victoria during the past two weeks, even if they are a Queensland resident Advertisement 'We can get back to some kind of - inverted comma - normality which we so desperately want.' Mr Gschwind said grey nomads lining up at the New South Wales-Queensland border were also keen to experience the Sunshine State, particularly in outback areas out west. 'As soon as the borders reopen on the tenth of July, I have a very strong feeling that there will be a stream of camper vans and motor homes trekking north towards to the great outback of Queensland - Longreach and Winton and those destinations,' he said. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Tuesday her state would reopen its borders on July 10, ending three months of closures. A day earlier, she declined to confirm the reopening date, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison instead hinting an announcement about this milestone would be forthcoming from Queensland's Labor leader. Anyone entering her state will asked to declare they haven't been to Victoria during the past two weeks, with fines of $4,000 applying for those caught lying on their online form. Those who have been in Victoria will be required to remain in hotel quarantine for 14 days. Queensland employers are hiring again, even if hours are reduced, with job numbers increasing by 0.3 per cent in the week to June 13, Australian Bureau of Statistics payroll data showed. This occurred as job numbers fell by 0.3 per cent in New South Wales and by 0.2 per cent in Victoria. Westpac senior economist Elliot Clarke said Queensland, a tourism dependent state, would reap the most economic benefits from accepting visitors. Pictured is Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays in the state's north Seafolly has launched a 70 per cent off sale on a range of clothing after the swimwear brand announced it was going into administration and cutting 120 staff. The huge discount has been offered on over 80 items including women's swimwear, skirts, jumpsuits, handbags and bathing suits for kids. The promotion is marked as the 'final sale' with no returns or exchanges offered on the range of bargains. Swimwear brand Seafolly has launched a 70 per cent off sale after it announced the company announced it entering voluntary administration and cutting over 120 staff on Monday The promotion is marked as the 'final sale' with no returns or exchanges offered on the range of bargains Items such as a stylish $200 one piece bathing suit are now slashed to $59.99 after the discount. While the Lurex yarn dye stripe skirt and the Tilda Tie Jumpsuit has had more than $100 slashed off the price for a $45 bargain. Cheaper items such as a floral patterned hat is selling for only $12 while a beaded crochet bag will only cost you $21. On Monday, Seafolly announced it was the latest fashion brand to be placed into voluntary administration due to the global pandemic. Scott Langdon and Rahul Goyal from KordaMentha Restructuring were appointed as administrators of the fashion brand on Monday. 'Seafolly made the appointment because of the crippling financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,' a statement from KordamMentha said. Items such as a stylish $200 one piece bathing suit are now slashed to $59.99 after the discount while the the Tilda Tie Jumpsuit has been discounted to $45 Cheaper items such as a floral patterned hat is selling for only $12 while a beaded crochet bag will only cost you $21 Mr Langdon said the company will operate as usual while the business is assessed but up to 120 staff are at risk of losing their jobs. 'All Seafolly gift cards and the popular Beach Club Rewards points will continue to be redeemable at all Seafolly stores,' Mr Langdon said. 'We encourage all loyal Seafolly customers to come to the retail stores and redeem their Beach Club Rewards, plus earn more points.' Iconic swimwear brand Seafolly has become the latest fashion brand to go into voluntary administration on Monday, saying the coronavirus pandemic is to blame KordaMentha has plans to sell the business immediately and is urging anyone interested to contact them. 'Given the quality of the brand and its reputation, there will inevitably be a high level of interest in purchasing the business', Mr Langdon said. The women's beachwear fashion brand has been operating since 1975 and has 44 stores across the country with 120 staff. Seafolly also has 12 stores overseas and was once believed to be the most well-known swimwear brand in Australia. Administrators cited the 'crippling financial impact of COVID-19 pandemic' as the reason for the move. Pictured: Models wearing the brand's swimwear Mr Langdon said the company will operate as usual while the business is assessed but up to 120 staff are at risk of losing their jobs (pictured: Model Jessica Hart (front) in Seafolly) Last week, department store Myer cut 90 head office roles, representing around one per cent of its total workforce following the coronavirus downturn. Team members across management, business support and administration were made redundant and more than 45 employees were redeployed to new positions. The retailer was forced to close its doors and send 10,000 staff members home during the coronavirus lockdowns in late March and April. Scott Langdon and Rahul Goyal from KordaMentha Restructuring were appointed as administrators of the fashion brand on Monday Before the pandemic hit, stagnant wage growth was already weighing on the retail sector and a number of long-standing traders had already gone bust. Harris Scarfe was forced to close its doors in December 2019, after 169 years selling homewares, bedding and linen to Australians. The closure of its 66 stores before Christmas resulted in 1800 job losses nationwide. In January, Australian clothing giant Jeanswest went into voluntary administration, leaving almost 1,000 workers at 146 stores in limbo. The iconic jewellery retailer Wallace Bishop also warned auditors it may go under in 2020 due to financial strain, putting the jobs of 500 staff at 50 stores in jeopardy. A man has been charged with grievous bodily harm after a five-month-old baby was found critically injured in Queensland. Neighbours claimed to hear screaming coming from a house in Bundamba, south-west of Brisbane, and rushed in to help the little boy. A 23-year-old from Lockrose, west of Brisbane, will face Ipswich Magistrates Court on Wednesday after the child was discovered on June 23. The baby boy was found with multiple critical injuries in a home on Lindsay Street and was taken to Queensland Childrens Hospital, police said. The infant remains in intensive care in a critical condition in the hospital. A five-month old child was found with critical injuries on Lindsay Street in Bundamba (pictured) on June 23 A neighbour told 7News they heard the baby screaming and rushed over to perform first aid before paramedics arrived at the scene. The man arrested is known to the family of the infant, police said. Initial reports suggested the baby had endured a medical episode before emergency services arrived at the scene. Queensland Police are continuing their investigations into the incident. Sydney motorists are about to be slugged with more road tolls when a new section of WestConnex opens this weekend. The charges are expected to kick into gear in the early hours of Sunday morning when the M8 is finally unveiled after four years of construction. The brand new, twin-tunnel stretch of road from Kingsgrove and St Peters runs parallel with the existing M5 - which is also getting hit with a toll. While it is likely to make traffic getting away from the city much smoother, drivers will now be hit previously non-existent tolls. New South Premier Gladys Berejiklian (centre), Minister for WestConnex Stuart Ayres (right) and Member for Oatley Mark Coure (left) speak to the media at the WestConnex New M5 St Peters interchange in 2018 Sydney motorists are about to be slugged with more road tolls, when a new section of WestConnex opens this weekend (pictured, the M4 extension) Although the M5 has been free since it opened in 2001, harbour city drivers will now be forced to pay. The NSW government handed the operations and maintenance of the road over to WestConnex incorporated on May 1, 2020, meaning it can now bring in charges. On both motorways, cars will be charged $6.95 for a one-way trip and heavy vehicles will have to fork out $20.86. That means truck drivers who make a return trip on the M5 east will be charged $41.72. If the driver also continues onto the M5 southwest corridor, they will have to shell out another $29.06 at another toll point, bringing the total cost of the journey to $70.78. Jason Clenton, who owns a truck company near Campbelltown, told 7NEWS: 'It is unfair, completely unfair.' 'It is a cost we will need to pass on to our customers,' he said. But NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said tolls are necessary. The model pictured shows the new WestConnex M5 junction at the St Peters interchange (pictured) A bridge on the new WestConnex M5 is seen at St Peters (picturted). The stretch of road has taken four years to complete 'Tolling enables this infrastructure to be built generations ahead of time,' he said. The entire 33-kilometre WestConnex project has been riddled with controversy since it was announced in 2012. As well as outcry from residents over forced home acquisitions, the budget of the development has blown out from $10billion when the project was first announced to $18.6billion. NSW opposition roads spokesman John Graham took aim at the the decision to introduce more tolls during the coronavirus pandemic. 'The New South Wales government should be sitting down and working co-operatively with toll road operators to stop further toll increases while Australia is in a recession,' Mr Graham said. 'Tradies and truckies will be some of the hardest hit by these increases, with larger average increases that will make it harder to do business.' When the 2020-21 financial new year gets underway on Wednesday, road tolls are also set to increase on Sydney's M2, Cross City Tunnel and Eastern Distributor. Although the M5 (pictured) has been cost free since it opened in 2001, harbour city drivers will now be forced to pay Former Marine pilot Amy McGrath overcame a bumpier-than-expected Kentucky primary to fend off progressive candidate Charles Booker for the right to take on Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this fall. Booker had the support of big-name liberals Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders. He harnessed the anger over the killings of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee into a surge of energy for his candidacy. Voting ended June 23, but it took a week until McGrath could be declared the winner due to the races tight margins and a deluge of mail-in ballots. It was a narrow victory for McGrath. With 89% of precincts reporting Tuesday afternoon, she had a nearly 9,500-vote advantage over Booker. Former Marine pilot Amy McGrath overcame a bumpier-than-expected Kentucky primary to fend off progressive candidate Charles Booker Charles Booker was backed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders Kentucky switched to widespread absentee voting amid the coronavirus pandemic, and election officials needed days to count ballots. McConnell, a key ally to President Donald Trump, already breezed to victory in the GOP primary in his bid for a seventh term. McGrath and McConnell are expected to have a multi-million dollar bruising of a fight. McGrath had raised over $40 million by the start of June. McConnell is a top Republican fundraiser. Both sides will likely bring in the party's big guns to campaign for them in what promises to be a bitter fight. Since last summer, McConnell and McGrath looked past their primaries to skirmish with each other. McGrath was backed by the Democratic establishment looking for a challenger to keep McConnell tied down in Kentucky as the GOP tries to hold its Senate majority. She raised prodigious amounts of campaign cash that put her on equal footing with the always-well-funded McConnell. Despite her advantages, McGrath sweated out her primary victory against the hard-charging Booker. Bookers long-shot Senate bid surged amid the national eruption of protests against police brutality. He joined demonstrations in his hometown of Louisville to demand justice for Taylor, who was fatally shot by Louisville police in her own home. McAtee was shot at his barbecue stand in Louisville as police and National Guard officials confronted curfew violators. Booker gained the backing of leading national progressives as he supported a universal basic income and Medicare for All - ideas that McGrath resisted. McGrath, who was supported by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, charted a more moderate course inside Democratic politics. She supports adding a public health insurance option as part of the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and supports expanded access to Medicare for people 55 and older. She portrays McConnell as an overly partisan, Washington insider who exemplifies whats wrong with national politics. She accuses McConnell of undermining labor unions, awarding tax cuts for the wealthy and cozying up to pharmaceutical companies while people struggle to afford prescription drugs. McGrath will face Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in November in what promises to be a bitter fight with millions of dollars spent McConnell accuses her of being too liberal for Kentucky on issues ranging from abortion to border security. He promotes his work with President Donald Trump - who remains popular in Kentucky - to appoint conservatives to fill federal court seats. McConnell also plays up his Senate leadership role and his ability to steer federal money back to the Bluegrass State. Trump could turn into a focal point in the Senate race. He won the state by about 30 points in the 2016 election. McConnell led the effort to defend the president after House Democrats impeached him. McGrath has said she would have voted to convict Trump on both impeachment counts. She accused of the GOP-led Senate of lacking 'the guts' to put a check on 'out-of-control presidential power.' Advertisement Macy's on Monday kicked off the first of a week of fireworks displays to celebrate the Fourth of July with brief shows over the East River and off Coney Island in Brooklyn. New Yorkers watched in awe as the fireworks lit up the skies during the annual event, the specifics of which were only announced at the last minute to prevent crowds from gathering during the pandemic. An announcement about Monday's shows came via Twitter from NYC's official emergency notification system around an hour before they started. 'In celebration of the 4th of July, a 5-minute Macy's fireworks display will occur tonight btwn 9 10 PM & may be seen or heard in parts of LIC, Roosevelt Island, & along the East River in MN [Manhattan],' one tweet said. 'Spectators are encouraged to continue following safety& social distancing measures.' A second tweet announced the Coney Island display which 'may be seen or heard in parks of southern Brooklyn and Staten Island. Scroll down for video Macy's on Monday launched the first of a week of fireworks displays to celebrate the Fourth of July The specifics of the brief pyrotechnics displays were not announced until the last minute to prevent people gathering An announcement about Monday's shows came via Twitter from NYC's official emergency notification system around an hour before they started 'In celebration of the 4th of July, a 5-minute Macy's fireworks display will occur tonight btwn 9 10 PM & may be seen or heard in parts of LIC, Roosevelt Island, & along the East River in MN [Manhattan],' one tweet said Spectators are pictured snapping pictures of the colorful display over Manhattan The five minute shows will be repeated until the July 4th holiday from locations to be disclosed just before they start Macy's and Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said the unusual celebration was a tribute to the city, which has endured so much during the coronavirus pandemic Fireworks are seen exploding over the East River with the Empire State building and the Manhattan skyline in the background A shower of blue light matched the color of the Empire State building in this photo of the first of the Macy's fireworks displays An array of colors was visible between the Empire State and Chrysler buildings A red fireworks display is pictured with New York's bridges in the background The strategy, city officials say, will help to stop the coronavirus from spreading after New York made progress battling the outbreak. The five minute shows will be repeated until the July 4th holiday from locations to be disclosed just before they start. Macy's and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said the unusual celebration was a tribute to the city, which has endured so much during the coronavirus pandemic. 'In reimagining this year's show, the idea of bringing elements to many parts of our hometown resonated with our team and partners in the City of New York,' said Susan Tercero, executive producer of Macy's 4th of July Fireworks show. De Blasio added: 'These past few months have been some of the most difficult in our city's history, and New Yorkers are looking for a break. 'This 4th of July Celebration with Macy's will give all New Yorkers a safe and exciting way to enjoy the holiday together, even when we are apart.' A second show happened took place off Coney Island in Brookyn. Spectators are seen on the boardwalk on Monday night Couples are pictured enjoying the show off Coney Island NYPD cops are pictured taking in the show from Coney Island on Monday night The displays, which are deployed at higher elevations so they can be visible from anywhere in the city, come after de Blasio faced strong criticism for failing to get illegal firework displays under control this year. A task force has since been created to help clamp down on a surge in illegal fireworks use. De Blasio said that the team - made up of New York Police Department officers, fire department investigators and sheriff's deputies - will use undercover buys and other methods to try to cut off the supply chain of fireworks coming from out of state. Social media videos have shown a growing number of people setting off fireworks on city streets in recent weeks. There has also been a spike in noise complaints of fireworks exploding throughout the night. 'We're cracking down on this activity at the source to ensure the safety of all New Yorkers and the ability of our neighbors to get some sleep,' de Blasio said in a statement. A view of the East River fireworks is pictured looking towards Manhattan from the west of the city A war veteran battling a brain tumour was reduced to tears when 22 tradies came together to build him a new $40,000 driveway. Gold Coast man Ash Hurley, 40, who served in the Australian Army as a gunner, was forced to stop working in 2019 after being diagnosed with a potentially deadly tumour. Mr Hurley was planning to upgrade his driveway to make it easier for his two sons Byron, 3, and Hunter, 7, but after the diagnosis he had to put it on hold. Army veteran Ash Hurley (pictured) was reduced to tears when more than 20 tradies volunteered their time and expertise to build him a new $40,000 driveway after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour After catching wind of the abandoned plan Bucky Selkirk, who runs a Facebook group for tradies, told the veteran he'd hatched a plan to help. 'Given Ash has done a lot for our country by serving in the army, there were plenty of people out there happy to donate their time,' Mr Selkirk told the Gold Coast Bulletin. Mr Selkirk put the word out and more than 20 tradies volunteered including one who drove his concrete pump from the Sunshine Coast. 'I just wanted to do stuff to try to lift his spirits a little bit,' Mr Selkirk told Seven News. As the team put the finishing touches on the new driveway, Mr Hurley was overcome with emotion. 'Ive been overwhelmed, for these guys who dont know me to give up their time and money is incredible,' he said. Doctors told Mr Hurley to prepare for the worst when he went in for his first round of surgery. 'The doctors didnt think I was going to make it through the operation,' he said. He has put on 60kg since undergoing treatment for his tumour, but doctors recently told him they were finally starting to 'get on top of it'. The former soldier completed tours of service in East Timor and Malaysia before starting his own pool building business. Mr Hurley fought back tears as he thanked the tradies who volunteered their time for him and his sons. This is the moment an accused Australian pervert is marched from his home after a tip off from US authorities led police to an alleged den of child abuse material and drugs. Shane William Boylan, 48, will face a Sydney court on Wednesday charged with a string of offences including allegedly possessing child exploitation material and supplying party drugs. Boylan was arrested by the AFP and NSW Police about a week ago after detectives were briefed about an Australian social media account allegedly posting child abuse material. The alleged pervert's online slip-up led police to raid Boylan's blond-brick home in Caringbah, in the city's south - where officers claim to have found more than they bargained for. Shane William Boylan (on right, in hoodie and shorts) is walked from his home in Caringbah, in Sydney's south, to a waiting police car Federal and NSW Police swooped on his blond brick apartment after a tip off from US authorities As they seized Boylan's electronic devices, officers also allegedly found 15 litres of the party drug precursor, GBL; 100grams of ecstasy (MDMA), small quantities of ice and cannabis, a Taser and a bulletproof vest. Following the search, a female police officer led Boylan from his home to a waiting police car. Shocked neighbours watched on as he clambered into the back of police car and officers heaped his possessions out the front. Boylan's arrest comes amid an increasing trend of US authorities alerting Australian agencies to child abuse posts on social media. In this case the arrest came about after the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children provided information to the Federal Police. A similar tip off from that organisation has led to a network of nine alleged Australian predators across three states being smashed by police over the past five months. Some of those arrested have been hit with rape and bestiality charges. Separately, nine men have been arrested and one of Australia's largest child sex rings smashed as a result of another tip off from the same US organisation Two of the men were arrested at homes near Kendall, where Australia's most famous missing child, William Tyrrell, went missing in September 2014. OPERATION SALAMIS: CHARGES AGAINST SHANE BOYLAN Using a carriage service to access child abuse material (one charge) Possessing child abuse material obtained or accessed through a carriage service (two charges) Supply prohibited drug greater or equal large commercial quantity (one charge) Supply prohibited drug greater or equal to commercial quantity (one charge) - Possess or use a prohibited weapon without permit (two charges) Advertisement A TV news library worker from the Central Coast of New South Wales was also among those arrested. Boylan's arrest isn't believed to be linked to such an abuse network. But a senior Federal officer said child abuse-related investigations increasingly have international dimensions. 'When a file is shared online it crosses national and international borders in the click of a button,' Detective Sergeant Joel Wheeler said. 'That click amplifies the horrific and lifelong impacts of the abuse suffered by victims. 'By working closely with our law enforcement counterparts across the world, we can tighten the net around those who continue to target and abuse the most vulnerable in our community our children.' Boylan was charged with possessing or controlling child abuse material, using a carriage service to transmit it, supplying commercial quantities of drugs and weapons charges. Those charges carry a maximum penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment. He has been refused bail and will appear in front of a Sutherland Local Court magistrate today. New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has challenged opposition leader Todd Muller to 'stand up for this country' and address Jian Yang's membership of the National partyroom. The secretive Dr Yang has been an MP since 2011 without holding ministerial office, and has not given an English-language interview in this term of parliament. In 2017, Dr Yang was outed as a former member of Chinese military intelligence agencies and the Communist Party of China, the country's autocratic governing party, prior to his arrival in New Zealand in the 1990s. Then, Dr Yang admitted he taught Chinese spies, while denying he had ever acted as one. New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters (pictured) has challenged opposition leader Todd Muller to 'stand up for this country' and address Jian Yang's membership of the National partyroom Last year, Stuff revealed Dr Yang organised a meeting with the head of China's security forces for then-opposition leader Simon Bridges. And this week, TV1 returned the political spotlight on Dr Yang, detailing two years of unsuccessful interview attempts to question the MP. Hong Kong-based Financial Times Asia editor Jamil Anderlini, who broke the story of Dr Yang's previous allegiances in 2017, told TV1 Dr Yang's position in parliament made 'New Zealand a laughing stock globally and in China'. 'How can you get away with this stuff? It's unbelievable,' he said. 'When it comes to our closest allies in the Five Eyes (intelligence-sharing agreement between USA, Canada, UK, Australia and NZ), it's a source of bewilderment' Dr Yang has been supported by ex-PMs John Key and Bill English, ex-opposition leader Mr Bridges, and now Mr Muller, who promoted him up the party rankings in his new opposition line-up. On Tuesday, Mr Peters, also New Zealand's foreign minister, exploded after being asked whether Dr Yang was suitable for parliament and should give answer questions of his past allegiances. In 2017, Dr Yang (pictured) was outed as a former member of Chinese military intelligence agencies and the Communist Party of China, the country's autocratic governing party, prior to his arrival in New Zealand in the 1990s 'I'm astonished that four National party leaders refuse to address this issue. Just astonished,' he said. 'They could start standing up for this country, they could start behaving in a way that's responsible, instead of carrying on the way they are. 'It is just incredible in the extreme that that could be happening in our country.' Mr Muller said Dr Yang 'absolutely has my confidence' and rejected Mr Anderlini's criticism. Mr Muller (pictured) said Dr Yang 'absolutely has my confidence' and rejected Mr Anderlini's criticism 'He's a good list MP and represents Auckland and the Chinese community, both in Auckland and New Zealanders, very, very well,' he said. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is steering clear of the controversy, saying 'issues of membership of other political parties (are) ultimately for the leader of those parties'. Intelligence Minister Andrew Little said he wasn't able to discuss whether fellow Five Eyes members had raised Dr Yang with NZ, but did say he should be accountable to Kiwis and media. 'MPs are public officials. They are accountable to the public and should be giving interviews.' Dr Yiang continued his long-term trend of ducking questions on Tuesday, dashing past journalists on his way into National's weekly caucus meeting. The virtual programming and curbside pickup will also continue for now, even after the building opens. The library encourages people to continue utilizing those virtual services to avoid the spread of the virus, but this phase is meant to allow those who want to come in person to do so, Vering said. China has boasted of holding 'a sword over lawbreakers' heads' after Beijing passed a new security law giving it unprecedented jurisdiction over Hong Kong. President Xi Jinping signed the law into effect Tuesday after it was unanimously passed by Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament, side-stepping a vote in Hong Kong. The law bans acts of secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with a maximum penalty of life in jail for some crimes. It also allows China's feared security services to openly set up shop in the region. Pro-democracy campaigners have warned that the law will be 'the end of Hong Kong as we know it', but China insists it is necessary to restore order after violent protests. Beijing has boasted of having 'a sword over lawreakers' heads' after its parliament passed a new security bill which gives it unprecedented jurisdiction in Hong Kong (pictured, police watch over a pro-democracy protesters in a mall in the city today) Activists say the bill will be 'the end of Hong Kong as we know it' while China insists it is necessary to restore order after months of violent clashes in the city (pictured, police search pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong today) Hong Kong independence protesters gathered in a mall in the city today to observe a minute of silence after the security bill was passed 'It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before,' said activist figurehead Joshua Wong, as he quit the pro-democracy Demosisto party he founded during the 2014 umbrella protest amid fears of reprisals. 'With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a secret police state. Hong Kong protesters now face high possibilities of being extradited to China's courts for trials and life sentences,' he added. But Beijing and Hong Kong's government have insisted that the laws will only target a minority of people and will restore business confidence after a year of pro-democracy protests rocked the city. 'For the small minority who endanger national security, this law will be a sword hanging over their heads,' said China's main body for Hong Kong affairs. But 'for the vast majority of Hong Kong residents and foreigners in Hong Kong, this law is a guardian spirit that protects their freedoms,' the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said. The statement said that the central and city governments would 'jointly' work together to make sure the law is implemented, and 'usher in a turning point, for chaos to turn into governance.' Amid the tension, Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam joined former chief executives in attending a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate Establishment Day. This year, July 1 marks the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong being handed over to China Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam (central) stands with former chief executives as they attend a flag-raising ceremony to mark China's National Day celebrations early The Chinese and Hong Kong flags are unfurled during a flag-raising ceremony at the Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong Helicopters fly the Hong Kong and China flags over Victoria Harbour as Hong Kong marks the 23rd anniversary of its handover to China Pro-democracy groups disband amid fears of a backlash Pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong were quickly dismantled on Tuesday as news spread that Beijing had passed a new security law which extends the reach of its courts into the city-state. Demosisto, founded by prominent campaigner Joshua Wong, was the first to go - followed shortly by Hong Kong National Front. Nathan Law, who helped found Demosisto, warned of a 'bloody cultural revolution' on the horizon, but vowed to keep fighting in a personal capacity. 'Stay strong, my friends. Hong Kong people will not give up,' he said. Baggio Leung, spokesman for National Front, announced he would be leaving the group as it disbands in Hong Kong. The group said it will continue to fight for freedom, but will now operate out of its offices in Taiwan and the UK. The Taiwanese government, which is thought to be sheltering several hundred pro-democracy activists, condemned the new law on Tuesday, saying it will 'severely impact Hong Kong society's freedom, human rights and stability.' Amnesty International also condemned the move, saying it gives China the power to impose its laws on the city-state. Advertisement CY Leung, former Hong Kong chief executive, was offering a HK$1million ($130,000) reward to anyone who was willing to offer information on those breaking the new security law. He posted the reward on Facebook, along with a hotline number to call with tips. China promised the city 50 years of freedoms when it was handed over from British rule in 1997, but the UK, US, European Union and UN have all voiced fears that the new law will be used to stifle criticism of Beijing. The law was approved in Beijing in order to side-step Hong Kong's parliament, with no announcement made by the Chinese Communist Party. Instead the news filtered out via pro-Beijing politicians and local media outlets. At her weekly press conference on Tuesday morning, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam - a pro-Beijing appointee - declined to comment on what the law contained. Instead, she urged world leaders to 'respect our country's right to safeguard national security'. 'I urge the international community to respect our country's right to safeguard national security and Hong Kong people's aspirations for stability and harmony,' eh said. Speaking about the law back in May, Lam insisted there is 'no need to worry' and that 'the core values in terms of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, the various rights and freedoms enjoyed by people, will continue to be there.' Claudia Mo, an opposition lawmaker, said today: 'The fact that Hong Kong people will only come to know what's really in this new law after the fact is more than preposterous.' Hong Kong was guaranteed certain freedoms - as well as judicial and legislative autonomy - in 1997 in a deal known as 'One Country, Two Systems'. At her weekly press conference on Tuesday morning, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam (pictured) - a pro-Beijing appointee - declined to comment on what the law contained Pro-Beijing supporters wave Chinese and Hong Kong flags and drink champagne today as they celebrate a controversial new security law It formed the bedrock of the city's transformation into a world-class business hub, bolstered by a reliable judiciary and political freedoms unseen on the mainland. Critics have long accused Beijing of chipping away at that status, but they describe the security law as the most brazen move yet. A summary of the law published by the official state agency Xinhua this month said China's secret police would be able to set up shop publicly in the city for the first time. Beijing has also said it will have jurisdiction over some cases, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between Hong Kong and the mainland's party-controlled courts since the 1997 handover. Analysts said the security law radically restructures the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong. 'It's a fundamental change that dramatically undermines both the local and international community's confidence towards Hong Kong's One Country, Two Systems model and its status as a robust financial centre,' Hong Kong political analyst Dixon Sing said. Human rights groups have warned the law could target opposition politicians seen as insufficiently loyal to Beijing for arrest or disqualification. On the mainland, national security laws are routinely used to jail critics, especially for the vague offence of 'subversion'. A pro-China supporter takes a selfie at a rally in Hong Kong today as news filtered out that the new security law had been passed Hong Kong police detain a pro-democracy protester during demonstrations in May Beijing and the Hong Kong government both insist that the laws will only target a minority of people and will not harm political freedoms in the city. They also say the measure will restore business confidence after a year of historic pro-democracy protests. On Tuesday, four young democracy campaigners, including Joshua Wong, said they were stepping down from the party they founded while a small pro-independence group said it was disbanding. Millions took to the streets last year while a smaller hardcore of protesters frequently battled police in violent confrontations that saw more than 9,000 arrested. Hong Kong banned protests in recent months, citing previous unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, although local transmissions have ended. Some Western nations warned of potential repercussions for Beijing ahead of the security law's passing. However, many are wary of incurring Beijing's wrath and losing lucrative access to the mainland's huge economy. Pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong (pictured) said that 'sweeping powers and ill-defined law' would make Hong Kong into a 'secret police state' Taiwan, which has said it is willing to help Hong Kongers relocate to the island, was one of the first governments to react. 'The government condemns this move that seriously affects freedom, human rights and stable development in Hong Kong society,' the cabinet said in a statement. Washington - which has embarked on a trade war with China - has said the security law means Hong Kong no longer enjoys sufficient autonomy from the mainland to justify special status. In a largely symbolic move, the United States on Monday ended sensitive defence exports to Hong Kong over the law. 'The United States is forced to take this action to protect US national security,' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. 'We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People's Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the (ruling Communist Party) by any means necessary.' Britain had said it was willing to provide a 'pathway to citizenship' for millions of Hong Kongers if the security law went ahead. More women in regional and rural Queensland have reported being strangled, threatened with having their homes set on fire and pressured for unwanted sexual intimacy during the coronavirus pandemic. Abusers have also restricted contact mothers have had with their children, taken their Centrelink payments and monitored their interactions with other people, a new study has found. More than 100 domestic violence service practitioners took part in a Queensland Domestic Violence Services Network and Monash University study to document the nature of violence against Queensland women during the health crisis. It found an increase in manipulation and behaviour to control women, an escalation from non-physical to physical abuse, and more hospital and emergency department visits for treatment of injuries from violence. More women in regional and rural Queensland have reported being strangled, threatened with having their homes set on fire and pressured for unwanted sexual intimacy during the coronavirus pandemic (stock) 'The home is the number one crime scene in our society and the 'family man' is our most dangerous organised criminal,' Monash University Criminology Professor Jude McCulloch told AAP on Tuesday. 'If you say those things it's quite shocking, its sounds hyperbole, but it actually demonstrates the empirical evidence. 'That's the degree of seriousness with which we should view family violence.' Dr Naomi Pfitzner led the project, and said being forced to stay at home to avoid coronavirus infection gave abusers new opportunities to exert power and control over women. A shortage of safe housing accommodation means many women wanting to flee abusive relationships don't have anywhere to go. 'If we want to priortise the safety of women and children moving forward in our response to the coronavirus, then we need to provide sustainable housing options so they can leave violent relationships and homes,' Dr Pfitzner added. Calls on governments to drastically increase funding for alternative accommodation were made long before the pandemic struck. The federal government put forward $78million for new emergency accommodation in February, with the state and federal governments both stumping up additional cash since then. But experts say it is only a fraction of what is needed to address the gender and family violence crisis. 'We've never had a safe housing model that adequately meets the needs of women and children experiencing family violence, so there isn't a go-to plan,' said Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon, director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre. The scourge of domestic violence is considered a national emergency in Australia, but the sector that deals with it daily says it is getting worse. There is no modelling which shows how much housing would be needed to meet the needs of women and children who are being abused, but Dr Fitz-Gibbon says it is critical. 'We are really underestimating the scale of the problem and if we look across the funding that we dedicate to other issues in the community, it really beggars belief that this isn't considered one of or if not the number one issue Australia is facing,' she added. 'The government needs to create an investment in safe housing that we've never had before, and meaningfully shift the dial in terms of women's access to short term and long term safe accommodation.' Women have been worst hit by the financial implications of the pandemic, and trying to leave now, especially in circumstances where they are not the primary breadwinner, will be even harder. 'We do not want to wait and see what that means in terms of number of women and children killed,' Dr Fitz-Gibbon said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 Patagonia's boss has revealed the company could stop advertising with Facebook 'indefinitely' if the platform fails to tackle a 'rampant' problem with hate speech, antisemitism and climate denialism. Ryan Gellert, the outdoor clothing brand's general manager in Europe, today said the tech giant's business model was 'flawed' and had been profiting from hate speech and disinformation. He told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'They have ultimately got to develop a conscience and they have got to understand that their business model really needs to evolve.' The company joined several US firms to halt advertising spending on Facebook last week over concerns the leading social network has fallen short in efforts to crack down on hateful posts. Meanwhile, Facebook's European vice president defended the platform's attempts to stop the sharing of 'hate speech'. Ryan Gellert (pictured at a panel discussion in May last year), Patagonia's general manager in Europe, today said the tech giant's business model was 'flawed' and had been profiting from hate speech and disinformation The company joined several US firms to halt advertising spending on Facebook (pictured, CEO Mark Zuckerberg in February) last week over concerns the leading social network has fallen short in efforts to crack down on hateful posts In a car crash BBC interview, Steve Hatch said there was 'no tolerance on our platform for hate speech' but claimed debates around such issues were, 'extremely challenging'. Mr Gellert said the platform's 'accuracy on political and voting matters' had to be ensured if Patagonia was to consider reinstating its advertising on Facebook. More big firms join the #StopHateforProfit campaign Facebook is facing growing pressure over its hands-off approach to misinformation and inflammatory posts, including posts by US President Donald Trump that have received heavy criticism. A number of civil rights groups last week launched the '#StopHateforProfit' campaign, encouraging companies to pull ads from Facebook. North Face, based in California, was the first to join the campaign, with the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Free Press and Common Sense following suit. Starbucks, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Ford, Adidas and HP have also pulled adverts. The campaign took out a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times pushing for companies to boycott Facebook. The social media giant reportedly made close to $70 billion in ad revenues last year. 'What would you do with $70billion?' the #StopHateForProfit ad asks. 'We know what Facebook did. They allowed incitement to violence against protesters fighting for racial justice in America in the wake of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others'. The ad goes on to accuse Facebook of 'turning a blind eye to voter suppression' and 'amplifying white supremacists'. Advertisement 'They are not going to stop until they see this impact revenue. I think now more than ever they are endangering human health and weakening our democratic system,' he said of the social media platform. In a step further than other firms, who agreed to halt spending until the end of July, Mr Gellert revealed that without fundamental change, Patagonia would be suspending its advertising with Facebook 'indefinitely'. 'In the absence of really meaningful change I don't see us returning at the end of July and that could go on indefinitely.' He said 'incremental change' would not be enough, and suggested Facebook commit to a 'regular third party independent audit'. For now Patagonia will 'diversify' its spending on advertising. Radio 4s Today host Nick Robinson accused Mr Hatch of allowing 'hate speech' on Mark Zuckerberg's social media behemoth and profiting from such content. Robinson pointed to a post by US conservative activist Candace Owens calling George Floyd a 'horrible human being', that was the top comment on Facebook at the time of race riots. Robinson claimed the fact that the post was the network's top comment - and not an isolated message that an algorithm missed - suggests that Facebook 'profits off an algorithm that mainlines hate and encourages sharing, making the company 'billions of dollars as a result.' In an attempt to refute the accusation Mr Hatch hit back, 'When there's hate in the world there will also be hate on Facebook.' Earlier this month Patagonia said on Twitter it was joining the Stop the Hate for Profit initiative unveiled by civil rights activists, who urged brands to boycott the social media giant claiming it 'promotes hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence'. 'Patagonia is proud to join the Stop Hate for Profit campaign,' the California-based outdoor apparel brand announced Sunday, June 21. 'We will pull all ads on Facebook and Instagram, effective immediately, through at least the end of July, pending meaningful action from the social media giant.' 'For too long, Facebook has failed to take sufficient steps to stop the spread of hateful lies and dangerous propaganda on its platform,' a statement from the company reads in part. 'From secure elections to a global pandemic to racial justice, the stakes are too high to sit back and let the company continue to be complicit in spreading disinformation and fomenting fear and hatred.' Patagonia has a history of not shying away from political discourse. The company sued President Donald Trump in 2017 after he rolled back protections on national monuments. Earlier this month Patagonia said on Twitter it was joining the Stop the Hate for Profit initiative unveiled by civil rights activists The #StopHateForProfit appeal was supported by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, ColorOfChange, FreePress and the activist group Sleeping Giants. Starbucks has become the latest household name to suspend its adverts, following the likes of Unilever and Coca-Cola, amid concerns that the tech giant is failing to address the issue. Ford, Adidas and HP have also joined the mass boycott. North Face, also based in California, was the first to join the campaign, tweeting in response to a boycott call: 'We're in. We're Out,' adding later: 'This includes all Facebook owned properties.' The company subsequently shared a statement with CNN, which read: 'The North Face is halting all activity and U.S. paid advertising with Facebook until stricter policies are put in place to stop racist, violent or hateful content and misinformation from circulating on the platform'. The company's commitment to pull their advertising also extends to Instagram - which is owned by Facebook. CNN reports that the North Face's parent company, VF Corp, has not yet stated whether other brands in its portfolio will also boycott the social media giant. VF Corp also owns shoe companies Vans and Timberland, and reportedly spent $756 million on advertising in the last year. Social media users listening in claimed Mr Hatch was unable to refute the claims that Facebook encouraged 'hate speech' A set of tweets published earlier this month said the decision had been made because 'the stakes were too high to sit back and let the company continue to be complicit in spreading disinformation and fomenting fear and hatred' Upwork said it was 'hitting pause on hate with no Facebook advertising in July.' REI also joined over the weekend stating: 'For 82 years, we have put people over profits. We're pulling all Facebook/Instagram advertising for the month of July.' Mr Hatch told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'There is no profit to be had in content that is hateful.' But he admitted: 'The debates that we see around these topics are extremely challenging and can be very, very wide-ranging.' Mr Hatch said the company had invested millions to try to tackle the problem. He added: 'Our systems now detect and remove 90% of hate speech automatically and thats not perfect but we do know that its up from 23% two years ago. 'But we know that systems arent the only answer its about its a question of combining the forces that Facebook have with the community on Facebook itself.' Steve Hatch said there was 'no tolerance on our platform for hate speech' but claimed debates around such issues were, 'extremely challenging' He said most people 'have a positive experience' on the social network but admitted there is a 'small minority of those that are hateful' because, 'when there's hate in the world there will also be hate on Facebook'. Robinson said Facebook 'chose not to change the algorithm that encourages the sharing of hate speech and mainlines hate.' Mr Hatch hit back: 'That's not the case. I think it's awful of course to see the events that have unfolded in the US and that are growing around the world. 'But the way that our systems work are to provide people with the content that's most often, in millions and millions of cases, both enjoyable and safe and to enable people to have a discussion. 'When we look at the US it's a very polarised atmosphere right now and there are many many issues, some of them very troubling and very concerning, where people do want to discuss and they do turn to online platforms to do that. 'Debates do happen and these can often be challenging areas where people are discussing them either in a feed or are on groups.' Mr Hatch denied such discussions were causing 'real world harm'. When asked if the race riots in America amounted to 'real world harm', he replied: 'The debates we see around all of these topics were extremely challenging and can be very very wide ranging.' Robinson pointed to a post by pro-Trump activist Candace Owens calling George Floyd a 'horrible human being', that was the top comment on Facebook at the time of race riots This comes as Facebook launched an advertising campaign to improve people's awareness of fake news shared online, encouraging users to question what they see. The initiative - devised in consultation with fact-checking partner Full Fact - asks the public to check whether a post is from a trusted source, ensure they read beyond headlines, and be alert to manipulated images, as well as reflecting on how it makes them feel. 'People who make false news try to manipulate your feelings,' warns one of the messages. 'If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.' Facebook vice president Carolyn Everson said in a statement: 'We deeply respect any brand's decision, and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information. 'Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good,' she continued. The social network said it removed ads by Trump's re-election campaign that contained a symbol used in Nazi Germany for political prisoners, a move welcomed by rights activists. The North Face has become the first major brand to pull advertising from Facebook after civil rights groups urged companies to boycott the social media giant amid claims it 'promotes hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism and violence' The campaign comes as the social media giant faces growing pressure over its hands-off approach to misinformation and inflammatory posts, including from US President Donald Trump. 'It is clear that Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, are no longer simply negligent, but in fact, complacent in the spread of misinformation, despite the irreversible damage to our democracy,' the NAACP said in a tweet. The coalition criticized Zuckerberg's decision late last month to leave up a particularly inflammatory post by the Commander-in-chief, which stated in part: 'When the looting starts, the shooting starts'. Twitter hid the same message behind a warning that said the post 'incited violence'. Several Facebook employees staged a 'virtual walkout' over Zuckerberg's decision. The Facebook co-founder then held a conference call with civil rights leaders who condemned him for failing to remove the post. In a subsequent statement, Rashad Robinson of Color of Change, Vanita Gupta of the Leadership Conference and Sherrilyn Ifill of LDF said: 'He [Zuckerberg] did not demonstrate understanding of historic or modern-day voter suppression and he refuses to acknowledge how Facebook is facilitating Trump's call for violence against protesters. North Face, also based in California, was the first to join the campaign, tweeting in response to a boycott call: 'We're in. We're Out,' adding later: 'This includes all Facebook owned properties' 'Mark is setting a very dangerous precedent for other voices who would say similar harmful things on Facebook.' Color of Change subsequently joined forces with a number of other civil rights group to launch the '#StopHateforProfit' campaign last week, encouraging companies to pull ads from Facebook. Other organizations in the campaign include the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Free Press and Common Sense. The campaign took out a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times pushing for companies to boycott Facebook. The social media giant reportedly made close to $70 billion in ad revenues last year. 'What would you do with $70billion?' the #StopHateForProfit ad asks. 'We know what Facebook did. They allowed incitement to violence against protesters fighting for racial justice in America in the wake of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others'. The ad goes on to accuse Facebook of 'turning a blind eye to voter suppression' and 'amplifying white supremacists'. The groups took out a full page ad (pictured) in the Los Angeles Times that's titled: 'What would you do with $70billion?' Other prominent voices have also hit out at Facebook over the last couple of weeks. Among them, was Nancy Pelosi, who said companies could use their 'tremendous leverage' to 'discourage platforms from amplifying dangerous and even life-threatening disinformation'. MSNBC star Joe Scarborough launched a withering attack of Facebook, accusing the company of 'promoting extremism'. 'I've seen a lot of insincere statements put out. Gonna say Mark Zuckerberg talking about how deeply saddened he was by the things he's seen the president say is near that top of it considering that he makes billions of dollars off of spreading lies and letting people spread lies, hateful lies,' he said. Scarborough talked about the murder of federal officer Damon Gutzwiller, 38, who died in an ambush allegedly started by Air Force sergeant, Steve Carillo, 32, this month. Authorities said Carillo scribbled far-right extremist phrases in blood after he killed a Gutzwiller and wounded two others. Carillo is said to be a part of 'boogaloo', a movement of far-right anti-government extremists. Facebook has been scrubbing 'boogaloo' and 'Proud Boys' Facebook pages. The company considers both to be hate groups. Facebook (file image) officials said they had started to initiate a ban against the two groups on May 30 after seeing web traffic which indicated they were planning to disrupt protests sparked by Floyd's death Joe Scarborough accused Facebook of actively 'promoting extremism' in a fiery monologue as civil rights groups urged big advertisers to pull spending from the social media giant for its failure to make its platform less hostile Following Scarborough's monologue, Facebook announced it had removed another 900 social media accounts linked to the Proud Boys and the far-right American Guard after members discussed plans to bring weapons to protests decrying police brutality against black people. The company announced Tuesday that it recently took down 470 accounts belonging to people affiliated with the Proud Boys and another 430 linked to members of the American Guard. 'In both cases, we saw accounts from both organizations discussing attending protests in various US states with plans to carry weapons but we did not find indications in their on-platform content they planned to actively commit violence,' the company said. Nearly 200 other accounts linked to the groups were removed late last month. Facebook officials said they had been monitoring the groups' social media presence and were led to act when they say posts attempting to exploit current George Floyd protests unfolding across the country. Meanwhile, the company reacted to news of The North Face's advertising boycott, stating: 'We deeply respect any brand's decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information. 'Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good.' Millions of Australians will receive an extra $750 in their bank account in two weeks as part of the government's second COVID-19 cash splash. The Economic Support Payment (ESP) will be given to eligible government benefit recipients, including retirees and families, from July 15. The cash injection is part of the government's financial support for Australians affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of Australians will receive an extra $750 in their bank account in two weeks as part of the government's second COVID-19 cash splash (stock image) Second Economic Support Payment You may get the second Economic Support payment if youre living in Australia and receive 1 of the following on 10 July 2020: Age Pension Bereavement Allowance Carer Allowance Carer Payment Commonwealth Seniors Health Card Disability Support Pension Double Orphan Pension Family Tax Benefit A Family Tax Benefit B Pensioner Concession Card. Advertisement Recipients must live in Australia and have an eligible payment or concession card on July 10. 'If you're eligible, we'll pay it straight into your bank account. You don't need to do anything,' the government website reads. Australians on the Age Pension, Bereavement Allowance, Carer Payment, Disability Support Pension and Family Tax Benefit are among the eligible recipients. Those who are not eligible for the second ESP may be able to access the Coronavirus Supplement. The money will be paid from July 15 and should drop into eligible accounts by the end of July. Those on the JobSeeker Payment, Newstart Allowance, Parenting Payment and Youth Allowance are among those who are not eligible for the second $750 payment, as the government has shortened its list. A grandmother died of a suspected heart attack after being held at gun point and forced to watch as her three terrified granddaughters were brutally raped in front of her in South Africa. The grandmother, 71, was confronted by an intruder in a balaclava who broke into her home in Impendle in KwaZulu-Natal province. The attacker locked the three sisters aged 19, 22 and 25 in a bedroom. He dragged the women out one at a time to rape them in front of their horrified grandmother. The women and the grandmother - who all lived together - have not been named. South African Police investigating the shocking triple rape believe the trauma of helplessly having to witness each individual ordeal caused her heart to give out. Family spokesperson Mzandwile Ndlovu said: 'The suspect had locked the three girls in their grandmother's room and he brought them out one-by-one and raped them. A grandmother died of a heart attack after being held at gun point and forced to watch as her three terrified granddaughters were brutally raped in front of her in Impendle (pictured) in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa 'We found the grandmother in the house but she was already dead and we think that she was so horrified by what she saw in these evil acts that it caused a heart attack. 'The three girls said the suspect did not touch her or harm her so it must be so.' Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said: 'An unknown suspect wearing a balaclava forced his way into a home and raped three family members at gunpoint. 'A 71-year-old woman who witnessed the incident collapsed and died and we are appealing for anyone who may have information about the incident to contact the police.' The grandmother's 31-year-old son is appealing for witnesses to come forward to catch the perpetrator of the triple rape. He told TimesLIVE: 'This was a truly horrific act that he did. 'I think my mother died from a heart attack because the perpetrator did not attack her but he did pull my nieces out of a room and raped them one by one in front of her. Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala (pictured) said: 'An unknown suspect wearing a balaclava forced his way into a home and raped three family members at gunpoint' 'There has been no justice for my nieces who are devastated. In this case the rapist saw my mother collapse from the shock and horror but carried on. Where is the humanity?' The South African Police launched a fresh appeal for witnesses two months after the attack. KwaZulu-Natal Social Development Council Member spokesman Nonhlanhla Khoza said: 'We are severely pained by these appalling incidents of rape and murder of our women. 'We have seen a dramatic increase in incidents of gender-based violence, murder and rape. I urge the public to assist the police with any information that could lead to an arrest. 'These incidents of callous rapes of our women will only come to an end when communities work together with the police and we send our heartfelt condolences to the victims.' Police Minister Bheki Cele and gender activists have spoken out about the huge surge in gender-based violence against women and children during Covid-19 lockdown. Earlier this month President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the 'surge in murders of women and children' in South Africa since the sale of alcohol was allowed again. On June 1 the off-licences and supermarkets were once again permitted to sell alcohol from Monday to Thursday during restricted hours. President Ramaphosa described a horrific string of murder and rape attacks on women and children linked with the renewed sale of alcohol as 'dark and shameful' for the nation. He said: 'We note with disgust that when we face the gravest of threats from the pandemic, violent men are taking advantage of the eased restrictions to attack women and children. Earlier this month President Cyril Ramaphosa (pictured) condemned the 'surge in murders of women and children' in South Africa since the sale of alcohol was allowed again 'As a man, a husband, and a father I am appalled at what is no less than a war being waged against the women and the children of our society and we need to address it urgently'. The President described what was happening to women and children at the hands of men in South Africa as a 'pandemic within a pandemic' South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates anywhere in the world with more than 2,700 women and 1,000 children murdered last year and a further 42,000 women raped. Since the ban on alcohol has been lifted there have been numerous horrific attacks reported on women included the shocking murder of heavily pregnant Tshegofatso Pule, 28. She was found stabbed repeatedly in the chest and hanging by her neck from a rope in a tree in Johannesburg. Earlier this month, mother-of-three Altecia Kortjie, 27, and her daughter Raynecia, seven, were found brutally stabbed to death in a store room at their home in Cape Town. Tragic mother-of-three businesswoman Naledi Phangindawo, 25, from Mossel Bay in Western Province was found hacked to death by a man wielding an axe and a spear. And on Saturday the naked body of schoolgirl Amahle Quku, 17, of Philippi near Cape Town who had been raped and murdered was found dumped in a field by a local resident. The worst of the Covid-19 pandemic is 'yet to come', the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. WHO director Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus claimed the spread of the virus was actually speeding up, despite lockdowns being loosened around the world. He said countries like South Korea, China, Germany, Singapore and Japan had shown there is a blueprint to suppressing the disease. On top of robust contact tracing schemes, these nations have also delegated testing responsibilities to local public health teams and given regional leaders the power to enforce regional lockdowns. But, in a thinly-veiled jab seemingly targeted at the US and UK, Dr Tedros claimed many nations were not using 'the tools that we have at hand'. Earlier this month the WHO urged Britain not to lift lockdown until its test and trace system was up to scratch, after it emerged a third of patients were being missed. The UK Government has been criticised for its top-down response to the outbreak and refusal to give responsibilities to local public health bodies. WHO director Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus claimed the spread of the virus was actually speeding up, despite lockdowns being loosened around the world. A graph shows the number of new daily cases recorded worldwide since the pandemic began WHO director Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said the spread of the virus was actually speeding up, despite lockdowns being loosened around the world Data collected from governments around the world by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US shows that the coronavirus has spread to almost every corner of the globe. By Sunday evening the global death toll surpassed 500,000 Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the US has the highest number of COVID-19 infections with over 2.5million cases. Brazil, Russia, India and the UK follow behind in highest number of COVID-19 cases During a virtual news conference from the WHO's Geneva headquarters yesterday, Dr Tedros said: 'Although many countries have made some progress, globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up. 'We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives, but the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. 'Some countries have now experienced a resurgence of cases as they start to reopen their economies and societies. Most people remain susceptible. The virus still has a lot of room to move. Global coronavirus death toll surges past 500,000, with a quarter of fatalities in the US - while more than 10M have been infected worldwide The global coronavirus death toll exceeded half a million on Sunday as the number of worldwide cases surpassed a staggering 10million, marking the most devastating and destructive pandemic in a century. On Sunday, June 28 the global number of reported fatalities stood at 500,306 by 6pm EST and the global number of infections was reported at 10,070,339, according to figures by Johns Hopkins University in the US pulled from data collected from governments around the world. Over the past seven months more than five million people have recovered from the respiratory disease. The two sobering milestones in the coronavirus crisis come as the US leads with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world with over 2.5million infections. Following behind is Brazil with over 1.3million cases and Russia with over 633,000 cases. India has the fourth highest number of infections with over 528,000 reported and the UK has the fifth highest with more than 312,000 cases. The US also leads with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths with 125,747. About one in four of global COVID-19 deaths more than 125,000 have been reported in the US. Brazil follows behind with over 57,000 deaths reported and the UK with nearly 44,000 deaths reported. While the overall rate of death has flattened in recent weeks, health experts are now worried about record numbers of new cases in the US, India and Brazil. More than 4,700 people are dying every 24 hours from COVID-19-linked illness, according to Reuters calculations based on an average from June 1 to 27. That equates to 196 people per hour, or one person every 18 seconds. Advertisement 'The worst is yet to come. I'm sorry to say that, but with this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst.' He added: 'And that's why we have to bring our acts together and fight this dangerous virus together. 'The single most important intervention for breaking chains of transmission is not necessarily high-tech and can be carried out by a broad range of profession. It's tracing and quarantine contacts. 'Six months since the virus started, it could be like a broken record to say exactly the same thing, but the same thing works. Test, test, isolate, quarantine cases.' Covid-19 has now infected more than 10million people globally and killed more than 502,000. The US leads with the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world with over 2.5million infections. Following behind is Brazil with over 1.3million cases and Russia with over 633,000 cases. India has the fourth highest number of infections with over 528,000 reported and the UK has the fifth highest with more than 312,000 cases. The US also leads with the highest number of Covid-19 deaths with 125,747. About one in four of global virus deaths more than 125,000 have been reported in the US. Brazil follows behind with over 57,000 deaths reported and the UK with nearly 44,000 deaths reported. While the overall rate of death has flattened in recent weeks, health experts are now worried about record numbers of new cases in the US, India and Brazil. More than 4,700 people are dying every 24 hours from Covid-19-linked illness, according to calculations based on an average from June 1 to 27. That equates to 196 people per hour, or one person every 18 seconds. Brazil, Russia and India, which seemed to be spared disaster in the outbreak's early days, are all now at the mercy of the fast-spreading virus and have seen cases spiral out of control in recent weeks. In Brazil and India cases have tripled in a month. Brazil, a South American country home to 210million people, is now experiencing arguably the worst outbreak in the world after the total number of people to have had Covid-19 rocketed from 411,821 on May 28 to more than 1.31million on Sunday. In India, cases soared from 158,333 a month ago to 528,859 today, according to the Our World in Data project. Meanwhile, more than 60 per cent of daily new cases came from countries in the Americas on Sunday, according to data published by the WHO. More than a third of 190,000 new infections on Sunday occurred in Brazil and a fifth of them were in the US. Tedros said some governments should consider replicating South Korea's strategy for testing, contact tracing and isolating infected people. He added that governments should involve the community in any efforts to ramp up testing, tracing and isolating. Dr Tedros praised Japan for managing to have one of the lowest death rates in the world despite having one of the oldest populations of any nation. The virus has infected more than 18,476 people in Japan, but has killed less than 1,000 people. He also praised South Korea, another one of the first countries outside of China to be hit by the disease. The Government there already had experience of shutting down outbreaks following the SARS epidemic in 2002 so was much better equipped than most of the West. It used credit card transaction data and cell phone tracking information to identify who might have been exposed to the virus and tracked down the vast majority of cases and forced them to isolate. Leicester becomes first British city to lock down again after surge in cases Police will enforce the two-week lockdown extension in Leicester starting today as residents blamed 'idiots' in their area for not sticking to social distancing and experts warned that more British cities face the same fate. Matt Hancock decided last night to shut all non-essential shops that only opened two weeks ago, closed schools from Thursday and ruled that the nationwide July 4 easing of restrictions from this Saturday must be delayed there until at least July 18. And today Health Secretary confirmed that Leicestershire Police will be enforcing the new lockdown and ensuring that all stores apart from supermarkets and pharmacies are closed for at least two weeks - but that there would be no ban on cars or trains into the city for now. Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: 'It's so important that we get a grip on this spike that has happened in Leicester. We will be closing the shops by law and will be changing the law in the next day or two to do that. The Tory minister said that people should not travel 'in, out or within Leicester' unless it is essential, but added: 'We are not putting that into law at this stage - we will keep that under review and make changed if we need to'. Leicester's increasing infection rate is "a reflection of premature lifting of lockdown measures" Dr Bharat Pankhania, Senior Clinical Lecturer at University of Exeter Medical School said today, and predicted more cities will be locked down in the same way. He said: 'Going forward; six months, nine months from today, we will have outbreaks in Manchester, Birmingham - other big cities'. Mr Hancock also revealed that testing over the past ten days had revealed an 'unusually high incidence in children in Leicester'- who are unlikely to be ill themselves but could pass it to adults. He said: 'There are under 18s that have tested positive and therefore because children can transmit the disease we think the safest thing to do is to close the schools', adding that they delayed this until Thursday to allow parents to organise childcare'. Language barriers, high levels of diabetes and poverty among Leicester's BAME residents have been blamed for the Covid-19 surge in the East Midlands city. Mr Hancock admitted they were looking at areas with similar demographics in the north-west and Yorkshire but said: 'Leicester is very significantly worse than other cities'. Soldiers from the Royal Logistics Corp operate a mobile coronavirus testing site at Evington Leisure Centre in Leicester today, with one pictured carrying a box for drivers to put their Covid-19 swabs in This map published by Public Health England outlines the area surrounding Leicester which may be subject to strict lockdown measures from tomorrow Matt Hancock last night shut non-essential shops and closed schools in Leicester as he forced the city back into strict coronavirus lockdown after 10 per cent of Britain's new Covid-19 cases were recorded there Alex Richie, landlord of The Dove pub in Leicester (pictured left with his partner) said people 'need to learn' to follow social distancing rules Residents have been advised to stay at home and warned against all but essential travel following a spike of 800-plus Covid-19 cases in Leicester since mid-June and the areas accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive cases in Britain over the past week. How a large BAME population, poverty and crowded households may have contributed to Leicester's spike in cases Government officials, local politicians and scientists are divided over whether Leicester is experiencing a real surge in cases or whether better testing is simply finding more of them where it wasn't before. It is also not clear whether there are any characteristics of Leicester which make it more likely to see a surge in cases, or if random chance has meant the first 'second wave' is happening there. Experts say many of the risk factors in Leicester are the same in all major cities in England. The mayor of the city, Sir Peter Soulsby, said on BBC Radio 4 this morning that a report sent to him by the Government 'actually acknowledges that it's very likely that the increase in number of positives identified is a result of increased testing, and that actually there's perhaps nothing of any great significance in those results.' Director of Public Health for the city, Ivan Browne, said: 'Interestingly it [the surge in cases] is very much around the younger, working age population and predominantly towards the east part of our city. We started to see this level through our testing programme. 'Young people work in many industries across the city so at this stage what we're trying to do is gather as much epidemiological information as we can to really try and get underneath and have an understanding. I don't think at the moment that we are seeing a single source or a single smoking gun on this'. It was always likely that surges in cases would be seen in cities first. There are more people, raising the risk, and those people are more likely to live in densely populated areas and come into contact with strangers on a regular basis. Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, from the University of Cambridge, said: 'There will be differences in the ease with which people can maintain physical distance between densely populated areas and rural environments so it isn't surprising to me that we may see localised flare-ups, which in turn may need suppressing through delayed easing or temporary re-introduction of some constraints on some movements and activities.' Leicester also has high levels of deprivation, which affects people's lives in ways that put them at risk of catching the virus. Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: 'In deprived areas people are more likely to have to go to work, less likely to be able to work from home, and more likely to use public transport. They can't distance themselves from others.' The Samworth Brothers sandwich factory in the city reported over the weekend that it had diagnosed cases of Covid-19 among its staff. Food processing factories are a higher transmission risk because cold environments allow the virus to survive for longer on hard surfaces and make people's airways more susceptible to infection. Dr Clarke added that the types of work people do may increase their risk. 'Blue collar cities are now at higher risk than places like London and Manchester which have more financial services,' he added. 'Factories and manufacturing work are opportunities [for people] to mix and mixing is what it's all about. You wouldn't put a food processing factory in London because it's too expensive.' The ethnicity of Leicester's residents may also play into the risk of the coronavirus spreading fast - 37 per cent of people in the city were Asian or British Asian in the 2011 Census, with 28 per cent of them of Indian heritage. One local researcher told MailOnline multi-generational households were 'part and parcel' of Asian culture and that grandparents often live with their younger relatives. This leads to larger households which increases the risk of more people catching the virus from one infected member of the family. If older people live in the home they are more likely to get seriously ill and to get tested and recorded as a patient, contributing to statistics. Research has shown younger people are more likely to have mild symptoms or not to notice they are ill at all, making them less likely to get tested and to show up in data collection. Professor Brendan Wren, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, added: 'Why this outbreak occurred in the east part of Leicester is unclear and we may never know as the number of cases may be too high to drill down to the fine detail of the original source(s) of the infection.' Advertisement Young people in Leicester, who are believed to be disproportionately affected by the return of the virus, are unsurprised Covid is making a comeback. Molly Farmer-Law, 16, has just finished her GCSE year and said friends could not resist the temptation to party, even though she has stayed in. Quite a few people have been meeting up she said. Not many people my age were taking it seriously. People had just finished school and wanted to meet. Weve seen it on videos. And even if pubs and clubs stay closed in Leicester few think it will curb social activity among the 18 to 30s as the summer moves into full swing. Everyone is still doing what they were doing before said Grace, 27, who did not want to give her full name. People will find somewhere for a drink. If they cant get it in Leicester they will go elsewhere or to illegal raves. There are a lot of abandoned warehouses around here, or theyll go to Nottingham or Loughborough. They will find somewhere said the healthcare assistant, who has seen many cases of Covid among the people she cares for. Student Faith Owolambi, 21, agreed. They will go somewhere else to meet up. Birmingham and Coventry are not far, or they will just go to the park. Pubs, clubs and restaurants in Leicester are already struggling financially after the lockdown began on March 23, and are now faced with another two weeks without being able to trade. The Konak Turkish restaurant on the edge of the city centre has lost 50,000 and laid off 20 of its 26 staff since the lockdown began. They said we could open on July 4 and we were sold out, said front of house manager Osman Macit, who is 24 We had taken 46 bookings and we had spoken to staff about coming back and now we have to cancel all of that. It is all going out of the window. And we dont know if it is going to be two weeks or more. Meanwhile, some Leicester residents are warning other cities to take the threat of a second wave seriously, since they could be next. Retired maths teacher Mohamed Ahmed, 58, has been wearing a mask throughout the pandemic and does not intend to remove it when outdoors until next spring. i think this will happen in other places he said. Once the lockdown is opened up people will not be that bothered and they will pass it on to other people. At Leicester Market, which has remained open throughout the pandemic, traders insisted the new rise of Covid in the city had nothing to do with them. The market has not been closed, but even now people are still scared to come out said Stephen Powley, 56, who has worked on Leicester Market for more than 40 years. The greengrocer, who was doing a reasonable trade in fresh fruit even though the number of shoppers is well down on pre-pandemic levels and more than half the pitchers are empty. There is more space here than queueing for the shops, said the veteran trader, who has his son, Jack, 15, alongside while the schools are closed. This is safer than Sainsburys or any other supermarket. It is spread out, its in the open air. We have notices asking people to stay two metres apart and not to handle the produce. Colleague Buddy Abbott, 55, who came on the market as a teenage apprentice agreed. There have been no signs of Covid among market traders. If there was the market would be closed straight away. Alex Richie, landlord of The Dove, just on the edge of the city, told the Sun: 'There's only one reason that we would go into a further lockdown: [people] not following social distancing guidelines, and people need to learn'. The city's Labour Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby agreed to the lockdown last night after a war of words with the Government over a lack of data about who was ill and how the shutdown will work. He said: 'I haven't got a clue as to how this will work in practice' admitting if people wanted to go to a pub they could drive into Leicestershire 'or visit a friend in Birmingham to have their hair cut". Asked if this was a real threat he said: 'It depends on how long the restrictions are extended, but it won't be long before people think "I'm going".' Leicester has an infection rate of 135 per 100,000 people, which is three times higher than the next highest local area, Mr Hancock said. Hospital admissions are also much higher than the norm at between six and ten per day. 'Having taken clinical advice on the actions necessary and discussed them with the local team in Leicester and Leicestershire, we have made some difficult but important decisions,' Mr Hancock told MPs in the House of Commons last night.'We've decided that from tomorrow, non-essential retail will have to close and as children have been particularly impacted by this outbreak, schools will also need to close from Thursday, staying open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers as they did throughout'. The Government's decision to enforce Britain's first 'whack-a-mole' local lockdown came in response to 944 positive Covid-19 cases recorded in the city over two weeks almost a third of Leicester's 3,216 total since the pandemic began. Mr Hancock said the reintroduced measures will be kept under review and will not be kept in place 'any longer than is necessary', adding: 'We'll review if we can release any of the measures in two weeks. 'These Leicester-specific measures will apply not just to the city of Leicester but also the surrounding conurbation including, for example, Oadby, Birstall and Glenfield.' The Health Secretary told the Commons: 'These actions are profoundly in the national interest too because it's in everyone's interests that we control the virus as locally as possible. 'Local action like this is an important tool in our armoury to deal with outbreaks while we get the country back on its feet.' Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth, who represents Leicester South, said Boris Johnson has spoken about a 'whack-a-mole' strategy to combat coronavirus before, adding in the Commons: 'We were alerted to the situation in Leicester 11 days ago and now we've got tonight from the Secretary of State the whack-a-mole strategy. 'Doesn't he agree that if we're as a nation to ease the lockdown smoothly then those areas that do see flare-ups will need greater speed in the response, otherwise we risk no moles getting whacked?' The Department of Health has recently sent extra testing units to Leicester to try and get on top of the virus and urged residents to be strict about social distancing and washing their hands. It currently has three mobile testing sites in Evington, Spinney Hill Park and Victoria park, and a more permanent facility at the Birstall park and ride site. An indoor testing centre is due to open tomorrow at the Highfields Community Centre, and further testing sites are planned. Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who has heavily criticised the Government over its handling of the city's Covid-19 outbreak, tonight admitted ministers have 'gone further than we anticipated they might' with these new measures. 'They are clearly determined to start with the maximum, as it were, to see how it works and then perhaps to use the learning from this in other areas I have no doubt will follow,' he told BBC Radio Leicester. 'I can understand it from their perspective - they are entirely convinced that the level of the transmission of the disease in Leicester is at a higher level than I think the figures show. 'Nonetheless I can understand why they want to err on the safe side... I can see where they're coming from even thought I still have some scepticism about the figures that led them to this.' Advertisement Thirty-six authorities in England have suffered a spike in coronavirus cases over the past fortnight, official figures revealed today as Leicester became the UK's first area to be hit by a 'local lockdown'. Public Health England (PHE) data shows the London borough of Havering and the entire county of Wiltshire have seen the biggest week-on-week increases in confirmed Covid-19 infections (300 per cent). In comparison, Leicester recorded a 5 per cent jump in cases going from 39 cases between June 13-19 to 41 in the following seven-day spell. Leicester actually had the smallest percentage jump week-on-week out of all the local authorities where cases have risen, according to government statistics. MailOnline has now created an interactive tool allowing readers to work out whether the coronavirus outbreak in their local area has grown or shrunk in the past fortnight and how many cases have been diagnosed in total since Britain's crisis began. It comes after Matt Hancock last night confirmed Leicester a city in the East Midlands home to 330,000 people would face a two-week lockdown extension. Furious residents blamed 'idiots' in the city for not sticking to social distancing. The streets of the city centre were deserted this morning, as the Health Secretary revealed police will enforce the curbs, vowing to push through laws to bolster their powers. He also admitted action taken to slow the spread of coronavirus in Leicester over the last 11 days failed to work. The city's mayor today revealed he wished ministers had warned of the outbreak a 'long time ago'. One councillor today told MailOnline a quarter of the new cases have been seen in the North Evington ward, in the eastern part of the city. The measures for Leicester first announced in a dramatic statement to the Commons last night include: All non-essential shops will close from today, with law to be rushed through to underpin the new restrictions, after 800-plus cases were recorded in Leicester since mid-June and the area accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive tests in the UK over the past week; Schools will close from Thursday and will not reopen until next term, amid fears an unusually high incidence in children is driving the spread. They will stay open for vulnerable children and offspring of key workers; People are advised to avoid all but essential travel to, from, and within Leicester and should 'stay at home as much as you can', but there is no formal travel ban at this stage; Easing of lockdown in England on Saturday will not apply in Leicester, meaning pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas will stay shut; Shielding measures will not be loosened in the city on 6 July, unlike the rest of England where the most clinically-vulnerable will be able to spend more time outside. Data compiled by Public Health England (PHE) shows Havering and Wiltshire have seen the biggest week-on-week increases in confirmed Covid-19 infections (300 per cent). In comparison, Leicester has recorded a 5 per cent jump in cases going from 39 cases registered between June 13-19 to 41 in the following seven-day spell Leicestershire County Council issued this map today showing the area that will be subject to strict lockdown measures PHE a branch of the Department of Health updates the data on coronavirus cases every afternoon based on figures from health chiefs in each of the home nations. But the numbers compiled for England only include pillar one swab tests, which officials say are only given to patients with a medical need or key workers. Positive results from pillar two tests carried out by commercial partners are added into the overall case toll but no geographical breakdown is currently given. For example, government data shows the UK has officially recorded 311,965 Covid-19 cases since the crisis began to spiral out of control in February. Data shows how Leicester's coronavirus outbreak has grown over time. The numbers compiled for England only include pillar one swab tests, which officials say are only given to patients with a medical need or key workers The streets of Leicester were almost empty this morning as residents responded to the warnings about a coronavirus surge The market remained boarded up in Leicester today, with lockdown set to be tightened up again to combat the spread Gallowtree Gate in Leicester today as locals brace themselves for the new lockdown after a coronavirus surge LEICESTER'S STREETS ARE DESERTED ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE LOCAL LOCKDOWN AS RESIDENTS BLAME SPIKE IN CASES ON 'IDIOTS' Furious Leicester residents blamed an explosion in coronavirus cases on 'idiots' flouting social distancing rules today - as ministers warned people face arrest if they break a new lockdown being imposed on the city. In a taste of what communities across the country will face if there are flare-ups, Matt Hancock has declared that all non-essential shops in the area must shut, just two weeks after they were allowed to reopen. Schools will also be closed from Thursday amid fears the surge in cases is being driven by transmission among children - with the loosening planning for the rest of England on July 4 now off the agenda in Leicester until at least July 18. The streets of the city centre were deserted this morning, as Mr Hancock confirmed that police will be enforcing the curbs, vowing to push through laws to bolster their powers. But he hinted that there will be no extra compensation for businesses, and faced a backlash after admitting there will be no ban on cars or trains into the city. The boundaries of the restrictions were only revealed this morning, adding to the sense of chaos. There is also anger that action was not taken sooner, with complaints that ministers kept local authorities in the dark for more than a week after identifying a worrying spike in cases. In a round of interviews intended to reassure an anxious public this morning, Mr Hancock said the government was mobilising its strategy for crushing localised outbreaks - dubbed 'whack a mole' by Boris Johnson. 'It's so important that we get a grip on this spike that has happened in Leicester. We will be closing the shops by law and will be changing the law in the next day or two to do that,' he told BBC Breakfast. He warned people not to travel 'in, out or within Leicester' unless it is essential, but added: 'We are not putting that into law at this stage - we will keep that under review and make changed if we need to'. However, experts branded the outbreak in Leicester 'a reflection of premature lifting of lockdown measures', and predicted other cities would need the same treatment. And health committee chair Jeremy Hunt described the action as a 'necessary puncturing of the elation' that had been building in England as the lockdown loosens. Advertisement But PHE has only revealed the area-by-area data for 63 per cent of the infections meaning the location of 115,000 confirmed cases is missing. The massive disparity in figures is seen clearly in Leicester. Leicester City Council (LCC) claims there has been 3,216 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases across the city since Britain's outbreak began to spiral out of control in February. Local officials revealed 944 of those Covid-19 infections were diagnosed in the past fortnight meaning the city's epidemic has grown by roughly 70.6 per cent since mid-June. This equates to roughly 977 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 people. But that data given to the LCC, which takes into account the results of all tests carried out across NHS, Public Health England and commercial laboratories, is not available to the public. Government-released data shows Leicester has only recorded 1,056 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began a third of the figure obtained by LCC. It revealed only 366 new infections have been confirmed in May and June. Data on the results of pillar one tests analysed by The Daily Telegraph shows Leicester last week recorded the second-highest amount of cases across England behind only Kent (101). However, the rate in Kent the upper tier local authority with the most diagnosed cases (5,591) has dropped 16 per cent week-on-week. Ministers first warned last month that individual towns and cities could be put back on lockdown if they see coronavirus cases rise again once restrictions are relaxed. Officials will carefully monitor the impact on specific areas and will tackle hot zones by introducing 'local lockdowns' where restrictions will be reimposed. Nine of the 36 authorities where Covid-19 cases are rising, including Sunderland, Portsmouth and York, recorded none between June 13 and 19. They all recorded either one or two cases the following week, hence why they were included in the list of areas where outbreaks appear to be growing. Doncaster a town in South Yorkshire recorded the biggest actual spike in coronavirus cases over the two-week period, going from 11 to 32. The London boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham (seven to 18) and Ealing (five to 14) also witnessed big jumps in the actual numbers of cases. Thirteen other London boroughs are also experiencing a rise in coronavirus cases, according to the analysis of the figures by The Telegraph. Official figures do show the number of infections are dropping, however. The average number of lab-confirmed cases has dropped to 894 the lowest since March. But the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which analyses the size of the outbreak, last week warned the speed at which the outbreak is shrinking has 'levelled off'. It estimated 3,200 people are still catching the coronavirus every day in England down slightly from the 3,800 daily infections it predicted the week before. MORE MISERY FOR LEICESTER SHOP OWNER WITHIN 500 YARDS OF LOCKDOWN BOUNDARY James West, 25, sole proprietor of a design firm in Thurmaston village, said he had opened the store this morning unsure how long he would be able to keep doing business A Leicester shop owner has spoken of his frustration after his business fell within 500 yards of the border for new lockdown restrictions, leaving him forced to shut his doors a week after reopening. James West, 25, sole proprietor of Thurmaston Design and Print Co in Thurmaston village, said he had opened the store this morning unsure how long he would be able to keep doing business. Eventually details of the boundaries were published after 10am, confirming that he would have to close once more. 'I am just in the bracket. So I opened up at 9am, and have now closed an hour later,' he told the PA news agency. 'I could have had an extra hour in bed!' Mr West said he had been 'greatly frustrated with the lack of guidance' he and others in the area had received so far, adding that the local Charnwood mayor had been 'the only person of any authority who has put any full information out of any use'. He said: 'I opened my shop last week for the first time and saw an instant increase in orders and now I worry this change will go back to no orders. I havent been eligible for many of the Government funding due to not quite being open for three years.' Mr West said the loss of walk-in trade and the furloughing of many of his business clients had already made the past few months particularly tough. He added that he and his partner Mia Skain had moved into their first home in February, but the lockdown had made him unable to pay himself properly since then. Mr West said: 'We had some savings so we have been using them as best as we can. But I was hoping this was the start of better things.' Advertisement Just a month ago the ONS whose estimates are based on swab testing of up to 25,000 people said up to 9,000 cases were actually occurring each day. Other modeling from PHE suggests 360,000 people were being struck down daily during the peak of the crisis in March but that the outbreak then rapidly tailed off. Department of Health statistics yesterday revealed just 815 Brits were diagnosed with coronavirus. But the government figures never show the true scale of the outbreak. Thousands of people who catch the virus scientifically known as SARS-CoV-2 never swab positive because they don't realise they are sick, couldn't get a test or the result was wrong. It is not clear how many of the confirmed coronavirus tests announced yesterday were actually carried out at NHS or PHE laboratories. This is because the government data released every afternoon works off specimen date, or when the cases occurred, and not when they were actually recorded. For example, only nine people swabbed for the disease in England on June 28 tested positive even though 901 cases were officially recorded that day. Mr Hancock last night confirmed Leicester would face a two-week lockdown extension, after mounting speculation the city would be the first to be hit by the local measures. Today he revealed Leicestershire Police will enforce the new lockdown and ensure all stores apart from supermarkets and pharmacies are closed until at least July 18. Discussing the move this morning, Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: 'It's so important that we get a grip on this spike that has happened in Leicester. The Tory minister urged people not to travel 'in, out or within Leicester' unless it is essential but added they won't ban cars or trains from entering the city for now. Language barriers, high levels of diabetes and poverty among Leicester's BAME residents have been blamed for the Covid-19 surge. Mr Hancock admitted they were looking at areas with similar demographics in the north-west and Yorkshire but said: 'Leicester is very significantly worse than other cities.' There has reportedly been a surge of more than 940 cases in cases in just two weeks this month in Leicester, according to the city council. But the PHE data obtained from pillar one testing shows only 350 cases have been recorded since the start of May. The city's mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, today told a press conference he wished ministers had warned of the outbreak a 'long time ago' and revealed local health chiefs were still working through a 'mountain' of data to see where the virus is spreading Data compiled by Public Health England (PHE) shows Havering (left) and Wiltshire (right, a view of a street in the centre of Salisbury in Wiltshire) have seen the biggest week-on-week increases in confirmed Covid-19 infections (300 per cent) Soldiers from the Royal Logistics Corp operate a mobile coronavirus testing site at Evington Leisure Centre in Leicester yesterday, with one pictured carrying a box for drivers to put their Covid-19 swabs in HOW A LARGE BAME POPULATION, POVERTY AND CROWDED HOMES MAY HAVE TRIGGERED LEICESTER'S SPIKE Government officials, local politicians and scientists are divided over whether Leicester is experiencing a real surge in cases or whether better testing is simply finding more of them where it wasn't before. It is also not clear whether there are any characteristics of Leicester which make it more likely to see a surge in cases, or if random chance has meant the first 'second wave' is happening there. Experts say many of the risk factors in Leicester are the same in all major cities in England. The mayor of the city, Sir Peter Soulsby, said on BBC Radio 4 this morning that a report sent to him by the Government 'actually acknowledges that it's very likely that the increase in number of positives identified is a result of increased testing, and that actually there's perhaps nothing of any great significance in those results.' Director of Public Health for the city, Ivan Browne, said: 'Interestingly it [the surge in cases] is very much around the younger, working age population and predominantly towards the east part of our city. We started to see this level through our testing programme. 'Young people work in many industries across the city so at this stage what we're trying to do is gather as much epidemiological information as we can to really try and get underneath and have an understanding. I don't think at the moment that we are seeing a single source or a single smoking gun on this'. It was always likely that surges in cases would be seen in cities first. There are more people, raising the risk, and those people are more likely to live in densely populated areas and come into contact with strangers on a regular basis. Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, from the University of Cambridge, said: 'There will be differences in the ease with which people can maintain physical distance between densely populated areas and rural environments so it isn't surprising to me that we may see localised flare-ups, which in turn may need suppressing through delayed easing or temporary re-introduction of some constraints on some movements and activities.' Leicester also has high levels of deprivation, which affects people's lives in ways that put them at risk of catching the virus. Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: 'In deprived areas people are more likely to have to go to work, less likely to be able to work from home, and more likely to use public transport. They can't distance themselves from others.' The Samworth Brothers sandwich factory in the city reported over the weekend that it had diagnosed cases of Covid-19 among its staff. Food processing factories are a higher transmission risk because cold environments allow the virus to survive for longer on hard surfaces and make people's airways more susceptible to infection. Dr Clarke added that the types of work people do may increase their risk. 'Blue collar cities are now at higher risk than places like London and Manchester which have more financial services,' he added. 'Factories and manufacturing work are opportunities [for people] to mix and mixing is what it's all about. You wouldn't put a food processing factory in London because it's too expensive.' The ethnicity of Leicester's residents may also play into the risk of the coronavirus spreading fast - 37 per cent of people in the city were Asian or British Asian in the 2011 Census, with 28 per cent of them of Indian heritage. One local researcher told MailOnline multi-generational households were 'part and parcel' of Asian culture and that grandparents often live with their younger relatives. This leads to larger households which increases the risk of more people catching the virus from one infected member of the family. If older people live in the home they are more likely to get seriously ill and to get tested and recorded as a patient, contributing to statistics. Research has shown younger people are more likely to have mild symptoms or not to notice they are ill at all, making them less likely to get tested and to show up in data collection. Professor Brendan Wren, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, added: 'Why this outbreak occurred in the east part of Leicester is unclear and we may never know as the number of cases may be too high to drill down to the fine detail of the original source(s) of the infection.' Advertisement Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia, admitted the number of cases has 'definitely' not been dropping in Leicester. He told MailOnline: 'It (the outbreak) has grumbled on for a bit but it doesn't look that dramatic to me, so I don't know where these big numbers are coming from.' Professor Hunter added: 'It is very concerning that much of the data needed to estimate risk at the local level is not being made publicly available. 'The local tests results currently available on the UK Covid-19 dashboard do not include those tests undertaken by commercial laboratories. 'So without all the tests being included in the local authority data, people cannot adequately assess their local risk. Indeed if you look at the dashboard data for Leicester, it is not that obvious that there is a major re-emergence of the infection there.' Leicester city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the local lockdown announced last night was 'more wide-ranging than wed anticipated'. He told a press conference: 'Im very very concerned obviously about the impact on the well-being of the city in general and the health of the people in the city, but also about the economy of the city. 'One of the things weve been stressing to the Government over recent times is that if Leicester is to be locked down and its economy put in limbo for a little longer, we will need support that was given earlier in the pandemic, throughout the UK, restored here in Leicester.' He also said that leaders are still trying to learn more about where the virus is in the city, saying: 'We do need still to know more about where it is in the community. 'Ive had lots of speculation and lots of questions about where it is in the community and we have not as yet been able to give satisfactory answers even to ourselves, no matter anybody else, about which parts of the community need the intervention. 'Which neighbourhoods, which communities, indeed which streets.' Furious Leicester residents blamed an explosion in coronavirus cases on 'idiots' flouting social distancing rules - as ministers warned people face arrest if they break a new lockdown being imposed on the city from today. In a taste of what communities across the country will face if there are flare-ups, Matt Hancock has declared that all non-essential shops in the area must shut, just two weeks after they were allowed to reopen. Schools will also be closed from Thursday amid fears the surge in cases is being driven by transmission among children - with the loosening planning for the rest of England on July 4 now off the agenda in Leicester until at least July 18. Mr Hancock hinted that there will be no extra compensation for businesses, and faced a backlash after admitting there will be no ban on cars or trains into the city. It is still not even clear where the boundaries of the restrictions will be. There is also anger that action was not taken sooner, with complaints that ministers kept local authorities in the dark for more than a week after identifying a worrying spike in cases. In a round of interviews intended to reassure an anxious public this morning, Mr Hancock said the government was mobilising its strategy for crushing localised outbreaks - dubbed 'whack a mole' by Boris Johnson. 'It's so important that we get a grip on this spike that has happened in Leicester. We will be closing the shops by law and will be changing the law in the next day or two to do that,' he told BBC Breakfast. He warned people not to travel 'in, out or within Leicester' unless it is essential, but added: 'We are not putting that into law at this stage - we will keep that under review and make changed if we need to'. However, experts branded the outbreak in Leicester 'a reflection of premature lifting of lockdown measures', and predicted other cities would need the same treatment. And health committee chair Jeremy Hunt described the action as a 'necessary puncturing of the elation' that had been building in England as the lockdown loosens. Mr Hancock revealed that testing over the past ten days had revealed an 'unusually high incidence in children in Leicester'- who are unlikely to be ill themselves but could pass it to adults. HOW BIG IS THE ACTUAL COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN LEICESTER? Leicester City Council (LCC) claims there has been 3,216 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases across the city since Britain's outbreak began to spiral out of control in February. Local officials revealed 944 of those Covid-19 infections were diagnosed in the past fortnight meaning the city's epidemic has grown by roughly 70.6 per cent since mid-June. This equates to roughly 977 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 people. But that data given to the LCC, which takes into account the results of all tests carried out across NHS, Public Health England and commercial laboratories, is not available to the public. Only the geographical breakdown of pillar one testing which the government says is only given to patients with a medical need or key workers is released by the Department of Health every afternoon. That data shows Leicester has only recorded 1,056 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began a third of the figure obtained by LCC. It revealed only 366 new infections have been confirmed in May and June. This includes 41 recorded between June 20 and 26. In comparison, just 39 were registered in the seven-day spell that ended June 19. The official figures prompted experts to question whether or not Leicester was actually being hit by an outbreak. Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia, said Leicester's Covid-19 outbreak has grumbled on for a bit 'but it doesn't look that dramatic to me'. He told MailOnline it was 'very concerning' that most of the coronavirus data needed to estimate risk at the local level is not being made publicly available by health officials. Advertisement He said: 'There are under 18s that have tested positive and therefore because children can transmit the disease we think the safest thing to do is to close the schools', adding that they delayed this until Thursday to allow parents to organise childcare'. Residents have been advised to stay at home and warned against all but essential travel following a spike of 940-plus Covid-19 cases in Leicester since mid-June. The area accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive cases in Britain over the past week. Mr Hancock said 'in some cases' the lockdown would be enforced by the police, while legal changes would be made so non-essential retail is no longer open. 'We will be bringing forward a legal change very shortly, in the next couple of days, because some of the measures that we've unfortunately had to take in Leicester will require legal underpinning,' he said. When pressed on how people would be stopped from travelling outside the city, he said: 'We're recommending against all but essential travel both to and from and within Leicester, and as we saw during the peak, the vast majority of people will abide by these rules. 'Of course we will take further action including putting in place laws if that is necessary but I very much hope it won't be.' But Leicester Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the new lockdown in the city should have been brought in much sooner. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: 'The Secretary of State (Matt Hancock) announced that he believed there was an outbreak in Leicester the best part of two weeks ago. 'Since then, we've been struggling to get information from them about what data they had, what led them to believe there was a particular problem here, and struggling to get them to keep the level of testing in Leicester.' He said he had been trying 'for weeks' to access data on the level of testing in the city and was only given access last Thursday. When asked whether a local lockdown should have been brought in earlier, he said: 'If as seems to be the case, the figures suggest there are issues in the city, I would wish that they had shared that with us right from the start, and I wish they had taken a more speedy decision rather than leaving it 11 days from the Secretary of State's first announcement... 'That's a long gap, and a long time for the virus to spread.' LEICESTER WOMAN LIVING WITH INCURABLE CANCER WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE HER MOTHER AFTER 17 WEEKS Pictured: Michelle Teale with her mother Marian, who she hasn't seen in 17 weeks A Leicester woman living with incurable cancer has said she is 'gutted' that the city's new lockdown means she will not be able to see her mother for the first time in 17 weeks. Michelle Teale, 58, has stage four breast cancer which is 'treatable but not curable', putting her in the shielding group for Covid-19. A change in government advice which comes into force on July 6 meant she was preparing to travel to Cleethorpes next week to see her 85-year-old mother, Marian, who lives on her own. But now Leicester is being placed in additional lockdown measures because of a spike in coronavirus cases, that trip will have to wait. 'That's the upsetting part for me because she needs me as much as I need her,' Mrs Teale, who lives in Thorpe Astley, said. 'She's been really worried about me since I had my last surgery and I just haven't been able to see her. 'I'd arranged to see her the week commencing the sixth, so that was a big thing to create a little bubble with her, and I can't do it now, because it's non-essential travel. 'So that's a bit of a downer really. I feel quite gutted.' Mrs Teale has scarcely left her home since March, except to go on occasional short walks, having undergone her most recent surgery in February. She feels the spike in Leicester is because of 'people not following the guidelines' and believes advice from the government has not been clear enough. Advertisement Dr Bharat Pankhania, Senior Clinical Lecturer at University of Exeter Medical School predicted more cities will be locked down in the same way. He said: 'Going forward; six months, nine months from today, we will have outbreaks in Manchester, Birmingham - other big cities'. A councillor representing the area at the epicentre of Leicesters coronavirus outbreak today criticised the Government for not acting quicker to tackle the increase in cases. Councillor Rashmikant Joshi represents the North Evington ward, which has the highest number of cases in the city. Following a spike of 800-plus Covid-19 cases in Leicester since mid-June, North Evington accounts for almost 200 of them, according to the latest figures seen by Mr Joshi. He told MailOnline: 'The Government knew about this increase in coronavirus cases in Leicester almost 12 days ago and has not done anything about it until this week, when it announced a local lockdown. Even then we were only informed at the last minute and had no idea what was going on. 'The Government didnt work with the city authority or local public health bodies to put a plan in place. We have been asking for information for the past 12 days and they have still not come forward with what we require. 'Its disgraceful the way in which this has been handled. Theres a lot of panic and anxiety across Leicester but particularly in my ward.' Almost 60 per cent of North Evingtons population is of South Asian background, which Mr Joshi claims may account for the coronavirus increase in the area. North Evington is made up of tightly packed terraced homes and is the site of a number of religious places of worship and busy shops. He said: 'We have a lot of inter-generational households, where young people live with their grandparents. South Asians also tend to live in larger family groups, which increases the risk of infection. 'Since the easing of the lockdown, a lot of youngsters have been going out more and not maintaining social distance. Theres a high chance that they came home and passed on the virus to elderly relatives.' Mr Joshi, 62 maintained that health and economic factors could also have played a significant part in the coronavirus increase. He said: 'A lot of people in this community also have underlying health conditions, which makes them more vulnerable to coronavirus. They also work in low paid jobs and continued working throughout the lockdown and were going out more than people in other, more affluent areas.' The councillor revealed that his wife and a number of his relatives had also contracted coronavirus over the past three months and that he had been in self-isolation on three separate occasions. Mr Joshi added: 'We still dont know the exact reasons as to why North Evington and Leicester have had a high number of coronavirus cases. We have asked the Government for a fuller breakdown of the figures but have still not received them. 'We are still waiting to understand the full picture but a combination of cultural, health and economic factors have clearly played a big part in whats occurred.' COUNCILLOR OF WARD AT HEART OF THE CITY'S OUTBREAK SLAMS THE GOVERNMENT FOR NOT ACTING QUICKER A councillor representing the area at the epicentre of Leicesters coronavirus outbreak has criticised the Government for not acting quicker to tackle the increase in cases. Councillor Rashmikant Joshi represents the North Evington ward, which has the highest number of cases in the city. Following a spike of 800-plus Covid-19 cases in Leicester since mid-June, North Evington accounts for almost 200 of them, according to the latest figures seen by Mr Joshi. He told MailOnline: The Government knew about this increase in coronavirus cases in Leicester almost 12 days ago and has not done anything about it until this week, when it announced a local lockdown. Even then we were only informed at the last minute and had no idea what was going on. The Government didnt work with the city authority or local public health bodies to put a plan in place. We have been asking for information for the past 12 days and they have still not come forward with what we require. Its disgraceful the way in which this has been handled. Theres a lot of panic and anxiety across Leicester but particularly in my ward. Almost 60% of North Evingtons population is of South Asian background, which Mr Joshi claims may account for the coronavirus increase in the area. North Evington is made up of tightly packed terraced homes and is the site of a number of religious places of worship and busy shops. He said: We have a lot of inter-generational households, where young people live with their grandparents. South Asians also tend to live in larger family groups, which increases the risk of infection. Since the easing of the lockdown, a lot of youngsters have been going out more and not maintaining social distance. Theres a high chance that they came home and passed on the virus to elderly relatives. Mr Joshi, 62 maintained that health and economic factors could also have played a significant part in the coronavirus increase. He said: A lot of people in this community also have underlying health conditions, which makes them more vulnerable to coronavirus. They also work in low paid jobs and continued working throughout the lockdown and were going out more than people in other, more affluent areas. The councillor revealed that his wife and a number of his relatives had also contracted coronavirus over the past three months and that he had been in self-isolation on three separate occasions. Mr Joshi added: We still dont know the exact reasons as to why North Evington and Leicester have had a high number of coronavirus cases. We have asked the Government for a fuller breakdown of the figures but have still not received them. We are still waiting to understand the full picture but a combination of cultural, health and economic factors have clearly played a big part in whats occurred. Advertisement Young people in Leicester, who are believed to be disproportionately affected by the return of the virus, are unsurprised Covid is making a comeback. Molly Farmer-Law, 16, has just finished her GCSE year and said friends could not resist the temptation to party, even though she has stayed in. 'Quite a few people have been meeting up' she said. 'Not many people my age were taking it seriously. People had just finished school and wanted to meet. We've seen it on videos.' And even if pubs and clubs stay closed in Leicester few think it will curb social activity among the 18 to 30s as the summer moves into full swing. 'Everyone is still doing what they were doing before' said Grace, 27, who did not want to give her full name. 'People will find somewhere for a drink. If they can't get it in Leicester they will go elsewhere or to illegal raves. 'There are a lot of abandoned warehouses around here, or they'll go to Nottingham or Loughborough. They will find somewhere' said the healthcare assistant, who has seen many cases of Covid among the people she cares for. Student Faith Owolambi, 21, agreed. 'They will go somewhere else to meet up. Birmingham and Coventry are not far, or they will just go to the park.' Pubs, clubs and restaurants in Leicester were already struggling financially after the lockdown began on March 23, and are now faced with another two weeks without being able to trade. The Konak Turkish restaurant on the edge of the city centre has lost 50,000 and laid off 20 of its 26 staff since the lockdown began. 'They said we could open on July 4 and we were sold out,' said front of house manager Osman Macit, who is 24 'We had taken 46 bookings and we had spoken to staff about coming back and now we have to cancel all of that. It is all going out of the window. And we don't know if it is going to be two weeks or more.' Meanwhile, some Leicester residents are warning other cities to take the threat of a second wave seriously, since they could be next. Retired maths teacher Mohamed Ahmed, 58, has been wearing a mask throughout the pandemic and does not intend to remove it when outdoors until next spring. 'I think this will happen in other places' he said. 'Once the lockdown is opened up people will not be that bothered and they will pass it on to other people.' At Leicester Market, which has remained open throughout the pandemic, traders insisted the new rise of Covid in the city had nothing to do with them. 'The market has not been closed, but even now people are still scared to come out' said Stephen Powley, 56, who has worked on Leicester Market for more than 40 years. The greengrocer, who was doing a reasonable trade in fresh fruit even though the number of shoppers is well down on pre-pandemic levels and more than half the pitchers are empty. 'There is more space here than queueing for the shops,' said the veteran trader, who has his son, Jack, 15, alongside while the schools are closed. 'This is safer than Sainsbury's or any other supermarket. It is spread out, it's in the open air. We have notices asking people to stay two metres apart and not to handle the produce.' Colleague Buddy Abbott, 55, who came on the market as a teenage apprentice agreed. 'There have been no signs of Covid among market traders. If there was the market would be closed straight away.' Leicester barber Blake Edwards, 38, had been ready to reopen his salon on July 4 before learning he would have to sit back and wait. The 38-year-old said the situation in Leicester was 'embarrassing'. Americans travelers will be refused entry into the European Union for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. The EU announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, excluding U.S. travelers further because of the recent worrying spike in cases. Travelers from other big countries such as Russia, Brazil and India will also miss out. Citizens of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay will now be allowed into the EU's 27 member states. They can also enter the four other nations in Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone. Not open to Americans: France, Germany, Italy and Spain and the other smaller members of the European Union are keeping a travel on on the 'unsafe' U.S. in place Americans travelers will be refused entry into the European Union for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S., it was revealed Tuesday WHERE EU SAYS IS SAFE.. AND IS UNSAFE On the safe list: Algeria Australia Canada Georgia Japan Montenegro Morocco New Zealand Rwanda Serbia South Korea Thailand Tunisia Uruguay On the unsafe list: United States Russia Brazil India Advertisement The EU said China is 'subject to confirmation of reciprocity', meaning it must lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China before it will allow Chinese citizens back in. Countries considered for the safe list are also expected to lift any bans they might have in place on European travelers. As Europe's economies reel from the impact of the coronavirus, southern EU countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving visitors and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries. More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic. Still, many people both inside and outside Europe remain wary of travel in the coronavirus era, given the unpredictability of the pandemic and the possibility of second waves of infection that could affect flights and hotel bookings. There are concerns in particular about U.S. travelers, where spikes in cases are causing the rollback and slowdown of state reopenings. New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases - as Arizona became the latest hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms. COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises occurring in the West and South of the country. Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April. Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March. Part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame but health experts say lack of social distancing since stay-at-home orders were lifted in most states from Memorial Day is also a factor. In contrast, aside from a notable recent outbreak tied to a slaughterhouse in western Germany, the virus' spread has generally stabilized across much of continental Europe. Countries now being allowed to enter the EU have seen a drastic decline in coronavirus cases and have managed to combat the spread within their own borders. On June 8, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the coronavirus outbreak in the country had been crushed. She has since come under fire after travelers to the country weren't placed in proper quarantine or tested, leading to further infections, but there are still only 20 active cases in the entire country. This compares to more than 1.7million active cases in the U.S. Canadian travelers will also now be allowed entry to the EU. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that Canada is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak but voiced concern over cases in the neighboring U.S. Canadian medical officials released their latest forecasts on Monday, showing the number of overall deaths could be between 8,545 and 8,865 by July 12. The current Canadian death toll is 8,522 compared to more than 125,000 in the U.S. In Japan, the second country in the world to report coronavirus cases after China, deaths have been kept low compared to the U.S. with many of the population wearing masks. It has just over 18,600 coronavirus cases whereas the U.S. is nearing 2.6million. Japan's population is about a third of the U.S. population. Infection rates in Brazil, Russia and India are high too, meaning their citizens are also unlikely to be allowed into the EU any time soon. Spared disaster in the outbreak's early days, they are all now at the mercy of the fast-spreading virus and have seen cases spiral out of control in recent weeks. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the US has the highest number of COVID-19 infections with over 2.5million cases. Brazil, Russia, India and the UK follow behind Data collected from governments around the world by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US shows that the coronavirus has spread to almost every corner of the globe. By Sunday evening the global death toll surpassed 500,000 In Brazil and India cases have tripled in a month. Brazil, a South American country home to 210million people, is now experiencing arguably the worst outbreak in the world after the total number of people to have had Covid-19 rocketed from 411,821 on May 28 to more than 1.31million on Sunday. It has the second highest number of cases in the world with more than 1.3million. Brazil also has the second highest number of deaths with a death toll of more than 59,300. In India, cases soared from 158,333 a month ago to 528,859 today, according to the Our World in Data project. Meanwhile, more than 60 per cent of daily new cases came from countries in the Americas on Sunday, according to data published by the WHO. More than a third of 190,000 new infections on Sunday occurred in Brazil and a fifth of them were in the US. A demonstrator places flowers on a cross during a protest against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and in honour of the people who died of COVID-19 in which 1000 crosses were placed in front of the National Congress in Brazil on Sunday as cases in the country rise Tens of thousands of travelers had a frantic, chaotic scramble in March to get home as the pandemic swept across the world and borders slammed shut. EU envoys to Brussels have launched a written procedure which would see the list endorsed Tuesday as long as no objections are raised by member countries. The list is expected to contain up to 15 countries that have virus infection rates comparable to those in the EU. The countries would also have to lift any bans they might have on European travelers. The list of permitted nations is to be updated every 14 days, with new countries being added or even dropping off depending on if they are keeping the disease under control. It must be passed by a 'qualified majority' of EU countries, meaning 15 EU countries representing 65 percent of the population. Four EU diplomats said they expected it to secure the required backing. The list will act as a recommendation to EU members, meaning they will almost certainly not allow access to travelers from other countries, but could potentially set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations. In March, President Donald Trump suspended all people from Europes ID check-free travel zone from entering the U.S., making it unlikely now that U.S. citizens would qualify to enter the EU. The EU imposed restrictions on non-essential travel to its 27 nations, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, which are part of the Schengen open-borders area, in March to halt the spread of the virus. Non-EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban. The EU's efforts to reopen internal borders, particularly among the 26-nation Schengen area which normally has no frontier checks, have been patchy as various countries have restricted access for certain visitors. Greece is mandating COVID-19 tests for arrivals from a range of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, with self-isolation until results are known. The Czech Republic is not allowing in tourists from Portugal and Sweden. The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January. Britain now requires all incoming travelers - bar a few exceptions like truck drivers - to go into a self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks. The requirement also applies to U.K. citizens. The statue of a Roman Emperor outside York Minster because he ended the persecution of Christians could be torn down after a review into whether it celebrates slavery. Emperor Constantine's likeness has been in the south side of the cathedral for over 20 years but is now under the spotlight. York Minster is looking into the statue after receiving complaints the Roman leader supported slavery. The statue of Emperor Constantine is by 'looked at' after complaints about the leader's links to the slave trade He is at the place of worship because he declared an end to the persecution of Christians. He was also the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. It comes in the wake of the Most Rev Justin Welby saying last week said that statues in Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey would be looked at 'very carefully' to see if they should stay. He spoke out amid Black Lives Matter protests that saw the sculpture of slave Edward Colston brought to the ground in Bristol earlier this month. The York Minister is understood to be reviewing the statue after complaints over slavery links A spokesman for York Minster told the Telegraph: 'The Cathedrals Fabric Commission is developing national guidance for churches and cathedrals about how to respond to concerns about their statues and monuments. Cathedrals and churches will be encouraged to work with their communities at all levels to develop local knowledge and dialogue about the place of these monuments in their local history. 'At York Minster this will include working a range of partners such as the York Civic Trust.' An artist's impression of how Emperor Constantine would have looked in his heyday Nero or hero? Who was Emperor Constantine Emperor Constantine, also known as Constantine the Great, is well-thought of in comparison to Roman villains like Emperor Nero He was the first Roman emperor to profess Christianity and sparked the movement to turn the empire to the religion He first arrived in Britain with his father, the Roman emperor Constantius, in AD305 His link to York came a year after his parent's death when he was pronounced the emperor of the city Slavery was a huge part of the Roman empire, but conditions for the slaves improved slightly after he took power. But despite his religious beliefs he did not abolish slavery, instead only passing laws that made it illegal to kill them or brand them Advertisement The statue is understood to have been commissioned by the York Civic Trust and handed to the place of worship in 1988. A trust spokesman said: 'Questions of absolute ownership of the statue are complicated by its need for maintenance (it has suffered from petty vandalism from time to time). 'But in practical terms, its setting is maintained by the Minster assumingly or if not City of York Council or its involvement with York Business Improvement District all as part of the good working relationship we have with the Minster.' Along with Colston a monument in Edinburgh commemorating a politician who delayed the abolition of slavery has also been targeted in protests. The Melville Monument, in St Andrew Square, in memory of Henry Dundas was spray-painted with the words 'George Floyd' and 'BLM' (for Black Lives Matters). It was hit because Dundas put forward an amendment to a bill which would have abolished slavery in 1792, opting for a more 'gradual' approach. This is not the first time York's famous Roman statue, which was created by Phillip Jackson, has hit the headlines. In 2016 the sculpture's sword was taken, sparking a police hunt. It had been 'kicked out' of the statue, leaving it badly damaged. The trust had to spend 1,000 restoring it back to its original state, while police arrested a 31-year-old man over the criminal damage. He was caught nearby after being seen by a member of the public 'brandishing' the replica weapon. Boris Johnson promised to nominate Sir Mark Sedwill to be the next chief of NATO as part of the Cabinet Secretary's exit package, it was claimed today. Sir Mark, who is stepping down as head of the Civil Service and as the Government's National Security Adviser, was apparently told by the Prime Minister that Number 10 will put his name forward for the highly-coveted position. However, the current secretary general of the international military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, is not expected to retire from the role until the end of 2022. As a result some Whitehall sources have questioned whether Mr Johnson will actually deliver on the promise, given that it is so far in the future. Sir Mark was apparently told by the PM that securing the role will be important for his 'Global Britain' agenda but sources fear the support could prove to be 'half-hearted'. 'I think Mark is either brave or courageous to accept a promise that they'll do that in 2022,' a Whitehall source told The Times. 'I really hope they keep their word but we've all seen this happen before.' The source suggested Sir Mark's hopes could be 'sacrificed' by Number 10 in the future for 'something that they really want'. Sir Mark Sedwill, pictured arriving in Downing Street yesterday, will step down as Cabinet Secretary and National Security Adviser in September Boris Johnson, pictured during a visit to a school in west London yesterday, is said to have told Sir Mark he will nominate him to be the next secretary general of NATO Sir Mark's departure from the Government, announced on Sunday, sent shockwaves through Whitehall and came after repeated reports of clashes with Mr Johnson's top aide Dominic Cummings. The recruitment process for the role of Cabinet Secretary is just getting underway with Sir Mark due to formally step down in September. But Mr Johnson has already appointed Sir Mark's successor as National Security Adviser, with chief Brexit negotiator David Frost to be handed the role. However, Downing Street has been forced to defend the move because unlike previous holders of the post, Mr Frost is a political adviser rather than a career civil servant and lacks security experience. The former cabinet secretary Lord O'Donnell has warned political appointees were more likely to be 'yes-men' - telling ministers what they wanted to hear rather than 'speaking truth to power'. 'I'm worried about the appointment of David Frost as national security adviser because I'm not quite sure how putting a special adviser in that role works,' he told the BBC. Downing Street has insisted such appointments are not unusual in other countries and that Mr Frost - who has the status of an ambassador - had spent 25 years as a diplomat in the Foreign Office before leaving in 2013. 'The appointment of the NSA is always a decision for the Prime Minister,' the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said. 'It is not unusual in other countries for ambassadors to serve as national security advisers and ambassadors can be political appointees. David Frost has the status of an ambassador. 'The First Civil Service Commissioner has agreed the appointment. That is consistent with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act.' Mr Johnson has sought to play down claims that Sir Mark's position had been undermined by a series of hostile press briefings. Mr Cummings was reported to have been unimpressed by the response of the Cabinet Office to the coronavirus outbreak, telling aides a 'hard rain is coming' for the Civil Service. Speaking during a visit to a school in west London yesterday, Mr Johnson insisted that Sir Mark - who will continue to be involved in the preparations for the UK taking on the presidency of the G7 next year - still had 'a lot to offer'. He dismissed claims that Sir Mark had been deliberately undermined through hostile press briefings, making his position untenable. 'I try not to read too much of the negative briefing,' Mr Johnson said. 'There is an awful lot of stuff that comes out in the papers to which I wouldn't automatically attach the utmost credence.' However, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that it was 'obvious' that the Prime Minister had been determined to get rid of Sir Mark. We have done so much to try to build relationships and to bring better understanding between the police and minority communities that we have seen we really want the same things usually 90%-plus of the time, he said. A 94-year-old grandmother who went missing from her Indian village has been reunited with her grandson after 40 years of living with a surrogate family who took her in. Panchu Bai, who suffers with memory problems, vanished in 1979 after leaving her home in Maharashtra in western India. Panchu got stung by a swarm of bees while trying to get back and, injured and confused, wandered on to a national highway. She was found in a dishevelled condition and with severe bee stings by kindhearted truck driver, Noor Mohammad. Mr Mohammad brought Panchu back to his family home in a neighbouring district, and took care of her as his own sister. Grandmother Panchu Bai, 94, who went missing from her Indian village has been reunited with her grandson after 40 years of living with a surrogate family who took her in. Pictured: Panchu (left) reunited with her village community in Maharashtra She was welcomed by his family and received utmost love and care. Throughout the years, Mr Mohammad's family tried to find out about Panchu's past but because of a language barrier they could never understand the exact name of her village. This was until Esrar Khan, Mr Mohammad's son, asked her again while he was living at home during the coronavirus lockdown. Mr Khan said: 'We asked her several times about her village and all she could say was Khanjum Nagar. 'We tried to find it out but nobody could help us. But my quest to find her place never ended. Panchu Bai, who suffers with memory problems, vanished in 1979 after leaving her home in Maharashtra in western India. Pictured: Panchu reunited with her village community 'Recently, I asked her again and this time she said a different name - Paraspur. 'When I checked it on Google Maps, Paraspur was shown in Maharashtra.' Panchu (pictured) got stung by a swarm of bees while trying to get back and, injured and confused, wandered into a national highway. There she was taken in by kindhearted truck driver, Noor Mohammad On May 7, Mr Khan found the phone number of a local shopkeeper and contacted them to check if the village exists. He sent a video of Panchu - who he dubbed an aunt - to the shopkeeper. He also hailed from Panchu's community and spread the video. Mr Khan said: 'I sent him my aunt's video on May 7, which he shared on a WhatsApp group of the Kirar community. 'I received a phone call around midnight, saying the woman had been identified and her relatives traced.' While Panchu's son died three years ago, her grandson Prithvi Bhaiyalal Shingane, 43, was astounded to see that his missing grandmother was alive. On June 17, he, along with other relatives he met his grandmother at Mr Mohammad's village and took her home. Mr Shingane said: 'I cannot tell you how happy I am! It feels wonderful to finally have a grandmother. I was just a young boy when she went missing. 'All these years, my father searched for her. He died without finding her but I am grateful to Khan family, that I could bring her back to her home. 'I am extremely grateful to the Khan family for looking after grandmother all these years and never failed to find the whereabouts of her family.' Horrifying footage captured the moment a man was set upon by two car loads of people before being slashed multiple times with a machete. The wild brawl was captured by CCTV at a supermarket in Medina, Perth, showing the man being attacked by a large group of people on Tuesday. 'Around 1:55pm a man and woman attended a supermarket on Pace Road. While at the supermarket they were involved in an argument with a group of people,' police said in a statement. A man was left with lacerations to his hand, arm and head after being attacked by a large group of people during a brazen daylight brawl in Perth on Tuesday (pictured) 'Outside the supermarket a number of people exited a white Toyota Prado and a silver Holden Commodore and assaulted the man.' The man suffered lacerations to his hand, arm and head and was taken to the Royal Perth Hospital for treatment. In the footage, the victim is seen standing on the corner talking to another man in the silver Commodore nearby. Suddenly up to seven people jump out of the Holden and the Prado parked in front of it. Four of the people charge the victim who manages to defend himself for a moment before being overwhelmed. The vicious attack only lasts a few moments before the attackers flee back to their cars. Police are appealing for anyone with information regarding the incident to contact Crime Stoppers. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick at Downing Street on June 8 Britain's most senior police officer today said it was 'easy to sit an in armchair and criticise what you're seeing on a video' after violent clashes between the force and revellers at illegal raves over the past week. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick also said there will be more officers on the streets this weekend on 'Super Saturday' amid fears violence could flare when pubs reopen following a three-month coronavirus lockdown since March 20. She added that the Met had 'not gone soft' and it was 'absurd to suggest the streets have been lost' following violent clashes between police and revellers in recent days, including at an illegal rave last Wednesday night in Brixton. Dame Cressida also said the force had 'extra resources in place' in London and had been preparing for the reopening of bars 'for some time' as concerns rise over a wave of anti-social behaviour. She was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about comments by former Met detective Peter Bleksley last week, who said: 'Wednesday evening, Brixton, police in high-vis and flat caps. Thursday evening, Notting Hill, police in full public order kit. Inconsistent. Are senior officers making it up as they go along?' Two people stamp on the windscreen of a police car during violence in Brixton last Wednesday Police in Brixton last Wednesday night after a illegal party turned into violence on the streets But Dame Cressida said today: 'The thing about policing is, firstly, it's quite easy to sit an in armchair and criticise what you're seeing on a video. 'Secondly, the officers on the ground make decisions according to what is presented to them, and things can change very fast. Police prepare for a weekend that could be 'as busy as New Year's Eve' amid fears over 'drunken clowns' Police federation leaders warned that the public will be 'out in droves' on July 4, with one fearing a return to Accident and Emergency departments resembling 'a circus full of drunken clowns' at weekends. Tim Clarke from the Metropolitan Police Federation, that represents officers up to the rank of chief inspector, said he feared this weekend 'could be anything but a 'Super Saturday' for police officers'. He went on: 'The challenges they face this weekend with pubs and restaurants reopening and many people predicted to travel across the country to see family and friends will make this weekend perhaps as busy as policing New Year's Eve. 'People will be coming out in droves and if we have nice weather again this weekend it will be a significant challenge with the further relaxation of Covid-19 guidance. 'This could have been mitigated by waiting until Monday to further relax the Government guidelines to us all - but as always, policing and police officers will do the best we can in the challenging circumstances.' Brian Booth, chairman of West Yorkshire Police Federation, warned that alcohol fuels crime and puts more strain on the emergency services. He said: 'Police officers are right to have concerns about this weekend and Government restrictions being lifted based on our experience of people's behaviour changing when alcohol is involved. 'We have more violence, street disorder, sexual assaults, missing people and injured people who may need medical assistance. All of these impose significant strain on policing and our colleagues in the NHS. 'Having seen the effect of fast food drive-thru outlets in West Yorkshire opening, and some of the public behaviour which followed, my concerns are heightened purely due to alcohol and the issues this brings. 'Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, local A&Es on Friday and Saturday nights were at times akin to a circus full of drunken clowns. We do not need this once again. 'It is known that alcohol lowers inhibitions and I truly hope the vast majority of public maintain their common sense, remembering we are still living under the cloud of Covid.' Advertisement 'You can't predict exactly what a crowd is going to do. We always start, and must continue to start, with trying to speak to people, to engage with people, to persuade people. 'As soon as violence is shown in that way towards our officers, we should get our officers kitted up, and that's what we do.' She added: 'We have not gone soft. It is absurd to suggest the streets have been lost.' London has seen tensions flare during recent Black Lives Matter protests and a series of unlicensed music events. Last weekend the capital saw its fourth night of illegal raves, with officers forced to break up two large parties after Dame Cressida vowed to shut down events that flout health regulations. After being asked about clashes with police relating to illegal parties, Dame Cressida said: 'There are a lot of people in London and elsewhere who are missing going to music festivals and the like, and I understand that. 'Unfortunately in London, and many other cities, unlicensed music events have historically been associated with violence and with gangs. We have every summer sought to stop them before they start. 'That's what we're doing this year again, and if people come out on the streets with sound systems, the local people hate it, we will take away the sound system, use our powers if people do not disperse. 'That's our job, and at the weekend we were doing that multiple times. I hope we've send a message that we will do that, we will continue to do it if we need to and we don't want to see the disorder and violence that has been associated with these events.' Police issued dispersal zone notices to force people to leave unlicensed music events at Clapham Common and Tooting Bec Common in South West London on Saturday. But the crowd took several hours to leave, with the last partygoers leaving the scene around 3am on Sunday morning. It follows a succession of lockdown parties and illegal raves last week in Brixton and Notting Hill when officers came under attack. On Friday evening a party in Newham saw seven people arrested, including one for having a gun and the other for holding a 'Rambo-style' knife. Two other people were arrested for throwing a bar stool at an officer and racially abusing an officer. Similarly, at an event in West Kilburn, five people were arrested, including two for attacking police officers. Speaking about the reopening of pubs on Saturday, Dame Cressida said: 'We've been continually changing our position and planning for the future, including of course for all the moments in which lockdown is eased. 'Next Saturday is another day, we've been preparing for that for some time, we're planning, we've got extra resources in place, we're talking to people in every way we can think of, we're absolutely prepared. 'You'll see a lot of police officers out on the street. There will be a lot more ready should people be out of order, should people get violent, but I'm not predicting that at this stage. Police were called to break up an unlicensed music event in West Kilburn on Friday evening A lockdown party in Notting Hill, West London, last Friday also saw officers come under attack 'I think we have seen over recent weeks, feelings have been running high in a number of areas for lots of reasons, coming out of lockdown, and of course the events after the death of George Floyd. 'Lots of people are quiet cross about a lot of things, and we are seeing people out on the streets and not always observing social distancing. 'So my message is, if you're coming out on Saturday, be calm, be sensible, look after yourself, look after your family, we are still in a global pandemic which is affecting this country, and people need to be sensible.' Last week in Liverpool, fans caused chaos when they descended on the city centre to celebrate the club's Premier League victory on Friday. A number of officers were injured while dispersing crowds after the Liver building caught fire during celebrations. Police issued a dispersal zone notice to force people to leave Clapham Common on Saturday A dispersal zone was imposed at Tooting Bec Common in South West London on Saturday Elsewhere, Northamptonshire Police said up to 50 people had been moved on following a planned operation to disrupt an illegal rave near Wellingborough on Saturday night. On Sunday it emerged that drug barons may be paying DJs to organise illegal 'festival-sized' raves to drum up business for them. The gangs have in effect set up marketplaces for class-A drugs by arranging mass gatherings in open countryside around the northwest of England. Police chiefs warned last week that a 'pressure cooker is building up' which could erupt into violence this summer as lockdown ends. Forces have begun cancelling leave and bolstering public order units in anticipation of widespread drunken disorder on so-called Super Saturday. Privately, many police chiefs are furious at Boris Johnson's decision to lift restrictions on a Saturday because they fear it will lead to a 'carnival' atmosphere as pubs reopen and people can finally reunite with friends and families. A police officer is injured during scuffles with demonstrators outside Downing Street during a Black Lives Matter march in London on June 6 following the death of George Floyd in the US George Floyd (left), a 46-year-old black man, died after white police officer Derek Chauvin (right) put his knee on his neck in Minneapolis on May 25 for nine minutes John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: 'I am concerned that we have a pressure cooker building up, a perfect storm. This could just be the beginning. 'It's everything people getting more and more frustrated at the lockdown, many young people do not think the pandemic is an issue for them. 'Now many companies are going to start laying people off, which financially is going to be a real challenge for people. 'Add to that what has happened overseas with George Floyd and we have seen protests spreading across the country.' Mr Apter said police had requested a midweek date for the reopening but their pleas were rejected by Downing Street. 'In an ideal world I would have liked to see the reopening in the middle of a week, to stagger things a bit,' he said. 'I wish we could have had a little bit of support on that.' A little girl fought her urge to eat an ice cream by having a chat with it and explaining why she was not allowed to eat it yet. Beth Goggin, from Atlanta, Georgia, filmed her four-year-old daughter, Ceci Grace Goggin, as she put a delicious-looking cup of ice cream in front of her and told her to wait. While Ceci waited for Beth to come back she adorably told her ice cream: 'No, don't lick me, mummy said don't eat that before I come back.' Four-year-old Ceci, from Atlanta, Georgia, managed to wait patiently before eating her ice cream by whispering to it Adorably she tells the ice cream: 'No, don't lick me, mummy said don't eat that before I come back,' as she pretends to lick it The seemingly impossible request was part of a social media challenge that tests children's willpower and patience. The 'patience challenge' has seen some toddlers impress their parents with their self-discipline while other toddlers could not help but give in. Little Ceci managed to practise restraint by talking to the ice cream about her situation. The adorable video shows her after her mother leaves the room asking the pink-and-white treat how it is doing. She explains to the cup that her mother said to wait for her to come back as she pretends to give the ice cream a lick. Ceci continues to talk to the cup saying 'you are ice cream' and sternly reminding it: 'Mommy said, "Don't eat that before I come back.'' ' Eventually Beth returns and Ceci excitedly tucks into her well-deserved cup of ice cream She also breaks out into song before tempting herself by putting her tongue torturously close to the ice cream. At the end of the video Beth returns and Ceci excitedly tucks into the ice cream cup. Beth said: 'Ceci did not actually lick it to my knowledge, I looked and didn't see any licks. 'She is a very outgoing child who loves Pink and knows the worlds to a lot of her songs. 'I did this because I was curious to see if my daughter had the patience, I am going to try it again with an iPad in front of her.' Judge Mark Savill spared Mark Thornton, 32, jailed for child sex offences A pervert who had sex with a 13-year-old schoolgirl while pretending to be a teenager has been spared jail after a judge branded the case 'exceptional'. Michael Thornton, now 32, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to two offences of sexual activity with a child. Thornton told the victim he was 16 but he was actually 22 and slept with the girl on two occasions, once when she was in her school uniform. At around the same time, he had sex with two other schoolgirls. He was previously tried for these offences and Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard he had spent 18 months in prison on remand while awaiting sentencing. He later received a three-year community order. But Thornton appeared before the courts again after the 13-year-old came forward to police and revealed he had slept with her while she was a schoolgirl. A judge has now spared Thornton jail after ruling that the case represented an 'exceptional set of circumstances'. The judge also heard that Thornton had since turned his life around and rehabilitated himself and is a married father of three. Prosecutors told how the victim had accepted a friend request on Facebook from Thornton. He told her she was 'beautiful' but it would have been 'abundantly clear' to Thornton that she was a child, prosecutor Justin Hayhoe said. She told him she was 13, and she had photos of herself on her Facebook profile. Thornton told her he was 16, despite being aged 22 at the time. Mr Hayhoe said Thornton behaved in a 'manipulative' manner, at one point saying he was suicidal. The girl persuaded him not to harm himself. The court was told the victim 'fell in love' with Thornton, and they agreed to meet up. They had sex on two occasions, once after she had met Thornton while wearing her school uniform. Years later, she reflected on what happened and felt 'disgusted', the court heard. She began to search for Thornton 'out of curiosity', and discovered he had been lying about his age. Michael Thornton, now 32, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to two offences of sexual activity with a child at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court. However, he was spared jail Mr Hayhoe said the victim wouldn't have engaged with Thornton had she known his true age. Thornton was interviewed last year after the police launched an investigation. The court heard Thornton, described as 'extremely immature' when committing the offences, is now a married father-of-three and has a job. Judge Mark Savill said Thornton had done 'exactly that which was required of you by the court'. Judge Savill said: 'No-one must think that anyone committing these offences can expect anything other than a far longer immediate sentence of imprisonment. 'This is an exceptional set of circumstances. Rarely can I say this, I am fully satisfied that you will continue to live a decent, law-abiding life.' Thornton was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to complete the Maps for Change program for sex offenders. Thornton, previously of Urmston, Greater Manchester, originally appeared at Manchester Crown Court in 2011. At that time, the judge said he had considered the length of time Thornton had spent on remand when allowing him the opportunity to complete a three-year community order. Gunn grabbed the bar and held it against her neck until he believed she died After the pair had sex, Gunn claimed Dann, 30, threatened him with a metal bar Ms Dann, 30, randomly met Amos Ryan Gunn after he left the racetrack in Moora The family of a young mother who was strangled to death with a metal bar have opened up about their grief, as it is revealed the killer referred to her body as a 'carcass' in a series of chilling texts. The 30-year-old woman - known only as Ms Dann for cultural reasons - had been kicked out of a party when she randomly met Amos Ryan Gunn after he left the racetrack in Moora, north of Perth, on March 17 last year. The then 21-year-old invited the mother-of-one into his home, but - according to Gunn's claims in WA's Supreme Court on Tuesday - the situation took a sinister turn when Ms Dann became enraged after the pair had sex. He claimed Ms Dann came out of the shower and threatened him with a metal bar, which he then grabbed from her - causing her to fall to the ground, The West reported. Gunn held the bar to her neck so forcefully he believed he had killed her, but the victim didn't die until some time later in hospital after emergency workers realised she was still breathing. In a victim impact statements read to the court, Ms Dann's mother Fatima described the feeling of 'emptiness inside' said her daughter's death would haunt her for the rest of her life. Amos Ryan Gunn invited Ms Dann into his home after they met on the street in Moora, north of Perth Ms Dann's father Robert told the court he was so consumed with grief that he is unable to work Her father Robert told the court he was so consumed with grief that he is unable to work. The heartbroken father-of-three said his daughter did not deserve to die, noting that 'violence against women was a senseless crime'. The court heard Gunn tried to cover the crime in the 15 minutes between her death and when he called for help. Within that time, he sent a series of text messages to his flatmate's father. 'The chicken is dead, mate. A fox or something got it. I'm not sure how to put it. Sorry.' In another message, he wrote: 'It isn't exactly a movie scenario. Ben and Shan aren't answering. I've got it under wraps until someone gets home to get rid of the carcass, though.' The court heard Gunn tried to cover the crime in the 15 minutes between her death and when he called for help. Pictured: The home where Gunn strangled Ms Dann The flatmate's father explained to police that Gunn told him 'an Indigenous person broke into the house and that he had stabbed them and that they were dead' - a lie he later admitted to because he was 'ashamed he slept with Ms Dann'. Justice Joseph McGrath sentenced Gunn to eights years in jail after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He pointed out that the killer - who stands at 185cm - had used 'excessive force' on his 162cm victim, but accepted that the Gunn failed to call emergency services straight away because he panicked after he thought he killed her. The judge also believed Gunn was genuinely sorry for leaving a five-year-old boy without a mother, and that his actions were in response to Ms Dann's outburst. He will be eligible for parole in six years, backdated to March 2019 when he was taken into custody. The federal government will spend $270billion over the next ten years on beefing up the Australian Defence Force with state-of-the-art equipment including long-range missiles and new artillery systems amid strategic and political tensions with China. In a speech to ADF cadets in Canberra on Wednesday morning, Scott Morrison will announce a major shift in defence policy to focus on projecting Australian power into the Indo-Pacific. It comes as the region faces growing instability after a brutal border dispute between India and China in the Himalayan mountains that killed at least 20 soldiers and with ongoing Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea. The main aim of the beef-up, which will include hiring 800 extra soldiers, is to deter aggression against Australia and its allies - but the Prime Minister also wants to prepare the defence force for war in case tensions escalate. Beijing and Canberra have been at loggerheads in recent weeks after Australia led global calls for an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, which first surfaced in Wuhan late last year. China retaliated by slapping an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley, suspending beef imports and telling students and tourists not to travel Down Under in an apparent attempt to damage the Australian economy. In May Australia unveiled The Loyal Wingman unmanned drone (pictured), its first military aircraft to be built on home soil in 50 years Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the flight deck as a EA-18G Growler lands on the USS Ronald Reagan, off the coast of Queensland on 12 July, 2019 The ADF will be increase by 800 personnel, comprised of 650 Navy, 50 Army and 100 Air Force. Pictured: Australian Army soldiers Private Samantha Dickins (left) and Private Maddison Hamilton, Female Guardian Angels at Camp Qargha, Afghanistan More than half of $270billion will be spent on improving Australia's air and maritime forces, including buying new AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles from the US. The missiles, which were designed in America in 2014, cost around $5million each and can hit a target 370km away, giving Australia significant new range. They will be attached to F/A-18F Super Hornet planes and can also be paired with other defence aircraft. Troops will be trained how to use the weapon next year. The government is also considering buying a range of other weapons and defence systems including the surface-to-air Missile, the High Mobility Rocket Artillery System and the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System. In addition, between $5billion and $7billion will be spent on undersea surveillance systems, and up to $17billion will go towards buying more fighter aircraft. Up to $11billion will be spent on remotely-piloted and autonomous combat aircraft, including air teaming vehicles. And between $8 and $11.5 billion will buy long range rocket fires and artillery systems including two regiments of self-propelled howitzers. More than half of $270billion will be spent on improving Australia's air and maritime forces, including buying new AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (pictured) from the US The missiles will be attached to F/A-18F Super Hornet planes (pictured) and can also be paired with other defence aircraft. Troops will be trained how to use the weapon next year In May Australia unveiled The Loyal Wingman unmanned drone, its first military aircraft to be built on home soil in 50 years. The drone will fly alongside fighter jets including Strike Fighters, Super Hornets and Growlers to provide support and intelligence and can hold several systems including a radar, an infrared search and track system and a defensive laser system. Billions will also be spent on space capabilities and cyber security as Australia faces ongoing attacks on institutions and companies from a 'state actor' which intelligence sources believe is China. The shift in focus on the Indo-Pacific comes as Australia pulls out of the Middle East with the training mission at the Taji Military Complex in Iraq concluded. Missiles, drones and artillery systems: How will Australia spend $270billion over next ten years? Maritime ($75 billion) Expanded maritime force to provide greater capability for anti-submarine warfare, sealift, border security, maritime patrol, aerial warfare, area denial and undersea warfare. Between $168 and $183 billion for the acquisition or upgrade of Navy and Army maritime vessels out to the 2050s. Between $5 to $7 billion in undersea surveillance systems. Between $400 to $500 million in long range maritime strike missiles. Air ($65 billion) Expanded air combat and mobility and new long range weapons and remotely piloted and autonomous systems will be introduced. Between $10 and $17 billion investment in fighter aircraft. Between $700 million to $1 billion for Operational Radar Network expansion. Between $3.4 billion and $5.2 billion to improve air launched strike capability. Between $6.2 and $9.3 billion in research and development in high speed long range strike, including hypersonic research to inform future investments Between $7.4 and $11 billion for remotely-piloted and autonomous combat aircraft, including air teaming vehicles. Land ($55 billion) Investment to ensure land forces have more combat power, are better connected, protected and integrated with each other and with our partners. Between $7.4 and $11.1 billion on future autonomous vehicles. Between $7.7 and $11.5 billion for long range rocket fires and artillery systems including two regiments of self-propelled howitzers. Between $1.4 and $2.1 billion for Army watercraft including up to 12 riverine patrol craft and several amphibious vessels of up to 2,000 tonnes to enhance ADF amphibious lift capacity. Defence Enterprise ($50 billion) Investment key infrastructure, ICT, innovation and Science and Technology programs critical to the generation of Defence capabilities. Between $6.8 and $10.2 billion in undersea warfare facilities and infrastructure. Between $4.3 and $6.5 billion to enhance Air Force's operational effectiveness and capacity in the Northern Territory. Between $900 million and $1.3 billion to upgrade key ports and infrastructure to support Australia's larger fleet of amphibious vessels. Between $20.3 and $30 billion to increase the supply of munitions and between $1 and $1.5 billion to explore expanding industry capacity for domestic guided weapons and explosive ordnance production capability. Information and cyber ($15 billion) Bolster offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, enhance electronic warfare and command and control systems and improve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. Space ($7 billion) Investment to improve resilience and self-reliance of Defence's space capabilities, including to assure access to capabilities, enable situational awareness and deliver real-time communications and position, navigation and timing. Between $4.6 and $6.9 billion in upgrades and future satellite communications systems, including communications satellites and ground control stations under sovereign Australian control. Between $1.3 and $2 billion to build our Space Situational Awareness capabilities. Advertisement The operation to train Iraqi troops to fight ISIS has been up and running since 2015 but was scaled back earlier this year due to coronavirus. There are no Australian troops left at the Taji complex near Baghdad and the mission has been concluded. In his speech at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Mr Morrison will outline three new strategic objectives for the defence force: to shape Australia's strategic environment, to deter actions against Australia's interests, and to respond with credible military force when required. 'We must be alert to the full range of current and future threats, including ones in which Australia's security and sovereignty may be tested,' Mr Morrison will say. 'This includes developing capabilities in areas such as longer-range strike weapons, cyber capabilities and area denial systems.' Mr Morrison will say that the the Indo-Pacific is 'the epicentre of rising strategic competition' as China looks to project its power beyond its shores. The Loyal Wingman unmanned drone (pictured) will fly alongside fighter jets including Strike Fighters, Super Hornets and Growlers to provide support and intelligence Warrant Officer Class Two Matthew Harris embraces his partner on arrival home to Brisbane after being deployed to the Middle East with Task Group Taji 9 Australian Defence Force personnel, deployed with Theatre Communications Group 8, at the Taji Military Complex, Iraqi 'Tensions over territorial claims are rising across the Indo-Pacific region - as we have seen recently on the disputed border between India and China, in the South China Sea, and in the East China Sea,' he will say. 'The risk of miscalculation - and even conflict - is heightening.' 'Regional military modernisation is occurring at an unprecedented rate. Capabilities and reach are expanding. Previous assumptions of enduring advantage and technological edge are no longer constants. 'Coercive activities are rife. Disinformation and foreign interference have been enabled by new and emerging technologies. 'And state sovereignty is under pressure - as are rules and norms, and the stability these help provide.' Mr Morrison will say that relations between China and the US are 'fractious' and that Australia's new defence policy signals its ability to 'project military power and deter actions against us.' On 19 June China was blamed for a massive cyber-attack on Australia amid an escalating feud between the two nations. Australian PM Scott Morrison is pictured meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping Scott Morrison said the country was under attack from a 'sophisticated state-based actor' targeting companies, hospitals, schools and government officials. Mr Morrison did not name the country, but government sources say there is a 'high degree of confidence that China is behind the attacks'. Australia says the cyber-attacks have increased dramatically in recent weeks and targeted 'all levels of government' as well as 'critical infrastructure'. Security chiefs say the hackers are using the so-called 'spear-phishing' method to steal sensitive login details by sending scam emails, and carrying out regular 'reconnaissance' to find weak points in Australia's defences. Earlier this month Australia launched six warships into the Indo-Pacific for training operations ahead of huge show of force in the region with the US Navy. HMA Ships Canberra, Hobart, Stuart, Anzac, Ballarat and Arunta all left their base in Sydney Harbour on Monday 13 June. Australia has launched six warships into the Indo-Pacific for training operations ahead of huge show of force in the region with the US Navy. Pictured: HMA Ships Stuart (foreground), Hobart and Canberra (background) depart Fleet Base East in Sydney They will conduct 'task group training' before taking part in a warfare training exercise with the US and other allies known as the Rim of the Pacific in August. The exercise is the world's largest international maritime warfare training mission, held every two years from Honolulu, Hawaii. A defence spokesman said the ships are 'currently conducting maritime task group training under strict COVID-19 preventive measures'. In recent months China has increased training exercises in the Pacific and started trailing its first homemade aircraft carrier. Prime Minster Scott Morrison said China should not be shocked by the show of force. A historic 400-year-old British pub named 'The Black Boy' is set to be renamed in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. The pub in Sevenoaks, Kent, will soon be called 'The Restoration' in a nod to King Charles II - who was restored as the monarch in 1660 following the period of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth. The pub name 'The Black Boy' is believed to be a reference to the 17th century monarch who is said to have been nicknamed 'Black Boy' by his mother, Henrietta Maria of France, due to his dark hair and complexion. It was a nickname that was taken up those who supported Charles II's attempts to restore the monarchy and it is believed a number of pubs changed their name to The Black Boy as a show of allegiance. Across England and Wales, there are at least 25 different pubs called 'The Black Boy', or similar. But the name has come under fire from anti-racism campaigners amid protests by the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK. Now the pub's brewers, Shepherd Neame, the oldest in the UK, have decided to change the name of the watering-hole, fearing its current moniker might not be welcoming to all customers. The pub in Sevenoaks, Kent, is to be renamed 'The Restoration' in a nod to King Charles II - who was restored as the monarch in 1660 following the rise of Oliver Cromwell The pub in Sevenoaks, Kent, was established in 1616 and there are conflicting accounts of where its name originates. But the name has come under fire from anti-racism campaigners amid protests by the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK A pub spokesman said: 'Shepherd Neame is committed to equality and diversity in every area of its business, and strives to create inclusive, welcoming pub environments for all customers to enjoy. The possible royal origins of 'The Black Boy' pub name Across England and Wales there are at least 25 different pubs called 'The Black Boy', or similar. Though the name is thought to have a number of origins, including the soot darkened faces of chimney sweeps, it is often thought to be a reference to King Charles II. King Charles II The monarch, who ruled England, Scotland and Ireland from 1660 until his death, aged 54, in 1665, was nicknamed 'Black Boy' by his mother, Henrietta Maria of France, due to his dark hair and complexion. He was restored as the monarch in 1660 after his father Charles I was executed and the traditional monarchy system removed in 1649 in place of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth following the English Civil War. Charles II's nickname was taken up by those who supported his attempts to restore the monarchy, who labelled themselves 'The Black Boys', and it is believed a number of pubs changed their name to The Black Boy as a show of allegiance. Other suggestions for the name's origins including the misspelling of a nautical navigation marker, a 'buoy'. Advertisement 'After much deliberation, we have decided to seek consent from relevant authorities to change the name and provide new signage for The Black Boy in Sevenoaks. 'It was not a decision taken lightly, but we recognise that its current name is not potentially welcoming for all customers, and feel that it is the right thing to do.' Shepherd Neame added: 'It could also refer to the nickname given to King Charles II due to his dark-hued skin and exile during Cromwell's name. 'It is believed that a number of pubs changed their name to The Black Boy to show their allegiance.' The pub in Sevenoaks, Kent, was established in 1616 and there are conflicting accounts of where its name originates. One theory is the pub was named after John Morockoe, a black man who worked in the kitchen and scullery at the nearby Knole country house. But the brewer says there are a number of other theories as to how the pub got its name, with some suggesting it could be to do with coal mining or chimney sweeps. The name change comes after another Black Boy pub in Retford, Nottinghamshire, removed its sign earlier this month amid fears it would be targeted by anti-racism campaigners. Meanwhile, Everards, which owns the Black Boy in Headington, Oxford, last month hit back at social media claims that the name makes black people feel 'alienated'. As reported in the Oxford Mail, one man took to the private Oxford Community group on Facebook this week to speak about the pub's name. He said: 'In this day and age with a multicultural setting, I wouldn't describe it as appropriate.' Another person added: 'It has always made me uncomfortable too. It should be changed I'm sure it puts lots of people off.' A spokesperson for Everards told the Oxford Mail: 'It's a 16th century pub which was rebuilt in the 1930s and therefore is an important part of the local story. Pubs across Britain named 'The Black Boy' have come under scrutiny from anti-racism protesters. The sign for the Black Boy Inn in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales (pictured left) and the sign for the Black Boy pub in Retford, Nottinghamshire (pictured right) It comes as a debate erupted over the name of one pub in the Manchester area named 'The Black Boy'. Pictured: The Black Boy in Headington There are at least 25 pubs in England and Wales named 'The Black Boy' or something similar, MailOnilne has found 'We understand that the pub has been called The Black Boy since at least 1805 and wherever possible we prefer to keep each pub's history alive and retain the original name.' A return to power: How Charles II was restored as the monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland England's era of monarch rule was brought to a swift end with the execution of Charles I in 1649. It was replaced by Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth following the English Civil War between the Parliamentarians (nicknamed the Roundheads) and the Royalists (nicknamed the Cavaliers). Oliver Cromwell In 1653 Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector, essentially replacing the king as 'head of state'. But after his death 1658, his son Richard succeeded him, but soon resigned. Civil unrest began to grow and calls spread for the return of the monarch, with Charles I's son, also named Charles, becoming the new monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland. Charles, who had no legitimate children, was succeeded by his brother James after his death. But more unrest ensued, primarily along religious divides, and James II was deposed by his daughter Mary and her husband William III of Orange. The royal overthrow, named the Glorious Revolution, sparked the Bill of Rights in 1689, which affirmed parliamentary supremacy - the foundations of the system of governance we still have today. Advertisement In Manchester, a row erupted last month on social media site Twitter over one pub called 'The Black Boy' in Wythenshawe, in the south of the city. The debate was sparked by one account, Manc Pictures, who said in a now-deleted Tweet: 'So this is my local pub called "The Black Boy" and there's now a petition to get the name changed. 'Honestly not sure what to make of it, to me it's not racist at all.' Some rushed to defend the pub, including one who said the name had 'nothing to do with race ever'. But another, named Michelle, said: 'I always hated the name when I taught around there if I'm honest. I think it should be changed.' Another called for the Ye Olde Black Boy in Hull to be 'destroyed', while another Twitter user defended the user of the name generally, saying it has 'nothing to do with a young slave' but instead is to do with King Charles II. However one Twitter user, using the hashtag for Black Lives Matter, claimed the pubs should be renamed 'White Boys' instead. Across England and Wales, there are at least 25 different pubs called 'The Black Boy', or similar. But the name, which is said to have a number of origins, including the soot darkened faces of chimney sweeps, is often thought to be a reference to King Charles II. The English Monarch, who ruled from 1660 until his death, aged 54, in 1665, was nicknamed 'Black Boy' by his mother, Henrietta Maria of France, due to his dark hair and complexion. Other suggestions for the name's origins including the misspelling of a nautical navigation marker, a 'buoy'. The row erupted after a sign depicting a boy with a black face was taken down last month amid growing calls for it to be removed. Over 28,000 people signed a petition demanding that the caricature be taken down from the 18th century Greenman pub sign in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. 'The Black Boy' or similarly named pubs across England and Wales Here is a list of The Black Boy or similarly named pubs MailOnline could find in England and Wales: The Black Boy - Winchester, Hants Blackboys Inn - Blackboys, East Sussex Black Boy - Sevenoaks, Kent The Black Boy - Sidcup, London The Black Boy - St Albans, Herts The Black Boy - Oxford, Oxfordshire The Black Boy - Reading, Berkshire Black Boys Inn - Maidenhead, Berkshire The Black Boy - Swansea, Wales The Black Boy - Solihull, West Midlands The Black Boy - Bewdley, West Midlands The Black Boy Inn - Bridnorth, West Midlands The Black Boy - Newtown, Wales Black Boy Inn - Caernarfon, Wales The Black Boy Inn - Hungarton, Leicestershire The Black Boys - Aylsham, Norfolk The Black Boy - Weeley, Essex The Black Boy - Sudbury, Suffolk The Black Boy - Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk The Black Boy - Nether Heage, Derbyshire The Black Boy - Manchester The Black Boy - Retford, Nottinghamshire Ye Olde Black Boy - Hull, East Riding Blackie Boy - Newcastle Advertisement Derbyshire Dales District Council said on Monday it would remove the sign with 'immediate effect' but when the head was taken down on Monday evening, locals said they had done so to protect it. In a Facebook post, Mr Redfern said the head would be given 'a lick of black paint' and claimed the move was to save it from vandalism. The petition against the head drew inspiration from an anti-racism demonstration in Bristol, which saw protesters topple the statue of slave trader Edward Colston before dragging the monument into the harbour. The Grade II-listed pub sign, which arches over St John's Street, depicted the face of a black man, which one anthropology student from the town said resembled the a golliwog. A golliwog is a 19th century rag doll which is considered racist for its exaggerated and offensive features. The anthropology student said: 'I think people are ashamed of it.' 'Having it in the middle of the street in a small town is so unwelcoming. 'It should have been taken down a long time ago and put in a museum.' Matthew Holt, an international relations student from Ashbourne, also signed the petition, stating: 'It seems such an obvious racist sign. 'I think it's important we address our history. Mr Holt added: 'We can't change it but this shouldn't be displayed in the public eye 'It should be in a museum where we can learn about it with a description to contextualise it.' Their demands prompted Derbyshire Dales District Council's decision to remove the monument from the sign. A council spokesman said earlier: 'We're removing the head from the sign with immediate effect. 'We agree that the sign itself is not only a public safety concern right now, but that this is an issue that requires urgent discussion and consultation. The pub sign, with 'resemblance to a racist doll', has been removed after thousands of campaigners demanded it Derbyshire Dales District Council took down the sign after a petition with more than 28,000 signatures 'The sign was gifted to the district council a number of years ago and is currently protected by a Grade II structure listing. 'Legally, only Heritage England or the Secretary of State can remove this listing, which means we need to take on board the views of our own councillors and local people before taking forward any representations. This will happen soon.' However, a petition has also been launched which seeks to keep the monument in place, with supporters stating it is a part of history. Global Black Lives Matter protests were sparked when American George Floyd died in May after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost ten minutes. Protest were held in the UK and a number of petitions were started calling for controversial monuments in the UK to be taken down, while a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was ripped down and pushed into Bristol Harbour during protests by the Black Lives Matter movement. Facebook's European vice president was today ridiculed today for a disastrous interview in which he attempted to defend the platform's attempts to stop the sharing of 'hate speech' amid a growing boycott from firms halting advertising. In a car crash BBC interview, Steve Hatch said there was 'no tolerance on our platform for hate speech' but claimed debates around such issues were, 'extremely challenging'. But Radio 4s Today host Nick Robinson accused Mr Hatch of allowing 'hate speech' on Mark Zuckerberg's social media behemoth and profiting from such content. Robinson pointed to a post by US conservative activist Candace Owens calling George Floyd a 'horrible human being', that was the top comment on Facebook at the time of race riots. Robinson claimed the fact that the post was the network's top comment - and not an isolated message that an algorithm missed - suggests that Facebook 'profits off an algorithm that mainlines hate and encourages sharing, making the company 'billions of dollars as a result.' In an attempt to refute the accusation Mr Hatch hit back, 'When there's hate in the world there will also be hate on Facebook.' He also failed to discuss damaging online content fuelling race riots in America, adding: 'The debates we see around all of these topics are extremely challenging and can be very very wide ranging.' Steve Hatch said there was 'no tolerance on our platform for hate speech' but claimed debates around such issues were, 'extremely challenging' Social media users listening in claimed Mr Hatch was unable to refute the claims that Facebook encouraged 'hate speech' Robinson pointed to a post by pro-Trump activist Candace Owens calling George Floyd a 'horrible human being', that was the top comment on Facebook at the time of race riots Who is Steve Hatch? Steve Hatch, 50, joined Facebook from the London media agency MEC, where he was chief executive. He was made CEO of MEC in 2011, and before that held several planning and strategy roles at Young and Rubicam Group, PHD and DDB. In December 2015, he was appointed non-executive director of Reach plc - then named Trinity Mirror. The 45,000-a-year move raised eyebrows because Reach pls owns the Daily and Sunday Mirror - which are in competition with Facebook for online advertising. The company also publishes the Express and Star and owns more than 100 regional and local titles, including the Scottish Daily Record and Manchester Evening News, local news websites and the magazine OK!. Earlier this year, 32.9 per cent of Reach plc shareholders voted to remove Hatch from the board after he missed four of 11 main meetings last year. He remains in the post after securing the majority of votes. Advertisement Starbucks has become the latest household name to suspend its adverts, following the likes of Unilever and Coca-Cola, amid concerns that the tech giant is failing to address the issue. Ford, Adidas and HP have also joined the mass boycott. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has come under fire for not taking action on the matter, including his decision to keep up a post by Donald Trump, in which the president said 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts', during protests across the US over the death of George Floyd. Twitter hid the same tweet behind a warning that it 'glorifies violence'. Mr Hatch told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'There is no profit to be had in content that is hateful.' But he admitted: 'The debates that we see around these topics are extremely challenging and can be very, very wide-ranging.' Mr Hatch said the company had invested millions to try to tackle the problem. He added: 'Our systems now detect and remove 90% of hate speech automatically and thats not perfect but we do know that its up from 23% two years ago. 'But we know that systems arent the only answer its about its a question of combining the forces that Facebook have with the community on Facebook itself.' He said most people 'have a positive experience' on the social network but admitted there is a 'small minority of those that are hateful' because, 'when there's hate in the world there will also be hate on Facebook'. Robinson said Facebook 'chose not to change the algorithm that encourages the sharing of hate speech and mainlines hate.' Mr Hatch hit back: 'That's not the case. I think it's awful of course to see the events that have unfolded in the US and that are growing around the world. 'But the way that our systems work are to provide people with the content that's most often, in millions and millions of cases, both enjoyable and safe and to enable people to have a discussion. More big firms join the #StopHateforProfit campaign Facebook is facing growing pressure over its hands-off approach to misinformation and inflammatory posts, including posts by US President Donald Trump that have received heavy criticism. A number of civil rights groups last week launched the '#StopHateforProfit' campaign, encouraging companies to pull ads from Facebook. North Face, based in California, was the first to join the campaign, with the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Free Press and Common Sense following suit. Starbucks, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Ford, Adidas and HP have also pulled adverts. The campaign took out a full page ad in the Los Angeles Times pushing for companies to boycott Facebook. The social media giant reportedly made close to $70 billion in ad revenues last year. 'What would you do with $70billion?' the #StopHateForProfit ad asks. 'We know what Facebook did. They allowed incitement to violence against protesters fighting for racial justice in America in the wake of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others'. The ad goes on to accuse Facebook of 'turning a blind eye to voter suppression' and 'amplifying white supremacists'. Advertisement 'When we look at the US it's a very polarised atmosphere right now and there are many many issues, some of them very troubling and very concerning, where people do want to discuss and they do turn to online platforms to do that. 'Debates do happen and these can often be challenging areas where people are discussing them either in a feed or are on groups.' Mr Hatch denied such discussions were causing 'real world harm'. When asked if the race riots in America amounted to 'real world harm', he replied: 'The debates we see around all of these topics are extremely challenging and can be very very wide ranging.' This comes as Facebook launched an advertising campaign to improve people's awareness of fake news shared online, encouraging users to question what they see. The initiative - devised in consultation with fact-checking partner Full Fact - asks the public to check whether a post is from a trusted source, ensure they read beyond headlines, and be alert to manipulated images, as well as reflecting on how it makes them feel. 'People who make false news try to manipulate your feelings,' warns one of the messages. 'If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.' Patagonia's boss today revealed the company could stop advertising with Facebook 'indefinitely' if the platform fails to tackle a 'rampant' problem with 'hate speech', antisemitism and climate denialism. The company joined several US firms to halt advertising spending on Facebook (pictured, CEO Mark Zuckerberg in February) last week over concerns the leading social network has fallen short in efforts to crack down on hateful posts Ryan Gellert, the outdoor clothing brand's general manager in Europe, today said the tech giant's business model was 'flawed' and had been profiting from hate speech and disinformation. With an increasing number of firms backing the #StopHateforProfit campaign, Facebook's share value fell by more than 8% on Friday. In response, the tech giant said it is banning adverts containing claims that people of a specific race, religion or sexual orientation are a threat to others. McDara Bardon (pictured), 48, bullied and beat former church missionary Annette Martens after she took him in 25 years ago following his divorce from her daughter A heroin addict has walked free from court after his former mother-in-law who he attacked two weeks before she died told police she 'wanted him to get help'. McDara Bardon, 48, bullied and beat former church missionary Annette Martens, 73, after she took him in 25 years ago following his divorce from her daughter. Bardon throttled her while 'frothing at the mouth' after he falsely accused her of branding him a rapist. Mrs Martens, who was a volunteer presenter for the Roch Valley Radio in Bury, Greater Manchester, was left with bruises on her hands, neck and wrists. She briefly passed out and thought she was going to die after the vicious attack on June 4 last year. She went to her 10pm to midnight show at the community hospital radio station that night, dropping Bardon off at a tram stop on the way. But colleagues spotted her bruises and she was persuaded to contact the police. She died two weeks later but her death was not linked to the assault. In a statement to police before she died, Mrs Martens, from Ramsbottom, said: 'Over the years I have felt bullied and controlled both verbally and physically by him. Bardon throttled the 73-year-old (pictured) while 'frothing at the mouth' after he falsely accused her of branding him a rapist 'I am 73 and do not deserve this. I have had two heart attacks in the past and this is not helping. I want him to get help and believe he needs it.' Bardon, from Salford faced jail at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester after being convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. But he was ordered to get treatment in a year-long drug rehabilitation programme after Mrs Martens statement was read out to the judge. The court heard the pair met 25 years ago through church and her daughter was briefly married to Bardon in the 1990s. Prosecutor Eleanor Gleeson said: 'She emotionally supported the defendant for 25 years and he lived with her in Ramsbottom. 'The victim tried to help the defendant and he was controlling and aggressive at times but she continued to care for him emotionally and financially. Bardon, from Salford faced jail at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester (pictured) after being convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. But he was ordered to get treatment in a year-long drug rehabilitation programme after Mrs Martens statement was read out to the judge 'By taking him in she lost money and the support of some family members who warned him to stay away. He would stay at her house for around four nights per week.' Ms Gleeson outlined the June 4 assault, saying he returned to her house at 7pm asking to detox from heroin. She said they spoke on the sofa before her got into a rage and said ''you said I was a rapist''. She added: 'The victim ran away but he then grabbed her by the throat with both hands and was frothing at the mouth, raging and shouting.' Bardon held her throat for 30 seconds before she passed out, recovered and alerted neighbours to help her. But he dragged her back into the house and choked her again. He packed his bags and ordered her to drop him off at Bury tram stop. He was arrested on June 8 and denied the offence. Ms Gleeson added: '[Mrs Martens asked for a restraining order in her victim personal impact statement but she died two weeks after the incident. There is no circumstantial evidence showing a link to the assault.' The court heard Bardon had 36 previous offences on his record including an assault from 2008. Sentencing him to a 12-month community order, Judge Maurice Greene told him: 'This was a nasty and mean assault on somebody who had been supportive of you.' I think its important for us to listen to what people are saying, Abu-Taleb said. We have a responsibility to amend what we can amend on a local level. What I mean by amend is amend the ordinances, policies and processes in place so in the end we make sure everyone is being treated fairly and equally. I believe that is a responsibility that we have to do. We need to be thoughtful, reasonable and we need to work on social justice issues with urgency. Advertisement Beijing has staked its claim on a piece of disputed land near the border with India, by writing the word 'China' on it in huge letters. Satellite images show Mandarin characters meaning 'China' written near the shore of Pangong Lake, a remote area of disputed territory high in the Himalayas. Troops also appear to have drawn a map of China on part of the lake shore, which is located close to the site of vicious hand-to-hand clashes between Indian and Chinese troops back in May. Satellite images show what appears to be Mandarin letters spelling 'China' (left) and a map of the country (right) scrawled on the shoreline of a lake near the disputed border with India Pangong Lake, located at 14,000ft in the Himalayas, is divided into 'fingers' of territory by India and China - marked one to eight on this map. India claims the whole coastline, up to finger eight (border shown at the top). China claims up to 'finger four' (border shown in the centre of the map, with disputed territory in yellow). The Chinese writing has appeared close to that line, marked by the Chinese flag. Another Chinese base has been built further up the coast, also shown by a Chinese flag Pangong Lake is located along the disputed Line of Actual Control which roughly marks the border between the two nuclear-armed powers. It is 75 miles to the south of the Galwan Valley, another area where clashes have taken place in recent months and where China has been building new bases. Indian and Chinese forces divide the area around Pangong into 'fingers' - ridges of land that run down from the peak of a nearby mountain to the lake shore. India claims ownership of the entire shoreline - from 'finger one' at the northwestern tip of the lake up to 'finger eight' at the southeastern end. However, China has recently staked a claim on the territory from 'finger eight' to 'finger four' which is located roughly halfway along the shore. The tip of 'finger four' is where troops from both sides are though to have fought earlier this year, after China was accused of impeding an Indian patrol. Satellite images also show what appears to be a Chinese-built pier with fast water craft parked on it at the base of 'finger five' (left) and new construction on the Chinese-claimed side of 'finger four', where clashes took place in May (right) China has built at least 186 huts (pictured, some of the huts) on disputed territory which it claims, including up to five miles inland, Indian media reported India now accuses China of occupying the disputed territory, and refusing to let its troops move past 'finger four'. Analysis of the images carried out by Indian station NDTV also reveals significant Chinese construction in the disputed zone between fingers four and eight. At least 186 huts are now visible along the stretch of shoreline and extending five miles up a ridge-line which runs inland, the site reports. Significant construction is also taking place on the tip of 'finger four', images show. A pier with two fast water craft has also been constructed at the tip of 'finger five'. China and India have been involved in a series of border confrontations in recent weeks that each has blamed on the other. India says it has deployed 'large numbers' of troops to the region to match the size of Chinese forces, which were increased in May (pictured, an Indian convoy) An Indian outpost is pictured along the Srinagar-Leh Highway which leads from the nearby city of Srinagar into the disputed region An Indian convoy moves into the mountainous region amid standoffs with China at multiple points along its poorly marked border The most serious came in the Galwan Valley on June 15, when soldiers armed with spiked clubs and rocks were involved in a vicious fight that left 20 Indians and an unknown number of Chinese dead. Soldiers fought hand-to-hand because of a 1996 agreement that bans firearms and explosives from the border region. Clashes also broke out on the shores of Pangong between May 5 and 6 when scores of troops were again involved in close-quarters fighting. Some Indian troops were injured badly enough that they had to be evacuated by helicopter, though no casualties were reported. Since the Galwan Valley confrontation both sides have agreed to engage in high-level military talks, aimed at 'disengaging' in the region. However, India has admitted that 'large numbers' of its troops have been sent to the region, which it says it necessary to counter a Chinese military build-up that began in early May. The lake is 75 miles south of the Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian troops were killed in clashes with the Chinese earlier this month, and where China is also building new camps (pictured) Beijing has refused to comment on the ongoing dispute. The Himalayan border between India and China has been disputed for centuries, but the two countries have been fighting over it most recently since the 1960s. In the 18th century it was fought over by the Russian, Chinese and British empires, and after India gained independence ownership of the region became more confused. China values the region because it provides a trading route to Pakistan, and recent hostilities have been sparked by fears in Beijing that India will cut it off from the crucial overland corridor. The current official border between the two was set by Britain and is known as the McMahon line. It is recognised by India but not by China. In reality, the border between the two countries is on Line of Actual Control (LAC) where Indian and Chinese forces finished after the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Australian Special Operations Commander Major-General Adam Findlay admitted that SAS soldiers did commit war crimes in Afghanistan Australia's special forces chief has admitted that SAS soldiers did commit war crimes in Afghanistan. Australian Special Operations Commander Major-General Adam Findlay told SAS soldiers at Perth's Campbell Barracks that 'there are guys who criminally did something' and 'poor leadership' is to blame. This is the first time a senior officer - who is still serving - has said that SAS soldiers broke the law in Afghanistan. His comments are widely interpreted as an admission that the Brereton Inquiry - an investigation into more than 55 cases of alleged misconduct by Australia's special forces - is going to make adverse findings when it finishes in July. General Findlay said the inquiry had shown some Special Air Force (SAS) soldiers were brave enough to break the iron-clad code of loyalty and blow the whistle on the crimes, an act which he described as 'moral courage'. But he stressed it could take a significant amount of time for the force's reputation to be restored, The Times reports. General Findlay said: 'There are guys who criminally did something. But can you tell me, why was that? It is poor leadership.' His comments are widely interpreted as an admission that the Brereton Inquiry is going to make adverse findings when it finishes in July. Pictured: Australian Special Operations Task Group Soldiers in Afghanistan in 2013 The long-running inquiry, launched in 2016 by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, is investigating allegations against special forces in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2016. The incidents are said to be mostly allegations of unlawful killings - including of handcuffed prisoners - but there are also accusations of cruelty and more than 330 witnesses have been interviewed so far. New South Wales judge Paul Brereton, who is heading the inquiry, will deliver the long-awaited report to Defence Force Chief General Angus Campbell. General Campbell will then pass the classified report up to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, who will decide which parts of the report should be released to Parliament and to the public. The SAS were deployed to the province of Uruzgan - and later to other areas - as part of a special forces group for various missions between 2005 and 2013. There were five casualties during the operations which included combat patrols and surveillance. One of the 55 alleged war crimes was the case of Haji Sardar, an almond farmer whose sons claim was stomped to death by a member of the special forces. A Defence Force inquiry presided over by senior NSW judge Paul Brereton is investigating Australia's special forces regiment for war crimes, and is set to hand down its report next month. Pictured: Australian infantry in Afghanistan SAS medic Dusty Miller, a decorated former warrant officer who served in Afghanistan, made an emotional apology to his sons after Mr Sardar was taken away from his care by a superior and was dead shortly after. Mr Miller made the heart-felt apology from Melbourne over video link to two sons of the almond farmer in Kabul. 'I am very sorry by what happened to your father and I wish I'd have done more,' he said. 'You shouldn't have lost your father that day and I am so sorry that that happened.' Mr Sardar's sons were not angry and instead thanked Mr Miller. Abdul Sardar, 34, said he was grateful that Mr Miller had helped his father in the final moments before he was allegedly killed. 'He has done as much as he could do and when things were beyond his ability then no-one can hold one accountable for,' he said through an interpreter on 60 Minutes. Hazratullah Sardar, 22, (pictured left) and Abdul Sardar, 34 (centre) sit with a tribal elder (right) in Afghanistan as they listen to Dusty Miller's grief-torn apology for their father's death 'He didn't die of his wounds, I can promise you that,' Dusty Miller (pictured) told 60 Minutes Mr Sardar's other son Hazratullah, 22, said he, too, was thankful for Mr Miller's help. 'I am very thankful to Dusty for his help and getting in touch with us and telling us what he did, and the help he provided to my father,' he said. Both sons, however, asked Mr Miller to help them get justice for the death of their father who was from a small village deep in the badlands of southern Afghanistan. Mr Sardar, a father-of-seven, had been shot through the thigh as the SAS approached his village on March 14, 2012. Mr Miller, a medic recently deployed to Afghanistan with Australia's SAS Regiment, was given the injured farmer to care for as soon as he arrived. Mr Sardar was lucky as the bullet had passed clean through and Mr Miller said the injury was not life threatening. He treated Mr Sardar's wounds and made him as comfortable as possible. The Army medic told 60 Minutes that under the Geneva Convention it didn't matter if the patient was a combatant or a non-combatant, once a wounded person was under his care, he would be treated. Dusty Miller (pictured on duty) has broken his silence on alleged war crimes by Australian troops in Afghanistan, and apologised to the sons of farmer allegedly killed by the SAS Mr Miller believed he was to take the wounded man to the base at Tarinkot, in the capital of Uruzgan province, for medical treatment. Instead, he recounted how one of his superiors approached him and said 'this person's coming with me'. Because he could not walk, the soldier piggybacked the bleeding farmer away. Minutes later, the same senior officer returned and told him the man had died, Mr Miller said. 'Straight away I knew that was impossible - absolutely impossible,' Mr Miller said. 'I assumed he was killed basically. He didn't die of his wounds, I can promise you that.' Mr Sardar's sons said when they were allowed to see their dead father, six hours later, he had boot marks all over his chest, as though someone had stomped him to death. Pictured: SAS Regiment officers in Afghanistan. The classified report into 55 alleged war crimes by the SAS between 2005 and 2016 is expected to be handed up next month 'When the kids went to see him he was already dead and when we checked him he had bruises on his check, bootmarks up to here,' said Abdul Sardar. His brother Hazratullah asked why his father was killed. Women and children were crying,' he said through an interpreter. 'All relatives gathered around him - what was his crime? What was his fault?' Both sons say their father was not with the Taliban, and this has been confirmed by military documents from the US-led coalition, which describe him as a civilian, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Mr Miller experienced deep regret and remorse for years after the death, blaming himself for not doing more to save the man, and developing severe post traumatic stress disorder. He became determined to track down Mr Sardar's sons and personally apologise for what happened. 'I knew that what had happened to your father was something very bad ... and it was wrong,' he told the pair as they sat with a tribal elder in Afghanistan. 'Now I want you to understand that this event never sat well with me and I was very disturbed and troubled by what happened.' Mr Miller had planned to fly to Afghanistan to talk to them in person, but days before he was due to leave the coronavirus pandemic made the trip impossible, so he had to communicate via a laptop. It was the first time that Mr Sardar's sons had heard any Australian who had been on the ground tell the story of their father's final minutes - and Mr Miller's anguish was etched on his face. Britain's furlough bill soared past 25billion this week with more than 12 million jobs now being propped up by the state, new figures revealed today. The coronavirus job retention scheme (JRS) which pays 80 per cent of salary costs for staff - rose 2.6billion this week from 22.9billion the week before. It is now supporting 9.3 million jobs according to data released by the Treasury and HMRC this morning. Additionally the support scheme for the self-employed rose to 7.7billion, across 2.6million claims. Banks have lent small businesses 29.5billion-worth of 100 per cent state-backed loans, up about 1.5 billion pounds from the previous week. Larger firms had received 11.1 billion from the government's main lending scheme, with the biggest companies getting an extra 2.3 billion pounds. The figures were released as Boris Johnson prepared to promise a 'New Deal' to rebuild Britain. Figures reveal scale of Covid business loans Figures released on Tuesday by the Treasury and HMRC show one extent of the Government's massive spending spree to help sure up a faltering economy hit by the coronavirus crisis. As ministers ordered Britons to stay at home unless they had to shop for food in March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak promised to do 'whatever it takes' to support the companies whose business would be decimated by the decision. It meant launching three Government-backed loans, the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), a similar scheme for larger businesses called CLBILS, and the bounce-back loans, which help out some of the smallest companies. Data for last week, released Tuesday, again shows that the bounce-back loans have proved the most popular. Close to 1.2million businesses have applied for the loans of up to 50,000. So far a little under 970,000 have been approved and handed 29.5billion. Meanwhile, 105,000 companies have applied for a CBILS loan, 52,000 have been approved, and 11.1billion has been paid out. Out of the 745 applicants for CLBILS, 359 have been approved for loans worth 2.3 billion. The Government also revealed that 1.1 million businesses have furloughed 9.3 million workers, claiming 25.5 billion to cover a portion of their salaries while they cannot work. The costly programmes were launched to see Britain through the worst of lockdown, but the Government will hope that these can be eased going forward. The Treasury has already said that companies will have to shoulder some of the burden for paying their furloughed workers from August, before the programme is phased out. The deadline for new applications to the scheme was set at June 30. It comes as the economy is preparing to return to some semblance of normality. On Saturday, pubs and restaurants will be allowed to reopen for the first time since March 23. Advertisement As a major English city is plunged back into a local lockdown, the Prime Minister will this morning pledge to 'build, build, build', bringing forward a massive programme of public works. He will say Britain can 'not just bounce back, but bounce forward stronger and better and more united than ever before' in the wake of the coronavirus. But in a grim reminder that the virus is still at large, Mr Johnson was last night locked in crisis talks about reimposing the lockdown in Leicester. Today's speech will be accompanied by billions of pounds of investment in building and refurbishing schools, hospitals and roads, as well as new spending on transport and local growth projects. A new unit, dubbed Project Speed, will be led by Chancellor Rishi Sunak this summer to identify projects that can be fast-tracked. Reform of the planning system to remove 'blockages' is also under consideration. And a new National Infrastructure Strategy will be published in the autumn. Mr Sunak will put the 'infrastructure revolution' at the heart of a mini-Budget expected on July 8. In his speech in Dudley in the West Midlands today, the PM will also pledge to 'build back better and stronger', with a programme designed to reach all parts of the country. 'Too many parts of this country have felt left behind, neglected, unloved, as though someone had taken a strategic decision that their fate did not matter as much as the metropolis,' he will say. 'If we deliver this plan together, then we will together build our way back to health.' The PM is also expected to offer an 'opportunity guarantee' to young people and those who have lost their jobs because of the lockdown, with major investment in apprenticeships and further education. And his chief aide Dominic Cummings is shaking up the Whitehall machine, which saw the departure of Britain's top civil servant Sir Mark Sedwill on Sunday night. Mr Johnson will directly reference the famous New Deal programmes led by Franklin D Roosevelt, which are widely credited with rescuing the United States from the Great Depression in the 1930s. Yesterday he confirmed there would be not attempt to 'go back to what people called austerity', saying that would be a mistake. It came as shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds warned that mass unemployment could have a 'scarring impact on our country for decades' if the Government cannot adapt the furlough scheme for different industries instead of pursuing a 'one size fits all approach'. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said: 'If we look at what other countries are doing, and what the evidence tells us, that first step of stopping people becoming unemployed in the first place is absolutely critical. As a major English city is plunged back into a local lockdown, the Prime Minister will this morning pledge to 'build, build, build', bringing forward a massive programme of public works It came as shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds warned that mass unemployment could have a 'scarring impact on our country for decades' 'Once people have become unemployed, that has a scarring impact on them and on our country for decades into the future. 'So what I'm saying to the Government, and I've offered this in the spirit of constructive opposition many times, I've said to them, please, shift course, do not continue to have this one size fits all approach, because that will inevitably lead to much greater unemployment in the future.' Ms Dodds recommended keeping young people in education and training for longer to 'keep them out of that pool of unemployed people,' and better supporting those who become unemployed using previously used strategies like the Future Jobs Fund. A Buffalo cop has been suspended after calling a woman a 'disrespectful little f***ing c***' in a clash outside a 7-Eleven in Buffalo. Lieutenant Mike DeLong confronted Ruweyda Salim after she started filming from the sidewalk when cops surrounded a man outside the store. DeLong said the man had 'two crack pipes and just attacked his mother', but Salim argued there was no need for the heavy police presence. When Salim refused to move despite the lieutenant's warning that 'we have cameras too', DeLong made his vulgar comment - leading to his suspension when the video surfaced online. Buffalo cop Mike DeLong (pictured left) confronted Ruweyda Salim after she started filming from the sidewalk when cops surrounded a man outside the store (right) At the start of the video, the suspect had his hands up outside the store and was surrounded by six officers, one of whom was searching his pockets. The man appeared to be arguing with police but was not physically struggling with them. DeLong approached Salim after spotting her filming from the sidewalk, and introduced himself with the warning: 'We have cameras too'. Salim was not alarmed by this and asked DeLong to get away from her, which he refused to do. Clearly irritated by her filming, DeLong said the suspect 'has got two crack pipes and just attacked his mother'. Salim counted 10 cops in the parking lot and replied: 'There's no need for all these policemen to handle someone who is on drugs'. DeLong insisted that the man was 'violent' and claimed 'he was holding a weight in his hand', but Salim said she was 'not going to go near him' and was in no danger. Walking away as he received a message on his radio, DeLong said: 'You're a disrespectful little f***ing c***, that's who you are.' Salim replied: 'Thank you, you're going to be viral' - prompting DeLong to turn back around and order her to move off the sidewalk, which she refused to do. DeLong added: 'I don't care about going viral, I really don't', while the suspect continued to remonstrate with cops behind him. Mike DeLong (left) claimed he did not 'care about going viral' after his vulgar rant at Ruweyda Salim while the suspect continued to remonstrate with cops behind him (right) Asking where Salim worked, he threatened he would 'come to your work and sit there and tape you' in retaliation. This again failed to intimidate her, but she took offense at his theory that she might be a 'secretary' - asking if he had suggested this because she was a woman. Accused of 'pressing yourself against me', DeLong said he was 'making sure that I'm taping you [while] you're taping my people.' Salim subsequently posted the video online, saying she was 'physically and verbally harassed' by the officer in the footage. 'They tried to say he had a weight in his hand, this man had no weapon in his hand,' she said of the suspect. 'None of the nine other cops stopped this man from physically harassing me. I'm so small and not intimidating in the slightest but they acted like I was such a threat. 'Who's training these people? Why is acceptable for them to degrade me? Armed police officers should be able to effectively do their job with out being threatened by civilians recording them.' Local news station WBFO reported that DeLong had been suspended without pay while the video was investigated. Footage of cops has been under greater scrutiny than ever since the death of George Floyd on May 25 which triggered a wave of anger at police brutality. Minneapolis police initially told the public that Floyd died after a 'medical incident during a police interaction. Cell phone video showed him pleading for air as white cop Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The police department denied lying and said staff had been given incorrect information before the footage surfaced. In Buffalo, cops said a 75-year-old protester 'tripped and fell' during a demonstration, which quickly proved false when footage showed him being shoved by police. A leading disease control expert in China has warned that the first wave of COVID-19 cases is 'not over at all'. Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at the Chinese CDC, also suggested that the disease would change the way we live and work forever. He predicted that the virus would 'co-exist with humans for a long time'. Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at the Chinese CDC, claimed that the new round of coronavirus infections in Beijing was still part of the first wave of COVID-19 cases. Pictured, people wait in line to undergo COVID-19 coronavirus swab tests in Beijing on June 30 China has been battling a new coronavirus outbreak in Beijing for the past three weeks since a cluster emerged from a seafood market. Authorities put half a million people in Anxin County back into a strict Wuhan-style lockdown from Saturday out of concerns that the virus could spread to the area, which is about 90 miles from Beijing. More than 2,000 residents of Anxin are said to work in the capital's Xinfadi market, to which the new wave has been linked. Epidemiologist Wu rejected claims that Beijing's current round of infections signalled a second outbreak. He told state media that the world was still in the thick of the first wave. China has been battling a new coronavirus outbreak in Beijing for the past three weeks since a cluster emerged from a seafood market. Pictured, people wearing protective face masks wait in line to undergo COVID-19 coronavirus swab tests at a testing station in Beijing on June 30 Wu told China News in an interview on Monday: 'The first epidemic wave is not over at all. The global epidemic has been escalating since January and has stayed at a high-risk level.' He linked the 'vigorous growth' in the number of global daily cases to the United States, Brazil and India. 'We are very worried about the rapid growth,' he said. He stressed the coronavirus epidemic was not likely to 'end all of a sudden' like the SARS outbreak in 2003. 'It is highly likely that [the virus] would co-exist with humans for a long time and change mankind's lifestyle and workstyle from now on,' the expert noted. Authorities put half a million people near Beijing back into a strict Wuhan-style lockdown from Saturday. Pictured, a vendor walks past closed stalls at a food market in Beijing on June 22 Wu's comments came as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that the coronavirus pandemic is 'not even close to being over'. 'We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives,' the WHO's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. 'But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over,' he said, adding that 'although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up'. The virus emerged at least six months ago in China, where the WHO will send a team next week in the search for its origin, Tedros said. The WHO's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (pictured) said on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic is 'not even close to being over' and 'globally the pandemic is actually speeding up' In another grim milestone, the number of global infections recorded topped 10 million, while some authorities reimposed lockdown measures that have crippled the economies worldwide China's health officials on Tuesday reported 19 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for June 29, up from 12 a day earlier. Of the new infections, seven were in Beijing, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The capital city had also reported seven new infections for June 28. As of yesterday, 324 COVID-19 patients were receiving treatment in hospitals in Beijing, including three who were in critical condition, Beijing officials said. Mainland China reported four new asymptomatic patients, who tested positive for COVID-19 but showed no clinical symptoms such as a fever, down from six a day earlier. As of June 29, mainland China had a total of 83,531 confirmed coronavirus cases, it said. Police have called off the search for a suspected gunman in Paris after concluding it was a false alarm. Armed police and soldiers were scrambled to the 'Les Quatre Temps' centre at 9.30am after a worker claimed to have seen a masked man carrying a rifle. Shoppers were evacuated with their hands up as police searched for weapons, while nearby schools and offices were placed into lockdown and train stations closed. But after two hours of searches turned up nothing, officers were told to stand down. Police have called off the search for a suspected gunman in central Paris after concluding that it was a false alarm Armed officers were scrambled to the La Defense district around 9.30am after staff in a shopping centre reported seeing a masked man carrying what appeared to be a rifle Hundreds of people were evacuated from the shopping centre with their hands up (left) while police searched for weapons (right) 'The search of the location has ended,' the local police department tweeted. 'The cordon will be lifted. 'At this stage, no suspect or individual has been identified by police at the scene which corroborates the report made earlier today.' Offices buildings, schools and the shopping centre which had been locked down will now be reopened. Metro stations which were closed during the alert will also be reopened, and trains will begin stopping there again. People will also be able to move freely around the La Defense district, having previously been told to stay in place and comply with police instructions. The shopping centre contains around 230 shops and employs hundreds of staff. Around 200,000 people typically work in the wider La Defense district, though numbers are currently lower due to coronavirus. The operation went on for two hours before chiefs concluded that it had been a false alarm and officers were stood down French police officers patrol the La Defense business district - where 200,000 people work - following reports of a gunman near Paris A man's body has been found floating in a swimming pool at a popular fitness centre. Shocked gym users called police to the Fitness First at Sylvania in southern Sydney at about 5pm on Tuesday after discovering the unconscious swimmer. Despite attempts to perform CPR on the man by emergency services he was unable to be revived. Shocked gym users called police to the Fitness First at Sylvania in southern Sydney about 5pm on Tuesday after discovering the unconscious swimmer The man's identity has not been confirmed but he was reportedly in his 50s. The gym's facilities were closed to the public on Tuesday evening as police established a crime scene. NSW Police have said inquiries are ongoing but the man's drowning is not considered suspicious at this stage. A report is being prepared for the coroner. The girlfriend of a 20-year-old man who was stabbed to death on his way home from the gym has broken down in tears about the wrath of Melbourne's gang violence. Thomas Tran died after a fight broke out between a group of people in Oakleigh, in the city's south-east, at about 8pm on Monday. Mr Tran is the third young man to died in a fatal stabbing in Melbourne in just two weeks. Solomone Taufeulungaki, 15, was stabbed and killed in Deer Park on June 16 and 21-year-old man, Machar Kot, died in the CBD on June 22. Thomas Tran, 20, (pictured, right, with his mum Amy, left) was fatally stabbed in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh on Monday evening Family members and friends visited the site where Mr Tran died on Tuesday and his girlfriend of more than two years, Trish Nguyen, tearfully begged for the violence to stop. 'They're too worried about being cool. It's not fair anymore, it needs to stop,' she told media. 'We've lost a loved one, it's really not worth it. 'You shouldn't do that to people's families. 'I hope you get what you f***ing deserve for doing that to him.' She paid tribute to her boyfriend, saying he always put others before himself. Mr Tran's girlfriend Trish Nguyen (pictured) tearfully begged for the violence to stop Family members and friends visited the site where Mr Tran died on Tuesday (pictured) 'He really cared about people and he really loved everyone,' she said. 'He put everyone before him.' Police arrested a 15-year-old Dandenong teenager, a 20-year-old Dandenong South man and two 19-year-olds from Lynbrook and Lyndhurst, who have since been released pending further inquiries. The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated. Police are appealing for anyone who may have been in the area of Chester Street, Eaton Mall and Atherton Road between 7.30pm and 8pm on Monday who may have camera footage to come forward. Solomone Taufeulungaki (pictured), 15, was stabbed and killed in Deer Park on June 16 One of Solomone's friends (pictured) told A Current Affair the gang allegedly behind the teenager's death want 'another one' Just days before Mr Tran was killed, 15-year-old Taufeulungaki was laid to rest by his heartbroken family. Taufeulungaki was allegedly attacked by a group of youths outside the Brimbank Shopping Centre at Deer Park in daylight on Tuesday June 16. Taufeulungaki's friends claimed he was 'jumped' by a gang called 'The Brotherhood'. One of Solomone's friends told A Current Affair the gang allegedly behind the teenager's death want 'another one'. 'They carry like machetes, guns, just like small guns,' the friend said. 'If it was my choice, I would go for revenge but this is the parents' choice and they forgive them.' Taufeulungaki's parents also asked for the violence to stop, telling the program they miss their humble and kind son. 'I miss him, I can't explain from my heart, I miss my son,' Atunaisa Taufeulungaki said. Machar Kot (pictured), died in Melbourne's CBD on Monday June 22 Advertisement A remarkable never-before-seen photo archive charting the wartime heroics of one of 'The Few' has been unearthed on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Squadron Leader Jocelyn Millard, an RAF flying instructor who volunteered for operational service to help defeat the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940, took more than 200 photographs during the Second World War. Now, eight decades later, the pilot's pictures, which include some from the cockpit of his Hurricane plane, will cast a light on the experiences of the legion of officers who fought in the air battle in 1940 which saw German planes attack the UK. Among the black and white images are some showing Squadron Leader Millard and other RAF heroes wearing flight gear as they prepare for duty and others showing crew members taking time away from the heat of battle, posing on motorbikes and unwinding in their dormitories. Among the incredible black and white images set to go on sale at with C&T Auctions, of Ashford, Kent, is one image of Squadron Leader Jocelyn Millard sitting on the top of an aircraft with his flight gear Squadron leader Millard was able to capture one man donning a suit and tie as he posed alongside a motorbike while away from the scenes of battle that saw a legion of officers protect the country against German planes sent to attack the UK Squadron leader Millard (left and on far right with a crew member) volunteered for operational service to help defeat the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940 and completed more than 30 missions during the air battle Among the black and white images set to go on sale next month is one showing a pilot wearing their uniform as they sit inside the cockpit while in flight Meanwhile others reveal the sombre reality of the war and the great peril faced on every sortie, with archive of aircraft wreckage strewn on the ground amid Hitler's failed attempt to crush the RAF. Squadron Leader Millard, who was born in Hertfordshire in 1915, flew alongside legendary pilot Douglas Bader and completed 30 missions during the Battle of Britain. While the squadron leader served with the No. 1 Squadron at RAF Wittering, Cambridgeshire, he was reprimanded for a low level sweep of the tower of St Mary's Church in Baldock, Hertfordshire. He claimed he had been trying to tell the time on the church clock but a passer-by reported him to the police who traced him through his aircraft number. Unlike so many of his comrades, Squadron Leader Millard survived the fierce battle for aerial supremacy with the Luftwaffe. His comprehensive photo album, containing 250 images, has now emerged for sale alongside six of his flying pennants with C&T Auctions, of Ashford, Kent. The archive, which is being sold by a private collector and will go on sale on July 8, is expected to fetch 1,600. Another image shows members of Winston Churchill's famous 'Few' looking at a note away while back on the ground. The scenes shed a new light on the experiences shared by the legion of officers who bravely fought in the air battle in 1940 Two crew members are pictured near a car while dressed in uniform as they continue in their fight to repel Hitler's Luftwaffe in the summer months of 1940 A group of brave pilots wear their flight gear as they prepare to take to the skies during the Battle Of Britain. The air battle , which took place from July 10 to October 21, 1940, saw Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) defend the country against Nazi Germany's destructive air raids While some images cast a light on the how crew members relaxed in their spare time, others reveal the aircraft wreckage and the perils of the war Among the archive is one displaying aircraft parts lie strewn on the ground strewn on the ground as hundreds of RAF pilots continued in their fight over the English Channel The legion of officers (pictured sitting for a photo), who were hailed as 'The Few' by Winston Churchill played a crucial role in the defeat of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain Tim Harper, specialist for C&T Auctions, said: 'This is a stunning photo album and Millard was certainly the model Battle of Britain pilot. 'You can sense the strong camaraderie there was and also that they lived every day as it was there last as they realised they could be gone the next day.' Squadron Leader Millard, whose father died in a submarine accident in 1916 when he was just one-years-old, joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in August 1937 while working for the de Havilland Aircraft Company. He was called up to the RAF in 1939 and was sent on a flying instructors course and was posted to No. 1 School of Army Co-operation at Old Sarum, Wiltshire. In September 1940, he volunteered to serve with Fighter Command and was first posted to 1 Squadron at Wittering. He then moved to 242 Squadron at RAF Coltishall, Norfolk, and served in Douglas Bader's Big Wing formation. After the Battle of Britain, Squadron Leader Millard undertook fighter sweeps over Northern France where he shot down a Messerschmidt 109 in one dramatic duel. He was later posted to Canada to take part in pilot training and instruction, returning to Britain at the end of the Second World War and leaving the RAF in 1947. A Band of Brothers stand in front of an aircraft in their uniform as the country defends the UK against Nazi Germany's destructive air raids conducted by the Luftwaffe Another remarkable image shows a pilot controlling an aircraft from the cockpit as the fighter planes soars into the sky One man sits on a motorbike in a field (left) while another is seen perched another crew member's shoulders (right) during their time away from the field of battle A crew member lies on his bunk bed and takes a well-earned break in his dormitory as he and a legion of pilots fight against the German planes in 1940 One image provides a fascinating view from inside the cockpit of fighter planes in flight as Britain tries to fight back Germany's Luftwaffe during the Second World War A crew member looks out of the window of his aircraft as it sits on the ground during the Battle of Britain. The pilots who gave everything in the aerial fight were named 'The Few' after a speech from Sir Winston Churchill The comprehensive photo album, which contains 250 images, is being sold by a private collector and is expected to fetch 1,600 The album contains a number of images showing life away from battle and cast a light on how the brave crew members relaxed in their spare time One incredible picture provides a view of the aircraft's wing from the cockpit window and is among an array of photos that is set to go on sale on July 8 Haunting images of the fallen aircrafts cast a light on the perils of the war and the dangers the pilots faced as they set off into the skies The black and white images charting the wartime heroics of one of 'The Few' have been unearthed on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain In later life, he worked as an engineer maintaining aircraft for the Ministry of Defence before retiring in 1980. The squadron leader passed away at the age of 95 on May 10, 2010. The Battle of Britain, which took place from July 10 to October 21, 1940, saw Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) defend the country against Nazi Germany's destructive air raids conducted by the Luftwaffe. The battle of the skies eventually came to a close at the end of October 1940 when Hitler called off his planned invasion of Britain. The pilots who gave everything in the aerial fight for British freedom were named 'The Few', after a speech from Sir Winston Churchill, who said: 'The gratitude of every home in our island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' A Black Lives Matter protestor is suing the police after officers ordered to cover up a 'F*** Boris' T-shirt. Jessie-Lu Flynn attended a BLM demonstration in central London on June 3 wearing the anti-Boris Johnson T-shirt. She says she has attended more than dozen protests without being challenged by police for wearing the item of clothing. However, the actor and founder of an immersive theatre company, said she was told to zip up her jacket by Metropolitan Police officers on Oxford Street after the June 3 protest. She says the order came despite police officers failing to intervene at the protest itself where Ms Flynn saw banners and placards with the same slogan. Ms Flynn, who filmed part of the confrontation and posted it on YouTube, is now launching legal action and claiming the officers interfered with her right to express legitimate political opinion. Jessie-Lu Flynn attended a BLM demonstration in central London on June 3 wearing the anti-Boris Johnson T-shirt. She was told to cover it afterwards by police She says she was told that she was in breach of section 5 of the Public Order Act, which states: 'A person is guilty of an offence if he (a) uses threatening words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or (b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening.' Ms Flynn, who filmed part of the confrontation and posted on YouTube , is now launching legal action However, it is not considered an offence if police have no reason to believe there was anyone within hearing or sight who's likely to be alarmed or distressed. The officers who challenged Ms Flynn were from British Transport Police and told her she was in breach of the law by wearing a T-shirt that displayed an obscene word. She told the Guardian: 'When the police told me I had to zip up my jacket to cover up my T-shirt I thought 'Are you serious?' I'm very concerned about how rightwing this government is. 'I find the way Boris Johnson has described black people and Muslims is deeply offensive.' Her lawyers, Joanna Khan and Michael Oswald at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, are arguing that the officers were in breach of human rights legislation. Khan and Oswald said: 'Being able to criticise politicians is fundamentally important in a democracy. 'The importance of freedom of speech should be particularly clear to this prime minister who has compared women in burqas to letterboxes without any criminal sanction himself.' We have already started preliminary discussions with the village about the possibility of terminating our current intergovernmental agreement, the letter said. We believe that there is nothing more important than all of our students feeling safe, cared for and protected in our schools, and we look forward to having an open and honest discussion about the best path forward. An online troll threatened to kill Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick and two senior colleagues in a vile email. Rejwanul Islam, 32, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today accused of threatening to kill Scotland Yard's chief, along with Chief Supt Ade Adelekan, the head of the Violent Crime Task Force, and PC Samantha Tree. In one email, it is alleged Dame Cressida, 59, was warned: 'You and your police officers will be attacked over the week. Any attempt to stop it will lead to dead officers. I will follow officers home and attack their families.' Rejwanul Islam, 32, from East Ham in London, is accused of threatening to kill Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick along with Chief Supt Ade Adelekan and PC Samantha Tree Rejwanul Islam, 32, is accused of threatening to kill the Met Police Commissioner, Chief Supt Ade Adelekan, the head of the Violent Crime Task Force, and PC Samantha Tree. Westminster Magistrates' court heard the emails were sent on January 18 and 19 this year. Michael Mallon, prosecuting, said: 'Given the nature of the repeated threats which involve several officers, notably the Commissioner Cressida Dick, the Crown would say not suitable for summary trial.' Dame Cressida Dick allegedly received an email in January that warned: 'I will follow officers home and attack their families' He said the email sent to PC Tree, with Chief Supt Adekelan cc'd, was 'rambling in nature' and read: 'Police, MI5, MI6 I will start to assassinate police officers.' It went on: 'Hello, you and your police officers will be attacked over the week. Any attempt to stop it will lead to dead officers. 'I will follow officers home and attack them and their families. This is not a hoax. Get it through your head. You have been warned.' Mr Mallon added: 'He sent the same email to Cressida Dick.' Islam, of East Ham, faces three charges of making threats to kill. He was bailed on condition he does not contact police aside from an emergency ahead of his next appearance at Snaresbrook Crown Court on July 27. Theyre the unsung heroes of the pandemic: the companies that have adapted their own unique skills to survive and to help others during the crisis. All over the UK, businesses have been finding brilliantly innovative ways to keep jobs open for their staff, serve their customers and contribute to the community. Now, as they begin to get back to their day jobs, we celebrate some of the inspirational companies whove gone above and beyond to help others during the coronavirus crisis. I TOOK A SUPERMARKET JOB TO SAVE MY COMPANY When the managing director of one of Britains oldest watchmakers locked his office door for the final time as the country went into lockdown in early March, he took a moment to look at a portrait on the wall. It was of his great-great-great-grandfather, Edwin Fear, who had launched the eponymous firm in 1846, when Queen Victoria was only a few years into her reign. Since then, Fears has survived two world wars, Spanish flu and the Great Depression, says his descendant Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, 33, who now runs the company. Carrying on the family firm: Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, 33, of Fear's Watch Company, took at job at Asda to keep the luxury watch company set up by his ancestor going through lockdown As I closed my office that night, not knowing if Id be returning, I looked at his portrait and thought, Im going to do this and get my company through it. And he did, in the most extraordinary and selfless way. That night, unable to sleep, Nicholas composed his CV and the next day took it round to every supermarket near his home in Canterbury, Kent. Hed worked out that if he didnt take a salary during lockdown, cash reserves meant he could continue to pay his three staff and watchmaker until mid-August. But if he got another job, he could keep the prestigious firm whose watches sell for around 3,000 each going for even longer. That Monday, Asda called to offer me the 2am-8am shift five days a week, says Nicholas. It was walking around the aisles fulfilling their home-delivery orders. Nicholas in Bristol, where his great-great-great grandfather set up the watch business in 1846 For the next two months, Id get up at half-past midnight, walk to work my car broke down that first week and no garage was open to fix it come home, get an hours sleep then get up again and run Fears until 5pm then go back to bed. Working at Asda was tough I did 16,000 steps a shift and have never been so fit and healthy. But the moment I got that first pay cheque, it was absolutely worth it. I needed a bit for our own personal bills, and the rest I could put back into the business. Despite the exhaustion, Nicholas had no regrets. I had a few friends message me to say, What an absolute comedown for you, he says. But it wasnt a case of, This is beneath me I was glad of the work. He spent two months working for just above the minimum wage before leaving when business at Fears began improving. In March we were looking at having our best year yet, with several new product launches, says Nicholas. But in April we made just 145 in sales, which is petrifying. However, that month we started to get more inquiries, and in May they started turning into orders. Throughout the hardship, one thing spurred Nicholas on. Our 175th anniversary is in January 2021 and even if the entire economic system collapses, we still have to be going! THE CAMPERVANS THAT SAVED A CARE HOME FROM CORONAVIRUS When Covid-19 was first recorded in Inverness earlier this year, care home manager Victoria Connolly was absolutely determined none of her residents would catch the virus. So she did something extraordinary: she asked her staff if any would be prepared to give up their family life for several weeks and live in. Incredibly, 14 selfless volunteers agreed, meaning no one would be coming into the Isobel Fraser care home and risk spreading the virus among the 27 vulnerable residents. Care home manager Victoria Connolly housed staff in camper vans to protect the residents But then Victoria had another problem where to house them. There are a couple of rooms upstairs I could fit six people into, says the 38-year-old. Then I thought, Where am I going to put everyone else? I have a friend with a campervan, so I phoned her and asked if we could use it. She agreed but I needed more, so she suggested I hire one. Victoria called Highland Auto Campers, where owner Mark Jarratt immediately agreed to supply three vans one brand new, two just a year old at cost. We just wanted to help, says Mark, 44. The campervans were just sitting quarantined, and its good to do something for the community. Mark Jarratt, pictured with girlfriend Alicia, owns Highland Auto Campers and leased the vans to the Isobel Fraser care home in Inverness for a cut-price rate to help the staff stay safe While the vans called Hector, Ruby and Oscar usually rent for 130 a night; the home paid just 250 a week for each. We gave them a thorough clean before driving them over and setting them up, says Mark. The staff and some of the residents were quite excited when we arrived. Six people stayed in the vans for the next three to five weeks. They really enjoyed it, says Victoria. The vans were warm and comfortable. Most have said theyd take them out on holiday! Most importantly, their sacrifice was worthwhile no one at the home has yet contracted the virus. We would have done anything to keep the residents safe, says Victoria, who left her own husband and two young children to live in. I was terrified the virus would get in, and as soon as it does, it seems to spread really fast. Now Ruby, Oscar and Hector are back at Highland Auto Campers, raring to go as soon as campsites reopen. While they were almost fully booked for spring, they had to turn customers away, but are now taking bookings from mid-July. We were proud to be able to help, says Mark. We had great feedback from the care home, local people and lots of our previous and potential customers. Were a fledgling business, and it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling. THE FOGGING MACHINE THAT KILLS CORONAVIRUS When lockdown began and hand sanitiser became almost as precious as gold, hygiene experts at Micro-Fresh realised they could help other businesses by producing their own. Within 24 hours, the company had developed a spray for hands and surfaces, which they donated to hospitals, care homes and charities. Soon the Leicester-based firm, which usually makes anti-fungal technology to keep items such as bedding, shoes and sportswear fresh, had branched out into making face masks. Not only that, it has now produced a fogging machine that kills any viruses in the air, and could help make it safe for us to go back to our gyms, restaurants and salons in the near future. Impressive pivot: Micro-Fresh co-founder Byron Dixon and chief commercial officer Jigna Varu When lockdown was announced, we decided to support the business community by pivoting into products applicable to the situation, says chief commercial officer Jigna Varu. We were acutely aware of the needs of the frontline staff who were fighting for their own safety, and we did not want them to be in a compromised position. Within 24 hours, we had formulated our version of a hand-sanitising spray, which proved popular as we are a trusted brand in hygiene. This impressive pivot meant that not only did the company not have to furlough any staff, they actually had to take on some extra workers. It also led to requests for more products. We were constantly receiving enquiries about other personal protective products, says Jigna. Since we were in the textile market already, we started manufacturing masks. Game-changer: Hygiene experts at Micro-Fresh invented this fogging machine to kill viruses They are durable, reusable and can last up to 100 washes with weekly washing, thats up to two years wear. We are all about sustainability and innovation. Micro-Fresh is now going back to making its usual anti-fungal technology but with a slight difference one unexpected benefit of recent experience is that the firm has found out its product is also anti-viral. And it doesnt just guard against Covid-19. It can protect against pathogens such as MRSA, E-coli, salmonella and listeria, says Jigna. As retailers and offices are now looking to return to work, the question of how to ensure our workplaces are as hygienic as possible arises, and we were asked about the possibility of Micro-Fresh on as many surfaces as feasible. So the firm developed Sanitaze, a portable fogging machine that kills viruses and bacteria in the air, while depositing a layer of Micro-Fresh over all the surfaces in the area to prevent germs being spread. Restaurants, gyms, salons so many businesses looking to reopen have shown interest, says Jigna. Within two weeks of speaking to local people about Sanitaze, we had to set up a separate entity within the business. For more inspiring stories, go to greatbritaincampaign.com/inspirations Meth and heroin addicts are taking to the streets to shoot up drugs, defecate on the sidewalks and then leaving behind their used needles despite being walking distance from a legal injecting centre. Locals in the Melbourne suburb of North Richmond are fed up with seeing their once pleasant neighbourhood littered with trash, needles and drug users. On Tuesday, residents shared photos of a woman sitting in the gutters preparing to inject a substance and another of a man passed out on a footpath. When asked why she wasn't using the nearby injecting room, the woman told a passerby that she 'wasn't allowed'. On Tuesday, residents shared photos of a woman sitting in the gutters preparing to inject a substance Police arrived on the scene and began speaking with the woman before she was moved along This photo was taken on June 17 directly across the road from a public school where students were playing. A man was injecting a substance into his arm 'But it's okay to just do it on a residential street?' the person asked. Moments later, police arrived on the scene and began speaking with the woman before she was moved along. Other photos show mountains of rubbish piling up on nearby Egan Street, as well as human faeces and the casings of needles. 'This is the squalor we live with,' one person wrote on the post. 'North Richmond is becoming a slum... this is the way it started in Seattle, Vancouver.' Other photos show mountains of rubbish piling up on nearby Egan Street, as well as human faeces and the casings of needles The family say there has been a spike in anti-social behaviour since the safe injecting room opened in North Richmond (pictured) Other photos show mountains of rubbish piling up on nearby Egan Street, as well as human faeces and the casings of needles Drug paraphernalia was scattered on the ground in the streets near the injection room Earlier this month, Charlotte Spencer-Roy revealed she regularly found people using drugs in the laneway beside her home. Her nine-year-old son, Angus, was traumatised after discovering a man who had apparently overdosed laying unconscious outside their home just 10 minutes from the injecting room. 'He said ''mummy, mummy there's a dead body'',' Ms Spencer-Roy told Nine News. Ms Spencer-Roy opened her door as two men scrambled to pick up their drug paraphernalia. Charlotte Spencer-Roy's nine-year-old son, Angus, was traumatised when he assumed a man who had passed out in the laneway was dead so she confronted drug-users outside the home 'Why are you choosing to inject here? This isn't the injecting room,' she asked as the pair quickly scurried away. The men told the furious mother the queues at the Lennox Street injecting room were too long and said it was 'too far away'. But Ms Spencer-Roy said the controversial injecting room, which opened in 2018, is just a ten minute walk from her house. One of the men also told the family he was banned from going into the injecting facility. Ms Spencer-Roy (pictured right with her son Angus) lives just streets away from the controversial injecting room in North Richmond Ms Spencer-Roy said she was spat on and threatened by a drug addict (pictured right and left) who had been shooting up outside her home in November Belgium's King Philippe expressed his 'deepest regrets' on Tuesday for the harm done during Belgian colonial rule in DR Congo, in a first for his country. Philippe made his remarks in a letter to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, on the 60th anniversary of Congo's independence on June 30, 1960. The death of African American George Floyd last month as he was being arrested by police in the US city of Minneapolis has also stoked fresh debate in Belgium over its colonial record. Belgium's King Philippe (pictured) expressed his 'deepest regrets' on Tuesday for the harm done during Belgian colonial rule in DR Congo, in a first for his country The death of African American George Floyd last month as he was being arrested by police in the US city of Minneapolis has also stoked fresh debate in Belgium over its colonial record. Above, city workers take down the statue of late Belgian king Leopold II, a few days after it was daubed with paint by anti-racism protesters in Antwerp Philippe made his remarks in a letter to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi (pictured) Belgium's colonisation of the vast mineral-rich country was reputed to be one of the harshest regimes imposed by European powers that ruled most of Africa in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The scars of that past remain, with two-thirds of the population in the former Zaire living below the poverty line and the country riven by conflict and instability. 'I want to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past whose pain is reawakened today by the discrimination still present in our societies,' Philippe said. Historians say that millions of Africans from areas in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo were killed, mutilated or died of disease as they worked on rubber plantations belonging to Belgium's King Leopold II. Philippe, without mentioning Leopold by name, said that during this period 'acts of violence and cruelty were committed which weigh on our collective memory'. 'The colonial period which followed (1908-60) also caused suffering and humiliation,' he said. On the day Congo broke away from Belgian colonial rule, the country's prime minister and independence icon Patrice Lumumba (pictured) delivered a scathing speech about the racist maltreatment and 'humiliating slavery' the Congolese people had endured On the day Congo broke away from Belgian colonial rule, the country's prime minister and independence icon Patrice Lumumba delivered a scathing speech about the racist maltreatment and 'humiliating slavery' the Congolese people had endured. 'We experienced the slurs, the insults, the beatings that we had to undergo morning, noon and evening, because we were negroes,' he proclaimed. King Philippe said he would combat all forms of racism and said he wanted to encourage the reflection on the issue begun by the Belgian parliament so that such memories could be put to rest. Several statues of Leopold, who ruled between 1865 and 1909, have been daubed with paint or torn down by protesters in Belgium in recent weeks, and a petition has been launched for their removal. On Tuesday, the city of Ghent will mark the 60th anniversary of Congolese independence by removing a statue of Leopold. 'The time has come for Belgium to embark on a journey of truth,' said Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes in Brussels during a ceremony marking Congo's independence day. Removed: A statue of Belgium's King Leopold II - responsible for colonial atrocities in the Congo from 1885 to 1908 - lies on its side as it is taken away in Antwerp The Leopold statue is seen standing in Antwerp after it was vandalised by demonstrators during the anti-racism protests which have spread across the world King Leopold's statue, was also removed from a park in the town of Ghent after being vandalised Leopold ruled Belgium between 1865 and 1909 but his exploitation of the Congo was brutal even by the standards of the time 'All work of truth and memory begins with acknowledging the suffering of the other,' she added. The French-speaking daily Le Soir welcomed the royal intervention in an editorial: 'Finally, this gesture, so necessary, which lifts the King and his country.' Through concession companies, Leopold II used forced labour to extract rubber in Congo, among other things. Harsh treatment - up to the cutting off of hands for unproductive workers - have been documented. Leopold is honoured with several monuments after ruling Belgium from 1865 to 1909, the longest reign in the kingdom's history. But his exploitation of the Congo Free State is seen as brutal even by the standards of the time, with millions thought to have died under Leopold's personal rule. Leopold amassed a huge personal fortune while the Congolese were killed or savagely maimed working on his rubber plantations. Locals who failed to produce enough rubber would have their hands chopped off or their women taken hostage until the target was met. Others were shot dead. Locals working on Leopold's rubber plantations in the Congo were punished with amputation if they failed to produce enough rubber A protester holds a portrait of Belgian King Leopold II during a protest, organised by Black Lives Matter Belgium, against racial inequality in the aftermath of the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in central Brussels, Belgium A view of a defaced statue of King Leopold II of Belgium, after it was set on fire and smeared with red paint, in Ekeren, Antwerp, Belgium, 5 June 2020 The plunder of resources also included ivory, copper and diamonds, while Leopold even imported some Congolese people to be put on show at a 'human zoo' in Belgium. Other looted treasures were put on display at the Africa Museum in Brussels, which Leopold used as a 'propaganda tool' for his colonial project. American writer Adam Hochschild claimed in his 1998 book King Leopold's Ghost that the death toll from Leopold's policies was as high as 10million Congolese. In fiction, the Belgian Congo provided the backdrop for Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad's classic novel on colonial exploitation. Leopold (pictured) amassed a huge personal fortune while the Congolese were killed or savagely maimed working on his rubber plantations The exploitation made Belgium a successful trading economy, but sparked an outcry which has been described as one of the world's first major human rights campaigns. After the atrocities came to light, Leopold was eventually stripped of personal ownership of the Congo in 1908. According to most historians the violence did not stop after Leopold II, and a regime of strict separation of blacks and whites, comparable to the apartheid of South Africa, was maintained for decades. Congo did not become independent until 1960 and many Belgians remain uninformed about their country's colonial past. While the former king and some of his most notorious lieutenants are still honoured in street names and statues, protests have been growing over his legacy. 'We have heard of the famous 'benefits of civilisation' brought by the Belgians,' Romain Landmeters, a researcher at the University Saint-Louis in Brussels, told AFP. 'But between the roads, hospitals, schools, we know that everything that was built was essentially intended to serve this system of extraction and production of wealth for the settlers,' he said. After the atrocities came to light, Leopold was eventually stripped of personal ownership of the Congo in 1908 Advertisement A perfect storm of 'cultural, health and economic factors' including large BAME families living in small terraced houses and poor residents who have had to work through lockdown while taking public transport have made one Leicester borough the epicenter of the city's coronavirus outbreaks, its councillor has said. Councillor Rashmikant Joshi says his North Evington ward has the highest number of new cases in the city - and accounts for around 200 of the 800-plus Covid-19 cases since mid-June as it was revealed that a major blockparty was held in the area just last weekend. And he also pointed to groups of youngsters flouting social distancing in parks and outside takeaways, and the area also has a large numbers of busy mosques and temples. On Saturday footage of a large block party on the back streets of the city close to North Evington emerged and despite anxious residents calling police, officers who arrived on the scene claimed they couldn't do anything to stop it. North Evington is the most overcrowded ward in the city and almost 60 per cent of its population is of South Asian background, which Mr Joshi claims may account for the coronavirus increase in the area. North Evington is made up of tightly packed terraced homes and is the site of a number of religious places of worship as well as busy shops and factories. Leicester's houses are the most overcrowded in the UK outside London, according to the 2011 Census. Councillor Joshi said: 'We have a lot of inter-generational households, where young people live with their grandparents. South Asians also tend to live in larger family groups, which increases the risk of infection. Since the easing of the lockdown, a lot of youngsters have been going out more and not maintaining social distance. There's a high chance that they came home and passed on the virus to elderly relatives'. He added: 'A lot of people in this community also have underlying health conditions, which makes them more vulnerable to coronavirus. They also work in low paid jobs and continued working throughout the lockdown and were going out more than people in other, more affluent areas.' BAME Britons are more at risk from coronavirus and Leicester is on course to be the first UK city not to have a majority white population in the next few years - currently 49 per cent of its population of Asian heritage or from black backgrounds. A block party was held in Leicester on Saturday night into Sunday in the area of the city that has seen a spike in cases. It was held in Highefields that neighbours the North Evington area This map shows the ten wards in Leicester which have been hit by a spike and hit the hardest according to latest figures available (the fortnight leading to June 16) according to Leicester City Council ONS data looked at by the University of Manchester shows how the homes of people of Indian heritage and ethnic minorities are most prevalent in the east of the city gripped by a spike in cases Very few of the youngsters dancing and drinking wore masks or stuck to social distancing while neighbours claim they called the police because they were 'scared' but officers let it carry on A man wearing PPE walks down a street in the North Evington area of Leicester, which has seen the most cases since mid-June An aerial view of the east of Leicester, which has seen a spike in cases in its tight terraced streets that has led to lockdown being extended for two weeks People wearing PPE in Leicester City Centre today, after the Health Secretary Matt Hancock imposed a local lockdown Members of the military at a Covid-19 testing centre in Spinney Hill Park in Leicester as members of the public are invited to get tested Leicestershire County Council issued this map today showing the area that will be subject to strict lockdown measures, marked in red, which stretches out of the city into the neighbouring county of Leicestershire Public Health officials are said to have been particularly 'alarmed' about the numbers of young men ignoring the two-metre rule in the city with gatherings outside takeaways also flagged as a risk, according to The Times. But they are not clear why Leicester is worse than similar BAME communities like Bradford, Barnsley, Rochdale and Oldham. Food processing centres have also seen spikes of cases, as seen in other parts of the country while a Sainsbury's supermarket also saw a number of cases. Councillor Joshi also slammed the government's handling of the lockdown. He said: 'The Government knew about this increase in coronavirus cases in Leicester almost 12 days ago and has not done anything about it until this week, when it announced a local lockdown. 'It's disgraceful the way in which this has been handled. There's a lot of panic and anxiety across Leicester but particularly in my ward. We are still waiting to understand the full picture but a combination of cultural, health and economic factors have clearly played a big part in what's occurred.' The party was held in Highfields, in the east of Leicester next to North Evington, and invitations were sent out on the internet and via phone messages. The DJ was Jnr. Blues who turned up the volume as youngsters drank and danced on the streets. Few wore face masks or kept the Government required two-metre distance. The 10 areas of Leicester worst hit by the recent coronavirus outbreak Between June 2 and June 16 1.North Evington 118 positive tests 2.Humberstone and Hamilton 52 positive tests 3.Belgrave 45 positive tests 4.Spinney Hills 41 positive tests 5.Rushey Mead 35 positive tests 6.Stoneygate 34 positive tests 7.Wycliffe 32 positive tests 8.Evington 30 positive tests 9.Thurncourt 30 positive tests 10. Troon 30 positive tests Advertisement Police have been called into break up illicit lockdown parties in London and around Britain and two men were arrested in Manchester at the weekend at a street rave - but on this occasion nothing was done in Leicester. Neighbours where the street party took place were horrified and said it left them in fear of Covid-19 spreading further into their neighbourhood. The streets around Oxendon Walk in the Highfields area of Leicester have some of the highest infection rates in the city. 'It was really scary,' said a 51-year-old family man, who like others in the surrounding streets asked for their names not to be published because they of fear of reprisals. 'No one was keeping a safe distance at all and only a few had face masks. I think the spread of Covid in Leicester is linked to parties like this. It was out of control. There were still people here at 2.30 in the morning'. The party took place on a dead-end street where cars could not pass. Party goers squeezed into the narrow space, where a powerful sound system was set up, dancing and drinking shoulder to shoulder from 4pm in the afternoon. 'The walls were shaking, that is how loud it was,' said another fearful resident, a 40-year-old office worker. I'm scared, these things increase the chance of it spreading. It is irresponsible to hold parties like this.' Neighbours said the police did attend the event. 'I called the police and they said it was not in their control' said a pensioner, who lives nearby. 'They told me it is not against the law, they can have a party and told me to ring the council. I did, but they didn't do anything either.' Other people saw police officers at the event. 'They were present, but they did not do anything,' said a 50-year-old textiles worker, who saw three or four officers. 'They were there but did not try to stop what was going on. I was surprised.' 'I have elderly family. We are very careful, washing our hands not letting people visit us, then all of a sudden this. It makes what we are doing a waste of time. People should not be doing this in this situation. It is worrying and very selfish.' The streets of Leicester were almost empty this morning as residents responded to the warnings about a coronavirus surge The market remained boarded up in Leicester today, with lockdown set to be tightened up again to combat the spread Police powerless to stop people leaving Leicester's lockdown zone Police have admitted they cannot stop people leaving Leicester's lockdown zone despite claims by made by Health Secretary Matt Hancock that officers would enforce the new measures. There will be no roadblocks set up around the city, which has seen a surge of Covid-19 cases and is the first in Britain to go back under lockdown, a police source has told MailOnline. All that officers will be able to enforce is to make sure that all non-essential shops, which had re-opened two weeks ago, and pubs and hairdressers, which were due to re-open on Saturday, now remain closed. However, they will not be able to stop anyone travelling a mile or two to drink in a village pub or go shopping outside of the lockdown zone. Advertisement Poor English, high levels of diabetes and youths congregating in parks and outside takeaways are also considered factors that may have caused the spike in coronavirus cases in Leicester, MailOnline can reveal today. HOW BIG IS THE ACTUAL COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN LEICESTER? Leicester City Council (LCC) claims there has been 3,216 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases across the city since Britain's outbreak began to spiral out of control in February. Local officials revealed 944 of those Covid-19 infections were diagnosed in the past fortnight meaning the city's epidemic has grown by roughly 70.6 per cent since mid-June. This equates to roughly 977 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 people. But that data given to the LCC, which takes into account the results of all tests carried out across NHS, Public Health England and commercial laboratories, is not available to the public. Only the geographical breakdown of pillar one testing which the government says is only given to patients with a medical need or key workers is released by the Department of Health every afternoon. That data shows Leicester has only recorded 1,056 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began a third of the figure obtained by LCC. It revealed only 366 new infections have been confirmed in May and June. This includes 41 recorded between June 20 and 26. In comparison, just 39 were registered in the seven-day spell that ended June 19. The official figures prompted experts to question whether or not Leicester was actually being hit by an outbreak. Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia, said Leicester's Covid-19 outbreak has grumbled on for a bit 'but it doesn't look that dramatic to me'. He told MailOnline it was 'very concerning' that most of the coronavirus data needed to estimate risk at the local level is not being made publicly available by health officials. Advertisement Leicester mayor says the city could need a bailout The Labour mayor of Leicester said today that the city could need financial assistance if it is to remain in lockdown while the rest of the country emerges. Sir Peter Soulsby said at a press conference: 'I am very very concerned obviously about the impact of the wellbeing of the city, and the health of the city, but also about the economy of the city.' Advertisement Sukhbir Singh, 22, a shop assistant on Evington Road, said: 'I think people in this area are really unhygienic and don't take precautions like hand washing. 'The street drinkers never stopped meeting outside - it was like there wasn't a lockdown. In the Asian community here are there household with seven, eight people. 'They can spread the virus everywhere if one of them gets ill.' Rizwan Anwar, 39, a worker at 3 for 10 pizza outlet on Evington Road, said: 'Pure and simple it's a lack of understanding of coronavirus. 'People don't believe it unless it happens to them. 'I lost a niece in Birmingham who was 29. I know it is real. 'The lack of understanding is down to the language barrier. 'Here in Leicester the rate is on the increase while the rest of the country is slowing down. 'Boris Johnson didn't help by telling people to go out and spend. 'We should have locked down in February like New Zealand. 'I think the government is going for herd immunity and wants people to die. 'I'm struggling to understand customers when they rest their elbows on the counter. 'I have to take steps back to keep a safe distance.' City councillor Ratilal Govind told MailOnline he thought there had been a lack of communication with people who do not speak English as a first language in the city. Councillor Govind, who represents the city's Evington ward where one of the four mobile testing stations for the virus has been sited, said: 'I have seen young people getting together, having a few drinks and conversation. They are just social gatherings. With these young people there is a language barrier. They are speaking their own language and I tell them to disperse in Gujarati. There is a lack of communication made worse by the language barriers'. He told Good Morning Britain today that more literature and advice should have been given in languages other than English. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC Breakfast that work was still being done to understand why Leicester had been so badly affected by the outbreak. When asked about possible causes such as poverty, higher ethnic diversity, language difficulties and higher-density housing Mr Hancock said they were 'familiar' to him. He added: 'We are still doing the work to understand exactly why the outbreak has been so bad in Leicester. 'But lots of the reasons that you mentioned just then are familiar to me and people will find them intuitive.' Mr Hancock said that 'of course' the Government was looking at similar places but said the outbreak in Leicester was 'very significantly worse' than the next worst hit place. Police have admitted they cannot stop people leaving Leicester's lockdown zone despite claims by made by Health Secretary Matt Hancock that officers would enforce the new measures. There will be no roadblocks set up around the city, which has seen a surge of Covid-19 cases and is the first in Britain to go back under lockdown, a police source has told MailOnline. All that officers will be able to enforce is to make sure that all non-essential shops, which had re-opened two weeks ago, and pubs and hairdressers, which were due to re-open on Saturday, now remain closed. However, they will not be able to stop anyone travelling a mile or two to drink in a village pub or go shopping outside of the lockdown zone. Some 866 people in Leicester have tested positive for Covid-19 in the two weeks to June 23 with around one fifth of cases understood to be located in just one ward. A well-placed police source said: 'It's not about drawing a circle around Leicester and making sure nobody goes in or out. There will be no road blocks. 'If someone wants to go a couple of miles outside of the quarantine zone to drink in a pub or go shopping then we simply cannot stop them. It would be impossible to enforce that given some 330,000 people live in Leicester. 'All that police are able to realistically enforce is to make sure that businesses within the city that either had been open or had been looking to open at the weekend, now remain closed until further notice. Although even with this the Home Office needs new legislation to make it enforceable. 'There are about 900 new cases in Leicester of which 167 are in one particular ward of the city.' Mr Hancock today said that 'in some cases' the lockdown would be enforced by the police but when pressed on how people would be stopped from travelling outside the city, he said: 'We're recommending against all but essential travel both to and from and within Leicester, and as we saw during the peak, the vast majority of people will abide by these rules.' The lockdown area includes Leicester city centre as well as suburban parts of Leicestershire, including Wigston, Oadby and Blaby. Leicester City Council (LCC) claims there has been 3,216 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases across the city since Britain's outbreak began to spiral out of control in February. Local officials revealed 944 of those Covid-19 infections were diagnosed in the past fortnight meaning the city's epidemic has grown by roughly 70.6 per cent since mid-June. This equates to roughly 977 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 people. But that data given to the LCC, which takes into account the results of all tests carried out across NHS, Public Health England and commercial laboratories, is not available to the public. Only the geographical breakdown of pillar one testing which the government says is only given to patients with a medical need or key workers is released by the Department of Health every afternoon. That data shows Leicester has only recorded 1,056 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began a third of the figure obtained by LCC. It revealed only 366 new infections have been confirmed in May and June. This includes 41 recorded between June 20 and 26. In comparison, just 39 were registered in the seven-day spell that ended June 19. The official figures prompted experts to question whether or not Leicester was actually being hit by an outbreak. Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia, said Leicester's Covid-19 outbreak has grumbled on for a bit 'but it doesn't look that dramatic to me'. He told MailOnline it was 'very concerning' that most of the coronavirus data needed to estimate risk at the local level is not being made publicly available by health officials. The measures for Leicester first announced by Mr Hancock in a dramatic statement to the Commons last night include: All non-essential shops will close from today, with law to be rushed through to underpin the new restrictions, after 800-plus cases were recorded in Leicester since mid-June and the area accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive tests in the UK over the past week; Schools will close from Thursday and will not reopen until next term, amid fears an unusually high incidence in children is driving the spread. They will stay open for vulnerable children and offspring of key workers; People are advised to avoid all but essential travel to, from, and within Leicester and should 'stay at home as much as you can', but there is no formal travel ban at this stage; Easing of lockdown in England on Saturday will not apply in Leicester, meaning pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas will stay shut; Shielding measures will not be loosened in the city on 6 July, unlike the rest of England where the most clinically-vulnerable will be able to spend more time outside. Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said he had not had data on whether sweatshop factories in the east of the city had seen 'hotspots' for the virus. He said there was an issue with 'illegal manufacturers' in Leicester but added: 'There's nothing we've seen that it (the spread of coronavirus) could be associated with them.' Sir Peter Soulsby told reporters at a press conference that the local lockdown announced last night 'was I think more wide-ranging than we'd anticipated'. He added: 'I'm really grateful for that, because while it is a pain for us and a nuisance for us in the city to be subject to that level of restriction and to have the clock turned back in the development of the virus, it is nonetheless something that has some realistic prospect of being effective.' He also said that leaders are still trying to learn more about where the virus is in the city, saying: 'We do need still to know more about where it is in the community. 'I've had lots of speculation and lots of questions about where it is in the community and we have not as yet been able to give satisfactory answers even to ourselves, no matter anybody else, about which parts of the community need the intervention. 'Which neighbourhoods, which communities, indeed which streets.' Furious Leicester residents blamed an explosion in coronavirus cases on 'idiots' flouting social distancing rules today - as ministers warned people face arrest if they break a new lockdown being imposed on the city. In a taste of what communities across the country will face if there are flare-ups, Matt Hancock has declared that all non-essential shops in the area must shut, just two weeks after they were allowed to reopen. Schools will also be closed from Thursday amid fears the surge in cases is being driven by transmission among children - with the loosening planning for the rest of England on July 4 now off the agenda in Leicester until at least July 18. The streets of the city centre were deserted this morning, as Mr Hancock confirmed that police will be enforcing the curbs, vowing to push through laws to bolster their powers. But he hinted that there will be no extra compensation for businesses, and faced a backlash after admitting there will be no ban on cars or trains into the city. The boundaries of the restrictions were only revealed this morning, adding to the sense of chaos. There is also anger that action was not taken sooner, with complaints that ministers kept local authorities in the dark for more than a week after identifying a worrying spike in cases. In a round of interviews intended to reassure an anxious public this morning, Mr Hancock said the government was mobilising its strategy for crushing localised outbreaks - dubbed 'whack a mole' by Boris Johnson. 'It's so important that we get a grip on this spike that has happened in Leicester. We will be closing the shops by law and will be changing the law in the next day or two to do that,' he told BBC Breakfast. He warned people not to travel 'in, out or within Leicester' unless it is essential, but added: 'We are not putting that into law at this stage - we will keep that under review and make changed if we need to'. However, experts branded the outbreak in Leicester 'a reflection of premature lifting of lockdown measures', and predicted other cities would need the same treatment. And health committee chair Jeremy Hunt described the action as a 'necessary puncturing of the elation' that had been building in England as the lockdown loosens. Gallowtree Gate in Leicester today as locals brace themselves for the new lockdown after a coronavirus surge A resident walks along a street in the North Evington area of Leicester today amid the renewed lockdown measures Matt Hancock (pictured on a round of interviews today) defended his response to the outbreak after Leicester was forced back into strict coronavirus lockdown after 10 per cent of the UK's new Covid-19 cases were recorded there How a large BAME population, poverty and crowded households may have contributed to Leicester's spike in cases Government officials, local politicians and scientists are divided over whether Leicester is experiencing a real surge in cases or whether better testing is simply finding more of them where it wasn't before. It is also not clear whether there are any characteristics of Leicester which make it more likely to see a surge in cases, or if random chance has meant the first 'second wave' is happening there. Experts say many of the risk factors in Leicester are the same in all major cities in England. The mayor of the city, Sir Peter Soulsby, said on BBC Radio 4 this morning that a report sent to him by the Government 'actually acknowledges that it's very likely that the increase in number of positives identified is a result of increased testing, and that actually there's perhaps nothing of any great significance in those results.' Director of Public Health for the city, Ivan Browne, said: 'Interestingly it [the surge in cases] is very much around the younger, working age population and predominantly towards the east part of our city. We started to see this level through our testing programme. 'Young people work in many industries across the city so at this stage what we're trying to do is gather as much epidemiological information as we can to really try and get underneath and have an understanding. I don't think at the moment that we are seeing a single source or a single smoking gun on this'. It was always likely that surges in cases would be seen in cities first. There are more people, raising the risk, and those people are more likely to live in densely populated areas and come into contact with strangers on a regular basis. Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, from the University of Cambridge, said: 'There will be differences in the ease with which people can maintain physical distance between densely populated areas and rural environments so it isn't surprising to me that we may see localised flare-ups, which in turn may need suppressing through delayed easing or temporary re-introduction of some constraints on some movements and activities.' Leicester also has high levels of deprivation, which affects people's lives in ways that put them at risk of catching the virus. Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: 'In deprived areas people are more likely to have to go to work, less likely to be able to work from home, and more likely to use public transport. They can't distance themselves from others.' The Samworth Brothers sandwich factory in the city reported over the weekend that it had diagnosed cases of Covid-19 among its staff. Food processing factories are a higher transmission risk because cold environments allow the virus to survive for longer on hard surfaces and make people's airways more susceptible to infection. Dr Clarke added that the types of work people do may increase their risk. 'Blue collar cities are now at higher risk than places like London and Manchester which have more financial services,' he added. 'Factories and manufacturing work are opportunities [for people] to mix and mixing is what it's all about. You wouldn't put a food processing factory in London because it's too expensive.' The ethnicity of Leicester's residents may also play into the risk of the coronavirus spreading fast - 37 per cent of people in the city were Asian or British Asian in the 2011 Census, with 28 per cent of them of Indian heritage. One local researcher told MailOnline multi-generational households were 'part and parcel' of Asian culture and that grandparents often live with their younger relatives. This leads to larger households which increases the risk of more people catching the virus from one infected member of the family. If older people live in the home they are more likely to get seriously ill and to get tested and recorded as a patient, contributing to statistics. Research has shown younger people are more likely to have mild symptoms or not to notice they are ill at all, making them less likely to get tested and to show up in data collection. Professor Brendan Wren, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, added: 'Why this outbreak occurred in the east part of Leicester is unclear and we may never know as the number of cases may be too high to drill down to the fine detail of the original source(s) of the infection.' Advertisement Mr Hancock revealed that testing over the past ten days had revealed an 'unusually high incidence in children in Leicester'- who are unlikely to be ill themselves but could pass it to adults. He said: 'There are under 18s that have tested positive and therefore because children can transmit the disease we think the safest thing to do is to close the schools', adding that they delayed this until Thursday to allow parents to organise childcare'. Language barriers, high levels of diabetes and poverty among Leicester's BAME residents have also been blamed for the Covid-19 surge in the East Midlands city. Mr Hancock admitted they were looking at areas with similar demographics in the north-west and Yorkshire but said: 'Leicester is very significantly worse than other cities'. Residents have been advised to stay at home and warned against all but essential travel following a spike of 800-plus Covid-19 cases in Leicester since mid-June. The area accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive cases in the UK over the past week. Mr Hancock said 'in some cases' the lockdown would be enforced by the police, while legal changes would be made so non-essential retail is no longer open. 'We will be bringing forward a legal change very shortly, in the next couple of days, because some of the measures that we've unfortunately had to take in Leicester will require legal underpinning,' he said. When pressed on how people would be stopped from travelling outside the city, he said: 'We're recommending against all but essential travel both to and from and within Leicester, and as we saw during the peak, the vast majority of people will abide by these rules. 'Of course we will take further action including putting in place laws if that is necessary but I very much hope it won't be.' But Leicester Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the new lockdown in the city should have been brought in much sooner. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: 'The Secretary of State (Matt Hancock) announced that he believed there was an outbreak in Leicester the best part of two weeks ago. 'Since then, we've been struggling to get information from them about what data they had, what led them to believe there was a particular problem here, and struggling to get them to keep the level of testing in Leicester.' He said he had been trying 'for weeks' to access data on the level of testing in the city and was only given access last Thursday. When asked whether a local lockdown should have been brought in earlier, he said: 'If as seems to be the case, the figures suggest there are issues in the city, I would wish that they had shared that with us right from the start, and I wish they had taken a more speedy decision rather than leaving it 11 days from the Secretary of State's first announcement... 'That's a long gap, and a long time for the virus to spread.' Dr Bharat Pankhania, Senior Clinical Lecturer at University of Exeter Medical School predicted more cities will be locked down in the same way. He said: 'Going forward; six months, nine months from today, we will have outbreaks in Manchester, Birmingham - other big cities'. Young people in Leicester, who are believed to be disproportionately affected by the return of the virus, are unsurprised Covid is making a comeback. Molly Farmer-Law, 16, has just finished her GCSE year and said friends could not resist the temptation to party, even though she has stayed in. 'Quite a few people have been meeting up' she said. 'Not many people my age were taking it seriously. People had just finished school and wanted to meet. We've seen it on videos.' And even if pubs and clubs stay closed in Leicester few think it will curb social activity among the 18 to 30s as the summer moves into full swing. 'Everyone is still doing what they were doing before' said Grace, 27, who did not want to give her full name. 'People will find somewhere for a drink. If they can't get it in Leicester they will go elsewhere or to illegal raves. 'There are a lot of abandoned warehouses around here, or they'll go to Nottingham or Loughborough. They will find somewhere' said the healthcare assistant, who has seen many cases of Covid among the people she cares for. Student Faith Owolambi, 21, agreed. 'They will go somewhere else to meet up. Birmingham and Coventry are not far, or they will just go to the park.' Pubs, clubs and restaurants in Leicester were already struggling financially after the lockdown began on March 23, and are now faced with another two weeks without being able to trade. The Konak Turkish restaurant on the edge of the city centre has lost 50,000 and laid off 20 of its 26 staff since the lockdown began. 'They said we could open on July 4 and we were sold out,' said front of house manager Osman Macit, who is 24 'We had taken 46 bookings and we had spoken to staff about coming back and now we have to cancel all of that. It is all going out of the window. And we don't know if it is going to be two weeks or more.' Meanwhile, some Leicester residents are warning other cities to take the threat of a second wave seriously, since they could be next. Retired maths teacher Mohamed Ahmed, 58, has been wearing a mask throughout the pandemic and does not intend to remove it when outdoors until next spring. 'I think this will happen in other places' he said. 'Once the lockdown is opened up people will not be that bothered and they will pass it on to other people.' At Leicester Market, which has remained open throughout the pandemic, traders insisted the new rise of Covid in the city had nothing to do with them. 'The market has not been closed, but even now people are still scared to come out' said Stephen Powley, 56, who has worked on Leicester Market for more than 40 years. The greengrocer, who was doing a reasonable trade in fresh fruit even though the number of shoppers is well down on pre-pandemic levels and more than half the pitchers are empty. 'There is more space here than queueing for the shops,' said the veteran trader, who has his son, Jack, 15, alongside while the schools are closed. 'This is safer than Sainsbury's or any other supermarket. It is spread out, it's in the open air. We have notices asking people to stay two metres apart and not to handle the produce.' Colleague Buddy Abbott, 55, who came on the market as a teenage apprentice agreed. 'There have been no signs of Covid among market traders. If there was the market would be closed straight away.' Leicester barber Blake Edwards, 38, had been ready to reopen his salon on July 4 before learning he would have to sit back and wait. The 38-year-old said the situation in Leicester was 'embarrassing'. Mr Edwards opened his business 'Flappers & Gentlemen' in December 2013 and employs some 15 staff members, all of whom have been furloughed. He told MailOnline: 'It's embarrassing. It's horrible this has happened to Leicester. 'The city has been known for such positive things lately so to have this is a real kick in the teeth. Unfortunately there is a minority of people that causes problems for the majority. 'The majority of responsible individuals will carry on and refocus. We just have to take the bit and pick up the pieces and reform; all we can do is learn. 'I don't know what has caused the spike, but there seem to be a minority of people who don't take things seriously and feel that they're indestructible. 'It's frustrating and from the start, in a huge park near my house, I've witnessed scenes that are alarming. That caught more wind as time goes on.' Police plead for calm as pubs reopen on 'Super Saturday' The UK's most senior police officer today pleaded with the public not to go crazy when lockdown eases in England on Saturday. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said her force has been planning for July 4 'for some time'. She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'You will see a lot of police officers out on the street. 'There will be a lot more ready should people be out of order, should people get violent. 'But I'm not predicting that at this stage.' London has seen tensions flare during recent protests and a number of unlicensed music events. Dame Cressida added: 'My message is, if you're coming out on Saturday, be calm, be sensible. Look after yourself, look after your family. 'We are still in a global pandemic which is affecting this country very obviously. People need to be sensible.' Advertisement Alex Richie, landlord of The Dove, just on the edge of the city, told the Sun: 'There's only one reason that we would go into a further lockdown: [people] not following social distancing guidelines, and people need to learn'. The city's Labour Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby agreed to the lockdown last night after a war of words with the Government over a lack of data about who was ill and how the shutdown will work. He said: 'I haven't got a clue as to how this will work in practice' admitting if people wanted to go to a pub they could drive into Leicestershire 'or visit a friend in Birmingham to have their hair cut'. Asked if this was a real threat he said: 'It depends on how long the restrictions are extended, but it won't be long before people think 'I'm going'.' Leicester has an infection rate of 135 per 100,000 people, which is three times higher than the next highest local area, Mr Hancock said. Hospital admissions are also much higher than the norm at between six and ten per day. 'Having taken clinical advice on the actions necessary and discussed them with the local team in Leicester and Leicestershire, we have made some difficult but important decisions,' Mr Hancock told MPs in the House of Commons last night.'We've decided that from tomorrow, non-essential retail will have to close and as children have been particularly impacted by this outbreak, schools will also need to close from Thursday, staying open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers as they did throughout'. A Nickelodeon teen actor has shared a video of herself extremely distressed after discovering her face mask had been pierced into to her ear along with an earring by a technician. Sissy Sheridan, 16, who appears on Nickelodeon's web series DIY With Me and has three million TikTok followers, shared the video of herself crying to the platform as she realized her mask had been pierced into her ear. The actress had been to an Icing by Claire's store near her home in Sterling, Virginia, to have a third ear piercing put into each lobe on Monday, accompanied by her mother and a close friend, she told BuzzFeed News. After getting into the car to travel home and attempting to remove her mask, the 16-year-old realized that it was stuck, and claimed that it has been accidentally pierced through the ear along with the new earring. Sissy Sheridan, 16, had been to an Icing by Claire's store near her home in Sterling, Virginia, to have a third ear piercing, but during the piercing a mask was pinned to her ear With no choice but to leave the mask hanging from her ear, Miss Sheridan wore the mask home where her mother Leisa helped her cut most of it free by folding her ears forward. In the video, a hysterically crying Miss Sheridan can be heard saying: 'I just got my ears pierced and she pierced it on my mask. 'I can't get it off and it hurts so bad. I hate Claire's. Look at it the white one, it's stuck in my ear. 'And they look so ugly I just want to take them out. Look at it. She pierced it on my mask.' Interestingly enough, Sissy seemed just fine in a video taken inside the store in the moments the piercing was made. In the video Miss Sheridan is visibly distraught as the her ear causes her pain while attached to the mask In that video which she posted later, after the crying clip she is seeing sitting in a high chair as the employee holds the piercing gun first to one ear and then the other to give her a third set of holes. After the first piercing which she noted is the one with the mask attached she asks to pause for a moment, saying that it really hurt. But she is neither crying nor calling out, and is soon ready for the employee to move onto the second ear. Sissy, who went to the store with a friend, told BuzzFeed that she wore two masks for the occasion a black cloth one and a blue surgical one because she new the store employee would be close to her face. Still, she said, she didn't even know that the strap of the mask has got stuck while she was being pierced. 'I had no idea. Im just sitting in the chair. I didnt feel anything. There was no sign the mask had been punctured in the ear,' she said. Miss Sheridan, who appears on Nickelodeon's web series DIY With Me and has three million TikTok followers, shared the video of herself crying after he mask was pierced into her ear Claire's say they are investigating the incident and taking appropriate corrective action. Miss Sheridan said she does not want the employee to be blamed for the 'freak accident' But when she got into the car to go home and tried to take the masks off, she noticed that one wouldn't budge and was stuck to the back of her ear. It is unclear how, exactly, part of the mask strap would have ended up inside her ear, as Sissy claims, since the piercing would have been made from the front to the back of the ear, and the mask appears to be stuck to the back of her ear. At that point, she escalated from calm to full-on hysterics. Her mother took photos of the 'negligent' tangle on her daughter's ear, which she said they have sent to the manager of Icing at the Claire's store in the hope of a refund. However, Leisa said Claire's had told them that no refund could be issued for the $73 piercing unless they returned the earrings which are still stuck in Miss Sheridan's ears. The earrings are destroyed after being returned. The manager of the store Carmen Sandy, told Buzzfeed: 'She needs to bring the earring back and come into the store. I'll replace it for her [with] a full earring, but she didn't want to hear it. If she's unhappy, she needs to call corporate.' She didn't even know that the strap of the mask has got stuck while she was being pierced 'I had no idea. Im just sitting in the chair. I didnt feel anything. There was no sign the mask had been punctured in the ear,' she said Ow: Sissy also complained that her lobe is swollen and in pain, so she can't take the actual piercing out just yet In an update video Miss Sheridan explained that although her mother had been able to remove most of the mask some of it remained inside of her ear, having been forced through when it was pierced. Interesting: It is unclear how, exactly, part of the mask strap would have ended up inside her ear, as Sissy claims, since the piercing would have been made from the front to the back of the ear, and the mask appears to be stuck to the back of her ear She tells her viewers: 'Basically the mask is gone out of my ear, but there's still a piece of the plastic string stuck in my ear. When it got pierced it got pierced inside my ear. 'My ears are too sore and sensitive right now, because they just got a hole pierced through them, to take the earring out. And also if I take the earring out it could close up. She added: 'Sorry for being dramatic but I had no idea what to do and it really hurt so that was my reaction. I was crazy I was like aaaahhh.' Miss Sheridan said she does not want the employee to be blamed for the 'freak accident' but said she thinks piercings might need to stop while masks are mandatory in the state of Virginia, reports BuzzFeed. Claire's told MailOnline: 'Over 40 years, Claires has pierced more than 100 million ears. Customer well-being is always our main priority. 'We are investigating this incident and are taking appropriate corrective action. We have reached out to the customer offering support and a full refund, and have updated our ear piercing training guidelines to incorporate mask wearing.' The Mayor of Leicester broke lockdown rules to visit his girlfriend and stay at her house overnight. Sir Peter Soulsby, 71, flouted the lockdown to go and see his partner Lesley Summerland, 64, and carry out maintenance on her home. Neighbours filmed the Labour Mayor at Ms Summerland's home on several occasions as he arrived 'carrying overnight bags and shirts.' Last night, Matt Hancock confirmed Leicester a city in the East Midlands home to 330,000 people would face a two-week lockdown extension. Sir Peter Soulsby, 71, breached the rules to see his partner Lesley Summerland, 64, and carry out maintenance on her home Neighbours filmed the Labour Mayor at Ms Summerland's home on several occasions. Above: The mayor was filmed climbing a ladder while Ms Summerland leaned out of a window Sir Peter Soulsby defied the lockdown to stay with his partner Lesley Summerland The streets of Leicester were almost empty this morning as residents responded to the warnings about a coronavirus surge The city's mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, today told a press conference he wished ministers had warned of the outbreak a 'long time ago' and revealed local health chiefs were still working through a 'mountain' of data to see where the virus is spreading In the clips seen by The Sun, Sir Peter can be seen helping his partner with maintenance on her home and climbing a ladder to fit a window. Throughout May, the Labour politician used his social media account to urge residents to 'stay safe at home'. Police spoke to the Mayor after the visits came to light and gave him advice about the restrictions in place. Speaking to BBC Radio Leicester last month, he apologised for the error of judgement and admitted 'it was setting a very bad example'. But he pointed to other 'high-profile people' who had flouted the lockdown. Sir Peter told the BBC: 'I don't think anybody would claim that there was anything in my behaviour that ran any risk whatsoever of spreading the virus. 'It can be certainly interpreted as against the spirit of the lockdown, if not against the regulations.' He said he was 'ready to apologise' unlike 'some of the high-profile people who are far more influential in setting policy about this than I am'. Officers said they would not be taking further action against him because the allegations, which the mayor admitted, were 'historic'. Today, Sir Peter said the new lockdown in the city 'should have been brought in much sooner.' But furious Leicester residents blamed an explosion in coronavirus cases on 'idiots' flouting social distancing rules - as ministers warned people face arrest if they break a new lockdown being imposed on the city from today. Data shows how Leicester's coronavirus outbreak has grown over time. The numbers compiled for England only include pillar one swab tests, which officials say are only given to patients with a medical need or key workers The measures for Leicester first announced by Mr Hancock in a dramatic statement to the Commons last night include: All non-essential shops will close from today, with law to be rushed through to underpin the new restrictions, after 800-plus cases were recorded in Leicester since mid-June and the area accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive tests in the UK over the past week; Schools will close from Thursday and will not reopen until next term, amid fears an unusually high incidence in children is driving the spread. They will stay open for vulnerable children and offspring of key workers; People are advised to avoid all but essential travel to, from, and within Leicester and should 'stay at home as much as you can', but there is no formal travel ban at this stage; Easing of lockdown in England on Saturday will not apply in Leicester, meaning pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas will stay shut; Shielding measures will not be loosened in the city on 6 July, unlike the rest of England where the most clinically-vulnerable will be able to spend more time outside. The Mayor today told a press conference that testing has increased in the city in recent days and weeks as he welcomed the lockdown. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: 'The Secretary of State (Matt Hancock) announced that he believed there was an outbreak in Leicester the best part of two weeks ago. 'Since then, we've been struggling to get information from them about what data they had, what led them to believe there was a particular problem here, and struggling to get them to keep the level of testing in Leicester.' He said he had been trying 'for weeks' to access data on the level of testing in the city and was only given access last Thursday. When asked whether a local lockdown should have been brought in earlier, he said: 'If as seems to be the case, the figures suggest there are issues in the city, I would wish that they had shared that with us right from the start, and I wish they had taken a more speedy decision rather than leaving it 11 days from the Secretary of State's first announcement... 'That's a long gap, and a long time for the virus to spread.' Travel firms have been forced to scrap thousands of flights and holiday packages in Greece after the nation extended its ban on arrivals from the UK. TUI, Ryanair, Easyjet, Jet2 and British Airways have all axed travel plans for Brits who booked in the hope of a quick getaway in early July. But the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last night extended a UK flight ban due to end on July 1 to July 15. He took the action despite UK plans to include Greece in a 'green' group of countries it was safe for Britons to travel to using quarantine-free air bridges, when a list is released later this week. Greece has been relatively lightly affected by coronavirus, but the UK continues to be one of the worst affected countries in Europe. Tui, the UK's biggest tour operator, was due to serve four Greek islands when it resumed operations on July 11, while EasyJet had announced plans to resume flights from the UK to Greece next week with fares starting at 39.99. The boss of TUI this morning demanded clarity over the air bridge scheme, warning that other countries could follow Greece's example. Andrew Flintham, managing director of TUI UK & Ireland, said the proposal could only work after 'two-way conversations' between Britain and other countries, adding: 'I think there's still going to be a few bumps in the road.' TUI, Ryanair, Easyjet, Jet2 and British Airways have all axed travel plans to Greece (pictured) for Brits who booked in the hope of a quick getaway in early July Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last night extended a UK flight ban due to end on July 1 to July 15. He took the action despite UK plans to include Greece in a 'green' group of countries it was safe for Britons to travel to using quarantine-free air bridges, when an official list is released later this week Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last night officially ended the much-criticised blanket quarantine programme just three weeks after it was introduced for visitors and those returning to homes in the UK. In a Written Ministerial Statement to MPs he confirmed new measures unveiled by Downing Street on Saturday, to come into effect 'shortly'. Under the traffic light system, drawn up by the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England and set to be in place by July 6, countries will be rated green, amber or red based on coronavirus infection levels, the reliability of official data and confidence in test and trace systems. The automatic 14-day quarantine requirement will remain only for 'red-rated' countries such as the US and Brazil. Travel between 'green' and 'amber' countries will be quarantine-free, but passengers will have to fill in a 'locator form' to trace their movements. But it came as Athens has extended its prohibition on UK flights to the country from July 1 until July 15, despite plans for it to feature on the UK's list of countries eligible for quarantine-free travel. It cited the UK's high rate of coronavirus cases as one of the factors, with Sweden also being blocked for the same reason. Greece has previously flip-flopped over allowing UK tourists back in, at one point asking the UK for a deal. The state-run Amna news agency reported that prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a tourism industry meeting in Athens today: 'The whole opening procedure is dynamic and the data will be continuously evaluated.' An Easyjet spokesman told the Mirror: 'We will being reviewing our flying schedule and any customers whose flights are required to be cancelled as a result of any restrictions will be notified and informed of their options which include a free of charge transfer, a voucher for the value of their booking or a refund.' And a TUI spokesman added: 'In accordance with updated advice from the Greek Government, our planned flights to Greece between 11-14 July won't go ahead. When we announced our plans to re-start summer holidays, we always said they were subject to Government guidelines. We'll continue to monitor these and update our holiday programme as needed.' Advertisement New York City's famous George Washington Monument in Washington Square Park was defaced with red paint on Monday as protesters gathered further downtown outside City Hall ahead of a controversial vote that could slash the city's police budget by $1billion - 16 percent of its total - despite escalating crime and chaos. In the latest symbol of police defiance and unruliness across the city, the vandals tossed red paint at the famous George Washington monument on Monday then fled the scene, leaving city workers to try to power wash it off. President Trump tweeted on Tuesday: 'We are tracking down the two Anarchists who threw paint on the magnificent George Washington Statue in Manhattan. We have them on tape. They will be prosecuted and face 10 years in Prison based on the Monuments and Statues Act. Turn yourselves in now!' At City Hall, protesters who have set up an Occupy City Hall camp clashed with police on Tuesday morning. The protesters have been there now for a week and are refusing to leave until the NYPD budget is cut by at least $1billion - something that is likely to happen on Tuesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio has reached an agreement with the city council that divests $1billion from the NYPD and cancels the hiring of 1,163 cops. Some Democrats say it is a step in the right direction and that the police force - like others across the country - needs to be stripped of its power and resources to combat systemic racism and excessive use of force. However others say it's not enough of a hit to the mammoth force which enjoys a $6billion yearly budget. They want more money to be taken away, and say that much of De Blasio's plan amounts to 'gimmicks'. But others - namely the NYPD Commissioner and Police Benevolent Association, say the need for a strong and bolstered police force is greater now then ever before, amid bubbling tensions across the city and nation in the wake of George Floyd's death. Combined with de Blasio's lenient bail reform that putS more criminals on the street than before, and a court system that has been back-logged for months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they say crime is inevitably on the rise and that slashing the budget is not necessarily the right move. There are also ongoing complaints that the NYPD is not cracking down on low-level crime like people breaching social distancing rules while dining outdoors, drinking in the street or being generally anti-social. In Brooklyn, residents have been terrorized for nights on end by illegal fireworks being set off through the night, seemingly with little intervention from the cops. Scroll down for video Defaced: A statue of George Washington is covered in red paint after being vandalized in Washington Square Park in the early hours of Monday. America's first president owned more than 100 slaves, making him a target of recent anti-racism protests Target: The arch at Washington Square Park has two statues of the nation's first president, which were targeted by vandals throwing balloons in the early hours of yesterday morning Clean-up: A member of the New York City Monuments and Conservation department power-washes the statue of Washington yesterday after it was vandalized City Hall hall has been vandalized with graffiti calling for the police department to be defunded on Tuesday morning. Other complaints were about rent Graffiti at City Hall on Tuesday morning. Protesters have been there for a week now demanding the defunding of the NYPD. The vandals spray painted pigs and 'FTP' onto the building 8474921 Protesters clash with cops ahead of NYC budget vote that will strip $1billion from the NYPD - as police unions say de Blasio has 'surrendered to lawlessness' Officers on Tuesday morning clashing with protesters outside City Hall as they tried to protect a barricade The city's income took a $9billion hit when businesses shuttered at the start of the pandemic and now many remain closed. Traffic levels in the city aren't predicted to return to their 2019 normal until November. Restaurant and retail traffic in New York City is currently 43.6 percent of the 2019 normal, whereas national traffic is at 53.2 percent of normal. Foot traffic from late-May to late-June in New York City increased roughly 18.3 percent, compared to the national increase of 27.7 percent, according to Zenreach data. NYPD COMMISSIONER SAYS CUTS ARE 'PUNITIVE' NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Tuesday that he understood every department must face cuts but that the decision had also been heavily influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement and that it was 'punitive'. He insisted that his officers 'are not going to allow mob rule 'We're all going to have to make cuts, we understand that, when you look at the fiscal crisis with COVID. 'What concerns me is cuts that have to be made because of tough fiscal decisions vs cuts that could appear to be punitive. We'll review all the numbers... it's concern. It's going to impact our ability, I believe, to keep New Yorker's safe in some way, shape or form. But we're also managers and it's my job to make the most of the resources that we do have. 'I don't think anyone listening thinks that this is the climate right now doesn't have an impact on what's going on with the budget. I think that's self-evident. It's my job to make sure it doesn't but we have to also take a look at what's going on, cutting head count at a time of rising crime is going to be an extreme challenge for the men and women of this department,' he said. Commissioner Shea went on to say that slashing the budget would harm communities of color the most because that is where there is most violence. 'It's going to impact our patrol strength, our training, and it's probably going to impact people of color more than anyone else. We know where the violence occurs in this city,' 'My job is to make sure we are as efficient as possible, we're doing everything can to keep New Yorkers safe... we're going to have to be creative,' he said. Over the last week, there has been a 'significant uptick' in crime across the city. Shea said it was down to a combination of bail reform and a back-logged court system. He questioned why the courts still weren't operating because of COVID when thousands were being encouraged to protest peacefully against the police. Advertisement NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Tuesday that he understood every department must face cuts but that the decision had also been heavily influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement and that it was 'punitive'. He insisted that his officers 'are not going to allow mob rule 'We're all going to have to make cuts, we understand that, when you look at the fiscal crisis with COVID. 'What concerns me is cuts that have to be made because of tough fiscal decisions vs cuts that could appear to be punitive. 'We'll review all the numbers... it's concern. It's going to impact our ability, I believe, to keep New Yorkers safe in some way, shape or form. 'But we're also managers and it's my job to make the most of the resources that we do have. 'I don't think anyone listening thinks that this is the climate right now doesn't have an impact on what's going on with the budget. 'I think that's self-evident. 'It's my job to make sure it doesn't but we have to also take a look at what's going on, cutting head count at a time of rising crime is going to be an extreme challenge for the men and women of this department,' he said. Commissioner Shea went on to say that slashing the budget would harm communities of color the most because that is where there is most violence. 'It's going to impact our patrol strength, our training, and it's probably going to impact people of color more than anyone else. 'We know where the violence occurs in this city,' 'My job is to make sure we are as efficient as possible, we're doing everything can to keep New Yorkers safe... we're going to have to be creative,' he said. Over the last week, there has been a 'significant uptick' in crime across the city. Shea said it was down to a combination of bail reform and a back-logged court system. He questioned why the courts still weren't operating because of COVID when thousands were being encouraged to protest peacefully against the police. Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the PBA, said: 'Mayor de Basio's message to New Yorkers today was clear: you will have fewer cops on your streets. 'Shootings more than doubled again last week. 'Even right now, the NYPD doesn't have enough staffing to shift from one neighborhood without making another neighborhood less safe. 'We will say it again: the Mayor and the City Council have surrendered the city to lawlessness. Things won't improve until New Yorkers hold them responsible.' De Blasio defended the budget and said it would be down to good leadership from police bosses to keep people safe. He said his focus was on helping young people. 'Our young people have experienced something we would never have wished on them. We need to uphold them and help them through this moment in history. 'They're going to inherit this city... our young people need to be reached. Not policed. We need to figure out how to nurture and support them,' he said. A huge crowd of protesters outside City Hall on Wednesday morning. Some have been there for days as part of a #OccupyCityHall protest Protesters outside City Hall in Manhattan on Tuesday demanding that the police department be defunded Protesters meditating at the Occupy City Hall site on Tuesday morning ahead of the city council vote The Brooklyn Bridge City Hall subway station has now been covered in protest signs calling for the NYPD to be abolished People at the NYC 'Abolition Park' outside City Hall on Tuesday Protesters shelter under tents and umbrellas during their standing protest in New York City yesterday where demonstrators are demanding cuts to police funding The protesters have declared an 'autonomous zone' and a 'no-cop zone' in an echo of the ongoing 'occupation' in Seattle A group of protesters make their way to the Occupy City Hall 'autonomous zone' in New York City on Monday night At City Hall, the group of protesters have been there for a week. CRIME SPIKING IN NYC - 38 murders over the last 28 days, twice as much as the same period last year - 159 murders, 25% higher than last year - 394 shootings this year, a 24% increase last year - 1,691 burglaries last month compared to 759 last year - Burglaries up by 47% since start of the year compared to last year - Grand larceny up by 60% (3,078 incidents happening this year, up from 1,893 at this point last year) Advertisement 'We've done different levels of escalation to make sure we're getting their attention,' said Jonathan Lykes, one of the movement's organizers. 'If they defund the police by $1 billion then we have won - but that's only our demand this week.' At the protest a makeshift 'People's Library,' assembled under a tent, promotes 'radical literature' while a nearby 'bodega' features free donated food and protective gear to protesters. Speakers announced 'de-arrest training' sessions and reinforced the expectation that residents of the space look after one another. 'We want racial injustice to end, and the means is that we stay here right now in this space,' said Manny, who addressed the crowd but declined to give his last name. 'It's very clear that people want to stay past Tuesday and that people want to see police and prison abolition.' Gatherings of more than 10 people are still banned in New York City because of the coronavirus, but those rules have been ignored by protesters for weeks and police have not moved to enforce them. NYPD CUTS AND WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING $1billion stripped from NYPD - Overtime - July police academy - Contracts and non-personnel expenses Where it's going; $116m education $115m summer youth programming $143m family and social services $450million for NYCHA and Parks and youth recreation centers $97m on NYCHA Broadband expansion Advertisement Lykes said the occupation has made the NYPD 'nervous,' recalling a string of minor confrontations that were resolved without arrests. He differentiated the peaceful assembly in Lower Manhattan from a weeks-old occupation in Seattle that has seen episodes of violence. 'We have an uprising and one of the largest we've seen since the death of Martin Luther King,' he said. 'These are the worst of times but the best of times as far as an opportunity to change.' The idea of slashing the NYPD's budget, now around $6 billion annually for operations, seemed politically laughable even a year ago with memories of 9/11 and the high-crime decades of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s still fresh. Last weekend alone, as many as eleven people were shot in a period of less than 12 hours across Saturday night and into Sunday morning, in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens and Manhattan. Murder is also up 25 percent in the city in comparison to this time last year. Earlier this week, several officials warned that any drastic cuts to the NYPD would set the city back 30 years in its efforts to control crime - jeopardizing public safety in a negative impact that 'would be felt in every neighborhood citywide,' a law enforcement source told the Daily News. 'A $1 billion cut to the NYPD's operating budget would set the city back three decades and severely compromise the significant progress the NYPD has made in keeping crime at historic lows and New Yorkers safe.' A series of slogans are displayed at the Occupy City Hall protest, including more than one demand to 'defund the NYPD' Protesters display a series of slogans including Black Lives Matter and 'abolish the police' at the Occupy City Hall protest That view is one shared by Bruce Backman, a New York-based research consultant and member of the Re-Open New York coalition, who told DailyMail.com the city is balancing on the precipice of disaster - leaving it just 'two years away from becoming like Detroit'. 'The city of New York has never been worse than it has been in the last three months and it's getting worse by the day,' Backman said. 'It's not just coronavirus, its riots, looting, murders, fireworks and burglaries.' 'Once they know New York is on the run, this will incur more crime,' Backman continued. 'Go into any of the poorer neighborhoods of New York and ask those who live there if they want less law enforcement on the street. 'I'm pretty sure the answer is not what the mayor thinks it is,' he said. 'This is not the time to decrease funding, this is bad public policy.' Owner of American Home Hardware and More, Felix Atlasman, echoed Backman's sentiments in an interview with DailyMail.com Monday. Atlasman detailed how his neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen has been plagued by a dangerous crime spree in recent weeks. Amid suggestions New York City could be heading back to its crime ridden days of the 1980s, Atlasman insisted 'we're already back there'. 'My best selling item used to be light bulbs, now it's pepper spray,' said Atlasman, who opened the hardware store in 1955. 'When I call the police they arrive two hours later and then ask me which way [the shoplifter] went.' The Washington Post's opinions editor has been accused of inciting violence after posting her inflammatory tweet on Sunday. There are calls for her to be fired, but The Post has not publicly responded The Washington Post's opinions editor has been accused of inciting violence for tweeting that white women are 'lucky' black people are 'just calling them Karens and not calling for revenge'. Karen Attiah posted the tweet on Sunday, saying: 'The lies and tears of white women hath wrought; the 1921 Tulsa massacre, murder of Emmett Till, exclusion of black women from feminist movements, 53% of white women voting for Trump. 'White women are lucky that we are just calling them Karens. And not calling for revenge.' Later, in her comments section, she doubled down on the remark, saying: 'I'm just saying. Be happy we are calling for equality. And not actual revenge.' The tweets sparked outrage from users who called for her to be fired. 'Oh so insulting generalizations based on race and gender are okay now? Or are they only okay for you? Just trying to understand the rules,' conservative writer Matt Walsh replied to Attia. 'You threaten white women with violence. WashPo what is your response? The world is watching and waiting,' another tweeted. Soon after, the hashtag #fireKarenAttiah began circulating on Twitter. In recent weeks, a number of prominent people have been fired - or 'cancelled' - for their controversial social media posts but, as of Tuesday morning, The Washington Post has not publicly commented on Attiah's incendiary tweet. DailyMail.com has contacted the newspaper's managing editors for a statement. Washington Post opinions editor Karen Attiah tweeted on Sunday that white women were 'lucky' black people were calling them 'Karen's and not calling for revenge' After widespread outrage, Attiah deleted her tweet - but she insinuated that it was not because she regretted her remarks. She retweeted another user who stated: 'When I tweet something and then delete it, it's not because I regret it. It's almost never that. I just want to say some s**t real quick and then leave.' 'Same. Lol,' Attiah wrote above that message. It is unclear whether she was privately reprimanded by The Washington Post and forced to take down her message. Later on Monday, Attiah appeared to tire of the backlash, writing: 'Adding another shot to my drink'. It later seemed as if she wanted to shift conservation away from her controversial remarks, tweeting: 'Anyway...' However, social media users continued to blast the editor and piled on pressure for The Washington Post to make a public response. After widespread outrage, Attiah deleted her tweet - but she appeared to insinuate that it was not because she regretted her remarks. She is pictured speaking on stage at Glamour magazine's 2018 Women Of The Year Summit 'Last night @KarenAttiah of @thewashingtonpost posted this incredibly racist screed where she condemns all white women and makes an implied threat of violence. Has The Washington Post condemned this? Has anyone on the Left?' Matt Walsh wrote. Another predicted that Attiah would not be terminated by The Washington Post. 'There is no greater privilege than getting to be wrong about everything and paying zero price for it. Congrats,' the person sarcastically remarked. Another described Attiah's tweet as 'hateful', while other asked why Twitter hadn't flagged it for inciting violence. Attiah, 34, was born in Texas to Ghanaian immigrants. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, before going on to study in Accra, Ghana on a Fullbright Scholarship. She later obtained a Master's degree from Columbia University before joining The Washington Post. Attiah has become a prominent media figure in recent years, and famously recruited slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi to The Post prior to his death. She has also appeared on CNN and has spoken at a Glamor magazine Women's Summit. Her Instagram shows her cozying up to a number of celebrities for selfies. Attiah's post sparked widespread backlash. Several asked whether Attiah would be fired from The Washington Post for her remarks Attiah's Instagram shows her posing for selfies with a number of prominent celebrities. She giddily posted this snap with Josh Groban, writing:'Omg. It happened. I have no words' Attiah is seen backstage at a show with comedian Patton Oswalt in 2018 Attiah with Andre Leon Talley in another of her Instagram posts One of Attiah's recent opinion pieces in The Washington Post In her tweet, Attia reference the derogatory term 'Karen' - a new nickname being given to entitled, white women who are caught on camera trying to assert themselves over people of color in social situations. In the past month several months the 'Karen' nickname has taken off, after multiple videos of white women throwing tantrums in public. While many of the exchanges are undoubted examples of bigotry, others are less clear cut. Last week, an unidentified woman in Seattle was filmed sobbing in her driveway and pleading not to be filmed, saying she had a 'black husband'. Karlos Dillard filmed the video, saying the woman had called him the N-word during a road rage dispute. He then started selling t-shirts online with the words 'I have a black husband' printed on them and defended it by saying that 'white people 'profit off of everything black people do in this country' and calling it his 'prerogative' if he wanted to sell the t-shirts. The woman in the video denied flipping him off and he did not accuse her of using a racial slur against him when they were together. That accusation was in a different piece of footage when she was not there. An unidentified white woman in Seattle was filmed sobbing and insisting she was not a Karen after being accused of flipping the bird at a black man at a light stop. Karlos Dillard, the man, followed her home to film her and post the footage online. In another video, he said she'd called him the N-word. That was not caught on tape Conversely, one of the original 'Karen' videos involved white woman Amy Cooper calling the police on Christian Cooper, a black birdwatcher in Central Park, claiming he was threatening her when he had simply asked her to put her dog on a leash. Christian Cooper was never charged but he has since described the footage as proof of how quickly a white person can be to make a false or overzealous accusation against a black person to law enforcement. In light of police brutality and systemic racism within law enforcement, such false accusations, he said, can be particularly dangerous. Coronavirus in New York came from Europe instead of China: Fauci Anthony Fauci (File Photo/Xinhua) In his effort to praise the New York government, head of the U.S. CDC Anthony Fauci said the coronavirus that plagued the NYC came from Europe instead of China. "Everybody was looking at China and it came from Europe," he told WNYC on Tuesday. The COVID-19 outbreak swept the world one continent after another. It first hit China, then Europe, the U.S. and now Latin America. The U.S. government did notice the outbreak in China and took some actions to prevent travel from the country. But when the epicenter shifted to Europe, the Americans didn't limit traveling fast enough. That's one of the reasons why the NYC was hit so hard. In China, coronavirus cases with European origins are also creating new troubles. The recently discovered cases in Beijing came, according to initial investigations, from Europe. But simply blaming the Europeans is not a great attitude toward the pandemic. The human race has a more important job to do to stop the spread of the COVID-19. And the Europeans are definitely taking their part in the fight with the pandemic. Fauci praised New York governor and NYC mayor for their "great job" reducing new coronavirus infections. It's more important to find out what they've done well than blaming them for acting slow. I have to be real about the historical reason why Park Ridge is such a great place for predominately white families, said Hill. I read that our town in the 1970s, and even later like many towns in this country, werent open to the black and brown workers who commuted here to work actually moving in. Even now we have failed to meet a 10 percent mandate for affordable housing and there seems to be no pressing need to meet that number sooner vs. later. The grieving mother of two women who were stabbed to death in a park in London has today slammed the 'toxic' Met Police after two officers were accused of taking selfies next to the bodies of her daughters. Mina Smallman says the accused officers 'dehumanised' her murdered daughters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry by taking the selfies - which are believed to have been shared with members of the public. Ms Smallman, 27, and Ms Henry, 46, were found stabbed to death at Fryent Country Park in Wembley, north-west London, in the early hours of June 6. No-one has been arrested in relation to their deaths. But the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has since launched an investigation into the alleged selfie-taking, two officers have been suspended and both have been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Speaking to the BBC, grieving Mrs Smallman said: '(When I found out about their deaths) All I remember is letting out a howl that came from the core of my soul, that's the only way I can describe it. Mina Smallman (pictured) says the accused officers 'dehumanised' her murdered daughters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry by taking the selfies - which are believed to have been shared with members of the public Speaking to the BBC, grieving Mrs Smallman said: '(When I found out about their deaths) All I remember is letting out a howl that came from the bottom of my soul, that's the only way I can describe it Nicole Smallman (left) and Bibaa Henry (right) were last seen dancing to music with fairy lights around 1am on June 6 after celebrating Bibaa's birthday with friends in Fryent Country Park 'The lead person said "I don't know how to tell you this but police officers were taking selfies and posing for pictures with your dead daughters". 'Those police officers dehumanised our children.' She added: 'If ever we needed an example of how toxic it has become, those police officers felt so safe, so untouchable, that they felt they could take photographs.' Scotland Yard said its directorate of professional standards was told last week about allegations that 'non-official and inappropriate photographs' had been taken at the murder scene. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the pictures were allegedly 'shared with a small number of others', adding that the Met was 'handling matters involving those members of the public who may have received those images'. Mrs Smallman also claimed the police did not immediately respond to initial reports that the sisters were missing, adding that she coordinated a search operation on the weekend they died - claiming she 'knew instantly they didn't care' due to their race. The IOPC is separately investigating how the Met handled calls from worried family and friends of the sisters after they went missing. Both her daughters had been out celebrating Ms Henry's 46th birthday at Fryern Country Park on the evening of June 5 when they were killed. Allegations emerged last week that 'non-official and inappropriate photographs' had been taken at the murder scene. Pictured, forensic officers at the scene A MailOnline map shows where police were called to at around 1pm on June 7 to a report of two women found unresponsive Bibaa (right), from Brent in north-west London, was an 'exceptional' senior social worker and Nicole (left) from Harrow, the youngest of three sisters, 'saw beauty in everything' Detectives investigating their deaths believe they were repeatedly stabbed by a stranger, possibly in the early hours of June 6. Their bodies were not found until the following day, by Nicole's boyfriend, while their phones were recovered from a nearby pound, which showed the pair dancing with fairy lights shortly before they were murdered. Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said on Friday: 'My heart goes out to the family. 'In relation to the allegations about a photograph, I am dumbfounded. I am appalled.' Police previously released pictures of senior social worker Ms Henry, from Brent in north-west London, and photographer Ms Smallman, from Harrow, dancing with the fairy lights before they were murdered. Police released images taken of Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, prior to their murders which they believe could assist with appeals (pictured, dancing with fairy lights) Their killer is thought to have suffered a 'significant injury' during the attack before he left the park via its Valley Drive entrance. The sisters are thought to have ended up alone in the park by around 12.30am on June 6, and police said they were in 'good spirits' and 'taking selfie pictures, listening to music and dancing with fairy lights' until at least 1.13am. Their last contact with friends and family was about 1.05am, police said. Anti-abortion groups insist the Supreme Court ruling Monday striking down a Louisiana abortion law will only bolster their efforts to campaign for Donald Trump's reelection. A spokesperson for the pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony List said: 'This ruling adds a new level of fervor and enthusiasm for the election.' 'We always knew we needed a bigger margin on the court, and whoever wins this election will likely have the opportunity to appoint additional justices,' the spokeswoman, Mallory Quigley, continued, according to Politico. 'Making sure it's President Trump and not Joe Biden is essential.' The 5-4 decision, where conservative Chief Justice John Roberts once again sided with liberals, invalidated a Louisiana law regulating abortion providers that some critics claim could have rendered the state with only one remaining abortion clinic. Conservative and religious groups conceded that Monday's decision was a major loss, but assert that it will give them a rallying cry to turn out the vote for Trump in November. Pro-life groups claim they are energized by the recent loss in the Supreme Court on abortion laws, claiming the ruling will lead them to campaign even harder for Donald Trump's reelection Mike Pence reasserted the Trump administration's commitment to the pro-life movement, claiming 'we need more Conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court,' and promoted: 'four more years' Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, sided with liberals in the abortion case citing he was sticking with precedent from a Texas abortion case Vice President Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian and hard-line pro-lifer, tweeted the administration's support of advancing the pro-life movement. 'After today's disappointing decision by SCOTUS, one thing is clear: We need more Conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court,' Pence tweeted, adding the hashtag: 'Four More Years.' Evangelical Christians are some of the president's biggest base of voters, and that subset could be energized by the court's decision Monday. The court in its ruling reasserted a commitment to abortion rights over fierce opposition from dissenting conservative justices in the first big abortion case of the Trump era after Trump had already succeeded in installing two conservatives on the court. Trump was able to get both Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court during his tenure and both Justices voted for the Louisiana abortion law. Many believe whoever is president in the next term will have the opportunity to nominate another Justice as the eldest on the court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at 87-years-old has suffered multiple health issues in the last few years. Roberts joined with his four more liberal colleagues ruling that the law requiring doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals violates the abortion right the court first announced in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. 5-4 ruling: Chief Justice John Roberts flipped position on abortion to back liberals Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer in the decision, ruling that the Louisiana restrictions were so identical to the last landmark case that they had to be struck down In two previous cases, Roberts had favored abortion restrictions. The White House blasted the decision as 'gutting' a Louisiana abortion law but held back from more bombastic comments at other recent rulings, as when President Donald Trump called an immigration ruling a 'shotgun blasts into the face.' 'In an unfortunate ruling today, the Supreme Court devalued both the health of mothers and the lives of unborn children by gutting Louisiana's policy that required all abortion procedures be performed by individuals with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital,' White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. 'States have legitimate interests in regulating any medical procedureincluding abortionsto protect patient safety. Instead of valuing fundamental democratic principles, unelected Justices have intruded on the sovereign prerogatives of State governments by imposing their own policy preference in favor of abortion to override legitimate abortion safety regulations,' she said. The 5-4 ruling represented a major victory for Shreveport-based abortion provider Hope Medical Group for Women in its challenge to the 2014 law. The measure had required doctors who perform abortions to have a sometimes difficult-to-obtain formal affiliation called 'admitting privileges' at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic. The Louisiana law is virtually identical to one in Texas that the court struck down in 2016. 'The result in this case is controlled by our decision four years ago invalidating a nearly identical Texas law,' Roberts wrote, although he did not join the opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer for the other liberals. Trump was already able to get two conservative justices onto the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch (left) and Brett Kavanaugh (right). But conservatives are sure another spot will open in the next four years, and want to make sure Trump is in office when that happens Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, has had health issues in the last few years and many Republicans are hoping she will be replaced with a conservative Justice In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote: 'Today a majority of the Court perpetuates its ill-founded abortion jurisprudence by enjoining a perfectly legitimate state law and doing so without jurisdiction.' 'As is often the case with legal challenges to abortion regulations, this suit was brought by abortionists and abortion clinics. Their sole claim before this Court is that Louisiana's law violates the purported substantive due process right of a woman to abort her unborn child.' Roberts' decision to join the court's liberal wing is the latest during a summer when he also joint a 6-3 majority on gay civil rights and 5-4 ruling against Trump abolishing DACA. In the DACA case, Roberts and the four liberals rejected administration arguments that the 8-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program is illegal and that courts have no role to play in reviewing the decision to end DACA. That ruling, too, rested largely on procedural grounds. Roberts, nominated by President George W. Bush, wrote for the court that the administration did not pursue the end of the program properly, writing that the government failed to provide a 'reasoned explanation for its action.' The abortion ruling was the first for the Court since the Republican Senate confirmed President Trump's two conservative appointments: Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. On the left, it was Kavanaugh who was coming fire for making his own statements about upholding precedent during his contentious confirmation, with additional heat on Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is pro-choice and accepted his statements about upholding precent. Collins is up for reelection this year in one of a number of races including the race for the White House where Monday's ruling could be a factor. John Roberts siding with liberals on the Supreme Court this term Immigration Roberts joined four liberals to reject administration arguments that the 8-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program is illegal and that courts have no role to play in reviewing the decision to end DACA. He wrote an opinion that said the executive did have the right to end the program, but blasted the way the Trump administration carried out the change. The government failed to provide a 'reasoned explanation for its action,' Roberts wrote, in an opinion that noted how it upended lives and plans of immigrants. Chief Justice John Roberts Gay rights The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against gay and lesbian workers. In this case, Roberts joined in the opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee. 'An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,' Gorsuch wrote for the majority. The landmark ruling means that LGBT workers in 21 states where such discrimination is now outlawed now have automatic federal protection. Abortion Roberts joined with liberals to strike down restrictive Louisiana abortion laws in a 5-4 ruling. Roberts authored his own opinion, finding that the restrictions were so identical to a similar law in Texas overturned by the Supreme Court in 2016 that they were illegal. 'The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons. Therefore Louisiana's law cannot stand under our precedents,' Roberts wrote. The majority was comprised of Roberts, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Advertisement Trump campaigned heavily on using his presidential power to try to shift the court to the right on abortion and other issues, and promised to choose nominees only from a list of conservative nominees he published before the election. The conservative Heritage Foundation immediately blasted Roberts. 'This is the latest in a series of judicial power grabs from the Chief Justice and the liberal wing of the court,' the group said,' the Atlantic reported. 'Justice Roberts, a so-called 'conservative,' is clearly no longer running things it's now the Kagan Court,' the group said, referencing Barack Obama nominee Elena Kagan. Roberts authored his own opinion explaining why he joined the majority, although he did not sign on to the opinion of the four liberal justices. He sought to explain why he dissented agains the court's ruling in the similar Texas abortion cases but joined the majority in the Louisiana case before the court. 'I joined the dissent in Whole Woman's Health and continue to believe that the case was wrongly decided. The question today however is not whether Whole Woman's Health was right or wrong, but whether to adhere to it in deciding the present case,' he wrote. He noted the case was 'nearly identical.' 'The legal doctrine of stare decisis requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike. The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons. Therefore Louisiana's law cannot stand under our precedents,' Roberts wrote. The writing echoed what he had testified during his confirmation hearings in 2005, when he got grilled by the late Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania about 'stare decisis.' 'I do think that it is a jolt to the legal system when you overrule a precedent. Precedent plays an important role in promoting stability and evenhandedness. It is not enough that you may think the prior decision was wrongly decided,' Roberts testified. Senators were trying to solicit any scrap of information about how he might rule on whether to uphold the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling. 'Stare decisis ('to stand by things decided') is the legal term for fidelity to precedent,' Roberts wrote. Trump had already erupted in fury at the DACA ruling earlier this month. 'These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!' he wrote immediately after the ruling 'I will be releasing a new list of Conservative Supreme Court Justice nominees, which may include some, or many of those already on the list, by September 1, 2020. If given the opportunity, I will only choose from this list, as in the past, a Conservative Supreme Court Justice... Based on decisions being rendered now, this list is more important than ever before (Second Amendment, Right to Life, Religous [sic] Liberty, etc.) VOTE 2020!' Trump wrote. Allies of Theresa May have rejected explosive claims that Donald Trump 'humiliated and bullied' her during official phone calls. Sources close to the former prime minister said a report Mrs May had been left 'flustered' during conversations with the US President were 'utter nonsense'. However, they conceded that the calls were 'not always easy, because Theresa sometimes disagreed with him'. A report published this morning by legendary 'Watergate' journalist Carl Bernstein said Mr Trump had labelled Mrs May a 'fool' during conversations and had attacked her handling of Brexit negotiations. The US President is said to have suggested Mrs May, who served as PM from July 2016 to July 2019, had been 'spineless' in the UK's divorce talks with the European Union. Theresa May and Donald Trump, pictured in Downing Street in June 2019, appeared to have a warm relationship in public but a new report claims the US President 'bullied' the then-PM during phone calls Mr Trump, pictured with Mrs May in the White House Oval Office in January 2017, is said to have called his counterpart a 'fool' Sources apparently described the calls between Mr Trump and Mrs May as 'humiliating and bullying'. One source said of Mr Trump: 'He'd get agitated about something with Theresa May, then he'd get nasty with her on the phone call.' 'It's the same interaction in every setting -- coronavirus or Brexit -- with just no filter applied.' The report claimed Mrs May had been 'flustered and nervous' during the calls with a source saying Mr Trump 'clearly intimidated her and meant to'. But a source close to Mrs May dismissed the claims, telling MailOnline: The calls were not always easy, because Theresa sometimes disagreed with him. But to say that she was bullied or got flustered is utter nonsense. Mrs May was the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump after his inauguration in 2017, and a famous image of the two leaders holding hands at the White House appeared to signal a close relationship. However, Mr Trump became increasingly critical of Mrs May and Britain - rebuking her publicly in 2017 after she criticised him for retweeting the far-right group Britain First. Shortly before Mrs May's resignation last year, Mr Trump attacked her again for ignoring his advice on Brexit and going 'her own foolish way'. Mrs May had previously revealed that the US President had advised her to sue the EU. The report published by CNN sets out the details of numerous conversations between Mr Trump and other world leaders. Mr Trump's private calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin were said to have the tone of 'two guys in a steam bath'. The report suggested that Mr Putin 'just outplays' his counterpart during their one-on-one interactions. Donald Trump's encounters with... THERESA MAY: Trump called her a 'fool' and would 'get nasty' on the phone, saying she was weak and lacked courage over Brexit and immigration ANGELA MERKEL: Trump branded her 'stupid' and used 'aggressive' phone calls to attack German policies in 'personally demeaning' fashion EMMANUEL MACRON: Trump delivered verbal 'whippings' as he tired of Macron's constant pleas to change his mind on Iran and climate change VLADIMIR PUTIN: Trump boasted of his wealth and intelligence and berated his predecessors Bush and Obama but was 'outplayed' by the Russian president RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: Turkish leader would be fast-tracked through to Trump, who would be 'taken to the cleaners' because of his poor Middle East knowledge MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN: Trump would call the Saudi leader 'without anybody being prepared' and brag about his wealth and 'great' achievements as president KIM JONG UN: Another recipient of Trump's rants about his own qualities and the 'idiocy' of his predecessors Advertisement During the calls and others with foreign leaders, Mr Trump reportedly regularly tries to tout his own wealth and success in conversations his own aides apparently regard as 'delusional'. Along with the claims about calls with Mr Putin and Mrs May, Mr Trump is alleged to have called German Chancellor Angela Merkel 'stupid' to her face. 'Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are just unbelievable: he called her "stupid" and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians,' according to a source. Sources described how former allies of Mr Trump including John Bolton, James Mattis, John Kelly and Rex Tillerson became alarmed by the calls and feared that the President was endangering national security. The conversations with Mr Putin are part of a web of calls between Mr Trump and the leaders of Australia, Turkey, Canada, Australia and western European countries during his presidency that officials who see call transcripts describe as 'abominations.' In the case of Russia, one source voiced fears that Mr Trump was squandering the 'advantage that was hard won in the Cold War' by seemingly craving Mr Putin's approval. Mr Bernstein said that if the notes and transcripts of the calls were made public, even some of Mr Trump's Republican allies in Congress would struggle to defend him. Daniel Goldman, a House lawyer during the Trump impeachment inquiry, said officials had gone to the media with their concerns rather than through the 'proper channels' after the US President attacked the whistleblower who first drew attention to the Ukraine scandal. 'When you take away the proper route through vindictive retribution, you cannot then complain about leaks,' Mr Goldman said. Mr Trump won office in 2016 despite media criticism of his repeated praise for Mr Putin, even as Russia was revealed by U.S. intelligence to be orchestrating an election interference and hacking campaign. In addition to repeatedly referring to his own wealth, as he has done repeatedly in public, Mr Trump would revel in his time running the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, according to the account. A source trashed the calls, saying that while Mr Putin destabilises the West, Mr Trump 'sits there and thinks he can build himself up enough as a businessman and tough guy that Putin will respect him.' President Donald Trump characterized his predecessors as 'imbeciles' and weaklings' during private calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a new report by Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein German chancellor Angela Merkel remained calm in the face of Mr Trump's alleged aggression during phone calls, sources said (they are pictured together at a G7 summit last year) Trump had regular calls with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pictured together at the White House in November last year) Erdogan's hotline to Trump Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan was fast-tracked through to Donald Trump when he called the White House, it is claimed. Mr Erdogan bypassed the usual protocols on Mr Trump's orders - and even reached the US President on the golf course. White House aides even feared that Turkish security agents in the US were observing Mr Trump's schedule so that Mr Erdogan would know when to call. In their conversations, Mr Erdogan exploited Mr Trump's lack of knowledge about the Middle East and 'took him to the cleaners', sources say. But Mr Trump would also rage at Mr Erdogan over trade and the fate of a US pastor who was arrested in Turkey. Advertisement The report came out days after the New York Times reported that Mr Trump was briefed on intelligence that Moscow had paid a bounty to Taliban elements for killings of American soldiers. The White House on Monday denied Mr Trump was briefed about the reported program. Mr Trump was described as solicitous of Mr Putin in the calls. Mr Putin is known as a crafty former KGB operator who often holds back in televised encounters with counterparts. Mr Trump would also allegedly boast about his own wealth, intelligence and achievements in office to leaders such as North Korea's Kim Jong-un and Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman. Two sources said Mr Trump seems 'delusional' on his foreign leader calls, which included frequent contact with Turkey's dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who would allegedly be fast-tracked through to speak to the US President when he called the White House. White House aides even grew alarmed that Turkish security agents in Washington were following Mr Trump's movements so that Mr Erdogan would know when to call, the report says. On one occasion, he apparently reached Mr Trump on the golf course. In their conversations, Mr Erdogan exploited Mr Trump's lack of knowledge about the Middle East and 'took him to the cleaners', sources say. But Mr Trump would also rage at Mr Erdogan over trade and the fate of a US pastor who was arrested in Turkey. Mr Trump would apparently go after his U.S. predecessors in the calls with Mr Erdogan and Mr Putin, who have both used political power to crush dissent. 'They didn't know BS,' Mr Trump apparently said of nemesis Barack Obama and George W. Bush. A beach bar in Turkey is charging tourists 43 for a doner kebab as the country's hard-hit tourism sector tries to bounce back after coronavirus. One shocked customer's receipt also showed they forked out 7.30 (61.59 lira) for a small coffee and 22 (184.78 lira) for some stuffed pitta bread in tourist hotspot Bodrum. Bodrum Mayor Ahmet Aras said businesses are struggling to survive after the Covid-19 pandemic and the city - which relies heavily on tourists - is 'responsible for taking whatever it can from the pockets of tourists to the last penny'. One shocked customer's receipt (pictured) also showed they had been charged 7.30 (61.59 lira) for a small coffee and 22 (184.78 lira) for some stuffed pitta bread in a beach bar in tourist hotspot Bodrum Bodrum Mayor Ahmet Aras said businesses are struggling to survive after the Covid-19 pandemic and said the city (stock image pictured) - which relies heavily on tourists - is 'responsible for taking whatever it can from the pockets of tourists to the last penny' Bodrum Mayor Ahmet Aras said in a press conference: 'I dont care if someone wants to pay a high price for a doner kebab. They can pay TL 100,000 if they want' He said in a press conference: 'I dont care if someone wants to pay a high price for a doner kebab. They can pay TL 100,000 if they want.' He stressed that there are restaurants in the area that charge significantly less for the same food. Britain could form an air bridge with Turkey, allowing tourists to travel freely between the two with no mandatory 14-day quarantine. But plans were thrown off after it was revealed that the number of new coronavirus cases in Turkey has doubled in a month after the country started easing lockdown restrictions in late May. Professor Guner Sonmez, of Uskudar university, said he feared the government was losing control. Turkey has seen 198,613 cases and more than 5,000 deaths due to the killer bug. This is not the first time visitors have been hit with massive bills from restaurants in popular tourist spots. The Antico Caffe di Marte (pictured) in Rome came under fire for the expensive prices it charged tourists before threatening to sue complaining customers Two Japanese tourists were presented with a bill for 429.80 (pictured) at The Antico Caffe di Marte A restaurant in Rome came under fire for the expensive prices it charged tourists before threatening to sue complaining customers. In Greece, American soldier Francisco Tajeda and his friends were left aghast after being presented with a staggering $935 check for a modest lunch of calamari, salads and beers The Antico Caffe di Marte began making headlines after a two Japanese tourists were slapped with a bill for 380 for a fish and spaghetti dish. A photograph of a receipt posted to travel review website TripAdvisor shows that the meal for two at Antico Caffe di Marte came to a massive 429.80. The pair had only ordered two plates of fish with spaghetti, alongside glasses of water and were shocked to see part of the bill was an 80 (70) service charge. The Japanese travellers' story quickly echoed across the internet and newspapers as people were left in disbelief at the cost. But the restaurant is now threatening to sue complaining customers claiming that the story has meant the restaurant now sits empty most days. Carlo Scorza, a lawyer for the restaurant has refuted the claim that staff members were preying on unsuspecting tourists. He added that the cost of the dish was due to customers failing to notice that the price of the dish is per 100g of the food provided. In Greece, an American soldier and his friends were left aghast after being presented with a staggering $935 check for a modest lunch of calamari, salads and beers. Francisco Tajeda, 38, from Brooklyn, revealed on TripAdvisor how staff at the DK Oyster restaurant in Mykonos refused to give their party a menu or show them prices, before surprising them with the final tab. Francisco said was appalled when he was handed this check for a modest lunch of calamari and beers at the DK Oyster restaurant in Mykonos A member of New York's 69th Infantry Regiment, Francisco said he couldn't believe his eyes when he realized they'd been charged $661.41 (591) for six plates of calamari and $167.87 (150) for six beers - an eye-watering $27.97 per drink. Francisco and his friends were also charged $66.46 (59,40) for three Caesar salad appetizers with chicken, $20.14 (17.80) for two bottles of water and an additional $20.18 (18) for a single glass of tomato juice. However, representatives from the beach-side restaurant stood by their prices, insisting 'if you can't afford them, to avoid any bitterness,' opt for something cheaper. 'Cult' mom Lori Vallow has been hit with fresh charges after the bodies of her two children were found buried in husband Chad Daybell's pet cemetery. Records show Vallow, 46, is now charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, The East Idaho News reported late Monday. The bodies of Tylee, 17 and JJ, seven, were found at her husband's Idaho home earlier this month and on June 9 Daybell was charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. Vallow was already in jail, charged with desertion of children and three misdemeanors. Rexburg Police officers were seen at Daybells home in Salem on Monday around 1.15pm. Daybell's son Garth was seen moving boxes out the home in the days after his father's arrest on June 9 as another child of the 'cult leader' prepared to move in. It is not known if Vallow's new charges relate to Monday's search. Officers were seen entering the home and searching exterior buildings on the property including a shed and barn and entering the backyard with cameras. The officers left around 2.50pm but did not disclose any details of their search or what they were looking for. Fremont County Sheriffs deputies were assisting Rexburg Police in Monday's search. Chad Daybell, 51, was arrested on June 9 and charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. Lori Vallow Daybell, has been in jail for the last four months, charged with desertion of children and three misdemeanors. Both remain in jail on $1million bail The remains found at Daybell's property were later identified as Lori's missing children Joshua 'JJ' Vallow and Tylee Ryan, who were last seen in September Rexburg Police officers executed a third search warrant at Chad Daybell's Salem, Idaho property on Monday afternoon. Investigators entered the home, were reportedly seen in the backyard with cameras and searched a shed and barn in the yard Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Wood had declined to comment on the warrant. Mondays investigation marked the third known time Rexburg Police have searched Daybell's property. Monday's search was on a much lower-scale than the warrant served at the same residence on June 9 which led to Daybell's arrest. At that investigation scene earlier this month, dozens of officers flanked the home and surrounding roads were closed for two days as Daybells property was excavated and police discovered the remains of the two children. Mondays investigation marked the third known time Rexburg Police have searched Daybell's property and is likely linked to the discovery of the remains of wife Lori Vallow's missing children Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, seven, and Tylee Ryan, 17, earlier this month Daybell is pictured being placed in cuffs and arrested on June 9 following the grisly discover of the children's remains Chad Daybell's adult son, Garth, was seen moving boxes in and out of the family home in Salem, Idaho, on June 11 The last known sighting of Tylee was on September 8, when she visited Yellowstone National Park with her family. JJ, who would have turned eight last month, was last seen two weeks later on September 23. Vallow married Daybell less than two months after her kids vanished. During the previous raid of Daybell's home on January 3, authorities removed 43 items from the home and combed over several sections of the yard with metal detectors and rakes. In this aerial photo, investigators search for human remains at Chad Daybell's residence in the 200 block of 1900 East in Salem, Idaho on June 9 In this aerial photo, investigators search what appears to be a burn pit and dig near a patch of recently disturbed earth Daybell was arrested June 9 and charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. Vallow has been in jail for the last four months, charged with desertion of children and three misdemeanors. Both remain in jail on $1million bail. Daybells preliminary hearing is set for July 1 after he entered a not guilty plea on two felony counts of destruction of evidence. His wife also pleaded not guilty and her preliminary hearing is set for July 9. Tylee was last seen on September 8 when she visited Yellowstone National Park with her family (pictured). JJ was last seen two weeks later on September 23 She and Chad - the prolific Doomsday author, alleged cult leader and former grave digger - have repeatedly refused to say where the children were but insisted that they were safe. Authorities began searching for the children in late November after performing a welfare check ordered by concerned relatives who said they hadn't spoken to seven-year-old JJ, who was autistic, in months. When officers first went to Lori's home in Idaho on November 26, she told them that JJ was visiting relatives in Arizona. Officers returned the following day and found that Lori and the man she married weeks earlier, Chad Daybell, had fled from the home. Authorities say the couple have repeatedly lied about where JJ and Tylee are and refused to cooperate with the investigation. Meanwhile, the Attorney Generals Office and Fremont County Sheriffs Office are still investigating the death of Daybells wife Tammy, who mysteriously died at the Salem home in October. Three officers from the Aurora, Colorado, police department have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation after they were allegedly depicted re-enacting Elijah McClain's death in police custody. Aurora Interim Police Chief Vanessa Wilson released a statement late Monday saying she learned of the apparent images on Thursday and immediately ordered an Internal Affairs investigation as a top priority. Wilson declined to specify what the photographs showed, when they were taken or what the officers were doing near the memorial for McClain, whose death in August last year has been at the center of protests throughout Colorado against racism and police brutality. However, sources told CBS Denver the photographs allegedly show the three officers re-enacting the carotid restraint that was used on McClain during his fatal arrest near the 1900 block of Billings Street. The Aurora Police Department has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for comment on the claims. Aurora Interim Police Chief Vanessa Wilson declined to specify what the photographs showed, when they were taken or what the officers were doing near the memorial for McClain (pictured), whose death in August last year has been at the center of protests throughout Colorado against racism and police brutality However, the photographs allegedly show the three officers re-enacting the carotid restraint that was used on McClain during his fatal arrest near the 1900 block of Billings Street in August 2019 (shown above) The images were said to have been disseminated within Aurora PD between several officers, CBS' Brian Maass reported. It's unclear if the officers were on duty or were wearing their uniforms when the purported images were taken. In her statement, Wilson said the investigation will be publicly released on its conclusion, which will include photographic evidence in addition to the officers' names. Lt. Chris Amsler, a spokesman with the Aurora Police Department, said police are investigating whether the photos of the officers near the site of McClains death violate any department policies and if a recommendation for any punishment should be issued. At the scene where the images were said to be taken, near City Center Park, members of the Aurora PD were seen pepper spraying peaceful protesters Sunday during a violin performance to honor McClain's memory. The presence of the police was sudden. At one point only the noise of the violinists could be heard before the police suddenly began storming the gathering to the crowd's cries of 'No!'. In one video of the altercation, a woman can be heard yelling at the police to 'stop' as officers in riot gear began forcibly removing demonstrators out of the park and administering pepper spray. The protesters continued to stand their ground for as long as they could with some even forming a human chain around the violinists to protect them from police. Eventually, the demonstration was forced into a parking lot, where musicians continued to play violin and protesters broke out in song. The McClain family's lawyer, Mari Newman, had been at the vigil with Elijah's two younger sisters when police began forcefully dispersing the crowd. She called the police response 'brutal, totally uncalled for and outrageous,' to TMZ. Aurora Interim Police Chief Vanessa Wilson (above) released a statement late Monday saying she learned of the apparent images on Thursday and immediately ordered an Internal Affairs investigation as a top priority. Protester and violinist, Jukka Pawley, continues to play music to honor Elijah McClain, as Aurora police fire tear gas into the crowd behind him during a vigil in Aurora, Colorado The scene was both surreal and chaotic as musicians continued to play their violins as protesters and police in riot gear closed in around them. Protester and violinist, Stephanie Gangemi, continues to play Aurora police officers, dressed in riot gear, line up outside the Aurora Police Department Headquarters as people shout from behind a fence while protesting the death of Elijah McClain on Saturday McClain's death last August has prompted a handful of small protests over the last 10 months, but his case has garnered renewed attention amid a global outcry sparked by the Memorial Day death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. McClain had been walking home on August 24, 2019, when someone called 911 to report him as acting suspiciously. The caller told dispatchers that a 'sketchy' looking person was walking down Billings Street with a mask on, but made no mention of any crime. Family members say McClain used to wear a ski mask whenever he felt cold. He had just bought an ice tea from a convenience store when the 911 call was made. McClain, who weighed 140lbs, was then tackled to the ground by cops shortly afterwards. It's believed he may have been listening to music at the time and hadn't heard the police approaching him. After being handcuffed, Officer Nathan Woodyard applied a 'carotid control hold' around McClain's neck, which restricts blood to the brain to render someone unconscious. The 23-year-old vomited several times under the strain of Woodyard's hold. A paramedic then gave him a shot of ketamine. In body-cam footage of the fatal incident, McClain is heard pleading with the officers that, 'I just can't breathe correctly'. He went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and died days later. Investigators said McClain resisted arrest. At one point in the body camera video, an officer is heard saying, 'Hes going for your gun.' McClain is heard telling officers he wasnt resisting. He also told them he was an introvert, a vegetarian and was unable to hurt a fly. McClain can be heard saying, 'Im just different. Thats all.' The Aurora PD later determined that the three officers involved in McClain's death had acted within acceptable policy and training, with the district attorney overseeing the case declining to level any criminal charges against them McClain, who weighed 140lbs, was tackled to the ground by cops shortly afterwards. After handcuffing him, Officer Nathan Woodyard applied a 'carotid control hold' around McClain's neck, which restricts blood to the brain to render someone unconscious. In body-cam footage of the fatal incident, McClain is heard pleading with the officers that, 'I just can't breathe correctly'. He went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and died days later The Aurora PD later determined that the three officers involved in McClain's death had acted within acceptable policy and training, with the district attorney overseeing the case declining to level any criminal charges against them. However, last week, the police department announced it had removed Officers Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema from patrol duty - a move later said to have been made to 'protect' those officers. Then on Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis appointed a special prosecutor to investigate McClain's death. In the Aurora PD's internal investigation involving the photographs allegedly mocking the death of McClain, Wilson confirmed the officers involved in that incident have been 'placed on administrative leave with pay in non-enforcement capacities.' Wilson said an 'accelerated investigation' was completed Monday. Those findings will now escalate to an investigative review board, which will then present back to Wilson for her final determination, 'which can rise to the level of termination,' she said. Nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units in Houston are now under the age of 50 - as cases continue to spike among young adults across Texas and health workers warn many are getting seriously ill. During the first surge of cases in mid-April, the majority of patients being treated for coronavirus in the Houston Methodist hospital system were older than 50. In a disturbing generational shift, about 60 percent of current patients are under that age bracket. Almost one in three who are now occupying ICU beds are also under 50. Infections are currently spiking among young adults in states like Texas where bars, nightclubs and restaurants reopened - prompting younger generations to start going out again, many without wearing masks. While health experts have been warning that such behavior poses a bigger danger to older people who cross their paths, current trends in hospitalizations show that younger people do face the possibility of severe infection and death from COVID-19. Nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units in Houston are now under the age of 50 - as cases continue to spike among young adults across Texas and health workers warn many are getting seriously ill The Houston Methodist hospital system is currently seeing a surge in COVID-19 patients. Houston Methodist CEO Dr Marc Boom told CNBC's Squawk Box that the current surge had 'completely flipped' since the early stages of the pandemic Houston Methodist CEO Dr Marc Boom told CNBC's Squawk Box that the current surge had 'completely flipped' since the early stages of the pandemic. He said about 40 percent of patients were under the age of 50 in mid-April and one in five were in ICU. 'We are definitely seeing this affect young people and they're getting quite ill,' he said. The Houston Methodist hospital system is part of the Texas Medical Center's cluster of major public and private hospitals in the city. Tritico Saranathan, a nurse in one of Methodist's designated virus wards, told the New York Times she had noticed a difference in the age of patients compared to mid-April - and warned that many were 'just feeling like death'. 'We're seeing a lot of people in their 30s - they're out there partying and not wearing their masks,' she said. 'As soon as the city opened up, they were very eager to go to the bars, to the clubs, to the restaurants, just to hang out in groups. And no one was social distancing or wearing a mask. 'What I'm seeing is that they're pretty sick - the younger ones are pretty sick. They're struggling a lot with respiratory issues. They're having a hard time breathing.' In Harris County, which covers much of Houston and is one of the largest counties in the county, the majority of COVID-19 cases are people aged between 30 to 39. The second most affected age bracket to 20 to 29 year olds The Houston Methodist hospital system is part of the Texas Medical Center's cluster of major public and private hospitals in the city. Hospitalizations across the city are on an upward trend As of Monday, there were a record 5,900 coronavirus patients in hospitals across Texas. Daily hospitalizations across the state have been consistently increasing since mid-June Dr Faisal Masud, who is the medical director for critical care across all of Houston Methodist's hospitals, said he had also noticed 30 to 35 years old being admitted. He said the younger people who were severely ill tended to be obese or have health conditions like diabetes, kidney disease and high blood pressure. 'I think that there was a sense of being invincible or this is not their problem, even if they caught it, no big deal,' he said. Dr Masud said he had noticed a change in attitude the past few days. At Methodist, the majority of COVID-19 patients are currently in designated medical wards and not in intensive care. Health officials say that could be a result of the current surge in younger - and often healthier - patients. As of Monday, there were a record 5,900 coronavirus patients in hospitals across Texas. Daily hospitalizations across the state have been consistently increasing since mid-June. Health officials have described young people's actions in states like Texas as irresponsible behavior as photos show packed bars and restaurants after the state lifted restrictions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott reversed that decision last Friday when he ordered all bars to close In the US, young people have quickly overtaken older adults as the group with the highest number of new coronavirus cases since the first states started reopening, according to AP figures There are 1,400 ICU beds available across the states and just over 5,600 ventilators. In Harris County, which covers much of Houston and is one of the largest counties in the county, the majority of COVID-19 cases are people aged between 30 to 39. The second most affected age bracket to 20 to 29 year olds. Health officials have described young people's actions in states like Texas as irresponsible behavior as photos show packed bars and restaurants after the state lifted restrictions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott reversed that decision last Friday when he ordered all bars to close. It comes as some Texas hospitals have been warning they are running out of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients. The Texas Medical Center system had created a COVID-19 'war room' to handle a 66 percent surge in additional ICU patients with strategies including reassigning staff, putting beds closer together and using regular beds for emergency use. They calculated last week that they would run out of space on July 6 if the current increase in Texas severe cases continues. Theresa May launched a furious attack on Boris Johnson and his top team today for choosing a close political aide as the UK's national security adviser. The former prime minister tore into her successor's decision to hand the job to David Frost, his Brexit negotiator, branding him 'a political appointee with no proven expertise'. Mr Frost will replace Sir Mark Sedwill, who announced he was quitting as NSA and Cabinet Secretary on Sunday amid a power-struggle in No10. Mrs May, who appointed Sir Mark to the post, lashed out at Michael Gove as the Cabinet Office Minister defended the change after being hauled to the Commons for questioning. Praising Sir Mark's professionalism, she asked Mr Gove: 'I served on the National Security Council for nine years - six years as home secretary and three as prime minister. During that time, I listened to the expert independent advice from national security advisers. 'On Saturday (Mr Gove) said, ''we must be able to promote those with proven expertise''. 'Why then is the new national security adviser a political appointee with no proven expertise in national security?' Theresa May launched a red-hot broadside at Boris Johnson today for choosing a political aide as the UK's national security adviser. The former prime minister tore into her successor's (Mr Johnson pictured today in Dudley) decision to hand the job to David Frost, his Brexit negotiator, saying he was 'a political appointee with no proven expertise' David Frost (left) will replace Sir Mark Sedwill (right), who announced he was quitting as National Security Adviser on Sunday amid a power-struggle in No10 The former ambassador and whisky buff lured back into Government to work for Boris Mr Frost is currently the Prime Minister's Europe adviser and the UK's chief negotiator, having previously served as a special adviser to Mr Johnson when he was Foreign Secretary. Speaking after news of his appointment today, Mr Frost said he will 'of course remain Chief Negotiator for the EU talks and these will remain my top single priority until those negotiations have concluded, one way or another.' Born in Derby, Mr Frost won a scholarship to Nottingham High School before going on to study French and history at St John's College, Oxford. He joined the Foreign Office in 1987, with his first posting taking him to the British High Commission in Cyprus. In 1993 he experienced his first taste of working with the EU when he was posted to Brussels as first secretary for economic and financial affairs. He was then sent to the United Nations. Between 2006 and 2008 he was Britain's ambassador to Denmark before becoming the UK's most senior trade policy official in the business department. He left the diplomatic service in 2013 to head the Scotch Whisky Association but when Mr Johnson became foreign secretary he returned to government as his special adviser. He also served as a member of the advisory council of Open Europe, a Eurosceptic think-tank. When Mr Johnson became Prime Minister, Mr Frost came back on board and duly negotiated the deal which enabled Britain to leave the EU at the end of January. Advertisement Mr Gove defended the decision for the next national security adviser (NSA) to be a political appointee, rather than a civil service appointment. The role of national security adviser has been filled by Sir Mark since April 2017 - he was later also appointed to head up the civil service as Cabinet Secretary in June 2018. Mr Gove told the Commons: 'The NSA is a relatively new position, but it is always an appointment for the Prime Minister of the day. 'The first civil service commissioner has agreed the position can be regarded as a political rather than necessarily civil service appointment. 'While it is a unique role, David Frost's status will be akin to that of a special envoy representing the UK abroad, speaking publicly and setting the agenda for policy-making. He will not be a permanent secretary or a special adviser.' There was also criticism from a former NSA, Lord Ricketts, who said the move suggested the Prime Minister values 'political loyalty' higher than 'expertise and experience'. In a commentary written for the Royal United Services Institute defence think tank, said: 'Those advising ministers on national security do need the mastery of deep knowledge at a time when the Government is formulating a new national strategy in a dangerous world. 'But the message of Frost's appointment is that the prime minister accords absolute priority not to expertise and experience, but to political loyalty among his closest advisers. 'That is not a reassuring conclusion.' Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds questioned why this was a political appointment. He said: 'The first duty of any government is to keep people safe and in carrying out that duty any government should have objective and at times challenging advice from its national security adviser. 'And it's why making a political appointment takes this government into such dangerous territory.' Concerns about Mr Frost's appointment were also raised in the House of Lords. Former ambassador to the US Lord Kerr of Kinlochard said: 'Watching Washington provides a daily lesson on the perils of the politicised public service and the Iraq Inquiry reminded us of the dangers when politics and intelligence assessment overlap.' It came amid reports Mr Johnson promised to nominate Sir Mark to be the next chief of NATO as part of the Cabinet Secretary's exit package. He was apparently told by the Prime Minister that Number 10 will put his name forward for the highly-coveted position. However, the current secretary general of the international military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, is not expected to retire from the role until the end of 2022. As a result some Whitehall sources have questioned whether Mr Johnson will actually deliver on the promise, given that it is so far in the future. Sir Mark was apparently told by the PM that securing the role will be important for his 'Global Britain' agenda but sources fear the support could prove to be 'half-hearted'. 'I think Mark is either brave or courageous to accept a promise that they'll do that in 2022,' a Whitehall source told The Times. 'I really hope they keep their word but we've all seen this happen before.' The source suggested Sir Mark's hopes could be 'sacrificed' by Number 10 in the future for 'something that they really want'. Mr Gove defended the decision for the next national security adviser (NSA) to be a political appointee, rather than a civil service appointment Boris Johnson, pictured during a visit to a school in west London yesterday, is said to have told Sir Mark he will nominate him to be the next secretary general of NATO Sir Mark's departure from the Government, announced on Sunday, sent shockwaves through Whitehall and came after repeated reports of clashes with Mr Johnson's top aide Dominic Cummings. The recruitment process for the role of Cabinet Secretary is just getting underway with Sir Mark due to formally step down in September. But Mr Johnson has already appointed Sir Mark's successor as National Security Adviser, with chief Brexit negotiator David Frost to be handed the role. However, Downing Street has been forced to defend the move because unlike previous holders of the post, Mr Frost is a political adviser rather than a career civil servant and lacks security experience. The former cabinet secretary Lord O'Donnell has warned political appointees were more likely to be 'yes-men' - telling ministers what they wanted to hear rather than 'speaking truth to power'. 'I'm worried about the appointment of David Frost as national security adviser because I'm not quite sure how putting a special adviser in that role works,' he told the BBC. Downing Street has insisted such appointments are not unusual in other countries and that Mr Frost - who has the status of an ambassador - had spent 25 years as a diplomat in the Foreign Office before leaving in 2013. 'The appointment of the NSA is always a decision for the Prime Minister,' the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said. 'It is not unusual in other countries for ambassadors to serve as national security advisers and ambassadors can be political appointees. David Frost has the status of an ambassador. 'The First Civil Service Commissioner has agreed the appointment. That is consistent with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act.' Mr Johnson has sought to play down claims that Sir Mark's position had been undermined by a series of hostile press briefings. Mr Cummings was reported to have been unimpressed by the response of the Cabinet Office to the coronavirus outbreak, telling aides a 'hard rain is coming' for the Civil Service. Speaking during a visit to a school in west London yesterday, Mr Johnson insisted that Sir Mark - who will continue to be involved in the preparations for the UK taking on the presidency of the G7 next year - still had 'a lot to offer'. He dismissed claims that Sir Mark had been deliberately undermined through hostile press briefings, making his position untenable. 'I try not to read too much of the negative briefing,' Mr Johnson said. 'There is an awful lot of stuff that comes out in the papers to which I wouldn't automatically attach the utmost credence.' However, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that it was 'obvious' that the Prime Minister had been determined to get rid of Sir Mark. Theresa May rejects explosive claims Donald Trump 'bullied' her and left her 'flustered' during phone calls as 'utter nonsense' but allies admit 'conversations weren't always easy because she often disagreed with him' Allies of Theresa May have rejected explosive claims that Donald Trump 'humiliated and bullied' her during official phone calls. Sources close to the former prime minister said a report Mrs May had been left 'flustered' during conversations with the US President were 'utter nonsense'. However, they conceded that the calls were 'not always easy, because Theresa sometimes disagreed with him'. A report published this morning by legendary 'Watergate' journalist Carl Bernstein said Mr Trump had labelled Mrs May a 'fool' during conversations and had attacked her handling of Brexit negotiations. The US President is said to have suggested Mrs May, who served as PM from July 2016 to July 2019, had been 'spineless' in the UK's divorce talks with the European Union. Theresa May and Donald Trump, pictured in Downing Street in June 2019, appeared to have a warm relationship in public but a new report claims the US President 'bullied' the then-PM during phone calls Mr Trump, pictured with Mrs May in the White House Oval Office in January 2017, is said to have called his counterpart a 'fool' Sources apparently described the calls between Mr Trump and Mrs May as 'humiliating and bullying'. One source said of Mr Trump: 'He'd get agitated about something with Theresa May, then he'd get nasty with her on the phone call.' 'It's the same interaction in every setting -- coronavirus or Brexit -- with just no filter applied.' The report claimed Mrs May had been 'flustered and nervous' during the calls with a source saying Mr Trump 'clearly intimidated her and meant to'. But a source close to Mrs May dismissed the claims, telling MailOnline: 'The calls were not always easy, because Theresa sometimes disagreed with him. 'But to say that she was bullied or got flustered is utter nonsense.' Mrs May was the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump after his inauguration in 2017, and a famous image of the two leaders holding hands at the White House appeared to signal a close relationship. However, Mr Trump became increasingly critical of Mrs May and Britain - rebuking her publicly in 2017 after she criticised him for retweeting the far-right group Britain First. Shortly before Mrs May's resignation last year, Mr Trump attacked her again for ignoring his advice on Brexit and going 'her own foolish way'. Mrs May had previously revealed that the US President had advised her to sue the EU. The report published by CNN sets out the details of numerous conversations between Mr Trump and other world leaders. Mr Trump's private calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin were said to have the tone of 'two guys in a steam bath'. The report suggested that Mr Putin 'just outplays' his counterpart during their one-on-one interactions. Donald Trump's encounters with... THERESA MAY: Trump called her a 'fool' and would 'get nasty' on the phone, saying she was weak and lacked courage over Brexit and immigration ANGELA MERKEL: Trump branded her 'stupid' and used 'aggressive' phone calls to attack German policies in 'personally demeaning' fashion EMMANUEL MACRON: Trump delivered verbal 'whippings' as he tired of Macron's constant pleas to change his mind on Iran and climate change VLADIMIR PUTIN: Trump boasted of his wealth and intelligence and berated his predecessors Bush and Obama but was 'outplayed' by the Russian president RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN: Turkish leader would be fast-tracked through to Trump, who would be 'taken to the cleaners' because of his poor Middle East knowledge MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN: Trump would call the Saudi leader 'without anybody being prepared' and brag about his wealth and 'great' achievements as president KIM JONG UN: Another recipient of Trump's rants about his own qualities and the 'idiocy' of his predecessors Advertisement During the calls and others with foreign leaders, Mr Trump reportedly regularly tries to tout his own wealth and success in conversations his own aides apparently regard as 'delusional'. Along with the claims about calls with Mr Putin and Mrs May, Mr Trump is alleged to have called German Chancellor Angela Merkel 'stupid' to her face. 'Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are just unbelievable: he called her 'stupid' and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians,' according to a source. Sources described how former allies of Mr Trump including John Bolton, James Mattis, John Kelly and Rex Tillerson became alarmed by the calls and feared that the President was endangering national security. The conversations with Mr Putin are part of a web of calls between Mr Trump and the leaders of Australia, Turkey, Canada, Australia and western European countries during his presidency that officials who see call transcripts describe as 'abominations.' In the case of Russia, one source voiced fears that Mr Trump was squandering the 'advantage that was hard won in the Cold War' by seemingly craving Mr Putin's approval. Mr Bernstein said that if the notes and transcripts of the calls were made public, even some of Mr Trump's Republican allies in Congress would struggle to defend him. Daniel Goldman, a House lawyer during the Trump impeachment inquiry, said officials had gone to the media with their concerns rather than through the 'proper channels' after the US President attacked the whistleblower who first drew attention to the Ukraine scandal. 'When you take away the proper route through vindictive retribution, you cannot then complain about leaks,' Mr Goldman said. Mr Trump won office in 2016 despite media criticism of his repeated praise for Mr Putin, even as Russia was revealed by U.S. intelligence to be orchestrating an election interference and hacking campaign. In addition to repeatedly referring to his own wealth, as he has done repeatedly in public, Mr Trump would revel in his time running the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, according to the account. A source trashed the calls, saying that while Mr Putin destabilises the West, Mr Trump 'sits there and thinks he can build himself up enough as a businessman and tough guy that Putin will respect him.' President Donald Trump characterized his predecessors as 'imbeciles' and weaklings' during private calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a new report by Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein German chancellor Angela Merkel remained calm in the face of Mr Trump's alleged aggression during phone calls, sources said (they are pictured together at a G7 summit last year) Trump had regular calls with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pictured together at the White House in November last year) Erdogan's hotline to Trump Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan was fast-tracked through to Donald Trump when he called the White House, it is claimed. Mr Erdogan bypassed the usual protocols on Mr Trump's orders - and even reached the US President on the golf course. White House aides even feared that Turkish security agents in the US were observing Mr Trump's schedule so that Mr Erdogan would know when to call. In their conversations, Mr Erdogan exploited Mr Trump's lack of knowledge about the Middle East and 'took him to the cleaners', sources say. But Mr Trump would also rage at Mr Erdogan over trade and the fate of a US pastor who was arrested in Turkey. Advertisement The report came out days after the New York Times reported that Mr Trump was briefed on intelligence that Moscow had paid a bounty to Taliban elements for killings of American soldiers. The White House on Monday denied Mr Trump was briefed about the reported program. Mr Trump was described as solicitous of Mr Putin in the calls. Mr Putin is known as a crafty former KGB operator who often holds back in televised encounters with counterparts. Mr Trump would also allegedly boast about his own wealth, intelligence and achievements in office to leaders such as North Korea's Kim Jong-un and Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman. Two sources said Mr Trump seems 'delusional' on his foreign leader calls, which included frequent contact with Turkey's dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who would allegedly be fast-tracked through to speak to the US President when he called the White House. White House aides even grew alarmed that Turkish security agents in Washington were following Mr Trump's movements so that Mr Erdogan would know when to call, the report says. On one occasion, he apparently reached Mr Trump on the golf course. In their conversations, Mr Erdogan exploited Mr Trump's lack of knowledge about the Middle East and 'took him to the cleaners', sources say. But Mr Trump would also rage at Mr Erdogan over trade and the fate of a US pastor who was arrested in Turkey. Mr Trump would apparently go after his U.S. predecessors in the calls with Mr Erdogan and Mr Putin, who have both used political power to crush dissent. 'They didn't know BS,' Mr Trump apparently said of nemesis Barack Obama and George W. Bush. A leading fertility consultant wrote fake prescriptions to get free Viagra to boost his performance in bed while having a fling, a court has heard. Consultant gynaecologist Dr Harsit Tejura, 51, from Cardiff was having extra marital sex when he prescribed 30 packs of the pills for his own use under fake names. This saved the married father-of-three hundreds of pounds, until he was caught when a Tesco manager became suspicious of his frequent visits to the store's pharmacy. Tejura blamed his erectile dysfunction on stress in his home life and at work within the NHS and his private clinic in South Wales. Consultant gynaecologist Dr Harsit Tejura, 51, from Cardiff, with his wife Dr Amanda O'Leary The court heard he could have legally bought the Viagra over the counter at High Street chemists but 'not in the same volume'. Instead he used false names to write 30 NHS prescriptions which are free in Wales - saving himself 357.58. Cardiff Crown Court heard Tejura's career was in ruins after he 'damaged the high degree of trust placed in doctors'. Prosecutor Rosamund Rutter said: 'Tesco pharmacy manager Jane Williams thought it was rather unusual for a doctor to collect prescriptions on behalf of his patients. 'Some of the addresses on the prescriptions were incomplete and some were 'care of' addresses. 'He was confronted by Mrs Williams and returned later with a printed label with the patient's name.' Tejura was arrested and made a full admission when he was interviewed at Merthyr Tydfil Police Station in July last year. Ms Rutter said: 'He said he was suffering from high levels of stress due to his home and personal life and suffered erectile dysfunction as a result. 'He admitted enjoying extra marital sex at the time.' The CRGW - Centre for Reproduction & Gynaecology Wales - in Ynysmaerdy, Wales, where Tejura works The NHS specialist fraud department was called in to investigate the surgeon, a director of the Centre for Reproduction and Gynaecology Wales, and discovered he also handed in phoney Viagra prescriptions at an Asda supermarket pharmacy. Police raided his office at the fertility clinic's HQ in Llantrisant, near Cardiff, where they found he had been stealing controlled drugs from the company he was a director of. The consultant said vials of the anaesthetic Fentanyl found in a locked cabinet were for his intended suicide. Tejura sat in the dock with his head bowed while his wife Dr Amanda O'Leary, also a director of the fertility clinic, listened to the evidence from the public gallery. Nick Gedge, defending, said: 'One feature of the fraud is that Viagra can be bought over the counter in any high street chemist. 'But Dr Tejura chose not to do that which best illustrates his state of mind - he simply wasn't' thinking straight.' The court heard Dr Tejura was a generous man who had given free or discounted treatments to private patients. Mr Gedge said: 'He has been very much a contributor to society rather than a detractor from it. He is of impeccable character. The house Dr Harsit Tejura and Dr Amanda O'Leary in the outskirts of Cardiff. He said struggles in his home life contributed to his viagra use 'His wife's letter to the court speaks eloquently of their difficulties and how they are successfully rebuilding their lives after a shattering period. 'In the light of these proceedings his registration as a doctor will be seriously in jeopardy.' Tejura admitted one charge of fraud by dishonestly making a false representation and two of theft between January 2017 and June 2019. The 'devoted father' resigned as a director of the Centre for Reproduction and Gynaecology Wales last year and is not working at the moment. The General Medical Council is due to rule on his future as a doctor later this year. Judge Richard Williams said he had 'changed his mind' about sending the consultant to prison because there was no commercial gain in acquiring the sex enhancement pills. The judge told him: 'The Viagra could have been prescribed over the counter albeit not in the same volumes you prescribed for yourself. 'The harm is minimal - but you have damaged the high degree of trust placed in doctors.' Tejura was given a Community Order with a 25-day rehabilitation requirement and was fined 1,000. A British woman who spent 100,000 on her Sri Lankan husband before he was murdered in an alleged blackmail plot three years ago is fighting to recover her money. Diane Peebles, 61, from Edinburgh, was dubbed the 'British Shirley Valentine' after she fell in love with hotel worker Priyanjana De Zoysa, who was 33 years her junior, and sold her home and quit her job in Scotland to be with him in 2011. Now, three years after her late partner, 26, was shot dead in 2017 in a suspected mafia-style gang killing, Ms Peebles is trying to regain some of the life savings she lost during her marriage. Ms Peebles claims she spent 60,000 to Mr De Zoysa to build a three-bedroom villa next to his parents' home and placed the property in her husband's name due to the complex laws and taxes governing the purchase of Sri Lankan property by foreigners. Diane Peebles (pictured with late husband), 61, from Edinburgh, fell in love with hotel worker Priyanjana De Zoysa, who was 33 years her junior, in 2011 and married him in Sri Lanka seven months after meeting him Ms Peebles (pictured with Mr De Zoysa) sold her flat in East Lothian for 105,000 to move to Sri Lanka permanently in February 2015 She also spent 31,000 to buy a Toyota Hiace people carrier which her husband could use to set himself up as a taxi driver. Soon after purchasing the vehicle, she paid out another 350 for repairs, and her husband also asked for money to fit additional seats in the back, as well as insurance. However the widow is now seeking the help of a Scottish lawyer to recover some of her assets and will prove that she paid for the property in Sri Lanka which her late husband's family now reside in. She told The Daily Record: 'My two brothers-in-law and their wives and children are living in my home now rent-free. They don't deserve to live there. 'That house was built on the work I put into my career over many years and I have nothing to show for it. That can't be right.' She added: 'I know it's complicated but bank records will show my money paid for the house and many other things.' Ms Peebles met Mr De Zoysa in 2011 following a whirlwind holiday romance and married him in Sri Lanka seven months later. After selling her flat in East Lothian for 105,000 and taking an early retirement from her job with Edinburgh City Council, Ms Peebles moved to Sri Lanka permanently in February 2015. She returned to Scotland in June when her husband got a job in the country's capital Colombo before deciding to return to the country in September because she 'really missed' her husband. However in 2016, following her return to the South Asian country, the pensioner discovered a Valentine's Day card addressed to Mr De Zoysa which read 'to my husband'. Ms Peebles is now trying to regain some of the life savings she lost during her marriage to her late Sri Lankan husband The pensioner (pictured left with her late husband) eventually escaped Sri Lanka with the help of friends and a retired police officer Despite Mr De Zoysa's claims that the card was a 'prank' from a friend, Ms Peebles soon learnt that her husband was also married to an 18-year-old local girl after finding his marriage certificate written in Sinhalese. On May 30, 2017, as Ms Peebles tried to grapple with the situation she found herself in, Mr De Zoysa was shot dead by a gang who his widow claims were trying to blackmail him for money. Speaking to This Morning in 2018, Ms Peebles said: 'He was at a friend's house and after he got murdered I was told that people were jealous because he had a house and mini bus. He also had a tuk-tuk and they maybe thought he was rich.' The traumatic incident left Ms Peebles trapped in Sri Lanka and saw her late husband's family stop her from going outside due to the possible danger she might find herself in. In 2017, the Scottish woman told MailOnline she believed her marriage to her late husband was 'all about the money', adding: 'I should have realised it was just about the money. My friends thought that he was just marrying me for the money. 'Once I came out here he wanted money all the time.' After getting in touch with the British Consulate in Colombo, Ms Peebles eventually escaped the country the following year with the help of friends and a retired police officer. She told viewers on This Morning: 'All my friends and family told me not to go over. But I thought he loved me, and I loved him. You do silly things when you're in love.' A University of Connecticut senior who has been charged with killing two men and seriously injuring a third with a samurai sword allegedly held another person captive for 24 hours after the first killing - and told him he 'just flipped'. New details about Peter Manfredonia's alleged crime spree in Connecticut in late May came to light when an arrest warrant affidavit was unsealed on Monday. The document reveals that a woman told police she stopped seeing Manfredonia four days before the first murder on May 22, when 62-year-old Ted DeMers was killed and a neighbor injured. The woman said she had considered getting a restraining order against him. Connecticut State Police released the warrant charging the 23-year-old from Newtown with murder, attempted murder and assaulting an elderly person in connection with the violent attacks on May 22. Manfredonia is also expected to be charged with murder in the killing of 23-year-old Nicholas Eisele in Derby on May 24. Scroll down for video University of Connecticut senior Peter Manfredonia, 23 (left), charged with killing Ted DeMers, 62 (right) with a samurai sword in May, told a witness 'he just flipped' Manfredonia is also suspected of killing a high school high school acquaintance, Nicholas Eisele, 23, but he has not been charged with his murder yet Manfredonia, a UConn senior who was studying finance and mechanical engineering, was arrested in Hagerstown, Maryland, on May 27, ending a six-day , multi-state police search. After the first killing, a 73-year-old man claims Manfredonia broke into his Willington home, held a gun to his head, tied him up to a chair in the basement and held him hostage for about 24 hours. He said they had several conversations before Manfredonia took his firearms, ammunition and credit cards, and drove off in his truck. Police say Manfredonia then drove about 70 miles and fatally shot high school acquaintance Nicholas Eisele. During the manhunt for Manfredonia in May, it emerged that he had allegedly written disturbing messages on his apartment walls about 'snapping' like Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza Photos taken in July 2019 that showed the messages allegedly written by Manfredonia were shared on social media during the search for him. Manfredonia compared himself (pictured) to Lanza According to the warrant, the home invasion victim told police: 'I asked if he wants to talk about what took place with the murder and he told me that he hadnt slept for five days and that he just flipped. 'He said he didnt know why he did it and that he was remorseful for it. ... He was very careful about what he would say and it seemed like he didnt want to face the reality of what happened.' The man said he suggested Manfredonia turn himself in, but Manfredonia told him that wasnt an option. 'He told me he was going to have two good weeks and then he figured it would end in either a shootout, the death penalty, or life in prison,' the man told police, adding that after that candid exchange the two continued to watch movies on TV. Investigators say they tracked Manfredonia to Pennsylvania where police said he took an Uber to a Walmart in East Stroudsburg, not far from the New Jersey border. He was spotted on surveillance cameras walking along railway tracking carrying a black duffel bag A woman who lives near the first murder victim's home told police she stopped seeing Manfredonia four days before the sword attack after learning he had hacked into her social media accounts. He was captured by police in Pennsylvania on May 27 Authorities allege Manfredonia killed DeMers and seriously wounded his 80-year-old neighbor in what appeared to be a samurai sword attack. The attack came while DeMers was giving Manfredonia a ride on the back of an ATV to Manfredonias red Kawasaki motorcycle, which Manfredonia said he crashed down the road, the warrant said. TIMELINE: MANHUNT FOR PETER MANFREDONIA May 22, 2020: Authorities are called to Willington, Connecticut on May 22 and find two men suffering from severe wounds inflicted by a machete. Victim Ted DeMers dies from his injuries while his neighbor is rushed to hospital in critical condition. May 23, 2020: Police identify the suspect as Peter Manfredonia, a University of Connecticut senior majoring in finance and mechanical engineering. May 24, 2020: Morning Connecticut police respond to a home in Willington where a man says Manfredonia broke in and held him captive before stealing food, firearms and a truck. Surveillance footage captures Manfredonia walking to second victim Nicholas Eisele's home in Derby. Police discover the stolen truck on Hawthorne Avenue in Derby. Police find the body of Eisele and report that Manfredonia has abducted the victim's girlfriend and fled the state in her 2016 black Volkswagen Jetta. Afternoon The girlfriend is found unharmed with her car at a rest stop near near Columbia, New Jersey. Police say Manfredonia has been spotted in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Police release image of Manfredonia walking near railroad tracks carrying a large duffel bag. May 27, 2020: Morning Police release image of a man believed to be Manfredonia at a Sheetz in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Authorities say Manfredonia caught an Uber to Hagerstown, Maryland. Evening Manfredonia is located in Hagerstown, Maryland and is taken into custody without injury. June 11, 2020: Manfredonia is extradited from Maryland to Connecticut to face charges. Advertisement DeMers was found with a severed right hand, a mutilated tricep, a severed left thumb and index finger, and multiple cuts to his head and back, reported NBC News. When DeMers' elderly neighbor heard screaming and rushed to his aid, he, too, was attacked with the sword and critically wounded, but survived. Police who responded to the scene found a bent sword covered in a blood-like substance. They also discovered Manfredonia's abandoned motorcycle and a helmet smeared with 'blood-like substance.' A search of the area turned up a shirt with Chinese lettering and 'world peace' written on it. The shirt, too, was stained red. 'The shirt was located in a stream and appeared as though there was an attempt to wash the shirt clean in the water,' according to the warrant. Its not clear why Manfredonia was in DeMers neighborhood in the first place. But a female acquaintance of Manfredonias who lives near DeMers home told police she stopped seeing him after learning on March 18 that he had hacked into her social media accounts, police said. She had considered getting a restraining order against Manfredonia, police said. State police also said Manfredonia had been 'associated with numerous law enforcement investigations to include suicidal and homicidal ideation.' Manfredonias lawyer, Michael Dolan, declined to comment on the allegations in the warrant but said, 'We plan to mount a vigorous defense.' Dolan has said that Manfredonia had a history of depression and anxiety, but had never shown signs of violence. After the home invasion, police said Manfredonia drove about 70 miles southwest to Derby and fatally shot a high school acquaintance, Nicholas Eisele. Manfredonia, then forced Eiseles girlfriend into a car and fled the state. The woman was found unharmed with the car at a rest stop near near Columbia, New Jersey, near the Pennsylvania line. Investigators tracked Manfredonia to Pennsylvania, where police said he took an Uber to a Walmart in East Stroudsburg. Authorities searched the area but didnt find him. A man fitting his description was later spotted near Scranton, Pennsylvania, prompting another search there. Police believe Manfredonia stole a car and abandoned it in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, before taking another Uber to Hagerstown, where he was captured. Manfredonia surrendered peacefully to police when they spotted him and drew their guns, officials said. Manfredonia is being held on $7million bail. He is scheduled to appear in court again on July 10 in connection with the Willington crimes. The official Twitter page for the Democratic National Committee has quickly taken down a tweet that suggested President Donald Trump's rally at Mt. Rushmore would be 'glorifying white supremacy.' In the since deleted Tuesday morning tweet, the DNC took Trump to task for the series of grievances he has enacted against indigenous communities in the United States. 'Trump has disrespected Native communities time and again. Hes attempted to limit their voting rights and blocked critical pandemic relief,' they said in the tweet. In the since deleted Tuesday morning tweet, the DNC took Trump to task for the series of grievances he has enacted against indigenous communities in the United States They then turned their attention to Trump's July 3rd visit to Mt. Rushmore in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he will host a massive rally that will include a firework display. Many Native American activists and protesters are planning on taking to the controversial monument to protest it and the president's visit. The DNC added in the tweet: 'Now hes holding a rally glorifying white supremacy at Mount Rushmore a region once sacred to tribal communities.' The DNC had been referencing an article from The Guardian that featured Native American activists who were upset about Trump's upcoming visit. The tweet was soon deleted but not before being screengrabbed and shared by conservative pundits, who speculated that the monument would be the next to be called out following the removal or statues of American leaders - many of who owned slaves or enacted genocide against indigenous communities. The tweet was soon deleted but not before being screengrabbed and shared by conservative pundits, who speculated that the monument would be the next to be called out following the removal or statues of American leaders (George Washington statue in Portland is toppled on June 19) Native American activists have been protesting Mt Rushmore for decades. Protesters in 1970 Most Americans do not know the troubled past of Mt Rushmore, made on land stolen from indigenous communities. 'Mount Rushmore is a symbol of white supremacy, of structural racism that's still alive and well in society today,' said Nick Tilsen, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and the president of a local activist organization called NDN Collective. 'It's an injustice to actively steal Indigenous people's land, then carve the white faces of the colonizers who committed genocide.' While some activists, like Tilsen, want to see the monument removed and the Black Hills returned to the Lakota, others have called for a share in the economic benefits from the region. Trump has long shown a fascination with Mount Rushmore. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said in 2018 that he once told her straight-faced that it was his dream to have his face carved into the monument. He later joked at a campaign rally about getting enshrined alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. And while it was Noem, a Republican, who pushed for a return of fireworks on the eve of Independence Day, Trump committed to visiting South Dakota for the celebration. Some wildfire experts have raised concerns the pyrotechnics could spark fires, especially because the region has seen dry weather this year. Firefighters called in crews from two other states to help Thursday as a blaze consumed approximately 150 acres (61 hectares) about 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of the monument. The presidents were chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum for their leadership during four phases of American development The four faces, carved into the mountain with dynamite and drills, are known as the 'shrine to democracy.' The presidents were chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum for their leadership during four phases of American development: Washington led the birth of the nation; Jefferson sparked its westward expansion; Lincoln preserved the union and emancipated slaves; Roosevelt championed industrial innovation. And yet, for many Native American people, including the Lakota, Cheyenne, Omaha, Arapaho, Kiowa and Kiowa-Apache, the monument is a desecration to the Black Hills, which they consider sacred. Lakota people know the area as Paha Sapa 'the heart of everything that is.' As monuments to Confederate and Colonial leaders have been removed nationwide, some conservatives have expressed fear that Mount Rushmore could be next. Commentator Ben Shapiro this week suggested that the 'woke historical revisionist priesthood' wanted to blow up the monument. Noem responded by tweeting, 'Not on my watch. Borglum was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, according to Mount Rushmore historian and writer Tom Griffith Tim Giago, a journalist who is a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, said he doesn't see four great American leaders when he looks at the monument; he sees four white men who either made racist remarks or initiated actions that removed Native Americans from their land. Washington and Jefferson held slaves. Lincoln, though he led the abolition of slavery, approved the hanging of 38 Dakota men in Minnesota after a violent conflict with white settlers there. Roosevelt is reported to have said, 'I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every 10 are ...' The monument has long been a 'Rorschach test,' said John Taliaferro, author of 'Great White Fathers,' a history of the monument. 'All sorts of people can go there and see it in different ways.' The monument often starts conversations on the paradox of American democracy that a republic that promoted the ideals of freedom, determination and innovation also enslaved people and drove others from their land, he said. 'If we're having this discussion today about what American democracy is, Mount Rushmore is really serving its purpose because that conversation goes on there,' he said. 'Is it fragile? Is it permanent? Is it cracking somewhat?' The monument was conceived in the 1920s as a tourist draw for the new fad in vacationing called the road trip. South Dakota historian Doane Robinson recruited Borglum to abandon his work creating the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial in Georgia, which was to feature Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson. Borglum was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, according to Mount Rushmore historian and writer Tom Griffith. Borglum joined the Klan to raise money for the Confederate memorial, and Griffith argues his allegiance was more practical than ideological. But Borglum was known for his racist ideology, once stating: I would not trust an Indian, off-hand, 9 out of 10, where I would not trust a white man 1 out of 10. The monument was conceived in the 1920s as a tourist draw for the new fad in vacationing called the road trip. South Dakota historian Doane Robinson recruited Borglum to abandon his work creating the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial in Georgia, which was to feature Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson (Protest on June 16) He once talked about a 'mongrel horde' overrunning the 'Nordic' purity of the West, according to Smithsonian Mag. Native American activists have long staged protests at the site to raise awareness of the history of the Black Hills, which were seized despite treaties with the United States protecting the land. Fifty years ago, a group of activists associated with an organization called United Native Americans climbed to the top of the monument and occupied it. Quanah Brightman, who now runs United Native Americans, said the activism in the 1970s grew out of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He hopes a similar movement for Native Americans comes from the Black Lives Matter movement. 'What people find here is the story of America it's multidimensional, it's complex,' Griffith said. 'It's important to understand it was people just trying to do right as best they knew it then.' An Iranian journalist whose online work helped inspire the country's 2017 economic protests has been sentenced to death. Ruhollah Zam had run a website called AmadNews which posted embarrassing videos and information about Iranian officials. He had been living and working in exile in Paris before being convinced to return to Iran, where he was arrested in October 2019. Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam (pictured on June 2) whose online work helped inspire the country's 2017 economic protests has been sentenced to death Zam later appeared in televised confessions admitting his wrongdoings and offering an apology for his past activities. Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced Zam's sentence on Tuesday morning. Zam ran a channel on the messaging app Telegram that spread messages about upcoming protests in 2017 and shared videos from the demonstration. This gained him widespread notoriety, drawing the attention of Iranian authorities. Zam ran a channel on the messaging app Telegram that spread messages about upcoming protests in 2017 and shared videos from the demonstration. Above, , university students attend a protest inside Tehran University while anti-riot Iranian police prevent them to join other protestors, in Tehran, December 2017 Telegram shut down the channel over Iranian government complaints it spread information about how to make petrol bombs. The channel later continued under a different name. Zam is the son of Shia cleric Mohammad Ali Zam, a reformist who once served in a government policy position in the early 1980s. The cleric wrote a letter published by Iranian media in July 2017 in which he said he would not support his son over AmadNews' reporting and messages on its Telegram channel. The great-great-grandson of Anna Short Harrington, who is said to have inspired Aunt Jemima, says he wants reparations because the actress's likeness was used by Quaker Oats without his family being properly compensated. Earlier this month, Quaker Oats acknowledged that Aunt Jemima's origins were based on a racial stereotype of a 'mammy' and announced that the company would be removing the image and name. During that announcement, the company also promised a $5million donation over the next five years that will 'create meaningful, ongoing support and engagement in the black community'. However, Harrington's great-great-grandson, Larnell Evans Jr, 47, is not impressed with Quaker Oats' decision, calling it 'the easy way for them to go' in an interview with the Daily Beast. 'I guess you would say, thats saving money,' said Evans, who in 2014 filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo, the owner of Quaker Oats, claiming they failed to pay royalties to Nancy Green the enslaved woman who the original Aunt Jemima branding was based on in 1834 - as well as their great-grandmother, Harrington. Evans and his nephew, Dannez Hunter, who didn't have a lawyer and represented themselves during the lawsuit, asked for $2billion and a share of the sales revenue. According to Evans, Harrington, who started portraying Aunt Jemima in 1935, 'had her own recipes, which was very unique'. Scroll down for video Earlier this month, Quaker Oats announced that the company would be removing the image and name. The company said it will also donate $5million to support the black community. Aunt Jemima has evolved its imagery over time but the name still evokes memories of slavery They said their great-great-grandmother helped to formulate the self-rising pancake mix's recipe. 'You didnt hear of people having their own recipesespecially working for Quaker Oats. You would think, working for Quaker Oats, whatever they hired them to do, thats what they would do. And she was promoting Quaker Oats products. But she was also promoting her own products,' Evans told the Daily Beast. The case was ultimately dismissed by a judge after Quaker Oats insisted Aunt Jemima was not based on Harrington. The lawsuit that Evans and Hunter filed involved the Aunt Jemima logo that Quaker Oats copyrighted in 1936. Evans and Hunter claimed in the lawsuit that the image was derived from Harringtons face. That information was reportedly laid out in the contract signed by both parties. Quaker Oats argued that the character was fictitious and wasn't based on a living person. According to the Daily Beast, PepsiCo filed to dismiss the case, arguing that their 15 claims either werent recognized by law, werent established with evidence, or were implausible and that Evans and Hunter lacked the documentation that proved they were related to Harrington. 'We had a family tree. We have all the death certificates. We have the obituaries. Theres no way that they can say, "Oh theyre not related,"' Evans told the Daily Beast. 'I always knew she played Aunt Jemima. Thats just a given fact.' During the court proceedings, Hunter drafted the motions and Evans proofread the documents. Looking back on the case, Evans admitted that while law 'was always a very interesting topic for both of us... we wish we'd hired a lawyer, because they didn't take the case seriously'. Harrington was born in 1897 and grew up in Marlboro County, South Carolina. Her family lived on the Pegues Place plantation where they worked as sharecroppers. However, Harrington's great- great-grandson, Larnell Evans Jr, 47, is not impressed with Quaker Oats' decision, calling it 'the easy way for them to go' The lawsuit that Evans filed involved the Aunt Jemima logo that Quaker Oats copyrighted in 1936. Evans claimed in the lawsuit that the image was derived from Harringtons face In 1927, Harrington, who had three daughters and two sons, moved to New York to work as a maid for a family in Nedrow. A year later, she was reunited with her children in Syracuse, New York, where she cooked for fraternity houses at Syracuse University. It was in 1935 that she was discovered by Quaker Oats while she cooked pancakes at the New York State Fair. Harrington portrayed the character until 1954. She died in Syracuse in 1955 at the age of 58, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery. Forty per cent of people infected with Covid-19 never show symptoms, according to a study that adds to growing fears about the threat of 'silent' transmission. Experts analysed the outbreak in the picturesque Italian town of Vo, which recorded Italy's first coronavirus death. Most of the town's 3,200 residents were swabbed in two batches over a period of 14 days at the end of February and beginning of March. Both times, two fifths of coronavirus-infected patients were asymptomatic and had none of the tell-tale signs of the life-threatening infection. It isn't the first time scientists have warned of asymptomatic spread top academics have called it the 'Achilles heel' of the pandemic. Experts analysed the outbreak in the picturesque Italian town of Vo, which recorded Italy's first coronavirus death. Most of the town's 3,200 residents were swabbed in two batches over a period of 14 days at the end of February and beginning of March Experts behind the Vo study said Covid-19 outbreaks can be contained, despite the threat of people passing the virus on without having any symptoms. Professor Andrea Crisanti, one of the researchers at Padua University, said: 'Despite 'silent' and widespread transmission, the disease can be controlled. 'Testing of all citizens, whether or not they have symptoms, provides a way to prevent outbreaks getting out of hand.' Italian health chiefs immediately put Vo 50miles (80km) west of Venice into quarantine for 14 days after suffering the country's first confirmed Covid-19 death on February 21. During that fortnight, researchers tested most of the population for SARS-CoV-2 the strain of the coronavirus that has caused the pandemic. Seventy-three residents (2.6 per cent) of the town tested positive during the first batch of swabs, carried out at the start of the town's lockdown. HOW VO MANAGED TO STOP ITS COVID-19 OUTBREAK Vo managed to stop a coronavirus outbreak in its tracks after authorities tested the whole population more than once. The 3,300 or so citizens of Vo, just 50 miles (80km) from Venice, were all swabbed for Covid-19 in late February. Anyone who tested positive was immediately quarantined to stem the spread of the disease even if they weren't showing symptoms. Two weeks later, mass testing showed the infection rate had dropped by 12 times from three per cent of the population to just 0.25 per cent. The governor of the Veneto region said Vo was 'the healthiest place in Italy'. Advertisement After two weeks, only 29 people (1.2 per cent) were found to have the virus, suggesting the drastic policy worked in curbing the spread of the disease. But 40 per cent of positive cases escaped without any of the symptoms Covid-19 is known to cause, including a cough, fever and a loss of the sense of smell or taste. Professor Crisanti claimed the findings offered proof that mass testing, combined with case isolation and community lockdowns, can stop local outbreaks swiftly. And she said the success of Vo's outbreak control measures also guided wider public health policy in the wider Veneto region, home to almost 5million people. Professor Crisanti added that the move similar to one now adopted in the UK had 'a tremendous impact on the course of the epidemic' there compared to other regions. The study, which also involved academics from Imperial College London, was published in the scientific journal Nature today. The research is the latest in a string of evidence to show that thousands of coronavirus-infected patients will never suffer any of the tell-tale symptoms. Chinese researchers last month discovered 40 per cent of cases didn't experience a cough, fever or difficulty breathing, after analysing 78 patients. The team, from Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan where the crisis originated said its findings were evidence that the highly-infectious virus may be more widespread than previously believed. It backs up official estimates of the size of the outbreak in Britain, where only 310,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed since the outbreak began. Antibody testing data from a surveillance scheme suggests around 5million Britons have actually had the virus 15 times higher than the official case count. Thousands of people who catch the virus never swab positive because they don't realise they are sick, couldn't get a test or the result was wrong. Separate Edinburgh University research has shown asymptomatic sufferers have a weaker immune response to the virus, raising questions about their immunity levels. Asymptomatic is different to presymptomatic. Some patients may not show symptoms at the beginning of their infection but eventually develop the tell-tale signs. China is developing a so-called 'nuclear triad' for the first time, which is made up of new land- and sea-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft, a European think tank has warned. Beijing also equipped itself with at least 30 new warheads in 2019 as part of the country's 'significant modernisation' of nuclear arsenal, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute claimed. The Communist country is estimated to have a total of 320 weapons in its nuclear arsenal, according to the Sweden-based independent group. China has equipped at least 30 more nuclear warheads in the past year as part of the country's 'significant modernisation'. The file picture taken in September 3, 2015, shows intermediate-range ballistic missile 'DF-26' driving past the Tiananmen Square during a military parade The Communist country is estimated to have a total of 320 weapons in its nuclear arsenal, according to the Sweden-based independent group. The file picture taken on October 1, 2019, shows vehicles carrying the DF-41 intercontinental nuclear missile at Tiananmen Square The think tank released an analysis in mid-June, assessing the current state of the nine nuclear-armed countries, which together possess an estimated 13,400 warheads at the start of this year. China is said to be one of the six countries that increased its nuclear arsenal in the past year, adding 30 warheads to its stockpile, according to a chart from the report. The other five countries are India, Britain, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, which all have increased less than 20 warheads. US, Russia and France are said to have decreased their number of warheads, mostly to dismantle retired stocks. China is said to be one of the six countries that increased its nuclear arsenal in the past year, adding 30 warheads to its stockpile, according to a chart from the Swedish group's report The research group warned: 'China is in the middle of a significant modernization and expansion of its arsenal.' Pictured, military vehicles carrying the DF-17 hypersonic ballistic missile rolling past Tiananmen Square during a parade in Beijing on October 1, 2019 Soldiers from China's People's Liberation Army carry a state flag ahead of a military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi defeat, at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on June 24 The research group warned: 'China is in the middle of a significant modernization and expansion of its arsenal. 'It is developing a so-called nuclear triad for the first time, made up of new land- and sea-based missiles and nuclear-capable aircraft,' the think tank added. Despite six countries having geared up on their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, the global inventories continue to decline, according to the report. It wrote: 'The decrease in the overall number of nuclear weapons in the world in 2019 was largely due to the dismantlement of retired nuclear weapons by Russia and the USA - which together still possess over 90 per cent of global nuclear weapons. 'At the same time, both the USA and Russia have extensive and expensive programmes under way to replace and modernize their nuclear warheads, missile and aircraft delivery systems, and nuclear weapon production facilities,' the report said. Despite six countries having geared up on their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, the global inventories continue to decline, according to the report. This file photo taken during a military parade on September 3, 2015, shows China's Dongfeng 21D anti-ship ballistic missiles The US has a total of 5,800 nuclear warheads as of January, with a third of them deployed. Russia owns 6,375 weapons in its nuclear arsenal, including 1,570 deployed warheads. Outside nuclear armaments, new threats such as chemical and biological weapons were emerging, destabilising the global military and political landscape, according to the independent group. The findings come after US State Department has warned that China may be conducting small nuclear bomb tests and hiding the evidence from the rest of the world. Lop Nur was China's sole nuclear testing site until 1996 when both China and the US signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and vowed to adhere to its terms. The findings come after US State Department has warned that China may be conducting small nuclear bomb tests and hiding the evidence from the rest of the world. US says there are secret activities at the remote Lop Nur test site in the western province of Xinjang Chinese Presdient Xi Jinping is seen in a file photo. A senior US official said the concerns about China's testing activities buttressed US President Donald Trump's case for getting China to join the United States and Russia in talks to replace the 2010 New START treaty But suspicious activity at the site throughout last year raised concerns that Beijing is breaching the treaty's 'zero yield' standard for test blasts, according to the American authority in April. A senior US official said the concerns about China's testing activities buttressed President Donald Trump's case for getting China to join the United States and Russia in talks on an arms control accord to replace the 2010 New START treaty between Washington and Moscow that expires in February 2021. New START restricted the United States and Russia to deploying no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads, the lowest level in decades, and limited the land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers that deliver them. China has repeatedly rejected Trump's proposal, arguing its nuclear force is defensive and poses no threat. A woman who had lost all hope of ever finding her missing cat has made a 'one in a million' reunion with her moggy - after being apart for 12 YEARS. Vicky Swainson, 31, says she was devastated when her cat Gucci, then just three years old, disappeared while they were moving house in 2008. She saw her white and black cat leap into a nearby allotment and spent all day looking for him but to no avail. Vicky Swainson, 31, has been reunited with her cat Gucci after it went missing 12 years ago The pet went missing in 2008 after he disappeared from the home in Gildersome, West Yorkshire and Vicky made determined attempts to locate him to no avail Her furry friend disappeared from their home in Gildersome, near Leeds, West Yorkshire, in July 2008 but Vicky, then aged 19, was still determined to find him. She placed dozens of missing cat posters and walked two miles almost every day from her new home in Morley to her old property hoping to cross his path. Then, seemingly out of the blue, Vicky got a 'shocking' phone call from Abbey House Vets in Morley on June 19 thanks to a microchip which was embedded in the cat's neck. She said she was 'overjoyed' but couldn't believe she had found her cat after 12 long years. Vicky, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, said: 'When I got the call I was in total shock, I couldn't even process what was happening. 'Then when I realised it was my Gucci, I just felt overjoyed and overwhelmed. Gucci was alive and well, and I was going to see him. It was such a crazy and surreal phone call - I was pinching myself. 'It really was a one in a million chance. I don't think I'll ever believe I have him back, even if I'm holding him.' However, after being handed over to a vet, a microchip was discovered and Vicky was contacted and told her beloved pet had been found after twelve long years Vicky sped off to the vet to meet with her long-lost feline friend and says she knew it was him the moment she saw him. The bank manager said: 'I went to get him on Friday afternoon and I knew it was him immediately. 'I'd like to think he recognised me as well because as soon as I picked him up he was cuddling me and purring. It was such a strange feeling - something I never expected to go through. 'I didn't think I'd ever hold him again, yet here I was, holding Gucci like when I was a teenager - it was surreal.' Vicky said when they moved house 12 years ago, they hoped to get him comfortable in their new home for two weeks. But the curious cat dived out the window into a nearby allotment. Recalling how heartbroken she was when Gucci first escaped, Vicky said: 'We were hoping to get him used to the new place but while we were moving he just escaped from his room and disappeared. 'We saw him jump into a nearby allotment and went to look for him but everywhere we searched we couldn't find him. We tried calling for him, we tried shaking his favourite biscuits, we tried everything. Gucci has been rehomed with Vicky's dad, Steve Swainson, who has been happy to welcome back the family pet (pictured: Gucci with Amirah, Vicky's niece) 'I just wanted him to come back I couldn't believe he'd disappeared. Even after we moved we walked two miles back to our old house for six months in the hope we'd stumble upon him. 'It was so heartbreaking - Gucci was part of the family.' According to the vet, a kindhearted cat lover had been feeding Gucci for about eight months as he wandered the streets. But after she noticed he'd lost a bit of weight, the concerned woman rang the vet to get him checked. It was here the vets found his microchip and contacted Vicky. Vicky said: 'I never would have been able to share this beautiful moment with Gucci and be reunited with him without his microchip. 'I think it's so important that people with cats do this - not just with dogs.' Unfortunately Gucci couldn't stay at Vicky's home, as she currently lives with seven-year-old Larry, and she's worried her cat won't take well to a new family member. But he's been rehomed with Vicky's dad Steve Swainson who has been more than happy to welcome back the adventurous moggy. Elizabeth Warren has called for the 10 military bases named after Confederate generals to be rechristened - an idea opposed by Donald Trump. The Democratic senator said it was time to condemn the generals to 'footnotes in our history books' at a moment of 'deep reflection' on racism after the death of George Floyd. In a speech on the Senate floor, Warren highlighted the sinister past of Confederate generals such as John Brown Gordon, a suspected KKK leader; Henry Benning, a fierce secessionist who feared a 'land in possession of the blacks', and Braxton Bragg, a slaveowner with a poor reputation even on the Confederate side. Warren also attacked Trump for his opposition to renaming the bases, saying the president had 'chosen a well-worn path of hatred and division'. Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren (pictured) last night demanded that the 10 military bases named after Confederate generals be rechristened Warren highlighted the sinister past of Confederate generals with bases in their names, such as suspected KKK leader John Brown Gordon (left) and the slave-owning Robert E. Lee (right) Warren - who quit the Democratic presidential race in March this year - has tabled an amendment to the annual defense bill to rename the 10 bases, telling senators it was an 'opportunity to correct long-standing historic injustice'. 'This year we consider legislation during a moment of deep reflection and anguish as Americans reckon with our ugly history of systemic racism and the original sin of chattel slavery,' Warren said. 'For weeks all across this nation Americans have taken to the streets to call for justice and call for an end to the racist violence that has stolen far too many black lives.' Warren said her amendment was meant to 'address the honors that our nation continues to bestow on Confederate officers who took up arms against the United States in the of chattel slavery'. 'This bill denies those honors to military leaders who killed U.S. soldiers in defense of the idea that black people are not people, but instead are property to be bought and sold,' she said. 'These bases were named to honor individuals who took up arms against our nation in a war that killed more than half a million Americans. 'They took up arms to defend an institution that reduced black people to property. 'Those who complain that removing the names of traitors from these bases ignores history ought to learn some history themselves.' Fort Bragg in North Carolina (pictured) is named after Braxton Bragg, a slaveowner with a poor reputation as a general even on the Confederate side Warren continued: 'The Confederate soldiers who betrayed the United States to fight for the Confederacy were fighting for the institution of slavery, plain, simple, ugly. 'It is time to put the names of those leaders who fought and killed U.S. soldiers in defense of a perverted version of America where they belong - as footnotes in our history books, not plastered on our nation's most important military installations. 'Removing the names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederacy and anyone who voluntarily served it from military property is, in the broader scheme, only one step toward addressing systemic racism in our society, but it is an important step. 'It will bring us closer to acknowledging the truth of that ugly past and it will give us a firmer foundation on which to build a better future for everyone.' Warren said her bill would also cover ships such as the USS Chancellorville, named for a Confederate battle victory during the Civil War. Trump rejected calls to rename the bases on June 10, saying they were 'hallowed grounds' and 'magnificent and fabled military installations' where soldiers have been trained for great American victories. 'Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!' he said. Reports said Defense Secretary Mark Esper had been open to renaming the bases until Trump vetoed the idea. Donald Trump (pictured) has rejected calls to rename the bases, saying they were 'hallowed grounds' and 'magnificent and fabled military installations' The 10 bases are all located in the South, most of them in states which voted for Trump in the 2016 election. Many of the 10 men had previously fought for the US Army but defected to join the Confederacy when the 11 southern states seceded in 1861. Most of them either owned slaves or their families did. One of them, Henry Benning, was vociferous in his defense of slavery and said abolition would lead to 'black governors, black legislatures, black juries, black everything'. His father owned more than 100 slaves, and tax records from 1863 show that he owned at least 89 slaves himself along with more than 3,000 acres of land. The South's most famous general Robert E. Lee inherited 189 slaves from his father-in-law, tried to block their freedom and had them beaten if they tried to escape. Another general, John Brown Gordon - who owned a 14-year-old girl as a slave - is widely believed to have been a leader of the KKK in Georgia. Warren also highlighted Braxton Bragg, after whom Fort Bragg is named - saying he 'chose to take up arms against the United States... but he wasn't very good at it'. Bragg presided over a series of Confederate defeats and was disliked by his subordinates because of his bad temper and combative personality. Although President Trump apparently took no action in response to a reported February 27 intel brief about Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan, he took several provocative swipes at favorite target CNN and met with Diamond and Silk that day. Trump also met with 'Superman' actor Dean Cain 'and Buffy the Vampire Slayer' actress Kristy Swanson about their brief play 'FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers' which is based on texts by favorite Trump targets Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The presidential face time with tangential figures came as the coronavirus was raging across the globe and as information about the deadly bounties was being included in a top secret document that goes to the president and top officials in the U.S. government, according to a bombshell report. The president's public events and statements that day were typical in many ways for his presidency with public blasts at perceived critics and a White House event that featured praise for the president. The New York Times reported that Trump was briefed that a Russian military unit paid bounties to elements linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan for the deaths of U.S. troops. A source even gave the specific date information was included in the President's Daily Brief: February 27. Two officials said the information was included in the president's daily brief. US President Donald Trump speaks as social media personalities Lynnette Hardaway (L) and Rochelle Richardson (2-L), otherwise known as Diamond and Silk listen during a meeting with African-American leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2020. That same day, the New York Times reports, Trump was briefed in the afternoon about U.S. intelligence that a Russian military unit paid bounties to Taliban-linked elements who killed American troops The White House disputes Trump was briefed and said the intelligence was still being vetted. It briefed Republican lawmakers on the situation Monday. On that same day, Trump met with Diamond and Silk, two outspoken endorsers who have fired up his campaign rallies, at a Black History Month event at the White House. At the event, Rochelle Richardson (Silk) told Trump the nation needed someone who would go 'toe to toe against the status quo,' while touting their forthcoming book. 'Mr. President, we've come a long ways. A long ways at wining, wining, and winning. And you know what? They sing the song "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired," but I haven't got tired of winning,' she said. President Donald Trump (R) listens as Lynette 'Diamond' Hardaway (L) and Rochelle 'Silk' Richardson praise him during a news conference and meeting with African American supporters in the Cabinet Room at the White House February 27, 2020 The briefing is the latest incident on Trump's relationship with Russia Trump approvingly tweeted then-Fox host Tirsh Regan Trump blasted CNN on the evening of Feb. 27 He quoted Regan saying CNN was 'infected' with 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' The president said his team was doing 'such a fine job' dealing with the coronavirus U.S. service members walk off a helicopter on the runway at Camp Bost on September 11, 2017 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan Hollywood version: Dean Cain and Kristy Swanson play Peter Strzok and Lisa Page in a play which they showed part of to CPAC, the conservative get-together - where they revealed that the president wants to be Cain's understudy Real version: Unusually for a Hollywood version of reality, the actors playing Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are significantly older than the real-life versions. Cain is 53 and Strzok is 49; Swanson is 50 while Page is 40 White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany abandoned attempts to discredit an intelligence report that Russians were offering bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan Trump held her hand and accepted the accolades. 'So nice!' Trump wrote, retweeted a video clip of the event. Trump also made time that day inside the office for actors Cain and Swanson. The pair were in town for the annual CPAC conference, where they got standing ovations when they gave dramatic readings of texts between Strzok and Page, who Trump regularly derides as the 'FBI lovers.' The Russia probe lawyers were revealed during the Mueller investigation to have been having an affair. It was only later revealed that a guest at the CPAC conference tested positive for the coronavirus requiring quarantines of some officials who were there. At CPAC, Ann McElhinney, one of the producers, told the crowd to laughter that Trump 'loves the play.' Cain then said: 'He said he'd be my understudy.' But Trump was in a sour mood online that day. He blasted CNN that day as an 'anti-Trump network' by quoting former Fox News personality Trish Regan, who was fiercely defending his handling of the coronavirus from criticism. Anti-Trump Network @CNN doing whatever it can to stoke a national Coronavirus panic. The far left Network pretty much ignoring anyone who they interview who doesnt blame President Trump. @trish_regan @FoxNews.' 'Media refuses to discuss the great job our professionals are doing!' Trump wrote before 9 pm, Mediaite noted. Later, he wrote: 'Congratulations and thank you to our great Vice President & all of the many professionals doing such a fine job at CDC & all other agencies on the Coronavirus situation. Only a very small number in U.S., & China numbers look to be going down. All countries working well together!' Trump's daily schedule showed an intelligence briefing at 2:30 pm that day. Earlier in the afternoon, Trump announced his nomination of GOP loyalist then-Rep. John Ratcliffe to serve as his Director of Intelligence. Ratliff issued a statement Monday noting it is a crime to leak classified information. 'The selective leaking of any classified information disrupts the vital interagency work to collect, assess, and mitigate threats and places our forces at risk. It also, simply put, a crime,' he said. Trump tweeted February 27: 'I am pleased to announce the nomination of @RepRatcliffe (Congressman John Ratcliffe) to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Would have completed process earlier, but John wanted to wait until after IG Report was finished. John is an outstanding man of great talent!' On Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany blasted the Times for publishing the intelligence information, which she said was had not been fully verified. 'These are rogue intelligence officers who are imperiling our troops lives. We will not be able to get - very likely not be able to get - a consensus on this intelligence, because of what was leaked to the New York Times,' she said. 'The President was never briefed on this, this intelligence still has not been verified, and there is no consensus among the intelligence community,' McEnany ssaid. Trump rival Joe Biden blasted the president for either not acting on the information or not reading what was reportedly included in his highly classified briefing materials. Biden said he read the briefing every day when he served as vice president. Trump on Tuesday embraced a claim that an intelligence report indicating Russia offered bounties on U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan was 'wishful thinking' as the families of Marines who died in a car bomb attack demanded justice. The president retweeted two tweets from Geraldo Rivera on the matter as the White House struggled to deal with the fallout from The New York Times' explosive report on the bounties, trying to down play its significance and saying Trump was never briefed on it. 'After enjoying big splash from sensational #RussianBounty expose, #NYT retreating to shore-admitting 'the underlying intelligence was conflicting.' In 3 years of @realDonaldTrump all NYT/Russia reporting has been based on 'conflicting' intelligence - Also known as wishful thinking,' was one of Rivera's tweets that Trump touted. 'Here's #RussianBounty story in a nutshell: 1-US raid randomly discovers wad of cash in Afghan hut (How much? In a safe? Under a bed? In Capone's vault?) 2-Clever intell op exclaims, 'Say I think this cash came from Moscow!' 3-During daily briefing @realDonaldTrump is told or not,' was the other. President Trump's defense comes as the families of three Marines killed in a car bomb attack in April 2019 demanded justice. U.S. officials are looking at that April attack as one that could have been a result of Russian bounties. Felicia Arculeo, whose son Cpl. Robert Hendriks, 25, died in the April 8, 2019, attack, told CNBC that she wants an investigation into how her son died and 'that the parties who are responsible should be held accountable, if that's even possible.' Hendriks and the other two Marines, Sgt. Benjamin Hines, 31, and Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman, 43, were killed when a car rigged with explosives detonated near their armored vehicles as they returned to Bagram Airfield days before they were scheduled to return home from Afghanistan. Hendriks' father told the Associated Press that even a rumor of Russian bounties should be immediately addressed. The Western Bulldogs player gave up vice-captaincy following the incident Hunter allegedly crashed into four parked cars in Melbourne and fled the scene Western Bulldogs premiership player Lachie Hunter has been charged over an alleged drink-driving car crash in Melbourne. Victoria Police confirmed on Tuesday they have charged the 25-year-old over the April 16 incident. Hunter allegedly crashed into four parked cars in a Middle Park street and fled the scene. Western Bulldogs premiership player Lachie Hunter has been charged over an alleged drink-driving car crash in Melbourne (pictured with his fiancee Maddie Sullivan-Thorpe) The scene where Lachie Hunter was involved in an alleged drink-driving crash in Middle Park, Melbourne, April 17 He will face Melbourne Magistrates Court on November 4 charged with drink-driving, careless driving, fail to give name after a collision, and fail to render assistance after a collision. Hunter gave up the Dogs' vice-captaincy following the incident and was hit with a four-game sanction by the club at the time. He will be available to play in Round 6. After a short conversation, Onyeukwu handed over a prescription for 60 pills, charges state. He did not offer a treatment plan, mental health counseling, or alternative treatments, it said. There were no followup orders for additional tests, including drug screening after the informant said he had taken Xanax and Hydrocodone, charges state. A CNN reporter in Brazil was mugged by a homeless man during a live broadcast. Bruna Macedo and her news crew stationed themselves Saturday morning near the Bandeiras Bridge in Sao Paulo to report on the rising water level in the Tete River due to heavy rains. During the segment, the suspect appeared in the background looking over a bridge barrier while Macedo spoke with her anchor colleague, Rafael Colombo. CNN Brazil correspondent Bruna Macedo was in the middle of a live broadcast Saturday in Sao Paulo when a man mugged her and took her two cellphones CNN Brazil anchor Rafael Colombo said the homeless man (pictured) also stole his colleague's company cellphone during the on-air mugging The man (left) spent several minutes in the background before he walked up to Bruna Macedo (right), a reporter with CNN Brazil, and threatened her wife a knife before he ran off with her two cellphones Saturday in Sao Paulo Almost two minutes passed before the man slowly walked towards where Macedo was positioned. The CNN correspondent kindly greeted him while Colombo spoke on air about the flooding points in the city. The invidividul then pulled out a knife as a shocked Macedo took a couple of steps back and handed one of her two cellphones before the control center panned away and focused on a shot of a street. CNN Brazil correspondent Bruna Macedo was not harmed during the mugging Macedo subsequently handed over a second mobile device before the mugger fled the scene. Colombo told Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo that Macedo was not injured and that she returned to the CNN center after the incident. 'She had a terrible scare, but she is fine,' Colombo said. North Korea's fury over anti-Pyongyang leaflets launched from the South is driven by 'dirty, insulting' depictions of leader Kim Jong Un's spouse, Russia's top envoy in the reclusive country has said. In recent weeks Pyongyang has issued a series of vitriolic condemnations over anti-North leaflets which defectors based in the South send across the militarised border - usually attached to balloons or floated in bottles. The campaigns have long been a point of contention between the two Koreas, but this time, Pyongyang upped the pressure, blowing up a liaison office and threatening military measures. One of the most recent launches - carried out on May 31 - had included provocative imagery of the North's First Lady Ri Sol Ju (pictured together) Pictured: An example of a previous anti-Pyongyang leaflet distributed into the DPRK from the South One of the most recent launches - carried out on May 31 - had included provocative imagery of the North's First Lady Ri Sol Ju, sparking 'serious outrage' in Pyongyang, according to Russian ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora. Russia is a key ally of the isolated North and Matsegora is one of the longest serving ambassadors in Pyongyang. 'The leaflets bore a special kind of dirty, insulting propaganda, aimed at the leader's spouse,' Matsegora told Russia's TASS news agency on Monday. They were photoshopped 'in such a low-grade way', he added, and served as 'the last straw' for the North. It comes seven years after leaflets falsely claiming that Ri Sol Ju had made a porn film were allegedly distributed into the DPRK by an activist group in 2013. Inter-Korean relations have been in deep freeze following the collapse of a summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump early last year over what the nuclear-armed North would be willing to give up in exchange for a loosening of sanctions. 'The leaflets bore a special kind of dirty, insulting propaganda, aimed at the leader's spouse,' Matsegora told Russia's TASS news agency on Monday (Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju pictured together) Pyongyang turned its anger against Seoul rather than Washington, despite three summits between the North's leader and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who brokered the first Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore. The impoverished country is subject to multiple UN Security Council sanctions over its banned weapons programmes. The Russian diplomat also dismissed speculation that Kim's younger sister was being trained as the next leader of North Korea. Since early June, Kim Yo Jong - a key adviser to her brother - has been the face of Pyongyang's highly aggressive stance towards the South over the leaflets. North Korea blew up the liaison office days after she warned it would soon be seen 'completely collapsed', and later she called Moon 'disgusting' and apparently 'insane'. Despite her 'serious political and foreign policy experience', Matsegora said Kim Yo Jong was 'rather young'. 'There is absolutely no reason to say that she is being trained' to take the helm, Matsegora said. 'No one dares to call themselves number two in the country,' he added. 'I think that if you asked comrade Kim Yo Jong whether she was number two, she would answer with a strong "no".' Advertisement Armed security inside Seattle's 'occupied' protest zone fired 300 rounds on the night they shot dead a black 16-year-old boy driving a Jeep, according to one eyewitness. Volunteer medic Marty Jackson described the area as an 'active war zone' and said: 'I don't think we're gonna stop here.' New footage from inside the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone shows the chaotic scenes and the bullet ridden vehicle in the immediate aftermath of the shoot out. Those inside CHOP say they started shooting at the Jeep only after two teens opened fire on them and drove into a barricade. Medic Jackson told KUOW it was CHOP's own armed security who fired at the car after it crashed into a barrier, killing the teen and critically wounding a 14-year-old boy in the early hours of a Monday morning. Warning people not to come to the CHOP zone, Jackson added: 'Because now it's like pretty much an active war zone. Now you have security and medical always looking around waiting to see the next.' Demonstrators have occupied several blocks around the Seattle Police Departments East Precinct and a park for about two weeks. Police abandoned the precinct following standoffs and clashes with protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality. Protesters on Tuesday rebuilt barricades just minutes after the city tore them down. Those inside the zone were filmed lining up plastic barriers, couches and trash cans in attempt to replace concrete barricades. New footage from inside Seattle's 'occupied' protest zone shows the chaotic scenes in the immediate aftermath of a shoot out which left a 16-year-old Jeep driver dead The clips, taken in the early hours of a Monday morning, show the bullet ridden vehicle in the moments after gunfire broke out A volunteer works security at an entrance to the CHOP zone on June 10 Witnesses had said the car had driven at speed through the zone. Medic Jackson said he recognized the two boys as youngsters who had been around the CHOP zone in the days prior to the shooting. A second video shows people running through barricaded streets past tents. One person confirms there are people wounded in the zone as others shout out. Neither victim has been named and no suspects are in custody. Police say the crime scene 'had been disturbed' and have pledged 'enough is enough' but not offered any details on if or how they plan to return to the area. DailyMail.com has contacted both the police and the Mayor's office on how they plan to deal with the area going forward. A second video shows people running through barricaded streets past tents Neither victim has been named and no suspects are in custody. Police say the crime scene 'had been disturbed' and have pledged 'enough is enough' but not offered any details on if or how they plan to return to the area DailyMail.com has contacted both the police and the Mayor's office on how they plan to deal with the area going forward TIMELINE OF VIOLENCE IN SEATTLE'S CHOP ZONE June 8: Protesters occupy the area; police abandoned the precinct June 20: A 19-year-old man is shot dead and a 33-year-old man was wounded June 24: Nearby businesses and property owners filed a federal lawsuit against the city June 29: Two teens shot - one fatally - in Jeep at zone's concrete barriers June 30: Barricades at Seattle's cop-free zone are torn down as protesters replace concrete barriers with trash cans and couches Advertisement Local reports say one of the boys in the jeep was bundled into a car and driven to a nearby ambulance. Medics say they drove away after they 'encountered a Nissan Pathfinder driving erratically towards them with someone riding on top of the vehicle'. A Seattle Fire Department spokesperson said they viewed the car as a 'threat', adding: 'The crew was unaware during this time that this vehicle was carrying a patient.' One unnamed protester told The Seattle Times: 'I saw two young men lying on the ground. They were covered in blood. I had never seen anything like that.' Another added: 'We need to defend ourselves.' But Seattle police Chief Carmen Best said: 'I'm not going to let the detractors and the naysayers and the agitators be the ones that are the voice here.' 'It is abundantly clear to our detectives people had been in and out of the car after the shooting. Were not sure who shot at the car or why they shot at the car', police chief Best added. 'Detectives searched the Jeep for evidence, but it was clear the crime scene had been disturbed,' police said in a statement. Council member Kshama Sawant said: 'Violence was happening on Capitol Hill and in other parts of the city long before the CHOP occupation was created by the movement and we should completely reject the false claims claims that have no basis in statistical analysis that the CHOP occupation and the movement was the reason for any of the violence.' Records show homicides had occurred in the neighborhood in 2020 until Lorenzo Anderson, 19, was shot on the protest area on June 20. His father, Horace Lorenzo Anderson, said: 'This doesn't look like a protest to me no more. That just looks like they just took over and said we can take over whenever we want to.' Police said they are investigating after a man was killed and a 14-year-old boy wounded following a shooting at Seattle's CHOP zone on Monday morning Witnesses told 911 dispatchers that they saw several unidentified people firing shots into the vehicle, police say. The blood-soaked and bullet-ridden jeep remained at the scene Monday morning Records show homicides had occurred in the neighborhood in 2020 until Lorenzo Anderson, 19, was shot on the protest area on June 20 Witnesses had reported seeing a white Jeep SUV near one of the makeshift barriers around the protest zone about 3 a.m. Monday, just before the shooting Those inside the zone say CHOP security guards, who are self-appointed and heavily armed, started shooting at the Jeep only after the teens opened fire on them and drove into a barricade. A female CHOP protester could be heard screaming for their self-appointed security to have their 'eyes up' because there were 'two people with guns' in a 'stolen white Jeep'. When the Jeep came around the corner moments later, at least three loud gunshots could be heard before the teens crashed into the barricade. About a dozen shots were fired after the car crashed. It is not clear from the footage who the first gunshots came from. A male could be heard in the surveillance screaming: 'Get on the ground', 'Oh you're not dead huh?' and 'You want to get pistol-whipped?' Demonstrators have occupied several blocks around the Seattle Police Departments East Precinct and a park for about two weeks Protesters were then filmed lining up plastic barriers, couches and trash cans in attempt to replace concrete barricade Police had abandoned the precinct following clashes with protesters calling for an end to police brutality. But by Tuesday morning crews were working to pull down the barriers #BREAKING: Seattle Police just showed here at #CHOP with SDOT. Multiple pieces of heavy machinery now moving barricades. And crews are working fast. @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/9w0LjXL36v Deedee Sun (@DeedeeKIRO7) June 30, 2020 Witnesses had reported seeing a white Jeep SUV near one of the makeshift barriers around the protest zone about 3 a.m. Monday, just before the shooting, a police statement said. Callers to 911 said several people fired shots into the vehicle. Police said that two people who were probably the occupants of the vehicle were transported to a local hospital. The 16-year-old was pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center, police said. The second victim, a 14-year-old boy, was hospitalized with gunshot injuries. He was reported in critical condition. It is the second deadly shooting in the area that local officials have vowed to change after business complaints and criticism from President Donald Trump. The violence that came just over a week after another shooting in the zone left one person dead and another wounded was 'dangerous and unacceptable' police Chief Carmen Best said. 'Enough is enough,' Best told reporters. 'We need to be able to get back into the area.' Police Chief Carmen Best said detectives had searched the jeep but it was clear people had gone into the vehicle before police could investigate The Seattle 'zone', which includes apartment buildings and businesses, also contains the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct, which cops abandoned after receiving a threat that the station would be overrun and burned down Demonstrators have occupied several blocks around the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct and a park for about two weeks. Police abandoned the precinct following standoffs and clashes with protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality. Best said the shootings are obscuring the message of racial justice that protesters say they are promoting. 'Two African American men are dead, at a place where they claim to be working for Black Lives Matter. But they're gone, they're dead now,' the police chief said. Mayor Jenny Durkan said last week that the city would start trying to dismantle what has been named the 'Capitol Hill Organized Protest' area. City workers on Friday tried to remove makeshift barriers erected around the area but stopped their work after demonstrators objected. Demonstrators have occupied several blocks around the Seattle Police Departments East Precinct and a park for about two weeks. Police abandoned the precinct following standoffs and clashes with protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality A person stands on a corner in the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) on Monday. Four shootings in less than two weeks have taken place in the vicinity Nearby businesses and property owners filed a federal lawsuit against the city last Wednesday, claiming officials have been too tolerant of those who created the zone and that officials have deprived property owners of their property rights by allowing the zone to continue existing. The business owners said they were not trying to undermine the protesters' anti-police-brutality and Black Lives Matter messages. But the owners said they have suffered because the creation of the zone has limited their access to their businesses and that some owners trying clean graffiti from their storefronts or attempting to photograph protesters have been threatened. Trump has repeatedly criticized the Seattle protest area, as well as city and state leaders. He tweeted Monday morning that the protesters 'have ZERO respect for Government.' Some demonstrators in the occupied zone say the demonstration isn't the reason for the shootings. 'The bloodshed you're talking about has nothing to do with the movement,' Antwan Bolar, 43, told The Seattle Times. 'That's people who would have been doing it in North Seattle or South Seattle anyways it's just concentrated here.' A bride-to-be has told of her heartache that her father cannot walk her down the aisle when she becomes one of the first people in Britain to get married under the post-lockdown rules on Saturday. Francesca Freeman, 24, and Giles Orchard, 26, were forced to cancel their June ceremony after all public gatherings - including weddings - were banned to stop the spread of coronavirus. Now the couple from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, are to be among the first to tie the knot when restrictions are lifted at the weekend. But the pair have had to forgo many of the wedding day traditions - including church hymns - that add 'grandeur' and adhere to 'ridiculous' rules for the ceremony to go ahead. Francesca Freeman, 24, and Giles Orchard, 26, were forced to cancel their June ceremony after all public gatherings were banned to stop the spread of coronavirus Now the couple from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, are to be among the first to tie the knot when restrictions are lifted at the weekend Miss Freeman said she was sad her father Chris (left) will not be able to walk her down the aisle Miss Freeman told MailOnline: 'I'm just so relieved that it's actually happening. We are thankful for a bit of light at the end of a what has been a dark tunnel for all of us. 'I'm sad that some people won't be able to be there, like my granddad and Giles' granddad because they are both old and vulnerable. 'And it would have been lovely if I had have been able to walk down the aisle arm-in-arm with my dad. But this is not allowed. 'Giles is a music lover and our ceremony has been cut short because there will be no hymns, which is a real shame as it takes away some of the grandeur of the ceremony. 'And frankly the hand washing rule when exchanging rings is ridiculous.' Miss Freeman, a school administrator, and Mr Orchard, a special educational needs teacher, have had to trim their wedding plans to fit in with the new rules. Miss Freeman, a school administrator, and Mr Orchard, a special educational needs teacher, have had to trim their wedding plans to fit in with the new rules The couple, who both work at a public school in West Sussex, cancelled their reception, aborted their honeymoon and were forced to tell family and friends they could not come. Miss Freeman, who is known as Effy, said: 'We were never going for a big white wedding as we had planned to have our big celebration at a party in Italy. 'But when Italy became Europe's Covid-19 hot spot everything was thrown into doubt. 'We were told that our original date 13th June might be possible. But that came and went. 'Then the government announced that weddings could go ahead from 4th July and we went to see the vicar straight away. 'So we've had 11 days to plan our wedding. But there are lots of things that won't happen. I didn't have a hen do and Giles didn't have a stag do. 'We won't have a rehearsal. And we won't be able to have a rehearsal meal the night before. Our extended family and lots of friends can't come. 'We can't have a reception afterwards. And we can't have a honeymoon. We are supposed to wash our hands before we exchange rings but I'm not sure how that's going to work. And it's going to rain!' The couple, who are getting married at a chapel inside a public school, have had to adhere to the new rules covering weddings. The father-of-the-bride cannot walk his daughter arm-in-arm down the aisle as members of different households must maintain social distancing. Couples must also wash their hands before and after exchanging rings. Wedding reception parties are limited to two households inside or up to six people from different households outdoors. The couple, who both work at a public school in West Sussex, cancelled their reception, aborted their honeymoon and were forced to tell family and friends they could not come A maximum of 30 people are allowed to attend the ceremony including the bride and groom, witnesses, officiants and guests. No food or drink is allowed to be consumed unless it is part of the religious ceremony. All singing and the playing of all wind instruments are banned. Recorded music is strongly encouraged. Talking loudly, shouting or screams of joy are strictly prohibited. Small children must be held tight and prevented from running around. Church organs can be used but must be thoroughly cleaned before and after the ceremony. All communal resources such as prayer books, service sheets and prayer mats are banned. But Miss Freeman claims some of the new rules are simply unworkable: 'We have spoken to the vicar about this hand washing rule. And frankly it's just not practical. 'It will be ridiculous if we have to go to the toilet to wash our hands and then traipse back down the aisle. 'We live with other now and we are going to live with each other afterwards so it doesn't make sense. 'It's a shame that I cannot walk down the aisle arm-in-arm with my dad but we are getting married in a big old chapel so at least there is enough space for my dad to walk next to me. 'To keep within the rules allowed we have cut the numbers down to just 16 people coming to the chapel including us. 'We were going to end the ceremony on a high with Jerusalem but now we are going to have to use a sound system. 'We had planned to have a cocktail reception for about 120 guests extended family, friends and work colleagues. But now there is going to be nothing. 'We will probably just get a pizza. And my mum said she would make us a cake to have in the evening. 'I won't be able to throw the bouquet because of the rules on social distancing. We haven't got a posh limousine. 'In fact one of us will drive us home in our Fiat 500. But we live together so I can't see why we can't 'Kiss the bride!' She added: 'Getting married is important to us. It's our sense of commitment. We have been together for four years so we have waited long enough. 'We certainly did not want to wait until next year.' Advertisement New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases - as Arizona became the latest hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms. COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South of the country. Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs of 40,000 in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April. Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March. Infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned that the US was 'going in the wrong direction' with the pandemic and said cases could soar to 100,000 per day if current behaviors remain in place. President Donald Trump has put the surge in new cases down to increased testing and has pointed to low death rates across the country as a sign that the pandemic is not out of control. While part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame. While cases continues to spike, deaths are showing a downward trend across the country. Arizona, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee were the states that saw the largest increases in deaths in the past week. COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises occurring in the West and South of the country In Arizona, deaths increased by 62 percent after recording 249 new fatalities in a week, bringing the death toll to 1,588. Health officials have warned, however, that the death rate could potentially shoot back up again because fatality rates often lag behind infection rates. They also point to the current trend of young adults making up the majority of new cases. Officials say people under 35 years old have been going to bars, parties and social events without masks, becoming infected and then spreading the disease to older, more vulnerable people. With about 40,000 new cases being reported a day, Dr Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, told Congress he 'would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around'. 'I am very concerned,' he said, adding that areas seeing recent outbreaks are putting the entire nation at risk, including areas that have made progress in reducing COVID-19 cases. He cited recent video footage of people socializing in crowds, often without masks, and otherwise ignoring safety guidelines. In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project. In response to the new cases, Louisiana and Washington have temporarily halted the reopening of their economies, with Washington also mandating the wearing of face masks in public. Florida ordered all bars to close on Friday and has shut down beaches ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend. Arizona's Republican governor Doug Ducey followed on Monday by ordering all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days. The state's cases increased 29 percent in the last week after reporting several record daily increases in cases. Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governor's stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May. Large crowds of young people were spotted out as recently as Saturday tubing on Arizona's Salt River and about 3,000 students crowded together last week for an indoor rally in Phoenix with President Trump. 'Our expectation is that next week our numbers will be worse,' Ducey said, as he also ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17. Arizona is not alone in its reversal with Texas, Florida and California also backtracking, closing beaches and bars in most areas. Nationally, 7 percent of diagnostic tests came back positive last week, which is up from 5 percent the prior week. Twenty-one states reported positivity test rates above the level that the World Health Organization has flagged as concerning. The WHO considers a positivity rate above 5 percent to be a cause for concern because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered. Officials say that if a positivity rate is too high - above 5 percent - it could indicate that the state is only testing the sickest patients and not casting a wide enough net to see how much the virus is spreading. Arizona's positivity test rate was 24 percent last week, Florida's was 16 percent, and Nevada, South Carolina and Texas's were all 15 percent, according to the analysis. It comes as deputy director of the CDC, Dr Anne Schuchat, said on Monday that the virus was now spreading too rapidly to control. 'We have way too much virus across the country... it's very discouraging,' she told The Journal of the American Medical Association. 'This is really the beginning. I think there was a lot of wishful thinking around the country that, hey it's summer. Everything's going to be fine. We're over this and we are not even beginning to be over this. There are a lot of worrisome factors about the last week or so.' ARIZONA: Large crowds of young people were spotted out as recently as Saturday tubing on Arizona's Salt River. Arizona Gov Doug Ducey on Monday ordered all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days ARIZONA: About 3,000 mask less students crowded together last week for an indoor rally in Phoenix with President Trump ARIZONA CASES: Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark ARIZONA DEATHS: Deaths in Arizona have been declining with 44 recorded on Monday ARIZONA HOSPITALS: Arizona's hospitals are nearing capacity with 2,721 positive or suspected COVID-19 patients admitted. On Saturday, 87 percent of ICU beds in the state were in use Elsewhere across the country, leaders in several states have ordered residents to wear masks in public and have halted reopenings in a dramatic reversal amid the alarming surge in coronavirus cases. Among those implementing the face-covering orders is the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August. Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced on Monday that he's postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing. Indoor shopping malls were cleared to start business again in New Jersey on Monday. Democratic governors in Oregon and Kansas said Monday that they would require people to wear masks. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's order will require people to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces starting Wednesday. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she will issue an executive order mandating the use of masks in stores and shops, restaurants, and in any situation where social distancing of 6 feet (2 meters) cannot be maintained, including outside. The order goes into effect Friday. 'The evidence could not be clearer: Wearing a mask is not only safe, but it is necessary to avoid another shutdown,' Kelly said. TEXAS CASES: The number of daily infections were at 4,288 - down from the record 5,996 last Thursday TEXAS DEATHS: Texas recorded 10 news deaths on Monday after spiking last Thursday and Saturday TEXAS HOSPITAL: The state saw a record 5,913 new hospitalizations on Monday. Hospitalizations have been steadily increasing since mid-June CALIFORNIA: New cases were at 5,307 in California on Monday, while daily deaths were at down 31 CALIFORNIA HOSPITALS: Hospitalizations in California have been on an upward trajectory with 4,776 people being treated on Sunday In Texas, a group of bar owners sued on Monday to try to overturn Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's order closing their businesses. They contend Abbott doesn't have the authority, and they complained that other businesses, such as nail salons and tattoo studios, remain open. 'Gov. Abbott continues to act like a king,' said Jared Woodfill, attorney for the bar owners. 'Abbott is unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights.' But Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that Abbott is on the right path, and he added that Trump should order the wearing of masks. 'States that were recalcitrant ... are doing a 180, and you have the same states now wearing masks,' Cuomo said. 'Let the president have the same sense to do that as an executive order, and then let the president lead by example and let the president put a mask on it, because we know it works.' One of Cuomo's Republican counterparts, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, on a conference call with Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House coronavirus task force, also asked Pence and Trump to issue a national call to wear masks. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has opposed a statewide mask requirement but said in response to Jacksonville's action that he will support local authorities who are doing what they think is appropriate. Less than a week after Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said there would be no mask requirement, city officials announced on Monday that coverings must be worn in 'situations where individuals cannot socially distance.' Nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients in Houston's ICU are now under 50 and health workers warn many are seriously ill and 'feeling like death' - as cases continue to spike among young adults across the country Nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units in Houston are now under the age of 50 - as cases continue to spike among young adults across Texas and health workers warn many are getting seriously ill. During the first surge of cases in mid-April, the majority of patients being treated for coronavirus in the Houston Methodist hospital system were older than 50. In a disturbing generational shift, about 60 percent of current patients are under that age bracket. Almost one in three who are now occupying ICU beds are also under 50. The Houston Methodist hospital system is currently seeing a surge in COVID-19 patients. Houston Methodist CEO Dr Marc Boom told CNBC's Squawk Box that the current surge had 'completely flipped' since the early stages of the pandemic In Harris County, which covers much of Houston and is one of the largest counties in the county, the majority of COVID-19 cases are people aged between 30 to 39. The second most affected age bracket to 20 to 29 year olds Infections are currently spiking among young adults in states like Texas where bars, nightclubs and restaurants reopened - prompting younger generations to start going out again, many without wearing masks. While health experts have been warning that such behavior poses a bigger danger to older people who cross their paths, current trends in hospitalizations show that younger people do face the possibility of severe infection and death from COVID-19. Houston Methodist CEO Dr Marc Boom told CNBC's Squawk Box that the current surge had 'completely flipped' since the early stages of the pandemic. He said about 40 percent of patients were under the age of 50 in mid-April and one in five were in ICU. 'We are definitely seeing this affect young people and they're getting quite ill,' he said. The Houston Methodist hospital system is part of the Texas Medical Center's cluster of major public and private hospitals in the city. Tritico Saranathan, a nurse in one of Methodist's designated virus wards, told the New York Times she had noticed a difference in the age of patients compared to mid-April - and warned that many were 'just feeling like death'. 'We're seeing a lot of people in their 30s - they're out there partying and not wearing their masks,' she said. 'As soon as the city opened up, they were very eager to go to the bars, to the clubs, to the restaurants, just to hang out in groups. And no one was social distancing or wearing a mask. 'What I'm seeing is that they're pretty sick - the younger ones are pretty sick. They're struggling a lot with respiratory issues. They're having a hard time breathing.' The Houston Methodist hospital system is part of the Texas Medical Center's cluster of major public and private hospitals in the city. Hospitalizations across the city are on an upward trend In the US, young people have quickly overtaken older adults as the group with the highest number of new coronavirus cases since the first states started reopening, according to AP figures Health officials have described young people's actions in states like Texas as irresponsible behavior as photos show packed bars and restaurants after the state lifted restrictions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott reversed that decision last Friday when he ordered all bars to close Dr Faisal Masud, who is the medical director for critical care across all of Houston Methodist's hospitals, said he had also noticed 30 to 35 years old being admitted. He said the younger people who were severely ill tended to be obese or have health conditions like diabetes, kidney disease and high blood pressure. 'I think that there was a sense of being invincible or this is not their problem, even if they caught it, no big deal,' he said. At Methodist, the majority of COVID-19 patients are currently in designated medical wards and not in intensive care. Health officials say that could be a result of the current surge in younger - and often healthier - patients. As of Monday, there were a record 5,900 coronavirus patients in hospitals across Texas. Daily hospitalizations across the state have been consistently increasing since mid-June. There are 1,400 ICU beds available across the states and just over 5,600 ventilators. In Harris County, which covers much of Houston and is one of the largest counties in the county, the majority of COVID-19 cases are people aged between 30 to 39. The second most affected age bracket to 20 to 29 year olds. Health officials have described young people's actions in states like Texas as irresponsible behavior as photos show packed bars and restaurants after the state lifted restrictions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott reversed that decision last Friday when he ordered all bars to close. It comes as some Texas hospitals have been warning they are running out of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients. The Texas Medical Center system had created a COVID-19 'war room' to handle a 66 percent surge in additional ICU patients with strategies including reassigning staff, putting beds closer together and using regular beds for emergency use. They calculated last week that they would run out of space on July 6 if the current increase in Texas severe cases continues. Advertisement This is the heartbreaking moment a one-day-old giraffe cub was hunted down and eaten by a lioness in front of its mother after she failed to fight off the predator. Pictures of the life-and-death struggle, which took place in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve, show how the mother giraffe failed to spot the lioness until it was too late. Having taken down the baby giraffe, the lioness dragged the body away to eat in order to make milk for her own young cubs, which had been left somewhere nearby. This is the moment a hungry lioness killed a one-day-old giraffe in front of its mother in Kenya's Masai Mara National Park after the older giraffe failed to spot the predator approaching The mother ran to her baby's defence, delivering a powerful kick to its head, but it was too late to stop the lioness from breaking the infant's neck, killing it Photographer Ramachandiran Govindaraj, who captured the images, said he was left with 'mixed feelings' after witnessing the spectacle - which took place in September 2018. Asked whether he thought about trying to help the giraffe himself, he said: 'Photography is not about interfering with nature, things go how things go and whilst it is sad, we should also respect the ecosystem.' Mr Govindaraj revealed that, shortly before the lioness attacked, the giraffe and her cub had been stalked by a hungry hyena which had followed them for 30 minutes before eventually giving up. The mother then led her cub deep into the savanna, and unwittingly into the clutches of the lioness. 'A giraffe's neck allows it to keep an eye out for predators, but babies are incapable of this,' Govindaraj explained. 'Sadly, the mum also didn't spot the big cat.' Photographer Ramachandiran Govindaraj said that adult giraffes typically use their long necks in order to spot predators before they can pounce, but in this case the mother did not see the lioness until it was too late Park rangers later revealed that the giraffe cub was just one day old, but the lioness - aged between five and seven - was also thought to have cubs somewhere nearby After taking down the young giraffe the lioness dragged its body away to eat, which was watched by the mother who refused to leave until the grisly spectacle was over After the lioness had finished feeding Mr Govindaraj said the mother giraffe went over to see if she could do anything to revive it, but was forced to leave alone The lioness stalked through the long grass until it was close enough to pounce, when it latched on to the baby giraffe's neck with its teeth and claws. The huntress then used her powerful bite to break the baby's neck, before taking her kill away to eat. Mr Govindaraj explained: 'Young giraffes have a mortality rate of 50 per cent in their first six months. Once they reach adulthood, only the bravest of lions will attempt to hunt them, so this hungry lioness opted for the baby.' He said that park rangers later revealed the calf was only one day old, but also revealed the lioness - who was between five and seven years old - was also thought to have cubs nearby. Since posting the images on Instagram, Mr Govindaraj said they have caused a lot of strong reactions among his followers, who admired the savage beauty of nature. Baby giraffes are prized prey on the savanna - weighing up to 150lbs but with almost no natural defences except their mother. The mortality rate in the first six months of life is 50 per cent, but if they survive to adulthood they become very hard to kill Healthcare workers from black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) backgrounds are twice as likely to catch coronavirus, a study suggests. Researchers swabbed 10,000 NHS staff for the infection and tested their blood for antibodies, which signal if they've ever had the disease. Some 14.7 per cent of BAME workers tested positive for the virus, rising to 17 per cent when only black and Asian staff were included. By comparison, only 8.7 per cent of their white counterparts at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust produced positive results. Trust bosses said 'special steps' had been taken to 'ensure all BAME staff working at OUH feel safe and supported' on the back of the results. The study also found porters and cleaners were twice as likely to catch coronavirus than staff in intensive care units. It follows a mountain of evidence showing BAME Brits are more likely to contract the disease and die from it than white people. Scientists have yet to pin down exactly why minority groups are at a heightened risk of infection. But they believe it may be partly explained by the minority groups being more likely to live in deprived areas and use public transport - but experts say this can't explain the whole story and increased rates of vitamin D deficiency among minorities are being investigated. At least 300 healthcare staff have died from coronavirus so far, and people from black and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately affected. Pictured are some of the BAME healthcare staff who fell victim to the disease The Oxford study, yet to be published in a journal and scrutinised by other scientists, tested a total of 10,610 staff between April 23 and June 8. The scientists combined data from both PCR swabs and antibody blood testing programmes. Results showed 11 per cent of all staff had had coronavirus at some stage, with the figure rising to 21 pre cent for staff working on Covid-19 wards. WHY ARE SO MANY CORONAVIRUS VICTIMS FROM BAME BACKGROUNDS? Experts say there is unlikely to be one sole reason as to why ethnic minorities are more likely to become severely ill or die from the virus. People from ethnic minority backgrounds make up a large amount of the NHS workforce. This exposes them to bigger loads of the virus more often because they come into face-to-face contact with gravely ill patients. Having a high viral load - the number of particles of the virus someone is first infected with - gives the bug a 'jump start', scientists say. Members of ethnic minority communities are twice as likely to be affected by poverty, and are often hit the hardest by chronic diseases. Those living in poverty smoke and drink alcohol more and are more likely to be obese - all of which increase the likelihood of chronic health conditions. Patients with pre-existing health troubles struggle to fight off COVID-19 before it causes deadly complications such as pneumonia. People from poorer backgrounds are also more likely to use public transport more often and live in crowded houses - driving up their chance of catching and spreading the virus. They could also be more at risk because of their professions, according to Shaomeng Jia, an economics professor at Alabama State University's College of Business Administration. Those working in retail, in supermarkets and in construction - who cannot work from home - were still mingling and risking infection even when the outbreak peaked, she said. Advertisement It also found a disparity in infection risk in different hospital departments. Those working in busy acute wards had the highest portion of positive tests (27.4 per cent) followed by porters and cleaners (18 per cent). Intensive care (9.9 per cent) and the emergency department (12.1 per cent), had lower rates of infection. Terry Roberts, chief people officer at OUH, said 'special steps' have been put in place by the trust to support and protect BAME staff. They have been added to the 'at risk' group and many are being asked if they wish to be moved onto Covid-free wards. Mr Roberts added: 'We also set up listening sessions to ensure that BAME staff could highlight any concerns they had.' OUH said that, based on the findings, an infection prevention and control plan to minimise the spread of Covid-19 among staff and patients has been put in place. Professor Meghana Pandit, chief medical officer of OUH, said: 'We have drawn up recommendations for all staff across our four hospital sites, including portering and cleaning colleagues. 'This has included staff continuing to use level 1 PPE for all patient contacts, and reinforcing PPE-focused training and safety huddles; ensuring strict social distancing and mask-wearing for patients and staff; continuing to triage patients according to symptoms of possible Covid, including atypical presentations in the elderly; reviewing cleaning procedures; and maximising OUH's rapid diagnostics and lab capacity.' It comes after an Oxford study found pregnant women from black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) groups are up to eight times more likely to be hospitalised with Covid-19 than white women. NHS England is now recommending BAME mothers-to-be with mild Covid symptoms be fast-tracked into hospital due to their heightened risk of falling critically unwell. The move follows an Oxford University study earlier this month that looked at 427 pregnant women admitted with the disease between March 1 and April 14, when the virus was growing exponentially in the UK. More than half of patients were from a BAME background, despite only accounting for a quarter of the births in England and Wales. The study found black mothers-to-be were eight times more likely to be admitted than white pregnant women, and the risk for Asians was quadruple that of whites. Pregnant women from black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) groups are up to eight times more likely to be hospitalised with Covid-19 than white women, a study of 427 expectant mothers struck down by the virus found NHS England is now telling doctors to 'lower the threshold' for admitting them to hospital due to the heightened risk. It is also urging midwives to provide tailored support and advice to pregnant women from BAME backgrounds and discuss vitamin D supplementation. The Oxford study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), follows a string of damning research showing BAME groups are being disproportionately hit by Covid. Scientists believe it may be because minority groups in the UK have considerably higher rates of health problems that raise their risk of catching a severe bout of Covid-19, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Links to higher rates of vitamin D deficiencies are also being investigated by health chiefs in the UK. 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, which makes BAME people living in Britain more likely to be deficient in the vitamin. Currently the NHS recommends Brits take 10 micrograms of the 'sunshine' nutrient each day during lockdown 'to keep your bones and muscles healthy'. But it says on its website that 'there is currently not enough evidence to support' claims that the immune system-boosting nutrient reduces the risk of coronavirus. A Tibetan teacher has allegedly vanished for four years after sharing Western media's reports about Tibet on Facebook. Mei Duo used computer software to bypass China's 'Great Firewall' to access the banned social media platform to inform her friends about the truth of Tibet, according to a website tracking the whereabouts of Chinese activists. The source revealed that Ms Mei was taken away by Chinese authorities in 2016 and kept in secret detention for 'disclosing national secrets'. A picture released by Chinese human rights campaigners purports to show Mei Duo, a primary school teacher who has allegedly been in secret detention for four years for using Facebook Ms Mei was the first ethnic Tibetan to 'be forced to disappear' by Chinese authorities for defying the nation's strict internet rules, revealed Wei Quan Net, a blog run by Chinese human rights campaigners. The 'Great Firewall' is the nickname given to a draconian internet censorship system used by the Communist Party to prevent citizens from visiting websites and apps deemed harmful by the regime. Popular companies blocked by the state-run programme include social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, as well as media outlets such as BBC and the New York Times. It is said Ms Mei had used software to bypass Beijing's 'Great Firewall' to access the banned social media site to re-post articles from Western outlets on the situation of Tibet. Pictured, a Buddhist monk rotates a prayer wheel near Dharamsala, the residence of Dalai Lama in India The report claimed that Ms Mei used Facebook to share Chinese-language stories about Tibet from US-based Radio Free Asia and Norway-based Voice of Tibet. It is said that she hoped her posts could help those who used Facebook in China, particularly her Han friends, to learn about the issues faced by Tibet. Campaigners said that Beijing's officials launched a persecution against Ms Mei after being informed of her Facebook posts. The primary school she was working for also sacked her, according to them. The charge Ms Mei is said to be facing mainly targets at civil servants who have deliberately or accidentally leaked classified information. It carries a maximum prison term of seven years, according to Chinese Criminal Law. Radio Free Asia, a news source Ms Mei had allegedly resorted to, also reported on her alleged disappearance. MailOnline cannot independently verify the relevant accounts. A Chinese citizen journalist (pictured) who uploaded coronavirus reports from Wuhan onto social media to criticise the city's handling of the outbreak has reportedly been arrested The news comes after a Chinese citizen journalist who uploaded coronavirus reports from Wuhan onto YouTube and Twitter to criticise the city's handling of the outbreak was reportedly arrested. The Shanghai resident Zhang Zhan, reported to be 40, was allegedly removed by police on suspicion of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble', a broad-brush charge often used against activists. She is believed to be the fourth Chinese citizen reporter to have vanished or been detained after posting dispatches from Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak. Garrett Rolfe, the white former cop who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in an Atlanta Wendy's parking lot earlier this month, has been granted $500,000 bond. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick said Tuesday Rolfe can be free on bond while his case is pending because he does not pose a threat to the public and is not a flight risk. He will have to wear an ankle monitor, will not be able to have any kind of weapon and must surrender his passport. Rolfe faces charges including felony murder for killing Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, during an arrest attempt on June 12. The shooting sparked fury across the nation as protests unfolded in all 50 states decrying police brutality and systemic racism following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Garrett Rolfe (right), the former white cop who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in an Atlanta Wendy's parking lot, has been granted $500,000 bond. He appeared on a television screen at his bond hearing via video conference on Tuesday Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick said Tuesday Rolfe can be free on bond while his case is pending because he does not pose a threat to the public and is not a flight risk. Judge Barwick pictured as Rolfe appears on the television screen beside her in Atlanta court A view of the television screen displayed at Tuesday's bond hearing above. Rolfe appears top center In a statement, attorneys for the family of Brooks said they were 'disappointed' by the judge's ruling, but said it was 'just one step in the long quest for justice for Rayshard' Rolfes legal team appeared at the hearing via video conference and submitted 28 character letters on his behalf, portraying him as a professional and trustworthy member of his community, while asking for a $50,000 bond signature. A prosecutor argued that Rolfe had committed an unjustified fatal shooting and was a flight risk and might intimidate witnesses. Rolfe pictured in booking photo made available on June 18 Brooks' wife Tomika Mikker made an emotional plea begging the judge to not grant bond for Rolfe. '[Officer Rolfe] has already shown he's a danger to the community. The way he stood over my husband and kicked his body, and I can only imagine what he felt and how scared he was at that time,' Miller said. 'Killing him wasn't enough. They stood there when something could've been done to save him.' 'I say no to it. I say no because, mentally, I'm not able to handle it,' Miller added. Explaining her decision to grant bond, Judge Barwick said Rolfe 'is not a flight risk and I do not believe he is a danger to the community.' In a statement, attorneys for the family of Brooks said they were 'disappointed' by the judge's ruling, but said it was 'just one step in the long quest for justice for Rayshard.' 'Rather than looking at this process as a series of "wins" or "losses," it's imperative that we continue to push for systemic change within our criminal justice system,' attorneys L. Chris Stewart and Justin Miller said. 'From hate crime laws being passed to increasing oversight of members of law enforcement, our job is to ensure that positive change comes from this tragic situation.' Brooks' wife Tomika Mikker made an emotional plea begging the judge to not grant bond for Rolfe saying: 'I say no to it. I say no because, mentally, I'm not able to handle it' Explaining her decision to grant bond, Judge Barwick said Rolfe 'is not a flight risk and I do not believe he is a danger to the community' In the June 12 incident cops responded to the Wendy's parking lot in Atlanta following a report of a man asleep behind the wheel in the drive-thru. Officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan found Brooks, a 27-year-old father-of-four, sleeping behind the wheel. He completed a Breathalyzer test, which he failed. Bodycamera footage shows Rolfe and Brosnan having a respectful and calm conversation with Brooks for more than 40 minutes, before things turned violent. When officers told him he'd had too much to drink to be driving and tried to handcuff him, Brooks resisted. A struggle was caught on dash camera video. Brooks grabbed one of their Tasers and fled, firing the Taser at Rolfe as he ran away. After he fired back at the cop, Rolfe raised his gun and shot Brooks twice. An autopsy found Brooks was shot twice in the back. This screen grab taken from body camera video provided by the Atlanta Police Department shows Rayshard Brooks speaking with Officer Garrett Rolfe, left, in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant on June 12 before he was fatally shot Brooks pictured with his wife and three daughter in this undated photograph Prior to the judge's bond ruling on Tuesday, one of Rolfe's attorneys, Noah Pines, denied the district attorney's accusations that Rolfe kicked Brooks after shooting him and shouted 'I got him!' Pines called on Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard to release video of the alleged kick. Executive Assistant District Attorney Clint Rucker said video footage shows Rolfe's kick and a witness has confirmed that it happened. Rolfe was fired shortly after the shooting and the other officer, Devin Brosnan, was placed on desk duty. The police chief stepped down less than 24 hours after the shooting. Rolfe, 27, now faces 11 charges in all. Felony murder is punishable by a minimum sentence of life in prison. Brosnan, 26, is charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath. Lawyers for both men have said their actions were justified. The arrest of the two officers triggered swathes of Atlanta cops to call out sick from work. Two Chinese men have been hailed as heroes after climbing up a building's facade with bare hands to save a two-year-old boy. The toddler got his head trapped between the bars of a window grille three storeys up after accidentally falling out of his flat while being left at home alone on Sunday in north-western China. Heart-stopping footage shows the youngster helplessly kicking his legs in the air while dangling down by the neck at over 30 feet above the ground before the neighbours rushed to the childs rescue. The toddler got his head trapped between the bars of a window grille three storeys up before being rescued by two heroic neighbours on Sunday in north-western China's Gansu province The little boy has survived unhurt from the terrifying incident that took place in Wenxian county of north-western Chinas Gansu province. The toddler accidentally fell out of the three-storey flat after he was left at home alone by his grandmother, according to local outlet Wenxian Media. One of the saviours, Feng Gang, first spotted the youngster being trapped by the neck between the window grille after hearing him crying. Mr Feng, a forest keeper who lives in the building opposite to the boys home, rushed to the childs rescue after scaling the buildings facade without any protection. The second neighbour, Zhao Xiaoping, followed suit and climbed up the exterior wall after noticing the trapped toddler. Two Chinese men have been hailed as heroes after climbing up a building's facade with bare hands to save a two-year-old boy on Sunday afternoon in Gansu province, north-western China The two residents supported the child for about 10 minutes to prevent him from suffocation before the boys family arrived to lift him back from inside. They climbed down to the ground through a fire service ladder after firefighters were called to the scene shortly after. Chinese web users praised the neighbours for their courage after the footage filmed by an onlooker was shared online. One commenter wrote: Thumbs up for the two heroes who saved a family! Another one said: Thanks to these selfless and brave men, well done! A two-year-old Chinese girl also survived unhurt after getting her head trapped between the bars of a window grille five storeys up while being left at home alone earlier this month. She was saved by her neighbour who rushed to the child's rescue after climbing up the exterior wall with his bare hands along a gas pipe in Guangxi province of southern China. As drivers, we all have a responsibility to our fellow Hoosiers to limit eye and hand distractions that can result in tragic injuries and deaths, Holcomb said in the release. This law is about protecting those who travel our roads and those who build and maintain them by preventing as many crashes as possible through smart education and enforcement. South Dakota will not require social distancing or people to wear masks when Donald Trump visits Mount Rushmore for the Independence Day celebration there, despite case numbers in the U.S. spiking recently. 'We will have a large event at July 3rd,' South Dakota's Republican Governor Kristi Noem told Fox News Monday night. 'We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home, but those who want to come and join us, we'll be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we will not be social distancing,' Noem continued in her interview with the 'The Ingraham Angle.' The instructions, or lack thereof, from Noem comes as doctors urged Jacksonville, Florida to cancel the Republican National Committee Convention there in August. 'Unfortunately, for some, a face mask has become a political statement,' the doctor's claimed in their Monday letter. 'This is irrational and meant to sow division. The enemy is this virus, not each other. There are ways of encouraging compliance short of making it a criminal offense, and it's working in hundreds of cities worldwide.' Scroll down to read the whole letter South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said Monday evening that people will not be required to wear masks or social distance during Donald Trump's visit to the state for an Independence Day celebration Trump will make remarks at Mount Rushmore on Friday, July 3 where the state says the crowd will be limited to 7,500 attendees The lack of coronavirus restrictions comes as the U.S. has seen a spike in cases and deaths in the last few days South Dakota remains minimally affected, making up about 0.0025 per cent of the total number of positive infections nationwide They also claimed in the letter, which was signed by hundreds of physicians, that 'It is extremely dangerous and contrary to current public health recommendations to stage a large event in an area where the number of cases is surging.' 'The RNC should be postponed or very significantly reduced in numbers because of these risks,' the doctors urged. Jacksonville City imposed an order Monday evening requiring all people to wear masks at indoor locations, or areas where social distancing is impossible like the beach. The order in Northern Florida comes as Trump prepares to travel there for the convention later this summer. The president has still refused to wear a mask and has never been seen publicly donning a face covering even though many members of his administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, have started sporting the look in public. Charlotte, North Carolina was the original host city for the Republican convention, but Trump and the RNC asserted the location be moved to Florida to allow for the crowd the president desired for his renomination coronation speech. The mandate in Jacksonville came as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the state as it reopened and experienced several record-high infection days in a row. Trump will travel to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial sculpture in Keystone, South Dakota on Friday, more than a month before the convention and the day before July 4th, where he will deliver remarks at the Independence Day celebration. Attendance for the event 'will be limited' to 7,500 people according to the state's travel website with details for the event amid a nationwide resurgence of coronavirus infection numbers. 'Every one of them has the opportunity to make a decision that they're comfortable with,' Noem told Fox News host Laura Ingraham Monday as state officials say the people of South Dakota should 'focus on personal responsibility.' While there will be no requirements for attendees to wear masks or social distance, the National Park Service says on the website: 'We ask the public to be our partner in adopting social distancing practices when visiting parks.' The South Dakota comments come as hundreds of doctors urged in a letter Monday that the Republican National Committee cancel its convention in Jacksonville, Florida on August Trump plans to give his renomination coronation speech to a packed stadium at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, which has a capacity of 15,000 Florida is seeing a drastic increase in the amount of infections recently as it began re-opening and even reinstated some lockdown restrictions to slow the resurgence South Dakota, with a population of 884,659, is one of the states that has been least affected by coronavirus, with only 807 active cases. The state has seen 6,716 positive cases of coronavirus of the more than 2.6 million positive cases across the U.S., which is about 0.0025 per cent of the total cases nationwide. Less than 100 people have died in South Dakota from the disease. Florida is a different story. As of Sunday, there were nearly 150,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Florida, and more than 3,400 deaths. On June 26, the state saw an increase of nearly 4,000 new cases from the day before. Many areas of the state, especially those with large cities, have begun slowing down reopening and even reimposing some previous restrictions to lessen the case increase. The Republican convention will be held in the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, which has a capacity of 15,000 and so far there is no indication that number will be limited. Doctors, in their letter demanding the event be canceled, noted: 'It is estimated that more than 40,000 people, including the press and protestors, will attend from all over the US.' A man has been rescued from a 20-30ft-deep hidden well after the floorboards in a 177-year-old house he was helping a friend move into collapsed underneath him. The unnamed victim crashed into the 'extremely cold' water where he stayed afloat for 25 minutes as firefighters worked to free him in Guilford, Connecticut, yesterday. 'Yup you read that correctly,' the Guilford police said on Facebook. 'The house was built in 1843 and this well was most likely outside at the time.' The man was taken to hospital with minor injuries after the ordeal. Police said an addition to the building saw floorboards placed over the well in 1981. 'At some point this well was covered with simple wood flooring and no subfloor or well cap,' they added. The unnamed victim (pictured at the bottom of the well during the rescue) crashed into the 'extremely cold' water where he stayed afloat for 25 minutes as firefighters worked to free him in Guilford, Connecticut, yesterday 'While the new tenant was moving into the home today, a friend fell through the floor into the abyss of a 20-30 foot well, splashing into extremely cold water that was well over the victim's head.' The police department warned 'some of these older, historical homes may have hazards that were not upgraded by current code'. 'This situation could have ended with a fatality but due to the extreme professionalism and capabilities of Guilford Fire Department, everyone went home safely tonight.' When a commenter asked how the man could tread water for 25 minutes the police department said: 'There was a pipe but not stable for him to hold it most of the time. The man was taken to hospital with minor injuries after the ordeal. Police said an addition to the building saw floorboards placed over the well in 1981 The police department warned 'some of these older, historical homes may have hazards that were not upgraded by current code' When a commenter asked how the man could tread water for 25 minutes the police department said: 'There was a pipe but not stable for him to hold it most of the time' 'It was pitch black down there he was just trying to survive until they could pull him out safely.' It comes after a British was rescued in Bali after spending six days trapped in a well. A rescue team lifted 29-year-old Jacob Roberts from a 13ft concrete pit earlier this month after a farmer in Pecatu village raised the alarm. Mr Roberts's calls for help were heard by a local who was going to feed his cows,' local search and rescue chief Gede Darmada said. A rescue team lifted 29-year-old Jacob Roberts from the four-metre-deep concrete pit after a farmer in Pecatu village raised the alarm Mr Roberts's calls for help were heard by a local who was going to feed his cows,' local search and rescue chief Gede Darmada said Pictures show police officers - in personal protective equipment as a precaution - tending to the victim at the bottom of the well. He had 'a small amount of water left'. Mr Roberts broke his leg when he stumbled into the near-empty reservoir and told authorities he had been trying to evade a dog that chased him through the village. Pictures show police officers - in personal protective equipment as a precaution - tending to the victim Following the dramatic rescue on Saturday, June 6, South Kuta police chief Yusak Agustinus Sooai said: 'He looked thin and injured. 'The victim claimed to have been trapped there about six days before an evacuation was carried out by the Basarnas team on Saturday.' Police took Mr Roberts to BIMC Nusa Dua Hospital for treatment and he is expected to make a full recovery. A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are supporting a British man in Bali and are in contact with the local hospital.' A well-known LA Taco chain has been forced to close after its employees repeatedly experienced harassment when asking customers to wear a mask. Hugo's Tacos, which has two popular taco stands located in Atwater Village and Studio City were forced to close on Sunday. The company said workers, many of whom are Latino, had been targeted with racial slurs and had food and water thrown at them during the pandemic. A statement from the company read: 'Our Taco Stands are exhausted by the constant conflicts over guests refusing to wear masks. Staff have been harassed, called names, and had objects and liquids thrown at them. 'A mask isn't symbolic of anything other than our desire to keep our staff healthy. Hugo's Tacos (pictured) which has two popular taco stands located in Atwater Village and Studio City were forced to close on Sunday 'Both of our locations are going to take a break and recharge. We've loved serving you the last 15 years and hope the LA community comes together on this issue so we can feel safe and reopen soon. Please stay tuned here and on social media @hugostacos for reopening updates. 'Thank you to the majority of our guests who are always respectful and kind.' Speaking to BuzzFeed, CEO Bill Kohne said the abuse had 'taken a toll' on the business. Mr Kohne said harassment had 'gotten a lot more extreme' in the last four to five weeks although staff had been experiencing it throughout the pandemic. He said: 'One of our employees wearing a mask was imploring people to behave and to follow that one simple rule; she was one of the employees who had water thrown at her.' Mr Kohne said that wearing a mask had become 'political statement' and urged customers not to turn it into a symbol of something it is not - instead just wearing them to be 'responsible for each other'. The company said racial slurs, food and water had been thrown at their workers during the pandemic, many of whom are Latino Hugo's Tacos, who have small locations around 400 square feet, have made an effort to incorporate social distancing into their business. The company has taken to offering customers a mask if they do not have one, however they say this is not always warmly received despite it being mandatory to wear a mask in public in the state of California. Kohne said the company has set up a GoFundMe to help cover worker's wages during this time - they have so far raised $35,600 of their $50,000 target. People wearing facemasks walk past a health and safety guideline board and an open restaurant on Santa Monica Pier, June 26, 2020 in Santa Monica, California A Big Dean's employee checks customers temperature before letting them in the bar and restaurant amid the coronavirus pandemic in Santa Monica, California The taco stands are considering hiring full time security to protect workers from the increasing abuse - until it is safe for employees to work they will remain closed. A description on the giving site reads: 'By staying at work, Hugo's Tacos employees were not only providing an essential service in the early days of Covid-19 but also just trying to feed their own families. 'Now that Hugo's Tacos has closed, we are asking for your support. These funds will be evenly distributed among the workers at both locations to make up for lost wages and hard times due to the closure. A reopening date has not been set. California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all bars to close immediately in seven counties across the state - including Los Angeles - citing a rapid spread of coronavirus in the last week 'We greatly appreciate any help and encourage you to spread the word about wearing masks in order to keep EVERYONE safe!' On Sunday afternoon California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all bars to close immediately in seven counties across the state - including Los Angeles - citing a rapid spread of coronavirus in the last few weeks. Newsom's decision to roll-back reopening efforts, which began just under a month ago, comes two days after Republican governors in Texas and Florida ordered similar closures in an attempt to stem a surge in COVID-19 cases. The decision was announced by the governors state public health director, Dr. Sonia Angell, just two weeks after bars were permitted to reopen in California on June 12. The family of US Army soldier Vanessa Guillen who has been missing for more than two months are demanding an independent federal investigation and a Senate inquiry after accusing the military of a cover-up. Pfc Guillen, 20, was last seen on April 22 at the Fort Hood Army Base in Kileen, Texas. Over the weekend, a volunteer group participating in the search for Guillen discovered human remains in Corywell County, not far from the location where the remains of another missing solider, Gregory Wedel-Morales, were found on June 19, about 10 months after he vanished from Fort Hood. Scroll down for video Vanessa Guillen, 20, was reported missing from Fort Hood on April 22 shortly after she told her family she was being sexually harassed and felt unsafe. She was last seen in the parking lot of her regimental engineer squadron headquarters at the Killeen, Texas, base around 1pm Volunteers looking for Guillen on Saturday found human remains in an undisclosed area in Coryell County, not too far from the site where the remains of missing soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales were found on June 19 The remains recovered on Saturday were secured by homicide investigators and transported to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science in Dallas. So far, they have not been identified as belonging to Guillen, and the search for the soldier continues. Military investigators have said they suspect foul play in Guillen's disappearance, but her family say they believe not enough is being done to get to the bottom of what happened, and now they want the FBI, or another federal agency, to take over the case. They're not here to help us find Vanessa, family attorney Natalie Khawam told CBS News. They're here to hoard that information because they don't want us knowing what's happened...they're covering up for each other.' According to the attorney and Guillen's sister, Vanessa had privately accused an unnamed sergeant of sexually harassing her and claimed she felt unsafe on the Army base shortly before she disappeared. Natalie Khawam, the Guillen family's attorney, is asking the FBI to take over the case and is calling on the US Senate to open an inquiry into Vanessa's disappearance Vanessa's mother, Gloria (left), and her sister (right) said the 20-year-old had complained about being sexually harassed by two superiors not long before she vanished The harassment allegedly involved two superiors, one of whom was said to have walked in on Guillen showering, and another who purportedly made vulgar comments to her in Spanish, according to Khawam. Guillen never reported the harassment allegations to the military for fear of retaliation, the attorney said. The Army has said that its criminal investigation unit has no credible information or reports that Vanessa was sexually assaulted. Facing mounting pressure from Guillen's family and advocates, the military last week released a statement, saying that investigators 'are not aware of any report of sexual harassment form Pfc Guillen or any other Solider on her behalf.' The statement went on to say: 'However, we are looking at all possibilities and have not ruled anything in or out. Fort Hood has opened an investigation into reports of sexual harassment that the Guillen family has reported.' A spokesperson for the Army's Criminal Investigation Command stated that everything possible is being done to find Guillen. So far, the remains found near Fort Hood have not been identified as belonging to Guillen, and the search for the soldier continues This is not just a law enforcement investigation of a missing person, but a full-scale operation to find one of our own and bring her back, the CID statement read. There is obviously investigative information we cannot share with the public to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation. We will not stop until we find Vanessa and we ask that anyone with information to please do the right thing and contact Army CID. But the missing soldier's family and their attorney are not convinced. After meeting with Fort Hood officials last week in hopes of getting some answers for the family, Khawam reached out to Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and formally requested a congressional investigation into the case, reported NBC News. The base command did not provide us with the information they promised us. They were not transparent, or forthcoming. We got nothing,' Khawam said of the meeting, which she labelled 'disconcerting.' Khawam said military officials claimed they did not know Guillen was missing until 8pm on April 22. Troopers from Thunder Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, look over a map during search efforts for Guillen Soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment conduct ongoing searches of the training area at Fort Hood, Texas, for Guillen on June 18 It doesnt make sense, the lawyer argued. Where was she during the check-ins earlier in the day. How is it that she wasnt reported as absent if she missed those check-ins? All soldiers were accounted for during the afternoon check-ins on the day of Guillens disappearance - a discrepancy that Fort Hood leaders characterized as a 'mistake, according to the family lawyer. The goal is to find out what really happened to Vanessa, Khawam said. Something is happening at that base and people especially women are too scared to talk about it. Guillens family will travel to Washington DC on Thursday and hold a press conference at the US Capitol to publicly call for the Senate inquiry. Khawam also plans to propose legislation aimed at protecting US military members from sexual harassment and assault Guillen, a Houston native, was last seen in the parking lot of her regimental engineer squadron headquarters at the Killeen base on April 22. Guillen's car keys, barracks room key, identification card and wallet were later found in the armory room where she was working earlier in the day. She was last seen wearing a black t-shirt, light purple leggings and black Nike sneakers. Actress Salma Hayek has pledged to post pictures of missing soldier Private First Class Vanessa Guillen, 20, on her Instagram page until she is found Khawam told Univision Noticias that she asked the military to review surveillance cameras at the base in hopes that there could be key information that would lead to Guillen's whereabouts, but they were told that there were no security cameras installed at the site. Khawam also said that they have appealed to authorities to secure cellphones that may have received messages from Guillen in the moments leading up to her disappearance. The attorney said that a message that was sent from Guillen's phone include the serial number of a weapon. Khawam found the content of the message to be highly suspicious, and suggested that perhaps someone else might have sent the text with Guillen's mobile device. 'The serial number of a firearm was sent from Vanessa's cell phone. This text message is very unusual for us because it is not something that is normally sent between the soldiers of the base,' Khawan said. 'So we think that there is a possibility that someone else had sent the message, but the military authorities do not want to tell us the recipient of it.' A reward of $55,000 is being offered for information in her disappearance. The US Army Criminal Investigation Command and the League of United Latin American Citizens is each contributing $25,000 to fund the reward. Actress Salma Hayek shared a post on Instagram vowing to share a picture of Guillen every day until she is found. Guillen's case has inspired a growing social media campaign, in which other servicewomen have been sharing their own harrowing stories of sexual assault and harassment in the military using the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillen. The body of Pvt. Gregory Scott Morales, 24, of Oklahoma, was found on Friday in a field near the 3200 block of Florence Road near Killeen, Texas after officials at the nearby Fort Hood base received a tip. He had disappeared from the base last August Morales, who was also known as Gregory Wedel, was last seen on August 19, 2019, driving his personal vehicle outside of Fort Hood. He was to be discharged within days after his disappearance, the Army said Both Morales and Guillen were stationed at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, Texas Morales, who was also known as Gregory Wedel, was last seen on August 19, 2019, driving his personal vehicle outside of Fort Hood. He was to be discharged within days after his disappearance, the Army said. Morales joined the Army in June 2015 as a motor transport operator and had been assigned to the 1st Sustainment Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood since November 2016, according to the Army. A $25,000 reward is being offered for information about his death. 'The First Team is saddened by the news of the passing of PV2 Gregory Morales. His life was taken too soon, and we appreciate his service to our nation,' Maj Gen Jeffery Broadwater, commander, 1st Cavalry Division. A pub previously named after slave trader Edward Colston has been temporarily rechristened - as 'Ye Olde Pubby Mcdrunkface'. The Colston Arms in Bristol is inviting people to suggest a new name following the toppling of the statue by anti-racism demonstrators. Landlord Paul Frost said the joke name is a nod to 'Boaty McBoatface' - the name chosen by the Internet for a new polar research ship during a competition launched by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in 2016. The suggestion received 124,109 votes - more than three times that of its closest contender. However, the 200million research vessel was not christened with the winning suggestion after a final decision by then science minister Jo Johnson. Instead he announced that the Boaty McBoatface name would be used for one of the submersibles aboard the Sir David Attenborough - the name chosen for the research ship - instead. The boozer, which put up a sign bearing the name 'Ye Olde Pubby Mcdrunkface' this morning, is one of many places in Bristol being renamed. Mr Frost, 44, told Bristol Live: 'The name we went for is a nod to Boaty McBoatface. I wanted to go simply with Pubby McPubface but my manager Josh suggested Ye olde Pubby Mcdrunkface, which is much better'. The boozer put up a sign bearing the title 'Ye Olde Pubby Mcdrunkface' this morning On June 7, protesters used ropes to pull the Colston statue, which was erected in 1895, from its plinth in Bristol city centre. The Colston statue, which had been in place since 1895, has been a subject of controversy in recent years - due to Colston's links to the slave trade in the 17th century The pub sign makes it clear the new name is 'clearly temporary' and that 'suggestions [are] welcome'. A chalk board underneath also bears the message: 'We are listening. Black lives matter.' The pub in Bristol was previously called the Colston Arms It comes amid a debate on Britain's imperial past sparked by Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd by US police officers. Mr Colston's statue which had stood in the city centre since 1895, was pulled down and hurled in the River Avon during a protest in early June. As some 10,000 protesters gathered in the city, footage showed demonstrators heaving the monument down with ropes before cheering and dancing around it. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live earlier this month, Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees confirmed the bust will be fished out and put on display locally. The statue will be placed alongside placards from the recent protests to help educate about the story of slavery and the fight for racial equality. The statue had been a hotly contested subject of controversy and the most recent petition to remove it garnered more than 11,000 signatures. Along with the tobacco trade, Colston's wealth helped to develop Bristol in the 17th century. He used a lot of his riches, accrued from his extensive slave trading, to build schools and almshouses in his home city. The removal of Colston's statue sparked a campaign to take down dozens more across Britain The Mayor also revealed that historians and local experts will be commissioned to 'look into the city's past'. Mr Rees said 'Bristol's true history will be researched by a new commission so the city can better understand its story'. The members of the commission who will spend time delving in Bristol's history will be announced at a later date. The future of the plinth the statue stood on will be decided by a democratic consultation, Bristol City Council also confirmed. The council said it had received numerous suggestions including tributes to local icons and revolving artworks. Since the removal of the statue, music venue Colston Hall and high-rise building Colston Tower have both removed lettering from their facades. Two men have now been charged after Border Force officers seized 10million worth of cocaine from the back of a fish van as it arrived in the UK. The 100 kilo haul of the Class A drug was found amongst frozen fish as the van arrived at Newhaven Port in East Sussex. Jean-Pierre Labelle was arrested after border police seized 97 packages each containing around a kilo of cocaine from the back of a van carrying frozen fish. The 43-year-old was arrested in March after the haul of class A drugs were discovered last November. Labelle, from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, was charged with importing class A drugs on June 28. Two men have now been charged after Border Force officers seized 10million worth of cocaine from the back of a fish van (pictured) as it arrived in the UK After appearing at Newport Magistrates on the island the next day, he was remanded into custody until his next appearance at Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex on July 27. James Satterley, 50, from Cookham in Maidenhead, Berkshire, was later charged with importing class A drugs. He now awaits a trial, the National Crime Agency said. Peter Stevens, NCA branch commander, said: 'Working with partners like Border Force we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks involved in attempts to circumvent border controls. 'Illegal drugs are linked to violence on our streets and the exploitation of the vulnerable, that is why this type of crime is a priority for us.' Tim Kingsberry, Border Force regional director, described the seizure as 'excellent' as it disrupted international drug smuggling. He said: 'This was an excellent seizure by Border Force officers, who have prevented a large amount of lethal class A drugs from reaching the UK's streets. The huge haul of the Class A drug was found amongst frozen fish (pictured) as the van arrived at Newhaven Port in East Sussex 'Alongside our law enforcement partners, we will continue to do all we can to disrupt the international trade in drug smuggling.' It comes after Border Force officers in France seized more than 260 kilos of cocaine in a lorry bound for the UK last month. The haul, which had a potential street value of around 20 million, was discovered within a number of plywood boxes in a lorry carrying a consignment of car parts after it was intercepted at Coquelles on Tuesday. The driver of the lorry, a Romanian national, was arrested on suspicion of importing Class A drugs and the investigation was passed to the National Crime Agency (NCA). The driver was later released under investigation. Germany's top commando unit has been partially dissolved following claims it was infiltrated by right-wing extremism. Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer ordered the partial dissolution of the country's Special Forces Command (KSK), she announced today. It follows reports that the KSK was in crisis amid incidents of personnel owning Nazi paraphernalia, stockpiling weapons, giving Hitler salutes and even plotting to assassinate left-wing politicians. Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer told local media that the KSK had 'become partially independent' from the chain of command, with a 'toxic leadership culture' meaning it 'cannot continue to exist in its present form'. Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (pictured) ordered the partial dissolution of the country's Special Forces Command (KSK), she announced today She pushed back against requests for the unit to be completely disbanded claiming 'we definitely need special forces' but they should be trusted by the public, Bild reports. Germany's Special Forces Command is an elite military unit consisting of special operations soldiers selected from the ranks of Germany's Bundeswehr. KSK soldiers carry out anti-terror operations, particularly in the Middle East and the Balkans. Brigadier General Markus Kreitmayr, 52, previously said the reputation of the KSK was 'on the line'. He demanded the extremists leave or they would be rooted out: 'You do not deserve our comradeship. You do not belong to us. You must leave this unit and the Bundeswehr of your own initiative. 'If not, be sure that we will find you and remove you.' Last month, Brigadier General Kreitmayr sent a letter to each member of the KSK warning that the unit was going through 'the most difficult phase in our history', The Times reported. 'In our midst there were and obviously still are individuals who can be ascribed to the so-called far-right spectrum,' he wrote. Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer told local media that the KSK (stock image of KSK soldiers pictured) had 'become partially independent' from the chain of command, with a 'toxic leadership culture' meaning it 'cannot continue to exist in its present form' 'Whether through their lack of loyalty to the constitution, their closeness to the Imperial Citizens [a far-right libertarian movement] or their right-wing extremist sentiments and their support for right-wing extremist ideologies, they have all inflicted massive damage on the reputation of the KSK and the Bundeswehr as a whole, and personally on each and every one of us.' Earlier this year, it was reported that there were over 500 right-wing extremists suspected in the German army, with a particular concentration of cases in the elite KSK. At least four KSK soldiers have been sacked for extremist ideologies in recent years. Earlier this month, German police seized weapons and explosives at the home of a special forces soldier in Nordsachsen, Saxony, and placed him under arrest. The sergeant major, 45, had been under investigation by authorities for extremist tendencies since 2017. Interior minister Seehofer told reporters in Berlin that overall, politically-motivated crimes were up 14.2 per cent in 2019 over the previous year, which is the second highest level since authorities began tracking such crimes in 2001. 'The largest threat, as in the past, is the threat from the right,' Seehofer said. 'Extreme-right politically motivated cases make up more than half of all of such recorded crimes - it is an order of magnitude that causes us concern, great concern.' Nearly 40 per cent of all political crimes were classified as 'propaganda crimes' - such as displaying banned symbols like the swastika. KSK soldiers carry out anti-terror operations, particularly in the Middle East and the Balkans. Pictured: A German soldier wearing a KSK badge Of particular note was a 13 per cent increase in anti-Semitic crimes to 2,032, more than 93 per cent of which were attributed to the far right. Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor and German Jewish leader, said the increase in anti-Semitic crimes was 'no longer surprising' and that she was particularly worried about how visible it had become in recent years. She suggested it was being fanned by the success of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which is the largest opposition party nationally with seats in every state parliament - although it has seen support slip below 10 per cent in recent polls. Brigadier General Kreitmayr, 52, (pictured) said the reputation of the KSK was 'on the line' 'Various extremist groups have played their part in making this anti-Semitism socially acceptable,' Knobloch said in a statement. 'Above all, the so-called Alternative for Germany.' She said the coronavirus pandemic has created a new platform for anti-Semitism, and called on authorities to crack down on conspiracy theories being spread over the internet. Seehofer said authorities, accused in the past of downplaying right-wing activity, are not 'blind in the right eye' and have taken action to combat the trend. He noted that the country's domestic intelligence last year increased surveillance of the Alternative for Germany, particularly focusing on its youth arm and a faction known as 'The Wing,' which has downplayed the countrys Nazi past and suggested it might pursue 'revolutionary' means to achieve its political aims. He said the decision has been 'highly effective' but has not 'wiped the ideas off the table.' The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it easier for religious schools to obtain public funds, upholding a Montana scholarship program that allows state tax credits for private schooling. The court's 5-4 ruling, with conservatives in the majority, came in a dispute over a Montana scholarship program for private K-12 education that also makes donors eligible for up to $150 in state tax credits. The Legislature created the tax credit in 2015 for contributions made to certain scholarship programs for private education. The state's highest court had struck down the tax credit as a violation of the Montana constitution's ban on state aid to religious schools. The scholarships can be used at both secular and religious schools, but almost all the recipients attend religious schools. How Roberts led conservative majority: The Chief Justice was backed by (back row) Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh and (front row) Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Boost for religious schools: The Supreme Court ruling immediately affects as many as three dozen states' tax breaks for private education which will now apply to religious schools. One of the five conservatives said the Montana ban was rooted in anti-Catholic views Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion that said the state ruling violates the religious freedom of parents who want the scholarships to help pay for their children's private education. 'A state need not subsidize private education. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious,' Roberts wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the high-court ruling 'is perverse. Without any need or power to do so, the Court appears to require a State to reinstate a tax-credit program that the Constitution did not demand in the first place.' Parents whose children attend religious schools sued to preserve the program. Roughly three-dozen states have similar no-aid provisions in their constitutions. Courts in some states have relied on those provisions to strike down religious-school funding. Justice Samuel Alito pointed, in a separate opinion, to evidence of anti-Catholic bigotry that he said motivated the original adoption of the Montana provision and others like it in the 1800s, although Montana's constitution was redone in 1972 with the provision intact. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose two daughters attend Catholic schools, made a similar point during arguments in January when he talked about the 'grotesque religious bigotry' against Catholics that underlay the amendment. The decision was the latest in a line of decisions from the Supreme Court, which now includes Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, that have favored religion-based discrimination claims. In 2014, the justices allowed family-held, for-profit businesses with religious objections to get out from under a requirement to pay for contraceptives for women covered under their health insurance plans. In 2017, the court ruled for a Missouri church that had been excluded from state grants to put softer surfaces in playgrounds. The high court also is weighing a Trump administration policy that would make it easier for employers to claim a religious or moral exemption and avoid paying for contraceptives for women covered by their health plans. Still another case would shield religious institutions from more employment discrimination claims. The Supreme Court also has upheld some school voucher programs and state courts have ratified others. The John Hopkins University map of coronavirus cases in the U.S. is specifically designed to show how ethnic minorities have been hardest hit by the pandemic, its creators say. Data expert Beth Blauer and others who built the U.S. dashboard told the Washington Post that they included racial statistics from the beginning to see how the crisis would affect different groups. Each U.S. county has its own entry on the map which shows its racial demographics and how its death rate compares to the state as a whole. Sure enough, scientists found that ethnic minorities were being hit hardest by the coronavirus crisis - with African-Americans accounting for 74 per cent of deaths in Washington DC despite making up only 46 per cent of the population. The trend was further confirmed by a survey released earlier this month which found that 11 per cent of black people had a family member or close friend who had died of coronavirus, compared to four per cent of white people. Hopkins experts say that racial inequality makes non-white people more vulnerable to the pre-existing conditions that make Covid-19 more dangerous, while people who live in poverty will find social distancing more difficult or impossible. The Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker (pictured) has frequently updated figures for the United States and the world and is widely used by media and researchers The Hopkins map has become a 'gold standard' for coronavirus tracking, especially in the U.S. where there are no comprehensive figures supplied by the federal government. The website's creators say they started the project in January when official figures on the outbreak were almost non-existent. Ensheng Dong, a Chinese PhD student who had lived through the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s, built the first version of the map with his supervisor Lauren Gardner. Blauer, the head of the university's Centers for Civic Impact, then set about creating a U.S.-specific version of the map as the outbreak escalated in March. Blauer had previously worked on public health data in Baltimore and Annapolis, tracking statistics such as infant mortality and how they were affected by racial inequalities. She and her colleagues decided that the U.S. map should include racial demographics and other figures to show how race was affecting the pandemic. The U.S. dashboard was set up to compare each county against the state as a whole, to see which parts of a state were being hit the hardest. Before long, the figures showed that minority groups and the areas where they lived were being hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis. 'When you actually start looking at the affected populations, the breakdown of race and age and ethnicity and socioeconomic demographics, it becomes so much more human,' said Gardner. Washington DC was one example, but the disparity was also clear in South Dakota, where African-Americans make up only three per cent of the population but accounted for 17 per cent of coronavirus deaths. In Wisconsin, Milwaukee County has both the highest percentage of African-American residents in the state (26 per cent) and the highest infection rate in Wisconsin (1,183 cases per 100,000 people). Similarly, the infection rate in Chicago's Cook County (1,740 per 100,000) is significantly higher than the figure for Illinois as a whole (1,124). Nearly 24 per cent of Cook County's population is black, compared to 15 per cent in Illinois as a whole. The figures also showed a racial bias affecting Hispanic and Native American communities, researchers say. Native Americans accounted for around 18 per cent of deaths in Arizona despite making up only five per cent of the population, the Hopkins statistics show. Each county has its own entry on the John Hopkins map showing its demographics and how its figures compare to the state as a whole. This is the infographic for Manhattan This is the infographic for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which has both the highest percentage of African-American residents in the state (26 per cent) and the highest infection rate in Wisconsin (1,183 cases per 100,000 people). Blauer said she felt resigned and frustrated as she watched the virus devastate black and other minority communities. 'If you are born black in this country, it's harder for you to get a job, harder for you to keep a job and also harder for you to stay alive,' she said. The Hopkins data also includes a list of which states have released racial data for cases, deaths and testing rates. Only four states - Delaware, Kansas, Illinois and Nevada - have provided data in all three categories, the map shows. Hopkins public health professor Lisa Cooper said even the 'limited sample' showed that black people and other minorities were being disproportionately hard hit. 'There are likely multiple causes for these disparities,' Cooper writes on the Hopkins website. 'Existing racial disparities in the rates of chronic medical conditions increase the risk among ethnic minorities for serious complications of the novel coronavirus and resulting higher death rates. 'Additionally, the observed disparities in how the disease affects racial/ethnic minority populations highlight inequities in socio-economic status, living conditions, and access to care in the U.S. 'Because many racial and ethnic minority persons live in poverty, they are experiencing this pandemic in a different way. For example, they may rely on public transit if they cannot afford a car, need to shop more frequently for basic necessities since they cannot afford to stockpile goods, and do not have health insurance or access to regular medical care. 'Social distancing may not be a convenient or realistic option for many, because they may live in small, multi-family apartments or homes.' The Hopkins map currently shows more than 2.68million confirmed cases in the United States, with 129,545 deaths. Around the world, the Hopkins map shows 10.4million confirmed infections and 509,706 deaths - meaning more than a quarter of all deaths are in the U.S. Brazil has the world's second-worst outbreak with 58,314 deaths from 1.37million confirmed cases. Atlantic City tried Prohibition once before. It worked so well that Nucky Johnson, the legendary politician and racketeer, built a Boardwalk empire immortalized on HBO nearly a century later. It also tried banning smoking, too. That lasted for 20 days as smokers stayed away, sending casino revenue plummeting. But New Jersey will ban both, again, when Atlantic City's nine casinos reopen after more than three months of coronavirus-related shutdowns. The late-night announcements from Gov. Phil Murphy landed like a one-two punch on Atlantic City's casino industry, already reeling from lost revenue during the pandemic, and making plans to creak back to life at the state-mandated 25% of normal capacity. 'No booze? No one's coming,' said Bob McDevitt, president of a casino employees union. 'I really don't even think they should open. Why would they?' Gov. Phil Murphy announced that people could return to casinos but they couldn't allow for smoking, drinking or eating inside their facilities Many casinos had planned to reopen Thursday, the first day the state will let them. But that was before they knew they could not let their customers smoke, drink alcohol or anything else, or eat inside the casinos. The top-performing casino, the Borgata, almost immediately folded what it saw as a losing hand, announcing it was scrapping its reopening plans for the immediate future. Instead, it will wait until conditions are more favorable. On Tuesday, casino executives huddled in staff meetings, looking for more information and trying to decide whether it made sense to reopen at all. Casinos are trying to recoup money lost from the months they were closed. Resorts, Tropicana, Ocean, Golden Nugget and Hard Rock (pictured) all said they will reopen Thursday Jim Allen, president of Hard Rock International, said the company and its thousands of workers are eager to reopen and start making up for some of the losses they have experienced since March By mid-afternoon, all except the Borgata announced plans to reopen in the coming days. Resorts, Tropicana, Ocean, Golden Nugget and Hard Rock all said they will reopen Thursday. Harrah's, Caesars and Bally's will reopen Friday. Borgata had no estimate of when it might reopen. Jim Allen, president of Hard Rock International, said the company and its thousands of workers are eager to reopen and start making up for some of the losses they have experienced since March. 'People are really desperate for a job and a paycheck,' he said. Joe Lupo, president of the Hard Rock casino in Atlantic City New Jersey, examines the installation of protective barriers at the casino Murphy said Tuesday casinos will just have to endure a new reality until conditions improve. 'It's not a life sentence,' he said. 'We would like to be full-bore open; we're just not there yet.' The temperature scanner at Hard Rock casino in Atlantic City Before the pandemic, Atlantic City had started to regain its groove, reclaiming its former spot at the nation's No. 2 gambling market behind Nevada in terms of annual gambling revenue. Nevada casinos reopened nearly a month earlier than those in New Jersey, with many of the same health protocols: temperatures checks for guests and workers, mandated masks after being optional for a time, and hand sanitizer stations. Smoking was still allowed. Within minutes of Murphy's announcements, made in a news release issued shortly before 10 p.m. Monday, social media lit up with complaints. Some grumbled that the governor had sucked the fun out of the casino experience, even as a smaller number defended the decision on public health grounds. Some said they were scrapping long-planned trips, and others said they would take their business to Pennsylvania casinos. Some vowed to come anyway, mixing drinks in their rooms and bringing sandwiches for dinner. The bans will also reduce the number of laid-off workers who will return. Drink servers and indoor restaurant workers were to comprise a significant portion of the force that had been envisioned. More than 2,500,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 McDevitt said 60% of his union members had been scheduled to return to work this week. Now, as few as 30% may go back. Casinos can offer outdoor dining, and those with beach bars, outdoor decks or Boardwalk seating still plan to offer it. And alcohol will still be sold in liquor stores and non-casino businesses. But the last thing casinos want is their patrons leaving the premises, for any reason. Murphy said he reversed course on indoor dining because of the continuing outbreaks in parts of the country, even though New Jersey has seen a significant reduction in the number of its virus cases. More than 125,000 people have died from the coronavirus A significant portion of Atlantic City's casino customers comes from New York, which leads the nation in total virus cases. Murphy also said crowds at popular spots at the Jersey Shore and elsewhere have not been following social distancing rules or wearing masks. That angered many in the casino industry. 'This is like Catholic school: A handful of people misbehaves, and the entire class gets punished,' McDevitt said. We have not quantified it, but it does seem to be up earlier than normal, said Paul Yaras, Investigations Commander for the Morton Grove Police Department. Usually fireworks get more noticeable starting around the third week of June, but we have been hearing them and getting complaints since May. Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander pleaded with President Donald Trump Tuesday to wear a mask in public to encourage his MAGA-followers as the nation's top health officials embraced a call for distribution of free masks to encourage their use. 'The president has plenty of admirers,' Alexander, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, noted at the top of a hearing Tuesday. The former Education Secretary then predicted: 'They would follow his lead, it would help end this political debate. The stakes are too high for this political debate about pro-Trump, anti-Trump to continue.' 'There's no doubt that wearing masks protects you and gets you to be protected,' said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases 'The stakes are too high for the political debate about pro-Trump, anti-Trump masks to continue,' Alexander said. He had to go into quarantine after coming in contact with an aide who tested positive for the virus, but says he was protected by the staffer wearing a mask. Alexander's urging came as Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed during testimony with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' suggestion that the government provide masks to the public free of charge. 'Anything that furthers the use of masks whether it's giving out free masks or any other mechanism I am thoroughly in favor of,' Fauci told Sanders, a democratic socialist who failed to beat back former Vice President Joe Biden in the battle for the Democratic nomination. Fauci called masks 'extremely important,' saying they protect both the person wearing it and those they might come in contact with. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders quizzed health experts on the idea of having the government distribute masks to every U.S. household Dr. Robert Redfield called for 'universal' masks Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said if President Trump wore a mask his fans would follow him 'There's no doubt that wearing masks protects you and gets you to be protected,' he said. Fauci had asked him: 'Would you support an effort to greatly increase the production of high quality masks' and to ''distribute them free of charge to every household in America?' Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Robert Redfield, also pressed by Sanders on the idea, responded that 'universal masks' are 'fundamentally the most important thing we can do' amid the ongoing spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Admiral Brett Giroir of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the assistant secretary of health, agreed. 'Yes sir I agree that that is very important because we need to support mask wearing,' he told Sanders. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this year and attended a luncheon with colleagues while awaiting results, swiped at Fauci for not unequivocally calling to reopen schools. 'I dont hear much certitude at all. I hear "maybe, it depends,"' Paul said. Fauci that responded that it was a priority. In earlier comments, he said: 'If you are in an area where you have a certain amount of infection dynamics, there are things that can creatively be done about modifying things like the school schedule., alternate days, morning versus evening, allowing them in certain circumstances online virtual lessons.' Said Fauci: 'Those are the kind of things that we need to consider but also importantly always make the goal that it is very important to get the children back to school for the unintended negative consequences that occur when we keep them out of school.' A bus passenger in China has been detained after dangerously grabbing the driver's steering wheel in a bid to get off the vehicle between stops. The woman had missed her destination during sleep and was furious when she woke up on a different street in the southern province of Fujian. She kicked the bus doors angrily, yelled at the transport worker before launching the assault on him while he was still driving. The Chinese woman approaches the driver's seat before seizing the steering wheel by force She repeatedly yells 'stop, stop, stop' while trying to take control of the vehicle in Putian city Local police revealed the case through a social media video post on Sunday. The incident took place on a number 28 bus in the city of Putian at around 1:30pm on Thursday. Security footage shows the enraged woman, who was the only passenger on board, shouting 'let me get off' at the driver after realising she had gone past her station. The driver halted the bus at the next stop, but the woman did not get off. The doors shut when she approached them. After the bus re-started, she raised her voice and yelled 'how do you expect me to walk in such hot weather'. She also began to kick the bus doors and pulled the railing forcefully. She hits the driver on the shoulder after the transport worker said he would call the police She also tries to kick open the doors after realising she has gone past her stop while asleep When the driver refused to stop, she dashed towards the driver's cabin and violently grabbed the steering wheel from him. She repeatedly cried 'stop, stop, stop' while trying to take control of the vehicle. After the man pulled over the bus to call the police, she hit him on the shoulder. The woman, who remains unnamed, claimed to police officers that she would not have attacked the driver had there been other passengers on the bus. Police have imposed 'criminal compulsory measures' on the woman on suspicion of 'endangering public security by dangerous means'. Those who are found guilty of the crime can be sentenced to death if the circumstances are particularly serious, according to China's top law-enforcing authority. The head of a Mormon family whose daughter, four grandchildren and four others were executed in central Mexico last year revealed he was recently stopped on a road by a gang of armed men who interrogated him before he was let go. Adrian LeBaron took to Twitter on Monday to share the frightening moment a group of men, each of whom he described to be younger than 30-years-old, ordered him to stop while he was driving in Agua Prieta, Sonora. The site where he was stopped is roughtly 100 miles where his daughter, grandchildren and another Mormon family with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship were massacred. 'I was intercepted by criminal groups when traveling with my family in recent days. A van with armed youth, who were no more than 30-years-old, blocked our way in Agua Prieta, Sonora,' LeBaron wrote on the social media platform. 'They asked us for all our data. They were going to decide if we could go on. 'We were intercepted in broad daylight, [they are] operating less and less in secret. They were clearly members of organized crime. According to inhabitants, these operations are intensified when they bring problems with rivals.' Adrian LeBaron, whose daughter and four grandchildren were among the nine U.S.-Mexico dual citizens killed by a cartel gang in Mexico in November 2019, revealed on Twitter on Monday that a group of armed men recently intercepted him and his family on a road in the northern state of Sonora before they allowed them to continue their trip Rhonita Maria Miller was driving her car with her four children when they were shot and burned inside their vehicle near the Sonora, Mexico, town of La Mora in November 2019 Members of the LeBaron family observe one of the vehicles where members of the Mormon family were traveling The incident took place about 100 miles from the Sonora village of La Mora, where his daughter Rhonita Maria Miller, 30, and children - her eight-month-old twins, Titus and Tiana; 10-year-old daughter Krystal; and 12-year-old son Howard - were burned and shot dead while they were inside their car November 4, 2019. LeBaron found the bones of Krystal, who had been so frightened she knelt into the fetal position before she was shot dead. Howard, Titus and Tiana were likely burned alive. The gunmen also executed Christina Maria Langford, 29, who before dying saved her seven-month-old daughter, Faith, by placing her on the floor of her vehicle. Langford reportedly jumped out of her vehicle in an attempt to get the gunmen to stop, but she was shot in the chest. The assassins also killed Dawna Langford, 43, and two children, 11-year-old Trevor and two-year-old Rogan, while eight other children inside the vehicle were able to hide until it was safe. The surviving children, five of whom were injured, hid in nearby brush before walking nine miles back to their community to get help. Preliminary reports indicated that the ambush took place hours after a criminal organization known as La Linea had been involved in a gun battle with another rival group. Pictured: Rhonita Maria (far left), 10-year-old Krystal (left), 12-year-old Howard (center), Howard (right) and babies Titus and Tiana Adrian LeBaron revealed on his Twitter account Monday that he and his family were stopped by gang of armed men recently in Sonora, Mexico Pictured: The three mothers and six young children who were savagely murdered by Mexican drug cartel gunman on November 4, 2019 Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met with the family following the roadside massacre and promised that swift measures would be taken and welcomed the assistance of FBI investigators. Authorities would identity at least 40 people connect to the killings and arrested 10 after the tragedy struck the Mormon communities in northern Mexico LeBaron wrote that he and his family were at the mercy of the gunmen - it's unknown which criminal syndicate they belonged to - before they were allowed to continue to their destination. 'These groups are operating without restrictions, imposing their own laws. Part of the family is frequently detained and searched in illegal checkpoints,' LeBaron said. 'The roads where my family was killed are still controlled by criminal groups. They have not changed. 'Criminals circulating in broad daylight, checking and authorizing, under what circumstances should residents be living, or those who use this road to travel to border points? How far [does] the complicity of the authorities [stretch]?' Boris Johnson channeled the New Deal of US president Franklin Roosevelt today as he laid out his vision for Britain's post-coronavirus recovery. But the scale of what was unveiled by the Prime Minister at a college in Dudley this morning appears to be on a far lower order of magnitude to that put in place by the Democrat in the early 1930s to combat the horrors of the Great Depression. Some 12million Americans were thrown out of work in the years following the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The newly-elected Democratic president embarked on his ground-breaking plans in 1933, including reform of banks, support for the elderly and the jobless, and the repeal of Prohibition. Franklin, known as FDR, is estimated to have pumped more than $40billion at the time into a scheme of works and other fiscal stimulus designed to build and spend the US out of mass unemployment. In today's money that equates to $800billion, or around 650billion. The scheme unveiled by Mr Johnson today promises around 5billion in new money - albeit for country smaller in geographic size and population. Another way of measuring the scale is that 5billion is around 0.25 per cent of UK GDP, whereas the New Deal was equivalent to 5-7 per cent of US GDP per year at the time - some 40 per cent in total. The New Deal was instigated by US president Franklin D Roosevelt in the wake of the Great Depression Defying mounting fears about spiralling government debt, Mr Johnson today hailed a programme of public works FDR's New Deal was controversial at the time - and was bitterly opposed by some politicians - and their remains argument over how effective it was. Some historians have suggested it was the massive military spending of the Second World War, after the US belatedly entered in 1941, that finally put the Great Depression to bed and laid the foundations for the late 20th Century superpower. Defying mounting fears about spiralling government debt, Mr Johnson today hailed a programme of public works, including 5billion upgrading key infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and roads, and confirmed a 12billion scheme for affordable housing. To facilitate a construction drive the planning system is set for the biggest overhaul 'since the Second World War', including making it easier to turn newly-vacant shops into homes. But the size of the 5billion upgrades for the coming year is dwarfed by the estimated 100billion costs of bailouts for furloughed workers and the self-employed. It is made up of previously-announced money being spent faster, and the respected IFS think-tank also pointed out that it is smaller than the capital spending pushed through by the Labour government after the credit crunch. Even senior government officials seemed embarrassed about the reference to FDR, with one admitting it was 'really quite silly'. 'We're not talking 40 per cent of GDP levels,' they said. Here are how the two New Deals compare in some areas: Public building The Hoover Dam in Nevada (left, in 1934) was one of the flagship projects in Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. 1.5billion will be allocated this year for hospital maintenance to improve A&E capacity and enable hospital building in the UK (the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, right) Johnson: 1.5billion will be allocated this year for hospital maintenance to improve A&E capacity and enable hospital building. Just over 1billion will be spent on the first 50 projects of a ten year school rebuilding programme. Some 560million will be spent on school repairs. Roosevelt: FDR set up the Public Works Administration which provided funding to build things like hospitals and schools as well as dams and airports. It spent an estimated $7billion over the course of its existence - roughly $138billion or 112billion in today's money. The PWA is perhaps most famous for its spending on the Hoover Dam. Public infrastructure 100million will be spent this year on 29 projects in the UK's road network. That will range from bridge repairs in Sandwell to improving the A15 in the Humber region FDR set up the Works Progress Administration to put the unemployed back to work. Some 650,000 miles of new roads were built under the initiative and the WPA spent an estimated $11billion, which represents around $215billion or 175billion in modern terms Johnson: 100million will be spent this year on 29 projects in the UK's road network. That will range from bridge repairs in Sandwell to improving the A15 in the Humber region. Roosevelt: FDR set up the Works Progress Administration to put the unemployed back to work. Building new roads was one of the WPA's main outlets, along with constructing public buildings, airports and parks. Some 650,000 miles of new roads were built under the initiative. The WPA spent an estimated $11billion, which represents around $215billion or 175billion in modern terms. Other spending Johnson: Some 142million will be spent on making digital upgrades to 100 courts while 83million will be spent on prisons maintenance. A total of 900million will be spent on a range of 'shovel ready' local growth projects in England and 96million will be used to boost investment in High Streets. Roosevelt: Farmers were paid to leave fields fallow to prevent surpluses and protect prices. New laws were passed to pave the way for hydroelectric dams to be built along the huge Tennessee River. Rhetoric: Johnson: The Prime Minister today outlined plans to spend the UK out of the coronavirus slump. Rather bizarrely for a Tory PM he at one point pointed out he was not a 'communist', adding: 'I believe it is also the job of government to create the conditions for free market enterprise.' 'We can do all this now partly because of the prudent management of the economy in the last 10 years,' he said as he addressed the audience in Dudley. 'But also because we are planning to invest now, when the cost of borrowing allows it and when the returns are greatest. Because that is the way both now and in the medium term to drive the growth, to fuel the animal spirits and the long-term business investment on which our future prosperity depends.' There was a conscious nod to the originator of the New deal as he added: 'I am conscious as I say all this that it sounds like a prodigious amount of government intervention. It sounds like a New Deal. 'And all I can say is that if so, then that is how it is meant to sound and to be because that is what the times demand.' Roosevelt: He spoke of the need for the state to help the 'forgotten man' at the bottom of the economic pyramid. In Mark Twain's 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, the author called for a 'new deal' for exploited workers. Roosevelt had read the book and on accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in 1932, he said: 'I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people. This is more than a political campaign. It is a call to arms.' Advertisement Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned Americans to stop going to bars 'right now' to stem the rapid spread of Covid-19 across the country. He issued a dire prediction about U.S. coronavirus infection rates Tuesday saying as many as 100,000 Americans could become infected each day if the nation doesn't make urgent behavioral changes. 'Congregation at a bar, inside, is bad news,' Fauci said. 'We really got to stop that right now. I think we need to emphasize the responsibility that we have both as individuals and as part of a societal effort to end the epidemic that we all have to play a part in that.' Fauci made the bleak prediction as new coronavirus cases surged 46 per cent amid new outbreaks in the south and west. Diagnoses almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases - as Arizona became the latest hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms. COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South of the country. Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs of 40,000 in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April. Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.6 million and more than 127,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March. 'We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day,' Fauci told a Senate Committee during testimony. 'I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, so I am very concerned,' he said. 'We can't just focus on those areas that are having the surge. It puts the entire country at risk,' he said under questioning from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat. The vice presidential contender asked Fauci if he would provide an estimate of U.S. deaths, which he declined to do. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified that the U.S. could start seeing up to 100,000 infections each day Fauci raised the alarm that U.S. infections per day could more than double to 100,000 COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 percent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises occurring in the West and South of the country His statement came days after Vice President Mike Pence said the nation had 'flattened the curve' The June 30 hearing took place as U.S. deaths his 130000 'I think it's important to tell you and the American public that I'm very concerned because it could get very bad,' he told her. Fauci repeatedly pointed to a lack of sufficient social distancing in the country, urging people to avoid groups and wear masks when in a position where they might be exposed to others. 'We're going to continue to be in a lot of trouble and there's going to be a lot of hurt if that does not stop,' he said. 'It is going to be very disturbing, I can guarantee you that,' he said. At the start of the hearing, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander pleaded with President Donald Trump Tuesday to wear a mask in public to encourage his MAGA-followers as the nation's top health officials embraced a call for distribution of free masks to encourage their use. 'The president has plenty of admirers,' Alexander, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, noted at the top of a hearing Tuesday. The former Education Secretary then predicted: 'They would follow his lead, it would help end this political debate. The stakes are too high for this political debate about pro-Trump, anti-Trump to continue.' Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, left and Center for Disease Control (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield, talk with Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., right, as they prepare to testify before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Alexander urged President Trump to wear a mask Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked Fauci for a prediction on daily U.S. deaths due to the disease. He told her 100,000 people might become infected each day Dr. Robert Redfield called for 'universal' masks Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders quizzed health experts on the idea of having the government distribute masks to every U.S. household 'The stakes are too high for the political debate about pro-Trump, anti-Trump masks to continue,' Alexander said. He had to go into quarantine after coming in contact with an aide who tested positive for the virus, but says he was protected by the staffer wearing a mask. Alexander's urging came as Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed during testimony with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' suggestion that the government provide masks to the public free of charge. 'Anything that furthers the use of masks whether it's giving out free masks or any other mechanism I am thoroughly in favor of,' Fauci told Sanders, a democratic socialist who failed to beat back former Vice President Joe Biden in the battle for the Democratic nomination. Fauci called masks 'extremely important,' saying they protect both the person wearing it and those they might come in contact with. 'There's no doubt that wearing masks protects you and gets you to be protected,' he said. Fauci had asked him: 'Would you support an effort to greatly increase the production of high quality masks' and to ''distribute them free of charge to every household in America?' Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Robert Redfield, also pressed by Sanders on the idea, responded that 'universal masks' are 'fundamentally the most important thing we can do' amid the ongoing spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Admiral Brett Giroir of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the assistant secretary of health, agreed. 'Yes sir I agree that that is very important because we need to support mask wearing,' he told Sanders. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this year and attended a luncheon with colleagues while awaiting results, swiped at Fauci for not unequivocally calling to reopen schools. 'I don't hear much certitude at all. I hear 'maybe, it depends,'' Paul said. Fauci that responded that it was a priority. In earlier comments, he said: 'If you are in an area where you have a certain amount of infection dynamics, there are things that can creatively be done about modifying things like the school schedule., alternate days, morning versus evening, allowing them in certain circumstances online virtual lessons.' Said Fauci: 'Those are the kind of things that we need to consider but also importantly always make the goal that it is very important to get the children back to school for the unintended negative consequences that occur when we keep them out of school.' President Donald Trump has put the surge in new cases down to increased testing and has pointed to low death rates across the country as a sign that the pandemic is not out of control. While part of the 46 percent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame. While cases continues to spike, deaths are showing a downward trend across the country. Arizona, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee were the states that saw the largest increases in deaths in the past week. In Arizona, deaths increased by 62 percent after recording 249 new fatalities in a week, bringing the death toll to 1,588. Health officials have warned, however, that the death rate could potentially shoot back up again because fatality rates often lag behind infection rates. They also point to the current trend of young adults making up the majority of new cases. Officials say people under 35 years old have been going to bars, parties and social events without masks, becoming infected and then spreading the disease to older, more vulnerable people. With about 40,000 new cases being reported a day, Dr Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, told Congress he 'would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around'. 'I am very concerned,' he said, adding that areas seeing recent outbreaks are putting the entire nation at risk, including areas that have made progress in reducing COVID-19 cases. He cited recent video footage of people socializing in crowds, often without masks, and otherwise ignoring safety guidelines. In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project. In response to the new cases, Louisiana and Washington have temporarily halted the reopening of their economies, with Washington also mandating the wearing of face masks in public. Florida ordered all bars to close on Friday and has shut down beaches ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend. Arizona's Republican governor Doug Ducey followed on Monday by ordering all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days. The state's cases increased 29 percent in the last week after reporting several record daily increases in cases. Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governor's stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May. Large crowds of young people were spotted out as recently as Saturday tubing on Arizona's Salt River and about 3,000 students crowded together last week for an indoor rally in Phoenix with President Trump. 'Our expectation is that next week our numbers will be worse,' Ducey said, as he also ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17. Arizona is not alone in its reversal with Texas, Florida and California also backtracking, closing beaches and bars in most areas. Nationally, 7 percent of diagnostic tests came back positive last week, which is up from 5 percent the prior week. Twenty-one states reported positivity test rates above the level that the World Health Organization has flagged as concerning. The WHO considers a positivity rate above 5 percent to be a cause for concern because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered. Officials say that if a positivity rate is too high - above 5 percent - it could indicate that the state is only testing the sickest patients and not casting a wide enough net to see how much the virus is spreading. Arizona's positivity test rate was 24 percent last week, Florida's was 16 percent, and Nevada, South Carolina and Texas's were all 15 percent, according to the analysis. It comes as deputy director of the CDC, Dr Anne Schuchat, said on Monday that the virus was now spreading too rapidly to control. 'We have way too much virus across the country... it's very discouraging,' she told The Journal of the American Medical Association. 'This is really the beginning. I think there was a lot of wishful thinking around the country that, hey it's summer. Everything's going to be fine. We're over this and we are not even beginning to be over this. There are a lot of worrisome factors about the last week or so.' ARIZONA: Large crowds of young people were spotted out as recently as Saturday tubing on Arizona's Salt River. Arizona Gov Doug Ducey on Monday ordered all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days ARIZONA: About 3,000 mask less students crowded together last week for an indoor rally in Phoenix with President Trump ARIZONA CASES: Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark ARIZONA DEATHS: Deaths in Arizona have been declining with 44 recorded on Monday ARIZONA HOSPITALS: Arizona's hospitals are nearing capacity with 2,721 positive or suspected COVID-19 patients admitted. On Saturday, 87 percent of ICU beds in the state were in use Elsewhere across the country, leaders in several states have ordered residents to wear masks in public and have halted reopenings in a dramatic reversal amid the alarming surge in coronavirus cases. Among those implementing the face-covering orders is the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August. Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced on Monday that he's postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing. Indoor shopping malls were cleared to start business again in New Jersey on Monday. Democratic governors in Oregon and Kansas said Monday that they would require people to wear masks. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's order will require people to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces starting Wednesday. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she will issue an executive order mandating the use of masks in stores and shops, restaurants, and in any situation where social distancing of 6 feet (2 meters) cannot be maintained, including outside. The order goes into effect Friday. 'The evidence could not be clearer: Wearing a mask is not only safe, but it is necessary to avoid another shutdown,' Kelly said. TEXAS CASES: The number of daily infections were at 4,288 - down from the record 5,996 last Thursday TEXAS DEATHS: Texas recorded 10 news deaths on Monday after spiking last Thursday and Saturday TEXAS HOSPITAL: The state saw a record 5,913 new hospitalizations on Monday. Hospitalizations have been steadily increasing since mid-June CALIFORNIA: New cases were at 5,307 in California on Monday, while daily deaths were at down 31 CALIFORNIA HOSPITALS: Hospitalizations in California have been on an upward trajectory with 4,776 people being treated on Sunday In Texas, a group of bar owners sued on Monday to try to overturn Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's order closing their businesses. They contend Abbott doesn't have the authority, and they complained that other businesses, such as nail salons and tattoo studios, remain open. 'Gov. Abbott continues to act like a king,' said Jared Woodfill, attorney for the bar owners. 'Abbott is unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights.' But Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that Abbott is on the right path, and he added that Trump should order the wearing of masks. 'States that were recalcitrant ... are doing a 180, and you have the same states now wearing masks,' Cuomo said. 'Let the president have the same sense to do that as an executive order, and then let the president lead by example and let the president put a mask on it, because we know it works.' One of Cuomo's Republican counterparts, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, on a conference call with Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House coronavirus task force, also asked Pence and Trump to issue a national call to wear masks. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has opposed a statewide mask requirement but said in response to Jacksonville's action that he will support local authorities who are doing what they think is appropriate. Less than a week after Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said there would be no mask requirement, city officials announced on Monday that coverings must be worn in 'situations where individuals cannot socially distance.' Nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients in Houston's ICU are now under 50 and health workers warn many are seriously ill and 'feeling like death' - as cases continue to spike among young adults across the country Nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units in Houston are now under the age of 50 - as cases continue to spike among young adults across Texas and health workers warn many are getting seriously ill. During the first surge of cases in mid-April, the majority of patients being treated for coronavirus in the Houston Methodist hospital system were older than 50. In a disturbing generational shift, about 60 percent of current patients are under that age bracket. Almost one in three who are now occupying ICU beds are also under 50. The Houston Methodist hospital system is currently seeing a surge in COVID-19 patients. Houston Methodist CEO Dr Marc Boom told CNBC's Squawk Box that the current surge had 'completely flipped' since the early stages of the pandemic In Harris County, which covers much of Houston and is one of the largest counties in the county, the majority of COVID-19 cases are people aged between 30 to 39. The second most affected age bracket to 20 to 29 year olds Infections are currently spiking among young adults in states like Texas where bars, nightclubs and restaurants reopened - prompting younger generations to start going out again, many without wearing masks. While health experts have been warning that such behavior poses a bigger danger to older people who cross their paths, current trends in hospitalizations show that younger people do face the possibility of severe infection and death from COVID-19. Houston Methodist CEO Dr Marc Boom told CNBC's Squawk Box that the current surge had 'completely flipped' since the early stages of the pandemic. He said about 40 percent of patients were under the age of 50 in mid-April and one in five were in ICU. 'We are definitely seeing this affect young people and they're getting quite ill,' he said. The Houston Methodist hospital system is part of the Texas Medical Center's cluster of major public and private hospitals in the city. Tritico Saranathan, a nurse in one of Methodist's designated virus wards, told the New York Times she had noticed a difference in the age of patients compared to mid-April - and warned that many were 'just feeling like death'. 'We're seeing a lot of people in their 30s - they're out there partying and not wearing their masks,' she said. 'As soon as the city opened up, they were very eager to go to the bars, to the clubs, to the restaurants, just to hang out in groups. And no one was social distancing or wearing a mask. 'What I'm seeing is that they're pretty sick - the younger ones are pretty sick. They're struggling a lot with respiratory issues. They're having a hard time breathing.' The Houston Methodist hospital system is part of the Texas Medical Center's cluster of major public and private hospitals in the city. Hospitalizations across the city are on an upward trend In the US, young people have quickly overtaken older adults as the group with the highest number of new coronavirus cases since the first states started reopening, according to AP figures Health officials have described young people's actions in states like Texas as irresponsible behavior as photos show packed bars and restaurants after the state lifted restrictions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott reversed that decision last Friday when he ordered all bars to close Dr Faisal Masud, who is the medical director for critical care across all of Houston Methodist's hospitals, said he had also noticed 30 to 35 years old being admitted. He said the younger people who were severely ill tended to be obese or have health conditions like diabetes, kidney disease and high blood pressure. 'I think that there was a sense of being invincible or this is not their problem, even if they caught it, no big deal,' he said. At Methodist, the majority of COVID-19 patients are currently in designated medical wards and not in intensive care. Health officials say that could be a result of the current surge in younger - and often healthier - patients. As of Monday, there were a record 5,900 coronavirus patients in hospitals across Texas. Daily hospitalizations across the state have been consistently increasing since mid-June. There are 1,400 ICU beds available across the states and just over 5,600 ventilators. In Harris County, which covers much of Houston and is one of the largest counties in the county, the majority of COVID-19 cases are people aged between 30 to 39. The second most affected age bracket to 20 to 29 year olds. Health officials have described young people's actions in states like Texas as irresponsible behavior as photos show packed bars and restaurants after the state lifted restrictions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott reversed that decision last Friday when he ordered all bars to close. It comes as some Texas hospitals have been warning they are running out of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients. The Texas Medical Center system had created a COVID-19 'war room' to handle a 66 percent surge in additional ICU patients with strategies including reassigning staff, putting beds closer together and using regular beds for emergency use. They calculated last week that they would run out of space on July 6 if the current increase in Texas severe cases continues. Boris Johnson today vowed to protect critical national infrastructure from 'hostile state vendors' as he signalled a hardening in his stance on Huawei's involvement in the UK's 5G network. The Prime Minister remains under pressure to reverse a decision to allow the Chinese tech giant to play a role in building Britain's 5G network. Mr Johnson today insisted he is 'not going to get drawn into Sinophobia because I'm not a Sinophobe' but he said important infrastructure must be 'properly protected'. The US has urged its allies not to use Huawei technology because of national security concerns - concerns which have always been rejected by the company. Mr Johnson made the comments as he said the UK will look 'very carefully' at a controversial new national security law for Hong Kong which has been passed by China to see if it breaches a treaty between Britain and Beijing. The Prime Minister said the Government was 'deeply concerned' that the legislation - which would allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in the former British colony - had been passed. Boris Johnson, pictured in Dudley today, said the UK's critical national infrastructure must be 'properly protected from hostile state vendors' Mr Johnson, answering questions following a major speech in the West Midlands this morning, told reporters: 'We are obviously deeply concerned about the decision to pass the national security law in Beijing as it affects Hong Kong. 'We will be looking at the law very carefully and we will want to scrutinise it properly to understand whether it is in conflict with the Joint Declaration between the UK and China. We will be setting out our response in due course.' Asked whether it would impact on his decision to allow Huawei to be used in Britain's 5G network, the PM said: 'The position is very, very simple: I'm not going to get drawn into Sinophobia because I'm not a Sinophobe. 'But on the other hand I do want to see our critical national infrastructure properly protected from hostile state vendors, and so we need to strike that balance and that's what we'll do.' Tory MPs are demanding the Government reverse its decision to grant Huawei a role in the 5G network. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described China's actions relating to Hong Kong as a 'grave' and 'deeply troubling' step. He said: 'Despite the urging of the international community, Beijing has chosen not to step back from imposing this legislation. China has ignored its international obligations regarding Hong Kong. This is a grave step, which is deeply troubling. 'We urgently need to see the full legislation, and will use that to determine whether there has been a breach of the Joint Declaration and what further action the UK will take.' Earlier, during Foreign Office questions in the Commons, Mr Raab urged China to 'step back from the brink'. 'The success of Hong Kong, the entrepreneurial spirit, the vibrancy, the economic success, has been built on its autonomy in the one country, two systems paradigm,' he said. 'That clearly is at threat if China, as we now fear, has enacted the legislation and our worst fears in terms of the substantive detail are borne out. 'It would be bad news for all international businesses not just for the people of Hong Kong but for China. 'Which is why even at this stage we would urge China to step back from the brink, respect the rights of the people of Hong Kong and frankly live up to its international obligations through the joint declaration and to the international community.' Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said the UK must not 'waver' in its support for Hong Kong. She said: '(Mr Raab) told me in this House a few weeks ago that at its application Britain would act. That law comes into force tomorrow (Wednesday), he must not waver.' Passengers flying to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from 16 states with high rates of coronavirus will be asked to quarantine for 14 days as New York Gov Andrew Cuomo says that travelers to his state will also be given a 'voluntary health questionnaire'. Last week, the tri-states agreed that visitors from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Utah would need to quarantine upon flying into the tri-state area. But due to increasing cases in an additional eight states, governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced that California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee have all met the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory. According to a statement from Gov Cuomo, the advisory will require individuals who have traveled to New York from those states, all of which have significant community spread, to quarantine for 14 days. Passengers flying to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from at least 16 states with high rates of coronavirus will be asked to quarantine for 14 days as New York Gov Andrew Cuomo says that travelers to his state will also be given a 'voluntary health questionnaire' (pictured) The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average. 'As an increasing number of states around the country fight significant community spread, New York is taking action to maintain the precarious safety of its phased, data-driven reopening,' Cuomo said in a statement. In an attempt to keep a count of who is traveling to New York from those states, the state's Department of Health is asking airlines to distribute a questionnaire to passengers once they board their flights. Health Department spokeswoman, Jill Montag, told USA Today, that the questionnaires are voluntary and 'there are no penalties for passengers who dont fill them out'. 'As we have just starting collecting data, response rates are not available. People we have identified from the questionnaires as requiring quarantine will be contacted by Health Department staff and/or contact tracers for follow-up.' Cuomo has warned that those out-of-state travelers could lead to a rise in infections in a state that's seen a gradual decline in COVID-19 reported hospitalizations, fatalities and cases after it was once considered the epicenter for the virus. Cuomo has warned that those out-of-state travelers (passengers pictured on Monday in New York) could lead to a rise in infections in a state that's seen a gradual decline in COVID-19 reported hospitalizations, fatalities and cases Individuals who violate a state or local quarantine or isolation order under the advisory can face a civil penalty of up to $10,000, according to Cuomo's executive order Nearly 900 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in hospitals in New York, according to the state Department of Health, and 13 individuals who had tested positive for COVID-19 died Monday in hospitals or nursing homes. Just 1 per cent - or 524 - of 52,025 individuals tested for COVID-19 on Monday were positive, an amount that has shrunk even as the state has tested tens of thousands more people since the spring. Individuals who violate a state or local quarantine or isolation order under the advisory can face a civil penalty of up to $10,000, according to Cuomo's executive order. Travel advisory in effect for passengers flying from 16 states to New York, Connecticut and New Jersey Last week, the tri-state region issued a travel advisory for the following states: 1. Alabama 2. Arkansas 3. Arizona 4. Florida 5. North Carolina 6. South Carolina 7. Texas 8. Utah But due to increasing cases in an additional eight states, governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced more restrictions: 9. California 10. Georgia 11. Iowa 12. Idaho 13. Louisiana 14. Mississippi 15. Nevada 16. Tennessee Advertisement With the addition of the eight states, that brings nearly 50 per cent of the nation's population under a quarantine if they enter New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. New coronavirus infections across the United States almost doubled last week with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases. COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 per cent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South of the country. Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs of 40,000 in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April. Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus spread in March. President Donald Trump has put the surge in new cases down to increased testing and has pointed to low death rates across the country as a sign that the pandemic is not out of control. While part of the 46 per cent increase in cases in the past week can be attributed to a 9 percent expansion in testing over that time frame, public health experts are warning that the virus is now spreading too quickly to control. Arizona, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee were the states that saw the largest increases in deaths in the past week. In Arizona, deaths increased by 62 per cent after recording 249 new fatalities in a week, bringing the death toll to 1,588. Health officials have warned, however, that the death rate could potentially shoot back up again because fatality rates often lag behind infection rates. They also point to the current trend of young adults making up the majority of new cases. Officials say people under 35 years old have been going to bars, parties and social events without masks, becoming infected and then spreading the disease to older, more vulnerable people. In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project. In response to the new cases, Louisiana and Washington have temporarily halted the reopening of their economies, with Washington also mandating the wearing of face masks in public. Florida ordered all bars to close on Friday and has shut down beaches ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend. Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus spread in March Arizona's Republican governor Doug Ducey followed on Monday by ordering all bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks to close for at least 30 days. The state's cases increased 29 per cent in the last week after reporting several record daily increases in cases. Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governor's stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May. Arizona is not alone in its reversal with Texas, Florida and California also backtracking, closing beaches and bars in most areas. The moment a gorilla placed its head on its hand apparently deep in thought, resembling the famous statue 'The Thinker' by Auguste Rodin, was captured by a photographer at an Australian zoo. Photographer David Whelan, 55, took the photograph while observing the gorillas relaxing in the midday sun at Melbourne Zoo, on June 14. But he was stunned to see the male gorilla strike the philosophical pose reminiscent of the famous French sculpture's statue. This perfectly timed image shows a majestic gorilla deep in thought at Melbourne Zoo, Australia, June 14 2020 David, from Melbourne, said: 'It had been a cold start to the day (with Australia currently in its winter months) and by midday the sun was out and the gorillas were very relaxed and enjoying the sun. 'They were lying on the grass in almost the same positions as humans and I spent some time watching their interactions. 'Gorillas are beautiful creatures and are so intelligent. This image captured the male in a philosophical pose that was amazing to witness. 'I was lucky to capture the moment at the perfect time.' Left: The gorilla strikes a philosophical pose reminiscent of the famous 'The Thinker' statue. Right: 'The Thinker' of Auguste Rodin is seen at the Vatican Museums on June 8, 2020 in Vatican City Rodin's 'The Thinker' is a bronze sculpture, usually placed on a stone pedestal, and depicts a nude male figure of heroic size sitting on a rock, deep in thought. It is an image often used to represent philosophy, and there are around 28 full-sized castings in the world, although not all were made under the original sculpture's supervision or within his lifetime. Rodin lived from 1840 to 1917. The statue was originally named The Poet, and was part of a large commission by Rodin that he started in 1880 called 'The Gates of Hell' - a sculptural group that depicts Dante's Inferno - the first section of Dante's Divine Comedy. Pictured: The courtyard of The Legion Of Honor with an Auguste Rodin sculpture titled 'The Thinker', San Francisco, California. Copies of the statue can be found all around the world 'The Thinker' sits above the doors of the statue - designed to depict the gates of hell - surrounded by other smaller figures, but was later depicted in stand-alone statues in the early 1900s. The original full-scale model first sat in-front of the Pantheon in Paris, becoming property of the city, before being moved to the Hotel Biron, which later became the Rodin Museum, dedicated to the works of the famous sculptor. Today, copies of 'The Thinker' statue can be found in a number of countries, including France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil and the United States - as well as in touring exhibitions. A city supervisor and nurses are pushing to remove Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's name from San Francisco General hospital. The hospital has been named after Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan since they donated $75million to the hospital's foundation in 2015. It was then the single largest contribution by private individuals in support of a public hospital in the United States, but came with the condition of it being renamed Zuckerberg San Francisco General hospital. Staff at the hospital voiced their concern then and ever since, but the name change was passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as the donation allowed the city to rebuild the century-old hospital and establish a new trauma center. Now San Francisco supervisor Matt Haney is calling for the Facebook founder's name to be removed in light of the recent backlash the site has received over failure combat hate speech. Nurses have been protesting for years after a hospital was renamed the Zuckerberg San Francisco General hospital following a $75million donation from the Facebook CEO Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, pictured, continues to court controversy as calls increase for his name to be removed from San Francisco General Hospital in light of the recent backlash the social media giant and its founder has received over failure combat hate speech Haney states that nurses have been pushing for some time to have Zuckerberg's name removed but that the desire to have the hospital renamed has heightened as Facebook continues to be a source of controversy. 'Massive advertising boycott of Facebook for failing to regulate hate speech & disinformation. Huge staff walk outs & protests. Cozy relationship w Trump, $ to Republicans,' Haney wrote in a lengthy Twitter thread. 'Much of it seems directly tied to Mark Zuckerberg. Why is his name still on our SF public general hospital?' he asked. Haney claims that nurses have been wearing badges for some time to support the removal of the businessman's name as well as looking for a way to change it back without losing the donation. 'I understand that he paid for it,' Haney added. 'Many at SEIU 1021, nurses like Sasha Cuttler, working for years to get it removed, reconsider contract, put pressure on Zuck to allow it be removed. I obviously understand how it got theremany are working to organize to overturn it. 'Everyone who says its because of money. I know, Im well aware that he made a donation. It was before I was on the board [of supervisors]. There are options to still remove it, and nurses who have been working on a strategy that wouldnt lose us millions.' Haney said that he is not criticizing the donation and that the removal should be done in a manner that ensure's the hospital won't lose money but that large donations should not be awarded to health care centers in return for advertising for those contributing the money. '$75 million is a big donation, and its welcomed and appreciated. It shouldnt require permanent naming rights, advertising, on our public hospital. SF taxpayers have given billions to the hospital, its their building,' he wrote. 'No one is criticizing the donation. But it shouldnt come w, hey Im not a doctor or nurse, but for the $, put my name on SFs public hospital for 50 years.' Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan, pictured, donated $75million in 2015. It was the single largest contribution by private individuals in support of a public hospital in the U.S. but came with the condition of being renamed Zuckerberg San Francisco General hospital San Francisco supervisor Matt Haney is calling for the Facebook founder's name to be removed in light of the recent backlash the site has received over failure combat hate speech 'This has been a concern of nurses at S.F. General for years. Theyve been pretty clear about their position on it, many of them wear buttons that read UnZuck SFGH,' Haney continued. 'The option the nurses prefera ballot measure calling for it to be changed, put up for a public vote. 'Their view is that if it passed, Zuckerberg wouldnt sue to stop the name from being removed. The name on the PUBLIC hospital is unseemly, even regardless of his recent inactions 'NOBODY wants the hospital to lose tens of millions, especially not the frontline nurses, of course not. No one is advocating for an approach that would lead to that. Their goal is to get to a place where it could be withdrawn without losing money.' Haney also noted that Facebook's own employee's have been unhappy at the company and its inaction against hate speech, recently sparking protests and walkouts. 'A lot of those FB employees are PISSED about what he has been doing, there have been massive walk outs. This isnt an attack on FB employees at all, its in solidarity,' he claimed. 'I bet a lot of them, maybe majority, would agree that their CEOs name shouldnt be on SFs public hospital.' Some staff at the hospital are said to be wearing these badges in protest of the name San Francisco supervisor Matt Haney has joined nurses' calls for the change The push to remove Zuckerberg's name was ongoing well before the recent staff walkouts and the current advertising boycott from companies criticizing Facebook. Nurses had become vocal by at least May 2018 , staging protests about the name change. It came after data breaches and privacy scandals at Facebook left hospital staff and patients concerned. 'The patients are afraid. I know people who go to the doctor and they're afraid to tell the doctor what's going on because they don't know who is going to get that information,' nurse Sasha Cuttler told ABC 7. 'People are afraid. Ive spoken with people who have said, Im afraid to tell my doctor anything, because I dont know who is going to get that information,"' Cuttler added to KPIX-TV. 'Its fine to have somebodys name and to accept a donation and fundraising, but that doesnt mean you can do whatever you like with patient data.' San Francisco supervisor Matt Haney posted a lengthy thread calling for the name change Others were concerned that Zuckerberg's name clouded the legacy of the hospital. 'It's all the more reason to get it off of here, so we can get our identity back as the city and county's public hospital,' said nursing assistant Mark Dingle of the 146-year-old facility. Even members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors admitted the name change may not have been a good idea. 'Look its a double-edged sword, and I totally get the loyalty to the name as it was historically, but this is a thing thats between the donors and the Board of Supervisors completely,' Brent Andrew, the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospitals chief communications officer told the New York Times in 2018. 'Had we known what we know now, perhaps we wouldnt have accepted the funds from Zuckerberg,' former supervisor John Avalos had added. The most recent push comes as Zuckerberg is placed under fire by advertisers boycotting Facebook. On Monday Facebook erased almost $60billion from its market value Monday after a massive two-day stock decline as more advertisers joined the boycott of the social network. A long list of companies have pulled advertising from Facebook Inc in support of a campaign that called out the social media giant for not doing enough to stop hate speech on its platforms. The Stop Hate for Profit campaign was started by several U.S. civil rights groups after the death of black man George Floyd in police custody triggered widespread protests against racial discrimination in the United States. Zuckerberg said in a Facebook Live video on Friday that the company would begin labeling 'harmful' content from politicians that remains 'newsworthy' The campaign has criticized Mark Zuckerberg's decision to not moderate the U.S. president, in particular, after the Facebok CEO defended his decision not to limit Trump's often controversial, incendiary and inaccurate posts. Companies such as Starbucks and Ford recently added their names to the list despite attempts by Zuckerberg to do a u-turn on the company's hate speech policy. He announced policy tweaks Friday that included labels for 'harmful' posts from public figures. Zuckerberg has dismissed calls for him to resign from Facebook as 'ridiculous' after facing backlash from employees at the charity he and his wife run over his refusal to crack down on Trump's posts and hate speech. The billionaire faced calls to resign from either Facebook or the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which he started with his wife Priscilla Chan, during a town hall meeting last week with the charity's employees. An engineer confronted the Facebook founder over his refusal to moderate President Donald Trump's posts and said that his decisions at the social media giant reflected on him as a leader. According to a video of the remarks, which was obtained by Recode, Zuckerberg said that employees needed to decide for themselves if they wanted to work for the charity if they disagreed with the decisions he made at Facebook. Soldiers have been banned from 'taking the knee' in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement because it was deemed too political. Commanders warned personnel at HMS Sultan in Gosport, Hampshire, that when in uniform they could not partake in the action. Defence officials are currently reviewing the policy to see if there's any leeway where they can show their respect in other ways. The Ministry of Defence have told uniformed forces personnel that they should not perform the symbolic gesture which is used to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement A defence source said: 'When they are in uniform, they are not allowed to take part in any political activity. With taking the knee, it is becoming a political movement.' They added: 'When you are in uniform there are long standing rules for how you should behave. 'We are looking at the policy and are trying to find a way in an appropriate situation what they can do to show their respect. 'The armed forces and the MoD is absolutely against racism in any form and wants to stamp it out.' It comes after a row over the move as the Metropolitan Police gave the green light to its officers to taking a knee during a BLM protest last month. Taking the knee has however proved controversial, with two Metropolitan Police officers criticised for kneeling outside Downing Street in front of BLM protestors Kent Police's chief constable Alan Pughsley took the knee at a BLM event recently Several officers adopted the pose in support of the anti-racism protests in London. The rank-and-file union said the gesture 'shows we are human beings'. One former officer said he was 'ashamed' that officers had taken a knee.. He 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.' It comes after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab came under criticism after he said he understood why some people took the knee, but said he would only do so 'for the Queen and the Mrs when I asked her to marry me.' The pose has spread widely since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month as a way of showing support for the BLM movement and respect for those killed. It doesnt seem like people want to leave their pets behind, as people pack up the car and hit the road and get to a nearby place that is accessible, he said. As states reopen, people are looking to get out into more wide-open areas. In a survey we did of our guests, nearly three out of four said they felt more comfortable staying in an Airbnb listing over a hotel. Theyre not looking to stay in areas where they may have to interact with many different guests, in high traffic areas and lobbies. A Black Lives Matter group has been accused of anti-Semitism after posting a controversial mural as a cover photo for a Facebook event. The mural, 'Freedom of Humanity', was removed from East London in 2012 after concerns from Jewish groups that it contained 'vile anti-Semitic tropes' such as the idea that Jewish people controlled the world. The street artist, Mear One, has previously denied being anti-Semitic, and said the mural is instead about 'class' and 'privilege.' The image was posted online by Black Lives Matter Oxford, who are independent of but support Black Lives Matter, as a cover photo on Facebook for an event called 'Freedom Summer BLM', as reported by Cherwell. The mural previously caused controversy for Jeremy Corbyn after he questioned why the image was being removed from East London in a Facebook post. The former Labour leader had written 'Why? You are in good company' ahead of its removal in 2012, but later admitted the image is 'deeply disturbing'. The picture was attached as a cover photo for the event and was spotted by Liberal Democrat councillor Alexadrine Kantor who responded on Twitter The street artist, Mear One, has previously denied being anti-Semitic, and said the mural (pictured) is instead about ''class' and 'privilege' What is the 'Freedom of Humanity' mural? The mural, 'Freedom of Humanity', was painted in the East End by graffiti artist Kalen Ockerman, known as Mear One, in 2012. It showed six businessmen and bankers sitting around a Monopoly board counting money. The board was placed upon crouched human figures representing the oppressed masses. Mr Ockerman denies being anti-Semitic, saying it is about 'class and privilege' and contains bankers 'made up of Jewish and white Anglos'. The mural was removed by Tower Hamlets council after residents complained about its contents. Lutfur Rahman, who was mayor, said: 'The images of the bankers perpetuate anti-Semitic propaganda about conspiratorial Jewish domination of financial and political institutions.' Jewish groups condemned the image, saying it contained 'vile anti-Semitic tropes' such as the idea that Jewish people controlled the world. It was even likened to the anti-Semitic propaganda seen in Germany ahead of the Second World War. However, it was later said that of the six people depicted in the mural - Lord Rothschild, John D Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Aleister Crowley, Andrew Carnegie and Paul Warburg - only two are Jewish. Nick Wright wrote in Morning Star that despite this, the mural 'clearly exaggerates the distinctive features of all six men'. He added that 'exaggerated depictions of Jews are created, disseminated and understood in a historically defined context that includes a powerful, even dominant, discourse that draws upon the long traditions of anti-semitism embedded in the dominant ideology and expressed, over the centuries, in the dominant visual culture.' Advertisement The post by Black Lives Matter Oxford was spotted by Liberal Democrat councillor Alexadrine Kantor, who responded on Twitter. She said: 'The Oxford #BlackLivesMatter seems to think antisemitism is a [sic] acceptable way to fight racism. How disappointing. You don't fight racism with racism.' The group has now taken down the picture from the event and tweeted an apology. A statement said: 'We understand that recently an antisemitic image was used on one of our events. This is deeply concerning and the person who used the image is deeply sorry. We absolutely do not condone the image used and have since removed it. 'We will use this time to learn from their mistakes and ensure every person who attends our events feels safe. We stand resolutely against antisemitism, and see our struggles for liberation as interconnected.' Alexander Kantor, who had called for the picture to be taken down said the 'apologies appreciated and accepted.' She added: 'I do not think they have an issue with anti-Semitism, it was a case of not being aware and they have learnt from it and took action on their staff members to ensure this does not happen again.' 'Mistakes can happen and become opportunities to learn and educate ourselves. It is quite rare to receive an honest and meaningful apology, as well as actions to ensure this won't happen again. 'Apologies appreciated and accepted, but this is not about me []. I am an ally, I am very glad about their public statement. UK BLM should learn from them.' morning The mural, 'Freedom of Humanity', was painted in the East End by graffiti artist Kalen Ockerman, known as Mear One, in 2012. It showed six businessmen and bankers sitting around a Monopoly board counting money. The board was placed upon crouched human figures representing the oppressed masses. Mr Ockerman denies being anti-Semitic, saying it is about 'class and privilege' and contains bankers 'made up of Jewish and white Anglos'. The mural was removed by Tower Hamlets council after residents complained. Lutfur Rahman, who was mayor, said: 'The images of the bankers perpetuate anti-Semitic propaganda about conspiratorial Jewish domination of financial and political institutions.' When contacted by MailOnline the group said: 'Unfortunately yes, an event with the antisemitic mural was posted on our official page without the correct authorisation and was solely done by an individual. 'Once brought to our attention, we instantly apologised and realised the gravity the mural held and resolutely stand with our Jewish community and the fight against racism in all its forms. 'We have pulled together a media team that has complete control of all posts and would like to ensure every person who attends our events and protests feels welcome and safe. The group took the picture down and apologised for any hurt caused by posting the mural The mural previously caused controversy for Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) after he questioned why the image was being removed from East London in a Facebook post 'In light of this, we will be holding our own internal investigation to find out how this happened in the first place. 'Once again, our deepest of apologies, this should never have happened and we absolutely see this as a way for us to grow as a movement and protect al those facing oppression.' Former Labour leader Mr Corbyn previously caused controversy after he made a Facebook post asking why the mural was being removed from Tower Hamlets in 2012. The artist had announced the mural was under threat on social media, to which Mr Corbyn had commented: 'Why? You are in good company. 'Rockerfeller destroyed Diego Viera's mural because it includes a picture of Lenin.' The former Labour leader had written 'Why? You are in good company' ahead of its removal in 2012, but later admitted the image is 'deeply disturbing' The artist had announced the mural was under threat on social media, to which Mr Corbyn had commented: 'Why? You are in good company' His comment, which appeared to oppose the mural's destruction, referred to Diego Rivera's 'Man at the Crossroads', which the Rockefeller family covered because it featured the image of Lenin. Former MP Luciana Berger drew attention to the post in March 2018, writing: 'I asked the Leader's Office for an explanation about this Facebook post first thing this morning. I'm still waiting for a response.' Mr Corbyn later claimed he had only intended to make a 'general comment' about the removal of art on the grounds of freedom of speech, the BBC reported. He said: 'I sincerely regret that I did not look more closely at the image I was commenting on, the contents of which are deeply disturbing and anti-Semitic. 'I am opposed to the production of anti-Semitic material of any kind, and the defence of free speech cannot be used as a justification for the promotion of anti-Semitism in any form.' The Trump family have won a preliminary injunction on Tuesday against their niece Mary Trump and her publishers to stop them from publishing her tell-all book. A judge ruled they had to refrain from 'publishing, printing or distributing' any copies of the book ahead of a hearing on July 10th. The book titled Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man is due to come out on July 28th and the ruling could delay its publication. The decision was made by Judge Hal B. Greenwald at the Dutchess County court just north of New York - and will be a major setback to Mary, the daughter of the president's brother Fred Jr., who died in 1981 from alcoholism. Mary's publisher Simon & Schuster plans to 'immediately appeal' the decision, as the company's lawyer called it a 'First Amendment violation'. The 55-year-old's book promises to describe a 'nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse that helped make Donald Trump the man he is today'. The Trump family have won a preliminary injunction on Tuesday against their niece Mary Trump and her publishers to stop them from publishing her tell-all book The book is also expected to reveal that Mary (pictured on June 19) was the source of a New York Times investigation into the President in 2018 which demolished his image as a self-made man. In fact, he received at least $413 million from his father and was a millionaire by the time he was eight, she said Mary's book - titled Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man is due to come out on July 28th and the ruling could delay its publication The book is also expected to reveal that Mary was the source of a New York Times investigation into the President in 2018 which demolished his image as a self-made man. In fact, he received at least $413 million from his father and was a millionaire by the time he was eight, she said. Lawyers for the president's younger brother Robert, 71, attempted to file papers last Tuesday in Queens County Surrogate's Court against Mary and her publisher Simon & Schuster. The court had ruled that the filing was botched and they had to refile. In a statement, Robert's lawyer Charles Harder told DailyMail.com: 'Robert Trump is very pleased with the New York Supreme Court's injunction against Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster. The actions of Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster are truly reprehensible. 'We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trump's breach of contract and Simon & Schuster's intentional interference with that contract. 'Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end.' Adam Rothberg, a spokesman for Simon & Schuster, said: 'We are disappointed that the Court has granted this Temporary Restraining Order. 'We plan to immediately appeal this decision to the Appellate Division, and look forward to prevailing in this case based on well-established precedents regarding prior restraint'. Simon & Schuster's lawyer Theodore Boutrous said: 'The trial court's temporary restraining order is only temporary but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment. We will immediately appeal'. The decision was handed down by Judge Greenwald, a Democrat who was elected to the Westchester County Family Court in November of 2010. He is currently running for NYS Supreme Court Justice in the state's 9th jurisdiction. His three page order states that Mary and her publishers, Simon & Schuster, will have to appear before the court in Poughkeepsie, upstate New York, on July 10th. Until then anyone who works for the company or with Mary cannot do anything that would make the contents of the bombshell book public. Lawyers for the president's younger brother Robert, 71, attempted to file papers last Tuesday in Queens County Surrogate's Court against Mary and her publisher Simon & Schuster. The court had ruled that the filing was botched and they had to refile The decision was handed down by Judge Greenwald (pictured), a Democrat who was elected to the Westchester County Family Court in November of 2010. He is currently running for NYS Supreme Court Justice in the state's 9th jurisdiction Earlier this month, DailyMail.com revealed that Mary is hiding out in a $2 million beachfront condo while the storm the book has created roils all about her She was spotted buying a six-pack of Bass Ale in the town of Brewster on June 23 Mary fled her home on New York's Long Island, driving her black Audi 270 miles to the condo on Cape Cod in Massachusetts that she bought in 2004 for $1.15 million, but is now worth nearly double that This includes 'directly or indirectly' allowing parts of it to be published, which means they are unable to leak any sections to journalists. This closes an avenue of defense for Simon & Schuster who also published the memoir of Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton. The President went to court to try and gag him but a federal judge ruled that so much was already in the public domain it was impossible. According to the order, Mary's team will have until July 2nd to give responses to the court and the Trumps will have until July 7th to respond. The wording of the order covers Mary, Simon & Schuster and their 'respective members, officers,employees, servants, agents, attorneys, representatives and all other persons acting on behalf of or in concert with either or both of them'. The Trumps went to court over the book by Mary, 55, a psychologist, which the blurb says describes a 'nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse'. They claim that Mary is breaching a non disclosure agreement that she signed 20 years ago to settle a dispute over the will of family patriarch Fred Trump Sr and that they will suffer 'irreparable harm'. Mary is one of two children by Fred Trump Jr, the President's older brother who died in 1981 in his early 40s after battling alcoholism. When Fred Sr died in 1999, Mary and her brother Fred Trump III challenged his will because they claimed that the Trump family exerted undue influence to cut them out. Mary claimed in a lawsuit that in retaliation the Trumps ended healthcare for her side of the family. In the application for the restraining order the Trumps say that everything was resolved in 2001 under a 'global' agreement. Mary and her brother Fred III had filed suit against Trump, Robert and their sister Maryanne in 2000, for wrongful termination of medical benefits and coverage. When Fred Sr died in 1999, Mary and her brother Fred Trump III challenged his will because they claimed that the Trump family exerted undue influence to cut them out Mary is one of two children by Fred Trump Jr, the President's older brother who died in 1981 after battling alcoholism. The application stated that 'confidentiality was at the essence of the settlement agreement' and that Mary was breaching that. As part of the agreement Mary agreed to not 'directly or indirectly publish or cause to be published any diary, memoir, letter, story, photograph, interview, article, essay, account or description or deficient of any kind whatsoever'. The case could now end up in the federal court where judges have generally taken a pro First Amendment view. The ruling essentially forces Simon & Schuster to freeze in place until the injunction is resolved, however it is possible they have already distributed copies of the books to journalists. That raises the possibility that stories could appear in the press even though they are not actively participating in making them happen. Earlier this month, DailyMail.com revealed that Mary is hiding out in a $2 million beachfront condo while the storm the book has created roils all about her. Mary fled her home on New York's Long Island, driving her black Audi 270 miles to the condo on Cape Cod in Massachusetts that she bought in 2004 for $1.15 million, but is now worth nearly double that. She was spotted buying a six-pack of Bass Ale in the town of Brewster. Despite wanting to tell all about her uncle, Mary was less forthcoming when it came to talking to us. 'There will be a time and a place,' she said. 'Have a great day. Enjoy. It's a beautiful spot.' Mary's lawyer Theodore Boutros previously said the president and his family are trying 'to suppress a book that will discuss matters of utmost public importance.' 'They are pursuing this unlawful prior restraint because they do not want the public to know the truth,' he told the New York Times. 'The courts will not tolerate this brazen violation of the First Amendment.' Advertisement Neighbours living just inches apart on the outskirts of Leicester have told of their confusion as communities were split between those who must stay home and those who will enjoy a nationwide easing of lockdown. Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed lockdown measures will be extended in the East Midlands city for at least two weeks after a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases, with non-essential shops closed again and schools shut from Thursday. Leicester City Council and Public Health England issued a map on Tuesday detailing exactly which areas in Leicestershire will be subject to the lockdown, with the boundary extending to Birstall to the north of the city and Wigston to the south. But those living on a street in Scraptoft last night said they were 'totally confused' by the Government's lockdown boundary, as it leaves half the road under strict lockdown and others free to enjoy the nationwide easing of restrictions on July 4. It comes as police suggested they will carry out spot checks on vehicles leaving Leicester to confirm their destinations during the lockdown, while minibuses and coaches travelling into the area will be stopped and turned around, the Times reported. Patrols could also be increased in public spaces to enforce the guidelines, reports claimed, as police in Leicestershire criticised the 'drip-feeding' of information from Whitehall to agencies on the ground. Kathleen McDonagh, 77, who lives a few metres inside Leicester's lockdown border with her daughter Mary, 56, faces a wait of at least two weeks before she can enjoy relaxed Covid-19 measures and be able to head to the pub, hair salons and restaurants. The pair will also have to wait before they can visit with their children and grandchildren, enjoy a cup of tea at The White Horse, or attend mass at the nearby St Joseph's Catholic Church. Meanwhile, Veronica Cayless, 77, who lives in a house opposite the McDonaghs, is excited to restart her life alongside most Britons on what has been dubbed 'Super Saturday'. Her home falls outside the extended lockdown boundary, which was announced on Monday amid a spike in Covid-19 cases in Leicester. The city accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive cases in Britain over the past week. Leicester has an infection rate of 135 per 100,000 people, which is three times higher than the next highest local area. Hospital admissions are also much higher than the norm at between six and ten per day. Lisa Jones, 52, Shelly Evans, 56, and Helen Bale, 49, remain in lockdown in Leicester while their neighbours David Blohm, 74, and Emil Gryglewski do not, as the new border runs through their street Pictured: Where the border cuts across Leicester on Bowhill Grove, after Matt Hancock announced a local extension of lockdown Pictured: The lockdown zone in Leicester, which has left some Britons in lockdown while their neighbours are not Kathleen McDonagh, 77, who lives inside the border in Scraptoft with her daughter Mary (seen together), 56, faces a wait of at least two weeks before she can enjoy relaxed lockdown measures and be able to head to the pub, hair salons, restaurants alongside the rest of Britain The families both live on a quiet suburban street made up of semi-detached, four-bedroom homes with neatly manicured lawns. But the imposition of a local lockdown boundary means some residents will have to remain in isolation while others will, from Saturday, enjoy the same liberation as the rest of the country. Less than a mile away from Mrs McDonagh and Ms Cayless, neighbours who fall both inside and outside the lockdown zone are separated by a mere wooden picket fence. As Leicester becomes the first area in Britain to be subject to local lockdown measures: All non-essential shops will close, with law to be rushed through to underpin the new restrictions, after 800-plus cases were recorded in Leicester since mid-June and the area accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive tests in the UK over the past week; Schools will close from Thursday and will not reopen until next term, amid fears an unusually high incidence in children is driving the spread. They will stay open for vulnerable children and offspring of key workers; People are advised to avoid all but essential travel to, from, and within Leicester and should 'stay at home as much as you can', but there is no formal travel ban at this stage; Easing of lockdown in England on Saturday will not apply in Leicester, meaning pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas will stay shut; Shielding measures will not be loosened in the city on 6 July, unlike the rest of England where the most clinically-vulnerable will be able to spend more time outside. Those on the divided street in Scraptoft last night told of their confusion at the invisible barrier - but insisted that following lockdown rules is the right thing to do. Mrs McDonagh, who lives a few metres inside the border, said she had been looking forward to seeing her grandson who she has not been able to visit since lockdown measures were imposed in March. 'That is what I was looking forward to,' she said. 'I used to see him every day. I really miss him. It is awful. I miss not going to the shops. I like to meet my sister in town once a month and have a cup of tea, but I have not seen her since March, either. 'It's my birthday in August and my son was planning to invite us to a party but I don't think that will happen now.' Leicestershire County Council issued this map today showing the area that will be subject to strict lockdown measures Data shows how Leicester's coronavirus outbreak has grown over time. The numbers compiled for England only include pillar one swab tests, which officials say are only given to patients with a medical need or key workers The Leicester lockdown boundary cuts across Telford Way and Kinross Avenue, with neighbours separated by a wooden fence now in entirely different situations This evening, the border street of Telford Way / Kinross Avenue was busy with children and neighbours in front of their homes on a summer evening doing jobs, chatting and riding bikes R rates disappears from Leicester lockdown discussion A discussion of 'R' rates disappeared amid the spike of coronavirus in Leicester - as experts claim the measurement becomes less reliable when cases drop. The 'R' - or reproductive - rate had been used by ministers to explain whether the coronavirus pandemic was growing or in retreat in Britain throughout the crisis. The number, which is currently between 0.7 and 0.9 in the UK, depicts the average number of secondary infections produced by someone with Covid-19. An 'R' rate less than one shows a falling pandemic, whereas infections are growing if it is above one. The 'R' value was barely mentioned in briefings amid the spike in coronavirus cases in Leicester, the Daily Telegraph reported, with Matt Hancock instead sharing a seven-day infection rate. He also mentioned daily hospital admissions in the area - which are currently between six and ten. This apparent shift away from the 'R' rate could illustrate growing discomfort with the measurement among ministers. In June, a senior government scientist issued a 'word of caution' to the media about the term, especially when it was applied regionally. He said the 'R' rate became less reliable as new case numbers fell. Shortly afterwards, 'growth rates' were published by the Government alongside these measures. Advertisement For daughter Mary, a freelance print designer who works from home, she is also missing family and the chance to go to church. 'We have not been to mass since March,' she said. 'We miss it. We watch televised masses, but it's not the same. We cannot receive communion.' However, the pair are convinced that following lockdown rules is the right thing to do. Leicester has recorded 944 positive Covid-19 cases over two weeks almost a third of the city's 3,216 total since the pandemic began. 'We are doing everything we can to follow the rules to help the community,' said Mary, who revealed they have not even seen family members on the opposite side of the street, except on Zoom. 'We will never get out of lockdown if people don't just knuckle under and do it for everyone else.' Meanwhile Ms Cayless, who lives directly opposite the McDonaghs, said she is looking forward to visiting one of her sons, who lives in St Albans, for the first time since Christmas. 'It is totally confusing for everyone. But I am lucky. I am looking forward to going for a walk with my friend, which I would not be able to do over there,' she said. Ms Cayless added she isn't sure how the extended lockdown will be enforced, as 'how can anyone test where someone is from if they have crossed the boundary.' Less than a mile away, residents inside and outside of the lockdown zone near Thurncourt are separated only by a wooden picket fence. On one side, Helen Bale, 49, said she is disappointed she will have to wait even longer to visit friends and family outside Leicester, because those inside the restricted zone are now limited to just essential travel. 'We were due to visit my in-laws in Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire but now we can't go,' said the care worker. 'If I was stopped by police they would say you can't do it.' The confusion about what residents can and cannot do is widespread and extends to whether people can work and where they can shop. Mrs Bale lives inside the lockdown zone, but works outside of it. Matt Hancock announced non-essential shops will shut from today and schools will close from Thursday in Leicester The streets of Leicester were almost empty this morning as residents responded to the warnings about a coronavirus surge The market remained boarded up in Leicester today, with lockdown set to be tightened up again to combat the spread Gallowtree Gate in Leicester today as locals brace themselves for the new lockdown after a coronavirus surge A resident walks along a street in the North Evington area of Leicester today amid the renewed lockdown measures 'My boss called me and said how does it fall for you? If I don't go in, I don't get paid. I just don't see how it is going to work,' she said. Neighbour Lisa Jones, 51, is also in the Covid-19 hotspot area and remains in lockdown. 'I am confused,' said the dance school receptionist. 'Am I allowed on the other side of that fence? Am I allowed to go to the local shops for essentials because the shops I use are just outside the lockdown zone?' Mrs Jones' daughter had a baby just before the initial lockdown period was introduced and visits have only just restarted. Now, they will have to end. 'I have only seen my grandson three or four times. And now I cannot see him. It's devastating,' she said. Soldiers from the Royal Logistics Corp operate a mobile coronavirus testing site at Evington Leisure Centre in Leicester today, with one pictured carrying a box for drivers to put their Covid-19 swabs in Military personnel set up a mobile coronavirus testing site Victoria Park, Leicester this morning How a large BAME population, poverty and crowded households may have contributed to Leicester's spike in cases Government officials, local politicians and scientists are divided over whether Leicester is experiencing a real surge in cases or whether better testing is simply finding more of them where it wasn't before. It is also not clear whether there are any characteristics of Leicester which make it more likely to see a surge in cases, or if random chance has meant the first 'second wave' is happening there. Experts say many of the risk factors in Leicester are the same in all major cities in England. The mayor of the city, Sir Peter Soulsby, said on BBC Radio 4 this morning that a report sent to him by the Government 'actually acknowledges that it's very likely that the increase in number of positives identified is a result of increased testing, and that actually there's perhaps nothing of any great significance in those results.' Director of Public Health for the city, Ivan Browne, said: 'Interestingly it [the surge in cases] is very much around the younger, working age population and predominantly towards the east part of our city. We started to see this level through our testing programme. 'Young people work in many industries across the city so at this stage what we're trying to do is gather as much epidemiological information as we can to really try and get underneath and have an understanding. I don't think at the moment that we are seeing a single source or a single smoking gun on this'. It was always likely that surges in cases would be seen in cities first. There are more people, raising the risk, and those people are more likely to live in densely populated areas and come into contact with strangers on a regular basis. Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, from the University of Cambridge, said: 'There will be differences in the ease with which people can maintain physical distance between densely populated areas and rural environments so it isn't surprising to me that we may see localised flare-ups, which in turn may need suppressing through delayed easing or temporary re-introduction of some constraints on some movements and activities.' Leicester also has high levels of deprivation, which affects people's lives in ways that put them at risk of catching the virus. Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: 'In deprived areas people are more likely to have to go to work, less likely to be able to work from home, and more likely to use public transport. They can't distance themselves from others.' The Samworth Brothers sandwich factory in the city reported over the weekend that it had diagnosed cases of Covid-19 among its staff. Food processing factories are a higher transmission risk because cold environments allow the virus to survive for longer on hard surfaces and make people's airways more susceptible to infection. Dr Clarke added that the types of work people do may increase their risk. 'Blue collar cities are now at higher risk than places like London and Manchester which have more financial services,' he added. Advertisement On Tuesday, the border street was busy with children and neighbours in front of their homes doing jobs, chatting and riding bikes. However, at a point in the road a line of cobbles crosses the tarmac, which is the route of an old railway line that marks the boundary between the City of Leicester and the Market Harborough District, which is outside the lockdown area. The first house in the 'free world' of Market Harborough District belongs to David Blohm, 61, a retired builder. 'I don't get it,' he told MailOnline. 'Before lockdown my wife and I would go for a meal once a fortnight, I am looking forward to doing that again. But I am really worried about Covid. I think they released the lockdown too early.' Meanwhile, Emil Gryglewski, 33, is glad to be on the right side of the lockdown line but is sympathetic to his neighbours who are not. 'I understand it is a difficult situation,' he said. 'I am not sure if it's a good way to stop the virus, but if you are going to do it there needs to be a line somewhere. Unfortunately, this is the line.' 'I am on the good side, they are on the dark side,' joked the father. 'I feel sorry for them. I know it's not fair.' People elsewhere in the city appeared to agree with the lockdown on Tuesday, but were angry it had been required. Accountant Vina Chaudhry, 34, told The Sun: 'I'm embarrassed to be born and to live in Leicester and I hope the Government makes an example of our city. How can some people be so stupid and breach social distancing rules that are put in place to help keep us safe. The city has been packed and we are now being punished for those idiots not abiding by the rules.' Shop worker David Welby, 46, added: 'Leicester hasn't complied and we're now all paying the price. But I have no problem obeying the lockdown and I'm glad it's extended. It's essential.' Speaking to the House of Commons last night, the Health Secretary confirmed non-essential shops which opened on June 15 would close again from Tuesday and schools would shut from Thursday as he plunged Leicester back into lockdown. 'Having taken clinical advice on the actions necessary and discussed them with the local team in Leicester and Leicestershire, we have made some difficult but important decisions,' he told MPs. 'We've decided that from tomorrow, non-essential retail will have to close and as children have been particularly impacted by this outbreak, schools will also need to close from Thursday, staying open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers as they did throughout. 'Unfortunately, the clinical advice is that the relaxation of shielding measures due on July 6 cannot now take place in Leicester. 'We recommend to people in Leicester, stay at home as much as you can, and we recommend against all but essential travel to, from and within Leicester. We'll monitor closely adhering to social distancing rules and we'll take further steps if that is what's necessary.' Mr Hancock said the reintroduced measures will be kept under review and will not be kept in place 'any longer than is necessary', adding: 'We'll review if we can release any of the measures in two weeks. 'These Leicester-specific measures will apply not just to the city of Leicester but also the surrounding conurbation including, for example, Oadby, Birstall and Glenfield.' The Health Secretary told the Commons: 'These actions are profoundly in the national interest too because it's in everyone's interests that we control the virus as locally as possible. 'Local action like this is an important tool in our armoury to deal with outbreaks while we get the country back on its feet.' Leicester mayor pleads for bailout cash to stop firms being crippled by new closure orders - as it's revealed he broke restrictions to visit his girlfriend By Andy Dolan and Eleanor Hayward for the Daily Mail A furious row broke out yesterday over the Government's decision to put Leicester back in lockdown. The city's mayor demanded a new bailout for struggling businesses and police complained they needed clear instructions on enforcing restrictions. The local police commissioner also criticised the 'drip-feeding' of information from Whitehall to agencies on the ground. There was anger that a map showing which parts of the city and surrounding areas were subject to the lockdown only emerged 'well after' it had been announced. Niall Dickson, head of the NHS Confederation, which represents health service providers, said the lockdown had been 'clouded in confusion', warning: 'What has happened in Leicester could well be repeated elsewhere and we need a transparent approach for any future local lockdowns with clear accountability and public messages that are transparent, consistent and timely.' Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby (pictured) today demanded a new bailout for struggling businesses as police complained they needed clear instructions on enforcing restrictions Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby called for a bailout and said he was 'very, very concerned' about the economic impact on the city, which has seen a spike in coronavirus cases in the past two weeks. Non-essential shops that reopened a fortnight ago were told to close yesterday and schools must shut once more to most pupils from today. The nationwide easing of restrictions this Saturday including the reopening of pubs, hair salons and restaurants will not extend to the city. Residents were advised to stay at home as much as possible and warned against all but essential travel. The lockdown zone includes 147 local authority-controlled schools which must close tomorrow except for the children of key workers. The zone also takes in 239 restaurants, 196 hair salons or barbers and 182 pubs. The Prime Minister's spokesman said any Leicester employers who have used the furlough scheme up to now could re-furlough employees. Yesterday shopping streets in the city centre continued to throng with people. Gallowtree Gate in Leicester today as locals brace themselves for the new lockdown after a coronavirus surge Three females wearing masks queue outside the testing centre. The city's mayor has said that pubs and restaurants may have to stay closed for two more weeks due to a surge in cases People stand in a queue outside a walk-in coronavirus testing centre in Leicester, directed by a man in an orange hi-viz jacket wearing a mask Four men in the military are pictured standing round at a mobile walk-in testing centre at Spinney Hill Park, a 34-acre green space close to the city centre Leicestershire Police Federation said it would be 'impossible' to manage the situation solely by relying on the public's 'common sense'. Figures released by Leicester City Council yesterday showed that 3,216 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed since the start of the epidemic, with almost a third of those 944 reported in the last two weeks. Alarmingly, the percentage of young people aged 18 and under being diagnosed with the virus in Leicester has trebled from five per cent to 15 per cent over the last six weeks. Dr Jon Bennett, of Glenfield Hospital in the city, said staff first noticed an 'upsurge' in coronavirus admissions three weekends ago. A quarter of the hospital's 80 current Covid patients are now on oxygen support. Dave Stokes, of Leicestershire Police Federation, said his members would be assessing the 'practicalities' of the new lockdown. Mayor urged to quit for breaking rules Pictured: Leicester's Sir Peter Soulsby Leicester's mayor faced calls to resign last night after he broke the lockdown. Sir Peter Soulsby was forced to apologise when a newspaper revealed he breached rules last month by visiting his partner before restrictions were relaxed. The former Labour MP, 71, admitted 'an error of judgment' after he stayed overnight at partner Lesley Summerland's home. Neighbours said he stayed with Miss Summerland, 64, up to four times a week. Sir Peter lives seven miles away. On May 1 he tweeted: 'Stay safe at home.' Leicestershire Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: 'Now we've got the situation where there is a huge spike in infections. Sir Peter Soulsby really should stand down. He has ignored the lockdown rules himself... he is culpable.' Advertisement He added: 'It's essential we get clarity from the Government as soon as possible on what the public can and can't do in this targeted lockdown. As we have seen over recent weeks and months, if the guidance and messaging from Government is confusing for the public then it will be almost impossible for our colleagues to police. 'We still wait for confirmation on what our colleagues' exact roles will be in policing, and potentially enforcing, this 'Leicester Lockdown', and what legislation our members will be asked to use. We have seen examples from across the country that 'common sense' is impossible to police.' Police and Crime Commissioner Lord Willy Bach accepted the new lockdown was justified, but added: 'Amazingly we were not even provided with a map of the (lockdown) area until well after the announcement. That has now been issued, but, unfortunately, we received minimal guidance regarding practical implementation at the time the measures were imposed. 'I have a great deal of sympathy with the agencies charged with delivery. They needed clarity from the start and I am astonished that it is being drip-fed as the day progresses.' He said Leicestershire Police will 'continue to use the four Es (Engage, Explain, Encourage, Enforce)', but warned that without additional legislation, officers' powers remain limited. Earlier yesterday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said extra testing in Leicester over the last ten days had found an 'unusually high incidence' of Covid-19 in children. He added: 'Therefore, because children can transmit the disease even though they are highly unlikely to get ill from the disease we think the safest thing to do is close the schools. Leicester is one of the most ethnically diverse places in the UK, where only 45 per cent of the 330,000 population identify as white British. The city's infection rate is three times higher than in Bradford the next worst-affected area. Doctors in Leicester say they first noticed a surge in cases three weeks ago but it was not until yesterday that the Government published full data showing the extent of the outbreak. The Department of Health said: 'Public Health England began continuously sharing data with the local director of public health as soon as a spike in cases was identified.' ROBERT HARDMAN: The anger and despair of Leicester residents sent to, er, Coventry So much for all these smart new post-Covid council signs erected all over the city which say: 'Great to have you back in Leicester'. As of this week, they might as well add: 'But I'm afraid you've been sent to Coventry.' Poor Leicester woke up yesterday to discover that it is the first place in Britain that must rewind the clock to the dark days of April after a localised second wave of coronavirus. The city famous for unearthing a king in a car park (Richard III now rests in great state in Leicester Cathedral) has become famous again for being the first to go back to 'lockdown' although it must be said that I could find absolutely no evidence of any enforcement here yesterday. This is no mere 'spike'. A famously multi-cultural city that accounts for just 0.6 per cent of the population, Leicester now accounts for a whopping ten per cent of all cases of Covid-19 across NHS England. So any return to normality has been postponed for at least a fortnight. While the rest of the country will see pubs, hotels and campsites reopening this weekend, Leicester has been told to go the other way. 'Super Saturday' will be 'Sober Saturday' in this part of the East Midlands, with 'Sombre Sunday' to follow. Poor Leicester woke up yesterday to discover that it is the first place in Britain that must rewind the clock to the dark days of April after a localised second wave of coronavirus, writes Robert Hardman (Pictured: Vicki Chapple on her market stall in Leicester) The city famous for unearthing a king in a car park (Richard III now rests in great state in Leicester Cathedral) has become famous again for being the first to go back to 'lockdown' Schools must close, along with non-essential shops many of which had only just reopened and people are being told to stay at home. Pubs and restaurants that had been busy preparing to reopen are now tearfully putting the shutters back up. Worse still, perhaps, is the fact that the residents now find themselves branded as outcasts. 'We're like the Leicester lepers,' sighs local child protection worker, Tracy Jebbett, calling in to BBC Radio Leicester to complain that her upcoming holiday to Cornwall has just been cancelled. The management of her St Austell campsite have just announced a ban on all bookings from Leicester and have told her she cannot come. Social media, meanwhile, is buzzing with stories of Leicester lads and lasses planning to escape to neighbouring Derby or Nottingham for a night on the tiles this weekend. Anyone stupid or brave enough to head out of town in a Leicester City or Leicester Tigers replica shirt can certainly expect ostracism or worse. The local authorities have said they will 'enforce' restrictions but no one believes that for one moment. This is not Wuhan, and no one is expecting the proverbial 'ring of steel'. But, thus far, Leicester is not even bothering with a ring of Dettol. Of more immediate concern to the authorities is why this particular city should be suffering such an explosion of cases after a below-average rate of infection thus far. The locals have plenty of theories, however. 'Parts of the city are very overcrowded and some people have been negligent because we were sailing along near the bottom of the infection league,' says Manzoor Moghal, chairman of the Muslim Forum think tank, businessman and former chairman of the county council race relations committee. 'We have a lot of factories. Leicester is mostly Asian and a lot of families have been visiting each other, thinking they were Covid-free. And now that has been found out.' Pictured: Robert Hardman stands by a sign reading 'great to have you back in Leicester' as the city's lockdown is extended Despite widespread publicity about the disproportionate impact of the virus on members of ethnic minorities, and the number of multi-generational households here, Mr Moghal says the message has been lost on many. 'That should have made people take more precautions and older people, especially those with underlying issues, have done that. But the young take a different attitude.' Talk of minorities is somewhat ambiguous. Leicester prides itself on being the most diverse city in Britain. The 2011 census showed the white population (50.6 per cent) would soon be a minority and subsequent polls suggest this is now the case. However, some of the areas with the highest infection rates are those with predominantly Asian-origin populations on the eastern side of the city. 'You just want to look at the local park at night,' says Amit Patel, 26, boss of Milan Sweets in Evington, just down from the once-mighty Imperial Typewriter Factory. 'There are 500 people in there watching or playing cricket at night.' He only recently reopened his delightful shop and adjacent catering business, and has just brought all his staff back from furlough. Initially, business was back to 80 per cent of pre-pandemic turnover but, as of this week, it has slumped. 'We can't afford to shut down again, especially if there is going to be no government support.' So does he expect Leicester to observe the renewed lockdown? 'Some will. But others will go straight to the pub in Market Harborough.' You need only venture off main streets like East Park Road to see some of the places where, according to the locals, fresh cases of the virus are rife. There are numerous small factories, many of them in the textile trade, that have recently gone back to work. The lights are on in cluttered workshops, the machinery is grinding away and staff are working at close quarters with no apparent sign of extra ventilation beyond the odd open window. Meanwhile, the gutters outside are littered with piles of empty nitrous oxide (or laughing gas) canisters, a sure sign of back-street partying. 'Indians like to sit together and share food together,' says Ali Siddiq, 56, offering me a piece of naan bread as he sits on a bench in Spinney Hill Park. 'You've got houses on the Uppingham Road with shift workers living 12 to a house. That's why this virus is here. But I am leaving it all to God.' 'Go out on the streets in the morning and you'll see all these workers heading for the factories,' says retired council officer Masoom Jeraj, 69, whom I meet in Spinney Hill Park with his wife, Naznin. People observe social distancing in Spinney Hill Park, Leicester as non-essential shops close amid the localised pandemic lockdown Children's play swings remained locked and chained, due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Spinney Hill Park, Leicester today The couple have come here to get a coronavirus test at the walk-in testing centre run by a team from the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglians. Everyone seems delighted to see Sergeant Ashley Ward and his team, four of whom are local Leicester lads anyway. 'I don't see this as a task. It's just something that needs to be done and we are pleased to help,' says Lance-Corporal Peter Arnold, 26, formerly of nearby London Road. I am offered a nose-and-throat swab test which is quick and painless with a result promised in 24 hours. I expected a long queue here but there is none at all. After a while, Kalpesh, 44, turns up with his mother and five-year-old daughter. Kalpesh has been off work for several days with a headache. His doctor told him to see an optician which he has already done but he has now lost his sense of smell, too. His mother, he adds, has developed a cough. I ask where he works. 'Samworth Brothers,' he says. Instant alarm bells. The giant food factory has already confirmed cases on its production lines. Kalpesh says he was planning to go back to work in the morning. So is he going? 'I will wait for the results,' he says. I wish him the best of luck. The centre of Leicester is eerily empty, save for the market place. A restricted number of stalls are selling fruit and veg on the same spot where a young Gary Lineker used to work on his father's stand. One of Barry Lineker's former workers was Vicki Chapple who has long been running her own stall. She has stayed open through the pandemic and has sent plenty of fresh fruit to her sister, an intensive care nurse who has been 'very poorly' with the virus. 'It really saddens me because it makes this city look bad,' she tells me. 'We are a strong city and we will bounce back. But I don't like this idea of segregating the city. If you're going to have a lockdown, it should be the whole county or else it won't work.' Out beyond the city boundaries, however, I find plenty of solidarity. The Bulls's Head at Whetstone had been due to reopen this weekend and still could but will not. 'I had a big order of beer booked for this morning but I have just cancelled it,' says landlady Jane Irwin. 'We'd been really looking forward to seeing our regulars again.'But we're only just beyond the red line so some people might have been worried about other drinkers crossing the line. So we'll just have to wait. We've done three and a half months of lockdown. What's another two weeks?' Advertisement Clothes factory bosses in Leicester vow to defy city lockdown because they cannot afford to lose any more money - even if it puts lives at risk By Vivek Chaudhary for the MailOnline Garment manufacturers in Leicester have vowed to defy the city's local coronavirus lockdown, protesting that they cannot afford to lose any more money even if it means putting lives at risk. Dozens of small to medium sized units making clothes for leading high street and online companies operate in the city's lockdown area, where coronavirus rates are highest. All were operating on the first day of the city's lockdown despite Government ordering non-essential businesses to close and warning residents to stay at home. Many garment bosses also admitted to MailOnline that they only partially closed during the first lockdown and resumed operating before they should have done. Local officials have already voiced concerns that one of the reasons for Leicester's coronavirus spike may be the poor conditions garment workers have to face with little social distancing or PPE provided for them. They also face long hours toiling in stuffy factories where there is little ventilation, increasing the chances of becoming infected with coronavirus. Asim Ali, 34, manager of Fazia Fashion which is located in lockdown area said: 'We haven't had any guidance from the Government or local authority on if we should close or remain open. 'But to be honest, we lost so much money during the first lockdown that we cannot afford to close. It would be a disaster for the company and our workers. So, we will remain open, regardless of what the authorities tell us.' The company employs 35 people and most of them were busy stitching clothes for an order which had to be completed by the end of this week. Not all were wearing masks or gloves while others did not maintain social distance. Asim Ali, 34, manager of Fazia Fashion which is located in lockdown area said: 'We haven't had any guidance from the Government or local authority on if we should close or remain open. But to be honest, we lost so much money during the first lockdown that we cannot afford to close. It would be a disaster for the company and our workers. So, we will remain open, regardless of what the authorities tell us' Leicester has the largest number of garment workers in the UK and there are 1500 garment manufacturing businesses in the city employing around 10,000 people, the majority from BAME communities. Figures already shown that BAME people are at greater risk of contracting coronavirus or dying from it. Mr Ali said: 'Our workers are predominantly South Asian, and they know the risks they are taking because they are most at risk of catching coronavirus. But what can they do? They are not rich people and need this money to survive.' He admitted that the company reopened before it was supposed to during the first lockdown, shutting down for only four weeks. 'We lost around 20,000 per week during that period and had to reopen early. Our workers also wanted to come back. Orders have started picking up again but now this second lockdown has ruined things,' he added. Workers at the Fazia fashion factory continue to work despite the newly reimposed lockdown Workers operated their sewing machines despite the real risk of contracting Covid-19 Richu Uppal, owner of Cute Girl, which specialises in making clothes for young women said that the company employs 12 people and would continue to operate. She added: 'We might be getting some help from the Government but financially, we are in big trouble and so are our workers. We only closed for four weeks during the first lockdown. 'I know coronavirus can kill but so can hunger and that's why all of us need to continue working.' Many of the workers inside the small, cramped factory where it was unbearably hot were unable to socially distance while none were wearing face masks or gloves. Mohmed Talati, 55, also complained about the lack of official guidance Councillor Rashmikant Joshi, who represents the North Evington ward, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Leicester and is home to dozens of garment factories said: 'We are still waiting for all the statistics to completely understand what is behind this increase in coronavirus infections. But the working conditions of many people in Leicester are not good, particularly those who work in the garment industry. I'm in little doubt that this is a contributory factor to the huge surge that we are witnessing' Mohmed Talati, 55, who runs 21 F.C, which specialises in cutting material for garment factories said: 'We'll continue to stay open because the factories are going to operate through this lockdown. 'While that happens, they'll need material cut for them. There has been very little guidance or advice provided to us. Nobody is sure if we are essential or non-essential and most people have taken the decision to continue operating.' The manager of Easy Fit, which manufactures women's clothes said: 'We closed during the first lockdown for four weeks. After that we had to open, even though we weren't supposed to. 'Business was slowly returning to normal and now we have this problem. But we can't afford to close, and our staff can't afford not to work. It's as simple as that.' Councillor Rashmikant Joshi, who represents the North Evington ward, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Leicester and is home to dozens of garment factories said: 'We are still waiting for all the statistics to completely understand what is behind this increase in coronavirus infections. 'But the working conditions of many people in Leicester are not good, particularly those who work in the garment industry. I'm in little doubt that this is a contributory factor to the huge surge that we are witnessing.' A grandfather who was just hours from death when his weight plummeted to nine stone during a 65 day battle with coronavirus has defied medics to make a 'miracle' recovery. Victor McCleary, 57, spent six weeks in a coma after being struck down with the killer virus which left him unable to eat or breathe for himself. His family were told to say their final goodbyes after being told it was unlikely he would survive the disease as he 'literally withered away' in hospital. Victor McCleary, pictured with his partner Helen Madden, spent six months in a coma while battling Covid-19 His family were warned that he may never recover from the illness after some of his organs began to fail The 15 stone construction worker was left just 'skin and bone' after he dropped six stone during his 11 week stint in hospital as nurses fed him through a tube The 15 stone construction worker was left just 'skin and bone' after he dropped six stone during his 11 week stint in hospital as nurses fed him through a tube. During this time, his fiancee Helen Madden, 55, also lost her father, John, to the disease and feared the worst for her partner as he lay in intensive care. But incredibly, Mr McCleary's condition miraculously improved thanks to the tireless efforts of NHS staff at Worcestershire Royal Hospital who cared for him around the clock. After a total of 65 days in hospital - during which time he had to learn how to sit, stand and walk again - he was finally discharged and sent home on June 9. Mr McCleary, of Worcester, said: 'I take my hat off to the staff at the hospital, they went above and beyond for me and are the reason I am still here today. 'The doctors told my family that it was likely I wouldn't survive. They said I could pass on at any moment. 'I was on 100 per cent oxygen and unable to breathe by myself. 'I was literally withering away. When I came out of the coma, I remember looking down at my body in shock and thinking I had been in a car crash. 'It was like someone had stolen my body. I only saw skin and bone. 'I thought "Oh my life what's gone on here". Before going into the coma, I was fit enough but I was quite a big lad. I was strong and had quite a lot of muscle. Mr McCleary said: 'I was literally withering away. When I came out of the coma, I remember looking down at my body in shock and thinking I had been in a car crash. It was like someone had stolen my body. I only saw skin and bone' 'But then all of a sudden, here I was, being unable move. I had to learn to sit up then learn to walk again. 'I was given a food supplement through a syringe into my stomach due to the damage done to my vocal cords. I always felt hungry but there was no other way. 'This has been so hard for me. It was a terrifying journey. I still feel so weak. Going upstairs is like climbing a mountain. 'I know we all look at the NHS workers with pride, but until you have watched these guys and gals give 110 per cent up close it hits home. 'They never moan, they always show compassion and they put themselves on the front line. 'I can say I feel so proud of the NHS team, the best in the world.' Mr McCleary said he began to fall ill on March 27, and both he and Helen, who works at Worcestershire Royal Hospital as a cleaner, decided to self isolate for two weeks. The grandfather-of-four and father-of-two said he expected the virus to be the like a cold or the flu and now wants to warn others of the dangers of Covid-19. He added: 'I started hearing about coronavirus at the beginning of March, the same as everyone else really. 'My work in construction takes me all over the place and I was still working up until March 23. 'I have to be honest, I wasn't really worried, I didn't realise the extent of the virus. 'I imagined it would just be like flu. I am a large bloke and very fit and healthy so I wasn't too fazed by it. 'But I knew how I felt was not normal. I have never been ill and not missed a day of work for 17 years. 'I was losing my breath walking up the stairs, I would get dizzy and my temperature rose to 42. 'On Sunday, April 5, in the morning I told Helen I found it hard to breathe so she called 111 and within ten minutes the ambulance was with us. He said: 'I imagined it would just be like flu. I am a large bloke and very fit and healthy so I wasn't too fazed by it' 'At a glance, they said they thought I had coronavirus and took me to hospital. I always remember thinking this will be okay, it's only like the flu. 'When I got into the hospital I was drifting in and out and the following day, I was put into the intensive care unit. After that, I had no memory.' While Mr McCleary was in intensive care, his family were left in limbo while Helen, sadly lost her father to the disease on Good Friday. He said: 'I was having to be fed a supplement with syringes through my nose as they had damaged my vocal cords with the tube. 'There was a tube in my nose and this thing would move so there would be days when I wouldn't get any food at all. They said it was a miracle I survived. 'Helen really did have a lot going on in her life - with me in hospital, her father dying but then we had a grandson Noah born in that time as well. 'It must have been a rollercoaster for her and she remained strong for me and her family. 'While I was recovering I had nothing but time to think. I realise now what I nearly lost and I thank God I pulled through.' Mr McCleary was transferred to Birmingham's QE Hospital on May 17 because of the rehabilitation required due to his kidneys not functioning properly He said: 'I recovered remarkably quickly, and now all things considered I am doing really well. I want to thank the NHS staff at both hospitals for my life and this second chance. I will get strong again but it will take time' Mr McCleary was transferred to Birmingham's QE Hospital on May 17 because of the rehabilitation required due to his kidneys not functioning properly. He said: 'I recovered remarkably quickly, and now all things considered I am doing really well. 'I want to thank the NHS staff at both hospitals for my life and this second chance. I will get strong again but it will take time.' Mr McCleary also blasted those who continue to underestimate the disease while packing out Britain's parks and beaches and gathering in large numbers. He said: 'You wouldn't play Russian Roulette, but that's what they're doing. 'People need to be educated better. I thought it would never happen to me and I would be strong enough to get over it. 'My message to everyone is to be seriously aware of what this virus is. It kills. Please don't take the chance.' The bodies of 70 penguins have been discovered on two neighbouring beaches in Brazil after apparently getting caught in fishing nets. The horrific scene was discovered by the R3 Animal Association on the Santinho and Mocambique beaches in the city of Florianopolis in south-eastern Brazil. R3 Animal Association are one of the institutions which carry out the Monitoring Project of the Santos Basin Beaches. 70 dead Magellanic penguins were discovered washed up on two neighbouring beaches, Santinho and Mocambique, in south-eastern Brazil The horrific scene was discovered by the R3 Animal Association which carry out the Monitoring Project of the Santos Basin Beaches They said: 'We monitor the beaches on the island [of Santa Catarina where Florianopolis is located] in search of dead or weak marine animals. 'The dead animals undergo examination to determine the cause of death, and the living animals are rehabilitated before being released.' The beach monitoring is monitored because of an environmental requirement enforced when licensing was given for the exploration of possible oil and gas reserves in the Santos Basin. Marks on the flippers of some of the Magellanic penguins and the fragment of a fishing net still attached to one of the penguins led to the belief that the birds were killed after getting caught in the netting. Team members from R3 Animal Association examine and document the bodies of some of the penguins Marks on the flippers of some of the Magellanic penguins and the fragment of a fishing net still attached to one of the penguins led to the belief that the birds were killed after getting caught in the netting All 70 birds have been taken to the Centre of research, Rehabilitations and Depetrolisation of Marine Animals for an autopsy. Vet Janaina Rocha Lorenco said that preliminary analysis shows a lack of feathers on the birds' flippers, generalised congestion and other signs point to the penguins potentially having bee trapped in fishing nets and trying to free themselves. One penguin was discovered by a team on Mocambique beach and has been taken to a centre for rehabilitation. Magellanic penguins are often seen in the area at this time of year as they migrate from Patagonia in southern Argentina. Garment manufacturers in Leicester have vowed to defy the citys local coronavirus lockdown, protesting that they cannot afford to lose any more money even if it means putting lives at risk. Dozens of small to medium sized units making clothes for leading high street and online companies operate in the citys lockdown area, where coronavirus rates are highest. All were operating on the first day of the citys lockdown despite Government ordering non-essential businesses to close and warning residents to stay at home. Many garment bosses also admitted to MailOnline that they only partially closed during the first lockdown and resumed operating before they should have done. Local officials have already voiced concerns that one of the reasons for Leicesters coronavirus spike may be the poor conditions garment workers have to face with little social distancing or PPE provided for them. They also face long hours toiling in stuffy factories where there is little ventilation, increasing the chances of becoming infected with coronavirus. All non-essential shops will close from today, with law to be rushed through to underpin the new restrictions, after 800-plus cases were recorded in Leicester since mid-June and the area accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive tests in the UK over the past week; Schools will close from Thursday and will not reopen until next term, amid fears an unusually high incidence in children is driving the spread. They will stay open for vulnerable children and offspring of key workers; People are advised to avoid all but essential travel to, from, and within Leicester and should 'stay at home as much as you can', but there is no formal travel ban at this stage; Easing of lockdown in England on Saturday will not apply in Leicester, meaning pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas will stay shut; Shielding measures will not be loosened in the city on 6 July, unlike the rest of England where the most clinically-vulnerable will be able to spend more time outside. Asim Ali, 34, manager of Fazia Fashion which is located in lockdown area said: We havent had any guidance from the Government or local authority on if we should close or remain open. But to be honest, we lost so much money during the first lockdown that we cannot afford to close. It would be a disaster for the company and our workers. So, we will remain open, regardless of what the authorities tell us. The company employs 35 people and most of them were busy stitching clothes for an order which had to be completed by the end of this week. Not all were wearing masks or gloves while others did not maintain social distance. Asim Ali, 34, manager of Fazia Fashion which is located in lockdown area said: We havent had any guidance from the Government or local authority on if we should close or remain open. But to be honest, we lost so much money during the first lockdown that we cannot afford to close. It would be a disaster for the company and our workers. So, we will remain open, regardless of what the authorities tell us Leicester has the largest number of garment workers in the UK and there are 1500 garment manufacturing businesses in the city employing around 10,000 people, the majority from BAME communities. Figures already shown that BAME people are at greater risk of contracting coronavirus or dying from it. Mr Ali said: Our workers are predominantly South Asian, and they know the risks they are taking because they are most at risk of catching coronavirus. But what can they do? They are not rich people and need this money to survive. He admitted that the company reopened before it was supposed to during the first lockdown, shutting down for only four weeks. We lost around 20,000 per week during that period and had to reopen early. Our workers also wanted to come back. Orders have started picking up again but now this second lockdown has ruined things, he added. Workers at the Fazia fashion factory continue to work despite the newly reimposed lockdown Workers operated their sewing machines despite the real risk of contracting Covid-19 Richu Uppal, owner of Cute Girl, which specialises in making clothes for young women said that the company employs 12 people and would continue to operate. She added: We might be getting some help from the Government but financially, we are in big trouble and so are our workers. We only closed for four weeks during the first lockdown. I know coronavirus can kill but so can hunger and thats why all of us need to continue working. Many of the workers inside the small, cramped factory where it was unbearably hot were unable to socially distance while none were wearing face masks or gloves. Mohmed Talati, 55, also complained about the lack of official guidance Councillor Rashmikant Joshi, who represents the North Evington ward, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Leicester and is home to dozens of garment factories said: We are still waiting for all the statistics to completely understand what is behind this increase in coronavirus infections. But the working conditions of many people in Leicester are not good, particularly those who work in the garment industry. Im in little doubt that this is a contributory factor to the huge surge that we are witnessing Mohmed Talati, 55, who runs 21 F.C, which specialises in cutting material for garment factories said: Well continue to stay open because the factories are going to operate through this lockdown. While that happens, theyll need material cut for them. There has been very little guidance or advice provided to us. Nobody is sure if we are essential or non-essential and most people have taken the decision to continue operating. The manager of Easy Fit, which manufactures womens clothes said: We closed during the first lockdown for four weeks. After that we had to open, even though we werent supposed to. Business was slowly returning to normal and now we have this problem. But we cant afford to close, and our staff cant afford not to work. Its as simple as that. Councillor Rashmikant Joshi, who represents the North Evington ward, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Leicester and is home to dozens of garment factories said: We are still waiting for all the statistics to completely understand what is behind this increase in coronavirus infections. But the working conditions of many people in Leicester are not good, particularly those who work in the garment industry. Im in little doubt that this is a contributory factor to the huge surge that we are witnessing. Is YOUR area at risk of a local lockdown? Interactive tool reveals whether Covid-19 cases have spiked or dropped across every authority in England as data shows outbreaks are GROWING in 36 areas and Leicester becomes first to get shut down Thirty-six authorities in England have suffered a spike in coronavirus cases over the past fortnight, official figures revealed today as Leicester became the UK's first area to be hit by a 'local lockdown'. Public Health England (PHE) data shows the London borough of Havering and the entire county of Wiltshire have seen the biggest week-on-week increases in confirmed Covid-19 infections (300 per cent). In comparison, Leicester recorded a 5 per cent jump in cases going from 39 cases between June 13-19 to 41 in the following seven-day spell. Leicester actually had the smallest percentage jump week-on-week out of all the local authorities where cases have risen, according to government statistics. MailOnline has now created an interactive tool allowing readers to work out whether the coronavirus outbreak in their local area has grown or shrunk in the past fortnight and how many cases have been diagnosed in total since Britain's crisis began. It comes after Matt Hancock last night confirmed Leicester a city in the East Midlands home to 330,000 people would face a two-week lockdown extension. Furious residents blamed 'idiots' in the city for not sticking to social distancing. The streets of the city centre were deserted this morning, as the Health Secretary revealed police will enforce the curbs, vowing to push through laws to bolster their powers. He also admitted action taken to slow the spread of coronavirus in Leicester over the last 11 days failed to work. The city's mayor today revealed he wished ministers had warned of the outbreak a 'long time ago'. One councillor today told MailOnline a quarter of the new cases have been seen in the North Evington ward, in the eastern part of the city. The measures for Leicester first announced in a dramatic statement to the Commons last night include: Data compiled by Public Health England (PHE) shows Havering and Wiltshire have seen the biggest week-on-week increases in confirmed Covid-19 infections (300 per cent). In comparison, Leicester has recorded a 5 per cent jump in cases going from 39 cases registered between June 13-19 to 41 in the following seven-day spell Leicestershire County Council issued this map today showing the area that will be subject to strict lockdown measures PHE a branch of the Department of Health updates the data on coronavirus cases every afternoon based on figures from health chiefs in each of the home nations. But the numbers compiled for England only include pillar one swab tests, which officials say are only given to patients with a medical need or key workers. Positive results from pillar two tests carried out by commercial partners are added into the overall case toll but no geographical breakdown is currently given. For example, government data shows the UK has officially recorded 311,965 Covid-19 cases since the crisis began to spiral out of control in February. Data shows how Leicester's coronavirus outbreak has grown over time. The numbers compiled for England only include pillar one swab tests, which officials say are only given to patients with a medical need or key workers The streets of Leicester were almost empty this morning as residents responded to the warnings about a coronavirus surge The market remained boarded up in Leicester today, with lockdown set to be tightened up again to combat the spread Gallowtree Gate in Leicester today as locals brace themselves for the new lockdown after a coronavirus surge LEICESTER'S STREETS ARE DESERTED ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE LOCAL LOCKDOWN AS RESIDENTS BLAME SPIKE IN CASES ON 'IDIOTS' Furious Leicester residents blamed an explosion in coronavirus cases on 'idiots' flouting social distancing rules today - as ministers warned people face arrest if they break a new lockdown being imposed on the city. In a taste of what communities across the country will face if there are flare-ups, Matt Hancock has declared that all non-essential shops in the area must shut, just two weeks after they were allowed to reopen. Schools will also be closed from Thursday amid fears the surge in cases is being driven by transmission among children - with the loosening planning for the rest of England on July 4 now off the agenda in Leicester until at least July 18. The streets of the city centre were deserted this morning, as Mr Hancock confirmed that police will be enforcing the curbs, vowing to push through laws to bolster their powers. But he hinted that there will be no extra compensation for businesses, and faced a backlash after admitting there will be no ban on cars or trains into the city. The boundaries of the restrictions were only revealed this morning, adding to the sense of chaos. There is also anger that action was not taken sooner, with complaints that ministers kept local authorities in the dark for more than a week after identifying a worrying spike in cases. In a round of interviews intended to reassure an anxious public this morning, Mr Hancock said the government was mobilising its strategy for crushing localised outbreaks - dubbed 'whack a mole' by Boris Johnson. 'It's so important that we get a grip on this spike that has happened in Leicester. We will be closing the shops by law and will be changing the law in the next day or two to do that,' he told BBC Breakfast. He warned people not to travel 'in, out or within Leicester' unless it is essential, but added: 'We are not putting that into law at this stage - we will keep that under review and make changed if we need to'. However, experts branded the outbreak in Leicester 'a reflection of premature lifting of lockdown measures', and predicted other cities would need the same treatment. And health committee chair Jeremy Hunt described the action as a 'necessary puncturing of the elation' that had been building in England as the lockdown loosens. Advertisement But PHE has only revealed the area-by-area data for 63 per cent of the infections meaning the location of 115,000 confirmed cases is missing. The massive disparity in figures is seen clearly in Leicester. Leicester City Council (LCC) claims there has been 3,216 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases across the city since Britain's outbreak began to spiral out of control in February. Local officials revealed 944 of those Covid-19 infections were diagnosed in the past fortnight meaning the city's epidemic has grown by roughly 70.6 per cent since mid-June. This equates to roughly 977 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 people. But that data given to the LCC, which takes into account the results of all tests carried out across NHS, Public Health England and commercial laboratories, is not available to the public. Government-released data shows Leicester has only recorded 1,056 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began a third of the figure obtained by LCC. It revealed only 366 new infections have been confirmed in May and June. Data on the results of pillar one tests analysed by The Daily Telegraph shows Leicester last week recorded the second-highest amount of cases across England behind only Kent (101). However, the rate in Kent the upper tier local authority with the most diagnosed cases (5,591) has dropped 16 per cent week-on-week. Ministers first warned last month that individual towns and cities could be put back on lockdown if they see coronavirus cases rise again once restrictions are relaxed. Officials will carefully monitor the impact on specific areas and will tackle hot zones by introducing 'local lockdowns' where restrictions will be reimposed. Nine of the 36 authorities where Covid-19 cases are rising, including Sunderland, Portsmouth and York, recorded none between June 13 and 19. They all recorded either one or two cases the following week, hence why they were included in the list of areas where outbreaks appear to be growing. Doncaster a town in South Yorkshire recorded the biggest actual spike in coronavirus cases over the two-week period, going from 11 to 32. The London boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham (seven to 18) and Ealing (five to 14) also witnessed big jumps in the actual numbers of cases. Thirteen other London boroughs are also experiencing a rise in coronavirus cases, according to the analysis of the figures by The Telegraph. Official figures do show the number of infections are dropping, however. The average number of lab-confirmed cases has dropped to 894 the lowest since March. But the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which analyses the size of the outbreak, last week warned the speed at which the outbreak is shrinking has 'levelled off'. It estimated 3,200 people are still catching the coronavirus every day in England down slightly from the 3,800 daily infections it predicted the week before. MORE MISERY FOR LEICESTER SHOP OWNER WITHIN 500 YARDS OF LOCKDOWN BOUNDARY James West, 25, sole proprietor of a design firm in Thurmaston village, said he had opened the store this morning unsure how long he would be able to keep doing business A Leicester shop owner has spoken of his frustration after his business fell within 500 yards of the border for new lockdown restrictions, leaving him forced to shut his doors a week after reopening. James West, 25, sole proprietor of Thurmaston Design and Print Co in Thurmaston village, said he had opened the store this morning unsure how long he would be able to keep doing business. Eventually details of the boundaries were published after 10am, confirming that he would have to close once more. 'I am just in the bracket. So I opened up at 9am, and have now closed an hour later,' he told the PA news agency. 'I could have had an extra hour in bed!' Mr West said he had been 'greatly frustrated with the lack of guidance' he and others in the area had received so far, adding that the local Charnwood mayor had been 'the only person of any authority who has put any full information out of any use'. He said: 'I opened my shop last week for the first time and saw an instant increase in orders and now I worry this change will go back to no orders. I havent been eligible for many of the Government funding due to not quite being open for three years.' Mr West said the loss of walk-in trade and the furloughing of many of his business clients had already made the past few months particularly tough. He added that he and his partner Mia Skain had moved into their first home in February, but the lockdown had made him unable to pay himself properly since then. Mr West said: 'We had some savings so we have been using them as best as we can. But I was hoping this was the start of better things.' Advertisement Just a month ago the ONS whose estimates are based on swab testing of up to 25,000 people said up to 9,000 cases were actually occurring each day. Other modeling from PHE suggests 360,000 people were being struck down daily during the peak of the crisis in March but that the outbreak then rapidly tailed off. Department of Health statistics yesterday revealed just 815 Brits were diagnosed with coronavirus. But the government figures never show the true scale of the outbreak. Thousands of people who catch the virus scientifically known as SARS-CoV-2 never swab positive because they don't realise they are sick, couldn't get a test or the result was wrong. It is not clear how many of the confirmed coronavirus tests announced yesterday were actually carried out at NHS or PHE laboratories. This is because the government data released every afternoon works off specimen date, or when the cases occurred, and not when they were actually recorded. For example, only nine people swabbed for the disease in England on June 28 tested positive even though 901 cases were officially recorded that day. Mr Hancock last night confirmed Leicester would face a two-week lockdown extension, after mounting speculation the city would be the first to be hit by the local measures. Today he revealed Leicestershire Police will enforce the new lockdown and ensure all stores apart from supermarkets and pharmacies are closed until at least July 18. Discussing the move this morning, Mr Hancock told BBC Breakfast: 'It's so important that we get a grip on this spike that has happened in Leicester. The Tory minister urged people not to travel 'in, out or within Leicester' unless it is essential but added they won't ban cars or trains from entering the city for now. Language barriers, high levels of diabetes and poverty among Leicester's BAME residents have been blamed for the Covid-19 surge. Mr Hancock admitted they were looking at areas with similar demographics in the north-west and Yorkshire but said: 'Leicester is very significantly worse than other cities.' There has reportedly been a surge of more than 940 cases in cases in just two weeks this month in Leicester, according to the city council. But the PHE data obtained from pillar one testing shows only 350 cases have been recorded since the start of May. The city's mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, today told a press conference he wished ministers had warned of the outbreak a 'long time ago' and revealed local health chiefs were still working through a 'mountain' of data to see where the virus is spreading Data compiled by Public Health England (PHE) shows Havering (left) and Wiltshire (right, a view of a street in the centre of Salisbury in Wiltshire) have seen the biggest week-on-week increases in confirmed Covid-19 infections (300 per cent) Soldiers from the Royal Logistics Corp operate a mobile coronavirus testing site at Evington Leisure Centre in Leicester yesterday, with one pictured carrying a box for drivers to put their Covid-19 swabs in HOW A LARGE BAME POPULATION, POVERTY AND CROWDED HOMES MAY HAVE TRIGGERED LEICESTER'S SPIKE Government officials, local politicians and scientists are divided over whether Leicester is experiencing a real surge in cases or whether better testing is simply finding more of them where it wasn't before. It is also not clear whether there are any characteristics of Leicester which make it more likely to see a surge in cases, or if random chance has meant the first 'second wave' is happening there. Experts say many of the risk factors in Leicester are the same in all major cities in England. The mayor of the city, Sir Peter Soulsby, said on BBC Radio 4 this morning that a report sent to him by the Government 'actually acknowledges that it's very likely that the increase in number of positives identified is a result of increased testing, and that actually there's perhaps nothing of any great significance in those results.' Director of Public Health for the city, Ivan Browne, said: 'Interestingly it [the surge in cases] is very much around the younger, working age population and predominantly towards the east part of our city. We started to see this level through our testing programme. 'Young people work in many industries across the city so at this stage what we're trying to do is gather as much epidemiological information as we can to really try and get underneath and have an understanding. I don't think at the moment that we are seeing a single source or a single smoking gun on this'. It was always likely that surges in cases would be seen in cities first. There are more people, raising the risk, and those people are more likely to live in densely populated areas and come into contact with strangers on a regular basis. Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, from the University of Cambridge, said: 'There will be differences in the ease with which people can maintain physical distance between densely populated areas and rural environments so it isn't surprising to me that we may see localised flare-ups, which in turn may need suppressing through delayed easing or temporary re-introduction of some constraints on some movements and activities.' Leicester also has high levels of deprivation, which affects people's lives in ways that put them at risk of catching the virus. Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline: 'In deprived areas people are more likely to have to go to work, less likely to be able to work from home, and more likely to use public transport. They can't distance themselves from others.' The Samworth Brothers sandwich factory in the city reported over the weekend that it had diagnosed cases of Covid-19 among its staff. Food processing factories are a higher transmission risk because cold environments allow the virus to survive for longer on hard surfaces and make people's airways more susceptible to infection. Dr Clarke added that the types of work people do may increase their risk. 'Blue collar cities are now at higher risk than places like London and Manchester which have more financial services,' he added. 'Factories and manufacturing work are opportunities [for people] to mix and mixing is what it's all about. You wouldn't put a food processing factory in London because it's too expensive.' The ethnicity of Leicester's residents may also play into the risk of the coronavirus spreading fast - 37 per cent of people in the city were Asian or British Asian in the 2011 Census, with 28 per cent of them of Indian heritage. One local researcher told MailOnline multi-generational households were 'part and parcel' of Asian culture and that grandparents often live with their younger relatives. This leads to larger households which increases the risk of more people catching the virus from one infected member of the family. If older people live in the home they are more likely to get seriously ill and to get tested and recorded as a patient, contributing to statistics. Research has shown younger people are more likely to have mild symptoms or not to notice they are ill at all, making them less likely to get tested and to show up in data collection. Professor Brendan Wren, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, added: 'Why this outbreak occurred in the east part of Leicester is unclear and we may never know as the number of cases may be too high to drill down to the fine detail of the original source(s) of the infection.' Advertisement Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia, admitted the number of cases has 'definitely' not been dropping in Leicester. He told MailOnline: 'It (the outbreak) has grumbled on for a bit but it doesn't look that dramatic to me, so I don't know where these big numbers are coming from.' Professor Hunter added: 'It is very concerning that much of the data needed to estimate risk at the local level is not being made publicly available. 'The local tests results currently available on the UK Covid-19 dashboard do not include those tests undertaken by commercial laboratories. 'So without all the tests being included in the local authority data, people cannot adequately assess their local risk. Indeed if you look at the dashboard data for Leicester, it is not that obvious that there is a major re-emergence of the infection there.' Leicester city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the local lockdown announced last night was 'more wide-ranging than wed anticipated'. He told a press conference: 'Im very very concerned obviously about the impact on the well-being of the city in general and the health of the people in the city, but also about the economy of the city. 'One of the things weve been stressing to the Government over recent times is that if Leicester is to be locked down and its economy put in limbo for a little longer, we will need support that was given earlier in the pandemic, throughout the UK, restored here in Leicester.' He also said that leaders are still trying to learn more about where the virus is in the city, saying: 'We do need still to know more about where it is in the community. 'Ive had lots of speculation and lots of questions about where it is in the community and we have not as yet been able to give satisfactory answers even to ourselves, no matter anybody else, about which parts of the community need the intervention. 'Which neighbourhoods, which communities, indeed which streets.' Furious Leicester residents blamed an explosion in coronavirus cases on 'idiots' flouting social distancing rules - as ministers warned people face arrest if they break a new lockdown being imposed on the city from today. In a taste of what communities across the country will face if there are flare-ups, Matt Hancock has declared that all non-essential shops in the area must shut, just two weeks after they were allowed to reopen. Schools will also be closed from Thursday amid fears the surge in cases is being driven by transmission among children - with the loosening planning for the rest of England on July 4 now off the agenda in Leicester until at least July 18. Mr Hancock hinted that there will be no extra compensation for businesses, and faced a backlash after admitting there will be no ban on cars or trains into the city. It is still not even clear where the boundaries of the restrictions will be. There is also anger that action was not taken sooner, with complaints that ministers kept local authorities in the dark for more than a week after identifying a worrying spike in cases. In a round of interviews intended to reassure an anxious public this morning, Mr Hancock said the government was mobilising its strategy for crushing localised outbreaks - dubbed 'whack a mole' by Boris Johnson. 'It's so important that we get a grip on this spike that has happened in Leicester. We will be closing the shops by law and will be changing the law in the next day or two to do that,' he told BBC Breakfast. He warned people not to travel 'in, out or within Leicester' unless it is essential, but added: 'We are not putting that into law at this stage - we will keep that under review and make changed if we need to'. However, experts branded the outbreak in Leicester 'a reflection of premature lifting of lockdown measures', and predicted other cities would need the same treatment. And health committee chair Jeremy Hunt described the action as a 'necessary puncturing of the elation' that had been building in England as the lockdown loosens. Mr Hancock revealed that testing over the past ten days had revealed an 'unusually high incidence in children in Leicester'- who are unlikely to be ill themselves but could pass it to adults. HOW BIG IS THE ACTUAL COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN LEICESTER? Leicester City Council (LCC) claims there has been 3,216 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases across the city since Britain's outbreak began to spiral out of control in February. Local officials revealed 944 of those Covid-19 infections were diagnosed in the past fortnight meaning the city's epidemic has grown by roughly 70.6 per cent since mid-June. This equates to roughly 977 coronavirus cases for every 100,000 people. But that data given to the LCC, which takes into account the results of all tests carried out across NHS, Public Health England and commercial laboratories, is not available to the public. Only the geographical breakdown of pillar one testing which the government says is only given to patients with a medical need or key workers is released by the Department of Health every afternoon. That data shows Leicester has only recorded 1,056 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began a third of the figure obtained by LCC. It revealed only 366 new infections have been confirmed in May and June. This includes 41 recorded between June 20 and 26. In comparison, just 39 were registered in the seven-day spell that ended June 19. The official figures prompted experts to question whether or not Leicester was actually being hit by an outbreak. Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia, said Leicester's Covid-19 outbreak has grumbled on for a bit 'but it doesn't look that dramatic to me'. He told MailOnline it was 'very concerning' that most of the coronavirus data needed to estimate risk at the local level is not being made publicly available by health officials. Advertisement He said: 'There are under 18s that have tested positive and therefore because children can transmit the disease we think the safest thing to do is to close the schools', adding that they delayed this until Thursday to allow parents to organise childcare'. Residents have been advised to stay at home and warned against all but essential travel following a spike of 940-plus Covid-19 cases in Leicester since mid-June. The area accounted for around 10 per cent of all positive cases in Britain over the past week. Mr Hancock said 'in some cases' the lockdown would be enforced by the police, while legal changes would be made so non-essential retail is no longer open. 'We will be bringing forward a legal change very shortly, in the next couple of days, because some of the measures that we've unfortunately had to take in Leicester will require legal underpinning,' he said. When pressed on how people would be stopped from travelling outside the city, he said: 'We're recommending against all but essential travel both to and from and within Leicester, and as we saw during the peak, the vast majority of people will abide by these rules. 'Of course we will take further action including putting in place laws if that is necessary but I very much hope it won't be.' But Leicester Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the new lockdown in the city should have been brought in much sooner. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: 'The Secretary of State (Matt Hancock) announced that he believed there was an outbreak in Leicester the best part of two weeks ago. 'Since then, we've been struggling to get information from them about what data they had, what led them to believe there was a particular problem here, and struggling to get them to keep the level of testing in Leicester.' He said he had been trying 'for weeks' to access data on the level of testing in the city and was only given access last Thursday. When asked whether a local lockdown should have been brought in earlier, he said: 'If as seems to be the case, the figures suggest there are issues in the city, I would wish that they had shared that with us right from the start, and I wish they had taken a more speedy decision rather than leaving it 11 days from the Secretary of State's first announcement... 'That's a long gap, and a long time for the virus to spread.' LEICESTER WOMAN LIVING WITH INCURABLE CANCER WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE HER MOTHER AFTER 17 WEEKS Pictured: Michelle Teale with her mother Marian, who she hasn't seen in 17 weeks A Leicester woman living with incurable cancer has said she is 'gutted' that the city's new lockdown means she will not be able to see her mother for the first time in 17 weeks. Michelle Teale, 58, has stage four breast cancer which is 'treatable but not curable', putting her in the shielding group for Covid-19. A change in government advice which comes into force on July 6 meant she was preparing to travel to Cleethorpes next week to see her 85-year-old mother, Marian, who lives on her own. But now Leicester is being placed in additional lockdown measures because of a spike in coronavirus cases, that trip will have to wait. 'That's the upsetting part for me because she needs me as much as I need her,' Mrs Teale, who lives in Thorpe Astley, said. 'She's been really worried about me since I had my last surgery and I just haven't been able to see her. 'I'd arranged to see her the week commencing the sixth, so that was a big thing to create a little bubble with her, and I can't do it now, because it's non-essential travel. 'So that's a bit of a downer really. I feel quite gutted.' Mrs Teale has scarcely left her home since March, except to go on occasional short walks, having undergone her most recent surgery in February. She feels the spike in Leicester is because of 'people not following the guidelines' and believes advice from the government has not been clear enough. Advertisement Dr Bharat Pankhania, Senior Clinical Lecturer at University of Exeter Medical School predicted more cities will be locked down in the same way. He said: 'Going forward; six months, nine months from today, we will have outbreaks in Manchester, Birmingham - other big cities'. A councillor representing the area at the epicentre of Leicesters coronavirus outbreak today criticised the Government for not acting quicker to tackle the increase in cases. Councillor Rashmikant Joshi represents the North Evington ward, which has the highest number of cases in the city. Following a spike of 800-plus Covid-19 cases in Leicester since mid-June, North Evington accounts for almost 200 of them, according to the latest figures seen by Mr Joshi. He told MailOnline: 'The Government knew about this increase in coronavirus cases in Leicester almost 12 days ago and has not done anything about it until this week, when it announced a local lockdown. Even then we were only informed at the last minute and had no idea what was going on. 'The Government didnt work with the city authority or local public health bodies to put a plan in place. We have been asking for information for the past 12 days and they have still not come forward with what we require. 'Its disgraceful the way in which this has been handled. Theres a lot of panic and anxiety across Leicester but particularly in my ward.' Almost 60 per cent of North Evingtons population is of South Asian background, which Mr Joshi claims may account for the coronavirus increase in the area. North Evington is made up of tightly packed terraced homes and is the site of a number of religious places of worship and busy shops. He said: 'We have a lot of inter-generational households, where young people live with their grandparents. South Asians also tend to live in larger family groups, which increases the risk of infection. 'Since the easing of the lockdown, a lot of youngsters have been going out more and not maintaining social distance. Theres a high chance that they came home and passed on the virus to elderly relatives.' Mr Joshi, 62 maintained that health and economic factors could also have played a significant part in the coronavirus increase. He said: 'A lot of people in this community also have underlying health conditions, which makes them more vulnerable to coronavirus. They also work in low paid jobs and continued working throughout the lockdown and were going out more than people in other, more affluent areas.' The councillor revealed that his wife and a number of his relatives had also contracted coronavirus over the past three months and that he had been in self-isolation on three separate occasions. Mr Joshi added: 'We still dont know the exact reasons as to why North Evington and Leicester have had a high number of coronavirus cases. We have asked the Government for a fuller breakdown of the figures but have still not received them. 'We are still waiting to understand the full picture but a combination of cultural, health and economic factors have clearly played a big part in whats occurred.' COUNCILLOR OF WARD AT HEART OF THE CITY'S OUTBREAK SLAMS THE GOVERNMENT FOR NOT ACTING QUICKER A councillor representing the area at the epicentre of Leicesters coronavirus outbreak has criticised the Government for not acting quicker to tackle the increase in cases. Councillor Rashmikant Joshi represents the North Evington ward, which has the highest number of cases in the city. Following a spike of 800-plus Covid-19 cases in Leicester since mid-June, North Evington accounts for almost 200 of them, according to the latest figures seen by Mr Joshi. He told MailOnline: The Government knew about this increase in coronavirus cases in Leicester almost 12 days ago and has not done anything about it until this week, when it announced a local lockdown. Even then we were only informed at the last minute and had no idea what was going on. The Government didnt work with the city authority or local public health bodies to put a plan in place. We have been asking for information for the past 12 days and they have still not come forward with what we require. Its disgraceful the way in which this has been handled. Theres a lot of panic and anxiety across Leicester but particularly in my ward. Almost 60% of North Evingtons population is of South Asian background, which Mr Joshi claims may account for the coronavirus increase in the area. North Evington is made up of tightly packed terraced homes and is the site of a number of religious places of worship and busy shops. He said: We have a lot of inter-generational households, where young people live with their grandparents. South Asians also tend to live in larger family groups, which increases the risk of infection. Since the easing of the lockdown, a lot of youngsters have been going out more and not maintaining social distance. Theres a high chance that they came home and passed on the virus to elderly relatives. Mr Joshi, 62 maintained that health and economic factors could also have played a significant part in the coronavirus increase. He said: A lot of people in this community also have underlying health conditions, which makes them more vulnerable to coronavirus. They also work in low paid jobs and continued working throughout the lockdown and were going out more than people in other, more affluent areas. The councillor revealed that his wife and a number of his relatives had also contracted coronavirus over the past three months and that he had been in self-isolation on three separate occasions. Mr Joshi added: We still dont know the exact reasons as to why North Evington and Leicester have had a high number of coronavirus cases. We have asked the Government for a fuller breakdown of the figures but have still not received them. We are still waiting to understand the full picture but a combination of cultural, health and economic factors have clearly played a big part in whats occurred. Advertisement Young people in Leicester, who are believed to be disproportionately affected by the return of the virus, are unsurprised Covid is making a comeback. Molly Farmer-Law, 16, has just finished her GCSE year and said friends could not resist the temptation to party, even though she has stayed in. 'Quite a few people have been meeting up' she said. 'Not many people my age were taking it seriously. People had just finished school and wanted to meet. We've seen it on videos.' And even if pubs and clubs stay closed in Leicester few think it will curb social activity among the 18 to 30s as the summer moves into full swing. 'Everyone is still doing what they were doing before' said Grace, 27, who did not want to give her full name. 'People will find somewhere for a drink. If they can't get it in Leicester they will go elsewhere or to illegal raves. 'There are a lot of abandoned warehouses around here, or they'll go to Nottingham or Loughborough. They will find somewhere' said the healthcare assistant, who has seen many cases of Covid among the people she cares for. Student Faith Owolambi, 21, agreed. 'They will go somewhere else to meet up. Birmingham and Coventry are not far, or they will just go to the park.' Pubs, clubs and restaurants in Leicester were already struggling financially after the lockdown began on March 23, and are now faced with another two weeks without being able to trade. The Konak Turkish restaurant on the edge of the city centre has lost 50,000 and laid off 20 of its 26 staff since the lockdown began. 'They said we could open on July 4 and we were sold out,' said front of house manager Osman Macit, who is 24 'We had taken 46 bookings and we had spoken to staff about coming back and now we have to cancel all of that. It is all going out of the window. And we don't know if it is going to be two weeks or more.' Meanwhile, some Leicester residents are warning other cities to take the threat of a second wave seriously, since they could be next. Retired maths teacher Mohamed Ahmed, 58, has been wearing a mask throughout the pandemic and does not intend to remove it when outdoors until next spring. 'I think this will happen in other places' he said. 'Once the lockdown is opened up people will not be that bothered and they will pass it on to other people.' At Leicester Market, which has remained open throughout the pandemic, traders insisted the new rise of Covid in the city had nothing to do with them. 'The market has not been closed, but even now people are still scared to come out' said Stephen Powley, 56, who has worked on Leicester Market for more than 40 years. The greengrocer, who was doing a reasonable trade in fresh fruit even though the number of shoppers is well down on pre-pandemic levels and more than half the pitchers are empty. 'There is more space here than queueing for the shops,' said the veteran trader, who has his son, Jack, 15, alongside while the schools are closed. 'This is safer than Sainsbury's or any other supermarket. It is spread out, it's in the open air. We have notices asking people to stay two metres apart and not to handle the produce.' Colleague Buddy Abbott, 55, who came on the market as a teenage apprentice agreed. 'There have been no signs of Covid among market traders. If there was the market would be closed straight away.' Leicester barber Blake Edwards, 38, had been ready to reopen his salon on July 4 before learning he would have to sit back and wait. The 38-year-old said the situation in Leicester was 'embarrassing'. The leading St. Louis city prosecutor is considering pressing charges against a Missouri lawyer couple after they were seen brandishing guns at protesters outside their $1.15million mansion. Mark McCloskey, 63, and his wife Patricia McCloskey, 61, were seen in multiple videos and photos on Sunday evening touting an AR-15 rifle and a handgun as protesters marched. The couple claimed they 'feared for our lives' after the protesters allegedly broke down the gate into their private community and threatened them. The pair were the only ones to lodge an official police report about the confrontation citing 'threats of harm' and police said Monday they would not be charged. Yet St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner announced Monday that she was working with police and prosecutors to investigate the lawyers for possible threats against the crowd. Scroll down for video St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner said she was 'alarmed' that 'peaceful protesters were met by guns' and that she is investigating the McCloskey couple despite police saying they were the only ones to file a report and there would be no charges against them Armed homeowners, Patty and Mark McCloskey, stand in front their house along Portland Place and confront protesters marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house on Sunday Patricia McCloskey drew a firearm on protesters as walked in front of her house on Sunday 'I am alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protesters were met by guns and a violent assault,' Gardner said in a video statement Monday evening. 'We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated,' she insisted. 'Since learning of these events over this weekend, I've worked with the public and the police to investigate these tragic events. 'Make no mistake, the circuit attorney's office we will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights, and will use the full power of Missouri law to hold people accountable,' Gardner warned. While the couple has had support for their actions they have also met with backlash. The pair are both personal injury lawyers and run McCloskey Law Center from inside their extravagant home. The company's website was taken offline on Monday afternoon because of the large influx of emails and the couple has said they have been forced to board up their office. According to St. Louis Today, a Democrat running for a state Senate seat also refused to take a donation from them and instead donated it to the gun safety campaign group Moms Demand Action. An attorney for the couple has insisted that they 'acted lawfully on their property'. Albert Watkins said on Monday that the couple are long-time civil rights advocates and support the message of the Black Lives Matter movement. He said they grabbed their guns when two or three protesters - who were white - violently threatened the couple and their property and that of their neighbors. 'Their actions were borne solely of fear and apprehension, the genesis of which was not race-related. In fact, the agitators responsible for the trepidation were white,' Watkins said in a statement. 'The peaceful protesters were not the subject of scorn or disdain by the McCloskeys. 'To the contrary, they were expecting and supportive of the message of the protesters. Gardner also issued this statement about the investigation on Monday evening 'The most important thing for them is that their images (holding the guns) don't become the basis for a rallying cry for people who oppose the Black Lives Matter message,' he added. 'They want to make it really clear that they believe the Black Lives Matter message is important.' Video of the McCloskeys went viral Sunday night after they were seen aiming the guns at demonstrators who walked by their palatial property in the wealthy Forest Park area at around 6pm on Sunday. Protesters were en route to Mayor Lyda Krewson's home to demand her resignation after she released the names and addresses of residents who had suggested defunding the police department. The video of the couple's standoff has been viewed more than 13million times as of Tuesday with some supporting the pair's right to protect their private property and others claiming that they broke the law by threatening a peaceful protest. At one point, the pair seemed to be unknowingly pointing their weapons at one another other while trying to keep protesters away from their home - dubbed the Niemann Mansion. In the video, demonstrators chanted 'Let's Go' as the couple stood their ground at their front door, patrolling back and forth. Mark McCloskey could be seen carrying a firearm as protesters entered his neighborhood About 300 protesters had gone through a gate into this closed-off community and were marching in front of the McCloskey home, which is pictured center. The family said they were having dinner outside when the demonstrators arrived The private road entrance to Portland Place where protesters allegedly broke down a gate Sunday One video posted to Twitter of the demonstration shows the woman holding her gun at a protester who is wearing a t-shirt that reads, 'Hands up, don't shoot'. The individual appeared to be trying to get people to move away from the house at the time. Patricia McCloskey is seen moving closer to the protesters speaking to them as some stand and argue back. Other demonstrators are heard shouting at everyone to 'Go' as the woman continues waving her handgun at them from her front lawn and Mark McCloskey watched from the front door with his rifle. Police said Monday that people in the crowd yelled threats at the couple and that the McCloskeys would not be charged. They added that they are still investigating but labeled it a case of trespassing and assault by intimidation against the couple by protesters in the racially diverse crowd. St. Louis police confirmed they were called to Portland Place at around 7.20pm on Sunday night for an incident involving trespassing and assault 4th intimidation after the McCloskeys issued a 'call for help'. 'The victims stated they were on their property when they heard a loud commotion coming from the street. When the victims went to investigate the commotion, they observed a large group of subjects forcefully break an iron gate marked with "No Trespassing" and "Private Street" signs,' police said. 'Once through the gate, the victims advised the group that they were on a private street and trespassing and told them to leave. The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims. Husband and wife, Mark and Patricia McCloskey are both personal injury lawyers 'When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police. The investigation is ongoing.' In interviews Monday, Mark McCloskey compared the protesters to the storming of the Bastille and branded them 'Marxists' and 'terrorists' who were part of a revolution that did not really care about Black Lives Matter. He noted that he had previously represented a black man who was the victim of police violence. He also said that the only pulled out his gun from his house when the protesters smashed through a gate into their private property, sharing pictures of the destroyed gateway. 'A mob of at least 100 smashed through the historic wrought iron gates of Portland Place, destroying them, rushed towards my home where my family was having dinner outside and put us in fear of our lives,' he said. 'This is all private property. There are no public sidewalks or public streets. We were told that we would be killed, our home burned and our dog killed. We were all alone facing an angry mob.' His claims appear to stand in contrast with a livestreamed video from a protesters that shows them walking through the open and intact gate and immediately being met with an armed Mark McCloskey. According to the NRA, state law does not prohibit the open carrying of firearms, but does prohibit exhibiting 'any weapon readily capable of lethal use' in an angry or threatening manner in the presence of one or more persons. Exhibiting a weapon in this way would likely be a Class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine not to exceed $5,000. According to the St. Louis American, however, the 'Castle Doctrine' allows people to use deadly force to attack an intruder on their property. Up to 5,000 jobs are under threat at the group which owns Upper Crust and Caffe Ritazza following plunging passengers numbers at railway stations and airports amid the coronavirus pandemic. The SSP group warned it expects to open only around a fifth of its sites in the UK by the autumn as travel is set to remain at very low levels amid the Covid-19 crisis. It has launched a consultation on a restructure to 'simplify and reshape' the business in the face of the pandemic, which could lead to more than half of its 9,000-strong peak season workforce being axed. The group, which employs 9,000 people and has around 580 stores including those trading under the Caffe Ritazza brand, said head office and UK staff will be affected. Pre-lockdown, SSP traded from around 2,800 units in airports, railway stations and motorway services stations. It served 1.5million customers every day in 35 countries. It comes as Airbus, Europe's biggest aircraft maker, announced plans to slash nearly 15,000 jobs across its global operations - including 1,700 in the UK. Meanwhile EasyJet yesterday said 4,500 jobs were at risk, and Bensons for Beds, Harveys and TM Lewin all announced layoffs and store closures. Upper Crust owner SSP Group is axing up to 5,000 UK jobs (pictured, in Marylebone Station) Aerospace giant Airbus is to cut 1,700 jobs in the UK as the coronavirus pandemic causes 'the gravest crisis' the aviation industry has ever faced (Airbus facility near Nantes, France) The news is a huge blow to its site at Broughton in Wales, where wings are manufactured, and its other factory at Filton in Bristol (pictured, British Airways Airbus A380 airplanes) SSP Chief executive Simon Smith said: 'In the UK the pace of the recovery continues to be slow. 'In response to this, we are now taking further action to protect the business and create the right base from which to rebuild our operations. 'Regrettably, we are starting a collective consultation which will affect our UK colleagues. 'These are extremely difficult decisions, and our main priority will be to conduct the process carefully and fairly.' How coronavirus has affected UK airlines and travel operators Flybe: Europe's largest regional airline collapsed on March 5 after months on the brink, triggering 2,400 job losses and left around 15,000 passengers stranded across the UK and Europe. British Airways: The International Airlines Group, which also includes Iberia and Aer Lingus, said on March 16 that there would be a 75 per cent reduction in passenger capacity for two months, with boss Willie Walsh admitting there was 'no guarantee that many European airlines would survive'. The company has since said it wants to reduce the number of staff by 12,000. Loganair: The Scottish regional airline said on March 30 that it expects to ask the Government for a bailout to cope with the impact of the pandemic. Jet2: The airline has suspended all of its flights departing from Britain until April 30. A number of Jet2 flights turned around mid-air last month while travelling to Spain when a lockdown was announced in the country. Virgin Atlantic: The airline said on March 16 that it would have reduced its lights by 80 per cent by March 26, and this will go up to 85 per cent by April. It has also urged the Government to offer carriers emergency credit facilities worth up to 7.5billion. Ryanair: More than 90 per cent of the Irish-based airline's planes are now grounded, with the rest of the aircraft providing repatriation and rescue flights. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said his airline would be forced to shed 3,000 jobs while seeking pay reductions of up to 20 per cent by those who remain. TUI: Holiday giant Tui is looking to cut up to 8,000 roles worldwide with the firm calling Covid-19 the 'greatest crisis' the industry has faced. The UK's biggest tour operator posted losses of 845.8 million euro (747m) in the first half of 2020, compared to 289.1 million (255m) in the same period 12 months previously. Advertisement Speaking on BBC Radio 4 this morning, regional secretary of the Unite union Steve Preddy warned the government must 'intervene to provide loan support.' He added: 'There's no question that the global airline market was readjusting itself, we saw that before the pandemic. However that does not account for the serious and deep affect the pandemic has had on the aircraft industry worldwide and particularly here in the UK, we are after all the second largest aircraft manufacturer in the world. 'This is about bums in seats, the evidence is with the return of confidence in air travel and if people are reassured the industry could return to some sense of normality before that time, but it will need bridging support and that's what we're asking the government to provide. 'In France recently the government have announced some 16bn euros in support for the aviation sector and similar numbers in Germany and Spain and in the US phenomenal support for the aviation sector. 'Nobody's asking for charitable handouts, we don't expect the British taxpayers to support private industry but what we're saying is that the government can intervene to provide loan support, reconfigurations of the apprenticeship levy to support this very important sector of our economy to ride this current storm.' Job cuts at Airbus represent 15 per cent of its 90,000-strong commercial aerospace workforce - 50 per cent greater than cuts it made in 2007. The news is a huge blow to its site at Broughton in north Wales, where wings are manufactured, and its other factory at Filton in Bristol. Airbus added that while it will try to limit job losses to voluntary redundancies and retirements, compulsory redundancies 'cannot be ruled out'. A statement said: 'Airbus has announced plans to adapt its global workforce and resize its commercial aircraft activity in response to the Covid-19 crisis.' It added that 'this adaptation is expected to result in a reduction of around 15,000 positions no later than summer 2021'. Airbus slashed aircraft production by a third to about 60 a month in April. It has seen commercial aircraft business activity drop by nearly 40 per cent in recent months. The aerospace giant had furloughed 3,200 UK staff after its chief executive said the company was 'bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed'. Workers at the Broughton factory in north Wales were furloughed and the company had applied for the UK Government's coronavirus job retention scheme. 'Airbus confirms it has agreed with its social partners to apply the government's Job Retention Scheme for approximately 3,200 production and production-support employees at its commercial aircraft site in Broughton,' it had said. In a statement released today, chief executive Guillaume Faury revealed: 'Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced. 'The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. 'Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers. 'To confront that reality, we must now adopt more far-reaching measures. 'Our management team and our Board of Directors are fully committed to limiting the social impact of this adaptation. 'We thank our governmental partners as they help us preserve our expertise and know-how as much as possible and have played an important role in limiting the social impact of this crisis in our industry. 'The Airbus teams and their skills and competences will enable us to pursue our ambition to pioneer a sustainable future for aerospace.' Mr Faury added that the cuts could have been 'significantly worse' had it not been for government support. Airbus is the UK's biggest aerospace company. Its Oxford base is a major helicopter supplier for the Ministry of Defence and air ambulance services. The company is also planning to cut 5,000 jobs in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain and 1,300 positions at its other worldwide sites. Paul Everitt, chief executive of ADS, said 'Airbus is central to our aerospace industry and has a close relationship with its highly-integrated UK supply chain'. He called on the Government 'to support a strong recovery', adding: 'This is undoubtedly the toughest period the global aerospace industry has ever faced'. Meanwhile, Unite called the announcement 'another act of industrial vandalism and a terrible insult to our incredible UK workforce'. Unite assistant general secretary Steve Tuner said: 'Over the weeks of this crisis, this country's aerospace jobs have gone hand over fist yet not one word of support or act of assistance has been forthcoming from the Government. 'The UK Government is watching from the sidelines while a national asset is destroyed. The only words uttered by the Government in relation to UK aerospace during this entire crisis came out of the blue today in relation to the prime minister's UK-made 'Jet Zero' project. But while our world-class industry is shedding skills and workers at the present rate, this project will be nothing more than a PR fantasy. Around 5,000 posts in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain, 1,700 in the UK and 1,300 elsewhere will be cut (pictured, Air France A380 Airbus and airplanes) In a statement released today, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury (left) said the company's future was at stake after the coronavirus pandemic rocked the air travel industry (right, Philippe Mhun, Executive Vice-President Programmes and Services) 'UK aerospace workers deserve the same support and investment that Mr (Emmanuel) Macron and Ms (Angela) Merkel provide to their workers. 'Airbus workers in France and Germany have up to two years to work to fend off their redundancies and turn their businesses around while in the UK the axe falls with immediate effect. With every day that goes by without any action to support this sector from the UK Government, our competitors cheer.' Peter Hughes, Unite's Wales regional secretary, said: 'The significance of large-scale job losses at Airbus would have a devastating impact on the aerospace sector in Wales and on the wider Welsh economy. 'Unite has been calling for the UK Government to put a plan of support in place for the aerospace sector for months. 'This support has been provided by France and Germany. 'Will the UK Government now step up to the plate and do everything required to support UK aviation jobs? We are calling upon Airbus to hold their nerve and step back from implementing their plan.' Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said: 'News of job losses today in the aviation sector is devastating for those affected. Thousands of jobs have been under threat of redundancy, with staff, the sector and politicians of all sides urging the Government to act, yet Tory ministers have been found wanting.' The company is cutting nearly 15,000 jobs across its global operations to stay afloat as the coronavirus crisis rocks the air travel industry (pictured, Air France Airbus A380 aircraft) EasyJet revealed up to 4,500 staff will lose their jobs, including 1,900 UK employees (pictured, EasyJet planes at Stansted Airport today) He added: 'Labour has consistently called for an extension to the furlough in the most impacted industries, and a sectoral deal that supports the whole aviation industry, including securing jobs and protecting the supply chain, while continuing to press for higher environmental standards.' Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart said: 'This is extremely worrying news for workers, their families and the wider community.' Wales's minister for economy, transport and North Wales Ken Skates said: 'The sector is in crisis and the UK Government needs to take swift and decisive action now to save the industry and its supply chain. 'The alarm bells have been sounding for weeks and we need urgent steps at a UK level to prevent this crisis becoming even worse.' How was easyJet doing before the lockdown? According to Feb 2020 flight schedules, easyJet operated over 8,900 flights (one-way) a week, from over 120 airports (mainly in Europe). In terms of flights operated per week during the month of Feb 2020, easyJet's top five airports were: London Gatwick - 850 flights Geneva - 522 flights Berlin - 396 flights London Luton - 372 flights Amsterdam - 353 flights Per week in Feb 2020, easyJet's top five routes, in terms of scheduled seats available, were between: London Gatwick and Geneva London Gatwick and Amsterdam Paris Orly and Toulouse London Luton and Amsterdam Paris Orly and Nice Advertisement Earlier today, budget airline EasyJet revealed up to 4,500 staff will lose their jobs, including 1,900 UK employees, and announced plans to close its bases at London's Stansted and Southend airports, and at Newcastle. Some 727 of its UK-based pilots are at risk of redundancy, equivalent to about one-third of its pilots in the country. The airline had announced last month that it was reducing its workforce by nearly a third, warning it needed to cut 4,500 jobs to stay competitive. At the start of this month easyJet raised 419million of cash to help it see through the pandemic. It has also taken a 600million government loan. The Luton-based carrier becomes the latest domino to fall in the aviation industry, which has suffered massive losses in the wake of the pandemic. EasyJet said the proposals are to close the bases in August to customers booked to fly from the airport over the summer 'will not be affected as a result of this.' Today, it began consultation on proposals with employee representatives on all of its UK-based pilots and crew. The proposals include the potential closing of three of its bases in the UK - London Stansted, London Southend and Newcastle. EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said: 'These are very difficult proposals to put forward in what is an unprecedented and difficult time for the airline and the industry as a whole. We are focused on doing what is right for the company and its long term health and success so we can protect jobs going forward. 'Unfortunately the lower demand environment means we need fewer aircraft and have less opportunity for work for our people - we are committed to working constructively with our employee representatives across the network with the aim of minimising job losses as far as possible. 'These proposals are no reflection on our people at Stansted, Southend and Newcastle, who have all worked tirelessly and have been fully committed to providing great service for our customers.' The British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) accused EasyJet of 'excessive overreaction' and urged the Government to stop the industry's 'death spiral'. EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren (pictured at Gatwick on June 15) said the proposals were 'difficult to put forward in what is an unprecedented and difficult time' EasyJet aircraft pictured at London Southend Airport in Essex today The British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) has accused EasyJet of 'excessive over-reaction' after the airline today revealed up to 4,500 staff will lose its jobs The union tweeted: 'We are shocked at the size of potential pilot job losses in easyJet which equate to nearly 1-in-3 of easyJet pilots in the UK: 727 pilots. 'easyJet paid 174million out to shareholders, got agreements to furlough staff to protect cash, got 600million from the Government, has boasted of having 2.4billion in liquidity, and ticket sales are going through the roof so fast they cannot get pilots back off furlough quickly enough. 'So this seems an excessive over-reaction. It doesn't add up. We are meeting easyJet today and we will be fighting to save every single job. 'This is more evidence that aviation in the UK is caught in a death spiral of despair and individual airlines are flailing around without direction. Govt should step in, provide a strategy and back a moratorium on job losses'. TM Lewin collapsed into administration today with 600 jobs axed. The 122-year-old shirtmaker's 66 shops, which also sell shoes, suits and ties, will disappear from the high street but its online platform will remain. The firm blamed the coronavirus pandemic for the move to digital-only as it could not afford to pay rents after stores shut in March. The 122-year-old shirtmaker's 66 shops, which also sell shoes, suits and ties, will disappear from the UK high street but its online platform will remain (file photo) The firm blamed the coronavirus pandemic for the move to digital-only as it could not afford to pay rents after stores shut in March (file photo) It is the latest retail victim of the crisis, following the owner of Britain's biggest shopping centres Intu Properties which went into administration last week. A TM Lewin source told MailOnline an email was sent to staff 25 minutes before a Microsoft team meeting to tell them they were being made redundant. The woman, who worked for the company, said the conference lasted just four minutes with around 110 staff on the call. She said the meeting was held by the new owner of TM Lewin, Torque, with group transformation CEO James Doyan hosting it. She added: 'There was no chance for anyone to ask questions or have any say. We were told to mute ourselves and turn off our cameras for the meeting.' Harveys also became another casualty of the pandemic today as the furniture chain fell into administration, with the immediate loss of 240 jobs. Over 1,000 more jobs could be axed if 20 stores at risk of closure shut. Harveys became another casualty of the pandemic today as the furniture chain fell into administration, with the immediate loss of 240 jobs Harveys website says they are no longer taking new orders but will honour existing orders Collapsed: All Harveys stores, around 20 and mostly in London, will continue to trade for now and existing customer orders will be honoured All Harveys stores in the UK will continue to trade for now as administrators PwC look for a buyer for the business and its three manufacturing sites. The company's website says they are not taking any new orders, but claims that 'existing orders will be delivered as communicated'. The chain, which is owned by private equity firm Alteri Investors, was already struggling even before the coronavirus pandemic struck. 'A combination of structural issues and Covid means we are going to have to leave behind the underperforming part of the business', said CEO Gavin George. Harvey's sister furniture chain, Bensons for Beds, also fell into administration, but was immediately bought back by Alteri in a 'prepack deal'. Under the deal, they plan to keep up to 175 of Bensons for Beds's 242 stores as well as its Huntingdon manufacturing operation and nearly 1,900 jobs. Zelf Hussain, joint administrator at PwC, said the two furniture chains, and especially Harveys, had faced 'cashflow pressures' in recent months, which were 'exacerbated by coronavirus on the supply chain and customer sales'. Twelve million jobs are now being propped up by the state: Furlough bill rises by another 2.6billion in a WEEK to 25billion, while grants to self-employed hit 7.7billion By David Wilcock, Whitehall Correspondent for MailOnline Britain's furlough bill soared past 25billion this week with more than 12 million jobs now being propped up by the state, new figures revealed today. The coronavirus job retention scheme (JRS) which pays 80 per cent of salary costs for staff - rose 2.6billion this week from 22.9billion the week before. It is now supporting 9.3million jobs, according to the Treasury and HMRC, while the support scheme for the self-employed rose to 7.7billion, across 2.6million claims. Banks have lent small businesses 29.5billion-worth of 100 per cent state-backed loans, up about 1.5 billion pounds from the previous week. Larger firms had received 11.1 billion from the government's main lending scheme, with the biggest companies getting an extra 2.3 billion pounds. The figures were released as Boris Johnson promised a 'New Deal' to rebuild Britain. Britain's furlough bill soared past 25billion this week with more than 12 million jobs now being propped up by the state, new figures revealed today Figures reveal scale of Covid business loans Figures released on Tuesday by the Treasury and HMRC show one extent of the Government's massive spending spree to help sure up a faltering economy hit by the coronavirus crisis. As ministers ordered Britons to stay at home unless they had to shop for food in March, Rishi Sunak promised to do 'whatever it takes' to support the companies whose business would be decimated by the decision. It meant launching three Government-backed loans, the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), a similar scheme for larger businesses called CLBILS, and the bounce-back loans, which help out some of the smallest companies. Data for last week, released Tuesday, again shows that the bounce-back loans have proved the most popular. Close to 1.2million businesses have applied for the loans of up to 50,000. So far a little under 970,000 have been approved and handed 29.5billion. Meanwhile, 105,000 companies have applied for a CBILS loan, 52,000 have been approved, and 11.1billion has been paid out. Out of the 745 applicants for CLBILS, 359 have been approved for loans worth 2.3 billion. The Government also revealed that 1.1 million businesses have furloughed 9.3 million workers, claiming 25.5 billion to cover a portion of their salaries while they cannot work. The costly programmes were launched to see Britain through the worst of lockdown, but the Government will hope that these can be eased. The Treasury has already said that companies will have to shoulder some of the burden for paying their furloughed workers from August, before the programme is phased out. The deadline for new applications to the scheme was set at June 30. It comes as the economy is preparing to return to some semblance of normality. On Saturday, pubs and restaurants will be allowed to reopen for the first time since March 23. Advertisement As a major English city is plunged back into a local lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson today pledged to 'build, build, build', bringing forward a massive programme of public works. He said that Britain can 'not just bounce back, but bounce forward - stronger and better and more united than ever before' in the wake of the coronavirus. But in a grim reminder that the virus is still at large, Mr Johnson was last night locked in crisis talks about reimposing the lockdown in Leicester. Today's speech was accompanied by billions of pounds of investment in building and refurbishing schools, hospitals and roads, as well as spending on transport and local growth projects. A new unit, dubbed Project Speed, will be led by Rishi Sunak this summer to identify projects that can be fast-tracked. Reform of the planning system to remove 'blockages' is also under consideration. And a new National Infrastructure Strategy will be published in the autumn. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will put the 'infrastructure revolution' at the heart of a mini-Budget expected on July 8. In his speech in Dudley today, the PM pledged to 'build back better and stronger', with a programme designed to reach all parts of the country. 'Too many parts of this country have felt left behind, neglected, unloved, as though someone had taken a strategic decision that their fate did not matter as much as the metropolis,' he said. The PM offered an 'opportunity guarantee' to young people and those who have lost their jobs because of the lockdown, with major investment in apprenticeships and further education. And his chief aide Dominic Cummings is shaking up the Whitehall machine, which saw the departure of Britain's top civil servant Sir Mark Sedwill on Sunday night. Mr Johnson referenced the famous New Deal programmes led by Franklin D Roosevelt, which are credited with rescuing the United States from the Great Depression in the 1930s. Yesterday he confirmed there would be no attempt to 'go back to what people called austerity', saying it would be a mistake. It came as Anneliese Dodds warned mass unemployment could have a 'scarring impact on our country for decades' if the Government cannot adapt the furlough scheme for different industries instead of pursuing a 'one size fits all approach'. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the Shadow Chancellor said: 'If we look at what other countries are doing, and what the evidence tells us, that first step of stopping people becoming unemployed in the first place is absolutely critical. As a major English city is plunged back into a local lockdown, the Prime Minister pledged to 'build, build, build', bringing forward a massive programme of public works It came as shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds (pictured) warned that mass unemployment could have a 'scarring impact on our country for decades' 'Once people have become unemployed, that has a scarring impact on them and on our country for decades into the future. 'So what I'm saying to the Government, and I've offered this in the spirit of constructive opposition many times, I've said to them, please, shift course, do not continue to have this one size fits all approach, because that will inevitably lead to much greater unemployment in the future.' Ms Dodds recommended keeping young people in education and training for longer to 'keep them out of that pool of unemployed people,' and better supporting those who become unemployed using previously used strategies like the Future Jobs Fund. TUI, EasyJet and Ryanair CANCEL all flights and holidays to Greece after it bans travellers from the UK until July 15 because of high coronavirus infection rate ByDavid Wilcock, Whitehall Correspondent For Mailonline Travel firms have been forced to scrap thousands of flights and holiday packages in Greece after the nation extended its ban on arrivals from the UK. TUI, Ryanair, Easyjet, Jet2 and British Airways have all axed travel plans for Brits who booked in the hope of a quick getaway in early July. But the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last night extended a UK flight ban due to end on July 1 to July 15. He took the action despite UK plans to include Greece in a 'green' group of countries it was safe for Britons to travel to using quarantine-free air bridges. Greece has been relatively lightly affected by coronavirus, but the UK continues to be one of the worst affected countries in Europe. Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took the action despite UK plans to include Greece in a 'green' group of countries it was safe for Britons to travel to using quarantine-free air bridges TUI, the UK's biggest tour operator, was due to serve four Greek islands when it resumed operations on July 11, while EasyJet had announced plans to resume flights from the UK to Greece next week with fares starting at 39.99. The boss of TUI this morning demanded clarity over the air bridge scheme, warning that other countries could follow Greece's example. Andrew Flintham, managing director of TUI UK & Ireland, said the proposal could only work after 'two-way conversations' between Britain and other countries, adding: 'I think there's still going to be a few bumps in the road.' Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last night officially ended the much-criticised blanket quarantine programme just three weeks after it was introduced for visitors and those returning to homes in the UK. In a Written Ministerial Statement to MPs he confirmed new measures unveiled by Downing Street on Saturday, to come into effect 'shortly'. Under the traffic light system, drawn up by the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England and set to be in place by July 6, countries will be rated green, amber or red based on coronavirus infection levels, the reliability of official data and confidence in test and trace systems. The 14-day quarantine requirement will remain only for 'red-rated' countries such as the US and Brazil. Travel between 'green' and 'amber' countries will be quarantine-free, but passengers will have to fill in a 'locator form' to trace their movements. A woman shopping at a Dallas grocery store exploded in rage and proceeded to throw items from her cart while yelling expletives after being asked to wear a face mask. The profanity-laced meltdown took place at the Fiesta supermarket on West Illinois Avenue on Saturday and was captured on video, which has since gone viral on social media. The cell phone recording begins with the irate customer's temper tantrum already in progress. Food fight: A woman shopping at a Fiesta supermarket in Dallas on Saturday had a meltdown after being asked to put on a face mask. She has not been identified so far A witness who recorded the outburst on video said that the woman did have a mask, but she took it off before approaching a cash register Like other businesses in Dallas County, Fiesta requires shoppers and employees to wear face coverings to stop the spread of COVID-19 The woman, a bespectacled blonde wearing a black top and skinny jeans, is seen hurling containers of raw chicken, pork chops, other meat products and groceries while unleashing profanities. 'I don't give a f*** about Dallas and dumba** motherf***ing rules,' the woman rants as she continues lobbing food items. With the words, 'I don't give a f***, I got a f***ing mask,' the angry shopper storms off, waving her face covering in her hand. 'Now clean that s*** up,' she yells out as she exits the store, referring to the mess she had left on the floor. Witness Omar Guillen told WFAA: 'I had noticed the woman during my time at the store. She was wearing her mask but by the time she was in line she had taken it off.' Video from the store shows the woman taking out trays of chicken and meat from her cart and tossing them on the floor. All the while, she is heard yelling expletives The woman is seen holding her white face mask in her right hand during the tantrum Using some very colorful language, the irate shopper let it be known that she does not care about rules A manager approached the woman and asked her to put the mask back on, citing county requirements and the supermarket chain's own rules, but she refused. The manager warned her that she would not be served, which apparently caused her to explode in rage. Dallas County imposed a mandate on June 21 requiring everyone to wear a face covering in public places. Businesses can be fined up to $500 for each violation of the order. She stormed off after her shameful display, leaving staff to pick up her mess Police were called to the scene but arrived long after the woman had left Chrissy Tiegen was not impressed with the childish outburst, as seen from her tweet Police were called to the Fiesta supermarket on Saturday in response to the woman's outburst, but by the time officers arrived the rule breaker had left. As of Tuesday afternoon, the video documenting the maskless woman's food-throwing antics has been viewed more than 23.4million times. Many commenters labeled the Dallas woman a 'Karen,' which is a pejorative slang term for a entitled white woman perceived to be unreasonably demanding or petulant. Supermodel Chrissy Tiegen weighed in on the video on Twitter, writing: 'Im so tired of people, man. Why I started limiting my social media time. Went from 20 hours a day to 20 mins. All I can take.' White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made the bold claim Tuesday that President Trump was the most informed person in the world. 'The president does read and he also consumes intelligence verbally,' McEnany said. 'This president, I'll tell you, is the most informed person on planet earth.' McEnany was being asked if the intelligence that said Russia was paying bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers was in the President's Daily Brief, with the reporter suggesting that Trump might not have read it. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that President Trump was the 'most informed person on planet earth' after a White House reporter suggested that he may have missed intelligence on Russia paying bounties because he didn't read it McEnany said Tuesday that President Trump 'does read,' as the White House pushed back on reporting that said the president was briefed on Russia paying bounties to Taliban fighters to kill Americans, but didn't act on it President's Daily Brief The Presidents Daily Brief (PDB) is a daily a multi-source intelligence digest of high-level information and analysis on national security issues produced for the president and key cabinet members and advisers. It has been presented in some form to the president since 1946, when President Harry Truman received the Daily Summary. In 2014, the PDB transitioned from a print product to electronic delivery at the request of President Barack Obama. Given the sensitive nature of the information, most PDBs - even those from many years past - remain classified. Source: Intelligence.gov Advertisement McEnany pushed back on that idea, saying Trump is indeed a reader. She told reporters at Tuesday's White House press briefing that the president was 'never' briefed on this intelligence. 'This intelligence still has not been verified and there's no consensus among the intelligence community,' she said. She also told reporters she would never tell them the contents of the President's Daily Brief or PDB. 'I will never confirm or deny what's in a top secret document,' she said. Additionally, McEnany said that Trump was now up to speed. 'The president has been briefed on what is, unfortunately, in the public domain because of The New York Times and the irresponsible leak, yes he has been briefed,' she told reporters. The Times reported Friday that American intelligence officials had concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit had bribed Taliban-connected fighters to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan, including U.S. troops. Sources told the paper that Trump was informed of the issue in late March. But then the Associated Press reported that top White House officials were aware of the scheme in early 2019. The intelligence was included in one of Trump's PDBs, the AP reported. And then-National Security Adviser John Bolton told colleagues he had briefed Trump on the issue. McEnany claimed the leaks came from 'rogue intelligence officers' who are anti-Trump. Trump's rival in the general election, Democrat Joe Biden, used the scandal Tuesday to question the president's cognitive ability. 'This president is talking about cognitive capability, he isn't even cognitively aware of what's going on,' Biden told reporters in Delaware. 'He either reads and-or gets briefed on important issues and he forgets it, or he doesn't think it's necessary that he need to know it.' Biden said it was a 'dereliction of duty' on Trump's part because he did nothing when recently speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The "Chinese Bridge" Chinese proficiency competition for high school students was held online in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Sunday amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Three high school students from BiH's capital of Sarajevo and Banja Luka, the second largest city of BiH, won the top three places. Judges selected the winners through Chinese speech, talent, quiz on Chinese history and culture and dictation in Chinese. Kevser Bukvic, who finished first in the contest, only started learning Chinese in February this year. As daughter of a Bosnian diplomat currently stationed in China, she has keen interest in Chinese culture. "I can even imagine walking on the Great Wall and seeing its beautiful scenery. I also want to visit ancient Chinese temples, learn about Chinese history, and imagine myself as someone who lived at that time. I want to explore Chinese culture on my own," Kevser said in her speech entitled "My Chinese dream." "Benefiting from closer economic and cultural exchanges between China and BiH, more and more Bosnians become interested in learning Chinese in recent years," La Weixin, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Sarajevo, told Xinhua. In Republika Srpska, one of BiH's two entities, Chinese has already been included in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools, said La. The "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition is an international contest held yearly and sponsored by the Beijing-based Confucius Institute Headquarters, or called Hanban in Chinese, according to Hanban on its website. It consists of three events -- "Chinese Bridge" competition for foreign college students, "Chinese Bridge" competition for foreign high school students and "Chinese Bridge" competition for foreign students in China. Advertisement President Donald Trump has vowed to track down the 'anarchists' who tossed paint on the George Washington statue in New York's Washington Square Park on Monday as video footage of the masked suspects emerged. 'We are tracking down the two Anarchists who threw paint on the magnificent George Washington Statue in Manhattan. We have them on tape. 'They will be prosecuted and face 10 years in Prison based on the Monuments and Statues Act. Turn yourselves in now!' Trump tweeted. The NYPD released surveillance footage of the two vandals on Monday. They were filmed at 3.20am tossing paint balloons on the statute while one of their friends watched nearby on a CitiBike. At City Hall, protesters who have set up an Occupy City Hall camp clashed with police on Tuesday morning. The protesters have been there now for a week and are refusing to leave until the NYPD budget is cut by at least $1billion - something that is likely to happen on Tuesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio has reached an agreement with the city council that divests $1billion from the NYPD and cancels the hiring of 1,163 cops. Some say it is a step in the right direction and that the police force - like others across the country - needs to be stripped of its power and resources to combat systemic racism and excessive use of force. Scroll down for video The two suspects who threw paint on the Washington statue in Washington Square Park are now being hunted by police The vandals were filmed with one other person who was wheeling a Citi Bike - which is digitally tracked - through the park at 3.20am on Monday Defaced: A statue of George Washington is covered in red paint after being vandalized in Washington Square Park in the early hours of Monday. America's first president owned more than 100 slaves, making him a target of recent anti-racism protests Target: The arch at Washington Square Park has two statues of the nation's first president, which were targeted by vandals throwing balloons in the early hours of yesterday morning Clean-up: A member of the New York City Monuments and Conservation department power-washes the statue of Washington yesterday after it was vandalized However others say it's not enough of a hit to the mammoth force which enjoys a $6billion yearly budget. They want more money to be taken away, and say that much of De Blasio's plan amounts to 'gimmicks'. But others - namely the NYPD Commissioner and Police Benevolent Association, say the need for a strong and bolstered police force is greater now then ever before, amid bubbling tensions across the city and nation in the wake of George Floyd's death. Combined with de Blasio's lenient bail reform that puts more criminals on the street than before, and a court system that has been back-logged for months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they say crime is inevitably on the rise and that slashing the budget is not necessarily the right move. City Hall hall has been vandalized with graffiti calling for the police department to be defunded on Tuesday morning. Other complaints were about rent Graffiti at City Hall on Tuesday morning. Protesters have been there for a week now demanding the defunding of the NYPD. The vandals spray painted pigs and 'FTP' onto the building 8474921 Protesters clash with cops ahead of NYC budget vote that will strip $1billion from the NYPD - as police unions say de Blasio has 'surrendered to lawlessness' Officers on Tuesday morning clashing with protesters outside City Hall as they tried to protect a barricade NYPD COMMISSIONER SAYS CUTS ARE 'PUNITIVE' NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Tuesday that he understood every department must face cuts but that the decision had also been heavily influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement and that it was 'punitive'. He insisted that his officers 'are not going to allow mob rule 'We're all going to have to make cuts, we understand that, when you look at the fiscal crisis with COVID. 'What concerns me is cuts that have to be made because of tough fiscal decisions vs cuts that could appear to be punitive. We'll review all the numbers... it's concern. It's going to impact our ability, I believe, to keep New Yorker's safe in some way, shape or form. But we're also managers and it's my job to make the most of the resources that we do have. 'I don't think anyone listening thinks that this is the climate right now doesn't have an impact on what's going on with the budget. I think that's self-evident. It's my job to make sure it doesn't but we have to also take a look at what's going on, cutting head count at a time of rising crime is going to be an extreme challenge for the men and women of this department,' he said. Commissioner Shea went on to say that slashing the budget would harm communities of color the most because that is where there is most violence. 'It's going to impact our patrol strength, our training, and it's probably going to impact people of color more than anyone else. We know where the violence occurs in this city,' 'My job is to make sure we are as efficient as possible, we're doing everything can to keep New Yorkers safe... we're going to have to be creative,' he said. Over the last week, there has been a 'significant uptick' in crime across the city. Shea said it was down to a combination of bail reform and a back-logged court system. He questioned why the courts still weren't operating because of COVID when thousands were being encouraged to protest peacefully against the police. Advertisement There are also ongoing complaints that the NYPD is not cracking down on low-level crime like people breaching social distancing rules while dining outdoors, drinking in the street or being generally anti-social. Across the city residents have been terrorized for nights on end by illegal fireworks being set off through the night, seemingly with little intervention from the cops. The city's income took a $9billion hit when businesses shuttered at the start of the pandemic and now many remain closed. Traffic levels in the city aren't predicted to return to their 2019 normal until November. Restaurant and retail traffic in New York City is currently 43.6 percent of the 2019 normal, whereas national traffic is at 53.2 percent of normal. Foot traffic from late-May to late-June in New York City increased roughly 18.3 percent, compared to the national increase of 27.7 percent, according to Zenreach data. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said on Tuesday that he understood every department must face cuts but that the decision had also been heavily influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement and that it was 'punitive'. He insisted that his officers 'are not going to allow mob rule 'We're all going to have to make cuts, we understand that, when you look at the fiscal crisis with COVID. 'What concerns me is cuts that have to be made because of tough fiscal decisions vs cuts that could appear to be punitive. 'We'll review all the numbers... it's concern. It's going to impact our ability, I believe, to keep New Yorkers safe in some way, shape or form. 'But we're also managers and it's my job to make the most of the resources that we do have. 'I don't think anyone listening thinks that this is the climate right now doesn't have an impact on what's going on with the budget. 'I think that's self-evident. 'It's my job to make sure it doesn't but we have to also take a look at what's going on, cutting head count at a time of rising crime is going to be an extreme challenge for the men and women of this department,' he said. Commissioner Shea went on to say that slashing the budget would harm communities of color the most because that is where there is most violence. 'It's going to impact our patrol strength, our training, and it's probably going to impact people of color more than anyone else. 'We know where the violence occurs in this city,' 'My job is to make sure we are as efficient as possible, we're doing everything can to keep New Yorkers safe... we're going to have to be creative,' he said. Over the last week, there has been a 'significant uptick' in crime across the city. Shea said it was down to a combination of bail reform and a back-logged court system. He questioned why the courts still weren't operating because of COVID when thousands were being encouraged to protest peacefully against the police. Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the PBA, said: 'Mayor de Basio's message to New Yorkers today was clear: you will have fewer cops on your streets. 'Shootings more than doubled again last week. 'Even right now, the NYPD doesn't have enough staffing to shift from one neighborhood without making another neighborhood less safe. 'We will say it again: the Mayor and the City Council have surrendered the city to lawlessness. Things won't improve until New Yorkers hold them responsible.' De Blasio defended the budget and said it would be down to good leadership from police bosses to keep people safe. Demonstrators from the 'City Hall Autonomous Zone' demonstrate in front of the New York Criminal Courts building to protest the police department and in support of "Black Lives Matter" on June 30, 2020, in New York City Court security guards talk with protesters outside City Hall on Tuesday Many of the protesters have been there all week A huge crowd of protesters outside City Hall on Wednesday morning. Some have been there for days as part of a #OccupyCityHall protest Protesters outside City Hall in Manhattan on Tuesday demanding that the police department be defunded Protesters meditating at the Occupy City Hall site on Tuesday morning ahead of the city council vote The Brooklyn Bridge City Hall subway station has now been covered in protest signs calling for the NYPD to be abolished People at the NYC 'Abolition Park' outside City Hall on Tuesday Protesters shelter under tents and umbrellas during their standing protest in New York City yesterday where demonstrators are demanding cuts to police funding The protesters have declared an 'autonomous zone' and a 'no-cop zone' in an echo of the ongoing 'occupation' in Seattle A group of protesters make their way to the Occupy City Hall 'autonomous zone' in New York City on Monday night He said his focus was on helping young people. 'Our young people have experienced something we would never have wished on them. We need to uphold them and help them through this moment in history. CRIME SPIKING IN NYC - 38 murders over the last 28 days, twice as much as the same period last year - 159 murders, 25% higher than last year - 394 shootings this year, a 24% increase last year - 1,691 burglaries last month compared to 759 last year - Burglaries up by 47% since start of the year compared to last year - Grand larceny up by 60% (3,078 incidents happening this year, up from 1,893 at this point last year) Advertisement 'They're going to inherit this city... our young people need to be reached. Not policed. We need to figure out how to nurture and support them,' he said. At City Hall, the group of protesters have been there for a week. 'We've done different levels of escalation to make sure we're getting their attention,' said Jonathan Lykes, one of the movement's organizers. 'If they defund the police by $1 billion then we have won - but that's only our demand this week.' At the protest a makeshift 'People's Library,' assembled under a tent, promotes 'radical literature' while a nearby 'bodega' features free donated food and protective gear to protesters. Speakers announced 'de-arrest training' sessions and reinforced the expectation that residents of the space look after one another. 'We want racial injustice to end, and the means is that we stay here right now in this space,' said Manny, who addressed the crowd but declined to give his last name. 'It's very clear that people want to stay past Tuesday and that people want to see police and prison abolition.' Gatherings of more than 10 people are still banned in New York City because of the coronavirus, but those rules have been ignored by protesters for weeks and police have not moved to enforce them. NYPD CUTS AND WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING $1billion stripped from NYPD - Overtime - July police academy - Contracts and non-personnel expenses Where it's going; $116m education $115m summer youth programming $143m family and social services $450million for NYCHA and Parks and youth recreation centers $97m on NYCHA Broadband expansion Advertisement Lykes said the occupation has made the NYPD 'nervous,' recalling a string of minor confrontations that were resolved without arrests. He differentiated the peaceful assembly in Lower Manhattan from a weeks-old occupation in Seattle that has seen episodes of violence. 'We have an uprising and one of the largest we've seen since the death of Martin Luther King,' he said. 'These are the worst of times but the best of times as far as an opportunity to change.' The idea of slashing the NYPD's budget, now around $6 billion annually for operations, seemed politically laughable even a year ago with memories of 9/11 and the high-crime decades of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s still fresh. Last weekend alone, as many as eleven people were shot in a period of less than 12 hours across Saturday night and into Sunday morning, in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens and Manhattan. Murder is also up 25 percent in the city in comparison to this time last year. Earlier this week, several officials warned that any drastic cuts to the NYPD would set the city back 30 years in its efforts to control crime - jeopardizing public safety in a negative impact that 'would be felt in every neighborhood citywide,' a law enforcement source told the Daily News. 'A $1 billion cut to the NYPD's operating budget would set the city back three decades and severely compromise the significant progress the NYPD has made in keeping crime at historic lows and New Yorkers safe.' A series of slogans are displayed at the Occupy City Hall protest, including more than one demand to 'defund the NYPD' Protesters display a series of slogans including Black Lives Matter and 'abolish the police' at the Occupy City Hall protest That view is one shared by Bruce Backman, a New York-based research consultant and member of the Re-Open New York coalition, who told DailyMail.com the city is balancing on the precipice of disaster - leaving it just 'two years away from becoming like Detroit'. 'The city of New York has never been worse than it has been in the last three months and it's getting worse by the day,' Backman said. 'It's not just coronavirus, its riots, looting, murders, fireworks and burglaries.' 'Once they know New York is on the run, this will incur more crime,' Backman continued. 'Go into any of the poorer neighborhoods of New York and ask those who live there if they want less law enforcement on the street. 'I'm pretty sure the answer is not what the mayor thinks it is,' he said. 'This is not the time to decrease funding, this is bad public policy.' Owner of American Home Hardware and More, Felix Atlasman, echoed Backman's sentiments in an interview with DailyMail.com Monday. Atlasman detailed how his neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen has been plagued by a dangerous crime spree in recent weeks. Amid suggestions New York City could be heading back to its crime ridden days of the 1980s, Atlasman insisted 'we're already back there'. 'My best selling item used to be light bulbs, now it's pepper spray,' said Atlasman, who opened the hardware store in 1955. 'When I call the police they arrive two hours later and then ask me which way [the shoplifter] went.' Staff at a Wrexham coronavirus-hit food factory that is run by a firm that supplies supermarket giants including Sainsbury's and Asda say they begged bosses to shut it down after 237 workers tested positive for coronavirus. Public health bosses are desperately trying to track down 100 Rowan Foods workers who could have the virus after colleagues tested positive for Covid-19 at the processing company. Staff at the North Wales plant have said they are afraid of catching coronavirus while working in close-proximity to colleagues on packing lines in chilled rooms. However, despite worker's fears, the plant's management has so far refused to close operations down as health officials try to track down the unaccounted for staff. The plant process food for Rowan Foods that supplies the likes of Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons, Aldi and Greggs from sites around the country. More than 1,000 people work at the factory, which has seen an outbreak of coronavirus among staff, more than three months after a walkout over concerns there was a lack of protection for workers. Speaking to The Sun Online, one woman who works at the plant who chose not to give her name, said: 'I am sick with worry. Ive asked my bosses if we can shut down until the infections have come down, but no one is listening. They care more about the firm making money. 'I now know dozens of friends and colleagues who have had it and I guess its only a matter of time before I get it too,' she told the website, adding that she is one of many women in a similar situation. Workers at Rowan Foods in Wrexham protested over a lack of proper protection amid the coronavirus lockdown in April. Now an outbreak has seen 237 workers diagnosed with Covid-19 The woman - in her 20s and from Poland - said that she and her colleagues 'worry like mad' about getting sick, and said that closing the factory would be the sensible thing to do until the outbreak is back under control. She also told the website that while the majority of staff wear gloves while working in the plant, not many chose to wear masks. Another anonymous worker from Poland claimed that it would be 'impossible' to track down the remaining 100 workers, and that most of the plant's 1,000 workers are recruited from Eastern European nations on minimum wage, and often quit within the first few months. 'Most workers only last a few months but back home there is always another plane load waiting to take our places,' he told The Sun Online. Military personnel have been sent out to the outbreak at Rowan Foods in Wrexham, North Wales Nearly a third of Rowan Foods 1,000 staff have not been tested for Covid-19 after an outbreak In a statement earlier today, Public Health Wales said: 'We are working with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to urgently contact just over 300 workers that have not yet presented for testing. 'As we would expect with any focused track and trace process, we will identify additional asymptomatic cases. Finding these cases does not mean that the rate of infection in the Wrexham area is increasing as a whole. 'There is no evidence that Rowan Foods is the source of the outbreak. 'The multi-agency team managing the outbreak with Public Health Wales will continue to review the situation and work with the employer, their workforce and wider community to bring this outbreak to a swift conclusion.' Public Health Wales also confirmed it has have so far managed to trace around 200 workers and found they were either shielding or not working during the outbreak. Councillor Carrie Harper, of Plaid Cymru, called on the Welsh Government to step in and close the factory down and furlough staff in a statement. 'In light of the increasing numbers of workers testing positive at Rowan Foods, up 28% in 24 hours, it's important that the authorities move swiftly to contain this and ensure it does not transmit into the local community,' Cllr Harper said. 'More than a quarter of those tested have now tested positive. 'One of the problems facing workers is that if they self-isolate they will lose out on income. That's why I'm calling on the Welsh Government to introduce a modified temporary furlough scheme for workers in affected outbreak factories,' she said. The Wrexham site first hit the headlines in relation to coronavirus earlier this year, when workers walked out in April in an apparent protest over what they felt was a lack of protection from the virus. Covid outbreaks have been reported at five sites across England and Wales so far The 2 Sisters chicken factory in Anglesey, above, that supplies meat to KFC and M&S, has shut down for two weeks after 58 staff tested positive for coronavirus in a major outbreak Kober Ltd in Cleckheaton near Bradford where mobile testing tents have been set up after Health secretary Matt Hancock announced an outbreak of Covid 19 in todays Downing Street briefing Covid-19 clusters at meat factories have been investigated Number 10's chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance said last week: 'The Food Standards Agency has looked carefully at whether meat is a vector for transmitting and the risk there is thought to be very low. 'So the meat itself is not the issue but the environmental in which this takes place is. There are several features, perhaps, about meat-processing factories. 'They're cold and we know the virus prefers it in the cold, often difficult in keeping people separated so there's that whole problem of proximity.' He added: 'They're often loud so people are speaking quite loudly and there are places people huddles to go and have their coffees, and so on, so they infect each other.' Advertisement Unite claimed the company did not deal with health and safety concerns urgently, after negotiations over sick pay broke down. Rowan Foods told the BBC: 'We have been proactively introducing new operational changes at the site for some months now, since the issuing of government guidance for the food industry in March 2020, to ensure that we maintain social distancing wherever practically possible, and have also included new mitigations such as screens and visors.' The firm supplies major supermarkets including Sainsbury's and Asda from other sites around the country. The Rowan Foods outbreak and the cluster of cases around the Anglesey 2 Sisters abattoir have so far accounted for more than 400 infections. There have been claims that the island of Anglesey, home to 70,000 people, could be placed under lockdown to contain the outbreak at the 2 Sisters chicken factory. Another 34 cases were reported at Kepak in Merthyr Tydfil. Last Wednesday tinned food giant Princes was forced to close its Cambridgeshire factory for 24 hours following an outbreak of coronavirus among staff. Staff from the Wisbech plant began displaying coronavirus symptoms and were instructed to self-isolate and contact health authorities to get tested. Fourteen of the factory's 407 employees tested positive, forcing the plant to close on Tuesday while deep cleaning was carried out. Number 10's chief scientist Sir Patrick Vallance said food safety officials ruled the risk of catching coronavirus from eating meat was slim Winter could bring conditions for Covid's return Cold air in slaughterhouses and meat-packing factories could be behind coronavirus outbreaks, suggesting winter could bring a second wave of Covid-19. Scientists say cramped and poorly-ventilated working conditions in the factories the centre of fresh outbreaks in the UK and Germany could be to blame because they make social distancing difficult. But experts also suggest the cold and sunless refrigerated buildings could allow the virus to spread and infect people faster than it would outside. More than 1,000 workers at a meat-packing factory in north-western Germany were confirmed to have caught Covid-19 last week, and slaughterhouses and similar meat-processing facilities around the world have suffered major outbreaks of the virus. One scientist said: 'The perfect place to keep a virus alive for a long time is a cold place without sunlight.' Advertisement A company spokesperson said the 14 infected employees would be 'logged as part of track and trace efforts'. Earlier this month mobile testing tents were set up outside Kober Ltd near Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, today which supplies supermarket giant Asda with bacon rashers and joints, after nearly 100 workers fell ill. A spokesman for Asda, who own Kober Ltd, said today there shouldn't be any food wastage as the goods 'cannot be contaminated with the virus'. Number 10's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said food safety officials who looked 'carefully' at whether meat is a vector ruled the risk was slim. Dismissing fears of contaminated meat in Thursday's Downing Street press conference, he said: 'The meat itself is not the issue but the environment in which this takes place is.' Sir Patrick added that the virus 'prefers' cold places such as meat-processing plants, which are often chilled to preserve them. He added it can be 'difficult' to keep workers separated in cramped factories and communal areas, and warned staff may have to speak loudly which studies have suggested can spread the virus. England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said: 'Meat-packing factories, abattoirs and food-processing and packing areas have led to several outbreaks around the world and, therefore, are an area where we'll have to take the mitigation efforts particularly seriously.' A Cuban man tired of having his asylum petition hearings delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic was found dead on the banks of the Rio Grande in northern Mexico after he tried to cross into the United States. Carlos Jorge Tomas Reyes, 23, was caught in a current and went missing June 24 when he and two other men - whose nationalities are unknown - tried to swim to the United States. Mario Antonio Garcia told Telemundo he and another individual named Alex left the Mexican border city of Reynosa and safely navigated across the dangerous river before making it to Texas. The lifeless body of Carlos Jorge Tomas Reyes was found floating on the banks of the Rio Grande in Reynosa, Mexico, his family told Telemundo on Monday. Tomas Reyes was a 23-year-old who fled Cuba for Mexico in May 2019. He attempted to cross the dangerous river with two other migrants before a current pulled him under and swept him away June 24 Carlos Jorge Tomas Reyes had numerous asylum hearings with U.S. immigration judges postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic However, Tomas Reyes was not fortunate and struggled to stay afloat as the rip current separated him from the other two men. 'I realized [he was drowning] because I saw that he was swimming and swimming and was in the same place and did not ask for help,' Garcia recalled. Alex Alvarez, who was the first one of the group to set foot on U.S. soil, risked his life by jumping back into the Rio Grande to rescue Tomas Reyes, pleading for him to hold on before he disappeared. 'I went swimming again. I went back into the river to try to reach him and I went [under water] to see if I touched the bottom to see how far we were from the shore and I said, "Jorge hold on,"' Alvarez said in interview with Telemundo. Tomas Reyes abandoned Cuba in May 2019 for Mexico in hopes of reuniting with his brother Luis Carlos Tomas Reyes, who had been living in the U.S. The body of a Cuban migrant was located on the banks of Rio Grande in the Mexican border city of Reynosa (left), according to Telemundo. The 23-year-old joined two other undocumented immigrants in swimming across the dangerous river when a rip current dragged him away The Cuban migrant had grown tired of the constant postponements leading up to his scheduled hearings with U.S. immigration judges, his cousin and Miami native Yoannis Marquez told Telemundo. 'Maybe he saw that some people were jumping [in the river] and made it over and then he thought: "I'm going to do it, I'm going to try it,' Marquez said. Carlos Jorge Tomas Reyes' tragic death stirred up memories of Oscar Alberto Martinez, the 25-year-old married Salvadoran father who was found dead on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande in June 2019 with the lifeless body of his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, lying next to him after he grew desperate with the asylum process and decided to make a dash for the U.S. by crossing the river. Miami Beach officials have said the city will start fining people $50 if they are caught in public not wearing a mask or other face covering as coronavirus cases jump by another 6,093 in a single day in Florida. Dan Gelber, Miami Beach's mayor, announced the mandate on Monday, which explained that 'all persons in public spaces and places, both indoors and outdoors, must wear a face covering if social distancing is not being achieved'. Gelber said: 'Our rule is simple, you must be wearing a mask in our city. 'On the street, waiting outside a restaurant, in your condo lobby or at the park wear it. It's not a political statement, it's just trying to do your part to keep loved ones and neighbors healthy.' According to the mayor, the mandate took effect on Tuesday and says that anyone who fails to comply will be issued a $50 fine. There are now a total of 152,434 coronavirus cases in Florida and 3,505 deaths. Miami Beach officials said the city will start fining people $50 if they are caught in public not wearing a mask or other face covering as coronavirus cases jump by another 6,093 in a single day in Florida Dan Gelber, Miami Beach's mayor, announced the mandate on Monday, which explained that 'all persons in public spaces and places, both indoors and outdoors, must wear a face covering if social distancing is not being achieved' Florida is one of several states where new coronavirus infections have continued to spike within the last week. Florida ordered all bars to close on Friday and has shut down beaches ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend Children under the age of two years old are not required to wear facial coverings. People who have trouble breathing due to chronic pre-existing conditions and individuals who cannot wear a facial covering due to a disability are also not required to wear masks. According to the Miami Herald, residents of Miami are required to wear masks at all times in public except for when they are exercising, eating or working outdoors. Miami's fines for violators range between $50 to $500 for a third offense. Florida is one of several states where new coronavirus infections have continued to spike within the last week. Last week, coronavirus infections across the US almost doubled with 31 states reporting an uptick in cases. COVID-19 cases across the US increased by 46 per cent in the week ending June 28, compared to the previous seven days, with the majority of rises in the West and South of the country. Nationally, new cases have consistently spiked every week for four straight weeks. Daily cases have been increasing to record highs of 40,000 in the past week - well above the initial surge of infections that were seen back in mid-April. Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.58 million and more than 126,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March. While cases continue to spike, deaths are showing a downward trend across the country. But Arizona, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee were the states that saw the largest increases in deaths in the past week. In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project. Infections across the US have now surpassed 2.6 million and more than 129,000 Americans have died since the virus took hold in March In response to the new cases, Louisiana and Washington have temporarily halted the reopening of their economies, with Washington also mandating the wearing of face masks in public. Florida ordered all bars to close on Friday and has shut down beaches ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend. Elsewhere across the country, leaders in several states have ordered residents to wear masks in public and have halted reopenings in a dramatic reversal amid the alarming surge in coronavirus cases. Among those implementing the face-covering orders is the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August. Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them. Republican Florida Gov Ron DeSantis has opposed a statewide mask requirement but said in response to Jacksonville's action that he will support local authorities who are doing what they think is appropriate. Less than a week after Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said there would be no mask requirement, city officials announced on Monday that coverings must be worn in 'situations where individuals cannot socially distance'. A Hampton Inn employee in North Carolina has been fired from her job after she called police on a black woman and her two children who had been staying at the hotel and were enjoying some time out at the pool. The woman's termination came after video of her confrontation with the family - filmed by Anita Williams-Wright - went viral over the weekend. The nearly-10 minute video shows the mother and her two children out at the hotel's pool in Williamston, North Carolina. Throughout the duration of the video, Williams-Wright shares that she had been on the phone with her mother while her children swam, when the employee came and asked her if she had a room. She then called the police on the family. The woman's termination came after video of the her confrontation with the family - filmed by Anita Williams-Wright - went viral over the weekend Williams-Wright explains to two officers from the Williamston Police Department that the employee is discriminating against her, noting that the policemen were 'harassing' her because they didn't even come to ask her what happened. When they ask her to prove that she is a guest, Williams-Wright flashes her room key and suggests going to show that the key works. But once the officers ask for the mother's name, she refuses promptly. 'I have a room here,' she declares. 'I don't need to give my name. I didn't break the law. I know the law.' Throughout the duration of the video, Williams-Wright shares that she had been on the phone with her mother while her children swam, when the employee came and asked her if she had a room Williams-Wright explains to two officers from the Williamston Police Department that the employee is discriminating against her, noting that the policemen were 'harassing' her because they didn't even come to ask her what happened The officers then run Williams-Wright's license plates, which she is fine with. 'I'm here on business with my kids in the pool,' the mother shares to both the officers and to the people watching her video online. 'It was two white people sitting over there and she said nothing to them,' Williams-Wright tells the officers, with the employee heard in the background explaining that she checked the two other guests in. When they ask her to prove that she is a guest, Williams-Wright flashes her room key and suggests going to show that the key works Soon Williams-Wright explains that the employee had a reason for asking the mom and her kids why they were at the pool. The irate mother said: 'She said to me, "Oh, because it's always people like you using the pool unauthorized." She adds: 'Who is people like me?' She then turns her critique to the officers, who she said never asked her 'a single word' besides if she had a room at the hotel. Williams-Wright tells one of the officers that she plans to call internal affairs on him, which prompts the policeman to begin taunting her and tells her to call the police chief. 'If I receive a call I am going to handle it how I see fit,' the officer boasts. When the mother calls the officer 'racist,' he quickly dismisses the notion. 'Your actions do not prove that,' the mother asserts. 'You can say whatever you want out your mouth but your actions don't prove what you just said out your mouth.' Williams-Wright tells the officers that they are 'degrading' her in front of her kids. Williams-Wright tells the officers that they are 'degrading' her in front of her kids She makes her way to her car before heading back inside the hotel with her children. But before she makes her way inside, the employee tries to declare that her manager told her that Williams-Wright had to share her information. The mother goes into the hotel and refuses to speak to the employee, telling the woman that her 'kids are already stressed out.' 'I know I saw his shirt. I saw him leaving earlier,' the employee says about Williams-Wright's son, who is exiting the pool without his shirt. Williams-Wright asserts that this proves the employee was actually around when they were in the hotel earlier, noting that the woman had been smoking a cigarette at the time. She goes into the hotel and refuses to speak to the employee, telling the woman that her 'kids are already stressed out.' The video has been viewed just under a million times since it was shared across platforms. It has prompted a response from the hotel, who announced that the employee had been fired from the job. 'Hampton by Hilton has zero tolerance for racism or discrimination of any kind. On Saturday, we were alerted to an online video of a guest incident at one of our franchise properties,' Shruti Gandhi Buckley, the Global Head of Hampton by Hilton, said in a statement announcing the termination of the employee. 'We have apologized directly to the guest and her family for their experience, and will work with them and the hotel to make this right. We remain in contact with the hotel's ownership about follow up actions, and to ensure that in the future, their employees reflect the best value of our brand and are welcoming to all.' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with a Taliban leader amid the growing crisis over Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and told Taliban Deputy and chief negotiator Mullah Baradar not to attack Americans. Pompeo spoke with Baradar via video conference on Monday, the State Department revealed in a brief statement. 'The Secretary made clear the expectation for the Taliban to live up to their commitments, which include not attacking Americans,' the department said. The Trump administration has gotten consumed with the growing crisis over an intelligence report - revealed in The New York Times on Friday - that Russians were paying Taliban officials to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with a Taliban leader amid the growing crisis over Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and told them not to kill Americans Afghanistan's Taliban delegation arrive for a meeting with U.S. officials in Qatar in February; Pompeo held a video conference with some leaders on Monday Joe Biden said of Donald Trump that 'this man is not fit to be the president of the United States of America' during remarks in Wilmington on Tuesday President Donald Trump and administration officials have repeatedly denied the president knew about the intelligence, which the White House has said is not 'verified,' leading to questions of why Trump wasn't told and whether or not it was contained in his presidential daily brief and - if it was - why didn't he read it. As the administration has struggled to down play the shocking report, Democrats have piled onto the president, accusing him of a 'dereliction of duty' in the words of Joe Biden, the presumptive nominee who spoke in Wilmington on Tuesday. 'If these allegations are true and he did nothing about any of this, then, in fact, I think the public should - unrelated to my running - conclude this man is not fit to be the president of the United States of America,' Biden said of Trump. Some Republicans have jumped to the president's defense. 'This morning I attended a long briefing at @WhiteHouse on reports about Putin putting bounties on our troops in Afghanistan. I'm confident @RealDonaldTrump didn't know about the report, and it's clear our intelligence agencies aren't in complete agreement on this,' wrote Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, the chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee, on Twitter. The White House has been briefing members of Congress - Republicans and Democrats separately - on the issue but won't say if the president has been briefed on it. The New York Times reported additional information on the payments on Tuesday, citing sources who claimed that American officials intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by Russia's military intelligence agency to a Taliban-linked account. That led to several arrests of Afghan businessmen believed to be middlemen who operated between the G.R.U. - the Russian intelligence agency - and the Taliban-linked militants. One of those men had $500,000 in cash at their residence. Meanwhile, President Trump on Tuesday embraced a claim that an intelligence report on the Russian bounties was 'wishful thinking' as the families of Marines who died in a car bomb attack demanded justice. The president retweeted two tweets from Geraldo Rivera on the matter as the White House struggled to deal with the fallout from The New York Times' explosive report on the bounties, trying to down play its significance and saying Trump was never briefed on it. Rivera's tweets attacked the reporting in the Times, which followed up its original story with a piece Monday night that said intelligence on the Russian bounties was included in Trump's President's Daily Brief document - a compilation of the latest intelligence information - citing two officials with knowledge of the matter. One of the officials said the item appeared in Trump's brief in late February; the other cited Feb. 27, specifically. President Donald Trump embraced a claim that an intelligence report indicating Russia offered bounties on U.S. service members was 'wishful thinking' - retweeting tweets from Geraldo Rivera on the matter 'After enjoying big splash from sensational #RussianBounty expose, #NYT retreating to shore-admitting 'the underlying intelligence was conflicting.' In 3 years of @realDonaldTrump all NYT/Russia reporting has been based on 'conflicting' intelligence - Also known as wishful thinking,' was one of Rivera's tweets that Trump touted. 'Here's #RussianBounty story in a nutshell: 1-US raid randomly discovers wad of cash in Afghan hut (How much? In a safe? Under a bed? In Capone's vault?) 2-Clever intell op exclaims, 'Say I think this cash came from Moscow!' 3-During daily briefing @realDonaldTrump is told or not,' was the other. President Trump's defense comes as the families of three Marines killed in a car bomb attack in April 2019 demanded justice. U.S. officials are looking at that April attack as one that could have been a result of Russian bounties. Felicia Arculeo, whose son Cpl. Robert Hendriks, 25, died in the April 8, 2019, attack, told CNBC that she wants an investigation into how her son died and 'that the parties who are responsible should be held accountable, if that's even possible.' Hendriks and the other two Marines, Sgt. Benjamin Hines, 31, and Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman, 43, were killed when a car rigged with explosives detonated near their armored vehicles as they returned to Bagram Airfield days before they were scheduled to return home from Afghanistan. Hendriks' father told the Associated Press that even a rumor of Russian bounties should be immediately addressed. 'If this was kind of swept under the carpet as to not make it a bigger issue with Russia, and one ounce of blood was spilled when they knew this, I lost all respect for this administration and everything,' Erik Hendriks said. But two senior administration officials told NBC News that the White House does not believe there is a link between the deaths of three marines and the bounty offer. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, who was briefed on the situation at the White House on Monday, told NBC that they were told that 'no one had been killed' as a result of Russia's bounty offer. These images provided by the U.S. Marine Corps show, from left, Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines, 31, of York, Pa., Staff Sgt. Christopher K.A. Slutman, 43, of Newark, Del., and Cpl. Robert A. Hendriks, 25, of Locust Valley, N.Y. All three were killed on April 8, 2019, when a roadside bomb hit their convoy near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan An Afghan military convoy drives past the site of a car bomb attack where U.S soldiers were killed near Bagram air base on April 9, 2019 Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (left with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on the right) said 'there may be a reluctance to brief the president on things he doesn't want to hear'; Schiff and Hoyer were among the eight House Democrats briefed by the White House on Tuesday morning The White House continues to deny President Trump knew of the bounties even as reports emerged that top White House officials were aware in early 2019 of the classified intelligence reports on it. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton told colleagues he briefed President Trump on an intelligence assessment that Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan in March 2019, much earlier than previously reported. The Times reported it was in the President's Daily Brief, a document packet that Trump is known not to read carefully, instead preferring a verbal briefing on intelligence matters and foreign relations. Even during those he has been reported to have trouble focusing on the matters at hand and prefers to get his information from conservative news sources. 'He was not personally briefed on the matter,' White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Monday when asked about the written briefing. 'That is all I can share with you today.' Hillary Clinton, Trump's 2016 Democratic rival, criticized the president for not knowing about the intelligence. 'Either he knew and chose to do nothing, or he didn't know because he couldn't be bothered to do his job,' she wrote on Twitter. Biden also slammed Trump for reports he does not read his daily briefing, noting he and President Barack Obama read theirs every day when they were in office. 'The president brief was something I read every day as vice president. The president read it every day. I was briefed every morning before I got to the White House, and then again. The idea that somehow he didn't know or isn't being briefed, it's a dereliction of duty if that's the case. If he was briefed, and nothing was done about this, that is a dereliction of duty,' Biden said of Trump. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said 'there may be a reluctance to brief the president on things he doesn't want to hear.' Schiff made his comments after eight House Democrats received a briefing at the White House on Tuesday morning. 'You briefed the president in the manner in which he or she receives information. If the president doesn't read the briefs, it makes it doesn't doesn't work to give him written product, and not tell him what's in it,' Schiff said. 'So, I don't want to comment on this particular case but I just say it's not a justification to say that the president should have read whatever materials he has. If he doesn't read, he doesn't read. They should know that by now,' he noted. President's Daily Brief The President's Daily Brief (PDB) is a daily a multi-source intelligence digest of high-level information and analysis on national security issues produced for the president and key cabinet members and advisers. It has been presented in some form to the president since 1946, when President Harry Truman received the Daily Summary. In 2014, the PDB transitioned from a print product to electronic delivery at the request of President Barack Obama. Given the sensitive nature of the information, most PDBs - even those from many years past - remain classified. Source: Intelligence.gov Advertisement On Sunday, the AP reported that current National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien had discussed the matter with Trump. O'Brien denied ever discussing it. 'Over the past several days, the New York Times and other news outlets have reported on allegations regarding our troops in Afghanistan. While we do not normally discuss such matters, we constantly evaluate intelligence reports and brief the President as necessary,' O'Brien said in a statement late Monday night. 'Because the allegations in recent press articles have not been verified or substantiated by the Intelligence Community, President Trump had not been briefed on the items. Nevertheless, the Administration, including the National Security Council staff, have been preparing should the situation warrant action,' he noted. His statement did not address reports that the information was included in the president's daily briefing book. Bolton was reported to have told colleagues he briefed Trump on the batter last year. Officials with knowledge of that briefing told the AP it contained no 'actionable intelligence', meaning the intelligence community did not have enough information to form a strategic plan or response. CIA Director Gina Haspel, who was appointed by Trump in 2018, released a statement Monday saying that in developing intelligence assessments 'preliminary Force Protection information is shared with the national security community - and with US allies,' meaning the assessment would have been shared with foreign governments. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton claims he briefed Donald Trump on an intelligence assessment that Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan in March 2019, much earlier than previously reported. Bolton pictured July 2019 Trump and the White House have denied that he was ever made aware of the assessment and no action was taken to stop the bounty operation Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported. American soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division deploy to fight Taliban fighters as part of Operation Mountain Thrust to a U.S. base near the village of Deh Afghan on June 22, 2006 in Afghanistan But on Sunday the president denied that he was ever made aware of the assessment. The White House doubled down on the matter with officials backing up the president's words. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday that President Trump was never briefed because the intelligence was not 'verified' and there was 'dissent' in the intelligence community over its accuracy. 'There was not a consensus among the intelligence community and in fact there were dissenting opinions and it would not be elevated to the president until it was verified,' she said at her press briefing. However, it is rare for intelligence to be confirmed without a shadow of a doubt before it is presented to top officials. And she wouldn't say if the president had been briefed since. 'I have no further details on the president's private correspondence,' she responded. Bolton declined to comment Monday when asked if he had briefed Trump about the matter in 2019. But he suggested on Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press that Trump was claiming ignorance to Russia's provocations to justify his administration's lack of response. 'He can disown everything if nobody ever told him about it,' Bolton said. The director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe, who was tapped by Trump for the job, also shared a statement Monday saying an investigation into the intelligence assessment is ongoing. 'US and coalition force protection is a critical priority for both the President and the intelligence Community. The selective leaking of any classified information disrupts the vital interagency work to collect, assess, and mitigate threats and places our forces at risk. It is also, simply put, a crime,' he said. 'We are still investigating the alleged intelligence referenced in recent media reporting and we will brief the President and Congressional leaders at the appropriate time. 'This is the analytic process working the way it should. Unfortunately, unauthorized disclosures now jeopardize our ability to ever find out the full story with respect to these allegations,' he added. A former councillor has been charged with criminal damage after the words Dickens Racist were scrawled on a Charles Dickens museum. Ian Driver, 63, of Broadstairs, Kent, was arrested today and charged with seven counts of criminal damage relating to an alleged offence in Broadstairs on Saturday June 13 and six in Broadstairs and Ramsgate on Saturday June 27. Driver will appear before Medway magistrates in Chatham, Kent, tomorrow morning. Yesterday, the former Green Party councillor admitted to targeting the museum dedicated to beloved 19th century author Charles Dickens after being inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Ian Driver pictured scrawling graffiti on the Charles Dickens museum in Broadstairs, Kent, on Saturday Mr Driver (pictured) admitted daubing the graffiti in the seaside town of Broadstairs Ian Driver scrawled 'Dickens Racist, Dickens Racist,' on the outside of the The Dickens House Museum in Broadstairs, Kent, and attempted to black-out the lettering on a street sign for nearby Dickens Road. The carer wore a denim jacket and cream shorts as he took to the streets in the dead of night on Saturday to campaign against what he claims is 'institutionalised racism' in the seaside town. The museum on the East Kent coast inspired the home of Betsey Trotwood, a character in the novel David Copperfield, which was released in full in 1950. Mr Driver, who was a Green Party councillor for four years until 2015, said: 'I have been campaigning for quite a long time about what I regard to be institutional racism in Thanet and Broadstairs in particular. Dickens House, a museum in Broadstairs, Kent, dedicated to the Victorian author, was daubed with graffiti by Mr Driver 'The Broadstairs Folk Week allow, encourage and fund Morris dancers to black up but won't do anything about it. I think it is quite demeaning towards black people and there is no justification for it. 'But after the Black Lives Matter protests and seeing people learn their local history like the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, I decided to do some digging into my hometown of 12 years. 'Charles Dickens is celebrated in Broadstairs like a local hero and money maker just because he wrote a few books here. In reality, he was a notorious genocidal racist and should be depicted as such. That's the real Dickens. 'He supported the Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica in 1865, the suppression of the Indian rebellion in 1857 saying their race should be wiped out and also referred to black and Asian people as savages. 'There is no defending him yet there is a whole museum dedicated to him on my doorstep with no mention of his other life as a racist. Mr Driver said he has long campaigned against folk week in the seaside town 'The National Portrait Gallery even has a few paragraphs explaining this other side of history. I think it's important to get both sides and a balanced view.' In his blog he added that he has no regrets about what he did and 'I will be making no apology.' The father-of-three was arrested earlier today Mr Driver was already under investigation by Kent Police for vandalising a box erected over a 'racist' memorial to Uncle Mack, who ran a minstrel group in blackface on the local beach in the early 19th Century, after a Black Lives Matter protest on June 13. He claims Broadstairs Town Council's vote to keep the plaque on June 24 was 'totally provocative and racist' and forced him to take 'direct action as a last resort'. But the father-of-three said he has 'no regrets whatsoever' over his latest demonstration and was expecting officers to knock on the door of his Broadstairs home 'any minute.' He added: 'I will go to court and fight my case. If I had my way, the museum would be shut down. 'The council is not listening and has no intention of addressing these issues. I believe that Broadstairs is Racism-on-Sea. 'The Black Lives Matter campaign is uncovering history we shouldn't be celebrating. Some of the things these people said and did would be appalling even in their own times - it's not just outdated views.' Dickens Road, which is less than 10 minutes walk away from the Broadstairs museum was painted over with black ink Dickens was said to have visited the home regularly for tea and cake with its owners at the time. Amid growing calls from the Black Lives Matter movement to remove statues and monuments of racist figures. A statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down and dumped into Bristol Harbour earlier this month, while statues to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Holland and Nancy Astor, the first woman to take a seat in Parliament, have all been defaced in recent weeks. By the end of the 19th century the museum had come to be known as Dickens House, before it was opened a museum to the writer in 1973. During his life and more so after his death in 1870, Charles Dickens' writing has been criticised as antisemitic and racist. Was Charles Dickens racist? Charles Dickens is one of the most beloved authors of the Victorian era. His works, including A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist, are viewed as championing the plight of the working class during the Industrial Revolution. The celebrated writer's works have garnered criticism since his death in 1870 for antisemitic and genocidal views. Charles Dickens In 1857, following an unsuccessful uprising by Indians against the British East India Company, Dickens wrote he wanted to 'exterminate' the race. Dickens, writing as though he were a addressing Indian citizens, said: 'I... have the honor to inform you Hindoo gentry that it is my intention, with all possible avoidance of unnecessary cruelty and with all merciful swiftness of execution, to exterminate the Race from the face of the earth.' In his book The Noble Savage wrote: 'I call a savage as something highly desirable to be civilised off the face of the earth.' His depiction of the character Fagin in Oliver Twist has also been described as antisemitic - both during the time Dickens was alive and today. The first 38 chapters of the book refer to Fagin as 'the Jew' more than 250 times' compared to calling him 'Fagin' or 'the old man' 42 times. Dickens said he made the character Jewish as it: 'Unfortunately was true, of the time to which the story refers, that the class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew.' Advertisement In a letter penned in 1857 reacting to an uprising in India, the Oliver Twist and Great Expectations author said he wished to 'exterminate the Race from the face of the earth.' While penning a non-fiction book titled The Noble Savage, he suggested Indians should be 'civilised off the face of the earth'. Locals spoke of their upset at the graffiti. Judith Carr said: 'What madness! Aside from the fact that it is illegal to deface private property, Dickens spent his life pointing out the evils of social injustices of all kinds.' Phil Harradence said: 'Please tell me the uneducated, knuckle dragging moron(s) responsible for this have been caught on CCTV? 'Have we now lost complete control of sense in this country, absolutely disgusting behaviour. What next, the blank cliffs of Dover???' Gary Angela Mayer said: 'Disgusting. It was a different time, history, your supposed to learn from it and be better, not be worse.' Kevin Cripps said: 'Dickens is dead ! Deal with real live issues, deal with black on black violence deal with modern slavery deal with the slave markets of Libya, deal with anything that isn't mindless vandalism.' And Dorothy Welby said: 'Even if he was, the house wasn't. A bit sad.' Carol Calland added: 'Moronic behaviour. Does their cause, if they have cause, no good whatsoever.' But Poppy Elizabeth said there was a kernel of truth to the vandalism. She said: 'Not justifying it, I dislike graffiti. 'I'm just pointing out there is a level of truth. A lot of historical figures actually had views of 'primitive' cultures. 'I'm not saying he was a full blown KKK racist, but instead of jumping on this as mindless, do a bit of research and consider why this was put there.' Robert Cooper replied: 'Well actually it's not from lack of research that people label this as mindless. 'It's through recognition that morality and cultural views on things like race are fluid. 'Everybody in Dickens' time held racist views. You aren't better than them because you live in a more 'enlightened' age; if you and I were born back then we would hold similar views, I bet.' Dickens was known to be a champion of the poor, however he often defended colonialism and was disparaging of other races. It's understood the criminal damage has not been reported to Kent Police, but officers are carrying out enquiries. Advertisement The red light district in Amsterdam is to reopen on June 1 with prostitutes expected to wear gloves and avoid oral sex. Pictures of workers preparing the rooms used by Amsterdam's sex workers show behind the red curtains as the windows, beds and surfaces are cleaned down ahead of customers returning. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte gave the sex industry, which is deemed as a 'contact' profession, the green light to restart after the number of coronavirus deaths fell into single figures. The news has been welcomed by sex workers, many of which have faced financial hardship when they were unable to work during the lockdown. The red light district has been shut down since June 16. Many were forced to adapt, taking their business to an online format, with Complex UK reporting that websites such as 'OnlyFans' have seen a huge increase in users. Pictured: A woman cleans mirrors inside one of the rooms rented by Amsterdam's prostitutes in its famous red light district ahead of its opening on July 1 Pictured: Red tape with the words 'respect our sexworker' is seen positioned on one of the glass doors of Amsterdam's red light district. Inside the room, a woman cleans the windows ahead of the districts reopening on July 1 The red light district, or 'De Wallen' is the largest and most popular red light district in Amsterdam, and is home to roughly 300 single-room cabins that are rented by prostitutes to ply their trade in. They typically stand behind a glass door that is typically illuminated by red lights, hence the district's colloquial name, which opens into a small room with a bed and other limited amenities. Pictures from the district on June 30, the day ahead of the re-opening, have shown workers cleaning the spaces ready for people to return, as well as window cleaners ensuring the glass doors are spotless. Inside, the rooms have gloves, face masks and hand sanitiser ready to go for when tenants and customers return, while some of the doors have the words 'respect our sexworker' written across the front in red tape. Pictured: A man in Amsterdam's red light district cleans the glass doors of rooms rented by prostitutes in the city as it prepares to reopen to sex workers on July 1 Pictured: A woman cleans the inside of a glass door facing out on to an Amsterdam street 'De Wallen', also known as Amsterdam's red light district, which will reopen for sex workers on July 1 after lockdown began in the middle of March As well as not being able to work, several workers were not eligible for government support because of how they are registered - forcing them to work illegally and breach the Netherlands' lockdown regulations. For this reason, late last month Red Light United, a union for red light district window workers, wrote to the government to urge it the reopen the sex industry earlier than the original date of September 1. It set out measures which it expects sex workers to use to help protect themselves and clients, such as wearing latex gloves and mouth masks. Pictured: Gloves, face masks and hand sanitiser sit on a chair inside one of the rooms rented by Amsterdam's sex workers ahead of reopening on July 1 Prostitutes in the red light district have been advised to wear gloves and a mask as they work, and to avoid oral sex and any positions that involve faces being too close, to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus The red light district closed on March 16 as The Netherlands went into lockdown. Many sex workers have struggled financially since. As well as not being able to work, several workers were not eligible for government support because of how they are registered Additionally, it suggested avoiding oral sex and kissing and only offering sex positions where they do not face the client. Mr Rutte said, as it is a contact job, workers will need to speak to their clients in advance and check if they have symptoms. He added that the government had asked for advice about 'which positions were possible'. Pictured: A man cleans the windows of a bathroom in one of buildings that houses the rooms the sex workers in Amsterdam's red light district rent The red light district in Amsterdam has been given the go ahead by the Dutch Prime Minister to reopen on Wednesday Late last month Red Light United, a union for red light district window workers, wrote to the government to urge it the reopen the sex industry earlier than the original date of September 1 The Netherlands went into lockdown on March 16 but has suffered an economic contraction of six per cent, leading to experts suggesting the lockdown should be eased. Economist Mathijs Bouman told The Sunday Telegraph that the countries 'laid-back approach' to testing was not the right choice. He added: 'We are going to the boundaries of what's possible at the moment - but since one third of our money is earned abroad we are still a cork floating on a wild international sea.' Many prostitutes have been forced to work illegally and breach lockdown rules as they were not eligible for support from the government The Red Light United union wrote to the government urging for restrictions on the sex industry to be lifted sooner and set out safety measures which could be adopted, including wearing face masks Several safety measures have been implemented in the Netherlands in order to limit the spread of coronavirus The red light district was initially set to reopen on September 1, but Rutte brought the reopening forward as coronavirus measures in the country begin to ease. The Netherlands began it's 'intelligent lockdown' on March 16, still permitting smaller gatherings so long as social distancing is observed. As the number of daily coronavirus deaths in the country moved into single figures, measures have been relaxed, with The Netherlands implementing a 1.5 meter rule. However, the government acknowledged that the rule makes it difficult for single people to have sexual intimacy, and updated guidance to allow people to make sensible 'sex buddy' relationships. Sinn Fein's leaders have faced furious criticism for joining hundreds of mourners at an IRA terrorist's funeral despite ongoing lockdown restrictions. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and party president Mary Lou McDonald joined ex-leader Gerry Adams in attending the service and later commemoration event for Bobby Storey. Health Minister Robin Swann said the scenes in west Belfast, where hundreds packed roadsides for the funeral procession, were a clear breach of Stormont restrictions limiting public gatherings to 30 people. He added that the Police Service of Northern Ireland was investigating the event at Milltown cemetery, adding that 'no one is immune' to the guidance. Ms O'Neill has been singled out for strong criticism from political rivals in Northern Ireland, given her role as the joint head of a Stormont Executive that has been instructing people to limit the size of funerals during the lockdown. Sinn Fein's leaders have faced furious criticism for joining hundreds of mourners at an IRA terrorist's funeral despite ongoing lockdown restrictions Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister insisted Ms O'Neill's position was no longer tenable, while DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley raised a point of order in the Assembly questioning whether she had broken the members' code of conduct. Mr Swann's weekly Covid-19 media conference was later dominated by the issue, with the health minister challenged on whether the executive's credibility had been undermined. He was asked if the incident could lead the public to question the point of abiding by the rules - the way some people did after the Prime Minister's top adviser Mr Cummings was accused of breaching regulations during a trip to the north west of England during lockdown. 'I'm concerned with what I saw this morning in west Belfast,' he said. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill (right) and party president Mary Lou McDonald (left) joined ex-leader Gerry Adams (centre) in attending the service and later commemoration event for Bobby Storey Health Minister Robin Swann said the scenes in west Belfast, where hundreds packed roadsides for the funeral procession and a cemetery, were a clear breach of Stormont restrictions limiting public gatherings to 30 people 'What we are seeing today was a breach of the guidance that has been issued and has been worked on by the executive and has been supported by the executive.' He added: 'I sincerely hope that this isn't the Dominic Cummings effect in Northern Ireland because in our health service we can't afford it to be. 'We are in a position in Northern Ireland where we had zero deaths today, with zero people in our intensive care units because of the actions of the people of Northern Ireland. 'So I have a very clear ask - please don't let this weaken your resolve or your ability to follow the guidance that have gotten us to the position where we are today.' Mr Swann urged people to continue to comply with the guidance, making clear that 'two wrongs don't make a right'. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill is seen posing for a selfie with two attendees at Bobby Storey's funeral in a photo given out by party Sinn Fein Ms O'Neill has been singled out for strong criticism from political rivals in Northern Ireland, given her role as the joint head of a Stormont Executive that has been instructing people to limit the size of funerals during the lockdown 'There's no person, no position or there's no point of privilege that is above the guidance and the regulations that we have laid down in how we combat Covid-19 in Northern Ireland,' he said. 'Because there's no one immune from it and that is the guidance we still have to keep reiterating, and I do hope that what we saw today does not undermine the public message that has worked so well in Northern Ireland, that has actually got us to the position where we are today.' Mr Swann used the west Belfast incident to warn that regional lockdowns could be introduced in Northern Ireland if an upsurge in the virus, similar to that witnessed in Leicester, was to occur locally. At the briefing, Mr Swann also announced a relaxation of visiting restrictions in hospital and care homes. Lockdown restrictions that are to be dropped include the measure that prevented prospective fathers attending baby scans along with her partners. The death toll recorded by Northern Ireland's Department of Health remained at 551 after no further Covid-19 linked deaths were reported on Tuesday. Another three positive cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, taking the total in the region to 5,760. Mr Swann used the west Belfast incident to warn that regional lockdowns could be introduced in Northern Ireland if an upsurge in the virus, similar to that witnessed in Leicester, was to occur locally. DUP MP Gregory Campbell said there had been no respect for the restrictions at the funeral. 'With hundreds of people gathered for the IRA man's funeral on Tuesday, it will have felt like a kick in the teeth for the many families who over recent weeks have gone to considerable lengths to discourage people from attending their loved one's funeral,' said the East Londonderry representative. 'The scenes in West Belfast showed no respect for the Covid-19 restrictions. The presence of senior SF personnel such as Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and others will lead many to conclude it is "do as I say not as I do". 'Police action needs to follow and be seen to take effect.' Sinn Fein finance minister Conor Murphy, who also attended, insisted organisers had done their best to ensure the guidelines were observed. He said numbers in the cortege that followed the coffin were limited to 30 and that only a small number of people attended the church service. He said Sinn Fein had also live streamed the event in an effort to encourage people to watch it online. 'This clearly is a very, very popular figure within republicanism, it was clearly going to be a very significant funeral and all efforts were made to try to manage that in line with the guidance,' he told UTV. Sinn Fein finance minister Conor Murphy, who also attended, insisted organisers had done their best to ensure the guidelines were observed PSNI Superintendent Melanie Jones said: 'We were made aware of the plans for today's funeral and have engaged with the celebrant and service organisers to highlight both the public health advice and risks around Covid-19, and the requirement for those attending to adhere to social distancing. 'We had assurances that those attending would observe the health guidelines and that marshals would be in place to encourage those lining the cortege route to observe social distancing. 'We will now review footage gathered during the funeral and will consider any suspected breaches of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations NI 2020.' Meanwhile, on Tuesday Mr Swann announced changes to restrictions on visiting across all care settings from this Monday. The revised guidance recognises the right of people to visit their loved ones in hospitals and care homes while balancing the ongoing risk from Covid-19. Decisions on allowing visitors will now be made on a day-to-day basis, by the nurse in charge in hospitals, or by the manager in care homes, and will depend on the ability to ensure social distancing and safety of both patients/residents and the visitors. All visitors to hospitals and care homes are now also required to wear a face covering. Found! Julia Mann, 17, who vanished from Georgia four months ago, was found safe in another state on Tuesday morning A 17-year-old girl who vanished from her grandparents' home in Georgia in late February was found safe in another state this morning. The Oconee County Sheriff's Office in Georgia shared the news on its Facebook page on Tuesday, stating that Julia Mann has been located. 'She appears to be safe and local authorities have been notified,' the post read. 'We will not release any further at this time. Please respect her privacy and be respectful to a teenage girl and her family. Thank you for your concern and your assistance in finding Julia.' Mann vanished between February 20 and 21 while staying at the home of her grandparents in Watkinsville. Sheriff's investigators said at the time they believed the teen 'left alone and on her own accord.' Sheriff Scott Berry told the Athens Banner-Herald that he got the news from Mann's father, who was contacted by an out-of-state agency. He declined to say where the teen was found. 'Were very excited. Weve seen a picture of her so we know its her,' Berry said of Mann. 'Weve talked to her on the telephone. We know she is safe.' The sheriff said he does not know what happened to the girl in the intervening four months. Last glimpse: Mann is seen on surveillance video just hours before her disappearance on February 20 Neither Mann's mother, Terrie Clark, nor her father, Mitch Mann, have made any public statements concerning Julia's safe return. Several people connected to the family, including Julia's uncle, have confirmed on Facebook that she has been found. A $20,000 reward had been offered for information leading to Mann's safe return. Mann was last seen by her grandfather at around 10pm on February 20 before retiring to bed at her grandparents' home in the area of Rocky Branch Road in Watkinsville. By the next morning, she was gone, along with her cellphone and laptop. From the time of her disappearance, Mann's cellphone and social media accounts have been dormant, raising concerns for her well-being. Her mother, Terrie Clark, described the situation as 'an absolute nightmare' in an interview with NBC's Dateline. Clark said it is possible that Mann had slipped out of the house to meet a friend, but she does not believe her daughter intended to run away from her family, including her beloved five-year-old sister, Olivia. A $20,000 reward had been offered for information leading to Mann's safe return The Oconee County sheriff on Tuesday declined to say where Mann has been located Clark explained to Dateline that she and the girls were in the process of relocating to her parents' home in Watkinsville, but in order for Mann to start school in town, the teenagers had moved in with the grandparents first. 'She had just registered for senior classes for the next year, was doing really well in school and was making friends,' Clark said. 'She had been organizing her new room and was excited for us to join her. Things were just going really well for her.' Clark said her daughter is a good student with a keen interest in computer programming. She noted that the 17-year-old enjoyed playing online role-playing video games, raising concerns that Mann might have met someone on one of those gaming platforms who convinced her to run away from home. Clark added she is worried that her daughter is being held against her will. The mother-of-two had been posting regular updates on her Facebook page to keep her daughter's missing person case from being forgotten. Mann's mother previously said she does not believe her daughter intended to run away from her family, including her beloved five-year-old sister, Olivia (right) Terrie Clark had been posting regular updates on her Facebook page to keep her daughter's missing person case from being forgotten Earlier this month, Clark posted a touching message begging her daughter to reach out to her family. 'You are amazing in so many ways, and all of us missing you terribly cant wait until that incredible moment when we get to see you again, Julia,' she wrote on June 11. 'Just to hear your voice would be the most wonderful thing in the world. We love you so much, Julia. Please call if you can- no questions asked. All that matters is that you are okay. 'You mean everything to us, Julia, and our lives are at a standstill until we at least know you are safe and happy. We cannot wait to smile and laugh together again, and we wont give up until we find you and know you are okay.' A new high-speed railway route, connecting east and central China, started operations Sunday to serve regional integrated development. With a designed speed of 350 kph, the newly opened, high-speed section links Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui province, with Huzhou in Zhejiang province. The stretch extends southward to Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, and northward to Shangqiu, central China's Henan Province, via the already operating high-speed railways. As the train, known as G9394, pulled out of the Hefei South Railway Station at 8:56 a.m. Sunday, Chen Tao said he felt excited to be among the first batch of passengers on the new route, heading for Hangzhou. "I have to travel between the two cities for business reasons about five times a month. The new route provides me with a faster choice," said the 25-year-old who arrived in Hangzhou, more than 400 km away from Hefei, in about two hours. With a total length of 794.55 km, the Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou high-speed railway can help further promote the development of central China and the regional integration of the Yangtze River Delta, which consists of Shanghai Municipality, and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Last year, China unveiled an outline for the regional integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, which is one of the country's most economically active, open and innovative regions, and produces about one-fourth of the national GDP. Local governments have rolled out a raft of measures to enhance cooperation and communication in the region. Transportation interconnection is just one example of the coordinated development of the region. The investment for railway construction in the Yangtze River Delta is expected to hit more than 87 billion yuan (about 12 billion U.S. dollars) this year, with the total length of new railway lines to exceed 1,000 km, according to the China Railway Shanghai Group Co., Ltd. "The opening of the new route ends the history of no railways in our county, and makes our transportation network with the outside more comprehensive," said Shen Mingquan, secretary of Anji County Committee of the Communist Party of China. Anji is well-known for tea production in Zhejiang. "The development of our company can also benefit from the new route, as it makes business exchanges more convenient, and greatly shortens the distance between our company and the target markets," said Shen Aqing, general manager of a machinery technology company in Huzhou, Zhejiang. The firm's products have been sold to Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, and other provinces. The Yangtze River Delta has the country's densest distribution of cities and towns, and is a strong driving force to the central and western regions, according to Fu Jiajia, an official with the Anhui provincial development and reform commission. Government officials in Kentucky said they will begin an investigation into the city of Louisville and Mayor Greg Fischer's handling of the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor. The Louisville Metro Council's government oversight committee, which has subpoena powers, announced its intentions Monday as they criticized the mayor for a 'lack of transparency' and called for 'legitimate answers' over the killing. In a bi-partisan show of strength, the committee pledge to reveal '100% of the truth' in the investigation, promising that it would be conducted in the city chamber where cameras can follow the discussion, according to WLKY. 'My message for Mayor Fischer is we are desperate for transparency and the public is desperate for transparency,' said committee Vice-Chair Anthony Piagentini on Monday. Government officials in Kentucky said they will begin an investigation into the city of Louisville and Mayor Greg Fischer's handling of the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, pictured Louisville Metro Council's government oversight committee Vice-Chair Anthony Piagentini announced the investigation on Monday saying 'the public is desperate for transparency' There are least three petitions circulating online calling for Mayor Fischer to resign or be fired 'The county attorney and others, in my opinion, have hidden behind certain procedures, processes, to not release that information.' 'The citizens of this community, including members of this Metro Council, have been very upset with the perceived lack of transparency by the city,' added Brent Ackerson, who chairs the committee. 'It's our intention, as a committee, to formally begin an investigation, to bring people in and get legitimate answers and legitimate documentation. 'Thats the important thing, that you have 100% of the truth the good, the bad and even if theres something extremely ugly. Youve got a right to know.' Ackerson and Piagentini have now filed a bi-partisan resolution to initiate an investigation. The full scope of the committee's investigation has not yet been determined but it is expected that it will also look into the police force used at recent protests and in the death of David McAtee. McAtee, who owned a popular barbecue shack, was shot by the National Guard on May 31 while officers and soldiers were trying to clear a protest crowd from a parking lot to enforce a curfew. Police Chief Steve Conrad was fired after it was revealed that officers failed to activate body cameras during the encounter with McAtee. Ackerson said that he also wished to look into the the clearing of protester's tents from a city park on Sunday. LMPD, Fischer, and the Department of Public Works have since apologized after personal belongings of many protesters were thrown away. Louisville Metro Council's government oversight committee Chair Brent Ackerson said the new investigation will 'get legitimate answers and legitimate documentation' David McAtee, pictured , was shot by the National Guard on May 31 while officers and soldiers were trying to clear a protest crowd from a parking lot to enforce a curfew in Louisville. Kentucky Government officials hope the investigation will look into police force in his death 'I know when three different bodies apologize and say it was miscommunication, well, I want to know what that miscommunication was before I grant my acceptance of the apology,' Ackerson said. According to ABC News, there are least three petitions circulating online calling for Mayor Fischer to resign or be fired. The Democratic Mayor is halfway through his third term. 'If he wants to continue leading this community ... he needs to be more transparent,' added Piagentini. 'We have heard the cries of our citizens. ... We will do what we are elected to do. We will represent the people and ensure our local government is transparent and that local leaders are held accountable for their decisions.' A statement from Fischer said he welcomed the review Monday. 'The Mayor welcomes the Council review, which comes in addition to the state Attorney Generals investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor, and independent reviews by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice, which the Mayor fully supports,' it read. Taylor - who had no criminal record and worked for two local hospitals - was killed after police fired at least 20 rounds into the home, according to a lawsuit filed by her family 'In addition to those, the Mayor has authorized a top-to-bottom review of the Louisville Metro Police Department, as well as a Sentinel Event Review of all actions related to the Breonna Taylor case. 'And to be clear, he is not waiting on any of these reviews to make changes, as evidenced by his decision to ban no-knock warrants, to require broader use of body cameras, and replace prior leadership at LMPD.' Taylor's family has also welcomed the Metro Council's new investigation. 'Since day one, this administration and Louisville Metro Police Department have worked to cover up the circumstances surrounding Breonna's murder. The public deserves the truth. Tamika Palmer deserves the truth,' said Sam Aguiar, one of the attorneys for the Taylor family. 'We appreciate the Metro Council taking action to hold our mayor accountable for his role in this cover-up and his utter failure to be transparent.' The Louisville Metro Council's next meeting is scheduled for July 23 when the investigation will be discussed further. The three officers in the case - from left, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detectives Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove - have not been charged in the shooting despite protests According to WLKY, the government oversight committee will need approval from the full Metro Council before its investigation can formally begin. For nearly a month, protesters have been calling for the officers involved in Taylors death to be charged. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was killed in her Louisville apartment on March 13 by plainclothes detectives who were serving a no-knock warrant in a drug investigation. Three officers - Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detectives Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove - entered the apartment and were fired upon by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who believed a robbery was in progress. Police returned fire striking Taylor, who had been sleeping in bed moments before, eight times. No drugs were found, and Detective Brett Hankison was recently fired. The two other officers remain on administrative reassignment. Millions have signed an online petition demanding justice for Taylor. Calls for action against the officers have gotten louder during a national reckoning over racism and police brutality following George Floyd's death in Minneapolis. Officials there are prosecuting four officers involved, including bringing a murder charge against the officer who pressed a knee into Floyds neck on May 25. The ex-wife of The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown has filed a lawsuit alleging the man known for writing about conspiracies and secret societies led a double life during their marriage that included a tryst with a Dutch horse trainer and three other affairs. In her lawsuit filed Monday in New Hampshire, 68-year-old Blythe Brown accuses the best-selling author of secretly diverting funds to buy lavish gifts for his mistresses including for a Dutch horse trainer by the initials JP. She claims the 56-year-old Mr Brown spent $345,000 to buy the woman - who is an expert in Fresian horses - a horse, along with a new car, horse transport and to pay for renovations to her Netherlands home. Blythe, a painter, art historian and collaborator on her husband's books, alleges that he also hid scores of future projects worth 'millions' from her, including a television series and a children's book due out in September. She also claims that she inspired most of his work and came up with the premise for the Da Vinci Code. The Da Vinci Code author, Dan Brown, is being sued by his ex-wife, Blythe Brown (left and right, in 2013) for allegedly leading a double life and 'secretly siphoning' off large amounts of money to have affairs with multiple women Describing Brown's behavior as 'unlawful and egregious', Blythe said she only learned about the other women - which also included a hairdresser, political official and his personal trainer - after the pair divorced in 2019 after 21 years of marriage. 'Dan has lived a proverbial life of lies for at least the past six years, seeming to be the epitome of a world-famous novelist leading a simple life in his home state of New Hampshire, while in reality he was something quite different,' the lawsuit claims. 'For years, Dan has secretly removed substantial funds from his and Blythe's hard-earned marital assets to conduct sordid, extra-marital affairs with women - one half his age - and to pursue a clandestine life.' Blythe said she initially brought the horse trainer to the US in 2013 to work with a horse the couple owned. The affair began the following year while the woman was staying at their house recovering from a shoulder injury, she alleges. Blythe says her husband then 'started to act distant, dressed differently, and instigated arguments'. According to the suit, Blythe moved out of their home in Rye Beach, New Hampshire, in 2018 after Brown told her he wanted to separate. The couple, who have no children, divorced in December 2019. Blythe claims she confronted her husband the following month after discovering wire transfers for large sums of money that she knew nothing about, when he admitted to doing 'bad things with a lot of people' and confessed to the affairs. Blythe (pictured at a New Hampshire horse centre she owns) accuses her husband of having affairs with four women, including a Dutch Fresian horse expert and trainer named only as JP Blythe (left and right) says her husband also had affairs with his personal trainer, a political official, and a hairdresser which he admitted to in January this year after they divorced Pictured is the barn of Bonterra Farms, a Fresian horse training facility that Blythe - a painter, art historian and collaborator on her husband's books - owns in New Hampshire He told he that the affair with the trainer 'has and will continue', according to her lawsuit, and admitted to a tryst with a political official at their vacation home on the island of Anguilla. At the time of the divorce, Blythe claims that Dan 'persuaded' her that she had 'full knowledge' of the wealth they accumulated while married. Blythe, a horse enthusiast who is involved in horse and carriage driving competitions, insisted she was only filing the lawsuit to stand up for herself and assert her 'self-worth'. 'We worked so hard together, struggling to build something meaningful. With great success came our promises to each other that we would not let it change us or our life together,' she said in a statement Tuesday. 'I don't recognize the man that Dan has become. It is time to reveal his deceit and betrayal. After so much pain, it is time for truth. It is time to right these wrongs.' In the lawsuit, Blythe alleges that when she asked Dan about upcoming projects, he told her that he didn't have anything in the works. But she says that she later learned that her ex-husband was working on several new projects, including a television series called Langdon, based on the main character from The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown, in a statement, said he was 'stunned' by the allegations and called the complaint 'written without regard for the truth'. He said he never misled his ex-wife on their finances during their divorce and that she ended up with half their holdings after they divorced. 'For reasons known only to her and possibly her lawyer, Blythe Brown has created through this suit a fictional and vindictive account of aspects of our marriage designed to hurt and embarrass me,' Brown said in a statement Tuesday. The most explosive allegations, however, are the extramarital affairs. Describing Brown's behavior as 'unlawful and egregious,' Blythe said she only learned about it after the pair divorced in 2019 after 21 years of marriage Brown, a New Hampshire native, has had a string of bestsellers but is best known for 'The Da Vinci Code,' a puzzle-filled thriller that was turned into a movie starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou (pictured in a scene from the 2006 movie) Brown, a New Hampshire native who graduated from Amherst College, has had a string of bestsellers but is best known for 'The Da Vinci Code,' a puzzle-filled thriller that introduced readers to the notion that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were married with children. The plot outraged church officials and scholars. In her lawsuit, Blythe portrayed herself as inspiring Brown to give up songwriting after the pair met in 1990 and recognizing his 'unlimited potential as a writer of fiction'. Brown also briefly worked as a teacher. She also alleges she helped craft key themes and ideas for many of his books, 'served as lead researcher, first-line editor, and critic, and was Dans literary partner in the fullest sense.' 'Indeed, Blythe and Dan formed a partnership in the literary world that was to last for nearly thirty years, taking them places that they could never have imagined,' according to the lawsuit, in which she seeks unspecified damages. Brown said he always recognized his ex-wife's contributions. 'The allegation that I failed to fairly acknowledge the literary contributions of my former wife is wrong,' he said. During a 2006 trial against the publisher of the 'The Da Vinci Code,' the court heard how Blythe was an essential contributor to his million-selling historical thriller. Two authors unsuccessfully sued, claiming that Brown 'appropriated the architecture' of their book in a high-profile London court case. According to witness statements and court testimony, Blythe led the massive research effort, supplied countless notes and suggestions and offered an invaluable 'female perspective' for a book immersed in 'the sacred feminine'. In 2017, Brown told DailyMail.com: 'I was writing about the Louvre and the Grail, but it was Blythe who said I should write about Mary Magdalene, too. I probably wouldn't have written [The Da Vinci Code] without her. She's a great researcher.' The lawsuit comes just days after it was revealed that The Da Vinci Code, which has sold 100 million copies and counting since it was published 17 years ago, is bound for the UK stage, with a world premiere national tour starting next spring. Brown told DailyMail.com on Friday that he is 'incredibly excited' to see the novel 'I poured my heart into almost 20 years ago ... go from page to the stage'. The two-hour show is due to embark on a 33-week tour, kicking off at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley in the UK, on April 3, 2021. California recorded its largest ever single-day surge in coronavirus cases Monday with more than 8,000 new infections documented. Mondays tally of infections broke Californias daily record for the third time in eight days. The recent troubling virus spike is said to have been caused by crowds gathering for Memorial Day celebrations on beaches and in bars all over the state last month. The state is now on course to double its number of coronavirus cases in June over those it recorded in May, according to analysis by the LA Times. Across the entirety of May, there were 61,666 cases reported in the state of California. By the close of Monday night, 114,119 cases had been reported in the first 28 days of June. In total, the state has now recorded 216,550 cases of COVID-19, with the death toll now fast-approaching 6,000. The virus has rapidly spread through communities in the state over the last few weeks as the economy reopened, with residents flocking back to bars, restaurants and other familiar haunts in search for a sense of normalcy after months of lockdown. The enormous surge in cases since has prompted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to order anyone traveling to the state from California, along with 15 other states, to self-quarantine for 14 days on Tuesday. Mondays tally of infections broke Californias daily record for the third time in eight days. The recent troubling virus spike is said to have been caused by Memorial Day celebrations on beaches and in bars all over the state last month Beach goers cross Pacific Coast Highway Saturday, June 27, 2020, in Huntington Beach, Calif The virus has rapidly spread through communities in the state over the last few weeks as the economy reopened, with residents flocking back to bars, restaurants and other familiar haunts in search for a sense of normalcy after months of lockdown Research by the Times indicates that Memorial Day celebrations are likely the cause of the virus renewed momentum. Hospitalizations in the state began accelerating around June 15 just over two weeks after Memorial Day - at a rapid pace not witnessed since the virus first peak in early April. The daily number of those hospitalized with COVID-19 has now jumped more than 50 percent from when the virus stabilized in mid-April. Several Counties have since reported that their hospitals are close to breaking point. In Riverside, officials report that 99 percent of its intensive care unit beds are currently occupied. LA County is now predicting it will run out of its existing supply of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in the next two to three weeks. Intensive care unit beds, meanwhile, are expected to be overwhelmed sometime in July. And experts have warned that the worst is still yet to come. Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, a medical epidemiologist and infectious-diseases expert at UCLA, told the Times that it can take two weeks for COVID-19 to incubate in the body, and an additional week or more after that to result in hospitalization among the vulnerable. Kim-Farley said that this means even more people may have been exposed to the virus around the week of Memorial Day, or just after, who are still yet to suffer the full effects of it. Officials are now warning that 1 in 140 residents are probably unknowingly infected with the virus and contagious to others, a dramatic increase in last weeks projection of 1 in 400. Hospitalizations in the state began accelerating around June 15 just over two weeks after Memorial Day - at a rapid pace not witnessed since the virus first peak in early April Officials are now warning that 1 in 140 residents are probably unknowingly infected with the virus and contagious to others, a dramatic increase in last weeks projection of 1 in 400 Additionally, health officials say that on the weekend after June 19 when bars, breweries and wineries were given the greenlight to reopen in LA County - more than 500,000 people flocked to the nightlife spots. Inspectors with the health department found that over the course of that weekend, employees of around half the bars and restaurants in the county were not wearing face masks or any other kind of protective covering. Half of bars and one-third of restaurants were also found not to be adhering to social distancing protocols. Officials anticipated the possibility of a spike in cases with a resurgence in activity, but say they werent prepared for how quickly the jump would actually occur. What we didnt expect was to see this steep an increase this quickly, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a Monday statement. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered bars in L.A. County and four other counties in the San Joaquin Valley to close immediately on Sunday because of the increasing case numbers. Weve been very clear this shouldnt surprise anybody watching as you reopen the economy, as we move away and make the meaningful modifications which we did to our stay-at-home order, youre going to see people mixing that were not mixing in the past, Newsom said during a news conference Monday. Then on Tuesday, the governor announced the state will be making additional efforts to toggle back its reopening efforts, which are set to be unveiled tomorrow. Wednesdays announcement will include instructions for the upcoming July 4th weekend, where Newsom said gatherings are of a major concern. Beaches have already been closed in LA over the holiday weekend, with other counties likely to follow suit. If youre not going to stay home and youre not going to wear masks in public, we have to enforce [rules], Newsom said. The county has also banned fireworks displays over the July 4 weekend. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered bars in L.A. County and four other counties in the San Joaquin Valley to close immediately on Sunday because of the increasing case numbers Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva tweeted that his department would be enforcing beach parking violations across the weekend, with officers patrolling the area. A day earlier, Villanueva told Fox News he wouldnt be enforcing beach closures because his office is care first, jail last. He also said he wasnt consulted on the decision to close beaches in LA Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva tweeted that his department would be enforcing beach parking violations across the weekend, with officers patrolling the area. .@LASDHQ advises the beaches are CLOSED Fri, Jul 3-Mon Jul 6, the sheriff tweeted. Enforcement efforts will be focused on vehicle & penal code violations, beach parking lot closures, & street parking restrictions. @LASDHQ beach patrol will be patrolling the county beaches to ensure public safety. A day earlier, Villanueva told Fox News he wouldnt be enforcing beach closures because his office is care first, jail last. He also said he wasnt consulted on the decision to close beaches in LA. Officials are urging residents to only spend time in person with members of their households, to avoid crowds and follow social distancing rules. Health officials say theyre also bracing themselves for another surge in hospitalizations from those already exposed to the virus. Its a luxury to shelter in place, Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of UC San Franciscos Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics told the Times. We have to think about how we open and minimize risk. Were going to be living with this virus for a long time. A desk once used by Woodrow Wilson has been removed from the office of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy as the former president falls out of favor over his 'racist' policies. Murphy confirmed the news Tuesday - just one day after Princeton University stripped Wilson's name from its public affairs school, saying the 28th president's 'racism was significant and consequential even by the standards of his own time.' In an interview with CNN, Murphy claimed he hadn't pondered the significance of using Wilson's old desk until he was called out on Twitter after sharing a snap of the antique piece of furniture. Earlier this month, Murphy uploaded an image of himself sitting behind the wooden desk as he contemplated the death of unarmed black man, George Floyd. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has ditched a desk once used by Woodrow Wilson as the country faces a 'reckoning on race'. Murphy is seen sitting behind the desk in a recent social media photo Prior to becoming president of the United States in 1913, Wilson spent two years as the Governor of New Jersey Social media users noted that Wilson segregated the federal civil service and spoke approvingly of the Ku Klux Klan. 'As soon as I could get a replacement, which was not as easy as I thought, I got one and I think that was the right thing to do,' Murphy told CNN, adding that the country is currently having a 'reckoning on race'. 'Woodrow Wilson, and his legacy is being swept up in that, as it should be,' he added. Prior to becoming president of the United States in 1913, Wilson spent two years as the Governor of New Jersey. His desk has been used by his successors for decades. On Monday, Princeton University announced it was changing the name of its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs after reexamining Wilson's views on race. Former First Lady Michelle Obama said she was 'heartened' by the decision, while Trump blasted the move as 'incredibly stupid'. 'Can anyone believe that Princeton just dropped the name of Woodrow Wilson from their highly respected policy center,' Trump tweeted Monday morning. 'Now the Do Nothing Democrats want to take off the name John Wayne from an airport. Incredible stupidity!' On Monday, Princeton University announced it was changing the name of its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Former First Lady Michelle Obama said she was 'heartened' by Princeton's decision to remove Wilson's name Donald Trump bashed Princeton for dropping Woodrow Wilson from its school and Democrats for pushing for John Wayne's name to be removed from an airport in California Woodrow Wilson's troubled history with race and segregation Wilson was the 28th US president Wilson served as president from 1913 to 1921, during the period following Reconstruction that is known as the nadir of American race relations. A Democrat, he oversaw progressive policies and led the nation in World War I, as well as establishing the UN-precursor League of Nations. His domestic agenda included the implementation of federal income tax and the creation of the Federal Reserve. He was also the first southerner to be elected president after the Civil War, and oversaw the segregation of parts of the federal government. While Wilson did not mandate the segregation of the entire government, he allowed Cabinet members to segregate their respective departments. In a July 1913 letter to a civil rights activist, Wilson defended the segregation of government offices, arguing that it removed 'friction' between the races. Famously during Wilson's presidency, D. W. Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation, which celebrated the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, was the first motion picture to be screened in the White House. The film also quotes Wilson's historical scholarship on the KKK, but after seeing it Wilson disavowed the movie, saying he had been 'unaware of the character of the play before it was presented.' Advertisement 'Can anyone believe that Princeton just dropped the name of Woodrow Wilson from their highly respected policy center,' the president tweeted Monday morning. 'Now the Do Nothing Democrats want to take off the name John Wayne from an airport. Incredible stupidity!' Wilson was lauded by southern segregationists when he came to power and during his presidency was a supporter of racial segregation. Trump also recently defended the statue in front of the White House of Andrew Jackson, another Democratic president with a mixed record. Jackson was a war hero and populist, but also oversaw brutal campaigns against Native Americans and retired to his Tennessee slave plantation when he left office. Democrats in Orange County, California have been pushing for a resolution to remove the likeliness of Wayne from the airport since February 2019. The effort has resurfaced amid calls from Civil Rights activists, groups and protesters for tributes to Confederate soldiers and others who owned slaves or had racist views to be taken down. Wayne admitted to being a white supremacist in an interview with Playboy in 1971, six years before his death and during the interview expressed derogatory views of black people, Native Americans and bashed movies for including gay characters. Trump is pushing back against renaming Princeton's professional school and the southern California airport. The president said in an interview that aired Sunday evening that those who want statues of slave owners and Confederate figures removed should 'learn from the history' or risk 'going to go back to it sometime.' Calls to remove statues of Confederate figures and those connected to slavery have been mounting in recent weeks in the wake of global Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. The statue of former US President George Washington is covered in red paint after being vandalised in Washington Square Park in New York on Monday night The engraving forms part of the iconic Washington Square Arch. Dozens of statues of America's former presidents have been destroyed or defaced in recent weeks Protesters have either defaced or caused destruction on dozens of statues But Donald Trump has urged protesters to think again - particularly black Americans who want statues of the country's slave-owning founders removed - and claimed 'we should learn from the history'. Speaking to Fox News on Sunday night, the President said: 'My message is that we have a great country, we have the greatest country on Earth. 'We have a heritage, we have a history and we should learn from the history, and if you don't understand your history, you will go back to it again. You will go right back to it. You have to learn. 'Think of it, you take away that whole era and you're going to go back to it sometime. People won't know about it. They're going to forget about it. It's okay.' Trump expressed Sunday that he is upset with people questioning the legacy of historical figures like George Washington just because he owned slaves. He added: 'You have to understand history, and our culture, and so many other aspects. But you can't take down George Washington.' He said that some people want to take down Lincoln, Jefferson and Ulysses S. Grant. 'Here is the other problem that I have a lot of these people don't even know what they are taking down,' he said. 'I see what's happening on television, and they are ripping down things they have no idea what they are ripping down, but they started off with the Confederates and now go to Ulysses Grant so what is that all about?' Grant beat the Confederates and ended the Civil War before becoming president, but also married into a family that owned slaves. Trump said he was open to the idea of erecting new statues 'to great people; people that have done something.' He added: 'But you don't want to take away our heritage and history and the beauty, in many cases, the beauty, the artistic beauty. 'Some of the sculptures and some of this work is some of the great you can go to France, you can go anywhere in the world and you will never see more magnificent work. 'And that's a factor. It's not the biggest factor but it's a factor.' Protesters on Monday evening attempted to topple the statue of Andrew Jackson Trump has made protecting statues a high-profile policy priority, repeatedly tweeting his anger at attempts to remove the monuments. On Friday Trump signed an executive order aimed at protecting monuments and statues, making the issue a priority for the Justice Department. 'I just had the privilege of signing a very strong Executive Order protecting American Monuments, Memorials and Statues and combating recent Criminal Violence,' Trump announced on Twitter. 'Long prison terms for these lawless acts against our Great Country.' Trump has long derided efforts to bring down monuments, often calling them 'foolish.' 'I think many of the people that are knocking down the statues don't even have any idea what the statue is, what it means, who it is when they knocked down,' he said on Wednesday. 'Now they are looking at Jesus Christ, they are looking at George Washington, they're looking at Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson. 'Not going to happen, not going to happen while I'm here.' Lori Vallow wiped away tears as she appeared in court on new charges in connection with the disappearance and deaths of her children JJ and Tylee - while her emotional adult son watched on. The 'cult' mom appeared in Fremont County Court Tuesday evening via a Zoom call where the charges on two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence were read to her and her bond was set at $1 million. Vallow, 46, and her husband Chad Daybell are in custody in Idaho awaiting trial on charges of concealing evidence and neglecting her son JJ, seven, and daughter Tylee, 17. Vallow has already been charged with desertion of her children. The children's bodies were found in Daybell's yard in his pet cemetery earlier this month but no one has been charged over their deaths. The kids were last seen alive in September. New court records released Tuesday show that Tylee's body was so badly burned when it was discovered that she had to be identified by her jawline. Lori Vallow (bottom left) appeared in court Tuesday via a Zoom call on new charges in connection with the disappearance and deaths of her children JJ and Tylee - while her emotional adult son Colby Ryan (bottom right) watched on At one point, the mother, who had repeatedly refused to say where her children were before the grim discovery of their remains this month, reached for a tissue and dabbed tears from her eyes Vallow, who wore a long sleeve blue green top and a blue face mask during Tuesday's court appearance, sat next to her attorney Mark Means and spoke only to answer 'yes' to confirm she understood the new charges, her rights and had received a copy of her arrest prior to the hearing. At one point, the mother, who had repeatedly refused to say where her children were before the grim discovery of their remains this month, reached for a tissue and dabbed tears from her eyes. Her eldest son and the distraught brother of JJ and Tylee, Colby Ryan, also joined the hearing remotely with his wife Kelsee by his side. Ryan choked back tears and wiped his eyes as he listened to the charges read out against his mother. Also present was Judge Faren Eddins and prosecuting attorney Rob Wood, who also each dialed in remotely. There was some disagreement between Means and Wood after Wood said Vallow's attorney had represented Daybell in the past. Eddins said he would make a decision over whether there was any conflict of interest in Means now representing Vallow. The 'cult' mom appeared in Fremont County Court Tuesday evening via a Zoom call where the charges on two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence were read to her and her bond was set at $1 million Her eldest son and the distraught brother of JJ and Tylee, Colby Ryan, also joined the hearing remotely with his wife Kelsee by his side Vallow faces up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine on each felony count, which the judge said could be served consecutively or at the same time. The next court hearing has been scheduled for August 10 and is expected to last for two days. New charges of two counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence were also filed against Daybell Tuesday. These conspiracy charges are different to those filed against him earlier this month, which were two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. He is expected to appear before Eddins from the Fremont County Jail on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The children's bodies were finally discovered after police tracked cellphone data from Lori's dead brother Alex Cox. He died in December in mysterious circumstances too. When police eventually dug up the bodies, seven-year-old JJ's was easy to identify but Tylee's was decomposed beyond recognition, court records released Tuesday reveal. 'It was not possible to identify those remains by simply looking at them as they were too damaged by fire and dismemberment and no longer had any recognizable features,' they read. 'However, Dr. Glen Smith, an orthodontist and Deputy Coroner in the Ada County Coroner's Office was able to identify these remains as belonging to Tylee Ryan by matching an irregular jawline with an X-ray of Tylee when she was alive,' a police officer wrote about the discovery.' JJ and Tylee, left, went missing in September and their bodies were found a few weeks ago after police tracked cell phone data from their uncle Alex Cox's (right) cell phone. He died in December Chad Daybell, 51, was arrested on June 9 and charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. Lori Vallow Daybell, has been in jail for the last four months, charged with desertion of children and three misdemeanors. Both remain in jail on $1million bail The documents also reveal that cops asked Lori where JJ was after he was reported missing by relatives but that Lori lied. She then fled to Hawaii. Lori was recorded on bodycam telling police her son was with her friend, Melanie Gibb, in Arizona, and that Tylee was living with her and attending BYU-Idaho. Rexburg Police officers were seen at Daybells home in Salem on Monday around 1.15pm. Daybell's son Garth was seen moving boxes out the home in the days after his father's arrest on June 9 as another child of the 'cult leader' prepared to move in. It is not known if Vallow's new charges relate to Monday's search. Officers were seen entering the home and searching exterior buildings on the property including a shed and barn and entering the backyard with cameras. The officers left around 2.50pm but did not disclose any details of their search or what they were looking for. Fremont County Sheriffs deputies were assisting Rexburg Police in Monday's search. Madison County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Wood had declined to comment on the warrant. Mondays investigation marked the third known time Rexburg Police have searched Daybell's property. Monday's search was on a much lower-scale than the warrant served at the same residence on June 9 which led to Daybell's arrest. At that investigation scene earlier this month, dozens of officers flanked the home and surrounding roads were closed for two days as Daybells property was excavated and police discovered the remains of the two children. Rexburg Police officers executed a third search warrant at Chad Daybell's Salem, Idaho property on Monday afternoon. Investigators entered the home, were reportedly seen in the backyard with cameras and searched a shed and barn in the yard Mondays investigation marked the third known time Rexburg Police have searched Daybell's property and is likely linked to the discovery of the remains of wife Lori Vallow's missing children Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, seven, and Tylee Ryan, 17, earlier this month Daybell is pictured being placed in cuffs and arrested on June 9 following the grisly discover of the children's remains Chad Daybell's adult son, Garth, was seen moving boxes in and out of the family home in Salem, Idaho, on June 11 The last known sighting of Tylee was on September 8, when she visited Yellowstone National Park with her family. JJ, who would have turned eight last month, was last seen two weeks later on September 23. Vallow married Daybell less than two months after her kids vanished. During the previous raid of Daybell's home on January 3, authorities removed 43 items from the property and combed over several sections of the yard with metal detectors and rakes. Daybell was arrested June 9 and charged with two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. Vallow has been in jail for the last four months, charged with desertion of children and three misdemeanors. Both remain in jail on $1million bail. In this aerial photo, investigators search for human remains at Chad Daybell's residence in the 200 block of 1900 East in Salem, Idaho on June 9 In this aerial photo, investigators search what appears to be a burn pit and dig near a patch of recently disturbed earth Tylee was last seen on September 8 when she visited Yellowstone National Park with her family (pictured). JJ was last seen two weeks later on September 23 Vallow and Daybell - the prolific Doomsday author, alleged cult leader and former grave digger - had repeatedly refused to say where the children were but insisted that they were safe. Authorities began searching for the children in late November after performing a welfare check ordered by concerned relatives who said they hadn't spoken to seven-year-old JJ, who was autistic, in months. When officers first went to Vallow's home in Idaho on November 26, she told them that JJ was visiting relatives in Arizona. Officers returned the following day and found that Vallow and the man she married weeks earlier, Daybell, had fled from the home. Authorities say the couple have repeatedly lied about where JJ and Tylee are and refused to cooperate with the investigation. Meanwhile, the Attorney Generals Office and Fremont County Sheriffs Office are still investigating the death of Daybells wife Tammy, who mysteriously died at the Salem home in October. Boris Johnson vowed today to bulldoze Britains bloated planning system to help get the economy moving again. Relaunching his Government, the Prime Minister pledged to bring forward the most radical reforms of our planning system since the end of the Second World War. He said the move, which will see ministers take the axe to swathes of red tape, would pave the way for an infrastructure revolution that would create jobs now and improve productivity long-term. Mr Johnson said the Government wanted to build, build, build, but added that he would build back better, build back greener, build back faster. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will lead a new unit, dubbed Project Speed to fast track major infrastructure projects and identify bottlenecks in the system that need to be cleared away. The Prime Minister hinted that he would also take the bulldozer to parts of the Whitehall machine, saying he had been frustrated by its sluggish response to the coronavirus pandemic. Relaunching his Government in a speech in Dudley today, the Prime Minister pledged to bring forward the most radical reforms of our planning system since the end of the Second World War Mr Johnson used the speech in Dudley, in the West Midlands, to set out the principles of his government following months in which the coronavirus has occupied almost all of its effort. He said that, despite the continuing health challenges and looming economic crisis, it was the moment to be ambitious about the future. People would be offered a New Deal, he said, with Britain rebuilt in a fairer way after the pandemic exposed divisions in society. The PM restated his determination to offer opportunity to people living in neglected parts of the country, saying he was doubling down on levelling up. The Prime Minister said there would be no return to austerity, despite the dire state of the public finances, but refused to rule out tax rises further down the track. The Prime Minister hinted that he would also take the bulldozer to parts of the Whitehall machine, saying he had been frustrated by its sluggish response to the coronavirus pandemic And he said he would pour resources into addressing the looming jobs crisis, saying that keeping people in work and helping them re-skill was the biggest and most immediate economic challenge that we face. But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said much of the speech was recycled from previous policy announcements and failed to meet the challenge the country is facing. The Prime Minister promised a new deal, but there is not much thats new, and, its not much of a deal, he said. Mr Johnson acknowledged that, with Leicester becoming the first city to go back into lockdown, some would think it premature to focus on the future. But he said the country could not afford to continue being prisoners of this crisis. In a wide-ranging speech, the Prime Minister: Set an ambition to make the UK a science superpower, with ministers planning a new system for funding high risk, high reward projects that can transform British ideas into new British industries and British jobs. Pledged to offer young people an opportunity guarantee, with businesses to be offered grants to ensure apprenticeships are available for all. Revealed that he is close to finalising proposals for a new system for funding social care which will ensure people do not have to sell their homes to pay for care. Defended the free market system, saying that people should clap for businessmen and bankers as well as doctors and nurses, as their efforts make our NHS possible. Hinted he could revive audacious plans for a bridge linking Scotland to Northern Ireland as part of plans to strengthen the Union. Announced 5billion of additional infrastructure spending, with money to rebuild and refurbish schools, hospitals, courts and prisons. Warned against abusing new freedoms to enjoy pubs and restaurants this weekend, saying: The virus is out there still, circling like a shark on the water. The PM focused much of his fire on Britains sclerotic planning system. He announced a number of immediate changes designed to tackle the crisis in the commercial property sector. These include allowing offices and shops to be converted into housing without planning permission in most cases. Businesses will also be able to repurpose property to a new use, such as converting a shop into a cafe, without the need for council red tape. And developers will be able to demolish vacant and redundant buildings without normal planning permission, provided they are to be rebuilt as homes. But government sources said yesterdays changes were by no means the end of our ambitions. At a meeting of government advisers last week, Dominic Cummings, the PMs chief adviser, described the planning system as appalling, adding: It makes things so hard to build. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will lead a new unit, dubbed Project Speed to fast track major infrastructure projects and identify bottlenecks in the system that need to be cleared away Mr Johnson yesterday announced that ministers will bring forward proposals to replace Britains seven-decade old planning system with a new approach that works better for our modern economy and society. He hinted that time-consuming environmental surveys, and similar red tape, could be streamlined, saying: Time is money, and the newt-counting delays in our system are a massive drag on the productivity and the prosperity of this country. He added: Yes, we will insist on beautiful and low carbon homes, but Covid has taught us the cost of delay. Why are we so slow at building homes by comparison with other European countries? Mr Johnson suggested that Nimbys, who often slow down developments near their homes by objecting, would also have to accept change. I can imagine there will be some people who reject this or that but there always are, he said. We need pace and this is the moment to inject that pace into the ambition of the Government. The Prime Minister said there would be no return to austerity, despite the dire state of the public finances, but refused to rule out tax rises further down the track The PM acknowledged that the planned increase in construction would involve the loss of some green field sites. He said that although new homes and other projects could often be built on previously developed brownfield sites there were other areas that with better transport and other infrastructure could frankly be suitable and right for development. Downing Street later clarified that the Governments manifesto commitment to protect the Green Belt remained in place. But the push for new development alarmed some environmental campaigners. Tom Fyans, of the CPRE countryside charity, said: Deregulating planning and cutting up red tape simply wont deliver better quality places. Its already far too easy to build poor quality homes. Boris was fizzier than a can of Vimto, splurging cash and back to his best. Yowzers, says HENRY DEEDES Hard hat? Check. Oversized high-vis jacket? Check. Daft stunt in hardcore heavy machinery? Check, check, check. With a crash and a bang and a no small wallop, Boris Johnson rolled into the West Midlands yesterday to outline his new deal plans for the economy. Finally, a chance to blow away some of those coronavirus cobwebs and get back to turbo-charging Britain. First item of business: The obligatory visit to a building site to muck about on a digger. Thud! Clank! Screeeeech! Amid the din of Boris crunching his way through the gears, there may even have been a prime ministerial yell of yowzers! The sites poor elf and safety officer must have been having kittens. Next up, a rallying cri de coeur at Dudley College of Technology to get Britain back to work. It was bustling, back-to-his-best stuff. Fizzier than a can of Vimto. The Prime Minister took his place shortly after 11am behind a lectern which read: Build build build. For the next 20 minutes we heard how he planned to bring forward 5billion worth of infrastructure spending. New schools, new hospitals, new homes. New trees, even. With a crash and a bang and a no small wallop, Boris Johnson rolled into the West Midlands yesterday to outline his new deal plans for the economy The slogan might just as well have read: Spend! Spend! Spend! We heard so much splurging that at one point the Prime Minister had to remind us: Im not a communist. All I can say is, I hope Chancellor Rishi Sunaks keeping the stubs from all those cheques. Rishi, my boy, youve got some tricky book balancing to do. Boris was desperate to shake the country out of its sclerotic, lockdown-induced state. We cannot continue to be prisoners of this crisis, he said. Although back to full health he does look terribly pasty under the television lights. Unfortunately, his handlers have as much chance of applying powder puff to his nose as they do getting him into a well ironed shirt. Hurry, hurry, hurry, was his message. This was a prime minister desperate to make up for lost time. After all, he may have survived corona but it is killing his legacy. For the next 20 minutes we heard how he planned to bring forward 5billion worth of infrastructure spending. New schools, new hospitals, new homes. New trees, even. We were told we could hang around for lightning and the thunderclaps from its economic reverberations. There was frustration at the axles of government which sometimes turn far too slowly for his liking, like a recurring bad dream when you are telling your feet to run and your feet wont move. Small wonder he was calling this initiative Project Speed. Boris even spoke with impatience, spitting out some phrases in rat-a-tat-tat fashion. London as/was/is the capital of the world, he said, jabbing his right arm repeatedly like a darts player aiming for the bullseye. He wants to build homes that were better/greener/faster. It was noticeable how keen he was to distance himself from his predecessors. So many of these plans he said should have been carried out yonks ago. Boris pointed out the crisis in our social care system, for example, had been flunked by successive governments for 30 years. He planned to build some roads meant to have been built when John Major was in power. The Prime Minister said he would not try and cheese-pare us out of recession. Was this a pop at David Camerons austerity programme after the 2008 financial crisis? Wouldnt surprise me. He still pulls a face whenever Daves name gets mentioned. Of his opponent Sir Keir Starmer, there was no mention. The closest Boris came to referencing Labour was when he talked of wanting to lift the country up rather drag everyone down to the lowest common denominator. I dont believe in tearing people down any more than I believe in tearing down statues that are part of our heritage let alone a statue of our greatest wartime leader, he said. Nice line. He ended with a Tiggerish rally. We will not just bounce back, he said. We will bounce forward stronger and better and more united than ever before. Boris isnt great at telling us how it is, as this crisis has sometimes shown. But what a performer he is when hes telling us how it might be. Yes, build, build, build! But DON'T pave over paradise, urges GEOFFREY LEAN Boris is right to build, build, build, to kick-start the economy. But, I fear that, unless he is careful, he could be building an environmental disaster. Much of what the characteristically bullish Prime Minister announced in his well-trailed planning speech yesterday is thoroughly welcome. Much of the rest was unexceptional, focused on development of towns and cities. Yet I fear it may soon presage highly controversial concreting of the countryside. But first lets applaud Mr Johnsons promise to end the chronic failure of the British state... to build enough homes. As he said, it is a scandal that we have been building half as many homes per head as France. It is an even greater one that the number of Britons in rented accommodation has more than doubled, to well over five million, since the turn of the millennium. Boris is right to build, build, build, to kick-start the economy. But, I fear that, unless he is careful, he could be building an environmental disaster And its true that housebuilding can be a vital spur to desperately-needed growth: constructing hundreds of thousands of dwellings helped Britain out of the great 1930s depression. Who could fail to welcome the Prime Ministers pledge to build back better, build back greener, and build back faster? Or his intention to back the construction of 180,000 affordable homes, including some earmarked for first-time buyers? Or his commitments to putting up fantastic new homes on brownfield sites and making them beautiful and low carbon all necessities shamefully neglected by recent governments. Specific changes to planning rules, announced yesterday for September, dont seem unreasonable, provided care is taken. Making it easier to turn shops into homes, offices or cafes, for example, could help revive town centres, so long as this is not allowed to ruin their character. Specific changes to planning rules, announced yesterday for September, dont seem unreasonable, provided care is taken. Making it easier to turn shops into homes, offices or cafes, for example, could help revive town centres, so long as this is not allowed to ruin their character Allowing people to build additional space above their properties could provide more accommodation, but also deprive neighbours of light. The problem, however, is that we cannot be sure that Mr Johnson has given us the whole picture. Indeed we can be pretty certain he has not. For just one clause in his speech mentions a much greater change due next month, the most radical reforms of our planning system since the end of the Second World War. He gave no detail. But there are ominous indications of what is coming down the line. Officially, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick in the midst of his own controversy over Richard Desmonds proposed Docklands development says it is time to rethink planning from first principles. Unofficial predictions are starker. The reforms are forecast to take an axe to what Dominic Cummings is said to call the appalling planning system. He and Jenrick are reported to be backing changes that would fast-track giant estates of more than 1,000 houses and in a profoundly undemocratic move remove key decisions from elected councils and hand them to development corporations. The problem, however, is that we cannot be sure that Mr Johnson has given us the whole picture. Indeed we can be pretty certain he has not. Pictured: Construction workers on site at Nine Elms, Central London Already councils are warning of a developers free-for-all. The developers themselves, who have given 11million to the Conservative party under Mr Johnsons premiership, are predictably cheering the changes on. This is politically dangerous. The last time a Tory government tried to relax planning laws, much more mildly, in the early 2010s, 50 of its MPs set up a group to defend the countryside from developers simply looking for a quick profit, and it had to change course. Now things are even more explosive. Communities all over the country are up in arms over unwanted development. Which is one reason the Conservatives lost control of councils in the last local elections. More than 30 new towns are planned for open countryside from Cumbria to Kent, without appropriate infrastructure. Meanwhile, Britains supposedly protected Green Belts are threatened by a record 450,000 houses. Ominously, despite many previous promises to safeguard these cherished areas, Mr Johnson did not mention them yesterday. And its all likely to be for nothing. For planning bureaucratic, slow, and annoying though it can be is not the reason too few houses are being built. Developers are sitting on enough sites with planning permission to build more than 400,000 homes, enough if built in a traditional terrace to reach from London to Rome. They hold on to them as land prices go up, while badgering planners to give them even more. Boris Johnson should stick to yesterdays speech and concentrate on building affordable houses on abundant brownfield land in existing settlements, where the necessary infrastructure is already in place. And he should abandon the hidden agenda which could destroy the countryside. Geoffrey Lean is an environment analyst. A bold new vision for life after the lockdown Having been knocked off course by coronavirus, yesterdays speech in Dudley was Boris Johnsons chance to relaunch his entire government programme. He said it was time to double down on levelling up a reference to his manifesto vision for bringing opportunity to all parts of the country. The wide-ranging speech focused on the PMs plan to try to and build a route out of recession by accelerating work on critical infrastructure. But it also touched on a number of other topics. LESSONS TO LEARN The PM began his speech by acknowledging some would see it as premature to be talking about the future at a time when Leicester has gone back into lockdown. But he said we could not afford to continue being prisoners of this crisis. He acknowledged mistakes in the handling of the pandemic and suggested an inquiry would be held at some point, saying there of course must be time to learn the lessons. He added: I know that there are plenty of things that people say and will say that we got wrong and we owe that discussion and that honesty to the tens of thousands who have died before their time. But he said there were also things the Government had got emphatically right, such as the Nightingale hospitals. NO AUSTERITY He said people were still waiting with our hearts in our mouths for the full economic reverberations to appear following what was already a vertiginous drop in GDP. But he said the Government would continue to spend big, adding: I just serve notice that we will not be responding to this crisis with what people called austerity. We are not going to try to cheese-pare our way out of trouble. Because the world has moved on since 2008. TAX RISES Mr Johnson did not mention tax once, but appeared to hint at future rises when he was quizzed about it repeatedly in the press conference that followed. He said Chancellor Rishi Sunak would say more in a mini-Budget expected next week. The PM refused to say whether his manifesto tax lock pledging not to raise the headline rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT still stands in the wake of the pandemic. He added: You know where my instincts are... to cut taxes wherever we possibly can. But we have a generational challenge and we have to take the country forward. Mr Johnson insisted his massive programme of investment is the right direction, but acknowledged the need for a dynamic private sector. A SCIENCE SUPERPOWER Harnessing the UKs scientific potential would be critical to the long-term recovery. A new science funding agency will be created this summer to back high risk, high reward projects. The idea, modelled on the Advanced Research Projects Agency in the US, has long been an obsession of the PMs chief adviser Dominic Cummings and is likely to be backed with hundreds of millions of pounds. The Government would also work to ensure that research in the UK leads to more jobs here. Though we are no longer a military superpower we can be a science superpower but we must end the chasm between invention and application... we need a new dynamic commercial spirit to make the most of UK breakthroughs so that British ideas produce new British industries and British jobs. Mr Johnson also launched a challenge codenamed Jet Zero to develop the worlds first zero-carbon long-haul passenger jet. CLAP FOR BANKERS The PM acknowledged that his vision contained a prodigious amount of government intervention by the standards of recent Tory administrations. But he also launched a defence of the market economy and even suggested that bankers deserved applause. He said: My friends, I am not a communist. I believe it is also the job of government to create the conditions for free market enterprise. And yes of course we clap for our NHS, but under this government we also applaud those who make our NHS possible, our innovators, our wealth creators, our capitalists and financiers. He said their willingness to take risks with their own money was crucial for the UKs success. SOCIAL DISTANCING Chief medical officer Chris Whitty has said social distancing is likely to remain necessary until a vaccine is found. But yesterday the PM suggested he would like to scrap social distancing rules as soon as cases of the virus decline sufficiently. I dont want a world where we are endlessly asked to stay metres apart, he said. That is not going to work for a great services economy like ours. We have got to get the disease down and return to normal life as fast as we possibly can. OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS He issued a warning on jobs, saying: We know in our hearts that the furloughing cannot go on for ever. And as the economy recovers we also know that the jobs that many people had in January are also not coming back, or at least not in that form. Creating jobs and retraining opportunities was the biggest and most immediate economic challenge that we face. And he said the Government would offer an Opportunity Guarantee so every young person has the chance of an apprenticeship or an in-work placement. The Treasury is expected to offer firms small grants to create training places. ELDERLY CARE The financial crisis caused by the lockdown would not prevent ministers making progress on the reform of social care. He gave no details of his plans, which were being finalised, but said: We wont wait to fix the problem of social care that every government has flunked for the last 30 years. We will end the injustice that some people have to sell their homes to finance the costs of their care while others dont. HOPE ON HOUSING The PM pledged to tackle the intergenerational injustice facing young people who are unable to get on the housing ladder. He confirmed plans for a 12billion affordable housing programme over the next eight years, which will create 180,000 homes. And he revealed that a pilot will be launched of a new First Homes initiative, which will offer first-time buyers a 30 per cent discount. WHITEHALL WOES No mention was made of the ructions within government that led to the departure of Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill at the weekend. Sir Mark is said to have been forced out after a power struggle with Dominic Cummings who saw him as a roadblock to a shake-up of the civil service. The PM did not spell out his plans for a Whitehall revolution, but made it clear he was frustrated with its response to the current crisis. Parts of government seemed to respond so sluggishly, he said. So that sometimes it seemed like that recurring bad dream when you are telling your feet to run and your feet wont move. Facebook has labeled the extremist anti-government Boogaloo movement a 'dangerous organization' and banned 500 groups and pages - but has been slammed after it emerged it has been making money from ads by the extremists for months. The platform announced Tuesday it has banned hundreds of accounts, groups and pages linked to the Boogaloo movement, in what it describes as the 'latest step in our commitment to ban people who proclaim a violent mission from using our platform', as it tries to rebuild its reputation amid the ongoing ad boycott. This includes the removal of 220 accounts, 28 pages, 106 groups, and 95 Instagram accounts which are part of the extremist network and pose a 'credible threat' to public safety, it said. Facebook also removed another 400 groups and 100-plus pages that were hosting 'similar content' affiliated with the core network but not operated by the core members. However, it has since emerged that Facebook has been profiting from ads by the far-right group including one shocking advert that shows cops being shot and killed, according to Buzzfeed News. This comes as more than 160 companies have now pulled advertising on Facebook in the last week as part of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which accuses the company of failing to tackle hate speech and racism posted on its platform. People, including those with the Boogaloo movement, at an anti-lockdown protest in Michigan in May. Facebook has labeled the extremist anti-government Boogaloo movement a 'dangerous organization' and banned 500 groups and pages A member of Boogaloo Bois walks next to protestors demonstrating outside Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, in May during a racial justice rally Facebook said the large-scale removal of Boogaloo content and sites should help slow the movement in its tracks in using the platform to recruit new members and to share content. 'Today we are designating a violent US-based anti-government network as a dangerous organization and banning it from our platform,' Facebook's statement on the news read. 'This network uses the term boogaloo but is distinct from the broader and loosely-affiliated boogaloo movement because it actively seeks to commit violence.' Facebook added that the accounts were 'actively promoting violence against civilians, law enforcement, and government officials and institutions.' The labeling of Boogaloo as a 'dangerous organization' puts it on a par with the Islamic State group and white supremacists, both of which are already banned from its service. But questions are being raised after it emerged that in the months leading up to Facebook's ban, the social media giant was reportedly raking in money from Boogaloo ads on both Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram. One of the violent ads included footage of police officers being shot dead alongside the phrase 'join the militia, fight the state,' according to BuzzFeed News. Facebook did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment. The Boogaloo movement, run by people a group known as the Boogaloo Bois, is a loosely organized extremist far-right and anti-government movement which counts white supremacists in its fan base and aspires to incite a violent civil war across America. Some heavily armed Boogaloo Bois have been seen popping up at anti-lockdown and racial justice rallies in recent months. Mark Zuckerberg. The platform announced Tuesday it has banned hundreds of accounts, groups and pages linked to the Boogaloo movement, in what it describes as the 'latest step in our commitment to ban people who proclaim a violent mission from using our platform' Facebook said the movement dates back to 2012 and that it has been tracking it closely since last year. Earlier in June, Steven Carrillo, an Air Force sergeant with ties to the movement, allegedly shot dead a federal security officer and wounded his partner outside a US courthouse, ambushed and killed a California sheriff's deputy and injured four other officers in Oakland, California. According to the criminal complaint, Carrillo posted in a Facebook group before the attack: 'It's on our coast now, this needs to be nationwide. It's a great opportunity to target the specialty soup bois. Keep that energy going.' 'Soup bois' is thought to be a term that followers of the boogaloo movement use to refer to federal law enforcement agents. Facebook joined other tech firms in coming down hard on the movement after instant messaging firm Discord shut down the biggest boogaloo server and deleted the accounts of all 2,500 of its users. Some of the accounts and posts linked to the Boogaloo movement. The Boogaloo movement, run by people a group known as the Boogaloo Bois, is a loosely organized extremist far-right and anti-government movement which counts white supremacists in its fan base and aspires to incite a violent civil war across America The users switched to an affiliated Facebook page and a subreddit, according to VICE News, leading Reddit to take the subreddit down and Facebook follow suit Tuesday. However, they all face a difficult task to remove all references to the far-right group, as its internet-savvy members tend to keep their distance from one another and frequently change their symbols and catchphrases to avoid detection. Social media giants are coming under increasing pressure to clamp down on hate speech posted on their platforms. In the last week, more than 160 companies including some of the biggest advertisers Coca-Cola, Unilever and Starbucks have all ceased advertising their products on Facebook as part of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign. The advertising boycott was organized by several civil rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP and Sleeping Giants, who argue that Facebook and other social media platforms have not done enough to address racism, hate speech and misinformation on their platforms. Facebook makes an estimated $70 billion annually from ads, the coalition claimed in a statement on the ADL website - so with some of its biggest clients pulling the plug on ad spend it's marked a major blow to the firm. Clorox has joined the growing list of brands to have pulled its advertisements from Facebook in a protest over the social media giant's perceived failure to stop the spread of hate on its platform Ford then on Monday also put the brakes on all national social-media advertising for 30 days, as it re-evaluates spending on sites. Restaurant chain Denny's said it is pausing paid advertising on Facebook starting Wednesday. Cleaning goods giant Clorox joined the growing list of brands Monday in announcing it will be suspending all advertisements on the social media site through the end of the year. 'As a people-centered company committed to our values, we feel compelled to take action against hate speech, which we believe will increase through the balance of the year,' Clorox said in a Monday statement. 'This creates an increasingly unhealthy environment for people and our purpose-driven brands.' The Clorox Company, which also includes brands Hidden Valley Ranch and Brita, added that it would 'maintain our planned level of advertising spending but shift to other media.' This came after Ford also put the brakes on all national social-media advertising for 30 days, restaurant chain Denny's said it is pausing paid advertising on Facebook starting Wednesday and Adidas, Pepsi and Best Buy all announced similar boycotts. Coca-Cola pulled its advertisements from Facebook Friday, saying it wasn't officially joining the boycott, but that it had paused on paid advertising across all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days. A similar announcement was made by Unilever that day, which was then followed by Starbucks, who said it working with civil rights groups to 'stop the spread of hate speech' and would be ending all social media ads, but wasn't officially joining the boycott at this time. Zuckerberg said in a Facebook Live video on Friday that the company would begin labeling 'harmful' content from politicians that remains 'newsworthy' Some major companies that have joined Facebook ad boycott Unilever Verizon Eddie Bauer Eileen Fisher Ben & Jerry's Patagonia North Face REI Upwork Rakuten Viber Magnolia Pictures Goodby Silverstein Dove Coca-Cola Dockers Levi's Honda Ford Clorox Starbucks Lululemon Denny's Adidas Pepsi Best Buy Advertisement CEO Mark Zuckerberg buckled under the pressure Friday and announced new content policies for the platform, including tighter restrictions on advertising and labels for 'harmful' posts from public figures. In a Facebook Live video he announced the company would begin labeling 'harmful' content from politicians that remains 'newsworthy'. 'We will soon start labeling some of the content we leave up because it is deemed newsworthy, so people can know when this is the case,' Zuckerberg said in the livestream. 'We'll allow people to share this content to condemn it, just like we do with other problematic content, because this is an important part of how we discuss what's acceptable in our society - but we'll add a prompt to tell people that the content they're sharing may violate our policies,' he continued. Zuckerberg also announced new policies cracking down on hateful language in ads, as well as guidelines on voting information. 'We already restrict certain types of content in ads that we allow in regular posts, but we want to do more to prohibit the kind of divisive and inflammatory language that has been used to sow discord,' Zuckerberg said. 'So today we're prohibiting a wider category of hateful content in ads. Specifically, we're expanding our ads policy to prohibit claims that people from a specific race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, gender identity or immigration status are a threat to the physical safety, health or survival of others,' he said. 'We're also expanding our policies to better protect immigrants, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from ads suggesting these groups are inferior or expressing contempt, dismissal or disgust directed at them,' he continued. Though he did not name Trump, the policy comes in response to a campaign demanding Facebook impose tighter restrictions on 'misinformation' in the president's campaign ads, and on his inflammatory posts. Twitter had already placed warning labels on some of the president's tweets that it deemed abusive or threatening, and unlike Facebook, Twitter banned all political campaign ads. Zuckerberg slammed the move when Twitter first labeled a Trump tweet, saying it wasn't up to social media companies to be the 'arbiters of truth'. Hundreds of Facebook employees even staged a virtual walkout earlier this month after company executives declined to add a warning label to President Trump's post that looting would lead to shooting during nationwide protests against racial inequality. Facebook saw its shares drop $56 billion in valuation Friday as companies joined a campaign asking the social media giant to remove hate speech from its platform WHAT IS THE BOOGALOO MOVEMENT? Boogaloo is a far-right, anti-government extremist movement. The heavily armed participants linked to the group say they're preparing for a second Civil War. It got its name from the panned 1984 movie 'Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo' and uses the title as a code word for a second Civil War. Other derivations of 'boogaloo' are 'big igloo' or 'big luau.' Followers are easy to spot with their trademark Hawaiian shirts and high-powered rifles and tactical gear. The movement is made up of pro-gun and anti-government groups. Participants mostly organize on Facebook but have attended recent events like the COVID-19 lockdown protests and demonstrations of George Floyd's death. Facebook earlier this month moved to limit the movements exposure on its platform by no longer recommending user groups associated with the term 'boogaloo' to members of similar associations. Advertisement A statement from Facebook in response to the boycott also said the company invests billions each year to ensure safety and continuously works with outside experts to review and update its policies. The company has banned 250 white supremacist organizations from Facebook and Instagram, she said, adding that the company's substantial investment artificial intelligence technology allows Facebook to find nearly 90 percent of hate speech before users report it. 'We know we have more work to do, and we'll continue to work with civil rights groups, GARM, and other experts to develop even more tools, technology and policies to continue this fight,' the spokesperson added. But the move has come too little too late, with the mounting number of boycotting brands erasing a staggering $56 billion from Facebook's market value Friday. Major companies including Unilever and Coca-Cola pulled their advertisements from the social media giant that day, joining the likes of Dove, Honda and Ben & Jerry's and sending shares in the platform crashing to their lowest in three months. This dealt a hefty $7.2 billion blow to Zuckerberg's personal fortune, pushing him down from third to fourth place on Bloomberg Billionaires Index and leaving him with a new net worth of $82.3 billion. Other Silicon Valley firms have also taken steps to distance themselves from the Reddit this week removed 2,000 subreddits, including the longstanding and highly controversial pro-Trump subreddit called 'The_Donald' which had about 800,000 followers and has long faced calls to be taken down. YouTube announced its own ban on a number of white supremacist channels too as social media firms are increasingly coming under scrutiny over their response to hate speech posted on their sites. Thousands will get a life-transforming cystic fibrosis drug after NHS England struck a rapid deal with its manufacturer. Health charities feared it would take months for patients to get access to Kaftrio after pharmaceuticals firm Vertex and NHS bosses took four years to agree a deal for a previous treatment. But this time despite the breakthrough drugs six-figure price the deal was reached weeks before a licence was even granted. Pictured: Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of the NHS, visits the NHS Seacole Centre at Headley Court, Surrey, May 28, 2020 The landmark deal means doctors can prescribe the triple therapy to English patients as soon as the European Medicines Agency grants a licence. Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said: This is a potentially transformational treatment for cystic fibrosis and I am proud that... NHS patients will be among the first in Europe to benefit. Around 60 per cent of the 10,000 people in England who have cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder mostly affecting the lungs, are likely to benefit from the drug, which improves lung function and has been available in the US since October. You are here: Business China's State Council has issued a regulation to ramp up supervision of the cosmetics industry, according to a decree signed by Premier Li Keqiang. Measures should be taken to better regulate the production and sales of cosmetics as their quality can impact people's health, said the decree. The regulation seeks to improve the classification system of cosmetic products and their raw materials and streamlines the registration process to optimize the institutional environment for innovation. It also requires efforts to strengthen the quality-control of cosmetic products and establish reassessment and recall systems to ensure safety and quality. Illegal acts will be severely punished to improve the market environment, it said. The regulation will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021. Scott Morrison has been caught in an awkward moment when he failed to realise he was live on-air during an interview on breakfast television. The Prime Minister had just been miked up for his live cross with Channel Nine's Today show on Wednesday morning when the segment encountered technical difficulties. Today host Allison Langdon informed viewers they would be doing a live cross to Canberra where Mr Morrison was standing by. 'A good morning to you, Prime Minister,' she began. The Prime Minister appeared to be oblivious he was already on air during a live cross to the Today Show's Allison Langdon Vision appeared of a Rydges Hotel in Melbourne instead of the live cross to Canberra. 'Hello, Prime Minister, if you've got us,' a confused Langdon continued. 'I'm here,' Morrison replied. Mr Morrison finally appeared on screen with a blank expression. 'Ah, nice to see you. We've only just miked you up,' Langdon said. A distracted Mr Morrison looks around, appearing not to realise he was already live on air. Ms Langdon told viewers they would be going to a break as technical difficulties with the live cross to the Prime Minister in Canberra continued 'Prime Minister, can you hear me?' Langdon asked. 'Was I live then? Oh, good,' Mr Morrison replies before a producer appears on screen to speak to him. Langdon said: 'These are the joys of live television, everyone. Prime Minister, can you hear me OK? 'We're not hearing from the Prime Minister at the moment. We will come back to him after the break.' Three minutes later Mr Morrison appeared again and was able to restart the interview with a working microphone and camera feed. The Prime Minister then praised Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews for his reaction to a recent spike in coronavirus cases and said the state had his 'full support.' Joe Biden said Tuesday that his campaign is vetting a racially diverse selection of women to be his vice presidential pick. 'There are a number of women of color, there are Latino women, there are Asian, across the board,' Biden told reporters during a speech and press conference he held at a high school in his adopted hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Biden also teased that he would be putting out a list of female black legal professionals, as he previously said he wanted to appoint the country's first black woman to the Supreme Court. Joe Biden said Tuesday that his running mate shortlist included a racially diverse group of women. He also said he planned to release a list of potential Supreme Court picks who are black women Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat whose mother was Thai-Chinese, is one of the women Biden is considering picking as a running mate New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham would be the first Latina vice presidential candidate if Biden decides to pick her Also among those reportedly being considered for the vice presidential gig are Sens. Elizabeth Warren (left) and Kamala Harris (right), who both ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary Joe Biden is also considering Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who's become more prominant in the aftermath of Rayshard Brooks' death Rep. Val Demings of Florida was formerly the police chief of Orlando. She's become a top pick in the wake of George Floyd's death and rose to prominence during the impeachment proceedings earlier this year The former vice president had been asked if he planned to follow President Trump's lead and put out a list of names he'd consider as Supreme Court picks. In 2016, Trump wooed social conservatives by releasing a list of conservative lawyers and judges he's consider appointing to the highest court. Trump said he'd release an updated list for 2020 as well. 'One thing I hesitate to do is follow anything the president does at all, because he usually does it all wrong,' Biden said Tuesday in Wilmington. But then he said he would be releasing a list. 'I have, we're putting together a list of, a group of African-American women who are qualified and have the experience to be on the court,' Biden said. 'I'm not going to release that until further down the line of vetting them as well.' Biden said he's announce his running mate in early August. The rescheduled Democratic National Convention kicks off on August 17. Biden said the announcement would be made before then. CNN reported last week that the top tier of candidates included Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep. Val Demings and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who are black, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is white, though controversially claimed some Native American ancestry. Other hopefuls include Sen. Tammy Duckworth, whose mother was Thai-Chinese, former Amb. Susan Rice and Rep. Karen Bass, who are black and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the first lesbian U.S. senator. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Latina, has also gotten some buzz. Biden announced at the March debate against then-Democratic rival Bernie Sanders that he would choose a woman for the vice presidential slot. In the aftermath of George Floyd's death and the subsequent 'Black Lives Matter' protests, Biden has been pressured to pick a woman of color. The worlds top digital and tech talent will be brought into the heart of government to transform public services, Boris Johnson will pledge today. In a clear signal of the drive to revolutionise Whitehall, these experts will be parachuted in to government departments to provide a different perspective on how the country should be run. The plan is the brainchild of Dominic Cummings, the Prime Ministers chief adviser, who last year famously called for misfits and weirdos to apply to join the civil service. He believes Whitehall is too full of arts graduates and warns that unless scientists are brought into government, Britain will lag behind as an economic power. To this end, Downing Street will launch a flagship innovation fellowship programme and successful applicants will be allocated to government departments to accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and listen to new ideas from industry and academia. In a clear signal of the drive to revolutionise Whitehall, these experts will be parachuted in to government departments to provide a different perspective on how the country should be run (stock photo) It comes days after it emerged Sir Mark Sedwill would be leaving as Cabinet Secretary, the UKs top civil servant, following claims of a power struggle with Mr Cummings. The plan to recruit leading independent experts is part of a sweeping strategy to turn Britain into a science superpower, with a string of measures to encourage scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to come here under an Research & Development Roadmap. New immigration rules will mean foreign PhD students would be able to get a visa to stay here three years after they achieve their qualification. And a new Office for Talent will come up with ways to persuade the brightest and the best foreign students to come to the UK. Meanwhile, 300million will be invested in scientific infrastructure across the UK. Speaking in Dudley yesterday, Mr Johnson also promised to plough millions of pounds into a new US-style research body to make Britain a scientific superpower. The plan would see the UK developing an answer to the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), which was set up by President Eisenhower in 1958 in response to the Soviet Unions launch of Sputnik. The plan is the brainchild of Dominic Cummings, the Prime Ministers chief adviser, who last year famously called for misfits and weirdos to apply to join the civil service ARPA was behind such technological leaps as the Global Positioning System and the forerunner to the internet. The British version would research technology to tackle climate change, medicines and treatments for cancer, ways to fight antibiotic resistance and steps towards faster computers. Mr Johnson said: This summer, we will be creating a new science funding agency to back high risk, high reward projects. In the next 100 years the most successful societies will be the most innovative societies. Mr Cummings is known to be a key supporter of a UK scientific research body; his WhatsApp profile reads GetBrexitDoneThenARPA. He wants to see cuts to unnecessary bureaucracy in attracting scientific research funding in a bid to make the UK a world-leading scientific superpower and attract global talent from across the world. Scott Morrison hasn't ruled out fining Melburnians who refuse a coronavirus test as the city struggles to control the disease after a sharp rise in new cases. Victoria is experiencing a second wave of infections after recording its highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases in almost three months on Monday with 75 new cases, followed by another 64 on Tuesday. The Prime Minister has thrown his support behind the Victorian government's tough suburban lockdowns, which are designed to stop the virus's spread throughout Melbourne Mr Morrison warned people who refuse to be tested for the disease could face fines as a hotspot testing blitz continues. Almost 1000 residents in coronavirus hotspots refused to be tested when authorities knocked on their door last week. Mr Morrison told Channel Nine's Today show on Wednesday that while fines were an option, he hoped people would get tested without the threat of a financial penalty. There could be fines for Melburnians who refuse to be be tested for coronavirus after almost 1000 residents living in hotspots refused one last week. Pictured are queues at a drive-in coronavirus testing site at Melbourne Showgrounds on Tuesday 'It is disappointing. We are doing it the Australian way,' he said. 'We're looking to do it through incentive, through the use of carrot not stick. 'Occasionally the stick will have to be put about, whether it's fines or sanctions in place to ensure we keep everybody safe.' Mr Morrison said there was nothing surprising about Melbourne's second outbreak, despite the fact other states and territories haven't seen similar spikes. 'We always said there would be some. No system is perfect and Australia is still far ahead of the rest of the world,' he said. 'Let's remember seven states and territories have pretty much no community transmission at all. 'Where outbreaks do occur you need to move on them, as the Victorian government is. 'They have our full support with that. We are putting significant resources in to assist them. Victoria is experiencing a second wave of infections with 119 new cases in the last two days alone. Pictured is a drive-in testing clinic in Melbourne Mr Morrison said mistakes that saw people break hotel quarantine were lessons for other states, noting no system would be perfect. He cautioned against other states reinstating shutdowns if local infection rates remain low. 'We need to keep the economy open. If we don't do that it will cost jobs.' Lockdown will be reinforced across 10 Melbourne postcodes from Thursday until July 29. The impacted suburbs are: 3012 (Brooklyn, Kingville, Maidstone, Tottenham, West Footscray) 3021 (Alban Vale, Kealba, Kings Park, St Albans) 3032 (Ascot Vale, High Point City, Maribyrnong, Travancore) 3038 (Keilor Downs, Keilor Lodge, Taylors Lakes, Watergardens) 3042 (Airport West, Keilor Park, Niddrie) 3046 (Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park) 3047 (Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana) 3055 (Brunswick South, Brunswick West, Moonee Vale, Moreland West) 3060 (Fawkner) 3064 (Craigieburn, Donnybrook, Mickleham, Roxburgh Park and Kalkallo) People living in those areas will only be allowed to leave home for work, study, essential shopping, exercise or to receive or give care. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has also launched a judicial inquiry into hotel quarantine with a slew of cases linked to staff infection control breaches. Under Victoria's aggressive coronavirus suppression measures, international flights will be diverted away from Melbourne for two weeks. Queensland is banning Victorians from entering the state but welcoming other visitors from July 10. South Australia has shelved plans to reopen its Victorian border but is weighing up a travel deal with NSW and the ACT. The Prime Minister refused to rule out fining Melbourne residents who refuse to be tested for coronavirus. Pictured is a member of the Australian Defence Force taking a swab for a COVID-19 coronavirus test at a drive-through testing station in Melbourne on Monday Mr Morrison downplayed criticism from Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who implored him to stop picking on her state over border closures. There is an election in Queensland. I'm not surprised the rhetoric is amping up. 'We are keeping the country together. 'I made similar comments on changes in borders in South Australia.' A new bill passed by the Michigan House of Representatives would make it illegal for companies to force workers to be implanted with microchips. The legislation, called the Microchip Protection Act, or House Bill 5672, would still allow employees to volunteer for microchip implants but making implants mandatory would be against the law. The practice is still incredibly rare in the US, but some companies in other states have begun using small RFID microchips implants as a replacement for key cards, a way to unlock work stations, and a payment method in company cafes. The Michigan House of Representatives has passed a new law that would ban the forced implantation of RFID microchips in employees The Michigan bill was introduced by Representative Bronna Kahle, who worried implants could be used to violate workers' privacy. 'With the way technology has increased over the years and as it continues to grow, its important Michigan job providers balance the interests of the company with their employees expectations of privacy,' Kahle said in a statement to ABC News. 'Microchipping has been brought up in many conversations as companies across the country are exploring cost-effective ways to increase workplace efficiency.' 'While these miniature devices are on the rise, so are the calls of workers to have their privacy protected.' The bill will still need to be passed by the state Senate for debate and then signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer before being enacted. The practice of using microchip implants on employees is still a rare phenomenon in the US, and began only in 2017, when the Wisconsin company 32M made the option available to its workers on a voluntary basis. Around 50 employees, or half the company's workforce, opted to be implanted with $300 RFID chips the size of a grain of rice. The practice is rare but in 2017, a Wisconsin company offered its employees the option to use a $300 RFID implant the size of a grain of rice to access restricted areas and pay for snacks in the office break room The implants were embedded under the skin in their hands and used for relatively simple functions like paying for snacks from vending machines in the company break room. According to 32M's CEO Todd Westby, early feedback from the program was largely positive. 'We foresee the use of RFID technology to drive everything from making purchases in our office break room market, opening doors, use of copy machines, logging into our office computers, unlocking phones, sharing business cards, storing medical/health information, and used as payment at other RFID terminals,' Westby said in 2017. 'Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.' Michigan Representative Bronna Kahle first introduced the bill out of fears for worker privacy. 'While these miniature devices are on the rise, so are the calls of workers to have their privacy protected,' Kahle said While the practice is still rare in the US, ten other states have banned forced worker implantation, including, California, Nevada, Arkansas, and New Hampshire Few other companies have followed 32M's lead and ten states have already passed laws banning implants if they're forced on employees, including Arkansas, California, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wisconsin. Kahle admitted there were no companies in Michigan that currently used microchip implants for employees, but it would still be important to establish legal boundaries for the future. 'Despite this type of technology not quite making its way into our state yet, I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a standard business practice statewide within the next few years,' Kahle said. 'We should absolutely take every step possible to get ahead of these devices.' The number of women opting to freeze their eggs or embryos in the UK rose 523 per cent rise between 2013 and 2018, according to a new report. New figures reveal that, in 2018, 9,000 women underwent fertility treatment to store their eggs or embryos until a later date. This was up from 1,500 so-called 'storage cycles' in 2013, according to the report by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) Within this, the number of women opting to freeze their unfertilised eggs rose from 569 to 2,000 during the five-year period a 240 per cent rise. Freezing allows women who are not ready to have children either for career or financial reasons, or because they have not found the right partner to store their eggs, so they can be used in IVF when they are ready for a family. The report also reveals that the success rate for IVF has tripled in the past 20 years, with a third of all embryo transfers in women under 35 resulting in a baby. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) report looks at rates of IVF storage cycles, the success of the procedure and multiple births from 2013 to 2018. Stock image Sharon Jones froze her eggs when she was 32 after she felt her 'biological clock ticking', but said she wasn't in a position to have a baby at the time Fertility campaigner Sarah Norcross from the Progress Educational Trust said women now see social egg freezing as a valid reproductive choice. 'The women we have spoken to value motherhood and having a family is really important to them and so they are choosing to freeze their eggs as a back-up plan in case they need them in the future,' she said. 'Of course, they may not need them as they may find a partner and get pregnant the old-fashioned way. 'I think there is a greater awareness of egg freezing as a reproductive choice and also of the biological clock and so women are choosing to invest money in trying to improve their reproductive options.' IN FIGURES: AN EGG FREEZING CYCLE COSTS UP TO 8,000 The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority says it can cost 8,000 for an egg freezing cycle. 3,350 for collection and freezing 1,500 for medication 350 per year for storage 2,500 to thaw the eggs There can be a lengthy process involved in preparing to freeze eggs. Testing for infectious diseases Two to three weeks of medication to boost egg production Eggs collected under sedation or general anaesthetic Eggs then frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen Most women have about 14 eggs collected through this process and are stored for up to a decade. The number of people freezing eggs is still relatively small but it is increasing. About 2,000 women opted to freeze their eggs in 2018, up from 569 just five years earlier. A third of all embryo transfers in women under 35 result in a baby. The procedure is available at more than 100 private and hospital-based fertility clinics across the country. Advertisement She added that the rise in the number of women freezing eggs for non-medical purposes - for the chance to have their own genetic baby later - was 'dramatic'. There was a 93 per cent rise in frozen embryo transfer cycles between 2013 and 2018 up from 13,421 to 25,889. At the same time, the regulator saw an 11 per cent decrease in the number of fresh embryo transfers from 48,391 in 2013 to 42,835 in 2018. The rise in the number of patients choosing to freeze their eggs or embryos could be attributed to improved freezing facilities, the regulator said. It could also be due to advances in treatment options, and an increased desire for patients to store their eggs and/or embryos for future use or for fertility preservation. Dr Jane Stewart, a fertility specialist, said new technology and improvements played a part in the demand increase. '2013-18 was a time when vitrification became a much more reliable technique and surpassed slow freezing especially for eggs. there has been an increasing awareness and use of this both for fertility preservation for women (rather than embryos) increasing its use and of course the increase in social freezing. The HFEA data doesn't distinguish,' she said. Norcross said the government needed to scrap the 10-year limit on egg freezing storage as more people begin to make use of the technology. She said it needed to happen 'before hundreds more women face the stark choice of having to destroy their frozen eggs and perhaps their best chance of becoming a biological mother.' Meanwhile, the latest figures from the fertility authority show that the multiple birth rate from IVF treatment has reached a record low. Fertility clinics have been working to a target to reduce the number of women who fall pregnant with twins or triplets as multiple births are the biggest risk to IVF mothers and babies. In 2018, only 8 per cent of IVF births resulted in a multiple birth, figures reveal. The annual HFEA figures, which relate to IVF care in 2018, also show that the number of NHS-funded treatment varied across the UK. There were 60 per cent of cycles funded by the NHS in Scotland but this dropped to less than 30 per cent being funded in some parts of England. The report also details the success of IVF treatments overall, finding that of the 54,000 having IVF in 2018 the average birth rate was 23 per cent. Age is still a key factor in IVF outcomes with younger patients reporting higher success rates from the fertility treatment than older patients. Patients under 35 had a birth rate of 31 per cent per embryo transferred compared with 5 per cent for patients aged 43 and above. The report states that clinical improvements have led to increased chances of a live birth for all patients below 43 years old. Higher birth rates were seen among women over the age of 40 when they used donor eggs in treatment, the HFEA said. Health officials also found that the success rate for IVF had tripled in the past 20 years - with a third of all embryo transfers in women under 35 resulting in a baby. Stock image CASE STUDY: SHARON JONES OPTED TO FREEZE HER EGGS AGED 32 AS SHE 'FELT HER BIOLOGICAL CLOCK TICKING' BUT WASN'T READY FOR A BABY AT THE TIME Sharon Jones froze her eggs when she was 32 after she felt her 'biological clock ticking', but said she wasn't in a position to have a baby at the time. Her career, finances, lifestyle and lack of a partner meant that having a child wasn't an option, but she wanted to keep her options open. Sharon Jones froze her eggs when she was 32 after she felt her 'biological clock ticking', but said she wasn't in a position to have a baby at the time 'There wasn't one single motivation behind freezing my eggs', she told Mail Online. 'Life changed over the last few years, I was travelling, working and had a lot going on.' After a lot of soul searching and a few years of research Sharon decided to take the plunge and freeze her eggs, but she said it was an 'emotional journey'. 'I want to be a mum but I just haven't met anyone yet and am still enjoying my life. But I was aware of my biological clock ticking,' she said. It was a difficult decision in terms of financing as well. 'Do I borrow money, put it on an interest free card, or find other ways to pay for it?' she said. Eventually Sharon just got to a point where she 'had to just take the plunge' and was able to find the money to pay for the treatment which can cost up to 8,000 and is not available on the NHS if there is not medical necessity. Now 35, she actually wanted to freeze her eggs in her late 20s as 'the older you get the less chance of them producing a baby', but was put off by the 10-year rule. That is where any eggs frozen for 'social reasons' rather than medical are destroyed after a decade and she wasn't sure she'd be ready to have a baby by her late-30s. However, she has called for the government to scrap the ten year rule - where eggs are destroyed after a decade - adding that if she had the choice she would have frozen her eggs much earlier as the younger you are the more viable your eggs will be Sharon said that, while it was a difficult decision to delay, she doesn't regret it, adding that the process gave her the feeling of 'control over her fertility'. She is fully aware that there is a chance the process might not work and could have been for nothing, but the investment was worthwhile for the 'peace of mind' knowing the option is there brings. 'It gives me more opportunities and choices over my own fertility and provides me with a sense of control, although I know it isn't real control due to the risks,' she said. However, she has called for the government to scrap the ten year rule, adding that if she had the choice she would have frozen her eggs much earlier as the younger you are the more viable your eggs will be. 'The 10-year rule was 100 per cent a deciding factor for me. It made me put it off which could cause me problems. The rule is unfair and there is no scientific reason behind it,' Sharon said. Advertisement HFEA chair Sally Cheshire said: 'While fertility treatment is never a guarantee for a baby, we are pleased to see that birth rates have increased over the years and the average birth rate is now steady at 23 per cent. 'Whilst this leaves many couples without their longed for family after treatment, these small year-on-year increases are important for the sector to build on.' Cheshire said more patients are deciding to freeze their eggs and embryos due to freezing techniques becoming more common and improved technology. HIGHLIGHTS: FERTILITY REGULATOR PUBLISHES 2013 TO 2018 REPORT INTO IVF About 54,000 patients had 68,724 fresh and frozen in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles in 2018 In 2018, the average birth rate per embryo transferred for all IVF patients was 23 per cent Birth rates for patients below 35 were 31 per cent per embryo transferred For patients over 43 the rate was below 5 per cent when using their own eggs The live birth rate per embryo transferred remains above 20 per cent for the first three cycles of IVF Donor eggs can considerably increase the chance of a live birth to above 25 per cent Only 18 per cent of patients aged 40 and older used donor eggs in 2018 The multiple birth rate decreased to 8 per cent in 2018 for the first time Since 2013, the number of egg and embryo storage cycles increased fivefold to just under 9,000 cycles The level of NHS funding for fertility treatment saw 60 per cent of cycles funded by the NHS in Scotland This fell to less than 30 per cent in some parts of England Advertisement 'I am delighted that we have continued to make progress on reducing the multiple birth rate, making fertility treatment now safer than ever before,' she said. 'We know that multiple births are the biggest single health risk from IVF for mothers and babies and put an additional burden on the NHS. 'That's why it is a great achievement that for the first time our 10% multiple birth rate target was achieved across all age groups and nationally only 8% of IVF births resulted in a multiple birth. 'This shows that there is now a common understanding that implanting more than one embryo does not increase your chances of having a baby.' Commenting on the report, Professor Adam Balen, spokesperson on reproductive medicine for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the figures show a continued increase in the chance of having a baby with IVF. Adding that they 'confirm once more that multiple pregnancy rates can be kept low without any reduction in the chance of a pregnancy by the transfer of a single embryo.' However, Professor Balen called out the 'continued fall in NHS-funded cycles', saying it was a disappointing trend. 'IVF is seen to be an easy target. But infertility is a serious medical condition, resulting in huge stress and distress and caused itself by a large number of different medical problems. 'Indeed, it is the second commonest reason for women of reproductive years to visit their GP. 'IVF is cost effective and has shown to be an economic benefit to society.' Dr Jane Stewart, Chair of British Fertility Society, said it was good to see cumulative data on IVF treatment and the overall increases in live births. 'It is however salutary to see the marked decline of NHS funding,' said Stewart. 'Our government made a special case for fertility treatments to restart as health services began to re-open during COVID restrictions. It would be good to see proper funding backing up that support.' Thousands of artefacts recovered from the wreck of a Dutch East India Company sailing ship will be scanned using new X-ray equipment to reveal hidden details. The Rooswijk a so-called 'retourschip' built for long journeys sank off of the coast of Kent in January 1740 after running aground on Goodwin Sands. Archaeologists visited the wreck and recovered many artefacts including silver coins and ingots, wooden chests and a brass wine pot between 2005 and 2018. Many of these items will now be examined in greater detail thanks to a 150,000 grant from the Wolfson Foundation to update Historic England's X-ray facilities. Thousands of artefacts recovered from the wreck of a Dutch East India Company sailing ship, depicted above, will be scanned using new X-ray equipment to reveal hidden details Originally destined for Batavia modern-day Jakarta the merchant ship Rooswijk sank around 5 miles (8 kilometres) off of the British coast on its second voyage to the East, with none of its believed 237-strong crew surviving the accident. Its wreck was first discovered at a depth of 79 feet (24 metres) by an amateur diver back in 2004 with the bulk of recovery efforts taking place between 2005 and 2018, with the objects from the vessel legally belonging to the Dutch state. Among the artefacts recovered from the wreck were bars of silver, gold coins, knives, scabbards, human remains, pots, jars and thimbles. The grant from the Wolfson Foundation charity will be used to upgrade the power and resolution of the equipment at at Historic England's large, walk-in X-ray facility for scientific and archaeological analysis at Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth. The existing facility has been at that centre of the organisation's archaeological assessment, analysis and conservation work. When the upgrade is complete, Rooswijk artefacts will be among the first to be scanned by the revamped facility, in a collaboration between Historic England and Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, the Netherlands' cultural heritage agency. Many of the finds from the wreck are covered with hard concretions of matter that will require the extra power of the new equipment to be successfully scanned. The Rooswijk a so-called 'retourschip' built for long journeys sank off of the coast of Kent in January 1740 after running aground on Goodwin Sands. Pictured, thimbles covered in hard concretions that were recovered from the wreck of the vessel Archaeologists visited the wreck and recovered many artefacts including silver coins and ingots, wooden chests and a brass wine pot between 2005 and 2018. Pictured, an X-ray image taken of one of the wooden chests from The Rooswijk, which contained thimbles Many of the finds from the wreck are covered with hard concretions of matter that will require the extra power of the new equipment to be successfully scanned. Pictured, pewter jugs recovered from The Rooswijk 'This generous investment will place Historic England at the forefront of heritage X-radiography for many years to come,' said Historic England head Duncan Wilson. 'With this new technology, we will be able to analyse, conserve and better understand many more objects recovered from historic shipwrecks or excavated from archaeological sites.' 'We are very grateful to The Wolfson Foundation for their support to this vital grant.' The new X-ray machinery will also 'greatly improve' the analysis of Roman-era artefacts, Historic England said as the scanner will be able to penetrate dirt and debris build-ups around such objects without the risk of damaging them. Many of the artefacts recovered from the wreck will now be examined in greater detail thanks to a 150,000 grant from the Wolfson Foundation to update Historic England's X-ray facilities. Pictured, researchers work on a chest of sabre blades recovered from The Rooswijk 'We are excited to support this important piece of equipment - bringing together Wolfson's longstanding interests in science and heritage,' said Wolfson Foundation chief executive Paul Ramsbottom. 'The beauty of X-ray technology is the way in which it reveals hidden secrets of the past as well as helping with conservation.' 'We are particularly delighted to be supporting the heritage sector at this challenging moment for us all.' Originally destined for Batavia modern-day Jakarta the merchant ship The Rooswijk sank around 5 miles (8 kilometres) off of the British coast on its second voyage to the East, with none of its 237-strong crew surviving the accident. Pictured, a diver explores the wreck Its wreck was first discovered at a depth of 79 feet (24 metres) by an amateur diver back in 2004 with the bulk of recovery efforts taking place between 2005 and 2018, with the objects from the vessel legally belonging to the Dutch state. Pictured, coins from the wreck Rooswijk artefacts will be among the first to be scanned by the revamped facility, in a collaboration between Historic England and Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, the Netherlands' cultural heritage agency. Pictured, wood recovered from the wreck The Rooswijk a so-called 'retourschip' built for long journeys sank off of the coast of Kent in January 1740 after running aground on Goodwin Sands Global warming over the past 150 years has upended more than six millennia of climate cooling, with temperatures spiking to levels that otherwise may not have been seen for 125,000 years. Towards the end of the Stone Age, around 4,500 BC, the world's climate started cooling at a rate of about 0.1C (0.18F) every 1,000 years, before bringing the planet into the 'Little Ice Age' in around 1300 AD. But since the mid-19th century temperatures have surged upwards, rising by 1C (1.8F) as tonnes of greenhouse gases locked into the Earth are pumped back into the atmosphere due to burning of fossil fuels. The last time temperatures reached that high, sea levels are thought to have been around 20 feet higher than today, which would put many modern urban areas underwater. Scientists at Northern Arizona University, US, made the worrying discovery after analysing data on historical temperatures from sources including ice cores, lake sediments and prehistoric fauna. Experts used remains in glaciers, sediment cores, caves, corals, and other sources to map changes to the Earth's climate over the past 12,000 years Earth's initial cooling was driven by slower cycles in the Earth's orbit, said research professor Michael Erb, who analysed temperature reconstructions for the study. 'This reduced the amount of summer sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, culminating in the "Little Ice Age",' he said. However, temperatures then began to climb as the industrial revolution took off. And the scientists involved in this study predict that they will continue to rise. 'This past decade was likely cooler than what the average temperatures will be for the rest of this century and beyond, which are very likely to continue to exceed 1C above pre-industrial temperatures,' said associate professor Nicholas McKay, who was a co-author in the study. 'Our future climate will largely depend on the influence of human factors, especially the build-up of greenhouse gases. 'However, future climate will also be influenced by natural factors, and it will be complicated by the natural variability within the climate system. 'Future projections of climate change will be improved by better accounting for both anthropogenic and natural factors.' This graph shows changes to the global-mean temperatures over the past 12,000 years. The lines show different analyses of changes in temperature levels In the study, published in Nature Research's Scientific Data, scientists mapped temperatures over the past 12,000 years to identify changes. They relied on the 'Temperature 12k' database, built by the team earlier this year by compressing results from 1,319 data records based on samples taken from 679 sites globally. Scientists reconstructed temperatures using glacial cores, lake sediments and marine sediments laid down during the time period. They also used deposits found in caves, corals, and the fossils of insect larvae to establish approximate temperatures when they were preserved. The analysis was not able to break down temperature changes by decade, meaning that the 12,000-year temperature reconstruction could not be compared with any recent decade. Scientists used data taken from 679 sites worldwide to estimate temperatures (shown) The scientists said their work will help explain processes causing climate to change, which could help the planet prepare for any approaching changes. The National Science Foundation funded the work with a grant of more than 969,000 ($1.2 million). Cone-style well fitting masks and home-made coverings made from multiple fabric layers are the best designs for stopping the spread of coronavirus, study shows. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University examined different materials and designs to find the best option for slowing the spread of virus carrying droplets. These droplets are expelled when someone with COVID-19 coughs or sneezes and tests show loosely-folded masks and bandana-style coverings perform the worst. According to researchers this is because those designs provide minimal stopping-capability for respiratory droplets which can spread up to 8ft if unobstructed. They found a simple bandana-style mask can stop droplets going more than 3ft but a homemade well-fitting cotton-fabric stitched mask stops droplets at 2.5 inches. The smallest respiratory droplets leak through a face mask constructed using a folded handkerchief in a bandana-style - spreading up to three feet from the wearer With the stitched quilted cotton mask, droplets traveled 2.5 inches, considerably less than the 3ft of a bandana mask The pathogen responsible for COVID-19 is mainly found in respiratory droplets expelled by infected individuals during coughing, sneezing, or even talking and breathing, the Florida team explained. This explains governments' rationale for recommending face coverings - to reduce the risk of cross-infection from infected to healthy individuals. THE DIFFERENCE A MASK MAKES: FROM 8FT TO 8 INCHES Without a mask droplets from a cough could go up to eight feet from the person coughing. It gets worse for a sneeze when the virus infected droplets could reach 12 feet in just 50 seconds. However this is significantly reduced with the addition of a mask. With a bandana-style covering, they traveled three feet seven inches With a folded cotton handkerchief, they traveled 1 foot, 3 inches Cough droplets travelled just 2.5 inches when covered by a stitched quilted cotton mask With the cone-style mask, droplets traveled about eight inches Advertisement On June 15 the UK government made face coverings compulsory on public transport in England - other countries have gone further, requiring them when out in public. Despite this, the authorities have not yet announced guidelines on the best varieties of mask to curtail the spread of COVID-19. Study lead researcher, Dr Stella Batalama, at Florida Atlantic University said they wanted to discover the best options for reducing the spread of COVID-19. 'Our researchers have demonstrated how masks are able to significantly curtail the speed and range of the respiratory droplets and jets,' said Batalama. 'Moreover, they have uncovered how emulated coughs can travel noticeably farther than the currently recommended distancing guideline.' The research team used a technique called 'flow visualisation' in a laboratory setting in which they used a mixture of distilled water and glycerin to generate a synthetic fog to mimic cough droplets. They used a mannequin to simulate coughing and sneezing, before visualising droplets expelled from its mouth. They tested a range of masks that are readily available to the general public, and which do not deplete medical-grade masks and breathing devices that are vital to healthcare workers. This included a single-layer bandana-style covering, a homemade mask stitched using two layers of cotton quilting fabric and a non-sterile cone masks. By placing these various masks on the mannequin, they were able to map out the paths of droplets and demonstrate how differently they perform. Results showed that loosely folded face masks and bandana-style coverings provide minimal stopping-capability for the smallest respiratory droplets. Whereas well-fitted homemade masks with multiple layers of quilting fabric, and off-the-shelf cone style masks, proved to be the most effective. They were able to 'significantly' curtail the speed and range of the respiratory jets, albeit with some leakage through the mask itself and from small gaps on the edges. Without a mask, droplets traveled more than eight feet, with a bandana, they traveled three feet seven inches, and with a folded cotton handkerchief, they traveled 1 foot, 3 inches. Cough droplets travelled just 2.5 inches when covered by a stitched quilted cotton mask, and with the cone-style mask, droplets traveled about eight inches. Study leader Dr Siddhartha Verma, an assistant professor at FAU, said they wanted to convey to the public the important of social distancing and face masks. 'Promoting widespread awareness of effective preventive measures is crucial at this time as we are observing significant spikes in cases of COVID-19 infections in many states, especially Florida,' he said. Importantly, uncovered simulated coughs were able to travel noticeably further than current distancing guidelines - between three and six feet. When the mannequin was not fitted with a mask, they projected droplets up to 12 feet within approximately 50 seconds with droplets suspended in the air for up to three minutes. The researchers said their observations suggest that current social-distancing guidelines may need to be increased rather than reduced. With a folded cotton handkerchief, droplets traveled 1 foot, 3 inches, according to the team In the UK Boris Johnson announced a new 1 metre plus rule, where two metres (or 6ft) was still required but could be dropped with the addition of protective equipment such as face masks and protective screens. Study author Professor Manhar Dhanak said: 'We found that although the unobstructed turbulent jets were observed to travel up to 12 feet, a large majority of the ejected droplets fell to the ground by this point. 'Importantly, both the number and concentration of the droplets will decrease with increasing distance, which is the fundamental rationale behind social-distancing.' Apart from COVID-19, respiratory droplets also are the primary means of transmission for various other viral and bacterial illnesses. With the cone-style mask, droplets traveled about 8 inches - the second best performing mask This includes conditions such as the common cold, influenza, tuberculosis, SARS and MERS, according to the Florida researchers. These pathogens are carried by respiratory droplets, which may land on healthy individuals and result in direct transmission. When the pathogens land on objects they can lead to infection when a healthy individual comes in contact with them. Dr Batalama, from FAU's College of Engineering and Computer Science, said that the study findings evidence the need for key workers to set up simple experiments to test the quality of their PPE. She added: 'Their research outlines the procedure for setting up simple visualisation experiments using easily available materials, which may help healthcare professionals, medical researchers, and manufacturers in assessing the effectiveness of face masks and other personal protective equipment qualitatively.' The findings have been published in the journal Physics of Fluids. A bizarre 'mothership' cloud appeared over a city in New Mexico that eerily resembled the massive alien ship in the 1996 film Independence Day. But the structure was not an alien invasion, but a weather phenomenon known as a shelf cloud that forms when cold front storms collide with warm, humid air. A video capturing the weather event was taken in Clovis on June 23 and shows a stunning sunset in the distance with lightning striking from the massive disk-shaped cloud. Heavy rainfall also poured over the town below, bringing along strong winds - but no significant damage was caused by the storm. Scroll down for videos A bizarre 'mothership' cloud appeared over a city in New Mexico that eerily resembled the massive alien ship in the 1996 film Independence Day The structure was not a Martian invasion, but a weather phenomenon known as a shelf cloud that forms when cold front storms collide with warm, humid air The rare weather event was shot by Christian Hernandez who told Fox 5: 'The sunset was beautiful as a stunning mothership cloud moved closer into town that evening.' These intimidating quirks of the climate were officially named as a new type of cloud in the World Meteorological Organisation's Cloud Atlas in 2018. According to the AccuWeather weather glossary, a shelf cloud is 'a low, horizontal wedge-shaped cloud, associated with a thunderstorm gust front.' Shelf cloud formations are often mistaken for tornadoes or funnel clouds. They are normally an indication that a storm is approaching. The cloud resembled the massive alien ship in the 1996 film Independence Day (pictured) Shelf clouds are low hanging, which makes them appear even larger to the eye. The clouds can even be found just a couple hundred feet above the ground. Last June, an entire town in Wisconsin was engulfed by a shelf cloud. Around 9:00am CT clouds that initially looked like waves came washing onto the shore in Verona, headed east towards Milwaukee and made its way toward Lake Michigan. 'This the 'I'm staying in the house all day' type of weather,' said one user, sharing a photo of cloudy skies in Milwaukee. Milwaukee is approximately 1.5 hours east of Verona. Milwaukee-based We Energies told the Journal Sentinel that 14,000 customers were without power by late morning. A video capturing the weather event was taken in Clovis on June 23 and shows a stunning sunset in the distance with lightning striking from the massive disk-shaped cloud The storm brought down tree limbs and damaged dozens of poles that linked hundreds of electrical wires. According to the National Weather Service in Green Bay, roughly three hours northeast of Verona, scattered storms were hitting the eastern part of the state into the afternoon. The world's largest shark has thousands of teeth surrounding each of its eyes that act like armor. Marine biologists from Japan discovered the dermal denticles lining the outer surface of the membrane and each has some 3,000 teeth around it. Because whale sharks do not have eyelids, the rows of 'oak leaf-like' structures protect their eyes, which contradicts theories that this species does not rely heavily on its vision. Along with the dermal denticles, researchers also demonstrated that the whale shark has the ability to retract about 50 percent of its eyeball into the socket. Scroll down for video The world's largest shark has thousands of teeth surrounding each of its eyes that act like armor. The eyes are located on the side of the shark's square-like head (picture A) A team from Japan's Okinawa Churashima Research Center examined both living and dead whale sharks from aquariums in Japan and the US. Whale sharks are the largest of their kind, as they can grow as large as 59 feet long. Although massive, they are harmless to humans and feed on plankton and some types of fish. These sharks do not have eyelids and their eyes are positioned at the corner of their heads, which leaves them vulnerable but that is where the dermal denticals come into play. Marine biologist from Japan discovered the dermal denticles lining the outer surface of the membrane and each has some 3,000 teeth around it When viewing the structures through a microscope, the researchers described them as being oak leaf like in shape Sharks have dermal denticals all over the body that reduce friction in the water, allowing them to swim faster. However, this is the first case these structures have been observed on a creature's eyes. 'We aimed to describe, for the first time, the detailed kinematic and morphological features of whale shark eyes that are associated with eye protection,' reads the study published in Plus One. 'We did this by applying some recent techniques, such as underwater sonography and micro-computed tomography, to analyze both live and dead specimens, and to compare them with those of other elasmobranchs.' The team conducted ultrasound experiments and recorded the eye movement of the living specimens to uncover the dermal denticals distributed on the surface of the eye, around the iris. Using an object-counting option in a software, the data showed that there were about 2,900 teeth surrounding the eye. When viewing the structures through a microscope, the researchers described them as being oak leaf like in shape. The 'covering of the eye surface with denticles in the whale shark is probably useful in reducing the risk of mechanical damage to the eye surface,' concluded the researchers in the study. Whale sharks are the largest of their kind, as they can grow as large as 59 feet long. Although massive, they are harmless to humans and feed on plankton and some types of fish The ultrasound data also revealed that the sharks can retract their eyes about 3.3 centimeters, which is nearly 50 percent of the entire eye. When retracted, white connective tissue forms over the eyeball and fills the empty part of the socket. 'Longerterm eye retraction behavior was observed once in a captive specimen (female, 5 m in total length at the time) at the Georgia Aquarium, which kept its eyes retracted for approximately 10 days in June, 2006, immediately following its transport to Atlanta from Taiwan,' reads the study. spacex has successfully launched a GPS satellite for the US Space Force into orbit aboard its Falcon 9 rocket. 'SpaceX go, GPS satellite go, the ground crew said over the live stream when the countdown hit zero and the rocket took off towards space. This is the Falcon 9s 11th launch this year, but Tuesday's mission featured a new booster as a requirement by the Air Force. The booster, dubbed B1060, carried an advanced global positioning satellite to replace an older satellite that has been circling Earth for the past 20 years. Scroll down for video SpaceX successfully launched a GPS satellite for the US Space Force into orbit aboard its Falcon 9 rocket Falcon 9 took off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral 4:10 pm ET and hit sonic speeds after a minute or so following lift off. The rocket reached orbit and the fairing, which protected the satellite during launch, fell away from the vehicle and will be scooped out of the Atlantic by its Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief ships. Everything is looking good with the trajectory, a ground crew member said four minutes into the flight. Everything is go on the flight of Falcon 9 with GPS III. Falcon 9 took off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral 4:10 pm ET and hit sonic speeds after a minute or so following lift off. The rocket reached orbit and the fairing fell away from the vehicle, which will be scooped out of the Atlantic This is the Falcon 9s 11th launch this year, but this mission featured a new booster as a requirement by the Air Force This is the seventh launch of a US Space Force satellite into orbit and it honors Colonel Thomas Falzarano who was the commander of the 21st space wing at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado - he died May 13 of natural causes. The Space Force took control of the US GPS assets in space from the Air Force when it branched off into its own wing of the armed forces. The satellite, called GPS III space vehicle 03, is part of a constellation of 31 satellites designed and built by Lockheed Martin. These devices provide signals that are more accurate and powerful than previous generations, which boost performance for both civilians and military users. 'SpaceX go, GPS satellite go, the ground crew said over the live stream when the countdown hit zero and the rocket took off towards space The satellite, called GPS III space vehicle 03, launched atop the Falcon 9 and is part of a constellation of 31 satellites designed and built by Lockheed Martin The booster, dubbed B1060, carried an advanced global positioning satellite to replace an older satellite that has been orbiting Earth for the past 20 years Cordell DeLaPena, program executive officer for SMCs Space Production Corps, said prior to the launch: The GPS III program brings a new standard of excellence for the entire space community. Our production team and contract partners have developed an indispensable tool that is available to military and civil users around the world. Our team will continue to advance the launch campaign for the remaining space vehicles and I anticipate the successful launch of SV03 on the Falcon 9. This is the second attempt of the launch, as it was originally scheduled on April 29 but was pushed 60 more days in order for the team to implement new health and safety measure to protect the launch and crews amid the lingering coronavirus pandemic. Advertisement Walls strewn with bullet holes and graffiti, crumbling brickwork and shattered glass. It's hard to believe that these abandoned buildings once stood gleaming - part of the exclusive Dalmatian beach resort of Kupari, where the Yugoslav military elite and their families would holiday. These fascinating before-and-after pictures highlight the transformation of the resort - which lies just six miles along the coast from enchanting Dubrovnik - from dazzling to decaying. Beachgoers soak up the sun in front of abandoned Kupari resort's Grand Hotel The military largely bankrolled the expansion of the resort and so inevitably it became an enclave for officers The exterior of the Hotel Goricina, which has crumbling walls and is daubed with graffiti The Hotel Pelegrin, pictured, was once the largest hotel on the Adriatic coast. Now it is an eerie shell The resort of Kupari is around six miles from enchanting Game of Thrones location Dubrovnik. It now looks like a Call of Duty level This eerie snap of the exterior of the Grand Hotel was captured by Joris van Velzen, who travelled to Kupari in 2018 and posted this image on his Instagram page The 'heyday' images were taken between 1964 and 1990. The year after the most recent image from this batch was taken, the Croatian War of Independence began. Four years of fighting left the complex a ghostly hotel cemetery - a surreal backdrop for today's beachgoers. The swimming pool inside one of the abandoned hotels is now filled with debris This is what is left of the ballroom inside the Goricina Hotel after four years of fighting and decades of neglect and looting Overgrown trees and plants surround the abandoned Goricina Hotel. Holidaying in Kupari was difficult unless you had military connections During the war, each hotel floor was looted and gutted with phosphorus bombs. Pictured is the interior of the Grand Hotel Inside the Grand Hotel, which makes for an extremely spooky place for a child to ride their bike The Grand Hotel, pictured, was constructed in 1919 and was the centrepiece of the Kupari resort It was 1991 when war broke out between those loyal to the government of Croatia and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito had a holiday villa in the resort. Pictured is one of the hotels The crumbling courtyard inside the Grand Hotel - which was one of the most opulent in Kupari Each of the hotels at Kupari had stunning views across the Adriatic Sea From 1998 to 2000, three of the former hotels in the resort - the Grand, Goricina and Pelegrin - were used as a base by the Croatian army Locals have stripped anything useful from the shells of the hotels, such as tiles and copper piping Some tourists make the journey to Kupari from Dubrovnik to explore the 'hotel graveyard' The centrepiece of the resort was the opulent Grand Hotel, constructed in 1919, with other hotels - including the Kupari, Goricina, Goricine II, Galeb and the Pelegrin - built between the 1960s and 1980s. When the Pelgrin Hotel opened in 1963, it was the biggest in terms of size and capacity on the Adriatic Coast, while Kupari also had a nearby campsite with room for 4,000 people and multiple villas, one of which belonged to Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito. The military largely bankrolled the expansion of the resort and so inevitably it became an enclave for officers and their friends and families. Civilians could stay too, but vacancies were more readily available if they had military connections. A black-and-white image of Hotel Goricina in 1964, when the resort of Kupari was beginning to expand This old postcard image from 1969 shows the distinctive Hotel Pelegrin and the shimmering Adriatic A shot that appeared on a postcard from 1972 showing holidaymakers soaking up the sun at the Hotel Goricina Hotel Kupari, pictured in 1977, with Hotel Pelegrin in the background close to the coastline This image is from 1989 and shows a packed beach full of holidaymakers in Kupari An aerial view of Kupari from 1990 - just a year before the outbreak of the war that would lead to its demise. This image appeared on a postcard When war broke out the Yugoslav People's Army (also known as the JNA) ended up, ironically, bombing their holiday project in an attempt to flush out Croatian soldiers. They then, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, set about vandalising and looting all the hotels, gutting the corridors and rooms with phosphorus bombs. After the war, from 1998 to 2000, three of the former hotels in the resort - the Grand, Goricina and Pelegrin - were used as a base by the Croatian army. When they left, locals stripped anything useful from the shells of the buildings, such as tiles and copper piping. Now the former hotels are overgrown with ivy, weeds and trees, and disturbed only by the occasional inquisitive holidaymaker. Mother Nature may not get her own way for much longer, though. The Croatian National Tourist Office told MailOnline Travel: 'It appears that the whole complex Kupari is still intact, none has been taken down just yet, but plans for a revival project are underway.' Today, the abandoned hotel buildings can be seen from the beach, which still attracts sun-seekers An exterior view of Hotel Goricina, which is slowly being enveloped by trees and bushes The abandoned hotels of Kupari might not be there for much longer as a project to revive the resort is underway She debuted her new blonde hair last week. And Emily Ratajkowski put her new do and long legs on display as she took a stroll through New York City's Tribeca neighborhood. The 29-year-old beauty rocked her own brand, Inamorata, for the casual outing with her dog, Colombo. Getting her steps in: Emily Ratajkowski stepped out in New York City on Monday waking her dog around the Tribeca area Emily wore the $95 shirt that covered the matching board shorts of the same price. She teamed the leggy display with a pair of white sneakers and accessorized with a bucket hat of the same color. The model added a pair of dark tinted shades and carried both a graphic tote as well as a clutch under her arm. A set: Emily wore the $95 shirt that covered the matching board shorts of the same price Safety first: Emily ensured she kept as safe as possible while outside by wearing a polka-dot mask over her face Emily ensured she kept as safe as possible while outside by wearing a polka-dot mask over her face. The beauty styled her blonde hair out straight and sleek and appeared to be wearing very little to no makeup. Emily's appearance comes after she and husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard, 38, recently returned back to New York after spending much of lockdown in their Los Angeles home. Safe and sound! Despite carrying two bags, Emily kept her keys close by wearing them on her wrist Keeping things simple: The beauty styled her blonde hair out straight and sleek and appeared to be wearing very little to no makeup They caught a flight out of The Big Apple in April, shortly after the CDC issued an advisory, asking 'residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately.' She previously told British GQ: 'You know, [my husband and I] have been a little bit on the fence. My parents are in California, but as we know the responsible thing is to not travel right now. 'But eventually we would like to make it out there just because, well, New York is the epicenter, although my bodega is still open. I live in Tribeca and it is already very quiet.' Meghan King has been through a lot over the past year with her messy public divorce from ex Jim Edmonds. But the Real Housewives of Orange County star has found love again with her new boyfriend Christian Schauf. She cut a cool mom look Sunday in camouflage overalls as she organized her Redondo Beach house with the help of Schauf, shortly after gushing about the new relationship on her blog. Cleaning up: Meghan King cut a cool mom look Sunday in camouflage overalls as she organized her Redondo Beach house with the help of new boyfriend Christian Schauf The 35-year-old complemented the look with a black sweater and a matching black fedora with a brown leather strap. She finished the ensemble with a gold pendant necklace and a pair of customized white sneakers. Recently, King took to her self-titled blog this month to update fans about their relationship. She wrote: 'Its hard to believe how much my life has changed over the past few weeks but lets start here: I have a boyfriend now. (That felt strange to type) Cool mom: The 35-year-old complemented the look with a black sweater and a matching black fedora with a brown leather strap Accessorizing: She finished the ensemble with a gold pendant necklace and a pair of customized white sneakers 'Meanwhile Im overall more at peace. My neck rarely bothers me, Im eating more and gaining weight, spending more time outside with my kids, and Im often told Im "glowing." Happiness will do these things I suppose.' The blonde beauty also revealed how their unusual courtship played out amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. She continued: 'Our first dates were on FaceTime, going on hikes, and pouring our own cocktails. 'It wasnt until weeks into our dating relationship when we finally went to a coffee shop, got a drink at a bar, and ordered a meal at a restaurant this order felt a little backwards and old-fashioned to us but it also made us feel more deeply connected.' King ended on a positive note: 'Despite the disconnect I feel from my "real self" and the "tabloid self" I read about every few days, the real me is really loving my life right now... New boyfriend: The star recently took to her self-titled blog this month to update fans about her new relationship Pure happiness: She wrote: 'Im up to my eyeballs in happiness. Its amazing what can happen when you work on yourself, put intentions into the world, then give it up to the universe. Lets see what happens' Instagram official: The lovebirds made their relationship Instagram official late last month after meeting on a dating app and subsequently spending some quality romantic time during a weekend in Park City, Utah 'Im up to my eyeballs in happiness. Its amazing what can happen when you work on yourself, put intentions into the world, then give it up to the universe. Lets see what happens.' The lovebirds made their relationship Instagram official late last month after meeting on a dating app and subsequently spending some quality romantic time during a weekend in Park City, Utah. She recently took the high road after estranged husband Jim Edmonds, 50, trashed their marriage on Instagram as 'loveless and abusive.' King told HollywoodLife: 'Im only focused on positivity and maintaining my childrens happiness and stability. I wish him well.' She and the former Cincinnati Reds center fielder tied the knot in October of 2014, and they share daughter Aspen, three, and twin sons Hart and Hayes, two. Edmonds filed for divorce back in October, just one day after their fifth wedding anniversary, reportedly coming as a surprise to King. She's certainly following in her late father Steve Irwin's footsteps when it comes to caring for animals. And on Tuesday, Bindi Irwin, 21, enjoyed a picnic with her wildlife friends at Australia Zoo in Queensland. The conservationist shared a photo to Instagram of herself holding a chameleon while sitting on a chair and enjoying the outdoors. Can you spot the hidden animals? Bindi Irwin enjoyed a picnic at Australia Zoo with her wildlife friends on Tuesday - and challenged her Instagram followers to find them all In the picture, Bindi looked stylish in a long black and white dress, which she paired with chic black boots. She styled her long brunette locks in waves and wore a neutral palette of makeup. Also visible in the photo was an echidna, as well as a picnic basket and rug. 'This is how we picnic at Australia Zoo. Let me know if you can find and identify my friends in this picture,' she captioned the post. Inspired: Bindi has been following in her late father Steve Irwin's footsteps when it comes to handling and caring for animals Bindi's post comes after her brother, Robert, announced on Monday that the third season of Crikey! It's the Irwins had resumed filming after a three-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharing the exciting news to Instagram, Robert, 16, uploaded a photo with his brother-in-law, Chandler Powell, 23, and the Animal Planet production crew. 'Another day's shooting,' he wrote in the caption. Back to work! Bindi's post comes after her brother, Robert (second from left), announced on Monday that the third season of Crikey! It's the Irwins had resumed filming after a three-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pictured with his brother in law, Chandler Powell (right) The wildlife enthusiast added that production was in full swing and that fans could expect plenty of thrilling adventures in the upcoming season. In the photo, Robert and the crew surrounded his late father Steve's famous pick-up truck. In another image, Robert was seen holding a director's board dated March 16. For the past nine years, muscle-bound Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has played Marvel superhero Thor. But it turns out the 36-year-old was not actually the studio's first choice to portray the hammer-wielding Norse god. The iconic part that skyrocketed Chris' career in Hollywood almost went to a British actor 10 years his senior. Fancy that! For the past nine years, muscle-bound Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has played Marvel superhero Thor - but it turns out he was not actually the studio's first choice Since his debut as Thor in 2011, Chris has starred in seven Marvel films. His latest, Thor: Love and Thunder, is scheduled for release in 2022. Charlie Wen, the co-founder of Marvel Studios' visual development department, revealed the little-known fact about the 'original' Thor over the weekend. He said that Grey's Anatomy star Kevin McKidd, 46, had been considered for the role before anyone mentioned Chris as a candidate. What could have been: Charlie Wen, the co-founder of Marvel Studios' visual development department, revealed over the weekend that Grey's Anatomy star Kevin McKidd (right) had been considered for the role of Thor before anyone mentioned Chris as a candidate For you consideration: Kevin has previously addressed the casting process for Thor, confirming to IGN that the rumours were 'semi-true' He shared early Thor concept artwork, writing in the caption: 'This was done even before pre-production started. I was trying out different actors to base Thor on since [Chris] didnt have the role yet at the time. This was based on Kevin McKidd.' Kevin has previously addressed the casting process for Thor, confirming to IGN that the rumours were 'semi-true'. But he didn't get the role in the end because Marvel wanted 'to go for someone younger, a 19 or 20-year-old'. Missed out: According to Kevin, he didn't get the role in the end because Marvel wanted 'to go for someone younger, a 19 or 20-year-old' Chris previously confessed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he'd stolen a few of Thor's hammers over the last decade for personal use. He said in 2018 that he had at least five hammers stashed at home. Chris and his wife, Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, have been married since 2010 and share three children, daughter India, nine, and twins Tristan and Sasha, six. The family reside in Byron Bay, a town on Australia's east coast. You can watch Grey's Anatomy on Stan. Amanda Kloots asked her followers to pray for her husband, Broadway actor Nick Cordero, as he battles a severe COVID-19 infection. 'Heres hoping for a good week,' the fitness pro, 38, said in the caption. 'Prayer warriors please pray that his body gets stronger. Please pray that his Ph levels normalize. Please pray that he can get off blood pressure medicines. I believe in the power of prayer.' Kloots quoted a bible verse, saying: 'Whatever you ask for in prayer you will receive if you have faith.' - Matthew 21:22,' with a prayer emoji. The latest: Amanda Kloots, 38, asked her followers to pray for her husband, Broadway actor Nick Cordero, 41, as he battles a severe COVID-19 infection She accompanied the message with an older image of herself and the Bullets Over Broadway star posed in front of a lit sign that read 'California.' Kloots, who is mother to son Elvis Eduardo, one, with the Hamilton, Canada native opened up about the ongoing health battle in a clip on Instagram Stories Sunday evening. She said she had a 'bit of emotional day' as the Tony-nominated actor, 41, continues to battle for his life in his harrowing health crisis. 'Nick is doing okay, it's just that he's in this vicious ICU dance circle, where one thing goes right and another thing goes wrong,' she said. 'And the thing that was wrong goes right but the thing that goes right then goes wrong. Better times: She accompanied the message with an older image of herself and the Bullets Over Broadway star posed in front of a lit sign that read 'California' Call for prayer: The devoted spouse urged her 350,000-plus followers to hold a good thought for the beloved performer 'To me, right now, it's just like, 'How do we get out of this vicious circle, this circle of the ICU?' Kloots opened up on specific issues Cordero - whose right leg was amputated amid the health crisis - currently faces as he's hospitalized in his fight for life. 'There's still carbon dioxide level problems, he's still acidotic and there's still blood pressure issues,' she said, 'so we kind of really need those things to get sorted in order to move forward.' The devoted spouse urged her 350,000-plus followers to hold a good thought for the beloved performer. In the loop: Kloots opened up on specific issues Cordero - whose right leg was amputated amid the health crisis - currently faces as he's hospitalized in his fight for life 'I'm hoping and I'm keeping the faith that this week those things happen, that we see some sort of advancement, so please keep Nick in your prayers,' she said. In addition to Cordero's health woes, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on Broadway, darkening the famed street amid the New York City shutdown, as playwright Terrence McNally died March 24 at 81 due to complications from the coronavirus. As of Monday, on a global level, 504,200 people have died amid 10,256,251 positive diagnoses worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The death total for COVID-19 was at 126,089 people in the U.S., with 2,581,539 total positive diagnoses. Tammy Hembrow turned heads as she returned to the gym for the first time on Tuesday since the coronavirus lockdowns were lifted. And it wasn't just because of her impressive workout. The 26-year-old model left little to the imagination in very revealing sheer activewear. She's brave! Tammy Hembrow left little to the imagination at the gym on Tuesday as she wore s VERY revealing activewear for a heavy workout 'Aaanddd shes back in an actual gym! Home workouts r good & all but I missed this damn cable machine,' Tammy captioned a series of videos on Instagram. The influencer showed off her fit physique in matching grey exercise leggings and a crop top. She pulled her long locks back into a ponytail and accessorised with a pair of white chunky sneakers. She made her gruelling workout even more intense by wearing ankle weights. Where to look? The influencer showed off her fit physique in matching grey exercise leggings and a crop top Tammy undertook a number of exercises, beginning with weighted leg raises on the cable machine. She then did a number of squats using the cable machine and a bar bell. The workout comes after Tammy slammed an online troll on Sunday for questioning her wealth on an Instagram post. Perfect booty! Tammy undertook a number of exercises, beginning with weighted leg raises on the cable machine before doing squats using the cable machine and a bar bell Tammy shared a photo of her shock dermal piercing along with the caption: 'Pierced my face. (Ps I can buy a Bentley don't talk to me). To which, one user hit back: 'Can you buy a house tho...' The entrepreneur then slammed the user, and wrote: 'I just bought one, made my first mill at 20 years old sis tf outta here with your fake account.' Tammy lives with her two children, Wolf, five, and Saskia, three, in a $2million home in the affluent suburb of Benowa on the Gold Coast. It was a wild Saturday night of celebrations for Khloe Kardashian's birthday over the weekend. And the wishes continued for Khloe from sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner on Monday. Taking to their fashion design account, Kendall + Kylie, a monochrome photo of Khloe was shared with a sweet caption. Celebrations continue: Kendall and Kylie Jenner took to social media on Monday to wish their elder sister, Khloe Kardashian a belated 36th birthday 'Happy belated birthday to one of our favorite sisters, @khloekardashian,' the account began. 'This was BTS from our summer shoot with our other favorite @sashasamsonova last year.' The shot saw the model and Good American co-founder jumping up and down on a built-in trampoline. Party: The Jenner sisters were both in attendance at Khloe's birthday (pictured with brother Rob Kardashian) Siblings: Kendall and Kylie have always been close with their elder sister, Khloe (pictured 2015) Khloe dressed in a hoodie and a pair of form-fitting activewear tights. Kendall was seen rocking a form-fitting top with white trousers. The sweet tribute comes after both the Jenner siblings were among guests at Khloe's birthday bash on Saturday night. Snippets of the festivities were posted onto Instagram, showing the birthday girl wrestling her sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner. At one point, things got a little haywire as Khloe threw her high heel across the room. Birthday fun: Khloe Kardashian found herself in the middle of a wrestling war with her sisters Kourtney and Kendall Jenner on Saturday night while celebrating her 36th birthday The beauty appeared to be trying to stop Kourtney and Kendall, 24, from leaving the event in the early hours of Sunday morning. While a new brunette Khloe laid on the couch, she was seen pulling and tugging at Kendall as she attempted to leave. The birthday girl was lying on top of Kourtney, who was attempting to stop Khloe from hurting her younger sibling. But it was all fun and games with the famous sisters laughing throughout the ordeal while Kylie Jenner filmed. Holding her down: Khloe was lying on top of her petite framed sibling, Kourtney Enough fun: The battle appeared to be because Kourtney and Kendall wanted to leave her birthday bash She's out! Kendall appeared thrilled when she was finally set free No more shoes! Things continued to get out of control when Khloe opted to throw a heel across the room. Kris Jenner's boyfriend, Corey Gamble, watched on and appeared to be confused on how he could help. Things continued to get out of control when Khloe opted to throw a heel across the room. Kris Jenner's boyfriend, Corey Gamble, watched on and appeared to be confused on how he could help. And it wasn't long after the sister wrestle that Kendall and Kourtney managed to get free, running out of Khloe's party to go home. Other videos showcased the the Good American founder drinking champagne from the bottle while Kourtney was running around in a hot pink bikini. Running away: And it wasn't long after the sister wrestle that Kendall and Kourtney managed to get free, running out of Khloe's party to go home Fun! Other videos showcased the the Good American founder drinking champagne from the bottle while Kourtney was running around in a hot pink bikini Dressing up for Khloe: The event also saw momager Kris Jenner pose up a storm while celebrating her third eldest child's special day A camera crew was seen filming the event, possibly for an upcoming season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. The event also saw momager Kris Jenner pose up a storm while celebrating her third eldest child's special day. 'Dressed up in honor of @khloekardashian birthday!!! Thank you @etienneortega and @leajourno for reminding me how a little flam feels! #haventwornadressinmonths #happybirthdaykhloe #itstilltakesavillage,' she captioned. Cake time! Earlier in the evening, Khloe was presented with an epic birthday cake and blew out her candles with True on her lap Friendly: Tristan Thompson penned an incredibly heartfelt message about his 'beautiful and loving' ex-girlfriend Khloe Kardashian, on her 36th birthday Incredible: The birthday girl was treated to a personalised cake from PrettyLittleThing Celebrating: The 29-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers, who shares his two-year-old daughter True with the reality star, gushed that his former flame has shown him 'what it means to be an incredible person' Loved: As she rang in another year of life, Khloe appeared overjoyed, as a number of over-the-top floral arrangements, pink balloon displays and cakes rolled in from loved ones As Khloe rang in another year of life, Khloe appeared overjoyed, as a number of over-the-top floral arrangements, pink balloon displays and cakes rolled in from loved ones. In addition to the sea of pink balloons and donuts that arrived on Friday, she continued to share glimpses of gifts she has received to her 114 million Instagram followers. Delicious: Among her goodies were two massive cakes, one that spelled out, 'Happy Birthday Khloe' and another that had pictures and daughter True printed on it Among her goodies were two massive cakes, one that spelled out, 'Happy Birthday Khloe' and another that had pictures of her and True printed on it. The sweet dessert from PrettyLittleThing was frosted with pastel pink and ivory icing and butterflies. She also received an epic arrangement in the shape of a heart from her best friend Malika. Birthday: The stunning reality star uploaded footage of her two-year-old daughter True playing in a sea of pink balloons The night before, she shared adorable footage of her mini-me playing with her birthday balloons. True appeared to be the most excited about the display of heart-shaped balloons, as she tugged down on the strings and giggled. The Good American founder's tot looked adorable in a floral patterned leotard, white birkenstocks and her beautiful curls swept into two buns. Wow: The night before, she shared adorable footage of her mini-me playing with one of her many birthday balloons arrangements Tristan's post comes in the wake amid growing rumors of reconciliation, while they continue to co-parent under lockdown. Khloe and Tristan split up for good last year, after it was revealed the Cleveland Cavaliers player shared a kiss with former family friend Jordyn Woods. The couple had already overcome another cheating scandal by the time the transgression occurred, while she was still pregnant with True in 2018. Huang Rongchun, who lives in Yangwan village, Huagang town, Feixi county of east China's Anhui province, was injured in an accident when he went out to work many years ago. Following that misfortune, his wife then fell ill and lost her ability to work. In 2014, Huang's family was identified as a poor household. Despite his poor health, Huang works hard. With the help of poverty alleviation cadres, he applied for a discount loan of 50,000 yuan (about $7,065) in order to raise white geese, local chickens and other poultry. In 2019, Huang earned 40,000 yuan by raising chickens. He has now been lifted out of poverty and has become a well-known local poultry farming expert. International travel came to almost a complete halt after the COVID-19 disease spread from one country to another in quick succession, forcing nations in its wake to shut doors on foreigners. The World Tourism Organization said that the number of international tourist trips could dwindle by 60% to 80% in 2020. The dire prediction is in stark contrast to an earlier rosy assessment made before the eruption of the disease that global tourism is poised to grow by 3% to 4% this year. It would have consequences for the world economy because the tourism industry has about a 10% share in the world's GDP and jobs market. It accounted for 330 million direct and indirect jobs worldwide in 2019. Traveling, whether for fun or business, involves a whole range of sectors, from the small tour operators to big airlines, hotels and restaurants, cruise operators, local guides, and gift shops. As tourism dropped, all these segments came under the long shadow of the virus. The International Labor Organization estimate shows that the pandemic related measures by countries could cause nearly 305 million job losses globally in tourism while the international tourism economy could contract between 45% to 70%. According to an article published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), the impact of COVID-19 is being felt throughout the entire tourism ecosystem, and it will take time before reopening and rebuilding of destinations. The World Health Organization has recently warned of a second wave of COVID-19. Given such circumstances, the revival of the tourism industry will be slow. Some experts say that things will start moving in a positive direction by the end of July. But even if it happened, global tourism could fall by 58%. It is the best-case scenario. Last year, the industry rose by 4% or $1.5 billion in additional turnover. In the changed situation, industry-related losses will be in the range of $910 billion to $1.2 trillion. The impact on nations that are dependent on tourism will be even worse. "The collapse of tourism resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic will have a profound impact on the Asia-Pacific small island developing States because of their high reliance on tourism rents. The pandemic will disproportionally influence the lives and well-being of the poorest and the most vulnerable, including workers in the informal sector," according to the article by UN-ESCAP. But even the murkiest situations are not without hope. And so should be the case of the post-pandemic tourism industry. As hundreds of millions of people have been forced to live under lockdown, the urge to move out and travel will be the strongest once the restrictions are lifted. The rush will create competition, and various companies might also offer more friendly travel packages. Smart nations will use the opportunity and plan to attract more visitors once things get better. So, it is time to prepare for the future and capitalize on the new demand. According to a recent study OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus countries are developing recovery mechanisms to support the tourism industry. "These include considerations on lifting travel restrictions, restoring traveler confidence and rethinking the tourism sector for the future." The study recommends a comprehensive tourism recovery package that includes stimulating demand with new safe and clean labels for the sector and information apps for visitors and domestic tourism promotion campaigns. It means that tourism can rebound, but it needs a sustained and well-targeted policy. Since it is easier to convince domestic tourists to start visiting places of their choice, countries should first revive the local industry before attracting foreign tourists. Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.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. Ben Affleck and girlfriend Ana de Armas were snapped in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Santa Monica walking their dogs on Monday, as the city of Los Angeles went back on lockdown, shutting bars, gyms, beaches and more after new COVID-19 spikes. Affleck and de Armas, who meeting on the set of their film Deep Water, beamed and engaged in PDA on the romantic stroll through the beach neighborhood. The Armageddon actor, who's been dating the Golden Globe-nominated actress since March, donned sunglasses, a charcoal grey button-down shirt and dark blue pants on the daytime walk. Hollywood romance: Ben Affleck, 47, and girlfriend Ana de Armas, 32, were snapped in the LA neighborhood of Santa Monica walking their dogs on Monday, as LA County went back on lockdown, shutting bars, gyms, beaches and more after new COVID-19 spikes The Argo star-director was also wearing black sneakers and black sunglasses - though he did not don a stylish face mask he was earlier seen in as he walked through the residential area. The Knives Out beauty, 32, kept warm on a chilly Southern California day with a patterned throw over with a black tank top and denim blue shorts. She had her born locks in a bun and donned sunglasses on the summertime outing. The actors met and fell for each other last autumn on the set of the film, Deep Water which is slated for release on November 13. Stunning: The Knives Out beauty, 32, kept warm on a chilly Southern California day with a patterned throw over with a black tank top and denim blue shorts Beaming Ben: Affleck and de Armas, who meeting on the set of their film Deep Water, beamed and engaged in PDA on the romantic stroll through the beach neighborhood She's since been seen with Affleck's children with ex Jennifer Garner - daughters Violet, 14, and Seraphina, 11, and son Samuel, eight - and he recently introduced her to his mother Christina. Prior to the coronavirus shutdown this past March, Affleck was also about to start filming on The Last Duel, which reunites him with childhood friend Matt Damon. Damon, who shared the screen with Affleck in their breakout film, Good Will Hunting, was already filming in the south of France in March, when filming was shut down on that and mostly every film and TV project due to the spread of the virus. It's based on the true story on the last sanctioned duel in France, with Jodie Comer and Adam Driver also starring in the film. Affleck's ex-wife Jennifer Garner was also spotted out on Monday, taking a hike with a girlfriend in Los Angeles. Lockdown love: The couple's romance has flourished in unusual circumstances amid the past three months Inspired: The Argo star seemed to be in a great mood as the new week began Casual: The Armageddon actor donned sunglasses, a charcoal grey button-down shirt and dark blue pants on the daytime walk Garner, 48, was spotted wearing a grey t-shirt under a grey hoodie, with black stretch pants and blue running shoes. She also stayed safe by wearing a black and white striped mask that covered her face during her walk. The celebs were out in their neighborhoods a day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom shut down bars in Los Angeles County and six others. On Monday, Los Angeles County had a record-high 2,903 new confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 100,000 amid its 10 million-plus residents, the AP reported. Newsom stressed the importance of wearing masks, saying it's 'incumbent upon all of us to do what we can to lead by example,' and that enforcement of the rules 'will be stepping up ... in the state of California.' Romance: The stars met and fell for each other last autumn on the set of the film, Deep Water which is slated for release on November 13 Staying safe: The A-lister was snapped earlier on Monday in the City of Angels Ben's look: Affleck was wearing a charcoal grey button-down shirt and dark blue pants as he stepped out on Monday On set: Affleck shot Deep Water last fall with Ana de Armas, which is slated for release on November 13 North West celebrated her seventh birthday with an opulent Western-themed party on June 15. Kim Kardashian, 39, shared more photos from her eldest daughter's party to Instagram on Monday. The family party was also attended by North's aunts Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, who flew out to Kim and Kanye West's Wyoming ranch just for the occasion. Birthday fun: Kim Kardashian, 39, shared more photos from her daughter North West's seventh birthday party on Instagram on Monday. The Wyoming celebration took place on June 15 Kim led off her photo post with a lovely photo of her and North reaching out to hold hands while riding atop two elegant horses. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star had on a loose-fitting pair of black leather pants, along with an intriguing beige mesh top with crimson designs on her chest and sleeve. North looked playful in a furry cow print dress with green and black splotches. Western style: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star had on a loose-fitting pair of black leather pants, along with an intriguing beige mesh top with crimson designs on her chest and sleeve She wore her hair long and curly, while her mother kept her straight raven tresses in a ponytail as she continued to grow her hair out. 'Norths 7th Birthday Wyoming Style,' Kim captioned the photo set, adding a cowboy emoji. Another closer photo showed Kanye in a neon green hoodie and spotted beige jeans walking alongside Kim's horse and grinning ear-to-ear. Chic: North looked playful in a furry cow print dress with green and black splotches Too cute: In addition to her horse ride, North got a special furry present for her birthday: an achingly cute Pomeranian fluff ball that appeared to be joined by another family Pomeranian In addition to her horse ride, North got a special furry present for her birthday: an achingly cute Pomeranian fluff ball. The puppy, whose name Kim didn't disclose, popped it's little head out of one of North's black cowboy boots as she gently petted it. Another snap showed the celebrity child relaxing next to the pup and an older Pomeranian with its distinctive smiley-look that appeared to be a dog Kim added to the family in late 2019. She reality star also got a distinctive black Pomeranian at the same time. North and her cousin Penelope both got sister Pomeranians for their fourth birthdays, and North named her dog Sushi. However, Sushi's absence from social media in recent months has led fans to speculate that the dog may have died. Yum! Kim and Kanye's oldest daughter got a birthday cake styled as a purple cowboy hat to keep up the theme Leather fans: She wore a burgundy leather jumpsuit with cut-out panels over her sides, to which she added a teal duster and black sunglasses. Kourtney rocked a retro 1960s look with her white halter minidress and white thigh-high boots. North's birthday celebrations appeared to take place partly in a barn stacked with bales of hay. Kim and Kanye's oldest daughter got a birthday cake styled as a purple cowboy hat to keep up the theme. The newly minted billionaire also showed off her striking outfit while in the barn. She changed into a revealing burgundy leather jumpsuit that showcased her cleavage and featured cut-out panels over her sides, to which she added a teal duster and slim black sunglasses that made her look like a character from The Matrix. Kourtney rocked more of a retro 1960s look with her white halter minidress and white thigh-high boots. Standing out: Kanye beamed in a sweet picture of him and Kim relaxing on the hay while she had their youngest son Psalm on her lap. He wore black leather pants and a jacket with a highlighter green shirt Seeing red: Kim held her daughter Chicago in another snap off the child's cute scarlet halter dress and tan cowboy boots Kanye beamed in a sweet picture of him and Kim relaxing on the hay while she had their youngest son Psalm on her lap. The Monster rapper complemented Kim with his black leather coat and pants, which he jazzed up with a highlighter green T-shirt. Psalm looked cute in a blue jumpsuit, a gray shirt and an oversize straw hat. The family also posed with cartoonish fake money bags off to the side. Kim held her daughter Chicago in another snap off the child's cute scarlet halter dress and tan cowboy boots. Packed: In addition to Kourtney's daughter Penelope and Kylie's daughter Stormi, North also had some of her friends visiting Wyoming for her party Need for speed: Kim revealed in one of her Insta Stories posts that the ranch has its own Go Kart track, so of course the guests took them for a spin while partying Leading the pack: Kanye stood out while cruising in his mini car thanks to his vibrant green hoodie Stylish ride: North also got to satisfy her need for speed with a striking ATV with an airbrushed hood featuring blue lightning bolts and ghostly white horses In addition to Kourtney's daughter Penelope and Kylie's daughter Stormi, North also had some of her friends visiting Wyoming for her party. Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has spiked around the family's home in Southern California in recent days, no one appeared to be wearing masks or practicing social distancing. Kim revealed in one of her Insta Stories posts that the ranch has its own Go Kart track, so of course the guests took them for a spin while partying. Kanye stood out while cruising in his mini car thanks to his vibrant green hoodie. North also got to satisfy her need for speed with a striking ATV with an airbrushed hood featuring blue lightning bolts and ghostly white horses. Elegant: Although North rode on a smaller brown horse, Kim revealed that she had her own Friesian horse with a gorgeous black coat Black beauty: The Friesian breed originated in the Netherlands, and is similar to large work horses, though they're smaller and more limber. They tend to be black and often have long curly manes Although North rode on a smaller brown horse, Kim revealed that she had her own Friesian horse with a gorgeous black coat. 'North's Freesian [sic] horse,' Kim captioned a photo of her daughter standing next to the noble beast. 'We have 14 gorgeous black Freesians on the ranch.' The Friesian breed originated in the Netherlands, and the horses are similar to large work horses like Clydesdales, but are smaller and more limber. The sturdy animals tend to be black and have long, often curly manes. Samantha Armytage has been on cloud nine since announcing her engagement to Richard Lavender earlier this month. And on Tuesday, the Sunrise host couldn't resist showing off her fancy cushion-cut sparkler during a morning stroll in Sydney's Bondi Beach with her Labrador, Banjo. The 43-year-old kept things casual in a light beige top and comfortable black sneakers as she sipped on a take-away coffee. Newly-engaged glow! On Tuesday, Samantha Armytage, 43, looked happy and relaxed as she enjoyed a morning stroll in Sydney's Bondi Beach with her dog, Banjo Casually cool: The 43-year-old host couldn't resist showing off her cushion cut diamond engagement sparkler as she fuelled her day with a coffee Samantha's blonde locks were pulled back into a high ponytail, and she accessorised her off-duty look with a pair of sunglasses. After taking Banjo for a stroll around the neighbourhood, the TV presenter stopped by a cafe. Samantha's modest-sized cushion-cut diamond engagement ring - which has been valued at $80,000 by a House of K'dor jeweller - was on full display. Exciting! Sam has been on cloud nine since announcing her engagement to Richard Lavender Low-key: Samantha's blonde locks were pulled back into a high ponytail, and she accessorised her off-duty look with a pair of sunglasses Oh, no! At one stage, the TV personality was left to clean up after Banjo had relieved himself Ring-a-ding-ding! Samantha's modest-sized cushion-cut diamond engagement ring - which has been valued at $80,000 by a House of K'dor jeweller - was on full display Sam announced her engagement to horse breeder Richard on Sunday, June 21, sharing two photos to Instagram of herself in the arms of her fiance, with a diamond ring on her wedding finger. When she returned to Sunrise the following Tuesday, she told co-host David 'Kochie' Koch that Richard had proposed on the spur of the moment in the paddock of his rural property in the NSW Southern Highlands. Over the weekend, the couple hosted a small get-together at Richard's farm to celebrate their upcoming union. Moment of reflection: After taking Banjo for a stroll around the neighbourhood, Sam stopped by a cafe where she ordered a coffee Pour the bubbly! After announcing her engagement to horse breeder Richard, 60, earlier this month, the couple hosted a small get-together over the weekend to celebrate the occasion A toast to love! She had confirmed the news on Instagram on Sunday, June 21, sharing two photos of herself in the arms of her fiance, with a diamond ring on her wedding finger Idyllic: When she returned to Sunrise the following Tuesday, she told co-host David 'Kochie' Koch that Richard had proposed on the spur of the moment 'weeks ago' in the paddock of his rural property in the NSW Southern Highlands Just five days after announcing her engagement, Sam put her North Bondi home on the market. After purchasing the property for $2.15million back in 2014, she has now listed it with a $2.8million price guide. Samantha and Richard confirmed their romance to WHO magazine in November. They have yet to announce a date for their wedding. Real estate: Just five days after announcing her engagement, Sam put her North Bondi home on the market Moving on: After purchasing the property for $2.15million back in 2014, she has now listed it with a $2.8million price guide Smitten: Samantha and Richard confirmed their romance to WHO magazine in November Neighbours star Annie Jones has revealed the heartbreaking reason why she turned her back on her successful acting career after leaving Neighbours in 1989. The 53-year-old chose to step away from the spotlight to look after her late mother, Elizabeth, who battled Alzheimer's disease and died in 2016. For two decades, she turned down job offers that could have taken her to Hollywood - but she told The Mirror on Monday she had 'no regrets' about her decision. Candid: Neighbours star Annie Jones (pictured) has revealed the heartbreaking reason why she turned her back on her successful acting career after leaving Neighbours in 1989 'I don't regret it. It's probably made me a better person in many ways. I think you learn from the stuff that life throws at you. That's what it's all about, life experiences,' she said. She added: 'It's made me a different actress, too. Empathy is the number one most important thing for any actor. 'Anyone who has had anything to do with Alzheimer's or dementia will know what it's like. It's heartbreaking, seeing someone disappear before your eyes.' Family first: The 53-year-old chose to put her career on hold to look after her late mother, Elizabeth, who battled Alzheimer's disease and died in 2016. Pictured as Jane Harris on Neighbours with her co-star Guy Pearce, who played Mike Young Annie's mother, who lived in Melbourne, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1994, five years after her daughter left Neighbours. On Monday, Annie revealed that she would be returning to Ramsay Street as a series regular. She had famously played Jane Harris, better known as 'Plain Jane Superbrain', during what is considered the show's glory years from 1986 to 1989. She's back! On Monday, Annie (right) revealed that she would be returning to Ramsay Street as a series regular. Charlotte Chimes (left) is set to play Annie's on-screen daughter, Nicolette 'Jane is returning to her old neighbourhood and bringing with her an insight into what her life away from Ramsay Street has been like for the past 30 years,' Annie said in a statement. Of course, it's not the first time Annie has been welcomed back to Erinsborough. Earlier this year, she surprised viewers when she appeared in a guest role for the soap's 35th anniversary. Neighbours airs weeknights at 6:30pm on 10 Peach The seventh season of Married At First Sight recently premiered on Lifetime in the U.S. to a rather baffled response from viewers. And now it appears that British fans are equally as shocked by the Channel Nine social experiment as their American counterparts. The Australian reality show received a mixed reception when it debuted on UK television, as viewers flocked to Twitter to question the lack of diversity and the participants' extreme plastic surgery. Baffled viewers: After a mixed reception in the United States, the Australian version of Married At First Sight has been met with backlash from British viewers One viewer pointed out that all the grooms looked similar, writing: 'Is it just me or do all the guys on #MAFSAustralia look alike?' Many other Brits seemed to agree, pointing out the show's overwhelming whiteness. 'Is there no diversity down under?' one critic wrote. 'Plus there's a million couples to keep track of and the "flow" of the episodes are all over the place. Not my fave.' Seeing double? One viewer pointed out that all the grooms looked similar, writing: 'Is it just me or do all the guys on #MAFSAustralia look alike?' 'Is there no diversity Down Under?' Viewers flocked to Twitter to question the lack of diversity Just like American viewers, many British fans pointed out the brides' fixation with plastic surgery, Botox and injectable filler. 'The amount of really jarring plastic surgery on Married at First Sight Australia really perplexed me,' one viewer tweeted. 'Some of the people on it are in their mid twenties and the work they've had done on their faces has really aged them,' another wrote. Fake: Just like American viewers, many British fans pointed out the brides' fixation with plastic surgery, Botox and injectable filler. Pictured: Stacey Hampton and Michael Goonan Sad: 'Some of the people on it are in their mid twenties and the work they've had done on their faces has really aged them,' one critic wrote on Twitter Of course, there were plenty of UK viewers who couldn't get enough of the Aussie version of MAFS, even if they admitted it was a 'new low'. 'Australia does reality TV like nowhere else. Im watching their version of Married at First Sight on E4 here and it is bonkers. So good,' on fan tweeted. Another wrote: 'I've reached a new low: watching Married At First Sight Australia. Safe to say, I'm loving every minute of this embarrassing cringe fest.' Still a fan! Of course, there were plenty of UK viewers who couldn't get enough of the Aussie version of MAFS, even if they admitted it was a 'new low' Michelle Bridges has had a challenging year. But the 49-year-old looked stronger than ever while spending time with her four-year-old son on Monday. Taking to Instagram, Michelle was a picture of health while spending time at her stunning home in Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands. Stronger than ever: Michelle Bridges has shared an uplifting selfie with her growing son Axel, four, after the fallout from her drink driving charge and bitter split from Steve 'Commando' Willis 'Making it up as we go, But how much fun is it?' Michelle wrote. She added the hashtags wegotthis, joy, and truelove. Tough year: Michelle's post follows what has been a challenging year after she split from partner Steve 'Commando' Willis after she was charged with drink driving on January 26 The photograph showed Michelle cuddling a very grown up Axel, who was smiling at the camera. Michelle wore her signature large beige fedora along with black activewear, while Axel wore a vibrant blue T-shirt. The mother-son duo have been living at Michelle's property in Bowral after she moved out of her stunning inner Sydney abode. In happier times: Michelle and Commando began dating in 2015 after splitting from their respective partners, and welcomed their son Axel in December that year The post comes after what has certainly been a challenging year for Michelle since her shock split from Steve 'Commando' Willis back in January. Following their breakup, Michelle was charged with drink driving after she blew 0.086 when she was pulled over in her Range Rover at about 11.25am on Australia Day. Michelle later released a statement claiming she was going through a 'very difficult time' following her split from Steve. Difficult times: Following her split with Commando, Michelle was caught drink driving and later released a statement claiming she was going through a 'very difficult time' following her split from Steve The star was fined $750 and had her licence disqualified for three months after pleading guilty to mid-range drink driving. Outside court, a tearful Michelle said: 'I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep remorse, shame and humiliation [over] this incident and extreme lack of judgment. 'I would like to apologise to my family, friends and community for this gross error in judgment and the consequences of these actions will haunt me forever.' Another one bites the dust. On Tuesday, just days after being rescued and whisked into a revenge bunker, fan favourite Angela was kicked to the kerb. You can call it tall poppy syndrome and blame the bogan brigade all you like - it was Channel Seven who killed Angela Clancy. Under the bus: On Tuesday, just days after being rescued and whisked into a revenge bunker, fan favourite Angela was kicked to the kerb. So who killed Angela Clancy? Who Killed Angela Clancy Cancel culture: The lighthearted opening segment was rightfully cancelled on Monday, replaced with Angela begging her housemates to give her another chance The lighthearted opening segment was rightfully cancelled on Monday, replaced with Angela begging her housemates to give her another chance. Meanwhile, the audience was left wondering how the hell we got back here again. Last Sunday, Channel Seven made the decision to rescue the only interesting housemate, whisking her into a secret revenge dungeon (read: broom closet with a laptop). 'Don't worry, Angela, you'll get the last laugh!' they said through gritted teeth, as the door slammed behind her. How did we get back here again? Last Sunday, Channel Seven made the decision to rescue the only interesting housemate, whisking her into a secret revenge dungeon. 'Don't worry Angela, you'll get the last laugh!' they said through gritted teeth 'HA HA HA,' they cackled to themselves. 'Now, who wants to fly my private jet to Thailand where we can legally shoot a cow with a bazooka?' Angela sat in a bunker doing sweet FA for the next two days, before being released back into the house. 'Hey, you know how you guys got rid of Angela fair and square?' Big Brother asked the housemates. Sweet FA: Angela sat in a bunker doing sweet FA for the next two days, before being released back into the house. 'Guys! Angela refused to leave and now she's back,' said Big Brother. 'GET HER!' 'Revenge': This is the equivalent of saving a tourist from drowning, promising to teach them how to swim and then handing them a box set of Baywatch 'Well, she refused to leave and she's been spying on you the whole time. GET HER!' This is the equivalent of saving a tourist from drowning, promising to teach them how to swim and then handing them a box set of Baywatch. 'Get studying! In two days, we're going to drop you in the middle of the ocean and see if you make it back to land. 'Oh that's weird? She's dead. Nice one-piece though!' The sharks are circling: 'Get studying! In two days we're going to drop you in the middle of the ocean and see if you make it back to land... Oh, that's weird? She's dead' Sorry To Burst Your Bubble Deflating: This week's food challenge was more quasi-metaphorical dribble: 'Alright, nerds. Here's a bunch of balloons. Strap them around ya and last one standing gets to sleep inside tonight' This week's gourmet food challenge was more quasi-metaphorical dribble. Big Brother: 'Alright, nerds. Didn't get time to think of anything good. Just got back from Thailand. It was a MOO-ving experience.' Housemates: 'None of this happened. Stop trying to be clever and call back your half-baked jokes.' Big Brother: 'Fair cop. Anyway, here's a bunch of balloons. Strap them around ya and last one standing gets to sleep inside tonight.' He is risen: Mostly-mute hipster Xavier finally perked up here, after three weeks of sitting in the corner with his $350 'retro' Walkman and box of Radiohead cassettes Mostly-mute hipster Xavier finally perked up here, after three weeks of sitting in the corner with his $350 'retro' Walkman and box of Radiohead cassettes. Xavier: 'Hey, if you guys like Tame Impala, you should give Pond a spin! Same industrial-disco aesthetic, but with the psychedelic-sludge turned up to 11!' Housemates: 'Shut up, Xavier.' He was the early favourite, eliminating Sarah, Hannah and Kieran in quick succession. Naturally the hipster is good at bursting everybody's bubble - but in the end it was Mat who won, after Big Brother handed him a needle. 'But I'm anti-vax?' he complained. Too easy: Naturally the hipster is good at bursting everybody's bubble - but in the end it was Mat who won, after Big Brother handed him a needle You Want More? Want more? This led straight into the eviction nomination challenge. Big Brother: 'Yo! Keep these cans up with your legs or some s**t. I'm out!' This led straight into the eviction nomination challenge. Big Brother: 'Wait a sec, Gina Reinhart's on the other line. Yes, I am free to break into Sea World and spear an Orca in the head... 7pm sounds great! And you've got spears or should I bring mine?' Housemates: 'What's the bloody challenge?' Big Brother: 'Oh right. Keep these cans up with your legs or some s**t. I'm out!' Turns out Sophie is the best at keeping the can up with her legs. Angela knew she needed to win the challenge or it was game over, so she left to start prepping her sassy eviction speech. Sophie nominated Angela, Kieran and Casey. Who's the best? Turns out Sophie is the best at keeping the can up with her legs. She nominated Angela, Kieran and Casey for eviction Secret Weapon The Queen's speech: Angela prepped her palm cards and strolled into the living room, where she sat quietly... just waiting to pounce Angela shuffled her palm cards and strolled into the living room, where she sat quietly... just waiting to pounce. Chad: 'Angela, if you lie to too many people, you're going to end up on the couch.' Angela: 'Alright d**khead? Didn't know you were capable of stringing a full sentence together?' Nice, she's one for one. Chad: 'Angela, if you lie to too many people, you're going to end up on the couch' Angela: 'Alright d**khead? Didn't know you were capable of stringing a full sentence together?' Nice, she's one for one Sophie: 'I nominated Kieran and Casey as safe options just to get you kicked out!' Angela: 'That's completely understandable. You always did take the easy route.' Sophie: 'Hey! Chad is NOT an easy root!' Casey: 'You're so mean, Angela! You have no idea how to play nice.' Angela: 'And Sophie, thanks for nominating Casey and Kieran as safe options. You always did take the easy route' Sophie: 'Hey! Chad is NOT an easy root!' Angela: 'Casey, if I want advice on fake tans, I'll come to you. Otherwise, shut the SPF up.' Just like the drowning tourist, Angela went down in a classy blaze of glory. On the way out, she told the producers that her secret weapon was lip gloss and Lipton. Fine. But we all know the real secret weapon was that she wasn't a boring deads**t with nothing to offer the world except 15 per cent discounts on infrared fat removal wands. Casey: 'You're so mean Angela! You have no idea how to play nice' Rebecca Judd has urged Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to enforce lockdown measures in Melbourne's suburban coronavirus hotspots immediately. Sharing an article to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, the AFL WAG backed Health Minister Brad Hazzard's call for certain areas to take extra precautions that would lead to 'short-term pain' but 'long-term gain'. The 36-year-old, who lives in Brighton, pleaded: 'As a Victorian, I would like to see Melbourne hotspot suburbs put into lockdown as well.' 'Long-term gain': Rebecca Judd has urged Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to enforce lockdown measures in Melbourne's suburban coronavirus hotspots immediately Rebecca added: 'Not sure what @danielandrewsmp is waiting for? Hundreds more cases? The whole of Victoria to become reinfected? Short term pain, long term gain.' This comes after Australia recorded 85 new coronavirus cases on Monday - with 75 of them being in Victoria, seven in New South Wales and three in South Australia. Alarming new data has revealed Victoria's coronavirus infections have reached figures not seen since early April - and they're coming from within. Having her say: Sharing an article to Instagram, the footy WAG backed Health Minister Brad Hazzard's call for certain areas to take extra precautions that would lead to 'long-term gain' Spike: This comes after Australia recorded 85 new coronavirus cases on Monday - with 75 of them being in Victoria, seven in New South Wales and three in South Australia. Pictured: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews In March, Dan Andrews was applauded for his strong and powerful presence when it came to enforcing social distancing restrictions to help eliminate COVID-19. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has now urged Victoria to issue shutdown orders once again or risk the coronavirus outbreak in the state getting even worse. Suburbs such as Maidstone, Albanvale, Sunshine West, Hallam and Brunswick West could potentially face stay-at-home orders. Family: Rebecca is married to retired AFL player Chris Judd. The couple share four children, son Oscar, eight, daughter Billie, six, and three-year-old twin boys Tom and Darcy (all pictured) Rebecca, who hosts Channel Nine travel show Postcards, is married to retired AFL player Chris Judd. The couple share four children, son Oscar, eight, daughter Billie, six, and three-year-old twin boys Tom and Darcy. Originally hailing from Perth, she has lived in Melbourne for more than a decade. She is a runway model with sublime day to day style. But Hailey Bieber put her comfort and health first as she stepped out in Los Angeles on Monday, wearing an outfit with a message. The model, 23, wore a grey 'Wellness' sweatshirt and disposable blue face mask as she left Beachwood Studios. Don't sweat it! Hailey Bieber put her comfort and health first as she stepped out in Los Angeles on Monday, wearing an outfit with a message Hailey teamed the look with an equally laid-back pair of sweatpants and white sneakers. Though she definitely looked laid-back, Hailey still managed to inject a few glamorous touches to her dressed-down look. Gold necklaces and a matching pair of hoop earrings added a touch of dazzle to her casual look, while a trendy blue scrunchie was used to contain her neat little bun. Her 'Lover' tattoo was also visible on the side of her neck. Keeping it casual! Hailey teamed the look with an equally laid-back pair of sweatpants and white sneakers Taking precautions: She wore a disposable blue face mask as part of the battle against COVID-19 Ensuring she remained hydrated, Hailey left the studio holding a bottle of water. The outfit was definitely worlds away from the one she was sporting earlier that same day. Hailey was seen in ripped jeans, a black turtleneck, camel coat and face mask from her husband's clothing collection, Drew. After Hailey left the studio, she was seen jetting out of Los Angeles on a private jet with her Maltese Yorkie Oscar in her arms. Off she goes! Bieber made her way back into the car following her studio session Golden touch: Bieber dressed up her laid-back look with an array of gold jewelry Simply stylish: Hailey was seen in ripped jeans, a black turtleneck, camel coat and face mask from her husband's clothing collection, Drew Hailey seems to be everywhere nowadays, even with coronavirus restrictions in place. The star was recently taking part in a photo shoot in Sardinia, Italy, after going on a road trip with her husband Justin Bieber to Utah. The couple were at one point weathering the pandemic in Justin's native Canada, before eventually returning to their home in Los Angeles. Hailey has been married to Justin since 2018, after rekindling their on-off romantic relationship. The couple tied the knot at a New York courthouse shortly after reconciling their relationship and getting engaged in the Bahamas. They married in front of friends and family in a more lavish affair at the South Carolina resort a year later. So fly: Bieber was seen with her Maltese Yorkie pup Oscar in her arms as she jetted out of Los Angeles Megan Thee Stallion has had quite the rise to fame, recently taking home her first two BET Awards. She put on a busty display in a sexy throwback photo she posted Monday to Instagram from her college job at Bombshells, a restaurant chain in Texas. Hubba hubba: Megan Thee Stallion put on a busty display in a sexy throwback photo she posted Monday to Instagram from her college job at Bombshells, a restaurant chain in Texas The 25-year-old practically busted out of a zip-up crop top as she put on a pouty face in the mirror selfie. She wrote: 'Fun fact lol I use to work at bombshells I think In my sophomore year of college and all my customers loved me. 'Id be in that mf all night happy about them damn tips so idk why the hell im acting like Im sad right here. (dont laugh at my galaxy lol I used to refuse to get an iPhone)' Megan began attending Prairie View A&M University in 2013 before taking time off to pursue her now prosperous career. Chasing dreams: Megan began attending Prairie View A&M University in 2013 before taking time off to pursue her now prosperous career College girl: She's since resumed her studies in health administration online at Texas Southern University, where she's hoping to graduate next year Proud mom: The Savage artist recently revealed that she returned to school to honor her late mother Holly Thomas, who died last March of a brain tumor She's since resumed her studies in health administration online at Texas Southern University, where she's hoping to graduate next year. The Savage artist recently revealed that she returned to school to honor her late mother Holly Thomas, who died last March of a brain tumor. She told People: 'I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed.' Glow up: She's definitely experienced quite the glow up since her first go at university, recently taking off on a private jet Megan continued: 'I want my big mama to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed. 'My grandmother thats still alive used to be a teacher, so shes on my butt about finishing school. Im doing it for me, but Im also doing it for the women in my family who made me who I am today.' She's definitely experienced quite the glow up since her first go at university, recently taking off on a private jet. Before sharing her throwback, she took to Instagram with some photos of her giving the finger while in the lap of luxury. Winner winner: It came the day after she scored her first two BET Awards for Best Female Hip Hop Artist and the Viewer's Choice Award for her hit Hot Girl Summer Long time coming: She said during her speech: 'I used to watch the BET Awards all the time, thinking, "One day, that's gonna be me going up there, accepting my awards." And now it is.' It came the day after she scored her first two BET Awards for Best Female Hip Hop Artist and the Viewer's Choice Award for her hit Hot Girl Summer. She said during her speech: 'I used to watch the BET Awards all the time, thinking, "One day, that's gonna be me going up there, accepting my awards." And now it is. So, thank yall so much. And hotties, I'm just gonna keep going for yall.' Megan also graced viewers with her recent singles Girls in the Hood and Savage in a Mad Max themed desert performance. You are here: World Flash The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday that more than 600 illegal immigrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast in the past week. "In the week of 23-29 June, 618 migrants were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya," the IOM tweeted. The organization also said that 5,475 illegal immigrants, including women and children, have been rescued and returned to Libya so far this year, compared with 9,225 in 2019. The state of insecurity and chaos in Libya that followed the 2011 fall of the previous Muammar Gaddafi's government encourages thousands of immigrants to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards European shores. The IOM has repeatedly stressed that Libya is not a safe disembarkation point for rescued migrants. The IOM had been running the Voluntary Humanitarian Return program that arranges the return of illegal immigrants stranded in Libya back to their countries of origin. Mother-of-six Madeleine West stunned her fans on Tuesday when she shared a sexy toilet selfie. The Neighbours star flaunted her super trim and muscular physique in a black tank top and wild leopard print leggings. The 39-year-old actress was making her way to the Triple M Gold Coast studios to co-host the drive show. Hot mama! Mother-of-six Madeleine West stunned her fans on Tuesday when she shared a sexy toilet selfie. The Neighbours star flaunted her super trim and muscular physique in a black tank top and wild leopard print leggings The actress wrote in the caption that she loved her 'shamelessly saucy' leopard print and Lycra top outfit. She explained that her ensemble was 'child friendly' because her top was 'easy to wipe down' and her leggings 'disguised any number of spills, splatters and everything in between'. Madeleine joked: 'Reckon I've got my Logies look 2021 locked in!' Mum-proof outfit: She explained that her ensemble was 'child friendly' because her top was 'easy to wipe down' and her leggings 'disguised any number of spills, splatters and everything in between' It comes after she was forced to do a live cross with the Today show from a truck stop bathroom, earlier this month. She was scheduled to appear on the Channel Nine morning show, but was unable to make it to her destination in Queensland because of state border closures. The raven-haired beauty revealed to her followers that she took measures into her own hands and asked the nearest service station to help her out. 'I got stuck at the border control crossing into Queensland, so pulled into the nearest servo seeking help, where the kind staff at Zarraffa's Coffee set me up with Wi-Fi, an almond latte and use of their quiet powder room,' she added. Making do! It comes after she was forced to do a live cross with the Today show from a truck stop bathroom, earlier this month. She shared a photo of herself in a service station bathroom, with her laptop propped open on the toilet lid as she crouched down on the floor Madeleine shared a photo of herself in the bathroom, with her laptop propped open on the toilet lid as she crouched down on the floor. Rather than be angry, she called her situation an example of humanity 'at its best'. Madeleine co-parents her six children with former partner and celebrity chef Shannon Bennett. They include Phoenix, 14, Hendrix, 12, Xascha, nine, Xanthe, eight, and six-year-old twins Xalia and Margaux. The cover for the debut posthumous album by Pop Smoke will be changed after an outcry on Twitter on Monday over the artwork released by designer Virgil Abloh. Abloh, 39, has been the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's men's wear collection since March 2018 and shared the album cover in a since-deleted post on Instagram. He wrote in the caption: 'the last conversation i had with @realpopsmoke was about what we we were gonna to do in the future. this album cover was one of like 5 things we talked about. in your memory i just finished it yesterday.' Posthumous album: The late Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke, shown in February in Los Angeles, will have his posthumous debut album released Friday with an altered cover after an outcry Monday on Twitter over the artwork by designer Virgil Abloh Abloh also mentioned in his post Monday that a T-shirt he designed 'insinuates its mandatory we put an and to this cycle of violence that plagues us, we need to shoot for the moon & aim for the stars. as heavy as it is we are celebrating your life the whole way thru. rest in piece (sic) young one.' The Brooklyn rapper, real name Bashar Barakah Jackson, was killed February 19 in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles after being shot twice during a home invasion robbery. His fans were quick to criticize Abloh on social media for the 'lazy' design of the album that will be released Friday and a petition was started on Change.org to alter it. The 'Change Pop Smokes Album Artwork' petition was succinct in its mission statement that read: 'Virgil deada** was wild lazy with Pop Smokes Album cover and he needs to fix it.' The designer: Virgil Abloh, shown in April 2019 in New York City, released the album cover Monday in a since-deleted Instagram post Twitter was just as blunt. One user posted, 'Virgil put zero effort into that album cover. He literally used the first photo that comes up when you search Pop Smokes name on Google' along with a side-by-side of Google Image search results and the album cover. 'This is lazy. Pop Smoke deserves better,' another tweet read. Zero effort: A Twitter accused Abloh of putting in 'zero effort' and using the first image in a Google search of Pop Smoke Deserves better: Another tweet said that Pop Smoke 'deserves better' Other tweets compared the album cover to a Snapchat filter and a 'dancehall party flyer'. It was also ridiculed by comparing it to the much-maligned Cristiano Ronaldo statue from 2017 that also was excoriated on Twitter. Another Twitter user posted a video clip from WrestleMania of The Undertaker rising from his coffin to battle John Cena and wrote as a caption: 'Pop Smoke in heaven when he sees Virgil's design.' Snapchat filter: The album cover also was compared to a 'Snapchat filter' Party flyer: The album cover also was called a 'dancehall party flyer' That statue: The album cover also was mocked by comparing it to the 2017 statue of Cristiano Ronaldo that was excoriated on Twitter In heaven: Another Twitter user posted a video clip from WrestleMania of The Undertaker rising from his coffin to battle John Cena and wrote as a caption: 'Pop Smoke in heaven when he sees Virgil's design' Steven Victor, head of the Victor Victor Worldwide label that signed Pop, said the album cover would be changed. "HEARD YOU,' tweeted Victor. 'MAKING A CHANGE,' he followed up along with a tweet reading, 'POP WOULD LISTEN TO HIS FANS!' Message heard: Steven Victor, head of the Victor Victor Worldwide label that signed Pop, tweeted that the criticism had been heard Change coming: The record label head said a change would be made to the cover It was safety first for Kate Langbroek and her 16-year-old son Lewis as they made their way into Melbourne after being cleared of COVID-19. On Tuesday, the 54-year-old radio host was so overjoyed to be back in her home town that she shared a selfie with her son Lewis from the backseat of a car. The mother and son were both wearing face masks and appeared to be on their way to a new place they were staying. Scroll down for video Safety first! Kate Langbroek and her 16-year-old son Lewis donned face masks as they headed into Melbourne after being cleared of COVID-19 An excited Kate wrote in the caption: 'SO MUCH TO SEE!' Her joy to be back home comes after she and Lewis passed a mandatory coronavirus test after arriving back in Australia from Italy. Kate shared a photo of herself enjoying a celebratory glass of Moet & Chandon Champagne, as Lewis pulled a face for the camera. 'We passed our Covid test! Thanks @pullmanmelbourne... you've been so lovely - now you can kick us out!' she wrote. 'We passed our COVID test!' It comes after they celebrated being cleared of COVID-19 following mandatory tests they underwent on Saturday She added the hashtags: '#cantwaittoseemydad #andmum #andinlaws #andfriends #andsmelltheair'. Kate shared a short video of herself about to take the compulsory coronavirus test on Saturday. Responding to a fan's question about what it was like, she described it as 'not pleasant but quick'. Kate and Lewis recently jetted back into Melbourne from their new home in Bologna, Italy. Getting tested: Kate shared a short video of herself about to take the compulsory coronavirus test on Saturday. Responding to a fan's question about what it was like, she described it as 'not pleasant but quick' She has kept her fans updated with their mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine, which is required for all passengers after arriving from overseas to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Kate and her husband of 17 years, Peter Lewis relocated to Bologna with their four children, Lewis, Sunday, 15, Artie, 12, and Jan, nine, in January 2019. It was supposed to be a 'family gap year', but they decided to extend the break for an additional 12 months. Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky took to social media on Monday evening to stress that she's not racist after a Twitter user brought up a 2008 altercation she was involved in with Americas Next Top Model contestant Bianca Golden that included accusations of racist remarks. 'I am deeply saddened and hurt to hear I have been wrongly accused of ever having anything other than love in my heart for someone of a different race, when that couldnt be further from the truth,' said the 31-year-old actress, who was in the headlines Monday after revealing she's gay in a TikTok post a day earlier. She added: 'I am finally in a good place in my life living my true self I do not feel the need to rehash the trauma we all experienced that day or point fingers at anyone else to try to tarnish their reputation.' The latest: Nikki Blonsky, 31, took to social media on Monday evening to stress that she's not racist after a Twitter user brought up a 2008 altercation she was involved in with Americas Next Top Model contestant Bianca Golden that included accusations of racist remarks The incident took place July 30, 2008 as Blonsky's family was leaving Turks and Caicos via the Providenciales International Airport, TMZ reported at the time. Blonsky's family clashed with the family of Golden (who is Black), and Golden, Blonsky and her father Carl were arrested on assault charges in connection with the incident. Golden, 31, subsequently told Tyra Banks in an October 2008 chat that Blonsky and her family started the fight when they verbally and then physically attacked her and her relatives, using racial slurs amid the brawl, E! reported. 'Her father and mother started saying, "They got rabies, they got rabies!"' Golden said at the time, according to the outlet. Blonsky told People at the time that Golden's family had brought both race and physical appearance up amid the fight, claiming Golden's brother called her a 'fat white b****.' Reminder: A Twitter user brought up the 2008 altercation she was involved in with Golden that included accusations of racist remarks Facing her critics: Blonsky addressed the rehashed story immediately on Monday Blonsky said Monday that 'the information surrounding the incident is incorrect and false,' and while 'an altercation did occur 12 years ago that [she is] not proud of, the use of racist language and violence is inaccurate' She denied allegations that her family had used racist terms in the conflict, telling the outlet that they 'never said anything about rabies.' The Long Island, New York native said at the time it was 'disrespectful that somebody would say that [she's] racist.' Blonsky said Monday that 'the information surrounding the incident is incorrect and false,' and while 'an altercation did occur 12 years ago that [she is] not proud of, the use of racist language and violence is inaccurate.' Blonsky said she harbors no ill will toward Golden - 'I wish Bianka nothing but the best,' she wrote - and thinks the people circulating the story on social media are causing harm 'by continuing to spread false rumors and hate.' Working hard: Golden, who continues to work as a model, also is involved in education Living her best life: The ANTM alum had not addressed anything about Blonsky or the incident on her Twitter or Instagram accounts as of late Monday Joyous: The charismatic actress danced in joy upon coming out on the social media format Sunday Thriving: The Long Island, New York native said she's enjoying doing Nikki Nights, a talk show on her Instagram Live account, as she truly enjoys 'to converse with people' Golden, who continues to work as a model, had not addressed anything about Blonsky or the incident on her Twitter or Instagram accounts as of late Monday. The incident occurred less than a year Blonsky portrayed Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film alongside John Travolta and Golden finished fourth on the ninth cycle of Americas Next Top Model. Blonsky was in the headlines Sunday after publicly coming out in Tik Tok clip in which she danced in a friend's backyard in Hicksville, New York. 'Hi, its Nikki Blonsky from the movie Im Gay! #pride #imcomingout #hairspray' Blonsky told her 27,000-plus followers. 'Its incredibly true!!!' she said in the comment section. 'Thank you so much for the love and support!' She is known for her sleek raven locks and dark, defined brows. But with the help of a filter, Kourtney Kardashian tricked fans by removing her eyebrows. The 41-year-old star shared the image to her Instagram story on Monday, as she donned a sweatshirt from her young sister Khloe's birthday celebration over the weekend. Trick: Kourtney Kardashian tricked fans by removing her eyebrows with the help of a filter posted to Instagram stories on Monday The reality TV star went natural free for the selfie, with not a stitch of makeup from her lips to her face. She simply captioned the photo 'sup,' while showing off the stark look with no eyebrows. Notably, Kourtney wore a baby pink hoodie, with the hood up covering her hair. It seemed to be a celebratory gift from her sister's Khloe's 36th birthday party over the weekend as in a heart it said 'HBD KOKO.' Usual: The reality TV star went natural free for the selfie, with not a stitch of makeup from her lips to her face, a break from her typical glam Instagram look She recently returned from a family vacation to Wyoming and shared a bunch of snaps. Earlier on Monday, she shared more photos from the outdoorsy time spent with her sister's and kids. She began the montage with a solo shot of herself posing against the rural landscape with the caption: 'God's Country.' Into the wild: Earlier on Monday, she shared more photos from the outdoorsy time spent with her sister's and kids, with the caption: 'God's Country' Aunt: In one photo she is pictured sitting on a horse holding sister Kim's youngest son Psalm in the saddle in front of her as Kim's first born North watches while seated on another horse The Kardashians spent two-weeks on their trip to Wyoming where they spent time at Kanye West's $14 million ranch. Not pictured in any of the photos was Kourtney's ex partner, Scott Disick, whom she shares her three children with and who also joined her for the trip. Rumors regarding the a potential 'reconciliation' between the pair - who originally split in 2015 - began to circulate due to Scott's presence in Wyoming. Mama: Kourtney also shared a selfie in which she's seen wearing a beaded hat and close-up snuggling with her youngest child Reign Scott unknowingly added fuel to the fire when he left a flirty comment on an Instagram post of Kourtney's that showed her wearing one of his flannel shirts. However, despite the flirty comments, sources say the pair are not rekindling their relationship. 'Kourtney and Scott are not back together, are not getting back together and will not get back together,' a source told Us Weekly's Hot Hollywood podcast. Former Big Brother star Krystal Forscutt will soon welcome her third child with husband, Neil Hipwell. And the 33-year-old personal trainer flaunted her burgeoning baby bump in stunning photos taken by photographer, Peter Balmer. Krystal shared a number of breathtaking photos of herself posing on a cliff wearing an off-the-shoulder orange gown. Baby on board! Pregnant Big Brother star Krystal Forscutt, 33, (pictured) flaunted her blossoming bump in stunning photos by Peter Balmer, as she prepares to welcome her third child in the coming months The brunette beauty affectionately cradled her baby bump in the photo, placing her hands lovingly around her bump. She wore her brunette tresses out, allowing them to fall past her shoulders. The beauty is around 27 weeks pregnant. Krystal is already a mother of two children: Sunny, five, and Nakoda, one. Tender: The brunette beauty affectionately cradled her baby bump in the photo, placing her hands lovingly around her blossoming bump The Big Brother icon has certainly not been shy when it comes to documenting her pregnancy on social media. The former Zoo cover girl posed on the floor in a knitted beige jumper and matching trousers earlier this month. In the photo, she lifted up her sweater to reveal her baby bump. 'Rainy days are for baking,' Krystal captioned the post, adding the hashtags 'bun in the oven' and '25 weeks.' Oh baby! Krystal showed off her burgeoning belly on Instagram earlier this month Influencer and former WAG Phoebe Burgess commented underneath the post, saying: 'Doing an amazing job mummy, as always.' Former Big Brother star Skye Wheatley added: 'Aww this makes me wonna (sic) be pregnant again.' In March, Krystal announced that she was pregnant with her third child. New addition: In March, Krystal announced that she was pregnant with her third child That same month, she also revealed on Instagram that she almost suffered a devastating miscarriage. Krystal has suffered two miscarriages in the past. She said at the time that doctors told her to be 'cautiously optimistic' with the rest of her pregnancy. 'We had the fright of our lives, in a public bathroom I had a really bad bleed and we were convinced that there was no way our little baby would make it after losing so much blood,' Krystal explained. Scary: That same month, she also revealed on Instagram that she almost suffered a devastating miscarriage 'I went to emergency and was told that I was most likely suffering an impending miscarriage.' She added: 'That evening my heart felt like it was being crushed. I was mourning for another child that I had never met. I just couldn't believe this was happening again.' Krystal and her husband, property developer Neil, prayed for a miracle. When she eventually went to her doctor's appointment, she was amazed when the specialist heard their baby's heartbeat. 'We were so shocked that our little baby had survived,' she said. 'We believe it is nothing short of a miracle! We still aren't completely out of the woods just yet. 'We are scared but hopeful for our baby's future and so grateful to God.' She's said to be a hot commodity in the TV business, with BBC reportedly set to offer her a 'big money deal' in the coming weeks. And Maya Jama proved there's no rest for the wicked as she left Riverside Studios in west London after filming scenes for Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer on Monday. The presenter, 25, cut a typically chic figure as she strutted her stuff in a 450 corseted white dress by Silvia Astore following a long day of work. On cloud nine: Maya Jama proved there's no rest for the wicked as she left Riverside Studios in west London after filming scenes for Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer on Monday Upping the style ante, the stunning broadcaster teamed her flattering ensemble with a pair of heeled thigh-high boots in snakeskin print. Maya toted her essentials in her favourite black backpack, while ensuring her outfit did the talking by opting for minimal accessories. Wavy tresses, heavily-winged eyeliner and dewy foundation brought out her striking features for her TV appearance. Watch her glow: The presenter, 25, cut a typically chic figure as she strutted her stuff in a 450 corseted white dress by Silvia Astore following a long day of work Upping the style ante: The stunning broadcaster teamed her flattering ensemble with a pair of heeled thigh-high boots in snakeskin print All in the details: Maya toted her essentials in her favourite black backpack, while ensuring her outfit did the talking by opting for minimal accessories As well as scoring big name campaigns for brands such as Adidas and Aussie, Maya is set to up her bank balance further with a massive new TV deal. After she stepped down from her Radio 1 show earlier this year, BBC bosses are reportedly keen to offer the brunette a big money deal to keep her from going to a rival network, believing she can be as 'big as Holly Willoughby'. A source told The Sun: 'Maya is seen as one of the biggest stars on the box right now and could easily go on to be as big as Holly Willoughby. Radiant: Wavy tresses, heavily-winged eyeliner and dewy foundation brought out her striking features for her TV appearance Watch out! She's said to be a hot commodity in the TV business, with BBC reportedly set to offer her a 'big money deal' in the coming weeks There's no stopping her: The brunette beauty recently scored big name campaigns for brands such as Adidas and Aussie 'At the moment shes tied to the BBC with her Saturday night show and the door remains open for her to return to Radio 1. 'But other major channels would also love to have her so the BBC know they need to make sure they dont lose her, she appeals to a younger audience and has a massive following on social media too so she ticks a lot of boxes for the BBC.' Last month, BBC Radio 1 confirmed the DJ had 'made the difficult decision not to continue her contract' after two years due to other commitments. And just a few days ago, Maya signed off social media to take a well-deserved detox because she was 'feeling overwhelmed'. The media personality has since returned to her online platforms, with the TV star documenting a make-up session in the studios. MailOnline has contacted the BBC and Maya's representatives for comment at the time of publication. Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace has revealed she's got her heart set on finding a partner and having a baby in the near future. The Big Brother star, 41, spoke with new! magazine about her family ambitions and why she is thriving in lockdown, jokingly calling herself 'Jesus' because she has been helping deliver food to hospitals and hospices around the country. Famously straight talking, the reality star didn't mince her words as she laid out her post-lockdown plans. Ambitions: Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace has revealed she's got her heart set on finding a partner and having a baby in the near future (pictured at her home in London on Monday) Aisleyne has tragically suffered three miscarriages and a stillborn in her bid to have a child, with doctors confirming she suffers from rhesus negative, a rare blood disease that threatens her chances of carrying a baby full-term. Yet the reality star is continuing to maintain a positive outlook, telling new! 'I'm extremely fertile... I'm just so fussy, when it comes to reproducing these genes it's got to be with the right guy. 'I'm kind of old fashioned and want the whole raising children together thing.' Good deeds: The Big Brother star, 41, revealed she is thriving in lockdown, jokingly calling herself 'Jesus' because she has been helping deliver food to hospitals and hospices Plans: Aisleyne spoke of her baby plans, telling new! 'I'm extremely fertile... I'm just so fussy, when it comes to reproducing these genes it's got to be with the right guy' To the point: Famously straight talking, the reality star didn't mince her words as she laid out her post-lockdown plans However, the entrepreneur revealed that she is not dead set on marriage, quipping: 'I'm not fussed as long as I've got the big fat diamond ring! 'I'm pushed for time here so let's just find the guy, get the ring, have the baby and worry about the wedding later'. Aisleyne has been using her time in lockdown to renovate her home in north London, and was pictured on Monday getting to work clearing out the space. Old fashioned: Aisleyne mused, 'I'm kind of old fashioned and want the whole raising children together thing' Taking it easy: The entrepreneur revealed that she is not dead set on marriage, quipping, 'I'm not fussed as long as I've got the big fat diamond ring!' The blonde bombshell put her famous curves on display as she slipped into a flesh flashing ensemble. Highlighting her ample cleavage, Aisleyne donned a busty pink top that also flashed her taut stomach. She teamed the garment with a pair of leggy black hotpants that were cropped to expose her peachy derriere. She completed the look with a pair of giant hooped earrings, whilst her golden locks were styled in loose waves that cascaded down her shoulders. Clear up: Aisleyne has been using her time in lockdown to renovate her home in north London, and was pictured on Monday getting to work clearing out the space Dressed to impress: The blonde bombshell put her famous curves on display as she slipped into a flesh flashing ensemble Top of the crops: Highlighting her ample cleavage, Aisleyne donned a busty pink top that also flashed her taut stomach Bum's the word: She teamed the garment with a pair of leggy black hotpants that were cropped to expose her peachy derriere Finishing touches: She completed the look with a pair of giant hooped earrings, whilst her golden locks were styled in loose waves that cascaded down her shoulders Aisleyne rose to fame in 2006 when she appeared in the seventh series of reality television show Big Brother. She entered the Big Brother House on Day 12, and became known for her clashes with fellow contestants Nikki Grahame and Grace Adams-Short, and for being voted into the House Next Door by the public - a secret house, where she was forced to choose who out of five new contestants would become new housemates. The reality star reached the final on Day 93; she came third with 22% of the public vote. Her iconic scenes recently resurfaced during an episode of Big Brother: Best Shows Ever, which saw Davina McCall and Rylan Clark-Neal look back at past episodes of the hit show. Mark Wahlberg has claimed he's 'almost allergic to everything' as he documented his skin pricking test on Instagram on Monday. In the image, the actor, 49, sported a protective face mask as he went shirtless to display the results on his back. The Fighter star lamented in the post's caption: 'It only took me 49 years to realize Im allergic to almost everything.' 'It only took me 49 years to realise!' Mark Wahlberg has claimed he's 'almost allergic to everything' as he documented his skin pricking test on Instagram on Monday A skin pricking test usually involves putting a drop of liquid onto your forearm or back, before the skin under the substance is pricked. If you're allergic to the liquid, an itchy, red bump will appear on your skin within 15 minutes. The screen star did not specify which substances were used in his hospital appointment, but appeared to have been tested multiple times. Ouch: The actor, 49, did not specify which substances were used in his hospital appointment, but appeared to have been tested multiple times (pictured in February) He's back! Over the weekend, the media personality shared his delight at returning to his gym after weeks away from the fitness facility due to the coronavirus pandemic Over the weekend, the media personality shared his delight at returning to his gym after weeks away from the fitness facility due to the coronavirus pandemic. Alongside a clip of himself greeting a pal, Mark penned: 'Can you tell how excited #big ace productions and I are to be back at F45?! 'Team training, life changing! Greatest work out on the planet #InspiredToBeBetter #Municipal #PerformanceInspiredNutrition ' (sic) The thespian, who shares children Ella Rae, 17, Michael, 14, Grace Margaret, 10, and Brendan Joseph, 12, with Victoria's Secret Angel wife Rhea Durham, is reportedly in talks to star in Netflix spy movie Our Man in New Jersey. Deadline claimed the The Departed star would play a working class James Bond-type character in the action flick. The former rapper and Calvin Klein model is also said to be in line to produce the film alongside producer Stephen Levinson. Jake Wood has revealed that CGI is being used in almost every shot for new episodes of EastEnders. The Max Branning actor, 47, said the new filming measures to ensure actors are socially distant are 'extraordinary'. The star spoke to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Tuesday's Good Morning Britain after his first day back on set on Monday. On set secrets: Jake Wood has revealed that CGI is being used in almost every shot for new episodes of EastEnders The soap star said: 'It's going to take a bit of getting used to. We're all socially distant so everyone is two metres apart. It's quite extraordinary the way were shooting it, the way we're filming it.' 'They've been there for weeks working out the way to do it. We've seen some of the stuff they've shot, it's very very clever. You're not going to notice a difference as a viewer. 'Almost every shot has got CGI in it.' Behind the scenes: The Max Branning actor, who returned to the set on Monday, said the new filming measures to ensure actors are socially distant are 'extraordinary' 'Challenge': He also revealed that sex scenes are unlikely to appear in the new episodes while they film during the pandemic Jake then joked he would love it if he could stay at home while a CGI version of him is acting on set. He also revealed that sex scenes are unlikely to appear in the new episodes while they film during the pandemic. The star said: 'They're looking at ways to film it so people can appear to be kissing. 'Like anything at the moment, it's going to be a challenge.' Happy to be back? Jake joked he would love it if he could stay at home while a CGI version of him is acting on set They're back! The EastEnders cast and crew returned on Monday for their first day of filming since shooting the soap was put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic Piers then joked: 'Well I imagine it would be anyway Jake, at your age. But Jake quickly retorted: 'It's never a challenge for me Piers, come on.' Unlike Emmerdale, EastEnders has decided not to make coronavirus a main theme of the new episodes after filming resumed yesterday following a hiatus from March. The last show went out on June 16, the first time the soap has gone off-air in its 35-year history. Social distancing: Elsewhere, Adam [Ian Beale] dressed to impress in a suit and tie as he filmed scenes outside Kathy's cafe with Milly Zero [Dotty Cotton] Jake said: 'It's one of those really strange things. We're filming episodes now that will go out in quite a few weeks time so it's very difficult to predict where society will be and what the rules will be then so we're not drawing too much attention to it.' He revealed the Queen Vic will be open in the new episodes with everyone inside social distancing. It comes after EastEnders cast and crew returned to Albert Square on Monday, with stalwarts including Danny Dyer, Adam Woodyatt and Jake snapped adhering to social distancing guidelines while filming their scenes. Resuming: Danny, who stars as Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter, was seen holding a script as he recited his lines during his first appearance on the Square in months on Monday Danny, who stars as Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter, was seen holding a script as he recited his lines during his first appearance on the Square in months on Monday. The star could be seen chatting with Luisa Bradshaw-White [Tina Carter] in front of the new mural, which has been added as a sign of support fort he Black Lives Matter movement. The duo filmed their scene in the Walford market, as they stood between the stalls while shooting their first episode back together. Elsewhere, Adam [Ian Beale] dressed to impress in a suit and tie as he filmed scenes outside Kathy's cafe with Milly Zero [Dotty Cotton]. Later the actor was seen filming with Jake Wood [Max Branning] and Clay Milner Russel [Bobby Beale], while crew members looked on. Members of the crew held out microphones on extended poles in order to pick up the sound from the actors, while remaining at a safe distance. Safety first! Members of the crew held out microphones on extended poles in order to pick up the sound from the actors, while remaining at a safe distance Fans are anticipating the show returning several weeks down the line, as the programme aired its final episode earlier this month after running out of episodes due to the COVID-19 crisis. The hit BBC One soap will keep loyal viewers in suspense as they ended the show with a dramatic Sharon Mitchell cliffhanger. The dramatic final episode before the break ended with Sharon, played by Letitia Dean, being revealed as the new Queen Vic pub landlady. Viewers had been led to believe that Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) would be taking over the reins but Mick (Danny Dyer) managed to trick the Walford hardman. Keeping apart: A bird's-eye view of the Square shows the cast will all be distanced during their scenes Back in action! Later the actor was seen filming with Jake Wood [Max Branning] and Clay Milner Russel [Bobby Beale], while crew members looked on Just as Mick was about to sign over the Queen Vic, he dropped the explosive bombshell that there was in fact a new different landlord. Phil was left sceptical over the announcement as he protested: 'We had a deal. You're bluffing, there's no way you could have got a different buyer that quick.' To which Mick then led Phil and his equally baffled wife Linda (Kellie Bright) to the bar where Phil's estranged wife Sharon was pulling pints. In a typically dramatic Albert Square scene, Phil's scorned wife chillingly said: 'Hello Phil, what can I get you?' Distance: The duo filmed their scene in the Walford market, as they stood between the stalls while shooting their first episode back together On set: The star could be seen chatting with Luisa Bradshaw-White [Tina Carter] in front of the new mural, which has been added as a sign of support fort he Black Lives Matter movement In place of its Monday and Tuesday episodes, a new series called Secrets From The Square, hosted by Stacey Dooley, has been shown. BBC One also unearthed iconic past episodes and treats fans to a dose of nostalgia for the time being. Since EastEnders has never been aired in 'seasons' like other shows, this was a milestone episode to many. Upon it's return, the soap will resume its four days a week broadcasts, which were scrapped to release out the instalments that were in the can. Plot: The hit BBC One soap will keep loyal viewers in suspense as they ended the show with a dramatic Sharon Mitchell cliffhanger On pause! Production on EastEnders came to a halt in March, when the UK went into lockdown and most people were instructed to stay home, and work from home if possible But the show returns with shortened episodes; rather than the standard half-hour slots, they will be 20 minutes long to begin with. Executive Producer of the show Jon Sen said: 'Resuming production is incredibly exciting and challenging in equal measure. 'Since we postponed filming we've been working non-stop trialling techniques, filming methods and new ways of working so that we can return to screens four times a week as EastEnders should be. 'Filming will inevitably be a more complex process now so creating 20 minute episodes will enable us to ensure that when we return, EastEnders will still be the show the audience know and love.' Rebel Wilson announced she is taking a break from social media over the weekend. But just a day later, on Monday, she was back posting to Instagram, again declaring she was due to have a break from the platform, as soon as she shared this one last post. The 40-year-old Australian actress shared a number of photos in which she posed with cuddly animals at Sydney Zoo in the city's Western Suburbs. She's back! Rebel Wilson (pictured) shared a number of Instagram photos in which she posed with cuddly animals at Sydney Zoo in the city's Western Suburbs, a day after vowing to take a break from social media She explained in the caption: 'Okay I am going off social media - like starting from now. 'But I did have to show you guys stuff from my day at Sydney Zoo where Jon Castano and I were the 'testers' for their new Meerkat Encounter and Red Panda Encounter - so much fun and cuteness!' Rebel showed off her slimmed-down frame after a reported 18 kilo weight loss in a black long-sleeved shirt and shiny tights. She explained in the caption: 'Okay I am going off social media - like starting from now. But I did have to show you guys stuff from my day at Sydney Zoo where Jon Castano and I were the 'testers' for their new Meerkat Encounter and Red Panda Encounter'. Pictured with Jon Sweet! She looked absolutely delighted as she played with meerkats and red pandas, giggling while the animals crawled around her She looked absolutely delighted as she played with meerkats and red pandas, giggling while the animals crawled around her. On Sunday, the star surprised her 8million Instagram followers when she revealed she would be stepping away from the platform. 'I'm working hard so going off socials for a bit,' she wrote underneath a photo shared to her Instagram account. 'Love to everyone,' Rebel continued before she encouraged her followers to be positive influences for a change. Looking good! Rebel showed off her slimmed-down frame after a reported 18 kilo weight loss in a black long-sleeved shirt and shiny tights The Pitch Perfect star said of her day out: 'So much fun and cuteness!' While it's unclear what the Pitch Perfect actress will be putting her efforts towards, it comes after Rebel revealed she was making her health a priority. The Hustle actress told Today Extra recently of her weight loss: 'It's more about working on my mind. I suffer from emotional eating a lot and the stresses of my job.' She told hosts David Campbell and Belinda Russell that she was 'determined' to achieve her health goals, after dubbing 2020 her 'year of health'. Last month, the Hollywood star vowed to slim down to 75kg (165lbs or 11.8 stone). She's the former Home and Away actress who likes to look her best - and curates her social media accordingly. And on Tuesday, Pia Miller cut a cosy figure as she snuggled on an oversized chair in a Henne sweater, designed by Nadia Bartel. It wasn't long before the picture-perfect image shared to Instagram caught the attention of the label's founder, with Nadia writing 'Babe!' alongside the post. Couch for one: On Tuesday, former Home and Away star Pia Miller (pictured) cut a cosy figure in a snuggly Henne sweater on an oversized sofa chair with a stunning coastal view When Pia replied by tagging the brand, Nadia, 35, added: 'I didn't even realise you were wearing Henne.' In the seaside frame, the 36-year-old beauty appeared to go pantless, kicking off her Comme des Garcons x Converse sneakers to cross her legs on the one-person couch. The brunette bombshell kept her long locks loose, showing her natural beauty with minimal makeup. Supportive: Henne founder Nadia Bartel commented on Pia's post, writing: 'Babe!' When Pia replied by tagging the brand, Nadia, 35, added: 'I didn't even realise you were wearing Henne.' Stunner: The brunette bombshell kept her long locks loose, showing her natural beauty with minimal makeup Last month, Pia gushed about missing her beau, millionaire Patrick Whitesell. She shared a photo on Instagram of the successful Hollywood agent and sweetly wrote: 'I miss my human.' In the image, which was taken on a yacht, Patrick has his back to the camera and talks on the phone. The image appears to be a throwback from their trip to Italy's Amalfi coast last year. 'I miss my human': Pia gushed about her millionaire Hollywood agent boyfriend Patrick Whitesell (pictured) last month New flame: Pia was first linked to Patrick in August last year following her split with her long-time fiance, Tyson Mullane, 31, in April Pia was first linked to Patrick in August last year following her split with her long-time fiance, Tyson Mullane, 31, in April. The couple made their public debut at a Halloween party in Los Angeles in October. She made their relationship Instagram official on Christmas Eve, sharing a loved-up photo with Patrick outside of the Louvre in Paris, and captioning it 'P'. Millie Mackintosh shared an adorable snap with baby Sienna after the newborn had her first vaccinations. The Made In Chelsea star, 30, took to Instagram on Tuesday to reveal her daughter had her eight week jabs the day before, also known as the 6-in-1 vaccine. The 6-in-1 vaccine is given at 8, 12 and 16 weeks old and protects against diphtheria, hepatitis B, Hib, polio, tetanus and whooping cough. Sweet: Millie Mackintosh shared an adorable snap with baby Sienna after the newborn had her first vaccinations on Monday Millie looked radiant as she cradled her baby girl in the sweet snap, penning: 'Poor baba had her eight week vaccinations yesterday and needs extra cuddles'. The new mum also shared a striking picture of herself in a fuchsia dress as she revealed she had given her patio area a mini makeover. Earlier this month, Millie finally unveiled the name of her baby daughter, five weeks after welcoming her first child with husband Hugo Taylor. Glowing: The new mum also shared a striking picture of herself in a fuchsia dress as she revealed she had given her patio area a mini makeover She introduced little Sienna Grace to the world as she cradled her adorable girl in a stunning cover shoot with Hello! magazine. The blogger gushed she's 'on cloud nine' and praised sunglasses entrepreneur Hugo, 34, for being present during labour amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused most hospitals in the UK to allow only one birthing partner. Revealing that the couple settled on Sienna Grace's name 'months' before the birth, Millie added of their first few weeks of parenthood: 'We've been on cloud nine; it's gone so quickly. 'We've been in our little love bubble at home, cherishing those newborn moments, whether that's her sleeping on me or just lapping up all the cuteness.' 'Time has gone so quickly. She is so adorable, even down to the little noises she makes.' Hugo added: 'Sienna has turned our world upside down. It's like first love all over again that wondrous feeling of excitement, joy and endless possibility for the future. I can't wait to watch her grow.' EastEnders star Letitia Dean has revealed she suffered 'horrible' fat-shaming when she first joined the soap. The Sharon Watts actress, 52, said it can be even worse for the younger soap stars today. Speaking on spin-off show Secrets From The Square, she said: 'I think it's probably harder for the youngsters today, it's a very different time now with social media and all that business. Honest: EastEnders star Letitia Dean has revealed she suffered 'horrible' fat-shaming when she first joined the soap 'I had quite a lot of horrible things said about me. "She's too fat, the other actors complain they can't fit on the same set with her".' Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale and appeared alongside her on Secrets from the Square, said: 'It was just vile, and it wouldn't be accepted now.' Letitia also revealed that she lied to get on to Albert Square in 1985. 'Horrible': The star said she was the subject of nasty comments but said young actors have it even worse today with social media Producers only wanted to cast real Cockneys but the actress was actually from Hertfordshire. She had grown up in a cosy cottage on the estate of romantic novelist Barbara Cartland and knew she wouldn't have a chance at getting on the show if she told the truth. Letitia revealed: 'We had to be born within the sound of Bow bells and I told a porky. 'I said my parents had to go and work away, and I was staying with somebody in "the sound of Bow bells", I do remember getting the job and getting the call. I remember that quite clearly. It was just so exciting.' Adam and Letitia also discussed how they were sent home after laughing too much while recording the show. Opening up: Letitia and Adam Woodyatt have revealed that they were sent home after laughing too much while recording the show While speaking to Stacey Dooley, they discussed the telling off they received at the age of 17 in 1985. Adam said: 'A combination of Tish, Sue (Tully, who played Michelle Fowler), me and Paul Medford (who played Kelvin Carpenter), we got sent home one Friday afternoon, and got told to come back the following day, because we just got the giggles. 'We got properly, properly told off and sent home.' Letitia, who joined the soap in the same year said: 'It was very strict. We weren't allowed to have any egos as kids.' Candid: Adam, who plays Ian Beale, 52, and Letitia, pictured in 1985, spoke candidly about their 35 years on the soap The show, one of the UK's favourites, is currently off the air and won't start recording new episodes until the end of this month. Episodes of the iconic BBC One soap opera that were filmed before the coronavirus pandemic ran out two weeks ago. And new instalments, which will be filmed in accordance with social-distancing guidelines, will be roughly 10 minutes shorter than usual. Giggles: While speaking to Stacey Dooley on EastEnders: Secrets From the Square, they discussed the telling off they received at the age of 17 Sent home: Adam, who has played Ian Beale since the show began in 1985, said: 'We got properly, properly told off and sent home' Until now, only two pre-filmed EastEnders episodes have aired a week to make them last as long as possible. EastEnders executive producer Jon Sen said: 'Resuming production is incredibly exciting and challenging in equal measure. 'Since we postponed filming we've been working non-stop trialling techniques, filming methods and new ways of working so that we can return to screens four times a week - as EastEnders should be. 'Filming will inevitably be a more complex process now so creating 20-minute episodes will enable us to ensure that when we return, EastEnders will still be the show the audience know and love.' Until the new episodes air, the show will plug the gap with classic EastEnders episodes Stacey's spin-off show. She regularly sets pulses racing with her sultry social media snaps. And Sophie Kasaei looked sensational as ever as she displayed her jaw-dropping physique in a bikini clad snap on Instagram. The former Geordie Shore star, 30, posed up a storm in a white bikini from PrettyLittleThing that showcased her washboard abs. Stunning: Sophie Kasaei, 30, looked sensational as ever as she displayed her jaw-dropping physique in a bikini clad snap on Instagram Sophie sported a belly button ring in the shot along with hoop earrings and a silver necklace. Styling her brunette locks into an updo, Sophie looked incredible as she showed off her sunkissed hue. Alongside the post, she penned: 'If you watched my story you will know this was took last week. After this weekend its going to take a good while to get back to this.' Sophie also took to her Instagram Stories and showed off two other looks, including a gold swimsuit with a striped pattern and a plunging neckline. Wow: In another look, Sophie wore a gold swimsuit with a striped pattern and a plunging neckline The second swimsuit featured an animal print, long sleeves and was held together by a gold ring. It comes after Sophie developed an 'unhealthy obsession' with the racy new Netflix show 365 Days. The reality star has even sent private messages to Michele Morrone, the hunky lead of the Polish erotic drama. Michele, 29, who has become a sex symbol to its many viewers, plays Sicilian mobster Massimo Torricelli who kidnaps a woman in the secy thriller. Beauty: A second swimsuit featured an animal print, long sleeves and was held together by a gold ring Sophie shared on Twitter that she had become obsessed with the show and has become rather attracted to the Italian actor and model. She wrote: 'Somethings happened I've watched 365 Days and got this really unhealthy obsession. With the cast, the film, the story. 'I've literally sat for the past few days researching the cast, if they are dating, the background and especially the actor who plays Massimo. Even gone as far to dm him.' The Geordie reality star went on to reveal how she had watched the flick three times during lockdown. But she admitted the erotic film has been 'torture' for her being single during lockdown. Breakout star: It comes after Sophie developed an 'unhealthy obsession' with the racy new Netflix show 365 Days and its star Michele Marrone She recently compared herself to a 'granny' when she unveiled grey streaks in her mane. And Lily Allen continued to showcase her natural tresses as she sang about getting rid of her silver strands in a now-deleted Instagram post shared on Tuesday. While examining her 'do, the musician, 35, poked fun at her 'hair loss' as she joked 'there's nothing I can do about my bald patches'. Candid: Lily Allen continued to showcase her natural tresses as she sang about getting rid of her silver strands in a now-deleted Instagram post shared on Tuesday In her typical deadpan fashion, the media personality revealed she's set to give herself a makeover, days before hair salons reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Smile hitmaker belted: 'Today I'm gonna get rid of all these greys there's nothing I can do about my bald patches.' The songstress embraced her clear and radiant complexion as she went make-up free for the video. Elsewhere in the clip, she shared her thoughts on the Let The Music Play campaign - an initiative to encourage the government to help rebuild the live music sector after a series of tours and concerts were cancelled due to COVID-19. Light-hearted: While examining her 'do, the musician, 35, poked fun at her 'hair loss' as she joked 'there's nothing I can do about my bald patches' Lockdown look: The media personality recently compared herself to a 'granny' when she unveiled grey streaks in her mane The relaxing of lockdown restrictions from July 4 will allow facilities such as pubs, restaurants, cinemas, galleries, hotels and hairdressers to reopen, but live music venues will not be up and running until further notice. Lily admitted that while Let The Music Play is a 'nice idea', she believes approaching Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden won't improve the issue as she claimed the 'government doesn't encourage art'. The My Thoughts Exactly author said: 'Dear music industry, please can you write a letter to the culture secretary asking them to pour lots of money into the live music sector. 'It's a nice idea but somehow I just feel like this government doesn't really want to encourage art which in turn encourages thought, empathy, humanity, progress. Speaking out: Elsewhere in the clip, she shared her thoughts on the Let The Music Play campaign - an initiative to encourage the government to help rebuild the live music sector 'I don't know if we want to play our cards this early, I might be wrong but to get the whole music industry together to tweet about letting the music play on a certain day, knowing the government aren't really about that right now might end up making us all very weak. 'So what are we doing it for? So Ed Sheeran can book another 10 days at the O2? In all seriousness I do realise it's bigger than Ed, there are 100s of people that go into making these performances happen and it's those people whose jobs we are trying to protect. 'Maybe I'm being pessimistic but I don't think this government is interested in protecting the arts because of it stands for. It's a culture war, and ultimately I just worry about how it looks when the whole industry comes together to do something active when we can't congregate on mass to do something. 'What are we doing it for?' Lily admitted that while Let The Music Play is a 'nice idea', she believes approaching Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden won't improve the issue 'The only power we have is to get things trending on the internet and write letters and I feel like those things are going to be ignored and it plays into their hands and makes us look like hysterical luvvies. I'm not articulating myself particularly well.' Earlier this week, Lily sparked concerns as she shared a picture inside hospital. The mother-of-two has been isolating with her American boyfriend David Harbour and her children Ethel, eight, and Marnie, seven, who she shares with ex-husband Sam Cooper. Concerning: Earlier this week, the mother-of-two sparked concerns as she shared a picture inside hospital Cute couple: The author has been isolating with her American beau David Harbour (pictured) and her children Ethel, eight, and Marnie, seven, who she shares with ex-husband Sam Cooper The brunette did not explain the reason for her visit but posed in a blue surgical mask in the selfie. Hospital visits amid the coronavirus pandemic have been limited unless in exceptional circumstances. After snapping the selfie, she went on to share an article about Los Angeles bars having to close again due to rising COVID-9 cases, as she wrote: 'Miss Corona says you need to sit down.' MailOnline contacted Lily's representatives for comment at the time of publication. Tamara Ecclestone revealed she's been crying non-stop after saying goodbye to her sister Petra in Croatia. The family had been staying on Bernie's 28million yacht, but Petra, her fiance Sam Palmer and her four children boarded a private jet on Tuesday to fly back to LA. Sharing a selfie with Petra, 31, and daughter Sophia, six, on Instagram, Tamara voiced her worries about when they would be able to reunite again due to the pandemic. Goodbye for now: Tamara Ecclestone revealed she's been crying non-stop after saying goodbye to her sister Petra in Croatia (pictured with daughter Sophia, six) Tamara wrote: 'Puffy eyes from crying so much. So hard to say goodbye it's always hard but this time especially so with the uncertainty of not knowing when we will see each other next and when we can get to LA. 'So quiet with out you and the kids Fifi is so sad it breaks my heart. I keep telling her how lucky she is to have you and her cousins and to have spent this precious time together. We love you so much and cannot wait to be able to be together again I really hope soon. Missing my best friend.' Sam, 31, took to Instagram to share a snap wearing a black face mask as he prepared to board a private jet alongside Petra and the children. 'Missing my best friend': Tamara wrote: 'So hard to say goodbye it's always hard but this time especially so with the uncertainty of not knowing when we will see each other next' Farewell for now: The family had been staying on Bernie's 28million yacht, but Petra, her fiance Sam Palmer and her four children boarded a private jet on Tuesday to fly back to LA Coming home: The recruitment consultant wrote: 'After 4 months a global pandemic, a new baby and 2 different countries.... We are finally on our way home..' The recruitment consultant wrote: 'After 4 months a global pandemic, a new baby and 2 different countries.... We are finally on our way home..' For the past month, Petra, 31, Sam, their daughter and her three other children Lavinia, seven, and twin boys James and Robert, both four have been spending time on her father Bernie's 28million yacht, named Petara. Petra shares her three other children with ex-husband James Stunt. Trip of a lifetime: Sam has been littering his Instagram with snaps from their time away Closest bond: Tamara and her daughter wore matching blue tie-dye swimsuits in one sweet snap During their time abroad, Tamara shared several snaps of enjoying a dip in the sea and them exploring Croatia together. However it has not all been plain sailing, as earlier this month, the star hit out at her critics after being slammed for taking her family to Croatia amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tamara penned a lengthy caption reading: 'Clearly this virus hasn't changed some people for the better which is a bit of a shame. For those of you that are confused or just bitter. I didn't leave the house at all during lockdown... Holiday: For the past month, Petra, 31, Sam, their daughter and her three other children Lavinia, seven, and twin boys James and Robert, both four, have been living it up in Croatia Making memories: Petra and Sam appeared to have the time of their lives with the children 'I didn't even go to the park or exercise. I am half-Croatian so decided it would be best, safest to come here, which is not forbidden and I am now following the rules in Croatia. As for the home school questions, a return to school was option... 'We chose to continue to home school Fifi she is doing better than ever and has gone up two reading bands. If I am not mistaken no one is obliged to follow me so you know what to do.' Last month, Krunoslav Capak, the director of Croatia's Institute of Public Health, said there would be 'no bans, just precautions' on the country's beaches, after Croatia reported 107 deaths overall as of last week. He said: 'I will certainly go to the beach. I can't wait. Lifeguards, local authorities and hoteliers will have to make sure that sun beds and towels are not too close together because the virus will still be present.' The family have further happy news, as it was revealed that their father Bernie, 89, was expecting to be a father for a fourth time with his wife Fabiana Flosi, 44. She's believed to have reunited with her son Brooklyn after three months apart as he spent lockdown in New York with his girlfriend Nicola Peltz. And Victoria Beckham appeared on cloud nine as she shared a radiant selfie onto Instagram on Tuesday. The fashion designer, 46, cut a typically chic figure as she teamed denim jeans with a white T-shirt from her eponymous brand. Cheery: Victoria Beckham appeared on cloud nine as she shared a radiant selfie onto Instagram on Tuesday after her son Brooklyn hinted he's returned to the UK Adding a quirky spin on a plain tee, the style icon's item of clothing featured her name emblazoned across its neckline. The mother-of-four dressed her tresses into loose waves, and complemented her natural beauty with a dewy make-up look. Later into the day, Victoria revealed she and her family will be clapping for the NHS on Sunday as the healthcare system celebrates its 72nd birthday this week. Alongside an image of portraits of NHS workers captured by Rankin, she wrote: 'This weekend marks the 72nd anniversary of @nhsengland and this Sunday. 'We'll be clapping at 5pm to show how thankful we are. Love these portraits by @rankinartchive of key NHS workers xx vb.' (sic) On Monday evening, photographer Brooklyn, 21, uploaded an image of himself chilling by a fireplace with his feet in the air. Close knit: Photographer Brooklyn, 21, has been apart from his family (pictured earlier this year) for three months as he spent lockdown in New York with his girlfriend Nicola Peltz 'We want to show how thankful we are': The fashion designer, 46, later revealed she will be clapping for the NHS on Sunday as the system celebrates its 72nd birthday this week Back home? On Monday evening, the eldest child of the Beckham clan uploaded an image of himself chilling by a fireplace with his feet in the air Reunion? The celebrity offspring also took to Instagram to post a video of one of the family's dogs looking excitable on Sunday Incoming: He was last seen a couple of days ago with his actress partner Nicola, 25, as they arrived at JFK Airport in New York City Low-key: Brooklyn's brother Romeo also took to Instagram to share a low-key snap with fans on Wednesday The celebrity offspring also took to Instagram to post a video of one of the family's dogs looking excitable on Sunday - suggesting he has returned to the family's home in the Cotswolds. He was last seen a couple of days ago with his actress partner Nicola, 25, as they arrived at JFK Airport in New York City. Although able to stay with the model, Brooklyn was consequently kept apart from parents David, 45, and Victoria, as well as his siblings Romeo, 17, Cruz, 15, and Harper, eight. 'I can't wait for the time when I can be reunited with all my family': The family haven't been shy about expressing how much they've missed Brooklyn (Victoria's post on Mother's Day) The famous family haven't been shy about expressing how much they've missed being split up from the eldest child of the clan. Victoria wrote on International Mother's Day: 'As is the case for so many I cannot wait for the time when I can be reunited with all my family. I miss you @brooklynbeckham. Kisses xx.' (sic) They were last all together when Brooklyn celebrated his 21st birthday with a party at their country pile, back in March. She's been keeping busy looking after her horses amid the UK's coronavirus lockdown. But Summer Monteys-Fullam switched things up as she posed for a radiant photoshoot shared to Instagram on Tuesday. The social media influencer, 25, caught the eye in a strapless green dress in ruched material, which accentuated her sensational frame. Working it: Summer Monteys-Fullam switched things up as she posed for a radiant photoshoot shared to Instagram on Tuesday The ex-girlfriend of chef Paul Hollywood added even more glamour to her appearance as she teamed her stunning ensemble with perspex heels. Matte foundation complemented her tanned complexion, while her curly fringed tresses framed her heart-shaped face. Alongside the stunning photo, the model shared a message about positivity as she encouraged her fans: 'What ever is good for your soul, do it.' (sic) 'Whatever is good for your soul, do it': Alongside the stunning photo, the social media influencer, 25, shared a message about positivity Incredible: The ex-girlfriend of Paul Hollywood is no stranger to sharing striking photos on her platform Maintaining her figure: Later into the day, the auburn-haired beauty displayed her toned abs in orange gymwear following a workout Summer has been staying at her family home ever since moving back in following her break-up with Paul last year. During lockdown, the redhead focused on caring for her horses, which helped cure her heartache after her bitter split with Paul, 54. Last month, Summer welcomed two foals; Rainbow and Storm, with the delighted star littering her Instagram with updates on her latest additions to the family. Friends of Paul's revealed his new girlfriend - pub landlady Melissa Spalding, 36 - is self-isolating with him in his 1 million farmhouse, just eight months after splitting from Summer. Friends say she immediately accepted his invitation to relocate from the nearby Chequers pub in the village of Smarden where she lived, amid the COVID-19 lockdown. Paul bought the Grade II-listed house last year for him and Summer to live in. A friend told The Mail on Sunday: 'Paul and Melissa got together soon after his split from Summer and they are really happy together. Actually its looking like this one could very well last for Paul.' Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford reunited over video chat to reminisce about the show that propelled them both to stardom. The Gossip Girl stars got together for Variety's Actors on Actors to discuss their most recent TV roles, their 'white male privilege' and how it feels to watch the hit CW teen drama 13 years after its premiere. Penn, 33, admitted that watching the show in recent years made for 'uncomfortable' viewing, as he explained: 'I know that I watched with my now wife, with Domino [Kirke], before we got married. It must've been six months after we met. Gossip Girl alums Penn Badgley and Chace Carwford reunited over video call for Variety's Actors on Actors to discuss the series that catapulted them to fame when it premiered in 2007 'She had never seen it, and that's the last time I can remember seeing an episode. I remember even then, it has nothing to do with the show, but it was very hard to watch. These snapshots of yourself when you're 20, 21, 22 years old. Who can enjoy that? Sometimes its just uncomfortable.' Chace confessed he would need some persuading to re-watch the show, telling Penn, 'Buddy, you have to strap me to a gurney and pop my eyes open like Clockwork Orange. But no, it would be interesting to see the first couple maybe.' The duo teased the possibility of getting together for a Gossip girl watch party and live-tweeting. Chace, 34, said, 'To go back and open that time capsule, I think there would be some nostalgic value. Were doing that when you come to L.A. Well have a drink.' 'A little watching party. Dude, if we live-tweet a viewing of any episode of Gossip Girl, people would love that.' Penn added. 'It was very hard to watch. These snapshots of yourself when you're 20, 21, 22 years old. Who can enjoy that? Sometimes its just uncomfortable.' Penn, 33, said of re-watching Gossip Girl Fresh-faced: Penn played Dan Humphrey (pictured) in the series from 2002 to its final episode in 2012 and in the finale was revealed to be the mysterious Gossip Girl 'Nostalgic value': Chace teased an in-person reunion, planning a watch party together with drinking and live-tweeting The show wrapped in 2012 and most notably made actress Blake Lively a household name. In recent years, however, Penn has seen his career take off again portraying obsessive stalker Joe Goldberg in psychological thriller You, which became an instant hit when it dropped on Netflix in September 2018. The actor, who is expecting his first child with wife Domino Kirke, admitted that playing such a creepy and controversial character has been conflicting for him. 'I think when so few people were watching it on Lifetime - the network for women, of all networks - I think I was wondering about the moral ambiguity of it. 'Moral conflict': Penn talked about how conflicted he feels about playing stalker Joe Goldberg in psychological thriller You Obsessed: You became an instant hit when it dropped on Netflix in September 2018 Chace plays character The Deep on Amazon's The Boys and said: 'To be honest, we move on from Gossip Girl to playing despicable white male privileged guys.' 'I've been transparent about my moral conflict playing this guy. I felt much better about what we were doing once a lot of people were watching, not because I needed the gratification of a lot of viewers, but more like, it makes sense; people are responding to the way we're coming into this conversation about the tropes of the romantic comedy, and the tropes of the romantic white male lead.' Chace, who plays character The Deep on Amazon's The Boys, drew comparisons between their new characters, noting that they're not so different from the privileged upper-class adolescents they played in Gossip Girl. 'Its interesting to me, because also, man, to be honest, we move on from Gossip Girl to playing despicable white male privileged guys. I had the same qualms you did.' He added, 'Whats interesting about Joe - it is almost like an odd continuation of Dan. At the end of Gossip Girl the show, whatever your reaction is on whether it was smart to do that or not, that he's Gossip Girl - it didnt really line up with the character of Dan.' The guys also discussed how Gossip Girl would likely not be as successful if it was to premiere today. 'Back in 07, Gossip Girl was edgy': The guys also discussed how Gossip Girl would likely not be as successful if it was to premiere today Penn explained, 'Back in 2007 I mean, dude. Thats a long time ago when we were just boys. People wanted to watch a show like Gossip Girl because it was aspirational. It was like an escape. It seemed like it struck a certain cultural chord because it was this aspirational fantastical vision of excess and wealth. 'But now, cut to 13 years later, people are not interested in that. And I think rightfully so. Now theyre interested in deconstructing why were so fascinated with that in the first place. Were interested in deconstructing those systems of privilege. 'Im not saying that our television shows are doing that, but Im saying thats what people are more interested in, so therefore these shows reflect that.' 'The curtain has sort of dropped. Back in 07, Gossip Girl was edgy.' Chace chimed in. 'I know, man. Thats funny because it really was.' She hit the billionaire status earlier in the week after her KKW Beauty brand was valued at $1 billion - following an inked deal with Coty Inc. to sell a 20 percent stake in the company. But the work didn't stop for Kim Kardashian on Tuesday, taking to social media to promote her other very successful business, Skims. The 39-year-old rocked just a tank top and underwear while posing for the sultry shoot in front of a plain wall. The work never stops: Kim Kardashian took to social media to promote her latest Skims drop on Tuesday 'NOW AVAILABLE: our @skims smoothest collection yet soft and smooth Summer basics made to be worn both indoors and out,' she captioned. Kim's nude colored top retails for $42 while the accompanying brief is marked at $26 before taxes and fees. The mom-of-four added some extensions to her very teased brunette tresses for the home shoot. Promotion: Kim has been posing in the collection over the past few days Beauty: She kept her glam simple to her signature contoured cheeks, a smokey eye and a very plump nude lip She kept her glam simple to her signature contoured cheeks, a smokey eye and a very plump nude lip. Kim's post comes after she hit the billionaire status on Tuesday by selling a 20 percent stake of her KKW Beauty brand to Coty Inc. for $200 million. Coty also bought a 51 percent stake in her younger sister Kylie Jenner's company for $600 million last year. Kylie, 22, had been hailed a 'self-made billionaire' by Forbes in 2019 and 2020. However, last month they stripped her of the title, and accused her of inflating business figures and 'forging' tax returns. They suggested she is worth around $950 million. Cashing it in! Kim's post comes after she hit the billionaire status on Tuesday by selling a 20 percent stake of her KKW Beauty brand to Coty Inc. for $200 million (pictured in 2019) Kim's deal is for a 'long-term strategic partnership to launch products in new beauty categories and expand across the globe from top to bottom,' according to TMZ. The publication also reports that Coty acts as a licensee for skin, hair, personal and nail products. They added that Kim and her team have been working out the deal with Coty for months. 'This relationship will allow me to focus on the creative elements that I'm so passionate about while benefiting from the incredible resources of Coty, and launching my products around the world,' she told TMZ on Tuesday. TV personality Adam Savage's sister has accused him of repeatedly raping her for years in the late 1970s. In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the woman, named Miranda Pacchiana, 51, alleges that Savage abused her repeatedly between the ages of 7 and 10 years old. She claims Savage, who was between the ages of 9 and 12 at the time, nicknamed himself the 'raping blob' and masked the abuse as a game. Allegations: Adam Savage has been accused of raping his sister Miranda Pacchiana in the 1970s when they were both children 'Beginning in or about 1976 and continuing until approximately 1979, Adam Savage, would repeatedly rape Miranda Pacchiana and force oral sex upon her, and forced Miranda to perform oral sex on him, along with other forms of sexual abuse,' the lawsuit, filed at Westchester Supreme Court, reads, according to New York Post. Pacchiana claims the abuse took place when the siblings were growing up in Sleepy Hollow, New York. She says in the suit that Savage would prevent her from leaving the bed and anally rape her. The New York Child Victims Act allows victims to file lawsuits against abusers during a specified one-year 'look-back' window, giving victims the opportunity to file cases that have already exceeded the statute of limitations. The original deadline was extended last month to January 14 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pacchiana claims Savage, who was between the ages of 9 and 12 at the time, nicknamed himself the 'raping blob' and masked the abuse as a game The 'look-back window' of one-year permits survivors of any age to bring lawsuits against their attackers regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. Savage is pictured in 1975, one year before Miranda claims the alleged abuse began In addition to the 'look-back window,' survivors of sexual abuse can now file civil lawsuits for sexual abuse until they reach the age of 55. 'The prolific abuse by Mr. Savage as alleged in the Complaint has caused irreparable damage to my client that she will live with for the rest of her life,' Pacchianas lawyer Jordan Merson said in a statement. 'Today is the first step in the direction of healing and justice.' Savage has denied his sister's accusations, saying in a statement through his lawyer Andrew Brettler: 'While I hope that my sister gets the help she needs to find peace, this needs to end. 'For many years, she has relentlessly and falsely attacked me and other members of my family to anyone who will listen,' Savage said. 'By spreading numerous untrue stories about us in pursuit of a financial bonanza, she has tortured our entire family and estranged herself from all of us. I will fight this groundless and offensive lawsuit and work to put this to rest once and for all.' In a statement also released through his lawyer Andrew Brettler, Adam's mother Karen Savage said: 'It makes me very sad to say this, but my daughter suffers from severe mental health challenges, and its devastating that shes putting Adam and our entire family through this. Adam is a good man, and I support him completely.' Pacchiana, a social worker, blogged about being a survivor of abuse and losing her family after coming forward with the accusations. She wrote, 'When I first disclosed to my family that my brother had abused me as a child, I thought my whole world would change, 'For many years, she has relentlessly and falsely attacked me and other members of my family to anyone who will listen,' Savage has denied his sister's accusations 'I assumed my family members would share my desire to examine what had gone wrong in our home and pursue a path toward healing together. I was sadly mistaken.' 'In fact, their behaviors left me feeling as though the abuse didnt really matter,' she continued. 'Yes, they believed me but my family members still seemed determined to brush my trauma under the rug. Over time, I came to realize they viewed me as the problem for focusing on the abuse. Not the brother who had abused me.' Savage, 52, is best known as the former co-host of Discovery Channel series MythBusters which explored the validity of popular myths and legends. He's also a special effects designer, actor and producer. Savage is father to twin sons with wife Julia Ward who he married in 2004. Kym Marsh has stepped out after revealing she's had a lump in her armpit checked out following concern among her fans. The former Coronation Street star, 44, put on a brave face as she stepped out of BBC Studios in London, just a day after revealing her health scare. On Monday Kim revealed she was encouraged to visit the doctor after several fans noticed a lump on her armpit in a social media post, and went onto confirm that all is well. Beaming: Kym Marsh, 44, has stepped out after revealing she's had a lump in her armpit checked out following concern among her fans Kym opted for a simple leather jacket and jeans as she headed out of the BBC Studios after working on her latest project. The actress was in high spirits as she headed into the city for the day, after revealing she'd visited the doctor after fans noticed a mysterious lump in her armpit. Last week Kym posted a snap following her latest workout in a skimpy neon gymwear, with her left arm above her head. Casual: The former Coronation Street star put on a brave face as she stepped out of BBC Studios in London, just a day after revealing her health scare Whilst many were wowed by her impressive abs, several followers were concerned by a noticeable lump in her armpit, commenting: 'Hey ily and I was just wondering is your arm okay there seems to be a lump?; 'You have a lump in your underarm xx'. Kym had captioned the image: '5k run in the park followed by a cheeky kettle bell session! Bring on summer fitness!!!' However, just a few days later, she updated the caption to add: 'Just so you guys know.after the recent photo and people's concerns over the 'lump' in my armpit, I went and had it checked anyway. 'It's all good guys and is just a bit of inflammation to a muscle. Thank you all for your concern xxx'. Worrying: Last week Kym shared a snap of her incredible physique during a workout, with many fans noticing a lump on her left armpit The former Hear'Say star who is mum to Emilie, 23, David, 24, with ex Dave Cunliffe and daughter Polly, nine, with former husband Jamie Lomas, went on to detail the ordeal in her OK! column. She explained: 'I noticed the lump for a while and assumed it was nothing, but it had been playing on my mind and I knew I had to get it sorted.' Revealing that her doctor was kitted out in full PPE due the coronavirus pandemic, she continued: 'I was lucky to get a doctor's appointment straight away and went to a clinic for an ultrasound. 'I am so grateful to everyone who reached out and urged me to get it looked at. It could have been something more serious, so thank goodness people online are looking out for each other.' Close up: The star later revealed she had the lump checked out following fans' concern, and reassured them it was just muscle Lumps under the armpit should always be checked out as they could be a symptom of breast cancer, as well as blocked hair follicles, swollen breast tissue or swollen lymph glands. The usual first symptom of breast cancer is a painless lump in the breast, although most lumps are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign. The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit. Concerning: Whilst many fans were wowed by Kym's impressive abs, several followers were concerned by the noticeable lump in her armpit Lumps can appear anywhere on your body, and whilst most lumps are harmless the NHS state it is important to see your GP if you're worried or the lump is still there after two weeks. Kym has been putting on a brave face as she's returned to work following the death of her uncle George. She said George, the husband of her mother's sister, caught coronavirus in hospital and his family was unable to visit him during his final days. Muscular: After leaving her fans concerned, Kym updated her caption to inform them the lump was just muscle as she thanked them for their help The musician paid tribute to her 'amazing' uncle in her OK! magazine column, hailing him as the 'life and soul of any party'. She said: 'You hear about people losing their loved ones during this time and people passing away alone in hospitals and only a few people attending their funerals. But when it happens to you and your family, it really brings this whole thing home. 'It breaks my heart to think of him being alone in that hospital.' 'My uncle George was an amazing man and I have so many happy memories of him. He was a great guy and the life and soul of any party. Sleep tight uncle George.' Kym said George had been in a care home before he fell ill and was taken to hospital, meaning his children hadn't been able to see him for 'so long' before he passed away. Family members sent him video messages which were played to George by nurses before he died, which she hopes provided him with 'some comfort' in his final days. Ex-Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky and her daughter Molly Sullivan donned mommy and me swimsuits during their family's weekend getaway to San Diego. The 35-year-old reality star and her mini-me - turning four next week - twinned out in pink and white-striped one-pieces as they played on Mission Beach on Sunday. Little Molly already has 36K people following her on the Instagram account her parents set up for her in 2016. 'My little beach babe!' Ex-Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky and her daughter Molly Sullivan donned mommy and me swimsuits during their family's weekend getaway to San Diego Ali's vacation was technically in honor of her husband Kevin Manno's 37th birthday, which happened Monday. The Valentine In The Morning co-host - who paddle-boarded with his privileged princess - said the trip was the 'perfect weekend.' Fedotowsky came down with skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma) in January, but she was rarely seen covering up. With the summer weather looking mostly overcast at 68F degrees, it's no wonder Molly and her two-year-old brother Riley Doran only ever went ankle deep in the Pacific Ocean. '#MommyandMe': The 35-year-old reality star and her mini-me - turning four next week - twinned out in pink and white-striped one-pieces as they played on Mission Beach on Sunday 'My kind of graceful little mermaid': Little Molly already has 36K people following her on the Instagram account her parents set up for her in 2016 'You just get better and better!' Ali's vacation was technically in honor of her husband Kevin Manno's 37th birthday, which happened Monday Flexing: The Valentine In The Morning co-host - who paddle-boarded with his privileged princess - said the trip was the 'perfect weekend' At no point did anyone wear masks or face-coverings, which California Governor Gavin Newsom made mandatory for all public outings on June 18. As of Tuesday, there have reportedly been 224K confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state leading to 5,979 deaths. The Massachusetts-born presenter went on and on about the so-called 'beautiful weather' even considering the possibility of moving to San Diego. 'We could live here. We live in LA. It's Southern California. We could go look at neighborhoods over the next few months. Maybe we could live here,' Ali - who boasts 1.4M social media followers - said via Instastory. Weeee! Fedotowsky came down with skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma) in January, but she was rarely seen covering up Cold feet: With the summer weather looking mostly overcast at 68F degrees, it's no wonder Molly and her two-year-old brother Riley Doran only ever went ankle deep in the Pacific Ocean 'The sun's not out, but the buns still are': At no point did anyone wear masks or face-coverings, which California Governor Gavin Newsom made mandatory for all public outings on June 18 'I think the whole reason that we didn't want to before is because we wanted to be closer to family. But we're realizing my mother [Beth Johnson] is about to retire and his parents [Garry and Joanne] are retired. They could come stay with us a few months out of the year every year hopefully.' The funniest moment captured from the holiday came from little Riley, who told his father via Instastory on Tuesday: 'Don't take pictures please.' The married couple of three years - who began their romance in 2013 - are said to employ a part-time nanny to care for their two children 20 hours per week. 'We could live here!' The Massachusetts-born presenter went on and on about the so-called 'beautiful weather' even considering the possibility of moving to San Diego The funniest moment captured from the holiday came from little Riley, who told his father via Instastory on Tuesday: 'Don't take pictures please' Career-wise, Manno has been one of five hosts of Valentine In The Morning on LA-based iHeartMedia radio station, 1043 MYfm, since 2015. And aside from being a full-blown influencer, Fedotowsky has worked for Hallmark Channel morning talk show Home & Family since 2016. The Clark University grad first found fame in 2010 by quitting the 14th season of The Bachelor then becoming the sixth Bachelorette before dumping fiance Roberto Martinez in 2011. Career: Manno has been one of five hosts of Valentine In The Morning on LA-based iHeartMedia radio station, 1043 MYfm, since 2015 (pictured May 22) Kylie Jenner's cosmetics company King Kylie has been sued by Seed Beauty over fears their trade secrets will be shared with Coty, the beauty conglomerate which owns a 51% stake in the reality star's makeup line. King Kylie, Kylie's old parent company that has been working with Seed since 2016, allegedly refused to sufficiently assure Seed their trade secrets would be protected from Coty in the lead up to the acquisition, according to documents obtained by TMZ. Seed believes their knowledge helped Kylie, 22, reach billionaire status, after years of providing their recipe for makeup success to her company. Now, concerned their information will be shared with Coty, their competition, and potentially be used to enhance their business, Seed is asking a judge to block Kylie and the beauty conglomerate from using their trade secrets. Sued: Kylie Jenner's cosmetics company King Kylie has been sued by Seed Beauty over fears their trade secrets will be shared with Coty, the beauty conglomerate which owns a 51% stake in the reality star's makeup line Beauty empire: Kylie has achieved massive success after launching a lip kit range at age 18 However, a beauty business source tells TMZ there is no actual 'secret' behind their success, and instead credits their thriving business to the Kardashian/Jenner brand name, along with the family's huge following on social media. The lawsuit is strikingly similar to the one Kim Kardashian's beauty line, KKW Beauty, was slapped with just a few days earlier by Seed, who also feared her range would jeopardize their trade secrets with Coty, which inked a deal to purchase a 20% stake in Kim's company days after their filing. Kylie made headlines in 2019 after Coty purchased a 51% stake of her beauty company, Kylie Cosmetics, for $600 million. Kylie achieved massive success after launching her lip kits at age 18 in 2015. Key to success: Seed believes their knowledge helped Kylie reach billionaire status, after years of providing their recipe for makeup success to the star's range Going big: The lip kits were frequently sold-out just minutes after their release online, and eventually resulted in Kylie expanding her range to include an assortment of other makeup products, including eye shadow, blush, and pressed powder The lip kits were frequently sold-out just minutes after their release online, and eventually resulted in Kylie expanding her range to include an assortment of other makeup products, including eye shadow, blush, and pressed powder. This all led to Kylie being named a 'self-made billionaire' by Forbes in 2019 and 2020, but last month they stripped her of the title, accusing her of inflated business figures and 'forging' tax returns and suggesting she is worth around $950million. Kylie slammed Forbes after the publication released a bombshell report accusing her of inflating figures and 'forging' tax returns for the makeup mogul's cosmetics company. Similar: The lawsuit is strikingly similar to the one Kim Kardashian's beauty line, KKW Beauty, was slapped with just a few days earlier by Seed, who also feared her range would jeopardize their trade secrets with Coty, which recently bought a 20% stake in Kim's company It appeared the reality star was taken by surprise at the article, which claims Kylie Cosmetics is not doing as well as the Jenners want people to think - and that the Lip Kit creator is not actually a billionaire. Forbes named Kylie the world's youngest self-made billionaire in 2019 and again in 2020, and of her surprise over their latest article she wrote on Twitter: 'What am i even waking up to. i thought this was a reputable site. 'All i see are a number of inaccurate statements and unproven assumptions lol. ive never asked for any title or tried to lie my way there EVER. period' Controversy: This all led to Kylie being named a 'self-made billionaire' by Forbes in 2019 and 2020, but last month they stripped her of the title, accusing her of inflated business figures and 'forging' tax returns and suggesting she is worth around $950million She followed up with a quote from the Forbes report that accused the Jenners and their accountant of producing false tax returns. 'Even creating tax returns that were likely forged thats your proof? so you just THOUGHT they were forged? like actually what am i reading.' Kylie tweeted incredulously. She followed up with another post focusing on the positive, 'but okay i am blessed beyond my years, i have a beautiful daughter, and a successful business and im doing perfectly fine.' The publication accused Kylie of 'lying about company figures and forging tax returns' to be dubbed a billionaire. EastEnders stars including Danny Dyer and Luisa Bradshaw-White were spotted getting their temperatures checked in their cars as they continued their return to filming on Tuesday. Danny, 42, who plays Mick Carter, was the first to arrive at the set of Albert Square in his black car and was closely followed by Luisa, 45, who plays Tina Carter. Danny looked focused as he drove into the set and had his temperature checked in accordance with social distancing rules amid the coronavirus pandemic. Getting back to work: EastEnders cast members including Danny Dyer (above) and Luisa Bradshaw-White were spotted getting their temperatures checked in their cars as they continued their return to filming on Tuesday Keeping safe: Actors had to have their temperatures checked before they were allowed to resume filming the soap James Bye, 36, who plays Martin Fowler, was also spotted arriving at the TV studio as the BBC soap films new episodes following a three month hiatus. The trio of actors had their temperature checked by security guards before they were allowed to enter the site of the recording set. Jessie Wallace also made an appearance at the EastEnders set as she returned to filming, six months after being suspended for reportedly boozing on-set. The 48-year-old show veteran, who plays iconic character Kat Slater, cut a low-key figure as she arrived on-set shortly after she teased her return following her suspension for boozing in January. Filming of the beloved TV soap opera resumed on Monday and it is unclear when new episodes will air. On Monday, show stalwarts including Danny, Adam Woodyatt and Jake Wood were snapped adhering to social distancing guidelines while filming their scenes. Back to normal: Tina Carter actress Luisa looked focused as she drove into the soap's set Those on set now have to follow new social distancing guidelines in accordance with government regulation so that they are able to return safely amid the crisis. Fans are anticipating the show returning several weeks down the line, as the programme aired its final episode earlier this month after running out of episodes due to the COVID-19 crisis. The hit BBC One soap is keeping loyal viewers in suspense as they ended the show with a dramatic Sharon Mitchell cliffhanger. Production on EastEnders came to a halt in March, when the UK went into lockdown and most people were instructed to stay home, and work from home if possible. The programme is set to return to the BBC with 20-minute episodes, four days a week. Safety first: The trio of actors had their temperature checked by security guards before they were allowed to enter the site of the recording set According to Jake Wood, who plays Max Branning, 47, CGI is being used in almost every shot for new episodes. The star spoke to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Tuesday's Good Morning Britain after his first day back on set on Monday. He said: 'It's going to take a bit of getting used to. We're all socially distant so everyone is two metres apart. It's quite extraordinary the way were shooting it, the way we're filming it.' 'They've been there for weeks working out the way to do it. We've seen some of the stuff they've shot, it's very very clever. You're not going to notice a difference as a viewer. 'Almost every shot has got CGI in it.' Exciting times: Filming of the beloved TV soap opera resumed on Monday and it is unclear when new episodes will air Until now, only two pre-filmed EastEnders episodes have aired a week to make them last as long as possible. EastEnders executive producer Jon Sen said: 'Resuming production is incredibly exciting and challenging in equal measure. 'Since we postponed filming we've been working non-stop trialling techniques, filming methods and new ways of working so that we can return to screens four times a week - as EastEnders should be. 'Filming will inevitably be a more complex process now so creating 20-minute episodes will enable us to ensure that when we return, EastEnders will still be the show the audience know and love.' Long time coming:James Bye, 36, who plays Martin Fowler, was also seen arriving on set She's back: Kat Slater actress Jessie Wallace was also seen arriving at the EastEnders set on Tuesday as she returned to filming, six months after being suspended for reportedly boozing on-set Until the new episodes air, the show is plugging the gap with classic EastEnders episodes and a spin-off show that will feature presenter Stacey Dooley. Stacey, 33, is now hosting a new show called EastEnders: Secrets From The Square on Monday nights. She is presenting the show from the soap's famous restaurant Walford East and will be joined by two members from the cast. They're back! On Monday the EastEnders cast and crew returned for their first day of filming since shooting the soap was put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic (above with Luisa) Social distancing: Elsewhere, Adam [Ian Beale] dressed to impress in a suit and tie as he filmed scenes outside Kathy's cafe with Milly Zero [Dotty Cotton] Safety first! Members of the crew held out microphones on extended poles in order to pick up the sound from the actors, while remaining at a safe distance The cast members, who will include Letitia Dean (Sharon Watts), Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale), Danny Dyer (Mick Carter), Diane Parish (Denise Fox), Tameka Empson (Kim Fox) and Kellie Bright (Linda Carter), will reflect on their time on the show and tease what's to come when the show returns. There will also be an occasional sneak peek behind the scenes in the show, which launched on June 22. Coronation Street and Emmerdale have resumed filming. On set secrets: Jake Wood has revealed that CGI is being used in almost every shot for new episodes of EastEnders She rose to fame as a Victoria's Secret Angel. And Candice Swanepoel showed off her supermodel credentials as she posed up a storm in a meadow for Instagram. In a sizzling new album she posted this Tuesday the 31-year-old could be seen sunning herself in a green gingham bikini from her own line Tropic Of C. Angelic: Candice Swanepoel showed off her supermodel credentials as she posed up a storm in a meadow for Instagram For her latest look Candice had selected the $60 coco top in green check, in combination with the matching $80 curve bottom. The South African bombshell let her blonde hair flutter free in the breeze as she shot her best smoldering stare at the camera. She stared pensively off into the distance and held a small white flower in her hands in one picture, styled by Inge Fonteyne. Sleek and chic: In a sizzling new album she posted this Tuesday the 31-year-old could be seen sunning herself in a green gingham bikini from her own line Tropic Of C Inge has styled a slew of celebs for photo-shoots including Heidi Klum, Tina Fey, Claire Danes, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Nicole Kidman. 'Aesthete: someone with deep sensitivity for the beauty of art or nature,' wrote Candice in her Instagram caption. The leggy Afrikaner started her swimwear line Tropic Of C back in 2018 and has been busily plugging it on social media ever since. Entrepreneur: The leggy Afrikaner started her swimwear line Tropic Of C back in 2018 and has been busily plugging it on social media ever since Candice and Brazilian model Hermann Nicoli share two sons - Anacan, three, and Ariel, two - but she said she was single on an Instagram Q&A last year. The couple were reportedly together for 12 years before their purported split last year, and she picked up Portuguese during their relationship. She told British Vogue in 2017 that in the wake of new motherhood 'I cant watch movies, or even commercials, where kids are in any kind of danger now.' Curb Your Enthusiasm creator and star Larry David had a hilarious response to HBO renewing his Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series for an 11th season on Tuesday. 'Believe me, I'm as upset about this as you are,' the two-time Emmy winner - turning 73 this Thursday - joked in a statement. 'One day I can only hope that HBO will come to their senses and grant me the cancellation I so richly deserve.' Yay! Curb Your Enthusiasm creator and star Larry David (R) had a hilarious response to HBO renewing his Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series for an 11th season on Tuesday The two-time Emmy winner - turning 73 this Thursday - joked in a statement: 'Believe me, I'm as upset about this as you are. One day I can only hope that HBO will come to their senses and grant me the cancellation I so richly deserve' Jeff Garlin - who co-executive produces and stars as Larry's manager - was the first one to tease the renewal on Monday with a post captioned: 'This will happen again.' 'This past season tapped into the zeitgeist in such an uncomfortably delightful way,' HBO's executive vice president Amy Gravitt said in the press release. 'Larry is already brainstorming ideas, and we can't wait to see what he has in store.' David portrays a thinly-veiled version of himself in the (mostly) improvised show, so fans can imagine how he'd respond to the COVID-19 crisis and nationwide racial unrest. 'This will happen again': Jeff Garlin - who co-executive produces and stars as Larry's manager - was the first one to tease the renewal on Monday with a post of the pair 'Larry is already brainstorming ideas': David portrays a thinly-veiled version of himself in the (mostly) improvised show, so fans can imagine how he'd respond to the COVID-19 crisis and nationwide racial unrest Excited? Expect the godfather of cringe comedy's real-life friends Susie Essman, Richard Lewis, JB Smoove (M), Cheryl Hines, and Ted Danson to return for more hijinks His nemesis Mocha Joe (L): In season 10, Larry dealt with his own #MeToo scandal, had affairs with Cheryl and her sister Becky (Kaitlin Olson), and opened a 'spite store' called Latte Larry's Expect the godfather of cringe comedy's real-life friends Susie Essman, Richard Lewis, JB Smoove, Cheryl Hines, and Ted Danson to return for more hijinks. In season 10, Larry dealt with his own #MeToo scandal, had affairs with Cheryl and her sister Becky (Kaitlin Olson), and opened a 'spite store' called Latte Larry's. David last made headlines on March 31 with a gubernatorial public plea for Californians to wear masks and stay at home to avoid spreading the coronavirus. 'You're hurting old people like me!' David last made headlines on March 31 with a gubernatorial public plea for Californians to wear masks and stay at home to avoid spreading the coronavirus 'Starting in 2021!' In September, the Seinfeld co-creator's alleged $900M fortune grew exponentially thanks to Netflix's $500M purchase to stream all 180 episodes of his NBC sitcom 'I basically want to address the idiots out there - and you know who you are. I don't know what you're doing,' David said. 'You're going out, you're socializing too close - it's not good. You're hurting old people like me.' In September, the Seinfeld co-creator's alleged $900M fortune grew exponentially thanks to Netflix's $500M purchase to stream all 180 episodes of his NBC sitcom this year. You can watch Seinfeld in Australia on Stan. Maroon 5 bassist Mickey Madden has been arrested on allegations of domestic violence. The musician was booked on Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles under penal code 273.5(a) which is described as 'willfully inflicting a traumatic injury on a spouse or cohabitant' LAPD confirmed to Page Six. Madden, 41, isn't married and the identity of the alleged victim has not been given. Maroon 5 bassist Mickey Madden was arrested on Saturday for alleged domestic violence Madden was released from custody after posting $50,000 bail, the website reports. If convicted he faces up to six years in prison and a $6,000 fine. A spokesperson for Maroon 5 said: 'We are deeply devastated by this disappointing news. As we learn more, we are looking at this very seriously. 'For now, we are allowing all of the individuals involved the space to work things through.' It's not the first time Madden has had a scrape with the law. He was arrested on cocaine charges in 2016. The LAPD confirmed Madden was arrested under penal code 273.5(a) which is described as 'willfully inflicting a traumatic injury on a spouse or cohabitant' Madden was with James 'Bingo' Gubelmann, the former boyfriend of Ivanka Trump, outside a bar in New York when police claim they saw Madden hand him a vial of drugs. At the time, Madden's lawyer told the New York Daily News that it was Gubelmann who had the cocaine all along, and that his client never even touched the vial. 'He was purely innocent. He didn't possess any narcotics. The individual he was with did but he didn't.' A spokesperson for the band said: 'We are deeply devastated by this disappointing news. As we learn more, we are looking at this very seriously.' It's not the first time Madden has had a scrape with the law. He was arrested on cocaine charges in 2016. He served one day of community service He then added; 'He's a good guy. He's not somebody who has ever had any interaction with the law before.' Madden agreed to do one day of community service after appearing in Manhattan Criminal Court and his record was expunged six months later. Gubelmann meanwhile agreed to enter a treatment readiness program. Madden has been playing with Adam Levine and Maroon 5 since their early days. He also played with the band in the 1990s, before they found fame and were known as Kara's Flowers. She famously appeared on the 2017 series of Love Island, but lasted only a matter of days before her exit. And Shannen Reilly McGrath was courting attention once more as she stepped out for a shopping spree in Manchester on Tuesday. The reality starlet, 26, displayed her toned frame and taut midriff in a pastel yellow crop-top and leggings as she strutted down the street. Love Island alum: Shannen Reilly McGrath was courting attention once more as she stepped out for a shopping spree in Manchester on Tuesday The star emphasised her ample cleavage in the plunging top, which also teased a glimpse of her waist tattoos. Drawing the eye to her toned legs, she slipped on matching leggings which hugged her derriere. Opting for comfort, she completed the look with Louis Vuitton trainers. Her blonde tresses were styled sleek and straight while a rich palette of make-up enhanced her pretty features. Toned: The reality starlet, 26, displayed her toned frame and taut midriff in a pastel yellow crop-top and leggings as she strutted down the street Shannen's Love Island stint took place in Casa Amor - the smaller villa the male contestants stayed in for a few days while the female contestants remained in the main house. Although she didn't manage to find love on the show, she did share a brief kiss with Gabby Allen's then-boyfriend, Marcel Somerville, when they locked lips as part of a challenge. Shannen's outing comes after ITV axed the winter series of Love Island, with the show returning to screens in summer 2021. The summer 2020 series was cancelled last month due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and last week bosses at the channel announced that the next series of the ITV2 dating show won't be for another year. Beauty: Her blonde tresses were styled sleek and straight while a rich palette of make-up enhanced her pretty features 'Love Island UK will return bigger and better than ever with an extended run in summer 2021,' ITV announced in a statement to MailOnline. The axing of both the summer 2020 series and a winter series in early 2021 is in large part down to the coronavirus pandemic, with restrictions on travel and filming causing huge issues for the show. Pre-production on the winter 2021 series was schedulled to take place in the coming weeks, but with so many quarantine and social distancing measures still in place, it's thought it wouldn't be possible to fly cast and crew to location and work safely. It will be back...eventually! ITV have axed the Winter series of Love Island, with the show returning to screens in Summer 2021 Instead producers are keen to focus on one bumper season of the show next summer, which will likely return to Mallorca, after the winter 2020 series took place in South Africa. The first ever winter series of the show gave ITV2 its best ever January and February ratings with an average 3.1m viewers. It was announced last month that there will be no Love Island this summer, but the channel is instead repeating the first series (2018) of Love Island Australia from Monday 15 June at 9pm. ITV bosses pulled the plug on the summer series after casting had already begun, revealing it was a logistical impossibility to safeguard 'the wellbeing of everyone involved'. Camila Mendes recently celebrated another year around the sun, as she rang in her 26th birthday. And the Brazilian-American actress is stepping into another year with some more stunning looks. She looked groovy Tuesday in a '70s chic sheer button-down floral blouse with long billowy sleeves as she made a coffee run with boyfriend Grayson Vaughan in Los Angeles. Groovy chic: Camila Mendes looked groovy Tuesday in a '70s chic sheer button-down floral blouse with long billowy sleeves as she made a coffee run with boyfriend Grayson Vaughan in Los Angeles The 26-year-old paired the top with some high-waisted flared cut-off jeans and some chunky black leather strappy kitten heels. She finished the ensemble with a blue floral face mask, a silver nameplate necklace and a black leather handbag over her shoulder. Camila later took to her Instagram with a glimpse at her birthday festivities, which she celebrated Monday. She dazzled in a color-blocked blue, black and red off-the-shoulder dress, printed with bananas. Blue jean baby: The 26-year-old paired the top with some high-waisted flared cut-off jeans and some chunky black leather strappy kitten heels Accessorizing: She finished the ensemble with a blue floral face mask, a silver nameplate necklace and a black leather handbag over her shoulder Birthday girl: Camila later took to her Instagram with a glimpse at her birthday festivities, which she celebrated Monday Home sweet home: It came just days after she dropped $1.9million on a three bedroom, four bathroom house in the Silver Lake neighborhood The Riverdale actress wrote: 'Twenty-sixenera was a huge success. thanks for all the birthday wishes!!' It came just days after she dropped $1.9million on a three bedroom, four bathroom house in the Silver Lake neighborhood. Meanwhile, her Riverdale co-stars KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse were named in sexual assault accusations on Twitter, which were reportedly fabricated. Mendes came out in their support on Instagram, writing: 'Its incredibly destructive to falsely accuse people of sexual assault. Whatever point this person was trying to make about how quickly people believe what they read, it was not worth damaging the integrity of the me too movement. 'Its sickening and doesnt prove anything except that there are twisted people in this world who have no concern for the consequences of their harmful actions.' Scandalous claims: Meanwhile, her Riverdale co-stars KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse were named in sexual assault accusations on Twitter, which were reportedly fabricated On Tuesday, Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kendall Jenner pulled double duty photographing and modeling in Burberry's summer campaign. The 24-year-old Society Management Model has photographed fashion spreads as far back 2016 when she shot then-14-year-old Kaia Gerber for LOVE magazine. Kendall sat in front of a white wall as she modeled a black dress as well as a 'TB Summer Monogram'-print turtleneck and hoodie while the sunlight dappled her body. 'Summer is here!' On Tuesday, Keeping Up with the Kardashians star Kendall Jenner pulled double duty photographing and modeling in Burberry's summer campaign Behind the camera: The 24-year-old Society Management Model has photographed fashion spreads as far back 2016 when she shot then-14-year-old Kaia Gerber for LOVE magazine The summer collection launches this Wednesday for the British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry. Jenner has been a muse for Burberry Chief Creative Officer Riccardo Tisci ever since she walked in his SS/20 London Fashion Week presentation on February 17. Back in 2016, Tisci was pivotal in legitimizing her half-sister Kim Kardashian's acceptance into the world of high fashion, and it was Kanye West who introduced the pair. The Calabasas socialite 'worked so hard' on her collaboration with younger sister Kylie's cosmetics line, which sold out soon after launching last Friday. Three looks: Kendall sat in front of a white wall as she modeled a black dress as well as a 'TB Summer Monogram'-print turtleneck and hoodie while the sunlight dappled her body Excited? The summer collection launches this Wednesday for the British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry 'My girls': Jenner has been a muse for Burberry Chief Creative Officer Riccardo Tisci (3-L) ever since she walked in his SS/20 London Fashion Week presentation on February 17 'Happy to be back home': Back in 2016, Tisci was pivotal in legitimizing her half-sister Kim Kardashian's (L) acceptance into the world of high fashion, and it was Kanye West who introduced the pair (pictured November 6) That same day, Kendall announced that they are 'donating a portion of the sales' to black trans people organization, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. 'It's an amazing organization that protects and defends the human rights of black transgender people,' Jenner - who boasts 183.4M social media followers - wrote. '@mpjinstitute was created in response to the murders of black trans women and women of color, to elevate, support, and nourish the voices of black trans people. 'My favorite make-up ever!' The Calabasas socialite 'worked so hard' on her collaboration with younger sister Kylie's cosmetics line, which sold out soon after launching last Friday 'It's an amazing organization!' That same day, Kendall announced that they are 'donating a portion of the sales' to black trans people organization, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute 'Wow! So proud of you two!' It's fitting as the Jenner Sisters' father Caitlyn announced her own gender affirmation in 2015 - two years after she ended her 22-year marriage to their momager Kris (pictured Thursday) 'We are so proud to be supporting their mission, and thank the team for their work! Find out more at MarshaP.org.' It's fitting as the Jenner Sisters' father Caitlyn announced her own gender affirmation in 2015 - two years after she ended her 22-year marriage to their momager Kris. Catch more of the former Fyre Festival spokesmodel in the 18th season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which returns in September on E! Ice-T revealed on Tuesday that his father-in-law is in hospital suffering from COVID-19. The musician shared a photo of wife Coco Austin's dad wearing an oxygen mask while hospitalized in Arizona. 'Cocos father checked into the Hospital yesterday. Covid in AZ' Ice-T - born Tracy Lauren Marrow - tweeted. Worrying: Ice-T revealed on Tuesday that wife Coco Austin's father is in hospital with coronavirus Prior to posting about Coco's dad, the actor was outspoken about the need to wear a face mask out in public. 'At this point, wearing a Mask in public is more of an IQ test..' tweeted on Sunday. The CDC advises everyone wear a mask while out in public. 'Cloth face coverings are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the cloth face covering coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice.' This week Arizona became the latest coronavirus hot spot to reverse its reopening by closing bars and gyms. Arizona health officials reported 4,682 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday - the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the eighth time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Ice-T shared a photo of Coco's dad in hospital in Arizona wearing an oxygen mask Low IQ: The 62-year-old rapper hit out at people refusing to wear a mask Tough talk: As coronavirus rates in the US soar once again, the rapper has been outspoken about the risks involved Deaths in the state increased by 62 percent after recording 249 new fatalities in a week, bringing the death toll to 1,588. Health officials have warned, however, that the death rate could potentially shoot back up again because fatality rates often lag behind infection rates. Officials say people under 35 years old have been going to bars, parties and social events without masks, becoming infected and then spreading the disease to older, more vulnerable people. In the past week, Florida, Louisiana, Idaho and Washington state have seen new infections more than double. Arizona, Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee were the states that saw the largest increases in deaths in the past week. Family: Ice, 62, and Coco, 41, married in 2005 and have one daughter, Chanel, four together Chris Pine went viral after photos surfaced of the actor wearing a mask and emerging from an independent bookstore with a huge bag of books. The 39-year-old actor was spotted coming out of Skylight Books in Los Angeles earlier this month, but he started to go viral on Monday after fans started tweeting the photos. Many have used these photos of the Star Trek actor, not only wearing a mask, but supporting an indie bookstore, as proof that he is the 'best Chris' in Hollywood, over other beloved stars like Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth. Going viral: Chris Pine went viral after photos surfaced of the actor wearing a mask and emerging from an independent bookstore with a huge bag of books. TV writer Dana Schwartz seemingly started the viral trend on Monday, posting two photos of the actor, clad in a white shirt, blue jean jacket, blue shorts and white shoes. She added, 'Chris Pine really pulled ahead and became the best Chris, it happened so slowly I didn't even notice it was happening. The tweet received over 13K likes and 1K retweets, with several other fans chiming in with their thoughts. Viral start: TV writer Dana Schwartz seemingly started the viral trend on Monday, posting two photos of the actor, clad in a white shirt, blue jean jacket, blue shorts and white shoes Author Margaret Owen tweeted out the photos and added, 'Chris Pine HAS TAKEN THE LEAD' in the supposed race for the 'best Chris in Hollywood.' Another author, Elizabeth Eulberg, joked that she thought his role as Steve Trevor in 2017's Wonder Woman was 'peak Chris Pine,' before adding that Pine leaving, 'an independent bookstore, carrying a huge bag of books WHILE ALSO wearing a mask,' lead her to add, 'I stand corrected, sir.' Wellesley Books' Rachel Conrad added, 'I dont know who needs to see it but here are some pictures of Chris Pine walking out of an indie bookstore with a GIANT bag of books while also wearing a mask.' Taken the lead: Author Margaret Owen tweeted out the photos and added, 'Chris Pine HAS TAKEN THE LEAD' in the supposed race for the 'best Chris in Hollywood' Corrected: Another author, Elizabeth Eulberg, joked that she thought his role as Steve Trevor in 2017's Wonder Woman was 'peak Chris Pine,' before adding that Pine leaving, 'an independent bookstore, carrying a huge bag of books WHILE ALSO wearing a mask,' lead her to add, 'I stand corrected, sir' Rachel says: Wellesley Books' Rachel Conrad added, 'I dont know who needs to see it but here are some pictures of Chris Pine walking out of an indie bookstore with a GIANT bag of books while also wearing a mask.' The store Pine was seen leaving, Skylight Books, also responded to the photos, stating, 'Proud bookseller to Hollywood's finest Chris.' Iconic book publishing house Random House also showed their support, adding, 'Officially announcing our favorite Chris.' Powell's Books, a massive independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, added, 'Drop your TBR (to-be read) list, Chris.' Proud: The store Pine was seen leaving, Skylight Books, also responded to the photos, stating, 'Proud bookseller to Hollywood's finest Chris' Random tweet: Iconic book publishing house Random House also showed their support, adding, 'Officially announcing our favorite Chris TBR: Powell's Books, a massive independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, added, 'Drop your TBR (to-be read) list, Chris' Other fans like Amee Vanderpool added, 'Chris Pine gets it... on every level,' while comedian/author Lane Moore pondered, 'what if... Chris Pine was the Best Chris... this WHOLE TIME.' Twitter user @LadyLecondoliak added, 'You can look this effortlessly sexy if you're Chris Pine' with the hashtag #SurpriseMaskBenefits. Level: Other fans like Amee Vanderpool added, 'Chris Pine gets it... on every level' Best Chris: omedian/author Lane Moore pondered, 'what if... Chris Pine was the Best Chris... this WHOLE TIME' It has well-located but at a reporting default, on the side of the health offices at the weekend and has been no sign of a clear downturn in the Corona infections. Had been reported in the disease control in Germany, leading Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI) on Monday, only a single new Covid-19-case from Hesse, so a further 33 since midnight to book. This corresponds approximately to the level of the last week. Or in other words: The number of new infections between the border of lower Saxony and the southern part of the Odenwald stabilized by the significantly increase in one and a half weeks. Thorsten Winter business editor and Internet coordinator of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung. F. A. Z. Twitter in Addition, the RKI reports of two further deaths, a manageable number. All in all, there are officially in the state of Hesse 508 Corona to mourn the victims since the beginning of the records to the pandemic. On the other hand, 9900 patients apply well, in the meantime, as recovered. On a case of death, computer is more than 19 Convalescent. most of The dead in Frankfurt and the Odenwald As the current Corona-Bulletin of the Hessian Ministry of social Affairs gives, the two new victims from the Odenwald. There are 63 men and women are the result of a Covid-19 infection died. At the beginning of the pandemic, it is given to virus outbreaks in homes for the elderly in this circle. Apart from the Odenwald mountains, only Frankfurt has to complain more and more Corona-the deaths, namely 65. It is the population-rich Main-Kinzig-Kreis with 48 in front of the district of Offenbach, with 40. On the other hand, the southern circuit is one of only three counties without a new infection within a week period. At the other end of the table, seven counties with five Corona-find themselves Victims or less. For the districts of hochtaunuskreis, Rheingau-Taunus, the Vogelsberg, and the Waldeck-Frankenberg five deaths each to beech, for the district of Gieen and Marburg-Biedenkopf, respectively, four and three on the mountain road. The bird mountain comes to the least number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic. There are officially 121. The current Corona Bulletin of the Ministry of social Affairs can be found here. Updated Date: 30 June 2020, 11:20 When it comes to their children, parents usually only the Best. This good-will is mixed but with a problematic cultural or religious practices, this can have sustained psychological and physical consequences for the child. Just girls and young women suffer today in many developing countries are still subject to discrimination, child marriage and female genital mutilation. The world, the United Nations population Fund (UNFPA) notes in his on Tuesday published the world's population report that despite the positive developments the progress made so far suffice to genital mutilation is abolished in the case of girls up to 2030. Under the title "Against my will practices end, the women and girls, harm and gender equality to prevent" deals, this year's report with the issues of female genital mutilation, early marriage and sex selection against girls. "Harmful practices are the expression of it, that girls and women can decide freely about their bodies and their lives. It is essential that, in particular, in the countries concerned frankly about the impact of these practices is spoken and education takes place, says Jan Kreutzberg, managing Director of the German Foundation for world population. Until today, 200 million women and girls have already become the world's victims of female genital mutilation, according to estimates alone are in jeopardy this year of 4.1 million girls. As a human rights violation of the applicable practice is especially prevalent in Africa. According to the report, between 2004 and 2018, about 97 percent of the fifteen had to - to nineteen-year-old Somali female, the violent intervention of suffering, followed by Guinea with 92 and Mali to 86 percent. Except in the case of African countries the procedure is widely used also in Yemen and Iraq, as well as other Asian countries. People from countries from Hiking, in which this practice is common, take the practice often. So 513000 girls and women in the United States, actually or potentially, a victim of female genital mutilation were, according to the 2012 report. Every day, approximately 33,000 minors married Although child marriages are banned from almost everywhere in the world are married every day, about 33,000 minors. This is especially prevalent in poor and underdeveloped countries, in uneducated groups of the population and in times of crisis. According to the report, until this year, 650 million girls and women have been married in child age. Alone in 2019, 20 percent of 20-to 24-year-old women in the world already before the age of 18. Years of age to be married. In Niger, the country with the highest rates of child marriage, it was 76 percent. Updated Date: 30 June 2020, 10:19 Sarah Burke, who was a member of the initial panel, spoke during public comment Monday and offered to provide more information to the board about the differences between the initial proposal and what was adopted. Some of the differences are that the current structure shifts more power to the director than the board, compared with the original proposal, and limited review power and hurdles for public hearings. The initial proposal also included an auditor to study police department data in addition to the executive director. What has been given to you is inadequate for the job thats been presented, local attorney Jeff Fogel said during public comment. Stuart Evans, who was elected vice chairman of the CRB at the meeting, said the initial proposal was drafted over time and not quickly. It gives the board access to more data that will be useful to us making divisions, he said. Its a better set and more complete set of bylaws rather than a more piecemeal approach. Carpenter and board member Dorenda Johnson said the boards actions need to be swift and forceful. Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler has filed a notice of appeal for a lawsuit he brought against the city of Charlottesville and various officials. Kessler has filed several lawsuits since the deadly Aug. 12, 2017, rally, the latest of which was dismissed in February. The latest lawsuit was filed on the two-year anniversary of the rally and claimed that the defendants violated Kesslers First Amendment rights as the rally turned violent. In his decision to grant dismissal of the case, federal Judge Norman K. Moon wrote that law enforcement has no obligation to protect people when other parties attempt to suppress their speech. [T]he First Amendment merely guarantees that the state will not suppress ones speech, he wrote. It does not guarantee that the state will protect individuals when private parties seek to suppress it. In addition to the city, Kesslers suit named then-Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas, then-Virginia State Police Lt. Becky Crannis-Curl, former City Manager Maurice Jones and current City Manager Tarron Richardson. No other filings have been submitted yet and no hearings are scheduled. 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 charter high school opened in 1988 in Virginia L. Murray Elementary School, which was closed at the time. When the elementary school was needed again, the school moved to its current location and students asked to keep Murray in the schools name. Virginia L. Murray was a longtime Black educator in the county school system who served as a demonstration teacher until 1931. She then was promoted to supervisor of elementary education, according to the schools website. Soon after the committees announcement, local activists including Charlottesville Black Lives Matter and Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County expressed opposition to the decision because the Rose Hill moniker derives from the name of a plantation that was later developed in a subdivision. So, Virginia Murray, a black educator, is being removed from the school to replace it with the name of Rose Hill plantation, Hate-Free organizers wrote on Facebook. Yes, thats correct. TRUMP on the pandemic: Its fading away, its going to fade away. Fox News interview June 17. THE FACTS: It's not fading and not about to. Coronavirus infections per day in the U.S. surged to an all-time high of 40,000 at the end of the week, eclipsing the previous high of 36,400 on April 24 during one of the deadliest stretches in the crisis. Newly reported cases per day have risen on average about 60 percent over the past two weeks, according to an Associated Press analysis. Earlier in the week, Fauci told Congress the U.S. is still in the middle of the first wave and the imperative is to get this outbreak under control over the next couple of months." He said the New York City area, once an epicenter, has done notably well but "in other areas of the country were now seeing a disturbing surge of infections. The next few weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surgings that we are seeing in Florida, in Texas, in Arizona and other states," Fauci said. "Theyre not the only ones that are having a difficulty. The limited inspections are compounded by the fact that VDOE doesnt have a system in place for addressing concerns outside a formal complaint process, which OSEP described as insufficient for fulfilling the departments federally mandated role as an oversight agency for local school systems. Deane said she was troubled by several anecdotes included in the report, which, to her, underscored the departments lack of supervision as almost an open secret that parents have complained about for years. In one case, OSEP reported receiving a copy of a complaint alleging systemic noncompliance by a local school system in following federal special education requirements. The alleged failures, filed on behalf of a group of students, included a lack of timely evaluations, insufficient access to the general education curriculum and falsified documentation of provision of services required by the individualized education program a written document that outlines a students learning goals and accommodations for disabilities. Authorities said Tuesday that the University of Virginia has agreed to pay $1 million to settle claims that it did not properly account for some rebates and credits it received on purchases made in connection with federal grants and awards. According to a statement from the U.S. attorneys office, universities can spend money from federal awards to buy materials for use in meeting the obligations of the award. Details were not initially available Tuesday, but the settlement states that some rebates and discounts obtained on purchases by the university from 2009 to 2017 were not accounted for in reducing charges against awarded funds. Federal regulations require that rebates and discounts obtained when making these purchases must be accounted for and subtracted from claims made by a university against Federal Award funds. The United States ... contends that rebates and discounts obtained on certain purchases by UVa during the 2009 to 2017 time frame were not accounted for in reducing charges against Federal Award funding, states the settlement. UVa spokesman Brian Coy said the university was pleased to have resolved the matter with the federal government. Former Trenton man dead after opening fire on Tennessee police deputy, shooting him in vest A Fish Story: Magnet fishing has become a trendy way to catch stories about the one that got away Sometimes, a hobby can prove to be much more than a creative outlet. Thats the case with a Darien man, whose hobby has helped save many lives. Since March, Yakov Gorodnitsky, along with several others, have been making face shields and donating them for protection against the coronavirus. To date, theyve made about 6,500 shields. The shields are made in their homes on a 3D printer. Those interested in a donation of face shields may send an email to ppe.yakov@gmail.com. A hobby Since he was 14, Gorodnitsky has liked to build from scratch. He has made wooden furniture, electronic items, and toys. Ive made figures and custom sculptures for friends and family, he said. Three years ago, he built a large 3D printer, which he keeps in his basement. The need At the end of March, an emergency room nurse from Danbury Hospital reached out on a Facebook group Gorodnitsky belongs to called 3D Printing. There are more than 60,000 members of this group. His post was for someone to help him design a splash guard for a 3M respirator as soon as possible, Gorodnitsky said. Thats what ER nurses were wearing in Danbury Hospital at the start of COVID-19. It has two filters on each side and its not meant to get wet. He wanted someone to design a splash guard for these filters, he said. Gorodnitsky, a senior software engineer and financial programmer at Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, reached out to him, offering to help. The nurse sent him the file, Gorodnitsky made the shield on his home machine, and the nurse was pleased. They then started chatting about the PPE situation, and the nurse told him that it was pretty bad and no one had shields, especially not in the ER, and everyone was reusing their n95 masks. Thats why he went the 3m respirator route, because those are reusable, Gorodnitsky said. Those kinds of masks were not provided by the hospital. Nurses found that they offered good protection and bought them with their own money. It was a face mask with filters on the sides, he said. Normal face masks have no filters, so if someone sneezes on you, you need to get the mask cleaned, he said. His original model for the shield came from a model approved by the NIH (National Institutes of Health). In total, 30 to 50 shields were made for the Danbury ER. Fellow programmer Steve Prior of Danbury, and George Chorny of Redding, a web systems engineer, soon came on board to help with the project. They were able to get financial backing from Interactive Brokers. We reached out to our company on a Saturday. Within 10 minutes, we had the full backing of the CEO, he said. They sent out a company-wide email to get more people to join in the effort for anyone who needs them. Interactive Brokers is continuing to support the project financially with an open-ended commitment. In fact, their support extends beyond materials, to electrical usage and machine maintenance, as well as purchasing additional machines for Steve and George to extend our capacity, he said. Products The men make two different kinds of face shields: A shield with a visor commonly used by healthcare professionals A shield without a visor, which is used by salon workers and store owners Both kinds are resuable and washable. They also make ear relievers. Normally, the masks that people wear need to go behind the ears, and wearing them for a long time can actually chafe the skin behind the ear to the point of bleeding. It gets very uncomfortable, he said. So the community came up with these plastic strips that have several hooks that the mask straps hook onto instead, and they are worn behind the back of the head, so the masks are not hooked on ears, but these flexible plastic strip instead. He is now working on a face shield design for children. He has been making them on nights and weekends about 100 a day. The face shields are a team effort. Steve, George and myself are doing the printing and assembly, he said. Additionally, Rajni Chidambaram of New Canaan has been working on logistics and coordinating with different hospitals and nursing homes for donations. On a normal machine, we can make four open face shields in three hours and 40 minutes, Gorodnitsky said. Donations Gorodnitsky and his team have donated face shields to more than 80 different places. They have had requests from hospitals in Norwalk, Bridgeport, and White Plains, N.Y. Its an on-demand process, he said. Initially, they would contact medical facilities and nursing homes to see if there was a need for the face shields. They also advertised their services through social media. The more we posted on Facebook about what we were doing, the more people reached out to us, he said. I think the first 1,000 we distributed were through our contacts in the medical field. Since many healthcare places now have enough supplies and the state is opening up, we got the green light from our company to help out small businesses, schools, and have donated to hairdressers and salons, he said. Theyve donated 30 shields to the special education department of the Norwalk School District, and 170 shields to hair salons. Theyve given hundreds of face shields to Waveny Care Center in New Canaan and Maplewood at Darien. They also made a 50-shield donation to the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce last week. A recent donation of 150 shields to the Darien Chamber of Commerce went toward local businesses in town. Theyre currently preparing a 1,000-shield donation to the ER9 school district, which covers Easton and Redding. They are now getting requests from a Facebook group called Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies. That is where we get information about the latest shield models and other 3D printable PPE resources, he said. He said he credits all the families who have been really helpful in ths effort. My wife does a lot of the deliveries, helps me put together the boxes, and assembles shields for smaller donations, he said. I know Georges and Steves wives have been doing similar work. Georges kids have done multiple evening sessions of assembling shields. Rajnis husband has made multiple trips to Yale to deliver different items weve donated I provided over 1,200 ear relievers that were delivered to Yale. A no-brainer Gorodnitsky said hes very fortunate to be able to use his hobby in such a positive way. When I found out that what Ive been doing my entire life, making things for fun, can be used to help people, its not something I could just let slip by, he said. I spent three years building this massive machine because it was a challenge to make something that has never been made before, and now this machine is able to make things that can help people from getting sick thats a no-brainer. Also, the more people we help, the more stories we hear of how grateful everyone is, especially reaching out to people who are not expecting it. Helping first responders initially, and now small businesses who cant get or afford quality PPE, its gratifying to just be able to do something to help get everyone through this. sfox@darientimes.com On a day the state experienced its lowest positivity rate since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Connecticut along with New York and New Jersey added eight new states with rising infection rates to the list of those from which visitors and returning residents must quarantine for 14 days. That doubles the list the tri-state governors launched last week to 16 states on the quarantine list, all of them in the deep South or west of the Mississippi River. Of 21,416 Connecticut tests reported the largest amount in a single day 152 came back positive. Thats an infection rate of just 0.7 percent, the lowest to date. Hospitalizations declined to 98 and there were two fatalities related to the virus. Neighboring Massachusetts reported its first day of zero deaths in months a marker Connecticut is still aiming for and removed Connecticut from its mandatory quarantine list. While all that is good news for the state, Gov. Ned Lamont is still keeping a wary eye on the rest of the nation. The list includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Lamont announced the expansion of the list via his Twitter account Tuesday morning. States are added to the list based on two criteria a new daily positive test total higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a 10 percent or higher positive test rate over a 7-day rolling average. Right now in the last few days, weve been less than 1 percent, so theres a real incentive not to have highly infectious people coming into our state, Lamont said. And by the way, the shoe was on the other foot just about 90 days ago. In Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Nevada, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, and Utah, the positive infection rate is over 10 percent for a 7-day moving average, according to data from Johns Hopkins coronavirus resource center. In the remaining seven states Arkansas, California, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee the rolling average is on the rise and the daily positive rate is higher than 10 per 100,000. If people have recently been tested for the virus, they could show negative test results to shorten their mandatory quarantine. Dr. Michael Parry, chairman of infectious diseases for Stamford Health, said hes hopeful the travel advisory will discourage people from coming to the state from highly infectious areas and reintroducing the virus to the state. Their June is what we were seeing in April with rapidly rising numbers of cases, Parry said. We have gone through that peak and are one the other side of the curve ... My hope is that Connecticut and New York and New Jersey and Rhode Island will continue to have a diminishing number of cases and hopefully when these other states realize that you cant open up without taking precautions, they will reach a peak and that will decrease and theyll have a curve that will look like ours. Through June, with one day of reportable results left in the month, the percentage of tests showing positive results in Connecticut stood at 1.84 among the lowest in the United States. In the month of June, Connecticut has averaged 130 positive tests a day on 7,072 average daily tests. That compares with far more dour May results: 451 positive tests per day, or 8.8 percent of the 5,131 average daily tests numbers that would have put Connecticut on its own quarantine list. But Parry said while the June numbers are good news, they dont translate to communitywide immunity, so protections such as masks, thorough hand-washing and maintaining social distance will likely continue to be advised well into the future. This is a highly contagious virus so unless youre very rigorous about that you will see rising infection rates, he said. Adherence to the travel advisory and quarantine wont be strictly enforced in the state, as Lamont has said there wont be any serious repercussions for people who violate the order. By contrast, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened fines of $1,000 for anyone unwilling to comply. Lamont said Tuesday morning traffic at Bradley International Airport has declined again since the advisory was implemented last week, and said hes continued discussions about the possibility of offering COVID-19 testing at the airport. I think were going to get there and get it done, Lamont said. I was talking to the president of JetBlue just today about how perhaps they should test in Florida before someone infected even gets on the plane. Then they have a certificate when they arrive here. I can tell you that flights are down and passengers are down since the quarantine was put in place so there are fewer people coming from infected areas to Connecticut. Lamont said last week his administration has been in touch with hotels and travel agents in the state. Travelers landing at Bradley or checking into a hotel in the state will likely be asked to fill out a form asking them questions about where theyve been and whether theyre experiencing any symptoms. kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt To the Editor: This Saturday we celebrate our countrys birthday and with it there is a great deal of which we can be proud. Our founders were keenly aware of how fragile our experiment in democracy was then and how important it would be for us, as citizens, to keep it. Unfortunately, the events of this past weekend reveal how the current administration continually threatens our safety and security daily. On Friday night reports from all the news media began to break that Russia, at the direction of Mr. Putin, had offered a bounty to Taliban soldiers to be placed on the heads of American military personnel. Shockingly the White House was made aware of this bounty several months ago and has not acted since. Yesterday, Mr. Trump, retweeted a video in approval, clearly showing several individuals chanting white power. Sadly, this came after June began with Mr. Trumps callous photo op at Lafayette Park and weeks of protest regarding the murder of George Floyd. In Darien we are truly fortunate in so many ways. However, on July 4, we cannot forget the values of those who fought and died for us. We cannot tolerate a President who will sell out or look the other way to protect our soldiers. We cannot accept a President who seeks to divide us using fear and racism as weapons only for his own selfish needs. Please get involved now and say enough. Please join fellow Darien residents and get involved with ANDD The Action Network of Darien Democrats. Please visit us at www.anddems.com. Randall Klein Darien Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription and are still unable to access our content, please link your digital account to your print subscription If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Photo taken on May 28, 2020 shows a view of the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli) BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- July 1 marks the 99th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has stressed "remaining true to our original aspiration and keeping our mission firmly in mind" on many occasions. The following are some highlights of his quotes. -- The original aspiration and the mission of Chinese Communists is to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. -- Everything the CPC does is for the well-being of the Chinese people, rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as well as peace and development of mankind. People enjoy hydrangea flowers at Hanfeng Lake National Wetland Park in Kaizhou District of Chongqing, southwest China, May 22, 2020. (Photo by Huang Wei/Xinhua) -- People are the foundation and lifeblood of the CPC. -- For a person or a political party, the most precious quality is to always remain true to their original aspiration despite all the vicissitudes they face. -- The key to staying true to the Party's founding mission is the consciousness to face up to problems and the courage to conduct self-examination. -- We must always remember that our Party comes from the people and is rooted in the people, while we must never become out of touch with the people, grow indifferent to the people or ignore the people's hardships. -- To remain the vanguard of the times, the backbone of the nation and a Marxist governing party, our Party must always hold itself to the highest standards. India is drawing up an incentive scheme for the autos sector aimed at doubling exports of vehicles and components in the next five years. (PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: India is drawing up an incentive scheme for the autos sector aimed at doubling exports of vehicles and components in the next five years, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) has sought feedback from auto industry groups on the initial proposal, which suggests giving incentives over five years to increase local production and procurement for export, the sources said. The incentives would be based on the sales value of vehicles or components and eligible companies would need to meet certain conditions, including a minimum revenue and profit threshold and presence in at least 10 countries, two of the sources said, adding the form the incentives would take had not been decided. DHI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The move is part of Indias effort to create champion sectors to attract investment, generate jobs and boost manufacturing, and comes amid calls by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be self-reliant as a nation. India wants to promote exports and has identified some sectors, including autos and textiles, for which incentive plans are being designed, said a senior government official. For autos the government has engaged with various stakeholders. We have to see what needs to be done in the global context, said the official, adding that even though talks are in early stages and details have not been finalised there is a plan to give a big push to the sector. Indias auto sector exports touched $27 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2019, led by companies including Ford Motor (F.N), Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), Maruti Suzuki (MRTI.NS), Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and Bosch (BOSH.NS), which analysts say stand to gain the most. The push, however, comes at a time when auto sales globally have been battered because of the coronavirus pandemic and demand may take a while to recover. To make it a success in the present scenario, India needs to ensure the proposal is not complicated by too many conditions and is not based on sales targets, said Vinay Piparsania, consulting director, automotive, at Counterpoint Research. Having a liberal trade policy will allow companies to bring in new and global technologies which will increase their scale and Indias competitiveness as an export hub, he said. LARGE COMPANIES The initial scheme has been designed to incentivise large companies and in turn benefit smaller players in the supply chain, making the auto sector more competitive overall, one of the sources said. To be eligible, automakers must have revenues of at least 100 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) and an operating profit of at least 10 billion rupees ($131 million) in three of the last five years, one of the sources said, adding they must also have earnings from outside India and commit to spending on research. The terms for auto part makers are the same except that the revenue and profit thresholds are lower, at 20 billion rupees and 2 billion rupees, respectively, the person said. One proposal is to have a production-linked incentive under which companies will get benefits proportionate to the distance between the factory and point of sale to compensate for higher warehousing and logistics costs, said the source. Another proposal is to give incentives to increase production of specific car models but only if 80% of them are exported, the person said. Inputs on this have been sought from trade bodies such as the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and Auto Components Association of India (ACMA), the sources said. New Delhi: At a time when India has strained relations with both China and Nepal to the east, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar assured Himalayan neighbour Bhutan that India is its special and privileged partner who stands together with Bhutan in dealing with the health and economic challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic. The assurance was furnished at the signing of the Concession Agreement for the 600 MW Kholongchhu (Joint Venture) Hydroelectric Project between the Royal Government of Bhutan and Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited (KHEL) which itself is a joint venture of Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) of India. This is the first joint venture Hydroelectric Project between India and Bhutan but New Delhi has been boosting Bhutanese capacity in hydropower generation through several projects. The MEA said, The Concession Agreement for the 600 MW Kholongchhu (Joint Venture) Hydroelectric Project between the Royal Government of Bhutan and Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited was signed on 29 June 2020 in Thimphu. The 600 MW run-of-the-river project is located on the lower course of the Kholongchhu River in Trashiyangtse District in Eastern Bhutan. The Project envisages an underground powerhouse of four 150 MW turbines with water impounded by a concrete gravity dam of 95 meters height. ... The project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025. The MEA added, Hydropower sector is the flagship area of India-Bhutan bilateral cooperation. The 720 MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project was jointly inaugurated earlier in August 2019 by the Prime Ministers of India and Bhutan. With this, four hydroelectric projects of bilateral cooperation (336 MW Chukha HEP, 60 MW Kurichhu HEP, 1020 MW Tala HEP and 720 MW Mangdechhu HEP), totaling over 2100 MW, are already operational in Bhutan. Speaking on the occasion through video-conference, EAM Jaishankar said, India stands together with Bhutan in dealing with the health and economic challenges posed by this pandemic. Hydro power sector has been the most visible symbol of the mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation between our two countries. With continued working together, we are in process of expediting the completion of other ongoing projects including the1200MW Punatsangchhu-1, 1020MW Punatsangchhu-2 and now the 600 MW Kholongchhu HEP. The EAM added, This is yet another milestone in our diverse and multifaceted bilateral cooperation. I am sure that the commencement of the construction activities of the Project will create economic and employment opportunities in Bhutan in this critical time. GoI has provided support to Bhutan in terms of medical equipment, kits and medicines as per RGoBs requirements. Besides continuing with our developmental partnership, we have also ensured uninterrupted supply of essentials and other goods to Bhutan despite the lockdowns. Protective personal gear to combat the pandemic has become a non-negotiable part of our attire. Why not jazz it up a bit? And if it carries a designer label, putting you among the fashionistas, so much the better! For a week, a photograph of shop named Covid-19 Essentials in Florida, USA, was doing the rounds on social media and many people commented on what they felt was opportunism in the face of global distress. On the other hand, many others supported the idea of an exclusive store for essential supplies to combat the pandemic. The shop in a mall attracted a good number of footfalls too. Nearer home, in the much smaller city of Kochi in Kerala, a store was opened recently, dedicated to masks and other safety gear needed during the lockdown. These stores and the fact that they are being patronised are an indication of the shape of things to come. Companies are repurposing their production lines to join the fight against Covid-19. Luxury brands like Prada, Luis Vuitton and Gucci have come up with designer masks, for instance. Madhurima Balsingh, director, Golden Homes Pvt. Ltd., says, I feel we need to come to terms with the fact that this virus is here to stay and we have to deal with it in the best possible way. The big fashion houses are doing what they do best outfitting us. I disagree that they are making a business out of Covid-19 and cashing in on sentiment. They are helping us deal with the situation in the way they can, just like the medical fraternity is trying to find medicines to cure or contain the virus. Both high-end brands and small companies are growing their businesses on the back of the pandemic. Though one may talk about capitalising a catastrophe, such initiatives also have the advantage of spreading awareness. When helmets were made compulsory in the country, many companies started producing them. At the end of the day, safety is all that matters. The luxury brands are not forcing anyone to buy their products. They are just giving us the option of buying their goods. You can go for cheaper versions if you wish to, says Aswanth a safety mask retailer. Farah Agarwal, interior designer and founder of Chestnut Storeys, feels it makes sense for luxury brands to enter the business of producing pandemic essentials. I cannot see anything wrong in it. The situation is alarming and we need to be very cautious, so it is the need of the hour to use these safety gears. And if a luxury brand comes up with a well-designed mask or gown, they are actually promoting the idea that we need to take care of ourselves, she says. So, stock up on Covid-19 essentials, stay safe! Visakhapatnam: At least two people were killed and four were hospitalised after a gas leak at an industrial unit in Visakhapatnam in the early hours of Tuesday. The gas, believed to be benzimidazole,has a variety of therapeutic uses and is also used in neurology, endocrinology, and ophthalmology. The dead were identified as night shift in-charge Ragi Narendra and chemist Gowri Shankar. The bodies were shifted to King George Hospital. The injured are LV Chendra Sekhar, 37, P Anand Babu, 41, D Janakiram,24, and M Surya Narayana, 29. After the gas leak, the management of Sainor Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, which owns the unit, briefed the district collector and the commissioner of police. Police personnel were deployed at the site to prevent any untoward incidents. A similar incident took place at the same unit on September 28, 2015, in which two persons were killed and four were injured. Incidentally, there have been 25 serious industrial accidents in Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City since 2013, killing 23 and seriously injuring 73. New Delhi: Indian soldiers and officers will soon carry their own version of Swiss Army knife, equipped with a detonator crimper, a wire cutter, a bottle opener for opening soda bottles, and a blade which can be used as a dagger in close quarter hand to hand fight. Indian Army is procuring them for its infantry troops and they will form a part of individual equipment. The army will soon issue an open tender for procuring such a multi-purpose tool. These knives will be able to function in a temperature ranging from minus 20 to plus 50 degree Celsius. As per the army requirement, the multipurpose tool should come with a long nose plier with universal detonator crimper that could screw and remove maximum 14mm nuts or bolts and crimp universal size detonators. Nose and handle must have adequate hardness to perform routine task easily. It should also be able to cut binding wire upto 12 gauge and strip electric wire ranging from 24 to 12 gauge. The knife should be able to drive and remove cross tip screws, the army sources added. The knife will carry a wood or bone saw capable of controlled sawing through wood (25mm thick), plastic (10mm thick), aluminum (26 Gauge) and metal tube (22 Gauge). It will also carry a can and a separate bottle opener which will allow soldiers to open commercially available canned goods and compressed bottle top like a soda bottle. It should provide independent and automatic locking of components in operational and closed position. It should not cause injury when used with bare hands, the Indian Army said. These knives will be black, olive Green or in camouflage pattern with matt finish. The army said that these knives should have a durable sheath with loop to fit on belt and should require minimal user maintenance. These should be capable of maintaining its performance in sand and dust. Chennai: DMK President M K Stalin urged the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy to appoint a team of epidemiologists to ascertain if community transmission of the Coronavirus had started in Tamil Nadu and also begin serological testing in the State. Referring to the efforts made in Delhi, Stalin, in a statement, said the place with the second largest number of infections in the country had begun serological testing to find out the spread of the Covid-19 and Tamil Nadu should also follow suit. Asking the Chief Minister to take his advice seriously, Stalin wanted the government to pay the relief amount promised for the frontline warriors of Covid-19 who were infected. He also demanded supply of proper PPEs to the frontline workers, including doctors, nurses, health workers and police. Demanding the provision of details of Covid-19 testing made at airports, hospitals and the districts, Stalin said free face masks should be supplied to the people through ration shops and Rs 5000 relief should be paid to each family card to help people in the lower rungs of society who had lost their livelihood due to the lockdown tide over the crisis. Among the other pieces of advice the Opposition Leader gave to the Chief Minister were reduction of electricity charges during the lockdown period and cancellation of semester examinations for students in universities and declaring them all as passed. Stalin referred to the Chief Ministers statement that the Opposition Leader had not given him any constructive advice on tackling the pandemic and urged him to listen to what he had said and follow them. He also urged the Chief Minister to try and make his Ministerial colleague R B Udhayakumar, who had allegedly threatened the Madurai M P Su Venkatesan for demanding more tests, understand the virility of Covid-19. The management of private hospitals requested the Chief Minister to revise the treatment rate which was fixed by the Karnataka government to treat Covid patients at private hospitals. During the meeting, the Chief Minister is said to have appealed to the management of private hospitals saying it was time to serve people by setting aside profit interests. He also assured them that the government would look into the demands of private hospitals. The Private hospitals in Bengaluru agreed to 2500 beds to treat Covid patients. After meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa, the management of private hospitals in Bengaluru agreed to hand over 700 beds from Tuesday and took one week time to handover the remaining 1800 beds. Initially, private hospitals were reluctant to hand over beds to tread Covid positive patients saying it would affect treatment of common patients. The hospitals also differed over rates fixed by the government to treat Covid patients. Owners of private hospitals sought one week time to take the decision, but the Chief Minister insisted they tell their decision the same day. Finally, private hospitals agreed to dedicate 50 per cent of beds to treat Covid patients in phased manner. Till private hospitals agreed to dedicate beds for treatment of Covid patients, Revenue Minister R. Ashok who is Covid-19 management in-charge for Bengaluru city was seen waiting outside the meeting hall at Vidhana Soudha. Government compelled the private hospitals to part with the beds. In fact the government even issued a circular on June 28, directing the hospitals to treat Covid patients. The government is waiting to issue new guidelines for lockdown once SSLC (Class X) exams get over. Complying with the Union Human Resources Development Ministry guidelines, the Karnataka primary and secondary education department has reversed its June 15 order and allowed the schools across the state to resume online classes for students studying from 1-10 standard. The new order allows all schools affiliated to the state board, CBSE and ICSE boards to conduct online classes in compliance with the states guidelines. It will be valid for students studying up to Class V till the state expert committee submits a report on whether to go ahead with the online classes. Earlier on the recommendation of academic and health experts, state education minister, S. Suresh Kumar on June 10 had said that online classes would not be allowed in the state for primary school kids. Dr Puja Grover, paediatric neurologist at Continua Kids remarked that sticking long to the screen reduces the blinking capacity thereby leading to irritation in the eyes, dryness, headaches and refractive errors to children. For classes 1-5 there will be two sessions of 30-45 minutes on alternate days whereas for classes 6-8, two sessions a day, each exceeding not beyond 45 minutes for five days in a week. Classes 9-10 will have four sessions for five days in a week, each within 30-45 minutes of range. The schools have also been directed not to collect additional fee for online classes. Shweta Sastri, Managing Director, Canadian International School said that issuing a blanket ban on online classes is not only unconstitutional but also without regard for a student's fundamental right to learn. Now, the State Government has recognised that they cannot ban online classes, instead they will issue guidelines for schools. While this is alright for schools regulated by the State, it will not work for central board or international schools as we have our boards to answer to. State government needs to stop being an impediment here, instead it should enable online learning as schools around the world have embraced online classes as a valid and necessary component of learning especially until kids can physically go back to school. The Karnataka High Court on June 26 has asked the state government to consider online classes only for certain hours. The observation by the court was made during a Public Interest Litigation hearing filed by Anumitha Sharma and several others, challenging the ban on online classes for students between LKG and Class 5. The court asked the state government if regular classes cannot be conducted, would it mean denying the children right to education in view of Article 21-A of the Constitution. Cant the online classes be permitted for a few hours? Some solution has to be found out. Online is limited to cities, what about rural areas? the bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Nataraj Rangaswamy asked. There are grim warnings about the future of the economy. Rating agencies have already raised the red flag. PTI Photo The surging number of coranavirus infections across India and the debilitating impact it has on the lives of crores of people and the economy appears to leave a question on the nations leadership. Every day marks a new high in the number of Covid-19 cases, and India is in the race to become the third largest infected nation after the United States and Brazil. Eight states which host the administrative, economic and commercial engines of this nation are under the grip of the pandemic, proving it to be a larger threat than what we face on the eastern border. The government, which declared a national lockdown on March 25 and extended it thrice, launched Unlock 1.0 on June 1 and is contemplating its next edition. While Unlock 1.0 sought to deregulate the activities on the ground, several states, including Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Assam, have been forced to introduce their own versions of lockdown. They may have little option to contain the virus but it undercuts the idea of unlocking. Lockdown was aimed at safeguarding lives while Unlock 1.0 was for securing livelihoods, but the fact is that both lives and livelihoods are under threat now, indicating that the sufferings of millions of people, including the guest workers who were forced to trek thousands of kilometres back home, produced no tangible results. There are grim warnings about the future of the economy. Rating agencies have already raised the red flag. Despite the crises, the Union government has not been able to communicate to the people a resolute plan to save the nation. There is no roadmap to augment testing, screening and treatment for Covid-19 or on readying more healthcare facilities or personnel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in several interactions, has not yet given us an indication of launching a national effort to face the challenges. He, instead, gets into the details of why children, whose schools are closed due to the pandemic, should spare computer games and reintroduce snake and ladder game. On the border, he is at his rhetorical best, saying those who eyed our mother land had got a bloody nose while every report from the field indicates that the Prime Minister was economical with the truth. From setting the lockdown goal of victory over the virus in 21 days to the thanksgiving charade for the health workers at a time when they were battling the disease ill-equipped to the statement on the border which the Chinese media celebrated, the Prime Minister has attempted to cheer up the nation with little reason. There is little initiative to consolidate Indias support base in the face of Chinese aggression, forcing one to suspect a shortage of ideas and will power on the part of the ruling dispensation. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance owe it to the people, who gave them a historic mandate in the 2019 elections, to raise themselves up to the challenges so that a healthy country emerges from the mess once the virus is gone. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam listens to reporters' questions during a press conference in Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Hong Kong media are reporting that China has approved a contentious law that would allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in Hong Kong, sparking fears that it would be used to curb opposition voices in the semi-autonomous territory. Lam declined to comment on the national security law at a weekly meeting with reporters, saying it was inappropriate for her to do so while the Standing Committee meeting was still in progress.(AP Photo) HONG KONG: Chinas parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colonys way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago. State media is expected to publish details of the law - which comes in response to last years often-violent pro-democracy protests in the city and aims to tackle subversion, terrorism, separatism and collusion with foreign forces - later on Tuesday. Amid fears the legislation will crush the global financial hubs rights and freedoms, and reports that the heaviest penalty under it would be life imprisonment, prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong said he would quit his Demosisto group. It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before, Wong said on Twitter. The legislation pushes Beijing further along a collision course with the United States, Britain and other Western governments, which have said it erodes the high degree of autonomy the city was granted at its July 1, 1997, handover. The United States began eliminating Hong Kongs special status under U.S. law on Monday, halting defence exports and restricting the territorys access to high-technology products. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, speaking at her regular weekly news conference, said it was not appropriate for her to comment on the legislation as the meeting in Beijing was still going on, but she threw a jibe at the United States. No sort of sanctioning action will ever scare us, Lam said. Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of a think-tank under the Beijing cabinets Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told Reuters the law was passed unanimously with 162 votes. It is expected to come into force imminently. The editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a tabloid published by the Peoples Daily, the official newspaper of Chinas ruling Communist Party, said on Twitter the heaviest penalty under the law was life imprisonment, without providing details. Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have repeatedly said the legislation is aimed at a few troublemakers and will not affect rights and freedoms, nor investor interests. OVERPOWERING The legislation may get an early test with activists and pro-democracy politicians saying they would defy a police ban, amid coronavirus restrictions, on a rally on the anniversary of the July 1 handover. At last years demonstration, which came amid a series of pro-democracy protests, a crowd stormed and vandalised the citys legislature. We will never accept the passing of the law, even though it is so overpowering, said Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai. It is not clear if attending the unauthorised rally would constitute a national security crime if the law came into force by then. A majority in Hong Kong opposes the legislation, a poll conducted for Reuters this month showed, but support for the protest movement has slipped, now getting the backing of a slim majority. This month, Chinas official Xinhua news agency unveiled some of the laws provisions, including that it would supersede existing Hong Kong legislation and that interpretation powers belong to Chinas parliament top committee. Slideshow (4 Images) Beijing is expected to set up a national security office in Hong Kong for the first time and could also exercise jurisdiction on certain cases. Judges for security cases are expected to be appointed by the citys chief executive. Senior judges now allocate rosters up through Hong Kongs independent judicial system. It is not known which specific activities are to be made illegal, how precisely they are defined or what punishment they carry. Hong Kong is one of many developing conflicts between China and the United States, on top of trade, the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic. Britain has said the security law would violate Chinas international obligations and its handover agreement. A Japanese official said that if the law had been passed, it was regrettable. Democratically ruled and Chinese-claimed Taiwan said it strongly condemns the legislation and its president, Tsai Ing-wen, said she was very disappointed. The European Union has said it could take China to the International Court of Justice in The Hague over it. China has hit back at the outcry, denouncing interference in its internal affairs. Editor of Town Talk, News & Press of Delaware County Call me wife, mom, daughter, granny, writer, neighbor, sister, aunt, editor, Godmother, niece, friend, acquaintance, co-worker, cousin, news junkie, diva, funmeister... call me them all, just call, text or e-mail me-- especially when there's "a scoop!" rEUNIONS REUNIONS Check to see if your reunion has been scheduled accidents Woman rescued after car goes over embankment in Haverford Highlights of this day in history: Adolf Hitler purges rivals in Nazi Germany; America's food and drug safety take a big step forward; 'Gone With the Wind' published; Tonya Harding banned from figure skating; Singer Lena Horne born. (June 30) The PSNI has said it will 'review footage' from today's funeral of veteran republican Bobby Storey to determine whether any breaches of Coronavirus regulations occurred. Sinn Fein politicians have faced criticism for attending the funeral. The funeral in west Belfast attracted hundreds of mourners despite Coronavirus regulations stating that a maximum of 30 people are allowed to attend funeral services. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, former leader Gerry Adams, Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Derry MLA Martina Anderson were amongst those in attendance. East Derry DUP MP Gregory Campbell said it will have felt like a 'kick in the teeth' to families who have observed the guidance in recent months. When asked about the funeral at the daily Coronavirus press briefing Health Minister Robin Swann said 'very clearly' regards it as a breach. Mr Swann said he's concerned with what he saw in west Belfast and 'we can't let any part of NI become another Leicester where we have to look at regional lockdowns'. He added: "In regards to a breach I believe the PSNI has been asked to investigate that, but what I would say, is a very clear and simple message, there's no person or point of privilege above the guidance and regulations that we have laid down and how we combat COVID-19 in NI. "I do hope that what we saw today does not undermine the public message that has worked so well in Northern Ireland that has actually got us to the position we're are today." When asked about the funeral during Monday's Coronavirus briefing at Stormont, Michelle O'Neill said: "Everyone who is attending the funeral should observe the public health advice." There have been a number of events which have been criticised for attracting crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month the PSNI said there had been social-distancing breaches at funerals in both the unionist and nationalist communities. On June 6, police handed out 57 fines to Black Lives Matter protestors in Derry and also issued fines at a BLM rally in Belfast. In a statement about today's funeral, PSNI Superintendent Melanie Jones said: "We were made aware of the plans for todays funeral and have engaged with the celebrant and service organisers to highlight both the public health advice and risks around Covid-19, and the requirement for those attending to adhere to social distancing. "We had assurances that those attending would observe the health guidelines and that marshals would be in place to encourage those lining the cortege route to observe social distancing. We will now review footage gathered during the funeral and will consider any suspected breaches of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations NI 2020. Government guidance states that funerals should be private and up to a maximum of 30 people. This figure does not include funeral directors or other people needed to officiate at the service, such as faith/pastoral representatives, grave diggers and so on. It can include members of the persons household, close family members, if the deceased has neither household nor family members in attendance, then it is possible for a modest number of friends to be there. Social distancing must be practised at all times, which means numbers attending funerals may be restricted further in smaller enclosed places. Derry City and Strabane District Council's chief executive today pulled no punches when he outlined the financial crisis facing the council because of the coronavirus pandemic. A report recently compiled by the council stated that it was facing losses of almost 11m as a result of the pandemic. Efforts are continuing to claw back as much of that money as possible from central government. However, speaking today at a meeting of the council's Governance and Strategic Planning Committee, chief executive John Kelpie said the council was currently facing a 'double digit' rates increase in the next financial year 'just to stand still'. In the last two financial years, the council has struck rates increases of 3.46% and 3.37% respectively. Today's meeting was told that the council had a surplus of 864,000 from the 2019/20 financial year. The council's Lead Finance Officer, Alfie Dallas, told councillors that this surplus would normally have been transferred to be spent on the council's 'capital projects and other corporate priorities'. However, instead, said Mr Dallas, it was proposed that 850,000 of the money be ring-fenced to help deal with the financial impact of the pandemic. Councillors at the meeting agreed to this proposal. Mr Kelpie told the meeting that the council was facing 'extremely painful cuts' later this year if further funding was not secured from central government. He said the council had worked hard to invest in the development of the local area, and added that it would be a 'crying shame' if this work could not continue. We can't become a council of austerity given all the huge gains we have made in driving this place forward in the last couple of years, said Mr Kelpie. For a full report on today's meeting see Thursday's Derry News. New figures have revealed the number of motorists caught speeding on roads in Derry last year. Three roads in the city and one in County Derry are on the list of the top 20 'hotspots' for speeding in Northern Ireland. The figures for speeding on our roads have been released by the Northern Ireland Road Safety Partnership. They show that in 2019, 1,252 motorists were caught speeding on the Glenshane Road in County Derry. In the city, 864 motorists were fined for speeding on the Clooney Road in the Waterside. A total of 848 motorists were caught speeding on the Culmore Road in Derry last year. Dungiven Road in the Waterside was also a busy location for speeding, with 661 motorists caught breaking the limit there last year. The road with the worst speeding record in Northern Ireland was the Frosses/Crankill Road in County Antrim where 2,540 motorists were fined for speeding in 2019. Arjun Kapoor, Rakul Preet To Resume Shoot In Mumbai For Their Untitled Romantic Film, Europe Schedule On Hold Arjun Kapoor and Rakul Preet are working together for an untitled romantic comedy. It has been reported that if the Coronavirus induced lockdown wouldnt have been there, they were only one schedule away from wrapping up the shoot. But it was owing to the nationwide lockdown that has been imposed since the month of March, the shooting was stopped. Director Kaashvie Nair has been worried about the fate of the Europe shooting schedule since last three months. Madhu Bhojwani who is the co-producer of the film is looking forward to resume shooting. "Keeping the safety protocols in mind, we will evaluate what can be shot locally. We will first film the indoor portions, and then, take a call on the pending shoot. Even as the restrictions are being lifted in India, we must proceed carefully," she told Mid-Day. Kareena Kapoor Marks Her 20 Years In Bollywood With The First Shot For Refugee: The Best Decision I Could Have Ever Taken Kareena Kapoor Khan made her debut on the silver screen on this day 20 years ago. The actress who was only 19 years old when her first film Refugee released on June 30, 2000, shared a post marking her two decades in Bollywood with a picture of the very first shot she gave. Kareena revealed that she had given her first shot at 4 am in the morning for J.P. Duttas Refugee which also marked the debut of Abhishek Bachchan. Reminiscing the moment she woke at 4 in the morning today and looked at the mirror telling herself this the best decision she has ever taken. In her two-decades in the industry, Kareena has been trendsetter all the with iconic roles like Poo in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Chameli where she played a sex worker, Ki & Ka which was all about reversing gender roles, going size zero in Tashan, playing the feisty Geet in Jab We Met and many more. Just like Kareena Abhishek Bachchan too took a trip down memory lane and has been for a while now sharing posts about his various films through the years. Today he wrote about Refugee and said that as a newcomer there was nothing more he could ask for. Abhishek and Kareena has featured in four films together where in LOC Kargil and Yuva they were not paired opposite each other after Refugee. They also starred in Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon which was a love triangle also starring Hrithik Roshan. Neena Gupta Signed Three Films Amid Lockdown, Will Only Return To Mumbai When Work Begins Neena Gupta who was last seen in the film Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan earlier this year is quite active on social media. She has been connecting with her fans and sharing her thoughts through various videos and has also been working on her memoir while she spends the lockdown in Uttarakhand! In an interaction with Mid-Day, Neena revealed she has signed three films amid the three months of lockdown! She went on to reveal, she read a few scripts and zeroed in on three of them. She has been quoted as saying, The lockdown has been a productive period for me. I have said yes to three scripts in these three months, she told the publication. The news that India has banned 59 popular Chinese-devised mobile phone apps, including TikTok and WeChat, has initiated a debate on how far the Indian government intends to go in limiting trade with China and how far it can afford to go. India has insisted that the apps pose a threat to the countrys security. The countrys Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has apparently accused the apps collectively of breaching the privacy of Indian users and mining their data. Equally likely, however, is that the ban is a response to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers earlier this month in a clash with Chinese forces over a disputed border. That said, there has been nervousness about the high levels of Chinese investment in India for some while, including, in April, the tightening of foreign investment rules to block what were described as opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies left vulnerable by the economic effects of the recent pandemic. The app ban and the investment bar are not the only problems faced by Chinese companies serving the Indian market. Recent days have also seen long delays in the clearance of Chinese imports at ports and airports. Of course, Chinese companies do have a strong foothold in Indias consumer and technology markets. The UKs Financial Times newspaper says that Indian imports from China hit $76 billion in the 2017-2018 financial year and that there was a $63 billion bilateral trade deficit that year, though increased import duties have brought that figure down to $48.7 billion. However, Indias manufacturing industries, still reeling from the recent lockdown, would suffer badly from a hasty import ban and not all Chinese imports could be replaced locally let alone replaced cheaply despite a continuing narrative around Indian self-reliance promoted by the government. Its noteworthy for instance that local manufacturers of mobile phones and other telecommunications equipment that rely on Chinese components have been frustrated by the import clearance delays. Could telecommunications infrastructure be next on the banned list? State-run operator BSNL has already been asked to disallow Chinese participation in its 4G tender, but private players may not be as compliant if government requests similar action against would-be 5G vendors especially as it would limit the choice of operators like Vodafone Idea, whose financial position is seen as particularly difficult. So far theres no sign of the government softening its position. In fact, the Indian press says the government has increased a nationwide alert and stepped up monitoring as intelligence agencies prepare for intensified cybersecurity attacks from China. This trade tussle is far from over. Nokia and Algerian mobile operator Djezzy have completed a trial using microwave carrier aggregation technology to support increased demand for capacity. The trial utilised Nokias Wavence microwave transport solution with an ultra-high capacity of 8.5Gbps over a distance of nearly 6 kilometres. With its reduced latency and high capacity, the solution will allow Djezzy to deliver compelling experiences to its 14.2 million subscribers. During the trial, which took place in the city of Setif earlier this year, capacity was increased from 3.5Gbps to 8.5Gbps and covered a distance of 5.7 kilometres, demonstrating how carrier aggregation technology can be utilised to support ever-increasing demands for data. This will become increasingly important as Djezzy prepares to cope with traffic growth and 4G densification. The trial also marks another milestone for Nokia in reaching such multi-gigabit capacity on a microwave radio link. The Nokia Wavence solution, which was used in the trial, offers innovative, high-capacity ultra-broadband transceivers to support operators as they transition to 5G networks. It also supports backhaul and fronthaul evolution with multi-gigabit capacity and low-latency transport with industry-leading levels of transmitted power. Eric Bourland, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Djezzy Algeria, said: This is an important trial that delivers ultra-high capacity granting Djezzy a solid solution for mobile backhaul. We believe this fast deployment of microwave carrier aggregation will help us achieve our goal of boosting eMBB. It also allows us to improve our network capacity in order to meet the growing mobile traffic demand in Algeria. Giuseppe Targia, VP MN Transport Business Unit, Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: This trial demonstrates how carrier aggregation technology can be utilised to support the ever-increasing demands for data, particularly at a time when connectivity is so crucial. Pan-African cross-border payments leader MFS Africa has acquired Beyonic, a digital payments management provider of business services for SMEs, fintechs, and social impact entities across Africa. As Africas largest digital payments hub, MFS Africa connects more than 200 million mobile wallets on the continent through one API. Beyonic focusses on domestic payments and collections coupled with secure front-end business functionality. This deal, which is subject to regulatory approval by the Fair Competition Commission in Tanzania, will provide the growing micro, small, and medium enterprise segment across Africa with the ability to manage digital transactions with individuals and businesses around the world. Africa has a strong base of connected young entrepreneurs and businesspeople who are bringing fresh ideas to the table, in order to create prosperity for themselves and for their communities on the continent, said Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of MFS Africa. With the MFS Africa Hub, we have been creating new digital pathways between mobile money users in Africa and the global economy. With the acquisition of Beyonic, we can now put this digital payment network at the service of those entrepreneurs whether they are SMEs, fintechs, or social impact organisations, he added. Extended access and functionality will become available to customers of both organisations in the second half of 2020. In practice, this means that a Uganda-based organisation that uses Beyonic to manage digital payments to and from Ugandan mobile wallets and bank accounts will be able to reach additional markets directly and seamlessly using the same interface, leveraging the pan-African and global connections of the MFS Africa Hub. Luke Kyohere, founder, Executive Chairman and CTO of Beyonic, said: MFS Africas mission to make borders matter less in digital payments aligns perfectly with Beyonics vision of helping enterprises deliver fast, affordable fintech solutions to the last mile, where they are needed the most. Together, we will give our customers access to the broadest and deepest digital payment network in Africa. He added: Im excited about the possibilities this partnership brings, especially when you factor in MFS Africas recent partnership with Visa, enabling them to issue Visa payment credentials across their pan-African network. According to the World Bank, SMEs contribute up to 40% of national income (GDP) in emerging economies. However, they face a number of growth constraints in emerging markets, including the ability to scale operations domestically, continentally, and internationally. The new product offerings enabled by this acquisition will resolve some of these issues by enabling organisations to transfer funds securely and transparently across regions. We wont be hearing about TikTok for a while now. The viral video sharing app has been banned by the Indian Government along with 58 other apps originating out of China, and this ones not a hoax. The order came straight The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking the power under section 69A of the IT Act 2009, based on information available they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. The appendix lists out popular apps like UC Browser, Shareit, Helo, Likee, WeChat, ES File Explorer and a bunch of utility and community apps, including that of Xiaomi. Among the 59 apps, TikTok is certainly the largest, and would probably be missed a lot. Based on stats provided by Apptrace, its presently ranked fourth in India on the Google Play Store and ranked sixth on the App Store. And the viral short video platform boasts a whopping 119 million active users in India alone! Popular sentiments nonetheless, TikTok had become a viral phenomenon among teenagers and young adults who participate in lip-syncing songs, comedic skits and viral challenges, which gets consumed and shared millions of times. Even if you are not on TikTok, chances are, you hear about the app or the TikTokers every few days. The app has now been taken down from the Google Playstore and the Apple Appstore. Considering the influential platform it had become, banning the app would certainly have an impact on these creators, and the popularity and following they command. Digit.in spoke to two popular tech TikTokers to find out how they feel about the ban Aarish Khan, 19. A.K.Technical Point 1.7 million followers on TikTok The conversation happened in Hindi. We have translated it to English. Do you think it was right for the Government to ban TikTok? Ive been on TikTok for 2 years now and gained a lot of followers. Earlier, I used to spend more than two hours a day scrolling on the app and its very addictive. But I dont think it should be banned. Instead, TikTok should work at removing hateful content from the platform. How will you reach out to your audience? I have asked my followers to start following me on Instagram, as I think thats the only other platform where I can upload my videos. I also had a good 2.7 million following on Likee (another social media app banned among the 59 apps). There are Indian apps also that are like TikTok, but I dont think they are as good. I have also heard YouTube is working on a short video platform. I might join that. Vijay Karthikeyan, 36 Techboss India 233k followers on TikTok Do you think TikTok is a bad influence? Yes. TikTok is certainly very addictive. They have a simple user interface anyone can use and you can end up spending a lot of time browsing it. While I do have a lot of followers, I support the Indian governments move to ban TikTok and other Chinese apps because they are posing a threat to our national security by stealing our data. Are you thinking of joining other short video platforms? Right now, I will focus more on YouTube. Thats where most of my audience comes from. I have also heard of a bunch of Indian apps that are like TikTok but for now, I will sit and observe what happens and then decide if I want to join another platform. Was it right to ban TikTok in India? TikTok, like any other social network, may feel addictive to young users, but the app is also designed in a way that incentivises you to keep scrolling and engaging. Speaking to a counselling psychologist who works with children in India, we learnt teenagers sometimes spend more than 5-6 hours getting a TikTok video right. I absolutely support the ban of TikTok. And Im happy yesterday itself it was declared banned in India, but it should be all around the world too. People need to understand the side effects of it, said Saleha Bootwala, a counselling psychologist based out of Pune. However, TikTok is only considering this an interim ban and has complied with it by taking down the apps from the app stores. TikTok India has been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. It's also not the first time the app was banned. Previously, the Madras High Court had asked the app to be removed citing pornographic content, but that ban was soon lifted. The present order is far more sweeping and includes a lot more apps, and came at a time when nationalistic sentiments are at an all-time high. TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, storytellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first-time internet users," said Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok, India The company said in a statement that it continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Our Divisions Copyright 2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. Subscriber content preview By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS The European Union is edging toward finalizing a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter Europe again in coming days, with Americans almost certain to be excluded in the short term due to the number of U.S. coronavirus cases. Spain's foreign minister said that the list could contain 15 countries that are not EU members and whose citizens would be allowed to visit from July 1. EU diplomats confirmed that the list would be made public on Tuesday. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the procedure is ongoing and politically very sensitive. . . . Subscriber content preview BREMERTON (AP) Two Washington state Native tribes sued a group of insurance providers they said have not covered claims for business losses resulting from the coronavirus. The Suquamish and Port Gamble S'Klallam tribes and their business arms filed separate lawsuits against Tribal First Alliant Underwriting Solutions, The Kitsap Sun reported Sunday. . . . Subscriber content preview WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court is leaving in place a decision that rejected environmental groups' challenge to sections of wall the Trump administration is building along the U.S. border with Mexico. The high court on Monday declined to hear an appeal involving construction of 145 miles of steel-bollard walls along the border in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. . . . Take Five - This is your final free article during this 30 day period. Stay in touch with all of the news. Sign up today for complete digital access to The Daily News-Record. Harrisonburg, VA (22801) Today Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low 63F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Savanah Weed has joined The Enterprise Ledgers editorial team. Weed, who has experience as both a reporter and sales representative, majored in journalism at Troy University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science: Journalism degree. She was a Summa cum laude graduate with a 4.0 grade point average, was president of Lambda Pi Eta, a member of Alpha Lambda Delta and recipient of the Foundation Scholar and Chancellors Scholarship. In her professional history with Troy Universitys Office of University Relations, The Monroe Journal, and Southeast Sun, Weed has already garnered the 2016 Mark of Excellence Award Region 3 National Winner, 2016 Region 3 Mark of Excellence winner, and 2019 Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest Third Place Photo Essay winner. A native of Midland City, Weed joins Editor Kyle Mooty, Reporter Ken Rogers and News Clerk Francie Baker on The Ledgers editorial team. I believe this will be the most experienced staff The Ledger has had during my seven-plus years here, Mooty said. Savanah brings a wealth of talent to the newsroom. That, coupled with Kens vast experience and Francies never ending assistance, makes us so much stronger. Its high time to get the debates rolling. Ask Dan Quayle or Rick Perry just how important a good debater can be. They were awful and never called the Oval Office home, and although Quayle was a one-term VP, his cluelessness as a VP debater certainly hurt Bush No. 1 in his effort to stay around D.C. a second go-round. Jimmy Carter was on both ends of the spectrum, thumping Gerald Ford in 1976 and getting thumped by Ronald Reagan at the 1980 debates. Ford had Joe Biden-like errors in his 76 debate against Carter, hence Carters victory; also, hence Bidens reluctance to debate President Trump considering Basement Joes often lapses in memory. In the past week alone Biden had about one-third of our country dying from COVID-19. Walmart will certainly not be opening another checkout line if thats the case. The debates supposedly got rolling as far back as 1858 when Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas argued outside over the phrase a house divided will not being able to stand on its own. Douglas lost and today has no national statues that anyone wants to tear down. Ronald Reagan, perhaps with his Hollywood background, was a master debater and easily handled both Carter and Walter Mondale. Larceny/theft-shoplifting fourth degree (less than $500) was filed from South Eufaula Avenue. Two packs of steak ($60) were reported stolen. JUNE 27 Auto theft first degree was filed from Lake Drive. One Ford F-250 truck ($4,000) was reported stolen and later recovered. Burglary (no force) first degree and theft of lost property fourth degree (less than $500) were filed from Lake Drive. One skill saw ($75) and one speaker box ($150) were reported stolen. A tan purse ($25) and an amplifier ($150) were reported stolen and later recovered. Rape first degree was reported from South Randolph Avenue (Chattahoochee Courts). Domestic violence third degree was reported from Highway 131. Domestic violence third degree was reported from Mustang Lane. Possession of cocaine and possession of methamphetamine were filed from South Randolph Avenue at Baker Place. One gram of methamphetamine ($20) and one gram of cocaine ($10) were recovered. An abandoned vehicle was reported from Spruce Drive at Spruce Circle. An information report was filed from Lakeside Drive. JUNE 28 People sometimes ask me what they can do personally to help wildlife and my first answer is Buy a Duck Stamp! Its easy, fun and tremendously effective, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith. The art is truly outstanding and collectible, but most importantly the money raised by stamp sales goes directly to benefit wildlife and national wildlife refuges that support them, which we in turn can all enjoy. President Trump and Secretary Bernhardt have made access to public lands for hunting and fishing and other outdoor recreation a priority beginning day one. The Service has proposed the largest ever expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities on national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries, kept refuge and fish hatchery lands open to the public during the coronavirus pandemic, and recently amended the regulations for the Federal Duck Stamp art contest. From 2021 on, every Federal Duck Stamp must feature an element reflecting the contribution hunters have made to conservation. Since Ding Darling quickly sketched the first duck stamp in 1934, art and conservation have been connected and the world is better for it. Whether youre an avid waterfowl hunter, birder, conservation enthusiast, or collector, every American has a good reason to buy a duck stamp, perhaps even two or three, said Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam. Of every dollar spent on a duck stamp, 98 cents of the purchase goes directly to acquiring and protecting waterfowl habitat, and thats a testament to the great administration of this long-running program by the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The First Day of Sale is our opportunity to celebrate another great season and say thank you to the adult and youth artists who lend their talents to this important cause and all those supporting and delivering wildlife conservation through their purchase of a duck stamp each year. Weve got to take the right actions to make sure this spread and this increase does not continue, Culver said. Weve got to wear masks. Weve got to maintain social distancing. This disease is still among us. Saliba said officials understand the frustrations to get the economy rolling and to feel safe in the community. We want to do the best, proportionate response to whats going on. Please consider that this is serious, Saliba said. Its not just protecting yourself, but its protecting those that are the most vulnerable in our city and our county. Additionally, in a recent interview with the Eagle, Southeast Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Charles Harkness said COVID-19 is an aerosolized virus and highly contagious. It spreads easily from person to person in enclosed environments and when people are in close contact or talking with one another. I think what bothers us the most is that we see people going into stores, restaurants or things like that without wearing masks, Harkness said. Were not trying to dictate how they live, but were trying to prevent them from getting what could be a fatal illness. Kyle Mooty, General Manager and Editor of the twice-weekly Eufaula Tribune and Editor of the daily Enterprise Ledger, captured a pair of awards from the Alabama Press Association Media Awards announced Friday by Dee Ann Campbell, chairman of the AMA Contest Committee. This year, 98 publications submitted 2,921 entries in the annual contest. The Mississippi Press Association membership judged the entries. Mooty, who has 96 editorial awards in his career spanning multiple states, was named the third place winner in Best Humorous Column for his June 5, 2019 column So, are Bigfoots moving in or out? about an alleged recent sighting in Georgetown, Georgia. He also took third place in the Best Human Interest Column category for his March 20, 2019 column One less smile makes the world a little darker today about a friends mother passing away in another state. Although the hospitals are seeing an increase in cases, hospitals across the state are not overwhelmed with cases at this time, Ivey said. State Rep. Dexter Grimsley of Abbeville spoke at the governors news conference about losing his sister, Lorianne Grimsley Shakespear, to COVID-19 earlier this year. We dont know when a vaccine will be available, Grimsley said. We dont know when better medication will be available to treat the virus. But, we do know this virus is making people sick. We do know this virus is killing people. I encourage the state of Alabama to rely on what we do know. Its not hard to wash your hands. Its not hard to practice social distancing, and its not hard to wear a face mask. Today, I challenge Alabama to look at what we do know and use common sense. Protect yourself and protect others. Governor praised The Alabama Hospital Association, Nursing Home Association and Medical Association of the State of Alabama praised Iveys decision to extend the current restrictions. The number of hospitalizations is increasing, and the state has now had more than 900 deaths attributed to COVID-19. Things are not getting better. They are getting worse, the groups said in a news release. Information from The Associated Press is included in this report. 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. WASHINGTON, D.C. Headland Municipal Airport and Weedon Field Airport in Eufaula are among 16 airports in Alabama to receive portions of a $10 million-plus federal grant, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., announced Tuesday. Several airports across the state will receive a total of $10,750,845, including Federal Aviation Administration grants for improvements to airport infrastructure. The grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, has been made available through annual appropriations measures and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act of 2020. Improvements to infrastructure at the local level are important for economic development in our communities, said Shelby, the states senior senator. I am pleased that these 16 airports will receive nearly $11 million to enhance safety and boost aviation advancements. This is great news for each of these areas and will advance economic growth. I look forward to the positive impact this funding will have throughout Alabama. The FAA grants are administered through fiscal year 2020 Airport Improvement Programs annual and supplemental awards. Additionally, funds provided through the CARES Act serve as the local match for the infrastructure grants. BELLWOOD COMMUNITY An ongoing feud between two women here ended Monday night with one dead and the other charged with murder, according to Geneva County Sheriff Tony Helms. Andrea Charlene Wambles is charged with murder for the shooting death of 40-year-old Danah Hudson Johnson. Geneva County EMS and Geneva County Sheriff deputies were dispatched to Craven Street here at 7:40 p.m. Monday in reference to an unresponsive female lying in the road. CPR was in process when deputies and EMS arrived on scene. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Helms said Johnson was shot multiple times in the upper torso area and died on the scene. The feud between Wambles and Johnson had been ongoing for some time, Helms said. At this time, we believe the feud is related to a male acquaintance of both women. Wambles was taken into custody for questioning. During the investigation, officers located Wambles vehicle hidden in the woods near the scene, and a pistol, which is believed the one used in the shooting, was also located. Wambles is currently booked in the Geneva County Jail, and Helms said the investigation is ongoing Get Breaking News Alerts Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. While city leaders are not sure if mandates are the proper next step, all encourage their citizens to wear masks to help contain the spread of the virus. Really, we just want all the citizens to consider this is a serious, contagious virus, Saliba said. Even if you may not have a family member thats been affected by it, there are a lot that have been. We continue to use the guidelines that are there for good common sense to control the virus spread in our community. The goal is to keep our hospitals from getting full of people with COVID-related health issues. Ozark Mayor Bob Bunting said the rise in cases over the last several weeks should be a major concern to everyone. I truly believe we all can do better, to include yours truly. We dont want to return to what we lived with for several weeks in March and April or have protective procedures mandated, Bunting said. Wearing a mask when you are around others is one way we can protect ourselves as well as family and friends. I do not like wearing a mask, and often times I fail to put mine on even when its in my pocket. I pledge to do better and I ask all of Ozark to do better. It was a Dundalk man abroad - Prof James H Murphy - who brought a quite remarkable, but little known (certainly from my perspective anyway), local historical figure to my attention last Thursday evening. Prof Murphy, a professor of English at Boston College in the US - but Dundalk born and bred - sent an email to the Democrat suggesting, not unreasonably, that, should DkIT ever achieve university status (thats another story...), it should be renamed in honour of a local man who, according to academics, influenced the likes of Geoffrey Chaucer (he of Canterbury Tales fame) and rubbed shoulders with popes and intellectual elites throughout his life. Richard FitzRalph was born a little before 1300 and died in 1360. According to a biography by a TP Dolan, he was an archbishop, theologian, and scholar known throughout Europe. Prof Murphy describes him as perhaps the greatest Dundalk man ever.... (who was also) Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, Archbishop of Armagh, a leading international diplomat at Avignon and an important author. Upon his death, he was believed to have been buried in the graveyard of our very own Green Church here in town, but his remains and plot have since been lost to history. His family roots couldnt be any more Dundalk if you tried. Dolan says he was born into the Anglo-Norman Rauf family, which was related to the Dowdall (Douedale) and Brisbon families of Dundalk. Its very likely he was educated at the Franciscan monastery in Seatown - the belltower of which remains on the corner of Mill Street and Castle Road to this day. He was, it has been recorded, vain, mercurial, and energetic, a fine theologian, a great biblical scholar, and a brilliant preacher who is, it is understood, the very first Irish person to ever have a book printed - the Defensio Curatorum (described as an uncompromising text) in 1474, just 34 years after Guttenberg had invented the printing press. From reading a bit further about his life, it would appear that Richard FitzRalph was quite the contrarian - another Dundalk trait, some wags might say. He was a principled man who stuck to his guns fiercely - even in the face of powerful popes and archbishops. It sometimes made him an outcasted figure. Dolan writes: He wrote and preached against the privileges of the friars, especially the Franciscans, whom he attacked for their alleged hypocrisy over their vow of absolute poverty. Dolan explains why FitzRalph might have publicly turned on his old Franciscan chums: His change of heart was probably due to the dire state of the finances of his diocese, as the friars in his view were appropriating moneys due to the diocese, arising from their administration of financially beneficial duties such as burying the wealthy dead. His vehemence probably cost him further advancement. FitzRalph left behind over ninety sermons, which have become an invaluable record of the theological thinking of that era. Their value enhanced by FitzRalphs meticulous record keeping and attention to detail in terms of dates, locations and language. Despite ending up being buried back in the town he was born, FitzRalph was incredibly well-travelled throughout his 60-odd years, delivering sermons across Ireland, England and Avignon in France. He was, which was surprising for such a figure from that era, also very outspoken and critical of the killing of Gaelic Irishmen by his Anglo-Irish compatriots. As Archbishop of Armagh, he would have led a very busy life according to Brendan Smith in Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their neighbours, 1330-1450. In his book, Smith describes a strange late-night communication at FitzRalphs manor in Dromiskin. "Archbishop Fitz Ralph was awoken late one February evening in 1354 at his manor of Dromiskin to be told that the Hungarian pilgrim, George Grissaphan (the Hungarian adventurer who crossed the European continent) who had returned from St Patrick's Purgatory, needed to see him in Dundalk immediately. In a subsequent missive to Grissaphan, Fitz Ralph described how 'on receipt of these letters we rose from our bed at midnight and that same Tuesday we came to Dundalk'". FitzRalph died in Avignon in November 1360. It wasnt until ten years after his death that his body was eventually returned to Dundalk where it was buried at St Nicholas Church. However, from the 17th century onwards there has been no trace of his tomb found. According to Dolan, the church, now considerably altered, contains a chapel dedicated to St Richard of Dundalk. There is an illustration of him in a manuscript made for Adam Easton (d. 1397), the English Benedictine monk and scholar, about twenty years after his death, which depicts him on the left side of the folio as an archbishop, with representatives of the four mendicant (of begging) orders being assaulted by devils on the other side. Perhaps Prof James Murphy in Boston is on to something about our forgotten friend Richard FitzRalph. Perhaps he deserves a more fitting public remembrance in his own hometown? Erin McGreehan has had a hectic few days since being nominated to the Seanad by new Taoiseach Micheal Martin on Saturday. But, after her first appearance at the Convention Centre in Dublin (the de facto Houses of the Oireachtas for the time being) yesterday, she found time to talk to the Democrat about her remarkably quick rise through the ranks, from first-time elected Fianna Fail local councillor in May 2019 to Senator in a little over 12 months, and how politics and a sense of public service has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. I was named after Ireland, and as a young girl I believed I was named after these Houses (Oireachtas) and I was meant to be there someday. I guess I was correct, she says when talking about how she used to stay up late to watch the Oireachtas Report and was in absolute awe and amazement of the proceedings. Home is clearly important to McGreehan. She believes the opportunities she has been given were hard-won while growing up during the hard times of the 1980s. Since I was a young girl I have recognised the importance of public service through politics. I saw how important politics was in creating opportunities for people. One of the ways the state created opportunities for people was through the provision of education. I am a product of fair access to education. I received an education in small rural schools in my own community and then was lucky enough to receive a grant to go to National University of Ireland Galway and then onto University College Dublin. I succeeded beyond my expectations for a girl that came from a farming family like so many families who struggled through the hard times of the 1980s. From Cooley, McGreehan has a unique perspective on the challenges facing the border area, not just at present (Brexit), but historically too: I no longer travel to my neighbours in Newry or elsewhere and hear that there is a bomb scare at Carrickarnon or in Dundalk, Armagh or Newry. This peace was achieved through politics and political dialogue. But Brexit is creeping coming back onto the agenda. A deadlock in talks does not bode well. In six months time the transition period comes to an end and there has been no progress on the negotiations between the UK and the EU. This is very worrying for our locality, says McGreehan. Appearing at the Seanad on Monday must have been a remarkable moment, both personally and professionally, McGreehan says it was a huge honour and shes absolutely delighted at her nomination. But the reality of the role and the huge privilege comes with an expectation. Shes representing her county now on a national stage. And, with Fianna Fail not having a sitting TD from Louth, shes the partys only local representative on such a platform. This county is facing many threats and challenges, she agrees. It is my responsibility and privilege to raise these issues in the Seanad and with the Ministers and to push for Louth at all times. Issues such as the costs of the Covid pandemic not just financial cost, but the impact on mental health and general health of people also. She certainly seems to be well-liked within Fianna Fail locally too, with Andrea McKevitt, the party's constituency delegate to the Ard Comhairle, contacting the Democrat to say McGreehan's nomination was a "great result for our constituency", adding: "I am proud that for the first time Fianna Fail in Louth has a female representative in the Oireachtas." So, now that she has that national platform, what does she stand for? What does she hope to change? One of my aims as an elected representative is to push for equality of access for all. Too many in our society do not have equal access, they are marginalised, and this is a disgrace. She continues: As a republican I believe in the equality of people on this island and it is my responsibility to fight for the marginalised. For example; not having safe passage on a street as a visually impaired person or a person in a wheelchair or to improve access for people with disabilities entering the workforce. We need to work to provide access for the minorities in our society; so that the workforce reflects the diversity of the society we live in. This drive for equality comes from her childhood, she says, and her obviously political roots. As a child I repeatedly read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and it would do us all well to read that document. Particularly the last few paragraphs where it demands equal rights and equal opportunities for all. This is what our country should be focused on and it is one of the main inspirations for me to be involved in politics. KEENE - Francis (Frank) Gitschier, age 49 of Lowell and Keene, NH, passed away June 4, 2021. He was born on July 29, 1971 in Lowell to the late Patricia Saunders and Francis Marcotte. Frank cared for everyone and everything with a huge heart and best intentions. He was an avid Bruins fan, lo Current Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Dallas Sunday morning wearing a mask to attend the First Baptist Church Dallas as a special guest speaker at their annual "Celebrate Freedom Sunday" event. Vice President Pence celebrated freedom with 2,200 congregants of the First Baptist Church Dallas with an additional 535,000 viewers online. "The foundation of America is freedom, and the foundation of freedom is faith," Pence shared in his 30-minute speech. Pence continued to encourage congregants and suggested to start praying for America again. "In these challenging times, let's hold fast to freedom...and to faith. Let's start praying for America again." "From day one, President Trump has protected the freedom of all Americans. Only the nations that have the Lord as their God are blessed," Pence shared. Pence was criticized by some for showing up at an in-person service in Dallas when the number of confirmed coronavirus cases were rising there. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas and also the member of President Donald Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board and White House Faith Initiative, praised the Trump Administration for enacting "the most pro-life, pro-religious liberty, pro-Israel, pro-conservative judiciary in the history of America." Jeffress showed admiration for Vice President Pence when introducing him to the stage as a "man of deep faith" who "believes in the power of prayer despite being ridiculed for his faith" and is "a champion of religious liberty in our country and around the world." Despite rather political initiations, Pastor Jeffress confirmed that this event was not a campaign rally. In an interview with Baptist Press Jeffress said, "Anybody who would categorize this as a campaign rally I would just say I've never seen a campaign rally where there was a plan of salvation given, and a prayer of salvation offered for those who wanted to trust in Christ." When Pastor Jeffress was asked to respond to those who believe masks infringe on their freedom, Jeffress said that it is "ludicrous" and that "there's nothing political about wearing a mask" and that it's a medical issue. "I think people who have common sense realize a mask doesn't only protect them, but it protects those around them as well. And as Christians especially, we're supposed to be concerned not just for ourselves but the well-being of our weaker brother. In this case -- those who might be more susceptible to the virus." UMATILLA COUNTY Amid the ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases locally and across the state, the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners voted unan Veronica Warnock is the conservation director for Greater Hells Canyon Council and Rob Klavins is the Northeast Oregon field coordinator for Oregon Wild. Both are based in Wallowa County. CMA Health Professionals Lament Supreme Court Ruling Striking Down Louisiana's Patient-Protecting Abortion Doctor Requirement NEWS PROVIDED BY Christian Medical Association (CMA) June 29, 2020 BRISTOL, Tenn., June 29, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today the 18,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA) decried a Supreme Court ruling striking down a Louisiana law that required abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. CMA had filed a brief in the case, June Medical Services v. Russo. Dr. Jeff Barrows, CMA Senior VP for Bioethics and Public Policy and an Ob-Gyn physician, said, "The simple truth that a slim majority at the Court today failed to recognize is that women undergoing an abortion deserve the same health and safety measures required for other similar surgical procedures. "The continuity of care provided by a doctor's admitting privileges at a nearby hospital can be critically important to treating a patient suffering life-threatening complications that may have directly resulted from that doctor's procedure. But instead the Court chose to allow abortion doctors to simply wash their hands of any responsibility for patient continuity of care. That leaves emergency room doctors caught figuring out the causes of complications with no direct knowledge of what happened during the abortion procedure. And if the patient herself is unconscious, those doctors may not even know that an abortion had been performed on her. "All we need to understand the need for health and safety requirements in abortion facilities is to recall the tragic example of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortion butcher convicted of murder and who had a patient die of complications. That's what happens when abortion doctors are not required to follow health and safety requirements. Patients die and suffer under squalid conditions and doctor incompetence." In a dissent on the ruling, Justice Samuel Alito observed that "there is ample evidence in the record showing that admitting privileges help to protect the health of women by ensuring that physicians who perform abortions meet a higher standard of competence than is shown by the mere possession of a license to practice." SOURCE Christian Medical Association (CMA) CONTACT: Margie Shealy, margie.shealy@cmda.org Related Links www.cmda.org Share Tweet As one of the worlds few meteorite impact sites, Meteor Crater is considered to be the best-preserved on the planet. Shoppers are starting to come back to their favorite brick and mortar storefronts as the pandemic restrictions allow consumers to exit from lockdown. But the impact of COVID-19 has etched some far-reaching changes in the retail industry that will not set back the strides online shopping has gained since March. That is a conclusion clearly visible in research published by TrustRadius in late June entitled "Ecommerce Software Statistics and Trends." A new normal for retail remains in the wake of the forced reshaping of how retailers and consumers do business. Some employees are heading back to their physical offices as store workers settle into the reopenings. For instance, some of the key highlights show the new top online shopping platforms for consumers in order of traffic are Shopify, SAP Commerce Cloud, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, according to the review site for business technology. To be clear, when referring to e-commerce software, TrustRadius means platforms or plugins that allow online sellers to create and host an e-commerce website, display a product catalog, offer a shopping cart, and provide customers with a secure way to conduct online transactions. The company's research includes both comprehensive e-commerce platforms from vendors like Shopify, SAP, Oracle, and BigCommerce. It also includes customer management systems plugins like WooCommerce in the report's e-commerce platforms category, explained Megan Headley, vice president of research at TrustRadius. "TrustRadius does not use an e-commerce platform. Instead, we provide verified customer reviews for e-commerce software products," she told the E-Commerce Times. Key Highlights Predictions say that there could be between 20,000 to 25,000 storefront closures in the U.S. in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. As of June, total retail spending in the U.S. is expected to decline by about 10.5 percent for 2020. The two primary sales channels that make up 'total retail spending' have seen opposite trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. While brick-and-mortar retail sales are expected to decrease by 14 percent, e-commerce sales are predicted to increase by 18 percent to US$710 billion in 2020. "While the total retail sales have seen a large decrease during the first half of 2020, e-commerce sales have surged," Headley reiterated. Losses from in-person sales have made a large dent in the retail market. Online sales have soared as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A huge spike took place over interest in e-commerce software, according to TrustRadius' analysis. This spike was particularly evident among small business-friendly platforms like Shopify. TrustRadius has seen an 85 percent increase in traffic to the e-commerce software category from January through May 2020. In light of COVID-19 impact on retail sales, these statistics could be very encouraging for people in the e-commerce community, according to observers. For instance, 45 percent of e-commerce traffic currently comes from enterprises. Traffic to this category has increased by 85 percent in the past few months. Research Methods TrustRadius is a hub for buyers, sellers, experts, and users of business technology. So the activity we see on our website can be a helpful proxy for market trends, noted Headley. To collect this data specifically, her company examined internal website traffic usage reports using Google Analytics. Researchers verified that the patterns viewed reflected broader market dynamics using external data from sources like Google Trends. The company's researchers used reports from sources such as the New York Times, eMarketer, Statista.com, and the Washington Post to help researchers better understand the narrative behind the numbers they were seeing, Headley explained. E-Commerce Software Demand The company monitors all types of B2B technology. It has taken a keen interest in actively tracking how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected multiple software and hardware categories, including the e-commerce industry. TrustRadius reports aim to help both software buyers and vendors navigate this new business environment. More specifically, to help e-commerce software buyers find the product that best matches their business needs, the company conducts sentiment analysis on the review data it collects. The company also provides average ratings across a variety of product attributes. It then publishes a TrustMap that displays the relative popularity and overall score of products on TrustRadius, Headley detailed about her company's mission. "Based on data from TrustRadius and external sources, it's clear that interest in e-commerce software has been increasing as of February 2020," she said. The resulting spike in website traffic for products like Shopify, SAP Commerce Cloud, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud is a key indicator. At play is a unique opportunity for e-commerce software vendors to reach out to their current and future customers to see how they are being impacted by the pandemic and offer support, Headley suggested. She sees a two-fold gain for those who do. One, there are likely additional e-commerce tools or strategies vendors can provide that will help their customers adapt to the changing business environment. Two, from re-thinking pricing tiers to developing new features, the impacts of the pandemic will change how e-commerce platforms go to market. Reviews from customers can help e-commerce software companies collect the intelligence they need. Changing Times The digital ecosystem is now much larger than we had predicted several months ago. It will only continue to grow moving forward, as it has become more nuanced and complex with the rise of direct-to-consumer, according to Michael Lagoni, CEO of Stackline. "Historically, less than 10 percent of consumer brands and manufacturers sold products directly through their own direct-to-consumer site. Now, in 18 months, the ratio will be completely flipped, and the vast majority of brands will be operating a DTC platform of their own," he told the E-Commerce Times. "The current DTC, e-commerce competitive landscape is going to be completely transformed." Until recently, smaller, more entrepreneurial digitally native brands built awareness through Facebook and Instagram. They ran their e-commerce business more nimbly around larger incumbent brands, who historically focused on the brick and mortar channel, Lagoni explained. However, many of the large incumbent manufacturers and brands who failed to put resources into e-commerce or integrate direct-to-consumer platforms, because of channel conflicts, are recognizing they cannot be as reliant on brick and mortar. "They're navigating and changing their strategy very rapidly. Now, you're going to see a new wave of market entrance. Larger, more traditional brands will replicate digital marketing growth strategies smaller entrepreneurial companies employed successfully in the past," Lagoni predicted. Pandemic Fueling E-Commerce Growth The past quarter's events have had conditions no one could foresee. E-commerce was already a growing industry that was forecasted to keep growing, according to Ben Parr, co-founder and president of Octane AI. "The global pandemic caused E-Commerce growth to accelerate a couple of years ahead of what was forecast," he told the E-Commerce Times. "With stores shutting their doors due to the pandemic, consumers who had never shopped online before discovered online shopping and recognized it as a comfortable option." Even with stores reopening, most consumers will view non-essential shopping as a risk, Parr continued. As the economy reopens, consumers will determine if the products they need are worth the risk of going into a brick-and-mortar store. "They will choose to shop online in almost every case," he said. Paradigm Shift The paradigm has shifted forever, resulting in e-Commerce and other DTC consumer channels have become the cornerstone of a brands business, offered Shelly Socol, co-founder of One Rockwell, a digital commerce agency located in New York City. "In the past, brand wholesale and retail channels were the foundation, and you would layer in e-commerce on top of that. With COVID this structure has been flipped on its head. There will be those who saw this early and succeeded, and those who could not make that shift will not survive," she told the E-Commerce Times. Even with all the adjustments being made by retail stores to encourage shoppers to feel safe and return to an in-store shopping experience, more people will be shopping on their devices as it is the safest way to shop. Online shopping will double or triple from the past. E-commerce will be the main channel where brands will invest their resources, and that being so, will guide their overall strategy, Socol suggested. Jack M. Germain has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His main areas of focus are enterprise IT, Linux and open source technologies. He has written numerous reviews of Linux distros and other open source software. Email Jack. A Brand's Guide to Digital Shelf Analytics | eBook What can you do to improve your digital commerce game? The first rule of the digital shelf is to make sure your products can be found. Some might say its mission impossible. Unless, of course, you use digital shelf analytics (DSA). Get the eBook Today! Qualcomm on Wednesday announced its Robotics RB5 platform, with 5G and 4G connectivity, on-device AI and machine learning, superior computing and intelligent sensing capabilities. The platform's Qualcomm QRB5165 processor, which is customized for robotics applications, offers a heterogeneous computing architecture coupled with the 5th-generation Qualcomm AI Engine -- with its new Hexagon Tensor Accelerator -- that delivers 15 Tera Trillion Operations Per Second (TOPS) of AI performance. "The QRB5165 has an octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 858 matched with an Adreno 650 GPU and a digital signal processor," Ray Wang, a principal analyst at Constellation Research, told TechNewsWorld. This makes it "super fast," Wang remarked. Its processing rate is 2 Gigapixels per second, it can perform 8K video recording at 30 fps, and handle 200-megapixel photos. "When paired with the AI engine, it has the speed to improve industrial robots, military applications, and even retail and hospitality scenarios," Wang added. "You get seven concurrent video cameras that can do things like object detection and classification, self-navigation, and path planning." Interest in the RB5 At least 20 companies, including LG, drone maker Skydio, security robot maker NXT Robotics, and China's delivery robot and drone maker Meitun, had an early look at the technology and will likely use it, Qualcomm said. More than 30 hardware and software companies are working on ancillary technology to enable various robotics applications. They include drone mapper AirMap; Canonical, which publishes Ubuntu; robot fleet manager InOrbit; and Intel with its RealSense technology for depth and tracking cameras. Commercial products based on the RB5 platform are expected to be available in 2020, said Dev Singh, head of Qualcomm's robotics, drones and intelligent machines business. This is realistic because "they've been working with over 50 OEMs and partners well before the announcement," Francis Sideco, a senior analyst with Tirias Research, told TechNewsWorld. Qualcomm "is pretty reliable in their predictions," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at The Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld. "They're used to a smartphone cadence and this timeframe would easily fit within the 6-month smartphone window." The RB5's main selling point is that it "has low power consumption for an SoC with such high capability," remarked Chris Taylor, a research director at Strategy Analytics. "In terms of total cost of ownership, the RB5 probably hits a sweet spot for many of the applications Qualcomm talks about compared to existing solutions using more conventional chips," Taylor told TechNewsWorld. The platform is available with multiple options, and has an option for extended lifecycle until 2029, Singh stated. "The battle for the autonomous enterprise starts with robotics platforms in hardware," Constellation Research's Wang remarked. "Qualcomm has done a good job assembling an ecosystem for the RB5." Robotics development platforms "will be key to accelerate edge computing, the Internet of Things, and automation," he noted. "The post-pandemic playbook shows a huge interest in improving robotics, customer facing automation, and ambient experiences." RB5 Hardware Dev Kit Thundercomm, a joint venture between Chinese firm Thunder Software Technology Co. Ltd. and Qualcomm (Guizhou) Investment Co. Ltd., is taking pre-orders for the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 hardware development kit, based on the QRB5165 processor. The kit consists of a robotics-focused development board that complies with the 96Boards open hardware spec to support a range of mezzanine-board expansions for developing proof-of-concepts and rapid prototyping. Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Development Kit It supports Linux, Ubuntu and Robot Operating System (ROS) 2 and has pre-integrated drivers for various cameras, sensors and connectivity. The board supports the 5th generation Qualcomm AI engine. It can operate between -340 degrees and +105 degrees Celsius. It communicates through industrial protocols such as EtherCAT and time-sensitive networking (TSN), and supports security at almost every layer. The kit will be available in late July. Thin Competition The main competitor to the RB5 is Nvidia's ISAAC SDK. "Nvidia's is the best known," Enderle said. "Their Jetson offerings are similar in concept." Intel "has the making of one used in their drone swarms, but they haven't packaged it up as well yet," Enderle remarked. However, the mix of low-power AI and connectivity "is unique to Qualcomm," Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research, told TechNewsWorld. Robotics is compute-intensive so CPU vendor platforms "have the home court advantage," noted Holger Mueller, a principal analyst at Constellation Research. That said, "The main problem is the lack of common standards for robotic automation at present," Mueller told TechNewsWorld. Potential Market "There's a lot of interest in 5G in robotics and drones," Krewell said. 5G has lower latency and higher bandwidth, "which can reduce connectivity lag." There is some debate, however, about whether 5G will take off here in the United States. The United States Federal Communications Commission has a plan to boost 5G, but there are conflicting reports about the market for the technology. "One of the impacts of COVID-19 is the need for more remote interactions," observed Tirias Research's Sideco. "Robots and drones help with this demand and those with 5G and AI even more so." Some believe the pandemic will push the demand for 5G but others point out that building out 5G networks is not proceeding as rapidly as hoped. "The pandemic slowed manufacturing and some wrongly concluded it spread COVID-19, which has delayed deployment and resulted in the destruction of some 5G towers," Enderle said. However, "We should have decent coverage of major cities and some rural areas in the U.S. by year end." Lack of coverage won't be a problem because "5G robotics can use 4G, WiFi or no connectivity at all," Strategy Analytics' Taylor added. Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard. The spring of 2020 was a very bumpy ride for everyone involved in K-12 education, and it appeared to grow even bumpier as the school year wound down. Teachers grew increasingly frustrated about students not logging in to instructional sites or connecting with them, more students appeared to be having trouble focusing on school work at home, and over a quarter of educators reported overeating more than they had before the pandemic. The EdWeek Research Center recently asked a nationally-representative sample of 1,150 district leaders, principals, and teachers to take stock of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2019-20 school year as well as what they might see and experience when they return to their school buildings in the fall. Here are five top takeaways from the survey: 1. Most District Leaders to Require Face Masks for Employees, But Not Students When School Buildings Reopen Most district leaders (55 percent) say that employees will be required to wear face masks when in-person instruction resumes in the fall. But just 36 percent say the same will be required of students. Coronavirus-related safety measures have become increasingly politicized, especially when it comes to masks, with 75 percent of Democrats versus 48 percent of Republicans telling Gallup in mid-April that theyd worn one . The poll also found that mask wearing is more common in cities and in suburbs than in rural areas. The EdWeek Research Center survey results reflect some of these trends. For example, 49 percent of Western leaders and 42 percent of Northeasterners will require students to wear masks, compared with 24 percent of Midwesterners and 33 percent of Southerners. Similar trends exist for employee masks, with 71 percent of Northeastern leaders but less than half of Midwesterners and 52 percent of Southerners requiring them. Although less likely to require masks, Southerners are more likely than those in other regions to implement other safety measures including checking student and employee temperatures and requiring students exposed to the virus to stay home. Compared with white people, Hispanic and Black people are much more likely to suffer adverse effects , including death, from COVID-19. Yet administrators in districts where 75 percent or more of students are white are significantly more likely to require employees to wear masks than are their fellow educators in districts with larger shares of minority students. However, the reverse is true when it comes to student mask requirements. Student masks will be required in 28 percent of districts in which the student body is 75 percent or more white, compared with 69 percent of districts that are 75 percent or more nonwhite. 2. Did Students Work Count During the Coronavirus Closures? It Depends Almost as soon as schools shut down for the pandemic, educators, parents and students around the country started agonizing over what to do about grades and other evaluations and consequences related to the quantity and quality of student work during school closures. Some argued fiercely that students needed grades for motivation, for college, or to avoid so-called deficit thinking that assumes that some students are incapable of learning without the support and structure of school. Others worried that it was unfair to hold students accountable as they faced obstacles, such as unequal access to technology, that were beyond their control, in an environment in which many teachers were learning new approaches to pedagogy on the fly. In the end, educators appear to have taken multiple approaches. At the time of the June 18 EdWeek Research Center survey, with 90 percent of respondents reporting that school was out for summer, just 22 percent of teachers said they had fully counted work assigned during the closures toward students final grades. However, only 36 percent said the work did not count at all. Instead, the most common approach, adopted by 43 percent of teachers, was to partially count work assigned during the public health crisis. Approaches varied by grade level, with high school teachers more than twice as likely as elementary educators to fully count work assigned after the closures (37 percent versus 15 percent). By contrast, elementary teachers were more than three times more likely than their high school teaching colleagues to say the work did not count at all (47 percent versus 13 percent). Even if teachers did count assignments toward final grades, its unclear how much the grades themselves will matter. Most principals and district leaders (63 percent) say that, ultimately, students did not face consequences if they failed to do their work and/or meet standards during the closures. Twenty-six percent said students would face consequences. And 10 percent were undecided. Among the 26 percent of school and district leaders who did attach consequences to coronavirus school work, a failing grade was the most common penalty, followed by assignment to summer school or another form of credit recovery. More severe consequences such as retention in grade or denial of high school diplomas were relatively rare. 3. As the School Year Ended, Teachers Top Challenge Was Students Not Logging In/Communicating With schools largely closed for the summer, the EdWeek Research Center asked educators to take stock of the challenges they faced during the sudden shift to remote learning. The first time the Center asked this question was on March 25, when schools had only just shut down in response to the pandemic. Back then, the most frequently reported challenge, cited by 58 percent of teachers, was that it was difficult to tell whether students were learning or if they needed more help. As the school year came to a close, that remained a major challenge for most educators (59 percent). However, a different concern shot to the top of the list during the spring semester. Nearly two out of three teachers reported that a major challenge during the closures was that students were not logging in or interacting with them, up from 44 percent in late March. This should come as no surprise as teachers surveyed by the EdWeek Research Center during the closures consistently reported that more than 20 percent of students were essentially missing in action during the closures, compared with just 3 percent prior to the pandemic. Student focus was also a big issue that grew challenging for more teachers as the closures wore on. In March, 1 in 3 teachers said it was a major challenge that students were having a lot more trouble focusing on work at home than at school. This month, that share nearly doubled to 62 percent. Finally, as the year drew to a close, teachers grew increasingly concerned that students were having trouble using technology effectively for learning. 4. Live Videoconferencing Is Educators Top Tool for Teaching Social Studies/History/Civics Since early April, the EdWeek Research Center has been surveying educators about the tools they say are more and less effective for teaching specific subject matter. This most recent survey addressed social studies/history/civics. As was the case with science, English/language arts and math, teachers and district leaders were most likely to say that live videoconferencing tools like Zoom were very effective for remote social studies instruction during this difficult time. Sixty-nine percent of educators say this tool is very effective for social studies, compared with 63 percent who say it works well for English/language arts, 62 percent for science, and 57 percent for math. However, district leaders are significantly more likely than teachers to say videoconferencing tools are effective for social studies (80 percent versus 59 percent). 5. Stuck at Home During the Pandemic, Most Educators Are Working on Home Improvement Projects And now for a slightly lighter topic. With most schools out for summer, the EdWeek Research Center asked teachers, principals and district leaders which activitiesother than workingthey had been doing more of since the pandemic started. At the top of the list is home improvement/maintenance. Fifty-eight percent of teachers and administrators report that theyre spending more time painting, sanding, hammering, and otherwise improving their homes. More than half of educators also say theyve been devoting more hours to cleaning/chores, watching TV, interacting with family, and reading. Reading and watching TV were especially popular with teachers. Perhaps not surprisingly, devoting more time to reading is significantly more common among English/language arts teachers (72 percent) than math teachers (53 percent). On a more serious note, the survey also asked whether educators were spending more time on potentially self-defeating behaviors (overeating, drinking alcohol, using marijuana or tobacco, or gambling) that are sometimes embraced during times of stress. The good news is that no educators reported turning more frequently to gambling and virtually no one said they were using more marijuana or tobacco. However, 28 percent say theyre overeating more than before. (A survey conducted in April by the loan company Self found that 19 percent of Americans are generally eating more and that 32 percent are eating more junk food, but the survey did not specifically ask about overeating.) Teachers and district leaders are more likely than principals to say theyve been overeating more than usual. Just 15 percent of educators say they are drinking more alcohol than they did before the pandemic. However, overall alcohol consumption in the U.S. has declined during the pandemic , largely driven by decreases in consumption at restaurants and bars that have remained closed in many areas of the country. A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a Montana state constitutional provision barring aid to religious schools discriminated against those schools and families seeking to benefit from a state tax credit for scholarship donations. Montanas no-aid provision bars religious schools from public benefits solely because of the religious character of the schools, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the court in a 5-4 decision. The provision also bars parents who wish to send their children to a religious school from those same benefits, again solely because of the religious character of the school. The decision came in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (Case No. 18-1195), which involves a $150 state tax credit for contributions to funds that provide scholarships for students to attend private schools, including religious schools. The chief justices opinion appeared to cast doubt on provisions in as many as 30 state constitutions that bar aid to religious schools. A state need not subsidize private education, Roberts wrote. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, a longtime private school choice advocate who had attended the January arguments in the case, called the decision a historic victory for Americas students. This decision represents a turning point in the sad and static history of American education, and it will spark a new beginning of education that focuses first on students and their needs, DeVos said in a statement. Im calling on all states to now seize the extraordinary opportunity to expand all education options at all schools to every single student in America. But Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, which supported the state and its no-aid provision, said the decision was a seismic shock that threatens both public education and religious liberty. Never in more than two centuries of American history has the free exercise clause of the First Amendment been wielded as a weapon to defund and dismantle public education, Weingarten said in a statement. Two of the three parents who challenged the states decision had attended the Supreme Court arguments in January with their children: Kendra Espinoza and her daughters Naomi and Sarah; and Jeri Anderson and her daughter, Emma. On Tuesday, the mothers were elated by the Supreme Court decision. We were yipping and hollering this morning, Espinoza said in a conference call with reporters. Today is a big victory for our family and for so many other families. Anderson said having access to these scholarships is going to make a tremendous difference to Emmas future education. She is at a school where she is thriving and which she loves. The three children attend Stillwater Christian School, a private religious school in Kalispell, Mont. Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, a Democrat who had allowed the tax credit program to go into effect without his signature but had joined the Department of Revenue in defending the state constitutions no-aid provision, said in a statement that Montanans have a constitutional right to a quality public education. Im disappointed in todays decision, and will continue the fight for public education in Montana. The chief justices opinion was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch, and Brett M. Kavanaugh, with Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch filing concurring opinions. The courts more-liberal members issued or joined three separate dissents, offering different grounds. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a dissent joined by Justice Elena Kagan, said there was no burden put on the First Amendment free exercise of religion rights of the parents or religious schools in the case because the Montana Supreme Court had struck down the tax credit program in its entirety based on the no-aid provision. Accordingly, the Montana Supreme Courts decision does not place a burden on [parents] religious exercise, Ginsburg said. There simply are no scholarship funds to be had. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent for herself, said the majority was wrong to decide the merits of the case because the tax credit program was struck down by the Montana Supreme Court in its entirety. Todays ruling is perverse, Sotomayor said. Without any need or power to do so, the court appears to require a state to reinstate a tax-credit program that the Constitution did not demand in the first place. Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote a dissent, joined by Kagan in part. The majoritys approach and its conclusion in this case, I fear, risk the kind of entanglement and conflict that the [First Amendments] religion clauses are intended to prevent, Breyer wrote. Implications for Other States The Montana program was passed by a Republican-majority legislature in 2015 and modeled on similar programs in 18 other states. Montanas revenue department, which administers the tax credit, issued an administrative rule that barred the scholarships from being used at religious schools. It cited a state constitutional provision that says the state shall not make any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies ... for any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination. Montana is among some 38 states that have state constitutional provisions that bar aid to religion. Some call these measures baby Blaine amendments after the federal Blaine amendment, introduced in Congress in 1875 by James G. Blaine, then a member of the House of Representatives from Maine. The amendment would have made the U.S. Constitutions bar on government establishment of religion applicable to the states and declared that no state tax money shall ever be under the control of any religious sect. Although the federal measure failed, more than 20 states subsequently adopted state constitutional measures that in some form or other bar government aid to religious denominations and religious schools. Montanas rule limiting the scholarships to secular private schools was challenged as a violation of the free-exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution by parents who sought to use the scholarship aid at religious schools. The Montana Supreme Court in 2018 invalidated the entire tax-credit program, for both religious and nonreligious schools, based on the state constitutional provision. But it stayed its decision, and money from scholarship contributors claiming the tax credit in the 2018 tax year was used by a private organization, Big Sky Scholarships, to give $500 scholarships to about 40 families during the 2019-20 school year. Erica Smith, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, an Arlington, Va.-based legal organization that represented the parents who challenged the restriction, said the decision means the Montana tax credit program will be back in operation and the private scholarship fund will be able to resume issuing aid to families. Scott Bullock, the president and general counsel of the institute, said on the call, The court has now removed the largest state constitutional obstacle to education choice by holding that pernicious Blaine Amendments in state constitutions cannot be used to block choice for parents. Sanjay Talwani, a spokesman for the Montana Department of Revenue, said via email that the department was still assessing the decision and what it means for the tax credit. Bigoted Code Language The chief justices discussion of the role of the Blaine Amendment and baby Blaine Amendments generally was spare, particularly compared with Alitos concurrence. Roberts adopted language written by Thomas in a 2000 plurality opinion, in Mitchell v. Helms , that the Blaine Amendment was born of bigotry and arose at a time of pervasive hostility to the Catholic Church and to Catholics in general. While the historical record is complex, Roberts said, the no-aid provisions of the 19th century hardly evince a tradition that should inform our understanding of the free exercise clause. Alito joined the chief justices opinion in full, but wrote 13 pages in a concurrence that outlined the history of the federal and state Blaine measures, even reproducing in his opinion an 1871 cartoon published in Harpers Weekly, which in his view captured the anti-Catholic feelings of the day by depicting Catholic priests as crocodiles slithering hungrily toward American children as a public school crumbles in the background. Montanas no-aid provision retains the bigoted code language used throughout state Blaine Amendments, Alito said. Steven K. Green, a law professor at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., who had helped write a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Montana, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the decision. To a certain extent, the chief justices opinion was predictable, Green said. The bottom line is that the chief justice goes to the edge, but he doesnt push these no-aid provisions over the cliff. But I think the opinion today effectively makes these provisions unenforceable. Green said he was somewhat disappointed that the dissenters did not take Roberts or Alito to task for their use of history. I think they realized it was unwinnable at this point. In the midst of an unprecedented crisis, it can be hard to see more than a few days into the future. Amid the fog, however, two things seem certain: COVID-19 has ravaged the U.S. economy, and the harm has not been equally distributed. With so much uncertainty about the depth and length of the current recession, educators across the county are worried about the long-term impact on families and schools and the potential racial and class inequalities that are likely to grow. Perhaps the best guide to the future is the recent pastspecifically, how the most vulnerable households and their children coped with the wreckage created by the 2008 global financial crisis. A few lessons stand out as particularly pertinent to the crisis we are currently facing. The impact of the Great Recession varied significantly across different regions, where lines of inequality were usually drawn between racially segregated neighborhoods and their respective segregated schools. An increase in home foreclosures was a defining feature of the last recession, which meant many students, disproportionately low-income students of color, were forced from their homes. As the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic extend into the future, policymakers are still trying to figure out what type of assistance is needed for both renters and homeowners. The federal government has already introduced up to 12 months of mortgage forbearance for federally backed loans. While certainly a step in the right direction, this leaves out the 44 million households that rent their homes. Renters typically have lower incomes and savings, less access to credit, and less stable jobs, which make them more vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis than the 78 million households that own their homes . They also were more likely to work in industries crippled by COVID-induced job losses. The last recession also saw the most vulnerable students experience declines in high school graduation rates." Faced with the specter of a rental-housing crisis, some states and cities implemented their own renter-eviction moratoriums. Although these moratoriums have been helpful in the short term, about half the states have already begun lifting them, and delayed rents will be owed, potentially leading to an avalanche of eviction proceedings. As a result, delinquent rents could easily spiral into foreclosed units, and many families may soon face displacement. While it appears that most households are still paying their rent , a sign that temporary government assistance and emergency orders are helping, current federal support is set to expire at the end of July. Additional disaster relief is likely, but support will eventually end, and barring an extraordinary economic recovery the underlying crisis will become evident. Some cities and states have set up their own renter-assistance programs , but as tax revenues have plummeted, their budgets will not be able to meet the growing demand. The data and analytics real estate firm Amherst projects that 28 million renters are now at risk of eviction. If the current crisis is protracted, Congress will need to inject funding into the rental ecosystem to mitigate major housing instability. Children in unstable housing arrangements frequently change schools in the middle of the year, which creates a major disruption to their learning. In my research on high school students in the city of San Bernardino, Calif., one of the Great Recession epicenters, school mobility rates for Black children were especially high . These students were often forced to move midyear to new schools that were lower performing. Researchers have long documented how frequent school moves like these have tangible consequences, not just for the mobile students but for their nonmobile peers as well. During the Great Recession, millions of homeowners lost their homes. But this time, renters are likely to be on the front lines, especially if renter-relief programs are phased out early. The last recession also saw the most vulnerable students experience declines in high school graduation rates. In my recent study , I found that low-income students and students of color experienced especially significant declines in graduation rates in 2008, the height of the economic crisis. One silver lining was that after the initial shock in 2008, though, graduation rates increased during the recession. Likely because there werent many job prospects, fewer students felt the pull to leave school when the economy was faltering. Similar patterns have been found historically. During the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 30s, for example, the United States saw a large increase in high school enrollment and graduation. Lets hope this holds true with this current economic crisis. However, this trend may be confounded by the fact that schools have been physically shuttered as a result of the coronavirus lockdowns, affecting at least 55 million students . But the effects of these closures are not equal, as the countrys most vulnerable students did not have the same access to attend virtually as education moved online. In the first weeks of the lockdown, some school districts reported that over a third of their students had not even logged in to the school system, let alone attended classes. While virtual attendance did improve since, the so-called digital divide is likely compounded by the fact that job losses have been disproportionately concentrated among working-class families and communities of color. If the last economic crisis taught us anything about schools, it is that the economic shock will fall most heavily on those children who are most in need of education. Without proper policy efforts to cushion the current economic blow to both schools and families, the cycle from the past is destined to repeat. As with the Great Recession, the current economic crisis will not create inequality, but it will bring into sharper relief and deepen the existing differences that we ignore all too often. Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Sponsored By: St Anthony's Hospital A cosmic mystery: ESO telescope captures the disappearance of a massive star Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have discovered the absence of an unstable massive star in a dwarf galaxy. Scientists think this could indicate that the star became less bright and partially obscured by dust. An alternative explanation is that the star collapsed into a black hole without producing a supernova. "If true," says team leader and PhD student Andrew Allan of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, "this would be the first direct detection of such a monster star ending its life in this manner." Between 2001 and 2011, various teams of astronomers studied the mysterious massive star, located in the Kinman Dwarf galaxy, and their observations indicated it was in a late stage of its evolution. Allan and his collaborators in Ireland, Chile and the US wanted to find out more about how very massive stars end their lives, and the object in the Kinman Dwarf seemed like the perfect target. But when they pointed ESO's VLT to the distant galaxy in 2019, they could no longer find the telltale signatures of the star. "Instead, we were surprised to find out that the star had disappeared!" says Allan, who led a study of the star published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Located some 75 million light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius, the Kinman Dwarf galaxy is too far away for astronomers to see its individual stars, but they can detect the signatures of some of them. From 2001 to 2011, the light from the galaxy consistently showed evidence that it hosted a 'luminous blue variable' star some 2.5 million times brighter than the Sun. Stars of this type are unstable, showing occasional dramatic shifts in their spectra and brightness. Even with those shifts, luminous blue variables leave specific traces scientists can identify, but they were absent from the data the team collected in 2019, leaving them to wonder what had happened to the star. "It would be highly unusual for such a massive star to disappear without producing a bright supernova explosion," says Allan. The group first turned the ESPRESSO instrument toward the star in August 2019, using the VLT's four 8-metre telescopes simultaneously. But they were unable to find the signs that previously pointed to the presence of the luminous star. A few months later, the group tried the X-shooter instrument, also on ESO's VLT, and again found no traces of the star. "We may have detected one of the most massive stars of the local Universe going gently into the night," says team-member Jose Groh, also of Trinity College Dublin. "Our discovery would not have been made without using the powerful ESO 8-metre telescopes, their unique instrumentation, and the prompt access to those capabilities following the recent agreement of Ireland to join ESO." Ireland became an ESO member state in September 2018. The team then turned to older data collected using X-shooter and the UVES instrument on ESO's VLT, located in the Chilean Atacama Desert, and telescopes elsewhere."The ESO Science Archive Facility enabled us to find and use data of the same object obtained in 2002 and 2009," says Andrea Mehner, a staff astronomer at ESO in Chile who participated in the study. "The comparison of the 2002 high-resolution UVES spectra with our observations obtained in 2019 with ESO's newest high-resolution spectrograph ESPRESSO was especially revealing, from both an astronomical and an instrumentation point of view." The old data indicated that the star in the Kinman Dwarf could have been undergoing a strong outburst period that likely ended sometime after 2011. Luminous blue variable stars such as this one are prone to experiencing giant outbursts over the course of their life, causing the stars' rate of mass loss to spike and their luminosity to increase dramatically. Based on their observations and models, the astronomers have suggested two explanations for the star's disappearance and lack of a supernova, related to this possible outburst. The outburst may have resulted in the luminous blue variable being transformed into a less luminous star, which could also be partly hidden by dust. Alternatively, the team says the star may have collapsed into a black hole, without producing a supernova explosion. This would be a rare event: our current understanding of how massive stars die points to most of them ending their lives in a supernova. Future studies are needed to confirm what fate befell this star. Planned to begin operations in 2025, ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be capable of resolving stars in distant galaxies such as the Kinman Dwarf, helping to solve cosmic mysteries such as this one. ### More information This research was presented in the paper "The possible disappearance of a massive star in the low metallicity galaxy PHL 293B" which will appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (a copy of the paper is available from the Links section below). The team is composed of Andrew Allan (School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland [TCD]), Jose J. Groh (TCD), Andrea Mehner (European Southern Observatory, Chile), Nathan Smith (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, USA [Steward Observatory]), Ioanna Boian (TCD), Eoin Farrell (TCD), Jennifer E. Andrews (Steward Observatory). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It has 16 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world's largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky". Links * Research paper - https:/ / www. eso. org/ public/ archives/ releases/ sciencepapers/ eso2010/ eso2010a. pdf * Photos of the VLT - http://www. eso. org/ public/ images/ archive/ category/ paranal/ * For scientists: got a story? Pitch your research - http://eso. org/ sci/ publications/ announcements/ sciann17277. html Contacts Andrew Allan Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland Tel: +353 872921396 Email: allana@tcd.ie Jose H. Groh Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland Email: jose.groh@tcd.ie Andrea Mehner European Southern Observatory Santiago, Chile Email: amehner@eso.org Barbara Ferreira ESO Public Information Officer Garching bei Munchen, Germany Tel: +49 89 3200 6670 Cell: +49 151 241 664 00 Email: pio@eso.org This story has been published on: 2020-06-30. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. -- In Mianning County, one of the worst-hit areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, rescuers aided with life detectors, sniffer dogs and demolition equipment are combing every house. Twelve people have been reported dead and 10 others missing as of 4 p.m. Sunday. -- Chongqing Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters deployed more than 50 emergency rescue vehicles and excavators and over 300 speedboats and rubber boats to aid rescuers searching for victims. BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities at all levels are making all-out efforts in rescue and relief, as torrential rains continue to wreak havoc, triggering flooding and geological hazards in vast stretches of the country. Rescuers work in Yihai Township of Mianning County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 28, 2020. (Photo by Wang Yun/Xinhua) The country has entered its rainy season since this month with rainstorms hitting many parts in southern China. National observatory on Monday issued a blue alert for rainstorms as heavy downpours are forecast to batter the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hebei, and Shandong from Monday morning to Tuesday morning, making the regions flood prone. President Xi Jinping has called for all-out efforts to prevent floods and geological disasters, intensify rescue and relief work, and ensure that people's lives and safety are the top priority. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed the need to put people first, and value their lives most in the battle against floods. He underscored the necessity to coordinate epidemic prevention with flood control and disaster relief work, combine efforts at preparation for prevention with emergency response, strengthen flood monitoring and promptly identify risks. In Mianning County, one of the worst-hit areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, rescuers aided with life detectors, sniffer dogs, and demolition equipment are combing every house. Twelve people have been reported dead and 10 others missing as of 4 p.m. Sunday. The casualties were mainly caused by a sudden mountain torrent, which diverted rivers to inundate houses and roads. Rescuers are searching in the affected villages and the surrounding areas of the houses where the missing personnel were reported. The search has been extended five km downstream. A total of 9,880 people were affected in the county. So far, 7,705 people have been evacuated to safe places. Deng Bangxin, a commander of Liangshan forest fire detachment, led a 10-member team to arrive at the site on Saturday. "Aerial photos taken by a drone showed the disaster is serious," he said. Rivers changed courses, triggering risks of geological disasters, forcing closures of highways, washing away five bridges, and damaging power lines. Xinhua reporters saw excavators clearing silts and debris left from mudslides in the village of Damawu, one of the worst-hit in the county. Corn and potato fields are flooded. Zhaxi Puncog, deputy head of Yihai Township, which administrates the village, said that after receiving the rainstorm warning on Friday, local cadres went to villages to send out warning by beating gongs and hand-operated alarms and started evacuating people. "It rained so hard that water on No. 108 National Highway was flowing like a river. Only fire engines can carry people to run away through the road passage," he said. Many locals were initially reluctant to leave their homes but conditions turned dangerous, and some of them were forced to leave. So far, more than 2,100 people have moved to four settlements in the county, where tents were set up, each with three to five beds. The weather in Mianning is scorching in daytime and rainy at night. In order to prevent people from getting heatstroke, medical personnel have prepared medicine and carried out psychological counseling. Meanwhile, in Chongqing Municipality, neighboring Sichuan, more than 210,000 people have been affected by heavy rainfall since June 26. Chongqing Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters deployed more than 50 emergency rescue vehicles and excavators and over 300 speedboats and rubber boats to aid rescuers searching for victims. Qijiang River that runs through Qijiang District of Chongqing is experiencing the heaviest flooding since 1940. In Shijiao Township near the river, a group of 30-plus people are on guard observing the flood rise and persuading people to stay away from the river banks. Zou Hong, Party chief of a community in Shijiao Township, said he has paid door-to-door visits in the community to alert locals of the flooding risk. In Yuexi County, east China's Anhui Province, Li Dongliang, a resident in Pinggang Village, is clearing debris left from a mudslide that hit his house over the weekend, when sludge washed down a wall on the ground floor, while he and his family stayed upstairs. "Local cadres helped us clear piles of silt," said Li. The disaster relief staff brought excavators, loaders and engineering vehicles to help clean up the silt in their homes, while evacuating those in need to a settlement 3 km away. Since the start of June, the accumulated rainfall in the county has been more than four times that of the same period in history. Rain-triggered disasters have affected more than 57,000 people. Local authorities have displaced more than 4,400 people to temporary settlements. No one was injured or killed. ELCA distributes LGBTQIA+ handbook on sexual orientation, gender identity to churches Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which was recently criticized for addressing God as Mother instead of Father, is distributing a handbook on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to its member churches. Titled Lutheran Introduction To Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, & Gender Expression, the handbook, published by the Lutheran ministry ReconcilingWorks that is listed at the top of the ELCA website, details bisexuality, pansexuality and transgederism, and encourages the use of alternative pronouns. Each of us is a beloved child of God, perfectly and wonderfully made, just as we are. Thanks to @ReconcilingWrks for this Lutheran introduction to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.https://t.co/XkADUPQKTYpic.twitter.com/WopB95wrVN ELCA Lutherans (@ELCA) June 24, 2020 The handbook defines gender identity as a persons innate, deeply felt psychological identification as a man, woman or another gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth. Gender identity is different from the term gender, which is typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. Gender expression, it says, is the external characteristics and behaviors that are socially defined as either masculine or feminine, such as dress, grooming, mannerisms, speech patterns and social interactions. These norms vary culturally. Sexual orientation, it adds, is the term used to describe what gender(s) someone is physically and/or emotionally attracted to. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, and straight are all examples of sexual orientations. A persons sexual orientation is distinct from a persons gender identity and expression. Many pastors and members have left the denomination due to their objections to its theology. I spent many years as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America until I led my congregation out for a more Biblical branch of Lutheranism, Pastor Tom Brock, who co-hosts The Pastors Study radio program, recently wrote in an op-ed for The Christian Post. Liberal is no longer the word for the ELCA, it has become radical, he wrote, citing an example. Two summers ago, 31,000 ELCA teenagers attended the ELCAs youth gathering. Popular ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Webber led the students to say after her I renounce the lie that queerness is anything other than beauty. At the youth gathering an 11-year-old boy who thinks he is a girl was put on stage to promote transgenderism. In April, ELCA garnered controversy for posting a prayer on their Twitter and Facebook accounts addressing God as Mother. Mother God, you have fed us with the nourishment of your spiritual food. Raise us up into salvation and rid us of our bitterness, so that we may share the sweetness of your holy word with all the world, the ELCA tweeted on April 29. Hans Fiene, a conservative pastor who oversees the popular Lutheran Satire YouTube channel, is one of those who took issue with the post. Leave the ELCA, he succinctly replied when retweeting the ELCA post. Jeff Walton of the theologically conservative Institute on Religion & Democracy told The Christian Post that he was concerned about the prayer as well. Church mystics including Julian of Norwich who is commemorated next week in the ELCA and the Episcopal Church and Bernard of Clairvaux likened divine love to motherly love, Walton said. My concern with this ELCA prayer is that it does not focus upon an attribute of Gods character and instead simply declares God Mother. It prompts me to ask if there's an agenda in doing so. Walton also told CP that theologically liberal mainline Protestant denominations in general have all to some degree dabbled in this stuff. It has ranged from politicized statements against patriarchy all the way to outright goddess worship in events like the infamous reimagining conference of the 1990s in which prayers were offered in the name of Sophia, he said. Athens, AL (35611) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 84F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 61F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. You could soon be able to enjoy 3D-printed, plant-based flank steak at home. Israeli startup Redefine Meat says thats what it hopes to accomplish for customers when it launches 3D-printed steak alternatives in 2021. The product will enter a market where plant-based meats, like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, are rising in popularity. While a couple plant-based steaks have previously hit the market, none seem to be widely available as, for example, ground meat or patties. Until now, butcher-style cuts have been less common. Redefine Meat says that through 3D printing, its able to create plant-based meat with the same appearance, texture and flavor of animal meat, according to its website. Texture specifically seems to be the 3D printers hallmark achievement. You need a 3D printer to mimic the structure of the muscle of the animal, Redefine Meat CEO Eshchar Ben-Shitrit told Reuters. 3D printing differs from other methods companies have used for reproducing meat taste and texture. Both Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat use combinations of plant-based proteins, oils and binders, like methylcellulose and potato starch, to achieve a realistic texture for their ground beef and patties -- though the texture of ground beef is arguably easier to achieve than that of steak. Atlast Food uses mushroom fibers to emulate animal tissue in its meatless bacon. Whether it be for health, environmental or ethical reasons, consumers are buying more meat alternatives. Last year, market analysts at Barclays estimated the global market for meat substitutes could reach $140 billion by 2029, according to a June 2019 article from the research firm Statista. Recent data seems to support that trend, as Forbes reported in early May that alternative meat sales grew since the start of the pandemic. Redefine Meat isnt the only company attempting 3D-printed meat alternatives. Spanish company NovaMeat is working on 3D-printed steak and pork substitutes. NovaMeat CEO Giuseppe Scionti told Reuters his companys product will be available in selected top restaurants in Europe this year, and will have a wider release in 2021. Google has just announced that its holding an online event for its smart home developer community on July 8th. The tech giant canceled I/O earlier this year, which was scheduled for May 12th, due to the pandemic and even decided not to host an an online replacement as a result of California's shelter-in-place order. While California seems to have rolled back its reopening plans due to an explosion of new coronavirus cases, Google will push through with a virtual event this time. The Works With "Hey Google" Smart Home Summit will start with a keynote by Michele Turner, the Product Management director of Googles Smart Home Ecosystem. Turner will talk about the tech giants latest smart home product initiatives and will introduce new tools thatll make it easier for developers to implement Google Assistant integration. Thats followed by a panel discussion featuring representatives from some of the biggest smart home device makers, wholl talk about how COVID-19 has affected their business and the industry as a whole. If you want to attend the virtual event, youll have to register (for free) on its website. The official hub also includes the virtuals summits schedule, as well as links to the sessions and shortcuts that will let you add them to your calendar. Google didnt say whether its hosting more virtual events for its other products and divisions, but that could be a possibility if the Smart Home sessions take place as planned. Law enforcement in America is facing a day of reckoning over its systemic, institutionalized racism and ongoing brutality against the people it was designed to protect. Virtually every aspect of the system is now under scrutiny, from budgeting and staffing levels to the data-driven prevention tools it deploys. A handful of local governments have already placed moratoriums on facial recognition systems in recent months and on Wednesday, Santa Cruz, California became the first city in the nation to outright ban the use of predictive policing algorithms. While its easy to see the privacy risks that facial recognition poses, predictive policing programs have the potential to quietly erode our constitutional rights and exacerbate existing racial and economic biases in the law enforcement community. Simply put, predictive policing technology uses algorithms to pore over massive amounts of data to predict when and where future crimes will occur. Yes, just like Minority Report. These algorithms can guesstimate the times and locations of crimes, the potential perpetrators, and even their upcoming victims based on a variety of risk factors. For example, if the system recognizes a pattern of physical altercations outside a bar every Saturday at 2am, it could suggest increasing police presence there at that time to prevent the fights from occurring. Predictive policing in and of itself is nothing new. Its the straightforward evolution of intelligence-driven techniques, based on long established criminology principles that have been used by law enforcement for decades. The idea of forecasting crimes started back in 1931 when University of Chicago sociologist Clifford R. Shaw and Henry D. McKay, a criminologist at Chicago's Institute for Juvenile Research, published a book examining why juvenile crime persisted in specific neighborhoods. By the 1990s, organizations like the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) began leveraging geographic information system tools to map crime data and advanced mathematical models to guess where crime was most likely to occur. Today, law enforcement agencies and the private companies who develop predictive algorithms utilize cutting edge, computer driven models that can tap into massive stores of data and information. This is the era of big data policing. There are three primary types of predictive policing, Professor Andrew Ferguson of American University, Washington College of Law, explained to Engadget. There is place-based predictive policing, which is essentially taking past crime data using an algorithm or machine learning model to try to predict where the particular kind of crime will occur in the future, he said. There is also person-based prediction. It's about people, about individuals who are more at risk, looking at factors in their backgrounds, their criminal history, arrests, Ferguson continued. Those kinds of input determine whether or not someone is more likely to commit a crime. Finally, there is group-based prediction that examines, he said, patterns or networks of individuals who are connected in a certain way, that are more likely as a group to commit a crime. By and large, all three types of predictive policing have generally been used to target poor people and people who are involved in sort of the lower level crimes -- property crimes, burglaries, car thefts, Ferguson conceded. However, white collar criminals shouldn't celebrate just yet. The FTC may not refer to their algorithms as predictive policing tools but a lot of the insider trading investigations are all done based on algorithms, he continued. Theyre all based on using data to identify people who might be insider trading, people might have had tips. One of the first agencies to adopt a predictive policing system in the modern era was the Los Angeles Police Department. In 2006, the LAPD was still using hot spot maps based on data from past crimes to determine where to allocate police presence. That year, the LAPD partnered with researchers from UCLA, led by anthropologist Jeffrey Brantingham, to develop a more predictive, rather than reactive, model. Brantingham and postdoctoral scholar George Mohler adapted seismological models for their cause. "Crime is actually very similar," Brantingham todl Science Magazine in 2016 because, like bar fights at 2am on Saturdays, earthquakes happen in fairly regular intervals along well-established faults. This theory has proven surprisingly accurate. As Professor Andrew Ferguson of American University, Washington College of Law, notes in his 2012 study, Predictive Policing and Reasonable Suspicion, half of the crime in Seattle over a fourteen-year period could be isolated to only 4.5 percent of city streets. Similarly, researchers in Minneapolis, Minnesota found that 3.3 percent of street addresses and intersections in Minneapolis generated 50.4 percent of all dispatched police calls for service. Researchers in Boston found that only 8 percent of street segments accounted for 66 percent of all street robberies over a twenty-eight-year period. Brantingham and Mohlers model has since been developed into a proprietary software package, known as PredPol, which has been adopted by police departments across the country. This system reportedly looks at a narrow set of related statistics, giving additional weight to more recent events, to predict where and when crimes will occur during a given officers shift within a 150m by 150m square. PredPol claimed in 2015 that if officers spend just 5 - 15 percent of their shifts patrolling in that box, theyll stop more criminals than if they relied on their own instincts. For this capability, departments pay anywhere from $10,000 to $150,000 annually. Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images Brantinghams team published their study in the Journal of the American Statistical Association in 2015. It found that the system led to substantially lower crime rates during the 21-month test period. Not only did the model predict twice as much crime as trained crime analysts predicted, but it also prevented twice as much crime, Brantingham told a UCLA reporter. In much the same way that your video streaming service knows what movie youre going to watch tomorrow, even if your tastes have changed, our algorithm is constantly evolving and adapting to new crime data, he continued. However not more than four years later, the PredPol system has been abandoned by numerous departments because, as Palo Alto police spokeswoman Janine De la Vega told the LA Times in 2019, we didnt find it effective. We didnt get any value out of it. It didnt help us solve crime. The NYPD, Americas largest police force, was another early adopter of predictive policing algorithms. The department trialled systems from three firms -- Azavea, KeyStats, and PredPol -- before developing its own algorithm suite inhouse in 2013. As of 2017, the NYPD used algorithms to forecast shootings, burglaries, felony assaults, grand larcenies, grand larcenies of motor vehicles, and robberies. The Chicago PD has also dabbled in predictive policing, which it calls a heat list. In 2012, It partnered with researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology to develop an algorithm. They based their model off of work out of Yale, which used an epidemiological model intended to track the spread of contagious diseases, and adapted it to track the spread of gun violence instead. As of 2017, the CPD claims that their algorithm is effective. From January to July of that year, the number of shootings in the 7th District dropped 39 percent year-over-year and the number of murders dropped 33 percent while the number of murders citywide inched up 3 percent overall. Chicago Tribune via Getty Images Despite those rosy self-reported statistics, predictive policing poses many of the same civil and constitutional risks that weve seen in other algorithmic law enforcement schemes like automated facial recognition. For example, PredPols location-based recommendations dont tell officers who to look out for, only where and when. Those predictions shouldn't have any direct impact on the Fourth Amendment freedoms of individuals who happen to be there, Ferguson said. But because police officers are human beings and they're getting extra information about an area, it seems likely that that kind of information will prime them to see suspicion in times and places when maybe they wouldnt otherwise be suspicious. Thats a problem, in part, because what the law considers reasonable suspicion is very much at the discretion of officers and judges. Terry v. Ohio (1968) established that, for an officer to have reasonable suspicion for a stop, they must be able to point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion. That in itself is a predictive act on the part of the officer. Theyre taking an incomplete set of data, analyzing it internally and making a guess as to whether or not theyll find incriminating evidence if they proceed. Because the Fourth Amendment standard is so malleable, and it can take in any kind of totality of factors, Ferguson said, the idea that an algorithm has helped shape the police officers view of the neighborhood or given area is clearly a concern. Additionally, since these algorithms are trained using data produced by the police, implicit biases held by those departments can worm their way into the output recommendations. "They're not predicting the future, William Isaac, an analyst with the Human Rights Data Analysis Group and a Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University in East Lansing, told Science Magazine. What they're actually predicting is where the next recorded police observations are going to occur." As Professor Ferguson points out, these systems are only as reliable as the data theyre fed. PredPol, for example, only uses calls for service for three specific crimes -- burglary, vehicle break ins and grand theft auto -- as its data set. Whether the police suspect a burglary has occurred or arrested someone under suspicion of burglary have no bearing on the systems recommendations. It only logs when a member of the public has reported a crime. This helps prevent biases within the police force from corrupting the recommendations validity. The same cannot be said for the systems developed in-house by police forces. In person-based policing in Chicago, LA and even New York, they use arrests as part of their input for risk, Ferguson noted. And arrests are where police are, not necessarily what people did. Eduardo Munoz / Reuters You get arrested for a lot of things that you're not convicted for, he continued. So if you use something like arrests, you are building a system that's going to launder the bias of police data into your algorithm. And its not as if the police arent already juking their stats to fit desired narratives. In 2010, Time reported that, more than a hundred retired New York Police Department captains and higher-ranking officers said in a survey that the intense pressure to produce annual crime reductions led some supervisors and precinct commanders to manipulate crime statistics, according to two criminologists studying the department. This survey set off the Compstat fiasco. Subsequent investigations found that precinct commanders would cruise active crime scenes persuading victims to not file reports so as to artificially reduce serious crime statistics while officers would plant drugs on suspects to artificially raise narcotics arrests -- all to goose reported numbers into making it appear as if serious crime was declining in the city. Following a flurry of lawsuits, a Federal court found that the NYPD had utilized unconstitutional and racially biased policing practices for more than a decade. The court ordered the NYPD to undergo systemic reforms whose compliance would be verified by a federal court. New York Daily News Archive via Getty Images It is a common fallacy that police data is objective and reflects actual criminal behavior, patterns, or other indicators of concern to public safety in a given jurisdiction, a team of researchers from New York University wrote in their 2019 study, Dirty Data, Bad Predictions. In reality, police data reflects the practices, policies, biases, and political and financial accounting needs of a given department. Today, predictive policing systems face an uncertain future. Citing this weeks Santa Cruz ban, Ferguson notes that this was almost a full reversal of a city that not only believed in predictive policing but was the face of predictive policing nationally. They were the ones pushing this as the innovative, next new thing in 2011, 2012, and getting a lot of positive attention from it. I think it says something. I think it says where we are in our trust of policing technology, he continued. Ferguson points to the recent protests in LA for police reform as having an outsized impact on the use of this technology. The LAPD has since canceled its contract with PredPol and shelved LASER, its person-based predictive system as well. Even Chicago backed off its use of the heat list earlier this year in the face of public pressure. The height of predictive policing has, I think passed, Ferguson said Its now on a bit of a downturn. Historic St. John's Church gets security fencing in response to repeated abuse from protesters Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment St. Johns Episcopal Church, the historic Washington, D.C., congregation based near the White House, agreed to have security fencing erected in response to repeated vandalism on its property. Recently, the church property has been at the center of vandalism and violent encounters between police and protesters following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. St. Johns Church Rector the Rev. Robert W. Fisher sent a message to the parish last week, the letter being cosigned by Senior Warden Paul Barkett and Junior Warden Jeff Hantson. Fisher explained that church leadership was contacted by city officials about building protective fencing around their property, in light of renewed violence. After a thorough discussion, the church explained, and after discussing matters with Bishop Mariann Budde, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, we reluctantly agreed to the fencing. While we hate both the fencing and the boarded-up windows, one of our main responsibilities as rector and wardens is to protect the buildings. Our hope is to remove both the fencing and plywood as soon as practicable. The parish letter went on to note that, in the meantime, they have much work to do regarding various matters, including plans to eventually return to holding in-person worship services. In the coming weeks we must return our attention to regathering and reengaging our congregation, while continuing the conversation on racial healing that we started the past two Sundays, the message continued. Our Regathering Task Force is hard at work planning for our safe return to in-person worship. A survey on that topic will be released shortly. Drawing its history back to the early 19th century, St. Johns is known as the church of the presidents as many commanders-in-chief have attended worship there over the generations. During the recent upheavals regarding police brutality and racism, the property of St. Johns was the victim of an arson attack and, later on, was spray-painted with graffiti. The church was also the subject of a controversial photo-op by President Donald Trump, who posed outside of the building holding a Bible after police cleared out demonstrators. Click for the latest, full-access Enid News & Eagle headlines | Text Alerts | app downloads Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for the News & Eagle? Send an email to enidnews@enidnews.com. ADDS THAT IRNA IS STATE-RUN: FILE - In this Thursday, June 25, 2020 file photo, President Donald Trump waves as he arrives on Air Force One at Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, Wis. Iran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad early this year. That's according to a prosecutor in Tehran who was quoted by to state-run IRNA news agency on Monday, June 29, 2020. The prosecutor said Iran had asked Interpol to issue a ared noticea for Trump and over 30 others. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) The services celebrating and honoring the life of Loretta Ball, 91, of Enid are pending under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home. Condolences and special memories may be shared with the family online at WWW.Brown-Cummings.com. "It was kind of sketchy," Allan Sangret said. He said the men go into the car and told him to "Go, go, go. The cops are coming." He said the men looked like they'd just gotten into a fight. I am a retired Naval Officer and small business owner, outside of my work at the News & Eagle. My wife Tammy and I enjoy serving together at church and attending Gaslight and ESO. We have two daughters, three dogs and little free time. Follow James Neal | Religion/Health Reporter 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 Click for the latest, full-access Enid News & Eagle headlines | Text Alerts | app downloads The News & Eagle Editorial Board meets weekly to form the newspaper's stances on mostly local and state and occasionally national issues. Have a question about this opinion piece? Do you see something we missed? Do you have an editorial idea for the News & Eagle? Send an email to editor@enidnews.com. Most US Christians uncomfortable with returning to church: survey Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Nearly two-thirds of American Christians are uncomfortable with returning to in-person worship services over coronavirus concerns, according to a recent survey. The American Enterprise Institute conducted a poll of 3,504 Americans from late May to early June, asking them about their comfort levels on returning to church. Among respondents, 64% said they were either somewhat uncomfortable or very uncomfortable with returning to in-person church services. People are equivocating and uncertain about whether they feel comfortable attending, said Daniel Cox, who oversaw the study, to The Associated Press and Religion News Service. We're seeing among laypeople a significant amount of discomfort in going back to formal in-person religious practices. While most of the overall sample were uncomfortable, the AEI survey found considerable variance in responses by racial and religious classification. White evangelical Protestants were the most comfortable with attending services, with 61% saying they were either very comfortable or somewhat comfortable with attending. By contrast, only 26% of Hispanic Catholic respondents said they were either very comfortable or somewhat comfortable with attending in-person services. Among black Protestants, 42% said they were very uncomfortable with attending, which was the same percentage for respondents who identified as major non-Christian religion. Respondents who identified as unaffiliated were the most likely to say they would be very uncomfortable, at 66%, with only 8% of that group saying they would be very comfortable. In response to the spread of the coronavirus, the vast majority of churches in the United States opted to shut their doors, with most moving their worship to exclusively online services. As states have begun to reopen, many churches have done the same, often with safety measures, including spacing out attendees, barring physical contact, and wearing face masks. Many churches have remained closed as a precaution after a couple of churches that reopened have found themselves reclosing amid new COVID-19 cases emerging among attendees. Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly Stated Clerk the Rev. Herbert J. Nelson, head of the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S., recently urged caution with reopening. In a video posted online earlier this month, Nelson said that while worship is important, churches should take our time and not rush into reopening for in-person services. Recognize that we are still in the midst of this coronavirus, said Nelson. The practices that many of you have continued to push through that had been created out of your own imagination even when we were unable to go into sanctuaries and other church buildings, expand upon that." Allow us to take this slowly and to recognize in all things that we are to be the persons who help to build the abundant life that individuals seek on this side of Heaven. 2020-06-30 Maeci Minister Di Maio spoke today by video conference at the Fourth Brussels Conference on Syria, an event sponsored by the European Union and the United Nations with the aim of raising the necessary funds to tackle the humanitarian and health emergency in Syria and neighbouring countries and reaffirm the international community's support for a negotiated political solution to the Syrian crisis, under the aegis of the United Nations and in line with Security Council Resolution 2254. "Italy - the Minister said - is following with the utmost attention the evolution of the conflict in Syria, which is now in its tenth year and represents one of the most serious international humanitarian crises in recent years. Relieving the suffering of the Syrian people, exhausted by the war and burdened today by the risk of an uncontrolled spread of Covid-19, is a moral imperative that Italy does not intend to avoid". Therefore, the Minister announced a further contribution of 45 million euros in humanitarian and development activities for Syria and the countries in the region that host the largest number of Syrian refugees. "Politically - the Minister added - Italy remains convinced that the military option is not the solution to the crisis, and that the focus should be on a credible and inclusive political process, under the aegis of the United Nations and in line with Security Council Resolution 2254. In this perspective, Italy unreservedly upholds the action of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General, Ambassador Pedersen, and is committed to actively promoting dialogue between the main players involved in the Syrian crisis, for the success of the political process". 2020-06-29 Maeci Today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the bilateral meeting between Minister Di Maio and the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, visiting Italy, took place at the Farnesina, seat of the Ministry. Minister Di Maio, first, thanked Minister Szijjarto for the solidarity shown by the Hungarian Government that, in the most acute phase of the health crisis, donated 100,000 health masks and 5,000 protective suits to Italy. Minister Di Maio welcomed the reopening of the Hungarian borders on 18 June and the reactivation of direct flights between Italy and Hungary. Such measures will ensure mobility, tourist flows and the protection of citizens' health within the homogeneous framework of clear rules agreed at EU level. Looking at the post-COVID19 reconstruction, Minister Di Maio expressed to his Hungarian colleague the firm hope that the EU as a whole will take up the challenge of providing the Member States with an ambitious project for growth that leaves no one behind. Italy considers the package of measures proposed by the European Commission to be adequate. The Minister stated that our country would work hard to ensure that the negotiations on the Recovery Fund are concluded as soon as possible with a fair and shared agreement. The meeting also confirmed the convergence of views between Rome and Budapest on enlargement to the Western Balkans. The two countries welcome the recent opening of negotiations in Albania and North Macedonia and the hope that progress will soon be made on Serbia and Montenegro. On the bilateral level, finally, the two Ministers recalled the solidity of economic and trade relations, which see Italy among Hungary's first partners, with encouraging prospects for further deepening. NEW YORK/DENVER...June 30, 2020 - The David and Laura Merage Foundation in Englewood, Colorado and the Merage Foundation Israel (MFI) have granted $100,000 to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) to create smart autism day care centers throughout Israel. Prof. Ilan Dinstein is the director of the National Autism Research Center, a collaboration between scientists from BGU and physicians from Soroka University Medical Center. The Autism Center studies, diagnoses and treats autism, while collecting vital information from children with autism and their families to improve outcomes. Prof. Dinstein will oversee the day care project. The smart day care center project is a collaboration between the center and ALUT, the Israeli Society for Autistic Children in Israel. ALUT manages a network of 22 day care centers throughout Israel, where over 150 children with autism ages 2 to 3 years-old receive daily care. "We are so grateful to the Merage Foundation who recognized the urgency to fund this project due to the COVID-19 crisis, when it hasn't been possible to directly diagnose or treat children with autism," says Prof. Dinstein. "The grant will fund audiovisual technology and software to help clinicians and therapists remotely track children's behavior and quantify the severity of autism symptoms over time." Dinstein and his team have developed a variety of software tools to automatically analyze these recordings and extract the children's facial expressions, eye and body movements, and their vocalizations/speech. For example, children with autism tend to produce fewer facial expressions, exhibit repetitive body movements (e.g., hand flapping), focus on atypical objects, and speak in unusual ways (e.g., using inappropriate volume and intonation). Numerous studies have shown that early intervention can be extremely effective in reducing autism symptoms. David Merage says, "We are proud to support this groundbreaking innovation emerging from the Negev region to improve the lives of children with autism around the world. This project envisioned by Prof. Dinstein and his team has the potential to further improve early behavioral treatment for toddlers with autism by enabling the clinical team to build the most effective personalized program for each child." "David and Laura Merage are dedicated philanthropists to the state of Israel and are extremely committed to the growth of the Negev," says Doug Seserman, chief executive officer, American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU). "I am privileged to know them and thank them for their incredible generosity on behalf of children with autism." Prof. Dinstein and his colleagues at BGU and Soroka have been recognized as pioneers of autism research. The Israeli government chose BGU to lead and develop the National Autism Research Center of Israel. AABGU will be conducting a webinar in collaboration with Soroka University Medical Center featuring Prof. Dinstein and three other leaders of the National Autism Research Center of Israel on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. To register, go to http://www. aabgu. org/ webinar-autism ### American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Research reveals 'an astonishing explosion of COVID-19' in Italy, US from cases to deaths WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 -- Mathematicians based in Australia and China have developed a method to analyze the large amount of data accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The technique, described in the journal Chaos, by AIP Publishing, can identify anomalous countries -- those that are more successful than expected at responding to the pandemic and those that are particularly unsuccessful. The data comes from Our World in Data, a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales. This organization collected information from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for cumulative daily case counts and deaths for 208 countries over a period of 122 days from Dec. 31, 2019, to April 30, 2020. The investigators analyzed the data with a variation of a statistical technique known as a cluster analysis. In this approach, data points are grouped according to similarity. The countries form clusters as individual outbreaks become more similar. For all of January, the investigators found only two clusters: China in one cluster, and all the other 207 countries in the other. As the virus spread, additional countries jumped into the China cluster. Italy was the first to join, followed by the U.S., Spain, France, Germany, Iran and the U.K. By mid-March, case counts for countries around the world grouped into 16 clusters. By April, a similar grouping was seen in death counts. In mid-March, China moved out of the worst death cluster, while the U.S., Spain, Italy, France and the U.K. moved into it. The investigators found a notable break in the cluster structure for cases between March 1 and March 2. This date is significant, because numerous countries reported their first COVID-19 cases at that time, mostly coming from Iran and Italy. Another break in the cluster structure occurs between March 18 and March 19 for deaths, a 17-day difference from that of cases. This offset suggests a 17-day lag for deaths behind cases and agrees with medical data. Once the investigators identified the 17-day offset between cases and deaths, they were able to compare countries' case and death numbers at the same point in time. This revealed countries with anomalous results. "Anomalies may signify either disproportionately high or low number of deaths relative to the number of cases," said co-author Nick James. Iran and Italy both had anomalously high death rates early in the pandemic, while Singapore was anomalously low, as were South Korea, Qatar and Australia. "We also noticed a sort of critical mass effect in the progression of cases to deaths," said co-author Max Menzies. "Spain's death count as of March 28 was over twice that of its case count just 16 days earlier. This is an astonishing explosion of COVID-19. It also applies to the U.S. Its dramatic elevation in death count hit after the case count reached a critical mass in early March." ### The article, "Cluster-based dual evolution for multivariate time series: Analyzing COVID-19," is authored by Nick James and Max Menzies. The article will appear in Chaos on June 30, 2020 (DOI: 10.1063/5.0013156). After that date, it can be accessed at https:/ / aip. scitation. org/ doi/ 10. 1063/ 5. 0013156 . ABOUT THE JOURNAL WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 -- While the use of face masks in public has been widely recommended by public health officials during the current COVID-19 pandemic, there are relatively few specific guidelines pertaining to mask materials and designs. A study from Florida Atlantic University, in the Physics of Fluids, from AIP Publishing, looks to better understand which types are best for controlling respiratory droplets that could contain viruses. Siddhartha Verma and his team experimented with different choices in material and design to determine how well face masks block droplets as they exit the mouth. Using a laser to detect droplets as they were coughed and sneezed out of a mannequin head, the group was able to map out the paths of droplets and examine how different designs and materials alter that path. The authors note the need for further quantitative analysis but were aware of the power of more straightforward visualization. "While there are a few prior studies on the effectiveness of medical-grade equipment, we don't have a lot of information about the cloth-based coverings that are most accessible to us at present," said Verma. "Our hope is that the visualizations presented in the paper help convey the rationale behind the recommendations for social distancing and using face masks." The approach draws on a laser sheet setup that is a mainstay for those studying fluid mechanics, which Verma compares to seeing dust particles in a beam of sunlight. "The main challenge is to represent a cough and sneeze faithfully," he said. "The setup we have used a simplified cough, which, in reality, is complex and dynamic." LINK TO VIDEO: https:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v= _k7AUHPY2Pk The group found that loosely folded face masks and bandanna-style coverings reduced the distance traveled by the droplet jets between 1/8 to 1/2 respectively of that for an uncovered cough. However, well-fitted homemade masks with multiple layers of quilting fabric and off-the-shelf cone style masks proved to be the most effective. Some leakage notwithstanding, these masks reduced the number of droplets significantly. When without a mask, the mannequins were projecting droplets much farther than the oft-cited 6 feet in social distancing guidelines. Verma said the group looks to continue studying the complex interplay that can involve droplet evaporation, ambient airflow and properties of the respiratory fluid ejected that lead to how droplets behave. "It is also important to understand that face coverings are not a 100% effective in blocking respiratory pathogens," he said. "This is why it is imperative that we use a combination of social distancing, face coverings, hand-washing and other recommendations from health care officials until an effective vaccine is released." ### The article, "Visualizing the effectiveness of face masks in obstructing respiratory jets," is authored by Siddhartha Verma, Manhar R. Dhanak, and John Frankenfield. The article will appear in Physics of Fluids on June 30, 2020 (DOI: 10.1063/5.0016018). After that date, it can be accessed at https:/ / aip. scitation. org/ doi/ 10. 1063/ 5. 0016018 . ABOUT THE JOURNAL When properly cured, lenses built on dragline spider silk generate a special type of light jet that can image large biological areas with high resolution. WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 -- Spiders -- what are they good for? The answer, it turns out, is more than just insect control. Spider silk is useful for a variety of biomedical applications. It exhibits mechanical properties superior to synthetic fibers for tissue engineering, and it is not toxic or harmful to living cells. One unexpected application for spider silk is its use in the creation of biocompatible lenses for biological imaging applications. A team of researchers from Tamkang University and National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan describes the feasibility of creating lenses capitalizing on the properties of natural spider silk material in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing. A spider can spin several different types of silks, each with different properties and functions. To create the spokes of their web, spiders use a type of silk known as dragline silk. "Dragline silk is an interesting natural material because of its significant features, such as high elasticity, great toughness and large tensile strength," said Cheng-Yang Liu, one of the authors on the study and a professor at National Yang-Ming University. Compared to its weight, the strength of dragline silk is greater than steel. The authors collected smooth, uniform dragline silk from Pholcus phalangioides spiders, commonly known as daddy longlegs, and dripped a resin onto the silk fiber. As the resin condensed on the fiber, the wetting properties of the silk naturally formed it into a dome shape, which they found could be used as an optical lens. The mechanical and optical properties of the silk also make it ideal for supporting the lens. When they shined a laser onto the lens, it generated a high-quality photonic nanojet -- a type of beam that can provide large-area, super-resolution imaging for biomedical applications. By tuning the length of time the silk spends under the resin drip, the size of the dome lens can be changed, allowing the photonic nanojets to be optimized for the desired type of imaging. "The dome lens with flexible photonic nanojets is suitable for imaging the nanoscale objectives in different depths within biological tissue," Liu said. After additional testing, the researchers hope this type of spider silk-based lens can be used to deliver light for biological imaging and operation. ### The article, "Optimal photonic nanojet beam shaping by mesoscale dielectric dome lens," is authored by C.B. Lin, Yi-Ting Lee and Cheng-Yang Liu. The article will appear in the Journal of Applied Physics on June 30, 2020 (DOI: 10.1063/5.0007611). After that date, it can be accessed at https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1063/ 5. 0007611 . ABOUT THE JOURNAL Nature is full of colors, from the radiant shine of a peacock's feathers or the bright warning coloration of toxic frogs to the pearl-white camouflage of polar bears. Usually, fine structural detail necessary for the conservation of color is rarely preserved in the fossil record, making most reconstructions of the fossil based on artists' imagination. A research team from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) has now unlocked the secrets of true coloration in the 99-million-year-old insects. Colors offer many clues about the behaviour and ecology of animals. They function to keep organisms safe from predators, at the right temperature, or attractive to potential mates. Understanding the coloration of long-extinct animals can help us shed light on ecosystems in the deep geological past. The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B on July 1, offers a new perspective on the often overlooked, but by no means dull, lives of insects that co-existed alongside dinosaurs in Cretaceous rainforests. Researchers gathered a treasure trove of 35 amber pieces with exquisitely preserved insects from an amber mine in northern Myanmar. "The amber is mid-Cretaceous, approximately 99 million years old, dating back to the golden age of dinosaurs. It is essentially resin produced by ancient coniferous trees that grew in a tropical rainforest environment. Animals and plants trapped in the thick resin got preserved, some with life-like fidelity," said Dr. CAI Chenyang, associate professor at NIGPAS who lead the study. The rare set of amber fossils includes cuckoo wasps with metallic bluish-green, yellowish-green, purplish-blue or green colors on the head, thorax, abdomen, and legs. In terms of color, they are almost the same as cuckoo wasps that live today, said Dr. CAI. The researchers also discovered blue and purple beetle specimens and a metallic dark-green soldier fly. "We have seen thousands of amber fossils but the preservation of color in these specimens is extraordinary," said Prof. HUANG Diying from NIGPAS, a co-author of the study. "The type of color preserved in the amber fossils is called structural color. It is caused by microscopic structure of the animal's surface. The surface nanostructure scatters light of specific wavelengths and produces very intense colors. This mechanism is responsible for many of the colors we know from our everyday lives," explained Prof. PAN Yanhong from NIGPAS, a specialist on palaeocolor reconstruction. To understand how and why color is preserved in some amber fossils but not in others, and whether the colors seen in fossils are the same as the ones insects paraded more than 99 million years ago, the researchers used a diamond knife blades to cut through the exoskeleton of two of the colorful amber wasps and a sample of normal dull cuticle. Using electron microscopy, they were able to show that colorful amber fossils have a well-preserved exoskeleton nanostructure that scatters light. The unaltered nanostructure of colored insects suggested that the colors preserved in amber may be the same as the ones displayed by them in the Cretaceous. But in fossils that do not preserve color, the cuticular structures are badly damaged, explaining their brown-black appearance. What kind of information can we learn about the lives of ancient insects from their color? Extant cuckoo wasps are, as their name suggests, parasites that lay their eggs into the nests of unrelated bees and wasps. Structural coloration has been shown to serve as camouflage in insects, and so it is probable that the color of Cretaceous cuckoo wasps represented an adaptation to avoid detection. "At the moment we also cannot rule out the possibility that the colors played other roles besides camouflage, such as thermoregulation," adds Dr. CAI. ### This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS. The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory is part of a U.S.-Israeli research and industry partnership that was awarded $10.1 million over five years by the U.S.-Israel Energy Center to improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of offshore natural gas production. Tulane University and Hebrew University will direct the project, which will apply lessons learned from safety initiatives in the Gulf of Mexico to the Eastern Mediterranean. Researchers on the project will also help develop and deploy energy technologies. The project, known as GoMed, is one of three U.S.-Israel Energy Center programs announced recently to enhance energy security in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The group will create new technologies and methods to: Explore and tap offshore natural gas fields. Convert natural gas to liquid fuel products such as methanol and benzene. Argonne's role is to strengthen the safety of offshore natural gas operations with innovative methods to analyze risk, assess safety and manage processes. "Argonne pioneered use of a safety evaluation technique called Success Path Analysis for offshore oil and gas operations," said Bruce Hamilton, who will lead Argonne's role and is also manager of the Global Energy Solutions group in the lab's Energy Systems division. "This approach leverages over 50 years of expertise in promoting nuclear industry safety but was adapted by Argonne to other industries." Argonne engineers developed and tested this approach as part of a seven-year agreement between the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and DOE that included a range of technical assistance projects. The GoMed program's goal, said Hamilton, is to: Build an effective risk-management tool by combining two approaches. The first approach stresses getting it right (Success Path Analysis); the second approach looks at all the things that could go wrong (Failure Model Effects Analysis). Secure approval of this new method by the International Organization for Standardization or other standards body. Create software to help the oil & gas industry use the approach worldwide. Expand use of this advanced risk-management tool in other high-risk industries (e.g., improving patient safety in health care industry). This work will be part of four research areas identified by the consortium: offshore resource analyses and reservoir quality, production in offshore reservoirs, hazards to seafloor infrastructure, and upgrading natural gas from offshore reservoirs. "We aim to create one-of-a-kind technologies that will allow industry to explore offshore natural gas reservoirs in a safe and sustainable manner, and develop new technologies for natural gas upgrading. We are thrilled to have Argonne participating with us in this very exciting effort," said Tulane University's Daniel Shantz, a lead principal investigator for the project. The international partnership includes researchers from other universities, government agencies, and companies, including Louisiana University, Louisiana State University, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University, the Israel Institute of Technology, the Geological Survey of Israel, and Delek Drilling. A second U.S.-Israel Energy Center program will focus on developing water technology and includes Argonne's Seth Darling, director of the laboratory's Center for Molecular Engineering, and Aaron Packman, who directs Northwestern's Center for Water Research and has a joint appointment at Argonne. A third U.S.-Israel Energy Center program will address energy storage challenges. The U.S. Energy Center is managed by the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation. Each U.S.-Israel Energy Center award is partly funded by DOE's Office of International Affairs, Israel's Ministry of Energy, and Israel's Innovation Authority. ### Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's 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 America's 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 Energy's Office of Science. Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have discovered the absence of an unstable massive star in a dwarf galaxy. Scientists think this could indicate that the star became less bright and partially obscured by dust. An alternative explanation is that the star collapsed into a black hole without producing a supernova. "If true," says team leader and PhD student Andrew Allan of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, "this would be the first direct detection of such a monster star ending its life in this manner." Between 2001 and 2011, various teams of astronomers studied the mysterious massive star, located in the Kinman Dwarf galaxy, and their observations indicated it was in a late stage of its evolution. Allan and his collaborators in Ireland, Chile and the US wanted to find out more about how very massive stars end their lives, and the object in the Kinman Dwarf seemed like the perfect target. But when they pointed ESO's VLT to the distant galaxy in 2019, they could no longer find the telltale signatures of the star. "Instead, we were surprised to find out that the star had disappeared!" says Allan, who led a study of the star published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Located some 75 million light-years away in the constellation of Aquarius, the Kinman Dwarf galaxy is too far away for astronomers to see its individual stars, but they can detect the signatures of some of them. From 2001 to 2011, the light from the galaxy consistently showed evidence that it hosted a 'luminous blue variable' star some 2.5 million times brighter than the Sun. Stars of this type are unstable, showing occasional dramatic shifts in their spectra and brightness. Even with those shifts, luminous blue variables leave specific traces scientists can identify, but they were absent from the data the team collected in 2019, leaving them to wonder what had happened to the star. "It would be highly unusual for such a massive star to disappear without producing a bright supernova explosion," says Allan. The group first turned the ESPRESSO instrument toward the star in August 2019, using the VLT's four 8-metre telescopes simultaneously. But they were unable to find the signs that previously pointed to the presence of the luminous star. A few months later, the group tried the X-shooter instrument, also on ESO's VLT, and again found no traces of the star. "We may have detected one of the most massive stars of the local Universe going gently into the night," says team-member Jose Groh, also of Trinity College Dublin. "Our discovery would not have been made without using the powerful ESO 8-metre telescopes, their unique instrumentation, and the prompt access to those capabilities following the recent agreement of Ireland to join ESO." Ireland became an ESO member state in September 2018. The team then turned to older data collected using X-shooter and the UVES instrument on ESO's VLT, located in the Chilean Atacama Desert, and telescopes elsewhere."The ESO Science Archive Facility enabled us to find and use data of the same object obtained in 2002 and 2009," says Andrea Mehner, a staff astronomer at ESO in Chile who participated in the study. "The comparison of the 2002 high-resolution UVES spectra with our observations obtained in 2019 with ESO's newest high-resolution spectrograph ESPRESSO was especially revealing, from both an astronomical and an instrumentation point of view." The old data indicated that the star in the Kinman Dwarf could have been undergoing a strong outburst period that likely ended sometime after 2011. Luminous blue variable stars such as this one are prone to experiencing giant outbursts over the course of their life, causing the stars' rate of mass loss to spike and their luminosity to increase dramatically. Based on their observations and models, the astronomers have suggested two explanations for the star's disappearance and lack of a supernova, related to this possible outburst. The outburst may have resulted in the luminous blue variable being transformed into a less luminous star, which could also be partly hidden by dust. Alternatively, the team says the star may have collapsed into a black hole, without producing a supernova explosion. This would be a rare event: our current understanding of how massive stars die points to most of them ending their lives in a supernova. Future studies are needed to confirm what fate befell this star. Planned to begin operations in 2025, ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will be capable of resolving stars in distant galaxies such as the Kinman Dwarf, helping to solve cosmic mysteries such as this one. ### More information This research was presented in the paper "The possible disappearance of a massive star in the low metallicity galaxy PHL 293B" which will appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (a copy of the paper is available from the Links section below). The team is composed of Andrew Allan (School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland [TCD]), Jose J. Groh (TCD), Andrea Mehner (European Southern Observatory, Chile), Nathan Smith (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, USA [Steward Observatory]), Ioanna Boian (TCD), Eoin Farrell (TCD), Jennifer E. Andrews (Steward Observatory). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It has 16 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world's largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky". Links * Research paper - https:/ / www. eso. org/ public/ archives/ releases/ sciencepapers/ eso2010/ eso2010a. pdf * Photos of the VLT - http://www. eso. org/ public/ images/ archive/ category/ paranal/ * For scientists: got a story? Pitch your research - http://eso. org/ sci/ publications/ announcements/ sciann17277. html Contacts Andrew Allan Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland Tel: +353 872921396 Email: allana@tcd.ie Jose H. Groh Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland Email: jose.groh@tcd.ie Andrea Mehner European Southern Observatory Santiago, Chile Email: amehner@eso.org Barbara Ferreira ESO Public Information Officer Garching bei Munchen, Germany Tel: +49 89 3200 6670 Cell: +49 151 241 664 00 Email: pio@eso.org A connection between ear and jaw bones in marsupials and monotremes shortly after birth provides hints at the evolution of these bones in early mammals Infant marsupials and monotremes use a connection between their ear and jaw bones shortly after birth to enable them to drink their mothers' milk, new findings in eLife reveal. This discovery by researchers at King's College London, UK, provides new insights about early development in mammals, and may help scientists better understand how the bones of the middle ear and jaw evolved in mammals and their predecessors. Marsupials such as opossums, and monotremes such as echidnas, are unusual types of mammals. Both types of animal are born at a very early stage in development, before many bones in the body have started to form. Opossums latch on to their mother's nipple and stay there while they finish developing. Monotremes, which hatch from eggs, lap milk collected near their mother's milk glands as they grow. But how they are able to drink the milk before their jaw joint is fully developed was previously unclear. "Given the lack of a jaw joint in marsupials and monotremes at birth, scientists have previously suggested that the animals may use a connection between the middle ear bones and jaw bones to allow them to feed," explains lead author Neal Anthwal, Research Associate at the Centre for Craniofacial & Regenerative Biology, at King's College London's Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences in the UK. To find out if this is true, Anthwal and his colleagues compared the jaw bones in platypus, short-beaked echidnas, opossums and mice shortly after birth. Their work revealed that, soon after echidnas hatch, their middle ear bones and upper jaw fuse, eventually forming a joint that is similar to the jaws of mammal-like reptile fossils. The team found a similar connection in mouse embryos, but this disappears and the animals are born with functioning jaw joints. Opossums, by contrast, use connective tissue between their middle ear bones and the base of their skull to create a temporary jaw joint that enables them to nurse shortly after birth. "This all shows that marsupials and monotremes have different strategies for coping with early birth," Anthwal says. The findings suggest that the connection between the ear and jaw dates back to an early mammal ancestor and persisted when mammals split into subgroups. Marsupials and monotremes continue to use these connections temporarily in early life. In other mammals, such as mice, these connections occur briefly as they develop in the womb but are replaced by a working jaw joint before birth. "Our work provides novel insight into the evolution of mammals," concludes senior author Abigail Tucker, Principal Investigator and Professor of Development & Evolution at the Centre for Craniofacial & Regenerative Biology, King's College London. "In particular we highlight how structures can change function over evolutionary time but also during development, with the ear bones moving from feeding to hearing. The recent availability of monotreme tissue for molecular analysis, as showcased here, provides an amazing future opportunity to understand the biology of these weird and wonderful mammals, which we are keen to explore." ### Reference The paper 'Transient role of the middle ear as a lower jaw support across mammals' can be freely accessed online at https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 7554/ eLife. 57860 . Contents, including text, figures and data, are free to reuse under a CC BY 4.0 license. Media contacts Emily Packer, Senior Press Officer eLife e.packer@elifesciences.org 01223 855373 Laura Shepherd Faculty Communications, King's College London Laura.shepherd@kcl.ac.uk 07934 467529 About eLife eLife is a non-profit organisation created by funders and led by researchers. Our mission is to accelerate discovery by operating a platform for research communication that encourages and recognises the most responsible behaviours. We work across three major areas: publishing, technology and research culture. We aim to publish work of the highest standards and importance in all areas of biology and medicine, including Developmental Biology and Evolutionary Biology, while exploring creative new ways to improve how research is assessed and published. We also invest in open-source technology innovation to modernise the infrastructure for science publishing and improve online tools for sharing, using and interacting with new results. eLife receives financial support and strategic guidance from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Max Planck Society and Wellcome. Learn more at https:/ / elifesciences. org/ about . To read the latest Developmental Biology research published in eLife, visit https:/ / elifesciences. org/ subjects/ developmental-biology . And for the latest in Evolutionary Biology, see https:/ / elifesciences. org/ subjects/ evolutionary-biology . About the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King's College London King's College London's Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences is one of the foremost dental schools in the world. Recently ranked first in the world in dentistry by the QS World University Rankings 2020, the Faculty aims to maximise impact on health and wellbeing by integrating excellence across four areas: Education / teaching World-class science Clinical approaches Patient care The Faculty's mission is to understand disease, enhance health and restore function. Their vision is to be world leading in dental, oral and craniofacial education, research and clinical care. The Faculty's international reputation attracts students and staff from across the globe. The largest dental academic centre in the UK, they teach over 700 undergraduate students, 140 graduate taught students, 300 distance learning students and 110 graduate research students. The Faculty is shaped by a diverse student and staff population which adds strength to its standing. The faculty has over 85 academic staff and is organised into three research priority areas: (1) Development, Regeneration, Repair & Tissue Engineering (2) Immunity, Infection & Host-Microbe Interactions (3) Clinical, Translational & Population Health The research areas complement the teaching and clinical service initiatives. As well as excellent research facilities, the Faculty has internationally recognised education programmes. With highly skilled teachers and supervisors, there are exceptional facilities, including access to over 300,000 patients each year across world-famous hospitals, Guy's & St Thomas', and King's College Hospitals for hands-on clinical training. They are one of the most comprehensive dental academic health science centres in Europe. These 3 historic hotels give guests a glimpse at the past Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Three historic hotels in Colorado take guests back to when mining towns boomed in the mountains. In other words, guests get an experience that no modern chain hotel could ever replicate. These hotels are also perfectly situated for summer road trips to some of the countrys best state and national parks, where social distancing is never an issue. Creede Hotel The aptly named Creede Hotel in Creede (population 290) is actually a bed-and-breakfast inn with four rooms above a local restaurant. The rooms each is named after an Old West legend are dated and could use an update, which hopefully will come soon as the hotel is for sale with an asking price of $889,000. Dating to the 1880s, the hotel and restaurant also sit next to a popular theatre housed in the old silver mining towns opera house. Just down Main Street, which features several shops, galleries and even an old-fashioned hardware store, is the early 1890s Denver & Rio Grande Railroad depot-turned-town museum. Creede, about five hours drive from Denver, has more to offer than small-town charm. Surrounded by the San Juan Mountains, it is perfect for outdoor recreation, including fishing in the Rio Grande River. Grand Imperial Hotel On the other side of the San Juan Mountains is Silverton (population 645), which as its name suggests was once a silver mining town. The major landmark is the Grand Imperial Hotel, which first opened its doors to guests in 1883. They simply dont build hotels like this anymore. Painstakingly restored in recent years, the decor is reminiscent of the grand hotels that sprang up in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras. Silvertons former prosperity is also exemplified by its stately county courthouse and townhall, the latter of which was thankfully restored after a fire in 1992 gutted the interior. The circa 1880 Carpenter Gothic edifice of First Congregational Church against the backdrop of the mountains makes for a nice photo. Getting to Silverton by car takes five hours from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and between six and seven hours from Denver and Salt Lake City. Beaumont Hotel & Spa About an hour from Silverton is the Beaumont Hotel & Spa in Ouray, which film buffs will recognize from the 1969 Western classic True Grit starring John Wayne. The family-owned hotel, built in 1886 when gold was king, counts Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover among its most famous guests. While in Ouray (population 1,000) be sure to visit the county courthouse and see the courtroom from True Grit. Be sure to also take a tour of the Bachelor-Syracuse Mine at Gold Mountain to learn about the life and working conditions of the Old West miners. Spires and Crosses is a weekly travel column. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter and Instagram. In Germany, there is currently a lack of infrastructure to deal with high-volume biological and biomedical data, such as data found in medical records. Two important types of data are genomic data, which contains information on an individual's genetic code, and phenomic data, which is about an individual's observable traits, arising from interactions between their genes and the environment. Both types of data are already generated on a large scale across Germany, but legal, ethical, and technical issues limit access to and reuse of such data for research purposes. The German Human Genome-Phenome Archive (GHGA), which has just received a funding commitment from the German research foundation DFG, will address the need for access to genomic and phenomic data within an ethical and legal framework. By establishing a German data archive and analytics platform, German scientists will have increased opportunities to participate in key international research networks. Genome research plays a central role in modern health research and is already contributing to better patient care. In cancer research, for example, the analysis of individual tumour genomes can reveal genetic changes in order to treat them with targeted therapies. Genomic analyses are also increasingly used to decipher the genetic causes of rare diseases. By establishing a standardised infrastructure for processing large volumes of data, the research community in Germany will benefit from more streamlined processes and the centralised nature of the data. "The archive will provide greater opportunities to foster responsible data sharing throughout Germany and Europe overall," says Jan Korbel, a group leader at EMBL Heidelberg and one of the directors of the GHGA. "It will also enable us to better train the next generation of scientists in efficient, responsible use of data and management of biological and biomedical data in research." The consortium, led by the DKFZ, brings together expertise from across Germany and Europe, including EMBL. It builds on and extends existing reliable and secure high-performance computing infrastructures to form a network of data hubs that German scientists will be able to access. This national infrastructure will be connected to institutes generating data throughout Germany, and will make the data accessible in a seamless manner. "We are proud that EMBL is part of this consortium," says Oliver Stegle, another director of the GHGA, associated with both the DKFZ and EMBL. "We bring our expertise to the table in handling large genomic datasets from multiple institutions. For decades, EMBL has been a great supporter of data archiving and exchange, and we are very pleased that we now have the opportunity to contribute to a better dissemination of genomic data in Germany." "The GHGA will closely interact with the European Genome-Phenome Archive at EMBL-EBI, and participate as a node within the future EGA federation network. This novel structure will enable a more rapid exchange of human genomic research data from Germany with international communities," says Korbel. The GHGA consortium will work closely with ethical and legal experts to ensure the highest standards of data processing and data security. The archive will boost genome research in Germany, enabling German research expertise to advance wider research efforts across Europe. ### Currently, there are no specific guidelines on the most effective materials and designs for facemasks to minimize the spread of droplets from coughs or sneezes to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. While there have been prior studies on how medical-grade masks perform, data on cloth-based coverings used by the vast majority of the general public are sparse. Research from Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering and Computer Science, just published in the journal Physics of Fluids, demonstrates through visualization of emulated coughs and sneezes, a method to assess the effectiveness of facemasks in obstructing droplets. The rationale behind the recommendation for using masks or other face coverings is to reduce the risk of cross-infection via the transmission of respiratory droplets from infected to healthy individuals. Researchers employed flow visualization in a laboratory setting using a laser light sheet and a mixture of distilled water and glycerin to generate the synthetic fog that made up the content of a cough-jet. They visualized droplets expelled from a mannequin's mouth while simulating coughing and sneezing. They tested masks that are readily available to the general public, which do not draw away from the supply of medical-grade masks and respirators for healthcare workers. They tested a single-layer bandana-style covering, a homemade mask that was stitched using two-layers of cotton quilting fabric consisting of 70 threads per inch, and a non-sterile cone-style mask that is available in most pharmacies. By placing these various masks on the mannequin, they were able to map out the paths of droplets and demonstrate how differently they perform. Results showed that loosely folded facemasks and bandana-style coverings stop aerosolized respiratory droplets to some degree. However, well-fitted homemade masks with multiple layers of quilting fabric, and off-the-shelf cone style masks, proved to be the most effective in reducing droplet dispersal. These masks were able to curtail the speed and range of the respiratory jets significantly, albeit with some leakage through the mask material and from small gaps along the edges. Importantly, uncovered emulated coughs were able to travel noticeably farther than the currently recommended 6-foot distancing guideline. Without a mask, droplets traveled more than 8 feet; with a bandana, they traveled 3 feet, 7 inches; with a folded cotton handkerchief, they traveled 1 foot, 3 inches; with the stitched quilted cotton mask, they traveled 2.5 inches; and with the cone-style mask, droplets traveled about 8 inches. "In addition to providing an initial indication of the effectiveness of protective equipment, the visuals used in our study can help convey to the general public the rationale behind social-distancing guidelines and recommendations for using facemasks," said Siddhartha Verma, Ph.D., lead author and an assistant professor who co-authored the paper with Manhar Dhanak, Ph.D., department chair, professor, and director of SeaTech; and John Frakenfeld, technical paraprofessional, all within FAU's Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering. "Promoting widespread awareness of effective preventive measures is crucial at this time as we are observing significant spikes in cases of COVID-19 infections in many states, especially Florida." When the mannequin was not fitted with a mask, they projected droplets much farther than the 6-foot distancing guidelines currently recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The researchers observed droplets traveling up to 12 feet within approximately 50 seconds. Moreover, the tracer droplets remained suspended midair for up to three minutes in the quiescent environment. These observations, in combination with other recent studies, suggest that current social-distancing guidelines may need to be updated to account for aerosol-based transmission of pathogens. "We found that although the unobstructed turbulent jets were observed to travel up to 12 feet, a large majority of the ejected droplets fell to the ground by this point," said Dhanak. "Importantly, both the number and concentration of the droplets will decrease with increasing distance, which is the fundamental rationale behind social-distancing." The pathogen responsible for COVID-19 is found primarily in respiratory droplets that are expelled by infected individuals during coughing, sneezing, or even talking and breathing. Apart from COVID-19, respiratory droplets also are the primary means of transmission for various other viral and bacterial illnesses, such as the common cold, influenza, tuberculosis, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), to name a few. These pathogens are enveloped within respiratory droplets, which may land on healthy individuals and result in direct transmission, or on inanimate objects, which can lead to infection when a healthy individual comes in contact with them. "Our researchers have demonstrated how masks are able to significantly curtail the speed and range of the respiratory droplets and jets. Moreover, they have uncovered how emulated coughs can travel noticeably farther than the currently recommended six-foot distancing guideline," said Stella Batalama, Ph.D., dean of FAU's College of Engineering and Computer Science. "Their research outlines the procedure for setting up simple visualization experiments using easily available materials, which may help healthcare professionals, medical researchers, and manufacturers in assessing the effectiveness of face masks and other personal protective equipment qualitatively." ### About FAU's College of Engineering and Computer Science: The FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science is internationally recognized for cutting edge research and education in the areas of computer science and artificial intelligence (AI), computer engineering, electrical engineering, bioengineering, civil, environmental and geomatics engineering, mechanical engineering, and ocean engineering. Research conducted by the faculty and their teams expose students to technology innovations that push the current state-of-the art of the disciplines. The College research efforts are supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Education (DOEd), the State of Florida, and industry. The FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science offers degrees with a modern twist that bear specializations in areas of national priority such as AI, cybersecurity, internet-of-things, transportation and supply chain management, and data science. New degree programs include Masters of Science in AI (first in Florida), Masters of Science in Data Science and Analytics, and the new Professional Masters of Science degree in computer science for working professionals. For more information about the College, please visit eng.fau.edu. About Florida Atlantic University: Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU's world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU's existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit fau.edu. BERKELEY, Calif.--All per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) should be treated as one class and avoided for nonessential uses, according to a peer-reviewed article published today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The authors--16 scientists from universities, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the European Environment Agency, and NGOs--say the extreme persistence and known toxicity of PFAS that have been studied render traditional chemical-by-chemical management dangerously inadequate. The article lays out how businesses and government can apply a class-based approach to reduce harm from PFAS, including fluoropolymers, which are large molecules. "With thousands of PFAS in existence, assessing and managing their risks individually is like trying to drink from a fire hose," said Tom Bruton, Senior Scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute. "Phased-out PFAS that were used to make products like non-stick cookware have been replaced with other PFAS that have turned out to be similarly toxic. By avoiding the entire class of PFAS, we can avoid further rounds of replacing a banned substance with a chemical cousin which is also later banned." Studied PFAS have been associated with cancer, decreased fertility, endocrine disruption, immune system harms, adverse developmental effects, and other serious health problems. The authors note that people are exposed to multiple PFAS at once, and there is little research on the effects of combined exposures. Less than one percent of PFAS have been tested for toxicity, but all PFAS are either extremely persistent in the environment or break down into extremely persistent PFAS. Cleaning up contamination can take decades to centuries or more and every time an individual "forever chemical" has been studied, it was found to be harmful. "When it comes to harm from PFAS, it is much more than our own health that's at stake. It is the health of our children, grandchildren and generations to come--indeed, of every creature on our planet," said Arlene Blum, Executive Director of the Green Science Policy Institute. "The longer we continue the unnecessary use of PFAS, the more likely the overall future harm to our world will rival, or even surpass, that of the coronavirus." The article notes that some companies have already employed a class-based approach to PFAS. For example, IKEA phased out all PFAS in its textile products and Levi Strauss & Co. has committed to a similar phase-out. "We're proud that our class-based approach to chemicals has helped protect our customers and the environment, for example by removing all PFAS from IKEA's textiles in 2016," said Therese Lilliebladh of IKEA. "It also helps us stay ahead of the curve and avoid falling into a problematic cycle of substituting a similar chemical for one that has been phased out." Some government bodies have banned the entire class of PFAS for use in some products. For example, Maine and Washington have banned all PFAS in food contact materials and Denmark has banned PFAS from paper-based food packaging. The authors recommend expanding such regulation to all nonessential uses. Contrary to recent PFAS manufacturer messaging, the authors emphasize that fluorinated polymers should be included in a class-based approach to PFAS. "These large molecule chemicals can release smaller toxic PFAS and other hazardous substances into the environment throughout their lifecycle, from production, to use, to disposal," said author Carol Kwiatkowski, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. "Fluoropolymer microplastics also contribute to global plastic and microplastics debris." "PFAS are a complex class of chemicals, but there is a clear pattern of persistence and potential for health harm that unites them all," said retired NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum. "The use of any PFAS should be avoided whenever possible." ### DURHAM, NC - Researchers at The Health Care Cost Institute, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Duke University School of Medicine Department of Population Health Sciences, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) today released a major collection of interactive visualizations and datasets designed to help policymakers, journalists, and the general public better understand patterns in health care spending. The collaborative project analyzed health insurance claims data across age groups, service categories, and sources of coverage within each of North Carolina's 100 counties. "North Carolinians in our study population spent almost $50 billion on health care per year, or more than $8,000 per person on average," said Niall Brennan, MPP, President and CEO of the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI). "Average health care spending per person ranged from as low as $2,500 a year to as much as $19,000 per year depending on age, health status and type of coverage. To address rising levels of health care spending and key drivers of that spending, it's essential to first know where and how money is being spent, and on what." Researchers analyzed de-identified medical claims covering 6.3 million North Carolinians, representing more than 60% of the population. These included individuals with coverage through Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, or employer-sponsored insurance through Blue Cross NC, Aetna, Humana, or United Health Group in 2016 and 2017. "Together, these data serve as a kind of 'flashlight' that illuminates spending patterns in ways that were not easily visible before. Our goal is for this information to serve as a state resource that can promote more in-depth and informed conversations and further research about the main sources of spending and variation across North Carolina," said Aaron McKethan, PhD, Senior Policy Fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Adjunct Professor in the School of Medicine. Key takeaways from the yearlong project include: Significant overall spending. Health care services used by North Carolinians in the study population cost $50 billion per year - an average of just over $8,000 per person. Geographic variation. While annual health care spending averaged $8,176 per person across the total study population, spending per person ranged from $7,272 in Wake County to $10,282 in Jones County even after being adjusted to account for county-level differences in age and gender. Cost variation by payer type. Average per-person spending varied widely by source of coverage, driven by demographic differences in who qualifies for each coverage source. Per-person spending averaged $15,670 for traditional Medicare, $11,199 for Medicare Advantage, $6,361 for employer-sponsored insurance, and $5,480 for Medicaid, varying by age within each population. Spending variation by service category. The largest share of spending for North Carolinians with employer-sponsored insurance was for outpatient services, such as routine visits to a doctor's office. For people with coverage through traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid, inpatient services provided in a hospital setting accounted for the largest share of spending. "Blue Cross NC is in a unique position to analyze a wealth of health cost data and has a long standing commitment to cost transparency to the public and industry," said Patrick Getzen, FSA, MAAA, Chief Data Officer of Blue Cross NC. "Innovations in data aggregation and analysis are critical to making health care better, simpler and more affordable and this project will inform efforts to improve care throughout North Carolina. Every state should have access to a resource like this." The project's primary aim is to make new resources available for researchers and journalists to better inform North Carolina policymakers and the public about health care spending in the state. Downloadable data include county-level information on selected clinical episodes: stroke, colonoscopy, lower joint replacement, spine MRI, and cesarean section/vaginal deliveries, as well as per-person spending by county for people with diabetes, depression, lung cancer, or opioid use disorder. The project received generous support from The Commonwealth Foundation and Arnold Ventures, and in-kind technical assistance from Blue Cross NC and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. ### EAST HANOVER, NJ - June 30, 2020 - On a June 24 webinar, titled, "The ADA Generation: A Dialogue with Recent College Graduates with Disabilities," experts in employment and disability engaged with three young professionals to relate the results of a new national survey to the real-world experiences of recent college graduates with disabilities. The survey, commissioned by Kessler Foundation and implemented by the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD), commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and explores its impact on the first generation to come of age since the ADA's passage in 1990. The panel focused on the topline findings of the 2020 Kessler Foundation National Employment and Disability Survey: Recent College Graduates, the third in a series of surveys that are changing perceptions about disability and work, and establishing new pathways for greater inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. The overall results of the 2020 survey were presented nationally on June 3, 2020 via a Zoom webinar, titled, "The ADA Generation: New Perspectives on Employment and College Graduates with Disabilities," and via a EurekAlert release. The experts reported that college students with disabilities were taking advantages of career services during college, and were transitioning from college to work at the same rate as their peers without disabilities - 90%. Economist Andrew Houtenville, PhD, of UNH-IOD chaired the June 24 webinar, which featured John O'Neill, PhD, director of the Center for Employment and Disability at Kessler Foundation, Kimberly Phillips, PhD, of UNH-IOD, and psychologist Elizabeth Cardoso, PhD, chair of the Educational Foundations and Counseling Programs at Hunter College-City University of New York. Dr. Cardoso related the survey's new findings to the outcomes of the MIND Alliance grant she received from the National Science Foundation. MIND Alliance fosters careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among minority students with disabilities in high school, community college and college. The college graduates with disabilities who shared their experiences were Hieu Duc Dang, AA, BA, MS, benefits counselor at the Center for Independence of the Disabled (CIDNY), Bryce Stanley, BA, MS, PhD candidate, research assistant at the University of New Hampshire, and Annemarie Veira, BA, MS, CRC, coordinator of the Office of Disability Resources at of the School of Visual Arts in New York City. The 2020 survey collected a wealth of information, including details of college majors and occupations, finding that students with disabilities were more likely to pursue career paths focused on helping people, and less likely to choose STEM majors, or to work in STEM disciplines. "Preparing for STEM careers will help people with disabilities take advantage of this growth sector in our economy," said Dr. O'Neill. "Research shows that this is a disparity that can be addressed with the right support system," he added. Providing comprehensive support beginning in high school can increase the participation of minorities with disabilities in STEM careers, according to Dr. Cardoso. "More than 700 students received the services of the MIND Alliance," she reported, "including role modeling, tutoring, and mentoring, as well as exposure to internships, exposure to careers in STEM, and exposure to individuals with disabilities in STEM careers. These MIND Alliance students excelled in terms of their graduation rates at every level, in transitioning to higher education, and in choosing STEM careers." During the webinar, Dang, Stanley and Veira shared how their college experiences compared with the survey's main findings, in terms of disability and career services, accommodations, and preparation for transitioning to the workplace. They were encouraged when the survey showed that peers with disabilities were striving to work and transitioning to jobs as they had, but cautioned that there are still disparities in job quality (e.g., earnings, hours working) between college graduates with and without disabilities. "We've learned a great deal from the survey and our panelists," Dr. O'Neill acknowledged. "We plan to look deeper into our results to find better ways to support and advise youth with disabilities, their families, and educators. Looking at the impact of the type of disability and the type of college, for example, will yield useful information," he predicted. It's clear that we can build on the gains that individuals with disabilities have made since the ADA, and improve their educational experience and employment outcomes." ### Visit https:/ / kesslerfoundation. org/ KFSurvey2020 for all survey materials: Recorded Webinar 1 (June 3): The ADA Generation: New Perspectives on Employment and College Graduates with Disabilities Press release, Executive summary, Survey results, PowerPoint slides, and FAQs. Recorded Webinar 2 (June 24): The ADA Generation: A Dialogue with Recent College Graduates with Disabilities Find Kessler Foundation's previous employment and disability surveys below: 2015 Kessler Foundation National Employment & Disability Survey: https:/ / kesslerfoundation. org/ KFSurvey15 2017 Kessler Foundation National Employment & Disability Survey: Supervisor Perspectives: https:/ / kesslerfoundation. org/ KFSurvey17 About Kessler Foundation Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. Kessler Foundation and UNH issue National Trends in Disability Employment (#nTIDE), and nTIDE COVID Update, custom monthly reports that compare employment data for people with and without disabilities. Learn more by visiting http://www. KesslerFoundation. org . To talk to one of our experts, contact: Carolann Murphy, 201-803-0572, CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org WOODS HOLE, Mass. - Corals are "part animal, part plant, and part rock - and difficult to figure out, despite being studied for centuries," says Philippe Laissue of University of Essex, a Whitman Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Many corals are sensitive to bright light, so capturing their dynamics with traditional microscopes is a challenge. To work around their photosensitivity, Laissue developed a custom light-sheet microscope (the L-SPI) that allows gentle, non-invasive observation of corals and their polyps in detail over eight continuous hours, at high resolution. He and his colleagues, including MBL Associate Scientist and coral biologist Loretta Roberson, published their findings this week in Scientific Reports. A video explainer of the research is here. Coral reefs, made up of millions of tiny units called polyps, are extremely important ecosystems, both for marine life and for humans. They harbor thousands of marine species, providing food and economic support for hundreds of millions of people. They also protect coasts from waves and floods, and hold great potential for pharmaceutical and biotechnological discovery. But more than half of the world's coral reefs are in severe decline. Climate change and other human influences are gravely threatening their survival. As ocean temperatures rise, coral bleaching is afflicting reefs worldwide. In coral bleaching, corals expel their symbiotic algae and become more susceptible to death. "The L-SPI opens a window on the interactions and relationship between the coral host, the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, and the calcium carbonate skeleton they build in real time," Roberson says. "We can now track the fate of the algae during [coral] bleaching as well as during initiation of the symbiosis." Roberson is also using Laissue's imaging technology to measure damage to corals from "bioeroders" - biological agents like algae and sponges that break down a coral's skeleton, a problem exacerbated by ocean acidification and increasing water temperatures. ### A video of a coral polyp emerging that Laissue imaged with the L-SPI microscope won first place in the 2019 Nikon Small World in Motion. See the video here. The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery - exploring fundamental biology, understanding marine biodiversity and the environment, and informing the human condition through research and education. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution and an affiliate of the University of Chicago. Hospitalized patients who report an allergy to penicillin are often prescribed alternative antibiotics for infection that can be harmful, even though diagnostic testing or evaluations would show that the vast majority of these reported allergies could be disproven, according to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital. In a national study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the team found that the 16% of hospitalized patients with a documented penicillin allergy were twice as likely to be prescribed alternative antibiotics. Given that more than 90 percent of documented penicillin allergies are unconfirmable, those antibiotic substitutions by physicians were likely unnecessary. "Too often clinicians are making inferior antibiotic decisions based on unverified penicillin allergy histories that may date back to a patient's childhood and are no longer valid," says Kimberly Blumenthal , MD, MSc, with the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, MGH, and lead author of the study. "As a result, patients are often prescribed antibiotics other than penicillins and cephalosporins - some of our core infection fighters - that may increase the risk of adverse side effects and antibiotic resistance. "This pattern could be changed with a little more testing or, in many cases, by simply taking the time to talk to patients in order to learn more about a reported penicillin allergy, instead of taking the penicillin allergy label at face value." Approximately half of hospitalized patients today receive antibiotics to treat or prevent infections caused by bacteria, and more than 10 percent have a penicillin allergy documented in their medical records. In the first study to investigate antibiotic use patterns in documented penicillin allergy on a national scale, Mass General researchers combed the records of nearly 11,000 patients at 106 hospitals. They found that the 16 percent of inpatients with a penicillin allergy on their medical records were typically treated with -lactam alternative antibiotics, including significantly increased use of clindamycin, linezolid, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, and vancomycin. The highest risk exposure was to clindamycin, which is associated with C difficile infection. Patients with a documented penicillin allergy were five times more likely to be given clindamycin than those without such an allergy. Another key finding involved inpatients with a documented penicillin allergy who received antibiotics as prophylaxis for an upcoming surgical procedure to prevent infections. Although a -lactam is the recommended antibiotic for this indication in most cases, the study found that patients with a documented penicillin allergy were nine-fold less likely to receive a -lactam, but seven-fold more likely to receive a -lactam alternative antibiotic. "Hospitals should especially be targeting penicillin allergy evaluations for patients with planned surgical procedures and those who are otherwise likely to be prescribed clindamycin," says Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, chief of Infectious Diseases at MGH, Steve and Deborah Gorlin MGH Research Scholar and senior author of the study. "For patients who claim a penicillin allergy, those interventions could be as simple as asking the right questions and compiling a comprehensive history. Unfortunately, antibiotic decisions are often made based on limited information or without a thorough investigation. We learned from our study that antibiotic prescribing without full allergy information can ultimately do the patient more harm than good." Blumenthal, an expert in allergy and immunology, underscores the need for hospitals across the country to more aggressively address penicillin allergy risk detection. While a diagnostic test exists to help clinicians accurately make that determination, less than half of hospitals have access to it, she points out. "Hospitals should clearly be treating patients with the most targeted and effective antibiotic for their infection, rather than being influenced by a penicillin reaction years earlier that might have been nothing more than itching or a headache," Blumenthal declares. "That will require hospitals to become much more vigilant and proactive in penicillin allergy assessment as part of their inpatient antibiotic stewardship programs." ### Lead author Blumenthal is co-director of the Clinical Epidemiology Program in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at MGH and assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Senior author Walensky is professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. McLean Hospital's Brent P. Forester, MD, MSc, is heading a new study of a training model to help primary care nurses better care for patients with dementia. Funded by a $54 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the research effort is one of two pilot studies by the NIA's IMPACT Collaboratory. IMPACT is an effort to improve the lives of dementia patients by conducting clinical trials within health care systems. Forester, chief of McLean's Center of Excellence in Geriatric Psychiatry, said the study will involve nurses in the Mass General Brigham (MGB) system who are part of care teams treating medically complicated individuals with dementia. The nurses will receive condition-specific training. Forester said, "We are going to modify existing training modules so that we can train nurses to be dementia care providers who can help with assessment, management, and coordination of care while providing support for family care partners." According to Forester, the idea for this study came about because the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease is rising. Only about half of the 5.8 million people in the U.S. with Alzheimer's disease have been diagnosed. "What's missing is an ability to intervene early to prevent some of the later-stage complications of dementia," Forester stated. "A number of models have been studied for identifying and coordinating care for people with dementia in primary care. Collaborative dementia care includes screening, assessment and disclosure of diagnosis, care planning, and supporting family members who are caring for patients at home." Forester said that he and his colleagues committed to creating a new model to better help patients with dementia and their families, as well as doctors and nurses. "We decided to take a model of care studied originally at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco)," he reported. He said that the UCSF model "reduced emergency room visits, health care costs, and improved quality of life for patients and caregivers because of improved efforts at diagnosis and treatment of dementia and support of care partners by the primary care team." With the new study, the researchers plan to test a similar model on dementia patients and staff across the MGB system. "We were interested in a model that is scalable in a large health care system like ours," Forester said. Central to the study is training for primary care nurse managers on telephone-based collaborative dementia care. Using a system called the Care Ecosystem model, remote care could lead to "reduced unnecessary emergency room visits, reduced behavioral symptoms for dementia patients, and improved quality of life," Forester said. Forester said that remote interactions "could revolutionize the way we care for people with dementia." He cited recent experience in using phone calls and virtual systems to tend to dementia patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. "From our own clinical experience since the pandemic began, we've seen that our ability to reach people with dementia in their home and in long-term care facilities may be greater than before," he said. "These interactions have helped us support caregivers who can't leave the house because they have to be there with their loved ones." Besides finding ways to ease the burdens on caregivers, the study could help health care professionals better coordinate care for dementia patients. "A lot of people with dementia are being seen by several doctors," Forester explained. "One deals with the patient's heart. One deals with the brain. One deals with the stomach. But they aren't always in touch with each other and may prescribe medications that worsen memory and daily functioning." Telephone-based care systems could make it easier for regular interactions between all doctors and nurses on a patient's care team. "Part of our training will help nurses be attuned to why coordination of care is especially important for people with dementia and how better coordination might reduce some of the complications," Forester said. The first pilot study will be launched this summer. It will produce findings that will hopefully lead to the design of a large-scale implementation of an embedded trial across the MGB system. "We're doing this one-year pilot to see if we can successfully implement this model here," Forested stated. "If it is feasible and shows positive outcomes, NIA will invite us to apply for a larger, five-year, randomized controlled study to see if we can train people in the intervention and learn more about the impact it has on dementia patients." ### ANN ARBOR, Mich. - In a new paper, published in Annals of Emergency Medicine, three female emergency physicians share the need for emergency departments to adopt best practices and strategies to support lactating emergency physicians. "In the often hectic and unpredictable emergency department environment, lactating physicians can find it challenging to have set breaks to pump," says Mary Haas, M.D., an instructor in emergency medicine at Michigan Medicine and the lead author of the paper. Haas and her colleagues note that a lack of support in the workplace, including lack of appropriate lactation spaces and departmental policies, can impair an emergency physicians' ability to meet lactation goals and lead to early cessation of breastfeeding. The authors call for three broad categories of strategies -- time, space and support -- including tactics within each, that lactating physicians, their colleagues and departmental leadership can implement. For example, in the time category, the authors note that lactating physicians should set telephone reminders to pump, colleagues can recognize the need for lactating physicians to pump every three hours and departmental leadership can allow flexibility in clinical scheduling. "It truly 'takes a village' to support lactating mothers," Haas says. "We hope this paper showcases the need for all parties in emergency medicine to be involved and supportive of our lactating colleagues." ### Over the past 150 years, global warming has more than undone the global cooling that occurred over the past six millennia, according to a major study published June 30 in Nature Research's Scientific Data, "Holocene global mean surface temperature, a multi-method reconstruction approach." The findings show that the millennial-scale global cooling began approximately 6,500 years ago when the long-term average global temperature topped out at around 0.7C warmer than the mid-19th century. Since then, accelerating greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to global average temperatures that are now surpassing 1C above the mid-19th century. Four researchers of Northern Arizona University's School of Earth and Sustainability (SES) led the study, with Regents' professor Darrell Kaufman as lead author and associate professor Nicholas McKay as co-author, along with assistant research professors Cody Routson and Michael Erb. The team worked in collaboration with scientists from research institutions all over the world to reconstruct the global average temperature over the Holocene Epoch--the period following the Ice Age and beginning about 12,000 years ago. "Before global warming, there was global cooling," said Kaufman. "Previous work has shown convincingly that the world naturally and slowly cooled for at least 1,000 years prior to the middle of the 19th century, when the global average temperature reversed course along with the build-up of greenhouse gases. This study, based on a major new compilation of previously published paleoclimate data, combined with new statistical analyses, shows more confidently than ever that the millennial-scale global cooling began approximately 6,500 years ago." Earlier this year, an international group of 93 paleoclimate scientists from 23 countries--also led by Kaufman, McKay, Routson and Erb--published the most comprehensive set of paleoclimate data ever compiled for the past 12,000 years, compressing 1,319 data records based on samples taken from 679 sites globally. At each site, researchers analyzed ecological, geochemical and biophysical evidence from both marine and terrestrial archives, such as lake deposits, marine sediments, peat and glacier ice, to infer past temperature changes. Countless scientists working around the world over many decades conducted the basic research contributing to the global database. "The rate of cooling that followed the peak warmth was subtle, only around 0.1C per 1,000 years. This cooling seems to be driven by slow cycles in the Earth's orbit, which reduced the amount of summer sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere, culminating in the 'Little Ice Age' of recent centuries," said Erb, who analyzed the temperature reconstructions. Since the mid-19th century, global warming has climbed to about 1C, suggesting that the global average temperature of the last decade (2010-2019) was warmer than anytime during the present post-glacial period. McKay, who developed some of the statistical approaches to synthesizing data from around the world, notes that individual decades are not resolved in the 12,000-year-long temperature reconstruction, making it difficult to compare it with any recent decade. "On the other hand, this past decade was likely cooler than what the average temperatures will be for the rest of this century and beyond, which are very likely to continue to exceed 1C above pre-industrial temperatures," McKay said. "It's possible," Kaufman said, "that the last time the sustained average global temperature was 1C above the 19th century was prior to the last Ice Age, back around 125,000 years ago when sea level was around 20 feet higher than today." "Investigating the patterns of natural temperature changes over space and time helps us understand and quantify the processes that cause climate to change, which is important as we prepare for the full range of future climate changes due to both human and natural causes," said Routson. He used an earlier version of the database to link Arctic warming to a reduction in precipitation at mid latitudes (see related article). "Our future climate will largely depend on the influence of human factors, especially the build-up of greenhouse gases. However, future climate will also be influenced by natural factors, and it will be complicated by the natural variability within the climate system. Future projections of climate change will be improved by better accounting for both anthropogenic and natural factors," he said. The reconstruction of past global temperature is the outgrowth of several NAU research projects aimed at understanding the causes and effects of natural climate variability, work that was funded through more than $1.2 million in grants from the National Science Foundation. The team was recently awarded another $678,000 in grants from the NSF for related work extending through 2023. ### About Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University is a higher-research institution providing exceptional educational opportunities in Arizona and beyond. NAU delivers a student-centered experience to its 31,000 students in Flagstaff, statewide and online through rigorous academic programs in a supportive, inclusive and diverse environment. Dedicated, world-renowned faculty help ensure students achieve academic excellence, experience personal growth, have meaningful research opportunities and are positioned for personal and professional success. AR Bernard's Brooklyn megachurch to build $1.2 billion housing community to address gentrification Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment WASHINGTON New York Citys 40,000-member Christian Cultural Center is planning to build a $1.2 billion affordable housing development project on its 10.5-acre campus in Brooklyn, pastor A.R. Bernard said Thursday. Speaking to Christian leaders from over 45 countries at the 100 Cities Summit hosted by Movement Day at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., Bernard told the crowd that the Christian Cultural Center will partner with various government and private entities to build a community of 2,100 mixed-income housing units. The community, which Bernard expects to be finished within the next seven to 10 years, will also include an education center, retail space, and a performing arts center. We are a 50/50 partner with the developer not land that [the church] sold or gave up, Bernard explained. In New York, it is not just land but air rights that is worth millions of dollars. We are in it together to reap all that comes out of that development and to address gentrification issues that are happening in the communities there in New York City. Bernard elaborated on the project in an interview with The Christian Post. In cities like New York, there is gentrification taking place. Gentrification could be racial, it could be economic. For us it is economic. Individuals who are working class or in a certain income range are being squeezed out, he stressed. We wanted to respond by creating affordable housing. We didnt want to do what has typically been done over the last 70, 80 years in America and that is warehousing people with one income, which perpetuates poverty and perpetuates inner city condition. What we want to do is create a community and a model that is sustainable, he added. It is creating community and we want to do it in such a way that is sustainable long-term and a model that we can replicate in other cities across the country. The evangelical pastor said that the development will include a mixture of tall development buildings and maisonettes. The community, he said, will provide rental and homeownership opportunities. To have a true community, you have to have the amenities and services within a 1,000-foot walking distance and we want to stay by that model, he explained. Bernard said that funding for the project will come from various sources of revenues, including tax incentives and government subsidies. It is a collaboration of government, private and non-profit coming together, he stated. Bernard expects the groundbreaking on the first phase of the development to happen in 2020. Mac Pier, president and founder of Movement.org (formerly known as the NYC Leadership Center), told the audience that he thinks what the Christian Cultural Center is doing serves as an important model to churches looking to make an impact in their communities. Movement Day is an initiative of Movement.org. Movement Day's 100 Cities Summit was designed to inspire the over 400 Christian leaders in attendance with ideas on tangible ways their ministries can transform their cities. [The development] really becomes a classroom for the global church to think about how does the faith community interface with the governmental community to address the needs of the community, Pier explained. The church becomes incarnational in that regard. Part of why it was so significant here this morning was to whet your appetite here a little bit for what is possible to elevate the plane of our thinking and for some of you to come and take a look at this [development] in a couple of years. Bernard told the crowd that God is not just standing to watch and that He is actively involved in their plans to transform their communities. It is not just the theology of Christianity but the Christian social ethics and the responsibility that Christianity presents that we have as our brothers keeper, Bernard said. He is actively engaged for your project to become His project and your issue to become His issue, Bernard added later. He can bring all His resources and all His goodness to bring His benevolence toward us to bear any given situation. Northwestern University and its Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP), the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory and several leading research universities are joining forces to launch a first-ever national hub for interdisciplinary, metallomics research and innovation. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Northwestern a five-year, $8.2 million grant to establish the Resource for Quantitative Elemental Mapping for the Life Sciences (QE-Map). The grant is from NIH's Biomedical Technology Research Resources (P41) program. QE-Map will enable unprecedented insights into the role of metals and other inorganic (non-living) elements in human health and disease. QE-Map will be directed by Northwestern's Thomas O'Halloran, the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry and professor of molecular biosciences in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. The leadership team includes Chris Jacobsen, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow who also is a professor of physics and astronomy at Weinberg, and professors Hao Zhang and Cheng Sun of Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering. QE-Map will leverage Northwestern's expertise in the areas of biophotonics, cell biology, inorganic chemistry and X-ray physics to pioneer cutting-edge imaging and detection technologies to deepen understanding of the interplay between metals and biological processes. "Metal fluctuations play a critical regulatory role in a large number of biological processes," said O'Halloran, the founding director of CLP and director of Northwestern's Quantitative Bioelement Imaging Center (QBIC). "For example, fluctuations in the availability of zinc or copper can often be a trigger to the cell to change its function or developmental stage," O'Halloran said. "A fluctuation in zinc might signal an egg to ovulate or a second sperm not to enter the egg. Too much manganese in the brain can trigger Parkinson's disease. Pathological iron chemistry in the brain is involved in Alzheimer's disease, and so on. These findings have generated a tremendous amount of interest across the fields of medicine, biology and physiology." Pioneering testbeds for new imaging technologies The resource will support 75 faculty research programs across Weinberg, McCormick and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as well as collaborators from Argonne, Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Center, Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, University of South Carolina and University of Texas at Austin. Investigators will provide the testbeds for new imaging technologies, tools, software and quantitative methods for metal analysis and localization. These new approaches will be applied to pioneering research in cardiac disease, fertilization and development, neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic diseases. "The ability to map metals and metal dynamics in the brain opens important new avenues in neuroscience research, for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases but also for the fundamental understanding of how neurons communicate," said Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy, assistant professor of neurobiology at Northwestern. "The field has focused on calcium signaling in neurons for a long time, but zinc and other metals serve critical synaptic signaling roles in neurons that remain poorly understood in addition to their functions as co-factors for important neuronal proteins," she said. A new mass spectrometry tool operated by QBIC will enable rapid 2D and 3D imaging of cells in tissue slices. Advances will include development of a completely integrated system with real-time multi-element imaging capabilities, standardized procedures for handling cryogenically preserved biological tissues and a universal cryo sample mounting system that can move between several different technologies that map and analyze elemental distributions. Faster and more sensitive X-ray imaging The resource will also employ large sample format Scanning X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy (SXFM) utilizing one of the nation's brightest synchrotron radiation sources: the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science user facility located at Argonne National Laboratory. The SXFM will provide researchers with organ-wide information on metal distribution. Jacobsen, an expert in X-ray microscopy and trace metal quantitation, will lead efforts to increase the speed, cost-effectiveness and imaging sensitivity of SXFM and standardize approaches for cryogenically preserving biological tissues for universal adoption across platforms. "We want to push further the boundaries of what can be done with X-ray imaging and apply it to biological systems," said Jacobsen, a member of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute. "The APS at Argonne is a great way to excite that X-ray florescence with a much higher rate and much higher spatial resolution than ever could be done in a laboratory system." Ultrasonic detectors that "hear" the sound of color A third resource technology, Photo Acoustic Spectroscopy (PAM), is pioneered by Zhang and Sun. PAM deploys a highly novel, modular ultrasonic detector that combines a unique chemical process to image both frozen samples and live tissue at unprecedented resolution. This approach works by scanning a laser across a sample, causing heat and color intensity to increase and triggering a shockwave that can be detected acoustically. Cheng and Sun will work with collaborators to engineer molecular probes that cater to specific experimental needs. These advances will provide better ways to image time-dependent fluctuations in the concentrations of specific metal ions. "It's almost like hearing the sound of a color," O'Halloran said. "There are disorders of the human brain where sensory inputs get confused between them, but in this case, we're actually using the absorbance of a photon of a certain wavelength of light, which gives rise to the observation of a color, creating a sound wave that will help us localize an image in the material. By listening to the photo acoustic detectors, we can create a map from the sound pattern. It's an incredible idea that has never been shown before." QE-Map will occupy a unique place among the 40 NIH-funded national resources as the only one advancing technology for studying the role of metals in health and disease. "We will be collaborating with dozens of biomedical research teams from around country with the goal of understanding the molecular mechanisms at work in a variety of metal-linked diseases, from Wilson disease, Menkes disease and Alzheimer's, to Parkinson's, heart disease and diabetes," O'Halloran said. "Each of the investigative teams around the country have a particular question in which they need to know how much metal is in their sample and what is it doing to the sample. We can help answer all those questions." ### Research team took less than two months to come up with the portable Droplet and Aerosol Reducing Tent (DART), which lessens the risk of infection and is easy to sterilize A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has invented a foldable tent-like device that serves as a physical shield to reduce the risk of exposure to pathogens for healthcare workers performing droplet and aerosol generating procedures on COVID-19 patients. Known as the Droplet and Aerosol Reducing Tent (DART), the device was designed in collaboration with doctors from the National University Hospital (NUH). The DART can lessen the risks of infection associated with procedures such as suctioning, intubation and extubation by providing an extra layer of protection between the healthcare workers and the patient. It also helps to limit environmental contamination, which can be a source of transmission. The NUS team was led by Professor Freddy Boey, NUS Deputy President (Innovation & Enterprise), and Associate Professor Yen Ching-Chiuan, Co-Director of the Keio-NUS CUTE Center. The team comprises Dr Alfred Chia from NUS Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mr Eason Chow from Keio-NUS CUTE Center, doctoral student Mr Raymond Hon from the NUS Division of Industrial Design as well as researchers from the NUS Faculty of Engineering. The NUS team worked with Dr Deborah Khoo, Dr Wong Weng Hoa, Associate Professor Ti Lian Kah and Associate Professor Sophia Ang from the NUH Department of Anaesthesia. The multi-disciplinary team took less than two months to develop DART and validate its performance. "The quick invention and deployment of DART was made possible through a close collaboration between the NUS and NUH teams, which allowed multiple refinements to be made to the prototypes within a very short time. The NUS team was able to come up with the various designs while adhering to the restrictions of the circuit breaker period, and found different ways to address design and performance related challenges when many resources were not available. The NUH team was instrumental in testing our prototypes in a clinical setting, allowing us to interactively and rapidly refine the performance of the device," shared Prof Boey. Extra protection for frontline healthcare workers The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased the need for infection control when intubating patients. Intubation is the placement of a flexible plastic tube into the windpipe to maintain an open airway or to serve as a conduit through which to administer certain drugs. The removal of this plastic tube is known as extubation. These are risky procedures that may put healthcare workers in danger of becoming infected. Evidence from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 showed that healthcare workers involved in intubation were more likely to contract the disease compared with those who did not. This risk has similar implications for the current coronavirus outbreak, affecting anaesthesiologists, operating theatre staff, intensive care unit staff, and even first responders who are required to intubate collapsed patients in the COVID-19 general ward. Dr Khoo, a Consultant at the NUH Department of Anaesthesia, said, "Healthcare workers caring for patients run the risk of being exposed to known, suspected, or even asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. The DART serves as an additional physical barrier to infection and provides enhanced protection for healthcare staff at a time when they need it the most, giving us greater peace of mind and enabling care to continue safely for both patients and healthcare workers in the hospitals." Practical and versatile solution The DART is a portable, tent-like structure that that can be placed around the patient's head when intubating or extubating. It weighs three kilograms, and can be folded into a flat structure measuring around 51 centimetres by 55 centimetres, with a thickness of three centimetres, making it easy to transport, store and sterilise. It is also simple and fast to set up. The device features transparent polycarbonate panels, 3D printed nylon joints and Delrin inserts. These durable materials were chosen by the NUS team to enable the device to be sterilised by all standard forms of decontamination used in hospitals, such as elevated temperature autoclaving, and using alcohol of 70 per cent concentration. This facilitates the reusability of the device, and eliminates the risk of cross-contamination. Arm access ports are situated on the back and side panels of the device. The snap-on flanges allow the attachment of disposable sleeves or diaphragms. This addresses the concern of the arm ports being high risk areas of contamination, and gives the healthcare workers the option to use either sleeved or diaphragm seals - materials easily available in hospitals - according to their preference. The elliptical shape of the access ports gives the user more leeway for arm movements and to manoeuvre, which are important in handling the patient. A key feature of the DART is its ability to direct air within itself through a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. It has a set of connectors that enables suction from a central vacuum system, or by a battery-operated fan attached to a HEPA filter. The negative pressure generated reduces leakage of exhaled aerosols or droplets from the patient out of the confines of the DART. Preliminary findings by the research team showed that the DART performs its barrier function as designed, and the exhaust function via the HEPA filter gives additional assurance to the user. Prototype testing in Singapore hospitals The research team has produced 25 prototypes which are being tested in different departments and hospitals of the National University Health System (namely NUH, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Alexandra Hospital), Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Changi General Hospital, Thomson Medical Centre, and several private hospitals operated by Parkway Hospitals Singapore. The team is looking to swiftly refine the DART based on the feedback provided by different medical departments, and hopes to provide the device as a form of medical aid to Singapore hospitals as well as hospitals in the region. The team will be partnering Temasek Foundation to distribute the DART, complementing its donation of ventilators to the region. The DART is one of the innovations developed by NUS and NUH to tackle pressing issues that healthcare workers face in the current global pandemic. Since the start of the crisis, NUS has been proactively participating in the fight against COVID-19 on different fronts, with research ranging from rapid diagnostics to case connections and vaccine development, as well as harnessing information and technology solutions to explore everything from modelling public health to fighting false rumours online. NUH has also been on the front line of the battle against COVID-19, as a tertiary hospital that has treated more than 900 COVID-19 patients to date. ### The South Pole has been warming at more than three times the global average over the past 30 years ATHENS, Ohio (June 30, 2020) - The South Pole has been warming at more than three times the global average over the past 30 years, according to research led by Ohio University professor Ryan Fogt and OHIO alumnus Kyle Clem. Fogt, professor of meteorology and director of the Scalia Laboratory for Atmospheric Analysis, and Clem coauthored a paper with an international team of scientists published in the journal Nature Climate Change on the findings. According to the study, this warming period was mainly driven by natural tropical climate variability and was likely intensified by increases in greenhouse gas. Clem, a current postdoctoral research fellow in climate science at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, is the lead author of the study and studied under Fogt for both his bachelor's and master's degrees at Ohio University. "I've had a passion for understanding the weather and fascination of its power and unpredictability as far back as I can remember," Clem said. "Working with Ryan I learned all about Antarctic and Southern Hemisphere climate, specifically how West Antarctica was warming and its ice sheet was thinning and contributing to global sea level rise. I also learned that Antarctica experiences some of the most extreme weather and variability on the planet, and due to its remote location we actually know very little about the continent, so there are constant surprises and new things to learn about Antarctica every year." The Antarctic climate exhibits some of the largest ranges in temperature during the course of the year, and some of the largest temperature trends on the planet, with strong regional contrasts. Most of West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula experienced warming and ice-sheet thinning during the late 20th century. By contrast, the South Pole -- located in the remote and high-altitude continental interior -- cooled until the 1980s and has since warmed substantially. These trends are affected by natural and anthropogenic climate change, but the individual contribution of each factor is not well understood. Clem and his team analyzed weather station data at the South Pole, as well as climate models to examine the warming in the Antarctic interior. They found that between 1989 and 2018, the South Pole had warmed by about 1.8 degrees Celsius over the past 30 years at a rate of +0.6 degrees Celcius per decade - three times the global average. The study also found that the strong warming over the Antarctic interior in the last 30 years was mainly driven by the tropics, especially warm ocean temperatures in the western tropical Pacific Ocean that changed the winds in the South Atlantic near Antarctica and increased the delivery of warm air to the South Pole. They suggest these atmospheric changes along Antarctica's coast are an important mechanism driving climate anomalies in its interior. Clem and Fogt argue that these warming trends were unlikely the result of natural climate change alone, emphasizing the effects of added anthropogenic warming on top of the large tropical climate signal on Antarctic climate have worked in tandem to make this one of the strongest warming trends worldwide. "From the very beginning, Kyle and I worked very well together and were able to accomplish more as a team than we were individually," Fogt said. "We have published every year together since 2013, with one of our continuing collaborations being the annual State of the Climate reports. Our work on this project together each year ultimately led to this publication documenting the warming at the South Pole, however, most importantly for me, apart from being a fantastic scientist and collaborator, my family and I are both honored to consider Kyle one of our closest friends." ### INDIANAPOLIS -- New research shows that 47 percent of people are using technology to communicate with their healthcare providers, and less than a quarter are having conversations with their providers about using health information technology (HIT). Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University research scientists say these numbers indicate there are more opportunities to engage patients in this type of communication. "The results of our statewide survey indicate patients are using health information technology," said Joy L. Lee, PhD, first author of the paper and Regenstrief research scientist. "However, they aren't talking to their provider about it. One of the few widely agreed upon recommendations for electronic communication in healthcare is for providers to be talking to their patients about it ahead of time. This does not appear to be happening regularly, and may be impacting the use of this technology." Dr. Lee is also an assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. "How patients and providers are using technology to communicate may have changed over the last few months in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, but having a shared agenda about how to communicate, what is appropriate to send as a message, and being able to discuss it openly is still important to foster the electronic patient-provider relationship," Dr. Lee continued. Researchers sent surveys to Indiana University Health patients across the state of Indiana asking about their use of technology to communicate with their doctor. Data analysis showed 47 percent had used HIT for communication in the last year. Of those respondents, 31 percent reported using an electronic health record messaging system 24 percent used email 18 percent used text messages Because this survey was statewide, researchers say it gives a more representative snapshot of health behaviors. These numbers are similar to other research results from across the country. The numbers show a shift toward secure messaging, which is the platform health systems are encouraging people to use because of its integration with the electronic health record. Out of all the respondents, only 21 percent reported having a conversation with their doctor or provider about how to correspond digitally. "This lack of conversation may lead to patients not taking advantage of these online communication platforms which have strong potential for patient engagement," said David Haggstrom, M.D., senior author on the paper and interim director of the Regenstrief Institute William M. Tierney Center for Health Services Research. "Individuals may be more likely to use messaging if they know what subjects are appropriate and how their provider might respond. We need to look at providing more support for both patients and providers to facilitate these conversations. The need for remote communication has been dramatically highlighted in the rapidly changing healthcare environment associated with COVID-19." Dr. Haggstrom is also an associate professor at the IU School of Medicine and a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. ### The article, "Communication about health information technology use between patients and providers," was published online May 27 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine ahead of print. That data was gathered in January and February of 2018. In addition to Dr. Lee and Dr. Haggstrom, other authors are Susan M. Rawl, PhD of Indiana University School of Nursing and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center; Stephanie Dickinson, M.S. of Indiana University School of Public Health; Evgenia Teal, M.S. and Layla B. Baker, MBChB of Regenstrief Institute; Chen Lyu, MPH of Indiana University Center for Survey Research; and Will L. Tarver, PhD of Indianapolis VA HSR&D Center for Health Information and Communication. The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, (Grant P30 CA082709-17S6) and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. About Joy L. Lee, PhD In addition to her role as a research scientist at Regenstrief Institute, Joy L. Lee, PhD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. About David A. Haggstrom, M.D., MAS In addition to his role as a research scientist and interim director of the Center for Health Services Research at Regenstrief Institute, David A. Haggstrom, M.D., MAS, is a core investigator for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center. He is also an associate professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and an affiliate member of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. 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. A key research partner to Indiana University, Regenstrief and its research scientists 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 IU School of Medicine IU School of Medicine is the largest medical school in the U.S. and is annually ranked among the top medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The school offers high-quality medical education, access to leading medical research and rich campus life in nine Indiana cities, including rural and urban locations consistently recognized for livability. About Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center is Indiana's only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and one of only 51 in the nation. The comprehensive designation recognizes the center's excellence in basic, clinical, and population research, outstanding educational activities, and effective community outreach program across the state. OAK BROOK, Ill. - A 3D ultrasound system provides an effective, noninvasive way to estimate blood flow that retains its accuracy across different equipment, operators and facilities, according to a study published in the journal Radiology. Measures of blood flow are important in helping clinicians determine how much oxygen and nutrient-carrying blood is reaching organs and tissues in a patient's body. In emergency situations, accurate blood flow measurements can show if there is adequate blood supply to organs like the heart and brain. Blood flow measurements are important in chronic conditions too, as in the cases of measuring blood flow to the feet and lower limbs of people with diabetes. Despite its importance, there is no ideal way to measure blood flow noninvasively and inexpensively. Current methods like blood pressure and 2D ultrasound (i.e., spectral Doppler) provide only surrogate metrics rather than the desired volumetric flow or have substantial limitations and are prone to errors. True flow measurements with 2D ultrasound are rarely used clinically due to reliability issues and cumbersome implementation. In addition, results often vary considerably between facilities and operators. Measurements from an experienced ultrasound technologist might differ significantly from those of a less experienced one. "Right now, we just don't have anything better to quantify blood flow," said study lead author Oliver D. Kripfgans, Ph.D., associate professor of radiology from the Department of Radiology at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Kripfgans and his Michigan Medicine colleagues J. Brian Fowlkes, Ph.D., Stephen Z. Pinter, Ph.D., and Jonathan M. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., have spent years developing and studying a 3D approach for quantitatively measuring blood flow. For the new study, he and his colleagues, along with other volunteers involved in the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA), tested this 3D approach on three clinical scanners using a custom flow phantom, a device that mimics blood flow in humans. They used seven different laboratories and manipulated the testing conditions by changing flow rate, imaging depth and other parameters for a total of eight distinct testing conditions. The results showed that blood volume flow estimated by 3D color-flow ultrasound was accurate and reproducible among the seven laboratories. "We had less than 10% error or variation," Dr. Kripfgans said. "For some of the systems, we were down to only 3% to 5% difference between labs. These are fantastic results that show that, from a technology point of view, some systems could be ready to go to the clinic." Dr. Kripfgans credited the simplicity of the 3D approach, ease of data collection and elimination of assumptions plaguing other methods for minimizing the variation in results between users and systems. That simplicity, coupled with the availability of 3D on many existing ultrasound systems, is likely to hasten its arrival to clinical medicine, Dr. Kripfgans said. "Once the technique becomes available commercially on scanners, clinical adoption will be much faster because then it's not a research project anymore, it's something that's readily available, and after that it's just a matter of time before it reaches the clinic," he said. QIBA, an alliance of researchers, health care professionals and industry representatives, was organized by the Radiological Society of North America in 2007 to improve current biomarkers and investigate new ones. Biomarkers are measurable indicators of the state of a person's health. The QIBA initiative includes collaboration to identify needs, barriers and solutions to create consistent, reliable, valid and achievable quantitative imaging results across imaging platforms, clinical sites, and time. QIBA aims to accelerate development and adoption of hardware and software standards to achieve accurate and reproducible quantitative results from imaging methods. "Because of QIBA and this study I'm confident that this 3D ultrasound technology is on a path to the clinic," Dr. Kripfgans said. ### "Three-dimensional US for Quantification of Volumetric Blood Flow: Multisite Multisystem Results from within the Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance." Collaborating with Drs. Kripfgans, Fowlkes, Pinter and Rubin were Cristel Baiu, M.Sc., Matthew F. Bruce, Ph.D., Paul L. Carson, Ph.D., Shigao Chen, Ph.D., Todd N. Erpelding, Ph.D., Jing Gao, M.D., Mark E. Lockhart, M.D., M.P.H., Andy Milkowski, M.Sc., Nancy Obuchowski, Ph.D., Michelle L. Robbin, M.D., M.S., and James A. Zagzebski, Ph.D. Radiology is edited by David A. Bluemke, M.D., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, and owned and published by the Radiological Society of North America, Inc. (https:/ / pubs. rsna. org/ journal/ radiology ) RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org) For patient-friendly information on ultrasound, visit RadiologyInfo.org. LA JOLLA--(June 29, 2020) As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the globe, the Salk Institute joins in efforts to understand the fundamental science behind the novel coronavirus to pave the way to treatments and cures. COVID-19 exploits a vulnerability in the immune system's armor: because the SARS-CoV-2 virus--the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19--appeared in humans recently, our immune systems have no experience with the virus--and sometimes have difficulty fighting it. "It is hard to overstate the impact of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on our world," says Salk President Rusty Gage. "Salk scientists with expertise in virology, immunology and infectious disease are fully engaged pursuing bold research focused on the COVID-19 infection and the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes it." Salk faculty are tackling COVID-19 research from a number of angles, some via ongoing research projects that have direct relevance to the virus, including: Professor Janelle Ayres is studying pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS, which occurs in COVID-19 patients). Professor Greg Lemke is delving into how receptors regulate the immune response and is studying ways to prevent the "cytokine storms" that develop in COVID-19. Professor Satchin Panda is focusing on the long-term gene activity in COVID patients. Research Professor Marga Behrens is researching the effects of virus-induced maternal immune activity on brain development of offspring. There is also a host of new, approved COVID-19 research projects underway, including: Professor Tony Hunter previously showed that the cytokine LIF (leukemia inhibitory factor) plays a role in pancreatic cancer. In severe COVID-19 cases, immune cells in the infected windpipe and lungs can release high levels of cytokines, damaging inflammatory proteins. He will test whether cytokines, like LIF, play a role in the immune overreaction ("cytokine storm") seen in some COVID-19 patients. Gerald Pao, a staff scientist in the Hunter lab, will work with the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute to generate a virus system that expresses a spike protein that mimics the ones on the coronavirus. The team will then examine the immune response to these spike proteins. In collaboration with UC San Diego, USC and the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, Pao will develop a test to detect the presence of COVID-19 coronavirus genomes in human nose and throat samples. He has designed this test, which will combine CRISPR with an imaging technology, so that it will only take a few minutes. Pao will also engineer CAR-T cells, cells that can target specific proteins, to aid in the development of a coronavirus vaccine. These cells are repurposed from cancer immunotherapy to provide immune surveillance and kill coronavirus-infected lung cells that have a spike protein on their surface, early in the infection. Professor Susan Kaech, who studies how we develop immunity to severe viral infections, such as influenza and now COVID-19, will collaborate with The Scripps Research Institute and La Jolla Institute to study the types of memory T and B cells that form in the lung following SARS-CoV-2 infection as a way to understand if and how long-term immunity to SARS-CoV-2 can be established. This work will be critical to understanding the types of memory T cells that COVID-19 vaccines will need to re-create in vaccinated individuals to establish benchmarks for generating protective immunity. Kaech recently published a paper on this topic in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Creating a protective coronavirus vaccine is currently one of the world's greatest challenges. Kaech believes that immune cells called memory B and T cells are likely critical for controlling the infection, and could therefore be excellent targets for vaccines to enable long-term immunity. Her lab, in collaboration with The Scripps Research Institute, will examine the role of memory T cells inside the lungs during a COVID-19 infection. In a separate study, in collaboration with pulmonary physicians at UC San Diego and the VA hospital, Kaech will examine changes in the levels and composition of surfactant in COVID-19 patients. Surfactant is a substance in the lungs that allows us to breathe. The study will compare surfactant levels with the health outcomes of COVID-19 patients to determine if a drop in surfactants is associated with more severe disease. Her lab will also test if genetic alterations in pathways that control surfactant levels in the lungs alter the course of the disease. Assistant Professor Dmitry Lyumkis will examine the molecular mechanisms by which the non-structural protein NSP1 halts host protein production. This process ultimately helps the virus in promoting the production of its own viral proteins and the development of COVID-19. The Lyumkis lab will also explore how the non-structural protein NSP2 affects host cells during the development of COVID-19. Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte is collaborating with a San Diego biotechnology company to develop COVID-19 treatments using nanoparticles. The researchers will use RNA-targeting CRISPR-Cas technology to destroy the SARS-CoV-2 virus' RNA. This treatment will prevent the virus from replicating in the body, thereby reducing the severity of an individual's COVID-19 infection and limiting the virus' chances of spreading. If successful, this approach could be extended to treat other RNA viruses in the future. It will take a virus to kill a virus. Professors Clodagh O'Shea, Alan Saghatelian and Joseph Noel are exploiting the atomic structures of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, together with proprietary synthetic virology and chemical biology platforms, to create transformative vaccines and gene therapies. Their pipeline will target i) SARS-CoV-2 prevention by creating synthetic live viral vaccines that induce broad and long-lasting immunity and ii) SARS-CoV-2 treatment through viral gene therapies that express synthetic nanoparticles that seek, neutralize and destroy SARS-CoV-2 and prevent pathology. This research will uncover underlying principles and overcome intractable clinical challenges, not just of SARS-CoV-2 today, but of SARS-CoV-3 tomorrow. "The foundational basic research underway at Salk plays a central role in shaping our approach in response to COVID-19, and to prevent similar crises in the future," says Salk Vice President, Chief Science Officer and Professor Martin Hetzer. "This pandemic has shown how critical basic research is to responding to the greatest health challenges of our time, including infections like COVID-19, diseases of aging like Alzheimer's, and climate change." ### Scientists from Skoltech and their colleagues from Russia and Finland have figured out a non-invasive way to measure the thickness of single-walled carbon nanotube films, which may find applications in a wide variety of fields from solar energy to smart textiles. A single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is essentially a sheet of graphite one atom thick that is rolled into a tube. They are an allotrope (a physical form) of carbon, much like fullerenes, graphene, diamond, and graphite. SWCNTs hold a lot of promise in various industrial applications, ranging from solar cells and LEDs to ultrafast lasers, transparent electrodes, and smart textiles. All these applications, however, require rather precise measurements of SWCNT film thickness and optical properties. "Film thickness is quite important for many applications and usually characterized by how much light can be transferred through the film in the visible spectral range: the higher the transparency, the less the thickness of the film. However, precise control over film thickness and optical constants is critical when one needs to design effiecient transparent electrodes. For instance, we need to know the thickness to improve antireflection properties of the surface based on transparent SWCNT window layer for solar cells. To estimate and subsequently utilize the mechanical properties of SWCNT films, we need to predict the geometrical dimensions of the films," says Professor Albert Nasibulin, head of Laboratory of Nanomaterials at Skoltech Center for Photonics and Quantum Materials. Existing methods for optical constant measurements include absorption and electron energy-loss spectroscopies, while geometric parameters can be determined by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy or atomic force microscopy. These methods are resource-inefficient and require sample preparation, which might affect the very properties of SWCNT films that one is trying to measure. A team of researchers led by Albert Nasibulin of Skoltech and Aalto University was able to design a rapid, contactless, and universal technique for accurate estimation of both SWCNT film thickness and their dielectric functions. They figured out a workaround to use spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), a non-destructive, fast, and very sensitive measurement technique, for SWCNT films. "Ellipsometry is an indirect method that we can use to determine film parameters, and standard methods of data processing are not always applicable here. At first glance, a carbon nanotube thin film is a very difficult object for this technique: consisting of many millions of randomly oriented nanometer-sized individual and bundled tubes, it has strong absorption in the entire spectral range, low reflection and anisotropy in its optical properties. Nevertheless, the first author of the paper, Georgy Ermolaev, a student of a joint Skoltech-MIPT Master's program, has found an elegant algorithm to retrieve the thickness and optical constants in a single set of optical measurements," says Yuriy Gladush, one of the coauthors of the paper. The researchers manufactured SWCNT films of varying thickness and absorption between 90% and 45% at 550 nm and determined the broadband (250-3300 nm) refractive index and corresponding thickness of the films. "It was expected that optical properties would depend on the density of packaging of the carbon nanotubes in the film, but the surprise was in how large this effect is. A single droplet of ethanol can compress or densify the film and change the refractive index from 1.07 to 1.7, opening simple opportunities to adjust the optial properties of the SWCNT films," Albert Nasibulin adds. The team believes other scientists can build on their work and, among other things, use their approach beyond the realm of carbon nanotubes for other kinds of these structures. ### Other organizations involved in this research include the MIPT Center for Photonics and 2D Materials, GrapheneTek and Canatu Ltd. The database comprises information on the so-called "ground reaction force" (GRF) which is the force between the foot and the ground that is generated during movement. It is an important standard parameter used in clinical practice and in research. The figures form the basis for diagnosis and for the assessment of therapeutic success. "Gait analysis provides a huge amount of data. Their interpretation is challenging and there is a great deal of interest in supporting medical decision-making processes with machine learning methods. The more data we have, the better the results", explains Brian Horsak, head of the research focus Motor Rehabilitation at the St. Polten UAS. Anonymised Data of More than 2,000 Patients In order to facilitate research, therapy and diagnosis, Brian Horsak and his colleagues at the St. Polten UAS and the AUVA have now published one of the biggest data records worldwide on this topic in anonymised form. The data include anonymised information on more than 2,000 patients after joint transplantations, fractures and ligament injuries as well as associated impairments of the hips, knees, ankles and heel bones. The data come from several years of clinical gait analysis practice and can be used to improve analysis procedures and models. The database called "GAITREC" is available online free of charge. "We have processed and published the data together with the AUVA. In times of the coronavirus, this dataset is even more interesting as many experts are unable to collect data in the lab and therefore have to rely on existing data records. Our dataset can be of assistance here, in terms of both teaching and research", emphasises Djordje Slijepcevi?, co-author of "GaitRec" and machine learning expert at the St. Polten UAS. Research Focus Motor Rehabilitation The research focus Motor Rehabilitation at the St. Polten UAS develops technology-assisted approaches to physical rehabilitation and promotes their widespread application in clinical practice through collaborations with partners. Within the framework of this research focus, the St. Polten UAS and the AUVA have been carrying out joint research projects for years. These last couple of years, the St. Polten UAS has expanded its competencies in the fields of motor rehabilitation, instrumented 3D gait and movement analysis, machine learning, visual analytics, and augmented & virtual reality, and anchored them on location in the Center for Digital Health Innovation (CDHI). With the Digital Health Lab, the UAS has one of the most modern research labs in Austria in these fields. The technical advancements in the aforementioned areas open up new and innovative treatment options in physical rehabilitation far beyond the existing approaches. The described works on the GAITREC database were partly funded by NO Forschungs- und Bildungsges.m.b.H. (NFB) and the department of science and research of the Lower Austrian state government. ### Publication "GaiTRec, a Large-Scale Ground Reaction Force Dataset of Healthy and Impaired Gait" Brian Horsak, Djordje Slijepcevic, Anna-Maria Raberger, Caterine Schwab, Marianne Worisch, Matthias Zeppelzauer Link to paper: https:/ / www. nature. com/ articles/ s41597-020-0481-z https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 6084/ m9. figshare. 12162300 Link to Dataset: https:/ / figshare. com/ collections/ GaitRec_A_large-scale_ground_reaction_force_dataset_of_healthy_and_impaired_gait/ 4788012 Research Focus Motor Rehabilitation at the St. Polten UAS https:/ / cdhi. fhstp. ac. at/ schwerpunkte/ motor-rehabilitation Digital Health Lab at the St. Polten UAS https:/ / cdhi. fhstp. ac. at/ labore/ digital-health-lab Center for Digital Health Innovation (CDHI) at the St. Polten UAS https:/ / cdhi. fhstp. ac. at About the St. Polten University of Applied Sciences The St. Polten UAS is a provider of performance-oriented university education with a strong practical relevance in the six areas of Media & Economics, Media & Digital Technologies, Computer Science & Security, Rail Technology & Mobility, Health Sciences, and Social Sciences. Today the university has approximately 3,400 students in 25 study programmes and numerous further education programmes. In addition to education, the St. Polten UAS engages in intensive research. It carries out scientific work in the aforementioned areas by adopting a cross-institutional and interdisciplinary approach. The study programmes maintain a constant dialogue with the institutes which continuously develop and implement application-oriented research projects with a strong practical focus. About the AUVA and the Rehabilitation Centre Weier Hof The Austrian insurance institution AUVA is the social accident insurance fund for more than five million people. It offers all services covered by statutory accident insurance including rehabilitation. The rehabilitation facilities of the AUVA treat patients after accidents resulting in functional limitations of the locomotor and support systems, following amputations, paraplegia and craniocerebral trauma. http://rzweisserhof. at , https:/ / www. auva. at Contact for Further Information and Queries: Mag. Mark Hammer Section Head Press Marketing and Communications T: +43/2742/313 228 269 M:+43/676/847 228 269 E: mark.hammer@fhstp.ac.at I: https:/ / www. fhstp. ac. at/ presse Press releases and photos are available for download at https:/ / www. fhstp. ac. at/ de/ presse . General press photos are available for download at https:/ / www. fhstp. ac. at/ de/ presse/ pressefotos-logos . The St. Polten UAS expressly states that it holds all rights of use pertaining to the attached photographs. The recipient of this message is authorised to use the attached photos only in connection with the press release and with reference to the St. Polten UAS and the copyright holder. Any other use of the attached photographs requires the express written approval of the St. Polten UAS (e-mail is sufficient). Chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) are one of the most popular mushrooms in Germany. Depending on the weather, chanterelle season starts in early July. Connoisseurs value the mushroom's delicate fruity aroma, which is reminiscent of apricots, and its aromatic and slightly bitter taste profile. Not only do chanterelles have a unique flavor profile, they also function as taste enhancers, lending dishes a well-rounded mouthfeel and a lingering, rich flavor. Key substances for the kokumi sensation "Using the ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method developed by our team, we are now the first to accurately quantify the key substances in chanterelles that are responsible for the kokumi effect", says Dr. Verena Mittermeier from the TUM Chair of Food Chemistry and Molecular Sensory Science. Dr. Verena Mittermeier already contributed significantly to the study during her time as a PhD student under Prof. Thomas Hofmann, who now serves as the President of TUM. As the research team's findings show, the effect is caused by natural substances derived from fatty acids. Storage conditions, such as duration of storage and temperature, affect the composition and concentration of these fatty acid derivatives in the mushrooms. Whether the mushrooms are stored whole or chopped also plays a role. New quality control marker According to food chemist Andreas Dunkel from the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich, some of these derivatives are specific to chanterelles and can therefore be used as markers to control the quality of mushroom products. These findings could also be used to systematically improve the flavor profile of mushroom dishes or other savoury dishes using natural substances. Andreas Dunkel explains: "Kokumi is a Japanese word that does not refer to a specific flavor quality such as salty or sweet." Instead, the fatty acid derivatives modulate the sensory characteristics of other ingredients. ### University of Liverpool and Scott Bader Company Ltd announce a joint venture to develop novel polymer chemistry platform The University of Liverpool and Scott Bader Company Ltd have formed a joint venture; Polymer Mimetics, to develop a novel polymer chemistry platform. With a funding commitment of more than 1million, Polymer Mimetics will build on technology developed by Professor Steve Rannard, from the University's Department of Chemistry. The technology takes widely-available chemical building blocks and, in a facile, highly scalable process, transforms them into high performance polymeric products with the potential to engineer in degradability. It is envisaged that this new generation of materials will have broad applicability in several markets including coatings, composites and speciality additives. The joint venture with the University of Liverpool demonstrates Scott Bader's commitment to work with technology leaders to develop sustainable new technologies, and will be based in Liverpool. Kevin Matthews, Group Chief Executive of Scott Bader, said: "We are delighted to partner with the University of Liverpool to launch Polymer Mimetics and we look forward to developing innovative products and effective sustainable solutions for our customers". Professor Steve Rannard said: "Polymer Mimetics is a genuine industry-academia translation of new chemical technologies into a vehicle that will allow economic impact and we are highly grateful to Scott Bader for their faith in our chemistry and the vision to invest early in its development" Professor Anthony Hollander, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Impact at the University of Liverpool, said: "This technology was initially developed via funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and has received significant support from the University's IP Commercialisation Team2 over the last 4 years. We're pleased to see these efforts come to fruition via this exciting partnership with Scott Bader, and we're especially pleased to secure inward investment and the creation of new jobs in the Liverpool City Region." The founding Research Group was Professor Steve Rannard, Dr Pierre Chambon and Savannah Cassin, who work at the University of Liverpool's Department of Chemistry. Professor Rannard is also theme lead for Nanomedicine at the University's Materials Innovation Factory, an 81 million facility dedicated to the research and development of advanced materials. ### Notes to editors: The University of Liverpool is one of the UK's leading research institutions with an annual turnover of 577.7million. Liverpool is a member of the Russell Group. Visit http://www. liv. ac. uk or follow us on twitter at: http://www. twitter. com/ livuninews Scott Bader was established in 1921. Today it is a 226 million global chemical company, employing nearly 700 people worldwide. It is a common trusteeship company, having no external shareholders, with a strong commitment to supporting its customers, workforce and the environment. Scott Bader's headquarters are based in the UK where it has purpose-built, state-of-the-art technical facilities that provide R & D as well as complete evaluation, testing and application support. It has manufacturing facilities in Europe, The Middle East, South Africa, Canada, India and South America. For further information please visit the Scott Bader website at http://www. scottbader. com . 'Big term' for religious liberty expected at US Supreme Court in 2020 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. Supreme Court term for 2019-2020 could be a blockbuster when it comes to religious freedom issues as the nations high court is set to take on a handful of cases and possibly more that deal with the First Amendment right, lawyers who work for a prominent religious freedom law firm believe. This is shaking up to be an exciting term for religious liberty, Mark Rienzi, president of the religious freedom legal nonprofit Becket, told reporters on a press call Tuesday. I think this term will see the court have some opportunities to tighten up and improve its doctrine and in the process, perhaps, stem the tide of religious liberty cases it's been getting in recent years by giving some clear answers and some clear resolutions to some lingering controversies. The Supreme Court has agreed already to hear a handful of cases that carry religious freedom implications, while the court is set to consider other religious liberty petitions that Becket lawyers feel have a good shot at being taken up by the justices. At this time, there are many legal questions seemingly left open by the Supreme Courts narrow rulings in the last few years, and split circuit court decisions that resulted from the courts sending of high-profile cases back to lower courts to be worked out. There's a possibility [the court] could grant cert [petitions] on some of these things late, Rienzi explained. So some of these issues might show up in the following term. But I actually can't recall a time in the last 20 years that there were this many key issues that seemed ready for decision and primed for decision and a court that seems open to them. So I think it's likely to be a very big term, he added. My real prediction is big term, followed then by some small terms because if the court actually resolves these lingering issues that keep coming up to it, it can kind of clear the decks and give people some firm rules. And then it will not have to deal with these questions quite as often after this term or this term and next. Cases the Supreme Court has already agreed to hear One issue that the Supreme Court has agreed to take on this upcoming term involves a trio of petitions looking for answers as to whether the Title VII law banning discrimination on the basis of sex also protects on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. Those three cases are Bostock v. Clayton County, Altitude Express v. Zarda, and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The more prominent of these three cases is Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC, which stems from a Christian funeral home owners firing of a transgender employee who refused to wear clothing that corresponded with the employees birth sex. The case marked one of the first legal actions the EEOC took on behalf of transgender individuals alleging sex discrimination against an employer. In 2018, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the funeral home owner, Tom Rost, discriminated against the employee. As for Bostock v. Clayton County and Altitude Express v. Zarda, those cases were consolidated and deal with whether or not the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects from sexual orientation discrimination. And in all three cases, these involve employees who claim that they lost their job either because of their sexual orientation or their gender identity, Becket Senior Counsel Luke Goodrich said on the press call. And they filed suit under Title VII, which is the federal law that prohibits employment discrimination. Goodrich said that from 1979 until 2017, federal appeals courts that have addressed the question of Title VII all held that it doesnt prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. He said that changed in 2017 when the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals departed from the consensus, followed by the Second Circuit in the Altitude Express case. Many religious organizations have long-standing beliefs about human sexuality, and they often expect their employees to live in accordance with those beliefs, he said. But if the Supreme Court expands the scope of Title VII and agrees that discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity is an illegal form of sex discrimination, all of a sudden, all these religious organizations will be exposed to new lawsuits and potentially massive liability. This applies to churches, religious schools, religious social service providers, basically, any religious organization that expects its employees to follow their religious standards of conduct could face new liability. Espinosa v. Montona Department of Revenue Another case already approved to be heard before the Supreme Court this upcoming term is Espinosa v. Montona Department of Revenue, which deals with a state scholarship program that enables low-income families to send kids to private schools. Under the Montana program, residents can donate up to $150 per year to a state scholarship program for children to attend nonreligious and religious private schools and in return, receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. But the issue, in this case, is a state constitutional amendment. Montana has a constitutional amendment in its state constitution that goes further than the federal Establishment Clause. It prohibits the government from making any direct or indirect appropriation of public funds for any sectarian purpose, Goodrich said. So the Montana Department of Revenue got this new scholarship program, looked at the program, looked at the state constitutional amendment, and said, Hey, we can't under state law allow any of this scholarship money to be used at religious schools. So it issued a regulation, saying that scholarship money under these programs could only be used at secular schools. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of several low-income single mothers who chose to send their children to private religious schools. Although a trial court ruled in favor of the mothers, the Montana Supreme Court reversed the decision because of the states amendment. But because the court did not have the capacity to change the statute to exempt religious schools, it scrapped the entire scholarship program to avoid such an entanglement. Goodrich stated that the Espinoza case somewhat mirrors the Trinity Lutheran case of 2017 in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state of Missouri could not exclude a religious daycare center from a state program designed to assist in restoring daycare playgrounds. This could have a huge impact on Blaine amendments nationwide, Goodrich said. And this is not just about scholarships and vouchers for private schools. Blaine amendments have affected a wide variety of government programs, such as Historic Preservation grants, where local governments give out funds to repair historic buildings, which may include churches. Cases to be considered for review this term According to Becket Senior Counsel Lori Windham, there are several petitions that are going to be considered by the Supreme Court through conferences in November and December for potential hearing in the spring of 2020. Given the number of these cases coming before the court and the court's interest and the circuit decisions, I would be surprised if the court did not take up one or more of these cases this term, she said. Fulton v. city of Philadelphia One case that carries with it major religious freedom implications is that of Fulton v. city of Philadelphia, a case that stems from the city of Philadelphias decision in 2018 to ban Catholic Social Services from being able to provide foster care services because the organization wont place children with same-sex couples due to religious convictions. After the Third Circuit Court ruled against three individuals who served as foster parents with CSS, which is run by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Becket filed a petition to the Supreme Court seeking an emergency injunction against the city's actions. Although the eight-member Supreme Court denied that petition, three justices issued a dissent. The court is aware of this issue and has shown some interest in it already, Windham said. If the city succeeds, then Catholic Social Services will be excluded from providing foster care to children who were in Philadelphia's foster care system being able to partner with the city is the only way that agencies in Philadelphia are able to provide foster care to children who are in Philadelphia's child welfare system. In July, Becket filed a cert petition with the Supreme Court. According to Windham, the Supreme Court extended the deadline for response to the petition from the city. So we're expecting to receive that response the first week in October and we're expecting that the Supreme Court will be considering this case sometime probably in November to see whether it's going to grant that petition, she said. Arlenes Flowers v. Washington and Arlene's Flowers v. Ingersoll Barronelle Stutzman, a Christian florist, was fined heavily by the state of Washington and sued after she refused to make floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding of one of her longtime customers. Stutzman, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, has been through years of legal battles since then. After the Washington Supreme Court ruled that her refusal to make floral arrangements violated state discrimination law, the U.S. Supreme Court last year sent her case back to the lower court to be heard again in light of its 2018 ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. But the Washington Supreme Court this year again ruled that Stutzman violated state law by refusing to create a floral arrangement for the wedding. Another petition on behalf of Stutzman was filed to the U.S. Supreme Court. And so I expected that Supreme Court will be considering later this fall whether it's going to take up Arlene flower case, Windham said. There have been recent lower court rulings in favor of Christian business owners. Last week, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in favor of wedding invitation designers who contended that a city nondiscrimination ordinance violated their First Amendment rights. In August, the Eighth Circuit ruled that the Minnesota Human Rights Act barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity violated the rights of a Christian couple who oversee a film company and who were told they must film same-sex weddings. "So I think this [should] place some additional urgency on the court to step in and to resolve the dispute before we see more cases across the country and more courts coming to different opinions," Windham said. Little Sisters of the Poor In 2016, the Supreme Court sent the legal challenge by the Little Sisters of the Poor against the Obamacare contraceptive mandate back to the lower court to find a way to accommodate both the order of nuns religious freedom and government interest in providing contraception in health care plans. But the Little Sisters of the Poor are back fighting against lawsuits states filed against the Trump administrations religious conscience protections for faith-based organizations that have moral objections to providing contraception in health care plans. The contraceptive mandate dispute has not gone away, Windham said. Pennsylvania and New Jersey were able to obtain a nationwide injunction against these new rules protecting religious objectors. That injunction was upheld by the Third Circuit. The Little Sisters of the Poor have houses in Pennsylvania and want to ensure they can maintain their protection from the Obamacare mandate, Windham said. The Little Sisters will be filing their cert petition soon, Windham added. And I expect that later this fall. We will be hearing from the court as to whether it's going to be taking up this issue. Ricks v. State of Idaho Contractors Board George Ricks is a general contractor in Idaho who has been denied the license that he needs to work because he feels it would be a violation of his faith to provide a social security number as a term of employment. Although he was willing to provide his birth certificate and other forms of identification, the state has declined to accept such alternate forms of identification. There is no Religious Freedom Restoration Act relief available for Mr. Ricks either in Idaho or at the federal level, Windham detailed. And so this case really tees up squarely the question of what standards should apply. Does the Supreme Court want to maintain the Employment Division v. Smith standard, which is very difficult to prove for religious plaintiffs and really puts a heavy thumb on the scale of governments in religious freedom disputes? Or does the Supreme Court want to, as four justices have suggested, revisit the Smith decision and reconsider the question that's posed in the Ricks petition? she added. According to Windham, the Supreme Court recently called for a response from the state to the Ricks' petition. So we will be seeing Idaho's response in October, she explained. I expect it in November, December, we will be learning whether the court is going to be taking up Mr. Rick's case. In dogs with mammary tumors, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania used a substance that glows under near-infrared light to illuminate cancer "Clean margins" are a goal of cancer excision surgery. If even a small piece of cancerous tissue is left behind, it increases the likelihood of a local recurrence and spread of the disease, possibly reducing overall survival time. With an innovative approach to cancer surgery, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are investigating a technique to help surgeons clearly see whether they've left any diseased tissue behind. Using a dye that glows under near-infrared light and preferentially accumulates in cancer cells, they performed surgery to remove mammary tumors from dogs treated at the School of Veterinary Medicine's Ryan Hospital. They found that the technique was able to illuminate not only the tumors but also cancer that had spread to the lymph nodes. Mammary cancer in dogs is akin to human breast cancer in many key ways. The research team believes that, with a different dye that is more specifically targeted to cancer cells, a parallel technique could improve outcomes in breast cancer patients who opt for breast-conserving surgery to treat their disease, The researchers reported this in the journal PLOS ONE. "Doing this kind of research has two main benefits," says David Holt, a veterinary surgeon and senior author on the work. "The dogs are a great model for human breast cancer, but there are also some real opportunities to benefit the dogs as well." A team from Perelman School of Medicine led by Sunil Singhal of the Center for Precision Surgery at the Abramson Cancer Center in collaboration with Holt and others at Penn Vet have been using the FDA-approved contrast agent indocyanine green (ICG), which glows under near-infrared light, to attempt to differentiate normal from cancerous tissue for several years in different types of cancer. Scientists believe ICG accumulates in cancer because it leaks out through the fast-growing blood vessels in tumors, which tend to be more permeable than normal vessels in healthy tissue. The aim of the current work was to test the technique in pet dogs with mammary tumors as a model for breast conserving surgery in women. All pet owners gave consent to be part of the study. The day before surgery, dogs received an injection of ICG. The surgeries themselves, either lumpectomies or mastectomies, proceeded as they normally would, following standard-of-care procedures. Then, under near-infrared light, the surgeons observed the excised tumors as well as the surgical site to look for signs of glowing ICG. In dogs, since aesthetics are less of a concern, surgeons generally take much wider margins when excising mammary tumors than is done when performing breast-conserving surgery on a person. So, the study wasn't able to detect remnant "dirty edges" after excision. They did, however, find larger tumors accumulated more dye. The research team was also interested in looking at the dogs' lymph nodes. "In women with breast cancer and also in dogs with mammary cancer," Holt says, "it's prognostic if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. What we showed was that we could identify both draining lymph nodes and lymph nodes with metastatic disease." Currently in human medicine, radioisotopes administered into the breast are often used to identify draining or "sentinel" lymph nodes. Using a near-infrared imaging agent administered intravenously means that radioactive agent and the protective shielding that it necessitates are not required. "If we could give an injection before the surgery that would identify just the lymph nodes that are potentially problematic, it would avoid a lot of the risk of either removing too many lymph nodes or leaving in those that are have metastatic disease," says Holt. In concurrent and follow-up work, Holt and his counterparts at Penn Medicine are continuing to investigate the efficacy of using targeted near-infrared imaging agents in cancer patients. These dyes bind more specifically to cancer cells, helping better define "clean margins" for both human and canine cancer patients. ### Holt's coauthors on the work were Andrew Newton, Jarrod Predina, and Sunil Singhal of the Perelman School of Medicine and Michael Mison, Jeffrey Runge, Charles Bradley, and Darko Stefanovski of the School of Veterinary Medicine. The work was supported by the Mari Lowe Center for Comparative Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. EL PASO, Texas - Biology students and faculty members from The University of Texas at El Paso have discovered a new target for tuberculosis drug development. Their study recently was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, a publication of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). Jianjun Sun, Ph.D., associate professor in UTEP's Department of Biological Sciences, led the research on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterial pathogen that causes tuberculosis diseases, or TB. TB is one of the leading infectious diseases in the world. Development of novel therapeutics against TB is urgently needed. Sun's lab has been investigating the mechanisms of Mtb pathogenesis for more than 10 years at UTEP with a specific focus on EsxA, which is a virulence factor essential for Mtb virulence and a preferred target for developing novel anti-TB drugs and vaccines. During infection, Mtb is "eaten up" by human immune cells. Normally, the bacteria are killed within the immune cells, but Mtb releases virulence factors, such as EsxA, to disarm the host's immune defense. The study discovered that the N-acetylation of EsxA can drastically affect the course of the infection. "This research was technically challenging, but the students were able to overcome the challenges and accomplished the goals," Sun said. "All the hard work from the students and collaborators has finally come together to contribute a beautiful story in the prestigious Journal of Biological Chemistry from ASBMB." The study had many collaborators including Javier Aguilera, a doctoral student in Sun's lab who is supported by the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Program. Other contributors include Salvador Vazquez-Reyes, a doctoral student in Sun's lab, and Qi Zhang, Ph.D., a previous postdoctoral fellow in Sun's lab. "Knowing this work has a great impact in the TB research feels great," Aguilera said. "Although it resulted in so many late nights of hard work and headaches for so many people, the end result was very well worth it!" The study benefited from a collaboration with Lin Li, Ph.D., assistant professor of computational biophysics and bioinformatics in UTEP's Department of Physics. Chitra B. Karki, a doctoral student in Li's lab, provided help with molecular dynamic simulations to model the effects of N-acetylation on EsxA function. Igor Estevao and Brian I. Grajeda, from the Proteomics Analysis Core Facility of UTEP's Border Biomedical Research Center, helped to identify the N-acetylation by using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry. Hugues Ouellet, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences, and his doctoral student Chenoa D. Arico assisted with mycobacterial biology and protein binding measurements. ### Sun's lab is supported by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. To read to the full article, visit: https:/ / www. jbc. org/ content/ early/ 2020/ 03/ 13/ jbc. RA119. 012497. short . The University of Texas at El Paso is one of the largest and most successful Hispanic-serving institutions in the country, with a student body that is over 80% Hispanic. It enrolls more than 25,000 students in 167 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in 10 colleges and schools. With more than $100 million in total annual research expenditures, UTEP is ranked in the top 5% of research institutions nationally and fifth in Texas for federal research expenditures at public universities. Wear and friction are crucial issues in many industrial sectors: What happens when one surface slides across another? Which changes must be expected in the material? What does this mean for the durability and safety of machines? What happens at the atomic level cannot be observed directly. However, an additional scientific tool is now available for this purpose: For the first time, complex computer simulations have become so powerful that wear and friction of real materials can be simulated on an atomic scale. The tribology team at TU Wien (Vienna), led by Prof. Carsten Gachot, has now proven that this new research field now delivers reliable results in a current publication in the renowned scientific journal "ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces". The behavior of surfaces consisting of copper and nickel was simulated with high-performance computers. The results correspond amazingly well with images from electron microscopy - but they also provide valuable additional information. Friction Changes Tiny Grains To the naked eye, it does not look particularly spectacular when two surfaces slide across each other. But on the microscopic level, highly complicated processes take place: "Metals, as they are used in technology, have a special microstructure," explains Dr. Stefan Eder, first author of the current publication. "They consist of small grains with a diameter of the order of micrometers or even less." When one metal slides over the other under high shear stress, the grains of the two materials come into intense contact with each other: they can be rotated, deformed or shifted, they can be broken up into smaller grains or grow due to increased temperature or mechanical force. All these processes, which take place on a microscopic scale, ultimately determine the behavior of the material on a large scale - and thus they also determine the service life of a machine, the amount of energy lost in a motor due to friction, or how well a brake works, in which the highest possible friction force is desired. Computer Simulation and Experiment "The result of these microscopic processes can then be examined in an electron microscope," says Stefan Eder. "You can see how the grain structure of the surface has changed. However, it has not yet been possible to study the time evolution of these processes and explain exactly what causes which effects at which point in time." This gap is now being closed by large molecular dynamics simulations developed by the tribology team at TU Wien in cooperation with the Excellence Centre of Tribology (ACT) in Wiener Neustadt and the Imperial College in London: Atom by atom, the surfaces are simulated on the computer. The larger the simulated chunk of material and the longer the simulated time period, the more computer power is needed. "We simulate sections with a side length of up to 85 nanometers, over a period of several nanoseconds," says Stefan Eder. That doesn't sound like much, but it's remarkable: Even the Vienna Scientific Cluster 4, Austria's largest supercomputer, may sometimes be busy with such tasks for months at a time. The team investigated the wear of alloys of copper and nickel - and did so using different mixing ratios of the two metals and different mechanical loads. "Our computer simulations revealed exactly the variety of processes, microstructural changes and wear effects that are already known from experiments," says Stefan Eder. "We can use our simulations to produce images that correspond exactly to the images from the electron microscope. However, our method has a decisive advantage: We can then analyze the process in detail on the computer. We know which atom changed its place at what point in time, and what exactly happened to which grain in which phase of the process." Understanding Wear - Optimizing Industrial Processes The new methods are already met with great interest from industry: "For years, there has been an ongoing discussion that tribology could benefit from reliable computer simulations. Now we have reached a stage where the quality of the simulations and the available computing power are so great that we could use them to answer exciting questions that would otherwise not be accessible," says Carsten Gachot. In the future, they also want to analyze, understand, and improve industrial processes on the atomic level. ### Contact: Dr. Stefan Eder Institute of Engineering Design and Product Development TU Wien stefan.j.eder@tuwien.ac.at The international community condemned the Chinese parliament's passage of national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, which sets the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony's way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago. The Pentagon says there's "no corroborating evidence" to support media reports about Russian bounties on US troops. The agency will service the brands from its Gurgaon office, managing digital media buying & planning for both British Council Division and British Council Examinations and English Services India Isobar India, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has been appointed as the digital media partner for British Council Brands- British Council Division and British Council Examinations and English Services India Private Limited, a subsidiary of British Council, UK. British Council provides access to English language training and learning for both students and teachers and creates opportunities for young people to succeed in a globalized world. For the record, The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. Isobar India bagged the account following a multi-agency pitch. The agency will service the brands from its Gurgaon office wherein it will manage digital media buying and planning for both British Council Division and British Council Examinations and English Services India. Speaking on the association, Nirupa Fernandez, Director Marketing, British Council said, "We are very pleased to associate with Isobar in India. We believe that deep customer insights and data analysis drive an effective campaign. We are confident that Isobar can help us deliver an integrated media approach that will help us position our brand effectively across all channels. We are excited about this partnership and look forward to working with Isobar. Commenting on the win, Gopa Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, Isobar India added, "We're excited and proud that British Council India has appointed us to manage their digital duties. With our integrated approach and capabilities of delivering end-to-end solutions, we are confident that we will be able to create a strong connection with our consumers across platforms. We are looking forward to making their digital presence stronger as we move forward." Isobar is a global full-service digital agency known for its significant innovations in digital marketing communications. The agency has also been recognized globally by Gartner as a Leader for the six years in a row in the Digital Marketing Agency Magic Quadrant and by Forrester as a Leader for Digital Experiences. Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India) UK/EU trade talks have resumed in Brussels amid a new intensity, but Sterling remains unimpressed with Sterling/Euro (GBP/EUR) posting fresh 3-month lows near 1.0900. UK/EU talks resume face-to-face The UK and EU are due to hold intense face-to-face negotiations over the next four weeks with the first round in Brussels. The format will also be different with short sessions on the most problematic topics. These include the guarantees of fair competition demanded by the EU in areas of fiscal, social and environmental policies in order to avoid the emergence of a low-regulation economy in proximity to the EU single market. The hope will be that face-to-face talks will facilitate informal chats and breathing space which will make it easier to find solutions. The two sides will also have to decide whether to move towards the EU preferred option of a broad deal covering all areas of the relationship or a simple trade agreement with small sectoral side deals as sought by the UK government. The UK wants a framework deal to be in place by the end of the summer. Germany prioritises EU Recovery Fund German Chancellor Merkel cast doubt on the UK commitment in comments to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily; Of course it would be in the interest of Great Britain and all member states of the European Union to achieve an orderly withdrawal but that presupposes that both sides want this. Merkel will inevitably play a key role over the next few months with Germany taking over the Presidency of the EU for the second half of 2020. Germany has indicated that the short-term priority is to get all EU countries behind the recovery fund and the focus on the post-Brexit environment wont be until autumn. BBC European Editor Adler commented; Despite the [UK} rhetoric about racing for a summer deal, that timeline may be more comfortable for the prime minister. He might feel full freedom to manoeuvre, considering his 80-seat parliamentary majority. But compromises may be easier for him to make in the autumn, with the clock ticking down to a potential no-deal - which much of UK industry and many MPs would oppose. This will be particularly pertinent given opposition to concessions from the House of Commons European Research Group (ERG). Ahead of the talks, Prime Minister Johnson repeated the threat that the UK was prepared to leave the EU and trade on Australia terms if there was no agreement. Irish Foreign Minister Coveney said there has been no progress in Brexit trade negotiations in recent weeks with the EU and the UK wanting completely different things. Coveney added; The British government has simply moved away from the political declaration they signed only six months ago and the UK has effectively tried to rewrite the rulebook on that negotiation which has been a huge problem. Comments from the Irish government will continue to be watched closely with new Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Martin taking office on Monday. He will lead a 3-party coalition of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party. Pound Sterling sentiment remains negative amid deadlock fears Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank commented; Theres a lot of scepticism as to whether or not the Johnson government will compromise with the EU, or whether or not it will walk away and just leave trade (to) fall back on WTO (World Trade Organisation) terms from January next year. ING made reference to the announcement of increased infrastructure spending; However, not many politicians are talking austerity right now and instead we see GBP dominated by EU departure talks, the next round of which takes place tomorrow. EUR/GBP is trading pretty close to our end quarter target at 0.9100 and could GBP could in fact see a little more downside. Commerzbanks Karen Jones also maintains a bullish stance following the break above 0.9086. EUR/GBP will target 0.9184, then 0.9323, the 61.8% and 78.6% retracements of the move seen since March. This latter level is reinforced by the 2017 high at 0.9308 and this represents our initial upside target zone (0.9308/0.9323). Euro/Sterling moved higher to 0.9160 at the New York open with GBP/EUR at fresh 3-month lows near 1.0920. Sterling/dollar is trapped at 1-month lows just above 1.2300. Despite market risk-aversion, the British Pound to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate remains near its worst levels in weeks today. The Pounds broad weakness on coronavirus and Brexit uncertainties, as well as market uncertainty over the UK governments plans for Britains economy, are keeping Sterling from benefitting from South African Rand weakness. After opening last week at the level of 21.39, GBP/ZAR spent most of the week trending higher. In fact, towards the end of the week GBP/ZAR touched on a high of 21.73 - the best level for the pair since the beginning of the month. However, GBP/ZAR tumbled at the end of the week and ultimately closed the week near the level of 21.31. Whats more, GBP/ZAR has only continued to trend lower since markets opened today. The Pound continues to be one of the worst performing major currencies. Sterling continues to weaken, even against currencies typically correlated to risk and emerging market sentiment like the South African Rand. This is because various factors continue to weigh heavily on the Pound. Investors are concerned about the UK governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as Brexit. Fears persist that the UK government will not reach a post-Brexit deal with the EU, and a no-deal Brexit will become reality at the end of 2020. On top of lasting coronavirus and Brexit fears though, the latest UK political news and data is also weighing on Britains economic outlook. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week plans to unveil a big UK infrastructure package. He will promise this New Deal to be Rooseveltian in scope. However, critics are concerned over where the funds for this package will come from. Britains latest economic data has also been even worse than expected, showing that Britains economy saw a considerable contraction in the first quarter. According to Lee Hardman, Currency Strategist at MUFG: The Pound is on track to be the worst-performing G10 currency this month for the second consecutive month, The weakness we are seeing now is a trend that has been in place for some time. South African Rand (ZAR) Exchange Rates Limited by Coronavirus and Economic Jitters Concerns over the coronavirus pandemics impact on South Africas economy, on top of already existing South African economic jitters, are keeping the South African Rands appeal limited. The South African Rand is a currency often correlated to risk and emerging market sentiment. As fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections worsen, the South African Rand remains under pressure. Despite this though, the Pound remains near lows versus the South African Rand. Analysts note that there is little major reason to move on the Rand. According to Warrick Butler, Chief Trader at Standard Bank: There is not a lot going to for S.A. at the moment, other than semi-decent yield but I am not sure that is enough to warrant a move back below 17.0000 just yet. We will need to have a shift in global risk appetite for that to happen, GBP/ZAR Exchange Rate Forecast: Manufacturing Data Ahead The Pound is likely to remain under pressure in the coming sessions, so the Pound to South African Rand exchange rate may not see much advance. Pound investors will continue to keep a close eye on Britains coronavirus and Brexit developments. Reaction to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnsons infrastructure plans will also be watched. As for data, tomorrow will see the publication of June manufacturing PMI for both Britain and South Africa. If the manufacturing data beats forecasts, it could soften coronavirus jitters and offer one of the currencies some support. Both the Pound and the Rand will also be influenced by both global and domestic shifts in coronavirus news. Both have been correlated to market risk-sentiment lately. The Pound to South African Rand exchange rate will of course be influenced by potential Bank of England (BoE) news as well. Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Historic Fairview Cemetery, established in Albuquerque, NM in 1881, is run by a local nonprofit organization. On Sunday morning, June 28, volunteers helped weed out tumbleweeds in the cemetery and removed litter. They worked to keep the 12,000 deceased people buried there from being overwhelmed by tumbleweeds later in the year. There was also a ceremony to replace the tattered American flag with a new one, honoring the military and non-military residents of Historic Fairview Cemetery. [embedded content] (KRQE) For years, Historic Fairview Cemetery has been known for the overgrown weeds and litter, but now a non-profit is working to revitalize it. Its one of the oldest cemeteries in Albuquerque, started in 1881, there are 12,000 bodies buried at the Historic Fairview Cemetery on Yale. We have some very notable people who are buried here not only New Mexicans but on a national level, said Gail Rubin, the president of the Historic Fairview Cemetery Non-profit. For years, the cemetery hasnt been known for its rich history, rather for its unkempt grounds. Right now, it looks like an empty cemetery that nobody cares about, so homeless people come here, theres graffiti on the walls, said Christine Taute, about the cemetery in 2014. Now, the Historic Fairview Cemetery Non-profit is working to change that. Twice each month, volunteers go out to the graveyard and clean up the weeds and any litter. Anthony Gomez is one of those volunteers, he says before the program, hes been helping clean here on his own for three years. I enjoy cleaning up with respect to these people, said Gomez. He says the volunteering led him to something hed spent years searching for, his fathers burial site. Gomez says he never expected to find his dad at Fairview, but its one more reason hell keep coming back to help clean it up, so others can enjoy visiting their families and ancestors. Join the email list for Historic Fairview Cemetery to be kept apprised of future clean up events! Share this: Florida seniors benefit from some of the lowest costs for Medicare insurance options according to the 2020 Medicare Insurance Price Index released by the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance. The findings reveal a difference between the lowest and highest rates available in major Florida metro areas. The difference could be as much as a 43 percent A male turning age 65 in Tampa can pay as little as $162.89-per-month for Medigap Plan G coverage. In Miami the lowest cost available would be $232.22. The highest cost for virtually identical coverage would be over $360-per-month. The analysis of 2020 Medigap pricing for top cities examined rates for Plan G. According to the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance this is the most common choice for those turning 65 who opt for supplemental Medicare insurance coverage. "Prices are set by the individual insurance companies and there can be a significant difference between the lowest and the highest cost for every Zip Code," Slome notes. Florida Medigap Plan G 2020 Price Index Findings Jacksonville, Florida (Zip 32210) FEMALE turning 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $156.39 Highest monthly premium: $205.00 MALE turning 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $162.89 Highest monthly premium: $236.00 Miami, Florida (Zip 33128) FEMALE turning 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $222.99 Highest monthly premium: $313.34 MALE turning 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $232.22 Highest monthly premium: $360.34 Tampa, Florida (Zip 33647) FEMALE turning 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $156.39 Highest monthly premium: $194.37 MALE turning 65, Plan G Lowest monthly premium: $162.89 Highest monthly premium: $222.53 The Association posts information on the 2020 Medicare Supplement Plan G Price Index findings for many cities on their website. "Consumers can also read savings tips," Slome adds. The insurance advocate notes that household discounts may be available for Florida seniors. "The percentage savings can vary from three percent to as much as seven percent for Florida applicants," he explains. The Association offers an online directory to find Florida Medicare insurance agents located by Zip Code. "The directory is free to use and completely private. The Association does not gather any personal information," Slome shares. The American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance (AAMSI) is an advocacy and informational organization. AAMSI supports insurance professionals who market Medicare Supplement insurance. Can Christian schools qualify for a state tax credit? Supreme Court hears arguments Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case centered on whether religious schools in Montana can qualify for a state tax credit on scholarships. Attorneys presented their arguments before the high court on Wednesday in the case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. At issue was a group of parents whose children attended religious schools, suing the state to allow for the tax credit to be used for private religious school scholarships. Diana Verm, senior counsel with Becket, whose organization filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of the plaintiffs, told The Christian Post that she thought that the argument went well. It was clear that at bottom, the justices realized that this case is about religious discrimination, and they grappled with the question of whether the state can take away a state benefit just because people can use that benefit at a religious school, said Verm. Verm also noted that the Supreme Court justices appeared interested by the history behind Montanas state constitutional amendment prohibiting government funding of any religious entities, including schools. Known as a Blaine Amendment, Montana is one of 36 states to have such provisions in their constitutions. Critics, including groups like Becket, argue that they are religiously bigoted, having been created to prevent state funding of Catholic schools. At one point, Justice Kavanaugh asked counsel for Montana about the grotesque religious bigotry against Catholics that gave rise to the Blaines, noted Verm. Those are strong words. Verm is optimistic that the high court will do the right thing in this case and rule in favor of Kendra Espinoza and the other parents. Alex Luchenitser, associate legal director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State who was present to hear the arguments, told CP that the court appeared troubled in various ways by the arguments made by proponents of the voucher program. Some of the justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, expressed concern about whether it would be procedurally improper for the Supreme Court to decide the case, explained Luchenitser. Specifically, some of the justices pointed out that because the Montana Supreme Court struck down the voucher program in its entirety, there was no discrimination between religious and secular private schools, while other justices noted that voucher payments are made directly to private schools, but no private schools are parties to the case. Americans United filed an amicus brief along with 17 other organizations in favor of the Supreme Court affirming a lower court ruling against the tax credit for religious schools. Luchenitser went on to explain that Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer had all expressed concerns about the tax credit for scholarships including sectarian schools. Kagan also emphasized that government funding can impose burdens and costs on religious institutions, lead to religious divisiveness and violate taxpayers freedom of conscience, he recalled. Breyer expressed concern that a ruling in favor of the voucher proponents in this case would be a step toward requiring any governmental body that funds public education to equally fund religious education. Regarding a possible outcome, Luchenitser felt that whichever way the Supreme Court rules, it is likely that the vote will be very close. In 2015, Montana passed Senate Bill 410, which allowed tax credits for donations of up to $150 to either private school scholarships or educational programs in public schools. Initially, the state prohibited religious schools from participating, citing Article X, Section 6 of Montanas constitution, which bars public funds from going to any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination. In response, a group of parents filed suit and in 2016, a judge issued a preliminary injunction, allowing students at religious schools to receive the scholarships. In December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that the tax credit program violated the state constitution and struck it down. We conclude that Montanas Constitution more broadly prohibits any state aid to sectarian schools and draws a more stringent line than that drawn by its federal counterpart, read the majority opinion. The Legislature, by enacting a statute that provides a dollar-for-dollar credit against taxes owed to the state, is the entity providing aid to sectarian schools via tax credits in violation of Article X, Section 6. Last July, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in the case, with the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom expressing optimism at the granting of appeal. At a minimum, the Court appears ready to say that religious schools cannot be discriminated against in a state tax-credit program, stated John Bursch of the ADF to CP last year. Were hopeful that the Court says that all state actions discriminating against religious schools are unconstitutional. For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Among the latest news, this week top guests will attend our VCTV speaker series. The list includes: Ioannis Roussos - Head of Deposits & Investment Sector at Eurobank Dr. Mihaela Ulieru - President at IMPACT Institute for the Digital Economy Yuvraj Tomar - Chief Executive Officer at CloudWorx Technologies Rana Gujral - Chief Executive Officer at Behavioral Signals Mark DeSantis - Chief Executive Officer at Bloomfield Robotics Join us as we discuss the most fascinating FinTech topics including the future of fundraising through social media and investments in WorkTech, EduTech, Remote Tech, and 2 more fields. More details at https://latoken.com/events/ Watch this week on VCTV: Monday, June 29th 4:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion: ."Investments and Pivots during Pandemic: WorkTech, EduTech, and RemoteTech." 5:15 PM GMT: Keynote by Dr. Mihaela Ulieru, President, IMPACT Institute for the Digital Economy, LLC 4:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion: ."Investments and Pivots during Pandemic: WorkTech, EduTech, and RemoteTech." 5:15 PM GMT: Keynote by Dr. Mihaela Ulieru, President, IMPACT Institute for the Digital Economy, LLC Tuesday, June 30th 1:45 PM GMT: Keynote by Yuvraj Tomar, Founder and CEO at CloudWorx Technologies: NoCode and LowCode platforms." 2:30 PM GMT: Keynote by Ioannis Roussos, Head of Deposits & Investment Sector at Eurobank: ."EU Concerns for Crypto and Stable coins and how to tackle them." 4:00 PM GMT: Startup Leaders Club. Online Panel Discussion by Inspirational Leaders of Innovation & Drivers of Change 5:15 PM GMT: Panel discussion: ."Is there potential in fundraising through social media?." Wednesday, July 1st 1:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion + Pitch competition: ."Fundraising in the Era of a Pandemic." 4:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion: ."Investments and Pivots during Pandemic: BioTech and MedTech." 5:30 PM GMT: Keynote by Rana Gujral, Chief Executive Officer at Behavioral Signals Thursday, July 2nd 11:30 PM GMT: Keynote by Mark DeSantis, Chief Executive Officer at Bloomfield Robotics 1:00 PM GMT: Online Roadshow: ."The Laws of Investments during the COVID 19 Pandemic." 4:00 PM GMT: Startup Leaders Club. Online Panel Discussion by Inspirational Leaders of Innovation & Drivers of Change 5:15 PM GMT: Panel discussion: ."Investments and Pivots during Pandemic: Marketplace, FoodTech." Friday, July 3rd 4:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion + and the Pitch competition: ."Fundraising in the Era of a Pandemic." 6:15 PM GMT: Startup Leaders Club. Online Panel Discussion by Inspirational Leaders of Innovation & Drivers of Change Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Murray Condemns Taking Down Rodney Statue and Attacks on Statues Of Founders Where does John Carney stand? Does he agree that statues like that of Caesar Rodney, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson need to be protected or does he agree with the senseless mob? Julianne Murray SEAFORD, DE, UNITED STATES, June 30, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Georgetown attorney and Republican gubernatorial candidate, Julianne Murray challenged Governor John Carney on if he supported taking down the statue of American founding father and Delaware statesman, Caesar Rodney. Wilmington, Delaware took down the statue of Rodney following demands from protesters because Rodney owned slaves. Rodney, a member of the Second Continental Congress broke the tie allowing the Declaration of Independence to be adopted. He also served as President (the equivalent of governor) of Delaware during the American Revolution and is considered one of the founding fathers of Delaware. Murray noted that Carney has stayed silent on the issue of the Rodney statue. She said it is time for him to take a stand does he support protecting statues of the founding fathers or does he believe they should come down even after presumptive Democratic nominee and Delaware resident Joe Biden said he was against removing statues of the founding fathers. Murray stated she was adamantly opposed to removing the statue of Rodney and all the founders. Where does John Carney stand, asked Julianne Murray, Does he agree that statues like that of Caesar Rodney, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson need to be protected or does he agree with the senseless mob that has been destroying statues daily? It is time for the Governor to take a stand. No nation is perfect, but the nation that Caesar Rodney and the founders created is in the words of Abraham Lincoln, the worlds last best hope, continued Murray. They created a nation that is the envy of the world and their memory should be honored. It is sad that John Carney cant make up his mind if he believes this or not. Guess he is waiting for his advisers and donors to tell him what to say. Welcome to the News Release Wire Selection Control Panel. Instant News Wire Tuesday, June 30, 2020 The Outreach Program Logo Kansas National Guard Soldiers Packaging Meals for Outreach Program to Support People Affected by COVID-19 The Outreach Program, National Hunger-Fighting Nonprofit, Salutes Kansas National Guard for Helping Package Over 5 Million Meals During COVID-19. "We salute the Kansas National Guard and its soldiers for their spirited contribution to this operation's success and are grateful to have them as our partners in fighting food insecurity." Floyd Hammer, Chairman of The Outreach Program, DES MOINES, IOWA, USA, June 30, 2020 / EINPresswire.com / -- The Outreach Program , a leading national hunger-fighting nonprofit that addresses food insecurity through nutritional meal packaging, has announced the successful packaging of over 5 Million meals to help people in need during the COVID-19 crisis. This significant milestone resulted from the spirited collaboration and partnership with FEMA, Kansas Food Banks, and The Kansas National Guard. Since the Outreach Program's inception, it has accomplished a proven track record of distributing over 550 Million meals. The nonprofit usually relies on volunteers to package nutritional meals through community-based events. However, because of the recent COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, which prohibited community events with large gatherings, it left many food banks and food pantry partners in need of help to fulfill the promise to support those who suffer from food insecurity. The Kansas National Guard stepped into that role, and in a matter of weeks, working in organized assembly lines, while social distancing and following proper precautions., the guard members have been able to package 5 million meals ready to ship out. Once the meals were packaged, The National Guard assists in distribution, both directly to Kansans and to three food banks in the state: the Kansas Food Bank, Harvesters, and Second Harvest. Floyd Hammer, Chairman of The Outreach Program, stated, "The Kansas National Guard soldiers stepped in when we needed them most, and their passionate support and commitment to the mission of helping their fellow citizens makes us proud to see how Americans come together at times of crisis. We salute the Kansas National Guard and its soldiers for their spirited contribution to this operation's success and are grateful to have them as our partners in fighting food insecurity." Rick McNary, vice president of strategic partnerships for the Iowa-based Outreach Program, added, "I've never seen anything like this, and I've been doing it for a decade," McNary said. "It's astonishing. They showed up, and they work hard eight hours a day, and they become incredibly efficient." See a full report about the Kansas National Guard's effort, See the full video report as posted on KansasCity.com: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article243676572.html About The Outreach Program The Outreach Program is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) corporation that organizes food packaging events in North America and internationally. Outreach has helped to package more than 550 million meals that have been distributed across the United States and around the world. Outreach Meal Packaging Events are set up across the United States to engage businesses, religious and civic organizations, schools, and volunteers of all ages to package nutritious meals for the hungry. Chicago, IL -- Top 10 Questions Current Grad School Students Ask Question 1: What if my program of study is not what I thought it would be and I am losing interest? Response: Is this just a temporary feeling? If so, this can happen from time to time. I would not worry too much about it. However, if the feeling persists and you are having some strong reservations about the program, I suggest the following: 1) Speak with your academic advisor and/or a trusted faculty or staff member. Also speak with a trusted friend and/or loved one. Get their thoughts and insights. Perhaps you will decide to stick with it for a bit longer. Or, perhaps there is another program at the institution that has caught your attention and you want to consider transferring. I did that in the first year of my master's program and it worked out very well. 2) Consider taking a break from your studies to re-assess things. This may be hard to do. You may be concerned that others will view this as some sort of failure. Or, you may believe you are failing in some way. Quite the contrary. If you are fairly certain that this is just not working out, you could be wasting time, energy and money pursuing something that is not going to be useful to you down the road. Taking a "time out" will allow you to sort things through. You can always return (in a reasonable time frame), pursue another graduate degree option or choose not to continue your studies. Question 2: What if I am enjoying the subject matter, but find the faculty or students to be less impressive than I expected? Response: Are you sure this is a general feeling? Or is it just a class or two that does not meet your expectations? If you have serious concerns about a faculty member, you do have the option of speaking with your academic advisor or with the head administrator of the academic division. Some students are concerned about doing this for fear that somehow they will be found out and "punished" in some way. If you ask that your comments remain confidential, they will. You may be doing a service to the institution by sharing your concerns. As for your fellow students, perhaps you have not yet met any with whom you are compatible. One way to meet like-minded students is to join a student organization; another is to attend a special event, such as a symposium or lecture. You may even consider helping to start a student organization. The student affairs staff can help you in that regard. Most students eventually meet classmates with whom they connect. Question 3: What if I observe a fellow student cheating? Response: Whatever you do is a personal decision. Does your institution have some sort of student conduct code? If so, you have the right to follow the guidelines spelled out therein. If not, you need to decide what you believe is best. Should you decide to come forward with your claim, I suggest you do so in person to the appropriate member of the administration. If you decide to provide your claim in writing, be sure to put your name on the document. Your privacy will be maintained. While some students choose to make their claim anonymously, this is generally viewed by the administration as less credible. Question 4: What if I start to feel depressed, discouraged, overly stressed and under incredible pressure? Response: You are not alone. You are not weak. You are not inferior. Many students experience feelings of depression, discouragement and anxiety, or become stressed out. If these feelings last a day or two and then return to normal you should be okay. However, if these feelings persist, you need to acknowledge to yourself that you are having difficulty and reach out for help. Most institutions have a trained counselor on staff or can recommend one to you. While there may have been a time when depression, anxiety, or emotional turmoil was viewed less sympathetically, it is rarely the case now. Do not ignore these feelings until they are out of control. Reach out for help. You are demonstrating a great degree of strength in doing so. Help is available and your communication with a counselor or therapist will be kept in the strictest of confidence. You should be able to continue with your studies if you act immediately and address whatever issues you are experiencing. Remember: It is the strong who face difficulties and try to work them out. Question 5: What if the program in which I am enrolled is discontinued? Response: Unfortunately, this does happen from time to time. Soon after I enrolled in my Ph.D. program (Higher Education Administration), I learned that it was going to be discontinued. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to continue taking classes in the program, and get most of what I needed before completing my coursework. Rarely is a program completely discontinued when students are still enrolled and taking classes. Most likely, courses will be kept in the curriculum until all students who wish to have registered for them. Discontinuing a program generally does not affect current students in that program. Question 6: What if I reach the place where I am depleted of financial resources and am not sure I can continue? Response: Once again, you are not alone. Speak with your academic advisor and the financial aid office. Find out if there are any additional scholarship or loan opportunities. If there are, you may be able to work something out and stay enrolled. If not, you may need to take a break for one or two terms to get your finances in order. You can return and finish provided you do so in a reasonable time frame. Many students take a break for various reasons, finances being one of the major precipitators. If you have been enrolled full-time, you may consider finishing your degree on a part-time basis, and work full-time. Or, you may consider working at the institution you are attending, which almost always carries with it a tuition exemption. In both my masters and doctoral programs I worked full-time where I was attending. I did this in the final year of coursework for both programs. It was a tremendous help. Question 7: What if I have an extremely negative employment interview experience? Response: As we discussed earlier regarding a negative experience during the application process, wait 24 hours before doing anything. If you believe you are the innocent party, contact your career services staff and ask for guidance on how to proceed. These individuals will have great insight and can provide you with very helpful input. This will not be the first time they have dealt with a situation like this. By all means, let them help you. If you are the offender, contact the person with whom the incident occurred and apologize. The best way to do this is in person or by telephone, not in writing. You should also check in with the career services office to apprise them of the situation, as they have an ongoing relationship to maintain with employers. Remember, this is another opportunity to demonstrate your skills in handling difficult and possibly embarrassing situations. One last thing: Do not let yourself be the offender more than once. Word travels fast; you could hurt yourself far beyond the immediate situation if you become labeled a troublemaker. Question 8: What if I repeatedly observe rude or inappropriate behavior by one or more of the student service offices? By the faculty? By the administration? Response: Depending upon the exact nature of the behavior, you do have options. If the issue is poor service, go to the director/supervisor/manager of the respective department and let her/him know what happened. If what you have observed is a regular occurrence, you have spoken with the director, and it seems that nothing is being done about it, contact the respective dean/vice president in charge of that area. If your concerns are for something other than poor service, most institutions have very clear policies regarding harassment and other forms of inappropriate behavior. You have every right to follow those policies. Most institutions also employ a student ombudsman, whose sole responsibility is to meet with students, hear their concerns and help find a resolution. Meetings with the student ombudsperson are strictly confidential. You should feel free to request a meeting with this individual at any time. Question 9: What if I have an idea that I believe, if implemented, would make a positive difference in my student experience? Response: By all means, share it! Most managers/directors welcome helpful feedback. I know I did. Many of the programming changes my staff and I implemented came as the result of student feedback. I remember a student coming to my office one fall afternoon to suggest that I add a short but personal note to the notification letter for admitted students. I started doing so and continued that practice for the remainder of my full-time work in higher ed. The positive feedback regarding this inititiave was amazing. Question 10: What if I do not find the courses I need to take available or there is little or absolutely no academic advising available? Response: This can be extremely frustrating and is a matter that must be addressed. It is very possible that the administration is not aware of the problem. I suggest meeting with the head of your academic department as a first step. If you have already done so, or if you have concerns about meeting with this person, then arrange a meeting with the person to whom the department head reports. Also, you have the right to speak with the student ombudsman. If you believe your concerns are not being taken seriously or that the response you have received is not acceptable, I suggest putting your concerns in writing to the president. I do not usually recommend contacting the president in many cases students do this as a first, rather than as a last step. However, your course of study is one of the primary reasons you chose the institution you did. You have the right to expect that your academic needs will be reasonably accommodated. If this is not happening and you have tried unsuccessfully to resolve the problem, this is one time the president needs to hear about it. Texas beleaguered service industry is once again showing signs of life, a monthly survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicates. Activity increased in June following three months of steep declines brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Christopher Slijk, an associate economist at the Dallas Fed. The revenue index, a key measure of the industrys health, registered its first positive reading since February. Business executives perceptions of conditions also brightened in June. Over one-third of respondents said they expect improvement six months from now, with about 28 percent expecting the downturn to worsen. Retail also rebounded in June, with the sales index reaching its highest reading in two years. More than half of survey participants reported increased sales compared with May. Less than one-quarter said their sales had decreased. Texas retailers saw a surge in sales growth, Slijk said. Labor market indicators continued to show signs of deterioration, although at a lesser pace than in May. Retail sales nationally also increased in May, though spending remains well below last years levels, according to the National Retail Federation. The economy kicked off in May as retailers and other businesses reopened and both stimulus money and supplemental unemployment checks fueled spending driven by pent-up demand from two months of shutdowns, said Jack Kleinhenz, the trade groups chief economist. But full recovery is still a long way off. Spending is picking up and while the free fall in consumer confidence is over, unemployment remains high and confidence is still at recession levels, Kleinhenz added. Some Texas business leaders told the Dallas Fed that activity is starting to pick up. But they are worried about the new surge in COVID-19 cases. The continuing uncertainty with coronavirus and reopening the economy is introducing more uncertainty into the business climate, one leader said. A hospitality executive said revenue and employment have risen from May because operations were suspended last month. We are forecasting to see business levels lower than last year by 60 to 70 percent for the remainder of 2020, the executive said. It is difficult to forecast past 30 days until we know what happens with air travel and group meetings and events. The hospitality industry has been the most impacted of any major industry in the country, the person added. The leisure and hospitality industry has been slammed by the pandemic, with travel upended, conventions canceled and hotel reservations slashed. Some hotels closed temporarily and furloughed or laid off staff in March, while others continued operating with skeleton crews. Resorts in the San Antonio area recently began reopening. A report by commercial real estate firm CBRE predicts it will take years for San Antonios hotel industry to recover, with vacationers coming back long before conference-goers. Occupancy is expected to return to 2019 levels by 2022. Another measure, revenue per available room, isnt expected to exceed last years figures until 2023. madison.iszler@express-news.net In the early days of COVID-19, when most of us were staying as close to home as possible, Facebook, Twitter and the rest of social media were filled with plenty of pandemic-shaming posts. Shakespeare wrote King Lear while quarantined from the plague in 1606, they pointed out endlessly. And Isaac Newton developed his laws of motion while isolating on the family farm during a later outbreak in 1665. So what are you doing with all your free time? went the unspoken challenge. Turns out a lot of us were doing quite a bit. Perhaps we werent turning the worlds of science and art on their heads, but skills these five South Texans learned while staying close to home will be with them long after theres a COVID-19 vaccine: Photographing wildlife Ellen Tom hadnt used her Canon EOS 80D camera in a while. But when those stay-at-home orders went into effect, she found herself, like many of us, with more time on her hands than ever before even as she continued helping raise 250 head of cattle on her familys 7,000-acre ranch in Campbellton south of San Antonio. Maybe it was the calm instead of the usual hustle and bustle as sales of their breeding bulls slowed, but she found herself noticing the natural landscape, the wildlife, even the cattle that surrounded her and that, in normal times, she tended to overlook. I wanted to capture it all, she said. So she picked up her camera, threw it in the truck and started shooting again. A self-taught photographer, shed once been good enough to land photos in a cattle magazine and a calendar. But with all this extra time, she wanted to get even better. With adult ed classes canceled, she turned to YouTube and its plethora of instructional videos. On ExpressNews.com: Sports talk host Mike Taylor returns home from Hawaii to soak up la cultura I did some general searches for how-to photography, but the hits I got were too broad and talked about equipment I didnt have, said Tom, 36. But when I searched for the gear I have, the results were much more helpful. It was one of these videos, in fact, that convinced her she needed to upgrade the 70-200mm f/2.8L lens she was using to a better one, an 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L. This will help me take better wildlife and birding photos, she said. Tom said photography has helped her weather the pandemic. It keeps her from obsessing about all the things she cant do, all the places she cant go, all the people she cant see. It helps clear my mind, she said. She talks about how, several weeks ago, she was checking the cattle when she spotted a vermilion flycatcher sitting on a fence line. Knowing the strikingly red birds are fairly docile, she was able to get fairly close and started shooting. He just sat there and let me to take his picture, she said. It was almost like he was posing for me. Woodworking Measure twice, cut once. Thats how Ashley Cuellar has spent much of her pandemic. After realizing how much she enjoyed helping her twin, 7-year-old daughters Emma and Olivia build a lemonade stand, she became a woodworking fiend. Id never used a tool in my life before, but I loved it, said Cuellar, 36, who, when shes not hammering, drilling and sanding, helps run a professional painting business with her husband, Andres. Working on her back patio, Cuellar said, she finds carpentry relaxing, especially when the girls are out back with her, playing in the pool, jumping on the trampoline or helping with her projects. While their skills are more limited they paint, sand and fill holes with wood putty she occasionally lets them push the button of the sander or drill as she guides them. On ExpressNews.com: 11 summer activities ranked for level of risk of coronavirus infection They love helping Mommy, she said. Theyre very artisan. Since discovering the joy of sawing she has purchased a woodworking shops worth of hand and power tools, including a circular saw, a pocket hole jigsaw, an orbital sander and more. The reaction to her newfound hobby has ranged from incredulous (Really, Ashley?) to curious (Howd you learn to do all that?) Instead of online tutorials, she relied on books geared to beginning woodworkers and said she got plenty of advice and assistance from the folks at Woodcraft of San Antonio, a woodworking store on San Pedro Avenue. Some women want to go shopping or to a spa, she said. Id rather go to Home Depot. Relearning the guitar After not having played it for nearly 40 years, Toni Saunders recently picked up her Bruno Ventura classical guitar because she wanted to teach herself to play The Beatles song Blackbird. My brother Larry taught me that song, said the 67-year-old retired nurse. He died in 2015, and I wanted to relearn it. The pandemic and having to stay close to home had got her thinking a lot about her brother, and so shed sit in her backyard, picking out the melody while grackles played in the trees nearby. I decided that they were my brothers spirit animals come to visit and listen to me play, she said. After learning Blackbird, she found a video tutorial of Coldplays Fix You, a song, she said, that always makes her cry. After shes mastered that, she plans to take up Shallow from the 2018 film A Star is Born. She said she spends about an hour each day practicing on the guitar, which she bought second hand in 1970 for $38 (she still has the receipt). Thats enough to help her get better, although thats not really the point. Instead, its helped get her through the pandemic and also rekindled her love of music. Its opened a whole new world of beautiful and endless possibility and potential, she said. She said that although she didnt play that old classical guitar for years, shes glad she never got rid of it. I always thought Id pick it up again someday, she said. My husband thinks I need to get a Martin acoustic guitar. But Im happy with my little $38 special. Baby steps, right? On ExpressNews.com: COVID-19 may silence church, children's and performing choirs for months Once the pandemic is over, she said, shed love to take lessons from an instructor who could teach her music theory. That takes too much math for me to do on my own, she said. And someday, shed like to play with others. My brother was musical and he always had jam sessions at his house, she said. I regret that Ill never get the chance to play with him. Decorating cookies People often told Ginger Quick that her homemade cookies were so good, she should try selling them. So in mid-March, the Robert G. Cole Middle School teacher decided to give it a shot. After selecting a name, Cottage Cookies, and setting up a Facebook page, she realized that if people were going to pay for her cookies, they not only had to taste good, they had to look good, too. So she turned to YouTube to up her cookie decorating game. There are lots of instructional courses out there, but I really like one called The Flour Box Shop taught by a Pennsylvania woman named Anne Yorks, said Quick, 48. In addition to how-to videos, the Flour Box also offers online video classes on a videoconferencing platform called Chibo that specializes in interactive cooking classes. Anne a great teacher, Quick said. She makes sure everyone understands a technique before moving on, and you can even ask questions if you dont understand something. For $36 per class, Quick has learned to make cookie mermaids, Fathers Day ties, smiling llamas and more. For now, she relies on word-of-mouth and said she sells two to three dozen cookies a week. Thats enough for something she says is part hobby, part job. I treat it seriously like its a business, but I also enjoy it so much, she said. The serious part involves figuring out ways to be more organized and efficient. Shell make a weeks worth of dough in a single batch and freeze it until needed, for example. And she sets up her decorating station like an assembly line, doing all the mermaids faces first, for example, followed by the hair, the fins, etc. And as a hobby, its been a boon to her mental health during these stressful times. When Im baking or decorating my shoulders come down, my brain relaxes. I just feel so good, she said. She still has her regular job, of course, until recently teaching students remotely. And she had to make sure her own two children still living at home were keeping up with their schoolwork. While shes as busy as she wants to be for now, shed eventually like to be able to rent a professional kitchen to do her baking. But shell always be the one wielding the icing bag. I like doing it myself, she said. Coding After losing her job as a nanny during the early days of the pandemic, Jaylan Wienckowski decided it was a perfect time to improve her coding skills, something shed wanted to do even before the pandemic hit. I handle web design for My Friends House Christian Fellowship church, and Id been thinking about taking a class for a while, said Wienckowski, 21. I figured, Im going to be home anyway, so I might as well hunker down and do it. Her mother helped convince her to sign up for the 24-week computer coding boot camp at the University of Texas at San Antonio that shes currently taking. She told me that I could either take the class now, or I could be out there doing nothing watching Netflix and stuff, she said. The class, she said, has been extremely difficult. Im pretty good at the front end, doing design and layout, she said. But the back-end stuff is really challenging for me. Because of the pandemic, all the instruction quickly moved online, so Wienckowski has been in charge of her own schedule, working an average of 10 to 12 hours a week, including doing a weekly project. There have been a lot of late nights and screaming at the computer, she said with a laugh. The good news is that all that work has help take her mind off other things. Its something Im able to get excited about, and its helped me keep my faith in whats not yet seen, that something good will come out of all this. Once she gets her certificate of completion, she hopes her coding skills will lead to a corporate job from which, she said, she hopes eventually to go into business for herself, either as the owner of a coffee shop, a restaurant or perhaps a design studio. And wherever that life takes her, she plans to continue using her computer skills to support her church. Being a church volunteer will always be big in my heart, she said. Richard A. Marini is a features writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Richard A., become a subscriber. rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini Hillsong Family church wades into mask-wearing dispute in Florida after pastor, wife get coronavirus Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Grace City Church, a fast-growing Hillsong Family church in Lakeland, Florida, waded into the divisive issue of mask-wearing in Florida Sunday when it announced that it would ask members to wear masks after the churchs husband and wife team of lead pastors revealed they had been infected with the new coronavirus. During an online service Sunday, the pastors of the church, Andrew Gard and his wife Christina, confirmed their mild infection with COVID-19. The confirmation came after they gathered for the first time in person since the lockdown began for a church prayer night on June 14. Gard said he and his wife chose to get tested due to "some potential exposure." In-person weekend services were scheduled to resume last weekend but as a result of their infection with the virus, the pastors said they were pausing that plan until July 12 when they would ask churchgoers to wear masks during services. Were excited to come back and gather again and when we do come back, just want to encourage you were going to be creating as safe of an environment as possible. We probably are going to be asking people to wear masks. Were going to be encouraging that, asking people to do that so that we dont have to shut down once we open back up because three fourths of our staff get it or something like that, Gard said. Gards comments on the masks came after he asked the church to pray for Lakelands health officials and political leaders, including founding church member Lakeland Mayor William Bill Mutz whose proposal to have residents wear masks indoors in the wake of rising coronavirus infections in Florida, did not get enough support from local politicians last week. Lets be praying right now for our city. I know Central Florida, Polk County and Lakeland are experiencing a little bit of a surge in this regard so lets be praying for our city, lets be praying for our medical professionals, lets be praying for Mayor Mutz who goes to our church, and our city council members some of who go to our church, Gard said. Florida reported a one-day record of 9,585 positive coronavirus cases Saturday and as of Tuesday had at least 146,333 cases, according to a New York Times database, and at least 3,446 deaths from the virus. Polk County, which includes Lakeland, reached a one-day high of 213 cases last Friday, then reported 404 new positive tests Saturday for a total of 3,182 overall cases and at least 92 deaths. Amid rising numbers, a mandate to require face masks in Lakeland proposed by Mutz failed to make it to a vote a week ago, according to ABC Action News. I am disappointed that we didnt even get enough interest to get a vote on the topic, Mutz opined after the vote. "So there is no motion to accept the executive order, and we will not do a mask mandate. The result of that will be in the numbers." The mandate was rejected despite presentations made to city commissioners by Danielle Dummond, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Lakeland Regional Health, and Dr. Steven Achinger of Watson Clinic, who both recommended the wearing of masks. "The more masks that we have being worn in a public space, the safer that public space is. No question," Dr. Archinger said, noting that masks are the most cost-effective way of keeping the local economy open safely. Dummond also noted to commissioners that the LRH had seen an increase in ventilator use, and of the 50 ICU beds available, 48 are currently in use and 30 are COVID-19 patients. Two days after his mask mandate was rejected by Lakeland officials, Mutz continued to share his disapproval about the decision in a message on his Facebook page from a local pastor. I so appreciate the POWER of balancing this perspective during life's more challenging moments: Do unto others and wearing a mask . . . Denial is one of the disastrous traits of this mess. Some believe that if you ignore it, it doesnt exist. Still, others believe that if it helps you get what you want, then any behavior is acceptable, he began. Community is not built on self-serving attitudes, instead, on shared responsibility. I suppose the logic of someone saying, making me wear a mask is taking away my rights, is akin to saying, telling me not to drive drunk is taking away my rights. When you consider individual or collective rights, on one end is anarchy. On the other end is authoritarianism. There is a balance between these two. I happen to believe that the golden rule, which exists in virtually every culture, is what we are losing. Treat others as you would have them treat you. The modern vernacular would read, Dont infect others as you dont want them to infect you. The issue of mask-wearing in Florida has divided Republican leaders in the state over whether it should be a choice or mandate. Some places like Tampa, St. Petersburg and Hillsborough County have passed mandates that require masks to be worn indoors. In Jacksonville, where the Republican National Convention is expected to take place in August, Republican Mayor Lenny Curry has made it mandatory to wear a mask in indoor public spaces. Gov. Ron DeSantis has said, however, that he wont stand in the way of local rules regarding masks while simultaneously suggesting that policing facial-wear would backfire. Many Florida residents have been captured on video fiercely opposing wearing masks during the pandemic while invoking God, the devil, the U.S. Constitution and claims of communism. "They want to throw God's wonderful breathing system out the door," Sylvia Ball said during a recent public comment session with the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners. "All of you are practicing the devil's law," another woman identified as Cristina, who promised a citizen's arrest for those who are going against the "freedom of choice," noted. "Every single one of you that are obeying the devil's laws are going to be arrested." Gard in his comments to his congregants Sunday urged them to pray for a sound mind to prevail as well as grace for those in leadership. Lets be praying that God would give us all just a sound mind and that we would make the best decisions possible. I also really want to encourage us as a church, lets have grace for people that are making difficult decisions. The thing that Ive always wanted to be, I want to be the kind of person just extending grace when people are in difficult positions and high positions of leadership. And so please. Lets be Grace City, he said. Uruguay has become an oasis in the middle of a covid-19 storm. Despite sharing a border with Brazil, a coronavirus epicenter, the nation hasn't had more than 100 active cases at any point for almost a month. In all, it's reported just 932 confirmed cases since the pandemic began and 27 deaths. Next door, Argentina has had over 62,000 cases. And in Brazil, to the north, infections have totaled a staggering 1.34 million. On Monday, Uruguay became one of the first countries in the Americas to return to most classroom learning, with the final wave of schools reopening in the capital of Montevideo. It's part of a phased restart of the economy -- from construction sites to malls -- that started in late April. Public events like theater performances are also set to open soon. The reason tiny Uruguay seems to have avoided the coronavirus chaos engulfing its neighbors may have as much to do with actions from years past as now. President Luis Lacalle Pou was faster to act than his regional peers, moving to close borders and issuing a voluntary lockdown less than a month after taking office on March 1. (Brazil and Mexico, Latin America's powerhouses by both size and population, never did issue national lockdowns.) But Uruguayans also enjoy a robust safety net, thanks to generous spending on health care, pensions and social programs during the previous 15 years under left-wing governments. "It's very likely that Uruguay maintains a favorable evolution because of the consistency in how it applies measures" to contain the disease, said Giovanni Escalante, the World Health Organization's local representative, in a telephone interview. In 2018, Uruguay ranked No. 2 on the continent for social spending at over 17% of its gross domestic product, according to the latest data compiled by the U.N.'s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. It also has one of the lowest poverty rates at 8.8% last year, compared with almost a third for all of Latin America. Social distancing in the sparsely populated nation may also play a role in keeping the virus at bay. Uruguay is roughly the size of Missouri but with 3.5 million people, its population is about half as big. Most of the country's more than 2,700 public primary and high schools serving almost 700,000 students are now holding classes under a gradual process that began with rural schools in late April. The use of face masks is mandatory, and classes are frequently half their pre-covid size as students rotate between in-school and online. Parents can also opt out of sending their kids into school for now. But even with better infrastructure and low infection rates, active cases have surged from about a dozen on June 18 to 83 as of Sunday because of an outbreak in Treinta y Tres province, which borders Brazil and where schools remain closed. Escalante, the local WHO representative, warns that Uruguay will probably see more localized outbreaks -- illness among health care workers, complacency and cities along the Brazilian border are all risk factors -- although it's response to recent clusters is encouraging. "It's important not to declare victory," Education Minister Pablo da Silveira told reporters in Montevideo. Backsliding in social distancing and hygiene measures by the public "could expose us to a relapse." AUSTIN The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement will ask nearly 2,000 Texas law enforcement agencies to resubmit information used to analyze how police were treating minority motorists but was worthless because the commission did not ask departments to include the race of the drivers in some of the data. The change comes days after Hearst Newspapers published a story detailing how the information, required by the 2017 Sandra Bland Act, was impossible to use. Im trying to jump on it pretty fast, said state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, a sponsor of the bill, who said he spoke Monday morning with TCOLE and they had agreed to correct the problem. Coleman said he also has asked the agency to work with academic experts to ensure the information it is asking of Texas law enforcement agencies can be used to actually conduct racial bias analyses. Alex del Carmen, a criminal justice professor at Tarleton State University who helps train police executives, said he worked Sunday to create a survey that would produce the necessary information. Coleman said the new list of questions will be used to gather the information for 2020. But he added the agency said it would also contact police departments to ask them to redo their 2019 surveys, originally submitted in March. A TCOLE spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. IN-DEPTH: Texas was supposed to collect racial-profiling data. It left out most of the racial part. Texas policing reformers have been trying for nearly 20 years to get the states police departments to submit information sufficiently detailed to permit researchers, advocates and the public to identify which police departments treat motorists in a way that could indicate racial bias. But demonstrating a pattern of racial bias in police departments is deceptively complicated, researchers say. Many agencies may stop black drivers at a greater rate than their local population numbers, for example. Yet typically half of all traffic stops made by police are of out-of-town motorists, meaning a simple comparison against local demographics is meaningless. Police also say they seldom know the race of a driver before approaching the stopped car on the shoulder of the road, though some studies suggest this isnt entirely true. So racial profiling experts say the best test to gauge if a local department is treating black, Hispanic and white drivers differently is to compare how they are treated after a stop, when the drivers race is clear. The most common way is to compare how often drivers with different skin colors are searched. Frank Baumgartner, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina, has performed the analysis on hundreds of police departments across the country. His studies found that most searched black drivers at much higher rates than white drivers. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Yet thats only half the equation, he said. Its also crucial to then note what police find during the searches. If they search black drivers at higher rates but consistently find less contraband, for example, thats an indication officers may be letting a racial bias lead them to treat black drivers as more likely to be criminals. Texas laws passed in 2001 and 2009 provided basic information to conduct a disparity test. Some departments did the analyses on their own, but many did not. The Sandra Bland Act, named for the 28-year-old African American woman who died in jail after being arrested during a minor traffic stop, was supposed to fill in the gaps by requiring all departments to send detailed data to TCOLE. But it didnt work out that way. As intended by the new law, TCOLE asked every Texas police department that made traffic stops to submit information about the stops, searches and contraband but then didnt require them to break it down by the drivers race a crime against public records requests, Baumgartner said. After speaking with the agency Monday, Coleman said he didnt believe the agency intentionally omitted the race information, but rather was confused by the statutes wording. The Sandra Bland Act also requires police departments to each analyze its own data for bias patterns, but Coleman said he may also try to require the agency to hire an academic expert to produce an independent analysis instead. Ive just got to figure out how to pay for it, he said. eric.dexheimer@chron.com To keep our community informed of the most urgent coronavirus news, our critical updates are free to read. Ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work. Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission extended the application deadline Monday for food aid payments for children who received free or reduced-price school lunches, days after parents began complaining of a byzantine verification process. The deadline to apply for the federally funded Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program was pushed from today to July 31, giving families more time to seek one-time payments of $285 per eligible child, the value of the subsidized meals students would have received if the coronavirus pandemic had not closed schools. We dont want people not chasing that benefit, said state Rep. Ray Lopez, D-San Antonio, who wrote to Texas HHS last week asking for the extension after hearing of concerns from local families. Kin Man Hui /Staff file photo About 3.3 million school-aged children statewide receive free or reduced-price meals. About 40 percent of them were on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or formerly known as food stamps, and had the money automatically placed in their families accounts, according to the state agency. Parents or guardians of the other 60 percent must fill out a short application that asks for basic identifying information for the head of household and each child. The application went live early this month and as of Monday, the state had received applications for 1.5 million children, according to HHS. More than 675,000 P-EBT cards have been issued, and almost $700 million has been distributed out of a total statewide allocation of $1 billion. The application asked for, but did not require, student identification numbers and Social Security numbers for both parents and children. About two weeks ago, an unknown number of families whod applied received emails from HHS saying the information they submitted did not match the information provided by their childrens schools. The agency did not say Monday how many applications needed further verification. The emails said HHS would call during the week of June 22 from a number that could show up as all zeroes and either an 844 area code, Unknown or State of Texas. If there was no answer, the agency would try again five minutes later, and then, for the final time, the next day. There would be no voice mail or callback number. Oh my gosh, it was a nightmare, said Monica Marquez, a single mother of two daughters going into the first and second grades at Lamar Elementary in the San Antonio Independent School District, which has a poverty rate high enough to offer universal free meals. Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox A substitute teacher, Marquez has been unemployed since schools shut down. She applied June 1, as soon as she was notified that the application was available. Weve been home for so long, and I have small children, she said. They are eating like crazy. She entered Social Security numbers for herself and her children, but she and many other Lamar families got emails June 19 saying further verification was needed. Four days later, Marquez got calls from two different HHS representatives at the same time, one for each daughter. They both claimed they could not access both girls information. She tried putting them on hold while she switched back and forth. Both callers said the applications could not be submitted without student identification numbers, but Marquez didnt have the number for her younger daughter because it wasnt printed on her kindergarten report cards. And the caller for Marquezs older daughter was having technical difficulties, asking for Social Security numbers and addresses over and over again, she said. Eventually, the representative asking about the older girl got disconnected, and the other one said the application had gone through without a student identification number after all. Trinity Smith, the single mother of an autistic son going into his sophomore year at MacArthur High School in North East ISD, was encouraged to apply for the benefit by her sons case manager. Her son gets Medicaid and two free meals a day at school, but she earns too much as a pharmacy technician to qualify for other benefits. We are paycheck to paycheck, and its getting harder and harder, since he is 15, to keep food there, Smith said. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio families with kids on school lunch programs will get extra money for food She gave her sons student identification number when she applied, but didnt have his Social Security card because she was at work. Smith was told her application needed further verification, but she missed all three calls at work with poor reception and limited access to her phone. She tried to call a number that HHS set up for families with questions about the benefit, but it rang without an answer. Smith said shes gone through a similar process, involving calls from strange numbers and no callbacks, when Medicaid needs to verify something about her son. Its a ridiculous system, she said. I think the state does this on purpose because they know we cant call during the day to follow up on this stuff. Heather Eichling, whose son is going into the second grade at Lamar, works part-time as a program assistant for the Trinity University Humanities Collective, and her husband is a policy and research analyst for Methodist Healthcare Ministries. They didnt need the P-EBT card, Eichling said, but qualified because her son goes to SAISD. Eichling thought of the photos shed seen of 10,000 cars lining up outside the San Antonio Food Bank and applied for P-EBT with the intention of giving the card to someone who needed it more. She entered the student identification and Social Security numbers, got the email about further verification and answered the phone the first time the state called. The representative asked for the Social Security numbers again, Eichling said. When she posted in a Facebook group about problems with the P-EBT application, dozens responded. Lopezs district director, Lexi Bachran, saw the posts. Bachran said Lopezs staffers found out that parents who used abbreviations, such as SAISD, to list their school districts were automatically flagged for further review, though that likely did not explain everyone. The San Antonio Food Bank has been helping thousands of families apply for P-EBT, said Eric Cooper, president and CEO. Only about 20 to 30 percent of students who were getting free school meals picked them up from campuses during the shutdown, he said. Its important that the families dont give up, Cooper said. The thought that theres a billion dollars for food support for families who are struggling, Id love for those dollars to get to those kids, and if theres a barrier to keep those dollars from getting to kids, everyone has to make it a priority to solve the problem. To apply for P-EBT, visit https://yourtexasbenefits.com/Learn/PEBT 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 To keep our community informed of the most urgent coronavirus news, our critical updates are free to read. Ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work. A Bexar County commissioner was highly critical Tuesday of shortcomings in response to the coronavirus pandemic, particularly regarding problems with testing and contact tracing. The commissioners received an update on the countys plan to distribute $80 million in federal coronavirus aid for job training, assistance to small businesses and other forms of support. They also approved $260,000 to help families with miscellaneous emergency expenses. Commissioner Tommy Calvert took the occasion to express alarm over last weeks resignation of Dawn Emerick, director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. He questioned whether Metro Health workers are doing enough to reach people who are infected. The public health agency is overseen by the city of San Antonio, but provides health services countywide. Calvert said Bexar County should work with the National Association of Counties to elevate the message that the federal government has not had a proper federal response on testing and tracing, and as a result, its putting the burden on us. On ExpressNews.com: Voting in pandemic will be different He wondered whether resources from Washington, D.C., or the states rainy day fund could be used to help with testing and tracing amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Calvert said the pandemic is breaking the bank of local governments, and its not supposed to work this way. He mentioned successes in South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and other countries in testing and contact tracing that Bexar County could emulate. We can blame the bars and the restaurants and the young people all we want, but government has failed on a number of points, Calvert said. We have failed to get the right amount of tests in a timely manner. We have failed to put an army together, even though we have the National Guard at our disposal to follow through and clamp down on contact tracing. These are our failures, which are worse than the young people going into bars. Theyre both part of the problem. But when you have to wait five to eight days to know whether youre positive, we will always be behind. And our economy will be devastated if we dont get up on the stick and get this done. He mentioned that other U.S. communities have airlifted equipment from overseas to help fight the virus. We need to see the same thing from San Antonio, or else were going to continue seeing people dying and suffering, Calvert added. He said Metro Health should seek out infected residents more aggressively and not wait for them to return calls. Emerick and other city officials have complained that contact-tracing efforts have been hindered by failure of many people who tested positive to return Metro Healths phone calls. Contact tracers need the publics cooperation in order to learn who those infected people interacted with, so those individuals also can be tested and isolated, if necessary. In a city-county COVID-19 briefing June 23, Emerick appeared exasperated about the unreturned calls, saying, How the heck can we contain this when youre not calling us back? She resigned two days later. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff agreed with Calverts concerns about the lag time on testing results and said he didnt know why Emerick resigned. She had been set to give commissioners an update Tuesday, but no one with Metro Health addressed them. I know theyre making calls to everybody, but I know 40 to 50 percent are not returning them, Wolff said in regard to contact tracing. Calvert replied: Not getting a call back is not an excuse. We need to be on their doorstep. We need to be contacting their friends, and we need to demand that the citizens download things like the (contact tracing) apps, so that they can know how much potential contact they have. These are all things that successful countries have done. The exchange followed an update on a county COVID-19 workforce training program that recently was scaled back from $35 million to $30.4 million, now using a mix of federal and general fund dollars. The program has been expanded to run through March 2021, but the $20.8 million in federal aid must be spent by Dec. 30. Officials determined a workforce stipend likely does not qualify for federal support, but have set aside $4.8 million in county funds for workforce stipends. Another type of stipend, in the form of up to $300 for families in the countys pandemic rental assistance program to use for living expenses, is funded with $259,200 in a $13 million household support and stabilization package that is part of federal coronavirus aid. The package also includes $5.4 million for rental assistance, $4.5 million for nonprofit social service agencies and $2.75 million to support the Family Justice Center and other county entities responding to problems with drug abuse and domestic violence during the pandemic. On ExpressNews.com: Despite surge, Wolff doesnt see second lockdown In other action, commissioners named Dr. Kimberley Molina as Bexar Countys first female chief medical examiner. She will replace Dr. Randall Frost, who is retiring after nearly 14 years in the position. Frost called Molina a superb administrator and the finest forensic pathologist of her generation practicing today. She has worked at the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office for 17 years, including 14 as deputy chief. Asked about the impact of the pandemic, Molina told commissioners her staff has had to investigate some deaths that occurred outside hospital settings that turned out to be a result of, or related to, COVID-19. She said the office has worked with Metro Health to perform postmortem testing in-house, making diagnoses of decedents in real time, enabling the office to get information to family members rapidly as to whether or not their loved one was positive with COVID, and died from COVID. Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Scott, become a subscriber. shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA San Antonio reported its largest one-day increase in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic 1,268 new infections Tuesday sparking grave concern that the regions hospital system soon could be overwhelmed. This is an extraordinarily dangerous time, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said during the daily city-county coronavirus briefing with Mayor Ron Nirenberg. Our hospital capacity could run out in the next week or two if we keep growing like this. The 1,268 new cases marked a 60 percent increase over the previous one-day high of 795, which was set Saturday. Officials reported one new COVID-19 death Tuesday a Hispanic man in his 80s. Bexar Countys death toll from the virus now stands at 110. Statistics provided by the Metropolitan Health District painted a dire picture of the virus spread across San Antonio. On Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 patients in area hospitals rose to 966. Thats almost five times as many as two weeks ago and more than 10 times the number reported June 1. The number of patients needing intensive care and ventilators soared again Tuesday, reaching 288 and 158, respectively. On June 1, just 39 patients were in intensive care and only 20 were on ventilators. Youve seen the equivalent of the public health community shouting from every rooftop, Nirenberg said. Weve got to contain this virus. The coronavirus began to spread in the community in March. It took a month and a half for Bexar County to surpass 1,200 cases. In June alone, the number rose by more than 9,200. It stood at 12,065 on Tuesday. Now Playing: Animation shows spread of COVID-19 across Texas from March to April. Video: San Antonio Express-News The countys positivity rate the percentage of coronavirus tests that come back positive rose to nearly 25 percent Tuesday. In early June, it was below 5 percent. On ExpressNews.com: A COVID-19 timeline for San Antonio Hoping to slow transmission of the virus, Nirenberg and Wolff tightened their emergency orders regarding masks. Those orders already mandate that businesses require employees and customers to wear face coverings in situations where maintaining a 6-foot distance from others is difficult. Under changes announced Tuesday, businesses also must require employees and customers to answer questions about COVID-19 symptoms before entering. Businesses with indoor facilities a category that includes gyms, restaurants, shops, supermarkets and many other establishments also must check peoples temperatures. Mayoral spokesman Bruce Davidson said city officials will work with large retailers if the screening requirements prove too burdensome. He added: It was not meant to be punitive, but to increase safety. The orders also require San Antonio residents to limit social gatherings including those on Fourth of July to no more than 10 people. The changes take effect at noon Thursday. Colleen Bridger, an assistant city manager and interim director of Metro Health, said Tuesdays spike in cases could not be attributed to a lag in the reporting of test results. Infection levels in other Texas urban areas put the crisis in San Antonio into stark relief. Harris County home to about 4.7 million people, more than double the population of Bexar County saw 1,453 new cases Monday. On Tuesday, Dallas County, with nearly 600,000 more people than Bexar, reported 601 new cases. San Antonio public officials and medical professionals have made urgent appeals to residents: Stay home if possible. If you must go out, wear masks and stay 6 feet away from others or else the regions hospitals will run out of space. One in every four admissions to San Antonio-area hospitals now stems from the novel coronavirus. Tuesdays increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations to 966 means San Antonio is more than a week ahead of the worst-case scenario projected by a computer model used to assess the potential for hospitals to become overwhelmed. On ExpressNews.com: COVID-19 surge pushes San Antonio hospitals toward breaking point The model predicted 850 COVID-19 patients would require hospitalization by July 6. San Antonio surpassed that number Monday. The same model forecast that by mid-August, the number of patients would reach 1,900 which would exceed the capacity of area hospitals. If theres not a bed available, theres not a bed available it doesnt matter what you have, Bridger said. So people with cardiac arrest, stroke, pneumonia for other reasons anybody who needs hospitalization suffers when hospitals dont have beds. Hospital leaders are scrambling to ensure there are enough beds and medical staff to cope with the surge. City officials are prepared to activate emergency plans that include transferring patients to specialty hospitals and operating a field hospital at Freeman Coliseum should the need arise. Local hospitals are expected to get help from 815 critical care nurses: 250 from the Navy and 565 from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Bridger said the nurses were expected to arrive beginning today. On Tuesday, San Antonios Population Health Advisory Committee, a volunteer group of public health professionals, issued a statement outlining precautions to take while observing the July Fourth holiday. They strongly urged that people celebrate only with those in their household. For those who host or attend gatherings, the committee offered this advice: Stay outside whenever possible. Encourage guests to wear masks. Maintain a 6-foot distance from others. Wash hands frequently. Avoid sharing food, utensils, dishes and serving spoons. Use open coolers and tubs to hold cold beverages so people dont have to touch the same keg or cooler handle. What we would like to do is to not make things any worse than things already are, said Dr. Robert Ferrer, a family medicine practitioner who serves on the committee. The projections are showing that (coronavirus cases are) going to keep climbing at least for a couple weeks as it moves through the population, Ferrer said. The level of concern is very, very high. On ExpressNews.com: 18 hours inside a COVID-19 intensive care unit San Antonio hospitals arent the only ones in Texas under pressure. After suspending elective procedures in Texass four largest cities last week, Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday suspended nonemergency surgeries in four more counties to preserve hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. The declaration covers Nueces County, which includes popular beach destinations, and the three most populous counties along the U.S.-Mexico border: Cameron, Hidalgo and Webb. Cases of COVID-19 have tripled in the past eight days in Corpus Christi, the Nueces County seat, and the surrounding region. The state reported Monday that just nine intensive care beds were available in the area encompassing Nueces and 11 other counties. Cases are also surging in San Antonios neighboring counties. Comal County on Tuesday reported 56 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 654. Comal Countys positivity rate now stands at 10.28 percent, the first time the rate has exceeded 10 percent since mid-April. 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 City officials are asking the owner of a local sign company to halt an unauthorized effort to rally more than 100 volunteers to help San Antonio police with riots. James Alfaro, owner of Alamo Sign Solutions, was issued a cease and desist order by the city Monday alleging that a poster he created makes unlawful and misleading claims of recruitment for police. The poster touts a civilian patrol while recruiting people with a concealed carry permit, military background, or who are just a Texas Patriot, willing to protect our city and show support for our police department. SAPD Chief William McManus and City Manager Erik Walsh said Alfaros actions are unnecessary and unauthorized. This poster has no affiliation whatsoever with the City of San Antonio nor the men and women who wear the San Antonio police uniform. We once again ask that he remove any reference to SAPD from his materials, McManus said. The letter informs Alfaro that continued claims purporting to be assisting SAPD may result in the city seeking legal action against him. During a time when our residents are speaking up for changes in policing, flyers like these only seek to stoke controversy, said Walsh. We do not endorse these actions and I hope this individual will finally cease these harmful actions. Efforts to reach Alfaro for comment Monday night were unsuccesful. There have been two known riots that followed peaceful protests downtown in response to George Floyds death. One occurred on May 30, in which multiple properties were looted or damaged, including a downtown Whataburger, and at least two officers were injured. The second occurred on June 2, when protesters met with police near the Alamo at East Crockett Street and Alamo Plaza. At least 18 people were arrested in connection with the riots on charges including aggravated assault on a police officer, engaging in a riot, evading arrest and criminal trespassing. Since the second riot, daily protests for police reform and for black equality have been largely peaceful. Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. To read more from Jacob, become a subscriber. jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA Paul Franklin/Getty Images On Monday, Cameron County officials said they will begin closing down beach access points on South Padre Island beginning Tuesday because of the spike in coronavirus cases. The county's parks will also be closed, officials said. The closures begin at 7 tonight and will remain closed through 12:01 a.m. July 13, according to the amended emergency order from Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. A curfew has been put in place from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for children under the age of 17. An 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew is in place for adults. Voters turning out Monday for the first day of early voting, despite skyrocketing numbers of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, said they felt safe casting ballots in person but would like having the option to vote by mail. Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said the first-day turnout was comparable to primary runoff elections in 2014 and 2018, when 3,300 to 3,700 ballots were cast. This years early voting period is being stretched over 10 days, rather than five, to reduce crowding at the 31 early polling sites countywide. The recent spike in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations has created a fluid situation, Callanen said. Blue Skies of Texas, a retirement community on the far West Side, notified the county elections department it no longer wanted to be an election day polling site on July 14. That will leave 225 vote centers open that day. With the increase in the numbers over the weekend, they let us know today that theyre bowing out, Callanen said. So far, none of the election judges or poll workers has declined to do their tasks. Knock on wood. I have been pleasantly surprised, Callanen said. I want my election workers to be safe. On ExpressNews.com: Early voting in pandemic will be different She urged voters to respect the election workers by wearing a mask and thanking them for being there. Christina Mendez, 36, voted at Wonderland of the Americas Mall, usually one of the busiest early voting sites, where a trickle of people filed through around noon. Mendez, who lives with a senior citizen who has diabetes and heart disease, brought her own gloves. That is my concern bringing something back home, she said. Election workers are giving voters the option of using gloves supplied at the polls, or a pencil or finger cot, for non-contact voting. Photo IDs are being scanned through a transparent shield, so only the voter makes direct contact with an ID card. I felt safe, Mendez said. Fortunately, there isnt a large crowd. The presence of other voters also was the main concern for Stephen Madla Castro, who did not feel completely safe at Wonderland. Not entirely,. said Castro, 69. Its just all those other people, hoping that others wear their masks and do what they need to do. Although Gov. Greg Abbott recommends Texans wear face masks in public, local election officials are prohibited from mandating masks or conducting temperature screenings. Castro and Mendez said they wished the state would widen legal access to mail-in ballots to include fear of contracting COVID-19, particularly for people with diminished immune systems who are not old enough to qualify. Because of the pandemic right now I think it would be very important to have mail-ballot voting, Castro said. I know thats a contentious item right now, but if we could move toward mail-in ballots, so folks can feel more safe and secure, that would be my preference, Mendez said. Callanen said her staff has sent about 31,000 mail-in ballots and received 14,003 in return as of Monday. Applications for mail-in ballots for the July 14 runoff must arrive at the Bexar County Elections Department, mailed or hand-delivered, by 5 p.m. Thursday. Under the Texas Election Code, voters can request a mail-in ballot if they plan to be traveling outside the county on election day and during early voting; are sick, disabled, or over 65; or are confined in jail but qualified to vote. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled a voter cannot claim fear of contracting the coronavirus as a disability. But Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff has said the courts opinion leaves it up to the person to decide whether theyve got a health issue. He also has raised concerns about having enough election judges and poll workers for the Nov. 3 general election, saying the county may have to consolidate some election day poll sites. County officials say the average age of election judges is 72. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has fought expansion of voting by mail and said it could open the possibility of voter fraud. Other opponents of vote-by-mail reform argue voting is an important civic duty that should be done in person by everyone who is physically able to get to the polls. On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County leaders hope to expand access to mail-in ballots Nancy Avellar, 66, discounts those arguments. She sent in a mail-in ballot for the first time Monday not because of the coronavirus. Im doing this for convenience, not out of fear, Avellar said. She believes voting by mail is secure, and is being opposed as a means of voter suppression. The completed ballot is placed into an inner envelope with the voter information printed on it. This envelope is inserted into the outer envelope, and the voter signs over the seal, she said. It is a wise choice for people that are scared of being out in public at this time. Im doing it because its a service thats available, and its convenient. Sheila Bundy, 74, was among the first at the citys Maverick Branch Library on the North Side Monday morning, but she had to wait about 45 minutes to have her voting status validated by phone because of a computer problem that was quickly resolved. Bundy, a self-described independent who voted in the Republican runoff, said she wore a mask and wasnt worried. No danger at all, Bundy said. They did an outstanding job of everything, except having a working computer. But she said she supports broader access to mail-in ballots. I think people who want one should be able to have one, she said. Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Scott, become a subscriber. shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA Hong Kong clergy face arrest, extradition to China in new security laws Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A blueprint for a controversial new national security law for Hong Kong, as proposed by China, has caused concerns that the semi-autonomous citys vocal clergy who have supported the democracy movement could be extradited to and tried in mainland China. The Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, may formally approve the law, which broadens Beijings direct control over Hong Kong and erodes the citys human rights and freedoms, at a June 28-30 meeting, according to The Epoch Times. Submitted last week for deliberation, the draft covers four categories of crimes: succession, subversion of state power, local terrorist activities and collaborating with foreign or external foreign forces to endanger national security, according to the U.S.-based Christian persecution watchdog International Christian Concern. Under such laws, vocal Hong Kong clergy who have been supportive of Hong Kongs democracy movement, such as Cardinal Joseph Zen and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, could be extradited to mainland China to be tried, since Beijing considers them to be threats to the regime, said ICC. Other hundreds of protestant leaders or Christian organizations who have actively spoken out against the Hong Kong government might face the same fate, since Beijing has said it considers the mass protests that began last June as terrorist acts and any calls for Hong Kongs independence from China as acts of sedition." In 1997, China had agreed for a one country, two systems arrangement to allow certain freedoms for Hong Kong when it received the city back from British control. The security law undercuts the promised autonomy. This law fundamentally compromises one-country, two-systems, and breach of the handover agreement. The details emerging put human rights in jeopardy, the U.K.-based group Hong Kong Watch wrote on Twitter. The European Parliament has voted to take China to the International Court of Justice in The Hague if the law is imposed. The United States has also threatened to revoke Hong Kongs special trading relationship with it and impose sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials. Chinas state-run Xinhua News Agency revealed an explanatory note summarizing the draft, which says Beijing will set up a dedicated central government office in Hong Kong to manage national security affairs, The Wall Street Journal reported. The office will be given the authority to assess Hong Kongs security, gather and analyze intelligence, advise and supervise local authorities on national security matters and also handle select criminal cases, according to the report, which added that the office would exercise jurisdiction over a very small number of cases. The office would also be empowered to oversee education about national security in Hong Kong schools. In case of any discrepancies between the new law and Hong Kongs Basic Law, the former would supersede, according to the explanatory note. Hong Kong will not be a bridgehead for exterior forces that jeopardize [Chinas] national security, Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, wrote on Facebook, according to the Times. ICC warned that Chinas notorious legal system and its lack of transparency can easily criminalize anybody and place them in jail. Many Chinese pastors and Christians, such as pastor Wang Yi, elder Qin Derfu, pastor John Cao, are now imprisoned for trumped-up charges, such as subversion of state power, illegal border crossing, and illegal business operation. Responding to the law, Republican Sen. Rick Scott from Florida wrote on Twitter, Communist China continues their mission to destroy human rights and autonomy in #HongKong. Its plans to suffocate and intimidate those fighting for their basic rights is clear. The US continues to stand with the people of HK. San Antonio officials reported 650 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday as the rapid spread of the coronavirus continued to put pressure on area hospitals and officials warned against large gatherings ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. No new deaths were reported, leaving Bexar Countys total at 109 since the start of the pandemic. The confirmed new cases brought the countys total to 10,797. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer Virtually every statistic related to the virus is heading in the wrong direction, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the daily city-county coronavirus briefing, and hospitals are under high stress. San Antonio-area hospitals were treating 881 COVID-19 patients, an increase of 79 since Sunday. One in every four people admitted to a hospital in Bexar County is there because of COVID-19, Nirenberg said. A total of 274 patients were in intensive care as of Monday, and 154 were on ventilators. Both numbers have doubled within the last week, Nirenberg said. Unfortunately, we are still experiencing an exponential surge in our community, Nirenberg said. We must act swiftly, we must act collectively to contain this virus. Tom Reel, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer Twenty-five percent, or 1,172, of the countys 4,709 hospital beds are empty in case hospitalizations continue to rise. Gov. Greg Abbotts ban on elective surgeries has freed up some beds, but they are soon filled with new patients, Nirenberg said. Bexar County hospitals are soon to get an influx of nurses to staff those beds, though its unclear when: 815 critical care nurses, comprising 250 from the Navy and 565 from the Texas Department of State Health Services. On ExpressNews.com: COVID-19 surge pushes San Antonio hospitals toward breaking point The mayor pointed to statistics showing increased infections and hospitalizations among younger people. Half of the people infected with COVID-19 who end up in the hospital have no underlying health conditions, Nirenberg said. Young people are not invincible. The time it takes for the total number of COVID-19 cases to double now stands at 11 days, well below the 18-day warning marker that local health officials had established. Just a few weeks ago, it took more than a month for total cases to double. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer On ExpressNews.com: Live coronavirus updates for San Antonio And the grim numbers keep piling up a week after San Antonio businesses were ordered to again require their customers to wear face masks. One in five people tested for the virus comes back positive, Nirenberg said. For most of May, the positivity rate the percentage of COVID-19 tests that come back positive hovered around 3.5 percent. Public and private health care providers have increased the number of daily tests theyre able to conduct in recent weeks. On Monday, those providers were able to perform 6,104 tests, said Anita Kurian, assistant director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. But only about 2 percent of the countys residents have been tested for COVID-19. The surge in new cases and hospitalizations led County Judge Nelson Wolff and Nirenberg to call on Gov. Greg Abbott to give them authority to enact their own measures to fight the spread of the virus including new stay-at-home orders. Officials cautioned residents against gathering in large groups over the coming Fourth of July weekend citing Memorial Day weekend, which preceded a spike in cases and hospitalizations. Id be very reluctant to send any of your kids to the beaches, Wolff said. If they gather there and get together like they did in bars and spread it back to us, were going to have a much more difficult situation. And cases are piling up at public safety departments that have to respond to the crisis. At the San Antonio Police Department, 56 officers have COVID-19, up from 6 cases a month ago. An additional 95 officers and civilian employees remain in quarantine, SAPD said. The San Antonio Fire Department, whose paramedics are making dozens of COVID-19 ambulance runs a day, said 24 sworn employees have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic. Of those, 18 currently have the virus. An additional 24 employees are quarantined. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer On ExpressNews.com: 18 hours inside a COVID intensive care unit The Sheriffs Office reported 15 jail deputies with COVID-19 as of Sunday. An additional 24 jailers were awaiting test results. And the Bexar County Jail, an early hot spot of infections, reported that about 58 percent of inmates have tested positive for the virus, Wolff said. In another sign that the contagion is touching every aspect of life, the H-E-B grocery chain said 24 of its San Antonio employees tested positive over the weekend. That brings to more than 100 the number of H-E-B employees at San Antonio stores with confirmed coronavirus infections. The recent spike in infections along with an emergency alert sent Saturday by the San Antonio Office of Emergency Management prompted the Witte Museum to close temporarily and the DoSeum to delay its reopening plans. The DoSeum, the citys childrens museum, was slated to reopen Monday. Instead, it plans to reopen Wednesday. The Witte, which reopened May 29 after staying shuttered for more than two months, announced Sunday that it would close Monday and Tuesday. With pressure mounting on Abbott to order face masks, Wolff and Nirenberg said they were hopeful the governor would announce more measures to control the outbreak at a planned news conference Tuesday. Texas added 5,491 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the statewide case total since the beginning of the pandemic to 156,998. Fifteen more people in Texas have died of the virus, officials reported Monday. The statewide death toll now stands at 2,415. Texas hospitals admitted 416 more COVID-19 patients Monday for a total of 5,913. Staff writers Priscilla Aguirre, Emilie Eaton and Deborah Martin contributed to this report. 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 Mayor Ron Nirenberg tapped the leader of Bexar Countys mental health authority Tuesday to chair the San Antonio Water System board of trustees two years after the current chairmans term expired. Nirenbergs nomination of Jelynn Burley, CEO of the Center for Health Care Services, will go before the council governance committee in August among a slate of other nominees to the SAWS board. If the committee approves Burleys nomination, the full council will get the final say. Burley worked at the city for 24 years, eventually becoming deputy city manager, where she oversaw economic development, housing and community development along with parks and recreation among other departments before she left in 2008 for CPS Energy. There, she rose to executive vice president for energy delivery and customer service. Burley also sits on the NuStar GP Holdings board, a subsidiary of pipeline operator NuStar Energy. Jelynne Burley has a wealth of leadership and municipal experience, Nirenberg said in a statement. She is a seasoned professional who understands governmental dynamics and how to manage a large organization. On ExpressNews.com: Like it or not, Vista Ridge pipeline now delivering water to San Antonio Nirenbergs nomination of Burley comes after criticism from activists that the mayor had allowed the SAWS boards current chairman, Heriberto Guerra, to stay on after his term was over. The City Council appoints six members to the seven-person SAWS board. The mayor is the seventh member. Board members are capped at two four-year terms but under state law can continue to serve until the council names a replacement which could mean serving indefinitely. Council members named Guerra CEO of Avanzar Interior Technologies, a local Toyota parts supplier in 2011 to serve out the rest of a term vacated by Alex Briseno, a former city manager. The council reappointed Guerra in 2014 to a term that expired in May 2018. Guerra has remained as chairman, though his term ended nearly two years ago. Nirenberg has said he allowed Guerra to stay in the role to oversee the completion of the 142-mile Vista Ridge pipeline, which began pumping water last month, and that Guerra was scheduled to step down this summer after the project was completed. 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 Federal judges in Laredo have an unconstitutional blanket policy of jailing witnesses in smuggling cases, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. Federal law allows the government to detain witnesses of crimes to ensure they appear in court to testify. But the ACLU alleges in its lawsuit, filed in a Laredo federal court, that judges in the border city have ordered hundreds of witnesses detained this year on excessive bonds without their attorneys present. The witnesses, who are almost all undocumented immigrants expected to testify against human smugglers, are sometimes held for months until their cases are resolved. The law says that detaining witnesses should be a last resort, but there are currently more than 130 material witnesses held in the Laredo area. None have been charged with a crime. Deprivation of liberty is one of the most severe things you can do to a person, said David Donatti, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas. It should only happen very, very rarely. Judges are required to make individual determinations about whether its necessary to detain witnesses. Thats not happening in Laredo, the ACLU says in its lawsuit, filed on behalf of six detained witnesses. Instead, court documents filed this month describe a system in which anytime someone is arrested smuggling immigrants, federal agents randomly select some of them as witnesses. Judges then order witnesses detained on $25,000 bonds in, according to the lawsuit, a mechanical scheme that ignores their individual circumstances. Border Patrol agents working at the immigration checkpoint on Interstate 35 found plaintiff Victor Zepeta Jasso and another man from Mexico stuffed into a pickup truck toolbox in March. Zepeta Jasso said he was told by a judge he had no hope of release until the criminal case against the man who smuggled him was resolved. I asked why we had to be detained and the judge said it was required for people like me who had been chosen, like a lottery, Zepeta Jasso wrote in a declaration filed in court. U.S. magistrate judges did appoint attorneys for the six plaintiffs, court records show. But the lawsuit alleges their lawyers were rarely present when they were ordered detained. The judges signed boilerplate detention orders without examining whether it was necessary to incarcerate the witnesses, the lawsuit alleges. Some witnesses said they never heard from their court-appointed attorneys and have languished in the La Salle County Regional Detention Center in Encinal for months while the people accused of smuggling them have been released on bond, according to the lawsuit. Two have been in detention since January. Along with violating the law that allows the government to detain witnesses, the process violates the plaintiffs constitutional rights to due process, the ACLU alleges. The civil liberties group is asking a judge to release the six plaintiffs and prevent the future detention of material witnesses in the absence of a lawfully issued detention order. Its also seeking class-action status to represent all other witnesses in the Encinal facility. Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News The defendant named in the lawsuit, La Salle County Regional Detention Center Warden Omar Juarez, didnt respond to a request for comment. In a response filed in court, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas, which includes Laredo, argued that rather than filing a lawsuit, the witnesses should have their court-appointed attorneys ask for new hearings. Releasing them now could jeopardize ongoing criminal prosecutions, lawyers for the government wrote. Detention of material witnesses is particularly harmful during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the ACLU. The witnesses sleep in close quarters in dormitories of 48 people and arent given masks. The number of witnesses in the Encinal detention center had exceeded 200 until early June, Caitlin Halpern, a Houston lawyer working with the ACLU on the case, wrote in a declaration filed in court. On June 8, after dozens of smugglers entered pleas that had been delayed for months by the COVID-19 outbreak, 75 material witnesses were released in one day, Halpern wrote. One reason Laredo was chosen as the lawsuits venue is because material witnesses there often face longer detention times than other border jurisdictions, said Donatti, the ACLU of Texas lawyer. Unlike many border jurisdictions, judges in Laredo rarely schedule videotaped testimony for detained witnesses, which allows them to be released before the criminal case theyre to testify in is resolved. Former federal prosecutors said the government needs some way to ensure witnesses of smuggling crimes, which can involve criminals putting immigrants lives at risk, are available to testify. Detained material witnesses are often called upon to identify the people who smuggled them. They can also provide testimony that proves the elements of a crime or impacts sentencing decisions, such as how much money changed hands and whether they were smuggled in dangerous conditions. Securing that testimony can be difficult when the witnesses are in the U.S. without authorization and could face deportation if theyre released, former prosecutors said. The federal governments response to the lawsuit notes that keeping witnesses detained can pressure defendants to plead guilty. And lawyers in Laredo said that prosecutors incentivize quick guilty pleas, which result in the release of detained witnesses, by offering reduced sentences. Mike McCrum, a San Antonio defense attorney, said that when he was a supervisor at the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Texas in the 1990s, he worked with other federal agencies to allow witnesses to be released if they had a family member in the U.S. who would take responsibility for them. A similar system once existed in Laredo, but has been abandoned, lawyers there said. McCrum also helped set up a system that still exists today along much of the border allowing witnesses to give videotaped testimony under questioning by prosecutors and defense attorneys before being released. If the case drags on for months before going to trial, that testimony can be used without the witnesses presence. In her declaration, however, Halpern said she could find only four witnesses of the more than 200 detained at the start of June who had been ordered to give videotaped testimony and released. That testimony, ordered in March by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo, still hasnt taken place. Derly Uribe, a Laredo attorney whos often appointed to represent material witnesses, said the last time he asked a judge to allow his client to give video testimony, the request was denied. That was in 2013. Since then, Uribe said, hes brought up the issue informally and was told widespread video testimony for detained witnesses would be costly and potentially run afoul of defendants constitutional rights. The answer Ive generally got is, this is the way weve always done it, Uribe said. And yet I've learned other jurisdictions do this with no problems. McCrum, who was appointed to represent material witnesses against a truck driver who was arrested in 2017 in San Antonio after 10 immigrants were found dead in his tractor trailer, said not holding depositions to speed releases shocks the conscience. Its up to court-appointed attorneys to seek their clients release, but the responsibility ultimately rests with the judges hearing the cases, McCrum said. The magistrate judges in Laredo are beholden to their district judges, and the district judges in Laredo should be ashamed of themselves, he said. Their own divisions in their own district are doing it, the Western District is doing it, and people are sitting in jail by the hundreds every year. Each day, pet trainers Hannah Barrera and Kaitlan Helton visit the kennels at the Animal Care Services campus looking for pets that need extra attention, determined to help even troubled dogs be socially ready for adoption. When they leave their nearby office and walk the aisles, the behavior specialists are alert for any dog cowering in a corner or trembling at the sound of approaching footsteps. They might be better candidates for the agencys foster program, rather than immediate adoption. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer Theyre also on the lookout for dogs that bark aggressively like their current office mate, Oddish, a 3-year-old Patterdale terrier mix, once did. The dog that now paws at them for affection was surrendered to ACS by his previous owner. ACS spokesman Alfonso Rios said Oddish is an office foster. Its not uncommon to find a cat or dog being cared for by colleagues in the main building, he said. The trainers usually take in a dog that needs a caregiver with experience. Its mostly like us as staff wanting to help as well, Rios said. We also have to apply to foster. It is still under the foster program. Barrera and Helton are members of the shelters Live Release Team whose goal is to prepare dogs and cats for adoption, fostering and selection by rescue partner organizations. They evaluate the dogs for placement, provide one-on-one training and oversee meet and greets with prospective adopters. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer They learned, after spending several days with Oddish, that he barks if hes ignored. Theyve praised him for good behavior, something thats translated into less barking and a more quiet demeanor. They learned hes good with cats and other dogs and wont turn away from a ruffle of his fur. Barrera, 29, said the only thing the terrier is in need of now is a home. He does better when hes with someone he trusts and hast his back, Helton, 26, said. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio residents connect with animals on new ACS Facebook Live show Each Friday at 3 p.m., the two share tips that have helped Oddish and other pets on a live show at the ACS Facebook page as hosts of a Q-and-A forum with the community. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer ACS spokeswoman Lisa Norwood said the team is passionate about their work. One of the things that is underestimated about ACS is the amount of time and effort that our staff puts into finding homes for pets in our care. she said. They are persistent in their pursuit to help these animals become pets and find homes. Norwood said that the coronavirus pandemic has caused ACS to modify operations and install an appointment system to keep the public and staff safe. She said limiting the number of visitors to the shelter has had an impact on the number of daily pet adoptions. From March 1 through June 29, the number of dogs and cats that were adopted was 1,890. Adoptions for the same period in 2019 numbered 2,362. On ExpressNews.com: Animal Care Services encourages San Antonio residents to have an emergency pet plan Norwood said in order to encourage residents to add a pet to their families, ACS lowered adoption fees for dogs to $15 and cats to $5. All adoptions include a microchip, a rabies vaccination, first round of shots, spay/neuter surgery and free, lifetime training for canines. Live Release Program Coordinator Nicole Lee said most animals in need of foster care are medical pets, seniors and larger dogs. They are the pets that are overlooked because they are shy or shut down easily. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer Lee said the team provides foster caretakers, who have to apply for the program, with materials that include food, a crate and a blanket when they take a pet home. For the past five years, her responsibilities have included ensuring the match is in the best interest of the pet. She reaches out to check on their well being, asking for photos and bios to update their profile. The program is a mix of new and longtime foster volunteers. Many ask for the animals that are in need of medical care. A lot of fosters end up adopting dogs that have become part of their families, Lee said. A foster said that were like the social workers of the pet world, she said. In the past, she has cared for dogs in her home for close to a year before they were adopted. Currently, Lee is fostering a Chihuahua puppy named Pinky, who has ringworm. She said a pets chances of getting adopted open up exponentially after a few weeks with a foster. Some fosters look for the shut down dogs, Lee said. In a matter of weeks they do a 360-degree turn. Fostering gives them that shot and time that they need to show who they are. Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Vincent, become a subscriber. vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis A man accused of injuring 8 people in a shooting outside a North Side bar is back in Bexar County after being extradited from Florida, where he was arrested. Jenelius Crew, 37, was booked Sunday at the Bexar County Jail on eight charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bail totals $600,000. On June 12, Crew was allegedly denied entry into REBAR, 8134 Broadway, because he was intoxicated, San Antonio police said. He became irate with the bouncer and walked to his car, where he retrieved a rifle, and allegedly began shooting at the bar, investigators said. Five women and three men, between 23 and 41 years old, were injured. All eight were expected to survive, police said at the time. On June 16, a Crime Stoppers tip from an anonymous caller identified Crew as the shooter, according to an affidavit. A tip from another witness the next day helped investigators match a previous booking photo of Crew with an image of him taken from security camera footage at a neighboring bar on the night of the shooting. Florida authorities arrested Crew on June 18 at a Miami hotel. He was held at the Miami-Dade County Jail until he was brought to Bexar County. Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. To read more from Jacob, become a subscriber. jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA To keep our community informed of the most urgent coronavirus news, our critical updates are free to read. Ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work. The spike in coronavirus infections in Bexar County brings with it another kind of surge a sharp increase in demand for testing. Long lines at temporary walk-up sites are common and appointments hard to get at clinics and pharmacies. Interest in free drive-thru testing at Freeman Coliseum was so high that its online registration portal had to be taken down. Residents must now book appointments via phone at 210-233-5970. Hundreds are flocking to city-run pop-up sites where testing is free and up to 350 slots are available. Determined people arrive before 4 a.m., six hours ahead of time, to boost their chances of getting in. Some are turned away. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer Testing, a key component of efforts to track and contain the virus, is a confusing patchwork, spread across 55 locations in Bexar County, either publicly and privately run. The capacity for testing has climbed to an average of 5,700 a day, but thats not enough compared with the exponential rise in infections in the last month. The percentage of tests turning up positive for COVID-19 is now 20 percent compared with 3.5 percent in late May. The wait for testing and results helps the virus spread all the more. People who are infected cant know for sure they are positive, especially if they dont show any symptoms. Those who might have been exposed can give up trying when faced with a cumbersome testing process. One who aimed to get tested at Will Rogers Academy last week was Ruben Gonzalez, 30, who said he was experiencing symptoms as he waited in line. He swayed a bit as he stood. Fever, chills, shortness of breath, he said, standing next to his mother, who had driven him to the pop-up testing site but wasnt getting tested herself. Dizziness, nausea, a loss of smell and taste, he continued. Gonzalez is a musician who plays in a rock band. Recently, his band played at a bar in Austin where about 400 people showed up, many of them not wearing masks. Two of his bandmates have since fallen ill, but theyre feeling better, he said. Usually I try to stay away from people, but I think I probably got it there, he said. Roland Rodriguez, who may have been exposed at work, said hed been trying to get tested for over a week. Ive tried them all CVS, Walgreens, Texas MedClinic, Metro Health, he said. You have to have an appointment. Its so misleading we thought you could just walk-up or drive-through. We got to a Walgreens at 7 a.m., and they said, Sorry, no more drive-up tests. Rodriguez said he went online to make an appointment at a CVS, and the app showed five available slots, he said. But when he entered his information, he got a reply that there were no more slots available. Rodriguez works in the maintenance department of Northside Independent School District. He said the district recently sent all the mechanics home, because some had tested positive for COVID-19. One of those mechanics had ridden in his van, but the district told him that was a secondary exposure, so he needed to come into work. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer So far, Metro Health has reported the results of more than 167,000 COVID-19 tests, the bulk of which were conducted by private businesses in San Antonio using 22 different labs. One of the citys busiest urgent care clinics, Texas MedClinic, has done about a quarter of the citys tests. Securing an appointment to get tested is a matter of luck and timing. Slots open 24 hours in advance but often are quickly snatched up. An employee at a clinic on Southwest Military described the demand like trying to get concert tickets. Dr. David Gude, MedClinics chief operating officer, said the 13 clinics here have been overwhelmed by the demand for its 15-minute rapid tests. Routinely, doctors and nurses have stayed until 3 a.m. trying to test all patients who show up without an appointment and still cant manage to test everyone. I really believe this is not just some little blip thats going to go on for a couple of weeks, Gude said. I think were going to be in this crunch for a while. Texas MedClinic usually runs 1,500 tests a day, but at one point in mid-June, it did 2,000 tests. Thats a figure that realistically cant be done every day, given staffing levels, Gude said. The business has 300 employees and recently hired more. The clinics saw twice as many patients this month as it did in June last year. CVS Health just added nine more drive-thru testing locations at its pharmacies in San Antonio doubling the number of locations. One free testing location listed on the Metro Health website is at CentroMeds Palo Alto Clinic. But that location has appointments booked through July 17, said Chief Development Officer Ana Maria Garza Cortez. CentroMed can often provide same-day testing for uninsured patients if they are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, she said. On ExpressNews.com: Drive-thru vehicle inspection shop has a new sideline: COVID-19 testing The outside of a Texas MedClinic near South Park Mall is being used as a drive-thru testing site for residents without insurance or who cannot afford a test. The clinic provides the medical staff and supplies, while the city pays for the test kits and sets up the appointments. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer Metro Health expects to expand the number of days that free pop-up sites are open to six from three. Previously, the free testing sites offered 175 tests a day, but now they can test about 300 people. The public health department is still conducting resident surveys to see if there are barriers like transportation and other factors that are keeping people from seeking testing, said Anita Kurian, assistant director of Metro Health. Gude at Texas MedClinic said the company had to switch labs twice already in an effort to get test results sooner. When a patient gets tested at the clinics, they get either a text or call as soon as results come in. Most patients get the rapid test on a Sofia machine made by Quidel Corp., the same maker of the rapid flu and strep test machines used for the past decade at Texas MedClinic. Quidels antigen test, which received an emergency clearance in May from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has a sensitivity rate of 80 percent. Gude said this means one in five patients could get a negative test even though they are infected with the coronavirus. Thats why some of those tests are followed up with the traditional test, which takes longer because it needs to be processed in a lab. The clinic had first contracted with Dallas-based Quest Diagnostics, but it took up to six days to get results back instead of the agreed-upon 48-hour turnaround. Another lab was able to provide results within 24 hours, but last week notified the clinic that it wouldnt be able to do so anymore. The new lab promises a 24-hour turnaround. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio reports 638 new COVID cases, largest one-day jump on record Some people shrug off having to wait at least five days to find out if theyre infected. Were quarantining, anyway, said Armando Salazar after getting a free test Thursday at a pop-up Metro Health testing site at St. Philips College. We dont want to expose nobody else. For his wife, Theresa Rodriguez, possible signs of the virus started with a cough. Then came a fever, pain in the lungs and body aches. Rodriguez, 37, suspected she may have picked up the virus at a fast-food place where she heard an employee had tested positive for the virus. Some of the employees werent wearing masks, she said. At the same time, Salazar developed a cough and a scratchy throat, symptoms hes used to because he often gets allergies. You dont know whether you do or dont have the disease, he said. A task force of the local COVID-19 Community Response Coalition plans to survey local testing providers, labs and employers every two weeks to gauge demand for testing, said Emily Volk, senior vice president of clinical services at University Health System who co-chairs the task force. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer Were really trying to get a broad swath and a complete look at whatever avenue for testing is available, Volk said. We want to understand the current situation as clearly as possible. More Information Free testing available From 10 a.m to 2 p.m. today at Kazen Middle School, 1520 Gillette Blvd. No appointment required at this walk-up site. From 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Thursday at New Life Fellowship, 11225 E. Loop 1604 North. This is a drive-thru site and an appoinment is required. Go to covid19.sanantonio.gov for details. See More Collapse On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases One challenge Gude said is that people not showing symptoms can spread the coronavirus and people can come down with the disease at any point up to 14 days after exposure. Testing too early could give people a false assurance that they are negative when they might have been tested too soon. We all want a magic bullet and to know that its OK to be out, he said. But what we were doing before with the closures was really making a difference. Public health officials say the best thing people can do right now is stay home if possible and wear a mask. Those who are around other people should also avoid being within six feet of them to limit the chance of transmission. Many of the people waiting in line at the pop-up Metro Health testing site at Will Rogers Academy last week said they feared they had been exposed to someone who was sick. Maria Castillo, 40, was getting tested for the first time, after a co-worker at the church where she works was exposed to the virus five days before. I have three little ones at home, she said. Adriana Renteria, 24, was also getting tested for the first time. Her roommates boyfriend had gotten sick with the virus. I dont think I have it, but you never know, she said. I want the test just to make sure. Myra Fuentes, an educator, tried getting tested but was turned away when test kits ran out. Fuentes isnt showing symptoms, she said, but sought the test after she learned an employee at the Olmos Park H-E-B where she regularly shops tested positive for the virus and because she soon plans to visit her mother. Im just being on the safe side for my mothers sake, Fuentes 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 | Laura Garcia covers the health care industry in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Laura, become a subscriber. laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura To keep our community informed of the most urgent coronavirus news, our critical updates are free to read. Ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work. The first coronavirus cases have been identified at the migrant camp in Matamoros, Mexico, where more than 2,000 asylum-seekers have been waiting for months to attend court hearings on the U.S. side. Living with poor hygienic conditions and in tents made of tarps and garbage bags packed close together, the migrants have long been at high risk of contracting the disease. Three migrants there received positive results from antibody testing, an approach not always used in other health departments including Bexar County but used in this case out of an abundance of caution to isolate potentially positive migrants. according to Global Response Management, the medical nonprofit that has been providing aid to the migrants for over a year. Another migrant on Monday tested positive for the antibody test and for the polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test which is how San Antonio counts its cases and was transferred to a nearby Doctors Without Borders clinic. Two other migrants exhibiting COVID-19-like symptoms are in isolation and awaiting test results. Several more GRM staff and volunteers have tested positive, too. Jerry Lara, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Its only a matter of time before we start seeing more and more positive cases. Unfortunately as much as our prevention and fortifcation have been effective up until this point, I think that really can only go so far, said Helen Perry, the nonprofits executive director. On ExpressNews.com: Coronavirus cases in migrant camps and detentions called inevitable GRM has conducted 344 tests at the camp so far, up 47 percent from last week, Perry said. She estimated the medical volunteers have about 2,000 more tests at their disposal. The antibody tests are done with a prick of the finger, and display results in 15 minutes. The asylum-seekers are living on a patch of Mexican federal land that hugs the Rio Grande next to the international bridge between Brownsville and Matamoros. They were sent there as part of the Trump administrations Remain in Mexico policy, which was implemented in the Rio Grande Valley last summer after high numbers of asylum-seekers flowed across the U.S. border, leading to crowded, unsanitary detention conditions. The policy is now largely defunct. After the pandemic hit the U.S., the Trump administration effectively sealed off the border to migrants. But the asylum-seekers who arrived before the pandemic are still there, their waiting period extended by court hearing cancellations due to the coronavirus. Jerry Lara, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Thousands of asylum-seekers are waiting, often in shelters, in several other northern Mexico border cities, including Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana. Kidnappings, assaults and other dangers are common. Many of them are families with young children. Some women who arrived pregnant have given birth while they waited there. Some have been waiting for a year. Were talking about a population where everybody is walking around moderately dehydrated, moderately malnourished, they have a ton of stress in their lives, living conditions are poor at best, sanitation is not great despite our efforts to keep up with that, Perry said. We know looking at similar instances from the past that these are the perfect conditions for a mass spread. Bob Owen, STAFF-photographer / Staff photographer The migrants recently organized and formed a council of two representatives from each nationality. This development has led to a more sanitary space each day a different nationality cleans the camp and has given order and a stronger sense of community among the camp dwellers. Educational materials are promoted among the groups about wearing the masks they were given and washing hands frequently. GRM has been working since February to craft new protocols and spread educational awareness to help prevent the virus spread there. The group installed 88 hand-washing stations, adjusted spacing between tents, identified an isolation area for potential cases and constructed a 20-bed field hospital for mild to moderately ill patients with COVID-19, the organization said. Isaac Bencomo, a 27-year-old intensive nurse at San Antonios Childrens Hospital, negotiated with the Mexican government to pave the way for the field hospital. On ExpressNews.com: Local nurse aids migrants at border camp amid coronavirus pandemic GRM has struggled to get coronavirus tests, medical supplies and even volunteers across the border amid the pandemic, and is asking for donations. If the number of coronavirus cases there explodes, theyre going to need more staff, Perry said, and with the border closed, that might mean hiring locals as opposed to sending down volunteers. Its unclear if the volunteers would have enough resources to properly treat the migrants should a major outbreak develop. I dont think (the field hospital) is set up to be able to manage people who require intensive care, who require a ventilator should it come to that. Hopefully it wont, but as we know many people with COVID-19 end up requiring very intensive care, have severe multi-system collapse, said Dr. Ranit Mishori, a senior adviser for the nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights. Jerry Lara, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Immigrant and Customs Enforcement detention facilities have been a hot spot for coronavirus cases for several weeks. The fact that the encampment hasnt identified cases yet could be a testament to the nonprofits work, Mishori said. What weve seen is an example of an organization that has anticipated this, has worked hard to have transparency, to plan ahead of time... Where with ICE, its very difficult to get any information about their protocols and what theyre doing, Mishori said. The Matamoros camp was closed off weeks ago, with strict controls on who can move in and out. Meanwhile in ICE facilities, contract workers and vendors continue to move in and out of the facilities. The spike in cases on the U.S. side where some volunteers live also increased the risk of contraction. Cameron County, across the border from Matamoros, has about 2,183 cases. In the city of Matamoros, there are 1,215 confirmed cases, according to GRM. This is a firestorm waiting to happen, Perry said. Right now its only smoldering, but its only a matter of time before it catches and spreads through the entire camp. 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 Competition between Wizz Air, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Air Serbia is heating up over the Serbia - Norway market just days before the three carriers begin progressively linking the two countries. It all began two weeks ago, when Wizz Air announced its major network and capacity expansion from Belgrade would include two weekly services to Sandefjord Airport from mid-July, to fill the void left by Norwegian Air Shuttle which suspended operations between Oslos main airport Gardermoen - and the Serbian capital due to the coronavirus pandemic. Just a day later, Norwegian shortlisted Belgrade as part of its new limited network of destinations, to resume this Saturday, albeit at a reduced volume of one flight per week. This was followed by Air Serbia, which announced it too was launching two weekly flights to Gardermoen Airport in mid-July. The three airlines have since continued trying to one-up each other, with Wizz Air rescheduling its service from Belgrade to Sandefjord, which is 120 kilometres from Oslo, in order to operate on exactly the same days as Air Serbias Norway service. Not to be outdone, Norwegian Air Shuttle has since scheduled four weekly flights from its Oslo hub to the Serbian capital from the start of the 2020/2021 winter season in late October. Last year a total of 50.000 two-way point to point passengers flew between Belgrade and Oslo. In addition, a further 7.000 travellers flew indirectly between the two cities. Air Serbia is hoping to attract transfer passengers on its flights from Oslo, with services to Sarajevo, Tivat, Tirana, Podgorica, Skopje, Bucharest, Sofia and Thessaloniki timed to connect onto operations from the Norwegian capital. Collectively, the eight cities saw around 95.000 passengers to/from Oslo last year. By mid-July, there will be a total of 934 weekly seats available each way between Belgrade, Oslo and Sandefjord. Wizz Air will offer 460 one-way seats per week on its Airbus A321 aircraft, Air Serbia will have a capacity of 288 one-way seats on board its Airbus A319 jet, while Norwegian Air Shuttle will offer 186 one-way seats on its Boeing 737-800 aircraft. All three airlines have previously operated these flights. Norwegian Air Shuttle launched the Oslo - Belgrade route in 2007 and maintained the service until the start of the coronavirus crisis in March. In 2008, Air Serbias predecessor, Jat Airways, launched short-lived operations between the two capital cities. In 2014, Wizz Air commenced operations between Sandefjord and Belgrade, but the service lasted just five months before it was terminated. Irish comedian kicked off Twitter for saying 'men aren't women' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Twitter has shut down the account of Irish comedian Graham Linehan for stating that men are not women, words the social media company considers "hateful conduct" toward transgender-identifying people. According to The Guardian, the social media giant reportedly barred the "Father Ted" sitcom creator from the platform for "repeated violations of our rules against hateful conduct and platform manipulation" after he tweeted "men are not women tho" when replying to the Women's Institute wishing transgender members a Happy Pride. Linehan, who is also known as Glinner, appeared to post on the popular U.K. parenting website Mumsnet about the suspension. Im really sorry to barge in on you Mumsnettters with my problems, but Ive been finally suspended from Twitter and I have a feeling theyre either going to ban me or just take my verified tick, the Saturday post read. Ive submitted an appeal with Twitter and the Better Business Bureau but I thought Id post here too so people knew what was going on. The Irish comedian has in recent years used the platform to criticize transgenderism, frequently noting its harms to gays and lesbians. In a BBC Newsnight interview in February, Linehan expressed his alarm regarding the medicalization of gender, particularly insider joking at the London-based Tavistock clinic where staff would reportedly jest among themselves about the experimental hormonal and surgical gender-transitioning of all the homosexuals in Britain. Linehan, who reportedly had hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, is not the first left-leaning voice to be struck from the website for stating that "men are not women," a phrase now seen by Twitter as hateful toward transgender-identified people. In November 2018, Canadian feminist journalist Meghan Murphy was permanently booted from Twitter after she referred to Jessica Yaniv a male trans activist who infamously alleged that several aestheticians discriminated against him for declining to wax his genitals as "him." The aestheticians, some of whom worked out of their homes and were ethnic and religious minorities, reportedly told Yaniv they were not trained to wax male genitals and did not offer such services. Murphy had previously tweeted "men aren't women tho" exactly as Linehan had. Murphy has not been allowed back on the platform and even filed a lawsuit against the company. Twitter's ban of Murphy occurred before the social media company revised its user rules, which forbade "misgendering" as part of its hateful conduct policy that could warrant suspension. The new user rules policy was applied to Murphy retroactively. In 2018, Linehan received a warning from West Yorkshire police after a Twitter scuffle with the transgender activist Stephanie Hayden, where Hayden accused him of dead-naming referring to a transgender-identifying person by the name they used before undergoing gender transition. STRATFORD A New York resident faces federal charges after he allegedly made anti-Semitic death threats to a Stratford resident, according to authorities. Christopher Rascoll, 48, of Blauvelt, N.Y., was arrested in New York City on June 26, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham. Rascoll appeared Monday before a federal judge in Bridgeport and was ordered detained. The federal criminal complaint alleges that on Dec. 23, 2019, during Hanukkah, Rascoll started to send the victim, who authorities said is Jewish, threatening text messages. In several of the messages, which continued through May, officials said, Rascoll threatened to murder or seriously injure the victim. He also threatened to blow up the victims house and car. Authorities said some of Rascolls threatening text messages contained anti-Semitic references to the Holocaust. When the messages began on Dec. 23, 2019, authorities said, Rascoll made a reference to a gas chamber. On April 8, Rascoll wrote, Im going to kill you, to the victim, officials said. Rascoll was charged with interference with the right to fair housing and two counts of threatening communications. The former, a hate crime, carries a maximum term of 10 years in federal prison and the latter offenses carries a maximum term of five years in prison on each count. The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with help from local police in Stratford. FORT HARRISON, MT One hundred and sixty-seven Montana Army and Air National Guard members are currently assisting the state in the COVID-19 fight. Approximately 63 Soldiers and Airmen have assisted County, State and Tribal health officials in the administration of over 10,000 COVID-19 tests to Montanans throughout the state. The National Guard team consists of three Regional Response Forces (RRFs) staged in Kalispell, Helena and Billings, The RRFs have assisted in conducting drive-through COVID-19 tests in eleven locations thus far. Those locations include the Fort Belknap Reservation, Crow Agency, Little Shell Tribe, Rocky Boy Reservation, Fort Peck Reservation, Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Park, Custer and Mineral counties along with the Pureview Medical Center in Helena. The RRF teams will support additional mobile test sites scheduled in Roosevelt and Valley counties along with the Blackfeet and Rocky Boy reservations and Pureview Medical Center in the coming weeks. Montana National Guard men and women are assisting the tribal and county health officials at these locations with setup, traffic control, site tear-down and logistics associated with the testing to include the transportation of tests to the Montana State Laboratory in Helena. The mobile test sites are supporting Governor Bullocks initiative to re-open Montana and assist health officials determine where the virus might be located or clustered, said Major General Matthew Quinn, the Adjutant General and Montana Coronavirus Task Force Leader. The men and women of the Montana National Guard are doing their part every day to continue the fight against COVID-19 in the state. In addition, 68 Soldiers and Airmen continue to support the voluntary screening at airports and trains stations across Montana. To date, they have conducted over 66,000 tests at 17 separate airports, privately owned air terminals and train stations across the state. Thirteen Soldiers are stationed at the Department of Public Health and Humans Services state warehouse in Helena. The Soldiers are receiving and packaging needed medical equipment, assembling COVID-19 test kits and transporting medical equipment and supplies across Montana. The remaining Soldiers and Airmen are liaison officers and planners tasked to assist the state COVID-19 response. The government has agreed to establish a trade and agriculture commission to help inform post-Brexit trade policy, Liz Truss has said. The international trade secretary announced the news on Monday (29 June) following 'positive discussions' with UK farming unions. She said the commission would make recommendations for agricultural trade policy, higher animal welfare standards and export opportunities for farmers. Farm leaders have frequently called on government to back up its assurances on upholding British farming by creating a trade commission. The NFU said the body would ensure that any future trade policy does not undermine farmers' high environmental and welfare standards. The group, which could be made up of government officials, industry representatives, civil society groups and experts in food and farming, would make recommendations on the UKs future food trade policy. After positive discussions with @NFUtweets @NFUStweets @NFUCymru @UFUHQ we are establishing a new Trade and Agriculture Commission to make recommendations for: ?? UK agricultural trade policy ?? higher animal welfare standards across the?? ?? export opportunities for ???? farming?? pic.twitter.com/bItAngi3sQ Liz Truss (@trussliz) June 29, 2020 NFU president Minette Batters said the announcement was a 'hugely important' development for the industry, something which the union 'first called for 18 months ago'. We look forward to working with government and other stakeholders in the days ahead on the commissions terms of reference, to ensure that its work is genuinely valuable. "In particular, it will be vital that parliament is able to properly consider the commissions recommendations and can ensure government implements them effectively," she said. The CBI, which represents 190,000 British businesses of all types, said earlier this year that it supported a trade standards commission. The group's director general Dame Fairbairn said that without one the UK would 'not get the right kind of deals'. Standards in trade sounds like a techy thing, but they encapsulate who we are as a country. We are just beginning to realise that we need an evidence-based conversation about the kind of place we want to be. "Thats why we are saying to government, create that proper framework for debate and discussion. "When the NFU talks about the need for an expert commission, the CBI absolutely supports the principle behind that, she said. It follows concerns that the British farming industry could be sacrificed in order to make a quick post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the US. Both Trump's administration and the US food industry have been clear that they expect existing regulatory barriers relating to standards of production to be removed. Rural businesses have been encouraged to apply for a new start-up grant that will support up to 2,000 firms in Wales with 2,500 each. The grant will provide funding to people who established their businesses between 1 April 2019 and 1 March 2020. The grant has been designed to help businesses throughout Wales to continue trading through the Covid-19 pandemic. The fund will be worth 5 million initially, the Welsh government said. Applications opened on Monday (29 June). To be eligible for the grant, businesses must have not received funding from the Welsh governments Economic Resilience Fund or the non-domestic rates grant. Firms must also have less than 50,000 turnover and have experienced a drop in turnover of more than 50% between April and June 2020. Applicants will need to submit a two-page application form and self-declaration supported by evidence, the Welsh government said. The grant will be administered by local authorities and businesses can check their eligibility by visiting the Business Wales website. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of trying to steal quad bikes from a rural North Yorkshire farm and told to stay out of the county. A vigilant farmer spotted suspicious activity on his land yesterday morning (Monday 29 June). He followed the two suspects into nearby fields, while another family member called the police just before 7.20am. Officers, including a police dog, attended immediately, arriving within 15 minutes and arrested two Hartlepool men, aged 24 and 17. The 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and burglary. Gloves, a spanner and a knife were seized from the 17-year-old suspect. He was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, burglary, going equipped for theft and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. On examining the scene a farm north of Northallerton it was established that a secure garage had been broken into, and tools and two quad bikes removed. The quad bikes, both Honda vehicles with unique agricultural attachments, were located nearby. Unfortunately they had been damaged, and may cost hundreds of pounds to repair, North Yorkshire Police said. Both suspects were taken into custody and interviewed. They were released on bail while police enquiries continue. Both have been given bail conditions not to enter North Yorkshire for any reason, other than answering bail. Inspector Matt Hagen, of North Yorkshire Polices Rural Taskforce, said: Quite apart from its monetary value, the loss of a quad can have a significant impact on a farm particularly in these difficult times, when farmers really cannot afford any further disruption. Police patrols in rural areas have not stopped, so if you see or hear anything suspicious, dont hesitate to call us." It comes amid an increase in Scottish farmers using tracking security devices on farm machinery to stamp out rural thefts. Last year, trackers helped the Police Scotland recover stolen tractors and quad bikes worth 893,000. How can I better secure machinery? Rural insurer NFU Mutual has provided tips for farmers to secure farm vehicles: Remove keys from tractors, quads and loaders when they are not in use and keep them locked in a secure building. Keep your machine locked up and out of sight. Thieves often stake out a farm before they raid, so where possible store machinery in a locked building or where it cant be seen from the road Use the CESAR marking and registration system. Markings make your property less attractive to criminals and can help recover your belongings if they are stolen Install immobilisers and trackers on tractors, loaders and quads. Thieves cant take what they cant start and wont want to be found if they make off with your property Know what you own. Take pictures of your vehicle and record serial numbers Join a local rural watch group linked to SPARC and report any sightings of suspicious activity The UKs first national organic egg brand now has an 11% share of the total organic egg sector after its introduction in retailers in September 2018. Purely Organic's growth is being driven by people striving for healthier lifestyles and paying more attention to the provenance of their food. Eggs are collected from a collection of six farms where the hens are free to forage amongst fruit trees and wildflowers, and all feed is sourced from their own singular organic mill ensuring full traceability. Demand for Purely Organic is soaring and not just because of the demand for eggs that the Covid-19 pandemic has created, according to Graham Atkinson, agriculture director at Noble Foods. He said people wanted the 'reassurance that a trusted brand can offer': "They appreciate the dedication and commitment that organic farmers put into the care of their birds. We are always looking for ways to give back to the environment, meaning our eggs are good for the consumer, good for farms, and good for hens," he said. Purely Organic is the first brand in the UK to display the Climate Partner logo: "This means the pulp packaging is carbon neutral and that the production of the boxes will offset the emissions generated by production processes and transport." Mr Atkinson said Noble Foods is now on the search for producers who share the 'philosophy of building a strong, sustainable business that puts the environment and animal welfare at the heart of their operations'. "We want like-minded individuals who take pride in producing products to the highest standards and I would encourage anyone who is interested in organic egg farming to contact me on my personal email address graham.atkinson@noblefoods.co.uk, he said. David Tromans of Towcester Farm, one of the brands six farms that produce the Purely Organic range, spoke to FarmingUK on his observations of organic farming and working with Noble Foods. Eggs are collected from a collection of six farms where the hens are free to forage amongst fruit trees and wildflowers What size farm do you have? The farm is 28 acres in total and is heavily wooded. We have four laying sheds with 3,000 birds in each. We operate a multi-age site where the flocks are 20 weeks apart in age. It includes one trial shed with 930 birds. We also do on farm rearing from a day old to 16 weeks and have capacity for up to 6,000 birds. What breed do you work with at Towcester farm? All our hens are Lohman Brown Classics we achieve yields of approximately 325 eggs per bird over an average of 76 weeks. How long has the farm been in production and have you always been organic? Towcester Farm is one of the original free range farms in the UK and we started producing for Sainsburys in the early 80s. Purely Organic is the first brand in the UK to display the Climate Partner logo The business was built by the pioneering free range work of D Mears Ltd, who worked in partnership with Deans Farm Eggs, acting as the national packing and distribution centre for all free range eggs produced and packed for the business a grand total of 3,000 cases per week at the time. The farm was acquired by Deans Foods in 1992 and the packing operations were transferred to their national packing centres as volumes for free range continued to grow. That same year, Jill and I purchased the house and some land from the Deans. The buildings and flock management remained under the control of Deans Foods. Units were upgraded over the years to meet the evolving free range standards, converting to organic in the late 90s as demand for organic started to grow and the unit size was more appropriate for the rapidly emerging organic market. The operation was used as a showcase trial unit for various retailers including M&S, Waitrose and Sainsburys. Feed is sourced from Purely Organic's own singular organic mill ensuring full traceability When I retired from Noble Foods in 2008, we took total ownership of the farm. Trading under the name of Linden Barn Ltd, the unit has continued to develop its environmental heritage with the addition of solar panels, fruit trees, wildlife refuges, extensive wildflower paddocks and ever more trees. How did the relationship with Noble Foods start and what have been some of the benefits of working together? Working with Noble Foods has been an evolution. We found that the technical support has been good, especially in the face of increasingly in-depth audits from RSPCA Assured/BEIC and the Organic Food Federation. Egg collection and gradings are consistent and any issues we may find are promptly and fairly resolved. Payments are prompt, accurate and reliable, giving Jill and I that sleep at night factor so needed in these challenging times. Feed is supplied by Noble Foods nearby Finmere Mill and the ration quality is consistent. We have never experienced any nutritional problems, despite organic regulations being limiting in their compositions. Why would you recommend organic farming to others? I started organic farming by default, living on a site that was already converted. The lower stocking density (6 birds/m2), 3,000 bird flock size, no beak trimming, achieving good feather cover and continual reduction in treatments allowed in organic regulation for red mite, worms in addition to nutritional limitations have all presented their own challenges. It has been an interesting and rewarding journey that that has enabled me to enjoy living in an environmentally rich environment with abundant wildlife, birds, bees, bats and latterly greater crested newts. The farm is ably managed by farm manager Piotr and support by three other part time staff; Rachel, Linda and Darya. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. NEW YORK, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Consulate General in New York donated 5,000 facial masks to a local primary school on Monday, providing help to students there in the ongoing fight against COVID-19. "As a diplomat living in New York, I feel this is my privilege and also an obligation to join hands with everybody here to fight this pandemic, shoulder by shoulder," said Chinese Consul General in New York Huang Ping at a virtual handover ceremony. The masks, sponsored by the Bethune Charitable Foundation in China, were donated to the Jermaine L. Green STEM Institute of Queens, a primary school with some 500 students, many of whom are from minority groups. Huang expressed the hope that with the masks, the children could be better equipped during the challenging times. Many countries, including the United States, extended a helping hand to China when China was in a tough battle against COVID-19 earlier this year, Huang said. "The grace of dripping water shall be reciprocated by a gushing spring," he said. "As we are now in a better position, we should return the kindness." The consul general urged China and the United States to lead the efforts against COVID-19, which would benefit not only the two peoples but the whole world. "By working together, we can win this war for sure." He also thanked New York State Senator James Sanders Jr. for facilitating the donation, and extended an invitation to the school's students and teachers to go to China and establish friendships with the Chinese people. Senator Sanders and representatives of the school, who also joined the virtual meeting, thanked Huang and the Consulate General for their generous support to secure the safety of students. Tammy Pate, the community superintendent of District 28 in Queens where the school is located, said the donation "means more than we can express." "You are mindful of us, and you are really thinking what is best for us," she said. "We thank you. We thank you. We thank you." Minneapolis seeks over $55 million in aid to restore city ravaged by riots Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city is expected to need well over $55 million in state and federal aid to rebuild hundreds of structures damaged or destroyed during several nights of violent riots sparked by the officer-involved death of George Floyd. The city's Community Planning & Economic Development department has estimated that at least 220 buildings were damaged, resulting in a minimum of $55 million in costs, but that initial estimate is expected to rise significantly, according to the Star Tribune. The city is "not yet ready to produce a credible estimate" of the losses, City Council members said Tuesday. "We will do everything we can as we shift to recovery mode," Frey was quoted as saying. "We're recovering from crises sandwiched on top of each other, from COVID-19 to the police killing and then the looting which took place afterward." The mayor also said he expects the full cost of the damage to be "tens, if not hundreds of millions" of dollars in the Twin Cities. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has spoken to U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum, who represent the Twin Cities, about the need for aid. "To be realistic, the odds of that happening are, at best, very difficult," McCollum said, according to National Review. "If it is demonstrated [that] outside provocateurs committed acts of destruction then there is a clear rationale for an emergency declaration by President Trump." Walz and the Twin Cities' mayors said last week that despite their initial beliefs that the majority of people looting and burning buildings came from out-of-state, in reality, 86% of people arrested last weekend alone lived in Minneapolis or the metro area, according to data taken from the Hennepin County Jail's roster that was first reported by news station KARE 11. Minneapolis, looking like the aftermath of a war. pic.twitter.com/eEiF6gkJdL Mark Higgie (@MarkHiggie1) June 6, 2020 Earlier this week, the FBI began asking for the public's assistance in identifying "violent instigators" who vandalized and torched buildings. "We are committed to apprehending and charging violent instigators who are exploiting legitimate peaceful protests and engaging in violations of federal law," the FBI statement said in part, on Twitter. "To help us identify actors who are actively instigating violence in the wake of George Floyd's death, the FBI is accepting tips and digital media depicting violent encounters surrounding the civil unrest that is happening throughout the country," the agency added in a statement online, asking people to submit "photos, or videos that could be relevant to the case." Please send videos and photos of violent acts during last week's protests in the Twin Cities to https://t.co/FbTjuH3n1Q. pic.twitter.com/0kgxv0dCI6 FBI Minneapolis (@FBIMinneapolis) June 4, 2020 Rioting started two days after Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25 while he was lying on the ground, handcuffed and restrained by three officers in Minneapolis. Several cellphone videos and police body cameras captured various aspects of the incident. One bystander cellphone video taken at the scene shows former police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for several minutes as two other officers hold on to his torso and legs. According to details listed chronologically in the criminal complaint against Chauvin, Floyd had refused to get into the police squad car, "stiffened up, fell to the ground, and told the officers he was claustrophobic." Floyd, who had moved to Minnesota to start a new life following several incarcerations and a felony conviction for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in Texas, was arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at Cup Foods convenience store to purchase cigarettes. The clerk had called 911 to report the crime and said Floyd was intoxicated. On Wednesday, prosecutors upgraded charges against Chauvin to second-degree murder. Three other officers Thomas Lane, J.A. Kueng, and Tou Thoa have been charged with aiding and abetting in Floyd's death. All four officers were fired from the department days after the incident. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office on Monday ruled Floyd's manner of death was a homicide and stated that he suffered "a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)." It also listed "arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease," "fentanyl intoxication" and "recent methamphetamine use" as "other significant conditions." Protests spread to several other cities, including Memphis, Los Angeles, San Jose, Louisville, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Detroit, Portland, New York City, and Washington, D.C., among others. While some demonstrators have remained peaceful, others have resorted to violence. On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence joined Bishop Harry Jackson for a listening session with community and faith leaders, where he said the church is the right place to address the nation's response to the death of George Floyd and the protests over racism that followed. "I couldn't help but feel that as our nation reels from the tragic death of George Floyd, that a place to start a conversation is a place of worship," Pence said at the listening session held at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, where Jackson is a senior pastor. "It's the wellspring of our nation's strength," Pence continued, speaking to a select group of black and minority leaders representing churches, businesses, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations. "It's been the wellspring of our national unity and our steady march toward a more perfect union." We havent received those guidelines for student athletes. We just dont know yet, he said. He is unsure however, what the season will look like. Everyone has been asking me, What about fall sports? Superintendent of Schools David Jeck said at Mondays school board meeting that school sports teams would be able to begin conditioning practices on July 6, with strict rules for social distancing. The biggest need is internet connectivity When Fauquier County parents were asked about barriers to remote learning, some said their children didnt have devices computers or tablets. But the overwhelming need, said Superintendent of Schools David Jeck, is for internet access. Because of COVID-19 related funds that the school division will receive from the county, Jeck believes hell be able to provide devices to any child who needs one. But, Twenty percent of our county does not have reliable internet service, said Jeck. The school division is boosting the signal at schools so students can access the internet from the parking lots, and the five hotspots currently on school buses will be relocated for student use as well. Jeck added that he is acquiring more mobile hotspots too, but connectivity is the overwhelming problem. Recognized by UNESCO as World City of Gastronomy, Hatay in Southeast Turkey is known for its rich, delicious cuisine that acknowledges a multicultural identity inherited from its location on the ancient Silk Road. Mozaik Bahce, specializing in Hatay cuisine, is a firm favourite in Fethiye with both residents and holidaymakers. Located in the centre of Fethiye, Moziak Bahce combines a mouthwatering array of delicious dining options with a unique ambience set amongst shady trees and canopies. Add to that a warm welcome from owners Huseyin and Deren Karasu and the Mozaik Bahce team and youre in for a culinary delight. Click here to read more about Moziak Bahce Will eating out ever be the same again? Along with restaurants all around the world, Mozaik Bahce had to close its doors due to the novel coronavirus. As the measures are eased, those same restaurants are starting to reopen with some differences to pre-coronavirus dining. Mozaik Bahce has reviewed how they will serve their customers, taking into consideration and implementing the new measures, and they re- opened on 10 June. What changes can you expect to see at Mozaik Bahce? Tables and chairs have been moved around to accommodate social distancing regulations they have to be 1.5m apart. This meant losing five tables. The kosk area is not currently in use. In the past, food safety has been the prime concern for restaurants but now they also need a robust sanitation program in place. Tables and chairs are disinfected when guests leave and before the next guests are seated. Cleaning and disinfecting is carried out in all areas daily and professional cleaning and disinfecting is carried out twice weekly. This also includes insect control for mosquitos. Its worth noting that the twice-weekly professional treatment is the restaurants normal routine. All guests have their temperatures taken before entering the restaurant. Anyone with a temperature of 38 degrees or over cannot enter the restaurant and is advised to seek medical advice. Staff temperatures are also checked as they arrive for work. There is a hand sanitizer station at the entrance to the restaurant and cologne is available on all tables. Guests MUST sanitise their hands on arrival and it is recommended that hands are sanitised at regular intervals. Guests MUST wear a mask. Masks can be removed whilst guests are eating and drinking but MUST be worn when leaving the table and moving around the restaurant. Staff MUST wear masks at all times and wash their hands regularly. In the kitchen there was already a rigorous program for cleaning and disinfecting to comply with food safety regulations. In addition, members of the kitchen team now wear masks and gloves. Everything is recorded in daily logs to demonstrate due diligence. Coronavirus information signage is displayed in prominent places. Huseyin has even added a touch to the wash basin in the toilet and the tap is now operated by foot pedal so guests dont have to touch it. There is a hand sanitizer station inside the restaurant by the toilets and an electronic air freshener. What else is new ? The indoor area has been decorated and has a bright, fresh new look. Takeout and delivery Take out and delivery have become the new norm during the restaurant closure and Mozaik Bahce continue to offer this service. The menu is available on Facebook or Instagram. Please click on the links below. facebook.com/mozaikbahce instagram.com/mozaikbahce To place an order please call +90 552 714 4653 or +90 252 614 4653 Marina Service Mozaik Bahce also offer a Marina delivery service so those enjoying a yacht holiday can dine on delicacies from Hatay. To place an order please call +90 552 714 4653 or +90 252 614 4653 What hasnt changed? Although these changes will feel unfamiliar and a bit strange, you can be reassured that some things that havent changed. The warmth of the welcome you will receive from Huseyin, Deren and the team, the delightful ambience of the restaurant and last but definitely not least, the mouthwateringly delicious food. Icli Kofte Surk Salata Mutebbel What else do you need to know? Mozaik Bahce is open Monday to Saturday 11:00 22:00. Closed on Sunday. To avoid waiting time, guests can now reserve a table by calling +90 552 714 4653 or +90 252 614 4653. Alternatively, you can send a message via Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. Mozaik Bahce is located in the centre of Fethiye, set back from the main road (Ataturk Caddesi) opposite the Fethiye Governors office (Kaymakamlg). Click here for a Google Map. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Montana Supreme Court: No state tax credit program scholarships for religious schools Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Montana Supreme Court has struck down a tax credit program that allowed for the funding of private religious schools. In a decision released Wednesday, the high court ruled 5-2 in Espinoza v. Department of Revenue that the Tax Credit Program, originally approved by the state legislature in 2015, violated the Montana Constitution. In 2015, the Montana Legislature passed Senate Bill 410, which allowed tax credits for donations of up to $150 to either private school scholarships or educational programs in public schools. Montanas Department of Revenue originally barred religious schools from the program, citing Article X, Section 6, which says the state government shall not make any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies, or any grant of lands or other property for any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination. Montana is one of 36 states to have adopted what is commonly called a "Blaine Amendment." Named after nineteenth century Republican Senator James Blaine of Maine, these amendments were originally enacted to prevent Catholic schools from getting government aid. In 2016, a judge issued a preliminary injunction allowing students at religious schools to receive the scholarships, according to the Great Falls Tribune. Justice Laurie McKinnon authored the majority opinion, reversing the lower court decision. Calling the Tax Credit Program "facially unconstitutional," the judge wrote that the state constitution broadly prohibits any type of direct or indirect aid to sectarian religious entities. We conclude that Montanas Constitution more broadly prohibits any state aid to sectarian schools and draws a more stringent line than that drawn by its federal counterpart, wrote McKinnon. The Legislature, by enacting the Tax Credit Program, involved itself in donations to religiously-affiliated private schools The Legislature, by enacting a statute that provides a dollar-for-dollar credit against taxes owed to the state, is the entity providing aid to sectarian schools via tax credits in violation of Article X, Section 6. Justices Beth Baker and Jim Rice dissented from the opinion, with Baker writing that the majority erred by claiming that the state constitution allowed for a broad ban on aid to sectarian schools. There is little dispute that the Tax Credit Programs tax credit does not constitute a direct appropriation or payment. The Department argues instead that the District Court erred by failing to consider the indirect impact, wrote Baker. a theory based upon indirect impacts or indirect effects of the Tax Credit Program diverges from the constitutional text. Unambiguous constitutional language must be given its plain, natural, and ordinary meaning. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which filed an amicus brief in the case with other progressive groups, celebrated the decision. Montana taxpayers should never be forced to fund religious education thats a fundamental violation of religious freedom, said Rachel Laser, CEO and president of Americans United, in a statement released Wednesday. The Montana Supreme Courts decision protects both church-state separation and public education. Its a double win. Kendra Espinoza, one of the plaintiffs in the case, took issue with the Montana high courts decision and has expressed intentions to appeal the ruling. The courts ruling discriminates against religious families and every Montana child who is counting on these scholarships, said Espinoza, as reported by the Great Falls Tribune. For the benefit of families across the state, and the nation, we will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to right this wrong. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2020 / Lucky Minerals Inc. (TSXV:LKY)(OTC PINK:LKMNF)(FRA:LKY) ("Lucky" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news releases of May 15, 2020 and June 8, 2020, that it has completed the second tranche of its private placement (the "Offering") for gross proceeds of $935,490.45. The second tranche closing consisted of 6,236,603 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.15 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Share") and one share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Share at a price of $0.22 exercisable until June 26, 2022. The Company has raised a total of $3,072,200.40 under the two tranches of the Offering. All securities issued in connection with this second tranche closing are subject to a hold period of four months plus a day, expiring on October 27, 2020 in accordance with applicable securities legislation. In connection with the second tranche of the Offering, the Company paid finder's fees consisting of a cash commission of $28,675.60 and 191,170 broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants"). Each Broker Warrant is exercisable into one Unit at $0.15 per Unit until June 26, 2021. The net proceeds of the second tranche of the Offering will be used for exploration on the Company's properties and general working capital. The closing of the Offering is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. About Lucky An exploration and development company targeting large-scale mineral systems in proven districts with the potential to host world class deposits. Lucky owns a 100% interest in the Fortuna and Emigrant Creek Projects. The Company's Fortuna Project is a royalty-free 550km2 (55,000 Ha, or 136,000 Acres) exploration concession. Fortuna is located in a highly prospective, yet underexplored, gold belt in southern Ecuador. The Emigrant Creek Project covers a 15 km2 area in an intensely altered and mineralized porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum system in southern Montana. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Adrian Rothwell" Chief Executive Officer This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Further information on Lucky can be found on the Company's website at www.luckyminerals.com and at www.sedar.com, or by contacting Adrian Rothwell, President and CEO, by email at investors@luckyminerals.com or by telephone at (866) 924 6484. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Adjacent Properties and Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related exploration and development; the ability to raise sufficient capital to fund exploration and development; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in input costs; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological or operational difficulties or inability to obtain permits encountered in connection with exploration activities; and labor relations matters. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the Company's forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations also include risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities law. SOURCE: Lucky Minerals Inc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595683/Lucky-Closes-Second-and-Final-Tranche-of-Non-Brokered-Private-Placement-Units TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2020 / Medical imaging and AI company Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. ("Perimeter" or the "Company") announced that the previously announced reverse take-over of New World Resource Corp. ("New World") by Perimeter Medical Imaging, Inc. ("Pre-Closing Perimeter") via plan of arrangement (the "Plan of Arrangement") has been completed. As a result, Perimeter will be listed as a Tier 2 issuer on the TSX-V. Immediately following closing of the Plan of Arrangement, Perimeter, the resulting issuer following the Plan of Arrangement, closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing (the "Offering") of units ("Units") on an oversubscribed basis for gross proceeds of C$9,995,410. "Perimeter's platform imaging technology allows surgeons in real time to visualize the margins of excised tissue specimens at the time of surgery. With the combination of our high resolution imaging device and proprietary AI technology that is currently under development, the intention is to reduce the necessity of repeat surgeries. Our mission is to improve cancer patient care and reduce healthcare costs," said Dr. Anthony Holler, the Chairman of Perimeter's Board of Directors. This announcement follows the April news that Perimeter received a USD $7.44 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas ("CPRIT"), a leading state body funding cancer research. The grant is intended to allow Perimeter to achieve FDA clearance for the AI-enhanced version of the company's technology, which includes advanced AI for surgical oncology applications such as lumpectomy procedures which are plagued by high second surgery rates. Funded by CPRIT and working together with leading cancer institutions such as MD Anderson and Baylor, Perimeter is further developing its proprietary AI technology with the goal of helping surgeons to intra-operatively assess whether they have been successful in excising all of the cancerous tissue. In other recent news, Perimeter has had significant wins in recruiting two seasoned US Med Tech Executives, Tom Boon (CEO) and Jeremy Sobotta (CFO), to its senior leadership team. Mr. Boon's senior leadership roles in the areas of manufacturing, quality and regulatory, sales and product management will be advantageous to his role at Perimeter. Jeremy Sobotta comes to Perimeter with a diverse background in all areas of finance in the medical devices industry supporting many different geographies and go-to-market models. To date, Mr. Sobotta has been a part of the deployment of over $4 billion in capital over his career in acquisitions. His most recent role was as Head of Finance for the Stryker business unit responsible for surgical equipment and women's health. Transaction Details Under the Plan of Arrangement, former New World securityholders were issued 4,999,995 common shares of Perimeter (each a "Common Share") and 1,712,378 common share purchase warrants ("NW Warrants") having an exercise price of C$1.20 and former Pre-Closing Perimeter securityholders were issued 26,787,392 common shares of Perimeter. This reflects the exchange ratio established under the Plan of Arrangement under which shareholders of Pre- Closing Perimeter received 0.20833 common shares of Perimeter in exchange for each Pre- Closing Perimeter common share held and shareholders of New World received 0.36499 Common Shares in exchange for each New World common share held. Former optionholders and warrantholders of Pre-Closing Perimeter had their options and warrants converted into 5,063,214 options and 3,530,168 warrants of Perimeter based on the same exchange ratio used in the Plan of Arrangement. In the Offering, Perimeter issued 6,893,386 Units at a price of C$1.45 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one (1) Common Share and one-half (1/2) of a common share purchase warrant ("Warrant") with each whole Warrant exercisable into a Common Share at an exercise price of C$2.00 for a period of 18 months from closing, subject to adjustment in certain customary events. The Warrants will be subject to accelerated conversion if the Common Shares trade above a C$3.00 15-day volume-weighted average price on the TSXV at any time following the date that is four months and a day following the closing. The Offering was oversubscribed by approximately C$3.2 million. All securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day which expires on October 30, 2020. In connection with the closing of the Offering, the Company paid finder's fees of C$560,040 in cash and issued 379,468 non-transferable finder's warrants ("Finder's Warrants"). Each Finder's Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $1.45 for a period of 24 months from the date of the closing of the Offering. As a result of the foregoing, Perimeter has an aggregate of 38,680,773 Common Shares 9,068,707 warrants, and 5,063,214 stock options outstanding. Perimeter has received approval from the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") for completion of the Plan of Arrangement and the Offering, subject only to issuance of the final exchange bulletin. The Common Shares are expected to begin trading on the TSX-V under the symbol "PINK" two trading days after issuance of the final exchange bulletin, which is anticipated to result in the commencement of trading on July 6, 2020. Securityholder approval for the Plan of Arrangement was obtained at the annual and special meetings of New World shareholders and Perimeter securityholders held on June 17, 2020. In addition, the requisite final court order from the Supreme Court of British Columbia was obtained in respect of the Plan of Arrangement on June 19, 2020. For additional details on the Plan of Arrangement, please see Perimeter's press releases of June 12, 2020, April 23, 2020, December 4, 2019 and June 4, 2019 and the joint information circular prepared in respect of the securityholder meetings of New World and Pre-Closing Perimeter relating to the Plan of Arrangement, a copy of which is available on Perimeter's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Escrowed Shares In the aggregate, a total of 16,936,530 Common Shares, 467,548 warrants and 1,822,803 stock options are subject to a Tier 2 Value Security Escrow Agreement (or equivalent seed sale resale restrictions) under TSX-V policies, which provides for graduated release of escrowed securities over a 3-year period following the issuance of the final exchange bulletin in respect of the Plan of Arrangement. In addition, the 16,693,527 Common Shares controlled by Roadmap Capital Inc. ("Roadmap") are subject to an 18-month hold period under the terms of the Primary Investor Agreement previously announced in a news release of New World dated June 3, 2019, a copy of which is available on Perimeter's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com . Warrantholder Information Holders of Warrants and NW Warrants should refer to the Warrant Indentures each dated June 29, 2020, which are to be filed on Perimeter's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com as a material contract, for details of the terms and conditions governing the Warrants and NW Warrants. Resulting Change in Corporate Structure Upon closing of the Plan of Arrangement, New World amalgamated with Pre-Closing Perimeter under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) under the name Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. Financial Statements For the first financial year after the closing of the Plan of Arrangement, the periods of the interim financial reports for Perimeter will be the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, and the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, and its first annual financial statements will be for the year ended December 31, 2020. Audited annual financial statements for Pre-Closing Perimeter for the year ended December 31, 2019 and interim financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2020 will be filed on Perimeter's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Change of Auditor Upon closing, KPMG LLP, being Pre-Closing Perimeter's auditor, was appointed as Perimeter's auditor. Insider Participation in the Offering Hugh Cleland, director of Perimeter, and Jeremy Sobotta, Chief Financial Officer of Perimeter, participated in the Offering, thereby making the Offering a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101-Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Mr. Cleland subscribed for 20,000 Units and Mr. Sobotta subscribed for 28,928 Units. Following the closing of the Offering, Mr. Cleland beneficially owns and controls 20,000 Common Shares and 10,000 Warrants, representing less than 0.1% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on an undiluted basis. Mr. Sobotta beneficially owns and controls 28,928 Common Shares and 14,264 Warrants, representing less than 0.1% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on an undiluted basis. Mr. Sobotta also beneficially owns and controls 450,000 previously granted stock options, representing 1.2% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on an undiluted basis. Each Common Share of Perimeter provides the holder with the right to one vote per common share. The Offering was unanimously approved by the directors of Perimeter. Other than the subscription agreements between Mr. Cleland and Mr. Sobotta relating to the issuance of the Units pursuant to the Offering, Perimeter has not entered into any agreement with an interested party or a joint actor with an interested party in connection with the Offering. Neither Perimeter, nor to the knowledge of Perimeter after reasonable inquiry, a related party, has knowledge of any material information concerning Perimeter or its securities that has not been generally disclosed. The Offering was exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as the Offering was a distribution of securities for cash and neither the fair market value of the Shares distributed to, nor the consideration received from, interested parties exceeded $2,500,000. The material change report in connection with the Offering was not filed 21 days in advance of the closing of the Offering for the purposes of Section 5.2(2) of MI 61-101 on the basis that the subscriptions under the Offering were not available to Perimeter until shortly before the closing. Early Warning Disclosure as a result of Completion of the Plan of Arrangement Roadmap acquired control over 16,693,527 Common Shares as part of the Plan of Arrangement, through the issuance of 125,453 Common Shares to Roadmap and 16,568,074 Common Shares to certain investment funds managed by Roadmap (namely, Roadmap Perimeter LP II (U.S. and Offshore); Roadmap Perimeter LP II; Roadmap Innovation Fund II; Roadmap Perimeter LP (US and Offshore), Roadmap Perimeter LP and Roadmap Innovation Fund I, and collectively, the "Roadmap Funds"), all of which were issued in exchange for the common shares and/or convertible debentures held in Pre-Closing Perimeter prior to completion of the Plan of Arrangement. In addition, Roadmap has beneficial ownership of, and control over, 467,548 warrants to purchase Common Shares. On a non-diluted basis, Roadmap exercises control over 16,693,527 (43.1%) of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. On a partially- diluted basis, assuming exercise of the warrants held by Roadmap, Roadmap exercises control over 17,161,075 (43.8%) of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. As noted above, the Common Shares held by Roadmap and the Roadmap Funds are subject to an 18-month hold period under the terms of the Primary Investor Agreement previously announced in a news release of New World dated June 3, 2019, a copy of which is available on Perimeter's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, in addition to a Tier 2 value security escrow agreement under TSX-V policies. Roadmap and the Roadmap Funds originally acquired the common shares, warrants and/or convertible debentures they held in Pre-Closing Perimeter for investment purposes. The foregoing disclosure is being disseminated pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting. A copy of the report to be filed with Canadian securities regulators in connection with the acquisition of these securities will be available on Perimeter's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and a copy may be obtained by contacting Perimeter as noted under "Contact" below. About Perimeter Perimeter is a Toronto-based company with U.S. Headquarters in Dallas, Texas that is developing, with plans to commercialize, advanced imaging tools that allow surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists to visualize microscopic tissue structures during a clinical procedure. Perimeter's OTIS platform is an FDA-cleared point-of-care imaging system that provides clinicians with real-time, ultra-high-resolution, sub-surface image volumes of the margin (1-2 mm below the surface) of an excised tissue specimen. The ability to visualize microscopic tissue structures during a clinical procedure in addition to standard of care tissue assessment by sight or physical inspection for decision making during the procedure has the potential to result in better long-term outcomes for patients and lower costs to the healthcare system. In addition, Perimeter is developing advanced artificial intelligence/machine learning image assessment tools intended to increase the efficiency of review. CONTACT Co-founder - Andrew Berkeley +1 416-846-0042 aberkeley@perimetermed.com Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. 1 Yonge Street, Suite 201 Toronto Ontario M5E 1E6 This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. 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. This news release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information may include, among others, statements regarding the future plans, costs, objectives or performance of Perimeter, or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this news release, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate" and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or management's good-faith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond Perimeter's control. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described the joint information circular prepared in respect of the shareholder meetings approving the Plan of Arrangement a copy of which is available on Perimeter's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward- looking statements. In particular, we note the risk that the TSX-V may not issue the final exchange bulletin in time to permit Perimeter's common shares to commence trading on the TSX-V on the timeline stated above, and that our technology may not achieve the anticipated benefits in terms of surgical outcomes. Perimeter does not intend, nor does Perimeter undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws. SOURCE: Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595690/Perimeter-Medical-Imaging-AI-Inc-Announces-Stock-Exchange-Listing-TSXV-PINK-Closing-of-Oversubscribed-C10m-Private-Placement-Financing-Completion-of-Plan-of-Arrangement-with-New-World Release the beast Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In 2013, The Purge was released, which was the first in a series of dystopian action horror movies that also spawned a TV series on the cable USA Network. The primary premise of the franchise is that America was in a near-state of collapse economically and morally until a set of politicians established a new annual national holiday where all crimes, including murder, are legal for a 12-hour period. The thought was, if people were allowed to "purge" themselves once a year of all the evil and hatred that they kept bottled up inside them, society would happily live together and thrive for the remainder of the year. The slogan used that encouraged everyone to participate in the annual event was, Release the beast. The recent violence and lawlessness that has accompanied the worldwide protests over the George Floyd incident have caused some to comment that society now resembles the movies storyline (minus the legality of murder). With intense criticism coming down on the police, the presence of law enforcement has been restricted by some politicians in numerous locations, leading to widespread crime. What used to be a soft stance toward crime by various political and media groups has changed to be one of literally encouraging it. Outside the desire for racial equality, from a Christian perspective, I believe there are at least three underlining and driving factors fueling the violent upheavals occurring in America. Ill tackle them in reverse order, from the least concerning to the most, although in my opinion all are contributing to a downward slide for the country. The misappropriation of language God reveals Himself to us in multiple ways, with one of those ways being the written word. This implies that language contains within it a way of communicating objective reality. Opposing that is Conventionalism, which is a philosophy that says our fundamental principles of life are grounded on agreements in society, rather than on external reality. Part of conventionalism is linguistic relativism, something pioneered by Swiss linguist Ferdinand Saussure that says words have no objective meaning. In short this means that we all may use the same vocabulary, but a radically different dictionary when it comes to understanding words and things in general. For example, the terms "graffiti" and "vandalism" are generally understood in their meaning, context and application. However, during the recent turmoil that has gripped the country, those words have been jettisoned and in their place is something referred to as protest art. Seattle mayor Jenny Durkin, in describing the occupation of a section of downtown Seattle by protesters, some of whom are armed and denying entry to people, has called the scene a block party. Another misappropriation of language is semantic overload where a term or phrase is hijacked to mean more than one thing. For example, everyone agrees that blacks lives matter, but some say that unless you support the Black Lives Matter movement and their agenda[1], then black lives really dont matter to you. A misunderstanding of human nature One of the protesters residing within the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ or CHOD) in Seattle told a Wall Street Journal Reporter, If there is no police, there is no problem. Such a view is not only breathtakingly ignorant of humanitys history, it fundamentally misunderstands human nature at its core. Christianity teaches, and life confirms, that human beings are born sinners and depraved. By nature, we call evil good and good evil and prefer darkness to Gods light (Is. 5:20). The Bible tells us that any attempt on our part to say otherwise is an exercise in self-deception (1 John 1:8). We naturally recoil at the thought of being "depraved," but Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor, reminds us that even the most sophisticated individuals possess the innate ability for evil when he says, The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment, or as the Nazi liked to say "of blood and soil." I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz were ultimately prepared not in some ministry of defense in Berlin, but rather at the desks and lecture halls of Nihilistic scientists and philosophers. The misinterpretation of Gods constraints John MacArthur addressed the unrest in America in a recent sermon and reminded his listeners that God has given us four constraints that are put in place for our good and well-being, but all of which are currently under attack. MacArthur says that each persons conscious is the first and personal constraint that acts to govern our behavior. However, the Bible tells us that our conscience can become seared (1 Tim. 4:2) and disabled by lies, which then allows our depraved nature to take charge. The family is the second and parental constraint where children are commanded to be brought up in the instruction of the Lord. History has shown that when the laws of a home are allowed to be ignored and broken, those who leave that home are destined to negatively encounter the laws of the state. Government and law enforcement are the third and societal constraint. Those who say that they can disobey laws today because they only answer to God overlook the fact that the Bible calls those in authority (e.g. the police) a minister of God to you for good (Rom. 13:4). They also fail to recognize that the police arent the ones who created the failed urban policies that have locked people into generations of poverty, failing schools, fatherless homes, bad lifestyle choices, and deep lack of respect for authority. The last is the Church, which acts as a spiritual constraint. However, few need to be reminded that the Church in America has been aggressively evicted as a source of personal or cultural leadership where behavior is concerned, even though the Bible says, By the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil (Prov. 16:6). Sadly, society has devolved to the point where they see each of Gods constraints in a negative sense and view them as uncomfortably restrictive so they do what is right in their own eyes (Judges 17:6). However, the Bible tells us the opposite is true that God's laws are intended for our pleasure and safety. While Scripture compares living in sin to being imprisoned, David says, "To all perfection there is a limit, but the laws of the Lord are boundless" (Ps. 119: 96). Resisting the purge When you misappropriate speech so you lose the objectivity of language and mislabel reality, misunderstand human nature and believe humanity needs no policing, and misinterpret as bad the constraints God has given humankind to maintain well-being and order, a societal chaos results that manifests in the ultimate but negative kind of freedom: anarchy. The beast has indeed been released. Ironically, because this process is so emotional it ends up producing restrictions on freedom. Its a fact that when people cant control their own emotions, they start trying to control other peoples freedom. The nihilistic philosopher Frederick Nietzsche warned that a universal madness was destined to break out because God had bled out under humanitys knives. However, contrary to the German philosophers belief, Im thankful God is not dead and believe His power alone is whats able to transform the beating heart of a society like ours thats currently experiencing deadly and frightening arrhythmias into one that is healthy and good. [1] The BLM movement agenda includes, among other things, a rejection of the conventional family, a neo-Marxist economic policy, and anti-Christian policies on gender, sex, abortion, etc. The event tickets market is expected to grow by USD 39.87 billion during 2020-2024. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect the impact to be significant in the first quarter but gradually lessen in subsequent quarters with a limited impact on the full-year economic growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005612/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Event Tickets Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Request challenges and opportunities influenced by COVID-19 pandemic Request a free sample report of event tickets market The introduction of 4G and 5G technologies have enabled end-users to access high-speed internet. This is changing consumer preferences and has also propelled the adoption of mobile apps for ticket booking. Some of the popular ticketing apps such as Eventbrite, Ticketbud, Paytm, and Eventbee have registered over a million downloads in various application stores. These apps help users to create, promote, and sell tickets for various events. Also, many ticketing service providers are developing and launching their mobile apps to enable their customers to easily login from any place to make bookings online. Many such factors are fueling the growth of the global event tickets market. 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=IRTNTR40993 As per Technavio, the high utilization of social media will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Event Tickets Market: High Utilization of Social Media Players in the market are increasing the use of social media tools for branding, marketing, broad-based knowledge management initiatives, and ticket selling. Networking platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter help event organizers to explore new ways of marketing their events and movies and gain public feedback and opinions. This helps vendors to target their audiences with customized offers. Also, many ticket vendors are partnering with social media platforms to promote their business. For instance, SeatGeek Inc. (SeatGeek) signed up as a distribution partner with Facebook Inc. This allowed the company's customers to buy tickets directly through Facebook. This ongoing trend is expected to have a positive impact on the growth of the global event tickets market during the forecast period. "Integration of analytics with online ticket platforms and the increasing popularity of e-sports tournaments will further boost market growth during the forecast period", says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Event Tickets Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the event tickets market by sources (primary and secondary), event types (sporting events, concerts, Performing arts, and Others), and Geographic Landscape (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). The North America region led the event tickets market in 2019, followed by Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America respectively. During the forecast period, North America is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the increasing demand for live performances and concerts in the region. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005612/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/ On June 30, 2020, Panasonic Corporation announced that it has received the highest accolade as Best of Best in the Brand Design category at the Automotive Brand Contest 2020, which is organized by German Design Council (Rat fur Formgebung). The award was given in recognition of the concept and design of the Panasonic Automotive business brand. The official award ceremony is planned to take place in autumn 2020. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005891/en/ Panasonic Automotive's brand design that received the highest award of brand design at the Automotive Brand Contest 2020 (Graphic: Business Wire) The Automotive Brand Contest is the only international design competition for automotive brands. The German Design Council, founded in 1953, also runs internationally renowned design awards, such as the German Design Award and the ICONIC Awards. The Automotive Brand Contest covers all creative aspects in the automotive industry across the world from vehicle design to corporate publishing. This year's winners also include global brands, such as Audi, BMW, Buick, Byton, Continental, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen. Panasonic is the first Japanese automotive supplier to be awarded Best of Best in the contest's history which started in 2011. In praise of Panasonic Automotive's brand design, the contest jury said, "The consistent appearance in light blue and green unobtrusively underscores the clear positioning of the Panasonic Automotive brand, where it transitions from a vision into reality, from innovation to automotive solutions, thus becoming convincingly tangible." The development of the brand's concept and design was initiated in Europe from the spring of 2017. The process adopted a collaborative approach with clients. Brand concept and design was developed through basing on clients' image and expectation on Panasonic. Additionally, several options were reviewed by clients as well as automotive media persons before making the final decision. Panasonic Automotive's brand concept and design is adopted not only in Europe but also globally, including China and Japan. It was first presented at its booth at the Shanghai Motor Show in April 2019. Panasonic continues to strive to enhance the recognition and understandings of its automotive business through the Panasonic Automotive brand and increase the brand value of the company. About Panasonic Panasonic Corporation is a global leader developing innovative technologies and solutions for wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B sectors. The company, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018, operates 528 subsidiaries and 72 associated companies worldwide and reported consolidated net sales of 7.49 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2020. Committed to pursuing new value through collaborative innovation, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for customers. Learn more about Panasonic: https://www.panasonic.com/global. Source: https://news.panasonic.com/global/topics/2020/79235.html Related Links Automotive Company, Panasonic Corporation https://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/am.html Panasonic Business Brands https://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/brand/our-brand/business_brand.html Automotive Brand Contest 2020 https://www.automotive-brand-contest.de/en.html [Press Release] Toyota and Panasonic Decide to Establish Joint Venture Specializing in Automotive Prismatic Batteries (Feb 3, 2020) https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2020/02/en200203-4/en200203-4.html [Press Release] Panasonic Develops a Driverless Automated Valet Parking System and a Large Screen AR-HUD (Oct 11, 2019) https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2019/10/en191011-2/en191011-2.html [Press Release] Panasonic to Showcase Booth at 26th ITS World Congress Singapore 2019 (Oct 10, 2019) https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2019/10/en191010-3/en191010-3.html View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005891/en/ Contacts: Panasonic Corporation Global Communications Department Global PR Office Click here to go to Media Contact form TOKYO, June 30, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu today announced the expansion of its storage portfolio with four new series of the Fujitsu Storage ETERNUS, that leverage NetApp's advanced data management software. This launch represents the next step of Fujitsu's strategic partnership with NetApp in offering a data management infrastructure that supports digital transformation.About the strategic initiativeThe expanded global partnership between Fujitsu and NetApp delivers new enhancements to Fujitsu's storage portfolio. Strengthening its ETERNUS storage product portfolio based on NetApp technology, Fujitsu, as part of its efforts to deliver a data management infrastructure, is introducing new entry and midrange models: ETERNUS AB, ETERNUS HB, ETERNUS AX and ETERNUS HX(1). The new products will help customers leverage data faster with lower operational management costs.ETERNUS AB and ETERNUS HB series are perfect for databases used in customers' mission-critical systems and for advanced scientific computing systems used in HPC. These series realizes the High-Speed Data Processing(2) that maximizes the performance of Solid-State Drives(3), and High-Volume Data Communication(4) with servers by supporting advanced data transaction protocol. Also, in hybrid cloud environments that combine on-premises and public clouds, customers can reduce operational and administrative costs by transferring data for backup archives to the public cloud.ETERNUS AX and ETERNUS HX series are ideal for virtualized systems and file servers. These series offer both the high response performance required by virtualized systems through block access and simplified data management with file access, all in one store.These series non-disruptively scales up storage nodes up to a maximum of 24 nodes and 26 petabytes as capacity and performance demands increase, and automatically routes data to data centers and public clouds based on how often it is accessed, enabling cost-balanced and efficient operations.Future plansIn the future, Fujitsu intends to introduce solutions that leverage NetApp technologies for AI, hybrid cloud and HPC by combining the products and technologies of the two companies, planning to offer them by the end of 2020. This includes the development of AI solutions that combine Fujitsu's servers with NetApp's storage to dramatically reduce the time it takes to design and build AI systems and learn vast amounts of data. For HPC, Fujitsu will combine the high-performance scalable file systems and data-processing technologies with NetApp storage solutions to enable advanced simulation and analysis under complex conditions.Fujitsu also plans to develop a hybrid cloud solution leveraging NetApp Cloud Data Services that can manage private and public cloud environments in the data center with a single storage operating system.Comment from Brad Anderson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Hybrid Cloud Group, NetApp, Inc."Fujitsu has been a strategic partner for NetApp for more than two decades, and we are delighted to expand this relationship further. This collaboration combined with Fujitsu's broader Digital Transformation strategy offers customers a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions, targeted at critical business applications, as well as emerging workloads across edge, core, and multi-clouds."Comment from Kenichi Sakai, Corporate Executive Officer, Senior Vice President and Head of Infrastructure System Business Unit, Fujitsu Limited"To succeed in digital transformation, it is important to create new value from all the data you have and make it the core of your business. We see this enhanced strategic partnership with NetApp as a critical step in supporting digital transformation by enabling customers to effectively manage and leverage their data."Related Link:Storage Webpage: https://bit.ly/31r4I1a(1) ETERNUS AB, ETERNUS HB, ETERNUS AX and ETERNUS HX ETERNUS AB/HB will be rolled out worldwide, starting in Japan and Europe. ETERNUS AX/HX will initially be available in Japan, with future availability in regions outside of Europe.(2) High-Speed Data Processing Uses NVMe, an alternative to SCSI and SAS, for the host interface that communicates between servers and storage and the SSD that stores data in storage. Reads and writes data as many as 1 million times per second.(3) SSD Solid-State Drives. A drive device using a flash memory which is a semiconductor memory element.(4) High-Volume Data Communications Uses Infiniband, a protocol that connects servers and storage over a wide bandwidth, enabling to send and receive massive amounts of data.About Fujitsu LtdFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 130,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.9 trillion yen (US$35 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com.Source: Fujitsu LtdCopyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Technavio has been monitoring the whole milk powder market and it is poised to grow by USD 481.25 million during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 1% 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/20200629005614/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Whole Milk Powder Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report of 2020-2024 on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Arla Foods amba, Dairy Farmers of America Inc., Danone SA, Fonterra Co-operative Group, Nestle SA 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. Wide use of whole milk powder has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Whole Milk Powder Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Whole Milk Powder Market is segmented as below: Type Regular Whole Milk Powder Instant Whole Milk Powder Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR31272 Whole Milk Powder Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our whole milk powder market report covers the following areas: Whole Milk Powder Market Size Whole Milk Powder Market Trends Whole Milk Powder Market Industry Analysis This study identifies innovations in milk powder packaging as one of the prime reasons driving the whole milk powder market growth during the next few years. Whole Milk Powder Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the whole milk powder market, including some of the vendors such as Arla Foods amba, Dairy Farmers of America Inc.,Danone SA, Fonterra Co-operative Group, Nestle SA. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the whole milk powder 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 Whole Milk Powder Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist whole milk powder market growth during the next five years Estimation of the whole milk powder market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the whole milk powder market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of whole milk powder market vendors Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TYPE Market segmentation by type Comparison by type Regular whole milk powder Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Instant whole milk powder Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by type PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023 South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023 MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023 North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Technological advances in milk processing and milk products Innovations in milk powder packaging features Increasing online retailing of whole milk powder PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption Competitive scenario PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Arla Foods amba Dairy Farmers of America Inc. Danone SA Fonterra Co-operative Group Nestle SA PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations Definition of market positioning of vendors PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005614/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/ CHICAGO (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Aviation Administration or FAA has begun formal test flights of Boeing 737 Max and is evaluating the company's proposed changes to the automated flight control system on the aircraft, the U.S. aviation regulator said in a statement on Monday. According to the FAA, the flight took off from Boeing Field in Seattle at 9:55 a.m. Pacific Time Monday for the first round of testing. The certification flights are expected to take about three days. The FAA specified that the test will include a wide array of flight maneuvers and emergency procedures to assess whether the changes meet FAA certification standards. The FAA over the weekend had cleared the U.S. airplane maker to carry out certification test flights. The clearance came after Boeing submitted safety fixes to the FAA. Boeing's best-selling aircraft was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after two crashes killed all 346 people on board the flights. The certification flights are an important milestone, but it has a number of key tasks remaining, the FAA said. The FAA said it is following a deliberate process and will take the time it needs to thoroughly review Boeing's work. It will lift the grounding order only after it is satisfied that the aircraft meets certification standards. 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. Technavio has been monitoring the oilfield services market and it is poised to grow by USD 21.07 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005595/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Oilfield Services Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report of 2020-2024 on COVID-19 Impact The market is highly fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Baker Hughes, Halliburton, National Oilwell Varco, Schlumberger, and Weatherford 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. The rise in unconventional oil and gas resources has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Oilfield Services Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Oilfield Services Market is segmented as below: Application Onshore Offshore Geographic Landscape The Americas APAC EMEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30545 Oilfield Services Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our oilfield services market report covers the following areas: Oilfield Services Market size Oilfield Services Market trends Oilfield Services Market analysis This study identifies technological innovations to drive productivity in oilfield services market as one of the prime reasons driving the oilfield services market growth during the next few years. Oilfield Services Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the oilfield services market, including some of the vendors such as Baker Hughes, Halliburton, National Oilwell Varco, Schlumberger, and Weatherford. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the oilfield services 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 Oilfield Services Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023 Detailed information on factors that will assist oilfield services market growth during the next five years Estimation of the oilfield services market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the oilfield services market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of oilfield services market vendors Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface 2.2 Preface 2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition Market sizing 2018 Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION Market segmentation by application Comparison by application Onshore Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Offshore Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Market opportunity by application PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison Americas Market size and forecast 2018-2023 EMEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023 APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023 Key leading countries Market opportunity PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers Market challenges PART 10: MARKET TRENDS PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview Landscape disruption PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Baker Hughes Halliburton National Oilwell Varco Schlumberger Weatherford PART 13: APPENDIX Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005595/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/ With Spike in E-Commerce Returns Expected Post-COVID-19, Retailers Must Ensure Their Returns Processes and Systems are Ready, as 74 Percent of Respondents Think Retailers Need Returns Improvement WILKES-BARRE, Pa., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Doddle, a leading international e-commerce solutions provider that designs, develops and integrates consumer fulfilment and returns technology, announces the findings of a survey it conducted to uncover how important the e-commerce returns experience is to consumers. The research of almost 1,400 U.S. consumers was done in May 2020. It has been challenging for many retailers to understand the overall effect of e-commerce returns, as the process has typically been manual, not digitized like other processes including delivery and payment. With no real insight into the impact of returns, they have been considered a necessary but unfortunate cost and therefore sidelined in terms of importance, particularly with regards to customers' overall satisfaction and retention. Interestingly, though, Doddle's survey found that consumers weigh returns as equally significant as delivery and payment with regards to their overall e-commerce experience, even slightly more so. (84 percent said the returns experience is important with regards to their opinion of a retailer, with 83 percent saying the same for delivery and payment, respectively.) It also found that almost three quarters of respondents (74 percent) feel retailers' returns experiences need to be better. Following are some highlights from Doddle's research: 84 percent of respondents said a positive returns experience encourages them to shop with a retailer again 74 percent of consumers noted that U.S. retailers should do more to improve their returns experiences When asked what would make respondents reconsider shopping with a retailer in the future 60 percent said if they had to pay shipping fees to return an item 40 percent said if it took a long time to secure a refund on their return 38 percent said if the returns policy window was too short 32 percent said if they need to obtain a return authorization from customer support 30 percent said if they were not able to track a returned item When asked what they would prefer from retailers when returning an item 68 percent of respondents said free returns 45 percent said convenient locations to return an item(s) to 44 percent said reusable/resealable packaging that can be used for returns 41 percent said communications and visibility (tracking the parcel, confirmation of receipt, refund information, etc.) 38 percent said being refunded once the item has shipped 33 percent said no need to print a returns label "This insight is now more critical than ever, as COVID-19 has generated a significant bump in e-commerce sales, with e-commerce returns only expecting to increase as well as a result," said Dan Nevin, Doddle's North America CEO. "Between the impending surge in returns, consumers' experiences with the process and the overall impact on satisfaction and retention, the timing has never been better for retailers to get a solid handle on their e-commerce returns processes and systems. Platforms like Doddle's digitize and streamline the returns journey for both consumers and retailers, providing ease and convenience for consumers and knowledge for retailers that enables them to improve customer interactions and reduce costs." Doddle's survey was conducted by YouGov. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,386 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between May 5-7, 2020. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all U.S. adults (aged 18+). For more information and an infographic of the survey findings, visit (https://www.doddle.com/us/the-returns-experience-is-critical/). About Doddle Doddle believes in the power of lasting impressions and helps carriers and retailers around the world create e-commerce delivery and returns experiences that attract customers, create differentiation and foster loyalty. Doddle uses its years of fulfilment experience - developed in one of the world's toughest e-commerce markets - to help retailers and carriers devise sector leading fulfilment strategies that enhance customer experience, promote sustainable solutions and drive profitability and efficiency. Doddle's white-label technology powers the creation, roll out and management of a full delivery ecosystem enabling processes from click & collect, click & reserve and ship from store through to automated returns. Each of its solutions is designed to drive loyalty, create cross selling opportunities, promote efficiency and address the need for more sustainable solutions. Doddle's expertise and technology is trusted by some of the world's biggest retail and fulfilment brands from ASOS and Amazon to USPS and Australia Post. Headquartered in London, Doddle also has regional teams in the U.S., Australia, Europe and the Middle East. Find out more at: doddle.com AOBiome's 576 patient Phase 2b trial commences patient enrollment CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AOBiome Therapeutics, Inc. ("AOBiome"), a leading clinical-stage microbiome company focusing on inflammation, announced initiation of a Phase 2b clinical trial in pruritus (itch) associated with atopic dermatitis based on positive clinical trial results related to the investigation of its lead product candidate, B244, in patients with atopic dermatitis (eczema) in a Phase 2a clinical trial in adults, as well as a Phase 1b clinical trial in pediatric patients. The adult trial was a double blind, placebo controlled, multicenter, Phase 2a study of B244, a first-in-class, topical formulation of beneficial ammonia oxidizing bacteria, delivered as a topical spray twice daily for 28 days. This trial was designed to assess safety and efficacy in 122 patients 18 years and older with mild-to-moderate pruritus associated with atopic dermatitis. Patients receiving the investigational drug achieved a statistically significant improvement in their pruritus over patients receiving placebo (p value = 0.01) after two weeks. In addition, 23% of patients receiving the drug achieved at least a 4 point improvement (out of 10) utilizing the visual analog scale (VAS) for pruritus, versus 6% of patients receiving placebo. B244 was very well tolerated and side effects of the active were equal to that of the placebo. This was consistent with all previous trials the company has completed with this drug. Typical itch drugs take significantly longer to show improvement, highlighting a significant market opportunity for the company. The pediatric trial was an open-label, single dose level, multicenter, Phase 1b study of the B244 topical formulation, administered twice daily and was designed to assess its safety and tolerability in 28 pediatric patients aged 2 to 17 years with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis over a 28-day period. The drug was very well tolerated. 28% of patients achieved at least a two point (out of 5) improvement on the ITCHMAN pruritus scale at week four and 64% achieved at least a 1 point improvement. Based on these early efficacy signals, a double blind, randomized, placebo controlled, multicenter, Phase 2b dose selection study was initiated to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of B244 topical spray twice daily for 28 days for the treatment of pruritus in 576 adults with a history of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis. Patient enrollment has begun, with approximately 50 US sites across 27 states participating in this trial. Primary efficacy endpoint and key secondary efficacy endpoint will include mean change in Worst Itch Numeric Rating Scale (WI-NRS) from baseline to week 4 and proportion of subjects with =4 point improvement in WI-NRS from baseline to week 4, respectively. The Itch NRS is a validated, self-reported instrument for measurement of itch intensity. Additionally, endpoints of Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) and Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) for Atopic Dermatitis will be captured. As this trial will be conducted during the COVID-19 era, patient and site staff safety will be of paramount concern. AOBiome has implemented a comprehensive risk mitigation plan to ensure such safety. "There is a significant medical need for new therapies to treat both adults and children with itch associated with atopic dermatitis. In younger populations, itch can be the primary complaint and can exacerbate the severity of disease through an itch-scratch-lesion worsening cycle. Our safety profile and rapid onset of efficacy has led us to focus on pruritus as the lead indication in our next clinical trial," said President & CEO, Todd Krueger. "We look forward to announcing results from this study in 2021." In the United States, 12% of children (or 9.6 million) under the age of 18 years suffer from eczema and associated pruritus.1 Of these, approximately one third have moderate to severe cases. 7% of adults in the US suffer from eczema and associated pruritus. "The potential beneficial effect of B244 on atopic dermatitis and its associated pruritus is multi-pronged. Pruritus relief may be mediated through an immunomodulatory mechanism of action. Pre-clinical results have shown that the bacteria exert an anti-inflammatory effect on certain markers associated with itch. Company studies have also shown the potential antimicrobial mechanism of action that contribute to the reduction of pathogenic bacteria infecting the established skin lesions," said Board of Director, Dr. Annalisa Jenkins, MBBS MRCP. "Furthermore, current therapies for pruritus can cause local side effects such as stinging, burning, and thinning of skin, especially in pediatric patients. B244's innovative nature represents a novel therapeutic opportunity to safely address the medical needs of patients. Additional information regarding this and AOBiome's other ongoing clinical programs may be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov . About Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) AOBiome's AOB platform is a patented, proprietary, topical and intranasal formulation incorporating a single strain of beneficial AOB, Nitrosomonas eutropha. The platform is designed to repopulate the skin or nasal microbiome with AOB. Once deployed, AOB produces nitric oxide, a signaling molecule known to regulate inflammation and vasodilation. About AOBiome Therapeutics, Inc. AOBiome Therapeutics, Inc. is a Cambridge, MA-based life sciences company focused on transforming human health by developing microbiome-based therapies for local, nasal and systemic inflammatory conditions. Founded in 2012 by PatientsLikeMe founder Jamie Heywood and MIT-trained Chemical Engineer David Whitlock, AOBiome is advancing a pipeline of multiple, clinical-stage therapeutic candidates. The company's portfolio includes multiple clinical-stage programs: a completed Phase 2 study to treat patients with acne vulgaris or acne, a Phase 1b study to treat patients with pediatric eczema (atopic dermatitis), a Phase 2 study to treat patients with adult eczema (atopic dermatitis), a Phase 2 study for the prevention of episodic migraines, and a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, as well as earlier-stage preclinical programs targeting diverse inflammatory indications. Learn more at www.aobiome.com . Contacts: For Media Inquiries: Jim Hoffman 845-417-3487 Jim@AOBiome.com 1 Hanifin J, Reed M. A Population-Based Survey of Eczema Prevalence in the United States. Dermatitis. 2007;18(2):82-91. doi:10.2310/6620.2007.06034. 2 Gustafsson, D., et al. "Development of Allergies and Asthma in Infants and Young Children with Atopic Dermatitis - a Prospective Follow-up to 7 Years of Age." The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Wiley-Blackwell, 9 Oct. 2008, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1034/j.1398-9995.2000.00391.x. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY WELNEY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014, AS AMENDED ("MAR"). ON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE ("RIS"), THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. Quetzal Capital Plc (formerly Welney Plc; renamed Quetzal Capital plc ("Quetzal Capital" or the "Company")) Outcome of General Meeting, held today (29thJune 2020); Changes of Directorate and Company Name The Company, until today Welney Plc, this morning held its General Meeting, notice of which was issued on 2ndJune 2020. The General Meeting was to consider the proposals contained in the notice set out in a circular (the "Circular") dated 2ndJune 2020, including: a capital reorganisation by means of a consolidation of the existing ordinary share capital of the Company and a sub-division of the consolidated share capital of the Company into ordinary shares and deferred shares; renewal and increase in the Directors' share allotment powers under Section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (as amended) (the "Act") and of the Directors' share allotment powers in disapplication of Section 561 of the Act; the election of two new Directors to the board; and a change of name as indicated above from Welney Plc to Quetzal Capital Plc. Each of the measures outlined above and the reasons for them were described in the Circular. I am pleased to confirm that all the resolutions proposed at the General Meeting were approved without opposition, meaning that the various measures and changes described in the Circular, which had been conditional upon shareholders' approval, are now unconditional and may therefore be brought into immediate effect. On 2ndJune 2020, when it published its unaudited interim financial statements for the six months ended 31stDecember 2019, the Company announced that the board had agreed, subject to the shareholders' sanction today, proposals to settle the monies due to its principal creditors in exchange for a combination of cash and the allotment to certain creditors of new shares in the capital of the Company; at the same time, a modest refinancing was announced in the forms both of new equity share capital and of loan capital (the latter convertible in future, under certain circumstances, into new shares) with one existing and one incoming investor. Details of these were contained in the Circular, as were the intended changes to the directorate of the Company which would occur if shareholders approved the measures laid before them earlier today. The General Meeting today elected Mr. Simon R De C Grant-Rennick and Mr. Mark Jackson, FCA, MBA, whose biographies are set out in the Circular, as Directors of the Company. I wish to thank Mr. Cameron Luck, who today retired from the board and did not offer himself for re-election, for his past contributions to the Company and his assistance with the measures that the shareholders have today approved. Thanks to the combined support and goodwill of Company's creditors, of the incoming Directors who have provided the refinancing package, of my former fellow-Director, Mr. Cameron Luck, and of the shareholders, the re-named Quetzal Capital now has sufficient working capital for its immediate requirements and is able to seek out investment opportunities which the Directors identify as offering the potential to create shareholder value. Further information in relation to the ordinary share capital of the Company following the capital reorganisation, certain interests in voting rights following the allotments of new shares, and surrounding matters will shortly be announced. The board also looks forward to communicating with shareholders and the market as and when substantive business developments occur. Darren Edmonston, Director, 29thJune 2020. This announcement has been issued after due and careful enquiry; the Directors of Quetzal Capital Plc accept responsibility for the content. Enquiries: Quetzal Capital Plc Darren Edmonston: +44 (0) 1279 635511 Mark Jackson: +44 1482 794654 Zaandam, the Netherlands, June 30, 2020 - Ahold Delhaize today announces that the full proceeds of the company's first Sustainability Bondhave been used to support the increased consumption of sustainably sourced products, further reduce the company's climate impact and increase sales of healthier products. The transaction made Ahold Delhaize the first retailer to issue a euro-denominated Sustainability Bond, highlighting the company's commitment to accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems. Ahold Delhaize raised 600 million in June last year through the issuance of a Sustainability Bond maturing on June 26, 2025, in line with its Sustainability Bond Framework. Sustainalytics, an independent provider of Environmental, Social and Governance research and ratings, delivered a second-party opinion on the Framework and an Annual Review of the subsequent Sustainability Bond Report. Both are available on Ahold Delhaize's?website. "Through this first experience in connecting our health and sustainability ambitions with company financing, we learned there are many investors who are both eager to support the transition to a more sustainable food future and share with us their learnings. Those learnings informed our recent sustainability actions, and we're very optimistic about future potential for sustainability-linked financing", said Miguel Silva Gonzalez, Senior Vice President & Treasurer of Ahold Delhaize. The largest portion of the proceeds - 432 million - were used to further expand sourcing of sustainable seafood, coffee, tea, and cocoa. In addition, some of the proceeds were allocated to the production cost of the 'Urban Farm' on the roof of a Delhaize Belgium store. Furthermore, 161m was invested in renewable energy installations, energy efficient equipment, refrigeration improvements, and green buildings. Specific projects included the installation of LED lighting, heat reclaim systems, CO2 refrigeration systems, energy efficient doors on refrigerated cases, and solar panels in distribution centers, stores and offices. The remainder of the proceeds were used to implement and expand healthier eating initiatives while maintaining affordability, including R&D for reformulated products and the marketing and distribution of healthier products. Significant investments were made in the nutritional navigation systems that provide customers transparency on product nutritional value. Cautionary notice This communication includes forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Words such as further, commitment, accelerate, maturing, 2025, support, transition, future, optimistic, potential or other similar words or expressions are typically used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and that may cause actual results of Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (the "Company") to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to the risk factors set forth in the Company's public filings and other disclosures. Forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Company's management and assumptions based on information currently available to the Company's management. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such statements, except as required by law. Attachment Should Christian apologists be doing more to combat socialism? Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Multiple polls have indicated that socialism continues to gain support in the United States, especially among younger generations and political liberals. A Harris Poll from March 2019 found that nearly half of millennials and Generation Z Americans said they would prefer to live in a socialist country. A Gallup poll from May of last year found that 43% of Americans believed socialism would be a "good thing" for the country, well above the 25% reported back in 1942. Last October, a YouGovVictims of Communism Memorial Foundation poll found greater support for socialism among millennials and Generation Z than Generation X and Baby Boomers. According to that poll, 70% of millennial respondents said they were either somewhat or extremely likely to vote for a socialist presidential candidate, with 51% of the same generation having a negative view of capitalism. In February, an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll reported that while the socialism label remained unpopular among the general population, it found popularity among self-identified Democrats. The NPR poll found that 50% of Democrats rated socialism favorably, versus 46% of them who rated capitalism favorably, with the findings also noting increased support for socialism among younger respondents. Commonly defined as advocating for collective or state-sponsored control of production and distribution of goods, socialism has also garnered a great deal of election-year attention from the political right. The Conservative Political Action Conference, the largest annual gathering of conservatives in America, made their theme for this year, "America vs. Socialism." President Donald Trump also invoked anti-socialism rhetoric, denouncing the economic theory in his 2019 State of the Union speech. "Here in the United States, we are alarmed by the new calls to adopt socialism in our country," he said at the time. "America was founded on liberty and independence and not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free and we will stay free." The rhetoric has also been part of the Trump reelection campaign, with his campaign site including such declarations as "NEVER SOCIALISM." Notable apologist Alex McFarland told The Christian Post that he felt the need to address socialism more in his work because he has seen "the growing interest in socialism among young people." "I hear and see about it so much, just almost every day, and not only among teens and 20-somethings that I talk to and dialogue with, but among concerned parents, concerned ministers, concerned educators," McFarland said. Matt Slick of the Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry also said he's seeing a rising interest in socialism among those he engages with on apologetics. "Yes, I have seen a definite increase in the topic of socialism from Christians. I have a call-in radio show where people ask me questions. I've noticed a definite increase in inquiries regarding socialism," Slick said. Kerby Anderson, host of the "Point of View" radio talk show, told C.P. that he's had multiple guests talk about socialism and has witnessed what the polls indicate about socialism and young people. "For years, we have documented the fact that the younger you are, the more likely you are to believe socialism is better than capitalism," Anderson said. Should Christian apologists and apologetic groups make a greater effort to tackle the issue of socialism? Are socialism and Christianity fundamentally incompatible? The Christian Post interviewed multiple apologists on that question, and asked a scholar about the relationship between American Christianity and socialism, to analyze the issues. 'A topic that deserves more attention' Some Christian leaders and apologists have offered recent critiques of socialism. This includes an April 19 episode of McFarland's "Truth for a New Generation" series, an essay on the CARM website by Slick published on April 28, and a YouTube video by Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "I hate socialism," declared Moore in the 2019 video, arguing in part that socialism holds "a faulty view of human nature." It can seem attractive to people. But I think it's only attractive to those who have never seen it really up close." Apologists like Anderson believe that Christian apologists should do more to focus on socialism, telling C.P. that while he saw many Christian political commentators and "worldview ministries" tackle the matter, he was "not aware of too many Christian apologists who are addressing the issue." "We have been addressing the issue of socialism for decades and believe that this is a topic that deserves more attention. Thousands of young people are graduating from high school and college with an inaccurate understanding of socialism," Anderson said. McFarland also believes Christian apologetics should be doing more to address socialism, telling C.P. that apologists "should speak out in favor of free-market capitalism" and "should overtly speak against the rise of socialism." "When it comes to defending God or the Bible or Jesus, there are a lot of great apologists," McFarland said. "But in terms of apologists specifically addressing the political schemes of the left, and by name calling out people that have malicious designs for America, most apologists don't have the fortitude to really get in the down and dirty fray of defending the country or the economic model that has been our M.O. for two centuries plus." McFarland attributed this apparent refusal to engage on the topic of socialism to his belief that many apologists "often are reticent to say publicly what they might be thinking privately." "I could not name an apologist other than myself that came out for President Trump in late 2015, early 2016," he added. "In fact, most of my fellow apologists castigated me when, by February of 2016, I was saying Trump would be the nominee and Christians ought to vote for him." As with Anderson, McFarland believes that education played a major role in the increased support for socialism among younger generations. McFarland has spoken at around 200 universities and colleges in the U.S., about half of which were public institutions. "Overwhelmingly, faculty leans left of center and not only socially and morally and theologically, but politically and economically," McFarland said. "Many of the educators that young people sit under or have sat under lean toward socialism, if not overt communism. And this has had a big influence on their view of economics and America." 'Biblically uninformed' support When it comes to whether Christianity and socialism are compatible ideologies, McFarland and other apologists view it as a definite no. McFarland reasoned that socialism is contrary to Christianity because it is inherently secular and advocates for forced charity rather than voluntary giving. "I know people are well-intentioned, but socialism inherently is secular and it's secularism that denies moral absolutes," he said. "If you are a Christian, if you are a follower of Jesus, and I would say a thinking reflective Christian who's willing to really sort through this, you really could not in good conscience advocate for socialism." Slick of CARM told C.P. that when it comes to socialism, "its principles contradict Scripture" and that Christians who lean socialist are "biblically uninformed" and indoctrinated by "the leftist media and school system." "However, Christians who have studied this issue in light of Scripture, which is rare, soon discover that socialistic principles are not biblical. Therefore, the Christian ought not to affirm the basic tenets of socialism," Slick stressed. Socialism, he added, "demotivates people by confiscating their production and giving it to others." "Socialism reduces and removes private property rights, lessens the self-governance of the people, removes or restricts liberty, and contradicts the capitalist principles found in God's Word," he said. William Federer, a conservative Christian author and speaker, has tackled the topic of socialism in a few of his books, namely Change to Chains: The 6,000 Year Quest for Global Control and Rise of the Tyrant How Democracies & Republics Rise & Fall. In an interview with CP, Federer described socialism as "a perversion of biblical covenant" and said "socialism and communism" are "effectively just varying degrees of repackaged dictatorship." "There is no biblical command for government to help the poor, or take care of the sick, or operate schools, or provide jobs, healthcare, education, or other entitlements," said Federer. "Early Christians sold their property and brought the money to the feet of the apostles for the church to distribute. They did not lay their money at the feet of Pilate for the Roman government to redistribute." Federer sees the Bible as commanding churches and individuals to give, with the government having as its chief purpose to "protect the innocent and punish the guilty." "Most hospitals, as well as schools and universities, historically, have been started by religious orders or denominations," he continued. "Christian organizations have been at the forefront of carrying out these responsibilities on the mission field." Socialism has a track record of failure, he said, noting that, for a time, the Pilgrims of colonial America had a society centered on redistributing wealth. "It did not work and the Pilgrims almost starved to death, until Governor William Bradford abandoned this 'communistic plan of life' and gave everyone their own plot of land," Federer said. Federer also referenced a 1926 speech from then-President Calvin Coolidge, in which the commander-in-chief rejected the idea of any "plan of centralization." "No plan of centralization has ever been adopted which did not result in bureaucracy, tyranny, inflexibility, reaction, and decline. Of all forms of government, those administered by bureaus are about the least satisfactory to an enlightened and progressive people," stated Coolidge. "Being irresponsible, they become autocratic, and being autocratic, they resist all development. Unless bureaucracy is constantly resisted, it breaks down representative government and overwhelms democracy." Anderson also viewed socialism as a threat to human liberty, telling C.P. that socialism "places too much power in the hands of the state and leads to authoritarian governments." Christians on 'different places on the political spectrum' In his YouTube video criticizing socialism, Moore of ERLC said, "of course" someone can be a Christian and a socialist, adding that they can be "right or wrong" about most every political issue "and still trust in Christ." In his book, The Prodigal Prophet, pastor and theologian Timothy Keller recounted an anecdote from a friend who knew a conservative Christian Republican from Mississippi. According to Keller, the Mississippi Republican visited a Presbyterian community in Scotland for a month and found them to be conservative on social issues and theology. "However," wrote Keller, "one day he got into a discussion with several of his admired Scottish Christians and discovered, to his shock, that they were all (in his view) socialists. That is, their understanding of tax structure and government economic policy was very left-wing." "He realized that thoughtful Christians, all trying to obey God's call, can reasonably appear at a number of different places on the political spectrum, with loyalties to different political parties." James Patrick Holding of the popular apologetics website Tektonics.org, told C.P. that he believed apologists should be "more engaged with the subject" but offered some caution over errors that he feared Christian critics of socialism often fall into. He fears that too many apologists fail to distinguish between government-sponsored socialism and church-sponsored socialism. "The early church clearly sponsored an aspect of voluntary socialism (Acts 4:32-35) under the premise that God was the ultimate owner of all they had, so they were obliged to be generous with, and be good stewards of, the resources entrusted to them. Jesus makes the same point in the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19)," Holding said. "This type of socialism is inherent in Christianity, but the critiques I have seen don't even seem to realize that it is socialism." Another error, said Holding, is the notion that "socialism encourages or is based on some moral failing like envy or materialism." "I'm sure it can be used as a tool to encourage such failings, but so can capitalism. These moral failings are endemic in humans who find ways to abuse whatever system is at hand, so it's not a valid argument against socialism," he continued. Holding also cautioned against elevating American culture too highly in the debate, noting that American individualism goes against the "collectivist" mindset often found in the Bible. "The people of the biblical world were collectivist in social outlook. They related to each other in terms of their embedded identity in groups and their standing in their network of relationships," he explained. "In a society like that, what you do for the group is paramount. What you do for yourself as an individual was less important, especially when it might impair the group's ability to survive." The idea of socialism and Christianity being incompatible would have also been a surprise to many Christians living in the U.S. during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jack Jenkins, a reporter at Religion News Service and author of the recently released history book, American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country, told C.P. that "it's difficult, if not impossible, to cleanly extricate early American socialism from its religious roots." Notable Christian socialists included African American intellectual and author W.E.B. DuBois and Baptist minister Francis Bellamy, who authored the original Pledge of Allegiance. "Arguably even more influential was an overlapping phenomenon known as the Social Gospel movement, a Christian effort that was stalwartly critical of capitalism," Jenkins said. "Social Gospelers didn't always identify as socialist, but many of the movement's loudest voices such as Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist minister, railed against what they saw as the evils of the American capitalist system. As Rauschenbusch put it in his A Theology of the Social Gospel, 'if we can trust the Bible, God is against capitalism, its methods, spirit, and results.'" Jenkins did note that over time the movement lost strength, explaining to C.P. that "the Christian socialist movement" was a lot "stronger in 1920 than it is in 2020." Nevertheless, he cited multiple examples of religious socialists in modern American politics, such as academic Cornel West and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Regarding the issue of apologists critiquing socialism, Jenkins believes that as socialism continues to garner support and attention, such critiques will likely grow. "Generally speaking, as the profile of democratic socialism in the United States grows, and with it, the profile of religious socialists, Christian or otherwise, I fully expect challenges to Christian socialist theology to emerge," Jenkins said. "Or, perhaps more appropriately, reemerge. While Christian socialism isn't new, neither are critiques against it." Love Hemp's global online retail site CBDOilsUK optimized for consumers, and sees 110% increase in returning customers since launch LONDON / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / World High Life Plc (AQSE:LIFE)(OTCQB:WRHLF) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Love Hemp's global online CBD retailer, CBDOilsUK has launched a new look for its website, www.cbdoilsuk.com. Established by the founders of Love Hemp, Tony Calamita and Thomas Rowland, the London-headquartered company carefully chooses each brand, offering consumers high quality CBD products available at competitive prices. The new website has been optimised for growth, functionality, and an enhanced end-to-end user experience, with over 2,900 integrated customer reviews. Since launch, the new website has experienced a 52% increase in traffic, returning customer rates are up 110%, whilst revenue has increased 8% in the last 30 days. CBDOilsUK New Site Highlights: - CBDOilsUK is Love Hemp's global online CBD retail eCommerce platform - Since launch the site has delivered: 110% increase in returning customer rates 52% increase in traffic 8% sales increase over the last 30 days - CBDOilsUK products are strictly GMO-free and vegan, 100% natural, extracted from organic hemp in the USA and THC-free Ensuring there is something for every CBD consumer desire, CBDOilsUK stocks everything from oils and capsules to balms and sprays and multiple products in between. Every single item in the store is put through a strict quality control system to ensure that all products come with a price match guarantee. Tony Calamita, CEO at Love Hemp says: "Our aim was to build a platform that would enable CBDOilsUK to compete on a global basis. We are working hard to source products at the best prices in order to offer our consumers affordable products without compromising on quality. As demand for CBD products across the globe continues to rise, our investment in the rebrand of CBDOilsUK demonstrates our commitment to growth of the CBD industry and cements our confidence in the future of the market." For further information please contact: David Stadnyk Founder & CEO North America: 1 (236) 521-7211 North America toll-free: 1 (888) 616-WRHLF (9745) +44 (0) 7926 397 675 info@worldhighlife.uk AQSE Corporate Adviser Mark Anwyl/Allie Feuerlein Peterhouse Capital Limited +44 (0) 20 7469 0930 ma@peterhousecap.com af@peterhousecap.com Financial PR Camilla Horsfall/Megan Ray Blytheweigh +44 (0) 20 7138 3224 Camilla.horsfall@blytheweigh.com Megan.Ray@blytheweigh.com For more information on World High Life please visit: www.worldhighlife.uk Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information We seek safe harbour. Some statements contained in this news release are "forward looking information" within the meaning of 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 results 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. We do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event, except as required by law. 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: World High Life Plc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595715/World-High-Life-PLC-Announces-Online-Retailer-CBDOilsUK-Launches-New-Website This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in or into the United States, Australia, Japan, South Africa or any other jurisdiction in which it would be unlawful to do so. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / AEX Gold Inc. ("AEX" or the "Company") (TSXV:AEX), an independent gold company with a portfolio of gold licences in Greenland, today announces its intention to seek admission of its common shares to trading on AIM ("Admission") and conduct a placing of new common shares (the "New Common Shares") to raise gross proceeds of 45 million (the "Placing"). Marketing to institutional investors only will take place over the coming weeks and the Company expects that Admission will occur in July 2020. AEX is an independent gold mining company engaged in the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of gold properties in Greenland. The Company's strategy is to leverage its first mover advantage in Greenland, underpinned by the previously producing Nalunaq asset, to build a full-cycle gold mining company in Greenland, delivering shareholder value and providing significant upside potential through its land bank of high-impact exploration assets. The Company, led by CEO Eldur Olafsson, has established the largest land package of gold assets in Greenland with a current portfolio of licences covering 3,356 square kilometres, in the two known gold belts in Southern Greenland, the Nanortalik and Tartoq gold belts. Nalunaq is a previously operating mine, having produced approximately 350 thousand ounces of gold between 2004 and 2009 and has demonstrated a low-cost production potential from past operations. Given the historic production at the asset, the Company intends to capitalise on proven mining and processing methods in its plans to bring the historical mine back onto production. The asset has significant pre-existing infrastructure and development left in place by the previous operators, which are expected to limit the costs and time associated with the development of the asset. Nalunaq is a high-grade gold asset with an updated Inferred Mineral Resource covering 422,770 tonnes at 18.5 grams per tonne of gold, or 250,970 ounces of gold, which covers the area in and around the historical mine. The updated Inferred Mineral Resource compares to the Company's 43-101 Inferred Resource of 446,900 tonnes at 18.7 grams per tonne of gold, or 263,070 ounces of gold which the Company does not believe to be a material change. In addition, the Company has identified a near-mine Exploration Target of between 2.5 and 10 million tonnes at between 2.4 and 6.0 grams of gold per tonne, or between 200 thousand ounces and 2.0 million ounces of gold. Drilling since 2017 has increased the known extent of the gold mineralised structure at Nalunaq and AEX believes there is potential for additional resources that are not represented in the Inferred Mineral Resource or Exploration Target detailed above. The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target is conceptual in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource. The range of tonnages, grade and ounces should be considered as an "exploration target", defined under Section 2.3(2) of NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in this exploration target being delineated as a mineral resource. A discussion on the methodology used to calculate the range of tonnage, grade and ounces is provided at the end of this press release. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Placing, along with its existing cash, primarily to fund development activities on Nalunaq and the acquisition of required infrastructure. The Company intends to take a phased approach to processing, with phase 1 consisting of crushing, milling and gravity recovery circuits, which based on historical processing data has demonstrated gold recovery rates of 65 to 70 per cent. The phase 2 process, which the Company expects to begin commissioning within 24 months of commercial phase 1 production is expected to involve leaching of the gravity tailings, partially reusing the existing underground processing equipment that was left on site by the past operators. Previous processing data and test work of the minerals at Nalunaq have demonstrated total gold recoveries of 95 per cent. or more when gravity recovery and leaching of gravity tailings are jointly undertaken. AEX cautions that its production decision has been taken before the estimation of Mineral Reserves and is not based on a feasibility study of these Mineral Reserves and as such this constitutes a risk to the project's technical, economic and financial viability. The Company intends to conduct a feasibility study to support its planned development and production approach ahead of commencement of operations. In addition, the Company will use a portion of the net proceeds to fund exploration activities on the wider Nalunaq licence and the remainder of its licence portfolio to prove up additional resource with a view to developing a full-cycle portfolio and delivering long-term shareholder returns. Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited is acting as nominated adviser, broker and bookrunner to the Company as part of the Placing and Admission. Cormark Securities Inc. and Paradigm Capital Inc. are acting as co-managers to the Company as part of the Placing. Eldur Olafsson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "I am delighted to announce our intention to float AEX Gold on AIM, offering investors a unique opportunity to access a high-grade and extensive gold portfolio in a stable, growing and exciting mining jurisdiction. With the highly prospective geology, as demonstrated by increasing interest from the majors and nations such as the US and China, as well as a supportive government and fiscal system, the Greenland gold mining industry is primed for development and we are ideally placed to take advantage of this opportunity through our dominant position in the country. "As well as providing access to the high-grade, previously producing Nalunaq asset, AEX offers investors significant upside potential through the extensive exploration opportunities at Nalunaq and throughout the wider portfolio, with substantial opportunities already identified in close proximity to Nalunaq. With strong support from important stakeholders such as the Danish and Greenland state development funds, and the management team's deep experience in project delivery, AEX represents an unrivalled opportunity in the London market to build a full cycle gold mining company in an underexplored region. "We are confident that AIM will provide AEX with access to much greater market liquidity, as well as a widening of the current investor base, and are excited to progress to the next phase in the Company's development and to delivering value for all our shareholders." Enquiries AEX Gold Inc. Eldur Olafsson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer Tel: +354 665 2003 George Fowlie, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +1 416 587 9801 Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nominated Adviser, Broker and Bookrunner) +44 (0) 20 7710 7600 Callum Stewart Tel: Ashton Clanfield Jason Grossman Simon Mensley Cormark Securities Inc. (Co-Manager) Tel: +1 647 202 1050 Darren Wallace Paradigm Capital Inc. (Co-Manager) Tel: +1 416 361 9892 Camarco (Financial PR)+44 (0) 203 757 4997 Gordon Poole Tel: Nick Hennis Use of Proceeds from the Placing The Company intends to raise a minimum gross proceeds of 45 million from the Placing. Pricing for the Placing will be determined by a bookbuilding process conducted as part of marketing, and there can be no certainty that an acceptable price will be achieved. Use of Proceeds Cost Nalunaq Development Equipment 13m Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management & Indirect Costs 10m Building & Infrastructure 6m Nalunaq Development Total 29m Exploration Nalunaq Surface & Underground Exploration 4m Wider Portfolio Exploration 2m Exploration Total 6m Contingency & Corporate Additional Contingency 5m General Corporate Purposes & Transaction Costs 5m Contingency & Corporate Total 10m Total 45m In conjunction with the Placing, the Company intends to appoint Sigurbjorn Thorkelsson as a Director of the Company shortly prior to Admission. Indicative Transaction Timetable Completion of placing announcement 24 July 2020 Publication of admission document 24 July 2020 Settlement and Admission 29 July 2020 (subject to TSX-V approvals) All timings above are indicative and are subject to change and any changes to this timetable will be announced. TSX-V Approval Pursuant to the rules of the TSX-V, the Placing is conditional on TSX-V approval. The Company will apply for conditional approval for the Placing prior to Admission. AIM Rules for Companies In line with the requirements of the AIM Rules for Companies, including the requirement to have a Competent Person's Report ("CPR") prepared within six months of any admission document, the Company has today uploaded a CPR onto its website at aexgold.com and sedar.com. All scientific and technical disclosure in this CPR is in compliance with NI 43-101 standards. The one exception to this is that the Qualified Person, James Gilbertson, has not undertaken a site visit since 2015 given season accessibility and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, however the Qualified Person has relied upon a site visit conducted by Bill Kellaway, Chairman and Principal Geologist at SRK Exploration Services Limited (albeit not a Qualified Person for NI 43-101 purposes) in 2018. The Company notes that this document does not replace the Company's existing 43-101 technical report (referenced below) available on www.sedar.com. Standard The reporting standard adopted for the reporting of the Mineral Resources is that defined by the terms and definitions given in the terminology, definitions and guidelines given in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards on Mineral resources and Mineral Reserves (December 2014) as required by NI 43-101. The CIM Code is an internationally recognised reporting code as defined by the Combined Reserves International Reporting Standards Committee. All scientific or technical information in this press release has been approved on the Company's behalf by James Gilbertson, SRK Exploration Services Ltd., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. For further information about the technical information and drilling results described herein, please see the National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects compliant technical report prepared by SRK Exploration Services Ltd. dated effective December 16, 2016, titled "An Independent Technical Report on the Nalunaq Gold Project, South Greenland" and the technical report prepared by SRK dated effective January 30, 2017, titled "An Independent report on the Tartoq Project, South Greenland" (the "Technical Reports"). The Competent Person's Report titled "A Competent Person's Report on the Assets of AEX Gold, South Greenland" dated June 26, 2020, will be filed on SEDAR under the Company's issuer profile at www.sedar.com and available on the Company's website www.aexgold.com. FURTHER INFORMATION Members of the public are not eligible to take part in the Placing. This announcement (including this "Further Information" section) is for information purposes only and does not constitute a prospectus or any offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in the United States of America or in any other jurisdiction. Any such offer, if made, will be made pursuant to the Admission Document proposed to be published in due course. In particular, this announcement is not for distribution in or into the United States, Australia, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or to any national resident or citizen of the United States, Australia, the Republic of South Africa or Japan. The distribution of this announcement in other jurisdictions including (without limitation) the United States, Australia, the Republic of South Africa or Japan (or to any resident thereof) may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves of and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This announcement is directed only at: (a) persons in member states of the European Economic Area (the "EEA") who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the EU Prospectus Regulation 2017/1129/EU (the "Prospectus Regulation") ("Qualified Investors"); (b) persons in the United Kingdom who are Qualified Investors and who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments and who fall within the definition of "investment professionals" in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the Order); (ii) who are high net worth companies, unincorporated associations and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated in accordance with Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order; or (iii) other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Any investment activity in connection with this announcement and the Placing is only available to, and will only be engaged with, Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents. No prospectus will be made available in connection with the matters contained in this announcement and no such prospectus is required (in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation) to be published. Acquiring investments to which this announcement relates may expose an investor to a significant risk of losing all or part of the amount invested. Persons needing advice should consult with an independent financial adviser authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended ("FSMA"), who specialises in advising on the acquisition of shares and other securities, if that person is in the United Kingdom, or any appropriately authorised person under applicable laws, if that person is located in any other jurisdiction. THE NEW COMMON SHARES HAVE NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE QUALIFIED FOR DISTRIBUTION OR DISTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC UNDER APPLICABLE CANADIAN SECURITIES LAWS AND, ACCORDINGLY, ANY SALE OF THE NEW COMMON SHARES WILL BE MADE ON A BASIS WHICH IS EXEMPT FROM THE PROSPECTUS REQUIREMENTS OF SUCH SECURITIES LAWS ONLY TO "ACCREDITED INVESTORS" WITHIN THE MEANING ASCRIBED TO THAT TERM IN NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 45-106 - PROSPECTUS EXEMPTIONS, OF THE CANADIAN SECURITIES ADMINISTRATORS ("NI 45-106"). THE NEW COMMON SHARES ARE NOT BEING OFFERED TO AND MAY NOT BE PURCHASED BY, OR FOR THE BENEFIT OF, PERSONS RESIDENT IN CANADA EXCEPT FOR "ACCREDITED INVESTORS". THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT INTENDED TO, AND DOES NOT, COMPLY WITH ALL OF THE DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS THAT WOULD APPLY UNDER APPLICABLE CANADIAN SECURITIES LAW IF THIS PLACING WAS BEING QUALIFIED PURSUANT TO A PROSPECTUS FILED WITH THE RELEVANT CANADIAN SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AND THE NEW COMMON SHARES ISSUED PURSUANT TO THE AVAILABLE EXEMPTIONS UNDER NI 45-106 WILL BE SUBJECT TO A STATUTORY HOLD PERIOD IN CANADA FOR A PERIOD OF FOUR MONTHS AND ONE DAY FOLLOWING THE CLOSING OF THE PLACING. NO SECURITIES COMMISSION OR SIMILAR SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY IN CANADA HAS REVIEWED OR IN ANY WAY PASSED UPON THIS ANNOUNCEMENT OR THE CONTENTS HEREOF, OR THE MERITS OF THE NEW COMMON SHARES AND ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS AN OFFENSE UNDER APPLICABLE CANADIAN SECURITIES LAWS. The distribution of this announcement and the proposed New Common Shares as referred to in this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by the Company, Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited ("Stifel"), Cormark Securities Inc. ("Cormark"), or Paradigm Capital Inc. ("Paradigm") that would permit an offering of such shares or possession or distribution of this announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than the United Kingdom. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required by the Company, Stifel, Cormark, or Paradigm to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions. This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of the Company. The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. The information in this announcement may be subject to change without notice. No undertaking, representation or warranty or other assurance express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and, aside from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed by FSMA or the regulatory regime established thereunder or any other applicable regulatory regime, no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the Company, Stifel, Cormark, or Paradigm or any of their respective parent or subsidiary undertakings or the subsidiary undertakings of any such parent undertakings or any of their respective directors, proposed directors, officers, partners or employees or any other person as to or in relation to, the accuracy, completeness, sufficiency or fairness of the information or opinions contained in announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers in connection with the Placing, and any responsibility or liability therefore is expressly disclaimed. In addition, no duty of care or otherwise is owed by any such person to recipients of this document or any other person in relation to this announcement. The New Common Shares to be issued or sold pursuant to the Placing will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and the TSX-V. Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this announcement. Any forwarding, distribution, reproduction, or disclosure of any information contained in this announcement in whole or in part is unauthorised. Failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the United States Securities Act of 1933 (as amended) (the "US Securities Act") or the applicable laws of other jurisdictions. Subject to certain exceptions, the securities referred to in this announcement may not be offered or sold in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa or certain other jurisdictions or for the account or benefit of any national resident or citizen of certain jurisdictions. The securities referred to in this announcement have not and will not be registered under the US Securities Act, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from, or a transaction not subject to, registration under the US Securities Act. There will be no public offering of the securities in the United States. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities law of any such jurisdictions. Stifel, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for the Company and no-one else in connection with Admission and the Placing. It will not regard any other person as its client in relation to Admission and the Placing and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the regulatory protections afforded to its clients, nor for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein. Stifel has not authorised the contents of any part of this document. The responsibilities of Stifel as the Company's nominated adviser under the AIM Rules for Companies and the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers will be owed solely to the London Stock Exchange and not to the Company, any of its directors, nor any other person in respect of a decision to subscribe for or acquire New Common Shares in reliance on the final form admission document relating to the Company. Cormark is regulated by the IIROC in Canada and is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with any investment in the New Common Shares, and will not regard any other person as their client in relation to any investment in the New Common Shares and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients nor for giving advice in relation to any investment in the New Common Shares or any transaction or arrangement referred to herein. Paradigm is regulated by the IIROC in Canada and is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with any investment in the New Common Shares, and will not regard any other person as their client in relation to any investment in the New Common Shares and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients nor for giving advice in relation to any investment in the New Common Shares or any transaction or arrangement referred to herein. 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"). 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 mining companies and some are unique to the Company. 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. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The reporting standard adopted for the reporting of the Mineral Resources is that defined by the terms and definitions given in the terminology, definitions and guidelines given in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Standards on Mineral resources and Mineral Reserves (December 2005) as required by NI 43-101. The CIM Code is an internationally recognised reporting code as defined by the Combined Reserves International Reporting Standards Committee. Investors should note that the potential quality and grade at Nalunaq's Exploration Target is conceptual in nature, there is insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. To derive the Exploration Target, SRK ES extrapolated their estimate from the Inferred Mineral Resource out across the rest of the known Main Vein that has been delineated by historic surface diamond drilling and channel sampling, as well as the acquired surface samples from 2015, 2016 and 2019 that demonstrate the continuity of the Main Vein. SRK ES considers this area as holding significant resource potential. In an attempt to quantify the Exploration Target, SRK ES has used the relative proportions of the high and low grade domains seen across the Inferred Mineral Resource, as well as their average grades, and extrapolated this behaviour across the Exploration Target. SOURCE: AEX Gold Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595666/AEX-Gold-Inc-Intends-to-Seek-Admission-to-Trading-on-AIM-and-Proposed-Placing-to-Raise-45-Million Businesses and workers call for greater flexibility, questions raised over the hours-based contract, and a new empathetic leadership profile emerges ZURICH, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Workers demand greater flexibility after coronavirus, with a 50/50 split of remote and office time confirmed as the universal ideal Questions raised over the hours-based contract, with 69% saying contracts should be based on results delivered rather than hours worked Boom in digital skills an unintended consequence of lockdown, with tech knowhow improving for six in 10 (61%), and two thirds (69%) eager for further digital upskilling post-pandemic Leaders need to reinvent themselves as more emotionally intelligent, but they are not prepared, as less than half felt equipped to support employees holistically during the pandemic The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in pivotal shifts in attitudes and expectations among workers and leaders, as both call for permanent changes in how and where we work, workplace relationships and future skills, according to new research from the Adecco Group. The Adecco Group, the world's leading HR solutions company, today unveiled the results of its latest study, Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work, examining the expected short- and long-term impact of the pandemic on resetting workplace norms. Fieldwork was conducted in May 2020, with 8,000 office-based respondents (aged 18-60) across Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the USA. The Adecco Group's Chief Executive Officer, Alain Dehaze, said: "The world of work will never return to the 'normal' we knew before the pandemic struck. The sudden and dramatic change in the workplace landscape has accelerated emerging trends such as flexible working, high-EQ leadership, and re-skilling, to the point where they are now fundamental to organisational success. As many countries emerge from the acute crisis phase of the pandemic, employers have an opportunity to 'hit reset' on traditional workplace practices - many of which have remained largely unchanged since the industrial revolution. This research highlights that employee attitudes have shifted and gaps between workforce expectations and entrenched labour market processes have been exposed. As we step into the new era of work, now is the time to establish better norms that will enable a holistically healthy, productive and inclusive workforce into the future." Key research highlights: The research revealed that the working world is ready for a new "hybrid" model, with three quarters (74%) of workers surveyed saying a mix of office-based and remote working is the best way forward. The universal ideal of spending half (51%) of their time in the office and half working remotely (49%) transcends geographies, generations and parental status. And company executives agree, with almost eight in ten (77%) C-suite leaders saying businesses will benefit from increased flexibility. Another stark finding could signal the end of the hours-based contract and 40-hour week. More than two thirds (69%) of workers are in favour of "results-driven work," whereby contracts are based on delivering against business needs rather than working a set number of hours. A high proportion of C-suite executives (74%) agree that the length of the working week should be revisited. The pandemic has also demanded a new set of leadership competencies and these expectations are expected to accelerate a reinvention of the modern-day leader. Emotional intelligence has clearly emerged as the defining trait of today's successful manager, but the soft skills gap is evident. Over a quarter (28%) of those questioned said their mental wellbeing had worsened due to the pandemic, with only 1 in 10 rating their managers highly on their ability to support their emotional health. In a similar nature to flexible working, the findings demonstrate a universal appetite for mass upskilling. Six in 10 say their digital skills have improved during lockdown, while a further two thirds (69%) are looking for further digital upskilling in the post-pandemic era. A broad range of skills development were identified as important by the workforce, including managing staff remotely (65%), soft skills (63%) and creative thinking (55%). Finally, the findings highlighted the importance of sustaining trust in the new working world. Companies have risen to the challenge of supporting their people during the crisis, and as a result, trust in corporations has increased. In fact, 88% say that their employer met or exceeded their expectations in adapting to the challenges of the pandemic. And with this increased trust comes increased expectations. While the future of work is a collective responsibility, 80% of employees believe their employer is responsible for ensuring a better working world post-COVID and resetting norms, compared with 73% who say the government is responsible, 72% who agree it is an individual responsibility, and 63% who believe it is in the hands of labour unions. For more information: Download the Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work full report here. full report here. Follow us on social ResetNormal for updates About the Adecco Group The Adecco Group is the world's leading HR solutions company. We believe in making the future work for everyone, and every day enable more than 3.5 million careers. We skill, develop, and hire talent in 60 countries, enabling organisations to embrace the future of work. As a Fortune Global 500 company, we lead by example, creating shared value that fuels economies and builds better societies. Our culture of inclusivity, entrepreneurship and teamwork empowers our 35,000 employees and we are proud to have been consistently ranked one of the 'World's Best Workplaces' by Great Place to Work. The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN) and powered by nine global brands: Adecco, Adia, Badenoch & Clark, General Assembly, Lee Hecht Harrison, Modis, Pontoon, Spring Professional and Vettery. adeccogroup.com Facebook: facebook.com/theadeccogroup Twitter: @AdeccoGroup Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197818/The_Adecco_Group_Logo.jpg For further information please contact: The Adecco Group Press Office media@adeccogroup.com +41-(0)-44-878-87-87 - New visitor registration app from independent trust Power to Change will provide a lifeline to not-for-profit businesses as they set out plans to reopen - The free technology can keep a track on visitors so they can be alerted if they have come into contact with someone suffering from COVID-19 symptoms LONDON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As the hospitality sector gets set to reopen, thousands of not-for-profit businesses across the UK can now access a free app offering an easy way to track and trace. Under new rules laid out by the government, all hospitality venues must keep a guest register to record the contact details of visitors for 21 days to help track and trace coronavirus infections. Twine Visitor allows community businesses, social enterprises and other not-for-profit organisations the opportunity to ensure compliance with these guidelines and to help tackle coronavirus in their communities. The online platform, launched by independent trust Power to Change, uses simple digital guest-book technology to gather customer details so that they can be alerted if they've come into contact with someone suffering from COVID-19 symptoms. By logging customers' names and contact details via the app, alongside the time and date of their visit, businesses can ensure customers can be easily traced without the need for any paperwork. Visitors receive a QR code after their first visit for scanning on arrival on all future occasions. Settle Community Hub in North Yorkshire has been using the platform as a support resource since it launched last year. Speaking about its benefits as part of the track and trace scheme, Sarah Wiltshire, Volunteer Co-ordinator at Settle, said: "We've been using Twine Visitor since late 2019. Now that the lockdown is easing, we are going to have the data capture already in place to record everyone who physically attends one of our services." "It's simple to use, it allows touch-free signing in for Covid-19 hygiene rules and we can pull the data off from a separate computer, so it's perfect for handling track and trace needs. We would definitely recommend it if you're looking to re-open soon." According to data from Power to Change, 58% of community businesses in England (or more than 5,000 community businesses) had to close their doors during lockdown because they are either venues (community hubs), retail (pubs and cafes) or arts/culture businesses (leisure centres, libraries, art centres). Vidhya Alakeson, Chief Executive of Power to Change, said: "The coronavirus pandemic has been a very challenging time for all third sector organisations, and we know that many are facing real challenges as they prepare to welcome people back through their doors. Twine Visitor is a great, free tool to help community businesses start to reopen in a safe and measured way." All community businesses, social enterprises and not-for-profit organizations that may benefit from Twine as a free resource should visit: https://www.twine-together.com/visitor. 30 June 2020 Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful. Berlin Hyp AG/ISIN DE000BHY0GD1 Pre-stabilisation Period Announcement Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (contact: Torsten Zittlau; telephone: +49 711 127 74640) hereby gives notice, as Stabilisation Coordinator, that the Stabilisation Manager(s) named below may stabilise the offer of the following securities in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation EU/1052/2016 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU/596/2014). The securities: Issuer: Berlin Hyp AG (A+ (Fitch), Aa2 (Moody's)) Guarantor (if any): NA Aggregate nominal amount: EUR [500,000,000] Description: [] percent due July 2028, Green Senior secured notes (the "Notes"), Regulated Market of the Berlin Stock Exchange, Luxembourg Stock Exchange Offer Price: [XX.XXX] Other offer terms: NA Stabilisation: Stabilisation Manager(s): ABN AMRO, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Credit Agricole CIB, DZ Bank, Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg Stabilisation period expected to start on: 30 June 2020 Stabilisation period expected to end no later than: 30 days after the proposed issue date of the securities Existence, maximum size and conditions of use of over?allotment facility: The Stabilisation Manager(s) may over?allot the securities to the extent permitted in accordance with applicable law. Stabilisation trading venue: Over the counter (OTC) In connection with the offer of the above securities, the Stabilisation Manager(s) may over-allot the securities or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of the securities during the stabilisation period at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, stabilisation may not necessarily occur and any stabilisation action, if begun, may cease at any time. Any stabilisation action or over-allotment shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and rules. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of the Issuer in any jurisdiction. This announcement and the offer of the securities to which it relates are only addressed to and directed at persons outside the United Kingdom and persons in the United Kingdom who have professional experience in matters related to investments or who are high net worth persons within Article 12(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 and must not be acted on or relied on by other persons in the United Kingdom. In addition, if and to the extent that this announcement is communicated in, or the offer of the securities to which it relates is made in, any EEA Member State that has implemented Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended (together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State, the "Prospectus Directive") before the publication of a prospectus in relation to the securities which has been approved by the competent authority in that Member State in accordance with the Prospectus Directive (or which has been approved by a competent authority in another Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Member State in accordance with the Prospectus Directive), this announcement and the offer are only addressed to and directed at persons in that Member State who are qualified investors within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive (or who are other persons to whom the offer may lawfully be addressed) and must not be acted on or relied on by other persons in that Member State. This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States. The securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States. DENHAM (dpa-AFX) - Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG.L, IHG) said it expects to report a comparable RevPAR decline of approximately 75% for second quarter, resulting in approximately 52% for first half. This include revenue decline of 82% in April, 76% in May and an estimated 70% for June. The Group said it remains on track to reduce Fee Business costs by $150 million from 2019 levels; more than two-thirds of these savings will be delivered in the second half of the year. The Group said the pace of hotels reopening has continued to accelerate through the second quarter, with only 10% of the global estate currently still closed. As at 26 June, IHG continued to have approximately $2 billion in available liquidity. 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. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Filtronic plc (FTC.L), a manufacturer of antennas, filters and mmWave products, Tuesday said it expects to report fiscal 2020 adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items or EBITDA of 1.2 million pounds, higher than last year's 0.7 million pounds. Adjusted operating profit is estimated to be approximately 0.4 million pounds, up from 0.2 million pounds a year ago. Revenue for the year is now expected to be around 17.2 million pounds, a growth of 8 percent from prior year's 15.9 million pounds. In its trading update for the financial year ended May 31, the company noted that trading during the second half of the year was broadly in line with market guidance despite some Covid-19 related disruption in the final quarter. According to the company, a strong order book entering the second half of the financial year sustained the business during the Covid-19 crisis. Looking ahead, the company said there is considerable uncertainty in both the environment and its operating markets. The company is cautious on the outlook for the year ahead, and consequently, not giving guidance for the expected performance. The company is scheduled to release its Preliminary Results on August 4. In London, Filtronic shares were trading at 8 pence, down 3.03 percent. 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. Company aims to improve B2B EDI transaction visibility, governance, and control to save time and improve communications with customers and 3PLs Cleo, the global leader in ecosystem integration solutions, today announced that A.E. Rodda Son Ltd. has recently selected the Cleo Integration Cloud platform to manage EDI workflows from all of its customers, and to integrate its ERP solution with improved B2B workflows for better end-to-end data processing and comprehensive ecosystem visibility. It's a fitting and timely move for the "keeper of the cream," as the company is well known far and wide for its classic roots and product excellence. In 1890, Eliza Jane and Thomas Rodda started making Cornish Clotted Cream in their farmhouse kitchen in Scorrier, near Redruth, a town in Cornwall, England. Fast forward to today, and Rodda's is enjoyed all over the world, in countries as varied as Dubai, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Madeira, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Tenerife, and Hong Kong. The company sources its milk off farms within just 30 miles of their Cornwall creamery, for producing clotted cream, milk, butter, pouring cream, and other dairy products which it supplies to all the major UK retailers, as well as to individual customers and catering businesses through their online shop. Rodda's is synonymous with cream teas not only in the UK but around the world with many high-end customers and hotels providing their customers with a taste of Cornwall wherever they happen to be. Rodda's business has expanded significantly in recent years to where they needed a cloud integration solution that would help them communicate more effectively with customers going forward. The new integration platform Cleo has delivered affords real-time visibility into their customer transactions per year including purchase orders, invoices, and shipping notices exchanged with their customer base. The system has provided a range of functions at Rodda's with direct visibility of customer transactions. The Cleo Integration Cloud platform is purpose-built to design, build, operate and optimise critical supply-chain integration processes. With greater choice on how integration is handled, companies like Rodda's can blend self-service and Cleo Services for integration agility and control. Together with end-to-end visibility across EDI and API integrations, technical and business users at the company can have the confidence to rapidly onboard trading partners, enable integration between applications, and accelerate revenue-generating business processes. "Real-time visibility is particularly important for Rodda's, given the fast moving, fresh nature of our products," said Marc Wilcox, Senior Business Analyst, with Rodda's. "Timely processing of the orders we receive is critical to ensure our customers receive our products at the right time and in the right place. We are delighted to be working with Cleo as a key business partner." Chris Jelliman, senior director, EMEA, for Cleo, added, "Rodda's has a fantastic brand and a focused sense of purpose. We are very excited to provide real business impact as they execute their business strategy." About A.E Rodda Son Founded in 1890, A.E. Rodda Son is a dairy products company located at The Creamery, Scorrier, Redruth, Cornwall, TR16 5BU. For more information, contact the company at 01209 823300. About Cleo Cleo is an ecosystem integration software company focused on business outcomes, ensuring each customer's potential is realised by delivering solutions that make it easy to discover and create value through the movement and integration of enterprise data. Cleo gives customers strategic, "outside-in" visibility into the critical end-to-end business flows happening across their ecosystems of partners and customers, marketplaces, and internal cloud and on-premise applications. Our solutions empower teams to drive business agility, accelerate onboarding, facilitate modernisation of key business processes, and capture new revenue streams by reimagining and remastering their digital ecosystem through robust application, B2B, and data integration technologies. For more information, visit www.cleo.com or call +1.815.282.7695 or +44 203 974 1750 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005196/en/ Contacts: Laura Asendio 10Fold Communications on behalf of Cleo cleo@10fold.com Capital on Tap to offer a new credit card lending programme to Spanish SMEs using Marqeta's modern card issuing platform Marqeta, the leading global modern card issuing platform, today announced it has helped one of the UK's fastest-growing companies, Capital on Tap, to expand its small business credit lending services to Spain. Capital on Tap will be using Marqeta to power payment processing for its small business credit card, offering a working capital facility of up to 50,000 for small businesses. Capital on Tap's new Spanish users will be provided with a new, Marqeta-powered credit card, offering small businesses a faster and more transparent way to fund their business. Using Marqeta, Capital on Tap allows Spanish SMEs to access funding in a more streamlined and frictionless way. Its online onboarding processes mean customers don't need to visit their bank and wait weeks for a response; instead, decisions on funding can be made within a day. In addition, Marqeta-powered credit cards provide more suitable lines of credit, while enabling greater customisation, expense tracking, and categorisations to meet the needs of small businesses. "As the world begins easing COVID-19 restrictions, SMEs will be looking for accessible funding to help them get back up and running again. But to date, businesses globally have faced several issues trying to access working capital from state-backed schemes, while banks are taking longer to respond and are more reluctant to lend. As a result, SMEs have been unable to access useful lines of credit focused on their needs," said Ruben Vidal, the Spanish MD for Capital on Tap. "With Marqeta, we're able to address several of these issues right away. Our quick and easy processing means SMEs can focus on running their businesses, instead of jumping through hoops to secure the funding they need. We expect to issue millions of Euros to Spain's 3 million sole traders and small businesses within 2020 and beyond, supporting their plans to reopen, grow and prosper." Marqeta's simple API-driven approach made it simple for Capital on Tap's systems and developers to customise the card programmes to meet the needs of the Spanish market. The team was able to replicate its existing card programme in the UK with a few modifications for example, switching currencies and lending criteria. This helped to ensure all customers and payments are configured and processed in the same way, through one central global platform, reducing operational overheads. "Launching a new card programme in a new region can be extremely complex. With other providers it would potentially involve an entirely new build, but with Marqeta it was surprisingly easy we could essentially copy and paste our UK model across, with a few small but essential tweaks to ensure it was a perfect fit for the market," added Zoe Newman, Capital on Tap's Head of International Expansion. "Using our existing Marqeta sandbox environment we were able to begin testing as soon as we were ready. The Marqeta team was very responsive and on-call to help with any of our questions. If we'd had to start from scratch with another third-party provider, it would have taken over 6 months, but once we made the decision it only took a couple of days to get everything up and running. It has also provided us with a blueprint for future expansions across Europe and the US in years to come." About Marqeta Marqeta is the leading global modern card issuing platform, providing the most advanced infrastructure and tools for building highly configurable payment cards. With its open API, the Marqeta platform is designed for innovators who want a simplified way of managing payment programs so that they can create world-class experiences and power new modes of commerce. Marqeta is headquartered in Oakland, California. For more information, visit www.marqeta.com, Twitter and LinkedIn. About Capital on Tap Founded in 2012, Capital on Tap is on a mission to help small businesses thrive. The company believes small business owners are the foundation for growth in the economy. Capital on Tap has partnered with over 100,000 small businesses across the UK and provided over 1.5 billion in funding to customers ranging from freelance designers to pub owners to solicitors. For more information, please visit www.capitalontap.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005230/en/ Contacts: Media Contact Tom Reynolds Robert Fretwell Spark Communications for Marqeta 0207 436 0420 marqeta@sparkcomms.co.uk - Accelerated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the world is rapidly embracing contactless payments across all public transportation benefiting millions of passengers worldwide - Acceptance to the Visa Ready for Transit program is a milestone for O-CITY, which is already operating in over 100 cities worldwide - Joining the program will fast track O-CITY's availability globally with the adoption of best industry standards, the affiliation to the Visa network and co-innovation with all members to further drive contactless payment adoption LONDON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BPC's smart city payment division, O-CITY, has joined the Visa Ready for Transit program for mass transit systems. Visa Ready for Transit program is designed for companies, like O-CITY, whose technology products and capabilities are helping transit agencies and riders realise the benefits of tapping to ride with a contactless card or digital wallet. Acceptance to the program means that O-CITY is a now certified partner and available to cities globally to accelerate their digital transformation. With Visa Ready, O-CITY will overcome traditional public transport challenges Transit authorities traditionally use their own proprietary systems to accept payments for bus, metro, train or tramway journeys. These systems use closed-loop cards, which are built solely for a specific transport mode and cannot be used to pay for anything else. Such systems are expensive and inflexible, and they force transport agencies to be their own bankers. Visa Ready is bringing together all players in the ecosystem to drive the adoption of open-loop systems. For transport agencies, the adoption of an open-loop system frees them from the hassle of building and maintaining a complex payment system, allowing them to focus on offering the best traveller experience as travellers can pay with the mobile phone or card they already have. The move to contactless open-loop payments will positively impact the daily lives of millions of passengers worldwide. Both transport agencies and customers will win, and fares should be reduced, enabling greater inclusion and access to public transport. Tokhir Abdukadyrov, SVP of smart city and transport solutions, BPC, commented: "The world is rapidly embracing contactless payments across all public transport; a situation that will only be accelerated by the COVID-19 global pandemic. With contactless payments, everyone wins. The traveller's experience is significantly improved and you see a significant increase in the adoption of contactless digital payments to access citywide transit systems. Digital ticketing can increase loyalty and revenues. Acceptance into the Visa Ready program represents a key milestone in O-CITY's plans to drive digital transformation in collaboration with transport operators worldwide." Transport operators benefit from certified technology and business expertise Visa Ready simplifies the process of identifying the right partner for automated fare collection and choose O-CITY to accelerate their digital transformation. O-CITY is ready to collaborate with transport operators worldwide on POC and innovative projects to further drive and accelerate the adoption of digital and contactless payments. O-CITY is already being used worldwide by over 100 cities of all sizes, from Bogota to Nur-Sultan, Bishkek and Moscow. The expertise and experience gained by O-CITY of operations, technology and go-to market strategies can be transferred to other transport operators going through a similar journey of opening their system up to contactless payments. Superior travel experience O-CITY enables tap-to-pay for travellers using their existing Visa card, a mobile phone or a wearable device such as a smartwatch. The use of contactless payments at public transport gates is growing globally, removing the need for passengers to carry paper tickets, own an additional travel card or queue at a counter to top up a card or purchase a ticket. By using O-CITY, travellers can easily move just at the touch of their mobile, card or wearable, improving the flow of people at entry and exit gate points. Moreover, since contactless payment are pin-free, passengers do not need to halt at a gate, allowing them to enjoy a seamless experience from their departure to their destination. About O-CITY Founded in 2018 and adopted by more than 100 cities worldwide, O-CITY is an innovative automated fare collection solution designed by BPC, a leading banking and payment firm with in excess of 230 clients across more than 80 countries. O-CITY was born from the vision of digitalising micro-payments as a key driver of a cashless economy while improving the well-being of citizens. With O-CITY, government, public transport operators and merchants can deliver a frictionless payment experience at every touch point leveraging smart, digital and open technologies. (tollgate, bus, train, subway, parking facility, bike rental or city tourist attraction). Citizens can move freely and make quick payments using their mobile or existing bank card, removing the need for cash or queuing at a ticket counter. www.bpcbt.com About BPC Uncertain and unsettling: China approves controversial Hong Kong security law Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Peoples Republic of China has approved a new national security law for Hong Kong, igniting greater concerns about human rights in the semi-autonomous region. Chinese President Xi Jinping signed the measure into law, set to take effect on Tuesday, which was aimed at cracking down on terrorist and subversive actions in the administrative region. Tam Yiu-Chung, the representative for Hong Kong on the National People's Congress Standing Committee, expressed optimism over the newly signed law. We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble, stated Tam, as reported by the Associated Press. Dont let Hong Kong be used as a tool to split the country. However, many human rights groups have opposed the law, arguing that it undermines the semi-autonomous status of Hong Kong, first created in 1997, and curbs civil liberties. Joshua Rosenzweig, head of Amnesty Internationals China Team, released a statement in advance of the law being passed, arguing that the measures were troublesome. Hong Kong stands at the cliff-edge of an uncertain and unsettling future, its freedoms threatened by national security legislation that could override the laws currently protecting the citys inhabitants from the worst excesses of state-sponsored repression, he stated. The Chinese government must abandon plans to pass a national security law for Hong Kong unless it can provide water-tight guarantees that the legislation conforms with human rights in all aspects. Stephen McDonell, China correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation, wrote an analysis of the new law in which he labeled it a frighteningly open-ended tool to suppress political agitation. Like similar laws on the Chinese mainland it appears that it can be manipulated to meet the needs of the Communist Party as required to crush almost any action deemed threatening, argued McDonell. The new law comes following several months of large-scale protests on the part of Hong Kong residents in response to efforts by Beijing to increase mainland control over the city. One concern is that it will be used to crack down on those openly supporting the democracy movement in Hong Kong, with at least one group already ceasing operations as a precaution. The U.S.-based Christian persecution watchdog International Christian Concern warned in advance of the passage of the law that it might be used to target pro-democracy clergy, as well. Under such laws, vocal Hong Kong clergy who have been supportive of Hong Kongs democracy movement, such as Cardinal Joseph Zen and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, could be extradited to mainland China to be tried, since Beijing considers them to be threats to the regime, stated ICC last week. Other hundreds of protestant leaders or Christian organizations who have actively spoken out against the Hong Kong government might face the same fate, since Beijing has said it considers the mass protests that began last June as terrorist acts and any calls for Hong Kongs independence from China as acts of sedition." The Europas has previously awarded innovative startups like Revolut and Starling Bank LONDON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FintechOS, the global provider of technology for the digital transformation of banks, insurance companies, is this year's hottest FinTech Startup, according to the Europas Awards - launched in 2009 by Techcrunch's editor Mike Butcher, to recognize the innovation emerging from Europe's startup scene. The Awards were announced live on 25th June during an online event. The deciding panel of judges included a diverse range of European tech founders, investors and journalists. According to the judges, FintechOS is thehottest FinTech Startup in Europe for "helping banks and insurers accelerate digital transformation and build end-to-end digital products in weeks rather than months. In 24 months, FintechOS onboarded 40+ Financial Services clients across the world." Teodor Blidarus, FintechOS's CEO, stated: "We are honored that some of the most reputed tech specialists worldwide included FintechOS on a short list of the most innovative fintech startups. We have worked hard in the last year, especially during the pandemic, to tailor our technology and deliver end-to-end hyperpersonalised digital customer journeys for banks and insurers with unparalleled speed. Such recognition makes us feel proud but also humble at the same time. We are committed to increasing even further the added value we bring to our customers, our partners and the financial services ecosystem at large." FintechOS consolidated its growth by increasing YoY revenues by 300% in the first quarter in comparison to Q1 2019 and doubled the number of new customers compared to the 6 months before the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is currently involved in more than 20+ projects to deploy digital transformation solutions for banks and insurers in the UK, Central and Eastern Europe, South-East Asia and North America. In the past few months, during lockdown, the demand for FintechOS solutions has significantly increased, particularly those designed to support online onboarding, setting up virtual branches and online assistance via remote video and co-browsing. FintechOS's cloud-native technology has been engineered to enable rapid and tailored deployment, massively reducing the time to launch. "Beyond 2020, every player in financial services, from the leaders to the challengers, should be aiming to offer digital financial services that integrate the entire financial life of more diverse categories of clients. Whether they're in an advanced or emerging market, the industry may have to act and react fast. It's FintechOS's goal to speed up this transformation, helping banks, insurers and other organisations to better serve their customers everytime, everywhere," explained Sergiu Negut, FintechOS's Co-Founder. FintechOS ranks among the most well-funded VC-backed tech companies in Europe, according to a report released by CB Insights. In December, FintechOS secured EUR 12.7 million of Series A investment. You can see the full list of The Europas' winners and finalists here. About The Europas: The Europas has shown itself capable of finding Europe's hottest startups and remains the only independent and editorially-curated event to recognize the European tech startup scene. For 11 years, the Europas has been identifying the most innovative tech startups in Europe (past winners have included Spotify, Transferwise, Soundcloud, and Babylon Health). About FintechOS FintechOS (www.fintechos.com) provides access to leading edge technology that accelerates the digital transformation to financial institutions in 20 markets, on four continents. FintechOS's core technology allows financial services providers to redefine the customer experience by providing a complete digital journey through smart automation of their digital processes, thus creating hyper-personalised products and experiences for each and every client. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197973/FintechOS_Logo.jpg Paris, June 30, 2020 - Atos , a global leader in digital transformation, announces a new contract with Dassault Aviation to support the integration of the Rafale aircraft into the European Future Combat Air System (SCAF, Systeme de Combat Aerien du Futur) program. Named "F4 standard", this new version of the Rafale will provide collaborative combat capabilities. As part of this project, Atos works on developing the new generation of the aircraft's multi-level gateway (E-SNA1), effectively securing connectivity and two-way data exchange between the various onboard communication networks. The solution provided by Atos addresses key challenges in combat aviation, such as the need to equip aircrafts with cybersecurity systems or safeguarding the continuity of onboard connectivity processes. It is part of a long-term plan to provide combat aircraft capabilities to the Rafale. Atos' new multi-level gateway is an evolution of the previous onboard Mirage 2000D platform. It enables secure two-way transfer between networks with different levels of security and confidentiality, thus preserving data integrity and security of all onboard connectivity. It allows critical "authorized" intelligence to be safely shared and used at all times, protected against outside intrusion. Developed, produced and implemented in France, the rugged platform meets common security criteria (EAL3+/EAL4+). "This contract strengthens the trusted, 20-year long relationship between Dassault Aviation and Atos, based on innovation, agility and expertise in onboard systems. Leveraging our knowledge of the Rafale environment, our experience in the development of rugged onboard systems and our leadership in cybersecurity, we've developed a new system that is as close as possible to operational needs of the forces and to Dassault Aviation's requirements", said Cyril Dujardin, SVP, Director of Mission Critical System activities at Atos. Optimizing the Rafale's efficiency in network combat with innovative connectivity solutions is part of the aircraft's continuous improvement process. Dassault Aviation's multi-level solution developed with Atos contributes to maintaining the integrity of the data exchanged on board, as well as segregating data and data flows according to different levels of confidentiality while keeping highest levels of security. This solution helps to ensure that combat air forces can carry out all their missions in the most efficient way. More information about Atos' solutions: https://atos.net/en/industries/defense *** About Atos Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 110,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of 12 billion. European number one in Cloud, Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing, the Group provides end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data, Business Applications and Digital Workplace solutions. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos|Syntel, and Unify. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index. The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space. Press contact: Lucie Duchateau | lucie.duchateau@atos.net | +33 7 62 85 35 10 1 E-SNA: Extension of the Navigation and Armament System ("Extension du Systeme de Navigation et d'Armement") Attachment AI and automation leader GreyOrange to provide warehouse automation to UK-based e-commerce expert LONDON, June 30, 2020, a global software and mobile robotics provider that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimise fulfillment operations for companies worldwide, today announced that Ranger Mobile Sort, the new GreyOrange fleet of modular sortation robots, will bring the latest automation to Rex Brown 's warehouses in a simple and scalable way. Rex Brown, a fast-growing e-commerce expert in sourcing, branding and distribution, chose Ranger Mobile Sort for its ability to adapt to changes in real time, both within the distribution center and externally as order patterns and fulfillment expectations fluctuate. Additionally, Ranger Mobile Sort will help Rex Brown meet their own ambitious sustainability targets. Rex Brown currently processes 2.5 million orders per year for customers ranging from major household name brand Unilever to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) challenger brands, including Emma Bunton's Kit & Kin baby care company. With the implementation of Ranger Mobile Sort and GreyMatter, Rex Brown will have the capacity to process over 10 million orders each year for its customers. GreyOrange launched Ranger Mobile Sort in February 2019 at LogiMAT in Stuttgart, Germany. These mobile sortation robots can operate in fleets to efficiently and fluidly move parcels from receiving through dispatch to avoid sortation bottlenecks that can occur with rigid systems, especially during periods of peak volume. GreyMatter intelligence software is incorporated as a learning layer in the Ranger robots, enabling the robots to communicate with each other and the GreyMatter central system to continuously recalculate order fulfillment priorities and inventory movement patterns. The AI-enabled mobile sortation system is easily scaled, making it an investment-friendly option for a range of applications across retail and logistics industries. Ash Kandhari, Managing Director, Rex Brown, said, "We chose Ranger Mobile Sort because we are seeing an increase in growth volumes from customers and we have our own ambitious goals for our company, so we need a partner that can support us to grow the business without any constraints. Ranger Mobile Sort easily integrates with our operations. A partner like GreyOrange that aligns with our future-orientated mission is key." Kandhari adds: "Ranger Mobile Sort seamlessly connects with our existing packaging machines through auto induction. The inherent flexibility in the system enables us to start as per the current needs and allows for scale-up as the business grows, thereby reducing the risk of large capital expenditure in the initial stages." Nigel Lahiri, Sales Director EMEA, GreyOrange, said, "Today, complexity within the warehouse is the norm due to constantly shifting business requirements which include volume changes during peak periods and a constant pressure to cut operational costs. By choosing our solution under consultancy of our partner BigBox Group, Rex Brown will implement Ranger Mobile Sort to manage the complexity of the inventory they distribute as well as scale their sorting capacity to 20,000 parcels per shift with plans to double this volume over the next few years. With Ranger Mobile Sort, this is entirely possible." Rex Brown's services cover sourcing, branding and distribution, with both B2B and B2C capabilities. It operates across EMEA and is expanding across APAC, with a growing capacity of 30,000 daily shipments. About GreyOrange GreyOrange is a global company that modernizes order fulfillment through Artificial Intelligence-driven software and mobile robots built together so they cooperate in deciding on and executing warehouse activities that maximize payoffs and minimize tradeoffs to create the highest yield. The company's Always-Solving Fulfillment Operating System GreyMatter considers predictive and real-time data regarding orders, promises, inventory, shipping windows, and resources to orchestrate how workers and robots work together to fulfill the right orders at the right time. GreyOrange experts help organizations master fulfillment in the Age of Immediacy so they keep promises, capture more revenue, and improve the work experience for warehouse employees. GreyOrange has core operations in the United States, Germany, Japan, Singapore and India. www.GreyOrange.com About Rex Brown Rex Brown is an award winning UK based ecommerce specialist, enabling both multi-national brands as well as fast growing challenger brands unlock their potential in the ecommerce space. Through the use of cutting edge hardware and software technology, Rex Brown ensures their clients are able to deliver best in class service. In addition their extensive access to ecommerce retailers and unrivalled experience of working with marketplaces, ensures enviable levels of top line revenue growth underpinned by ongoing profit optimisation for all brand partners. Rex Brown primarily services Western Europe from its core operation in the UK, although this will be extended to a global coverage over the course of 2020. http://rexbrown.co.uk/ Contact: Sales inquiries: Kanematsu Corporation, Components and Material Dept. Sec. No1 Tel +81-3-5440-8000 Mail sed@kanematsu.co.jp Toyota City, Japan, June 30, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) today announced that it has developed a world's first(1) stamping-type plating technology that uses a polymer membrane (solid electrolyte membrane), through which metal ions can pass, to apply plating, like a stamp, only to areas requiring plating. The technology is used in the plating process for forming copper, nickel, and other metal coatings on substrates in the process of manufacturing electronic parts. Toyota has also announced a collaboration with Mikado Technos Co., Ltd. and Kanematsu Corporation to manufacture and sell, and therefore expand the use of, new plating machines based on this new technology. The machines will be launched on July 1.This new stamping-type plating machine eliminates the need of a dipping process where parts to be plated are completely immersed in multiple baths of plating solution, which is required in the most common plating process at present. As a result, waste solution can be dramatically reduced to about one-thirtieth and CO2 emissions to about one-third, which contributes to a significant reduction in environmental impact. The technology also reduces plating time and process footprint.Toyota decided to launch the stamping-type plating machine, which is expected to deliver these outcomes, and expand use to many companies in a range of industries, not just to its business partners in the production of Toyota automobiles, to help reduce the impact on the environment and provide other benefits. Specifically, Toyota is providing its patents and expertise to vacuum press manufacturer Mikado Technos, which has incorporated its own technologies to develop and manufacture a stamping-type plating machine for sale through Kanematsu.Over the next two to three years, Toyota hopes to sell the stamping-type plating machine for use by a number of companies as a test machine for verification and evaluation purposes. Then, from 2023 or 2024, with the aim of achieving widespread use, it will expand sales more broadly for use by general users as a full production machine.Toyota announced the Plant Zero CO2 Emissions Challenge as part of the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, an initiative to contribute to the creation of a sustainable society, which is one of the SDGs(2). The Toyota Group will work together to fulfill this challenge, adopting stamped plating machines within the Group and steadily reducing the amount of CO2 it emits during its production processes.The newly developed stamping-type plating machine has a head, with the upper part filled with solution, and a solid electrolyte membrane, through which metal ions pass, mounted to the tip of the head that is pressed against the area to be plated. This structure enables the solid electrolyte membrane, which is mounted to the tip of the head, to be pressed against only that part of the substrate that requires plating. When the electric current flows, a metal film (plating) is applied, like a stamp, only to the area in contact with the membrane.In the conventional plating process, however, substrates are completely immersed in solutions of copper, nickel or other plating metal and the metal film (plating) is created when the electric current flows. Multiple large baths for dipping the complete substrates are required for this and substrate washing processes before and after plating. Large amounts of plating solution must also be used because the complete substrates have to be immersed in the baths, which means that large amounts of plating solution must also be discarded (wasted) after use. The entire plating process, including the equipment for removing toxic substances released into the air and for treating large amounts of waste solution, can be extensive.(1) As of end of May 2020 (Toyota research)(2) The International Goals to 2030, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. It is a comprehensive set of 17 goals (social issues) for achieving a sustainable society.About Toyota Motor CorporationToyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is the global mobility company that introduced the Prius hybrid-electric car in 1997 and the first mass-produced fuel cell sedan, Mirai, in 2014. Headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, Toyota has been making cars since 1937. Today, Toyota proudly employs 370,000 employees in communities around the world. Together, they build around 10 million vehicles per year in 29 countries, from mainstream cars and premium vehicles to mini-vehicles and commercial trucks, and sell them in more than 170 countries under the brands Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.Source: Toyota Motor CorporationContact:Copyright 2020 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Technavio has been monitoring the automotive diagnostic scan tools market and it is poised to grow by USD 2.50 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 1% 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/20200630005089/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. ACTIA Group, AVL List GmbH, CarMD.com Corp., Continental AG, Delphi Technologies Plc, DENSO Corp., Robert Bosch GmbH, Siemens AG, Snap-on Inc., and Softing AG are some of the major market participants. The rising number of vehicle workshops will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Rising number of vehicle workshops has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market is segmented as below: Product PC-based Tools Hand-held Tools Geography APAC Europe North America South America MEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43772 Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools 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 automotive diagnostic scan tools market report covers the following areas: Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market Size Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market Trends Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market Industry Analysis This study identifies the development of integrated vehicle health management as one of the prime reasons driving the automotive diagnostic scan tools market growth during the next few years. Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the automotive diagnostic scan tools market, including some of the vendors such as ACTIA Group, AVL List GmbH, CarMD.com Corp., Continental AG, Delphi Technologies Plc, DENSO Corp., Robert Bosch GmbH, Siemens AG, Snap-on Inc., and Softing AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the automotive diagnostic scan tools 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 Automotive Diagnostic Scan Tools Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist automotive diagnostic scan tools market growth during the next five years Estimation of the automotive diagnostic scan tools market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the automotive diagnostic scan tools market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of automotive diagnostic scan tools market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019-2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Product Market segments Comparison by Product PC-based tools Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Hand-held tools Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Product Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024 North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Key leading countries Market opportunity by geography Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Overview Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors ACTIA Group AVL List GmbH CarMD.com Corp. Continental AG Delphi Technologies Plc DENSO Corp. Robert Bosch GmbH Siemens AG Snap-on Inc. Softing AG Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005089/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/ London Market insurer sees TCO benefits in cost efficiency and speed Specialist insurer Beazley, Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), the platform general insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently, and Sollers Consulting (Sollers), Guidewire PartnerConnect Consulting partner, today announced that Beazley has successfully finalised its claims transformation programme, powered by Guidewire ClaimCenter. ClaimCenter is now fully integrated with the London Market Electronic Claims File Write-Back (ECF). Beazley has worked closely with Guidewire to add ECF Write-Back to Guidewire's London Market claims functionality. This functionality affords Lloyd's Syndicates and the London company market the benefits of the shared electronic claims file system; meaning enriched pre-agreed data, transparency, tailored claims views, and significantly shortened claims lifecycles. "The launch of the Lloyd's Blueprint, the impact of the pandemic on our industry, and how we do business going forward have made improving efficiency and automation even more important to delivering greater value and service for our clients," said Beth Diamond, Group Head of Claims, Beazley. "We are very pleased that the ECF integration initiative addresses this need." "The ECF Write-Back production release was the final step of our reimplementation programme," said Steve Flood, Group Claims Platform Lead, Beazley. "We are already seeing a substantial increase in claims processing productivity due to faster access to our claims file data and document repository. Financial limits authorisation at the point of transaction response is another benefit of this implementation, enhancing our operational control capabilities. In addition, we are better positioned strategically for future cloud deployment." "Being one of the very first in the market with Guidewire's ECF Write-Back integration offered us an opportunity to contribute to the development of the industry standard. As an integrator working together with Guidewire for over a decade, we've learned that a pioneering and innovative approach is worth it," said Grzegorz Podlesny, Partner at Sollers Consulting. "As we appreciate the benefits brought to insurers by close interaction with the ECF and Insurance Market Repository (IMR), we were happy to support this process from both a technical and a business perspective, and translate it into a significant automation opportunity for Beazley. We believe that the Guidewire platform is a leader in Lloyd's, and the broader London Market, and we look forward to working with other Managing Agents to bring the same benefits to their policy and claims operations." "We congratulate Beazley on their ClaimCenter upgrade and are delighted they are seeing demonstrable benefit from the digitalization of their claims management in what has been traditionally a paper-heavy environment," said Mark Williams, vice president, Professional Services EMEA, Guidewire Software. "Beazley is long known for its innovative approach to insurance products, and we are delighted to be part of that and their progress in support of a modern and digital London Market." About Beazley Group Beazley plc (BEZ.L) is the parent company of specialist insurance businesses with operations in Europe, United States, Canada, Latin America and Asia. Beazley manages six Lloyd's syndicates and, in 2019, underwrote gross premiums worldwide of $3,003.9 million. All Lloyd's syndicates are rated A by A.M. Best. Beazley's underwriters in the United States focus on writing a range of specialist insurance products. In the admitted market, coverage is provided by Beazley Insurance Company, Inc., an A.M. Best A rated carrier licensed in all 50 states. In the surplus lines market, coverage is provided by the Beazley syndicates at Lloyd's. Beazley's European insurance company, Beazley Insurance dac, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and is A rated by A.M. Best and A+ by Fitch. Beazley is a market leader in many of its chosen lines, which include professional indemnity, cyber, property, marine, reinsurance, accident and life, and political risks and contingency business. About Sollers Consulting Sollers Consulting is an international business advisory and software implementation specialist supporting the financial industry in business transformations. Sollers Consulting teams have supported more than 80 financial groups in enhancing their digital capabilities, including Arch, Beazley, Enstar, QBE, Allianz, AXA, LV=, BNP Paribas Cardif, Basler, Generali, Zurich, Santander Consumer Bank, and ING. Sollers Consulting specialises in IT systems that help insurers, banks, and leasing companies transform and adapt to new technologies. The company offers RIFE, a digital platform designed to address the needs of the insurance industry. Sollers Consulting cooperates with more than 15 technology providers such as Guidewire Software, Oracle, AWS, and Microsoft. Over 600 business and IT specialists from Warsaw, Lublin, Poznan, Cologne, Tokyo, and Copenhagen are helping financial institutions in Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Scandinavia, and many other countries reap the benefits of digitalisation. More information can be found at www.sollers.eu. About Guidewire Guidewire is the platform general insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. ?We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. As of the end of our fiscal year 2019, more than 380 insurers, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire. As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record, with 1,000+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation. 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. All products mentioned in this announcement are Guidewire products. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005091/en/ Contacts: Jaroslaw Kawalec UK Media Relations +48 735 209 246 jaroslaw.kawalec@sollers.eu Daniel Couzens onechocolate Communications +44(0)20 7437 0227 guidewire@onechocolatecomms.co.uk Louise Bradley PR Communications EMEA +44(0)7474 837 860 lbradley@guidewire.com BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks edged lower on Tuesday as fears surrounding a surge in coronavirus cases around the world offset encouraging factory activity data from China. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu warned Monday that 'the worst is yet to come.' Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has welcomed the return of economic activity, but cautioned the outlook for the United States is still 'extraordinarily uncertain'. The benchmark DAX dropped 33 points, or 0.27 percent, to 12,198 after rallying 1.2 percent in the previous session. Infineon Technologies rose about half a percent and Dialog Semiconductor rallied 2 percent after an upbeat revenue forecast from U.S. firm Micron Technology. Banks fell, with Commerzbank declining 1 percent and Deutsche Bank losing 1.6 percent. Automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen were down between 0.8 percent and 1.5 percent. 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. La Perla Fashion Holding N.V. Registered office: Schiphol Boulevard 127, G4.02, 1118 BG Schiphol, the Netherlands Disclosure of an inside information pursuant to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR SOUTH AFRICA. La Perla: 2020 AGM to be further postponed Amsterdam, 30 June 2020 - La Perla Fashion Holding N.V. (the "Company" and together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the "Group") has decided to further postpone the 2020 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders that was planned to take place in Amsterdam on 30 June 2020 under the Temporary Act COVID-19 Justice and Security (Tijdelijke wet COVID-19 Justitie en Veiligheid) to safeguard the health of its shareholders. The Company has continued to closely monitor the developments relating to COVID-19 and the measures applicable in the Netherlands. The Company will reconvene the 2020 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in the near future and will inform its shareholders hereof. Media contacts Finsbury Edward Simpkins/Jenny Bahr: LaPerla-LON@finsbury.com / +44 207 251 38 01 About La Perla: La Perla Fashion Holding N.V., a luxury fashion holding company, is the direct shareholder of La Perla Beauty (UK) Limited ("La Perla Beauty") and La Perla Global Management (UK) Limited and its subsidiaries (the "Operating La Perla Group"). La Perla, through the Operating La Perla Group, is a leading designer, manufacturer and retailer of luxury lingerie, nightwear and swimwear. The group operates under the brand "La Perla". Founded in 1954 in Bologna, Italy, the brand is renowned for its heritage and craftsmanship. Disclaimer This release may contain forward-looking statements, i.e., statements that do not relate to historical facts or events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific. La Perla Fashion Holding N.V. bases these statements on its current plans, estimates, projections and expectations and they relate to events and are based on current assumptions that may not occur in the future. These forward-looking statements may not be indicative of future performance; the actual outcome of the financial condition and results of operations of La Perla Fashion Holding N.V. and its consolidated subsidiaries, and the development of economic conditions, may differ materially from, in particular be more negative than, those conditions expressly or implicitly assumed or described in such statements. Even if the actual results of the La Perla Fashion Holding N.V. or its consolidated subsidiaries, including the financial condition, results of operations and economic conditions, develop in line with the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, there can be no assurance that this will be the case ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: lWdslMialGeWyJxpZZ2YaJSWa2xol2LIlpOcxJKel5bGaWmSmGdkb52WZm9llWdu - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-64028-la-perla-_-announcement-2020-agm-june-30.pdf LONDON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Migrating legacy back-office systems to the cloud has long been on the To Do list for many businesses. So why is it that so many of them still haven't managed it? This hesitancy frequently stems from a combination of factors. Often, for example, there is inadequate documentation of older, but still critical, systems - and the highly specialised developers who originally implemented the code will likely no longer be around. Added to this are the technical challenges of migrating to the cloud itself - a complicated process that can be a major risk to operational effectiveness if it isn't carefully and properly executed. The rewards are great, but the risk - and it is a risk - is something every company will have to take sooner rather than later. Most firms either take a "lift and shift" approach (where the original applications and data - along with their defects - are simply moved to the cloud), or embark on a comprehensive, and potentially hazardous, revamp of their systems. Both of these approaches have their drawbacks. But there is a third way, known as refactoring. This involves restructuring the existing code so it's optimised for the cloud - although it can often be a slow and time-consuming process. This is why cloud migration specialist Hexaware is pushing the boundaries of an automated refactoring approach, to arrive at a proper cloud migration solution that's also straightforward, as explained in a recent article for Business Reporter. Hexaware's Amaze re-platforming service provides benefits over other migration services - application ownership, licensing and migration are lower in cost. The migration process itself is much faster, and once things are up and running, applications have longer lifespans and come with real-time updates. The benefits can be huge, and include a 50 per cent reduction in usual refactoring costs, a 40 per cent reduction in time to market, and a 30 per cent increase in productivity. For more detail about Hexaware's innovative approach to automated refactoring, click here. Notes for editors This press release has been provided by Business Reporter (www.business-reporter.co.uk). About Business Reporter Business Reporter is distributed with The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and City AM, with each publication reaching an average of 1.5 million people. Content is also published through the Business Reporter and teiss websites, which include video debates, online articles and digital magazines, delivering news and analysis on the issues affecting businesses to a global audience. Business Reporter also hosts conferences, breakfast meetings and exclusive summits, events which bring together some of the most influential decision makers and innovators in modern business. These exclusive events for business leaders give Business Reporter direct contact with readers and help to inform the content and direction of its editorial projects. Business Reporter is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and was the first UK member of the UN SDG Media Compact. We have launched a website dedicated to showcasing the work of companies towards these goals at 17globalgoals.com. Business Reporter is committed to providing meaningful analysis to everyone in business. Whether you're running a small business, the head of a local company or an executive in a multinational corporation, there's something for you at Business Reporter. www.business-reporter.co.uk About Hexaware Hexaware is the fastest growing next-generation provider?of IT, BPO and consulting services. Our focus lies on taking a leadership position in helping our clients attain customer intimacy as their competitive advantage. Our digital offerings have helped our clients achieve operational excellence and customer delight by 'Powering Man Machine Collaboration.' We are now?on a journey of metamorphosing the experiences of our customer's customers by leveraging our industry-leading delivery and execution model, built around the strategy - 'Automate?Everything, Cloudify Everything, Transform Customer Experiences.' ?We serve customers in Banking, Financial Services, Capital Markets, Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, Retail, Education, Telecom, Hi-Tech & Professional Services (Tax, Audit, Accounting and Legal), Travel, Transportation and Logistics. We deliver highly evolved services in Rapid Application prototyping, development and deployment; Build, Migrate and Run Cloud solutions; Automation-based Application support; Enterprise Solutions for digitizing the back-office; Customer Experience Transformation; Business Intelligence & Analytics; Digital Assurance (Testing); Infrastructure Management Services; and Business Process Services. Hexaware services customers in over two dozen languages, from every major time zone and every major regulatory zone. Our goal is to be the first IT services company in the world to have a 50 per cent digital workforce. Learn more about Hexaware at?www.hexaware.com. HELSINKI (dpa-AFX) - Finland's trade balance swung to surplus in April, final figures from the Finnish Customs showed on Tuesday. The trade balance registered a revised surplus of EUR 144 million in April versus a deficit of EUR 321 million in the same month last year. According to initial estimate, the trade surplus was EUR 190 million. Exports declined 19.9 percent year-on-year in April, which was revised from -19.8 percent. At the same time, imports fell 26.8 percent yearly in April versus the initial estimate of -27.5 percent. Exports to the EU countries decreased 21.4 percent in April. According to the initial estimate, exports were down 21.5 percent. Imports from EU countries declined 26.7 percent compared to the initial estimate of 27.7 percent fall. Shipments to countries outside the EU decreased 18.0 percent, which was revised from -17.9 percent estimated previously. Imports from outside the EU countries declined 26.8 percent. According to the initial estimate, imports fell 27.7 percent. For the January-April period, the trade deficit was about EUR 1.2 billion versus a surplus of EUR 51 million a year ago. Exports declined 14.5 percent, as initially estimated. The decline in imports was revised to 9.1 percent from 9.3 percent estimated initially. 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. Pence at First Baptist Dallas: Americas foundation is freedom, freedoms foundation is faith Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Vice President Mike Pence was the special guest speaker at the annual Celebrate Freedom Sunday at First Baptist Church Dallas, where told congregants that Christians need to hold fast to freedom and faith in these challenging times. It is good to be back in church, Pence told the congregation before sharing a quote by President Donald Trump who recently said, We will never stop fighting for the sacred values that bind us together as America. Trump, he added, also said, 'faith and family, and not the bureaucracy and government, is the true way of life,' and the 'we live by the words of our national motto: In God we trust.' Pence continued, The foundation of America is freedom, and the foundation of freedom is faith." "From day one, President Trump has protected the freedom of all Americans. Only the nations that have the Lord as their God are blessed," he said. "In these challenging times, lets hold fast to freedom and to faith. Lets start praying for America again," he encouraged Christians before saying, "the greatest honor of my life is to be your vice president." Dr. Ben Carson, the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development who also spoke at the service, said Christians should stand for what they believe in. Lets not look to somebody else to solve our problems, he told the congregants. We all have a sphere of influence. Within that sphere of influence, we can determine how were going to act, how we are going to treat our fellow men, he explained. Were the ones who can push godly principles of loving your fellow men, caring about your neighbor, developing your God-given talents to the utmost so that you should become valuable to the people around you; you have values and principles that govern your life. And if we do that, not only will we be a great nation, but we will have one nation under God, he concluded. Before introducing Pence, Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress, a member of President Donald Trumps Evangelical Advisory Board and White House Faith Initiative, praised the Administration for enacting the most pro-life, pre-religious liberty, pro-Israel, pro-conservative judiciary in the history of America. Pence, the pastor added, is a man of deep faith. He believes in the power of prayer despite being ridiculed for his faith." He also hailed the vice president for being "a champion of religious liberty in our country and around the world. Some had criticized Pence for speaking at an in-person service at a time when the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has been rising in Dallas and other areas across the nation following a month of protests and the lifting of lockdown orders. A reporter with NBC News' Dallas affiliate WFAA asked Jeffress to respond to those who believe masks infringe on their freedom. I tell them thats ludicrous, the pastor said. Theres nothing political about wearing a mask, Jeffress added. Its a medical issue. I think people who have common sense realize a mask doesnt only protect them, but it protects those around them as well. And as Christians especially, were supposed to be concerned not just for ourselves but the well-being of our weaker brother. In this case those who might be more susceptible to the virus. The church had encouraged everyone to wear face masks, practice social distancing, and use the hand sanitizer stations set up throughout the church's campus. Those vulnerable to illness had been advised to stay home and watch online. The church also said it would not go beyond about 2,200 people inside the main sanctuary where Pence spoke. When Pence arrived in Dallas Sunday morning, he was greeted by Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Speaker Dennis Bonnen at Love Field Airport. Pence and the others were seen wearing masks. After leaving the church, Pence joined Abbott, Carson, Dr. Deborah Birx, Sen. John Cornyn, and other health experts at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for a closed-door briefing on COVID-19. 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. 30 June 2020 Keller Group plc ("the Company") 2020 AGM Results Keller Group plc (the "Company") announces that all resolutions were passed by the requisite majorities at the Company's Annual General Meeting held at the offices of DLA Piper UK LLP, 160 Aldersgate Street, London EC1A 4HT at 9:00am on Tuesday, 30 June 2020. In line with recommended practice, a poll was conducted on each resolution at the meeting. The total voting rights (the issued share capital excluding Treasury Shares) on 26 June 2020 was 72,120,220. The total number of votes received on each resolution is as follows: Resolution Votes For % Votes Against % Total Votes Votes Withheld 1 - To receive the report and accounts 58,709,042 99.99% 7,960 0.01% 58,717,002 520,553 2 - To approve the Directors' remuneration report 54,148,800 92.15% 4,609,683 7.85% 58,758,483 479,072 3 - To declare a final dividend of 23.3p per Ordinary Share 59,226,043 99.98% 11,513 0.02% 59,237,556 0 4 - To re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP as Auditors 59,206,065 99.98% 12,051 0.02% 59,218,116 19,440 5 - To agree the Auditors' remuneration 59,231,056 99.99% 6,500 0.01% 59,237,556 0 6 - To re-elect Peter Hill CBE 58,472,364 99.51% 289,737 0.49% 58,762,101 475,455 7 - To re-elect Paula Bell 59,002,803 99.61% 229,788 0.39% 59,232,591 4,965 8 - To re-elect Eva Lindqvist 59,002,803 99.61% 229,788 0.39% 59,232,591 4,965 9 - To re-elect Nancy Tuor Moore 59,005,323 99.62% 227,268 0.38% 59,232,591 4,965 10 - To re-elect Baroness Kate Rock 59,001,740 99.61% 230,851 0.39% 59,232,591 4,965 11 - To re-elect Michael Speakman 59,187,441 99.92% 47,954 0.08% 59,235,395 2,161 12 - Authority to allot shares 58,772,265 99.21% 465,291 0.79% 59,237,556 0 13 - Authority to disapply pre-emption rights 57,094,103 97.90% 1,226,856 2.10% 58,320,959 916,597 14 - Authority to disapply pre-emption rights (limited circumstances) 56,613,798 97.07% 1,707,160 2.93% 58,320,958 916,597 15 - Authority to buy back shares 57,960,703 99.14% 500,274 0.86% 58,460,977 776,578 16 - Authority to make political donations 56,426,836 95.26% 2,808,692 4.74% 59,235,528 2,028 17 - Authority to call a general meeting on 14 days' notice 56,833,770 95.94% 2,403,786 4.06% 59,237,556 0 As announced at our 2019 full year results on 3 March 2020, and confirmed in our announcement made on 16 June 2020, Paul Withers, past Senior Independent Director and recent Chairman of the Remuneration Committee, having served on the Board for over eight years, retired from the Board at the conclusion of the Company's 2020 Annual General Meeting and James Hind and Venu Raju did not stand for re-election as Executive Directors at the Annual General Meeting. This announcement will be available for viewing on the Company's website, www.keller.com, as soon as practicable. In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.2, copies of the resolutions passed (other than those concerning ordinary business) will shortly be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. The full text of all the resolutions passed at the meeting can be found in the Notice of Annual General Meeting, which is available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism and on the Company's website at www.keller.com. Enquiries: Keller Group plc Kerry Porritt, Group Company Secretary and Legal Advisor Tel: 020 7616 7575 LEI number: 549300QO4MBL43UHSN10 Classification: 3.1 Additional regulated information required to be disclosed under the laws of a Member State END SHELTON, CT / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE American: NNVC) (the "Company") a leader in the development of highly effective antiviral therapies based on a novel nanomedicines platform, today announced that it has been added to the Russell Microcap Index effective after the U.S. markets opened yesterday, Monday, June 29, 2020. Anil R. Diwan, PhD, President and Executive Chairman of the Company, commented, "We believe inclusion in the Russell Microcap index is a consequence of the significant progress we have made recently in advancing our novel portfolio of special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy towards our first IND filing. As we approach several important milestones in the coming months, we welcome the heightened visibility that is expected to result from inclusion in this widely followed benchmark." Membership in the Russell Microcap Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the appropriate growth and value style indexes. FTSE Russell determines membership for its Russell indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. Approximately $9 trillion in assets are benchmarked against Russell's US indexes. Russell indexes are part of FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider. Inclusion of NanoViricides in the Russell Microcap Index may be expected to increased participation in the NNVC stock positions of investment managers and institutional investors that purchase, follow or employ this index. For more information on the Russell Microcap Index and the Russell indexes reconstitution, go to the "Russell Reconstitution" section on the FTSE Russell website. NanoViricides is pioneering a unique platform for developing anti-viral drugs based on the "bind-encapsulate-destroy" principles. Viruses would not be able to escape a properly designed nanoviricide drug by mutations because in doing so, it is expected that, they would lose the ability to bind their cognate cellular receptor(s) and thus fail to infect productively, becoming incompetent. NanoViricides possesses its own cGMP-capable manufacturing capability where thousands of doses of its drugs can be manufactured rapidly. More specifically, the Company has the capability to produce multiple kilograms of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) per batch. The Company is developing a therapy or drug to combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has caused the COVID-19 pandemic. It is anticipated that this drug that is designed to directly attack the virus, would lead to successful treatment of infected patients. It is not a drug that is designed for reducing clinical symptoms alone. The drug we are developing is not a vaccine, and does not have to be given to everyone, but will need to be given only to patients, if we can develop it successfully. The Company has reported successful results for its broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus drug candidates in cell culture studies against multiple coronaviruses as well as in animal studies against a coronavirus called hCoV-NL63 that binds to the same human receptor as SARS-CoV-2, namely ACE2, and causes similar pathology. The Company is advancing this program towards a pre-IND application to the US FDA with the aim of progressing it further towards human clinical trials as rapidly as possible. The Company continues to advance its first drug candidate, namely NV-HHV-101 skin cream, for the treatment of shingles rash as its first indication, towards human clinical trials. The Company is now in the process of writing and completing its IND ("Investigational New Drug") application for NV-HHV-101 to the US FDA, which includes protocols for human clinical studies, with the help of its several regulatory consultants. The Company is in the process of identifying and selecting appropriate partners and collaborators for the intended Phase1/2a human clinical studies for this drug candidate. About NanoViricides NanoViricides, Inc. (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. Our lead drug candidate is NV-HHV-101 with its first indication as dermal topical cream for the treatment of shingles rash. The Company is in the process of completing an IND application to the US FDA for this drug candidate. The Company cannot project an exact date for filing an IND because of its dependence on a number of external collaborators and consultants, and the effects of recent COVID-19 restrictions. The Company is also developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. NanoViricides' platform technology and programs are based on the TheraCour nanomedicine technology of TheraCour, which TheraCour licenses from AllExcel. NanoViricides holds a worldwide exclusive perpetual license to this technology for several drugs with specific targeting mechanisms in perpetuity for the treatment of the following human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Rabies, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2), Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV), Influenza and Asian Bird Flu Virus, Dengue viruses, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile Virus and Ebola/Marburg viruses. The Company has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with TheraCour that provides a limited license for research and development for drugs against human coronaviruses. The Company intends to obtain a full license and has begun the process for the same. The Company's technology is based on broad, exclusive, sub-licensable, field licenses to drugs developed in these areas from TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company's business model is based on licensing technology from TheraCour Pharma Inc. for specific application verticals of specific viruses, as established at its foundation in 2005. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "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. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in preclinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products. FDA refers to US Food and Drug Administration. IND application refers to "Investigational New Drug" application. CMC refers to "Chemistry, Manufacture, and Controls". Contact : NanoViricides, Inc. info@nanoviricides.com Public Relations Contact : MJ Clyburn TraDigital IR clyburn@tradigitalir.com SOURCE: NanoViricides, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595724/NanoViricides-Announces-Addition-to-Russell-MicrocapR-Index HONG KONG, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Organised by the JNA Awards, the ninth edition of the prestigious JNA Awards announced its highly anticipated list of Honourees across seven award categories at a webcast yesterday, followed by an online panel discussion featuring industry thought leaders. The Awards' first-ever virtual event was well-attended by international jewellers. In the last few weeks, the judges diligently assessed entries from 11 countries and regions across five continents, selecting 32 shortlisted Honourees out of a highly qualified pool of nominees. Letitia Chow, Chairperson of the JNA Awards, and Director of Business Development - Jewellery Group at Informa Markets, commented, "This year has indeed been unusual, pushing us to be more adaptable, flexible and creative. This impressive show of business agility has clearly been demonstrated by our roster of Honourees for 2020, which consists of start-ups and well-established companies. They have achieved incredible feats in the past 18 months, irrespective of their size, location or business nature. I am also delighted to see first-time Honourees from Africa and the Americas this year, further underscoring the JNA Awards' unique role in the jewellery industry." The independent judging panel consists of industry experts, namely, Albert Cheng, CEO, Singapore Bullion Market Association and International Advisor, Shanghai Gold Exchange; James Courage, former Chief Executive of Platinum Guild International (PGI) and former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC); Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE); Mark Lee, Research Director of Asia Pacific Institute for Strategy (APIFS), and Nirupa Bhatt, Senior Advisor to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) India. On the number of entries received this year, Cheng shared, "I am happy to see a substantial number of participants this year despite the pandemic. We were able to identify outstanding enterprises and individuals who excel in their fields in the past 18 months. Their level of success and achievements are testaments to the high esteem that has been associated with the Awards in the industry globally." Courage added, "Despite the challenging circumstances, there is a strong and varied range of entries from 11 countries and regions. These reinforce the jewellery industry's success in innovation and adaptation to change, and evolving consumer and market needs. There is a noticeable focus on social and environmental improvements and responding to the effects of COVID-19." "This year is extremely challenging for jewellery companies, whose survival and development are more than difficult. In this context, however, the JNA Awards still received entries from around the world with more than half of the entrants being first-timers. Apart from being amazed by the influence and credibility of the JNA Awards, I feel fully confident in our future," Lin remarked. Lee noted, "The JNA Awards continues to play an important role in the industry's development and success. This platform attracts many new enterprises to join and innovate business models, product development and marketing. I am exceptionally impressed to see these new entrants with great passion for and commitment to the industry. I am sure, with the JNA Awards, the industry will be shining brightly." Bhatt concluded, "We look for news to brighten up our day during these stressful times. The JNA Awards provides industry members an opportunity to share stories about the progress they have made, their future plans and the innovations they bring to businesses and the industry for the greater good. It was a delight to read and learn about all the entries and be inspired by the efforts of our colleagues in the industry." For the complete Honouree list, view it here. Contact: +852-2516-2184 marketing@jnaawards.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197893/1.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197892/2_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197891/3_Logo.jpg AskBrian, the startup specialized in applied artificial intelligence and provider of AI-based digital assistant Brian, today announced the closing of its angel funding round. Experienced business angels Bjorn Kolbmuller and Paul Schwarzenholz (founders of Zenloop and Flaconi) led the investment round with the participation of private investors from leading management consultancies (Bain Company, Oliver Wyman, EY, and Stern Stewart Co.) along with several experienced entrepreneurs. The company, founded by management consultant Pavol Sikula (Stern Stewart Co., Roland Berger), uses narrow AI technologies to build products that connect humans with state-of-the-art services and information via natural language. Multiple building blocks are orchestrated by the co-founder and CTO Matthias Ruppel (T-Systems) who brings his experience as a software architect and big data specialist. "We see large potential in this very innovative approach of connecting humans and knowledge. We are excited to help the experienced and dedicated founders to fulfill their ambitious mission," said Bjorn Kolbmuller. The funding is meant to support Brian's further development. The AI assistant communicates via email and performs time-consuming tasks that reflect the needs of management consultants and similar knowledge workers. Brian empowers users to focus on high-value activities by taking care of tedious ones such as document translation (100 languages), file conversion, industry benchmarks, country research, presentation graphics, and many more. "With the additional funds, we can teach Brian to handle a wider range of tasks and provide the best data to our users. Soon he will provide financial analysis," said Pavol Sikula, CEO of AskBrian. "From our own experience as consultants, we know that productivity is key; we want to maximize the time we invest in our clients and minimize the time spent on repetitive and less value-adding tasks. We are convinced that many companies need to provide their teams with intelligent support in times of rising complexity and demands. Hence, my colleagues from Amber Invest and I have decided to join the team of angel investors supporting Brian, as we believe it is the right product at the right time to tackle this challenge," said Jens Torchalla, angel investor of Amber Invest. About AskBrian Founded in June 2018, Germany, AskBrian GmbH specializes in applied artificial intelligence. For more information and a free trial, visit www.askbrian.ai/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005364/en/ Contacts: Pavol Sikula CEO, AskBrian pavol@askbrian.ai CHICAGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Automotive Lighting Market for ICE & EV by Technology (Halogen, LED, Xenon/HID), Position & Application (Head, Side, Tail, Fog, DRL, CHMSL, Dashboard, Glovebox, Reading, Dome, Rear View Mirror), Adaptive Lighting and Region - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Automotive Lighting Market size is estimated to be USD 27.0 billion in 2020 to USD 34.9 billion in 2025, at a CAGR of 5.3%. Rising disposable income has resulted in an increase in consumer spending capability to purchase premium vehicles, which, in turn, is expected to drive the growth of the market. Government initiatives for implementing adaptive lighting to increase the driver's safety is another key factor anticipated to fuel market growth. Browse in-depth TOC on "Automotive Lighting Market" 393 - Tables 69 - Figures 302 - Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=1133 Passenger Car segment expected to be the largest segment for the automotive lighting market Passenger cars are expected to be the largest segment for the Automotive Lighting Market on account of the rapid adoption of advanced lighting systems. Moreover, increasing sales of premium vehicles with pre-installed adaptive headlights, adaptive taillights, and ambient lights are expected to augment the growth of the segment further. Additionally, visual appeal is considered as a premium feature, and lighting is one of the vital parameters that add value to the visual appeal of the vehicle. Historically, vehicle production declined from 2017 to 2019, which also impacted the Automotive Lighting Market. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the production & sale of vehicles have witnessed a major decline and are expected to see a 20% decline in 2020 (MarketsandMarkets analysis). Thus, the Automotive Lighting Market could register a further decline in 2020. The LED technology is expected to be the fastest-growing segment The LED technology is expected to grow at the fastest rate as this offers a better package in terms of adaptive technology. Moreover, LED consumes less power in comparison to other technologies such as halogen and xenon. LED headlights also offer better visibility to the driver and reduce the illumination effect on the eyes of the driver in the opposite direction. Request FREE Sample Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=1133 Asia Pacific to continue being the largest consumer of the automotive lighting market China was the largest manufacturer and consumer of the automotive lighting due to the presence of a robust automobile production base and huge domestic sales of cars. Other Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and India showcased promising growth during 2017 and 2018, and this trend is likely to continue till 2025. Asia Pacific is one of the main production bases for several European and North American automotive lighting manufacturers. Thus, the growing global sales of automobiles are expected to drive the growth of the automotive lighting industry. However, the Asia Pacific automotive industry has faced major challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, the production activities of major OEMs, like General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Peugeot, and Renault, have been disrupted, thereby impacting the Automotive Lighting Market as well. For instance, two-thirds of automotive production has been directly affected by China's industrial lockdown, impacting the suppliers of lighting system components as well. Additionally, the shortage of Chinese-made parts has impacted global production. The key players Automotive Lighting Market are Hella (Germany), Marelli (Italy), Osram (Germany), Valeo (France), Continental (Germany), Philips (Netherlands), Bosch (Germany), Varroc (India), Hyundai Mobis (South Korea), Koito (Japan), Denso (Japan), North American Lighting (US), Renesas (Japan), Lumax (India), Aptiv (Netherlands), Grupo Antolin (Spain), Lear Corporation (US), Keboda (China), NXP (Netherlands), Gentex (US), FlexNGate (US), Federal-Mogul (US), Stanley Electric (Japan), Ichikoh (Japan), and Zizala (Austria). Browse Related Reports: Headlight Control Module Market by Technology (Halogen, LED, Xenon), Application (On/Off, Bending/Cornering, High Beam Assist, and Headlight Leveling), Vehicle Type, Passenger Vehicle Segment, And Region- Global Forecast to 2027 Marine Lighting Market by Ship (Passenger, Commercial, Yachts), Technology (LED, Fluorescent, Halogen, Xenon), Application (Navigation, Dome, C&U, Reading, Docking, Safety, Decorative), Type (Functional, Decorative), and Region - Global Forecast to 2027 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. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/automotive-lighting-market.asp Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/automotive-lighting-market.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust Limited (an authorised closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey with registration number 41352) LEI Number: 549300HHFBWZRKC7RW84 (The "Company") 30 JUNE 2020 RESULT OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING At the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 30 June 2020 all Ordinary and Special Resolutions set out in the Annual General Meeting Notice sent to Shareholders dated 26 May 2020 were duly passed. Details of the proxy voting results which should be read along side the Notice are noted below: Ordinary Resolution For Discretion (voted in favour) Against Abstain 1 111,019,970 6,468 0 268,901 2 110,897,586 6,468 333,022 58,263 3 110,786,774 6,468 449,072 53,025 4 111,281,213 6,468 0 7,658 5 110,973,980 6,468 294,407 20,484 6 111,085,151 6,468 157,350 46,370 7 111,048,016 6,468 182,592 58,263 8 110,923,991 6,468 306,617 58,263 9 110,931,516 6,468 299,092 58,263 10 110,847,934 6,468 382,674 58,263 11 111,081,516 6,468 149,092 58,263 12 111,207,254 6,468 27,629 53,988 Special Resolution For Discretion (voted in favour) Against Abstain 13 107,845,317 6,468 3,379,650 63,904 14 100,282,546 6,468 11,004,757 1,567 Note -A vote withheld is not a vote in law and has not been counted in the votes for and against a resolution. The Special Resolutions were as follows: Special Resolution 13 To authorise the Company, in accordance with The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008, as amended to make market acquisitions of its own shares of 1 pence each (either for retention as treasury shares for future resale or transfer or cancellation) provided that: a. the maximum number of ordinary shares herby authorised to be purchased shall be 14.99 percent of the issued ordinary shares on the date on which this resolution is passed; b. the minimum price which may be paid for an ordinary share shall be 1 pence; c. the maximum price (exclusive of expenses) which may be paid for an ordinary share shall be the higher of (i) 105 percent of the average of the middle market quotations (as derived from the Daily Official List) for the ordinary shares for the five business days immediately preceding the date of acquisition and (ii) the higher of the last independent trade and the highest current bid on the trading venue on which the purchase is carried out; and d. unless previously varied, revoked or renewed, the authority herby conferred shall expire on 30 December 2021 or, if earlier, at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in 2021, save that the Company may, prior to such expiry, enter into a contract to acquire ordinary shares under such authority and may make an acquisition of ordinary shares pursuant to any such contract. Special Resolution 14 That the Directors of the Company be and they are hereby generally empowered, to allot ordinary shares in the Company or grant rights to subscribe for, or to convert securities into, ordinary shares of the Company ("equity shares") for cash, including by way of a sale of ordinary shares held by the Company as treasury shares, as if any pre-emption rights in relation to the issue of shares as set out in the listing rules made by the Financial Conduct Authority under Part VI of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended, did not apply to any such allotment of equity securities, provided that this power: a. expires at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company after the passing of this resolution or on the expiry of 15 months from the passing of this resolution, whichever is the earlier, save that the Company may, before such expiry, make an offer of agreement which would or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry and the Directors may allot equity securities in pursuance of any such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had not expired; and b. shall be limited to the allotment of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal value of 406,865 being approximately 10 percent of the nominal value of the issues share capital of the Company, as at 15 May 2020. Enquiries: Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited The Company Secretary Trafalgar Court Les Banques St Peter Port Guernsey GY1 3QL Tel: 01481 745001 END THE TWO SOLUTIONS JOIN FORCES COMBINING THE TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION FROM ALPEGA WITH THE REAL-TIME VISIBILITY CAPABILITIES FROM SHIPPEO Alpega TMS and Shippeo have partnered to deliver a new solution offering combining Alpega's transport management system with Shippeo's visibility solution to help shippers boost supply chain transparency and transform their logistics flow capabilities. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005482/en/ (Photo: Alpega NV) With visibility playing an increasingly essential role in transportation management, the Alpega TMS and Shippeo partnership enables increased levels of operational excellence for shippers, providing critical tracking milestones and the ability to better measure and improve their transportation management processes. Shippeo's platform complements Alpega TMS by gathering real-time information on multimodal transportation flows in over 60 countries with a strong focus on road and maritime. It offers best-in-market estimated time of arrival (ETA) accuracy and reliability thanks to a sophisticated algorithm developed in-house, which is fully integrated with Alpega's solution. As part of Alpega's partner ecosystem, this collaboration strengthens Alpega's growing portfolio of innovative solutions for transport management challenges. As the European leader for real-time transportation visibility, Shippeo was a natural fit with Alpega for the partnership, leveraging the combined strengths of two top-tier solutions. "We are thrilled to partner globally with Alpega at a time when Shippeo is experiencing substantial growth and momentum here in Europe. We're convinced that the future of transportation will rely on deeper and more advanced integrations between TMS systems and real-time transportation visibility solutions. Alpega is a key player in Europe where both organizations have already celebrated joint successes with a variety of customers. We're very excited to take this collaboration to the next level" said Lucien Besse, Co-founder COO of Shippeo regarding the partnership. In his comments about the partnership, Alpega Group CEO Todd DeLaughter said, "In order to offer our clients the best possible solution for their needs, our strategy is to partner with leading vendors for capabilities that complement and strengthen our TMS. We are excited to embark on a new collaboration that brings our TMS solution to the next level through a trusted and well-established partner like Shippeo. We are looking forward to continuing to see the added value for our customers" About Shippeo Shippeo, the European leader in real-time transportation visibility, helps major shippers and logistics service providers leverage transportation to deliver exceptional customer service and achieve operational excellence. Their Multimodal Visibility Network connects FTL, LTL, parcel, and container transport and integrates 500+ TMS, telematics and ELD systems using a unique API. The Shippeo platform provides instant access to real-time delivery tracking, automates customer processes and offers unmatched ETA accuracy thanks to a proprietary and industry-leading algorithm developed in-house. Global brands like Carrefour, Schneider Electric, Faurecia, Saint-Gobain and Eckes Granini trust Shippeo to track more than 5 million shipments per year across 62 countries. Learn more at www.shippeo.com About Alpega Alpega Group is a leading global logistics software company offering modular solutions that cover all transportation and logistics complexity needs. By bringing together the best solutions and market expertise, the Alpega Group has created the transportation industry's only scalable end-to-end software suite. Alpega TMS empowers transport professionals to manage the logistics and supply chain processes; it transforms global and local supply chains into collaborative ecosystems, bringing together all parties involved. Alpega TMS's unique scalability and best-in-breed standalone solutions ensure shippers benefit from a system that evolves alongside their needs, regardless of the complexity of their logistics processes. Our freight procurement solution, TenderEasy, provides a world-class solution for sourcing transportation providers across air, land, and sea. In terms of freight exchanges, 123cargo, Teleroute, and Wtransnet are leading European marketplaces designed to match spot shipments and truck capacity. For more information, visit www.alpegagroup.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005482/en/ Contacts: Alpega Group Yamille Melendez Brand Strategy Director yamille.m.rodriguez@alpegagroup.com TAIZHOU, China, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- COVID-19 has become a global pandemic. China's successful control of the pandemic has set a good example for other countries. Many have followed China to take effective measures like enforcing lockdowns and wearing masks have all been proved to be effective. As part of China's constantly validated treatment approaches, Favipiravir is also the epitome of its response to the virus. Favipiravir is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent that inhibits the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of RNA viruses. It has efficacy against a range of RNA viruses, including Ebola, influenza and COVID-19. No evident adverse reactions have been found since it came into the market. Unlike traditional antiviral drugs, Favipiravir can directly prevent the virus from replicating itself in cells, with a mechanism of action similar to Remdesivir. Originally developed by Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd., Favipiravir was approved as strategic stockpile in Japan. In 2016, the patent of Favipiravir was exclusively franchised to Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (HISUN), which cooperated with CMAM to develop and launch Favipiravir tablets to the Chinese market in February 2020. Data from clinical tests of Favipiravir published by the Ministry of Science and Technology at a COVID-19 themed press conference on March 17th indicates Favipiravir has shown good clinical efficacy against the disease. It was included into the Major Anti-pandemic Materials by China's State Council, and the Chinese government has unified the allocation of Favipiravir supplies. The medication has also been used to support over 30 countries and achieved good results. All Favipiravir tablets in China are manufactured by HISUN, who recently was honored as the "Ordnance Factory" responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Clinical data from the ongoing global multicenter trials shows Favipiravir can clear the virus fast and alleviate the pneumonia symptom of COVID-19 patients with high tolerance and few adverse reactions. The No.3 People's Hospital of Shenzhen's Favipiravir versus Kaletra trial findings showed: regarding recovery from fever in 2 days, 72.41% in the Favipiravir group versus 26.30% in the Kaletra group; regarding time for patients turning negative in viral nucleic acid tests, 4 days versus 11 days; regarding improvement rate in chest imaging, 91.43% versus 62.22%; regarding adverse reaction rate, 11.43% versus 55.56%. Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University's clinical test using Arbidol as control group found ordinary Favipiravir-treated patients had a higher clinical recovery rate at the end of the treatment (71.43%), comparing with 55.86% in the control group. The auxiliary oxygen therapy or noninvasive mechanical ventilation rate was 8.16% in the Favipiravir group and 17.12% in the Arbidol group. Coughing symptoms improved within 4.57 days, 1.41 days shorter than Arbidol-treated patients. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1198294/Favipiravir_Tablets.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1198295/China_supporting_Turkey.jpg Contact: Ms. Li Huimin Email: hisun-haisheng@hisunpharm.com Website: http://www.hisunpharm.com/en/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/xnO2gmBUVP4 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/huimin.li.315080 Twitter: @HuiminLi12 Phone: +86-13718025966 By combining mainstream credit and debit products with one of Bitcoin's newest developments, lastbit will enable instant cryptocurrency payments through an intuitive mobile app BERKELEY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / Bitcoin has been around for more than a decade now, but it has yet to deliver on its promise of becoming the new standard for financial systems. As the COVID-19 crisis increases the need to accelerate the digital economy and global financial systems struggle to keep up, the new normal could soon arrive. With that in mind, lastbit is launching a beta app that aims to make Bitcoin mainstream. The app integrates commonly-used products--such as credit and debit cards--with a Bitcoin and Lightning wallet. In the app, users will interact with products they are familiar with while having access to all of Bitcoin's benefits. When lastbit's app goes live, the option to buy from your favorite shop, pay for coffee and receive rewards, all in Bitcoin, will become a reality. Building on Top of What Others Have Accomplished Currently, most Bitcoin companies focus on enabling the cryptocurrency's use case as an investment asset. Through easy-to-use exchanges, trading platforms, and crypto wallets, these businesses provide users simple ways to buy, sell, trade, and store Bitcoin. While these solutions help to increase adoption, they are not enough to take Bitcoin mainstream. "We believe in the use of Bitcoin as a medium of exchange," said Prashanth Balasubramanian, CEO, lastbit. "One of our goals is to become a catalyst in helping Bitcoin become a payment instrument linked to real economic value. We are thrilled to be working with the latest Bitcoin developments, such as the Lightning Network, to enable use cases that were previously impossible. We work closely with innovative fintechs who develop solutions for fiat currencies to help make Bitcoin as widely accepted and intuitive to use as a credit card." Solving Some of the Most Critical Issues of Bitcoin Lastbit's solution looks to solve three critical problems that prevent Bitcoin's mass adoption: price volatility, slow transaction processing, and big barriers to entry for inexperienced users due to the complexity of the technology. "By tackling these problems, lastbit will not only unlock Bitcoin's real potential for experienced users but will also enable the growth of the cryptocurrency ecosystem for inexperienced users, allowing others in the space to build better products," Balasubramanian said. Price volatility with Bitcoin can be largely attributed to the inability to use Bitcoin for things other than saving or trading. Even when customers want to spend Bitcoin, most merchants don't accept it as they do not want to deal with its volatility and complexity. As an example, according to coinmap.org, only 19,408 merchants accept Bitcoin as a payment instrument as of this June. Visa and Mastercard, on the other hand, have each tens of millions of merchants accepting their branded products. Lastbit's solution addresses this issue by eliminating the merchants' exposure to Bitcoin while still allowing users to fund their purchases with the cryptocurrency. Thus, de facto users can pay with Bitcoin while merchants receive their local currency. This novel approach simplifies the road to mass adoption by eliminating the overwhelming challenge of building a network of merchants who directly accept Bitcoin. Bitcoin speed can't compete with that of leading payment networks, and solutions that solve this are not easily accessible to everyone. To illustrate, in one second, Bitcoin can only process seven transactions whereas Visa can process 24,000. The Lightning Network, a nascent peer-to-peer network on top of Bitcoin, solves this problem (estimated to handle at least 1 million transactions per second) and enables instant Bitcoin transactions. Nevertheless, the technology is far from mass adoption due to the sheer complexity behind its usage. To solve these two issues, the lastbit mobile app features a "ready-to-go" Bitcoin experience where users can immediately use the Lightning Network in a simple manner. In addition, lastbit's solution will allow experienced users to host their own services if desired. By providing an app that is both intuitive and flexible, lastbit will address the needs of both beginners and veterans. "We believe Bitcoin will become mainstream once it's useful for everyone," added Bernardo Magnani, VP of Product, lastbit. "The core of our value proposition is to deliver products that abstract away all the inherent complexities of the technologies we work with to empower all our clients with the full benefits of Bitcoin. Facilitating access to Bitcoin for all types of users is key to our mission." To download the beta app (available in iOS and Android) and sign-up to be first in line for the pre-release visit www.lastbit.io. Images available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rk2vVbMwDrj1meinRNXhQlCPgDjHi3zE?usp=sharing About lastbit Lastbit develops solutions to enable the mass adoption of Bitcoin. Incorporating the latest technologies, lastbit creates products that are accessible to both experienced and novice users alike. Lastbit is a member of the elite Visa Fast Track program and an alumni of UC Berkeley's prestigious SkyDeck accelerator. The company is backed by Charlie Lee, managing director of The Litecoin Foundation, Fulgur Ventures, and the BinanceX Fellowship. For more information, please visit www.lastbit.io. Media Contact: Erica Zeidenberg erica@hottomato.net 925-518-8159 mobile 925-631-0553 office SOURCE: lastbit View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595708/Lastbit-Launches-Beta-App-that-Integrates-the-Lightning-Network-and-Traditional-Payments-to-Make-Bitcoin-Widely-Accessible Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Louisiana state law requiring abortion providers to be held to similar standards as ambulatory surgical centers. In a decision released Monday, the high court ruled in the case of June Medical Services v. Russo that abortion providers do not need to be held to stricter standards. Justice Stephen Breyer announced the judgment of the court and was joined in his opinion by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John Roberts filed a concurring opinion. In his opinion, Breyer noted that the Louisiana law was largely identical to a Texas state law that had been declared unconstitutional in an earlier Supreme Court decision, known as Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt. In this case, we consider the constitutionality of a Louisiana statute, Act 620, that is almost word-for-word identical to Texas admitting-privileges law, wrote Breyer. Those findings mirror those made in Whole Womans Health in every relevant respect and require the same result. We consequently hold that the Louisiana statute is unconstitutional. Justices Clarence Thomas authored one of the dissents to the court decision, saying that the majority was enjoining a perfectly legitimate state law and doing so without jurisdiction. The Constitution does not constrain the States ability to regulate or even prohibit abortion. This Court created the right to abortion based on an amorphous, unwritten right to privacy, which it grounded in the legal fiction of substantive due process, wrote Thomas. As the origins of this jurisprudence readily demonstrate, the putative right to abortion is a creation that should be undone. In 2014, Louisiana passed the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where they perform the procedure. The law was blocked from taking effect and a similar law passed in Texas was struck down by the Supreme Court in a 5-3 decision in 2016 known as Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt. Last October, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in the case and in March, oral arguments in the case were heard, with both sides holding demonstrations outside the court. Many considered the case noteworthy since it was the first abortion-related case brought before the Supreme Court since the confirmations of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Everyone is very interested to see how they rule, said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, to The Christian Post back in March. We are very close to achieving our phase one goal of reversing Roe, sending the decision back to the states where we will then fight state by state to make abortion illegal as well as unthinkable. LONDON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- China's home appliance giant Haier has ranked in the list of the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2020 as the only IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystem brand on June 30. Unveiled by the world's largest communications services group WPP and its consulting company Kantar, the BrandZ ranking is the only one that incorporates consumer insights, making it a barometer in the global brand landscape. This year, Haier's global ranking in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2020 rose to 68th from the 89th last year, with its brand value increasing from 16.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 to 18.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. Kantar has created the category of IoT ecosystem brand since 2019, and granted it to Haier for the second time this year, showing its continuous recognition on Haier's leading place in the IoT sector. Haier has demonstrated the charm and value of an IoT ecosystem brand through its outstanding response to global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Haier Smart Home, a smart home ecological brand of Haier Group, managed to achieve growth in revenue and net profit despite the overall decline in the global household appliance industry. Among them, its ecosystem revenue reached 4.8 billion yuan, up 68 percent year on year. Haier Biomedical, a pioneer in applying chilled storage technology to biosafety and IoT, reached a growth of 32.74 percent in revenue in the first quarter of 2020, and a 92.6 percent year-on-year increase in overseas income. Meanwhile, Haier's COSMOPlat, a standard-setter in the global mass customization space, has delivered enormous value in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitating the resumption of work and production, and accelerating business transformation of SMEs. Haier attributes its robust development as an ecosystem brand to a concept called "Rendanheyi Model" which was conceived by its founder Zhang Ruimin, encouraging each employee to maximize personal value by creating maximum value for customers. As a use-scenario brand, Haier is committed to providing users with enabling solutions for their pursuit of a better life. And as an ecosystem brand, Haier is engaged to empower other industries and businesses to build an evolving ecosystem. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1198257/0630_Haier.jpg VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mydecine Innovations Group Inc. (CSE: MYCO) (OTC: MYCOF) (FSE:0NF) ("Mydecine" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has added world renowned drug discovery expert Dr. Denton Hoyer to its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Hoyer has been involved in drug discovery at leading pharmaceutical companies and research institutions for the last 30 years. He holds numerous patents and has been published extensively in the field of medicinal chemistry and drug research. Dr. Hoyer has unparalleled expertise in computational chemistry enabled probe molecule design, drug design and optimization, synthetic planning and execution, evaluation of chemical novelty and intellectual property assessment and strategies. As part of his role with the company, Dr. Hoyer will directly work with Mydecine CSO Rob Roscow in developing research strategies, computational assessment of drug properties, formulation and pharmacokinetic studies as well as synthetic chemistry of drug substances. "Dr. Hoyer's decades of experience in drug discovery, genetics, pharmacology and intellectual property are going to be instrumental to our long term success," expressed Rob Roscow. Most recently, Dr. Hoyer served as the Director of Chemistry for the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, where he led a team of scientists collaborating with Yale investigators to translate academic research into novel therapies for diseases across multiple therapeutic areas. During his time at Pfizer, Dr. Hoyer held a joint appointment to both medicinal and computational groups developing a unique perspective and approach to lead finding and optimization. His deep knowledge of ADME and in-silico filtering provided Pfizer with novel properties screens and improved the quality of their screening collections. While at Novartis, Dr. Hoyer worked on compounding physical properties and ADME and created a novel approach to solubility determinations, later dubbed "kinetic" solubility. Dr. Hoyer TSX obtained his Ph.D. with A. I. Meyers at Colorado State University developing new synthetic methodology followed by post-doctoral studies in Chemical Biology with Peter G. Schultz at the University of California, Berkeley. "Dr. Hoyer will provide Mydecine strategic support with the entire process of drug discovery from target conception, through drug design and selection of clinical candidates. He will be instrumental to our R&D efforts at our Innovation center in Denver as well as the University of Alberta," added Mydecine CEO Josh Bartch. About Mydecine Innovations Group Inc. Mydecine Innovations Group is a life sciences company dedicated to the development and commercialization of adaptive pathway medicines, natural health products and digital health solutions. Mydecine's experienced cross functional teams have the capabilities to oversee all areas of drug development including synthesis, drug delivery system development, clinical trial execution, through to product commercialization and marketing. By leveraging strategic partnerships with scientific, medical, military, and clinical organizations Mydecine is at the forefront of the efficient development of psychedelic derived medicines and therapeutic solutions. Our trailblazing portfolio of companies is focused on providing innovative and effective treatment options that can help millions of people live healthier lives. For further information about Mydecine Innovations Group Inc., please consult the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or visit the Company's website at http://mydecine.com/ . For further information about We Are Kured, please visit their website at www.wearekured.com. The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof. This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to completion of planned improvements at both the Canadian and US sites on schedule and on budget, the availability of financing needed to complete the Company's planned improvements on commercially reasonable terms, planned occupancy by the tenant-growers, commencement of operations, differences in yield on expected harvests, delays in obtaining statutory approval for marijuana production plans, issues that may arise throughout the grow period, outdoor crops affected by weather, the ability to mitigate the risk of loss through appropriate insurance policies, and the risks presented by federal statutes that may contradict local and state legislation respecting legalized marijuana. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell securities and the Company is not soliciting an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. These securities have not and will not be registered under 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 a U.S. Person unless so registered, or an exemption from registration is relied upon. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Joshua Bartch Corporate Communications For Further Information Contact Chief Executive Officer 250-488-6728 BRASILIA (dpa-AFX) - Brazilian financial services platform XP Inc. (XP) announced Tuesday the acquisition of a majority stake in Antecipa, a digital platform for the financing of receivables. The company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. The completion of the acquisition is subject to certain conditions, including prior authorization from the Central Bank of Brazil. Through its platform, Antecipa integrates buyers and suppliers, enabling credit transactions between companies without a bank serving as an intermediary. This removes the banking spread and minimize related costs. With the acquisition, XP expects to further expand its product range and reinforce its presence in the Small to Medium Enterprise or SME and corporate segments in Brazil. The company noted that Antecipa's founders will maintain independence in managing the business. 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. HELSINKI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Metsa Wood's Hybrid City Challenge called for ways to make construction more sustainable, while maintaining efficiency using current building methods. The answer lies in hybrid construction: modular construction practically combining wood and other construction materials. The Hybrid City Challenge gathered some 40 ideas from 22 countries. The winner of the first prize of 10,000 was a design called "WHAT IF New York's SEAGRAM Building was a HYBRID building", by Colombian architect Jose Gustavo Garzon. The design presents a hybrid system with a core made of concrete and steel. When moving outwards and upwards, the frame gradually blends into a wooden frame. The jury had the difficult task of selecting the winners from the suggestions. "The competition was of a very high standard. In the top 10, many great innovations and ideas were presented that on their own would be extremely interesting in any context," says the chairman of the jury Jussi Bjorman, Director, Technical Customer Service at Metsa Wood. The challenge was to select a structure, module or concept used in an existing multi-storey building made of non-wooden materials and redesign it by replacing some of the materials with wood. The criteria for selecting the winners were: 1.) efficiency - a modular solution compatible with current building methods; and 2.) sustainability - using Metsa Wood's Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) as the main material. "The winning solution shows good understanding of different materials and makes use of their best properties to create an optimal combination. The system is a construction method with great potential for high-rise buildings in the future," Bjorman remarks. "The Hybrid City Challenge is an inspiring exercise to explore the smarter combination of building materials and systems in creating sustainable, durable and high-performance buildings, according to the complexity of the industry," says winner, Jose Gustavo Garzon. "Hybrid construction - mixing concrete, steel and indoor wood - offers the most promising opportunities in the coming years, and I think it will be the standard for high-rise buildings." The second prizes of 5,000 were awarded to "Alexandra Road Estate Reimagined", by Frederick Pittman and "Villa Mokum, mostly wood, some steel and a concrete base", by Jasper Middelberg. The construction sector alone uses 50% of the world's resources and causes 30% of all CO2 emissions. At the same time, we are forced to build at breakneck speed to support the ever-growing need for housing - while keeping costs low. And then there's the environment All construction materials have their benefits. But wood is the only renewable construction material, and it also stores carbon. We need to find ways to use wood more. Hybrid structures offer an opportunity to use more wood in construction without disrupting the existing processes, making the change easier. The competition designs offer practical approaches to how the construction industry can gradually move forwards with more sustainable urban construction. See all the competition designs at Opensourcewood.com See the details of the winning designs: "WHAT IF New York's SEAGRAM Building was a HYBRID building", by Jose Gustavo Garzon . SEAGRAM Building was a HYBRID building", by . "Alexandra Road Estate Reimagined", by Frederick Pittman "Villa Mokum, mostly wood, some steel and a concrete base", by Jasper Middelberg . Read more about the Plan B: Hybrid City initiative. Images: https://databank.metsagroup.com/l/SwNFtGFMZ2Vd For more information, please contact: Viivi Kylama, Marketing Manager, Metsa Wood tel. +358-40-820-9850, viivi.kylama@metsagroup.com For press information in UK, please contact: Matt Trace, Director, Defero Communications tel. 07828663988, matt@deferouk.co.uk This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/metsa-wood/r/hybrid-city-competition-results-offer-solutions-to-improve-both-sustainability-and-efficiency,c3144974 The following files are available for download: BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Greece producer prices declined at a softer pace in May, data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed on Tuesday. The producer prices index declined 11.8 percent year-on-year in May, following a 13.9 percent fall in April. On an annual basis, producer prices in the domestic market and non-domestic market decreased by 7.6 percent and 24.5 percent, respectively, in May. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 1.8 percent in May, after a 4.1 percent decrease in the prior month. Separate data from the statistical office showed that the retail sales declined 24.7 percent year-on-year in April, following a 0.7 percent decrease in March. On a monthly basis, retail sales declined 26.5 percent in April, after a 0.1 percent rise in the preceding month. 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. New funds bring total capital raised to more than $7 billion since the start of 2019 Summit Partners, a global alternative investment firm, today announced the first and final closings of two funds with combined capital commitments of $2.2 billion. Summit Partners Europe Growth Equity Fund III closed at its hard cap with 1.1 billion in total commitments and will target equity investments between 20 and 70 million in Europe-based companies. Summit Partners Venture Capital Fund V also closed at its hard cap with $1.0 billion in commitments and will target equity investments of $10 to $60 million in growth stage companies based primarily in North America. Both funds were significantly oversubscribed. "For more than 35 years, Summit Partners has served as the partner of choice for category-leading growth companies. With our latest Europe and Venture Capital funds, we will continue to leverage our deep sector knowledge, our extensive global network, and our platform of value enhancement resources to support the needs of our portfolio companies and their leadership teams," said Peter Chung, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the firm. "In the midst of tremendous disruption around the world in recent months, we are deeply grateful for the ongoing trust of our limited partners and their steadfast support of the Summit Partners growth equity strategy." With more than 100 investment professionals across offices in Boston, Menlo Park and London, Summit Partners makes both minority and majority investments primarily in profitable, growing companies across select industry sectors, including technology, healthcare, financial technology and services, consumer products and business services. Summit Partners offers capital, experience and dedicated resources to help the firm's portfolio companies accelerate growth and build businesses of enduring value. Since the firm's inception in 1984, Summit Partners has raised more than $31 billion. In addition, Summit Partners today announced that Melanie Whelan has joined the firm as a Managing Director focused on investment opportunities in high-growth consumer and technology-enabled services. Prior to Summit Partners, Ms. Whelan served as CEO of SoulCycle. Under her leadership, the company grew from eight New York City-based studios to nearly 100 studios in 18 markets across three countries and launched a vertically integrated, direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform and an audience-expanding media engine. Most recently, Ms. Whelan served as a member of Summit Partners' Executive-in-Residence program. She holds a BA in engineering and economics from Brown University and is a member of the Aspen Institute's 2018 class of Henry Crown Fellows. "During her time as an Executive-in-Residence, Melanie has demonstrated a unique combination of distinguished brand- and company-building experience, deep subject matter knowledge and strong leadership capability. As a senior member of the investment team, she will further enhance our ability to support what we view to be category-leading companies and entrepreneurs across the consumer, business services and technology-enabled services landscape," said Mr. Chung. About Summit Partners Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm that is currently managing more than $21 billion in capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors and has invested in more than 500 companies in technology, healthcare and other growth industries. These companies have completed more than 140 public equity offerings, and more than 200 have been acquired through strategic mergers and sales. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world. For more information, please see www.summitpartners.com or follow on LinkedIn. In the United States of America, Summit Partners operates as an SEC-registered investment advisor. In the United Kingdom, this document is issued by Summit Partners LLP, a firm authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Summit Partners LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC388179 and its registered office is at 11-12 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1JJ, UK. This document is intended solely to provide information regarding Summit Partners' potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005202/en/ Contacts: Meg Devine mdevine@summitpartners.com +1 617.824 1047 Investment signals growing need for Upsolver's cloud-native solution Upsolver tripled overall company ARR in one year, seeing increased demand during pandemic Upsolver, which provides software that eliminates the high engineering overhead of operating cloud data lakes, raised $13 million in Series A financing. Vertex Ventures US led the round with participation from new investor Wing Venture Capital (Wing) and existing investor Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP). The investment signals a growing need for Upsolver's cloud-native solution. Upsolver has tripled overall company ARR and seen increased demand during the pandemic, having low churn, and significant expansions amongst customers. Modern enterprises use cloud data lakes to analyze large volumes of structured and unstructured data by breaking the traditional database into three pieces: storage, compute, and metadata. This separation dramatically reduces both cost and dependency on one database vendor, but it introduces a new engineering complexity each piece must get configured, optimized, and synchronized with the rest. This time-consuming and cost-prohibitive process could historically only be completed by big data engineers who code and operate open source software like Apache Spark or Hadoop. "Big data engineers are a unicorn hire," said Ori Rafael, Upsolver's CEO and co-founder. "They should spend their time solving an organization's hardest data problems instead of performing repetitive tasks like job orchestration, ETLs, and IT management. Upsolver helps automate repetitive tasks with a powerful tool that can be used by existing data practitioners. Our customers see an average of 95% reduction in the data lake management effort." In Sik Rhee, General Partner and co-founder at Vertex Ventures US, who founded Opsware (acquired by HP for $1.6 billion) and made early-stage investments in both Cloudera and Couchbase, will join Upsolver's board of directors and so will Gadi Porat, Partner at JVP. Additional investors include Wing, which made an early-stage investment in Snowflake, Jeff Rothschild, founder of Veritas and First Senior Technology Executive at Facebook, and Sohaib Abbasi, former CEO and Chairman of Informatica. "We see Upsolver creating a cloud-native standard for data lake computing," said Rhee. "Upsolver succeeded in abstracting away the engineering complexity of data pipeline management so that enterprise customers can quickly solve their modern data challenges in real time and at any scale, without having to build another silo of expertise within the organization." Upsolver founders Ori Rafael and Yoni Eini first met in Israeli intelligence, where Rafael was Head of Data Integration Platforms, and Eini was CTO of a large data science group. They came up with the idea for Upsolver while struggling with a data lake they built for advertising optimization. Being their users from the start has led to their product's success. Upsolver's status as an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) Advanced Technology Partner also fueled its momentum. Through the APN program, Upsolver's platform gets deployed and bought via the AWS marketplace. The Upsolver platform natively plugs into services like AWS Athena and Redshift, making it easy to set up a data lake on AWS. Upsolver is the only partner formally recommended to customers by AWS Athena, as listed on the product page. Upsolver has raised a total of $17 million to date, with a global team working across Israel, California, and New York. Its customers include Asurion, Cox Automotive, IronSource, Sisense, and more. Upsolver will use the funds to expand its R&D and Sales teams and enhance its multi-cloud capabilities. About Vertex Ventures US Vertex US is an early-stage venture capital firm that backs companies transforming industries through software and data. With investments including LaunchDarkly, PerimeterX, and Desktop Metal, Vertex US brings pioneering experience to pioneering enterprises. In Sik Rhee and Jonathan Heiliger co-founded Vertex US in 2015. For more information, visit vertexventures.com About Wing Venture Capital Founded in 2013, Wing works with ambitious founders to enable the Modern Enterprise, which is an agile workplace built on data and powered by AI. We invest early, before it's obvious, leading Seed and Series A financings and engaging deeply with our signature company-building skills and resources. The current Wing portfolio includes some of today's most important enterprise technology companies such as Snowflake, Cohesity and Gong. About Jerusalem Venture Partners Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), an internationally renowned venture capital fund, founded and led by Dr. Erel Margalit. JVP has raised $1.4 billion, has built over 140 companies, and has been listed numerous times by Preqin, as one of the top-ten consistently performing VC firms worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005301/en/ Contacts: Shelby Corradino upsolver@tablepr.co 30 June 2020 Disclosure of Report on Payments to Governments In compliance with Section 4.3A. MediaContacts: Sergey Dorofeev Anastasiya Gromova Tatiana Smirnova Public Relations Phone: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196) Investor Contacts: Ilya Popov Investor Relations Phone: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252) Background Information Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It owns transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic port terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acron's subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining leases and an exploration permit for ten parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty, one of the largest chemical producers in Europe. In 2019, the Group sold 7.6 million tonnes of the main products to 78 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets. In 2019, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 114,835 million (USD 1,774 million) and net profit of RUB 24,786 million (USD 383 million). Acron's shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs over 11,000 people. For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en. Third-party audited Global 7500 Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) published by the International EPD System provides detailed information about the aircraft's life cycle environmental footprint The multiple award-winning Global 7500 aircraft isthe largest and longest-range business jet in the industry, offering Bombardier's signature smooth ride and an unrivalled cabin experience MONTREAL, June 30, 2020. The Global 7500 aircraft EPD is third-party verified to the highest international ISO standards1. It discloses fully transparent environmental information about the product's life cycle, such as CO 2 emissions, noise, water consumption and other key environmental impact indicators. Bombardier has committed to communicating the environmental performance of all new aircraft programs through EPDs. The publication of the Global 7500 aircraft EPD is an important milestone in the advancement of Bombardier Aviation's overarching environmental sustainability strategy, which encompasses increasing the adoption of Sustainable Alternative Fuels (SAF), reducing CO 2 footprint, enhancing aircraft recyclability, and sustainably sourcing, all as a part of its Eco-Design approach and in support of industry-wide carbon reduction goals. "We are proud to collaborate with Bombardier in its effort to provide full transparency about the environmental performance of its Global 7500 jet from a life cycle perspective. With the publication of the first business jet EPD in our system, Bombardier is striving to provide customers and stakeholders with the full environmental picture. The EPD is third-party verified and complies with the globally accepted ISO standards - ISO 14025 and related - for type III environmental declarations," said Sebastiaan Stiller, Director Business, The International EPD System. The Bombardier Eco-Design team applied its product innovation life cycle process throughout the development of the Global 7500 aircraft to minimize the jet's impact on the environment, from the design and manufacture of the aircraft to end-of-life. The Global 7500 aircraft is the first business jet conceived with this approach. The Global 7500 aircraft EPD is also the outcome of years of collaboration with Bombardier's supply chain, a rigorous analysis from the program's outset and robust certification process completed throughout 2019. "The EPD for the Global 7500 business jet embodies Bombardier's commitment both to the environment and to the sustainable advancement of the aviation industry," said David Coleal, President, Bombardier Aviation. "We are thrilled to offer a comprehensive environmental footprint and performance overview of the Global 7500 aircraft throughout its life cycle. By making this information available to our stakeholders, including operators, this EPD supports the business aviation industry's broader approach to fight climate change through clear, transparent goals and associated multipronged plans that encompass technology and sustainable fuels." Bombardier designed the state-of-the-art Global 7500 business jet using best-in-class technologies. The Global 7500 aircraft is powered by the all-new GE Passport engine, incorporating advanced technologies and materials to improve durability, deliver a lower noise output and improved fuel consumption. Additionally, its new high-speed transonic wing cuts down on drag, reduces fuel burn, and lowers emissions, offering a smooth ride, as well as excellent short-field and high-speed performance. Since its entry-into-service, the Global 7500 business jet has proven itself to be the highest-performing aircraft in the industry. With unmatched speed and range capabilities, the Global 7500 aircraft continues to blaze the trail in this new market segment, setting the bar for unprecedented excellence and performance in the world of business aviation. Winner of the 2019 Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award, and recipient of the 2019 Robb Report Best of the Best Business Jet of the Year Award and the 2018 Red Dot Award for Product Design, the Global 7500 aircraft offers Bombardier's signature smooth ride and a spaciousness that is unique among business jets, setting the benchmark for the most exceptional cabin interior. About the International EPD System The International EPD System is a program for voluntary and transparent communication of the life cycle environmental impact of goods and services. With more than 15 years of experience, and a library consisting of certified environmental product declarations from 31 countries, EPD serves as a credible choice for B2B and B2C communication based on ISO 14025 and other international standards. The program operator of the International EPD System is EPD International AB, registered in Sweden. About Bombardier With nearly 60,000 employees across two business segments, Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, creating innovative and game-changing planes and trains. Our products and services provide world-class transportation experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in over 25 countries across the segments of Aviation and Transportation. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier. Notes to Editors Visit the Bombardier Business Aircraft website for more information on our industry-leading products and services. Follow @Bombardierjets on Twitter to receive the latest news and updates from Bombardier Business Aircraft. To receive our press releases, please visit the RSS Feed section. For Information Mark Masluch Bombardier Aviation + 1 514-855-7167 Mark.Masluch@aero.bombardier.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0130b7a3-3e5c-4af5-8542-cbec0dfea2eb CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / CannaPharmaRx, Inc. (OTC PINK:CPMD) a future leader in ultramodern, highly efficient cannabis production facilities in Canada, announced that they have filed their first quarter 2020 Financials for the quarter ending March 31, 2020. During the first quarter of 2020, the company remained a non-revenue generating company as it had been in 2019. As of March 31, 2020, the company had $83,197 cash on hand, compared to $1,547 on December 31, 2019. This increase is largely due to interest free loans totaling $215,158 from a director and the Company CEO. Deferred salaries from some officers and employees have contributed to this number as well. Total operating expenses increased from $946,923 during Q1 2019 to $2,570,009 during Q1 2020. This is primarily because of a $1,881,126 acquisition expense. Net loss increased to $4,214,818 from $1,068,669 in the comparable quarter of 2019. This was the result of the higher acquisition expense, as well as non-cash change in the fair value of derivative liability in the amount of $925,484. Net loss increased from .05 during Q1 2019 to .12 during Q1 2020 due to these one-time expenses. To view the entire filing, please visit www.sec.gov. Operational Highlights: Activities to date have centered around three projects including the Hanover Project, the Great Northern Project and additional acquisitions. The company anticipates closing one or more of these additional investments during the current quarter. The company has continued to acquire an ownership position in GN Ventures, Ltd. (aka Great Northern Canada, Ltd.), a company also involved the production of cannabis in Canada. Based upon various discussions that have taken place, the company anticipates making additional purchases from other shareholders during the remainder of 2020. GN owns a 60,000 square foot cannabis cultivation and grow facility located on 38 acres in Stevensville, Ontario, Canada. GN estimates total production capacity from the facility to be up to 12,500 kilograms of cannabis. On July 5, 2019, the company received a license to cultivate from the Canadian Ministry of Health. As a result, in October 2019, GN began cultivation activities, with the initial harvest in Q1 2020. GN intends to increase production by further developing adjacent land. The facility gained as part of the Alternative Medical Solutions (the Hanover Project) acquisition is a 48,750 square foot cannabis grow facility built on a 6.7 acre parcel of land located in Hanover, Ontario, Canada. Currently, the exterior construction of the building has been completed; however, no interior construction has begun. Upon full completion, the facility will provide annual production of 9500 kilograms of cannabis. CannaPharmaRx continues towards their goal of reviewing and researching multiple new acquisition and development opportunities within the area of cultivation and genetics. "As mentioned in a prior release, we are entering our revenue growth phase. The company is beginning to make progress towards becoming a leader in the cannabis production and extraction industry. We anticipate many solid developments to materialize during the summer. We believe that we further validate ourselves with the closing of additional acquisitions. We are continuing to work diligently to uplist to the OTCQB as quickly as possible," stated Nick Colvin, CEO of CannaPharmaRx. About CannaPharmaRx, Inc. CannaPharmaRx is focused on the acquisition and development of state-of-the-art cannabis grow facilities located in Canada. CPMD owns a 48,500 square foot cannabis grow facility presently under development and is currently in discussion with other companies regarding potential acquisitions. CannaPharmaRx's business strategy is to become a leader in high quality and low-cost production of cannabis through the development, acquisition and enhancement of existing facilities. CannaPharmaRx is committed to operating high quality facilities utilizing the latest technology in combined heat and power generation to ensure being a low-cost producer of cannabis. CannaPharmaRx is in the process of completing an application to list its common stock on the Canadian Stock Exchange with initial trading anticipated to being during the third quarter of 2020. Safe Harbor Statement Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information or Statements This press release contains forward-looking information or statements. All statements that are or information which is 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 information or statements". Forward-looking information or statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. With respect to forward-looking information and statements contained herein, Management of CannapharmaRx has made numerous assumptions including, among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and 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 information or statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information or statements. 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 information or statements. CannapharmaRx assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or statements, even if new information becomes available as a result of future events, new information or for any other reason except as required by law. Contact Information: CannaPharmaRx Contact Attention: Richard Brown Ness Capital & Consulting rbrown@nesscc.com (978) 767-0048 Brokers and Analysts: Chesapeake Group (410) 825-3930 info@chesapeakegp.com SOURCE: CannaPharmaRx, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595688/CannaPharmaRx-Inc-Reports-First-Quarter-2020-Financials Texas Supreme Court awards father full custody of daughter in landmark parental rights case Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Setting a major precedent for future parental rights cases in Texas, the state Supreme Court on Friday awarded a father full custody of his 5-year-old daughter, reversing a district court's decision to give joint custody to a man who's unrelated to the child. The Texas Supreme Court reaffirmed the longstanding constitutional rules that parents are presumed to be fit and that the actions of fit parents are presumed to be in the best interests of their children, said Texas Home School Coalition, the group that supported the biological father, identified as Chris, who was awarded full custody of his daughter, Ann. Anns mother had died in a car accident two years earlier. Shortly after her death, the man that Anns mother had been dating and was briefly engaged to at the time sued Chris for custody of the child. Chris had been fighting the decision made by a lower court to grant the unrelated man, identified as J.D., custody of Ann over Chris objections. Texas' Supreme Court overturned the lower court's ruling, and squarely rejected the unrelated mans argument that the law does not presume that Chris has a right to raise Ann, the Texas Home School Coalition said. My daughter doesnt know him. She lived with him cumulatively under six months, the father said in an earlier social media video about his ex-wifes fiance. I thought that as the biological father, I [should] win. We learned quickly, that is not the case. National parental rights activists have paid close attention to the case centered around the basic question: Should a fit father be forced to share custody of his daughter with an unrelated man? Some advocates feared that a ruling against the biological father by the Texas Supreme Court could set a dangerous precedent on the rights of biological parents to object to non-relatives who want visitation rights and custody rights over their children. In July 2019, Chris had filed an emergency appeal to the Fort Worth Court of Appeals to strike down the lower courts ruling on grounds that it violated his constitutional rights as a parent. However, his request was denied. So the argument being made is that because [the fiance] cohabitated with the daughter for between five and six months, cumulatively, that he developed a strong enough relationship with her that he should be entitled to custody of her, Jeremy Newman, the Texas groups director of public policy, told The Christian Post at the time. And in the arguments on top of that is that not only is he entitled to custody, but when he makes that request, he doesnt have to overcome any type of constitutional presumption in favor of the father. Since the parents separation in 2016, the mother and father had shared 50/50 custody of their child even though the mother had sought a modification to the agreement before her death. Since her passing, the child had spent most of her time living with her father as he had battled in court to keep full custody. Initially, after the mothers death, the maternal grandparents filed for joint custody of their grandchild in July 2018. The mothers fiance also filed for joint custody a month later. The grandparents request for joint custody was denied in court because they were unable to prove that the father was an unfit parent. However, the trial court had granted the fiance joint custody of Ann on May 8, 2019. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - J. C. PENNEY COMPANY, INC. reported that, for the three months ended May 2, 2020, loss per share was $1.69 compared to a loss of $0.48, previous year. Total net sales declined to $1.08 billion from $2.44 billion. The company cautioned investors and potential investors not to rely upon the first quarter financial statements, as they were not prepared for the purpose of providing any basis for an investment decision relating to any of the securities of the company. For the month ended June 6, 2020, the company reported a loss per share of $0.46 compared to a loss of $0.03, last year. Total net sales declined year-on-year to $266 million from $1.00 billion. Also, the company cautioned not to rely upon the May 2020 monthly information. On May 20, 2020, NYSE Regulation, Inc. filed a Form 25 with the SEC to delist J. C. Penney Company, Inc.'s common stock from the New York Stock Exchange. The deregistration will be effective 90 days, or such shorter period as the SEC may determine, after filing of the Form 25. 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. Businesses Seeking Easy Communication Across Any Device Are Driving Global Momentum and Adoption Avaya Holdings Corp. (NYSE: AVYA) and RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) today announced the global expansion and general availability of Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral in Australia, Canada, and the UK along with the availability of several key new features and capabilities including tools to help migrate customers more efficiently and effectively. Avaya Cloud Office is experiencing rapid global customer adoption, enhancing the way organizations communicate with customers, partners and with colleagues through an all-in-one solution that delivers seamless collaboration across multiple channels. Communication delivered via a single platform is increasingly important as 85 percent of companies use two or more disparate collaboration applications to meet customer and end-user requirements.1 By enabling voice calls, team messaging, meetings, conferencing and file sharing in a single solution, Avaya Cloud Office reduces cost and complexity while empowering workforces to call, meet and message across any device from wherever they are. Today's announcement highlights the continued expansion of Avaya Cloud Office to more countries and customers around the globe. For example, the CIUSSS Est-de-l'Ile-de-Montreal (or CEMTL), a Canadian healthcare and social services provider with 15,000 employees across two hospitals, one university institute, eight clinics and fifteen long term care facilities turned to Avaya to power their communication needs. "Avaya Cloud Office demonstrates the true value of UCaaS and enables us to act quickly and stay engaged across our locations, in particular during the COVID-19 crisis when effective and efficient communications and collaboration are critical and not an option. Avaya Cloud Office enables our team to collaborate seamlessly across locations and devices to better focus on the needs of our customers. Additionally, the deployment was fast and effortless, literally within hours we were up and running." "The way we work continues to change as we see real examples of digital transformation accelerating rapidly across businesses of all sizes," said Dennis Kozak, SVP, Business Transformation, Avaya. "Nothing is more critical to a business than communications and we have seen unprecedented uptake of our collaboration solutions as a result of the new working environment we are all experiencing. Organizations of all kinds are quickly adopting solutions that provide a single integrated platform to seamlessly manage communications with customers and employees, across multiple devices." Since its introduction in March, new features, including additional migration tools, enhanced devices support, along with advanced telephony management and other capabilities have been added to Avaya Cloud Office including: Expanded support for Avaya endpoint devices to ensure users have the solution that suits their needs. The additional device support also extends the rich meeting capabilities of Avaya Cloud Office into conference rooms, providing high fidelity sound quality. Migration tools and features to facilitate the transition of customers on previous Avaya UC premise-based platforms to Avaya Cloud Office, enabling them to seamlessly enjoy the feature rich UCaaS capabilities of calling, meetings, messaging and more all based in the cloud. Additional features like Call Park and Page that allow customers to transition from existing Avaya platforms without changing the current processes they use every day. Over 130 integrations on the Avaya Cloud Office App Gallery leveraging desktop software tools, like Google Docs or Office 365, that people use frequently, creating a seamless experience that eliminates the need to switch between applications. "It is now more important than ever before that vendors in Unified Communications Collaboration are able to provide UCaaS for clients both new and potential," said Oru Mohiuddin, Research Manager Enterprise Communications Collaboration, IDC. "According to IDC Europe forecast, UCaaS will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 23.3 percent between 2019 and 2022, which is higher than the 17.1 percent anticipated during the pre-COVID-19 period. IDC is seeing similar trends in places like Canada and Australia as well. This is to facilitate remote collaboration as working from home becomes the new norm in the post crisis period. It is, however, not just enough to provide UCaaS it needs to be customizable, flexible, modular, agile, frictionless, scalable, omnichannel and secure to cater to the varying needs of enterprises." Further demonstrating market momentum, Avaya Cloud Office recently won CUSTOMER Magazine's 2020 Unified Communications Product of the Year Award honoring the most innovative unified communications products and solutions available over the past year. "Organizations need modern cloud communications solutions to remain connected and accelerate business outcomes," said Anand Eswaran, President and Chief Operating Officer, RingCentral. "Avaya Cloud Office enables businesses to keep moving forward and helps ensure that customers have the necessary solutions at their fingertips to connect, communicate, and collaborate effectively. Ever since we launched in the US market, we have seen tremendous uptick for Avaya Cloud Office by the extensive and trusted ecosystem that Avaya has nurtured for many years." Also announced today is an Avaya Cloud Office promotional offer, providing customers who sign up now with a full free month of service and 20 percent discount. Customers will get free Basic Avaya Cloud Office Implementation, discounts on Avaya Cloud Office Professional Migration Services, and discounts on select desk phones. The promotion details and further conditions can be found here. Avaya also recently announced master agent partnerships to meet the growing global demand for Avaya Cloud Office including: Australia CommsPlus Canada SYNNEX Corporation Telarus Canada UK ScanSource Westcon UK Avant Additional Resources Read our blog, Improving Customer and Employee Experiences with UCaaS Learn more about what are driving trends in UCaaS. 1TalkingPointz Research Note, "The Firstline/deskless Opportunity 2019", by Dave Michels, July 2019 About Avaya Businesses are built on the experiences they provide, and every day millions of those experiences are built by Avaya (NYSE: AVYA). For over one hundred years, we've enabled organizations around the globe to win by creating intelligent communications experiences for customers and employees. Avaya builds open, converged and innovative solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration in the cloud, on-premise or a hybrid of both. To grow your business, we're committed to innovation, partnership, and a relentless focus on what's next. We're the technology company you trust to help you deliver Experiences that Matter. Visit us at https://www.avaya.com 2020 Avaya Holdings Corp. All rights reserved. Avaya, Avaya Cloud Office and the Avaya logo are trademarks of Avaya Holdings Corp. About RingCentral RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG) is a leading provider of global enterprise cloud communications, collaboration, and contact center solutions. More flexible and cost-effective than legacy on-premises systems, RingCentral empowers modern mobile and distributed workforces to communicate, collaborate, and connect from any location, on any device, and via any mode. RingCentral provides unified voice, video meetings, team messaging, digital customer engagement, and integrated contact center solutions for enterprises globally. RingCentral's open platform integrates with leading business apps and enables customers to easily customize business workflows. RingCentral is headquartered in Belmont, California, and has offices around the world. 2020 RingCentral, Inc. All rights reserved. RingCentral and the RingCentral logo are trademarks of RingCentral, Inc. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document contains certain "forward-looking statements", including but not limited to, statements regarding the anticipated impact and benefits of Avaya Cloud Office. All statements other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking" statements for purposes of the U.S. federal and state securities laws. These statements may be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "our vision," "plan," "potential," "preliminary," "predict," "should," "will," or "would" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. RingCentral and Avaya have based these forward-looking statements on their current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While RingCentral and Avaya believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond their control. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including risks related to the parties' ability to successfully perform their obligations under the commercial arrangement, the parties ability to successfully market, sell and transition customers to Avaya Cloud Office, as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed in RingCentral's and Avaya's respective Annual Reports on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") available at www.sec.gov. RingCentral and Avaya caution you that the list of important factors included in their respective filings may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you. In addition, in light of these risks and uncertainties, the matters referred to in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release may not in fact occur. Neither RingCentral nor Avaya undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. Source: Avaya Newsroom View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005313/en/ Contacts: Alex Alias, Avaya alalias@avaya.com Jyotsna Grover, Ring Central Jyotsna.grover@ringcentral.com BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Austria's producer prices continued to decline in May, figures from Statistics Austria showed on Tuesday. The producer price index declined 2.7 percent year-on-year in May, following a 2.4 percent fall in April. The decline in producer prices was mainly driven by a fall in energy prices and intermediate goods by 10.3 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, prices for capital goods rose 0.9 percent in May and those for consumer goods increased 1.1 percent. On a monthly basis, producer prices fell 0.5 percent in May, following a 0.8 percent decrease in the preceding month. 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. ABI Research's global team of analysts are sharing their insights in immersive webinars, exclusive roundtables, collaborative panel discussions, and personalized one-on-one strategy sessions OYSTER BAY, New York, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 5G technology was beginning to revolutionize markets, industries, and companies across the globe, and then the COVID-19 pandemic started. 5G will quickly gain momentum in the post-COVID-19 world, but now there are strategies that need to be reshaped, plans that need to be adjusted, and questions that need to be answered. To help facilitate this critically important flow of information, global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research, is pleased to announce its three-day online 5G Technology Summit from July 14-16. "After receiving many inquiries on the state of 5G in the wake of COVID-19 and following the success of our recent Digital Tech Summit, we're once again bringing all our analysts together with prominent industry experts to share their insights in a series of immersive webinars exclusive roundtables, and collaborative panel discussions. We are also offering complimentary one-on-one online strategy sessions. The 5G Technology Summit will help businesses across all verticals gain valuable 5G technology intelligence to devise marketing strategies, optimize technology investments, and more," says Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research officer at ABI Research. Intel's Asha Keddy, Sequans' Dr. George Karam, CNET's Brian Cooley, Nokia's Arnaud Legrand, Telefonica's Dr. Diego Lopez, and Harman's Vishnu Sundaram are just a few of many panel speakers joining ABI Research Analysts. A full list of speakers can be found here. Immersive Webinars: Our team of expert analysts will offer detailed insights into the state of 5G, including as it relates to key enterprises, markets, opportunities, and technologies. Immersive Webinars will cover topics such as: COVID-19 and the Impact on 5G Deployments, 5G and Private Networks, the 5G APAC Market post-COVID-19, 5G for the IoT, and 5G in Industrial Manufacturing. Exclusive Roundtables: Attendees can share their thoughts, get answers to their questions, and network with industry peers in intimate, Chatham House Rules roundtable discussions. Potential topics include: Vertical Market Opportunities for 5G and Private Cellular, Kickstarting the APAC 5G Market, 5G Devices, and 5G Network Security. Collaborative Panel Discussions: Attendees will get expert guidance on every angle of 5G, as our analysts and guests answer critical questions and provide their unique perspective on 5G. Topics include: Telcos Vs. Webscale in the Race for 5G Edge Computing, 5G and Telco Cloud Market Innovation, 5G as Part of a Technology Nexus: AR, VR, Smart Cities, EVs and Autonomous Vehicles, and Robotics. For more information, and to register for ABI Research's 5G Technology Summit, go to https://summit.abiresearch.com/5g/. The detailed agenda can be found here. About ABI Research ABI Research provides strategic guidance to visionaries, delivering actionable intelligence on the transformative technologies that are dramatically reshaping industries, economies, and workforces across the world. ABI Research's global team of analysts publish groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms, empowering our clients to stay ahead of their markets and their competitors. ABI Research?????????????,?????????????? ?1990???,????????????????,????,?????????????????????????? ???????????????? For more information about ABI Research's services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visit www.abiresearch.com. Contact Info: Global Deborah Petrara Tel: +1.516.624.2558 pr@abiresearch.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/276887/abi_research_logo.jpg ANKARA (dpa-AFX) - Turkey's trade deficit widened in May amid solid declines in both exports and imports, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed on Tuesday. The trade deficit increased to $3.42 billion in May from $1.69 billion in the same month last year. In April, the trade deficit was $4.6 billion. Exports declined 40.9 percent annually in May and imports decreased 27.8 percent. On a seasonally and calendar adjusted basis, exports increased 23.9 percent in May and imports rose by 9.6 percent from the previous month. Calendar adjusted exports decreased 31.2 percent and imports declined by 16.7 percent from a year ago. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INO) announced positive interim clinical data of INO-4800, its vaccine candidate against novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, from the first two Phase 1 clinical trial cohorts. INO-4800 regimen was deemed safe and well-tolerated with no serious adverse events. All reported adverse events were grade 1 in severity, the company said in statement. However, in Tuesday pre-market trade, INO is trading at $28.20 down $3.49 or 11.01 percent. In pre-clinical animal challenge study, INO-4800 provided full protection against SARS-CoV-2 replication in the lungs in mice challenged with the virus, the company said. The Phase 1 clinical trial of INO-4800 initially enrolled 40 healthy adult volunteers 18 to 50 years of age at two U.S. sites with funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. The participants were enrolled into 1.0 mg and 2.0 mg dose cohorts. The company stated that 94% of Phase 1 trial participants demonstrated overall immune responses at Week 6 after two doses of INO-4800 in trial with 40 healthy volunteers in preliminary analyses. One participant in the 1.0 mg dose cohort and two participants in the 2.0 mg dose cohort were excluded in the immune analyses as they tested positive for COVID-19 immune responses at study entry, indicating prior infection. One participant in the 2.0 mg dose cohort discontinued the study for reasons unrelated to safety or tolerability. Meanwhile, INO-4800 has been selected to participate in a non-human primate challenge study as part of the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed, a new national program aiming to provide substantial quantities of safe, effective vaccine for Americans by January 2021. In addition, INOVIO has expanded its Phase 1 trial to add older participants in additional cohorts and plans to initiate a Phase 2/3 efficacy trial this summer upon regulatory concurrence. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX INOVIO PHARMACEUTICALS-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Vow ASA has through its subsidiary Scanship AS been awarded a 7.8-million-euro cruise newbuild contract for the delivery of its advanced technologies for wastewater purification, garbage handling and food waste processing. The Scanship systems will be installed on two mega sized cruise ships entering service in 2026 and 2027, being part of an ongoing 6 ship newbuild program in Italy for one of the larger Miami based shipowners. Scanship has previously entered into contracts for the other ships in the program. "We feel humbled by how the major shipowners and yards are moving forward with a commitment in these disruptive times, and proud to once again being selected as their partner delivering technologies for environmental compliance and cleaner oceans": says Henrik Badin, CEO of Vow ASA in a statement. Henrik Badin - CEO Vow ASA Tel: +47 90 78 98 25 Email: henrik.badin@vowasa.com About Vow ASA In Vow and our subsidiaries Scanship and Etia we are passionate about preventing pollution. Our world leading solutions convert biomass and waste into valuable resources and generate clean energy for a wide range of industries. Cruise ships on every ocean have Vow technology inside which processes waste and purifies wastewater. Fish farmers are adopting similar solutions, and public utilities and industries use our solutions for sludge processing, waste management and biogas production on land. Our ambitions go further than this. With our advanced technologies and solutions, we turn waste into biogenetic fuels to help decarbonize industry and convert plastic waste into fuel, clean energy and high-value pyro carbon. Our solutions are scalable, standardized, patented and thoroughly documented, and our capability to deliver is well proven. They are key to end waste and stop pollution. Located in Oslo, the parent company Vow ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker VOW from 13 January 2020). The Vow group has 120 employees in Norway, France, Poland and the US. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Company valued at more than $1 Billion as record customer growth continues Fivetran, the leading provider of automated data integration, today announced it has raised $100 million in Series C financing, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors CEAS Investments and Matrix Partners. Fivetran will use the funding to accelerate global expansion, drive adoption in the enterprise market, and continue building out the depth and breadth of its data connectors. Total fundraising now stands at $163 million with a current valuation of $1.2 billion. Fivetran solves a key problem faced by companies today: centralizing data for analysis without wasting engineering resources on building and maintaining individual connectors. In a recent survey by Dimensional Research, data analysts reported spending only half their time actually analyzing data, and 68 percent have profit-driving ideas but little time to implement them. More than 60 percent of respondents reported wasting time waiting for engineering resources several times each month and often spending one-third of every workday just trying to access data. Fivetran gives analysts and data engineers more time for value-added work by automating the integration and maintenance of every data pipeline to ensure reliable, accurate access to data. "Fivetran completely changed our data extraction workflow. We save a tremendous amount of time by eliminating the need to build and maintain data pipelines internally," said Evin Anderson, data engineering manager for Autodesk. "Fivetran is helping us scale as we acquire new businesses and grow rapidly. We can now focus on data analysis and science by building out dashboards and a machine-learning infrastructure." Fivetran is growing rapidly, landing new customers quarter over quarter, as well as expanding the use of Fivetran across current customers. From February 2019 February 2020, customers expanded their usage of Fivetran by 150 percent, with rows of data managed growing from 500 billion to nearly 1.3 trillion during the time period. Within the past 12 months, new customer growth has increased by more than 75 percent. The total customer base now stands at over 1,100 companies, including global brands such as BJ's Restaurants, ClassPass, Conagra Brands, Databricks, DocuSign, Forever 21, Lime, Square, Udacity and Urban Outfitters. During the same period, revenue has grown by 129 percent. Based on strong customer reviews, Fivetran earned the 2019 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice distinction in the Data Integration Tool category. Fivetran has also continued to expand around the world, recently opening a new office in Sydney, Australia to continue growing its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region. Fivetran opened new offices in Germany (Munich) and London, and expanded its India operations with a new office in Bengaluru in the past year as well. "From the start, our vision has been to make access to data as simple and reliable as electricity," said George Fraser, CEO of Fivetran. "Besides conducting back-channel calls with customers as part of their fundraising due diligence, every investor cited our Glassdoor reviews and the unique culture we've created at Fivetran. That culture has enabled us to execute consistently since the beginning and is critical as we continue to pull away from the pack in our pursuit to connect every data source and make them all work perfectly." "Fivetran quickly established itself as the clear leader in this incredibly important space and has become the de facto standard for data integration in the modern data stack," said Andreessen Horowitz general partner David George, who leads the firm's growth fund. "They've also continued to perfect their automation process, providing customers with reliable, real-time data. All this, during a period of uncertainty, speaks volumes about just how tremendous this company is and how well the product works." Trevor Oelschig, managing director at General Catalyst Growth, will join the Fivetran board. "When you find a company abstracting away complexity to create a service that's approachable with a fast time-to-value, you know they're on to something. That's exactly what we see with Fivetran," said Oelschig. "Every company needs to be data-informed to compete. Fivetran keeps that data flowing in a transparent, self-serve, and cloud-native way. What we heard over and over again from their customers: Fivetran just works." Visit the Fivetran blog to learn more. About Fivetran Fivetran, the leader in automated data integration, delivers ready-to-use connectors that automatically adapt as schemas and APIs change, ensuring consistent, reliable access to data. Fivetran improves the accuracy of data-driven decisions by continuously synchronizing data from source applications to any destination, allowing analysts to work with the freshest possible data. To accelerate analytics, Fivetran enables in-warehouse transformations and delivers source-specific analytics templates. With more than 1,000 customers, Fivetran is headquartered in Oakland, California, with offices around the globe. For more information, visit www.fivetran.com. To schedule a demo, please visit: https://get.fivetran.com/demo For job inquiries, please visit: https://fivetran.com/careers View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005033/en/ Contacts: Ross Perich, 925-381-6048, press@fivetran.com Insurer goes live with Duck Creek Claims, implemented via Duck Creek OnDemand, to improve efficiency in claims processing, system performance, and customer experiences Boston, June 30, 2020announced today that Mutual Benefit Groupto Duck Creek OnDemand, the provider's SaaS solution for the P&C insurance industry. As part of a broader cloud strategy for its business, the carrier's decision to migrate to Duck Creek OnDemand was driven by a desire for a better operating model that will allow them to shift more resources to direct support of their agents and insureds. A regional carrier in a market saturated by the largest players in the industry, MBG saw this move to SaaS as an opportunity to use technology to help level the playing field. "Moving to a cloud-native, continuously updated, highly secure system is the first step in our journey to an operating platform that will ensure we remain meaningful and competitive in our marketplace," said Adam Solomon, CIO of Mutual Benefit Group. "Our team is adopting a test and learn approach, and we intend to regularly update the system and take advantage of new features as they become available. We're already seeing faster performance improvements and look forward to continued progress toward our goals. This is the first step in our plan for successful migration to an integrated, full-suiteDuck Creek Platform that will provide us long-term viability in an ever-changing world." Duck Creek Claimshelps insurers manage the entire claims lifecycle - from first notice of loss to investigation to settlement - by providing the workflows, reports, integrations, and user experiences that increase the efficiency of claims operations, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce loss costs. OnDemand is Duck Creek's end-to-end SaaS solution, providing all the services, support, and computing resources needed to help carriers move faster and more efficiently than ever before. "We are honored to continue to partner with Mutual Benefit Group on their digital transformation initiatives, and especially to see them fully embracing the many benefits of Duck Creek OnDemandas they partner with us to drive a new paradigm with our SaaS model for Duck Creek Claims," said Bill Bond, Chief Technology Officer of Duck Creek Technologies. "Duck Creek OnDemand keeps MBG current on the latest technologies and offers a significant improvement in their overall security stance, leveraging Duck Creek's SOC I/II compliance and the overall security practices inherent to OnDemand. We appreciate their continued confidence as they move further into the evolving world of digital insurance." About Mutual Benefit Group MBG has been providing home, auto, and commercial insurance since 1908; the carrier works diligently each day to help build and protect its policyholders' economic well-being and provide for their security. MBG is known for its strong relationships with policyholders and agents; for its responsive, friendly, knowledgeable staff; and for claims service that consistently garners a high level of satisfaction, notably 96% based on 2017F policyholder surveys. Learn more at www.mutualbenefitgroup.com. About Duck Creek Technologies Duck Creek Technologies is a leading provider of core system solutions to the P&C and General insurance industry. By accessing Duck Creek OnDemand, the company's enterprise Software-as-a-Service solution, insurance carriers are able to navigate uncertainty and capture market opportunities faster than their competitors. Duck Creek's functionally rich solutions are available on a stand-alone basis or as a full suite, and all are available via Duck Creek OnDemand. For more information, visit www.duckcreek.com. Media Contact: Paul Rechichi Racepoint Global 617-624-3295 prechichi@racepointglobal.com Attachment HOUSTON (dpa-AFX) - ConocoPhillips (COP) said Tuesday it will continue to suspend forward-looking guidance and sensitivities due to the ongoing variability and uncertainty in the outlook for production curtailments. The company announced its estimated production curtailment impacts for the second quarter of 2020. For the second quarter, ConocoPhillips said its curtailments were primarily related to oil production and averaged about 225 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day or MBOED on a net basis. Including impacts from curtailments and planned seasonal turnaround activity, ConocoPhillips expects to report second-quarter production volumes of 960 to 980 MBOED. Excluding Libya and adjusting for closed dispositions and curtailments, the company expects its second-quarter production to be in line with the same period a year ago and also be about 5 percent below the preceding first quarter of 2020. ConocoPhillips is continuing to monitor netback pricing and evaluating curtailments across its operated assets on a month-by-month basis. Based on its economic criteria, the company expects to begin restoring curtailed production in Alaska during the month of July. ConocoPhillips will announce second-quarter operational and financial results on July 30. 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. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Martin Luther King Jr., in the Letter from Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963, wrote, We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. I hold the same opinion today. We are all Americans; more importantly, we are Christians. We are in this together. Our future and our childrens futures are at stake. Evil forces are seeking to dismantle us by destroying our unity. (Sermons on this can be found here.) Christians need to speak up against all forms of racism and injustice when they see or experience them. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented (Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor). As I continue to read the news feeds, my heart immediately goes out to the children being raised in todays environment (many with no fathers to guide them) viewing this world through the dark lens of hopelessness and fear presented in every form of communication around them. But what if we looked through a different lens a biblical lens? Yes, some people used the Bible to support slavery. That was wrong. But evil people have always tried to pervert the Word of God to support their godless agendas. It is happening in our own day with so-called Christians twisting Scripture to support gay marriage and abortion. For example, watch this Fox News clip of me debating a Christian professor about the topic of Jesus being okay with abortion. My hands tremble even writing this. Instead of taking down every statue, why don't we teach history again? Auschwitz stands in Poland for a reason so people will not forget. What if more people knew that many of America's founders were responsible for planting the first seeds of equality and for the eventual end of slavery in America? People who want to incite anger and hatred reject this truth because it doesnt fit their narrative or their agenda that America is evil. What if we remember all the parents who lost sons (more than 300,000 from the Union side alone) fighting for freedom during the Civil War? What if we truly comprehended that we are all made in the image of God without a racial hierarchy? What if we stopped allowing the secular media to shape our thinking and instead got back to the Bible? Philippians 4:8 says, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report . . . think on these things. How are you doing in this area? What if we understood that what some define as racism in the church is not racism at all but preference? We all prefer certain settings and styles of worship. Ethnic groups as well as age groups generally have preferences that are based on experience and upbringing on what is familiar and comfortable. What if we erred on the side of grace and didn't always assume that a person white or black was a racist? What if parents fostered unity instead of promoted division? Racism and division are not inherited; these sinful patterns are taught, and children are influenced heavily by the ideals of their parents. What if we acknowledge that the true source of this conflict is spiritual and that we are in a battle against a common enemy (see Ephesians 6:12)? We Need Spiritual Reform over Social Reform Sadly, those who do not forgive or release bitterness, anger, and hurt never experience freedom, happiness, or true restoration. Ephesians 4:3132 encourages us to let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Without this change of heart, hope is elusive. Advocates of the lie of separation of church and state have held Americans in bondage for far too long. How much longer will we allow their godless agenda to remove God from America? Gods Word must be allowed in all areas, from police precincts to government offices, and from schools to inner cities and state prisons. We need spiritual reform more than social reform. In fact, social reform cannot really happen unless the hearts of individuals that make up that society are changed. Only God can change a cold, unforgiving, bitter heart of stone into a warm, hope-filled heart. We must stop walking on the eggshells of political correctness, and stop seeking collective redemption from the world. God is our only hope! We must repent of personal sin and seek Jesus for personal redemption. He changes us from the inside out, and in turn we change the world around us, sharing with others what God has given us the peace that surpasses all understanding (see Philippians 4:7). A Sin Issue, Not a Skin Issue Sadly, we are now at the point where if you don't agree with someone you are called a racist, and many pastors and leaders have fallen for the deception, some even almost apologizing for being white. Yes, you heard me correctly. I'm alarmed at the silent shepherds and those pastors fueled by anger. It appears that most are putting culture before Christ. The social gospel (which is no gospel at all Paul was clear in his warning in Galatians 1:9) brings rage, division, and self-loathing. The true gospel brings peace and unity. Read the article on the sin of silent pastors here. There is a huge divide in the Christian community over the Black Lives Matter movement. No matter what black leaders such as Ben Carson, Voddie Baucham, Larry Elder, Bishop Harry Jackson, Candace Owens, and Marcus Rodgers say about the negative effects of BLM, it doesn't seem to matter. The Holy Spirit is not divided, so where is the division coming from? We honor the phrase black lives matter because they do matter. We actually want to take it a step further, though, and say #AllBlackLivesMatter and should be honored, from the prevention of innocent children being killed in the womb to the protection of innocent black people and police officers. We want to calm the flames of racism rather than add to them. But we must look at the foundation of what we are promoting since the ends do not always justify the means. Ryan Scott Bomberger, a black community activist, wrote a powerful article here regarding the foundation of Black Lives Matter. All of this begs the question: Cant we care deeply for innocent black lives without agreeing with the BLMs agenda? Yes, of course we can, but that doesnt fit the agenda of those funding and pushing the movement. Their goal is not reconciliation but retaliation. Why not start a movement that focuses on all black lives and centers around reconciliation, restoration, and forgiveness versus Marxism, retaliation, and rage? We are commanded to love one another and to remember that vengeance belongs to the Lord alone (Leviticus 19:18, Romans 12:19). The plea of many of us caught in the middle black and white is that we should not promote an organization that seems to be promoting a new civil war. These are not my words but those of many of my black friends. One BLM leader has even said, If this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down the system, and another co-founder tweeted about killing men and white folks. Racism is on both sides. How can any Christian support that, and how can any pastor endorse it? At the core, this problem is not a skin issue but a sin issue. Hatred is colorblind it infects people of every tribe and tongue and nation. The only solution is redemption and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Many law enforcement officers are being radically changed by the gospel, as are those who had participated in sparking civil unrest. This is where our focus must be. America, overall, is being humbled by God. Im optimistic because these are often the seeds of revival and renewal on a massive scale. Responding to the Media Circus As Christians, we are truly caught in the middle. We are not identified by our skin color but by our identity in Christ. My heart breaks for the atrocities that have happened in humanitys past, but in each of these seasons, good men and women, many of them Christians, rose up to make a difference. We must focus on the cross, not on cultural identity. The media circus will only get worse. In a land of approximately 330 million people, many of them lost, without God, and without hope (Ephesians 2:12), we will continue to see unspeakable acts of violence as video footage is released on a constant basis. We will see hoaxes portrayed as hate crimes, legitimate hate crimes portrayed as justified, and right will be called wrong and wrong will be called right, all in an attempt to fuel division and fear. But we cannot allow this to cause a knee-jerk response and act in ways that would cause the name of Christ to be blasphemed. Nor can we retreat from the battle and walk on eggshells in fear. We need real Christ-centered and Spirit-filled unity. We must not allow the forces of hell to shake us. We must be different, think differently, and walk differently than the rest of the world. We must show the beauty, compassion, grace, justice, and love of Christ to those around us to our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, and the stranger in the grocery line without regard to the color of their skin. In short, brothers and sisters, we must be the true church. Quantzig is one of the world's foremost providers of advanced data analytics solutions with business units spread globally. Our advanced analytics solutions and domain expertise empower us to look for insights in complex, unstructured data sets from disparate sources. With the new digital economy creating significant disruptions and new opportunities, our global team of over 550+ analytics experts work with leading companies to help master digital transformation, drawing on our deep domain expertise and understanding of factors impacting business growth. Our insights have helped leading Fortune 500 companies achieve better success rates by adopting the right technology and digital solutions to drive innovation and competitiveness. Request a FREE one-on-one platform demo to learn how our solutions can be tailored to your specific business requirements. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005349/en/ Engagement Overview: Pharmaceutical industry players can drastically improve their understanding of what drives their customers' buying decisions by leveraging advanced analytics for demand forecasting, combined with a robust pricing strategy, a method used by most of the businesses to aptly price their products/services taking into account expenses such as manufacturing, packaging and shipping, marketing, and adding a profit margin to it. An API manufacturer collaborated with Quantzig to leverage its expertise in pharmaceutical pricing to redefine their pricing strategy in the USA. Get your FREE customized proposal to know how we can help you to redefine your pricing strategy across the globe. The Problem: The client is an European API manufacturing company based out of Germany, well-known for manufacturing biologically active pharmaceutical drugs. This API manufacturer was looking forward to launching a new line of products in the USA. The client was facing difficulties in devising a pharmaceutical pricing strategy. The client wanted to accomplish the following goals Devise a value-based penetration pharmaceutical pricing strategy for launching their product line in the US Derive a drug price benchmarking model for the US market Analyze the competitive landscape in the pharmaceutical industry To devise a value-based pricing strategy for your business request for more info. Value Delivered: The experts at Quantzig conducted a holistic research to understand the client's competition and their pricing strategy (drug price benchmarking), while taking into account the hidden factors that could impact the product's price. Quantzig's pricing analytics solutions curated for the pharmaceutical industry enabled this API manufacturer to Save US $12,00,000 by implementing advanced drug price benchmarking Drive sales and obtain a higher return on investment Improve drug pricing transparency Redefine their pricing strategy across the globe "A pharmaceutical pricing strategy revolves around a solid understanding of the complete decision-making process. Armed with data-driven insights, our pharmaceutical clients execute value-driven drug price benchmarking to optimize profits," says a pricing analytics expert from Quantzig. Over the past 15 years, Quantzig has helped Fortune 500 companies solve some of the toughest business problems using a unique combination of design thinking frameworks, plug-and-play innovation accelerators, and an army of agile decision scientists. Want to know more? Contact us for a free pilot About Quantzig Quantzig is a global analytics and advisory firm with offices in the US, UK, Canada, China, and India. For more than 15 years, we have assisted our clients across the globe with end-to-end data modeling capabilities to leverage analytics for prudent decision making. Today, our firm consists of 120+ clients, including 55 Fortune 500 companies. For more information on our engagement policies and pricing plans, visit: https://www.quantzig.com/request-for-proposal View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005349/en/ Contacts: Press Contact Quantzig Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 630 538 7144 UK: +44 208 629 1455 https://www.quantzig.com/contact-us NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / Mario Arrizon knows how much hard work it takes to succeed in this world. As a young man growing up in a tough neighborhood of Pacoima, he never had any illusions that success would come easily. Yet the California native has made it his life's mission not only to succeed in business, but to use his success and mindset to inspire others on their own path to entrepreneurship. Now, as the youngest million-dollar earner in a Fortune 1000 company, Mario looks to share his passion, excitement and commitment with the rest of the world. Through his own company, Arrizon Hierarchy, Mario has been able to engage with entrepreneurs all over the world through motivational speaking and other engagements. "I want to be someone who gives hope and who inspires the masses," explains Mario. "I want people to know that it's not about chasing dollars, but instead it's about chasing the impact that can be made not only within people, but also in this world. When you focus on chasing greatness, success will automatically follow and greatness will then chase YOU." Mario's focus, as he puts it, "is to build and develop others and add value to them as people; to teach them to multiply the value instilled in them into others." Mario's road to success has left him well-equipped to speak on the subjects of impact and wealth. At just 29 years old, he and his wife Franny became the youngest million dollar earners in the 40+ year history of their company. The power-couple worked in tandem to grow their business among diverse families in the United States, all while raising a family of their own. Together, they now run the Arrizon Hierarchy, a family-owned enterprise that allows them to share their hard-fought lessons with the next generation of upcoming entrepreneurs and leaders. When asked about his early business success, Mario describes the obstacles and hurdles that he and Franny had to overcome: "Not only did we become the youngest million dollar earners in company history, but we did it while the odds were stacked against us. We didn't have the manpower to achieve such an audacious goal; our team was not 'big enough' by company standards to accomplish this record in such a short time frame, But our team didn't care about the odds; they saw the vision that I had painted and they bought into it." As one of the top salesmen, Mario expanded the company's reach with others along his side, bringing much-needed financial security to hundreds of thousands of individuals and families. The company now covers over half a million families in the United States and was recently added to the Forbes 1000 list. Mario now looks to help other entrepreneurs build their own careers in their industry and within their own companies by sharing his experiences and lessons with them. He does this both through regular speaking tours and through social media, where the Arrizon Hierarchy commands an influential presence. Whether speaking in front of a crowd or running his own businesses, Mario is able to draw on his tough upbringing for both inspiration and drive. The son of a young single mother, Mario knew from an early age what it was like to fight for his future. "We were very poor," recalls Mario. "I saw how hard it was for my family and I wanted something different for my life - I just didn't know what, or how I would be about to get it." Even when he landed his first job in finance, Mario struggled to compete: "One of the biggest obstacles I faced in my industry was my age. Being in financial services at the age of 19 was a huge disadvantage. I was so young in an industry that is saturated and dominated by middle aged experienced men and women. I knew that I only had about 30 seconds once I started talking to capture or impress any potential clients or business associates." Yet Mario learned early on in life how to turn these disadvantages into the motivation for his insane work ethic and success he would achieve later in life. In the beginning of his career, Mario had to prove not only to his clients, but also to his family that he had the skills and drive to get the job done. Oftentimes, family members would dismiss his passion as craziness or an unhealthy obsession, but Mario knew that only through non-stop involvement with his career would he finally be able to not only prove himself, but also get ahead. Mario is the first to admit that his enthusiasm initially put some people off, including his family. "They would make me feel bad and guilty because I was so laser beam focused; they thought I was brainwashed," Mario explains. "I was so sick and tired of seeing my family struggle, of me struggling - that I knew someone had to change it, and that someone was me. So even though my family was not on board with me, nor were they supportive, I knew I had to do it for them. There was absolutely no way I could fail; it was not an option, there was no plan B. I was either going to get this done or I was going to die trying. By now, Mario is able to look back on this period of his life and attribute it to his journey on his road to success. Nevertheless, the impact it had on him has lasted up until today. You can see and hear his enthusiasm for success through his speeches, though his business, and even through his posts on Instagram. Mario's drive and passion for personal success are only eclipsed by his motivation to help others along the way. He can now look back and say honestly that he has helped not only himself, but also his family, wife, and countless other leaders achieve their own potential in the process. You can find Mario Arrizon on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 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 Group View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595751/How-Mario-Arrizon-Turned-His-Million-Dollar-Dream-Into-A-Reality-While-Lifting-Up-His-Family-And-Thousands-Of-Other-Entrepreneurs-Along-The-Way Janus Henderson Investors (NYSE/ASX: JHG) announced today that Marc Pinto, Portfolio Manager on the Balanced and Growth Income strategies, is retiring from Janus Henderson and the mutual fund industry, effective April 2, 2021. Jeremiah Buckley will assume primary portfolio management responsibilities for the Janus Henderson Growth Income strategy and the equity portion of the Janus Henderson Balanced strategy. Jeremiah is currently a Portfolio Manager partnering with Marc on these strategies. Until his retirement, Marc will continue to work closely with Jeremiah to ensure a seamless transition. Jeremiah joined Janus Henderson in 1998 and partnered closely with Marc during this time, including the past 6 years in a portfolio management role on these strategies. Jeremiah joined Janus Henderson as a research analyst covering the consumer, industrials, financials, media, software and telecommunications sectors. He was the Consumer Sector Lead for 10 years before transitioning to full-time portfolio management. In addition, he also served on the Janus Henderson Proxy Voting Committee. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and has 22 years of financial industry experience. George Maris, co-Head of Equities at Janus Henderson Investors, said: "Marc is a valued member of the Janus Henderson investment team and helped shape the culture of the firm over the past 26 years. He made many important contributions to Janus Henderson and our clients, including, but not limited to, as portfolio manager, thought leader and senior leader. I speak for the entire firm when I say his experience, leadership and friendship will be missed. We look forward to keeping in close contact with him and his family as he embarks on the next chapter. Both Marc and Jeremiah were instrumental in building the foundation of the successful effort that generated excellent risk-adjusted returns for our clients over many years. Given the lengthy transition period, Jeremiah's 22 years of experience and their many years of partnership, we expect this to be a seamless evolution. I have the utmost confidence in the continuing investment team, whose investment process, philosophy and team approach remain unchanged. We are fortunate to possess significant professional depth and robust transition plans which are designed to respond to naturally occurring personnel changes without significant disruption to our clients or our business. This should result in an orderly transition for clients." As part of this transition, David Chung, Industrials Sector Lead and Research Analyst on the Centralized Research team, will be appointed Assistant Portfolio Manager on the Balanced and the Growth Income strategies, effective June 30, 2020. Notes to editors About Janus Henderson Janus Henderson Group (JHG) is a leading global active asset manager dedicated to helping investors achieve long-term financial goals through a broad range of investment solutions, including equities, fixed income, quantitative equities, multi asset and alternative asset class strategies. Janus Henderson has approximately $294.4 billion in assets under management (as of March 31, 2020), more than 2,000 employees and offices in 27 cities worldwide. Headquartered in London, the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Learn more about Janus Henderson Investors at janushenderson.com. Janus Henderson is a trademark of Janus Henderson Group plc or one of its subsidiaries. Janus Henderson Group plc Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal and fluctuation of value. There is no assurance the stated objective(s) will be met. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005619/en/ Contacts: Janus Henderson Investors Media Contacts: Stephen Sobey Head of Media Relations T: +44 (0) 2078182523 E: Stephen.sobey@janushenderson.com Sarah Johnson Director of Media Relations and Corporate Communications T: +1 720-364-0708 E: sarah.johnson@janushenderson.com Investor Relations Contact: James Kurtz T: 303-336-4529 E: James.Kurtz@janushenderson.com - Increase in adoption of heat pumps in the residential sector and benefits related to reduction of CO2 emissions drive the growth of the global heat pump market PORTLAND, Oregon, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Heat Pump Market by Type (Air-to-Air, Water Source, and Geothermal) and Application (Residential, Industrial, and Commercial): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026." According to the report, the global heat pump industry generated $55.2 billion in 2018, and is estimated to reach $99.6 billion by 2026, witnessing a CAGR of 7.7% from 2019 to 2026. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities Increase in adoption of heat pumps in the residential sector and benefits related to reduction of CO2 emissions drive the growth of the global heat pump market. However, high cost of investments hinders the market growth. On the other hand, surge in prominence of geothermal heat pump technology and favorable regulatory policies offer new opportunities in the coming years. COVID-19 Scenario The outbreak has caused lockdown of the manufacturing factories and as a result, there is a disruption in the production cycle. Accordingly, the supply chain has also got affected. With lockdown in effect, the demand from commercial sector will be reduced for sure. In addition, with governments and healthcare researchers outlining the fact that central air-conditioning aids in spreading the coronavirus, there would certainly be a steep decline in the production line. However, there hasn't been any threat projected for window air conditioners yet. But, disruption in the supply chain may pose a hindrance for the residents who want to install new systems. Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Heat Pump Market: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/5341?reqfor=covid The air-to-air segment to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period Based on type, the air-to-air segment contributed to nearly three-fourths of the total share of the global heat pump market in 2018, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. This is attributed to its widespread acceptance and low installation cost in comparison to other heating technologies. However, the water source segment would witness the largest CAGR of 8.1% from 2019 to 2026, owing to rise in efforts to attain decarbonization in the heating system. The residential segment to maintain its dominance by 2026 Based on application, the residential segment accounted for the highest market share of the global heat pump market, accounting for nearly three-fourths of the total share in 2018, and is expected to maintain its dominance by 2026. This is attributed to climatic changes promoting adoption of heat pumps to offer heating solutions during cooler seasons and cooling solutions during hot days. However, the commercial segment would register the highest CAGR of 8.3% from 2019 to 2026, owing to versatility, long-term reliability, and low maintenance of heat pumps. Download Sample PDF (222 Pages): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/5341 Asia-Pacific to dominate by 2027, North America to grow steadily Based on region, Asia-Pacific contributed to the highest share in terms of revenue in 2018, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global heat pump market, and is expected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. Moreover, this region is expected to maintain the highest CAGR of 8.1% from 2019 to 2026. This is due to high adoption of the system in China with population relying on cost- and energy-effective energy products. However, North America is expected to register a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period. Leading market players Daikin Industries Ltd. Ingersoll Rand Plc Glen Dimplex Group Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Melrose Industries PLC StiebelEltron NIBE Industrier AB ViessmannWerke GmbH & Co. KG Vaillant Group Panasonic Corporation Interested in Procure Data? Visit: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/5341 Access AVENUE- A Subscription-Based Library (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access Avenue is a user-based library of global market report database, provides comprehensive reports pertaining to the world's largest emerging markets. It further offers e-access to all the available industry reports just in a jiffy. By offering core business insights on the varied industries, economies, and end users worldwide, Avenue ensures that the registered members get an easy as well as single gateway to their all-inclusive requirements. Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Similar Reports We Have: String Inverter Market: The global string inverter market size was valued at $3.1 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $4.6 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2020 to 2027. Diesel Generator Market: The global diesel generator market size was valued at $20.8 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach $37.1 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 9.8% from 2020 to 2027. Macrofiltration Market: The global macrofiltration market size was valued $6.2 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $9.9 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2020 to 2027. Forklift Battery Market: The global forklift battery market size was valued at $4.3 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $7.4 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 7.04% from 2019 to 2026. Dosing Pumps Market: The global dosing pumps market was valued at $5.90 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $8.99 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2019 to 2026. Pre-Book Now with 12% Discount: Micro Combined Heat & Power Market- Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027 Combined Heat Power Market- Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027 About us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact us: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Toll Free: 1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-855-550-5975 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Follow Us on: LinkedIn Twitter Logo:https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg Infiniti Research is the world's leading independent provider of strategic market intelligence solutions. Our market intelligence services are designed to connect your organization's goals with global opportunities. Today's competitive business environment demands in-depth, accurate, and reliable business information to ensure that companies gain a strong foothold in domestic or foreign markets. Our global industry specialist teams ensure the international consistency of our research, enabling powerful access to the real story behind market changes. Request a complimentary proposalfor more insights into our solutions portfolio. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005634/en/ A German chemical company saves over 25% of operating costs with Infiniti's market potential analysis. (Graphic: Business Wire) "Robust growth of construction industry, oil exploration, and production activities are expected to propel the growth of the German chemical industry over the coming years," says a chemical industry expert from Infiniti Research. Engagement Overview: The client is a German chemical company. The company struggled with decreased contribution margins, high fixed costs, and negative EBIT (earnings before interests and taxes). Also, external factors such as economic slowdown, increased competition from low-price products, and overcapacity issues negatively affected the company's overall revenues. They also struggled to reflect the rapidly changing price of raw materials in its own pricing. The client, therefore, wanted to identify untapped market opportunities and revise their current strategies. Also, by keeping pace with market transformations, the client wanted to adjust to the new environment and find ways to achieve profitability. The client, therefore, partnered with Infiniti Research to leverage their expertise in offering market potential analysis. To tackle the business impacts of COVID-19, companies in the chemical market will need to cope with price volatility, supply chain complexities, and rising customer demands. Our COVID-19 business continuity solutions can help chemical companies to achieve these objectives. Contact us Our Approach The initial phase of the market potential analysis engagement involved identifying and reviewing innovation options. This involved conducting a market overview and customer value proposition analysis. Besides, this phase of the market potential analysis engagement involved performing competitive analysis. Also, the experts at Infiniti Research worked closely with the client to understand their current strategies, sales performance, variable and fixed costs, production assets, investment plans, supply chain management processes, and financial performance. Secondly, our experts assessed sources of value and customer needs. Lastly, our experts helped the client to develop new tools, processes, and strategies to tailor products to specific customer needs. Business impact of the market potential analysis for the chemical industry client: Infiniti's market potential solution supported the German chemical industry client's journey to growth, improved profits, and enhanced capabilities. The chemical industry client was also able to: Develop value pricing tool and a performance-tracking dashboard Improve spend data quality, visibility, and accuracy Eliminate maintenance capital and save over 25% of operating costs Safeguard the supply chain operations and reduce logistics costs Stock prices have taken substantial hits and chemical industry players should restructure, reposition, and seize opportunities to recover stronger in the post-COVID-19 era. Request more info on our COVID-19 business continuity support solutions. 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/20200630005634/en/ Contacts: Infiniti Research Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 844 778 0600 UK: +44 203 893 3400 https://www.infinitiresearch.com/contact-us VANCOUVER, BC and TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / Eviana Health Corporation (CSE:EHC) (the "Company") announces that it has received a notice (the "Notice") of events of default with respect to the Company's senior unsecured convertible debentures in the principal amount of $10,000,000 due October 2, 2020 (the "Convertible Debentures"). Pursuant to the terms of the Convertible Debentures, the Company agreed to pay interest to its strategic investors at a rate of 10% per annum payable semi-annually in arrears on June 30 and December 31 of each year, with the first payment commencing on December 31, 2018. The Company failed to make its December 31, 2019 interest payment to its strategic investors, which constituted an event of default under the Convertible Debentures, and is unable to make the interest payment due June 30, 2020. In accordance with the Notice, the strategic investors demanded the Company to make payment in full on June 29, 2020 of all outstanding indebtedness under the Convertible Debentures, including the outstanding principal amount and accrued interest. The strategic investors have advised that they may take action against the Company if the Company fails to make payment in full. The Company is currently consulting its legal counsel to find a solution with its strategic investors and the Company's on-going liquidity issues. About Eviana Health Corporation The Company was established with the aim of delivering customized consumer health care products using natural hemp strains of cannabis sativa for cannabinoid-based topical creams, products and cosmeceutical and nutraceutical merchandise. The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Eviana Inc., an Ontario corporation, holds certain assets in Serbia relating to the cultivation of industrial hemp plant oil for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmeceutical industry, and has access to a significant grower/supplier of cannabinoids including two subsidiaries, Intiva Plus, d.o.o. and Eviana d.o.o. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Eviana Health Corporation Avram Adizes, CEO Tel: (416) 301-9654 info@eviana.com Forward-looking Information Certain statements in this news release contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "may", "will", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the Company's continuing default under the Convertible Debentures; the strategic investors potential action against the Company under the Convertible Debentures, and timing thereof; and the statements concerning the potential for a solution, if any. Although the Company believes that the forward-looking information is reasonable, they are not guarantees of future results, performance or achievements. A number of factors or assumptions have been used to develop the forward-looking information, including the ability of the Company to continue its current operations. The forward-looking information speaks only as of the date hereof, unless otherwise specifically noted, and the Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update any of the forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable Canadian securities laws. SOURCE: Eviana Health Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595754/Eviana-Receives-Notice-of-Default MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - Amazon.com Inc. has retained its position as the world's most valuable brand with the e-commerce giant's value growing by a third from last year, according to an annual survey by consultancy firm Kantar. According to the BrandZ Global Top 100 Most Valuable Brands 2020 rankings released by advertising group WPP and Kantar, Amazon's value grew 32 percent this year to $415.9 billion and helped cement its position as the world's most valuable brand. In second position was Apple, which maintained its ranking from last year. The tech giant's brand value rose 14 percent to $352.2 billion. Microsoft was ranked as the third most valuable brand globally, with a 30 percent surge in its value to $326.5 billion. The software giant pushed Google to the fourth spot this year. Google's brand value increased 5 percent from last year to reach $323.6 billion. The increase in Microsoft's brand value reflected growth of its cloud-enabled workplace ecosystem that incorporates Office365 and Microsoft Teams, allowing people to maintain 'business as usual' during the lockdown, the report noted. According to Kantar, the world's most valuable brands saw their total brand value increase by 5.9 percent this year despite the economic, social and personal impacts of COVID-19. Prior to the global pandemic, total brand value of the top 100 brands was projected to grow by 9 percent. This year, the total brand value of the top 100 global brands reached $5 trillion, equivalent to the annual GDP of Japan. The ranking is based on consumer insights from over 3.8 million consumers around the world, covering more than 17,500 different brands in 51 markets. U.S. brands represented more than half of the top 100 brands, while Asian brands represented a quarter of the brands and includes seventeen Chinese brands and two Japanese brands. Alibaba was ranked as the world's sixth most valuable brand, with a 16 percent increase in brand value to $152.5 billion. The Chinese e-commerce giant was the most valuable Chinese brand, while Internet services giant Tencent stood in the seventh position with 15 percent growth in brand value to $151 billion. Chinese short video-sharing app TikTok entered the Top 100 ranking for the first time and was ranked seventy ninth. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX AMAZON-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After a steady increase in the daily number of coronavirus cases last week, a drastic fall was reported in the United States on Monday. With 36390 new cases reporting in the last 24 hours, the total number of infections in the country increased to 2682897, as per Johns Hopkins University's latest update on Tuesday. 338 additional deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 129544. White House said that President Donald Trump is encouraged by the fall in mortality rates and an increase in effective treatments. New York, which was once the epicenter of coronavirus in the U.S., on Monday recorded 6 deaths, while Louisiana reported no deaths in the last 24 hours. However, in the wake of a surge in infections, more states decided to suspend easing lockdown restrictions. The number of states where the COVID-19 death toll crossed 1000 has risen to 24. After Arizona recorded its highest daily number of new cases on Monday, Governor Doug Ducey ordered the closure of bars, nightclubs, gyms, theaters and water parks for at least 30 days. Following is the latest state-wise infection and casualty data of the worst-affected regions. New York (31403 deaths, 393304 infections), New Jersey (14992 deaths, 171272 infections), Michigan (6161 deaths, 70223 infections), Massachusetts (8094 deaths, 108768 infections), Louisiana (3199 deaths, 57081 infections), Illinois (6902 deaths, 142461 infections), Pennsylvania (6614 deaths, 90467 infections), California (5983 deaths, 223646 infections), Connecticut (4320 deaths, 46362 infections), Texas (2416 deaths, 156706 infections), Georgia (2784 deaths, 79417 infections), Virginia (1740 deaths, 62189 infections), Maryland (3175 deaths, 67254 infections), Florida (3447 deaths, 146341 infections), Indiana (2624 deaths, 45228 infections), Ohio (5636 deaths, 102093 infections), Colorado (1681 deaths, 32494 infections), Minnesota (1470 deaths, 35861 infections), Arizona (1598 deaths, 74545 infections) Washington (1320 deaths, 32253 infections), North Carolina (1357 deaths, 63736 infections), Mississippi (1059 deaths, 26567 infections), Tennessee (1177 deaths, 83566 infections) and Missouri (1004 deaths, 20825 infections). Globally, more than a half a million people have been killed by Covid-19, while infection cases have crossed 10 million. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - Amazon.com said that it plans to open its second facility in Ottawa, Ontario. The new fulfillment centre, which is anticipated to open in 2021, will create more than 1,000 new, full-time jobs starting at $16 an hour with comprehensive benefits. The company said that employees will work alongside Amazon robotics in the new fulfillment centre to pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and toys. It will be Amazon's newest robotics fulfillment centre in Canada. In addition, the company also plans for five new delivery stations across Ontario in Whitby, Oakville, Cambridge, Brampton, and Scarborough, with the sites anticipated to launch in 2020. Packages are transported to delivery stations from Amazon fulfillment and sortation centers, and then loaded into vehicles for delivery to customers. They will create hundreds of permanent, full-time and part-time jobs. 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. Christian Muller, current Opel R&D chief, succeeds Alain Raposo at Groupe PSA level with the same responsibilities Marcus Lott to follow Christian Muller as Vice President Opel/Vauxhall Engineering Regulatory News: Christian Muller, currently Managing Director Engineering Opel Automobile GmbH has been appointed new Head of Powertrain Chassis Engineering of Groupe PSA (Paris:UG) effective August 1. He will report to Nicolas Morel, EVP Research Development. He will succeed Alain Raposo who has served in this position since May 2018. Alain Raposo has chosen to leave Groupe PSA voluntarily at the end of August 2020 in order to pursue a personal project. Marcus Lott, Vice President Body in White, Equipment Materials Engineering and an Opel/Vauxhall engineer since 1994, will become the new head for R&D of the German and British brands and member of the Managing Board of Opel Automobile GmbH effective August 1. Nicolas Morel, Executive Vice President Research Development of Groupe PSA said: "I am delighted to work even closer with Christian Muller who is a leading and recognized powertrain expert in the automotive industry. And I congratulate Marcus Lott on his new position. With his many years of engineering experience, he will make a decisive contribution to successfully developing further the Opel/Vauxhall brands and the group's Engineering Center in Russelsheim. These management decisions clearly demonstrate how closely integrated our engineering teams work together. German Engineering competence will continue to play a key role in the Groupe PSA." Michael Lohscheller, member of Groupe PSA Managing Board and CEO of Opel/Vauxhall added: "German Engineering is at the heart of Opel. As head of Opel R&D, Christian played a key role in making this visible and tangible for our customers in all of our models, like the current Corsa and future Mokka, which are also available in electric versions. I am delighted that with Marcus Lott we have appointed a highly experienced and recognized engineer as his successor. Marcus has known our company, models and people for almost 30 years now." Christian Muller has been Managing Director Engineering of Opel Automobile GmbH since August 1, 2017. Prior to this assignment, he held the position of Vice President GM Global Propulsion Systems Europe. Christian Muller was born in Russelsheim, Germany in 1969 and received a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Darmstadt University. Marcus Lott has been Vice President Body in White, Equipment Materials Engineering since January this year. Before this assignment, he was Vice President Programs Strategy of Opel/Vauxhall. Furthermore, he led the development of various vehicles in North America, South America, Asia and Europe as a chief engineer. Marcus Lott was born in Mainz, Germany in 1968 and holds a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering/Automotive Technology from RWTH Aachen. The personnel changes will become effective as of August 1, 2020 after completion of the Supervisory Board approval process. About Groupe PSA Groupe PSA designs unique automotive experiences and delivers mobility solutions to meet all customer expectations. The Group has five car brands, Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall and provides a wide array of mobility and smart services under the Free2Move brand. Its 'Push to Pass' strategic plan represents a first step towards the achievement of the Group's vision to be "a global carmaker with cutting-edge efficiency and a leading mobility provider sustaining lifetime customer relationships". An early innovator in the field of autonomous and connected cars, Groupe PSA is also involved in financing activities through Banque PSA Finance and in automotive equipment via Faurecia.. Media library: medialibrary.groupe-psa.com @GroupePSA_EN Communications Department www.groupe-psa.com/en +33 6 61 93 29 36 @GroupePSA View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005724/en/ Contacts: Media contact: Alain Le Gouguec +33 6 42 59 27 84, alain.legouguec@mpsa.com Anglican head wants churches to remove statues linked to slavery, reconsider image of white Jesus Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As Britain is examining its links with slavery in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S., the Archbishop of Canterbury wants all statues and memorials in churches and cathedrals that are linked to the slave trade to come down, a call that some clergy believe goes against the Christian teaching that all are sinners. The statues need to be put in context, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby recently said on BBC Radio 4. Some will have to come down, some names will have to change. The church, goodness me, you just go round Canterbury Cathedral and there are monuments everywhere, or Westminster Abbey. We are looking at all that and some will have to come down. The Times (of London) reports that many Church of England dioceses are conducting audits to document who is memorialized in the denominations 16,000 churches and 42 cathedrals after leaders showed their willingness to alter or remove some monuments. But if only the sinless can be remembered, were only going to have memorials to Christ, a London priest, who was not named, told the British daily. We have bucket-loads of saints, martyrs, heroes and heroines, buildings acquired and built with dubious money, but no one is unblemished, all have sinned, the Rev. Andy Bawtree, a vicar at River parish church near Dover, was quoted as saying. So where do you stop? Bawtree asked. Nick Timothy, a columnist at The Telegraph, argued that there was no biblical justification for making the forgiveness of one generation conditional on the actions of another. Whether you are a Christian or not, this departure from scripture is profoundly worrying. Christianitys promise of redemption, and the idea that we are each accountable for our own sins, has shaped our civilisation, Timothy wrote. We are members of families and communities large and small, but we are more than just featureless components of some greater group identity. This is one reason why we have equal political and civil rights, and stand equal before the law. The columnist added Britains Christian heritage and its associated history of bloody religious conflict inspired an important Western principle. The realisation that clashes between different values, beliefs and interests are inevitable gave rise to the essential liberal idea of pluralism. We should accept and tolerate difference, while agreeing (that) laws and processes to mediate clashes, guaranteeing rights for minorities, and protecting the norms, traditions and institutions that foster a common, unifying identity to build trust and reciprocity. On BBC Radio 4, Welby also said the Church should reconsider portraying Jesus as white. You go into churches [around the world] and you dont see a white Jesus. You see a black Jesus, a Chinese Jesus, a Middle Eastern Jesus which is, of course, the most accurate, he said. Timothy suggested that Welby could have said that the significance of Jesus is spiritual, not political or racial, that Jesus was God made flesh, and that we are all made in Gods own image. Instead, Timothy continued, he agreed that the depiction of Christ in Western countries should change. Welby said Jesus was Middle Eastern, not white. The archbishop studiously avoided the more accurate description that Jesus was a Jew. But then Middle Eastern Jews, or Israelis as we also call them, are these days an unfashionable minority to defend, the columnist wrote. Michael Brown, host of Line of Fire radio program, argued in an op-ed, A major reason that white artists depicted Jesus as white was because they forgot about his Jewish (and Middle Eastern) roots. Not only so, but since the Jews were viewed as demonic and evil, Jesus had to be different than them, hence a white, non-Jewish Jesus. The real question for the cultural iconoclasts of our day, Brown suggested, is Would you be at home with a Jewish Jesus? With Yeshua, the son of Miriam, called rabbi rather than reverend? Would you be at home with him? This is also a great question for Christians worldwide. Do you follow the Jesus-Yeshua of the Scriptures or a Jesus whom you have created in your own image? TAIZHOU, China, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Favipiravir is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent that inhibits the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of RNA viruses. It has efficacy against a range of RNA viruses, including Ebola, influenza and COVID-19. No evident adverse reactions have been found since it came into the market. Unlike traditional antiviral drugs, Favipiravir can directly prevent the virus from replicating itself in cells, with a mechanism of action similar to Remdesivir. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese and Japanese governments have strongly recommended use of Favipiravir to treat the disease. Currently, over 100 countries have included Favipiravir as part of their treatments. Originally developed by Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd., Favipiravir was approved as strategic stockpile as a countermeasure for virus in Japan. In 2016, the patent of Favipiravir was exclusively franchised to Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (HISUN), which cooperated with CMAM to develop Favipiravir tablets. The finished drug was approved rapidly in February 2020. Data from Favipiravir's clinical tests published by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China at an official press conference indicated Favipiravir has shown good clinical efficacy against the disease, and the tablet form makes it easily accessible. Once Favipiravir was launched in the Chinese market, it was included into the Major Anti-pandemic Materials by China's State Council, and the Chinese government has unified the allocation of Favipiravir supplies. All Favipiravir tablets in China are manufactured by HISUN. As the situation with the disease is improving, the medication has been sold through omni-channel across China. It has also been used to support over 30 countries and regions in battling COVID-19. Favipiravir's outstanding contribution in fighting COVID-19 has earned its producer, HISUN, the honorary title of "Ordnance Factory" responding to the COVID-19 crisis by the Chinese State Council. Know more about Favipiravir: http://www.hisunpharm.com/en/favipiravir.php Video (English Subtitle)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnO2gmBUVP4 Video (Arabic Subtitle) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdLyNbKHo2k Contact: Ms. Li Huimin Mobile: +86-13718025966 Email: hisun-haisheng@hisunpharm.com YouTube: https://youtu.be/xnO2gmBUVP4 WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Netflix Inc. said it will invest up to $100 million to support Black communities, as part of its commitment to racial equity. The video streaming giant said in a blog post that it will allocate 2 percent of its cash holdings into financial institutions and organizations that directly support Black communities in the U.S. The company's initial investment will be up to $100 million. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or FDIC has said that banks that are Black-owned or led represent just 1 percent of America's commercial banking assets, Netflix noted. This is one factor contributing to 19 percent of Black families having either negative wealth or no assets at all - more than double the rate of White households, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. 'Black banks have been fighting to better their communities for decades but they're disadvantaged by their lack of access to capital. The major banks, where big multinational companies including ours keep most of their money, are also focusing more on improving equity, but not at the grassroots level these Black-led institutions can and do,' Netflix said. The company added that as part of the first step in allocating the $100 million, it will hold $35 million of its cash in two vehicles. Netflix will move $25 million to a newly established fund called the Black Economic Development Initiative. The fund will be managed by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation or LISC, a non-profit that is involved in developing under-invested communities. LISC will invest the funds into Black-owned financial institutions serving low and moderate-income communities as well as Black community development corporations in the U.S. Further, Netflix will allocate $10 million to Hope Credit Union in the form of a Transformational Deposit to fuel economic opportunity in underserved communities across the Deep South. The video streaming giant said it intends to redirect more of its cash to Black-led and focused institutions and hopes other large U.S. companies will do the same. Netflix noted that if each company in the S&P 500 allocated a modest amount of their cash holdings into efforts like the Black Economic Development Initiative, each 1 percent of their cash would represent $20 billion to $30 billion of new capital. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX NETFLIX-Aktie komplett kostenlos handeln - auf Smartbroker.de Santa Fe-Based Medical Research & Development Company Releases Formal Statement Addressing False Allegations Lobbied Against Bionet. SANTA FE, NM / ACCESSWIRE / June 30, 2020 / Bionet NM LLC a Medical research and development company founded by Gabriel Bethel [DBA Bionet], announces formal statement in regards to false allegations lobbied against them. Allegations made by Santa Fe journalists: "An obscure Santa Fe company is under criminal investigation for possible forgery and price gouging" In response to these allegations Bionet stated it has not been informed it is a target of any criminal activity by the Attorney General's Office and was in fact cleared of any such activity by Homeland Security in a separate independent investigation. Based on facts and events, Bionet believes it is instead a material witness to events that took place with another third-party medical company, which is likely the target of the investigation. Bionet attempted to order from this company which never performed on its obligations and made false representations to Bionet and other officials. In April 2020 an agent for a third-party PPE medical company solicited Bionet to purchase respirator masks originating from targeted Chinese factories for the State of New Mexico. The soliciting PPE company requested an official vendor verification letter for the purpose of proving to its Chinese factory suppliers that it was indeed dealing with an official State of New Mexico certified vendor. The Chinese factory suppliers specifically required a letter from one of the three government agencies involved; The Department of Health, The Governor's Office, and/or The National Guard. An email verifying the state vendor status of Bionet had already been issued to Bionet by the Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff and delivered earlier from Bionet to the third-party PPE company. The agent for the third-party PPE company stated that this email was not sufficient in providing the official status of the buyer for the Chinese factories to release the desired goods, and that the seller required a formal government letterhead to proceed. Delivery of the requested letter to the Chinese factory suppliers was represented by the soliciting company to be time sensitive in order to secure the goods. The only agency that could be reached to discuss this type of letter after business hours (during the time when Chinese business hours normally take place) was the National Guard which operates 24/7 during emergency times. An approved draft version of the requested letter was permitted by an authorized official of the National Guard for specific limited release to the requesting agent of the soliciting medical company for approval of proposed draft language with the understanding that it would not be authorized for any further circulation until it was validated by the top ranking officer the following day. The soliciting agent disregarded these instructions and subsequently circulated the unofficial draft letter as if it were authorized and validated in an attempt to solicit business from another state without the permission or knowledge of Bionet or the National Guard. Upon discovery of this breach of confidence by the PPE medical company, Bionet immediately severed all communication, business relations, and ties with them. Bionet's understanding is the Attorney General's office has an open investigation on the soliciting company and all of the actors associated with it; therefore, Bionet will remain a part of the investigation until all of the evidence involving the PPE medical company is reviewed by the agencies involved. No money or goods were ever exchanged between Bionet and the soliciting company and nothing was ever charged to the State of New Mexico in relation to this PPE company. Attorney Paul Kennedy publicly stated: "Although there is apparently a criminal investigation underway, Bionet has not been informed that it is a target of any criminal investigation by the Attorney General's office or any other law enforcement agency. Based upon what I have been able to learn, Bionet, its officers and employees are instead material witnesses to events that took place with another company which is more likely the target of the investigation. Bionet attempted to order from this company; however, this company never performed on its contracts and made false representations to Bionet and others. It is my inference that the Attorney General's office has an investigation going on regarding the aforementioned company and Bionet, of course, will remain a part of the ongoing investigation as a material actor until all of the evidence against this other company and other individuals is complete. No money or goods were ever exchanged between Bionet and the aforementioned company, which indicates that Bionet was, if anything, a victim of that company." In the matter of the initial sale of KN-95 masks to the state for $4.00 records show that Bionet sourced these goods for $4.00 from its domestic vendor and passed these goods to the state at the same price offered to Bionet with no markup to the state as a gratuitous gesture. The state has closed out numerous satisfactory invoices with Bionet and has not issued any allegations of price gouging. Kennedy further stated,"Bionet's financial records indicate that any net profits remained well below any level which would support an allegation of price gouging." We will continue to update as this story unfolds and more information is made available. About Bionet Bionet was founded in 2010 by the Chairman & CEO, Gabriel Bethel. Bionet is engaged in a research and development joint venture with Harvest Medical Clinic and Wellness Center LLC, DBA Harvest Medical Center, which was formed in 2019 to open an innovative therapy center focused on integrative treatment protocols utilizing its background in pharmacogenetics to apply pharmacology methods to cannabinoid therapies. According to Bionet, the concept is to create a unified healthcare co-op of the top healthcare professionals available in one complex promoting a common therapeutic modality which embraces the medical potentials of cannabinoids. Once perfected this integrative wellness center model can be reproduced and offered to people in communities that otherwise have limited access to this unique methodology of integrative healthcare. Contact: Paul Kennedy Email: pkennedy@kennedyhernandez.com SOURCE: Bionet View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595768/Bionet-Releases-Formal-Statement-Regarding-Investigation-and-False-Allegations 30 June 2020 Acron Group Promoting Cooperation with Financial Partners under the Talitsky Potash Project Otkritie Bank has acquired a stake in VPC's Talitsky potash project. The acquisition was made via Closed-end Mutual Fund Otrkitie, a member of Otkritie Bank. Having sold 10.1% of VPC shares to the Bank, Acron Group reduced its stake in the project to 50%+1 share. The other Talitsky stakeholder is Sberbank Investment, which holds two stakes of 20% and 19.9%. Earlier this month, Sberbank Investment decided to extend the term of its 19.9% stake in the Group's potash project. Acron Board of Directors Chairman Alexander Popov commented on the acquisition: "We are happy that Otkritie Bank has joined our major potash project. Acron Group has been focused on strengthening long-term cooperation with its financial partners. We would like to thank our partners for their participation in the project, which adds flexibility to the project in the current macroeconomic environment. We have entered the final stage of building vertical shafts. With the banks' support, in the future, we will be able to proceed to constructing the ground facilities and the underground mine, taking into account market conditions and needs." Viktor Nikolaev, member of the Management Board, Corporate and Investment Block Executive at Otkritie Bank: "For us, this acquisition is an attractive investment opportunity, the first step towards implementation by our partner, Acron Group, of a large investment project that will help create an export-oriented production facility with an annual extraction volume of 7.5 million tonnes of ore and production capacity of 2.0 million tonnes of potassium chloride per year." Mediacontacts: Sergey Dorofeev Anastasiya Gromova Tatiana Smirnova Public Relations Phone: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196) Investor contacts: Ilya Popov Investor Relations Phone: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252) Background Information Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It has a wholly owned transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic seaport terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acron's subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining leases and an exploration permit for ten parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty S.A., one of the largest chemical producers in Europe. In 2019, the Group sold 7.6 million tonnes of the main products to 78 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets. In 2019, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 114,835 million (USD 1,774 million) and net profit of RUB 24,786 million (USD 383 million). Acron's shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs around 11,000 people. For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en. The study aims to support the use of high-dose setanaxib in future clinical trials, including the pivotal registration trial of setanaxib in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) This Phase 1 study will evaluate setanaxib administered at doses up to 1,600 mg/day Genkyotex anticipates superior efficacy in PBC with a higher dose Regulatory News: Genkyotex (Paris:GKTX) (Brussels:GKTX) (Euronext Paris Brussels: FR0013399474 GKTX), a biopharmaceutical company and the leader in NOX therapies, today announced the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical study with high-dose setanaxib in healthy subjects. This new Phase 1 study aims to support the inclusion of doses of up to 1,600 mg/day in future clinical trials, including the pivotal trial which will support the registration of setanaxib in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). The study was approved by the French Medicines Agency (ANSM) in May 2020. To date, five Phase 1 and three Phase 2 clinical studies have been conducted with setanaxib and no safety signal and no dose limiting toxicity have been observed. In the successfully completed PBC Phase 2 trial, 800 mg/day achieved consistently greater efficacy than 400 mg/day across multiple endpoints including improvements in markers of liver fibrosis, including a rapid reduction in liver stiffness and markers of collagen turnover. Superior efficacy was also achieved for fatigue, the main symptom reported by PBC patients, as well as for the cholestatic markers alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). Genkyotex recently provided additional clinical data from the PBC Phase 2 trial highlighting setanaxib's anti-fibrotic mechanism. Specifically, setanaxib improved markers of collagen turnover indicating reduced collagen synthesis and enhanced collagen degradation in patients with advanced liver fibrosis. These results provide further mechanistic insights for setanaxib's anti-fibrotic activity and provide an explanation for the rapid reduction in liver stiffness already reported in these high-risk patients. Considering setanaxib's excellent clinical safety profile, the company has decided to explore higher doses and anticipates superior efficacy based on the dose dependent effects observed in the Phase 2 PBC trial. The single ascending dose (SAD) part of the Phase 1 study will provide pharmacokinetics information for doses up to 1,600 mg. Subsequently, the multiple ascending dose (MAD) part of the study will evaluate setanaxib doses of 1,200 and 1,600 mg/day over a 10-day dosing period. A total of up to 54 male and female healthy subjects will be included in the study. Upon successful completion of this new Phase 1 study, Genkyotex plans to include higher doses in upcoming studies. "We are excited to initiate this study in a timely fashion despite the COVID-19 pandemics. This study is an important component of our development plans for setanaxib in multiple fibrotic indications. In particular, assessing these higher doses can support our registration strategy for setanaxib in PBC. We plan to provide further information about our pivotal program soon", said Philippe Wiesel, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Genkyotex. Next financial press release: Q2 2020 business update and cash position: July 23, 2020 (after market) About Genkyotex Genkyotex is the leading biopharmaceutical company in NOX therapies, listed on the Euronext Paris and Euronext Brussels markets. Its unique platform enables the identification of orally available small-molecules which selectively inhibit specific NOX enzymes that amplify multiple disease processes such as fibrosis, inflammation, pain processing, cancer development, and neurodegeneration. Genkyotex is developing a pipeline of first-in-class product candidates targeting one or multiple NOX enzymes. The lead product candidate, setanaxib (GKT831), a NOX1 and NOX4 inhibitor has shown evidence of anti-fibrotic activity in a Phase II clinical trial in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC, a fibrotic orphan disease). Based on its positive Phase II results, a Phase 3 trial with setanaxib in PBC is being planned. Setanaxib is also being evaluated in an investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical trial in Type 1 Diabetes and Kidney Disease (DKD). A grant from the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) of $8.9 million was awarded to Professor Victor Thannickal at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to fund a multi-year research program evaluating the role of NOX enzymes in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic lung disease that results in fibrosis of the lungs. The core component of this program is a Phase 2 trial with setanaxib in patients with IPF scheduled to recruit patients in the course of 2020. This product candidate may also be active in other fibrotic indications. Genkyotex also has a versatile platform well-suited to the development of various immunotherapies (Vaxiclase). A partnership covering the use of Vaxiclase as an antigen per se (GTL003) has been established with Serum Institute of India Private Ltd (Serum Institute), the world's largest producer of vaccine doses, for the development by Serum Institute of cellular multivalent combination vaccines against a variety of infectious diseases. For further information, please go towww.genkyotex.com Disclaimer This press release may contain forward-looking statements by the company with respect to its objectives. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs, estimates and expectations of Genkyotex's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties such as the company's ability to implement its chosen strategy, customer market trends, changes in technologies and in the company's competitive environment, changes in regulations, clinical or industrial risks and all risks linked to the company's growth. These factors as well as other risks and uncertainties may prevent the company from achieving the objectives outlined in the press release and actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, due to various factors. Without being exhaustive, such factors include uncertainties involved in the development of Genkyotex's products, which may not succeed, or in the delivery of Genkyotex's products marketing authorizations by the relevant regulatory authorities and, in general, any factor that could affects Genkyotex's capacity to commercialize the products it develops. No guarantee is given on forward-looking statements which are subject to a number of risks, notably those described in the universal registration document filed with the AMF on April, 2020 under number 20-0434, and those linked to changes in economic conditions, the financial markets, or the markets on which Genkyotex is present. Genkyotex products are currently used for clinical trials only and are not otherwise available for distribution or sale View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005766/en/ Contacts: GENKYOTEX Alexandre Grassin CFO Tel.: +33 (0)5 61 28 70 60 investors@genkyotex.com NewCap Dusan Oresansky Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 92 genkyotex@newcap.eu Regulatory News: NOXXON Pharma N.V. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALNOX) (Paris:ALNOX), a biotechnology company focused on improving cancer treatments by targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), announced today the enrollment and first treatment of a patient with newly diagnosed brain cancer in the middle dose cohort of the phase 1/2 clinical trial. The study investigates three dose regimens of NOX-A12 (200, 400 and 600 mg/week), each combined with external-beam radiotherapy in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients. Once the newly enrolled patient in the second cohort has received a four-week treatment of NOX-A12 and radiotherapy, the Data Safety Monitoring Board will convene to determine whether it is safe to recruit the remaining two patients into the cohort. "Recruitment into this trial currently continues in our study centers, despite the challenges that hospital staff face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic," commented Aram Mangasarian, CEO of NOXXON. "Six months of data from the first cohort of patients should be available in October 2020, and from the second and third cohorts at the end of Q1 2021 and mid-2021, respectively. As a measure to ensure the timely completion of the study under the challenging conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently preparing the inclusion of three additional clinical sites to increase recruitment capacity. About NOXXON NOXXON's oncology-focused pipeline acts on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cancer immunity cycle by breaking the tumor protection barrier and blocking tumor repair. By neutralizing chemokines in the tumor microenvironment, NOXXON's approach works in combination with other forms of treatment to weaken tumor defenses against the immune system and enable greater therapeutic impact. Building on extensive clinical experience and safety data, the lead program NOX-A12 has delivered top-line data from a Keytruda combination trial in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients and further studies are being planned in these indications. In September 2019 the company initiated an additional trial with NOX-A12 in brain cancer in combination with radiotherapy. The combination of NOX-A12 and radiotherapy has been granted orphan drug status in the US and EU for the treatment of certain brain cancers. The company's second clinical-stage asset NOX-E36 is a Phase 2 TME asset targeting the innate immune system. NOXXON plans to test NOX-E36 in patients with solid tumors both as a monotherapy and in combination. Further information can be found at: www.noxxon.com Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp Dohme Corp https://www.linkedin.com/company/noxxon-pharma-ag https://twitter.com/noxxon_pharma Disclaimer Certain statements in this communication contain formulations or terms referring to the future or future developments, as well as negations of such formulations or terms, or similar terminology. These are described as forward-looking statements. In addition, all information in this communication regarding planned or future results of business segments, financial indicators, developments of the financial situation or other financial or statistical data contains such forward-looking statements. The company cautions prospective investors not to rely on such forward-looking statements as certain prognoses of actual future events and developments. The company is neither responsible nor liable for updating such information, which only represents the state of affairs on the day of publication. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005738/en/ Contacts: NOXXON Pharma N.V. Aram Mangasarian, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer Tel. +49 (0) 30 726247 0 amangasarian@noxxon.com Trophic Communications Gretchen Schweitzer or Joanne Tudorica Tel. +49 (0) 89 2388 7730 or +49 (0) 176 2103 7191 schweitzer@trophic.eu NewCap Arthur Rouille Tel. +33 (0) 1 44 71 00 15 arouille@newcap.fr Esker, a worldwide leader in AI-driven process automation solutions and pioneer in cloud computing, today announced a strategic partnership with oAppsNet Partners, a systems integrator specializing in business solutions based on Oracle applications. The partnership is focused on providing Oracle customers with even more value and resources as they address procure-to-pay (P2P) automation through Esker. With over 20 years of hands-on experience in the Oracle space, oAppsNet brings an unparalleled combination of application know-how and business experience to reinforce Esker's integration with the Oracle solutions. oAppsNet chose to partner with Esker because of the true end-to-end experience its solutions bring to the user, providing seamless integration all the way through the ERP system. "After our discovery of Esker, we learned that they offered solutions no other vendor on the market had and it was clear they were the best of breed in procurement and accounts payable automation," said Rick Pollina, managing partner, oAppsNet. "It's been a journey for us to actually find Esker, and we're anxious to share with our customers because we know they're going to love it. We can't speak highly enough about it." Esker's P2P automation solutions seamlessly integrate with Oracle's ERP solutions, enabling companies to easily switch to paperless invoice and order processing. With paper and manual handling removed from the equation, companies can dramatically improve their workflow efficiency and staff productivity while providing full visibility and accountability from beginning to end. Aside from their deep technology expertise with Oracle solutions, oAppsNet is customer-focused and follows a similar agile methodology for solution implementation, which were driving factors in Esker's decision to partner with the company. "Our automation solutions integrate with a wide range of ERP solutions, but this partnership is focused on reinforcing Esker's investment in the Oracle business environment," said Steve Smith, U.S. chief operating officer, Esker. "We're thrilled to further improve the user experience for our current Oracle customers, and we're looking forward to an enhanced implementation process for future customers." About oAppsNet Partners oAppsNet Partners is a US-based company that specializes in the digital transformation of every facet of your organization. As an Oracle-certified partner with over 25 years of experience, we can ensure that your business' transition to the cloud costs less, requires less time, and provides you with the efficiencies that will drive your company to the next level. Our proven and comprehensive approach to projects involves a deep dive into existing business practices to provide you with not only the most optimal cloud solution but also the one that leverages your organization's existing strengths. We pride ourselves on ensuring that every project is successful through in-depth digital training tailored specifically for your company. oAppsNet is based out of Colorado but has employees across the U.S. For more information, please visit oappsnet.com. About Esker Esker is a worldwide leader in AI-driven process automation software, helping financial and customer service departments digitally transform their procure-to-pay (P2P) and order-to-cash (O2C) cycles. Used by more than 6,000 companies worldwide, Esker's solutions incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) technology to drive increased productivity, enhanced visibility, reduced fraud risk, and improved collaboration with customers, suppliers and internally. Founded in 1985, Esker operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on Esker and its solutions, visit www.esker.com. Follow Esker on Twitter @EskerInc and join the conversation on the Esker blog at blog.esker.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005787/en/ Contacts: Press Contact: Sarah Jenne Tel: (972) 850-5899 sjenne@ideagrove.com Investor Relations Contact: Emmanuel Olivier Tel: +33 (0)4 72 83 46 46 olivier@esker.fr A new site, a new international vision, new artistic encounters: the Pernod Ricard Foundation will continue to look outwards and work in the same spirit to bring the young French contemporary art scene to Paris and the world. Regulatory News: Pernod Ricard (Paris:RI): Press release, Paris, 30 June 2020 From 1 July 2020, the Ricard Foundation currently on rue Boissy d'Anglas will become the Pernod Ricard Foundation, a dynamic that will see it move in the autumn to a multidisciplinary art space at the Group's new headquarters in the Saint-Lazare district at the heart of Paris. Open to its city and its neighbourhood, the Pernod Ricard Foundation will remain true to its principles of making art freely accessible to all on a human scale. Building on a heritage that dates back more than 20 years, the Pernod Ricard Foundation will continue its commitment to hosting challenging, multidisciplinary, uncompromising exhibitions, supporting up-and- coming artists to bring the next generation of French art to the capital and beyond. In this new space conceived as a life-size toolkit, thematic conferences, artistic encounters and art performances will enrich France's young art scene. A fresh approach that extends equally to the annual 'Prix de la Fondation' prize, whose new modalities will be unveiled by Alexandre Ricard, the Group's Chairman Chief Executive Officer, on 15 September at the presentation ceremony of the 2019 Prix Ricard at the Centre Pompidou. This transition takes place in the context of the strategy of acceleration that has been driving all the Group's activities over the last several years. It seeks to give greater resonance to the work already achieved by the Ricard Foundation in anchoring it even more strongly in the local community, while allowing it to benefit from the support of the Group's 73 international subsidiaries. The Foundation's new space, designed by the NeM architecture studio and facing onto a large tree-lined pedestrian esplanade the Cours Paul Ricard will be located at the front of the Group's new headquarters, a showcase of its values of openness and generosity. Including an auditorium seating 130, a 300-square-metre main exhibition hall, and a distinctive space that can be used for performances or one-off shows, the Foundation will also feature a cafe and bookshop in keeping with the Group's core ethos of cultivating a mix of conviviality and creativity. With this renewed commitment to its charitable art foundation, Pernod Ricard reaffirms its belief that economic performance cannot be decoupled from social engagement, as the Group has shown during the Covid-19 crisis. This new chapter continues the longstanding artistic mission initiated by the company's founder Paul Ricard. Alexandre Ricard: "I am delighted that our unwavering commitment to young artists will now be led by a Foundation at the scale of our Group. This step is the continuation of a vision that began with my grandfather, a great friend to the arts and to artists, a vision that was long supported by the Ricard company. Like the Group itself, our mission of philanthropy is continually evolving to carry our ambition higher and further, without ever losing its original essence Colette Barbier, current director of the Ricard Foundation and future director of the Pernod Ricard Foundation, explains: "Twenty is the age when everything is possible, any ambition can be realised. But now more than ever, artists remain at the core of our project. This new space will be an outstanding forum for cultural exchange, artistic performance and creative innovation: a place for artistic conviviality, encounters and sharing About Pernod Ricard Pernod Ricard is the world's No 2 in wines and spirits with consolidated sales of 9,182 million in FY19. Created in 1975 by the merger of Ricard and Pernod, the Group has undergone sustained development, based on both organic growth and acquisitions: Seagram (2001), Allied Domecq (2005) and Vin&Sprit (2008). Pernod Ricard, which owns 16 of the Top 100 Spirits Brands, holds one of the most prestigious and comprehensive brand portfolios in the industry, including: Absolut Vodka, Ricard pastis, Ballantine's, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute, and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater gin, Malibu liqueur, Mumm and Perrier-Jouet champagnes, as well Jacob's Creek, Brancott Estate, Campo Viejo, and Kenwood wines. Pernod Ricard's brands are distributed across 160+ markets and by its own salesforce in 73 markets. The Group's decentralised organisation empowers its 19,000 employees to be true on-the-ground ambassadors of its vision of "Createurs de Convivialite." As reaffirmed by the Group's three-year strategic plan, "Transform Accelerate," deployed in 2018, Pernod Ricard's strategy focuses on investing in long-term, profitable growth for all stakeholders. The Group remains true to its three founding values: entrepreneurial spirit, mutual trust, and a strong sense of ethics. As illustrated by the 2030 roadmap supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), "We bring good times from a good place." In recognition of Pernod Ricard's strong commitment to sustainable development and responsible consumption, it has received a Gold rating from Ecovadis and is ranked No. 1 in the beverage sector in Vigeo Eiris. Pernod Ricard is also a United Nations' Global Compact LEAD company. Pernod Ricard is listed on Euronext (Ticker: RI; ISIN Code: FR0000120693) and is part of the CAC 40 index. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005852/en/ Contacts: Press contacts: Pernod Ricard Emmanuel Vouin Press Relations Manager +33 (0) 1 41 00 44 04 Alison Donohoe Press Relations Manager +33 (0) 1 41 00 44 63 Claudine Colin Communication Chiara Di Leva Thomas Lozinski +33 (0) 1 42 72 60 01 chiara@claudinecolin.com thomas@claudinecolin.com STOCKHOLM, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ElectReon Wireless, a leader in developing and implementing wireless charging for electric vehicles in motion, raises US$50 million in an equity offering to boost a global shift to the cleanest form of mobility - electric vehicles with minimal batteries. Some of Israel's biggest institutional Investors led the investment, such as Migdal, Psagot, Mor, Excellence, and Halman Aldubi, and leading hedge funds Alpha, Safra and Sphera, as well as Afcon Holdings which is the biggest EV charging player in Israel. ElectReon is expected to complete full commissioning of its demo projects in Tel Aviv and Sweden by the end of 2020 and will use the funds to accelerate the development of commercial projects. Those projects include a 10 km shared deployment for public transportation and other commercial users in Tel Aviv and a 25-30 km deployment that will charge heavy-duty trucks in Sweden. The company also plans to establish a local presence in selected new markets such as Germany, Italy, France, California, India, and Latin America where it is currently developing additional projects. As part of the global move towards electrifying heavy duty vehicles, California recently approved new rules that would force automakers to sell more electric work trucks and delivery vans, a first-of-its-kind rule aimed at helping the nation's most populous state clean up its worst-in-the-nation air quality, making it a great potential market for a solution that can electrify heavy-duty trucks without using huge batteries. The funds will also be used towards expanding the range of vehicles offered for dynamic wireless charging beyond buses and heavy duty trucks to shuttles, taxies, light trucks, vans and autonomous vehicles. ElectReon's CEO, Oren Ezer - "We thank our investors for showing confidence in the clean mobility segment as a global growth engine and in ElectReon's solution as a platform that can bring the world closer to 100% clean transportation" About ElectReon Electreon Wireless is a publicly traded Israeli company developing and implementing wireless dynamic charging for all types of electric vehicles. A shared, invisible "charge as a service" platform enabling cost effective electrification of commercial and autonomous fleets with minimal batteries and smooth and continuous operation Contact: +46-70-418-20-65 info@electreon.com www.electreon.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/electreon-ab/r/electreon-wireless-raises-us-50-million-in-an-equity-offering,c3144919 The following files are available for download: The coatings raw materials market is expected to grow by 9,198.83 thousand tons during 2020-2024. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect the impact to be significant in the first quarter but gradually lessen in subsequent quarters with a limited impact on the full-year economic growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005493/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Coatings Raw Materials Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Request challenges and opportunities influenced by COVID-19 pandemic Request a free sample report of coatings raw materials market Alkyd resins are among the key raw materials used to produce synthetic paints and coatings that are compatible with a wide range of coating polymers. They significantly enhance the weathering properties of protective coatings. Also, these resins are widely used in the manufacture of industrial coatings, concrete floors, and road paints. In 2017, the global paints and coatings market stood at USD 149.59 billion and is expected to post a CAGR of 5.63% through 2023. The sustained and high consumption of paints and coatings during the forecast period will fuel the growth of the global coatings raw materials market. 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=IRTNTR44096 As per Technavio, the growing demand for coatings raw materials in the construction industry will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Coatings Raw Materials Market: Growing Demand for Coatings Raw Materials in the Construction Industry The growth in the global construction industry is expected to increase the demand for coatings raw materials during the forecast period. The construction industry, especially in emerging economies is witnessing high growth due to the increasing population and rising demand for residential projects. Projects such as the Turkey Urban Renewal Project, the South-North Water Transfer Project in China, and the Lagos-Calabar coastal railway in Nigeria are likely to be completed by the end of the forecast period. A surge in the number of such construction activities will have a positive impact on the growth of the global coatings raw materials market. "Increasing demand for coatings raw materials in APAC and growing industrialization will further boost market growth during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Coatings Raw Materials Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the coatings raw materials market by Type (Resins, Pigments and fillers, Solvents, and Additives) and Geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and MEA). The APAC region led the coatings raw materials market in 2019, followed by Europe, North America, South America, and MEA respectively. During the forecast period, the APAC region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the growth of the automotive industry in China and India. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005493/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/ WASHINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President Barack Obama has slammed his successor Donald Trump who tries to promote anti-Asian sentiment by using racist language "kung flu" to call the coronavirus during campaign rallies, U.S. media reported on Monday. "I don't want a country in which the president of the United States is actively trying to promote anti-Asian sentiment and thinks it's funny. I don't want that. That still shocks and pisses me off," Obama reportedly said in an invite-only fundraiser last week for presumptive Democratic president nominee Joe Biden. Trump at least used the racist term twice this month, first at his Tulsa rally and later at a youth rally in Arizona. Some people have warned that rhetoric from Trump and other officials blaming China for the disease's spread has lead to a rise in harassment and mistreatment of Asian Americans, according to media reports. When the World Health Organization announced the official name for the novel coronavirus in February, the UN agency made it clear that the designation did not stigmatize any geographical location, animal, individual or group of people. China releases Liu Xianbin after 10-year prison sentence, detains his supporters Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Chinese human rights activist Liu Xianbin, who spent 10 years in jail for writing for overseas dissident publications, had to walk for 12 hours to reach his home to be reunited with his wife following his release this past weekend. Authorities released Liu, who served a 10-year prison term for subverting state power, early on Saturday and he reached his home in Beijing late in the evening to be with his wife, Chen Mingxian, according to the U.S.-based ChinaAid. Two of Lius supporters had gone to receive him, to welcome him back into society, but officials detained them. Liu has spent a total of 21 years and 10 months behind bars due to his fight for the human rights of Chinese citizens. In 1991, Liu was jailed for 2 1/2 years for counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement due to his involvement in the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. In 1995, he was detained for being part of a petition, Drawing Lessons from Blood and Promoting Democracy and Rule of Law, which was also supported by activist Wang Dan and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. In 1998, Liu wrote an open letter to the Ninth National Peoples Congress, demanding respect for peoples human rights, and co-founded the China Democracy Partys unit in Sichuan. In early 1999, he was detained for a month in the Beijing Detention Center, followed by a house arrest. He was convicted of subversion of state power in August 1999 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. However, he was released early in 2008 for good behavior. Liu went back to his democracy activism and was again detained on June 27, 2010, for writing for overseas publications criticizing Chinese authorities, and later sentenced under article 105 of the Chinese penal code, which deals with subversion of state power. Even going according to the CCPs standards, its a judgment that entirely perverts the law, Guo Guoting, a Chinese civil rights lawyer who later moved to Canada, wrote in an email after Lius conviction in 2010, according to The Epoch Times. Article 105 of the Chinese penal code, Guo wrote, implies the use of violence. But Liu Xianbin never did anything remotely violent. Liu was named on ChinaAids China18 list of prisoners of conscience who have faced severe adversity for their promotion of freedom in China. The list represent thousands of men and women in China who work at their peril to promote and advocate for the rule of law, religious freedom, democracy, and basic human rights, the group says. As a result, these brave Chinese citizens face harassment, incarceration, torture, and often with similar consequences for their family members. President Trump recently signed into law the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020, authorizing the imposition of sanctions against those Chinese officials who have been responsible for the detention and persecution of more than a million Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang autonomous region. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom soon thereafter urged the Trump administration to immediately enforce sanctions. The Chinese government has also continued its campaign against Christianity during the countrys coronavirus outbreak by destroying crosses and demolishing a church while people were on lockdown. More than 60 million Christians live in China, at least half of whom worship in unregistered, or illegal underground churches. China is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors USAs World Watch List. Technavio has been monitoring the breast biopsy devices market and it is poised to grow by USD 504.94 million during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of about 10% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005562/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Breast Biopsy Devices 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 concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Argon Medical Devices Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Co., Carestream Health Inc., Danaher Corp., FUJIFILM Holdings Corp., General Electric Co., Hologic Inc., Planmed Oy, Scion Medical Technologies LLC, and Siemens Healthineers AG 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. The growing prevalence of breast cancer cases has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, the high cost of breast biopsy might hamper market growth. Breast Biopsy Devices Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Breast Biopsy Devices Market is segmented as below: Product Biopsy Needles And Systems Biopsy Image-guided Systems Others End-user Hospitals ASCs Breast Cancer Specialty Centers And Clinics Others Geography North America Europe Asia ROW 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=IRTNTR44126 Breast Biopsy Devices 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 breast biopsy devices market report covers the following areas: Breast Biopsy Devices Market size Breast Biopsy Devices Market trends Breast Biopsy Devices Market industry analysis This study identifies the increasing number of M&As as one of the prime reasons driving the breast biopsy devices market growth during the next few years. Breast Biopsy Devices Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the breast biopsy devices market, including some of the vendors such as Argon Medical Devices Inc., Becton, Dickinson and Co., Carestream Health Inc., Danaher Corp., FUJIFILM Holdings Corp., General Electric Co., Hologic Inc., Planmed Oy, Scion Medical Technologies LLC, and Siemens Healthineers AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the breast biopsy devices 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 Breast Biopsy Devices Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist breast biopsy devices market growth during the next five years Estimation of the breast biopsy devices market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the breast biopsy devices market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of breast biopsy devices market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Product Market segments Comparison by Product Biopsy needles and systems Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Biopsy image-guided systems Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Product Market Segmentation by End-user Market segments Hospitals ASCs Breast cancer specialty centers and clinics Others Market Segmentation by Modality Market segments Stereotactic X-ray guided breast biopsy Ultrasound-guided breast biopsy MRI-guided breast biopsy Customer Landscape Customer landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Asia Market size and forecast 2019-2024 ROW Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Key leading countries Market opportunity by geography Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Overview Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors Argon Medical Devices Inc. Carestream Health Inc. Danaher Corp. FUJIFILM Holdings Corp. General Electric Co. Hologic Inc. Planmed Oy Scion Medical Technologies LLC Siemens Healthineers AG Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005562/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/ The global alpha olefins market is expected to grow by 1209.22 thousand MT during 2020-2024. The report also provides the market impact and new opportunities created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect the impact to be significant in the first quarter but gradually lessen in subsequent quarters with a limited impact on the full-year economic growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005543/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Alpha Olefins Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) The increasing use of alpha-olefins as synthetic drilling fluids is expected to be one of the significant factors that will drive the growth of the market. Alpha olefins such as Butene, especially 1- and 2-Butene, is used to make PB. Pure 1-Butene is used in the production of LLDPE. The oxo reaction of a mixture of 1- and 2-Butene results in the formation of valeraldehyde. Valeraldehyde is then converted into C10 plasticizers. These substances, including LLDPE, valeraldehyde, and plasticizers, are used to manufacture rubber. Apart from this, C4 olefins and their derivatives are used to manufacture synthetic rubber. The growing rubber chemicals market is expected to increase the demand for Butene during the forecast period. Request challenges and opportunities influenced by COVID-19 pandemic Request a free sample report 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=IRTNTR43866 As per Technavio, the use of alpha olefins as synthetic drilling fluids will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Alpha Olefins Market: Use of Alpha Olefins as Synthetic Drilling Fluids Alpha olefin derivatives, especially with C16-C18, are used as hydrophobic oil-soluble surfactants. These alpha olefins are used in making synthetic drilling fluid bases. These base fluids are prepared by oligomerizing olefins. The resulting oligomers are hydrogenated and sulfonated and used as additives in various applications and manufacturing processes. The synthetic fluids used in the Gulf of Mexico are linear alpha olefins, isomerized olefins, PAOs, and esters, which are derived from C16-C18 alpha olefins. With the increase in oil production and extraction activities globally, the demand for synthetic drilling fluids is rising. This has increased the overall consumption of alpha olefins worldwide. "Factors such as the expansion of end-user industries, and the high demand for alpha olefins from the automotive sector will have a significant impact on the growth of the alpha olefins market value during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Alpha Olefins Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the alpha olefins market by type (1-Hexene, 1-Butene, 1-Octene, 1-Decene, and Others), application (polyethylene, synthetic lubricants, plasticizers, and others), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America). The North American region led the alpha olefins market in 2019, followed by Europe, APAC, MEA, and South America respectively. During the forecast period, the North America is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the expansion activities planned by manufacturers in the region. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005543/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/ 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: 30 June 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 41,914 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,934 pence 23.93 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,900 pence 23.51 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,921 pence 23.77 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 30 June 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 15,992 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 23.60 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 23.50 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 23.54 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 30 June 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 37,521 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 23.75 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 23.20 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 23.57 USD PSH will hold these Public Shares in Treasury. The net asset value per Public Share related to this buyback is 34.48 USD 27.55 GBP which was calculated as of 23 June 2020 (the "Relevant NAV"). After giving effect to the above buyback, PSH has 195,655,196 Public Shares outstanding, or 201,585,431 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 15,301,554 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/20200630005908/en/ Contacts: Media Camarco Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk AmbioPharm Inc. a leading supplier of peptide active pharmaceutical ingredients has recently opened its new manufacturing and quality control facilities at its headquarters in South Carolina. "The new buildings were completed in April and qualified by May 15, 2020 expanding our peptide manufacturing capacity," stated Dr. Chris J. Bai, CEO. "The new buildings add nearly 56,000 sq. ft of production space to our current footprint in South Carolina. In the near future, our subsidiary site in Shanghai will also complete a new campus of 350,000 sq. ft. later this year," stated Dr. Bai. "As the world battles the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become increasingly apparent that no single solution will suffice for patients who are fighting the disease. Peptide approaches have been recently advanced for potential vaccine development, diagnostic testing and as therapeutic agents to help ameliorate the cytokine storm," stated Dr. Michael W. Pennington, CSO. "Furthermore, we believe that science will prove to be the Achilles' heel of the virus, and the world will recover more quickly as better therapies become available," added Dr. Pennington. AmbioPharm Inc. is uniquely positioned to help companies that are developing peptide-based approaches targeting the virus. As the company with the world's largest cGMP peptide manufacturing capacity, AmbioPharm Inc. has a very unique business model which helps us to produce peptides of both high quality and purity with very economical cost. AmbioPharm Inc. can be contacted through our website if you have a project which requires our services. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630006013/en/ Contacts: Dr. Michael W. Pennington mike.pennington@ambiopharm.com http://www.ambiopharm.com Regulatory News: Maurel Prom (Paris:MAU): The Combined General Shareholders' meeting was held behind closed doors on 30 June 2020 under the chairmanship of Mr. Aussie Gautama in application of Article 4 of Order no. 2020-321 dated 25 March 2020, and in accordance with all applicable regulations. Resolutions The General Shareholders' meeting approved all the resolutions put to the vote. The Shareholders' Meeting approved notably the parent company and consolidated financial statements for the 2019 fiscal year and decided not to pay a dividend in respect of this fiscal year. A webcast of the Shareholders' Meeting of 30 June 2020 and the voting results are available on Maurel Prom website General meetings section: https://www.maureletprom.fr/en/investisseurs/assemblees-generales Composition of the Board of Directors and its Committees The General Shareholders' meeting renewed Ms. Nathalie Delapalme as director, ratified the cooptation of Mr. Daniel Purba as director and approved the appointment of Ms. Caroline Catoire as independent director to replace Mr. Roman Gozalo. Thus, the Board of Directors includes 7 members, of whom 3 independent members. Among these 7 directors, 4 are women representing 57% of the members of the Board. The Board of Directors, meeting today after the General Meeting, renewed the term of office of Mr. Olivier de Langavant as Chief Executive Officer. The Board also carried out a review of its specialized committees which now composed of an Audit Committee, an Investments and Risks Committee and an Appointment, Remuneration and CSR (Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility) Committee. All the information on the composition of the Board of Directors and its Committees are available on the website of the Company, in the Governance section: https://www.maureletprom.fr/en/groupe/gouvernance/comites-specialises It was also decided to appoint two censors: Mr. Roman Gozalo and Mr. John Anis. For more information, visit www.maureletprom.fr. This document may contain forward-looking statements regarding the financial position, results, business and industrial strategy of Maurel Prom. By nature, forward-looking statements contain risks and uncertainties to the extent that they are based on events or circumstances that may or may not happen in the future. These projections are based on assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but which may prove to be incorrect and which depend on a number of risk factors, such as fluctuations in crude oil prices, changes in exchange rates, uncertainties related to the valuation of our oil reserves, actual rates of oil production and the related costs, operational problems, political stability, legislative or regulatory reforms, or even wars, terrorism and sabotage. Maurel Prom is listed for trading on Euronext Paris CAC All-Tradable CAC Small CAC Mid Small PEA-PME and SRD eligible Isin FR0000051070 / Bloomberg MAU.FP / Reuters MAUP.PA View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630006018/en/ Contacts: Maurel Prom Press, shareholder and investor relations +33 (0)1 53 83 16 45 ir@maureletprom.fr NewCap Financial communication and investor relations Media relations Louis-Victor Delouvrier Nicolas Merigeau Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 98 53 +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98 maureletprom@newcap.eu TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 29, 2020 / Rental Bridge Assist Inc. ("RBA", or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has commenced its business to help Business Landlords and Tenants access the Canada Emergency Commercial Relief Assistance (CECRA) program. CECRA is a program initiated by the federal and provincial governments in conjunction with the CMHC to help retail and commercial tenants with rental payments for the months of April May and June, 2020. CECRA for small business provides much needed relief for business landlords and tenants experiencing financial hardship due to the current pandemic. The program is structured to offer forgivable loans to eligible commercial property tenants so that their monthly rent is reduced by at least 75% for the months of April, May, and June. Qualifying conditions for the program include, but not limited to, the tenant having a loss of revenue of 70% over the period (April, May, June), rent is less than $50k/month, the landlord and tenant enter into agreement that the landlord will not evict the tenant, and the tenant pays 25% of the rent as the landlord foregoes collecting 25% of the rent. Bill Minnis Sr. Principal of RBA stated "I anticipate that RBA will be able to introduce business landlords and tenants to this new government program with the expectation of positive outcomes." About Rental Bridge Assist Inc. Rental Bridge Assist Inc. is a Canadian owned and controlled private company incorporated under the laws of Canada and authorized to carry on business in the Province of Ontario. For further information, please contact Bill Minnis Sr. Principal of the Company, at 647-401-8171 (Email: RBAINCToronto@gmail.com). Additional information about RBA can be found at the Company's website at www.rentalbridgeassist.com/general-landlord-optin. D: (647) 401-8171 Bill Minnis, Principal D: (647) 706-8007 Omar Jawabri, VPM E: Rbainctoronto@gmail.com Social Media: @Rentalbridge SOURCE: Rental Bridge Assist Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/595821/Rental-Birdge-Assist-Announces-the-Opening-of-a-Consultancy-to-Help-Business-Landlords-and-Tenants-Access-CECRA Sierra Metals Inc. (TSX: SMT) (BVL: SMT) (NYSE AMERICAN: SMTS) ("Sierra Metals" or "the Company") hereby announces the voting results from the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders held on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. A total of 123,752,697 common shares were represented at the meeting, being 76.01% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares. Shareholders voted in favour of all matters brought before the meeting including the re-appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as auditors for the ensuing year, and the election of management's nominees as directors. Detailed results of the votes on the election of directors are as follows: Director Votes For Votes Withheld Outcome of Vote J. Alberto Arias 86,380,332 (79.12%) 22,802,828 (20.88%) Approved Steven G. Dean 93,809,131 (85.92%) 15,374,029 (14.08%) Approved Douglas F. Cater 95,000,604 (87.01%) 14,182,556 (12.99%) Approved Ricardo Arrarte 107,061,067 (98.06%) 2,122,093 (1.94%) Approved Luis Marchese 107,076,367 (98.07%) 2,106,793 (1.93%) Approved Dionisio Romero Jose Vizquerra Benavides 95,000,604 (87.01%) 109,174,693 (99.99%) 14,182,556 (12.99%) 8,467 (0.01%) Approved Approved Koko Yamamoto 101,746,394 (93.19%) 7,436,766 (6.81%) Approved In addition, the following resolutions were approved at the meeting: (1) the approval of all unallocated options under the Company's Stock Option Plan, and (2) the approval of all unallocated restricted share units under the Company's Restricted Share Unit Plan, all as further detailed in the Management Information Circular of the Company dated May 25, 2020 (a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com). About Sierra Metals Sierra Metals is a Canadian based growing polymetallic mining company with production from its Yauricocha Mine in Peru, and its Bolivar and Cusi Mines in Mexico. The Company is focused on increasing production volume and growing mineral resources. Sierra Metals has recently had several new discoveries and still has additional brownfield exploration opportunities at all three mines in Peru and Mexico that are within or close proximity to the existing mines. Additionally, the Company has large land packages at all three mines with several prospective regional targets providing longer-term exploration upside and mineral resource growth potential. The common shares of the Company are listed and posted for trading on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SMT" and on the NYSE American Exchange under the symbol "SMTS". For further information regarding Sierra Metals, please visit www.sierrametals.com or contact: Continue to Follow, Like and Watch our progress: Web: www.sierrametals.com Twitter: sierrametals Facebook: SierraMetalsInc LinkedIn: Sierra Metals Inc Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian and U.S. securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the date of the 2020 Shareholders' Meeting and the anticipated filing of the Compensation Disclosure. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives", "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 information. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the risks described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated March 30, 2020 for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which filings are available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. The risk factors referred to above are not an exhaustive list of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes statements about the future and is inherently uncertain, and the Company's actual achievements or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630006022/en/ Contacts: Mike McAllister V.P., Investor Relations Sierra Metals Inc. +1 (416) 366-7777 Email: info@sierrametals.com Luis Marchese CEO Sierra Metals Inc. +1(416) 366-7777 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 30, 2020) - City View Green Holdings Inc. (CSE: CVGR) (OTCQB: CVGRF) ("City View" or the "Company"), trading through the facilities of the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") under the symbol "CVGR" and on the OTCQB under the symbol "CVGRF" announces, further to its press release on June 10th, 2020, that construction is well underway at City View's facility located at 49 Easton Road, Brantford Ontario. City View is targeting to complete construction and the security installation by July 31st, 2020. City View anticipates submitting the evidence package to Health Canada for its processing license by August 15, 2020. City View is pleased to announce that product development for its cannabis infused food offerings is progressing well. City View expects to offer cookies, chocolates and a sugar confectionery items and expects to submit these product offerings for approval to Health Canada and the Provincial regulatory bodies by September 2020. Rob Fia, CEO, commented, "Our team is moving rapidly and ahead of schedule with the construction of our facility and at a fast pace towards product development. City View expects to offer some exciting cannabis-infused food products to the marketplace during 2020." About City View City View Green is a leading cannabis-infused food company focused on the development of food brands, extraction and distribution. Upon the anticipated receipt of its Cannabis Act processing and sales licences ("Cannabis Licences"), City View will incorporate cannabis-infused food production and extraction at its Brantford, Ontario facility. Once operational, it is our expectation that City View will produce high quality cannabis-infused food, oils, distillates, and water-soluble products for the food and beverage markets. In addition, City View owns a 27.5% stake in Budd Hutt Inc. ("Budd Hutt"), a retail-focused cannabis company with access to cannabis cultivation and production licences in Alberta and other retail opportunities across Canada. Through its relationship with Budd Hutt, the Company anticipates securing shelf space, product placement, and distribution opportunities for City View's products. For more information visit www.cityviewgreen.ca. For further information contact: City View Green Holdings Inc. Rob Fia, CEO & President Email: rob@cityviewgreen.ca Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulations services accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking statements which are not composed of historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors related to completing construction at 49 Easton Road and submitting the evidence package to obtain a processing license from Health Canada which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. 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. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. When relying on the Company's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, among others, availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, delays in the development of projects, and ability to predict or counteract potential impact of COVID-19 coronavirus on factors relevant to the Company's business. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that 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 FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE COMPANY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE COMPANY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/58920 Rio Tinto has added a new role to its executive committee as it considers the next phase of its transformation to reinforce the company's commitment to strategy, technology and climate change in a new era. Peter Toth will become Group executive, Strategy and Development with a focus on leading Rio Tinto's transformation efforts around portfolio, climate change, and closure, working in partnership with the product group and commercial teams. He will also assume responsibility for Rio Tinto Exploration and Ventures. Stephen McIntosh, Group executive of Growth Innovation and Health, Safety Environment (HSE) has decided to retire after more than 30 years with Rio Tinto, leaving the company on 30 September. Stephen joined Rio Tinto as an exploration geophysicist in 1987 and led the exploration team from 2011 to 2016, joining the executive committee in 2016. During his time with the company, Stephen built strong exploration, project and technology capabilities. With Stephen's departure, Mark Davies will assume the role of Group executive, Safety, Technical and Projects, with a focus on maintaining the company's longstanding commitment to safety, health and environment, while further building on the company's efforts in technology and project delivery to support operational excellence in the years ahead. Both Peter and Mark will join the Rio Tinto executive committee on 1 October, reporting to chief executive, J-S Jacques. Peter, a dual Hungarian and Australian citizen, joined Rio Tinto in 2014 as global head of Strategy. In 2015, he became head of Corporate Development with responsibility for corporate strategy (including climate strategy) and business development. With over 25 years' experience working in the resources industry around the world, he was the chief executive of ASX listed OM Holdings, an integrated manganese and silicon company, between 2008 and 2014. Prior to this he spent fourteen years with BHP Billiton in a range of roles, including the head of marketing for carbon steel materials. He is based in London. Mark, an Australian citizen, brings extensive international experience gained over 25 years with Rio Tinto in Australia, the US, the UK and Singapore. He joined the company in 1995 as a senior mechanical engineer and has worked in various operational and functional leadership roles during this time. These include chief commercial officer and interim CEO for the Iron and Titanium business unit, head of Group Risk and most recently, vice president, Global Procurement. Mark will move to Brisbane. Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques said, "We remain committed to strong performance, disciplined capital allocation and a focus on value over volume as we transform our business to make the most of future opportunities in an increasingly complex world. With Peter and Mark joining the executive team we will enhance our focus in areas that will be absolutely vital for Rio Tinto's future performance and success strategy, technology and climate change. I welcome them both to our team. "As we welcome our new team members we also say goodbye to Steve, who has significantly contributed to our company over many decades. We are very grateful for his support and leadership in areas from exploration to innovation. We thank him for his commitment and I wish Steve and his family all the very best for the future." Notes to editors Stephen McIntosh Stephen will leave the company on 30 September 2020 and take long service leave until his retirement date on 31 December 2020. Leaving arrangements for Stephen McIntosh are governed by the Group's remuneration policy and will be finalised at the date of his retirement and will be disclosed in the Annual Report. Peter Toth and Mark Davies Peter Toth and Mark Davies will be issued standard Rio Tinto executive contracts, which includes a 12-month company notice period. They will receive a remuneration package that is in line with the Group's remuneration policy, which is published on the company website. The 2020 Annual Report will contain details of the remuneration terms described above. This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Rio Tinto's Group Company Secretary. Category: general View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630006075/en/ Contacts: media.enquiries@riotinto.com riotinto.com Follow @RioTinto on Twitter Media Relations, United Kingdom Illtud Harri M +44 7920 503 600 David Outhwaite T +44 20 7781 1623 M +44 7787 597 493 Media Relations, Americas Matthew Klar T +1 514 608 4429 Media Relations, Asia Grant Donald T +65 6679 9290 M +65 9722 6028 Media Relations, Australia Jonathan Rose T +61 3 9283 3088 M +61 447 028 913 Matt Chambers T +61 3 9283 3087 M +61 433 525 739 Jesse Riseborough T +61 8 6211 6013 M +61 436 653 412 Investor Relations, United Kingdom Menno Sanderse T: +44 20 7781 1517 M: +44 7825 195 178 David Ovington T +44 20 7781 2051 M +44 7920 010 978 Investor Relations, Australia Natalie Worley T +61 3 9283 3063 M +61 409 210 462 Amar Jambaa T +61 3 9283 3627 M +61 472 865 948 Group Company Secretary Steve Allen Rio Tinto plc 6 St James's Square London SW1Y 4AD United Kingdom T +44 20 7781 2000 Registered in England No. 719885 Joint Company Secretary Tim Paine Rio Tinto Limited Level 7, 360 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 Australia T +61 3 9283 3333 Registered in Australia ABN 96 004 458 404 The trouble for Pramod Mittal started after British steel trading and distribution company Stemcor pursued him for the 166 million debt owed to them. Pramod Mittal, the brother of billionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, has been declared bankrupt by the Insolvency and Companies Court in London The 64-year-old has a debt of more than 130 million and he had filed for bankruptcy, reported The Times. Pramod Mittal is the co-owner of metallurgical coke producer Global Ispat Koksna Industrija Lukavac (GIKIL) in northern Bosnia. The reason behind his problem is reportedly attributed to his becoming a guarantor in 2006 for the debts of the company. The trouble for Pramod started after British steel trading and distribution company Stemcor pursued him for the 166 million debt owed to them. Stemcor then split up its non-trading businesses into a separate company, Moorgate Industries. The companys non-trading business included guarantee by Pramod. The court has granted the bankruptcy order to Moorgate Industries. According to Reuters, the Pramod Mittal and his two colleagues were arrested and later let off in Bosnia in 2019. They were released after paying 1.5 million euros, one million euro for Pramod and 500,000 euros for the two executives. The three were arrested after being suspected of involvement in the organised crime. According to The Indian Express, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case against him in 2017 for allegedly causing the State Trading Corporation (STC) loss to the tune of Rs 2,112 crore. At that time, his elder brother Lakshmi Mittal came to his rescue as he helped Pramod pay the loan. In 2013, Pramod Mittal was in the news after he spent over 50 million on his daughters wedding. His brother Lakshmi Mittal heads Arcelor Mittal, the worlds largest steelmaker. Christian app launches worlds first artificial intelligence audio Bible Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The makers of the Christian meditation app Soultime have announced the development and release of the worlds first-ever audio version of the Bible read in its entirety by an artificial intelligence voice amounting to 100 hours of audible scripture. Soultime said in a statement that it evaluated a range of text-to-speech platforms but found Googles Wavenet the most natural sounding, however, because the Bible text is extremely complex it had to work hard to modify the basic reading to create something that both sounded natural and was truly enjoyable to listen to. Citing an example, the statement said Wavenet for some reason couldnt pronounce for His names sake, as found in the most famous of all Psalms, Psalm 23, according to Premier. The Google platform insisted on saying for His names sake, like the alcoholic beverage. AI readings have some great advantages, the makers of the Christian app added. Having developed the initial version, further [Bible reading] versions can be easily produced in different accents, genders or languages. Also as text-to-speech voices improve over time, the readings can be easily updated. Founded by London-based Mark Wagner, Soultime is an app for Christian meditation. This is not an intellectual process so much as a spiritual and emotional process of trying to understand what it is that our hearts are believing, Wagner told Premier Christian Radio last year. To do that, we need a certain amount of calm, a certain amount of peace, we need a certain amount of time. Soultime helps believers do that through music, graphics and a series of guided meditations with various themes, including Jesus carries our anxieties away, Freedom with Forgiveness, and Exploring the Lords Prayer. The app has been endorsed by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Soultime is a wonderful app. I warmly recommend it, he was quoted as saying. Similar to other meditation apps that are popular, the Soultime app when its opened plays sounds of nature such as the wind and birds chirping. It includes a daily mood check and features calming music and voices who guide users through themed meditations. Silk, one of the guides featured in the app who help users through a meditation, explained, Soultime is very much about building a hunger for the presence of God, the voice of God, the person of Jesus Christ. It seeks to build, strengthen, tune your heart with the Word of God with the voice of God, the presence of God. Its going to be focused on Jesus, the focus on the presence of God, the focus on the Bible. No other apps are focused on that. Last year, the Courage for Life ministry, which serves at-risk and incarcerated women, released the first-ever audio version of the New Testament voiced entirely by women. Often, the abuse was in their teenage years, and its trauma theyre still holding onto, Ann White, who's from that ministry, told The Christian Post at the time. Sometimes, simply hearing a mans voice is a subconscious trigger. Thats why its important to use gender-specific treatment. A New Mexico-based ministry, Faith Comes By Hearing, provides audio versions of New Testaments. Scripture recordings are available in 1,354 languages with the potential of reaching over 85 million people with the Gospel. The ministry, which seeks to help fulfill the Great Commission in this generation by providing access to the Word of God in every translated language, offers free access to its digital resources. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The former chief executive of Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, Emilio Lozoya, has agreed to be extradited from Spain to Mexico to stand trial on corruption charges, Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz said on Tuesday. Lozoya, 45, who was once a close confidant of former President Enrique Pena Nieto, is wanted in his homeland on charges including bribery and money laundering in cases involving Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht SA as well as a Mexican fertilizer firm MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The former chief executive of Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, Emilio Lozoya, has agreed to be extradited from Spain to Mexico to stand trial on corruption charges, Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz said on Tuesday. Lozoya, 45, who was once a close confidant of former President Enrique Pena Nieto, is wanted in his homeland on charges including bribery and money laundering in cases involving Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht SA as well as a Mexican fertilizer firm. Lozoya has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The cases raised questions about how much others in the last government new about his actions, and the extradition should boost President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's contention that he is serious about cracking down on corruption. In a televised statement, Gertz said on Monday that Lozoya, who was arrested in the Spanish city of Malaga in February, had accepted in writing to a Spanish criminal court to be extradited to Mexico and to turn himself in to Mexican authorities. Lozoya "offered his cooperation to establish and clarify" the charges against him," Gertz said. Lozoya fled Mexico once word had leaked about the case being built against him, and police spent eight months looking for him in Germany, Britain, the United States, France, Italy, Russia and Spain before he was caught, the attorney general said. The Harvard-educated son of a former Mexican energy minister, Lozoya was indicted in Mexico last year. He ran Petroleos Mexicanos, known as Pemex, from 2012 to 2016. It was unclear how soon Lozoya would be back in Mexico, but Gertz said steps would be set in motion for him to be extradited quickly. Lozoya faces a lengthy prison sentence if found guilty. His lawyers have argued that everything he did while in government was done with the knowledge of then-president Pena Nieto. (Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Diego Ore; Editing by Dave Graham, Sandra Maler and Marguerita Choy) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. TikTok is home to multiple social media sensations. Its stars' profiles boast followers up to several million. The Indian government passed a directive on Monday to ban 59 apps that had Chinese links. TikTok, one of the most popular social media platforms, also came under the radar, and was included in the list of rejected apps. Home to multiple social media sensations, TikTok has had a tumultuous run in Indian waters. The government took up a similar stance of banning the app once before, but it returned with renewed vigour, making millions sway to comedy clips and lip-sync videos. Next to YouTube, in terms of followers and popularity, TikTok gave rise to several Indian stars who boasted followers ranging from a few thousand to several million. Heres a list of Indian TikTok stars Manjul Khattar Known for his numerous grooming videos on men, Manjul Khattars TikTok account reflects 14 million followers. After being a well-known face on social media (since he had already opened a YouTube channel before people began feeling his presence on TikTok), Manjul bagged commercial brands like One Plus, Life Stores, and Myntra with his popularity on TikTok. Check out his profile on Instagram Sameeksha Sud Sameeksha Sud came under the spotlight in 2012 when she made her acting debut with TV serial Baal Veer. The young actress played the role of Pari. Sud dons multiple roles on her TikTok profile, which has 24.3 million followers. She not only attracts followers through her lip-sync videos but also has comedy clips, dance videos, and vlogs on personal grooming. Check out her profile on Instagram View this post on Instagram Bahut bartan hai dude... A post shared by SAMEEKSHA SUD (@sameeksha.sud_) on Jun 28, 2020 at 7:34am PDT Faisal Shaikh Also known as Mr Faisu, Faisal Shaikh has 31.5 million followers on TikTok. Shaikhs content mostly circles within comedy, though he also tries his hand at lip-sync snippets often. His collaborations with stars such as Ajaz Khan and Aashika Bhatia have attracted considerable eyeballs. Check out his profile on Instagram View this post on Instagram Stay original and let the world copy you . pic credit : @aadilhooda . #keepgoing #keepmotivating #faisusquad #kbye A post shared by FAISAL SHAIKH (@mr_faisu_07) on Jun 29, 2020 at 2:17am PDT Jannat Zubair Jannat Zubair, who made her mark with several television serials like Dil Mill Gaye and Tu Aashiqui, has also appeared in films like Yash Raj Films Luv Ka The End and Hichki. Zubairs TikTok account has 27.9 million followers. Check out her Instagram account View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jannat Zubair Rahmani (@jannatzubair29) on Jun 26, 2020 at 3:48am PDT Riyaz Aly Riyaz Aly is also a fashion influencer and model, with 42.9 million followers on the platform. He has also appeared in music videos like Yaari Hain by Toni Kakkar and Pahadan by Rajat Nagpal. Check out Riyaz Alys Instagram profile View this post on Instagram Be easy to love, hard to break and impossible to forget. A post shared by RIYAZ ALY (@riyaz.14) on Jun 28, 2020 at 8:32am PDT Awez Darbar Awez Darbar is most popular for his dance video clips on TikTok. Darbar is also a celebrity choreographer, and belonged to Shiamak Davars dance academy. His TikTok account is followed by 14 million people. Check out his Instagram profile Neha Kakkar Mostly known for her snazzy Bollywood songs including The Hook Up Song and Kala Chashma', Neha Kakkar enjoys considerable fame even on TikTok with 17.2 million followers. Her content includes mostly music videos and lip-sync snippets. Check out her Instagram profile View this post on Instagram Your Nehu has a Family of #40Million Beautiful People here on #Instagram now!!!!!!! Thank You God.. Mata Rani And Ofcource Each one of You!! . Not to forget MY #NEHEARTS . #NehaKakkar #NehuDiaries A post shared by Neha Kakkar (@nehakakkar) on Jun 28, 2020 at 10:14pm PDT Garima Chaurasia With 21.2 million followers, Chaurasiya gained popularity with her dance videos. Her recreation of rapper Emiways Machayenge on TikTok brought in overnight fame, and she even picked up the tag of the Bohot Hard girl (a well-known term withing the rap circles). She has also been part of Punjabi Music videos, like Mashallah and Tattoo.' Check out her Instagram profile Bhargav and Nithyashree Popularly known as the Oh My God girl, Nithyashree has always enjoyed social media stardom. Coupled with Bhragavs (who goes by the name 'Funbucket Bhargav') funny take on daily activities, the duo is quickly gaining ground on TikTok, after enjoying considerable fame on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Check out Bhargav and Nithyas Instagram profiles View this post on Instagram A post shared by Fun Bucket Bhargav (@funbucket_bhargav) on Jun 28, 2020 at 3:48am PDT Avneet Kaur Before becoming a TikTok sensation, Avneet Kaur was part of many dance reality shows on television that included Dance Ke Superstars, Jhalak Dikhhla Ja, and Dance India Dance Lil Masters. She has 22.3 million followers on TikTok, and pushes out dance videos on a regular basis. Check out Avneet Kaurs Instagram profile View this post on Instagram Chota sa fasana, kise kya batana..... #throwback Netflix's initiative comes after US companies face increasing pressure from investors, consumers and workers to address widespread racial inequality. Netflix will allocate 2 percent, or about $100 million, of its cash holdings to financial institutions and organisations that directly support African American communities in the United States, the streaming giant said on Tuesday. The company said in a blog post it will start with $35 million, of which $25 million will be moved to a new fund, "Black Economic Development Initiative", and $10 million will go to Hope Credit Union for creating opportunity in underserved communities. The move comes as US companies face increasing pressure from investors, consumers and workers to take action against widespread racial inequality after the death of African American George Floyd in police custody. This capital will fuel social mobility and prosperity in the low- and moderate-income communities these groups serve, Netflix said on Tuesday. CNBC notes that this decision was announced a week after the streamer's CEO Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin donated $120 million to Black varsities. Netflix has also announced a six-episode limited series on American sportsperson Colin Kaepernick. Colin in Black & White will examine Kaepernicks high school years to illuminate the experiences that shaped his advocacy. (With inputs from Reuters) Last week saw the re-release of the 2017 film Golmaal Again in New Zealands cinemas. New Zealand: A tiny pacific island nation thats making world headlines in 2020, and for all the right reasons. Having been historically clubbed together with, or sometimes even mistaken for, Australia (much to the chagrin of New Zealanders!), the country has finally built a very exclusive reputation for itself. Being Covid-free, or very nearly so, at a time when the rest of the world is still on fire is no mean feat. Just like all other countries who have managed to contain the spread of this deadly disease, New Zealand too implemented a strict lockdown to achieve this; among the strictest in the world. But as the lockdown slowly eased, catch-ups with friends & family, enjoying outdoor activities, and flocking to public places were among the first social behaviours seen in New Zealanders. A recent rugby game saw Aucklands Eden Park stadium packed to capacity a phenomenon not witnessed for a long time, even pre-lockdown. Malls and popular outdoor spots started to see signs of life as well. With cinemas, though, the interest seemed diluted, possibly due to varied factors. Foremost, the fact that with the filmmaking industry coming to a standstill, there are no new films releasing. Secondly, when it comes to Bollywood and other foreign language films, not all new films reach New Zealand theatres, owing to the countrys limited audience size. And when films do arrive at our shores, they arrive a tad later than to the rest of the world. Moreover, with web television gaining popularity and many new releases making their debut on this medium, cinemas could be well on their way out, in the distant, if not near future. Last week saw the re-release of the 2017 film Golmaal Again in New Zealands cinemas. Curiosity and a desire to watch a movie on the big screen after a long hiatus took me to Event Cinemas on Sunday afternoon in Aucklands Westcity mall. Being an old movie and one that wasnt particularly successful, I did not expect a large turnout at all, but what I absolutely did not expect was that Id be watching the film in a movie hall occupied by all of two people, me being one of them! Inside the cinemas admin area, I watched the empty ticket & food counters with mild amusement and waited patiently for a staff member to show up. I hadnt pre-booked online There was no need to. Tickets getting sold out is seldom an issue and not just in the current circumstances. Ive often walked into cinema halls in New Zealand minutes before the start time of a movie, and purchased tickets easily over the counter. No one showed up for several minutes. I eventually went to the self-service kiosk and helped myself to a ticket. Had to make do without movie snacks, though. More eeriness followed. There was no one to check and tear up tickets prior to entering the cinema hall. I could have very well just walked right in without a ticket and no one wouldve questioned me. I know this because I did walk in without being checked, and sometime in the middle of the movie, a cinemas staff member did walk in and glance around. She did not ask for my ticket, being fully aware that I probably hadnt been checked prior to entering. Inside the movie hall, I glanced at my only other companion, a male youth, sitting by himself at the topmost row. He did not return my glance, and I sat myself down a few rows below. The opening song had just commenced, and even though it was a movie I wasnt particularly excited about watching, I felt the adrenaline rush instantly. The large screen, the bright cheerful colours, and the riveting sound system lifted my mood instantly and brought back nostalgia of a fully packed theatre at the screening of a popular movie. The comic timing of Golmaal Again was quite average; nevertheless, I enjoyed it. It felt good to laugh, and to enjoy something at face value, without trying to intellectualise it or critique the lack of realism. My feelings appeared to be the consequence of sheer repression through lockdown, and an increased perceived value of a simple activity like watching a movie on big screen. As I left the theatre, I glanced once again at my companion, who did return my gaze this time. It was silent acknowledgement of each others company through the duration of the film, albeit at a significant distance from each other, surreally indicative of the new normal that is social distancing. A phenomenon, a habit, a rule that arrived in 2020 and is arguably here to stay, even in Covid-free New Zealand. Mahima Sud is a freelance writer based in Auckland, New Zealand. Johnny Depp is suing the publisher of the tabloid over a 2018 article claiming the actor was violent and abusive to ex-wife Amber Heard A UK High Court judge ruled Monday that actor Johnny Depp violated a court order by failing to disclose evidence relating to his drug use to lawyers for British tabloid The Sun, which he is suing for libel. Judge Andrew Nicol deferred a decision on whether to throw out Depps claim against The Sun as a result. He said he would rule as soon as possible. Depp is suing the newspapers publisher, News Group Newspapers, and Executive Editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article claiming the actor was violent and abusive to his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Depp strongly denies being violent, and the emotionally charged case has drawn in celebrities including Depps ex-partners Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder and Heards former paramour Elon Musk. The trial is due to open at the High Court in London on 7 July. But The Suns lawyers argue the case should be dismissed because Depp failed to disclose text messages he exchanged with an assistant showing that he tried to buy MDMA and other narcotics while he was in Australia with Heard in 2015. The newspapers lawyer, Adam Wolanski, said withholding the texts was a breach of a previous court order requiring Depp to provide all documents from separate libel proceedings against Heard in the United States. He said the lapse endangered the defendants ability to get a fair trial. Judge Nicol ruled Monday that Depp had breached the disclosure order, and found that the Australian drug texts were adverse to the claimants pleaded case and/or were supportive of the defendants pleaded case. He did not immediately throw out the case, allowing Depps lawyers to argue why the trial should go ahead. Depps lawyer, David Sherborne, said it would be wholly disproportionate to scuttle the case. The central matter in dispute in these proceedings is whether or not the claimant committed multiple acts of serious unprovoked physical violence during his relationship with Amber Heard, causing her significant injuries and to be put in fear for her life, he said. It is now time for the defendants to have to prove what they published. In court last week, Wolanski read out passages of Heards evidence in which she claims she was subjected to a three-day ordeal of physical assaults by Depp while he took MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and drank heavily. Depp, 57, and Heard, 34, met on the set of the 2011 comedy The Rum Diary and married in Los Angeles in February 2015. They divorced in 2017. Each accuses the other of being abusive, and Depp is also suing Heard for libel in the United States. At the High Court on Monday, Sherborne said Heards claims were undermined by the fact that she had had affairs with Space X founder Musk and actor James Franco while she was involved with Depp. Given that her case is that she was controlled and abused by the claimant and that she could not possibly have left him, that does not sit at all with the fact that she was having multiple affairs, the lawyer said. Depp and Heard are both expected to give evidence in person at the London trial, which was postponed from March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The socially distanced trial is scheduled to last for three weeks. Witnesses are likely to include Depps ex-partners Paradis and Ryder, who have both submitted statements supporting the Pirates of the Caribbean star. Coronavirus Updates:Coronavirus LIVE Updates:The Ministry of Home Affairs has releases Unlock-2 guidelines which will be in force till 31 July. Lockdown shall continue in containment zones till 31 July. Auto refresh feeds Five more inmates of Mandoli Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, prison officials said on Sunday. With this, the number of COVID-positive inmates in the jails under the Delhi Prison department went up to 45, they told PTI. The state government had on 31 May said that it will not open religious places till 30 June despite the Centre's new guidelines which allowed places of worship to reopen under 'Unlock 1'. The Rajasthan government on Sunday allowed religious places in rural areas, where a limited number of devotees visit, to reopen from 1 July. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said all precautionary measures, including physical distancing, will be mandatory at these places. The national capital had reported the highest single-day spike of 3,947 cases on June 23. Recently, Delhi had eclipsed Mumbai as the city worst-hit by the pandemic in the country. Delhi recorded 2,889 fresh coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the tally in the city over the 83,000-mark, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 2,623, authorities said. The number of containment zones in the city also jumped to 417 on Sunday from 315 on Saturday, according to a Delhi health department data. A 14-day lockdown in Guwahati came into force last evening in order to fight the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the city, reports PTI. Kamrup Metropolitan district, under which Guwahati falls, was completely locked down from 7.00 pm yesterday till 6.00 pm on July 12 with even shops of grocery, meat and all other items downing the shutters. Only pharmacies have been allowed to function. With over 25.5 lakh reported cases till date, the United States is the worst-affected country in the world. The US is followed by Brazil, Russia, India and the United Kingdom. Total confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world stand at 10.1 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University CSSE. This figure includes COVID-19 patients who have recovered and the overall global death toll which stands at 5 lakh. Indias COVID-19 cases on Sunday rose by 19,906 to 5,28,859. This is the highest daily rise in cases so far. The toll was up to 16,095, with 410 more deaths reported. On Saturday India's coronavirus case count rose to 5,08,953 with a surge of 18,552 cases, while the toll climbing to 15,685 with 384 fatalities, according to Union health ministry data. India registered 38,458 new cases, 794 deaths over the weekend as states continue to re-open, lifting lockdown. Over 7,000 citizens violated rules of phase-wise unlocking by taking their vehicles out for non-official/non-medical/non-emergency reasons on 28 June, tweeted Mumbai Police. In the last 24 hours, 21 more Border Security Force (BSF) personnel tested positive for COVID-19 and 18 have recovered. There are 305 active cases and 655 personnel have recovered till date, reports ANI. Overall the US still has far and away the most total cases, At more than 2,450,000 - roughly twice that of Brazil. The tally Sunday from the UN health agency eclipses the previous record a week earlier at over 183,000 cases, showing case counts continue to progress worldwide. Brazil recorded the most new cases over the one-day span at more than 46,800, followed by the U.S. at over 44,400. India had nearly 20,000. The World Health Organisation has announced another daily record in the number of new confirmed coronavirus cases across the world - topping over 1,89,000 in a single 24-hour period, reports Reuters. Total confirmed COVID-19 cases in India have risen to 5,48,318, according to the latest update from the Union Health Ministry. India reports 19,459 new cases and 380 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. With this, the countrys total tally rises to 5,48,318 and toll stands at 16,475. The number of coronavirus cases in Bengaluru doubled from 1,556 on June 23 to 3,419 on June 28, ANI quoted the state minister Dr Sudhakar K as saying. The city makes up for 25.92% of the total caseload of Karnataka, he added. Nagaland reports 19 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, taking the total tally of infections in the state to 434, Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom told ANI. Of these, 164 people have recovered and no deaths were reported so far. Odisha on Monday detected 245 new COVID-19 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases to 6,859 including 4,743 recoveries, 2,086 active case, and 21 deaths, according to state health department, reports ANI. The Mumbai Police appealed to residents to follow the personal safety and social distancing norms, else they will take strict action against offenders. Movement beyond two km is permitted only for attending office or medical emergencies, a senior police official said, adding that movement outside this radius for shopping is strictly prohibited. Mumbai Police on Sunday urged the city residents not to move beyond a two-km radius of their homes for the purpose of exercise or visiting shops and salons, in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. The 52-year-old doctor served in the front line of the war against the pandemic at the government facility, and died of novel coronavirus infection in an ICU of a private hospital on Sunday. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday paid tribute to the senior doctor of city government-run LNJP Hospital who died battling COVID-19, saying the society has "lost a very valuable fighter". He further said, " We salute his spirit and sacrifice. His family will be given compensation amount of Rs 1 Crore by our government." Telangana's Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali tested positive for Covid-19 and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital, say reports. The 68-year-old was having symptoms since the last four days, reports Indian Express. The AAP government has decided to start a Plasma bank for COVID-19 treatment, said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during an online briefing on Monday. "Delhi govt will set up 'Plasma bank'; request people to donate plasma to save lives of COVID-19 patients. The government has so far conducted clinical trials of plasma therapy on 29 COVID-19 patients and the results have been positive. The bank will start operation in two days. This 'Plasma Bank' will be set-up at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in Delhi. Anyone who needs plasma will need a recommendation from a doctor." The Centre allows export of Personal Protection Equipment medical coveralls, with a monthly quota limit of Rs 50 lakh, said Union Minister Piyush Goyal. The Karnataka government has modified its order of 15 June, banning online classes for LKG to Standard V, reports LiveLaw. The new order now allows classes for a limited period as interim arrangements till the government can come out with guidelines after considering expert committee recommendations. Earlier this month, the Karnataka government had banned online classes for students below class five. The Karnataka government has put out a schedule of the amount of time each level of student can have for online classes. This is an interim arrangement and will be in force until the government comes out with guidelines based on the report of the expert committee. "We have got arrangements for 4,246 beds out of which 2,014 are ready, another 949 beds have been kept reserved in private sector. A total of 52 govt and 195 private hospitals have been booked for COVID-19 cases. We'll have over 600 ventilators soon, " he added. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said he will not let the coronavirus pandemic spread in his state, reports ANI. If there will be any chance of the spread of Covid-19 infection in my state, I will act firmly, he adds. I have to do my best. The gap between recoveries and active cases of COVID19 is 1,11,602 as of today. So far, as many as 3,21,722 patients have been cured. The recovery rate is 58.67%, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reports ANI. Andhra Pradesh on Monday reports 793 new cases and 11 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases rise to 13891 including 7479 active cases, 6232 discharged cases and 180 deaths, ANI quoted state COVID19 nodal officer as saying. Delhi High Court extends the suspension of the functioning of the High Court and subordinate courts till 15 July, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports ANI. All pending matters listed before the Court in this period stand adjourned. Hearing in urgent matters to be held via video-conferencing. Kerala Technical University (KTU) has postponed all its exams including that of the final semester, reports ANI. The exams were earlier scheduled to be held from 1 July. The decision was taken in wake of increasing coronavirus cases. Earlier many students and parents had raised concerns regarding the KTU's decision to conduct the examination during this time The swab sample of the MLA was collected on Sunday and contract tracing had begun as per protocol, Pandey informed. The MLA had earlier said he was going into self-isolation after a fellow legislator from Mandsaur tested positive for the virus on 20 June. The two MLAs had come in contact during the Rajya Sabha polls in the state on 19 June. A BJP MLA from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh test positive for novel coronavirus on Monday, district chief medical health officer RS Pandey said. Three legislators, two from the BJP and one from the Congress, have been detected with the infection this month. The Maharashtra government has extended lockdown in the state till 31 July, reports ANI. According to News18, an official order has been issued by Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta. People will be allowed to travel only for those purposes as allowed under Mission Begin Again. In areas where cases are rising, local authorities may enforce additional restrictions on non-essential activities and movement of people. Lockdown will remain in force in COVID-19 containment zones till July 31 and district authorities to demarcate zones, according to the guidelines. Night curfew will remain in force between 10 pm and 5 am throughout country, except for essential activities. The Ministry of Home Affairs has releases Unlock-2 guidelines which will be in force till 31 July, reports News18. According to the new guidelines, schools, colleges, educational institutes will remain closed till 31 July. Online/distance learning shall continue to be permitted and shall be encouraged. According to the new guidelines, schools, colleges, educational institutes will remain closed till 31 July. Online/distance learning shall continue to be permitted and shall be encouraged. Lockdown will remain in force in COVID-19 containment zones till July 31 and district authorities to demarcate zones, according to the guidelines. Night curfew will remain in force between 10 pm and 5 am throughout country, except for essential activities. Under the Unlock 2 guidelines, Social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions and other large congregations remain prohibited. Metro Rail services shall remain shut and cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places will also not be allowed to open. All activities apart from those prohibited will be allowed outside containment zones. #UNLOCK2 : National directives for #COVID19 management; wearing of face cover is compulsory in public places, workplaces and during transport. pic.twitter.com/WJTjkhxqO9 Centre issues national directives for COVID-19 management, wearing of face masks made compulsory in workplaces, public places. Work places to operate with staggered timings. Domestic flights and passenger trains have already been allowed in a limited manner, state the new guidelines. adding that their operations will be further expanded in a calibrated manner. There shall be no restrictions on interstate and intra state movement of persons, goods including those for cross land-border under Treaties with neighboring countries. No separate permission/approval/e-permit will be required for such movements Indias first Covid-19 vaccine - COVAXIN, developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV) has received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for phase I and II human clinical trials, reported The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across India in July. reported CNBC TV18 . Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla writes to Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs, urging them to ensure compliance of #UNLOCK2 guidelines and direct all concerned authorities for their strict implementation. pic.twitter.com/w9bKEqNCDf Coronavirus Updates: The Ministry of Home Affairs has releases Unlock-2 guidelines which will be in force till 31 July. Lockdown shall continue in containment zones till 31 July. Tamil Nadu extends general lockdown in state till 31 July, while intense lockdown in Chennai, its suburbs and Madurai will continue till 5 July, said reports. Maharashtra reported 5,257 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections in the state to 1,69,883. The death toll reached 7,610 after 181 new fatalities were reported. Tamil Nadu on Monday reported 3,949 new cases and 62 deaths, taking the total number COVID-19 cases in the state to 86,224 and toll to 1,141, reports ANI quoting the state health department. The Maharashtra government has extended lockdown in the state till 31 July, reports ANI. In areas where cases are rising, local authorities may enforce additional restrictions on non-essential activities and movement of people. The AAP government has decided to start a Plasma bank for COVID-19 treatment, which will be operational in the next two days, said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during an online briefing on Monday. Meanwhile, The recovery rate of India has risen to 58.67 percent. India reports 19,459 new cases and 380 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. With this, the countrys total tally rises to 5,48,318 and toll stands at 16,475. India registered 38,458 new cases, 794 deaths over the weekend as states continue to re-open, lifting lockdown. Indias COVID-19 cases on Sunday rose by 19,906 to 5,28,859. On Saturday India's coronavirus case count rose to 5,08,953 with a surge of 18,552 cases. India's coronavirus case count mounted to 5,28,859 on Sunday with a spike of nearly 20,000 cases in a day and the toll rose to 16,095 with 410 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, said the Union health ministry. Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh announced a door-to-door survey, joining several states and UTs which have opted for the exercise in their efforts to check the surge. Meanwhile, the Manipur government extended the lockdown in the state till 15 July. India reports 19,906 new cases, 410 deaths in 24 hours The Union health ministry's data updated at 8 am showed 19,906 new cases, while 410 persons succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours. According to news agency PTI, this is the fifth consecutive day that India has added more than 15,000 coronavirus infections to its tally. The country saw a surge of 3,38,324 infections from 1 June till date as lockdown restrictions were eased. Of the 410 new deaths reported till Sunday morning, 167 were in Maharashtra, 68 in Tamil Nadu, 66 in Delhi, 19 in Uttar Pradesh, 18 in Gujarat, 13 in West Bengal, 11 each in Rajasthan and Karnataka, nine in Andhra Pradesh, seven in Haryana, six each in Punjab and Telangana, four in Madhya Pradesh, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Bihar, Odisha and Puducherry. Of the total 16,095 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra has reported the highest with 7,273 deaths, followed by Delhi with 2,558 deaths, Gujarat with 1,789, Tamil Nadu with 1,025, Uttar Pradesh with 649, West Bengal with 629, Madhya Pradesh with 550, Rajasthan with 391 and Telangana with 243 deaths. Maharashtra continues to lead the case count with 1,59,133, followed by Delhi at 80,188, Tamil Nadu at 78,335, Gujarat at 30,709, Uttar Pradesh at 21,549, Rajasthan at 16,944 and West Bengal at 16,711, according to the ministry data. The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 13,436 in Telangana, 13,427 in Haryana, 12,965 in Madhya Pradesh, 12,285 in Andhra Pradesh and 11,923 in Karnataka. "Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said, adding that 7,839 cases are being reassigned to states. Recoveries exceed actives cases by more than one lakh The number of active cases stands at 2,03,051, while 3,09,712 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, according to the updated data. The Centre noted that recoveries now exceed active COVID-19 cases by over one lakh, stressing that "proactive steps" taken by it along with the states and Union Territories are showing "encouraging results". According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 82,27,802 samples have been tested up to 27 June and 2,31,095 samples have been tested on Saturday. India now has 1,036 diagnostic labs dedicated to COVID-19 . This includes 749 in the government sector and 287 private labs, said the health ministry in a statement. More vigilance required as curbs are eased, says Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country will have to focus on defeating coronavirus and bolstering the economy as it begins to "unlock". India has always transformed adversities into stepping stones to success and this year won't be different, PTI quoted him as saying. He said people have to remain more vigilant compared to the lockdown period. "Always remember, if you do not wear a mask, do not observe the two-yard social distancing norms or do not take other precautions, you are putting others at risk besides yourselves, especially the elderly and children at home," he cautioned in his monthly "Mann ki Baat" radio address. Coronavirus Updates Narendra Modi to address nation at 4 pm Centre issues guidelines for Unlock 20" width="640" height="362" /> Restrictions in Maharashtra to continue beyond 30 June Along the same lines, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the restrictions in the state will continue even after 30 June as the crisis is not over. "Even if I am not using the term lockdown, do not misunderstand and lower your guard. In fact, we need to show more stringent discipline," he said. "We can't leave this war halfway in this final phase. I am sure that you will continue to cooperate with the government to ensure that lockdown is not reimposed," he said in a televised address. The unlock process, dubbed "Mission Begin Again" by the state government, is being gradually implemented to put the economy back on track, Thackeray said. The state reported the biggest single-day spike of 5,493 COVID-19 cases, which took the tally of patients in the state to 1,64,626. The state also reported deaths of 156 coronavirus positive patients, due to which the number of victims grew to 7,429. In Mumbai, police urged the city residents not to move beyond a two-km radius of their homes for the purpose of exercise or visiting shops and salons. Movement beyond two km is permitted only for attending office or medical emergencies, a senior police official said, adding that movement outside this radius for shopping is strictly prohibited. With the further easing of coronavirus -induced curbs in the state, some salons opened in Mumbai on Sunday after a gap of three months while many remained closed due to lack of workforce. Thackeray also said the 'Chase the Virus' initiative, which was launched on 27 May, received good results in worst-hit Mumbai and will now be expanded to other parts of the state. As part of the campaign, 15 close contacts of a COVID-19 patient will be compulsorily kept in institutional quarantine. Manipur extends lockdown till 15 July Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh announced that the government has decided to extend lockdown for another 15 days from 1 July to 15 July, reported ANI. According to AIR News Imphal, the chief minister said that inter-district buses would be allowed to operate from 1 July with all guidelines and SOPs. No other public transport system will be allowed during this period, he said. We have decided to extend the lockdown in Manipur for another 15 days from 1st-15th July: State Chief Minister N Biren Singh pic.twitter.com/g17Gt63uZi ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2020 Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao held a meeting with Health Minister E Rajender and officials as the number of infections in the state rose to 14,419 and the toll reached 247. The Telangana government said that a strategy to control the spread of COVID-19 cases in the city following a sharp rise in infections, including a proposal to reimpose a lockdown in Hyderabad, would soon be finalised. Rao said the government would examine all relevant issues and take a necessary decision as several issues have to be considered if it decides to re-impose lockdown in GHMC limits. "If lockdown is imposed, it should be implemented strictly and totally. There should be a day-long curfew with one or two hour relaxation to buy the essentials," a press release quoted him as having said. In Delhi, where the case count crossed 83,000 with 2,889 fresh cases, the number of containment zones went up from 218 to 417 after a re-mapping of such areas under a revised strategy. As part of a massive house-to house survey to limit the spread of the contagion, around. 2.45 lakh people have been screened. "We have screened around two lakh people for COVID-19 in house-to-house survey being conducted across the city. Also, 45,000 people have been screened in COVID-19 containment zones," an official told PTI. In an exclusive interview with news agency ANI, Home Minister Amit Shah said there was no community transmission in Delhi and said that 30,000 hospital beds would be made available by end of June. The National Capital has so far reported 2,623 fatalities with 65 being recorded on Sunday. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh announce surveys Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh said they will also conduct house-to-house survey like Delhi, Goa, Odisha and Jharkhand in an attempt to increase surveillance. Uttar Pradesh's Additional Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said the state will launch a large-scale campaign from Meerut division in July, where house-to-house survey will be undertaken similar to the pulse polio immunisation. "It will be carried out in containment and non-containment zones," he said. The toll due to viral infection in the state reached 660 with 11 more fatalities, while the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to 22,147 after 606 fresh infections were reported on Sunday, Prasad said. As the number of coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh climbed to 13,186 and the toll touched 557, the state government said it will launch a 'Kill Corona' campaign from 1 July to control the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Under the campaign, door-to-door survey will be conducted and tests would also be done on citizens for other diseases as well, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said during a virtual review meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic Chouhan said during the 15-day campaign, 2.5 lakh tests will be carried out and 15,000 to 20,000 samples would be collected daily, according to a press release. Karnataka saw a record rise of 1,267 cases, of which 783 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone. The Bengaluru Police said criminal cases will be filed against those flouting face mask and social distancing rules and people can call police in case someone refuses to follow the COVID-19 preventive norms in the city, While police and civic body officials will patrol city roads and enforce the mask rule and social distancing, the public can also do their bit and ask every other person to follow them, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said in a series of tweets as the government stepped up efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus . Among others, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Goa on Sunday reported an increase in cases and fatalities. Global cases cross 10 million The global coronavirus cases exceeded 10 million on Sunday according to a Reuters tally, marking a grim milestone in the spread of the respiratory disease that has so far killed almost half a million people in seven months. The figure is roughly double the number of severe influenza illnesses recorded annually, according to the World Health Organisation. while the number of fatalities more than 497,000 fatalities is roughly the same as the number of influenza deaths reported annually. The milestone comes as many hard-hit countries are easing lockdowns while making extensive alterations to work and social life that could last until a vaccine is available. Some countries are experiencing a resurgence in infections, leading authorities to partially reinstate lockdowns. The first cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed on 10 January in Wuhan in China, before infections and fatalities surged in Europe, then the United States, and later Russia. With inputs from agencies Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Union health secretary Preeti Sudan and ICMR director general Balram Bhargava on Wednesday wrote to state governments and Union territories to increase testing. Auto refresh feeds Central Railway and Western Railway will run additional 150 and 148 local services, respectively, in Mumbai from 1 July, reports PTI. Only essential staff including those of Centre, IT, defense, Raj Bhavan will be allowed and no general passengers will be allowed yet, the news agency quotes Railways minister Piyush Goyal as saying. With over 26 lakh reported cases till date, the United States is the worst-affected country in the world. The US is followed by Brazil, Russia, India and the United Kingdom. Total confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world stand at 1.03 crore, according to the Johns Hopkins University CSSE. This figure includes COVID-19 patients who have recovered and the overall global death toll which stands at 5.06 lakh. While schools and colleges will continue to remain closed, there have been further restrictions regarding hotels and restaurants. On 29 June, the Centre had announced guidelines for Unlock 2.0, the second phase of reopening of economic and other activities in the country. These will be applicable from today. Night curfew timings are being further relaxed and curfew shall be in force from 10.00 pm to 5.00 am. A revised draft resolution by France and China was submitted for a vote on Tuesday and the result is expected to be announced on Wednesday. The UN Security Council is trying again to reach agreement on its first resolution on COVID-19 since the coronavirus started circling the global in February, after a lengthy dispute between the US and China over mentioning the World Health Organization, reports AP. If the area of residence of maid or house-helps has been declared as containment zone or large outbreak region then their entry is not to be permitted by RWA: Municipal Corporation of Gurugram The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram on Wednesday has issued guidelines for resident welfare associations, to be followed till 31 July during Unlock 2.0. The entry of maids/house-helps be allowed with restrictions, including mandatory use of face-mask, thermal scanning and hand sanitisation at the gate. The West Bengal government has allowed 50 people at marriage functions and funerals during the next phase of the coronavirus lockdown from 1 to 31 July. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said morning walks will be allowed from 5.30 am till 8.30 am, provided social distancing and all other norms are strictly followed". Asked to forecast the outcome of recent surges in some states, Fauci said he cannot make an accurate prediction but believes it will be "very disturbing". Top United States infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said COVID-19 cases could grow to one lakh per day in the country if Americans do not start following public health recommendations, reports AP. India on Wednesday reported 507 deaths and 18,653 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the number of positive cases to 5,85,493 including 2,20,114 active cases, 3,47,979 cured/discharged/migrated and 17,400 deaths. With 1,74,761 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu (90,167) and Delhi (87,360). Last month, a former state health minister tested positive for coronavirus and has been undergoing treatment at the ESI Hospital. Till Tuesday, Goa reported 1,315 COVID-19 cases and three deaths due to the disease, as per official data A BJP MLA from Goa has tested positive for coronavirus, a senior state health official said on Wednesday. The legislator was admitted to Margao-based ESI Hospital, a specially designated facility for COVID-19 patients, after his test came out positive on Tuesday, the official said. The total number of samples tested up to 30 June is 86,26,585 of which 2,17,931 samples were tested yesterday, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). "India salutes our doctors exceptional caregivers who are at the forefront of a spirited fight against COVID-19," he wrote on Twitter to mark Doctors' Day. In a short video of his recent speech, he said while mother's give birth, doctors ensure our rebirth. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the role of doctors in their "spirited" fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, saying they are saving lives by putting themselves in danger. Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday interacts with nurses working on frontline to combat COVID-19 on the occasion of Doctor's Day. There was a feeling of fear in the starting while attending patients, says a nurse told the Congress leader. "There is a scarcity of human resources", said Gandhi. Mumbai's Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal has decided not to hold any of its famous Ganesh Chaturthi festivities this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, News18 reported. The organisers have decided to set-up a blood and plasma donation camp instead. But, since the Bihar elections are near, the prime minister has announced the free ration programme till Chatth puja, Salim says. It is old wine in a new bottle. CPI(M) leader Mohammad Salim alleges that Modis extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till November is a politically motivated decision aimed at boosting the BJP ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, which are due to be held later in the year, reports PTI. More than 100 people have tested positive in Paliganj sub-division of Patna district, about 55 km from the state capital, in the last few days, out of over 350 who have been tested upon contact tracing, they said. Fifteen of his relatives who attended the wedding tested positive for the contagion and apparently infected others. A wedding ceremony in rural Patna a fortnight ago where the groom was running high fever, two days before he died and his body cremated without being tested for COVID 19, appears to have set off the biggest infection chain in Bihar so far, health department officials said on Tuesday, reports PTI. A case has been registered against 6 police constables for not reporting to duty since last 2 months despite being served notice, ANI quoted Mumbai Police as saying. A government order issued on Tuesday night said that partial lockdown with relaxed guidelines was inevitable to mitigate the economic hardship faced by the people without compromising the health and safety of the general public as the prolonged suspension of economic and livelihood activities has severely affected the vulnerable sections of society. The Mizoram government has allowed marriage ceremonies, funerals functions, anniversary celebrations, and social events with a maximum attendance of 50 people as part of new relaxations for the partial lockdown in the state from 1 to 31 July, officials said. 79 people have tested positive for COVID19 in Paliganj, reports ANI. Most of the cases are related to a wedding ceremony held on 15 June, said Paliganj govt hospital doctor, Ajit Kumar Bihar on Tuesday. The groom had died two days after his wedding. Indias recovery rate now stands at over 59%. Of the 585,493 coronavirus cases in the country, the number of patients who have recovered till date stands at 347,978. Out of the 60 victims, 38 were from the Mumbai Police force, he said. So far, nearly 4,900 police personnel have been infected with coronavirus in the state, including over 2,600 from the Mumbai Police force, he said. As many as 60 Maharashtra Police personnel, including three officers, have died of COVID-19 since the outbreak of the disease, an official said on Wednesday, reports PTI. In neighbouring Mira Bhayander, also part of Thane district, civic authorities re-imposed total lockdown, including closing of shops dealing in essential items, between July 1-10 to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak. Non-essential services will not operate during this period nor would movement of vehicles for proposes other than medical and essential travel be allowed, the order said. Movement of all essential goods as well as perishable items will be allowed during this period. Thane city will observe a total lockdown between 2 to 12 July to contain the coronavirus outbreak, municipal commissioner Vipin Sharma said on Tuesday. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb in a Facebook post late Tuesday night said the lockdown, inspired by the 'Janata curfew' held on March 22, would begin from 5 am on Sunday and end at 5 am the next day. He, however, said that his government was not planning to extend the lockdown. The Tripura government has announced a 24-hour complete lockdown on Sunday to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19, reports PTI. Section-144 has been imposed in Mumbai by Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranaya Ashok, prohibiting any presence or movement of one or more persons in public places in areas marked as 'containment zones' or gathering of any sort anywhere, including religious places subject to certain conditions, in view of COVID-19, reports ANI. According to the order, all movements of one or more persons in areas designated as "Containment Zones" by the municipal authorities have been prohibited, except for essential activities, the supply of essential goods, and medical emergencies. Further, the movement has been prohibited between 9.00 pm and 5.00 am, except for medical emergencies, emergency services, government agencies and their officials on duty, and establishments providing essential services. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mumbai's Deputy Police Commissioner Pranaya Ashok, on 1 July, issued prohibitory orders in the city under Section 144 till 15 July, unless it is withdrawn earlier, reports ANI. The order prohibits the presence or movement of one or more persons in public places or gathering of any sort anywhere, including religious places subject to certain conditions. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal once again reiterates that the situation is under control and claims that it is improving in the National Capital. It was predicted that by 30 June, Delhi would have 1 lakh cases out of which 60,000 would be active cases but today we only have 26,000 active cases, he says. This is the result of everyones hard work. We have been able to control the situation. Bangladesh has extended restrictions imposed on public activities and movement across the country till 3 August to rein in the coronavirus pandemic, reports PTI. The number of positive cases rose to 1,45,483 and the toll stands 1,847. Fifteen inmates of a prison in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Wednesday, reports PTI. The infected inmates of the Baruipur Central Correctional Home are asymptomatic and have been admitted to an isolation ward of the prison hospital, an official of the Correctional Services Department said. Considering the pattern of increase in cases, the civic administration in Thane, Mira Bhayandar and Kalyan-Dombivli have imposed a total lockdown for 10 days. COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra's Thane district have nearly doubled in the last 15 days and risen considerably since 1 May, a data released by the authorities revealed reports PTI. In the last 15 days alone, the cases in the district have nearly doubled from 17,008 to 33,324, it stated. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has allowed candidates to change their centres for the civil services preliminary examination, scheduled on 4 October, reports PTI. The requests for change of centre will be granted on first-apply-first allot basis, a press release said. He added that the minimum charge will remain Rs 8, but the fare will be calculated for first 2.5 kilometres instead of 5 kilometres. The Kerala government on Wednesday announced a 25 percent hike in "fares of state-run and pvt buses as interim measure to help public transport system tide over COVID-19 crisis," The Times of India quoted state transport minister AK Saseendran as saying. Tamil Nadu health department officials said that 3,882 new coronavirus cases and 63 deaths were reported in the state on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 94,049 and 1,264 deaths. The tally includes 39,856 active cases and 52,926 discharged/cured, News18 reported. Schools to reopen from 27 July in Haryana after summer vacations end on 26 July, the Haryana directorate school education was quoted as saying by ANI. The letter stated,"It is strongly advised that you should take all possible steps to ensure full capacity utilization of all Covid19 testing laboratories in the State/UT" Union health secretary Preeti Sudan and ICMR director general Balram Bhargava on Wednesday wrote to state governments and Union territories to increase testing. The Karnataka health department said that 1,272 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state on Wednesday, including 735 cases from Bengaluru Urban, taking the total number of cases to 16,514. The toll rose to 253 after 7 deaths were reported today. Delhi government officials on Wednesday directed all district magistrates to ramp up testing for COVID-19 and ensure 2,000 rapid-antigen tests are conducted every day in their respective areas. He added that the minimum charge will remain Rs 8, but the fare will be calculated for first 2.5 kilometres instead of 5 kilometres. The Kerala government on Wednesday announced a 25 percent hike in "fares of state-run and pvt buses as interim measure to help public transport system tide over COVID-19 crisis," The Times of India quoted state transport minister AK Saseendran as saying. Tamil Nadu health department officials said that 3,882 new coronavirus cases and 63 deaths were reported in the state on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 94,049 and 1,264 deaths. The tally includes 39,856 active cases and 52,926 discharged/cured, News18 reported. Presently, there are 2,20,114 active cases and all are under medical supervision," the press release said. "As a result of the coordinated steps taken by Government of India along with States/UTs for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19, there are 1,27,864 recovered cases more than the active COVID-19 cases, as on date. This has resulted in the recovery rate further increasing to 59.43%. During the last 24 hours, a total of 13,157 COVID-19 patients have been cured, taking the cumulative figure to 3,47,978. The COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 59.43 percent on Wednesday, the Centre said in a press release, adding that the number of recovered patients is nearly one lakh 30 thousand more than the active cases. Schools to reopen from 27 July in Haryana after summer vacations end on 26 July, the Haryana directorate school education was quoted as saying by ANI. Health Secretary Preeti Sudan&ICMR DG Dr. Balram Bhargava write to states&Union Territories to increase testing. Letter states,"It is strongly advised that you should take all possible steps to ensure full capacity utilization of all #COVID19 testing laboratories in the State/UT" pic.twitter.com/g6I3r6Cg9C The letter stated,"It is strongly advised that you should take all possible steps to ensure full capacity utilization of all Covid19 testing laboratories in the State/UT" Union health secretary Preeti Sudan and ICMR director general Balram Bhargava on Wednesday wrote to state governments and Union territories to increase testing. The Karnataka health department said that 1,272 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state on Wednesday, including 735 cases from Bengaluru Urban, taking the total number of cases to 16,514. The toll rose to 253 after 7 deaths were reported today. The Union health ministry on Wednesday said that state governments and UTs "have been advised to facilitate testing at the earliest by enabling all qualified medical practitioners, including private practitioners, to prescribe COVID-19 test to any individual fulfilling the criteria for testing as per ICMR guidelines." "Some countries ... have taken a fragmented approach. These countries face a long, hard road ahead," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying at a virtual briefing from WHO headquarters in Geneva. Delhi government officials on Wednesday directed all district magistrates to ramp up testing for COVID-19 and ensure 2,000 rapid-antigen tests are conducted every day in their respective areas. Coronavirus LATEST Updates: Union health secretary Preeti Sudan and ICMR director general Balram Bhargava on Wednesday wrote to state governments and Union territories to increase testing. The letter stated,"It is strongly advised that you should take all possible steps to ensure full capacity utilization of all Covid19 testing laboratories in the State/UT" The COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 59.43 percent on Wednesday, the Centre said in a press release, adding that the number of recovered patients is nearly one lakh 30 thousand more than the active cases. "As a result of the coordinated steps taken by Government of India along with States/UTs for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19 , there are 1,27,864 recovered cases more than the active COVID-19 cases, as on date. This has resulted in the recovery rate further increasing to 59.43%. During the last 24 hours, a total of 13,157 COVID-19 patients have been cured, taking the cumulative figure to 3,47,978. Presently, there are 2,20,114 active cases and all are under medical supervision," the press release said. Section-144 has been imposed in Mumbai till 15 July by Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranaya Ashok, prohibiting any presence or movement of one or more persons in public places or gathering of any sort anywhere, including religious places subject to certain conditions, in view of COVID-19 , reports ANI. Mumbai's Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal has decided not to hold any of its famous Ganesh Chaturthi festivities this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organisers have decided to set-up a blood and plasma donation camp instead. India reports 507 deaths and 18,653 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. India on Wednesday reported 507 deaths and 18,653 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the number of positive cases to 5,85,493 including 2,20,114 active cases, 3,47,979 cured/discharged/migrated and 17,400 deaths. The Railways will expand its suburban services in Mumbai from today and run 350 trains each in the Central and Western Railway Zones, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said. The trains will, however, only carry essential services personnel identified by the Maharashtra government. Mumbai recorded 903 new cases, pushing the total number of cases to rise to 77,197 on Tuesday. As Unlock-2 begins from Wednesday, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 5,66,840 with nearly 66 percent cases reported in June alone. The nationwide toll rose to 16,893 with 418 new fatalities being reported in 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu again surpassed Delhi to regain the second spot among the list of worst-hit states by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a government scheme, which aims to provide free ration for 80 crore people, by five more months till the end of November. In his televised address Tuesday, the prime minister also said it is a cause of worry that people are not adhering as strictly to rules and precautions during the 'unlock' phase as they did during the lockdown. Modi announces extension of free ration scheme Stating the cost to the exchequer in extending the PMGKAY scheme, the prime minister said that over Rs 90,000 crore will be spent on the scheme, and if the last three months' expenditure on account of the free ration scheme is added, then the total budget will be about Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The scheme was rolled out for three months from April soon after the nationwide lockdown was announced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Noting that July marks the beginning of the festive season when people's needs as well as expenditure increase, Modi said that the government has decided to extend the scheme till November end. The prime minister also said in his 16-minute address that the Central Government is working on the "one nation, one ration card" initiative which, he added, will benefit people living outside their home for employment and other needs the most. This was Modi's sixth address to the nation after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic The prime minister said that each member of a family covered under the scheme will get five kilogrammes of wheat or rice, and every family will get one kilogramme whole gram per month as well. Modi, however, lamented that there is an increasing "negligence" in personal and social behaviour during the easing of restrictions and urged people to be more vigilant. "We have also seen that since 'Unlock-1', there is increasing negligence in personal and social behaviour. Earlier, we were very careful with respect to wearing of masks, social distancing and washing of hands for 20 seconds. But today, when we need to be more careful, increasing negligence is a cause of worry," he said and urged the people to follow all necessary precautions. He also emphasised on strict enforcement of rules, especially in containment zones. "Those not following the rules will need to be stopped and cautioned," he said, stressing "be it a village pradhan or the prime minister, no one is above the law in India". Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu record most cases Maharashtra remained the highest contributor to the single day rise in cases, registering over 5,200 coronavirus infections, according to the Union Health Ministry. Recording nearly 4,000 cases in the last 24 hours, Tamil Nadu has again surpassed Delhi to regain the second spot among the list of worst-hit states by the pandemic. Karnataka also recorded more than 1,100 cases overtaking Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. Delhi saw an increase of 2,084 cases in the past 24 hours. In June, the national capital added over 64,000 fresh cases to its tally, while over 47,357 patients recovered, were discharged or migrated. The total number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 15,394 in Telangana, 14,295 in Karnataka, 14,210 in Haryana, 13,891 in Andhra Pradesh, and 13,370 in Madhya Pradesh. It has risen to 9,640 in Bihar, 7,752 in Assam, 7,237 in Jammu and Kashmir and 6,859 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 5,418 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 4,189 cases. A total of 2,831 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,761 in Chhattisgarh, 2,426 in Jharkhand, 1,380 in Tripura, 1,227 in Manipur, 1,198 in Goa, 964 in Ladakh and 942 in Himachal Pradesh. Puducherry has recorded 619 COVID-19 cases, Chandigarh 435, Nagaland 434 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 203 COVID-19 cases. Arunachal Pradesh reported 187 cases, Mizoram has 148 cases, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 90, Sikkim has registered 88 infections so far, while Meghalaya has recorded 47 cases. Delhi govt sets ball rolling for 'plasma bank' The Delhi government has set the ball rolling to establish the first-of-its-kind "plasma bank" for treatment of COVID-19 at a facility in the National Capital and its modalities are being worked out, sources told PTI. The bank is being set up at the Delhi government-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and doctors or hospitals will have to approach it if a plasma is required for treatment of a COVID-19 patient. Addressing an online media briefing on Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said the bank will be operational in the next two days. The move comes as convalescent plasma therapy has shown "encouraging" results in city hospitals, he had said. Sources said the facility where the plasma will be drawn from one person to donate to a COVID-19 patient, is being set up on the serving floor of the ILBS. The plasma itself can be stored in the blood bank facility in a separate pack, a source said. According to experts, plasma needs cryogenic storage at minus 80 degrees Celsius or less. Bharat Biotech gets nod to conduct trials for vaccine The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission to Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) to conduct Phase I and II Human clinical trials to develop an indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 in the name COVAXIN. For this, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and BBIL had partnered to develop a fully indigenous vaccine for COVID-19 using the virus strain isolated at ICMR's National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. "The Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) the office of DCGI has granted permission to initiate Phase I and II Human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response. Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across India in July 2020," stated the spokesperson of Bharat Biotech. "The strain was successfully transferred from NIV to Bharat Biotech International Ltd. (BBIL). Work on vaccine development has been initiated between the two partners. ICMR-NIV are providing continuous support to BBIL for vaccine development. ICMR and BBIL will seek fast-track approvals to expedite vaccine development, subsequent animal studies and clinical evaluation of the candidate vaccine," said ICMR official. With inputs from agencies The researchers believe that patients with COVID-19 should be evaluated early for acute neurological changes. COVID-19 is significantly associated with an increased risk of strokes, according to a study which says patients infected with the novel coronavirus should undergo aggressive monitoring for the neurological condition. According to the researchers, including those from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the US, COVID-19 infection is a risk factor for acute strokes. In the study, published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology, the scientists assessed patients presenting to six New York City hospitals for suspicion of stroke between March to April. "We conducted a retrospective case-control study of 41 cases and 82 control subjects matched by age, sex, and risk factors," the scientists wrote in the study. After adjusting for age, gender, and risk factors, the scientists found that COVID-19 infection had a significant independent association with acute ischemic stroke -- caused by a clot that blocks a blood vessel in the brain. Comparing the group of patients with stroke versus non-stroke, they showed a significantly elevated number of patients with COVID-19 infection among the stroke group after accounting for other known common stroke risk factors. The researchers believe that patients with COVID-19 should be evaluated early for acute neurological changes. "This is the first major peer-reviewed study to show that COVID-19 infection is a risk factor for acute strokes," Puneet Belani, study co-author from Mount Sinai Hospital. "Patients with COVID-19 should be evaluated early for acute neurological changes, and timely workup should be performed in patients suspected to have stroke to reduce morbidity and mortality," Belani said. Citing the limitations of the study, the scientists said the study involved only 41 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 , adding that further studies involving a larger population may help validate the findings. "Future endeavours may assess whether this relationship holds true in a larger population and with the pathophysiologic mechanisms inherent in COVID-19 that drive this association," they wrote in the study. The clinical trials of the experimental COVID-19 vaccine in humans are scheduled to end by 31 July 2020. India's first vaccine candidate against the novel coronavirus , COVAXIN, has received a nod from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for further clinical trials Phase I and 2 in infected people. The vaccine is under development by Hyderbad-based biotechnology firm Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). The clinical trials of the experimental COVID-19 vaccine in humans are scheduled to begin in July 2020, Bharat Biotech said in a note. COVAXIN has been expedited through national regulatory protocols, and subjected to "comprehensive pre-clinical studies" according to the company, which reports that the results are "promising" and "show extensive safety and effective immune responses". Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, said, The collaboration with ICMR and NIV was instrumental in the development of this vaccine. The proactive support and guidance from CDSCO has enabled approvals to this project. We worked tirelessly to deploy our proprietary technologies towards this platform. "The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine was developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) High Containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad," the company added. The company hasn't yet released details on how long the next steps are likely to take, when the vaccine might be launched in the market or its price. In May 2020, Bharat Biotech went into a partnership with Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, for an exclusive deal to develop a new vaccine candidate for COVID-19 that was invented at Jefferson. The vaccine was developed using an existing deactivated rabies vaccine as a vehicle for coronavirus proteins, according to a Business Line report. Dr Matthias Schnell, an infectious diseases expert, and his lab at Thomas Jefferson reportedly developed the vaccine in January, after which they completed preliminary tests in animal models that showed a "strong antibody response in mice receiving it," the report adds. In the past, vaccine maker Bharat Biotech has manufactured the H1N1 vaccine during the swine flu outbreak, and has over 140 global patents and 16 vaccines in its portfolio. The most significant of their developments is arguably the rotavirus vaccine Rotavac, a next-gen vaccine against a viral gastroenteritis that got pre-approval from the WHO after an Oxford laboratory found it safe and efficacious. Among the first companies in India to announce a vaccine candidate was Ahmedabad-based Cadila Healthcare. Their candidate is currently in pre-clinical studies. Pune biotech firm Serum Institute and Panacea Biotec in Delhi, are also among the leading candidates from India to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. The Gilead Sciences treatment candidate remdesivir was found to be effective in reducing the amount of time an infected COVID-19 patient spent in the hospital. Yet, a cure for COVID-19 has not been found. Meanwhile, India reported over 18,000 cases on 29 June alone. The number of COVID-19 cases in India now stands at 5,66,840 and counting. The Ministry of Home Affairs has released guidelines for Unlock 2.0, which is expected to come into force till 31 July. Police said that C Bhaskar Rao, a deputy manager working at a hotel run by the tourism department in Nellore, got enraged after the woman pointed out he was not wearing a mask and asked him to wear one in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. A senior employee of the tourism department of Andhra Pradesh was arrested after a video showing him dragging a differently-abled woman colleague by the hair and assaulting her went viral on social media. Quoting the police, a report in NDTV identified the perpetrator as C Bhaskar Rao, a deputy manager working at a hotel run by the tourism department in Nellore. According to the report, the police said that Rao got enraged after the woman pointed out he was not wearing a mask and asked him to wear one in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The incident took place on 27 June. In a CCTV-video which has been shared widely on social media, Rao in an orange shirt, can be seen walking out of a cabin, dragging the woman by her hair and raining blows on her with an object. Two to three other people can be seen intervening, one man wrestles the object out of Rao's hands. The video ends with another person leading Rao out of the room. (The video is disturbing and viewer discretion is advised.) #WATCH An employee of a hotel in Nellore under Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department beat up a woman colleague on 27th June following a verbal spat. Case registered against the man under relevant sections. pic.twitter.com/6u9HjlXvOR ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2020 The NDTV report states that the woman was severely injured. According to a Hindustan Times report, the woman later lodged a complaint with the police with the help of her colleagues. According to ANI, the complaint also mentions that the two had previous enmity. A case has been registered under IPC sections 354, 355 and 324 said the Nellore Police, adding that Rao has been arrested and sent to judicial remand. @APPOLICE100 A case vide Crime No 362/2020 u/s 354, 355 and 324 IPC was booked on 27.06.2020. The accused was arrested and is being sent for judicial remand. Nellore District Police is extremely sensitive to any violation or crime against women. Women Safety is our top priority. Nellore Police (@sp_nlr) June 30, 2020 According to the HT report, Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Gautam Sawang directed the Disha police station (exclusive police stations to deal with crime against women) to take up the investigation into the Nellore tourism hotel incident and file the charge sheet in the case within one week. Sweden discriminates against elderly with COVID-19; 'active euthanasia,' critics say Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Controversy is brewing in Sweden amid reports that elderly patients infected with the coronavirus were not only denied crucial medical care but pushed into premature death in the nation's nursing homes. According to Bioedge, health authorities in the Scandinavian nation have received many complaints about how their elderly relatives were treated while in such homes. Those suspected to have COVID-19 were quickly placed on palliative care, given morphine, and denied supplementary oxygen and intravenous fluids and nutrition. For many residents, this was essentially a death sentence. Approximately half of all coronavirus deaths in the Scandinavian country were residents of nursing homes, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. People suffocated, it was horrible to watch. One patient asked me what I was giving him when I gave him the morphine injection, and I lied to him, said Latifa Lofvenberg, a nurse. Many died before their time. It was very, very difficult. According to official guidelines in Sweden issued by the National Board of Health and Welfare when the pandemic began, it was suggested that doctors triage patients based on their so-called biological age, considering their overall health and the prospects for recovery prior to making treatment decisions. Sweden's response to the virus differed from many other nations in that the nation declined to shut down their economy and allowed citizens to continue living their lives relatively normally with some moderate precautionary measures; most bars, restaurants, schools, and retail stores were permitted to stay open. Swedish officials said earlier this year their goal was to reach "herd immunity." Regarding its medical facilities, the Scandinavian country's approach was to keep hospital intensive-care units from being overwhelmed with elderly patients who had a low chance of surviving and thus keep them open for younger people should a surge in the virus occur. Such a surge did not happen and the elderly were denied access to unused facilities. These guidelines have too often resulted in older patients being denied treatment, even when hospitals were operating below capacity, critics of the approach told the WSJ. Some critics went even further, asserting the approach amounted to euthanasia. Older people are routinely being given morphine and midazolam, which are respiratory-inhibiting, Yngve Gustafsson, a geriatrics specialist at Umea University, told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. That doctors were prescribing over the phone a palliative cocktail for the sick elderly left him aghast. Its active euthanasia, to say the least, he said. Echoing Gustafsson, the Discovery Institutes Center on Human Exceptionalism Wesley J. Smith noted in National Review last week that the Swedish policy is "what happens when there is an explicitly invidious health-care rationing policy." "The nuances get lost and the discriminated-against population are deemed better off dead." In the United States, more than 43 percent of COVID-19 deaths have come from nursing homes and other long-term care facilities though residents and workers there have made up only 11 percent of all U.S. cases, according to The New York Times. Still, stories have emerged of very elderly people contracting the virus and then recovering from it. 100-year-old World War II veteran Lloyd Falk of Virginia survived the coronavirus earlier this year following a 58-day stay in the hospital. Falk lost his wife of 74 years to the disease a few weeks prior to his recovery, according to local NBC affiliate WXII12. Similarly, 102-year-old Sophie Avouris survived a coronavirus infection in a Manhattan rehabilitation center, NPR reported in May. She had been in a nursing home recovering from hip replacement surgery when she fell ill. She was a newborn baby in Greece when the 1918 influenza spread across Europe. In Assam, the academic session starts in January and ends in December Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced that academic session for schools has been revised to compensate for the loss of academic days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new session will run from 1 April to 31 March. The minister took to Twitter to inform that the decision has been taken by the state cabinet after due consultation with stakeholders. 1/2 Due to Covid -19 pandemic educational Institutions are closed from 15th https://t.co/jtKyRRcIqU order to compensate the loss of academic days, after due consultation with stake holders,Cabinet has decided to revise the Academic session of schools from 1st April to 31st March Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 29, 2020 He said, The Academic session of the current academic session shall be upto 31st March 2021. The Academic Calendar of each class shall be decided by the concerning academic authorities after proper consultation keeping in view the local climate and other factors." In Assam, the academic session starts in January and ends in December, reported Hindustan Times. Sarma has, however, not confirmed whether the new session will remain permanently in place or it is for just this year. According to NDTV, Sarma last month revealed that the government was planning to change academic year for schools under the Board of Secondary Education Assam (SEBA). He said that the decision will be made based on the feedback from people of the state. SEBA had started a portal for people to share their suggestion on the new session. It was active till 30 May. The state education minister in May also launched a local educational television channel 'Gyan Brikshya', reported Sentinel Assam. The channel was unveiled with an aimed to bridge the learning loss due to the coronavirus outbreak. The channel replicates "traditional classes" and provides study material for different grades. 'India's measure, selectively and discriminatorily aims at certain Chinese apps on ambiguous and far-fetched grounds,' China's mission to India said in a statement A day after India banned 59 Chinese-owned mobile applications raising privacy concerns about user data, Beijing's mission in India issued a strong statement accusing India of indulging in "discriminatory practices". "India's measure, selectively and discriminatorily aims at certain Chinese apps on ambiguous and far-fetched grounds, runs against fair and transparent procedure requirements, abuses national security exceptions, and suspects of violating the WTO rules," China said. The ban on these apps also comes in the backdrop of the current stand-off along the Line of Actual control in eastern Ladakh with Chinese troops. India's Information Technology Ministry said on Monday that it has invoked its power under section 69A of the IT Act and rules, and has decided to block 59 apps in view of information available that they are "engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". In a statement, the Information Technology Ministry said that it has received many complaints from various sources, including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India". The statement added that the compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures. The ban on apps, the ministry added, will "safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users" stating that the decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace". However, the Chinese denied these concerns and claimed that the ban will instead prove counterproductive to Indian interests. "Related apps have a large number of users in India, have been operating strictly in accordance with Indian laws and regulations, and provide efficient and fast services for Indian consumers, creators and entrepreneurs. The ban will affect not only the employment of local Indian workers who support these apps, but also the interests of Indian users and the employment and livelihoods of many creators and entrepreneurs," the statement added. Asserting that practical cooperation between China and India is actually mutually beneficial and win-win, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said, "deliberate interference in such cooperation will not serve the interests of the Indian side". Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry had also reacted to the development. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, "China has noted the press release issued by the Indian side with strong concern and is now verifying the situation." "I want to stress that the Chinese government always asks the Chinese businesses to abide by international rules, local laws and regulations in their business cooperation with foreign countries," he said. "The Indian government has the responsibility to uphold the legitimate and legal rights of the international investors including the Chinese ones," he added. With inputs from PTI Candidates who are applying for the given posts must carefully check that they fulfil the minimum eligibility criteria. The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has invited applications for filling 479 teaching and Group A vacancies. The last date for submission of application forms is 31 July. However, the deadline for submitting downloaded application forms along with enclosures is 3 August. Candidates who are applying for the given posts must carefully check that they fulfil the minimum eligibility criteria. For filling the online application form, they will have to visit the official website of the BHU at https://www.bhu.ac.in/rac/. Application fee Those belonging to unreserved, economically weaker section (EWS) and other backward class (OBC) category will have to pay the application fee of Rs 1,000. On the other hand, candidates from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe and person with physical disability (PwD) category will be charged no application fee. According to Hindustan Times, candidates who have earlier applied against Rolling Advt. No.01/2019-2020 for the following post codes may apply through online mode again or update their application form. Such candidates are not required to pay the application fee. Their cut-off date for eligibility will be considered as per the last date of submission of application the above advertisement. How to apply Candidates will have to first register on the Recruitment and Assessment Cell portal on the BHU website at https://www.bhu.ac.in/rac/. Then using the generated login ID fill the application form. Submit application and pay exam fee online. Following which, they may download a PDF of the application, which they will have to print and send to BHU after signing it and having it forwarded by their employer, if any. Copies of the relevant certificates and documents have to be enclosed with the form. A transparent police force that functions within the law will ensure broader social prosperity. As criminal law practitioners will affirm, there is nothing that's good about someone being taken into police custody. It's often a harrowing experience for the lawyer who couldn't prevent it. This is perhaps because of how close we are to the actual reality of India's police force. At times, it becomes obvious that sending a person into police custody is the same as sending someone to a torture chamber. Those days in police remand, before an application for bail can be made, are counted and those who can afford to do so, try to have their lawyers plead to close the remand for each day it subsists. There is an unspoken acceptance of a principle in the way criminal law is administered. Torture is legal. We just change the words and call it "custodial interrogation". India has a lot of laws in place, which on paper, would make us a world-class jurisdiction when it concerns police matters. There are requirements for warrants before searches and arrests. There is also the safeguard of the right to silence. The presumption of innocence. These broad concepts are not alien to the law of India in fact, they are well-established. Except, we legally allow them to be ignored. Let's take the example of a search warrant. The pure purpose of a search warrant is to prevent you from being searched by the police without a just cause. Tomorrow, if an officer, without a warrant, barged into your home and took documents, those documents would still be admissible in court. There is absolutely zero incentive for the police to follow procedure, because they are excused from the real consequences of it. So, you have a police force that knows quite well that it can blindly disregard the law and go around doing what it basically likes. This system though, is kept in place for very cogent social reasons. The Indian society is not one that often thinks in terms of rights. When we hear of a crime, we want an arrest; it doesn't matter who they arrest, we just want one. There was visible celebration over the Telengana encounter of four rape accused in 2019, even as many raised questions on whether the encounter was a fake one. There are frequent calls from major sections of the public to go harsh on criminals. Even recently, when Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide, some people demanded that arrests be made. We often think of criminal law as akin to a school teacher managing a classroom. No questions, no trial, straight to the cane. Such social beliefs lead to cases such as the custodial deaths in Tuticorin. The first question we ought to be asking is, why were the accused remanded to police custody in the first place? Why does the police need custodial interrogation for people accused of violating the lockdown? Were the policemen so unsure of their own version of the events (given they were the witnesses) that they needed the accused to confirm it before they could secure the conviction? If an accused has a right to silence (i.e. a right against self-incrimination), doesn't that mean that the accused is not required to answer any questions? You'd be surprised to learn that the law thinks otherwise and "custodial interrogation" of the accused is a well-accepted legally defined means of interrogation. Except, practitioners know, it's often the code word for torture. The belief is that this is the only way one can get someone who doesn't want to talk to speak. You use threats and intimidate them (physically and mentally) till they "break down" and give information. It's not as though the police allow you to even have a lawyer present all the way during the interrogation. So what's the point of a right against self-incrimination when, if you're the accused, you can be remanded to the custody of your accusers? In the United States, if the police break the law when it concerns an investigation, not just that piece of evidence, but everything that flows from it is quashed. An accused has a right to refuse to answer any and all questions during interrogation. An accused must be informed of their rights and if they request a lawyer, the questioning must stop. If they say no further questions, the questioning must stop. Similar rules exist in the United Kingdom, and in most jurisdictions which take things like the right to privacy, due process and the right against self-incrimination seriously. Unfortunately, in India, we seem to think law enforcement is like an episode of CID. When we talk about police reform, we need to first acknowledge how fundamentally broken India's police system is. It's not just broken in the way it's been administered, but also in terms of the perverse expectations people sometimes have from the police force. We expect that if a wrong is done to us, the police must help us take revenge on the criminal. Except, law enforcement is not about revenge and it's seldom about the actual criminal itself. We think it is the job of the police to maintain morals. However, it is often seen that the police is quite terrible at doing so. We think it is the job of the police to sort out community disputes. It isn't. That's why we have panchayats and municipal wards. Apart from all the above expectations, we also expect the police to stop terrorism, carry out disaster relief, enforce lockdowns, manage traffic, and perform other such functions. A transparent police force that functions within the law will ensure broader social prosperity. But such a police is also one that probably won't answer a "phone call from an old uncle" to sort out problems that shouldn't be dealt with by the police. Before we talk about police reform, let's first acknowledge whom the broken system of policing helps, and whom it hurts. It will perhaps tell you why we still don't have police reforms. The last problem is that even if you do go after the police officials who cross the line, the officials will be probed by their own colleagues. If you sue the government for damages, our courts take years and then give paltry compensation. This means that the police are basically immune in India for the actions they carry out in uniform. What happened to the two gentlemen in Tuticorin is quite frankly one of the worst incidents of police brutality that I have come across. It reminded me of one bit of advice I gave a client of mine before he went into the lock up which was to make sure that he was in the visual range of the CCTVs. In a more civilised world, I wouldn't need to give that piece of advice. Luckily, nothing happened to my client. The law does require a magistrate to ask the accused at the time of each remand whether he or she has any complaints against the police. However, in my experience, the answer is almost always "no" and when it's a yes, there's a general smirk all around. On one occasion when the response was in the affirmative, a colleague of mine crudely quipped, "Maybe he (the accused) wasn't hit earlier, but now he is absolutely certain to be hit." This cannot be the way our criminal justice system works. Our Constitution demands much better. On Tuesday, both India and China are expected to deliberate on the implementation of an agreement arrived at the first round of the Lt General talks on 6 June, the sources said. New Delhi: Indian and Chinese militaries will hold another round of Lt General-level talks on Tuesday in an attempt to de-escalate tension in eastern Ladakh and finalise modalities for disengagement of troops from the sensitive region, government sources said. It will be the third round of Lt General-level talks and it will take place in Chushul sector on the Indian side of Line of Actual Control. The meeting is scheduled to start at 10.30 am, the sources said. The first two meetings had taken place at Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC. In the second round of talks on 22 June, the two sides arrived at a "mutual consensus" to "disengage" from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh. On Tuesday, the two sides are expected to deliberate on the implementation of an agreement arrived at the first round of the Lt General talks on 6 June, the sources said. The Indian delegation at the talks will be headed by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh while the Chinese side is likely to be led by the Commander of the Tibet Military District. The tension between the two sides escalated after the Galwan Valley clashes on 15 June that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. The Chinese soldiers used stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods and clubs in carrying out brutal attacks on the Indian soldiers after they protested the erection of a surveillance post by China on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Galwan. After the clashes, the two sides held at least three rounds of Major-General level talks to explore ways to bring down tension between the two sides. While America repositions itself, the ASEAN bloc is coming to the realisation that each of its 10 members may not be individually able to confront Chinas aggrandising ambitions in the South China Sea. India on Monday announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps. The government's intentions were made clear: the time for pussy-footing around the China problem is over. Even if the Chinese were to restore status quo ante and return to the positions they held in early April, the rupture will be impossible to mend for years at least. Trust has been broken and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be hard-pressed to ask the Indian public to not take the Chinese at their word ever again. Geopolitics is changing forever, and so, it appears, is Indian foreign policy. On Tuesday, the third round of talks takes place between the Indian and Chinese military commanders. The first one was on 6 June, when the Chinese made commitments and broke them, leading to the deadly clash on 15/16 June. A further meeting on 22 June saw a similar agreement but it is clear that the Chinese have not moved back to where they came from. What is the point of the third meeting if not for the sake of just talking? Both sides know that the talks at the military level are for the sake of form. For substance, look at what Prime Minister Modi has been sayinghe has called out China as an aggressor and a force of evil. Mods utterances are the words of a man betrayed. Which is why a military agreement alone will not suffice. Now let us assume that the Chinese feel that they have miscalculated on Ladakh and want to backtrack. To win back Indian favour, President Xi Jinping speaks to Modi and demonstrates contrition. Chinese forces pull back, and the commander of Chinas western military theatre, General Zhao Zongqi, the man who instigated the confrontation, is moved out. Will this be enough to appease India? Quite unlikely. Knowing the Chinese track record, how will Modi be able to tell his citizens that we must go back to believing China? From here on, we cannot take our eyes off even a square inch of the LAC for even an instantnot as long as the authoritarian communist regime is in power. The ship of reconciliation has sailed and is now patrolling the Indian Ocean. What can we now expect? For the immediate future, India can be expected to build up its military strength along the LAC and at sea. Being a country which values peace and respects the international law, India will not start a confrontation. The troops will guard against further Chinese incursions but we are unlikely to forcibly eject Chinese troops from our side of the LAC, wherever they are. If the Chinese provoke Indian forces, they will get a fitting reply, as they did in Galwan where they intruded. Chinas experience in Galwan, where it is not even disclosing the extent of its casualties, should hopefully prove salutary. While military preparations continue, geopolitical realignment is well underway. Top US officials have been making a series of statements, all aimed against China. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has declared that it is rebalancing its forces away from Europe and towards the Indo-Pacific. Christopher Wray, the head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), last week described China as the biggest threat to the US economy and disclosed that his agency is investigating more than 2,000 cases connected to the Chinese Communist Party. The same week, Robert OBrien, the US National Security Adviser, described called China as a Marxist-Leninist nation and compared Xi to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The scales have fallen from US eyes, just as they have from Indian eyes. While America repositions itself, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc is coming to the realisation that each of its 10 members may not be individually able to confront Chinas aggrandising ambitions in the South China Sea. But together they have a better chance. Which is why last week ASEAN leaders issued a declaration saying that a 1982 UN treaty on the oceans should be the basis for settling maritime claims. China lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea on whimsical historical grounds. Further to the southeast, Australia under Prime Minister Scott Morrison has moved out of the Chinese orbit. Australia clearly recognises the potential for China to become a neo-colonial power and a demographic aggressor. Japan, a historical rival, has major economic interests in China. But it is also bound to the US by a security treaty. The two major unknowns in the coming geopolitical match are the European Union and Russiathe key players in the Cold War. For Europe, taking a stand on China will involve making a firm commitment to the ideals which have shaped the world after the second Great War. China presents no threat to Europes territorial boundaries, unlike the former Soviet Union. But Chinas values certainly do not accord those of the EU. The unity of the EU, as well as its commitment to liberal democratic values, will be tested like never before. Russia and China may seemingly enjoy a close relationship, but Russian President Vladimir Putin will definitely be under no illusions about the potential danger from China. Russia has been displaced as the main strategic rival of the US by China, with which Russia shares a border that stretches nearly 4,300 kilometres. Chinas penchant for territorial gains by demographic conquest is well-known, and Russia will not forget that fact. China is a long-term threat to Russia, and Putin knows it. So what we see are a number of forces ranged against communist China. We are on the cusp of a New Cold War, and this time a choice has been forced on India. Despite sincere attempts to build a multi-polar world and not take sides, China has compelled India to get drawn into an alliance of nations which beliefs in democracy and rules-based world order. As long as a dictatorial Chinese regime is in power, India cannot return to status quo ante. This is an entirely new situation for the foreign policy establishment, but India has the confidence, flexibility and creativity that are needed to influence world affairs for the good of all. Just like India is taking a stand against the Chinese dictatorial regime by decoupling economically, the West and Japan also have choices to make. For major American companies, China is a lucrative market, but they must stand up and be counted when it comes to humanity core values. If it is alright for some companies to boycott Facebook in the name of values, it is definitely imperative to reconsider the reliance on the China market. The world is a large enough place without China and its communist regime. Along with strategic realignment, India must get its economic and governance act together. There is no strategic space without economic space. If India does not grow at the same rate that China did for two decades, the gap between the two countries will continue to widen. We cannot equip our military the way it must be equipped or make credible foreign policy if we continue to bungle on the all-important project of national development. In order to be able to face the threat from the C factor without, we must confront the three Cs withinCorruption, Communalism and Casteism. Otherwise, we will not be living up to the ideals which we proclaim are dear to us. Lobsang Sangay, president of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala, said Chinas expansionist policy had resulted in a renewed focus on the Tibetans struggle for autonomy and India had a unique role to play. New Delhi: The political leader of Tibetans in exile on Monday urged India to take a more prominent role in resolving the Tibetan issue with China, an appeal that could further inflame tensions between the two countries. India and China are locked in their most serious political crisis in years after a deadly clash between soldiers on their disputed Himalayan border which has reignited long-standing differences between the worlds two most populous countries. China has long reviled the Tibetans spiritual leader the Dalai Lama - who lives in India in exile - as a dangerous separatist and his activities in India has been a source of friction. But Lobsang Sangay, president of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in the hill town of Dharamsala, said Chinas expansionist policy had resulted in a renewed focus on the Tibetans struggle for autonomy and India had a unique role to play. India has the largest Tibetan population in exile, the Dalai Lama calls himself a proud son of India, and historically geopolitically, culturally, and for all these reasons, India can raise the issue of Tibet, Sangay told the Foreign Correspondents Club of India, South Asia. The Centre has in recent years discouraged large-scale Tibetan protests and even banned a rally to mark the 60th anniversary of the uprising in 2018 in order not to upset China. But following the clash this month in the Ladakh region in the western Himalayas in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, former Indian diplomats and military generals have suggested the government ends its reluctance to promote the Tibetans cause. Sangay said Tibet, which historically served as a buffer between India and China, is just as important for India as it is for Chinas security. India for various reasons has a lot at stake, it should intervene and take up the leadership in solving the issue of Tibet, Sangay said. If the official website is down, students can also check their result via SMS by sending this message: KERALA10 to 56263. SSLC Results 2020 Kerala Declared: The Kerala SSLC board has declared the results of Class 10 exams today (Tuesday, 30 June). Over four lakh students who appeared for Class 10 exams this year can check their result on Kerala board's official website keralapareekshabhavan.in. If the official website is down, students can also check their result via SMS by sending this message: KERALA10 to 56263. Steps to check results via 'Saphalam' App Other than Kerala board's official website, students can check the result through the Kerala Education Department's official app 'Saphalam', which can be downloaded easily from Google Play store. Click here to find LIVE Updates on Kerala SSLC Results 2020 How to check Kerala SSLC 2020 result Step 1: On the official website of Kerala Pareeksha Bhavan opt for the link that reads SSLC result. Step 2: Enter details such as roll number and date of birth to log in. Step 3: The Kerala SSLC result 2020 will be displayed on the screen. Students will also be able to check Kerala SSLC result 2020 at these alternative websites: sslcexam.kerala.gov.in, results.kite.kerala.gov.in, results.kerala.nic.in and prd.kerala.gov.in. The remaining papers of SSLC, Higher Secondary and Vocational Higher Secondary School were held following the COVID-19 guidelines. Students took the exams wearing masks and following social distancing rules. More than 13 lakh students appeared for these exams. For Kerala Class 10 results, the overall pass percentage in 2019 was 98.11. Bhavana N Sivadas topped the Kerala SSLC 2019 exam by scoring 99.8 percent. China has alienated regional players and given rise to a renewed push for Asian multilateralism underwritten by the US. In the rise of China, we might be witnessing the emergence of a paranoid superpower. It is increasingly clear that paranoia both as an internal disorder and a trigger for (exaggerated) external threat perception is driving Chinas grand strategy. The Communist Party of China more so under general secretary Xi Jinping is acting out of paranoia as its chief stimulus as Xi goes about pursuing his China Dream of fulfilling the Two Centennial Goals of making China moderately prosperous by 2021 (CPCs centenary) and overtaking the United States as the globes primary hegemon by 2049 (100th anniversary of the Peoples Republic). The CPC is obsessed with avoiding the mistakes that brought about the downfall of USSR. Supreme leader Xi and a generation of party leaders have minutely studied, learnt and internalised lessons from Soviet Russias collapse that ranged from blaming Mikhail Gorbachevs twin reform gambits of glasnost and perestroika to noting the mistakes made by a corrupted, bloated and incompetent Soviet Communist Party that failed to tighten political control and mitigate the challenges thrown by the rise of nationalist impulses in areas under USSR from Ukraine to Azerbaijan. And those lessons have been studiously implemented by the CPC. As the author and China hand James Palmer notes in Foreign Policy, Chinas semantic adjustment turned the official meaning of Minzu, the Chinese term for non-ethnic-Han groups, from nationalities to ethnic minorities, and Deng Xiaoping simultaneously launched the mighty reform push. But, as Palmer points out, these efforts went hand in hand with a conviction that reformers and their misguided belief in liberalism were as much to blame for Soviet collapse, and absolutely everything was a giant US-led conspiracy. The USSR crumbled or so goes the lesson because it became open, loosened its grip over politics and polity. This idea has now received official stamp from the very top of Beijings leadership, and one can see it reverberating through the new wave of paranoia about foreign influence, reassertion of party power, and hostility to civil society The Soviet fall, once seen at least in part as a result of the Communist Partys own failings, has become reinterpreted as a deliberate US plot and a moral failure to hold the line against Western influence, writes Palmer. This paranoia guides and informs every step that Xi takes, be it the brutal repression of Uighur minority, the annihilation of their Muslim identity or the purge of his political opponents under the pretext of corruption. Xis decision to initiate one of the most ruthless political purges in Chinas history where, according to a BBC study, more than 170 ministers and deputy minister-level officials were sacked and/or jailed including 35 members of the CPCs all-powerful central committee in a throwback to the Mao Zedong era, was guided by a motive to install loyalists in key positions so that Xi can retain absolute control over the party and state. The move to expel challengers, entrench further his power and retain total control is motivated by Xis belief that a consensus-based rule as his predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin had practised will make him vulnerable to machinations from political rivals within the party and restrict his authority. This paranoia can be traced in Xis writings. In a column for Qiushi, the key CPC publication, Xi wrote in 2017: As the worlds largest party, no external force can defeat us, and only we can defeat ourselves We should stay alert to the ubiquitous factors that could weaken our Partys pioneering nature and contaminate our Partys purity If we dont take strict precautions and correct them in time small problems will grow into big ones, minor slips will escalate into an irreversible landslide, probably even leading to a broader and subversive catastrophe. (as translated by Anna Fifield in Washington Post). The manifestation of this paranoia is external as it is internal. Xi and the CPC remain convinced that the US wants to balance and contain its rise, constrict it by fanning pro-democracy sentiments and challenge the One China policy. Beijings actions are swayed by insecurity based on that fear. China blames the US for influencing the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, accuses Washington of instigating and sponsoring Taiwans defiance, and it has noted with concern American (mostly botched) efforts at regime change in post-second World War history, a phenomenon that most recently played out in Venezuela without success. This has heightened Xis (and the partys fears) to the extent that China believes a proactive, interventionist, in-your-face foreign policy driven by a revanchist obsession with reassembling the Middle Kingdoms imperial empire over the land and sea through military and non-military means along with the relentless accumulation of economic and hard power are prerequisite to achieving the China Dream. In keeping the party and the society focused on achieving that goal, fear (whether real or imagined) is a useful tool. Fear creates enemies and makes space for the CPC to assume control over public life. As Samantha Hoffman, China analyst and researcher had said at the US Congressional testimony on China in 2018, the party leadership uses anxiety to shore up loyalty within the party and to convince Chinese society of its need for the partys protection. Anxiety is a tool. Whether it is real or manufactured, or for the partys internal consumption or the publics, is almost irrelevant. There must always be an enemy to create anxiety. The CPC needs the west and its political system as the other to operate in opposition to it, and paranoia remains the overwhelming driving force that binds the party, the state and society. However, if paranoia is a convenient tool towards making the Middle Kingdom (Zhongguo) fully prosperous and strong (fuqiang) and earn its rightful place as the epicentre of the world, it may also work as a counterbalance, forcing China to make choices that while dramatically resetting the global balance of power may lead to strategic blunders. A popular discourse among analysts identifies China, as scholar Tanvi Madan satirises, as a 10-feet tall hegemon that never makes a strategic or tactical miscalculation, thinks eight steps ahead and plays six-dimensional chess. This argument also measures Chinas rise with respect to the relative geopolitical decline of the US. However, in the last six months alone of the new decade and amid a raging, global pandemic that originated in Wuhan Xis China has undertaken a series of coercive steps and has gone into geopolitical jousting with almost all its neighbours and regional actors. The goal of a regional hegemon and a presumptive superpower should be creating conditions that aid its rise, not cause impediments in the path through abrasive overreach. China, however, has been busy intimidating India, changing the status quo along the LAC in Ladakh and killing Indian soldiers to mark the first combat fatalities among the two nations in 45 years, subjecting Australia to humiliation, economic coercion and sophisticated cyberattacks, sinking fishing boats and bullying Vietnam in South China Sea, directing a survey ship in Hanois resource-rich exclusive economic zone, sending its coast-guard vessels near Japan-controlled Senkaku islands and harassing Japanese fishing boats, forcing Indonesia to reject Chinas illegal nine-dash-line and offer for talks on overlapping claims in South China Sea, sending a giant survey ship off the Malaysian coast to harass a Malaysian oil exploration vessel, reorganising and tightening administrative control over Paracel and Spratly Islands groups to reject Taiwan, Philippines and Vietnams claims over the South China Sea territories crucial for trade flow, sending surveillance vessels in Indian Ocean to keep an eye on Indian naval movements, flying bomber jets into Taiwans airspace eight times in less than two weeks, and slapping a draconian national security law on Hong Kong to quell pro-democracy protests, reneging on the one country, two systems promise. This naked bullying behaviour has consequences, even though China may like to believe that the ability of these regional actors in balancing against China is constrained by their economic dependence on Beijing. China has alienated regional players and given rise to a renewed push for Asian multilateralism underwritten by the US. Take Australia, for instance, whose prosperity has been driven to a large extent by the rise of China its biggest trading partner. Canberra has shown that standing up to a bully is not an impossible task and China enjoys no veto over its foreign policy. At the risk of causing damage to its core economic interests, more so in tackling a nation that weaponises trade to achieve geopolitical objectives, Australia has led the call for an inquiry into the source of COVID-19 (enraging China), kept Huawei out of its 5G rollout and maintained a close strategic partnership with the US. It has also recently stitched a comprehensive strategic partnership with India one among nine pacts that cover a vast array of space between closer maritime security, logistics cooperation, defence interoperability to critical minerals, cyber-security, technology, science and research and critical supply chains. The closer amalgam of two Indo-Pacific democracies confronts Chinas naval ambitions, diversifies dependence and builds flexibility against China, and it isnt surprising to note that the development has triggered a strong reaction from its state media. The strategic accord with Australia marks the fifth CSP collaboration that India has struck with Indo-Pacific democracies following on similar deals with the US, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam and it is an indication of how Chinas aggression is shaping the security architecture of Indo-Pacific. If India is collaborating more, willing to enter into institutional engagements and productive alignments with Indo-Pacific middle powers, China must get the credit for forcing India out of its ennui. Beijings decision to antagonise India by occupying its territory along the undemarcated LAC on Himalayan terrain in Ladakh, inflicting murderous violence in the Galwan Valley on Indian troops by violating all the mechanisms and protocols for maintaining peace and tranquillity at the border, at a time when New Delhi is struggling to contain the spread of the pandemic, is a particularly myopic decision for which China will repent at leisure. As former Indian ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale has said, for a minor tactical gain on the ground, China has lost India and forced New Delhi into fundamentally reassessing its China policy. And like many of Xis actions, this latest misadventure too is borne out of paranoia. Chinas suspicion of Indias strategic posture and its cultural prejudice against India may have also played a part in Beijings latest escalation of friction, which by some accounts was sanctioned by the head of Chinas western theatre command Zhao Zongqui as a way of teaching India a lesson. Beijings pedagogic war against India is rooted in a willful misinterpretation of Indias recent efforts to ramp up border infrastructure, and it is based on an odd paranoia that India was trying to leverage Chinas vulnerability and make territorial gains along the contested LAC at a time when Beijing was wrestling with the pandemic, as Chinese analyst Yun Sun points out in Chinas Strategic Assessment of Ladakh Clash in War on the Rocks. This is as preposterous an excuse for triggering a mischievous skirmish as any but the author deciphers Beijings act as a preemptive step to stop India from achieving equilibrium in border infrastructure, otherwise all the things China fought for in the 1962 war would have been in vain. Closely aligned to this logic is Chinas grave insecurity over a closer strategic embrace between the US and India which in Beijings case has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Chinas scepticism of Indias strategic neutrality under Narendra Modi government gave way to profound suspicion with the unfolding of Donald Trumps Indo-Pacific policy that placed India at the front and centre of US effort to balance China in the region. According to Yun Sun in Chinas Strategic Assessment of India for War on the Rocks, US factor became the most important exogenous factor in Chinas policy toward India post-Doklam, and Beijing increasingly came round to the view that American strategic support offered in material and diplomatic terms have already emboldened New Delhi to pursue risky policies vis-a-vis Pakistan in addition to a more assertive negotiating posture towards China to go with the destabilizing effect of Modis foreign policy. Chinas distrust of Indias strategic ambiguity and assessment of the Modi Doctrine China reckons risk-taking and practicability of Indian diplomacy has risen under Modi gave rise to a set of actions that pushed India closer to the US and in effect confirmed those suspicions, leading China to believe that even Indias internal decision such as removal of Article 370 was a shift in Indias external posture endorsed by the US. Driven by this miscalculation, a paranoid China sought to teach India a lesson knowing well that it will alienate India still more, but since China never considered India anything more than a US lackey a phenomenon that Swapan Dasgupta notes has endured in Chinese popular and strategic culture this was never considered to be a risky strategy. As long as the hustle in the Himalayas was restricted to force posturing and light hand-to-hand combat, both countries could have taken in its stride and continued with the architecture that so far been successful in holding fragile peace. However, the violent clash in Galwan that killed 20 Indian soldiers presents a watershed moment in Sino-Indian ties. It demands a complete upending of the existing arrangements and a reevaluation of Indias China strategy. There are indications that such a break may already be under way. Be it strategic, political or public, a pushback against China is evident at various levels of Indian polity. There is a new steel in Indias official statements that makes it clear that the conduct of Chinese forces this year has been in complete disregard of all mutually agreed norms and rejects Chinas unjustified and untenable territorial claims. Indias external affairs minister has made it explicit that Chinas unprecedented actions will have a serious impact on the bilateral relationship. Indias man in Beijing, Vikram Misri, has set aside diplomatic niceties and has been unequivocal in condemning Chinese actions, warning that there should be a realisation on the Chinese side that there is no gain in trying to alter the status quo on the ground especially by resorting to force ... that will not just damage the peace and tranquillity that existed on the border but it can have ripples and repercussions in the broader bilateral relationship. The China hands among Indias retired bureaucrats and diplomats have all predicted a tectonic shift in bilateral ties, and a coincidental shift (though subtle) in Indias security posture is already evident. Professor Anit Mukherjee S Rajaratnam School of International Studies notes that Chinas actions counterproductive as they push India into the camp of those powers with shared apprehensions about China. This feeling would be strongest among members of the Indian military who are pushing for greater cooperation with Western powers. Media reports indicate Indias allies are pitching in with arms and ammunitions. France will send across additional Rafale jets, Israel will deliver an air defence system, US is pitching in with precision artillery rounds and IMINT while Russia, Indias largest defence supplier, has pledged urgent delivery of weapons, according to Economic Times. Meanwhile, India and Japan have conducted their naval exercise in the Indian Ocean to promote mutual understanding, which though routine is nevertheless meant as a signalling exercise. As Vice-Admiral Pradeep Chauhan, director-general of the National Maritime Foundation, was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times, We need to be proximate with our friends and the Chinese know there is a direct ladder of escalation between Japan and the United States. Amid all these signallings, recently retired US diplomat Alice Wells has called for India to invest in quad than pursuing BRIC/RIC meetings, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has notified a shift and three US aircraft super-carrier groups have arrived in the Pacific Ocean, the first time in three years. There'll be fewer US resources at certain places, they'll be at other places as there's threat from Chinese Communist Party to India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, South China Sea. We'll make sure we are postured appropriately to counter People's Liberation Army: US Secy of State pic.twitter.com/2R0fdpu6Su ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2020 On the economic front, India on Monday announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps including some wildly popular ones for stealing user data and posing a threat to Indias sovereignty and integrity. The timing and significance of the move is not lost on anyone, and that it comes just a day before the third round of talks between Indian and Chinese military is an even greater signal. List of 59 Chinese apps banned by India. TikTok, UC Browser will no longer be available in India. Good move, cannot be a one way street for China. pic.twitter.com/zJQBgLGaTJ Manu Pubby (@manupubby) June 29, 2020 Simultaneously, India will check power equipment from China malware, may bar private telecom players too from using Chinese gear. It is also not a coincidence that Chinese imports have remained stuck at key Indian ports since 22 June. As it happens, Huaweis chances of being a part of Indias 5G backbone a position that the Chinese telecom giant was keen on now look bleak. At a political level, the Centre has stressed on reducing dependence on Chinese imports to correct the trade imbalance and become more self-reliant, some states such as Maharashtra and Bihar have cancelled or postponed mega infrastructure projects involving Chinese firms while there has been an unprecedented public pushback against Chinese goods and imports. It remains to be seen if this momentum is sustained (and it isnt to say that Indian economy will magically and abruptly decouple itself from China) but the signalling offers a panoramic view of the retaliatory options that India hold against China. China has similarly opened fronts against Canada and Sweden by kidnapping their citizens in Canadas case indulging in hostage-diplomacy like a terrorist organization or a thuggish state and show its ugly, obnoxious face. Chinas wolf warrior diplomats are meanwhile picking up squabbles around the globe, insulting host nations and letting the world know that anyone defying Chinas inevitable rise or calling into question its loutish behaviour both at home and abroad will be punished. As China rips the script of peaceful rise into shreds, it is also forcing nations into strategic reversals as the Philippines recently did and helping middle powers coalesce towards a balancing behaviour. China would know that Indias civilisational world view has space for peaceful coexistence but not submissive behaviour as a Middle Kingdoms tributary. Beijing has probably bitten off more than it can chew. The announcement by Banerjee, who is also the chief of the ruling TMC, comes just months ahead of the Assembly polls, due in April-May. Kolkata: Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised free ration to 80 crore people till Chhath puja on Tuesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that free rations will be provided to the people of the state till June 2021. She also urged the Centre to extend its rationing system to the entire country without any discrimination. Modi in an address to the nation on Tuesday promised free five kg rice or wheat and one kg pulses per person till Chhath puja, which usually falls in November, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. Declining to comment on it, Banerjee said everybody is not eligible for ration provided by the central government. "In West Bengal, we will give free ration till June 2021... We have decided to extend it so that everybody has food to eat. We can't depend on what the Centre is providing," she said minutes after the prime minister's address to the nation. "We (state government) are providing ration to more than 10 crore people of the state. In West Bengal, the Centre provides ration to six crore people only. So what will the remaining four crore people do? There should not be any discrimination, the entire population of 130 crore people should get the ration," she said. The announcement by Banerjee, who is also the chief of the ruling TMC, comes just months ahead of the Assembly polls, due in April-May. The BJP has emerged as the main Opposition to the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state after it won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. Speaking on the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojna a job scheme for migrant workers by the Centre, in which West Bengal did not find a place, Banerjee said "We (TMC government) can't comment on it, as our state has been excluded and we are not aware of the details of the scheme." Mocking her announcement on free ration, the BJP and the CPM said the TMC will be out of power by June next year. "Why is she making promises she can't fulfil? Her party will be out of power by June next year. This is not an area (free rations) to compete. Just because the prime minister has announced something, it doesn't mean she needs to replicate it. The state government should stop making announcements but concentrate on seamless ration supply for the poor," CPM legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty said. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha questioned Banerjee over her announcement and said her statement "will remain an announcement only on pen and paper" and will never see the light of the day. "The TMC won't be in power after April-May next year," he claimed. World Evangelical Alliance 'expresses deep concerns' over Israel's West Bank annexation plans International Christian Embassy Jerusalem says Israel has 'historic right and claim to Judea/Samaria' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment One of the worlds largest networks of evangelical churches has expressed concerns over Israels plans to claim sovereignty over large areas of the West Bank, a territory that is home to millions of Palestinian Arabs and over 400,000 Jewish Israelis. The World Evangelical Alliance, a global organization of evangelical churches that represents more than 600 million evangelicals worldwide, has joined a chorus of critics from across the globe who are speaking out against Israels plans to annex parts of the West Bank. WEA issued a statement Tuesday saying that while the organization recognizes the right of self-determination by any nation and the right of any nation to defend itself from harm, WEA expresses deep concerns over plans for Israel to annex large areas of the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised his supporters during his election campaign to extend Israels sovereignty over areas in West Bank, where Jewish settlements exist. The West Bank, located between Israel and Jordan, was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War but was never fully annexed by Israel though it has been controlled by Israel for over 50 years. Sovereignty over the West Bank as well as other regions conquered by Israel during the Six-Day War has long been debated in the international arena with most international actors opposing Israels plans to annex. But under a deal that has led to the formation of the current Israeli government, the process to vote on annexation could begin as early as July 1. The unilateral move that will be voted on at the beginning of next month risks ending any hope for a negotiated peace agreement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, WEA warned in its statement. WEA General Secretary Bishop Efraim Tendero, an evangelical leader from the Philippines, stressed in a statement that WEA has members representing both peoples. [W]e seek and pray for peace and flourishing not only for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Israel and Palestine but for everyone who lives in the Holy Land, Tendero said. Tendero called for a renewed commitment to negotiations where both sides respect each others existence and the needs of both peoples. Tendero also called for an approach that refrains from discrimination and violence and work in good faith toward solutions that will bring lasting peace. While evangelicals around the world have wide-ranging views on the many complex issues in the Holy Land, there is no doubt that the proposed annexation plans are detrimental for Israelis and Palestinians alike, so we clearly oppose such plans, Tendero said. In January, President Donald Trump rolled out what he called a deal of the century with Isreal that includes the annexation of parts of the West Bank. The deal had been in development since 2017 and included 50 pages of the Trump administrations ideas about how to resolve Israels border disputes. The plan sought Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and would give Palestinians control over some neighborhoods in the outskirts of Jerusalem and about 70% to 80% control of the West Bank, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. Netanyahu pledged that Israel would annex much of the Jordan Valley, encircling a future Palestinian state. Trump administration officials said the plan would not require either Palestinians or Israelis to leave their homes. Trump called the deal a historic opportunity for the Palestinians to finally achieve an independent state of their very own." Trumps plan was praised by conservative evangelical leaders. Mike Evans, a Christian Zionist author who has informally advised the Trump administration, has supported the sovereignty plan. Evans, the founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, told i24News in an interview that all of the accomplishments in Israel in the last three-and-a-half years have happened thanks to the support from evangelicals in the U.S. There's three-quarters of a billion evangelicals who believe this is the Bible land, and that the Bible is not illegal, Evans said. Evans also shot down the notion that Israels plans in the West Bank are annexation plans. There are two issues that people are trying to tie together. They are trying to tie together the sovereignty issue with the peace plan. You cant, he said. You cant tie those together." We evangelicals want the president to come out strong and say, The Bible is not illegal and this is the Bible land,'" Evans continued. "Its no big surprise to people how we feel. We feel very strongly about that. International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, a Zionist organization, said in a statement earlier this month that the term annexation is a misnomer. It commonly denotes the forcible taking of the territory of another. But here, Israel already held a legitimate historic right and claim to Judea/Samaria even before it came into possession of these areas in an act of self-defense in 1967, the statement reads. The question now facing Israel is whether to fully assert its sovereign title to certain of these territories by simply extending its laws there. The Associated Press reported that Whtie House aides have not been able to decide on whether to support Israel's plans. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the Palestinian Authority for not participating in the negotiation process. They simply have rejected this out of hand. We simply asked that they come to the negotiating table based on whats outlined in the Vision for Peace, and they have chosen not to, Pompeo told reporters. They have chosen to threaten, to bluster, to assert that theyre going to deny the ability to do security thats not good for the Palestinian people. Its dangerous for the people that live in those places too. Ameya Dalvi Price: Rs 9,990 Rating: 4/5 Almost every second audio brand in India has launched their true wireless (TWS) earbuds in the market over the past few months, across various price points, ranging from under a thousand rupees to Rs 25,000 and beyond. While the category is fast evolving, there are still two glaring issues with most TWS earphones sound quality and battery life. Sony, with the launch of its latest WF-XB700 wireless earbuds, promises to address both those shortcomings while keeping the price under Rs 10,000. Lets see if they succeed. Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Build, design and features (7.5/10) These Sony buds have an unusual spiral design and feel a touch bulky. However, when you wear them, they dont look weird or stick out of the ears awkwardly. Their build quality is solid and theyre made of good quality plastic, with a predominant matte finish and a touch of gloss. Silicone tips are included and you get four different sizes of ear tips in the bundle for different sized ears. The company states that each earbud weighs just 8 gm, but they do feel a tad heavier in the hand. Each earbud is fitted with a large 12 mm dynamic driver to produce the signature bass that the Sony XB series is known for. The capsule-shaped charging case isnt the most compact, and weighs around 46 gm. It can be charged using any Type-C USB charger. In case you do not have one, a USB-A to Type-C cable is bundled in the package. The earbuds arent touch-enabled and have one physical button each that lets you perform a handful of tasks like answering calls, play/pause tracks, jump to the next/previous track and increase/decrease the volume. These earbuds are IPX4 rated sweat resistant, so its safe to take them to the gym or for a jog without worrying about sweat messing them up. The Sony WF-XB700 are Bluetooth 5.0 compliant and support the AAC codec. However, there is no support for AptX codecs, nor is there any active noise cancellation feature or NFC here. The audio doesnt pause automatically when you remove the buds from your ear; something that one can expect on premium earbuds. Long story short, you just get the necessary features here and nothing fancy. Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Comfort (7.5/10) While the earbuds look bulky and seem a bit heavy in hand, they fit into the ears perfectly after a bit of adjustment, and a three-point grip holds them firmly in place. The weight distribution is quite smart too and you dont feel any major discomfort or heaviness in the ear. However, it may take a few minutes to get used to their presence, and a little longer if you havent used TWS earphones in the past. Also, one needs to be doubly sure that the buds are locked into the ears well, else they tend to pop out. Though there is no active noise cancellation here, the earphone design and the right sized silicone tips provide fairly solid passive noise isolation even in a noisy place. So much so, that I couldnt hear the sound of a running tap on a metal sink in front of me or the person speaking to me from a few feet away when the music was turned on at normal volume. Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Performance (8/10) Syncing the Sony WF-XB700 with the phone was a breeze. All you need to do is get the buds in pairing mode, find them in the list of Bluetooth devices on the phone, and connect. The connection stays strong for up to 10 metres without any obstructions in between, and there were absolutely no syncing issues or delays between the two buds either. However, if you need to pair these with a different device, it is advisable to disconnect them from the previous device (rather than just switching off Bluetooth on the phone) as they fail to show up in the device list at times if you dont do that. As I had mentioned earlier, there is a tiny physical button on each of the earbuds, but the instruction manual doesnt explain the full extent of their functionality. After fiddling around a bit, I realised what they can do. The button on the left bud can be pressed once to increase the volume, and press and hold it to decrease it. As for the button on the right bud, single press pauses or resumes the audio, double click takes you to the next track and triple click to the previous track. Sony could have kept things a bit simpler here. If you cant remember all that, you can simply do the needful directly from the phone. The Sony WF-XB700 are sufficiently loud even outdoors, and there was no need to take the volume level beyond 70 percent during the course of my testing. It stayed between 50 and 70 percent throughout. As for the sound quality, though not perfect, it is one of the finest I have heard on TWS earphones. These earphones belong to Sonys Extra Bass (XB) series, and understandably, the low frequencies are boosted. There is ample bass, but it is quite tight with a lot of thump. Yes, the extra bass does come at the cost of certain midrange frequencies; mids sound a bit suppressed occasionally, but not overly so. No such issues with the highs though; they are reproduced very well and sound sharp without sounding harsh. There is ample detail in the sound output and the soundstage is pretty decent too. Though these earphones tend to be a bit bass-heavy, the engineers havent overdone it, and the overall sound is quite enjoyable. But at times I did wish for some kind of equaliser to tone down the bass in certain tracks. Most genres of music sound good on these Sony earbuds, but they are best suited for Bollywood numbers, dance tracks and EDM, where the extra bass makes such music more fun. Rock or Metal doesnt sound bad, but instrument-heavy tracks can be a bit of hit-or-miss on this pair. Having said that, I can safely say that the overall sound quality of the Sony WF-XB700 is among the best I have heard on TWS earphones, and arguably the best under Rs 10,000. Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Call quality (8.5/10) There is very little to complain about in this department. Things function as expected. The person on the line was clearly audible and I was heard loud and clear by the other person too. The voice doesnt feel hollow or tinny, and is almost as good as you get when using the phone microphone. However, a bit of ambient noise can be heard when using these earphones outdoors; something for Sony to work on. Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Battery life (9/10) While most TWS buds last close to 3 hours on a single charge, Sony advertises a figure of 9 hours for the WF-XB700 on a full charge. In reality, I got close to 10 hours out of them, when listening to music primarily, with a bit of calling. That is as good a number as I have seen on TWS buds till date. The case carries enough charge to recharge these buds fully, but just once. While other TWS buds cases let you recharge them at least thrice, just a single recharge sounds below par. But lets not forget that the single recharge here is worth 9 hours of playback, which is equivalent to almost three recharges on most TWS earbuds. Ideally, I would have preferred to see the charge on the case suffice for a minimum of two recharge cycles. The battery status of the earbuds is visible on the phone they are paired with, but similar data for the case isnt available. It takes about 2.5 hours to charge the buds fully and close to 3 hours to charge the case. Sony also claims that when the buds are drained, 10 minutes of charge allows you an hour of music playback on the WF-XB700. Sony WF-XB700 True Wireless Earphones: Price and verdict The Sony WF-XB700 wireless earphones can be purchased for Rs 9,990 with a one-year warranty. Given the price tag, we cannot call them budget TWS buds, and they dont sound like them either. They arent as feature-rich as some that sell for half their price, but they get two most important things right where most TWS earbuds falter sound quality and battery life. We will continue our quest to find good quality TWS earphones for as low a price as possible, but for now, the Sony WF-XB700 are the ones to beat under Rs 10,000. tech2 News Staff On Monday, the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps in the country that included TikTok, Cam Scanner, Shein, UC Browser, and others. As per a tweet by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, "For safety, security, defence, sovereignty & integrity of India and to protect data & privacy of people of India the Government has banned 59 mobile apps." TikTok has become the first app that has been kicked out of Google Play Store and App Store after the announcement. As of now, users who already had the app installed on the phone are able to use the app just like usual. However, new users will not be able to download the app from the Android and iOS app store. Users who have an account on TikTok but uninstalled it will also not be able to access the app anymore. Meanwhile, TikTok has said that it is in the process of complying with the governments order of banning the app and asserted that it has not shared information of Indian users with any foreign government, including that of China. The short video-sharing company said it has been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. "The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok, and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications," Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok, India said. TikTok added that it continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under the Indian law and has not shared any information of its users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government. "Further, if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity," he said. Notably, this is not the first time that India has banned TikTok. Last year, it had come under fire for allegedly allowing pornographic and sleazy content to propagate, especially among its younger audience. It was also alleged that the app was proving to be a fertile hunting ground for pedophiles. (With inputs from PTI) FP Trending In December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 30 as the International Asteroid Day, to be observed annually. The day is aimed at creating awareness among the people regarding the near-earth objects (NEO) that can be potentially catastrophic threats to our planet. Comets and asteroids constitute NEOs. According to the UN, the International Asteroid Day focuses on raising public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard and to inform the public about the crisis communication actions to be taken at the global level in case of a credible near-Earth object threat. 112 years ago today, an asteroid impact rocked Siberia The UN General Assembly chose June 30 to mark the anniversary of the Tunguska Event in Russia. On 30 June 1908, an asteroid fell on the Podkamennaya Tunguska river area in Siberia, Russia. The impact left behind little evidence of its origin except flattening 5,00,000 acres of uninhabited forest, scorching the land, creating glowing clouds and producing shock waves that were detected around the world. This event is considered to be the most impactful asteroid impact event in recorded history. In order to highlight the threat that the NEOs pose, awareness about the rocky bodies is needed. According to the National Geographic, asteroids are basically chunks of rock that measure in size from a few feet to several miles in diameter. While most of the bigger asteroids are present in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, some occasional collisions or gravitational tugs send comets and asteroids toward the sun on highly elliptical orbits, some close enough to Earth to pose a risk of impact. How are comets and asteroids different? Comets tend to have more chemical compounds that vaporize when heated, such as water. They also travel in more elliptical orbits than asteroids do. Comets also appear fuzzier when observed through a telescope than asteroids do. Also read: It's Asteroid Day 2020: Why you should care, and how to catch live events on asteroids today Killer asteroid obliterates New York in planetary defense simulation exercise MIT researchers develop 'decision map' that finds the best way to deflect incoming asteroid Worlds oldest asteroid strike in Western Australia might have caused a global thaw Did asteroid, climate change really cause the mass extinction that took place 215 million years ago? New type of Trojan asteroid discovered near Jupiter has an orbit like an asteroid but the tail of a comet By David Ljunggren and Kelsey Johnson OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak but a spike in cases in the United States and elsewhere shows Canadians must remain vigilant as the economy reopens, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday. 'After a very challenging spring things are continuing to move in the right direction,' Trudeau told a daily briefing, saying a few hot spots remained. By contrast, some southern U.S coronavirus outbreak, U.S. spike a cause for concern - Trudeau" src="https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/reuters/06-2020/30/2020-06-29T170219Z_1_LYNXMPEG5S1QB_RTROPTP_2_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-CANADA.jpg" alt="Canada over worst of coronavirus outbreak US spike a cause for concern Trudeau" width="300" height="225" /> By David Ljunggren and Kelsey Johnson OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak but a spike in cases in the United States and elsewhere shows Canadians must remain vigilant as the economy reopens, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday. "After a very challenging spring things are continuing to move in the right direction," Trudeau told a daily briefing, saying a few hot spots remained. By contrast, some southern U.S. states are reporting huge jumps in daily cases. Authorities in Mexico, Brazil and Russia are also struggling to control outbreaks. "What the situation we're seeing in the United States and elsewhere highlights for us is that even as our economy is reopening, we need to make sure we are continuing to remain vigilant," Trudeau said. Canadian medical officials released their latest forecasts on Monday, showing the number of overall deaths could be between 8,545 and 8,865 by July 12. The current toll is 8,522. Chief public health officer Theresa Tam said there had been a steady decline in new cases, deaths and the number of people admitted to hospital since the peak of the epidemic in late April. "Our public health measures have been successful in slowing the transmission in the community," she told a news conference. The United States and Canada have banned non-essential travel between the two nations. The measures are due to expire on July 21, and Trudeau said discussions were taking place about what to do next. He also said Ottawa had the fiscal room to respond if a second wave of the coronavirus struck later this year. The Liberal government has so far unveiled measures worth more than C$160 billion ($117 billion) in direct spending, or around 7% of gross domestic product. ($1=1.3684 Canadian dollars) (Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Chris Reese, Bill Berkrot and Dan Grebler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. China has also drawn criticism from other governments, including the G-7 countries. Foreign ministers from the bloc said this month that the law was a threat to Hong Kongs autonomy and called on China to abandon it China passed a contentious new law for Hong Kong on Tuesday that would empower the authorities to crack down on opposition to Beijing, risking deeper rifts with Western governments that have warned about the erosion of freedoms in the territory. Lawmakers in Beijing voted unanimously to approve the national security law for Hong Kong, according to Lau Siu-kai, a senior Beijing advisor on Hong Kong policy, as well as two Hong Kong newspapers that serve as conduits for official policy from Beijing, Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao. The swift action, less than two weeks after lawmakers first formally considered it, signalled the urgency that the Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, has given to expanding control in Hong Kong after the territory was convulsed by pro-democracy protests last year. The law underscores Beijings resolve to achieve a political sea change in Hong Kong, a former British colony with its own legal system and civil liberties absent in mainland China. It could be used to stifle protests like those that last year evolved into an increasingly confrontational, and sometimes violent, challenge to Chinese rule. The Chinese legislature approved the law a day before 1 July, the politically charged anniversary of Hong Kongs handover to China in 1997, which regularly draws pro-democracy protests. On the anniversary last year, a massive peaceful demonstration gave way to violence when a small group of activists broke into the Hong Kong legislature, smashing glass walls and spray-painting slogans on walls. Xi Jinping is looking at more comprehensive control over Hong Kong, and the national security law will go a long way to achieving that control, Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a longtime commentator on Chinese politics and an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said in an interview. It will be a new ballgame, affecting schools, affecting the media, and many other arenas of Hong Kong life. Xi has driven the security law through despite the challenges his government faces with the coronavirus pandemic, a lingering economic downturn and visa bans from the Trump administration aimed at Chinese officials involved in Hong Kong policy. The security law was approved by the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee, an elite arm of Chinas party-controlled legislature, in a process that drew criticism for its unusual secrecy. Breaking from normal procedure, the committee did not release a draft of the law for public comment. Hong Kongs activists, legal scholars and officials were left to debate or defend the bill based on details released by Chinas state news media earlier this month. The law calls for Hong Kongs government to establish a new agency to oversee enforcement of the new rules. Beijing will create its own separate security arm in Hong Kong, empowered to investigate special cases and collect intelligence. Carrie Lam, Hong Kongs top official, has said that the law will target only an extremely small minority of illegal and criminal acts and activities, and will make the territory safer for most residents. But critics say that the new security agencies and politically shaded categories of crime, such as inciting separatism, could send a chill across Hong Kong society. Activists are worried that the law could target those who peacefully call for true autonomy for the territory. Potentially, the security law penetrates a lot of activities that contribute to the vibrancy of Hong Kongs civil society and the character of this international city and financial centre, said Cora Chan, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong who has studied Chinas drive for security legislation. The Hong Kong government is required to introduce national security legislation under the Basic Law, the citys constitution, but such legislation has long been seen as deeply unpopular and divisive. The governments attempt to do so in 2003 foundered after a protest by nearly 500,000 people, and successive local administrations have been reluctant to revisit the matter. A survey of 1,002 respondents by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute in mid-June that was commissioned by Reuters found that more than half were opposed to the security legislation, while just over a third supported it. But backing for the demonstrations had also weakened to 51 percent, according to the survey, down from 58 percent in a poll in March. In pushing through the legislation, Xi has taken matters out of the hands of politicians in Hong Kong and asserted that the Chinese central authorities have the power to prescribe security laws for the territory. That argument has been decried by legal scholars in Hong Kong, who say that Beijing is overreaching. China has also drawn criticism from other governments, including the Group of 7 leading industrialised democracies. Foreign ministers from the bloc said this month that the law was a threat to Hong Kongs autonomy and called on China to abandon it. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the United States would put visa restrictions on Chinese officials deemed to have undermined Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy. He did not name any officials or say how many might be barred. In Beijing, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, denounced the move by the United States as interference. At a regular briefing Monday, Zhao said China would impose tit-for-tat visa restrictions on Americans with egregious conduct related to Hong Kong issues. Later Monday, though, the Trump administration sent another warning shot over the security legislation by restricting exports of US defence equipment and some high-technology products to Hong Kong. Lau, the former senior Hong Kong government official, has said that Beijing wanted to impose tough penalties to intimidate would-be offenders. If it has a deterrent effect, then Beijing might not have to do too many prosecutions, said Lau, who is now-vice chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, an elite group that advises Beijing on Hong Kong policy. Even before officially confirming that the law had won approval, Chinese State-run media unleashed a flurry of reports promoting it as a boon to Hong Kong. The legislation would ensure the lasting stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, making the pearl of the East even more splendid and beautiful, said a report on CCTV, Chinas main broadcaster. To the citys pro-democracy activists, the law threatens to further narrow their fast-shrinking space for dissent. Last week, the Hong Kong police force denied applications from three groups to hold protest marches Wednesday, the anniversary of the handover, citing risks from the coronavirus and dangers of violence. This was the first time in more than two decades that the 1 July protest march had been banned, the Civil Human Rights Front said. On Sunday, the Hong Kong police arrested 53 people on suspicion of unlawful assembly after dozens of protesters gathered in a busy commercial area to denounce the security law. Its simply hard to go out to protest like we did last year, Bonnie Leung, a former leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, said in an interview. But the momentum is still there, the anger is still there. Chris Buckley and Keith Bradsher c.2020 The New York Times Company The EASA took the decision due to concerns about Pakistan's ability to ensure compliance with international aviation standards at all times, reports said. The European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended two Pakistani airliners from flying to the bloc for six months, reports said. Reuters said that the EASA took the decision due to concerns about the countrys ability to ensure compliance with international aviation standards at all times. The Pakistan Internatioanl Airlines (PIA) confirmed the suspension on Twitter stating that it is discontinuing its operation to Europe after the European Union's aviation safety agency banned its flights. In a tweet, the national air carrier of Pakistan, said that the EASA suspension of PIA flights would be effective from 1 July. However, the PIA can appeal against the EASA decision, PTI reported. The PIA added that its administration was in contact with the EASA to allay their concerns and to take necessary corrective measures along with filing the appeal against the decision. EASA has suspended PIA's permission to operate to EU member states for 6 months w.e.f July 1, 2020: 0000Hrs UTC. PIA is in touch with EASA to allay their concerns and hopes that the suspension will be revoked with our CBMs soon. PIA (@Official_PIA) June 30, 2020 According to Reuters, the EASA also suspended the authorisation of Vision Air International. However, it did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. In a statement, the PIA also said that all passengers booked on its flights to European sectors will have the option to either extend their bookings for a later date or get full refunds. "PIA sincerely hopes that with reparative and swift actions taken by the Government of Pakistan and PIA Management, earliest possible lifting of this suspension can be expected," it said. The EU ban came after Pakistan aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan in a major embarrassment to his nation told the media last week that nearly a third of the PIA pilots had fake licenses. He also said that at least three crashes in the recent history, including the latest on 22 May, were caused due to negligence of pilots. As reported by The New York Times, and published in Firstpost, Khan had said that the pilots of the PIA plane that crashed last month in Karachi were busy talking about the coronavirus and repeatedly ignored directions from air traffic controllers before their plane went down, killing 98 people. As per the report, Khan had said that the air traffic controllers warned three times that the plane was flying too high on its approach to the runway at Karachis airport and directed it not to land. But the pilot ignored these warnings, he was quoted as saying. A preliminary report on the crash showed that the "PIA pilots also ignored automated warnings in the cockpit and failed to lower the landing gear, causing the planes engines to hit the runway", the article added. The world reacted in horror while the Opposition in Pakistan demanded that the minister should be sacked for washing the proverbial dirty linen in the public. Pakistan has reportedly grounded 262 of the countrys 860 pilots, including 141 of the PIA 434 pilots. It has also written to foreign missions and international aviation watchdogs that it was addressing the problem but apparently everybody was not convinced. However, the list of suspended pilots has generated a controversy of its own. As per a Reuters report, Pakistani pilots and their union, the Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association (PALPA), said that there are discrepancies in governments list of pilots with licences deemed dubious and are demanding a judicial investigation. PIA and private airline Air Blue have also queried the list with PIA saying 36 of its pilots mentioned had either retired or left the airline, while Air Blue said it no longer employed seven of nine pilots on the list. It contains names of highly educated and qualified pilots who have passed all the tests, PALPAs president, Chaudhry Salman, told Reuters. We want a fair and impartial resolution to this matter. An official at Pakistans aviation ministry, Abdul Sattar Khokhar, said they did not have full details of the discrepancies. The issue is being sorted out in consultation with airlines and civil aviation authorities. With inputs from agencies DeAngelo, a Vietnam veteran, and a grandfather had never been on investigators' radar until about a decade after the crimes seemed to end. Investigators connected a series of assaults in central and Northern California to slayings in Southern California and settled on the umbrella Golden State Killer nickname for the mysterious assailant. Sacramento: A former police officer who terrorized California as a serial burglar and rapist and went on to kill more than a dozen people while evading capture for decades pleaded guilty Monday to murders attributed to the Golden State Killer. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr had remained almost silent in court since his 2018 arrest until he repeatedly uttered the words guilty and I admit in a hushed and raspy voice as part of a plea agreement that will spare him the death penalty for a life sentence with no chance of parole. DeAngelo, 74, did not cooperate with authorities. But he muttered a confession of sorts after his arrest that cryptically referred to an alter ego named Jerry that he said forced him to commit the wave of crimes that appeared to end abruptly in 1986. I did all that, DeAngelo said to himself while alone in a police interrogation room after his arrest in April 2018, Sacramento County prosecutor Thien Ho said. I didnt have the strength to push him out, DeAngelo said. He made me. He went with me. It was like in my head, I mean, hes a part of me. I didnt want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I destroyed all their lives. So now Ive got to pay the price. While prosecutors suggested DeAngelo had been faking a split-personality, Ho said his day of reckoning had arrived. The scope of Joseph DeAngelos crimes is simply staggering, Ho said. Each time he escaped, slipping away silently into the night. Theres no escaping now. DeAngelo, seated in a wheelchair on a makeshift stage in a university ballroom that could accommodate more than 150 observers at a safe distance during the coronavirus pandemic, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of murder and dozens of rapes that were too old to prosecute. All told, he admitted to 161 crimes involving 48 people, Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten said. The large room at Sacramento State University was made to look like a state courtroom with the seal of the Sacramento County Superior Court behind the judges chair and the U.S. and state flags on the riser that served as a sort of stage for a daylong proceeding that had a theater-like feel. Large screens flanked the stage so spectators could follow the livestreamed hearing. DeAngelo, who wore orange jail scrubs and a plastic face shield to prevent possible spread of the virus, listed to one side and his mouth hung open as prosecutors read graphic details of the rapes and killings where snacked on leftover turkey before leaving. Family members wept as the proceeding went on most of the day. A pile of used tissues sat on the floor next to Jennifer Carole, whose father, attorney Lyman Smith, was slain in 1980 with his wife, Charlene Smith, who was raped before being killed. This is much harder than I thought it was going to be. And I thought it was going to be hard," Carole said. I feel a lot of anger, which I dont think Ive felt so powerfully before." DeAngelo, a Vietnam veteran, and a grandfather had never been on investigators' radar until about a decade after the crimes seemed to end. Investigators connected a series of assaults in central and Northern California to slayings in Southern California and settled on the umbrella Golden State Killer nickname for the mysterious assailant. Police used DNA from crime scenes to find a distant relative through a popular genealogy website database then built a family tree that eventually led them to him. They tailed DeAngelo and secretly collected DNA from his car door and a discarded tissue to get an arrest warrant. The retired truck mechanic was arrested at his home in the Sacramento suburbs the same area he terrorized in the mid-1970s, earning the title 'East Area Rapist'. Prosecutors detailed sadistic acts he committed after slipping into homes undetected and surprising couples in bed by shining a flashlight in their faces and threatening to kill everyone in the house including young children if they didnt follow his orders. The masked prowler initially said he only wanted their money to earn their cooperation. He would have women bind their husbands or boyfriends face down in bed with shoelaces, and then he would tie up the women. Victims described being prodded by the barrel of a gun or the point of a knife. He piled dishes on the backs of men and said they would both be killed if he heard the plates crash while he raped the women. At a home in Contra Costa County in the fall of 1978, he told a woman he would cut her baby boys ear off if she didnt perform oral sex after he had raped her. I admit," DeAngelo said after the prosecutor read the description of that crime. He stole whatever he could find, sometimes a few bottles of Budweiser and some cash, other times diamond rings. He slipped off into the dark on foot or by bicycle and even evaded police who at times believed they came close to catching him. DeAngelo knew the territory well. He started on the police force in the San Joaquin Valley farm town of Exeter in 1973, where he committed his first killing. DeAngelo was among the officers trying to find a serial burglar in the neighboring city of Visalia responsible for about 100 break-ins. Community college professor Claude Snelling was killed by the suspected Visalia Ransacker after trying to prevent him from kidnapping his 16-year-old daughter. After three years on the force, DeAngelo moved back to the Sacramento area, where he worked for the Auburn Police Department in the Sierra foothills until 1979 when he was caught shoplifting dog repellent and a hammer two items that could be of use to a burglar. DeAngelo killed a couple walking their dog in a Sacramento suburb in 1978, but the majority of murders came after he moved to Southern California. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer choked up as family members of the victims stood during his description of each of the four killings there. Spitzer, who wiped a tear at one point, diverged from other prosecutors to address DeAngelo directly when discussing the 5 May 1986, rape and slaying of Janelle Cruz, 18 the final killing. You attacked her, you beat her and you raped her, Spitzer said. You murdered her in the first-degree, bludgeoning her in the face. A guilty plea and life sentence avoid lengthy and expensive litigation. Victims will be able to confront DeAngelo during a lengthy sentencing hearing beginning on 17 August. Victims began to stand in the audience as accounts of their attacks were read. Nearly two dozen were on their feet in solidarity as a prosecutor from Sacramento where most of his sexual assaults took place detailed each case. They cheered and laughed when Deputy District Attorney Amy Holliday noted victims consistently reported DeAngelo had a small penis. One man, Victor Hayes, who was held at gunpoint while his girlfriend was raped in 1977 shouted out that he wanted his name read aloud. "I've been waiting for 43 years. Im not ashamed of what happened. Ive never been John Doe in my life, Hayes said later. I want accountability and accountability starts with my name. Among the questions that remain is whether DeAngelo actually stopped his life of crime and, if so, why? Ho cast doubt on DeAngelo's statement in the interrogation room, saying he had feigned feeble incoherence" to detectives despite appearing sharp while under surveillance the day before his arrest. Ho said DeAngelo had acted crazy when he was arrested for shoplifting three decades earlier in an attempt to avoid charges. James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said most serial killers do not have dual personalities or inner voices, though movies often portray them that way. He said serial killers who get away with attacks for years are usually cunning and organized. Someone who suffers from a serious mental illness isn't capable of that. Serial killers who blame an alter-ego for their crimes are usually faking it, he said. Its self-serving for someone to suggest that they did all of these things because of this voice: Dont blame me, blame the voice, Fox said. Irans news media tried to counter reports about the missile site, saying those were generated by enemy media eager to portray Irans missile bases as vulnerable to attack When a major explosion lit the skies on the edge of Tehran last week, the Iranian government was quick to dismiss the episode as a gas explosion at the Parchin military base, which was once the focus of international nuclear inspectors. It turned out that was false: Satellite photographs show the explosion happened at a missile production facility not far from Parchin, a base laced with underground tunnels and long suspected to be a major site for Irans growing arsenal. But beyond Tehrans effort at misdirection commercial satellite photographs showed the telltale burn marks of the explosion and the location it is unclear whether the cause was an accident, sabotage or something else. US and Israeli intelligence officials insist they had nothing to do with it. But in Iran, where curating conspiracy theories is a national pastime, the sight of a huge explosion in eastern Tehran quickly merged on social media with news of a power outage in Shiraz, nearly 600 miles to the south. Shiraz also has major military facilities, and the explosion and the outage happened within the same hour on Friday. There is no evidence the incidents were related. Nuclear inspectors visited the Parchin military facility five years ago after years of standoffs with Iranian authorities. Renovations at the facility had been so extensive that it led to suspicions that the government might have been trying to hide past work on nuclear detonation technologies. After the episode last week, Iranian news organisations were shown a small hole in an otherwise intact gas tank, which seemed an improbable explanation for an explosion so large that pictures of the flames, taken miles from the site, showed up on Twitter. By the end of the weekend, overhead commercial photographs showed a scorched hillside at the Khojir missile production complex in eastern Tehran, where both liquid and solid propellants are made for Irans missile fleets. It seems likely that some sort of gas or liquid storage tank blew up, said Fabian Hinz, an expert on Irans military at the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. Probably industrial gas thats needed for missile production, he said, but it was unclear from the photos. The main buildings at the missile production centre appeared undamaged. Irans missile programme has long been a target of Israeli intelligence agencies. A large explosion in 2011, which killed a key architect of Irans missile programme, is widely viewed as an act of sabotage. But this explosion may have been different. Two Israeli intelligence services that operate outside Israels borders, the Mossad and the Israel Defence Forces intelligence unit, said they were investigating the episode and had not yet reached a final conclusion on whether it was an accident or sabotage. But several officials insisted that Israel was not involved. US officials also said they doubted it was a sabotage operation. Usually, Israel and the United States act in coordination in such covert missions, as they did with the cyberattack on Irans nuclear centrifuge facility at Natanz a decade ago. A spokeswoman for the Israeli prime ministers office declined to comment on whether Israel was involved in the explosion, a standard response to such questions. A spokesperson for the IDF also declined to comment. Ronen Solomon of IntelliTimes, an intelligence blog, who was among the first to identify the Khojir missile facility as the site of the explosion, noted that it did little damage. But he noted it was a vast facility, and as part of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, it has been the target of US economic sanctions. If the explosion was an act of sabotage, some analysts noted, it was carefully designed to not invite retaliation because damage was so minimal. But in the past, there have been small attacks designed to create fear among Iranians that foreign powers had insiders in the countrys sensitive military programmes. Irans news media tried to counter reports about the missile site, saying those were generated by enemy media eager to portray Irans missile bases as vulnerable to attack. David E Sanger, Ronen Bergman and Farnaz Fassihi c.2020 The New York Times Company By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - The COVID-19 pandemic is not even close to being over, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday. By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - The COVID-19 pandemic is not even close to being over, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday. Tedros noted that, six months after China first alerted the WHO to a novel respiratory infection, the grim milestones of 10 million confirmed infections and 500,000 deaths had been reached. "Most people remain susceptible, the virus still has a lot of room to move," he said. "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up." The head of the WHO's emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, told the briefing that tremendous progress had been made towards finding a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infection, but there was still no guarantee the effort would succeed. In the meantime, countries could fight the spread of the disease by testing, isolating confirmed cases and tracking their contacts, he said. He singled out Japan, South Korea and Germany for their "comprehensive, sustained strategy" against the virus. The WHO plans to convene a meeting this week to assess progress in research towards fighting the disease, Tedros said. (Reporting by Michael Shields, Emma Farge and Stephanie Nebehay; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Kevin Liffey) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Thanks to Gods mercy and grace, coronavirus in China is now under control to some extent. Meanwhile, there are some disturbing news came out recently while celebrating the positive progress. Its said that the recovered patients were being mistreated when they went back to their regular life. It seems that things never the same for them now. Harsh reality of recovered patients Its understandable that peoples mindset will be changed due to such a dramatic pandemic. For instance, the awareness of practicing social distancing, the importance of personal hygiene, and the priority of health. However, changes turned out be painful and desperate for some of those who were recovered from coronavirus. News of them being treated wickedly shocked me in the first place. Its reported that some of them couldnt go back to their job because of the repulsion from colleagues, some were being spied on and spat on their window by their neighbours, and some were trying to kill themselves due to hatred and social pressure from people around them, including their own family. They were victims in this pandemic and suffered the pain that we couldnt imagine. They overcame all the terrible physical torture. However, hardly would they expect that there were something more dangerous that they need to fight for, which is the prejudice of peoples misunderstanding and unreasonable mental insult. Kindness matters I was never in their place but I could resonate with them in some way. As a person originally from Hubei, I also experienced something during the course. I endured disconnectedness during the two-month lockdown in Hubei, was rejected when my neighbours in Beijing refused to have me quarantine at home, and tasted loneliness during hotel quarantine. Since most of the confirmed case were related to people from Hubei, people were very cautious and sensitive with people from Hubei, which intimidated me during those time, fearing that people around my social circle may hold hostility towards me. At that time, every smile and kind words were valuable to me. They made me feel like that I was accepted, just as a normal person. Thank God that I was greatly blessed by my trip back to Beijing. The government offered free bus in the railway station and prepared snacks on our journey, the representative from neighbourhood committee was very patient and effective in getting all the procedures and documents done for my hotel quarantine, and my colleagues sent greeting videos in our chat group each day to make me feel connected. It was the kindness of those lovely people that helped me to overcome my worries and fear. Kindness is a choice In contrast, I could understand how isolated and despairing that the recovered patients were misunderstood by their neighbors, colleagues and even families. They were in a vulnerable position and really needed support and comfort. Any discrimination or sign of unacceptance will discourage them to begin their life again. Physicians have reminded the society that its rare for a recovered patient to infect others. Our media made continuous appeals to the public to treat people from Hubei with kindness and love. However, peoples eyes are blinded due to their own interest. They wouldnt realize that their giggle and mockery could arose self-doubt in others hearts, their contemptuous look could break a helpless soul, and their decision of expelling others from the community may take a persons life away. Those who judged others life based on their own likeness may seldom think that they will be judged by a holy God one day. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Luke chapter 6, versus 38). Its instructed by an almighty God and His words never fail. Kindness is a choice. Please be kind to people no matter what, you never know what people have gone through in their lives. A hardened heart is more vicious than the virus. Kindness should always be our first choice, no matter what. By Alicia Powell and Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - When U.S. schools begin the next academic year with the country still fighting the coronavirus pandemic, students should spend half their time in classrooms and half doing online activities that pinpoint their individual learning style such as videos or reading. That advice comes from Nimish Mathur, 17, and his team from DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky COVID-19 pandemic" src="https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/themes/firstpost/images/220x220_Watermark.jpg" alt="US teens envision fall school reopening during COVID19 pandemic" width="300" height="225" /> By Alicia Powell and Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - When U.S. schools begin the next academic year with the country still fighting the coronavirus pandemic, students should spend half their time in classrooms and half doing online activities that pinpoint their individual learning style such as videos or reading. That advice comes from Nimish Mathur, 17, and his team from DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky. The "I'm So Confused Gang" team submitted its idea for re-opening school in the age of COVID-19 to a competition sponsored by Discover Your Genius (DYG), a nonprofit company that challenges young people to solve real-world business problems. First place and $1,500 in prize money went to Team Finn from Northwood High School in Irvine, California, DYG announced on Monday. Team Finn members included Miya Liu, Matthew Kim, Helena Zhou, all 16, and Henry Chen, 17. The rest of the winners from the competition, which involved team members age 13 to 24 from 23 states vying for a piece of the $5,000 prize, will be announced on Tuesday. Mathur's team would use any winnings to buy a URL to activate their website, Virtual Aristotle. It was named after the Greek philosopher and a teacher of Alexander the Great, who became ruler of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia. "We were looking at how Aristotle personally tutored Alexander the Great. That inspired us," Mathur told Reuters. "We were like, Wow. How can we put that in a website so that everyone can have their own personal tutoring experience?" said Mathur. The coronavirus pandemic that locked down U.S. businesses and schools starting in March gave a challenging assignment to the nation's roughly 57 million K-12 students and 20 million college students, and the educators tasked with teaching them. They had to find ways to learn everything generally taught in a classroom but remotely, typically using digital links to teachers and instructional material. As the 2019-20 school year drew to a close, critics pronounced remote learning a failure for younger pupils. Students lost as much as one-third of their expected progress in reading and as much as half in math, according to a working paper from the non-profit NWEA, Brown University and the University of Virginia. The declines were particularly steep for less affluent communities or far-flung communities with less access to home digital technology, researchers said. Looking ahead, some districts like Denver public schools expect to offer both remote and in-person classes in the fall, in part to accommodate parents who do not feel comfortable sending their children into classrooms during a pandemic. About four in 10 parents and teachers oppose returning to school until a vaccine is available, according to a USA Today/Ipsos poll released in May. With the start of the 2020-21 school year just two months away, many school leaders and education boards are scrambling to make opening plans amid countless unknowns about how the virus spreads. Some experts said the best ideas may come from students themselves, like those in the DYG competition. They noted that schoolchildren have risen to safety challenges before, particularly in response to mass shootings. "Student input is critical," said Sandra Chafouleas, a psychology professor at University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education. "We can't just assume that we know best because we are the adults." The Louisville team's Virtual Aristotle website is designed to be used by grades K-12. Half of each class would learn remotely for half the week before switching schedules with the rest of the class, keeping classrooms sparsely filled so students can self-distance to thwart virus spread. It would also help students prepare for another round of 100% remote learning if a second wave of the virus hits, Mathur added. (Writing by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by David Gregorio) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers are making a public push for face coverings, splitting with mask-averse U.S. President Donald Trump on the issue, as COVID-19 cases surge in some Republican-leaning states. The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said on Monday every American has a responsibility to follow recommendations to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. COVID-19 surges" src="https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/reuters/06-2020/30/2020-06-29T165924Z_1_LYNXMPEG5S1PV_RTROPTP_2_MINNEAPOLIS-POLICE-JUNETEENTH-SEATTLE.jpg" alt="Wear a mask Republicans change tune as COVID19 surges" width="300" height="225" /> By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers are making a public push for face coverings, splitting with mask-averse U.S. President Donald Trump on the issue, as COVID-19 cases surge in some Republican-leaning states. The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said on Monday every American has a responsibility to follow recommendations to help slow the spread of the coronavirus . "They should wear a mask," McCarthy told CNBC after his home state of California began to roll back efforts to reopen the economy. "If you cannot social distance, you need to be wearing a mask and you need to be respectful to one another." Republican Senator Rick Scott of South Carolina, where cases are spiking, posted a similar message on Twitter. "I am encouraging everyone to WEAR YOUR MASKS!" he said. Throughout the country, resistance to public health measures has taken on a partisan tinge. A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted in May found that just one-third of Republicans were "very concerned" about the virus, compared to nearly half of Democrats. Trump eschews wearing a mask in public, while his Democratic opponent in November, Joe Biden, generally wears one. [nL1N2DU1VI] While a number Republican politicians have donned masks themselves, some have shied away from insisting Americans cover their faces in public, saying it was a matter of personal choice. That began to change as coronavirus cases nationwide soar to record levels day after day, prompting Republican-led states like Texas and Florida to re-impose restrictions, such as closing recently reopened bars. Vice President Mike Pence encouraged Americans to wear masks during a visit to Texas on Sunday. In one of the more compelling images, U.S. Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming on Friday tweeted a photo of her father, Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney, wearing a surgical mask with the hashtag #realmenwearmasks. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Bill Berkrot) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Unlimited website access 24/7 Unlimited e-Edition access 24/7 The best local, regional and national news in sports, politics, business and more! With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. Telegram, a popular messaging app, has been found in violation of US federal securities laws by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and has been fined a civil penalty of $18.5 million. The complaint was focused on their blockchain based Telegram Open Network (TON) and their cryptocurrency called Grams. The complaint was filed on October 11, 2019 and on March 24, 2020, US District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered a preliminary injunction barring the delivery of Grams after the SEC showed with reasonable proof that Telegram was unlawfully distributing Grams to the secondary public market. Telegram did not admit to nor did they deny the allegations, but consented to the final judgment that was imposed. According to it, Telegram will have to pay back $1,224,000,000 from its sales of Grams back to its investors and Telegram Group Inc. will have to pay a penalty of $18,500,000. Telegram will also be required to notify the SEC staff when issuing any digital asset for the next three years. Commenting on the settlement, Kristina Littman, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Divisions Cyber Unit said: New and innovative businesses are welcome to participate in our capital markets but they cannot do so in violation of the registration requirements of the federal securities laws. This settlement requires Telegram to return funds to investors, imposes a significant penalty, and requires Telegram to give notice of future digital offerings. Source Samsung has announced the BTS Editions of Galaxy S20+ and the Galaxy Buds+ wireless headset will be priced Rs. 87,999 and Rs. 14,990, respectively in India. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra also gets a new Cloud White variant that will be available in limited quantity priced at Rs. 97,999. These will go on sale from July 10th, and pre-orders start from tomorrow, July 1st till July 9th. The Samsung Galaxy S20+ and S20+ BTS Editions come with pre-installed BTS-inspired themes and a fan community platform, Weverse. Right in the box, the device comes with decorative stickers, and photo cards featuring pictures of the band members. These feature a purple glass and metal exterior. The Galaxy Buds+ BTS Edition and Buds+ charging case, also available in purple, carry the bands logo and purple heart iconography. The Galaxy Buds+ BTS Edition also comes with the photo cards of the band right in the box. It has sound by AKG for balanced, detailed and spacious sound and two-way speaker. Galaxy S20 Ultra Cloud White The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra in Cloud White colour is designed to meet your lifestyle needs and enable you to express yourself, says the company. The phone features 108MP camera and 100x Space Zoom, and doesnt have any change in the specifications. Yes, it's the right time No, the state should have waited a while longer The economy should have been reopened a long time ago Vote View Results Posted Tuesday, June 30, 2020 9:36 am Jeffery Yoshikawa was at work in early April when he got the call. His mother-in-law was running a high fever, and the dialysis clinic at which she was getting treatment suspected she had COVID-19. He left immediately to take her to the hospital. On the way, her symptoms worsened. When they arrived, she tested positive for COVID-19. Yoshikawa asked to be tested, too, since he had spent so much time with her. They both had COVID-19, it turned out, becoming two of the 341 Marshallese people in Spokane to be diagnosed with the disease. With that number of cases, people from the Marshall Islands account for about 30% of the county's COVID-19 cases -- despite making up less than 1% of the county's population, according to Thursday's data from the Spokane Regional Health District. The COVID-19 pandemic didn't create the racial inequities that have contributed to this strikingly high rate of infections among the Marshallese community in Spokane, but it has laid them bare. Fewer than 3,000 Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders make Spokane their home, and 347 of them have tested positive for COVID-19, 341 of whom are from the Marshall Islands. An experimental drug treatment helped Yoshikawa recover in the hospital from COVID-19, and he was released after about two weeks. Back at home, he isolated for two weeks, wearing a mask whenever he left his room. Though he was in the clear, he worried about his mother-in-law, who has diabetes and heart problems. She remained in the hospital for several weeks but eventually fought off the virus, too. Like many people from the Marshall Islands, Yoshikawa has a long history with hospitals and doctors. When his wife was diagnosed with Stage 3 cervical cancer in 2003, he had no choice but to leave his home in the Marshall Islands, where there are no cancer specialists, despite a high prevalence of the disease that has been connected to U.S. nuclear tests in the country. That legacy of radiation as well as barriers to health care and the federal government's treatment of people from the Marshall Islands have historically placed the Marshallese community in a vulnerable place to begin with in the United States. The coronavirus pandemic has only intensified the community's needs. A history of radiation After World War II, the United States effectively commandeered several islands in the Republic of the Marshall Islands to use for nuclear testing. Over a 12-year period, from 1946 to 1958, the U.S. government conducted 67 nuclear tests there. The radioactive fallout and radiation left behind made certain islands uninhabitable. While residents of some islands and atolls were relocated due to the testing, the health effects and other devastating consequences are still being felt . First, U.S. scientists studied those who were impacted for effects of radiation on their health without their fully informed consent, as materials were not translated into Marshallese at the time. Since then, more studies have shown the adverse health effects of radiation on the Marshallese community. One group of researchers, which examined radiation doses, found that more than half of cancers diagnosed in Marshallese communities from certain islands since 1948 and in those who might get cancer in the future is due to the radioactive fallout. Rates of birth defects were found to be high, and even in recent years Marshallese women who moved to the United States have experienced high preterm birth rates compared to white women in the same counties. Despite such evidence of the consequences of nuclear testing, the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands still is operational today. And the U.S. Department of Defense can continue to use some islands of the Kwajalein Atoll until at least 2066. While the Marshall Islands were a trust territory of the U.S. until 1979, it has been a sovereign county ever since. Now an agreement known as the Compact of Free Association, or COFA, allows the U.S. access to all land and waterways in the country in exchange for financial aid to the islands' people and their free entry to the U.S. Many, like Yoshikawa, left to seek care for family members, due to the ravaging health effects of U.S. nuclear testing. Yoshikawa and his family are originally from the Kwajalein Atoll, where he was born in 1971. After attending high school and college and meeting his wife in the capital of Majuro, he left the Marshall Islands for Hawaii in 2003. A father to four kids, Yoshikawa has worked many jobs in the United States, including as a delivery van driver, a community advocate and a translator. Back in the Marshall Islands, he and his wife worked as teachers and had the certificates and courses needed to teach. When he got the United States, however, Yoshikawa's credits were not recognized. With four children to raise, he said going back to school wasn't an option, because he needed to provide for his family. Yoshikawa's said his children began to learn English in public schools in Hawaii and he started working at Walmart, in the money center. While he intended to return to the Marshall Islands, a 2011 call from a cousin in Spokane changed his course. "If you have a good job but you have family in need, you go find a new job and help them out," Yoshikawa said. "So that's the reason we moved here." They moved to Spokane and lived with his cousin for a few months. Eventually, he found a house for his family and welcomed other relatives to live with them. Family is a key tenet of Marshallese culture, and Yoshikawa has his grandmother and mother-in-law as well as three of his children living with him. Yoshikawa was able to transfer his job with Walmart from Hawaii to Spokane, which was more affordable and where his children would have opportunities to further their educations and careers. While that has proved possible -- his daughter recently graduated from Carleton College and plans to become a nurse -- the health issues that found his family in the Marshall Islands have stayed with them. This spring, before COVID-19, his wife's cancer returned. She died in mid-March, before she could see their youngest son leave for basic training in the Army this May. Yoshikawa is still paying off some of his wife's medical bills. Cut out of health care The federal government does not recognize Marshallese people as immigrants or refugees, and they do not receive visas when they arrive. If they come to the United States and find work, they pay taxes but do not get to vote. Their left-in-limbo status in the country disqualifies them for Medicaid and Medicare, and it makes applying to other social service programs incredibly difficult. This was not always the case, but in 1996, when Congress made major changes to programs like Medicare and Medicaid, COFA islanders were cut out of access to those programs. There are a few exceptions, and states with significant COFA-islander populations have attempted to remedy the federal gap in health care coverage. In Washington, children and teens under the age of 19 and pregnant women are eligible for Apple Health, due to the state's Medicaid waiver, but a large proportion of the COFA-islander population is ineligible. Washington lawmakers attempted to remedy this and expand access to health care for Pacific Islanders from the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia in 2018. To be eligible for the program, a person must fall in a certain income category as well as enroll themselves in a silver level health plan through the state exchange. They must also be eligible for and receive tax credits for the program. Once enrolled in the program, COFA islanders receive a preloaded card to help pay for deductibles, copays and prescriptions. The list of requirements to be eligible for the Washington COFA insurance program is burdensome, and a report from the Health Care Authority about the program found that translation services and language barriers were challenges. In December 2019, the HCA released a report on the progress of the program to the Washington Legislature. Spokane County has the highest participation in the program with 392 people enrolled in the health care program, but census data show there are 2,839 Pacific Islanders in the county. (The census data does not break down which Pacific Island a person is from.) As of October 2019, 1,111 people were participating in the program statewide. While the program has helped many COFA islanders, like Yoshikawa's mother-in-law, get connected to health care, it does not cover the majority of Marshallese community members, who instead rely on health coverage from their jobs if they can get it or simply go without. When COVID-19 came to Spokane Doresty Daniel has been working to connect her community with resources since the virus began to impact Marshallese in Spokane. She is a representative from the Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition to the Marshallese community in Spokane. Daniel is Marshallese, and she moved to the area in 2014. Daniel first heard of COVID-19 impacting the community here in Spokane in April, and she began to look for resources. Not everyone in the Marshallese community can speak or read fluent English. Finding information about the virus translated into Marshallese was difficult, she said, and she looked for resources coming out of Seattle and even Arkansas, where there also is a large Marshallese community. While information is important, historic challenges accessing health care have created a second barrier for those trying to get tested too. Persuading community members to go get tested for COVID-19 was not always simple, Daniel said, because without insurance, there is little security that one won't be charged. Estimates from the 2010 census show that 16.7% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States do not have health insurance. "The majority of us are not covered, so when you tell them to go test and they know they have no insurance coverage, that's the other barrier for that," Daniel said. "Even if you tell them there's no insurance needed to be tested." She compared having health insurance to having a driver's license. "When people don't have an insurance card, they don't feel comfortable seeing a doctor knowing that the visit could end with medical bills they cannot afford," she said. Daniel has worked tirelessly to get supplies to community members like hand sanitizer and masks, as well as access to food resources. Using Facebook, she connects with other Marshallese community members and does her best to find resources for them and deliver them to their doors. For Marshallese people without COFA insurance from Washington or from their jobs, testing is available at CHAS clinics in Spokane, where they employ a Marshallese health worker to help translate and provide culturally competent care to the community members. CHAS is offering free testing to anyone for COVID-19 throughout the community. "From Day 1 of the COVID crisis, we've put forth a lot of efforts to get more widespread availability of testing for people who don't have access to care otherwise," said Deb Wiser, chief clinical officer at CHAS. CHAS also will be receiving masks to give away to patients from Washington in July. Daniel said she still is working to get masks to community members, even today. Historic health inequities Yoshikawa believes his mother-in-law got COVID-19 from her dialysis clinic, because that was the only place she was going outside of the house since the pandemic began. Other patients there had displayed symptoms, he said. He thinks he probably got the virus from her. But he managed to keep the virus away from his other family members, in part due to his and his mother-in-law's isolation at the hospital. Many outbreaks across many communities are in households, where one family member contracts the virus out at work and then brings it back to others living at home. Even beyond Washington, COFA islanders are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Researchers at the University of Hawaii point to social determinants of health to understand and unpack why this is. "The higher risk of infection among NHPI (Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) is linked to preexisting and underlying inequities in the social determinants of health across racial and ethnic groups that are ubiquitous in the U.S.," according to a May article in the "Hawai'i Journal of Health & Social Welfare." In Hawaii, for example, 24% of the Native Hawaiian population are in essential worker jobs. In Spokane, Daniel also believes that the virus has spread in the Marshallese community due to some community members working essential jobs and then bringing the virus back to their families. Research done by Washington State University professors shows that the virus is, in essence, revealing inequities that previous studies on health and premature death have shown. The highest rates in premature deaths in Washington are in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, a WSU analysis from 2011 to 2015 found. "I don't think there's anything unique to this virus. I think it's a reflection of the social, environmental and other inequities," said Pablo Monsivais, one of the authors of that study at WSU. Moving forward Joseph Seia, who is leading the Washington Pacific Islander COVID-19 task force, said that having community liaisons and partners helping to do the work is vital. "There's still a significant number that haven't accessed health care," he said. "There aren't people who can help them navigate health care in their own communities." Seia points to distrust in the Pacific Islander community as a result of a long history of institutional racism and resulting inequities in health care. He said there is one Pacific Islander medical doctor in the entire state . The UH study suggests improved planning to support Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander health. "The longer-term recovery plans must include public policy changes to earnestly and effectively address racial and ethnic inequities in the social determinants of health and in the US healthcare system to eliminate the structural racism pervasive in our society," the study says. The Pacific Islander Community Association of WA applied for funds from the Department of Health to support COVID-19 responses in disproportionately impacted communities. The department plans to announce the winners of those contracts on Tuesday. Kiana McKenna, an APIC member and an Eastern Washington lead on the Pacific Islander COVID-19 task force with Daniel, said they reached out to the Spokane Regional Health District when they began to see the number of COVID-19 cases rising in the Marshallese community. They received some masks from the statewide Pacific Islander coalition to distribute, but a lot of these resources came after the virus was spreading among families. "They are a strong and resilient community to have to uproot their lives and family from the land that your culture and heritage and identity is connected to, as Indigenous communities, that's a lot," she said. "And (they) have the courage and resilience to come to a place where the language is different, the health care system is complex and promises have been made and not many have been fulfilled." Going forward, APIC Spokane plans to continue meeting with the Spokane Regional Health District in order to continue to mitigate the disparities seen in the Marshallese community here, McKenna said. "There's a high need to raise awareness and visibility around these issues facing Pacific Islander communities and especially COFA islanders right now, and our communities seem so small that they get forgotten about or dismissed," she said. "We must address the systemic barriers that are in Islanders' way to thrive fully here." Daniel said another growing concern is those in the community who lost their jobs due to COVID-19. Applying for unemployment benefits is difficult for those in the Marshallese community due to their lack of citizenship. They qualify, Daniel said, if their immigration documents are not expired. Still, just getting the application looked at can be difficult when the unique nature of their legal status means that they do not have some of the required documents listed by the state to qualify initially. "It is really hard for Marshallese people to get qualified for unemployment because of citizenship status, and lack of understanding the system, how to fill out the system, so that's the other thing that now I see, how people are struggling with and trying to get paid while they are in isolation," Daniel said. Yoshikawa's daughter is pursuing her plan to go back to school to be a nurse. His youngest son, who graduated from Rogers, enlisted in the Army and is in basic training. "He sent me a Father's Day letter," Yoshikawa said. "It said, 'I wouldn't understand the real world if it wasn't for you.'" The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District will use goats to clear dry, grassy fuels that increase the threat of wildfire for hundreds of residents in the Little Mountain neighborhood of San Bernardino. What happened Shares of Boeing (NYSE:BA) gained 7% on Monday morning after the company's long-grounded 737 Max was cleared to begin a series of test flights. Boeing desperately needs to get the plane airborne and resume deliveries to customers, and the safety assessment flights are an important step in that process. So what The 737 Max has been grounded since March 2019, with Boeing attempting to revamp the airplane after a pair of fatal crashes. Boeing has missed a number of self-imposed deadlines to get the plane airborne, but it appears to be getting closer. The Federal Aviation Administration told congressional staffers over the weekend that it has competed its review of Boeing's changes, clearing the way for flight certification testing to begin. Even assuming the tests go well, Boeing will not get a quick rubber-stamp approval for airlines to resume flying the 737 Max. The FAA still needs to review new pilot-training standards to help minimize the risk of future accidents, and airlines will have to do retraining and perform maintenance checks before their idled planes take flight. The company will also need to work out issues identified by foreign regulators. At best it will probably be September, at the earliest, before 737 Max airplanes are used for scheduled service. Now what Boeing faces a tough near-term future even with the 737 Max. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused airlines to shrink their schedules and lowered demand for new planes. It will likely take years for airlines to restore capacity to pre-pandemic levels, meaning the commercial aerospace industry is in for an extended down period. Still, getting the 737 Max flying again is an important piece of Boeing's plan to survive the downturn. The aerospace giant bled through $4.7 billion in the first quarter in large part due to 737 Max-related expenses, including costs associated with the nearly 400 planes built but not yet delivered to customers. Recertification would allow Boeing to begin to clear out that inventory, which will improve cash flow and stem losses. But Boeing has warned suppliers it does not expect to hit its original 737 Max production goals in 2020, so there is still a lot of work to be done before this company can soar to pre-pandemic highs. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) expects to ramp back up to its full production capacity in Alaska during July. The company had previously shut-in 100,000 barrels of oil production per day (BPD) in the state during June due to lower oil prices. But with oil bouncing back to around $40 a barrel, these resources are now economical to produce again. ConocoPhillips had also previously shut-in production during May and June in the lower 48 states, Canada, and Malaysia due to low oil prices. Overall, it curtailed 265,000 BPD in May and 460,000 BPD in June (100,000 of which was in Alaska). The company plans to start bringing some of this output back on line in the coming months. It will begin by turning some wells in the lower 48 region back on during July. It also plans to restart some of its curtailed output at the Surmont facility in Canada during the third quarter. The company stated that it intends to make "economically driven production decisions at the asset level in the months ahead." The oil company's decision to curtail some production in May and June will impact its overall output during the second quarter. It currently estimates that production volumes will average between 960,000 and 980,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/D), a sizable decline from the 1.278 million BOE/D produced during the first quarter. But after adjusting for asset sales and those voluntary production curtailments, its output is even with the year-ago period and 5% below the first quarter's level. That sequential decline is due in large part to seasonal turnaround activity when the company takes some assets off line to perform annual maintenance. Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) has revised its outlook for energy prices and refining margin, leading it to predict an asset writedown of between $15 billion and $22 billion for the second quarter. The company cited the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the macroeconomic supply-and-demand picture. A similar outlook revision by BP (NYSE:BP) earlier this month led it to announce impairment charges and exploration write-offs of up to $17.5 billion for its second quarter. These announcements likely mean that a large amount of oil and gas will not be drilled, according to Luke Parker, vice president for corporate analysis at consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. Parker told The Wall Street Journal "within this writedown, Shell is giving us a message about stranded assets, just like BP did a few weeks ago." Shell says it now sees oil prices ranging from $35 per barrel in 2020, ramping up to $60 in 2023 and for the long term. It believes natural gas will slowly increase from $1.75 per million BTUs in 2020 to a long-term price of $3. BP had said that it sees average oil prices of $55 per barrel from 2021 to 2050, and natural gas averaging $2.90 per million BTUs in that period. Shell said its largest post-tax impairment charge, of up to $9 billion, will be on gas assets. Upstream asset writedowns of up to $6 billion will mostly come from Brazil and North American shale, and oil products of up to $7 billion will be from across its refining portfolio. Quote: FordTruckNoob Originally Posted by To expand on what Dan said, the torque it takes to spin the pinion is normally measured with the differential carrier out of the axle. The table posted earlier in this thread relfects that. There is another table for the correct pinion spinning torque value while the pinion is still meshed with the ring gear on the carrier, but it still requires the shafts to be pulled out of engagement with the differential. Therefore, you cannot simply jack the rear end up, disengage the parking brake and then spin the pinion. At the very least, you will have jack the rear end up, remove the whels and brake assemblies (both service and parking brakes) and pull the shafts out of the axle enough to disengage them from the differential. well holy shiz ballz... I'm not doing all that.Here is what happened... I got the inch lb torque wrench, jacked the rear, tested the inch lbs... it was over 80 inch lbs. so, loosened the pinion nut, backed off the yoke with a puller just a hair, that loosened up the pinion, then engaged the parking brake, tightened the pinion nut with socket wrench / breaker bar (not the impact wrench) til no pinion wobble. then used the inch lb torque wrench to adjust until it was about 20 to 25 inch lbs of resistance turning the pinion. (this was a repeated process of putting the parking brake on and off, and testing the torque... did this on my own, but a friend here would be a good suggestion)...I also adjusted the carrier support bracket to make sure it was aligned with the driveshaft better instead of at a hard angle.Results: Yesterday on test drive there was very little shimmy at launch. Now after adjustments there is more shimmy at launch. I'm thinking the pinion nut is not tight enough or I adjusted the carrier support bracket up too high ( i moved it up about 1/2 an inch).Opinions please?Thanks,Andy It would be very strange for Ford to do a 1 year refresh, the 2020, for that reason I doubt we will see any big changes. My guess is the 2021 will be a carry over of the 2020. Its not uncommon for little upgrades, additional options, and even slight power increases from year to year, but I don't expect much. The F150 is new from bumper to bumper (so they say), I don't expect they will do a full interior change to the Super Duty until they decide to do a more substantial change overall. I would do the same as you, wait for the order guide. UPDATE: Investigators said the Amber Alert was canceled after the child was found safe. No other details were released. MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) -- Bay Minette Police issued an Amber Alert for a one-year-old boy who was abducted Monday afternoon. Elisha O. Jenkins was last seen around 2 p.m. on West 5th Street and is believed to be in extreme danger. The child is a black male with brown eyes and black hair. He weighs about 20 pounds. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency believes he may have been taken by Jaimie Hobbs, a white female with brown eyes and brown hair. They may be in a blue 2015 Hyundai Sonata with Alabama tag number 4822BB1. Anyone with information about the abduction is asked to call Bay Minette Police 251-580-2559 or call 911. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 4:05 pm Both the Centralia and Chehalis School Districts are welcoming new superintendents to the district during a time of uncertainty around COVID-19 and the schools reopening plans, but the incoming superintendents say they are up for the challenge. Current Mossyrock superintendent, Dr. Lisa Grant, was hired by the Centralia School District in late January and will resume the role of superintendent on July 1. The Chehalis School District offered Dr. Christine Moloney the superintendent position in February and she will officially assume the role on July 1 as well. I am actually really fortunate because I have been in the position of superintendent elect since May 1 so Ive been able to walk side by side with Ed Rothlin, the current superintendent, said Moloney. That has been amazing and it has afforded me the opportunity to get to know the administrators and some of the staff here in Chehalis before stepping into the role. Moloney said that she is looking forward to building upon the relationships she has already begun to establish at the Chehalis School District She said she has had the opportunity to meet with district staff, teachers, union representatives, community members, and city officials. As we move into planning for the reopening of schools, I have those relationships and those connections to draw people in to help us plan for the reopening. I feel that we have an incredible opportunity to build something together for our kids, parents, and community as the reopening piece, said Moloney. She emphasized the importance she places on building relationships and working together because she feels having many people working on the same problem creates more powerful results. In mid-June, Chris Reykdal, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, released a reopening plan for the 2020-21 school year that outlines expectations for Washington schools including the wearing of masks by students and teachers, canceled field trips, health screenings before entering the school and encouraged social distancing whenever possible. Moloney said that implementing these new rules is going to be a challenge but is going into the situation with an optimistic and flexible mindset. Its challenging but we just have to really care for the people we are working with and for and I know we are going to put students first. Everybody that Ive met here puts students first and it warms my heart, she said. Moloney said she wants families to know that providing a safe and comfortable learning environment for kids is her top priority. She said the district has a reopening committee that has representation from the community including parents, mental health professionals, and district administrators. Were going to take every care and precaution possible for our kids and our staffs safety and then communicate that out to parents so that they can make an informed decision for themselves and for their kids, she said. Centralias Interim Superintendent Kristy Vetter has said during multiple school board meetings that she has been keeping Dr. Lisa Grant up to speed on all of the goings-on in the Centralia School District so that she can enter the role with a pre-established background on the challenges facing the district. In addition to the OSPI 2020-21 reopening regulations that the district must plan for, the Centralia School District is also facing a nearly $12 million budget deficit which was partially created by the failure of the levy earlier this year. Regarding implementing the new reopening guidelines, Grant said that she has been working with both her current district, Mossyrock, and the Centralia School District in order to find ways to implement the new rules to keep students and staff safe while keeping the social and emotional impacts on students in mind. Schools are going to look different when students return so how do we plan for that? We havent got this far in the details but maybe well send pictures or hold tours of the classrooms before school starts. We know we are going to have to address that, said Grant. She said that she has started meeting with people within the Centralia School District and is excited to assume the role as superintendent on July 1. I am excited to get started, very honestly, I mean its always hard to leave somewhere where youve developed relationships but I am really looking forward to getting started great staff, great board, great community, said Grant. Grant encouraged families, parents, and community members to join the district in working together to create improvements and the district is working on putting together some sort of feedback system for the public to share their concerns. We are going to do everything possible to help create the best possible learning environment and then financially everyone is actively working on plans so that we can create financial health in our district so we can get the resources we need to support kids, said Grant. MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The City of Mobile installed its first use of solar-powered LED streetlights in Midtown as part a pilot program to test their feasibility. Two new LED streetlights were installed on Upham Place in Mobile. The residents had requested streetlights over a year ago for their cul-de-sac. Officials say, after consulting with Alabama Power to run power to these locations, the City Traffic Engineering Office, led by Jennifer White, determined traditional electric lights would have been cost-prohibitive. She considered a solar-powered option. The fixtures are in the open, which allows sunlight to charge the batteries. New Orleans-based manufacturer Clear World Solar was selected to provide the decorative fixtures for this project. The design of these lights includes a unique 360-degree solar panel. The new lights come with a 10-year warranty, approximately twice that of traditional light fixtures. James DeLapp, executive director of Public Works, talked with residents in the neighborhood who were delighted to see their neighborhood selected for this pilot project. Councilman Fred Richardson, who represents the District 1 neighborhood, described the projects effects as outstanding. Some people have questions for Alabama Governor Kay Ivey now that her recent Safer at Home Order will soon be ending, in light of the increased numbers of COVID cases that have been reported in many states, including Alabama. One of the FOX10 News viewers writes: Thank you for taking COVID questions. My question involves our states response. I have seen governors from TX, NY, FL, and even GA talking about their increase in cases over the last three weeks. Where is Gov. Ivey? Safer at Home ends July 3. What is our next step? Thank you for investigating. This afternoon, FOX10 News contacted the Governors Office and received this response from Press Secretary Gina Maiola. We can anticipate an update from Governor Ivey later this week, ahead of the July 4th holiday. Governor Kay Iveys Safer At Home order expires Friday, July 3rd at 5p.m.. That order, which went into effect On May 22nd, amended and relaxed restrictions imposed on Alabamians due to the coronavirus pandemic. The official ending of the Safer At Home order comes on the eve of the 4th of July weekend and amid concerns about the spread of the virus. Last week, the Alabama Department of Public Health announced that a support team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been deployed to the state to assist with COVID-19 responses. State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said, The expertise of these public health professionals will further our staffs abilities to assess our processes and will help guide us in our efforts to protect the public during this pandemic. We are grateful for the partnerships we have with CDC and other authorities at the local, state and federal levels. FOX10 News thanks all of our viewers for their COVID-19 questions. You can continue to mail in your questions to mailto:COVID-19@FOX10TV.COM. Officials in California and Florida -- two states where coronavirus cases are jumping -- are taking different approaches toward reopening amid spikes in infections. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the reporters that there's no going back to stricter measures, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom hinted that on Wednesday he'll tighten restrictions, especially at beaches, this Independence Day weekend. At least 17 states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans in response to a surge in new infections. California has had more than 222,000 coronavirus cases -- about half of which are in Los Angeles County -- and on Tuesday announced 6,367 cases, the second highest total for the state since the pandemic began. As the holiday weekend looms, Newsom warned that family gatherings are the greatest concern. Family gatherings where households mix with extended family, tend to be a place where people let their guard down, the governor said. "It's not just bars, not just out in the streets with people protesting, and the like," Newsom said. The governor of the Golden State, who ordered bars in seven counties to close over the weekend, said he will announce more restrictions on Wednesday. Newsom has repeatedly promised that reopening the state comes with the ability to "toggle back" if necessary. Responding to a reporter's question about the beaches being closed in Los Angeles County for the Independence Day weekend, the governor hinted that state beaches could be part of his announcement. In Florida, DeSantis assured reporters that his state can deal with the uptick in cases and it's not necessary to shut down shops and restaurants. "We're not going back, closing things," he said. "I mean, people going to business is not what's driving it. I think when you see the younger folks, I think a lot of it is just more social interactions and so that's natural." DeSantis' message to Floridians, particularly the younger ones: Protect the vulnerable. "You have a responsibility not to come into close contact with folks who could be more vulnerable," he said. CDC director pleads with younger Americans to wear masks A top US health official at a US Senate committee hearing made another plea for Americans -- especially younger ones -- to wear masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus as case numbers surge across much of the country. It is "critical" that Americans "take the personal responsibility to slow the transmission of Covid-19 and embrace the universal use of face coverings," Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday. "Specifically, I'm addressing the younger members of our society, the millennials and the Generation Zs -- I ask those that are listening to spread the word," he said. The CDC urges everyone to wear a cloth face cover in public, primarily in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, also has said there's growing evidence masks could help prevent the wearer from becoming infected, too. The US has reported more than 2.6 million cases of the virus and at least 126,512 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. State and local leaders have said case rates have been rising in much of the country, driven in part by gatherings, both in homes and in places like bars -- which some experts have called the perfect breeding ground for the virus. Fifteen states reported recording their highest seven-day averages of cases on Monday, according to JHU data. Of them, 10 have no statewide mask requirements -- Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. "Masks are extremely important," the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Tuesday at the same Senate committee hearing. "It's people protecting each other. Anything that furthers the use of masks, whether it's giving out free masks or any other mechanism, I am thoroughly in favor of." Among the states pausing or rolling back their reopening plans is Texas, where bars have been ordered shut. Arizona shut down its bars, gyms, and other businesses for a month. Beaches in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach were also ordered closed for the upcoming holiday weekend. The nation's rising case count has had ripple effects internationally. The European Union, which had shut its external borders because of coronavirus, agreed Tuesday to a list of 14 nations from which it will now accept travelers. The United States isn't on it, because its current Covid-19 infection rate is too high, the EU said. States require quarantines of more visitors New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are now asking people traveling from eight more states to self-quarantine upon arrival -- bringing their list to 16 -- because of coronavirus concerns. The tri-state travel advisory, first issued last week, applies to anyone coming from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average, the three Northeastern states have said. The latest advisory, updated Tuesday, adds California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee to that list. That's in addition to the list's incumbents: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Texas. The list requires people arriving from those states to quarantine for 14 days. In New York, violators could be subject to a judicial order and mandatory quarantine, with fines of $2,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation, and $10,000 if harm is caused, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. New Jersey's governor said the state's health commissioner could choose to pursue unspecified punishments; Connecticut's governor has described his state's advisory as voluntary but considered it "urgent guidance." Massachusetts announced Tuesday it is doing something similar. All arriving travelers, including returning residents, must self-quarantine for 14 days -- unless they're coming from seven Northeastern states, Gov. Charlie Baker said. Those exempted states are Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, Baker said. Essential workers also are exempt, he said. Only 2 states' cases trending significantly downward The rethinking of how to safely reopen the US comes as 36 states have showed an upward trend in average new daily cases -- an increase of at least 10% -- over the last seven days, as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins. These states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Two states saw average daily cases decline more than 10% over those seven days: New Jersey and Rhode Island. Swine flu with 'pandemic potential' is not an immediate threat, experts say Chinese researchers have announced a recently discovered type of swine flu, but scientists around the world say that the virus does not appear to currently pose an immediate global health threat. The G4 virus, which is genetically descended from the H1N1 swine flu that caused the 2009 pandemic, was described in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. G4 already appears to have infected humans in China. In Hebei and Shandong provinces, both places with high pig numbers, more than 10% of swine workers on pig farms and 4.4% of the general population tested positive in a survey from 2016 to 2018. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University's public health school who was not involved in the study, warned the public not to "freak out." "Our understanding of what is a potential pandemic influenza strain is limited," Rasmussen posted on Twitter on Monday. CNN's Cheri Mossburg, Steve Almasy, Jeremy Grisham, Amanda Watts, Holly Yan, Taylor Romine, Shelby Lin Erdman, Sarah Moon, Jacqueline Howard, Jessie Yeung and Naomi Thomas contributed to this report. FILE--In this May 19, 2016, file photo, a boater drifts toward a boat ramp in an area that was once underwater at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Las Vegas, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher, file) Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:31 pm Weve all learned new terms and acronyms in the last few months, from flattening the curve and social distancing to WFH (working from home) and PPE (personal protective equipment). Its remarkable how quickly COVID-19 has upended our lives and inserted itself into our daily rhythms. If you run a business, the terms social distancing and PPE are especially meaningful right now. Whether your business kept operating throughout the stay home order or reopened as part of Phase 2 or Phase 3 of the governors Safe Start plan, you need to create a safe environment for employees and customers. That means reconfiguring break rooms and placing floor stickers to guide foot traffic and limiting the number of people allowed into a store at one time. It likely also means supplying employees with face masks and face shields, disposable gloves, and hand sanitizer. Lots and lots of hand sanitizer. For small business owners who were already juggling multiple responsibilities, its a lot to take on. Thats why the Association of Washington Business (AWB) created a website, located at www.reboundandrecovery.org, to make it easier for employers to find the tools they need to safely welcome back employees and customers. The website features a PPE portal to connect Washington businesses with the manufacturers and distributors of personal protective equipment, including hand sanitizer, gloves and face masks. The portal highlights Washington-based manufacturers and suppliers, making it easy for small businesses to locate the items they need to keep operating. By focusing on Made in Washington products, the site also helps support Washington jobs and industry. In addition to the PPE Connect portal, the site includes a tool kit to help small businesses prepare their physical spaces for reopening and to assist in communicating health and safety protocols with employees and customers. The tool kit contains downloadable, customizable templates that small business owners can use to create everything from a Safe Work Plan and store signage to social media content and physical distancing floor stickers. The website is the result of AWBs Rebound and Recovery Task Force, a group of nearly three dozen business leaders from diverse industries and locations throughout the state, along with state Department of Commerce Director Lisa Brown and Employment Security Commissioner Suzi LeVine. The task force was led by co-chairs Michelle Hege, CEO and president of DH, a Spokane-based public relations, advertising and branding agency; and Tim Schauer, CEO of MacKay Sposito, an infrastructure and development consulting firm based in Vancouver. The website, including the PPE Connect portal, was built by SiteCrafting, a Tacoma-based full-service digital agency. Since its launch at the end of May, the website has seen strong demand. In just the first week, the site was visited more than 7,000 times and nearly 1,500 people used the PPE Connect portal to connect with manufacturers and distributors of PPE. By the middle of June, the site had more than 21,000 visits and more than 3,000 email requests for PPE. Like so many things, the Rebound and Recovery website was developed to meet an urgent need during a time of crisis. When the task force was assembled in April, it had just one goal: To safely reopen as many businesses as possible, as quickly as possible. Now, as we move into summer, the situation remains fluid. Instead of flattening the curve, were talking about different phases of reopening and guarding against a second wave. We have begun to rebound from the initial crisis, but were still working from home wherever we can. Were still practicing social distancing. And we expect to be in the recovery phase for a long time. Visit Rebound and Recovery: www.reboundandrecovery.org Kris Johnson is president of the Association of Washington Business, the states chamber of commerce and manufacturers association. The dust is expected to improve as it moves across Florida this week, but likely to worsen as it reaches the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Citrus Cologne In Spanish: Hidalgo Myrurgia Vintages Hidalgo Myrurgia is a Spanish version of olfactory nobility. The cologne name suggests its users to live a more noble life gilded coat of arms included. It wasn't the pioneer of the ennobled perfumery, as such fragrance names as Lord Molyneux, Chevalier dOrsay, The Baron Evyan, Chevalier de la Nuit CIRO, and others, with mention of sirs, knights, commanders, esquires, counts and marquises, tsars and kings, also appeal to vanity and veneration of titles. (More recently, the importance of noble titles has been giving way to wealth; see perfume names like 1 Million Paco Rabanne or No Limit$ Philip Plein.) The company knew that people loved such "heraldic motifs," so in 1925, Flor de Blason Myrurgia was launched, which was successful in the North American market. Hidalgo is a nobleman who belongs to a Spanish or Portuguese noble family (the word comes from the Spanish hijo dalgo meaning "the son of something"), who inherited his title or received it from the king. The term hidalgo appeared in the 12th century, and in the 15th century supplanted the term caballero; the hidalgo enjoyed the right to bear arms and not pay taxes in exchange for military service. If you recall the noble hidalgo from the great novel of Miguel de Cervantes yes, you're right, Don Quixote of La Mancha was a knight from the impoverished Spanish nobility. "Masculine cologne for those men who know the taste of women well" The Hidalgo trademark was registered by Myrurgia in 1971 (in the USA in 1973), and cologne, aftershave, shaving cream, gel, talcum powder, and deodorant were produced under the name. Thus, the brand was created for mass everyday consumption a typical hairdressing or shaving brand. It was the Spanish version of classical citrus colognes done by Roger&Gallet, Muelhens, and Farina. This is also confirmed by large splash bottles, volumed up to 200 ml to pour into a palm or on a towel, to rub onto the face, neck and body, and applied to hair. "Myrurgia has created a cologne for men because we love pampering women" The Spanish type of citrus cologne, Hidalgo Myrurgia differs from the others in three distinctive features. The first is a strong, long, and bright citrus accord, sharply aromatic in the beginning due to verbena and a shade of lemongrass, and a sweet lemon candy in the heart. The second is a characteristic transparent heart with hedione and sweet jasmine (a nod to Eau Sauvage Christian Dior). The third is a dry and rough grassy-spicy, almost chypre structure, amplified to the base, however, characteristic of citrus colognes from the '60s and '70s. A special contribution to the dry and spicy character of the cologne is made by geranium and cloves, and then by oak moss and especially by a woody cedar-sandalwood accord. You can imagine this hidalgo as a strong and austere lean man with a mustache, who was brought up from birth with the help of lemon-verbena lollipops as an encouragement, and they are always in his pocket now. Hidalgo Myrurgia, as a typical representative of European citrus colognes, can be considered a transitional option between the elegant transparent simplicity of Eau Fraiche and Eau Sauvage and the complex aromatic approach of Eau de Guerlain, but at a more affordable price category. The price range affects the strength and duration of the fragrance but does not particularly affect the nature of the fragrance. My father would love to wear such a fragrance if it were not for that unfriendly political situation that developed between Francist Spain and the Soviet Union in the middle of the 20th century. Well, I think, the name Hidalgo would have to be replaced by a less feudal one, as there was no place for noble titles in the USSR. Don Quixote would fit quite well. If you are interested in the Myrurgia brand, Afonso Oliveira, the vice president of IPBA (International Perfume Bottle Association), has told about its history and other vintage perfumes (one and two). Hidalgo Myrurgia Top notes: bergamot, lemon, verbena, petitgrain, and lemongrass; Middle notes: cyclamen, basil, geranium, jasmine, lavender, clove, and cinnamon; Base notes: oak moss, musk, ambergris, cedar, patchouli, tonka bean, and vanilla. If you go WHAT: Virtual town hall to begin a community conversation on racial equity WHEN: 6 p.m. July 6. WHERE: It will be broadcast live on FCG TV and web streamed at FrederickCountyMD.gov/Racial-Equity. DETAILS: Public comments and questions can be submitted in advance online at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/Racial-Equity. People also can listen to and participate in the discussion by calling 1-855-925-2801 and entering code 9464. Press 1 to listen to the meeting, press 2 to record a comment, and press 3 to be placed in line to speak during the town hall. We welcome your letters and columns! Use the button below to send us your thoughts. Remember: Letters must include your real name, town of residence and daytime phone number, which we use for verification. We do not accept anonymous letters or letters written under a pseudonym. Letters should be no more than about 400 words. Those of no more than 200 to 300 words are more likely to be published. Submit Keep the conversation about local news & events going by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Recent updates from The News-Post and also from News-Post staff members are compiled below. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:41 pm Centralia Police Department Man Arrested on Suspicion of Indecent Exposure, Harassment At 1:20 p.m. on Friday, police arrested Nicholas J. Vogel, 23, of Centralia, in the 1900 block of Johnson Road and booked him into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of indecent exposure and harassment. Juvenile Reportedly Damages Property, Referred to Prosecutors Office At 2:44 p.m. on Friday, police referred a juvenile to the Lewis County Prosecutors Office in the 300 block of Lowe Street on suspicion of third-degree malicious mischief after allegedly damaging property. Kelso Woman Arrested on Suspicion of Retail Theft At 1:44 p.m. on Saturday, police arrested Collen E. Sansburn, 64, of Kelso, in the 1300 block of Lum Road and booked her into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of retail theft with special circumstances after she allegedly stole merchandise from multiple local businesses within several hours of each other. Man Allegedly Chokes a Household Member At 6:27 p.m. on Saturday, police arrested Frank G. Fulmer II, 32, of Centralia, in the 100 block of North Buckner Street and booked him into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault-domestic violence after he allegedly choked a household member. Criminal Trespassing At 10:01 a.m. on Sunday, police cited and released Janie S. Weibling, 58, of Centralia, in the 600 block of North Tower Avenue on suspicion of criminal trespassing. Two Men Arrested on Suspicion of ID Theft, Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, Possession of Meth At 2:21 p.m. on Sunday, police arrested Jeremy J. Pritchard, 28, of Kelso, and Devin M. Rivard, 27, of Kalama, in the 1300 block of Lum Road and booked them into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of identity theft, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of meth. Man Arrested on Suspicion of Domestic Violence Assault At 7:51 p.m. on Sunday, police arrested Zachary D. Mitchell, 32, of Centralia, in the 3000 block of Borst Avenue and booked him into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of fourth-degree assault-domestic violence. Juvenile Arrested on Suspicion of Assaulting Family Member At 9:03 p.m. on Sunday, police arrested a juvenile male in the 2800 block of Russell Road and booked him into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of fourth-degree assault after he allegedly assaulted a family member. Transient Man Allegedly Damages Another Persons Property At 2:52 a.m. on Monday, police cited and released Randy A. Durham, 37, a transient, in the 100 block of West Maple Street on suspicion of third-degree malicious mischief after he allegedly damaged property belonging to another person. Chehalis Police Department Man Allegedly Assaults Person In the Face At 1:23 p.m. on Friday, police received a report in the 10 block of Southwest Chehalis Avenue that a man allegedly assaulted a person causing the victim to bleed from the face. The suspect reportedly took off on a BMX bike. Man Arrested After Witness Reportedly Saw Him Stealing Items from Cars At 7:22 a.m. on Saturday, police cited and released Joshua P. Goble, 36, of Winlock, in the 1900 block of Northeast Kresky Avenue on suspicion of second-degree vehicle prowling after he was reportedly observed going through a couple cars and taking items. Vehicle Prowl Reported At 9:31 a.m. on Saturday, police received a report in the 300 block of Southeast Summit Road that papers were stolen from a mans glove box in his car sometime overnight. Lewis County Sheriffs Office Man Arrested After He Allegedly Enters Home of Person Who Has Protection Order Against Him, Breaks TV At 2:58 p.m. on Saturday, police arrested Daniel Ray Jackson, 50, of Napavine, in the 400 block of Collins Road in Toledo and booked him into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of violating a protection order, second-degree burglary and third-degree malicious mischief after he allegedly entered the residence of a person who has a protection order against him and broke a TV. Lewis County Jail Statistics As of Monday, the Lewis County Jail had a total system population of 146 inmates, including 127 in the general population, 18 in the Work Ethic and Restitution Center and one on work release. Of the 127 in the general population, 106 were male and 21 were female and of the 18 in WERC, 16 were male and two were female. The Virginia attorney general's office, which is defending the Virginia State Police in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The ACLU, which is representing youth organizers who are part of the Virginia Student Power Network, had not shown that they would suffer irreparable harm if the injunction was not granted or that there was a compelling public interest in granting the injunction, Snukals ruled. On Friday, the ACLU filed an emergency request to stop city and state police from using chemical irritants, explosives and similar devices to disperse peaceful protesters. Snukals listened to arguments from lawyers on both sides at a hearing on Monday. The ACLU contends that city and state police used an overly broad interpretation of state law that allows a gathering to be declared an unlawful assembly and thereby employ tear gas and other forceful means to disperse a peaceful teach-in demonstration outside City Hall on the night of June 22-23. The sit-in was attended by 150 people who intended to stay overnight and teach those in attendance about police violence and community advocacy. At around 12:42 a.m., the police, citing blocked roads and related issues, declared an unlawful assembly and fired tear gas, flash bangs and other projectiles and arrested a dozen people. In interviews with state officials, according to the report, the federal agency found that Virginia does not have procedures in place, outside of formal disputes, to find out if a local school district did not comply with IDEA, even when the state was given "credible information about potential noncompliance." The federal law guarantees a free appropriate public education to students with disabilities. "Completely ignoring credible allegations of noncompliance is not a reasonable method of exercising the States general supervisory responsibilities," the report says. The federal report, which The Virginia Mercury first reported, offers two examples of the state's lack of oversight. In one situation, a complaint was filed to the state alleging "systemic noncompliance" by a local school system. The school district was not conducting timely evaluations, was not giving special education students sufficient access to the general education curriculum, and falsified documentation related to students' individualized education programs (IEP), according to the report. Northam and other state leaders argue that wearing masks helps slow the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 1,700 people in the state. Wearing a mask is such an easy, effective way to help control the spread of COVID and to show your fellow Virginians that you care about the health and well-being of your friends, neighbors, and community, Attorney General Mark Herring said in a statement. As cases continue to spike around the country, we know that our progress in controlling COVID in Virginia is real, but requires a sustained commitment to things like covering our faces and maintaining social distancing whenever possible." Herring added: "Im proud we were able to defend this commonsense measure to help stop COVID, and Im really proud of all the great work my team has done to keep Virginians safe during this uncertain time. Despite the virus' toll on the state, Virginia is set to enter its third reopening phase Wednesday. Restaurants can operate at full capacity, with social distancing in place, and social gatherings can have up to 250 people, among other guidelines. Masks will still be required in Phase Three. Have any questions? Please give us a call at 907-352-2250 Fort Wayne, IN (46808) Today A few showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High 72F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Gainesville, TX (76240) Today Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 83F. SSW winds shifting to NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Showers early, then clearing overnight. Low 56F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Free editor's pick centerpiece featured COVID rise greater in Galveston County's Hispanic residents STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Instead of being fearful, we have to educate people about whats been going on. David Gomez, pastor of New Life Church in Galveston. STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News Pastor David Gomez of New Life Church in Galveston said he has seen a rise in COVID-19 cases among his congregants, many of whom are Hispanic. GALVESTON David Gomez sees it in his congregation. Pastor at Galvestons New Life Fellowship Church, Gomez normally holds three Sunday services a week. Two of those services are in Spanish for a congregation he estimates is 60 percent Hispanic. Increasingly, Gomez has been talking to congregants who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or who have a family member or co-worker who has it, Gomez said. The trend has been noticeable in the past month, he said. Gomez had to close the churchs day care business because one of the parents was confirmed to have the virus, and he has posted messages to church members telling them to stay away from Sunday service if they know someone whos sick. The virus seems more present now, he said. It makes me feel that we have to be more cautious and that we have to create more awareness, Gomez said. Instead of being fearful, we have to educate people about whats been going on. Hes not imagining things. Although the recent growth in COVID-19 cases has affected all ethnic groups in Galveston County, the increase in the countys Hispanic population has been particularly dramatic. Since Memorial Day, the number of cases identified among Hispanic residents has increased by 777 cases 536 percent. The number of cases in white county residents has increased by 623 cases a 172.1 percent increase. Although Hispanic people make up 25 percent of the countys population, they now account for 31 percent of the countys cases. White people, who make up 57 percent of the countys population, account for 33 percent of cases. A POINT OF CONCERN Increases in COVID-19 in Latino communities have been a point of concern for advocacy groups, which note that the side effects of the pandemic disproportionally affect Hispanic people. A Pew Research poll in April found that 49 percent of Latino adults had to take pay cuts or lost jobs because of COVID-19, compared with 33 percent of all Americans. The same poll noted that Hispanic people in the United States also are generally younger than other demographics and work in lower-wage jobs the same groups that are now seeing the biggest increases in cases. Public health and government officials have characterized the latest growth in COVID-19 in various ways. Much talked about is the growth in cases among young people. People under the age of 40 now make up the majority of COVID-19-positive cases in the county. There also has been an apparent increase in infections among people who work in the local service industry, which has led some local restaurants to close as their staffs are tested and facilities cleaned. But local officials have been less vocal about the increase in cases among ethnic groups. Dr. Philip Keiser, Galveston Countys local health authority, said Friday the health district wasnt doing specific outreach about COVID-19 based on demographic groups and largely was focused on communicating with businesses about how to help slow the spread of the virus. But Keiser did draw one connection about how infections in work places might affect certain communities in larger numbers. This is turning out to be a disease of families, Keiser said For instance, a Hispanic maintenance worker at a hotel in Galveston became infected with the virus, Keiser said. That person went home to a big birthday party over the weekend and infected his family. Were seeing this sort of thing over and over again, Keiser said. LANGUAGE, RESOURCES BARRIERS Still, the increase in cases among Hispanic people worries some who work regularly with the Hispanic community. Joe Compian, the co-chair of the civil rights committee for Galvestons chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said he has noticed an apparent lack of knowledge, or caution, at some events when he was interacting with immigrants or people who dont speak English. At one recent food drive event, Compian had to urge people he described as undocumented immigrants not to hug him as they normally did, he said. At the time of the interview, Compian hadnt been aware of the increase in cases in Latino communities, but he wasnt surprised, he said. Generally, there are fewer health care and information resources for people who dont speak English, Compian said. Thats not a problem unique to COVID-19, he said. I think we lack that in a lot of organizations in the county, Compian said. Compian hoped to organize a mass testing effort in Galveston through the Mexican consulate in Houston, he said. A similar testing drive on Sunday in Houston drew more than 1,000 people, he said. Gomez agreed and said he had been adding health messages to his sermons. He has told his congregants that he has been tested for COVID-19 and that the procedure is safe and easy. Still, he said there has been some resistance to being testing or taking time off time to quarantine. Its a big financial issue, Gomez said. A lot of Hispanics are working in construction, hotels or restaurants. They dont go to work, whos going to pay the bills? Related Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:46 pm Health care, infrastructure needs and exercising congressional power in policy were among topics covered in Democratic House candidate Carolyn Longs virtual town hall event June 23, as the challenger to unseat U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler took questions from constituents ahead of the November election. Long has taken part in a handful of the remote events this year, conducted over the internet with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt to a number of in-person gatherings. The talk covered a variety of topics with access to health care among the top priorities for Long if elected. Long said her health care focus stemmed both from her own personal experience as well as what she has heard from would-be constituents. She spoke about preserving the Affordable Care Act, which while imperfect, has provided coverage for millions of Americans, also noting the acts protections for those with pre-existing conditions in receiving coverage. Long said the act had been under attack for several years by lawmakers including Herrera Beutler. She also argued for a low-cost or no-cost public option to be available for individuals to choose as their coverage, allowing those who favor their private insurance to maintain it. She added the public option could also drive down insurance costs through competition. Long also spoke about driving down costs of prescription drugs, laying out a number of measures she would like to see realized if elected. She said the first step would be to pass a bill introduced in the House that would allow the government to negotiate prices on some drugs, also saying that speeding the process for introduction of generic drugs and incentivising drug manufacturing in the U.S. to curb reliance on overseas supply chains were important aspects to realize that goal. Long said that from her position in Congress should she be elected, not taking money from prescription drug companies for her campaign was key. She said she was committed not to take a dime of corporate PAC money, a promise she made during the 2018 election cycle when she first faced off against Herrera Beutler. I dont want big pharma, which really does provide tens of thousands of dollars to members of Congress, to have the first seat at the table in speaking about how to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, Long said. It should be the people of Southwest Washington. Long also addressed the lack of healthcare in rural communities, recounting her own experience growing up in a rural community where a major hospital was hours away. She argued for the use of federal dollars to incentivize rural services. I think its incredibly important that we recognize that not having access to rural healthcare literally puts lives at risk, especially during a pandemic, Long said. Regarding COVID-19 she said the top priority should be preserving public health, adding it was important to listen to the experts when it came to the pandemic. Climate Change Long said there were actions to combat climate change that she felt would receive bipartisan support, mentioning carbon sequestration specifically, which she said was relatively uncontroversial. She advocated for lower reliance on fossil fuels by removing subsidies on the industry, something weve been doing for years, she said, and it certainly doesnt incentivize the movement for what we really need to do, which is to pursue clean energy jobs here in Southwest Washington. Long said the state as a whole has benefitted from investment into those types of jobs, particularly in the Seattle and Tacoma area, and would like to see manufacturing of energy infrastructure make its way to the Third District. Long added she was exploring potential reimbursements for individuals who commit to reducing their carbon footprint, something she said the Citizens Climate Lobby is looking into. Long said that addressing environmental policy in a more targeted way with focuses on beach erosion or forestry practices, having discussions with Congressional colleagues across the aisle and across the country. Sometimes we need to take a few smaller bites in terms of targeting legislation to achieve that overall goal of protecting the environment, she said. Part of environmental issues Long addressed were declining salmon runs, something she said was directly connected to our climate policy and the weakening of our environmental regulations that protect our public air, water and land. Climate change was increasing water temperatures in salmon habitats, she said, which was preventing populations from thriving. Ways to help salmon populations she mentioned included increasing dam spill, which she said could be undertaken while still maintaining hydropower policy to keep energy costs from rising. She also supported addressing ocean acidification and increasing yield of salmon farms in a way that did not compete with wild populations. Reining in Executive Power Long, who is a political science professor at WSU Vancouver, spoke about the apparent lack of Congressional power in federal policy, saying the trend in increasing presidential power dates back to the 1930s. She noted that issues spearheaded by the executive branch over policies including trade and immigration were historically handled by the legislative branch. Congress has been unwilling to essentially do its job, Long remarked, adding that electing individuals to Congress who knew the constitutional responsibility of their positions was important in stopping the trend toward executive domination of policy. Long believed Congress should aggressively exercise oversight of the executive branch, giving the example of the CARES Acts lack of oversight as an instance where legislators did not use their ability in monitoring where funds were going. When were giving away trillions of dollars, I think its very important that Congress does its job to make sure the money is going where its intended, Long said. Infrastructure Investment Long is a proponent of broadband internet for all, noting that COVID-19 put the apparent need for the infrastructure in the spotlight as what was historically public business moved to remote interactions. Long also addressed transportation infrastructure, specifically the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River. This is a bridge that should have been replaced a decade ago, Long said, pointing out its susceptibility to earthquakes, its contribution to congestion and fiscal irresponsibility not to address the issues the bridge faces, saying that costs had roughly doubled to improve the corridor compared to when talks for replacement were undertaken years ago. Not fixing (the bridge) is a tremendous barrier to the economic success of our community, Long said, adding she had heard from stakeholders who considered the bridge the chief barrier for economic development in Southwest Washington. Long said she would like to serve on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to help meet that end. She added that serving on the House Agriculture Committee could be a benefit both for the regional agriculture industry as well as for her push for rural broadband access. Other Issues Long also affirmed her commitment to preserving labor unions, noting she herself was a member of one during her earlier years working at Safeway. She also touched on recent national conversations on the state of policing, saying she was not in favor of defunding the police as law enforcement plays a very important role in terms of our public safety. Long said that in some instances law enforcement was joining in on the outpouring of concern around police practices highlighted by the death of George Floyd, urging against the false narrative pitting law enforcement against those calling for its reform. Long advocated for investments into mental and behavioral health, community policing and social programs to fund professionals that could address problems that oftentimes law enforcement ultimately had to handle. On immigration, Long said Its a damn shame that we have not been able to have comprehensive immigration reform in decades in Congress. She felt it was another example of Congress ineffectiveness at addressing needs. On Showing Up Some of the conversation dealt with community outreach, framed on what Long believed was something Herrera Beutler had lacked and which Long had strove for through town hall meetings and other events. I very much believe that you have to be in the community as much as possible, Long said. If elected she said she was committed to holding as many town halls as possible in the district. Galveston, TX (77553) Today Windy early...variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon hours. High around 90F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Thunderstorms. Low 79F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. [This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.] LONDON, ONTARIO, CA June 30, 2020 Canadian developer and publisher Digital Extremes has reimagined Warframe s earliest levels in The Deadlock Protocol, available now on PlayStation4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Like Chains of Harrow and The Jovian Concord before it, The Deadlock Protocol delivers iconic new visuals, sound and gameplay elements -- from parkour-friendly vertical remodeling to revved up boss fights to backstories behind the Corpuss rise to power -- while also adding 2020s newest Warframe, Protea. For all The Deadlock Protocol assets, please Watch the Corpus Re-imagined trailer on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAS-Q0L8YqY Watch the Update Trailer on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfwlktf3_x4 Watch the Jackal Gameplay trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqcoj9tw8Vk&t=7s Watch the Protea Profile trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQUmrFRMdRU Introducing Protea, the 43rd Warframe Led by the powerful Ability to stop enemies in their tracks by rewinding time (using an Ability called the Temporal Anchor), Proteas array of offensive and defensive grenades, drones, and turrets brings a battle tacticians edge to the fight. Players can investigate her origin story as the former Corpus head bodyguard in her own unique Quest, and uncover a quiver of technologically advanced weapons from the new Corpus Armor Set and Primary Rifle to the Gunblade Melee, to new Kitguns and more. Corpus Origins Revealed The Deadlock Protocol weaves larger-scale story implications into the modern Warframe narrative. Players must investigate the Corpus Factions desperate ploy to break their boards political in-fighting. Through combat and discovery, Tenno will learn a small Corpus sub-faction has begun a devious plan to resurrect the factions founder, a revival posing an alarming new threat to the Origin Systems balance. Determined to strengthen their armada and bolster a growing space fleet against the Sentients and the Tenno, the Corpus plans for unbridled power must be put to an end. Do you have what it takes to confront the new Corpus threat, Tenno? Boss Fight Enhanced, Parkour Perfect Nearly every aspect of the Corpus early environment has been upgraded, starting with gameplay. Fresh challenges begin with the renewed Jackal boss, a fight sequence now extended across multiple levels that dares players to rethink tactics. The new Granum Crowns bring a spendable currency that open up a wild variety of gameplay options, including being transported to a surprising new Corpus netherrealm. And now, nearly every wall, corridor, and room supports parkour mobility. For more detailed information, visit Warframe.com . So, what are you waiting for? Download The Deadlock Protocol for free today on PC, PlayStation4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Would you like to join the Warframe community? Head to our forums to start a conversation. Check our official website at www.warframe.com . To keep up with the latest updates from the development team, be sure to follow Warframe on Twitch , YouTube , Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . ABOUT DIGITAL EXTREMES Founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, Digital Extremes ranks as one of the world's top independent video game development studios. Originating with the co-creation of Epic Games' multi-million unit selling Unreal franchise including Unreal and Unreal Tournament, Digital Extremes went on to develop Dark Sector, BioShock for the PlayStation3, the BioShock 2 multiplayer campaign, and The Darkness II. The studio has reached its greatest critical and commercial success with the free-to-play action game, Warframe, boasting a global community of 50 million registered players on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. For more information about Digital Extremes, visit www.digitalextremes.com . To sign up for Warframe, visit www.warframe.com . # # # MEDIA CONTACT Outrageous PR Danielle Woodyatt & Ami Langton [email protected] Mark Buchfuhrer finally got his wish when his daughter decided to go to medical school and become a doctor, but that wasnt the end of the story. CORVALLIS POLICE Open container Saturday, 300 block of Northwest Third Street. Officers found a man, blocking a business drive-thru, asleep in a stroller with an open container of alcohol in his hand. He was cited for drinking in public. Package theft Saturday, 3600 block of Southwest Deon Avenue A man was seen stealing a package from the front of a house and ran away. Police were unable to locate the suspect. Theft from vehicle 3:25 a.m. Sunday, 3700 block of Northwest Roosevelt. Tools worth approximately $3,900 were stolen from a work truck. The victim saw a sedan drive off quickly from the area. No other suspect information was available and police were unable to find the vehicle. LINN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Photo taken on Aug. 5, 2019 shows China's national flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on the Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu) BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China has decided to impose visa restrictions on U.S. individuals who have acted maliciously on issues related to Hong Kong, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to the U.S. imposition of visa restrictions on Chinese officials. Zhao said that Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs, and allow for no foreign interference. The Chinese government is determined in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, implementing the "one country, two systems" principle, and opposing external interference in Hong Kong affairs, he said. The U.S. attempt to obstruct China's national security legislation for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by adopting so-called sanctions will be to no avail, Zhao added. In response to the passing of the so-called Hong Kong Autonomy Act and other Hong Kong-related bills by the U.S. Senate, Zhao said separatist forces intending to disrupt Hong Kong can clamor as they like and anti-China external forces may try to exert pressure, but neither will stop China's resolute action to advance the legislation. "Their attempts are doomed to fail. This act will be nothing more than a piece of paper," Zhao said. "It is vicious denigration of the national security legislation for Hong Kong, grave interference in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs, and violation of international law and basic norms of international relations," the spokesperson said, adding China rejects it and has lodged solemn representations with the United States. The national security legislation for Hong Kong aims to safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests, lasting peace, stability and prosperity in Hong Kong, and steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems," he said. "We urge the U.S. side to grasp the situation and immediately stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs in any way. It shall not push or implement the negative bill concerning Hong Kong, even less imposing sanctions on the Chinese side based on it. Otherwise China will react firmly with strong countermeasures and the United States shall bear all the consequences," Zhao said. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:43 pm The primary election on Aug. 4 is approaching and four candidates are vying for votes for State Representative position 1 in Washingtons the 20th District. There are two candidates competing for the position 2 seat. The candidates running for the State Representative position 1 in the 20th District are Peter Abbarno, Brian Lange, Timothy Zahn and Kurtis Engle. The position is currently held by Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis who announced that he will be retiring at the end of his term and will not be running for reelection. Position 1 Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia Peter Abbarno, a Republican, lives in Centralia and currently serves as Mayor pro-tem for the City of Centralia. He is also a small-business owner and attorney at Althauser Rayan Abbarno, LLP. Im running because I want to create an environment that creates more opportunities for our children and future generations, he said. Abbarno said that creating a better future for his children was one of the largest influences causing him to enter the world of politics. He said that a few of his top priorities for the coming years in the 20th district include economic recovery from the effects of COVID-19, combating poverty and homelessness and further investing in early education. We need to incentivize business growth throughout the nation without jeopardizing the gains weve made to provide opportunities for working families, he said. We need to invest in programs that actually provide results in lifting people out of poverty and addressing issues such as substance abuse and mental illness on a community-based level. Abbarno said that the most successful communities are those that offer quality education at an early age providing children with a strong foundation for learning as well as allowing working families to send their kids to early learning programs during the day. If we are truly going to lift people out of poverty and provide the greatest opportunities for success in life we need to be preparing our children for life-long learning and that starts before age 5, he said. Abbarno said that his experience as a small business owner, attorney, and mayor pro-tem, as well as the time he has spent volunteering for various causes and serving on various boards such as the Centralia College Foundation and Lewis Economic Development Council, has prepared him for the role as a state representative. What drives me is my family and my kids, and by extension, all my neighbors and their kids who are feeling the same pressure to improve our community, he said. Abbarno said that he believes in building strong families in strong communities and wants his children to have many opportunities in their hometown. More information about Abbarno and his campaign can be found at electpeterabbarno.com. Brian Lange, R-Morton Brian Lange, a Republican, lives in Morton. He says he is retired on disability, and has spent the past six years advocating on behalf of the ABATE of Washington, the largest motorcycle rights organization in the state with over 2,000 members. Lange said that because of this work he has helped get several laws passed and this experience has familiarized him with the process of writing language for bills, getting co-sponsors, and participating in legislative hearings. Before retirement, Lange worked as a bus driver and a cook for Lewis County Head Start, an early education program. Ive helped work on legislation by writing the language and gathering support all the way through to testifying in hearings. Ive done it long enough that Im comfortable up there and I know a lot of legislators on a first-name basis, said Lange. A few of the laws Lange was an advocate for include a motorcycle anti-profiling law, meaning cops cannot pull riders over for wearing clothing that depicts organizations that the rider is affiliated with. Lange also advocated for an increased fine for vehicles that follow or pass motorcyclists, or other vulnerable road users too closely. Lange said that when DeBolt announced his retirement on the floor, within a matter of days he had people contacting him and encouraging him to run for the position. He cited his priorities for the 20th district in the coming years as getting $30 car tabs, working to promote community-based agencies that help the homeless, especially for veterans and families, and reform on foster care programs. Im trying to run this as strictly a grassroots campaign and Ive been doing that throughout the years. Ive actually been surprised by the support Ive gotten all up and down the district. Its been amazing, Lange said. More information on Langes campaign can be found at www.facebook.com/BrianLangefor20thDistrict. Timothy Zahn, D-Toutle Timothy Zahn, a Democrat, lives in Toutle. He is a student at Central Washington University and is finishing his bachelors degree in information technology and administrative management. Zahn, 25, says he thinks his age is an advantage because it will provide more representation for the young people of the 20th district. I decided to run because I got tired of seeing a lack of real progress. I think there are some fairly obvious things that we can do to improve life for a lot of people without any downsides. It frustrates me to see partisan bickering when there are things we can do. Zahn said that his priorities have changed slightly in light of the COVID-19 outbreak and said new sources of revenue need to be identified in order to combat the states large projected budget shortfall. One of my priorities is going to be a wealth tax on people who have more than $100 million in assets. Another would be sustainable rural economic development I want to build new parks to attract new businesses and money to the area. We need to expand our rural infrastructure, our access to the internet in a lot of places is very poor, he said. Zahn said he wants to make sure farmland is protected from being converted into bedroom communities. I think as a student, Ive taken a wide variety of classes and I think thats a pretty good preparation for the wide variety of policy problems that are going to come up when Im in the state legislature, Zahn said. For more information on Zahn and his campaign to go www.electzahn.com. Kurtis Engle, No Party-Centralia Kurtis Engle has not specified a party affiliation and lives in Centralia. He said that he is running in protest of Peter Abbarno and would be shocked if he won. He said that he has had issues with the public transportation system, Twin Transit, brought the issue to current Centralia City Councilor Abbarno, and felt he was ignored. Engle said the bus route is dangerous because it forces people to jaywalk in certain locations in order to get to the bus stop and crosswalks are needed. The Chronicle asked Engle why he thinks the problem hasnt been addressed. Im not one of the extraterrestrials that can read peoples minds. I have to read faces and I think the reason is that this is one of the whitest counties in America and I think some people are especially pleased about that, he said. Of course, you will understand that this comes with the thought that colored people cant hold a job because theyre colored so they cant hold a car so they have to use the bus, right? So if we screw up the bus we screw up all the colored people but it doesnt work that way. Theres no other motive I can think of to sabotage the public utility. Engle started the interview off by telling The Chronicle that he was three beers in and to feel free to take advantage of that it was 1:30 p.m. on a Monday. I wouldnt want to suggest that I would be a great guy to send to Olympia. What Im saying is that there are better people to pick than someone who would stand right next to a sabotaged public utility and not notice that it was and Im talking about Pete (Abbarno) right now, he said. Engle does not have a campaign website but can be reached at kurtis.engle@gmail.com. Position 2 William Rollet, D-Castle Rock As for position 2 of the State Representative of the 20th district, William Rollet, a Democrat who lives in Castle Rock, is running against incumbent Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama. He has a background in commercial trucking, customer service, and hospitality. Im in the salary range of most of the people in the district. I think Ill be able to use my experience in the working class as a way to promote the working class, said Rollet. I think its very important that we have equal representation in the district and we havent for a very long time had a democratic candidate to offer those views. Rollet cited some of his biggest priorities for the 20th district in the coming years as having more accessible healthcare for those living in rural areas, for people of color, smaller communities and LGBTQ individuals as well as addressing some of the firearm-related deaths. I understand the need to protect our constitutional rights, however, we seem to have an epidemic of sorts of firearm-related casualties in the state of Washington. Without access to mental healthcare, were not really addressing the main issue, said Rollet. Approximately 70 percent of the firearm deaths in Washington are suicides so one of the first things I would like to do is address that. Rollet said that he would like to get the suicide prevention hotline printed on every box of ammunition in the state. I decided to run because as a democrat and as someone who supports a lot of the democratic ideals I feel that were an underrepresented population in the district. Our representatives dont tend to vote very much for healthcare for access to resources, he said. Rollet said he would work to give the voters in the district a much better voice and made sure they are being heard by the people they are electing. More information on William Rollet and his campaign can be found at www.facebook.com/RolletForWA20thLD or at willrollet.com. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama Ed Orcutt, a Republican from Kalama, is running for reelection for the position 2 seat as the State Representative of the 20th district. This is his 19th year in the legislature. Well, you know, I enjoy meeting with constituents, working to solve problems and standing up for their constitutional rights, standing up for the taxpayers and for fairness in our laws. Ive enjoyed doing that and I just want to continue working on some of these things, Orcutt said. There are some big issues that are going to be facing us in the next two to four years and I just want to continue to use my experience in the legislature to try and address those. Orcutt said that after looking at the recent revenue forecast, its not looking good at all. He cited his priorities for the 20th district as finding a way to balance the budgets without raising taxes and getting the economy rolling again after the COVID-19 shutdown Sometimes you get a concern raised but you dont have a lot of the details so I try to find out more of the details to try to find out what the problem is that they are having and find out why its a problem and what we need to do to solve the problem, he said. Orcutt emphasized the need to find a solution to a problem without creating a problem for someone else. He said he tries to work with people across the aisle and find collaborations to best serve the constituents in his district. One project Orcutt said he is proud of his work on is the Greenwood Cemetery and getting a bill passed that allowed the City of Centralia onto the privately-owned property and abandoned cemetery. More information about Orcutts campaign and his past work as a state representative can be found at www.repedorcutt.com/ More information about the upcoming election and how to vote can be found at the Lewis County Elections office website elections.lewiscountywa.gov. But then Blight asks its critics to "please consider the people who created it and what it meant for their lives in a century not our own." African Americans, most of them former slaves, had raised the $20,000 needed to build the monument. Nearly every black organization participated in its unveiling. Is it OK for woke moderns to cancel these African Americans' sense of their history? I don't think so. Much is subject to interpretation. Some see the former slave crouching subserviently before Lincoln. Others see him rising up. Some object to his chains. Others see chains that are breaking, which, of course, is what was happening. Most strange are complaints that the African American is naked from the waist up. That reflected the misery of bondage. Putting a nice shirt on him would have amounted to slavery denial support for the claim by many slave owners that their captive, unpaid labor was well treated. (Slaves in ancient Rome were depicted without shirts, a sign of their degradation.) That the sculptor, Thomas Ball, was white should be of no consequence. The emancipated blacks sponsoring the monument hired him, and that was their right. For the record, Ball said he considered Archer Alexander, the former slave who modeled as the freed man, an "agent in his own resistance." Posted Tuesday, June 30, 2020 9:23 am Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, recently fielded questions about identity politics, police brutality and COVID-19 during a PBS segment focused on Republican women. In her appearance on "Firing Line with Margaret Hoover," Herrera Beutler also said that the number of Republican women in Congress is dwindling because she and her colleagues face tougher challenges from Democrats. "I have found that we tend to be the targets from the other side, because we're the harder ones to beat, right? We tend to be the ones who can make a difference because we break the narrative that Republicans don't like women," Herrera Beutler said in the interview, which was conducted remotely due to virus concerns. The representative from Washington's 3rd Congressional District was one of four conservative women lawmakers to appear on the show, broadcast on PBS Friday evening. Its host, Hoover, is a conservative political commentator and a critic of President Donald Trump. Herrera Beutler appeared alongside Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. Hoover's segment focused on two trends: the growing number of Republican women filing to run in 2020, and the shrinking number of Republican women who are actually serving in the House and the Senate. Herrera Beutler is one of just 13 female GOP members of the House -- down from 25 in 2005 -- and one of only 11 seeking reelection this year. "How did we get here?" Hoover asked. "Because if we look back 15 years ago, there were twice as many of you in Congress than there are now." "A lot of the opposition I've faced hasn't actually been in my own party," Herrera Beutler responded. "It's been political players on the other side who seek to take our seats out." Last week, a National Public Radio poll of 1,515 registered voters showed women skewing heavily toward Democrats. Of the surveyed women, 60 percent preferred the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, while 37 percent preferred President Trump. As she looks toward her next reelection campaign, Herrera Beutler faces a repeat challenge from the same candidate who in 2018 gave her the closest race in her five-term career: Carolyn Long, a Washington State University Vancouver professor and moderate Democrat. Long is one of four candidates -- three Democrats and one independent -- challenging the incumbent in the August primary. The other three challengers are men. The PBS interview touched briefly on several topics. Below are snippets of Herrera Beutler's comments. The full segment can be viewed at pbs.org/wnet/firing-line. On appealing to women while avoiding the "identity politics" unpopular with conservatives: "Honestly, the one thing that I have learned throughout this entire process is be yourself. Sometimes you have to invite yourself to the party, which I did. When I got involved in my early 20s, volunteering and going to events, I didn't know anybody, and I just kind of pushed," Herrera Beutler said. On George Floyd and police brutality: "If I had the full and complete answer to this, I would give it. But I am searching. I am searching right now with the rest of America," Herrera Beutler said. "I was furious. And unfortunately, this isn't a singular event. I think racial injustice is real, and America is better than this. Obviously there are people who wear a badge who shouldn't and as policymakers and elected leaders we need to figure out how to support getting those folks out of law enforcement." "I am grateful that a vast majority of them are doing it for the right reasons and they're good people," she added. On the roughly $3 trillion spent on federal COVID-19 aid: "Of course we don't want to print money and waste it. But we also need to underpin what has been a global crisis, not of our own making," Herrera Beutler said. "It was either, spend some now, or let it continue and develop and spend a whole lot more later." On whether Trump is driving women away from the GOP: "Do I think the way the president presents his ideas or his opinions is appropriate? Not always. Oftentimes I feel like it's the 'cringemeter' -- am I going to cringe when that happens or not? But I also cringe when I think about Joe Biden and his ability to handle, you know, China, whether it's a trade imbalance or other things," Herrera Beutler said. "So ultimately I think the candidate who's able to really serve the public and move the economy forward is the one who's really going to win the vote, irrespective of gender." COVID-19 Disinformation From Russia, China More Influential Than Domestic News Sources, Study Finds By RFE/RL June 29, 2020 Coronavirus disinformation published by Chinese and Russian state media outlets in France, Spain, and Germany is in some cases reaching a greater audience on social media than news coverage of the global pandemic produced by major domestic media outlets in those countries, according to a study by the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). The study, released by OII on June 29, found that the Russian international news network RT has achieved up to five times the number of engagements per article share on Twitter and Facebook with its French-language coronavirus coverage than the major French daily Le Monde. China Radio International (CTI), meanwhile, has generated four times the number of engagements per shared article than the leading Spanish newspaper El Pais. "Many of these state-backed outlets blend reputable, fact-based reporting about the coronavirus with misleading or false information, which can lead to greater uncertainty among public audiences trying to make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic," OII research assistant Katarina Rebello said in a press release. The co-author of the study, OII Director Philip Howard, said that along with Russia and China, state-backed media from Iran and Turkey were also targeting "French, German, and Spanish-speaking social-media users around the world with news on coronavirus." OII researchers found that the disinformation varied depending on the language and source country. For example, Russian outlets disseminating coronavirus coverage in French and German "consistently emphasized weak democratic institutions and civil disorder in Europe." Russian and Iranian media produced "polarizing content" intended for Spanish-speaking social-media users in the United States and Latin America. And Chinese and Turkish outlets promoted their countries' respective "global leadership in combating the pandemic" in disseminating Spanish-language content. The OII studied output from Russia's RT and Sputnik news agency, China's Global Television Network, China Radio International, and the Xinhua News Agency for its study, along with content from Iranian and Turkish media outlets. It covered each outlet's 20 most popular stories from May 18 to June 5. A previous OII study found that heavily politicized news stories from some state media from Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey could have 10 times the impact as news organizations such as the BBC. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/covid-19-disinformation -from-russian-chinese-media-more-influential -than-domestic-news/30696566.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. Qatar Emiri Air Force partners with U.S. to gain newest F-15 to their fleet U.S. Central Command By Staff Sgt. Joseph Pick U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs AL UDEID AIR BASE, QATAR, June 29, 2020 -- Many military leaders can attest that the ability to conduct operations and win in modern warfare is rooted in a nation's ability to work by, with, and through allies and partners. For the United States and U.S. Air Forces Central Command, the ability to conduct and deliver combat airpower alongside partner air forces has increased as its close partner, Qatar, has solidified details and logistics with U.S. government organizations and contractors to procure its own fleet of 48 F-15QA fighter jets. The Qatar Emiri Air Force is scheduled to start receiving these fighter jets in June 2021. The F-15QA is the most advanced version of the F-15 Eagle, the twin-engine fighter jet flown by the U.S. Air Force since 1972. "Qatar is in a period of incredible growth in terms of military acquisitions and capability," said Chuck Kowalski, a member of the AFCENT coalition interoperability team. "Given their small size and population relative to their neighbors, they are forced to take a quality over quantity approach to their military acquisitions with a focus on air superiority and integrated air and missile defense." In July of 2013, the Qatari Emiri Air Force submitted a $6 billion request for up to 72 of the fighter jets, enough to supply three squadrons, along with infrastructure to support. The force will be fully interoperable with AFCENT and coalition aircraft. The F-15QA is a dual-role fighter designed to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The aircraft can take off with nearly 30,000 pounds of munitions and reach a maximum ceiling of approximately 70,000 feet. "The F-15QA aircraft is the most advanced version of the fighter ever built," said a Boeing corporation representative. "It brings to its operators next-generation technologies such as fly-by-wire flight controls, digital cockpit, modernized sensors, radar, and electronic warfare capabilities, and the world's fastest mission computer. Increases in reliability, sustainability and maintainability allow defense operators to affordably remain ahead of current and evolving threats. The F-15QA's advances will enable it to bolster the U.S. and allied coalition's ability to project lethal force and protect allied forces and locations." With the purchase of this fleet, U.S. and Qatari forces, along with coalition partners, will continue to conduct missions to provide war-winning airpower in operations throughout the region. To ensure that future operations are a success, the A6 coalition interoperability team is charged with maximizing interoperability between U.S. and partner nation assets. This typically includes secure capabilities like radios, tactical data links that increase situational awareness and automate data sharing, GPS navigation and targeting, and an air traffic control system that is used to identify and track military aircraft. "Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, Qatar has been a steadfast ally, allowing the basing of U.S. forces on their sovereign territory, overflight, and contributing assets and resources in many other ways to our shared goals," Kowalski said. "Because Qatar wisely prioritized interoperability, it should allow them to seamlessly integrate into AFCENT operations. From mission planning, to targeteering and mission execution, they will theoretically be able to drop-in like any other AFCENT fighter." These enhanced capabilities maximize the flexibility available to the Combined Forces Air Component Commander in a coalition environment where partner nations contribute assets to the fight, Kowalski said. In addition to the technical advantages of interoperability, it also requires agreements, policies, and a common command and control network in order to allow different nations to fight as one concreted force. Following the initial F-15QA delivery to the Qatar Emiri Air Force in the summer of 2021, the force is expected to reach initial operational capability in the summer of 2022. Trump denies being briefed on alleged Russian-Taliban bounties intelligence Global Times Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/6/29 9:34:27 US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was never briefed on intelligence that Russians offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing US troops. "Nobody briefed or told me, @VP Pence, or Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an 'anonymous source' by the Fake News @nytimes," Trump tweeted Sunday morning. "Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attack on us," he added. Casualty records, however, showed that the year of 2019 was the deadliest year for US service members in Afghanistan since 2014, with 22 American troops killed. Trump's tweets echoed the White House Saturday statement on this matter, in which Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said several senior officials had confirmed that neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence was briefed on the intelligence. McEnany also noted that the statement "does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence but to the inaccuracy of the New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed on this matter." The New York Times reported Friday that Trump had been briefed on the intelligence that Russian intelligence units secretly offered bounties to Taliban-related militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan during US-Taliban peace talks. The story also said the National Security Council discussed this issue at an interagency meeting in late March, while the White House thus far has not taken any actions to respond. Democrats and former officials cited the story as fresh evidence of Trump's disqualification as the president. Former Vice President and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden Saturday criticized Trump's failure to punish Russia as "a betrayal of the most sacred duty." Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton Sunday said in an interview with CNN that Trump's morning tweet indicated "his fundamental focus is not the security of our forces ... he's saying well nobody told me therefore you can't blame me." Others doubted the theory that Trump had not been briefed on this matter. "I have trouble believing it, but as someone who got the presidential daily briefing for more than 7 years the idea that a POTUS wouldn't be briefed on a Russian bounty on US troops is even more alarming," tweeted Ben Rhodes, who served as deputy national security advisor in Obama administration. In a Sunday interview with ABC, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also expressed concern that some officials may have avoided bringing the issues to the president. "We'll find out he has briefed and it was in his daily brief, but if it were not, what does that say about the concern that those who briefed the president have about not going anywhere near the Russia issue with this president?" she said. "Something is very wrong here, but this must have an answer," she added. The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and the death toll of US service members has surpassed 2,400 in this longest war in US history. Trump has long complained about the endlessness of the war and sought a full withdrawal from the Central Asian country. In the agreement signed in late February between the United States and the Taliban, Washington said it would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 within 135 days. The agreement also called for the full withdrawal of the US military by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups. Commander of US Central Command Kenneth McKenzie said earlier this month that the US military had reduced its troops level to 8,600 in Afghanistan, fulfilling its first phased pullout obligation under the US-Taliban deal. Exercise Dynamic Mongoose underway in High North NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Jun 29 2020 Reykjavik, Iceland -- NATO exercise Dynamic Mongoose is starting in the High North on 29 June 2020. Ships, submarines, as well as aircraft and personnel from 6 Allied nations are converging off the coast of Iceland for Anti-Submarine warfare (ASW) and Anti-Surface warfare training. Submarines from France, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States under NATO Submarine Command are joining surface ships from Canada, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States. As the host nation, Iceland is providing logistical support in Reykjavik. To enhance the simulated multi-threat environment, maritime patrol aircrafts from France, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States support the exercise. In total, 5 surface ships, 5 submarines, 5 maritime patrol aircrafts are participating. The aim of Dynamic Mongoose is to provide all participants with complex and challenging warfare training to enhance their interoperability and proficiency in Anti-Submarine and Anti-Surface warfare skills, with due regard to safety. "Exercises today seize opportunities for NATO and Allied nations to sharpen war-fighting skills by focusing on high-end capabilities including Anti-Submarine Warfare. Dynamic Mongoose will ensure we remain prepared for operations in peace, crisis and conflict. In this regard, I appreciate the outstanding host nation support of the Iceland and those nations that have contributed forces. Dynamic Mongoose will, I am certain, be a highly effective exercise," said Vice Admiral Keith Blount, Commander of NATO's Allied Maritime Command. "NATO's annual Anti-Submarine-warfare exercise Dynamic Mongoose remains one of the most challenging exercises and an excellent opportunity for NATO nations' naval forces to practice and evaluate their anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare skillsets in the challenging environment of the North Atlantic. This exercise is a unique opportunity to enhance naval forces' war-fighting skills in all dimensions of anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare in a multinational and multi-threat environment," said Rear Admiral E. Andrew Burcher, Commander NATO Submarines. Each surface ship will have the opportunity to conduct a variety of submarine warfare operations. The submarines will take turns hunting and being hunted, closely coordinating their efforts with the air and surface participants. Due to COVID-19 threat, measures taken by both Icelandic authorities and the force contributing nations will be strictly followed by all sides during the port visits and training. Story by Public Affairs Office at MARCOM Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:39 pm As restrictions in Lewis County continue to be lifted, residents can begin going back outside and continue to shake off the rust brought on by the shutdowns. Twin Transit is looking to give people a roadmap for doing so with an effort of its own. Andrea Culletto, the community relations director at Twin Transit, said the company launched its Walk, Run and Ride campaign about two weeks ago, encouraging company employees to get active. She said two teams were selected at random and employees have embraced the new challenge. Everyones really excited about it, Culletto said. Theres been a lot of friendly banter and a little bit of friendly trash talk to see which team is going to come out ahead, you know. Its been fun, its given everyone something new and exciting to look forward to. While detailing why the campaign was ultimately created, Culletto pointed to a study conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago in which 2,279 adults were asked between May 21 and 29 whether they felt they were very happy, pretty happy or not too happy. According to the study, 23 percent of people said they were not too happy a 10 percent increase from when the study was conducted in 2018 and the highest percentage produced by the survey since 1972. I think thats really key, Culletto said. Nows the time to look forward, to get out, get moving, enjoy our community, enjoy the weather and to just kind of leave the last couple of months behind. Culletto said a portion of the effort will also center around a social media campaign, to give the public some inspiration for getting outside and getting active. She said one strategy she wanted to see people try was finding a new way to get to as many of the places they would normally commute as possible. Whether that be walking, running, or however else someone sees fit. Instead of driving down the street to the grocery store, can you walk it? Culletto said. Could you walk to work, could you bike to work, how can we incorporate more physical movement into our daily lives, because theres just so many benefits to it. From Cullettos perspective, placing more of an emphasis on getting outside and getting active is an essential aspect of working back from the statewide shutdowns, regardless of age. I think everyone has experienced much more stress than they used to on a daily basis, Culletto said. This is a great way to just shake that off and to go have some fun. As of now, Culletto said she doesnt know of any other local organization adopting a similar campaign to the one Twin Transit is putting on, although she encourages other businesses to host other fitness-based initiatives of their own. When it comes to the overarching goal of this campaign, Culletto described various aspirations, including engaging the public, assisting employees at Twin Transit and even providing a road map for other companies looking to undertake a similar project. The ultimate goal is to uplift our community, get everybody moving and get everyone feeling better, Culletto said. Theres just so many benefits and I think the more that we encourage this in our community, the more well see those benefits. NATO Deputy Secretary General calls for a global approach to tackle global challenges NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 29 Jun. 2020 Today (29 June 2020), NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana participated in the virtual European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR) Annual Council Meeting. Speaking in a session about the "Security Cooperation after Brexit", he underlined that the future of Europe is inextricably linked to the future of the transatlantic Alliance. Stressing the importance of NATO as an indispensable forum for security cooperation, he emphasized that NATO and the EU are natural partners, working together to ensure peace and prosperity in Europe, which has become even more essential in these challenging times. Speaking about the COVID-19 crisis, the Deputy Secretary General highlighted that NATO-EU cooperation has further intensified over recent weeks to strengthen the resilience of our societies. The Deputy Secretary General concluded by calling for a global approach to tackle global challenges. He emphasized the importance of closer cooperation among partners to defend common values and shared interests. He identified a need to work closely with like-minded countries and organizations, including the EU, to defend the global rules and institutions that have kept the world safe for decades. USS Carney Concludes Time as FDNF-E Asset Navy News Service Story Number: NNS200629-05 Release Date: 6/29/2020 8:42:00 AM From U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet Public Affairs ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) departed Naval Station Rota, Spain, for the last time as a Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E) asset, June 27, 2020. USS Roosevelt (DDG 80), named after the 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, replaced Carney in the first of four scheduled homeport shifts to occur in support of the U.S. Navy's long-range plan to gradually rotate the Rota-based destroyers. "Carney's role as one of our forward-deployed destroyers in Spain has been the cornerstone of the United States' commitment to our NATO allies and partners, and to our combined integrated air and missile defense architecture," said Vice Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F). "Through all five years' worth of operations and exercises, Carney Sailors set the bar high for readiness, interoperability, and combat effectiveness." Carney came to C6F on Sept. 25, 2015, as one of the first Rota-based FDNF-E destroyers under commander, Task Force (CTF). Carney began operational tasking in the C6F area of operation immediately upon arrival, conducting operations in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf. The ship conducted 55 port calls throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In an effort to maintain and improve efforts towards "Partnership for Peace," Carney conducted six at-sea maritime training exercises and one passing exercise (PASSEX) with partner nations in the Black Sea. Additionally, the ship participated in 11 large-scale exercises in the European theater, improving relations with both NATO allies and partners to include exercise Sea Breeze 2019. "Working in 6th Fleet and under the direction of CTF 65 has been a phenomenal experience," said Cmdr. Christopher J. Carrol, Carney's Commanding Officer. "We were extremely blessed for the opportunities to meet the objectives of the Fleet." On her seventh and final patrol in the spring of 2020, Carney conducted a Tactical Control (TACON) shift from C6F to U.S. 5th Fleet in support of national tasking alongside the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG). The unconventional FDNF-E patrol included port visits to the Seychelles and to Cape Town, South Africa, which reinforced the partnership between the U.S. and South Africa. While transiting back to Rota, Spain, Carney became the most recent ship in naval history to circumnavigate Africa instead of transiting north through the Suez Canal. "Carney's departure is a proud moment for all of us," said Capt. Joseph A. Gagliano, commander, Task Force (CTF) 65. "In addition to the crew departing with pride for a job well done, we are proud to return Carney in peak readiness condition. Both the ship and crew are ready for any mission." Carney is scheduled to return to its former homeport of Mayport, Florida. CTF 65 and Destroyer Squadron 60, headquartered in Rota, Spain, oversee the FDNF of C6F's area of operation in support of regional allies and partners as well as U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa. C6F, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. Hamas official urges unified strategy in face of Israel's annexation plan Iran Press TV Monday, 29 June 2020 4:43 PM The popular 'Day of Rage' against Israel's plan to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank is 'a step in the right direction,' says a senior official of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas. In a press statement on Monday, Wasfi Qabha called for a unified strategy agreed by all Palestinian groups and factions and organizations to confront Tel Aviv's annexation plan, the Palestinian Information Center reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has time and again announced that he would begin cabinet-level discussions for annexing more areas in the West Bank on July 1, in accordance with US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century." Trump's scheme, unveiled in January, largely gives in to Israel's demands while creating a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders, enshrining the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's "capital" and allowing the regime to annex settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. According to the so-called peace plan, the future Palestinian state will consist of scattered lands linked together via bridges and tunnels. On Wednesday, July 1, the day Netanyahu attempts to begin the process of implementing his plan, anti-annexation protests are set to be staged in the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. During the 'Day of Rage,' similar protests are also scheduled to be held beyond the occupied territories, in the United States and Europe. Demonstrations will be held in Chicago, San Diego, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Other cities in Europe will also witness similar protests, including Toronto, Madrid, and Valencia. Elsewhere in his remarks, Qabha said the extreme dangers posed by Israel's plan require everyone to put all inter-Palestinian differences aside, fold the page of division and work together in a unified front to restore the confidence of the Palestinian masses and face the challenges. During a national meeting in Gaza on Sunday, the Palestinian factions called on all Palestinians to take part in the 'Day of Rage' rallies on Wednesday. The United Nations and the European Union, among others, have already denounced Israel's plan and warned against its consequences. On May 19, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority, declared the end of all agreements signed with Tel Aviv and Washington. He says Trump's scheme "belongs to the dustbin of history." Kremlin rejects reports of Russian bounties to Taliban to kill US troops in Afghanistan Iran Press TV Monday, 29 June 2020 3:04 PM Russia has dismissed as "lies" media reports alleging that a Russian military intelligence unit attempted to pay bounties to members of the Taliban militant group to kill American troops in Afghanistan. In a controversial report on Friday, the New York Times, citing an unnamed source, claimed that a top-secret unit within the Russian military intelligence, or the GRU, had allegedly offered monetary rewards to Taliban-linked militants to kill US troopers in the country last year. The bombshell report, which was soon "confirmed" by some other newspapers, including the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, further claimed that US intelligence officials had also reached the conclusion about the clandestine payments and then briefed President Donald Trump in March. However, Trump on Sunday tweeted that "nobody" had ever briefed him about such a report by the "Fake News" NYT, calling on the daily to name the anonymous source for its story, "which 'Everybody is denying it.'" Later in the day, he added in a separate Tweet that "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP." On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lambasted the Times story as a bunch of "lies," stressing that media outlets should take heed of Trump's comments and also said that the American President and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had never discussed the allegations. Furthermore, Russia's top Afghanistan diplomat denounced the Times story as "fake news," whose aim is to target the Trump administration and his attempts to pull American troops out of Afghanistan. "It is clear that there are forces in the US which don't want to withdraw from Afghanistan, want a justification for their own failures. This is what it's all about," Zamir Kabulov said in an interview with RT. "We really shouldn't waste time commenting on the obvious lie," he added. The Taliban likewise has denied having had any deal with the Russian intelligence service. In 2019, 20 US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan but ever since Washington and the Taliban reached an agreement in February, there have been no reported attacks by the militant group on the US positions. 23 civilians, kids included, die in rain of rockets on Afghan market Iran Press TV Monday, 29 June 2020 1:07 PM Nearly two dozen civilians, including children, have been killed and several others injured when a barrage of rockets fell on a cattle market in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand. Hundreds of villagers from the neighboring districts had gathered at the open-air weekly cattle market in Sangin to trade sheep and goats on Monday. It was the rockets, fired from a source disputed by the Taliban militant group and the Afghan government, that fatally disturbed the peasant life of the town of about 20,000 people. A spokesman for Helmand's governor confirmed the death of at least 23 civilians. Kabul and Taliban blame each other for the rain of rockets. Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said the Afghan army had fired several rounds of mortars on civilian houses and the market. A government statement denied a narrative of that sort. Khushakyar, identified by a single name, said he was trying to sell a calf when the rockets hit the market. He said his two nephews were killed and his son was wounded. "I saw around 20 bodies on the ground," he said, adding that dozens were wounded and "livestock lay dead next to men." Some local residents said the shelling occurred during fierce clashes between the Taliban militants and security forces in residential areas surrounding the market. Violence has surged despite a deal in February between the Taliban and the United States. Official data shows Taliban bombings and other assaults have increased 70 percent since the militant group signed the deal with Washington. Trump: No briefings ever on Russian bounties to kill US troops in Afghanistan Iran Press TV Monday, 29 June 2020 5:14 AM US President Donald Trump has denied he was ever briefed about an alleged Russian attempt to pay bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill Western forces, including US troops, in Afghanistan, blasting a report by The New York Times on the bounties. On Friday, the Times, citing unnamed officials, published details of how US intelligence officials had reached the conclusion about the clandestine payments and then briefed Trump in March. According to the report, US intelligence had concluded that a Russian military intelligence had offered rewards for successful attacks on American and coalition soldiers last year, and that militants reportedly collected some bounty money. The report also said that the White House National Security Council conferred an interagency meeting in March to discuss the issue, adding the finding was also included in the President's Daily Brief. On Sunday, however, Trump took to Twitter, denying the report, saying he was never briefed on the intelligence assessment. "Nobody briefed or told me, @VP Pence, or Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an 'anonymous source' by the Fake News @nytimes. Everybody is denying it & there have not been many attacks on us." He also tweeted that "Nobody's been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration," criticizing his predecessor Barack Obama, the Times, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. "With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a field day, taking over important parts of Ukraine - Where's Hunter? Probably just another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax. Who is their 'source'?" Meanwhile, the White House and Director of National Intelligence denied the report too. Russia's Foreign Ministry also dismissed it, with its embassy in the US saying the claims had led to threats against diplomats. The embassy also accused the Times of promoting fake news. The Taliban likewise denied having had any deal with Russian intelligence. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the Times that the group had never had "any such relations with any intelligence agency," calling the report an attempt to defame the group. "These kinds of deals with the Russian intelligence agency are baseless - our target killings and assassinations were ongoing in years before, and we did it on our own resources," he said. "That changed after our deal with the Americans, and their lives are secure and we don't attack them." In 2019, 20 American soldiers were killed in Afghanistan but ever since Washington and the Taliban reached an agreement in February, there have been no reported attacks by the militant group on the US positions. Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, part of the so-called Gang of Eight lawmakers who receive intelligence briefings frequently, said she did not know about the assessment and called for a briefing at Congress. Pelosi also described the report and Trump's denial as more evidence of the Republican president ignoring allegations against Russia to accommodate President Vladimir Putin. "There is something very wrong here. But this must have an answer," she said on ABC News. UN rights chief urges Israel to halt 'illegal' annexation plan Iran Press TV Monday, 29 June 2020 1:38 PM The UN human rights chief has denounced the Israeli regime's "illegal" plan to annex large parts of the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank, warning about the "disastrous" consequences of the move. "Annexation is illegal. Period. Any annexation. Whether it is 30 percent of the West Bank, or five percent," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement on Monday, adding that Israel needed to "listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path." She called on the Tel Aviv regime to shift course, warning that "the shockwaves of annexation will last for decades, and will be extremely damaging to Israel, as well as to the Palestinians." "The precise consequences of annexation cannot be predicted. But they are likely to be disastrous for the Palestinians, for Israel itself, and for the wider region," Bachelet pointed out. The UN rights chief also warned that "any attempt to annex any part of the occupied Palestinian territory will not only seriously damage efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region, it is likely to entrench, perpetuate and further heighten serious human rights violations that have characterized the conflict for decades." Bachelet then cautioned that annexation would almost certainly lead to increased restrictions on Palestinians' right to freedom of movement, as their population centers would become enclaves. In addition, significant tracts of private land would likely be illegally expropriated, and even in cases where this does not occur, many Palestinians could lose access to cultivate their own land, while Palestinians who found themselves living inside the annexed areas would likely experience greater difficulty accessing essential services like healthcare and education, she further said, warning humanitarian access could also be blocked. The UN human rights chief warned that Palestinians inside the annexed area would come under heavy pressure to move out, pointing out that entire communities currently not recognized under Israeli planning would be at high risk of "forcible transfer," and settlements would almost certainly expand. "This is a highly combustible mix. I am deeply concerned that even the most minimalist form of annexation would lead to increased violence and loss of life, as walls are erected, security forces deployed and the two populations brought into closer proximity," Bachelet said. Bachelet said illegal annexation would not change Israel's obligations under international law as an occupying power towards the occupied population. Bachelet said illegal annexation would not change Israel's obligations under international law as an occupying power towards the occupied population. "Instead, it will grievously harm the prospect of a [so-called] two-state solution, undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations, and perpetuate the serious existing human rights and international humanitarian law violations we witness today," she underlined. Massive protests across France against Israel's annexation plan Separately, massive demonstrations were held in a number of French cities against Israel's plan to annex more Palestinian land. Hundreds of people took to the streets in the capital, Paris, as well as the cities of Lyon, Strasbourg, Saint-Etienne, Montpellier and Marseille on Saturday, and voiced their strong opposition to the Israeli decision. The protesters waved Palestine flags and raised banners that read "Free Palestine", "Boycott Israel", and "No to Annexation." They also called on the international community to impose sanctions on Israel to force it to reverse its decision. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was sworn into office for another term on May 17, has set July 1 for the start of cabinet discussions on extending "sovereignty" over settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. In response to Israel's decision, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared the end of all agreements signed with Israel and the United States on May 19. India Urged to Rethink Its Policy on Tibet After Deadly Border Violence 2020-06-29 -- Recent deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese forces along the unmarked border between the two countries are prompting calls for India to rethink its policy toward Tibet, which before its conquest by China had historically served as a buffer between the two larger powers. India must now "be bolder" in considering its policy regarding questions on Tibet, deputy speaker of Tibet's India-based exile parliament Yeshi Phuntsok told RFA's Tibetan Service in an interview last week. "Until the Tibet issue is resolved, the present simmering Himalayan border conflict between the Chinese and Indian troops will remain. Therefore, finding a peaceful solution to the problem of Tibet is key to India's security," Phuntsok said. "We are asking the Indian government to help resolve these issues by supporting resumed dialogue between the Dalai Lama's representatives and the Chinese leadership on the basis of the Middle Way Approach," Phuntsok said. The Middle Way refers to the proposal of the Dalai Lama, who fled to India after an abortive Tibetan uprising against Chinese control in 1959, to recognize Beijing's rule over Tibet in exchange for a greater autonomy in Tibetan areas. Five Tibetan NGOs including the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) and Students for a Free Tibet, however, met in India on June 18 to condemn what they called China's aggression on the border and to call instead for Indian support for Tibet's return to its former independence. "It is high time for India to recognize Tibet as an independent country and an occupied nation," TYC president Gonpo Dhundup said, according to a June 18 report in the Hindustan Times. "An independent Tibet is the only solution to the Indo-China conflict," added the national director for Students for a Free Tibet, quoted in the Times. A clash between Indian and Chinese security forces in the Galwan Valley in northwestern India's mountainous region of Ladakh in June left dozens of soldiers dead on both sides, many of them beaten to death with clubs, marking the first fatalities in a confrontation between the two militaries in more than four decades. Each side blamed the other for the clash, with both India and China saying that troops from the other side had crossed into their territory. Corps-level talks continued on Monday, The Times of India reported. Indian views of China harden In India, views toward China have hardened, with growing grassroots calls for a boycott of goods from the country's second largest trade partner. The Indian government has banned 59 apps developed by Chinese firms including, Tik Tok, WeChat and Weibo citing concerns that they were engaging in activities that are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, and security of state and public order," the Press Information Bureau said Monday. The current face-off in Ladakh is only the latest in a series of flare-ups along China's and India's 2,200-mile-long undemarcated border, or Line of Actual Control, with Indian soldiers on May 9 using their fists to block an attempt by Chinese troops to cross into Indian territory at the Nakula pass in northern Sikkim. In June 2017, India sent hundreds of troops into Bhutan to defend its ally against efforts by China to build a road southward into Doklam, an area claimed by both China and Bhutan. The stand-off continued for over two months and ended when both sides withdrew. China and India, now both nuclear-armed powers, fought a border war in 1962 that left hundreds killed or wounded on both sides. After gaining independence from Britain in 1947, India had never bothered to consolidate its northern border, because Tibet was "a friendly, peaceful, and culturally linked country," Indian defense analyst and retired general PG Kamath told RFA's Tibetan Service. This was shown to have been a strategic mistake after China invaded and occupied Tibet in 1950, bringing Chinese troops up to the still undemarcated border with India, he said. India then helped China by recognizing its occupation of Tibet as legitimate, said retired general and former director of Indian military training Vinod Saighal. "If India had not recognized China's occupation of Tibet, no one else in the world would have done so," Saighal said, adding that India may soon "change course" in its view of China's presence in Tibet. "China has overplayed its cards this time," he said. Can policy change? China is an expansionist power, "which is obviously not to the liking of the government of India and the people of India," added retired general and former director of India's Center for Land Warfare Studies Dhruv C. Katoch. "But I don't think that any [Indian] political party will change the status quo on Tibet. I think what's important nowadays is that there is support for the Tibetan people, and their cause is increasing among the Indian public," he said. Indian government policy toward Tibet may be difficult to change, agreed Tenzin Lekshay, deputy director of the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute. "But Tibetans should take the opportunity to make the Indian public more aware of the situation in Tibet. I think that creating awareness of the Tibetan issue will also help us in our cause," Lekshay told RFA. India, home to 85,000 refugees from Tibet, has given mixed signals to Tibetans over the years as it courts China as an economic partner. In 2018, on the eve of a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Indian government issued a directive prohibiting bureaucrats and leaders from attending events organized by the Central Tibetan Authority (CTA) marking 60 years in India in 2019. Lobsang Sangaypresident of the CTA, the India-based Tibetan exile governmentcalled on China this month to withdraw its forces from Tibet and allow the formerly independent Himalayan country to resume its historic role as a buffer state. "When Tibet was independent, the Indian army did not require a defense budget of 60 billion dollars. It was not necessary at all," Sangay said in an interview with India Today. "So, once Tibet is demilitarized and declared a zone of peace, the two largest populated countries in the world, India and China, will have permanent peace." China, which has occupied Tibet for over 70 years, is unlikely now to pull its forces back from the border with its rival India, though, many believe. Only a restoration of Tibet's independence will fully address the question of Tibet's status and help promote peace along the border, Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue said to RFA in a recent interview. "The Tibetan people's demand for independence is not just because we don't trust [Chinese president] Xi Jinping and his machinery of control," Tsundue said, "but because we believe only the restoration of Tibet's independence can truly guarantee the survival of Tibet's religion, culture, land, and people." "We can respect China only as our neighbor, not as our boss," Tsundue said. Reported by RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content June not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. Mortar Attack On Afghan Market Kills At Least 23; Taliban, Government Blame Each Other June 29, 2020 A mortar attack on a market in southern Afghanistan has killed at least 23 people and injured dozens of others. A spokesman for the governor of the southern province of Helmand said the June 29 attack occurred close to a cattle market and that children were among the dead. The spokesman immediately pinned the attack on the Taliban, which in turn blamed the government. While violence had dropped across much of the country after the Taliban offered a brief cease-fire to mark the Eid al-Fitr festival last month, officials say the insurgents have stepped up attacks in recent weeks. President Ashraf Ghani on June 29 urged the Taliban to "refrain from war and violence and to accept the will of the Afghan people," which he said wants the government and the militant group to start much-delayed talks aimed at ending the war in the country. Save The Children, an international nongovernmental organization, said it was "horrified by the ongoing attacks in Afghanistan, which continue to take the innocent lives of children." Country director Milan Dinic in a statement called the latest attack a "sad reminder that no child is safe in Afghanistan until the weapons are put down." On June 28, a roadside bomb killed at least six civilians and wounded two others in the same province. Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/mortar-attack-on-afghan-market -kills-at-least-23/30696574.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. Kyrgyzstan The Missing Link In China's Railway To Uzbekistan...And Beyond By Bruce Pannier June 29, 2020 The big problem with the announcement in early June that the first freight train had left the Chinese city of Lanzhou bound for the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, is that the railway link in Kyrgyzstan needed for the trip is not yet done. Not even close to being completed. It would seem the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway is just another of those grand projects conceived decades ago that might never be built. But in this case there is some hope it will be realized -- though it will probably have to wait for better times in a world economy. Alternative Travel Plan To compensate for the lack of a full Kyrgyz link on this project, a new "road-rail" combined-cargo transport line has been devised. The train that left Lanzhou station in China's northwestern Gansu Province on June 5 is carrying a load of some 230 tons of electrical appliances worth about $2.6 million. The train first traveled to Kashgar in the western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, near the border with Kyrgyzstan. From Kashgar, the goods were loaded onto trucks for the journey westward across Kyrgyzstan to the city of Osh, where they were reloaded onto a train headed for Tashkent. Part of that route used the Pap-Angren railway line in Uzbekistan that the Chinese helped build and which opened in early 2016. The loading and unloading of goods, along with the trucking operation, will be repeated when the train from Tashkent leaves for China due to carry some 525 tons of Uzbek cotton worth some $1 million. At least the Chinese train's departure seems to have reawakened the Kyrgyz to their unfinished business. On June 17, Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov held a meeting with Foreign Minister Chingiz Aidarbekov, Transport and Roads Minister Janat Beyshenov, and Vasily Dashkov, the head of the state railway company Kyrgyz Temir Zholy, to discuss railway issues that included the line from China to Uzbekistan. Jeenbekov reportedly described the railway line connecting China and Uzbekistan as one of the largest and most strategically important projects for Kyrgyzstan. On June 18, according to the Kyrgyz Temir Zholy website, "construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway will start in a month," and company head Dashkov said he didn't see any "particular obstacles" but rather just a "few points [to conclude]." But that message disappeared from the website on June 19. The head of Kyrgyz Temir Zholy's Railway Design and Construction Department, Zhamshitbek Kalilov, later said the June 18 post was a misunderstanding and said there is no way construction will start in July. Not Kyrgyzstan's Route Kalilov said talks with Chinese and Uzbek officials were continuing, mainly by videoconference due to the coronavirus, but he mentioned there were still issues with financing and the perennial problem of track-gauge size. The CKU railway has been discussed since the latter part of the 1990s. The prime ministers of China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan all met at the Kyrgyz-China Irkeshtam border post on July 21, 1997, to open the crossing. They said at the time they would also soon open the Andijon-Osh-Kashgar highway, though the highway only started being used to ship goods in early 2018 -- when they promised a railway would also connect the three countries. In June 2001, Kyrgyz Transportation and Communications Minister Kubanychbek Jumaliev announced an agreement had been reached for construction of the CKU railway line but it was more than six years later -- in January 2008 -- that China's Xinhua news agency reported construction of the railway had begun and the line would be completed in 2010. Since then, the project was often mentioned when Uzbek or Kyrgyz officials met with Chinese officials but little progress was made on finishing it. In 2017, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev spoke about the railway project, objecting to the fact that the proposed railway line would not make any stops in Kyrgyzstan. Atambaev proposed the railway take a different route than the one planned, so that trains would also serve the remote Kyrgyz towns of At-Bashi and Kazarman, a significant deviation north from the original plan and one that Atambaev admitted would add $1.5 billion to the cost of building the railway. Kalilov indicated the route was still not completely agreed upon. In March 2018, when Kalilov was transport minister, he said China was insisting on the shortest route possible through Kyrgyzstan. That likely means through the Irkeshtam crossing, some 230 kilometers nearly due west from Kashgar, and the route that trucks currently use as part of the road-rail link. But Kalilov said Kyrgyzstan was exerting "all efforts so that the railroad goes through the pass at Torugart," which would run some 165 kilometers north from Kashgar before turning west into Kyrgyzstan and head toward Uzbekistan. Kyrgyzstan does not have the extra $1.5 billion Atambaev mentioned and, in the June 18 message briefly posted on the Kyrgyz Temir Zholy website, Dashkov said the railway through Kyrgyzstan had an estimated price tag of some $4.5 billion. The line is not long, only some 450-500 kilometers, but it passes through the mountains, sometimes at altitudes of 2,000 to 3,500 meters. That means it will require the construction of nearly 50 tunnels -- and more than 90 bridges. A very tall order for any country but especially one like cash-strapped Kyrgyzstan. Dashkov said that when it came to money, "the Russian and Uzbek sides are ready to help us." It was a curious statement, as neither of those countries are in a financial position to spend that kind of money on construction of a railway through Kyrgyzstan and, in Russia's case, it is difficult to see why Russia would spend money on a project that would provide a trade route between Asia and Europe that avoids Russian territory. That said, there were reports at the end of November 2019 that Jeenbekov said Russia had provided Kyrgyzstan with 200 million rubles (then worth some $3.15 million) to prepare the "technical-economic basis" for the CKU railway, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in April 2020 there were talks with China about Russia's participation in building the CKU railway. The Best Route West Reports at the start of June about the opening of the road-rail, combined-cargo transport line claimed that if and when a railroad did go through Kyrgyzstan, it would be the shortest route for China to trade with Europe and the Middle East. Currently, the main railway line connecting China to Europe and the Middle East runs through Kazakhstan's Khorgos crossing and one report said that by shipping through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan the route would be "295 kilometers shorter than through Khorgos." It also claimed that "compared with the traditional route [through Khorgos], the time saved would be as much as five days." That prospect might not be appealing to Kazakhstan, but several other countries stand to benefit from such a route if the CKU line is extended further westward. One report said the extension would run through Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey to Europe, while another said the route would run through Turkmenistan and, by ferry, across the Caspian Sea to Istanbul and to Europe. Ideally it could split and do both, though any railway line through Afghanistan would face the same security problems that have for more than 20 years prevented construction of electricity lines and natural-gas pipelines from Central Asia through Afghanistan to Pakistan. More immediately for China's interests, the completion of the CKU line would open a line to the Mingbulak oil field in Uzbekistan. Mingbulak is best-known for being the site of possibly the worst inland oil spill in history. An explosion at a well in early March 1992 led to some 285,000 tons of oil being spilled, which helped fuel a fire that burned over an area of more than 60 hectares for some two months. The site was abandoned until the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) signed a deal in October 2008 (that runs until 2035) to reopen and develop the field. Work was suspended again in 2015 due to the low price of oil on world markets, but resumed in 2017, and the CNPC believes there is more than 30 million tons of oil there and that Mingbulak can eventually produce some 4,000 barrels per day. Not a huge amount, especially for China's needs, but it is less than 500 kilometers from China's border. As it stands now, the only way to transport it is via road. But Mingbulak is located in Uzbekistan's Namangan Province, as is the Pap railway station that is on the CKU railway line. And assuming Kyrgyzstan can convince China, Uzbekistan, and whoever might be funding the railway's construction to include some train stops in Kyrgyzstan, Transport Minister Beyshenov claimed in August 2019 the railway line could help Kyrgyzstan open up new mining sites that would allow Kyrgyzstan to export more coal, gold, aluminum, iron, and other resources. Kyrgyzstan almost surely will not start construction of its segment of the railway line anytime soon. But the CKU railway is one of the last two major projects connecting China to Central Asia that remains incomplete (the other is Line D of the Turkmenistan-China natural-gas pipeline. And the proposed extension of the railway to Europe and the Middle East -- one day far off in the future -- will always be appealing to more countries than just China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Azattyk, contributed to this report Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyzstan- the-missing-link-in-china-s-railway-to- uzbekistan-and-beyond/30697016.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. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:56 pm Two Democrats will take on Republican incumbent Jim Walsh for his seat as state Representative position No. 1 for the 19th Legislative District. Walsh, of Aberdeen, is seeking his third term as a state Rep. in District 19 that has historically consisted of Democratic lawmakers while Marianna Everson, and Clint Bryson, both of Montesano, look to become state legislators for their first time. The primary election is scheduled for August 4 and ballots will be mailed out on July 15. Voters have until July 27 to update their information or register to vote online, or they have until 8 p.m. on the day of election to do it in person. Marianna Everson, D-Montesano Marianna Everson, a Democrat from of Montesano, has had an unusual path to running for public office. She calls herself the progressive Democrat candidate of the field and says she is fully prepared to combat name calling and stigmatized words like democratic-socialist with discussions about policy that she says will lift up working class families. In the late 2000s, Everson went to school at Grays Harbor College to become a nurse while she was a single mother. While she was in school, a house fire made Everson and her children homeless, but she says through various social services she was able to pull herself back up, complete school and become a nurse. I feel now because the people of Washington helped me get through that, from the section 8 (housing) and the food stamps and all the things that I got help with as a single mom it is my turn to give back to my community, Everson said. Eversons vision of giving back to the community is through substantial investments in health care, local infrastructure which in turn will create jobs with liveable wages, she says, housing and the COVID-19 response. She is an advocate of a single-payer health care system, or getting as close to that system as the state possibly can, she says. Everson is a supporter of Whole Washington, an organization that is pushing to get universal health care legislation passed in the state and their effort manifested into Senate Bill 5222 in the last legislative session, though the bill did not make it out of committee. It would be better coverage than anybody has in their employer-based health insurance, Everson said. Everson also said that housing should be every Washingtonians right and not a privilege, noting that there are more empty homes in the state than homeless people. Everybody should have the right to have a home they can afford and the private sector is not providing for that, Everson said. For more information on Everson, visit: mariannaforthepeople.com Clint Bryson, D-Montesano A lifelong resident of District 19, Clint Bryson started his career as a foreman before he took on various leadership roles with his local union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 76 (IBEW 76), which ultimately led him to becoming a full-time union representative from 2008 to 2019. My experience as a union representative has prepared me to have those conversations with opposing viewpoints, Bryson said. Its pretty common that Im in a room with one side having one view and the other side having another. Bryson added: Im not a real fan of divisive politics, I think we can get a lot more work done by working together and listening to both sides of the aisle, Bryson said. Bryson was elected as a Montesano City Councilor in 2017 and entering the state legislature would be a first for him. Bryson said his campaign is pillared by three aspects: rural economic development, education and health care, which he says are universal needs for our citizens. Among other avenues of economic development, Bryson believes adding more union jobs would benefit his community substantially. He said he also wants to protect natural resource jobs while also being considerate of the land, water and air quality for future generations. In terms of education, as someone who began his career through an electrical apprenticeship program, Bryson is a strong advocate for community and technical college programs and job-based training. Bryson said he would work to improve the availability of such programs around the district if he were elected. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragility of rural healthcare systems, says Bryson, and he would like to see more investments made into the current system. I think we need to make sure we are protecting our health care infrastructure, keeping our hospitals viable and making sure our citizens have the care they need, both providers and hospital-based, Bryson said. For more information on Bryson, visit: electclintbryson.com Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen Jim Walsh, an Aberdeen resident, started his career in the private sector working for Merritt Publishing shortly after he graduated college at Amherst College in Massachusetts. He eventually bought a portion of the company to create Silverlake Publishing, where he has been the owner for about 24 years. Walsh got started in the political arena in the 2000s by getting involved with the Republican Liberty Caucus, a libertarian arm of the Republican party, at the local level in Grays Harbor County. From his work at the local level, he got more involved in the Republican Party at the state level and was elected as the vice chairman of the Washington State Republican Party in 2014. In 2016, Walsh flipped the script of his hometown 19th legislative district that has consistently voted for democrats when he was narrowly elected as a state Representative, carving out a win by 136 votes in the general election. According to Walsh, he is just the third republican to represent District 19 since the 1940s. In 2018, Walsh won his seat again in another tightly contested general election by a margin of 484 votes. Walsh said the platform he is running on is to restore a constitutional balance of power, which is lacking in Olympia. We can talk about COVID, we can talk about riots, we can talk about lots of current events, but the the thing they all share is there is a lack of real checks and balances in Olympia and I think I have certainly established myself as one of the checks on the executive overreach, Walsh said. Policy wise, Walsh said he wants to defend local industries which he notes is primarily natural resource-based. I want to see greater timber production off of private and public lands and I want to see aquaculture farmers oyster farmers, clam farmers and commercial fisherman I want to see the state move off of their throats, Walsh said. For more information on Walsh, visit: electjimwalsh.org. Exclusive: Records Reveal Money Trail In Kyrgyz Corruption Scandal By RFE/RL June 29, 2020 Hundreds of financial records leaked by a self-confessed money launderer at the center of a corruption scandal in Kyrgyzstan have been published, showing how hundreds of millions of dollars linked to a secretive cargo empire were funneled out of the country over the course of several years. The documents, made public on June 29 as part of a journalistic investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and the Kyrgyz news outlet Kloop, were given to reporters last year by Aierken Saimaiti, a Chinese-born businessman previously based in Kyrgyzstan, prior to his November 10 murder in Istanbul. Following Saimaiti's death, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, the OCCRP, and Kloop published an investigation based on these records, interviews with Saimaiti, and their own independent reporting. The investigation implicated influential former Kyrgyz customs official Raimbek Matraimov in widespread corruption linked to the money Saimaiti moved out of the country. Matraimov and his family deny any links to Saimaiti or corruption and filed a libel suit over the investigation. The trove of Saimaiti's records released on June 29 include wire-transfer orders, personal financial ledgers, electronic spreadsheets, and what he described as sham contracts used as cover to move hundreds of millions of dollars abroad to Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, and the United States, among other countries. The bulk of the money shown in these records was transferred on behalf of Khabibula Abdukadyr, a secretive Uyghur businessman with a Kazakh passport who has built a murky cargo-and-real-estate empire in Central Asia, Europe, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Abdukadyr was virtually unknown to the broader public until the investigation was published in November. The release of Saimaiti's records coincides with two new investigations published by the outlets, together with Bellingcat, that are based on documents the murdered businessman provided to reporters. One expose reveals the identity of previously unknown donors to the Matraimov family's charity, which Saimaiti claimed was the recipient of bribe money he paid as part of a corrupt scheme in Kyrgyzstan's customs service. The Matraimovs vehemently reject that charge. The report reveals how these newly revealed donors had demonstrable links to Saimaiti, as evident from documents he gave reporters prior to his murder. The second investigation focuses on more than $1 million that Saimaiti claimed to have wired to Britain toward the purchase of a luxury apartment for Matraimov, whose family is known for leading a lavish lifestyle seemingly at odds with his long career as a public servant. E-mails sent to the Abdukadyr family went unanswered. An adviser to Iskender Matraimov, Raimbek's brother and a member of parliament, asked for additional time to make a full response but did not follow up before publication. Kyrgyz lawmakers on June 18 approved the findings of a parliamentary commission that concluded Kyrgyzstan was not involved in the nearly $1 billion investigators said Saimaiti transferred out of the Central Asian nation. Critics of the commission say it failed to sufficiently investigate the evidence of corruption presented in the expose published by RFE/RL, OCCRP, and Kloop in November following Saimaiti's murder. Earlier in June, Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) claimed a reporter with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service had received money from Saimaiti but presented no evidence beyond hearsay testimony from two individuals, including a former ambassador currently in pretrial detention on abuse-of-office charges. RFE/RL strongly rejected the allegations. RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said at the time that they "appear to be the latest attempt in a long-standing campaign of retaliation against journalists by corrupt individuals seeking to protect their wealth and power." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/exclusive-records- reveal-money-trail-in-kyrgyz-corruption-scandal -saimati-matraimov/30696114.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. Georgian Lawmakers Approve Reforms To Parliamentary Election Process By RFE/RL's Georgian Service June 29, 2020 TBILISI -- Georgian lawmakers have approved a bill on election reforms following a foreign-brokered deal to change a system that opposition parties insisted unfairly favored the ruling party heading into elections this autumn. Lawmakers of opposition National Movement and European Georgia parties boycotted the June 29 parliamentary session, saying one of the conditions of the March 8 deal, namely the release of opposition figure Giorgi Rurua from pretrial detention, had not been met. Still, the bill was approved by 117 lawmakers, with three voting against it. The legislation takes effect once President Salome Zurabishvili signs it into law. The amendments outlined in accordance with the March 8 memorandum of understanding facilitated by U.S. and European Union officials, dictate that parliament consists of 120 members elected through a proportional voting system, while 30 members would be elected through a majority system. The electoral threshold for proportional elections will be set at 1 percent and a capping mechanism will mean that no single party receiving less than 40 percent of the votes cast will be allowed to hold a majority of seats in parliament. Under the current electoral system, 73 of 150 parliamentary seats are claimed by candidates who finish first in district races. The remaining seats are distributed proportionally in accordance with the national share of the vote that a party wins. This led to Georgian Dream, led by billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, holding three-quarters of the legislature's seats even though it won just under half of the popular vote. Opposition parties have insisted that three opposition figures, including Rurua, the founder and a shareholder of the opposition-aligned Mtavari Arkhi TV, must be released from custody in order to meet all the conditions of the March 8 deal. Georgian Dream has said the release of opposition figures from custody was not a condition of the agreement. In mid-May, President Zurabishvili pardoned two opposition politicians, Gigi Ugulava, the leader of the European Georgia party, who once served as Tbilisi Mayor, and former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, who leads the Victorious Georgia party. Many thought then that Rurua would also be released, but this has not happened. Rurua was arrested on November 18 and charged with illegally purchasing, possessing, and carrying a firearm, which he and his supporters have denied. Opposition parties insist that Rurua's arrest was politically motivated. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/georgian- parliament-approves-reforms-to-parliamentary- election-process/30696742.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. Kosovo's President To Address War Crimes Charges In Speech To Nation By RFE/RL's Balkan Service June 29, 2020 PRISTINA -- Kosovar President Hashim Thaci plans to address the nation on June 29 about the war-crimes charges filed against him, including crimes against humanity, stemming from Kosovo's war of independence in 1998-99. Thaci's office said it will distribute the president's pre-recorded speech to the media at 8 p.m. A special prosecutor's office in The Hague on June 24 announced the indictment alleging Thaci and another senior Kosovar politician, Kadri Veseli, are among those "criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders" and other wrongdoing involving "hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and including political opponents." Thaci commanded guerrilla forces under the banner of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) during the conflict. A pretrial judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague has until October to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for a trial based on the 10-count indictment, according to the statement from the Special Prosecutor's Office. Veseli has proclaimed his innocence, while Thaci said on Instagram on June 26 that "nobody can rewrite the history of Kosovo." He posted a photo of himself seated between his parents "in the homeland" on June 28. Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama on June 29 made an unexpected visit to neighboring Kosovo, which has a predominantly ethnic Albanian population, to meet with Thaci, Veseli, and other Kosovar leaders. After arriving in Pristina, Rama tweeted that the indictment was a "shameful stain of 21st century" world justice. After the indictment was announced, a planned meeting between the Kosovar president and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, at the White House was postponed. The meeting, which had been scheduled to take place on June 27, was aimed at kickstarting suspended talks on normalizing relations between the two neighbors. Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and is recognized by more than 110 countries, but not by Belgrade. On June 27, Kosovo's Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said his government remains "committed" to the normalization process with Serbia. Speaking to reporters after his return from Brussels, Hoti said he and the U.S. special presidential envoy, Richard Grenell, had agreed on "another date which will be soon" for the continuation of negotiations. Meanwhile, France and Germany have indicated their willingness to co-host a summit with the Kosovar and Serbian leaders in Paris. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo- war-crimes-thaci/30695906.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. Lawmakers Press For Briefing On Claims Russia Paid Bounties For Taliban To Kill U.S. Troops By RFE/RL June 29, 2020 Democratic and Republican lawmakers are demanding a full congressional briefing from top intelligence officials on reports that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. President Donald Trump has denied ever being briefed on the intelligence because he said intelligence officials did not find the bounty claims credible. The New York Times, which first reported on the alleged payments on June 26, said the president was told of the matter in March. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to the two top intelligence officials on June 29 demanding an immediate briefing for members of Congress. "The questions that arise are: was the President briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed," Pelosi, a Democrat, wrote on June 29 to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and CIA Director Gina Haspel. 'No Intelligence Consensus' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York) called on Ratcliffe and Haspel to "immediately" brief all 100 senators on the reports. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said a bipartisan group of key lawmakers will be briefed on the matter on June 29. McEnany insisted there was "no consensus in the intelligence community" regarding the reports, which were sourced to anonymous intelligence officials. She said there were "dissenting opinions" in the intelligence community. Even Republicans close to the president have demanded more information. Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, said Congress must understand the veracity of the reports. Representative Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, joined the panel's chairman, Democratic Representative Adam Smith, in demanding a Defense Department briefing. "The American people -- and our service members -- deserve to know the truth about what the White House knew about these Russian operations that may have directly resulted in the deaths of American service members," Smith said. 'Secret Russian Unit' The New York Times, citing anonymous U.S. officials briefed on the matter, reported that a secret unit of Russia's GRU military intelligence linked to assassination attempts in Europe and other activities offered rewards to Taliban-linked militants for successful attacks last year. The newspaper published additional information on June 28 saying U.S. intelligence and Special Operations forces in Afghanistan alerted superiors as early as January to the suspected Russian plot to pay bounties, citing officials briefed on the matter. The Washington Post reported on June 28 that the bounties are believed to have resulted in the deaths of several U.S. service members in Afghanistan. The New York Times separately reported that U.S. intelligence officials believe at least one American military death was linked to the alleged payments. The U.S. intelligence was gathered from interrogations of captured militants in recent months. Russia and the Taliban have denied the existence of any bounty to kill U.S. troops. The allegations come as the United States seeks to advance a nascent peace process in Afghanistan after signing a deal with the Taliban in February that could see U.S. troops leave the country next year. With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/lawmakers-press -for-briefing-on-claims-russia-paid-bounties-for- taliban-to-kill-u-s-troops/30697194.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. Explainer: Controversy Over Alleged Russian Bounties Puts Spotlight On Moscow's Motives, History In Afghanistan By Abubakar Siddique June 29, 2020 Controversy continues to mount over reports that Russian security officers allegedly offered bounties to the Taliban for the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Though U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that the intelligence reports were not deemed credible and the Kremlin and the Taliban have rejected reports alleging that officers of the GRU Russia's foreign military intelligence -- either paid or offered money for killing American soldiers, questions continue to surround the charges. Meanwhile, questions are being raised about the Kremlin's true motives in the war-torn country. Russia's Recent History, Initial Interests In Afghanistan Although no longer a direct neighbor, Russia shares a close recent history with Afghanistan. The Soviet Union's fateful decision to invade its impoverished southern neighbor in December 1979 is ultimately seen by many to have contributed to the collapse of communism and disintegration of the U.S.S.R. 12 years later. In the 1990s, a struggling Russia identified preventing terrorism, drug trafficking, and a spillover of the Afghan war into its Central Asian backyard as its main interests. It cooperated with and supported the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance to achieve these objectives. The Kremlin welcomed the demise of the Taliban regime as a result of a U.S.-led military attack in late 2001, which was prompted by the September 11 (9/11) terrorist attacks against the United States. "With regard to Afghanistan, Russia is guided by quite specific and pragmatic considerations of a strategic, political, and economic character, which, and this is fundamentally important, largely coincide with the real interests of Afghanistan itself," noted Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in an op-ed in early 2002. Why Did Russia Begin Competing With The United States In Afghanistan? For more than a decade after 9/11, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Washington and its transatlantic allies for taking on the "burden" of fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and urged them to "carry it to the end." But once major NATO combat operations ended in late 2014, the Kremlin moved toward undermining the U.S. mission in the country. The shift was partly fueled by Putin's desire to restore Russia's great power status, but it was mainly due to competition with the West in Ukraine and later in Syria, where Russia joined Iran in defending President Bashar al-Assad's regime. By late 2015, Zamir Kabulov, Putin's special envoy to Afghanistan, was openly touting contacts with the Taliban. He told Interfax in December 2015 that Moscow's interests in Afghanistan "objectively coincide" with those of the Taliban in fighting the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants, whom Moscow was battling in Syria. Some Russian officials claimed the Kremlin was sharing intelligence and exchanging information with the Taliban against IS. What Does Russia Want In Afghanistan? Counterterrorism ostensibly still tops Moscow's declared interests in Afghanistan. "The situation in Afghanistan has been one of the key items on our agenda with Washington since we launched the Russia-U.S. dialogue on counterterrorism in December 2018," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov told Interfax in May. He likewise celebrated the addition of the Afghan branch of IS, locally called IS Khorasan, to the UN Security Council's sanctions committee's list in May 2019 as a "good example of effective cooperation" with the United States. Russia and China have backed Washington's efforts to end the war in Afghanistan through negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Last month, the Russian Foreign Ministry celebrated a brief cease-fire on the occasion of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr and called for "removing all obstacles to a comprehensive settlement of the Afghan problem." But Hameed Hakimi, a research associate with the Chatham House think tank in London, says Russia is now bent on cultivating its own patronage networks in Afghanistan to gain advantage over the United States and China. "This is a departure from a brief period post-2001, U.S.-led military intervention in Afghanistan when there was a seeming convergence of interests between Moscow and Washington over 'stabilizing' Afghanistan," he told RFE/RL. Hakimi says Moscow is still worried about drug trafficking, the IS presence in Afghanistan, and threats aimed at its Central Asian allies. "It is also key for their wider regional influence over Central Asia, particularly Tajikistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan," he said. Is Russia Ready To Play A Larger Role In Afghanistan? Russia's covert efforts -- including its limited assistance to Kabul and possible contacts with the Taliban -- are unlikely to turn it into a major player in Afghanistan. Unlike Ukraine or Syria, the current Afghan government and even the Taliban are unlikely to request or welcome a Russian military presence in Afghanistan as the failed Soviet occupation of their country is still too fresh in the collective Afghan memory. For Moscow, funding another foreign military adventure at this time amid a growing coronavirus pandemic might prove too much. "Russia is likely to play a limited direct role in either the arming or the funding -- or both -- of the Russia-friendly forces within the Afghan armed and political groups," Hakimi noted. "But Russia is likely to remain a distant, albeit considerable, regional force in the ongoing problems involving Afghanistan with no appetite for a tangible direct presence [there]." Marvin Weinbaum, a former intelligence analyst at the U.S. State Department, agrees. He says Moscow is looking to boost its influence in the wake of an eventual U.S. withdrawal. "With an American disengagement, Russia recognizes an opportunity to exercise influence without incurring any major obligations in Afghanistan," he told RFE/RL. Is This Latest Controversy Integral To Shaping Afghanistan's Future? The controversy over the alleged Russian effort to foment Taliban attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan has highlighted the role of spoilers in continuing the four decades of fighting in the country. It shows the fragility of peace processes centered on diplomatic agreements and political bargaining. Weinbaum argues that the controversy is significant for its effect on current U.S.-Russian relations but will have a limited impact on Afghanistan. "Aside from making cooperation between the two states more difficult in promoting the Afghan peace process, it has little meaning for shaping Afghanistan's near future," he said. Hakimi adds that Moscow cannot currently undermine or surpass the military capacity of U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan. "Unless the Americans leave a sudden military and developmental-aid vacuum in Afghanistan, the impact of deteriorating U.S.-Russian relations will not be felt as strongly on the ground by Afghans," he said. Hakimi, however, sees a more pronounced regional impact. "For Afghanistan to improve its relations with the Central Asian neighbors -- particularly with Tajikistan -- the 'nod' from Russia is important," he said. "Afghanistan needs better regional connectivity and relations to ensure it can mitigate the next chapters of political and economic challenges." Hakimi cited peace talks with the Taliban, the further withdrawal of U.S. troops, and economic woes exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic as immediate key challenges in shaping Afghanistan's future. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/explainer-controversy -over-alleged-russian-bounties-for-taliban-to-kill- u-s-troops-puts-spotlight-on-moscow-s-motives- history-in-afghanistan/30697171.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. Kosovar President Vows To Resign If War-Crimes Charges Confirmed By RFE/RL's Balkan Service June 29, 2020 PRISTINA -- Kosovar President Hashim Thaci says he will "immediately resign" if a judge in The Hague confirm war-crimes charges filed against him, including crimes against humanity, stemming from Kosovo's war of independence in 1998-99. In a prerecorded address to the nation, Thaci rejected the "false" accusations against him and said: "My heart is hurt, but not broken. My mind weighs heavy, but is not bleary. My blood is heated, but clean," according to a transcript distributed by his office. He also vowed to consult with Kosovo's political leaders in the following days to discuss "the next steps." The Kosovar president delivered his address in the wake an indictment being announced by a special prosecutor's office in The Hague on June 24, alleging that Thaci and another senior Kosovar politician, Kadri Veseli, are among those "criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders" and other wrongdoing involving "hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and including political opponents." Thaci commanded guerrilla forces under the banner of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) during the conflict. A pretrial judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague has until October to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for a trial based on the 10-count indictment, according to the statement from the Special Prosecutor's Office. In his address to the nation, Thaci said "there has not been and could not be even a single piece of evidence" against him. He also blasted the prosecutor's decision to announce the indictment before it has been confirmed by the court, calling the move a "massive scandal." "No crime, alleged or even committed, by anyone, justifies public lynching," he added. Veseli has also proclaimed his innocence. Earlier in the day, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama made an unexpected visit to neighboring Kosovo, which has a predominantly ethnic Albanian population, to meet with Thaci, Veseli, and other Kosovar leaders. After arriving in Pristina, Rama tweeted that the indictment was a "shameful stain of 21st century" world justice. After the indictment was announced, a planned meeting between the Kosovar president and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, at the White House was postponed. The meeting, which had been scheduled to take place on June 27, was aimed at kickstarting suspended talks on normalizing relations between the two neighbors. Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and is recognized by more than 110 countries, but not by Belgrade. "I do not know whether it was chance or intrigue that, midway toward the White House, the notification for an unconfirmed indictment was released," Thaci said on June 29. Thaci said the meeting being called off was "a strong blow to the opportunity of achieving peace between Kosovo and Serbia." On June 27, Kosovo's Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said his government remains "committed" to the normalization process with Serbia. Speaking to reporters after his return from Brussels, Hoti said he and the U.S. special presidential envoy, Richard Grenell, had agreed on "another date which will be soon" for the continuation of negotiations. Meanwhile, France and Germany have indicated their willingness to co-host a summit with the Kosovar and Serbian leaders in Paris. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ kosovo-war-crimes-thaci-vows- to-resign/30695906.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. Kremlin Refutes Reports of Russia's 'Deal' With Taliban, Notes Trump Doesn't See Claims as Credible Sputnik News 10:09 GMT 29.06.2020(updated 10:40 GMT 29.06.2020) On Friday, The New York Times ran a story citing an anonymous source claiming that President Trump had received an intelligence report suggesting that Moscow paid the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan. The Taliban refuted the report and President Trump dismissed the claims saying he had never been presented with such intelligence data. The Kremlin has called media reports about bounties offered by Russia to Taliban militants in Afghanistan fake and noted the statement by US President Donald Trump, who said that intelligence told him such reports lacked credibility, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. "First of all, these allegations are false. Secondly, if the US intelligence continues to be accountable to the president, then I propose to focus on the relevant statements of President Trump, who has already commented on these reports", the spokesman stated. Peskov also expressed regret that a once-respected media outlet has been engaged in publishing hoaxes in recent years, negatively impacting its prestige and credibility. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump had not yet discussed the issue. The New York Times ran an article citing unnamed government sources as saying that Trump had been presented with an intelligence report that claimed that Moscow could have paid bounties to armed Islamic insurgents in Afghanistan to assassinate US soldiers. US President Donald Trump said he had been told by US intelligence that they did not find the reports about alleged Russian bounties credible. He previously stated that that nobody briefed him or Vice President Mike Pence on the alleged attacks on US troops in Afghanistan. Sputnik Moscow Sees Reports About 'Bounties' for Taliban as 'Blatant Lies' Refuted Even by Trump Sputnik News 08:08 GMT 29.06.2020(updated 08:18 GMT 29.06.2020) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia sees new media reports about its alleged bounties offered to Taliban militants in Afghanistan to kill US troops there as part of the US' domestic political fight, since forces interested in US military presence in the country use fake news to justify their failure, Russia's special presidential representative said. "We have already provided a comment on the New York Times' report. There is too much fuss over explicit fake news, which even Trump and his administration have refuted," Zamir Kabulov, Russia's special presidential representative for Afghanistan and the head of the Foreign Ministry's Second Asian Department, said. "This is a continuation of the intra-party fight. I think it would be shameful to spend too much time commenting on blatant lies. Obviously, there are forces in the United States that do not want to leave Afghanistan and seek justifying their own failure. This is what all this is about," the diplomat stressed. US President Donald Trump said earlier in the day that the US intelligence told him they did not find the reports credible. The US leader expressed the belief that the "fabricated Russia hoax" could be aimed at making "Republicans look bad." On Friday, The New York Times published an article where it cited unnamed government sources as saying that Trump had been presented with an intelligence report that claimed that Moscow could have paid bounty to armed Islamic insurgents in Afghanistan to assassinate US soldiers. Sputnik On the Passage of Georgian Constitutional Reform Press Statement Morgan Ortagus, Department Spokesperson June 29, 2020 The United States applauds Georgia's historic adoption of constitutional amendments that establish a more proportional electoral system. Enacted as a result of the important March 8 agreement among a majority of political parties, they will help promote greater stability and parliamentary pluralism in Georgia's October parliamentary elections. We urge Georgia's parliament to pass election reform legislation that fully incorporates OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, and Georgia's authorities to effectively implement such legislation. A key test for Georgia's democratic evolution will be the holding of a free, fair, and transparent electoral process that represents the choice of the Georgian people. The fairness of the pre-election and post-election periods is equally as important as the conduct of election day. The United States will continue to support Georgia's efforts to strengthen its democracy, electoral practices, and the rule of law, as well as its broader Euro-Atlantic aspirations, which are among the best defenses against Russian aggression. Israel's illegal annexation plans for Palestine, 'disastrous' for wider Middle East Bachelet 29 June 2020 - The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned Israel on Monday not to proceed along the "dangerous path" of annexing a swathe of occupied Palestinian territory, urging the Government to listen to its own former senior officials along with the "multitude of voices around the world". "Annexation is illegal. Period. Any annexation. Whether it is 30 per cent of the West Bank, or five per cent", Michelle Bachelet stated, adding that it would have "a disastrous impact on human rights" throughout the Middle East. She warned that if Israel goes ahead, the "shockwaves will last for decades." While acknowledging that the "precise consequences of annexation cannot be predicted", she upheld that they are likely to be disastrous for Palestinians, Israel itself and for the wider region. According to news reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set 1 July as the potential date to unilaterally annex parts of the occupied West Bank as Palestinians warn of a return to resistance, even violence. The UN rights chief cited the Secretary-General's call for Israel to abandon its annexation plans, saying that she backs that appeal "one hundred per cent." More hardship Noting other attempts to annex parts of the territory, Ms. Bachelet maintained that this latest move would will not only seriously damage peace efforts but may also "entrench, perpetuate and further heighten serious human rights violations, that have characterized the conflict for decades." As population centres become enclaves, in addition to restricting movement, significant tracts of private land could be illegally expropriated or become inaccessible for Palestinians to cultivate land they legally own. Moreover, Palestinians living within the annexed zone would experience greater difficulty accessing essential services like education and health, and humanitarian access may also be hindered. Palestinians would come under even heavier pressure to move out of the annexed zone, and entire communities that are currently not recognized under Israel's planning regime, would be at high risk of forcible transfer, according to the UN human rights office (OHCHR). And Palestinians outside the annexed zone risk seeing their access to natural resources cut off, their opportunity for natural growth removed and even their ability to leave and return to their own country, severely restricted. Meanwhile, settlements, which are already a clear violation of international law, will almost certainly expand, increasing the existing friction between the two communities, OHCHR pointed out. 'Combustible mix' Calling the situation "a highly combustible mix", Ms. Bachelet expressed deep concern that even the most minimalist form of annexation, would lead to increased violence and loss of life, "as walls are erected, security forces deployed, and the two populations brought into closer proximity." "The existing two-tier system of law in the same territory will become embedded, with devastating impacts on the lives of Palestinians who have little or no access to legal remedy", she asserted. The UN rights chief spelled out that under international humanitarian or human rights law, illegal annexation would not change Israel's obligations as the occupying power. "Instead", she said, "it will grievously harm the prospect of a two-State solution, undercut the possibilities of a renewal of negotiations, and perpetuate the serious existing human rights and international humanitarian law violations we witness today". In closing she maintained that "the shockwaves of annexation will last for decades, and will be extremely damaging to Israel, as well as to the Palestinians". "However", concluded the High Commissioner, "there is still time to reverse this decision". Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:38 pm Coronavirus cases in Lewis County have doubled in the past two weeks, but Im not surprised. Only a small percentage of people here have been wearing masks in public. Why should they? President Donald Trump doesnt. Neither does Lewis County Commissioner Bobby Jackson, who cited a medical issue and indicated others can do the same. And after Governor Jay Inslee last week issued a statewide public mask mandate to slow the spread of COVID-19, Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza told a group of 300 people gathered to defend the Hamilton billboard Dont be a sheep. Snazas comment propelled Lewis County into national headlines. We even made the Washington Post after our chief law enforcement officer advised citizens to in effect break the law. I dont expect law enforcement officers to arrest or cite people with a misdemeanor for not wearing masks. They have plenty of felons to catch and crimes to solve. Those opposing Inslees mask mandate insist its a violation of their rights. It takes away their choice. But so does the seatbelt law and the motorcycle helmet law. So do speed limits. They see the mask mandate as another example of the nanny state imposing laws that trample on personal freedoms. However, with freedom comes responsibility. Is it the governments responsibility to protect the public health and safety? Yes. Since early April the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that everyone wear a mask in public to slow the spread of COVID-19. We wouldnt need a mandate if people voluntarily wore masks. But many wont, despite repeated recommendations from the CDC, top epidemiologists, and finally last weekend, even the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Its fascinating to see the contortions people go through to prove the dangers of wearing masks. Facebook is filled with so-called experts a doctor here, a nurse there touting those dangers. Its not easy for some people to wear masks while exerting themselves. I found it especially difficult while climbing a hill during a walk with a friend. I stopped on the other side of the road and lifted the mask briefly to breathe better. Then I continued the uphill trudge. But if it protects my friend from a virus I may not know I have, its worth it. Could I refuse to wear the mask? Of course. Id even qualify for a medical excuse as I was diagnosed 25 years ago with Samters Triad, also known as Aspirin-Exacerbated Respiratory Disease. The triad consists of asthma, aspirin allergy, and nasal polyps. Ive undergone four sinus surgeries since 1995 to remove polyps that keep growing back. At times I find it tough to breathe. But my temporary discomfort pales when compared with the possibility that I might inadvertently infect another person, someone who may visit a grandmother or grandfather, an elderly World War II, Korean or Vietnam veteran, a friend undergoing cancer treatment. The shutdown of schools, businesses, churches and public venues earlier this year hurt so many economically, emotionally, spiritually. Its heartbreaking to see the spike of deaths locally in suicides and methamphetamine overdoses as people grapple with depression, despair and ongoing divisiveness over politics, race, and yes, masks. Now Inslee has paused reopening in Washington, and as cases increase, without social distancing and mask wearing, we may see more restrictions imposed. I realize the increase in positive COVID-19 cases locally represents only a tiny fraction of the countys population. Three people have died in Lewis County, 1,311 in Washington, 125,000 in the United States, 500,000 worldwide. How many people must die of coronavirus in this county before some people consider it consequential enough to wear masks, which have proven to be an effective deterrent in spreading the disease? I believe in protecting lives black, brown, white, elderly, children, young adults, unborn babies and wearing a mask is a simple way to do so. The Pollyanna in me wishes everyone would just band together for the greater good to rein in the spread of coronavirus. It could have happened under better leadership, especially in the White House. Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com Water cooperation between States 'key' to Blue Nile dam project 29 June 2020 - The Blue Nile is "critical for the livelihoods and development" of Egyptians, Ethiopians and Sudanese, the top UN official for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs told the Security Council on Monday, urging those States to reach a construction agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo underscored via videoconference that "transboundary water cooperation is a key element in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)". She also warned that "climate change, combined with projected demographic growth and socio-economic changes, will increase water management challenges worldwide". "Through the generation of hydroelectricity, the GERD will significantly boost Ethiopia's energy sources, allowing it to increase electrification, accelerate industrialization, and export excess electricity to the region", the top UN political official said. A controversial dam Stemming from the complicated water supply politics of the Nile States, the GERD has been a politically-charged issue in the region for years. When it merges with the White Nile in Khartoum, the Blue Nile contributes approximately 85 per cent to the volume of the main Nile River. Dam construction began on the Blue Nile, near the Sudan border in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region back in April 2011. Once completed, the $4.5 billion project will be Africa's biggest hydroelectric power plant. Concerned that the dam could decrease its water supply, depending upon how quickly it is filled, Egypt wants guaranteed access to adequate water if there is a drought while Ethiopia is filling the reservoir. Meanwhile, Ethiopia maintains that the dam could ultimately provide more electricity at a cheaper price, increase irrigation potential and reduce flooding to the Nile States. Settling the matter Since construction began, there have been several rounds of talks between Ethiopia and the downriver States of Sudan and Egypt. "To fully realize its benefits and mitigate potential negative effects on the downstream countries", Ms. DiCarlo commended the States involved for undertaking several "commendable initiatives over the past decade", including the 2015 Declaration of Principles on the GERD, in which the three countries committed to "cooperation, equitable and reasonable utilization, security, and the peaceful settlement of disputes". While trilateral discussions have been conducted, she noted that "the three riparian States were not able to reach agreement" on a text presented in February. However, they did appoint observers to the talks, including South Africa, the United States and the European Union. And on 26 June, at a session of the Bureau of the African Union (AU) Heads of State, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (Egypt), Prime Miister Abiy Ahmed (Ethiopia) and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (Sudan) agreed to an AU-led process to resolve outstanding issues. "The parties will meet over the next two weeks for this purpose", Ms. DiCarlo informed the 15-member organ, lauding the parties "determination to negotiate an agreement" and applauding the AU's efforts to facilitate the process. The remaining differences include the binding nature of an agreement, the dispute resolution mechanism and the management of water flow during droughts. UN participation While acknowledging that the UN has not participated in the GERD negotiations, the political chief assured that, "the Secretary-General is fully seized of this matter". If the parties "show the necessary political will to compromise", she upheld that differences can be overcome, and "an agreement can be reached", adding that the UN "stands ready to assist". In conclusion, Ms. DiCarlo said that cooperation is "the key to a successful collective effort to reduce poverty and increase growth, thus delivering on the development potential of the region". "We firmly hope that Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan will persevere with efforts to achieve an agreement on the GERD that is beneficial to all". White House Defends Trump Not Being Briefed on Russia 'Bounty' for US Soldiers By Steve Herman June 29, 2020 The White House is on the defensive about President Donald Trump not being briefed on reports that a Russian military intelligence unit offered bounties to Taliban militants in Afghanistan to kill U.S. soldiers. "It was not verified," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday when reporters asked why the president was not told of the information. "There were dissenting opinions within the intelligence community," she added. The White House did conduct a Monday afternoon briefing for eight House Republicans about the matter amid bipartisan calls by members of Congress for transparency. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to give the full 435-member House of Representatives a briefing on the issue. "Congress needs to know what the intelligence community knows about this significant threat to American troops and our allies and what options are available to hold Russia accountable," Pelosi said in a statement. Congress Calls for Probe Into Reported Russian Bounties on US Troops President Donald Trump said Sunday he was not briefed on reports because US intelligence sources did not deem them credible The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Mac Thornberry, told reporters Monday he also is requesting a briefing from the Defense Department. In the Senate, the minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said he wants all 100 senators briefed by the heads of the CIA and the director of national intelligence. "We need to know whether or not President Trump was told this information, and if so, when," Schumer said in a statement. Trump tweeted Sunday he was not briefed. "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP," the president said on Twitter, referencing Vice President Mike Pence. The New York Times was the first to report that U.S. intelligence officials had concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and covert operations in Europe aimed at destabilizing the West, had carried out the mission in Afghanistan last year and that he had been briefed about it in late March. According to The Washington Post, U.S. forces suffered 28 deaths from 2018 to 2020. An additional number of service members also died in attacks by members of the Afghan security forces, which may have been infiltrated by the Taliban, the newspaper reported. The intelligence originated with U.S. Special Operations forces in Afghanistan and was verified by the CIA, the Post said. According to a former National Security Council spokesman, Ned Price, "Only infrequently would the president be briefed on raw, uncorroborated intelligence" but according to the reports that is not the case with this information "gleaned from site exploration in Afghanistan, corroborated by detainee briefings and further corroborated by broader all-source collection and analysis." Price was among those who provided then-President Barack Obama with his daily intelligence briefing. Price also noted to VOA that various senior administration officials, including Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, "had staked out positions on how to respond to Russia. If this truly were raw, uncorroborated reporting, there wouldn't have been high-level policy discussions regarding a response." Both Russia and the Taliban deny the reports of the bounties, with the Kremlin calling them "baseless and anonymous accusations." Reaction from Taliban A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, rejected the report that the insurgents have "any such relations with any intelligence agency" and called the newspaper report an attempt to defame them. "These kinds of deals with the Russian intelligence agency are baseless our target killings and assassinations were ongoing in years before, and we did it on our own resources," he said. "That changed after our deal with the Americans, and their lives are secure, and we don't attack them." Earlier this year, the United States and Taliban signed an "agreement for bringing peace" to Afghanistan after more than 18 years of conflict. The U.S. and NATO allies have agreed to withdraw all troops by next year if the militants uphold the deal. A former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, Mick Mulroy, terms as disturbing the reports about Moscow paying a bounty to the Taliban, noting Russia is deemed an enemy of the United States in the U.S. national security strategy. "We do not want a war with Russia and we do not want to start killing each other's soldier, but there are some actions you can't accept," Mulroy, also a former CIA paramilitary officer, and currently an ABC News national security analyst, told VOA. "If we have solid evidence that this is being done and our forces are being killed, the gloves should be hitting the floor." VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Rocket Attack Kills 23 Afghan Civilians By Ayaz Gul June 29, 2020 A rocket attack on a crowded marketplace in Afghanistan's volatile southern Helmand province killed at least 23 civilians and injured 15 others on Monday. Residents reportedly accused Afghan security forces of firing the rockets in Sangin district during clashes with the Taliban. The governor's office in Helmand rejected the allegations and instead blamed the insurgent group for being behind the bloodshed. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousouf Ahmadi, denied the insurgent group's involvement. The Taliban controls or influences most of the territory in the largest Afghan province and regularly stages attacks on government forces. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office denounced the incident and urged the Taliban to quit violence in favor of peace talks. Monday's bombing took place a day after eight civilians were killed when a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle in Washir district of Helmand province. Last week, a roadside bomb in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killed two members of the national human rights commission, including a female donor coordinator. There were no claims of responsibility for that attack, though Afghan officials blamed the Taliban for planting the bomb. In recent days, the United Nations has repeatedly warned that the Afghan conflict is causing record levels of civilian casualties and has urged warring sides to begin long-awaited peace talks. The United States, meanwhile, has been pressing Afghan rivals to accelerate a prisoner swap to pave the way for intra-Afghan dialogue, the next crucial steps in a peace-building agreement Washington recently signed with the Taliban to end the war. Kabul has released around 4,000 Taliban inmates out of the promised 5,000 while the insurgents have freed more than 600 out of 1,000 Afghan security personnel in their custody. U.S. reconciliation envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated and sealed the landmark deal in February, began on Sunday another multi-nation visit to the region, including stops in Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Qatar, where the Taliban maintains its political office. Qatar's capital, Doha, is where the U.S.-Taliban deal was inked and the city will also be the venue for the intra-Afghan talks, which are expected to begin early next month. "At all three locations, Ambassador Khalilzad will urge support for all Afghans to meet their remaining commitments ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations, specifically reduced violence and timely prisoner releases," the U.S. State Department said in a statement Sunday. The State Department noted that the U.S. envoy and his delegation will also conduct meetings with Afghan officials throughout the trip remotely via video due to the challenges of travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Who Exactly is a Communist Rebel? Philippine Anti-Terrorism Act Has Answers By Ralph Jennings June 29, 2020 Legislators in the Philippines have passed an anti-terrorism law that broadens President Rodrigo Duterte's power to squelch armed rebels along with backers of the Communist party linked to a widespread violent struggle. The House of Representatives passed the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 in early June and Duterte has indicated he will sign it. Critics of Duterte, who's known for a deadly anti-drug crackdown since taking office in 2016, worry that authorities will interpret the law to stop any kind of dissent. People connected with the communists would be particularly targeted, analysts say. "It's very ambiguous, and it's also subject to abuse even if they have a provision there saying that rallies and criticisms against governments are not included, given that there's a very vague definition of terrorists and it's subject to a lot of interpretations," said Maria Ela Atienza, political science professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman. The 2020 act replaces a 2007 law by adding "proposal" to commit terrorism, along with training of terrorists as violations. It also expands the government's means of surveillance against suspected terrorists. Suspects can be held 14 days under the new law without an initial court appearance, and judges can give life prison sentences to people convicted of terrorism. The new act says terrorism means acting to kill or cause bodily harm to another person or attempting to take a life. It covers damage to public property as well, if done to spread fear. Authorities will use the law to go after the New People's Army, a branch of the Communist Party of the Philippines, analysts believe. The army operates mostly in rural areas where some among the poor favor communism. The army, believed to be about 4,000 strong, finds some of its recruits at universities. Insurgencies were taking place in 219 towns in 31 of the country's 81 provinces as of April 10, the Communist party said on its website. The army has killed about 30,000 people total over its 50-plus years and the party called off a cease-fire May 1. The government has already "targeted" hundreds of activists, farmers, environmentalists, trade union leaders and journalists among others "on suspicion of being communists or communist sympathizers," New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch says in a June 5 statement. Activists overall suddenly face a "real and grave threat", said Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the Manila-based Bagong Alyansang Makabayan alliance of leftist causes. Arrests can be made and bank accounts frozen on "mere suspicion", he said. "It's quite easy to do since critics are routinely branded as communist affiliated or front organizations of the communists," Reyes said. "It is going to extend to the legal activists and all other critics and even ordinary people." Manila's new act will "open the door to arbitrary arrests and long prison sentences for people or representatives of organizations that have displeased the president," Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director said in the statement. The Philippines is hardly alone in using the law to combat terrorism. Saudi Arabia's law came under fire in 2017 from the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights for targeting writers and human rights advocates over non-violent views. A law that Singapore rolled out in 2018 lets police ban reporting and posting videos from any terrorism scenes. Philippine officials show no sign so far of abusing the law, said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore's public policy school. Just one person has been convicted under the 2007 law, and legislators made a special point to exclude common rallies and protests from the 2020 act, Araral said. "They know the backlash against this bill, so I think they've done their job to make sure that civil rights are amply protected," he said. For Duterte, he added, "the purpose of this bill is really to give the government the tools to put a final end to the communist insurgency." Top UN Rights Official Warns of 'Disastrous' Consequences from Israel Annexation By VOA News June 29, 2020 U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned Monday the consequences of Israel's planned annexations in the West Bank are likely to be "disastrous" for Israel, the Palestinians and the region, and will "grievously harm the prospect of a two-state solution." In a statement, Bachelet said, "Annexation is illegal," and that any attempt to annex part of the occupied Palestinian territory is likely to prolong and make worse serious human rights violations that have been part of the conflict between the two sides for decades. "I am deeply concerned that even the most minimalist form of annexation would lead to increased violence and loss of life, as walls are erected, security forces deployed and the two populations brought into closer proximity," she said. "The existing two-tier system of law in the same territory will become embedded, with devastating impacts on the lives of Palestinians who have little or no access to legal remedy." Israel's new coalition government, sworn into office in mid-May and led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, plans to annex about 30% of the West Bank, including Israeli settlements and areas populated mainly by Palestinians. The government's plan does not have the full support of the Israeli public. Officials had signaled the move could come as early as Wednesday, but the timing of the final approval remains unclear. Palestinian officials have rejected Israel's plan and faulted the United States after President Donald Trump's administration gave Israel backing for annexation in the peace plan it released in January. Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War and has occupied it ever since. The Palestinians want the land to be part of their future state. China slaps sanctions on US troublemakers ahead of natl security law vote Global Times By Chen Qingqing and Zhang Hui Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/29 21:23:40 Beijing to vote on national security bill for HK on Tuesday Ahead of the final voting procedure to enact the national security law for Hong Kong, China announced visa restrictions on US personnel on Monday - a sign that China rejects firmly foreign interference in the Hong Kong affairs. Taking such concrete steps to accelerate the passage of the law while slashing US influence reflects China's unshakable determination to safeguard its sovereignty and national security, and China's will against US' ambitions to make Hong Kong a strategic Western chess piece, observers said. The Chinese government will impose visa restrictions on US personnel who have "behaved badly" on Hong Kong-related issues, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a routine press conference on Monday. The decision was announced following growing pressure from the US government on China over Hong Kong, as the US Senate recently passed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. The latest US act calls for mandatory sanctions against any person responsible for "undermining Hong Kong's autonomy." The Chinese countermeasure also comes ahead of the voting by China's top legislature body on the national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday. "The US attempt to block China's efforts to advance the national security legislation for Hong Kong through so-called sanctions is doomed to fail," Zhao said. When asked who would be targeted by China's new countermeasures, the spokesperson said that relevant people know who they are. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Friday visa restrictions on incumbent and former Chinese officials "responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong's freedoms," and their family members may also be affected. What Pompeo said drew a backlash from China, as authorities, including the Chinese Embassy in the US and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), strongly oppose the US act. Pompeo, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell and major sponsors of the Hong Kong-related acts could be on the list of China's visa countermeasures, according to Lu Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. The Hong Kong Autonomy Act was introduced by Chris Van Hollen, the Democratic senator from Maryland, and was co-sponsored by some major American hawks, who have long held a hostile attitude toward China, such as Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton. Also on the list could be some people from the US consulate general in Hong Kong, such as Julie Eadeh, its political unit chief, who frequently met with leaders of violent Hong Kong rioters like Joshua Wong and Martin Lee Chu-ming, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday. Some netizens also suggested including into China's sanction list other American hawks like Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio and Nancy Pelosi, considered "instigators" of chaos and disruption in the HKSAR. Some observers also noted that visa restrictions are just the beginning of the Chinese countermeasures to US sanctions, which would grow as long as the US imposes more sanctions. The scope of the visa restrictions would also include Hong Kong and Macao, Li said, as both the SARs are parts of China. Those who shelter and collude with the US personnel would likely be put on the sanctions list, observers said. Ready to vote The draft of the national security law for Hong Kong was submitted on Monday to the ongoing session of China's top legislature body, with more details of the law expected to be released soon. The new law will mention and define the specific targeted criminal activities which threaten national security. The upcoming law is justified as its political and legal legitimacy can stand the historical test, observers said. And it won't change the way people live in Hong Kong or deprive the legitimate rights they enjoy under "one country, two systems" and the Basic Law. Central authorities would only exercise criminal jurisdiction within a limited scope, while the majority of cases relevant to the anti-extradition bill movement would be handled by the Hong Kong law enforcement system, experts said. When it comes to penalties, some legal experts, echoing several Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) who suggested that those violating the law would face up to a 10-year jail term or longer, said any sentence would depend on the severity of the offense. Two experts who also took part in consultations for the law confirmed that the law would target only four types of crimes: acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities and collusion with foreign forces - while fully respecting the independent judiciary and law enforcement of the HKSAR and individual rights under the Basic Law. After the law is enacted, most Hong Kongers shall continue to enjoy a number of freedoms, including freedom of speech, of assembly, of demonstration, and freedom to strike. Though the upcoming law has not disclosed details on the four types of crimes, including the standards of conviction and relevant penalties, some Hong Kong media outlets, citing deputies and sources close to the matter, reported that the law won't have any retroactive effect, unless the criminal act is of a continuing nature, as more extreme activists and opposition group leaders showed concern over whether cases related to the anti-extradition bill movement since June 2019 would also be handled. Wong Kwan-yu, a Hong Kong deputy to the NPC, was quoted as saying in a report by hk01.com on Sunday that it is reasonable to impose a life sentence. Though there is no mention of any retroactivity in the upcoming law, if the cases involving riots go beyond the scope of local law enforcement agencies, they could be handled by central agencies, and the new law could apply retroactively to these cases, as the riots are not a past event but still ongoing, some legal experts suggested. Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, told media in a previous interview that mild offenses would carry a sentence of about three years, while more severe ones would entail jail terms of from five to 10 years. Details to come out "Any adjustment to the sentence would depend on the severity of the offense. The law should be a powerful deterrent, and the penalty should be balanced, as a felony can't be given a mild sentence," Tian Feilong, a Hong Kong affairs and legal expert at Beihang University in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday. The maximum sentence of the mainland's national security law is death, which would be used only as a reference by the national security law for Hong Kong. "The maximum sentence would be life imprisonment," Tian said. While some Western and local media outlets reported that the upcoming law would deter speech and critics, observers noted that the law won't punish those who criticize the government, unless they're subversive in nature. The law will punish very few types of severe criminal acts, some legal experts said. However, slogans and claims calling for "Hong Kong independence" and hatred toward the nation would not be tolerated. Other experts also suggested that when the law takes effect, chanting pro-independence slogans or songs during the protests such as 'liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times' or 'glory to Hong Kong' or waving foreign flags to beg for help from other countries during protests would be considered acts of secessionism, and those acts would be punished. Rumors rebutted Some extreme activists such as Wong and Lai would be the prime targets of the national security law for Hong Kong, who are likely to be arrested as soon as the law takes effect on Wednesday, some media reported, which some observers denied. "The law will require a full process of obtaining evidence... Some rumors are too exaggerated," Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan studies at Nankai University in Tianjin, told the Global Times on Monday. The majority of cases involving social turmoil since last summer would be handled by public security ordinances and other relevant laws in Hong Kong, while the new national security law for Hong Kong would only target those who continue to collude with foreign forces, Li noted. China announces visa restriction countermeasures on US personnel over HK issues Global Times By Chen Qingqing and Zhang Hui Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/29 17:45:35 The Chinese government will impose visa restrictions on personnel from the US who have "behaved badly" on Hong Kong-related issues, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a routine press conference on Monday. The decision was announced following growing pressure from the US government on China over Hong Kong, as the US Senate recently passed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. The latest act calls for mandatory sanctions against any person responsible for "undermining Hong Kong's autonomy." Hong Kong's national security issues are purely China's internal affairs, and no foreign country has the right to interfere in them, Zhao said. The determination of the Chinese government to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests is unshakeable, as is its determination to fully implement the "one country, two systems", and it firmly objects to any foreign interference in Hong Kong matters, Zhao told the press conference. "The US attempt to block China's efforts to advance the national security legislation for Hong Kong through so-called sanctions is doomed to fail," the spokesperson said. Given the above-mentioned wrongdoings from the US side, the Chinese government decided to slap visa restrictions on personnel from the US who have behaved badly on Hong Kong-related issues, Zhao noted. When asked who would be targeted by China's new countermeasures, the spokesperson remarked that the relevant people know exactly who they are. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Friday visa restrictions on incumbent and former Chinese officials "responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong's freedoms," and their family members may also be affected. What Pompeo said drew a backlash from the Chinese side, as authorities including both the Chinese Embassy in the US and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have voiced strong oppositions to the act. China's visa restrictions serve as a warning to the US, as the two sides are currently engaged in a diplomatic game. But if the US takes concrete steps, China will definitely respond in kind, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday. Pompeo, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell and major sponsors of Hong Kong-related acts could be on the list of China's visa restriction countermeasures, according to Lu Xiang, a research fellow on US studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. The Hong Kong Autonomy Act was introduced by Chris Van Hollen, Democratic senator of Maryland, and was co-sponsored by some major American hawks who have long held a hostile attitude toward China, such as Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton. Also on the list could be some people from the US consulate general in Hong Kong, such as Julie Eadeh, political unit chief of the consulate general, who frequently met with leaders of violent Hong Kong rioters including Joshua Wong and Martin Lee Chu-ming, Li said. These are just people on the "frontline," and some senior US officials who are directing from behind the "frontline" could also be on the list, Li said. However, experts said that details of China's countermeasures depended on the US, and those countermeasures will not exceed US restrictions or sanctions against China in scale and intensity, as China will not actively escalate the situation. Lu said that the Trump administration is unlikely to further expand sanctions on China, as it knows that expanding the China-US conflict will do no good to its election campaign and ultimately its interests will be hurt. Financial sanctions against China will greatly hurt the US' own interests in Hong Kong, he added. Exposed Australian spy activities against China just 'tip of the iceberg': Chinese FM Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/29 18:23:53 The exposed spy activities conducted by the Australian side, including the establishment of an intelligence station, spying on the Chinese embassy in Australia, and Australian diplomats engaging in espionage activities, are just the "tip of the iceberg" of the country's espionage offensive against China, said China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson. Zhao Lijian added that the intelligence cooperation of the "Five Eyes" alliance has long violated the rules of international relations, and has included large-scale, organized, and indiscriminate network eavesdropping, monitoring of foreign governments, enterprises and personnel. "This is a universally known fact," said Zhao. As an important member of the alliance, Australia has always been keen to carry out intelligence activities in the countries concerned. The situation that has been disclosed this time is probably just the tip of the iceberg, said Zhao. Zhao made the remarks after the Global Times published an exclusive report saying that Australia is waging an intensifying espionage offensive against China - sending agents to China to spy, gather intelligence and recruit assets, instigating defection among Chinese nationals, spying on Chinese students and organizations in Australia, feeding fake news to media to hype up the "China espionage theory" and in the early years even attempting to install wiretaps in the Chinese Embassy in Canberra. For a long time, people and media in Australia have been keen to hype the "Chinese infiltration theory" and "China espionage theory," but have never backed up their claims with solid evidence, said Zhao. He decried the fact that Australia, on the one hand, steals other countries' data and information at will, while on the other hand, fabricates rumors to make itself out to be a victim, revealing that the country has crossed the bottom line, and owes the Chinese people and the world an explanation. According to Zhao, China has unswervingly pursued the path of peaceful development, and unswervingly pursued a mutually beneficial and win-win strategy for opening to the outside world. China has no need or interest in interfering in other countries' internal affairs, said Zhao, noting that at the same time, the Chinese government's determination to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests is unswerving, as is its determination to oppose any external forces that interfere in China's internal affairs. Zhao urged some people in Australia to abandon their Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice and contribute more positive energy to the promotion of world peace, stability, mutual trust and cooperation between countries. O'Brien's China speech full of political lies: Chinese FM Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/29 18:14:49 The recent groundless accusations made by the US national security advisor Robert O'Brien against China's domestic and foreign policies was full of political lies and exposed the US' deep-rooted Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks during a routine Monday press conference in response to questions about the US politician's speech. The US president's national security advisor reportedly called the Communist Party of China a threat to the sovereignty and the economies of the US and its allies during his speech in the state of Arizona on Wednesday, among other hostile comments against China and the Party. The China-related remakes made by some US politicians go against the facts and violate the basic norms of international relations, Zhao said. Zhao said that the US side has been indifferent to its severe domestic problems, and instead points fingers at other countries, aiming to shift the US people's attention in order to cover up its own problems, adding that the Chinese people and international community are very clear about this. We urge the US side to immediately correct its mistakes and stop making wrong remarks concerning China and actions that undermine China-US relations and mutual trust and cooperation, Zhao said. CPC, central military commission to lead reserve forces Global Times By Liu Xin and Leng Shumei Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/29 22:45:22 The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Central Military Commission will lead reserve military forces starting July 1, in a move which analysts said will help bring out the best in reserve forces, especially in border areas of its Tibet and Xinjiang regions, improve combat capability and facilitate their cooperation with active-duty units. The decision, issued by the CPC Central Committee, was made public on Sunday, noting that reserve forces are an important part of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). The change in the leadership structure is aimed at upholding the CPC's absolute leadership over the army and building a strong military in the new era, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The PLA Daily released a commentary on Monday, vowing to implement the "crucial political move" of the CPC Central Committee. "Centralizing the leadership of reserve forces will make it easier to mobilize and manage reserve forces. They are important supplementary parts of active-duty military units," Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, told the Global Times on Monday. Some technicians of military enterprises are also reserve force members. They will provide technical and equipment support in times of war, Li said. Many reserve forces have their specialties. For example, military news outlet 81.cn reported on June 15 that Tibet has five militia groups involved in patrols, communication, engagements, and rapid response. And 20 personnel who are good at wrestling and unarmed combat from a fighting club are reportedly enrolled as members of the militia. The news has attracted attention from Indian media as they are giving rolling coverage of the border situation after the clashes in which at least 20 Indian soldiers were reportedly killed and there were also casualties on the Chinese side. Li said that reserve forces in China would not be normally mobilized until a large-scale local war breaks out. Existing Chinese military forces are enough to solve possible military conflicts, such as one between China and India over the border. Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times that China has always kept a close watch on the developments of reserve forces in the border areas, especially in the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as they are important parts of local military preparedness and battles against separatism. The PLA Tibet Military Command's reserve forces are an example. The militia have adjusted to the cold and thin air environment, and are superior in high-altitude warfare. Their special abilities will greatly help the PLA, Song noted. Reserve anti-aircraft artillery forces in these areas also enhance air defense, Song noted. China's current reserve forces are mainly composed of reserve military officers and soldiers as well as a small number of active-service military personnel. Reserve military officers are selected from eligible veteran officers, local officials, and officers in the people's armed force, militia cadres and related technical personnel. Reserve soldiers are selected from eligible veterans, trained grass-root militias and related local and military specialty personnel. Considering the large number of reserve forces, the military capability will be greatly enhanced once they are fully mobilized, experts said. Currently, the reserve forces are under the dual leadership of military organs and local Party committees. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:37 pm In my opinion, Sheriff Snaza has done a more than adequate job for our county. I agree and support what he has accomplished, up to this point. I voted for the guy, but he has publicly stated full intent to violate the law and will be refusing to wear a mask to protect others from him being a potential carrier of COVID-19. This will constitute a daily pattern of misdemeanor activity making him ineligible to be employed in the sheriffs department, per the standards of being employed according to the LCSO website. Two firmly stated reasons for ineligibility to be employed at the Lewis County Sheriff is Patterns of misdemeanor activity, and Vision, hearing or medical problems that potentially may endanger fellow employees, applicant, and/or citizens in the commission of duties. Underline potentially may endanger fellow employees and citizens. By not wearing a protective covering over his face all day, every day, he will accumulate 30 misdemeanors every month. I understand he says wearing a mask makes it hard to talk, is uncomfortable, to hot and an inconvenience, too bad. Doctors and nurses are wearing them daily and I have not read of any of them refusing to wear one for the reasons the sheriff presents to justify not doing so. It is also inconvenient for a citizen sick with coronavirus caused by others selfish neglect to be hospitalized and not be able to see their family, or die. Public Safety Through Professional Service is the header of the Lewis County Sheriff Department Mission Statement which further states, Welcome to the Lewis County Sheriffs Office. Our vision at the LCSO is to be committed to excellence in being a trusted, respected, and professional public safety agency. Being a committed community partner, providing professional service to enhance the safety, security, and quality of life in Lewis County is our mission. My questions for the sheriff are, Do you know for a 100 percent certainty you are not an asymptomatic carrier?, Have you been tested?, Do you still shake hands with others and ignore social distancing guidelines?, Do you wash your hands many times a day, disinfect your phones, desktop items, doors, mail, packages, and much more? Every day? Or is it too inconvenient and uncomfortable? We all have to do this together. Not just some of us or most of us. We do not have to like it, but it needs to be done. So, Sheriff Snaza, as one of your supporters respectful of your position, I implore you to do the right thing. Otherwise, you will be committing the pattern of misdemeanors disqualifying you from LCSO and your position of respect and leadership. The science is telling us recovery is not full recovery for some who have irreparable lung damage, thickened blood, clots and heart problems, when these people were previously healthy individuals. They got it from a COVID carrier. Do not infect others because you are uncomfortable wearing a mask. Rick Yearout Morton Chinese C919 aircraft begins high temperature test in Xinjiang Global Times Source:Global Times Published: 2020/6/29 13:49:24 China's first civil aircraft with its own intellectual property rights, the C919, started its high temperature operating test on Sunday and landed at Turpan Jiaohe Airport in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. According to media reports, an extreme weather test is compulsory for all planes still in the research and development stage in China and abroad. The C919, as a domestically produced large passenger plane, has to go through trials such as the high temperature test. The testing environment at Turpan Jiaohe Airport can reach 42 degrees Celsius and 70 degrees on the ground. Turpan is one of the hottest places in China in the summer, thus it offers the best environment for high temperature aircraft testing. The C919 aircraft will also undergo its flying tests there. The C919 is a narrow-body jet developed by Chinese aerospace manufacturer the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). Its development was launched in 2008 and production of a prototype began in December 2011. PLA to conduct military exercises in waters off Xisha Islands PLA Daily Source: China Military Online Editor: Chen Zhuo 2020-06-29 10:59:08 BEIJING, June 29 -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is going to conduct military exercises in waters off China's Xisha Isands from July 1st to 5th, according to a navigation warning released by the Hainan MSA Bureau on June 27 on the website of the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) of the People's Republic of China. The No. 0059 Navigation Notice 'Military Exercise in Waters Around The Xisha Islands' reads that there will be military training exercises in the waters off the Xisha Islands from 0000 hours on July 1st to 2400 hours on July 5th Beijing time. During the period, no vessel shall be allowed to navigate within the above lines and all vessels have to follow the guidance of the commanding ship on site. The details are as follows: HN0059 SOUTH CHINA SEA, MILITARY EXERCISES IN AREA BOUNDED BY THE LINES JOINING: A:17-16.12N/111-24.65E B:18-02.19N/112-59.45E C:16-58.63N/113-48.37E D:16-29.12N/113-44.93E E:15-41.19N/112-38.17E F:16-03.58N/111-26.69E. FROM 301600UTC JUN. TO 051600UTC JUL, ENTERING PROHIBITED. HAINAN MSA CHINA. China to adjust leadership structure for reserve forces PLA Daily Source: Xinhuanet Editor: Li Jiayao 2020-06-29 02:45:06 BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- China's reserve military forces will be brought under the centralized and unified command of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Central Military Commission starting from July 1, according to a decision issued by the CPC Central Committee. Currently, the reserve forces are under the dual leadership of military organs and local Party committees. Noting that reserve forces are an important part of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the decision, which was made public on Sunday, said the adjustment in the leadership structure is aimed at upholding the CPC's absolute leadership over the army and building a strong military in the new era. It calls on relevant military and civilian units to take active and coordinated measures to implement the changes to the leadership structure. Chinese lawmakers deliberate draft national security law for Hong Kong in group discussions PLA Daily Source: Xinhuanet Editor: Huang Panyue 2020-06-29 09:36:39 BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers Sunday held group discussions to deliberate a draft law on safeguarding national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), during an ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, joined lawmakers in discussion. Members of the NPC Standing Committee, some NPC special committee members and NPC deputies, including deputies from the HKSAR, joined the deliberation. The draft law and a deliberation report, which were submitted by the NPC Constitution and Law Committee to the session, have had opinions from all sectors, including those from people of all walks of life in Hong Kong, fully studied and solicited, embodied the spirit of the related NPC decision and responded to the concerns of related parties, lawmakers said. The draft, under the second reading at the session, has more accurate descriptions and more targeted and executable measures, and is in line with the actual situation in the HKSAR, they said. Lawmakers called for prompt efforts to adopt the law and promulgate and enact it in the HKSAR, which will effectively fix the legal loopholes, lack of related systems and the weak links for the HKSAR to safeguard national security, effectively combat related criminal acts and activities and safeguard national security, as well as help maintain the prosperity and stability of the HKSAR, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of HKSAR residents. China to slap visa restrictions on Americans over Hong Kong Iran Press TV Monday, 29 June 2020 10:47 AM China says it will slap visa restrictions on Americans with bad records in Hong Kong-related issues, criticizing Washington for attempts to throw a wrench in a national security law planned to be introduced in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. "China has decided to impose visa restrictions against American individuals who have behaved egregiously on matters concerning Hong Kong," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a press briefing on Monday. The move comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that it was restricting US visas for a number of unspecified Chinese officials for allegedly infringing on the autonomy of Hong Kong. The spokesman did not specify which US individuals have been targeted. "The US is attempting to obstruct China's legislation for safeguarding national security in the HK SAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) by imposing the so-called sanctions, but it will never succeed," he told reporters. "In response ... China has decided to impose visa restrictions on US individuals with egregious conduct on HK related issues," Lijian said. The announcement comes as China's parliament the National People's Congress Standing Committee is looking into the national security bill drafted with the aim of countering sedition, secession and subversion in Hong Kong against the mainland. Reports say the bill has overwhelming support among the Chinese legislators. Several protests have been held in Hong Kong over the past week against the draft law. Washington has openly voiced support for the anti-Beijing demonstrations, angering China. Last week, the US Senate approved a bill that would impose mandatory sanctions on people or companies that, Washington claims, back efforts to restrict Hong Kong's autonomy. It includes secondary sanctions on banks that do business with anyone backing any crackdown on the territory's autonomy. HK police make 53 arrests during unlawful march against natl. security law Iran Press TV Monday, 29 June 2020 6:05 AM Police in Hong Kong have made dozens of arrests as clashes break out during a protest against a national security law planned to be introduced by mainland China in the semi-autonomous region. Hundreds of people marched through the Kowloon district of Hong Kong amid tight security on Sunday, as China's legislature the National People's Congress began to review the draft law designed to forbid sedition, secession and subversion against the mainland. The gathering, however, turned violent later as the demonstrators failed to heed police warnings to end the unauthorized march and began shouting slogans at the security forces in what was supposed to be a "silent protest." The protesters later engaged in scuffles with police, prompting the security forces to respond with pepper spray. Police later said 53 people had been arrested and charged with unlawful assembly. They added that some protesters had attempted to blockade roads in the area. A day earlier, police had refused to grant permission for an annual march usually held on July 1 to mark Hong Kong's return in 1997 from British to Chinese rule, citing a ban on large gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic. The protest was held as the National People's Congress Standing Committee took up the bill at the start of a three-day session. Chinese media reported that lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the draft law. Beijing has said it is determined to enact the law, with its passage expected by Tuesday. Critics call the proposed legislation the culmination of a long-term erosion of the "One Country, Two Systems" law, under which Hong Kong is allowed some autonomy. Beijing has, however, dismissed that view, assuring Hong Kong's residents that the law grants the mainland special jurisdiction over "some extremely rare" security cases there. Earlier this month, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said the law will "be like installing anti-virus software into Hong Kong, with 'One Country, Two Systems' running more safely, smoothly and enduringly." The proposed legislation follows months of protests eventually ended by the pandemic that began last summer after Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam introduced a measure that would have allowed the extradition of some criminal suspects to China. Lam pulled the bill, but protests continued with demonstrators calling for her resignation and a probe into police brutality. Forced Population Controls Targeting Uyghurs in Xinjiang Likely Amount to Genocide: Report By Joshua Lipes 2020-06-29 -- Forced sterilizations and abortions targeting Uyghurs in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have dramatically increased in recent years and likely constitute a government-led campaign of genocide under United Nations' definitions, according to a report released Monday. While China's government has long controlled reproductive rights in the country, restrictions in the XUAR significantly intensified around the same time a campaign of mass incarceration was launched in the region in April 2017, German researcher Adrian Zenz said in a new report titled, "Sterilizations, IUDs, and Mandatory Birth Control: The CCP's Campaign to Suppress Uyghur Birthrates in Xinjiang." Since then, Uyghur women with two or more children have increasingly been subjected to heavy fines, required to submit to pregnancy tests and examinations, and forced to implant intrauterine devices (IUDs) or undergo sterilization surgeries, the report said. Those who refuse are regularly detainedper explicit government directionsin the region's network of internment camps, believed to hold up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. Population growth in the XUAR fell by 84 percent in the two largest Uyghur prefectures from 2015 to 2018, and declined further in 2019, according to Zenz, a senior fellow in China Studies at the Washington-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and one of the world's foremost experts on mass incarcerations in the region. Zenz drew from a sizable cache of official documents to compile the report, as well as interviews with former internment camp detainees. He cited a 2019 memo detailing a campaign of mass female sterilization in rural Uyghur regions that targeted between 14 and 34 percent of all married women of childbearing age in two Uyghur counties that year. He said the project had sufficient funding for performing "hundreds of thousands" of operations to tie the fallopian tubes of women in the region in 2019 and 2020. "By 2019, Xinjiang planned to subject at least 80 percent of women of childbearing age in the rural southern four minority prefectures to intrusive birth prevention surgeries (IUDs or sterilizations), with actual shares likely being much higher," the report said. A year earlier, 80 percent of all new IUD placements in China were performed in Xinjiang, despite the fact that the region only makes up 1.8 percent of the nation's population. Zenz notes that from 2015 to 2018, more than 1.2 million new residents were added to the XUAR's Han Chinese majority regions, and by the end of that period, population growth rates in these regions were nearly eight times higher than the surrounding rural Uyghur regions. He said the figures suggest "Beijing is doubling down on a policy of Han settler colonialism." 'Campaign of genocide' Zenz warned that growing disparities between Uyghur and Han population rates, the apparent impact of the internment policy, and what documents suggest is a campaign of mass sterilization in at least two Uyghur regions "should give the global community major cause for concern." "The population control regime instituted by CCP authorities in Xinjiang aims to suppress minority population growth while boosting the Han population through increased births and in-migration In tandem, these three strategies appear to undergird a wider game plan of ethno-racial domination," he said. "These findings raise serious concerns as to whether Beijing's policies in Xinjiang represent, in fundamental respects, what might be characterized as a demographic campaign of genocide," Zenz concludes, citing Article II of the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which includes "imposing measures intended to prevent births within the [targeted] group." Zenz's report, published by the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, appears to confirm earlier reports by RFA's Uyghur Service of former camp detainees, including one named Tursunay Ziyawudun who last year said she and others held at the camps were routinely made to take medication that affected their reproductive cycles or subjected to forced sterilization. Another, Zumuret Dawut, told RFA she and her husband were fined 18,000 yuan (U.S. $3,000) for their third child who was born outside of the family planning limit, but said she was made to first undergo sterilization despite paying it. Widespread condemnation Monday's report drew an immediate condemnation from Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who dismissed the claims as "baseless" and suggested that the international media was "cooking up false information on Xinjiang-related issues" when the region is "harmonious and stable." But U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has repeatedly spoken out against abuses in the XUAR, wrote in a tweet that Washington "condemns the use of forced population controls against Uyghur and other minority women and calls on the CCP to cease its campaign of repression," adding that, "history will judge how we act today." In a statement issued by the State Department later on Monday, Pompeo called Zenz's findings "disturbing," although "sadly consistent with decades of CCP practices that demonstrate an utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and basic human dignity." "We call on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately end these horrific practices and ask all nations to join the United States in demanding an end to these dehumanizing abuses," he said. The report also prompted a tweet from the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), which called forced sterilizations and coercive population control methods "an appalling reminder of the #Chinese govt's efforts to repress #Xinjiang's ethnic minorities." "The Chairs condemn the unacceptable violence against #Uyghur women & call for @UN discussion of crimes against humanity," the tweet said, referring to Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Representative Jim McGovern, a democrat from Massachusetts. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)a group of lawmakers from North America, the European Union, and Australia from a range of political partiessaid in a statement it would request that the U.N. conduct an urgent probe into the treatment of Uyghurs and for appropriate courts to determine whether it constitutes crimes against humanity or genocide. Call for action The Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) exile group said that the international community can no longer stand by while evidence mounts against the Chinese government of its rights violations in the XUAR. "The findings of this report confirm what many Uyghurs have dreaded for the past three years: the Chinese government is trying to erase us," WUC president Dolkun Isa said in a statement. "Not just our language, history, culture, religion, and ethnic identity, but us as people. We have to be direct and honest about what we are experiencing. This is genocide." Zenz's report comes less than two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump enacted the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (UHRPA), which passed nearly unanimously through both houses of Congress at the end of May. The legislation highlights arbitrary incarceration, forced labor, and other abuses in the XUAR and provides for sanctions against Chinese officials deemed responsible for them under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Congress may also soon debate new legislation which would prohibit imports from the XUAR to the U.S. amid growing evidence that internment camps in the region have increasingly transitioned from political indoctrination to forced labor, with detainees being sent to work in cotton and textile factories. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, introduced in March, would block imports from the region unless proof can be shown that they are not linked to forced labor. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content June not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. US to End Exports of Defence Equipment, Sensitive Technologies to Hong Kong, Pompeo Says Sputnik News 20:09 GMT 29.06.2020(updated 21:07 GMT 29.06.2020) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier denounced Beijing for "decreeing an end to freedom in Hong Kong", warning that the United States will treat Hong Kong as "just another piece of mainland China", since the Chinese Communist Party appears to treat the region in the same way. Mike Pompeo tweeted that the United States will end its export of defence equipment and "sensitive US Commerce Department-controlled dual-use technologies" to Hong Kong, adding that "if Beijing now treats Hong Kong as "One Country, One System, so must we". In his statement, Pompeo claimed that the action was taken to "protect US national security". "The United States is forced to take this action to protect US national security. We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the People's Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the CCP by any means necessary", the statement said. Pompeo added that additional measures by the Trump administration against Hong Kong will "reflect the reality on the ground in Hong Kong". US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross echoed the warnings, announcing in his statement the suspension of "regulations affording preferential treatment to Hong Kong over China". "Commerce Department regulations affording preferential treatment to Hong Kong over China, including the availability of export license exceptions, are suspended. Further actions to eliminate differential treatment are also being evaluated. We urge Beijing to immediately reverse course and fulfill the promises it has made to the people of Hong Kong and the world", the statement read. The announcement came after Pompeo warned that Washington would "move away" from agreements that the US has with Hong Kong that are "different from those we have with Beijing". Pompeo has repeatedly insisted that the US will treat Hong Kong in the same way that it treats mainland China, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. "President Trump has made very, very clear to the extent that the Chinese Communist Party treats Hong Kong as it does Shenzhen and Shanghai, we will treat them the same. We have many agreements that are unique between the United States and Hong Kong, separate and different from those we have with Beijing. We will move away from every one of those", Pompeo said at a virtual conference at the 2020 Copenhagen Democracy Summit. Another spike in tensions between the US and China came after Beijing introduced new legislation for Hong Kong envisaging imprisonment and penalties for subversive activity and attempts to undermine state authority. The new law was met by waves of protests and condemnation from the United States. Denouncing the US measures, Beijing has repeatedly said that the use of Hong Kong is a part of China's internal affairs and must not be interfered with. A Sputnik Pompeo: US Condemns China Over Reports of Forced Sterilization Against Uighurs Sputnik News 19:30 GMT 29.06.2020(updated 20:59 GMT 29.06.2020) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling on China to "cease its campaign of repression" against "Uyghur and other minority women." The Trump administration official took to Twitter on Monday to issue Washington's condemnation of the reported forced sterilizations, forced abortions and coerced use of intrauterine devices (IUDs) among Uighurs. This comes hours after the Associated Press, citing an advanced copy of research conducted by China scholar Adrian Zenz, reported that the Chinese government has been carrying out practices of forced birth control in order to curb the Muslim population in Xinjiang, China. "This kind of drop is unprecedented. ... there's a ruthlessness to it," the researcher asserted. "This is part of a wider control campaign to subjugate the Uighurs." "The world received disturbing reports today that the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] is using forced sterilization, forced abortion, and coercive family planning against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang, as part of a continuing campaign of repression," Pompeo said in a statement posted by department's website on Monday. "German researcher Adrian Zenz's shocking revelations are sadly consistent with decades of CCP practices that demonstrate an utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and basic human dignity. We call on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately end these horrific practices and ask all nations to join the United States in demanding an end to these dehumanizing abuses." The report noted that despite the nationwide decrease in sterilization and IUDs, their use has increased "sharply" Xinjiang. The Chinese Foreign Ministry slammed the report as "fake news," and spokesman Zhao Lijian told AP that all those in the country, "regardless of whether they're an ethnic minority or Han Chinese, must follow and act in accordance with the law." A Sputnik China to Introduce Visa Restrictions on US Officials Meddling in Hong Kong Affairs - Ministry Sputnik News 07:50 GMT 29.06.2020(updated 09:07 GMT 29.06.2020) Earlier, China's Embassy in the United States called on Washington to lift the newly introduced visa restrictions for Chinese officials over the situation in Hong Kong. China has decided to impose visa restrictions on Americans who interfere in Hong Kong affairs, Zhao Lijian, the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Monday. "Of course, this is a new measure. We decided to impose visa restrictions on American people who are ill-intentioned on the issue of Hong Kong", Zhao Lijian said at a briefing. When asked which officials exactly the restrictions target, Zhao said that they "knew this themselves, instinctively." The Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesman stressed that Hong Kong's security was a matter of China's domestic policy exclusively, warning against interference. Earlier, the United States imposed visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials for allegedly undermining Hong Kong's autonomy. In late May, US President Donald Trump said his administration would sanction Hong Kong government officials as well as Chinese officials who are directly or indirectly involved in the erosion of the region's autonomy. Trump also said the United States would begin a process to eliminate policy exemptions that provide Hong Kong with special treatment on trade, technology, and other matters. A Sputnik Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:36 pm Hooray. Citizens of Lewis County can breathe safely once again. Inhale, pause and exhale. Our esteemed sheriff and a band of merry men, super geniuses, the lot of them, have declared the countys most precious asset safe from harm. Yes, its true. There was a rumor that the scourge of all humanity, the dreaded Anti-Fascists were going to attack our most valued monument, the Uncle Sam billboard near I-5 exit 72. It just makes ones heart beat a little faster that the sheriff had the courage to rally hundreds of gun toting super patriots in defense of a sign located on private property. A neighbor reported driving by the gathering and noting the weapons on display. They also reported that there were four squad cars parked at the intersection of Rush Road and Jackson Highway another approach to the beloved monument. What a great use of our countys law enforcement personnel and budget. People cant be too careful when it comes to those Anti-Fascists. Back on June 6, 1944 thousands upon thousands of them swarmed ashore on the beaches in Normandy, France, unasked for by those folks that our sheriff apparently supported, the spiritual grandfathers of todays pro-fascists, the Nazis of Adolf Hitler. Lets make no mistake. Anti-Fascists are American citizens people opposed to facism and Nazism. People opposed to Anti-Fascists have self identified as Pro-Fascist. No amount of spin and twisting of truth can alter that fact. Fascism is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, and forcible suppression of opposition. In America, the home of the brave land of the free, Fascism should be everything we all stand strong against. Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower were Anti-Fascists. So was the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marines. At the time of WWII, America was overwhelmingly Anti-Fascist. There was however a movement known as the Silver Shirts who were proudly Fascist. There was a branch of the Silver Shirts in Washington, and a group gathering in Chehalis made it to the pages of Life Magazine. Nowadays it seems that the Silver Shirts have been reborn in Lewis County, and our sheriff appears to be proud to stand at their front. Alan Mahood Chehalis Beijing Expresses Protest Over US Exerting Pressure on Chinese Firms - Foreign Ministry Sputnik News 04:47 GMT 29.06.2020 BEIJING (Sputnik) - Beijing expresses its resolute protest against the US exerting pressure on Chinese companies and calls on Washington to stop such a practice, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's press service said on Monday amid reports of possible US sanctions against a number of Chinese firms. "As for the unreasonable pressure that the US side exerts on Chinese enterprises, we have repeatedly expressed our position. We would like to emphasize again that the United States, again and again, generalizes the concept of national security, abuses state power and exerts pressure on individual Chinese enterprises, all this goes contrary to the principles of a market economy, which the US has always praised. China expresses strong opposition to this," the spokesperson said. The Chinese Foreign Ministry noted that Beijing urged Washington to stop pressuring their companies, as well as to provide fair conditions for the smooth operation of Chinese firms in the United States. Last week, the US Department of Defence released a list of 20 Chinese companies allegedly owned or controlled by Communist China's military and operate in the United States. The possible sanctions could be imposed against tech giant Huawei, Hikvision, as well as mobile operators China Mobile and China Telecom. A Sputnik Experts: New National Security Law Likely to Expand China's Control Over Hong Kong By Verna Yu June 29, 2020 China's top law-making body is expected to pass a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday a move that many critics and ordinary Hong Kongers fear will empower the Communist Party to tighten its control and threaten the unique status of the freest city on Chinese soil. In the wake of the yearlong protests in Hong Kong sparked by a controversial extradition bill that could see individuals sent to China for trials, China has repeatedly told Hong Kong leaders to enact legislation to plug the "loophole" of national security. In October, China's Communist Party leaders unveiled steps to "safeguard national security" in Hong Kong. In late May, China shocked many by announcing it would impose a sweeping national security law through an annex of the city's mini-constitution, the Basic Law. China's top legislative body, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, has been holding a three-day deliberation on the security law since Sunday. The law is expected to pass on Tuesday. Although Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997, its post-handover mini-constitution, the Basic Law, safeguards the city's basic freedoms and civil liberties, as well as the rule of law, according to the common law tradition. Human rights and legal experts say the details of the national security law released so far by the Chinese state media contain a series of draconian measures that allow the Chinese authorities the right to exercise jurisdiction "under special circumstances" over what they call "a minority" of national security cases, as well as the power to detain and try suspects. The national security law, according to the draft law, is also supposed to override Hong Kong legislation "should conflicts arise," while the power of interpreting the new law is vested in the National People's Congress Standing Committee. "The authorities' assertion that the national security law will only affect a tiny minority is hardly reassuring when the law includes repressive measures that could be used to target literally anyone the government chooses," said Joshua Rosenzweig, head of Amnesty International's China section. Critics say the law would quickly sabotage Hong Kong's rule of law and its safeguards of civil liberties and human rights the cornerstones of its success as a bustling Asian financial hub. Some predict this will trigger the city's quick demise. They also decry the lack of clear definition over what activities constitute national security crimes and say the power granted to the Chinese security authorities would essentially enable them to take over any case they wish. According to a summary of the draft, punishment would be handed down for offenses relating to secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, but no further details have been given so far. On the eve of the law's expected passage, Hong Kong's NOW TV reported that the maximum penalty for secession and subversion would be a life sentence. Ching Cheong, a veteran Hong Kong journalist and political commentator who had been jailed for three years in China, said the national security law is foisting upon Hong Kong the ideology, thinking and behavior patterns of the Communist Party. "The four crimes secession, subversion, terrorism, collusion with foreign powers that the law punishes are determined purely on the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party," he said. "Under the 'one-party dictatorship,' the party and the state are integrated, so criticizing the Communist Party is tantamount to subverting state power. "But in any normal society, criticizing the ruling party or requesting it to step down should not constitute a crime," he said. Also, according to the draft law, Hong Kong will set up a new national security commission headed by its Beijing-appointed top leader, which will be supervised by the Chinese government. China will also establish an agency to analyze the national security situation in Hong Kong and "monitor, supervise, coordinate and support" the local government's efforts, collect intelligence and handle relevant cases. Chinese security agents, which it says are required to follow Hong Kong laws, also will be stationed in the city to deal directly with some cases there. The new law would also grant power to Hong Kong's top leader to choose judges to handle national security cases in the city a move criticized by legal experts and rights groups as undermining the principle of the rule of law and impeding the independence of the judiciary. Hong Kong's pro-Beijing media has also reported the law would include the establishment of special detention centers where suspects in national security cases can be held indefinitely. Pro-Beijing politicians said individuals who breach the security law could also be extradited to China where courts have a conviction rate of over 99%. Other details known so far include the creation of a special police unit to enforce the national security law and a special prosecution unit created by the city's department of justice for national security crimes. The law also would require the Hong Kong government to strengthen supervision and management of schools and other organizations on matters relating to national security. Martin Flaherty, a visiting law professor at Princeton University who specializes in human rights issues in China, said he was concerned that the China-designed law would threaten Hong Kong's judicial independence, traditionally a pride of the former British colony. "The transferring from one jurisdiction to the other means precisely moving from an independent judiciary to one that is constructed to carry out the wishes of the Party and the government," he said. Flaherty, who has researched China, Northern Ireland and Turkey, believes that Beijing "is perhaps ironically imitating the very bad precedent of many Western nations of setting up a separate and draconian judicial system." But he stressed that such a law would be "much worse" under the Chinese regime because "it lacks the basic forms of constitutional limits, separation of powers, an independent judiciary, and the basic idea that the rule of law should constrain government and the party." "The results are there for all to see: the crushing of dissent of any sort, incarceration, torture, trials with preordained results, and the brutal intimidation of lawyers who seek to defend those accused of amorphous laws," he said of China. "This type of system is established for the ostensible purpose of national security, but is really designed to get easy convictions," he said, adding that it would undermine due process protections, target the political opposition, and often end up radicalizing the population. Green Party Surges in France's Local Elections By Lisa Bryant June 29, 2020 Some are calling it an historic moment for France's Greens party, others for the environmental movement in general. The Greens went from controlling just one major French city Grenoble to capturing a string of other large and mid-sized towns, including Bordeaux, Lyon, Strasbourg and Besancon. "What changed this election, the most important idea is ecology," said Maud Lelievre a spokeswoman for Les Eco Maires, a group of environmentally minded local officials across France. She believes coronavirus and the lockdown helped reshape people's priorities. Lelievre said it's more important for people, for climate, for biodiversity, for food. But turnout was low, with just 40% of France's electorate casting ballots. Greens party lawmaker Yannick Jadot hailed the victory, saying the environment and solidarity drove the vote. He said he hoped President Emmanuel Macron got the message. The vote was indeed a blow for President Macron, who faces re-election in two years. His young, centrist Republic on the Move party has yet to gain a strong local foothold. Critics say Macron has failed to deliver on his environmental promises, including fighting climate change. On Monday, Macron promised nearly $17 billion in new climate-related financing. He is also expected to reshuffle his cabinet in the coming days. That might include ousting his popular prime minister, Edouard Philippe, who scored one of the government's rare victories in being elected mayor of the northern city of Le Havre. In Paris, Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo won by a wide margin, with support from the Greens. Hidalgo's push to make the capital bike and pedestrian friendly has been divisive but it seems to have paid off. France's far right National Rally party scored one major victory, winning control of the southern city of Perpignan. U.S. Dismisses Iran Arrest Warrant For Trump Over Soleimani Killing As 'Propaganda Stunt' By RFE/RL June 29, 2020 Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump and 35 others over the drone killing of its top general, Qasem Soleimani, in what a U.S. official dismissed as a "propaganda stunt." Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on June 29 that Trump and the others, who he said included U.S. political and military officials, face charges of "murder and terrorist acts" over the January assassination of Soleimani, who headed the Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). He claimed Iran had asked the international police organization Interpol to issue a "red notice" to arrest them for their involvement in Soleimani's killing and that Tehran would continue to pursue Trump's prosecution even after the end of his presidency. In response, the U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook said Tehran was carrying out "a propaganda stunt that no one takes seriously." "Our assessment is that Interpol does not intervene and issue red notices that are based on a political nature," Hook said at a June 29 press conference alongside the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs in Riyadh. Interpol said in a statement that it does not undertake "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial character." "Therefore, if or when any such requests were to be sent to the General Secretariat," it added, "...Interpol would not consider requests of this nature." The assassination of Soleimani near Baghdad's airport brought the United States and Iran close to a military conflict after Tehran retaliated by launching a missile strike targeting U.S. forces in Iraq. Tensions between the two countries have escalated since the U.S. withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed harsh economic sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. With reporting by IRNA and Fars Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-dismisses-iran- arrest-warrant-for-trump-over-soleimani-killing- as-propaganda-stunt-/30696801.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. Iran Issues Arrest Warrant Against Trump Over Soleimani's Killing, Asks Interpol for Assistance Sputnik News 11:10 GMT 29.06.2020(updated 13:43 GMT 29.06.2020) Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force and one of the most respected figures in Iran, was killed in a US drone strike in January during a goodwill visit to Iraq. Authorities in Iran have approved a measure to ask Interpol to put US President Donald Trump on its international Red Notice of wanted persons over the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, Iranian media including Mehr News and the Fars News Agency have reported, citing judicial officials. "It was possible to identify 36 persons who participated in preparations for and were involved in the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, among them political and military figures from the United States and other countries," Ali Alqasi-Mehr, Tehran's prosecutor-general, said in a statement on Monday. "At the top of the list is US president Donald Trump," he added. According to the official, judicial authorities adopted a resolution to bring these persons to justice and to appeal to Interpol to issue red notices against them. If approved, Interpol would require law enforcement agencies in other countries to facilitate the search for and arrest of the requested suspects. Iran's charges against Trump and others include 'murder' and 'terrorist acts', charges which carry a maximum penalty of death under Iran's criminal code. According to Alqasi-Mehr, Iran would pursue Trump's prosecution even after the expiry of his term as president. Later Monday, an Interpol spokesperson told Sputnik that the organization would not consider any Iranian request for President Trump's arrest, citing agency rules. "In accordance with Article 3 of Interpol's Constitution, 'it is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.' Therefore, if and when such requests are sent to the general secretariat...Interpol will not consider requests of this kind," the spokesperson said. US Assassination of Senior Foreign Leader Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq on January 3 during a goodwill trip to try to normalize Iran's relations with regional adversary Saudi Arabia. His death prompted Iran to launch missile strikes on two US bases in Iraq, although Tehran warned its Iraqi allies of the strikes ahead of time. Nevertheless, despite causing no fatalities, the strikes resulted in over 100 US servicemen and women reporting traumatic brain injuries. In late January, a Business Insider Poll found that one in four Americans believed Trump should be tried for war crimes by the International Criminal Court over Soleimani's killing. Meanwhile, as many as 55 percent of Americans said they believed Soleimani's assassination made their country 'less safe'. A Sputnik Iran Issues Arrest Warrant for Trump That Interpol Rejects By VOA News June 29, 2020 Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump, whom the Islamic Republic accuses of being involved in a January drone strike that killed a top Iranian commander. The warrant, for charges of "murder and terrorism," was announced Monday by Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr, according to the state-run IRNA news agency and other media. Alqasimehr said that Iran requested an Interpol "red notice" for Trump and 35 others. Under a red notice, which is the highest alert that the international law enforcement organization puts out, nations can make arrests on behalf of the requesting country but aren't forced to take action. Interpol noted in a statement that its constitution barred it from "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character." "Interpol would not consider requests of this nature," the organization added. The U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, dismissed the warrant during a news conference in Saudi Arabia. "This is [of] a political nature. This has nothing to do with national security, international peace or promoting stability," said Hook. "It is a propaganda stunt that no one takes seriously." Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike Jan. 3, spurring an Iranian missile strike on U.S. troops in Iraq a few days later. Soleimani was widely popular in Iran, but U.S. officials considered the general responsible for the deaths of American diplomats and soldiers in the region. The news of the arrest warrant came a day after Hook advocated for the renewal of a United Nations arms embargo on Iran, in an interview with the Associated Press. "If we let it expire, you can be certain that what Iran has been doing in the dark, it will do in broad daylight and then some," said Hook. The embargo is set to expire in October. Iran has threatened retaliation if the embargo is renewed. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:33 pm Im sure that most of us consider kindness a shared value and want to instill that value in our children. Following the mandate to wear a mask in public is an act of kindness: my mask helps protect you and your mask helps protect me. While not perfect, its one more action to help protect the vulnerable and stem the spread of COVID-19. What are our children learning when their parents, neighbors, county commissioner, or local sheriff selfishly talk about their own right to decide at the expense of others? When the children of our community return to school this fall, they will be asked to wear masks. They will bring with them the actions and attitudes of the significant people in their lives. Will that be a me first attitude or a concern for others? School personnel work hard to promote kindness, respect, and concern for others, as well as guiding children through a myriad of safety procedures. When schools reopen, teachers and staff will have a greater challenge to deal with masks, hand washing, and social distancing, while still developing a cohesive community of students that can learn together, play together, and care for each other. Each of us has a responsibility to examine our own role in forming the behaviors and actions of our community of children and set an example in our words and actions as we send them off to school. Kindness counts! Bonnie Blake Chehalis You asked. We listened. Your daily crossword, Sudoku and dozens of other puzzles are now available online. Play them or print them here. Play now Robert F. Bukaty/AP file photo/A lobster walks over the top of a lobster trap. President Donald Trump has issued a memorandum directing the Agriculture Department to consider how it can provide financial aid or other trade assistance to the lobster industry and the broader seafood industry. TOPEKA [mdash] Edna E. Yoder, 75, of Topeka, died at 1 a.m. Saturday, June 19, 2021, at her residence. She was born Oct. 3, 1945, in LaGrange, to Emmery and Mary (Chupp) Miller. On Oct. 15, 1964, in Topeka, she married Raymond M. Yoder. He survives. Survivors in addition to her husband are t Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation@skagitpublishing.com for help creating one. As cities reopen and readjust to a socially distanced life, they have implemented programs that allow for pedestrian-prioritized streets . Its a way to encourage residents to remain active close to home while maintaining social distancing and avoiding gatherings indoors. Originally, the closing of a street to traffic and opening up the space to pedestrians was done in the name of the complete streets movement , born out of modern urbanism. Today, however, its about health. Some health officials are predicting there could be a second wave of the pandemic in the fall months while others forecast there will be more pandemics in our lifetime. Local government leaders are beginning to reorganize their cities to prepare for the next shutdown. If there are already guidelines in place on how to reduce contact and transit throughout the city without a complete cessation of activity and business, future pandemics might not be so devastating. Some cities are putting this idea into practice, but there are challenges. Establishing an Order Tampas Lift Up Local Economic Recovery Plan has enabled restaurants and businesses to expand into sidewalks, streets and parklets so that they could re open their business while adhering to the social distancing guidelines that remain in effect during the pandemic. Mayor Jane Castor worked with local businesses and the city council to establish a plan that would support businesses during this economic crisis. Our governor opened up retail and restaurants to 25 percent capacity , so clearly that wouldn't allow the majority of retail or restaurants to even meet their bottom line, much less make a profit, Mayor Castor explains. She talked with local businesses about what type of programming would work best to fit their needs, whether it was single-use menus, touch-free payment options, shutting down an entire street or simply setting up tents on the sidewalk. The ideas are usually easy. The implementation is difficult, she says. Tampa is still in a state of emergency, which grants Castor powers to enact changes to help the city maneuver through the crisis and allow her to make changes to store and restaurant ordinances that otherwise would prohibit them from occupying public right of way. Building off Gov. Ron DeSantis Executive Order , Castors Executive Order 2020-23 outlined the requirements of the Lift Up Local program, including the allowance of city rights-of-way, restaurant capacity limitations and the mandates for paper menus and reservations. Castor worked with several state and city agencies to certify that the plan was done correctly. First, they had to understand what exactly they wanted to do and how they were going to handle different issues, such as how parking lots were to be used, how businesses were to gain permission to use parking lots they didnt own, and what would be allowed for alcohol consumption. After compiling all the ideas, the city put it into order. The city attorney wrote it up and I made all of the council members aware of just what we were doing, says Castor. Then we worked, too, with the state beverage to ensure that they didnt have any issues. The executive order does not require Tampa businesses to get a permit prior to making these socially distant changes, but the city closely manages what they are doing. There's a lot of oversight, especially in the very beginning, says Castor. We had law enforcement officers out there, we had our fire inspectors and we have our code enforcement, as well, ensuring that everybody abided by the rules. Utilizing Resources and Creativity Kansas City, Mo., has enacted a similar program to Tampas, and they, too, had to recruit different city agencies to ensure the programs success. Maggie Green, the public information officer for Kansas Citys Public Works, explains that the city had to loop in several different departments. It was more people than you think you need to involve, she says. People like your fire department, your EMS folks, the police department, even your IT department and people who manage the permitting on the IT side of things. Open Streets KC involved many different departments because it was a three-part program enacted by a city council resolution. The first element allowed residents to apply online for a permit, essentially a modified block party permit that shuts down single-block stretches of neighborhood streets allowing only local traffic and emergency vehicles. Then, the city implemented over 100 automatic pedestrian crossings throughout the city to reduce points of contact as residents walk around. Last, the city organized three larger road closures that extend several blocks. JACOB SIGALA City agencies had to work collaboratively to implement the different regulations of the program, and also partnered with several organizations in the area to further encourage its residents to utilize the opportunities. The local partnerships were crucial in the citys ability to implement the program, according to Green. They kind of all stepped up in different ways and said, Hey, how can we help? We can help provide resources if a neighborhood needs them. And, again, this really helped us fill the resource gap that we as a department had.While Open Streets KC is complex, Green believes that it has been beneficial to both the community and the city agencies, creating a focal shift in how they approach projects. I definitely think a deeper outcome here is that there is this willingness to be creative and be flexible and really frame a lot of this work around truly helping the community out and not getting hung up necessarily on the boxes to check and the bureaucracy behind it. Letting the Community Lead No matter the size of the community, having the residents at the forefront is one of the main reasons why these pedestrian programs are succeeding. Los Angeles, Calif., one of the largest cities in the nation, has also launched a similar program to those of Tampa and Kansas City. The Slow Streets L.A. program, like Kansas Citys, does not install any permanent mechanisms, such as speed bumps or permanent barricades, to close the neighborhood streets. Seleta Reynolds, Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT)s general manager, says that the signs and temporary barricades should alert drivers that pedestrians and bikers will be on the street. It really is just a message to people driving that, on those streets, they should consider themselves guests, she says. But given L.A.s size, the department had to weigh the impacts of the program and where it would actually be beneficial to the residents. Some neighborhoods, such as South L.A.s Boyle Heights, were being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the city acknowledged that certain neighborhoods had different priorities. While the program seemed simple on the surface applying temporary barricades, for example the city knew it had to act as a guest in those communities. Just like everything else that we do in transportation, we're entering a community and we really need to be clear about who we're there to help and what we can do and who we are empowering to lead in sort of directing resources to their community, says Reynolds. LADOT relied heavily on community-based organizations during the planning phase. For several years, the agency has been working with these organizations to help bridge two main barriers that prevent Angelenos from interacting with government services: access and trust. Reynolds explained that even if the city provides services, a resident may not be able to access it because its not delivered to their neighborhood, its not advertised through the channels where they get their information or it may not be in their language. However, even if the residents have access to the information, they may not utilize a service out of government distrust. They're worried about giving their name to government or participating in a program because their experiences with government are either that we ignore them or that we do harm in their neighborhoods, says Reynolds. When we create a resource and we provide a service, it's worthless unless we take the extra step of investing in the right resources to translate things into multiple languages and make sure we're reaching out to faith leaders and other folks in the community that are the kind of conduits of information to those folks. This is not LADOTs first time running a street closure program. The department has been offering a similar program since 2015, Play Streets , that allows temporary street closures in neighborhoods across the city. Reynolds says the city learned a lot of lessons about community interaction, including how not to use police as official enforcement to ensure that their residents are comfortable. If you decide when you're designing a program like this, and you're working across your city with different departments and the decision is, well, we can't have one of these, unless we have police there, then you need to go back to the drawing board, she says. The presence of law enforcement is one of the reasons why people dont feel comfortable out in their own neighborhoods. The Future of Open Streets Kansas City has started developing its own temporary outdoor seating program and Green believes that, while the city had been in conversations about creating micro-mobility zones, it would not have happened so quickly. Ive kind of phrased it as a silver lining during this challenging time, that we were able to really see some opportunity, jump on that opportunity and really create something positive for our neighborhoods, says Green. It would definitely look different if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic, but I do think that Kansas City, as a whole, is really starting to think more about this type of outdoor space, connecting community to the outdoors and placemaking and streetscaping. Los Angeles has also expanded into providing businesses with an outdoor space. The city created its Al Fresco program that allows businesses and stores to utilize public spaces like sidewalks, parking lots, and parklets. A really important ingredient of that program is going to be, how do we make sure that we allow and we enable not just brick and mortar restaurants, but street vendors to be able to operate in those spaces, says Reynolds. Both Los Angeles and Kansas City have plans to continue their outdoor programs through the end of the citys State of Emergency order, though officials continue to re-evaluate as things progress. From the beginning, Tampas Lift Up Local worked to incorporate the residents into the process and focus on their needs, which is why it has done so well, according to Mayor Castor. Its been so successful because it was a collaborative effort. We worked together to develop a plan that was safe and could be implemented and would be in the best interest of those businesses, she says. Castor believes the program, or a similar version, is something that residents could see again in future months. But she expects that the program may be temporarily suspended during the summer due to Floridas hurricane season. Here in Florida, Mother Nature will determine the end date. Right There At My Fingertips Not as Efficient (TNS) Getting a doctors advice or a therapists help without risking infection from a face-to-face visit to a medical office has been essential for many Tucson, Ariz., residents during the pandemic.Now, with Arizonas rate of infection still rising and no vaccine in sight, many are wondering how long insurance providers will keep covering the video visits and telephone calls commonly referred to as telemedicine or telehealth.The uncertainty is troubling for Tucson mothers like Sara Nixon-Kirschner and Dianne Westfall, whose young children have challenges that require medical care and therapies while also making them especially vulnerable to viruses and infection.Nor is it comforting for Tucson residents like Melinda Parris, whose immune system has been weakened by cancer treatments. She needs pain medication but cant renew her 30-day prescription without an in-person visit, which is especially frustrating after being able to use video appointments for pain medications in April.My nephrologist and my pulmonologist are still available by telehealth, my primary care is not offering it, nor is my oncologist, she said. So, its hit or miss, and Im taking what I can get.On Friday, Parris saw a notice on an insurance form that telemedicine might not be covered anymore, so she started investigating.My doctor says call Medicare, who said to call Humana, who said as far as they can tell its covered, she said Friday. When I pressed for a coverage date, the person I spoke to said she doesnt see any date so she assumes its Dec. 31, 2020.That date is better than what people were hearing earlier this month, when many were bracing for telemedicine visits to end at the end of June or sometime in July.But as of last week, with the coronavirus continuing to make people afraid to keep in-person appointments, many providers announced telemedicine will continue until the end of September.Cigna has no plans to end coverage for telehealth, said Mark Slitt, public relations senior advisor for the company. In fact, we have been expanding telehealth coverage to include behavioral health and dental care, and we have been collaborating with a variety of virtual providers nationally and in specific states.Aetna and United Healthcare, two more examples, have extended their coverage of telemedicine appointments through the end of September.Continuing coverage is good news for Tucsonan Amy Burke, who has counted on telemedicine to help her with the post-traumatic stress she developed while working as respiratory therapist in Brooklyn for the first two months of the pandemic. Burke now has daily panic attacks.Burke said she can text her therapist at any time and also has an hourlong phone or video session each week.I love that I can have therapy whenever I need it, she said. Its right there at my fingertips.Typically, payment for a telemedicine visit is lower than an in-person visit and was not offered as readily because of regulations imposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS. Thats changed to equal coverage for both in-person and video appointments due to the pandemic.I would argue it should continue in perpetuity, said Dr. Jeff Couchman, a local pediatrician. As for private insurers, CMS payment policies dont necessarily translate over to private insurers they can essentially pay however they want, but they usually follow CMS.Around the country, there have been a variety of challenges related to telemedicine, said Dr. Jacqueline W. Fincher, president of the American College of Physicians. Some elderly patients, for example, are not very tech savvy and may not have the iPad or computer they need.In the rural areas, broafdband is a major issue, Fincher said. So even if patients do have a smartphone and can receive the telemedicine platform link, when they hit the link, theres not enough bandwidth to download the link.And while many of the private insurers offer payment parity for telemedicine, its limited to video visits and not necessarily telephone only which is what some elderly patients want.The ACP is pushing both CMS and AHIP, or Americas Health Insurance Plans, to continue paying physicians to do telemedicine and telephone visits with their patients appropriately based on the patients needs and delivering patient care whatever way the patient and the physician think is best, Fincher said. That should not be determined by geography, especially when transportation can be an enormous barrier to getting the care needed face to face.The option has also been helpful for physicians who collect a fee for service, as its enabled them to stay open and still see patients despite the pandemic.Finchers organization is pushing for continued pay parity for telemedicine and face-to-face visits until at least the end of 2021.Thats because the COVID-19 virus will continue to have major impact on patients and physicians ability to have face-to-face visits as the virus waxes and wanes over the next 18 months, she said.Until we have an effective vaccine that is widely distributed and taken by the public and effective treatment if one gets COVID, then we will still be stuck with social distancing, masks and limited face-to-face visits, especially for routine, chronic or preventive visits.Tucson providers like Dr. Jane Hartline of El Sol Family Medicine, 2260 N Rosemont Blvd., have been using telemedicine since shortly after the pandemic started.My patients really appreciate that they dont have to leave their homes, to be able to meet with their physician and not have to take the risk, she said.She encourages people who want to see this choice continue to reach out to insurers and make that known.Couchman said since the pandemic began anyone who calls in sick to Mesquite Pediatrics, 2350 N. Kibler Place, No. 1, can start with a telemedicine appointment and then, if its needed, comes into the office.Theoretically, it costs less, he said, since there are no gloves, paper, nursing or staff time.On the other hand, appointments take about twice as much time because there can be connectivity issues, illnesses can take longer to diagnose and then there are patients who have to come into the office anyway .Telemedicine is not as efficient, he said. I cant schedule as many patients in a day.Intermountain Centers for Human Development are now using telemedicine for about 80 percent to 85 percent of its appointments, said Paul ORourke, a spokesman.If our (COVID-19) numbers are like they are now, theres no reason for them not to continue these services, he said of providers. People will be afraid to come to a health center.For Intermountains low-income patients, using up a lot of phone data can be tough, said Jessica Reese, chief clinical officer for Intermountain. To help, the centers are trying to utilize grants to provide phone cards.We do have a lot of individuals living below the poverty line and we really need to be thinking about equal access to care, she said. We are getting innovative about how to provide this to our members.For mothers Westfall and Nixon-Kirschner, telemedicine means keeping their children both safe and cared for during the pandemic.Westfalls 3-year-old daughter, Maddie, has a rare chromosomal disorder called Cri du Chat Syndrome that made them nervous about infection even before COVID-19. Weve always acted like flu season was a pandemic, she said. We self-isolate and wear masks every year.For Nixon-Kirschner, continuing to get speech therapy for 4-year-old daughter Rosie has been critical as they help her with a genetic disorder called Koolen-de Vries syndrome.We would love to be in the same room as our therapist and Rosie loves the stimulation of being together, she said of her daughters speech therapist at Tucsons Mealtime Connections, 1601 N. Tucson Blvd. But since thats not possible, she said, she is very grateful for telehealth.If they were to turn it off, she said, I dont know what we would do. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 3:32 pm When most Clark County residents get in a car, either as the driver or a passenger, they fasten a seat belt without giving it a second thought. There is no concern about government overreach or complaints about so-called fascism; there is only an understanding that it is a reasonable safety measure and that it is the law. The same can be said for stopping at a stop sign. Or not firing a gun in populated areas. Or not shouting Fire! in a crowded theater. Some public safety laws are simply common sense. The same understanding should apply with Gov. Jay Inslees new statewide requirement to wear a mask in public settings. In an effort to stem the coronavirus pandemic and quash an uptick in infections, Inslee issued the order that took effect Friday. That order applies to everyone older than 5, with exceptions for the deaf or hard of hearing while communicating with someone and for those who have a medical condition that makes wearing a mask difficult. Masks are required in public settings, and businesses are expected to require them for employees and customers. I think this is something we can get used to, Inslee said. Because we care about others around us. That is the point of the order. The wearing of masks during the pandemic is about protecting ourselves from the virus as well as those around us. With businesses reopening, many states have seen sharp increases in the number of infections as people increasingly come into close contact. The United States has about 2.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the virus has contributed to more than 120,000 deaths. Clark County is hoping to move soon into Phase 3 of the Safe Start program, which will increase interaction and further the risk of spreading the disease. Wearing a mask along with social distancing and hand washing can help ensure a successful leap into that phase. As the author of a review of observational studies for British medical journal The Lancet said, Our findings suggest, in multiple ways, that the use of masks is highly protective in health care and community settings. Violation of the statewide mask order is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. In Yakima County, which has seen a surge of cases that is threatening to overwhelm available medical care, a mask violation is a gross misdemeanor with more stringent penalties. The order largely will be enforced by the honor system, with Inslee saying, It is not our desire to have hard-working officers following people around on mask issues. Clark County Sheriff Chuck Atkins agrees, adding, The greatest degree of compliance can be achieved through education and awareness, as opposed to taking enforcement action. Compared with many states, Washington has done an effective job of holding the virus in check since becoming the first state with a known case. Yet some people continue to push back against reasonable public-health measures, complaining that limiting their right to risk the health of others is government oppression. We disagree, recognizing that suppressing COVID-19 requires a community effort, that wearing a mask is a minor inconvenience and that we do, indeed, care about others around us. We also recognize that the mask order could be in place until a vaccine or a cure for the disease is available, and that it is a small price to pay in the name of public health. Years ago, many Americans rebelled against new requirements for wearing a seat belt. And then they came to their senses. Welcome to this weeks Future of Security newsletter. Lets get started:The prior privacy law, known as the California Consumer Privacy Act, took effect in January. While many have praised the law for taking the state in the right direction, digital rights groups have criticized those guidelines for being too weak.The new initiative, known as the California Privacy Rights Act , would add more teeth to existing legislation by creating a new, $10 million state agency dedicated to protecting online consumer privacy. It would also restrict the use of sensitive data like someones sexual orientation, Social Security number or union membership and would make location tracking less precise, among other changes.A new proposal at the federal level would create millions of dollars in new funding for cybersecurity protections for school districts. Schools have been an increasingly popular target for cybercriminals.Last week, U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif., announced that he would soon introduce the Protecting Students from Cybercrimes Act, which would allocate $25 million in federal grants to U.S. schools over a five-year period for the purposes of hardening cybersecurity infrastructure.In recent months, American adversaries have stepped up both cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns. Election officials should expect them to take advantage of the logistical challenges of voting in a COVID-19 world.With only five months before the presidential election, they are scouting larger polling places to enable social distancing and planning to mail and scan more absentee and mail-in ballots than ever. But in addition to keeping poll workers and voters safe from viral transmission, there is a second major risk: how to keep the election itself secure from cyberthreats.The cyberthreats to voting systems have not diminished. Election officials must continue to safeguard their IT infrastructure. Voter registration databases, electronic pollbooks used to check in voters, websites publishing vital information about changes to voting processes all these need to be kept secure. States are likely to need yet more federal funding, particularly given that most states will have to balance their budgets even as tax revenues crater this year.Amid nationwide protests against police abuses against black people, some civil liberties advocates are calling for Amazon to stop its partnerships with law enforcement agencies through its Ring home surveillance cameras.These camera registries will only serve to exacerbate existing forms of discrimination that are rampant within policing and the criminal justice system, said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, a civil rights advocacy nonprofit focused on technology.They speed up and automate police procedures in ways that mean communities that are already overpoliced will be subject to even more law enforcement repression.Amazon last week placed a one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition technology, a move widely viewed as a response to the protests, though Amazon stopped short of saying so. Ring did not respond to a Stateline request for comment about whether its re-evaluating its work with police, which includes asking residents to provide video when there's been a crime. (TNS) Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers said they want to know why some people have waited weeks, even months, for unemployment assistance.State Reps. Tim ONeal, R-Washington, and Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, said Tuesday they want an investigation of the states unemployment system failures during the coronavirus pandemic. They sent a letter to House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, and want the House Government Oversight Committee to investigate.Week after week, year after year, most workers contributed to the Unemployment Trust Fund through payroll deductions, Ciresi said in a statement. Yet the failures of this system have left too many without income during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when they need these benefits more than ever.As of Monday, more than 2.2 million Pennsylvania residents have filed unemployment compensation claims. Thousands of businesses were shut down under Gov. Tom Wolfs orders to try and slow the spread of the virus. The labor department struggled to deal with the overwhelming numbers of people seeking aid.At the same time, lawmakers have hammered the department for delays in filing some claims. ONeal said hes working on a bipartisan effort with Ciresi to address the unemployment systems problems.Ensuring a program works as its designed to work is obviously a non-partisan issue, ONeal said in a statement. We need to make sure Pennsylvanians will never again face this issue.Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said Monday more than 90 percent of eligible claimants have received a payment. The labor department has paid more than $21.5 billion in unemployment compensation benefits since March 15.The department has hired more than 300 employees to help handle the number of claims and more than 300 state workers from other agencies have been tapped to help as well. Customer service staff have logged 172,000 hours in overtime since March 15, Oleksiak said Monday.Mike Straub, a spokesman for Cutler, said in an email a House oversight committee investigation is certainly possible, and we will work quickly to determine if that is the correct course of action.The administrations handling of unemployment claims, payments, processing and even just providing information has been shameful on behalf of Pennsylvanians in need, Straub said.In their letter to Cutler, the lawmakers note the General Assembly has directed funds to improve the unemployment compensation system.Despite these systems upgrades and continued work on overall system modernization, our program has failed to handle the strain of the 2.1 million unemployment claims created by the COVID-l9 pandemic, ONeal and Ciresi wrote.The lawmakers acknowledged the labor departments efforts to improve but insist an investigation is needed.While we appreciate the work of Secretary Oleksiak during this pandemic and towards system modernization, we urge that this investigation take place so that we can move forward to ensure that should another pandemic, or similar situation, hit the Commonwealth, the residents of Pennsylvania can be assured that they will not face the same issues, ONeal and Ciresi wrote.Other lawmakers are pursuing remedies to deal with unemployment claims.State Reps. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, and Jerry Knowles, R-Schuylkill, have sent a memo to fellow lawmakers saying they plan to introduce a bill that would allow legislative staff to help process unemployment claims.Oleksiak on Monday announced that people who exhaust their regular unemployment compensation and federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation may now qualify for 13 additional weeks of payments through the states Unemployment Compensation Extended Benefits program.The labor department has also been dealing with reports of scams and attempts at identity theft, which state and federal authorities are investigating.Authorities say scammers have used stolen identities of people to file claims for unemployment benefits. Then, scammers direct the money to be sent to their own bank accounts. Victims of identity theft find out their personal information was stolen when they receive an unemployment compensation check, or a direct deposit of unemployment aid, for which they never applied.The vast majority of reports of fraudulent claims had proven to be valid claims, Oleksiak said in a news conference Monday.Fraud attempts like these are a national problem and should serve as a reminder to everyone to be as vigilant as possible, Oleksiak said. For service to the Indigenous community of Goondiwindi, as Community Justice Group Coordinator, as representative of the Bigambul People, Goondiwindi Regional Council, as owner and founder of Cre8tive Mix promoting contemporary indigenous art, and as an educator in Indigenous visual arts, natural resource management and culture. Soon after, surf lifesavers came to her assistance and the woman was taken to hospital by ambulance officers. From the beach, Mrs Seymour saw her friend floating face down in the water and, despite her exhaustion and the dangerous water conditions, she quickly re-entered the surf and swam out to the woman. On reaching her, she managed to swim her back to the safety of the beach where she immediately began first aid procedures on the unconscious woman. Mrs Seymour was swept further out than her friend but was able, with much effort, to make her way back to the safety of the beach. The other woman was in difficulty in the rough swell and became unconscious. At about 3pm on the day, Mrs Seymour and a friend were paddling in shallow water at a beach on the Sunshine Coast when, without warning, both women were swept into deep, rough water. For distinguished performance as the Force Protection Section Commander of the Train Advise Assist Command - Air mission in Afghanistan, demonstrating exemplary leadership, superior decision-making and dedication to duty in a dynamic and complex threat environment in ensuring the safety of the Australian advisor team in the course of their successful contribution to the mission on Operation HIGHROAD. For service to the community, through the Alumni Friends of the University of Queensland, as a member of University of Queensland Senate standing committees and as Warden of Convocation, and as a member of the Rotary Club of South Brisbane; and to dentistry, including through positions with the Australian Dental Association (Queensland). MR SAMUEL LIAM FOURAS (TNS) Facebook plans to build an $800 million data center in DeKalb that will rely solely on renewable energy and create about 100 jobs.The data center, a 505-acre project on the southeast corner of the intersection of Gurler and Peace roads, also will use 80% less water than other data centers, the social media giant said.The Facebook-owned land can accommodate five buildings, and two will be completed by 2022. As time progresses, we will decide if it makes sense for us to continue to expand, said Rachel Peterson, vice president of data center strategy for Facebook.It will be Facebooks first data center in Illinois. The company has 15 others globally. The 100 employees will include technicians, engineers, construction management, facilities management, logistic professionals and security personnel, Facebook said.Its a boon to our community, and once online, this data center will be part of a network that connects people all over the world, DeKalb Mayor Jerry Smith said in a news release.Facebook chose DeKalb, in Chicagos western suburbs, because of its access to renewable energy, talent pool and strong community partners, Peterson said.Facebook pledged in 2018 to powering its facilities with 100% renewable energy by the end of 2020. Specifics on what kind of renewable energy will be used in DeKalb are under development, Peterson said.In 2019, Illinois lawmakers approved a data center tax incentive to attract technology companies and other firms to build their data storage facilities in the state. Among other requirements, companies must invest at least $250 million in a facility and hire at least 20 full-time employees over five years to qualify for the program.Facebook has not applied for the states incentive program, Peterson said.The Chicago area ranked third last year in the U.S. for data center capacity, according to a report paid for by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Foundation and several data center owners and operators. (TNS) Imagine breathing through a face-hugging N95 mask for an entire eight-hour nursing shift on a hospital floor.Properly fitted, it clings tightly to the skin, protecting the wearer from breathing in pathogens such as the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.But those filtered-out germs dont just vanish the novel coronavirus can live up to 72 hours on surfaces, masks included. Just touching the outside of a contaminated respirator is risky, and its considered the biggest danger of reusing them.Yet three months into the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses and other clinicians are being forced to reuse hospital masks in ways that would have gotten them written up a year ago.Mask-maker 3M Co., based in Maplewood, Minnesota, said Friday that despite doubling its production of N95 respirators this year, global demand continues to far exceed the supply for the entire industry. With too few respirators to go around, hospital administrators are left to decide how best to protect their staffs, even as some evidence suggests health care workers are transmitting the virus among themselves while at work.Tight-fitting N95 masks designed to protect the wearer by trapping 95% of particles of a specific tiny size are in such demand that hospitals are doing everything they can to extend a masks life, from storing them in paper bags hanging on the wall to using UV light and hydrogen peroxide to clean and disinfect them.Rather than using and discarding several N95s per day, a common practice before the pandemic, nurses and other clinicians now wear a single mask for an eight-hour shift or longer. That mask is then used again for up to five nonconsecutive shifts, hospitals and nurses say.After that, the masks are often put in storage in preparation for a future surge.To kill the virus, some hospitals are using machines that zap the masks with ultraviolet light, or bathe them in vaporized hydrogen peroxide. A more common strategy, described in guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is to put used masks in separate paper bags where they can air out until any virus dies.Barb Galle, a registered nurse, said guidance on reusing masks well past their intended life is influenced more by supply problems than safe-practice considerations.Why would you think that its OK to wear a potentially contaminated mask, from room to room to room? said Galle, a float nurse at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, speaking in her role as president of the American Federation of Government Employees Professional Local 3669. In a nurses heart and mind, that is so disgusting.A Minneapolis VA spokesman said the hospital has held its COVID-19 employee infection rate to 0.74% of its workforce, and it is providing all employees with required personal protective equipment, or PPE.Hospital officials say they have no choice but to reuse masks because the global supply remains constrained ahead of a potential second wave of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.We do safely reuse N95 respirator masks to conserve supply now and ensure well have enough in the event of a COVID surge, David Martinson, spokesman for Bloomington, Minnesota-based health system and insurer HealthPartners, said via email. While its difficult to predict how a second wave might impact PPE levels, the decontamination methods we use have helped us conserve N95s and keep our patients and colleagues safe, and were confident in our supply quantity.Health systems like Allina Health and North Memorial Health stressed that theyre following mask-use guidance published by the CDC and the U.S. Labor Departments Occupational Safety and Health Administration.We are confident in the level of PPE protection thats provided to our staff and patients, whether that be a surgical/procedural mask or an N95 when treating COVID patients, wrote Christine Hill, spokeswoman for Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis.N95s protect the wearer, while looser-fitting surgical masks and cloth masks worn in public protect the people around them by blocking microscopic droplets in their breath that can spread the virus. In hospitals and clinics, health care providers sometimes wear surgical masks or full face shields over their N95s to preserve the mask.In the government recommendations, mask decontamination is depicted as a strategy of last resort.Guidelines from the CDC urge a wait-and-reuse approach before considering disinfecting. The CDC says respirators from other countries may be considered, though the Food and Drug Administration has said certain masks made overseas are no longer authorized for distribution in the U.S.OSHA says decontamination voids the approval granted by the CDCs National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.Still, during periods of shortages when other preferred alternative respirators are not available, filtering facepiece respirator decontamination and reuse may need to be considered as a crisis capacity strategy, the OSHA guidelines say.NIOSH says three methods offer the most promise for cleansing and purifying N95 masks: vaporous hydrogen peroxide (VHP), ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and moist heat from water heated in an oven.Methods that NIOSH said should be avoided, because they damage the mask, include dry heat, 70% isopropyl alcohol and microwave irradiation.Federally funded study results published this month in the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases noted that using VHP resulted in the best combination of rapid decontamination and least damage to the mask. UV light killed the virus more slowly, the study said, but preserved mask function almost as well.The study, using 3Ms Aura N95 respirators, concluded that the masks can be reused up to three times after being treated with UV or VHP.3M does not recommend decontaminating its masks. But in light of the government guidelines on doing so, the company has been publishing technical bulletins, the latest of which finds that its N95 respirators can be cleaned without affecting the fit or function 10 to 20 times, depending on which FDA-authorized device is used.Mary Turner, a critical care nurse at North Memorial Health Hospital and president of the Minnesota Nurses Association, said shes not happy about having to use one N95 mask over five work shifts. But it is better than having to use them for 10 shifts, as was the case at the start of the outbreak.Im not going to be totally comfortable with the whole situation until were back to using the optimal standards that we learned in nursing school, she said. I cant say that Im truly OK with any kind of reuse. But that being said, it is what it is.(Staff writer Kim Hyatt contributed to this report.)2020 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at www.startribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194): CORONAVIRUS-N95-MASKS (TNS) When Sentara Healthcare first launched its eICU, the plan was to provide an extra set of eyes on critical patients, especially overnight when staffing was down to a skeleton crew.The hospital system the first in the country wired bedside video cameras and microphones on a secure network in 2000 so a medical team could monitor patients at multiple hospitals intensive care units from one command center around the clock.Since then the program has expanded, with up to 132 patients being watched and treated by a doctor whos often miles away.But Dr. Steven Fuhrman, medical director of Sentaras eICU, said he couldnt have foreseen how the technology would be used today. The highly contagious coronavirus has overwhelmed ICUs around the world and infected many frontline health care workers as they have come in contact with patients.I would have never thought that this particular need would rear its head, said Fuhrman, whose remote-monitoring crew hit a 20-year milestone last week. Were lucky that we had it.Sentaras eICU is one of many types of telemedicine programs the health care industry has found to be invaluable during the height of COVID-19, a new respiratory illness with no known prevention or approved treatment Suddenly, virtual technology became the primary way of giving and getting medical care. Health care workers leveraged these services to reduce their own exposure to the virus and to keep patients at home whenever possible.Experts say the public health crisis led to a swift surge in the adoption of telemedicine, and Hampton Roads health systems have reported record numbers of usage.Before the coronavirus arrived in Virginia, the average number of telemedicine visits within Sentara Medical Group was about 20 a day. Now, it is more than 2,000 a day, according to the company. Between March and June 21, its clinicians had 314,000 total patient visits, with about 51 percent of them happening virtually.Bon Secours Mercy Health, which also runs several medical practices and hospitals in the region, has seen a similar rise. From mid-March through last week, virtual visits have made up about 68 percent of all visits for the Hampton Roads medical group. Before the pandemic, a spokeswoman said, that number was essentially zero.Patients used telehealth to keep previously scheduled appointments during the lockdown. Hospitals and clinics used chat bots and apps to screen patients for COVID-19 symptoms before waving them into the office or ER. Even therapists helped clients manage agoraphobia and depression by talking to them over phones, tablets and computers.Some patients and physicians had been reluctant to adopt electronic platforms, said Christy Helsel, Riverside Healths telehealth program director.If not for the crisis, some might never have tried, she said. But family members have helped older or less tech-savvy relatives learn the ropes, and a large portion of Riversides users are in their 60s and 70s. Helsel recently learned of a 99-year-old patient who had a virtual appointment.The learning curve extends to the doctors and nurse practitioners.Its a mixed response, she said. If they love it, they love it. Some find a lot of value in it. They find its a great time saver.State and federal policy changes and insurers waiving out-of-pocket charges have aided telehealths rapid growth.Doctors are now being reimbursed for visits wherever their patients are and can use common forms of communications, such as Facetime and even landline phones. Medicare and Medicaid also began to reimburse for twice as many types of telemedicine visits as before.The question is whether such temporary changes will remain. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions heard from the telehealth industry this month on lessons learned during the pandemic. The panel, headed by Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, will consider legislation that could make some of those new rules permanent.We had 884 million doctor-patient visits last year, according to the CDC. If 20 percent of those, or 25 or 30 percent of those, continue to be telehealth visits, thats hundreds of millions of doctor-patient visits that will occur by telemedicine rather than in person, Alexander said during the hearing. I dont know enough to know whether thats the biggest change in health-care delivery services in our history or not, but it would be hard to think of one that is more significant.But the concern about future investments in telemedicine infrastructure is that it leaves out people who dont have access to tech devices, computers and the Internet some of the most vulnerable among the population. Some lawmakers cautioned that going too far with these services could drive larger health disparities.As many states, including Virginia, are reopening and slowly returning to business as usual, patients are reverting back to in-person appointments. But several Hampton Roads health system leaders say virtual visits are continuing to be popular.At UVA Health, a survey of more than 1,900 patients who had used its telehealth services from April to June 12, 2020, found that 83.4 percent said they would be willing to do more electronic visits after the COVID-19 quarantine is over.That wouldnt surprise Dr. Anhtai Nguyen, Bon Secours Hampton Roads chief clinical officer. The systems own surveys have shown many peoples previous discomfort with using tech devices for their visits is declining.Thats why I think the shift has sort of been made, he said. I dont see people going to a crowded waiting room with sick people now when they can be seen through a virtual platform.When the crisis was at its peak, Sentara set up special COVID-19 units outside of the traditional ICUs.Staffers rigged carts with cameras and speakers to roll wherever they were needed, Fuhrman said. Doctors and nurses remotely monitoring coronavirus patients helped limit the staff exposure to the infected patients and reduced the masks and gowns needed overall to care for them, he said.From the eICUs command center on the Norfolk General Hospital campus, the crew can do virtual rounds, talk to patients who arent intubated, zoom in to examine pupils, get live vitals readings and even prescribe medications and treatments. The team helps care for patients in eight hospitals, from Elizabeth City, N.C., to Williamsburg.Bracing for perhaps a second wave of the pandemic, Fuhrman believes other hospitals without the tech capability are now coveting it.Absolutely, he said. Its not just think its know. (TNS) The Idaho State Board of Education has received $4 million from the federal coronavirus relief bill to improve the delivery of online education to its post-secondary students.During a meeting Monday, board member David Hill said the state board wants to strengthen Idahos capability to deliver remote education so that place-bound and economically disadvantaged students have the same opportunities as those who choose to attend postsecondary institutions.Earlier this summer, the only thing that was clear about the future of the next couple of years was uncertainty, Hill said. And in that context, the board felt that a strategic approach to online delivery of educational material was needed, rather than a happenstance approach.TJ Bliss, the chief academic officer for the Office of the State Board of Education, detailed two options that would provide a low-cost, high-quality educational experience.They included New U, an online-only campus, which would become the ninth public postsecondary institution in the state, and Idaho Online, a program that would consolidate currently available online courses into one place.Board member Linda Clark was one of several board members who shared concerns about the first option. She said the addition of a new institution would not be viewed favorably, given the current financial situation of Idahos higher education institutions, which have suffered because of the pandemic.Board member Shawn Keough added that a new institution was not included in her presentation to Gov. Brad Littles Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee, which awarded the board with the money.Lewis-Clark State College President Cynthia Pemberton spoke on behalf of the Presidents Leadership Council, and voiced her support for a program that was similar to Idaho Online.We have over 200 certificate and degree programs in total available right now in Idaho, Pemberton said of the online offerings throughout the state. What we need is access to money, resources and expertise to let people in Idaho and beyond know that.Pemberton said a portal or, storefront of sorts, listing the available online offerings could be functional by fall. The program would be housed in one, or several, of the states institutions.While the discussion was held for informational purposes, the board plans to meet in two weeks, to take action on a proposal that incorporates the feedback received during the meeting.The money awarded to the state board will have to be used by the end of the year. (TNS) Voters in November will decide whether police should have access to an individuals electronic data and communications without a warrant.The Michigan House and Senate passed a resolution that would place on the November ballot a constitutional amendment barring the search and seizure of private electronic data without a warrant. Both chambers adopted the resolution unanimously, the Senate on June 11 and the House on Wednesday.The resolution had been introduced twice before but never adopted by both chambers prior to Wednesday.Everyone saw the value of protecting our personal, electronic communications, said state Sen. Jim Runestad, the White Lake Republican who has introduced the legislation for the past three sessions.Missouri passed similar legislation in 2014 with 75% support from voters and New Hampshire did the same in 2018 with 81% of the vote.I believe it will pass way over 80% here in the state of Michigan, Runestad said. On the state level, what it would prohibit is gathering and sharing the information without a warrant."The constitution currently bars unreasonable search seizures of a person, house, papers or possessions without probable cause and a sworn warrant that describes the information. The amendment, if approved by voters, would expand those rules to include electronic data and communications.The ballot language, which still is being drafted, would apply to Michigan police agencies, not federal law enforcement, and include exceptions for exigent or emergency situations, Runestad said. It would bar state police agencies from gathering electronic data on behalf of federal law enforcement.Michigan law enforcement agencies generally obtain a search warrant or subpoena prior to accessing an individuals private electronic data, but the proposal would enshrine that practice in the state constitution."The courts are coming along on that but enshrining it in our constitution is a very important step," said Shelli Weisberg, political director for the ACLU of Michigan. Weisberg has been working with Runestad on the resolution for several years.Most police agencies need a warrant or subpoena to get access to data through a service provider, according to the Michigan State Police and Bob Stevenson, executive director for the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.Im not aware of hardly any place where you could get electronic communication without a warrant, Stevenson said.Michigan State Police officials agreed, but noted narrow exceptions apply in the case of exigent or emergency situations, such as kidnapping or murder, said Lori Dougovito, a spokeswoman for the agency."Even in that instance, a specific process is required," Dougovito said.Michigan State Police have Stingray and Hailstorm technology, cellphone simulator technology used largely to collect location data, but the technology is used only with a search warrant per official orders, Dougovito said.The Oakland County Sheriff's Office also uses Hailstorm, but Sheriff Mike Bouchard said department policy requires a search warrant prior to its use. Over the years, Bouchard said, the reach of the technology, largely used to locate a suspect in life-threatening situations, has been exaggerated to appear to be a "massive technical intrusion.""We use a search warrant 100% of the time," said Bouchard, who noted he did not oppose the ballot question. "What I am opposed to is people making completely false statements as a reason this needs to pass ... Lets be honest about what it actually does and covers.As recently as 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a Detroit case that law enforcement generally need a search warrant to access a cellphone owners location without their permission. The decision came after robber Timothy Ivory Carpenter objected to federal prosecutors and agents accessing 127 days of his cellphone records to gauge his location history. (TNS) In August, prospective jurors in Western Alaska will start receiving questionnaires about their Internet access and comfort with computers. Answering correctly could make them Alaskas first Internet jurors.Courts in rural Western Alaska will soon begin a test project allowing grand jury proceedings by teleconference . Jurors comfortable with computers and with appropriate Internet connections will be allowed to complete their jury service from home.The system will not be used for trials, and jurors will still be allowed in the courthouse.Along with an order mandating masks in courthouses, its part of the court systems response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.In some ways, its Star Trek. In another way, its everyday, said Judge Paul Roetman, who presides over the court systems Second Judicial District That district includes the North Slope, Kotzebue, the Seward Peninsula (including Nome) and the Norton Sound coast as far south as Saint Michael and Stebbins.The areas sprawling geography means Roetmans courts have used teleconferencing for years to bail hearings and similar proceedings.Troopers had been transporting people several times a week, he said, and the costs added up.Were kind of used to looking to technology to helping us do what we do, he said.Under the test program, jurors called to serve on a grand jury will get a questionnaire checking their technical saavy and their ability to participate remotely. Those who cant or prefer not to will be called in physically. Those who can participate online will be asked to connect via Zoom from a quiet room where no one else is around. Prosecutors will be able to call witnesses and show exhibits to the jurors, and when its time for deliberations, the Zoom call will be handed over to the jury foreperson, who will be in the courthouse on a court-issued laptop.With courthouses too small to accommodate social distancing in person, Roetman said its a way to accommodate as many people as possible.John Earthman is the district attorney in Nome and said he believes the proposal is a good idea.Theyre certainly trying to make the best of a bad situation, he said of the courts amid coronavirus.Its virtually certain that theres going to be technical issues that are going to have to be worked out. Just the bandwidth how the Internet works up here, he said.Roetman didnt disagree, and neither did Brodie Kimmel, the court administrator. Both said they intend a slow rollout and have been holding mock jury sessions to test the new procedures theyre crafting.Other states, including Arizona and New Jersey , have begun similar test programs, and Alaska is borrowing from that prior experience. Roetman said he expects the test project to run for three months or so before re-evaluating things.Ben Muse, who supervises the region for the state Public Defender Agency, said his office has some concerns with the proposal.Were altering the grand jury process in a pretty significant way, I think, in moving to videoconference, he said.Among his concerns is the issue of equity.Does videoconferencing limit the ability of rural residents to participate in the grand jury process? he asked.Because Internet access can be especially expensive in rural Alaska, Does it create a situation where people who are more affluent will be participating in the grand jury process? he asked.Jury access is already a significant issue in rural Alaska. To save money, the state of Alaska intentionally exempts more than 150 small towns and villages from jury service . Its simply too expensive to fly jurors from those places to the courthouse.In 2019, the state court of appeals ruled that the practice is not discriminatory , but the issue has been appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court and remains on the minds of some state lawyers.Roetman said its been on his mind too, but he thinks that if successful, videoconferenced grand juries could fix the problem rather than become part of it. Because teleconferencing is possible by cellphone and smartphone access is growing, we could potentially bring in jurors who have never had jury duty before.Muse and Earthman also said a teleconferenced grand jury might deliberate differently or behave differently. Both said the issues are surmountable.Well adapt to it, Earthman said.My thought is the sooner we get back to normal, whether it takes a year or so, the better. In the meantime, this Zoom thing may help, he said. (TNS) Not continuing calls by residents to end the violence, not the launch of a police surveillance plane, not even the coronavirus pandemic have slowed Baltimores relentless pace of homicides. Approaching the years halfway point, more people have been killed in the city than during 2019, which had the highest homicide rate on record.The stay-at-home orders have not abated the killings, even though crime in most other categories has dipped, according to police and crime statistics. And now, with restrictive health measures easing and the historically violent summer months arriving, Baltimore police are working to come up with solutions.The bad actors who are committing murders are still out, said Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said.Baltimore has counted 164 homicides this year, more than 152 at this time last year when the city eventually saw a 348. The Northwestern and Southwestern districts have been the hardest hit, with 27 and 26 homicides, respectively.So far in June, 35 people have been killed, including Shiand Miller, 23, and her 3-year-old daughter Shaniya Gilmore. Miller was 8 months pregnant with a baby boy when she was fatally shot in Southwest Baltimore on June 19.The city has a new tool in its efforts to stem violence. A pilot program started in May launched a police surveillance plane, which flies over the city during daylight hours in an effort to help investigate and track suspects in serious cases and, hopefully, police say, act as a deterrent to would-be criminals.Harrison said in a recent interview that the program has not yet led to any arrests, but it has shown some promise.As of this moment, it has not turned into any clearance of any homicides or shootings, although there are a number of cases that are captured, Harrison said.The controversial program, however, has led to the production of 44 evidentiary packets, which are forwarded to detectives investigating homicides and other serious crimes.I am keeping an open mind. I had no expectations about the program, said Harrison, adding he wants to hear from researchers who are supposed to evaluate the project at the end of its six-month pilot, which runs until the fall.I am not against rearranging priorities. If you are going to defund police and cut out services, then someone has be to able to pick up that slack.Police Commissioner Michael HarrisonThe program, with a $3.7 million budget, was supposed to operate with three planes. Police spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said so far two planes are operating, and a third will be put it use after a delay needed to acquire equipment from a vendor.The planes, their pilots, analysts and hangar space are being funded by Texas philanthropists Laura and John Arnold through their organization, Arnold Ventures. The technology is capable of capturing images of 32 square miles of the city for a minimum of 40 hours a week.While the surveillance plane may or may not represent hope for the future, police are struggling to deal with the present.Junes 35 killings eclipse last years total by one and are part of a particularly violent stretch. In May, 39 people were killed, the highest since May 2015, when 42 died.Among this years victims are 16-year-old Alajunaye Davis, an honors student at the National Academy Foundation High School in Baltimore, a popular student who loved hip-hop music. She enjoyed dressing in brightly colored clothes and was a standout student, described by one teacher as studious and naturally gifted.Another young victim, 19-year-old Aaron Sutton, had completed his freshman year at Howard University and was working toward an engineering degree. In addition to his studies, he was pursuing a music career.Those deaths came at the height of Marylands battle to stem the coronavirus. Harrison said even with fewer people allowed out in public, the department continued to receive about the same level of calls for service.There have been marked decreases in crime overall, including nonfatal shootings, which are down about 14%, from 343 to 287, compared with last year, police records show. Robberies have dropped by about 20%, burglaries are down 23%, and auto thefts are down 22%.To address the persistent increase in homicides, Harrison said the department has undertaken new deployment strategies.We have a plans for heightened visibility and patrol strategies for the summer months, a lot of it is readjusted because of COVID, so we are still dealing with that, he said.City Council President Brandon Scott, the Democratic nominee expected to become mayor of a city on pace for a sixth straight year of more than 300 homicides, said more needs to be done to combat the violence.What I want to continue to focus on is recognizing that we have to figure out a way to get a hold on the violence, he said.Scott said the continued violence in Baltimore is not a surprise, pandemic or not. He is pushing the department to focus on violent, repeat offenders who he believes are responsible for the majority of the citys violence.Harrison said there must be a more holistic approach if a long-lasting, sustainable drop in homicides is to be achieved.To really reduce murders, you have to have programmatic solutions, he said. For far too long, everybody had relied on police visibility and deployment strategies. But in a crime of premeditation, deployment strategies can only be so effective.One initiative Harrison spoke of is the departments attempt to find a nonprofit partner to create a focused deterrence program that targets high-risk people, helping them get services and other opportunities that will discourage them from committing crimes.Focused deterrence is building the programmatic solutions and prevention that deals with rehabilitation, and reentry, he saidMany advocates locally and around the country in recent weeks have called for defunding police departments , often a measure they say would move resources into social and community services.A local group, Leaders for a Beautiful Struggle has been a vocal leader for creating a scenario where police are seen as a last resort.Dayvon Love, the groups policy director, doesnt envision the police department immediately being disbanded, but instead said there is an opportunity to build up programs like Safe Streets, which relies on violence interrupters in the community to help diffuse conflicts.When you give people, in the face of issues of safety and violence, two options more police or less police theyre going to choose more police, Love said in an interview with The Sun earlier this month, explaining that ending policing entirely is not realistic.Harrison said he agrees solutions outside of policing are necessary to address the root causes of violence.But taking money away from Baltimores police department right now would be harmful, he said, especially as it already is undergoing a transformation as part of widespread reforms mandated under a federal consent decree. The consent decree, among many requirements, calls for increasing the number of police officers, improved training and better technology all of which cost money.The agreement between the Baltimore and the U.S. Department of Justice was reached after what federal investigators called years of violations of peoples constitutional rights at the hands of some Baltimore police officers.I am not against rearranging priorities, Harrison said. If you are going to defund police and cut out services, then someone has be to able to pick up that slack.Other cities, including New York, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Washington, D.C., have all seen increases in homicides this year during the pandemic. Milwaukees homicide rate is up 80%, while D.C.s is up 10%, according to those departments.Things occurring across the country that are not unique to Baltimore, said Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.Webster said many factors are contributing, including the suddenness in the economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic, which has put stress on many people. Additionally, the virus has strained many systems, from law enforcement to healthcare and education.And the recent unrest nationwide over police brutality and racial injustice also contributed to tensions.There are all kinds of social divisions, things that are creating stress in peoples lives. Were in a different time, he said. A combination of pretty dramatic shock and vulnerability and heavily stressed people just wondering how they are going to get by. The cost factor Cameras alone cant fix this (TNS) State officials dont have a current count of how many police agencies in New Jersey use body cameras, but a survey by New Jersey Advance Media found that officers in four of our 10 most-populated towns dont have them.Police departments in New Jersey and around the nation have rushed to outfit officers with cameras in recent years, but the expense is a primary reason why many departments go without. The cameras themselves may cost a few hundred bucks each, but the annual bill for operating these systems can run in the hundreds of thousands.The last time the state surveyed how many departments used body cameras was 2016, when about 40 percent of the roughly 500 police agencies in New Jersey either had them or were in the process of getting systems. A new survey is planned soon, a state Attorney Generals office spokesman said.Among the states largest municipalities, police in Lakewood and Woodbridge townships, Toms River and Clifton confirmed they dont have body cameras, though several said the subject is under discussion. Of those towns, all but Clifton already have in-car cameras, officials noted.Body-worn cameras have long been touted as the answer to keeping cops and the public honest about their interactions, but their effectiveness remains an open question.George Floyds death was caught on camera by a bystander and the Minneapolis police officer charged with killing him was wearing a body camera. While that body camera footage has not been released publicly , cellphone video of Floyds final moments ignited international protests and sparked fresh discussions over police brutality and accountability in law enforcement.Some departments in New Jersey spend in excess of a hundred thousand dollars a year to maintain their body camera systems and store video.Body cameras could be, for some municipalities, prohibitively expensive, said Eric Piza, associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice . You have the cost of the actual cameras, but the real money comes in what it takes for the storage, the cloud servers and all of that, to actually store and be able to retrieve footage.The price tag varies for departments, depending on whether theyre leasing the cameras and storing footage in the cloud, like in Edison where they pay $179,000 a year, or purchased the system and store footage on their own servers, like in Newark. This year, Elizabeth is upgrading to new cameras and expects to spend $250,000 in 2021 for everything associated with it.Cost remains a big challenge for outfitting the nearly 150 Lakewood officers with modern body cameras, said Lakewood Police Chief Gregory Meyer, whose department did a trial run with them a few years ago. Apart from the equipment, the expense of storing video is a major factor.Many departments have turned to federal grants.Thats one way a lot of departments that maybe wouldnt be able to afford it on their own have been able to invest in cameras by going after these federal opportunities, Piza said. Thats probably the main reason why body cameras have kind of been deployed on such a rapid basis. If someone else is going to pay for a technology, youre probably going to see a lot of police signing up for that technology.For Lakewood, grants could make a big difference in trying cameras again.Of course if federal or state grant funding were to become available, as I am hearing, we will certainly once again take a close look, Meyer said. We find that our cameras and mic recordings have helped exonerate our officers numerous times from complaints about demeanor and excessive force. So it is not out of the picture and if funds can be secured we will certainly buy them.In Toms River, body cameras have been a subject of discussion, but no decision has been made, according to a police department spokeswoman. Clifton officials said the issue of body cameras will be discussed in the coming weeks.Woodbridge is awaiting guidance from the state on whether cameras could become mandatory.The Attorney General is exploring a number of steps as part of the Excellence in Policing Initiative for law enforcement reform, said Woodbridge Police Director Robert Hubner. We are being told that body worn cameras may be included, so at this point we are waiting to see what decision and guidance may come from any directives that will be issued.Newark, the states most populous city at more than 282,000 residents, has used cameras since 2017 under a federal consent decree mandating various police reforms Paterson, the states third-largest city with more than 145,000 residents, announced in January that it plans to outfit officers in its patrol division with cameras and they are in the process of getting that system up and running, officials said recently.Departments arent required at least not yet anyway to use body cameras in New Jersey.The state Attorney Generals office, which has issued directives dictating how cameras are to be used by officers across the state, does recommend them, though.The Attorney General strongly supports the use of body-worn cameras, but he cannot mandate their statewide use unless the Legislature appropriates funding to help local police departments purchase and maintain these systems, a spokesman said. In the meantime, police departments are welcome and strongly encouraged to purchase their own body-worn camera systems.State Senator Shirley K. Turner has introduced legislation mandating that all state, county and municipal law enforcement officers be outfitted with body cameras, with the cost picked up by forfeiture funds received by the state Attorney Generals office. The proposal isnt currently scheduled to be heard in committee, but it could get fresh attention in July when the Senates Law and Public Safety Committee holds hearings on police reform Current events have prompted some departments to act quickly on cameras. Asbury Park announced recently that it will outfit officers with body cameras following violent clashes with protestors who had gathered in response to George Floyds killing.Research evidence on the value of body cameras is mixed, though, according to Piza.You have some studies that have found that the cameras work pretty well, you have other studies that have found that the cameras actually dont make much of a difference and you have a smaller subset of studies that found that cameras actually increased things like police use of force and complaints against personnel, he said.Why would complaints increase?Knowing that an encounter was recorded, citizens might feel more confident stepping forward to make a complaint, since its no longer a matter of their word against an officers, Piza observed.Another study found that the use of force against cops increased when body cameras were instituted, he said. In those cases, officers may be more hesitant to use force, since they know they are being recorded, giving a suspect the opportunity to act first.While the push to outfit officers with cameras will likely increase in light of high-profile allegations of police brutality, Piza cautioned that cameras alone arent a solution.Departments need clear, uniform policies on how cameras are used and supervisors should be reviewing footage on a regular basis to spot red flags in officer conduct, rather than waiting for something tragic to occur, he said.My worry is that its probably going to take more than just strapping officers with cameras to solve some of these harder problems in policing, Piza said. If we assume that being recorded is going to change officer behavior in and of itself, then we may be disappointed.He pointed to the actions of now-former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, who is charged with murder in Floyds death.I would argue that theres no way that the officer was not aware that he was being recorded, Piza said. Whether or not he was wearing a body camera, multiple bystanders had their phones out recording. So obviously the threat of being recorded had zero impact on that officers decision to use deadly force in a situation that did not require deadly force. Bernie Ecclestone was in the news extensively last week because of his statements and his position in the BLM debate. The former F1-boss got the hang of it with six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Ecclestone explained the situation earlier, but now also gets support from Willie T Ribbs. In 1986 Ecclestone was still the owner of the Brabham F1 team. The team boss invited the African-American Willie T. Ribbs for a test in Portugal. It would be an open audition for the driver who could become the first black F1 driver. Ribbs talks to CNN for Ecclestone. Ribbs: "I don't know if Formula 1 would have existed at all if it wasn't for Bernie Ecclestone. He wanted me in the car at the time, he wanted me to make it to F1. At the time, however, he had Italian sponsors and they wanted an Italian driver. I respect him and have never had a problem with it". "Ecclestone brought first black driver to the sport" Ecclestone spoke about the prevailing black lives matter debate, saying that 'black people are often more racist than white people'. In turn, Lewis Hamilton fell over these words and called them 'uneducated and ignorant statements'. Ribbs seems to take it up for the old F1 boss and concludes: "My goal was to reach F1 and Bernie made a statement. Because he was determined to get the first coloured driver, a black man, into an F1 car". McLaren is borrowing about $185 million from a Bahraini bank. On Monday, amid claims the team needed funds desperately in order to avoid insolvency by mid July, McLaren supremo Zak Brown declared: "The problems have been solved. "You will hear positive news from us in the next few days," he told Auto Motor und Sport. Indeed, the National Bank of Bahrain confirmed on Monday: "The National Bank of Bahrain hereby confirms to the markets that final documentation has been signed and all the necessary approvals have been granted in relation to a GBP 150 million financing facility." Woking based McLaren is 56 percent owned by the Bahrain royal family's Mumtalakat investment company. The same company owns 44 percent of the bank. Also on Monday, Liberty Media announced that its almost $3 billion loan facility concerning Formula 1 has been amended so that the covenant runs until 2022. "This new flexibility in our debt covenants, along with a strong balance sheet and ample liquidity, will enable us to weather this difficult time," said F1 CEO Chase Carey. (GMM) Amid controversy over allegedly racist comments, Bernie Ecclestone has received some support from a retired American racing driver. Days after the former F1 supremo received scathing rebukes for saying that "in many cases black people are more racist than white people", Willy T Ribbs says Ecclestone actually gave him a shot at a Formula 1 career. "He wanted me in the car. He wanted me in Formula 1," Ribbs, who tested for Ecclestone's Brabham team in 1986, told CNN. "His sponsors at the time were Italian," said the 65-year-old former Nascar and Indycar driver. "They wanted Italian drivers, and I totally respect him. I have no issues with that. "My goal was to be in Formula 1, but Bernie Ecclestone made a statement because Bernie Ecclestone put the first man of colour, first black man, in a Formula 1 car." Ribbs says he has "only respect" for the 89-year-old. Mercedes has reacted to the new wave of racial politics in Formula 1 by deciding to drop its iconic silver livery in favour of an all-black one for 2020. Germany's Bild newspaper said the idea was discussed by team boss Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton at the beginning of the recent George Floyd protests. (GMM) Contrary to earlier reports, Formula 1 fans will get to see the teams and drivers prepare for Sunday's Austrian GP 'ghost race' on the actual grid. It had been proposed that, as part of the sport's strict measures to guard against coronavirus, the drivers would instead simply drive out of their garages onto the warm-up lap. "We rejected that," said Alfa Romeo team manager Beat Zehnder. "The drivers would have had to get into the right order and the grid order does not correspond to the order of the garages," he explained. "Now, fewer people will simply be allowed onto the grid - 40 per team until the three-minute signal, then only eight per car. "The whole procedure is also shortened from 40 to 30 minutes," he told Auto Motor und Sport. Drivers, team personnel and media are currently undergoing their first round of corona testing ahead of Formula 1's return to racing in the new era. "The Red Bull Ring was hermetically sealed on the 29th," Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko told Servus TV. "Only accredited people with a current and negative corona test may go onto the site. The setup is beginning now and, when this is done, the people will leave the factories," he added. "Breathing in and breathing out is strictly regulated," Marko joked. "As hosts, we have to be extremely careful." (GMM) Rescuers retrieve bodies of victims following a ferry accident in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 29, 2020. At least 30 bodies were recovered after a ferry carrying scores of people sank in the river of Buriganga in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Monday. (Str/Xinhua) DHAKA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 bodies were recovered after a ferry carrying scores of people sank in the river of Buriganga in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Monday. Enayet Hossain, senior duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters, told that Xinhua that "30 bodies including 19 men, eight women and three children have been found." According to the official, the Dhaka-bound ferry "Morning Bird" capsized after it was hit by another boat "Moyur-2" in Buriganga river near Dhaka's Sadarghat ferry terminal at around 9:30 a.m. local time. "We've come to know that the ferry was carrying about 50 to 60 passengers," he said. According to the official, some of the passengers were able to swim ashore after the ferry capsized. He said rescuers have been struggling against a strong current and choppy waters of Buriganga, which flows past the southwest outskirts of Dhaka. The boat has not been salvaged and brought to shore yet. Ferry is a key means of transport in the country and most of them are often overcrowded. Total US petroleum exports have been increasing over the last 10 years, reaching an all-time high of 8.5 million barrels per day (mmbd) in 2019. The United States exported 1.2 mmbd of petroleum to Mexico in 2019, which was 14% of total US petroleum exports, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Canada received 1.0 mmbd or 12%. Japan and South Korea were the next highest destinations, each receiving 7% of US petroleum exports. US petroleum exports by destination, 1990-2019. Includes crude oil and petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Source: US Energy Information Administration, May 2020 Monthly Energy Review, June 2020, Table 3.3f. Sign up at www.randolphlibrary.org/events/yasu.html to receive a link for the event, which will be filled with stories, magic, Kamishibai (Japanese picture board storytelling), origami and fun. Born in Ube, Japan, Ishida holds a master of fine arts degree in theatre for young audiences and graduated from the Chavez School of Magic. Now living in Myrtle Beach, he has worked with children all over the country, including Disney Summerstage Kids in New York, the Florida Storytelling Festival, the Hawaii Book and Music Festival and the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington. GREENSBORO A Greensboro business owner who failed to pay employee taxes was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in restitution last week, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Elizabeth Wood, 40, and her mother Rebecca Adams, 57, operated a temporary staffing business in Greensboro under the names A & R Staffing Solutions Inc., Wood Executive Services Inc., and Adams Staffing Enterprises Inc. The Justice Department said Wood and her mother withheld federal and state taxes from employees paychecks but did not pay those taxes to the IRS or the state. In 2015, Wood pleaded guilty to embezzling employee state tax withholdings and was sentenced to prison. After her release, Wood returned to work where she continued to withhold federal taxes from employees' paychecks without paying those taxes to the IRS, the Justice Department said. Wood also did not file with the IRS the required quarterly payroll tax return, according to the release. On Feb. 5, Wood and Adams, pleaded guilty to failing to pay employment taxes. Adams is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9. In addition to her imprisonment, Wood was ordered Thursday to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $2,338,766 in restitution, according to the release. Contact Jamie Biggs at 336-373-4476 and follow @JamieBiggsNR on Twitter. 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. A Duke Energy subsidiary is joining forces with Bank of America to support the construction of a 180-acre solar farm in the Piedmont Triads western reaches. The project will include 70,000 solar panels that generate enough power to offset about 45% of the banks North Carolina electricity needs, the partners announced Monday. Final details remain to be worked out, but the new solar farm will be located in the western Triad and is expected to come on line in about two years, Duke Energy spokesman Randy Wheeless said. The Charlotte Business Journal reported Monday that the project would be located in the Yadkin County community of East Bend. The project is part of Duke Energys Green Source Advantage program that enables large utility customers to link their power usage to sources of renewable energy. Customers want more flexibility and options for renewable energy, said Stephen DeMay, Duke Energys North Carolina president. And during a protest over the weekend, a 27-year-old Burlington man was arrested after he became confrontational and refused to leave, according to police. The issue became more divisive on Monday. Nearly 50 of Alamance Countys government, business and education leaders signed a letter urging elected officials to relocate the Confederate statue. At a press conference Monday morning, those leaders made their case for the monuments removal. Connie Ledoux Book, the president of Elon University, said the monument has long been a source of conflict in our community and it stands as a symbol of racism for many. Our society is becoming more fully aware of the stark realities of racism and injustice, Book said. Now is a time for truth, healing and a new commitment to the concepts of liberty and justice for all. I am convinced we cannot fully achieve the aspirations of our democracy with divisive symbols such as this Confederate monument in Graham in our midst. On Monday afternoon, the Alamance County Board of Commissioners said in a statement that it does not have the legal authority under state law to remove the monument. The five-member board also accused those who signed the letter of keeping the effort hidden. Why was it done in secret and then unveiled at a press conference? the statement said. This would lead an observer to believe that this call to action is political in nature. Its true purpose would not appear to be to persuade the commissioners, but to ambush them in as public a manner as possible. Contact Jamie Biggs at 336-373-4476 and follow @JamieBiggsNR on Twitter. 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 reason I voted no was it was one bill when it left the House, and when it came back it was totally different, Dahle said. Midnight is no time to govern. I continue to ask why it has to happen this way. Two days before its passage, when the bill left committee, it was six pages. By the time it reached the floor in the early hours of Saturday morning, the page count more than doubled. Two Democratic lawmakers who voted for the bill, Rep. Deb Butler and Sen. Jeff Jackson, have since expressed opposition to the secrecy provision. Good governance is impossible at 3 a.m., said Butler, who represents portions of New Hanover and Brunswick counties. The speaker knows that and does it intentionally. New provisions back and forth all night long. Its a terrible way to do the peoples business. If this language slipped under the radar, I hope the governor vetoes it. We need more transparency, not less. State officials say lawmakers, who originally included the provision in a 2019 bill, did not mean to change access to public records, but to clarify existing language. The 2019 bill stalled in the Senate, and legislators moved the language to House Bill 1214 this year, which also stalled. They then moved the provision to SB 168. According to Johns Hopkins University, as of June 26, there have been 2,425,814 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, and 124,509 deaths. This current situation bears a strong resemblance to the flu pandemic of 1918-1920. It is estimated that the pandemic killed 50 million people worldwide, with 675,000 deaths in the United States. President Woodrow Wilson, focused on World War I, never spoke to the American people about the pandemic. President Trump, focused on getting reelected, has made no effort to console the American public. In fact, he has refuted the advice of medical experts. Some cities in the 1918 pandemic passed ordinances requiring people to wear masks in public. Among these were Seattle, Phoenix and San Francisco. A group in San Francisco actually formed an Anti-Mask League. Bayer Aspirin had been developed by the Germans and was available in the United States. Since we were at war with Germany, some people thought the aspirin was poisoned with the flu germs, as a weapon. (Fulp told the News & Record he has four of the synthetic winch lines, which he did intend to sell. But its nearly impossible to believe that the wordplay behind the brand name/promotion, in light of the Talladega incident, was a coincidence.) The ad post appeared one day after an FBI investigation ruled that the noose at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama had not targeted Wallace, who led the successful push to ban Confederate flags at NASCAR races. Now Fulp says hes sorry for it all and that he has only himself to blame. I am not a racist, he said. The episode breaks my heart, man, Fulp said. Because I see a lot of hate. I dont want nobody to hate me. Im not a bad dude. Well see. At least Fulp appears to be a smarter dude. Fulp says he has ended all of his activity on social media. He recounted as well a tender moment he said he had with a young Black protester Saturday night. The girl, about the age of his granddaughter, grabbed his hand, Fulp said. She said, I dont hate you, he told The News & Observer of Raleigh. I looked at her, and said, I dont hate you either. Since I retired from AT&T three years ago, thanks to my union-negotiated retirement benefits, Ive been able to remain active in my community. I take my volunteer service seriously because I love my community. And right now, my community is in pain. The pandemic has killed more than 1,200 people in North Carolina. Most of them were retirees like me. How can I pretend its over when people are still dying? Unemployment is killing the futures of more than 600,000 people who have lost their jobs since the pandemic began. This is especially true for Black women because of the long-existing pay and wealth inequality. How can they hope to retire tomorrow when they cant afford to make ends meet today? And the ugliness of racism, policy brutality and racial injustice keeps killing Black people. How can we live if we cant breathe? Our officials still have a job to do to address the triple threats of this pandemic, unemployment and structural racism. We need action from lawmakers to keep people employed now, protect the retirement benefits weve earned over a lifetime of work, and to value Black lives. Thats what the HEROES Act does, and we need Sen. Tillis to support it. On June 26, the News & Record ran a story headlined Police concerns focus of meeting. The reporter stated that Mayor Vaughan and the rest of City Council are listening to the demands of the Greensboro Rising protesters. ... But why isnt Mayor Vaughan listening to anyone else? Why isnt she listening to small-business owners whose stores were looted on May 30 and 31? Why isnt Mayor Vaughan listening to 911 calls from business owners whose pleas for help were never answered? Why isnt Mayor Vaughan listening to law-abiding citizens who were peacefully shopping at Friendly Shopping Center on Friday, only to be bullied and disrupted by protesters who didnt have a legal parade permit? Why are the protesters allowed to disrupt dozens of businesses without a legal protest permit? Why are these protesters allowed to block I-40, a major thoroughfare through Greensboro? Why isnt Mayor Vaughan listening to taxpayers who were trying to shop on Wendover Avenue on June 7? Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} I was trying to make a joke ... trying to make people laugh, Fulp told Drumwright as the pair talked across the raceways chain link fence at dusk Saturday. Drumwright, who offered to pray with Fulp, invited Fulp to explain his reasoning for making the Bubba Rope post. It wasnt about Bubba, Fulp said, tearful. It was about trying to make people laugh ... But I didnt think of what it was gonna do. News of his post brought criticism last week from Gov. Roy Cooper and prompted all but two racing sponsors and vendors to pull their business from the Confederate-flag-bedecked track, touted as the Daytona of Dirt. Black leaders and white race fans alike condemned the posts and chided Fulp online and in the press. Wallace, NASCARs only full-time Black driver, learned last week through an FBI investigation that a door pull fashioned as a noose had been in place at the Alabama raceway since at least October. Fulp cried as he spoke to Drumwright in the video, I made a mistake, and Im sorry. I dont want nobody hurt, man, I dont want nobody hurt ... People threatened me, to kill me, he said of callers, many of whom he said were white. Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, a former Roberts clerk, tweeted that the decision was a disaster and a big-time wake up call to religious conservatives, whom he urged to make our voices heard. But Roberts move to stand apart from his more liberal colleagues, contextualizing his vote as one to protect the courts past precedent, left other religious conservatives vowing to rededicate themselves to their fight to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established abortion rights. This case was about whether the state has the right to ensure that abortionists who take womens money also provide for their safety, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a prominent pro-Trump evangelical ally, said in a statement, adding that I do look forward to the day when the Supreme Court will correct the gross injustice of the Roe v. Wade decision that has led to the killing of tens of millions of unborn babies. Russell Moore, president of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, defended Louisianas abortion law as placing the most minimal restrictions possible on an abortion industry that insists on laissez-faire for itself and its profits. Nonetheless, we will continue to seek an America where vulnerable persons, including unborn children and their mothers, are seen as precious. It is extremely dangerous and contrary to current public health recommendations to stage a large event in an area where the number of cases is surging. The RNC should be postponed or very significantly reduced in numbers because of these risks, the open letter states. About 5,800 total cases of coronavirus have been reported in Duval County, where Jacksonville is located, and 64 deaths. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked about the move Monday. Weve advised from the beginning of May about situations where that would be appropriate, but weve left it to the locals about whether they want to use coercive measures or impose any criminal penalties, he said. During a daily briefing, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked about the Jacksonville order and whether Trumps thinking about wearing a mask had changed at all, given the vote in Jacksonville and given increased virus cases in Florida, Arizona and elsewhere. McEnany said she had talked to the president before the briefing to get his thinking and its the personal choice of any individual as to whether to wear a mask or not. He encourages people to make whatever decision is best for their safety, but he did say to me he has no problem with masks and to do whatever your local jurisdiction requests of you. WASHINGTON The White House said Monday that President Donald Trump wasnt briefed on U.S. intelligence assessments earlier this year that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan because the information had not been verified. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany added that Trump even now had not been briefed on the allegations because the intelligence would not be elevated to the president until it was verified. However, the White House seemed to be setting an unusually high bar for bringing the information to Trump, since it is rare for intelligence to be confirmed without a shadow of doubt before it is presented to senior government decision-makers. The result was an odd situation in which eight Republican lawmakers attended a briefing at the White House on Monday about explosive allegations that the president himself was said to have not been fully read in on. McEnany declined to say why a different standard of confidence in the intelligence applied to briefing lawmakers than bringing the information to the president. A White House official said Democrats also were invited to a White House briefing. It was scheduled to take place this morning. The state Department of Correction said has completed the mass testing of offenders in the prison system, revealing 9 percent testing positive, or 832 inmates but only two who showed symptoms. In all, the department tested 9,504 inmates between May 13 and June 25 in an effort to check for the illness in every prisoner. About 440 opted out, mostly at Osborn Correctional Institute in Somers, and those inmates are being offered tests this week, the department said late Monday. All of the offenders who tested positive were isolated for two weeks. None beyond the two who showed symptoms developed symptoms during their monitoring periods, the department said in a press release. The results were in addition to 510 inmates who tested positive before May 13, for a total of 1,342 who have tested positve about 12 percent of the average population over the last three months. As of June 16, three were sick with symptoms and 12 were considered to have COVID-19 but did not show symptoms. Seven had died. Percentages of positive results varies widely, from 45 percent at the Brooklyn Correctional Institute to three or fewer total cases at four separate facilities, including the largest, MacDougall-Walker, in Suffield, with 1,862 offenders. Mass testing of the Departments staff is also being conducted, and is still ongoing. To date a total of 593 correctional professionals have been tested, with all but one of the results coming back as negative for the novel coronavirus, the department added. Of the approximately 6,000 total staff members working for the Department of Correction, it has been just over a month since a staff member has tested positive for the virus. Among the 563 women tested at the York Correctional Institution, 99 percent of that group, none tested positive for the virus. The prison population has fallen under 10,000 for the first time in nearly 30 years as the number of offenders in the system has fallen by 2,400 since March 1. An analysis by Hearst Connecticut Media in early June showed that most of the reduction was due to a sharp decline in new imprisonments, although hundreds have been released early amid the threat of coronavirus. dhaar@hearstmediact.com DANBURY A city man was arrested on a warrant Saturday, following a 16-month-long investigation into a child molestation complaint. Walter Franco-Orellana, 43, has been charged with fourth-degree sexual assault, illegal sexual contact with a child under 13, and risk of injury/impairing the morals of a child. After receiving a complaint about sexual abuse of a female juvenile in February 2019, Danbury police launched an investigation and identified Franco-Orellana as the suspect. Franco-Orellana was an acquaintance of the victim, according to police. Special Victims Unit detectives obtained a warrant for Franco-Orellanas arrest and took him into custody June 27. Franco-Orellana was released after posting a $10,000 bond and arraigned Monday morning at state Superior Court in Danbury. Based on the illegal sexual contact charge, the victim was under the age of 13 at the time of the alleged abuse. The following are arrests the Danbury Police Department reported to have made last week: A 23-year-old Meadow Street man was charged with evading responsibility, driving under the influence and failure to drive in the proper lane. A 49-year-old Wilson Place man was charged with evading responsibility and failure to grant right of way. A 27-year-old homeless woman from Danbury was charged with breach of peace. A 35-year-old Hoyt Street man was charged with second-degree failure to appear. A 50-year-old Spring Street woman was charged with assault on a public safety officer and disorderly conduct. June 22 A 40-year-old Lawncrest Drive man was charged with third-degree criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. A 40-year-old Padanaram Road woman was charged with risk of injury to child, third-degree assault and disorderly conduct. A 52-year-old George Street woman was charged with second-degree failure to appear. A 24-year-old Beaver Brook Road man was charged with criminal impersonation. A 31-year-old Kenosia Avenue man was charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct. A 32-year-old Westville Avenue man was charged with driving under the influence, failure to drive upon right and operating a motor vehicle in violation of license classification. June 23 A 20-year-old Dana Road woman was charged with operating an unregistered motor vehicle, improper use of marker, license or registration and failure to drive in the proper lane. June 24 A 72-year-old Lawrence Avenue woman was charged with third-degree criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. A 24-year-old Mallory Street man was charged with third-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny. A 55-year-old homeless man from Danbury was charged with breach of peace. A 56-year-old Belmont Circle man was charged with driving with a suspended license and making a restricted turn. A 40-year-old man from New Fairfield was charged with third-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, fourth- and sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit larceny, second-degree criminal mischief and conspiracy to commit criminal mischief. June 25 A 49-year-old Morris Avenue man was charged with failure to obey control signal and driving with a refused, suspended or revoked license or registration. A 50-year-old Spring Street woman was charged with sixth-degree larceny. June 26 A 26-year-old Balmforth Avenue man was charged with third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal trespass, third-degree criminal mischief, threatening, disorderly conduct, possession of a controlled substance, interfering with an officer, violation of a criminal protective order and first-degree failure to appear. A 59-year-old Virginia Avenue man was charged with violation of a protective order. A 43-year-old man from Newtown was charged with first-degree criminal trespass, violation of a protective order and violation of probation. June 27 A 43-year-old Irving Place man was charged with fourth-degree sexual assault, illegal sexual contact and risk of injury to a child. A 29-year-old South Avenue man was charged with third-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief, interfering with an officer, disorderly conduct and violation of probation. A 25-year-old man from the New Preston section of Washington was charged with driving under the influence, failure to drive in the proper lane and operating a motor vehicle in violation of license classification. As of January 2019, Hearst Connecticut Media does not include n ames in online police blotters. Another upcoming Google product that isn't the Pixel 4a has been leaking a lot lately, and that is the upcoming Android TV-powered new Chromecast dongle, codenamed Sabrina. Unlike past Chromecasts, this will run Android TV and thus have that OS' full interface. Not only that, but it will have a smart remote with Google Assistant - which brings us to the fact that the search giant is holding a Smart Home Summit online on July 8. The company hasn't explicitly mentioned that it wants to unveil new hardware on that occassion, but it would be weird if this was just a coincidence. The new Chromecast, if priced to sell, could be a huge success given how it can basically turn any TV into a smart one - and give Google more data on your usage patterns of course. The remote and full Android TV UI will help with usability. Alongside this, the company could also unveil a new Google Home smart speaker, which is probably going to be branded Nest Home. That fits with the smart home theme even more. As for the Pixel 4a, who knows when that device might finally get official. Source | Via The Indian Government has announced that it has banned 59 mobile applications, including TikTok, WeChat, and Mi Community. The reason is, as stated in a press release, the Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. There were multiple reports from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) that these mobile apps are a threat to national security and risk to the privacy of Indian citizens. The Government of India has decided to disallow the usage of certain Apps, used both by mobile and non-mobile users. Looking at the list, we see predominantly service apps that are advertised in India as must-haves - a file explorer, document scanner, RAM cleaner, an independent sharing service, but no major platforms with in-game purchases like PUBG, for example. However, platforms by major Chinese companies were not spared - we see Baidu apps, Alibabas UC Browser, and Tencents ecosystem of QQ apps. Among smartphone manufacturers, Xiaomi is the sole company with some of its apps being banned, there is nothing on Huawei, even if the Shenzhen company is having massive issues with the US government. This is likely a political move and a stance against China, following the border stand-off in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed. At the moment of writing this article we tried to download some apps from Google Play and run others that were already installed, and they all worked effortlessly, raising the question how is the Indian Government planning to implement this ban. Heres the full list of blocked apps, as given by the Indian government: TikTok Shareit Kwai UC Browser Baidu map Shein Clash of Kings DU battery saver Helo Likee YouCam makeup Mi Community CM Browers Virus Cleaner APUS Browser ROMWE Club Factory Newsdog Beutry Plus WeChat UC News QQ Mail Weibo Xender QQ Music QQ Newsfeed Bigo Live SelfieCity Mail Master Parallel Space Mi Video Call Xiaomi WeSync ES File Explorer Viva Video QU Video Inc Meitu Vigo Video New Video Status DU Recorder Vault- Hide Cache Cleaner DU App studio DU Cleaner DU Browser Hago Play With New Friends Cam Scanner Clean Master Cheetah Mobile Wonder Camera Photo Wonder QQ Player We Meet Sweet Selfie Baidu Translate Vmate QQ International QQ Security Center QQ Launcher U Video V fly Status Video Mobile Legends DU Privacy Source According to news circulating in South Korean media, Samsung will pull out of the upcoming IFA 2020 trade show scheduled to take place in early September. Samsung hasnt released an official statement but reports claim the Korean tech giant has re-evaluated its plans for mass gatherings in the wake of the ongoing pandemic. Samsung has been a regular attendee at IFA since 1991 with some notable announcements in the past including the launch of the original Galaxy Note back in 2011. Last year we got the Galaxy A90 5G which was the first non-flagship phone in the manufacturers lineup to come with 5G connectivity. Samsung will likely opt-out of all events in the near future that involve mass gatherings in person. Via PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Ingalls Shipbuilding has been awarded a $936 million contract for construction of an additional Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (DDG 51), the shipyard announced Tuesday. We take great pride in the craftsmanship of our shipbuilders, and in the capabilities of our world-class shipyard, said Ingalls president Brian Cuccias. This contract award provides great momentum for Ingalls and our more than 600 suppliers, in nearly 40 states, as we enter the second half of the year. We continue to focus on high performance and providing the greatest value possible to our customers. The Pascagoula shipyard was awarded a $5.1 billion fixed-price incentive contract in 2018 to build six Arleigh Burke-class Flight III destroyers for the Navy. U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker praised the contract. Todays announcement from the U.S. Navy is a huge vote of confidence for the talented shipyard workers at Huntington Ingalls and is excellent news for the men and women of our fleet, Wicker said. Exercising the option for an additional destroyer helps keep our production lines stable and brings us one ship closer to our 355-ship fleet goal. This new destroyer will serve as a flexible, capable, and powerful deterrent to our nations adversaries for decades to come. Ingalls has delivered 32 destroyers to the Navy and has four more under construction, including Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) and Ted Stevens (DDG 128). Ingalls delivered Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) to the Navy in April. OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Ocean Springs has cancelled a planned Independence Day block party after backlash from the community amid COVID-19 concerns. Mayor Shea Dobson announced the cancellation through his Facebook page Sunday. The block party, along with the Citys annual July 3 fireworks show, were announced on the Citys Facebook page last week. The block party, scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., would have included a closure of a portion of streets in the downtown area for the event. But heavy criticism from the public, along with a rise in COVID-19 numbers both in the area and across the state, prompted a rethink by some of the events sponsors, Dobson said. I still think its a good idea, Dobson told The Mississippi Press, but there are people who also had their name on it who were uncomfortable with it, so I dont feel like I should go barreling full steam ahead if everyone involved is uncomfortable, so I decided it was in everybodys best interests to go ahead and cancel it. Dobson said the event was his idea and he recruited the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce and local businesses to support it. It was initiated by me, he said. The chamber was a willing participant and willing to help any way they could to make is as successful as possible, but they were brought in to help, rather than initiating it. The chamber had their name on it along with some restaurants and other entities and some of them were not comfortable with it. Dobson said he thought the block party would be a way for residents to celebrate Independence Day and closing the streets would allow attendees more room to spread out. I still think its a good idea, he repeated. I think it was probably more of a marketing botch than anything else. The main reasons to close the streets were two-fold one, more opportunity for people to come out and enjoy the Fourth and hopefully put more money in businesses pockets, but also to allow people to spread out more during the day. Dobson said Tuesday the Citys fireworks show, set for July 3 at 8:45 p.m. on Ocean Springs Front Beach, is still a go as of now. He said he was going to meet with the Citys attorney and police chief Mark Dunston to discuss social distancing enforcement for the fireworks show. Were going to go over whats expected by the CDC guidelines and what we should be looking out for, he said. I want to stress that everyone should be practicing personal responsibility and looking out for themselves. Were really leaning on the community to do their best before we have to look for a police solution. Ocean Springs traditionally hosts its fireworks show on July 3 so as not to compete with July 4 shows in Biloxi. Pascagoula will also host its annual fireworks show along its beach front on July 4, also at 8:45 p.m. Television WGUD will be providing a live stream of the fireworks show to allow those remaining at home to watch. The live stream can be accessed through the City of Pascagoula YouTube channel or Facebook page. Pascagoula officials also request anyone attending the show in person practice social distancing. OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Gov. Tate Reeves was scheduled to sign into law the bill retiring the 1894 Mississippi state flag late Tuesday afternoon. From that point, those government entities still flying the flag have 15 days to take it down. Ocean Spirngs Mayor Shea Dobson, however, wasnt waiting. Sunday afternoon, he went to City Hall and personally removed the now-former state flag. I knew they were voting, Dobson said of the Mississippi Legislatures Sunday votes in both the House and Senate. Honestly, I was under the impression (Reeves) was going to sign it that day, but whether it was a few hours or a couple of days, it was academic at that point. The writing was on the wall. That flag would be retired and no longer the state flag and therefore should not be flown. The 1894 flag has been a point of contention throughout Dobsons nearly three years as mayor. After that flag had not flown at city hall for 12 years, Dobson restored it to the city hall flagpole on his first day in office. Numerous complaints and protests followed, so in November 2017 Dobson ordered the flag taken down. The board of aldermen, however, passed an amendment about a week later that mandated the official state flag be flown on all City properties with a flag pole. So, in taking the flag down before Reeves signed the bill into law, Dobson technically violated City ordinance. In any event, Dobson was asked if -- given the controversy surrounding the flag flying in Ocean Springs during his tenure -- there was a sense of relief when the legislature voted to retire the 1894 flag. I dont know if relief is the right word, he replied. I still stand behind my principle in simply wanting to fly the official state flag of Mississippi, whatever that design may be. Ive never once defended a particular design and I think that has gotten kind of lost in the noise. Sometimes when you stand on principle it can be difficult and lonely sometimes. I think my position was one of principle, but I would argue it wasnt a passionate position because, again, its not like I came in wanting to fight about the design of a flag or a flag in general. To me, it was just a principle and if youre not going to stand by a principle when its hard its easy to stand on principle when its easy but principles are what define somebody. Dobson said his decision to take the flag down in November 2017 was not an abandonment of his principles, but to provide relief to city hall employees. When I made the decision to take it down the first time, I did it because some activists were harassing City employees and, as the mayor, Im the day-to-day operations and that was very frustrating. But thats in the past and I really dont regret my decision and and principle to fly it in the first place. Dobson said he is already hearing from constituents unhappy with the legislatures decision who are encouraging him to continue to fly the 1894 flag. There are some people who are upset about the way the vote went and think I should continue to fly it, he said. My position of the past three years has remained the same the official state flag should fly. But I may have a whole different group of people who may be upset with me, but my position has stayed the same. Dobson also said he had supported a statewide vote on the flag issue. I would have preferred a vote by the people, a popular vote, but these are our elected representatives and they have the ability to do what they did, he said. Its a legal, binding vote and its something Im going to respect. I definitely dont agree with everything that comes out of Jackson, but it is what it is and you have to live with it. Had the legislature not acted on the flag issue during this session, the board of alderman were set to act at its July 7 meeting, when a motion was going to be introduced rescinding the boards 2017 amendment requiring the flag be flown and ordering the 1894 flag be taken down. According to members of the board, there were at least four votes, possibly five, among the seven aldermen to approve the motion. With the legislatures action, however, its expected the board will let the amendment stand. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Some of the fireworks that had been intended to explode in Gwinnett's skies around the Fourth of July will still burst but it will happen later than anticipated, if it happens at all, in some parts of the county. Haiti - Politic : The Mayor of Port-au-Prince and his advisers no longer have a mandate On Monday, several main mayors and deputy mayors of various communes went to the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation (CSC/CA) to inform that at the end of their 4-year mandate, in compliance with the Constitutions and of the laws of the Republic, they did not intend to liquidate the current affairs of their commune nor continue to engage their Communal Administration and that they will become simple citizens at this deadline. In addition, they requested in the filing of their decision that the CSA/CA proceed as quickly as possible to an audit of the management of the Mayors of the municipalities concerned. Among the elected officials present at the CSC/CA there were among others : Ralph Youri Chevry the Mayor of Port-au-Prince, Rony Colin, the Mayor of Croix-des-Bouquets and his assistant Jean Jonas Saint-Juste, Louise Marie Medor, Deputy Mayor and Ocxama Moise, Deputy Mayor of Mirebalais, Naczius Joseph, Deputy Mayor of Belladere and Jean Junior Auguste the Mayor of La Victoire. In his letter to Rogavil Boisgene, the President of the CSC/CA dated June 28, Ralph Youri Chevery, the Mayor of Port-au-Prince writes : "[...] I hasten to draw your high and kind attention to the following points : That under articles 66 and 68 combined of 10 Constitution of 1987 amended, the mandate of the Municipal Council is four (4) years and its members are indefinitely re-eligible; That in addition, the minutes of the swearing in of my council date back to June 28, 2016 and that today June 28, 2020 my mandate as Mayor of the commune of Port-au-Prince, including the Municipal Council, irretrievably reaches its end. Consequently, all the files being processed in the administrations (Interior Ministry and/or Superior Court of Accounts) before and until this date fall into my management and the execution becomes illico, compulsory or even imperative. To this account, I send you as an attachment, the inventory of all the goods left by my administration in the offices of the Town Hall for all useful purposes [...]" TB/ HL/ HaitiLibre Published on 2020/06/29 | Source It's been a year since the late actress Jeon Mi-sun passed away. Advertisement Jeon Mi-sun was found dead at a hotel in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, around 11:43AM on June 29th last year. At that time, the Jeonbuk Fire Department was dispatched after receiving a report, but she was already in a state of apnea, no pulse, unconsciousness and cardiac arrest. The sad news shocked many people. Four days before her death, she also appeared at a press conference for the movie "The King's Letters" in bright attitude. Not only was the movie about to be released, but many people were shocked because she was so active that she had confirmed another appearance in KBS2's "The Tale of Nokdu", which aired in the second half of the year. Jeon Mi-sun was born on December 7, 1970 and turned 48 years old last year. She made debut in 1989 in a KBS drama when she was a senior in high school, and later became known in two other famous dramas. She also appeared in movies such as "Look at the Sky" and "Christmas in August". Debuting at a young age, she experienced a slump in acting in the late 1990s, but made a comeback through the 2000 film "Bungee Jumping of their Own". She then starred in several other films such as "Memories of Murder" and dramas "Wang Gun", "Miss Mermaid", "Hwang Jin-ie", "Bread, Love and Dreams", "Ojak Brothers", "The Sun and the Moon", "Answer Me 1988", "Six Flying Dragons" and more. As her 1st death anniversary approaches, fellow actors have been expressing their longing for her on their social media. Seo Yu-jeong posted a picture from the set of "The King's Letters" and said, "You were in this movie. How are you doing?" on her social media. She added, "Just because we don't talk about you doesn't mean we've forgotten you. We can't think about you everyday, but you're still remembered. The warm hearted and the kind always get hurt, but those who are self conceited and mean are too well". "It pains me. I hope you're not hurting over there. You never abused your position to us juniors and you always approached people in your human way". "You will never be forgotten and will always be remembered". Actress Kim Na-woon also posted a smiling picture on her social media on the 24th with the caption, "I miss you my dear friend Mi-sun. I almost feel like you'd answer your cell phone if I called you. Are you comfortable over there? I thought we'd grow old together, but it rains bitterly here". Michigan City, IN (46360) Today Generally cloudy. High around 65F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 47F. NNE winds shifting to SE at 10 to 15 mph. Editor: I was sitting in the waiting area in a large medical facility, alone, read MNA will continue to adjust our message as new scientific evidence and data emerges MNA strongly encourages all Montana citizens wear facemasks to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. As COVID-19 spreads across the globe and cases continue to increase in Montana, the chances that you will be exposed and get sick continue to increase. When someone talks, coughs, or sneezes they may release droplets into the air that land on surfaces and can infect others. If someone is ill or is an asymptomatic carrier, a face mask can reduce the number of germs that the wearer releases and can protect other people from becoming infected. Because this virus has its own agenda, and we now see evidence that asymptomatic people can spread the virus may be contagious 48 to 72 hours before starting to experience any symptoms if at all Montana Nurses Association kindly asks: Please wear a mask in all public settings when social distancing cannot be maintained to protect others. Masks are especially important when you have to be around someone not in your bubble of regular contacts and will be spending time in close proximity, such as a car drive. MNA applauds all businesses requiring masks to be worn, keeping their patrons and employees as safe as possible. What a simple thing we can all do for each other. Those who are selfish and remove their masks after entering any business that requires them or choose not to wear a mask when social distancing cannot be maintained, you are compromising the safety of others, including your loved ones. Be smart. The longer we adhere to these recommendations, the longer we are able to support our public health and economy by limiting the spread of the disease in Montana. Wear your face covering correctly Wash your hands before putting on your face covering with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer before touching the mask. Put it over your nose and mouth and secure it under your chin Try to fit it snugly against the sides of your face Make sure you can breathe easily Wearing a mask only over your mouth and exposing your nose does not protect anyone and is equivalent to not wearing a mask at all. Wash your hands again after removing your face covering with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer. Face coverings protect others Wear a face covering to help protect others in case youre infected but dont have symptoms Keep the covering on your face the entire time youre in public Dont put the covering around your neck or up on your forehead Dont touch the face covering, and, if you do, wash your hands Everyday health habits Stay at least 6 feet away from others, maintain social distancing Avoid contact with people who are sick, please stay home if you are ill Wash your hands often, with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds each time Use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available If we all do this now, we will be able to maintain our progress through planned reopening stages and get back to safely opening schools and working and living as we all hope to. Vicky Byrd, MSN, RN, is chief executive officer of the The Montana Nurses Association. MNA is the states largest and most influential nursing organization. We are a professional nurse association and labor union which represents RNs and APRNs throughout the state. Our mission is to promote professional nursing practice, standards and education; represents professional nurses; and provides nursing leadership in promoting high quality health care. For more information visit: http://www.mtnurses.org. The senseless death of a black American has ignited civil protests around the globe. We will always remember George Floyds name and the 8 minutes 46 seconds that Minneapolis police officers assisted a fellow officer in pinning Floyds neck to the ground until he remained motionless. While viewing current news coverage, it is evident that our nation is on the precipice of major societal change akin to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Only time will tell if our nation will build on the victories of that movement and truly live up to the U.S. Constitutions immortal declaration that all men are created equal. It will be hard to overcome the deep-seated, systemic racism that began with the inception of this nation, but we believe it can and will happen. As Native Americans, we understand discrimination and racism. We live with it. There are places in Montana where we are uncomfortable and make a point of avoiding. There are businesses where we know we will be followed the moment we walk in the door. When stereotypes are spewed at us, we often hold our tongues to avoid conflict. Sadly, Native Americans continue to sit at the bottom of every social indicator. And not only are Native Americans more likely to be shot by a police officer than any other race or ethnic group, but we are also disproportionately incarcerated in the Montana prison system. Although Native Americans make up around 6.7 percent of Montanas population, we make up 16 percent of the prison population. To determine if racial inequality exists, it takes just a handful of statistics to see the gravity of the situation. When Montana Indians make up around 26 percent of the missing people in Montana, the racial equity gaps become even more evident. And only recently has the widespread and pervasive epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People come to the consciousness of Montana and the country. Although emergency response and media coverage has slightly improved in Montana, such efforts continue to lag far behind that of missing white women. We refuse to stand idle and have these issues swept under the rug. We stand in solidarity with black Americans and ask for true change to happen throughout our country. Nobody should feel intimidated anywhere in this land of the free and the home of the brave, regardless of the color of their skin, their religion, or their sexual orientation. As our country looks in the mirror, we must recognize and address these disparities. We must have hard conversations and educate one another to break down stereotypes and start closing the gaps of inequality. Although the gaps in racial inequality are far from being closed, we recognize that many attitudes and perspectives toward Native Americans have changed for the better. We know Montana is filled with a lot of wonderful people. The Montana Indian Caucus comprises Sen. Susan A. Webber, Rep. Shane A. Morigeau, Rep. Bridget Smith, Sen. Frank Smith, Rep. Sharon Stewart-Peregoy, Rep. Barbara Bessette, Rep. Jade Bahr, Rep. Marvin Weatherwax, Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy. Shops, restaurants uncertain about mask enforcement role RALEIGH Gov. Roy Coopers executive order requiring face masks made North Carolina businesses responsible for enforcement. But they werent given directions about how to comply until the order had taken effect. Cooper on June 24 ordered that all North Carolinians wear face coverings in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But it was businesses, not individuals, who were liable if someone broke the rules. Businesses were confused. Cooper tried to clarify. On June 26, the administration said businesses werent required to confront people who refused to wear masks, only to post signs encouraging customers to wear face coverings. Coopers order didnt authorize law enforcers to cite people, though police can charge people with trespassing if they refuse to leave a business. Lynn Minges is president of the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association. She told Carolina Journal many restaurants and other businesses were already following state recommendations for face coverings. But, after the recommendation became a requirement, they were uneasy about possible altercations with customers who refused to mask up. We expressed a concern about restaurants having to play a role in managing some of this, and were explaining some of the concerns that we thought restaurants would have in trying to enforce this," Minges said. "It was putting us in an awkward situation." CJ reached out to the N.C. Retail Merchants Association, asking whether the delay in guidance confused or complicated business operations around the state. What discussions was the association part of before the mask rule was announced? CJ asked spokesman Andy Ellen. What input did NCRMA have in the governors decision? NCRMAs request was that, should mandatory face covering be implemented, retail employees not be expected or required to confront customers not wearing them, Ellen said in an email. This request was made based on acts of verbal and physical assaults that had occurred throughout the country with regards to this issue and the priority of providing a safe shopping experience for both customers and employees, Ellen said, Though state guidelines say businesses arent required to confront customers, an incident over the weekend in Forsyth County raises more questions. Video posted on social media June 27 shows an altercation with a man in Cooks Flea Market in Winston-Salem. An officer, who reportedly was working security at the market, restrained and arrested a man accused of refusing to leave. The man wasnt wearing a face covering. The Forsyth County Sheriffs office is investigating, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. Free access for current print subscribers As a home delivery subscriber, you get free unlimited digital access to premium content on HenryHerald.com, including local news, local sports, obituaries, legal notices, local features, and the e-edition. All you need is your print subscription account number and your last name. Don't know your subscription number? Email access@henryherald.com with your delivery address. Activate your account now. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 84F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 59F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Over 800,000 in cash was seized in a series of raids targeting a Coolock crime gang. The cash was recovered at a house outside Bailieborough, Co Cavan, yesterday as part of an intelligence-driven operation. It was one of five premises searched by officers from the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau during raids in Co Cavan and on the northside of Dublin. The 38-year-old suspect, who was detained at the house where the cash haul was found, is originally from north Dublin. The man has links to Coolock as well as Cavan and gardai are trying to establish who he was being used to launder money for. One line of inquiry is that the seized cash could linked to the Kinahan cartel. Several properties, including the man's Dublin home, were raided after the cash bust. "He has connections in Cavan but this man is from Coolock and the obvious connection is to criminality out that way," a source told the Herald, The suspect is said to have kept a low profile since moving to Co Cavan and had not come to the attention of local gardai. Gardai said the search operation targeted members of an organised crime group suspected of being involved in large-scale trafficking of drugs and money laundering. The 38-year-old was being held last night at Navan Garda Station. "Yesterday we entered one premises in Co Cavan and commenced a search and later we entered another four premises," said Assistant Garda Commissioner John O'Driscoll, who is in charge of Special Crime Operations. Bundles "The searches continued late into last night and into the morning. "Following initial small sums of cash, other bundles of cash were found and the counting continues but is now at 800,000 and one male is in custody in Co Meath. "This operation demonstrates the continued determination of An Garda Siochana to target organised crime through stopping the flow of money suspected to be the proceeds of crime and which provides the motivation for organised crime groups to trade in drugs". A builder caught with pepper spray on him when he was searched by gardai had it for his protection while he was working in "dodgy areas" of Dublin, a court has heard. Piotr Lastowski (44) had a canister of the spray in his possession when gardai searched a car in the west of the city. The case was struck out, leaving the accused without a criminal record, after he made a 200 donation to a garda charity. Lastowski, a father-of-two of Park Boulevard, Tyrrelstown, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a canister of pepper spray at Dunsink Lane, Castleknock. Garda Sergeant Maria Callaghan told Blanchardstown District Court gardai carried out a search of a black Seat Cordoba on June 1 last year and a canister of pepper spray was found on Lastowski's person. Lastowski was arrested and charged. The accused had no previous convictions, the court heard. Attention Lastowski had been living in Ireland for the past 12 years, had worked in construction and had never come to the attention of the gardai before, his solicitor John Wood said. He was now planning to move back to Poland. The accused had been working in "some dodgy areas" and had the pepper spray for his own protection, Mr Wood said. Sgt Callaghan said she was not aware of the circumstances in which the accused had the pepper spray. Mr Wood said the incident had happened in June last year, it had since been before the court six times and his client had always appeared. There had been a possibility of further charges but that was not now the case. Judge Gerard Jones asked if putting the accused on a peace bond would prevent him from travelling, but Mr Wood asked the judge if he would instead consider striking the charge out on payment of a charity donation. The judge said he wanted the defendant to make a 200 contribution to the Garda Benevolent Fund and adjourned the case. This was done and the case was struck out. A Dublin man has been given a four-year sentence with 18 months suspended after he pleaded guilty to a money-laundering offence involving more than 500,000. Glen Power (30) of Colpark Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering at Whitemill Road, Wexford town, last September 24. Wexford Circuit Criminal Court heard that Power was caught transporting 503,890 of criminal proceeds in a van when he arrived at the Industrial Estate in Wexford town. Det Garda Fiona Connaughton told the sentencing hearing gardai believed the 503,890 seized in the car park was about to be taken out of the State. The charge arose from an Intelligence Operation by the National Drugs Investigative Unit. Det Garda Connaughton told Prosecuting Counsel Sinead Gleeson that the defendant arrived at the back of a building in a van shortly before gardai arrived. Officers saw the money being transferred to another vehicle. They intervened and recovered the cash. The defendant was arrested and taken to Wexford Garda Station, where he was questioned and later charged. He was brought before the court, along with a second defendant who has already appeared before the court for sentencing. Replying to Defence Counsel, Paul Murray, SC, Det Garda Conaughton said that the gardai were acting on a tip-off. Under questioning Mr Power said he had been told to hand the money over to another person on arrival in Wexford. Mr Murray said that a follow-up raid on another premises, led to Bernard Joyce, of Newtown, Beauparc, Slane, Co. Meath, being sentenced to five years in prison. Suspended The defendant, said Mr. Murray, expressed his remorse and regret to the court and his family for his involvement in this. Judge Quinn said the headline sentence would be six years but he would impose a four-year term, with the final 18 months suspended for two years. The defendant had to enter into his own bond of 200 to keep the peace, and be supervised by the Probation and Welfare Services for a further two years on his release. Judge Quinn also granted an application from Prosecuting Counsel, Ms Gleeson, for the forfeiture of the money. The man accused of the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe denied in interviews that he made a confession to his flatmate's girlfriend, the Central Criminal Court has heard. The jury in the trial of Aaron Brady (29), who denies capital murder, has been hearing evidence of garda interviews with the accused after he was arrested in Dublin in relation to the murder of Det Gda Donohoe. Gardai gave evidence that he was detained by members of the Emergency Response Unit in 2018 before being arrested on suspicion of murder. The court heard that in a later interview, a statement from Molly Staunton, the girlfriend of his flatmate while he lived in New York, was put to him. The jury was told he replied: "I don't accept any conversation took place with Molly Staunton that I confessed to the offence I am arrested for." Mr Brady has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Det Gda Donohoe (41), who was then a member of An Garda Siochana acting in the course of his duty, at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, Dundalk, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013. The accused, of New Road in Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, also denies robbery of around 7,000 in cash and assorted cheques from Pat Bellew at the same location on the same date. Yesterday afternoon, the jury heard evidence of the arrest of Mr Brady and subsequent garda interviews carried out in 2018. Det Gda Jim McGovern agreed he read out a number of statements to Mr Brady previously taken from him in 2013. Incorrect The court heard that Mr Brady told gardai: "I remember being here ya and giving a statement and anything other than that is going to be no comment unless there's anything incorrect or shouldn't be so." Det Gda McGovern was recalled to give evidence in relation to an interview he conducted along with Det Sgt Mark Phillips on March 3, 2018. The court heard it was put to Mr Brady if he wished to say anything in relation to the incident, and he replied: "I just want to state I deny any involvement in relation to the offence for which I'm being detained." He was asked if he wished to make any changes to his statement and he replied: "I strongly deny any involvement in the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe. "I strongly deny any confession to the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe and any other offence put to me here in interview." Mr Justice Michael White told the jury that it is "likely" the prosecution case will finish by this coming Friday. A Fianna Fail grassroots revolt has been sparked by Taoiseach Micheal Martin's decision to "snub" his deputy leader Dara Calleary. Fianna Fail councillors held an emergency meeting over Mr Calleary's appointment as Chief Whip rather than a full Cabinet position and agreed to raise concerns directly with Mr Martin. Mayo county councillors from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael also voted to write to the new Taoiseach to complain about the lack of ministerial representation in the west. Difficult It comes after Mr Calleary revealed his anger and the "incredibly difficult conversation" he had with Mr Martin after he realised he was the last Fianna Fail TD to be offered a role. "There weren't any other jobs on the table offered to me. We had a very difficult conversation and I told him I was disappointed," he told MidWest Radio. "I hear the anger, I understand the anger, I was that angry person yesterday," he added in reference to the criticism of Mr Martin. Meanwhile, the newly appointed Mayo County Council chairperson Richard Finn said there was a "lot of disquiet" over the new Cabinet and councillors had voted to instruct the chief executive to write to the Taoiseach outlining concerns. "The general gist of the letter would be to express our dissatisfaction with the way the ministries were distributed and where different jobs and portfolios went," the Independent councillor said. The motion was agreed by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael members of the council yesterday. Separately, the Fianna Fail councillors' group in Mayo agreed to write to Mr Martin to express anger over the failure to appoint Mr Calleary as a full Cabinet minister. Swinford councillor Michael Smyth told the Herald: "We're all devastated that he didn't receive a senior role, but I think it's fair to say that Dara has to be the minister for the west. "We have to get on with it. There is anger at Micheal about this." Mr Smyth said the Fianna Fail councillors wanted to "put on record our disappointment". Resign "The decision not to make Dara a senior minister is a deficit. We hope that balance will be corrected when we have junior ministers appointed. We're not happy about it," he added. The chair of the local Fianna Fail branch in Mr Calleary's Mayo constituency, John Maxwell, told MidWest Radio he intended to resign from the party over Mr Calleary's exclusion. However, he added he had not made a final decision on this. Mr Maxwell said Mr Calleary had "Micheal Martin's back" when Fine Gael ministers were "wiping the floor with him". Roscommon Fianna Fail senator Eugene Murphy said: "It's really concerning that Dara Calleary was not given a full Cabinet position." Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email customercare@heraldandnews.com for help creating one. Photo taken on June 28, 2020 shows the newborn giant panda cub delivered by giant panda Yuan Yuan at Taipei Zoo in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan. Giant panda Yuan Yuan, one of a panda pair from the Chinese mainland, gave birth to her second cub at Taipei Zoo at 1:53 p.m. Sunday, the city zoo said. The panda pair, who arrived in Taipei in December 2008, had their first cub, a female, on July 6, 2013. (Taipei Zoo/Handout via Xinhua) TAIPEI, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Giant panda Yuan Yuan, one of a panda pair from the Chinese mainland, gave birth to her second cub at Taipei Zoo at 1:53 p.m. Sunday, the city zoo said. The newborn cub sounds healthy, but its gender has not yet been identified as the mother has been shielding it since birth, Taipei Zoo spokesman Eric Tsao said, adding that it took Yuan Yuan more than five hours to deliver the cub. According to the zoo, Yuan Yuan received artificial insemination from Tuan Tuan, the male panda, on Feb. 26 and 27, and over the past few days she has shown signs of pregnancy, such as eating less. The panda pair, who arrived in Taipei in December 2008, had their first cub, a female, on July 6, 2013. The zoo will update more details about the cub Monday, Tsao said. Enditem What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 319-283-2144 or email circ@oelweindailyregister.com. Greenville, TX (75401) Today Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 85F. SSW winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 62F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%. I feel like Ive had a good year as mayor. Weve had some good successes, and weve had setbacks due to things out of our control, Osborne said. Hartley, employed as the development director for the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol, Tennessee, said he would accept another term as mayor. Depending on what the council wants if we follow what we traditionally have done, which is rotating the positions then I would anticipate that, Hartley said. Ive done it before and would be happy to do it again. Councilman Anthony Farnum, who was appointed to the council in 2018 and was recently elected to a four-year term, also supports Hartley. My understanding the council has always rotated the vice mayor becomes mayor, the mayor becomes councilman, and someone takes vice mayor. I really like that idea. Weve kind of gotten back on track with that, I think, after not doing it for a little while. If that is the case, I would support Mr. Hartley to move from vice mayor to mayor, Farnum said. Osborne supports Farnum to become vice mayor. BRISTOL, Tenn. An employee at the Christian Care Center of Bristol, a nursing facility in Bristol, Tennessee, tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Monday statement from Jennifer Skaggs, the facilitys executive director. Skaggs said in the statement that the employee tested positive Thursday. After reviewing the situation with the Sullivan County Health Department officials as well as the facility Medical Director, all facility staff will continue to routinely wear masks and provide protection while delivering services to our residents, Skaggs said. Visits to the facility have been temporarily suspended but will be allowed again as soon as reasonably possible, she said. As staff are required to wear masks at the facility and are subject to rigorous screening before entering the facility, we remain confident that this is an isolated occurrence, Skaggs said. We respectfully continue to serve following Joint Commission and Department of Health requirements under the direction of our Medical Director, Dr. Vivian Clark, and we remain vigilant against this wicked virus afflicting our nation and our local community, she added. A motion for summary judgment asks the court to issue a judgment without the case proceeding to a full trial. Fischer did not file a written response to this motion and earlier this month submitted a separate motion for voluntary dismissal, according to the court docket. The judge approved the dismissal on June 25. Mac Meade, a Johnson City-based lawyer who represents Fischer, declined comment on the cases dismissal on Monday. Meade wrote in an email that he is not at liberty to comment on the terms surrounding the dismissal of this case pursuant to an agreement with the Defendant. Attorney Suzanne Cook, also based out of Johnson City, represents BMS and said Fischer did not receive a settlement for any of the claims raised in the suit. We filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, which is public record in the court file. Mr. Meade and his client did not contest it (e.g. they did not respond to it in writing and did not have any oral argument before the court) and instead chose to dismiss the case permanently, Cook wrote in an email. Our client did not pay any sums for the claims of liability nor personal injury made by Mr. Fischer. 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. BRISTOL, Va. Human remains were discovered at a burned home near Bristol, Virginia on Monday, according to the Washington County Sheriffs Office. The death is considered suspicious and authorities have launched an investigation, the sheriff's office said in a news release Tuesday. The sheriffs office said that the Goodson Kinderhook Fire Department was called to a fire at the home on Mary Chapel Road at 11 p.m. Saturday and worked until 2:30 a.m. Sunday extinguishing the flames. Crews were called back to the scene at 1:30 p.m. Sunday after the fire had rekindled, the release states. The dwelling was declared a total loss. The sheriffs office said it responded to the residence on Monday due to reports of a burned body. No identifying information was released about the individual, whose remains are being transported to the Medical Examiners Office in Roanoke, according to the release. Authorities said the home was vacant at the time of the fire and listed as for sale. Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriffs office at 276-676-6000. 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. For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for the latest coronavirus numbers in the U.S. and around the world. --- The US toll The US has 4% of the world's population but 25% of its coronavirus cases The United States has long prided itself as the world's shining beacon. But its current status is a much darker one: the globe's leader in coronavirus cases. More than 125,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the US, and more than 2.5 million Americans have been infected. American life has been irrevocably altered by the worst pandemic in a century. And as the country struggles to reopen, cases of Covid-19 have surged again -- this time in young people and in states that had previously avoided the brunt of the virus. Sometime in the next six, seven, eight months, were going to begin looking for the possibility of sites to locate the first production facilities, Critchfield said during the call. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The technology would allow a business to capture a pollutant like carbon dioxide and then resell it as raw material. All of the targeted pollutants have commercial applications. This product is of particular interest to high-emission industries such as livestock farming, fossil fuel energy production, chemical production and other industries that consume substantial amounts of energy produced from carbon-based fuels, according to the company. Imagine a device placed in poultry or swine facility that eliminates any odors caused by methane and hydrogen sulfide, or imagine a device placed on an energy production facility that eliminates the need to capture pollutants and store them in bags, Critchfield said. That is our technology. We believe there are multiple opportunities for strategic partnerships to both deploy our technology and to further customize our chemical sorbent compounds. The filters use various sorbents, including sand, to capture the pollutants, Director of Technology Development Matt Gullota said. Weve previously looked at what other countries have done with monuments of historical figures who had fallen into disfavor. Some of the formerly communist countries in eastern Europe Hungary, Lithuania and, weve since learned, Estonia have taken the statues that came down along with the Iron Curtain and used them to populate outdoor museums that tell the story of what happened between 1945 and 1989. Nothing quite tells the story of communist repression in Hungary like the Hungarian-Soviet Friendship Memorial, which just so happened to get erected in 1956 the year that Soviet tanks crushed an attempted uprising in Budapest. Virginia should do the same thing with the Confederate monuments that are now in the process of coming down, lawfully or otherwise. In our case, the period we need to explain is the century from 1869 to 1969, which we dont necessarily recognize as a time of authoritarian repression but which was for many of Virginias citizens. That century is bookended by two historic events. In 1869, Virginia drafted its post-Civil War constitution, which was a progressive document for its day. It created a free public school system, it extended the vote to Black Virginians, it expanded democracy by requiring local board of supervisors be elected when previously theyd been appointed by judges. Heres a key point that we dont remember well: Virginia did not move directly from Reconstruction to repression. There was a period after Reconstruction when Virginia was headed down a different path. Under the Readjusters (a local variant of Republicans), the state abolished the poll tax and the whipping post. It opened Virginia State University to train Black teachers. It appointed Black representatives to state office and even elected some. As late as 1891 decades after Reconstruction Virginia had an African American congressman. But then came the conservative backlash. Conservative Democrats won control of state government and proceeded to impose what we know today as Jim Crow laws. They also set about erecting Confederate monuments, a visible reminder of who was really in charge now. From that came the notorious 1902 state constitution that disenfranchised more than half the states voters, a one-party oligarchy and, eventually, massive resistance to the Supreme Courts order to integrate. Not until 1969, when Republican Linwood Holton was elected governor and declared the era of defiance is behind us, can we say that era really ended. Joyce F. Nowell jnowell@herald-mail.com A sprawling building along Pennsylvania Avenue that was tied to the early days of Fairchild Aircraft and had been condemned following a 2017 fire was damaged Sunday evening by several blazes that were intentionally set, according to Hagerstown fire officials. There were no reported injuries, according to Hagerstown City Fire Marshal Doug DeHaven. Then flames erupted again in the building Monday afternoon, according to a Washington County 911 supervisor. Firefighters were called to the complex at 4:53 p.m. Monday for fire that was shooting through a 100-foot-by-200-foot section of a roof, the supervisor said. Many roads were closed around the building as a result, and firefighters were expected to be there late into the evening Monday. The supervisor said he was not sure if the fire was a rekindle from the one Sunday. On Sunday, smoke reported to 911 at 5:43 p.m. as coming from a North Burhans Boulevard building was traced by firefighters instead to 881 Pennsylvania Ave., where they found more than one fire, DeHaven said. He said all the fires were confirmed out by 6:09 p.m. Sunday, but crews stayed at the scene until 11:15 p.m. In addition to Pennsylvania Avenue, the building is bordered by North Burhans Boulevard, Park Lane and railroad tracks. There were several fires located throughout the complex, DeHaven said. It's a very big building. It took awhile to locate the fires, extinguish the fires and search the whole building. According to online records at the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, the industrial building on 11.66 acres is 187,732 square feet in size. The listed owner is Vincent Groh, who died in 2019. The building is commonly known locally as the old Fairchild building. Fairchild moved to Hagerstown in 1931. Before ceasing aircraft production in 1984, Fairchild had most recently operated out of a facility along Showalter Road next to the Hagerstown Regional Airport. DeHaven said the building had been condemned since the fall of 2017 when a fire damaged it while it was occupied by various businesses. The damage (from Sunday's fire) hasn't been totally assessed yet because it's been a vacant building for awhile, DeHaven said early Monday. What was previously damaged and its condition versus what these fires caused, we're still assessing. DeHaven said 60 fire personnel responded to the fire, including units from Hagerstown, Community Rescue, Special Operations, Air and Rehab, Maugansville, Longmeadow and Halfway. The Hagerstown City Fire Marshal's office is investigating the circumstances involved in (Sunday's) incendiary fire, DeHaven said. We were supported last night with the Maryland State Fire Marshal, including a K-9 unit from their office. We're not commenting on what we found in the building at this point. The cause is incendiary. Who's involved in that is what is continuing. Anyone with information or knowledge of people who have been in or around the building are asked to contact the fire marshal's office by calling 301-790-2476 or emailing firemarshal@hagerstownmd.org. According to online records, ownership of the building, identified as a storage warehouse, before Groh had been transferred in 1984 from Roper Corp. at a price of $288,600. Staff writer Dave McMillion contributed to this story Staff reports The Herald-Mail The Hagerstown Police Department responded to the following incidents: Sunday 4:58 p.m., theft in the 300 block of East Washington Street 5:18 p.m., police were given information in the 800 block of Virginia Avenue 7:47 p.m., police were given information in the 400 block of North Mulberry Street 9:38 p.m., assault in the 600 block of Summit Avenue 11:49 p.m., drug violations in the 600 block of North Mulberry Street Monday 12:07 a.m., disorderly conduct in the 300 block of East Washington Street 1:37 a.m., warrant served in the 600 block of Summit Avenue 3:03 a.m., drug violations in the 600 block of North Locust Street 4:10 a.m., burglary in the 400 block of Mitchell Avenue 9:29 a.m., police were given information in the first block of North Burhans Boulevard 11:41 a.m., burglary in the 800 block of Guilford Avenue 11:42 a.m., emergency commitment in the 400 block of South Potomac Street 3 p.m., theft from vehicle in the 600 block of North Locust Street 5:21 p.m., assault in the 400 block of Mitchell Avenue 6:09 p.m., theft in the 200 block of Bryan Place 8:07 p.m., emergency commitment in the 300 block of Hollymead Terrace 9:27 p.m., personal-injury crash at West Franklin and North Prospect streets Tuesday 3:52 a.m., injured/sick person in the 200 block of Hayes Court 8:30 a.m., police were given information in the 300 block of East Washington Street 9:53 a.m., vehicle towed in the 400 block of West Washington Street 10:09 a.m., vehicle theft in the 300 block of North Locust Street 10:57 a.m., missing person in the 900 block of West Washington Street 10:58 a.m., theft in the 12500 block of Rosencrans Drive 2:12 p.m., theft in the 17800 block of Garland Groh Boulevard 4:19 p.m., theft in the 100 block of North Cannon Avenue 4:57 p.m., injured/sick person in the 800 block of Concord Street 7:50 p.m., drug violations in the 1700 block of Dual Highway 8:44 p.m., animal bite in the 300 block of North Cleveland Avenue 10:44 p.m., police were given information in the 600 block of George Street Wednesday 12:25 a.m., vehicle theft in the 100 block of Manor Drive 1:02 a.m., attended/unattended death in the 300 block of Mill Street 7:01 a.m., drug violations in the 100 block of North Potomac Street 9:12 a.m., emergency commitment in the 100 block of East Washington Street 10:31 a.m., missing person in the 1100 block of Eastern Boulevard North 12:07 p.m., theft from vehicle in the 1000 block of Ross Street What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 319-352-3334 or email legals@waverlynewspapers.com. Dave McMillion davem@herald-mail.com The sale Monday morning of the former Citi campus on Citicorp Drive didn't develop as well as some would have liked. There was some bidding on the 61-acre property during an 11 a.m. auction at the Washington County Circuit Court building, but the offers didn't meet the expectations of the mortgage holder, according to auctioneer Larry Cooper. As a result, the property will go back to the lender, Cooper said. Cooper said he did not have additional details on what the future might hold for the property. More than 2,000 people once worked at the complex north of Hagerstown. It is now owned by a corporation based in New York. The complex, which sits off Interstate 81 near the Maryland-Pennsylvania state line, was being sold in an "as is, where is" condition, according to a posting on the Alex Cooper Auctioneer website. A deposit of $500,000 at the time of sale was to be required of all purchasers "other than the holder of the deed of trust or its affiliate," according to a legal advertisement for the sale. Citi announced its plans to move out of the complex in May 2019. Many of the Hagerstown-based employees were moved to a work-from-home situation, Drew Benson, a Citi spokesman, said previously. In an email, he wrote that the company has leased a small space to provide accommodation for the "relatively small number of employees who are unable to work remotely." The site, which includes five buildings, is at 14625 and 14700 Citicorp Drive. The structures include three office buildings, each more than 100,000 square feet, as well as a day care facility, an after-school building, a gym, cafeteria, conference/training rooms and loading docks. The property has approximately 2,382 parking spaces. Citigroup, also known as Citi, owns Citicorp, the holding company of Citibank, as well as other subsidiaries. The company moved into the area in the 1980s. According to a 1999 Herald-Mail Media report, Citibank was looking to enter the Maryland market in the 1980s and offered to build a credit card processing center in the state. State legislators agreed in 1985 to give Citi banking privileges. The first of the Citicorp buildings opened shortly thereafter. At the time of the 1999 article, Citicorp Credit Services was the largest private employer in Washington County with about 2,400 people working at the complex. According to Washington County and Maryland state property records, Citicorp Credit Services Inc. sold the property to State Street Bank and Trust Co. of Boston for $55 million in 1999. That firm sold the property to 254 Hagerstown LLC of New York for $64.4 million in 2002. Julie E. Greene jgreene@herald-mail.com Washington County government is trying again to secure a multimillion-dollar federal grant so it can hire full-time firefighters to help volunteer companies respond to emergencies. The county submitted its application for almost $5 million over three years to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in May. That would help with the almost $2.7 million annual cost of 33 full-time firefighters. This is the second time the county has applied for a SAFER grant in an attempt to hire paid firefighters to help community fire companies, many of which have been struggling for years with recruiting and retaining volunteers. The county would use the grant to help get the full-time firefighter program going, but would assume the full burden of the ongoing costs by the fourth year. In In addition to the grant money, the application calls for the county to provide $673,398 annually in the first two years and $1.75 million in the third year. A majority of the commissioners agreed a year ago to increase the county's income-tax rate from 2.8% to 3.2%, in part to help pay for full-time firefighters. County officials learned in September they missed out on their first grant application, which was to hire 29 full-time firefighters and requested about $4.2 million over three years. That plan would have provided a 24/7 firefighter/driver at 12 of the 15 volunteer stations. A majority of commissioners approved a plan in January outlining how the county could hire full-time firefighters or firefighters/paramedics who would be assigned to a few stations to respond to calls in those regions of the county. Emergency Services Director R. David Hays said Monday he anticipates the county will soon advertise for the first three firefighters, to be paid with local money, so a full-time firefighter can be staffed at the Leitersburg station around the clock. The revamped plan calls for staffing three firefighter positions around the clock at four stations so they can respond to calls in their regions. Those stations are Leitersburg, Clear Spring, Sharpsburg and Williamsport. It takes over three people to fill one around-the-clock position. The plan also calls for providing around-the-clock firefighter staffing at the Hancock station in the county's western end and maintaining the 24/7 county paramedic position at the Rohrersville station. FEMA expects to begin announcing who will be awarded Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grants by early August and continue announcing the awardees on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted, according to an email from an agency spokesperson. Hays said the county has a better chance of getting a grant with the regional model because it addresses a national standard of having at least three firefighters per firetruck. The county has a pool of 23 part-time firefighters who help volunteer companies. They can only accommodate about half of the requested hours the Division of Emergency Services receives annually for staffing help. Jenni Vincent jvincent@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Berkeley County Schools new employee assistance program will begin Wednesday, and it cant come soon enough for board of education member Michelle Barnes-Russell. This is something I have been interested in for quite some time, but it is especially important now because our employees face new situations from the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnes-Russell said. I actually started advocating for it about two years ago, so this is an important step forward in giving our employees more resources, she said. An employee assistance program is a work-based program that offers free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals and follow-up services to employees who have personal and/or work-related problems, said Barnes-Russell, who has spent a majority of her professional career in human resources. This is a key benefit that should be available, and now it is, she said. CompPsych was selected to provide the program for the districts 2,600 employees. Board of education members unanimously approved it at the April 27 meeting, and July 1 was set for its launch date. It will cost the school system $35,880 annually. This is a resource, and particularly valuable in this time of stress when many people need this kind of help,she said. The program will provide benefits for all regular professional and service employees. Benefits include counseling from a 24/7 call center and different resources that have not previously been available, she said. That means that, in addition to having the access to calling 24/7, employees can also get referrals if they need additional help, she said. It also provides for up to 15 onsite hours for training and/or critical-incident stress management services, she said. Employees will have an online portal to access the program and everything will be confidential, she said. We have always strived to provide our students with the best teaching staff and others who work in the school system, so thats already a plus. But we all need help at times, and this pandemic has brought that to the forefront, she said. There should never be any shame in seeking help, and there should never be a time when you cant reach out for help when its needed. When youre giving your all to an employer, your employer should be giving you something back, she said. Superintendent Patrick Murphy, who also recommended the program to board members, praised Barnes-Russell for her help in making it a reality. Mrs. Barnes-Russell played a key role in the awareness for the need for the employee assistance program and the benefits provided, Murphy said in the school districts recently released annual review publication. Matthew Umstead mumstead@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. A Charles Town man is in Eastern Regional Jail awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty last week to driving under the influence causing death of one woman and injury of another in a January 2019 vehicle crash. Trevor Nicholas Via, 25, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 25, was denied post-conviction bond Thursday after he entered guilty pleas to one felony count of DUI resulting in death and misdemeanor count of DUI resulting in bodily injury, records said. Under terms of a plea agreement, Via faces a maximum prison sentence of three to 15 years in connection with the death of Morissa Knott, 22, of Inwood, W.Va., and up to 12 months in jail for injuring passenger Danielle Bentley, according to Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Catie Wilkes Delligatti. While remaining charges in an October 2019 grand jury indictment of Via were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Steven Redding has discretion in sentencing the defendant. Knott died Jan. 20, 2019, as a result of the crash in the 1200 block of Nadenbousch Lane, and Bentley, who was treated for multiple fractured ribs, identified the defendant as the driver of the Subaru before she was taken to a hospital, police have said. The crash was reported Jan. 20 just before 2 a.m. Upon investigating the crash, police determined the car that Via was driving went off the road and appeared to roll multiple times, according to court records. Via also suffered minor injuries, police have said. A West Virginia State Police trooper wrote in a complaint that the defendant admitted that he had been drinking and that he also was an alcoholic. Via allegedly told the officer that he didnt mean to hurt anybody and that his life was over, court records said. Police later determined that Via previously was convicted of DUI in September 2018 in Jefferson County and that his license had been revoked in the days leading up to his conviction, records said. Police alleged that a vape pen found at the crash scene contained what appeared to be a small amount of marijuana concentrate wax. Police have said Via later claimed that he owned the device and the drug it contained. Matthew Umstead mumstead@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. The owners of four Thai restaurants in Virginia plan to open another location in downtown Martinsburg in the coming months. Baan Thai Inc. purchased The Peppermill restaurant building at 200 W. Burke St. for $315,000 from Martinsburg businessman Dan Dulyea, according to a deed filed June 22 in the Berkeley County Clerk's office. Dulyea, who is vice president of the Berkeley County Council and a candidate for mayor in Martinsburg's July 28 municipal election, said Monday that the sale of the property fulfilled his goal to find a buyer who plans to use the building as a restaurant. The Peppermill closed nearly two years ago after efforts to recruit a chef to run the restaurant were not successful. Dulyea said he turned down previous offers for the circa-1885 Queen Anne-style building because the prospective buyers had other uses for the property in mind. The new owners, Michael Kitt and Paranee Hopple, along with family members, currently run Thai Winchester Restaurant and Thai Winchester II, as well as Pinto Thai Culpepper Restaurant & Bar and Thai Staunton Restaurant. It may be a few months before the new Thai restaurant location opens in Martinsburg, Kitt said Monday. "We're going to be taking it slow with the building," Kitt said. Dulyea said that he still has to remove some equipment from the building, but has offered to help the new owners get their new business started. Dulyea, who owns a contracting business, bought the property in November 2015 for $24,200 after the previous owner's move to demolish the structure was denied by the Martinsburg Historic Preservation Review Commission. The Peppermill opened in 2017 after renovations and restoration work was done to address significant damage related to a fire in 2009. Prior to the blaze, the property at Burke and College streets was the location for Island's Bar & Grill, The Counsellor's Grill and a previous iteration of the Peppermill restaurant. Tim Rowland timr@herald-mail.com I turned 60 this month, which, in my view, kind of takes the pressure off. If you make it to 60, youve survived. The difference between 59 and 60 is its a shame he died so young and oh well, he had a good life. In a way, 60 is kind of the best of both worlds. Youre young enough to still be healthy, but old enough that no ones going to ask you for help moving into their new apartment. Youre still young enough to get invited to the party, but old enough that no one will expect you to get up and dance. At 59, you are still accountable for what you say. But at 60, you can be as offensive as you want and people will write it off because you are of that generation. But imagine my horror when I saw a headline that read, 60 is the new 65. The gist was, for purposes of coronavirus risk, even those who are a mere 60 years of age are considered to be elderly. Whoa. You dont want to hear the E word first thing in the morning. Even if its true, you dont want anyone to point it out. You want happy talk, especially as you are at risk of becoming a statistic in the growing pandemic. Which is why Im starting to appreciate this administration. As COVID-19 cases have increased 75% over the past two weeks, Vice President Mike Pence got up and said that the nation was making truly remarkable progress and that Weve all seen the encouraging news as we open up, and The reality is were in a much better place, and that the explosion of younger people contracting the disease was encouraging news because their mortality rates tend to be lower. This is the guy you want writing the press release after Pearl Harbor: With all our boats at the bottom of the sea, think of how much money we will save on maintenance costs. Or the Hindenburg: Were certain that fire is going to go out by itself. Or the Titanic: There are plenty of lifeboats to go around. Pences pronouncements sounded very familiar to me, and for a while I couldnt figure out why. It wasnt quite the same tone as the Joe Isuzu car ads, where a smiling spokesman says the cars are capable of flying to the moon with the subhead Hes lying. But then it hit me and you have to be, well, 60 to remember, but during the Second Gulf War in the early 2000s, there was this guy named Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, aka Baghdad Bob, aka the Iraqi Minister of Information. It was high comedy during the crisis because he would come out with these ridiculous and patently false statements in an attempt to put a happy face on a war in which they were getting drubbed. With cameras rolling, he reported that American soldiers were committing suicide by the hundreds rather than face the imposing Iraqi forces. The Americans are going to surrender or be burned in their tanks, he added, along with They will surrender, it is they who will surrender." That was it. Mike Pence is the new American Minister of Information. Which is exactly what we need right now to take our mind off our problems. In a play on the terrorist Chemical Ali, al-Sahhaf was known as Comical Ali, but in a day and age when you cant say Kung Flu, I doubt this would play anymore. His best move came when he said Americans were trapped trapped all around the country. They are nowhere near (Baghdad). Meanwhile, you could hear the bombs and gunfire going on right outside the window. But maybe Makebelieve Mike is right because Baghdad Bob was right Iraq went on to win the war, correct? Or am I misremembering because Im old? Uniontown, PA (15401) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 57F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Breaking News Updates Would you like to receive our Breaking News updates? Signup today! Calendar Updates Would you like to receive our weekly Calendar updates? Signup today! Deals Updates Would you like to receive Deals updates? Signup today! The Border Security Force on Monday exposed a cruel method of smuggling adopted by cow smugglers along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal after they retrieved a live calf tied up and hidden inside a carcass floating in the river. According to the officials, a river patrol of the border-guarding force took notice of a drifting carcass in the Mahananda river in the Malda district on Sunday, and on investigation found a live cattle inside it. When the carcass of the animal was cut open, a calf whose legs were tied with ropes and eyes covered with a piece of cloth was recovered, the BSF said. The BSF further added that the carcass was strapped with water hyacinth (a type of water grass) and banana trunk to keep it afloat. The nose of the animal was visible from a perforation made in the carcass, the BSF official revealed. Cow smugglers along the border have started embracing the cruellest and ruthless methods of smuggling the cattle across and along the border, the BSF said, adding that the force has intensified its vigil to uncover the unconventional and new methods adopted by the cow smugglers amidst the monsoons when the rivers are in spate and the smugglers use it to their advantage to aggressively transport the cattle to the Bangladesh side. The operation was carried out by the troops of the 44th battalion of the Border Security Forces entrusted with the responsibility of patrolling the India-Bangladesh border in the region. Talking about its strategy to guard the border, the BSF said that the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF keeps a vigil along the 900 kilometres of the border, backed by a robust strategy and reliable intelligence inputs. The total length of the India-Bangladesh border is about 4,096 KMs. A senior BSF officer also asserted that the force is in contact with the local police for effective coordination to stop the menace of smuggling along the front. Eight smugglers with nine cattle heads caught along Assam-Bangladesh border In a separate case, eight cattle smugglers along with nine cattle heads were nabbed by the Border Security Force from Assam South Salmara Mankachar district along Indo-Bangladesh border. As per reports, acting on specific inputs, the BSF officials positioned at Sishumara and Boreralga border outpost carried out an operation along the riverine areas along the India-Bangladesh border on Sunday night and apprehended six cattle smugglers. A top BSF officials disclosed that the BSF had retrieved six cattle heads while the arrested persons were trying to smuggle cattle to Bangladesh. The arrested cattle smugglers were identified as Meher Saiful Haque, Rafiqul Islam, Rafiqul Islam, Safidur Islam, Mohammad After Ali, and Nuruddin and they all hailed from South Salmara Mankachar District. In yet another operation, the BSF officials had arrested two more cattle smugglers along with three cattle heads near Brahmaputra riverine areas of Sishumura when they were trying to illegally transport the cattle to Bangladesh. The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeiTY) banned 59 Chinese digital applications available in India on Monday evening. The list of banned applications includes TikTok, a popular user-generated content platform, and UC Browser, the most widely used Internet browser in second and third-tier cities. The government ban, affected under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, seems to form a part of the retaliatory strategy against Chinese incursions in Ladakh. This is the first time that India has used such a direct lever in the digital sphere, to react to military events. Several commentators have warned that the Internet might splinter along national borders in the future, as countries such as India increasingly assert their sovereignty in cyberspace. This reality seems closer than ever, since the world is simultaneously witnessing the Covid-19 pandemic, a widespread economic slowdown and the destabilising impact of the trade war between the United States (US) and China. Uncertainty breeds fear-based responses like protectionism. This is evident in the responses of the US and the United Kingdom, which have signalled a retreat from globalisation, a framework they have championed for decades. The digital economy is not immune to such fundamental shifts. It is worth asking whether India is prepared for a Balkanised digital world. According to Ericsson, global mobile data traffic was around 456 exabytes in 2019, of which India accounted for approximately 75 exabytes, or 16%. Around 14% of the global population resides in India, and therefore, it punches slightly above its weight in terms of mobile data consumption. However, India has not begun to generate commensurate economic value from this outsized data consumption yet. In fact, the global digital economy seems to mimic its physical counterpart, with the US and China making up the lions share. According to the United Nations, the US and China account for 90% of the market capitalisation of the 70 largest digital platforms in the world. They also account for 75% of all patents related to blockchain technologies, 50% of global spending on the Internet of Things, and more than 75% of the global market for public cloud computing. Its clear that the two countries will remain at the forefront of global technological developments, which will feed their dominance in the digital economy. The emergence of this bipolar digital landscape narrows Indias strategic choices. The worlds largest digital democracy must foster innovation, competition and scale in the private sector, as well as increase State capacity to govern new markets in parallel. The biggest digital companies in the world are platforms that offer multiple functions. Such platforms now determine how a large share of the global population communicates, transacts, searches for information and services, buys consumer products, finds new jobs, stores data, distributes and markets products, and so on. Many of the companies that India banned on Monday also follow the platform model. They achieved multi-functionality and a global scale because, like the US, China allows its digital entrepreneurs to take risks. The Peoples Republic of China picks winners and provides unconditional State support for its national champions to scale. On the other hand, the US provides legal certainty for innovation and competition to flourish. India will have to strike a balance between both these approaches. In either case, sudden bans cannot be part of Indias playbook. The digital ecosystem is a breeding ground for the creative destruction of old methods of doing business. It must also prompt a revisit of old approaches to economic regulation, including blunt instruments reminiscent of the licence-permit raj. Indias digital applications are governed by a 20-year-old law and an eight-year-old policy. Both are unsuitable to digital markets because they were designed for the business process outsourcing ecosystem, not for modern digital applications or platforms. Similarly, the Copyright Act, which provides incentives and protections for most of the content, organised datasets and source codes, that sit at the heart of the digital economy, was last amended in 2012. Indias top 10 digital companies are valued at a tenth of the Chinese equivalents, while its per capita income is about 44% of Chinas. There is, therefore, room for India to unlock greater value through a digital reboot of rules and regulations. Finally, just as India is revisiting its alignments in international relations, it may have to develop a cogent strategy for trade and commerce in the digital economy. If the revenues of information technology-enabled services are anything to go by, a majority of digital economy revenues will come from exports. A large share of these exports will head westwards. This trend will hold because the economic impact of the pandemic is likely to be more pronounced in developing countries than in developed ones. The country will need exports to offset the concomitant slowdown in domestic consumption. Since global trade is built on the principle of reciprocity, India must do to others, as it wishes for itself. Vivan Sharan is a Partner at Koan Advisory Group, New Delhi The views expressed are personal The difference between the summer of 2020 and earlier face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh is that, this time around, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) has come in strength. Several divisions of PLA have been deployed in the depth areas, and, consequently, there are also larger numbers of troops in close proximity to each other in the IndiaChina border areas. The Indian Army has also made a matching build-up in the area and all along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Due to the sheer numbers as well as the fact that armour and artillery have also been brought up, it is apparent that PLA has planned and prepared this current offensive. It aims at moving the ground positions of Chinese troops right up to what they conceive is LAC. By doing so, what, in effect, the Chinese are attempting to accomplish is to unilaterally define and determine LAC without bilateral consultation with India. China will decide what is its territory and will move to exercise actual control over it. The Indian Army has blocked the Chinese and is deployed to protect Indian territorial integrity. What PLA has also managed to do is to violate all the principles, norms, standard procedures which have evolved over the past 25 years to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas. They have displayed how little store it sets by agreements signed by its own government. Strategically, what the Chinese are signalling to India and the world is that they are the number one power in Asia and that they will throw their weight around as they wish, whether in the South China Sea or on the India-China border. They also want India to understand and accept that Chinas comprehensive national power far outweighs Indias, and that the nation must acknowledge its place in the pecking order of Asia. India must roll over and play dead. The 21st Century is not an Asian century but a Chinese century. Indias military action in eastern Ladakh, in turn, sends China the very clear message that India does not accept Chinese hegemony and will not tolerate its bullying and pushing. India shall stand up to it. The nations brave soldiers did exactly this, on that fateful night of June 15 in the Galwan Valley. Remember, the rest of the world is also watching. If China has thrown down the gauntlet, India has picked it up. Having militarily sent out the clear intention to take on China and oppose its aggressive methods aimed at browbeating other nations including India, we cannot let the rest of the India-China relationship continue as normal. It cannot be business as usual. Why? If India was to do that we would be negating the message of our military action on the ground, and, in stark contrast, be conveying to the Chinese that India can live with what its army has done. Therefore, India needs to reinforce and reiterate its military messaging through policy decisions which further underline Indias very clear national consensus not to accept Chinese big brotherly attitudes and plain bullying. It is for this reason that India will have to take measures to indicate that if there is no peace on the border, the rest of the relationship with China will also be negatively impacted. A reassessment and recalibration of Indias China policy are required to make Indias messaging crystal clear. The first step in this resetting of Indias China policy was the ban on 59 Chinese apps such as TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser. India is only getting started. Banning Chinese firms on national security grounds from participating in Indias 5G trials and rollout will be a strong indication of New Delhis mindset. One consequence of Chinese actions will be for India to strengthen its partnerships with democracies such as the United States, Japan, France, South Korea and, perhaps, Indonesia. India must also expand its relations with Taiwan. Delhi will have to reassess its China policy with a cool, calm, rational frame of mind. There is no need for knee-jerk reactions. In order to weigh the options which can be on the table, India has to have widespread consultations which must be timebound. The new policy must be implemented within 2020 itself. Such a reset and recalibration of Indias China policy, particularly in the economic realm, cannot be accomplished without causing some pain to ourselves. When we have decided that a strong message needs to be sent to China, then we must also be ready to bear the pain. Indian soldiers have done this on our borders; now it is time for ordinary Indians to show that they are willing to do so too. The pain is likely to come in the form of higher consumer prices for certain products; it may come in the form of lower profits for firms; it may also take the form of lower revenues for traders. We shall have to accept some pain, if we are to convey that we are a strong, united nation which China has made the mistake of riling. Indias strength of character will have to be put on full display to indicate to China that it will not be business as usual. Gautam Bambawale is a former Indian Ambassador to China, Pakistan and Bhutan. Currently, he is Trustee, Pune International Centre The views expressed are personal A Nigerian commission has called for the cancellation of Mondays auction in Paris of sacred Nigerian statues that it alleges were stolen. Christies auction house has defended the sale, saying the artworks were legitimately acquired and the sale will go ahead. In recent years, French courts have consistently ruled in favour of auction houses whose sales of sacred objects, such as Hopi tribal masks, were contested by rights groups and representatives of the tribes. A Princeton scholar, professor Chika Okeke-Agulu, alongside Nigerias National Commission for Museums and Monuments, raised alarm earlier this month that the objects were looted during the Biafran war in the late 1960s. Christies wrote earlier this month to the Nigerian commission, saying the sale would go ahead. Okeke-Agulu, who is a member of the Igbo tribe, said the objects were taken through an act of violence from his home state of Anambra and that they should not be sold. An online petition with over 2,000 signatures is demanding that the auction be halted. The petition said as the world awakens to the reality of systemic racial injustice and inequality, thanks to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, we must not forget that it is not just the Black body, but also Black culture, identity and especially art that is being misappropriated. It claims that between 1967 and 1970, as Nigerias Biafran civil war raged and while more than 3 million civilians were dying, a renowned European treasure hunter was in Biafra on a hunting spree for our cultural heritage. In a statement to AP Monday, Christies said these objects are being lawfully sold having been publicly exhibited and previously sold over the last decades prior to Christies involvement. While the auction house said it recognized the nuanced and complex debates around cultural property, it said that public sales should go ahead of objects like these to stop the black market flourishing. Paris has a long history of collecting and selling tribal artifacts, tied to its colonial past in Africa, and to Paris-based groups in the 1960s, such as the Indianist movement that celebrated indigenous tribal cultures. Interest in tribal art in Paris was revived in the early 2000s following two high-profile and highly lucrative sales in Paris of tribal art owned by late collectors Andre Breton and Robert Lebel. Controversy over sales can be a double-edged sword for an auction house. In the past, such contested sales have served to raise the ultimate selling price of the objects going under the hammer because of media interest, but there has also been instances where buyers have been deterred from purchasing artifacts over fears of a backlash. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed. The headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON On June 30, Google is concluding Pride Month on a high note by honouring Marsha P. Johnson, a pioneer in LGBTQ+ rights activism. Marsha P. Johnson was born Malcolm Michaels Jr. on August 24, 1945, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She moved to New York Citys Greenwich Village, a cultural hub for LGBTQ+ people in 1963. She legally changed her name to Marsha P. Johnson here. Her middle initial, P allegedly stood for her response to those who questioned her gender, meaning Pay It No Mind. From June 28 through July 3, 1969, Greenwich Villages gay community rose up and fought against police violence in response to New York police raiding the Stonewall Inn. The rioting that continued for several days led to leaders such as Marsha P. Johnson shine and subsequently form the basis of the blossoming LGBTQ rights movement through organisations like Street Transvestite (now Transgender) Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with fellow transgender activist Sylvia Rivera. STAR was the first U.S. organisation to be led by a trans woman of colour, and also the first to open North Americas first shelter for LGBTQ+ youth. In 2019, New York City announced plans to erect statues of both Johnson and Rivera in Greenwich Village, one of the worlds first monuments in honour of transgender people. Marsha P. Johnsons history has only been heralded by the LGBTQ community, thus far. Todays Google Doodle, however, is a step towards recognising her efforts and life story so it reaches out to many more people around the world. It serves as a reminder that Black and LGBTQ+ history is bigger than just a month, something to be honoured every day. Coinciding with the Doodle today, Google is also making a $500,000 donation to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, to provide direct cash assistance to Black Trans people through the organizations Covid-19 relief efforts. This Google Doodle has been illustrated by Los Angeles-based artist Rob Gilliam. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter In view of the rising Covid-19 cases, Karnataka Agriculture Minister BC Patil on Tuesday urged Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to seal down Hirekerur Taluk in the Haveri district. He said that Covid-19 has reached Hirekerur constituency.He urged people to maintain social distancing and wear masks. Everybodys life is in their own hands. People should be alert as much as possible. People should take adequate safety measures, said the minister. The total number of cases in Karnataka stands at 14,295 as on Monday and the death toll is 226. The number of active cases stands at 6,382, said the State Health Department. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 6 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Research Future Published a Research Study on Calcium Chloride Market Research Report, Size, Share and Industry Analysis - Forecast to 2025 Calcium Chloride Market- Overview: The global market for calcium chloride, as for the analysis made by Market Research Future (MRFR), is showing substantial scope to surpass a valuation of USD 1.53 billion with a moderate CAGR of 4.3% a between 2016 and 2025, that would be considered as the forecast period. The Calcium Chloride Market would increase even further in the coming years. As the report suggests, this growth in the calcium chloride market would get ample traction from the various uses, especially from dust control and de-icing activities. Especially, this would be the case in countries with cold weather. In the oil & gas industry, calcium chlorides application as drilling fluid can also spur the global demand. The growing calcium chloride application in the food industry as a preservative is providing the market an opportunity to diversify and increase its market percolation. In various other projects like water treatment, construction, agricultural, and animal sterilization, the demand for calcium chloride would lure in more market players. But the excessive consumption of calcium chloride compound can cause health-hazards like irregular heartbeats, muscle spasms, kidney stones, and joint pains. This can slacken the growth pace of the market. This can dampen the calcium chloride market demand. Regional Analysis: The North American market had the highest market share in 2017. It was governing the market with 40% of the global market share. The current projection for the market suggests a recording of a significantly strong CAGR to score well during the forecast period. Its intake as a de-icing agent can make sure that the market grows significantly. In addition, the impact created due to the demand from the pharmaceutical industry and the production of drilling fluids can bolster its market growth. The European market can be termed as the second-largest market in terms of revenue share. Its growth in Germany and other countries like Spain, Italy, and France can secure better prospects for the market. The Asia-Pacific market has the potential to score a high CAGR during the forecast period. The growth would depend mostly on the industrial revamping process that is witnessing a surge in the investment from emerging economies. China would lead the market as the high demand from agriculture and food processing applications can trigger a better growth rate. In the Middle East & Africa, the market would fetch revenues from its profits in the oil & gas industry. Segmentation analysis: The global calcium chloride market, as had been reported by MRFR, can be segmented by grade, form, end-use industry, and application. These segments play crucial roles in determining how the market is going to profit in the coming years. By form, the global market for calcium chloride can be segmented into hydrated solid, liquid, and others. These segments have their niche clients who can make sure that the market gets strong tailwinds. By grade, the global report including details of the calcium chloride market has been segmented into agriculture grade, industrial grade, food-grade, and pharmaceutical grade. The second-largest segment has a remarkable scope in fetching higher revenues in the coming years. By raw material, the global report on the calcium chloride market can be segmented on the basis of the Solvay process (by-product), natural brine, and limestone and hydrochloric acid (HCL). By application, the global calcium chloride market report studies the market by having it segmented into oil & gas, de-icing & dust control, construction, healthcare, animal sterilization, food & beverages, agriculture, and others. Calcium Chloride Market- Competitive Analysis: Players, with their performance set to uplift the global calcium chloride market outcomes, are Solvay (Belgium), Occidental Chemical Corporation (US), TETRA Technologies, Inc (US), Tangshan Sanyou Group Co., Ltd (China), Weifang Haibin Chemical Co., Ltd (China), Ward Chemical Ltd (Canada), Auro Chemical Industries Pvt. Ltd (India), Nedmag BV (The Netherlands), Zirax Limited (UK), and Sulaksh Chemicals (India). MRFR's inclusion of these companies in the report discusses their impact on the market quite efficiently. In December 2019, Nuberg EPC announced that it would build a calcium chloride plant for Oman Chlorine. Browse Key Industry insights spread across 135 pages with 59 market data tables & 14 figures & charts from the Report, Calcium Chloride Market: Information by Form (Liquid, Hydrated Solid, and Others), Grade (Food Grade, Industrial Grade, Agriculture Grade , and Pharmaceutical Grade), Raw Material (Natural Brine, Solvay Process (by-product), and Limestone and Hydrochloric Acid (HCL)), Application (De-Icing & Dust Control, Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Construction, Agriculture, Food and Beverages, Animal Sterilization, and Others), and Region Forecast till 2025 " in detail along with the table of contents @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/calcium-chloride-market-2049 Impact of COVID-19 on Iso-Propyl Alcohol Market Impact of COVID-19 on Steel Extruded Products Market Coronavirus Outbreak and Plastic Films Market NOTE: Our team of researchers are studying Covid19 and its impact on various industry verticals and wherever required we will be considering covid19 footprints for a better analysis of markets and industries. Cordially get in touch for more details. Private medical colleges in the city have agreed to provide about 4,500 beds for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Tuesday. The government has agreed to include private doctors and paramedical staff involved in treatment of coronavirus patients under insurance coverage. We have held discussions, they (private medical colleges) have responded positively, they have assured that they will give more than 50 per cent of beds and provide necessary facility. They have agreed to give about 4,500 beds, Yediyurappa said. Speaking to reporters after meeting with representatives of private medical colleges, he said this would help us in providing treatment to all those infected by Covid-19 and help them recover. They (medical colleges) have said that they will try to make arrangements for more beds in the days to come, he added. Private hospitals in the city on Monday after meeting with the Chief Minister had agreed to provide 50 per cent of their beds, which is about 2,000 beds to the government for Covid-19 treatment. Yediyurapa said, insurance and other facilities would be extended to private doctors and para medical staff also. We have agreed to give compensation to private doctors and paramedical staff in case of death, he said adding that steps would be taken to provide medical support through tele- medicine by using video conferencing mode. Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said, Bengaluru has the most number of medical colleges in the country- total 14- 11 of them are private and three are government. From three government hospitals 1,000 beds have been kept aside for Covid, he said, private colleges have total about 10,000 beds from these eleven colleges, and in todays meeting managements of these colleges have agreed to make 50 per cent- about 4,500 beds including ICU available for Covid treatment. They have also agreed to make available ventilators, experts, doctors, para medical staff in fight against Covid, he added. Noting that all 4,500 beds may not be available immediately as non Covid patients may be undergoing treatment there, Sudhakar said, within 10-15 days they have agreed to ensure that all the beds are made available. The central allotment committee that we have constituted in coordination with nodal officers appointed for each medical college will allot beds in a scientific manner, he said. The rates fixed for private hospitals will be applicable for private medical colleges also. Pointing out that stipend has been increased upto 45 per cent for government medical college students during Covid period, Sudhakar said private medical colleges would also have to give stipend, the department would ensure that or else action would be taken. Actor Kangana Ranaut has reacted to the ban of 59 China-related apps by the Indian government, saying that the move will make the world a better place. Kangana has been a vocal critic of China in recent weeks, after border tensions erupted between the two nations. In a statement to Pinkvilla, the actor alleged that the coronavirus pandemic was a bio-war unleashed upon the world by China, and that the ban on these 59 apps will severely damage their economy. China has said that it is verifying the situation and that it is strongly concerned by it. I dont agree with their ways and obviously theyve shown their real crude face to the world also with this pandemic and the bio-war that theyve unleashed on the world. What is feeding them is their economy. So it is definitely better we cut their roots here in India and of course when there will not be so much revenue and money, their evil power will come down and the world will be a better place, Kangana said. China is not the leading power because what leads is also what everyone else suffers their virtues and their sins. Today they are leading power and they have this power that is why the world is suffering. Also read: TikTok ban: Malaika Arora says best news I heard in lockdown, Farah Khan tweets China changing maps, India banning apps She said that despite Chinese products being cheap, Indians should encourage local businesses. She said that India should step up and lead from the front at a time like this. In ancient times when India led the world and the world was a prosperous and inclusive place, I do believe that we need to go back to that time. India is the right leader whether it is the religion that we follow, whether the diverse nation that we have of many languages and many religions, she said. She argued that Hinduism preaches to the world of inclusiveness, and if these communist people become leaders, capitalist people will become leaders, this is what the world is going to be. All about bio-wars and crude economic gains. The actor had also condemned the killings of Indian soldiers at the hands of Chinese troops recently. The apps banned by India include ByteDances popular video sharing platform TikTok and Tencents WeChat. Follow @htshowbiz for more Priyanka Chopra has wished brother-in-law Joe Jonas and his wife Sophie Turner on their first wedding anniversary. The actor shared a picture from their France wedding on her Instagram stories and wrote, Happy 1 year anniversary! Love you both. Joe and Sophie are reportedly expecting their first child. Sophie was seen with what appeared to be a baby bump as the couple joined Black Lives Matter protests on the streets of the US. Priyanka Chopra wished Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner on her Instagram stories. Joe had earlier shared that he would like to recreate Las Vegas at their home to celebrate their first wedding anniversary amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to eonline, Joe told James Corden, I think we would have gone back to Vegas. So, if you can keep a secret, I would say I might try to recreate Vegas in our house. I have a DJ set up. We could do a night club. Joe and Sophie had tied the knot in a secret wedding ceremony at a Las Vegas chapel following the Billboard Music Awards. The news of their wedding broke only when DJ Diplo shared updates on social media. The couple remarried in a more formal ceremony in France a month later. Also read: Joe Jonas, Sophie Turner star in hilarious Princess Bride at-home recreation on Quibi, Hugh Jackman is in it too The couple is now set to appear in a star-studded recreation of the iconic film The Princess Bride which will stream on the mobile video platform Quibi. The film will also star Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Jack Black, Rob Reiner and others, as per Fox News. The reimagining of The Princess Bride, which will be broken into Quibis 10-minutes-or-less segments, was filmed at home by its stars while in quarantine and will begin airing from Monday, Vanity Fair reported. The program is set to raise funds for the World Central Kitchen, which has provided food relief amid the Covid-19 pandemic. (With ANI inputs) Follow @htshowbiz for more Sandip Ssingh and Shekhar Suman met Sushant Singh Rajputs family in Patna on Monday. Pictures of them meeting the late actors father have been shared online. A picture shows Sushants father and sisters seated in their drawing room as they talk to Shekhar and Sandip. Another photo shows Sandip applying a tika on Sushants portrait and offering flowers at his family home. Shekhar shared a picture on Twitter and wrote, Met Sushants father..shared his grief. We sat together for a few minutes without exchanging a word..He is still in a state of deep shock..I feel the best way to express grief is thru silence.#justiceforSushantforum #CBIEnquiryForSushant. Met Sushant's father..shared his grief.we sat together for a few minutes without exchanging a word..He is still in a state of deep shock..I feel the best way to express grief is thru silence.#justiceforSushantforum #CBIEnquiryForSushant . pic.twitter.com/we0VL9w7PM Shekhar Suman (@shekharsuman7) June 29, 2020 A fight to finish..at Sushan's house in Patna.won't give up no matter what.#justiceforSushantforum #CBIEnquiryForSushant pic.twitter.com/oydGzKFwIt Shekhar Suman (@shekharsuman7) June 29, 2020 Shekhar also shared a video where he is seen talking to a group of mediapersons about his visit. The actor-host has demanded a CBI enquiry into the death of the actor. Also Watch | Not right to blame one section: Sonu Sood on Sushant Singh Rajputs death Sandip has also made some major revelations about Sushant in his heartbreaking posts on Instagram. The two were to make a film titled Vande Bharatam, with Sushant as the lead actor and Sandip as director. Sharing the poster of the film and a candid picture of them having a chat, Sandip wrote on Instagram, You made me a promise. We, the Bihari brothers, will one day rule this industry and be the inspiration/support system for all young dreamers like you and me bhai. You promised me that my directorial debut will be with you. Raaj Shaandilyaa wrote this and we were to produce this together. I need your belief, that faith you showed, that was my strength. Now, with you gone...Im lost...but I promise you this my brother. Now tell me how do I fulfil this dream? Who will hold my hand like you did? Who will give me the power of SSR, my brother? Also read: Celina Jaitly on Sushant Singh Rajputs death: A great talent who probably would have won Indias first Oscar He added, I promise you this... I will make this film! And it will be a tribute to the loving memory of SSR who inspired millions and gave them hope that anything is possible! Just dream it and believe it! Those hours of discussions on this film we dreamed to make together...the film Vande Bharatam...now all I am left with is your memories and this poster which was our dream starting to come true, this film my brother, will be the symbol of the undying light of your soul. If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918 Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Sonam Kapoor, who contracted a version of the swine flu in 2015, has reacted to news of a new strain of the flu having been discovered in China. Sonam took to her Instagram stories and wrote that she wishes this development isnt true. Ive had a version of the swine flu...I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy. Its one of the most difficult things Ive gone through. I hope this isnt true, she wrote, attaching a BBC news story. The new type of swine is said to have pandemic potential, according to researchers. The new virus is a descendent of the 2009 virus that caused the H1N1 pandemic, and has all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus, according to a study, published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The report said it is not an immediate problem, but has all the hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans. Sonam contracted the virus in 2015. She was about to begin the shoot of Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo in Gujarat, when she complained of mild fever, cough and cold. She was airlifted to Mumbai. Sonam Kapoor, who was being treated at the Sterling hospital for swine flu infection has been taken to Mumbai today by an air-ambulance, the hospitals medical director had told PTI. She reportedly contracted the disease from her trainer. Also read: Sonam Kapoor lashes out at people harassing Sushant Singh Rajputs girlfriend, ex-girlfriend The actor in recent weeks has been on the receiving end of trolling, following her comments on the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Sonam shared screengrabs of the abuse she has been receiving on social media, and enforced restrictions on her accessibility on Instagram. Follow @htshowbiz for more Diljit Dosanjh has said late actor Sushant Singh Rajputs film Dil Bechara should have released in the movie theatres. The actor shared a heartfelt tweet along with the poster of the film that is set to premiere on Disney+ Hotstar. Sharing Dil Bechara poster on Twitter, Diljit wrote, Eh Tan Theatre ch v Release Honi Chaidi Aa.. 2 Vaari Mileya c mai Veer Nu.. JAANDAR BANDA C YAAR.. Zarur Dekha Ge Hotstar Te V (This should have been released in theatres...I met brother twice...he was a lively human being...I will definitely watch the film on Hotstar). Eh Tan Theatre ch v Release Honi Chaidi Aa.. 2 Vaari Mileya c mai Veer Nu.. JAANDAR BANDA C YAAR.. Zarur Dekha Ge Hotstar Te V pic.twitter.com/58HLjzHqit DILJIT DOSANJH (@diljitdosanjh) June 30, 2020 The poster features Sushant intently looking at something while Sanjana Sanghi is seen resting her hands and head on his shoulder. The film is adapted from the famous novel The Fault In Our Stars by John Green and will also see actor Saif Ali Khan in a special appearance. It was originally slated for May 8 theatre release but it could not see the light of the day due to the shuttering of cinemas owing to coronavirus crisis. Earlier, Sushants producer friend Vikas Gupta had also expressed disappointment over the films online release. Addressing the production house, he had written on Instagram, Dear @foxstarhindi Its a Request if you can release #dilbechara in cinemahalls when ever they open. This is @sushantsinghrajput last film and it will be heartbreaking for it not be seen in theatres. Entire India would want to see that. Director Mukesh Chhabra on Thursday remembered the late actor for the love and support he shared throughout the making of the movie. In a written post shared on Twitter, Chhabra explained the Kai Po Che actor was not just a hero of his directorial debut film, instead, he dubbed him as a dear friend who stood beside him through thick and thin. We had been close, right from Kai Po Che to Dil Bechara. He had promised me that he would be in my first film. So many plans were made together, so many dreams were dreamt together but never once did I ever imagine that I would be releasing this film without him, tweeted the director. Also read: Sushant Singh Rajputs father still in deep shock: Shekhar Suman after meeting actors family with Sandip Ssingh The casting director also shared that Sushant always showered him with immense love while the movie was being made and that his love will now guide as the movie will release. Dil Bechara will premiere on the digital platform Disney+ Hotstar on July 24 and will be available to everyone for free including the ones who have not subscribed to the streaming service as a mark of tribute to Sushants love for cinema. Chhabra added: Im glad that the Producers have made it available for everyone to watch. We are going to love and celebrate you, my friend. I can visualise you with your beautiful smile blessing us from up above. (With ANI inputs) Follow @htshowbiz for more Sanjana Sanghi, Sushant Singh Rajputs co-star in his final film Dil Bechara, is being questioned by the police in connection with his suicide. She arrived at the Bandra police station on Tuesday to record her statement. A video of her reaching the police station has surfaced online. The Mumbai Police have earlier recorded the statement of casting director Mukesh Chhabra, who had been a friend of Sushants since his Kai Po Che! days, and is making his directorial debut with Dil Bechara. In addition, Sushants family members, rumoured girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and managerial staff have also been questioned. Recently, Yash Raj Films casting director Shanoo Sharma also recorded her statement. On the day of his death, Sanjana reminisced about her experience of shooting for Dil Bechara with him, choking up in the video. A week later, she wrote another emotional Instagram post: Whoever said time helps heal all wounds, was lying. Some feel like theyre being ripped open, again and again, and bleeding - Of moments that now will forever remain memories, Of laughs together that were but will never again be, Of questions that will remain unanswered, Of disbelief, that only keeps growing. Also read | Sushant Singh Rajputs father still in deep shock: Shekhar Suman after meeting actors family with Sandip Ssingh Dil Bechara, Sanjanas debut film as a leading lady and Sushants last, is gearing up for a digital release next month. The film will be out on Disney+ Hotstar on July 24, and will be made available for free viewing as a tribute. The news of Dil Becharas digital release came as a disappointment for a section of fans, who wished to watch Sushants last film on the big screen. Sanjana appealed to them to stop with their requests for a theatrical release. Let NOT make it about the size of the screen we get to watch this labour of love on, his last, and in my humble belief, his finest. Lets instead make it about the size of our hearts, that we can make as big as we wish to, and fill up with as much love, joy and pride as we want. Lets cherish it. Relish it. Celebrate it. In any and every way we can?, she wrote in an Instagram post. If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918 Follow @htshowbiz for more The ban on video sharing platform TikTok in India has been met with mixed reactions in Bollywood. While some celebrities are wondering about the significance of the ban, many have hailed the government for the decision. TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, was among the 59 Chinese mobile apps banned on Monday by the Indian government. The Indian ministry of information technology said that the apps "are engaged in activities... prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". There are estimated to be about 120 million TikTok users in India, with many Bollywood celebs present on the platform too. Among those reacted to the ban was Malaika Arora. Sharing a picture on her Instagram stories that shows the news of TikTok ban flashing on a TV screen, she wrote, Best news I have heard in lockdown...finally we will not be subjected to peoples ridiculous videos. Richa Chadha shared an Amrish Puri meme on Twitter and wrote, We can always uninstall apps... shom shom shamo shasha #definitiveaction ? Farah Khan reacted to the news on Twitter. China changing maps, India banning apps! she tweeted. China is the Worlds Largest Manufacturer and it did not get there overnight. Nothing the Chinese do is without strategy and planning. They are non religious and very focused and disciplines in what they do. Want to compete with them then begin to think and act like them. She also wrote, If we are to compete with the worlds largest manufacturer, we better be well equipped to do so before we decide to ban everything Chinese bec the fact is that something in everything is made in China. Action without thought will lead to more problems. We need Brains not Emotions. She added in another tweet, China is the Worlds Largest Manufacturer and it did not get there overnight. Nothing the Chinese do is without strategy and planning. They are non religious and very focused and disciplines in what they do. Want to compete with them then begin to think and act like them. If we are to compete with the worlds largest manufacturer, we better be well equipped to do so before we decide to ban everything Chinese bec the fact is that something in everything is made in China. Action without thought will lead to more problems. We need Brains not Emotions Farah Khan (@FarahKhanAli) June 29, 2020 Music composer Vishal Dadlani wrote on Twitter, Banning Apps is to China, what Taali/Diyas were to Coronavirus. Banning Apps is to China, what Taali/Diyas were to Coronavirus. VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) June 29, 2020 Kushal Tandon also wrote on his Instagram stories, Finally some good news. Nikitin Dheer hailed the government for banning TikTok in India and called it a good start. He also wrote a note on his Instagram stories justifying the decision. It read, Its so funny that so many people are saying apps ban karne se kya hoga...well its a start. A start to cutting off revenue, spyware, malware etc. And m****s asking why dont we attack China... it just shows how ignorant you are, army doesnt need our advice on how to , if you have not read, a lot of industrial contracts have been cancelled. Be patriotic, its cool...Thodi apni bhi akal lagao. Jai Hind!! Nia Sharma wrote on Twitter, Thank youu for saving our country. This Virus named Tik tok should never be allowed again! Kamya Punjabi also hailed the government and tweeted, Superbbbbbbb @PMOIndia excellent news #JaiHind #BoycottChineseProducts #BoycottChineseApps. Also read: Priyanka Chopra wishes Sophie Turner-Joe Jonas on first wedding anniversary, shares pic from their French wedding Meanwhile, TikTok denied Tuesday sharing Indian users' data with the Chinese government. "TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government," TikTok India chief Nikhil Gandhi said in a statement. Follow @htshowbiz for more Indian telecommunications tycoon Sunil Mittal has submitted a bid for OneWeb, the bankrupt satellite firm whose investors include SoftBank Group Corp., people with knowledge of the matter said. An arm of Mittals Bharti Enterprises Ltd. conglomerate made an offer for London-based OneWeb with backing from the UK government, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The UK government plans to commit around $500 million to OneWeb alongside other investors as part of the companys Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, a person with knowledge of the matter said last week. OneWeb has said that bids were due Friday. Part of the UKs interest in supporting OneWeb is to form the basis for a new national navigation system, after the European Union froze Britain out of the most secure elements of the blocs project, called Galileo. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is trying to attract fresh foreign investment from countries including India, China and the U.S. to help offset the UKs departure from the EU. OneWeb makes so-called low-Earth orbit satellites that provide high-speed communications. It faces competition from Elon Musks SpaceX Starlink project and Jeff Bezoss Amazon-linked Project Kuiper, as well as from incumbents such as Inmarsat, Intelsat SA and Eutelsat Communications SA. Pandemic Blow The company has raised about $3.3 billion in debt and equity financing from shareholders including SoftBank, Airbus SE and Qualcomm Inc. since its inception, according to filings. In a March 27 bankruptcy announcement, OneWeb blamed the financial effects and market turbulence related to Covid-19 pandemic for its failure to obtain financing it needed. Mittals group controls Bharti Airtel Ltd., Indias second-biggest wireless operator. Shares of Bharti Airtel have risen 24% this year, giving the company a market value of about $41 billion. The carrier is the biggest shareholder of Mumbai-listed tower operator Bharti Infratel Ltd. Other suitors have also been pursuing OneWeb, and theres no certainty the Indian groups bid will be successful, the people said. A representative for Bharti couldnt immediately comment, while a spokesperson for OneWeb declined to comment. A representative for the UKs Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy declined to comment on any bid. We have made clear our ambitions for space and are developing a new National Space Strategy to bring long-term strategic and commercial benefits to the UK, the government spokesperson said in an emailed statement. We are in regular discussions with the space industry as part of this work. Bharti Enterprises participated in a 2015 funding round for OneWeb alongside other investors including Qualcomm Inc., Richard Bransons Virgin Group and Airbus Group NV. OneWeb formed an alliance in 2018 with partners including Delta Air Lines Inc., Bharti Airtel and Sprint Corp. to allow wireless carriers to extend their service into airplane cabins. Imports from China have been piling up at Indian ports pending government clearances, causing concern that a recent border standoff between the two nations could have an economic fallout that will disrupt supply chains. From active pharmaceutical ingredients that go into the worlds most-consumed drugs to the innards of popular mobile phones, Indian companies purchase Chinese raw materials that feed their finished products. These consignments are now being delayed and firms arent sure why. Customs authorities have not been clearing consignments coming from China, and they havent been offering any reasons, Dinesh Dua, chairman of Indias Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council, said by phone. It has been five days now. We have no source apart from China. Dua, whos also chief executive officer of Nectar Lifesciences Ltd., said he has written to the ministries responsible for pharmaceuticals and trade to seek help as companies are spending about 350,000 rupees ($4,630) a day in demurrage charges. Similar concerns are being voiced by electronics manufacturers, along with anxiety about how they will run their factories, only recently reopened after Indias lockdown to contain the coronavirus. Five consignments of mine are stuck, said Sudhir Hasija, chairman and founder of Karbonn Mobiles, which builds smartphones, chargers and set top boxes. The government collected customs duty and GST on them. 100% of the inspections are done. Now Im told they are waiting for release instructions, from whom I dont know. I havent received any communication. Businesses worry that they may end up becoming the casualty of a brewing trade war between the Asian giants sparked off by a border clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers and left an undisclosed number of Chinese dead. India plans to impose stringent quality control measures and higher tariffs on imports from China, people with the knowledge of the matter have said. India on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps, citing threats to its sovereignty and security. Stopping imports from China at domestic ports will lead to losses for those Indian businesses that placed orders before the border clashes, Nitin Gadkari, Indian minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, told Quintillion Media on Sunday. Gadkari said his ministry is actively working with the finance and commerce ministries to resolve this issue. Yogesh Baweja, a spokesman for the commerce ministry, declined to comment when called by Bloomberg News while Rajesh Malhotra, who represents Indias Finance Ministry, didnt answer a call outside office hours in New Delhi on Monday. At least six companies from across India have been affected by the delays, according to Daara Patel, secretary general of the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association that represents small- and medium-sized Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers. Firms are quite anxious and concerned about the attitude of the clearing agencies across the country, he said. Though drugmakers typically have stores of API to last as much as three months, one area that could be particularly impacted if these delays persist could be antibiotics, given Indian factories dependence on Chinese inputs for those formulations. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers warned in a statement that the congestion at ports could hurt manufacturers. Karbonns Hasija said freight forwarders are refusing to lift more material from China because they dont have space to store the shipments. Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of the India Cellular and Electronics Association, which represents companies such as Apple Inc. and Micromax Informatics Ltd., said the industry body is in talks with the government to resolve the situation. We have been assured that the government does not want any disruption in these trying times, he said, and all actions will be taken in the interest of the industry and nation. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 6 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Radiation monitoring is device which can identify the present and measure the radiation quantity. Radiation monitoring device are so sensitive that can provide the dose of the radiation during the radiology procedures. The radiation monitoring devices can monitor the environmental contaminations. The Nuclear power plants produce electricity by fission and used uranium, which is a radioactive material, according to a report from Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), in November 2016, about 30 countries over the globe are operating 450 nuclear reactor and 60 new nuclear plants are going to develop in 15 countries. This statics also fuel the market over the forecasted period. The radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market have the huge market as they are used in various application like oncology treatment, and other chronic diseases. According to National Cancer Institute (NCI), in 2016, 1,685,210 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. Get Free Sample Copy With Impact Analysis Of COVID-19 Of Market Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/15037 Radiation monitoring and Dosimeter Badges Market: Drivers & Restraints Radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market is huge market in the term of use, and technology advancement. The growth in number of cancer patients and the uses by different organization like defenses, environmental organization. Now a days food industry are also using the radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges to check the food and crops in the fields of having the present of radiation. Government are also motivating the radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market by providing funds. For instance, USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) are more concerned about high level of UV-B (ultraviolet radiation) from the Sun, which may harmful for crops, USDA is releasing the funds of $1,308,336 for the study to different agricultural college, who come under the eligibility area. As of restraints the peoples are not much aware of using the product and they are not technology trained. Radiation monitoring and Dosimeter Badges Market: Segmentation Radiation Monitoring and Dosimeter Badges segmentation based on: Based on the product type: Personal dosimeters Environmental radiation Radioactive material Active dosimeters Surface Contamination Monitors Area Process Monitor Based on detection type: Solid-state detector Gas-filled detector Scintillators Based on End User: Nuclear industries Hospital Defense Radiation Therapy and Caner Treatment Center Others You Can Buy This PMR Healthcare Report From Here @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/15037 Radiation monitoring and dosimeter badges market have a huge potentials for the growth in the forecasted period as owning by the technology advancement for developing new devices which will be more accurate and handy to use. The awareness program should be more to increase the utilization in various fields. As a geography conditions the Radiation Monitoring and Dosimeter Badges is segmented into: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. North America will be having huge market share in various fields like medical, nuclear power plant and scientific applications. According to the U.S., NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) that radiation therapy is used by 7 out of every 10 people in the U.S. As Asia Pacific is also a growing market as they have the increasing number of nuclear plant and as well as use in medical treatment. Some players in Radiation Monitoring and Dosimeter Badges Market are Landauer, Inc., Ludlum Measurements, Inc., ECOTEST, Mirion Technologies, CHP Dosimetry, Renentech Laboratories Pvt. Ltd, MP Dosimetry, Sierra Radiation Dosimetry Service, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Fluke Corporation, RDC Inc, and Biodex. The Indian equity indices opened in green on Tuesday with BSE Sensex trading above 35,000 while the broader Nifty was up at 10,350 in line with firm global markets. At 9:25 am, 30-share barometre Sensex was up 200.34 points or 0.57% trading at 35,161.86, while Nifty jumped 71.40 points or 0.69% to trade at 10,383.80. Gains on Sensex were led by Tata Steel, Axis Bank, and NTPC. About 825 shares have advanced, 268 shares declined, and 38 shares are unchanged. In the previous session On Monday, Sensex had pared some losses to end 209.75 points or 0.60% lower at 34,961.52. Nifty too fell 70.60 points or 0.68% to settle at 10,312.40. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.53% to $41.63 per barrel. Analysts and economists are waiting for the release of data to assess the countrys economic performance in the first quarter of the financial year 2020-21, which ends today (June 30), to predict its impact on the GDP growth in the full year. To be sure, economic indicators for the full quarter will take time to come. But Purchasing Managers Indices (PMI) for the month of June will be released this week. The Nifty is set to close the quarter around 20% stronger, its best performance since June quarter of 2009, after a liquidity-driven rally from a four year low hit in March, according to Reuters. First estimates of GDP for the June quarter will be released towards the end of August . Most forecasts suggest that Indias GDP will contract in 2020-21. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund expect this contraction to be up to 3.2% and 4.5% respectively. Given these annual forecasts, the June quarter GDP will most likely suffer a contraction in double digits. (With agency inputs) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to a Gurugram juvenile accused in the murder case of a student of the same private school where he studied in September 2017. The boy is accused of slitting the throat of a Class-2 student in a bid to postpone exams. Initially, the probe was conducted by Haryana Police and a bus conductor was accused of murdering the child. Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that it was committed by the juvenile in question. He is in an observation home since November 2017. His bail plea is pending in the HC since November 2018. The high court bench of Justice Arvind Sangwan observed that the petitioner child is to be treated as an adult while deciding bail. Hence, there is little scope for the court to invoke provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which empowers the court to release a juvenile in conflict with law on bail. The petitioner had sought quashing of October 2018 order of principal magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board, Gurugram, and November 2018 order of additional sessions judge, Gurugram, vide which bail was denied. It was argued that trial has still not commenced. There are 127 prosecution witnesses cited in the list of witnesses and it will take long time in conclusion of the trial. The boy was not keeping well in observation home, the court was told. The CBI, meanwhile, had argued that petitioner is not suffering from any serious illness as opined by a medical board. Further, it was submitted that he belongs to a very influential family and the manner in which the state police had conducted the investigation, prior to its transfer to CBI, demonstrates that the family of the petitioner tried to transpose a conductor of the bus as an accused in place of the boy. The court, while dismissing bail plea, said the boy was not facing health problems as opined by medical board. The court also took note of the prosecution argument that certain witnesses are minors (including the sister of the deceased) and therefore, possibility of tampering the evidence cannot be ruled out. The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday allowed private schools in Punjab to collect tuition fee. The high court also permitted them to collect admission fee. The high court bench of justice Nirmajlit Kaur said that irrespective of whether schools offered online classes during the lockdown period or not, they are entitled to collect the tuition fee. However, the schools have been restrained from increasing the fee for the year 2020-21. On May 14, the high court had allowed private schools in Punjab to charge 70% fee from students for the 2020-21 academic year as an interim measure. The court had also allowed schools to charge admission fee in two installments in six months and further directed that teachers in these schools would have to be paid 70% of their salaries. It had acted on a petition from the Independent Schools Association, Chandigarh, with member schools in Punjab, after the association had contested the government move to allow schools to charge only tuition fee during the lockdown and not building, transportation and meals charges. The schools had argued that if not allowed to collect fee, how would they pay teachers. The decision to allow the collection of 70% of the fee had resulted in parents resorting to protests in large parts of the state. Subsequently, the state government and scores of parent bodies had become party in the dispute. FINANCIAL HARDSHIP PLEA The court clarified that no child will be deprived of attending school and online classes if fee is not deposited by the parent. However, the same is subject to the parent of such a child moving an application before the school on financial hardship. As for other charges, the school managements have been asked to work out the actual expenditure incurred under the annual charges for the period the school remained closed and recover only such expenditure incurred by them, including actual transport charges and actual building charges. These charges cant be recovered for the period for any activity or facility towards which no expenditure is incurred. The court said that any parent not able to pay the school fee may file their application along with necessary proof about their financial status, which shall be looked into by the school. In case the parent is still aggrieved, he or she can approach a fee regulatory body against the schools decision. As for the schools facing financial hardships, the institution concerned may move a representation to the district education officer along with its proof. The DEO shall look into it and pass appropriate orders within three weeks. Faces covered and clothes soaked in mud, women can be seen industriously sowing paddy seeds in the scorching sun in Haryana. The regions local women have stepped up to aid farmers reeling under acute labour shortage in the region. The transplantation of paddy is in full-swing in the state. Paddy cultivation has not suffered in the absence of migrant labourers as local women have come out in support of farmers. Leelawati, the group leader of women labourers in Darar village of Karnal district, said, On the request of farmers, I formed a team of 15 women and started transplantation. Farmers were ready to pay more as they were in desperate need of help but we decided not to exploit their helplessness and only charge Rs 3,000 per acre. LOCAL LANDLESS LABOUR RISE TO THE OCCASION Now, most farmers in paddy sowing areas of the state in Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar are relying on the local landless labourers, especially women, to transplant paddy. With farmers running from pillar to post in these unprecedented circumstances, women labourers offered to help out the farmers and agreed to work for lower wages than migrant workers. With farmers running from pillar to post in these unprecedented circumstances, women labourers offered to help out the farmers and agreed to work for lower wages than migrant workers (HT PHOTO ) Som Prakash, a small farmer from Dhanokheri village of Karnal district, said, The locals are charging Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per acre, which is lower than the migrant workers asking price of Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,500. He adding that local women were performing the task thoroughly as opposed to migrant labourers who would try to hurry in order to earn more money. SOCIAL TIES REINFORCED The labour crisis has, on the upside, improved the social ties between farmers and the local landless labourers. The farmers had hitherto been dependent on the skilled migrant workers but after the lockdown they re-approached the locals. The migrants are charging around Rs 4,000 but we have to respect our social ties and our relationship with the farmers. We cannot let our social ties deteriorate as they always help us whenever required, says a labourer, Sarwan Kumar of Chamrori village in Yamunanagar. The concerted efforts of the Narendra Modi 2.0 government to pedal-push multi-sectoral reforms amid the Covid-19 crisis are a strategic move in the direction of the much-needed economic revival. The recent announcements indicate that the government is in a mission mode to unleash reforms across sectors. This is the right approach for fighting the pandemic and the effects of the prolonged lockdown on the economy. Much, however, will eventually depend on the implementation of the policies and decisions unveiled over the past few weeks, including the latest two landmark reforms one for the financial sector and the other related to setting up of a Rs 15,000-crore Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF). RESTORING FAITH IN COOPERATIVE BANKING The financial sector reform is designed to restore the confidence of small investors and depositors in the cooperative banking system, and will go a long way in bringing transparency and accountability. The decision to issue an ordinance to bring 1,482 urban cooperative banks and 58 multi-state cooperative banks under the direct and exclusive supervision of the Reserve Bank of India was a long-awaited measure that had become imperative in view of the recent string of irregularities in the cooperative banking segment. Most cooperative banks were, till now, not managed by professional bankers. Regrettably, they were also outside the ambit of the RBI regulation and guidelines, which explains their poor supervision and opaque functioning. This had virtually led to the collapse of the cooperative banking system, with the innocent small depositors being the biggest victims. While the cooperative banks cater to an under-banked rural India, and hence need more leeway and flexibility, it was, of late, being seen that the microfinance, non-banking and fintech companies had also been able to make significant inroads into the hinterland with their well-diversified financial service offerings for rural and marginal customers. In this emerging new India, the cooperative banks had become almost obscure monolithic structures, serving the interests of a few, with many of them also found to be defrauding the small gullible depositors. With RBIs oversight, things are now bound to change for the better, with the ordinance bringing more transparency, accountability and professionalism to the cooperative banks. The move will make these banks more competitive, while giving to depositors and customers a sense of confidence and the assurance of protection for their savings. STRENGTHENING ANIMAL HUSBANDRY INFRASTRUCTURE The decision to set up the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund was the second positive announcement of the government, which assumes significance in the backdrop of the absence of a robust institutional and infrastructural mechanism despite India being among the topmost producers for milk, meat and marine staples in the world. The lack of proper infrastructure was responsible for high wastages, low levels of processing and stagnation in the income of farmers. The key to the realisation of the governments mission to double farmers income by 2022 lies in strengthening the infrastructure in agri-allied activities, which of course covers the entire ambit of animal husbandry. This can be achieved by engaging, involving and incentivising MSMEs and the private sector. Clearly, AHIDF will prove to be beneficial for this sector as it will spur investment in infrastructure for dairy and meat processing, as well as value addition infrastructure, while encouraging the involvement of entrepreneurs in feed manufacturing. With industry, including farmer producer organisations (FPOs), MSMEs and entrepreneurs, required to bring in only 10% margin money, with the balance 90% being the loan component to be made available by scheduled banks, this particular reform would not only encourage industry to come forward but will also motivate the rural folk, farmers, youth and self help groups to move towards entrepreneurship. This is expected to help in direct and indirect livelihood creation for more than 35 lakh people, which is still a conservative estimate. The provision for 3% interest subvention for private investors, with two years moratorium period on principal amount and six years repayment period, will ensure availability of capital to meet upfront the investment required for these projects and also help in easy payback for investors. Such investments in processing and value-addition infrastructure by eligible beneficiaries would also promote export of these processed and value-added commodities a vital component of economic revival. The provision to set up a credit guarantee fund of Rs 750 crore, managed by NABARD, would encourage the MSMEs and rural entrepreneurs to invest on an even bigger scale in making this sector more competitive in the global arena. These two reforms of the government underscore its overarching goal of enabling economic revival through reforms and underline the visibility and achievability of its intent to make Bharat Atmanirbhar. The writer, Nikhil Sawhney, is chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry, northern region. (HT Photo ) The writer is chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry, northern region. Views expressed are personal Eleven people, including four children, tested positive for Covid-19 in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 953, officials said. Four cases each have been reported in Kangra and Una, two in Hamirpur and one in Solan. Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati said a 8-year-old son of a Covid-19 positive patient, who is an army jawan, tested positive for the virus. The army jawan, who came from Arunachal Pradesh on June 23, had tested positive on June 28 and is currently undergoing treatment at Military Hospital, Yol. The child has come in direct contact of his father. Another 7-year-old boy, also a family member and primary contact of the army jawan has tested positive. Both the kids are being shifted to Military Hospital. Besides, a 40-year-old man and his 8-year-old son, residents of Jaisinghpur sub-division, are among the new cases. They had returned from Delhi on June 18. The DC said five patients have also recovered in the district. In Hamirpur district, a 10-year-old child from Nadaun area tested positive. He is the primary contact of his Covid-19 positive mother. The boy was in institutional quarantine. Besides, a 23-year-old women, who returned to Delhi from Kyrgyzstan and from there to her village in Bhoranj area has tested positive. Four people, including two sisters, tested positive in Una. HAMIRPUR WOMAN SUCCUMBS TO VIRUS, DEATH TOLL MOUNTS TO 8 Himachal Pradesh recorded its eighth death due to the virus on Tuesday as a 80-year-old woman from Hamirpur district succumbed to the disease at Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College (LBSGMC), Nerchowk in Mandi district. The woman had a travel history to Delhi. She was diabetic and was also suffering from hypertension and other age-related ailments. She had tested positive on June 22 and was admitted at the Covid-care centre in Bhota. She was shifted to LBSGMC when her condition worsened. Five of the eight deaths reported in the state are of persons suffering from a chronic renal ailment. The first death in Himachal was reported on March 23 when a US-returned Tibetan man from McLeodganj died of the contagion. 357 ACTIVE CASES The active cases in the state stand at 357 while 575 patients have been cured. Eleven people have migrated to other states and seven have succumbed to the infection. Kangra is the worst-hit district with 272 cases, followed by Hamirpur with 245 cases, Solan with 109 cases, Una with 108 cases, Chamba with 52 cases, Bilaspur with 44 cases, Shimla with 40 cases, Sirmaur with 38 cases, Mandi with 30 cases, Kinnaur with eight cases, Kullu with five cases and Lahaul-Spiti with two case. Of the 99,274 people surveyed using the rapid antigen test, which began in containment zones and neighbouring areas on June 18, 7,414 tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) till June 26, suggesting a positivity rate of 7.46%,a senior Delhi government official said on Monday. Experts said the rapid antigen tests are providing a better picture of the spread of the infection since so far only those with symptoms in containment zones were being tested. With random sampling in containment zones and areas around them, and rapid testing, the outcome of these tests provide a more representative picture, they said. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage The rapid antigen test, a much faster way to confirm positive cases, was started as part of the Centres and the state governments efforts to ramp up testing in Delhi. We are conducting close to 7,000-12,000 rapid tests per day. These tests are being done mostly in containment zones and its neighbouring areas. It is also being done in some other areas. It is helping us isolate positive cases early, as the test results are out within 30 minutes, said a senior Delhi government official with the revenue department, which is compiling the testing data. The results, a district magistrate said, were used to identify new clusters of Covid-19 cases and redraw boundaries of the containment zones. On Sunday, the Delhi government increased the number of containment zones from 280 to 421. Tests that detect presence or absence of an antigen in the body are called antigen detection tests. An antigen is a foreign molecule that induces an immune response within the body, especially the production of antibodies, and detecting its presence determines infection. Delhi is the first state to roll out antigen-based testing as Covid-19 cases in the city have seen unusual surge in the number of cases, making it imperative to conduct large-scale quick testing to trace, treat and isolate the infected individuals. Till Monday, Delhi reported 85,161 cases and 2,680 deaths due to the infection. The test has high specificity (true negative rate) of 99.3% to 100%, which rules out people who are not infected. Tests with a high specificity are most useful when the result is positive. Sensitivity (true positive rate) is lower at 50.6% to 84%, which makes it less accurate in correctly diagnosing a positive case. This is why people with symptoms who test negative have to undergo an RT-PCR test to rule out active infection. The antigen test helps us understand the prevalence of the infection. We could identify clusters where the number of cases is more and have redrawn the boundaries and added new areas accordingly, the district magistrate said. This, another district magistrate said, will help in de-sealing containment zones at the earliest. With this, we are able to identify positive cases and take them out of the zone or place them in home isolation. This way we can scale down the containment measures as soon as cases will go down, said another official. Dr T Jacob John, professor emeritus and former head of the department of virology at Christian Medical College at Vellore, It (the positivity rate) reflects the situation at the ground. If it is 7.46% in containment zones and neighbouring areas, then chances are that the positivity rate in non-containment areas would be far less. A doctor with the district surveillance team said the rapid antigen test has expedited the Covid management process, as the cases are detected early. The test has proved to be helpful in faster detection of positive cases in containment zones. We are able to identify and isolate these cases early. The RT-PCR test takes longer than a rapid test, so the detection of a case, its contact tracing, etc used to take time. But now we are able to take prompt action and check the spread of infection, said the doctor, who didnt wish to be named. The conventional real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test requires five to six hours to give results and specialised laboratory facilities in terms of equipment, biosafety and biosecurity. Early detection, doctors say, will help in keeping fatality rate in check, as timely diagnosis and treatment can be provided to patients. When you pick up the infection early, it brings down the fatality rate since timely treatmentis key in managing and containing this disease, said Dr Lalit Kant, former epidemiology and communicable diseases head at the Indian Council of Medical Research. Dr Jugal Kishore, head of community medicine at Safdurjung hospital, said, The positivity rate through RT-PCR is high as those with symptoms or contacts of positive cases were getting tested. But now as we are testing people in the community using the rapid antigen test, the prevalence rate would be less as we are testing even those who dont have any symptom. PATNA In an attempt to involve people in keeping a vigil on the condition of river embankments in their areas as monsoon picks pace, Bihars water resources department (WRD) has come up with a Twitter hashtag where they could report any visible cracks or breaches. Engineers of WRD, Bihar, are maintaining constant vigilance on embankments. If you witness any erosion or crack in the embankment and feel the need of flood protection work in your area, please inform us through Twitter with #HelloWRD. We will be there, says a tweet from Bihar WRD. WRD minister Sanjay Kumar Jha said, We will also soon launch a 24*7 call centre with a toll-free number for the people. Their involvement will help the department reach out to them faster and on time. The unpredictability of rivers like Kosi and Kamla has always been a cause of worry in north Bihar. As per WRD figures, a few stations in the Kosi river basin in Nepal have received moderate to heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours. Dhap station in Nepal recorded the highest rainfall of 81.4 mm in the last 24 hours. For the next two days, there is forecast of 1-10 mm rainfall in the Kosi basin. In the Mahananda river basin in Nepal, few stations did receive moderate rainfall, but the situation remains steady, with water below the warning level on Tuesday. Water level of Kamla river, which wreaked havoc in Madhubani, Jhanjharpur and adjoining areas last year due to sudden surge of water, was also steady and below warning level in Nepal portion at 10.30 am on June 30, said a WRD official. PATNA Keeping in mind safety concerns of voters during the upcoming Assembly polls in Bihar amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Election Commission (EC) is working on proposals to provide gloves and bamboo sticks, of the size of toothpicks, to voters in an attempt to ensure contact less voting as they press the button of their choice on electronic voting machines (EVMs). Some other innovative proposals include use of disposable syringes to put indelible ink on the finger of voters, setting up glass shields at the table of polling officers so that voters, when asked to identify themselves by taking off masks, do not come in contact with the staff. Bihar polls, scheduled to be held in October-November, would be the first stand-alone Assembly elections amid the Covid-19 pandemic and it is a challenge for the poll panel to ensure safety of voters and polling staff so that there is no spread of virus during heightened physical interfaces. Sanitising EVMs after every vote is not possible. Bamboo sticks are environment friendly too, said a senior EC official, wishing not to be quoted. Sources said the proposals have been sent by BIhars chief electoral officer to the Election Commission for final approval. We have sent a few proposals for safety of voters at the booths. We are working on it. The concern is that voters do not come much in contact with any physical object or polling staff, said CEO H R Srinivasa. The state has an electorate of 7.18 crore. There are 1.06 lakh booths and an additional 33,797 auxiliary booths have been planned so that number of voters at one booth is capped at 700 to maintain social distancing. EC officials said the process had started for requisition of these material and priority was being given to gloves from Bihar State Khadi Board so that it also generates rural employment. The khadi board has been approached for gloves.Other material would be purchased locally and DMs will be authorised to do so, said another EC official in know of the matter. Meanwhile, political parties were split on the proposed new measures. The BJP and JD(U), constituents of the ruling NDA, said they would support any such measure by EC for ensuring safety of voters, while Opposition RJD said it would infringe on the rights of voters and defeat the purpose of elections. If EC takes any steps for safety of voters in view of Covid, we will support. But these should be widely publicised as our larger objective is to ensure 100 % voting, said Nikhil Anand, state spokesperson of the BJP. JD(U) state spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan said, We are in favour of safety measures for voters. RJDs state spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said, In the name of Covid, there is an attempt being made to manipulate the polls. We will oppose any such move. We want the EC to conduct polls as in the past. Even in South Korea, elections were held amid Covid pandemic by using ballot papers, he said. Chandigarh In a bid to effectively tackle the increasing coronavirus-related patient load in government hospitals, the Punjab cabinet on Tuesday granted the go-head for filling up 3,954 vacant regular posts in health and 291 posts in medical education and research departments. The cabinet gave the approval at a meeting chaired by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh here. Of the total 3,954 posts in health department, 2,966 will be filled in the first phase and the remaining 988, which would fall vacant on September 30, 2020, in the next phase, according to an official spokesperson. It also gave approval to continue the recruitment of medical officers (specialists) to be conducted by a special selection committee headed by Dr KK Talwar through walk-in interviews. Likewise, the cabinet also allowed recruitment of doctors, paramedics and other staff to be done through Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, by taking the recruitment out of the purview of Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) and Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board (PSSSB). These include 235 medical officers (MOs-general), one MO specialist (microbiologist), four MOs specialist (social preventive medicine), 35 MOs (dental), 598 staff nurses, 180 pharmacists, 600 multipurpose health workers (MHW-female), 200 MHW (male), 139 radiographers, 44 dialysis technicians and 800 ward attendants. JUNIOR RESIDENTS TO BE RETAINED FOR ONE YEAR The cabinet decided to retain junior residents (JRs), who are passing out after completing three-year post-graduation, as senior residents (ad hoc) for one year against the bond given by them. As many as 232 JRs (other than PCMS category junior residents) will be retained against the bond given by them as 267 posts of senior residents are lying vacant. It also decided to recruit 32 assistant professors (anaesthesia) on contract basis for one year and seven super-specialist doctors on regular basis. Apart from this, 20 posts of anaesthesia technicians were also approved for one year. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 6 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global artificial insemination market size is expected to reach USD 2.9 billion by 2026 registering a CAGR of 8.4%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Over the past few years, infertility has become a major public health concern across the globe. Artificial insemination is usually the preferred first-line treatment to tackle infertility. Lifestyle changes, delay in pregnancy, and hormonal issues are some of the reasons contributing to the rise in fertility-related problems. According to the United Nations, the global fertility rate is expected to decline to 2.2% by 2050. In developing or underdeveloped nations, medical consultation regarding infertility was not easily accessible. Hence, there was a lack of awareness about available assisted reproductive techniques including artificial or donor insemination and IVF. The average cost of performing an IUI is around USD 865. The success rate for each cycle is around 4 to 5%, which can be increased to about 7 to 16% by consuming fertility drugs. However, older women are not encouraged to go through IUI due to slim chances of success and further complications. Several fertility problems can be addressed through IUI, such as semen allergy, unexplained infertility, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/artificial-insemination-market Further key findings from the study suggest: Artificial insemination is a first-line of infertility treatment, as it is minimally invasive and less expensive as compared to IVF In some countries, such as U.S. and U.K., same-sex couples are provided insurance coverage for artificial insemination procedures Intrauterine insemination held majority of the market share in 2018 and is likely to be the fastest-growing segment over the forecast period as it is the most common and non-invasive procedure Fertility clinics held a majority of the market share in the year 2018 due to higher number of medical facilities offering infertility treatments Europe held a majority of the market share in the year 2018. North America was the second-largest market in 2018 Some of the key companies in the global artificial insemination market include Vitrolife; Genea Ltd.; Rinovum Womens Health, LLC; Pride Angel; Hi-Tech Solutions; FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific; Kitazato Corp.; and Rocket Medical plc Grand View Research has segmented the global artificial insemination market on the basis of type, end use, source type, and region: Artificial Insemination Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2026) Intrauterine Intracervical Intravaginal Intratubal Artificial Insemination End Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2026) Fertility Clinics & Other Facilities Home Artificial Insemination Source Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2026) AIH-Husband AID-Donor Artificial Insemination Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2026) North America US. Canada Europe UK. Germany Asia Pacific Japan China India Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa South Africa 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. Health workers working with the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) protested outside the civic body on Tuesday afternoon demanding a salary hike. They claimed that they have been working on low salaries from the past few years. However, the All India Labourers Employees Union later postponed the protest on the request of the civic body. Konark Desai, chairman, All India Labourers Employees Union, Maharashtra, said, In such difficult times, health workers are supporting citizens relentlessly. They need to be supported with proper pay at least. Around 275 health workers associated with the corporation have been demanding a rise in their salary since the past few years but the corporation has been ignoring it. The corporation assured the employees that soon they will get the desired hike. We shall resolve the issue within the next few days, said an officer from the KDMC. Following the assurance, the health workers said they will wait for 20 more days. After 20 days, if there is no response from the civic body, we shall continue our protest and stop our work. We have been working on shifts endlessly, especially after the Covid-19 outbreak. We are only asking for what we deserve, said a nurse from Dombivli, who participated in the protest. A quarrel over dinner took an ugly turn after a 43-year-old man killed his wife in Salem Tabri on Monday night. The victim has been identified as Jasvir Kaur,40. Her husband identified as Kulwant Singh who runs a Karyana store in the city was arrested by the police on Tuesday evening. The couple was married for 17 years and had two children from their marriage. The couple had a troubled marriage and both of them have lodged police complaints against each other in the past. They had also filed a court case for separation. However, the family of both managed to strike a compromise between the couple. According to Salem Tabri station house officer Gopal Krishan, the accused used to suspect his wife to be an infidel. On Monday, when Kulwant returned home later during the night, Jasvir Kaur refused to offer him dinner. This triggered a fight between the couple. In a fit of rage, the accused pulled out scissors kept in the house and stabbed his wife seven times on the head, chest and abdomen, the SHO said. The couples son witnessed the ghastly attack and raised the alarm. Witnessing commotion, residents of the locality informed the police about the incident. Cops reached the spot and rushed the victim to the hospital where she was declared brought dead. In the meantime, Kulwant managed to escape the scene. SHO Gopal Krishan said that a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused. As more and more Covid-19 patients are being put in home isolation, daily collection of biomedical waste from their houses is proving to be a big challenge for the already short-staffed municipalities. In many neighbourhoods where Covid-19 positive patients are in home isolation, daily biomedical waste is not happening, residents say. In other areas, waste is being collected every three to four days. Delhi has at present 17,148 people in home isolation, out of the total 27,847 active cases.The city on Tuesday recorded 2,199 cases, taking the total to 87,360. Sixty-two deaths were reported on Tuesday, taking the total count to 2,742. Surya Pratap Singh, a resident of north Delhis Rohini who tested positive eight days ago, and is in home isolation till July 1, said waste is being picked up from his house every alternate day. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage First, I tested positive, then my wife and mother was infected. All of us are in home isolation. The daily waste generation is so much that it needs to be collected every day. There have been days when we keep the waste bag outside our house for collection in the given time but it just stays there. We have to put it back inside because neighbours start complaining, Singh said. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines for the management of Covid-19 biomedical waste says refuse from patients houses must be collected daily, in colour-coded and sealed bags, to prevent any spread of infection. Household biomedical waste has to be put in yellow bags. Municipalities said that with an exponential increase in the number of home isolation cases and with limited staff and resources, it is becoming difficult for sanitation workers to cover all the houses of infected people in their areas. Jai Prakash, North Delhi mayor, admitted the municipalities were not being able to collect garbage every day. He, however, assured that the north corporation plans to rope in more people in the coming weeks to collect and handle biomedical waste from houses. Workers are likely to be outsourced, though no plan has been finalised yet. The generation of biomedical has increased exponentially. For instance, if we were collecting biomedical waste from 40 households earlier, now we have to collect waste from 400 houses. We are trying to get more people on the workforce for collecting waste from positive houses. Meanwhile, if we receive any complaint of garbage not being picked up on our control room helpline, we immediately send our team for collection, Jai Prakash said. The MCDs control room helplines are 155304/18002008701/1800118700/1266. A senior official of the East Delhi municipal corporation (EDMC) explained that because of the shortage of sanitation workers, the civic agency has dedicated only a part of its team to focus on home isolation waste. For instance, if an area has a team of 20 sanitation workers, only 10 are dedicated to biomedical waste collection, while others focus on the rest of the city. This is putting more stress on these people. The three municipalities--north, south and east-- engage around 71,345 sanitation workers. The north corporation has 31,332 workers with a shortfall of nearly 10-12%, EDMC has 15,023 but needs 15-20% more staff, while there are 25,000 sanitation workers with SDMC, a shortage of nearly 5% employees. We cannot risk putting our entire workforce for the management of biomedical waste; we will need a backup team, especially because infections are rising at such a high rate. With limited staff, it becomes difficult to cover all houses every day, the official said on the condition of anonymity. Neel Kanth, general secretary of DDA Flats in Dwarka sector-14, said three houses in their colony are marked for home isolation but municipal workers only stand at the gate and do not collect waste from each of these houses. Ours is a gated colony and taking advantage of that, the collectors stand outside instead of going door to door. The colonys private waste collector wears safety gear, picks up the bags and hands it over to the workers, Kanth said. A resident of east Delhis Mayur Vihar phase-I, pocket-2, who did not wish to be identified, said his father tested positive on June 24 but sanitation workers collected waste from their house only twice. He said keeping bags of biomedical waste inside the house with other healthy members was a matter of great risk. The health agencies have been very cooperative but handing over of waste is definitely an issue. We had raised this issue with the health official who calls every day to enquire about my fathers condition and they said the issue will be raised with the departments concerned, he said. In some localities, RWAs are taking it upon themselves to coordinate with sanitation teams and ensure garbage is collected every day. A residents group in Shiv Vihar said they coordinate with municipal agencies and Delhi government dispensaries to ensure waste is collected daily and all home isolation rules are followed. Since the same team is assigned for this locality, we coordinate with them every morning and make sure bags with biomedical waste from the marked houses are kept outside so that none of the parties is inconvenienced, said Prashant Tiwari, member of the Shiv Vihar residents group. Swati Sambyal, a Delhi-based solid waste management expert, said the problem of waste management has become more severe with the pandemic and will only get worse as cases increase. The cities practising a dentralised system of waste management are doing fairly well with garbage management after Covid. But Delhi was struggling with concepts of segregation and waste management even before the pandemic and the disease put more stress on the system and on the sanitation workers, Sambyal said. ROHTAK: Two police personnel patrolling the area near Butana check-post, which falls under Sonepats Baroda police station, were shot dead by unidentified assailants on Monday night, police said. The dead have been identified as special police officer (SPO) Kaptan Singh and constable Ravinder Kumar. Both of them were posted at Butana check-post. Senior police officials have reached the spot and started investigation. NOIDA: The work on 5.5 km elevated stretch, which is to be built over Dadri-Surajpur-Chhalera (DSC) road to facilitate commuting between Noida and Greater Noida, has resumed after a gap of almost three months, officials of Noida authority said on Tuesday. The project will be delayed by four months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they said. The proposed elevated road will start from Sector 39/43 crossing and end at Sector 82 T-point. Once developed, the 467-crore elevated road will decongest major traffic in Noidas Barola, Bhangel, and sectors 49, 45, 47 and 46, among other areas. The authority has started piling work at Sector 49 site of the project. We need to build 143 pillars for the project. We started piling for one pillar near Sector 49 on Monday. We have a target to build this road in 24 months. We will try to complete it at the earliest. The work could not picked up pace due to Covid-19 pandemic in March, said Mukesh Vaish, project engineer of Noida authority. The authority chief executive officer has directed the staff to enforce the social distancing rules at the site for safety purposes. For the piling work, a few labourers are at the site as the work is being done with machines. But we are taking all precautions and following health department guidelines to implement social distancing at the site, said Vaish. On March 3, the authority had roped in state-owned agency -- Uttar Pradesh Bridge Corporation -- for constructing the elevated stretch that will provide seamless connectivity to thousands of motorists who travel from Delhi side to the special economic zone (SEZ) in Phase 2 area and Sector 82. The UP Bridge Corporation in March had started mobilizing the workforce to start work at the site and also done barricading of the site. But the work was disrupted due to the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 to prevent the spread of Covid-19. In 2012, the authority had for the first time conceived the idea of constructing an elevated stretch over DSC road. In May 2016, it prepared a detailed project report of the project. But work could not start due to fund crunch. The DSC road, earlier known as the Dadri Link Road, passes from Noidas Gole Chakkar to Greater Noidas Dadri town. The proposed elevated road will have exit and entry at Sector 100 so that new group housing societies located in sectors 107, 47 and 104, among others, can benefit from the project, the officials said. Bilateral relationship between India and China remain strained after clashes in Ladakhs Galwan valley led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers. With the border stand-off continuing, there has been a call for boycotting Chinese companies involved at various levels in India. While the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps on Tuesday, there has been a growing call for Indian cricket to end its relationship with Chinese sponsors. Kings XI Punjabs co-owner Ness Wadia has called for a gradual end to Chinese sponsorship in the Indian Premier League amid escalating tensions between the two countries owing to the violent clash in eastern Ladakh earlier this month. ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma probably among top 3 or 5 openers of all time: Former India captains remarkable praise for batsman We should do it (sever ties with Chinese sponsors in IPL) for the sake of the nation. Country comes first, money is secondary. And it is the Indian Premier League, not the Chinese Premier League. It should lead by example and show the way, Wadia told PTI on Tuesday. Yes it would be difficult to find sponsors initially but I am sure there are enough Indian sponsors who can replace them. We must have all the respect for the nation and our government and most importantly for the soldiers who risk their lives for us, said the known Indian businessman. The Chinese soldiers used stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods and clubs to carry out a brutal attack on Indian soldiers after they protested the erection of a surveillance post by China on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Galwan. The incident was the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La when India lost around 80 soldiers while the death toll on the Chinese side stood well over 300. ALSO READ: MS Dhoni was not a fan - Former batsman on why India were reluctant to use DRS initially Chinese mobile phone maker Vivo is the IPL title sponsor and it pays the BCCI Rs 440 crore annually for the five-year deal ending in 2022. Other companies involved in the IPL -- Paytm, Swiggy, Dream 11 -- have Chinese investments. Not just the IPL, the teams too attract Chinese sponsorship. While Wadia made his stance clear, other teams, including Chennai Super Kings, said they will be happy to go with whatever the government decides. It will be tough to replace them initially but if it has to be done for the sake of the nation, we should do it, a CSK source told PTI. Another team owner said: Let the government decide first, whatever they decide, we will follow. However, Wadia said it is not right to await governments directive on the controversial subject as it is our moral responsibility to stand with the nation at this hour. If I was the BCCI president, I would say find me an Indian sponsor for the upcoming season. Indian companies need to step up and see the same benefits and opportunities that Chinese companies have seen in the IPL, which is the best T20 league in the world. Asked about the Chinese sponsorship in IPL teams, Wadia said: The teams too should be given time to replace their Chinese sponsors. As I said, there are enough Indian companies which can replace them. Wadia also welcomed the Indian governments decision to ban Chinese apps citing national security. If India plays its card right, it can really be the superpower it desires to be, he observed. Personally I dont like to buy Chinese products because they are sub-standard. The focus has to be on making Indian and buying Indian. China produces such large volumes and suffocates the world, it has to stop. We should put all our efforts on making India a manufacturing hub. I travel around the country a lot. If we dont stop the influx of cheap Chinese goods and are not firm in what we are doing, Indian manufacturing will die, cautioned Wadia. (With PTI inputs) The clothesline at dhobi ghat number 28, on central Delhis Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, wears a drab uniformity these days -- the sterile the green and white hospital linen have gradually inched out the colourful sarees, shirts and dresses that once adorned these lines. Manish Kumar, one of the laundry men at this dhobi ghat, says ever since the government announced a nationwide lockdown to control the Covid-19 outbreak, laundry services in the area stopped receiving clothes from restaurants, salons and government quarters in the vicinity. That was when a new kind of clientele appeared; nearby hospitals and their never-ending supply of laundry helped keep businesses afloat, says Kumar. We get clothes from GB Pant (GB Pant Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research), a few labs in the hospital complex and from some sections of the Maulana Azad Medical College. Bedsheets, pillow covers, towels, bibs, lab coats and uniforms -- we have to wash them all, says Kumar. A normal day here starts at the break of dawn, when the delivery person drops off the laundry from hospitals. Earlier, hospital laundry got piled up and was delivered once a week, but now the piles keep coming every day, says Kumar. Around 4.30am, the laundry men go about separating the whites from the coloured clothes, after which they spray sanitizer on all the pieces and leave them for about an hour before washing them. We dip the clothes and linen in sodium hypochlorite mixed with caustic soda, which helps disinfect and whiten the clothes, and then put them in washing machines with regular detergent and warm water. Around five machines are set aside for washing hospital linen and the surfaces of these machines are separately disinfected with 70% ethanol liquid, explains Kumar. Once washed and dried, the clothes and linen are ironed and sprayed with a sanitizer once again before they are packed and sealed in separate plastic bags. The entire process takes about seven to eight hours, explains Kumar. We used to receive clothes from these hospitals earlier as well, but then the process was not so detailed -- we would simply put the linen in the machines for washing and after drying, send them back in bundles. The hospitals are now requesting that each piece is sanitised and packed separately, says Kumar. Sukhi Ram, another laundry man at the dhobi ghat near east Delhis Akshardham Metro station, says while they never received laundry from hospitals before the start of the pandemic, they have started doing so from Dr Hedgewar Arogya Sansthan, a designated Covid-19 hospital, as well as a few Delhi government dispensaries in the area and a few private hospitals in Ghaziabad and Noida. We try to wear a mask and gloves while laundering the linen, but the gloves are too inconvenient. Water seeps in anyway and the soap makes the gloves slippery. That said, we do not compromise on safety. So, all the pieces are thoroughly cleaned, Ram said. Although most of these hospitals have their in-house laundry services, the huge influx of patients and the high demand for bed linen meant that hospitals needed the dhobis and the dhobi ghats to keep their linens clean. A senior administrative officer at Lok Nayak Hospital, Delhis largest Covid-19 designated facility, says the hospital is washing and disinfecting all bed linen from corona wards and centres internally. Only a few items -- such as uniforms or linen from low-risk parts of the campus -- are sent to laundry services. We have washing machines in the hospital where we disinfect, wash and then dry the linen. As far as I am aware, we are sending some piles of clothes, which are from the no-risk areas of the complex and medical college, to the laundry services. We do not want anyone to even inadvertently get exposed to any kind of infection, he says, requesting anonymity. Dr PK Sharma, an epidemiologist and former municipal health officer at the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), explains that there is a possibility of infection spreading through bed linen, and precaution must be taken while handling such items. First of all, the linen should be handled only with gloves. They should be collected and stored in air and water-resistant containers and after they reach the laundry, they should be dipped in disinfectant and compulsorily sun dried. The person handing over the linen and the person washing them must ensure that they have gloves and masks on, Sharma said. The World Health Organization recommends that to prevent the spread of Covid-19, laundry items should first be dipped in a solution containing quaternary ammonia, and then washed in water of a temperature between 60 and 90 degrees Celsius. The detergent should ideally contain bleach and after wash, laundry baskets must be disinfected. These washermen say while the pandemic has come as a major blow to their livelihood, they are ready to provide their services in the fight against the virus. Times are tough but thats not just for us; the entire country is going through this. It is time for everyone to step up and contribute. We have our entire life ahead to make up for this loss. Our contribution is small but it will be significant when we look at the larger fight, avers Dhani Ram, a 65-year-old washerman from dhobi ghat number-11. Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) on Sunday invited online applications for the recruitment of Accountant, Lab Assistant, and others on its official website. Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the posts in a prescribed format on or before July 15, 2020. However, the application forms will be submitted from Monday to Friday between 10:00 am to 04:00 pm only. The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill 35 vacancies for Accountant, Lab Assistant, and other positions at BECIL. Out of which, 3 vacancies are each for MTS, Patient Care Coordinator (PCC), and Junior Lab Technologist, 2 each for Liftman, Data Entry Operator, Phlebotomist, Cashier, Lab Assistant, Accountant, Radiographer (Male & Female), and Receptionist, and one each for Driver, Supervisor (Biomedical), Supervisor (Mechanical), Supervisor (IT), Supervisor (Civil), Supervisor (Electrical), Patient Care Manager, Account Executive, Corporate Executive, and Administrative Executive. Candidates belonging to the General/OBC category are required to pay an application fee of Rs 500, while for candidates from SC/ST/Physically handicapped category, the registration fee is Rs 250. The application fee needs to be submitted by demand draft only drawn in favor of BROADCAST ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS INDIA LIMITED payable at New Delhi. Candidates can submit applications along with the requisite documents to the Deputy General Manager (HR) in BECILs Head Office: 14-B, Ring Road, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002 on or before 15 Jul 2020. For more information, candidates are advised to read the official notification. The West Bengal government is planning to introduce lessons of Covid-19 in the school syllabus from 2021. Discussions have already started in this regard, a top official said. Soon after the state education minister asked us a week back to think about it, we have started discussions as to how we can introduce lessons on Covid-19 in school syllabus, said Aveek Majumder, chairperson of the expert committee of school education. The 12-member committee set up by the Mamata Banerjee administration in 2011 advises the government on what needs to be incorporated in the syllabus from pre-primary to class 12. The committee will speak to doctors and other health experts such as virologists and epidemiologists to decide on what needs to be included and what would be the approach, The approach that can be adopted for raising awareness levels of a student of class 8 will be different while dealing with students of class 1. The expert committee may also take the help of child psychologists while deciding upon the syllabus so that it doesnt leave any negative impact on the students. The committee will decide whether the lesson on Covid-19 will be just a page or a chapter which may be added to the core books or whether it would be a full-fledged lesson as a part of the life science subject. It may also be included in health and physical education. Once we finalise the nitty-gritty we will place it before the state education department. The final call will be taken by the minister, said a senior official. A senior health official said that if Bengal introduces a lesson on Covod-19 in its syllabus it would be the first state to do so. The Supreme Court on Monday assured lakhs of students appearing for the chartered accountancy examinations scheduled from July 29 that due to the COVID-19 situation, if any student fails to take all examinations, such students will be given the benefit of appearing in the next cycle of tests in November 2020. To formalize this relief, a three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar asked the examination conducting body - Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to come out with a notification specifying this provision by Thursday. The ICAI agreed to bring the proposed notification to Court following which it will be notified to all students. Nearly 3.46 lakh students have registered to take the CA examinations scheduled from July 29. In view of the COVID-19 situation, the ICAI came out with an Opt-Out scheme by which students could opt out of the examinations in July and attempt the same in November this year. Students had to indicate their preference for this scheme by June 29 to be eligible for this relief. The ICAI had proposed this scheme realizing the practical difficulties faced by students situated in containment zone, or who are unable to travel due to lockdown restrictions. This scheme was challenged in Supreme Court by one Anubha Shrivastava Sahai who alleged that those opting for Opt-Out should not be left at a disadvantage due to the COVID-19 situation. The petition argued by advocate Alakh Shrivastava sought more examination centres so that students willing to write the examination are not forced to travel distances. The bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna asked ICAI whether it was possible to extend the opt-out scheme to even those students who did not register this choice in advance but were later unable to give the examination due to COVID-related reasons. The present situation is dynamic. You have to be flexible to change according to requirement of each area and concerns of students in that area, said the bench. ICAI represented by senior counsel Ramji Srinivas accepted the suggestion and said that if any student is unable to take the examination, all examinations in that cluster or group will be cancelled and the student will have an option to take the exams in November. ICAI Secretary Rakesh Sehgal told the Court that increasing examination centres at this stage was not possible. Out of 3.46 lakh candidates, only 57000 had chosen Opt-Out scheme, ICAI counsel stated. The Court further asked ICAI to ensure that the time to exercise Opt Out scheme should be extended by one week beyond June 29. The bench further sought the Ministry of Home Affairs Guidelines for conducting CBSE examinations to be adopted by ICAI. With these incorporations, ICAI is expected to submit a revised notification to Court on Thursday. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 6 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Microscopy Devices Market Share, Trends And Growth Analysis By Type (Optical Microscopes, Electron Microscope, Scanning Probe Microscope (Spm), Others), By Application (Life Science, Material Science, Pathology), By End User (Hospitals & Clinics, Academic & Research Institutes, Diagnostics Centers) - Forecast Till 2022 Market Research Future (MRFR) in recently published study asserts that the global microscopy market is expected to reach USD ~10.5 Billion in 2022; it has been noted that market is growing at steady pace and is expected to grow at the CAGR of 7.8% during the forecasted period 2016 2022. Surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value & volume, the market is expected to gain prominence over the forecasted period. Factors substantiating the market growth include the increased funding by the public and private sector for life science research studies and the expansion of the semiconductor industries in most of the emerging nations. Increasing research and development activities initiated by governments, schools, universities and research institutions across the developing regions have fuelled the growth of the market. Global Microscopy Device Market Regional Analysis Globally, Asia-Pacific is the largest market for microscopy devices. The APAC market is expected to grow further registering 7.3% CAGR during 2016-2022. North America market for microscopy devices accounting for the second-largest market globally will grow at 11.5% CAGR during the assessment period. Microscopy Device Market Competitive Analysis The Microscopy Device market is widely expanded and highly competitive with the presence of numerous major and small players operating at the international and regional level around the globe. The market will witness fierce competition due to the expected extensions in product & service and product innovations. Manufacturers operating in the Microscopy Device market strive to develop Device with adept technology with unrivalled design and features. Get full report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/microscopy-devices-market-2313 Key Players: FEI, Meiji Techno, Nikon Metrology NV, Woodley Equipment Company Ltd, Radical Scientific Equipments Pvt. Ltd, Bruker, Mauna Kea Technologies SA, Icon Analytical Equipment Pvt. Ltd, Olympus Corporation, NIDEK Inc., Sonix, Inc., Konan Medical USA Inc., Carl Zeiss, and Leica Microsystems are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Global Microscopy Device Market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis. Industry/ Innovation/ Related News November 2017 Researchers of Germany and Portugal collaboratively developed the first microscope to concurrently monitor movement and neuron activity in zebrafish larvae without interfering with their behavior. To enable wider use in the research community, the neurobehavioral tracking microscope uses off-the-shelf components and is open source. Browse other healthcare-related reports Anti Epilepsy Drugs Market Peptic Ulcer Drugs Market About Market Research Future: MRFR team has supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country-level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. In order to stay updated with the technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee has signed an agreement with the University of Alberta, Canada, to provide Joint Doctoral Degree Programs (JDPs). Under this collaboration, the JDPs create a two-way flow for academic exchange, giving UAlberta and IIT students the chance to undertake research at the partner institution for six months up to a year and providing them with international experience and special certification upon graduation. IIT Roorkee is one of the three IITs partnering to provide Indian and Canadian students with JDPs others being IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur. Under the program, each collaborating institution will admit up to a maximum of two (2) Joint Degree students each academic year for the Joint Degree Program, a statement released by the IIT said. Prof. Ajit Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee, said This agreement will begin a new chapter in strengthening India-Canada ties in the education sector. IIT Roorkee looks forward to bolster and formalize our long-standing research collaboration with UAlberta since the 1980s. Apart from improving the quality of exposure of our students, the JDP agreement will hopefully catapult our research collaboration to greater heights During their JDPs, collaborating professors from UAlberta and the IITs will serve as joint supervisors, identifying research projects for students to pursue during their doctoral studies. Both UAlberta and participating IITs have agreed to create doctoral fellowships that will provide financial support in the form of a monthly stipend to cover the cost of accommodation and meals for JDP students during the duration of their visit. Taking note of the benefits, Dr. David H. Turpin, President, UAlberta said These programs create new opportunities to equip doctoral students with perspectives and skills that will benefit a global society. When we connect with leading international institutions such as the IITs, were fuelling new capacity for teaching, learning, and research. Kerala SSLC Result 2020: The Kerala Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or Class 10 board examination results were declared on Tuesday, June 30. 98.82% of students have cleared the exam. Students can check their Kerala Board class 10 results online at sslcexam.kerala.gov.in, keralaresults.nic.in, results.kite.kerala.gov.in, results.kerala.nic.in, prd.kerala.gov.in. Check Kerala SSLC Results live updates here This year, nearly four lakh students appeared in the Kerala class 10th board exam which was scheduled to be held from March 10 to 24. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, some of the papers were postponed which were later conducted from May 26 to 30. Heres the direct link to check Kerala SSLC Results. How to check Kerala SSLC Results: Visit the official website at sslcexam.kerala.gov.in On the homepage, click on the Kerala SSLC Result 2020 link Key in your credentials and log in Your Kerala SSLC Results 2020 will be displayed on the screen Download and take a print out of the scorecard if possible. Last year, the results were declared in May and the pass percentage was 98.11%. A total of 37,344 students got A plus in Kerala Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or Class 10 board examination 2019. The Maharashtra government is not empowered to issue an order interfering with the fees structure of private unaided schools or schools of other boards, the Bombay High Court said while granting an interim stay on a government resolution prohibiting fee hike this year. The government resolution (GR), dated May 8, 2020, directed all educational institutions in the state not to hiketheir feesfor the academic year 2020-21 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. A division bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Riyaz Chagla in its order passed on June 26, a copy of which was made available on Tuesday, said it was of the prima facie view that the GR was without jurisdiction. The court, however, noted that it was mindful of the difficulties faced by parents in these testing times. Therefore, we feel that the management of the private unaided schools may consider providing option to the students/ parents to pay the fee in such instalments as is considered reasonable and also to allow them the option to pay the fee online, the court said. The court said Section 5 of the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act empowers the government to regulate fees in government and aided schools. Section 6 of the Act makes it clear that the management of private unaided schools and permanently unaided schools shall be competent to propose the fee in their schools, the court said, adding that prima facie it was of the view that the state government could not have issued the impugned resolution. We have also carefully perused the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, but we do not find any such enabling provision empowering the state government to issue a resolution like the impugned one, the court said. The bench further said it does not find any power being vested on the state government even under the Disaster Management Act to issue a resolution interfering with the fees structure of private unaided schools. The court granted an interim stay on the implementation of the resolution and posted the matter for further hearing on August 11. On May 8, the state government issued the resolution, saying no educational institution in the state shall hike feesfor the academic year 2020-21. The GR also directed all the institutions not to collect any balancefeesof the year 2019-20 orfeesfor 2020-21 at one go, but give parents an option to deposit the same monthly or quarterly. The resolution was issued by the government under the powers conferred on it vide the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act, 2011, and the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The GR stated that it would be applicable to students of all boards, all mediums and from pre-primary to Class 12. Aggrieved by the GR, several educational trusts representing private unaided and private unaided minority schools affiliated to different boards, such as the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and international boards, approached HC, seeking for it to be quashed and set aside. The petitioners include the Association of Indian Schools, Global Education Foundation, Kasegaon Education Trust and Dnyanseshwar Mauli Sanstha. The petitioners argued that under Section 6 of the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fee) Act, the management of private unaided schools are competent to determine the fees. The Kasegaon Education Trust, which runs aschoolin Navi Mumbai, argued through their lawyers Milind Sathe, Saket Mone and Prateek Seksaria that the resolution was violative of their fundamental rights and curbed rights to administer their educational institutions, which includes right to regulate and fixfees. The petitioner is further aggrieved by the impugned notice in as much that the same threatens action under the Epidemic Diseases Act. The decision of the government is an illegal exercise of statutory power, the petition filed by the Kasegaon Education Trust said. A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a moratorium on payment of school fees for the period beginning on April 1 till the commencement of physical classes. The petition by a group of ten parents from Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Uttarakhand has also demanded facilities to be provided for socially and economically backward students to cope up with the online classes till the lockdown is in force. The petition filed by advocate Mrigank Kshirsagar has been numbered by the SC Registry and is expected to be listed in the coming weeks. Though the issue of school fees is pending before seven High Courts, the petition highlighted how every High Court has issued a different order causing confusion among students and parents across the country. For instance, the Delhi High Court has ruled no waiver of tuition fees while in Rajasthan, the HC has held that the entire school fees will not be waived. In Uttarakhand, the judges have tweaked the order to the extent that tuition fees will only be payable if the student has opted for and has access to online classes. In the case of Punjab and Haryana High Court, a direction has been issued allowing schools to collect 70 percent of the fees while Madhya Pradesh HC is categorical that no charge for un-incurred expenses will be payable, such as transport, mess charges. The Kerala High Court recently held that schools cannot additionally charge for conducting online classes. The petitioner-parents demanded the apex court take note of the situation and pass uniform directions applicable to each state. They sought a three-month moratorium on payment of fees from April-June or till such time when the schools reopen. Most petitioners claimed that they faced tremendous financial and emotional hardships to pay fees and will be forced to withdraw their children if forced to deposit fees. The parents argued that online classes were not an effective tool to impart education as most families do not have the technological wherewithal. Quoting National Sample Survey (NSS) data of 2017-18, the petition claimed that only 4.4 percent rural households and 23 percent urban households have access to computers. Interestingly, the internet penetration is restricted to 14.9 percent in the rural sector and 42 percent in the urban sector. The petition flagged the technological challenges faced by economically weak students admitted under the 25 percent economically weaker section (EWS) quota by private schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education, 2009, also known as RTE Act. The petition requested the Court to direct States for providing facilities to such students to ensure these students are not discriminated in getting an education. The petition also demanded uniform directions for schools not to strike out students or impose penalties for defaulting on fees. In the event the schools are allowed to charge fees, they must structure fees based on actual expenses incurred without any hike during the lockdown. The Tripura Board of Secondary Education ( TBSE) would declare results of Class 10 board examinations on next July 3, 2020.The results would be declared at 9 AM, informed Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath. Over 39,000 students sat for the Class 10 board examinations. Eyeing the recent verdict of the Supreme Court on cancellation of Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE) examinations and health security of the students due to COVID-19 pandemic, the TBSE cancelled all pending examinations of Class 10 (old syllabus), Class 12 including Madrassa Alim ( new and old syllabus), Madrassa Fazil Theology and Madrassa Fazil Arts. The TBSE will decide about evaluation process of these pending examinations and the same will be announced within few days, Nath told the mediapersons. The pending exams were supposed to be held from June 05 , but later were postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic The Telangana government on Tuesday announced postponement of all the entrance examinations for admission into various courses in the state scheduled to commence from Wednesday. The government submitted an affidavit to this effect in the state high court, which was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by National Students Union of India (NSUI) Telangana unit president Venkat Balmoor. In its affidavit, the state government said the decision to postpone all entrance tests was taken in the wake of the proposal to reimpose complete lockdown in Hyderabad and surrounding districts due to growing number of positive cases for Covid-19. The entrance tests Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Entrance Test (EAMCET), POLYCET (entrance for polytechnic courses), Integrated Common Entrance Test (ICET for admission into MBA and MCA courses), ECET (Engineering Entrance Test meant for lateral entry for polytechnic students into engineering courses), PGCET (common entrance for post-graduate courses in various universities), PECET (entrance test for physical education courses), LAWCET (common entrance test for admission into law colleges) and EDCET (common entrance test for admission into education colleges) were originally scheduled to be held from July 1. In the PIL filed before the high court on June 9, Venkat questioned the proposal to conduct the entrance tests at a time when the intensity of Covid-19 is at its peak in the state. The high court questioned as to how it could hear the arguments at a time when there are reports that the government was planning to re-impose lockdown in Hyderabad and surrounding districts to contain the virus spread. The high court asked the government whether there were any plans to impose lockdown in the state. The advocate general, appearing for the state government sought some time till afternoon to submit the affidavit. Later in the afternoon, the government submitted the affidavit saying all the examinations have indefinitely been postponed. The state government had already cancelled the Class 10 examinations and declared all the students passed based on their internal assessment marks. The World Bank has approved a $500 million Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program (STARS), on June 24 to improve the quality and governance of school education in six Indian states. Some 250 million students (between the age of 6 and 17) in 1.5 million schools, and over 10 million teachers will benefit from the program, a statement said. The STARS program builds on the long partnership between India and the World Bank (since 1994), for strengthening public school education and to support the countrys goal of providing Education for All. Prior to STARS, the Bank had provided a total assistance of more than $3 billion towards this goal. India has, over the years, made significant strides in improving access to education across the country; between 2004-05 and 2018-19, the number of children going to school increased from 219 million to 248 million. However, the learning outcomes of students across all age groups continues to remain below par. STARS will support Indias renewed focus on addressing the learning outcome challenge and help students better prepare for the jobs of the future through a series of reform initiatives. These include focusing more directly on the delivery of education services at the state, district and sub district levels by providing customized local-level solutions towards school improvement. It will also aim to addressing demands from stakeholders, especially parents, for greater accountability and inclusion by producing better data to assess the quality of learning; giving special attention to students from vulnerable sections with over 52 percent (as a weighted average) of children in the government-run schools in the six project states belonging to vulnerable sections, such as Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and minority communities; and delivering a curriculum that keeps pace with the rapidly evolving needs of the job market. Extended working hours, no sleep, hospitals teeming with patients, the risk of getting infected and barely any me time these are just a few things doctors face every day. While one may think this is what their profession entails, the outbreak of Covid-19 has certainly brought about a change in the way we perceive doctors. July 1 is observed as National Doctors Day in India, but this year it comes at a very crucial juncture. Undoubtedly, the fear of contracting the virus has seeped into our lives. But for doctors, too, the situation is no different. READ: Why we celebrate National Doctors Day, theme and history Covid-19 is a virus thats new to the world, and each day comes with a learning curve, be it for doctors or commoners. However, one cannot let fear take over, asserts Dr Aashish Chaudhry, a Delhi-based senior orthopedic consultant. I urge people to have more faith than fear in their ability to control the virus. Citizens have to be positive, he says. Dr Chaudhry adds that in the times to come, we would witness a change in the way healthcare delivery systems work. Healthcare institutions will have to innovate, and digital health is going to take a big leap. Also, healthcare at home is the new big thing. Gone are the days when patients will visit a hospital. They will only come to the hospital when its completely necessary and for tertiary care, he adds. Echoing similar views, Dr HS Chhabra, medical director of a Delhi-based hospital, says contactless delivery of services could become a reality in the foreseeable future. Teleconsultation has seen a great surge and acceptance, and this is likely to stay. While this will reduce hospital visits, it may increase the workload of doctors and other medical staff. In rural areas, where healthcare access is dismal, tele-consultancy can help in primary healthcare and triage, but all this is subject to better network connectivity, he says. ALSO READ: Screen time for kids: How much is too much? However, Delhi-based Dr Gauri Agarwal feels lesser physical interaction has its own drawbacks. The traditional way of treating a patient no longer remains valid. Guarded by PPEs, the interaction is likely to become more impersonal and physically distant. This can emerge as a challenge in detecting and treating diseases, as the personal connection between doctors and their patients has a calming effect on the latter and has been found to be clinically helpful in both palliative and curative care, she notes. As Dr Arjun Dang, the CEO of a renowned Delhi-based private lab that is conducting drive-through Covid-19 tests, points out, being a doctor isnt just about treating a patient, but about care and compassion. Being a pathologist, I feel every sample received is not just a sample but a human being who has placed all his trust in us and deserves the best. We must not forget that despite the advent of technology, one thing thats always been the cornerstone of good healthcare is the trust and empathy between doctors and their patients, he opines. Echoing the sentiment, Pune-based Dr Mahesh Lakhe, who specialises in internal medicine, says, In the face of adversities, you are the one who helps improve patients lives and restores their faith in the greater system of care. This comes with great responsibility and stress, as well as profound significance, he adds. As Dr Agarwal shares, it is now time for citizens to become responsible and help doctors in carrying out their duties. Covid-19 has shaken people on more than one front. However, this is the time to remain positive, alert and hopeful, she reasons. Interact with the author on Twitter @srinidhi_gk Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 30-year-old cab driver, who worked at a city-based tour and travel firm, died on Monday after trying to kill himself a day before, said the police. The police have booked three of his employers on charges of abetment after the victims brother alleged that they had been harassing the victim. According to the police, the incident was reported on Saturday when the victim, a Narnaul resident, was rushed to Civil Hospital for treatment. After being administered first-aid, he had returned to his house. The police said on Sunday night, his condition worsened and he was taken to a hospital in Mahendragarh, where he succumbed to his injuries. The police said the victims brother filed a police complaint on Monday at Sector 29 police station. A police official privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said, In the complaint, the victims brother said that on June 23, his brother had been in an accident while returning from Uttar Pradesh. In the accident, the cab had suffered extensive damage and his employers had been putting pressure on him to get the car repaired immediately. The complainant alleged that his employers had been harassing his brother and he was under duress, due to which he took the extreme step. The police said they have initiated a probe and have summoned the three suspects to record their statements. No one has been arrested so far and we are verifying the allegations, said Subhash Boken, spokesperson, city police. A case was registered against the suspects under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of Indian Penal Code(IPC) at Sector 29 police station, said the police. Gurugram does not have a dedicated helpline to deal with such situations. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are +914066202000 from Roshni (Hyderabad-based) and +914424640050 from Sneha India Foundation (Delhi-based). Andrea Crisanti says his one regret is that he didnt yell loudly enough at the beginning, when the dead had yet to pile up. The Italian virologist has become a medical celebrity at home, a contrarian who broke with initial World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on testing for the new coronavirus, deeming them narrow and stupid -- something the U.N. agency denies. While the WHO was advising governments back in January to only test people showing symptoms of the virus, Crisanti, professor of microbiology at Padua University, was convinced that some people could catch the disease and spread it without even realising they were ill. To combat such symptomless transmission, the 65-year-old scientist called for broad testing even before the first flare-up came to light in Italy in February. However, his request was rejected by officials in his northern Veneto region, who relied initially on guidance from national and international health authorities. All infectious diseases have an asymptomatic transmission component. The longer the asymptomatic period, the more it has the ability to transmit, Crisanti told Reuters this month. The WHO guidelines were wrong. More than 34,700 people have died in Italy from COVID-19 over the past four months the worlds fourth-highest tally after the United States, Brazil and Britain. There are multiple reasons for the large Italian death toll, including the substantial number of vulnerable, elderly people in the country, failures to isolate patients in some care homes and problems triggered by an overstretched health service. Crisanti believes Italys testing strategy also needs to be scrutinised in any eventual review of the pandemic. The WHO has repeatedly defended its response to the crisis, saying it acted quickly and decisively on the new illness. In its own early guidelines, the organization also stated that nations needed to eventually test more broadly to better assess the full extent of contagion. Unlike some countries, such as Germany and South Korea, Italy decided to adhere rigidly to the initial testing advice. An official in the health ministry in Rome said the guidance was based on the scientific evidence available at the time. Five months after the outbreak of the virus there are still many things we do not know about it. This is not the moment to say what went right and what went wrong, said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. PRESSURE As news of the mystery illness started to emerge from China in early January, Crisanti said he immediately believed the virus could be transmitted by asymptomatic patients. A month before Italy reported its first official death from the disease on Feb 21, his university laboratory developed a test to detect the virus and obtained enough diagnostic reagents to make 500,000 swabs. However, health authorities in Veneto, a region of five million people, blocked his first planned testing programme in February, when he sought permission to swab students returning from Chinas Lunar New Year holidays, regardless of whether they had symptoms. In a letter seen by Reuters, dated Feb. 11, the regional health body asked which relevant organization was recommending such action and questioned who would pay. In the face of resistance, Crisanti dropped the plan. Under a lot of pressure, I let myself be swayed to minimise the gravity of the situation, he said. The regional health authority declined to comment on the incident. Other voices were also starting to raise the alarm about asymptomatic transmission. In Germany, Camilla Rothe and fellow medics at Munich University Hospital had come to the same conclusion as Crisanti after looking into Germanys first coronavirus case a local businessman infected by a Chinese colleague who had been unaware that she was ill. But Crisanti says much of the scientific world ignored the evidence that was starting to accumulate. Discouraged, he headed to Australia for a conference on malaria and was still travelling when news broke that Italy had discovered its first cases -- in Veneto and the adjacent region of Lombardy. He returned home immediately. While the Lombardy outbreak initially struck a cluster of 10 towns, Veneto was fortunate that its early flare-up was confined to a single small town near Padua, Vo Euganeo, which had a population of just 3,000. Taking on board the advice of his health experts including Crisanti, Veneto governor Luca Zaia said he ignored central government recommendations and allowed tests for all Vos residents, regardless of whether they felt ill. The results revealed that almost 3% were infected by the disease, yet most of them had no symptoms evidence Crisanti says that supported the theory of asymptomatic transmission. VERY RARE The issue continues to spark disagreement between scientists and the WHO. This month, Crisanti joined a chorus of criticism over a WHO officials remark that such asymptomatic transmission was very rare. The official, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs technical lead on the pandemic, later qualified her comment, saying up to 40% of transmissions may be asymptomatic. The Italian Health Ministry official said it was too soon to judge the WHO position. This is not the moment to draw a conclusion about the WHO handling of the pandemic. There will be the right time and the right place. All those found to be infected in Vo were placed under mandatory quarantine and despite continued assertions from national authorities that mass testing was unnecessary, Zaia told reporters that he accepted a request from Crisanti to conduct a second round of swabs in Vo. This showed that only six residents had the virus. They were put in isolation and by the middle of March the contagion had been stamped out in the town. Widescale testing has continued across the region and by June 28, Veneto had carried out 944,010 swab tests against 1,022,440 in Lombardy, despite having half the population of its larger neighbour. Lombardy leaders have said they did not have the capacity to handle further testing. They also say the virus was more diffuse in their region, making it harder to contain than in Veneto. As of Sunday, Lombardy had registered 93,761 cases and 16,639 deaths against 19,275 cases and 2,008 deaths in Veneto. (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 Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 6 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Research Future (MRFR), in its newly published research report, asserts that the global automotive collision avoidance system market is booming and expected to grow exponentially over the review period, recording a substantial market valuation and a healthy 8% CAGR in the forecast period. Drivers and Restraints The rising awareness among consumers and original equipment manufacturers will directly impact the market and expand the market value of the global market for the automotive collision avoidance system. Favorable government policies, such as the advanced car assessment program in the U.S., will play a crucial role in the advancement of the global automotive collision avoidance system market. An increase in the sales of the luxury vehicle will enhance the demand for the innovative safety features such as collision avoidance system in automobiles. This will lead to the growth of the automotive collision avoidance system market during the forecast period. An increase in the purchasing power and disposable income of the consumers increases the sales of the luxury automobile, which further increases the demand for safety systems such as the collision avoidance system over the forecast period. Segmental Analysis The global market for automotive collision avoidance system is segmented on the basis of process type, vehicle type, sales channel, and region. On the basis of type, the market for automotive collision avoidance system has been divided into blind-spot detection, adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, and lane departure warning. Based on the technology, the market has been segmented into radar, LIDAR, and camera. On the basis of the sales channel, the market has been bifurcated into OEM and aftermarket. On the basis of vehicle type, the automotive collision avoidance system market has been segregated into a commercial vehicle, passenger car, and electric vehicle. Regional Analysis The geographical analysis of the global market has been conducted in four major regions, including the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the rest of the world (Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa). The global market for automotive collision avoidance system in Europe is slated to lead the market in terms of value and volume. In Europe, Germany is poised to hold the highest growth rate in 2017. Moreover, there is a rapid rise in sales of a luxury vehicle in Europe, and an increase in the need for the deployment of a safety system will raise the demand for automotive collision avoidance systems in cars. Additionally, stringent government regulations concerning vehicle safety will drive the demand for enhanced safety systems such as collision avoidance systems including consumers and OE market players. North America is poised to grow at a substantial CAGR during the assessment period. In North America, increasing participation of the automobile associations and government of the U.S. and Canada in the development of the automotive collision avoidance system will significantly add to the market growth in terms of value and volume. An increase in government regulation and programs such as the advanced car assessment program in the U.S. will fuel the demand for the automotive collision avoidance system during the review period. Asia-Pacific is expected to play a significant role in increasing the presence of the automotive collision avoidance system owing to the presence of China, Japan, and India. An increase in the presence of manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific will reduce the high cost of the product and influence the sales of the automotive collision avoidance system over the review period. The rest of the world segment that consists of the Middle East & Africa and South America, is poised to generate the highest revenue and exhibit the highest CAGR in 2017 and over the forecast period. Competitive Analysis The major market players operating in the global market as identified by MRFR are Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Aptiv Plc (Republic of Ireland), General Electric Company (US), and Honeywell International, Inc. (US)., Hexagon AB (Sweden), Siemens AG (Germany), Denso Corporation (Japan), Alstom SA (France), Rockwell Collins, Inc. (US), and are among others. 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. Follow Our LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ict-mrfr/ Actor Brad Pitt was recently spotted at his ex-wife Angelina Jolies Los Angeles house, for the first time since their 2016 split. After spending two hours at her house, Pitt was seen backing out of the driveway and zooming off on a motorcycle. The Daily Mail reports that the meeting took place on Tuesday, and that Pitt wore light jeans and a sweater. The former couple lives just 10 minutes away from each other. In November last year, Jolie had said that she would have preferred to live abroad and will do so as soon as her children are 18, but right now, Im having to base where their father chooses to live. Also read: Angelina Jolie reveals reason behind divorcing Brad Pitt: Some have taken advantage of my silence The former couple has six children. Their twins birthday is two weeks away. The Daily Mail says that the actors are getting along better now, after several years involved in a bitter custody dispute. According to Hollywood Life, the meeting would not have taken place without lawyers present. Jolie recently spoke to Vogue about her decision to split. I separated for the well-being of my family. It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing, she said. In an interview to French magazine Madame Figaro, she said I had lost myself a bit when her relationship with Brad was coming to an end. She added, I felt a deep and genuine sadness, I was hurt. Also read: Alia Shawkat breaks silence on Brad Pitt dating rumours, says media attention has been uncontrollable Meanwhile, actor Alia Shawkat broke her silence about dating rumours surrounding her and Pitt in a recent interview. Were not dating, she told Vulture in an interview published last week. Were just friends. She said that after those initial rumours emerged, her friends were just as curious as the rest of the world. All my friends were like Whats going on? and sending me photos, she said. I just felt overwhelmed. Its that feeling of being naked in school, like, Oh my God, everyones looking at me. Follow @htshowbiz for more At least two workers were killed and four were taken to a hospital after a gas leak in a factory in Andhra Pradeshs Visakhapatnam city, news agency ANI reported on Tuesday. The leakage of benzimidazole gas was reported from Sainor Life Sciences Pvt Ltd in Visakhapatnam, according to the news agency. The situation is under control now. The two persons who died were workers and were present at the leakage site. Gas has not spread anywhere else, Uday Kumar, an inspector with the Parwada Police Station, was quoted as saying by ANI. Twelve people were killed in a gas leak at LG Polymers India Ltd, a South Korean-owned factory making polystyrene products, and hundreds fell sick on May 7 in Visakhapatnam. Two workers died and four others were hospitalised after a gas leak in a chemical factory in Andhra Pradeshs Visakhapatnam district early on Tuesday, in the second such accident in the district in less than two months, police said. The leakage of Benzimidazole gas was reported from the factory at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Parawada on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam around midnight, but the company authorities informed the police three hours later. This is the second accident in the same factory in three yearstwo people were killed in a reactor blast before this. The dead have been identified as shift in-charge Ravi Narendra from Tenali in Guntur district and chemist Gowri Shankar from Vizianagaram district. Also Read: Ammonia gas leak in factory in APs Kurnool kills manager, 3 others survive Four others Chandrasekhar, Ananda Babu, Janaki Ram and Suryanarayana fell sick and were rushed to a hospital at Gajuwaka. All of them are on ventilator support, the police said. Visakhapatnam district collector V Navinchand and city police commissioner RK Meena rushed to the factory. Meena said while speaking to reporters that a case has been registered against the company management. The factory was sealed. There would be no effect of the gas leak on the surrounding areas as it is not a very lethal gas and has not spread anywhere from the factory, he said. Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed officials to provide the best possible treatment to the injured. Opposition Telugu Desam Party secretary Lokesh Nara asked a thorough probe into the industrial accidents. Also Read: LG Polymers gas leak: All you need to know about Andhra Pradesh chemical plant Twelve people were killed and more than 550 were affected in a styrene gas leak at LG Polymers India Ltd, a South Korean-owned factory making polystyrene products, on May 7 in Visakhapatnam. After that, the general manager of SPY Agro Industries in Nandyal of Kurnool district was killed on June 26 after ammonia gas leak from the storage tank in the factory. New Delhi: Senior Indian and Chinese commanders on Tuesday held a long meeting at Chushul in Ladakh as part of ongoing efforts at the military level to cool heightened border tensions that have soured bilateral ties between the two neighbours, even as the military build-up on both sides of the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) continues unabated, people familiar with developments said on Tuesday. The talks between the army delegations, led by corps commander-ranked officers, began at around 11am and were still on till the time of filing of this report. There was no official word from the army on the talks. A breakthrough is unlikely at this stage but talks will go on, said one of the persons cited above on the condition of anonymity. This was the third meeting between the delegations led by Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, and Major General Liu Lin, commander of the South Xinjiang military region; and the second after the brutal clash at Galwan Valley that left 20 Indian and an unconfirmed number of Chinese soldiers dead. The Galwan Valley clash, which took place while a previous disengagement process was on, has created trust deficit between the two sides, said a second person who asked not to be named. The two delegations last met on June 22 when they hammered out a consensus on disengaging from friction points along the disputed border during an 11-hour meeting. The mutual consensus to disengage from all friction areas reached eight days ago has neither enabled any disengagement on the ground nor led to the thinning of military build-up by rival forces in the region, the second person said. With the senior commanders making no progress in implementing a disengagement plan aimed at gradually reducing tensions, it is now becoming increasing evident that both armies are preparing for a long haul and they could remain deployed in the sector till the onset of winter (September) , said the third person cited above. The two senior officers first met on June 6 to ease growing tensions along the LAC. The limited military disengagement that began in some friction areas after the first meeting was derailed after the bloodshed in Galwan Valley. The Indian side on Tuesday reiterated its demand for the pullback of Chinese troops from the friction points and sought the restoration of status quo ante (early April) in key areas including Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and the strategic Depsang plains, the third person said. Experts were not optimistic about any fresh hope form the military-level dialogue, saying diplomatic channels would have to be worked to reach a breakthrough. Chinese military buildup continues to be observed on the ground and captured by satellite imagery, he said. The latest meeting took place at Chushul on the Indian side of the LAC, while the previous two meetings were held at Moldo on the Chinese side. China has not halted and instead ramped up its military activity in Finger Area near Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and Depsang Plains since the senior officers last met on June 22. India is especially concerned about the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) holding positions in the Finger Area where it has set up permanent bunkers, pillboxes, tented camps and observation posts in areas New Delhi considers its territory, HT reported on Tuesday.. The situation is equally critical from the Indian standpoint in the Depsang sector as the PLA has mobilised troops, weapons and other military equipment in sensitive areas, with its forward presence disrupting the armys patrolling patterns there. Both India and China have significantly reinforced their deployments with thousands of soldiers, fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, heavy artillery, missiles and air defence systems in the region. The Chinese buildup in other areas including Galwan Valley and the Gogra Post-Hot Springs sector hasnt thinned either. Satellite imagery dated June 22, released by US firm Maxar Technologies, showed not only was the PLA holding ground in Galwan Valley but has also shored up its military positions in the area. The railways catering and tourism arm, IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation), said on Tuesday it has decided to put on hold its order to terminate the services of over 500 contractual workers days after it terminated their contracts. Decision has now been taken to keep in abeyance the notice for the termination of the contract, an IRCTC spokesperson said. They had only been served a notice and not been removed yet, he added. In a letter to all railway zones dated June 25, a copy of which has been reviewed by Hindustan Times, IRCTC informed all its zonal offices that there was no requirement for these contractual workers under the present circumstances and they be given one month notice and their contracts terminated. The requirement of Supervisor (Hospitality) engaged on contract basis has been reviewed in the revised catering model and it has been decided that under present circumstances, services of Supervisor (Hospitality), engaged on contract basis are no more required, the letter stated. The IRCTC hired around 560 supervisors for hospitality in 2018. The decision to end the contracts is currently under reconsideration by the IRCTC board. Several former contractual employees who were handed the termination letter took to social media to seek intervention by railway minister Piyush Goyal. Hospitality supervisors work to monitor the operations of the pantry car on trains and their work includes monitoring, the preparation of food and its quality inspection, handling passengers and their complaints. Regular passenger train services have been suspended since March 22 when the first phase of the lockdown was announced. At present, only 230 special passenger trains are operating. Around 560 supervisors (hospitality) were hired by the IRCTC in 2018 on contractual basis for a period of two years to maintain a quality check on contractors assigned to cater food in trains equipped with pantries. The number of coronavirus disease has already seen a huge spike in national capital Delhi, and now a cluster of 15 infections has been reported from a building, according to Hindustan Times sister publication Hindustan. The building is located in Arjun Nagar locality in South Delhis Hauz Khas, Hindustan further reported. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) has ordered sealing of entire locality; the area has been sub-divided into containment zone and buffer zone, it said. This means the essentials will now be provided by the administration. Arjun Nagar is a densely populated locality. The building where the cluster has been found saw a number of vegetable shops nearby. Almost all the residents of the area used to buy vegetables from these vendors, and are now concerned about contracting the infection, Hindustan reported. All these vendors will be screened for Covid-19, as per the order of the SDM. Twenty families have also been quarantined. Municipal Councillor Radhika Abrol told Hindustan that every building in the locality has four floors which house a lot of people. Delhi recorded 2,084 fresh coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the infection tally in the city to over 85,000, while the death toll from the disease rose to 2,680, the authorities said. The number of containment zones in the city also jumped to 435 on Monday, according to a Delhi Health Department bulletin. The national capital had reported the highest single-day spike of 3,947 cases on June 23. Fifty-seven fatalities have been recorded in the national capital in last 24 hours, the bulletin said. It said the death toll due to coronavirus has risen to 2,680. The number of active cases stands at 26,246 while 56,235 patients have migrated/recovered or have been discharged. India on Monday banned 59 Chinese mobile applications amid border stand-off with the neighbouring country. The government has cited national security for banning these apps. The ban covers some of the most popular apps in India like TikTok, SHAREiT, UC Browser and WeChat. Almost all the apps banned have some preferential Chinese interest and the majority have parent Chinese companies. The decision to ban these apps was taken after it was found that they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order, the Ministry of Information Technology said in a release on Monday. The release further said that the ministry has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Googles Android and Apples iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. For safety, security, defence, sovereignty & integrity of India and to protect data & privacy of people of India the Government has banned 59 mobile apps. Jai Hind! Law, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Twitter. For safety, security, defence, sovereignty & integrity of India and to protect data & privacy of people of India the Government has banned 59 mobile apps. Jai Hind! Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) June 29, 2020 Indian intelligence agencies had been trying to restrict the mobile applications on grounds that the apps were designed to extract data and park them outside the country, where at a later stage they could be used to intrude into the privacy of Indian citizens. Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and domestic social media app ShareChat welcomed the move. This huge unprecedented step will go a long way in strengthening the Boycott China campaign of CAIT. Boycott China movement is now well and truly a national reality and seven crore traders of India stands in solidarity with the Union Government, CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said in a statement. ShareChat Director Public Policy Berges Malu the company expects the government to continue their support for the Indian startup ecosystem. This step can prove to be a golden moment in Indian startup journey with Made in India apps getting a rare opportunity to onboard those users and provide them with these services. Indian technology ecosystem has come a long way in last 5-6 years and are at par with the capabilities of any other startup ecosystem in the world. We welcome this move and we hope Indians will choose apps which are made in India, for India, said Piyush, CEO and founder, Rooter, Delhi-based gaming and Sport Live app. Relations between the two countries have been strained following the deaths of 20 Indian troops in a stand-off in Ladakhs Galwan Valley on June 15. Most of the applications are highly popular in India, including ByteDance-owned video-sharing app TikTok, with a combined user base of more than half a billion. There are estimated to be about 120 million TikTok users in India, making the South Asian nation of 1.3 billion people the apps biggest international market. Chinese mobiles have an almost 65 per cent share in the local smartphone market. From toys, cosmetics, makeup and handbags to home appliances, pharma, auto components, and steel, China exports more than 3,000 products to India. On Monday evening, the government went ahead and decided to ban 59 Chinese apps, something that has since become the talk of town. While some could see this coming, others were surprised with the move. Popular applications like TikTok, Shareit, Shein and WeChat, among others were the ones that have been banned. Nandikaa Sachdev, a Mumbai-based student is of the opinion that the reason given for banning the apps i.e engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order, is a matter of grave concern, and cannot be taken lightly. I believe that the Chinese could be engaging in cyber activities which could be prejudicial and detrimental to our privacy. These apps violate the privacy policies and steal the data which is further misused, she says. A few weeks ago, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, too, hinted that the Chinese were behind numerous cyber attacks that the country was facing. The move to ban Chinese apps has found support across the country. However, it is the move to ban the widely popular app TikTok, that is raising eyebrows, for the simple reason that it was voguish. I am a content creator myself, says Indore-based professional Shraddha Jandial, adding, I do believe that what has to go viral will find its ways, TikTok has been a platform that has taken User Generated Content to a whole new level. Anyone and everyone could be a star. However, many youngsters have one question in mind. What about the people who work for these companies in India? What about their jobs? Vedika Palani, a Chennai-based student says, Ive seen numerous job postings by TikTok on Linkedin. I just hope the people who work for the company in India find new jobs, or are at least given assistance in looking for one. Disha Arora, a Delhi-based professional, agrees, and adds, It is true that apps like TikTok have changed many lives. But if it is invading privacy, then action has to be taken. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Tuesday that the state government would distribute free food grains to the poor till June 2021. For the first three months of the lockdown we gave each family five kilos of rice. Over the next three months, till September, we would provide five kilos of rice along with an equal amount of flour to each family. We will provide free ration till June 2021, said Banerjee while speaking to media persons at the state secretariat. The Bengal CMs announcement came just minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the union government would distribute free food grains to 80 crore of the countrys poorest till November-end. We give better quality rice than the Centre. Only 6.01 crore people or around 60% of the people in Bengal have been benefited from the Centre free ration scheme. We are providing to 10 crore people, she added. The Bengal unit of the BJP said Banerjees free ration announcement till June 2021 is a political move to counter Narendra Modi in poll-bound Bengal. Immediately after the Prime Minister announced that the Centre would provide free ration under Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till November, the chief minster jumped into a political race to counter it. She has said the state will give free ration to people till June 2021. Does she have any credibility as far as social welfare is concerned? said BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha. Referring to complaints of nepotism in distribution of compensation in Amphan-hit areas, Sinha said, Even if her government arranges free ration for people it will go to TMC leaders. We saw this when ration sent by the Centre was distributed during the Covid-19 lockdown. The state has also written letters to the union government to allow resumption of Kolkata Metro and stop flights from five hot spot states at least for the next two weeks, the chief minister added. The chief minister took a swipe at the union government on banning 59 Chinese apps, even though she said that her party supports the government on issues related to external affairs. Banning some apps will not give any results. We have to be aggressive on one hand and on the other hand we have to be diplomatic. This is an external affairs issue and we dont interfere. We fully support the government, said Mamata Banerjee. The Bombay high court (HC) has suspended the two first information reports (FIRs) filed at Pydhonie and NM Joshi Marg police stations against Republic TVs editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami while holding prima facie that there is no case and offences against the prime-time anchor that needed coercive action. A two-member division bench of the HC, comprising Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Riyaz Chagla, while pronouncing the order in the petition filed by Goswami for quashing of the FIRs against him for allegedly giving a communal spin on his prime-time shows on the Palghar lynching of two Hindu seers on April 16 and the gathering of protesting migrants outside the Bandra railway station in mid-April amid the nationwide lockdown restrictions that were enforced to contain the spread of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. While arguing for Goswami, senior counsel Harish Salve and Milind Sathe had submitted that the journalist had a right to report on communal incidents and Goswami had done that in both the cases he was accused of. The senior advocates submitted that invoking Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, and language) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Goswami for criticising Congress party president Sonia Gandhi was malicious and was against his right to freedom of expression. Salve had further submitted that the FIRs against Goswami were politically motivated and was an attempt to silence his criticism of the Maharashtra government in both the incidents. However, senior counsels Kapil Sibal and Raja Thakare, who had appeared on behalf of the Maharashtra government, opposed Salves claims and had said that Goswamis statement on the show had hurt the sentiments of the people and a detailed investigation was required in these cases. On June 12, the HC had reserved its order and had said that no coercive action needed to be taken against Goswami, as prime facie there was neither any case nor offences disclosed against him. The court had further observed that there was nothing to show that Goswami had tried to cause public disharmony. Earlier, Goswami was summoned to Pydhonie police station on June 10 on the basis of a complaint by Irfan Abubakar Shaikh, secretary, Raza Education Welfare Society. Sheikh had alleged in his FIR that Goswami tried to create hatred against the Muslim community and targeted a Bandra-based mosque that had no links to a protest by stranded migrant workers, who wanted to go back to their native places on April 14, when lockdown 1:0 were slated to be lifted. The mosque near the Bandra railway station is not linked to the stranded migrant workers protest. The workers had only gathered in an open space near the mosque. But Goswami deliberately highlighted the mosque on his show on April 29 to create communal disturbances in Mumbai, Shaikh had alleged. The raging debate on the Republic TV was aimed at blaming the Muslim community for spreading Covid-19 in Mumbai. Earlier, too, he made hate-filled comments, targeting the community, he had further alleged. The FIR was registered under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, and language), 295A (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any citizen) 500 (defamation), 505 (2) (spreading rumour or alarming news with intent to create or promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. Lawyers from Phoenix Legal, who is representing Goswami in the cases, couldnt be contacted, despite HTs attempts. For many people, using Alipay, the virtual payment platform of Alibaba, to check how much theyve contributed to cutting carbon emissions through green habits such as using public transportation or bicycles instead of personal cars or cabs and limiting the use of paper and plastic, has become a normal part of their daily lives. Photo shows an Ant Forest protected area in Alashan Left Banner in north Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Peoples Daily/Wang Junling Ant Forest, an Alipay app, allocates green energy points to users, which they can then use to plant a virtual tree in the app. Once the virtual tree grows to a certain level, the company and its philanthropic partners plant a real tree in the country's most arid regions. By the end of May 2020, Ant Forest had gained about 550 million users, with about 200 million trees planted on 182,700 hectares of land. Through the initiative, a total of 12 million tons of carbon emission have been reduced. Virtual growth I walked more than 20,000 steps every day in May, said Shen Junliang, a man in his 20s. Shen fell in love with Ant Forest after its launch in August 2016, as it motivates him to keep fit through walking a lot. Im contributing to environmental protection while walking, and Im watering the trees while sweating. This is so cool! While the virtual trees grew, Shen also lost weight. But for him, living a green and healthy life is more than about losing weight. Shen revealed that after seeing his trees in Alashan League, north Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, as a representative of Ant Forest users, he became determined to make greater contributions to the green cause. A life of planting Wang Ping is responsible for planting trees on 258 hectares of desert in Alashan Left Banner. His job is to dig holes 30 centimeters wide and 60 centimeters deep, put trees into them, and keep them watered. Photo shows an area where rose willow saplings have been planted in Alashan Left Banner in north Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.Peoples Daily/Wang Junling A few days ago, he was concerned when he saw that some of the saplings had been damaged by insect pests. The saplings are about to be inspected in July. If they dont meet the standard, I will feel embarrassed and probably wont get an allowance, Wang said. After turning to a forestry expert for help, Wang decided to spray pesticides on the saplings. Ant Forest allocates 200 yuan to cultivate and protect each mu, or667 square meters, of forest, which gives Wang a feeling of being supported. The Ant Forest initiative has resulted in remarkable achievements being made in a number of provinces in China. It was the winner of the 2019 Champions of the Earth Award in the United Nations. Ant Forest shows how technology can transform our world by harnessing the positive energy and innovation of global users, said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 6 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global cellular concrete market is anticipated to garner a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period (2017-2023), Market Research Future (MRFR) reveals in a detailed report. Cellular concrete is rapidly replacing traditional concrete materials in the construction sector due to several benefits it provides. It is a lightweight constriction material, which is made of water, Portland cement, compressed air, and foaming agent, and is also termed as aerated concrete. Market Potential and Pitfalls The soaring demand for lightweight and strong materials in the construction industry is driving the cellular concrete market across the globe. The surging preference for eco-friendly and cost-effective constructions is fueling the market growth during the assessment period. The production of conventional concrete involves the use of coal to make clinkers, which produces unwanted greenhouse gases. Cellular concrete, on the other hand, is considered an eco-friendly product, which is produced using fly-ash, at lower time and cost than conventional cement. Such benefits are likely to create huge demand from the cellular concrete market. Cellular concrete offers high-fluidity, fire resistivity, high strength, increased durability, mold resistance, and is economical. These properties enable it to offer cost-effective construction and better performance than conventional materials. On the contrary, foam liquid concentrates used to produce cellular cement may vary from poor to exceptional. This can raise concerns regarding the quality of the product. Moreover, several foam liquid concentrates promoted in the market are not designed for the production of cellular concrete. Such factors are estimated to restrict the market growth in the foreseeable future. Global Cellular Concrete Market: Segmental Analysis The global cellular concrete market has been segmented on the basis of application and end user. By application, the cellular concrete market is segmented into road sub-bases, building material, roof insulation, concrete pipes, bridge abutment, and others. Of these, the building material segment is likely to command the largest market share. The segment will retain its position in the coming years due to its low cost, less labor, and less building time. By end user, the cellular concrete market is segmented into residential and non-residential. Of these, the non-residential segment is likely to dominate the market as governments of developing as well as developed countries are emphasizing on the development of public infrastructure. This will further accelerate the demand for cellular concrete in the non-residential segment. Regional Frontiers Geographically, the global cellular concrete market spans across the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the Rest-of-the-World (RoW). Considering the global scenario, Europe commanded the largest market share in 2016. Growth in restructuring and remodeling of homes fuel the market growth in the region. Europe is considered the hub of autoclaved aerated concrete blocks manufacturers. This further has a positive impact on the growth of the cellular concrete market in the region. Asia Pacific is estimated to register the highest CAGR, mainly due to the recent boom in construction activities. India, China, Singapore, and Japan are some of the major countries in the region, contributing to the market growth. Economic growth in APAC has allowed for a greater requirement of commercial and institutional infrastructure spaces. Major players across the world are shifting their production facilities to cater to potential markets in the APAC, due to the availability of ample raw materials and low-cost labor. This has further influenced the growth of the market in the region. Moreover, the Chinese government has issued favorable policies to reduce the proportion of down payment for second house loans and to exempt of sales tax for ordinary housing, which has encouraged the market growth in the region. North America is considered a prominent market for the cellular concrete market due to increasing residential and non-residential construction activities in the region. Industry Updates July 2019: CEMATRIX Corporation has recently announced that the companys wholly-owned operating subsidiaries MixOnSite USA Inc. and CEMATRIX (Canada) Inc. have secured around $1.1 million in U.S. and new Canadian infrastructure contracts. Competitive Dashboard The players operating in the global cellular concrete market include Xella Group (Germany), Saint Gobain (France), Cematrix (Canada), Cellucrete (U.S.), Laston Italiana S.P.A (Italy), Litebuilt (Australia), Aerix Industries (U.S.), Cellular Concrete Technologies (U.S.), B. G. Shirke Construction Technology Pvt. Ltd (India), ACICO (Kuwait), Conco (U.S.), Broco Industries (Indonesia), CellFill, LLC (U.S.), JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd (India), and Aircrete Europe (Netherlands). 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. Follow Our LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ict-mrfr/ Days after the nationwide lockdown was announced, sex workers at Sonagachi, Asias biggest red-light area located in Kolkata, realised that the empty lanes in their neighbourhood meant no wages and spelt doom for those who were retired had physical disabilities. Around 8000 sex workers live and work in Sonagachi and the adjoining bylanes of Sethbagan and Rambagan in North Kolkata, and for the duration of the lockdown which began on March 25 and continued till June 15 their work, and ability to earn, came to a grinding halt. In another part of the 300-year-old city, Dipali Bhattacharya, a retired principal of the Government College of Art and Craft, her friend Aditi Roy Ghatak, a veteran journalist and activist, and other friends understood the implications of the lockdown on vulnerable groups who depend on a daily income to feed themselves and their families. What followed, they said, was an experience of a lifetime, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Watch | HT Salutes: Kolkata group who helped sex workers in Sonagacchi amid lockdown Over the past two months, the group has distributed food and essential items like sanitary napkins, not only among residents of Sonagachi and south Kolkatas smaller red light pocket in Kalighat, but also slum dwellers, migrants returning to their home state of West Bengal, and villagers in the South and North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts. We were looking for a supplier of glove and masks for distributing these among people when we came across an inter-state helpline run by Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, former Kolkata mayor and member of the Rajya Rabha. We joined his team, and soon, along with some (other) members of the helpline, started our initiative Ektu Din (Give A Little), said Bhattacharya. The former mayor had formed a team of lawyers and social workers in April to run a helpline for migrant workers stranded in other states and enable their return home. The efforts by Give a Little mattered. On May 17, academicians from Yale School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School released their findings of a study called Modelling the Effect of Continued Closure of Red-Light Areas on COVID-19 Transmission in India, which stated that Indians were at a much lower risk of getting Covid-19 if red light areas are kept closed after the lockdown, until an effective treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 is developed. According to the National Aids Control Organization (NACO), there are over 637,500 sex workers in India, and over 500,000 customers visit the red-light areas daily. The study showed that if the red-light areas started operating, the disease would spread extremely fast and infect a very high percentage of sex workers and customers. If red-light areas are kept closed following the lifting of lockdown, there can be a delay in the peak of Covid-19 cases by 36 days in Kolkata, the study estimated. While the science behind the study was sound, it did not account for the deep economic crisis that the sex workers had been plunged into. Though Kolkata has emerged from the lockdown, business continues to remain tepid at Sonagachi, residents said. Our business is badly affected and it has become very difficult to feed our children and the elderly who cannot move out. Basic groceries and hygiene products are a great help, one of the residents, who did not wish to be named, said. A resident, Moti Sur, did a quick survey and identified 250 people in need of help. Sur knows the area and the residents for years. There was no opposition from the police. They usually never stop charity work, said Indira Kanjilal, an editor of a business magazine, and member of the core team. Sur took into account how many children and old persons were there in each household, as well as kept track of those who were extremely poor or unwell. Around five volunteers visited Sonagachi six times, each time with 250 kits comprised five kilos of rice, two kilos of flour, one kilo of lentils, besides salt and oil. All the volunteers worse masks as they went into the lanes, and the women would come out and collect it from them to maintain effective physical distance. Packing rice, dal, cooking oil and other items in every packet and distributing these among residents of Sonagachi was not easy. More than 10,000 women live there. It was beyond our means to help them all, Kanjilal said. Then Cyclone Amphan hit the coast of West Bengal on May 20, leaving 98 dead and a million people displaced. Friends and acquaintances started donating funds the moment we spread the word on social media. Our work increased manifold after Cyclone Amphan ravaged south Bengal districts. So far we have helped around 10,000 people, Bhattacharya estimated. Our supporters have funded us to help everybody; from villagers in the Sunderbans to rag-pickers at Dhapa dumping ground in Kolkata. Help has come from across the world, said Roy Ghatak. Hindustan Times and Facebook have partnered to bring you 15 stories of HT Salutes. HT is solely responsible for the editorial content of this series. The alleged custodial torture and killing of Jayaraj and Bennicks in Tamil Nadus Thoothukudi district exposed deeper problems with police violence that need strict judicial overview and long-term reform, former police chiefs and legal experts said on Tuesday. Prakash Singh, a former director-general of police who filed a landmark petition for police reforms in the Supreme Court in 2006, called for an attitudinal change and reinforcing the architecture of state and district level accountability commissions that were mandated by the top court 14 years ago. The response of the local police was disappointing; they should have prosecuted these policemen without any wait. There needs to be a mindset change; top officers cannot think, we have to save our own, said Singh. In the 2006 case, the top court issued instructions to the government to carry out reforms to insulate police from external pressure and to ensure accountability. Another former police chief, Vikram Singh, said the entire police station is liable to be suspended because of violation of arrest guidelines. He called for a fast-track court to prosecute the accused. Everyone was a willing accomplice and the courts order to depute revenue officials to the station is a clear loss of trust in the uniform, he added. Legal experts pointed out that a number of measures were recommended in the past by judicial and law commission reports but none were implemented thoroughly. Murali Karnam, a professor at the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, pointed out that in many countries, governments set up truth and accountability commissions to probe large-scale violence by the state machinery. But in India, there is a belief that everything can be resolved through force. Serious changes are needed in police training and police need to earn the confidence of people, he said. Shamim Modi, a professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, said in addition to the police, accountability should be sought of the judiciary too. There are many guidelines issued by the Supreme Court but you need to have an environment where the guidelines can be implemented. We need to punish illegal detention but the lower judiciary does not seem to take this seriously. S Ramadoss, a professor of criminology at the University of Madras, said Tamil Nadu police have been accused of several custodial violence cases in the past the state was second to Gujarat in the number of police custody deaths in 2018, according to the National Crime Records Bureau but cautioned that it will be a mistake to see the entire police force as one. There are some erring policemen. Human rights are a component of police training. What we need is deeper study and fear of punishment acting as a deterrent against custodial violence. What is the way forward? Raja Bagga, a programme officer at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, explained that constant judicial oversight on the actions of the police can bring some accountability to policing. Magistrates are duty bound to examine whether all safeguards mandated by law have been scrupulously followed - be it ascertaining the reasonability of the arrest, verifying the medical examination of the arrestee, inquiring about legal representation and intimation to the family about the arrest, among others, he said. Convalescent plasma therapy to treat the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) received boost on Tuesday when the Union health ministry revised blood transfusion guidelines to include the collection of convalescent plasma under the clinical trials protocol from people who have recovered from infection by the Sars-CoV-2 virus. Systems should be in place to enable re-entry of cured Covid-19 patients as donors for convalescent plasma for treatment of Covid-19 patients. The treatment of Covid-19 patients using plasma therapy is under clinical trial and currently no evidence of the efficacy of the convalescent plasma as a treatment modality for Sars-Cov-2 is established the use of convalescent plasma for routine treatment of Covid-19 patients is not recommended at present, say the revised health ministry guidelines. The Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) is working to create a database of potential convalescent plasma donors for hospitals treating Covid-19 patients. We are creating a list of eligible convalescent plasma donors that we pass on to hospitals. You have to extensively counsel these people as these were sick patients who are sometimes not very comfortable with the idea of going back to a hospital even if it is to donate plasma. We find not many recovered patients approaching us directly, so we are dependent on hospitals to provide us the list as we dont have a hospital of our own, said Dr Vanshree Singh, director (blood bank), IRCS. The revised guidelines do not recommend testing of donated blood and blood components for Covid-19 or going in for more advanced pathogen reduction techniques, citing reasons such as financial impracticality and lack of enough evidence to support transmission of the virus though blood transfusion. Testing of the blood supply for Covid-19 is not recommended in light of the risk of transfusion transmission being theoretical or lack of demonstrated infectivity of the Covid-19 virus in blood collected from asymptomatic persons. Routine practices of infectious disease testing for transfusion transmissible infections should not be changed, the guidelines said. Pathogen Reduction Technologies (PRT) require significant logistical and financial investment. PRT for whole blood is less widely available and studies of inactivation of coronavirus in whole blood are lacking. Introduction of PRT for the COvid-19 virus would not be cost-effective or proportionate and is not recommended, the guidelines added. The document has cited studies that say respiratory viruses are not known to transmit through blood transfusion. No cases of transfusion-transmission were ever reported for the other two corona viruses that emerged during the past two decades (SARS and MERS-CoV). Virus detection in blood has only happened in symptomatic patients with Covid-19 to date. American Association of Blood Blanks, USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US) are not recommending any additional action by blood collection establishments at this time because there are no data or precedent suggesting risk of transfusion-transmission for Covid-19 According to the USFDA, there have been no reported or suspected cases of transfusion-transmitted Covid-19, experts said in the guideline document. Having said that, the government has asked blood banks to screen donors thoroughly for Covid-related symptoms, and discard or recall the donated blood if there was even slightest suspicion of Covid-19. The donors will have to wait for at least 28 days before they will again be eligible for donation. People who cannot donate blood are laboratory confirmed cases of Covid-19, irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms; contacts of a lab positive case or those with travel history to a country where community transmission of the disease has been established. The blood samples collected from a donor, who turns out to be Covid positive, or is unconfirmed case or even a close contact of a laboratory positive case within 28 days of donation, will be discarded. All known positive cases cannot donate for 28 days after the end of 7 day home isolation post discharge or when symptoms subside, or travel to a Covid-19 affected country, the guidelines say. Dr RN Makroo, president, Indian Society of Transfusion Medicine, said thorough screening is good enough. For regular donors thorough screening of history of the person is good enough. You cannot conduct blood test or PRT which is not just super expensive but also does not happen anywhere in India. We must strengthen screening of our regular donors, thats the solution. The new guidelines are pretty comprehensive and should be followed, said Dr Makroo. The government guidelines say 28 days of deferral, but we go by six weeks to be cautious, said Dr Singh from IRCS. Two terrorists who killed a five-year-old and Central Reserve Police Force trooper last week have been killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag districts Bijbehara area, Jammu and Kashmir police said on Tuesday. The forces are on the lookout for the third terrorist involved in the gunbattle in Waghama village of Bijbehara. An INSAS rifle and pistol were recovered from the encounter site. The terrorists shot dead in todays gunfight had opened fire at a road opening party of CRPFs 90 Battalion near the Padshahi Bagh bridge in Bijbehara area on Friday injuring a CRPF personnel and a 5-year-old boy in the attack. Both of them succumbed to their injuries in the hospital, an official said. Tuesdays encounter comes a day after one Hizbul Mujahideen and two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were gunned down in the Khulchohar area of Anantnag. One of the terrorists killed in the encounter was identified as Masood Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Doda, the regions last surviving so-called commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. Dilbag Singh, Jammu and Kashmirs police chief, called his killing a big success and pronounced the Union territorys Doda district totally militancy free The terrorists were buried away from their native places in Baramulla, Handwara, and Ganderbal due to Covid-19 restrictions over the last two months. Security forces have stepped up operations and killed more than 100 terrorists this year. A total of 46 terrorists have been killed in June, the highest in a month since 39 were killed in November 2018. The 46 include commanders of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. France has expressed deep solidarity over the death of 20 Indian soldiers in a violent-face-off with Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), with French defence minister Florence Parly conveying steadfast and friendly support to her Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. Parly wrote a letter to Singh on Monday, condoling the death of the 20 Indian soldiers in the clash in Galwan Valley on June 15, people familiar with developments said. This was a hard blow against the soldiers, their families, and the nation. In these difficult circumstances, I wish to express my steadfast and friendly support, along with that of the French armed forces, Parly wrote in the letter. Parly also recalled that India is Frances strategic partner in the region and reiterated Frances deep solidarity in the letter. She also expressed her readiness to meet Singh in India, at his invitation, to follow up on their ongoing discussions, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. Parly also conveyed her heartfelt condolences to the entire Indian armed forces as well as to the grieving families of the 20 soldiers. Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a months-old tense standoff along the LAC, especially in Ladakh sector, where both sides have deployed thousands of additional troops. France, a key supplier of frontline combat jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF) for decades, has stepped up its defence engagements with India in recent years and both sides are working on closer naval cooperation, including joint exercises and patrols, in the Indian Ocean region. Paris has also acted on a special request from New Delhi to speed up deliveries of 36 Rafale combat jets ordered by India in a deal worth Rs 59,000 crore in 2016, with six of the planes expected to land at the airbase in Ambala on July 27. France is reworking the calendar for supplying the Rafales to India at a faster pace, people familiar with developments said on Monday. IAF ordered the jets as an emergency purchase to arrest a worrying slide in its combat capabilities. Earlier, the first batch of Rafales to be delivered to India in 2020 was expected to comprise four jets. France has stepped up efforts to meet IAFs immediate requirements. The people said around 10 Rafale jets are ready at manufacturer Dassault Aviations Merignac facility and six of them will be flown by IAF pilots to India via Abu Dhabi in late July. Panaji: Goa Police has arrested two Rajasthan residents for allegedly defrauding a woman to the tune of Rs 12.77 lakh after she was made to disclose her bank account information over the phone. Goas Cyber Crime Police Station authorities have arrested Lakhvinder Singh (26), and Darshan Singh (43), both of whom are residents of Anupgarh in Rajasthans Sri Ganganagar district. The lady filed the complaint with the police, alleging that she fell victim to a vishing attack, where she was made to share her bank account details after a person called her impersonating as a bank official, including her automated teller machine (ATM)-cum debit cards Personal Identification Number (PIN). She lost Rs 12.77 lakh, as the fraudsters transferred the amount from her account. The police have recovered her ATM card, passbook, mobile phone, subscriber identification module (SIM) card, and other document details from the accused. Goa Police authorities have been issuing regular advisories regarding the rise in the phishing attacks amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-induced lockdown restrictions, where fraudsters have been duping unsuspecting public by pretending to be bank officials. While earlier such perpetrators used to give the police a slip, the accused are now being traced and arrested. When the ministry of electronics and information technology was sending out its public order banning 59, mostly Chinese, mobile applications, two government departments were tracking the note very carefully. One was the Press Information Bureau of India (and not because it had to disseminate the order) and the other was MyGov.in, the platform to crowdsource ideas about governance. As soon as the government announced that these apps pose a threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, both PIB and MyGov.in deleted their accounts on Tik-Tok and its regional version, Helo. Confirming this to HT, MyGov.ins CEO Abhishek Singh said the action was in keeping with government policies. We joined Tik-Tok and Helo in April because we are there on all platforms, he said. If the platform violates the law, then we will leave it. We have to abide by our laws. In just the two months that PIB and MyGov. in were on Tiktok, they garnered more than a million followers and that may be a reason why many top politicians may miss the apps, which send out short videos and messages. A PIB spokesperson told HT: We were not on Tik-Tok for the love of China, but because it has followers. We wanted to spread the word and it was very effective. Its not just these central government departments. In the last few months, Tik-Tok and Helo have been hosting a formidable bunch of top leaders. From Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Keralas Pinarayi Vijayan to Punjabs Amarinder Singh and Andhra Pradeshs YS Jagan Mohan Reddy , they had all signed up for Tik-Tok and Helo accounts because of the sheer numbers that they saw as audiences. Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Raos team said that they got the idea to join Tik-Tok after seeing the Central government using it for its coronavirus disease messaging. We were just toying with the idea of starting a Tik-Tok account for the CM when this order came, saod Dileel Konathan, who handles social media for the Telangana CM. At the moment, we just ran our Corona campaign on Tik-Tok. According to Konathan, the app is appealing because it has a high captive audience, one which is much larger than that offered by Twitter and FaceBook. The demographic is completely different. You get followers in rural areas who may be semi-literate and they are all consuming your content. In other words, they offer a means of communicating with grassroots citizens. Ankit Lal, who handles social media for Delhi chief minister Kejriwal, explained that they came to these apps very recently, just before Februarys elections. At that time, Kejriwal gathered 912,000 followers on Helo and 179,000 followers on Tik-Tok. The kind of followers you get here are 180 degrees different from any other platform. Also, while FaceBook and others have ad-based targeting, here you dont have to do that, he said. The Kerala government was exploiting that feature for not just the CMs messages but also to run separate accounts for its police and tourism department as well. In fact, the police had almost a million followers on Tik-Tok. We used to use sharechat for our Malayalee videos but we only got 51,000 followers in that. Comparatively, the Tik-Tok and Helo accounts get several times more. They really cater to the regional, tier two audience and every time we put out our videos, it engaged many more people, said Appu Lenin, who handles Vijayans social media accounts. It takes such little time for a new app to take over, that it doesnt really matter, said Lenin suggesting that TikTok may have been their engine to reach rural audiences for some time now, but they are sure that another app promising the same features is sure to come along soon. There is prima-facie grounds to book policemen at the Sathankulam police station for the murder of P Jayaraj and J Bennicks, the Madras high court observed on Tuesday after reading preliminary post-mortem reports and a report by the local judicial magistrate, which said the father-son duo was thrashed through the night with lathis. The court also handed over the probe to the states criminal investigation department (CB-CID), fearing that evidence may disappear by the time the Central Bureau of Investigation took over the case. On Monday, the state formally asked the CBI to take over the probe in the controversial case that sparked nationwide outrage. The court stated that the ante-mortem injuries found on the bodies of the deceased and the magistrates report are prima facie enough to alter the case to Section 302 IPC against the Sathankulam police who were actively involved in the investigation of the case. The court observed that there were chances of evidence tampering and appointed CB-CID deputy superintendent of police Anil Kumar to handle the case. It said that the Sathankulam police are taking advantage of the fact that the investigation of the case is in limbo and are attempting to cause disappearance of evidence. In fact, they were emboldened enough to even intimidate the judicial officer to put spokes in the wheel of his enquiry. It further suggested to the government to revisit the idea of entrusting the matter to the CBI, if it is satisfied that Kumar is proceeding on the right line. If we do not act now, it will become too late... the bench said. On Monday, the court had ordered the Thoothukudi collector to depute revenue officials to collect evidence at the police station. Kovilpatti judicial magistrate M S Barathidasans four-page report to the court cited testimony indicative of torture, an attempted cover-up and an attempt to obfuscate the investigation. The report quoted an eyewitness, a head constable of the police station who wished to remain anonymous, who testified that both the father and son were beaten through the night, and the lathis used by the policemen, as well as the tables on which they were placed, had blood on them. The court has directed the Thoothukudi district collector to ensure the safety of the eyewitness as well as her family members. It suggested she may be allowed to go on leave as we fear that there will be attempt to intimidate her and make her resile from her version given to the judicial magistrate. Bennicks, 31, and Jayaraj, 59, died on June 22 and June 23 after undergoing hours of alleged torture at the Sathankulam police station on June 19. The First Information Report (FIR) filed by the police booked them under several sections, including Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 353 (use of force to deter public servant from duty). However, eyewitness accounts refute the claims in the FIR, stating that the duo was tortured severely by the policemen while in custody. On June 24, the Madurai bench of Justices PM Prakash and B Pugalendhi took suo-motu cognisance of the case. On Monday, the court initiated a contempt case against three officials of the police station: additional deputy superintendent of police D Kumar, deputy superintendent of police C Prathapan and constable Maharajan. The Kovilpatti judicial magistrate accused the three of obstructing his investigation and making an abusive remark. On Tuesday, all three appeared before the bench with the constable saying he was overstressed and made the remark by mistake. Last week, the Thoothukudi police had suspended the station inspector Sridhar, and two sub-inspectors P Raghuganesh and Balakrishnan in connection to the deaths. On Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu government put Arun Balagopalan, the Thoothukudi superintendent of police, on compulsory wait [removed from active duty, but not suspended]. S Jeyakumar from Villupuram district will take over this position. Dr S Murugan, inspector general of police, economic offences wing in Chennai will be the new inspector general of police of south zone in Madurai as the incumbent retires Tuesday. Thoothukudi is under the south zone police jurisdiction in Tamil Nadu. (with agency inputs) A 20-year-old hearing and speech impaired woman in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh was allegedly gang raped on Sunday by four minors, one of whom is just 11 years old, police said Monday. The victim from a village under Gaurihar police station went out of the village to answer the call of nature on Sunday evening when the accused who belong to the same village gang raped her in an agriculture field. They kept her captive for two hours before fleeing the spot, according to police. When she did not return home, her family members started searching for her at night and found her near a pond in an injured condition. She conveyed to her parents about the ordeal she underwent after which the family went to the police station at night to lodge the first information report (FIR). Gaurihar police station in charge Sarita Burman said, All the four accused are minor boys and they are from the same village and the same caste the girl belongs to. One of the accused is 11-year-old, two of them 13-year-old and the fourth 14-year-old. The FIR was lodged for the gang rape. All the accused were arrested on Monday. She said, The accused have confessed committing the crime. They said they committed the crime in a spur of moment. We are going to produce the accused before a juvenile justice board at the district headquarters. According to police, two of the accused are studying while two others are school dropouts. PATNA: With an eye on the safety of voters during the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Election Commission (EC) is working on proposals to provide gloves and small sticks of the size of toothpicks to voters to press the button on electronic voting machines (EVMs) for contactless voting, officials at the states Chief Electoral Office said. Another proposal under consideration for maintaining safety at the polling stations is the use of disposable syringes to mark the fingers of voters with indelible ink to identify those who have already voted, the officials said. A move to install glass shields at the table of polling officers is being contemplated so that voters, when asked to identify themselves by taking off their face masks, do not come in contact with the staff. Bihar assembly polls are scheduled to be held in October-November in the first full-fledged state elections in the aftermath of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The elections are looming as a major test of the poll watchdogs ability to ensure the safety of voters and polling staff from infection by the coronavirus disease. The state election office officials said the idea of applying indelible ink through disposable syringes was being considered as a safe option; the syringes can be disposed of after one use. Glass shields to keep polling officers apart from voters is required to minimise the chances of anyone catching the infection. Even gloves and bamboo-made small sticks are being advocated for use of EVMs to press the buttons and signing the voter register as it will help in contactless voting. Sanitising the EVMs after every vote is not possible. We are not using any plastic-made items because there is scope of infection in it. Bamboo-made sticks are environment-friendly and disposable also, said a senior Bihar EC officer, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised o speak on record to the media. State election officials said the proposals have been sent by the Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar, H R Srinivasa, to the Election Commission for approval. We have sent a few proposals for safety of voters at the booths. We are working on it. Our objective is that voters do not come much in contact with any physical substance and there is more contactless method of casting votes during the polls, said Srinivasa. To be sure, the implementation of the new innovative measures at the polling booths in times of Covid-19, when economic activity hs declined, would not be easy. It would mean procuring millions of gloves and bamboo sticks as well as disposal syringes. The state has a total electorate of 71.8 million voters; the proposal is 106,000 polling booths with the addition of 33,797 auxillary booths to cap the number of voters in each booth to 700 for maintaining social distancing norms. The state EC officials said the process had started for procuring these materials on a priority basis. We have sought khadi gloves from the Bihar State Khadi board so that it can generate rural employment. Other materials would be purchased locally and district election officers will be authorised to buy them, said another EC officer, who is privy to the discussion, requesting anonymity. State political parties are divided on the measured proposed by the electoral office. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) said they would support any measure suggested by the EC to ensure the safety of voters. The opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal said any such moves would infringe on the rights of voters and defeat the purpose of elections. If EC takes any steps for safety of voters in view of Covid, we will support {the steps}. But our thinking is that all steps of safety to be taken by the poll panel should be widely publicised as our larger objective is that there should be 100 % voting and all voters should exercise their franchise freely, said Nikhil Anand, state spokesperson of the BJP. JD(U) state spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan said the party would support steps that the poll panel takes for the safety of voters . We are in favour of safety measures for voters, he said. RJDs senior leader and state spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav criticised the proposals. In the name of Covid, there is an attempt being made to manipulate the polls. We will oppose any such moves of EC to provide gloves or sticks for use of the EVMs. We want the EC to conduct polls as they did in past. Even in South Korea, elections were held in Covid pandemic by using ballot papers, he said. ends From Sunday to Monday, 18 of the 25 stolen cars had their keys or fobs inside, Cicero said. One car was taken from New Haven, two from Bridgeport, one from New Britain and none from Hartford the rest were all taken from suburban communities, he said. Top military commanders of Indian and Chinese armies are meeting in Ladakhs Chushul on Tuesday in their third attempt to ease tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as Indian forces ramped up deployment along the border in a response to Chinas aggressive posturing. Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, and Major General Liu Lin, commander of the South Xinjiang military region, are leading their sides in the talks to thrash out the modalities of de-escalation and disengagement process on mutual terms. During the meeting, the Indian side could again demand the pullback of Chinese troops from several friction points and also the restoration of status quo ante in the strategic region of the Finger Area, Gogra Post-Hot Springs and Galwan Valley. The Indian Army has deployed six T-90 missile-firing tanks and top-of-the-line shoulder-fired anti-tank missile systems in the Galwan Valley sector, in an indication that it wants to resolve the issue of status quo ante in east Ladakh but is also prepared for the worst-case scenario. The armys decision to deploy the T-90 Bhishma tanks was taken after the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) had beefed up its positions on the river bed with armoured personnel carriers and troop tents. Lt Gen Singh and Major Gen Liu had first met on June 6 and then again on June 22 in Moldo on the Chinese side of LAC after border tensions erupted between both the countries in May. The second meeting was held just a week after the June 15 violent face-off between soldiers of the Indian Army and Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in eastern Ladakhs Galwan Valley. India and China have been involved in talks to ease the ongoing tensions since the two armies locked in the border standoff that began with a confrontation between rival patrols near Pangong Lake on May 5. Then, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent face-off in Galwan Valley after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation. Indias decision to ban 59 Chinese mobile applications, including ByteDances TikTok and Tencents WeChat, became a trending topic on social media apps in China on Tuesday morning. A statement by Indias information technology ministry said on Monday the 59 apps have been blocked since in view of the information available, they are engaged in activities prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. Millions of Chinese net users active on Twitter-like Weibo in China shared the news and discussed the reasons behind New Delhis decision. Also read: We dont share data with Chinese govt, says TikTok after India bans 59 mobile apps At around 10am in China, the topic had been viewed some 63 million times, and at least 4,000 threads of discussions were active on Weibo platforms. Many Chinese online users made caustic comments on the ban. One of the recurring comment themes was that the Chinese citizens also want to stop using Indian products but could not find any. We want to boycott Indian products but could not find any in my home, wrote one user. Another wrote: I also want to boycott Indian products. I have searched all over my house. Nothing is Indias. Another Weibo user wrote: Indian netizens are going to use TikTok through VPN. So far, Chinese companies on Indias list have not commented on the ban. Also read: Indian websites not accessible in China as Xi Jinping govt blocks VPN The decision by New Delhi to ban Chinese apps comes days after popular Chinese social media app WeChatalso banned by Indiaremoved updates by the embassy of India (EoI) on the current border conflict including Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement on the clash that left 20 Indian Army soldiers dead. The reasons given for the removal of the posts included divulging state secrets and endangering national security. The updates published on WeChat included Modis remarks on the India-China border situation, the phone call between the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers held on Thursday and a statement by the external affairs ministrys (MEA) spokesperson. A day earlier, EoI had to issue a clarification on its Chinese Twitter-like Weibo account after the same statement by the MEA spokesperson was deleted. On Tuesday, the business and political news website Caixin reported on the Indian governments decision to ban the Chinese apps. At present, the Indian government hasnt clarified how the ban will be carried out. The Indian government may ask telecom providers to stop providing access to these apps, it said in a report. Even with unresolved border issues, India has become an important destination for Chinese technology companies, the report said. The nationalistic tabloid Global Times also carried a report on New Delhis decision headlined: India bans 59 Chinese apps amid border tension. Xiaomi, the mobile phone company, has pointed out that it has been the leader in Indias smartphone market for five consecutive quarters. Xiaomi accounted for 30 percent of all smartphone sales in India between January and March. In addition, Xiaomi produces nearly half of Indias fitness brands, the report added. Dilbagh Singh, the director-general of police (DGP), Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and senior Border Security Force (BSF) officials on Tuesday visited the Indo-Pak international border (IB) in Jammu divisions Samba district on Tuesday in a bid to review the security situation on the ground ahead of the monsoon season. Singh also rewarded the BSF team, which shot down a Pakistani drone, loaded with a sophisticated rifle and seven grenades, in Kathua districts Hiranagar sector last week. The DGP was accompanied by NS Jamwal, inspector-general (IG), Jammu, BSF, and other senior officers. They visited border areas including the Basantar river bed to review the close coordination between BSF, police, and other civilian agencies in view of the rainy season, a BSF spokesperson said. They also supervised the flood protection works on the Basantar river bed. Singh emphasised on ensuring real-time, close coordination between border guarding forces, civilian agencies and local police personnel to address the concerns of the villagers. Jamwal briefed the DGP about the BSFs domination in the Basantar river bed area and Singh praised the hard work of the security personnel to guard the red-hot IB, the spokesperson said. Sanjeev Verma, Divisional Commissioner (DCO) Jammu; Mukesh Singh, IGP Jammu; Rohit Khajuria, divisional commissioner (DC), Samba; BSF officers; and representatives of other civilian agencies also accompanied the team that visited the IB. The DGP supervised the flood protection work in Basanter river and exhorted the farmers for sowing crops less in height in the river bed, said the spokesman. Pakistani terrorists have been using river beds and rivulets to infiltrate into India via the IB and the Line of Control (LoC), despite 24x7 surveillance. The Karnataka government on Tuesday disbanded a field team involved in burials of bodies of Covid-19 patients in Ballari district after videos emerged of disrespectful handling of the bodies. The government also apologised to the families of the dead. Congress leader D K Shivakumar posted a video which allegedly showed members of a field team dumping bodies of Covid-19 patients in an open pit. The government acted quickly. Deputy Commissioner and District magistrate S S Nakul in a statement said an enquiry was ordered under Additional Deputy Commissioner and it was found that the video belongs to Ballari and companies of burial of eight people who succumbed to Covid-19. The video shows that protocols/SOP to be followed for burial (body bags, lining etc.) have been strictly followed. However, District Administration is deeply upset and sorrowful at the manner in which the remains of the deceased were handled. The entire field team involved has been disbanded and will be replaced by a new team trained by the HoD, Forensics, VIMS. Nakukl said. The District Administration regrets the incident and hereby unconditionally apologises to the families of the departed in particular and the people of Ballari in general, Nakul said. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa also condemned the way bodies were handled. Behaviour of staff during the funeral of #COVID19 infected people in Ballari district is very inhuman & very painful. I request the staff, lets realize that there is no greater religion than humanity: Karnataka, the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) tweeted. Meanwhile, Karnataka reported 947 new Covid-19 cases including 503 from Bengaluru Urban, taking Karnatakas tally to 15,242. There were 20 casualties today, raing the death toll in the pandemic to 246, the state health department said. Kerala reported one incident of death due to coronavirus along with 131 new infections including among nine personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Tuesday even as the return of a large number of expatriates from the Gulf countries continues with the arrival of 70 flights in the last two days. The state government is worried about the fact that most of the infected CISF personnel at the Kannur airport had recently returned from their native places after a period of leave. In another worrying observation, 60 returnees to the state have tested positive in the last one week and the state health ministry is considering increasing the mandatory quarantine period for returnees to 28 days after some of them tested positive two weeks after their return. For Coronavirus Live Updates A 76-year-old man, who had returned from Mumbai, died in Thiruvananthapuram. Doctors said he was suffering from many ailments including diabetes and hypertension. Five more serious cases are reported in the state and doctors have administered plasma therapy to save them, the state health ministry said. With 131 cases, the total number of Covid cases in the state went up to 4,441, including 2,112 active and 2,304 recovered cases. Malappuram has the maximum number of active cases at 267, followed by Kannur in north Kerala, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayans office. More than 1.90 lakh people are under observation. At least 80 per cent of the fresh cases are imported-- either expatriates or residents arriving from other states. Also Read: Kerala SSLC 10th Result 2020 declared Live Updates: Meanwhile, on National Doctors Day on Wednesday, the doctors employed with the government will observe a protest by working for one-hour extra hour throughout the state. The Kerala government medical officers association said the protest was about some of the long -pending demands like salary revision, increased workload due to the covid-19 situation and many vacant posts for doctors in several state-run hospitals. Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 245 deaths due to coronavirus and 4,878 cases of new Covid 19 infections in the last twenty four hours, taking the total number of cases in the state to 1,74,761, including 75,979 active cases. Out of 245 deaths reported by the health department on Tuesday, 95 occurred in the last 48 hours and the remaining 150 are backlogged from the previous period. The trend of high number of positive cases recorded daily continues in Maharashtra, however, the state recorded less than 5,000 cases on Tuesday. Daily spike of over 5,000 Covid-19 cases have been recorded on five occasions in the past 20 days, the new daily cases have been over 3,000 in the remaining 15 days. The extent of sharp rise in the infections in the state can be gauged from the fact that on May 24, the states tally stood at a mere 3,041 cases. The viral infections are in a spiral since June 17, when over 3,000 Covid-19 positive cases were first reported on a single day. Ban on travel beyond 2km was necessary, says Maharashtra CM On June 25, Maharashtra had reported 4,841 Covid-19 positive cases, and on successive days till June 29, the daily count was 5024, 5318, 5,493, 5,257, respectively. A total of 90,911 patients have recovered in the state including the 1,951, who were discharged today. The state is also close to recording 10 lakh tests with 9,66,723 samples tested till Tuesday. Mumbai recorded less than 893 cases in the last twenty-four hours taking the total number of Covid-19 infections in the city to 77,658 including 4,556 casualties. 93 of these deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. Maharashtra is Indias worst affected state by the disease and it along with Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat accounts for nearly two-third of the national tally of 5,66,840 as of Tuesday. For Coronavirus Live Updates A glimpse of the massive impact of the disease on states frontline warriors was given earlier today, when state home minister Anil Deshmukh revealed that as many as 4,861 personnel of Maharashtra Police have tested positive for Covid-19 so far. He added that while 3,699 policemen have recovered, 59 have succumbed to the disease. Earlier today, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana by five months till November end. This programme provides free ration to over 80 crore poor people, worst-hit by the disease. Thackeray had requested Modi to extend the scheme during a recent video conference meeting, the chief ministers office said in a statement, which added that nearly seven crore people in the state will benefit from the scheme. On Monday, the state government also notified lockdown 6:0, which comes into effect from Wednesday and will be in place till July 31. Long-distance travel for non-essential work has been further restricted in the densely populated Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which comprises nine municipal corporations and a Covid-19 hotspot in the state. Mumbai Police has restricted movements of people within a two-kilometre (km) radius from their residences except for office-goers and those engaged in providing essential services. Software and hardware developed in China often pose the threat of being used for mass surveillance, cybersecurity researchers have said, citing data breaches as well as laws that indicate the presence of mechanisms that can be activated to collect and sift through troves of user data. One of the strongest hints came last year when Dutch cybersecurity experts discovered billions of messages of users of Chinese apps WeChat and QQ, which were stored in a manner that suggested they were part of a massive dragnet that was used to censor content on these platforms. Every Chinese tech company has to comply with the Chinese cybersecurity law which allows the Chinese government to have access to the data these companies collect this is part of the nationwide mass surveillance systems that are in place in China, said Victor Gevers, head of research at the Dutch Institute of Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD), who discovered such databases in 2019. WeChat and QQ are among 59 mostly Chinese applications banned by the Indian government on Monday after complaints that these were collecting and sending data of Indian users outside of the country, a move that comes in the middle of increased hostilities between the two countries over the disputed border at Ladakh. These data collections are not limited to only Chinese users but all users of a certain platform and the data includes every interaction, contended Gevers, adding that the leaks in 2019 showed the inner workings of these mass surveillance systems for the first time. Geverss concerns were echoed by Anand V, an independent security researcher based in Bengaluru. Generally, developers from China are used to looking at techno-cultural approach that all data belongs to the government. They believe that it is okay to collect data in such manner because it comes from such a mindset, he said, while also adding that any user of such apps was at risk. Among the database were roughly 3.7 billion messages sent on one particular day March 18, 2019 on WeChat that had a common theme: they all contained some specific keywords that were likely to have been identified as triggers for censorship or action by law enforcement. The words included Jinping, power, CCP, Tiananmen, and Dalai. It became very clear that they actually gather everything at some point and sift through it to see if there has to be any interception or human interaction. They copy all the data or take a stream of realtime data and use keywords to trigger a censor system that automatically removes content from applications or flag them for a review, Gevers said. Indications of unlawful collection of data emerged afresh last week with another prominent Chinese company, TikTok, which was found to have been logging what people were typing on their iPhones. According to Gevers, logging keystrokes what people type may now become one of the key ways such companies intercept the data they are legally required to maintain as more apps deploy end-to-end encryption. What we saw with TikTok is likely to happen with other applications, he warned. The concerns stretch over to hardware as well, he added. We have observed that China is investing in mass surveillance using not only CCTVs but also other interfaces. The big worries are Huawei with its 5G networks, he said. The entry of Huawei in 5Gmobile communication has triggered concerns in some Western nations, predominantly the United States, that it may allow for a backdoor for Chinese intelligence to internet as well as phone data. Gevers as well as Anand said the risk in particular was because of how free applications work: they collect massive amounts of user data to sustain the business by offering ads. Chinese developers often use the principles of data collection and data mining commonly used for advertising and uses it to train its mass surveillance system, said Gevers. Most of these applications collect far more data than required and that has been a very long-going concern. It is a giant dragnet of data, added Anand. The two experts also said China was not the first country to carry out such intercepts, pointing to the disclosures in the documents leaked by American intelligence contractor Edward Snowden that showed similar mass data dragnets being created by United States National Security Agency. In a statement issued by TikTok on Tuesday, its India head Nikhil Gandhi said TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing said China encourages companies in its country to function under legal obligations. I want to stress that the Chinese government always asks the Chinese businesses to abide by international rules, local laws and regulations in their business cooperation with foreign countries, said spokesperson Zhao Lijian. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The challenge ahead for India will be to strike a balance between managing the industrial impact and heath impact of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), says Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, who was one of the senior epidemiologists at the forefront of not just Indias fight against Covid-19 but also other recent outbreaks such as Nipah, Zika, Japanese Encephalitis and the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome. Gangakhedkar, who retired as the Indian Council of Medical Researchs head of epidemiology and non-communicable diseases division on Tuesday, spoke to Hindustan Times on his last day at work. Edited excerpts: You have been with the Indian Council of Medical Research for long. How does it feel to leave at such a crucial time in Indias fight against Covid-19? It is difficult to contain emotions when its the last day of your work in an organisation that you have had been associated with for 36 years. I had joined ICMR in 1984. It is indeed a long association, and all through these years I have had the opportunity to be a part of some significant projects, especially in the field of HIV/AIDS that was my area of specialisation. Last few months have been a roller-coaster ride; we manage to achieve many milestones that may seem small to others but have been quite significant in our fight against Covid-19. It may be time for me to move on but the fight shall continue. There are several able people who will continue this fight, and even I am not entirely saying good bye and will be around as a part of CG Pandit National Chairs of ICMR. In fact, now I will have more time at hand to think a problem through. You moved to ICMR headquarters in Delhi as head of epidemiology and non-communicable diseases division in 2018; how was the experience? I cant tell how the experience was because I never got time to think. I was constantly firefighting during past 2.5 years. When I joined in 2018, Nipah outbreak struck in Kerala; then in the same year a highly contagious and life-threatening viral infection, Canine Distemper Virus disease, outbreak happened in Gir, Gijarat; later in 2019, Zika virus disease outbreak was reported from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh; then Nipah again struck in Kerala in 2019; after that Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome cases were reported among children in Bihars Muzaffarpur; and then Covid-19 happened. There was literally no time as one thing after another came up that required immediate attention. There was no time to think, forget relax. How many work hours have you been putting in daily in the last few months? Like I said, it is not just about past few months but past 2.5 years that I have been putting in long hours; and was working even after the office time was over. During the past few months it has been around 17-18 hours officially in a day. Since I lived alone in Delhi, I could work long hours. What has your experience been like while dealing with Covid-19 so far? What did we do right? What has worked in Indias fight against Covid-19 is that there has been involvement of all stakeholders together from the very beginning. We have seen in the past that multi-sectoral response in an outbreak situation usually comes so late that much of the damage is already done. But in this case, from the most senior officials to the junior- most government functionaries, everyone came together much early when there was lots that could be done to save the situation from going out of hand later and that even led to early lockdown. We bought so much time and prepared ourselves much better, and well in advance. The risk mitigation that we see now happened only because of this. From the first test on January 22 to nearly 9 million tests so far, we have moved in a very short period. One needs to be realistic in their expectations; what we have achieved is no mean feat. What challenges do you foresee? The biggest challenge will be to achieve the balance between industrial impact vs. health impact of Covid-19. You have to take certain steps for the economy but at the same time be very cautious to not let the disease spiral out of control. India is a diverse country so the much talked-about peak may not be attained in one go; different peaks will occur in different regions because of the diversity and density of the population. We may actually manage to push it till there is a vaccine or a drug that should help. We shouldnt only look at numbers but we have to see how to reduce death-related risks that is more crucial in our Covid-19 fight. Community mobilization is also crucial, and if we managed to increase that, then it will go a long way in successful implementation of containment strategies. What threats do we face in future in terms of diseases? We need to be very vigilant as infectious diseases are not going to go anywhere. It is not correct to say that only non-communicable (lifestyle-related) diseases are a part of the future; thats not true. Infectious diseases will emerge and will keep continuing. After the second outbreak of Nipah in 2019, I had started to work on a multiple country project that included countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Mayanmar, Thailand, Indonesia etc. to work out a strategy to contain infectious disease spread because infectious diseases dont recognize boundaries. We have to protect not just ourselves but work in tandem with our neighbours to achieve larger protection. We need to work across borders because today mobility is high because of porous borders. We had started with dengue but then Covid happened and other projects had to be stalled. Hope it is taken up again in future. How did you unwind? And what are the plans post- retirement? There was hardly time but whatever time I got, I used to spend talking to my family. Thanks to technology, these days you can video chat with all your family members together. It was fun. As for post-retirement, I intend to settle in Pune. I would want to work for science literacy, by which I mean to make understand complex concepts of science in a simple manner. To me, it is vital to provide biology/science related literacy to our current generation. We do not have enough good science communicators. I plan to contribute in the field. Lets see. ... New Delhi: With India in the middle of a long battle again Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended for five months the free distribution of foodgrain to economically weaker sections under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana a scheme that proved to be beneficial for many during the pandemic with more than 73 lakh million tonne (MT) foodgrain reaching beneficiaries in April and May, according to government data. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage The extension will continue to benefit 800 million people, or more than half of the countrys population, giving them 5kg wheat or rice per month. Along with providing 5kg free rice or wheat to each member of a family, 1kg free whole chana will also be provided to each family per month, said a government statement that followed the PMs address to the nation. The Prime Minister said that the government will spend more than Rs 90,000 crore for the extension of the Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, pointing out that if the money spent in the previous three months (April-June) is added to this, the governments total expenditure for the scheme will be about Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Two senior official familiar with the matter said that the broad contours of extending the scheme were discussed in a meeting chaired by the PM on Monday in which some key officials and minsters were present. The scheme is a part of Covid-specific welfare measures announced on March 26, days after sweeping federal lockdown was imposed to check the transmission of the virus. The government also announced components such as insurance for health workers, money for women through Jan Dhan accounts, ex-gratia payments to the marginalised, and the front-loading of the PM Kisan scheme for farmers. One of the officials cited above said that on condition of anonymity that, in the meeting between the Prime Minister and chief ministers earlier in June, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had appealed to the government to extend the Garib Kalyan package for at least three more months. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, too, made a similar demand on June 22. A senior official, who was part of the consultations for the scheme, said, UP received 37 lakh (370,000) jobless migrant labourers and Bihar received 30 lakh (300,000) labourers. By covering all major festivals, this programme also sends a right signal. According to government data available till June 20, 113 lakh MT of foodgrain has been lifted by 36 States and UTs for April, and 37.01 lakh MT has been distributed, covering 740 million beneficiaries; while in May, 36.42 lakh MT of foodgrains have been distributed, covering 728 million beneficiaries. Out of 5.8 lakh MT of pulses allocated under the scheme for three months, 5.68 lakh MT has been dispatched to various states/UTs. Of this, a total 3.35 lakh MT has been distributed to 163 million household beneficiaries out of 194 million such beneficiaries. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh quickly pointed out how UPA-era schemes have made the welfare programme possible. Two laws, the MGNREGA of 2005 & National Food Security Act of 2013, a legacy of the Congress-led UPA is now the nations lifeline, he tweeted. Former rural development secretary, Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, said, I think the assessment is that the pandemics effect will continue for a much longer time. in that case, the relief for poor people has to continue as they are vulnerable and depends on government aid. Its a very good decision. Caldwells relatives called community organizers from around the state over the weekend, and about a dozen of the activists came to the police station Monday for a press conference about the assault. Police talked to the protesters and explained that they continue to work on the case, Olson said. Mumbai Police has beefed up its security detail at two Taj properties -- Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel at Colaba and Taj Lands End at Bandra (West) after a caller, who purportedly identified himself to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative from Pakistan, threatened the hotel authorities at around 12.30am on Tuesday. Two separate calls were made to the hotels, when earlier on Monday four security personnel of Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi were gunned down by four terrorists. A Mumbai Police official, requesting anonymity, said that the hotel authorities received the threat calls and security has been intensified at the properties. Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs), counter-terrorism units, etc; have been deployed at both the hotels. Police said that the first threat call was made at around 12.30am on Tuesday to the Colaba property that was attended to by a hotel employee. The caller issued a threat of blowing up the hotel in a similar manner to November 26, 2008, carnage, where nine LeT operatives had laid siege to the property, which went on for over 60 hours and claimed scores of innocent tourists, guests, and hotel employees lives. Later, a similar call was made to the Bandra (West) property. Both the calls were made from a single number, which is being investigated by a team of cyber cell officials, Mumbai Police authorities said. Both the hotels are shut because of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak but security has been beefed up to prevent any untoward incident, said a Mumbai Police official, who didnt wish to be named. Mumbai Police has intensified its patrolling across the city and also stepped up its vigil at all the vital installations following the threat calls. Overnight rain and high speed winds helped Mumbai record its lowest air pollution levels on Tuesday since air quality monitoring began in 2015, It has equalled the all-time low air quality recorded on September 4, 2019. The pollutant-measuring indicator -- air quality index (AQI) for PM2.5 pollutant, the breathable particulate matter that is 2.5 microns in size or smaller, which can cause health hazards, as they can be easily inhaled -- was 12, or in the good category, according to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research. The AQI forecast for Wednesday is at 10 and is likely to be the best since the monitoring started in 2015. Tuesdays AQI equalled the all-time improved air quality over the past five years, which was recorded on September 4, 2019, at 12. On Tuesday, Mumbais air was cleaner than major international cities such as London (21), Tokyo (52), Sydney (25), and Singapore (25). However, New Yorks AQI topped Mumbais at 10. Researchers from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said a combination of factors had led to improved air quality in Mumbai. The coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-induced lockdown restrictions had brought down the PM concentration to its background levels because of lack of human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. It takes time for PM levels to rise again even after emissions resurface. Intense rainfall over Mumbai between Monday night and early Tuesday morning, the high moisture content in the citys air, combined with wind speed ranging at a maximum of 30 kilometres per hour (kmph) allowed swift dispersion of pollutants close to the surface, said Gufran Beig, director, SAFAR. This is a characteristic of the monsoon season but it is getting further enhanced due to lockdown restrictions that are in place since mid-March. AQI and PM concentration is likely to remain in the good category, as more rains are predicted over the city in the coming days, he added. The concentration of PM2.5 was as low as 7 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m3) against the prescribed limit of 60g/m3 for 24 hours is considered a national safety standard and 25 g/m3 as the World Health Organization (WHO) safety standard. PM2.5 levels are likely to fall further to 6 g/m3 on Wednesday and 10 g/m3 on Thursday, said SAFAR authorities. PM10 (large coarse particulate matter of 10-micron size or smaller) was 14 g/m3 against the safety limit of 60 g/m3. It is expected to be 11 g/m3 on Wednesday and 16 g/m3 on Thursday. SAFAR authorities categorise AQI levels for PM2.5 in the 0-50 range as good; 51-100 as satisfactory; 101-200 as moderate; 201-300 as poor; 301-400 as very poor and above 400 as severe. All 10 locations, where AQI was monitored in the city, recorded good air quality and it didnt cross 30. Colaba had the cleanest air with an AQI of 2, followed by Mazgaon (5), Bhandup and Chembur (8), Borivli (10), BKC (15), Andheri (16), Malad (17), Worli (18), and Navi Mumbai (26), the highest. Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modis official mobile application, popularly known as NaMo app, of violating privacy of Indians. Chavans tweet comes on a day when India decided to block 59 Chinese mobile applications including TikTok, calling them prejudicial to Indias sovereignty and integrity, defence, security and public order. Chavan referred to the ban on the Chinese apps and claimed further that the NaMo app changes the privacy settings and sends data to third party companies in the US. Its good that Modi government is protecting privacy of 130 crore Indians by banning 59 Chinese apps. The NaMo app also violates privacy of Indians by accessing 22 data points, surreptitiously changing the privacy settings and sending data to third party companies in the US, Chavan tweeted on Tuesday. Google Play Store describes the NaMo app as the official mobile app of Narendra Modi. It brings to you latest information, instant updates & helps you contribute towards various tasks. It provides a unique opportunity to receive messages and emails directly from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it says. Indias decision to ban TikTok, WeChat and others becomes trending topic on social media in China According to information publicly available on the google website hosting details of mobile applications available on Google play store---- the NaMo App was last updated on January 8, 2020 and has been installed by 10,000,000+ (over 1 crore) users. According to Google Play, the interactive app seeks to access location both approximate location (network-based) and precise location (GPS and network-based), microphone for users to record audio, device id and call information-- which essentially relates to phone status and identity-- photos/media/files. India bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok and Shein, Twitter reactions are epic It also seeks access to the mobile camera, phone, wifi connection information, contacts and other miscellaneous permissions. Another section called the Highlights of the Narendra Modi App, says the app offers attractive infographics that illustrate the work of the NDA government to transform India, provides exclusive opportunity to receive e-mails & messages directly from PM Narendra Modi, broadcasts PMs monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat and offers exciting features that empower you to contribute towards making a positive difference in society. It adds that the app can be accessed even as a guest without entering ones email address or phone. This is unlike most other Apps, where some sort of info is required, the website says. 2,58,988 users on Google Play Store have given the application 4.6 rating out of 5. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who had last week blamed India for his mounting troubles, on Tuesday faced a sharp attack from top leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party who demanded that the prime minister step down immediately, according to news agency ANI. PM Oli had last week accused New Delhi of orchestrating efforts to topple him in an effort to put the rival faction led by co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on a back foot. PM Oli, speaking at an event on Sunday, had claimed that his rivals were trying to pull the rug from under his feet because he had brought out a new political map that had upset Nepals giant neighbour. But this attempt appeared to have backfired. At the partys 44-member standing committee meeting on Tuesday, local media reports quoted communist party leaders such as Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam stepping up their pitch to seek his removal. They have argued that the Oli-led government had failed to deliver on basic governance issues and was blaming India to divert attention, according to a report in the website of newspaper The Himalayan Times. Also Read: Nepal extends lockdown to July 22 As things progressed, party co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal asked PM Oli to quit owing to the governments gross, all-round incompetence, according to a source close to Dahal. Many NCP (NCP) leaders came down heavily on PM Oli for failing to deliver as well as for applying diversion tactics to fend off criticisms, the Himalayan Times report on its website said. Local media reports said PM Olis rival faction is hell bent to force him to either quit the Prime Ministerial post or the position of party co-chair. eKantipur, another news website suggested that PM Oli tried to brush aside calls for his resignation, repeating his allegation about New Delhis role. Also Read: How Nepals PM is harming ties Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, slammed Oli. The Prime Ministers remarks that India was conspiring to remove him was neither politically correct, nor diplomatically appropriate, Prachanda said, according to news agency PTI. Such a statement by the Prime Minister may damage our relations with the neighbour, he warned. PM Oli had last month unveiled Nepals new map that made fresh territorial claims on Indias Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura region. Analysts in Kathmandu and New Delhi had interpreted his governments hard push to the map to be an effort to whip up ultra-nationalistic sentiments against India. PM Olis rivals within and without the party played along with him to accord parliamentary approval to the new map but revived the campaign for his ouster soon after. Also Read: Indias ties with Nepal set for deep freeze after Kathmandus decisive step on new map India has rejected Nepals claim as untenable and described it as an artificial enlargement of the territorial claims. It has also maintained that New Delhi values its friendly relations with Nepal and its people. Three days ago, Communist party president Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda had demanded Olis resignation while questioning his attempt to pass on the blame to New Delhi. On Monday, Nepal foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali had said that the government hoped that the territorial dispute between India and Nepal would be resolved through diplomatic efforts and that it should not impact other dynamics of the bilateral ties, as reported by PTI. Acharya Balkrishna, the chief executive officer of Patanjali that was seen to claim a cure for Covid just last week, on Tuesday claimed that the company had never claimed that its newly-tested medicines would treat coronavirus. This reeks of a conspiracy, the companys chief executive told reporters on Tuesday after the company responded to notices from Uttarakhands drug regulatory body. At least one FIR has been filed accusing the company of making misleading claims. The Uttarakhand High Court also issued notice to the Centre on a petition over the claims made by the company on Tuesday. Balkrishna said the company had never claimed to have made a medicine to cure Covid. We cited Coronil as ayurvedic medicine for immunity boosting, fever, cough and allergic problems, Balkrishna said. He insisted that the company had only pointed out that the clinical trials indicated that Covid-19 patients, when given this medicine, got cured. Only results of clinical trial based curing of positive patients were claimed by us, he said. Balkrishnas effort to distance himself from the claim and perception is at variance with his Twitter timeline where he had retweeted news reports and congratulatory messages for discovering a medicine that could cure Covid-19. Or the many statements that he and Baba Ramdev had been issuing over the last fortnight. Watch | Never said Coronil can cure Covid patients: Patanjali CEO Balkrishna The whole country and the world was waiting for medicine or vaccines for corona. We are proud to announce that the first Ayurvedic, clinically controlled trial based evidence and research-based medicine has been prepared by the combined efforts of Patanjali Research Centre and NIMS, Yoga Guru Ramdev had said at the press conference on June 23. Also read | All parameters met: Patanjali claims Coronil clinical trial details furnished to Centre That claim made headlines in India. But it also drew attention of the regulatory authorities who figured that Patanjali hadnt taken the requisite clearances from the state or central authorities. The Union Ayush Ministry issued gag orders, prohibiting Patanjali from advertising its claim before the approvals were in place. The first hint about the changing stance of the company had come a day after the companys announcement about the clinical trials. Uttarakhands Ayurveda department had then announced that Patanjali had only applied for a licence to manufacture an immunity booster, and not a cure for Covid-19. Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion at 1 PM. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. Indias decision to ban TikTok, WeChat and others becomes trending topic on social media in China Indias decision to ban 59 Chinese mobile applications, including Bytedances TikTok and Tencents WeChat, became a trending topic on social media apps in China on Tuesday morning. Read more Complete lockdown in 8 wards of Gurugram: No movement, door-to-door screening Authorities in Gurugram will enforce a complete lockdown from Tuesday in eight containment zones for two weeks as cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) have surged in the Haryana district. Read more What does outer space smell like? This perfume has the answer People have limitless curiosity about outer space. There are many who may have even wondered about how it smells. If youre among them, then be prepared to get your curiosity satiated as a kickstarter was recently launched for a new out of this world fragrance which brings the smell of space to Earth. Soon to be made available to everyone, this new perfume is called Eau de Space. Read more Aamir Khans staff tests positive for Covid-19, says taking mother for test: Please pray she is negative Aamir Khan has revealed some of his staff members have tested positive for Covid-19 and have been shifted to a medical facility. The actor added that his family members have tested negative for the novel coronavirus but his mother is yet to take the test, asking fans to pray for her. Read more It was Sachin Tendulkars idea to promote me as batsman, not Greg Chappells: Irfan Pathan Former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan has revealed that it was Sachin Tendulkar who had a role in making him bat at No. 3 for India. It was the first match of the ODI series between India and Sri Lanka in 2005 in Nagpur and Pathans promotion saw him score a scintillating 83 off 70 balls as India thrashed Sri Lanka by 152 runs. Read more Internet services providers to block access to the 59 apps banned by govt The 59 Chinese apps that have been banned by the government on Monday night will also be blocked by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country. Users who have these apps on their smartphones still will not receive updates, according to a senior government official. Read more National Doctors Day 2020: Quotes and wishes to share with your doctors The current pandemic that the world is undergoing warrants that this is perhaps the most difficult time we are ever going to face in our lives. It is even more difficult for the doctors who are working tirelessly to ensure that all those that are infected are provided with proper medical facilities. Their contributions and hard work deserve our gratitude each and every day. Read more Indias first covid vaccine candidate Covaxin approved for human trials 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, what you cant do in Unlock 2, how monsoon session of parliament will happen, Indias first covid vaccine candidate Covaxin approved for human trials and more. Watch the video for more details. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday appealed to citizens for making a renewed commitment to adherence to norms and regulations governing the lockdown restrictions imposed to contain the spread of deadly coronavirus disease. He asked citizens to confront, question, stop and advise people against violating social distancing and hygiene norms like the wearing of masks, specified by the government guidelines as necessary measures to be observed in public places during this global crisis. The Prime Minister also cited the example of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov who was recently fined for not wearing a mask in the public to say that no one in India was above the law. India was doing better than several countries in dealing with coronavirus, the timely lockdown and other restrictions have saved the lives of lakhs of people. But we are witnessing a certain carelessness in individual and social behavior ever since the beginning of the Unlock 1 phase, the PM said. He added that this was the time when the countrymen needed to be more careful as Covid 19 positive cases in India mounted rapidly to reach 5,66,840 cases on Tuesday. We were careful about social distancing and sanitization etc earlier, but now, when the situation demands greater care, increasing carelessness is worrisome, he said. Also Read:Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to be extended till November, announces PM Modi Building further on the need to adhere to the restrictions, the prime minister asked for peoples cooperation and active vigilance. We will have to stop and question those who are not following the norms and regulations so that the situation doesnt worsen, Modi said. He also cited the example of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov who was fined 300 levs or ($174) for not wearing a mask in the public. Earlier, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was also ordered by a judge to wear a mask in public after he was seen attending a political rally without one. The judge said that Bolsonaro would be liable to a fine of 2,000 Reais a day if he disobeyed the rule. Nobody is above the rules, whether it is the head of a village or the country in India, he said, making it clear that no one had any VIP privilege to break the rules enforced to contain the spread of the disease. This was prime minister Narendra Modis sixth address to the nation since the outbreak of the pandemic. Beijing on Tuesday said it was strongly concerned about New Delhis decision to ban 59, mostly Chinese, mobile applications such as TikTok, UC Browser and WeChat, stressed on cooperation between the two countries and underlined that the ban would go against Indias interests. The information technology ministry did not underline the Chinese links of the 59 mobile apps but government officials didnt leave anyone in doubt. The ban was fast-tracked by Home Minister Amit Shah after the June 15 violent confrontation between soldiers of India and China at eastern Ladakhs Galwan valley that spiralled tensions between the two neighbours. The official announcement only said the 59 applications were prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users, the Indian IT ministry statement on Monday evening said. Also Watch | Chinese apps banned: Alternatives to TikTok, CamScanner, ES File Explorer Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Beijing was strongly concerned about the order. China is strongly concerned about the relevant notice issued by the Indian side. We are checking on and verifying the situation, Zhao Lijian said at the regular ministry briefing on Tuesday. I want to stress that the Chinese government always asks the Chinese businesses to abide by international rules, local laws and regulations in their business cooperation with foreign countries, he said. Zhao also went on to remind New Delhi of its responsibilities towards foreign companies. The Indian government has the responsibility to uphold the legitimate and legal rights of the international investors including the Chinese ones, he said. The practical cooperation between China and India is actually mutually beneficial and win-win, he said Zhao added: Such a pattern has been artificially undermined and it is not in the interest of the Indian side. The decision by New Delhi to ban Chinese apps comes days after popular Chinese social media app WeChat - also banned by India - removed updates by the Embassy of India (EoI) on the current border conflict including Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement on the clash that left 20 Indian Army soldiers dead. The reasons given for the removal of the posts include divulging state secrets and endangering national security. The updates published on WeChat included Modis remarks on the India-China border situation, the phone call between the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers held earlier this month and a statement by the external affairs ministrys (MEA) spokesperson on the border situation. Indias decision to ban the China-linked apps and encourage people to use Indian applications is a continuing effort to reduce dependence on its neighbors products and hampers efforts by Chinas largest corporations to expand beyond their own borders Whether or not this small village, 35 kilometers from Sangam City, owns the proverbial stick, it surely owns the buffaloes, lots and lots of them. All 3000-odd residents of this village deal in buffalo trade, each house having a wide variety of milch cattle, from the popular Murrah variety to Surti and Jaffarabadi. On any given day, buyers from different parts of Prayagraj and many other districts can be seen striking deals and buying buffaloes here. Welcome to Payagipur, in Saidabad development block, which is better known as village of buffaloes and draws buyers from across the state. No one knows exactly when people began trading in buffaloes here, but the village has emerged as a prime supplier of quality buffaloes for the region for around three decades now. You can find Murrah, Nili Ravi, Surti, Jaffarabadi and Bhadawari breeds of buffaloes, for which one would otherwise need to travel to Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Murrah variety remains the top choice and fetches anywhere from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh, said Sangam Lal Pasi, a buffalo trader from the village. The village residents say that they owe their prosperity to the high-end breed of milch cattle which draw buyers from across the state. The income from the trade in buffaloes has enabled the villagers to construct pucca houses embellished with all basic amenities and also buy land for farming and own tractors and tube-wells, said Vijay Pasi, the village pradhan. Money from buying and selling buffaloes has helped us afford good education for our kids also, he said. Today the village attracts buyers from various districts like Bhadoi, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Kaushambi, among others, with annual buffalo trade in the village believed to be worth around Rs 4 crore, he added. The villagers buy healthy and good breed buffalo calves from select villages and cattle markets of Haryana and Punjab, and then sell them a year or two later as they mature into healthy milch cattle, helping them make big profits. Every year the buffalo traders in small groups head to different villages and markets of Haryana and Punjab in October-November to buy calves, said Rajesh Patel, one of the villagers with 20-odd buffaloes. We buy calves for Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 each depending upon the breed and the quality and then transport them in trucks to the village. After proper care and nurturing, these buffaloes sell anywhere between Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh each, he added. We have around 2,500 buffaloes of varying ages in the village at any given moment. Two thousand litres of milk is produced every day which is sold and utilised locally, said Pappu Patel, another local trader. Many other traders like Ganga Prasad, Ram Singh, Ram Charan, Lalji and Radheshyam however rued lack of government support to further promote the trade. Contrary to popular belief, rearing a buffalo calf into a healthy milk-giving buffalo is a tough task and needs good investment. We have to hire private veterinary doctors, bear the cost of medicines and vaccines besides fodder and other care annually and an entire family of the trader has to remain involved. A small vet centre here in the village would be a great help, they maintained. In Thodys own account, he writes that he proceeded driving until it was safe to stop and check his car for damage, which he found to be cosmetic. He then writes, Given that there was no damage to the guardrail, and minor damage to the vehicle (I assessed was under $1,000), I prioritized my response back to Hartford for the protests over awaiting a State Police response. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on Tuesday evening. The address will begin at 4 pm, a tweet from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) said on Monday. PM Modis address comes amid tension with China over a stand-off in the Ladakh sector where 20 Indian soldiers were killed on June 15. India has increased patrolling and deployed troops since the stand-off where India and Chinese soldiers came to blows. The prime minister has more than once reiterated that no Indian territory is under enemys control and that there are no Chinese outposts on Indian land in Ladakh. PM Modi had held an all-party meeting too on the issue where he paid tribute to the bravehearts who were killed in the line of duty, praised the unity shown by the various political parties and assured that no one entered the Indian territory. The Congress, however, criticised PM Modis statement and has since been demanding proof from the government on whether the Chinese have captured parts of Indian territory. PM Modi had talked about the issue in his monthly radio address Mann ki Baat where he said that Indian soldiers had given a befitting reply to those who coveted Indian territory. This would be the prime ministers sixth address to the nation since the outbreak of the pandemic. Modi had last addressed the nation on May 12 when he had announced a Rs 20 lakh crore financial package to boost the economy recovering from coronavirus-induced lockdown. In his March 19 address, the prime minister announced a janta curfew on March 22. On March 24, he announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown. On April 14, he extended the lockdown period till May 3. On April 3, in a video message, PM Modi asked the nation to light lamps for frontline corona warriors on April 5. The lockdown was further extended till May 17 by the Home Ministry. Now, the country is in the phase one of unlock and the month-long phase 2 begins on July 1. On Monday evening, the government banned 59 Chinese apps under national security considerations. The Congress has expressed its disappointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modis address to the nation on Tuesday, where he announced an extension to the PM Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana for free distribution of food grains to the poor till the end of November.The Congress party questioned why the PM didnt address the issue of Chinese incursions. Forget condemning China, the PM is too afraid to even talk about it in his national address, a tweet on Congress partys official handle said, a few minutes after the prime ministers address finished. The highlight of the prime ministers address was the extension to PM Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana at the cost of over Rs 90 thousand crore. Under this scheme, the central government provides free ration to 80 crore poor people, he said. Every member of the family will get 5 kg wheat or rice. Also, every family will get one kilogram whole chana per month, free of cost, the prime minister said announcing the extension to the scheme launched especially to help the poor deal with the economic hardships inflicted by the lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic outbreak. The Congress seemed to suggest that todays address could have been avoided. Another national address that could have been a Govt notification, the party said in another tweet preceding the one related to the Chinese incursion question. Also Read: Respond to China, not Opposition parties, Shiv Sena tells Modi govt The Congress has been demanding that the prime minister clarifies on his earlier remark on China made during the all party meet. The party has attacked the prime minister ever since alleging that he had denied the incidents of Chinese intrusion across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in contradiction with his own governments official statements confirming the occupation of Indian territory by the Chinese army. Also Read: No one above the law: PM Narendra Modi asks for confronting Covid-19 norms violators Earlier today, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain how he proposes to drive Chinese troops out of Ladakh. The whole country knows that China has snatched Indias land. We all know the Chinese are at four places in Ladakh. Please tell the country how you will evict the Chinese troops and when? he asked in a video address barely an hour before the Prime Ministers address to the nation. Also Read: When will you evict Chinese troops from Ladakh? Rahul Gandhi asks PM Modi He also took a swipe at the BJP over the rising imports from China to allege that the Make in India was not effective. Facts dont lie. BJP says: Make in India. BJP does: Buy from China, he said in a tweet which was posted along with a graph showing comparative volumes of imports from China during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The graph suggested that the Chinese imports had risen under the current regime. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the extension of the key central scheme to help the poor during the coronavirus crisis. PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) will be extended till the end of November in which free ration will be provided to the poor. The extension will cost over Rs 90 thousand crore, PM Modi said in his address to the nation. The prime minister said that 80 crore people will get free ration for five more months. He also highlighted the work done by the Centre since the lockdown came into force. Under the PMGKAY, we announced a package of Rs 1.75 lakh crore. In the last three months, Rs 31,000 crore have been deposited in the bank accounts of 20 crore poor families. Also, Rs 18,000 crore deposited in bank accounts of more than nine crore farmers, PM Modi said. His short address, sixth since the pandemic began in March, entirely focussed on Indias coronavirus battle and the steps the government took to minimise the impact of the crisis. PM Modi also reiterated the fact that India has a low fatality rate as compared to the world, a fact which he attributed to the governments decision to impose an early lockdown. He also hailed farmers and honest tax payers for their contribution in making the welfare scheme successful. PMGKAY is a Rs 1.7-lakh crore financial package announced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to minimise the impact of lockdown on economy and poor. The existing National Food Security Act provides 5kg of foodgrain per person monthly at a subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg to the countrys poor. Under the PMGKY, the ration quota was enhanced by another 5 kg for free for the next three months in March. The lockdown announced on March 24 shuttered shops, factories, and construction sites, rendering millions of migrant workers jobless. Thousands of non-resident Telugus in the US and other countries are planning demonstrations on July 3 to express their solidarity with the farmers of Amaravati, the present capital city of Andhra Pradesh, as their agitation against the trifurcation of the state capital completes 200 days. More than 24,000 farmers of Amaravati capital region have been on the warpath ever since the YSR Congress Party government in the state, led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, announced on December 17 last year about creating three capitals executive capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool. These farmers belonging to 29 villages - who gave away nearly 34,000 acres of their fertile land to the capital city during the previous Telugu Desam Party regime in 2015 - strongly resisted the move, asserting that they had sacrificed their livelihood in anticipation of the development of a world-class capital city in Amaravati. For the last 200 days, these farmers have been waging a relentless battle demanding that the capital be retained at Amaravati. They took out rallies, held relay hunger strikes, blocked the national highways and braved arrests and lathi attacks from the police. Some of the farmers died of heart attacks due to psychological pressure, prominent Telugu businessman Jayaram Komati told HT over the phone from California. Komati, who was former president of Telugu Association of North America (TANA) and former special representative of AP government for North America, said representatives of non-resident Telugu associations in the US had decided to stage demonstrations in as many as 200 cities, in support of the 200 days agitation by Amaravati farmers to retain their capital city. We thought of taking up huge rallies, but because of Covid-19 pandemic, we wont be able to get permission for the same. So, we decided to restrict our protests by taking out candle-light rallies in these cities to convey our solidarity to the fighting farmers of Amaravati, Komati said. He said on coming to know about the proposal, Telugus in several other cities had also come forward to hold rallies. Similarly, Andhra people in other countries like Singapore, Thailand, Australia, England and New Zealand have also evinced interest in similar demonstrations. In all, the protests are likely to take place in 300 cities, the NRI businessman said. He reminded that the NRIs were not against the Jagan government, but were only demanding that the capital city be retained in Amaravati. We strongly feel that there should be decentralisation of development, but centralised administration, he said. The NRI Telugus had contributed to the building of the state capital. When former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu launched a campaign My Brick, My Amaravati aimed at selling electronic bricks to build Amaravati, they responded in huge numbers. The TANA collected donations from its community members in the US and Canada under My Brick, My Amaravati campaign and presented the collected donations to the previous TDP government. More than 2.28 lakh NRI donors purchased nearly 58 lakh bricks sold online, each at a cost of Rs 10. Komati said the Andhra NRIs would continue to help the agitating farmers of Amaravati financially and morally to help them fight a legal battle against the decision to shift the capital. We shall use all our resources and influences to see that the capital is retained at Amaravati, he said. The Shiv Sena took on the Narendra Modi-government and said that instead of giving a befitting reply to China for infiltration and killing Indian soldiers in Ladakh, the government is focusing on responding to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. An editorial the Sena mouthpiece Saamana said that the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress war of words is on at a time with China is building its army on the border. It added that like the coronavirus caller tune, somebody should run a tune that we have to fight China and not opposition parties. The Sena also took potshots at Union home minister Amit Shah and said that he should focus on combating Covid-19 and not pay attention to what the opposition parties are saying on China. The Chinese troops infiltrated in Galwan valley and it is carrying out unauthorised construction. Instead of giving China a befitting reply, the government is giving a strong response to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party. Rajiv Gandhi Foundation got funds from China. On this, the Congress shot back saying PM Cares got funds worth crores from Chinese companies. The Chinese are building bunkers and tents at the border and here BJP-Congress spat is on. It seems we have forgotten that we have to fight the Chinese, the editorial said. The Shiv Sena backed Rahul Gandhi for questioning the government on the violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops that left 20 Indian soldiers dead earlier this month. Who is indulging in politics [over the Chinese infiltration]? Rahul Gandhis questions are not just bubbles in the water. Perhaps, Sharad Pawar also has the same queries. If China hasnt intruded on our land, why were the 20 soldiers martyred? it asked. Referring to Shahs comments that the country will win battles against Covid-19 and against China under Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership, the Sena said, We wish Mr. Shah the best. He should focus on the two battles. The government should not focus on the opposition party. There is no need to be rattled by questions raised by the opposition party. It added that there is no need to debate what happened in 1962 and said that we should forget the past and tackle the fresh crisis. it added, Whether it was Nehru or Modi, China will never change. Convalescent plasma therapy to treat coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients got a boost after the Union Ministry of Health Ministry & Family Welfare (MoH&FW) issued revised blood transfusion guidelines to include the collection of convalescent plasma under clinical trials protocol from donors, who have recently recovered from the viral infection. Systems should be in place to enable re-entry of cured Covid-19 patients, as donors for convalescent plasma for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. The treatment of Covid-19 patients using plasma therapy is under clinical trial and currently, no evidence of the efficacy of the convalescent plasma as a treatment modality for SARS-COV-2, which causes the viral disease, is established the use of convalescent plasma for routine treatment of Covid-19 patients is not recommended at present, stated the ministry guidelines. Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), a voluntary humanitarian organisation, is working to create a database of potential convalescent plasma donors for dedicated hospitals treating Covid-19 patients. We are creating a list of eligible convalescent plasma donors that we can share with these hospitals. We need to extensively counsel some of these people, as they themselves were Covid-19 patients, who, at times, are not very comfortable with the idea of going back to a hospital, even if it is to donate plasma. We are also not getting too many inquiries from recovered patients. We are dependent on the hospitals to provide us with the list since we dont have a hospital of our own, said Dr. Vanshree Singh, director (blood bank), IRCS. The revised guidelines do not recommend testing of donated blood and blood components for Covid-19 or opting for more advanced Pathogen Reduction Techniques (PRT), citing reasons such as financial impracticality and lack of enough evidence to support transmission through blood transfusion. Testing of the blood supply for Covid-19 is not recommended in light of the risk of transfusion transmission being theoretical or lack of demonstrated infectivity of the Covid-19 virus in blood collected from asymptomatic persons. Routine practices of infectious disease testing for transfusion transmissible infections should not be changed, the guidelines stated. Pathogen Reduction Technologies (PRT) requires significant logistical and financial investment. PRT for whole blood is less widely available and studies of inactivation of coronavirus in whole blood are lacking. The introduction of PRT for the SARS-CoV-2 would not be cost-effective or proportionate and is not recommended, they added. The document has cited studies that say respiratory viruses are not known to transmit through blood transfusion. No cases of transfusion-transmission were ever reported for the other two coronaviruses that emerged during the past two decades (SARS and MERS-CoV). Virus detection in blood has only happened in symptomatic patients with Covid-19 to date. American Association of Blood Blanks, USFDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States of America) are not recommending any additional action by blood collection establishments at this time because there are no data or precedent suggesting the risk of transfusion-transmission for Covid-19 According to the USFDA, there have been no reported or suspected cases of transfusion-transmitted Covid-19, the experts, who drafted the guidelines, stated. However, the government has asked blood banks to screen donors thoroughly for Covid-19 related symptoms, and discard or recall the donated blood, if there was even slightest suspicion of any strain of the virus. The donors will have to wait for at least 28 days before they are eligible again. People, who cannot donate blood, are laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19, irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms; contacts of a laboratory positive case or those with travel history to a country where community transmission of the viral disease is established. The blood samples collected from a donor, who turns out to be Covid-19 positive, or is an unconfirmed case or even a close contact of a laboratory positive case within 28 days of donation, will be discarded. All known positive cases cannot donate for 28 days after the end of 7 day home isolation post-discharge or when symptoms subside, or travel to a Covid-19 affected country, the guidelines stated. Dr. RN Makroo, president, Indian Society of Transfusion Medicine, said thorough screening is a must. For regular donors, a thorough screening of the history of the person is good enough. You cannot conduct a blood test or PRT, which is not just very expensive but is also not available in India. We must strengthen the screening of our regular donors thats the only solution. The new guidelines are pretty comprehensive and they should be followed in letter and spirit, said Dr. Makroo. Though The government guidelines insist on a 28-day of deferral, we go by six weeks. It is better to be safe than sorry, said Dr. Singh from IRCS. New Delhi: Focus on the real estate sector to create jobs, strengthen electronics manufacturing to cut dependence on other countries, particularly China, and offer rebates to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) were some of the suggestions made at Prime Minister Narendra Modis meeting last week with his ministers, said people aware of the matter. The meeting was called to address the twin concerns of job creation and strengthening of the economy. Modi was suggested to focus on strengthening the governments ambitious project, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, which proposes housing for all urban poor and has a target of building 20 million affordable houses by March 2022. As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sithraraman, Rs 3 lakh crore collateral-free loans for MSMEs were announced. However, there is a need to address concerns that both the banks and the borrowers have. A minister made a suggestion that there is a need to build confidence for both sides so that banks can give loans without security and the MSMEs are encouraged to avail of the lower rate of interests, said one of the persons on condition of anonymity. Modi announced the 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-Reliant India Movement) in May that combined policy reforms with fiscal and monetary measures. Another minister suggested India should be positioned as a manufacturing hub of electronics and said Chinese smartphone makers control Indias over 70% market. There was a discussion on how India can also look at starting production in areas where we traditionally depend on other countries like aircraft... Going forward there is going to be a great demand for more air travel and India could explore tie-ups with manufacturers to set up plants here, said a second person on condition of anonymity. Specific jobs and skill training for migrant workers, who want to stay back in their native states after losing their jobs because of the Covid-19 pandemic, was also discussed. The issue of collaborating with countries keen to move businesses out of China was also part of the discussions. The second person cited above said a suggestion was made for India and Australia to join forces to become the leaders in steel production. Currently iron ores go from India and Australia and China is the largest manufacturer, the second person said on condition of anonymity. In his radio broadcast Mann KI Baat on Sunday, Modi reiterated the need for self-reliance and encouraging local production. He said being vocal for local is also a way to strengthen the country and to serve it. A self-reliant India would be a tribute to our martyrs in the truest, deepest sense, Modi said while referring to 20 soldiers killed in a clash with Chinese troops in Ladakhs Galwan Valley on June 15. The first person cited above said a similar meeting was held in January when Modi chaired a two-day review of the five-year vision documents of various ministries and departments. The PM had referred to the growth rate [that had fallen to 4.5% in the September quarter] and urged ministers to come up with suggestions to revive the economy. Now with the coronavirus pandemic, the situation has worsened and the PM is keen that all ministers suggest turnaround models, said the first person. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is expected to undertake major cabinet expansion in the next few days, after meeting senior leaders of the BJP, including Union home minister Amit Shah and Jyotiradtiya Scindia, in New Delhi. The second cabinet expansion comes at the time when the state is getting ready for by-polls in 24 assembly constituencies in the next few months. In the first expansion on April 21, he had inducted five ministers even though he can have 35 ministerial council, including himself. The cabinet expansion would take place soon, Chouhan had said on Wednesday. A senior BJP leader said Chouhan, state BJP president VD Sharma and general secretary (organisation) Suhas Bhagat left for Delhi on Sunday to discuss cabinet expansion. On Monday, talks took place between Chouhan and the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including president JP Nadda and Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, he added. Chouhan is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the evening, ahead of the cabinet expansion in the state, the leader cited above said. In the first expansion, two of the 22 ex-MLAs, loyalists of Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia, who had resigned from the state assembly in March as Congress MLAs and then joined the BJPTulsi Silavat and Govind Singh Rajputwere inducted in the cabinet. Former Congress ministers among these 22 rebels not accommodated in the cabinet include Pradyumn Singh Tomar, Mahendra Sisodia, Prabhuram Chaudhary and Imarti Devi. BJP leaders said there was a possibility that Chouhan may include at least 11 of the 22 rebel Congress leaders, who had joined the BJP. But there are concerns that accommodating 11 rebel Congress leaders may upset senior BJP legislators, who are eying a cabinet position, and many not go down well with party workers. The party leadership is now trying to work out an amicable solution, another senior party functionary, who was not willing to be named, said. According to him, Chouhan has conveyed the concerns of the party colleagues in the state, who are upset over being overlooked for a cabinet position, to the central BJP leadership. There are over a dozen BJP legislators, who have been ministers in earlier councils headed by Chouhan and many of them are considered close to him and very senior in the party hierarchy. The MP unit of the party has decided that MLAs who could not be included in the cabinet would be accommodated as administrators of the cooperative bodies, government-run boards and corporations to avoid any rumblings within the party, the BJP functionary said. He, however, said these senior legislators have yet not been informed about this decision and therefore, their reaction is not known. Bhupendra Gupta, the spokesperson of the Congress state unit, said it was all being done to misuse government machinery for the by-polls. Otherwise, there is no logic behind the second expansion amid the Covid situation particularly when the state government is doing nothing except transfers and postings of government officials for reasons known to all, Gupta said. State BJP leader Dr Hitesh Bajpai said it was a routine matter. Cabinet expansion is a routine exercise in the government and prerogative of the chief minister. Whenever CM thinks he is need of a bigger cabinet he will and can do it, Bajpai said. The Chhattisgarh government has said it will make payments to tendu leaf collectors in cash after a protest by thousands of tribals in Bijapur district in Bastar region on Monday, saying bank transfers dont help. On Monday, thousands of tribals from remote villagers of Maoist-hit Bijapur district reached the district headquarters to start a three-day protest in front of the collectors office demanding that the money of tendu leaf procurement should be given in cash as they face trouble reaching the banks and many of them dont have accounts. Most of these villagers were from Gangaloor, Cherlapal and other interior areas which are located south of the district. Some of these villages are 50km from district headquarters with no road connectivity. The tribals also demanded that the bonus given on the paddy procurement should also be given in cash, the government should open schools and hospitals in their area and that police atrocity should stop. Meanwhile, police sealed the district headquarters and deployed extra forces have been deployed in the city following the protest and talks between the tribal representatives and administration is going on. Kawasi Lakhma, the industry minister, in the letter to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday, said that public representatives of Maoist-affected Sukma, Dantewada and Bijpaur have demanded to release the payments of tendu collectors in cash. In these three districts there is provision for payment through bank cheques but many tribals do not have Aadhaar, PAN card or bank accounts which causes unnecessary troubles. Some areas and about 70 to 80km from the district headquarters, Lakhma wrote. Bhupesh Baghel considered the demand and cancelled the order making the payments through bank mandatory and ordered that tendu leaves collectors in Sukma, Dantewada and Bijapur will receive cash payments, a government press release said. Ritesh Agarwal, Bijapurs collector said the district administration will provide every help to the tribals. Those people who have bank accounts their procurement money will be transferred in their accounts and we will pay them with help of bank sakhis (banking correspondents), who will reach their villages to pay them their money. We have 11 banking correspondents and recruiting about 30 others in next four days, Agarwal said while speaking to reporters. Tendu leaf is procured in Chhattisgarh at Rs 4,000 per sack from the tribals and this year about government procured the leaves worth about Rs 100 crore from Bijapur district only. The road connectively is till Gangaloor and most of these tribals are from more than a dozen of villages which are beyond Gangaloor. In 2018, just before the legislative assembly elections, the money was paid to them in cash because of non-connectivity and pressure of the then tribal minister Mahesh Gagda, who was from Bijapur, said a senior government officer posted in the region. Since then the tribals of these areas are demanding that tendu patta procurement money should be given in cash, the official said. The officer added that their demand should be addressed. This is a fact that they are facing a problem. Some of them have to walk for more than 40km. Most of these tribals dont have motorbikes and hence they rent a four-wheeler to reach bank but owing to lockdown the vehicles have also stopped. The government should recruit banking correspondents and send it to their villages or the government should arrange vehicles for them, said the officer. Activists believe tribals are facing problems during the coronavirus lockdown and the government is not paying any heed. There demands are genuineThousands of tribals have come from Gangaloor, Cherlapal and other villages in Bijapur have reached district headquarters after walking for a day., said Himanshu Kumar, a tribal rights activist working in Bastar. The tribals are demanding that they should be paid in cash for tendu patta procurement, which the government is paying through the banks. Bank branches are very less in tribal areas For some tribals this distance is up to 50 and 60 kilometres, Kumar said. Kumar claimed that there is no bus or any other means of transport available for the tribals to reach these banks. Thousands of tribal families do not even have bank accounts due to which they are not getting paid. The tribals had told the collector a month ago that they should be paid in cash but they did not listen, therefore they have started this protest, said Kumar. Two terrorists were killed in a gunbattle with security forces at Waghama in Jammu & Kashmirs Anantnag district on Tuesday, four days after they fired at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) patrol and left a trooper of the paramilitary force and an eight-year-old boy dead, a top police officer said. Inspector general (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said the two and their another accomplice, Zahid Daas, were involved in the killing of a policeman last year as well as the CRPF trooper and the boy. He appreciated the forces for exercising the utmost restraint and ensuring a clean operation with no collateral damage in Waghama. Police released Daass picture and said he was involved in the attack on the CRPF patrol on Friday. The gunbattle in Waghama was triggered after the two terrorists fired at security forces during a cordon-and-search operation that was launched following specific information about the terrorist presence in the village. During the search operation, as the presence of terrorists got ascertained, they were given the opportunity to surrender. However they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party, which was retaliated leading to an encounter, said a police statement. The identities of the two slain terrorists were not immediately ascertained. The police statement said arms and ammunition were also recovered from gunbattle site. It added the bodies of the two were sent to Handwara, around 100 km away, for their burial after medico-legal formalities. In case any family claims the killed terrorists to be their kith or kin, they can come forward for their identification and participation in last rites at Handwara, the statement said. Slain terrorists have been buried away from their native places in Baramulla, Handwara, and Ganderbal due to Covid-19 restrictions over the last two months, which have coincided with an escalation of violence in the region. Security forces have stepped up operations and killed 128 terrorists this year mostly in South Kashmir. As many as 48 terrorists have been killed in June, the highest in a month since 39 were gunned down in November 2018. The Jammu & Kashmir police on Monday declared the Union territorys Doda district totally militancy free, saying the regions last surviving Hizbul Mujahideen commander was killed in a counter-insurgency operation along with two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in adjoining Kashmir Valleys Anantnag district. Dilbag Singh, the Jammu & Kashmir police chief, said anti-terror operations were going at full throttle with the killing of 128 terrorists this year so far even as terrorist launchpads remained active and Pakistan was trying to push more militants into the region. Our security forces have foiled their sinister designs and will keep doing so, he said during a visit to Poonch along the LoC. He said of the 128, 70 belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen, 20 each to Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba, and the remaining to other outfits. Singh called South Kashmir the epicentre of terrorism and added security forces have been successful in eliminating militants in large numbers there. He added only 24 militants remain active in the region. The positive development is that naive and gullible youth, who used to be brainwashed by the terrorists and their OGWs [overground workers] are not taking up arms. Their number has come down drastically. They have been motivated by their families and security forces to lead a normal and productive life. Ira Friedman, who along with wife, Ellen, is active in the local Democratic Party, said that at first, he would just make an exaggerated cough to get his point across if he saw someone without a mask. But he said he has become more vocal about it as the number of cases has grown. TikTok stopped working in India on Tuesday as the company appeared to comply with a ban announced a day before by the Union government, which said that the widely used video sharing tool and 58 other mostly Chinese apps were a threat to national security. Those who had the application were no longer able to use it, and it no longer came up in searches on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, while the company disabled the webpage. Some of the other prominent applications such as WeChat and CamScanner continued to work and were available on the application stores of both platforms till Tuesday night. TikTok has been removed from both the app stores, said an official from the ministry of electronics and information technology (MEITY), asking not to be named. The cyber cell is working to ensure the other apps are taken down as well. A MEITY spokesperson confirmed that the TikTok ban had come into force. TikTok, according to Bloomberg data, had nearly 200 million users in India as of January this year and had become one of the most prominent social media tools used by young Indians. In a statement issued by TikTok on Twitter on Tuesday, the companys India head, Nikhil Gandhi, said: The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok, and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. HT was not able to independently verify if there was a meeting planned since MEITY officials did not respond to requests for a comment on this. In addition to the app not being visible on the app stores, TikTok also appeared to disable access to Indians on its website, redirecting instead to a notfound page. The Chinese government said on Tuesday it was strongly concerned about New Delhis decision to ban the apps, adding that the move was against Indias interests. The ban follows what has been a period of hostility not seen for decades between the two neighbours over the disputed territory in Ladakh. China is strongly concerned about the relevant notice issued by the Indian side. We are checking on and verifying the situation, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at the regular ministry briefing on Tuesday. Zhao reminded New Delhi of its responsibilities towards foreign companies. The Indian government has the responsibility to uphold the legitimate and legal rights of the international investors, including the Chinese ones, he said. According to experts, the ban seems to have been enforced by a voluntary disabling of services in India by TikTok for the time being. It does not work because the developers rerouted requests from Indian IP addresses to the error page. If it was blocked by ISPs, there would be a different message displayed, explained Anand V, an independent cybersecurity researcher. The ban on the 59 applications was under discussion since early June but picked up pace following the fatal confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in the middle of the month. MEITY cited complaints from agencies as well members of public that these applications were relaying data of Indian users to outside of the country. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures, the ministry said in a statement on Monday while announcing the move. Experts said there must be more clarity on what legal provisions were used to put the ban in place, citing what they said were two particular ways this could be done and one did not require an inter-ministerial review committee: the emergency order route. If tech platforms operating in India received an order directing blocking of access, they would normally do so. They should have asked under what process and legal authority that was being done, and why an emergency order was being issued -- and the channels to be able to push back in such review, said Raman Jit Singh Chima, lawyer and Asia Pacific policy director at Access Now, an international digital rights group. (With inputs from Binayak Dasgupta) The police in Andhra Pradeshs Nellore district on Tuesday arrested a senior employee of the state tourism department for beating a woman colleague with a stick and abusing her for asking him to wear a face mask as part of Covid-19 norms. The incident, which happened at AP Tourism Hotel at Dargamitta in Nellore town on Saturday afternoon, came to light today when a video footage obtained from the closed-circuit television cameras of the hotel went viral on social media. We have arrested the accused, C Bhaskar, working as deputy manager at the AP Tourism Hotel and he has been sent in judicial remand. A case was booked against him under Section 354 (assaulting a woman intending to outrage her modesty), 355 (using force to dishonour a person) and 324 (causing injuries using a weapon), Dargamitta sub-inspector of police K Venugopal said. Nellore district police are extremely sensitive to any violation or crime against women. Women safety is our top priority, a tweet from the Nellore police department said. #WATCH An employee of a hotel in Nellore under Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department beat up a woman colleague on 27th June following a verbal spat. Case registered against the man under relevant sections. pic.twitter.com/6u9HjlXvOR ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2020 According to the police, Bhaskar had been nursing a grouse against the 43-year-old woman, who is a contractual employee with the department. On Saturday, when he was talking to a senior accountant, Narasimha Rao, without wearing a mask, she suggested that he wear a mask because of the Covid-19 situation. Enraged at this, Bhaskar allegedly abused her, dragged her from her chair, caught hold of her hair and started beating her on her face and head with a stick pulled out from a wooden chair. He also insulted her in front of others, the SI said, quoting the complaint. Though other colleagues tried to stop him from assaulting her, he kept raining blows on her. Later, the woman, with the help of other colleagues, lodged a complaint with the police. Andhra Pradesh director general of police (DGP) Gautam Sawang directed the Disha police station (exclusive police stations to deal with crime against women) to take up the investigation into the Nellore tourism hotel incident and file the charge sheet within one week. Crime against women is unacceptable. We condemn the Nellore incident and action has been taken against the accused for manhandling the lady official, he said. Uttarakhand unlock 1.0 was a mixed bag with patients recovering from coronavirus disease (Covid-19), a spike in the number of positive cases and over 70% of fresh deaths due to the contagion or comorbidities. The unlock 1.0 was enforced from June 8 in a bid to the easing of lockdown restrictions, which were imposed in the hill state on March 22 to contain the spread of the pandemic. In June, Uttarakhand has reported almost 67% of the total Covid-19 positive cases, as the overall tally stood at 2,831 till Monday (June 29). The first Covid-19 positive case in the state was reported on March 15. But in June, 61%, or over 3,600, Covid-19 tests were conducted to rein in the pandemic. On June 23, over 100 days after the viral outbreak in Uttarakhand, the infection rate in the seven hilly districts were found to be higher, as compared to in the plain districts. In June, 34 out of the total 39 Covid-19 related deaths were reported. While over 2,000 people recovered from the viral infection during the month, as compared to 102 between March 15 and May 31. Anoop Nautiyal, the founder of Social Development for Communities, a Dehradun-based think tank, who has been analysing the Covid-19 data in the hill state, said that despite increasing cases and deaths, recoveries have also increased during June. Uttarakhand saw a spike in Covid-19 positive cases in June. The recovery rate and aggressive testing have also increased during the month. The state has not crossed 1,000 active cases since the outbreak was first reported. On average, over 1,240 tests were done per day with an average of 66 Covid-19 positive cases and 64 recoveries during the past one month, said Nautiyal. The state government has also gradually opened up economic activities by easing of lockdown restrictions and allowing offices and markets to operate. Pilgrims from the state have also been allowed to visit Char Dham. On June 8, the government had issued unlock guidelines for hotels, homestays, religious places, and shopping malls to reopen. The guidelines, issued by state chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh, had allowed the hotels and homestays to open but prohibited them from taking bookings from visitors hailing from 31 high-viral load Covid-19 cities across the country. It also barred hotels and homestays to reopen that are located in the containment zones and under the jurisdiction of Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC). The guests from non-high-viral load Covid-19 cities were allowed to stay for a minimum period of seven days but barred from visiting public places and tourist spots. The government also for the first time capped the number of pilgrims allowed to visit the Char Dham shrines and released a standard operating procedure (SOP) for pilgrims on June 9. Only residents from the districts, where the temples are situated, were allowed. However, all residents from the state have been allowed to visit the shrines from Wednesday (July 1). Ravinath Raman, chief executive officer (CEO), Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board, said that people from across the state would be allowed to visit the shrines following certain guidelines. However, anyone staying in a containment or buffer zone would not be allowed to enter any of the shrine premises. Anyone with symptoms similar to Covid-19 would not be allowed to undertake any pilgrimage, he added. On June 16, the government had amended the norms and made violations such as not wearing face masks in public places and any violence perpetrated against health workers and damage to the public property a punishable offence under The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. Around 15,000 people have been booked for not wearing face-masks in public places and over 2,000 for the violation of social distancing norms in June, said Ashok Kumar, director-general, (law & order), Uttarakhand Police. Anyone found not wearing a face mask or not maintaining social distancing in a public place could face a jail term of up to six months and a fine of Rs 5,000. On June 19, the government had decided to double the fare for both state-run Uttarakhand Road Transport Corporation and private buses. The government raised the fare citing losses by bus operators amid criticism from the opposition. The main opposition, Congress, termed the decision against the common man and a systematic loot. On June 25, the government had announced a one-time payment Rs 1,000 each to Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers as frontline Covid-19 warriors battling against the viral outbreak. Staff at the Uttar Pradesh chief secretarys office was sent into quarantine after a data entry operator tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. The campus was sanitised and the contact tracing of this operator and other employees had begun, the Chief Ministers office (CMO) said. A clerk at the Lucknow Municipal Corporations office near Utrethia (in zone 8) also tested positive. He was dealing directly with the public as he used to deposit house tax. Medical experts said the government will have to come out with a revamped strategy to combat Covid-19. Click here for full coverage of Covid-19. The number of containment zones in Lucknow has risen to 111, bringing half of the city under the coverage of corona. We need to think beyond what we have done so far, said Dr PK Gupta of the Indian Medical Association. A week ago, the number of containment zones in the state capital was around 50. But now the number has shot up and thats why a revamp in strategy is required, said Gupta. There is a need to set up testing centres in every containment zone while at the same time surveillance of patients must be increased, said Rama Srivastava, president, IMA (Lucknow). She added, There is a need to periodically sanitise all the areas of the city. We must also develop a mechanism to deliver essential goods at peoples doorsteps so that they do not have to venture out frequently. Director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences professor RK Dheeman said, In containment zones, entry and exit points must be monitored by the police more strictly to contain the spread of the disease. Yashwant Raj Bipartisan support for India has been growing among the US lawmakers amid its military standoff with China. Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republican-dominated US Senate, kicked off a floor debate on next years defense budget on Monday by slamming China for picking deadly fights with India. McConnell appealed for the chambers bipartisan support to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, 2021, with remarks highlighting recent threats from China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. China has resumed its submarine intrusions into Japanese contiguous zones and picked deadly fights with India at high altitude, McConnell said. In a floor speech on June 18, McConnell said the Chinese military appeared to have instigated the worst violent clash between China and India since those nations went to war way back in 1962. The clash left 20 Indian soldiers dead on June 15. Also on Monday, another Republican senator, Marco Rubio, supported India. Today I spoke to @SandhuTaranjitS to express our solidarity with the people of #India as they firmly confront unwarranted & lawless armed aggression by the Communist Party of #China. He was referring to a conversation with Taranjit S Sandhu, the Indian ambassador to the US. India has made it clear, they will not be bullied by Beijing, added Rubio, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, a congressional panel with oversight of the State Department and the countrys foreign policy. The State Department has also held Chinese aggression responsible for the borer clashes. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has referred to the clashes several times. The [Chinese] PLA [Peoples Liberation Army] has escalated border tensions--we see it today in India, the worlds most popular, populous democracy, he said on June 18. He also conveyed his condolences over the killing of the Indian soldiers. President Donald Trump offered to mediate in May, but the offer was turned down by both countries. In a TV interview on Sunday, Tom Cotton, a Republican senator, who is a close ally of Trump, denounced Chinas aggression on the border with India to illustrate the growing threat Beijing poses to the US and its allies. The Chinese Communist Party is certainly using the [Covid-19] pandemic to try to assert claims and take very aggressive action against almost all of its neighbours, Cotton said. High up in the Himalayas, China has essentially invaded India, an ally of ours. And they have killed 20 Indian soldiers. Cotton referred to Chinas violation of its international commitment regarding Hong Kong, aggression against Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, and Malaysia. China is becoming more aggressive than ever. That is why it is so important that we support all of our allies and partners. The Democratic-led House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Eliot Engel denounced the Chinese aggression early June before the deadly border clash. I am extremely concerned by the ongoing Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control on the India-China border, Engel said. China is demonstrating once again that it is willing to bully its neighbours rather than resolve conflicts according to international law. I am concerned by continued Chinese aggression along its border with India, Ami Bera, Indian-origin chair of the Asia subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted. Inside the Sathankulam police station in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, the judicial magistrate who was investigating if father and son P Jayaraj (59) and J Bennicks (31) were tortured to death while in custody on June 19, found himself to be a victim of intimidation of the policemen, his report to the court stated. The four-page inquiry report submitted by Kovilpatti judicial magistrate M S Barathidasan to the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Monday, and accessed by the Hindustan Times, cited the testimony of a policewoman, the only eyewitness on record, who confirmed that both Jayaraj and Bennicks were beaten through the night. It also revealed that camera footage from that night was unavailable on account of the CCTV camera inside the station being set on auto-delete. The report pointed to the police staffs insubordination and non-cooperation from the start. Also read | The inhumanity, illegality of custodial torture When Barathidasan along with court staff walked into the station on June 28 at 12.45pm, senior police officers C Prathapan and D Kumar were present and did not acknowledge him. Kumar was standing and flexed his body to show his physical strength, the report stated. The magistrate began his investigation at 1pm which went on for 15 hours. Deputy superintendent of police C Prathapan, additional deputy superintendent of police D Kumar and Sathankulam station constable Maharajan, are currently facing a contempt case based on Barathidasans complaint that they had actively obstructed him from conducting the investigation. The two senior police officials have been put on wait while constable has been suspended. Maharajan had also reportedly abused the judicial magistrate during the questioning. Three other policemen of the station -- one inspector and two sub inspectors were suspended from duty last week. Also read | Our George Floyds: Outrage at custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu The magistrate recorded the testimony of a woman head constable -- the only witness on record -- who was present on the night of June 19. She has testified that the father and son were beaten through June 19 night and into the wee hours of the morning. There were blood stains on the lathis and a table, she said and asked the magistrate to obtain them immediately. The witness, who asked the magistrate leave to maintain her anonymity, was afraid of other police officers overhearing her. A group of policemen gathered under a tree near the station premises and heckled the court staff accompanying the magistrate. She was panicking and we gave her time to calm down, said the report. In the report, the magistrate said that the stations officials deliberately delayed bringing documents and records. In order to collect camera footage from that night, Barathidasan was accompanied by an assistant systems officer from the district court, a local journalist and an expert to retrieve the footage. However, they found no CCTV recording from the station from June 19 when P Jayaraj and his son Bennicks were arrested. Despite enough storage of 1TB (terabyte), we found that the system was programmed in such a manner that the footage was auto-erased daily, the report stated. Everything was erased. The team installed a new 500 GB hard disk to confirm that the system worked. The report also spoke of the intimidatory attitude of the police in the station linked to the alleged custodial deaths of the father and son duo. Following the eyewitness testimony, the magistrate asked everyone to submit their lathis. But the policemen pretended like they didnt hear me, the report stated. Constable Maharajan first said that his lathi was in his native district. Later he said that it was in the police headquarters. Finally he said that he doesnt have a lathi at all. Eventually, the policemen handed in their lathis. There are no details of how many lathis were obtained and if they were bloodstained. Through the course of the inquiry, the atmosphere inside the station was unpleasant, condescending and fearful. The situation was not safe for us, said Barathidasan as the policemen kept taking videos of the process and threatened the staff. The magistrate had emailed the registrar of the court on June 29 to report that Maharajan had made an abusive remark in Tamil mocking the magistrate that he cant do anything. He said it behind my back but said it in a way I could hear him. A policeman even ran away from the station, during the questioning, the report stated. A simmering boundary dispute between India and Nepal hasnt stopped villagers in bordering areas in Uttarakhand from relying on Nepalese SIM cards due to poor connectivity of the Indian telecom service providers. The villagers mainly of Khumti gram panchayat in Pithoragarh district which comprises about 10-12 villages, have to depend on the Nepalese telecom service providers. They said they are forced to use Nepalese SIM cards as the network of the Indian telecom service providers is very poor in comparison to that of the Nepalese. Param Singh, a villager of Khumti village which is located about 15 km away from the Nepal border said, We are compelled to use the Nepalese SIM cards because we have no other option. Their network in this hilly terrain is very strong as compared to the Indian ones who have very poor or often no network. Singh added, The villagers who have someone known in Nepal, ask them to arrange a Nepalese SIM card for them on their documents and then receive it here when they come to visit them. It is the only way of communication for any work or emergency. He said almost everyone in the village has one Nepalese SIM and one Indian SIM card in their phones. When in the village, we use the Nepalese SIM and when in the market down with a better network, we use the Indian SIM cards. But not all villagers can access Nepalese SIM cards. Only those who know people in Nepal are able to get the SIM cards, others fail to get any, said Raju, another villager. I dont have anyone in Nepal, hence I am not able to get any Nepalese SIM card but I wanted one. I have to use the Indian ones only which have a very poor network here. Due to this, we face many problems especially in case of any emergency. This is the reason people here opt for a Nepalese SIM card, he said. Gopal Singh, head Khumti gram panchayat said, The Indian service providers started their service here about two years ago only. Before that people used to avail the WLL services only. Despite the starting of their services, the network is very poor. People have to search for its signals by moving in the village for about 2-3 km. Many hang their mobile phones in trees nearby their house to catch the network, said Singh. Singh also said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Nepalese SIM cards are now difficult to procure. As the movement of people has stopped due to the pandemic, the SIM cards are now not available easily. Those who have them, now have to ask their acquaintances in Nepal to recharge their connections. He said that usually one could get the Nepalese SIM cards of their Namaste Nepal or Sky networks at Rs 150-200. We have urged the administration to improve the connectivity of Indian networks in the area so that we dont need to use the Nepalese ones any more, but it is yet to improve, he said. Experts are divided on the usage of Nepalese SIM cards by the villagers near the border. MS Waldia, a retired Indian army Colonel, termed the use of Nepalese SIM cards and internet by the Indian villagers a dangerous thing for nations security. The government needs to take special attention towards the communication needs of border villages in the context of recent adverse behaviour of Nepal towards India, he said. Ankur Chandrakant, a cyber expert in Uttarakhand, however, claimed that there is no security risk as such by the use of Nepalese SIM cards by Indian villagers. It cant pose any security risk as they are being used for normal calling only. But the government should work towards boosting the connectivity in those areas by installing boosters at mobile towers or new towers. The local public representatives including Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami and Almora MP Ajay Tamta under whose constituency the area falls, are also aware of the issue. Dhami, Congress MLA from Dharchula offered his MLA LAD funds to boost the communication facilities in the area. Im ready to give whatever money required to set up the basic infrastructure for the communication at Indo-Nepal and Indo-China border areas, he said Almora MP Ajay Tamta said mobile phone towers will soon be installed in the region. Public telecom service provider BSNL is conducting a survey in the area keeping the needs of communication facilities. As soon as the survey gets completed, the work of installing towers will be started, he said. Vijay Jogdande, district magistrate Pithoragarh said the administration has written to BSNL and even the ministry of defence to take required measures to boost the mobile connectivity. The final decision has to be taken by them as installing mobile towers or boosters to improve phone connectivity is their prerogative. Once it is done, we can then maintain it later. Meanwhile, we have provided satellite phones in at least 36 gram panchayats in the border areas to connect to the authorities concerned in case of a disaster or emergency, said Jogdande. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell the nation how he proposes to drive Chinese troops out of Ladakh. The whole country knows that China has snatched Indias land. We all know the Chinese are at four places in Ladakh. Please tell the country how you will evict the Chinese troops and when? he asked in a video address barely an hour before the Prime Ministers address to the nation. The Congress has been attacking the Prime Minister over inconsistencies on the governments stand on the position of Chinese troops in Ladakh. Last week, the opposition party had asked Modi to publicly condemn Chinas brazen act in Ladakh. Modi has not yet named China amid the standoff. The Indian Army has been bracing itself for all eventualities in Ladakh and has deployed battle tanks in the Galwan Valley sector where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese troops on the night of June 15 that triggered a national outrage. Senior military commanders from India and China are meeting in Chushul on Tuesday to hammer out a disengagement protocol. On Monday, the government banned 59 China-lined mobile phone apps saying they were prejudicial to Indias sovereignty, security, defence and public order. The ban evoked a sharp response from Beijing on Tuesday which said it was strongly concerned and stressed on cooperation between the two countries and underlined that the ban would go against Indias interests. TikTok, one of the 59 mobile applications ordered to be blocked by the central government, on Tuesday insisted that it did not pass on any information about its users to any foreign government including the Chinese government and would not do so in the future too. In a statement that came hours after the government announced the ban on 59 mobile and web applications, TikTok Indias head Nikhil Gandhi said the company had been invited to meet with government stakeholders concerned to respond and submit clarifications. The banned applications have been removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store for India. The applications banned by the government include Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu and Bigo Live. Also read: Amit Shah poweredIndias ban on 59 China-linked mobile apps TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government, Gandhi said. Further, if we are requested to in the future, we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity, he added. The information technology ministry, which issued Monday evenings ban order, had cited concerns that the 59 applications are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. The IT ministry statement did not identify the 59 applications to be linked to China. But government officials have pointed that the China connection was one common factor between most of the applications that had been ordered to be blocked. Also Read: Indian websites not accessible in China as Xi Jinping govt blocks VPN Mondays order came against the backdrop of heightened tensions between India and China over the border dispute in Ladakh that led to the deadly June 15 confrontation in Galwan Valley. Home Minister Amit Shah, officials told Hindustan Times, had powered the decision that had been under discussion for weeks within the bureaucracy. The National Security Council Secretariat, which had been involved in the deliberations after intelligence agencies raised a red flag over the applications, had also backed the move. Tuesday mornings statement by TikTok, however, indicated that the company still believed that it had a fighting chance to make a comeback. It described the government ban as an interim order and underlined the role that it said TikTok had played. TikTok has democratised the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of million of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first time internet users, the statement from TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi said. That assertion is unlikely to persuade the government to change its stance. All these apps have been reported to have been leaking data. Their malpractices have also been singled out by experts. They have been said to take location data, transfer files to servers in China. Moreover, the beauty apps, such as beauty plus and selfie cameras have also been reported for being a threat as they contain pornographic content, a person familiar with the development had told HT on Monday. Impressive and fun, this is what you may be inclined to think when you see this video of two people setting fire with the social distancing salsa moves. Shared on Twitter by journalist Bianca Padro Ocasio, the video shows amazing salsa skills of a man and a woman. In the video, the duo is seen dancing with gusto. Whats interesting is that they are maintaining a proper distance among themselves and wearing masks. To keep their movements synced and coordinated, the duo is holding two ropes in their hands. Good morning. A friend of mine shared this video of social distanced salsa and its how Im trying to be, Ocasio wrote and shared the video. The video is not just fun to watch, but the creativity of the duo will leave you amazed too. Good morning A friend of mine shared this video of social distanced salsa and its how im tryna be. Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/xTtr3lO5my Bianca Padro Ocasio (@BiancaJoanie) June 29, 2020 Since being shared a day back, the video has collected close to 1.4 million views till now. Additionally, it has also garnered more than 87,000 likes and close to 23,000 retweets. As for the comments, people couldnt stop gushing over the duos dance moves. There were several who wrote that this is a video that cheered them up. I am totally in love with them, wrote a Twitter user while praising the dancers. This brings me pure joy! expressed another. Even with a lovely tutorial like this, I still cant dance, but give me another 50 years, joked a third. I want to do it! Lets dance, expressed a fourth. What do you think of the dancing duo? Also Read | Man performs social distancing safe bhangra with neighbours, video will tempt you to shake a leg too Dillon said he did not have data on how many people have arrived in Connecticut from states with high rates of COVID-19 infections. But he said that the number of travelers passing through Bradley was down 98% when the pandemic began, compared to a similar time period a year ago. In the last week, traveler traffic was down about 70-75%, indicating a slight resurgence of air travel. The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday directed the state government to submit a report disclosing the status of the investigation into police brutality in enforcing the Covid-19 lockdown in the city. The report is expected to shed light on the death of two persons, who allegedly died following excessive use of force by police personnel. The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice NJ Jamadar was responding to a petition by advocate Firdause Irani, based on his complaint that he, his wife, and two sons were beaten by local police personnel and civic officials outside his residence at Goregaon (West). The bench has asked assistant government pleader Jyoti Chavan that the report should also reveal the status of the investigation into Iranis complaint. In his petition, Irani, a lawyer and human rights activist said that on the evening of April 16, when he returned to his residence along with his wife, a masked man in plain clothes, charged at them with a lathi. A verbal altercation ensued after he abused the lawyer and his wife. The petition added that other police personnel and civic staff reached the spot, by which point Iranis two sons also arrived and pointed out that their parents had not committed any violation. Irani claimed that the police officers then started raining lathi blows on him and his family. He said that during the past two months, several Mumbai residents have been targeted with impunity by errant police personnel, and no action has been taken. He pointed out a report by a human rights organisation claiming that 15 persons died across the country due to police excesses during the lockdown, of which two cases were from Mumbai. One of them, according to the report, was Raju Velu Devendra, whose family alleges that on March 30, when they were going to their relatives residence, a police team chased them and caught the deceased. The policemen reportedly informed the relatives that they were taking Devendra to Juhu police station. In the morning, police informed the family that Devendra was found lying at Nehru Nagar Chowk and when he was taken to a hospital, he was declared dead on arrival. Police, however, maintain that the 22-year-old was badly beaten by locals when he was caught attempting to commit a robbery. A case has been registered against eight persons in this regard. In the second case mentioned in the human rights report, on April 18, when Sagir Jamal Khan, a labourer, returned home, he informed his roommate that while he was pushing a handcart to deliver a refrigerator in Null Bazaar, police caught him and beat him on his head, hands and back. Later, while having dinner, Khan collapsed and was declared dead on arrival when he was taken to a hospital. However, a police officer claimed that Khans medical reports revealed that he died due to enlargement of the heart, and there was no external or internal injury on his body. HC has now posted the petition for further hearing on Friday. Congress leader and energy minister in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government, Nitin Raut, has reignited the political controversy around Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawars statement reminding the Congress of the 1962 war with China while advising against politicising issues concerning national security. On Saturday, Pawar had said, We cant forget what had happened in 1962 when China occupied 45,000 square kilometres of Indias territory. While making these allegations, one should also look at what had happened in the past. This is an issue of national interest and once should not bring in politics here. Pawars comments came in response to a question about Congress leader Rahul Gandhis charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had surrendered Indian territory to the Chinese aggression. The Congress party, led by its former president, has been taking jibes at the Centre since the June 15 violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakhs Galwan Valley. Raut hit back at Pawar, saying the latter should have rectified the mistakes [done in 1962] when he was defence minister. Our leader Rahul Gandhiji has been speaking in the interest of the nation and asking the questions that are in the minds of people. Pawarsaheb was a Congress leader when he was defence minister of the country. As a political leader, he has been nurtured in Congress. NCP is part of the UPA-led by Congress and should not deviate from the stand taken by the alliance. He should support the stand taken by Rahul Gandhi, Raut said. Raut said Pawar should have advised Modi to speak on the issue. The situation in 1962 was different. After Krishna Menon resigned as defence minister, Yashwantrao Chavan took over as the defence minister. Pawar should also speak about the 1971 war against Pakistan and the victory under the leadership of Indira Gandhi and YB Chavan, who Pawarsaheb looks up to as a mentor, said Raut. Dr Zabir Hussain, 51, a general physician from Chembur, who also worked with government ambulance service (108) for Covid-19 patients at night, died on May 23. The sole breadwinner is survived by his wife and three teenaged children. While the family so far managed the household with Hussains salary of 27,000 for May, they now plan to return to their hometown in Uttar Pradesh. My father had to feed four mouths, which left him with no savings. My mother cant work as she is illiterate. We have therefore decided to go back to our hometown, said Adil, his 17-year-old son. Like Hussain, 17 other private physicians have succumbed to Covid-19 infection in Maharashtra since the outbreak in March, according to data available with the Indian Medical Association (IMA). Additionally, 180 doctors have been diagnosed with Sars-Cov-2 virus that causes Covid-19, and more than 1,500 physicians have been quarantined all across the state. Members of IMA said their records do not reflect the real picture owing to poor collection of data, and the actual numbers are likely to be higher than what exists on paper. As gatekeepers in screening Covid-19 patients, the state, under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, had directed private physicians to keep their clinics open. Doctors said, in addition to not providing them with personal protective equipment (PPE) despite being highly susceptible to the infection, the state government has not included private practitioners under Covid-19 insurance cover of 50 lakh. On the eve of National Doctors Day, the Maharashtra chapter of IMA in an open letter stated that their decision to observe - and not celebrate - July 1 as Atma-Samman Divas as protest against what they describe as discrimination meted out towards private doctors. Doctors said the credit for patients recovery goes to the medical fraternity, especially doctors, who work round-the-clock, despite various occupational hazards. Till Monday, 1,69,883 people tested positive for Covid-19, of which 88,960 patients have recovered. . The government declared insurance of 50 lakh for every healthcare worker. Later on the policemen were included...but the private doctors plea of the similar insurance was ignored. Even the doctors were ready to pay the premium amount for this insurance, at the same rate by which the government will pay the premium of these healthcare workers, reads the open letter sent by IMA on June 30. The association has also demanded to honour the deceased doctors posthumously on Independence Day. Most families of physicians who died of Covid-19 infection that HT spoke to criticised the state for ignoring their plight. The kin of Dr Mithkesh Rampal Singh said they are not covered under Covid-19 insurance although the general physician contracted the infection on duty and died on June 8. While treating an asymptomatic patient in a hospital, he got exposed to the virus. In this backdrop, he should get insurance, said Dr Vimal Singh, brother of the deceased doctor. My brother was living with his wife in a rented flat. The insurance money could have secured his wifes life to some extent. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed the plea of a lawyer and former professor Sudha Bharadwaj who is currently lodged in Byculla Womens prison for her alleged involvement in the Elgar Parishad case. The NIA in its response to the application by Bharadwaj in the Bombay high court against the special courts refusal to grant her interim bail has stated that Bharadwaj is using her comorbidities as an excuse to get interim bail during the pandemic. The NIA has assured that Bharadwaj is being provided with the medication she has been taking since the past 20 years for her diabetes and blood pressure and as the UAP Act under which she has been arrested, has no provision for bail, the special courts refusal on May 29 was valid. The reply was to be heard by the court on Tuesday but due to paucity of time, the matter could not be heard and is expected to be listed for hearing on Friday. The NIA in its reply said that the medical condition Bharadwaj has referred to in her plea has no merit as she has been suffering from some chronic illness since 20 years for which she is undergoing prescribed medication and she is being provided with necessary medical assistance in jail as the authorities have her medical records. It is clear that the pleading concerning the medical condition of the petitioner is merely a ruse to obtain an order of interim relief which is not available to the petitioner otherwise on the merits of the case, the reply states. The NIA has stated that as the evidence against Bharadwaj so far does not entitle her to seek any relief on any grounds including that of the pandemic. Bharadwaj had applied for interim bail before the special NIA court following the recommendations of the state-appointed high powered committee to release under-trials and convicts on interim bail and parole. The recommendations had however made an exception for under-trials and convicts who were incarcerated under special acts. However, after the special court rejected her application she approached the HC. In her appeal, Bharadwaj has said that as she is susceptible to the virus, she can be considered for interim bail. Six cities in Maharashtra with a one million-plus population will receive 793 crore for controlling air pollution in 2020-21, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) said. However, according to pollution control body there is no clarity on where and how the funds need to be utilised. Of the 793 crore, Mumbai will receive the largest chunk of the allocation 488 crore among 46 other cities in the country which have more than one million population, followed by Pune (134 crore), Nagpur (66 crore), Nashik (41 crore), while Aurangabad and Vasai-Virar will get 32 crore each. During a meeting scheduled on June 12 with the Union environment ministry, the pollution control boards of various states were informed about the disbursement of funds, said VM Motghare, joint director (air quality), MPCB. Also read| Clean air plan for Mumbai: Study raises concerns over accountability The minutes of the meeting were shared with us on Friday, and we can formally announce that Maharashtra will get 793 crore as per the 15th Finance Commission report. However at the moment, there is no clarity on whether the disbursed funds will be linked to the Centres Smart Cities and Swachh Bharat Missions. Also, we need more clarity on the utilisation of funds and submission of expenditure statements, said Motghare. On February 1, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech announced 4,400 crore for clean air in cities with a population more than one million. The fund was to be made available to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to 46 cities in India. Soon after, the finance ministry published a document highlighting individual funds to be disbursed to these cities, with separate fund allocations for Swachh Bharat Mission and air pollution mitigation. In March, the Parliamentary Standing Committee in Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change observed that allocating 4,400 crore for air pollution control was more than the entire budget allocation for the entire Union environment ministry (3,100 crore) for 2020-21. Responding queries raised by the committee, the environment ministry on March 6 submitted, The budgetary allocation of 4,400 crore through MoHUA, is intended to be a performance-related grant, which would be released to only the million-plus cities, based on the improvements in average annual concentrations of both PM [particulate matter] 10 and PM2.5 (equal weightage of 50%). Such grants would, however, be released only based on the improvements (as calculated in January 2021). Cities shall use the same for taking up activities and measures that would help to bring down the pollution levels further. Meanwhile, of the 460 crore allocated for air pollution control by the finance ministry in 2019-20, Maharashtra was to receive 41 crore for 17 non-attainment cities (identified then) under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). This included 10 crore funds for two years for four million-plus cities (Mumbai, Pune, Navi Mumbai and Nagpur) and 10 lakh each for cities with a population of less than 5 lakh and 20 lakh each for those with a population of five to 10 lakh, among other non-attainment cities. Non-attainment cities are those with PM concentration consistently below the national ambient standards. So far, we received 25 crore from the Centre, of which 6 crore each has been disbursed to civic bodies of Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Navi Mumbai, while the remaining 1 crore has been given to the remaining cities. We are yet to receive 16 crore from the 2019-20 budget, said Motghare, adding that city-wise air action plan progress reports were being compiled by MPCB. Clarifying on the matter, SN Tripathi, apex committee member of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and professor of Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, said that the environment ministry and MoHUA are looking into the disbursal. Two central ministries are working on this together. MoHUA will be disbursing the fund because it is focused on urban development for city level pollution abatement plans, but it will be done after evaluation by the Union environment ministry because this pertains to air pollution reduction. The environment ministry will be assessing the air pollution mitigation measures being implemented by each city based on their action plans, and their performance will be communicated to MoHUA, which will be disbursing the funds to individual cities on a quarterly basis. This is expected to happen from January 2021 onwards. The exact methodology of how this will be done is currently being worked out by the two ministries, said Tripathi. Meanwhile, a senior official from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), who attended the NCAP meeting on June 12, said, At the moment, all the cities have been asked to focus on their clean air action plans with the existing funds available to them. We are assisting the ministry in submitting the quarterly reports of the progress in these cities which will be further assessed by them, and the funds will be provided to urban local bodies, municipal corporations and other state departments engaged in improving air quality in these non-attainment cities. To ensure that blue skies become permanent, cities should be certain of their short, medium and long-term air pollution reduction goals. State and municipal budgets also need to reflect planned expenditure on air pollution mitigation, said Tanushree Ganguly, programme associate, Council on Energy, Environment and Water. Overnight rain and high-speed winds helped Mumbai on Tuesday record its lowest pollution levels since air-quality monitoring began in 2015. The air quality index (AQI) equalled the all-time record of the past five years, which was on September 4, 2019. The pollutant-measuring indicator for PM2.5 pollutant breathable particulate matter which is 2.5 microns in size or smaller that can cause ailments was 12, falling under the good category, according to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research. It was 13 (good) during the day and improved further by the evening. The AQI has been predicted at 10 for Wednesday. Mumbais air on Tuesday was cleaner than major international cities such as London (21), Tokyo (52), Sydney (25), Singapore (25), but New Yorks AQI was better at 10. All 10 locations where AQI is monitored in the city recorded good air quality, and AQI levels did not cross 30. Colaba had the cleanest air with an AQI of 2, followed by Mazagaon at 5, Bhandup and Chembur at 8, Borivli 10, BKC 15, Andheri 16, Malad 17, Worli 18, and the highest of 26 at Navi Mumbai. Researchers from SAFAR said a combination of factors had led to the drop in air quality. The lockdown period due to the Covid-19 pandemic had already brought down PM concentration to its background levels (concentration without being influenced by human-induced emissions). It takes time for PM levels to rise again even after emissions resurface. Intense rain over Mumbai between Monday night and early Tuesday morning, high moisture content in the citys air, combined with wind speed up to a maximum of 30kmph, allow swift dispersion of pollutants close to the surface, said Gufran Beig, director, SAFAR. This is a characteristic of the monsoon, but it is getting further enhanced due to restrictions in place over the past few months. AQI and PM concentration is likely to remain in the good category as rainfall has been predicted in the coming days. The concentration of PM2.5 was as low as 7 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m3), against the prescribed limit of 60g/m3 for 24 hours as national safe standard, and 25 g/m3 as the World Health Organization (WHO) safe standard. PM2.5 levels are likely to fall further to 6g/m3 on Wednesday and 10 g/m3 on Thursday, said SAFAR. PM10 was 14 g/m3, against the safe limit of 60 g/m3. It is expected to be 11g/m3 on Wednesday and 16g/m3 on Thursday. State government has appointed special public prosecutor (PP) Satish Maneshinde in Palghar mob lynching case. The state government has already transferred the case, in which more than 100 accused have been arrested, to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). After the home department recommended the appointment of the special public prosecutor, the law and judiciary department recently issued the order. In sensitive cases, we recommend special public prosecutor to ensure effective investigation and secure conviction, said a home department official. On April 16 this year three men - two seers and their driver - were dragged out of their vehicle outside Gadhchinchale village, located about 110 kilometres from Palghar, and beaten to death by a mob on suspicion that they were child-lifters. The incident occurred when the victims were going from Mumbai to Surat to attend a funeral. The deceased were identified as Kalpavriksha Giri, 70, Sushil Giri, 35, and driver Nilesh Telgade, 30. The seers belonged to Varanasi-based Juna Akhara and were slated to attend the last rites of their guru Mahant Shri Ram Giri in Surat. After clocking over 5,000 Covid-19 cases on each of the past four days, the number came down marginally on Tuesday as Maharashtra reported 4,878 fresh infections. The state also recorded 245 fatalities, including 150 deaths from the previous weeks, taking the toll to 7,855. The states case count now stands at 174,761. Of the total cases, the state reported a whopping 107,106 cases in June alone, which is 61.29% of the tally in Maharashtra. In June, 61,582 patients have also been discharged. Maharashtra saw its first case on March 9 and recorded 302 cases till March 31. In April, the state recorded 10,498, while it recorded 67,655 cases in May. With the current trend in the daily increase of Covid-19 cases, the state is expected to cross the grim landmark of 2 lakh cases in the first week of July, state officials said. Mumbai, meanwhile, reco-rded 893 new cases on Tuesday. The city recorded less than 1,000 cases after five days. It also reported 95 fatalities, including 57 deaths of the previous weeks, taking the toll to 4,556. Out of the 245 deaths reported in the state on Tuesday, 95 occurred in the past 48 hours and 150 deaths are from the previous period, the state health department said. These include 57 deaths in Mumbai, 15 in Thane, 42 in Bhivandi, two in Kalyan-Dombivli, four in Mira-Bhayandar and Aurangabad, three in Thane district and Pune, five in Palghar, seven in Panvel, six in Solapur, one each in Nashik and Jalgaon. As new cases continued to increase in satellite cities around Mumbai, local authorities in Thane and Mira-Bhayander announced lockdown in the two cities. Thane municipal commissioner Vipin Sharma announced lockdown in Thane city from 7am on July 2 to July 12, restricting movement of people, except for essential work. Thane city has seen 2,533 cases in the past eight days alone. The Mira-Bhayander municipal corporation, too, announced a complete lockdown till July 10 after cases spiked in the past few days. In the past eight days alone, Mira-Bhayander has recorded 1,031 cases. While milk and bakery stores will be allowed to open between 5am and 10pm, all other shops, malls, supermarkets, vegetable/ fruits and grocery stores will remain shut during the lockdown period, local officials said. Home delivery of groceries, fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry and meat will be allowed between 9am and 11pm. Pharmacies will remain open between 9am and 9 pm. On Tuesday, Kalyan-Dombivli municipal commissioner announced lockdown from 7am on July 2 till 7pm on July 12. Public transportation, including autorickshaw, state transport buses, taxi, private buses, etc will not be allowed to ply. Movement of people have been restricted, unless due to emergency. Meanwhile, Navi Mumbai have already announced a complete lockdown in 10 containment zones from Monday till July 5. The local administrations took the step to contain the rise of cases in the satellite cities after it saw a significant rise in cases. Kalyan-Dombivli has recorded 3,130 cases, while Navi Mumbai has recorded 1,743 cases in the past eight days. The figures in Mumbai seem to have plateaued, but there is a spike in cases in its surrounding areas and it needs containing as the population density is high in these areas. The chief minister has in no uncertain terms asked the local administrations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to step up tracking, testing, and treatment, a state bureaucrat said. Thane recorded 278 new cases, taking the tally close to 10,000 cases, while Kalyan-Dombivli reported 435 fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, where the total cases now stand at 7,503. Navi Mumbai saw 195 new cases, while Ulhasnagar and Mira-Bhayander recorded 155 and 196 fresh cases respectively. Vasai-Virar recorded 236 new cases, taking the total to 4,729. Besides MMR, Covid-19 cases continued to rise in Nashik, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Aurangabad, and Jalgaon. Pune recorded 816 new cases, taking the tally over the 18,000-mark to 18,039 cases. Aurangabad district recorded 93 cases, taking total cases in the district to 1,011, while Aurangabad city registered 128 new cases, pushing the tally to 4,317. Cases in rural Maharashtra or in tier-two cities of the state are increasing, but are in control. We have not seen any exponential growth. The public health infrastructure in these areas has also been ramped up, said a senior official from the health department, requesting anonymity. State health minister Rajesh Tope has also cautioned that cases are expected to rise in July and through August. He said that the state is focusing on reducing the case fatality rate (CFR) in the state, which now stands at 4.49% higher than the countrys mortality rate of 2.98%. We have sought ventilators from the Centre. Besides that, we are also going to procure remdesivir and favipiravir drugs for every district in the state. It is expected to reduce fatalities. Even if there is a spike, we are working towards it not leading to fatalities. Our planning and goal is to further reduce the mortality rate, the health department official added. Meanwhile, 1,951 patients were discharged on Tuesday. So far, 90,911 patients in the state have been discharged. With a recovery rate of 52.02%, the number of active cases in the state stands at 75,979. Maharashtra has tested 9,66,723 samples and has a positivity rate of 18.07% for Covid-19. Currently, 5,78,033 people are in home quarantine and 38,866 people are in institutional quarantine. The state witnessed its lowest annual fish catch in 45 years in 2019 at 2.01 lakh tons, with a rapid decline in all major fish species being caught, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) said. The environmental factors such as extreme weather events (heavy rain), five tropical cyclones, weather depressions in the Arabian Sea, and juvenile overfishing are said to be the reasons for 36% drop in a number of fishing days in 2019. Due to extended rainfall beyond monsoon and extreme weather events including cyclones, total fishing hours along the Maharashtra coast reduced drastically, especially between August and December as compared to rest of the year, said Anulekshmi Chellappan, scientist-in-charge, CMFRI Mumbai. Owing to low fish catch many fishers did not venture into the sea at all, due to non-profitable operations. Combined with this, over-exploitation of fish stocks due to high juvenile by-catch, which continued unabated similar to previous years, further worsened fish landing numbers, said Chellapan. The institute released its report on the Annual Marine Fish Landings in India for 2019 on Tuesday that identified a 32% decline from 2018 (2.95 lakh tons) for Maharashtra. In 2017 it was 3.81 lakh tons and 2.92 lakh tons in 2016. However, prior to 2019, the historical trend indicated a similar situation in 1974 when fish catch dropped to 1.8 lakh tons. Experts said CMFRI may be accurate. The number of 2019 Arabian Sea cyclones were unusually high equalling a 117-year-old record. Rising sea surface temperatures may affect fish forcing them to migrate to cooler waters. However, in the process, changing habitats may not be favourable for growth or reproduction leading to mortality, said Dr Roxy Mathew Koll, senior scientist, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune. A climate change link is there, but we need to monitor this carefully. Maharashtra was identified as one of the leading states for post-harvest fish losses by CMFRI with a considerable reduction in fish quality (including those sold in the markets). Whatever brought from the sea is a national resource and it cannot be allowed to be simply wasted. Its national food waste, said Chellappan. Among major fish species, a 97% reduction was recorded for halibuts (fat fish), 84% decline for mullets, 82% reduction for sardines, 84% for perches, 81% for snappers, 34% drop for Indian mackerel, 45% decline for croakers, and an 86% drop for octopus, squid catch and 70% reduction for lobsters. Bombay duck was the third most landed species in 2019, though there was a slight decline (0.8%) compared to 2018, after non-penaeid and penaeid prawns that accounted for 30% of the total catch. Maharashtra contributed 5.6% of the countrys fish resources to the nation. The state ranked seventh among 10 coastal states and union territories while Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kerala led the top rankings. Mumbai was the major contributor of fish catch for the state accounting for 40%. Of the tally of fishing boats in the state, 87.4% are mechanised, 12.4% motorised, and 0.2% non-motorised. The state fisheries department said they were concerned about the findings. Climate change impacts are affecting the fisheries sector, and this will increase in the coming days. However, we have taken all steps to curb overfishing by issuing advisories to avoid catching juveniles and reducing harmful fishing practices as much as possible. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, the marine fish landings for 2020 are expected to be much worse, said Rajendra Jadhav, joint commissioner (fisheries). CMFRI, however, estimated higher value of fish landings in 2019. Figures stood at 6,402 crore at landing centres, which accounted for 10.5% of the countrys overall tally (60,881 crore) against 2018s estimate of 5,771 crore. At retail centres, the estimate was 9.835 crore in 2019 (accounting for 10.6% of overall Indias estimate at 92,356 crore). In 2017, the estimate at retail centres was 8,510 crore. In a bid to reduce the number of accidents on the Pune-Mumbai expressway and upgrade its safety arrangements, the Maharashtra Highway Police (MHP) department along with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will install street lights in the ghat section. The expressway witnessed 306 accidents in 2019 (including fatal, serious and minor injuries) along with 138 mishaps which did not result in injuries. Till May this year, the expressway had recorded 46 accidents (including fatal, serious and minor injuries) along with 12 mishaps which did not result in injuries. The reduced number of mishaps has also been attributed to the decreased vehicle movement on the expressway due to the lockdown in March, April and May, according to officials. This will be the first time when street lights will be installed on the expressway for better visibility at night, according to officials. The decision comes after MSRDC recently conducted survey wherein officials recorded that lower visibility increased the risk of road mishaps there. Vijay Patil, superintendent of police, Maharashtra Highway Police, said, Monsoon brings heavy rains to the ghat section on the expressway and hence, we conducted a pre-monsoon survey with the help of MSRDC. Street lights will be installed along the entire ghat section of the expressway for better visibility in the region. The estimated cost of the project is ~ 7.5 crore. Street lights are being installed on the expressway for the first time. In the ghat section, tunnel work will continue simultaneously, but it will take another two years to complete and we want to reduce the number of accidents in the coming two years. According to the state highway police and MSRDC, if things go according to plan, the actual work of installing the street lights is likely to start in the next couple of months. While the entire ghat section is 18km long, lights will be installed on the 10km stretch between Khandala and Khopoli. The Pune-Mumbai expressway, officially named as the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway, has been operational since 2002. It is the countrys first six-lane concrete high-speed highway with a total of 94.5km joining Pune and Mumbai. Maximum fatal accidents have been reported on the expressway in 2016, in which 151 people died. In our study of accident patterns in the ghat section, it was revealed that most of the accidents happen when vehicles ram into the motorist in front of them. One of the reasons behind this could be that the driver had not been able to judge the exact distance between the vehicles and hence, street lights can provide good visibility to them, he added. In 2019, there were 22 fatal accidents in the ghat section of the expressway, starting from km 45 to km 36 which is a slope in the ghats, according to Patil. To prevent further accidents, MSRDC has on a trial basis installed blinkers, reflectors and rumbler strips on a one kilometre patch in the ghat section. This, according to officials, offered positive results as there had been no accidents in the same patch in the past six months. Vipul Alekar, a businessman and regular commuter between Pune and Mumbai, said, I frequently travel to Mumbai from Pune for my business meetings and in the ghat section it is really risky to drive, specially at night. In the rainy season, we cannot see the vehicles in front of us and if street lights are installed, there will be more visibility. Tanmay Pendse, an activist working for the safety of commuters using the expressway, said, It is a very positive decision for the safety of travellers using the e-way. But it should have been done earlier and is a decision too late, according to me. There is always a visibility issue during the monsoon which leads to accidents, now after installing the lights, it will help drivers see clearly and judge the distance between vehicles. As Connecticut continues to flatten the curve of the coronavirusslowing the spread of infection while alleviating the patient burden on regional hospitalsCOVID-19 cases have skyrocketed nationwide. COVID-19 infections have surged in states like Texas, Arizona, and Florida, forcing some states to backtrack on reopening planes. Even in the Midwest, where the COVID-19 caseload has been largely flat, several states have seen flare-ups of the virus recently. Two flower-decked buses carrying the padukas (holy footprints) of saint-poets Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram left for Pandharpur with handful of warkaris (pilgrims) from Alandi and Dehu on Tuesday on the eve of the Ashadhi Ekadashi. The district administration said that nearly 90 warkaris who were allowed to accompany the procession had tested negative for Covid-19 and were allowed to proceed. Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram said, All the warkaris, part of the procession, have tested negative and we have allowed them to go with the palkhi following social distancing norms and hygiene guidelines. Lakhs of warkaris, or devotees of Lord Vitthal, from various parts of Maharashtra and some neighbouring states throng the temple in Pandharpur every year on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi. However, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government cancelled the annual wari pilgrimage, which is characterised by people walking to Pandharpur with palanquins from various parts of the state. This year, the bus took the traditional route through Pune, Satara and reached Pandharpur in Solapur district. The warkaris accompanying the palkhis were seen wearing masks and played taal and mridanga before the buses left. The roads in Alandi and Dehu from where the buses set off were lined with colourful rangolis. Earlier, the Solapur district administration imposed a curfew in Pandharpur from Tuesday ahead of Ashadhi Ekadashi, to prevent crowds from gathering to stop the spread of Covid-19. Milind Shambharkar, the district collector of Solapur, issued the order on Monday late evening and imposed restrictions on peoples movement in and around Pandharpur town from 2pm on June 30 to midnight on July 2 under the Disaster Management Act. A man externed from Pune has been booked for breach of the geo-barrier set up through the Externee Track (ExTra) mobile application launched by the Pune police. The man has been identified as Shankar alias Babu Kailash Pandhekar (22), a resident of Ota Upper area of Bibwewadi, according to a statement issued by assistant commissioner of police Shivaji Pawar of Pune police crime branch. A system alert for geo-fence breach was sent to the Bibwewadi police station and preventive cell. Upon verification, a case under Section 142 of Maharashtra Police Act was registered against the criminal. Due to the use of technology, the violations of externment order can be detected more easily and this reduces the complete reliance on human intelligence only, said Bachchan Singh, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), crime, Pune. The police used local sources to confirm his absence from Barshi in Solapur. He was also found to have failed to upload a selfie between June 27 and June 29. Pandhekar was externed from Pune on June 17 under Section 56(1)(a)(b) of Maharashtra Police Act, 1959, by Suhas Bawache, DCP Zone-5. The ExTra application was installed on his phone and he was required to upload a selfie picture, which is geo-tagged on the tracking app, on it twice a day. Kenya has lost 80 billion shillings ($752 million) so far in tourism revenue, about half of last years total, due to the coronavirus crisis, its tourism minister said on Monday. The sector is one of the leading sources of foreign exchange, earning 163.56 billion shillings ($1.54 billion) last year, which had been expected to grow 1% in 2020. Tourism Minister Najib Balala said things would get worse before they can improve. The second half is almost as good as zero. So we have a major problem, he told reporters after launching his ministrys study on Covid-19s impact. The estimated losses include cancelled bookings for the high season months of July-October, said Mohammed Hersi, the chairman of the Kenya Tourism Federation, a private sector lobby. From Indian Ocean beaches to the Maasai Mara wildlife reserve, tourism contributes 10% of Kenyas annual economic output and employs over 2 million people. Kenya, which so far has confirmed more than 6,000 cases of the disease, shut its airspace to commercial flights in March. It has also banned movement into and out of the capital Nairobi and the coastal resort city of Mombasa. Out of business The entire tourism sector is out of business. There are major job losses, Balala said. We are on our knees. Resorts will be required to observe strict social distancing and hygiene measures to curb the spread of the virus once they reopen, Balala said, without giving any timelines. The government has also ordered all bars and nightclubs to be closed and it has imposed a daily, nighttime curfew to curb the spread of the virus. Despite its wide variety of tourist products, Kenya attracts fewer visitors than competitors like South Africa due to frequent political upheavals and insurgent attacks. Between 2012 and 2015, visitor numbers and tourism earnings fell after a spate of attacks claimed by Somalias al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which wants Nairobi to pull troops out of Somalia. A reduction in attacks in the years that followed allowed the sector to rebound. (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 Carl Reiner, the ingenious and versatile writer, actor and director who broke through as a second banana to Sid Caesar and rose to comedys front ranks as creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show and straight man to Mel Brooks 2000 Year Old Man, has died. He was 98. Reiners assistant Judy Nagy said he died Monday night of natural causes his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was one of show business best liked men, the tall, bald Reiner was a welcome face on the small and silver screens, in Caesars 1950s troupe, as the snarling, toupee-wearing Alan Brady of The Dick Van Dyke Show and in such films as The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. My friend Carl Reiner died last night. His talent will live on for a long time, but the loss of his kindness and decency leaves a hole in our hearts. We love you, Carl. pic.twitter.com/QWyNOYILhW Alan Alda (@alanalda) June 30, 2020 Carl Reiner, Bronx born and bred, made TV comedy that endures to this day. He made America laugh a true gift. New York extends our condolences to his family and many friends. https://t.co/Xmou8kabLI Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 30, 2020 We lost a person who gave us great times-countless laughs. He was brilliant. And kind. I met him only once but will never forget his gentle thoughtfulness. He was with us through good times and hard times. Thank you Carl Reiner. His memory will be a blessing. . https://t.co/hbfPrO0eRe Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) June 30, 2020 In recent years, he was part of the roguish gang in the Oceans Eleven movies starring George Clooney and appeared in documentaries including Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age and If Youre Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast. Films he directed included Oh, God! starring George Burns and John Denver; All of Me, with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin; and the 1970 comedy Wheres Poppa? He was especially proud of his books, including Enter Laughing, an autobiographical novel later adapted into a film and Broadway show; and My Anecdotal Life, a memoir published in 2003. He recounted his childhood and creative journey in the 2013 book, I Remember Me. But many remember Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of the most popular television series of all time and a model of ensemble playing, physical comedy and timeless, good-natured wit. It starred Van Dyke as a television comedy writer working for a demanding, eccentric boss (Reiner) and living with his wife (Mary Tyler Moore in her first major TV role) and young son in suburban New Rochelle, New York. The Van Dyke show is probably the most thrilling of my accomplishments because that was very, very personal, Reiner once said. It was about me and my wife, living in New Rochelle and working on the Sid Caesar show." Reiner is the father of actor-director Rob Reiner. His death was first reported Tuesday by celebrity website TMZ. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Dipika Kakar Ibrahim had a special treat for husband Shoaib Ibrahim for his birthday, though it looks like she was late in gifting it to him. She presented him a guitar and posted a picture too. Sharing the picture as his Instagram story, she wrote: Excited like a child he is #BelatedBirthdayGift. In the picture,Shoaib is sitting on a sofa and is playing the instrument. He is a picture of concentration. Dipikas picture showing her gift. Dipika married Shoaib Ibrahim in 2018 in a private ceremony in Lucknow. The Sasural Simar Ka actor has been in quarantine with her family through the coronavirus crisis. Talking about it, she had said: I dont fear the #lockdown, my world is with me @shoaib2087. #alhamdulillah #blessed #lifeline #myworld sharing pictures with her family. While little has been happening on the career front for the actors during lockdown, the couple did take part in an Instagram live sessions to connect with fans. During one such an interaction, Shoaib was asked a rather personal question and he answered it with sass. A fan asked if they were planning a baby. Aap baby kab plan karoge? Sorry, yeh aapki personal life hai but mera mann hua poochne ka, isliye pooch liya (When are you planning to have a baby? Sorry, I know it is your personal life but I felt like asking, so I asked). Taking affront to it, Shoaib wrote back, Jab pata hai personal hai toh poochna hi kyun (When you know it is personal in nature, then why bother to ask)? Also read: Vidyut Jammwal calls out Disney+ Hotstar for ignoring his movie: 7 films scheduled for release but only 5 deemed worthy At another time, a fan asked why Dipika was always seen in Indian clothes and if his family forced her to do so. He replied sarcastically that it reflected the fans mindset. The fan had asked: Deepika ji hamesh salwar suit me hi kyu hoti hai. Kya aapki family force karti hai? (Why does Dipika always wear salwar suits? Does your family force her to?). He had replied: Iska jawab main aapko dena zaruri nahi samahjta. Sach main jaanta hu aur meri wife jaanti hai... Baaki jiski jaisi soch waisa hi sawal. Upar wala aapko khush rakhe. (I dont think it is important for me to answer this question. My wife and I know the truth. Questions like this reveal your mindset. May God bless you). Follow @htshowbiz for more The Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population, even as it encourages some of the countrys Han majority to have more children. While individual women have spoken out before about forced birth control, the practice is far more widespread and systematic than previously known, according to an AP investigation based on government statistics, state documents and interviews with 30 ex-detainees, family members and a former detention camp instructor. The campaign over the past four years in the far west region of Xinjiang is leading to what some experts are calling a form of demographic genocide. The state regularly subjects minority women to pregnancy checks, and forces intrauterine devices, sterilization and even abortion on hundreds of thousands, the interviews and data show. Even while the use of IUDs and sterilization has fallen nationwide, it is rising sharply in Xinjiang. The population control measures are backed by mass detention both as a threat and as a punishment for failure to comply. Having too many children is a major reason people are sent to detention camps, the AP found, with the parents of three or more ripped away from their families unless they can pay huge fines. Police raid homes, terrifying parents as they search for hidden children. After Gulnar Omirzakh, a Chinese-born Kazakh, had her third child, the government ordered her to get an IUD inserted. Two years later, in January 2018, four officials in military camouflage came knocking at her door anyway. They gave Omirzakh, the penniless wife of a detained vegetable trader, three days to pay a $2,685 fine for having more than two children. If she didnt, they warned, she would join her husband and a million other ethnic minorities locked up in internment camps often for having too many children. God bequeaths children on you. To prevent people from having children is wrong, said Omirzakh, who tears up even now thinking back to that day. They want to destroy us as a people. The result of the birth control campaign is a climate of terror around having children, as seen in interview after interview. Birth rates in the mostly Uighur regions of Hotan and Kashgar plunged by more than 60% from 2015 to 2018, the latest year available in government statistics. Across the Xinjiang region, birth rates continue to plummet, falling nearly 24% last year alone compared to just 4.2% nationwide, statistics show. The hundreds of millions of dollars the government pours into birth control has transformed Xinjiang from one of Chinas fastest-growing regions to among its slowest in just a few years, according to new research obtained by The Associated Press in advance of publication by China scholar Adrian Zenz. This kind of drop is unprecedented....theres a ruthlessness to it, said Zenz, a leading expert in the policing of Chinas minority regions. This is part of a wider control campaign to subjugate the Uighurs. U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo denounced the policies in a statement Monday. We call on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately end these horrific practices, he said. Chinas foreign minister derided the story as fabricated and fake news, saying the government treats all ethnicities equally and protects the legal rights of minorities. Everyone, regardless of whether theyre an ethnic minority or Han Chinese, must follow and act in accordance with the law, ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday when asked about the AP story. Chinese officials have said in the past that the new measures are merely meant to be fair, allowing both Han Chinese and ethnic minorities the same number of children. For decades, China had one of the most extensive systems of minority entitlements in the world, with Uighurs and others getting more points on college entrance exams, hiring quotas for government posts and laxer birth control restrictions. Under Chinas now-abandoned one child policy, the authorities had long encouraged, often forced, contraceptives, sterilization and abortion on Han Chinese. But minorities were allowed two children three if they came from the countryside. Also read | China warns of countermeasures in response to US Uighurs law Under President Xi Jinping, Chinas most authoritarian leader in decades, those benefits are now being rolled back. In 2014, soon after Xi visited Xinjiang, the regions top official said it was time to implement equal family planning policies for all ethnicities and reduce and stabilize birth rates. In the following years, the government declared that instead of just one child, Han Chinese could now have two, and three in Xinjiangs rural areas, just like minorities. But while equal on paper, in practice Han Chinese are largely spared the abortions, sterilizations, IUD insertions and detentions for having too many children that are forced on Xinjiangs other ethnicities, interviews and data show. Some rural Muslims, like Omirzakh, are punished even for having the three children allowed by the law. State-backed scholars have warned for years that large rural religious families were at the root of bombings, knifings and other attacks the Xinjiang government blamed on Islamic terrorists. The growing Muslim population was a breeding ground for poverty and extremism which could heighten political risk, according to a 2017 paper by the head of the Institute of Sociology at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. Another cited as a key obstacle the religious belief that the fetus is a gift from God. Outside experts say the birth control campaign is part of a state-orchestrated assault on the Uighurs to purge them of their faith and identity and forcibly assimilate them. Theyre subjected to political and religious re-education in camps and forced labor in factories, while their children are indoctrinated in orphanages. Uighurs, who are often but not always Muslim, are also tracked by a vast digital surveillance apparatus. The intention may not be to fully eliminate the Uighur population, but it will sharply diminish their vitality, said Darren Byler, an expert on Uighurs at the University of Colorado. It will make them easier to assimilate into the mainstream Chinese population. Some go a step further. Its genocide, full stop. Its not immediate, shocking, mass-killing on the spot type genocide, but its slow, painful, creeping genocide, said Joanne Smith Finley, who works at Newcastle University in the U.K. These are direct means of genetically reducing the Uighur population. For centuries, the majority was Muslim in the arid, landlocked region China now calls Xinjiang meaning New Frontier in Mandarin. After the Peoples Liberation Army swept through in 1949, Chinas new Communist rulers ordered thousands of soldiers to settle in Xinjiang, pushing the Han population from 6.7% that year to more than 40% by 1980. The move sowed anxiety about Chinese migration that persists to this day. Drastic efforts to restrict birth rates in the 1990s were relaxed after major pushback, with many parents paying bribes or registering children as the offspring of friends or other family members. That all changed with an unprecedented crackdown starting in 2017, throwing hundreds of thousands of people into prisons and camps for alleged signs of religious extremism such as traveling abroad, praying or using foreign social media. Authorities launched what several notices called dragnet-style investigations to root out parents with too many children, even those who gave birth decades ago. Leave no blind spots, said two county and township directives in 2018 and 2019 uncovered by Zenz, who is also an independent contractor with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a bipartisan nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Contain illegal births and lower fertility levels, said a third. Officials and armed police began pounding on doors, looking for kids and pregnant women. Minority residents were ordered to attend weekly flag-raising ceremonies, where officials threatened detention if they didnt register all their children, according to interviews backed by attendance slips and booklets. Notices found by the AP show that local governments set up or expanded systems to reward those who report illegal births. In some areas, women were ordered to take gynecology exams after the ceremonies, they said. In others, officials outfitted special rooms with ultrasound scanners for pregnancy tests. Test all who need to be tested, ordered a township directive from 2018. Detect and deal with those who violate policies early. Abdushukur Umar was among the first to fall victim to the crackdown on children. A jovial Uighur tractor driver-turned-fruit merchant, the proud father considered his seven children a blessing from God. But authorities began pursuing him in 2016. The following year, he was thrown into a camp and later sentenced to seven years in prison one for each child, authorities told relatives. Also read | US Congress approves China sanctions over ethnic crackdown My cousin spent all his time taking care of his family, he never took part in any political movements, Zuhra Sultan, Umars cousin, said from exile in Turkey. How can you get seven years in prison for having too many children? Were living in the 21st century this is unimaginable. Sixteen Uighurs and Kazakhs told the AP they knew people interned or jailed for having too many children. Many received years, even decades in prison. Leaked data obtained and corroborated by the AP showed that of 484 camp detainees listed in Karakax county in Xinjiang, 149 were there for having too many children - the most common reason for holding them. Time in a camp what the government calls education and training for parents with too many children is written policy in at least three counties, notices found by Zenz confirmed. In 2017, the Xinjiang government also tripled the already hefty fines for violating family planning laws for even the poorest residents to at least three times the annual disposable income of the county. While fines also apply to Han Chinese, only minorities are sent to the detention camps if they cannot pay, according to interviews and data. Government reports show the counties collect millions of dollars from the fines each year. In other efforts to change the population balance of Xinjiang, China is dangling land, jobs and economic subsidies to lure Han migrants there. It is also aggressively promoting intermarriage between Han Chinese and Uighurs, with one couple telling the AP they were given money for housing and amenities like a washing machine, refrigerator and TV. It links back to Chinas long history of dabbling in eugenics.you dont want people who are poorly educated, marginal minorities breeding quickly, said James Leibold, a specialist in Chinese ethnic policy at La Trobe in Melbourne. What you want is your educated Han to increase their birth rate. Sultan describes how the policy looks to Uighurs like her: The Chinese government wants to control the Uighur population and make us fewer and fewer, until we disappear. Once in the detention camps, women are subjected to forced IUDs and what appear to be pregnancy prevention shots, according to former detainees. They are also made to attend lectures on how many children they should have. Seven former detainees told the AP that they were force-fed birth control pills or injected with fluids, often with no explanation. Many felt dizzy, tired or ill, and women stopped getting their periods. After being released and leaving China, some went to get medical check-ups and found they were sterile. Its unclear what former detainees were injected with, but Xinjiang hospital slides obtained by the AP show that pregnancy prevention injections, sometimes with the hormonal medication Depo-Provera, are a common family planning measure. Side effects can include headaches and dizziness. Dina Nurdybay, a Kazakh woman, was detained in a camp which separated married and unmarried women. The married women were given pregnancy tests, Nurdybay recalled, and forced to have IUDs installed if they had children. She was spared because she was unmarried and childless. One day in February 2018, one of her cellmates, a Uighur woman, had to give a speech confessing what guards called her crimes. When a visiting official peered through the iron bars of their cell, she recited her lines in halting Mandarin. I gave birth to too many children, she said. It shows Im uneducated and know little about the law. Do you think its fair that Han people are only allowed to have one child? the official asked, according to Nurdybay. You ethnic minorities are shameless, wild and uncivilized. Nurdybay met at least two others in the camps whom she learned were locked up for having too many children. Later, she was transferred to another facility with an orphanage that housed hundreds of children, including those with parents detained for giving birth too many times. The children counted the days until they could see their parents on rare visits. They told me they wanted to hug their parents, but they were not allowed, she said. They always looked very sad. Another former detainee, Tursunay Ziyawudun, said she was injected until she stopped having her period, and kicked repeatedly in the lower stomach during interrogations. She now cant have children and often doubles over in pain, bleeding from her womb, she said. Ziyawudun and the 40 other women in her class were forced to attend family planning lectures most Wednesdays, where films were screened about impoverished women struggling to feed many children. Married women were rewarded for good behavior with conjugal visits from their husbands, along with showers, towels, and two hours in a bedroom. But there was a catch they had to take birth control pills beforehand. Some women have even reported forced abortions. Ziyawudun said a teacher at her camp told women they would face abortions if found pregnant during gynecology exams. A woman in another class turned out to be pregnant and disappeared from the camp, she said. She added that two of her cousins who were pregnant got rid of their children on their own because they were so afraid. Another woman, Gulbahar Jelilova, confirmed that detainees in her camp were forced to abort their children. She also saw a new mother, still leaking breast milk, who did not know what had happened to her infant. And she met doctors and medical students who were detained for helping Uighurs dodge the system and give birth at home. In December 2017, on a visit from Kazakhstan back to China, Gulzia Mogdin was taken to a hospital after police found WhatsApp on her phone. A urine sample revealed she was two months pregnant with her third child. Officials told Mogdin she needed to get an abortion and threatened to detain her brother if she didnt. During the procedure, medics inserted an electric vacuum into her womb and sucked her fetus out of her body. She was taken home and told to rest, as they planned to take her to a camp. Months later, Mogdin made it back to Kazakhstan, where her husband lives. That baby was going to be the only baby we had together, said Mogdin, who had recently remarried. I cannot sleep. Its terribly unfair. The success of Chinas push to control births among Muslim minorities shows up in the numbers for IUDs and sterilization. In 2014, just over 200,000 IUDs were inserted in Xinjiang. By 2018, that jumped more than 60 percent to nearly 330,000 IUDs. At the same time, IUD use tumbled elsewhere in China, as many women began getting the devices removed. A former teacher drafted to work as an instructor at a detention camp described her experience with IUDs to the AP. She said it started with flag-raising assemblies at her compound in the beginning of 2017, where officials made Uighur residents recite anti-terror lessons. They chanted, If we have too many children, were religious extremists....That means we have to go to the training centers. Police rounded up over 180 parents with too many children until not a single one was left, she said. At night, she said, she lay in bed, stiff with terror, as officers with guns and tasers hauled her neighbors away. From time to time police pounded on her door and searched her apartment for Qurans, knives, prayer mats and of course children, she said. Your heart would leap out of your chest, she said. Then, that August, officials in the teachers compound were told to install IUDs on all women of childbearing age. She protested, saying she was nearly 50 with just one child and no plans to have more. Officials threatened to drag her to a police station and strap her to an iron chair for interrogation. She was forced into a bus with four armed officers and taken to a hospital where hundreds of Uighur women lined up in silence, waiting for IUDs to be inserted. Some wept quietly, but nobody dared say a word because of the surveillance cameras hanging overhead. Also read | All is well with Muslims in Xinjiang, Beijing tells Islamic countries Her IUD was designed to be irremovable without special instruments. The first 15 days, she got headaches and nonstop menstrual bleeding. I couldnt eat properly, I couldnt sleep properly. It gave me huge psychological pressure, she said. Only Uighurs had to wear it. Chinese health statistics also show a sterilization boom in Xinjiang. Budget documents obtained by Zenz show that starting in 2016, the Xinjiang government began pumping tens of millions of dollars into a birth control surgery program and cash incentives for women to get sterilized. While sterilization rates plunged in the rest of the country, they surged seven-fold in Xinjiang from 2016 to 2018, to more than 60,000 procedures. The Uighur-majority city of Hotan budgeted for 14,872 sterilizations in 2019 over 34% of all married women of childbearing age, Zenz found. Even within Xinjiang, policies vary widely, being harsher in the heavily Uighur south than the Han-majority north. In Shihezi, a Han-dominated city where Uighurs make up less than 2% of the population, the government subsidizes baby formula and hospital birth services to encourage more children, state media reported. Zumret Dawut got no such benefits. In 2018, the mother of three was locked in a camp for two months for having an American visa. When she returned home under house arrest, officials forced her to get gynecology exams every month, along with all other Uighur women in her compound. Han women were exempted. They warned that if she didnt take what they called free examinations, she could end up back in the camp. One day, they turned up with a list of at least 200 Uighur women in her compound with more than two children who had to get sterilized, Dawut recalled. My Han Chinese neighbors, they sympathized with us Uighurs, Dawut said. They told me, oh, youre suffering terribly, the government is going way too far! Dawut protested, but police again threatened to send her back to the camp. During the sterilization procedure, Han Chinese doctors injected her with anesthesia and tied her fallopian tubes a permanent operation. When Dawut came to, she felt her womb ache. I was so angry, she said. I wanted another son. Looking back, Omirzakh considers herself lucky. After that frigid day when officials threatened to lock her up, Omirzakh called relatives around the clock. Hours before the deadline, she scraped together enough money to pay the fine from the sale of her sisters cow and high-interest loans, leaving her deep in debt. For the next year, Omirzakh attended classes with the wives of others detained for having too many children. She and her children lived with two local party officials sent specially to spy on them. When her husband was finally released, they fled for Kazakhstan with just a few bundles of blankets and clothes. The IUD still in Omirzakhs womb has now sunk into her flesh, causing inflammation and piercing back pain, like being stabbed with a knife. For Omirzakh, its a bitter reminder of everything shes lost and the plight of those she left behind. People there are now terrified of giving birth, she said. When I think of the word Xinjiang, I can still feel that fear. Continuing with its expansionist agenda, China has now created a new border dispute with Bhutan, one of Indias traditional ally. At a virtual meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in the first week of June, Beijing objected to the grant for Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) in eastern Bhutans Trashigang district bordering India and China, claiming that the location was disputed. Even as the rest of the world is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan city of Chinas Hubei province, Beijing has been aggressively attempting to alter the status quo in East China Sea, South China Sea and with India in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh. As per Strat News Global, the GEF Council gathered to decide on funding for various environmental projects across the world, was shocked by Chinas objection and instantly rubbished it. The majority of the GEF council members supported Bhutans view and the draft summary of the chair was approved by the council and despite objection from the Chinese council member, the work programme was adopted. The council refused to record Chinas reason for objection, saying that the footnote would only record that China objected to the project. However, the Chinese council member said that he would need time to consult with his higher ups to come to a view on the matter. The reasons were included in the highlights of the discussion, which is a less formal record, and not in the chairs summary, Strat News reported. The draft summary of the chair mentioned in the footnote that China abstains and does not join the Council decision on this project. The Bhutan government has since issued a formal letter to the GEF council, strongly opposing the references questioning the sovereignty of Bhutan and its territory on the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in the documents of the councils session. Bhutan has urged the GEF council to purge all references of Chinas baseless claims from Councils documents. Bhutan and China have a border dispute since 1984. Talks between Thimphu and Beijing have been limited to three areas of dispute (two in North Bhutan -- Jakarlung and Pasamlung areas -- and one in West Bhutan). Sakteng is not part of any of the three disputed areas China said Tuesday it will retaliate after the US announced it was ending the export of sensitive military items to Hong Kong in response to a controversial national security law for the city. Beijing passed the sweeping law for Hong Kong on Tuesday, which critics and many western governments fear will smother the finance hubs freedoms and hollow out its autonomy. US attempts to obstruct China advancing the Hong Kong national security legislation through so-called sanctions will never prevail, said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.In response to the USs wrongful actions, China will take necessary countermeasures. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the US was ending the export of sensitive military items to Hong Kong because Washington can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. The State Department will end all exports to Hong Kong on its controlled list, which includes items ranging from advanced ammunition to military hardware that already need the green light from the administration and Congress. Chinas President Xi Jinping on Tuesday signed into law the Hong Kong national security bill in a closed-door meeting of the elites of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, formalising a legislation that critics fear could crush the citys freedom. Official news agency Xinhua said Chinese lawmakers had voted to adopt the law and decided the national security law would be included in Hong Kongs mini constitution known as the Basic Law. Hong Kongs pro-democracy activists could potentially face prison terms if found guilty under the new law. Beijing says the law will be enforced to tackle separatism and foreign interference but critics say it will outlaw dissent and curb the various freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kongs citizens under the one country, two systems mechanism under which it has been governed since 1997. It will come into effect on Wednesday, July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kongs handover to China from the British. Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong announced he is stepping down as leader of his pro-democracy group Demosisto, soon after Beijing had passed the controversial national security law. After much internal deliberation, we have decided to disband and cease all operations as a group given the circumstances, Demosisto said on Twitter. Wong, 23, had previously said he would be a prime target of the law. We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble, Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kongs only representative on the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, Chinas rubber-stamp Parliament, which approved the law on Tuesday morning. Dont let Hong Kong be used as a tool to split the country, he said. The national security law that targets a tiny minority of people who commit acts of secession, subversion and terrorism, and aims to protect the legitimate rights of the vast majority including law-biding citizens and companies, could not be better to safeguard Hong Kongs stability and development in the long run, Xinhua said in a commentary on Tuesday. In fact, Beijing is trying to protect the interests of foreign investors in Hong Kong, including those of American businesses. The turbulence since last June has seriously eroded the citys security and harmed its sound and stable business environment, the report added. In Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry said it will take necessary countermeasures to firmly safeguard its national interests in response to the USs decision to end special treatment for Hong Kong over the new law. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a daily ministry briefing said the so-called sanctions by the US side cannot stop Chinas determination to promote the law on safeguarding national security in the city. Zhao said that establishing national security law to safeguard the countrys national security is a representation of the one country, two systems principle. Reiterating deep concern over China passing a security law applicable to Hong Kong, Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said its text will now be scrutinised, recalling his earlier decision to offer a path to citizenship to residents of the former British colony. Johnsons remarks following reports from Beijing that the law had been passed revived concerns about the UK allowing the Chinese company Huawei in its forthcoming 5G infrastructure. There is growing opposition to the company after the US banned it. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Johnson have previously committed to offering nearly 2 million holders in Hong Kong of British Nationals (Overseas) status a path to full British citizenship if Beijing passed and implemented the law. According to the British perspective, the new law goes against guarantees in the Sino-British agreements before the 1997 handover that political and other freedoms of the citizens will be preserved for 50 years. Johnson said: I am deeply concerned at the law being passed. We will be looking at it carefully and scrutinise it if it is in conflict with the declaration with China. We have a duty to BNOs in Hong Kong as I said earlier. On the UK keeping Huawei away from the 5G infrastructure as part of its response to the law, he added: I am not a Sinophone, I wont be drawn into Sinophobia, but we need to strike a balance to protect critical infrastructure from hostile vendors. Raab previously announced the path to British citizenship in a statement to the House of Commons: 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 BNO passports visa-free entry into the UK for up to six months as visitors. 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. Now, the condition is bedeviling coronavirus patients of all ages with no previous cognitive impairment. Reports from hospitals and researchers suggest that about two-thirds to three-fourths of coronavirus patients in ICUs have experienced it in various ways. Some have hyperactive delirium, paranoid hallucinations and agitation; some have hypoactive delirium, internalized visions and confusion that cause patients to become withdrawn and incommunicative; and some have both. The European Union is edging toward finalising a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter Europe again in coming days, with Americans almost certain to be excluded in the short term due to the number of US coronavirus cases. Spains foreign minister said that the list could contain 15 countries that are not EU members and whose citizens would be allowed to visit from July 1. EU diplomats confirmed that the list would be made public on Tuesday. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the procedure is ongoing and politically very sensitive. EU envoys in Brussels worked over the weekend to narrow down the exact criteria for countries to be included, mostly centered on their ability to manage the spread of the disease. Importantly, the countries are also expected to drop any travel restrictions they have imposed on European citizens. The number of confirmed cases in the United States has surged over the past week, and President Donald Trump also suspended the entry of all people from Europes ID check-free travel zone in a decree in March, making it highly unlikely that U.S. citizens would qualify. Infection rates in Brazil, Russia and India are high, too, and their nationals are also unlikely to make the cut. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said the EU is considering whether to accept travelers from China if Beijing lifts restrictions on European citizens. Morocco is another possibility, although its government doesnt plan to open borders until July 10. (AP) NSA The European Union announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the US Travelers from other big countries like Russia, Brazil and India will also miss out. As Europes economies reel from the impact of the coronavirus, southern EU countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving visitors and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries. More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic. Citizens from the following countries will be allowed into the EUs 27 members and four other nations in Europes visa-free Schengen travel zone: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The EU said China is subject to confirmation of reciprocity, meaning it must lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China before it will allow Chinese citizens back in. Countries considered for the safe list are also expected to lift any bans they might have in place on European travelers. The list is to be updated every 14 days, with new countries being added and some even dropping off depending on whether they are keeping the disease under control. Still, many people both inside and outside Europe remain wary of travel in the coronavirus era, given the unpredictability of the pandemic and the possibility of second waves of infection that could affect flights and hotel bookings. Tens of thousands of travelers had a frantic, chaotic scramble in March to get home as the pandemic swept across the world and borders slammed shut. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States has surged over the past week, and President Donald Trump also suspended the entry of all people from Europes ID check-free travel zone in a decree in March. In contrast, aside from a notable recent outbreak tied to a slaughterhouse in western Germany, the viruss spread has generally stabilized across much of continental Europe. European Union countries hastily slapped restrictions on who could cross their borders in February as the virus spread in Italy. Then in mid-March the Europeans limited all non-essential travel to the 27 EU member states plus Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.. Non-EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban. The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January. Britain now requires all incoming travelers bar a few exceptions like truck drivers to go into a self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks. The requirement also applies to U.K. citizens. Bipartisan support for India in its military standoff with China in Ladakh has been growing among US lawmakers. Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republican-ruled US senate, kicked off floor debate on next years defense budget Monday by slamming China for picking deadly fights with India. McConnell appealed for the chambers bipartisan support to pass the National Defense Authorization Act 2021with remarks highlighting recent threats from adversarial nationals China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. China has resumed its submarine intrusions into Japanese contiguous zones and picked deadly fights with India at high altitude, McConnell said. In a floor speech on June 18, just days after the deadly slash in which 20 Indian soldiers had died, Leader McConnell had said the Chinese military had appeared to have instigated the worst violent clash between China and India since those nations went to war way back in 1962. Also on Monday, another Republican senator, Marco Rubio, came out in Indias support. Today I spoke to @SandhuTaranjitS to express our solidarity with the people of #India as they firmly confront unwarranted & lawless armed aggression by the Communist Party of #China. He was referring to a conversation with Taranjit S Sandhu, the Indian ambassador to the United States. India has made it clear, they will not be bullied by Beijing., the senator added. He is a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, a powerful congressional panel with oversight of the State Department and the countrys foreign policy. The State Department, it must be noted, has also been clear it holds Chinese aggression responsible for the borer clashes, and denounced in a statement echoed later by the White House. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has referred to the clashes several times. The PLA has escalated border tensions we see it today in India, the worlds most popular populous democracy, he said on June 18. He had also conveyed his condolences on the death of the Indian soldiers. President Trump had offered to mediate May end, but was turned down by both countries. In a TV interview past Sunday, Tom Cotton, a Republican senator who is a close ally of President Donald Trump, denounced Chinas aggression on the border with India to illustrate the growing threat the Asian giant poses to the United States and its allies and partners around the world. The Chinese Communist Party is certainly using the pandemic to try to assert claims and take very aggressive action against almost all of its neighbors, Cotton said, adding, high up in the Himalayas, China has essentially invaded India, an ally of ours. And they have killed 20 Indian soldiers. The senator went on to draw attention to a proposed law that violates Chinas international commitment regarding Hong Kong the new national security law and its aggression against Taiwan and the rim nations of the South China Sea, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia. China is becoming more aggressive than ever. Thats why its so important that we support all of our allies and partners, he added. There has been bipartisan support for India in this conflict. The Democratic-led House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, Eliot Engel, had denounced Chinese aggression early June, before the June 15 clashes in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed. I am extremely concerned by the ongoing Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control on the India-China border., Engel had said in a statement. China is demonstrating once again that it is willing to bully its neighbors rather than resolve conflicts according to international law. I am concerned by continued Chinese aggression along its border with India, Ami Bera, the Indian-descent chair of the Asia subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had written in a tweet. Arms folded and her lips sardonically askew, Eva makes an unlikely icon for the protest movement thats shaking Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko ahead of presidential elections. For starters, she is an almost century-old oil painting.Yet the portrait by the Jewish expressionist painter Chaim Soutine has swirled into the eye of a political storm. The banker responsible for buying it in 2013 -- for a cool $1.8 million at auction in New York -- is running for president from jail to try to end Lukashenkos 26-year rule. As chief executive of Belgazprombank, the Belarusian lender owned by Russias natural gas giant Gazprom PJSC and Gazprombank JSC, Viktor Babariko spent a decade hunting for paintings by Belarus-born artists to bring home and display to the public. He resigned from the bank in May to announce his candidacy for the Aug. 9 elections and was detained on June 18 amid a state security service probe into tax evasion and money laundering. Shortly before his arrest, the authorities also seized the $20 million art collection built up by Babariko at the banks gallery in the capital, Minsk. When protests erupted, social media exploded with Evas image and more and more people began to wear it on T-shirts. Lukashenko has routinely crushed public dissent since winning power in 1994 and he retains an iron grip on the former Soviet republics institutions and security services. While defeat at the polls is all but inconceivable as he seeks a sixth presidential term, hes facing unusually robust opposition this time that prompted him to complain last week of a foreign plot to foment revolution. On Monday, state-owned media cited the five-time presidents warning of the dangers surrounding the country and by implication the risks involved in handing power to less experienced hands. If we take just one incautious step, we will collapse under the rubble of disagreements, conflicts and empires, Lukashenko told officials at a televised meeting in Soligorsk, 80 miles south of the capital Minsk, according to the Belta news agency. Geopolitical Struggle Theres a growing perception within Belarus that something significant has changed in the nation of 9.4 million bordering Russia, Ukraine and the European Union thats long been known for its political docility. Strategically located between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization states of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, Belarus risks becoming the latest focus of a geopolitical struggle between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the West. Previous dips in Lukashenkos popularity never coincided with elections, economic recession, a coronavirus pandemic and lack of money to appease angry voters who are rapidly becoming politically active, says Artyom Shraibman, founder of Minsk-based political consultancy Sense Analytics. He added that the government was doing all it could to suppress the current wave of discontent before August. The belief, long held even among many opponents, that Lukashenko would win free and fair elections if he ever let them be held is no longer taken as a given. Protest slogans declare 3% or We Are The 97% after -- highly self-selecting -- online surveys found minimal popular support for the president. Confronting a group of opposition protesters in person recently, Lukashenko asked them to stop using the 3% figure, suggesting they must know it to be false. Another presumption now questioned is that Belarusians would never go into the streets to topple a leader in the way that other ex-Soviet nations - from Armenia to Ukraine - have done since gaining independence in 1991. Actress Yulia Shevchuk says that shed finally had enough when she saw Eva and the other paintings had been replaced by posters with QR codes on the walls of Belgazprombanks gallery. She Googled Soutines portrait and doctored it with a painting app to post on Facebook. Eva was now showing her middle finger. It was so hard for me to see all this lawlessness, so painful to see the people and the country being appropriated by a single person, says Shevchuk. Evas picture, tweaked by other Belarus netizens to show her looking from behind bars, dressed in prison uniform or led away by the security services (the main branch is still called KGB) began to pop up everywhere. Lukashenko hinted after Babarikos arrest that unfriendly circles in Russia were behind his candidacy. The claims impact was undermined by the fact that arresting the presidents opponents has become routine ahead of elections in Belarus, even if in the past they were alleged to have been in cahoots with Western powers, rather than Russia. Someone thinks that Belarusians are his serfs, who can be pushed around, Babariko said in a video statement before he was arrested together with his son, who was helping to run his campaign. He denies any ties to Moscow. In another change, this time it isnt just the usual suspects in the urban middle classes who appear fed up with their president.Lukashenkos other main election challenge comes from a blogger named Sergei Tikhonovskiy, who calls Lukashenko a cockroach -- an insect best known locally for the Soviet-era childrens poem in which it terrorizes an animal kingdom. Tikhonovskiy took to touring small-town Belarus communities that are traditionally loyal to the president with a giant bug-killing slipper on his car roof. He was jailed before he could even officially register his election campaign team. His wife Svetlana now aims to register and run for office on his behalf. She posted an emotional video address on June 16 alleging threats were made against her children unless she pulled out of the race.Lukashenko has been fighting fires for some time. First came a dispute with Russia last year which demanded he agree to a closer political union in return for economic support, including discounted oil and gas. For more than a quarter-century, those de facto subsidies allowed him to avoid the kinds of wrenching post-Soviet economic reforms that contributed to political upheaval elsewhere.The two countries are again arguing over a natural-gas price and Russia effectively halted oil deliveries in January, prompting Belarus to look for alternative supplies as far away as the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Norway. Belarus had made a profitable industry out of processing cheap Russian crude for export at world market prices, but proceeds from sales of petroleum products plunged by 62% in the first four months of 2020 amid slumping oil demand. With the economy in recession, Lukashenko this month swapped his banker prime minister for a weapons chief, heralding military-style mobilization for an economy that faces multiple challenges. Vodka, Saunas Lukashenkos approach to the coronavirus outbreak was the final straw for some. Belarus never declared a lockdown and people were left to choose whether to wear masks, self-isolate or live their lives as usual. The president consistently downplayed the risks, at one point advocating vodka and saunas to combat the disease, and he insisted on holding a May 9 military parade to mark the end of World War II even as Russia postponed its own event.Babariko has campaigned on the economy, warning that Belarus has grown so reliant on foreign support it may soon lose its independence. He has also floated the possibility of seeking military neutrality for a country thats currently part of a defense alliance with Russia, the Collective Security Treaty Organization. He pledges to revitalize the state-owned sector, support private business and restore the balance of power between branches of government. In a nation anxious to avoid the kind of hostilities with Moscow seen across the border in Ukraine, Lukashenkos portrayals of Babariko as a puppet for outside forces seem to have had little impact. Belarus has no reliable public opinion polls, so the true extent of a candidates support is hard to measure. Yet Babariko quickly collected 435,000 signatures to register his candidacy, more than four times the number required. Lukashenko himself has always stressed Russias position as a strategic ally even at times of strain. He joined Putin in Moscow to watch Russias delayed WWII parade on June 24, but on returning promptly accused Russia of meddling in his countrys elections, a charge the Kremlin denied.With Babariko himself cut off from the world and unable to campaign, his team have called on Belarusians to show support for him and other detainees by writing letters to them in prison. The call, issued on Instagram, was illustrated with a postcard of Eva. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China over the past decade built an alternate online reality where Google and Facebook barely exist. Now its own largest tech corporations from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Tencent Holdings Ltd. are getting a taste of what a shutout feels like. Indias unprecedented decision to ban 59 of Chinas largest apps is a warning to the countrys tech giants, who for years thrived behind a government-imposed Great Firewall that kept out many of Americas best-known internet names. If India finds a way to carry out that threat, it may present a model for other countries from Europe to Southeast Asia that seek to curtail the pervasiveness of apps like ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok while safeguarding their citizens enormously valuable data. The surprise moratorium hit Chinese internet companies just as they were beginning to make headway in the worlds fastest-growing mobile arena, en route to going global and challenging American tech industry supremacy. TikTok had signed up 200 million users there, Xiaomi Corp. is the No. 1 smartphone brand, and Alibaba and Tencent have aggressively pushed their services. But Indias policy jeopardizes all those successes, and could have wider geopolitical consequences as the U.S. seeks to rally countries to stop using Huawei Technologies Co. for 5G networks. With Chinas tech companies poised to become some of the most dominant in emerging industries like artificial intelligence, Indias actions may spur countries around the world to weigh the extent to which they let China gain user data -- and potentially economic leverage in future disputes. Techno-nationalism will manifest itself increasingly across all aspects of geopolitics: national security, economic competitiveness, even social values, said Alex Capri, a Singapore-based research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation. It will be increasingly difficult to separate Chinese tech firms from the CCP and Chinas geopolitical ambitions. They will find themselves increasingly locked out. Chinese internet firms have struggled to replicate their online services beyond their home turf, even before Washington lawmakers began raising concerns about the wisdom of allowing the Asian countrys corporations -- like ByteDance -- to hoover up valuable personal data. India amplified those concerns by accusing apps including TikTok, Tencents WeChat, Alibabas UC Web and Baidu Inc.s map and translation services of threatening its sovereignty and security. Indias prohibition provides further evidence that nations are using tech for to assert themselves geopolitically, following the Trump administrations worldwide campaign to contain China and national champions like Huawei. That depends in part on how much Prime Minister Narendra Modis actions are motivated by domestic interests following the worst military clash between India and China in almost half a century. Beijing should certainly worry that the impact of the deadly clash could push India toward the U.S., said Zhang Baohui, director of the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies at Lingnan University. But these recent economic measures by India may not by themselves concern Beijing too much as it understands that Modis government, facing rising domestic nationalism, has to do something to soothe the public sentiments and retain legitimacy. China-India tensions continue despite pledge to disengage It remains unclear how India will enforce its decision, given TikTok -- for one -- has already been downloaded by roughly one in six people. But it follows a series of steps to curb Chinas presence in the country, demonstrating the administrations hardened resolve since long-simmering tensions boiled over after a deadly Himalayan border clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers. The countrys government procurement website has barred purchases of Chinese-made goods. Authorities have asked the largest e-commerce companies, including Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.s Flipkart, to start showing country of origin on goods sold. And India is said to be dragging its heels on clearing goods imported from China, stranding electronics at ports. The Indian government thinks about governing the internet in a very similar way to China, which is blanket bans, asserting national boundaries on the internet and essentially carving out what would eventually become a version of the Indian Great Firewall, said Dev Lewis, a research fellow at Digital Asia Hub in Shanghai. Everyones struggling to deal with governing technology companies and apps, especially ones that cross borders. So when India takes a step like this, it sets a precedent for the things that you can do. In terms of the immediate business consequences, ByteDance could be hardest-hit. India is its biggest market with more than 200 million TikTok users. During a brief ban last year, the Chinese company estimated it was missing out on half a million dollars a day of revenue. In a statement posted to Twitter, TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi said the company complies with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any user information with any foreign government, including Beijing. Indias prohibition could also give American companies a possible edge over Chinese players in a rare global tech market that is both populous and not yet saturated. While WeChat never made it big in India, banning it may help shore up Facebook Inc.s WhatsApp. Cutting out TikTok immediately gives Alphabet Inc.s YouTube a boost. On Tuesday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said China was strongly concerned about Indias actions. The Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legitimate and legal rights of the international investors including Chinese ones, he said. In India, TikTok takes on YouTube in a nasty fight for dominance But for now, China doesnt have many great options to retaliate. While Beijing is highly adept at economic coercion, in this case it has somewhat limited options to act in a reciprocal manner, analysts for the Eurasia Group wrote in a research note. Bilateral trade is heavily weighted toward Chinese exports to India. Attempts to hurt India economically could blowback on Chinese companies. A former police officer who terrorized California as a serial burglar and rapist and went on to kill more than a dozen people while evading capture for decades pleaded guilty Monday to murders attributed to the Golden State Killer. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. had remained almost silent in court since his 2018 arrest until he repeatedly uttered the words guilty and I admit in a hushed and raspy voice as part of a plea agreement that will spare him the death penalty for a life sentence with no chance of parole. DeAngelo, 74, did not cooperate with authorities, but muttered a confession of sorts after his arrest that cryptically referred to an inner personality named Jerry that he said forced him to commit the wave of crimes that appeared to end abruptly in 1986. I did all that, DeAngelo said to himself while alone in a police interrogation room after his arrest in April 2018, Sacramento County prosecutor Thien Ho said. I didnt have the strength to push him out, DeAngelo said. He made me. He went with me. It was like in my head, I mean, hes a part of me. I didnt want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I destroyed all their lives. So now Ive got to pay the price. The day of reckoning had come for DeAngelo, Ho said. The scope of Joseph DeAngelos crimes is simply staggering, Ho said. Each time he escaped, slipping away silently into the night. Theres no escaping now. DeAngelo, seated in a wheelchair on a makeshift stage in a university ballroom that could accommodate more than 150 observers at a safe distance during the coronavirus pandemic, pleaded guilty to 13 counts of murder and dozens of rapes that were too old to prosecute. The large room at Sacramento State University was made to look like a state courtroom with the seal of the Sacramento County Superior Court behind the judges chair and U.S. and state flags on the riser that served as a sort of stage for a daylong proceeding that had a theater-like feel. Large screens flanked the stage so spectators could follow the livestreamed hearing. Temperatures were taken of everyone in the room and even the judge wore a mask when he wasnt speaking. DeAngelo, who wore orange jail scrubs and a plastic face shield to prevent possible spread of the virus, listed to one side and his mouth appeared agape as prosecutors read graphic details of the crimes, where he raped and killed then snacked before leaving. Family members wept as the proceeding went on most of the day. A pile of used tissues sat on the floor next to Jennifer Carole, whose father, attorney Lyman Smith, was slain in 1980 with his wife, Charlene Smith, who was raped before being killed. This is much harder than I thought it was going to be. And I thought it was going to be hard, Carole said. I feel a lot of anger, which I dont think Ive felt so powerfully before. DeAngelo, a Vietnam veteran and a grandfather, had never been on investigators radar until about a decade after the crimes seemed to end. Investigators connected a series of assaults in central and Northern California to slayings in Southern California and settled on the umbrella Golden State Killer nickname for the mysterious assailant. Police used DNA from crime scenes to find a distant relative through a popular genealogy website database then built a family tree that eventually led them to him. They tailed DeAngelo and secretly collected DNA from his car door and a discarded tissue to get an arrest warrant. The retired truck mechanic was arrested at his home in the Sacramento suburbs the same area he terrorized in the mid-1970s, earning the title East Area Rapist. Prosecutors detailed sadistic acts he committed after slipping into homes undetected and surprising couples in bed by shining a flashlight in their faces and threatening to kill everyone in the house including young children if they didnt follow his orders. The masked prowler initially said he only wanted their money to earn their cooperation. He would have the women bind their husbands or boyfriends face down in bed with shoelaces, and then he would bind the women. Victims described being prodded by the barrel of a gun or the point of a knife. He piled dishes on the backs of men and said they would both be killed if he heard the plates crash while he raped the women. At a home in Contra Costa County in the fall of 1978, he told a woman he would cut her baby boys ear off if she didnt perform oral sex after he had raped her. I admit, DeAngelo said after the prosecutor read the description of that crime. He stole whatever he could find, sometimes a few bottles of Budweiser and some cash, other times diamond rings. He slipped off into the dark on foot or by bicycle and even evaded police who at times believed they came close to catching him. DeAngelo knew the territory well. He started on the police force in the San Joaquin Valley farm town of Exeter in 1973, where he is believed to have committed his first break-ins and first killing. DeAngelo was among the officers trying to find a serial burglar in the neighboring city of Visalia responsible for about 100 break-ins. Community college professor Claude Snelling was killed by the suspected Visalia Ransacker after trying to prevent him from kidnapping his 16-year-old daughter. After three years on the force, DeAngelo moved back to the Sacramento area, where he worked for the Auburn Police Department in the Sierra foothills until 1979 when he was caught shoplifting dog repellent and a hammer two items that could be of use to a burglar. DeAngelo killed a couple walking their dog in a Sacramento suburb in 1978, but the majority of murders came after he moved to Southern California. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer choked up as family members of the victims stood during his description of each of the four killings there. Spitzer, who wiped a tear at one point, diverged from other prosecutors to address DeAngelo directly when discussing the May 5, 1986, rape and slaying of Janelle Cruz, 18 the final killing. You attacked her, you beat her and you raped her, Spitzer said. You murdered her in the first-degree, bludgeoning her in the face. A guilty plea and life sentence avoids a trial and even a planned weeks-long preliminary hearing. Victims will be able to confront DeAngelo at length during an August sentencing expected to last several days. Victims began to stand in the audience as accounts of their attacks were read. Nearly two dozen were on the their feet in solidarity as the prosecutor from Sacramento where most of his sexual assaults took place detailed each case. They cheered and laughed when Deputy District Attorney Amy Holliday noted victims consistently reported DeAngelo had a small penis. One man, Victor Hayes, who was held at gunpoint while his girlfriend was raped in 1977 shouted out that he wanted his name read aloud. Ive been waiting for 43 years. Im not ashamed of what happened. Ive never been John Doe in my life, Hayes said. I want accountability and accountability starts with my name. Among the questions that remain is whether DeAngelo actually stopped his life of crime and, if so, why? Ho cast doubt on DeAngelos statement in the interrogation room, saying he had feigned feeble incoherence to detectives despite appearing sharp while under surveillance. Ho said DeAngelo had acted crazy when he was arrested for shoplifting three decades earlier. James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said most serial killers do not have dual personalities or inner voices, though movies often portray them that way. He said serial killers who get away with attacks for years are usually cunning and organized. Someone who suffers from a serious mental illness isnt capable of that. Serial killers who blame an alter-ego for their crimes are usually faking it, he said. Its self-serving for someone to suggest that they did all of these things because of this voice: Dont blame me, blame the voice, Fox said. While Indian newspapers and TV channels continue to pick up reports about the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) from Chinese Communist propaganda sites, the Indian newspapers and websites cannot be accessed in Beijing now without Virtual Private Network (VPN) server. According to diplomatic sources in Beijing, the Indian TV channels can be accessed through IP TV as of now. However, ExpressVPN had not been working in the Communist state for the past two days on iPhone as well as desktops. VPNs are powerful tools which allow users to overcome blocking of censorship and visit a particular website. But China has created such a technologically advanced firewall that it blocks even the VPNs. China is infamous for its repressive online censorship and the Xi Jinping government has refined it into an art with high-tech interventions. For example, anytime the word Hong Kong protest is mentioned on either CNN or BBC, the screens in Beijing go blank and news only returns after the topic is over. The blocking of Indian websites is the latest amid the ongoing tension between India and China after the Ladakh stand-off on June 15. The latest development coincides with the Indian governments move to ban 59 applications, most of them Chinese. The popular apps which have been banned include TikTok, UC Browser, SHAREiT and WeChat. The government has cited concerns that these applications are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. The move comes after weeks of discussions within the government that began before the border dispute with China flared up earlier this month, but was expedited in the aftermath of the deadly June 15 confrontation in Galwan Valley, officials aware of the discussions told HT on the condition of anonymity. Officials cited above said Union home minister Amit Shah extended his support to the move to block the applications, and signed off on a recommendation by Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on Saturday before the order was formally issued by the IT ministry as per protocol. Iran sentenced a once-exiled journalist to death over his online work that helped inspire nationwide economic protests that began at the end of 2017, authorities said Tuesday. Ruhollah Zams website and a channel he created on the popular messaging app Telegram had spread the timings of the protests and embarrassing information about officials that directly challenged Irans Shiite theocracy. Those demonstrations represented the biggest challenge to Iran since the 2009 Green Movement protests and set the stage for similar mass unrest last November. The details of his arrest still remain unclear. Though he was based in Paris, Zam somehow returned to Iran and found himself detained by intelligence officials. A series of a televised confessions have aired in recent months over his work. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced Zams death sentence on Tuesday, saying he had been convicted of corruption on Earth, a charge often used in cases involving espionage or attempts to overthrow Irans government. It was not immediately clear when the sentence was handed down. Zam is able to appeal his sentence, issued by a Revolutionary Court. The name of his public defender wasnt immediately known. Zam had run a website called AmadNews that posted embarrassing videos and information about Iranian officials. He highlighted his work on a channel on Telegram, the secure messaging app that remains incredibly popular among Iranians. The initial spark for the 2017 protests was a sudden jump in food prices. Many believe that hard-line opponents of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani instigated the first demonstrations in the conservative city of Mashhad in eastern Iran, trying to direct public anger at the president. But as protests spread from town to town, the backlash turned against the entire ruling class. Soon, cries directly challenging Rouhani and even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could be heard in online videos shared by Zam. Zams channel also shared times and organizational details for the protests as well. Telegram shut down the channel over Iranian government complaints it spread information about how to make gasoline bombs. The channel later continued under a different name. Zam, who has said he fled Iran after being falsely accused of working with foreign intelligence services, denied inciting violence on Telegram at the time. The 2017 protests reportedly saw some 5,000 people detained and 25 killed. Zam is the son of Shiite cleric Mohammad Ali Zam, a reformist who once served in a government policy position in the early 1980s. The cleric wrote a letter published by Iranian media in July 2017 in which he said he wouldnt support his son over AmadNews reporting and messages on its Telegram channel. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday signed into law the Hong Kong national security bill in a closed-door meeting of the of the Communist Party of China (CPC) elite in Beijing, formalising a legislation that critics fear could crush the citys freedoms. Hong Kongs pro-democracy activists could potentially face life sentences if they are found to have broken the new law. The legislation was unanimously approved little more than six weeks after it was first unveiled. Xinhua reported that Chinese lawmakers voted to adopt the law and decided that it will be included in Hong Kongs mini-constitution known as Basic Law. Beijing says the law will be enforced to tackle separatism and foreign interference, but critics feel it will outlaw dissent and curb the various freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kongs citizens under the one country, two systems mechanism under which it has been governed since 1997. The law will come into effect on Wednesday, which marks the anniversary of Hong Kongs handover to China by Britain. Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong announced hes stepping down as leader of his anti-Beijing group Demosisto, soon after China passed the controversial law. After much internal deliberation, we have decided to disband and cease all operations as a group, given the circumstances, Demosisto said on Twitter. Chinese foreign ministry said it will take necessary countermeasures to firmly safeguard its national interests in response to a decision by the US to end special treatment for Hong Kong over the new law. Hong Kongs pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam said the law will only target a small minority of illegal, criminal acts and activities. Deeply concerned, says UK PM Johnson UK PM Boris Johnson the text of the new law will now be scrutinised. I am deeply concerned at the law being passed. We will be looking at it carefully and scrutinise it if it is in conflict with the declaration with China. We have a duty to BNOs (British National Overseas) in Hong Kong as I said earlier. A staggering 9.3 million Syrians are now going to sleep hungry and more another two million are at risk of a similar fate, international NGOs said in a joint statement Monday. Signed by the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, CARE, Mercy Corps, and others, the statement warned that Syrians who have already endured almost a decade of war and displacement are now facing unprecedented levels of hunger leaving millions of people acutely vulnerable to Covid-19. Covid-19 restrictions, the collapse of the Syrian pound, and the displacement of millions of people have led to an unprecedented number of families in Syria who are no longer able to put food on the table, it said. The statement said the number of Syrians facing food insecurities has risen by 42 per cent since last year. It noted that unless funding and humanitarian access are increased, many Syrians, including those living as refugees in the region, will be pushed to the brink of starvation. The statement further said that after nine years of war in Syria, the Syrians have been thrown into a spiral of despair and destruction that worsens every year. International assistance is needed now more than ever, it said. Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that 80 percent of Syrians survive on less than 1.25 US dollars a day, adding that the price of bread doubled in a few weeks. It further said that 50 percent of Syrians dont have enough food to eat every day. The Syrian war has been dragging on for over nine years, killing more than 380,000 people and displacing nearly half of the pre-war population of 23 million Syrians either internally or externally. The whole age thing is I dont want to say offensive, but its untrue, she said. Coronavirus is affecting everyone. People protesting the masks think its fake. Its not fake. It sucks to wake up and you cant catch your breath, or to have a headache you cant get rid of, no matter how much Advil you take. It sucks to take a shower and fall down because you got dizzy. Canadian public opinion about China is cratering with over 80 per cent supporting a boycott of items manufactured in the Asian nation. According to a new poll from the agency Angus Reid Institute or ARI, 81 per cent of those surveyed feel that they should boycott goods made in China to send a message. The pollster said that this may be a challenge because of the sheer volume of goods manufactured in China that is purchased by Canadians. Also, over 90 per cent of those polled believe the tension between the two countries is serious. That growing disenchantment with China comes as two Canadians, including a former diplomat, remain imprisoned there on charges of spying. The Canadian government has described that as arbitrary detention and accused China of resorting to hostage diplomacy in an effort to swap them for the CFO of Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei, who was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018 and is facing trial there in a case related to allegedly defrauding a bank to bypass sanctions against the Iranian regime. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already rebuffed the idea of such an exchange, an idea that was propagated by a group of 19 eminent personalities, including four former ministers, in a letter sent to him recently. Trudeaus stand finds favour in the poll, as ARI said a majority of Canadians are supportive of the federal governments position of letting the case against Meng Wanzhou, which could lead to her extradition to the United States, play out in the court. Nearly three-fourth of the respondents, or 72 per cent, supported Trudeaus stance. And that sentiment is prevalent across generational lines, gender, and political partisanship. This makes for a remarkably consistent approach with political partisanship which is often a source of significant division not being a factor, as majorities who voted for each of the main political parties in the 2019 election are on the same side of this debate, ARI noted. However, despite being supportive in this instance, there is scepticism over how Trudeau and his government have dealt with China, with only 37 per cent agreeing that it has handled these recent events well, while 50 per cent disagreed. As many as 91 per cent considered the state of affairs between the two nations serious, while a similar number, 93 per cent, felt that China cannot be trusted to uphold human rights. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday announced a 5 billion-economic package to recover from what he called the disaster of the cornavirus pandemic, as the east Midlands town of Leicester with a large population of Indian origin went into the UKs first local lockdown. Harping on the mantra of Build, build, build, Johnson drew comparisons with former US President Franklin D Roosvelts New Deal that took the country out of depression in the 1930s, and set out plans for major capital investment while keeping an eye on the virus. England is due to ease lockdown restrictions on Saturday, but Leicester will be excluded due to an increase in infections in recent days and weeks, particularly among the younger population. The infections are particularly high in areas of pre-existing economic deprivation, such an Evington. Considered the UKs poster town of multiculturalism for its record in assimilating migrants of Indian heritage from Uganda and other places over the decades, the town has been placed out of bounds for anyone visiting, leaving or travelling within its limits. Delivering a speech in Dudley, about 90 km from Leicester, Johnson said: Too many parts of this country have felt left behind, neglected, unloved, as though someone had taken a strategic decision that their fate did not matter as much as the metropolis. It (economic package) sounds positively Rooseveltian. It sounds like a New Deal. All I can say is that if so, then that is how it is meant to sound and to be, because that is what the times demand, he added. Critics panned Johnson comparing the economic package with the much bigger New Deal of Roosvelt, with some pointing out that some elements had already been announced and were being brought forward. The plans also include promises made to usually Labour-voting areas that voted for the Conservatives in the December 2019 election. The announcement includes building new homes, schools, more funding for the National Health Service, tackling skills crisis and bridging gaps in connectivity, productivity and opportunity. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce details of the package shortly. Johnson said: If we deliver this plan together, then we will together build our way back to health. We will not just bounce back, we will bounce forward stronger and better and more united than ever before. To that end we will build build build. Build back better, build back greener, build back faster and to do that at the pace that this moment requires. Lee Hsien Yang, the estranged younger brother of Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, will not contest in the city-states July 10 general elections, deflating the hype built up after he joined the opposition as the nine-day campaigning period kicked off Tuesday. I have chosen not to stand for political office because I believe Singapore does not need another Lee, he said in a Facebook post after the nomination deadline passed. I do not seek power, prestige or financial rewards of political office. I hope to be a catalyst for change. The younger Lees entry into the opposition Progress Singapore Party, announced last week, fueled speculation he could stand as a candidate against the incumbent Peoples Action Party, led by his elder brother, which has won every contest since independence in 1965. While Singapore doesnt allow opinion polls, most analysts expect the PAP to easily win again. Still, any narrowing of its victory margin could reflect an erosion of confidence in its new generation of leaders, particularly regarding how they are handling the pandemic. Despite declining to run himself, Lee, 62, will campaign against the ruling party co-founded and built up by his father Lee Kuan Yew, the nations founding prime minister, which his older brother now leads. The siblings have been sparring over the estate of their father since his death in 2015, and the rivalry has spilled over into other conflicts. Campaigning ahead of the July 10 vote will likely focus on Singapores response to Covid-19 and its economic fallout. The PAPs election manifesto hails its ability to steer the country through the coronavirus crisis, while numerous opposition parties will surface issues such as the expected increase in the goods-and-services tax and retrenchment insurance. Family Drama Lee Hsien Loong, who turns 70 in 2022, has signaled his intent to make way for his successor, widely expected to be current Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat. While the prime minister has largely avoided government scandals since he took office in 2004, the family drama has been brewing in recent years. He said on Monday that the election isnt about him or any family disputes, but about Singapores future at a critical juncture, according to the Straits Times. The siblings have clashed over Lee Kuan Yews will, and in particular, his famous Oxley Road house. Lee Hsien Yangs wife is in a legal tussle over accusations that she mishandled the will, and his son -- an assistant professor of economics at Harvard University -- faces a court charge for disparaging remarks about the judicial system that were posted on a private Facebook post. This will be the first election for the Progress Singapore Party, which was founded last year by former ruling party members who became disgruntled with the government. It has seen a surge in donations in recent days, with its leader Tan Cheng Bock -- a former PAP lawmaker and presidential candidate -- describing it as the Lee Hsien Yang effect. People must get away from that notion that his coming into this particular political journey is just to hope to talk more about what happened about Oxley and so on, Tan said on Monday during a briefing. Its nothing to be connected to his family, because he believed in what we started out, our party. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China has strongly reacted to Indias move to ban 59 mobile applications, most of which are linked to China. The Indian governments decision was based on security concerns. China is strongly concerned, and we are verifying the situation, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday during a press briefing. He further said that India has a responsibility to uphold the rights of Chinese businesses. India on Monday banned the apps in its strongest move yet targeting China in the online space since a border crisis erupted between the two countries earlier this month. Also Watch | Chinese apps banned: Alternatives to TikTok, CamScanner, ES File Explorer The apps banned by India include ByteDances popular video sharing platform TikTok and Tencents WeChat. Also Read: Indias decision becomes trending topic on social media in China In a statement on Tuesday, TikTok said that it did not pass on any information about its users to any foreign government including the Chinese government and would not do so in the future too. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government, the statement from TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi said. The other Chinese apps which have been banned are Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu and Bigo Live. They have been removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store for India. The order came after India toughened its stance against China following the border skirmish. Home Minister Amit Shah, officials told Hindustan Times, had powered the decision that had been under discussion for weeks within the bureaucracy. The governments move has been welcomed by the industry. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that the ban will be a big support to its Boycott Chinese Goods campaign. ShareChat Director Public Policy Berges Malu also welcomed the move. Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) also lauded the move. This should have done long back, good step... ISPAI will act very swiftly to block these apps once the order comes, its president Rajesh Chharia said.Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO of InMobi Group, said, This is the digital Aatmanirbhar moment that most Indians have been rooting for. California and Texas marked record spikes in new Covid-19 infections on Monday to cap a week that saw the highest-ever number of new infections reported in the United States. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage This new surge in cases in the southern and western parts of the country ended up being the second wave of infections in the US, undoing gains made by north-eastern states such as New York and New Jersey that finally controlled their outbreaks to a large extent. The state of New York (with NYC as the epicentre) led the first-wave states that also included New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania when the coronavirus first swept through the country in March. By early April, 60% of all new cases in the US could be traced to just these five states. Since then, their contribution to new cases dropped to just 6% in the last seven days. Cases in these first-wave states peaked in early April, which resulted in a clear flattening of the new infection curve from April 10 (See chart). However, this drop was undone as the virus started spreading in the southeast and the west. California is among a number of US states including Florida, Texas Arizona and North Carolina, battling a new wave of infections as the nation emerges from weeks of clamp-downs. The second-wave states were responsible for less than 3% of new cases reported in the final week of March. Since then, their contribution to the infections has grown to 30% in the last seven days. Canada is moving in the right direction as far as combatting the Covid-19 pandemic is concerned, but the fight is not yet over, the countrys Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned. His statement came as health authorities released new projections that indicate that coronavirus infections are sharply tapering off. After a very challenging spring, things are continuing to move in the right direction, Trudeau said during a daily media briefing. However, that came with the proviso that Canadians continue to follow local public health guidelines to keep each other safe. Canada is gradually opening up and there is some concern that could contribute to the disease bouncing back. Among those who have voiced that worry is Canadas chief public health officer Dr Theresa Tam. She said they expect to see some resurgence of cases as restrictive measures were lifted across the nation. She expanded on that warning, as she said, Dynamic models are telling us that if we relax too much or too soon the epidemic will most likely rebound with explosive growth as a distinct possibility. Latest modelling was also released and it indicates that Canada will record between 1,04,000 and 1,08,000 cases by July 12, with deaths ranging between 8,545 and 8,865. On Monday, the total fatalities due to Covid-19 was at 8,566, and overall cases at 1,03,799. Among the matters being taken into consideration is the increase in cases in the United States after lockdowns were lifted in several states. Trudeau said that highlights to Canadian authorities that even as our economy is re-opening, we need to make sure we are continuing to remain vigilant, individually and collectively. Tam underscored that the coronavirus had yet to be eliminated and no effective vaccine was available. The epidemiology indicates that transmission is largely under control, while also showing us that cases can reemerge at any time or place, she said. Indian and US technology companies are urging the Trump administration to reconsider an executive order freezing access to many work visas, warning the move would undermine a business model used to supply high-skill talent to clients from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Donald Trumps order last week halts approvals of a range of visas through year-end, including those for intra-company transfers and study-abroad programs, and is aimed at giving Americans preference after record job losses from the coronavirus pandemic. Key for the tech industry are H-1B visas used by workers from India and other countries to fill key roles. Visa processing is an elaborate, months-long affair so any disruption could hurt the ability of critical workers to travel to clients sites for an extended period. Already, the virus lockdowns have blocked consulate visits essential to the process and forced hundreds of thousands of workers into challenging work-from-home situations. Indias technology trade group, Nasscom, called Trumps order misguided and harmful to the US economy and warned it would exacerbate the countrys economic pain. Indian companies provide technology staff and services to US hospitals, drugmakers and biotechnology companies, Nasscom pointed out. In addition, the industry may send more workers to Canada or Mexico without access to the US market. These are highly-skilled workers who are in great demand and they will be mobile no matter what, said Shivendra Singh, president of global trade development at Nasscom. Among the other critics of the order were Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith and Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk. Pichai, himself a beneficiary of the H-1B visa system in the 1990s, tweeted, Immigration has contributed immensely to Americas economic success making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd., among the largest outsourcing companies in Asia, declined to comment. India accounts for about 70% of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually, according to immigration data. Of this total, 65,000 visas are issued to foreign talent with bachelors degrees, while the remaining 20,000 can be allotted to workers who have more advanced degrees.The visa system was conceived so companies could hire overseas workers to fill a shortage of high-skilled talent in technology services and product development. The fact that Indian outsourcers collect a substantial share of the visas each year has made the program controversial, with critics arguing that companies abuse the system by replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor. Soon after taking office, Trump vowed he would crack down on work visas and reform the broken immigration system. One longer-term concern for outsourcers is the administrations planned revamp of the current H-1B visa program, which would replace the current lottery system for determining who gets visas with a merit-based system that prioritizes applicants based on wages. That would mean more workers with high salaries would likely receive visas.Now, outsourcing companies are dealing with the unpredictability of the visa situation and the prospect that an H-1B revamp could make it difficult to send anyone but the most critical of talent overseas. Trump Orders Freeze on Many Work Visas Through End of Year The most recent visa curbs could hammer outsourcers current model of talent deployment. Companies are beginning to question whether so much onsite travel is necessary, and some are ramping up local hiring or local subcontractors. The pandemic has prompted companies to look at worker clusters away from client sites but close enough to collaborate on projects. For instance, if a company has 20,000 employees spread across 40 cities, these could be aggregated in a few clusters and if the visa restrictions continue, the clusters may not be in Texas or New Jersey but in Canada or Mexico.Offshoring could increase because, for clients, the virus lockdowns have already driven home the merits of remote working, said Singh, speaking over the phone from New Delhi.Indian companies could see an impact on their margins because of increased worker salaries, higher costs of local hiring and subcontracting and the collateral damage from visa rejections and prolonged processing times. The temporary suspension of H-1B visa programme till December 2020 will hamper execution of pipeline and new projects coupled with margin impact resulting from higher onshore hiring, credit rating company ICRA said in a note last week. Terming Chinas recent actions on Indias border an example of Chinese aggressive expansionism, British MPs on Monday night demanded a review of the UKs dependence on China and highlighting the issue of human rights of Uyghur Muslims in international fora. China was the focus of an extended debate in the House of Commons based on a new report by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China that said there is new evidence suggesting that China is pursuing a birth-prevention programme targeted at Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. Iain Duncan-Smith, former Conservative leader, who tabled the urgent question, said it cannot be business as usual with China given what he called bullying behavior in relation to India, Hong Kong and elsewhere. Citing figures from the report of falling birth rates among the minorities in Xinjiang, he said: Of course the world wants to deal with China, but we cannot continue with business as usual while this sort of blatant activity continues. He added: (Given) the Chinese Governments appalling record on human rights, their attack on freedoms in Hong Kong, their bullying behaviour in border disputes from the South China seas to India, their blatant breaching of the rules-based order governing the free market and their delayed declaration on Covid-19, will the Government now initiate an internal review of the UKs dependence on China, with a view to significantly reducing that dependence, and call on the free world to come together to ensure that this growing threat from China is dealt with together before, as history teaches us, it is too late? Nigel Adams, minister for Asia, responded that the Boris Johnson government had raised concerns with China at many levels. Britain was pressing China for access to Xinjiang; the last time British diplomats visited the region was in November 2019. He said: Our approach to China remains clear-eyed and is rooted in our values and interests. It has always been the case that when we have concerns we raise them, and that where we need to intervene we will. We have consistently led international efforts to highlight concern about the worsening human rights situation in Xinjiang, and I assure my right hon. Friend that the United Kingdom will continue to do so. Labours Stephen Kinnock wanted the Johnson government to recognise that the actions of the Chinese authorities in Xinjiang reflect a wider pattern of behaviour of increasingly authoritarian policies at home and aggressive expansionism abroad, including in Hong Kong, Ladakh and the South China sea. Calling upon China to allow the office of the UN high commissioner for human rights unfettered access to the region, Adams reiterated that London had concerns about the detention and human rights abuses, with more than a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities detained in political re-education camps. The Johnson government has recently strongly criticised Beijing for enacting a security law applicable to the former British colony of Hong Kong that, according to the British perspective, goes against international law and agreements signed before the 1997 handover to China. Chinas largest banks have $1.1 trillion in dollar funding at stake and face potentially steep fines from US legislation that targets penalizing lenders doing businesses with Chinese officials involved in Hong Kongs controversial security law, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The bipartisan measure, which was passed by the US Senate and still needs to go through the House and be signed by the US President, bars financial institution from providing accounts to sanctioned officials, many of whom may be assumed to use the services of Chinas biggest banks, Francis Chan, a senior analyst at BI in Hong Kong, said in a June 30 note. Banks in violation risk being cut off from accessing the US financial system, he said. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp., Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., the nations four largest state-backed lenders, had a combined 7.5 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) equivalent of US dollar liabilities at the end of 2019, of which 47% were deposits, according to their annual reports. The rest came from the interbank borrowing and issuing securities to global investors. The legislation would apply penalties against financial institutions only if a bank knowingly does business with an official under sanction. The bill is intended to keep the penalties from capturing a broad swath of US companies, an administration official familiar with the discussions said earlier. Banks will be informed of what entities are on the sanctions list before penalties are imposed, the person said. Global banks could also be at risk since Chinese officials, their relatives and associates may also be their customers, Chan said. Standard Chartered Plc paid more than $600 million in fines in 2019 for breaching sanctions against Burma, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. BNP Paribas SA was fined $8.9 billion by the US in 2014, the largest ever on an individual bank, for transactions with Sudan and other blacklisted nations. The Trump administration overnight escalated pressure on China over its crackdown on Hong Kong by making it harder to export sensitive technology to the city as Beijing is poised on Tuesday to pass the security law. The Commerce Department said its suspending regulations allowing special treatment to Hong Kong over things including export license exceptions. Chinas military reserve forces will be formally placed under the centralised and unified command of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Central Military Commission (CPC), both headed by President Xi Jinping, from July 1 to ensure the ruling partys absolute leadership over it and build a world-class army. Currently, the reserve forces are under the dual leadership of military organs and local Communist Party committees and they would be brought under the control of the ruling party and the CMC from July 1, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in 2017 announced plans to reduce the strength of the reserve forces and bring them under the control of the central leadership as part of the reforms of the military.The reforms included cutting down the size of the military by three lakh troops reducing the size of the PLA, the worlds largest military force, to two million personnel. An official announcement on Sunday said the reserve forces are an important part of the PLA and the adjustment in the leadership structure is aimed at upholding the CPCs absolute leadership over the army and building a strong military in the new era. It calls on relevant military and civilian units to take active and coordinated measures to implement the changes to the leadership structure.Since he took over power in 2013, Xi, 67, has ordered all PLA ranks to strictly under the CPC leadership. Xi is also the General Secretary of the CPC. China watchers have called Xi the most powerful Chinese leader since Chairman Mao Zedong, especially since he managed to amend the Constitution to end the two-term presidential limit in 2018. According to the reforms process announced in 2017, the CMC will take charge of the overall administration of the PLA, the Chinese Peoples Armed Police and the militia and reserve forces. This meant that all forces would work directly under central leadership headed by Xi. The thrust of the reforms included a reduction of the ground forces and an increase in the role and scope of the Navy and the Air Force as part of Chinas push to expand its global influence. The structure of the reserve forces will adapt to information warfare from traditional combat-oriented and mechanised ones, the PLA announced in 2017. Chinas current reserve forces are mainly composed of reserve military officers and soldiers as well as a small number of active-service military personnel. Reserve military officers are selected from eligible veteran officers, local officials, and officers in the peoples armed force, militia cadres and related technical personnel. Centralising the leadership of reserve forces will make it easier to mobilise and manage reserve forces. They are important supplementary parts of active-duty military units, Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the PLA, told the Global Times. Many reserve forces have their specialities. Military news outlet 81.cn reported on June 15 that Tibet has five militia groups involved in patrols, communication, engagements and rapid response. Twenty personnel, who are good at wrestling and unarmed combat from a fighting club, are reportedly enrolled as members of the militia. Li said that reserve forces in China would not be normally mobilised until a large-scale local war breaks out. Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the daily that China has always kept a close watch on the developments of reserve forces in the border areas, especially in the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as they are important parts of local military preparedness and battles against separatism. The PLA Tibet Military Commands reserve forces are an example. The militia has adjusted to the cold and thin air environment, and are superior in high-altitude warfare. Their special abilities will greatly help the PLA, Song said. One of the newest coronavirus patients, Jessica Rios, 36, a mother of four with pneumonia, was transferred to Houston Methodist by ambulance from an urgent care center on Saturday. She said her husband was being treated in the hospital, too. She worried about her children and was frequently using FaceTime to call them. Her 18-year-old was looking after her 12-year-old, who has severe asthma and has also tested positive for the virus, and 5-year-old twins, one of whom has cerebral palsy and has tested positive, too. Its kind of hard to be here when I have them at home struggling, she said. BANGKOK, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Thai government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Monday said short-stay business travelers and guests of the Thailand government from Chinese mainland, China's Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Singapore will be allowed to enter from July 1. "This special arrangement will initially allow entry to 200 inbound travelers per day," confirmed CCSA spokesman Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin on Monday. He said the number of inbound travelers will increase as more alternative state quarantine (ASQ) rooms are made available, and the special arrangement will allow entry to groups of no more than 10 people for a short period. Taweesin said that inbound travelers will be tested for COVID-19 prior to travel and on arrival in Thailand. "These travelers will be subject to being monitored constantly by health and security officials," said Taweesin. "They must submit their Thailand itinerary in advance and will only be allowed to travel by private car." The CCSA also released a press release indicating foreign spouses and children of work permit holders, foreigners with residency rights in Thailand, foreigners married to Thais, foreigners seeking medical treatment in Thailand (except for COVID-19) and international students and their guardians, will all be allowed entry into Thailand on July 1 onwards. Taweesin said that these foreign visitors cannot just purchase an air ticket and expect immediate entry into Thailand. For foreigners work permit (WP3) and BOI certificate holders, they should contact their local Royal Thai Embassy or consulate for a permit to travel to Thailand, according to the spokesman. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) will arrange seats aboard repatriation flights for eligible passengers. Surfaces such as door handles, ballot boxes, table tops, handles, light switches, etc. that may be touched by people inside the polling station will be cleaned with the disinfectant liquid before the commission starts work, according to the guidelines. And then, they must be wiped down once an hour and at least six times on election day. Copyright 2020 at Sun Newspapers. Digital dissemination of this content without prior written consent is a violation of federal law and may be subject to legal action. The pandemic has also been politicized almost from the beginning. Trump has urged the use of unproven treatments, a faster reopening of businesses, and less reliance on testing. There are some clear links between his behavior and the behavior of partisans. His calls for the widespread use of an unproven malaria treatment drove up prescriptions for the drug. His disdain for masks appears reflected in comparatively lower rates of mask use among Republicans though a majority of Republicans in the Times survey said they wear a mask at least some of the time. Lima, OH (45805) Today Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms around noon. High 78F. Winds SW becoming NW in the afternoon at 15 to 20 mph.. Tonight Clouds begin to clear late. A chance of a shower early. Low around 49F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. This year our dine and drink business locations throughout the Gorge have suffered with closures. You can help support your favorites by purchasing take out and gift cards. Many of these business will offer curb-side delivery and some will deliver to your home. Lets keep the Gorge going strong! Author L. Aruna Dhir is a Hospitality & Feature Writer and Columnist for some of the worlds highest ranked Hospitality publications. Her industry writings are syndicated to the finest global hospitality bodies and used as references in case studies and hotel schools. Aruna is a recognized and national-poll winning Communications Specialist, PR Strategist and Writer. With over two decades of experience in Hospitality Communications and Brand Management Aruna has worked with some of the best global hotel companies. As their Director of Public Relations and as part of the core group, Aruna was responsible for re-launching The Imperial Hotel as one of the finest hotels in India and Asia. Arunas hotel experience includes leading the Marketing Communications and Public Relations portfolio for flagship properties at The Oberoi Group and Hyatt International. She also helped launch the Vilases as the uber luxury experiences from the Oberoi stable. As an industry expert, Aruna has launched brands, developed training modules, created standardization dockets on business communication, written manuals, conducted Image Study & Positioning Analysis and led media campaigns of Australian Ministers in India. L. Aruna Dhirs successful work tenure with Australias Diplomatic Mission in India saw her working on a host of never-done-before exciting projects including the hugely rewarding organisation of Australia-India New Horizons Australias largest ever Country Promotion. L. Aruna Dhir is the firstever Creative Writer for the Indian greeting cards giant ARCHIES Greetings and Gifts Ltd. The milestone puts her in the league of Helen Steiner Rice and Amanda Bradley. Aruna serves on the Board of Association of Emerging Leaders Dialogues (AELD), a front-running Commonwealth Body that works towards developing leaders and influencers of tomorrow, with Princess Anne as its international President. Aruna has been engaged in freelance work for Doordarshan the Indian National Television, All India Radio and Times FM. Aruna also dabbles in poetry and has to her credit two titles of Anthologies published and marketed by Archies G&G Ltd. Academically, L. Aruna Dhir topped at the All-India level in her PG Diploma in Public Relations and Advertising. Aruna has been a Ph.D scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, akin to an Ivy League in India. She has earned a Senior Management Course Certification from the Oberoi Centre for Learning & Development in partnership with University of Strathclyde, Glasgow; V Dimension Management Company, London & Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines. L. Aruna Dhir has represented India to a select group of opinion-makers in the United States, as a Cultural Ambassador under the GSE Program of Rotary International. She has also participated in the IXth Commonwealth Study Conference held in Australia and chaired by Princess Anne. A Freelance Writer since 1987, with articles that have appeared in Indias topmost newspapers and magazines, Aruna is also a blogger, a memoirist with works published on platforms like Medium and a Book reviewer on Goodreads. Aruna has and continues to work on several social awareness projects People for Animals, Earthquake Relief, National Blind Association, PETA, WSPA, Change.org, Friendicoes to name a few. Born at Allahabad (now Prayagraj), one of the worlds oldest known cities, L. Aruna Dhir grew up and did her schooling in Dehradun, regarded as a prominent seat of academia and literature. More about L. Aruna Dhir External Article 30 June 2020 (CNN) - In downtown Buffalo, New York, crossing the border into Ontario, Canada, used to be as easy as driving one mile across the Peace Bridge over the Niagara River. But that's now a forbidden route. Advertisements In the coronavirus era, New York residents and out-of-state road trippers aren't allowed to cross the border for leisure travel. US citizens have been shut out of their neighboring country to the north and a slew of nations around the world. The latest travel news affecting Americans: The European Union is considering blocking travelers from areas with severe Covid-19 outbreaks after it opens it borders on July 1. Since the United States has more confirmed coronavirus cases than anywhere else in the world, with numbers increasing in some states each day, US travelers are unlikely to be allowed in any time soon. "The US's chances are close to zero," an EU diplomat told CNN. "With their infection rates ... not even they can believe in that possibility." Press Release 30 June 2020 This weekend Global Pride 2020 marked a culmination of celebrations in June that welcome one and all in the LGBTQ+ community, and recognise everyone's right to equality and inclusion. Advertisements These values are of course firmly in the thoughts of many right now, with people around the world coming together not just for Pride, but also to stand up to prejudice, injustice and racism, and throw a vital spotlight on the discrimination that Black communities still face in our society today. Symbolic of this, and like many other organisations, our LGBTQ+ and Black communities wanted to bring their colours together in our IHG logo and show how we as a company stand as one. In more than 100 countries, our colleagues represent multiple nationalities, as well as the many cultures, religions, races, sexualities, backgrounds and beliefs that make the world such a vibrant place. Creating an inclusive culture that nurtures and celebrates that diversity is something we genuinely strive for at IHG. That is what Pride is all about - and whether in virtual events or celebrations in our hotels from Amsterdam and New Delhi to Toronto, I'm proud to see it come to life. But, by its very nature diversity is a broad subject, and the many conversations we've had as a company have shown us that for some of our communities, specifically our Black colleagues, we have to be honest with ourselves and say we're not where we need to be. I do believe we live the right values and as a company we have always stood against racism. Since becoming CEO, I have established global and local D&I Boards to drive important work, focused on leadership training, and supported charities promoting racial and economic equity. But I recognise that this alone isn't bringing about the more meaningful change we want to see. We've had some tough realities to face up to. A lack of cultural awareness has meant that some of our Black colleagues don't feel included. There's also not enough representation of colleagues from Black or other ethnic communities at senior levels of our business, which brings into question career progression and limits the number of role models we have to inspire others. That's not the company I feel we really are; but we need to do more to demonstrate that. So today, we are making the following commitments in the Americas to Listen & Learn, Advocate and Act: Listen & Learn Establish a program of leader-led listening and conversation sessions for corporate and hotel colleagues to gain insights and perspectives Roll-out mandatory unconscious bias training for 10,000+ US corporate and managed hotel employees by the end of 2020 Deliver ongoing inclusive leadership learning programs and resources for people managers Develop an Inclusion Index to track perception of culture and behaviors in our colleague engagement survey Advocate Launch a bespoke program to develop Black leadership talent and build partnerships with organizations dedicated to the growth of our Black colleagues Require diverse candidate shortlist and interview panel processes Support legislation that drives change in racial justice and equity Act Double representation of ethnically diverse colleagues in Americas based corporate leadership roles over the next four years Paid day of leave for US corporate colleagues to vote in national elections; additional floating paid holiday to observe cultural and religious events or for other personal use Support education, employability and empowerment in the community through partnerships with the National Urban League and National Center for Civil and Human Rights Offer IHG Rewards Club members the opportunity to donate loyalty points to support US partners that promote racial justice and equity I know that my own route through life hasn't included any of the barriers and experiences Black communities have faced, and so I don't try to speak for everyone. But whatever my personal experience, I hear the challenge and I see it. As CEO, what I can do is set a clear direction for us at IHG and empower our people to make a difference. By listening to our colleagues across the business we can turn thoughts, frustrations and hopes into action, and I believe the commitments we are announcing today will put us onto a stronger path. I want to thank everyone who has been involved in this for championing change. Wherever it makes sense we will explore how some of these commitments are extended to other markets - but it is important to first respond where the need is greatest. Our Americas home of Atlanta, Georgia is birthplace to Martin Luther King Jr. and an integral part of the history of the civil rights movement. Our values and culture must reflect that, and we must remain committed to breaking down barriers both within our company and our communities. We've made our commitments clear for all to read on ihg.com, alongside sharing the resources we have, so that guests, members and others can learn more and also understand the opportunities that are out there to be a part of the change. Keith Opinion Article 30 June 2020 Yes, you read that right! There is no grammatical error in the heading. To overcome and outdo the challenges brought to our threshold by the novel Coronavirus, we need to, henceforth, work with and not just in the Pandemic. Advertisements COVID 19 has been unique on several fronts. It is not that we have not faced tough times in the past. From World Wars to the Great Depression the world has battled sharp, knockout strikes. On the medical front, from the 430 B.C. Plague of Athens to the Black Death in the 14th Century, from Yellow Fever to Polio, from Spanish Flu to Asian Avian Flu, from Swine Flu to Ebola to Zika, we have been ravaged by epidemics that have wiped out big sections of businesses and large masses of people. But in recent memory, no epidemic has buckled us down so badly. And there are gravely strong reasons for it. Almost the entire world is hit by the current Pandemic which has moved from geographical zones to sections of the society. It has served a blow to almost all the businesses bringing the world economy down to its knees. The havoc unleashed by the Pandemic is staggering. As of 29th June, there are 10,021,401 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 499,913 deaths, reported to the WHO. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) forecasts a fall between 13% and 32% in the world trade in 2020 due to gross disruptions in life and the economy around the world. Indeed, the travel and hospitality industry is amongst the worst affected. With the governments in a bind over dealing with the chaotic devastation all around and with no definite cure or vaccine insight in the near future, it all looks bleak and worrisome. I decided to speak with three hoteliers and travel experts to gain from their insights and learn from their experience. Florida-based Kenneth Vincent is a Lama of the hospitality industry. He is the author of the book - So Many Hotels, So Little Time. In his remarkable 49 year career with hotels, Ken started off as a bellboy at the age of 14 and went on to manage over 100 hotels ranging from luxury boutique inns to limited-service properties, large convention hotels to multi-faceted resorts. He also performed consulting services for the State of Massachusetts. Ken formed eight companies, two of which are owned hotels. Having served on the board of directors of several companies, Ken, now, mentors young hoteliers in three countries. Kenneth Vincent Photo: L. Aruna Dhir David Ourisman is the Founder of Ourisman Travel and a Virtuoso Luxury Travel Advisor from California. A member of Brownell Travel, David Ourisman's company is one of the significant sellers in the world of Four Seasons and other luxury hotels. David himself is recognized as a leading travel expert in the region and has established a specialization in the luxury hotel segment of the industry. David Ourisman Photo: L. Aruna Dhir Jannes Soerensen is the General Manager of the London-based The Beaumont, the timeless and old-world, uber-luxe hotel. Jannes was a Golden Key Concierge (Les Clefs D'Or), who began his career in his native Berlin, before embarking on a professional journey which took him to leading hotels in Paris, Barcelona, New York and London. Jannes has cut his teeth and earned his spurs at such legendary hotels as Kempinski Hotel Adlon, The Plaza Hotel and the Four Seasons George V, Le Bristol and The Connaught. Today, Jannes is recognized as one of London's youngest General Managers of a Five-star Property and has been voted as the Best General Manager in the World (for the second year running). Under the stewardship of Soerensen, The Beaumont rated amongst the top 25 Luxury hotels worldwide, was named as the Best Independent Hotel in the World in the 2019 Gallivanter's Guide Awards for Excellence. Jannes Soerensen Photo: L. Aruna Dhir My conversation with the three hotel industry professionals aims at outlining the circumstances at the ground level, putting the issues on the table and offering wise counsel. L. Aruna Dhir - What is the effect of the COVID catastrophe on the industry? Kenneth Vincent - The issue has been very tricky because the industry is so diverse. The effect of COVID varies considerably between a limited-service highway hotel, a resort hotel, a convention/business-oriented hotel, and even geographically. The impact on a hotel in NYC and one in Wichita, Kansas is not likely to be the same. Even two similar hotels in NYC will have seen totally different conditions. A hotel near the theatre district will have been hit much worse than one next to a major hospital. The one thing they all have in common of course is that their normal market has virtually dried up as travel ceased. Occupancy rates in most areas have dropped to 25% and over 40% of hotels have simply closed. Government-mandated lockdowns have virtually eliminated travel by air, car, train, and bus. With lockdowns lifting, the travel is still coming back, understandably, with a lot of trepidation. Corporate shut-downs have of course been a factor and will continue to be so even after lockdowns are eased. David Ourisman - The lockdown has led to the complete shutdown of the industry. Destinations have had to simply put the shutter down. Americans cannot travel to Europe, and vice versa. The scene is being repeated all over the world. Many American cities and states, as much of rest of the world, have been sheltering in place and have had to shut down hotels and other so-called non-essential businesses. The entire state of Hawaii has closed its tourism industry. Jannes Soerensen - When the crisis first hit, forcing very abrupt closures, initially without a government mandate, many in hospitality and travel felt this presented an existential crisis for the industry. Since almost every country in the world was eventually forced into lockdown and once we had time to gather our collective breath, I believe we have begun to focus on resuscitation and revival. So I remain nevertheless optimistic. The COVID crisis has also exposed how close to the edge many of our staff live! This crisis rapidly threatened the livelihoods of many of the people that are the backbone of our industry. This is something we are seeing in society in general, with our care workers, too. People who are paid the minimum wage live a hand to mouth existence and have feeble pliancy. Ongoing job security issues will grow as hotels, restaurants and travel partners are forced out of business. It is the people that have always made the difference in this industry and we now need to do everything we can to protect them and their families. Loyalty goes both ways. The health of our employees and our guests is also a fundamental concern and some of us have lost colleagues and friends, and know people who have been very ill. I think there is a crisis of lack of self-confidence: the industry feels particularly punished in this Pandemic and it is true that it will suffer more than most industries. But there are green shoots and there is hope that opportunities will come out of this, that better practices will evolve and that we will all work in a more cohesive and united way, for the benefit of the planet. L. Aruna Dhir - What is the paramount leadership role of the Top management in all this? Kenneth Vincent - This of course depends on what top tier management we are considering. In a 120 room, limited service hotel the top management is the G.M. and he/she will be able to do nothing without ownership approval and more often than not that will be to simply lock the doors. Top tier management in a franchise company has a few more options. Things like waiving franchise fees and mandated FF&E reserves. The top management in a management company or ownership group with multiple hotels (and even franchise brands) has not only the role of deciding which hotels to keep open and which to close but also a wide range of employee conditions from corporate staff to new line employees. Sadly, in all those situations the one common result is that many will be laid off, terminated, or will suffer temporary pay cuts. There is no option. David Ourisman - Top management is in the difficult position of answering to owners and their financial pressures while simultaneously maintaining relationships with their team, travel advisors, and valued guests. There are no easy answers. Tough decisions will have to be taken. But we hope that they will be taken with a strong moral compass and high emotional quotient, particularly keeping in mind the lowest common denominator. Yes, it is indeed, hard-hittingly Herculean as the turnaround time for the businesses to come back to the past revenues is very long. Jannes Soerensen - The role of top management at this time is to stay informed, to communicate and to plan. It is important to keep in constant touch with guests, staff and partners in the industry. It is crucial to maintain the connection and emotional link. Don't hesitate to communicate, even if you don't have all the answers. Government lobbying under the umbrella of a hospitality association and presenting a united front when it comes to formulating what the industry needs to reopen safely is also a fundamental element of the role. We all need to work together to make this a success. And then there is the reopening planning. I maintain a small, tight team of executives to manage the building, to remain in touch with the travel industry, to communicate and to oversee the reopening, with new protocols in place. L. Aruna Dhir - What are the key factors in employee management and employee engagement? Kenneth Vincent - Well, we can use all the cheerleading words we want. Show compassion, be sympathetic, promise employment as soon as possible, etc. The reality though is that most hotel personnel live paycheck to paycheck and when that paycheck stops coming there are no words or promises that will do much to improve morale. The hardest hit, are those that rely on tips for the majority of their income and they are among the most susceptible. And that is the segment we must focus on. When people are worried about feeding their families, paying the rent and utility bills, and possible loss of their car(s) there is only one thing that will improve their morale...money! In the case of the United States, some hotels have qualified for small business help from the U.S. government. That is in the form of low-interest loans. However, those loans can be forgiven if the loan is used to keep employees on the payroll. Of course when that money runs out then the problem may still be faced. That is also of minimal help to tip employees. It should also be noted that most of the known hotel brand names don't own very many hotels. The vast majority are owned by others and have a franchise to carry the known name. That is true of Marriott, Sheraton, Hilton, Choice Hotels, Holiday Inn, etc. So when we are considering what hotel companies can do to keep up the morale of their employees we have to define just who we are talking about. David Ourisman - During past financial crises, the hotels that bounced back most quickly were those who kept their entire teams on the payroll. Obviously, those hotel companies with large financial reserves have a distinct advantage. But even smaller ones will have to pencil in permutations and combinations to see how best they can balance out. Jannes Soerensen - It is important to keep in constant touch with the workforce. We are extremely fortunate because a combination of the UK Government's Job Retention Scheme and the generous support of our owners have meant that we have been able to furlough all our staff on 100% of their wages. So they all feel secure financially and they know they can pay the rent and look after their families. But their mental well-being and morale is a concern and we have worked hard to stay in touch with our people. Together with my Executive Team, who are not furloughed, we communicate on a daily basis with the staff, wherever they are, and especially with the most vulnerable. We have set up Workplace (by Facebook) as a forum for interaction and communication; we send regular e-newsletters to the staff to keep them up to date; we have a daily social zoom call at 6 PM that anyone can dial into for a chat; we offer a daily meditation session at 10 AM; there is an active fitness group; we hold quizzes and competitions; there are voluntary training sessions, and managers keep in touch with their staff by telephone and email on a one to one basis. For those that are struggling, we provide access to one to one counselling, should they desire it. L. Aruna Dhir - Guests are the fulcrum of our industry. What will have to be done to acquire an ideal level of guest-orientation? Kenneth Vincent - A highway hotel has very few repeat customers in most cases. Therefore they have little need for a sophisticated computer system to stay in touch with the guest. Larger hotels, resorts, and chain-owned properties usually do have a system that tracks guests and thus can communicate with them. A letter or email expressing the hotel's hope for their well being and updating them on planned changes at the hotel would be something that may both, maintain awareness and garner goodwill. Some of the letters/emails I've seen from hotel companies include heavy discounts on room rates. Those vary up to 65%. Others have stressed their new cleaning standards and the steps being taken to protect their guests and employees. The latter is clearly an effort to override the fear that the Pandemic has implanted in the minds of the travelling public. Of course, the downside of both tactics could be that it raises the question of why were rooms so expensive before, and why were hotels not cleaning to a high standard before. It is a Catch 22 position. David Ourisman - Some hotels have found creative ways to stay in contact with their guests. I've seen many interesting emails that delight with film and storytelling, playlists of music, recommended reading, authentic recipes, and ingredients for iconic drinks for which their bar is known. There are several creative and interesting options to keep the relationship alive. Jannes Soerensen - Be open, be transparent, and communicate. But do not sell. We have been in direct touch with guests that still had reservations, which we cancelled at no charge. We send newsletters promoting London as a virtual destination. We continue to engage on social media. And I am in touch with many guests on a one to one basis, people who cannot wait to start travelling again and to return to the hotel. We will carry on with this discussion in Part Two where we will talk about the situational crisis, the solutions that can be explored and the strategic thinking that must be put into place. Billy Calzada Bank of America, the North Carolina bank with branches in Texas, announced it is buying solar power from NRG Energy in a 10-year deal. The power will be generated by a yet-to-be-identified solar farm in west central Texas that is expected to come online in two years. The deal will contribute to the banks commitment to buy all its electricity from renewable sources and reduce its impact on the environment, according to Bank of America. But the Pentagon said that the flyovers provide a chance for the Department of Defense to demonstrate the professionalism of the Armed Forces and that the crews in this year's celebration would have been using those hours for training at other locations if not participating in the flyovers. BHP Groups future can do without hydrocarbons. The worlds largest digger is among the last heavyweights to mix mines with a significant presence in oil, a combination that is becoming harder to justify over the long term. Crude demand will be slow to recover after a pandemic that has kept workers home and jets grounded, and some of that appetite will never come back. Meanwhile, pressure to cut carbon emissions is only increasing. Oil giant BP Plc is the latest to take a hit, warning it expects impairments and write-offs worth as much as $17.5 billion due to a more gloomy view of what lies ahead. The Big Australian could benefit from a dose of that realism. There is little question that the petroleum division, with assets from Western Australia to the Gulf of Mexico, has generated impressive cash over the years if you exclude the ill-considered foray into U.S. shale, a $20 billion investment (excluding capital expenditure) much criticized by activist fund Elliott Management Corp. and eventually sold off in 2018. In the six months to December 2019, the unit accounted for about 13% of BHPs total earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, notching up an impressive 65% margin. Only iron ore, the groups top earner, was higher, at 69%. Add in low production costs that cushion the blow of 2020s lackluster oil prices, and its easy to see why putting in more cash is tempting when, as analyst Glyn Lawcock of UBS Group AG points out, the miner has few readily available alternative investments. Its also true that while the medium-term global appetite for oil looks far less certain than it did, theres a more appealing argument to be made around fading supply. Indeed, the $115 billion miners central expectation last year of demand hitting a high point in the mid-2030s now looks bullish, compared to comments from the likes of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP. A peak even in the middle of this decade, BHPs low-demand scenario, may prove optimistic. On the production side, though, the miner is right to point out that the industry has been investing less, a trend that will only accelerate after a disastrous 2020 and squeeze future production. BHP has estimated ongoing natural field decline at a rate of 3% to 5% per year. RELATED: Chevron selling stake in Australian LNG project None of this means boss Mike Henry and his team can afford to ignore the signs that this year will prove to be a turning point for oil. Diversification has benefits, but operating synergies between oil and mining are debatable its not an accident that while majors sold out of one or the other, none have returned. As a standalone business, the petroleum division might arguably have ventured less enthusiastically into shale. And the risk today is clear: Staying on can turn into overstaying. Here, Henry can reflect on the experience in thermal coal, where BHP woke up too late. Rival Rio Tinto Group offloaded its last coal mine in 2018, wrapping up a process that began in 2013. BHP held on to decent assets, using up tax losses. Its now trying to retreat just as Anglo American Plc prepares to hive off its South African coal mines, and interest in the dirty fuel has dwindled. Oil has fewer easy substitutes, but it's conceivable that, with significant changes in policy, crude could be left similarly stranded. Accepting the need for an exit from a business that BHP has been in since the 1960s is only the first step, of course. For one, a carve-out in the mold of coal-to-aluminium producer South32 Ltd., which BHP spun off successfully in 2015, is harder to advocate for oil. The move then was about getting more out of sub-scale operations. In petroleum, BHP is not the operator for many of the assets, making such efficiencies harder to accomplish. BHP can begin by reviewing its portfolio, starting with mature assets in Australia. Partner Exxon Mobil Corp. has said that its seeking a buyer for its share of the Gippsland Basin oil and gas development in the Bass Strait; a joint sale with BHP has been considered before. Chevron Corp., meanwhile, has put its stake in the giant North West Shelf liquefied natural gas venture on the block. That operation, Australias largest LNG project, is shifting from processing its own gas to opening services to new suppliers, a business known as tolling less suited to either Chevron or BHP. The mining giant has in any event been less enthusiastic about gas than oil. FUEL FIX: Get our energy news in your inbox each weekday Granted, even that wont be easy. Australia churns up a decent amount of revenue, and BHP can argue it is better to continue taking cash now, at the risk of selling for less later. Some investors may agree. A similarly short-term view in the Gulf of Mexico could see it adding to the portfolio as distressed rivals are forced out. For newish boss Henry, though, none of those would look like the decisions of a company preparing for a greener future. He has an opportunity to outline the path to net zero emissions when BHP announces full-year results in August. An exit plan for oil would be one decisive step toward that goal. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the U.K., Italy and Russia. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. They're here. They serve beer. And they are hopping mad at Greg Abbott. As the Washington Post's Teo Amus reported Tuesday, a group of Texas bar owners from around the state has banded together to sue Governor Greg Abbott for what they believe is a prejudiced edict targeting bar-owning Americans. "You can't tell me that my tiny little bar is the problem," said Tee Allen Parker, a 45-year-old bar owner from Kilgore who recently banned wearing masks in her establishment. Frustrated by the initial shutdown, reopening and subsequent backpedaling in the face of surging coronavirus case numbers, Parker has singled out the governor as the one recurring feature in her misery. "[Abbott]'s the problem," Parker says. "He's targeting us, and it's discrimination." Parker and 21 other bar owners have joined with Houston attorney Jared Woodfill to sue the governor and state alcohol regulators for Friday's order, which shut down bars and restaurants with alcohol-dominant revenue streams. They claim the order is unconstitutional and unfairly discriminates against bar people and bar spaces. "It's just a horde of infringement on people's individual liberties and constitution," said Woodfill, a high profile right-leaning litigator who has already filed six lawsuits against state and local governments for COVID-related orders since the pandemic's beginning. "This is one individual making draconian decisions that have destroyed the Texas economy." While others prepare for the legal battle, Parker is mustering the culture war. On Sunday, Parker held an event called 'Bar Lives Matter' to raise money for bar owners struggling with bills after the reclosing. She then traveled to Austin on Monday to invite the governor for a one-on-one discussion. Parker's invitation has not received a response as of this writing, but it's unlikely Abbott is thrilled for this new section of terrain in the criticism of his pandemic leadership. Largely the governor has been praised in financial circles for his swift reopening plans and unwillingness to fine quarantine breakers. It's a strategy that's allowed Abbott to remain mostly in the good graces of his base. And with the second spike rising and hard choices on the doorstep, it may have run its course. This pandemic year, birthdays are not what they used to be. Cut off from the venues where wed gather, and the groups whod assemble to toast another passage around the sun, we must improvise. Adjust expectations. Find new modes of celebration. Thats what I did for myself a couple of weeks ago with the curbside help of Saltillo Mexican Kitchen, a restaurant where I have celebrated birthdays past; and with two of my oldest friends, who have been self-isolating as carefully as I have for the past three months. Ordinarily I think of a birthday feast at Saltillo as calling for such indulgent stuff as spicy campechana-type cocktails of jumbo shrimp, springy cubes of delicately fried fresh white cheese with an array of vivid salsas, and sprawling tapa de lomo, a whole cap portion of the rib-eye grilled over mesquite in Saltillos signature norteno style. Ever since I first tasted Carlos Abedrops version of this mighty steak at his original Houston outpost on Westheimer, Ive craved it as a celebration food. Weighing in at at least 4 pounds, the hand-trimmed beef cut costs a ton ($190 in 2020 prices) and feeds six people handsomely. Its one of the great steaks of Houston, with a vivid sense of place that springs from its sharp, sweet scent and flavor of mesquite smoke. Yet, as I scanned Saltillos online menu, it wasnt the tapa de lomo I craved. For one thing, its an item that demands to be eaten in situ, hot off the grill, as the beef juices settle and the aromas wreathe the table. A 20 minute car journey plus added serving time was not going to help this precious piece of beef. For another thing, three people could not do it justice. But finally and most importantly my yearnings have become more modest of late. I find myself pining for simple comforts rather than the extravagances of yore. I wanted the comfort of Saltillos splendid, under-the-radar enchiladas; its epic house-fried totopos with a spectrum of the finest salsas in the city; the soothing flavors of guacamole and pinto beans larded with hunks of fatty carnitas that make the flavor bloom. I planned my birthday menu accordingly. You must call in your order to the restaurant rather than ordering and paying online. It was simple to do, and I found out later I could have given my credit card info over the phone to make pickup even easier. For a weak moment, I pondered ordering my beloved fried cheese cubes, but good sense prevailed. I knew they would travel poorly. I pulled up near the front door in downtown Bellaire at the appointed time. Within a minute, manager Francisco Cervantes one of the citys great hosts appeared at my passenger window masked and gloved, toting shopping bags and a couple precious plastic containers of margaritas. I could only see Franciscos eyes crinkling above his mask, but that seemed like another gift. Careful with these, he warned as he handed over the plastic cups with their pale green liquid cargo. Alison Cook / Staff Lazaro made them the way you like them, he told me, and I almost cried right there. Bartender Lazaro Villalobos, a courtly man who has shaken straight-up margaritas to my tart specifications over the years Ive put in as a Saltillo regular, was still on duty. Saltillo Mexican Kitchen 5427 Bissonnet, 832-623-6467 Curbside pickup and dine-in 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; noon-10 p.m. Saturdays See More Collapse And he remembered, which seemed like the biggest birthday gift of all. At my friends house, we unpacked the food and laid it out on their big wooden table without much ceremony. I rimmed some wine glasses with salt and rigged up an improvised shaker to give the margaritas one last pass through the chill. Popping the lids off the four Saltillo salsa felt like opening varicolored presents: red, green, orangey ocher, the extravagant magenta of my favorite red-onion mince, marinated in lime and lemon, with a tinge of habanero for bite. My friends, who were new to these salsas, were wowed, which felt like another gift. I had ordered one each of Saltillos enchiladas, and they were a hit, too: I feel like Im back in San Antonio, said my friend Mimi, who grew up in that city blessed with great Mexican food, as her husband, John, extracted a portion from its plastic pan with a stretchy flourish of melted Chihuahua cheese. We ate our way through chicken enchiladas in tomatillo-serrano sauce; queso fresco in dusky five-chile red sauce; and my favorite, potatoes rolled up with a tomato-laced red chile sauce, swirled with crema and garnished with toasted sesame seeds. Alison Cook / Staff It all felt hugely satisfying, from the bright agro-dolce effect of the spicy shrimp cocktail to the mesquite edge on an order of grilled vegetables. At the end, we shared a fluted little rum cake, fragrant with tropical spirits; and an unusual, earthy, flourless pecan cake, the recipe for which is said to have been in the family of the owners wife for 300 years. That was my 2020 birthday cake, which summed my birthday dinner itself: a modest slice that tasted profoundly of northern Mexico, of Texas, of home. alison.cook@chron.com They say love cures all, but what exactly can be cured when you are past the point of remembering much of what happens to you in the course of another day? Doyce Spears, at 92, has to find out. Even if it means going to a place he may never be able to leave. Im going to the place I will die, he tells his daughters Cara and Lynn. He is not referring to his age. He has watched the news on TV and knows about all the trouble in nursing homes, and how kids and grandkids cannot visit anymore. So many of the facilities are full of fragile people who could die of loneliness, if not the disease thing. Doyce used to be more specific about the names of spreading organisms you cant see except under a microscope. As a chemist at Dow in Freeport for dozens of years, he developed pollution-eating bacteria that the company used to clean its wastewater. He retired decades ago but still dresses like he is going to work, in khaki pants and button-down shirts with front pockets where he carries a pen and his glasses. Silverado Hermann Park Memory Care Community looks like a nice enough place in pictures. June, his wife, has been there since late winter. She is only 88, but she fell in January. She had two strokes in the emergency room and couldnt come home after that because she couldnt get around the house or shower herself anymore. Doyce has not seen her since. Cara and Lynn want him to go to Silverado, too. They had it arranged before the outbreak happened. In fact, they had him packed in early March, when the facility shut its doors to anyone from outside who didnt work there. I am keeping house on my own just fine, he told his daughters then. He was cooking frozen dinners in the microwave. Doing the laundry. Still, the new house he built in Manvel four or five years ago just wasnt right without June in it. Until the strokes took her away, they had not spent a night apart in 67 years, even though they slept in separate rooms for decades for practical reasons, because of the snoring. They met in their 20s in El Dorado, Ark., shortly after the Korean War. He led a combat platoon as a first lieutenant in the Army. He joined the ROTC while he was earning a degree in biology and chemistry at a land grant college. Thats what got me, he says. When I finished school, the war got going good. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Sometimes he remembers those particulars better than he remembers last week. It was December when they sent me, he says. One week we had temperatures of about 30 degrees below zero. From the time I landed to the first of April, the only shower I had was a sponge bath out of my helmet. It was no fun. He met Bettye June Johnson on the front porch of the boarding house where they both lived. She was pretty, smart and self-sufficient. She worked for a telegraph company, and she had served in the Air Force. It was not love at first sight on her part, he says. But she had an eight-block walk to work, and he had a car. He offered to start driving her. Eventually, they drove to Mississippi and eloped. Without June in the house, he wasnt sleeping well. He has listened to radio shows like Coast to Coast and Art Bells Dark Matter paranormal stuff for years, and it is easy for him to imagine that something is in his attic and listening to him through the electrical sockets in the walls. He set booby traps just in case, with knives and razor blades. Still, he felt safer at home. The disease thing scares him. But he knows June is missing him, too. She calls Lynn and Cara all the time, crying. They tell her about the disease thing but she forgets. So here he is in mid-June, coming down from Silverados third floor, where he has been quarantined almost two weeks. Nobody told his wife he was there. They didnt want to confuse her. The room he has been stuck in is nice and the food is good, but that two weeks was like being in hell, he says. They are setting him up in a new room. He doesnt have much to move: his radio, a clock and a few pictures from his childhood. The most important thing is that this new room is just across the hall from hers. Then, in a blur, At Last is playing through the sound system in Silverados coffee lounge. If he is shocked to see her in a wheelchair, he doesnt let on. Maybe some part of him still sees the young woman sitting on a porch in El Dorado, Ark. He smiles tenderly as he leans over her to give her a hug, and his fingers tremble a bit around her back. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer She embraces him back, sobbing. Where have you been? she says. Where have you been? I havent been hiding, he says, trying to sound upbeat. I just couldnt get here on account of that, uh, disease thing. I got here as fast as I could. I thought I was never going to see you again! she says, grasping his hands. Im going to stay, he says. I cant believe it, she cries. He goes into help mode to lift one of her feet back onto the wheelchair pads. I cant walk. But I can stand up and use a walker, she says. A few Silverado staff people are standing nearby, videotaping the reunion on their smartphones. Beyond June and Doyce, behind a big water jug and a pastry plate with a glass lid, a big painting hangs on the wall a landscape thats mostly soft blue sky with bands of vivid pink and golden clouds. It could be a sunrise or a sunset. molly.glentzer@chron.com Top hits: Get Houston Chronicle stories sent directly to your inbox When 7-year old Owen McKay says, I swim in hot weather, his mother Dr. Sandra McKay hears so much more like progress and perseverance in the face of a coronavirus challenge. McKay, a Missouri City resident, can tell that her son has perfected the s in swim and is almost as accomplished with the th in weather. These are milestones McKay assumed would be postponed during the pandemic, when Owen was away from his speech therapist provided through Fort Bend ISD. That is until a group of students at McGovern Medical School created the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team to find ways to help faculty during the pandemic. Their effort has made a world of difference for Owen. Hes actually progressed, McKay said. And I was shocked. Owen was 4 years old when McKay and her husband noticed he struggled with certain sounds. Owens parents could understand him. We had the attitude that well just give it a little more time, McKay said. As preschool approached, making sure other students and teachers could understand Owen became a top priority. The Fort Bend ISD diagnosed Owen with an articulation disorder a problem with pronouncing certain sounds, which often includes substitution of one letter for another. Treatment for articulation disorder is speech therapy, and Owen made quick progress with a professional assigned to help him through the school district. Before long, he conquered k and g. Then COVID hit, McKay said. The district provided a packet of information to continue Owens speech therapy at home. But Im not a trained speech therapist, McKay said. Still, in addition to being a busy pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, McKay took on the role of Owens speech therapist, teacher and parent, taking turns with her husband. The McKays two older children, Emily, 16, and Jacob, 12, were able to adapt to their online classes and were self-sufficient. But Owen needed more time and help. And after the first week or two, he began getting frustrated with his parents becoming his speech therapist and teachers as well. Then McKay stumbled upon a solution. Students at the McGovern Medical School Michael Bagg, Helen Burks, Bili Yin and Kyle Meissner approached her with an idea to start the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team. They asked her to share the concept with faculty colleagues and gauge their interest. McKay agreed to pass along the information and jumped at the opportunity, asking if anyone would be willing to help Owen. My kid needs some help, she explained. Bagg explained that the idea for the group started soon after the coronavirus forced him and other medical students to take classes online. People go to med school because theyre an altruistic bunch, Bagg said. And just because they were sent home did not mean their desire to help went away. We wanted to brainstorm how we could still contribute, while also doing everything safely. At first, that meant helping connect medical facilities in need with personal protective equipmentand providing child care for physicians on the front line. Theyre still at the hospital, and their kids were home from school, Bagg said. Some students wanted to help in other ways including those who had returned home to other cities during the lockdown. They realized they could offer virtual tutoring services for children of attending physicians and residents regardless of where students sheltered in place. We wanted to do something that doctors would want, Bagg said. We wondered if there was anything we could do virtually. We settled on tutoring. It really gives parents a break, and its a way to engage with kids that was safe. Med students, for once, had free time. Bagg said the question became, How do we use it? First-year medical student Caroline Andrews, 23, felt the same way. After a couple weeks with her family in Dallas, she fell into a routine with her studies and online lectures. She remembers thinking, I just wish there were something I could do to help. Then she saw Bagg post a sign-up sheet for the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team on the McGovern Medical Schools Facebook page. I had done some tutoring in the past, she said. I thought, this is definitely something I can do. Andrews signed up right away. A couple of days later, she received a text about Owen. Ive never done speech therapy before, but Ill definitely try, she responded. McKay explained to Andrews how to work on the sounds with Owen. Andrews also watched some YouTube videos to prepare for her tutoring sessions. For the past couple months, Andrews has met with Owen for 15 minutes each day. We started with s, and now hes mastered those, Andrews said. Hes also doing so well on th. The next one, were doing is r. Even though the sessions are short, Andrews said Owen has made serious advances in his speech. Its been so cool to see how these small, consistent routines can pay off, she said. Having that consistency in a time thats so uncertain is probably good for him, too. Helping Owen has only increased her desire to work with children as a pediatrician. He makes me laugh, Andrews said. Its confirmed to me that there are so many ways to help people. Right now, thats not working on the front line but there are always ways to help. Thats exactly what the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team is all about. While med students werent quite ready to join the doctors on their rotations, the group still found a way to safely make a difference. These students are incredible, said McKay. They latched on to figure out exactly what the faculty needed. They were reaching out to help the community, and that speaks volumes about their character. Im excited about the future of medicine. Shes also excited about Owens progress. I never expected Owen would actually make progress, McKay said. I was aiming for, Lets not regress. Not only did he not lose the advances that he made, but the Covert Undercover Virus Response Team is helping him continue to move forward. Owens come such a long way already, McKay said. We dont have to worry about him making s sounds anymore. Lindsay Peyton is a Houston-based freelance writer. The University of St. Thomas in Houston will offer $500 scholarships to undergraduates this fall to assist those who might be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a university release. All undergraduates, including transfers, will be eligible for the scholarship. The offer comes after St. Thomas announced other initiatives earlier this year, including covering tuition for the first 300 students who enroll in its new associates degree programs and the first 100 who enroll in its new nursing masters programs. St. Thomas also offered discounted and free summer courses for students. St. Thomas President Richard Ludwick has credited the universitys restructuring for enabling the college to be able to give back to students. The original restructuring plan, announced in December, intended to cut the amount of faculty originally projected to teach in the 2020-21 academic year by at least 30 positions and reorganize departments and programs into new divisions in hopes of saving the school at least $5 million. On HoustonChronicle.com: University of St. Thomas offers empty residence hall rooms to hospitals Because of the challenges we faced together, we are now in a position to serve our students and our community. As others are raising tuition for the fall, this scholarship will have the effect of reducing it, Ludwick said in a written statement. Curtis Huff, chair of St. Thomas board of regents, said the scholarship could help students stay enrolled in college. If a student takes a break from college because of financial or other challenges, the odds are that the student will not ultimately graduate, Huff said in a written statement. It is for these reasons that the university decided to provide $500 in additional financial aid to all of our undergraduate students this fall to help them stay in school and relieve the pressure. The college also reinstated its CeltCare Fun Program earlier this year. The program, launched after Hurricane Harvey, assists faculty, students and staff who need food, shelter and education-related needs like internet service and computers in times of emergency or uncertainty. brittany.britto@chron.com Pediatric dentists Julia Servetnik and Chun-Yin Wong are planning to open their own practice on Fry Road at the end of July, excited to start their own journey together. But, the pair are just as excited to use their years of schooling and training to contribute to kids in the Cy-Fair area who need a boost. We really reached into our backgrounds and how we were growing up in underserved households and our parents came with nothing, Servetnik said. People helped us, we had the reduced lunches program and various programs back in our hometowns. We said that when we have our own office, were going to do something like that also. Groups work to address needs during pandemic: Northwest Houston nonprofits brace for continuing rise in COVID-19 cases Cavity Patrol Pediatric Dentistry, located at 7914 Fry Road, Suite 280 in Cypress, will donate to Cy-Hope, a nonprofit aiding low-income students and families in Cy-Fair ISD, for each new patient that visits the pediatric dentist office. The donation will sponsor a backpack of food through Cy-Hopes backpack program. The backpack program gives students backpacks full of groceries to take home discreetly, which are provided by Cy-Hope. Servetnik said she and Wong, both immigrants from Ukraine and Hong Kong respectively, grew up in low-income households in the United States and benefited from similar programs in their respective hometowns. The pair, who met during a residency program three years ago, wanted to give back to the low-income kids in their community. On HoustonChronicle.com: 'Im going to stay': A story of enduring love in the time of COVID-19 We want to give back, we want to be involved in the community and we want to do that in a way that is going to help kids like ourselves when we were growing up, Servetnik said. We love everything that they do and how theyre helping the community and all of the low-income kids who would be starving and not have any direction in life. They have all these sort of programs that will help them. Cavity Patrol will offer standard pediatric dental services as well as advanced procedures like surgical tooth extractions, pathology and will work with local doctors and speech specialists to provide a full suite of care for all types of needs, including dentistry for children with special needs. We are a pediatric office and its definitely going to be comprehensive, Servetnik said. We want to provide everything that a child could possibly need. Cy-Hope executive director Lynda Zelenka said Wong and Servetnik contacted the nonprofit first. (They are) the success behind what we do, Zelenka said. We were all in tears just hearing their journey and this new chapter that they're starting with Cavity Patrol. It was a beautiful, intertwined moment for Cy-Hope, their journey and their story and how we can partner together and they can be advocates for us. Cavity Patrol is currently finishing its build-out, but is considering social distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic guidelines, Servetnik said, by adding space to the layout for clients and the common area. Cavity Patrol Pediatric Dentistry is planning to open at the end of July and begin taking patients as early as August 3. An opening ceremony will be held at a later date, Servetnik said, depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the Greater Houston area. Were excited about it, truly excited, Servetnik said. Hopefully everything is fine and we can send them a check in the first month. We want to keep doing it as were going. Thats really my goal. For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/cavitypatrolpediatricdentistry/?ref=page_internal. chevall.pryce@chron.com President Donald Trump's allies were in pursuit of a tantalizing prospect last year: tape recordings of Joe Biden speaking to Ukrainian officials while he was vice president, conversations they believed could help them damage Biden's current bid for the White House. The previously undisclosed hunt for tapes of Biden and other recordings in Ukraine, described by several people who were involved, came as the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, was casting a wide net for material to undermine Trump's political rival - a scheme that ultimately helped set in motion the president's impeachment. "We would have loved to get the recordings, but we never did," Giuliani said in a recent interview. Now, with just five months to go before Election Day, that material is surfacing in Ukraine and being touted by some of the president's backers in the United States, including his eldest son last month. Last week, a Ukrainian lawmaker who was once affiliated with a pro-Russian political party and has met with Giuliani released 10 edited snippets of what appeared to be Biden's official vice presidential phone calls with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in 2016. It was the second cache of recordings the lawmaker, who studied under the KGB in Moscow in the early 1990s, has released since May. The recordings show that Biden, as he has previously said publicly, linked loan guarantees for Ukraine to the ouster of the country's prosecutor general. The tapes do not provide evidence to back Giuliani's long-standing accusation that Biden sought to have him fired to block an investigation of a gas company that had hired his son Hunter. The authenticity of the audio files, which appear heavily edited, could not be verified. The Ukrainian government is investigating how they were obtained. Biden's campaign has said they are part of an effort to concoct conspiracy theories to smear him. Poroshenko has gone further and called them fake. Still, the material was quickly seized upon by One America News, a favorite network of the president that has featured pro-Trump conspiracies, which this month debuted the first installment of what it said will be a series of reports featuring recordings of Biden. Both Giuliani and Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman who served as his fixer in Ukraine, confirmed that they sought tapes of Biden last year. Giuliani said he received assistance in his pursuit from a source within the State Department, who he claimed pointed him to the dates of certain conversations between Biden and Poroshenko by accessing an official U.S. government archive. Giuliani told The Washington Post that he did not know the recently released recordings were coming before they were posted online last month. But in a recent interview with OAN, the former New York mayor claimed to be aware of other tapes that were "far more damaging," saying, "I would hope that those tapes are put out also." On their own, the audio snippets that have been released do not significantly change what was already known about Biden's diplomacy toward Ukraine, where he led a U.S. and European effort to back Poroshenko's pro-Western government in the face of a Russian invasion and destabilization campaign. And other than from OAN, they have received little attention. But the efforts to promote the recordings in Ukraine and the United States - and pledges by other Trump allies to release more in the coming months - suggest a new push by foreign forces to sway American voters in the run-up to the 2020 election, one welcomed by the president's personal lawyer. The developments further illustrate Trump's willingness to benefit from foreign intervention in U.S. elections, even after being impeached for pressuring Ukraine to launch investigations into his political rivals. In an interview last year, the president said that if a foreign country called offering information on his opponent, "I think I'd want to hear it." His former national security adviser, John Bolton, alleges in a newly released book that Trump last year asked the Chinese president to help him win reelection. The White House has denied Bolton's account. Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, declined to comment on the Ukraine tapes. The campaign has so far not focused on the recordings in its attacks on Biden. Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Biden's campaign, said, "All the president's men, both within our country and outside of it, have been constantly trafficking in objectively false, malicious conspiracy theories targeting Joe Biden since before he even entered the race. And their efforts have invariably fallen apart - because the American people know Joe Biden, his character, and his values." Giuliani has been interacting on and off with the Ukrainian lawmaker who has been releasing the clips, Andrii Derkach, since meeting him in Kyiv last December, the former New York mayor told The Post. In an interview, Giuliani described the former member of Ukraine's Russia-leaning Party of Regions as "very helpful" and said that they talked many times about Ukraine. Derkach, who is the son of a former KGB officer and says in his official biography that he attended the now-renamed Higher School of the KGB in Moscow, also appeared on Giuliani's podcast in New York in February. Giuliani, who has worked as Trump's unpaid personal attorney since 2018 and was recently tapped by the president to negotiate with the presidential debate commission, said he would be concerned if Derkach had obtained the tapes from the Russians. But, Giuliani said, the lawmaker "doesn't seem pro-Russian to me." Asked about Derkach's background, Giuliani said: "I don't depend on his credibility. I depend on the credibility of his documents." Derkach declined to be interviewed. In a statement, he said allegations that he is working in the interests of foreign intelligence services are attempts to pressure him into stopping his activity. "There is not a single confirmed or reliable fact of my illegal activity or wrongful connections," he said. Asked whether he discussed the tapes with Giuliani during their meetings, Derkach did not answer directly. "We discussed available information on international corruption and the need to investigate it in the United States," he said. - - - The hunt by the president's allies for the Biden tapes and their subsequent release have echoes of the 2016 campaign, when Trump publicly asked Russia to find emails of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Trump later said the comment was a joke, even as GOP operatives mounted a serious but unsuccessful operation to obtain her emails from hackers claiming to have them. Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers were ultimately released through WikiLeaks, as special counsel Robert Mueller detailed in his report. The sequence of events sparked a nearly two-year investigation, multiple congressional inquiries and federal charges against 12 Russian military intelligence officers. U.S. intelligence officials have warned that Russia could reprise its efforts to influence the race for the White House again this year. In January, the Ukrainian gas company whose board used to include Biden's son, said that it had been hacked by Russian spies, raising fears the Kremlin could be intending to release stolen material to sway U.S. voters in coming months. Giuliani said he would welcome new material about Biden in Ukraine, but he said he wasn't aggressively seeking it, as he had been last year. Any new revelations, he added, should not be dismissed even if Russia may be involved. "The strange thing is what the Russians put out last time - it may have been illegal how they obtained it, but it was all true," Giuliani said. Michael Carpenter, a Biden foreign policy adviser and former senior Defense Department official, called the tape snippets that Derkach is releasing "a KGB-style disinformation operation tied to pro-Russian forces in Ukraine whose chief aim is to make deceptive noise in the U.S. election campaign to advance the interests of their oligarchic backers, the Kremlin, and the faltering Trump campaign." Ukrainians with a variety of competing political and personal agendas have claimed to be releasing or publicizing the Biden tapes, moves critics say align with both Russia and Trump's interests. That includes not only Derkach, but former Ukrainian prosecutor Kostiantyn Kulyk, former Ukrainian diplomat Andrii Telizhenko, and Ukrainian gas tycoon and former lawmaker Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who all have interacted with Giuliani or his associates. Some have promised more leaks are coming to help Trump later in the year. "This summer there will be more release of conversations, with full transcripts," said Telizhenko, who said he speaks regularly with Giuliani in between aiding various Ukrainian tycoons, some of them with Russian interests. Telizhenko said he is working independently from Derkach, noting: "I'm going to release everything all together when the time is right." Onyshchenko told The Post that the tapes that have been released are his, part of a cache he said he obtained from Poroshenko aides. He told the Russian state news service Sputnik in late May that his lawyers and Giuliani's team had "exchanged hundreds of emails," and that he has handed over materials about Biden, which he said Trump's allies will make use of in the fall. "Because of the coronavirus they are waiting," Onyshchenko told Sputnik. "But in September, closer to the elections, they will begin to use them more." He told The Post the materials were being given to the Republican-led Senate Homeland Security Committee, which is pursuing an inquiry into Biden's activities in Ukraine. A spokesman for the committee did not respond to a question about whether the panel has received such tapes or plans to use them. Like Derkach, Onyshchenko is also a former member of the now-defunct Party of Regions, a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. He has been waging a multiyear campaign against Poroshenko since fleeing Ukraine on corruption charges he says are fabricated. Onyshchenko has said that he has tried to tell U.S. authorities about his corruption accusations against Poroshenko various times. Poroshenko references Onyshchenko twice in the leaked calls with Biden, telling the vice president that the exiled lawmaker holds a Russian passport and is working in Russia's interests to destabilize Ukraine. Biden appears in one snippet to reassure Poroshenko that the FBI is not working with Onyshchenko. When asked for comment on Poroshenko's accusation that he's advancing Russian interests, Onyshchenko said the former Ukrainianleader accuses everyone who is against him of doing the Kremlin's bidding. Onyshchenko said he is speaking out because the former Ukrainian president "destroyed my life." While the recordings released in Ukraine have received little attention in most mainstream U.S. news outlets, they are being heavily promoted by One America News, which has more than 700,000 followers on Facebook and some 900,000 on Twitter. Carpenter, the Biden adviser, has accused OAN of being "the preferred conduit for Kremlin disinformation in the 2020 cycle." One of its correspondents, Chanel Rion, traveled around Europe last year with Giuliani to film Ukrainians who made accusations against Biden, many of them unproven or spurious. In a program that aired last weekend, Rion said she had received 10 hours of recordings related to Biden from the "Ukrainian secret service" and "a source who was present during some of those recordings." She said she would be pursuing the story "well past the summer and into the fall." The Department of the State Guard, Ukraine's version of the Secret Service, said in a statement that it "does not make any recordings and has never recorded any conversations of the state guarded public officials." An OAN spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. In its stories, the network has suggested that accusations that Russia is promoting the allegations against Biden are efforts to distract from the story. - - - Biden made five trips to Ukraine during the last three years of the Obama administration and held at least 70 phone calls with Ukrainian leaders, as The Post previously reported. Most of his calls were with Poroshenko in an effort to shore up the fledgling pro-Western government against Russia. The recently released recordings, which Derkach has said he obtained from "investigative journalists," appear to feature conversations the two men had at the time. But if they are authentic, it is unclear who made them. It is possible Poroshenko aides taped the calls he had with Biden. Russian intelligence agencies have intercepted the phone calls of U.S. officials in Ukraine in the past. In an interview last month, Parnas said he and his colleague Igor Fruman were told by sources in Ukraine of the Biden-Poroshenko recordings, along with a number of other recordings Ukrainians claimed existed of Americans, including embassy officials in Kyiv. "We knew about these tapes," Parnas said. Parnas and Fruman were arrested in October 2019 and charged with making illegal campaign contributions, including from foreign sources, to Republican candidates and political action committees. They both pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial. After his arrest, Parnas turned on Giuliani and Trump, saying the president had blessed their endeavors in Ukraine. The White House has dismissed his claims as false. Parnas told The Post that he and Fruman discussed the recordings with then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko and Kulyk, a former Ukrainian prosecutor who has been working with Derkach and appearing alongside him at news conferences releasing the recordings. In a statement, Lutsenko said he "never discussed, provided or promised to provide any recordings to Giuliani or his colleagues." Kulyk declined to answer directly, dismissing the question as lacking credibility. At one point during a trip to Kyiv in spring 2019, Parnas said he anticipated being provided copies of some of the recordings to bring back to the United States. But, he said, Ukrainian officials did not ultimately hand them over at the time. After the trip, Parnas said he and Fruman discussed the elusive recordings with Giuliani at strategy sessions they held at the BLT restaurant at the Trump International Hotel in Washington. Victoria Toensing, a conservative lawyer who attended some of those sessions, said she did not recall the discussions, but did not dispute that Parnas may have told the group about tapes. "Lev is a fast talker," she said. "He was always telling us, 'There is Biden stuff.' It would go in one ear and out the other." Giuliani was particularly interested in obtaining tapes of calls that Biden made to Poroshenko in early 2016 to feed his claims that the former vice president used his office to protect the business interests of his son Hunter, according to Parnas. Giuliani has asserted without evidence that Biden pushed for Ukraine's prosecutor general to be fired because Hunter Biden was serving on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company owned by a former minister who Ukrainian authorities were investigating. In fact, at the time, Biden was serving as the lead voice in a coalition of U.S. and European officials, including top Republicans, who were sharply critical of the prosecutor general's office for failing to go after high-level corruption cases and thwarting the probe of an episode in which lower-ranking officials were found with diamonds and cash thought to be bribes. Among the cases that the U.S. argued had not received enough attention: an inquiry into the owner of Burisma. In late 2015, Biden delivered a blunt message to Poroshenko: Unless the prosecutor's office got a new leader, a $1 billion loan guarantee for the Ukrainian government wouldn't be forthcoming. The prosecutor general agreed to resign. In the recordings that Derkach released, Biden can be heard urging Poroshenko to fire the prosecutor general. At one point, Poroshenko defends the top prosecutor, saying there was "no information" he had done anything wrong, but said he asked for the prosecutor's resignation as part of his promise to the U.S. vice president. In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria earlier this month, Poroshenko said that Biden never brought up Burisma in their many conversations. "My absolutely clear answer: no, never," Poroshenko said. Ruslan Ryaboshapka, who served as Ukraine's prosecutor general until March, conducted a full audit of all the criminal cases in Ukraine involving the company and told The Post he found no evidence of illegal acts by Biden or his son. Giuliani told The Post that his pursuit of the Biden-Poroshenko calls was aided by someone inside the State Department. "A guy at the State Department who gave us a lot of information" consulted the archive of conversations between American leaders and their counterparts overseas to identify three conversations in February 2016 during which Biden mentioned the prosecutor general's name in conversations with Poroshenko, he said. "He didn't show it to us but told us they existed," Giuliani said of the State Department official. "He said, 'I guarantee there are three conversations on February 15, 17 . . . one of them is quite lengthy. It's between Biden and Poroshenko. There are transcripts of them, but they are classified.' " Giuliani declined to name the State Department official. A spokeswoman for the State Department did not respond to requests for comment. Giuliani said last year he regularly kept the president abreast of his efforts in Ukraine, but it is unclear whether Trump knew about the hunt for the tapes. When pressed last month if he specifically mentioned the recordings to the president, Giuliani declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether Trump knew his lawyer was seeking tapes of Biden in Ukraine. But one witness during the House's impeachment proceedings said Trump made an allusion to tapes of the former vice president. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a Ukraine expert who served on the National Security Council, testified that he heard Trump refer to recordings of Biden during his July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the conversation that set in motion the impeachment investigation. According to a rough transcript of the call released by the White House, Trump told Zelensky: "Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution, so if you can look into it." Vindman testified that his own notes, which he took while listening to the call, show that Trump added, "There are recordings." That phrase was not included in the call's official transcript. Vindman testified that he had notified his superiors of the omission when the transcript was circulated internally for review, but that no changes were made. Vindman was uncertain what Trump meant by "recordings," his lawyer said recently. At the time, his description of Trump's mention of "recordings" on the call was widely assumed to be a reference to the tape of a public speech Biden delivered in 2018 bragging that he had held up loan guarantees to Ukraine until the prosecutor general was fired. - - - The Washington Post's Tom Hamburger contributed to this report. Stern reported from Kyiv. In a raid in Kunduz City in the north about six months ago, 13 people were arrested in a joint operation by U.S. forces and the Afghan intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, according to Safiullah Amiry, the deputy provincial council chief there. Two of the main targets of the raid had already fled one to Tajikistan and one to Russia, Amiry said but it was in the Kabul home of one of them where security forces found a half-million dollars. He said the Afghan intelligence agency had told him the raids were related to Russian money being dispersed to militants. The family of a young man who was fatally shot in Galveston two years ago while fleeing a traffic stop has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and the officer who shot him. Authorities said Luis Argueta, 19, was pulled over on June 25, 2018 in Galveston after leading police on a brief chase. After the car carrying him and his girlfriend stopped on the 5300 block of Avenue L, Argueta bolted from the drivers seat toward a vacant lot between two houses, reportedly leaving a firearm in the vehicle. After giving a verbal command for Argueta to stop, authorities said, one of the officers pursuing him fired two rounds, striking and ultimately killing him. Arguetas family filed a wrongful lawsuit on June 26 in federal court against the city of Galveston and Officer Derrick Jaradi, a 10-year law enforcement veteran, who fired the shots that killed Argueta. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages from the city, contending that Arguetas civil rights were violated, which led to his death. He was shot in the back while fleeing the police, said Ellyn Clevenger, one of the attorneys representing the Argueta family in the lawsuit. I dont think there was any evidence suggesting he made any threatening moves towards the officers. He was just running away. A spokeswoman for the city of Galveston declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the citys policy of not giving statements on pending litigation. The filing of the lawsuit comes as fired police officers face murder charges in the deaths of African-American men in Minneapolis and Atlanta. In the Atlanta case, 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was shot twice after he stole an officers Taser and ran away, pointing it over his shoulder at an officer in pursuit. In the Galveston case, Clevenger disputes the police account that Jaradi gave a verbal command for Argueta to stop before firing at him. She interviewed several eyewitnesses who claim that they never heard Jaradi give a command, the attorney said. Clevenger added that Jaradis body-camera footage, activated two minutes prior to the shooting, does not include audio for the first two minutes of the encounter. By the time the audio portion is activated, Clevenger said, Jaradi can be heard commanding Argueta to drop a weapon, but after he had already been shot, You do hear the commands Drop the weapon, but you hear the commands after hes been shot and hes on the ground bleeding to death, Clevenger said. The circumstances that led to Arguetas shooting remain unclear. At the time, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset, who was tasked with investigating the shooting along with county prosecutors, said he did not know what suspicious activity prompted city police officers to stop Argueta at a convenience-store parking lot before he led officers on a brief chase. Argueta's girlfriend of three years, Maryann Luna, told the Houston Chronicle the day after the shooting that she and Argueta were driving back from Whataburger when they stopped at Sonny Food Mart on 50th and Broadway in Galveston. Argueta noticed a police vehicle had pulled up next to his car and began to get paranoid, Luna said. Luna said she and Argueta quickly left the food mart and drove around trying to shake the police car. Argueta told Luna that he was worried because he had a gun on him. When they got to the corner of Avenue L and 53rd Street, Luna said, the police car s lights began flashing, prompting Argueta to park in front of a small vacant lot in between two houses on Avenue L, and about 10 yards from her mother's house on the same block. Argueta then ran out of the car, leaving his gun behind, according to Luna. Luna said that when Argueta started running, two officers emerged from the vehicle and shouted at him to stop before one of them fired. Galveston police later confirmed that one weapon was recovered at the scene, but declined to say whether the firearm was loaded, where it was found, or to whom it belonged. Police officials also declined to say why Argueta was pulled over and what precipitated the shooting, citing an ongoing investigation. Jaradi, 32, has been with the Galveston Police Department since June 2016 and has a total of 10 years of law-enforcement experience in the Houston area. The department said Jaradi had not been involved in a police shooting before this incident nor had he been disciplined while serving with the agency. nick.powell@chron.com Harris Countys mandatory mask order will remain in effect at least until late August, Commissioners Court decided Tuesday. The court extended until Aug. 26 the countys disaster declaration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing County Judge Lina Hidalgo to extend the mask rules until that date as well. The mask order, which Hidalgo issued June 19, mandates that businesses require patrons to cover their faces. The item, which has been extended for weeks at a time since Hidalgo first issued it in March, was set to be lengthened until July 15. Commissioner Adrian Garcia proposed extending the declaration and mask rules through the rest of the summer, citing the severity of the pandemic. His Democratic colleagues, Hidalgo and Commissioner Rodney Ellis, agreed. We dont know the full nature and impact of the virus, and were dealing with a medical emergency that has a lot of aspects to it, Garcia said to Hidalgo. I would rather give you the runway and capacity to navigate this pandemic rather than thinking in the back of your head, oh, Ive got to put an extension on the agenda. The vote to the extend the declaration was 3-2, with the two Republican commissioners, Steve Radack and Jack Cagle, voting no. Cagle did not speak out against masks, however, he expressed concerned Hidalgo ordered the mask rules and approved some pandemic-related expenses unilaterally, instead of consulting with Commissioners Court. In 72 hours, we can get together, Cagle said. These are decisions that we as members of Commissioners Court should be participating in, and the public should be able to participate in. Radack echoed Cagles concerns. Wearing masks and practicing social distancing are key to slowing the virus spread, health experts say. The rules apply to customers ages 10 and over. Businesses that do not comply can be punished by a $1,000 fine, though Hidalgo directed law enforcement to focus on education rather than citations. The county remains at its highest threat level, ordered by Hidalgo on Friday in response to a surge in cases and hospitalizations since Memorial Day. The county health department is urging residents to voluntarily stay at home except for essential errands, similar to the stay-at-home period of March and April. Hidalgo last week unsuccessfully lobbied Gov. Greg Abbott for the power to make these recommendations mandatory. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Monday also asked the governor to give us back our tools to issue restrictions. The Houston region has set a record high for COVID-19 hospitalizations in 17 of the past 19 days, and on Tuesday eclipsed more than 3,000 patients for the first time. A Baylor College of Medicine model predicts the virus may peak here in mid-July. Weve asked for COVID monitors not necessarily to write a citation, but to go in and educate first, Christensen said. If we start having repeat issues, we could write a citation. The fire marshals office has been tasked since March with enforcing pandemic restrictions at businesses. The county has received 857 complaints about mask order violations since it went into effect 11 days ago, Christensen said. Her inspectors only investigate businesses in unincorporated Harris County; other complaints are referred to cities or the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. The state agency last week suspended the alcohol permits for 17 establishments across Texas after finding they had violated COVID restrictions. The county has yet to issue a single citation to any business since the pandemic began. Commissioners Court also on Tuesday approved 10 year-long compliance monitor positions, along with 10 leased vehicles for the Harris County Fire Marshals Office. The new employees will help enforce pandemic-related rules, including the mask order, Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said. zach.despart@chron.com Harris County voters cast more than 51,000 ballots Monday in the primary runoffs, an eye-popping total that exceeded turnout for entire runoff elections in some recent years. Combined with a robust in-person turnout, voters had returned more than 43,000 mail ballots by Monday, the first day of early voting. The turnout nearly doubled the number of votes recorded on the first day of early voting in 2016, the most recent presidential election year. It also eclipsed turnout from the 2018 runoffs, when more than 34,000 voters cast ballots on the first day of early voting. The surge in voting was largely driven by voters in the Democratic primary, who accounted for 63 percent of the early runoff ballots Monday. And it came weeks after interim County Clerk Chris Hollins sent mail ballot applications to every voter who is 65 and older, which he said was aimed at keeping older voters safe amid the current health crisis by giving them the opportunity to vote from home. Even with concerns about a recent local spike in COVID-19 cases, however, in-person turnout outpaced that of recent election cycles as well. A total of 5,334 Democrats and 1,762 Republicans cast ballots at the countys 57 polling sites Monday. That is up from the 2,963 recorded the first day of early voting in the 2016 primary runoffs and 4,564 during the midterms. Amid the pandemic, county officials have organized early voting locations to allow voters to remain socially distant, and they are providing hand sanitizing stations, masks and gloves for poll workers. Voters also are being provided with finger covers to limit their chances of contracting the virus. The uptick in turnout likly stems from a combination of people paying an unusual amount of attention to politics given their extra free time at home during the pandemic, and a heated political moment fueled by the virus and recent upheaval from the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, said Houston political analyst Nancy Sims. People are at home and theyre paying more attention. Theyre not as active and distracted as they normally would be, so youre seeing a little more interest, she said. And its just a much more intense year to pay attention to elections. The combination of the protests and covid have made people tune in and become more aware. Hollins move to send ballots to the roughly 377,000 Harris County voters who are 65 and older about 16 percent of the voter roll also helps explain the surge, Sims said. Demand for absentee ballots has increased as well, with about 122,000 ballot requests for the runoffs, compared to 51,065 such requests for the 2016 primary runoffs and 67,735 for this years March primary. About 95 percent of the 122,000 mail ballot requests have come from voters who are 65 and older, according to a spokeswoman for the clerks office. The comparison between the 2020 runoffs and prior elections is skewed by a number of factors. This year, Gov. Greg Abbott delayed the runoff from its original May 26 date until July 14, and doubled the number of early voting days from five to 10. The Harris County polls also are open this year from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, far longer hours than in prior election cycles. And Hollins has allocated Democrat and Republican voting machines at each polling site based on turnout, instead of deploying an equal number of machines as former clerk Diane Trautman did in March, which led to long lines. For the runoffs, voters will help decide 19 races: 14 in the Democratic primary and five in the Republican primary. Notable races include a runoff for the Democratic Senate nomination between former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar and state Sen. Royce West, and a runoff for the Republican nomination in Texas 22nd Congressional District between Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls and GOP donor Kathaleen Wall. It is worth watching turnout closely in this years runoffs, said University of Houston political science professor Jeronimo Cortina, because the November elections will be largely decided by which party can turn out its base, not which one will win policy debates. Its not going to be based on ideologies, its not going to be based on party politics, Cortina said. Those policy positions are extremely clear right now to the public, and the candidate that wins an election whether its a runoff for congress or the presidential election is going to be the person that can turn out more people to vote. For the rest of the runoff, polls will open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Thursday and from July 6 through July 9. They will also open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 5 and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 10. A list of polling sites and sample ballots can be found at harrisvotes.org. jasper.scherer@chron.com A new fleet of satellites is being built in Houston to change on the fly like a chameleon. Like the versatile, color-changing reptile, the satellites could be quickly updated and reconfigured while in orbit. Lets say a volcano erupts and there isnt an imaging satellite nearby. The planned Chameleon Constellation of 24 to 36 satellites could switch within minutes from running machine learning models on data collected in space to taking pictures of the disaster and aiding first responders. Or perhaps a malicious hacker gets into the satellites software and renders it useless. An update to fix the security weakness could be quickly pushed out to the satellites that each will be about the size of two loaves of bread. More from Hypergiant: Houston company solving the next problem of deep space travel: How to post to Instagram Such adaptability is not typical of satellites, landing Austin-based Hypergiant Industries and its Houston space division a contract with the U.S. Air Force, the company announced Tuesday. Were at this transition point, said Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Hypergiant, where the space industry that has been predominantly a hardware industry is moving and advancing to one thats innovating through software. Lamm and John Fremont founded Hypergiant in 2018 to help bring artificial intelligence and machine learning to hardware-intensive industries such as aerospace, defense and energy. Last year, it acquired Houston-based Satellite & Extraterrestrial Operations & Procedures, a company that deployed satellites, to form the Hypergiant Galactic Systems division. This division is tackling issues that range from outer-space internet (so colonists on Mars wouldnt have to wait for long stretches of time, potentially months, to see the results of a Google search) to more user-friendly mission control software to this new Chameleon Constellation of satellites. The Chameleon Constellation is receiving funding through the Air Forces Small Business Innovation Research grants, and the company is working toward a $10 million-plus Phase III contract with direct Air Force and Space Force weapon system support. We need to be able to put assets in space as quickly as possible and then continuously improve them to maintain superiority, Air Force Maj. Rob Slaughter, director of the Department of Defenses Platform One, said in a news release. In order for the U.S. to remain competitive and protect the systems that run the lives of everyday Americans, we created a solution that allows for continuous software delivery in space. The only difference between a national security system and space junk is the software that operates it. Hypergiant is building its software on top of the Platform One software, which ensures that Hypergiant will meet Air Force and Department of Defense security requirements. Its first satellite is set to launch in 2021 on Northrop Grummans Cygnus spacecraft, used to carry supplies to the International Space Station. After the spacecraft delivers its supplies, the satellite will be attached to the outside of the Cygnus vehicle. Cygnus will depart the station, travel some 62 miles above it and then deploy the satellite. This first satellite will be used to prove that Hypergiants software can be frequently updated (and recalled, if necessary). Thats how it works on Earth software updates are pushed out regularly and with small, iterative changes for iPhones, work computers, etc. But Lamm said current satellite software is only updated once or twice a year. Instead of having existing space assets that are constantly almost out of date with their software, Lamm said, we can update those assets in real time. As more satellites get launched into space, they will connect to one another and combine their computing capabilities to enable more powerful machine learning. This can allow satellites to make their own decisions. Tweaking satellite designs: SpaceX adds visors to its Starlink satellites to minimize impact on astronomers Currently, if a satellite takes a picture of something it doesnt recognize, it will have to send the data to people on Earth. Those people analyze it and then send a new signal to the satellite telling it what to do next. With machine learning, the satellites could autonomously determine what the mystery object might be and if they should take more pictures to investigate further. Ultimately, the goal is for these satellites to change tasks as theyre orbiting the planet. Future versions of the satellite could be equipped with antennas to provide emergency communications in the case of a network outage, cameras for taking pictures of the Earth and other sensors. By sending up new software code, these tasks can be swapped to meet various Air Force needs. Thats why we named it Chameleon Constellation, Lamm said. Now your constellation has changed. andrea.leinfelder@chron.com twitter.com/a_leinfelder A more than two-month search for a missing soldier from Houston an effort that gained national attention as family members voiced outrage over the disappearance may have come to a tragic end Tuesday. Remains discovered near Fort Hood are believed to be those of 20-year-old Vanessa Guillen, said Tim Miller, director of the search-and-rescue group. Texas EquuSearch. Of course were going to have to wait for a positive identification, but were overly optimistic that yes, its going to be her, Miller told the Houston Chronicle. The remains were found in a shallow grave about 100 feet from the Leon River, a short distance from where searchers last week found evidence believed to be tied to her disappearance, Miller said, adding that they body was concealed to the point where nobody could see it. Miller said he could not elaborate on the evidence that links Guillen to the remains, citing the open criminal investigation. In a statement, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command said the identification process can take time. Army CID agents are currently on scene with the Texas Rangers, the FBI and Bell County Sheriff's Department, the statement said. No confirmation as to the identity of the remains has been made at this point and we ask for the media and public's understanding that the identification process can take time. Due to the ongoing criminal investigation, no further information will be released at this time. Gloria Guillen, the soldiers mother, previously said her daughter told her that a sergeant had sexually harassed her at the base. She told me that she didnt feel safe there, the mother said. She believes the Army didnt do enough during their investigation into her disappearance. I begged them to go out to look for my daughter, and they didnt, they never did, Gloria Guillen told reporters last week. I begged them to close that base, to investigate room by room, barrack by barrack, building by building. They never did. Chris Grey, CIDs chief of public affairs, previously told the Chronicle that the Army has been aggressively investigating all leads since her disappearance. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, accompanied Guillens family last week during meeting at the base with Army officials. She said an Army investigator told the family they believe foul play was involved, but officials could not offer details at the time. Guillen grew up in southeast Houston, an area represented by Garcia, and graduated from Cesar Chavez High School. More Information Do you have a tip about Vanessa Guillen? Tell us. See More Collapse Natalie Khawam, the attorney of Guillens family, on Tuesday repeated the familys call for a third-party investigation into her death. The family does not want the Army to investigate, she said, because they believe there is a cover-up in Fort Hood around this case. The family is devastated, Khawam said. Now more than ever, definitely, the family demands a congressional investigation to uncover what happened to Vanessa. Khawam on Tuesday was visiting legislators in Washington D.C. with Gloria Guillen and the soldier's sister, Mayra Guillen. They are planning to hold a press a conference there 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Navy Memorial. Finding Guillens remains prove that the soldier did not run away from Fort Hood or deserted the military; this is clearly a crime, the attorney said. Guillen had been assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. Records show she joined the Army in June 2018. She was last seen around 1 p.m. April 22 in the parking lot of her regimental engineer squadron headquarters on the sprawling Army post outside Killeen, wearing a black T-shirt. Her car keys, barracks room key, ID card and wallet were found in an armory room where she had worked earlier in the day. Her disappearance sparked an extensive search around the Killeen base and surrounding areas that helped find the remains of another missing solider, Gregory Wedel-Morales. The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command said they suspect foul play in both cases. Initial searches included more than 500 soldiers per day who combed parts of training areas, barracks and other sections of Fort Hood. Helicopters from the 1st Cavalry Division had flown 100 hours on and off post. Recent searches had focused on a 25-mile radius around the post, specifically in an area by the Leon River south of Temple. Searchers had used sonar to penetrate the depths of nearby Lake Belton but turned up nothing. The remains on Tuesday were found near the Little River Academy at 436 Leon River Bridge, according to KCEN-TV. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Bryan Washko told the station that the remains were found inside a tree line close to the street. He said a civilian in the area smelled something and notified the Bell County Sheriff's Department. Efforts to find Guillen had became a national cause, attracting the attention of public figures such as Salma Hayek, who posted a photo of the GI in civilian clothing with the message, Bring Us Back Vanessa in English and Spanish. A reward of up to $50,000 was in place to find Guillen, half of which was coming from the League of United Latin American Citizens. The oldest Latino organization in the country launched the campaign #LaQuieroViva / #IWantHerAlive on Sunday to find Guillen. The campaign uses a phrase repeated by the soldiers mother, Gloria Guillen. Vanessa is our daughter, our sister, our wife, and LULAC will not stop crying out, La quiero Viva! until she is brought home to her family and to our community, said Elsie Valdes-Ramos, a national vice president of the organization. Alma Garcia, twin sister of Guillens mother, spoke of the soldiers huge heart after Tuesdays discovery. My niece is the best human being I have ever met; an incredible niece, Garcia told the Chronicle. She took the bread out of her mouth to give it to me or anyone in her family. A person with a huge heart. Garcia recalled that Guillen gave her $400 last year all she had to help her through financial struggles. The aunt refuses to believe the remains were those of Guillen before official confirmation, she said. My niece is a courageous girl because not everyone joins the Army, said Garcia. She signed up to serve this country and defend this nation. I am sure that, with the help of God, the truth is going to be known, and all those awful people who have harmed her are going to receive their punishment. olivia.tallet@chron.com julian.gill@chron.com Twitter.com/oliviaptallet NASHVILLE I have rape-colored skin. My light-brown-blackness is a living testament to the rules, the practices, the causes of the Old South. If there are those who want to remember the legacy of the Confederacy, if they want monuments, well, then, my body is a monument. My skin is a monument. Dead Confederates are honored all over this country with cartoonish private statues, solemn public monuments and even in the names of United States Army bases. It fortifies and heartens me to witness the protests against this practice and the growing clamor from serious, nonpartisan public servants to redress it. But there are still those like President Donald Trump and the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who cannot understand the difference between rewriting and reframing the past. I say it is not a matter of airbrushing history, but of adding a new perspective. I am a black, Southern woman, and of my immediate white male ancestors, all of them were rapists. My very existence is a relic of slavery and Jim Crow. According to the rule of hypodescent (the social and legal practice of assigning a genetically mixed-race person to the race with less social power) I am the daughter of two black people, the granddaughter of four black people, the great-granddaughter of eight black people. Go back one more generation and it gets less straightforward, and more sinister. As far as family history has always told, and as modern DNA testing has allowed me to confirm, I am the descendant of black women who were domestic servants and white men who raped their help. It is an extraordinary truth of my life that I am biologically more than half white, and yet I have no white people in my genealogy in living memory. No. Voluntary. Whiteness. I am more than half white, and none of it was consensual. White Southern men my ancestors took what they wanted from women they did not love, over whom they had extraordinary power, and then failed to claim their children. What is a monument but a standing memory? An artifact to make tangible the truth of the past. My body and blood are a tangible truth of the South and its past. The black people I come from were owned by the white people I come from. The white people I come from fought and died for their Lost Cause. And I ask you now, who dares to tell me to celebrate them? Who dares to ask me to accept their mounted pedestals? You cannot dismiss me as someone who doesnt understand. You cannot say it wasnt my family members who fought and died. My blackness does not put me on the other side of anything. It puts me squarely at the heart of the debate. I dont just come from the South. I come from Confederates. Ive got rebel-gray blue blood coursing my veins. My great-grandfather Will was raised with the knowledge that Edmund Pettus was his father. Pettus, the storied Confederate general, the grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, the man for whom Selmas Bloody Sunday bridge is named. So I am not an outsider who makes these demands. I am a great-great-granddaughter. And here Im called to say that there is much about the South that is precious to me. I do my best teaching and writing here. There is, however, a peculiar model of Southern pride that must now, at long last, be reckoned with. This is not an ignorant pride but a defiant one. It is a pride that says, Our history is rich, our causes are justified, our ancestors lie beyond reproach. It is a pining for greatness, if you will, a wish again for a certain kind of American memory. A monument-worthy memory. But heres the thing: Our ancestors dont deserve your unconditional pride. Yes, I am proud of every one of my black ancestors who survived slavery. They earned that pride, by any decent persons reckoning. But I am not proud of the white ancestors whom I know, by virtue of my very existence, to be bad actors. Among the apologists for the Southern cause and for its monuments, there are those who dismiss the hardships of the past. They imagine a world of benevolent masters, and speak with misty eyes of gentility and honor and the land. They deny plantation rape, or explain it away, or question the degree of frequency with which it occurred. To those people it is my privilege to say I am proof. I am proof that whatever else the South might have been, or might believe itself to be, it was and is a space whose prosperity and sense of romance and nostalgia were built upon the grievous exploitation of black life. The dream version of the Old South never existed. Any manufactured monument to that time in that place tells half a truth at best. The ideas and ideals it purports to honor are not real. To those who have embraced these delusions: Now is the time to re-examine your position. Either you have been blind to a truth that my bodys story forces you to see, or you really do mean to honor the oppressors at the expense of the oppressed, and you must at last acknowledge your emotional investment in a legacy of hate. Either way, I say the monuments of stone and metal, the monuments of cloth and wood, all the man-made monuments, must come down. I defy any sentimental Southerner to defend our ancestors to me. I am quite literally made of the reasons to strip them of their laurels. Randall Williams is the author of Lucy Negro, Redux and Soul Food Love, and a writer in residence at Vanderbilt University. This op-ed was originally published by the New York Times. WASHINGTON The Democrats vying to take on U.S. Sen. John Cornyn have kept their sights set on the Republican senator for the better part of a year. Not anymore. As the long Democratic race for the Senate nomination enters its final stretch, tensions are boiling over in a runoff disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak and intensified by national outrage over police violence and systemic racism. In ads and during a Monday debate, longtime state Sen. Royce West has called former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar a secret Republican. She counters that he got rich while in office, doing legal work for local governments that he also serves as a lawmaker. I didnt want to go down this road, Royce, Hegar said at one point in the debate. Well, lets go, West responded. While Hegar has led in fundraising and in the limited polling on the race, West has seen an opening, especially as protests erupted after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Some political analysts closely watching the race believe West, who would be the states first black U.S. senator, has the most to gain, as voters in other state primaries in recent weeks have picked black candidates. West is going on the offensive, accusing Hegar of being a Democrat in name only, despite her support from the Democratic establishment in D.C. During the debate, West asked Hegar why she donated to Cornyn in 2011 and why she has voted in Republican primaries. The tense exchange that followed was a departure for a race that had so far seen little drama. THE CANDIDATES AND THE ISSUES: Primary runoff Voter Guide Hegar said she donated to Cornyn because I couldnt get a meeting with him if I wasnt on his donor list. Wests campaign has also put out two 30-second ads highlighting Hegars vote in the 2016 Republican primary, which she has said was for Carly Fiorina in an effort to keep President Donald Trump from nabbing the nomination. Throughout the campaign, Hegar the second female in U.S. history decorated with a Distinguished Flying Cross with valor has said she struggled to get meetings with Cornyn and other lawmakers as she lobbied Congress to scrap restrictions on women in combat. Hegar gave a similar explanation during her 2018 campaign for Congress. Im tired of it, and so is Texas Where the candidates stand on the issues MJ Hegar Health Care: Increase access by fixing Obamacare, create a "Medicare buy-in option" and provide universal care for children. Energy/Environment: Says "Climate change is one of the greatest threats to the health and safety of our communities." Supports aggressive renewable energy goals. Immigration: Calls for ending child separations, a secure border with "effective procedures and technologies instead of wasting billions on an ineffective wall," ensure a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Guns: Supports gun safety measures including red flag laws, repeal of open carry, ban on assault weapons and universal background checks. Royce West Health Care: Calls for expanding the Affordable Care Act and preserving employer sponsored insurance plans: "Health care, like reproductive freedom, must be a choice." Energy/Environment: Calls for reengaging in the Paris Climate Accords and investing in wind and solar to end dependence on fossil fuels. Immigration: Says the country is "violating international human rights laws" under the Trump administration and calls for sending more resources, like judges to decide asylum cases, to the border. Guns: Supports universal background checks, banning assault-style weapons, red flag laws and limiting magazine capacity. See More Collapse Records show Hegar donated $10 to Cornyn in August 2011 through the Votesane political action committee, which describes itself online as a nonpartisan platform. Records show Hegar also gave $10 donations to former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican, and U.S. Rep. John Carter, a Central Texas Republican against whom Hegar ran in 2018. But she also gave to Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, both of California. Hegars campaign confirmed that the $10 donation was her only contribution to Cornyn. Hegar has no record of having met with Cornyn as part of her lobbying efforts, or of Cornyn denying a meeting with her, the campaign said. Cornyns campaign said Hegar is dusting off an old script that bemoans money in politics to disguise why she really contributed. Voters are finally getting a behind the scenes look at Hollywood Hegars true character, that of a misleading politician, said Travis Considine, a spokesman for the Cornyn campaign. Cornyns office declined to comment about the inference that the three-term Republican only meets with donors. The senator, however, holds weekly Thursday Coffee meetings with constituents. Hegar during the debate shot back at West, saying its a broken system its a system youre a part of, by the way, and that youve been upholding and its why Im running. We have corruption, we have money in politics, we have politicians frankly like you, Royce, who have become millionaires in office and have spent their time legislating in their own best interests instead of the interests of their constituents, Hegar said. Im done with it, Im tired of it, and so is Texas. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox West, who has served in the state Legislature for nearly three decades, has faced such criticism before. Wests most recent personal finance disclosures show his law firm, West & Associates LLP, made at least $375,000 in 2018 serving as bond counsel for government clients, including the Houston, Dallas and Cypress Fairbanks districts. The Harris County Toll Road Authority and the Houston airport system were also among Wests clients. West responded that hes from the projects of Dallas and built a successful company that is doing work for his community. If youre taking a shot at me because Ive been a successful lawyer, basically providing job opportunities for people in my community, then take that shot, West said. I have no problems with that. Will protests mean more votes? The sparring comes as the race in recent weeks has focused increasingly on police violence and systemic racism. While both candidates have hammered Cornyn for denying that systemic racism exists, those watching the race closely believe West has the most to gain. Im sure Royce has gained some traction, said Michael O. Adams, interim chair of Texas Southern Universitys political science department. Adams said hes seen a concerted effort within the black community to make sure voters know about the runoff. You can sleep through it if you dont know the runoff is July 14, he said. I know there will be a very serious get out the vote effort and black voters are very reliable. A group representing some 10,000 black Democrats in Texas earlier this month accused the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which endorsed Hegar early in the race, of trying to undercut Wests campaign by telling donors not to give to him. The DSCC has denied the claims. The Texas Coalition of Black Democrats wrote a letter earlier this month to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, saying that if Black Democrats come to believe the United States Senate primary was rigged against Senator West, it will only hurt MJ Hegar in the general election, if she wins the runoff election. Melanye Price, a political scientist at Prairie View A&M University, said the protests over police violence have spotlighted systemic racism in a way that has elevated black candidates across the nation. I think there might a bigger push because people see the historical significance, she said. People are really grappling with race, people are trying to understand race. That may mean theyre thinking about Royce West in a different kind of way. West has touted his work in the Texas Senate on criminal justice reform, including legislation offering grants to police departments to equip officers with body cameras. Hegar has also focused on police violence and racism, hosting a virtual press conference on Monday with the family of Javier Ambler, an Austin man who died in police custody last year. And her campaign on Tuesday released a new TV ad with images of protests. We stand together against the systemic racism that has hurt black Americans for far too long, Hegar says in the ad. Whether the energy from those protests will translate to the polls during the runoff remains to be seen especially as early voting begins with officials urging people to stay home amid the biggest surge in coronavirus cases the state has seen. There are early indications, however, the runoff could see a much higher turnout than many expected. Harris County voters cast more than 51,000 ballots on Monday, the first day of early voting more than have been cast in the county in entire recent runoffs. Taylor Goldenstein contributed reporting from Austin. Chicago, IL (60637) Today Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High around 70F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Hudson, NY (12534) Today A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 63F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Williamstown Fire District Election, Meeting Set for Tuesday WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Fire District will hold its annual election and annual meeting on Tuesday in the Williamstown Elementary School gymnasium. The polls will open at 4 p.m. and will stay open until at least 7 p.m. for the election, in which John Notsley, the chair of the five-person Prudential Committee, is one of several candidates on the ballot running without opposition. At 7:30, the annual district meeting will commence with eight warrant articles to be decided by voters in the district. The largest single expenditure on the agenda is a $495,865 request for the district's operational expenses for fiscal year 2021. Although that number is up slightly from the $488,151 voters approved for FY20, the entire spending plan is down slightly from the current fiscal year because of reductions in other warrant articles. Voters and attendees on Tuesday evening are asked to wear face coverings and observe social distancing. The meeting has been moved from the elementary school's cafeteria to its gymnasium to promote social distancing, a move that was easier because the school's maintenance personnel were able to leave the mat that covers the gym floor in place after last week's town election. Generally speaking, the Fire District's annual meeting attracts a couple of dozen voters or fewer. Last year, a larger than average number of district residents attended, and the main topic of conversation was a plan to replace the town's street lights with LED fixtures. In response to concerns raised at the meeting that the new fixtures, while more energy efficient, would create increased light pollution, the Prudential Committee ultimately pulled out of an agreement with National Grid to change the lights. The district's annual meeting was postponed from its traditional May date due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. As is not uncommon in Massachusetts, the town's fire district operates as a separate municipal entity apart from town government. Williamstown's annual town meeting, which normally precedes the Williamstown Fire District meeting, also has been postponed to a date to be determined. Closer Look: Williamstown Residents Beginning Call to 'Defund' Police WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. Monday's Select Board meeting marked the first time a resident has used the platform of a public meeting to make a call to defund the police. And it probably will not be the last. The "defund police" movement has gained momentum nationwide in the weeks following the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd is one of a long line of Black Americans who have been killed by white police officers and held up as examples of what many believe is pervasive racism in the law enforcement community. Tashi Rai, a rising junior at Mount Greylock Regional School, was one of more than a dozen voices calling for change during last Monday's meeting and the one who made the most direct call to defund the Williamstown Police Department. "You are in the position to review the workings of this town, and especially review the budget," Rai said. "That's why I would like to request that you review the town budget, possibly solely the police budget, before the start of the next fiscal year, starting in July. The police budget in our town is currently upwards of $1.19 million. The planned budget for the 20-21 fiscal year pushes it even further, increasing funding by $50,000 more. And all of this is on top of over $300,000 that the town pays back in loans every year due to a $5 million police station built in 2019. "The [police] department continues to operate with very little oversight and almost no transparency. With Black Lives Matter uprisings across the nation and across the Berkshires and in our town and budget decreases in Northampton and other towns in Massachusetts, the case has never been clearer to revisit our police budget and focus on putting our money where our words are and defending a system of oppression in this community. I would really like you all to consider the practical implications of the Black Lives Matter movement, take steps to reallocate priorities in our community and push for a police budget review before next month." A number of subsequent speakers who addressed the board pointed to Rai as an example of the kind of voice that town officials need to hear. And hers likely will be one of many voices telling town officials to defund the police in the weeks and months ahead. That makes this a good time to look a little bit more closely at the town's police budget and what exactly defunding the police would mean. How transparent is the police budget? Like all town finances, the WPD budget is presented to the town's Finance Committee, made up of eight volunteers appointed by the town moderator, on an annual basis. And Rai's figures were correct. The budget submitted for review this winter is up by $52,867.68 from the fiscal year 2020 budget, an increase of 4.4 percent to $1,243,246.95. Nearly half of that increase $25,649.84 comes from increased wages, which include cost of living increases and are mostly subject to collective bargaining agreements between the town and the union representing officers. As part of the town budget, the police budget is subject to a vote at the annual town meeting, where voters have the final say on how much money the town raises and appropriates from property taxes. That said, voters do not consider the police line item, per se, or any other line in the town's operations. Rather they are asked to approve an omnibus budget for town operations. Technically, the only "defund" vote at annual town meeting that would be binding on the town would be to vote down the entire operations budget, which includes Town Hall, the Department of Public Works, the town library, etc. But Town Manager Jason Hoch this week said even town meeting votes that are not binding still carry weight. "Practically, the ask at town meeting that refers to a line item may not be formally binding, but there is a reasonable political expectation that the wishes of the meeting be followed if there is a specific purpose," Hoch wrote in response to an inquiry on the topic. Does Williamstown spend too much on its police department? "Too much" is a measure that each resident has the right to judge for herself or himself. One way to approach the question is to compare Williamstown's police budget to that of like communities, and, in that respect, it appears to be relatively in line. The towns on the chart accompanying this story were taken from a list of a dozen municipalities used by the town's 2015 Economic Development Committee as peers for Williamstown "based on their small size and being somewhat to very remote." The EDC included towns as far away as North Carolina and Ohio; the four New England towns are included here. For purposes of the chart, only non-education spending was included because school financing models vary widely from state to state, even within New England. And it is worth noting that not all of the municipalities do as Williamstown does and break out spending for debt service into an easily compartmentalized category apart from its "general operations." Had Williamstown's $719,000 FY20 appropriation for debt service been included as part of its "General Government" (Article 5 on the town meeting warrant), the police department's share of the budget would have been more like 13 percent. It would take a CPA to dive into the minutiae of various town budgets and parse out how each accounts for expenses funded by user fees (like water and sewer services) versus those funded by property taxes. So that, too, makes true comparisons across town and state lines a bit murky. Also, it is worth noting that the two municipalities with the highest per capita spending for police are Lenox and Peterborough, N.H. Those also are the only two towns that do not have a college within its borders; in college towns, a significant portion of the population receives at least some of the services associated with law enforcement from campus security. The bottom line is that it is hard to avoid apples-to-oranges fallacies with any comparison across municipal budgets in different communities. But given that disclaimer, Williamstown appears to spend on law enforcement about the same percentage or arguably a lower percentage than communities it regards as peers. And even though education spending was left out of the town-to-town comparison, it still consumes more local tax dollars than the rest of the town budget. The same May 2019 town meeting that approved $8.2 million for the General Government warrant article approved $12.4 million between the Mount Greylock Regional School and Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School districts. An "all in" approach to municipal spending that includes town operations, debt service and education spending, the denominator jumps to $21.3 million, and the police department's $1.2 million budget falls to 5.6 percent. But, again, the "proper" level of spending is in the eye of the beholder. A resident who believes Williamstown is overpoliced very well could have the same opinion if transplanted to one of the communities on the chart. Are Williamstown's police officers well trained? Much has been made in the national discourse in the weeks since Minneapolis about the level of training that police officers receive. Bay State residents can take some solace from the fact that police officers in the commonwealth are more trained than law enforcement in most states. The California-based non-profit Institute for Criminal Justice Training Reform publishes a report card for training requirements in all 50 states. The national average for basic training hours is 656 hours; Massachusetts requires 812. The commonwealth also requires 40 hours of in-service training per year for officers; the national average is 23 hours. And Williamstown Police Chief Kyle Johnson told attendees at a June 3 "Coffee with a Cop" webinar that at least eight hours out of those 40 each year are spent learning de-escalation techniques. Asked by an attendee if that was enough time, Johnson replied, "I understand your concern. As human beings, we can always do better. "The 40 hours is mandated, but we also try to do additional trainings not required by the [commonwealth]," Johnson said. "A lot of that is online, which makes it more accessible to us. Not long ago, we had to drive to the police academy to get any training. The technology is working in our favor." "We practice de-escalation techniques every day," Police Lt. Mike Ziemba added. "We try to bring calm and neutrality and open-mindedness to every dispute we have. It's kind of built into the job, actually." While violent crime is not common in the college town of 7,700, the de-escalation training might be credited for this stat: Since 2004, when Johnson was installed as chief, no Williamstown police officer has fired his or her weapon in the line of duty except when dealing with a sick or injured animal. What would it mean to defund the police? It means different things to different people. In the most extreme, it is a call to abolish all law enforcement and concentrate the funds previously spent on police into social programs that address the root causes of crime, like poverty and drug addiction. But that radical view appears to be held by a minority of those espousing "defund police" at the moment. More moderate defund efforts focus on redirecting a portion of that law enforcement budget to social services programs. The various branches of the defund movement share this belief in common: Past calls to reform police like after the beating of Rodney King (1991), and the deaths Aiyana Stanley-Jones (2010), Michael Brown (2014), Tamir Rice (2014), Eric Garner (2014) and Freddie Gray (2015) have changed nothing. To date, at least two Berkshire County towns have heard calls to defund the police that fall on the more moderate end of the movement's spectrum. According to the Berkshire Edge, a motion to trim $200,000 from the $1.7 million Great Barrington police budget (11.6 percent) was defeated by a margin of 132-75 at the annual town meeting. The Berkshire Eagle reported that Egremont voters defeated "a motion to amend the budget and cut police funding." In Pittsfield, the City Council reduced the police budget by $100,000 and redirected $85,000 toward mental health clinician services. Nationally, even the most radical high-profile examples of successful "defund police" efforts Camden, N.J., and Minneapolis do not necessarily mean a world without law enforcement of any kind. The southern New Jersey city dissolved its police force in 2013 but replaced it with a county police force. Though praised for its efforts since to focus on community policing (many Camden officers marched with protesters after George Floyd's death), at least one community group, "Camden, We Choose," has argued in recent weeks that reforms have not gone far enough because, among other things, officers are not required to live in the community. And while the Minneapolis City Council this month voted to dismantle the city's police department, even that plan contemplates, the "creation of a new City Department of Community Safety." Do police do more than enforce the law? Less drastic reforms aimed at changing the way police respond to their community's needs is the Rapid Integrated Group Healthcare Team or, RIGHT Care program implemented by the Dallas, Texas, police, which teams law enforcement officers with paramedics and behavioral health professionals to respond to calls. Dallas began RIGHT Care as a three-year pilot program in 2018, and it appears to have been a success. The city manager has asked the city council to expand the program starting in October of this year. Williamstown officials appear to be open to a dialogue about incorporating more social services personnel into the WPD's day-to-day response, but that would come at a cost. "I look enviously, in some cases, at larger cities that might have a lot more other service functions across government, where shifting dollars away from a department one to the other and saying, 'This is not a place where we need police as the first responder,' " Town Manager Jason Hoch said in the June 17 Coffee with a Cop webinar. "We don't necessarily have that luxury. Great example We would prefer to not be the first responder in so many mental health cases. That's a challenge. And, let's face it, a fully-equipped officer coming in in a lot of those times of stress is probably not the first way to de-escalate the situation. "Our guys do a great job but that's not the core responsibility [of police]. At the moment, the resources don't exist within the region, the county or, arguably, the state, for a small town to be able to have a social/mental health type first responder that gets us out of being in that role." The police officials on the June 17 call with Hoch said police are the first responders on calls for people with mental health issues, but they are not themselves mental health workers. "We respond to many, many, many mental health scenarios, and while we receive training in mental health, to recognize it, the only tool in our tool box is to get the person to a hospital to see a professional, to figure out if it is a mental health crisis," Johnson said. "The [cases] that are crimes, in most cases, there aren't even charges because we recognize it is a mental health issue, even if, when they get to the hospital, [doctors] say, 'No, they don't meet the criteria to hold them to evaluate them.' "People think, 'The police, you can fix this.' We really don't have any tools other than mental health involuntary committal or court. There are times when we have to use the court because they can impose sanctions to get somebody help when the other avenue fails us." Hoch said the WPD is "at the tail end of a systemic breakdown" where area residents in need of mental health services are not adequately served. Ziemba said social workers alone cannot take the place of a trained and equipped police officer. "The people who seek help voluntarily, that's great, they can go work with this professional," he said. "The ones that don't go voluntarily, and we get the call from the Brien Center that we have to force them to go because they're having a crisis, a regular social worker can't handle that because they're not police officers. They're not trained or equipped to go hands-on, where we are. Or, no one knows about this breakdown until the neighbors are calling and saying this person is smashing the windows out of his house and going crazy. "The mental health professional could never replace us, and we could never replace them." BOSTON The state is welcoming travelers from surrounding states that have controlled the spread of the novel coronavirus. Beginning July 1, travelers from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York or New Jersey will not be expected to abide by the 14-day self-quarantine advisory put in place more than two months ago. However, those arriving from other areas including residents returning home to Massachusetts from them are still being asked to continue the two-week isolation period. Gov. Charlie Baker said at Tuesday's COVID-19 update that lifting these restrictions is based on data showing that these states have been successful in containing the highly contagious novel coronavirus. "These surrounding states, like Massachusetts, are seeing a significant decline in cases and new hospitalizations," he said, later adding that "given the facts on the ground ... the states that basically surround us here in the Northeast, all of which have had very positive trends for the past several weeks, people in those places should be allowed to come to Massachusetts, without having to live up to that 14-day quarantine." Massachusetts is still in Phase 2 of reopening, with limited indoor dining allowed and some personal services being allowed. Businesses have been able to reopen with guidelines of limited capacity, use of face coverings, and proper sanitation, and hotels were able to open beginning June 8. With the July 4 holiday this weekend, the governor said the expectation is that people will want to do some traveling. "Everybody should continue to be vigilant in their daily activities and if they travel as we approach the Fourth of July weekend, they should be especially careful," he said. The state has continued on trend with declining averages of confirmed COVID-19 cases and, as the governor pointed, on June 22 was ranked as having the lowest transmission rate in the country by a group that monitors state data. There are still more than 700 hospitalizations statewide but only two hospitals are still using surge capacity. "This would not have been possible without everybody playing their part, individuals and families, follow the medical guidance by practicing good hygiene, social distancing, wearing face coverings, and staying home if they're sick," he said. "It's working for us, but we clearly need to stay on our game." The governor said he would hope anyone traveling out of Massachusetts would be checking the guidelines for their destination and be considering states that have current positive trends, like in the Northeast. The new guidelines also apply to workers designated as "essential" by the federal government. Those who may be displaying symptoms related to COVID-19 are asked not to travel to the state. Baker said he was making this decision based on the data that has shown a dramatic drop in the percentage of positive cases and the implementation of the "robust testing" and tracing collaborative. "I think the point we tried to make with this was to point out the fact that the states directly around us here in the Northeast all have very positive trends with respect to penetration generally, and have done many of the same things that we've done to put themselves and their populations in that position," he said. "We felt it was appropriate at this time to basically take the quarantine off for those states that are referenced there." The news is good for the Berkshires, which is heavily dependent on tourism even though many of the summer attractions like Tanglewood and Williamstown Theater Festival have canceled performances. Museums will be opening up to limited access with many already opening up their grounds for walking and picnicking. State parks are reopened and trails and other outdoors amenities are available. Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said the Department of Public Health will be issuing a letter of guidance to municipalities related to observances over the Fourth of July weekend and that will recognize the efforts of local boards of health. "Essential to our reopening progress has been our local boards of health and their efforts," she said. "From the earliest days of the response, the local public health workforce has been essential in educating the public about the risks and symptoms of the virus, as well as ways to prevent it." Sudders noted that $9 million has been provided directly to local boards of health and that last week another $156,000, or total of $500,000, was announced to help local municipalities to share public health resources more effectively and efficiently. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito also announced a new rental program of $20 million. The Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance Program is comprised of federal funding, in part through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, to expand emergency housing resources. "The goal here is simple: provide housing stability," she said. "If you are a low-income household, that is facing financial hardship related to or exacerbated by COVID-19, starting tomorrow, you will be able to apply for help with your rent or your mortgage." Eligible families can apply through the 11 regional Residential Assistance for Families in Transition, or RAFT, administrating agencies. The fund is in addition to a number of housing assistance programs, including an amended $275 million housing and economic bill refiled on Friday. "The funding we're making available is important in the short term, but we know there was a housing crisis in Massachusetts before COVID-19," Polito said. "We cannot address the housing issues of 2020 without the restrictive housing laws changed, that are on our books today." In answer to questions, the governor again commended the residents of Massachusetts for doing their part in containing the disease by wearing masks and social distancing. He pointed to the spikes in cases occurring in other states as a warning to "respect the virus" and to be cautious on reopening steps. "As I said before, COVID-19 will not be taking a summer vacation, and the way we deal with it should continue to factor into our daily decision making," Baker said. "And as we've all seen several other states are seeing a sharp increases in new cases and hospitalizations, which is a very real reminder to all of us about just how contagious this virus can be. Were creating an environment that will be a model throughout the country, if we do this right, where students can toggle between different schools and different needs and can change majors and can take classes at those institutions that are going to be the most competent in doing that, said Scheinberg, who has helped lead efforts to create the new consortium. This is something that can be very, very special. Chinese vice premier calls for progress in pushing fishing ban June 30,2020 | Source: Xinhua China's Vice Premier Han Zheng has called for solid progress in implementing a fishing ban in the Yangtze River basin, and providing a cushion for fishermen as they give up their boats and nets. Han made the remarks on Sunday in Beijing while attending a teleconference on ensuring the livelihood of the fishermen affected by the fishing ban. China began a 10-year fishing moratorium from the beginning of this year in 332 conservation areas in the Yangtze River basin, which will be expanded to all the natural waterways of the country's longest river and its major tributaries from no later than January 1, 2021. The full-scale ban is likely to affect more than 113,000 fishing boats and nearly 280,000 fishermen in 10 provincial regions along the river, according to earlier estimations. Han urged a thorough inventory of boats and fishermen to pave way for a "precise retirement" of boats and nets. The compensation should be handed out to the fishermen as soon as possible, he noted. Efforts must be made to relocate these fishermen and help them find new jobs, he said. Illegal fishing shall be dealt with decisively, while members of public and the media are encouraged to be vigilant about such activities, the vice premier said. 2000-2020 XINHUANET.com All rights reserved. Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture. Your support is needed now more than ever Help support your local news Local news sources need your help. Stay in the know on Coronavirus, local updates, and more. We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation@idahopress.com for help creating one. The state suspended the fee in late March due to health concerns raised by retail employees about customers bringing their own reusable bags into stores. From March 27 through June 30, customers could use a stores plastic bags for free or bring their own reusable bags and bag their own items. Store employees were not required to bag items into customers reusable bags. The Idaho State Journal is offering free online access to all of our local coronavirus stories. Our ongoing coverage of our community relies on the generous support from our readers. To strengthen local journalism, please consider subscribing at apgidoffers.com. For daily updates in your inbox, sign up for our daily news headlines. Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation2@journalnet.com for help creating one. The murder of George Floyd sparked outrage, pain, and energy to mobilize against police brutality throughout Connecticut communities during the summer of 2020. A year already marked by tragedy and chaos came to a turning point on May 25. Tuesday marks one year since Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, one of whom knelt on his neck for nearly 10 minutes. Take a look back at the Black Lives Matter movement in Connecticut since May 25, 2020 and the rallies of support for the equitable treatment of Black and Brown people in Connecticut, across the country and beyond. Cook Island politicians proposed a motion to ban Cook Islands News journalist, Rashneel Kumar from parliament after they criticised him for unfair reporting. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urge politicians to re-consider the ban and the precedent it may set for press freedom. The motion followed a report by Rashneel Kumar during Question Time concerning the increase of travel privileges for spouses of outer-bound MPs. Parliament heavily condemned the article as sensationalist with Prime Minister Henry Puma describing it as incorrect and unfair coverage. The Cook Island News editor, Jonathan Milne stood by Kumars article, stating that the reporting was both fair and accurate. While this is the first time that a journalist is set to be evicted from Cook Island parliament, the proposed ban against Kumar could become a precedent for the government to remove all media access from any parliamentary session. Not only is this motion a violation of media freedom but a press ban would ensure that the decision makers of Cook Island cannot be held accountable for their actions and their speech. The parliamentary response to Kumars article has been disproportionate and only reveals how fearful the government is of any critique to their actions. IFJ said: The IFJ urges the government of the Cook Islands to revoke their motion to ban Rashneel Kumar from parliament. The continued media monitoring of government activities is integral to ensuring that parliament is representative of the people of the Cook Islands. The controversial national security law for Hong Kong passed in Beijing today, sparking fears that the freedoms enjoyed by the semi-autonomous region will be fundamentally brought to an end. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly opposes the law and condemns the China overreach and suppression of basic freedoms and human rights. Just over a month after Chinese lawmakers first proposed imposing an anti-sedition law on Hong Kong, China has pushed through its divisive national security law, in a process that had reportedly been fast-tracked. The law passed unanimously by the National Peoples Congress criminalises separatism, subversion of state power, terrorism and interference, a repressive law enacted in response to the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that have escalated since mid-2019. The law also gives judicial priority to Beijing by ensuring that the interpretation and application of the legislation is dictated by the state. Although the official legislation has not been released, it has been confirmed that the language used in the statute is vague and very similar to the restrictive laws currently in place in mainland China. Beijing will also set up a national security office in Hong Kong, effectively acting as a physical blockade to the territorys autonomy. The national security law was introduced by decree under Annex III of the Basic Law, overriding British legislation and allowing Beijing to push the law through without any consultation with Hong Kong. It is not insignificant that this legislation has been pushed through on the eve of the 23 rd anniversary of the handover. Journalists and media organizations have feared its enactment, believing that it will seriously affect press freedom and impinge on the safety of journalists and publishers. The law will have wide- reaching implications for all journalists based out of Hong Kong, acting as a censor for any reports that contradict the message of Chinese authorities. Any critique of Chinese authorities could be labelled as sedition and punished harshly. Many fear the law will mark the end of the civil liberties that Hong Kong citizens have enjoyed for decades. Over recent years press freedom violations in Hong Kong have increased as Beijing uses its influence to clamp down on media freedom. IFJ said: This new law will give China the power and the scope to severely limit the freedoms of Hong Kong citizens. IFJ strongly condemns the way this law has been pushed through. The lack of detail and transparency in this process is greatly concerning. It is critical that China respects Hong Kongs unique place in the world for its economic strength and as a centre of democratic principles and press freedoms in Asia. Boo Su-Lyn, editor-in-chief of health news portal CodeBlue, has been summoned by the police for investigation under the Penal Code following the publication of four articles based on findings from an inquiry into a fatal hospital fire in Johor Baru in 2016. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges authorities to stop this intimidation and drop their investigation. In early March 2020, CodeBlue published a series of four articles highlighting the findings of an independent inquiry into a 2016 fire which claimed the lives of six patients. In line with the inquirys damning findings, the articles point out that hospital staff were unprepared, that for over a decade the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) did not have a fire certificate, the hospitals fire extinguishers were faulty and Medivest Sdn Bhd, which has the operating contract for the hospital, had taken out insufficient insurance cover, The inquiry was conducted by a seven-member committee led by former Court of Appeal Judge Mohd Hishamudin Yunus. Kuala Lumpur police chief Mazlan Lazim confirmed that Boo is being investigated under Section 203A of the Penal Code which criminalises the disclosure of information. Police questioned her on June 26 at the Putrajaya district police headquarters. Boo is the second journalist to be questioned by Malaysian police this year in the course of carrying out their duties, over reports deemed critical of the government or its policies. Previously, South China Morning Post correspondent, Tashny Sukumaran was questioned on May 6 in connection with an immigration raid at a Covid-19 red zone where migrant workers live in Kuala Lumpur. Various human rights organisations and media freedom defenders have raised concerns of persecution of media workers in Malaysia including those investigated under the controversial penal code. The IFJ said: "Authorities must respect journalists rights to publish information in the public interest. The IFJ condemns the questioning of journalists and demands the police to drop the investigation over a series of factual articles into independent inquiry findings." Many businesses are considering requiring employees to sign liability waivers as a condition of returning to work. These waivers ask employees to acknowledge and bear the potential health risks of contracting Covid-19 on the job. It's an issue that continues to be up for debate in Washington. As the next round of coronavirus relief legislation looms, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had made liability protection a "top priority" for his conference and Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reportedly says there will be no bill passed without it. Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats and labor unions say some businesses aren't appropriately protecting workers from the virus. In their view, waivers might encourage companies to create unsafe conditions. Some states, including Alabama, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Utah, have issued executive orders or passed legislation that offers businesses more protection if workers or customers get sick. Denise Rousseau, professor of organizational behavior and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, says the waivers could be the result of a lack of government assistance when it comes to clarity on the liability. "This is uncharted territory," she says. "And the lack of response isn't helping to calm people's anxieties around returning to work." She advises employers take a proactive approach to educating employees, frequently updating them on changing policies the best you can, and keep them involved in the reopening process. Earlier this year, Las Vegas restaurant chain Nacho Daddy became a spotlight of controversy after it asked employees to sign a waiver that absolved the company of liability if they catch Covid. Company founder Paul Hymas said the decision was based on the Nacho's desire to protect itself and its employees during the pandemic, but it was quickly met with backlash. Shortly after the waiver was made public by an employee, the company dissolved it. "It's a clear example of one that went wrong," says Erin McLaughlin, labor and employment attorney at Pittsburgh-based law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney of the Nacho Daddy controversy. She says the question of whether or not to issue them continues to ring in the ears of her clients -- about 15 small-to-midsize-business owners have asked whether it's a viable option. She's advising them to steer clear for a few reasons. First, she says, employees are not permitted to prospectively waive their rights under state Workers Compensation Law. She says the only way employees may be able to do that is if the employer acted willfully or intentionally and advanced waivers don't usually apply to gross negligence or willful or intentional misconduct. In addition, waivers may conflict with Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines. If an employee views the waiver as an assumptions that the workplace is unsafe, it could be regarded as an attempt by an employer to avoid the statutory obligations under OSHA. "So depending on what's in the individual write-up," McLaughlin says, "best-case scenario, the waiver would be unenforceable, and worst-case scenario, it's actually a violation of the law to have the waiver." Additionally, if an employee refuses to sign a waiver and as a result is terminated, the business could be at risk of a worker's compensation retaliation claim, or a wrongful discharge claim. The damages of a retaliation claim could include front and back pay, compensatory damages and potentially punitive damages depending on the cause of action. Thomas Johnston, an employment attorney at New Jersey-based Johnston Law Firm, says waivers are an unneeded distraction. The higher priority, he suggests, is reopening safely. "Instead of focusing on reopening and getting your company back, you're now focused on damage control," he says. From a practical point of view, demanding workforce waivers is not exactly a way to boost morale. Indeed, it could make prompt some workers to look to organized labor for help, notes Johnston. Unions are usually inspired by a particular set of critical events. Asking your workforce to put their health in jeopardy is one way to inspire an organizing campaign. For months the coronavirus trapped city dwellers inside tiny apartments and made stepping out the door panic-inducing. Combine that with the growing chorus of companies letting employees work from home permanently and it's no surprise that the media is full of anecdotal accounts of urbanites fleeing expensive cities for cheaper, quieter locales. If you're among those dreaming of more space and a lower cost of living, there are plenty of cities (and even states and countries) that would love to have you. And they're not just rolling out the welcome mat and sending the neighbors over with a plate of cookies. They're offering cold hard cash and other incentives to those willing to relocate: 1. Tulsa, Oklahoma The median house price in Tulsa is just $175,000 compared to something north of $1.5 million in San Francisco, but the city wants to make it even more attractive to move. It's Tulsa Remote program, which began in 2018 and is open for applications, offers a $10,000 bonus and a $1,000 housing stipend to self-employed or remote workers looking to relocate within the next six months. Eligibility requirements and application are here. 2. Newton, Iowa What Newton lacks in name recognition it makes up for in incentives. The midwestern city offers newcomers a "welcome package" worth $2,500 and $10,000 cash toward the purchase of any new home worth $160,000 or more. 3. Lincoln, Kansas In a modern twist on the old idea of homesteading, this tiny Kansas city is offering a free lot to those willing to relocate and build a home. Details are here. 4. The Shoals Area, Alabama If you're self-employed or full-time remote, make more than $52,000 a year, and prefer southern heat to prairie living, then check out the Shoals area of northwestern Alabama. The region is offering $10,000 to move there. Applications are open here. 5. Anywhere in Alaska Don't mind crazy cold winters? Then the entire state of Alaska might be an option. As CNBC points out, "Alaska offers a slew of grant programs and tax incentives to attract people to put down roots in the state. Perhaps most enticingly, permanent residents can qualify for the Permanent Fund Dividend, which cuts each member of the population a check each year. In 2018, permanent residents received $1,600." 6. Tallinn, Estonia Adventurous folks willing to look a little further afield (and still not scared of long, dark winters), could consider the Baltic country of Estonia. Forbes reports the EU member country is offering "digital nomad visas" that allow remote and self-employed workers to live and work in the country for up to a year. While there's no direct cash transfer, there is the pleasant reality that the cost of living is 30 percent less than in the U.S. You may need to wait for the U.S. to get Covid under control to be allowed into Europe, however. 7. Santiago, Chile This one is specific to entrepreneurs. Startup Chile looks to attract entrepreneurs to the South American country by offering equity-free investment up to $80,000 in a startup idea, as well as mentorship and a visa to live and work in the country. Details here. While a little extra cash probably isn't enough by itself to convince you to make a cross country move, if you're already daydreaming about backyard chickens, these programs might be enough to get you on the phone with the movers. But do your research and he aware only a limited number of incentives are available. Over the course of several decades, iconic investor Warren Buffett has offered up plenty of useful advice to demonstrate the core life -- and business -- principles that have helped him achieve his legendary success. Nearing the age of 90, Buffett, the world's sixth wealthiest person, is a success juggernaut whose inspiring common sense just might transform you, if you actually apply it. Here are four Buffett rules of success to move you farther and faster in life. 1. Find work that brings you passion "In the world of business, the people who are most successful are those who are doing what they love," states Buffett. For most of us, we take for granted our job security, even though we may hate our jobs and wish we were doing something else -- something we actually loved. Buffett says we need to think about what will make us proud when we reflect back on our careers at the end of the road. Personally, I've finally reached a stage in life where I don't have to look back with regrets. I am doing what I love to do because it comes from the heart. Doing what we love is a major contributor to our happiness and success as humans. Some call it passion; others call it purpose. Whichever term you prefer, it is exactly what you can't help but keep doing. When you discover what this is for you, it's the thing that makes you come alive. 2. Practice self-care "You only get one mind and one body. And it's got to last a lifetime," says Buffett. "But if you don't take care of that mind and that body, they'll be a wreck 40 years later." More specifically, it's what we do right now -- today -- that determines the path of how your mind and body will operate into the future, says Buffett. Taking care of your mind and body is serious business for functioning at an optimum level. To heed Buffett's rule and reap its benefits, we must learn to put into daily practice self-care habits for nurturing the mind and the body -- things like meditation and adding more play (recreation) and sleep to our schedules. In fact, sleep guru Arianna Huffington, the founder of the Huffington Post and Thrive Global, attributes her success to giving up her sleep deprivation for eight hours of shut-eye: "When I get eight hours, I feel ready to handle anything during the day without stress and without paying a heavy price in terms of my own health and my own mental well-being," she says. 3 . Invest in the right relationships Buffett once asked a group of University of Florida students to think of a classmate they felt had the makings of success long term, such that they would want to get 10 percent of that person's earnings for the rest of their lives. "You would probably pick the one you responded the best to, the one who has the leadership qualities, the one who is able to get other people to carry out their interests," said Buffett. "That would be the person who is generous, honest, and who gave credit to other people for their own ideas." 4. The rule of unconditional love Buffett acknowledges that his father taught him one of the greatest lessons to pass on to the next generation -- the rule of unconditional love. This is the kind of love in which children can be transformed into excellent human beings, which will yield great results in life. In the Buffett biography The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, he asserts that the highest measure and the ultimate test of success in life come down to love. Johnny Depp breached an order in his libel case against The Sun by failing to disclose texts that allegedly show him trying to obtain drugs, a high court judge has ruled. The decision comes ahead of the trial for the Hollywood actors defamation claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN) and executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article in The Sun that called Depp a wife beater. The article referenced allegations made by Depps ex-wife, actor Amber Heard, that he was violent towards her during their marriage. Depp strenuously denies those allegations. Lawyers for NGN and Wooton, who are defending the claim, say Depp, 57, was in serious breach of a court order for not supplying their team with messages between him and his assistant, Nathan Holmes. The texts, sent shortly before an alleged violent incident between Depp and Heard in Australia, apparently refer to happy pills and whitey stuff, which Adam Wolanski QC said showed Depp was attempting to obtain MDMA and cocaine. Wolanski said Depp subjected Heard to a three-day hostage-taking situation while he was taking MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and drinking heavily. He said that Heard alleges she was the victim of assaults after she challenged Depp for taking a number of pills with red wine. Depp expressly denies that he took the drugs or that the pair had any conversations about drug use during that time in Australia. He claims that Heard went into a prolonged and extreme rage after a discussion of a post-nuptial agreement. Wolanski said the text messages between Depp and Holmes were profoundly damaging to [Depps] case. However, Depps barrister David Sherbourne insisted the texts were irrelevant because they did not relate to the allegations of domestic abuse. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Sherbourne also said Depp had been open about his history of drug abuse. While it was found that Depp had breached the unless order that requires him to disclose documents from separate, ongoing libel proceedings against Heard in the US, his case has not been automatically struck out. Depp has brought separate libel proceedings against Heard in the US, which the court has previously heard are ongoing. His barrister argues that NGNs legal representatives would have been given access to the text messages as they form part of the evidence in this separate case. Depps application for relief from sanctions will now be considered. Depp and Heard will travel to London from their respective homes in France and the US for the trial, which is scheduled to begin on 7 July and is expected to last for three weeks. Depps former partners, Vanessa Paradis and Winona Ryder who have previously given witness statements to say Depp was never violent towards them are also expected to give evidence. Oumou Sangare is fearless. At 52, the Malian artist has confronted kings and defied her countrys restrictive standards for women. Born in Bamako, Malis capital, shes the voice of Africa, one of the continents most venerated international stars. Her songs, which tackle polygamy and child marriage while celebrating female empowerment, were radical in the Eighties and remain so now. This Grammy-winning artist is also a powerful business leader, with dealings in the hotel industry and her own car company. For her, though, music will always come first. I fear that my faltering French and poor phone signal might irk her, but she turns out to be unfailingly patient, even with a three-month-old baby (her granddaughter, who was born in New York) stealing her attention. Sangare and members of her family have been stuck there since lockdown measures were enforced, and she is understandably keen to get home. Yet there have been wonderful moments she enjoys cooking for the children, and listening to them play. It has been a pleasure to reconnect with this family cocoon, she says, as the baby gurgles away on her lap (see, shes introducing herself to you). Its been a decade since Ive had such a break. I think this pandemic has enabled us to bring people closer, to put solidarity back at the core of society and think more collectively. Sangares voice has earnt her the title of Songbird of Wassoulou, after the historical region where some of Malis most important musical traditions were born. She found herself in demand when she began singing with her mother at traditional weddings and baptisms, aged five. After her debut album, 1989s Moussolou (women) was released, she signed to a record label, World Circuit, and achieved national recognition, aged 21. Melding traditional Wassoulou instruments the kamal ngoni harp, the djembe drum, the karinyan metal scraper, the calabash (percussion) with funk guitar, strings, and electronic elements, she successfully honours her heritage while sounding entirely modern. Her new album, Acoustic, offers beautiful, stripped-down versions of the songs that appeared on her 2017 album, Mogoya (roughly translating to people today). Its as intricate an album as you could hope for; without the synths introduced by French production team ALBERT (Vincent Taurelle, Ludovic Bruni and Vincent Taeger), you realise how Sangare succeeds in celebrating tradition while embracing the modern. On dynamic opener Kamelemba, she warns against womanisers over the sharp pluck and twang of the kamele ngoni. Yere Faga, a song about suicide, takes on a more serious tone in comparison to the original and ludicrously danceable version, which featured the late Nigerian drumming legend Tony Allen. Sangare found that the mood of the songs, and her own interpretation of them, changed dramatically by recording them in live conditions no amplification, and no headphones. We were between ourselves like a family, in our own bubble playing in front of a small audience, she says, explaining how the unplugged versions allowed more space for her voice, and for each musician. It brought something very intimate, spontaneous and natural it was all about letting go. Its raw! Sangare performs with her band at La Cigalle, Paris, in 2018 (Rex) Sangare is still a vocal anti-polygamy campaigner, and famously once performed one of her songs about the issue in front of Mswati III, the king of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and his then-16 wives. She laughs at the memory, although she is stern when she speaks of the men themselves. Each year they [Mswati and his late father] would take a new wife, so for me this was really the right occasion to speak out about it. In 2002, Mswati III caused uproar and condemnation from Amnesty International when Zena Mahlangu, a then-18-year-old high school girl, was forced to become another of his wives. It is the worst thing you can do to a woman treat her like an object or an animal, instead of a human being, Sangare says. If the woman consents, she clarifies, she has no issue, but if the woman doesnt want to be treated this way, it isnt normal. She feels fortunate that people have always paid attention to what she has to say its a huge privilege. Even at the beginning of her career, when she sang on the streets of Bamako about her mothers hard life, she recalls moving her audience to tears. It reflects their own living conditions, and they identify with my stories, she says. Sangare was just two years old when her father abandoned her mother, Aminata Diakite, for a second wife and emigrated to the Cote dIvoire. It was Diakite pregnant and already trying to raise Sangare and her siblings who taught Sangare how to sing, and from whom she inherited her resilient spirit. Her song, Minata Waraba (Aminata the Lioness), pays tribute to her mothers courage. My mother always gives me advice when I write my songs, she says. Through her campaigning for womens rights, Sangare realised how music can influence change. Proudly, she lists some of the titles recognising her international work in politics and social issues: FAO Goodwill Ambassador, Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of France and most importantly, Malian people are still supporting me and listening to my music. She counts Bob Marley and Mama Africa herself, Miriam Makeba, among her early influences; artists who inspired her with their outspokenness and their triumph through struggle. As [Makeba] also used the Bambara language, I understood her struggle from a young age, she says. Another brave woman who continuously fought to change an unjust world. If its emotional, people understand it, and if its rhythmic and makes you dance, people understand that too (Benoit Peverelli) Anyone who has witnessed Sangares performances, for which she dresses in flowing, traditional robes and towering high heels, will know what a charismatic and majestic presence she is. Her voice has a transcendent quality, capable of conveying a depth of emotion a soulfulness that moves the spirit. To her, singing in those supple belts and calls comes as naturally as breathing, and its why her music connects with so many people around the world. When someone sees you play, they dont need to speak your language to understand what youre trying to say, she says. If its emotional, people understand it, and if its rhythmic and makes you dance, people understand that too. Thats the beauty of music. I sense shes keen to return to her family so I wrap things up, apologising profusely for my nervous French. Bravo, she insists, laughing away my insecurity with her warm, rich voice. Bravo. Acoustic is out now via N Frmat Finn Wolfhard came close to quitting acting shortly before his life-changing audition for Stranger Things. The actor, who has played Mike Wheeler for three seasons of the hit Netflix show, recounted in a new interview with The Guardian how he scored the role at a critical moment in his budding career. At the time, Wolfhard, who was 13 when Stranger Things started airing, had just had to give up on a planned film part that had fallen through. He was planning on pursuing a career as a director instead of acting. When the Stranger Things audition came up, Wolfhard said he was sick in bed and almost considering not even acting. Nonetheless, he sent a tape and caught the eye of brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, who direct the series and the rest was history. Wolfhard, now 17, is set to reprise his role as Wheeler for a fourth season, which has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Before the crisis, he had travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, to begin filming, but production had to pause once much of the US entered lockdown. Wolfhard also reflected on growing up as a child star, telling the publication he feels he has had a different experience than those rising to fame at a young age in the Nineties. Because there are so many rules to keep children safe now, you know? Ask my co-stars, he said. None of us have ever been in the position where, like, were at an uncomfortable party being served drinks Dont get me wrong, it happens. It depends on the person. But the environment Ive grown up in has been very positive. The Coxes are among the lucky ones. While most people have received one-time stimulus payments from the federal government, UNITE HERE, a union representing 30,000 hospitality workers in the Orlando area, recently said that at least 1,500 of its members had yet to receive any unemployment payments from the state. Florida has been one of the slowest states to process jobless claims, in part because its system was designed to be arduous. Actor Louis Mahoney, who starred in shows such as Doctor Who and Fawlty Towers while campaigning against racism, has died at the age of 81. His management agency, Waring and McKenna, shared the news on Tuesday. It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our wonderful client, Louis Mahoney, the agency tweeted. Louis paved the way for many actors who followed: a lifelong activist and champion of anti-racism. His warmth and good humour will be sorely missed. A celebration of his life will follow. Mahoney was one of a few performers to appear both in the original run of Doctor Who as well as in the programmes revival. He starred in the 1970s episodes Planet of Evil and Frontier in Space, returning in 2007 as Old Billy in the episode Blink. The actor also appeared in the 1975 Fawlty Towers episode The Germans. His other credits include the series Runaway Bay and Oscar Charlie, as well as the 2013 film Captain Phillips. Recently, Mahoney played in an episode of BBC One's The Split. Born in The Gambia in 1938, Mahoney originally moved to the UK to study medicine, before pursuing an acting career instead. Mahoney was a former vice president of the Equity trade union for performers, which honoured him on Tuesday with a message that read: We are saddened to learn of the death of former Vice President Louis Mahoney. Louis was a passionate activist on behalf of @EquityUK and led the unions fight against racism and apartheid for many years. Actor Peter Egan also shared a tribute to Mahoney, writing: So sad to hear of the death of a good friend the wonderful actor #LouisMahoney an exceptional actor and active member of Equity and a well known resident of Hampstead. He will be missed... my condolences to his family. The Royal Court Theatre in London tweeted: Were so sad to hear of the passing of Louis Mahoney. A brilliant actor and the most wonderful human being; a devoted activist and extraordinary performer, he will be sorely missed. British Vogue has unveiled a painting by David Hockney as the first of numerous special landscape images to feature on the cover of its August 2020 issue. In the first project of its kind for British Vogue, Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful has commissioned 14 special covers for the magazines latest issue, which is titled Reset. The publication has enlisted some of the UKs greatest artists and photographers to deliver striking images of local landscapes they hold dear in a series that explores the theme of restoring our relationship with nature post-lockdown. The debut cover features a vibrant landscape oil painting of golden wheat fields by Hockney, titled Wheat Field Near Fridaythorpe, which was first released as part of his celebrated collection of East Yorkshire landscapes in 2006. In addition to Hockneys image, a number of other creatives have been enlisted by British Vogue to share their own depictions of nature including Nadine Ijewere, Tim Walker, Nick Knight, Lubaina Himid, Mert Alas, David Sims, Marcus Piggott, Jamie Hawkesworth, Juergen Teller, Alasdair McLellan, Martin Parr, David Bailey and Craig McDean. The original prints will be auctioned off in aid of Covid-19 relief charities later this year. British Vogues August Issue, Reset, and the 20-page story All Across the Land, is not only beautiful and poignant, but also highlights that at the core of everything is our planet, said Enninful. David Hockney's painting "Wheat field near Fridaythorpe, EastYorkshire" is the first landscape to feature on the magazine's August cover (British Vogue) Its maintenance enjoyed renewed focus as human activity slowed down in late spring, from the indelible images of clear canals in Venice to an absence of smog over Los Angeles. As the world rushes to find its feet again, we all need to be more mindful of the toll our previous pace of living took on nature. In an accompanying essay for the August cover story, writer and naturalist Helen Macdonald discusses how the coronavirus pandemic has forced people to rethink their relationship with the natural world. Fashion photographer Tim Walker has submitted this still life shot for the new issue (British Vogue) The familiar patterns of our lives have been broken, the future is unknowable, and all of us are searching for signs and wonders, for reassurance, for hope, for things that make sense to us when everything seems desolate. We are beginning to view nature through new eyes, she writes. Just as the pandemic has led us to discover new ways of working and living, in its continuing darkness we are learning to reforge our relationship with nature, quietly turning it into a thing of fierce and enduring tenderness. Nadine Ijewere has contributed this image of the Isle of Skye to British Vogue's latest issue (British Vogue) Read the full feature in the August issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands Friday 3 July. YouTube has banned a number of prominent users from its platform after introducing new rules aimed at fighting racism and white supremacy. David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and Richard Spencer, an American neo-Nazi, both had their accounts suspended. Stefan Molyneux, a Canadian white nationalist who has been accused of promoting scientific racism, also had his account removed. These channels, a YouTube spokesperson told The Verge, repeatedly violated the platforms policies by claiming that members of minority groups were inferior. We have strict policies prohibiting hate speech on YouTube, and terminate any channel that repeatedly or egregiously violates those policies, a YouTube spokesperson told the site. After updating our guidelines to better address supremacist content, we saw a 5x spike in video removals and have terminated over 25,000 channels for violating our hate speech policies. Recommended YouTuber Liza Koshy apologises for imitating Asian accent in old video Both Richard Spencer and Stefan Molyneux took to Twitter to complain about their suspensions. Spencer said that he would appeal the suspension, and claimed the move was part of a systemic, coordinated effort. Molyneux, meanwhile, made a video statement, echoing Spencers views and claiming that he was looking for rational solutions to social distances. His channel has been criticised for promoting a racist, transphobic, misogynistic and Islamophobic agenda. The Independent has reached out to David Duke for comment. Jenna Marbles apologises for doing blackface in YouTube videos YouTube has not always been seen as an ally to minority creators or viewers. A group of Black YouTubers are currently suing the platform, alleging it has been systematically removing their content without explanation. The company has also been accused of discriminating against content from LGBT+ groups. YouTube's decision comes as other social media companies are clamping down on right-wing accounts which violate their policies. Reddit recently banned the community r/The_Donald for repeatedly breaking its rules as the community became a hub for white supremacist and racist content. Twitch also removed Donald Trumps account for hateful conduct. A broadcast of a 2015 campaign event in which Mr Trump claimed Mexico is responsible for an influx of drugs and crime in the US, and a recent rally in Tulsa where he described a criminal as a very tough hombre, violated Twitchs terms of service. Prue Leith has called the UK the most unbelievably class-ridden country in a new interview. Speaking to Radio Times, the Great British Bake Off judge recalled how shocked she was to learn about the British class divides upon moving from South Africa to England. In South Africa theres a racial divide, and that was terrible, Leith told the publication. But when I came to England, I couldnt believe the gradations of class. People were looked down on for saying toilet. The 80-year-old added that in the UK there is a nervousness about stepping out of your class. She continued: I remember people saying, You shouldnt have ideas above your station. You bloody well should! Leith went on to say how she cant bear her own voice because she finds her accent posh. The TV judge also said that she thinks the class divide in the UK extends to how people eat. The Great British Bake Off: David Atherton crowned 2019's champion I think its true that, generally, educated people have a better life because they know more stuff and they know how to do things, she said before adding that she never buys ready meals or takeaways. I can make a really cheap meal with cabbage, bacon, onion and garlic, Leith continued. The people who most need to feed their children nutritiously and cheaply because they havent got much money are the ones that have the least education about cooking and food. A strain of swine flu with the potential to jump to humans and cause another pandemic has been identified by scientists. The virus, which researchers call G4 EA H1N1, was detected through analysis of 30,000 nasal swabs taken from pigs at slaughterhouses in China. It has been described as a blend of influenza found in European and Asian birds and the H1N1 virus, which is believed to have killed up to half a million people worldwide in 2009. The inclusion of H1N1 genes suggests the virus could adapt to spread from human to human, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) on Monday. G4 viruses have all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus, wrote the researchers from China Agricultural University. Following a sharp increase in prevalence since 2016, the new strain is now the predominant genotype in circulation in pigs detected across at least 10 provinces, they add. Testing of swine workers also revealed that over 10 per cent tested positive for antibodies to G4. Such infectivity greatly enhances the opportunity for virus adaptation in humans and raises concerns for the possible generation of pandemic viruses, the paper adds. Controlling the prevailing G4 EA H1N1 viruses in pigs and close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in swine industry, should be urgently implemented. Experts said that the likelihood of the strain causing another pandemic was low but cautioned that vigilance was still needed. Loading.... Influenza can surprise us, evolutionary biologist Martha Nelson told Science magazine. And theres a risk that we neglect influenza and other threats at this time. Prof Kin-Chow Chang, who has studied the virus and is based at Nottingham University, told the BBC that G4 was not a problem yet but added: We must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses. The overwhelming majority of rapists are walking free because of a collapse in prosecutions in England and Wales, campaigners have warned. Only 1.5 per cent of almost 55,300 rapes recorded by police in 2019 saw a suspect charged, down from 7 per cent four years before. An alliance of womens groups attempted to launch a legal challenge accusing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of changing its practices, but were refused permission by the High Court in March. On Tuesday, they published testimonies from complainants, statistical analysis, a CPS whistleblowers allegations and other evidence from the case. Katie Russell, the national spokesperson for Rape Crisis England and Wales said the wealth of evidence must be considered as part of an ongoing government review. The criminal justice system is failing on all forms of sexual violence and abuse and has been for some time, she added. The significant majority of those who are subjected to these traumatic crimes dont currently have the confidence to report to the police, and a small minority of those who do go on to see the perpetrator even charged, let alone convicted. This means the overwhelming majority of people committing these serious offences are walking free. A series of 20 testimonies by women and girls whose complaints did not result in a prosecution include a lesbian who was allegedly raped by a stranger, and women who said they were threatened with knives and guns. A woman who alleged that a man had raped her at gunpoint was told in a CPS letter that the weapon was not a serious threat during the alleged attack, and that the man may have thought she consented. In a separate case, a gay woman who said she was raped by a man was accused of engaging with the defendant before the attack. Charges against a suspect, who was caught on CCTV, were dropped. The Independent previously interviewed a woman whose alleged rapist was not charged after he appeared to confess to attacking her in a Facebook message. Rape Crisis is among the signatories of a letter to the justice secretary, Robert Buckland, amid an end-to-end-review of how rape cases are handled in the criminal justice system. Campaigners are calling for action from Robert Buckland (Getty) The High Courts refusal of permission for judicial review over plummeting prosecutions is currently being appealed. The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) accused the CPS of dropping a merits-based approach credited with increasing the number of rape prosecutions, but officials said they had not. They have raised more than 80,000 in a crowdfunding appeal backing the action. Harriet Wistrich, director of the Centre for Womens Justice, said that despite the CPS denials she had no doubt that there had been a change of approach. Recommended Rape victims must hand phones to police or face case being dropped We continue to be inundated with inquiries from rape victims who have been told by the CPS that their cases will not be prosecuted, despite compelling evidence and the risk that dangerous men will feel free to offend again, she added. Figures released in April showed that the total proportion of prosecutions across all crime types 7 per cent stands at a record low. A report released by the CPS in September showed there were just 1,925 convictions for rape or an alternative lesser offence during 2018-19, down from 2,635 in the previous 12 months a drop of 27 per cent. At that time, the CPS said the drop in rape charges was due to a number of factors, including a reduction in the number of referrals from the police, and an increase in the volume of time-consuming digital data. Following numerous reports from rape complainants saying that police were demanding access to their mobile phones, new forms were released last year to formalise the requests. If you refuse permission for the police to investigate, or for the prosecution to disclose material which would enable the defendant to have a fair trial then it may not be possible for the investigation or prosecution to continue, they said. The High Court refused permission for a legal challenge against the CPS to go ahead (AFP) Last week, the Information Commissioner found police were taking excessive amounts of personal data from victims phones. Elizabeth Denham found that call logs, photographs, location data and internet browsing history was being extracted, stored and shared without legal basis in some cases. My concern is that an approach that does not seek this engagement risks dissuading citizens from reporting crime, and victims may be deterred from assisting police, she said. In December, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) commended CPS decision-making. It suggested that austerity-hit police forces were at fault for losing rape allegations in the investigative process, and found no evidence of allegations that the CPS had changed that way it chooses cases to take forward. Senior police officers have accused prosecutors of raising the bar of evidence required to take rapists to court, following a 2017 scandal over collapsed cases that sparked an overhaul of evidence disclosure. But HMCPSI said prosecutors were correctly applying the code used for all crimes, which states that only those with a realistic prospect of conviction can proceed. Sue Hemming, legal director of the CPS, said it would soon be announcing further plans to help secure justice for everybody affected by sexual violence. We share the concerns about the gap between reported rapes and those cases which come to court, she added. However, the judgment of the High Court was clear, there has been no change of approach in how CPS prosecutes rape. They found that there was no arguable basis for EVAWs claims. Aerospace giant Airbus is to cut 1,700 jobs in the UK in response to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The firm operates sites at Broughton in north Wales, where its wings are manufactured, and another factory at Filton in Bristol. It is cutting a total of 15,000 jobs across its global operations, including 5,100 in Germany and 5,000 in France. Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced, said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers. To confront that reality, we must now adopt more far-reaching measures. The job cuts come three months after the firm warned it was bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed due to the pandemic, despite taking advantage of government furlough schemes and state-backed loans. Airbus said commercial aircraft business activity had plunged by 40 per cent in recent months and air traffic was not expected to recover to pre-Covid levels before 2023. The company said it would reduce its 135,000-strong global workforce by 15,000 jobs no later than summer 2021, but would attempt to limit the impact on staff by relying on voluntary departures, early retirement, and long-term partial unemployment schemes. Paul Everitt, chief executive of trade body ADS, said that Airbus was central to the UK aerospace industry and further government support was needed to ensure the sector recovered. Loading.... He added: This difficult news will be unsettling for their employees and those working as part of the supply chain. We have already seen tens of thousands of jobs across the aviation and aerospace sectors put at risk as a result of this crisis. Further measures are urgently required to support a strong recovery in our sector. This should include increased investment in UK innovation, help to recapitalise the supply chain and using public procurement to support high-value UK manufacturing. Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said the government should have taken action to secure jobs across the aviation industry. Thousands of jobs have been under threat of redundancy, with staff, the sector and politicians of all sides urging the government to act, yet Tory ministers have been found wanting, he said. Labour has consistently called for an extension to the furlough in the most impacted industries, and a sectoral deal that supports the whole aviation industry, including securing jobs and protecting the supply chain, while continuing to press for higher environmental standards. Additional reporting by Press Association British hunters have killed at least 60 lions and probably more since the shooting of Cecil in 2015, as a promised government ban on trophy imports has been delayed again. Official figures reveal dozens of bodies, skins and other parts of the endangered animal have been brought into the UK from Africa in the past five years. The data also show the European Union imports more lion trophies than any country, allowing the species to be driven dangerously towards extinction, experts say. After the killing exactly five years ago of Cecil in Zimbabwe by a US dentist prompted an international outcry, ministers promised to ban imports of lion trophies by 2017. The promise was also included in last years Tory election manifesto, and in February, Boris Johnson told Parliament he would deliver a ban. Numbers of wild lions have tumbled from about 450,000 in the 1950s to 20,000 in 2015 to an estimated 15,000 now. Its feared there could be as few as 13,000. Wildlife of the world Show all 19 1 /19 Wildlife of the world Wildlife of the world A macaque monkey family Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world A vulturine guinea fowl in Maasai Mara Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world A lilac-breasted roller in Kenya Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world An African elephant family in Kenya Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world A male lion sits in the shade in Maasai Mara, Kenya Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world Ostrich in Maasai Mara, Kenya Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world Three macaque monkeys at a temple In Nepal Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world A baby monkey clings to its parent in Nepal Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world Giraffes at the Soysambu Conservancy northwest of Nairobi Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world Zebras in a conservancy in Nairobi, Kenya Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world Orphaned Southern White Rhino in South Africa Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world Two rescued grey-headed flying foxes in Sydney, Australia Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world A bull frog in a marsh in the US Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world Two orphaned Southern White Rhinoceros at Rhino Revolution in Hoedspruit, South Africa Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world An African elephant and her calf in Maasai Mara, Kenya Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world A macaque monkey with blossom in Nepal Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world Thomson's gazelle graze antlers in Kenya Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world A juvenile male lion on tree branch in Kenya Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wildlife of the world A wild bird at Ngamba Island Sanctuary, Uganda Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Wild lions face the threat of extinction within three decades if populations continue to fall, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has previously warned. Conservationists have described the decline as heartbreaking. Ministers last year announced a public consultation on a ban, which ended in February, but officials say the outcome has been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Recommended Labour pledges trophy hunting imports ban under animal welfare plans The consultation included the option of stricter requirements or a ban on parts of only certain species. But analysis of numbers from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which regulates trade, reveals lion bodies, as well as skins, skulls, claws and feet, have been legally brought into the UK. A conservative reading of the database suggests that represents between 53 and 77 dead lions. But if the body parts were listed not as trophies but for personal, educational or commercial trade, the number of imports to the UK is 154. Eduardo Goncalves, author of a new book on trophy hunting and founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, said: The government promised to ban lion trophies after the killing of Cecil. Then it changed its mind. As a result, British hunters shot another 50 or more Cecils. Now its saying again that it wants to ban hunting trophies. We cannot have any more dithering or delay. Nine out of 10 voters want this stopped. Recommended Lions cubs found at squalid breeding centre too sick to walk Wildlife is on the brink. There is now a real prospect of lions becoming extinct in the wild. Other Cites data reveal the EU is the worlds largest importer of lion trophies compared with non-EU countries. The EU imported 406 lion trophies in 2017 and 2018, including 18 trophies of wild lions in Zimbabwe like Cecil. Within the EU, Spain imported the most lion trophies 84 in the two years. Claire Bass, Humane Society International/UKs executive director, said: Cecils senseless killing exposed trophy hunting as immensely cruel, completely unnecessary and morally bankrupt. And yet, five years on from his tragic death, Britain and the European Union are still providing a market for this horrific hobby. Recommended Killing of Cecil the lion encourages UK hunters to kill more big cats The public were outraged when Walter Palmer shot Cecil, a protected lion and one of Zimbabwes most loved animals, on 1 July 2015. It led to calls for his extradition to Zimbabwe, and he became the target of threats and protests. A professional hunter was cleared over the death. In answer to MPs who have questioned the delay, minister Victoria Prentis said the government was continuing to work on the issue and would publish its response as soon as it was practical. The outcome of the consultation, and the accompanying call for evidence, will inform our next steps, she added. The UK death toll from coronavirus has risen by 155 in 24 hours to 43,730, the government said. It marked a slight improvement on the figure of 171 last Tuesday, suggesting the outbreak is still in decline overall across the country. However the true number of total deaths from Covid-19 is thought to be more than 54,000, based on a comparison with the average over the past five years. A further 669 people tested positive yesterday, bringing the total to 312,654, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. The figures were released as Leicester began its first day under a local lockdown, with retail shops closing again following a surge in the number of cases. Schools in parts of the city will also close again on Thursday and residents were told to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel. Health secretary Matt Hancock denied he had acted too slowly in imposing the fresh restrictions after accepting he had been first alerted to the spike 11 days ago. He said targeted measures such as ramping up testing and closing some schools had failed to prevent the virus spreading in the community. The city council said that 944 Covid-19 cases had been reported in the last two weeks. Mr Hancock added: We are still doing the work to understand exactly why the outbreak has been so bad in Leicester. Meanwhile the rest of England is set to see a reopening of bars, restaurants, cinemas, hotels, museums and churches on 4 July. The Scottish SPCA has launched an investigation after a duck was shot with a crossbow near a canal in Scotland. A member of the public found the bird with an arrow through its body on the canal alongside the B816 in Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, on Saturday. They said the animal had been dragging itself in and out of the water in significant distress. It was taken to a local vet but has since been put to sleep due to its extensive injuries. The Scottish SPCA is now appealing for more information about the incident. Inspector Andrew Gray said: A passer-by alerted us to the duck, which was in considerable distress and dragging itself in and out of the water as it was unable to walk. The duck was rushed to a local vet to be examined but sadly the birds injuries were too extensive and the difficult decision was made to put it to sleep. A member of the public found the bird on Saturday and reported the incident to SPCA (SPCA) We are unsure of the circumstances surrounding the arrow but we are keen to find the person or persons responsible. Birds, including ducks, are protected by law and any attempt to injure or kill them is a criminal offence. We are working closely with our colleagues at Police Scotland on this case to try and determine what happened. Constable Laura Robertson, Forth Valley wildlife officer, said: Inquiries are ongoing and we are asking anyone with information to contact the Scottish SPCA or to call police on 101, quoting reference number 2684 of June 27. This was a completely reckless and inconsiderate act on a defenceless animal, and we are urging members of the public with information in connection to come forward. Calls can also be made confidentially to the Scottish SPCA animal helpline on 03000 999 999 Iran says to sue U.S. president, officials for assassination of Soleimani TEHRAN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Iran has filed a case with the Interpol to arrest a number of U.S. political and military officials "who were involved in the assassination" of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January, Tehran Prosecutor General Ali Qasi Mehr said on Monday. Qasi Mehr said that the list of 36 U.S. individuals, including President Donald Trump, has been availed to the Interpol. These people have been accused of murder and terrorist acts against the Iranian senior commander, he was quoted as saying. A U.S. airstrike on January 3 killed Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, along with an Iraqi militia commander, near Baghdad International Airport. But thats not what Boone told multiple news organizations earlier in the day. In an interview with The Pilot, the chief said making the reports public would be reckless because laypeople are not qualified to analyze them. In fact, the chief said he doesnt know if he has the power to release those records, or if that decision would have to come from the city manager or city attorney. British businesses exporting to the EU will have to wait for permission from HMRC before moving their goods, under bureaucratic new government Brexit plans designed to stave off chaos at ports. Plans drawn up by officials and reported by the Bloomberg news agency, say lorries will only be allowed to begin their journey to Dover if they have a valid reference from the so-called "Goods Vehicle Movement Service". The new, untested government computer system, which is still under development six months from the end of the Brexit transition period, will bar trucks without prior clearance from heading for the channel - though it is not clear how this will be enforced. There have been fears that the new customs processes and extra bureaucracy British businesses will face because of Brexit will cause significant delays at entry and exit points to the UK, with tailbacks of lorries embarrassing the government. Officials say the new system will help ports with limited space cope with the extra delays leaving the single market and customs union will cause - by restricting the flow of vehicles. British exporters will be the biggest losers from this, said Naomi Smith, chief executive officer of Best for Britain, a pro-EU campaigning group. Additional bureaucracy threatens to clog up our trade arteries. While the system may stop embarrassing tailbacks at Dover from appearing on the evening news, goods held back will simply be stuck in warehouses instead. Full customs controls are expected to be implemented on freight coming from the EU to the UK in the middle of next year, with some controls implemented gradually from 1 January and in the following months. Customs controls coming from the UK to the EU will be implemented in full on 1 January. Alex Veitch, head of International Policy at FTA, which represents freight transport companies, said: The logistics industry is keen to learn details of any system to facilitate the export of goods across EU borders, and is ready to support the preparations of such a system so that it can be ready for January 1, 2021. We are currently talking to UK government and EU partners to understand all the system requirements and brief our members. It takes two to tango, and we need both import and export systems to be ready, tested, and operational to keep Britain trading. Despite a long history of UK government IT projects going wrong, HMRC officials say they are confident the scheme can be delivered and point to experience building platforms like the coronavirus furlough scheme as evidence. Asked about the plans, a UK government spokesperson said: "At the end of this year we will control our own laws and borders, which is why we have taken the sovereign decision to introduce border controls in a way that gives businesses impacted by coronavirus time to adjust. Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Show all 37 1 /37 Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro-Brexit supporters celebrating in Parliament Square, after the UK left the European Union on 31 January. Ending 47 years of membership PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Big Ben, shows the hands at eleven o'clock at night AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro Brexit supporters attend the Brexit Day Celebration Party hosted by Leave Means Leave Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage smiles on stage AFP/Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square People celebrate in Parliament Square Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A Brexit supporter celebrates during a rally in Parliament square AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Police form a line at Parliament Square to prevent a small group of anti-Brexit protestors from going through to the main Brexit rally PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Nigel Farage speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square JD Wetherspoon Chairman Tim Martin speaks as people wave flags Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters wave Union flags as they watch the big screen AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage arrives Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters gather AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Ann Widdecombe speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters wave Union flags as they watch the big screen AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square People wave British Union Jack flags as they celebrate Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro-Brexit demonstrators celebrate on Parliament Square on Brexit day Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A pro-Brexit supporter jumps on an EU flag PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A man waves Union flags from a small car as he drives past Brexit supporters gathering AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A pro-Brexit supporter pours beer onto an EU flag PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square An EU flag lies trampled in the mud Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty We are continuing our preparations for the end of the transition period and the introduction of new border controls, including by providing 84m to grow the customs intermediary sector to encompass EU trade after 2020. "We are regularly engaging with industry as plans develop, in particular with regard to a new IT system that will facilitate movement at the border. A border operating model will be published in July 2020." There has been an unusually high rate of coronavirus infection children in Leicester, health secretary Matt Hancock has said. The cabinet minister said the striking incidence of positive tests among under-18s was part of the reason the government decided the citys schools had to close from Thursday. The reason I said what I did last night about Leicester is that it is an unusually high incidence in children in Leicester, Mr Hancock told the BBC on Tuesday when asked about his remarks in the Commons on Monday night. Mr Hancock said: We have sent in a lot of extra testing into Leicester over the last 10 days or so and one of the things we have found is that there are under-18s who have tested positive and therefore, because children can transmit the disease even though they are highly unlikely to get ill from the disease we think the safest thing to do is close the schools. Dr Nick Phin, Public Health England (PHE)s incident director, told The Independent: From mid-May, the proportion of people aged under 19 testing positive [for the coronavirus] rose from 5 per cent to a current value of around 15 per cent. He added: While evidence suggests children are not seriously affected by Covid-19, we know that they can spread the infection so closing schools is a sensible way to help prevent the spread. Leicesters mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said analysis of 800 hospital admissions for coronavirus has shown the demographics of those getting ill from the disease appeared to tally with the rest of the country. Men have been quite heavily affected particularly in late middle age, elderly people have been hit particularly hard, and BME communities in general have had somewhat higher rates of admission to hospital than the white community, he told reporters. But they are not outlying with figures from elsewhere [in the country]. Dr Stephen Griffin, associate professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, said: It would be of interest to hear more details concerning the health secretarys statement that there is an unusually high incidence of coronavirus among children in Leicester. He added: We need to understand why this is the case and if children are a source of community transmission in this outbreak or if they are just becoming infected but not contributing much to the spread of the virus. Understanding what is going on could have implications for planned school reopening and the safety measures this involves. Recommended Leicester residents express fears for businesses as lockdown extended Mr Hancocks comments come the day after he announced harsher lockdown restrictions were to come into force in Leicester, with non-essential shops shut today. The city council said that 944 Covid-19 cases had been reported in the last two weeks. The government said the citys seven-day infection rate was 135 cases per 100,000 people three times higher than the next highest city. Mr Hancock also said that the lockdown had been introduced after targeted action at factories and workplaces had failed. When asked about possible causes such as poverty, higher ethnic diversity and higher-density housing, Mr Hancock said they were familiar to him. He added: We are still doing the work to understand exactly why the outbreak has been so bad in Leicester. But lots of the reasons that you mentioned just then are familiar to me and people will find them intuitive. Non-essential shops were closed in Leicester on Tuesday (Reuters) (REUTERS) North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen claimed Leicester was a perfect storm of a city with younger people who are less likely to comply with lockdown, a large ethnic minority population, multi-generational households and large food processing and garment industries. The Conservative MP told BBC Radio 5 Live that the garment industry should have been in lockdown, but workers had carried on. Yet Leicesters mayor said he had no evidence that garment factories had been hotspots for the virus, and said the government had not shared any data on which neighbourhoods, which communities, indeed which streets had been worst hit. Linda Bauld, Professor of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, said nobody should fault with local people for not following guidance, or suggest an areas diversity was to blame. She said: Lets be clear the restrictions being re-introduced are not the fault of the local population Instead, we need to ask real questions about the adequacy of the UK governments response to this whole crisis and whether it has, most immediately, failed the people of Leicester. Downing Street said there were no plans for Mr Hancock to hold a press conference on Tuesday following a demand from Labour that the minister provide more details on the Leicester lockdown. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said people in the city are crying out for answers to perfectly legitimate questions as he led calls for a media briefing. Theresa May has criticised Boris Johnsons decision to appoint an ally with no direct experience as his next national security adviser in an angry intervention in the Commons. Mr Johnsons predecessor asked why the prime minister had given the job to a political appointee with no proven expertise in the area. Ms May told Michael Gove, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and her former cabinet colleague, that she served on the National Security Council for nine years, including as prime minister, and during that time had listened to the expert independent advice of national security advisors. In a dig at her successors decision, she asked why the job has now gone to a political appointee with no proven expertise in national security. Just hours earlier, another former Tory leader William Hague said that the decision sat uneasily with the desire for top officials to be highly knowledgeable about their areas of responsibility. Lord Ricketts, the UKs first national security adviser, also joined in the condemnation. The message of (this) appointment is that the prime minister accords absolute priority not to expertise and experience, but to political loyalty among his closest advisers, he said Unlike previous holders of the post, David Frost, currently Mr Johnsons chief EU negotiator, is a political adviser rather than a career civil servant. He replaces Sir Mark Sedwill, who announced earlier this week he would stand down from the role, and his other job as cabinet secretary, amid reports of a falling out with Mr Johnsons chief adviser Dominic Cummings. Mr Gove defended Mr Frosts appointment, saying he had been a distinguished diplomat before a series of other roles, including with the Scotch Whisky Association. Mr Gove told MPs: We have had previous national security advisers, all of them excellent, not all of them necessarily people who were steeped in the security world, some of whom were distinguished diplomats in their own right. Mr Gove had been dragged to the Commons to answer an urgent question on the appointment. Meanwhile, in his column in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hague wrote of the decision: Out there in our intelligence agencies, there are a lot of consultant surgeons who have spent a lifetime performing difficult operations. You cant pass them all over while calling for more expertise without eyebrows being raised, or indeed daggers sharpened. The former foreign secretary also warned that the manner of Sir Marks departure was not a good example of how to lead the government machine towards positive change. He added that anonymous briefings on senior officials are a reprehensible habit of the current team in No 10, which would prove a disincentive for talented people to take on jobs at the top, and to which the prime minister should put a stop. . Separately, No 10 did not deny reports that Sir Mark had been assured the UKs backing as next head of Nato. The PMs official spokesman pointed to Mr Johnsons comment that the outgoing cabinet secretary has a lot more to offer and Im sure that he will. Armed officers in Colorado used tear gas against protesters this weekend, as thousands attended a vigil for Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old who died after police put him in a chokehold that has since been banned. Riot police arrived at the City Centre Park in Aurora, Colorado, on Saturday night where thousands had marched and chanted some hours earlier. Others played violins in tribute to McClain, a keen musician, during the day-long vigil. But as evening neared on Saturday police warned demonstrators that the protest had become an illegal gathering, reported The Denver Post. One protester could be heard saying no, no, no as riot police advanced on the violin vigil whilst music played. Others chanted: Why are you in riot gear? I dont see no riot here! Video posted online showed police clash with protesters who had been sat in silence while violins played amid the disturbance. Some were said to have thrown stones and bottles at police. Another video showed demonstrators lock arms with one another to shield the musicians from riot police, who later said that peppery spray had been used to clear the park. Pepper spray was used after a small group of people gathered rocks [and] sticks, knocked over a fence, & ignored orders to move back, said the Aurora police department in a statement, adding that tear gas was not used Although police were said to have cleared City Centre Park on Saturday, some protesters continued to move on to a car park where one violinist played to a small audience at dusk. Authorities also said that three people were taken into custody for violating lawful orders after warnings were given. One protester condemned police actions, and wrote on Twitter: Yesterday Aurora, Colorado was holding a violin vigil for Elijah McClain, who was known for playing his violin, especially to animals. Then the police decided theyd seen enough. Police then used pepper spray to clear the park. There were families and kids out in Aurora. It was literally just a violin vigil for Elijah, they added. Protesters also shut down an Interstate highway on Saturday as they marched for McClain, whose death has come scrutiny since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody last month. Some 4 million people have now signed an online petition calling on authorities in Aurora to bring justice for Elijah through a more in-depth investigation. Colorado governor Jared Polis ordered the state attorney general to investigate McClains case on Thursday amid continued protests. Elijah McClain should be alive today, said attorney general Phil Weiser in a statement on Thursday. His life mattered and his death was tragic. The pain, frustration, and anger that his family and many Coloradans are feeling from his death is understandable and justified. Cape Cod has issued a warning to beachgoers that great white sharks are coming close enough to shore to pose a concern for swimmers in the area. The Cape's National Seashore Chief Ranger Leslie Reynolds warned that visitors should be aware of the threat at a news conference ahead of 4 July weekend. At least two shark attacks on seals have been documented in recent days in Orleans, officials have said according to The Cape Cod Times. While the beaches and towns are seeing fewer visitors due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the upcoming Independence Day weekend could be set to draw tourists to the beaches. Officials have recommended swimmers remain in waist deep water where possible and avoid areas where sharks have been previously spotted. The National Park Service (NPS) also advises beachgoers to stay close to shore and remain in groups and splashing in the water. Great white shark numbers have increased on the Cape because of a growing seal population that rebounded after being hunted to near extinction, according to the NPS. Most sharks tend to favour the Atlantic Ocean-facing beaches where seals tend to congregate, but researchers have found them off nearly every part of the Cape. Gregory Skomal, a prominent shark scientist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, has said he spotted three great whites circling a whale carcass earlier this month during his research. The peninsula southeast of Boston saw two shark attacks on humans in 2018, one of them fatal. Additional reporting by the Associated Press. Dr Anthony Fauci has warned that the US may see 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day during a Congressional hearing. The governments top infectious diseases expert said that the spike in areas of the country like the south and the west are putting the entire country at risk. We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, Dr Fauci said. And so I am very concerned. States including Florida, Texas and California have seen record rises in cases in recent days, leading governors to pause and in some cases reverse reopening measures. As he was giving evidence to a Senate committee, the European Union announced a number of countries it would allow people to enter from as it loosens its own restrictions while it included nations like Canada, Australia, Rwanda and Algeria, it excluded the US, along with Russia and Brazil. Dr Fauci said: Clearly we are not in total control right now, I am very concerned because it could get very bad. He said there was no guarantee that efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine would be successful. Recommended Trump cancels Alabama rally over coronavirus fears More than 2.6 million Americans have been infected with the coronavirus, and about 129,000 people in the US have lost their lives to it. Dr Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also gave testimony during the hearing. He said the agency was busy preparing a public education blitz to build confidence in the US public for an eventual coronavirus vaccine. The health officials claimed they needed the programme to build vaccine confidence among those who view the government and vaccines with scepticism. I think its very important that we have an integrated plan for this vaccine, Mr Redfield said. According to Dr Fauci, the education programme will be implemented at vaccine trial sites. It is a reality: a lack of trust of authority, a lack of trust in government, and a concern about vaccines in general. He said it was not just anti-vaxxers who were sceptical of the government but warned that on-the-ground community engagement would be necessary to earn the trust of poor and minority communities where people have not always been treated fairly by the government. Dr Stephen M Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, pressed the importance of the publics confidence in any forthcoming vaccines. Recommended Arizona shuts down again for 30 days amid spike in coronavirus cases Public confidence in vaccines is so important. We have an obligation to use all of our scientific knowledge, regulatory framework to ensure that any vaccine that comes before us, whether for authorisation or approval, meets our stringent standards for safety and effectiveness, Mr Hahn said. Vaccines are being developed under President Donald Trumps Operation Warp Speed, an accelerated production programme aiming to have at least 300 million doses of a vaccine ready by the beginning of 2021. The FDA has worked to counter public fears that the accelerated vaccine development process might result in a more dangerous or less-tested treatment. The presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, launched a fresh attack on Mr Trumps historic mismanagement of the pandemic, arguing he could have saved lives and the economy by acting earlier to control the virus. It didnt have to be this way, the former vice president said in a speech in Delaware, in which he unveiled an updated plan to tackle the pandemic, including more testing and hiring at least 100,000 contract tracers. Donald Trump failed us. Additional reporting by Reuters The four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the killing of George Floyd could face a jury trial in March, as a judge warned the men to avoid speaking publicly about the case during a hearing on Monday. Three appeared at a Hennepin County court in Minnesota, while Derek Chauvin who was captured on video kneeling on Mr Floyds neck attended the hearing via video conference from Ramsey County Correctional Centre, where he is being held on a $1.25m bail. Judge Peter Cahill has set a tentative trial date for 8 March. The next hearing in the officerss case is set for 11 September. But he warned them that making public remarks about the case, which is expected to draw significant media scrutiny in the coming weeks and months, could force the trial to move elsewhere, according to the Star Tribune. Mr Chauvin faces charges of second-degree murder as well as third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after he was filmed kneeling against Mr Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes as the 46-year-old called out I cant breathe while on his stomach and with his hands cuffed behind him. The other men J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, none of whom stopped Mr Chauvin from performing the deadly manoeuvre are charged with aiding and abetting Mr Floyds murder on 25 May. Mr Kueng intends to plead not guilty, citing self-defence, reasonable force and authorised use of force, according to court filings. Its unclear whether all four men will be tried together or if there will be separate trials. Its likely defence attorneys will file motions to do so. All four men were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department following the killing, which galvanised protests against police violence that have persisted for more than a month across the US and around the world. Recommended Inside the Minneapolis shop that called the police on George Floyd Two of the former officers Mr Kueng and Mr Lane are out on bail after each posted $750,000 bonds. The former officers could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Meanwhile, city officials in Minneapolis are considering an amendment to the citys charter to dissolve the citys police department and establish a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention in the wake of Mr Floyds killing and widespread calls for reform. The amendment would require a public vote on November ballots. A white couple who pointed guns at protesters in St Louis have said they were threatened as crowds marched down their street. Video shared online showed 63-year-old Mark McCloskey and 61-year-old Patricia McCloskey stationed on the lawn outside their St Louis home on Sunday night as protesters walked past. Mr McCloskey, who was seen with a long-barrel gun, could be heard shouting as some 500 people marched towards the mayors house to demand her resignation. US president Donald Trump, who has criticised Black Lives Matter demonstrations, reshared the video on Monday, without comment. Mr McCloskey told local news outlet KMOV-TV that he and his wife, who are personal injury lawyers, feared for their lives as an angry mob walked down their private street. It was like the storming of the Bastille, the gate came down and a large crowd of angry, aggressive people poured through, said Mr McCloskey. I was terrified that wed be murdered within seconds. Our house would be burned down, our pets would be killed. The 63-year-old said he phoned 911 when he heard the crowd approaching Portland Place, the private community where he lives in the citys Central West End neighbourhood. A mob of at least 100 smashed through the historic wrought iron gates of Portland Place, destroying them, rushed towards my home where my family was having dinner outside and put us in fear for our lives, Mr McCloskey told KMOV. Despite those comments, it was not clear whether or not demonstrators destroyed or removed the gate at Portland Place. The St Louis couple also claimed that some protesters had threatened them and said Youre next, whilst armed with pistols. Police said on Monday that whilst investigations into the matter continued, the case had been labelled as trespassing and assault by intimidation. Recommended Barack Obama gives powerful Stonewall speech Protest organiser Rasheen Aldridge told CBS that Sundays march had been peaceful and no threats were ever made. The McCloskeys lawyer, Albert Watkins, said in a statement on Monday night: The peaceful protesters were not the subject of scorn or disdain by the McCloskeys. The most important thing for them is that their images (holding the guns) dont become the basis for a rallying cry for people who oppose the Black Lives Matter message. They want to make it really clear that they believe the Black Lives Matter message is important. He added that he did not expect charges to be brought against protesters or his clients. The march had taken place on Sunday after St Louis mayor Luda Krewson read-out the names and addresses of residents who had written to her about defunding the police in a Facebook video that has since been deleted Two Little Caesars employees have been fired after a couple opened their pizza to find pepperonis shaped like a swastika across the top. Jason and Misty Laska of Middleburg Heights, Ohio, picked up a pizza from the fast food place late on Saturday night only to discover the Nazi symbol, which was backwards, when they opened it up. Ms Laska shared a picture of the pizza on Twitter, writing she was truly disappointed. This is truly saddening and disturbing and not funny at all! These arent funny jokes and shouldnt be made period and on company time, she wrote. A picture of the symbol was shared on Twitter and Facebook after the couple first tried to call Little Caesars about the problem so they could get a refund for the pizza. They said no one answered the phone. The couple was contacted by the company on Sunday. Reportedly the pizza was prepared before the couple arrived at the business and was placed on the warmer rack. Little Caesars said two employees acknowledged their involvement in creating the pizza and said it was made as a joke. The pizza was not supposed to be placed on the warmer rack or be sold to a customer. Both employees were fired by the company. We have zero tolerance for racism and discrimination in any form, and these franchise store employees were immediately terminated. Were deeply disappointed that this happened, as this conduct is completely against our values. We have also reached out to the customer to discuss this personally with him, the company said in a statement to 19 News. Ms Laska told Reuters she didnt think termination was enough given the hate message placed on the pizza, but she wasnt sure what further action she would take against the two employees. This kind of hate being spread around and not taken seriously is why the world is becoming so divided, she said. In the climate today a gesture like such is completely unacceptable ... I hope the two responsible learn a valuable lesson from this. Spread love, not hate. For President Trump's Independence Day fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore, attendees will not be required to practise social distancing or wear masks, the states governor said. In an interview with Fox News, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was asked about health concerns being cited as a reason to cancel Fourth of July celebrations. In South Dakota weve told people to focus on personal responsibility, every one of them has the opportunity to make a decision that theyre comfortable with, Governor Noem replied. We will have a large event on 3 July. We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home but those who want to come and join us, well be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we wont be social distancing. South Dakota has recorded more than 6,700 confirmed coronavirus cases and 91 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. On Monday, South Dakota's department of health reported 35 new Covid-19 cases, The Argus Leader reported. Were asking them to come be ready to celebrate, to enjoy the freedoms and the liberties that we have in this country, Gov. Noem added. Around 7,500 people are expected to attend the fireworks event on 3 July. Attendance to the evening was limited through an online lottery system. The Trump administration has come under fire for its seemingly relaxed attitude to implementing coronavirus protection measures to limit the spread of infection at large events. Face masks and social distancing were not enforced at Mr Trumps recent campaign event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his first rally for supporters since March. Experts have said that the US is struggling to keep the pandemic under control. At least 27 states saw a daily increase in the number of coronavirus cases last week. The country saw a record 40,401 new cases in one day last week, breaking the previous record, from April, by more than 3,000. Governors in many states have been forced to pause reopening and in some cases, order the re-closing of certain businesses due to a spike in cases. The US has more than 2.6 million coronavirus cases, and more than 120,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday. Saleen Martin Staff writer Saleen Martin, a Norfolk native, is a reporter on The Virginian-Pilots features team. She joined The Pilot in 2018 after getting her master's degree from the University of Georgia. She also has a bachelor's degree from Virginia Wesleyan University. She has a weakness for horror movies, witchy Netflix shows, reality TV, and sushi. Joe Biden told reporters that Donald Trump "doesn't seem to be cognitively aware of what's going on" after allegations that the president had ignored intelligence briefings over a possible Russian-backed plot to offer bounties to Taliban-linked militia for the killings of US troops. "The idea that he didn't know, or wasn't being briefed, that's a dereliction of duty," he said on Tuesday. "And if he was briefed, and didn't do anything, that's a dereliction of duty." The presumptive Democratic nominee to face against the president invoked his late son Beau Biden, who served in the US Army during the Iraq War, imagining how his family would react to the allegations if he was serving in Afghanistan. "I was talking to my wife Jill, and she doesn't get outraged often," he said. "She said, 'Joe, what would you have done if Beau was still in harm's way and this information came out?" "It's an absolute dereliction of duty if any of this is true," he added. "The president has a lot to answer for and he should get the answers quickly." If the allegations are true, then "unrelated to my running, this president is unfit to be president", he said. The former vice president discussed the allegations during a press conference immediately following his remarks about the administration's response to the coronavirus. On Sunday, following several reports revealing the scope of the intelligence and the failure of the White House to respond, Mr Biden called reports a "shocking revelation". If true, he said, "then president Trump, the commander-in-chief of American troops serving in a dangerous theatre of war, has known about this for months ... and done worse than nothing." The White House has denied that it had been briefed on the intelligence while also doubting the veracity of the intelligence and suggesting that media reports of the intelligence have compromised investigations. Recommended Biden slams Trump over latest coronavirus failures in scathing speech On Monday, The New York Times reported that intelligence reports on the Russian scheme were in the president's daily briefs as early as February. While in office, Mr Biden said he would read his briefings every morning and again when he arrived at the White House. Multiple reports through the president's term have indicated that Mr Trump doesn't read those reports and prefers oral briefings every few days. House Democrats have warned that an information chasm between intelligence officials and the president could have significant foreign policy and military consequences, while GOP officials accused the media of printing the allegations in an attempt to undermine the president. Mr Biden said that "at a minimum" the president must resolve the "discrepancy allegedly between the intelligence community as reported." "Both parties should demand the facts," he said. Barack Obama has reportedly criticised president Donald Trumps use of kung flu to describe the coronavirus. Mr Trump, alongside other Republicans, has repeatedly referred to Covid-19 as kung flu, or Wuhan flu, during the pandemic, and both phrases have been criticised for blaming the virus on a single country and group of people. Additionally, there are concerns that the phrase could lead to a rise of harassment and mistreatment of Asian Americans, according to NBC News. Speaking at a virtual invitation-only fundraiser for Joe Bidens presidential campaign, the former US president criticised Mr Trumps use of the phrase, according to The Hill. I dont want a country in which the president of the United States is actively trying to promote anti-Asian sentiment and thinks its funny, Mr Obama reportedly said. I dont want that. That still shocks and p***es me off, he added. In March, counselor to the president, Kellyanne Conway, told CBS that the phrase is highly offensive, but defended Mr Trump last week when he used it at a youth rally in Phoenix, Arizona, just days after he said it in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The president used the phrase in Phoenix, after a member of the audience yelled it out when Mr Trump was listing the different names he has heard for the virus. He added: Covid-19. I said thats an odd name. I could give you many, many names. Some people call it the Chinese flu, the China flu, right? and also referred to the virus as "Wuhan", after the place it is thought to have originated in China. My reaction is that the president has made very clear that he wants everybody to understand, and I think many Americans do understand, that the virus originated in China, Ms Conway told reporters after the event. And had China been more transparent and honest with the United States and the world, we wouldnt have all the death and destruction that unfortunately weve suffered, she added. Earlier in the year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) director general, Tedros Adhanom, said the name specifically does not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease, according to Forbes. He reasoned that having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing. The phrase has also been criticised by Andy Kang, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago, who said: Its irresponsible and reckless for our political leaders and candidates for our nations highest office to engage in rhetoric that incites xenophobic scapegoating and violence. The Independent has contacted the White House for comment. Private calls between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have the tone of two guys in a steam bath according to an aides account of the conversations described to CNN. The US president is often outsmarted by his Russian counterpart, according to the aide's summary. It comes amid concerns that the Trump administration did not act on reports that Russia planned on paying Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. Mr Trump dismissed those claims as another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News. Russian authorities added that president Putin had not discussed the claims with president Trump, and denied the Taliban plan. [Trump] sits there and thinks he can build himself up enough as a businessman and tough guy that Putin will respect him, one source told CNN, bemoaning how Russias president could destabilise the West whilst president Trump discussed his time in Moscow with the Miss Universe Pageant. Sources alleged that Mr Trump also trashed previous US presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and touted his own successes as president, on the phone. Mr Trump was almost never prepared for phone calls with his Russian and Turkish counterparts, said the CNN source. Recommended Reddit bans Donald Trump fan page in move against hate speech Two high-level sources within the Trump administration told CNN that Mr Trump had both pandered to Mr Putin, whilst undermining US Congress, US intelligence and US relations with its European allies. He [Trump] gives away the advantage that was hard won in the Cold War, by giving Putin and Russia a legitimacy they never had, said another source. Hes given Russia a lifeline because there is no doubt that theyre a declining power. Hes playing with something he doesnt understand and hes giving them power that they would use [aggressively], added the source. The phone calls led two US intelligence personnel and ex-Trump advisors, including John Bolton, James Mattis, and John Kelly, to conclude that the US president was delusional, as two sources put it. House Democrats emerged from a meeting at the White House on the alleged Russian bounty scheme in Afghanistan with more questions than answers, the group indicated on Tuesday. "I thought this briefing was the White House personnel telling us their perspective," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the second highest-ranking Democrat in the lower chamber. "I think we knew the White House perspective. What we need to know is the intelligence perspective," Mr Hoyer said. Other House Democrats attending the meeting on Tuesday were Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith, Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, and several military and intelligence community veterans on the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs panels. Briefing the lawmakers from the White House team were Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadow, and others who have been saying the president was not made aware of intelligence reports about the alleged Russian operation before the New York Times published a story on Friday night. Mr Schiff told Mr Trump's advisers at the Tuesday morning meeting he is concerned the people surrounding the president were reticent about sharing national security information with him that would upset his preconceived notions about the state of foreign affairs. "There may be a reluctance to brief the president on things he does not want to hear, and that may be more true with respect to Putin and Putin's Russia than with respect to any other subject matter," Mr Schiff told reporters on Tuesday, referring to the Russian president. Such an information gap between the US intelligence community and the occupant of the Oval Office, who directs US foreign and military policy, could produce blunderous consequences, Democrats have long said. The Times reported on Monday that intel reports on the alleged Russian bounty scheme were included in the President's Daily Brief in February. The President's Daily Brief is the daily compendium of high-level information and analysis from all agencies on national security issues that is supposed to land on the desks of the president, Cabinet officials, and top advisers. Other outlets have reported for years that Mr Trump often does not read the document, instead preferring to be briefed orally about the highlights of the day's national security landscape. Mr Schiff appeared on Tuesday to place blame on Mr Trump's national security aides for not presenting reports about the Russian bounty scheme in a manner that woudl ensure they were brought to the president's attention. Its not a justification to say that the president should have read whatever materials. If he doesn't read, he doesn't read they should know that by now," Mr Schiff said. "If the intel community had intel along the lines that is publicly reported [in the Times and elsewhere] and the president is getting on the phone with Vladimir Putin time after time, and is welcoming Putin to the US and back in the G8, this is information I think would be negligent to keep from him," Mr Schiff said. Democrats made clear on Tuesday they were not satisfied with the briefing on Tuesday and still want to hear from top US intelligence officials on the underlying reports about the Russian bounty scheme. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have requested all-member briefings for both chambers by the intel community. Some senators have already begun reviewing the underlying intelligence, which Democrats say refutes the president's notion that the alleged bounty plot is a fabricated Russia Hoax intended to make Republicans look bad." "I just reviewed the intel. Its not a hoax, Mr. President. And if you continue ignoring the facts, more soldiers and Marines are going to die," Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy tweeted on Monday. Seven Republicans from the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees met with Mr Meadows on Monday and came away from the meeting vowing a strong retaliation against Russia if the reports bear out that Mr Putin did in fact perpetrate a bounty scheme on the lives of American and coalition troops in Afghanistan. "I want to be absolutely clear: Any targeting of US forces by Russians, by anyone else, will face a very swift and deadly response," said House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney, who was at the GOP meeting on Monday. Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana has said if the reports about Russia are deemed credible, Mr Putin and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov should be "directly" sanctioned. "We should not even be discussing an invitation for Russia to rejoin the G7," Mr Young said, directly contradicting Mr Trump, who has floated the possibility of inviting Russia back to the annual summit of leaders from the world's most powerful countries after it was ousted in 2014 for invading Ukraine. The G7's 2020 summit is slated to be held in the United States. Missing an intelligence briefing or two? Yeah, there's a tweet for that, too. Donald Trump hammered his predecessor, Barack Obama, routinely on Twitter especially during the 44th president's second term. Since the former reality television show host became president himself, many of those tweets have been used by critics to suggest he is hypocritical. That is the case yet again, this time amid questions about US intelligence reports earlier this year that Russia had placed bounties on the heads of American and coalition military forces in Afghanistan. If Taliban and Taliban-linked militias killed any, Russia would provide payouts, US officials have told multiple US media outlets. The White House has not denied the intel reports exist or the payments happened, just that they were not 100 per cent verified. Mr Trump's top aides claim he was never briefed on the intelligence; US officials, speaking anonymously to be candid, say the reports were summarised in his daily intel briefing back in late February. Mr Trump was not a fan of the thick daily briefing books, and switched to less-frequent oral briefings instead. All the way back in 2014, then-businessman Trump claimed in a tweet that "Obama does not read his intelligence briefings nor does he get briefed in person by the CIA or DOD." Why? He added: "Too busy I guess!" During his presidency, Mr Obama's aides said the intelligence briefing was among the first items on his schedule each day. CNN commentator Van Jones has angrily denied that he was secretly involved in helping president Donald Trump craft his executive order (EO) on police reform, before praising it on air. On Monday, the Daily Beast reported that Mr Jones secretly visited the White House to speak to the presidents adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, about the order, and then praised it on his show when it was announced. The Trump administrations order bans chokeholds in most situations, and will establish a database to more easily share information about an officer who has had complaints for excessive force. Speaking on CNNs Inside Politics when it was announced, Mr Jones praised the executive order and said it is a good thing, mainly because you saw the support of law enforcement there ... There is movement in the direction of a database for bad cops. He added: We have never had a federal database for bad cops, thats why all these cops go all over the place doing bad stuff ... The chokeholds, thats common ground now between Nancy Pelosi and Trump. Good stuff there. However, on Monday, Mr Jones, who was an environmental adviser to former president Barack Obama, angrily denied the claims that he was a part of crafting the legislation and said he did not know what was in the executive order until it was announced. This @TheDailyBeast article is based on false, sensational charges apparently designed to get clicks, shares, and likes. I havent even visited DC since before the pandemic started let alone been inside the White House, he tweeted. I have never been included in any meetings about police reform (not by phone, zoom, nada). I didnt know what was in the EO until the day it was released, the host added. Mr Jones said that when he has met people in the White House, he has always told his viewers on air. When I meet with folks at The White House, I say so during relevant coverage on-air as I did all through 2018, when I worked on criminal justice reform. Mr Jones added: The accusation that I attended White House meetings on police reform but failed to disclose them is doubly false, and it should be corrected. The host also praised the order while speaking to CNN colleague Anderson Cooper, and said: What you got today is, I think, a sign that we are winning. Donald Trump has put himself on record saying we need to reform the police department. He added: We are winning! Donald Trump had no plan a month ago to work on this issue at all. The fact that we are now in the direction of moving forward, I think, is good. However, despite Mr Jones praise, Mr Trumps executive order has been criticised by many, including House speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Presidents executive order lacks meaningful, mandatory accountability measures to end misconduct, she said in a statement last week. During this moment of national anguish, we must insist on bold change, not meekly surrender to the bare minimum. The White House on Tuesday blamed rogue intelligence officers for leaking classified information about alleged Russian bounty payments to Taliban forces to kill US troops in Afghanistan just to damage Donald Trump. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked during a briefing if officials there believe career intelligence community officers are going after the president, she replied that notion very possible could be. If true she did not provide evidence of a leak plot Ms McEnany said that would be absolutely despicable. The fourth full day of the bounty scandal left the White House again facing hard questions about reported US intelligence reports earlier this year that concluded Russia had placed bounties on the heads of American and coalition military forces in Afghanistan. If Taliban and Taliban-linked militias killed any, Russia would provide payouts, US officials have told multiple US media outlets. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that US officials found electronic transfers of cash from Russia to Taliban-linked accounts. The White House has not denied the intelligence reports exist or the payments happened, just that they were not 100 per cent verified, as Ms McEnany did again on Tuesday. Mr Trumps top aides continue to claim he was never briefed on the intelligence because it was not 100 per cent verified. But US officials, speaking anonymously to be candid, have told media outlets the reports were summarised in his daily intelligence briefing back in late February. Ms McEnany would not confirm or deny the information was in his written intelligence briefing book on 27 February. Yet, she sent mixed signals about what Mr Trump knows now about the alleged plot. The president was never briefed on this, she said, because it was not verified and because there is no consensus [within] the intelligence community. Mere seconds later, however, she said this: The president has been briefed about whats in the public domain. That suggests a president who is described as obsessed with media reports, despite his use of the fake news term, he still has not been briefed on what some in the US intelligence community felt was a scheme by a US adversary to have American troops killed. Ms McEnany contended intelligence is only briefed to the president is when theres a strategic decision to be made. In this case, she said, it was not briefed to the president. Despite his claims of not having ever been briefed on the matter, the president used a weekend tweet to suggest the leak of the reports was a hoax intended to make he and other Republicans look bad. A group of Democrats from national security committees were briefed on the bounty reports on Tuesday morning at the White House. They left disappointed, saying there was no intelligence officials present, and they were merely given a repeat of the White Houses claims. Among them was House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, the Democratss lead impeachment manager earlier this year, who said he is concerned Trump administration officials are reluctant to share national security information with Mr Trump that might upset him. There may be a reluctance to brief the president on things he does not want to hear, and that may be more true with respect to Putin and Putins Russia than with respect to any other subject matter, the California Democrat told reporters, referring to the Russian president. Hours later, however, Ms McEnany said media reports about highly classified matters damages our ability as a nation to gather intelligence. The world knows about the dystopian situation in Xinjiang, a region in the far west of China thats home to Turkic Muslim ethnic minorities. In recent years, more than a million Uighurs, once the predominant ethnic group in the area, have been detained in a sprawl of camps and re-education centres as part of an Orwellian program implemented in the name of counterterrorism. Critics and survivors claim its tantamount to a form of ethnic cleansing, aimed at squashing the regions distinct cultures and identities. Newly published investigative research showcases the depths of Beijings Xinjiang crackdown. For years, Chinese authorities have tried to suppress the birthrates of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the region, according to a story published by the Associated Press and a study by German researcher Adrian Zenz, a veteran chronicler of repression in Xinjiang. Once in the detention camps, women are subjected to forced IUDs and what appear to be pregnancy prevention shots, according to former detainees. They are also made to attend lectures on how many children they should have, the AP reported. Seven former detainees told the AP that they were force-fed birth control pills or injected with fluids, often with no explanation. Many felt dizzy, tired or ill, and women stopped getting their periods. After being released and leaving China, some went to get medical checkups and found they were sterile. Previous survivor testimonies have detailed forced sterilisation being carried out in the camps, but new research reveals a chillingly systematic campaign. According to the AP, birthrates in some Uighur areas of Xinjiang fell by 60 per cent from 2015 to 2018. Though China has a decades-long history of Draconian family planning edicts, it has relaxed measures such as the one-child policy and is even trying to encourage families from the Han Chinese majority to have more children. The national birthrate declined some 4.2 per cent last year, but in Xinjiang it fell 24 per cent. Chinese officials are now accustomed to rebuffing such reports as fake news from axe-grinding foreign powers. But elsewhere, the picture thats emerging in Xinjiang is leading to growing horror. Vice president Mike Pompeo issued a statement on Monday saying Beijings practices demonstrate an utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and basic human dignity. Zumret Dawut, a Uighur from Chinas far western Xinjiang region, holds documents. Dawut says in China, she was forcibly sterilized for having a third child after being released from a detention camp (Nathan Ellgren/AP) Some experts use starker language. Its genocide, full stop. Its not immediate, shocking, mass-killing on the spot type genocide, but its slow, painful, creeping genocide, Joanne Smith Finley, who works at Newcastle University in the UK, told the AP. These are direct means of genetically reducing the Uighur population. That was echoed by Chris Patten, Hong Kongs last British colonial governor. It looks to a lot of people ... like a case of at least something approximating genocide, Mr Patten told Todays WorldView during a Monday webinar hosted by the Asia Society and the Bertelsmann Foundation, a German think tank. The organisations released a joint study titled Dealing with the Dragon: China as a Transatlantic Challenge that looks at how the United States and Europe can collectively reckon with China, an emerging global power that most major governments in the west now view as a potential threat or adversary. The report was compiled following a symposium with dozens of established China experts on both sides of the Atlantic. For all the abundant concerns over Donald Trumps America, European views on China are hardening. Last week, an EU-China summit ended in disappointment, with the two sides unable to emerge with a joint communique and European leaders speaking in uncharacteristically terse terms about their frustrations with Beijing. The EU wants to show that it is time for a change, time for a recalibration of the relationship and that it is time for China to give more, Frans-Paul van der Putten, an expert on China at the Clingendael Institute, a think tank in the Netherlands, told Foreign Policy. Even with the zigzagging you always have with European policy, the direction is very clear, said Reinhard Butikofer, a German politician and member of the European Parliament, who spoke alongside Mr Patten in the same panel. Mr Patten said the intensifying authoritarianism of Chinas Xi Jinping, coupled with a growing awareness of Chinas predatory trade practices, is not only toughening the attitudes of politicians towards Beijing, but the European public as well. The crackdown in Xinjiang figures into this prominently. The incarceration of over a million Uighurs in re-education camps in Xinjiang has had very negative impact on European public opinion-with one symposium participant declaring that it represented a red line and decision moment for Europeans, the Asia Society-Bertelsmann Foundation report noted. Though Mr Trump does not seem moved by the Uighurs plight and may have even privately encouraged Mr Jinping to carry on with the crackdown his administration and Republican allies have denounced Chinas repression in Xinjiang and initiated sanctions on Chinese officials linked to the detention camps. Mr Butikofer argued that more can be done collectively by the United States and Europe, including punishing dozens of multinational companies that benefit from the alleged forced labour of Uighurs in China. As the dimensions of Chinas global challenge continue to grow, it is critical that liberal democratic countries with open market economies come together in a more coordinated way to present a unified stand in support of both our political and economic systems, Orville Schell, who heads the Asia Societys Centre on US-China Relations, said in a statement. A major problem, for now, is that Mr Trump is a woeful standard-bearer of human rights and liberal values on the world stage, and his heavy-handed approach to Europe has impaired more substantive cooperation regarding China, said Julie Smith of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The Trump administration has spent far less time engaging European friends and partners on human rights issues, talking about things like Hong Kong, Taiwan and the situation of the Uighurs, she said. A Democratic presidential victory in November, Ms Smith added, may lead to a more constructive dialogue with Europe on these types of issues. The Washington Post The King of Belgium has expressed his deepest regrets for the violence and suffering inflicted during Belgian rule over what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as the African country marks 60 years since it gained independence. In a letter written to Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the DRC, King Philippe became the first reigning Belgian monarch to acknowledge that acts of violence and cruelty had been committed and suffering and humiliation caused under the countrys colonial rule. To further strengthen our ties and develop an even more fruitful friendship, we must be able to talk to each other about our long common history in all truth and serenity, he wrote. The letter came as Belgium faced growing calls to reassess its colonial history after a wave of global protests against racial inequality, which was sparked by the death of George Floyd in the US last month. Several statues of King Leopold II, under whose rule as many as 10 million Congolese people are thought to have died, have been vandalised in recent weeks, while a petition calling for the removal of all statues of the former king has received more than 80,000 signatures. As part of the countrys reckoning with its past, local authorities in the city of Ghent are set to remove a bust of Leopold on Tuesday. Referring to Leopolds brutal private rule over Congo from 1885 to 1908, Philippe wrote that acts of violence and cruelty were committed that still weigh on our collective memory. The colonial period that followed also caused suffering and humiliation, he added. When Leopolds personal ownership ended in 1908, he gave Congo over to the Belgian state, which ruled it until its independence was declared in 1960. The current Belgian king said: I want to express my most deepest regrets for these wounds of the past, the pain of which is today revived by discrimination that is all too present in our societies. He also congratulated Mr Tshisekedi on the 60th anniversary of independence, adding that he could not attend the celebrations because of the pandemic. Additional reporting from AP The European Union has lifted its travel ban on 14 countries but confirmed restrictions will continue for citizens of the US and other nations still struggling to contain their coronavirus outbreaks. New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Japan all made the safe list after seeing a downward trend in the number of new cases. Travellers from China will also be permitted if the government in Beijing agrees to a reciprocal arrangement. The lifting of EU border restrictions will begin on 1 July for those four countries as well as Algeria, Georgia, Montenegro, Morocco, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. It means that restrictions will continue in relation to the US, Brazil, Russia and India until the list is reviewed again in two weeks. The United States has seen a surge in new cases over the past week, prompting several states to reimpose restrictions which were lifted last month. It also remains the worst-hit nation in the world, with nearly 2.6 million people confirmed infected and more than 126,000 dead, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The continued US travel ban on visitors from the EU, imposed by Donald Trump in March, would also have played a part in the EU decision. More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe every year, while around 10 million Europeans visit the US. The EU border restrictions, which cover its 27 member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, were announced on 16 March. UK travellers were exempt from the border restrictions, even though Britain is no longer part of the EU, because it still remains part of the single market. Loading.... The EU said the criteria for being placed list of third countries included having an infection rate close to or below the EU average. It also states those countries should have a stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days and effective systems for testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment and reporting. The UK has its own 14-day quarantine system for all incoming travellers but is expected to confirm restrictions will be lifted for travellers from some popular destinations such as France and Spain. Additional reporting by agencies Local health departments across Virginia have been trying to track down people who may have come in contact with the virus since the first confirmed positive was discovered in the state in early March. But as the virus spread and the number of confirmed cases exploded, officials decided they needed to significantly increase the number of staff tasked to do such work. EasyJet wants to close three of its airport bases, Stansted, Newcastle and Southend, with the loss of hundreds of jobs. Both Stansted and Newcastle were established in the late 1990s by Go, the British Airways low-cost offshoot that was later acquired by easyJet. Britains biggest budget airline had more recently moved into Southend airport, its second base in Essex after Stansted. The airport has been expanded in the past few years to act as something of an overspill facility while slots at other London airports were scarce. But the collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus crisis has led easyJet to predict that levels of market demand seen in 2019 are not likely to be reached again until 2023. The airline is cutting staff numbers by up to 30 per cent, and has already said it will optimise its network and bases as a result of the pandemic. The three airports would remain part of easyJets route network, but with flights originating at other European bases. Johan Lundgren, the chief executive of easyJet, said: These are very difficult proposals to put forward in what is an unprecedented and difficult time for the airline and the industry as a whole. We are focused on doing what is right for the company and its long term health and success so we can protect jobs going forward. These proposals are no reflection on our people at Stansted, Southend and Newcastle, who have all worked tirelessly and have been fully committed to providing great service for our customers. The airline currently has 11 UK bases. The closures appear to reflect a strategy of retreating from airports where easyJet faces intense competition from another low-cost airline. Ryanair is dominant at Stansted airport, and also has a presence at Southend. At Newcastle airport, Jet2 has expanded to serve 45 destinations. Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) says 727 of easyJets 2,100 UK pilots are at risk. Brian Strutton, the general secretary of the pilots union, said: We know that aviation is in the midst of the Covid crisis and we had been expecting easyJet to make an announcement of temporary measures to help the airline through to recovery. This is more evidence that aviation in the UK is caught in a death spiral of despair and individual airlines are flailing around without direction. The news came as the government said the announcement on ending its no foreign holiday policy, by allowing overseas travel to a list of approved destinations, will now be made on Thursday just four days before it takes effect. Amy McGrath has managed to defeat Charles Booker and will now be the one to challenge Mitch McConnell for his Senate seat in November. For people who actually believe in something, the news is rightfully disappointing, given McGraths ideology seems to shift according to what the polls say at any given hour. But, if youre into that sort of thing like Chuck Schumer clearly is, who recruited to challenge McConnell well over a year ago then congratulations, yall got the losing campaign you cheerleaded for. Because lets face it: McGraths campaign has looked like a loser for its entire run. McGrath may be a former Marine fighter pilot who gained a national following after almost winning a congressional seat in the state of Kentucky back in 2018, but she sank her bid the day after she announced. In a July 2019 interview with the Louisville Courier Journal, she said she "probably" would've voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. It was a surprising reversal from her stated position in 2018. And hours after that reversal, McGrath changed her mind again. McGraths repeated switch in stances is not a testament to the right of ones prerogative to change their mind; it is merely a sign of yet another empty politician who needs a focus group before making a declarative statement on policy. Brett Kavanaugh was credibly accused of sexual assault. What is there to debate here? You either believe Dr Christine Blasey Ford or you dont. And you would vote accordingly. Whats the point of pursuing someone with no principles to take on arguably the most craven, destructive force in American politics besides you-know-who? As Jonathan Martin reports, Schumers thinking on McGrath was that, with her on the ticket, Democrats could keep the race relatively competitive, raise a Brinks truck full of cash against the majority leader and perhaps draw some extra money for their efforts to reclaim the Senate. True enough, McGrath raised over $40 million but considering that money is arguably much more about the people being anti-Moscow Mitch than pro-Amy McGrath, its a shame they didnt even bother to seriously consider others. It doesnt seem like Schumer even bothered to look in the direction of Charles Booker, McGraths opponent. Was it because Booker is a Black millennial whos for Medicare for All and the Green New Deal in the state of Kentucky? Thats the problem with the Democratic Party: they presume the worst of the electorate based on antiquated thinking. Theyre all so terrified of Ronald Reagans win in 1980. I wasnt even alive in 1980. I wish the Democrats would adapt with the rest of us. Its worth pointing out that despite McGraths name recognition and millions in campaign funds, Bookers relatively late challenge to her nearly succeeded. McGrath won thanks to having a leg-up in absentee ballots sent before Bookers rise in the primary and state voter suppression tactics in heavily Black-populated cities like Louisville probably helped. Charles Booker should never have been considered an afterthought given what he accomplished in such a short amount of time. It should not have taken the protests stemming from the killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville by local police officers and the separate killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis to get white Americans including white Kentuckians to pay closer attention to men who look and talk like Charles Booker and me. But thats how it happened, and what do you know, they seemed to like him just fine. Yes, Booker might have had his work cut out for him in toppling Mitch McConnell, but so would any challenger. The notion that someone like Amy McGrath a white moderate willing to say ridiculous things like pro-Trump Democrat without irony has more political viability than a man like Charles Booker is rooted in the sort of inherent biases that Democrats need to learn to let go of. Again, look at how much he accomplished so soon. Now consider what a stupid gamble the Democrats made. With Booker, they could have rallied behind a candidate who spoke with conviction about his values chief among them, the idea that poverty is the failure of government and society, not the individual. And that Black people deserve justice and our fair share. Instead, they wanted Amy McGrath. She checked off the right boxes on a presumed vanity bid. The Democrats got the loser for the losing campaign they envisioned. Lets see how well that works out for them. In the meanwhile, let us hope that Charles Booker will challenge Rand Paul in 2022. In 2015, the United States settled a 36-year-old debt by repaying the Islamic Republic of Iran $400 million plus $1.3 billion in interest $1.7 billion in total for military equipment the previous Iranian government purchased but never received in the late 1970s. This settlement, which avoided the possibility of a far larger judgment being made against the US in the Iran-US Claims Tribunal established after the 1979 hostage crisis, quickly became fodder for conspiracy-mongering and invective from Republicans including then-candidate Donald Trump who suggested that the Obama administration was turning a blind eye to the killing of American soldiers. This conspiracy-mongering was mainly based on prior reports accusing Iran of paying Taliban fighters $1,000 bounties for each US soldier they kill in Afghanistan. Five years later, another US adversary Vladimir Putins Russia is paying Taliban-linked militants cold, hard cash to kill American troops. Its a pretty shocking revelation. But, confusingly enough, many of the same Republicans who expressed outrage over repaying an old debt to Iran appear angrier at the fact that Americans now know their soldiers are being targeted than they are at the idea that Russia would pay to kill Americans in the first place. Since the news hit that US intelligence agencies had learned of Russias payment of bounties to Taliban-linked militants in return for killing American soldiers and briefed President Trump on those findings the response from the White House has followed a pattern that should be familiar to anyone familiar with the first three years of the Trump presidency. The Presidents first public remarks on the matter came (where else) via a post to his Twitter account on Saturday, shortly before he climbed into a Secret Service SUV to be transported to his Virginia golf club. In it, Trump claimed that nobody briefed or told him, Vice President Mike Pence, or White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an anonymous source by the fake news [New York Times], Trump wrote, before adding a false claim that there have not been many attacks on US forces in Afghanistan (24 US servicemen died there last year.) He went on to call the story another phony Times hit job, just like their failed Russia Hoax. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany also weighed in on the matter that day with a statement claiming neither Trump nor Pence were briefed on what she called the "alleged Russian bounty intelligence". And when she addressed reporters on Monday, McEnany repeatedly claimed that Trump had not been briefed because the intelligence regarding Russias alleged payment of bounties had not been verified, before storming away from the lectern after attacking the Times for publishing the information in the first place. Trump press secretary blames 'rogue intelligence officers' and NYT for Russia bounty leak By Monday evening, several top Trump political appointees, including National Security Adviser Robert OBrien and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe (neither of whom had any significant intelligence experience prior to serving in those offices), were echoing the White Houses spin with statements dismissing the reports as unjustified leaks of unverified and unsubstantiated intelligence about which there was no consensus within the US intelligence community. But former National Security Council officials whove served in recent administrations said the Trump administrations claims that the intelligence regarding Russias malign activity is somehow unreliable because there is no community consensus do not hold water. Its total bulls**t, said one former NSC staffer, who requested anonymity in order to speak more candidly. The ex-staffer, who has served under both Republican and Democratic presidents including Trump said the lack of a consensus or the existence of a dissenting opinion from another part of the intelligence community neither negates an intelligence source nor renders it insufficiently important to warrant the presidents attention. The SIGINT [signals intelligence] people are always suspicious of the HUMINT [human intelligence] sources, so theres always going to be some kind of dissent if theres nothing on the wires about a given matter, the ex-official said, adding that the lack of a consensus is no bar to bringing a matter to the president if there are dead Americans involved. Joshua Geltzer, who served as the NSC Senior Director for Counterterrorism under the Obama administration, said the strenuous denials and protestations about unverified intelligence from officials like McEnany, OBrien, and Ratcliffe suggest that the media reports about what Trump knew and when are accurate. I almost read those protestations, really, as confirmation that there was intelligence on this, consistent with what had been reported by that point by many reputable outlets, he said, adding that the White Houses denials were almost implicit confirmation that there was the thrust of something there. Geltzer dismissed the claims that the intelligence reported on by numerous outlets over the past few days was somehow unreliable because there was no consensus on its reliability within the intelligence community. It is quite common to have different parts of the intelligence community set the confidence levels or even interpret intelligence slightly differently, he explained. That is not a reason that that information doesn't flow to policymakers, and its not a reason that policymakers hold off on trying to think about what to do, or on doing something about that intelligence. Continuing, Geltzer slammed the White House for appearing more concerned with the fact that information was leaked than with the substance of the information itself. I have not heard one indication from at least the White House I've seen it with some of the department agency statements, but not one word from the White House that if true, this reporting concerns us, or that to the extent that reporting is true, the right work is being done internally to address it, he said. Instead, its an attack back at the reporting. I'm somebody who worked in the National Security Division of DOJ. I'm not a defender of leaks. But the whole White House response is Why is this information out there? rather than addressing what we even now see the families of service members say, which is, But what about the underlying allegations? What have you done to try to protect America's service members? There just seem to be zero answers from the White House, and frankly, no concerns about it, he added. Another former official one who worked within the Trump administration said that for better or worse, the White Houses concerns are not with the troops being targeted, but with a president who feels that he is yet again being targeted with leaks to stop his reelection. They dont care about what Russia did as much as they care that you know what Russia did, he said. Half of Irelands restaurants could close without a Government aid package next month, the industry warned (Brian Lawless/PA) Half of Irelands restaurants could close without a Government aid package next month, the industry has warned. Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said his administration will unveil significant measures in July to stimulate an economy stricken by coronavirus restrictions back into life. The Restaurants Association of Ireland is seeking rent cuts from landlords, official grants and greater flexibility from banks and utility companies. Chief executive Adrian Cummins said: Unless we get a July stimulus package, 50% of the restaurants will close and some have not even got to the starting line yesterday they have closed already. All we are getting is tea and sympathy and asking for their full rent Adrian Cummins Pubs and bars that serve food, restaurants and cafes were able to reopen in Ireland on Monday. They may lift shutters provided they can observe social distancing as the Republic continues to relax its coronavirus lockdown. A state stimulus plan was included in the coalitions programme for government involving a new recovery fund to create increased demand and employment. Mr Cummins organisation has more than 2,000 members, from restaurants to gastropubs and coffee shops. He said eateries which would not reopen included those catering for tourists in places like West Cork or Connemara. Expand Close Micheal Martin (right) is to unveil proposals in July (Julien Behal/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Micheal Martin (right) is to unveil proposals in July (Julien Behal/PA) He told Dail deputies owners were facing demands for 100% of rent bills and utility payments. You will see a lot of businesses that will have to close their doors because the landlord is not playing ball. All we are getting is tea and sympathy and asking for their full rent. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre was on Tuesday informed that one more person with Covid-19 has died, bringing the total deaths to 1,736. As of midnight on Monday, it had been notified of 11 more confirmed cases, bringing the total to 25,473. The Dails Special Committee on the Covid-19 Response took evidence from members of the hospitality industry on Tuesday. Mr Cummins said: This is so serious and we need that package of measures, grant aid, temporary wage supplement scheme. "Without extension & amendments to TWSS, in July Stimulus, reduction in VAT, burden sharing for commercial rents & insurance: 50% of businesses will not reopen. Some businesses have closed already, they did not make it to the reopening date" -@adriancummins #COVIDCommittee Restaurants Association of Ireland (@RAI_ie) June 30, 2020 We need some sort of burden-sharing for the landlords where everyone has to take some cut. He claimed utility companies were targeting the restaurant industry seeking large deposits for connections. Everyone needs to step up to the plate in this crisis, the banks, the landlords, the utility providers. He said banks had provided no assurances. Considering the Irish people bailed out the banks to the tune of 65 billion euro, the banks need to do a little bit more to help SMEs across the country. This is not something that can wait, this is not something that can be long-fingered Padraig Cribben The programme for government agreed between the parties said it would consider additional grants for small businesses and further direction on the states wage subsidy scheme. Padraig Cribben, chief executive of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, said: This is not something that can wait, this is not something that can be long-fingered. There is no point in coming in with something in the budget in October. Everything needs to be in the July stimulus so that people can see what they are facing and can plan properly. Meat processors insisted this week that there are no "active cases" of Covid-19 in Irish plants and that "stringent control and mitigation measures" were in place to limit the spread of the virus. The tighter controls come as meat processors and the Department of Agriculture battle to limit the fall-out from China's suspension of imports from Rosderra's pig plant in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Fears that the suspension could be extended to some of the country's beef factories have been downplayed by industry sources. Meat Industry Ireland (MII) maintained that the situation regarding Covid-19 had "significantly improved" over the last month. MII also challenged the scientific basis for China's suspension of Roscrea. "As of today, there are no active cases in our meat plants. Our absolute focus is to maintain this position," Cormac Healy of MII said. "Very substantial Covid measures have been put in place and we can confirm that, of the staff affected, over 96pc have now returned to work and the remainder are completing their isolation and recovery. "The stringent control and mitigation measures in place, which are also being verified by the HSE, HSA and Department of Agriculture, will be maintained in the weeks and months ahead, with no room for complacency. Vigilance is the priority as general restrictions are lifted." The Covid-19 situation in the factories represents a major turn-around for the sector. At the start of June public health officials reported 123 new cases of the virus among meat factory workers during the previous seven days. In a letter to Roscommon-Galway TD Denis Naughten, former Health Minister Simon Harris said that by June 8 there were 1,091 cases of Covid-19 linked to meat factories, and that 29 workers had been hospitalised, with seven cases admitted to ICU. No deaths were reported. Both MII and the Department confirmed that they were in contact with Chinese authorities regarding the Covid-19 situation in meat factories. "The Chinese authorities have been asking the competent authorities and exporters in all supplying countries for assurances in relation to Covid measures," Mr Healy said. "We are working with DAFM on such requests and are happy to provide assurances on the very comprehensive measures in place." Transmission However, MII questioned the scientific basis for China's suspension of meat imports from the Roscrea plant. "The EU Commission has written to the Chinese authorities clarifying that neither the WHO, nor the World Animal Health Organisation nor the European Food Safety Authority identified any evidence that food was a likely source or transmission route of the virus," he pointed out. Meanwhile, industry sources have discounted any suggestion that China's suspension of pigmeat imports from Roscrea could be extended to beef factories. Irish beef exports to China are currently suspended following the discovery of an Atypical BSE case in May. The Department said a decision on the resumption of beef exports will not be made until an epidemiological report on the BSE case has been "considered by the Chinese authorities". The Department said that it is in "ongoing dialogue with the Chinese authorities on a range of topics, including trade-sensitive issues". Ireland exported over 10,000t of beef to China in 2019. The trade was valued at 39 million. The bottom line: British research has found that "lots of people say that country of origin is really important, but when they get into the store, the importance of country of origin drops. Things like price and quality then come to the fore." Will a grass-fed brand save Irish beef? Bord Bia is working to establish a protected geographical indicator (PGI) for grass-fed beef to help sell move more Irish product on the premium end of the market. Geographical indicators already exist for Irish produce such as Connemara hill lamb, the Waterford blaa and Comber early potatoes. A geographical indicator is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, reputation or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of origin. The proposals by Bord Bia would see 75pc of Irish beef included in the grass-fed status. Close to 90pc of the country's beef is exported, with the UK market taking 50pc of produce - a worry for exporters and beef farmers, with Brexit looming. A further cause for concern is the fact that a significant proportion of the beef going into the UK does not end up on a supermarket shelf, where it could be promoted to consumers under an Irish flag, but ends up in food-service and restaurants, where its country of origin is not visible. In the UK, British beef, understandably, controls a premium price due to the success of 'buy British' campaigns. In fact, 81pc of beef sold in the UK is under the British logo. Supermarkets such as Aldi, Budgens, Co-op, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons and Waitrose only stock British beef. Now, Ireland is attempting to create a branded Irish beef offering, to get our product out of the commodity rut and into the baskets and onto the dinner tables of consumers across Europe. But will consumers pay a premium, and for what exactly? Research Research undertaken in 2018 for Bord Bia showed that grass-fed has "the potential to be either equally or more influential than GMO-free" among consumers surveyed in five key export markets. The research, which involved consumers, retailers and those involved in the food service sector, was primarily focused on purchasing decisions and understanding of GMO in dairy and meat. "While the consensus seems to indicate Ireland has a stronger opportunity around grass-fed, that is really dictated by current consumer sentiment," the research noted. According to the research, price sensitivity remains a core concern across all consumers surveyed, with price noted as one of the key influencers when purchasing meat and dairy. The research found that 71pc of respondents stated that price would make them much more likely or more likely to purchase a meat product. It also found there are increasing trends towards clean living, and animal welfare. Grass-fed The research found that consumers in Germany, the US and UAE showed a preference for grass-fed over GMO-free food, with 48pc saying grass-fed is important to them. The research also found that 61pc said they are willing to pay more for grass-fed produce, compared to 56pc for GMO-free. Grass-fed is an increasing trend on restaurant menus, while "there is strong evidence that Ireland is seen internationally as a country that grass feeds animals year-round". However, the research also states that Ireland is primarily associated with dairy products from grass-fed cows rather than grass-fed beef. So what exactly is grass-fed? The definition of grass-fed beef, though, is unclear. According to Bord Bia's research, the most commonly held belief about grass-fed beef is that the animal grazes on 100pc grass, with a quarter of consumers thinking that the animal has been grazing outdoors 365 days a year. That said, consumers believe grass-fed is healthier, more natural and more nutritious, and the research found 63pc of consumers said they would be willing to pay more for grass-fed meat. That number went up to 81pc in China, but was down to 52pc of consumers surveyed in the US. Of the countries associated with grass-fed beef, Ireland ranked high, with consumers viewing Ireland as a country with a lot of land for grazing. What beef will be included? The disagreements around which beef production systems will qualify as 'grass-fed' have been well documented. ICMSA president Pat McCormack says the Irish beef sector has the opportunity to get PGI status on over 70pc of the beef produced. However, the IFA has raised issues with the proposals, including the exclusion of young bulls from eligibility and the confusion over excluding the first nine months of age. ICSA maintains that a suckler-based application is the only realistic option and that any proposal that excludes suckler young bulls and includes 10-year-old dairy cows is unworkable. There have also been questions raised over who would own the rights to the brand and who would ultimately benefit from any premium. Will consumers pay a premium? According to the Bord Bia research, there is a greater willingness to pay more for grass-fed beef than there is for GMO-free. However, time and again research shows that what consumers say they will do and what they actually do are very different. The UK's Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) said its research shows that there is a small proportion of people in every country who think what their local farmers do is the best in the world and that their beef is better quality. Recent research by the National Dairy Council mirrored this, finding that nearly all (88pc) of consumers believe that Irish dairy is superior to dairy produced elsewhere in the world. However, the same research found that price, nutritional value and healthiness are the top three issues for Irish consumers when purchasing foods. Other research by the AHDB on the consumer decision-making process showed that "lots of people say that country of origin is really important, but when they get into the store, the importance of country of origin drops. Things like price and quality then come to the fore." What an Irish grass-fed beef brand would look like in reality remains to be seen, as does whether or not consumers are prepared to pay a premium for it. Whether any premium ends up in beef farmers' pockets will, no doubt, determine the success or failure of the brand in Irish farmers' eyes. There is no appreciable change in factory prices, as the table below shows. With 36,383 cattle slaughtered at exporting plants in the week ending June 21, you could argue that the industry has done well, given what it has been through during the Covid-19 outbreak. At one level this is true, but demand in Britain and Northern Ireland has reached such a pitch that we've seen a remarkable upswing in stock being shipped across the border for processing. Bord Bia figures show that 2,026 went North for the week ending June 21, as opposed to just 464 for the same week in 2019. However, with restrictions easing and with wholesalers in the Republic reported to have been very busy moving product last week ahead of yesterday's limited reopening of the hospitality sector, demand remains strong. Strongly Multiply up that increased demand all over the continent and you can see why over the last month, prices across the UK and Europe have recovered so strongly. The German market, along with ourselves, saw the biggest hit, with prices there for R3 bulls, excluding VAT, bottoming out around the end of April at 3.37/kg; today they are back up to 3.55/kg. Maurice Brosnan of Gortatlea Mart summed up the situation neatly: "Factories appear half anxious for cattle." A case of the glass being half empty, as opposed to half full? Recent reports raised the issue of worker safety in Irish meat plants regarding Covid-19. Two workers were interviewed for a radio show back in mid-May, talking about how the industry was adapting to requirements in relation to social distancing, PPE availability, screening etc. They were interviewed a second time last week. One claimed that still not enough had been done, while the second lady said measures adopted by her plant had eased her worries about the virus. Cormac Healy of Meat Industry Ireland, on the same programme, stressed that "the absolute and singular priority throughout this is the health and safety of staff". He said there are no active cases in meat plants and at all times MII members have implemented health and safety advice as offered by the HSA and the HSE. The issue of low worker pay at meat plants then took centre stage, with suggestions that staff felt they had no choice but to come to work - despite any reservations about Covid-19 - because they could not afford not to. Mr Healy did not accept this point. The meat industry has always claimed it is a low-margins business. Mr Healy ably represented the interests of his members, although I felt the issue of workers' pay did unsettle him slightly. I wonder was he remembering how unsettling last autumn's farmer's protests on low returns became? My colleague John Heney recently suggested in these pages that farmer representation might be better served by employing professionals. I wonder what it would take to pry Mr Healy away from his current employers? The petition for court protection and an interim examiner was sought in relation to Compu b Retail Ltd. Stock image Just days after being appointed, Minister for Agriculture, Barry Cowen has an invitation to attend Longford District Court and explain his Department's response to allegations there is a rising cohort of 'rogue farmers' undermining the country's beef industry. Judge Seamus Hughes issued the invite at a sitting of Longford District Court to the Minister after Department officials prosecuted a Westmeath man for allegedly procuring medication for cattle without a required veterinary prescription. The allegation is that five bottles of Imizol, a sterile solution used for the treatment and prevention of bovine babesiosis or redwater fever, were obtained at a veterinary clinic across the border in Co Fermanagh. Bord Bia's plan for a grass-fed beef brand is a "very broad church" and needs more imagination, according to the new Junior Minister at the Department of Agriculture, Pippa Hackett. Speaking to the Farming Independent after her appointment at the weekend, she said she would like to see "more imagination" around the proposal and suggested consumers would need more than just a 'grass-fed' offering. "The Bord Bia grass-fed proposal seems a broad church. I'd want to see more as a consumer," she said. The latest critic of the proposal, Ms Hackett added that she doesn't think the strategy differentiates Irish beef enough and that a Protected Geographical Indicator (PGI) should look at a region, not the whole country. "We need to connect more with biodiversity. If it was beef from a biodiversity farm, that would mean more. I like the idea but it could work better if it was connected with some environmental aspect. "It remains unclear how much beef would qualify for the scheme, whether a large majority will, which might dilute the value of such a scheme." She also said it was also unclear what consumers the brand would be aimed at. Hackett has previously said that Origin Green is painting a "false image" to the world. "We're doing ourselves an injustice. I think through Origin Green, we are painting a false image to the world that we are organic and it will come back to bite us," she said. Hackett farms with her husband in Offaly and said she would like to see the focus on beef to change. "I see a value in suckler farming. It can offer something unique to our country and helps keep biodiversity and needs to be protected," she said. Her appointment as a 'super junior' minister, she said, is a bold statement and reflects the Green Party's ambition to work across the whole spectrum of agriculture. She also said that the gap between farmers and environmentalist has to be bridged and was a legacy of a historic lack of understanding on both sides. "We have had a long period of listening to extremes on both sides, farmer versus environmentalists, and I've tried to bridge that gap," she said. "It is getting bridged but there is still some lack of understanding between both sides. If we are to move forward we have to do so as a more united grouping and if we can embrace that I think we are on the right road." On the dairy side, she said while most dairy farmers using derogations are happy to do so, she claimed that a number of new entrants are working without them as they don't want to be "hamstrung" later. "It would be self-limiting and I think farmers should think about it, when planning," she said. "It's not impossible to live without a derogation. There are farmers doing well without it, so it can be done." Ms Hackett said any geographic imbalance in the cabinet will not be reflected in policy decisions. "If we have good people in cabinet they should be making the best decision for all areas and I'd like to think all ministers are like that." she said. Will Bord Bia's grass-fed campaign prove a lifeline for the beef sector? Read more, pages 6 & 7 New role: Senator Pippa Hackett of the Greens is the new Junior Minister at the Department of Agriculture and will have responsibility for land use and biodiversity THE bulk of a $740m-plus (657m) lawsuit against Boeing by Ireland-based lessor Timaero that's related to delayed deliveries of an order of Max jets should be thrown out by an Illinois court, the aircraft maker has insisted. Boeing maintains that any potential legal claim by Timaero extends solely to breach of contract, and not fraud or other allegations the lessor has made. Timaero Ireland signed an agreement with Boeing in January 2014 to buy 20 Max aircraft. In 2016, Timaero converted two Boeing 737-800 orders to Max orders. The firm is owned by controversial Russian state-owned development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB). Timaero was originally due to take delivery of four Max jets by early December, but had only received two aircraft out of its order. Timaero is understood to have made $316m (284m) in advance payments to Boeing between November 2013 and the end of 2018. Timaero has claimed that Boeing's delivery delays are in breach of the aircraft delivery schedule agreed to by the pair and is the result of "Boeing's fault and negligence in designing the aircraft with a defective flight control system that it did not properly test and analyse". The Max jet has been grounded all over the world since March last year following two fatal crashes involving the aircraft that were a result of design flaws. "Timaero's case still boils down to the claim that Boeing promised to sell Timaero Max airplanes with certain characteristics, and failed to deliver on that promise," Boeing's lawyers have told a Chicago court as they try to have most of the claims dismissed. "That is an archetypal breach of contract claim, and only that claim should proceed. The rest of the claims fail as a matter of law," they insist. Boeing has told the court that Timaero's complaint of fraud and breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing are "insufficient as a matter of law and must be dismissed". The Chicago-headquartered plane maker noted that Timaero alleges that Boeing fraudulently induced the lessor to sign a 2014 purchase agreement and that Boeing fraudulently misrepresented or concealed facts from Timaero for years later. "Rather than using its amendment to clarify its fraud claims and add particularised details to substantiate each allegation, Timaero chose to pad the amended complaint with bulk quotations from myriad public documents that generally relate to the 737 Max, but have nothing to do with the business dealings between the parties," Boeing's lawyers have claimed. They add: "Strikingly, even with the addition of 37 pages of new material, the amended complaint still lacks the most basic details about the specific interactions on which the fraud claims are based." The US Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday that it has approved certification flights for the Max aircraft, with Boeing set to begin three days of those flights yesterday. It had been expected that the Max could be back in service in the United States by this summer, and soon after in Europe. However, it could now be the autumn before the jet is back in commercial operation in the US. Contact tracing is the process of identifying people who have been exposed to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Tracers will instruct those individuals to quarantine and monitor their symptoms daily. The purpose of the tracers is to stop the spread of the virus. THE Governor of the Central Bank wants funds and so-called shadow banks regulated in line with the regime created to control banks after the 2008 financial crisis. Central Bank Governor Gabriel Makhlouf also questioned whether some global financial institutions actually benefit the real economy, on an online conference call organised by Bruegel, a Brussels-based think-tank. Governor Makhlouf also said that he believes Europe has too many banks, although without mentioning the Irish market or any bank here. "The (European) bank sector needs some consolidation," he said, citing the challenge for lenders of keeping up with the costs of technology in particular. That idea has significant support among European central bankers despite the risk that fewer banks would ultimately mean less competition which could hurt consumers. Banks have weathered the Covid-19 pandemic in part thanks to tougher regulation after the global financial crisis including so-called macro-prudential rules, he said. Those rules are aimed at preventing systemic problems across banks, while before the crisis regulation historically looked at institutions in isolation. Governor Makhlouf said a similar macro-prudential framework should now be devised for the growing non-bank financial sector. The sector in Ireland spans everything from funds that lend to developers to the Irish arms of global money managers, many in the IFSC. Officials here have begun talks with European institutions, he said. "We don't need to wait for something to go wrong," he said. The assets of non-bank or market-based financial firms grew from 1.8trn in Ireland in 2009 to 4.5trn by the start of 2020, he said. The scale of the sector, which grew in part as banks were brought under more strict post-crash regulations, means regulators "now need to look really hard at what risks we may see", he said. And he questioned whether some of the financial institutions produce benefits that outweigh the risks potentially posed. "Do globally systemic institutions add value and welfare benefits to the whole economy or do they cause us downsides; and do they exceed the positive benefits?" he said. THE decision to include responsibility for tourism in Minister Catherine Martin's new Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sports and the Gaeltacht has been sharply criticised by industry representatives. Veteran business leader Maurice Pratt, who is acting chairman of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), said he initially couldn't believe the new structure. "My honest reaction was: oh my God," said Mr Pratt, the former chief executive of C&C and Tesco Ireland and managing director of Quinnsworth. "My second reaction was that the Government just don't get it. They don't get the importance of tourism to our economy," he said. "My third reaction was: well, we have to live with this - but how do we get airtime from a minister who has six briefs?" He spoke to the Irish Independent as the ITIC appealed for 1bn in State grants and 500m in long-term loans targeted to keep tourism businesses alive through the winter. The industry is facing a crisis as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown and travel restrictions. The lack of overseas tourists will cost Ireland 5.5bn in lost spending this year, according to tourism chiefs who accuse the new Government of not taking them seriously. The ITIC says the aid it is seeking should be disbursed by Failte Ireland, not Enterprise Ireland (EI). Mr Pratt said EI is more focused on sectors including technology and agrifoods and doesn't appreciate the economic importance of tourism, particularly along the Wild Atlantic Way, where one in five jobs depends on tourism. The ITIC said in return for support, some larger tourism firms could give the State equity stakes. Mr Pratt, who also leads B&B Ireland, said thousands of those mainly family-operated firms have yet to receive any State loans or wage subsidies and had "no business case to reopen". They do not qualify for most State-subsidised loans because they do not pay commercial rates, he said. They often don't qualify for Covid pay subsidies because they are husband and wife-run operations where the average owner-operator's age tops 60. Those aged 65 and over cannot receive weekly Covid payments of 350. He said accommodation providers in rural areas could woo 'staycationers' - but only if they get pricing right. "My personal sense is that people will be more comfortable in the next two or three months holidaying in Ireland outside of cities, where there aren't large gatherings of people," he said. "I've seen ads over the last two weeks for five- and six-star hotels on the west coast offering four-night stays at prices equivalent to what they were charging last year for a one-night stay, particularly to Americans who were happy to pay it." But visitors from North America - representing a third of the 5.1bn spent here in 2019 by overseas visitors - are seen as highly unlikely to return to Ireland until the State removes the 14-day quarantine rule for passengers arriving at Ireland's airports and ports. The ITIC's 'Tourism Industry Revival' report said domestic tourists, including from Northern Ireland, spent 2.4bn in the State last year but this will fall to just 1.1bn in 2020. The report sets out what it called optimistic, baseline and pessimistic forecasts. Under the baseline scenario, overseas tourist spending will return to 2019 levels only in 2025. If the virus returned in 2021 and 2022, overseas tourist spending would reach only 4bn by 2025. The ITIC doesn't foresee any scenario where overseas tourist spending will fully recover before 2024. NAMA is expected to announce a 2bn payment to the Exchequer later this week, its first major return since it was set up more than a decade ago and a spending boost to the incoming coalition. Under the new Programme for Government the money will be available to spend immediately, potentially feeding in to a planned July stimulus package. Earlier this year, Nama confirmed it is on the course to return a total surplus of 4.5bn to taxpayers over the course of 2020 and 2021, when the agency is due to be wound up. The agency is sitting on more than 2bn in cash having paid back the last of the 31bn of debt it took on a decade ago to fund its share of the banking bailout. The agency took over 70bn of loans from the banks in exchange for IOUs, leaving the banks to carry the difference. Last month private investors who took a stake in Nama at the time it was set up received their final 56m payment. That was the last technical hurdle that had to be cleared before taxpayers could make a recovery. Nama is due to publish its annual report later this week, which creates an opportunity to transfer funds to the Exchequer. The money had long been earmarked to go to reduce the national debt. However, under the new Fianna Fail/Fine Gael/Green Party Programme for Government the money can be spent in order to reduce the State's borrowing requirements. "We will use any windfall gains such as the Nama surplus, the final resolution of the liquidation of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation or the sale of the State's shareholdings in the banks, to reduce our borrowing requirements," the Programme for Government states. Nama was set up to take over more than 70bn of boom-era property loans in a bid to get bust banks back lending after the financial crisis. Nama paid less than 50c on the euro for the loans, with the banks nursing the loss. The return of significant funds to the Exchequer is a better result than many people predicted when the agency was established - with some experts even anticipating a loss. However, while Nama has outperformed its own estimates, the State's overall loss as a result of the banking crisis has yet to crystallise. The liquidation of IBRC is expected to provide another windfall later this year of around 1.25bn, but the bulk of the 36bn cost of bailouts for Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS) which were merged to form IBRC has been lost. The cost of the banking crisis was estimated at 41.7bn by the Comptroller and Auditor General last year, but that changes based on the value of the State's stakes in AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB. The performance of shares in AIB in particular will have a material impact. AIB was bailed out at a cost of 22bn and the State still holds an almost 72pc stake. Those shares have plunged over the past two years, a paper decline of well over 8bn in the taxpayers' share of the bank. The new Programme for Government says it is policy to sell bank stakes, but Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said it could be another decade before that is done. THE Central Bank has found shortcomings in how investment firms are screening clients before recommending investments for them. A probe of the industry shows firms are not taking enough account of the knowledge and experience of consumers before selling them complex products. Firms selling investments are required to carry out tests to assess a consumer's knowledge and experience and to determine whether a product is appropriate. But a thematic inspection by regulators found evidence that a number of firms are not paying sufficient attention to the requirements. The Central Bank accused firms of placing "undue reliance on 'box-ticking' to demonstrate compliance". Appropriateness requirements are a key protection for consumers when purchasing complex investment products without financial advice or a recommendation, the regulators said. If the product is not appropriate, firms must issue a clear warning to the consumer. "In many cases, firms' practical application of the requirements was undermined by weak processes, systems and controls; resulting in errors and assessments proceeding with incomplete information," the Central Bank said. Many firms are relying on a blanket approach for gathering client information that fails to consider the significant differences in risk and complexity that occurs between investment products. Firms need to improve the quality of information collected, the regulator said. It was not clear how firms reached the appropriateness decision in many cases. Warnings that were issued to clients often used vague and ambiguous language. The appropriateness warning should not be viewed by firms as a disclaimer which overrides the legal obligations of firms to act in the best interests of the consumer, the Central Bank said. Director of consumer protection at the Central Bank Grainne McEvoy said she and her team are engaging directly with those firms where issues have arisen. The Central Bank has also sent a letter to all investment firms, detailing the findings of the inspection together with recommendations to enhance their compliance arrangements, where relevant. Ms McEvoy said that the appropriateness test is a key component of consumer protection for people who are using the services of an investment firm. Wirecard Card Solutions Limiteds licence was frozen after a major accounting scandal at its German parent company (Sven Hoppe/AP) SHOPPERS have been shocked to discover that they were unable to use their gift cards due to the collapse of German financial services company. Mahon Point shoppers in Cork found that gift cards for the shopping centre were not being accepted. Wirecard, the issuers of the gift vouchers, has had its licence suspended by the UK financial regulator. Shoppers found had been unable to use the gift cards since last Friday. However, a spokesperson for Mahon Point Shopping Centre confirmed that its gift card services had now resumed. The suspension that was in place since late on Friday June 26th has now been lifted. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers over the past few days. And An Post said it expects its currency card will be operational again from this evening. Last week British authorities shut down the UK operations of scandal-hit German payments company Wirecard, which is also the issuer of the An Post Money Currency card. It was told to halt its business after news that 1.9bn was missing from the accounts of the company. Wisecards British operation is the issuer of prepaid Mastercards which were used as gift vouchers in this country, and by An Post as currency cards. The UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, said yesterday it was close to lifting restrictions on Wirecard, which would allow 50,000 An Post customers here to use their currency cards and shoppers to use their gift cards. The British regulator said: We have been working closely with Wirecard UK and other authorities over the last few days to ensure that the firm was able to meet certain conditions required to lift the restrictions we imposed on it. We are now in a position to allow Wirecard to resume operational activity. This means customers will now, or very shortly, be able to use their cards as usual. An Post said it was now hopeful its currency card will be operational again from today. One4All said the collapse of Wirecard had no impact on its gift cards. Meanwhile, fintech Revolut admitted it had been using Wirecard to allow customers to top up their Revolut debit cards. Revolut, the issuer of Mastercard debit cards to one million people in Ireland, said it has now stopped doing business with the collapsed German company. Consumer advocate Brendan Burgess pointed out that the Revolut customers here are not protected by the deposit guarantee scheme. Revolut sources insisted customer funds are securely held in ring-fenced accounts in top tier global banks. All Revolut customer card transactions are processed by the Mastercard, Maestro, or Visa network and are protected by their rules, sources said. In these Dark Ages of the Reign of Trump, Curtis Sittenfeld's Rodham descends like an avenging angel. Here, in the pages of this alternate history about Hillary Rodham Clinton, is the story not of 'What Happened' but of 'What Could Have Happened'. This isn't just fiction as fantasy; it's fiction as therapy for that majority of Americans who voted for Clinton in 2016 and are now sick and unemployed under the current calamitous administration. It takes a village to create a demon, and that tireless work has produced the extraordinary bogeywoman that is Clinton, the conniving, corrupt, murderous, senile, paedophiliac, money-grubbing, cookie-hating, email-abusing harridan who terrifies Fox News commentators. Indeed, as the subject of thousands of wing-nut conspiracies, Clinton may already be the most fictionalised person in modern political history. But Rodham is something of a rarity in American publishing. The market has long featured highly partisan non-fiction books created exclusively for liberals or conservatives. Trump disciples and detractors can spend their whole lives cuddled up with memoirs, biographies, exposes and rants that confirm their polarised convictions. Rodham, though, is a high-profile novel - not a parody or a joke book, but a serious work of literary fiction - designed to rally the political spirits of liberal readers. More than a decade ago, Sittenfeld published American Wife, a thoughtful, slightly melancholy novel inspired by the life of Laura Bush. Rodham is a related project but with a dramatic twist of fate built into its premise. It's told in Hillary's own voice, which adds to the uncanny quality of this real/not-real story. This is a voice we recognise, the voice of countless hours of TV interviews and debates, the voice of several best-selling memoirs, the confident, carefully modulated voice of a woman who has been telling her story for decades. Indeed, the first third of Rodham feels comfortably familiar. There's bright young Hillary speaking at her Wellesley graduation in 1969, already burdened by the discontinuity between "how I seemed to others and who I really was". Looking back over half a century, she realises that the intertwined conditions of her life were set early: "My competence, my loneliness". When she meets Bill Clinton at Yale Law School in 1970, he's already a famous flirt - so brilliant and charming. Sittenfeld recreates the Arkansas Lothario in all his rapacious appetites for attention, for women, for French fries. Long disappointed in the dating game, Hillary can't believe such a handsome man would notice her. She has been self-conscious about her appearance since middle school, when a frank classmate pointed out, "You're more like a boy than a girl". When Bill smiles at her, she confesses, "There was a ripple, a kind of swooning". These early chapters follow the general outlines of Hillary's life, and sometimes it's hard to remember we're reading fiction, not autobiography. But that becomes easier to remember when Hillary describes having sex with Bill. "We knew each other's animal selves," she says, permanently damaging my attitude about animals. Of course, we already know way too much about Bill's sexual technique, but there are intimate details here that Ken Starr could only dream of. Although I can't quote much in a family newspaper, suffice it to say that Hillary experiences "an almost intolerable ecstasy". Multiple times. Even in Bill's car. These erotic trysts might seem over the top, but they're all part of the novel's corrective impulse, its determination to rebalance the way men and women exist in our political imagination. After all, if Bill can carry on and Donald Trump can grab women, why can't a female politician have a healthy sex life? It's no coincidence that the novel's inflection from history to alt-history is eventually sparked by sex - specifically Bill's "compulsive infidelity". Still in her 20s, Hillary decides she's had enough. She drives away from the most serious relationship she's ever had. From that point on, we're in uncharted territory: Sittenfeld's thought experiment about a smart, single woman dedicated to public service. Yes, this is an implicitly polemical novel. It's devoted to exonerating a politician who has been maligned for decades. But that motive doesn't crimp the book's energy or its suspense because there are other larger themes at work besides Hillary's basic goodness. While telling a compelling story, Rodham provides an insightful analysis of the function of sexism in our political discourse. The American history that Sittenfeld presents loops back through well-known events in Hillary's career, but they're reconceived outside the realm of her marriage to Bill. That alters some equations, but not others. She's still a resolute woman dogged by loneliness, contending with systemic condescension and suspicion. Everything about the way she's regarded, addressed, photographed, reported on and tweeted about is determined by the fact that she's a woman. Expand Close Hillary Clinton (Evan Agostini/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hillary Clinton (Evan Agostini/AP) In addition to the exhausting attention to her physical appearance, there are the contradictory demands of being commanding but matronly, authoritative but submissive, cheery but never witty, knowledgeable but not intimidating - all under the constant surveillance of journalists, pundits, comedians and fanatics frantic to create stories that fulfill their misogynistic fantasies. It's a maddening, inescapable trap that Hillary sums up near the end of the novel in a rare, full-throated fit of outrage that will make any ambitious woman stand up and cheer. But Sittenfeld is at her wittiest when recreating the men who dominate modern American politics. Even though Hillary never marries Bill in Rodham, he remains a massive star in the political heavens, influencing the orbits of everything around him. He's the supremely manipulative country bumpkin grinning his victims into submission. And as an extra bonus, Rodham captures Trump better than any other novel has so far. Sittenfeld showcases the real estate developer in all his bombastic narcissism and self-delusion. It's an astounding, slaying parody, while also, mercifully, offering us a future that avoids today's ever-expanding disaster. The novel's exculpatory impulse exacts a cost, though. As a study of sexism and American politics, Rodham is rich. But as a character study, it knows everything. That leaves little distance between the narrator and her words in which we can sense the mysteries of an actual mind. In that sense, Rodham mimics Hillary's own careful presentation of herself. Perhaps what I'm tempted to call a flaw is merely another element of the novel's verisimilitude. In a moment of introspection, Hillary looks back and wonders what might have been. "Was there a version of me that existed in a parallel universe?" she wonders. "If I'd married Bill, would I now be Hillary Clinton? Hillary Rodham-Clinton?" Alas, yes. Washington Post 'To censure an artist for a forgery," Oscar Wilde once wrote "is to confuse an aesthetic with an ethical problem." All art, Wilde insisted, is "to a certain degree a mode of acting, an attempt to realise one's own personality". Wilde was defending Thomas Chatterton (the teenage poet and forger beloved of Romantic poets), but Oscar's words seem even more apt for the strange tale of Laura Albert - a woman who created what has been described as the greatest literary hoax of our time. It centred around JT LeRoy, who at the turn of the century was the biggest publishing superstar in America. He looked like a sort of androgynous Andy Warhol and was, as far as anyone knew, a formerly homeless, gender-fluid boy prostitute who had worked with his mother - also a prostitute - at desolate truck stops across Virginia. The story went that he had gotten the book deal which lead to Sarah and The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, by faxing his transcripts from a hostel. The books, with their laconic wit, gorgeous prose and themes of debauchery and abuse, touched a cultural nerve, and LeRoy was hailed as the genius misfit of American literature, a William Burroughs for a new era. His success was burnished by his legion of celebrity fans, among whom were Bono, Madonna, Debbie Harry and Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, who apparently had long late-night phone calls with LeRoy. At literary festivals celebrities would shepherd this tremulous, fragile youth whose blatant disguise was explained by his chronic shyness. A question would be asked by a fan (maybe wearing a raccoon penis bone around their neck - a motif from the books). JT would whisper into the ear of the superstar to his left and they would speak for him: "JT says" In 2004 The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things was adapted for the screen by Asia Argento, who directed and starred, and seemed to be having a relationship with JT; they were spotted canoodling at film festivals. Gus van Sant, then the biggest indie film-maker in the world, optioned Sarah, and LeRoy was involved in developing the director's film Elephant, which won the Palm d'Or at Cannes Film Festival. LeRoy was credited as a producer. By then, sitting atop the bestseller charts and having won the biggest film prize in Europe, he was both a cult icon and a celebrity muse. And yet lots of people could not believe that it was all for real. Nagging questions wouldn't go away. Was he a boyish girl or a girly boy? Was he really the author? There were rumours that Dennis Cooper or maybe Mary Gaitskill - both early supporters - had written the books. Expand Close Laura Albert at the Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah in 2016. Photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Laura Albert at the Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah in 2016. Photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage. The truth turned out to be stranger than fiction. In late 2005 and early 2006, New York magazine, followed by the New York Times, did major investigations into JT LeRoy. They revealed that the androgynous waif who appeared in public and in the gossip columns was actually a young woman, Savannah Knoop. The author of all JT LeRoy's works, the person who answered his phone in a honeyed Southern drawl and the puppet-master behind 'JT LeRoy' was, in fact, Knoop's sister-in-law, Laura Albert: a New Yorker, 15 years older than LeRoy purported to be. "When that happened I thought 'if I kill myself now I'll still be an author under 40'," Albert says now, welling up at the memory. "I can see the narcissism in that thought, but it went through my head." Harvey Weinstein took out an option on the original New York Times expose and this was curiously fitting. "I was the Harvey Weinstein of 2005," Albert tells me. "I just forgot to rape anyone." As media swarmed outside her house, Courtney Love contacted her and advised to do a tell-all on Oprah Winfrey's show. "She wanted me to ask for redemption and I said no," Albert explains. "She said to me, 'you're not really in a position to not accept advice from A-list celebrities' but I didn't want to do a celebrity tell-all. That was bullshit to me. "What she didn't understand was that JT is a cordoned-off section within me. He represents something painful that happened to me." Albert grew up in a Brooklyn that was, she says, as far away from the hipster paradise of the present as it is possible to get. "My family were like hillbillies - I didn't even know how to use the proper cutlery." As a child she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend and a close family friend. Eventually she was made a ward of court and sent to a group home. "I went through that growing up and there was a lot of silence and shame around it. I felt I was the most shameful, most disgusting person. Growing up in the 1970s the topic of sexual abuse was beginning to be raised but in the media it always came from a blond, blue-eyed marketable little boy or a pretty girl, like Brooke Shields or Jodie Foster. I didn't see any tall, fat Jewish kids; they were the butt of the jokes. I got the message that I was invisible." As a child Albert had come up with lurid backstories for her Barbies. As a teenager obsessed with bands like the Sex Pistols, Stiff Little Fingers and Generation X, she would dress her thinner, younger sister up like a punk Barbie and send her out to shows with strict instructions about how to act and how to speak. She herself had pronounced gender dysphoria, she says. "I badly wanted to be a boy; I would bind my breasts. My finest hour was when I was 11 and went to England. My mother won a competition and we stayed with host teachers. I had a short haircut and everyone called me 'lad', which thrilled me. There was no language for that. Even homosexuality was considered a psychiatric illness. I was sleeping with girls and in relationships with girls but you could never call yourself a lesbian. It was still a huge taboo." The publishing world had become obsessed with author backstories, the more abusive and lurid the better, and the public treated memoirs as a kind of therapeutic pain porn. Her way of coping was to invent stories, always told in a male voice. She had gotten the message that this would be taken more seriously than her real self. "It was always a male protagonist. I won a competition writing in a male voice. My mother wrote in a male voice too, but when publishers found out she wasn't a man and wasn't fuck-able, that was it. What I did wasn't new." In her twenties she moved to San Francisco and worked as a phone sex operator. The survival tactic of inventing personae for herself continued. Sometimes these bled from the page into real life, and the amorphous identities and ready descriptions of degradation came easily. In 1993, when she was 28, she rang a teen suicide hotline and the call was answered by a Dr Terrence Owens. Owens encouraged her to call back, again and again, to the point where her life began to revolve around the calls. Albert described her character's (fictional) experiences in those phone calls, and Owens urged her to write. Albert sent him her writings and Owens was impressed. And Albert used the persona to reach out to established writers whom she admired. She says this wasn't all wholesome mentoring. "Some of the people who screamed the loudest after it all came out were having phone sex with me! JT was their ideal boy. We talked about autoerotic asphyxiation, everything. Afterward people were saying I took advantage of them. Please. Think about it. There were so many people who came into the whole thing because it made their dick hard." When she started to write she had to keep the character in hiding (she could hardly impersonate a teenage boy in real life), and so she eventually came up with the pseudonym of JT LeRoy - and she presented herself as his British friend and go-between, calling herself Speedie. The moment was ripe for a JT LeRoy-type character. The publishing world had become obsessed with author backstories, the more abusive and lurid the better, and the public treated memoirs as a kind of therapeutic pain porn. Media from all over the world clamoured for a piece of the beautiful boy prince. Albert realised that the need for public appearances by JT could no longer be put on the long finger. And so she 'cast' her partner Geoff Knoop's half-sister Savannah (who had been a waitress beforehand) for the role; Albert (as Speedie, complete with dodgy cockney accent) and Geoff (as JT's boyfriend, named Astor) were the entourage. After this happened Albert noticed that the new celebrity admirers tended to treat her as a kind of tiresome hanger-on. Madonna was "a cunt" to her. Exceptions to this were Bono and the Edge. "When I met them they were chill with me. I was this non-thin, non-fabulous woman hovering in the background and Bono put up with me being there. But he never really met me, because Speedie was a character too. It was like someone meeting Daniel Day-Lewis while he is in character; they've never really met him." Expand Close Bono and the Edge were the only two celebs who did not treat her as a 'tiresome hanger on' / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bono and the Edge were the only two celebs who did not treat her as a 'tiresome hanger on' While Laura got "fatter and fatter", JT was her avatar. "I could put him out in the world where it was made safe for me, through him, to say things." "I found different host bodies until he finally settled into one, like locating that rare impossible blood-donor match," she later wrote. "I finally had a human Barbie doll to connect the story in varying dimensions." People attempted to get close to LeRoy in all sorts of ways - "you wouldn't believe the amount of people who offered him drugs," Albert recalls - and, after a while, Savannah began to almost believe the story they had concocted. "She fell in love with Asia Argento and she thought Asia was in love with something very special about her. Savannah was on the red carpet at Cannes in front of Angelina Jolie and she started to believe it was all about her. She was later interviewed and she had nothing to say about JT. "They asked her 'why did they believe you?' and she said 'because I said it' - but it wasn't thought through. "She thought it was about wigs and sunglasses, but none of it makes sense without the work." As JT became a bigger and bigger star, Laura herself slowly became more glamorous. She was a writer on the HBO series Deadwood and she began to play in a band, Thistle, which would perform at JT readings. She says that emotionally surviving the uncovering of her identity was only made bearable because she had lost a lot of weight, the result of gastric band surgery. "The outing had to happen when it did," she says. "If it had happened when I was fat and hideous I wouldn't have been able to survive the shame." Albert was steadfast in her refusal to cash in on the big reveal. When Steven Shainberg, who had been lined up to direct the film version of Sarah, learned of Albert's identity, an inspiration came to him to make a 'meta-film', a triple-layered movie that would blend the novel with the lives of its real and purported authors in a project he took to calling 'Sarah Plus'. It was reported that this new project required the rights to Albert's story, rights that she in no uncertain terms refused to grant. In June 2007 the film company behind Sarah sued Albert for fraud, claiming that a contract she signed in LeRoy's name to make a feature film of Sarah was null and void. A jury found against Albert to the sum of $116,500, holding that the use of the pseudonym to sign the film rights contract was fraudulent. By then most of her celebrity friends had deserted her. With a few exceptions - she remains in touch with Shirley Manson of Garbage - she was, she says, persona non grata. And yet with the benefit of hindsight it's hard to disagree with her when she says: "As a writer, I should be able to write in any voice I like." The books stand the test of time, and in some ways seem more modern than ever. "They were the first books to deal with these issues. Nobody had really written about trans issues or identities until then," Albert says. "A lot of kids, if you give them the movies and the books they understand it, they understand the idea of an avatar. They understand curating other identities; they grew up playing video games where they were a different gender." She says part of the outrage stemmed from the idea that the ruse was all there was. "People are convinced they're going to write a bestseller that will puncture the creme brulee of popular consciousness, and it's kind of amazing that they have that belief. People wouldn't go to a ballet and say 'I could do that' or go to a restaurant and eat a beautiful souffle and think 'I could make that' - but they think it with writing. So there was this idea that anyone could have done what I did." Today Laura lives in LA. She still makes her living from writing and is working on a memoir. She remains friends with Geoff Knoop, with whom she has a college-aged son, but she and Savannah are no longer in touch. "She is on her path," Albert says. "She needs to let go of JT LeRoy." Is that possible for Laura? Perhaps, like Wilde himself, scandal has now become part of her own lore and helped her transmute personal pain. The books and the outing formed a kind of catharsis, she says. They helped her cope with the long shadows cast by childhood abuse and the body image issues she dealt with as an adult. She continues to maintain that the persona she created was, in fact, a facet of her. "There are people who want the books to be buried, but the truth was there in the stories," she adds. "When a child is abused they become manipulative and seductive. They learn to tell stories. And some of those stories might be really good." How are you managing your lust in lockdown? For many, it seems, Netflix has provided an aid of sorts with its acquisition of Polish film 365 Days, which shot to the top of Irelands most-watched charts on release and has spent the past month in the Top 10. Based on a book by Blanka Lipinska, 365 Days is ostensibly a romance, in which Sicilian mafia boss Massimo becomes fixated with Laura, a hotel sales director from Warsaw, after glimpsing her on a beach moments before his father is murdered. Five years later, he abducts Laura from a holiday resort and grants her a year to fall in love with him. Her initial reluctance is overcome with a series of shopping trips, lavish meals and protracted sex scenes, and the pair are tidily engaged and expecting a child within two months, complete with a cliffhanger ending to ensure a sequel. Its shocking, and shockingly popular in spite of minimal publicity, 365 Days has captured the collective imagination. But at a time when there is growing concern around sexual violence and the issue of consent, is it sending a toxic message to viewers? Clinical sexologist Emily Power Smith likens the sex scenes to anything you might find in free online porn. Its all about what he does to her: him putting her in position, him giving her his penis and holding her head in real life, its one of the most distressing things that can be done to a woman. Thats very much a value from porn, that women get their pleasure from being done to and seeing the pleasure theyre providing to the man, and thats very much the value in this film, she explains. While we can marvel at the scenery and cackle at the dialogue (in one feisty moment, Laura cries, Im not a bag of potatoes that you can transfer without my permission!), 365 Days is shameless in its romanticisation of kidnapping and sexual violence. The first instance of assault takes place 10 minutes in, when Massimo forces a flight attendant to perform oral sex on him. Afterwards, we see her smiling to herself. Podcast host, academic and sex columnist Roe McDermott says this scene perpetuates the idea that consent can be achieved retroactively, and that women do really enjoy being violently raped, they just have to say no first, you have to just do it and then theyll like it. Its deeply damaging. Expand Close Anna Maria Sieklucka and Michele Morrone star in the film / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anna Maria Sieklucka and Michele Morrone star in the film On kidnapping Laura, Massimo tells her, I wont do anything without your permission, a promise flatly contradicted by the fact he has his hand on her breast as he says it. Thereafter, he grabs her by the throat, gropes her breasts and shoves his hand in her underwear. The threat of violence is persistent, as he repeatedly warns, Dont provoke me. Later, when he rescues Laura from drowning moments after accusing her of dressing like a whore in clothes he selected they have sex on his yacht, in an eye-popping sequence that lasts four minutes. Cliona Saidlear, director of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland, explains that the kidnapping setup negates any consent. The premise of it is unapologetic about coercion, kidnap and violence, she says. What you choose to do consensually in the bedroom is none of our business, but kidnap cannot be conceived in any way, shape or form as consensual. Fantasies can be healthy and in BDSM, in theory at least, the power dynamics and consent are worked out very carefully. Thats not whats being depicted here. We have increasingly packaged the harm, humiliation and degradation of women as something that is sexy. That in itself is deeply worrying. Why do we find that entertaining? The novel was written by a woman, and the film is co-directed by a woman, yet its toxic masculinity and misogynistic violence go unchecked, and are even presented as desirable. I think women are getting educated from porn, says Power Smith. Without reasonable, non-judgemental sex education that actually discusses female pleasure, we have nothing to go on but porn and romcoms, and in those youre going to find disempowered women who are submissive to men. Thats the model. I hear more and more that women are expecting to receive porn experiences from their men and men are expecting to provide those experiences, and youll see the language Im using there: men want to give, women want to receive thats the porn value. The film has a huge teenage fanbase, and on TikTok, videos tagged #365Days have garnered more than 1bn views, often reacting to Massimos chokeholds and the infamous yacht scene. Anna Keogh, a youth worker and sexual health educator, notes that while many are just poking fun, its important to acknowledge the fantasy element. When we do lessons around pornography or media literacy, what we really focus on is the idea of reality versus fantasy. We want them to be able to recognise when things are highly unrealistic compared to what they might encounter in real life, she says. [Massimo] is the bad boy and knight in shining armour combined, those typical teenage fantasies, so I can definitely see how people would be worried and not want their child to see him as their fantasy. You wouldnt want to actually be in a relationship with that man, hed be awful. Roe McDermott is concerned that younger viewers may be absorbing 365 Dayss messages about sex and violent behaviours. The problem comes when teenage boys see these teenage girls going, Oh my god, this is so sexy, and they try to reenact it and theyre not getting messages of how else they could enjoy sex with women, she says. We need to be doing the work to educate teenagers to make sure that they know this is not something to try out. Netflix themselves refused to comment for this piece. But, as McDermott points out, it would be a mistake to single out 365 Days as the problem. Instead, it should be viewed as the product of a society that enables violence against women. Ultimately it is not to blame for sexism, she argues, describing 365 Days as both contributing to and resulting from a culture of sexism. By continuing to blame one film and not our own failures to educate children about consent, to tackle toxic masculinity, to take violence against women seriously, and to dismantle the outdated systems that protect abusers, we are choosing to abdicate our responsibility to do the work. Instead of just saying, This film shouldnt be watched and our problem will be solved, we need to do the work. For more culture and entertainment news, reviews, interviews and features directly into your inbox sign up for our weekly newsletter HERE . Near enough to this time last year - July 14 in Nowlan Park - Neil Young played one of the shows of 2019. It was the hottest day of the summer as tribal drums boomed out across Kilkenny, and the 73-year-old opened with Like an Inca, from his 1992 album Trans. Addressing the 50,000 crowd, he asked the question: "Who put the bomb on the sacred altar?" Young then performed at eardrum-denting volume songs from the Neil Young and Crazy Horse 1990 album Ragged Glory, followed by tracks from 1995's Mirror Ball. There was perhaps less intensity in Heart of Gold - the song from his 1972 album Harvest - but this mellow masterpiece got the biggest applause of the night - apart from, perhaps, when Young joined headliner Bob Dylan onstage hours later. Harvest was supposed to be followed up by Homegrown, an album recorded in 1974 and '75, but it never saw a release. Until last week. "I apologise," Young said of this great lost album. "Homegrown should have been there for you a couple of years after Harvest." (He released Tonight's the Night in its place.) "It's the sad side of a love affair. The damage done. The heartache," he added, referring to the painful break-up with actress Carrie Snodgress, mother of his first child, Zeke. (Snodgress died in 2004 of heart failure while waiting for a liver transplant.) "I just couldn't listen to it. I wanted to move on. So I kept it to myself, hidden away in the vault, on the shelf, in the back of my mind. But I should have shared it. It's actually beautiful. That's why I made it in the first place. Sometimes life hurts. You know what I mean. This is the one that got away." Forty-five years since it was recorded, Homegrown is almost worth the wait. It opens with Separate Ways, which sounds like Heart of Gold rebooted. Young, making this private moment of release public, sings: "I'm feeling better now/A bit more alive, somehow". This is followed by the slow country rock of Try, with Emmylou Harris on harmony vocals: "Darling, the door is open to my heart and I've been hoping you won't be the one to struggle with the key". You may struggle with comprehending the slightly surreal (and Rainy Day Women-esque) harmonica-rave that is We Don't Smoke It No More, with Young unburdening himself thus: "We don't snort it, we don't lick it, we don't knock it, we don't get it, we don't smoke it no more". The most beautiful track of the 12 on Homegrown is Love is a Rose, with its darker message, as Rolling Stone put it, of how love fades like a rose stripped off the vine. The mood on Kansas is downcast too: "I feel like I just woke up from a bad dream... It doesn't matter if you're the one/'Cause we'll know before we're done". Homegrown, despite the subject matter, never quite gets to the levels of bitterness that Dylan excels at with exes. The closest Young gets to that is when he sings on Vacancy: "Can we pretend to live in harmony?" (Once this existential troubadour is not pretending to sing in harmony, he will be okay.) The man who sang Only Love Can Break Your Heart in 1970 still believes in the power and the pain of love. For more culture and entertainment news, reviews, interviews and features directly into your inbox sign up for our weekly newsletter HERE . We will also recognize our role in the community and provide important opportunities for explorations. We will continue to provide outreach to elementary, middle and high school students in the region. Under the leadership of our director of engagement, Steve Price, we will continue to provide an extensive menu of lectures and films to our community. Our aim is to allow our community the investigation of art and all aspect of the art world. Children are being left without creche places as providers shut down, with the childcare sector facing chaos this summer. As more parents return to work, yesterday was the day when childcare services could resume. But some providers have been forced to close down even as the sector reopens. Those that opened their doors for the first time since Covid-19 took hold last March had lower numbers of children. The Department of Children said that eight services have closed since the Covid-19 closure of the sector on March 12. But the viability of many others is a serious worry, according to those in the industry. Government pandemic funding is due to end in August. There were already reports of creches shutting permanently in towns across the country such as Dublin, Cork, and Wexford. A survey by provider group Seas Suas found that 15pc of providers remained closed yesterday. A quarter said only 25pc to 35pc of children had registered to return in July and August. It called on the new Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman to address the sustainability of the sector. Chair of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers Elaine Dunne said she had heard of 14 services shutting permanently in the past six weeks. "I just got off the phone to an owner in Cork who said 'I can't do this anymore, it's getting too much for me'. "There are harrowing things going on, and many that are back open are running at a loss." She said 120 children were left without services when a creche closed in Cork, and many parents sought help on WhatsApp groups. Niamh Leeney who runs Narnia Nursery schools on Dublin's southside said she reopened on reduced hours. "The numbers are down but staff are very happy to be back. Many parents are choosing not to go back for the first month." Ms Leeney said eight staff had left since the lockdown but she cannot avail of the Government's wage subsidy for new recruits. This is a big issue for providers, she said, while PPE is another additional cost. She said parents are nervous but staff had done their best to get children used to the idea of returning by holding Zoom meetings from classrooms in advance. Early Childhood Ireland said in a statement it believes most of the 1,800 creches that operate over the summer reopened but are working at 50pc capacity. It said another 2,800 centres are expected to reopen in September, "if it is financially viable for them to do so". A department spokesperson said services are required to inform Tusla when they intend to close. "Tusla has informed the Department that eight services have closed since the Covid-19 closure of the sector on 12 March," he said. "The Department has not been notified of other services which intend to close over the summer months." Research: Professor Ian ODonnell believes there are persuasive arguments for less use of prison as a punishment, particularly for less serious offences Short terms of imprisonment have been found to be less effective than suspended sentences and community service when it comes to tackling reoffending, a leading criminologist has said. Professor Ian O'Donnell said there were "persuasive" arguments for less use of prison as a punishment, particularly for less serious offences. He also said treatment programmes that improved self-control and critical reasoning, as well as proper employment post-release, had been shown to decrease recidivism among offenders. The UCD professor is one of the country's leading experts in the area and recently conducted a review of international evidence on recidivism and policy responses for the Department of Justice. Speaking at a lecture held by the Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development (ACJRD) yesterday, Prof O'Donnell said nobody was saying prison wasn't necessary as a last resort. But he added: "There is a growing body of evidence that short terms of imprisonment are less effective in terms of reducing recidivism than suspended sentences or community service." Almost half of people jailed in Ireland relapse into criminal behaviour after being released from prison. CSO data shows 45.8pc of prisoners released in 2012 reoffended within three years of their release, while 43.3pc of offenders managed by the Probation Service in 2013 reoffended within three years. "Breaking the cycle of offending is pressing for societies everywhere. It isn't just an Irish issue," said Prof O'Donnell. "It is essential for promoting community safety and community vitality, for controlling expenditure on criminal justice, which is substantial, and for minimising the collateral consequences for offenders and for their families." He cited a major study in Holland that followed 4,000 former inmates after their release. Half of them had received community service and the other half a short term of imprisonment. "The Dutch research team found significantly lower rates of recidivism for those who were sentenced to community service as opposed to those who were imprisoned. They found, over a five-year follow-up, community service led to a reduction in recidivism of 46.8pc, compared to imprisonment," he said. The lecture audience was told a Norwegian study found that having a financially and socially productive way to fill the day, as opposed to being idle and in receipt of benefits, was significantly associated with reduced recidivism. However, he cautioned that finding work for ex-offenders didn't necessarily automatically trigger a cessation, with jobs tending to be grasped by former prisoners who had already made up their minds to turn their back on crime. Prof O'Donnell said there were other international findings that were "promising" but would need further scrutiny. These included research indicating ex-prisoners who believed they were treated fairly by the justice system were less likely to reoffend. Other research in England and Wales showed ex-offenders released early on parole were re-convicted less frequently than prisoners who were held until the end of their sentence. Prof O'Donnell was speaking at the ACJRD's annual Martin Tansey Memorial Lecture, held in honour of the late former probation service leader, who was an advocate of community sanctions and giving offenders a second chance. A FATHER-of-three has been accused of money laundering after gardai found nearly 900,000 in alleged crime proceeds at a farmyard in Co Cavan. Jonathan OConnor (38) is alleged to have had 88,000 in cash in a vehicle, with the rest of the cash found in 19 packages concealed behind brickwork in outhouses. Judge Bryan Smyth remanded him in custody with consent to bail totalling 26,000 when he appeared in Dublin District Court today. Mr OConnor, a truck driver of Elm Road, Donnycarney, is charged with possession of 870,620 and STG14,890 in criminal proceeds. The offence is alleged to have happened at Dromore, Baileboro, Co Cavan on June 28 last. Detective Garda Enda Gormley said he arrested the accused at Navan Garda Station yesterday and he was charged at 8.07pm.He made no reply after caution. Objecting to bail, Det Gda Gormley said it was alleged the accused was found with 88,100 in a vehicle, and a further search resulted in the seizure of 19 packages containing another 782,520. He said the seizures resulted from an intelligence-led operation by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, targeting the distribution, sale and supply of drugs in the state. The property at Dromore, Baileboro was put under surveillance and gardai observed a vehicle pull into the farmyard at 12.30pm. The accused was seen alighting from it, and two children were with him. Gardai saw Mr OConnor and the children ride on quad bikes around a field adjacent to the farmyard and when they returned the bikes were put back in a shed, Det Gda Gormley continued. The gardai then entered the property with a warrant, which they showed the accused. Mr OConnor told them there was a bag containing 88,100 in cash on the back seat of his vehicle and gardai located this. A full search of the premises then commenced and further bags were located in outhouses, concealed behind brickwork. The accused pointed out two of the four separate locations where the bags were found, Det Gda Gormley said. A comprehensive file was being prepared for the DPP and further charges were possible, he said. The accused was caught red handed with the cash, Det Gda Gormley said. Gardai believed Mr OConnor was involved in large scale money laundering and if granted bail, he would commit offences to recoup his losses. Det Gda Gormley also believed if released, the accused would dispose of any illegally acquired cash in his possession. Applying for bail, defence solicitor Daniel Hanahoe said the accused, who was presumed innocent, was a truck driver and had three children. His parents and brother were in court to stand bail but were not of significant means, he said. Judge Smyth granted bail in the accuseds own bond of 1,000 with no cash lodgement. However, he said there must also be an independent surety of 25,000, half of which is to be in cash. Under conditions, he is to sign on daily at his local garda station, reside at his home address, notify gardai of any change of address and observe a curfew. He is not to apply for a duplicate of his passport, which was surrendered to the gardai, and is to be contactable at all times by mobile phone. Mr O'Connor was remanded in custody with consent to bail, to appear in Cloverhill District Court on July 2. The prime suspect for the murder of a middle-aged woman at her Dublin home last week has been discharged from hospital and returned to garda custody for questioning about the stabbing. Gardai seized a samurai sword and a meat cleaver as well as other items from the home of Mrs Jean Eagers (57) and they are still being forensically examined. Officers arrested a 60-year-old man at the house and took him to Blanchardstown garda station for questioning. But he was immediately moved to James Connolly memorial hospital for treatment for wounds, which were believed to have been self-inflicted. The man was discharged from hospital today and taken to the garda station where he continues to be held under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. He can be detained without charge for up to 24 hours, excluding rest periods. Another person, who was in the house at Willow Wood Grove in Hartstown, west Dublin, alerted the gardai and when officers arrived at the scene, the prime suspect had locked himself inside. Armed gardai shouted warnings at the man during a stand-off and then decided to use stun grenades to disorientate him before forcing their way into the house. The suspect, who was known to the victim, was overpowered and then arrested. Since the incident last Sunday week, gardai have been carrying out forensic tests on the items recovered from the house and also made a detailed examination of the scene. They have also interviewed the person, who raised the alarm, and nearby neighbours as possible witnesses. Gardai say they are following a definite line of inquiry and are trying to establish if the killer used any of the weapons recovered from the house in the stabbing. Gardai are building a case against crime boss Daniel Kinahan in relation to his role as a major figure in organised crime. The Irish Independent can reveal gardai are looking to question Kinahan as part of a number of investigations, but detectives are also now building a file with hopes of charging him with membership of and directing an organised crime group. Sources said a large amount of material had been gathered already and gardai were focusing on charging the head of the Kinahan organised crime gang under anti-gangland legislation. It came as a senior garda yesterday declared the force's continued determination to crush the international crime gang that has "wrecked the lives of so many people in the community from where they came from themselves". Expand Close Patsy Hutch / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Patsy Hutch Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll, head of Special Crime Operations, made the comment following the conviction of three Kinahan associates yesterday for their part in a plot to murder Patrick 'Patsy' Hutch Senior. He said: "The people in the hierarchy of the crime group will be targeted, and while I may not mention any name in particular until such time as [there are] criminal charges, if we gather sufficient evidence, clearly the hierarchy of these organised crime groups are being targeted by us. "It is ultimately our aim to dismantle the entire crime group. "We have achieved some considerable success to date." Yesterday Mr Justice Tony Hunt imposed sentences totalling 19 years on three men who took part in the Kinahan cartel plot to murder Mr Hutch. He said the cartel was a cynical criminal organisation that preyed on "desperate and foolish" individuals in the recruitment of "dispensable footsoldiers". Michael Burns (43) was jailed for nine years while Stephen Curtis (32) and Ciaran O'Driscoll (25) were both sentenced to five years each for their role in the plot. Mr Justice Hunt said the Special Criminal Court was satisfied that the three men were working for the Kinahan organised crime gang, which is involved in money laundering and drug trafficking. He said the gang operated in cells or sub-cells based on a hierarchical structure and was prepared to use violence up to and including murder to achieve its aims. Burns, of no fixed abode, O'Driscoll, of Avondale House, Cumberland Street, Dublin 1, and Curtis, of Bellman's Walk, Seville Place, Dublin 1, admitted to having knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation and participating in activities intended to facilitate the commission of a serious offence by that criminal organisation, or any of its members, namely the murder of Mr Hutch within the State between February 1 and March 10, 2018, both dates inclusive. Burns pleaded guilty to passing instructions to one or more members of a criminal organisation and of acting as a conduit for communications by providing phones. He also admitted transporting one or more members of a criminal organisation, moving one or more vehicles for subsequent use by one or more members of a criminal organisation, and planning or assisting in planning the intended shooting of Mr Hutch. O'Driscoll pleaded guilty to agreeing to act as a lookout and to helping plan the intended shooting. (left to right) Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill arrive at St Agnes' Church in west Belfast for the funeral of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey : Liam McBurney/PA Wire The PSNI is reviewing footage of the funeral of prominent republican Bobby Storey for any suspected breaches of coronavirus regulations. Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald, vice president Michelle ONeill and former president Gerry Adams, were among the hundreds of people who attended the funeral of the former IRA man. The Northern Executive's revised guidance on funerals on its website states that a maximum of 30 people should attend a funeral, including a member of the persons household or close family members and, in certain circumstances, a modest number of friends. Northern Ireland's Health Minister Robin Swann says he believed the funeral breached Covid-19 restrictions around mass gatherings. Speaking during a Stormont press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Swann said that he did not want any part of Northern Ireland to become "another Leicester", which has had to tightened lockdown measures after a spike in cases. Expand Close Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, left, speaks alongside Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty during the funeral of senior Irish republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, left, speaks alongside Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty during the funeral of senior Irish republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) "There is no person, no position and there is no point of privilege that is above the guidance and the regulations that we have laid down on how we combat Covid-19 in Northern Ireland," Mr Swann said. "There is no one immune from it and that is the guidance that we still have to keep reiterating. I do hope that what we saw today does not undermine the public message that has worked so well in Northern Ireland, that has got us to the position where we are today." Asked if he believed the funeral was a breach of coronavirus restrictions, Mr Swann said: "Yes, very clearly, with the images that are coming out from Belfast today. Whether deliberate or undeliberate- the regulations that we have put in place are there to save lives." Northern Ireland chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said: "The guidance and the regulations are there for good reason, it is about keeping people safe and it is about saving lives. "It is not for me as chief medical officer to comment on issues around enforcement of the regulations, that is for others. I didn't see the pictures myself but clearly where we have large numbers of people coming together in close proximity and if there isn't appropriate social distancing then that does increase risk of transmission of Covid-19." Expand Close Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams offers an embrace of condolence to Teresa Storey at the funeral of her partner Bobby Storey (Liam McBurney/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams offers an embrace of condolence to Teresa Storey at the funeral of her partner Bobby Storey (Liam McBurney/PA) The PSNI told the Belfast Telegraph that it had engaged with the celebrant and service organisers to highlight the public health advice and risks around Covid-19, and the requirement for those attending to adhere to social distancing. Superintendent Melanie Jones said: "We had assurances that those attending would observe the health guidelines and that marshals would be in place to encourage those lining the cortege route to observe social distancing. We will now review footage gathered during the funeral and will consider any suspected breaches of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) Regulations NI 2020. Expand Close (left to right) Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill attending the funeral of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey in west Belfast. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (left to right) Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill attending the funeral of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey in west Belfast. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Mr Storey was a senior figure in Sinn Fein and the IRA, rising to become the IRAs director of intelligence and the northern chairman of Sinn Fein. He spent many years in jail for various offences, and played a key role in the mass IRA breakout from the Maze Prison in 1983. He died last week aged 64 after an unsuccessful lung transplant operation. He was laid to rest at Milltown Cemetery after Requiem Mass at St Agnes church in west Belfast. The prices of new homes under a new affordable purchase scheme will start at 160,000 and reach 250,000, according to newly appointed housing minister Darragh OBrien. Mr O'Brien said that the houses on the scheme will be on a shared equity basis. Theres a whole load of people who are stuck in a rip off rental trap or living with their folks into their late 20s and 30s and saving as much as they can to be able to get that mortgage," he told Newstalk Breakfast. Our scheme will be on a shared equity basis, where the state will take an equity in the house as well, it will be a major focus on building affordable homes firstly on state owned land and the state will subsume the cost of that land, he said. You will be looking at house prices in the region of 160,000 - 180,000 to 250,000 on a shared equity basis. He said that the scheme has been put in place successfully in Ireland in the past. It has been done before quite successfully in Ireland in the 2000s, about 16,000 families got their homes through affordable purchase and that will be one mode of it. The minister said that the costings of 160,000 to 250,000 have been backed up independently through research. Its based on research weve done directly with the department of housing. The prices and the costings and the scheme itself is backed up independently and thats a big focus for us, he explained. Mr OBrien said that this scheme will help the people who are not eligible for social housing but face difficulties in securing a mortgage. Its to give hope to that generation who feel like, when am i ever going to be able to get a home and are above social housing limits but are not earning enough to get a mortgage. Really, affordability is key, he added. The Civil War was never patriotic, gentile or glamorous. It was war with Americans killing Americans. The facts are recorded and history needs to be remembered because there are still lessons to be learned. But monuments have no meaning. If you need symbols with historical meaning, honor the ground where so many Americans spilled their blood and gave up their lives. The American Battlefield Trust owns many battlefields and these dedicated people protect hallowed ground in honor of all who suffered, military, civilians and the enslaved. If you are looking for meaning, visit battlefields and support those who care for them. The three Government party leaders are facing a fresh headache in selecting ministers of state after dozens of TDs were left disappointed by the Cabinet appointments. Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Climate Minister Eamon Ryan are expected to allocate a further 17 ministries of state in the coming days. Mr Martin and Mr Varadkar have seven positions to fill and Mr Ryan has three. Mr Martin shocked his party colleagues with his decision to snub long-serving TDs while appointing a first-time Dail deputy Norma Foley as Education Minister and former Social Democrat TD Stephen Donnelly as Health Minister. There was also anger over the decision not to give Dara Calleary a full Cabinet post. Among those expecting a ministry will be Thomas Byrne, who has been tipped for a European Affairs role. Long-serving TDs Robert Troy and Niall Collins will also expect to be made junior ministers as will Mr Martin's key lieutenant in Cork, Michael Moynihan. Fianna Fail will be expected to appoint ministers in the west where Charlie McConalogue and Marc MacSharry could be in line for promotion. The only farmer in the party, Jackie Cahill, in Tipperary, could also be well placed to take an agriculture position. In Dublin, Jack Chambers will be disappointed if he does not get a post, as will Jim O'Callaghan. The three female Fianna Fail TDs who are serving their second term in office, Anne Rabbitte, Mary Butler and Niamh Smyth, will also be vying for ministries. Kildare North TD James Lawless will also be eager to get a portfolio. Mr Varadkar is also facing difficult choices after he was forced to demote almost half of his Cabinet. Outgoing minister Michael Ring could go to Tourism and Sport, a job he previously held. Former culture minister Josepha Madigan is expected to feature in Mr Varadkar's line-up, which will mean her constituency colleague Neale Richmond will lose out. Ex-education minister Donegal's Joe McHugh will also be hopeful of a role and he may be helped by geography. Mr Varadkar has few women to choose from in his party's ranks but Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is seen as most likely to get the nod - perhaps in a newly created role as a minister with responsibility for tackling domestic violence. She is a barrister and a former adviser to former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, former justice minister Alan Shatter and former housing minister Eoghan Murphy. Others in Fine Gael who will hope for a junior brief include outgoing ministers of state Brendan Griffin, Patrick O'Donovan and John Paul Phelan, though Mr Phelan's chances may not be helped by the incident during the government formation process when he reportedly labelled some Green Party members as "nutters". He will be up against outgoing super-junior defence minister Paul Kehoe, who is based in the south east. Fine Gael also has no shortage of backbench TDs who will want career progression, with Peter Burke and Martin Heydon foremost among those most likely to get a junior ministerial role. Mr Varadkar will have a number of committee chairperson jobs that can be allocated to Fine Gael TDs who lose out. They are often high-profile roles that come with an annual payment of 9,000. The Irish Independent also understands Mr Varadkar told his party that the Government will be putting forward a Fine Gael nominee for the role of Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The 134,000 salary is the same as junior ministers are entitled to. There has been speculation this could be a role for Richard Bruton or Charlie Flanagan, who both lost out on Cabinet seats. Meanwhile, the Green Party leader will also have to appease his TDs after deciding to appoint Senator Pippa Hackett to Cabinet. Neasa Hourigan, Malcolm Noonan, Marc O Cathasaigh, Ossian Smyth and Joe O'Brien are mentioned as potential candidates for the roles. A Fianna Fail grassroots revolt has been sparked by Taoiseach Micheal Martin's decision to "snub" his deputy leader Dara Calleary. Fianna Fail councillors held an emergency meeting over Mr Calleary's appointment as Chief Whip rather than a full Cabinet position and agreed to raise concerns directly with Mr Martin. Mayo county councillors from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael also voted to write to the new Taoiseach to complain about the lack of ministerial representation from the west. It comes after Mr Calleary revealed his anger over the appointment and the "incredibly difficult conversation" he had with Mr Martin after he realised he was the last Fianna Fail TD to be offered a role. "There weren't any other jobs on the table offered to me. We had a very difficult conversation and I told him I was disappointed," he told MidWest Radio. "I hear the anger, I understand the anger, I was that angry person yesterday," he said in reference to the criticism of Mr Martin. Meanwhile, the newly appointed Mayo County Council chairperson Richard Finn said there was a "lot of disquiet" over the new Cabinet. Councillors voted to instruct the chief executive to write to the Taoiseach outlining their concerns. "The general gist of the letter would be to express our dissatisfaction with the way the ministries were distributed and where different jobs and portfolios went," the Independent councillor said. The motion was agreed by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael members of the council yesterday afternoon. Separately, the Fianna Fail councillors group in Mayo agreed to write to Mr Martin to express anger over the failure to appoint Mr Calleary as a full Cabinet minister. Swinford councillor Michael Smyth told the Irish Independent: "We're all devastated that he didn't receive a senior role, but I think it's fair to say that Dara has to be the minister for the west. He has a big responsibility on his shoulders. "We have to get on with it. There is anger at Micheal about this. I am absolutely angry at him." Mr Smyth said the Fianna Fail councillors wanted to "put on record our disappointment". He added: "The decision not to make Dara senior minister is a deficit. We hope that balance will be corrected when we have junior ministers appointed next week. We're not happy about it." John Maxwell, the chair of the local Fianna Fail branch in Mr Calleary's Mayo constituency, told MidWest Radio he intended to resign from the party over Mr Calleary's exclusion. However, he added that he had not made a final decision on this. Mr Maxwell was sharply critical of the new Taoiseach, saying Mr Calleary had "Micheal Martin's back" when Fine Gael ministers were "wiping the floor with him". Roscommon-based Fianna Fail Senator Eugene Murphy said: "It's really concerning that Dara Calleary was not given a full Cabinet position." Mr Calleary's predecessor as government chief whip, Fine Gael Senator Sean Kyne, defended the Fianna Fail deputy leader's appointment, insisting "the voice of the chief whip was as strong as any other voice" at the Cabinet table. The former Galway West TD told the Seanad: "I expect all members of the cabinet to work strongly for all parts of Ireland including the west of Ireland." Several Fianna Fail TDs have privately spoken of their outrage over Mr Martin's decision to exclude Mr Calleary from his line-up of full Cabinet ministers. However, the Taoiseach defended his decision to appoint his deputy leader as Government Chief Whip. After the first meeting of the new Cabinet, Mr Martin said he was faced with "very difficult" decisions when appointing his ministers and insisted the chief whip is a very important role in government. The position comes with a salary of 40,000 less than a full Cabinet ministry. Mr Martin said he was "not interested in the pay" his minsters receive but rather their "suitability" for the roles. "Just in terms of Cabinet appointments, generally it is very difficult and I think there are quite a number of people who will be very, very disappointed that they didn't make the Cabinet." "I know a number of parties who are upset by that but we have a limited choice. Each party leader has a limited number to appoint but calls have to be made in terms of the portfolios in particular and the desire to get ministers working immediately, particularly in housing and health," he added. Meanwhile, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar poured cold water on speculation that former cabinet minister Michael Ring would be appointed to a junior role. Asked about calls from Mayo county councillors to appoint Mr Ring, the Fine Gael leader said: "Any minister whose main focus is their own constituency is actually neglecting most of the country, so ministers must have a national remit and that's the way I would certainly expect all ministers to think. "And the truth is there are 40 constituencies, there are 26 counties in the State. It's not possible for every constituency or county to have a minister every time, let alone two. "There are counties, believe it or not, and there are constituencies that haven't had a minister for nine or 10 years and all those things have to be borne in mind when a party leader tries to appoint ministers," he added. TANAISTE Leo Varadkar has sought almost half a billion euro in extra funding to help businesses reopen and recover from the economic hit of the coronavirus crisis. Mr Varadkar, the new Enterprise Minister, told the Dail that his Department is seeking 483m in additional funding, over what it was estimated to need this year. He said that the events of the last four months have been "without precedent" with lives lost and businesses closed. Mr Varadkar said the emergency has taken a "terrible toll" and "things are still very difficult". But he said confidence is slowly coming back and "people are hopeful again". He said the government is seeking to give meaning to this hope by "backing business" and doing what it can to help. Mr Varadkar said it's his responsibility to help restore confidence and prosperity and he said that the planned 'July stimulus' will have to be "radical and far-reaching". He said he was seeking revised estimates for his Department's budget to help enterprises to survive the emergency. Mr Varadkar said the "stakes are high" and the government needs the authority of the Dail for the extra funding. He said the 483m includes 180m for the Sustaining Enterprise Fund, enabling Enterprise Ireland to allocate grants. The 'Restart Grant' scheme needs 250m for small businesses and micro-enterprises who have suffered a massive loss of turnover and need help to reopen. It's believed 100,000 businesses will apply for the grants of between 2,000 and 10,000. Mr Varadkar said some of the extra funding is needed to help businesses respond to Brexit. He said the possibility that a trade deal won't be reached with the UK can't be ruled out. Mr Varadkar told the Dail that failure to approve the estimates would mean the Department and its agencies cannot legally continue schemes to help businesses impacted by Covid-19. He said this would have "devastating consequences for businesses and their employees. Sinn Fein TD Imelda Munster said her party will support the revised estimates. She said: "Were in a situation where the entire sector of the economy are at risk of failure if state doesnt provide adequate supports." But she said she would have expected more then 250m for the restart grant and made criticisms of the scheme. She also asked if there will be a supplementary estimate to fund the July stimulus. She also argued that other countries have provided more supports for businesses. Mr Varadkar said that there is still 180m in funding out of 250m for the restart grants. He said a revised estimate will be needed for the July stimulus. No one from Fianna Fail had yet contributed to the debate on the estimates despite having an earlier 15 minute slot. Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins said there was "confusion" over speaking slots. Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail said he would be accommodated. There was then confusion over whether Mr Collins would be sharing time with his party colleague Robert Troy. Mr Collins wished Mr Varadkar well in his role as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. He said the July stimulus must have a "real and meaningful impact to allow businesses to plan with confidence." Mr Troy raised the issue of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). He said it is important that it continues and suggested it should be tapered off only as businesses' turnover improves. He also said seasonal workers should be included in the scheme. Mr Troy also said the Restart Grant scheme is "too restrictive and takes no account of the costs associated with reopening businesses" including providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and screening. He said the sums available are "not a lot of money for businesses that have been closed for 14 weeks and will have a large expense to reopen." THOUSANDS of construction workers are set to ballot on strike action if their pay is cut following a landmark High Court ruling. Five unions announced today that they will carry out a protective ballot of their members by seeking a mandate for industrial action up to and including strike action. Batu, Connect, Opatsi, Siptu and Unite will seek the mandate from members should any employer move to unilaterally reduce the terms and conditions of employment of any worker. The move comes after the High Court struck down legislation that sets minimum pay rates for electricians. Under the legislation, employment orders for various sectors of the economy were set up following talks between employers and unions. They set legally-binding pay rates and other terms and conditions including pension and sick pay entitlements. The ruling means workers who benefit from these orders are now only entitled to the lower statutory national minimum wage and other basic legal entitlements. The unions who make up the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Construction Industry Committee said the courts decision will have serious implications for thousands of construction workers. The committee is seeking an urgent meeting with the employers body, the Construction Industry Federation. Ictu general secretary Patricia King said that it is vital that the State appeals the judgement and seeks a stay on the order pending the outcome. She said in the meantime unions are determined to act individually and collectively to defend their members pay and terms and conditions of employment. Ms King said this means taking appropriate and timely industrial action where necessary. It is also important to note that the striking down of the legislation as unconstitutional means that agreed dispute resolution procedures are no longer in place, she said. She said this means unions will be free to prosecute disputes with the serving of seven days notice. The ballot will take place in the coming weeks. Over the past few days, there have been quite a few young Irish women sharing their experiences of harassment and assault under the now familiar hashtag, #MeToo. Some tell a specific story of a sexual assault, some of rape, of emotional abuse or the secret recording by sexual partners. Lots of these women name the perpetrators. Night after night we scrolled through our Twitter feed to see familiar names mentioned and the frenzy that followed was wild - people do care when there is an alleged rapist among their midst. It's brave to speak out, to tell others you have been wronged. But those stories, the naming of abusers, and the male Twitter user who urged his followers to "keep tabs" on one alleged abuser's account made me feel very uncomfortable too. The #MeToo phenomenon was a global social movement where women posted their experiences of sexual abuse online, and came in the wake of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein being charged with criminal sexual assaults. A few years after the rest of the world, post-lockdown Ireland seems to have reached its #MeToo moment where online allegations and social justice seem to be superseding criminal justice as the best way of punishing perpetrators of sexual harassment and rape. We always knew we had a problem. The 2002 'Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland' (Savi) report - the last comprehensive study on the subject - found that 42pc of women had experienced some form of sexual abuse but only 10pc of sexual offences were reported. The study's findings were so shattering the lead author, Prof Hannah McGee, worried whether it could even be believed. The sheer volume of disclosures over the past week highlights that sexist and entitled behaviour - from the illicit squeeze of the knee to penetrative sex - are still unacceptably widespread almost 20 years later and institutions and society at large are failing to protect and support victims. We know many victims find the legal system alienating and re-traumatising. Thanks to a widespread culture of victim-blaming, attackers sometimes have it fairly cushy. But that doesn't mean we should move towards a situation where the accused are not given a fair trial. In the judicial system, everyone has or should have certain rights - the right to be heard and the right to be regarded as innocent until proven guilty. But one of the obvious shortcomings of the online world is that no such rights apply. We should think carefully before moving towards a world where digital vigilantism substitutes the role of our courts. Naming and shaming risks prejudicing a fair trial. It's reputationally very damaging. There may be men incorrectly named and shamed, a traumatic and violating crime in its own right - just consider the heartbreaking recent case with Sil Fox. It is very important survivors of sexual violence are free to speak up and are heard when they do, said Noeline Blackwell of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. "Our current systems are entirely inadequate to permit accessible reporting and dealing with instances of sexual harassment and abuse, particularly in industry, particularly for sole traders/freelancers. Many survivors report that such systems blame the person reporting and consider their behaviour disruptive," she said. "In the absence of good systems, there is an inevitable risk that people will feel obliged to take the systems into their own hand. We absolutely endorse and applaud survivors who speak out. "We believe that they have that right. The challenge is to ensure that no one else's rights are violated in speaking out. That, in the absence of adequate systems, is a very hard line to draw and there is a real risk of damage to the rights of others. The need for respectful, accessible ways of reporting was never more urgent." We all lived vicariously through the steamy sex scenes in 'Normal People' throughout April but it turns out life for the average college student is far more distressing and troubling than it ever was for Marianne and Connell. This week saw the publication of new research by NUI Galway's Active Consent Programme. Of the 6,026 students who completed the survey, 29pc of females, 10pc of males, and 28pc of non-binary students reported non-consensual penetration through force, or threat of force, or while incapacitated and unable to give consent. Many of these students said they had not reported the incidents before being surveyed. The survey points to widespread sexual harassment in the colleges and universities covered, with half of first-year students experiencing sexual harassment. The incidence rose to 62pc for second years, while two-thirds of third-year undergraduates said they had experienced sexual harassment. We still have a lot of work to do to ensure that Irish young people have positive and safe sexual experiences at university. Social media is powerful, it garners support and energy for any cause. And, oh God, is it the centre of validation. Still, I'm hoping that other victims become more measured, that they resist the urge to join in online shaming. I suppose that the problem I have with the #MeToo movement is that it is a movement. And movements always come with their own narratives and ideologies. But sexual assault is a criminal act and should always be evaluated objectively in a court of law. There was always going to be disappointment after the three Government leaders appointed their Cabinet ministers. Across Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party, there were 84 TDs vying for 15 jobs. Read More The numbers don't fit and there is no metric any of the leaders could have used to make it any fairer on a lot of their party members.It is near impossible (actually, it is impossible) to have a Cabinet reshuffle without disappointing more than half your party. It was always going to be that way for Micheal Martin. The Fianna Fail leader must have been fully aware that he was going to face a backlash for appointing his deputy Dara Calleary as Chief Whip - which is a junior Cabinet position. Why else would he call Calleary to his office last when all the other ministries had been allocated? Calleary has publicly spoken of his disappointment over the decision and the difficult conversation he had with Martin over what has been called an "appalling snub" by some of his colleagues. But, to Martin's credit, he did seek to appoint ministers on ability over loyalty. Calleary is a natural networker and peacemaker, and he will play a pivotal role in ensuring all three parties vote in favour of potentially unpopular Government legislation. The Mayo TD will also be a point of contact with the Independent deputies who voted for Martin to be Taoiseach and this will be crucial when things get difficult among the coalition parties. There will undoubtedly be occasions when TDs from all three parties kick up and refuse to back certain legislation. Coalition governments force party leaders to appoint their best to the cabinet table. Deadwood is cast adrift and only those seen as capable are given top jobs. In majority, or near majority governments, there is more pressure on leaders to appoint TDs to ministries that may not match the individual's capabilities. There are people in the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party annoyed after they were not given jobs. But those who did get the nod have the potential to be among the best ministers the country has ever had. There are some ministers who have serious questions hanging over them - especially those who have never served in office and are now overseeing crisis departments. The rotating Taoisigh put forward their best teams in the circumstances. The focus will now shift to the junior ministry appointments and the neglected west of Ireland will be hoping that the two party leaders make amends for the perceived slight on the region in their cabinet selections. Martin will be under pressure to reward those who have supported him during the Fianna Fail opposition years, but if he appointed his cabinet based on ability he will have apply the same standards to his junior line up. Otherwise, he will leave himself open to more criticism from a party that could quickly become very divided despite having realised their goal of entering government. Who knows what could happen then? Remember, Enda Kenny was forced to set out his exit date less than 18 months after being re-elected Taoiseach. The timing meant Phil Hogan's bid to head the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was just not worth the risk. When he expressed an interest early in June, it looked as if a swift decision could be made on filling the vacancy at the Geneva-based organisation in time to meet the September 1 deadline. Now the timetable is set to drag on quite a bit, posing a serious decision for the Irish EU Commissioner. So, Phil Hogan - who celebrates his 60th birthday on Saturday - bowed to the inevitable and took his name out of the race. Success for Hogan would have required two things: Firstly, it would have to be clear that the post was going to go a European Union nominee. Secondly, Hogan would have to be the EU's prime - if not sole - candidate. As the weeks ticked on, doubts emerged on both of these issues. The outgoing incumbent is Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, and it had been felt he would be succeeded by someone from "a developed country", pushing the idea that it was "Europe's turn". If that was the case, then Hogan would be well placed to get strong EU backing due to his international trade experience as EU agriculture commissioner and, more recently, as trade commissioner. But doubts about "Europe's turn" quickly enmeshed with doubts about Hogan getting the required level of EU support. No African country has held the post of WTO head and some Belgian and French political leaders were among those who felt it was time to remedy that gap. At the same time, others in the EU, such as Denmark, felt it was high time to address the dysfunctional mess that the WTO has become via a unity candidate - instead of insisting that a European nominee get the job. Then there was counter-pressure from others such as the Netherlands, Germany and the Nordic countries, who disliked the idea of Phil Hogan, as a committed free trade advocate, moving from his current EU post. If Hogan left, there would have been a Commission reshuffle and his job could go to somebody with more protectionists ideas. The Irish Government had endorsed Hogan's WTO candidature because it is very rare that such prestige posts are held by Irish people. The only time an Irish person held this particular post was from 1993 to 1995, when former EU commissioner and attorney general, Peter Sutherland, put in a very successful term. But the realpolitik tells us that a move by Hogan from Brussels, and the pivotal post of trade commissioner, at this juncture, would not have suited Irish interests. As Brexit reaches a crucial point, there was no guarantee a replacement nominee from Ireland could hold the trade portfolio. In all events, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen felt obliged to move Hogan away from potential conflict-of-interest allegations, working as EU Trade Commissioner, while trying to become head of the World Trade Organisation. As a precaution, he was moved from some frontline trade duties on a temporary basis. By this week, if he was to pursue a long campaign trying to become WTO head, it was clear he would have to take extended leave to seek global support and attend appointment hearings. Yesterday, he said that with all the pressing issues coming across his desk in Brussels this was not a practical or desirable thing to do. Hogan cited EU-US and EU-China trading tensions, and the Brexit situation. "This important EU trade agenda requires the full and careful involvement of the European Union, and in particular, the trade commissioner," he said. There was relief in the EU Commission that the issue was resolved. Mr Hogan thanked President Von der Leyen, who he said had been generous with her advice and sensitive handling. Other Brussels diplomats said that several member governments were equally pleased that Hogan was staying put. In a strange way, Phil Hogan's decision might help make another Irish international appointment happen. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is in the running to become chairman of the 19 eurozone countries that use the single currency. A decision on that is due next week on Wednesday, July 8. There are no direct link between the two jobs. But the reality is that a small country, or indeed a large one, could not muster EU support to land two prestige posts. Donohoe is a serious contender for this part-time position of considerable influence at a critical time for Ireland. He may come through as a compromise candidate against rivals from Spain and Luxembourg. Hogan's decision may yet be beneficial. One of the social programs which needs more funding is the school system because the employees of the schools see the developing causes of the problem long before there is a need for police intervention. Before school, after school, weekend, and summer programs such as those offered by the YMCA should be the norm and the police should be involved so that those the children and the police get to know each other in an environment which is not confrontational. Superintendent Muir Clark, a detective with over 30 years' experience, described it as one of the most unusual missing persons cases he had ever come across. He clearly did not want to be standing outside a PSNI station on a cold, wet Saturday, delivering the news Noah's family had been dreading for almost a week. If there was any comfort to be gleaned from his short but devastating announcement, it was the insistence that no foul play was involved. We await further forensic details, but what we now know ties in with the initial assumption that a head injury Noah had sustained after falling off his bicycle had left him confused and disorientated in a part of town he wasn't familiar with. And, although it is no consolation to heartbroken mother Fiona and the other special people in Noah's all-too-short and prematurely ended life, at least their darkest thoughts - that evil had come calling - have been dispelled. Read More Hopefully it will bring succour in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. When a tragedy of such epic proportions visits, it is only natural to hold on tightly to the memories that bind. For Fiona Donohoe, Noah was going to "change the world" - and in some ways he did. She can take comfort from remembering how local communities set aside their differences to look for him. What is also clear is that the teenager was a special person we can all relate to, someone his devastated mum can be forever proud of. Other things, however, are not as perspicuous. Questions asked before the tragic denouement are still out there. The answers to these questions may come in time, but they will not bring a beloved son back home to his mum, who was too distraught to participate in Sunday's well attended and highly emotional vigils in north Belfast. There was another in her home town of Strabane. It is obvious that Fiona and Noah were a lot more than mother and son; they were best friends too. Pastor Brian Madden, who became friends with Fiona while the search for her beloved son was under way, called them a humble family. He said the Donohoes felt guilty about "encroaching on people's generosity" when the search for Noah began just over a week ago. But there was no encroaching on anyone's generosity. Ultimately, there was only regret that Noah, a precious, only child, would never be reunited with Fiona. Her dignified plight, her ongoing trauma, the sight of her standing outside Musgrave Street PSNI station, looking gaunt, pale, emotionally distraught, pierced hearts everywhere - not least that of another mother, Karen Crooks, who found Noah's bike lying at her north Belfast door. As police took it away, the 36-year-old classroom assistant burst into tears because, in her head, "he was coming back for that bike". Noah's disappearance brought out the best in people but, ironically, it also stirred hateful trolls who felt compelled to post abhorrent comments and hurtful conspiracy theories on social media. Their nasty, detestable intervention said every thing about them, and nothing about the innocent boy who took off on his bicycle nine days ago, never to return. Of the countless others whose sentiments were heartfelt, sincere and well meaning, few can fully grasp the unimaginable grief that comes with losing a child. No one wants to be where Fiona Donohoe is today. Too often the Seanad is a place that typifies everything wrong with Irish politics. It can be a vacuous, self-important talking shop that serves little purpose other than to occasionally scrutinise, but more often than not rubber-stamp, legislation that has already passed the Dail. It can also be a place where political careers on the slide are swiftly and cynically revived through political patronage. It continues to be a place of which many senators privately admit they can't wait to get out - whether they were elected through political party deals or appointed by the Taoiseach of the day. But, sometimes, it can be a place where historic and game-changing moments in public life take place. Yesterday was one of those days, albeit briefly. Just before 6pm in the Convention Centre, the upper house's temporary home during the Covid restrictions, Eileen Flynn, the first person from the Travelling community to sit in the Seanad, rose to address the chamber. "I am actually extremely nervous," she said, her voice wavering. But she persevered, declaring it a day where finally there is "a voice for a member of the Travelling community" and "a voice for those at the very end of Irish society". She continued: "I look forward to working with everybody and hopefully we can all learn from each other and hopefully I can be that person who can break down the barriers for Traveller people." Applause broke out, the moment not lost on those who sat unmoved by the speeches that proceeded Ms Flynn's or those that followed. Earlier, she had told RTE it had been the best call she had ever received when Taoiseach Micheal Martin informed her that he, Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan had agreed to appoint her: "It was just absolutely amazing, it felt like I was just dreaming. I didn't know what to do." Ms Flynn is a human rights activist who has campaigned on homelessness, same-sex marriage, abortion and hate crime. Born into a family of nine children on a halting site in Ballyfermot in Dublin, her appointment is a truly progressive moment in Irish society. It should not be dismissed amid the cynicism about the new Government not representing the change voters demanded in February. All that said, the Seanad remains an unreformed behemoth. Despite the change of venue, much of what we have grown used to in the upper house was in evidence yesterday. The coalition deal between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens elected Mark Daly as Cathaoirleach. Mr Daly's emergence from an internal Fianna Fail contest was a surprise to those who had expected outgoing cathaoirleach Denis O'Donovan to win another term. He was by all accounts the preferred candidate of the leader. But then Mr Martin's internal popularity in the party has nosedived in the last 48 hours because of his Cabinet appointments. A Fianna Fail senator said the "view was strong that there was a need for the party to ensure that our identity was asserted and Mark best filled that vision [and] also a sense that the Seanad needs to act more independently and to hold the Government to account". Mr O'Donovan, bedecked in a striking tan-coloured suit, did not look pleased but graciously seconded Mr Daly's nomination. A Kerry native who first came to national prominence as a contestant on RTE's ill-fated 'Treasure Island' reality show in the early 2000s, Mr Daly has consistently called for Government to make preparations for a border poll. His new non-partisan position will stymie that work, but the blow will be cushioned perhaps by his new 114,000 annual salary. As his fellow Kerryman, Fianna Fail Senator Ned O'Sullivan, remarked Mr Daly will now be "presiding, greeting, chairing and adjudicating", cheekily referring to the new Cathaoirleach as "the junior senator from Kerry". In contrast to its predecessor, the 26th Seanad is unlikely to be a place where the Government suffers embarrassing losses. Between them Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens hold 40 out of the 60 seats with plenty of familiar names from the last Dail finding their way to the upper house including former Fine Gael cabinet minister Regina Doherty and Fianna Fail stalwart Timmy Dooley. Ronan Mullen reminded us that Ms Doherty was a vigorous campaigner for the abolition of the house seven years ago. "I am resisting the temptation to remind her of things she said about the Seanad," he said. He also criticised the decision not to appoint a senator from Northern Ireland as "a major failure of political responsibility" and a "huge oversight". This was echoed by several senators throughout the afternoon, including the Sinn Fein contingent who lamented the loss of the sharp-suited Ian Marshall, a unionist who served in the last Seanad. Several hours behind schedule, senators eventually got to the important business of debating and passing the laws underpinning the Special Criminal Court, ensuring its jurisdiction did not lapse at midnight last night. Earlier, Independent Senator Gerry Craughwell declared that if the Seanad was not reformed "it will die". But history tells us it is far more likely the Seanad will die before it is ever reformed. A runaway horse was rescued by the RNLI after swimming more than a mile out to sea in western Ireland (RNLI/PA) A runaway horse was rescued by the RNLI after swimming more than a mile out to sea in western Ireland. The distressed animal called Valentine was coaxed out of four metres deep Atlantic waters on Monday evening near the holiday seaside resort of Bundoran in Co Donegal. The towns lifeboat crew was unable to go too close in case it tried to jump into the boat, press officer Shane Smyth said. Expand Close The horse entered the water near Bundoran, a town which is a popular surfing spot (Niall Carson/PA). / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The horse entered the water near Bundoran, a town which is a popular surfing spot (Niall Carson/PA). He added: It could have turned out much worse, particularly if the horses head had gone under the water, it would not have been a nice outcome. The volunteer crew was called to Murvagh beach, a relatively secluded area between Bundoran and Donegal town. It is on an inlet which is not Atlantic-facing. The horses owner was with it when the animal bolted into the water, Mr Smyth added. They thought it could jump into the lifeboat Shane Smyth The crew spent almost an hour trying to guide the horse back to shore. Mr Smyth said: They did not go too near it because they did not know what the horse was going to do. They thought it could jump into the lifeboat. They just directed it with the boat and stayed around 10 metres away. Expand Close The horse swam for about an hour (RNLI/PA). / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The horse swam for about an hour (RNLI/PA). Mr Smyth added: There was enough noise and movement from the boat to nudge it back towards the shore. Once it got in it got more shallow and the horse was able to walk out. The horse swam for about an hour, which is an intense amount of time for an animal to swim. Lifeboat helmsman Killian OKelly said it was another call out with a good outcome. He added: Animals are as prone as people to get in trouble in the water and we were glad to be able to help out on this occasion. A police officer stands guard as protesters gather at a shopping mall in Central during a pro-democracy protest against Beijings national security law (AP) China has approved a contentious law that would allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in Hong Kong. The legislation had sparked fears that it would be used to curb opposition voices in the semi-autonomous territory. Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kongs sole representative to the standing committee of the National Peoples Congress, confirmed in an interview with reporters that the law had been passed. He said punishments would not include the death penalty, but did not elaborate on further details such as whether the law could be applied retroactively. Mr Tam said: We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble. Dont let Hong Kong be used as a tool to split the country. The South China Morning Post newspaper and public broadcaster RTHK both reported that the standing committee had approved the law unanimously. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had declined to comment earlier in the day, while the committee was still meeting. She did say that once the law is passed, the Hong Kong government will announce it and promulgate it for implementation here, and then I and my senior officials will do our best to respond to everyones questions, especially regarding the enforcement of this national law. The legislation is aimed at curbing subversive, secessionist and terrorist activities, as well as foreign intervention in the citys affairs. Expand Close There are concerns the law would be used to curb opposition voices in the semi-autonomous territory (Andy Wong/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp There are concerns the law would be used to curb opposition voices in the semi-autonomous territory (Andy Wong/AP) It follows months of anti-government protests that at times descended into violence in Hong Kong last year. Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, as well as Agnes Chow and Nathan Law, issued statements on Facebook indicating that they would withdraw from pro-democracy organisation Demosisto. Mr Wong said worrying about life and safety has become a real issue and that nobody will be able to predict the repercussions of the law, whether that means being extradited to China or facing jail terms of 10 years or more. More than 100 protesters gathered at a luxury mall in Hong Kongs Central business district, with several holding up a Hong Kong Independence flag as well as posters condemning the national security law. Police later cordoned off different areas of the mall, including the atrium, detaining and searching several protesters. The law has met with strong opposition within Hong Kong and condemnation from former colonial ruler the UK, as well as the US, the European Union and others. Expand Close A pro-China supporter during a rally to celebrate the approval of a national security law for Hong Kong (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A pro-China supporter during a rally to celebrate the approval of a national security law for Hong Kong (AP) Human rights groups have warned the law could target opposition politicians seen as insufficiently loyal to Beijing for arrest or disqualification from running in September elections for the legislative council. Ahead of the announcement, the Trump administration said it will bar defence exports to Hong Kong and will soon require licenses for the sale of items to Hong Kong that have both civilian and military uses. The administration has warned for weeks that if the law was passed, it would take action to end special US trade and commercial preferences Hong Kong had enjoyed since reverting to Chinese rule in 1997. The United States is forced to take this action to protect US national security, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a statement. We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the Peoples Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the (ruling Communist Party) by any means necessary. Expand Close Protesters demonstrate against the new law in a shopping mall (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters demonstrate against the new law in a shopping mall (AP) The US senate unanimously approved a bill last week to impose sanctions on businesses and individuals including the police that undermine Hong Kongs autonomy or restrict freedoms promised to the citys residents. The UK said it could offer residency and possible citizenship to around three million of Hong Kongs 7.5 million people. China has denounced all such moves as gross interference in its internal affairs. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Beijing has decided to retaliate with visa restrictions on US personnel who perform badly on Hong Kong-related issues. Mr Zhao said: The US sides attempt to obstruct China from promoting Hong Kongs national security legislation through the so-called sanctions will never succeed. China decided to use the National Peoples Congress to enact the legislation after opposition within Hong Kongs Legislative Council and within society as a whole made it impossible to pass at the local level. The law is seen as the most significant erosion to date of Hong Kongs British-style rule of law and high degree of autonomy that China promised Hong Kong would enjoy at least through 2047 under the one country, two systems framework. Passage of the legislation will also allow the central government in Beijing to set up a national security office in Hong Kong to collect and analyse intelligence and deal with criminal cases related to national security. A team of Chinese researchers looked at influenza viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018. A new flu virus found in Chinese pigs has become more infectious to humans and needs to be watched closely in case it becomes a potential "pandemic virus", a study said, although experts said there is no imminent threat. A team of Chinese researchers looked at influenza viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018 and found a "G4" strain of H1N1 that has "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus", according to the paper, published by the U.S. journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Pig farm workers also showed elevated levels of the virus in their blood, the authors said, adding that "close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in the swine industry, should be urgently implemented". The study highlights the risks of viruses crossing the species barrier into humans, especially in densely populated regions in China, where millions live in close proximity to farms, breeding facilities, slaughterhouses and wet markets. The current coronavirus sweeping the world is believed to have originated in horseshoe bats in southwest China and could have spread to humans via a seafood market in the central city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified. "China is closely following the developments in regard to this matter. We will take all necessary measures to prevent the spread and outbreak of any virus," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily news conference on Tuesday. The PNAS study said pigs were considered important "mixing vessels" for the generation of pandemic influenza viruses and called for "systematic surveillance" of the problem. China took action against an outbreak of avian H1N1 in 2009, restricting incoming flights from affected countries and putting tens of thousands of people into quarantine. The new virus identified in the study is a recombination of the 2009 H1N1 variant and a once prevalent strain found in pigs. But while it is capable of infecting humans, there is no imminent risk of a new pandemic, said Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington. "There's no evidence that G4 is circulating in humans, despite five years of extensive exposure," he said on Twitter. "That's the key context to keep in mind." More than 10.3 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 504,269 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Mary Catterall is now recovering from the coronaviru Photo credit: Family handout/PA Wire One of Britain's oldest residents is now recovering from the coronavirus. Mary Catterall, who celebrated her 102nd birthday at the end of February, tested positive for the virus at the end of May. Despite some fears she may not make it, five weeks later her family has said she is now looking "better than before". Her daughter, Edith Oakes, 75, told the PA news agency: "She looked really good when I went to see her last. The staff at the home have taken really good care of her. "It's only in the last couple of weeks that I have been able to see her, and that has been wonderful. "The staff had been sending me video calls so I was able to see her, but seeing her in person, she was looking really well." Mary, who has three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, has been living at Birch Court Care Home in Warrington for the past six years. Edith credited the staff at the home for why she has recovered so quickly. Born in February 1918, Mary moved to the area when she was around five. She left school aged 14 and worked at Cockhedge Mill before working in munitions during the Second World War. Edith, who said her mother loves music and travelling, said: "The last time we spoke to her she said, 'it's about time I kicked the bucket!' "She is a tough old bird. She's now looking better than ever." 1961 file picture of DR Congo celebrating the first anniversary of independence from Belgium (Horst Faas/AP) The Democratic Republic of Congos President Felix Tshisekedi vowed to root out the corruption and impunity that has hindered the country since its independence from Belgium as the nation marked its 60th anniversary amid a global reckoning over racial inequality. While the milestone was commemorated in Belgium with gestures of atonement, Congolese reflected on the struggles that have engulfed the nation in the decades since independence and how to move forward. Among the statues being removed around the world as countries confront legacies of slavery and colonialism was one being taken down on Tuesday in Belgium of King Leopold II, Congos brutal colonial ruler. A letter sent to Congos current president stopped short of an official apology, but Belgiums King Philippe conveyed his deepest regrets for the acts of violence and cruelty and the suffering and humiliation inflicted during the colonial era. Expand Close Patrice Lumumba, left, signs the act of independence of the DR Congo, with then prime minister of Belgium Gaston Eyskens, right, in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa (Jean-Jacques Levy/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Patrice Lumumba, left, signs the act of independence of the DR Congo, with then prime minister of Belgium Gaston Eyskens, right, in Leopoldville, the capital before it was later renamed in 1966 to Kinshasa (Jean-Jacques Levy/AP) The vast, mineral-rich country in Central Africa suffered decades of oppression after it was annexed by Belgium in 1908. After independence in 1960, DR Congo soon fell under the repressive rule of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko who ruled for 32 years. The first leader after Mr Mobutus death was assassinated, and his son Joseph Kabila then took over and headed the country for 18 years. Mr Tshisekedi, whose father led Dr Congos largest opposition party until his death, took office last year but only after long-delayed elections were finally held. In a televised speech late on Monday, Mr Tshisekedi pledged to root out impunity so that the country could move forward. From independence to the present day, the main effect of our political policy has been to dilute efficiency, to dilute responsibility and ultimately to do disservice, the president said. Expand Close A statue of King Leopold II riding a horse is seen at the Institute of National Museums of Congo, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (John Bompengo/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A statue of King Leopold II riding a horse is seen at the Institute of National Museums of Congo, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (John Bompengo/AP) Because of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Tuesdays milestone took place without the fanfare and public commemorations that marked the 50th anniversary a decade earlier in Kinshasa. DR Congolese, though, still used the occasion to reflect on the challenges facing the country. Sixty years after independence, can we Congolese be proud of our country? I dont think so, political researcher Paulin Mbenza said. Congo can rise from its ashes but this depends on the will of the politicians because they are more concerned with the personal interest than the general interest, he said. That criticism was echoed by Tapie Lutunu, a political analyst in Kinshasa. Education, employment, health, infrastructure nothing works because of the poor management and mediocrity of the Congolese political class, Mr Lutunu said. We need a new class of elites motivated by love of their country. Leicester has become the first city in Britain to be plunged back into lockdown after public health officials expressed alarm at a significant rise in Covid-19 cases. Shops that only reopened on June 15 have been ordered to close from today, schools will be shut from Thursday to all but vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers. Pubs and restaurants will remain shut on July 4 and a proposed relaxation of shielding on July 6 has been cancelled. The lockdown will cover the whole of one of Britain's biggest cities as well as parts of Leicestershire including Oadby and Birstall and is expected to remain in place until at least mid-July. The decision was announced in parliament last night by Matt Hancock, the health secretary. He said: "We recommend against all but essential travel to, from and within Leicester." It will cause alarm in Downing Street that localised lockdowns - with the damaging economic impact that entails-- could become the new normal as part of its so-called "whack-a-mole" strategy to fight the virus. The action is so sensitive for the British government that its announcement was repeatedly postponed last night, as a succession of meetings were held with cabinet ministers and local officials. Mr Hancock said the seven-day infection rate in Leicester was three times higher than the next-highest city. Leicester accounts for around 10pc of new infections in the country. He said the actions were "profoundly in the national interest", adding: "We said we would do whatever it takes to defeat this virus." The news came as it emerged today will also see an announcement from prime minister Boris Johnson on his 'New Deal' for the British public. Mr Johnson's bid to rebuild the post-Covid British economy centres on a plan borrowed from Depression-era America. Mr Johnson promised to detail his unapologetically "Rooseveltian" focus on jobs, skills and infrastructure in a major speech intended to move the national debate away from lockdown and on to the future of the UK. Mr Johnson will promise that: "[The UK] will not just bounce back, we will bounce forward - stronger and better and more united than ever before." He will pledge billions of pounds for roads, hospitals, schools, houses, railways, prisons and broadband to "build our way back to health" by fostering economic growth. In a speech in Dudley, West Midlands, in a former "red wall" constituency won from Labour at the last election, the premier will make it clear that it and other deprived parts of the country will be first in line for money to rebuild. Meanwhile, the UK's National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) yesterday ruled that there is no good evidence that vitamin D protects against coronavirus. In April, health officials urged everyone to take a vitamin D supplement in order to boost bone health amid concerns that lockdown was depriving most people of enough sunshine. A number of studies have suggested those lacking the "sunshine" nutrient are more likely to develop Covid-19. But today Nice said the evidence in such research was "low quality" and failed to adjust for other factors, such as excess weight or underlying health conditions. However, health officials stressed that taking a daily supplement was still advised to protect bone and muscle health. They are particularly concerned that those who have been "shielding" may have been deprived of the nutrient after months indoors. Sunlight is the primary source of vitamin D, which is essential for the absorption of calcium and healthy bones. asla;lsa;lsa Frances former PM Francois Fillon and his wife Penelope outside Paris court A French court yesterday sentenced former prime minister Francois Fillon to five years in jail, three of them suspended, for embezzling public funds in a scandal that wrecked his 2017 run for president. The court also found Fillon's wife, Penelope, guilty for her role in the scam that saw her receive about 1m for minimal work as her husband's parliamentary assistant. She received a suspended three-year sentence. In a scathing ruling, the chief judge Nathalie Gavarino said Fillon (66) had eroded public trust in the political class as a result of paying his wife a salary that was disproportionate to the work done. The Fillons would appeal the verdict, defence lawyer Antonin Levy said. It means Fillon will avoid going to jail before the appeal is heard. A political insider who was prime minister under Nicolas Sarkozy, Fillon had been the frontrunner in the election race when the allegations surfaced. When the scandal broke, Fillon denied having done anything illegal, though he later admitted an error of judgment. But the court said the couple had failed to prove what work Penelope did and had amassed wealth as a result of the scam. The court also ordered the Fillons to pay 401,000 in damages to the National Assembly, and told Penelope Fillon and Joulaud to pay a further 679,000. Tensions rising: A couple point their firearms at marchers during a protest against Ms Krewson. Photo: Reuters The protesters marching through St Louis were armed only with posters and chants, all meant to put pressure on Mayor Lyda Krewson to redirect city funds away from law enforcement. "Resign Lyda, take the cops with you," they shouted on the way to the mayor's house in the Central West End, banging on drums and carrying signs that said 'Respect us'. The first-term Democrat had publicly released the names and addresses of some activists, and now they wanted to bring their demonstration to her door. But as the peaceful crowd of about 500 walked along a private, gated street, a white couple who emerged from a marbled mansion had something else in mind. The man in a pink shirt walked out from the five-storey house carrying a semi-automatic rifle as he appeared to threaten the group. A few feet away, a woman pointed a pistol at the crowd, her finger on the trigger. By yesterday, a video of the scene on social media had been viewed nine million times. The video had been so widely shared on social media that President Donald Trump retweeted it without explanation. Expand Close Pressure: St Louis mayor Lyda Krewson named individual protesters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pressure: St Louis mayor Lyda Krewson named individual protesters In a region that has long been in the spotlight for tensions over policing and racial inequality, the interaction captured the divisions rippling throughout the US in 2020. It is unclear whether the couple in the video were the mansion's owners, and attempts to contact the owners last night were unsuccessful. Neither Krewson nor the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to a request for comment. For weeks, massive crowds in St Louis have rallied against police brutality and racial injustice following the death of George Floyd. Several protesters personally handed letters to Krewson at a demonstration last week, calling on her to shutter the city's Medium Security Institution, a 1,100-bed prison known as the "workhouse", and slash city funding for St Louis police down to nothing. During a live-stream Q&A on Facebook last Friday, she turned to a crumpled stack of those letters and read them one by one. "Here's one that wants $50m to go to Cure Violence, $75m to go to Affordable Housing, $60m to go to Health and Human Services, and have zero go to the police," she said in the now-deleted video. For each letter calling on police defunding, Krewson named the writer and their street or home address - even as some viewers in the comments asked her to stop. One St Louis alderwoman said the mayor had resorted to "intimidation of the residents [she was] elected to represent." Another called it "a move designed to silence dissent". Scheduled in St Louis for the following day was a rally involving the far-right Proud Boys, a group with a dark history of assaulting leftist protesters. Hours later, Krewson said she was sorry for the transgression and took the video down, writing: "Never did I intend to harm anyone or cause distress." But her apology was not enough to quell the demonstrations. Following confrontations over the weekend, more than 40,000 signed a petition calling on her to resign. On Sunday, they brought their campaign to the mayor's house. "As a leader, you don't do stuff like that," State Representative Rasheen Aldridge told the crowd. As they made their way to a rally at Krewson's house, they passed by a huge, white marbled home that St Louis magazine said had once been called the city's "most dazzling mansion". The owners of the "Midwestern palazzo" on a private street had undergone a decades-long renovation to bring the home back to its original glory. Yet the barefoot couple standing in front of the house's manicured lawns did not need to do much to defend the mansion. Moments after they pulled out their weapons, a black man in a "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" shirt directed the crowd to keep moving. "Let's go, let's go, let's go," he shouted. ( Washington Post) They can create their own custom slime and we have our own signature slime recipe. Things can be added to make the slime smell different, like mint, bubble gum, cotton candy and chocolate. Its also gooey and can be stretched. We have professor slime who can appear at birthday parties and other activities. US President Donald Trump has said he was not told of intelligence that a Russian military spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan - including US troops - because intelligence officials did not find the information credible. "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP," Mr Trump said in a tweet on Sunday night, referring to Vice President Mike Pence. He added that he considers such reports "possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax" spread by the "Fake News ... wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!" Mr Trump had earlier tweeted he had not been briefed about the intelligence, but he did little to clarify whether the administration was denying the assessment existed or simply that he knew anything about it. 'The Washington Post' reported the Russian bounties offered to Taliban-linked militants to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan are believed to have resulted in the deaths of several US service members, according to intelligence gleaned from American military interrogations of captured militants in recent months. Several people familiar with the matter said it was unclear exactly how many US or coalition troops from other countries may have been killed or targeted. The intelligence was passed up from the US Special Operations forces based in Afghanistan and led to a restricted high-level White House meeting in late March, the people said. Asked to comment, John Ullyot, a National Security Council spokesman, said "the veracity of the underlying allegations continue to be evaluated". The CIA and the Defence and State departments declined to comment. Russia and the Taliban have denied the existence of the programme. Mr Trump's late-night tweet came in response to one by Republican Senator Lindsey O Graham, one of many legislators from both parties who called on the Trump administration to provide an explanation of what had transpired. "Imperative Congress get to the bottom of recent media reports that Russian GRU units in Afghanistan have offered to pay the Taliban to kill American soldiers with the goal of pushing America out of the region," Mr Graham tweeted. Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had written to senior intelligence officials requesting a briefing for all House members about what she characterised as a "significant threat to American troops and our allies". "The questions that arise are: was the president briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed," Ms Pelosi said in her letter, a copy of which was released by her office. "Congress and the country need answers now." She added she wants to know "what options are available to hold Russia accountable." White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during an appearance on Fox News that Congress would be briefed on the situation later in the day, adding: "I think that will clear up a lot of the false reporting." She did not specify which members of Congress would be briefed. Ms McEnany said media reports have been based on "alleged intelligence that was never briefed to the president of the United States", and she criticised the media for "spewing out" false information. She said that as a matter of practice, Mr Trump is briefed only on intelligence that is found to be "verifiable and credible." Separately yesterday, House armed services committee chairman Adam Smith sought "detailed answers" from the Defence Department. "The American people - and our service members - deserve to know the truth about what the White House knew about these Russian operations that may have directly resulted in the deaths of American service members," Mr Smith said. "We must find out exactly what was known, and when it was known to hold the appropriate administration officials and the Russian government accountable." At the heart of the Trump administration resides "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma": What is it with President Donald Trump and Russia? Why does the "America First" president so often put Russia first? That question has surfaced yet again after 'The New York Times' first reported that a Russian military intelligence unit had paid bounties to the Taliban to kill US troops in Afghanistan. 'The Post' reported that those bounties had resulted in the deaths of Americans. A normal president would have cancelled his golf outing and made clear that there would be hell to pay if the reports are true. Not Trump. Instead, he lashed out at the news media, denying that the intelligence community had briefed him on its findings. Unfortunately, it's hard to credit anything said by a president who has lied to or misled the public more than 19,000 times. The US government reportedly had this information since January, and the National Security Council even debated what to do about it. During that time, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at least five times and issued a joint declaration celebrating the "Spirit of the Elbe" in honour of the meeting between US and Soviet troops in Germany on April 25, 1945. Trump also invited Putin back to the Group of Seven and gushed that "we have this great friendship". As Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton recently said: "Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle." There is a long history of Trump dancing to Putin's tune. Trump refused to accept that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election. "President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," he simpered at the 2018 Helsinki summit. The Trump administration did impose sanctions on Russia for various reasons, but, as Bolton notes, "almost all of them occasioned opposition, or at least extended grumbling and complaining, from Trump himself." Trump has shown deference to other dictators, including China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong-un; but, even by his standards, his record of obsequiousness to Putin stands out. Trump has never engaged in any tough-guy talk with the Russian strongman, as he has with Xi and Kim. Why? Bolton writes that he didn't ask Trump what he thought of Putin, because he was "afraid of what I might hear". The only thing we can say with confidence is that Trump's partiality toward Russia is likely spurred by self-interest, not national interest. As Bolton notes: "I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my White House tenure that wasn't driven by re-election calculations." It is possible that "financial calculations" were also involved. Trump and his sons have bragged in the past about the money they made from Russians and were pursuing a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign. But Trump has fought hard to keep his finances secret. What we do know is that Trump might not be president were it not for Russia's election interference - and Trump surely knows that, too, despite his angry denials. He insists that allegations of Russian collusion are a "hoax", but the Trump campaign's high command welcomed an offer of dirt on Hillary Clinton from a Russian emissary, and Trump himself publicly urged the Russians to hack her emails on the very day they attempted to do so. Unredacted portions of the Mueller report make clear that Roger Stone was Trump's emissary to WikiLeaks, the website used by Russian intelligence to disseminate stolen emails. Stone informed Trump in advance of WikiLeaks releases, and, instead of calling the FBI, Trump reportedly said, "Oh good, all right". But special counsel Robert S. Mueller III could not get to the bottom of the story because Stone refused to cooperate. Trump praised Stone for not cooperating, and the Justice Department recommended an unusually lenient sentence for him on charges of lying under oath and witness tampering. A prosecutor told the House Judiciary Committee last week that this was because of Stone's "relationship to the president". So here we are: We know that Trump is willing to sacrifice America's national interests to Russia, but we don't know why. That's in part because Mueller kept his inquiry so narrowly focused. As Jeffrey Toobin writes in the 'New Yorker', the special counsel did not "examine the roots" of Trump's "special affinity for Putin's Russia". Does Trump think that if he calls out Putin for his misdeeds - including the alleged bounties on US soldiers - Putin may be less eager to help him win re-election? Or that it might sour future Russia deals for the Trump Organisation? Those are the most likely explanations I can come up with. All we can say for sure is that Trump is again putting America last. ( Washington Post) Housebuilder Redrow has said it will scale back its operations in London as it warned over profits in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The company said it will drastically pull back in the capital to focus on higher-margin regional areas as buyers look for more green space. It said that recent studies have highlighted that homebuyers have a strong desire for more inside and outside space in light of the pandemic, creating stronger opportunities for its regional and heritage operations. Redrow warned that the shift in strategy and the impact of coronavirus means its profits for 2020 will be substantially below 2019. It told investors on Tuesday that site closures at the end of March had a profound impact on its trading for the year to June. The Group said it completed 4,032 homes in the year to the end of June compared to 6,443 in the previous year. Meanwhile, it said it expects to have posted 1.34 billion in turnover for the year, slumping from 2.11 billion in the previous 12-month period. Redrow said it has witnessed strong pent-up demand in the five weeks since it has reopened its sales offices, especially from buyers using the Governments Help to Buy scheme. It also stressed that it has a record order book of 1.42 billion, as a result of a strong sales performance earlier in the year and a significant shortfall in legal completions due to the virus. John Tutte, executive chairman of Redrow, said: This has been a challenging period for the industry and prevented the group from delivering another set of record results. The business has however demonstrated its resilience throughout the crisis and I am immensely grateful for the dedication of my colleagues, the commitment of our wider workforce and the continuing patience of our customers as we adjust to a new way of working. Whilst these extraordinary times have been testing for the business, they have provided us with an opportunity to focus on our core strengths putting product, customer satisfaction and the environment at the heart of a recovery strategy to maximise shareholder returns. Eight Republican members of US congress have attended a White House briefing about allegations that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan intelligence the White House insisted the president himself has not been fully briefed on. Members of both US parties called for additional information and consequences for Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, with eight Democrats due to be briefed on the matter on Tuesday morning. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted US president Donald Trump had not been briefed on the findings because they have not been verified. The White House appears to be setting an unusually high bar for bringing the information to Mr Trump, since it is rare for intelligence to be confirmed without a shadow of doubt before it is presented to senior government decision-makers. Ms McEnany declined to say why a different standard of confidence in the intelligence applied to briefing legislators compared to bringing the information to the president. Expand Close Former US security adviser John Bolton told colleagues he briefed Trump on the intelligence assessment in March 2019 (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former US security adviser John Bolton told colleagues he briefed Trump on the intelligence assessment in March 2019 (AP) Republicans who were in the briefing on Monday expressed alarm about Russias activities in Afghanistan. Michael McCaul, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and fellow representative Adam Kinzinger were in the briefing led by US director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and national security adviser Robert OBrien. Mr McCaul and Mr Kinzinger said in a statement that legislators were told there is an ongoing review to determine the accuracy of these reports. They said: If the intelligence review process verifies the reports, we strongly encourage the administration to take swift and serious action to hold the Putin regime accountable. Representatives Liz Cheney and Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the US house armed services committee, said: After todays briefing with senior White House officials, we remain concerned about Russian activity in Afghanistan, including reports that they have targeted US forces. Senators reviewed classified documents related to the allegations on Monday evening. On CNN, US house speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed the timing of the Democratic briefing but said its no substitute for what they owe the congress of the United States. She said that this is as serious as it gets. Ms Pelosi speculated that Mr Trump was not briefed because they know it makes him very unhappy, and all roads for him, as you know, lead to Putin. And would he tell Putin what they knew? Expand Close American soldiers wait on the tarmac in Logar province, Afghanistan (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp American soldiers wait on the tarmac in Logar province, Afghanistan (AP) The intelligence assessments came amid Mr Trumps push to withdraw the US from Afghanistan. They suggested Russia was making overtures to militants as the US and the Taliban held talks to end the long-running war. The assessment was first reported by The New York Times, then confirmed to The Associated Press by American intelligence officials and two others with knowledge of the matter. Republican senator John Cornyn told reporters: I dont think it should be a surprise to anybody that the Talibans been trying to kill Americans and that the Russians have been encouraging that, if not providing means to make that happen. He added: Intelligence committees have been briefed on that for months. So has Nancy Pelosi, so has (Democratic Senate leader) Chuck Schumer. So, this is more leaks and partisanship. While Russian meddling in Afghanistan is not new, officials said Russian operatives became more aggressive in their desire to contract with the Taliban and members of the Haqqani Network, a militant group aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan and designated a foreign terrorist organisation in 2012. The intelligence community has been investigating an April 2019 attack on an American convoy that killed three US marines after a car rigged with explosives detonated near their armoured vehicles as they travelled back to Bagram Airfield, the largest US military installation in Afghanistan. Three other US service members were wounded in the attack, along with an Afghan contractor. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. The officials the AP spoke to also said they were looking closely at insider attacks sometimes called green-on-blue incidents from 2019 to determine if they are also linked to Russian bounties. Intelligence officials told the AP that the White House first became aware of alleged Russian bounties in early 2019 a year earlier than had been previously reported. The assessments were included in one of Mr Trumps written daily briefings at the time, and then-national security adviser John Bolton told colleagues he had briefed Mr Trump on the matter. Mr Trumps Democratic general election rival, former vice president Joe Biden, used an online fundraiser on Monday to hammer the president for a betrayal of American troops in favour of an embarrassing campaign of deferring and debasing himself before Putin. Im disgusted, Mr Biden told donors, as he recalled his late son Beaus military service. Families of service members, Mr Biden said, should never, ever have to worry theyll face a threat like this: the commander in chief turning a blind eye. Asked about the reports on the alleged bounties, Mr Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: These claims are lies. President Donald Trump has called for two anarchists to turn themselves in after vandalising statues of George Washington in New York City. We have them on tape, President Trump tweeted. They will be prosecuted and face 10 years in Prison based on the Monuments and Statues Act. Turn yourselves in now! New York City police released surveillance footage showing two unidentified men early on Monday throwing balloons filled with red paint at the statues in Manhattans Washington Square Park. President Trump tweeted last week he had authorised the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalises or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the US. President Trump also signed an executive order saying his administration would not allow violent mobs incited by a radical fringe to become the arbiters of the aspects of our history that can be celebrated in public spaces. The order called for the government to prosecute such vandals to the fullest extent permitted under federal law. Federal prosecutors in New York similarly have cracked down on people accused of firebombing police vehicles amid the unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Two Brooklyn lawyers were recently hit with charges that could put them in prison for nearly 50 years for setting fire to an empty New York City police vehicle last month. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey updates reporters on Covid-19 in the state (Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool) Arizonas Republican governor shut down bars, movie theatres, gyms and water parks on Monday amid an alarming resurgence of coronavirus cases nationwide. Meanwhile leaders in several states ordered residents to wear masks in public in a dramatic course reversal. Among those implementing the face covering orders is the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August. Mr Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them. Arizona Governor Doug Duceys order went into effect immediately and will last for at least 30 days. Mr Ducey also ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17. Expand Close Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17 (Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17 (Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool) Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governors stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May. Arizona health officials reported 3,858 more confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the seventh time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Since the pandemic began, 74,500 cases and 1,588 deaths stemming from the virus have been reported in Arizona. Our expectation is that our numbers next week will be worse, Mr Ducey said Monday. The state is not alone in its reversal. Places such as Texas, Florida and California are backtracking, closing beaches and bars in some cases amid a resurgence of the virus. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced on Monday that he is postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing. Expand Close Global coronavirus cases and deaths (PA Graphics) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Global coronavirus cases and deaths (PA Graphics) New Jersey has been slowly reopening, and on Monday indoor shopping malls were cleared to start business again. Democratic governors in Oregon and Kansas said on Monday that they would require people to wear masks. Idaho is moving in a different direction, at least when it comes to the elections. Despite the continuing spread of the virus, state elections officials have said that they would allow in-person voting as well as mail-in ballots for August primaries and the November general election, the Idaho Statesman reported. Idahos May 19 primary was the first statewide election held by mail only. The primary had record voter turnout. In Texas, a group of bar owners sued on Monday to try to overturn Republican Governor Greg Abbotts order closing their businesses. They contend Mr Abbott does not have the authority, and they complained that other businesses, such as nail salons and tattoo studios, remain open. Governor Abbott continues to act like a king, said Jared Woodfill, attorney for the bar owners. Mr Abbott is unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights. Expand Close Mr Ducey also announced bars, nightclubs and water parks must close again for at least a month (Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Ducey also announced bars, nightclubs and water parks must close again for at least a month (Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool) But Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that Mr Abbott is on the right path, and he added that Mr Trump should order the wearing of masks. States that were recalcitrant are doing a 180, and you have the same states now wearing masks, Mr Cuomo said. Let the president have the same sense to do that as an executive order, and then let the president lead by example and let the president put a mask on it, because we know it works. Less than a week after Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said there would be no mask requirement, city officials announced on Monday that coverings must be worn in situations where individuals cannot socially distance. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany responded by saying the presidents advice is to do whatever your local jurisdiction requests of you. Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community! Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region. THE MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR and Davor Bozinovic announced yesterday that the mandatory two-week self-isolation for those entering Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina will be lifted "today at the latest." The announcement came just five days after the introduction of stricter measures for people from Serbia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. Why is the self-isolation measure being lifted for those entering Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina? Apart from the fact that the measure that is now being lifted was introduced only a few days ago, there are two other important aspects regarding the introduction and lifting of mandatory self-isolation upon entering Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first one regards the number of infected people at the time when stricter measures were introduced, and the other one regards the number of infected people today when the measures are being lifted. It would seem logical that stricter measures would be lifted only after the epidemiological situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina improves, as Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic previously announced. However, that is not the case here. On the day the measure of mandatory self-isolation was introduced for people entering Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina, there were 84 newly infected people in that country. The day before the measure was introduced, there were 63 newly infected people, which was certainly taken into consideration before introducing the measure. Moreover, in the days leading up to the day of the introduction of this measure, the number of newly infected people in Bosnia and Herzegovina was not higher than 100. What do the numbers look like now, when the mandatory self-isolation for people entering Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina is being lifted? Yesterday, there were twice as many new coronavirus cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina than on the day when stricter measures for the borders were adopted Yesterday, when Bozinovic announced that said measures would be lifted, there were 128 newly infected people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The day before, there were 107 new cases. Advertisement There were as many as 179 new cases on Saturday, and the number of newly infected people also amounted to well above 100 on Friday and Thursday. When the two-week self-isolation measure was introduced for people entering Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, and Macedonia, the reasons were the poor epidemiological situation in those countries and the fact that most newly infected people in Croatia came from those countries. "As for the measures, they are based on the opinion of medical professionals. These measures were introduced based on the recommendations of epidemiologists with regard to the situation in neighboring countries. We have an increase in the number of infected people, and most of them came from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. We will keep monitoring everything that is happening daily. We will make decisions faster and change them if necessary. Everyone is required to adhere to these measures. All persons who enter Croatia from these countries must go into self-isolation, regardless of their citizenship," Bozinovic said at the time. However, as the borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina are reopening and the measures are being lifted, the epidemiological situation there is even worse, and the daily numbers of newly infected people are much higher than they were when the measures were introduced. It seems to make no sense that the measures are being lifted now when the epidemiological situation in that country is much worse than it was at the time the measures were introduced. What has improved in Bosnia and Herzegovina to warrant the lifting of measures? Nothing, it's just that the elections are coming up Bozinovic did not explain what has improved in Bosnia in Herzegovina to warrant the lifting of measures. He has only stated that we should try and coexist with the virus. "We are in the phase of coexisting with the virus, and we are doing analyses on a daily basis. The EU will probably recommend some measures soon. We will probably relax our border crossing regime to some extent when it comes to EU citizens and our neighboring countries. This means that people entering the Republic of Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina will no longer be required to self-isolate. I expect we will introduce these new measures tomorrow at the latest," Bozinovic said yesterday. It seems that the borders with Serbia might also open, even though there have been about 250 newly infected people in Serbia each of the last few days. It should also be mentioned that the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina reacted negatively to the introduction of stricter measures, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bisera Turkovic made an announcement regarding the introduction of reciprocal measures, which she withdrew after Croatia lifted the measure of mandatory self-isolation. However, it is unlikely that the announcement of reciprocal measures from Bosnia and Herzegovina forced the Croatian authorities to lift the measures, which leads us to another possible and much more probable reason - the elections that will be held on Sunday. After all, the president of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian HDZ explained everything very well yesterday: "No border can separate the Croatian people into two different countries. I want to thank Prime Minister Plenkovic for his quick reaction and rational decision." ISTRIA had great tourist numbers over the past weekend, but it should be pointed out that it was just three days. The number of arrivals on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is almost on last years level. On 26th, 27th, and 28th of June last year, there were 54,000 arrivals in Istria, and 522,000 overnight stays in comparison to this years 51,000 arrivals (index 94) and 300,000 overnight stays (index 57). That means that there were only 6 percent fewer tourists in those three days than in the same last year period, with the overnight stays reaching 57 percent, which is much more than the expected maximum of 40 percent, according to the Glas Istre (The Voice of Istria) Advertisement The overall situation, however, is still devastating. Last year, that month broke all records with an index of 116 compared to June 2018, and this year, June is on the level of merely 29 percent in comparison to last year. Thats not surprising if we consider the fact that tourists have seriously started visiting Croatia only in the last couple of weeks. Index-Journal Careers PART-TIME POSITION available in our packaging area. Job responsibilities include putting inserts into the newspaper. Must have a positive attitude and be a team player. Applicants must be able to: lift up to 20-lbs; stand for long periods of time; be available to work Sunday thru Friday, late evening to early morning hours; pass drug screen. The heart of the book, she said, is the appendix that lists names, often with surnames, of the enslaved workers. Working 11 years on the project, Lyons said there were two groups of slaves: one set used on the Blue Ridge Tunnels and another on the railroad tracks themselves. There were different types of labor for each group, making it possible for her to determine what their jobs were. Op/Ed by Chris Devonshire-Ellis The decision made yesterday by the Indian government to bar from the domestic market 59 Chinese developed apps, including popular products, such as TikTok and products from Xiaomi and Alibaba, has raised commercial and trade tensions between the two countries just after a frankly murderous melee between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Galwan Valley. Mainstream media are linking the two events as a conclusion that New Delhi is somehow punishing Beijing for the military fight, during which 20 Indian soldiers died. But is that the whole story? And is it such a big deal? The Indian government statement reads, The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking its power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps since in view of the information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. In terms of the domestic market impact, the number of Indian users now unable to access apps such as TikTok is impressive. TikToks main product in India is EduTok, an educational app that has attracted 200 million Indian users a month. However, while TikTok is lauded worldwide as being a Chinese firm, this is only partially true. The parent company, Bytedance, while based in Beijing is also supported by American VC firms, such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, as well as Japans SoftBank Group and the Hillhouse Capital Group, based in Singapore and seed funded by Yale University. In addition to this, TikToks India-focused EduTok app is driven by Indian domestic companies, such as Vedantu, based in Bangalore, Mumbais Toppr, Delhis MadeEasy, and GradeUp based in Noida. Clearly, banning Tiktok from India also damages US financial investments as well as Indian service providers. The implication therefore that in doing so, New Delhi can place blame on China yet instigate a government and Indian corporate power grab to push foreign investors out of the country and replace them with mainly Indian backed financiers and App developers. Thats a hefty argument to make, yet I speak with experience. I established Dezan Shira & Associates Indian offices back in 2001, where we now have a presence in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. I can speak from experience when I suggest that when operating a foreign owned professional services firm in India, the playing field is far from level when compared to the range of services domestic firms enjoy. Audit, for example, is pretty much off limits to foreign participation, at a time when local Indian firms are often incompetent. Restrictions on the numbers of qualified partners also inhibit practice development. This is a double edged sword; not only is it highly industry protective, it stunts the development of professionals at a time when Indian companies are becoming MNCs. Many of them employ staff patently unqualified and inexperienced to deal with cross-border financials. There will be, in future, increasing scandals at Indian MNCs when incompetence or outright fraud is later uncovered. Indias corporate culture is also responsible for problems, and has the political clout to derail any attempts to liberalize and allow foreign investment in areas where it can be nudged out of the market. I have seen this numerous times with international clients looking at the Indian market when what appears to be an opportunity instead descends into a mass of regulatory and restrictive problems. It is systematic and multi-layered prohibition. This mindset has damaged the country immensely. What should have been a golden opportunity for India to take the lead from China as the workshop of the world has been lost. Ten years ago, the average age of a Chinese worker was 37, and in India, 23. The country had a huge worker/salary demographic advantage. Yet, consistent problems and restrictive measures, which have ultimately culminated in India withdrawing from the RCEP agreement, have seen the global cheap manufacturing boom begin to head to parts of Africa instead, and especially so after the African Continental Free Trade Agreement was brokered last year. Concerning other banned apps, it is important to note that Chinese smartphone makers command more than 80 percent of the smartphone market in India, which is the worlds second-largest. That dominant position has now been changed to suit Indian manufacturers. There are lessons here for foreign investors in terms of what the law says is open for foreign investment and sudden government changes that are made that immediately impact negatively upon those. A key moment has arrived where despite Indias foreign investment laws, it should be noted that if Indias domestic corporates are not somehow cut a larger part of the deal, New Delhi can be pressured to act, and is prepared to provide excuses other than trade barriers for doing so. The Galwan Valley incident was an ideal opportunity for Indian corporates to grab back some serious market share. India is a sovereign state and has the right to ensure its citizens data privacy among concerns that Chinese apps were a national security threat. However, it is telling that if India really had legitimate concerns about TikToks data handling it could have just requested TikTok and others relocate their data servers inside India and place them under the regulation and monitoring of Indian authorities. That they havent taken this rather obvious step showcases who is calling the shots here: Indian business interests, not the military. There are still opportunities in India and especially in markets where foreign investment is less of a competitive issue our India offices are in fact having a banner year in absorbing principally American and European investment that has moved away from China and problems with US trade wars. However, there is more to India banning TikTok and other Chinese Apps from the domestic market than meets the eye, and it is less to do about skirmishes in the Galwan Valley than Indian corporates laying down protectionist barriers in a growth market they wish to control and keep largely to themselves. The lesson for foreign investors to learn about India is that market analysis as well as political and competitor due diligence need to be factored into any longer term projections, and Indian businesses as partners need to be factored into the equation rather more than the legal parameters indicate. If not, they are quite prepared to influence New Delhi to push back. Related Reading Has India Lost its Free Trade Mojo? Or Will Delhi Substitute the RCEP for the EAEU? India Becomes Transportation Hub Of Chinas Belt & Road Initiative As Co-Investments Increase Due Diligence for Foreign Companies in India Foreign companies investing in India are advised to do a due diligence check, especially if entering into a joint venture, merger and acquisition, or partnership. The due diligence process uncovers critical information relating to the business and its management, thus helping investors decide if they should go ahead with their financial deal, or negotiate better terms and conditions, or withdraw their interest from the target entity or deal. While the due diligence process differs in each sector, the process will include an accurate evaluation of the companys finances and taxes. In this issue of India Briefing, we provide information on conducting due diligence in India. We first focus on what is due diligence, and why foreign companies should engage in this process before investing in India. Next, we discuss different types of due diligence and explain their requirements and importance. Lastly, we answer some frequently asked questions. Indiana, PA (15701) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers early, then overcast overnight with occasional rain. Low near 55F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 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. In a shocking incident that took place in Delhi's Najafgarh area, a 33 year-old man allegedly beaten to death after an argument broke out over filling water from a common tap. According to a report in Times of India, the victim has been identified as Jitendra, a resident of Jal Vihar in in Najafgarh, was thrashed by a group of people and later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Representational Image According to the victim's brother Anil Singh, the local residents told him that some people were beating his brother at a farm. "After we came to know of the incident, I and my mother reached the spot and found my brother in an injured state. Jitendra told us that our neighbour Amit Rawat along with other men thrashed him. We immediately rushed to the hospital," Anil was quoted saying by TOI. Representational Image Anil also alleged that Rawat and his mother also threatened them. "We informed the police and the accused were brought to the police station. However, we rushed to the hospital as Jitendra's condition deteriorated," he added. Jitendra's relatives said they were not satisfied with the probe in the case. According to Jitendra's cousin, the FIR did not mention the names of other accused who were involved in thrashing the victim. As per TOI, the investigation is on in the case and the accused, Amit, has been arrested. A global fundraising meeting generated 6.15 billion euros ($6.9 billion) from USA, the European Commission and several nations to fight COVID-19, with many emphasising that an eventual vaccine should be accessible to all, according to a Reuters report. The pledging summit is a joint initiative by EU executive and advocacy group Global Citizen. It also had a globally televised and streamed fundraising concert that featured the likes of Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Shakira, Chloe X Halle, Usher and other big names. AFP The Commission together with the European Investment Bank pledged 4.9 billion euros ($5.50 billion), the United States $545 million, Germany 383 million euros, Canada C$300 million ($219 million)and Qatar $10 million. Forty governments took part in the summit. The money will be used for COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines, and also to support the worlds poorest and most marginalised communities. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was crucial that everyone who needed it should have access to a vaccine. AFP I am trying to convince high-income countries to reserve vaccines not only for themselves but also for low- and middle income countries. This is a stress test for solidarity, she said. British Premier Boris Johnson concurred. If and when an effective vaccine is found, then we as world leaders have moral duty to ensure that it is truly available to all, he said. AFP French President Emmanuel Macron was adamant about pooling efforts together. Lets refuse an every man for himself approach, lets continue to move forward together, he said. Italy, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, echoed his sentiment. The EU is championing global cooperation in efforts to control and end the pandemic, in contrast to the United States and Chinas focus on national initiatives. After Indian government order banning 59 Chinese apps, among which TikTok is one of the most popular one, the Indian head of TikTok briefly made a statement. TikTok India said that it complies with all Indian law and maintains highest data privacy protection standards for all its Indian users. AFP In a statement posted on TikTok India's official Twitter account, Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok India, wrote: "TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law, and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government." Clarifying their position on the Chinese apps ban, TikTok India further said that even if they were asked to share Indian user's information in the future, they "would not do so." TikTok India also said that it's "in the process of complying" with the Indian government order blocking 59 Chinese apps, but at the same time also stating that TikTok India representatives have been "invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications." TikTok Ban: A short history Needless to say, TikTok getting banned among the 59 Chinese apps comes as no surprise, seeing TikTok's amazing popularity in India, especially Indians from all walks of life. Reuters Many attempts have been made to have TikTok banned in India for some time now, most notably in April 2019 when Madras High Court directed the Indian Government to ban TikTok for promoting pornography. But the TikTok ban was shortly reversed to avoid violation of freedom of speech in India. In May 2020, a viral video by Sonam Wangchuk called for Indians to stop using TikTok and Boycott Chinese products -- which got a lot of traction in India. In an unrelated incident, online feud between YouTube and TikTok creators sent TikTok's app ratings plummeting on Google's Play Store. Just as an IIT student's TikTok clone app 'Mitron' clocked over 50 lakh downloads, and after the violent clashes between India and China's armed forces at LAC in Ladakh's Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives, calls for blocking and banning all things Chinese intensified even further. Shortly after, Union minister Ramdas Athawale called for a ban on TikTok to impact China economically, saying 15 crore Indians use the Chinese app due to which the neighbouring country makes crores in profit. Terrifying new lab research has revealed that about 70 per cent of the 50,000 genomes of coronavirus that were uploaded by researchers has mutated. Researchers from Northwest Universitys medical school in Chicago believe that mutation in the coronavirus has made it considerably more contagious. Reuters At first glance, the mutations seemed trivial. About 1,300 amino acids serve as building blocks for a protein on the surface of the virus. But the locations of the mutation is significant because the switch occurred in the part of the genome that codes for the all-important "spike protein", The Washington Post reported. In the mutant virus, the genetic instructions for just one of the amino acids switched in the new variant from a D (aspartic acid) to G (glycine). Also Read: Traces Of Coronavirus Found In March 2019 Sewage Sample Of Barcelona Waste Water: Spanish Study AFP Egen Ozer an infectious disease specialist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examined the genetic structure of virus samples from local patients, he noticed the mutations appearing again and again. Reuters At least four laboratory experiments suggest that mutation makes the virus more infectious, although none of that work has been peer-reviewed. "The epidemiological study and our data together really explain why the (G variant's) spread in Europe and the US was really fast," said Hyeryun Choe, a virologist at Scripps Research and lead author of an unpublished study on the G variant's enhanced infectiousness in laboratory cell cultures. "This is not just accidental. The bottom line is, we have not seen anything definitive yet," said Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Coronavirus cannot live or reproduce on its own. So, it breaks into human cells and co-opts their biological machinery to make thousands of copies of itself. Also Read: Coronavirus Impact - Supply Of AIDS Drugs In Developing Countries May Be Affected, Says UN All Inputs ANI In an extremely bone-chilling incident, a video has surfaced of a man beating up a woman in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district. According to several reports, the man is an employee of a hotel under Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department along with the woman. The man allegedly lost his temper after the woman asked him to wear a mask while at work. Also read: Some TikTok Content Normalises Violence Against Women Among Other Things; Banning A Solution? ANI In the horrifying video, the man can be seen entering into the office space and walking up to the woman in a fit of rage. He grabs the woman by her hair and pulls her down to the floor while simultaneously thrashing her mercilessly. At one point, he picks up an iron rod and hits her with it multiple times. There are also reports which claim that the woman is differently-abled. Co-workers intervene to stop the man from beating up the woman who is clearly not able to defend herself but the man refuses to stop. An older man gets in the middle of the assault and ends up falling down as well, as the man continues to beat up the woman. Eventually, the others get him to let her go and lead him out of the room. Also read: Bengaluru Quarantine Horror - Man Allegedly Molests 2 Women, Arrested By Police The woman remains on the floor. ANI The entire incident was captured on the office's CCTV. Shocking video! Only because she asked him to wear a mask, #AndhraPradesh tourism dept dy mgr Bhaskar beats up contract worker Usha with an iron rod in the office. Incident in #Nellore district on Saturday. The woman, a differently-abled, filed a police complaint. @Tourism_AP pic.twitter.com/mOgduF0naC krishnamurthy (@krishna0302) June 30, 2020 A case has been registered against the accused and he has been taken in custody by the police. @APPOLICE100 A case vide Crime No 362/2020 u/s 354, 355 and 324 IPC was booked on 27.06.2020. The accused was arrested and is being sent for judicial remand. Nellore District Police is extremely sensitive to any violation or crime against women. Women Safety is our top priority. Nellore Police (@sp_nlr) June 30, 2020 Allegedly, the man was on the run after the incident but Nellore police managed to nab him for his heinous act. The accused was absconding after the registration of FIR on Saturday. The Police had dispatched teams immediately. Today morning after the arrest of the accused, as per protocol, a medical examination and Covid test was conducted. There was no delay on the part of Nellore Police. Nellore Police (@sp_nlr) June 30, 2020 Here is a video of the man getting arrested and taken away by the police. And the accused has been arrested. Thank you for the swift action @sp_nlr @APPOLICE100 pic.twitter.com/DvFJ282aP6 krishnamurthy (@krishna0302) June 30, 2020 Crimes and violence against women is a prevalent evil of our society. The fact that the man thought it was okay to beat up the woman - or anyone for that matter - is absolutely unacceptable, when all she did was tell him to wear a mask, which is essential, considering the circumstances. Also read: Women Branded As Witches, Brutally Thrashed; They Thought Women Were Responsible For Illnesses Another thing to observe here is that the people present in the office, even though they eventually managed to stop the man from beating the woman, did not even bother to help her once the thrashing stopped. Where is the empathy? Theres also the challenge of the pitch competitions themselves. Part of that challenge, according to Chianelli, is that you have a very finite amount of time to deliver your pitch at each stage of the competition. But this also helps the competitors hone their pitches, which is crucial for startups that need to convey their ideas as quickly and clearly as possible, Chianelli said. The Federal Government of Nigeria will on Tuesday, June 30, address Nigerians on the next phase of COVID-19 eased lockdown in the country. The Personal Assistant on New Media to President Buhari, Bashir Ahmad made this known shortly after Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, briefed the president on the latest updates. The federal government of Nigeria has approved the reopening of schools across the country. However, the approval was given for students in graduating classes such as JSS 3, SSS 3 and primary 6 so as to prepare them for exams.This was made public by Bashir Ahmad, the presidential aide on new media. Police, has ordered Bolaji Salami, Ondo Commissioner of Police, to restore the security details of Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, with immediate effect. Adamu Mohammed, Inspector General of Police, has ordered Bolaji Salami, Ondo Commissioner of Police, to restore the security details of Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, with immediate effect. Adamus order is contained in a memo addressed to the police commissioner through the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Operations, Force Headquarters Abuja on Monday. A suit seeking to disqualify Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, from the upcoming governorship election in the state for alleged forgery has been dismissed. The suit which was filed by Edobor Williams, Ugesia Godwin and Amedu Anakhu alleging that the governor forged his academic certificate was dismissed by a federal high court sitting in Abuja on Monday. The federal government of Nigeria has revealed that no fewer than one million applicants have applied for the N-power scheme since the program opened its portal on Friday night. This was made known by Rhoda Iliya, the the deputy director information, ministry of humanitarian affairs disaster management and social development, on Sunday The academic staff union of universities(ASUU) has implored the federal government to reconsider before opening schools across the nation amid the novel coronavirus. According to Biodun Ogunyemi, the national president of the union, the challenges of education sector needs to be addressed before talk of schools reopening can be considered. Popular Nigerian rapper, Erigga has taken to social media to advise parents on raising their children. According to the rapper, material things wear off quickly but knowledge will go on to benefit whoever has it. Erigga stressed that parents should stop buying things they never had for their kids instead they should teach them things they were not taught. READ ALSO I Have Regained Peace Of Mind Since I Stopped Following COVID-19 Updates: Rapper Erigga Sharing on Twitter, he wrote: Instead of buying your children all the things you never had, you should teach them all the things you were never taught. Material wears out but Knowlege stays See His Post Here: Data science is typically more of an art than a science, despite the name. You start with dirty data and an old statistical predictive model and try to do better with machine learning. Nobody checks your work or tries to improve it: If your new model fits better than the old one, you adopt it and move on to the next problem. When the data starts drifting and the model stops working, you update the model from the new dataset. Doing data science in Kaggle is quite different. Kaggle is an online machine learning environment and community. It has standard datasets that hundreds or thousands of individuals or teams try to model, and theres a leaderboard for each competition. Many contests offer cash prizes and status points, and people can refine their models until the contest closes, to improve their scores and climb the ladder. Tiny percentages often make the difference between winners and runners-up. Kaggle is something that professional data scientists can play with in their spare time, and aspiring data scientists can use to learn how to build good machine learning models. What is Kaggle? Looked at more comprehensively, Kaggle is an online community for data scientists that offers machine learning competitions, datasets, notebooks, access to training accelerators, and education. Anthony Goldbloom (CEO) and Ben Hamner (CTO) founded Kaggle in 2010, and Google acquired the company in 2017. Kaggle competitions have improved the state of the machine learning art in several areas. One is mapping dark matter; another is HIV/AIDS research. Looking at the winners of Kaggle competitions, youll see lots of XGBoost models, some Random Forest models, and a few deep neural networks. Kaggle competitions There are five categories of Kaggle competition: Getting Started, Playground, Featured, Research, and Recruitment. Getting Started competitions are semi-permanent, and are meant to be used by new users just getting their foot in the door in the field of machine learning. They offer no prizes or points, but have ample tutorials. Getting Started competitions have two-month rolling leaderboards. Playground competitions are one step above Getting Started in difficulty. Prizes range from kudos to small cash prizes. Featured competitions are full-scale machine learning challenges that pose difficult prediction problems, generally with a commercial purpose. Featured competitions attract some of the most formidable experts and teams, and offer prize pools that can be as high as a million dollars. That might sound discouraging, but even if you dont win one of these, youll learn from trying and from reading other peoples solutions, especially the high-ranked solutions. Research competitions involve problems that are more experimental than featured competition problems. They do not usually offer prizes or points due to their experimental nature. In Recruitment competitions, individuals compete to build machine learning models for corporation-curated challenges. At the competitions close, interested participants can upload their resume for consideration by the host. The prize is (potentially) a job interview at the company or organization hosting the competition. There are several formats for competitions. In a standard Kaggle competition, users can access the complete datasets at the beginning of the competition, download the data, build models on the data locally or in Kaggle Notebooks (see below), generate a prediction file, then upload the predictions as a submission on Kaggle. Most competitions on Kaggle follow this format, but there are alternatives. A few competitions are divided into stages. Some are code competitions that must be submitted from within a Kaggle Notebook. Kaggle datasets Kaggle hosts over 35 thousand datasets. These are in a variety of publication formats, including comma-separated values (CSV) for tabular data, JSON for tree-like data, SQLite databases, ZIP and 7z archives (often used for image datasets), and BigQuery Datasets, which are multi-terabyte SQL datasets hosted on Googles servers. There are several ways of finding Kaggle datasets. On the Kaggle home page you will find a listing of hot datasets and datasets uploaded by people you follow. On the Kaggle datasets page you will find a dataset list (initially ordered by hottest but with other ordering options) and a search filter. You can also use tags and tag pages to locate datasets, for example https://www.kaggle.com/tags/crime. You can create public and private datasets on Kaggle from your local machine, URLs, GitHub repositories, and Kaggle Notebook outputs. You can set a dataset created from a URL or GitHub repository to update periodically. At the moment, Kaggle has quite a few COVID-19 datasets, challenges, and notebooks. There have already been several community contributions to the effort to understand this disease and the virus that causes it. Kaggle Notebooks Kaggle supports three types of notebook: scripts, RMarkdown scripts, and Jupyter Notebooks. Scripts are files that execute everything as code sequentially. You can write notebooks in R or Python. R coders and people submitting code for competitions often use scripts; Python coders and people doing exploratory data analysis tend to prefer Jupyter Notebooks. Notebooks of any stripe can optionally have free GPU (Nvidia Tesla P100) or TPU accelerators and may use Google Cloud Platform services, but there are quotas that apply, for example 30 hours of GPU and 30 hours of TPUs per week. Basically, dont use a GPU or a TPU in a notebook unless you need to accelerate deep learning training. Using Google Cloud Platform services may incur charges to your Google Cloud Platform account if you exceed free tier allowances. You can add Kaggle datasets to Kaggle notebooks at any time. You can also add Competition datasets, but only if you accept the rules of the competition. If you wish, you can chain notebooks by adding the output of one notebook to the data of another notebook. Notebooks run in kernels, which are essentially Docker containers. You can save versions of your notebooks as you develop them. You can search for notebooks with a site keyword query and a filter on notebooks, or by browsing the Kaggle homepage. You can also use the Notebook listing; like datasets, the order of notebooks in the list is by hotness by default. Reading public notebooks is a good way to learn how people do data science. You can collaborate with others on a notebook multiple ways, depending on whether the notebook is public or private. If it is public, you can grant editing privileges to specific users (everyone can view). If it is private, you can grant viewing or editing privileges. Kaggle public API In addition to building and running interactive notebooks, you can interact with Kaggle using the Kaggle command line from your local machine, which calls the Kaggle public API. You can install the Kaggle CLI using the Python 3 installer pip , and authenticate your machine by downloading an API token from the Kaggle site. The Kaggle CLI and API can interact with competitions, datasets, and notebooks (kernels). The API is open source and is hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/Kaggle/kaggle-api. The README file there provides the full documentation for the command-line tool. Kaggle community and education Kaggle hosts community discussion forums and micro-courses. Forum topics include Kaggle itself, getting started, feedback, Q&A, datasets, and micro-courses. Micro-courses cover skills relevant to data scientists in a few hours each: Python, machine learning, data visualization, Pandas, feature engineering, deep learning, SQL, geospatial analysis, and so on. All in all, Kaggle is very useful for learning data science and for competing with others on data science challenges. Its also very useful as a repository for standard public datasets. Its not, however, a replacement for paid cloud data science services or for doing your own analysis. Lori Ceasar, 49, was nervous about boarding a full flight. But on her recent trip from Louisiana to Philadelphia, the Lake Charles resident calmed down after seeing that her seatmates were wearing face masks, gloves and face shields. They were younger people, with full PPE, and that made me feel safer, she said. On Tuesday, American Airlines sought to assuage customers such as Ceasar. Airline executives led a guided tour for reporters, highlighting new safety protocols at check-in kiosks, the Admirals Club, boarding gates, and the planes themselves. This is the start of a busy travel period for us, said Jim Moses, vice president of Northeast Hubs and Gateways for American, noting that his airline expects more than 50,000 travelers this year through Philadelphia International for the Fourth of July weekend. Weve added social-distance markers, face coverings, and cleaning to keep passengers safe. American Airlines recently announced that all flights will be booked to full capacity starting July 1, meaning that passengers will be seated less than six feet apart for the duration of their flights. The company also plans to increase the average flights per day at Philadelphia International Airport by 111% on July 7 from what they were in June, estimating an average of 207 departures a day on a modified summer schedule. Still, that number is down by almost half from July 2019. Among the leading airlines that operate out of Philadelphia International, so far only American and United have announced that they will fully book flights this summer. But passengers should not expect any international flights. The European Union formally announced Tuesday that it will ban all flights by nonessential Americans to Europe for as long as they are deemed a health threat. Last year, American operated 21 daily trans-Atlantic flights to 20 destinations in Europe. With increased flights elsewhere, however, American also plans to upgrade its safety and cleaning measures. When customers check in, American requires them to complete a health assessment survey. The questions validate that youre willing to wear a face covering throughout the flight and that you have not been exposed to COVID-19, Moses said. Kiosks are disinfected by employees after each use. At the boarding gate, passengers are reminded of the requirement to wear face coverings for the duration of the flight, and warned that they could be denied boarding if they dont comply. But Moses noted that there are some exceptions to the face-covering requirement, such as if a passenger has trouble breathing. They would still be in their normal seat, and it would be cleared with the flight crew, said Moses. HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you. Between each flight, a group of six to eight employees is already spending a half-hour cleaning the inside of the plane with paper towels and a spray bottle of Sani-Cide EX3, a broad-spectrum disinfectant. At night, 10 employees spend an hour and a half giving the plane a deep clean with the same disinfectant. Every seven to 10 days, planes are also sanitized with spray guns, which cover the walls, seats, overhead bins, and ceilings with a fast-drying disinfectant. The cleanliness of planes so far is better than its ever been before, said Charlie Leocha, president and co-founder of Travelers United, a group that represents travelers. But airlines really have no enforcement capability of dealing with people who dont wear face masks, he said, bemoaning the lack of a federal mandate for onboard face coverings. He worries that on a full flight, one person without a mask could put everyone at risk. In general, hes not happy about Americans decision to pack its planes. Im concerned about the fact that American Airlines is stopping social distancing and getting ready to pack planes again, Leocha said. Despite a surge of new COVID-19 cases in Florida, Texas, Arizona and other parts of the country, Moses said, the airline has no plans to reconsider booking full flights. We feel very, very comfortable with the layers of safety and security we have in place, he said. So far, those measures dont include regular COVID-19 tests for employees, or temperature checks for passengers before boarding. But among the changes that passenger will notice, the Admirals Club, a private lounge, now operates at 50% capacity. Patrons are led to different areas of the lounge by employees to ensure social distancing. The bar is also open in a limited capacity, and the only available food is pre-packaged snacks. Likewise at the ticket kiosk and boarding gates, all employees wear face coverings, and every service checkpoint has a plexiglass shield to separate customers from workers. Jason Coulter, 38, said he feels comfortable with the changes. They have to take precautions and I understand that and it doesnt bother me, he said. His flight last week from Southern California was full, but to him, it felt like just another normal flight. Coulter, a resident of Rancho Cucamonga, said he appreciated the new cleaning measures, but didnt know how much they would actually help. I understand its a big deal, but I think some people are overreacting. A Conshohocken business that pioneered disposable cash cards and smartphone-based accounts that replaced paper checks is up for sale as its latest owner, Germany-based Wirecard AG, suffers financial collapse from the scandalous disappearances of a top executive and $2 billion in funds. Wirecard North America Inc., founded as Ecount in a Radnor garage 21 years ago, is seeking acquisition, the company said in a statement that sought to distance the American company from its beleaguered German owner. Wirecard AGs stock value has tumbled from more than $20 billion last summer to less than $1 billion last Thursday when it filed for legal protection from creditors that it owes $4 billion. The parent company, like U.S.-based American Express or Discover Card, operates both a MasterCard-style payment network, and a bank that makes loans directly to customers. After auditors couldnt find $2 billion that company leaders said they had sent banks in the Philippines, regulators temporarily froze payments to Wirecard users in Europe and Asia. Its much ballyhooed chief executive, Markus Braun, was deposed and arrested in Germany a week ago. He was held overnight on suspicion of accounting fraud and market manipulation, and then released on $5 million bail. Former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek is a fugitive sought by German police. Authorities in Germany, Britain, the Philippines and Singapore are investigating. Wirecard North America, the companys statement stressed, is a separate legal entity that issues large numbers of pre-paid debit cards and electronic accounts to employees and customers of corporations and government agencies. Clients funds are deposited not at Wirecard AGs bank, but at Truist Bank and other U.S. and Canadian lenders, the company said. The alleged fraud at the parent company is so big, its hard to believe, said Jim Shanahan, managing director at PayGility Advisors, a New York payments consulting firm. But the North American business, which is separate, has matured. They have pretty consistent cash flows. Its a solid business and its big, Shanahan added. So-called open loop debit cards usable at any store and accounts that can be used on all the major card networks will attract $380 billion in U.S. spending this year. Wirecard North America and rivals such as Delaware-based Bancorp Bank and MetaBank of South Dakota will split an estimated $10 billion to $12 billion in industry fees, Shanahan said. Founded by brothers Matt and Steve Gillin and partner Paul Raden at the Gillins parents home, the business they called Ecount developed rapidly. We invented virtual payments at Ecount. We got a patent for the stored-value card, and we were the first to issue an electronic card account not associated with a piece of plastic, and the first to do electronic payments person-to-person, said Matt Gillin, now CEO at Relay Network in Radnor. Relay, a 50-member firm, sends text messages to customers and employees of Comcast, Verizon, the Blue Cross insurers and many other large companies. Ecount was purchased in 2006 for $200 million by Citigroup, in a deal that enriched Radnor-based NewSpring Capital and other area investors. It was a very good investment for us, said NewSpring partner Glenn Rieger. They were the first to deliver prepaid debit cards to a mass market. Citigroup, then the largest U.S. bank, continued to grow the business as Citi Prepaid Card Services before selling it to Germanys Wirecard in 2016, along with Citi payments businesses across Asia. That raised Wirecard AGs profile and boosted its stock as Europes top fintech company. Wirecard put Citi veteran Seth Brennan in charge of the Conshohocken operation. On Tuesday, Brennan promised no interruption in our day-to-day processes. Staff in Conshohocken found it challenging to stay innovative as part of a large multinational organization, said a past executive of the local affiliate, who spoke on condition his name not be used because he still has business ties to the group. He predicted that interested buyers will include large U.S. banks, payments companies and private-equity-backed firms. Ecount veterans have gone on to head a number of fintech enterprises. Among others, Jason Tiede is now head of innovation for JP Morgans Treasury Services group; Brad Garfield heads commercial and prepaid cards at Bank of America; and Morgan Salmon is boss of bank partnerships at Amazon Business Payments. Other former Ecount people are among the leaders of Philadelphias modest software investment sector, including Kevin ONell at Osage Venture Partners, and Andy Newcomb at MissionOG. And some are themselves start-up founders: Mahe Bayireddi runs Ambler-based hiring-software platform PhenomPeople, and Sam Whitaker cofounded Wayne-based Greenphire, which automates clinical testing payments And some stayed put: Early Ecount employees Heather Peterman and Kelly Facemyer are now among the managers running Wirecard North America. The company is for sale, really? Maybe we should look at buying it, cracked cofounder Gillin. When the summer sun bakes the brick rowhouses, what do people want? Micah Harrigan settled on the same answer that kids for generations have given: lemonade. I like lemonade a lot, and I know other people love lemonade, too, said Micah, who turned 10 a few weeks ago. Hes a slender kid with bright eyes, an easy smile, short locs, and the eye of the tiger. In this, the summer between fourth and fifth grades, Micah has entered the business world with a lemonade stand. Working around the weather, he runs Micahs Mixx, selling a half-dozen flavors of lemonade and iced tea from a folding table at 23rd and Sigel Streets in South Philadelphia. Which might simply be a precocious boys passing idea except that Micah is not playing. Not with a debit card for purchasing supplies and his own LLC for taxes, and now a growing social-media following that is boosting not only his spirits but his bottom line. Oh, hes a go-getter, said Danielle Harrigan, his mother and a second-grade teacher. Whatever he tries to do, I try to let him. Thats how I grew up. Try to introduce him to as many things as he wants. Youre never going to find out if you like something unless you try it. Hes amazing at math. Hes creative. I told him: You want to never work a day in your life? Love what you do. The business idea arrived last winter, not the ideal time to sell cold drinks outside. But Micah could plan. He started selling in March. Sales seemed promising. He first packaged the lemonade in bottles and then bags like big Capri Suns but that proved too expensive. He hit upon 16-ounce clear plastic cups with lids. And then, COVID happened dang, Micah said, matter-of-factly. He and his clientele were trapped indoors. He spent his downtime playing Roblox, Minecraft, zombie games, and Fortnite (every kid loves Fortnite), and plotting his return. He created an Amazon wish list of products that could be used for marketing and advertising. Nearly three weeks ago, as the city began loosening quarantine restrictions, Micah and his mom set up on the sidewalk, unfurling a blue beach umbrella to ward off the afternoon sun, and put out cups of six flavors of iced tea and fresh squeezed lemonade and a sign advertising cups for $3 or two for $4. Each cup is branded with a Micahs Mixx sticker. Someone posted Micahs arrival on a neighborhood Facebook page. Micah added a post to his Instagram account, @micahsmixx. Micahs Mixx sold out and he came back the next day. On Instagram, his followers began creating what Micah called a chain reaction. A hundred people would promote me, and then another hundred would find out, he said. His audience climbed past 1,000 on June 29. Not a huge audience, but an engaged one. Mondays customers included chef Michael Vincent Ferreri of Res Ipsa Cafe, whose friend Sam Gellerstein told him about Micah. Ferreri finds it to be almost a Norman Rockwell-esque thing, but its obvious he is taking it very seriously. Also back for more was Stephanie Russel, a Realtor who lives at 15th and Mifflin Streets. Her first stop at Micahs Mixx was on June 18. She excitedly went on Instagram to write: Meet Micah hes been out here every day serving our neighborhood fresh cups of lemonade. His goal is to get a lil pop-up trailer so he can do pop-ups around town. Hes 9 and I think he may be smarter than me. This kid touched me, said Russel on Monday. The stand brought back memories of her best day ever ($24) at her own childhood stand in Secane, Delaware County. You can tell hes real. Hes innocent. You can tell hes passionate. She asked her followers to help Micah by sending donations to her Venmo account. I figured, Ill raise $100 and Ill add another hundred, Russel said. But the donations poured in from 200 people. On Monday, she pulled up in her VW Beetle and dropped off a check for $4,000. The day before, Micah and his mom heard from Johnny Fischer, who owns Baby Blues BBQ in University City and had caught wind of Micah on Facebook. I saw this young entrepreneur out there working hard, said Fischer, who hooked up Micah with 1,000 cups and lids, plus a case of lemons and 25 pounds of sugar. This support feels awesome, Micah wrote on Instagram. Danielle Harrigan, blown away by the gestures, said the money would go into his account, for now, as he saves up for the trailer. Theyre crazy expensive, she said. Well see how much he has at the end of the summer. Come fall, he wants to deliver and perhaps sell in stores. For now, Micah is watching the skies and keeping track of sales. He expects his next street date to be Thursday, July 2. He sets up about 2:30 p.m. and lately has sold out in an hour. Strawberry lemonade is the big seller, followed by blue raspberry. He credits his moms part-time bartending job for teaching him about flavors. Micah said his goal is to make this successful and to pay back my mom for everything. College costs money, too, and he wants to attend Morehouse College, though his next academic stop is Girard Academic Music Program, six blocks from his house. This is not your average 10-year-olds lemonade stand, said Ferreri. He puts a lot of care into the product. He has the mind-set of customer service and he works very hard and hes smart with social media. His mom is there, but he very much talks for himself. This is very much his show, and its amazing that he feels confident enough to do it. We were talking, and I was telling him: Youll be great. All you have to do is keep it up,' and he was like: I know. Amazon was started in a garage. New increases in the number of coronavirus cases and risky behavior among people at bars, restaurants, and beaches has caused officials in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware to warn residents on Monday to follow safety measures amid the ongoing pandemic. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said indoor dining would not be allowed to begin this week as planned and said the state was losing ground in terms of numbers of new cases and hospitalizations, citing data from the last two weeks. Delaware, which had been scheduled to move to its final phase of reopening Monday but postponed it, was warning weekend beachgoers to get coronavirus tests. Pennsylvania saw a slight uptick in new cases over the last week, Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday, and daily case numbers in Philadelphia stayed steady over the weekend rather than declining. Philadelphia officials are expected to provide an update Tuesday on the citys potential move to its modified green phase, aspects of which may be postponed because case numbers are not falling. The city added nearly 300 new coronavirus cases over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, keeping in line with recent daily case counts. READ MORE: Philly-area swim clubs are providing a summer escape amid the pandemic if they have the space The start-and-stop caution from the regions officials comes as states nationwide grapple with the delicate and largely unknown calculation for reopening, and people tired of being locked down begin to venture out more. As some states that reopened faster saw large spikes in infections last week, Pennsylvania and New Jersey were among more cautious states with declining case numbers. But people congregating at restaurants, bars, and beaches have contributed to the new upticks in infections or pauses in reopening. Murphy said indoor dining, which was set to resume Thursday, will be postponed indefinitely, citing reports of new cases spiking in other states following restaurant openings as well as instances of knucklehead behavior at local outdoor restaurants. Weve always said that we would not hesitate to hit pause if needed to safeguard public health, Murphy said during his daily coronavirus news briefing Monday. This is one of those times. At least 12 other states, including Delaware, have paused reopening plans or put restrictions back in place due to a surge in new cases. Crowds at Delaware beaches over the weekend made health officials there extremely concerned. Public Health Director Karyl Rattay said many were observed without masks or not social distancing, including inside bars and restaurants. That behavior is a recipe for disaster and can lead to widespread infection, Rattay said. New Jerseys postponement of indoor dining threw the reopening of Atlantic City casinos, which are still permitted to open their doors Thursday, into some uncertainty. Borgata, which had planned opening to the public next Monday after an earlier invitation-only opening, said it would not reopen without the ability to offer indoor dining. We respect the governors decision to postpone the reopening of indoor dining in New Jersey to protect the public, said Borgata parent company, MGM Resorts International, in a statement. Our guests expect a special experience when they come to our property and if we cannot provide that level of hospitality, we feel it best that we remain closed. FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered. On Facebook, Golden Nugget said it would try everything we can to open only with outdoor dining: We would rather get some team members back to work, and provide some experience for those interested, rather then continue to stay closed. Joe Lupo, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, said the gambling resort was waiting for details from Murphys executive order before issuing an update on operations. We are disappointed that we cannot provide the experience our guests expect and deserve, Lupo said. Murphy said most restaurants had been prepared to start indoor dining safely, but the carelessness of one establishment can completely undo the good work of many others. It brings me no joy to do this, but we have no choice, he said. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R., N.J.), whose district includes Atlantic and Cape May Counties, said in a statement he was disgusted by the governors decision, This is Gov. Murphy forcing businesses to die, he said. Indoor shopping malls in New Jersey resumed operating Monday for the first time since mid-March, with shoppers lining up outside Cherry Hill Mall before its 11 a.m. opening. The states overall rate of transmission remains low, though the rate, too, has crept up rather than declining since mid-June, Murphy said. In recent weeks, several counties including Camden, Gloucester, Burlington, and Cape May have also reported rising transmission rates. In Pennsylvania, which reported the largest single-day increase in new cases since June 12 on Saturday, the biggest increases in infections over the last seven days compared with two weeks ago were in Allegheny, Lackawanna, and Lancaster Counties. Philadelphia had a slight increase, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester Counties had declining rates, and Bucks remained steady. Philadelphia officials last week said they were seeing an increase in cases in young people that could be attributed to social activity. In Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, some of the uptick may be linked to an increase in young adults going out to bars and not social distancing, state and county health officials said. County officials suspended the sale of alcohol for on-site consumption at bars and restaurants. We know when we have a problem, said Wolf outside the UPMC Pinnacle Community Osteopathic Hospital in Harrisburg. We think its the bars. I think in the Southeast and Philadelphia, theyre thinking its the same thing. Other cases in Allegheny County were attributed to out-of-state travel; Wolf said he was not considering an official quarantine for travelers but asked people to stay home for 14 days after returning to Pennsylvania. The rise in cases suggests people dont understand what the states green phase meant, said Anne B. Newman, chair of the epidemiology department at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. I think people took the green to mean that everything was fine and there wasnt a problem, she said. On Monday, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams and Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, visited Philadelphia to talk with representatives of long-term-care homes. Verma was concerned about how the state had responded to outbreaks in nursing homes, she said after the listening session. Verma said Pennsylvania had completed far fewer infection-control surveys at nursing homes than other states on average, but the Department of Health said its count was higher than Vermas. A spokesperson said the state was trying to reconcile the discrepancy and had completed hundreds of infection-control surveys, although he could not say in how many nursing homes. On the hospital visit with Wolf, Health Secretary Rachel Levine told doctors and nurses that Pennsylvanians could show how much they appreciate your hard work by wearing a face mask when in public. When you wear a mask, whether youre walking on a busy street, whether youre inside a grocery store or riding transportation, Levine said, that is a sign to the whole community that we are in this together. Staff writers Tom Avril, Amy S. Rosenberg, Stacey Burling, Rob Tornoe, Sam Wood, and Laura McCrystal, and graphics editor John Duchneskie contributed to this article. Inovio on Tuesday announced positive results from early-stage testing of its COVID-19 vaccine, but did not disclose complete data, and the news won a frosty reception on Wall Street. In a news release, the Plymouth Meeting-based company said that six weeks after two injections, 34 out of 36 clinical trial participants, or 94%, demonstrated overall immunological response rates based on preliminary data. Both antibodies and T-cell immune responses were assessed. Shares of Inovio stock, which have soared in value this year, closed down almost 15%, to $26.95, in Tuesday trading. Inovio has been considered a front-runner in the race to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. However, its technology platform, based on synthetic DNA, has never yielded an approved vaccine. The technology was pioneered 30 years ago by David Weiner, who co-founded the company and is now a scientific adviser. Inovios statement said the vaccine was generally safe and well-tolerated. Adverse events were mild, mostly redness at the injection site. Inovio president and CEO J. Joseph Kim dismissed the decline in the stock price and said the developers are focused on the public-health emergency. We dont pay a whole lot of attention to short-term stock movements, Kim said in an interview. This is really good data. Were excited. Its safe and very immunogenic and we look forward to advancing it. Inovios trial, which started in April, initially had 40 participants, but three were excluded because they tested positive for COVID-19 and another left the study for non-clinical reasons. Inovio said it will publish the full data set in a medical journal. Inovio plans to expand into later-stage testing this summer. The company is collaborating with the Wistar Institute, where Weiner is vice president, and has received funding from the federal government, foundations, and other sources. The company suffered a setback last week when a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court judge rejected Inovios move to force its contract manufacturer to share proprietary technology with other suppliers. Inovio argued that Houston-based VGXI is already at manufacturing capacity and is an obstacle to Inovios goal of being able to make one million doses of its vaccine by years end. Judge Jeffrey Saltz denied Inovios petition for a preliminary injunction, concluding that the claims are too speculative. Certainly in assessing the balance of harms, the protection of private property is outweighed by the savings of hundreds of thousands of lives, the judge wrote. But in view of Inovios inability to show that such a saving of human lives will occur only if a preliminary injunction is issued, VGXIs property interests cannot be ignored. The ruling does not stop Inovio from going to other manufacturers that would use their own proprietary technology, an Inovio spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued an update on what kinds of data it would require to shortcut the approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. The agency said consideration may be given to using the accelerated approval pathway. Unlike the standard approval process, which requires showing that a vaccine is effective at preventing or reducing infection in clinical trials, the accelerated pathway uses indicators of effectiveness, such as lab measurements of immune cell activation. The FDA also said it would consider granting emergency use authorization on a case-by-case basis, after reviewing clinical data on the vaccines safety and effectiveness. Emergency authorization is permitted during a public-health emergency, but it sets a relatively low scientific bar. After the FDA granted emergency authorization to a slew of blood antibody tests, which look for signs of immunity, some of the tests were so unreliable that the agency ordered several off the market. COVID-19 has devastated communities across Pennsylvania, either through illness or loss of livelihood. These economic conditions created by the pandemic have brought on a tremendous budget shortfall in the commonwealth; in May, revenues were nearly $440 million below estimates, pushing Pennsylvanias current revenue shortfall to $2.6 billion. These shortfalls have the potential to further harm families and communities if the federal government does not take action to shore up the programs that keep Pennsylvanians healthy. Medicaid and the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have formed the backbone of our public health response to the pandemic. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, using mid-range estimates, more than 1.64 million Pennsylvanians are expected to lose employer-sponsored health insurance because of COVID-19. The same study estimated that 864,000 people will become eligible for Medicaid as a result. At a time when our state faces unprecedented deficits and may continue to see losses for years, it is critical that federal lawmakers work to strengthen Medicaid, as they have done in previous crises. Congress could do this through a few key measures, explained below. Medicaid is a federal and state partnership, meaning that both state and federal governments provide funds for it. With state budgets in trouble, Congress should act quickly to increase federal matching funds to prevent states from being forced to consider such harmful changes as reducing benefits or eligibility. Through the Families First Act, Congress has already enacted a 6.2% increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), a calculation that determines federal matching dollars for Medicaid, but this is simply inadequate. In fact, during the Great Recession of 2008, Pennsylvanias FMAP calculation was increased by almost double this number. The Center on Budget & Policy Priorities estimates that the disparity between this increase and previous increases means Pennsylvania will lose out on more than $1.7 billion in federal funds. Congress must increase federal funding to match that of previous recessions. Next, Congress must take action to ensure that states do not make harmful changes to Medicaid benefits or create eligibility barriers during the pandemic. At a time when people are at high risk of losing their employment or getting sick, a reduction in benefits or eligibility could be catastrophic. Harmful changes could include such things as a more difficult application process, a reduction in home- and community-based services for seniors or people with disabilities, and reduced payments to physicians and hospitals. In the past, Congress has mandated that states keep their current benefits, eligibility criteria, and application process in place throughout the duration of any additional federal support for Medicaid, but as of now, Congress has not put those provisions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. Third, Congress should ensure that federal funds are in place for an adequate time period, not just through the end of emergency declarations. Pennsylvanias economy cannot rebound on a moments notice, and nor can our budget. In previous crises, the federal government has ensured that its aid continued until such a time that state governments could resume their full participation in the Medicaid partnership. This should be the case for COVID-19. Fourth, Congress should postpone reductions to matching funds for CHIP that were scheduled to take place over the next two years. This reduction in federal matching funds should be postponed until the end of the public health emergency and related economic downtown. Without the full federal match, the state may have to consider harmful policies such as a waiting period for families before they can enroll in CHIP. And, last, more unrestricted funding should be provided to states and municipalities to support our public-health infrastructure during this time of unprecedented need. Unlike the federal government, most states, including Pennsylvania, are required to balance their budgets. Without the federal assistance outlined above, they will be forced to make tough choices that are certain to have negative health and financial outcomes for their residents, such as cutting Medicaid, CHIP, or other programs that broadly contribute to Pennsylvanians health such as education or safety net programs. Making cuts to public health, education, and safety net programs at a time when they are most critically needed would be a mistake, and the federal government should do everything in its power to avoid that. Pennsylvanians cant afford cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Antoinette Kraus is director of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, the states largest statewide health coalition, and is a member of The Inquirers Health Advisory Panel. BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Monday launched a campaign to crack down on illegal fishing in the Yangtze River basin. Jointly deployed by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the campaign calls for efforts to secure solid progress on a fishing ban on the main river and numerous natural waterways in the basin. Police authorities along the Yangtze River will organize a three-year campaign to combat illegal fishing, said Lin Rui, vice minister of public security. Lin also demanded resolute efforts to cut the underground industrial chain of illegal fishing, transportation and business operations. Agricultural authorities at all levels should implement targeted measures against illegal fishing and further improve joint law-enforcement efforts with other administrations, said Yu Kangzhen, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs. Public security organs investigated over 2,300 criminal cases of illegal fishing in 2019 and cracked more than 2,000 such cases from January to May this year. China began a 10-year fishing moratorium from the beginning of this year in 332 conservation areas in the Yangtze River basin, which will be expanded to all the natural waterways of the country's longest river and its major tributaries from no later than January 1, 2021. One such woman is Angelo, one of the first Africans brought to the colony in 1619. While Tenacity showcased two rare English documents from 1624 and 1625 that recorded her arrival on loan from the National Archives of the United Kingdom the gallery features a graphic on what Angelos household in Jamestown might have looked like. After more than three months of working from home due to the coronavirus, Free Library of Philadelphia employees returned to their buildings this week to find that some of the cleaning supplies that were supposed to keep them safe had expired. Some of the hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes had expired as far back as 2018, said employees who swapped back-to-work experiences via email. City officials quickly apologized for the lapse Tuesday during a virtual town hall meeting with library staff and pledged to restock. Roderick Washington, the citys occupational safety administrator, said the expired supplies were in branches before the mid-March shutdown and were not replaced in a timely manner. However, measures are underway, today, yesterday and throughout the week, to supply branches with updated cleaning supplies, he said. In addition to cleaning supplies, he said, the systems stock of 50 face shields will grow next week when 200 more will be delivered, followed by 400 more by the end of July. Acrylic glass barriers also have been ordered and should arrive by late July or early August, he said. Concerns about library safety come as a group of Black library employees has raised concerns that they are paid less than their white colleagues, are subjected to routine racism, and have been asked to return to work without a plan to keep them safe from the coronavirus. In addition to focusing on employee safety, Tuesdays meeting addressed workforce diversity. Library president Siobhan A. Reardon said that despite the shutdown-driven layoffs of more than 200 seasonal employees, most of whom were Black, this is still a minority-majority organization of full-time employees. She said some of the laid-off employees could be rehired if funds become available. Reardon said she sent a letter to the Black employees who wrote an open letter to her last week complaining about pay inequity and workplace conditions, but they declined to meet with her. She is working with the librarys board of trustees to respond to the letter, she said. Employees said their concern about dirty libraries predated the coronavirus, and now could cost staff their health and even their lives. Some wondered why library officials could not properly stock the systems 54 branches with enough supplies during the 3-month shutdown. Branches are not yet open to the public. READ MORE: Philly isnt the only city struggling to keep its library system afloat; celebs decry budget cuts in NYC Michele Teague, a local area network administrator at the Parkway Central Library and a union shop steward, said she had heard concerns from at least a dozen people. The major complaint was the lack of PPE, which was supposed to be there when they walked through the door, she said. Some didnt know where it was, or it wasnt there, or it wasnt enough. Alexis Ahiagbe, a volunteer services employee at the Parkway Central Library, said on Friday she emailed a letter detailing workplace concerns of Black employees to each member of the librarys governing board of directors and board of trustees. Just one member on the board of directors, Patrick Oates, replied, she said. Ahiagbe, a four-year employee, Teague, and Early said library workers felt ignored by Reardon and even their own union. The leaders of AFSCME Locals 2187 and 696, which represent library employees, did not respond to calls for comment. Insurer Independence Blue Cross has paid $360 million for the 45-story office tower at 1901 Market St. that it has long occupied as a tenant. The purchase was an investment in the growth and efficiency of our organization, IBC chief financial officer Gregory E. Deavens said in a news release Tuesday. The sale price works out to about $450 a square foot for the 801,000-square-foot office tower, among the highest valuations on record for a non-medical office building in Center City. Independence Blue Cross has leased the Market Street tower since it was built as the health insurers headquarters in the late 1980s. Seller Piedmont Office Realty Trust of Atlanta acquired the property in 2003. The insurer and its subsidiary businesses also occupy about half of the 457,000-square-foot property across the street at 1900 Market St., formerly known as the Stock Exchange building. The company posted $16.3 billion of total revenue in 2018, according to its most recently filed annual report. Its surplus was $2.9 billion. Piedmont was represented in the deal by brokers Robert Fahey, Jerry Kranzel, Erin Hannan and Jack Corcoran of commercial real estate firm CBRE. A Northeast Philadelphia contractor admitted in court Monday that he provided home repairs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to labor leader John J. Dougherty and members of his family, and was paid with money allegedly embezzled from Doughertys union. Anthony Massa, 66, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy, theft, and embezzlement of labor union assets in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl. His plea makes him the third person to admit guilt as part of the investigation that led to the indictment last year of Dougherty, City Councilmember Bobby Henon, and five other officials and members of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. But unlike others who have pleaded guilty in the case in public court hearings, Massa entered his plea Monday was shrouded in secrecy. The proceeding took place with no prior notice on the courts public docket, and all records related to it, which appeared on the electronic docket after 9 p.m. Monday, remain under court seal after an order from the judge that was sealed as well. Two sources familiar with the matter but not authorized to publicly discuss it briefed The Inquirer on the details of Massas guilty plea. Massas attorney, William J. Brennan, declined on Tuesday to discuss his clients case or whether he had agreed to provide testimony at Doughertys trial, which is scheduled for September. The other defendants who have admitted guilt New Jersey electrician George Peltz and chiropractor James Moylan both publicly said they would not testify against Dougherty. And both have already been sentenced, a sign that the deals they struck with prosecutors were not contingent upon their cooperating in the ongoing case. If Massa were to become a witness for the government, he would be the first person in Doughertys orbit to strike a plea deal to testify against the labor leader, known widely by the nickname Johnny Doc, in the more than a decade he has been dogged by FBI investigations. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office declined to confirm or deny Tuesday that Massa had entered a guilty plea. Brennan, however, said: Theres a lot of fine people in this indictment that still remain presumed innocent. Massa, owner of Massa Construction Corp. in the citys Bustleton section, has long benefited from Local 98 and its executives. According to union filings with the Department of Labor, his company received nearly $100,000 in market recovery funds payments meant to subsidize labor costs for union contractors between 2005 and 2016 and was paid nearly $2 million between 2010 and 2016 for construction and repair work at Local 98 buildings. Henon paid him out of his campaign coffers for renovations on his Council office as well. But the 2019 indictment cast doubt on some of that work, alleging that invoices totaling nearly $400,000 that Massa submitted to Local 98 were actually to compensate him for improvement projects at Doughertys South Philadelphia home, and other residences and businesses owned by members of his family and union officials. Massa initially denied it when approached by federal agents in 2016, leading prosecutors to also charge him with lying to the FBI. READ MORE: For leader John Dougherty, union-paid generosity began at home More than $35,000 allegedly went to install a new front door and repair water leaks in Doughertys house. Prosecutors say union president Brian Burrows received a new walk-in closet and fence, master bathroom renovations, and air-conditioning repairs to his home in Mount Laurel improvements worth more than $48,000. Those projects came as Massa allegedly undertook additional work at the home of Michael Neill, the head of the unions apprentice training program, as well as at a building Neill owned with Burrows in Pennsport and Docs Union Pub, a bar he and Burrows previously owned with Dougherty. The Inquirer has also previously identified Doughertys father, John J. Dougherty Sr., and brother, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dougherty, as two of 10 unnamed and uncharged members of the labor leaders family who prosecutors say were also beneficiaries of work from Massa or other perks paid for with Local 98 funds. According to the indictment, Massa was paid more than $5,000 from the unions general fund to repair water damage at the elder Doughertys house in Somers Point, N.J., in 2015 and an unspecified sum for painting and other construction projects at Kevin Doughertys home in November 2011. READ MORE: Sources: Pa. Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty received union-paid benefits in Local 98 case Kevin Doughertys lawyer, Courtney Saleski, has previously denied that her client did anything wrong in relation to Massa, describing the justice as an honest public servant. Kevin Dougherty was elected to the court in 2015 but before that was a Common Pleas Court judge since 2001. A spokesperson for John Dougherty declined to comment Tuesday on Massas guilty plea, but the labor leader has repeatedly maintained that he did not break the law. He, Henon, and the other indicted Local 98 members have pleaded not guilty to all the charges. If it werent for the empty shelves where the potato chips used to be, it looks like business as usual recently at the Double Star Mini Market on Germantown Avenue and Huntington Street: bachata blasts from the surround sound speakers as customers enter. But Francisco Torres uses the word tense to describe recent days at work while watching live footage from nine cameras, all displayed on the bodegas security monitor. The 41-year-old, a cook, was one of the first to arrive at the corner store, on Sunday, May 31, after it was vandalized and looted. He said the bodega owner suffered tremendous losses about $25,000 in property damage, vandalized merchandise, and stolen money. Now, Torres worries about the intentions of anyone who enters the store. We were standing right here [the store front] when we heard someone say that this was on purpose, Torres recalled of the destruction. So, when the door opens, we have no idea whats gonna happen. A month has passed since groups vandalized and stole from properties across the city, the weekend after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis. In North Philadelphia, business districts in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods were severely impacted, particularly in Fairhill and Hartranft. The Inquirer interviewed business owners along the Germantown Avenue, Centro de Oro, and Front Street corridors and found cleanups are continuing with little financial assistance and fear that if the social unrest continues, there will be more looting. Between May 30 and June 23, OpenDataPhilly reported 36 cases of break-ins in these three corridors, Germantown Avenue being the most affected with 23 cases. Centro de Oro and Front Street were vandalized and looted during the last days of May. Germantown Avenue saw the violence continue, with a sneaker shop set on fire in mid-June. These days, the three corridors are lined with closed store fronts boarded up with plywood, broken security gates, and buildings covered with spray paint. Now, both the livelihood of the business owners and the lifelines for local residents who depend on these commercial strips for goods and jobs are threatened. In these corridors, the looting and the slow recovery deepens the disparities for the Black and brown residents in North Philly. Maria Gonzalez, president and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Contractors and Enterprises, said the situation is devastating for these small businesses, especially when most had already been financially shattered by the coronavirus pandemic. She estimated 30 businesses were affected just on Centro de Oro and Front Street corridors, where HACE has overseen community development efforts since 1982. She said the violent acts in late May were a setback for the business community. Gonzalez said these areas were already struggling to attract investors and will now need to recover from the vandalism and looting.. We have to wait for the dust to settle to build that trust again and convince people that its worth investing in this area, she said. The business districts had seen recent gains, like when Centro de Oro received a $3.8 million makeover in 2011, to highlight the corridor as a vibrant cultural center for Philadelphias growing Latino communities. The corridor at Germantown and Lehigh Avenues had also made progress, after been assessed as the strip with the most vacant commercial lots in the North district of the citys Philadelphia 2035 Strategic Plan. Gonzalez said its stressful to now see these small businesses turn the lights off. She said some business owners wont be able to open their doors again, leading to more vacant storefronts and higher unemployment in the neighborhoods. Gonzalez said it may force residents to move out or have longer commutes for work, food, and medicine. At 5th Streets Centro de Oro, pharmacist David Ostrow estimated $100,000 in damages and inventory loss at Cambria Pharmacies, a 55-year-old family business serving a predominately Latino neighborhood. The business, located on the 2800 block of North Fifth Street, was looted on May 31 with losses that included the storefronts windows and security gate, merchandise, and at least 200 prescriptions that were ready for pickup. He said there were substantial thefts of controlled substances, specifically pain medications, that he reported to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Gonzalez, with HACE, said pharmacies were the most affected in the Centro de Oro business district. She said of the two corridors she works with, the Front Street district was worse hit, because of the type of businesses that serve that area: apparel stores, barbershops, mobile phone customer services, and nail salons. Along North Front Streets 3200 block is Joes Hardware and Automotive Parts. Its been there since 1970, when Bob Gottfrieds father opened the store. Four weeks after the late May looting, the second-generation owner was open for business but still cleaning up broken glass and damaged showcases. Gottfried was waiting for insurance money to repair some of the estimated $10,000 in losses and damages. The store was already on reduced hours because of the pandemic. Despite losing 25% of the inventory, he said he was resigned to fully take on the repairs. He owns the building and doesnt expect any support from local agencies. Its gonna take a while to get the place back up and running, but it basically depends on me, Gottfried said. The City of Philadelphias Commerce Department has partnered with the Merchants Fund to create the Restore and Reopen Program, with $1.4 million in initial funding to support businesses that experienced damage or inventory loss during the recent looting, with up to $10,000 grants. The program, administered by the Merchants Fund, is focused on historically disadvantaged communities. It was launched Monday, June 22, and had a one-week application deadline, until the end of the day Sunday, June 28. By midday Friday, 350 applications had been submitted. Bodega business leader Enerolina Melendez said she appreciated the citys effort to support the small businesses that were affected but said a week wasnt enough time to get business owners to complete an application. She said owners with language barriers and limited access to the internet needed personalized assistance at a time when organizers, advocates, and others serving the business community were caught up with pandemic relief efforts. I just hope they dont give more time to the gentrifiers who are going to come in, now that the [Germantown] Avenue, our roots and its essence, have been stolen from us, said Melendez, who owns Rodriguez Grocery on 9th and Cumberland Streets, two blocks from the commercial strip. Philadelphias public-private economic development corporation, the PIDC, will soon open applications for the $3 million Restart PHL Loan Fund, a program that will provide flexible low-cost capital to small businesses that meet specific criteria. . It is targeting historically disadvantaged communities with a focus on Black- and brown-owned businesses in low-income commercial corridors. As Philly prepares for the green phase in the states reopening of the economy and legislators in Harrisburg push for statewide police reform, small business owner Brenda Rodriguez doesnt get her hopes too high. After spending three days and four nights guarding her Digital One store on Germantown Avenues 2600 block, the 73-year-old said she feels discouraged about the corridors fate, the community she serves, and the future of the business owners in North Philly. I fear that this [vandalism and looting] will happen again, because its a matter of time before we hear another [Black person] gets killed. After being endangered by massive coronavirus-driven cuts to the city budget, a Philadelphia program that provides free lawyers to immigrants facing deportation had its funding restored in the closing days of the appropriations process. For detained undocumented immigrants, an attorney is the one asset guaranteed to give them a fighting chance against removal, which for many can have dangerous or even fatal consequences. Now, the Pennsylvania Immigrant Family Unity Project (PAIFUP) will receive its full planned $200,000 allocation, according to city councilmembers. That helps draw an additional $300,000 over three years from the Samuel S. Fels Fund, which supports marginalized communities in the city. Its really, really great news, said Jonah Eaton, whose duties as supervising attorney at the Nationalities Service Center include overseeing PAIFUPs legal work. We can continue to represent people who otherwise would be in these really impossible situations, having to navigate a tremendously complicated legal regime on their own. He credited advocacy from immigrant organizations including Juntos, Africom-Philly, and HIAS Pennsylvania, and said the local and national protests against racism doubtless had an impact, encouraging lawmakers everywhere to focus spending priorities on programs that directly help people. Immigrants who have lawyers to help battle deportation have a 5 times greater chance of winning relief in court than those without counsel. With this investment, Philadelphia continues to be at the forefront of expanding protections to our families and communities in a time of grave injustice, said City Councilmember Helen Gym, who has backed the program since its start last summer. Our immigrant neighbors can rest assured that the city will continue to do everything possible to protect their rights. READ MORE: Immigration advocates gather to stop Philly hospital from shipping undocumented man with severe brain injury back to Guatemala City funding for the program had vanished as the Kenney administration faced a $749 million budget hole created by the pandemic. Philadelphia is among 18 communities across the country to partner with the Vera Institute of Justice, a New York-based advocate that two years ago created Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE), a network similar to the public-defender system in criminal courts. The right to publicly funded legal representation seems a standard part of American law. But in federal Immigration Court, defendants generally have no right to court-appointed counsel, and even children can be made to serve as their own lawyers. The cases tend to be complex and time-consuming, making it hard for poorer immigrants to find a lawyer willing to work free and even harder to find one while in federal detention. As a result, many are left to represent themselves against highly trained, well-financed government lawyers. Since SAFEs inception, clients represented by SAFE lawyers were allowed to remain in the United States in 35% of completed cases. In its first year, PAIFUP represented 38 clients, successfully getting 13 released to their families and winning one case outright. I was about to be deported to a country where Id probably get murdered the first two days home, a Jamaican man, J.R., earlier told The Inquirer, agreeing to speak only if identified by his initials. J.R., 25, of Philadelphia, said his sexuality put him in danger in his homeland. PAIFUP lawyer Lilah Thompson won him not only freedom from detention at the Pike County Correctional Facility, but a court ruling that he was not legally removable. He returned to his job as a HVAC worker in Philadelphia, and now seeks to become a naturalized citizen. Detention has become life-threatening, immigration lawyers argue, with more than 1,000 detainees testing positive for the coronavirus. Last week, a federal judge cited the danger of the pandemic and ordered the Trump administration to release all children who have been held for more than 20 days in the nations three family detention centers. Those 124 children include five currently held at the Berks County detention center in Pennsylvania. The judge set a July 17 deadline. READ MORE: How to explain this time of pandemic to future generations? Museums are figuring it out now, even as coronavirus spreads As President Donald Trump has worked to block and limit immigration restricting asylum, cutting refugee admissions, building a border wall coalitions of elected leaders, university scholars, and philanthropic organizations have pushed to create viable, well-funded, defender-like systems. This is an unusually large grant for our foundation to make, but these are unusual times, said Fels president Sarah Martinez-Helfman. Mayor Jim Kenney announced the citys participation in SAFE last July at the National Constitution Center, saying it would help Philadelphia remain a place where everyone, including immigrants, feels safe and welcome. A Penn Law Review study of 1.2 million deportation cases found that only 37% of all immigrants and 14% of detainees had legal representation. PAIFUPs services are provided by attorneys at the Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center in York. They represent people detained at the York and Pike jails. The $200,000 in the new budget represents twice the citys initial $100,000 investment. For PAIFUP to operate statewide, it would need about $2 million from all funding sources. In addition to Gym, restored funding was supported by Council President Darrell L. Clarke and Councilmembers Kenyatta Johnson, Jamie Gauthier, Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez, Kendra Brooks, and Derek Green, according to Gyms office. PAIFUP lawyers will continue to be on the front lines, Vera SAFE program director Annie Chen said in a statement, fighting alongside their clients for freedom from dangerous detention centers, due process in their court proceedings, and the safe return to their families and communities. Philadelphia is projected to have just $51 million in cash left by next July, as the city expects to have spent $387 million of its long-term reserves to weather the economic impact of the coronavirus. The $51 million fund balance projected for the end of the fiscal year that begins Wednesday leaves very little wiggle room to handle additional expenses or lost revenue. City officials also expect to have a $50 million fund balance by July 2022, the end of the following fiscal year. The new numbers, released in an updated five-year plan based on the budget City Council approved last week, show the extent to which the pandemic has hurt the citys finances. Mayor Jim Kenney signed the budget into law on Friday. It fills a projected $749 million hole by raising taxes, laying off more than 450 employees, cutting services, and spending reserve funds. Mike Dunn, a spokesperson for the Kenney administration, said the city is prohibited from running a deficit. If further adjustments to the just-approved spending plan prove necessary, we would further curtail spending accordingly, he said. Of the $387 million in reserve funds that will be spent before next July, about $184 million will cover the deficit in the current fiscal year, ending Tuesday. An additional $203.5 million is expected to be spent from reserves in the fiscal year beginning Wednesday and continuing through next June. The citys fund balance is essentially the amount of money left over at the end of a fiscal year, and is calculated by taking the amount carried over from the previous year, adding revenue earned during the year, and subtracting expenses. The final fund balance is not known until months after a fiscal year ends, as some expenses and revenues are delayed in being collected or paid. READ MORE: Philly budget deal cancels $19 million increase in police funding, moves another $14 million elsewhere The city has worked to increase its fund balance since the Great Recession, when fiscal years 2009 and 2010 both ended with negative fund balances of more than $100 million. Last year, the city ended fiscal year 2019 with $439 million the largest amount in many years. But still, officials warned that in a severe recession, that fund balance would not be sufficient. It would cover only 33 days in city spending, they said. Philadelphia has lagged other large cities in the size of its fund balance compared with overall revenue. The $439 million fund balance at the end of fiscal 2019 was short of the amount Philadelphia should have had under national best practices. Cities should have at least two months of expenses set aside, according to the Government Finance Officers Association. By that standard, Philadelphia should have had $869 million on hand Tuesday. The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (PICA), the state board that oversees the citys finances and must approve a five-year plan annually, has raised concerns about the size of the fund balance. PICA will vote in July on the latest five-year plan. A citys low fund balance also has a negative impact on its credit rating, which makes it more expensive to borrow money. The fund-balance projections also indicate the expected length of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The citys five-year plan projects that the fund balance will remain at only about $50 million through the fiscal year that ends in June 2022. That is based on economic advisers projections that the citys revenues will suffer for the next couple of years, Dunn said. Even in best case scenarios, the economy in the city, region and nationally will not instantly rebound, he said, so it is prudent to reflect that in our revenue projections. The latest in a series of protest encampments set up in Philadelphia in recent weeks on an unfenced vacant lot overlooking the headquarters of the Philadelphia Housing Authority became the site of a series of skirmishes Tuesday as PHA brought in bulldozers, a cement mixer, and a work crew to fence the lot, and protesters resisted. The dozen tents on a lot at Ridge Avenue and Jefferson Street in North Philadelphia were pitched by homeless people and volunteers, some of whom had previously been part of the camp on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. They decided to come up here to live safely and peaceably, and to put pressure on the Housing Authority, said Jennifer Bennetch, an organizer who started a group called Occupy PHA after her own run-ins with PHA police, who she said had firebombed her private home abutting PHA property. Bennetch acknowledged that the official report described the fire as being caused by her son, but said it was falsified. Bennetch, 34, who also said she had recently helped 10 families of about 40 people move into vacant PHA-owned properties that required minimal upkeep, produced a cease-and-desist email from Larry Redican of PHAs Office of General Counsel warning her that she could be subject to prosecution for criminal trespass. Bennetch said she believed the occupation is legal given that no notice had been posted on the property. READ MORE: COVID-19 has not surged in cities with big protests, but it has in states that reopened early. Here are some possible reasons. In an email statement provided to The Inquirer, PHA suggested that Bennetch was acting in bad faith, and said administrators are dismayed and concerned that the Occupy PHA leader is assisting individuals and families to squat in vacant houses around the city. This action is not only illegal, it is dangerous. Minor cosmetic repairs do not make vacant houses habitable. Illegal utility hookups are especially dangerous to the families and their neighbors, and can cause fires. PHA is calling on the Occupy PHA to immediately cease and desist in their actions, PHA said in a statement. Protesters pulled up metal posts from still-wet concrete bases and attempted to render a roll of chain-link fencing unusable by lacing it with zip ties. They stood at various points in front of bulldozers, and erected their own barriers out of pieces of wood, caution tape and traffic cones and barrels, though the heavier pieces of the barricade were quickly removed by workers. The protesters said they saw the construction of the fence as a step toward evicting the squatters. Theyre fencing us in to arrest us, and I asked people if they wanted to move across the street, but they said theyre tired of being kicked around, Bennetch said. READ MORE: Philly Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, Mayor Jim Kenney apologize for teargassing of protesters on 676 One of the residents, Robert Juniouz, 43, said he and his girlfriend had lived in PHA housing until October 2019, when they were evicted. He said they lost not only their home but all their possessions, because they could not pay the $1,000 owed to the storage company PHA had used. I was out of town. I came back and the house was boarded up, Juniouz said. We look at it like, if they can put this fence up, and that costs $20,000, why cant they house us? Getting decent housing during the pandemic has been nearly impossible, said Juniouz, who has bounced between friends homes and the street for the last few months. He left the Parkway encampment in part because of his experience with PHA, and in part because he felt it had grown unsafe there, citing a recent stabbing. The posted demands at the camp included increasing access to vacant PHA housing for low-income residents and restrictions on selling off PHA property. More broadly, they sought an end to all service days and clearing of homeless encampments, and permission to camp or set up tiny-house developments anywhere in the city. In its response, PHA warned that the encampment currently stands in the way of imminent construction of a North Philadelphia grocery store. The 72% African-American community requested a grocery store and PHA plans to deliver. The group leader ... is obstructing progress and does not represent the desires of the long-term residents in the community. This group is criminally trespassing, and quite frankly, are in the way of the preparation of construction of the first new shopping center in the Sharswood neighborhood in over 50 years. Staff writer Alfred Lubrano contributed to this article. Correction: This story has been changed to better describe the protesters demand on service days. On the coronavirus front, New Jersey pulled back its planned resumption of outdoor dining yesterday, while Delaware had already postponed its move to the final phase of that states reopening plan. And in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf said yesterday that the state saw a slight uptick in new cases over the last week. Locally, there have been shakeups in the Philadelphia Police Department; the Trump campaign sued Pennsylvania election officials; and city teachers responded to a survey about returning to school in the fall. Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com) Indoor dining was set to resume in New Jersey this week. But, due in part to what Gov. Phil Murphy called knucklehead behavior at outdoor restaurants, he pulled that back. Murphy also cited rising coronavirus case trends elsewhere in the country for pressing the pause button. At least 12 other states, including Delaware, have paused dropping or have added coronavirus-related restrictions due to a surge in new cases. Malls around the region began opening this past weekend, with New Jerseys opening yesterday. Heres what that looked like in Cherry HiIl. And, in other news, PPE vending machines are coming to Suburban Station this week, and Pennsylvania has outlined steps for resuming nursing home visits. Larry Krasner won office in 2017 vowing to change a criminal justice system that he described as both racist and lacking accountability. During his tenure as Philadelphias district attorney, Krasner has been seen as a progressive hero and also as a villain to those favoring lock-em-up law enforcement, my colleague Chris Brennan reports. So, as Krasner faces his first Democratic primary as an incumbent in less than a year, those who want him out of his seat are trying to mobilize opposition against him. What you need to know today Through your eyes | #OurPhilly Masks are now mandatory in Philly. Thanks for the reminder, @tominphilly. Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and well pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out! Thats interesting Opinions For some, the shooting was an aberration for a peaceful college town like State College. But for Black residents, it was especially distressing. write Eleanor Brown and Ben Jones about why Black people distrust the police, even in a small Pennsylvania college town. Brown is a professor of law and international affairs and a senior scientist in the Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State. Jones is the assistant director of the Rock Ethics Institute. Eliminating school resource officer programs is an overreaction, writes Mo Canady, the executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers. Instead, Canady writes, officers in schools need best practices. Naiymah Sanchez and Mary Catherine Roper of the ACLU of Pennsylvania write about whether there should be a statewide ban on LGBTQ discrimination. What were reading Your Daily Dose of | Dance The original recital for Sound Space Performing Arts was canceled because of coronavirus-related restrictions. But studio director Pamela Hetherington put on an outdoor show for the first time after she performed in many outdoor recitals when she grew up in Philadelphia. See my colleague Monica Herndons photo gallery here. Americas collective coronavirus test was returned from the lab and, whoops, we flunked. When the European Union starts allowing travelers to enter on July 1, Americans will not be among them. Fortunately, we can wait in line with our fellow rejects, the Russians. Of course, Europe shouldnt be too smug. France, for example, experienced 44.46 deaths per 100,000 while were clocking in at 38.45. Still, our hopscotch pattern of lockdowns, random re-openings, masks, no masks, opening-then-shutting approach is a reflection of our Commander In Chiefs seemingly hourly changes of direction. Thanks to the many healthcare workers on the front lines and scientists researching treatments and vaccines, well muddle through. Theyre the ones who deserve a statue. And the rest of us? How hard is it to wear a mask? Editorial cartoons from this week include: Last year, our community of State College, Pa., confronted what many towns and cities are grappling with in the wake of George Floyds murder. On March 20, 2019, Penn State welcomed civil rights leader Bryan Stevenson, who spoke passionately about a future where Black Americans no longer live with a presumption of being guilty and dangerous. Just hours earlier and a few miles away, an officer shot and killed a Black man with schizophrenia, Osaze Osagie. His father had called police for help, concerned his 29-year-old son was suicidal. It was a stark reminder of how far even progressive communities fall short of the ideals they ostensibly champion. This police killing, like most of the thousand-plus each year in the U.S., never made national headlines. It was too messy no video captured the incident, and police stressed that Osagie was armed. According to police who visited Osagies apartment after obtaining a mental health warrant, he answered the door with a knife, spoke briefly, and charged them. Allegedly, the only way to stop him was lethal force. An investigation found that he was tasered and shot multiple times including twice in the back. Local officials responded with a common refrain: the shooting was sad and tragic, but justified. For some, the shooting was an aberration for a peaceful college town like State College. But for Black residents, it was especially distressing. Many already felt isolated and unwelcomed in a predominantly white town. At the universitys main campus, for example, only eight Black women are full professors. Osagie was beloved and well-known locally. After receiving care for his mental illness in a specialized facility, he had begun to live independently. He was killed by police when his family was just trying to protect him. The loss of another Black life prompted little change in the year following the incident. Such inaction often plays out in local communities, resulting in the frustration and anger weve seen erupt at recent protests. As long as the status quo remains, it is unrealistic to expect people of color or families of the mentally ill to overcome their distrust for police. In State College and elsewhere, three obstacles have stood in the way of reform and eroded trust. First, policing suffers from an accountability vacuum, which stems from a lack of transparency. What if no video captured the murder of George Floyd? It is easy to imagine officers claiming that lethal force was necessary and, with no public video to suggest otherwise, avoiding sanctions. In the Osagie case, there were no witnesses or video to corroborate officers account. The State College Police Department was considering body cameras at the time of the shooting but had yet to implement them. Also, the officers have remained anonymous, making it impossible for the public to examine their records for excessive force or bias. Even if their names had been public, Pennsylvania law protects police disciplinary records from disclosure. Second, when a controversial shooting occurs, local officials often rush to justify tactics rather than fix them. In State College, the district attorney and police department both released reports claiming the shooting of Osagie was justified. The department emphasized that its officers actions were consistent with [its] policies and procedures. But the vital question is whether the right policies were in place. After Ferguson, Mo., the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) issued recommendations on how to avoid lethal force against potentially violent suspects with knives and/or mental illness. These tactics have saved lives in other countries like the U.K. and could have saved Osagies life yet many U.S. jurisdictions have failed to adopt them. Third, too often officials respond with empty action after a police shooting. State College paid $60,000 for a review of its policies by the International Association of Chiefs of Police hardly an organization committed to the reforms necessary to curb police killings. In fact, this organization denounced the very recommendations made by PERF that could have saved Osagie. Floyds killing has spurred many communities to reexamine policing. That includes State College, where officials recently have taken promising initial steps to address broken policies. But for too long, inaction has been the norm as the number of Black (and other) lives killed has mounted. Now more than ever, sustained pressure is needed to turn protest into policy that results in systemic change. Eleanor Brown is a professor of law and international affairs and a senior scientist in the Rock Ethics Institute at Pennsylvania State University. Ben Jones is the assistant director of the Rock Ethics Institute at Pennsylvania State University. Dear Philadelphia, If record-high outbreaks of the coronavirus in Florida, Texas, and Arizona have taught us anything, its that we need to stay home. And when we are at home, we need to keep things intimate. That means no large barbecues for the July Fourth holiday. No big block parties with hundreds of people. No stopping by random friends houses for a plate. None of things we usually do to celebrate Independence Day. Not this year. We need to keep our guard up. Daily case counts in this city are no longer dropping. Philadelphia has added at least 300 new coronavirus cases since Friday. READ MORE: Do you feel safe dining outdoors in Philly as the coronavirus continues? | Pro/Con Masks are now mandatory in the City of Brotherly Love. Wear them when youre at indoor public spaces and also when youre outside and around people not from your household. Yes, theyre hot. Deal with it. We have no other choice, especially when you consider rising infection rates in states that reopened ahead of us and are having to impose new restrictions. Florida is setting records in new coronavirus infections, and has responded by closing beaches for the holiday weekend and discouraging bar gatherings. Texas and Arizona have experienced considerable spikes as well. A note to young people: This is hardest on you. You want to be free to live your life as you choose and to socialize. But a concerning number of children and teenagers have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks. Remember, you can spread the coronavirus even if you are asymptomatic. Think about how would you feel if you contract it and infect your elderly grandparents. And its not as if youre immune to complications. In Florida, young people ages 15 to 34 make up nearly a third of all coronavirus cases. Gov. Rick DeSantis didnt take this thing seriously early enough. Back when we were racing around stocking up on toilet paper and other supplies, crowds were still flocking onto their beaches for spring break. He didnt shut things down until April 1. READ MORE: Most Philly teachers say they want students physically back in class every other week Thanks in part to a strict, citywide stay-at-home-order imposed in March, Philadelphia didnt become an infection hot spot like New York City. We now might go green as soon as Friday. But thats no reason for us to drop precautions and start behaving like its the summer of 2019 instead of 2020. We need to stay vigilant even when others around us arent like those sweaty beachgoers at Rehoboth Beach last weekend. Many were not practicing social distancing. Umbrellas and beach blankets were spread out within a few feet of each other. It was if all the sunshine made them forget how easily the coronavirus is transmitted. Delaware officials have urged those who have been to the area to get tested. Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has dialed back plans to allow indoor dining at restaurants this week. Even so, you can bet that the Jersey beaches will be crowded. I know this all sounds grim. I dont mean to be a killjoy. Im sharing all of this because Im proud of how Philadelphia has fared during the pandemic. For a big urban area with large pockets of poverty, where so many things go wrong all the time, this is one thing that didnt turn out as badly as it easily could have. I dont want us to see the type of spikes that Florida and other Sunbelt states are experiencing right now. Once we finally get into the green zone, we need it to stick. So, this weekend, enjoy your Fourth of July holiday at home with a small circle, preferably mainly those in your household and if not, at least do it outside. Wash your hands often and for at least 20 seconds each time with warm, soapy water. Wear a face mask. If youre feeling patriotic, get one in red, white and blue. This thing that were going through wont last forever. So stay the course and stay at home. Love, Jenice New Jerseys abrupt move to indefinitely postpone the scheduled Thursday resumption of indoor restaurant service was sparked, in part, by media images of outdoor dining and drinking destinations at the Shore crowded with patrons without masks. Faced with an uptick in coronavirus cases, Philadelphia last Friday made mask-wearing mandatory in public places; the city on Tuesday announced it will slow down its own reopening effort, set to begin Friday, by several weeks. As the pandemics first wave continues to churn, and caseloads spike across the country, a dozen states including Delaware have announced a pause in economic restart schedules as well. READ MORE: Coronavirus cases rise in states with relaxed face mask policies It seems inexplicable that some Americans rightly appalled by shortages of personal protective equipment, including masks, for frontline workers at the start of the pandemic now seem nonchalant, even hostile, to using such gear to protect themselves and others. The so-called war over face masks, which has led to ugly confrontations between business owners and customers including the shooting death of a Michigan security guard may deter some people from putting on this necessary piece of protective equipment. Worse, the outright refusal to wear a mask has become a bizarre badge of honor among some who see conspiracy theories and nanny state tyrannies lurking behind sensible public health guidelines. Self-styled freedom fighters against masks risk infecting others, and being infected themselves, with an as-yet unstoppable pathogen. What sort of freedom is that? The fact is that mask-wearing and other basic infection control tools such as testing have helped flatten a rising caseload curve in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other states, and have enabled states and cities to emerge from lockdown in cautious phases. Even so, the pressure from businesses desperate to completely reopen after three lost months of income is understandable. The head of the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association likened Gov. Phil Murphys decision to delay indoor service to taking a sledgehammer to an entire industry. READ MORE: Masks now mandatory in Philly as officials show concern over new virus cases; suburban counties go green But governors nationwide have had to devise their own approaches in the absence of clear guidance from the federal government. Inconsistent and sometimes incoherent messaging from a White House suspicious of science and consumed by reelection politics also doesnt help. President Donald Trumps reluctance to be seen wearing a mask as if protecting oneself and others from viral infection was a sign of weakness even alarms some of his supporters, including at Fox News. Video showing the methodical removal of social distancing advisory stickers on seats in the arena where the president held an underattended campaign rally June 20 in Tulsa, Okla., appeared to be a stunning signal of presidential, or presidential reelection, priorities. But facts have a way of breaking through. Spurred by soaring numbers of new infections in Florida, the city of Jacksonville, where the Republican Party will hold its convention beginning Aug. 25, this week made mask-wearing mandatory for large gatherings. There is clear evidence that close and sustained indoor contact among large groups of people is a frighteningly efficient way for the coronavirus to find new hosts. Scientific fact, common sense, and common decency suggest that putting on a mask is a way individuals together can help defeat our common adversary. Not doing so is an act of surrender. As coronavirus cases soar nationwide in many U.S. states, there is one thing every American could do that would make a difference. Wear a mask. President Donald Trumps miserable mockery of masks has morphed them into a partisan political symbol in this country. But in most democracies that have had the greatest success in fighting COVID-19, including South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, mask-wearing is common practice. The Japan example is of special interest to Americans, because its government, like ours, badly fumbled the initial handling of the virus. Yet it has suffered less than 1,000 virus deaths in a country of 126 million people. One key thing Japan did right was near-universal masking. And the history of Japans masking habits holds surprising lessons for Americans while offering hope they could be duplicated here. READ MORE: Trump actions on COVID-19 will make America sick again | Trudy Rubin Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was slow and erratic in responding to COVID-19. He instituted no mandatory lockdowns on the public. His distribution of masks to each household was botched, while the governments distribution of funds to the public got mired in red tape. Yet masking became almost universal, and though there is no proof it was a magic bullet, Japans virus success indicates it had a serious impact. The country has experienced only 7.68 deaths per million, compared with 385 per million for the United States. Of course, many ascribe this success to Japanese culture, and a common mask-wearing tradition in East Asia. In Japan, there is a culture of concern for other people, and very strong behavioral norms, I was told by Linda Chance, associate professor of Japanese studies at the University of Pennsylvania. If the government says wear a mask, they will. As a model to their country, Japans emperor and empress have masked in public. Other social factors also contribute. Japanese dont do handshaking and kisses on the cheeks and speak more softly, and mask-wearing is common to protect against cedar pollen in the spring and during flu season, notes Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple Universitys Japan Campus in Tokyo. Yet, Kingston cautioned me that the history of Japans mask-wearing could not be attributed solely to local practices. Culture becomes the utility infielder of explanations [for mask-wearing], he said. But if this is so, how come Americans had a mask-wearing culture when Japan didnt? Indeed, according to a fascinating blog post by Harvard University historian Andrew Gordon, the modern medical origins of masks worn for health purposes are Western. They were developed in the mid-1800s in the United States and Europe to protect miners against coal dust but adapted in Asia in the early 20th century to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. During the post-WWI Spanish flu epidemic, Japan encouraged mask-wearing, including in its colonies of South Korea and Taiwan. But and here is Gordons key point there was a massive American commitment to mask wearing as a strategy to protect the military and the general public in that same post-WWI era. Adds Kingston, More American soldiers died of Spanish flu than died from World War I fighting. Such a catastrophe shocked people. Americans used to be very confident with masking. That confidence continued, apparently, until the 1930s, when masking was even shown in U.S. movies and used as a commonsense response to flu. But over the following decades, writes Gordon, Two processes unfolded in parallel, inverse fashion: a deepened commitment to masks for protecting health in East Asia and the disappearance of the commitment in at least one nation. Of course, that nation is the United States in the era of Trump. So it is easy to assume that, as Trump supporters and many younger Americans rebuff masks, this country could never resume a mask culture. Vice President Mike Pence, who heads Trumps coronavirus task force, almost never masks. And when Trump himself makes fun of Joe Biden for masking and mocks the practice in interviews and rallies, its hard to see masking becoming widespread. The White House sloughs off the masking issue to local officials, who arent well-positioned to enforce it. Of course, Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx are begging people to mask, and some GOP governors are getting desperate enough to demand it. But when national leadership is absent, it becomes too easy to assume that an American culture of selfishness trumps sanity, led by the ego-in-chief in the White House. READ MORE: Lessons for America: South Korea proves you can hold an election under COVID-19 | Trudy Rubin And yet, surprisingly, recent polls show that most Americans support masking. About seven in 10 Americans say people who go to public places where they may be near others should wear masks most of the time or always, according to a mid-June Pew poll. And a mid-June Fox News poll found that 80% of Americans have a favorable view of mask-wearers. So the Japan example is indeed relevant. Americans appear ready to resume the mask-wearing culture they adopted a little over a century ago. Movie theaters have been closed for months in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and with warm weather in full swing, you may be missing the summer movie-viewing experience. Sure, you could take a trip to one of Pennsylvanias many drive-ins to get a taste. Or, with a little planning, you could bring the drive-in home, and a safe trip to the movies may be only as far as your backyard. But what equipment do you need to set it up? Here is what you need to know: Will my backyard work for movies? First and foremost: You need electricity. So make sure you have easy access to power outlets, either outdoors or by running an extension cord from inside. And, of course, make sure theres no rain in the weather forecast. Make sure your yard is clean and level so you can easily set up your equipment, and large enough to be comfortable for you and any guests, says Kristen Blasier, rental manager of the Hatboro audiovisual equipment shop Zeo Brothers. If youre using a projector, youll need up to 15 feet of distance between it and your screen, depending on the screens size, for a proper picture. Generally, youll be screening your movie in the dark. But make sure your outdoor setup is protected from other bright light sources, such as streetlights or car headlights, which can make the picture harder to see. What equipment do I need? If you want the minimum effort: Moving your TV outside for a movie night is an option. If you want to go all out, a little bit of extra technology could provide a more convenient and more enjoyable experience. For the full outdoor theater setup, you need a projector, external speakers, and a screen, and the movie player of your choice, such as a DVD or Blu-ray player, Amazon Fire Stick, or laptop. The picture: Projectors can run anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, but there are lots on the lower end that will do the trick. The important things to look for, Blasier says, are lumen rating (or brightness, about 2,500 lumens should cut it), and keystone adjustment, which lets you correct the images dimension and angle a helpful tool for less-than-level settings. Gina Izzo, director of marketing at Bryn Mawr Film Institute, says that some newer projectors like her pick, the Akaso WT50 ($250) include access to apps like Netflix and Hulu, and Bluetooth connectivity, so you can pair it with speakers. The sound: You can get away with listening to your projectors built-in speakers, Izzo says, though using something like a standalone Bluetooth speaker will up the quality or even headphones, if you only have a few viewers. Most Bluetooth speakers wont provide the bass-y rumble with which moviegoers are familiar, Blasier says, so connecting a sound system with a subwoofer is a better (though more expensive) option if thats important to you. The screen: You can buy a dedicated outdoor movie screen for a couple of hundred bucks. Screens are generally either fixed frame or inflatable, and their surface is more reflective, so your movie looks better. Or you could keep it simple and project your movie onto a light-colored wall or bedsheet strung up to make a makeshift screen (an IKEA clothing rack could work as a frame in a pinch, Izzo says), though the quality wont be as good. If all that sounds too complicated or expensive, you might consider renting equipment for your movie night. Some companies, like Zeo Brothers, rent out all the necessary equipment for about $200 for a weekend. READ MORE: 12 drive-in movie theaters near Philly Other movie-night tips: A note on seating: Sure, you can lounge on blankets while you watch. But that looks better on Instagram than it actually feels, Izzo says. Thats the worst youll last about half an hour, she says. Its cute, but it gets old fast. A better bet: Go with actual seating like lawn or camping chairs to save your back and make movie night as comfortable as possible. If you do go the picnic-blanket route, pillows will give you a little more support. Keep the snacks simple: No movie night is complete without snacks. But Izzo suggests you stick to foods that wont attract bugs, which can be distracting and keep food in a mesh cover tent to keep the bugs at bay. Movie candies like Twizzlers, she says, might be a better option than Goobers or Sno-Caps. I think you are OK with popcorn, even with butter, she says. Popcorn is a must. Be considerate of neighbors: Its also a good idea to be a good neighbor. Blasier suggests checking noise ordinances in your neighborhood and sticking to them, and making sure your screening is as family-friendly as possible. So be reasonable in your film choice. If its visible from the road or another persons yard, I dont know that I would be showing the Walking Dead or Scream or one of those ax-murder movies outside, she says. Izzo adds that backyard movie hosts should read the room before going ahead with a screening to keep neighbors happy. Feel free to also invite your neighbors to the screening, but dont grow the crowd too much. According to the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, your group needs to be limited to a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances to do right by U.S. copyright law. READ MORE: Our best Philly tips: Read our most useful stories Northern Virginia's rolling seven-day average of new coronavirus cases is at its lowest level since early April, the Virginia Department of Health reported Tuesday, although Loudoun County officials are warning of a surge in cases among teens and young adults tied to a large group trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Northern Virginia region reported 154 new cases on Tuesday, with 107 of those coming from Loudoun and Prince William counties combined. The region's average of new cases over the past seven days dropped to 161.7, the lowest it has been since April 10, when it stood at 153.1. Statewide, 598 new cases were reported Tuesday, and hospitalizations statewide jumped by 106 patients to 902, the most since June 17. Northern Virginia hospitalizations only increased by eight, however, so the bulk of the increase came from elsewhere in Virginia. In a news release Monday, Loudoun officials said in the past week, 150 people between 16 and 18 had tested positive for COVID-19, and more than half of the countys positive cases in that time period came from those 29 years old or younger. Dr. David Goodfriend, the countys health director, said many teens and young adults are increasingly participating in activities that involve larger gatherings of people, such as beach week and other celebrations, which has increased their exposure to others outside their families. NBC Washington said Goodfriend is referencing a Loudoun County Beach Week event in Myrtle Beach that was responsible for about 100 of the positive cases. Goodfriend told the station that in talking with those infected and their doctors, the health department determined that hundreds of students had taken the trip together. Loudoun's surge is seen in a higher percentage of positive test results, which has jumped over two percentage points on a seven-day average basis in the past week. Prince William's seven-day average for positive tests has increased slightly has well, although both localities are well below their mid-May levels. Northern Virginia now accounts for 50.8% of the state's total of 62,787 cases, the health department reported. Northern Virginia's share of the total cases, once nearly 60%, has been slowly declining in recent weeks. The health department reported 23 new deaths statewide linked to COVID-19, with 16 of those in Northern Virginia. Of the state's 1,740 deaths linked to the coronavirus, more than half, 945, have been in Northern Virginia. Fairfax County alone has had more than a quarter of the deaths, with 488. The health department's COVID-19 data is updated each morning by 10 a.m. and includes reports by local health agencies before 5 p.m. the previous day. LATEST COVID-19 DATA New Cases/Deaths Northern Virginia: 154 new cases, 16 new deaths Statewide: 598 new cases, 23 new deaths Statewide Testing: 8,666 diagnostic tests Overall Total Northern Virginia: 31,893 cases, 945 deaths Statewide: 62,787 cases, 1,763 deaths Statewide Testing: 642,371 diagnostic tests (711,093 when including antibody tests) Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) cases: 5 *Provided by Virginia Department of Health Statewide Hospital and Nursing Home Data Hospitalizations: 902 (up from 796 and highest since June 17) Peak Hospitalizations: 1,625 reached May 8 Patients in ICU: 230 (up from 225) Patients Discharged: 8,080 total Nursing Home Patients: 644 confirmed positive cases (down from 653 the previous day) *Provided by Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association U.S. | World Data U.S.: 129,544 deaths, 2.68 million cases, 705,203 recovered World: 509,474 deaths, 10.42 million cases, 5.25 million recovered *Provided by Johns Hopkins University Stonewall Jackson High School will be renamed Unity Reed High School to honor Arthur Reed, a long-time security assistant at the school, and Stonewall Middle School will be renamed Unity Braxton Middle, to honor Celestine and Carroll Braxton, a local educator and her veteran husband. The new names were approved unanimously by the Prince William County School Board at a special meeting Monday evening, less than a month after Superintendent Steve Walts first recommended renaming the schools. More than 20 people suggested names during a public hearing before the school boards vote, and that followed two meetings last week in which dozens of names were recommended. According to an online petition in support of naming the high school after Reed, he was nicknamed the "Godfather of Stonewall" after he passed away. The high school is located just outside the city of Manassas. Celestine Braxton was an educator in the school division for 33 years who died in 2014. Braxton started teaching before racial segregation was ruled unconstitutional. Her husband, Carroll Braxton, is a decorated veteran. This unity is possible because of remarkable and brave people like Celestine and Carroll Braxton, said School Board member Jennifer Wall, who represents the Gainesville District, where the middle school is located. A renaming committee of Wall, Chair Babur Lateef and school board members Adele Jackson of the Brentsville District and Lisa Zargarpur of Coles District recommended the new names. In the end, it felt like the best way to encompass how the community felt, Jackson said about the new names. School board members said unity is a theme that is inspiring. The Braxtons built and performed their lives with unity in mind clearly at all times, so I think this is great, Lateef said. School Board member Loree Williams said this is the time to rename schools. [Both schools] have lived in a limbo of knowing well get to this point, but not knowing when; I think this will bring some closure to that community, she said. School Board member Lillie Jessie, who represents the Occoquan District, asked during the meeting how much the renaming process will cost the division. I think the public needs to know the cost and how were coming up with the money. Walts said the division will find the necessary funding to rename the schools. Diana Gulotta, the school divisions spokeswoman, said staff plans to replace signs at the two schools before the 2020-2021 school year. The school board also voted to name the middle school's auditorium after John G. Miller, a principal at the school for 18 years who retired this year. Dave Beavers, supervisor of planning and financial services for the school division's Office of Facilities Services, told the school board the school division received more than 775 suggestions for new names for the schools. The school division said the top 10 most frequently suggested names, in alphabetical order, were: Woodbridge, VA (22192) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Hot. High near 95F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight An isolated thunderstorm possible this evening, then occasional showers overnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 1:00 pm Payton, L. Ritter, 20, was arrested Feb. 21 after officers responded Jan. 4 to the report of a fictitious ID in the 100 block of West Pine Street. Ritter was arrested on a charge of possession of a fictitious/altered license. Austin L. Schumacher, 24, was arrested Feb. 21 on a Johnson County warrant. Mick J. Fitzgerald, 18, and Dylan S. Brown, 19, were arrested Feb. 21 when detectives served a narcotics search warrant in the 500 block of West Young Street. Fitzgerald was arrested on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. Brown was arrested on charges of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, unlawful possession of a firearm and delivery of 35 grams or less of marijuana. Eric L. Cannon, 41, was arrested Feb. 22 when officers conducted a traffic stop in the 600 block of North Holden Street. Cannon was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated drugs. Brendan A. Bockhorst, 22, was arrested Feb. 23 when officers conducted a traffic stop at Washington and Madison streets. Bockhorst was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated liquor. Brandon M. Williams, 23, was arrested Feb. 23 when officers responded to the report of a disturbance in the 100 block of Pine Street. Williams was arrested on a charge of unlawful use of weapons. Richard K. Bruhn, 33, was arrested Feb. 24 on a Pettis County and Knob Noster warrants. Stephaine Washington, 43, was arrested Feb. 24 when officers responded to the report of fraud past occurred Feb. 18 in the 800 block of Prairie Hill Drive. Washington was arrested on charges of stealing less than $750 all other larceny and fraudulent use of a credit/debit device. Samantha W. Lane, 37, was arrested Feb. 24 when officers responded to the report of a subject refusing to leave in the 500 block of North Ridgeview Drive. Lane was arrested on a charge of failure to obey an officer. Joanne E. Goeth, 59, was arrested Feb. 24 on a probation and parole warrant. Timothy T. White, 34, was arrested Feb. 24 when officers responded to the report of stealing in the 600 block of Burkarth Road. White was arrested on a Higginsville warrant. Local Twin Cities artists Enzyrose, Eyenga Bokamba, Noah Lawrence-Holder, LeShon Lee, and Meadow Gillispie, talk about their reaction to the murder of George Floyd, the trial of Derek Chauvin, and life as a black artist during this time. The single biggest challenge will be once JobKeeper finishes, Ware said. Some of our clients who are currently relying on this scheme will have to make other arrangements without that support and there are some that are only surviving on this support at the present time. Ware believes that if businesses close, or even scale down, it will have a corrosive impact on his own brokerage, as well as his supply chain. We might see businesses, after JobKeeper finishes, close or scale down significantly which will impact us both directly and indirectly, he explained. Some of our supply chains rely on these businesses - but also, obviously, we only get paid by our clients, so if theyre not there to take insurance in the first instance then it has a direct impact on our business too. Our clients are our business. Read more: Brokers need to be aware of emerging risks: Swiss Re Ware believes the federal government could consider adopting a tailored approach to the JobKeeper program to ensure businesses which arent coping during this economic crisis, especially in the hospitality sector, can survive. It might be a matter of instead of a blanket approach, we need a more tailored industry approach because some industries may come out of this OK and may have even continued to grow during the pandemic, Ware continued. And others who are more impacted by restrictions put in place may not - they might be the ones that need more help or more funding than it being simply a blanket rule across everybody. The dire situation for the hospitality sector, however, has only been exacerbated as Victoria plummets into a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks, prompting the state government to reinforce strict social distancing measures. Bigger hospitality venues were ready to go to the 50-person limit and then overnight they were told that it was going to stay at 20 people for another three weeks, Ware added. I know for some of our clients, that had a major impact because they were going to bring people back to work because there would be customer numbers requiring that amount of work. Now its not the case. That then creates unrest in business as well. There are not just financial impacts to this, but the changing week to week updates takes an emotional toll on the workforce. Read next: icare delves into pandemic workforce changes This second wave, and the subsequent impact on his clients, is currently Wares biggest concern. While the cases are going up, its not good for anyone, he said. Its absolutely at the front of your mind every day and we hope everyone can help turn it around. Brit explained in a statement that it believes Falvey is a better strategic fit for its cargo business, as Brit will continue to focus its growth around its core products. Falvey is committed to making the transition seamless for brokers formerly working with Brit, and providing them with the world-class service we are known for, said Falvey Cargo Underwriting president and CEO Mike Falvey. The chief executive added that Falvey is excited to welcome Frohne and Saegusa to the team, recognizing their outstanding service to brokers and their roles as some of the best marine cargo underwriters in the market today. Frohne has nearly 22 years of marine insurance and reinsurance experience, with a background in cargo insurance. He has held a number of senior positions on both the underwriting and broking side with companies such as RSA, Wills Re, Allianz, and most recently with Brit where he was senior-vice-president of marine. He is a member of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters and holds a Certificate in Ocean Marine Insurance. In his new role, Frohne will be based in Long Island, NY. Saegusa has more than 16 years of experience in cargo underwriting, having held multiple senior underwriting and management positions with AIG across different regions. He most recently served as VP of marine with Brit, where he was focused on developing Brits cargo business on the West Coast. Saegusa will be based in Los Angeles, CA as part of his new role with Falvey. A New York state insurance broker has been arrested and charged with wire fraud, attempted wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. announced the charges against Brian Bartz, 38, of Rochester, N.Y. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who is handling the case, stated that over the past five years, Bartz has been employed as an insurance broker by several different life insurance companies, including the Benjamin Hollamby Agency, which sold life insurance policies on behalf of Nationwide Life Insurance Company, the Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company, Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Lavoro Group via Mass Mutual, located in Rochester. The general practice of these companies was to offer monetary commissions and/or bonuses to their agents when agents sold life insurance policies. According to the complaint, Bartz would submit false applications for life insurance policies to the insurance companies on behalf of individuals who were not aware of these applications. The applications included individuals means of identification without their knowledge or consent. In order to avoid detection, he used various victims bank accounts to pay the premiums for the unauthorized policies. Between 2015 and 2020, Bartz defrauded or attempted to defraud a number of life insurance companies and dozens of investors out of more than $950,000. The complaint further states that some of his conduct was discovered after his departure from the insurance companies. For instance, after he left the Benjamin Hollamby Agency in February 2018, Nationwide conducted an annual audit revealing that a disproportionately large number of life insurance policies sold by Bartz had lapsed due to policyholders failing to pay the required premiums. As a result, Nationwide performed an internal investigation and determined that many of the lapsed policyholders had never given the defendant authorization to apply for a policy on their behalf. In October 2019, investigators executed a search warrant on the contents of the defendants personal email, which he used to effectuate his scheme. That review revealed that, on multiple occasions, Bartz received emails from Nationwide that were addressed to and intended for prospective policyholders but were sent directly to his email address. The emails contained a link to a website application that prospective policyholders were supposed to complete, electronically sign and submit to Nationwide. These emails were sent shortly before Nationwide received completed applications for these individuals. Investigators believe that the defendant completed the applications and submitted them without the victims knowledge or consent, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorneys Office. In total, Bartz fraudulently submitted approximately 150 policy applications on behalf of approximately 120 individuals to Nationwide and, as a result, Nationwide paid out approximately $250,000 in commissions and bonuses that it otherwise would not have paid. The defendant continued to engage in this scheme of submitting false life insurance policy applications, collecting commissions for the sale of those policies and using victim bank accounts to pay the policy premiums after he left the Benjamin Hollamby Agency and Nationwide. At Bankers Conseco, Bartz allegedly fraudulently submitted approximately 29 policy applications on behalf of approximately 22 individuals, attempting to fraudulently obtain approximately $70,000 in commissions and bonuses. Bankers Conseco discovered the fraudulent scheme in time to avoid making the payments. At Mass Mutual, the defendant fraudulently submitted approximately 138 policy applications on behalf of approximately 10 individuals, attempting to fraudulently obtain approximately $110,000 in commissions and bonuses. However, Mass Mutual discovered the fraudulent scheme in time to avoid making the payments as well. In addition to defrauding insurance companies, Bartz attempted to defraud individual victims through a fraud scheme commonly known as a Ponzi scheme. The defendant targeted individuals that he either already had years-long relationships with as their life insurance agent or who were referred to Bartz as a life insurance/investment agent. While working at the life insurance companies, Bartz began to persuade individuals to make premium payments to him directly instead of to the life insurance company with which they had or believed they had a policy. In addition, Bartz represented himself as an investment advisor and convinced victims to invest their money in investment funds that he controlled, which did not exist. To avoid being detected, he used a small portion of incoming new investor money to make promised payments to earlier investors. Bartz is accused of defrauding individual investors out of approximately $530,000. The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Guyton. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. Source: U.S. Attorneys Office, Western District of New York Topics Carriers USA Agencies Fraud New York Abuse Molestation Policyholder LiquidX has appointed Todd Lynady as managing director and global head of Insurance Sales and Business Development. In this newly created role, Lynady will be responsible for leading the firms sales, origination and business development strategy for LiquidXs trade credit insurance digital marketplace globally. Over his more than 20 year career in trade credit insurance and commercial finance, he has held roles of increasing responsibility and brings a blend of credit underwriting and sales experience to the organization. He joins LiquidX from Euler Hermes, where he most recently served as regional head of Broker Management for the Americas region. In this role, he was responsible for the origination, underwriting and account and portfolio management strategies for Euler Hermes strategic broker partners in the USA, Canada and Brazil. Before joining Euler Hermes, he was a founding member and deputy head of Zurichs Short-Term Multi-Buyer Trade Credit Insurance team. Prior to Zurich, he served as a vice president and senior business development officer for both GE Capital and Textron Financial Corporation, originating and structuring asset-based and cash flow loans for corporate borrowers. Lynady began his career as a regional manager for Atradius Trade Credit Insurance Inc., where he was responsible for the origination and underwriting of trade credit insurance programs. LiquidX is a global technology company that works with corporate finance professionals to digitize their treasury management and working capital functions. Headquartered in New York, it has offices in Boston, London and Singapore. Source: LiquidX Topics New York Talent Human Resources AgencyKPI, which has developed a business intelligence platform designed to address and manage the abundance of data produced by multiple software programs and legacy systems across the insurance industry, has closed on $5 million in Series A funding. The Series A round of funding is led by EMC Insurance Companies of Des Moines, Iowa. Two insurance agency networks are also investing in AgencyKPI: Keystone Insurers Group of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, and Austin-based Combined Agents of America. Keystone Insurers Group, founded in 1983, has grown to almost 300 independent agency partners across 14 states. It is ranked third on Insurance Journals Top 100 Property/Casualty Agencies list for 2019. Combined Agents of America is comprised of 75 independent insurance agencies and is ranked sixth on Insurance Journals Top 100 Property/Casualty Agencies list for 2019. AgencyKPI was started in 2017 by Trent Richmond, an insurance industry veteran, and Bobby Billman, a seasoned high tech executives. In 2019, the company raised $3 million in seed- and strategic-round funding from insurance networks, carriers, independent agencies, and C-level executives in the insurance industry. This year, AgencyKPI will use the new funds to hire more software developers and data scientists to accelerate the development of the companys additional business intelligence platforms. Also in 2019, AgencyKPI launched its business intelligence platform for networks, called Harmony, which addresses mass data fragmentation and unifies data from various sources, so insurance networks can begin to see how they are performing on any given level. Today, the Harmony platform handles $15.8 billion in written premium from more than 8,800 affiliated agencies. Source: AgencyKPI Topics Mergers Agencies Market The Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel (OPIC) has asked the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to conduct a special data call of the top 10 auto insurance groups in the state to gather information about personal auto claims during the COVID-19 pandemic. OPIC said it needs the data to fulfill its statutory duty to assess the impact of insurance rates on insurance consumers in Texas and to represent their interests. In a letter to Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan, Public Counsel Melissa Hamilton said pandemic-specific data is needed for rate filing reviews. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, OPIC has been monitoring the personal auto insurance market in the state to ensure that Texans pay fair prices for their insurance. These monitoring efforts include objecting to personal auto rate increases and tracking any premium assistance to policyholders, such as rebates and credits. OPIC has also provided individuals and small businesses with assistance through our website and social media applications. Because of the unprecedented nature of this pandemic and its impact on driving, combined with the way rates are normally filed and supported, OPICs normal rate filing reviews may not be enough to ensure that auto insurance rates meet legal requirements and are appropriate, given the effect of the pandemic. Additional auto claims data would be a valuable resource to ensure effective and comprehensive monitoring of the Texas market, Hamilton wrote. Hamilton asked that the data call be initiated by July 15, with a with an expectation that monthly claim data for January through June could be reported by July 31, and July claim counts by August 15. OPIC envisions the data call to be ongoing for the pandemics duration. It requests reporting of paid claim counts for all lines and arising claims counts for bodily injury liability only. OPIC said the data call is needed due to the reduction in driving brought on by the pandemic. Hamilton said in the letter that OPIC has reviewed data that shows total vehicle miles driven in Texas, for the last week of May versus the first week of March 2020, declined 43.2%, even with the inclusion of Memorial Day in the May data. This figure is reasonably consistent with the decline in vehicle crashes and reported claim reductions. Topics Texas Auto Data Driven An engineer error caused a CSX freight train to derail as it crossed the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, sending two cars into the water and damaging a footbridge that is part of the Appalachian Trail, according to a report from the Federal Railroad Administration. Seven empty train cars in total derailed in the December 21 incident and no one was injured. The recently released report said the engineer used excessive force to make a movement with the brakes still applied, The Journal reported. The derailment closed access to some parts of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park and the Chesapeake & Ohio National Historic Park. Repairs to the footbridge are underway and are expected to be completed in late July. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Virginia West Virginia Federal officials say a Florida restaurant chain with six locations has been fined more than $314,500 for taking employee tips and wages. The U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday that the Vietnamese chain Pho 79 illegally diverted federal overtime pay and tips for 65 employees. The South Florida SunSentinel reports that, on average, the fine would come out to about $4,800 per employee. The Labor Department found that Pho 79 had a number of violations, including forcing some employees to work virtually unlimited hours, taking all tips from workers and did not keep a record of employee hours worked. Pho 79 employees contacted Friday did not comment on the violations. A Labor Department spokesman said the restaurant agreed to comply with the applicable laws in the future. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Florida Fraud Restaurant In a recent announcement, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and IoT Alliance Australia (IoTAA), released their How Digital Transformation and IoT Can Contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals white paper. The whitepaper illustrates how digital transformation can support relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) by including them in the strategic planning and execution of digital transformation activities. The white paper also advocates using a model-driven approach to define and execute a digital transformation strategy, according to the release. UN Sustainable Development Goals provide a framework for an organization to improve their environmental impact, health and social justice, but the framework doesnt provide guidance on how to build the goals into corporate strategy or demonstrate how digital transformation can help in achieving those goals, said Peter Klement, IIC Member, Associate Partner, DXC Technology, and one of the authors of the white paper. This white paper provides a high-level approach to embed UN SDGs into the strategic digital transformation initiatives of every organization. UN SDGs include 17 interconnected goals to achieve a better and more sustainable future to protect the planet, ensure public health and help economies prosper by 2030. An organization can impact the outcome of its digital transformation initiative by using UN SDGs to shape the business strategy and goals. Strategy tools, such as Object Management Group Business Motivation Model (BMM) and the Balanced Score Card (BSC), can, according the two organizations, help a company incorporate UN SDGs into their existing strategy planning and execution frameworks. A Digital Architecture Model reportedly helps an organization document its current and future business operating models and its technology landscape, and the associated strategic architecture roadmap. By using modeling tools and UN SDGs to strategize and refine their business practices, an organization can then answer such questions as, How will my service or operation benefit sustainability or how can I engineer the best sustainability outcome of my design or implementation? said Frank Zeichner, CEO, IoTAA & Knowledge Economy Institute, and another of the authors of the white paper. This combination has already proven successful in industrial operations, protecting the health and safety of operators and reducing the carbon footprint of diesel generators, to name a few examples. Edited by Ken Briodagh Lubbock, TX (79409) Today Partly cloudy skies with gusty winds. High 78F. Winds NE at 25 to 35 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear skies. Low 59F. Winds E at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Cellular 4G networks were not originally designed or engineered to support IoT deployments; with the density of cellular services in the most populated and developed regions across the globe, the technology was invented for always on hyperconnected mobile devices, supporting data, voice, video, applications and human communications. Cellular-based IoT projects have been educational. The mobile sessions drain batteries very quickly making battery powered IoT devices challenging, because replacing batteries is expensive and potentially complicated. Business models have been the second hurdle data charges can skyrocket without the right plan in place. To solve for these challenges, alternative network protocols, platforms and network services have been built around LoRa, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a variety of mesh solutions to support processing and data relay at the edge, sending data via gateways to the cloud. With the advent of LTE-M and NB-IoT, all of this has been changing. These technologies dramatically reduce power consumption, and the way they exchange data (sending and receiving) reduces data consumption and therefore recurring expense. This important progression has inspired innovators to create new radio systems. Developers now have access to nano chips from semi-conductor companies, and they embed them into modules, increasingly smaller form factors that add a processor, memory, power storage, and ports for antenna and other features. Some of these modules even work with 2G and/or GPS. The commercial availability of 5G-ready, transitional chipsets designed specifically for low power and low bandwidth IoT applications are now available to developers in the form of cellular modules. Cellular modules build on the base functionality of the chipset, but add additional support like firmware, memory, processors, and a simplified means to connect the device to a circuit board. Embedded modems are the next level in the continuum of adding 5G connectivity to an IoT device. Embedded modems build on the functionality of the module, adding features like power management, an on-board MCU, a SIM interface, the ability to update firmware over the air (FOTA), very simple and consistent pins for connecting to a circuit board and an antenna, and as a result are the simplest way to add 5G cellular connectivity. Furthermore, embedded modems are certified by carriers as an End Device, meaning that the final IoT device containing the embedded modem does not need to go through any further carrier certifications. Each step in the continuum from Chipset to Module to Embedded Modem represents a reduction in technical risk, a reduction in development timelines and a reduction in time to market. Given this context massive opportunities are surfacing which simply were untenable a few years ago. Small is the new big. Just as smartphones got smaller and more convenient while becoming more powerful, the trend in IoT is towards devices which are small, ruggedized, affordable, and are paired with software solutions which are moving towards Zero Touch in the most advanced cases (for example, ClearBlades IoT platform which automatically registers devices to the system, provisioning them in minutes, and providing management capabilities and extensive reporting and analytics). NimbeLink, a company based in Minnesota, USA, is about to release its smallest embedded modem, fully certified for LTE-M, engineered for global standards (including NB-IoT NB1 and NB2), with an integrated GPS/GNSS radio. Their Skywire Nano is a mere 22mm x 15mm x4mm and supports download speeds of LTE-M: 375 Kbps | NB-IoT: 60 Kbps, and upload speeds of LTE-M: 300 Kbps | NB-IoT: 30 Kbps. Power consumption was built into the design from the ground up, Kurt Larson, CTO said, to extend battery life. We have been working with our clients and partners to build, test and perfect the Skywire Nano and are ready to roll the modem out for general availability, with full documentation and support. We are truly grateful to all the developers who have contributed their insight and wish lists and are excited to roll out a high-quality product which enterprises, service providers, integrator and others in the ecosystem will appreciate. The NL-SWN-LTE-NRF9160 is a super small device, requiring no carrier certification, and sporting a user-accessible applications processor, a Verizon soldered-down SIM, support for 3FF removable SIM cards, Power Save Mode (PSM) and eDRX. This is a substantial investment for us, Larson continued. The process of starting at the module level requires a lot of time and expertise. The entire process might take a year or more. This is not only due to the design and development, but also the certification of a product. The entire end-product, inclusive of the modem, must be certified to be on the cellular network. If the certification fails, which it often does, the entire product must be redesigned and re-certified. And iterated again until certification is complete. Were solving for a big problem with a very small form factor solution. Skywire modems eliminate the need for our customers to go through certification of their end products, so not only is the device small, powerful and easy to configure, but the ability to bring a connected product to market using it has sped up to a matter of weeks, rather than months or even years of risky attempts that too often fail, Larson said. Building with an end-device certified modem eliminates the complexity of dealing with the costs and timelines associated with the certification process, as well as dramatically reducing the costs and timelines of prototyping and establishing a production line. Other companies offering a range IoT modems include Digi, Inseego, Lantronix, MultiTech, Orbcomm, Sierra Wireless, Telit, Thales Group, and others. Edited by Ken Briodagh Peter Gitau, who holds a doctorate in higher education policy and administration, is currently the vice president for student affairs at Dixie State University and the first of four finalists. Gitau will participate in virtual interviews June 29 and July 1. Neel Bhatt, a UW assistant professor of otolaryngology, specializes in treating patients with voice problems. Through his work, he began to realize people did not like the sound of their own voices. With the transition to school over Zoom, many students can relate to the discomfort of hearin Asia China Enacts National Security Legislation for Hong Kong: Media -- BEIJINGChina on Tuesday enacted a national security law to crack down on what Beijing views as subversive activity in Hong Kong, media in the territory reported, a move that could jeopardize human rights and freedoms in the former British colony. The legislation, which was enacted by the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, Chinas parliament, is partially aimed at quelling protest against the pro-Beijing government in the special administrative region. Read more. You may also like these stories: China Mulls Delaying Parliament Amid Virus Outbreak Dont Meddle in Hong Kong, Beijing Warns Britain Election 2020 Myanmar Military Chief Hints at Political Role in Interview With Russian Media Senior General Min Aung Hlaing YANGONA few months ahead of Novembers general election, Myanmar military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing hinted at the possibility of his entering politics, during a recent visit to Russia. When asked about his role in the upcoming general elections in an interview with Russian media outlet Arguments and Facts, he said his first priority, as in previous general elections, was to help ensure that a free and fair vote is held. After the election result is known, he said he would continue to work based on the wishes of the political parties, groups and people, according to a Burmese-language transcript of the interview posted on his website. Many critics and observers believe the military chief is eying a run for the presidency when his tenure ends after this years election. The commander-in-chief turned 60 (the retirement age for civil servants) in July 2016, but rather than voluntarily retire he instead extended his term. In his answer to the question from Arguments and Facts, the military chief said he has 40 years of experience in political, military and administrative affairs. He said that during this period he had served the nation and the people, adding that he would continue to serve in whatever role was needed. I believe that those experiences will be valuable in serving the nation and the public, the commander-in-chief said. Under the Constitution, being well acquainted with the affairs of the Union, such as political, administrative, economic and military issues, is one of the qualifications for serving as president. According to Myanmars presidential election process, the president and vice presidents are elected by the Union Parliament, not directly by voters in a general election. The process begins with each of three groupselected members of the Lower House, elected members of the Upper House and unelected military representativeselecting their respective vice presidents. The three groups then vote together to elect one of the three as the President. Given this system, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing doesnt need to contest the election to take the countrys top office. He could simply instruct his appointed military representative in Parliament to select him as a vice president. Myanmars two previous general elections were held in 2010 and 2015. The 2010 election, organized by the then military junta, was boycotted by many ethnic parties and the National League for Democracy (NLD) and widely dismissed by the public. The military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) came into power after that election. In 2015, the NLD defeated the USDP and took office. Late on Monday, Myanmars Union Election Commission announced the constituencies for the upcoming general election. According to the announcement, there will be 330 constituencies for the Lower House, 168 for the Upper House, 644 for state and regional parliaments, and 29 for ethnic affairs minister positions in the states and regions, totaling 1,171 parliamentary seats up for grabs nationwide. The election date is due to be announced soon. Arguments and Facts also asked Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing when the military would remove its unelected representatives from Myanmars Parliament. The military chief said the military would give up its reserved 25 percent of seats in all parliaments when the countrys political transition is stable and mature. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Military Says It Wont Control How Personnel Vote in Upcoming Election Myanmar Heads of State, Ministers Acquire Land in Capital Local Officials Resign En Masse in Myanmars Conflict-Torn Rakhine State Burma Myanmar Military Chief: Intl Cooperation Vital Against Terrorists Backed by Strong Forces Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy NAYPYITAWSpeaking to the media in Russia last week, Myanmar Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing called for international cooperation in fighting terrorism and claimed that terrorist groups exist because of the strong forces that support them. The senior general was in Russia to attend the 75th anniversary of the countrys Victory Day, which commemorates the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of World War II. When asked by Russian state-run ZVEZDA News Agency about terrorism in Myanmar, the military chief said, A country may be able to suppress terrorist organizations on its soil. But in cases when there are strong forces behind that terrorist organization, the country alone may not be able to handle it. The senior general stressed the need for cooperation between partners and countries that oppose terrorism, saying that it is otherwise difficult to combat terrorist organizations. By terrorist organizations, the military chief was referring to the Arakan Army (AA) and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun later clarified. When asked by ZVEZDA about the Myanmar militarys plan to fight ARSA, the military chief said, We have to cut off factors that contribute to their existence. We have to make sure they cant get recruits, weapons, funds or popular support by exposing their true colors. It requires wide-ranging approaches. The Myanmar military has excluded Rakhine State, where the AA and ARSA are active, from unilateral countrywide ceasefires, which it has declared on multiple occasions to facilitate peace talks with ethnic armed organizations. The Myanmar government has labeled both groups as terrorist organizations. Since launching a series of attacks on security outposts in northern Rakhine on Aug. 25, 2017, in which the group killed 12 security personnel, ARSA has only been able to carry out sneak attacks on security personnel on the Myanmar-Bangladeshi border. Meanwhile, the AA has been engaged in large-scale war with the Myanmar military since last year in northern Rakhine, with the conflict zone now expanding into southern Rakhine. Ex-military officer and political researcher Dr. Aung Myo pointed out that even militarily strong countries like the US have not able to curb insurgency, though the US has fought for around two decades in Afghanistan and Iran. It is impossible to fully defeat some groups in wars that result from political causes, he said. [The AA rose up against the government] not because of Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. There are several factors, like the current governments inability to fulfill the political wishes of the Rakhine people, he said. [Prominent Rakhine politician] Dr. Aye Maung was imprisoned, in violation of freedom of expression, and Rakhine people are not happy about the sharing of natural resources. This is why the AA won some support from the Rakhine people. Rakhine affairs analyst U Maung Maung Soe told The Irrawaddy that, for an ethnic armed group, the support of people from their ethnic group is more important than the weaponry they own. He added that it is difficult for the Myanmar military to defeat the AA because its anti-AA operations are not winning the support of local people in Rakhine. In an interview with The Irrawaddy in January 2019, AA chief Major General Tun Myat Naing said the armed group is able to operate in Rakhine State because it has won the support of the public. He said the armed group would rather keep its current size a secret, but that this public support is the reason the AA has grown over the years. According to Rakhine observers, it is notable that the AA has not disrupted any Chinese development projects in Myanmar, but has always disrupted the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project across the Mizoram border. Most of the weapons currently used by the AA came from China. They were smuggled with Thai vessels and sent to the AA via Kolkata and Chittagong, said Dr. Aung Myo. Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun has said that a foreign country is behind the AA, citing the modern technologies the AA has allegedly used in mine attacks on the military in Rakhine State. The spokesman once told The Irrawaddy that the AA possesses modern equipment that can trigger landmines via mobile phones, walkie-talkies, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. During his recent visit to Russia, Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing held talks with Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on how to promote ties between their countries armed forces, border security and counter-insurgency operations along the border. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. You may also like these stories: Rakhine Govt Backtracks After Warning of Myanmar Military Clearance Operations Prompts Thousands to Flee Arakan Army Seizes Three Soldiers Sons in Western Myanmar Myanmar Military: Rakhine Internet Blackout Still Required to Protect Military Secrets Burma Police Sergeant Stabbed to Death in Myanmars Rakhine Sittwe Township police station. / Min Aung Khine / The Irrawaddy Sittwe, Rakhine State A police sergeant from the central police station in Rakhine States capital, Sittwe, was killed at his house on Monday evening. Sergeant Maung Maung Than, 40, was opening the front gate of his house in Magyimyaing ward at around 8 pm on Monday when two men stabbed him to death. His family said he was returning from outside and as he was opening the front gate, two people stabbed him, a Sittwe police officer told The Irrawaddy. The sergeant was wounded in the left of his chest and died upon arrival at hospital, according to Lieutenant Colonel Maung Maung Soe of Rakhine police. The police are hunting for suspects. U Thein Hlaing, an administrator of Setyonesu ward in Sittwe, was stabbed to death by unknown men on May 25 while he was buying betel nut at a paan shop in central Sittwe. Over recent years, Rakhine State has seen several murders of police and administrative officials. While many of the killings happened at the victims homes or in daylight, none of the crimes has been solved and no arrests have been made, increasing fear across the state. A corporal of the Military Security Affairs Office was fatally shot in Sittwe in September 2018. Police charged four Rakhine men with the murder but released them due to a lack of evidence. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: Myanmar Military Chief: Intl Cooperation Vital Against Terrorists Backed by Strong Forces Rakhine Govt Backtracks After Warning of Myanmar Military Clearance Operations Prompts Thousands to Flee Arakan Army Seizes Three Soldiers Sons in Western Myanmar Tuesday, June 30th, 2020 (3:17 pm) - Score 4,562 The UK House of Lords has made a couple of key amendments to the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill (here), which aims to make it significantly easier, quicker and cheaper for gigabit-capable broadband ISPs to access big apartment blocks (MDU) when rogue landlords fail to respond. At present network operators (e.g. Openreach, Virgin Media, Hyperoptic, Cityfibre etc.) often run into difficulty when attempting to contact landlords, such as while requesting permission to install a new service or offering to negotiate a long-term agreement on access (wayleave). Suffice to say that an unresponsive landlord can leave residents trapped on slower connections and the process for tackling this can be disproportionately expensive. NOTE: The Government estimates that the existing process could have cost 14,000, which falls to 300 under the new approach this will apply to the whole of the UK. The new bill aims to tackle this via a number of measures, such as a significantly cheaper and faster route for dispute resolution via a new tribunal process. On top of that landlords will also face a greater obligation to help facilitate the deployment of digital infrastructure when they receive a request from their tenants. Yesterday saw the bill reach the Report stage (here). The government were also defeated as two additional amendments ended up being voted through. Amendment 1 (Moved by Lord Clement-Jones LibDem) 1: Clause 1, page 1, line 11, after premises insert (which include premises where a tenant is in exclusive possession) NOTE: This amendment would clarify that tenanted premises are included under the provisions of this bill. Amendment 7 (Moved by Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Labour) 7: After Clause 2, insert the following new Clause Review of this Acts impact on the Electronic Communications Code NOTE: This amendment would require the Secretary of State to commission a review of the impact of this Act on the Electronic Communications Code. This review, which would assess the codes suitability to support universal access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, could make recommendations for future amendments to the code. The first amendment effectively expands the bills scope to include more renters, which is an area that the Government had previously shunned because of a fear that it could result in temporary inhabitants (e.g. lodgers or hostel residents) suddenly gaining significant new power over the infrastructure of a property. The Governments representative, Baroness Barran, noted that the existing bill already has within its scope many of those who rent by virtue of the term lessee in occupation. Meanwhile the second amendment forces the Government to review their legislation 6 months after it has become law, albeit while assessing whether or not it is sufficient to support access to 1 gigabit per second broadband in every premises in the United Kingdom by 2025. One issue here is that the Government dont want to force everybody to only take a 1Gbps service as that may hinder some deployments and technology choices. Baroness Barran (Conservative) said: This measure was designed from the outset to be a precision instrument that supports the 10 million people living in apartment blocks in the UK to access better broadband. It is on this pointthe idea of better broadbandthat I feel I should begin. We are confident that Part 4A orders will be used by operators predominantly to deliver gigabit-capable connections, as we discussed in Committee, but the Bill does not mention gigabit-capable networks. For that matter, it does not mention broadband, 5G or any type of connection. As noble Lords know, 1 gigabit connectivity is not tech-neutral; not all forms of broadband can deliver 1 gigabit per second of connectivity. For example, copper-based superfast connections would not be able to do that. The Electronic Communications Code, of which the Bill will form a constituent part, does not mention broadband; nor does it mention any connection speed or anything about the technology installed. The Bill and the code are technology-neutral; I believe there was some confusion on this in Committee. To put that another way: the code deals with the how, where and when of deployment, not about what is installed. I am making this point again because technological neutrality is important, as it allows a consumer to get the connectivity they need from the operator they want at the best price. None of this is to detract from noble Lords appetite to ensure that the Government are on track to deliver gigabit-capable connections, which is entirely understandable and reasonable. Many noble Lords will know that there are already ways in which some or all of the amendments effects can be achieved without the need for the amendment. I will give three examples. The bill will now go to a third reading in the House of Lords, before returning back for a final series of debates in the House of Commons. We suspect that the Government may then end up throwing out some of the amendments agreed by the Lords. Tuesday, June 30th, 2020 (9:29 am) - Score 2,177 Network access provider Openreach (BT) has announced that, as part of their rapid UK roll-out of gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP technology in Northern Ireland, they are going to recruit a further 100 engineers before the end of March 2021. At present the operators network has already covered 360,000 premises in the country and their commercial roll-out is expected to hit a total of 525,000 premises (60% coverage of N.Ireland) by March 2021, which will form a big chunk of their overall UK coverage goal (4.5 million premises) by that same date. However the operator also has a long-term strategy, which involves investing 12bn to cover 20 million UK premises with FTTP by the mid to late-2020s (here). As part of that theyll be hoping to scoop up a chunk of both N.Irelands 165m Project Stratum scheme (here) and Boris Johnsons proposed 5bn investment (i.e. ensuring that every UK home can access gigabit broadband by the end of 2025). Suffice to say that more engineers will help to keep the delivery flowing smoothly. Mairead Meyer, Director Openreach Northern Ireland, said: Undoubtedly our strength is our people and were incredibly proud of skilled and diverse team of over 1000 Openreach people in NI. Our new recruits will join our dynamic engineering team at a really interesting time for Openreach and help support our ambition to deliver the best possible connectivity to everyone, everywhere, across the province. We are continuing to build Full Fibre broadband to over 750 homes and businesses every day. Openreach is one of the biggest investors in infrastructure in Northern Ireland. I am really delighted that in the midst of the current situation we are still able to progress with our apprenticeship development programme doubling the number of places available from last year. The apprentice programme runs over 18 months and the roles will be located across NI. On completion, and in conjunction with Belfast Metropolitan College, all apprentices will be awarded an NVQ. Over the course of their training, the newly appointed apprentices will play a role in building and installing reliable, fast and future-proof broadband in NI helping to meet growing demand for fibre broadband which has seen a significant spike in recent months. Further details here. On Friday, officials with the Walker County Hospital District board announced that they have finalized a $7.8 million purchase of Huntsville Memorial Hospital. Do you feel like this is a good use of tax dollars, and is this the right direction for the struggling health care facility? You voted: Ithaca, NY (14850) Today Partly cloudy this morning with thunderstorms becoming likely this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 89F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low 54F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Ithaca, NY (14850) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning. Thunderstorms likely during the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High around 90F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 56F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Today Mainly sunny. Very hot. High 111F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy in the evening with more clouds for later at night. Low around 80F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Tomorrow Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High 108F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. NursingEducation analyzed 2021 data from the Health Resources and Services Administration to determine the 15 U.S. counties with the largest shortages of health care workers. Click for more. Funeral services for June Ann Leadbetter Arnold will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in the Chapel at Boren-Conner Funeral Home, Jacksonville with Bro. George Folmar officiating. Burial will follow at the Jacksonville Old City Cemetery. June was born April 15, 1932 in Hidalgo, Te 18 , , 18 , 1 , 2018 , , 18 ' ', ' ' ' ' -, , , Teton County Reporter Previously the Scene editor, Billy Arnold made the switch to the county beat where he's interested in exploring Teton County as a model for the rest of the West. When he can, he still writes about art, music and whatever else suits his fancy. Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing. David Abel, 72, died June 18th, 2021, at his home in El Dorado, AR, surrounded by his family after a short battle with cancer. David was born November 26, 1948, in Sacramento, CA, to Earnest "Bood" Abel and Peggy Downing Abel. David attended school in Miami, OK, and graduated in 1967. He joi File photo shows P Jeyaraj and his son Fennix, who died at police custody on June 23 with relatives alleging that they were severely thrashed at the Sathankulam police station. PTI photo New CCTV footage that has now emerged from Sathankulam proves that the police had lied in the FIR registered against the arrest of Jayaraj and Fennix, giving credence to the versions of the eye witnesses in the case. One of the claims in the FIR was that the father and son duo rolled on the ground, which caused the internal injuries that they suffered. But it had became clear that the two men did not roll on the ground. A CCTV footage from King Electricals, adjacent to the mobile shop of Fennix in Sathankulam, shows a couple of policemen talking casually to Jayaraj, standing casually in front of the shop, for two minutes. Then the policemen walk away and after some time Jayaraj is seen crossing the road as he was called by the policemen. Later, a man in a light coloured shirt and a blue lungi is seen going inside the shop of Fennix he is auto driver Pandi who is said to have told Fennix that his father was taken away by the police. Soon Fennix rushes out and crosses the road with his friend following him. Soon, the van drives away and Fennix and his friend return to the shop. Then after making calls, Fennix leaves with the friend. The sequence of events began soon after 8 pm, it is told. But according to the FIR, a police constable went on a patrol to the area around 9.15 pm. APJ mobiles shop was open beyond the curfew time, violating the lockdown rules. In front of the shop, Jayaraj, Fennix and a few others were standing. We told them not to crowd and go back to their homes. Others listened to us and went home but Jayaraj and his son sat on the ground and refused to go home, used obscene language at us and rolled on the ground. They got internal injuries because of that, reads the FIR. Tamil Nadu governor okays CBI probe Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Governor has given his consent to transferring the cases related to the alleged custodial deaths of two traders of Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district, Jayaraj and J. Bennix, last week, for investigation by the CBI. This follows the Tamil Nadu government's acceptance of the recommendation of the State DGP, Mr. J. K. Tripathy to transfer the cases for investigation to the CBI, a communication from the State Home department tonight said. The Madurai bench of the Madras High court had earlier in the day said that it was the policy decision of the State Government to transfer the investigations of the cases to the CBI. The DGP had in his recommendation to the government said the cases should be transferred to CBI in the interests of "free and fair investigation". The woman who is accused of hindering the investigation of a 1998 Farmington homicide is suspected of providing a false alibi for her husband What the video shows, at this point, is known only to a handful of people. The list would include, but would not be limited to, Kimbrough, ONeill and the SBI. And it might include Nevilles attorneys and, possibly, his survivors. The video is bad, said a person familiar with its contents. There was some interaction between jailers and Neville. But did they cause his injuries, contribute to them, ignore symptoms of serious illness or delay medical treatment in any way? Was the jail and by extension, Sheriff Kimbrough complicit, negligent or none of the above? The sheriff did say he was trying to honor the wishes of Nevilles survivors by staying quiet. That was a mistake; a man died after leaving the jail and being taken to the hospital. Further complicating matters is a bill passed by the Legislature in the wee hours Friday morning. The bill, which is awaiting the signature of Gov. Roy Cooper, would restrict public access to death records by making private all information and records provided by a city, county, or other public entity to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, or its agents concerning a death investigation. Charles Redell Moody, 27, a black man, said that Curry, who is white and was working security at the flea market, used excessive force when Curry arrested him. A video that lasts 1 minute and 18 seconds was widely shared on social media. Kimbrough said many people have used that video to unfairly criticize him and the sheriff's office. Kimbrough said he's irritated by the criticism and that it takes only one incident, such as Moody's arrest, to inflame many people about law enforcement officers. "We need to know the truth because the truth is portable," Kimbrough said. "If my guys are wrong, I will be the first one to check them because before I was the sheriff or before I was an agent, I was a black man. I understand the sensitivity of being colored, Black (and) African American. But what I am not going to get into is that we are not going to manipulate a situation in the culture and climate that we are in." The sheriff's office and the owners of the flea market said Moody was arrested because he refused to comply with a statewide mandate requiring masks to combat the spread of COVID-19, and the owners asked him to leave. South Africa: Presidency dismisses false report on Ministerial visit to Botswana This story has been published on: 2020-06-30. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. South Africas COVID-19 cases are on a sharp and steady increase with 6 130 new cases reported on Monday, bringing the total number to 144 264. A further 73 COVID-19 related deaths were reported, bringing the total to 2 529. Of the 73 new deaths reported, 1 was from Mpumalanga, 5 from Limpopo, 2 from North West, 6 from Gauteng, 10 from ... See more Customers shop at a duty-free shop in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, June 29, 2020. Hainan province will ease the limitations on duty-free shopping with the quota to be raised from 30,000 yuan (about 4,230 U.S. dollars) to 100,000 yuan per person per year, and provide more categories of duty-free commodities. The policy will come into effect on July 1. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng) BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China's Hainan Province will increase its annual tax-free shopping quota for travelers, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) Monday. With effect from Wednesday, the quota will be raised to 100,000 yuan (about 14,123 U.S. dollars) per person each year from the current 30,000 yuan, the MOF and China's customs and taxation authorities said in a joint statement. The categories of duty-free goods will also be expanded, said the statement, while some electronic products will be added to the duty-free list. The current tax-free limit of 8,000 yuan for a single product will be lifted, and the number of categories with a single-purchase quantity limit will be significantly reduced, according to the statement. The duty-free shopping policy was implemented in April 2011 and has been improved since then, with the sales of offshore duty-free shopping hitting 53.8 billion yuan and the number of buyers reaching 16.31 million by the end of 2019. The policy adjustment will greatly improve consumers' shopping experience, release policy dividends and enhance confidence in the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port, said an offical with the MOF. New Delhi: President of Central Administration of Tibet (CTA) in exile, Dr Lobsang Sangay, on Monday urged India to take a proactive and prominent role in containing 'expansionist' China in the region and help in resolving the issue of Tibet. According to him, it is due to this `expansionist policy that China has now started moving towards Ladakh. Dr Sangay said the military aggression by PLA is not the first time in the region and will not be the last time, hence, it was time for India to review its `One China policy. He added that after invading Tibet, China has militarized the entire region and is now also disturbing peace in South China Sea. In a conversation with journalists of Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia, Dr Sangay said that after controlling Tibet, China has already started occupying areas of Nepal and is now eyeing Ladakh and Bhutan which is dangerous for the region. He added that occupation of Tibet is the main reason for tension between India and China and New Delhi should help resolve the Tibet issue to solve its own problems with Beijing. Tibetans are religiously and culturally closer to India and we never had a border with India. Tibet is very important for South Asia. Tibet has historically acted as the buffer between India and China and after occupying Tibet, China is now moving to capture areas of Ladakh. India for various reasons has a lot at stake, it should intervene and take up the leadership in solving the issue of Tibet, Dr Sangay said. He added that all major rivers that feed India originate from Tibet and China is diverting the flow of these rivers to stop water to India. In this 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between two countries lot many big events were planned but see what India has got killing of soldiers of at the borders. Instead of following the principles of Panchsheel, China has always betrayed India. It occupied Tibet, it forced a war with India and today what is happening in an example of the same betrayal, Dr Sangay said. CTA has urged Human Rights Council of the United Nations to hold a special session on the human rights violations by China in the Tibet region. By contrast, Cohen said Arizona, Florida and Texas "represent cautionary tales that show us this virus can surge, and surge quickly." "Some of the other states are walking back and closing some activities, and among the first are bars and then gyms. They are looking at the same data that we're trying to look at, what are the higher transmission activities that could be contributing to surges. Cohen stressed that the "measured approach" by the Cooper administration "is helping to protect all North Carolinians." "We don't want to go backward, and we won't need to if we work together on the three Ws." The three are: Wear face mask, wash hands and wait 6 feet apart. The 18 new cases bring the total number of people whove tested positive for the virus here to just under 3,000. At least 1,920 people in Forsyth have recovered from COVID-19, and 34 have died. Hospitalizations in North Carolina reached a record high Tuesday at 908. Hospitalizations in Forsyth peaked June 25 with 59 people hospitalized, according to the latest available data from the county. Among the Forsyth COVID-19 patients who have died, 19 were 65 or older. Data is unavailable for one of the 34 deaths. Housing advocates will rally in front of the Forsyth County Government Center today to demand a halt to evictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Landlords who dont have federally-backed mortgages or whose tenants dont use federally-backed vouchers are now pursuing evictions in the court system, according to Dan Rose of Housing Justice Now. Rose said Gov. Roy Coopers moratorium on evictions was lifted on June 20, and based on the Housing Justice Nows numbers, at least 40 eviction cases have been heard in Forsyth Countys small claims court since June 22. Another 86 cases are scheduled to be heard between today and Thursday. A rally will be held at 9 a.m. today at the Forsyth County Government Center, according to a news release from Housing Justice Now. The group will be joined by members of Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem, Siembra NC, Winston-Salem Democratic Socialists of America, Triad Area Green Party, Drum Majors Alliance, the Unity Coalition and Winston for Peace. Evictions are evidence of our systems of racial and economic inequality doing harm to the most vulnerable among us, the news release said. People who get evicted struggle to find new housing. They face higher rates of homelessness, job loss, disease, domestic violence, suicide, and depression. Alice Bonner, an adjunct faculty member at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and former CDC geriatrics official, said in a recent blog that residents of nursing homes tend to be more frail, have more functional limitations, and have more chronic and complex conditions than other older adults. Nursing home residents often require help with things like using the toilet, getting in and out of bed, and getting dressed. These essential person-to-person interactions are still going to have to happen, meaning that residents and staff may be more likely than other people to spread the virus to one another. The new DHHS testing guidelines were announced three days after The Charlotte Observer reported Saturday that a 104-page DHHS investigation in The Citadel in Salisbury found numerous violations of federal quarantine guidelines. The nursing home has had the states most COVID-19 related cases of 114 residents and 54 staff, along with the 13th-highest death total for residents at 18. Meanwhile, The Citadel facility at 1900 W. First St. in Winston-Salem has the most cases in Forsyth County with 40 infected residents at 40, 14 infected staff, and three resident deaths. The mass protests across the United States of America, which also spread around the world, following the killing of George Floyd, reveal an epidemic of racism and the persistence of white supremacy in the underbelly of some U.S. police departments, as well as the wider society. South Africa shares a common history with the U.S., including human exploitation through slavery, colonialism and apartheid, fuelled by notions of white supremacy and black inferiority. South Africa travelled along a different path in its attempt to confront the legacies of the brutal past by pursuing a process of national reconciliation, through institutions such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Would the United States benefit from convening a truth commission, that is modified and adapted to the specific needs of the country as it traverses this introspective moment of soul searching? The South African journey is by no means over after the transition from apartheid in 1994, and there is widespread discontent about the absence of deeper attitudinal and behavioural change, because racist mindsets are still very much alive and causing harm across all sectors of the society. However, the path that South Africa has chosen suggests that dealing with residual racism is a necessary part of the process of confronting discriminatory mindsets. The continued recurrence of U.S. police brutality against black people suggests that the discriminatory and racist mindsets that prevailed during slavery and Jim Crow segregation are still intact within American society and will need to be disrupted and dismantled through a broad range of national transitional justice processes. Providing a national historical record Transitional justice requires genuinely confronting the injustices of the past, through determining the truth, pursuing accountability and redress, providing psychosocial support, reforming institutions and restructuring socio-economic relationships, to prevent the recurrence and persistence of harm to members of society. The South African TRC, established through parliamentary legislation and appointed by President Nelson Mandela, documented a national historical record of the truth of the atrocities that were committed in the countrys brutal apartheid past. This now serves as a common template through which all present and future generations of South Africans are educated about what actually transpired in the past. There are many contested versions about what transpired in U.S. history, to the extent that the white supremacist right-wing, so called alt-right, believes that slavery was beneficial to black Americans because they would have had it worse if they had remained in Africa. In addition, the fact that the confederate flag is still upheld as a cultural symbol reveals that there is a commemoration, or celebration, of the era of slave-owning states, without a moral questioning of the racial terror, brutality and suffering that was endured by African-Americans in these states. A leaked 2006 U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) assessment suggested that white supremacist organisations were actively infiltrating local police departments through covert operatives known as Ghost Skins, to advance their racist agenda. The epidemic of police killings of African-Americans illustrates that this agenda is now in the execution phase. The failure to address socio-economic exploitation Consequently, there is a strong case for a U.S. truth, memory and restoration commission that will document a national history of what transpired in the past so that present and future generations can speak from a common record, about who was exploited and who contributed towards the building of modern America. The fact that the atrocities committed against the Native-Americans have also not been formally documented and utilised for a process of introspection and national healing, requires that a prospective U.S. truth commission has to interrogate this past as well. There is precedence of similar interventions in the U.S., such as the pioneering work led by the distinguished U.S. lawyer Bryan Stevenson and his organisation Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), including the documentation of all lynchings in numerous counties, as well as the establishment of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Stevenson has documented his landmark efforts in his seminal book, Just Mercy, which has subsequently been converted into a film that is widely accessible for educational purposes. The South African TRC recommended a broad range of political and civic interventions, some of which still need to be implemented. However, the TRC has gained notoriety for failing to activate processes that would reverse the socio-economic exploitation that was endured by people of colour during apartheid. The TRC also avoided addressing the era of colonialism which subsequent generations of South Africans who are afflicted by the transmission of inter-generational trauma, have viewed as a significant omission. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Chairperson of the South African TRC, proposed that those who were previously advantaged by apartheid should have paid a wealth tax. This was routinely dismissed by privileged actors and institutions across society, and subsequent governments did not pursue this agenda. Today, South Africa remains a deeply divided society along economic and racial lines. These omissions as well as a failure to implement all of the key recommendations outlined in the TRC final report have weakened the potential impact that the South African TRC could have made. Civic actors have had to innovate and find ways to support these initiatives, working with government when there is synergy. Building up political will and support Therefore, a prospective U.S. truth commission has to be weary of replicating these omissions. It should establish a robust implementation mechanism at the outset. In the aftermath of American slavery, freed slaves were promised forty acres and a mule as a stepping stone towards creating their own generational wealth. However, this policy was never implemented and therefore the case for reparations for descendants of slaves is now even more urgent than before. The important work done in the U.S. House of Representatives to adopt the HR 40 bill to convene a Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African-Americans is an important initiative that can be linked to the work of a prospective U.S. truth commission. An obvious question is why this process of truth recording has not been undertaken in a meaningful way at a national level in the USA. The issue appears to be the historic reluctance by the mainstream white population, who dominate the political, judicial, educational and economic sectors, to engage in a genuine manner due to the sentiments of white guilt and discomfort that this generates. The American educator and anti-racism campaigner Robin DiAngelo has explained this phenomenon in her seminal book, White Fragility: Why its so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. The countrys leaders, including past presidents, have shied away from launching bold and courageous conversations about what it will take to redress the injustices of the Americas past due to the political blow-back that they would have to endure. The current internecine tribal confrontational politics in the U.S. Congress suggests that prospective legislation to establish a U.S. truth commission could gain traction in the House of Representatives, but falter in the Senate. Nevertheless, the groundwork should begin, and continue as an ongoing initiative, in order to leverage any opportunities that might be presented by an improved openness in future congresses. The work starts at home Truth commissions are not a panacea that will solve all societal problems, but they can be part of a range of interventions which gradually contribute towards consolidating anti-racism as a way of being and ultimately dismantling the vestiges of white supremacy. In order to disrupt the epidemic of police brutality it may be necessary for the U.S. to adopt processes of truth recording, socio-economic reparation programmes, and establishment of implementation mechanism that will guide nation-wide conversations for generations to come, across all states and counties, especially those that were affected by slavery, lynching and police brutality. In the meantime, the collective introspection and unlearning of our internalised and unconscious biases is something that we all need to be doing on a daily basis in our families, schools, work spaces, places of worship, and in our communities so as to reaffirm the eternal truth that American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King so passionately argued for namely, our common humanity. New Delhi: India blasted Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday evening for reportedly accusing New Delhi of involvement in the attack on the Karachi stock exchange on Monday morning. New Delhi said it had absolutely no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere including the attack in Karachi unlike Pakistan whose Prime Minister Imran Khan recently hailed slain global terrorist Osama bin Laden as a martyr. New Delhi also said Islamabad cannot shift the blame on India for Pakistans domestic problems. According to reports, the attack in Karachi was carried out by Baloch armed groups who claim that the province of Balochistan is being plundered and exploited by the Pakistani establishment. But Pakistani broadcaster Radio Pakistan ran a report saying the Pakistani Foreign Minister had alleged that the attack was carried out by sleeper cells activatedby India. Lashing out at Pakistan, the MEA said, India rejects the absurd comments of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan on the terrorist attack in Karachi. Pakistan cannot shift the blame on India for its domestic problems. Unlike Pakistan, India has no hesitation in condemning terrorism anywhere in the world, including in Karachi. The MEA added, Foreign Minister Qureshi may wish to reflect on this, as also his own Governments position, including his Prime Ministers description of the global terrorist as a martyr. Tens of thousands of Sudanese protesters took to the streets Tuesday calling for reforms and demanding justice for those killed in anti-government demonstrations that ousted president Omar al-Bashir last year. The protests in several cities and the capital Khartoum went ahead with security forces deployed in force and despite a tight curfew since April designed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Our demands are peace and justice. We call for economic reform and appointment of civilian governors to states, said a protester in Burri, east of Khartoum. This march is to put the revolution back on course, not to overthrow the government. Many chanted the catchphrase of anti-Bashir protests: Freedom, peace and justice. In Dongola, north of the capital, hundreds carried banners demanding retribution for demonstrators killed in clashes with security forces last year. Similarly, in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, demonstrators drapped in the Sudanese flag carried banners that read: Retribution and peace. Protesters also gathered in Khartoums twin city of Omdurman and Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur. At least 246 were killed and hundreds others wounded during the 2018-19 anti-government protests, according to doctors linked to Sudans protest movement. Tuesdays rallies coincided with the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Islamist-backed military coup that brought Bashir to power. Bashir was ousted by the military in April 2019 following months-long mass protests against his 30-year rule, in an uprising triggered by economic hardship. Sudan has since August been led by a civilian-majority administration presiding over a three-year transitional period. The country is reeling from economic woes, largely blamed on Bashir-era policies. Since his ouster, the former strongman has been detained and he was handed a two-year prison sentence on corruption charges in December. He faces separate charges over the deaths of protesters and the 1989 coup. Bashir is also been wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict. Venezuela on Tuesday boycotted the International Court of Justices first hearing on a more than century-old border dispute with Guyana, saying the UNs top tribunal lacked jurisdiction. Caracas has been pressing a historic claim to Guyanas Essequibo region, which encompasses two-thirds of the former British colony, since US oil giant Exxon Mobil discovered crude off its coast in 2015. UN chief Antonio Guterres referred the row to the ICJ in 2018, but Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his country would not take part in the hearings at the court in The Hague. Very respectfully we inform that given that Venezuela did not accept the jurisdiction of the court the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will not participate, Maduro wrote in a letter read out to the court. Maduro accused Guyana of unilaterally bringing the territorial dispute the subject of a failed UN-sponsored attempt to broker a settlement in 2017 to international justice without its agreement. The hearing starting on Tuesday is formally to decide whether the court, which was set up after World War II to rule in disputes between UN member states, does indeed have jurisdiction over the matter. Guyana has three hours to set out its arguments for why the ICJ should be able to hear the case. Guyana maintains that valid land borders were set in 1899 by an arbitration court decision in Paris, a decision Venezuela has never recognised. Guyana is pressing ahead with plans to drill for oil in the disputed waters, with production expected to begin this year. The court was holding its first virtual session since the coronavirus pandemic began, with judges and court officials wearing face shields as protective measures. dk/jhe/erc EXXONMOBIL Dallas, TEXAS, USA, 06/29/2020 / Story.KISSPR.com / White-collar crimes are a unique area of law that the general public is well aware of thanks to media coverage of some of the highest profile cases. The average persons perception of white-collar crime is formed through such media, and often clouded with misconceptions. One of the most significant of these misconceptions is the publics view of how white-collar crimes are punished by federal and Texas courts. Understanding the Penalties for White-Collar Crimes Despite the general belief that penalties for white-collar crimes are approached with leniency, such criminal activities are subject to serious punishment under both Texas and federal law. Depending on the type of criminal act committed, penalties for white-collar crimes generally follow those for federal felonious offenses. This enables the possibility of facing years of incarceration in either a state or federal prison, along with hefty fines and restitution and this doesnt touch on the difficulties of rebuilding a life once the sentence is served. The United States Sentencing Commission outlines the sentencing guidelines that a judge must follow when issuing penalties following a conviction, establishing maximum, minimum, and alternative sentences for each criminal activity. Sentencing guidelines for white collar crimes can be found in Chapter 2 Part B, under basic economic offenses. (1) Under these guidelines, a convicted white-collar criminal can be sentenced for a term of up to 20 years for a baseline offense of larceny, fraud, forgery, or other crimes involving counterfeit instruments. Keep in mind that this guideline is for a baseline offense, meaning that other elements in a case could elevate the crime category by one or more levels. The judge will take into consideration the baseline offense, and any contributing factors. For example, the monetary amount of loss to victims is a factor that determines the sentencing outcome. A judge uses a scale published by the United States Sentencing Commission to determine how many levels to add to the crime, up to a maximum of 30. Other factors that may affect the sentencing outcome in a white-collar crime case include the number of victims involved, how much financial hardship was sustained by the victims, whether the criminal act involved direct theft, or if it involved a federal healthcare offense. These are just a few examples among a long list of contributing factors that are taken into consideration during sentencing. Examples of White-Collar Crimes White collar crimes are different from other criminal charges handled on the state or federal level. White collar crime is a term used to describe criminal activity that is non-violent in nature and financially motivated, although there are situations where violent offences are committed in connection with such crimes. Examples of white-collar crimes include: Embezzlement Public corruption Insider trading Tax evasion and tax fraud Mortgage and real estate fraud Healthcare fraud Internet crimes Identity theft Bribery Intellectual property theft Government bid rigging This list is far from exhaustive but provides a general idea of the range of crimes that fall under the umbrella of white-collar criminal activity, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). In regard to sentencing for white-collar crimes, it is true that there are some inconsistencies in how the convicted are penalized by judges in the state of Texas. Judges have it within their power to issue lighter, or alternative sentences, if they feel it is in everyones best interest. Those who commit white-collar crimes fit a different criminal profile, and often pose no threat to public safety. In cases where the criminal acts committed were relatively minor, a first offense, or where the defendant is not believed to be a risk for committing future crimes, a judge may issue penalties that include fines, restitution, work release, or community service. When to Contact a White-Collar Crime Attorney in Dallas The time to contact is the moment you discover you are potentially under investigation or involved in a white-collar crime case. Having an experienced attorney by your side to defend your case can make all the difference in whether youre convicted of a white-collar crime, and the penalties you might face. Remember that anything you say in a white-collar criminal investigation can later be used against you. Protect yourself by reaching out to an experienced defense attorney in Dallas today. Sources White-Collar Crime Attorney in Dallas https://www.brodenmickelsen.com/ ***ATTORNEY ADVERTISING*** Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future case. Social Media Tags:White collar crime, Penalties for white-collar crimes, Examples of white-collar crimes, White collar-crime attorney Dallas Source: Story.KISSPR.com Release ID: 13628 It's only fair to share... Pinterest Linkedin email Print Deciding on a cruise around the Mediterranean is one of the best vacation arrangements you can make. Cruising is a fantastic way to discover this magnificent region full of culture, art, and delicious cuisine. From visiting famous ports like the one in Barcelona, Spain, or the pastel-painted villages of Cinque Terre, Italy, to exploring ancient cities on picturesque Greek islands Rhodes and Mykonos, and hiking on Lycian Way, between Oludeniz and Geyikbayiri on Turkey's coast, the Mediterranean has a lot to offer! Yet, it is not only the enjoyment of the region that is offered when choosing a cruise. Being on a cruiser often means that you will be treated to all of the luxuries that come with it - days by the pool, summer tan, lavish dinners, and abundant culinary choices, extravagant spas, live music, themed parties, and more. With so much going on, packing for a Mediterranean cruise can be quite a challenge. It requires proper planning and forward-thinking. From a balance of beach attire, comfortable clothing for exploring cities, and some additional wear for those memorable cruise formal nights, to gadgets designed to make your life easy on the go. To help you out, we have compiled a list of the top things you can't leave home without before you hop on a cruise this summer. Get your coffee and read on! Proper Attire and Accessories Selecting clothes and accessories for your Mediterranian cruise will probably be the most exhausting part of the packing process. The easiest way to do it, though, is to make a list. That way, you can be sure that you have packed appropriate clothing for the activities you plan on doing on formal nights, at the ports, and on days on the deck. Formal dinner night onboard and onshore Though cruising has become more casual these days, people tend to move beyond jeans for cruise nights. That is why we advise you to have a few formal attire outfits, such as an evening gown, cocktail dresses, or elegant pantsuits, matched with sleek jewelry for the onboard evenings. These outfits can do double duty throughout your vacation since many Europeans like to dress up for dinner, not to mention if you plan on exploring Monte Carlo's famous casinos. When it comes to styling your formal attire with jewelry, if you don't feel comfortable bringing many pieces with you, we suggest you opt for pearls. Pearl jewelry is classy, feminine, and versatile, and can be easily matched with every outfit. We mean literally, nothing has stood the test of time more than them, plus the white pearlescence is so flattering against sun tanned skin, you will look absolutely stunning! If you still do not own a piece of perfect pearl jewelry that would fit your style, you can visit: https://www.pearlsofjoy.com to look for more options. Ultimately, do not forget to pack fancy shoes that will complement your glam attire. Hanging out on the deck Spending time on the ship's deck while sailing between ports is the most relaxing time on a cruise journey for many. Naturally, you may think that sunbathing and chilling by the pool, does not require more than a swimming suit, though we'll argue that it does. You see, most staterooms are not right next to the pool or sun deck. Reaching them might mean moving through dining areas or lounges. For this reason, you need to bring a coverup in which you feel comfortable walking around the ship. Think of light, cotton, or linen summer dresses in bright colors or floral designs. Or if you are more of a t-shirt and summer shorts person, why not wear whats on your mind this summer? Opt for unique t-shirts with slogans or encouraging words, like this grace wins t-shirt. They are so easy to style with jeans, cotton, or linen shorts. Same as for every summer vacation, do not forget to pack a sun hat, a few lightweight scarves for further sun protection, sunglasses and beach sandals or flipflops. If you want to feel like a glamorous movie star, pack a wide-brimmed straw hat. It looks fantastic with almost every beach outfit and will provide you with extra protection. To shield your eyes from the sun and avoid squinting in all of your pictures, make sure you pack at least one pair of sunglasses. Moving around the ship (and the beautiful beaches for that matter) requires comfy beach sandals and a pair of flipflops, so make sure you pack them both. Onshore experiences Strolling around the coastal cities and visiting their beautiful beaches will require a light and comfortable outfits, such as linen pants and shirts, cotton sundresses, tank tops paired with skirts, espadrilles, straw hats, and leather sandals. Many historical sites in Europe, particularly those with churches, have strict dress codes. So, it is good also to add shawls, pashminas, light sweaters, or below-the-knee skirts for visits to these kinds of places. When it comes to shoes for strolling onshore, leave fashion behind. You will be doing a lot of walking and being on your feet, over cobblestone streets and uneven trails, so make sure you take comfortable hard-soled footwear, so you can make the most of your day by not being in agony. Importantly, bring a lightweight sweater or a stylish jacket, a rain jacket or a hoodie to wear when you are spending time at ports or any of the ship's outdoor areas. They are all great options for that 'just in case' weather. Aside from all of your clothes, it is important to pack one good backpack or handbag for your Mediterranean cruise. This accessory is essential for days at the port when you'll be exploring European sightseeing places. Having enough space to carry things like your wallet, passport, phone, clothing items, a bottle of water, camera, and souvenirs is a priority. Other travel gadgets and essentials Passport, money, and medicine We are sure you are quite aware of the importance of packing your passport, yet we also advise you to pack two copies of it, in case it is misplaced or stolen. Keep one copy in your suitcase, and give the other one to your travel companion. Since you will need to carry your passport with you, primarily when onshore, make sure it is always stored securely. A credit card that charges low, or preferably no fees for overseas use, is always the best idea for bringing money to your travel. However, we do advise you to have a small amount of local currency for taxis, souvenirs, etc. If you can not get cash upfront, use an onshore ATM. Nevertheless, do not forget ahead of your travel to alert your bank or credit card company. That will avoid having your card shut down due to foreign charges. Naturally, the same as with your passport, store your credit cards and money in a safe travel wallet. One vital thing to bring on your cruise travel is a sufficient amount of your medications for the length of your cruise. Make sure you also pack first aid essentials such as bandaids, anti-nausea medicine, upset stomach relief, and pain relief medications. Sunscreen Nothing can ruin a cruise like an ugly sunburn. For this reason, make sure you've got a bottle or two of sunscreen with you everywhere you go. Phone and phone charger Today, it's difficult to imagine traveling without our phones, chargers, and power banks. Yet, for this trip, we do suggest that you buy an extra phone charger and pack it in your suitcase for just in case. Plug adapter To safely use chargers or small appliances, remember to take along a plug adapter. Ships usually have the right plugs, but pre- or post-cruise hotels might not. You can always ask the reception to provide you with one, but its better to come prepared. Travel apps With so many things to see in Europe, having travel books with you is helpful. However, instead of piling them in your suitcase, we suggest you download travel apps ahead of time to use offline while you are away. Camera Last but not least, pack an excellent camera. Sure, your phone can do the trick, but you might want to get even better quality pictures of the beauty of the Mediterranean coast and all of its picturesque sights. If you are planning on purchasing one before your travel, make sure it is of good quality and lightweight so you can take it with you every time exploring the Mediterranean shores without thinking whether or not it will add weight in your backpack. In the end, there is really no reason to overpack clothes for your Mediterranean cruise since many cruisers offer convenient laundry services. What is essential to bring with yourself on this trip is a smile and an adventurous spirit. Enjoy it! Today in Washington, Congress will continue to discuss police reform. This is something protestors across the country have been calling for since George Floyds death last month. KCTV5s Kaci Jones explains what the status is of federal police reform. The Kansas City Museum is searching for protest memorabilia to add to their archive. So far, the collection has only received a few items, but theyre hoping others can help spread the word about the project to preserve what they say is a piece of Kansas City history. KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) The name J.C. Nichols will soon be removed from the fountain and parkway at the Country Club Plaza after a unanimous vote by the Kansas City Parks Board. While there currently is no plan for what the street and fountain will be renamed, the board will soon be taking suggestions from the public. The J.C. Nichols Parkway signs will come down soon and instead will say Mill Creek Parkway. Next will come public meetings to discuss what to rename the street and fountain. There have been discussions about naming them both after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after voters reversed a decision to rename The Paseo after the civil rights icon. "Today we reopen that dialogue but from a standpoint of love and togetherness and fairness. And equity and real solutions, not come by removal of names and symbols but they tend to push us in the right direction of progress," parks commissioner Chris Goode said. The roadway in question is only the stretch that goes through the Country Club Plaza and is Broadway Boulevard to the north and Baltimore Avenue to the south. There was no debate in the meeting Tuesday about whether to remove the name, and all five commissioners on the board voted in favor of the change. J.C. Nichols, was huge part of Kansas City history, developing the commercial and residential areas of the Plaza and many other neighborhoods. His tactics of restricting black people from moving into white neighborhoods through racial covenants was used across the country. Parks board president Jack Holland said removing Nichols name from a place of prominence in the city isnt about diminishing his contributions to the field of land use planning and design but to recognize how he was on the wrong side of history in many ways. The use of racially restrictive covenants lead his segregated neighborhoods in Kansas City, which led to racial isolation and resulted in my opinion and severe concentration poverty, Holland explained. This action is not about erasing history is about responding to history. The family of J.C. Nichols son Miller Nichols released a statement earlier Tuesday in favor of removing the name from the fountain and parkway. Police are now investigating after two cars drove through a protest in Lawrence. It happened on Mass Street where activists had taken over a portion of the road. Theyre protesting a banner that was placed nearby that many are calling racist. Its also right next to the police department. New Delhi: Indian and Chinese armies are scheduled to hold the third Corp Commander-level meeting on Tuesday in another attempt to de-escalate the ongoing military stand-off between the two countries in the Ladakh sector. However, there is not much hope of any major breakthrough from the meeting, said sources. This time the Corp Commander-level meeting is planned at Chushul, which is on the Indian side of line of actual control (LAC). The earlier two meetings were held in Moldo on the Chinese side. The agenda of the meeting will be to discuss a timeline for disengagement and bringing down tension along the LAC, said sources. India will ask the Chinese to revert back to the status quo of April 2020 at the LAC in the Ladakh sector. Even though both sides had reached a consensus to disengage from all friction areas in Ladakh in the last Corp Commander meeting on June 22, there has been no improvement on the ground. There were also no major general level or commanding officer level talks after the June 22 meeting, as had happened after the first Corps Commander level talks on June 6. This shows that both sides have still not reached an agreement where disengagement could begin. There has been hardening of positions, said sources. The 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh will represent India and Peoples Liberation Armys South Xinjiang Military Region commander Maj Gen Liu Lin will head Chinese delegation. Both armies are in an eyeball-to-eyeball position in many areas in Ladakh and the Chinese army is trying to open new fronts. There has no significant sign of any attempt by the Chinese to disengage from a confrontation. In some places like in Galwan Valley and Pangong Tso, the Chinese army only seemed to have increased their troop buildup and fortified their positions. India and China are involved in a bitter stand-off at Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, Gogra Post, Depsang and Daulat Beg Oldie sector among others. Indian army has done mirror deployment in all these areas to counter any action by the Chinese. KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) Mayor Quinton Lucas is also calling on Kansas Citians to be better as a whole after highlighting two recent incidents on social media that he said spreads division in the community. The first incident Lucas brought up involved an altered picture of him at a local radio station with a t-shirt. The original photo shows Lucas holding up a t-shirt for 96.5 The Buzz while standing next to DJ Hartzell Gray, who was holding a Buzz Family shirt. The picture was altered to instead show the mayor holding a shirts saying [explitive] The Police while Hartzells shirt was changed to have a Black Lives Matter logo. Social media and photo shop are always fascinating. To the many texting me aghast of fake photos circulating, I recommend you not believe everything a muckraker sends your way... and use some judgment. pic.twitter.com/ebaoSi370q Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) June 29, 2020 Lucas then shared offensive messages sent directly to him featuring racist words and a possible death threat. Talking to reporters Monday, Lucas said these virtual actions are just the latest in a line of real problems facing the city. "If we're talking about things whether it be social media comments, or violent crime, or any of these other things, my idea is let's just go back to having respect, he told reporters. Let's go back to having respect for people, for others, for our differences. Understanding that everybody's just trying to do their best each day." Lucas did note that the threats had been passed along to the Kansas City Police Department, who are investigating. "I will say this, it takes you back, he said. Somebody talks about you hanging from a tree or something, that's not something you get used to letting roll off your shoulder." KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) People around the Kansas City metro are grappling with new mask ordinances on the city, county and state level, leaving many business owners to carry out the orders for employees and customers. Kansas Citys mask requirement started Monday and Wyandotte Countys begins Tuesday night. A state-wide requirement in Kansas is set to begin before the holiday weekend. Whether its a sign on the door, or a friendly reminder by an employee, most Kansas City businesses are trying to enforce the new mask rules. Troost Mart owner Waleed Qalawi says his customers havent pushed back on the mask requirement. Its for everybody, not just for them of for me, Qalawi said. We have rules here. No mask, no service. But not everyone is keeping up with the mask order. At last count there are more than 100 complaints against KCMO businesses. With a state-wide mask requirement in Kansas at the end of the week, its raising questions on both sides of the state line. If someone walks into a business without a mask, many show owners are asking who is ultimately responsible for making sure that person wears one - the customer or the business owner? Although anyone from the public is allowed to enter Rebecca Shipleys home decor store in Olathe, she says private property starts at her front door. As a private property owner I will not be telling a grown adult what they can and cannot put on their face inside my private property, Shipley told KCTV5 News. I suppose I could tell someone that they have to wear a mask or cant come in, however I need all the business I can get after being shut down for over seven weeks this year. Kansas Governor Laura Kellys office says enforcement will be up to local agencies, but she will have more details on Thursday. Jackson county will join the list of communities requiring masks starting Wednesday. County executive Frank White announced details of the new requirements Tuesday. Under the order, masks covering the mouth and nose must be worn inside businesses, schools, and places of worships. They'll also be required in parks, at bus stops and on public transportation. Shipley says she might face some backlash but believes this is whats best for business. Whatever we do is going to upset half of the population. LENEXA, KS (KCTV) People are socially distancing, wash their hands and wearing masks, in an effort to protect themselves against COVID-19, but is it possible to also clean the air they breathe? Lenexa-based Synexis says its found a way to scrub the air of all kinds of viruses, and several area restaurants are already putting it to the test. CEO Eric Schlote explained that the companys system uses hydrogen peroxide to help to air in buildings purify itself. 200630_Air-scrubber-at-Minskys.jpg Synexis claims that its Century Sphere device can take ambient humidity in the air inside a business or restaurant and process it to help turn So that system behind me is called the Century Sphere, and it basically takes the ambient humidity thats in the air and processes it into a dry hydrogen peroxide that essentially makes the air itself a disinfectant, Schlote said. Multiple studies have shown the process, which has been around for longer than a decade, does kill flu viruses, different coronaviruses that lead to colds and other bacteria. The studies on whether it kills COVID-19 are expected soon, and if the system proves to work against the virus, it could be a real game changer for everything from bars and restaurants to schools and hospitals. One of the restaurants giving the purifying system a try is Minsky's, and while it remains to be seen whether it can actually kill COVID-19, there is a good amount of research that shows it is making the air inside these businesses safer. Brian Clyne is the director of operations for all 8 Minskys pizzas on the Kansas side of the state line, and he said the chain had been looking at air filtration systems months ago, before COVID-19 began its spread. Obviously the beginning of the year as we got into the pandemic, he kind of put the gas pedal down and started looking around to try to make it happen sooner rather than later, he said of adding the Synexis system. Clyne said if it turns out that the system doesnt kill COVID-19, they were happy to make the investment, roughly $17,000 per machine, just to keep the other potentially harmful germs away. The data shows that these systems can minimize illnesses in the workplace, and even if thats the common flu or the common cold, thats huge to us because that means less missed work for the employees and better operations for us, he explained. Dr. Dana Hawkinson with the University of Kansas Health System weighed in on the potential for a system like this one, and while he said more study is needed, there is evidence its making a difference. It uses dry hydrogen peroxide and that is very toxic to other micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungus and viruses, he explained. Hawkinson warns, however, that there is nothing people can do to the air that would replace the precautions the public needs to take right now like hand washing, social distancing and wearing a mask. For now, that is the only way for people to protect themselves against COVID-19. In a restaurant setting, proper washing of table and bar tops is key as well. Results on the effects the air scrubber has on COVID-19 should be available within the next couple of weeks. MEDFORD, Ore. -- Public health officials in Jackson and Josephine held a joint virtual press conference on Monday afternoon to discuss the rise in coronavirus cases across southern Oregon and explain how the two counties are working together. Josephine County has identified 11 cases within the past week, while Jackson County reported 18 cases. Contact tracing from many of the recent Rogue Valley cases have a culprit in common, officials said a combination of travel and socializing without proper precautions. In some cases, people have traveled to the area from higher-risk states and then mingled with local groups, quickly spreading the virus. Many of the most recent cases have been linked to just two private parties that took place the weekend before last, each with 15 to 30 participants. Contact tracing related to those parties is still under way. That behavior has officials concerned about the coming Fourth of July holiday, they said. People are asked to wear masks properly, wash hands diligently, know who is in attendance for potential contact tracing, and have people bring their own food and beverages. Jackson County health officer Dr. Jim Shames said that he does not advise social gatherings at all, particularly if proper precautions aren't being followed. Both counties anticipate a continued spike in cases. Over the past several weeks, new cases have skewed toward the younger population and there have been fewer hospitalizations but that is likely to change. If cases to continue to spread, Dr. Shames said, there is a higher change that it will reach more vulnerable groups. Josephine County health officer Dr. David Candelaria said that the new statewide mask requirement announced by Governor Brown on Monday has merit, and he hopes that people "adopt new behavior and not stay entrenched in old behavior." Dr. Shames agreed, expressing his surprise at how few people are taking face coverings seriously. Officials said that staff from Jackson and Josephine counties meet regularly to share information and help track cases that often straddle county lines. JACKSON: Jackson County Public Health reported three new cases on Monday, bringing the total to 109. As of Monday, at least 65 people were considered recovered from the virus. People are beginning to resume their daily activities and their social lives, says Dr. Jim Shames, Jackson County Health Officer. People are returning to work; they are attending birthday parties and weddings, going to bars and restaurants with friends and families, resuming their religious practices, they are traveling to places with high COVID-19 cases to see family and friends. It is critical that if you are experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms or have a pending COVID-19 test, that you do not attend social gatherings, go to work, or travel, says Tanya Phillips, Health Promotion Manager for Jackson County Public Health. When you have symptoms, you are likely spreading the disease to other people, especially if you are not wearing a facial covering and or not wearing it properly. KLAMATH: Klamath County Public Health reported 7 new confirmed cases on Sunday, bringing the County total to 118. County officials say that 52 of those cases had recovered and are no longer active. "It is vital that members of our community continue to practice all recommended personal actions at work, in public, and in social circles," the agency said. "It can be easy to feel more secure and protected when with family and friends, but we all must be mindful about developing a false sense of security in these settings." "Now, more than ever, it is critically important for everyone to protect themselves and others through personal actions," Klamath County continued. "It is also important to remember that each action alone does not provide total protection, and that all recommendations must be followed to best reduce risk of exposure." JOSEPHINE: Josephine County Public Health reported six new positive cases on Monday, bringing the county total to 37 total cases. Of the new cases, four are presumptive and two are confirmed Public Health officials said they were notified of the cases on June 28 and 29 by the official medical record system provided by the Oregon Health Authority. "Josephine County Public Health is investigating all cases to identify contacts and exposures and to isolate and monitor all individuals relevant to the cases," the agency said. "Public Health will reach out to anyone suspected of exposure to COVID-19." Of the 37 total cases, 26 people have recovered and one person died from complications relating to a COVID-19 infection. The county marked the first death attributed to the virus in southern Oregon on April 11, an 81-year-old man. LAKE: Lake County last reported 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus. "Continue to use face coverings and practice social distancing if you are in public," Lake Health District. "Practice regular handwashing and sanitize frequently used items. If you are sick, stay home." CURRY: Curry County last reported a total of 7 cases, all considered recovered. 627 people have tested negative for the virus. SISKIYOU: Siskiyou County officials last reported 27 total confirmed cases in the county. 23 of those cases have since recovered. Siskiyou county has tested 3,075 people. 2,981 tests have been negative. There are 67 tests currently awaiting results. Total number of cases (presumptive and confirmed) by county for the southern Oregon and Siskiyou County region: Jackson: 109 (65 recovered) Klamath: 118 (52 recovered) Josephine: 37 (26 recovered, 1 death) Lake: 6 Curry: 7 (7 recovered) Siskiyou: 27 (23 recovered) Tune into NewsWatch 12 at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. tonight for the most up to date Coronavirus numbers and information. MEDFORD, Ore. -- Public health officials in Jackson and Josephine held a joint virtual press conference on Monday afternoon to discuss the rise in coronavirus cases across southern Oregon and explain how the two counties are working together. By Monday, Josephine County had identified 11 cases within the past week, while Jackson County reported 18 cases. Contact tracing from many of the recent Rogue Valley cases have a culprit in common, officials said a combination of travel and socializing without proper precautions. In some cases, people have traveled to the area from higher-risk states and then mingled with local groups, quickly spreading the virus. Many of the most recent cases have been linked to just two private parties that took place the weekend before last, each with 15 to 30 participants. Contact tracing related to those parties is still under way. That behavior has officials concerned about the coming Fourth of July holiday, they said. People are asked to wear masks properly, wash hands diligently, know who is in attendance for potential contact tracing, and have people bring their own food and beverages. Jackson County health officer Dr. Jim Shames said that he does not advise social gatherings at all, particularly if proper precautions aren't being followed. Both counties anticipate a continued spike in cases. Over the past several weeks, new cases have skewed toward the younger population and there have been fewer hospitalizations but that is likely to change. If cases to continue to spread, Dr. Shames said, there is a higher change that it will reach more vulnerable groups. Josephine County health officer Dr. David Candelaria said that the new statewide mask requirement announced by Governor Brown on Monday has merit, and he hopes that people "adopt new behavior and not stay entrenched in old behavior." Dr. Shames agreed, expressing his surprise at how few people are taking face coverings seriously. Officials said that staff from Jackson and Josephine counties meet regularly to share information and help track cases that often straddle county lines. JACKSON: Jackson County Public Health reported five new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 114. As of Monday, at least 65 people were considered recovered from the virus. "Jackson County Public Health also recommends that face coverings made from cloth or paper be worn in social settings that consist of people outside the immediate household," the agency said. "Face coverings are not surgical masks or respirators. Currently, surgical masks and N95 respirators are critical supplies that should be reserved for healthcare workers and other first responders. Masks with valves are not recommended; these types of masks filter air being inhaled, but do not filter air that is exhaled and can project the germs, exposing others." "COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs," Jackson County continued. "COVID-19 can be spread by people who do not have symptoms and do not know they are infected. Face coverings can slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus from transmitting it to others. Wearing a face covering will help protect people around you, including those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and workers who frequently come into close contact with other people (e.g., in stores and restaurants). Overall, face coverings worn by others protect you from getting the virus from people carrying the virus." A total of 11,852 have been tested for the virus in Jackson County. So far 10 people have been hospitalized for the virus, most of them in older age groups. KLAMATH: Klamath County Public Health reported 4 new confirmed cases on Tuesday, bringing the County total to 122. County officials say that 52 of those cases have recovered and are no longer active. "It is vital that members of our community continue to practice all recommended personal actions at work, in public, and in social circles," the agency said. "It can be easy to feel more secure and protected when with family and friends, but we all must be mindful about developing a false sense of security in these settings." "Now, more than ever, it is critically important for everyone to protect themselves and others through personal actions," Klamath County continued. "It is also important to remember that each action alone does not provide total protection, and that all recommendations must be followed to best reduce risk of exposure." As of Monday, Klamath County said that it had processed 5,085 tests. JOSEPHINE: Josephine County Public Health reported six new positive cases on Monday, bringing the county total to 37 total cases. Of the new cases, four are presumptive and two are confirmed Public Health officials said they were notified of the cases on June 28 and 29 by the official medical record system provided by the Oregon Health Authority. "Josephine County Public Health is investigating all cases to identify contacts and exposures and to isolate and monitor all individuals relevant to the cases," the agency said. "Public Health will reach out to anyone suspected of exposure to COVID-19." Of the 37 total cases, 26 people have recovered and one person died from complications relating to a COVID-19 infection. The county marked the first death attributed to the virus in southern Oregon on April 11, an 81-year-old man. LAKE: Lake County last reported 15 confirmed cases of coronavirus. "Continue to use face coverings and practice social distancing if you are in public," Lake Health District. "Practice regular handwashing and sanitize frequently used items. If you are sick, stay home." CURRY: Curry County last reported a total of 7 cases, all considered recovered. 627 people had tested negative for the virus as of the last report. SISKIYOU: Siskiyou County officials last reported 28 total confirmed cases in the county. 24 of those cases have since recovered. Officials say that Siskiyou County has tested 3,278 people. 3,184 tests have been negative. There are 66 tests currently awaiting results. Total number of cases (presumptive and confirmed) by county for the southern Oregon and Siskiyou County region: Jackson: 114 (65 recovered) Klamath: 118 (52 recovered) Josephine: 37 (26 recovered, 1 death) Lake: 6 Curry: 7 (7 recovered) Siskiyou: 28 (24 recovered) Tune into NewsWatch 12 at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. tonight for the most up to date Coronavirus numbers and information. Farmers pay 70 percent of their income in taxes, Murman said. Property tax relief is the No. 1 issue in Nebraska. High property taxes also discourage retirees from staying in Nebraska, and so they look at low tax states like Texas and Wyoming, and some move there. Given the negative effects of higher property taxes, it would seem unlikely Nebraskans would support the status quo. However, there are contingents mainly school administrators who worry their districts could be losers if property tax and state school aid laws are changed too drastically, said state Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the architect of LB974, the Legislatures property tax reform legislation. Linehans bill would ensure state aid for rural school districts and lower property taxes with a three-year infusion of $520 million in additional state aid for schools. However, urban school districts are balking because the state aid bill may not accommodate their growth. She said that of Nebraskas 244 public school districts, only 77 receive state aid. Additionally, Omaha, Millard and Lincoln school districts get the lions share of state aid, Linehan said. The Nebraska State Fair board voted to go on with the Nebraska State Fair, but in a modified form due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. In approving the modified form of this years State Fair, but the board also gave the fairs new executive director, Bill Ogg, and his staff, the flexibility to schedule other fair events based on the current ongoing health directives from the Central District Health Department and the State of Nebraska. According to the plan approved by the board Tuesday during a special meeting that was broadcast on ZOOM, the fair will be held on its two scheduled weekends. During the first weekend, which begins on August 28, there will be 4-H activities, including livestock shows and static exhibits. During the Labor Day weekend of the show, the focused will be on the FFA component of the fair, but will also include those livestock shows that feature both 4-H and FFA members. With the fair scheduled two months from now, health directives could change, such as the Central District Health Department decision to go to phase three, beginning next week. But health directives could change depending on the spread of the virus. The board decided to give Ogg and his staff the flexibility to scheduled other events, depending on current local and state health directives. Nebraska Farmer, working with the Agricultural Institute of Nebraska in Grand Island, started Husker Harvest Days in 1978 on 1,000 acres of former U.S. Army Ordnance land west of Grand Island, according to the Farm Progress website. Husker Harvest Days has become one of the nations premier working farm shows with exhibitors and field demonstrations geared to Nebraska and western Corn Belt agriculture. It is the nations largest farm show in which all field crops and plots are irrigated. The half-dozen center-pivot systems and one lateral-move sprinkler that water those crops also are demonstrated during the show. Visitors from Nebraska and more than 20 other states have attended the three-day event in the past, according to the website. Each year, visitors have the opportunity to see everything, from the latest in technology to seed to crop chemicals to field demonstrations to livestock handling and equine events. Farm Progress events manager Matt Jungmann said in the statement that work normally would begin in the upcoming weeks to get both the Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days set up, but that a decision needed to be made sooner, rather than later. Fremont Police responded to an armed robbery that took place early Monday morning near 1600 North Bell St. The robbery, which took place around 6:50 a.m., happened shortly after the victim had finished fueling his vehicle, a 2014 Chevy Silverado. The victim was approached by 23-year-old Memphis resident Cadarius Blakley, who police said was carrying a pistol. The Tennessee resident then demanded the keys to the victims vehicle, as well as their wallet and cell phone. Blakley fled in the vehicle, but was later seen in Mills County, Iowa by Iowa State Patrol. Following a pursuit, Blakley was arrested. Those charges have not yet been disclosed by the Mills County Sheriffs Department. State patrol located the same pistol believed to be used in the Monday morning robbery. Blakley is also being sought for questioning as a suspect in a murder investigation in Memphis. This is a developing story. Further updates will be provided once they become available. Mumbai: A security alert was sounded by the Mumbai police after the iconic Taj group of hotels received a threat call. The caller, claiming to be located in Pakistan, threatened to repeat the 26/11, 2008 terror attacks. The call was received post-midnight following which the police were informed and the security apparatus sprung into action in the wee hours of Tuesday. The threat calls were received at the Taj Hotel at Apollo Bunder and the Taj Lands End at Bandra at around 12.30am on the hotels landline phones. The caller claimed to be calling from Karachi and stated that the two hotels will witness a 2008 styled terror attack that was executed by the 10 Pakistani terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The caller hung up after issuing the threat. The city was on a security alert following the attack on the Karachi Stock Exchange. With the threat calls, the security has been beefed up at both the places. The probe is underway to identify the caller, said a police officer. The police have blocked arterial lanes around the Taj Hotel in south Mumbai for vehicular traffic and the passers-by have been put under surveillance. The police added that the traffic and pedestrian movement around the hotel is to a minimum citing the COVID-19 lockdown. The police have also asked the hotel to step up security inside their two properties. A statement, issued by the Taj Hotel stated, Our safety and security teams have ensured that all our protocols and guidelines are being followed towards safeguarding lives and assets. We would like to reassure our guests and associates that all adequate steps are being taken towards the safety of the premises. The police along with state cyber police and other probe agencies have begun investigation to identify the caller and his location. John Bolton abruptly departed as national security adviser to President Donald Trump in September 2019, after just under a year and a half in the pivotal, exceptionally demanding position. This was only one incident in a continuing series of departures of officials from this turbulent administration. Now Bolton has published a memoir, titled The Room Where It Happened A White House Memoir. His visible Washington D.C., career has involved regular appearances on Fox News, as well as service in the Reagan and both Bush administrations, including the Justice Department and the State Department. He brought that high-flyer style into the national security position, where a relatively low profile is often most effective. White House efforts to prevent publication of his book have generated more attention and controversy. He strenuously denies circumventing standard national security review of the manuscript. The book, just published by Simon & Schuster, is very much a discussion of personalities in the Trump administration. There is focus on the president but even more on Bolton, who is emphatic that he resigned and was not fired. However, he also provides extensive personal testimony that the relationship with the president had deteriorated badly by the time he departed. Hopkinsville, KY (42240) Today Showers and thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight A steady rain early...then remaining cloudy with a few showers. Low 56F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. 32 Shares Share The annual meeting of my professions national society last fall may have been the last old-school, convention-size, professional meeting I will ever attend. I could be wrong, but it may mark the end of an era. Disruptive change to the convention business model was inevitable, though hastened by COVID-19. This year, the leadership of many medical associations announced that their upcoming annual meetings would be virtual if not canceled completely for the first time, but perhaps not the last. Does this news herald disaster or opportunity? When I was a resident attending my first national meeting, the huge convention center struck me as the mother lode of knowledge, with lectures and workshops that couldnt be found anywhere else. Today, I wonder why I would travel across the country to attend a refresher course lecture in a freezing-cold meeting room, when I can watch similar content on YouTube or VuMedi for free, in comfort? Professional associations could take this moment to move decisively into the video/podcast market. Speakers could record their own lectures, pro-con debates, and panel discussions, and medical societies could post all the content on proprietary video and podcast channels for members to access year-round. Think of the money we could save on travel and the cost of renting convention centers. Giant conventions at the ASA or AMA level are limited to only a few cities, most of which wouldnt be my choice to visit. The future of exhibit halls? Corporate interest in buying exhibit space at medical meetings was fading fast, even before COVID-19. Why pay to send people and equipment to exhibit halls when mergers and acquisitions have centralized all the purchasing power? As recently as ten years ago, many anesthesiologists were able to influence which laryngoscopes or epidural kits their departments would order. Today, people who negotiate purchasing contracts typically work in the central offices of health systems, not in operating rooms. Today, most of us can do little more than complain about our inadequate stock of video laryngoscopes or the maddening electronic health record were compelled to use. Corporate executives arent stupid. They know that meeting organizers now have to beg or bribe attendees to visit exhibitor booths. Why spend time at a booth when there is little chance that you can persuade anyone to order the product especially if it costs more than what you currently use? As exhibitor revenue drops, it becomes harder for a convention to make money or even recover its costs. What about virtual governance meetings? Can nonprofit association governance be carried on in electronic meeting rooms? Can Zoom or Microsoft Teams work just as well for the debates of a board of directors, or the election of officers by a House of Delegates? My answer to those questions is a resounding no. This is one area where in-person meetings are worth the time and money. As an example, look at the California Society of Anesthesiologists (CSA). In June, we held our main House of Delegates meeting via Zoom due to COVID-19. We accomplished our tasks, discussed resolutions, and recorded our votes with no problem other than Zoom fatigue. But I realized afterward that the biggest advantage we had in working through every issue was the fact that many of us werent strangers. We had met in person so often before. The hallways and hotel lobbies of past CSA meetings were where we discussed ideas, worked out compromises, and cemented the relationships that are at the heart of politics. Those relationships worked in our favor again. All politics are local and personal. None of the candidates in our two contested elections had the chance to meet personally with delegates, creating a problem for new delegates who might not know them. Reading a candidates personal statement and listening to a well-rehearsed speech have about the same relationship to reality as my Facebook posts have to my day-to-day life. How do you really get to know a candidate, whether at the state or national level? By means of personal interaction. When youre new to a group, which person looks right through you when youre unknown, then suddenly becomes your new best friend once you gain some standing? Thats not the person who should get your vote. We remember, and vote for, the people of character who earn our friendship and trust. Its tough to judge character via Zoom. Which way to the future? The mission of professional associations is not to host conventions but to serve members. Most members cant easily leave work to attend a five-day meeting, especially if it requires cross-country travel. Looking into my crystal ball, I can envision different, leaner medical meetings. As an example, a smaller annual meeting of a House of Delegates in person could focus on governance, election of officers, finances, and political issues. National leaders, state society leaders, and future leaders could get to know each other, and build connections with key people in state and federal government. Hands-on technical workshops could move to the state level, supporting the growth and success of state component societies. Their development could be supported by the national parent organization on practical topics and new technologies of interest to members, and workshops could be held at state or regional meetings. If meetings were held on weekends and involved less travel, more members would be able to take advantage of them. Membership thrives when an event attracts local interest, and district leaders can meet and recruit members in person. Physicians in general and independent practices, in particular, are in trouble. Primary care practices have had few outpatient visits, and elective surgical procedures were on hold for weeks this spring. Physicians want strong advocacy and a compelling message to the public about their irreplaceable role in healthcare. If theyre going to pay to join state or national medical societies, they want convenient, on-line education. They dont want their dues to fund cumbersome committees that meet once a year, and gala receptions that most will never attend. Except for the nostalgia, how many of us will miss navigating those giant convention halls? Maybe the time has come to make the break. Karen S. Sibert is an anesthesiologist who blogs at A Penned Point. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 31 Shares Share The alarm goes off! Code blue! Code blue! The code blue team rushes to the scene. The patient is unresponsive. There is no pulse. The leader of the code team looks at the monitor and takes charge. The patient is in ventricular fibrillation (cardiac arrest) and would very well flat-line if prompt action is not taken. The leader gives clear instructions: Start chest compression. Fred, you will handle the defibrillator. Julie, you will be recording. Ben, you will manage the airway. If you have ever taken the American Heart Association (AHA) Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) course, you are familiar with this scenario. The course and provider manual emphasizes communication during resuscitation. According to AHA, elements of effective resuscitation team dynamics include clear messages, clear roles and responsibilities, closed-loop communications, knowing ones limitations, knowledge sharing, constructive intervention, re-evaluation, summarizing, and mutual respect. The United States has failed to effectively control the COVID -19 pandemic. Currently, over 120,000 Americans are dead from COVID-19, and over 40 million people have lost their jobs. Different states and even different cities within a state have different ordinances and policies regarding COVID-19. There are widespread conspiracies and falsehoods. Many of the States that have reopened now see a rising number of new cases. Some people are not observing social distancing measures and have refused to wear masks. In a medical code, life is at stake, and there is no margin for error. All it takes is a few seconds to make a difference. In a pandemic, lives are equally at stake. What can communication during a medical code teach us on how to communicate during a pandemic? Clear messages. The message on COVID-19 pandemic should be simple and clear; It is real. It is not a conspiracy. It is a disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2). It is mostly spread by respiratory droplets released when a person talks, sneezes or coughs. Social distancing, regular hand washing and use of face masks can curb the spread of the virus. Clear roles and responsibilities. Several government agencies and officials are responding to the pandemic. It is often confusing who decides what and who is responsible for different aspects of the response. From an individual or family unit to the federal government, every entity should have clear roles and responsibilities. Closed-loop communications. Press briefings should allow questions by reporters and citizens. Officials should make sure citizens understand the issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. People that are reluctant about wearing masks or socially distance should be free to ask questions and have their concerns addressed. Knowing ones limitations. Politicians should acknowledge their limitations as non-scientists. On the other hand, scientists and physicians should acknowledge the fact that SARS-Cov-2 is a novel virus. Our understanding of the virus is limited and evolving. Even though the pandemic is caused by a virus, the response to the virus must come from different experts, including lawmakers and elected officials. Knowledge sharing. Knowledge on COVID-19 is evolving. Individuals, hospitals, and businesses have different experiential knowledge on the pandemic. Successes and failures should be shared so that others can learn from them. Constructive intervention. If someone or something is wrong, there should be room for constructive intervention. It is not wrong for someone to remind another to wear a mask in public. Re-evaluation and summarizing. Since the pandemic started, several drugs have been tested, and many laws have passed. Some of the laws passed at the national level include Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 6071), Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R.6201), Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (H.R. 748), and Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 266). What has been successful, and what more can be done? Mutual respect. It is obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic has become political. We can have a lively debate about the response to the pandemic without resorting to name-calling and vitriol. We should respect people that are different from us or have different opinions from ours. Opinions should not be confused with facts. We still have the opportunity to turn the tide in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We can protect lives and businesses at the same time. To change the storyline on this pandemic, we must communicate like we are in code blue. Wale Ajumobi is a gastroenterologist and can be reached at his self-titled site, Wale Ajumobi. Image credit: Shutterstock.com EUGENE, Ore. A day before a new face covering requirement goes into effect in Oregon, local businesses are working to prepare for the new rules. Some business owners told KEZI 9 News they expect customers will be respectful of the new mandate. RELATED: STATEWIDE MASK REQUIREMENT A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, LANE COUNTY OFFICIALS SAY Josh Aldersong at Morning Glory Cafe said the mandate will be more of an understanding between the restaurant and the customers. He said his customers are community minded, so he doesnt expect there to be any issues. In compliance with the new rules, once diners have been seated, Aldersong said theres enough distance between tables that people will be able to take off their masks and eat and drink comfortably. He said employees shouldnt feel like they are having to police anyone. And if they do need to report someone who refuses to comply, hes not yet sure who to contact. "We've had a lot of people respect the voluntary mask requirements and we're hoping you know that people understand what we're trying to accomplish with this," he said. "I'm glad it's becoming something that's going to be required so we don't feel like we have to assert ourselves as much." Meanwhile at WAGS, a pet store off Oakway Road, partitions are in place and cleaning has been increased measures that have in effect for weeks now. Owner Jodie Maddox told KEZI 9 News she also believes people will be respectful, but if they choose not to wear a mask, they will have the option of curbside pickup and delivery, which will continue after the pandemic. "If they can't (wear a mask) for some reason -- if they have a medical condition -- where their doctor says, 'Don't wear a mask,' we are happy to do curbside service -- all they have to do is call us and we'll get whatever they need, take their credit card over the phone. We also have delivery service in the Eugene-Springfield area," she said. EUGENE, Ore. Police are seeking the publics help identifying a woman suspected of multiple purse thefts at local grocery stores, including Trader Joes at the Oakway Center. Eugene Police Department Property Crimes Unit detectives have been investigating the thefts for almost a year now. Following each theft, the thief traveled to several stores in the Eugene-Springfield area and used the stolen debit and credit cards to purchase merchandise and gift cards. The total amount of fraudulent transactions is in the several thousands of dollars. Victims said the woman approached and distracted them away from their shopping carts while the woman or another suspect stole their purse. Police said the suspect has been described as a dark-haired woman, 20 to 30 years old, and about 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 5 inches tall. If you have any information, contact detectives at 541-682-5141. The abolition of "state subjects" and the creation of the new category of "permanent residents" has followed as a matter of course in the wake of ending of Jammu and Kashmir's autonomy. AP Photo The BJP and its earlier avatar, the Bhartiya Jana Sangh, in line with RSS' thinking, had long dreamt of ending the special constitutional relationship which had accrued upon the integration of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state with India. Kashmir's integration - in unique circumstances - had been negotiated between New Delhi and the government of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, in the months following Independence. The Modi government seized J&K's autonomy practically by force in August 2019 in that no consultation was held with the elected Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir while effecting the historical transformation. The first concrete results flowing from the changed status of Jammu and Kashmir have lately been reported. Reportedly, the newly-created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has suddenly gained as many as 25,000 new "permanent residents", one of whom - an IAS officer hailing from Bihar who has served in the Jammu and Kashmir cadre for the required number of years - was mentioned in the news. Under the princely dispensation those who belonged to the Jammu and Kashmir state were deemed "state subjects" and only state subjects could own property in the state, study in government educational institutions, and were entitled to obtain government employment. The abolition of "state subjects" and the creation of the new category of "permanent residents" has followed as a matter of course in the wake of ending of Jammu and Kashmir's autonomy. Now people from any part of India can apply to be "permanent residents" of Jammu and Kashmir if they fulfil certain criteria. One of these is that school children who have been in Jammu and Kashmir for seven years and have sat the Class X or XII exams from there can apply. Evidently, other special category states (example: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) do not have such a provision. At any rate, thousands of new residents at one go does seem like a flood, and could have political repercussions. And the taking away of Jammu and Kashmir's autonomy amounted to reneging on treaty obligations. SPRINGFIELD, Ore. If you would like to learn coding and web development skills, nows your chance. The Springfield Public Library will be providing access to Treehouse an online learning platform for free. Lessons cover the fundamentals of working with Android, iOS, C+, JavaScript, Python, Ruby and more. Right now we know that there are members of the Springfield community who are looking for ways to learn new skills or even to change their careers, said Business Outreach Librarian Mark Riddle. We believe this service could be invaluable for them, particularly due to the changes brought on by COVID 19. We are very happy to be able to offer this service for our patrons -- the first public library in Oregon to do so. If youd like to participate, click here to apply. Participants will get access for a three week period. The pilot program will run from July 1 through Dec. 31. LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- Lane County Public Health officials discussed Gov. Kate Browns new mask requirement on Tuesday. RELATED: FACE MASKS REQUIRED STATEWIDE STARTING SOON The mandate, which goes into effect tomorrow, requires face coverings to be worn in indoor public spaces across the state. Health officials feel confident that this new requirement is the right step and will lead to fewer COVID-19 cases. Spokesman Jason Davis said that he wants the public to understand the science behind wearing a mask. It really prevents those water droplets from going into the air and hanging for a period of time, Davis said. In an indoor space, when you don't have air currents like outdoors, lets say you sneeze and don't have mask on. You may be asymptomatic and don't know youre sick. Those water droplets will hang in the air and potentially be breathed in by another individual, so really that is the thinking behind it." Davis said that this will require cooperation and communication with the business community as everyone adjusts to the new mandate. Our hope is that we can go as far as possible with the voluntary compliance and that the enforcement won't be as much of an issue, but certainly we will be communicating out how that will work as we know, Davis said. Laura Hammond, community relations director for the city of Eugene, said that the mandate will have a positive effect within the county. We know our community can come together and help protect eachother with this new face covering rule," Hammond said. "We're going to be working hard to help get the word out about that and to make sure people understand what it means, how to do it correctly and also help our local businesses as they begin to implement that new rule. Click here for more information from the Oregon Health Authority about the mask requirement, including what counts as a public indoor space. Stay with KEZI 9 News for more. 1 of 2 Aamir Khan`s staff members tests positive for Covid-19 Aamir Khan, in a statement to the media, confirmed that some of his staff members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The actor said that those who tested positive have been quarantined. In his statement, Aamir Khan said, "Hello everyone, this is to inform you that some of my staff have tested positive. They were immediately quarantined, and BMC officials were very prompt and efficient in taking them to a medical facility." Thanking Municipal Corporation of Mumbai, he said, "I would like to thank the BMC for taking such good care of them, and for fumigating and sterilising the entire society (sic)." Along with his staff, Aamir Khan and his family were also tested for the virus and were found negative. They are waiting for the actor's mother's result. He said, "The rest of us have all been tested and found negative. Right now I am taking my mother to get her tested. She is the last person in the loop. Please pray that she is negative. I would, once again, like to thank the BMC for the prompt, professional and caring manner in which they helped us (sic)." Read More... In the last year we've lost thousands of family members, friends and co-workers to COVID-19. We'd like to give you a chance to honor their memory. Share a Memory Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Protesters are outside Spokane's City Hall building waiting for a vote to be made on proposed Spokane Police Guild contract. Some holding signs that say "defund the police" and "Black lives matter." SPOKANE, Wash. - After much controversy, the Spokane City Council voted unanimously to reject the current draft of the Spokane Police Guild contract. Critically acclaimed chef Rory Nolan has been unveiled as the new Head Chef of Mountain View, the exclusive events and wedding venue in the heart of south Kilkenny. Rory, who worked at the Michelin-starred Chapter One restaurant in Dublin and Kilkennys Campagne under the internationally renowned chefs Ross Lewis and Garrett Byrne, brings a wealth of top-class experience to his new role. He has spent the last five years as Head Chef of Anocht in Kilkennys Design Centre where his innovative menu, with a strong emphasis on local produce, won rave reviews from critics and diners alike. The prestigious John and Sally McKennas' Guides described Rory's cooking as sublime and "subtle, impressive and full of promise". Rorys appointment comes at an exciting time for Mountain View ahead of its reopening on July 25, with a new emphasis on exclusive dining and boutique weddings. Rory said of his appointment: Im delighted to be joining the team at Mountain View. The setting here is incredible: you can see the land, the livestock all the ingredients I will be working with in full view in front of us. In line with his own food philosophy, Rory says the fare at Mountain View will be of the highest quality, but not complicated. He sums it up: Great Irish food using great Irish produce the very best country food that caters for everyone. Rory, a father of two young children, grew up in Ballyfoyle and now lives in Kilkenny city. He attended Muckalee national school and CBS Kilkenny before going on to study engineering at the University of Limerick. But as he admits looking back - my heart wasnt in it - and he eventually quit to follow his dream of becoming a chef. He worked for a time at Eden restaurant in Dublins Temple Bar, a favourite celeb hangout during the Celtic Tiger years, before heading north of the Liffey to Chapter One and fellow Kilkenny man, Garrett Byrne, who would later bring the first Michelin star to his home city at Campagne. I basically went in and said Hi - any chance of a job for a fellow Kilkenny man! laughs Rory. He gave me a chance. I struggled for a bit at first, but eventually I started to find my feet. His experience working under Byrne had a big impact on the young chef. It was an incredible experience. I loved the way it was set up, almost military style. Everything was done to precision, everything prepped and timed to perfection. And I loved the way the meat and the fish was prepared: nothing was wasted, everything was used. When his mentor offered Rory the chance to move home to the Marble City to work with him as sous-chef at Campagne, he didnt have to think twice. It was just a good time to come home. I loved working with Garrett and I had a young family so in terms of quality of life it was great to be able to come home to Kilkenny. Campagne quickly established itself as one of the countrys finest diners, but after a few years it was time for Rory to move to the next level in his career. He describes his appointment as Executive Chef of Anocht at the Kilkenny Design Centre as just a natural progression. Now Rory finds himself at Mountain View, where he has discovered kindred food spirits in owners Michael ONeill and Bee OGrady. Michael and Bee said they are thrilled to confirm Rorys appointment as Head Chef, adding his farm-to-fork philosophy strongly chimes with their approach in working closely with local producers. Many people talk about local produce and sustainability and I suppose its become a bit of a cliche, but here, Michael ONeill says gesturing to the sweeping views of the south Kilkenny countryside from the venues Greenhouse Restaurant, its literally right on our doorstep. Rory and his team will also grow much of their own produce on the grounds of the venue, further underlining Mountain Views climate-friendly ethos and commitment to sustainability. The reopening of Mountain View will also come as a major boost for the surrounding area and to local suppliers. As Bee OGrady puts it: Were very excited to welcome our customers back to get a taste of our new offering and provide a safe haven where they can relax and enjoy the food and surroundings and everything this beautiful part of the country has to offer. As many of Kilkennys restaurants reopen over the coming weeks, Rory said the city and countys eateries can feel confident they can hold their own after firmly establishing themselves on the national food scene over the past decade. He adds: Kilkenny has really grown in terms of its food offering over the past 10 to 15 years and is right up there in terms of quality. Everyone in the industry, of course, is facing a big challenge over the coming weeks, but we should be very proud of our food and service we provide. Ireland produces the best lamb, meat and diary in the world and we should have confidence that our food offering and restaurants are as good or better than anything you would find on the international scene. ROCHESTER, Minn. - This election cycle is historic considering it's happening during a global pandemic. To keep voters safe, polling locations are shifting and the changes will be in place for both the August 11th primary and the general election. Some polling locations that are no longer available are the 4-H building at Graham Park, Shorewood Senior Housing, Sunset Trail Apartments and True Life Church. According to the city clerk, some of these places don't have enough space for social distancing and seniors need to be protected against COVID-19. To replace those polling locations, Council designated new spots for Election Day including Mayo High School, Gage Elementary, Folwell Elementary, Kellogg Middle School, Sunset Terrace Elementary and Willow Creek Middle School. "We also are hoping that a number of our voters take advantage of voting early either by mail or by in person absentee," Anissa Hollingshead, the city clerk, said. "Especially by mail to avoid as much physical contact as possible just to keep the process as safe as possible for all voters." Since a number of these new locations will be schools, there will be no school held on Nov. 3. For more information about voting in Rochester, visit this link. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed into law the Community and Pet Protection Act that strengthens the states animal cruelty laws. The act includes the following: Removing a current owner exemption that bars a pet owner from being charged with animal abuse for abusing their own pet Clarifying requirements for food, water, and shelter to allow law enforcement and prosecutors to more effectively address animal welfare concerns when they arise Adding requirements for sanitary conditions, grooming, and veterinary care Requiring mental health evaluations for juveniles and offenses punishable as an aggravated misdemeanor or class D felony HF737 is a significant step forward for Iowa, a state that has long been ranked as one of the worst in the nation for animal protection laws, states Iowa Pet Alliance executive director Haley Anderson. During such unprecedented and politically contentious times, HF737 has proven that protecting our pets is something the majority of Iowans and legislators can agree on, regardless of party. Humane Society of North Iowa Director Sybil Soukup has always been passionate about animal welfare, and the need to improve such laws in Iowa. She's reached out to her local legislators to see if something can be done. "All of our animal friends deserve to be protected in our communities and in our state." She applauds the removal of the owner exemption. "In my own studies of abuse cases around the state, it often is the owner of their own pet that is abusing their own PET, So this bill makes that improvement and allows them to be charged with abuse and face the punishment for the crime they committed." For years, animal welfare legislation has often failed to pass. And while this act is a great big step, Soukup says there's more work to be done. "A big one would be if someone tortures an animal, it's a felony offense on the first charge instead of the second. Iowa's one of two states in the country that doesn't do that currently, Mississippi is the other." In addition, Soukup is hoping to see some federal action regarding animal abuse and neglect as a felony nationwide; currently, it only applies to offenses committed on federal lands. "I think it's important as pet owners and pet lovers that we make efforts to protect animals in our state, and pay attention to what our legislature is doing with those goals in mind." ROCHESTER, Minn. - Rochester businesses are awaiting the Rochester City Council's decision Monday evening to require masks in city facilities or not. Mayor Norton's Emergency Declaration Amendment Requiring Masks in City Facilities doesn't require masks in all public spaces and businesses, but does encourage businesses to enforce their own mask requirements. Gray Duck Theater and Coffeehouse is one of the local businesses that will now enforce its own rules. Beginning Monday night at its 7 PM showing of Back to the Future, all patrons must wear masks in the lobby and coffeeshop area. Once seated and socially distanced in the coffeshop or theater, the masks can come off. Owner Andy Smith cites protecting staff and customers, helping people feel comfortable being at the theater and coffehouse, and not wanting businesses to close as some states with lifted restrictions have had to, as his reasons for enforcing this new rule. "Places like Texas and Oklahoma and Florida and other places, we've seen them have to roll back being able to open for businesses and we don't want that to happen to us. We want Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota as a whole to be safe and healthy and wearing masks has been shown to be the best way to do that," he explains. Smith hopes city council will pass the Mayor's ammendment, as it will help businesses we able to enforce their own rules. MASON CITY, Iowa Over 200 grams of meth mean up to a decade in prison for a Mason City man. Michael David Dalluge, 25, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Law enforcement says he had the drug, along with scales and packaging material, in his possession on January 29 in the 500 block of 16th Street SE in Mason City. Dalluge has been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison with no mandatory minimum time behind bars. In what was, so far, the best baseball game of the week, the Jaguars pulled their 33rd win out of the fire and salvaged a gem of a start from their star pitcher. ROCHESTER, Minn. A not guilty plea is entered in an early morning stabbing from March. Gabriel David Muller, 34 of Rochester, is charged with 2nd degree assault and threats of violence. Rochester police say he stabbed a man during an argument in the 800 block of West Center Street. Witnesses reportedly said Muller and the victim were part of a group of friends drinking when the two began arguing around 4 am on March 6. The victim suffered minor injuries. No trial date has been set. DES MOINES, Iowa The State Auditors Office has issued a report on $24,000 in misappropriated funds in the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Community School District. The report says former Special Education Instructor Deb Kadera was responsible for $18,086.94 in undeposited collections, $3,783.77 in improper payments, and $3,162.75 in unsupported payments. These financial irregularities happened between May 2009 and January 2019 when Kadera was responsible for the money in the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and the school districts Junior class account. State Auditor Rob Sand says the $18,000 in undeposited funds included money raise through Scholastic Book Fairs, General Mills Box Tops collections, and other PTO fundraisers. The report states the $3,700 in improper payments includes $2,405 transferred into Kaderas personal bank accounts. Sand says it is not possible to determine if any additional money went missing or was misspent because proper records of transactions were not kept. Sand says Kadera did take $6,220.79 from her accounts and deposited it into the PTO account in January 2019. The report says Kadera made a written statement it was done to pay back money she and her husband had taken from the PTO account. According to the state report, this matter first came to light when the school districts business manager asked Kadera why no cash had been submitted to the business office for a recent Junior class fundraiser. At the same time, a former PTO member says she was contacted by the bank about the PTO accounts being overdrawn and informed the school district. The report says Kadera began working for the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock school district in August 2009 and was placed on paid administrative leave after these financial irregularities were discovered. Kadera later resigned. A copy of the State Auditors report has been given to the Floyd County Sheriffs Office, the Floyd County Attorneys Office, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Iowa Attorney Generals Office. To view the entire report, click here. ROCHESTER, Minn. Trying to trick people out of their apartment is giving a Rochester man his own room behind bars. Richard Martin Souhrada, 35, was arrested on March 1 after Rochester police said he tried to use a key to get into someones apartment in the 600 block of 19th Street NW. The victims told officers they opened their door and Souhrada told them they were getting evicted. Police say that started a fight and other tenants in the apartment building held Souhrada until officers arrived. He eventually pleaded guilty to 1st degree burglary and has been sentenced to four years and seven months in prison, with credit for 60 days already served. ROCHESTER, Minn. - On Monday, the Rochester Civic Theatre hosted a Community Re-engagement and Volunteer Night. This comes after a new interim managing director was hired and four new board members were elected to take the theatre in a new, community-focused direction. Community members were invited to come to RCT to meet the new leadership team and learn about all the different volunteer opportunities available. Up next, RCT is bringing "Romeo and Juliet" back to the stage. It had to be cancelled in March because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Now, the theatre is allowed to re-open at 25% capacity. "Romeo and Juliet" will take the stage starting on July 23rd. Patrons will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing. If you're not comfortable going to the theatre to see the play, they're also offering live streaming of the performances. "We understand that completely. And that's why we're also going to be able to offer livestreaming capabilities. You can purchase the tickets and watch the live stream version. That's also really important, we want to honor that for people who are at a higher risk and do not want to venture out," said Misha Johnson, RCT's Interim Managing Director. There's also steps being taken to protect the cast, which was a little easier to pull of for this particular show. The story of Romeo and Juliet actually took place during a plague. "So we are going throw the plague right into the theme of things and the actors will be in masks," Johnson explained. If you missed Monday's open house, there's another one Tuesday night from 5:00-7:00pm. For ticket information for "Romeo and Juliet," click here: https://www.onthestage.com/show/rochester-civic-theatre/romeo-and-juliet-85627 ALBERT LEA, Minnesota - As we lead up to the 4th of July this Saturday, the City of Albert Lea is encouraging residents to add some patriotic flair to their front yards. Typically, the Southern Minnesota community has an annual parade, but this year, they are holding a 'reverse parade' of sorts and encouraging social distancing, while still celebrating. It's called "Flare for the 4th"; business owners and residents are asked to let their creative spirit shine by dressing up their store fronts and homes in red, white and blue. Emelie Paulson with EXP Realty is one of many businesses participating. "I think it's very important we needed to do something. This really seemed like a good idea, and I hope a lot of people are participating." If you're interested in getting your business recognized, as well as having it judged for your chance to win a prize, click here. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High 91F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 72F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd , the Canadian mining company, was sued on Monday in U.S. federal court for allegedly defrauding shareholders about its business plans before its C$4.1 billion (US$3 billion) purchase of Detour Gold Corp caused its stock to tumble. In a proposed class action filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, shareholder Stephen Brahms accused Toronto-based Kirkland of making false and misleading statements during 2019 about its risks and two key mining metrics, all-in sustaining costs and reserve grade. Brahms said the statements artificially inflated Kirkland's share price prior to Nov. 25, 2019, when the Detour purchase was announced and Kirkland shares fell 17.3% in Toronto and 17.2% in New York. Kirkland's chief executive, Tony Makuch, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages for Kirkland shareholders from Jan. 8 to Nov. 25, 2019. Kirkland and Makuch did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kirkland also operates the high-grade underground Macassa mine in northeast Ontario and Fosterville mine in Australia . The complaint said some analysts questioned whether adding Detour's low-grade open pit mine in northeast Ontario justified increasing Kirkland's mining costs and diluting its reserve grade, or average proportion of gold contained in the ore. Kirkland completed the Detour acquisition on Jan. 31. Citing the coronavirus pandemic, it withdrew its three-year production forecast on May 6, but said it expected to gradually ramp up activity, with the timing determined by the pandemic. The case is Brahms v Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 20-04953. Jasper, TX (75951) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. High 88F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low near 70F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Four st. Louis police officers injured during violent unrest earlier this month have been invited to spend the Fourth of July at the White House. The officers are expected to attend festivities in Washington from Thursday through Saturday along with other officers who have been injured polic Most people think "good deals" when they hear thrift store, but Feed My People thrift stores also help feed those in need. The chase began in Dupo, Illinois and ended in Union, Missouri. It lasted about an hour and a half before ending on the campus of East Central College. Kokomo, IN (46901) Today Cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High 72F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Evening clouds will give way to clearing overnight. Low 48F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has indicated creating a "zone of stability, steady development and good neighborliness" in Central Asia as priority in his foreign policy. This, according to the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Korea, played a significant role for the bilateral negotiations between the United States and the Taliban in February. The following is the second in a series of written Q&As with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov about Uzbekistan's vision of the major aspects of political settlement in Afghanistan and its contribution to ensuring regional security. ED. Q: It is clear that the work on hosting the Tashkent Conference would be impossible without tight cooperation with your colleagues in the region, who have participated in the Forum. Are the states of the region ready to continue such close cooperation? A: The President of Uzbekistan in his appearances at the international and regional platforms such as the United Nations, CIS, SCO and OIC, and others has numerously expressed readiness to jointly with our partners, including the countries of Central Asia, promote search for political resolution of the Afghan crisis. It is quite obvious that not a single country is capable to tackle the Afghan problem on its own. The leader of Uzbekistan has emphasized not only once the important role of the neighboring countries in stabilization of Afghanistan. The efforts of the neighboring countries and partners must not replace, but add to the other. All of the countries of Central Asia are actively promoting resolution of the Afghan crisis. Under the presidency and on the initiative of Kazakhstan, the U.N. Security Council held ministerial debates on Afghanistan. It was during this event that the initiative was enunciated to hold the Tashkent Conference which was endorsed by all countries of the region. In its turn, Kyrgyzstan has proposed to establish the research center on Afghanistan in Bishkek to more thoroughly study the processes underway in this country. All of us understand that it is necessary to draw Afghanistan into regional economic processes. This idea was broadly endorsed by participants of the Seventh Conference for Regional Economic Cooperation on Afghanistan in Ashkhabad, the Tashkent Conference, as well as the International High-Level Conference on Problems of Terrorism and Sources of its Financing, which took place in Dushanbe. The "India-Central Asia" Ministerial Dialogue held in Samarkand with participation of Afghanistan for the first time can serve as another example of active regional interactions on the Afghan direction. Q: Do you consider that Afghanistan stopped to be a stage of clashing interests of world powers, like it was during the Cold War? A: Yes, indeed from the outset the Afghan conflict was a product of geopolitical confrontation of the two world systems. The President of Uzbekistan has said right away that the flame of war was imposed on the Afghan people from outside. It is not their choice. And up until now the large centers of power are clashing between one another in Afghanistan while pursuing their own interests. The constant dragging of new partakers into conflict has led to its unprecedented aggravation. To a great regret, for over a span of decades the illusions remained in terms of the possibility to militarily tackle the Afghan problem. It is pity that it was possible to realize the dead-end nature of such an approach only after unparalleled human victims and massive economic and political losses. Today it can only be the close cooperation of the world's big players above all, Russia, China and the United States, the EU countries and the states of the Muslim world. We are noting with pleasure that Moscow and Beijing have lately achieved tangible results at their trilateral meetings joined also by other interested countries. All this forms necessary external conditions for effective resolution of the Afghan issue. Q: Following from that then, who do you believe can act as a guarantor of emduring peace in Afghanistan? A: These are, firstly, the large powers: the United States, Russia, China, the EU countries, and certainly, at much the same level, Afghanistan's immediate regional neighbors. These are external forces, but sustainability of all peace arrangements in Afghanistan will depend on involvement of domestic Afghan political forces in them. Without nationwide accord and reconciliation it will be impossible to achieve notable progress. It is extremely important to preserve and further develop the state law-enforcement institutions, full-scale operation of the civil society structures and observance of the rights of Afghan women, and so on. In sum, I mean all of those positive things which were achieved over the last 18 years in building an independent Afghan state and creating foundations of civil society. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe / AFP Japan may come up with new export curbs against South Korea, which could further complicate already frayed ties between the two Asian neighbors, a trade association said Tuesday. Seoul and Tokyo have been at loggerheads since July last year, after Japan abruptly rolled out restrictions on exports of key industrial materials to South Korea, namely photoresist, etching gas and fluorinated polyimide. "South Korea was able to avoid any disruptions in its production of affected goods on the back of the efforts to develop its own technologies and diversify suppliers," Hong Ji-sang, a researcher at the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), said. "But as Japan hints that it will come up with additional regulations in response to the lawsuit filed at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the move to seize assets of a Japanese firm, South Korea needs to brace for more regulations," Hong added. South Korea reopened a lawsuit at the WTO this month, which was suspended last year in a goodwill gesture, as Japan has remained unresponsive to Seoul's repeated requests to lift the regulations. The WTO plans to decide in July whether to set up a panel to look into South Korea's complaint against Japan. Tokyo says South Korea did not effectively control sensitive items that could be used for military purposes, while Seoul considers it more retaliation against a court's decision that ordered a Japanese firm to compensate victims of forced labor during the 1910-45 colonial rule. The two could face yet another deadlock as the South Korean court can order the selling off of seized assets of a Japanese firm that has ignored the ruling to compensate victims. Reflecting the tensions, Japan reportedly remains uneasy over the United States' move to invite South Korea to a Group of Seven summit, along with Seoul's bid to take the top job of the WTO. Due to the escalating tensions, the KITA report expected that Japan could come up with more export restrictions especially centering on "non-sensitive strategic items" that South Korea still depends heavily on Japan for. "Japan has beefed up inspections on exports of non-sensitive strategic items after removing South Korea from its list of trusted trade partners. Thus, South Korea should prepare for new regulations," Hong said. Japan removed South Korea from its list of trusted partners last year, prompting Seoul to take a tit-for-tat measure. The trade row, however, has been causing more damage to Tokyo's exports than the other way around. South Korea's exports to Japan slipped 6.9 percent to $28 billion in 2019 from a year earlier. Its imports from Japan fell by a wider margin of 12.9 percent to $47 billion. South Korea was able to significantly reduce its imports of Japanese photoresist and etching gas by finding new suppliers from Belgium and Taiwan. While Japanese fluorinated polyimide is still important for local industries, the country has been making efforts to develop it domestically as well. South Korea's imports of Japanese beer plunged 87.8 percent in April from a year earlier as well amid the prolonged "boycott Japan" movement among South Korean consumers. South Korea used to be the top importer of Japanese beer. (Yonhap) The new BMW 523d / Courtesy of BMW Korea By Nam Hyun-woo Local import auto brands including BMW and Mercedes-Benz are expected to suffer sales contractions for July, as the COVID-19-led shutdown of plants has resulted in an inventory drain here. According to industry officials, BMW is currently running out of vehicles to sell here next month, due to the shutdown of plants in Germany in March when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak in Europe. "The shutdown is affecting nearly all models, and we expect a shortage of vehicles for sale in July," a BMW Korea official said. "We believe the inventory will be normalized by August." In Korea, imported vehicles take about three months from shipping through to delivery to customers. Industry officials say an average of one-and-a-half months is required for the shipping process and about two months are required for their official approval and pre-delivery inspections at Pyeongtaek port in Gyeonggi Province. Vehicles delivered faster than this are inventory vehicles, which are parked at the port after finishing their pre-delivery processes. The production vacuum in Europe from March to April is anticipated to affect import brands' Korean sales in July and August. Officials at dealer agencies also said import vehicles sold in June or before were mostly manufactured before the coronavirus shutdown and they are expecting a delay in delivering vehicles from July. BMW has been making aggressive sales pitches this year, offering big discounts as high as 10 million won on its key models including the 5 Series sedans. Due to this tactic and a number of new models introduced to the domestic markets, BMW Korea sold 21,361 vehicles from January to May this year, up 45.5 percent from a year earlier. However, such momentum is expected to slow with the belated impact of the production gap looking set to hit. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class / Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Korea Mercedes-Benz is also experiencing a similar situation. According to the dealers, a number of models are experiencing slowdowns in their delivery, as the shutdown of Mercedes-Benz plants in Germany is seeing it failing to meet customer demand. "The inventory status of popular models such as the C-Class, E-Class and S-Class are sufficient," Mercedes-Benz Korea said in a statement. "We are closely coordinating with the headquarters to minimize the impact to customers." Though Mercedes-Benz Korea said they refused to elaborate how many vehicles are left in inventory and the details on vehicle delivery status, a company official said there is was a "mixed impact" stemming from the production vacuum and steady customer demand. Mercedes-Benz Korea sold 28,696 vehicles from January to May this year, up 8.35 percent from a year earlier. The brand has been the largest-selling import brand in Korea since 2016. Industry officials said the inventory shortage is especially noticeable in Korea, as the country's automobile market has remained relatively intact during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, import brands sold 100,886 vehicles in Korea from January to May this year, up 12.2 percent from a year earlier. This is also attributable to a large- scale tax benefit for customers. To spur consumption, the government has been offering a 70 percent cut in special consumption tax, and recently decided to maintain the benefit until the end of this year, while lowering it to 30 percent. In contrast, homegrown automakers' exports have been on a sharp downtrend since the outbreak of the coronavirus. According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, Korean carmakers exported 694,196 passenger and commercial vehicles from January to May, down 32.6 percent from a year earlier. The four-county area saw small increases in new COVID-19 cases over the weekend and no new deaths as the state looks ahead toward the final stage of its reopening plan, which may take effect on Saturday. Angola, IN (46703) Today A few showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High 69F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 44F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Auburn, IN (46706) Today Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 70F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 44F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. HONG KONG, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong Customs and Excise Staff General Association, Hong Kong Immigration Department Staff Association, and Hong Kong Correctional Services Department Assistant Officers General Association Monday said in a joint statement that they fully support the National People's Congress (NPC)'s legislative work on safeguarding national security in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The statement said that legislation on national security is within the purview of the central government. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China, a local administrative region which enjoys a high degree of autonomy and comes directly under the Central People's Government. Safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests is the constitutional requirement of the HKSAR, and also in the interest of all the Hong Kong residents. The statement said that the enactment of legislation for safeguarding national security in the HKSAR is to prevent, curb and sanction four types of criminal acts, namely acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security. The purpose of the legislation is to take effective legal measures to crack down on violence, cut off outside forces interfering in Hong Kong, plug the loophole in safeguarding national security in Hong Kong, and ensure Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and the well-being of Hong Kong people. Also, the law, with unchallenged position and authority, will further protect the legitimate rights and freedom of Hong Kong residents. The statement stressed that members of the associations must be fully aware of their responsibilities as civil servants, pledge loyalty not only to the HKSAR government but also to the nation, fully cooperate with the National People's Congress in the legislation work of the national security law, and fulfill their duty of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, unswervingly support the HKSAR government and make due contributions to the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems." Driver dies after crash into oncoming motor home on Hwy 26 in Wasco Co. "We are going to be running at just about full capacity again this year after the pandemic last year," said Director of Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation PJ Holm. Read more Your Holiday Shopping Magazine to Emporia and area businesses. Also visit ShopEmporiaKansas.com to shop Emporia businesses who are online. Start your online shopping here. VIEW NOW UPDATE: Washington State Patrol has identified the people involved in a deadly crash, with the causing driver being charged with vehicular homicide. Officials say 22-year-old Josiah Stoke of Blacklick, Ohio, was speeding and possibly under the influence when he crashed into a truck driven by 36-year-old Matthew Mischenko of Troy, Mont. The crash occurred on N. Butler Rd. and Trent Ave around 7:43 p.m. Monday. Stoke had been traveling westbound on Trent, passing University at a high rate of speed. Mischenko was turning eastbound onto Trent from Butler Rd. when his vehicle was struck by Stoke's. According to WSP, Mischenko wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from his vehicle. He was pronounced dead on scene. Stoke was injured and taken to Sacred Heart. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. - Investigators with the Washington State Patrol are investigating after a deadly crash shut down a Spokane Valley roadway Monday evening. Troopers said the driver of a car was speeding and possibly intoxicated when they slammed into a truck near Trent and Butler, pushing the truck across the road. The driver of the truck was killed and the driver of the car was badly injured and taken to the hospital. Troopers haven't released the names of anyone involved in the crash. BILLINGS, Mt. - Law enforcement is currently looking for a suspect who fled the scene of a shooting at an apartment building on Monday evening. According to Sergeant Becker with the Billings Police Department, they received a call about a shooting in the 200 block of Prickett Lane. Upon arriving they found a male victim who was shot in the chest. Witnesses tell Billings Police they saw two men shot the victim before fleeing the scene. Becker says they believe the two men hid in a dumpster on the 200 block of Moore Lane and possibly changed their clothes. Officers were able to arrest one suspect. BNSF Police assisted Billings Police by using a drone to help locate the other suspect. The drone uses infrared lights and heat sensors to locate individuals. Billings Police Department is currently looking for a male suspect who fled on foot. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it easier for religious schools to obtain public funds, upholding a Montana scholarship program that allows state tax credits for private schooling. The courts 5-4 ruling, with conservatives in the majority, came in a dispute over a Montana scholarship program for private K-12 education that also makes donors eligible for up to $150 in state tax credits. The Legislature created the tax credit in 2015 for contributions made to certain scholarship programs for private education. The states highest court had struck down the tax credit as a violation of the Montana constitutions ban on state aid to religious schools. The scholarships can be used at both secular and religious schools, but almost all the recipients attend religious schools. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion that said the state ruling violates the religious freedom of parents who want the scholarships to help pay for their childrens private education. A state need not subsidize private education. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious, Roberts wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the high-court ruling is perverse. Without any need or power to do so, the Court appears to require a State to reinstate a tax-credit program that the Constitution did not demand in the first place. Parents whose children attend religious schools sued to preserve the program. Roughly three-dozen states have similar no-aid provisions in their constitutions. Courts in some states have relied on those provisions to strike down religious-school funding. Advocates for allowing state money to be used in private schooling said the court recognized in its decision that parents should not be penalized for sending their children to schools that are a better fit than the public schools. This opinion will pave the way for more states to pass school choice programs that allow parents to choose a school that best meets their childs individual needs, regardless of whether those schools are religious or nonreligious, said Erika Smith, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, which represented the parents in their court fight. But the president of the Montana Federation of Public Employees, which counts more than 12,000 teachers and other school workers as union members, called the decision a slap in the face to its members and the communities they serve. Todays decision violates Montanas commitment to public education, our children, and our constitution. Extremist special interests are manipulating our tax code to rob Montana children of quality education while padding the pockets of those who run exclusive, discriminatory private schools, union president Amanda Curtis said. Justice Samuel Alito pointed, in a separate opinion, to evidence of anti-Catholic bigotry that he said motivated the original adoption of the Montana provision and others like it in the 1800s, although Montanas constitution was redone in 1972 with the provision intact. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose two daughters attend Catholic schools, made a similar point during arguments in January when he talked about the grotesque religious bigotry against Catholics that underlay the amendment. The decision was the latest in a line of decisions from the Supreme Court, which now includes Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, that have favored religion-based discrimination claims. In 2014, the justices allowed family-held, for-profit businesses with religious objections to get out from under a requirement to pay for contraceptives for women covered under their health insurance plans. In 2017, the court ruled for a Missouri church that had been excluded from state grants to put softer surfaces in playgrounds. The high court also is weighing a Trump administration policy that would make it easier for employers to claim a religious or moral exemption and avoid paying for contraceptives for women covered by their health plans. Still another case would shield religious institutions from more employment discrimination claims. The Supreme Court also has upheld some school voucher programs and state courts have ratified others. Did Prince Harry make a secret trip out of LA and went home to the UK for a quiet visit? According to a new report, he did, and he did it alone - without Meghan Markle and Baby Archie. According to Woman's Day Australia, June 29 issue, Harry was spotted with his head down and moving quite urgently as he boarded a private jet. His flight was said to be bound for England's private Farnborough Airport. It was also alleged that he was alone - no Meghan Markle nor Baby Archie in tow. It is unclear whether Markle even knew about this trip. Woman's Day Australia claimed that this sighting was revealed by an anonymous royal blog. It was picked up on by readers and the info spread across Twitter but was never confirmed. The magazine also learned that locals living near Windsor Castle saw and heard some movement at Frogmore Cottage. Could Prince Harry have live there while he visited the UK? What is the urgent matter that compelled him to come home and yet, not let the public know? The public would love to see a reunion between the "prodigal son" and the rest of the royals, after all. An exclusive source shared to Woman's Day, "You can sort of see it from the street and there are lights on occasionally," describing Frogmore Cottage. The source hinted that if it is not palace staff that is in there, it could very well be Prince Harry. Given that the information remains largely unconfirmed, it may or may not be true. If indeed, the Duke of Sussex has left LA and has been in the UK, then he successfully crossed the borders that remain shut between the US and England. "Depending on his visa status, he may face a battle to get back to LA," the source explained. The source even said that with President Trump's volatile policies and behavior, visa requirements can change all the time. Harry, regardless of who he is, may find himself barred until the US lift pandemic travel restrictions. But if he has truly boarded that private jet and went home, given all the things happening right now, there must be a good reason. This reason is unclear but it must be truly a heavy and urgent one, involving his royal family. He would not leave Meghan Markle otherwise, or take a flight out of the US with pandemic level restrictions still in place. He would also not be keeping this a secret, since it is no crime to want and go back to his own family. He has been feeling guilty like crazy for leaving them, a recent book revealed. Making the situation more incredibly mysterious is the fact that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been quiet on social media lately. They even missed posting anything on Father's Day! It would have been the perfect opportunity for Meghan Markle to post something sweet, but none. This is a far cry from the sweet phot Meghan Markle posted on Father's Day back in 2019. A long-time royal watcher noticed that even though a tide of royal pictures got released on that day, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not seize the opportunity to release an artsy picture, something that was quite unusual for them. An alleged friend of Markle told Woman's Day that if Prince Harry left LA, Meghan Markle probably did not agree with it. She was probably "blindsided by him leaving like this," the friend noted. Not only did she probably oppose Harry going home, she could also have been "desperately worried that he won't come back" because she knows deep down that Prince Harry no longer care about the LA. Prince Harry reportedly misses his friends and family so much and that life in LA was not exactly how he envisioned it, partly due to COVID-19 and the continuous harassment or negative writeup of media about them. They thought they would get a little privacy in LA at least, but of course, that did not happen. They also have to scrape up enough cash to live as they are used to back in the palace and pay their hefty security fees. These are not the things he usually worried about. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Meghan Markle is said to be feeling out of place as soon as she joined the royal family. Royal author Leslie Caroll previously told The Express that Meghan never really fitted in with the royal family since Prince William and Kate Middleton seemingly refused to welcome and accept her. For instance, Meghan once approached the Duke of Cambridge, but he just shrugged her off. The Sussexes fueled the issue more after they decided to split from the joint charity they shared with Cambridges through a statement released by the royal palace. But despite receiving a cold shoulder from the core members of the royal family, a bombshell new book claimed that Queen Elizabeth II was the Duchess of Sussex's greatest ally since the beginning. However, she lost Her Majesty when she decided to depart from The Firm. Investigative journalists Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett stated in their new book "Royals at War" that the Queen took Meghan "under her wings" when she became part of the monarchy. The account also claimed that Meghan received abundant gifts and guidance to help her cope and adapt to her new life as a royal "Her Majesty has seen it all and could offer the duchess (Meghan) some helpful advice. Meghan would do well to nurture that relationship and pop over for an occasional cup of tea with the Queen," one insider revealed to Howard and Tillette. "Meghan doesn't need an invitation." Aside from those perks, Queen Elizabeth II allegedly sent one of her own trusted aides to keep Meghan safe at all times when she started undertaking royal duties. Furthermore, another insider said in the book how the Queen had been supportive of her through ups and downs. "The HRH is a reasonable woman and accepts that marrying into the Royal Family isn't easy and mistakes are going to be made," the insider went on. Meghan Lost Queen Elizabeth II After establishing a healthy relationship for a short period, tables seemed to turn and Meghan lost her greatest ally in the royal family. In January 2020, after they spent the holidays away from the royal family, Prince Harry and Meghan came back with a bombshell announcement, expressing their desire to step down as senior royals and begin their new lives outside the monarchy. After the news spread, Howard and Tillett claimed Her Majesty felt "furious" after she learned the news as the two want to become "the world's biggest lifestyle brand." "If they are allowed to do so, the monarchy as we know it will cease to exist and a new 'celebritised Royal Family' is about to take over," another source told the journalists in the book. "They want to have their cake and eat it too." However, far from what the book claimed, Queen Elizabeth II gave them a nod and sent her acknowledgment to the two. Her Majesty showed her support in a statement in January, saying: "My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan's desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family." The 38-years old Duchess surely lost big time after Megxit, and no one knows whether she could still build the bridges she burned just to attain her Hollywood dream. READ MORE: Megxit Damage: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Receive CRUSHING News After Royal Exit See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's former bodyguard is not backing down against his former bosses, who threatened to sue him for breaking a confidentiality agreement. It all started last month when Steve Stanulis dropped some bombshell revelation and opened up about his experience working for the millionaire couple. During his appearance at the "Hollywood Raw" podcast, the bodyguard-turned-actor and director revealed some of Kanye's ridiculous rules, including walking 10 paces behind the 42-year-old rapper. There was also an incident when Kanye got pissed after he blocked him in a paparazzi shot. He also dished out an incident when the "Famous" hitmaker almost had an altercation with an Italian dignitary's security team during a hotel room mishap in the past. Stanulis also described the "Yeezy" founder as the "moodiest and neediest" celebrity he ever worked for, though he emphasized that Kanye is the most hardworking one. Lawsuit Threats After Stanulis' interview went viral, the "KKW Beauty" mogul and "Sunday Service" founder responded to his claims by slamming him with a cease and desist order. According to TMZ, the West couple accused Stanulis of breaking their confidentiality agreement and making "false and defamatory" statements. The couple claimed that the ex-bodyguard signed a deal back in 2016, prohibiting him from sharing personal or business information about their family. They also threatened to file a $10 million lawsuit for breaking the confidentiality deal and continuously bad-mouthing them in public. It is not the first time that Kim and Kanye threatened Steve with a lawsuit. In May 2016, they also scared him with a $30 million lawsuit and demanded a public apology. Kanye West a Bully? In response to the threats, Stanulis, through his lawyers, denied signing a confidentiality agreement and insisted that the ex-bodyguard is a victim of bullying. In a statement released to Page Six, attorney Dmitriy Shakhnevich said: "As such, any efforts undertaken by your clients to enforce any purported 'confidentiality agreement' will be met with counterclaims, that will seek significant damages, along with court costs and legal fees." "Our client is being bullied here, and we will not stand for that," he added. Earlier, Stanulis' publicist Zack Teperman said they respect Kim and Kanye's decision to pursue legal action and are willing to face it. "Bring it On!" Meanwhile, Stanulis stood firm that he will not let Kanye and his wife, who also signed in the cease and desist order, to win the fight. "I'm not going to let Kanye West and his wife push me around just because they are rich and famous. I won't be intimated by these two egotists!" Stanulis told Page Six. Stanulis, who recently launched the movie "5th Borough" together with Tara Reid, insisted he never signed away his "First Amendment rights." The bodyguard also revealed that he is currently working on a film based on his experience as a bodyguard to big-time celebrities like Kanye and Kim. "So if Kanye and Kim want to go to war, bring it on - they aren't the only ones with a strong legal team," Stanulis concluded. READ MORE: Ex-Porn Star Mia Khalifa Gets MASSIVE Support In Controversial Fight See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Now that things have loosened up with regard to the pandemic, are there precautions you are still practicing? Which have you relaxed? Could pigs be the next source of pandemic? The World Health Organisation has said the world cannot let its guard down after a study in China found that a new strain of swine flu had the potential to trigger a new pandemic. The paper, published yesterday by the National Academy of Sciences, said the virus was already a growing problem in pig farms and had all the hallmarks of being adapted to infect humans. The findings come amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and just ten years after a swine flu pandemic estimated to have killed up to 284,000 people. The authors of the study said the ability of the new virus dubbed G4 EA H1N1 to adapt would raise concerns for the possible generation of pandemic viruses. Asked about the paper at a briefing in Geneva today, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said: We will read carefully the paper to understand what is new. It also highlights we cannot let our guard down on influenza and need to be vigilant and continue surveillance even in the coronavirus pandemic. The research laid out in the paper was conducted between 2011 and 2018, when scientists took 30,000 nasal swabs from pigs in abattoirs across ten Chinese provinces and one veterinary hospital. From the swabs, they identified 179 different swine flu viruses, one of which was G4 EA H1N1, later found to be highly infectious. Part of the reason it is such a concern is that the immunity humans build up to regular seasonal flu does not appear to provide any immunity from G4 EA H1N1. A total of 10.4 percent of abattoir workers were later found to have the antibodies gained following exposure to the new virus as were 4.4 percent of the general population. The finding means the virus can already pass to humans from animals, but it is not yet known whether it can be passed between humans. The Spanish flu that killed tens of millions during the 1918 pandemic is believed to have been transmitted from pigs to humans in America and then spread to a nearby army camp. Troops at the camp later shipped out to France to fight in World War One, and the disease began to spread throughout Europe. Echoing the WHO, Prof Kin-Chow Chang of the University of Nottingham told the BBC: Right now we are distracted with coronavirus and rightly so. But we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses. A French court has sentenced former French prime minister, Francois Fillon and his Welsh wife, Penelope, to jail for embezzling public funds. Francois was found guilty of creating a fake job for his wife, using taxpayer money. The 66- year-old was accused of creating a position that paid his wife over 1 million ($1.13 million) in public funds, a charge that cost him his 2017 presidential bid. His wife, Penelope, was also found guilty of being complicit in the case. He was additionally accused of getting the millionaire owner of a literary magazine to pay his wife 135,000 for consulting work. Mr Fillon was sentenced to five years in prison, three of which were suspended, as well as a 375,000 fine. Fillon was also banned from running for elected office for 10 years. His wife was handed a three year suspended sentence and fined the same amount. Mrs Fillon was found guilty of having a fake job at a French-language monthly literary, cultural, and political affairs magazine, Revue des Deux Mondes, run by one of her husbands friends. The court said Mrs Fillon, 64, was paid the maximum possible and that the sums were out of proportion to her activities. Nothing could have justified the remuneration she received, said Nathalie Gavarino, the leading judge. The couple, who have five children, were additionally convicted of employing their two eldest, Marie and Charles, between 2005 and 2007, paying them a combined 117,000. A third accused, Marc Jouland, who took over Fillons constituency as MP in the Assemblee Nationale while he was prime minister was given a three-year suspended sentence and fined 20,000. Francois Fillon previously served as prime minister in Nicolas Sarkozys centre-right government between 2007 and 2012. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the probe of the policemen who allegedly arrested Seyitan Babatayo, the lady that accused DBanj of rape. The IGP gave the order in a letter dated June 25, 2020 with reference number CZ:7050/IGP.SEC/ABJ/Vol. 132/978 signed on his behalf by his Principal Staff Officer, DCP Idowu Owohunwa. The letter is titled, Re: Petition Against Inspector Abraham, Supol Ugowe and the Entire Police Officers Team at Ikeja, Lagos Division of the Inspector General of Police The letter, which was addressed to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Garki, read in part, I forward forthwith copy of a letter dated June 18, 2020 with its attachment received from Ojoge, Omileye and Partners on the above subject. I am to respectfully convey the directive of the Inspector-General of Police that you deal. The Punch reports that the letter of the IG was sequel to a petition written by Seyitans lawyer, Ojoge, Omileye and Partners, last week. In the petition, it was alleged that policemen attached to the Intelligence Response Team arrested Seyitan on the directive of DBanj and detained her for over 24 hours. It was alleged that she was denied access to her lawyers, her phone was seized and she faced psychological torture in the hands of the policemen. The petition read in part, On Tuesday, June 16, 2020, our client was picked up alongside a friend, Favour, at her residence in Lagos by the officers of the Ikeja IGP IRT. The arrest was without any warrant and neither our client nor her friend, Favour, was informed of the reasons for their arrest. According to our client, she was told to write a statement denying ever meeting with Mr. Oyebanjo (DBanj) and to also state that she lied against the person of Mr. Oyebanjo. In actual fact, our client was about to write the statement which she believed would be a basis for her release when the counsel came in and stopped her from writing such a statement. The counsel further informed the policemen that all actions to the alleged rape of our client in December 2018 by Mr. Oyebanjo have been transferred to the DIG FCID for a thorough investigation and that they need to stay the action. The counsel was said to have told the policemen to release his client and he would bring her back to the station whenever the need arose. According to the petition, the policemen, however, argued that Seyitan had not yet spent 24 hours in custody and as such, they could continue to hold her. After hours of pleading, the lawyer was said to have left the police station to return the next day. The lawyer, Tommy Ojoge-Daniel, alleged that DBanjs Manager, Damien Okoroafor, was physically present at the police office the next day. He said by Okoroafors instigation, the police refused to release Seyitan and threatened to approach a magistrate court to obtain a remand order to detain Seyitan for two weeks. The petition read, On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the counsel went to the station as early as 7 am with a formal application for bail which was received at the admin section of the station and presented to the officers in charge of the IGP IRT. The process for the bail had started when one Damien Okoroafor who we latterly knew to be the manager of Mr. Oyebanjo came in and started ordering the officers of the Ikeja IGP IRT around and this made the officers retrace their steps and inform our client that they will not release her on bail. They said they were in the process of obtaining a warrant from a magistrate to detain our client for 14 days. The formal bail application was thereafter confiscated by the officers of the IGP IRT and the counsel was forced to release the acknowledged copy of the bail application to the officers of the IGP at the most unimagined duress. He said Seyitan was forced to delete all social media posts she had made about DBanj and also make a public statement absolving DBanj of rape which she did to gain her freedom. Seyitan had accused DBanj of raping her in Glee Hotel, Lagos in December 2018. The kokomaster, however, denied the allegation and demanded an apology and N100m from his accuser. Police on Monday paraded two men suspected to have been involved in the kidnap and murder of a doctor, Audu Benedict, his son, Iranum, and a family friend after collecting N7.5 million ransom in Benue State. The suspects, Tehile Tsavbee and Gwa Tekula Henry, were paraded alongside 25 other suspects for offences ranging from kidnapping, robbery and illegal possession of firearms, among others. Force spokesman Frank Mba said Tsavbee and Henry were part of a kidnap gang led by one Tena, who is still at large, that have been terrorising Benue. Mba said the victims were abducted on their way to Abuja. The gang also kidnapped one Veronica, a sister to one of the suspects, Henry, who was later released after a ransom of N500, 000. Mba said, This is the kidnapping syndicate that took Dr Audu Benedict, a native of Taraba State, his son Iranun Audu and a family friend who were on their way to Abuja, ambushed them on the way and killed them somewhere around Benue State. The family of the doctor paid a ransom of N7 million to these criminals. The doctor also raised a check N500,000 which one of the suspects personally cashed out in the bank. Tsavbee reportedly confessed that he carried out the act, but Tena, his boss, carried out the killings. He said he did not know why the victims were killed. He said he got N300, 000 as his share. Mba said the ringleader of the group, Jerome Matthew, was in custody, adding that six AK-47 rifles and several other weapons were recovered from the suspects. Again, a mother and daughter have been attacked in their home in Moniya, Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan. The mother Mrs Adeola Bamidele, 46, and her daughter Dolapo Bamidele, 23 were said to have been attached at about 1:00 am on Sunday. Mrs. Bamidele was said to have made efforts to rescue her daughter when she was also macheted by the assailants. The attackers carted away two mobile phones from the victims and escaped. Neighbours rushed both victims to the hospital for treatment. When contacted, Oyo Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr Gbenga Fadeyi, confirmed the incident. He said the victims were recuperating, adding that investigations had commenced to track down the night marauders. Killer Joanna Dennehy is dating a fellow female murderer in prison, the pair are serving life at the same jail and have murdered four men between them. Dennehy, 37, who was jailed in 2014 after killing three men during a 10-day spree, has now coupled up with Emma Aitken, 25, jailed alongside her father and boyfriend for killing one man, reports The Sun. The pair, who are both serving life, are believed to have met at Low Newton Prison in County Durham, the highest security prison for women in Britain, when Dennehy was transferred there in 2018. Mother-of-two Dennehy is one of only two women in Britain serving a whole-life prison term, the other is Rose West. She stabbed three men to death; Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, John Chapman, 56, and Kevin Lee, 48, whose bodies she dumped in ditches outside Peterborough, where she lived before knifing two more men in Hereford. Aitken, is serving a term of a minimum term of 12 years after being jailed aged 19 in 2014 for the murder of traveller Barry Smith, whos burnt body was found outside a social club in Kilburn, Derbyshire. Aitken and Dennehy are said to pass the time in jail making trifles and cheesecake while other prisoners stay in their cells. The murderers have even gifted each other embroidered cushions with each others names on, reports The Sun. A source told The Sun: The jail has been on virtually permanent lockdown but Joanna has been going out to do her laundry and going to the kitchen with Emma. Adding: Other inmates are scared of Joanna because of her crime and her attitude. She is not someone to be messed with. Dennehys first victim was a Polish man, Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, who had come to believe Dennehy was his girlfriend. She lured him to a property with suggestive texts, then stabbed him through the heart. Dennehy then used a pocket knife to kill her housemate John Chapman, 56, stabbing him once in the neck. The third victim was her landlord, Kevin Lee, 48, who she lured with the promise of sexual favours. Excited by the police manhunt for her, she then stabbed Robin Bereza from behind in Hereford on April 2 2013. Nine minutes later, she knifed John Rogers. Both men survived. She was caught after two days on the run. Dennehy, who was brought up in a stable family home in the Home Counties, carried out the attacks to gratify her sadistic love for blood. The Old Bailey was told the killer had a sexual and sadistic motivation. Later she told a psychiatrist: I killed to see how I would feel, to see if I was as cold as I thought I was. Then it got more -ish. Experts said Dennehy craved notoriety and wanted to humiliate her victims through sick sex games. Before the killings she had boasted she had already killed four times. When the three bodies were found, police launched a high-profile murder investigation. Meanwhile Dennehy travelled to Hereford and started scouring the streets with accomplice Gary Stretch for more men to kill. She told him: I want to have my fun. The pair randomly selected two dog walkers, retired fireman Robin Bereza, 64, and John Rogers, 56. Dennehy stabbed them in frenzied knife attacks. Both survived the horrific attacks only because of swift medical intervention. During her search for further victims, Dennehy posed for photos with a huge serrated knife and bragged that she and Stretch were like Bonnie and Clyde, whose gang killed nine policemen in 1930s America. Princess Diana was an iconic figure, a well-beloved member of the British royal family who changed the way royals approach the public. Because of that, she gained the moniker "People's Princess." After her marriage with the heir to the throne Prince Charles in July 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral in London, she evolved into the perfect queen consort. She became the nation's sweetheart by breaking barriers of socially acceptable standards -- from raising awareness about mental illness to her famous photograph where she was seen shaking the hand of an AIDS patient. Princess Diana "Not Welcomed" By The Royal Family Despite her efforts, the Princess of Wales revealed that she felt like "an outsider" and "unwelcomed" by the royal family. Following her controversial and tumultuous relationship with the Prince of Wales, the two separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996 after their 15 years of marriage. However, Princess Diana remained cordial to the rest of the family and even continued to visit Sandringham House in Norfolk during the holidays to be with her two sons, Princes William and Harry. With this, one royal expert claimed that the Queen Mother was bitter to the mother-of-two during her first Christmas after the separation. In Channel 5's documentary "Diana, In Her Own Words," royal expert Richard Kay pointed out that the Princess of Wales "was not welcome at Sandringham." "I remember her telling me the first occasion she went, the Queen Mother has sort of looked at her, raised her eyebrow and said, 'I didn't think we'd see you again," he explained. Kay mentioned that Diana had always had a "tough character" but endured all the pain for her kids. "Under that kind of pressure, you have to be quite a tough character and I think she found it extremely hard but she took a deep breath and she got through it," the expert added. The "Terrifying" And "Disappointing" Experience of Princess Diana at Sandringham In her explosive 1992 tell-all book "DIANA: Her True Story," Princess Diana revealed to British royal reporter Andrew Morton that her experience at the Norfolk residence was "terrifying and so disappointing." "Christmas at Sandringham was highly fraught. Terrifying and so disappointing. No boisterous behavior, lots of tension, silly behavior, silly jokes that outsiders would find odd, but insiders understood. I sure was an outsider." Aside from the Queen Mother, Prince Charles' sister, Princess Anne, was said to be not a fan of Diana as well. During her first Christmas at Sandringham, the Princess of Wales was not informed about the gag exchange gift tradition of the family. "The rule is, the jokier the better," royal author Claudia Joseph explained. Instead, she gave the Princess Royal a serious gift, which annoyed Princess Anne. "I think they compete to out-do each other in terms of the joke. Princess Diana was obviously not briefed of this little quirk of the royals. She gave Princess Anne a cashmere jumper thinking that that was a suitable present for her sister-in-law. And in exchange, she received a loo-roll holder! Obviously, the young princess was humiliated," the royal author mentioned. In previous royal family news, biographer Ingrid Seward said in her 1995 book that Prince Edward claimed that Princess Diana and her relationship with her sister-in-law was strained. "Anne was indifferent to Diana from the very beginning. She treated the woman, who by marriage to her elder brother might have become her Queen, with withering disdain," Seward added. READ MORE: Goodbye, Queen: Meghan Markle Can NO Longer Go Back To Royal Family See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles RACINE COUNTY While evictions filings resumed in Wisconsin on May 26, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act still bars certain types of evictions through July 25. The CARES Act, which was signed into law on March 27, prohibits evictions of tenants living in federally subsidized housing. Theres also an exception for tenants or homeowners living in a home with a federally-backed or federally-guaranteed mortgages, because those mortgages qualify for forebearance under the CARES Act. Racine County Circuit Court Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz said that during his eviction hearings, he has to run through a checklist to double-check if the case falls under the CARES Act. He estimated that only about 10% do. In those cases, the plaintiff has the option of either dropping the case or rescheduling the hearing after July 25, which is when the provision expires. None of these relieve the tenant from their fiscal responsiblity to pay the landlord, it just defers it, Gasiorkiewicz said. Youre not getting forgiveness, its just a deferral. Last week, Gasiorkiwicz said that hed spent two days doing nothing but evictions. Granted, because those hearings are now on Zoom, they take longer due to technical issues, but there are still a lot of eviction hearings. Steve Martin has called him an icon of 20th century comedy, and Jerry Seinfeld once told a theater full of Mark Twain fans that Twain would be lucky to type his script changes. To longtime friend and colleague Mel Brooks, hes a literal fount of information. Thats all fine, but actor, director, writer and producer Carl Reiner says he thinks of himself first as a master of ceremonies. Whether hosting the Directors Guild Awards every year, packing UCLAs Royce Hall at last months Los Angeles Times Festival of Books or chatting with a reporter, Reiner wants everyone to have a good time. His main thrust in life is making other people happy and keeping the world which he inhabits moving, agrees his son, filmmaker Rob Reiner. Hes what they used to call in the Catskills a tummler -- somebody who keeps people engaged and stimulated. He always gets a sense of the room hes in and expresses whats on everybodys mind. Consider, for instance, his onstage interview at the Festival of Books with Times film critic Kenneth Turan. After singling out two audience members who left early, he leaned forward to confide to everyone else in Royce Hall: This is the best part. You were smart to stay. Advertisement How could anyone leave? His still-rubbery face and body in continual motion, the 81-year-old Reiner re-created such adventures as being a misguided Shakespearean actor, straight man for Sid Caesar, inquisitor to Mel Brooks 2,000-year-old man and creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show. And if they liked his anecdotes onstage, he reminded his audience, theyd love them in his new book, My Anecdotal Life (St. Martins Press). Down memory lane In An Anecdotal Life, Reiner emcees what he calls a literary variety show. Johnny Carson, Billy Wilder and even former President Bill Clinton get shots onstage along with film stars hes directed, his parents, brother Charlie, three kids and his wife of 59 years, Estelle. The book, he writes, is both his complete, official, abridged autobiography and 96% absolutely true. Sitting in the Beverly Hills home office where he wrote that book, not to mention most of his Dick Van Dyke scripts, Reiner busily plays host for an audience of one reporter. After his offers of both coffee and water are declined, Reiner pauses, then suggests bringing in a saw to get rid of potentially dangerous corners on the coffee table. And when his guest recalls a word that Reiner cant seem to remember, she is rewarded, on the spot, with a dime. But there really is very little Reiner doesnt remember, and thats essentially how his new book came about. After lunch and shared reminiscences at the Friars Club with a group of funny guys Reiner calls Romeos -- retired old men eating out -- comedy writer Aaron Ruben suggested that Reiner go home and write down his amusing stories. A lot of people have said that, but he was the one who said it at the moment I was most vulnerable, says Reiner, also author of three novels and a book of short stories. I was without book. Its like being without child. Youre gestating and you dont know youre gestating. I started writing immediately. A 17-year-old machinists helper when his brother spotted a newspaper item about free, WPA-sponsored drama classes, Reiner has been writing roughly as long as hes been acting. Even his early Army sketches involved what he calls talking writing. Once producer Max Liebman hired him to be Caesars straight man on Your Show of Shows, Broadway actor Reiner was as likely to create characters and story lines as to inhabit them. As he told his Royce Hall audience, he was in the fabled Writers Room, an uncredited writer without portfolio, from the third week on. Advertisement Thats where, in 1950, 28-year-old Reiner first turned to 24-year-old Brooks and asked him what he remembered about being at the Crucifixion. As Reiner explains in his book, it was only after 10 years of doing 2,000-year-old-man routines for friends that they finally made an album when George Burns told them to record it or hed steal it. It was a huge hit, spawning several sequels. As variety and revue shows like Caesars were shoved aside by situation comedies, Reiner and his wife werent much impressed by the scripts he was offered. When Estelle Reiner suggested that he could surely write better material, says Reiner, he asked himself a crucial question: What piece of ground do I stand on that nobody else stands on? Well, I live in New Rochelle, I have a wife and [then] two children, I went downtown every day for nine years to work on Your Show of Shows and Caesars Hour. The home life of an actor didnt intrigue me, but the home life of a writer did. And I said thats the piece of ground I stand on. Dick Van Dyke today So began The Dick Van Dyke Show, which won Reiner seven of his 12 Emmys. And besides playing the toupee-wearing variety host Alan Brady -- his shows Sid Caesar -- Reiner turned out scripts for 40 of the first 60 shows. Advertisement The much-heralded Dick Van Dyke Show, like Reiner, keeps morphing back. On CBS from 1961 to 1966, its currently playing on TV Land, at whose awards show in early March Reiner announced his hopes to reunite stars Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore and others by writing an episode of the show set today. Not only has he written that episode, Reiner says, but hes now seriously discussing it with CBS. And due in July on TV Land is his animated special The Alan Brady Show. Also ahead are more TV and film appearances, more charity emceeing and, of course, more writing. Reiners manager, George Shapiro, says Reiners always writing something, and Reiner reveals -- to force myself to finish it -- that hes working now on a new novel called, simply, NNNNN. On his coffee table are proofs for his first childrens book, Tell Me a Scary Story, But Not Too Scary, due from Little, Brown this fall, and he hints that more childrens books are in the works. Dont make him choose, Reiner implies. He loves it all. Little is more satisfying, he says, than contacting an audience and having them say youre O-K. Youre funny. We like you. You can come again next year. And you know, thats exactly what Im doing when I am writing too -- hoping Im entertaining and sometimes elucidating things about myself and the world. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had to veto $1 billion from the state budget due to a revenue loss from the coronavirus pandemic. The $92.2 billion state budget was signed by DeSantis at the Florida Capitol on Monday, where he vetoed from programs for affordable housing, education, and social services in Florida. The veto was done in what was supposedly a $93.2 billion budget, said a report from Orlando Sentinel. Millions of dollars have been spent by the state to fight the coronavirus pandemic, causing a loss of revenue from sales tax collections and tourism. The governor held a news conference shortly after signing the budget. "This budget reflects a steadfast commitment to Floridians by safeguarding important investments in key areas including education, the environment, infrastructure, public safety and more," DeSantis said during the news conference. The governor's goal was to try and proctect "historic achievements that [they] were able to do while also realizing historic savings", reported WPTV. DeSantis said this move will help Florida move forward on a more stable economic foundation. He also believes Florida would have around $6.3 billion to safeguard the state from the revenue losses because of the vetoes, the $800 million reverted back by agencies, the budget stabilization fund, and the trust fund balances. The said amount could help them "weather any storm that the economic recovery may throw our way going forward," he said. The full veto list released shortly afterward showed that $225 million cut from the State Housing Initiative Partnership suffered the biggest single cut. The initiative is designed to help low to moderate income families in housing. In essence, this veto essentially moved the money back into the Sadowski fund that is used for affordable housing. Now, the budget can be used for expenses from the coronavirus pandemic. WPTV noted an increase of 5,226 in coronavirus cases in Florida on Monday, with 28 reported deaths. The number of coronavirus cases in Florida jumped this month, but DeSantis stressed that the surge was due to increased testing in the state. A news report from Bradenton Herald noted that South Florida was hit the most in the cuts. Sectors such as education, criminal justice, environment, and transportation were affected in South Florida. The governor also issued a veto on $4 million budget for the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery, an under-construction treatment center aimed to provide mental health services as alternative to prison. Even though Miami-Dade funds will be enough for the construction of the center, the budget was to subsidize its operations when it opens sometime in 2021. Judge Steve Leifman, primary advocacy of the center, called the move a setback. He said the state dollars would have been significant as it expects about $10 million annual budget. "This would have helped us get off to a good start. But look, we're in the middle of a pandemic," Leifman said. A budget of $2 million was cut from the construction of a five-mile stretch of Miami's Baywalk. The project could harden seawalls and waterfront walkway in Biscayne Bay. The budget highlights can be found here. Want to read more? Check these out! Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie went through a lot as a couple during their 12-year relationship. What seemed to be a destiny for both of them immediately vanished after Brangelina announced their divorce due to irreconcilable differences. However, although they appeared to have a peaceful split, rumors eventually surfaced that the two had screaming fights in the past. Now, years later, a source claimed that no screaming occurred when they patched things up. "Angie and Brad recently spoke at length. She admitted that he's changed. It was an adult conversation. There was no screaming or blaming," Life & Style's unnamed source reportedly said. The same insider also claimed that Brad and Ange's conversation finally led them to reconcile and bury the hatchet. "They went from a great love affair to hating each other, and now they've made amends, for the sake of their kids," the source went on. Brad Abusive? Far from what the recent rumor divulged, a lot of reports before and after their divorce alleged that Brad and Angelina had screamed at each other multiple times in the past. Prior to their divorce, a video of Brad yelling at Angelina emerged, causing allegations that the actor had been verbally abusive to her and their children during their marriage. According to US Weekly, as reported by The Sun, sources told the magazine that the "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" actor can be seen "looking drunk" and "yelling" while they were on board a flight to Los Angeles. "Brad is seen yelling a lot during it, but nothing physical," the insider stated at the time. Their adopted son, Maddox, also experienced the same when he tried to defend Angelina before Brad lunged at him. Moreover, the magazine previously reported that the ex-couple had "heated, screaming fights" about raising their six kids. The "Maleficent" star is said to be allowing her children to live the way they want, but Brad wanted them to have a more traditional upbringing. Even Angelina herself had been so open how strict Brad was. "I used to be the tougher parent, but since the birth of the twins, Brad's had to play bad cop more often," the actress told OK! Magazine. "It also depends on which of the children we're talking about...I think I'm a little closer to the girls, maybe, but he's always making them laugh." Furthermore, Angelina Jolie recently revealed the real reason why she decided to divorce Brad Pitt. During her interview with Vogue India, the "Tomb Raider" actress explained that she decided to divorce Brad for the sake of their six children. "I separated for the well-being of my family. It was the right decision," Angelina said. "I continue to focus on their healing. Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds." With that said, their fans can safely say that there were indeed verbal fights between them in the past. READ MORE: Angelina Jolie Bad Influence? Ange Makes Brad Pitt WORRY Over Sensitive Topic See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles As the world attempts to bring the threats posed by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to an end, scientists found a new strain of swine flu that has "pandemic potential." The virus, which the researchers called G4 EA H1N1, emerged recently and can be found in pigs. However, experts are concerned that it may also infect humans. In a report from BBC, researchers expressed concern over further mutations by the virus that can lead to easier transmission from person to person, triggering a global outbreak. Workers in the swine industry should be closely and urgently monitored, along with other human populations, said the research team in an Al Jazeera article. The authors noted an elevated level of the virus in workers from pig farms. The team of scientists also said that, while it is not an immediate problem, it displays "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus." Since the swine flu was just a recent development, people are likely to have little to no immunity, the Fox News reported. The team of Chinese researchers, who wrote in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," looked at influenza viruses in pigs from the years 2011 to 2018 and found a "G4" strain of H1N1 with said pandemic hallmarks. Pigs were pointed out to be the intermediate hosts for the virus strain. The researchers stressed the importance of systematic surveillance of flu viruses in pigs when looking for signs of another possible pandemic. The peer-reviewed study was authored by academics in various universities and institutions. Pandemic Threat One of the things the study highlighted was the risk of viruses crossing the species barrier, making it infectious to humans, who live in densely populated areas and, in this case, places that are close to farms, breeding facilities, slaughterhouses, and wet markets. The swine flu of 2009, the last pandemic the world faced, was less deadly than first thought of. It is now covered by the annual flu vaccine. The new virus is similar to the earlier 2009 swine flu, as it is a recombination of the H1N1 strain common in pigs. Carl Bergstrom of the University of Washington said there is no evidence of G4 infecting humans despite five years of exposure. Coping With Coronavirus The coronavirus itself has caused a pandemic that has affected America. New York City that has the highest number of coronavirus cases at 416,000, posed a threat to around 3.7 million Latinos living in the state. In New York City alone, 34 percent of deaths from coronavirus come from the Latino community, said a report from Politico. Texas also experienced its highest number of daily new cases last Thursday at nearly 6,000. The state had been experiencing new highs every day for the past days and hospitalizations in the state also increased. Florida, on the other hand, experienced a spike in coronavirus cases among its younger population that pushed the median age of patients in the state from 65 to 55. Retired Influenza investigator Robert Webster told Science magazine the chance of virus infecting humans remains a "guessing game." "Will this one do it? God knows," he said. Want to read more on coronavirus? Check these out! The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that President Donald Trump can now fire the head of a federal consumer watchdog without limits. The decision came after the justices concluded the agency's structure violated the Constitution. The 5-4 ruling could open the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to politicization. The decision may also turn the agency's director into something resembling a president's cabinet member. The court's five conservative justices, led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, held the majority of the votes. In a written statement, Roberts claimed that the C.F.P.B. director holds broad authority over the U.S. economy despite having no boss or peers to report to. While the ruling allows the president to remove the director at will, the agency may continue to set rules, launch investigations, and enforce actions without major interruptions. The Response to the Ruling Kathy Kraninger, the current director of the consumer watchdog, said the ruling brought certainty to its mission of protecting consumers, while being held fully accountable to the president. The Trump administration called the decision a significant victory, noting that government officials should be held accountable to the United States' residents, the Wall Street Journal reported. Republicans celebrated the verdict. However, they believed that more should be done to hold the CFPB accountable such as making the agency's funding subject for approval and giving it a board of directors. Richard Hunt, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, said the recent ruling could lead to radical shifts in the financial services industry with each administration. He called on Congress to create a bipartisan commission. Establishing the Agency The CFPB is the brainchild of Elizabeth Warren, a former Democratic presidential candidate. She first proposed the agency in 2007, suggesting the bureau may help regulate mortgages, student loans, and other financial services. In 2010, then-President Barack Obama appointed the Harvard Law School professor as a special adviser. Her responsibilities include setting up the new agency. It was ruled that the president could only remove its director over inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance. Warren was expected to become the watchdog group's first director, but Republicans widely opposed her nomination. In 2011, Obama named Richard Cordray as the bureau's deputy director, following its launch. Before the previous administration established the CFPB, seven different federal agencies oversaw financial consumer issues. The Obama administration folded the various departments under the CFPB, giving it the autonomy to carry out the work, the PBS News reported. According to the financial reform law, the federal agency holds regulatory powers as well as the authority to issue subpoenas and take legal action in federal court. It also has jurisdiction over financial institutions with assets worth $10 billion or more. In a CFPB report, the agency said it provided over $12 billion to 29 million Americans, who became victims of misleading or predatory financial services such as student loans and credit card services. It also recorded creating new consumer protection rules for mortgages and payday loans. Check out the latest news from the U.S.: A new study recently published in the journal Political Research Quarterly revealed that many Latinos are working as agents in law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. The role of law enforcement has been the target of different criticisms across the country because of the excessive use of force. Police brutality that led to the death of numerous African-Americans has sparked violent protests. According to the said study, Latinos make up 30 percent of ICE agents and nearly 50 percent of Border Patrol agents. Dr. David Cortez, a professor of Political Science and Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, found an interesting pattern between the role of law enforcement and the immigrants. The increasing number of Latinos in law enforcement has raised interesting questions from the new La Migra. They are questioning the motivations of Latinos to work in law enforcement despite the unending tension of these agencies toward the migrants. Cortez told the KTSM 9 News "as of 2015, Latinos make up 78 percent of the ICE workforce in El Paso." "So we might say this is pretty representative of the broader community that ICE is charged with policing," he added. Challenges of Latinos Working in Law Enforcement In El Paso, Texas, more than 80 percent of their population is coming from Latino or Hispanic community. Many if not all have family members, who are immigrants. The fact that many Latinos are working in the ICE in El Paso, this challenges the root and identity of the agents. Cortez noted that historically Latinos have an undesirable relationship with law enforcement agents, most especially in the border cities. Cortez recounted that Border Patrol Chief Silvestre Reyes, who was the first Hispanic or Latino section chief in the region, saw himself as protecting the community's Latinx populations by moving Border Patrol out of the community and along the border, rather than sweeping communities. However, this changed because of the 9/11 attack, the new immigration policy, and the more stringent patrol in the border walls. Additionally, the law enforcement agencies were given authority to a militarized degree. In the study conducted by Cortez, he found out that many Latino agents in the ICE and Border Patrol have different views on how the agencies should work. However, despite the tension between law enforcement and Latino immigrants, many of them still joined ICE or become part of the Border Patrol agents because of their socio-economic status. During the interview of Cortez with the Latino agents, he found out that they joined because of economic self-interest, the pride of having a good job, and the security of benefits aside from socioeconomic status. This means that Latinos in law enforcement agencies are enjoying their own version of the American dream. Moreover, Latinos play a very important role, most especially in this time of the global pandemic. Aside from working as part of the law enforcement agencies, there are thousands of Latinos, who are working in the American field just to sustain the food chain in the country. Check these out! Now that Kim Kardashian is finally part of the billionaire's list and what better way to celebrate it by having another child? Kim Kardashian sold her cosmetics company stake to Coty for $200 million, making her new net worth to be $900 million, overtaking Kylie Jenner's net worth. Friends of the KKW Beauty mogul have reportedly told her friends that she's looking to expand her family again. This time, however, she will be adopting baby number five. With her marriage to Kanye West being in the rocks, it looks like the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star will have to bring up the child. An insider close to Kim Kardashian told Heat, "Kim's dead set on adopting. She's done some research and wants to make it happen this year, or early 2021." The insider shared that the 39-year-old mom of four has no gender preference anymore, as she is looking at adopting a child in need. "She's told herself she'll know what's right once she starts visiting orphanages." Kim Kardashian only gave birth naturally to her eldest daughter, North, who is now seven, and Saint, four. But after her traumatic pregnancies, she used a surrogate for her last two kids - Chicago, two, and Psalm, one. After visiting a Thai orphanage in 2013, Kim Kardashian reportedly asked a 13-year-old girl named Pink if she wanted to come to the US with her. According to the Heat's source, the teenager said no, but at the same time, it made the SKIMS founder "look into adoption because it sounds amazing." The source further claimed that the reality star wants to address it on their hit reality show subtly, but at the same time, Kim Kardashian said she's already past the point of wanting to divulge every single thing of her personal life to the public. The magazine previously reported that lockdown has not been easy on Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's marriage. The couple, who got married in 2014, is not having the best time at the moment, which resulted in the "Jesus is King" rapper traveling to Wyoming to give his wife some personal space. But no matter what happens, Kim Kardashian's friends revealed to Heat that she is determined to get baby number five whether Kanye is still around or not. The source revealed that Kanye West has been extremely involved in adopting discussions before things become tense. Luckily, the Yeezy creator is fully aware that his wife will go with it, whether they split or not. Though Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have officially said they want their marriage to work and not have a divorce, they do love each other and hate it if their kids had a broken home. "They're still hoping they can get back on track and stay together." But Kim Kardashian reportedly said that she won't let it break her if things don't work out between them. "She's more independent than ever these days, and has her mom and sisters around to help with the kids and an army of nannies," the source said. "Ultimately, those kids - and whoever she ends up adopting - are her whole world and will continue to be, with or without Kanye." READ MORE: Gwen Stefani FURIOUS! Kelly Clarkson Cozies Up to Blake Shelton Amid Divorce Drama? See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles - Chinese scientists have found a deadly virus in pigs in China as they studied different viruses from 2011 to 2018 - The scientists advised that those who work in the swine industry need to be closely monitored to prevent another outbreak - According to them, a lot of people who share proximity with pig farms are at greater risk of contracting the virus PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Scientists have alerted the public of a new flu virus resident in Chinese pigs, saying it has become even more infectious and dangerous to humans and needs to be closely monitored so it does not become another pandemic. Reuters, however, reports that the study by the scientists said the virus threat is not imminent. The discovery was made when a team of researchers assessed influenza viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018. They found a G4 strain of H1N1 which has all the features of being a pandemic. The paper of the study was published by the US Journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). It was also discovered that people who work on pig farms have a high amount of the virus in their bloodstreams, adding that it is important to monitor workers in the swine industry. A picture showing scientists testing pigs for likely viruses. Photo source: Reuters Source: UGC There was also the fear associated with the risk of the virus affecting Chinese regions where many live closely with farms, slaughterhouses, and wet markets. It should be noted that in 2009, China restricted international flights so that the outbreak of avian H1N1 does not affect other countries. Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that just minutes before dying, a 26-year-old coronavirus patient documented his last moments in a selfie video he sent to his father on Friday night, June 26. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news The video showed him saying that he could not breathe as the ventilator was taken off him by doctors. By Sunday, June 28, the video had become a massive sensation online. In the clip, the man also accused health officials of earlier ignoring his call for oxygen for three hours. The deceaseds dad did the final rites for his son on Saturday, June 27. They have removed ventilator My heart has stopped and only lungs are working, but I am unable to breathe, daddy. Bye daddy, bye all, bye daddy, he said. The hospital, however, dismissed the allegation the deceased made, saying that he was at a very medically bad state that he could not sense the supply of oxygen being given to him. Hantavirus vs Coronavirus: 5 quick facts you should know | Legit TV Source: Legit Nigeria A convenience store and gas station is being proposed on a property with abandoned buildings along Route 412 in Bethlehem. Bethlehem-based CCAN LLC submitted plans to the citys planning office on June 16. A sketch plan shows a 5,585-square-foot space for the convenience store and 55 parking spaces. Across from the convenience store are plans to construct bays for about eight gas station pumps. Loading space also is requested in the plans. Darlene Heller, the citys director of planning and zoning said the property has sat vacant for a few years -- at least prior to the widening of Route 412. It once housed Chriss Restaurant, an auto repair garage and a single-family detached home. She said the project would only take up a portion of the space and at least one portion remains owned by the city. A large chain fence in recent weeks was constructed around the site with no trespassing signs. Heller said there are no plans at this time to demolish any of the buildings. The next step, she said, is for representatives of CCAN to appear before the Bethlehem Planning Commission, which is expected sometime in mid-August. No phone number was listed on the plans for CCAN LLC. The proposed project sits across from where a Walmart Supercenter in 2016 was planned to be constructed at Hellertown Road (Route 412) and Commerce Center Boulevard. That project was proposed within Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII. The retail giant by September 2017 pulled the plug on plans without explanation. However, the planning commission in June 2016 did pan the projects designs and site layout. At the time, Walmart officials said they had to regroup and decide if the plans could be modified. City officials had asked Walmart to depart from its usual suburban shopping center design and integrate Bethlehems character and the sites industrial heritage, pointing to the then Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks as success stories. There are currently no new plans for the site where the Walmart project was proposed, Heller told lehighvalleylive.com. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Computer and technology giant Microsoft announced plans to permanently close almost all of its 82 retail stores. There are currently three Microsoft Stores in New Jersey: Bridgewater, Freehold and Paramus. All three temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and still remain closed. In Pennsylvania, the closest Microsoft Store to the Lehigh Valley is in King of Prussia. Its unclear if Microsofts stores will reopen before shuttering for good, and a Microsoft spokesperson didnt have any immediate information to share. Microsoft also says it will reimagine spaces that serve all customers, which includes turning brick-and-mortar stores in London, New York City, Sydney and Redmond into experience centers. Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location, David Porter, Microsofts Corporate Vice President, said in a statement. We are grateful to our Microsoft Store customers and we look forward to continuing to serve them online and with our retail sales team at Microsoft corporate locations. The Childrens Place, 24 Hour Fitness, Signet Jewelers, Zara, Nordstrom, Party City, GNC and JCPenney are among other companies that recently have announced store closures. RELATED STORIES ABOUT RETAIL: Coronavirus face masks for sale: Where to buy disposable, reusable or cloth coverings Looking for a job? These retail companies are hiring in New Jersey Best graduation gifts 2020: Video games, laptops, tablets, gift cards and more Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Nicolette Accardi can be reached at naccardi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @N_Accardi. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Pennsylvania is offering 13 additional weeks of unemployment for qualified people who have exhausted their regular unemployment compensation (UC) and federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), the state Department of Labor & Industry announced on Monday. The Extended Benefits (EB) period began May 3, but the benefits are not payable until an individual has exhausted the PEUC benefits, Secretary Jerry Oleksiak. There is an additional wage test for EB eligibility, so not all individuals will financially qualify, the state warned. The EB payments will begin this week through the states Unemployment Compensation Extended Benefits program. The last time the EB program was triggered in Pennsylvania was 2009. Eligibility You may be eligible for Extended Benefits if: You are totally or partially unemployed, You have exhausted your regular state benefits on your most recent UC claim, or your most recent UC benefit year has ended, and You have received the maximum amount of PEUC that you were eligible to receive. Additional eligibility information is available here . How to Receive Extended Benefits If you collect the maximum amount of PEUC that you are eligible to receive, an Extended Benefits Notice of Financial Determination will be mailed to you. You must complete your weekly EB online certification in order to claim EB for weeks that you are totally or partially unemployed. Each EB online certification corresponds to one specific week, as indicated on the web form. Individuals who opt to use paper claim forms should only use the form that is specifically dated for the week of unemployment you are claiming. If you do not receive your Financial Determination within two weeks after you receive your final PEUC payment, call the UC Service Center at 1-888-313-7284. Extended Benefits Weekly Benefit Amount Extended Benefits weekly benefit payments are the same as regular UC. The total amount of EB that you may receive is 50 percent of the amount of regular UC you were financially eligible to receive on your most recent claim. Example: If you were financially eligible for 26 weeks of regular UC, you may receive up to 13 weeks of EB. There is an additional wage test for EB eligibility. EB may only be paid for weeks ending during an EB period. If you are entitled to Trade Readjustment Allowances, you may receive fewer weeks of EB. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. After a barrage of resident complaints, a Pennsylvania state senator doesnt want to just change the states fireworks law allowing residents to buy and use consumer-grade pyrotechnics, she wants to get rid of the law altogether. It has gotten so bad I felt we had to do something dramatic to draw attention this, said state Sen. Judith Schwank, D-Berks County. Last year, Schwank proposed allowing municipalities to develop their own fireworks regulations, but the bill never moved out of the senates Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. Schwank said the lack of response was disappointing, but not surprising. Now, Schwank plans to propose repealing the 2017 law. The number of complaints has been exponential since the law went into effect and residents email, call, post on social media and grab Schwank in person, she said. Theyve endured fireworks being set off over a period of months, not just one night. Residents are livid, they are upset, they are worried, and talk about the impact on pets, children, of property damage and nights of disturbed sleep, she said. A veteran told me, This reminds me of warfare, Schwank said. Its more than just a quality of life issue. Schwank said she recognizes the state gets millions of dollars in revenue from the new law, but officials are not accounting for the cost for municipal fire and police response to complaints, and property damage. Is it worth it? she asked. Schwank said she brought up the repeal proposal in a Zoom meeting with the Democratic caucus, and the response was overwhelming. I think one of them even clapped. Its a problem, and its going to continue to grow. Its not just an urban problem, she said. This is a turning point. I think weve had enough experience with how this law has changed our lives...Im going to work actively to get this in front of the leadership, to help them understand the problems created by this. Allentown police Chief Glenn Granitz said his officers and other law enforcement are facing a nightmare with enforcing the law, and Schwank has his full support. Officers have to see the firework being lit and set off in order to cite someone and, with the way the law is worded, officers cant take the fireworks away. Repealing is definitely the route to go, because that would put an end to the availability. Theyve got to stop it at the point of purchase. If its available, people are going to buy it, he said. There was a lull of calls to police after New Years. But with the weather warming up and families celebrating graduations at home, unfortunately with the amount of fireworks readily available for purchase now, its definitely put the community behind the eight ball, the chief said. Lehigh Valley state Rep. Bob Freeman is proposing his own bill this year to give municipalities more authority to regulate fireworks. In a news release, Freeman said his office has also received numerous complaints and that the fireworks have greatly disrupted the lives of many people across Pennsylvania. The bill would increase penalties for violating the municipal regulations. A first conviction would be a summary offense and a fine between $100 and $500, with subsequent offenses committed within one year of a prior conviction increased to a third-degree misdemeanor with a fine between $500 and $1,000. We need to give local governments the ability to deal with this disruptive behavior and to impose substantial penalties for violating a local ordinance. My proposed bill will give them that, Freeman said in the release. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Lehigh Valley authorities are warning residents to take heed of booze, belts and burns leading up to the July 4th holiday weekend. The three bs warn of driving and using fireworks while under the influence; wearing seatbelts while traveling; and fireworks, grilling and outdoor burning. Fireworks top the list of possible hazards, and officials are urging revelers to leave the explosives to the professionals after a man was killed instantly Saturday in Scranton when a commercial-grade firework exploded as he was attempting to fire it, the Associated Press reported. Valley residents are well aware of the 2017 law allowing adults to purchase class C, or consumer grade, fireworks, as stores off I-78 report increasing sales and regional police field more and more complaints about homegrown shows. Firework regulations include prohibiting use from within a car or building, and within 150 feet of an occupied structure. In Bethlehem, fireworks cannot be used between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. People may not use fireworks on property without the property owners consent. Bethlehem fire Capt. Kevin Landis said Bethlehem streets, parks, parking lots and Bethlehem Area School District properties are off-limits. In short, there is no place in the city of Bethlehem where you can legally set off fireworks, based on population density of people and buildings, Landis said. Fireworks are explosives and cause injuries, Landis said, and at least 44% of the injuries include burns. Reported injuries include damage to fingers and hands, head and face, eyes, arms and legs, and torsos. Dont end up in the hospital this holiday weekend, Landis said. Leave the fireworks to the professionals. Grills and fire pits Burns are a common holiday injury. If you are grilling, keep young children away from the grill and never leave the grill unattended, Landis said. Fire pits, outdoor fire pits, fire rings, chimineas and burning wood are prohibited in Bethlehem. Natural gas and propane fires are allowed if approved by a fire inspector, Landis said. The city fire department keeps a list of open burns; offenders usually face a warning the first time, then a non-traffic citation of $40.25 plus court fees, and subsequent fines are determined by the courts. Drunk driving Before you drive, be sober, make sure everyone in your vehicle is buckled up and take your time, Bethlehem police Lt. Rodney Bronson said, you could be saving a life. State police and local police departments will have impaired driving enforcement details this weekend, funded in part with $4.7 million from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Last year in Pennsylvania, there were 241 alcohol-related crashes, seven of them fatal, from Friday, June 28 through Sunday, July 7, 2019. During that same time period, there were 93 drug-related crashes, 11 of them with fatalities, PennDOT reported. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. A new initiative has been launched in Laois to fill the CV gap for third level students unable to find a summer job due to Covid-19. Laois County Council, Laois Partnership Company and Laois Offaly Education & Training Board will co-ordinate the long titled Laois Youth Volunteers and Laois Young Creatives. They hope it will encourage a spirit of volunteerism in people aged 18 to 25, while helping local groups like Tidy Towns, Cemetery committees and Meals on Wheels. At the end of the summer, the students have a chance to win Young Volunteer of the Summer awards with cash prizes totalling 2,500. Categories include individual or collaborative projects in arts/communications/ICT, Biodiversity, local history projects, Volunteer of the Summer and in the arts. It was launched at the June council meeting by Director of Services for community development Donal Brennan. As a result of Covid-19 young people have less opportunity for summer jobs. We are encouraging them to get involved with their local community groups, to fill a void in their CVs. There will be different categories including biodiversity and history, he said. In addition, if they volunteer with Tidy Towns or cemetery groups, we will increase their annual grant by 20%," he said. Cemetery groups will also get a 20% increase in grants, once these groups recruit more than five students. It is a small step to help that cohort of people, Mr Brennan said. The idea was warmly welcomed by council members. It will enhance communities and give young people a greater sense of pride, said Cllr James Kelly. It is absolutely brilliant. I know the meals on wheels will welcome help and it gives people work experience, said Cllr Ollie Clooney. Students must register with the Laois Partnership Volunteer Information Service, naming the group they wish to volunteer with, with that groups agreement then required. A man who attempted to murder a teenager at a popular Dublin hiking spot and later tried to strangle a psychiatric nurse with a sock has attacked another prisoner in Mountjoy Prison with a hot kettle, the Central Criminal Court has heard. In July 2018, Michael Corbett (30) was released from a nine-year prison sentence for the attempted murder, having served less than three years, on condition that he live with his mother. The final six years of his sentence were suspended because he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attack. The father-of-one, with a previous address in Raheny, was living rough when he assaulted the 17-year-old on June 27, 2016 at the Hellfire Club on Dublin's Montpelier Hill. The victim suffered a four-inch stab wound to the chest and Corbett struck another teenager on the head with a piece of timber. Corbett pleaded guilty to attempted murder. As a result of that attack Corbett was an in-patient at the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) when he attacked nurse Declan Curtin on October 6, 2016. Staff were escorting him to an exercise period when he asked to use the toilet. When Mr Curtin went in after him Corbett used a sock to try to strangle the nurse. The victim, an experienced nurse, managed to free himself before he was seriously harmed but the court heard he suffers from flashbacks and an increased level of anxiety in his work. Corbett later pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Mr Curtin, causing him harm. Judge Melanie Greally imposed a five-year sentence and suspended the final two-and-a-half years for 15 years on strict conditions. These conditions include that he remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for the entire 15-year period and that he live at an address agreed with the gardai and Probation Service. At Tuesday's hearing, prosecution counsel Fergal Foley BL told Mr Justice Michael White that Corbett, who is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, has been engaging in acts of violence in Mountjoy prison and asked for the court to order an updated psychiatric report. Corbett remains in custody in relation to the Dublin Circuit Court matter and is due for release in August, said Mr Foley. Probation officer Elaine Kavanagh told Mr Foley that Corbett had been in the general population in Mountjoy Prison, which she said was a good thing as he was taking responsibility for his own behaviour. However, by last October he had been smoking cannabis and assaulted another prisoner with a hot kettle so was moved to the High Support Unit (HSU) in the prison, she said. Since leaving the HSU Corbett has assaulted a number of other people in the prison and there has been no significant period of time in which there has been stability, she noted, adding that he has demonstrated no effort to engage with services. "His behaviour in the custodial setting has been characterised by him becoming unwell and returning to the HSU and coming well again," she explained, adding that a further period in custody might give him an opportunity to demonstrate stability. Under cross-examination, Ms Kavanagh told Michael Bowman SC, for Corbett, that it is a concern that his client has expressed an intention to travel to Brazil upon his release from custody to see his son, when he will still be under the supervision of the probation services. "We are running out of time and options because of his behaviour and accommodation services are saying he is not a suitable candidate. Accommodation providers will look for a significant period of stability and in the absence of that he is an unsuitable candidate," she concluded. Mr Justice White directed that Dr Damien Smith at the CMH prepare an updated psychiatric report and put the case in for mention on July 17. When delivering Corbett's sentence in 2018 Mr Justice White noted medical reports which showed that the accused had a severe mental disability, paranoid schizophrenia, at the time of the attack. He had responsibility that was quite significantly diminished by his illness, he added. He noted that the illness would manifest itself again if Corbett stopped taking his medication or returned to alcohol or drugs and imposed a sentence of nine years, with six years suspended on specific conditions. The main condition was that he would live with his mother on his release from prison for the remaining six years of the term. The court cant take a chance with this man being homeless again, he said. Hes not permitted to live other than with his mother, apart from the consent of the court to do that. Last July, Mr Justice White said he would remove the requirement for Corbett to live with his mother on condition that he live at accommodation approved by probation services. Corbett agreed to continue taking his medication when he moved to his new home or he risked having a psychotic episode. 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 subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Councillor Hazel Chu, who lived in Kildare in the past, was elected as the 352nd Lord Mayor of Dublin at Dublin City Councils annual meeting in the Round Room of the Mansion House. Hazel was born and raised in Dublin. She grew up in the suburb of Firhouse, before moving to Celbridge in Co Kildare. She now lives in Ranelagh with her partner Patrick and their 2 year old daughter Alex. Councillor Chu became the first Green Party councillor to be elected in the 2019 local elections for the ward of Pembroke and topped the poll with over 4,000 first preference votes. In the same year she was elected Chair of the Party. She studied politics and history in UCD and trained to be a barrister at Kings Inns. While studying she worked as a fundraising consultant for non-profits and as a production manager for music festivals. After being called to the Bar in 2007 she worked in Sydney, Hong Kong and Guilin. Upon returning home she was offered a Fellowship by UCD Smurfit and worked in New York for Bord Bia. She has worked in various management roles and in 2013 became Diageos Head of Brand, Corporate and Trade Communications. Councillor Chu was the first person in her family to finish school and go to college. Her parents are from Hong Kong. They met in Ireland in the 1970s. Hazel Chu is the 9th woman to hold the office of the Lord Mayor of Dublin. Councillor Mary Callaghan was elected the Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin at the meeting. It is customary for the outgoing Lord Mayor to transfer the chain of office to the incoming recipient. This did not take place due to social distancing and instead Councillor Chu was presented with the chain by her partner. Councillor Chu first became involved in politics in 2014, when she ran her partner Patricks local election campaign. In her spare time she lends her voice to promoting diversity and equality, and is a regular media contributor. Her first loves are her daughter, running election campaigns, surfing, and cooking. Since she was a teenager she has worked in her mothers restaurant in every position from dishwasher to waitress, to sous chef. Other women elected to the role of Lord Mayor were Caitlin Bean Ui Chleirigh (1939-41), Catherine Byrne (1958-59), Carmencita Hederman (1987-88), Mary Freehill (1999-2000), Catherine Byrne (2005-06), Eibhlin Byrne (2008-09), Emer Costello (2009-10), Criona Ni Dhalaigh (2015-16) Kate Middleton and Prince William were so worried about Prince Harry's whirlwind romance with Meghan Markle, they both talked to the Duke of Sussex about it. However, the latter thought he was being criticized and felt compelled to protect his then girlfriend, hence a tension ensued. Was Prince Harry overly sensitive only? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have left their senior royal positions officially back in March and while they appear to be alright in the United States, reports about them struggling would not stop. More so about Prince Harry -with some claiming he is now regretting the fact that he even decided to leave his family for Meghan Markle. It can be a bad case of sudden realization that he and Meghan Markle are not a good fit. But if this is truly the case, Prince Harry has no one but to blame but himself. More so when he was allegedly warned by Kate Middleton herself, his brother's wife. According to the book entitled "Royal at War," the royal family was so worried about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle marrying without thinking about it long and hard first that Middleton felt compelled to talk to Harry about it. According to the journalists Dylan Howard and Andy Tillet, Kate told Harry to please, take things slowly, for his sake and for the palace's sake. According to Middleton, it would take a long time and massive effort, for Meghan to be able to finally integrate with the family. The statement in the book read, "She gently reminded him that he was dating someone with a completely different life, past, and career and it would take time, care and attention for them to integrate." The book clarified that Middleton was not worried because she did not like Meghan Markle or find anything wrong with her. She was just worried about the pace of things and hoping Prince Harry would take the time to think about his relationship with Markle and its implications. Harry might have not listened to this, even though he and Kate Middleton are particularly close. Since she is his big brother Prince William's wife, Harry looked at Middleton as the older sister she was not privileged to having. They had a lot of cute moments too, before Meghan Markle entered the picture. At present, even though there are reports claiming Prince Harry and Prince William are starting to patch things up, some insiders claimed that Harry's relationship with both Prince William and Kate Middleton remains fractured. Moving to LA with Meghan Markle and Baby Archie makes it quite hard to reconcile their feud. More so, when news about Kate and Meghan not getting it on (then and now), keep coming up. The new book claimed too that Prince William also talked to Prince Harry about Meghan Markle. The first question he asked about Harry is not if Meghan is "the one." Rather, he asked if Markle "is the right one." This question reportedly did not bode well with Prince Harry and there was a resulting tension. The book claimed that the Prince Harry truly did not like William's questions because he felt the need to protect his wife. He is quite protective of her because he still feels guilt for not being able to defend his mom, Princess Diana. As a result, he can be ultra-sensitive, seeing criticisms and negativity even when there are none. This was what happened with Prince WIlliam's comment. The source asserted that if Prince Harry did not misconstrue his brother's statement, then no rift would have happened! Read More Prince Harry and Meghan Marke News: Bye Meghan Markle! Prince Harry Made a SOLO, SECRET Trip To UK, Sources Say See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Monasterevin Community Centre has announced plans to reopen, towards the end of July. A statement on social media said: "After meeting last week, the committee have begun preparations to reopen the community center with the help of our team of Community Employment workers. We hope to be open again in the latter half of July." The statement said:"Unfortunately the restrictions of covid 19 policies will mean that we will not be back to the full pre lockdown operation for some time. Staffing restrictions and cleaning procedures mean that we will only be opening from Monday to Friday for the time being. That unfortunately means we will not be hosting birthday parties until further notice." The statement added: "As we work through our plans, we will be contacting our regular hall users to discuss the best way to arrange their return. Adding to the difficulties arising from the virus, we also have upcoming extensive refurbishments to the building, which may also impact our ability to operate. These plans may change according to ever changing road map. The committee will continue to monitor things and we will do our best to get back to normal as soon as possible." The Catholic Bishop of a diocese which takes in a larger part of the constituency of the new Minister for Agriculture has called on the new Government to prioritise the entire farm agenda not just carbon emissions and biodiversity. The Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin's diocese takes in a big part of the Laois Offaly constituency which Minister Barry Cowen represents. The new super junior Minister of Agriculture Senator Pippa Hackett also lives the constituency on a farm. Bishop Nulty made the call on the Government to tackle all the issues on the farming agenda at the annual ecumenical for the victims of farm accidents which was celebrated at the Church of the Holy Rosary, Abbeyleix, Co Laois, Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin on Sunday. Bishop Nulty told the service which was livestreamed on Sunday on www.embracefarm.com and it will be broadcast by RTE One television next Sunday, July 5 that injuries that are life-changing; fatalities that are life-ending. "Behind every death is a grieving family; behind every farm accident is the lingering loss of what might have been, could have been, should have been. "Ireland comes in as third highest behind Malta and Austria with regard to fatal accidents on farms. The new government needs to prioritise the agricultural agenda so that it will be set, not just around the concept of farm to fork or by the tackling of carbon emissions while improving biodiversity, but by incentivising farmers to make safety a priority. "Our farms are being depopulated as younger people are attracted to cities, towns and off-farm occupations. A prioritised safety agenda helps keep people on the land, on the farm," he said. Text of Homily Tomorrow across this island our Churches of all denominations open for public worship. The new normal will take getting used to. It wont, it cant, be the same as what has gone before. We have been through so much since the middle of March. The closing of our schools on Friday 13 March was a clear statement of how serious things had become. Through the lens of a child we were to look on a virus we were trying to control. Through the very action of closing schools, the serious import of the moment was amplified. Normally schools are only closed because of set holiday times, snow days or when the school bus is out of commission. But this was different, very different. And then through the poignant scenes of sparse funeral rituals, the coronavirus pandemic story unfolded, and it all began through the lens of children who have become in these past few months more knowledgeable about a pandemic, about epidemiology, about contact tracing than their obair bhaile or twelve times tables! The loneliness of loss was magnified by the curtailment around our funeral traditions. Families robbed of seminal moments like being with their loved one in their final hours. Families robbed of ritual, at a time when they depended on that ritual of wake, of Eucharist, of burial, of refreshment and were told about numbers, about limits, about precautions. Families robbed of the normal tactile affection of spending time with one another, particularly grandparents with grandchildren. When it comes to loss and being robbed of loved ones, I think very much of you, the Embrace Family, some of you having endured the loss of a limb or much worse, a life, on a farm accident. Matthews gospel positions the narrative very much through the understanding of children, of young people: I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children[1]. And children, young people, in my opinion are the heroes of this pandemic. They have missed sacramental moments like Confirmation and First Holy Communion; they have sacrificed school graduations and transition year ceremonies and they have lost the opportunity to formally sit State examinations. Being with their friends, hanging out is a phrase they liberally use and it is something they still must put restrictions on. We are not out of the virus; we must grow to live and co-exist alongside it. This is the seventh year of these annual Remembrance Services. It is the first to be hosted online and thanks to the Kairos team it is being broadcast to a wider audience on RTE. Behind every death is a grieving family; behind every farm accident is the lingering loss of what might have been, could have been, should have been. Injuries that are life-changing; fatalities that are life-ending. The advertisement for the Farmers Journal daily news app carries the heading Farming never stops. And that is what worries me, that is part of the problem. Someone is in a hurry and doesnt carry out the normal checks and balances before beginning a task; someone else is reversing and is distracted by a mobile ringing and someone else climbs into, steps into, walks into a situation that too quickly gets beyond their control. We are told that the old and young are exceptionally vulnerable to death and injury on our farms. Between 2010-2019 tractors or vehicles accounted for 31% of deaths; followed by livestock and machinery. When we drill down into the danger livestock pose on the local farm, it is surprisingly the cow or the young heifer who poses the greatest threat, accounting for 56% of all fatalities from 2010-2019. The loss of a child is obviously hugely traumatic for a family and in a community, and we think of Noah Donohoes family and friends in Belfast this day. 9.8% of fatalities on farms relate to children and the closure of schools and lockdown of the economy has meant that there are more people than usual around the farm. These are the times we must all be more vigilant. Vehicles tractors, quads, teleporters are particularly of concern. Sadly 43% of fatalities over the past ten years relate to farmers over the age of 65. The Health and Safety Authority inform us that last year 13 of the 18 people who were killed on Irish farms were aged over 60. When we reflect on the wider figures covering Europe, Ireland comes in as third highest behind Malta and Austria with regard to fatal accidents on farms. The new government just appointed needs to prioritise a system where the agricultural agenda will be set, not just around the concept of farm to fork or the tackling of carbon emissions while improving biodiversity, but by incentivising farmers to make safety a priority. Our farms are being depopulated as younger people are attracted to cities, towns and off-farm occupations. A prioritised safety agenda helps keep people on the land, on the farm. Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest[2], Matthew reminds us and particularly those watching in, who are living with a life-changing condition because of a farm accident. At its essence today is a Remembrance Service, for those who have had fatal accidents. Like the daily figure count in the Covid-19 pandemic, each fatality on a farm is much more than a number, than a statistic. Its a family decimated; its a spouses heartwrenching tears; its a parents worst nightmare. But to everyone, including those who have endured life changing injuries, the Lord whispers today: Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest[3]. He alone can give all of us that rest. Amen. The Minister for Agriculture Barry Cowen T.D., today, Tuesday, June 30, stressed the need to match the increased environmental ambition in CAP with an appropriate budget to be allocated in order to ensure achievement of this ambition. Speaking during his first engagement with EU Member State counterparts at todays video conference of EU Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers, Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius, Minister Cowen stated, Ireland has always favoured a strong green ambition in the new CAP. The recent Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies have highlighted the direction of travel for European Agriculture . As we move forward, if we are to deliver on the environmental ambition, we must provide the necessary financial support for farmers. The Minister emphasised the need to move quickly to consider the implications of these new strategies on the basis of full impact assessments. He also pointed to the need for further clarity in relation to specific elements of the CAP reform proposals that will underpin the achievement of environmental objectives, including conditionality and eco-schemes. Minister Cowen took the opportunity to emphasise the importance of agreeing an EU budget that would facilitate the achievement of a high level of climate ambition. Putting this also in the context of the agriculture sectors vitally important role in helping to deal with the Covid-19 crisis, he said, the core issue here is the funding provided to support the Common Agricultural Policy. We need to value, support and, most of all, we need to properly fund, the CAP system that enables this to happen. In relation to fisheries, the Commission presented its communication on the state of play and orientation for 2021 fishing opportunities. Minister Cowen noted the significant progress being made towards delivering sustainability in the fisheries which is of huge importance to Ireland. Minister Cowen said there has been considerable progress made in rebuilding fish stocks in recent years under the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy thanks to the efforts made by the fishing sector itself in particular and other stakeholders. However, I made clear that we face serious issues involving our quotas shares and access to UK waters as the negotiations with the UK on a new fisheries agreement continue. I emphasised that Ireland, as an island nation, is committed to protecting the interests of our fishing industry and will continue to work constructively to meet the challenges that will undoubtedly arise over the coming weeks and months. LifeStyle The best Lifestyle shows are right here, from Australia and around the world. Catch up with the experts on home design and interiors, food and cooking, the property market, and get fresh ideas with the savviest of renovators. Whether you need inspiration for cooking up a storm, to refresh a tired room, or tips to sell your property, Foxtel Lifestyle will always something new for you to watch. Enjoy your favourite experts like Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker, or Shaynna Blaze and Jamie Oliver live or On Demand. MUMBAI : Foreign minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held wide-ranging discussions with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian that covered issues related to contemporary security and political importance" a pointer to the fact that the dialogue would have included the current India-China issue. The discussion between the two foreign ministers came after India and France exchanged views at the foreign secretary-level on regional and global issues of mutual interest on Monday. Also on Monday, French defence minister Florence Parly expressed her country's steadfast and friendly support" to India as she condoled the deaths of 20 Indian army personnel including a colonel rank office in this months deadly border clash with China. "Wide-ranging discussion with French FM @JY_LeDrian. Covered issues of contemporary security and political importance," Jaishankar said in a Twitter post. "Also agreed to address COVID-related challenges in health and aviation. Thanked him for the strong support in UNSC and look forward to working together," he said. The discussion took place against the backdrop of a major military standoff between India and China at multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the past seven weeks. Tensions have escalated dramatically after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on 15 June. In recent years, the India-France strategic partnership has seen a great deal of evolution with the two sides closely collaborating on issues at the UN and the Indo-Pacific. In a letter to Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, French defence minister Parly described the deaths as a hard blow against the soldiers, their families, and the nation," a person familiar with the matter said. In these difficult circumstances, I wish to express my steadfast and friendly support, along with that of the French armed forces. I request you to kindly convey my heartfelt condolences to the entire Indian armed forces as well as to the grieving families," she said in the missive. Tensions have been high despite talks at the military and diplomatic levels between India and China with the latter moving to consolidate its position in friction areas including the banks of the Pangong Tso lake and the Galwan valley where the deadly clash of 15 June took place. The two countries have mobilized troops across their borders backed by artillery, heavy vehicles, air support and missiles. Recalling that India is France's strategic partner in the region, she reiterated her country's deep solidarity, the person cited above said. The French minister also expressed her readiness to meet Shri Rajnath Singh in India to follow up on their ongoing discussions, the person added. Parlys letter came on a day France also committed to expedite deliveries of 36 Rafale aircraft that India had ordered from Dassault Aviation. India is to get six of the fighter jets that a former Indian air force chief Birender Singh Dhanoa described as a gamechanger" for the Indian Air Force as well as Indias security calculations as a whole -- on 27 July. Separately on Monday, India and France held foreign secretary level consultations via video conference. Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Secretary General of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Francois Delattre, reviewed the progress of the multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries, exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, and on the COVID-19 pandemic," a statement from the Indian foreign ministry said. India welcomed Frances joining of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and France welcomed Indias participation in the UN Security Council in 2021-22," the Indian statement added. 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 GENEVA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China has adopted an integrated approach to protect human rights while combating violent and terrorist crimes, which is indispensable for ensuring the peace and happiness of the people in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a diplomat has said. In Xinjiang, the root causes of terrorism and extremism are being addressed, and anti-terrorism and de-radicalization measures have been lawfully taken, Ambassador Jorge Valero, Venezuela's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, told Xinhua in a recent written interview. Recalling his visit to Xinjiang in 2018 at the invitation of the Chinese government, Valero said that he and other guests saw immense progress the Chinese people made there. "We noted the immense achievements of these people in the exercise and enjoyment of all human rights," he said. The ambassador stressed that terrorism and extremism are common enemies of humanity, and fighting these scourges is a responsibility shared by the international community. He also mentioned that since 1990, terrorists, separatists, and extremists have planned and carried out major terrorist attacks in Xinjiang that have led to a regrettable loss of lives. "In that regard, I appreciate the wise and holistic measures that China has taken to prevent terrorism, based on the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy," he said. Valero told Xinhua that the educational and cultural programs that were implemented in the vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang are "auspicious." "They receive a high quality education in terms of language, respect for the law, and human fellowship. I observed the incredible artistic, musical, and choreographic performances of the people in these centers. They are real sources of creativity and art," he said. The diplomat also said that Western media claims that these centers are "concentration camps" are "false, absolutely false." "These centers are, on the contrary, areas of freedom and enjoyment of human life," he said. "In China, religious freedom is respected. Financial support is given to various religions. We saw extraordinary mosques and religious centers built with the help of the Chinese government," he added. From March through May, around 10 million migrant workers fled Indias megacities, afraid to be unemployed, hungry and far from family during the worlds biggest anti-Covid lockdown. Now, as Asias third-largest economy slowly reopens, the effects of that massive relocation are rippling across the country. Urban industries dont have enough workers to get back to capacity, and rural states worry that without the flow of remittances from the city, already poor families will be even worse off -- and a bigger strain on state coffers. Meanwhile, migrant workers arent expected to return to the cities as long as the virus is spreading and work is uncertain. States are rolling out stimulus programs, but Indias economy is hurtling for its first contraction in more than 40 years, and without enough jobs, a volatile political climate gets more so. This will be a huge economic shock, especially for households of short-term, cyclical migrants, who tend to come from vulnerable, poor and low-caste and tribal backgrounds," said Varun Aggarwal, a founder of India Migration Now, a research and advocacy group based in Mumbai. In the first 15 days of Indias lockdown, domestic remittances dropped by 90%, according to Rishi Gupta, chief executive officer of Mumbai-based Fino Payments Bank, which operates the countrys biggest payments bank. By the end of May, remittances were back to around 1750 rupees ($23), about half the pre-Covid average. Guptas not sure how soon itll fully recover. Migrants are in no hurry to come back," Gupta said. Theyre saying that theyre not thinking of going back at all." If workers stay in their home states long term, policymakers will have more than remittances to worry about. If consumption falls and the new surplus of labor drives wages down, Agarwal said, there will also be a second-order shock to the local economy. Overall, not looking good."India announced a $277 billion stimulus package in May and followed it up with a $7 billion program aimed at creating jobs for 125 days for migrants in villages across 116 districts. Separately, local authorities are also looking for solutions. In his monthly radio address on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his governments pledge to strengthen the economy as its resumes pace and to curb the spread of the disease. Officials in Bihar have identified 2,500 acres of land that could be made available to investors, said Sushil Modi, deputy chief minister of Bihar, a state in east India. We can use this crisis as an opportunity to speed up reforms," he said. The investors havent materialized yet, and in the meanwhile, state governments are relying on the national cash-for-work program that guarantees 100 days worth of wages per household. Skilled workers dont want to do manual labor offered through the program, and even if they did, says Amitabh Kundu of RIS, many think of it as beneath their station. There will be an increase in social tensions," he predicts. Caste may again start playing a role. Its absolute chaos." For skilled workers, initiatives vary:* Uttar Pradesh, which received 3.2 million people, is compiling lists of skilled workers who need employment and trying to place them with local manufacturing and real estate industry associations. So far, the government says, its placed 300,000 people with construction and real estate firms.* Bihar has placed returners in state-run infrastructure projects and hired others to stitch uniforms and make furniture for government-run schools, even as they waited in quarantine centers, said Pratyay Amrit, head of the states disaster management department.* The eastern state of Odisha announced an urban wage employment program aimed at putting as many as 450,000 day laborers to work through September. Some 25,000 people have been employed, so far, under the scheme, G. Mathivathanan, principal secretary for housing and urban development said. Attracting Investments Its not clear any of this will be enough to make a dent, says Ravi Srivastava, professor at New Delhi-based Institute of Human Development, adding that the states dont have much of a track record on economic development. It was the failure of these states to improve governance and put development plans in place that led to the out-migration in the first place," he said. But officials and workers rights advocates see opportunity. Uttar Pradesh has established liaisons to encourage companies from the U.S., Japan and South Korea to establish manufacturing in the state. There and in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the government has made labor laws more friendly to employers, making it easier to hire and fire workers.Modi, the minister from Bihar, said the migration may also give workers--historically a disenfranchised group--new power, particularly as urban centers struggle. The way industries treated workers during the lockdown -- didnt pay them, the living conditions were poor -- now these industries will realize the value of this force," Modi said. In the days to come, labor will emerge as a force that cant be ignored anymore," he added. Thats the new normal. We will work out how to ensure dignity, rights to our people who are going to work in other states." Bihar is due for elections by November, a vote that could be an early test of the mass migrations political consequences. The state is currently governed by a coalition that includes Prime Minister Modis Bharatiya Janata Party. Amitabh Kundu, a fellow at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a New Delhi-based government think-tank, said migrant workers are likely to be angry voters. Chief ministers are telling these migrants that they will not have to go back for work," he said. But their capacity to do something miraculous in next four to five months is doubtful. If they can retain even one-fourth of the migrants, I would call it a success." 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 WASHINGTON DC : About 70% of the 50,000 genomes of the coronavirus that was uploaded by researchers have undergone mutations. Researchers from Northwest University's medical school in Chicago believe that mutation in the coronavirus has made it considerably more contagious. At first glance, the mutations seemed trivial. About 1,300 amino acids serve as building blocks for a protein on the surface of the virus. But the locations of the mutation is significant because the switch occurred in the part of the genome that codes for the all-important "spike protein", The Washington Post reported. In the mutant virus, the genetic instructions for just one of the amino acids switched in the new variant from a "D" (aspartic acid) to "G" (glycine) Egen Ozer an infectious disease specialist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examined the genetic structure of virus samples from local patients, he noticed the mutations appearing again and again. At least four laboratory experiments suggest that mutation makes the virus more infectious, although none of that work has been peer-reviewed. "The epidemiological study and our data together really explain why the (G variant's) spread in Europe and the US was really fast," said Hyeryun Choe, a virologist at Scripps Research and lead author of an unpublished study on the G variant's enhanced infectiousness in laboratory cell cultures. "This is not just accidental." "The bottom line is, we have not seen anything definitive yet," said Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can not live or reproduce on its own. So, it breaks into human cells and co-opts their biological machinery to make thousands of copies itself. This replication process is messy. Even though it has a "proofreading" mechanism for copying its genome, the coronavirus frequently makes mistakes or mutations. Ever since the genome of the virus was sequenced in January, scientists have been on lockout for changes that are meaningful. Neville Sanjana, a geneticist at the New York Genome Center and New York University, was trying to figure out which genes enable SARS-CoV-2 to infiltrate human cells. But in experiments based on a gene sequence taken from an early case of the virus in Wuhan, he struggled to get that form of the virus to infect cells. Then the team switched to a model virus based on the G variant. "We were shocked," Sanjana said. "Voila! It was just this huge increase in viral transduction." They repeated the experiment in many types of cells and every time the variant was many times more infectious. Scientists believe that identifying emerging mutations allows researchers to track their spread. Knowing what genes affect how the virus transmits enables public health officials to tailor their efforts to contain it. "Understanding how transmissions are happening will not be a magic bullet, but it will help us respond better. This is a race against time," Pardis Sabeti, a computational biologist at Harvard University and the Broad Institute, said. 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!! YANGON : Thousands of people in an area of western Myanmar where there have been clashes between the government and ethnic rebels have been fleeing from their villages over the past week after an evacuation order from officials. The Rakhine state government in an order last Tuesday instructed village administrators in Rathedaung township to tell residents to stay away from their homes due to military plans to conduct a "clearance operation" against the rebel. "Clearance operation" is Myanmar military parlance for counterinsurgency action. The exodus from more than 40 villages is continuing almost a week later, even though the order was revoked last Friday by Rakhine state's security and border affairs minister. "Since the day the order was issued, more than 10,000 people from the operation area fled their villages," Khin Maung Latt, an upper house member of parliament for Rathedaung township, said on Monday. The government has been embroiled for more than a year in an intermittent conflict with the Arakan Army, a well-trained and well-armed guerrilla force representing members of the area's Rakhine ethnic group. The guerrilla force is posing the strongest military challenge to the central government of the many ethnic minority groups who for decades have sought greater autonomy. Human rights advocates have accused Myanmar's army of using undue force and targeting civilians in their operations fighting the guerrillas. In Rakhine in 2017, the military carried out counterinsurgency operations against insurgents from the Muslim Rohingya minority, but critics charge they employed a campaign of terror to drive the Rohingya out of the country. An estimated 740,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, where they remain in refugee camps. The Rakhine are Buddhist, the religion of almost 90% of Myanmar's people. During the past week's exodus, some people fled to villages out of the designated area, and others to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine. "We have to flee the village as we don't want to face the soldiers from the military. They were shooting into the village, arresting the villagers to use as human shields," said Aye Mg, a 58-year-old resident of Rathedaung township's Kyauktan village, where the government previously detained dozens of suspected Rakhine militants. Civil society organizations and Buddhist monks are helping the newly displaced villagers find shelter. "People can't live in their places any longer due to the fighting. We are hosting over 300 displaced people at our monastery; around 100 of them have arrived recently," Okkahta, a monk, said from the Tahtipati Sipintharyar Monastery in Rathedaung town. "It's like doomsday for them," lawmaker Khin Maung Lat said, explaining why villagers fled. "They are in fear. This is the impact of the evacuation order to stay away from the village during the military operation." "Even most of the village administrators are fleeing from the villages," he said. "Even they are scared to go back to their villages." 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 Vietnam has been a major success story on the exports front over the last decade. Its exports between 2008 and 2018 have increased at a very fast pace from $69.7 billion to $259.5 billion. Can Vietnam become the next China over the coming decade? Mint takes a look. Whats led to Vietnams comparison with China? Vietnamese exports had fallen to $66.4 billion after the financial crisis of 2009. However, they have risen ever since, reaching $259.5 billion in 2018. In 1992, Chinese exports were $66.8 billion. By 2001, they had reached $272.1 billion. As such, the increasing exports of Vietnam have followed a trajectory almost similar to that of China, leading to comparisons. The trouble is that Indian exports followed an almost similar trajectory between 2000-2009, increasing from $60.9 billion to $273.8 billion, a jump of close to 350%. However, the growth in exports from India slowed down majorly between 2009 and 2018. View Full Image Brisk pace Is there another reason for the comparison? One reason for the success story of Chinese exports is that the manufacturing sector has become a part of global supply chains, which make network products. As the Economic Survey of 2019-20 puts it: In general, these products are not produced from start to finish within a given country. Instead, countries specialize in particular tasks or stages of the goods production sequenceLabour abundant countries, such as China, specialize in low-skilled labour-intensive stages of production such as assembly, while richer countries specialize in capital, skill-intensive stages such as R&D." Vietnam is moving along a similar line. What part of Vietnamese exports are network items? The share of network products, such as electronic and electrical equipment, telecommunication equipment in the Vietnamese goods exports in 2000 stood at 6%. By 2018, this had jumped to 47%. During the same period, Chinas share increased from 34% to 52%. In Vietnams case, these exports include assembled end products, and parts and components. What are the reasons for Vietnams success? As the Economic Survey points out: Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam have more than 80% of market value of exports by large enterprises, India has 80% by small enterprises. Moreover, in India it can take 7-10 days to reach a port whereas in countries like China, Bangladesh and Vietnam it takes less than a day." Network products are made across countries and, hence, need quick turnaround times. In Vietnam, it takes 0.3 days for a consignment to reach a port. In Bangladesh it takes about a day. What about Vietnams agreement with EU? In early June, Vietnam ratified a free trade agreement with the European Union. This will mean tariffs on most products that the country exports to the European Union will either be cut or eliminated totally. Hence, it makes even more sense for companies moving their operations out of China to move to Vietnam now. Meanwhile, in India, we are still harping about our low-cost advantage. While that matters, it is not the only factor. Vivek Kaul is the author of Bad Money. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Information about the novel coronavirus is everywhere. Its in your Facebook feed and on the news, in newspapers, and plastered on the sides of buses. But how much of this information is accurate? According to health experts, frustratingly little. There is so much bad information out there, says John Sweitzer, CEO of Pasadena Health Center (PHC). Its incredibly confusing for people and very frustrating for us as health care providers. The question is: what data are we going to go with? When you have so many people trying to report data, you get inconsistency on how its being reported and how its released. Misinformation creates a potentially dangerous dynamic. People who are bombarded with conflicting facts are far more likely to lose faith and stop believing anything. With misinformation continuing to spread, as does COVID-19, the health care providers at Pasadena Health Center have provided us with this helpful guide to whats true and whats not about coronavirus. MASKS FACT: Masks, IF USED PROPERLY, can help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Masks are by far the most controversial and misunderstood aspect of this pandemic. The problem, as Sweitzer notes, is that all masks are not created equal. Simply putting a strip of cotton cloth across your mouth is not going to protect you or protect others from you. For a mask to be effective, it must be made of waterproof material that can stop droplets, says Sweitzer. Droplets, especially from a sneeze or cough, are the primary way in which the virus spreads. The N95 mask is a respirator. The respirator is a protective device. N means Not resistant to oil. The 95 means that the filtration efficiency is greater than or equal to 95%. This indicates that this respirator can block at least 95% of very small (0.3 Micron level) test particles. N95s and KN95s are both rated to capture 95% of particles. KN95 meets a Chinese standard and N95 is more common in health care. FDA approved both mask due to a shortage of N95 mask in the United States. Surgical masks only protect others from your droplets. Surgical mask can also capture particles and make the user sick. They are mainly designed to protect the patient. Homemade masks are largely ineffective. To make them effective they need to cover the nose, mouth, and chin. There should be a tight seal around the nose and the material should be impermeable to stop leakage. They should also have a filter to protect the person wearing the mask and the person nearby from droplets. Even if you have an effective mask, it must be worn correctly in order to work. The mask must cover both your mouth and nose simultaneously to protect you and others. Anyone wearing a mask that only covers their mouth and leaves their nose exposed is not protecting themselves or others. PHC recently went on Facebook Live and made a mask tutorial. Watch now and learn how to keep you and your loved ones as safe as possible. Sweitzer says PHC will continue to post more educational health videos on Facebook Live in the weeks to come. The staff at PHC also was fit tested so that they learned how to wear the N95 mask and prevent leakage. TESTING FACT: There are 2 TYPES OF TESTS. Swab tests diagnose if you currently have the coronavirus, and Serology tests strictly measure antibodies caused from exposure. Serology should not be used as a sole diagnostic test. Anyone with signs and or symptoms needs to have the swab test. 30% of people who have COVID-19 dont feel any symptoms, says Sweitzer. If you have an active infection, you can still spread it to others, even if you feel fine. You can make an appointment to get tested if you have had exposure, have traveled to a place where infections are high, or answer positive to any of the CDC questions on the PHC web site If you have a group larger than 20, PHC will bring the testing to you, as long as everyone agrees to be tested and the facility has a large, air-conditioned room for the health professionals to conduct the testing. Testing (for the virus) is available, says Sweitzer. But he also reminds us that the more people who get tested, the higher the number of confirmed cases will rise. Dont panic, says Sweitzer. The test to see if youve had COVID-19 in the past are often called Serology (antibody) tests. Antibody tests range in level of efficiency, but the FDA-approved tests PHC administers can give you reliable results within 10 minutes. Antibody tests are important because if youve already had the virus and survived, you should be far less likely to re-contract it during this current wave. However, it is important to remember test do not guarantee that you will not get the Coronavirus again. There have been some cases were people have had a double exposure. TREATMENTS and VACCINES FACT: There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19. There are many vaccines in the early stages of development, but Sweitzer warns us theyre nowhere near close to being ready. Its too early to get excited, he says. A vaccine trial must be at level 3 before we can be hopeful. That being said, scientists worldwide are working towards a vaccine. There is hope on the horizon, but no vaccine yet. At this time 70 are being manufactured but only 3 are in clinical trials. As for treatments, scientists and medical professionals are working around the clock testing a number of drugs to see if they will help lower the death rate of people who get very sick from COVID-19. If YOU FEEL SICK If you feel sick, the first thing to do is stay calm. Sweitzer advises, When were emotional, it can lead to irrational behavior, and during a pandemic, irrational behavior is a problem. Remember, there are many factors that contribute to you not feeling well. If you have a history of allergies, you may consider that a possible cause. Dont automatically assume you have COVID-19, says Sweitzer. Its also important to know the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and to review them on the CDC website as they add more information as it becomes available. If you do feel youve possibly been exposed, the best thing to do is get tested and self-quarantine. If your symptoms get worse, if you have trouble breathing, or experience chest pains, Sweitzer implores you to seek medical attention. Dont be afraid to go to the hospital, it can save your life. WHAT YOU CAN DO Despite how it may sometimes feel, there are steps you can take to keep you and your family safe. Sweitzer reminds us there is no substitute for washing your hands. Anti-bacterial soap kills COVID-19. If you cant wash your hands, use hand sanitizer until you can. Wear a mask properly when in public and stay socially distanced, at least 6 feet away, from anyone who does not live in your home. Another thing we can do is pay attention to the science to help you factor your personal risk. Preexisting conditions like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, kidney problems, and high blood pressure dramatically increase your risk of having severe complications from COVID-19. Age is also a factor, as those over 65 on average have worse outcomes upon contracting the virus. Lastly, get your information from a reliable source. Sweitzer recommends visiting CDC.gov or the websites for either Harris County Health Department or Texas Department of State Health Services. Turn off the news and get your information from trusted sources, Sweitzer says. Confirm your sources before you spread misinformation. Sweitzer also reminds patients of PHC that they are offering telemedicine visits for both physical and mental health. These services work with any type of phone, whether you have a flip phone or a smartphone. Pasadena Health Center is a non-profit, full-service healthcare facility. Their mission is to provide access to reliable, quality health care for the community, in a caring atmosphere. Visit https://www.pasadenahealthcenter.com or call (713) 554-1091. Testimony during Mondays hearing revealed new details about the arrest and confession of the former Supervisory Border Patrol agent indicted for allegedly fatally shooting four women and kidnapping another in Laredo during 2018. Juan David Ortiz was indicted on December 2019 on one count of capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint and evading arrest. The assault and unlawful restraint charges stem from Ortiz allegedly pointing a gun at a woman in his pickup truck. The woman, Erika Pena, escaped from the vehicle and notified a nearby Texas trooper, law enforcement said. According to online court records, Joel Perez, Ortizs attorney, filed two ex parte motions in December and March, respectively, on behalf of his client. An ex parte motion is a sealed record filed with no advanced notice. The motion is only discussed between the court and the party that filed it. Prosecutors challenged the motions filed by calling Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Abiel Obregon and Webb County Sheriffs Office Captain of Criminal Investigations Federico Calderon to testify. Confession Calderon testified Monday that Ortizs interview began shortly after 3 a.m. It took approximately 10 hours and ended around noon the next day. Calderon added that Ortiz was advised of his Miranda Rights and he never requested an attorney, never asked to terminate his interview. Ortiz didnt immediately confess, Calderon said. We provided restroom breaks, water breaks, asked him if he was hungry, got him snacks and food, Calderon testified. Ortiz was agitated during the interview, he said. However, Calderon said that neither he nor Texas Ranger E.J. Salinas had to get aggressive with Ortiz. Calderon testified that Ortiz was given three restroom breaks and was given Whataburger toward the end of the interview. Calderon said that Ortiz was advised that a weapon was found. Calderon read from a transcript of the interview that was conducted: Calderon: JD, look at me. Ortiz: It all started...can you please take off these handcuffs? Im not going to attack you. Calderon: no problem. Calderon takes off Ortizs handcuffs Ortiz: Melissa was a friend of mine. This was the beginning of Ortizs confession to authorities about the murders of Ramirez, Luera, Hernandez and Ortiz. Calderon testified that Ortiz described the location of the bodies, how he killed the women and how the women knew each other from their work. He told us about victims we hadnt discovered yet, Calderon said. He confessed he killed four victims by shooting them with a .40 caliber pistol. A government issued pistol with government issued ammunition. The third victim was Guiselda Hernandez, who was found under I-35. He later picked up Pena on San Bernardo Avenue up until she escaped. After Pena escaped, Ortiz returned to his home and started loading up the rest of his weapons in anticipation, Calderon testified. Ortiz went back to San Bernardo and picked up Humberto Janelle Ortiz and allegedly shot her like the rest of the women. We had not found that body, Calderon said. While we were interviewing Ortiz, other investigators went to verify the claims. Calderon said that Ortizs demeanor was consistent throughout the interview. Once authorities obtained a search warrant for Ortizs home, the search yielded the weapons that he had taken up at the time an automatic rifle and a pistol that were loaded and accessible in the kitchen and living room area. He had a lot of ammo, Calderon testified. Calderon said Ortiz requested a picture of his family and that his retirement package went to his wife. Perez argued that Calderon used language that sounded conditional when interviewing his client. Perez read transcripts that described Calderon telling Ortiz that Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz was at the substation and if he wanted a good word put in for him, that Ortiz should say whatever he felt comfortable saying. Whatever you feel comfortable telling us, just help us show the DA youre cooperating, Perez read from the transcript. Arrest Obregon testified that on the night of Sept. 14 and 15, 2018, he received the Be On the Lookout, or BOLO, with the description of a white Dodge Ram and license plates along with the suspects drivers license photo while patrolling the area. Additionally, the BOLO carried with it a warning that the subject could be armed and dangerous. Obregon added that he saw Ortiz going into a Stripes convenience store located on the corner of Jefferson Street and San Bernardo Avenue. (A trooper) made contact with the subject, Obregon said. By making contact, I mean he saw the suspect going into the store. He called backup. I was maybe two blocks away. I saw his lights. I approached him. I got out of the vehicle, and thats when we waited for the suspect to get out of the gas station. Obregon added that he and the other trooper had their weapons drawn because the BOLO said the suspect was armed and dangerous, and he knew what case was being investigated at the time. The case that we were looking into was about a suspect killing multiple females on (Interstate 35), Obregon said. We decided to be proactive. We knew the level of danger that he could present to us, so thats why we approached the situation with our weapons drawn. When Ortiz exited the store, the troopers on site began trying to question him about the murders that happened earlier in the month. Obregon testified that Ortiz fled on foot and ended up at Hotel Ava where he was arrested on an evading arrest on foot charge. He added that Ortiz was arrested an hour after the encounter at the convenience store. Webb County Sheriffs Office and three state troopers found Ortiz laying in the trunk of the white Dodge Ram. Ortiz was arrested and transported to the Webb County Sheriffs Substation on Highway 59. Calderon testified that he was in charge of investigating the murders of Melissa Ramirez and Claudine Luera. Calderon said they received a call from a state trooper who said he had a person that claimed she had been assaulted by someone. When the call came in from the state trooper, Calderon testified that he was actively investigating leads into the two murder cases. After he got the call, the state trooper brought Pena to the substation where she told officials that she had been assaulted by a person by the name of David earlier that evening, Calderon said. She began to give us information and explained to us that David was the same person we were looking for in relation to the murders, Calderon said. He added that she described the white Dodge Ram, gave the name David and described him as clean cut, light complexion of medium light build and fit. She mentioned she knew what part of town he lived, and that she had been to the house before, Calderon testified. She described the home. (Pena) described the general location and described the outside and somewhat what the inside looked like. Calderon said Pena stated that she had seen Ramirez and Luera with David before they disappeared, and she believed based on what she felt that Ortiz was involved in that. She said that they were involved in some sort of discussion or argument regarding Melissa and Claudines murders, Calderon said. She started becoming irate and worried to where a small struggle broke out and at some point a weapon was produced. Pena described the black handgun and said it was pointed at her by David in the vehicle during the argument while she was trying to leave. Calderon described the struggle and how during Penas escape, her shirt came off and she ran until she saw the state trooper parked at the gas pump. We asked her to take us to the area where she described the house so we could identify the house and continue our investigation, Calderon testified. After visiting the house on Bur Oak Street, investigators checked the appraisal district and identified Ortiz as the owner, and investigators realized that Ortiz was the David that Pena had identified. Investigators also learned that Ortiz owned a white Dodge Ram. After putting out a BOLO for the information, the substation received information that officers had made contact with Ortiz. We headed toward that scene, and we heard they engaged in a foot chase with Ortiz and that they lost him somewhere on the block where Hotel Ava is located, Calderon testified. Calderon testified that Texas Ranger E.J. Salinas found an empty holster and purses in the white Dodge Ram. A .40 caliber weapon was eventually found in the truck. Mr. Ortiz was found in the bed of a pickup truck at the top level apartment garage at the Ava hotel, Calderon said. He was arrested without incident. Ortiz was later transported to the substation on hwy 59, Calderon said. Perez argued to 406th District Court Judge Oscar J. Hale Jr. that whether deliberate or not, Ortiz was read his Miranda Rights at approximately 3:21 a.m., and eight hours later, a confession was given. There is an attenuation from the reading of his rights to the statement given, Perez argued. Without all those promises and inducements, Ortizs free will would not have been moved. For all those reasons, we submit to the court that at least the part where he talks about the offenses that that would be inadmissible for all the reasons stated, Perez said. Alaniz respectfully disagreed with the defense counsel as he stated the officers were not aggressive or coercive. As far as duration, 10 hours is not something that is unusual, Alaniz said. At the time they brought him in, theres two murders they know of. Investigators received information on another murder, and finally Ortiz voluntarily gives information on Janelle, the last victim, Alaniz argued. We believe in this case, the state has met all of its requirements, Alaniz said. The confession was obtained voluntarily and at no time during the 10 hours did (Ortiz) explicitly request an attorney. Hale told both parties that the court would issue a ruling on the motion within the next 10-15 days. The judge expressed wanting a status hearing in about 45-60 days to see where the case is at and making sure the discovery process is moving along. A total of 35 positive cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed on Tuesday by City of Laredo and Webb County officials. The added cases bring the city's total number of positives since the emergence of COVID-19 to 1,538. READ MORE: KGNS news anchor reveals positive COVID diagnosis Hospitalizations saw yet another increase, with 79 people now in Laredo hospitals with active COVID-19 infections -- up 10 from Monday and 33 from Sunday. Just one week ago, the city's high for hospitalizations for the coronavirus was 17. As of noon Tuesday, 29 people are under intensive care, with 20 under treatment at Laredo Medical Center and nine at Doctors Hospital. As the number of COVID patients in Laredo hospitals continues to steadily increase, city health officials have reached out to the state to ensure hospitals have the medical professionals necessary to increase COVID capacity, should it be needed. In accordance with this, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a new proclamation Tuesday suspending elective surgeries in Webb and three other Texas counties. The suspension should allow more local medical personnel to be rerouted to assist COVID patients. "As these counties experience a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, we are committed to working alongside hospitals to help ensure that every COVID-19 patient who needs a bed will have access to one," Abbott said in a press release. "We are constantly monitoring the data at the local level and will continue to take precautionary action where it is necessary." In addition, Laredo officials reported receiving from the state a medical strike force of 18 nurse assistants, nurses and respiratory technicians in order to increase hospital capacity. However, in an update issued Monday, Laredo Health Authority Dr. Victor Trevino said five of the strike force members have yet to start working in Laredo. According to Trevino, three of the workers tested positive for COVID-19 before starting work and were sent back to their hometown as the city awaits replacements. Two other workers were still awaiting results of their tests. Laredo has 807 active COVID-19 infections -- more than three times the 250 necessary to put the city into the highest alert level of "Red" on its color-coded advisory system. On June 12, Laredo had only 190 active infections, and the city's high at the time was 255 from May 4. As of noon Tuesday, 8,968 tests have been submitted in Laredo with 6,502 returning negative. A total of 706 people having been cleared by city health officials and deemed recovered. There are 928 coronavirus tests still pending, though 431 tests are presumed negative due to being more than 30 days old. READ MORE: Hospitalizations surge in Laredo as city confirms 46 coronavirus cases, 1,503 total The number of coronavirus-related deaths remains at 25. For Stacy Gouty, bartender at Houston's The Cottonmouth Club, the pandemic has been marked by this unpredictable struggle--staying safe from COVID-19 and keeping financially afloat. Employees of Texas bars, ordered to shut their doors Friday for the second time in less than four months, are facing a unique challenge. PACKED NIGHTCLUBS: Crowd caught on video at Houston nightclub amid COVID-19 surge "It's a lot to weigh on your brain," said Gouty, who knows one friend who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. "It's been extremely stressful. The stress comes from uncertainty." Gouty said that the most important thing for the staff at The Cottonmouth Club was that they maintain safety guidelines. "It was hard for people in the bars to keep on their masks," he said. "With the spike, we decided to close again." Large crowds have been caught on video at several Houston nightclubs including Cle and Spire, since the initial reopening of Texas. "The bars that pack out like that ruin it for everyone who are taking the extra steps," Gouty said. Gouty said that the financial struggle for Houston bartenders has been a heavy one, but so many in the service industry are stepping up to help each other out. "We got a lot of help in the process--with Houston Shift Meals, offering free meals," Gouty said. "Hugo's, Backstreet Cafe started an FB group to offer free help available for the industry every day. That helped out a lot. I got some leeway on rent because of my landlady. There's no government assistance for the bar industry. The service industry takes care of each other. " 'I CAN'T BELIEVE IT': 92-year-old Houston man gives up everything to be with wife during COVID-19 Something unexpectedly positive came out of the struggle. The shutdown during the pandemic gave birth to a new podcast which generated some income. "We live-streamed on Instagram every night at 9 p.m.," Gouty said. "We started to talk about regular bar stuff. We linked a Venmo to that. We were selling t-shirts, and that kept us afloat for a while." When asked about the Texas Bar and Nightclub Alliance's plan to sue Texas over bar closure, Gouty didn't mince his words. "It's ludicrous," Gouty said. "A lot of people are advocating for that. It's a lot of people who don't care for public safety. I think it's come down to this--it's care about others over caring about your pocketbooks. You're putting others in danger, not just yourselves." Gouty said many Houston bartenders, bar owners and other members of the service industry are hurting right now. "I think everyone needs to practice some compassion," Gouty said. "If you know bartenders who are not working right now, check up on them. Some people's employment is being cut off. Tell them, 'Hey, I'll bring you a burger.' Anything helps, really. Have a lot more compassion in general. Just step outside yourself a bit. Just care...whether it's wearing a mask or checking in on your friends." alison.medley@chron.com This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS Fourteen people have been arrested following a Madison County sting of people allegedly trying to engage in sex with minors. On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean M. Cox announced the 14 arrests were the result of an FBI-led operation involving multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies that targeted online predators attempting to meet minors for sex. Each offense allegedly occurred in Madison County. More than 50 law enforcement agents were involved in the operation. Instead of lurking on playgrounds, modern predators hide behind electronic devices using social media and texting apps to access young children, said Weinhoeft. Serious dangers are no further away than a childs cell phone or tablet, and we strongly urge parents to monitor their childrens online activity, be aware of who their children are talking with, and have conversations about how to stay safe online, he said. Cox said that, over the past weekend, FBI agents from Springfield and St. Louis partnered with law enforcement to conduct an operation to identify child predators. During the two-day operation, undercover agents pretended to be minors in a variety of online texting, social media and message board platforms and apps. All of the defendants contacted the profiles online, engaged in sexually explicit discussions with the undercover agents and arrived at a residence with the intent to engage in sexual acts with minors. These are some of the most difficult, and yet the most important, investigations we work with our partners to make a positive impact in our communities and protect our children, Cox said. In todays world, children have a much larger presence on social media platforms than they had in the past, which places them at far greater risk of becoming a victim to online sexual predators. These arrests should serve as a reminder to parents everywhere of the importance of monitoring the computer usage of their children and staying active in their lives, Cox said. Some of the defendants also propositioned the undercover agents to send them pornographic photos, traveled across state lines for the purpose of illicit sexual activity with a minor, and/or offered to pay money to engage in sexual activity with a minor. All of the defendants were arrested after arriving at an undercover residence. Several came with items intended for the fictitious minors, including alcohol, sex toys, methamphetamine and, in one case, a dog leash and a dog collar with the name of the undercover profile engraved on it. No actual minors were harmed. Sex trafficking and child exploitation continue to impact our communities, and we will aggressively enforce the law against those who would prey upon children, said Weinhoeft. All of the defendants were charged June 28-29. Arrested were: Brett Brimberry, 28 Glen Carbon, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Richard L. Britt, 38, Granite City, Attempted Enticement of a Minor and Interstate Travel to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct Urich Gaines, 32, Belleville, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Kayln E. Hogatt, 27, Bridgeport, Attempted Enticement of a Minor and Attempted Production of Child Pornography Kevin Kamler, 30, OFallon, Missouri, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Brian Lotz, 56, Collinsville, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Anthony Parrish, 33, Swansea, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Philip M. Reis, 55, OFallon, Illinois, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Gerald S. Sewell, 56, Belleville, Attempted Enticement of a Minor and Interstate Travel to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct James R. Sears, 35, Bridgeport, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Travis Shubert, 29, Granite City, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Preston Thomas, 57, St. Louis, Attempted Enticement of a Minor Nicholas Wright, 35, OFallon, Missouri, Attempted Enticement of a Minor, Interstate Travel to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct and Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child Vallie F. Zeller, 43, St. Louis, Attempted Enticement of a Minor, Interstate Travel to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct and Attempted Production of Child Pornography. Between June 29 and July 1, all 14 defendants made initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judges Mark Beatty or Gilbert Sison at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis. If convicted, the defendants each face a minimum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and could receive as much as life behind bars. The offenses also carry a possible lifetime term of supervised release and fines of up to $250,000. Pending trial, all 14 defendants will be held without bond or released on electronic monitoring and other strict conditions mandated by the Adam Walsh Act. The cases fall under the umbrella of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The investigation was led by the FBI-Springfield Division, with the assistance of the FBI St. Louis Division, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Belleville Police Department, the Collinsville Police Department, the Edwardsville Police Department, the Franklin County Sheriffs Office, the Illinois State Police, the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, the Swansea Police Department, and the U.S. Secret Service. Additional assistance was provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Alton jail, the Monroe County Jail and the St. Clair County Jail. All 14 defendants cases will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris Hoell, Ali Burns, Karelia Rajagopal and Laura Reppert. WASHINGTON - A dozen donors, including major GOP contributors and longtime allies of Vice President Mike Pence, gave about $480,000 to cover Pence's legal bills in the special counsel's investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia, according to a filing. The MRP Legal Expense Trust Fund paid $479,680 in 2019 to McGuireWoods LLP for legal services, according to a financial disclosure released Tuesday. Pence had retained a top lawyer at the firm, Richard Cullen, as outside counsel in the Russia probe. Jim Atterholt, Pence's former gubernatorial chief of staff, started the fund with just $25 in December 2018, the filing shows. Since then, donors gave between $5,000 and $100,000, including business executives from Pence's home state of Indiana and longtime Republican donors. "I believe the Vice President is a decent and honorable person but he is not someone of great financial means. I started the trust because I believe significant legal bills should not be the cost of public service," Atterholt said in a statement Tuesday. Federal ethics rules prohibit executive branch officials from receiving excessive gifts, and government watchdogs have called on clearer guidelines for legal expense funds to prevent the potential for conflicts of interest or undue influence. Donors to the fund were required to certify to a series of qualifications to ensure that they were not improperly contributing, according to the filing. Among other things, donors certified that Pence did not solicit the contribution from them, that the donors were U.S. citizens, and that they were not federal government employees, registered lobbyists, or federal government contractors. Pence did not have any control over the legal expense trust, according to the disclosures. Donations to legal defense funds for public officials usually are capped at a certain amount. Contributions were capped at $100,000, Atterholt said. The top three donors to the fund, who gave $100,000 each, were Michael Hayde and Laura Khouri, top executives from the California-based real estate investment company Western National Group, and Herbert Simon, chairman emeritus of the shopping mall developer Simon Property Group and owner of the Indiana Pacers. Among other donors were Ron Weiser, a longtime GOP donor, former ambassador to Slovakia and former chair of the Michigan GOP ($50,000), and Marty Obst, senior political adviser to Pence ($20,000). White House officials have said Pence provided documents for the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller III but was not asked for an interview. Cullen is a former Virginia attorney general, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia under President George H.W. Bush and a member of President George W. Bush's legal team during the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election. "It was an honor to work for the Vice President," Cullen said in an email Tuesday and referred questions to Pence's office, which declined to comment. The trust was terminated in August 2019, according to the disclosure. Pence's greatest asset in 2019 was his Indiana state government pension, valued at between $500,001 and $1 million, the filing shows. In 2019, second lady Karen Pence reported between $2,501 and $5,000 in royalties from the children's book featuring Pence's rabbit: "Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President," the filing shows. BARRY An American black bear is making rare tracks through west-central Illinois, in the process developing a large social media following that is attracting hundreds of people to the bears path. The turnout of people, however, is more of a problem than the bear for folks at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The issue is that the bear has become a social (media) phenomenon, Stefanie Fitzsimons, large carnivore biologist for IDNR, said Monday morning. The bear last was seen north of Illinois Route 27, east of Barry, and hundreds of spectators were on hand to watch and take pictures. American black bears typically stick to more northern areas, including northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and northern Michigan, though they also can be found in parts of southern Missouri. I understand that people want to see the bear, and thats OK, but there are too many people, Fitzsimons said. Please take your pictures and then leave. There were so many people at the last sighting that conservation police lost their visual track of the bear as a result of the crowd, she said. Conservation police are telling people to stay at least 100 yards away from the bear to protect both the bear and the people. Based on photos she is seeing online, that advice is not being heeded, Fitzsimons said. These people were way closer than that, she said. IDNR has not definitively determined the sex of the bear but, because of its size and the fact that its mating season, when male bears tend to travel, officials believe its a male. Social media has dubbed the bear Bruno. The bear was first sighted June 5 in Wisconsin, and Wisconsin officials notified IDNR of its travels. June 10 it crossed over the (Illinois) state line, Fitzsimons said, adding that it then crossed into Iowa. After spending a week in Iowa, the bear crossed back into Illinois at Andalusia and since has continued south. The bear is keeping its travels trouble-free, Fitzsimons said. This bear hasnt even touched a garbage can, she said. It is a timid species, but you dont want to provoke it. This is something we havent seen before. Were not quite sure what its thinking. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) has been alerted that the bear is heading south, but wildlife officials have no intention of sedating the bear or attempting to relocate it, Fitzsimons said. Its not a good idea to dart and relocate it, she said. We want nature to take its course. The American black bear is a protected species in Illinois, meaning it is illegal to hunt or harass the animals. WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation to increase access to critical federal funding for inland ports, terminals, and waterways. In 2019, Congress enacted the PORTS Act to provide matching grants for enhancing operations and efficiency investments at our larger ports. Bosts Coastal and Inland Ports and Terminals Commerce Improvements Act, which was cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), expands upon the success of the PORTS Act by better utilizing an existing set-aside to establish a similar competitive grant matching program for smaller coastal and inland ports and terminals. China on Tuesday adopted a contentious national security law that will allow Beijing to override Hong Kong's judicial system and target political opponents in the city, stripping the territory of autonomy promised under a handover agreement with Britain and raising the prospect of further retaliation from Washington. The move has strained China's relations with the United States and other Western nations, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying on Friday that Washington would place visa restrictions on Chinese officials responsible for curtailing freedoms in Hong Kong. On Monday, China said it would impose reciprocal measures on unspecified American officials, while the U.S. Commerce Department suspended some of Hong Kong's preferential trade treatment under U.S. law. Chinese lawmakers voted unanimously to push through the law on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's handover - on July 1, 1997 - according to official Communist Party-backed media outlets in Hong Kong. The date is usually marked by a massive march in Hong Kong, but the city's police have declined to permit the event this year, citing social distancing rules and the potential for violence. According to a summary of the law published earlier by the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the law will establish the Commission for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, which answers to the central government and whose purview monitors secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces - charges frequently leveled against critics of the ruling Communist Party. Officials in Hong Kong say they have not seen precise details of the law, though the Hong Kong government has undertaken a promotional campaign urging people to support it. Asked about the measures at a news conference on Tuesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said it was not appropriate to comment. After months of sometimes-violent protests in Hong Kong against Beijing's encroachment last year, the new security law has heightened doubts about Hong Kong's future as a global financial hub and a regional base for international companies that for years were drawn by the city's relative freedoms. With those freedoms now in rapid retreat, many Hong Kongers say they are planning to flee the city. Activists are bracing for arrests of pro-democracy figures such as media tycoon Jimmy Lai, lawyer Martin Lee and activist Joshua Wong, all of whom have been targeted for years by Beijing and demonized by Chinese state media. Less prominent figures and those arrested over their participation in pro-democracy protests also fear that the sting of the new laws will soon reach them. "It is a really tough time for us. I hope that next week, I will still be able to answer phone calls from journalists," Wong said in an interview on Monday. "Now is the time for the world to support Hong Kong people, and it is only more global pressure that can ensure my personal safety." Student activists also say their teachers have asked them to stop participating in interviews with the foreign press, or engaging with any activism once the national security law passes. "I am afraid. My parents have told me that if the national security law has passed, you should move to Taiwan or somewhere else," said Charis Wong, a founder of Ideologist, a group of pro-democracy high school students. "But we can't change the fact that the Communist Party has already targeted us." Beijing has been pressing Hong Kong's politicians to enact such a national security law since the 1997 handover, but previous attempts by local officials were halted by heavy protests. This time, Beijing is going to the extraordinary step of circumventing Hong Kong's lawmakers, invoking a previously disused provision in the city's mini-constitution. Victor Gao, a former Chinese Foreign Ministry official who is now a chair professor at China's Soochow University, said that the protests in Hong Kong last year prompted Beijing to push through the law, after years of waiting for the city to enact it itself. "What we've seen over the last 12 months," he said, "is a very dire progression of violence in Hong Kong." Yun Jiang, director of the Australia-based China Policy Center, said other countries may follow the United States in sanctioning China, though cautiously, due to the risk of Chinese retaliation. "China is unlikely to back down from these types of pressures," she said. "Targeted sanctions will not, by themselves, change the stance of the Chinese government towards Hong Kong." While the law faced strong resistance from Hong Kong's people, it probably will have a chilling effect on protests, Jiang said. "At least initially, instead of dampening the pro-democracy movement, it may have the opposite effect," she said. "However in the long run, it will likely stifle any trend towards democracy." Last year's protests were sparked by a government proposal to allow Hong Kong criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China, a step many viewed as a further effort to erode the rule of law in the city and the firewall between Hong Kong and the mainland. Beijing characterized the uprising, which broadened to encompass demands for democracy and police accountability, as terrorism fueled by foreign governments. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this month that if China passed the law, London would provide a path for citizenship for millions of residents of Hong Kong. - - - The Washington Post's Lyric Li in Beijing contributed to this report. A Georgia teen missing since February has been found safe, according to a social media post from the Oconee County, Georgia Sheriff's Office. (Archive video above: Georgia sheriff sends a video message to missing teen) "Julia Mann has been located," the post said. "She appears to be safe and local authorities have been notified. We will not release any further at this time. Please respect her privacy and be respectful to a teenage girl and her family. Thank you for your concern and your assistance in finding Julia." Julia disappeared from her home on Feb. 20. Authorities said it appears she left alone. The FBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Georgia State Patrol were involved in the investigation. In a Feb. 26 post, Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry pleaded for Julia to call him and said authorities wanted to make sure she's safe. He said she's not in trouble with the law but authorities wanted to talk to her. Reward money related to her case was repeatedly increased. KARACHI, Pakistan - Four gunmen armed with assault rifles and grenades stormed the stock exchange in Pakistan's commercial capital, Karachi, on Monday, but security officials said the attack was foiled within minutes. Police said one police officer and two private security guards who stopped the gunmen died. All four attackers were killed before they could enter the country's oldest and largest stock exchange. A separatist militant group called the Baluchistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack in a tweet from an account that was later suspended by Twitter. The claim of responsibility could not be confirmed, but the group has carried out a number of similar attacks in recent years aimed at destabilizing Pakistan's economy and undermining Chinese influence. Pakistani officials blamed India for the attack, claiming ties between New Delhi and the militant group. "Make no mistake, today's attack in Karachi is state-sponsored terrorism against Pakistan," said Pakistani national security adviser Moeed Yusuf. The local commander of the Pakistan Rangers, a federal paramilitary group, said the attackers were killed in eight minutes. Gen. Omer Ahmed Bukhari told reporters at a news conference such attacks cannot take place without the aid of "outside intelligence agencies," according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. "Police and security guards engaged the attackers outside the building, and they couldn't get into the building. The blood spots are of our injured police and guards," Police Deputy Inspector General Sharjeel Kharl told reporters at the site. In a statement, police added that seven people were injured, including three police officers, two security guards, a stock exchange employee and one other person. In a tweet, the stock exchange said, "The market continued to operate normally during the incident," and that an attack on Pakistan's stock exchange "means an attack on Pakistan's Economy." Police official Rizwan Ahmend told the Associated Press that food supplies were found on the bodies of the gunmen, suggesting they had planned a long siege. Television footage of the scene showed authorities displaying grenades and ammunition recovered from the attackers. A Twitter account called the "Majeed brigade of the Baluchistan Liberation Army" said its fighters "carried out a self sacrificing attack on Karachi Stock Exchange." Last year, Baluchistan Liberation Army gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in the southern Pakistani port city of Gwadar, killing a guard during an hours-long gun battle with security forces. And in 2018 the group attacked the Chinese consulate in Karachi. The Baluchistan Liberation Army is one of the oldest of the groups fighting for an independent Baluchistan, accusing the central government of exploiting the resources of the vast remote province. The U.S. State Department named it a terrorist group in 2019. Pakistan has also long struggled with attacks from radical Islamist militants, but violence has declined in recent years. - - - The Washington Post's Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Paul Schemm in Dubai contributed to this report. ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland Democrats are rallying to block a proposed pay cut for state workers, along with several other of Gov. Larry Hogan's suggested budget reductions, as the state grapples with the economic fallout from the pandemic shutdown. Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat and frequent ally of Hogan, a Republican, said Tuesday that he will not support roughly a third of the $672 million in spending the governor suggested the Board of Public Works immediately eliminate from the state's $19.5 billion general fund. "We don't have to do this right now," Franchot said of cutting employee pay and other proposals he said would undermine the state's safety net. "I'm not saying we can hold off everything, because the fiscal prognosis is really grim." Hogan's proposed budget cuts are up for a Wednesday vote before the Board of Public Works, a panel composed of Hogan, Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp that oversees budget actions when the legislature is not in session. Hogan this week outlined $1.45 billion in proposed cuts for the budget that takes effect Wednesday, but he left the majority of those to the General Assembly to decide whether to adopt them when it reconvenes next year. Kopp, a Democrat, said in an email that the $672 million up for immediate vote could wait. She said she would join Franchot's effort to avoid 20 specific cuts the comptroller identified, including a 2% pay cut and furloughs for state workers. She urged tabling the governor's entire proposal for at least two weeks to gain a clearer picture of the state's decidedly dismal financial circumstances. "I think it should be moved and then, before voting, we can have a full and public discussion of all these moving pieces," Kopp wrote. "Also, by the way, [we] should try to have [a] clear understanding of who the cuts impact and assure that they are just and equitable." Franchot, who is running for governor in 2022, said in an interview that he agrees the magnitude of the state's budget hole will be known more precisely at the end of August. But, he said, it's clear today that economic shutdowns designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus require deep revisions to the state's $47.9 billion budget. States across the country have similarly scrambled to revamp budgets as revenue fell and spending on the pandemic response soared. "The governor should be complimented for moving aggressively," Franchot said. "I don't believe we should act on everything, but we should act." Maryland forecasters say as much as $1.2 billion of expected state revenue could disappear over the next year. Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said Tuesday that it's more prudent to reduce state expenses at the start of the fiscal year, when cuts can be absorbed slowly over 12 months. "He doesn't want to make any of these cuts, but he recognizes that not taking action is not an option," Ricci said of the governor. "If the comptroller doesn't support these cuts, we look forward to seeing his specific alternatives, because the consequences of inaction and voting 'no' are severe." Among other actions, Hogan's proposal to the board would slash a $125 million subsidy to WMATA, eliminate some aviation divisions, sell aircraft, and cut 92 vacant jobs. It would curtail aid for poor jurisdictions, universities and child care subsidies. Hogan's suggestion to cut pension contributions for teachers and reduce state employee pay sparked backlash from unions as well as Democrats who hold supermajorities in state politics. State workers would see a promised 2% raise evaporate, in addition to taking a 3% cut to their current pay under the plan. Maryland's Democratic U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen called the cuts "premature" in a letter sent Tuesday to the Board of Public Works. The senators said a next wave of federal aid to states could ameliorate today's budget problems and noted that Maryland has already received $1.65 billion in federal assistance. Most of the money is designated for pandemic-related expenses. Hogan, in his role as chair of the National Governors Association, has lobbied for months for a $500 billion federal rescue package for states to use shore up budget shortfalls. A bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives has stalled in the Senate. MEXICO CITY - When Mexico's president travels to the White House next week, he'll have to reckon with the same questions travelers everywhere are asking. How early do you need to arrive at an airport these days? Will the middle seat be left empty? During the layover, will the food court be open? Next week, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be the rare foreign head of state to fly commercial to meet the U.S. president. That he's making the trip during a global pandemic - and as coronavirus cases in Mexico peak - has turned a divisive presidential promise into a deeper public health concern. The populist leader promised to sell Mexico's presidential jet when he began his term in 2018 - part of a larger effort to throw off the luxe trappings of the country's highest office. He has also opened the presidential palace to the public, and is ferried around the capital in his own Volkswagen Jetta. While the jet is still unsold, Lopez Obrador has stood by his pledge to fly only on commercial airlines. He says he's saving the government millions of dollars. Critics call it political theater. But he has yet to travel outside Mexico as president. On Monday, he described his plans. "I am going to travel on a commercial aircraft," Lopez Obrador told reporters during his morning news conference. "There is no direct trip from Mexico City to Washington, but you can make a stop. I will arrive a day before the meeting that we will have." Lopez Obrador said he was traveling in part to celebrate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which takes effect on Wednesday. He has encouraged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to join in. Trump has said he expects Lopez Obrador in Washington "soon." The White House has not confirmed the visit. Lopez Obrador has not been seen publicly wearing a face mask during the pandemic. For weeks into Mexico's outbreak, he made light of the precautions espoused by the country's public health experts. Officials said he has never been tested for the novel coronavirus, even as many people in the country's government have fallen ill. In his decision to lead a delegation on an indirect commercial flight to Washington, many here see yet another sign of an irresponsible response to the pandemic. As of Monday, Mexico had reported more than 216,000 cases and 26,648 deaths, seventh in the world. Analysts see other problems. "Sure, for a head of state to fly commercial is a challenge - to say the least - in this covid era," said Arturo Sarukhan, a former Mexican ambassador to the United States. "But more importantly, it raises concerns about the security of the president and the apparatus - both human and technological - which is needed to ensure a security bubble so that his [communications] and conversations in transit and on-site are secure and not vulnerable before a bilateral meeting with his U.S. counterpart." As Lopez Obrador has crisscrossed Mexico on commercial flights, Mexicans have had the surreal experience of bumping into the president in departure terminals or at metal detectors. Videos frequently circulate on social media of crowds of travelers approaching the president, some shouting questions or criticisms, others standing in long lines for selfies. Some passengers have complained of the frenzy that ensues when the president boards their flight - with fellow travelers crowding around to take photos. In one case that drew attention this year, a family refused to travel on the same flight as Lopez Obrador because they were worried the plane could be targeted by his political opponents. Francisco Javier Quiroz Sandoval asked that Aeromexico allow him and his family to disembark and reschedule his flight from Mexico City to the city of Villahermosa. "It seems to me irresponsible to put citizens on commercial flights in a vulnerable position with regards to security," he said. Lopez Obrador travels with a small team of assistants and escorts, but none of them are armed, he has said. He has continued to defend his choice to fly on commercial airlines. How can I board that [presidential] plane with so much poverty in Mexico? he has asked repeatedly. The former presidential plane has been available to potential buyers at around $130 million. The Mexican government has been paying fees for its maintenance and storage. Lopez Obrador suggested this year it could be raffled off, but the idea has not come to fruition. Rensselaer The S.A. Dunn construction and demolition debris landfill has since April been operating a new gas-burning system that residents say has decreased the rotten egg and other odors emanating from the facility. But the operators still face opponents and challenges in building a berm which they say should control dust but which the city says needs to go through a lengthy review process. It seems to help, said Todd Rutecki of the odor-control measures. He lives near the landfill and is involved in a parent group that has tangled with the facility which is located adjacent to the city school complex. In the last month it has virtually disappeared, he said of the foul odors. Waste Connections, the Texas-based company that operates the landfill, earlier in April installed the $350,000 system which is a series of underground collection pipes that draw in gases including carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane and hydrogen sulfide. The gases are then pushed with a blower toward a propane-powered flare that burns them off. Weve been combusting all gases collected from the landfill since installing and commissioning the new flaring system in April. Flaring is a highly effective method used in our industry and others to combust collected gases to reduce emissions and odors, said Jeff Burrier, the division landfill manager at Dunn. The company recently outlined the improvements in a newsletter sent to city residents. More for you News Athens Stevedoring drops construction dump application in... Rensselaer Mayor Mike Stammel, who has been critical of the landfill, said hes been hearing fewer odor complaints. I have not heard many complaints about the odor recently but that has not stopped the noise, he said. And Stammel added that he wants the city to review plans for an approximately 20-foot-tall extension of a berm between the landfill and the school which the operators say would help control dust and blowing sand. Waste Connections believes that only needs approval from the state Department of Environmental Conservation but Stammel believes the city needs to review the plans as well. Stammel was elected as mayor last November amid a backlash of complaints about odors and truck traffic to the Dunn landfill. Stammel also noted that the landfill is falling short of the projected payments of approximately $1.3 million the city is supposed to get each year; they are currently running at about $800,000, Stammel said. Our business, like virtually every business in the country has been negatively impacted by the pandemic. However, as an essential business, we have stayed operational through this difficult time supporting continued franchise fee payments to the City, Burrier said. Local governments around the country are in need of revenue to help fund critical government programs and local schools. We will continue to do our part to assist the City of Rensselaer and its residents. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU Washington The Supreme Court struck down a restrictive Louisiana abortion law Monday, a dramatic victory for abortion rights activists and a bitter disappointment to conservatives in the first showdown on the controversial issue since President Donald Trump's remake of the court. As with other recent liberal victories at the court, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. was key in the 5-4 decision. He joined the court's liberals rather than his conservative colleagues, including Trump's appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Roberts said the Louisiana law could not stand given the court's 2016 decision to overturn a similar Texas law, which required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. "The legal doctrine of stare decisis requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike," Roberts wrote in concurring with the decision. "The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons. Therefore Louisiana's law cannot stand under our precedents." Roberts' vote was all the more striking because he dissented in the Texas case. He said he continues to "believe that the (Texas) case was wrongly decided." But he said the question was whether to "adhere to it in the present case." It was perhaps the most dramatic example of Roberts' new role as the pivotal member of the court. It indicated that while he supports restrictions on abortion his solo opinion in fact tightened a concession won in the Texas case he is unready at this point to overhaul the court's jurisprudence supporting the right of a woman to choose the procedure. The White House issued a statement criticizing what it called an "unfortunate ruling." "The Supreme Court devalued both the health of mothers and the lives of unborn children by gutting Louisiana's policy that required all abortion procedures be performed by individuals with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital," the statement from press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. She added: "Unelected justices have intruded on the sovereign prerogatives of state governments by imposing their own policy preference in favor of abortion to override legitimate abortion safety regulations." Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the main decision in the case, just as he had in the Texas decision four years ago. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined him, which resulted in this: No women wrote about the case, but all six male justices did. The question was whether Louisiana's 2014 law requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals unduly burdens women's access to abortion. Practitioners have said it has proved impossible for most of the doctors to acquire the privileges, leaving only one eligible to perform the procedure. Breyer said the law is "almost word-for-word identical" to the Texas law. In that case, now-retired justice Anthony Kennedy joined the court's four liberals to form a majority in what was its most important endorsement of abortion rights in 25 years. The court's 2016 decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt said the admitting-privileges requirement "provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an 'undue burden' on their constitutional right to do so." Hospitalization after an abortion is rare, all sides agree, and the lack of admitting privileges by the doctor who performed the procedure is not a bar to the woman getting needed medical care. Breyer's decision Monday read like a replay of the 2016 decision. The admitting privileges requirement provided no benefit to protect women and was likely to mean two of Louisiana's three clinics would have to close, imposing onerous problems for thousands of women across the state, Breyer wrote. "The requirement places a substantial obstacle in the path of a large fraction of those women seeking an abortion for whom it is a relevant restriction," he wrote. Roberts disagreed with Breyer's reasoning. But he nonetheless concluded: "The Louisiana law burdens women seeking previability abortions to the same extent as the Texas law, according to factual findings that are not clearly erroneous. For that reason, I concur in the judgment of the Court that the Louisiana law is unconstitutional." WASHINGTON - Since its inception in 1977, the Energy Department has been responsible for managing America's nuclear weapons, but a bill now before the Senate would strip the department of much of its budgeting authority over nuclear arms and hand it over to the Pentagon. The measure has drawn quick criticism - even from within the Trump administration. Senators from both parties have joined Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette in arguing that the measure would upset the balance between civil and military officials regarding the country's nuclear weapons program and would represent an unacceptable subordination of the Energy Department to the Defense Department. "Holy cow, this is a big fight," Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said Tuesday in an interview. She believes that the Trump administration, over the objections of Brouillette, wants to direct more of the department's money to building nuclear weapons, at the expense of cleanup programs and civilian uses of nuclear technology. Her state is home to the Hanford Site, a decommissioned nuclear complex that is undergoing a lengthy cleanup, at a cost of $2 billion a year. She doesn't want to see that financing stream cut. A spokeswoman for the Senate Armed Services Committee, which included the provision, disputed the assertion that the aim is to free up more money for weapons, at the expense of other programs. "No authority has been stripped from the Energy Secretary whatsoever," Marta Hernandez wrote in an email. The bill is the defense authorization act for 2021, on which a vote is expected this week. The provision, similar to but stronger than one that was voted down in 2018, would require sub-Cabinet-level Pentagon officials to review budget plans for nuclear arms, and any increases they thought necessary would have to be reported onward without any changes by the energy secretary to the president's budget writers. It would cover about 40 percent of the Energy Department's total budget. Additional weapon spending would most probably be compensated by cuts in the remainder of the department's budget. "What the [act] does, through several provisions, is clarify and strengthen existing law that requires coordination between the Department of Defense and the [National Nuclear Security Administration, an agency under the Energy Department] on its budget development," Hernandez wrote. "The existing mechanisms have not been effective, and in recent years, DOD has functionally not even seen the NNSA budget until after it is finalized and ready to transmit to Congress." The Defense Department would not be drawing up the nuclear arms budget from scratch or take over all budgeting authority, she said. "It simply clarifies the process for the future." In a letter to the head of the Armed Services Committee, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., that he sent Monday, Brouillette wrote, "This, in effect, leaves the Secretary with responsibility for the program, while removing his or her ability to effectively manage it." Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., also objected to the provision. In a joint letter to Inhofe and the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, they argued that the change might appear to be a bureaucratic adjustment but that its effect would be significant. "As written, these provisions would undermine and subordinate the Secretary of Energy's statutory authority, including his or her responsibility to prepare a budget for congressional review, and would likely result in collateral damage for DOE's nonweapons priorities," they wrote. The Pentagon would naturally emphasize nuclear arms, they predicted, at the expense of the cleanup of legacy defense waste sites, the cybersecurity of the electric grid and funding for energy innovation. They also objected strongly to the way their own Energy and Natural Resources Committee was kept out of the loop. The similar attempt in 2018, which also originated in the Senate, was voted down by the House of Representatives. Cantwell said that this time, it would be better to stop the move before it gets out of the Senate. If the measure became law, she said, "What's DOD going to do next year - go after State? USAID? Where does it stop? The more people get away with bad governance, the more they'll keep trying." Over the weekend, the sense in Congress was that members in both chambers wanted to get the bill passed quickly and were relieved that there had been little partisan fighting over its provisions. Cantwell said she fears that too many members will be reluctant to vote against a defense bill and won't take the time to understand the provision's ramifications. WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court delivered an important victory for religious advocates Tuesday, saying states that aid private schools must include religious ones. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a conservative majority in the 5-to-4 ruling, said the Constitution's protection of the free exercise of religion requires equal treatment for religious schools and parents who want to send their children to them. "A state need not subsidize private education," Roberts wrote. "But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious." The court's majority said the Montana Supreme Court was wrong to strike down a tuition assistance program established by the state legislature in 2015. It allowed tax incentives for scholarships to private schools, including religious ones. But the state court said that ran afoul of a state constitution provision forbidding public funds from going to religious institutions. In what advocates called a landmark ruling, Roberts said the religious protections of the U.S. Constitution prevail. It holds implications for public funding of religious institutions in other areas, and continues a recent pattern of the Supreme Court erasing stark lines in the separation of church and state. Nelson Tebbe, a religious law expert at Cornell University, said the ruling moves beyond previous constitutional questions. The court "held not only that the Constitution does not prohibit a state from supporting religious schools, but also that it requires a state to include religious schools in any school choice program," he said. Another pattern continued: the prominence of the chief justice in the most important decisions of the Supreme Court's term. While he has formed a majority with liberals in previous cases striking down a Louisiana abortion law and stopping the Trump administration from dismantling a program protecting undocumented immigrants, he was joined in Tuesday's opinion by the court's four most consistent conservatives. The decision was a big win for school choice advocates such as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who favor government support for students seeking faith-based education and called the ruling a "turning point in the sad and static history of American education." Public school advocates said such programs take away resources that should be used to improve those systems. National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said it will have "shameful and unacceptable" impact on public education. The Trump administration supported the challenge to the Montana court's decision, and hailed the Supreme Court's ruling. It "removes one of the biggest obstacles to better educational opportunities for all children," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement. "The Trump Administration believes that school choice is a civil rights issue, and that no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing school." Roberts was joined in the opinion by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The court's liberals said that the Montana Supreme Court had eliminated any discrimination problems by ending the program, and that their conservative colleagues were too anxious to fix a problem that no longer existed. The parents who brought the case "argue that the Free Exercise Clause requires a state to treat institutions and people neutrally when doling out a benefit - and neutrally is how Montana treats them in the wake of the state court's decision," wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justice Elena Kagan. "Accordingly, the Montana Supreme Court's decision does not place a burden on petitioners' religious exercise." Justice Stephen Breyer said the court's decision increases the risk of government entanglement in religion, with objecting taxpayers having to fund religious instruction. "If, for 250 years, we have drawn a line at forcing taxpayers to pay the salaries of those who teach their faith from the pulpit, I do not see how we can today require Montana to adopt a different view respecting those who teach it in the classroom," Breyer wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote separately that the ruling "weakens this country's longstanding commitment to a separation of church and state beneficial to both." Roberts responded that the Montana legislature did not want the program to end. "The Montana Legislature created the scholarship program; the Legislature never chose to end it, for policy or other reasons," he wrote. "The program was eliminated by a court, and not based on some innocuous principle of state law. Rather, the Montana Supreme Court invalidated the program pursuant to a state law provision that expressly discriminates on the basis of religious status." At issue was an initiative passed by the Montana legislature in 2015 that provided dollar-for-dollar tax credits up to $150 to those who donated to scholarship programs for low-income parents to send their children to private schools. The program made no distinction as to whether parents could use the scholarships at religious or secular schools. About 70% of private schools in the state are religious. The Montana Supreme Court said that ran counter to a state constitutional prohibition on public funds for "any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination." The challenge was brought by the libertarian law organization Institute for Justice on behalf of Kendra Espinoza, a single mother who sends her two children to a Christian school in Kalispell, Mont. The organization has made school choice a priority, and has strategized for years to get the Supreme Court to take on "Blaine Amendments" that swept though the country in the 1800s on a wave of anti-Catholicism. Montana's amendment was adopted in 1884, before the state was admitted to the union. Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Erica Smith said it was a "landmark case in education that will allow states across the country to enact educational choice programs that give parents maximum educational options." Espinoza, a single mother who works for a construction company, learned she had prevailed on Tuesday morning as she prepared oatmeal for her kids. She said she wanted to be in the lawsuit because she felt strongly that her daughters should get a Christian education and worried about what they would learn in public school. "I wanted my kids to be taught with a morals and values-based education and higher academic standards," Espinoza said, "and mentored by teachers that love them and teach from God's word and not just teach from the more liberal perspective." Montana denied that its constitutional prohibition was about religious bigotry. It was included in a rewrite of the state constitution in 1972, and was meant both to insulate religion from government intrusion and a desire to protect public schools, the state said. Alito devoted his opinion concurring with the majority to a discussion of the Blaine Amendments. He illustrated it with an 1871 cartoon from Harper's Weekly which, in Alito's words, "depicts Catholic priests as crocodiles slithering hungrily toward American children as a public school crumbles in the background." Montana was called before a Supreme Court increasingly skeptical of stark lines between church and state. In Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, a majority of justices in 2017 said Missouri could not ban a church school from requesting a grant from a state program that rehabilitated playgrounds. They have since been joined by Kavanaugh, who has signaled that other such restrictions deserve the court's attention. Roberts described the Trinity Lutheran decision as reaching the "unremarkable" conclusion that "disqualifying otherwise eligible recipients from a public benefit "solely because of their religious character imposes a penalty on the free exercise of religion that triggers the most exacting scrutiny." But Breyer and Kagan, who agreed with the majority in that case, dissented from Tuesday's expansion. The case is Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Also on Tuesday, the court ruled 8 to 1 that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was wrong not to let travel reservation company Booking.com register its name. The agency had said its ban on registering trademarks for generic names prohibited the company from receiving trademark protection. But the court said the company's name was distinctive enough. "Because 'Booking.com' is not a generic name to consumers, it is not generic," Ginsburg wrote for the majority. Breyer was the lone dissenter. The case is Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com - - - The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss and Moriah Balingit contributed to this report. Gatekeepers of biodiversity hotspots facing COVID crisis Impoverished communities and diverse ecosystems in Colombia are under threat due to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers say. Due to historical inequalities, communities in the countrys Andean lowlands are economically poorer and more vulnerable than those in the high Andes. The pandemic and lockdown restrictions have meant many lowland people are unable to meet their basic needs. This situation puts highly biodiverse ecosystems at risk. People may be forced to extract precious wood species from the forest to buy food, and may also be pushed to work with coca producers and drug traffickers, often leading to environmental and social damage. A research team working in the area led by the University of Exeter and the University of Bristol is raising money to help the people of La Serrania de Las Quinchas during the crisis. Our project aims to understand how socio-ecological systems in the Colombian Andes survive and recover following years of conflict, said Dr Dunia H. Urrego, who is from Colombia and is now based at Exeters Global Systems Institute. Our research sites are located at different altitudes and environments in the inter-Andean valleys, and one thing is very clear: lowland communities are more impoverished and vulnerable than those in the high Andes. Yet, these lowland communities are essentially the gatekeepers of some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. This is the case in Las Quinchas, where the pandemic has affected peoples livelihoods, with direct repercussions for deforestation and conservation. By contributing to this crowd-funding campaign, people can help vulnerable communities in Colombia and ultimately help protect biodiversity. The campaign will support the communities of Puerto Pinzon and La Cristalina, two villages of about 900 inhabitants in total living inside La Serrania de las Quinchas. The villages are isolated, with little access to medical facilities. They have suffered greatly during the internal armed conflict due to paramilitary forces and drug traffickers in the area. This history also makes the villagers at Las Quinchas a lot more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Monica Amador, of the School of Geographical Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: It is clear that we need to do our best to contribute. We are aware of the importance of showing our support during these difficult times of Coronavirus, both for social and environmental reasons. The coronavirus crisis should turn our focus towards increasing environmental protection and promote harmonious socio-environmental relationships and inclusive socio-environmental governance. The crowd-funding campaign will provide food, face masks and antibacterial gel for the most vulnerable families in Las Quinchas. The organisers expect to help 70 families about 350 people. To find out more and contribute, visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lasquinchas-relief Dr Urrego added: Besides economic help, I feel we can help these vulnerable communities by creating awareness and giving them a voice. The research project BioResilience of socio-ecological systems in the Colombian Andes is one of five UK projects supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the Newton-Caldas ColombiaBIO programme. President Nicolas Maduro expelled the European Union's ambassador to Venezuela in response to the EU's sanction of high-ranking officials in his government. Maduro announced the move in a televised address late Monday after the EU Council sanctioned 11 members of the president's inner circle for undermining the rule of law in Venezuela, including curtailing the powers of the opposition-controlled National Assembly. The EU envoy in Caracas, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, was given 72 hours to leave the country. The Venezuelan strongman's remarks comes with the South American nation politically isolated following elections in 2018 that the U.S. and its allies said were fraudulent. The country is mired in the seventh year of a crushing recession, worsened by the coronavirus pandemic and plummeting oil production. "The supremacist EU published a resolution sanctioning Venezuelans who are defending the Constitution," Maduro said, referring to some of his legislative allies included among the sanctioned. The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, rejected Maduro's decision and in a tweet Tuesday insisted on finding a negotiated solution between the opposition and the government in Venezuela. "We condemn and reject the expulsion of our ambassador in Caracas. We will take the usual necessary measures of reciprocity." Venezuela's ambassador will be summoned by the bloc on Tuesday, Borrell said, according to the Associated Press. During his Monday speech, Maduro also lashed out against Spain's ambassador in Caracas, Jesus Silva, whom the president accused of participating in the failed April 2019 bid to overthrow him led by opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and a botched raid in May that aimed to capture Maduro. Maduro characterized Silva's actions as colluding with Lopez's "criminal acts." Venezuela will consider diplomatic options for Silva's role in the country, Maduro added. Health insurer Humana is expanding access to covid-19 testing at hundreds of new drive-through sites at Walmart stores, as well as offering at-home tests to members. The initiatives come amid reports of hours-long waits for tests in new hot spots like Houston as coronavirus cases surge in many southern and western states. While testing in the U.S. has expanded dramatically, the rate at which people are getting positive results is outstripping the rise in numbers tested, indicating the virus is spreading faster than the country can find it. Setting up test sites in big-box-store parking lots was a high-profile goal of the Trump administration's response to covid-19. Walmart Chief Executive Doug McMillon appeared with President Donald Trump at a news conference on testing in April. Almost 123,000 people have been tested at Walmart sites. Humana hasn't set a goal for how many members it hopes to test, just that anyone who wants one can get one, CEO Bruce Broussard said in an interview. "It's our job to make this as simple as possible and lower the uncertainty in this abnormal time," Broussard said. Testing began in a handful of Walmart locations in Kansas in recent weeks, said Mona Siddiqui, Humana senior vice president of clinical management. They expect to offer tests at about 50 Walmarts this week and eventually around 500 locations, she said. "There's a lot of questions that patients have around, Where's the right place to go? How do I get there? Is the test covered?" Siddiqui said. Humana is working to simplify testing for its members, who are largely senior citizens on government-funded Medicare Advantage health plans, Broussard said. This initiative will be available at Walmart's neighborhood markets. They're smaller than supercenters and discount stores, typically about 42,000 square feet (3,900 square meters), or about the size of a traditional supermarket. Walmart has 686 neighborhood markets in the U.S. While Humana developed the program for its members, it's expected that tests will be available to other Walmart customers at its neighborhood markets as well. The two companies have been partners since 2010, developing initiatives including prescription drug plans. Humana members will use on online symptom checker based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines to evaluate whether they qualify for a test. People with symptoms or exposure to others with the virus will then have the option of a drive-through test or one done at home. Both tests will be self-administered, and wouldn't require the swab to go as far back in the nose as other covid-19 tests do. The kit would include a cotton swab that the person would insert in each nostril. The swab would then be sealed in a plastic bag and mailed to LabCorp for processing. For the drive-through tests, pharmacists will hand customers the kit and observe as they swab themselves in drive-through. Customers will seal the kit and put it in a drop box, so the sample doesn't enter the pharmacy. Quest will process those tests. Humana, like other insurers, has waived co-pays for Covid-19 testing and lifted some other cost-sharing requirements for members. Medicare Advantage, Medicare supplement, Medicaid, and employer group plans members -- about 6.7 million as of the end of March -- are eligible for the new tests. Those who are only covered by its prescription drug, dental and vision plans don't qualify, nor do Tricare military beneficiaries. The initiative was in the works before the latest spike in cases, Broussard said. Humana doesn't expect the pandemic to abate any time soon, he said, and the company is working to reduce uncertainty for its members. "We've also felt that there would be spikes that would come, geographically, nationally," he said. "I think we will continue to see those spikes be with us for some time." Forty hihi (stitchbird) will be released on NZ Defence Force land within Shakespear Open Sanctuary this week, on Friday July 3. The reintroduction from Tiritiri Matangi Island was funded by the SOSSI fundraiser concert Swing on the Green hosted last year by Gulf Harbour Country Club, and a grant from Foundation North. Hihi are rare, categorised as threatened nationally vulnerable by the Department of Conservation, meaning without intervention they face extinction in the medium term. They are the fifth bird species to be reintroduced into the sanctuary joining whitehead (popokatea), little spotted kiwi (pukupuku), saddleback (tieke), and North Island robin (toutouwai). Auckland Councils Senior Ranger, Open Sanctuaries, Matt Maitland, says having hihi join other bird species reintroduced to the park shows that the pest free open sanctuary can support locally and nationally significant wildlife. He says that partnerships with Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society (SOSSI), landowners the NZ Defence Force and Watercare Services, have been key to the return of the hihi. The NZ Defence Force is delighted to have been able to help. We look forward to hearing their calls and seeing them around the base, Royal NZ Navy spokesperson, Commander Ange Holland, says. Outgoing SOSSI chair, Peter Jackson, says returning hihi to the Auckland mainland is a fantastic milestone, and a reward for years of effort by community volunteers to make the site safe and suitable for this beautiful and rare species. He says while this may not be the end of the relocation programme, for a while at least, SOSSIs focus may switch to improving public education and enjoyment of the park. Scientists are supporting the process. Conservation Officer for the Hihi Conservation Charitable Trust, Mhairi McCready, says the Shakespear site has been assessed and shows great potential to support a managed hihi population. A key factor for these hihi to thrive is providing feeding stations containing sugar syrup, as the birds have become used to these on Tiritiri Matangi. Volunteers have been busy making the feeding stations, which will need to be regularly replenished and cleaned. At least one of the feeding stations will be accessible from a track so visitors should soon be able to see these birds up close. There is just one self-sustaining hihi population on Little Barrier Island, but also six conservation dependent populations on mainland and island sanctuaries, including neighbouring Tiritiri Matangi. They were once widespread across the North Island and surrounding islands but became extinct on the mainland through mammalian predation, habitat loss and specimen collection. Known to Maori as a ray of sunshine, hihi were said to be carriers of the sun, capturing the healing rays and spreading light throughout the forest, evidenced by their distinctive yellow markings. Part of the Penlink Road has already been built it is the first 1700m of the 5km Ara Weiti access road that developers built into Weiti Bay from East Coast Road. As part of its resource consent, the developer of Weiti Bay a consortium of local and offshore companies was required to build the road into its site. The Ara Weiti road took two years to build and was completed in 2018, at which point it was handed over to Auckland Transport, which was responsible for Penlink at the time. In January, the Penlink project was handed over to the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), as it is being developed as a state highway. Manager and part-owner of the Weiti development, Evan Williams of Williams Group, says difficult terrain and geotech challenges meant the Ara Weiti road was not a straightforward build for Heb Construction. It was also costly, coming in at more than $30 million. AT contributed $2m. We did have to build it, but we were also sick of waiting for Penlink, he says. Auckland Transport (AT) made it clear that the road had to be built to a particular standard, bearing in mind it would form part of Penlink, and so it is two-laned, future-proofed for four lanes. AT also contributed to the cost, in a minor way, Mr Williams says. The road was obviously a vital link for prospective purchasers of land in Weiti Bay. Until it was built we were using 4-wheel drives to take clients in to see the sites and asking them to imagine the road, he says. There will be an interchange at East Coast Road, which will give residents in our development direct access to the motorway. He says part of the deal was that the Weiti section of the road will remain toll free but details about the tolling are still being worked out by NZTA. The road leads down into the 90ha Weiti Bay development, behind Dacre Cottage, where 80 percent of the 150 sites (1500sqm-2000sqm) have currently been sold. The next stage to be developed is behind Weiti Bay. The Labour Party has selected its candidate for the Whangaparaoa electorate 71-year-old former aged care and social worker Lorayne Ferguson of Redvale. Lorayne returned to NZ seven years ago after a 34-year career in the UK. She has lived and worked in Auckland, including at North Shore Hospital, and has experience in social work management, specialising in dementia care. She has also volunteered with the Prisoners Aid Association. Lorayne joined the NZ Labour Party in 2013 after more than 30 years in the UK Labour Party. As a young 71-year-old, I want to speak for older New Zealanders who are too often ignored in important decisions, Lorayne says. The Hibiscus Coast is to host one of the first of many news and advertisement-free radio stations founded by former British TV presenter Noel Edmonds. Noel, who now lives near Matakana, plans to eventually launch 100 online community radio stations Positively Matakana is already playing live. Recently Jo Hayes of Stanmore Bay was appointed community manager for Positivity Radio Hibiscus Coast. Jo says a team of around 16 locals are supporting the Coast inititiave. She says initially the station will not broadcast live, but play pre-recorded snippets of community interest in between songs. Team members will work from home. Noel launched Positively Happy, a group of positively focused community radio stations in the UK in 2015. Today there are more than 50 stations worldwide in the group, accessed on mobile phones, via the live app or website. Noel is supplying 100 slots in New Zealand to stream digital content, at his own expense and free of charge. His aim in launching the concept here is to support communities in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Jo says the Hibiscus Coast station is still in the planning stages and could launch this month. Sterling, VA (20165) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High around 95F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 67F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. With his distinctive bushy moustache, Snr Constable Bernie Watt has been a familiar face around local schools since 1992. A former teacher, he slotted seamlessly into the role of providing educational instruction to colleges and primary schools. Just prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, Bernie retired from Police, at the age of 66, and has gone back to teaching part time. He spoke with Terry Moore. My life has been around schools one way or the other, originally as a teacher but then delivering traffic safety and life skills courses in local colleges and Primaries. The courses were around traffic safety, personal safety, drug awareness, crime prevention and domestic violence. I covered 24 schools and loved the job the rapport you build up with school communities was especially valuable. Over time you develop an extended circle, and a lot of trust that allows a lot of things to unfold. People bounce things off you as a Police officer and person they trust and I became a sounding board for peoples issues or concerns whether of a personal or professional nature. It got to the stage where Id been in the job so long, I was teaching the children of some of my original students. The life skills programmes I presented are timeless, but as the area has grown domestic violence awareness, drug education and internet safety have become more and more crucial. In social media there is an alternative reality being presented and sometimes kids have difficulties telling the difference between that and real life. Being honest when relating to young people is the key and it helps that I personally try to live by those strong principles and values, as a Christian. A lot of support is offered through schools, such as the Breakfast in Schools and Kids Can programmes, and my view is that these are admirable, but short-term fixes. The danger is that those things, especially once they are funded and become the accepted norm, replace dealing with the essential problems. If you stop offering those things, some kids go hungry, but first principles should be around dealing with issues so that families can function effectively. I believe kids ideally need a mum and dad, male and female, in a loving relationship. Thats not to say that people who are in a different situation should be judged. I would never do that, but I think policies should be around supporting families to keep the family unit strong that means a strong nation. When you abandon those principles around family structure, when they cease to be top-of-mind, it can put kids in a difficult position. Because my work in schools has primarily been day shifts, I have been able to maintain a balance with family life, recreation (I am a keen runner) and work. I am an active and involved parent and now have six grandkids too. My work covered schools from Gulf Harbour to Mangawhai and included liaising with Auckland Transport over things such as safe locations for bus stops or crossings. In 2012, the Loves Me Not domestic violence prevention programme was brought in as a trial nationwide. In Rodney, I led the introduction of it at Mahurangi College and we are gradually getting it introduced at local colleges. It is a labour-intensive course, taken by three people Police, a representative of a community organisation like Womens Refuge or Public Health, and a teacher. At first, I took an arts degree at university, then switched to education. After teaching for five years, I worked for the Ministry of Transport in a specialist role providing traffic instruction in schools. When the merger happened in 1992 between Police and Traffic, I was working with companies on crash rates. That led to coming out of uniform for four years to work on delivering driver training programmes to businesses but eventually I went back into Police and was on motorway patrol. When I took on an education role based at Takapuna station, it meant working in a lot of Rodney and Hibiscus Coast schools, so I came to see the Snr Sgt of the day, John Ponsford, who has since passed, and was moved up here officially in 1994. And Ive been here ever since. History was part of my degree and it can provide context for things that are happening today. I look at all the [Black Lives Matter] protests happening now in New Zealand and around the world and think we should focus more on what unites us, not what divides us. Once we start waving placquards about, we stop talking to each other. We shout down each others views and the wedge between us gets wider and forces people into extreme positions, rather than moderating our opinions through facts, education and rational debate. You cannot demonise people based on their religion, political beliefs or the colour of their skin. My experience is that this is also the case within Police. The vast majority look at people as people, and deal with the facts of the case at hand, not the race or gender of those involved. In the same vein, I dont believe in quotas in Police recruitment. We should pay for competence that is what matters most. Of course the other issue of the moment is about arming Police. Ultimately I believe that New Zealands Police force will be armed as a matter of course because they will have to be, for their own protection. Thats just the sad fact. I have loved my job, but you get a sense of when its appropriate to go. I want to travel, spend more time with my grandkids and go running more often. I am also teaching part time at Orewa North, which is a lovely school with great staff and kids. The hallmark for me, when I look back at my career, is the great people Ive worked with. Theyve been outstanding. Lockport, NY (14094) Today Windy with showers and thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High around 80F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 51F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Today, Tuesday June 30, marks the end of the successful COVID-19 Community Outreach (CCO) Programme, a joint initiative by The Wheel, the national association of charities, and Irish Rural Link, the national network representing the interest of rural communities and funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development. Since the Taoiseachs announced the programme on March 27, 34 Local Community Champions across the country have worked tirelessly to link and support the work of community and voluntary organisations responding to meet the needs of those who were cocooning. The aim of the programme was to ensure no person would be left behind during the pandemic. Over the last three months, the Community Champion for Longford, Karen Reilly from Longford Womens Link helped to join the dots and link thousands of people who were cocooning into local services so their needs were fully met, linked volunteers to hundreds of community and voluntary organisations and vice versa and identified gaps in services and reported these back to their local authority forum meeting. They also dealt with a lot of social issues, such as loneliness among those cocooning, delivery of school meals and food parcels to families in need as well as helping people celebrate their birthdays when family were unable to celebrate with them. Karen worked closely with Siobhan Cronogue, Longford PPN to launch the highly successful HearForYou initiative it is hoped that this will continue throughout 2020. Both The Wheel and Irish Rural Link are extremely grateful for the hard work and effort the Champions have done in their local communities. Speaking of the work Karen Reilly has done both Seamus Boland, CEO Irish Rural Link and Deirdre Garvey, CEO of the Wheel said We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Karen for the tremendous work she has done over the last few months in providing ongoing support to the people, community & voluntary organisations and volunteers in their communities and made the programme the success it was. Karen showed great leadership in their communities and by working together with their local authority, agencies and with community and voluntary organisations they ensured that the needs of every person were met. Speaking about the ending of the CCO Programme, the Department of Rural and Community Development said The Department was delighted to provide funding towards the COVID-19 Community Outreach Project. The Community Champions appointed across the country really sprang into action, helping to coordinate the local community response to the crisis. The DRCD works closely with the Community and Voluntary Sector and this project served to embed that relationship further. We look forward to continuing to work with the sector into the future to help our communities face the challenges of recovery. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on peoples mental health and wellbeing will be felt for some time and the necessary supports must be available in communities to support these people. People affected by COVID-19 will continue to receive support through the governments Community Call initiative. For more information, call the Longford Community Call Helpline on 043 3344255 or 1800 300 122. This number is available from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Sunday. As the confinement measures started to ease, the Baalbeck Festival committee began planning for a major project which received the support of the President of the Republic, who has also been the honorary president of the festival since its creation. The idea was also supported by the ministers of Culture, Tourism, Health, as well as the Lebanese National Conservatory. The concert entitled "The Sound of Resilience" is part of the celebrations commemorating the centenary of the declaration of Greater Lebanon. This is a Covid-19 post-confinement concert, which will take place on July 5 in Baalbeck, in the heart of the Temple of Bacchus, without audience, but taking the necessary physical distancing measures to protect the 130 participants. Filmed by the Lebanese channel LBCI, the retransmission will be live and will be relayed by all the Lebanese channels, and broadcasted as well on social networks. We also have a partnership with an Arab channel and we are negotiating with a European channel. The concept and the artistic direction were developed by maestro Harout Fazlian who will direct a Lebanese and Western repertoire, while Jean-Louis Mainguy will be in charge of the scenography. The Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra with choirs from the Antonine University and Notre Dame University (NDU) will be at the heart of this musical event. The Baalbeck Festival, a cultural flagship event in Lebanon, seeks to instill a clear message: culture must survive. It is an engine of creativity, solidarity, resilience, and life. Some people think that, because the country is in a very bad situation, then the timing is not right. To these people, we respond that music and culture in general have always been a dynamic sector, one that must continue to produce. It is a message of faith ... Despite the serious problems that Lebanon is facing, we must fight to preserve the cultural industry as flagship of the country. We have so many talents who want to express themselves! Our role is to continue to reinvent ourselves, hoping that one day we will have a real policy supporting the culture sector that feeds, in the case of festivals, the touristic and socio-economic sectors of an entire region. For this concert without audience, the artists and all the partners will offer their time and skills for free, to support this positive initiative. We also call on embassies passionate about culture to support our message. The list of institutions and people who support this project is very long, we will thank them one by one in our communications, highlighting the solidarity that has been built around this unique concert." Before the pandemic and the confinement which upset the programming of all the festivals, did you have a program prepared for the summer of 2020? Before the pandemic, we had decided to organize two big concerts. A delegation from Baalbeck visited us in December to remind us of the socio-economic importance of the festival for the city and its inhabitants. For the past two years, we have been preparing to host L'Orchestre national d'Ile-de-France. We were in contact with Valerie Pecresse and had regular discussions with the orchestra director, Fabienne Voisin, to coordinate this great project. The program included Beethoven's 9th symphony to celebrate the Beethoven year, and a Lebanese composition in the first segment. This concert was directly impacted by the pandemic and therefore postponed indefinitely. We had a second evening planned to celebrate the centenary of Greater Lebanon, featuring renowned Lebanese artists. These were large-scale projects, which reflected the two artistic missions of the festival: encourage Lebanese creation and host international shows. Everything has been paused. But, despite the confinement, the committee continued its virtual meetings. We are constantly trying to reinvent ourselves. In fact, the festival remained very active on social networks Since the beginning of the confinement, we sought to keep our social networks active by sharing extracts from concerts of the last 10 years. Our database is rich with very beautiful videos. Especially when it comes to recent productions. If we are to look back at the 2019 edition of Baalbeck Festival, what would you say? Were difficulties already beginning to be felt? The festival committees policy is to plan its budget according to its available means (state subsidy, sponsors and ticketing projection). In recent years, we had to lower our financial ambitions, while preserving artistic quality and especially artistic creations. The new ministerial decrees were very disadvantageous for festivals. A good thing, however, was the setting of a clear classification of the festivals according to their seniority, their continuity, the diversity, the cultural level of the spectacles and the historical place where they are held. Nevertheless, the cancellation of the reduced visa fee for foreign artists, the decision to support, through festivals, the Mutual Fund for Artists, and recently the new decree which stipulates covering two thirds of losses (with a low ceiling) instead of the third of the budget as before were warning signs announcing the end of most festivals. In addition, pledges of grant funding are constantly reduced and paid with long delays that can reach several years. Today, with the economic, financial and health crisis, the problem is amplified, the sponsors (apart from some very rare patrons) are absent. We are an institution, with employees that we want to protect. We have some minimal reserves, but what next? (This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 23rd of June) Under the shock of learning that charges were brought against the religious scholar Ali el-Amine, Patriarch Bechara el-Rahi alarmedly denounced, in the middle of a rosary recitation on Tuesday evening, an unfortunate drift of Lebanon towards a police state, a source close to el-Rahi told LOLJ. One may essentially add: it was known that Hezbollah was attacking this Shiite dignitary who does not share its totalitarian ideology and the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (Wilayat al-Fakih) doctrine; it was also known that the man was evicted from his home in Tyre and that he has been living in Hazmieh. But what we did not known that single thought would lead those close to the party to file an information note with the judiciary in which they would accuse a man of great moderation who prays in Sunnite mosques of inciting discord, simply because he does not think like them. A correction was published on Wednesday by the National News Agency (NNA), in which it apologized for having mixed up the accusations made in the information note sent to a magistrate by lawyer Ghassan Mawla, with the charge. The note said the Shiite dignitary was guilty of meeting with Israeli officials in Bahrain, persistent criticism of the resistance movement and our martyrs, interfaith incitement, machinations for the purpose of discord and violations of the religious rules of the Jaafari jurisprudence. Ultimately, the only charge brought against el-Amine was stirring up sectarian strife and inciting discord between communities. If the charge of meeting with Israeli officials was not retained, it was because it would have been the responsibility of the military court, and that in any event, that same charge was dismissed in December 2009, on the Shiite dignitarys return from an interfaith conference he attended in Bahrain. The chief rabbi of Jerusalem was also present, a fact that el-Amine knew only after his attendance. On a practical level, Hassan el-Amine told OLJ on Wednesday that his father has not yet been legally notified of the new charges upheld by the prosecutor general, which he only learned of through the media. Sliding towards a Police State The fact remains that the legal action brought against el-Amine has aroused the indignation of political circles and activists. Hezbollah is implementing a policy of intimidation and censorship of speech, with lies and slander, Ibrahim Chamseddine, a former minister, told LOLJ, confirming the Maronite patriarchs diagnosis of the country sliding towards a police state. Chamseddine also criticized the complacency towards Hezbollah by the leaders of the Future Movement, who today clear themselves vis-a-vis the Shiite dignitary by condemning the prosecutions against him, but who had gave up on el-Amine when the Shiite Higher Council, under pressure from the Amal-Hezbollah duo, stripped him of his privilege to issue religious decrees (fatwas), even though such a decision was to be taken by the council of ministers. For Chamseddine, the charges against el-Amine are null and void, they must be withdrawn immediately and the magistrate who retained them should be held responsible by his superiors. The move was also denounced by Samir Geagea, who said that it was inadmissible that civil liberties in Lebanon be treated as such and called on the Supreme Judicial Council to put an end to the matter. It is unacceptable to use the judiciary, the head of the Lebanese Forces (LF) said. For his part, Walid Jumblatt denounced the conspiracy to falsify history by the forces of darkness and exclusion and the abolition of Lebanon as a country of diversity and freedoms by totalitarian forces. The leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) also regretted that the judiciary or what is left of it was being manipulated. The DNA of Freedom The outrage is no less among the activists, who do not fear for democracy but consider that it is being threatened by both arbitrary prosecutions and heavy-handed arrests. One of them, who requested anonymity, recalled that the attorney general at the court of cassation, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, had just announced that offenses against the head of state will no longer be tolerated. A police state in Lebanon is doomed to fail, he said, we are not a monolithic society. The Lebanese carry in their genes the DNA of freedom. And no one will be able to take it away from them. You fear for Ali el-Amine, he said. But we fear for the Shiite religious scholar Yasser Awdeh. Listen on YouTube to what hes saying in the middle of Bir el-Abed! (Security) agencies are back, said Pierre Issa of the National Bloc Party (NLP). This government is a government of security agencies. But no one has overused accusations of collusion with the enemy as much as some of its members. Look at what was done to Ramzi Irani (an engineer and LF executive, assassinated in May 2002), Toufic Hindi (political advisor to the LF leader detained in 2001 for 15 months for collusion with Israel), and now Ali el-Amine, he added. Is it a coincidence that the young woman who is currently being prosecuted for collusion with the enemy is hostile to Hezbollah? he asked, referring to the activist Kinda el-Khatib who is in custody in connection with her prosecution by the military prosecutors office on accusations of collaboration with Israel. But real agents, such as Fayez Karam (a former official of the Free Patriotic Movement and close aide to General Michel Aoun who was sentenced in 2011 to only two years in prison for collaborating with Israel), and Amer Fakhoury (a former high-ranking member of the pro-Israel militia South Lebanon Army) are being freed. Issa denounced the collusion between the police and the judiciary, which is characteristic of all police regimes. At the moment, public opinion is more polarized around the fight against precariousness than the fight for freedoms, and this risks the reemergence of the dividing lines between March 14 and March 8 (coalitions), the NLP official said. This state wants to solve the social and economic problems through the police. We need time to understand what this regime is doing. Perhaps we are going back to the days when Emile Lahoud was President. But take a good look at the countries that Hezbollah is presenting us as models: Syria, Iran, Venezuela. These are countries that resemble it... (This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 25th of June) Ensure you get a print copy of the Loudoun Times-Mirror delivered weekly to your home or business! Complete online access is included with all print subscriptions purchased online. Plus, up to four other members of your household can share online access through this subscription with their own, individual linked accounts at no additional charge. (Are you a current advertiser? Ask your sales rep for our special advertiser rate code!) Colvins founding team Colvin, a Barcelona, Spain-based online delivery company dedicated to flowers, raised 14m in Series B funding. Backers included Milano Investment Partners (MIP) and P101 sgr, via P102 and ITA500, along with Spanish fund Samaipata. The company, which has raised 24m in total funding to date, intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations and its business reach in Europe, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany, and grow its product offerings. Founded in 2017 by Sergi Bastardas, Andres Cester and Marc Olmedillo, Colvin provides a flower delivery service which connects customers and grower cutting the traditional production chain time and costs, as well as a customized customer care service. The company has quadruplied the turnover in comparison with the previous year and is now present in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany. FinSMEs 30/06/2020 Member Benefits Manage your personalised Watchlist. Set up an online Virtual Portfolio. Participate in Share Chat. See more trades and director dealings. Play the Fantasy Share Trading Game. Register for FREE Now (Alliance News) - Balfour Beatty PLC on Tuesday said its joint venture with Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd, Gammon Construction, has been awarded a Central Kowloon Route contract worth HKD5.67 billion, or GBP577 million. The Central Kowloon Route is a highway project in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The 4.7 kilometre dual three-lane major road is expected to enhance connectivity between the East and West Kowloon districts whilst relieving congestion. The FTSE 250-listed construction company said that Gammon will deliver buildings, mechanical and electrical works on behalf of the Highways Department of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Balfour Beatty said works include the delivery of critical mechanical and electrical works as well as the construction of tunnel ventilation and administration buildings. Gammon is also constructing the Kai Tak West section of the route, which includes underwater and cut-and-cover tunnels, as well as roads. "We are delighted to be working with the government's Highways Department again on this vital piece of infrastructure for Hong Kong. Our experience and expertise in delivering complex mechanical and electrical works continues to grow, and we look forward to further strengthening our reputation through the safe and efficient execution of this contract," said Gammon Chief Executive Thomas Ho. Balfour Beatty shares were trading 0.9% higher at 260.40 pence each on Tuesday morning in London. By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com. Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - On the Beach Group PLC on Tuesday swung to a loss for the first half of its financial year, as revenue more than halved due to Covid-19 related cancellations and a significant reduction in demand as the pandemic spread. Also, the beach holiday retailer announced the appointment of Finance Director Shaun Morton to the board as chief financial officer with effect on July 17. He will be replacing Paul Meehan, who is stepping down after three years in the role since 2017. Morton has been in his current role for two years since 2018, and during that tenure was responsible for dealing with the failure of Thomas Cook, the acquisition of Classic Collection, and delivery of On the Beach's share placing to raise GBP67 million in May. "Shaun has a built a strong understanding of the online travel industry since joining the group and I look forward to working with him as we deliver on the group's strategy to become Europe's leading online retailer of beach holidays," said Chief Executive Simon Cooper. For the six months to the end of March, On the Beach reported a pretax loss of GBP34.1 million, a substantial swing from a profit of GBP11.9 million the year before, as exceptional expenses reflected the cost of Covid-19 related cancellations or expected cancellations. On an adjusted basis, pretax profit fell by 85% to GBP2.3 million from GBP15.7 million the prior year, due to the reduction in consumer demand and increased offline marketing spend. Revenue for the interim period was down 66% year-on-year to GBP21.4 million from GBP63.5 million, again due to lower demand and booking cancellations. On the Beach declared no interim dividend for the period, compared to a 1.3 pence per share payout the prior year. Looking ahead, the holiday firm said that bookings for April were at 10% of normal volumes, while from mid-June there has been a sharp increase in demand for summer departures, albeit from a very low base. Booking volumes for the summer of 2021 remain low, but are significantly ahead of the prior year. However, for its current financial year On the Beach has suspended guidance until the full effect of Covid-19 is clearer. "In the aftermath of the Thomas Cook collapse, the group made excellent progress in the first four months of the financial year, driving record levels of brand awareness and achieving sales growth of almost 30% for holidays departing in Summer 2020. We also made significant progress against our strategic objectives in the year with Classic Package Holidays going live in over 2,600 agencies alongside the continued expansion of our long haul offering," Cooper said. Shares in On the Beach were down 1.2% at 298.50 pence on Tuesday in London. By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Sharecast News) - Vast Resources updated the market on progress at its Manaila Polymetallic Mine, and the adjacent Manaila Carlibaba Extension Project, in Romania on Tuesday, confirming it has now been granted the Manaila Carlibaba exploitation licence. The AIM-traded firm said it would allow it to re-examine the exploitation of the mineral resources within the larger Manaila Carlibaba licence area. It said the Manaila Carlibaba exploitation perimeter contains a JORC 2012-compliant measured and indicated mineral resource of 3.6 megatonnes, grading at 0.93% copper, 0.29% lead, 0.63% zinc, 0.23 grams of gold per tonne, and 24.9 grams of silver per tonne. Inferred mineral resources totalled one megatonne, grading at 1.10% copper, 0.40% lead, 0.84% zinc, 0.24 grams of gold per tonne, and 29.2 grams of silver per tonne. The enlarged exploitation licence is 138.6 hectares in size - an increase of 410% in surface area from the existing license at Manaila of 27.2 hectares. "This could allow for a larger mining and processing facility to be developed on site and would eliminate the need for costly road transport of mined ore to the current processing facility located at Iacobeni, approximately 30 kilometers away," the Vast board said in its statement. "The transportation element increased the operational cost of the Manaila, currently on care and maintenance, by approximately 25% to 30%." Vast said preliminary studies indicated the potential for a new open pit mine to exploit mineral resources to a depth of about 125 meters below surface, and to simultaneously develop a smaller higher-grade underground mine below the open pit mineral resources. "Immediate access for the underground section can be provided from the existing open pit at Manaila by developing adits, or horizontal mine entrances, from the high wall of the open pit." At 1302 BST, shares in Vast Resources were up 5.68% at 0.21p. (Alliance News) - Verditek PLC on Tuesday said its loss narrowed in 2019 after a sizeable impairment the year before that wasn't repeated, and it is expecting to generate free cash flow in 2020. Shares in Verditek were up 14% at 8.30 pence in London in afternoon trading. Green technology investment firm Verditek reported a GBP1.9 million pretax loss for 2019, narrowed from a GBP2.7 million loss in 2018. This resulted from a GBP624,926 impairment of an investment in an associate in 2018 that did not repeat in 2019. In addition, administrative expenses fell 11% to GBP1.7 million from GBP1.9 million. No revenue was recorded, with all investment funds raised used for production equipment. Chief Executive Robert Richards, who took over on June 2, said: "In the first weeks of my tenure, I have addressed the overheads within the company to make us lean for a more fit for purpose, hence significantly reducing the monthly burn rate. I expect that with the reduced overhead and expectant ramp up in revenues that we will be generating free cash flow within 2020." On Monday last week said it had received its first order in the oil & gas industry for its ultra-lightweight solar product from SAF Group. The solar panels will be used to provide power for the construction camp at Shikarpur Compressor Station in Pakistan, where SAF is the local partner of Caterpillar Inc subsidiary Solar Turbines Inc. SAF will evaluate the operating performance of Verditek's solar with the potential to wider-scale deployment on their projects. Richards said: "Having recently achieved our first commercial order in the oil and gas sector, the continued expansion into verticals in which we can displace liquid fuels, our strengthened global sales reach by increasing the number of agents and distributors appointed around the world, and our ongoing discussions with other complementary world leading manufacturers and suppliers to build strategic partnerships, fill me with excitement about the future of Verditek." By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. IRR Information Filter by Category All Company Announcement - General Additional Listing AIM Admission AIM Notice Base Rate Change Block Listing Interim Review Capital Reorganisation Change of Name Conversion of Securities Drilling/Production Report Final Announcement Released Geographical Distribution Intention to Float Issue of Debt Issue of Equity Joint Venture Net Asset Value Portfolio Update Price Monitoring Extension Product Launch Publication of a Prospectus Publication of Final Terms Research Update Restoration Rights Issue Stabilisation Notice Statement Suspension Tender Offer Trading Statement Treasury Stock All Mergers, Acquisitions and Disposals Acquisition Merger Form 8 (DD) Form 8 (OPD) Form 8.3 Form 8.5 (EPT/NON-RI) Form 8.5 (EPT/RI) Form 8.6 Rule 2.9 Announcement Offer By Offer For Offer Update All Results and Trading Reports 1st Quarter Results 3rd Quarter Results AGM Statement Annual Report Final Results Half-year Report Notice of Results Result of AGM Result of EGM Result of Equity Issue Result of General Meeting Result of Tender Offer Syndicate Results All Dividends Dividend Declaration Dividend Currency Election All Executive Changes Directorate Change Change of Adviser Change of Registered Office All Directors' Dealings Director/PDMR Shareholding All Advance Notice of Results Notice of AGM Notice of GM Notice of EGM Notice of Results All Non-Regulatory News All Transaction in Own Shares All Holding(s) in Company Total Voting Rights Notification of Major Holdings DigniFi, a Seattle, WA-based financing platform for auto repairs and services, raised $14m in Series A funding. Backers included Austin-based BuildGroup, the permanent capital company started by Lanham Napier, formerly of RackSpace, and Exor Seeds, the venture arm of Exor N.V., the holding company of the Agnelli family (controlling shareholder of Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari, CNHI, PartnerRe, and Juventus). In addition, the company has signed an agreement with Neuberger Berman Private Equity to purchase up to $275m of assets. The financing enables DigniFi to grow its network of 5,000 auto service centers. Led by Richard Counihan, CEO, DigniFi provides a platform that partners with auto service centers to offer access to financial products for car repairs, tires, accessories, and other automotive needs. Franchise dealerships and independent auto shops use it to allow customers to maintaine their vehicles. Customers apply on their personal phone and receive an instant decision from a lender. To date, the platform has provided access to over $120 million of financing in partnership with more than 5,000 auto service centers, covering all five profit centers of a dealership: financing and insurance (F&I), sales, parts and accessories, service, and collision. The loans are originated through WebBank, an FDIC-regulated bank. FinSMEs 30/06/2020 April 23, 5:01 p.m. The University is reporting 708 coronavirus cases 549 of which are students and 159 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 544 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 455,541. There are 12 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,336. There are 330 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 47 of them are on ventilators. April 21, 5:00 p.m. The University is reporting 703 coronavirus cases 548 of which are students and 155 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 661 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 454,377. There are 10 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,316. There are 336 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 42 of them are on ventilators. April 20, 2:22 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 359 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 453,711. There are 13 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,306. There are 344 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 41 of them are on ventilators. April 19, 4:18 p.m. The University is reporting 693 coronavirus cases 541 of which are students and 152 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,413 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 453,351. There are 11 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,293. There are 337 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 39 of them are on ventilators. April 18, 3:00 p.m. The University is reporting 686 coronavirus cases 535 of which are students and 151 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 523 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 451,955. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,282. There are 317 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 42 of them are on ventilators. April 15, 5:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 791 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 451,476. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,273. There are 338 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 45 of them are on ventilators. April 14, 5:00 p.m. The University is reporting 677 coronavirus cases 526 of which are students and 151 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 386 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 450,673. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,264. There are 325 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 49 of them are on ventilators. April 13, 3:07 p.m. The University is reporting 673 coronavirus cases 522 of which are students and 151 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 442 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 450,279. There are 14 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,255. There are 330 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 49 of them are on ventilators. April 10, 9:00 p.m. The University is reporting 661 coronavirus cases 511 of which are students and 150 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 739 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 448,838. There are 16 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,216. There are 297 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 43 of them are on ventilators. April 8, 7:08 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 442 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 448,104. There are 15 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,200. There are 301 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 44 of them are on ventilators. April 7, 5:56 p.m. The University is reporting 649 coronavirus cases 500 of which are students and 149 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 719 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 447,655. There are 11 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,185. There are 301 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 46 of them are on ventilators. April 6, 4:14 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 198 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 446,955. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,174. There are 299 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 47 of them are on ventilators. April 5, 6:58 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,259 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 446,737. There are 4 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,165. There are 262 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 49 of them are on ventilators. April 4, 4:15 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 549 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 445,469. There are 20 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,161. There are 347 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 56 of them are on ventilators. March 31, 4:05 p.m. The University is reporting 632 coronavirus cases 485 of which are students and 147 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 508 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 444,933. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,141. There are 354 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 60 of them are on ventilators. March 24, 3:15 p.m. The University is reporting 619 coronavirus cases 474 of which are students and 145 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 524 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 442,221. There are 19 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,056. There are 413 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 75 of them are on ventilators. March 23, 4:16 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 709 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 441,771. There are 7 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,037. There are 404 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 74 of them are on ventilators. March 22, 6:13 p.m. The University is reporting 611 coronavirus cases 468 of which are students and 143 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,334 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 441,066. There are 42 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 10,030. There are 403 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 71 of them are on ventilators. March 21, 1:42 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 203 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 439,737. There are 14 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,988. There are 399 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 68 of them are on ventilators. March 19, 6:10 p.m. The University is reporting 607 coronavirus cases 465 of which are students and 142 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 203 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 439,737. There are 14 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,988. There are 399 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 68 of them are on ventilators. March 17, 4:06 p.m. The University is reporting 600 coronavirus cases 460 of which are students and 140 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 447 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 439,002. There are 30 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,955. There are 446 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 66 of them are on ventilators. March 16, 4:20 p.m. The University is reporting 600 coronavirus cases 460 of which are students and 140 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 974 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 438,557. There are 22 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,925. There are 453 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 62 of them are on ventilators. March 14, 3:43 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 945 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 437,393. There are 23 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,884. There are 457 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 68 of them are on ventilators. March 13, 5:05 p.m. The University is reporting 591 coronavirus cases 453 of which are students and 138 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 528 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 436,482. There are 33 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,861. There are 478 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 63 of them are on ventilators. March 11, 12:43 p.m. The University is reporting 585 coronavirus cases 447 of which are students and 138 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 441 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 435,935. There are 16 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,828. There are 514 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 64 of them are on ventilators. March 10, 4:56 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 577 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 435,514. There are 43 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,812. There are 530 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 69 of them are on ventilators. March 9, 6:08 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 631 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 434,926. There are 11 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,769. There are 543 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 75 of them are on ventilators. March 8, 5:04 p.m. The University is reporting 579 coronavirus cases 444 of which are students and 135 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 515 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 434,289. There are 10 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,758. There are 534 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 78 of them are on ventilators. March 5, 6:59 p.m. The University is reporting 579 coronavirus cases 444 of which are students and 135 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 504 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 433,045. There are 30 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,716. There are 538 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 77 of them are on ventilators. March 3, 6:32 p.m. The University is reporting 569 coronavirus cases 435 of which are students and 134 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 582 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 431,771. There are 21 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,668. There are 588 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 78 of them are on ventilators. March 2, 7:16 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 770 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 431,271. There are 19 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,647. There are 629 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 89 of them are on ventilators. March 1, 6:10 p.m. The University is reporting 564 coronavirus cases 431 of which are students and 133 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 408 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 430,504. There are 20 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,628. There are 629 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 91 of them are on ventilators. February 28, 6:31 p.m. The University is reporting 556 coronavirus cases 424 of which are students and 132 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,502 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 430,100. There are 21 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,608. There are 630 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 91 of them are on ventilators. February 25, 8:16 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 779 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 427,689. There are 33 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,561. There are 679 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 100 of them are on ventilators. February 24, 4:00 p.m. The University is reporting 547 coronavirus cases 416 of which are students and 131 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 879 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 426,925. There are 25 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,528. There are 687 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 102 of them are on ventilators. February 23, 5:36 p.m. The University is reporting 543 coronavirus cases 413 of which are students and 130 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,393 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 426,048. There are 26 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,503. There are 715 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 111 of them are on ventilators. February 21, 3:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,909 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 424,176. There are 26 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,466. There are 756 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 120 of them are on ventilators. February 20, 6:22 p.m. The University is reporting 540 coronavirus cases 410 of which are students and 130 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 430 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 422,287. There are 34 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,440. There are 806 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 129 of them are on ventilators. February 13, 11:21 p.m. The University is reporting 518 coronavirus cases 391 of which are students and 127 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,156 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 418,585. There are 37 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,276. There are 1,001 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 151 of them are on ventilators. February 11, 4:21 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,739 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 417,415. There are 27 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,239. There are 1,052 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 151 of them are on ventilators. February 10, 5:13 p.m. The University is reporting 514 coronavirus cases 387 of which are students and 127 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 337 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 414,687. There are 50 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,212. There are 1,076 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 151 of them are on ventilators. February 9, 1:32 p.m. The University is reporting 509 coronavirus cases 382 of which are students and 127 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,321 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 414,354. There are 20 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,162. There are 1,122 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 151 of them are on ventilators. February 7, 3:19 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,003 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 411,812. There are 43 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,119. There are 1,166 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 143 of them are on ventilators. February 5, 4:34 p.m. The University is reporting 494 coronavirus cases 367 of which are students and 127 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 863 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 409,861. There are 32 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,076. There are 1,275 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 167 of them are on ventilators. February 4, 5:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,758 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 408,995. There are 38 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,044. There are 1,295 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 162 of them are on ventilators. February 3, 3:30 p.m. The University is reporting 474 coronavirus cases 347 of which are students and 127 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,046 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 406,235. There are 53 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 9,006. There are 1,386 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 180 of them are on ventilators. February 2, 4:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,580 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 404,194. There are 41 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,953. There are 1,440 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 189 of them are on ventilators. February 1, 4:13 p.m. The University is reporting 458 coronavirus cases 335 of which are students and 123 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 899 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 401,591. There are 53 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,912. There are 1,403 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 187 of them are on ventilators. January 31, 3:37 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,355 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 400,626. There are 58 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,859. There are 1,416 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 199 of them are on ventilators. January 30, 8:05 p.m. The University is reporting 423 coronavirus cases 304 of which are students and 119 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,369 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 397,276. There are 58 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,801. There are 1,546 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 198 of them are on ventilators. January 28, 4:41 p.m. The University is reporting 384 coronavirus cases 271 of which are students and 113 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,517 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 394,909. There are 55 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,743. There are no updates on the current number of patients in hospitals due to COVID-19, and 206 of them are on ventilators. January 27, 2:05 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,868 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 392,416. There are 67 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,688. There are 1,625 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 203 of them are on ventilators. January 26, 8:20 p.m. The University is reporting 353 coronavirus cases 250 of which are students and 103 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,654 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 388,562. There are 31 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,621. There are 1,646 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 217 of them are on ventilators. January 25, 12:04 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,075 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 385,942. There are 25 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,590. There are 1,638 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 219 of them are on ventilators. January 24, 2:06 p.m. The University is reporting 316 coronavirus cases 219 of which are students and 97 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,604 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 383,862. There are 82 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,565. There are 1,641 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 215 of them are on ventilators. January 22, 2:31 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,937 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 380,255. There are 41 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,483. There are 1,747 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 216 of them are on ventilators. January 21, 6:33 p.m. The University is reporting 277 coronavirus cases 186 of which are students and 91 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,856 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 378,318. There are 59 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,442. There are 1,800 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 233 of them are on ventilators. January 20, 1:20 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,536 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 374,582. There are 59 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,383. There are 1,858 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 243 of them are on ventilators. January 19, 12:05 p.m. The University is reporting 240 coronavirus cases 156 of which are students and 84 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,126 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 372,089. There are 71 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,324. There are 1,905 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 249 of them are on ventilators. January 18, 4:08 p.m. The University is reporting 215 coronavirus cases 138 of which are students and 77 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 961 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 369,951. There are 50 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,253. There are 1,894 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 239 of them are on ventilators. January 15, 12:55 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,712 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 364,853. COVID-19 related deaths were not recorded for Jan. 15. There are 2,001 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 242 of them are on ventilators. January 14, 12:40 p.m. The University is reporting 159 coronavirus cases 105 of which are students and 54 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 5,318 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 361,148. There are 58 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,080. There are 1,975 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 245 of them are on ventilators. January 13, 12:12 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,902 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 355,835. There are 51 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 8,022. There are 2,029 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 235 of them are on ventilators. January 12, 12:12 p.m. The University is reporting 143 coronavirus cases 84 of which are students and 59 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 4,673 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 352,939. There are 53 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 7,971. There are 2,035 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 244 of them are on ventilators. January 11, 12:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,402 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 348,234. There are 45 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 7,918. There are 1,982 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 232 of them are on ventilators. December 9, 8:04 p.m. The University is reporting 1,562 coronavirus cases 1,403 of which are students and 159 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 4,339 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 258,914. There are 32 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,684. There are 1,537 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 177 of them are on ventilators. December 8, 9:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,439 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 254,575. There are 45 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,652. December 7, 4:55 p.m. The University is reporting 1,545 coronavirus cases 1,394 of which are students and 151 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,016 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 252,136. There are 23 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,607. There are 1,423 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 161 of them are on ventilators. December 4, 8:45 p.m. The University is reporting 1,530 coronavirus cases 1,382 of which are students and 148 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,102 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 247,177. There are 24 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,548. There are 1,357 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 154 of them are on ventilators. December 2, 10:22 p.m. The University is reporting 1,509 coronavirus cases 1,369 of which are students and 140 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,604 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 241,335. There are 46 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,501. There are 1,288 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 134 of them are on ventilators. December 1, 11:57 a.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 5,326 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 237,740. There are 35 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,455. There are 1,280 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 128 of them are on ventilators. November 30, 9:02 p.m. The University is reporting 1,439 coronavirus cases 1,321 of which are students and 118 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 112 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 232,414. There are 11 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,420. There are 1,241 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 125 of them are on ventilators. November 26, 8:26 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,234 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 225,638. There are 27 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,350. There are 1,077 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 116 of them are on ventilators. November 24, 4:31 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,266 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 224,403. There are 39 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,323. There are 1,052 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 113 of them are on ventilators. November 23, 8:27 p.m. The University is reporting 1,411 coronavirus cases 1,300 of which are students and 111 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 971 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 221,160. There are 24 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,284. There are 1,012 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 114 of them are on ventilators. November 19, 8:06 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,073 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 211,966. There are 15 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,199. There are 929 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 88 of them are on ventilators. November 18, 3:50 p.m. The University is reporting 1,367 coronavirus cases 1,267 of which are students and 100 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,239 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 209,914. There are 28 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,184. There are 886 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 93 of them are on ventilators. November 17, 8:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 2,592 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 207,685. There are 17 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,156. There are 874 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 92 of them are on ventilators. November 16, 5:18 p.m. The University is reporting 1,354 coronavirus cases 1,259 of which are students and 95 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 547 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 205,059. There are 7 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,139. There are 818 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 81 of them are on ventilators. November 13, 8:27 p.m. The University is reporting 1,329 coronavirus cases 1,239 of which are students and 90 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 3,492 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 201,981. There are 24 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 6,121. There are 692 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 62 of them are on ventilators. November 10, 8:34 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,307 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 189,682. There are 10 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,829. There are 684 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 66 of them are on ventilators. November 9, 7:01 p.m. The University is reporting 1,291 coronavirus cases 1,210 of which are students and 81 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 380 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 188,352. There are 12 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,819. There are 652 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 71 of them are on ventilators. November 6, 4:29 p.m. The University is reporting 1,271 coronavirus cases 1,196 of which are students and 75 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 855 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 186,695. There are 21 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,787. There are 644 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 81 of them are on ventilators. November 5, 4:27 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 740 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 185,825. There are 20 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,766. There are 636 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 82 of them are on ventilators. November 4, 12:38 p.m. The University is reporting 1,254 coronavirus cases 1,184 of which are students and 70 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 371 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 185,144. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,746. There are 623 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 77 of them are on ventilators. November 3, 5:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,157 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 184,773. There are 17 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,737. November 2, 7:21 p.m. The University is reporting 1,248 coronavirus cases 1,179 of which are students and 69 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 270 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 183,616. There are 8 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,720. There are 596 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 70 of them are on ventilators. October 30, 5:10 p.m. The University is reporting 1,223 coronavirus cases 1,157 of which are students and 66 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 434 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 182,270. There are 11 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,705. October 29, 6:03 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 392 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 181,837. There are 18 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,694. There are 612 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 79 of them are on ventilators. October 28, 4:14 p.m. The University is reporting 1,211 coronavirus cases 1,145 of which are students and 66 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 503 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 181,443. There are 10 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,676. There are 613 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 80 of them are on ventilators. October 27, 3:30 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 885 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 180,991. There are 18 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,666. There are 600 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 91 of them are on ventilators. October 26, 7:28 p.m. The University is reporting 1,179 coronavirus cases 1,118 of which are students and 61 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 222 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 180,069. There are 17 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,648. There are 609 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 71 of them are on ventilators. October 23, 6:19 p.m. Louisiana State University did not update their COVID-19 cases as scheduled today. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 696 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 178,870. There are 21 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,614. There are 620 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 65 of them are on ventilators. October 22, 8:24 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 775 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 178,171. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,593. There are 598 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 64 of them are on ventilators. October 21, 3:46 p.m. The University is reporting 1,164 coronavirus cases 1,103 of which are students and 61 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 744 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 177,399. There are 12 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,584. There are 608 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 68 of them are on ventilators. October 20, 8:32 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 685 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 176,681. There are 6 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,572. There are 586 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 62 of them are on ventilators. October 19, 5:26 p.m. The University is reporting 1,146 coronavirus cases 1,088 of which are students and 58 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 202 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 175,982. There are 16 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,566. There are 553 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 64 of them are on ventilators. October 18, 4:22 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,125 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 175,781. There are 23 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,550. There are 550 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 60 of them are on ventilators. October 16, 5:57 p.m. The University is reporting 1,129 coronavirus cases 1,074 of which are students and 54 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 863 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 174,638. There are 20 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,527. There are 557 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 60 of them are on ventilators. October 15, 4:28 p.m. The University is reporting 1,125 coronavirus cases 1,071 of which are students and 54 are for employees for the LSU Community. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 823 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 173,864. There are 12 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,507. There are 566 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 61 of them are on ventilators. October 14, 4:52 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 331 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 173,121. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,495. There are 574 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 64 of them are on ventilators. October 13, 4:52 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 653 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 172,801. There are 10 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,486. There are 573 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 68 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,124 coronavirus cases 1,071 of which are students and 53 are for employees for the LSU Community. October 12, 5:39 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 63 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 172,119. There are 14 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,476. There are 577 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 70 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,124 coronavirus cases 1,071 of which are students and 53 are for employees for the LSU Community. October 9, 3:02 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 265 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 170,878. There are 26 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,442. There are 582 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 78 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,113 coronavirus cases 1,060 of which are students and 53 are for employees for the LSU Community. October 8, 8:15 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 526 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 170,621. There are 5 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,416. There are 564 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 79 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,082 coronavirus cases 1,032 of which are students and 50 are for employees for the LSU Community. October 7, 4:08 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,052 new coronavirus cases for the state following a backlog of tests, bringing the total case count to 170,097. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,411. There are 552 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 78 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,082 coronavirus cases 1,032 of which are students and 50 are for employees for the LSU Community. October 6, 2:06 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 506 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 169,044. There are 6 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,402. There are 567 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 71 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,058 coronavirus cases 1,012 of which are students and 46 are for employees for the LSU Community. October 5, 8:45 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 230 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 168,512. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,396. There are 547 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 71 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,058 coronavirus cases 1,012 of which are students and 46 are for employees for the LSU Community. October 2, 5:23 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 889 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 167,401. There are 26 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,355. There are 536 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 74 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,032 coronavirus cases 987 of which are students and 45 are for employees for the LSU Community. October 1, 4:31 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 608 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 166,584. There are 8 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,329. There are 534 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 75 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,015 coronavirus cases 970 of which are students and 45 are for employees for the LSU Community. 4:50 p.m. The University has 1,015 total coronavirus cases 970 students and 45 employees for the campus community. September 30, 2:05 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 452 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 166,033. There are 13 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,321. There are 553 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 79 of them are on ventilators. LSU spokesperson Ernie Ballard said Wednesday that the previously reported total number of COVID-19 cases, 1,033, was made in error. The correct number of COVID-19 cases in the LSU community is 990. Of those cases, 947 of them are students and 43 are employees. Twenty-five students are currently self-isolating, while 38 are in quarantine. September 29, 12:28 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 553 new, overnight coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 165,624. There are 10 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,308. There are 578 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 80 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,033 coronavirus cases--990 of which are students and 43 are for employees--for the LSU Community. September 28, 8:03 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 236 new, overnight coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 165,091. There are 15 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,298. There are 563 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and 83 of them are on ventilators. The University is reporting 1,033 coronavirus cases--990 of which are students and 43 are for employees--for the LSU Community. September 25, 4:11 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 698 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 163,928. There are 21 additional deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,262. There are 117 new COVID-19 cases reported at LSU, totaling 970 cases for the LSU community. There are 570 coronavirus patients in hospitals, and 86 of them are on ventilators. September 24, 1:46 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 581 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 163,222. There are 16 additional deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,241. There are 853 total coronavirus cases for the LSU community. There are 575 coronavirus patients in hospitals, and 92 of them are on ventilators. September 23, 12:50 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 440 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 162,645. There are 7 additional deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,225. The University is reporting 24 new coronavirus cases on campus between Sept.18-20. There are 853 total coronavirus cases for the campus community. There are 592 coronavirus patients in hospitals, and 94 of them are on ventilators. September 21, 4:36 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 249 new Coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 161,462. There are 9 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,207. The University is reporting 41 new coronavirus cases on campus between Sept.18-20. There are 829 total coronavirus cases for the campus community. Hospitalizations decrease to 587, and 93 of those patients are on ventilators. September 20, 2020 12:23 p.m. There are 928 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, bringing the total case count to 161, 219. There are an additional 26 deaths for the state, reaching a total death count of 5,198. Hospitalizations decrease to 596, and there are one hundred patients on ventilators. September 18, 12:41 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 976 new Coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 160,283. There are 29 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,172. The University is reporting 20 new coronavirus cases on campus between Sept.16-17. There are 788 total coronavirus cases for the campus community. Hospitalizations decrease to 647, and 104 of those patients are on ventilators. September 17, 6:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 500 new Coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 159,304. There are 17 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,143. There are 768 total coronavirus cases for the LSU community. Hospitalizations decrease to 663, and 106 of patients are on ventilators. September 16, 5:18 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 508 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 158,826. There are 18 additional, COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,126. The University is reporting 14 new coronavirus cases on campus between Sept.14-15. There are 768 total coronavirus cases for the campus community. Hospitalizations increase to 678, and 107 of patients are on ventilators. September 14, 4:10 p.m. There are 497 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 157,947. There are 17 additional, overnight deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,082. The University has 50 additional coronavirus cases between Sept.11-13. There are now 754 coronavirus cases for the campus community. Hospitalizations decrease 664, and 105 of the patients are on ventilators. September 13, 4:30 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,353 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 157,455. There are 33 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 5,065. Hospitalizations decrease to 680, and 107 of patients are on ventilators. September 11, 4:24 p.m. There are 844 more coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 156,174. There are 41 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total case count of 5,032. The University has 31 additional coronavirus cases on campus between Sept. 9-10. There are now a total of 704 coronavirus cases for the LSU community. Hospitalizations decrease 723, and 117 of the patients are on ventilators. September 10, 12:10 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 499 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 155,419. There are 21 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 4,991. Hospitalizations decrease to 762, and there are 125 patients on ventilators. September 9, 4:05 p.m. Louisiana has 1,511 new coronavirus cases, with 690 of them being backlog. There is now a total of 154,955 coronavirus cases for the state. There are 15 additional deaths for the state, bringing the total death count to 4,970. The University is reporting 82 more coronavirus cases in the LSU Community over the past two days. There are now 673 total cases. COVID-19 patients in hospitals decrease to 782, and 123 of them are on ventilators. September 8, 11:00 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 250 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 153,433. There are 13 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 4,955. Hospitalizations increase to 799, and 131 of the patients are on ventilators. September 7, 6:40 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 305 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 153,177. There are 12 additional COVID-19 related deaths for the state, reaching a total death count of 4,942. The University has 102 new coronavirus cases between Sept. 4 and Sept. 9. The total coronavirus case count has reached 591. Hospitalizations decrease to 787, and 124 of the patients are on ventilators. September 6, 12:15 p.m. There are 1,387 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 152,868. There are an additional 58 COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death of 4,930. Hospitalizations decrease to 790, and 119 of them are on ventilators. September 4, 4:34 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 828 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total case count of 151,473. There are an additional 14 COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total death count to 4,872. The total number of coronavirus cases at the University have reached 489. Hospitalizations decrease to 808, and 96 of the patients are on ventilators. September 3, 2:16 p.m. There are 884 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 150,651. There are also 17 additional, overnight deaths for the state, reaching a total death count to 4,858. COVID-19 patients in hospitals have decreased to 851, and 128 of them are on ventilators. September 2, 3:15 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health reported 972 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 149,838. There are an additional 20 overnight deaths, reaching a total death count of 4,841. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals decreased to 873, 132 of them being on ventilators. At the University, the total number of cases has increased to 366. September 1, 2:17 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 667 new coronavirus cases for the state, bringing the total case count to 148,882. There are an additional 34 overnight deaths, reaching a total death count of 4,821. COVID-19 patients in hospitals increase to 910, and 128 of them are on ventilators. August 31, 4:57 p.m. There are 324 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, reaching a total case count of 148,193. There are 19 additional deaths, bringing the total death count to 4,787. The University is reporting 182 positive cases of coronavirus within the past five days. There are now 229 total coronavirus cases on campus. Hospitalizations decrease to 881, with 132 of them on ventilators. August 30, 12:15 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,645 new cases, including a backlog of 532 cases which are from as far back as July. There are 147,867 total cases for the state. Deaths increase by 27, reaching a total death count of 4,768. University numbers have not changed, still remaining at 47 total aggregated cases. Hospitalizations increase by two to 902, with 143 of them on ventilators. August 28, 12:00 p.m. There are 627 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, reaching a total of 146,243 cases for the state. There are 30 additional, overnight COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total death count to 4,741. Coronavirus cases for the University have not changed, with numbers remaining at 47 total aggregated cases. Hospitalizations increase to 900, and ventilator usage has decreased to 141. August 27, 1:17 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 723 new coronavirus cases, bringing Louisiana's total case count to 145, 637. There are 23 additional deaths for the state, reaching a total of 4,711 COVID-19 related deaths. Coronavirus cases for the University has not changed, with numbers remaining at 47 total aggregated cases. Hospitalizations continue to decrease to 876, with 145 of patients on ventilators. August 26, 12:41 p.m. There are 844 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, reaching a total of 144,960 reported cases for the state. There are 32 overnight COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total death count to 4,688. Coronavirus cases for the University has not changed, with numbers remaining at 47 total aggregated cases. Hospitalizations continue to decrease to 914, with 148 of them on ventilators. Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Wednesday afternoon, Louisiana will remain in Phase 2 for two more weeks, with restrictions in place until Sept. 11. August 25, 12:22 p.m. There are 47 total aggregated coronavirus cases reported to the University since August 15. Louisiana has 550 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 144,116. There are 33 additional COVID-19 related deaths for the state to 4,656. Hospitalizations continue to decrease to 930, and 141 of them are on ventilators. August 24, 12:09 p.m. LSU has 33 reported positive coronavirus cases within the last 6 days. Louisiana has 623 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 143,566. There are 18 additional COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total death count to 4,623. Hospitalizations remain at 941, with ventilator usage remaining at 152. August 23, 12:06 p.m. There are 1,223 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 142,943. There are 59 additional COVID-19 related deaths, reaching a total death count of 4,605. Hospitalizations decrease to 941, and 152 of them are on ventilators. August 21, 12:04 p.m. Louisiana has 899 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total case count of 141,720. There are 50 additional, overnight deaths, bringing the total death count to 4,546. COVID-19 hospitalizations decrease to 1,051, and 172 of them are on ventilators. August 20, 2:13 p.m. There are 918 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 140,821. The state also sees 28 new COVID-19 deaths, reaching a total death count of 4,496. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,087, and 178 of them are on ventilators. August 19, 12:19 p.m. Louisiana has 778 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total case count of 139,903. The state also has 37 more COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total death count to 4,468. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,160, and 175 of them are on ventilators. August 18, 12:05 p.m. There are 640 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 139,125. There are 28 more reported deaths for the state, reaching a total death count of 4,431. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,204, and 187 of them are on ventilators. August 17, 12:11 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Heath reports 735 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count for Louisiana to 138,485. There are 19 additional, overnight deaths, reaching a total death count of 4,403. Hospitalizations increase to 1,226, and 184 of them are on ventilators. August 16, 12:30 p.m. Louisiana has 1,181 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 137,918. Deaths increase by 77, reaching a total death count of 4,384. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,196, with 189 of them on ventilators. August 14, 12:04 p.m. There are 1,298 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total case count of 136,737 for Louisiana. Deaths increase by 28, bringing the total death count to 4,307. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,243, and 197 of them are on ventilators. August 13, 4:46 p.m. Louisiana has 1,135 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 135,439. Deaths increase by 41, reaching a total of 4,279 deaths. Hospitalizations continue to decrease to 1,281, and 196 of them on ventilators. August 12, 1:37 p.m. There are 1,179 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, reaching a total case count of 134,304. Deaths increase by 43, bringing the total death count to 4,238. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,320, with 211 of them on ventilators. August 11, 1:15 p.m. Louisiana has 1,726 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 133,125. The state has 26 additional, overnight deaths reaching a total death count of 4,195. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,335, with 214 of them on ventilators. August 10, 12:34 p.m. There are 562 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, reaching a total of 131,961 coronavirus cases, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. However, the updated numbers seem "incomplete." LDH is investigating. LDH reports 24 additional deaths for the state, bringing the total death count to 4,169. There are 1,382 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout Louisiana, one less than yesterday. 215 of them are on ventilators. August 9, 12:40 p.m. Louisiana has 2,653 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 131,399. There are 56 additional deaths for the state, bringing the total death count to 4,145. Hospitalizations continue to decrease to 1,383, and 210 of them are on ventilators. August 6, 12:10 p.m. There are 1,303 new coronavirus cases today in Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 127,246. There are 50 additional coronavirus related deaths, bringing the total to 4,028. Hospitalizations have decreased to 1,457 and ventilator usage has decreased to 215. August 5, 12:35 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health reported 1,490 new coronavirus cases today, bringing the total case count to 125,943. There are 41 additional coronavirus related deaths for the state, bringing the total to 3,978. Hospitalizations have decreased to 1,471 and ventilator usage has decreased to 223. August 4, 12:38 p.m. There are 3,615 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 124,461. The case count increase includes a backlog of 1,741 cases. Deaths have increased by 27 for the state, reaching a total of 3,937 deaths. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,487, with ventilator usage increasing to 240. August 3, 12:01 p.m. Louisiana has 1,099 new, overnight coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 120,846 total cases. There are 17 additional deaths for the state, bringing the total death count to 3,910. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,496, with 230 of them on ventilators. August 2, 12:01 p.m. There are 3,467 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 119,747. There are an additional 58 deaths for the state, reaching a total of 3,893 deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals decrease to 1, 534, with 221 of them on ventilators. July 31, 12:08 p.m. Louisiana sees 1,799 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 116,280. There are 24 additional coronavirus related deaths for the state, bringing the total to 3,835. COVID-19 patients in hospitals increase to 1,546, with 222 of them on ventilators. July 30, 12:00 p.m. There are 1,708 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, reaching a total of 114,481 cases. There are 42 additional deaths, bringing the total death count to 3,811. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,524, with 205 of them on ventilators. July 29, 1:52 p.m. Louisiana has 1,735 coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 112,773. There are 69 additional deaths, reaching a total of 3,769 for the state. COVID-19 patients in hospitals decrease to 1,544, with 221 of them on ventilators. July 28, 12:00 p.m. There are 1,121 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, reaching a total of 111,038 for the state. The COVID-19 death count increased by 26, bringing the total deaths count to 3,700. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,583, with 214 of them on ventilators. July 27, 12:14 p.m. Louisiana has 2,343 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 109,917. There are 23 additional deaths for the state, bringing the total death count to 3,674. COVID-19 patients in hospitals continue to increase to 1,600, with 208 of them on ventilators. July 26, 12:00 p.m. There are 3,840 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, reaching a total of 107,574 reported cases. There are 48 more deaths for the state, bringing the total deaths to 3,651. Hospitalizations decrease to 1,557, with 184 of them on ventilators. July 24, 12:35 p.m. Louisiana has 2,084 new coronavirus cases. Total case count for the state is at 103,754. Deaths have increased by 29 overnight, bringing the total deaths to 3,603. There are 15 more COVID-19 patients in hospitals, reaching a total of 1,600, and 197 of them are on ventilators. July 23, 1:15 p.m. There are 101,650 reported coronavirus cases for Louisiana, with 3,574 deaths. There are 1,585 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, with 197 of them on ventilators. July 21, 1:00 p.m. Louisiana has 1,691 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 96,583. The state has 36 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,498. There are 1,527 reported COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 186 of them on ventilators. July 20, 1:00 p.m. Louisiana has 6,302 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 94,892. The state has 63 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,462. There are 1,508 reported COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 192 of them on ventilators. July 17, 5:00 p.m. Louisiana has 2,179 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 88,590. The state has 24 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,399. There are 1,413 reported COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 161 of them on ventilators. July 16, 1:00 p.m. Louisiana has 2,280 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 86,411. The state has 24 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,375. There are 1,401 reported COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 162 of them on ventilators. July 15, 3:00 p.m. Louisiana has 2,089 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 84,131. The state has 14 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,351. There are 1,369 reported COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 147 of them on ventilators. July 14, 1:00 p.m. Louisiana has 2,215 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 82,042. The state has 22 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,337. There are 1,308 reported COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 142 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 121 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 7,421. Orleans Parish's case count increases by 101, reaching a total of 8,846. July 13, 5:00 p.m. Louisiana has 1,705 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 79,827. The state has seven additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,315. There are 1,308 reported COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 142 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 200 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 7,300. Orleans Parish's case count increases by 80, reaching a total of 8,745. July 12, 12:00 p.m. Louisiana has 1,319 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 78,122. The state has 13 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,308. There are 1,243 reported COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 134 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 111 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 7,100. Orleans Parish's case count increases by 67, reaching a total of 8,665. July 11, 12:17 p.m. Louisiana has 2,167 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 76,803. The state has 23 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,295. There are 65 more COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 121 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 242 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 6,989. Orleans Parish's case count increases by 122, reaching a total of 8,598. More News: LSU releases updated Roadmap to Fall 2020 semester The University released an updated roadmap for the upcoming fall 2020 semester on July 10. July 10, 12:39 p.m. Louisiana has 2,642 new overnight coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 74,636. There are 25 additional deaths for the state, reaching a total of 3,272. COVID-19 patients continue to increase to 1,117, with 122 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish's coronavirus case count increase by 279, reaching a total of 6,747. Orleans Parish sees 132 new cases, bringing the total case count to 8,476. July 9, 12:39 p.m. There are 1,843 new overnight coronavirus cases for Louisiana. The total case count is at 71,994, and there are 16 additional deaths, bringing the total to 3,247. There are 20 more coronavirus patients in hospitals throughout Louisiana, reaching a total of 1,042, with 110 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish cases grow by 132, bringing the total count to 6,468. Orleans Parish sees 57 new cases, reaching a total of 8,344 cases. July 8, 12:07 p.m. As of July 7, there are 46,334 presumed recovered from the coronavirus. Louisiana coronavirus cases climb by 1,888, reaching a total of 70,151. There are 20 additional deaths, bringing the total to 3,231. There are three less COVID-19 patients in hospitals. There are 1,022 COVID-19 patients, with 105 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 105 more coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 6,336. Orleans Parish has 81 more coronavirus cases, reaching a total case count of 8,287. More News: July 7, 1:20 p.m. Coronavirus cases in Louisiana are up by 1,936, bringing the total case count to 68,263. There are 23 additional, overnight deaths, reaching a total of 3,211. There are 61 more COVID-19 patients in hospitals, bringing the total to 1,025, with 109 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 253 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total case count to 6,231. Orleans Parish sees 63 more coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 8,206. July 6, 12:04 p.m. Louisiana has 66,327 reported cases, up 1,101 since yesterday. There are eight additional deaths for the state, bringing the total to 3,188. There are 38 additional COVID-19 patients in hospitals, reaching a total of 964, with 109 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 5,978 cumulative cases, up 104 since yesterday. Orleans Parish has 36 additional cases, bringing the total to 8,143. July 5, 12:17 p.m. Louisiana has 1,937 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 65,226, and there are ten additional deaths. Total deaths are at 3,180 reported deaths. COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise to 926. 105 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 190 new coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 5,874. Orleans Parish sees 76 additional coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 8,107. More News: July 4 Louisiana Department of Health has not updated their coronavirus numbers because of Fourth of July holiday. July 3, 12:05 p.m. There are 1,728 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total to 63,289. There are 23 additional deaths, reaching a total of 3,170 deaths. COVID-19 hospitalizations increase by 12. There are now 852 patients, with 93 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 153 more cases, bringing a total of 5,684. Orleans Parish has 71 additional cases, reaching a total of 8,031. More News: July 2, 12:05 p.m. Louisiana sees 1,383 new, overnight coronavirus cases, reaching a total of 61,561 cases. There are 17 more deaths for the state, bringing the total to 3,147. There are 41 more COVID-19 patients in hospitals. There are a total of 840 patients, with 91 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 181 additional cases, bringing the total to 5,531. Orleans Parish sees 41 additional cases, reaching a total of 7,960 cases. More News: July 1, 12:39 p.m. There are 2,083 new coronavirus cases in Louisiana, bringing the total case count to 60,178. The state now has 17 additional deaths, reaching a total of 3,130. COVID-19 patients in hospitals continue to increase to 799, with 84 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 227 additional cases, bringing the total case count to 5,350. Orleans Parish sees 68 additional cases, reaching a total of 7,919 coronavirus cases. More News: June 30, 12:52 p.m. Louisiana has 1,014 new cases, bringing the total case count to 58,095. There are 22 additional deaths, having a total of 3,113 deaths. COVID-19 patients for the state increase to 781, with 83 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 89 new cases, reaching a total of 5,123. Orleans Parish sees 55 new cases, having 7,851 total cases. June 29, 12:10 p.m. As of June 28, there are 42,225 presumed recovered COVID-19 patients in Louisiana. There are 844 new coronavirus cases for Louisiana, bringing the total to 57,081. There are 3,091 deaths, up five since yesterday. There are 22 additional COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 737, with 79 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish sees 71 new cases, bringing the total case count to 5,034. Orleans Parish has 36 new cases, bringing the total cases to 7,796. More News: LSU administration, epidemiologists at odds over fan attendance in Tiger Stadium In late May, LSU Interim President Tom Galligan said he desperately hopes to see fans in T June 28 Louisiana had 1,467 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 56,237. There are 3,086 reported deaths. There are 715 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, which is 15 more than on June 26. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,963 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,760 cumulative cases. June 27, 12:23 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health will not update its dashboard due to a planned power outage. Reports will resume tomorrow, June 28. More News: June 26, 12:11 p.m. There are 1,354 new coronavirus cases in Louisiana, bringing the total cases to 54,769. There are 26 additional deaths, reaching a total of 3,077. COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state continue to rise by 47. There are now 700 patients, with 73 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 109 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 4,833. Orleans Parish has 43 new cases, bringing the total to 7,681. More News: June 25, 1:00 p.m. Louisiana has 938 new overnight cases, bringing the total cases to 53,415. There have been 12 additional deaths reaching a total of 3,051. There are 22 new COVID-19 patients in hospitals. The total is now 653, and 77 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish is up by 87 with 4,724 cases. Orleans Parish cases have increased by 28 with 7,638 cases. More News: June 24, 12:09 p.m. With 882 new coronavirus cases statewide, Louisiana has 52,477 reported cases. The state also saw 18 additional deaths, bringing the total deaths to 3,039. There are 15 less COVID-19 patients in hospitals since yesterday, June 23, bringing the total to 631. 77 of the patients are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 123 additional coronavirus cases, with the total now 4,637. Orleans Parish has 39 additional coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 7,610. More News: June 23 Louisiana has 51, 595 reported cases of coronavirus with 3,021 deaths. There are 646 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 83 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,514 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,571 cumulative cases. June 21, 12:44 p.m. Louisiana has 49,778 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,993 deaths. There are 589 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 69 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,374 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,518 cumulative cases. More News: June 17, 11:45 a.m. Louisiana has 48,634 reported cases of coronavirus, with 2,950 deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals decrease to 585, with 83 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,357 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,459 cumulative cases. June 16, 1:57 p.m. Louisiana has 47,706 reported cases of coronavirus, with 2,930 deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals increase to 588, with 77 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,301 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,428 cumulative cases. More News: June 15, 12:31 p.m. There are 37,017 presumed recoveries throughout the state. Louisiana has 47,172 reported cases of coronavirus and 2,906 deaths. There are 12 more COVID-19 patients in hospitals, bringing the total to 568, with 76 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,284 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,411 cumulative cases. More News: June 14, 11:48 a.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 336 new cases bringing the total to 46,619 reported cases with 2,901 deaths. There are 12 more COVID-19 patients in hospitals, bringing the total to 556, with 76 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,226 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,393 cumulative cases. June 13, 1:55 p.m. The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 1,288 new cases due to a backlog from labs. There are 46,283 reported cases with 2,891 deaths. COVID-19 patients continue to decrease to 542, with 76 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,197 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,343 cumulative cases. More News: June 12, 2:28 p.m. With over 500 new coronavirus cases, Louisiana has 44,995 total cases with 2,883 deaths. There are five less COVID-19 patients in hospitals, bringing the total to 549, with 74 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,150 cumulative cases of coronavirus, and Orleans Parish has 7,319 cumulative cases. June 11, 1:38 p.m. With over 400 new coronavirus cases, Louisiana has 44,472 total cases with 2,874 deaths. There are four new COVID-19 patients, bringing the total to 553, with 77 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,088 cumulative cases of coronavirus, and Orleans Parish has 7,294 cumulative cases. More News: June 10, 2:05 p.m. Louisiana has 418 new coronavirus cases, bringing total cases to 44,030 reported cases and 2,855 deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals continue to drop to 549 with 72 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 4,054 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,279 cumulative cases. More News: June 9, 11:04 a.m. Louisiana has 43,612 reported coronavirus cases with 2,844 deaths. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals has dropped from 582 to 568 with 67 of those on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 60 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 4,023, and Orleans Parish has 10 new cases, bringing the total to 7,247. June 8, 11:55 a.m. Louisiana has 43,050 reported coronavirus cases with 2,831 deaths. 582 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals, with 71 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 14 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 3,963, and Orleans Parish has seven new cases, bringing the total to 7,237. June 7, 11:55 a.m. Louisiana has 42,816 reported coronavirus cases with 2,825 deaths. COVID-19 patients in Louisiana continue to decrease to 575, with 74 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 38 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 3,949, and Orleans Parish has eight new cases, bringing the total to 7,230. June 6, 12:14 p.m. Coronavirus cases in Louisiana increase by 497, bringing total cases to 42,486 with 2,814 deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals continue to decrease to 582, with 77 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,911 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,222 cumulative cases. June 5, 11:58 a.m. Louisiana coronavirus cases increase by 427, reaching a total of 41,989 reported cases with 2,801 deaths. 604 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals, with 75 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,874 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,026 cumulative cases. June 4, 11:58 a.m. Coronavirus cases in Louisiana continue to climb by over 400, with 41,562 reported cases and 2,772 deaths. Four less COVID-19 patients are in hospitals, having 613 patients with 82 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,820 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,192 cumulative cases. June 3, 12:05 p.m. With 387 new cases, Louisiana has 41,133 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,759 deaths. There are 617 COVID-19 patients in hospitals with 86 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,773 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,174 cumulative cases. June 2, 12:00 p.m. With an overnight increase of over 400, Louisiana has 40,746 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,724 deaths. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals continue to decrease to 639, with only 83 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,730 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,156 cumulative cases. June 1, 12:09 p.m. Louisiana has a total of 40,341 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,690 deaths. There are 661 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 86 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,666 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,141 cumulative cases. May 30, 11:59 a.m. With 775 new cases of coronavirus in Louisiana, reported numbers come to 39,577 and 2,680 deaths. Patients in hospitals throughout the state continue to decrease to 674 with only 84 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,591 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,108 cases. May 28, 11:58 a.m. Louisiana has 305 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 38,802 reported cases and 2,635 deaths. COVID-19 patients continue to decrease to 761, with only 100 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,526 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,067 cases. May 27, 11:57 a.m. With over 400 new cases overnight, Louisiana has 38,497 reported cases, and 2,617 deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals continue to decrease to 798, and 100 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,491 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,045 cumulative cases. May 26. 12:00 p.m. With 245 new coronavirus cases, Louisiana has 38,054 total cases with 2,596 deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals decrease to 831, and 103 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,462 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,021 cumulative cases. May 25, 12:05 p.m. Louisiana has 28,700 presumed recovered coronavirus patients, with 37,890 positive cases and 2,585 deaths. There are 847 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 102 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,438 cases, and Orleans Parish has 7,005 cases. May 24, 11:49 a.m. With an increase of 129, Louisiana's coronavirus cases have reached 37,169 with 2,567 deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals continue to decrease to 813, and 102 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,386 cases, and Orleans Parish has 6,953 cumulative cases. May 23, 11:50 a.m. Louisiana coronavirus cases have increased by 115, bringing the total to 37,040. There are 2,560 reported deaths. The number of coronavirus patients in hospitals continue to decrease to 836, with only 112 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish cases have increased to 3,382, and Orleans Parish cases have increased to 6,949. May 22, 12:00 p.m. Coronavirus cases have increased by more than 400, bringing the total to 36,925, and there are 2,545 related deaths. COVID-19 patients in hospitals continue to decrease to 867, and 104 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,370 cumulative cases, and Orleans Parish has 6,944 cumulative cases. May 21, 12:02 p.m. Although there are 1188 new reported coronavirus cases in Louisiana, 682 of the cases are from labs reporting numbers for the first time, bringing the total to 36,504. There are 2,506 COVID-19 related deaths. The number of patients in hospitals continue to decrease to 884, with 107 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,319 cases with 225 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,904 cases with no overnight deaths, remaining at 500. May 20, 12:01 p.m. Coronavirus cases in Louisiana have increased by 300 overnight, bringing the total to 35,316. There are 2,485 COVID-19 related deaths. Of the 931 patients in hospitals, 110 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,213 cases with 221 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,884 cases with 500 deaths. May 19, 12:39 p.m. Louisiana's coronavirus cases have increased by over 300 overnight, bringing the total to 35,038. There are 2,458 reported COVID-19 related deaths. Of the 1,004 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 112 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,145 cases with 219, and Orleans Parish has 6,869 cases with 494 deaths. May 18, 11:49 a.m. There are 34,709 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,440 deaths in Louisiana. With 1,031 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 118 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,056 cases with 216 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,822 cases with 495 deaths. May 17, 12:05 p.m. Louisiana has 34,432 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,425 deaths. There are 1,019 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 111 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,034 cases with 212 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,809 cases with 495 deaths. May 16, 1:16 p.m. With Louisiana's stay-at-home order lifted, there are 34,117 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,413 deaths. Of the 1,028 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 123 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 3,009 cases with 208 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,781 cases with 495 deaths. May 15, 11:57 a.m. Louisiana has 33,837 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,382 deaths. 1,091 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals throughout the state, and 132 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,953 cases with 205 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,787 cases with 489 deaths. May 14, 12:05 p.m. There are 33,489 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,351 deaths in Louisiana. 1,193 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals throughout the state, and 140 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,898 cases with 201 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,768 cases with 482 deaths. May 13, 12:34 p.m. Louisiana has 32,662 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,315 deaths. Of the 1,194 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 147 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,487 cases with 199 deaths, and Orleans Parish 6,753 cases with 481 deaths. May 12, 11:58 a.m. There are 32,050 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,281 deaths in Louisiana. With 1,320 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 146 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,445 cases with 190 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,718 cases with 477 deaths. May 11, 11:53 a.m. Louisiana has 31,815 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,242 deaths. Of the 1,310 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 157 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,398 cases with 188 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,693 cases with 470 deaths. May 10, 12:00 p.m. There are 31,600 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,213 deaths in Louisiana. With 1,324 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 161 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,374 cases with 182 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,682 cases with 468 deaths. May 9, 12:18 p.m. Louisiana has 31,417 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,194 deaths. With 1,359 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 185 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,348 cases with 179 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,674 cases with 468 deaths. May 8, 12:10 p.m. There are 30,855 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,154 deaths in Louisiana. Of the 1,359 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 185 are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge has 2,284 cases with 171 deaths. May 7, 12:03 p.m. There are 30,652 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,135 deaths in Louisiana. Of the 1,432 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 189 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,256 cases with 170 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,626 cases with 463 deaths. May 6, 4:04 p.m. Louisiana has 30,399 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,094 deaths. 1,465 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals throughout the state, with 187 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,224 cases with 165 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,608 cases with 464 deaths. May 5, 12:00 p.m. There are 29,996 reported cases of coronavirus with 2,042 deaths in Louisiana. Of the 1,512 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 194 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,175 cases with 163 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,575 cases with 453 deaths. May 4, 12:11 p.m. Louisiana has 29,673 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,991 deaths. With 1,502 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 220 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,131 cases with 156 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,557 cases with 447 deaths. May 3, 11:46 a.m. There are 29,340 reported cases of coronavirus in Louisiana with 1,969 deaths. Of the 1,530 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 213 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,086 cases with 153 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,538 cases with 441 deaths. May 2, 11:44 a.m. Louisiana has 29,140 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,950 deaths. With 1,545 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 208 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 2,054 cases with 148 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,524 cases with 439 deaths. May 1, 11:59 a.m. There are 28,711 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,927 deaths in Louisiana. Of the 1,607 COVID-19 patients throughout the state, 230 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,989 cases with 146 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,495 deaths. Apr. 30, 12:00 p.m. Louisiana has 28,001 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,862 deaths. With 1,601 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 231 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,874 cases with 137 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,452 cases with 434 deaths. Apr. 29, 12:08 p.m. There are 27,660 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,802 deaths in Louisiana. Of the 1,629 COVID-19 patients throughout the state, 244 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,830 cases with 129 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,420 with 416 deaths. Apr. 28, 12:04 p.m. Louisiana has 27,286 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,758 deaths. With 1,666 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 244 of them are on ventilators. East Bat Rouge Parish has 1,787 cases with 125 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,380 cases with 410 deaths. Apr. 27, 11:53 a.m. There are 27,068 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,697 deaths and 17,303 presumed recovered in Louisiana. Of the 1,683 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 262 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,771 cases with 124 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,365 cases with 406 deaths. Apr. 26, 12:24 p.m. Louisiana has 26,773 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,670 deaths. With 1,701 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 265 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,739 cases with 120 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,342 cases with 406 deaths. Apr. 25, 12:20 p.m. There are 26,512 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,644 deaths in Louisiana. 1,700 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals with 268 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,720 cases with 114 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,297 cases with 399 deaths. Apr. 24, 12:06 p.m. Louisiana has 26,140 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,601 deaths. 14, 927 people have recovered from the virus as of Apr. 22. With 1,697 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 286 of them are on ventilators. There are 1,697 cases in East Baton Rouge Parish with 109 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,286 cases with 392 deaths. Apr. 23, 12:00 p.m. There are 25,739 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,540 deaths in Louisiana. Of the 1,727 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 274 of them are on ventilator. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,636 cases with 100 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,263 cases with 387 deaths. Apr. 22, 12:02 p.m. Louisiana has 25, 258 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,473 deaths. With 1,747 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 287 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,603 cases with 95 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,209 cases with 367 deaths. Apr. 21, 12:01 p.m. There are 24,854 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,405 deaths in Louisiana. Of the 1,798 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state, 297 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,560 cases with 90 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,169 cases with 344 deaths. Apr. 20, 11:53 a.m. Louisiana has 24,523 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,328 deaths. 1,794 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals throughout the state, with 332 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,534 cases with 74 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,148 cases with 339 deaths. Apr. 19, 12:00 p.m. There are 23,928 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,296 deaths in Louisiana. With 1,748 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 349 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,512 cases with 72 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 6,000 cases with 329 deaths. Apr. 18, 12:00 p.m. Louisiana has 23,580 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,267 deaths. Throughout the state, there are 1,761 COVID-19 patients in hospitals with 347 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,476 cases with 72 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,953 cases with 324 deaths. Apr. 17, 12:14 p.m. There are 23,118 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,213 deaths in Louisiana. There are 1,868 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 363 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,424 cases with 66 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,906 cases with 317 deaths. Apr. 16, 12:03 p.m. Louisiana has 22,532 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,156 deaths. With 1,914 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout Louisiana, 396 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,389 cases with 66 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,847 cases with 302 deaths. Apr. 15, 12:00 p.m. There are 21, 951 reported cases of coronavirus in Louisiana, with 1,103 deaths. 1,943 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals throughout the state with 425 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,325 cases with 62 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,769 cases with 287 deaths. Apr. 14, 11:56 a.m. Louisiana has 21,518 reported cases of coronavirus with 1,013 deaths. There are 1,977 COVID-19 patients throughout the state with 436 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,295 cases with 58 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,718 cases with 276 deaths. Apr. 13, 11:56 a.m. There are 21,016 reported cases of coronavirus with 884 deaths in Louisiana. With 2,134 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout Louisiana, 461 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,273 reported cases with 52 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,651 cases with 244 deaths. Apr. 12, 11:58 a.m. Louisiana has 20,595 reported cases of coronavirus with 840 deaths. 2,084 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals with 458 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,223 cases with 49 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,600 cases with 235 deaths. Apr. 11, 12:05 p.m. There are 20,014 reported cases of coronavirus with 806 deaths in Louisiana. Throughout the state, 2,067 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals with 470 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,158 cases with 45 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,535 cases with 232 deaths. Apr. 10, 12:06 p.m. Louisiana has 19,253 reported cases of the coronavirus with 755 deaths. Throughout the state, there are 2,054 COVID-19 patients in hospitals with 479 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,088 cases with 39 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,416 cases with 225 deaths. Apr. 9, 12:01 p.m. There are 18,283 reported cases of the coronavirus with 702 deaths in Louisiana. 2,014 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals with 473 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 1,000 cases with 36 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,242 cases with 224 deaths. Apr. 8, 11:58 a.m. Louisiana has 17,030 reported cases of coronavirus with 652 deaths. Throughout the state, there are 1,983 COVID-19 patients in hospitals with 490 of them on ventilators. There are 935 cases in East Baton Rouge Parish with 33 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 5,070 cases with 208 deaths. Apr. 7, 12:10 p.m. There are 16,284 reported cases of coronavirus in Louisiana with 582 deaths. East Baton Rouge Parish has 892 cases with 31 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 4,942 cases with 185 deaths. Apr. 6, 12:01 p.m. Louisiana has 14,867 reported cases of coronavirus with 512 deaths. There are 1,809 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, with 563 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 816 cases with 25 deaths, and Orleans Parish has 4,565 cases with 171 deaths. Apr. 5, 11:59 a.m. There are 13,010 reported cases of coronavirus in Louisiana with 477 deaths. Of the 1,803 coronavirus patients in hospitals, 561 are on ventilators. 61 of Louisiana's 64 parishes have a reported case. Apr. 4, 12:07 p.m. There are 12,496 reported cases of coronavirus with 409 deaths in Louisiana. With 1,707 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 535 of them are on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 621 cases, and Orleans Parish has 3,966 cases of coronavirus. Apr. 3, 12:06 p.m. Louisiana has 10,297 reported cases of coronavirus with 370 total deaths. There are 1,707 COVID-19 patients in hospitals throughout the state with 535 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 389 cases. 20 Baton Rouge residents have died from the virus. Orleans Parish has 3,476 cases with 148 deaths. Apr. 2, 12:05 p.m. Louisiana has 9,150 reported cases of coronavirus with 310 total deaths. 1,639 COVID-19 patients are in hospitals with 507 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 325 cases with 11 deaths, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, and Orleans Parish has 3,148 cases with 125 deaths. Apr. 1, 12:20 p.m. There are 6,424 known cases of the coronavirus in Louisiana with 273 deaths. As of Wednesday afternoon, 1,498 people are in hospitals throughout the state with 490 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 244 cases of coronavirus with 10 deaths. Orleans Parish has 2,270 cases of coronavirus with 115 deaths. Mar. 31, 12:07 p.m. Louisiana has 5,237 known cases of coronavirus, an increase of over a thousand in 24 hours. There are 239 COVID-19 related deaths. East Baton Rouge Parish has 228 cases with nine deaths. Orleans Parish has 1,834 cases with 101 deaths. Mar. 30, 12:02 p.m. There are 4,025 reported cases of coronavirus in Louisiana with 185 total deaths reported. There are 1,158 COVID-19 patients in hospitals with 385 of them on ventilators. East Baton Rouge Parish has 188 cases with nine total deaths. Orleans Parish has 1,480 cases with 86 total deaths. Mar. 29, 12:20 p.m. Louisiana has 3,540 reported cases of coronavirus with 151 total deaths. East Baton Rouge Parish has 164 cases of coronavirus with seven total deaths. Orleans Parish has 1,350 cases of coronavirus with 73 total deaths. Mar. 28, 1:07 p.m. There are now 3,315 reported cases of coronavirus in Louisiana with 137 reported deaths. The jump from Friday's confirmed cases to Saturday's is the largest yet. East Baton Rouge Parish has 153 cases, up from 124 on Friday. Mar. 27, 12:09 p.m. There are 2,746 reported cases and 119 reported deaths of the coronavirus in Louisiana. 124 cases are in East Baton Rouge Parish with six deaths of parish residents, with a seventh from a man from Mississippi who received treatment from a hospital in Baton Rouge. Orleans Parish has 1,170 cases with 57 deaths. Mar. 26, 12:05 p.m. Louisiana has 2,305 reported cases of coronavirus with 83 deaths. 676 COVID-19 patients are in the hospital with 239 of them on ventilators. There are 105 cases in the East Baton Rouge Parish with four deaths. 997 cases are in Orleans Parish with 46 deaths. Mar. 25, 12:07 p.m. Coronavirus cases jumps again by nearly 400 in Michigan with deaths up by 32 Bars and restaurants have faced many challenges since the onset of COVID-19. In the year since the pandemic came to Michigan, local eateries h Here are some of the local news and sports stories you may have missed this past week. Exton, PA (19341) Today Cloudy skies this morning followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 88F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 67F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. 1898 was not a good year for Spain. It was in fact a complete disaster. Some 400 years on from the days of Columbus, the conquistadors and the founding of an empire, it was all over. America defeated the old empire, albeit that the US - in the form of President McKinley - hadnt gone looking for trouble. The so-called yellow press had convinced the American public that there were Spanish atrocities being committed in Cuba. McKinley chose to ignore this sensationalism, most of it what we would now call fake news. But he was pressurised into war. The consequence, for Spain, was the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. 1898 didnt simply batter national pride; 1898 was a national humiliation. In Majorca, a long way away from the war that was declared in April of that year, there was an extraordinary panic. It had started to develop in February. The USS Maine exploded and sank in the harbour in Havana. The ship was in Cuba in order to protect American interests during the Cuban War of Independence. The cause of the explosion - which resulted in the deaths of three-quarters of the men on board - was never definitively clarified. There was good evidence to suggest that it had in fact been an accident, but this didnt satisfy the yellow press or others. Spanish terrorists were to blame. Following the Maine incident, as war now seemed to be inevitable, there were reports in the French press - without any foundation whatsoever - that the Americans would use the war as an opportunity to wield their naval and military might on the other side of the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. The specific targets for American control were the Canaries and the Balearics. In the Balearics, the authorities were to declare a state of war. This was to result in some truly astonishing developments. In early July, 122 years ago, they started to dig trenches. These were at La Lonja in Palma. Everyone seemed convinced that the Americans were about to enter Palma Bay and occupy Majorca. With the French press having initiated rumours, the local press in Majorca had been only too keen to repeat them and start to run their own stories. But the local press did have something to go on. Madrid had responded to the rumour, which then pretty much came to be accepted as fact, that the Americans were not only going to invade Majorca, they were intending to then hand the island over to Great Britain. The day before Spain severed diplomatic relations with the US (which was the twenty-first of April), Madrid despatched 170 soldiers to Majorca, whose sole objective (apparently) was to protect Palma from an imminent attack by the Americans. Well, this may have been the objective, but these soldiers were then scattered over the whole of the Balearics. More troops were to arrive in May, which was when the Captain General of the Balearics, Rosendo Moino, declared the state of war, which meant that the islands were under military command. The mayor of Palma, Eugeni Losada, had made sure that the troops who arrived were greeted warmly by the residents. Viva Espana was the cry, as it was to be in the part forana. In May, General Jose Barraquer went on a tour of the villages of the island. The people, he was to state, should show courage in the face of the American attack. In May, therefore, many of the preparations had been made, the walls in Palma having by now been used to accommodate howitzers. But what was to happen then was that nothing happened, until they started to dig the trenches at La Lonja, and this was seemingly in response to the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, at which the Spanish Caribbean Squadron was destroyed. Nine days after this, on the twelfth of July, La Ultima Hora reported that seven American warships, supported by six other ships, were on their way. Some fishermen, it was then reported, had supposedly seen an American fleet. The island basically went into lockdown. No one, other than the military, was allowed to go to sea. Residents of Palma deserted the city. Field hospitals were being prepared. The Captain General pleaded to the citizens to respond to the attacks of the enemy. Majorca waited, and it waited. The invasion never happened. It was never going to happen, but rumour, panic and misinformation had convinced everyone that there would be an invasion. The peace protocol between the US and Spain was arrived at on August 12. Two days later, the civil governor announced that the war was over, although it was to take two weeks for normal order in the Balearics to be reestablished and for the troops to leave. Online reservations for trips to Majorca have soared by 96% since last weekend after Downing Street announced that the UKs 14-day quarantine will be lifted within days, according to ABTA. The Airlines say holiday reservations are growing at such a rate they may have to restart flights to Majorca and the rest of the Islands earlier than planned. Downing Street is launching a new "traffic light system" that classifies countries as red, amber or green zones, depending on the risk of coronavirus infection. Amber and Green countries will be excluded from the quarantine obligation, but foreign travellers and British citizens returning from a red zone country will have to self-isolate on arrival in the UK. We will be able to carefully open up a number of safe routes around the world, give citizens the opportunity to have summer holidays abroad and revitalise the UK economy through Tourism, said a British Government spokesperson. The Green List includes, Austria, Greece, Germany, Croatia, Barbados, Thailand and Vietnam and talks are underway to include Australia and New Zealand. The Amber List includes, France, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain. The Red List includes, America, Brazil and India. The new secure air corridors are designed and controlled by the England Centre for Biosafety and Public Health and will allow for the immediate reinstatement of restrictions if new virus outbreaks appear. Hoteliers The Hotel Business Federation of Mallorca or FEHM and Balearic Hotel Association, or ACH, are hopeful that the increase in bookings will lead to more hotels opening this summer. The removal of the quarantine is excellent news which we hope will lead to an increase in reservations and the progressive arrival of tourists from the UK, said Gabriel Llobera, ACH President. This is a great step towards a return to normality and we hope that it will result in more bookings," added Maria Jose Aguilo, FEHM Executive Vice President. Fernando Simon, director of the Centre for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, has conceded that it is "not feasible" to try and totally prevent travellers who are carriers of coronavirus from entering Spain. At a press conference on Monday, Simon accepted that there will be "imported cases" of coronavirus. In fact, he observed, "they are already entering". Even with all the control measures, "it is obvious that it will not be possible to detect everyone". This cannot be done in Spain or anywhere else. The EU decision to open external borders to only fifteen countries is a measure, he believed, that will "greatly reduce" the risk of imported cases in Spain. He went on to express concern about cruise ships. These are a "worry" because of the potential number of cases if there is an outbreak on a ship; he referred to the example of the Diamond Princess in Japan. Controls of passengers at Spanish ports, he added, should not be very different to those at airports, but the number of passengers disembarking could well make these controls more difficult. On Saturday, the Spanish government announced a further extension to the prohibition of cruise ships. Akoni, a London, UK-based fintech company, raised funding from HearstLab UK. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. This is the first investment for HearstLabs U.K. location, which aims to close the gender gap in venture capital funding. Led by Chief Executive Officer Felicia Meyerowitz Singh and Chief Technology Officer Panos Savvas, Akoni provides cash management tools for individuals and small and mid-size enterprises. The company has developed a range of features for personalizing cash solutions using multiple data sources and data science to enable multi-bank management and increasing returns on cash. Akoni works with a variety of U.K. financial institutions, including wealth managers, wealth platforms and charities. It is a Financial Conduct Authority regulated company. FinSMEs 29/06/2020 Stay up to date on COVID-19 Get Breaking News Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. The American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement on Tuesday stating that the coming school year should start with the goal of having students heading back to schools in the U.S. The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020, states the AAP. The AAP points out that children spending a long time away from school and associated supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation. However, in a poll by WGBH News/MassLive/Boston Globe/State House News Service conducted by Suffolk University, when it comes to sending children back to school, 50.8% of respondents say they do not yet feel comfortable sending kids back to the classroom or daycare. Its not surprising because the virus is so unpredictable and August is a short way off but its a long way off with what could happen with the virus, said Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Maureen Binienda. Of course, people want safety first for their family. When asked if they thought K-12 schools in Massachusetts will be able to reopen in the fall in a way that will keep most children and adults safe from the coronavirus, 46% of poll respondents said no while 43.6% said yes and 10.4% are undecided. The AAP said that offering elementary school children the opportunity to go to school every day should be given due consideration over spacing guidelines if capacity is an issue: "Schools should weigh the benefits of strict adherence to a 6-feet spacing rule between students with the potential downside if remote learning is the only alternative." Policymakers must also consider the mounting evidence regarding COVID-19 in children and adolescents, including the role they may play in transmission of the infection, said the AAP statement. SARS-CoV-2 appears to behave differently in children and adolescents than other common respiratory viruses, such as influenza, on which much of the current guidance regarding school closures is based. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that 37% of private school teachers, 29% of traditional public school teachers and 21% of public charter school teachers are over 50 years old making them the most vulnerable age group to coronavirus. Barriers to protect the teachers such as plexiglass are advised by the AAP and advise that communal areas such as staff lounge areas should be avoided if it does not accommodate physical distancing. The AAP said that evidence suggests that spacing as close as 3 feet may approach the benefits of 6 feet of space, particularly if students are wearing face coverings and are asymptomatic. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said on June 19 that if the state doesnt take steps now, theres a risk that another school year will be significantly impacted for students after a disrupted spring following the closure of schools in March. We need a reopening plan built around our most vulnerable students students of color, immigrants, students with disabilities, and low income students. That includes a specific plan to help those students during the summer and when school starts back in the fall, Healey said. The AAP advises schools to follow key principles before reopening amid the pandemic: Several Boston City Councilors homes were vandalized over the weekend following a controversial budget vote last week in the midst of a national debate over police department reform. Council President Kim Janey wrote in a tweet that a number of colleagues on the council were targeted at their homes after the 8-5 vote to approve a $3.61 billion operating budget and other funding measures. As President, let me be clear: Vandalism is unacceptable!!! she wrote. Over the weekend a number of my colleagues on the City Council were targeted at their homes. As President, let me be clear: Vandalism is unacceptable!!! Periodt. Kim Janey (@Kim_Janey) June 29, 2020 Mayor Marty Walsh addressed the vandalism on Monday, noting that several councilors were targeted. Vandalism is unacceptable, Walsh said. Trying to get a message across by targeting peoples homes, in their personal space, is wrong. Councilor Annissa Essaibi-Georges home was targeted as well, according to NBC Boston. The vandals glued report cards to her fence, which reportedly discussed her performance on the council in relation to her position on the budget. The reported incidences of vandalism comes roughly one month after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis. His death sparked a global movement aimed at reforming police departments everywhere and dismantling systemic racism. Amid budget talks, Walsh declared racism a public health crisis, and pledged to reallocate 20% of the Boston Police Departments overtime budget toward community programs for youth, for homelessness, for people struggling with the effects of inequality. But some members of the council had pushed back against the budget, calling for more changes to address longstanding racial disparities and systemic racism reflected in the citys funding priorities. The council recently sent a letter to Walsh requesting, among other things, a 10% cut to the police departments budget, and a reallocation of funds toward social services. Related Content: Boston residents are being targeted, harassed and in some cases assaulted by groups of people wielding illegal fireworks, they testified during a meeting on Monday. Its getting to the point that theyre terrorizing the neighborhood, Mark McKunes, a resident of South Boston. Its no longer a nuisance they are attacking South Boston residents. McKunes said he recently tried to intercept several individuals causing a disturbance in front of his home and was shot with Roman candle fireworks. McKunes urged elected officials in Boston to get behind the police department amid ongoing calls for police reform. If were going to defund police officers, how are we expected to stay safe in our community? said resident Florence Holmes. Boston City Councilor Flynn, who organized the virtual meeting, said the police have received several hundred calls a night about fireworks. The residents also have to take responsibility in educating people and talking about the devastating impact this can have, Flynn said. It takes all of us. Flynn convened the meeting Monday to address enforcement efforts in the wake of a significant increase in calls to law enforcement about fireworks plaguing communities across Massachusetts. The Boston Police Department earlier this month seized boxes of fireworks in South Boston. Police seized even more in Roxbury days later following numerous complaints from community members to the police department. Their testimony comes several days after Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced the creation of a fireworks task force to address an uptick in complaints about fireworks in recent weeks. Boston four at-large city councilors, as well as representatives from the police and fire departments, will comprise the task force. Walsh noted yesterday that complaints to Boston police about fireworks so far in June have increase by 5,543% leading up to Independence Day. To the people who are selling fireworks, and theyre definitely being sold illegally here, if we find you, were going to confiscate them, and if you have large amounts of fireworks and youre selling them to communities, you will be arrested, Walsh said earlier on Monday. While police calls over fireworks have skyrocketed, Councilor Julia Mejia is working with community organizers to find other ways to reduce illegal fireworks activity without getting law enforcement involved. Mejia held an online session earlier this month with youth leaders and a mental health counselor to discuss the health impact fireworks activity can have especially for people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and alternative solutions to police calls. Its really about civic engagement and an opportunity for people to take matters into their own hands, Mejia told MassLive in a recent interview. While government does play a role, our role can look different given the circumstances ... The people who are popping off, they need to be more considerate of their neighbors, particularly those who have been triggered by trauma every time they hear these explosive fireworks. Fireworks are illegal to own, sell or possess in Massachusetts, but that has not stopped people from setting them off in recent weeks across the state. In Springfield, Mayor Domenic Sarno said he plans to file home rule legislation in the legislature that would automatically affix a fine for setting off fireworks onto the renewal fee for a drivers license or vehicle registration, a city excise tax bill, and even a business license. Steph Solis contributed to the reporting of this article. Related Content: NORTHAMPTON Unionized employees at the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Amherst Bulletin and Valley Advocate are asking the public to sign a petition opposing layoffs here and the outsourcing of printing jobs to an Auburn facility owned by Gannett Co. Inc., the nations largest newspaper corporation. Newspapers of New England has announced that it is laying off 29 press and distribution workers including 25 union members of the Pioneer Valley NewsGuild. The Daily Hampshire Gazette has been printed in Northampton since 1786, making it one of the oldest newspapers in the country. We are asking the public to sign a petition we are sharing and to pay attention to what we are doing next, said Bera Dunau, the unions unit council chair, on Tuesday. The petition can be accessed online at actionnetwork.org/petitions/keep-the-daily-hampshire-gazette-at-home/ Dunau said he hoped that Newspapers of New England would reverses course and continue to print the newspapers in Northampton, rather than at Gannett in Auburn. In addition to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Amherst Bulletin and Valley Advocate, the press on Conz Street also prints the Greenfield Recorder and Athol Daily News, as well as commercial projects. The two-story Cerutti Model S-4 flexographic double-width press, and a building addition to house it, were added in 2008 at a cost of $12 million. Publisher Michael Moses said in a June 16 statement that the decision to get out of the business of manufacturing newspapers was economically motivated. The employees losing their jobs will be eligible for severance packages, said Moses, adding We are grateful for their hard work but, as we all know and experience, times change. In a statement, the union countered, Laying off 29 people during the middle of a global pandemic is morally reprehensible. They are essential workers who have been coming into the building six days a week to do their part in providing critical news to the community. The union noted that to negotiate the terms of the layoffs, Newspapers of New England is using the services of Seyfarth Shaw, the same notoriously anti-union law firm that defended The Weinstein Company in sexual harassment lawsuits and fought Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers in the 1970s. Last December, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Greenfield Recorder and Athol Daily News laid off eight workers and closed the Athol office. In August 2018, Newspapers of New England made what then-publisher Michael Rifanburg described as painful cuts in staff at the Gazette. Months later, workers there voted to unionize. Related content As the Fourth of July holiday weekend draws near, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker instructed out-of-state travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days with the exception of seven Northeastern states. Baker said his updated guidance, which takes effect Wednesday, does not apply to travelers coming from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York or New Jersey. Workers who are considered critical infrastructure employees are also exempt. Massachusetts is reopening, but we want to make sure that our out-of-state visitors are also taking appropriate precautions, the Republican governor said during a news briefing Tuesday at the Massachusetts State House. Baker had previously instructed out-of-state travelers to self-quarantine for two weeks, but the guidance that takes effect Wednesday will replace the original advisory. Baker said the guidance was adjusted because these states have seen declines in COVID-19 rates, compared to other states that are seeing significant spikes after reopening earlier. He urged travelers from any state, however, to stay home and avoid traveling to Massachusetts. He said he would like to see Massachusetts travelers who are leaving the state staying within the Northeast in states where transmissions are low, but there is no guidance on the matter. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will impose two-week quarantines for out-of-state travelers, and that those who do not comply could face fines, according to the New York Times. Baker said he did not want to pursue a mandate of the two-week quarantine due to constitutional concerns about restricting interstate travel. There are real constitutional issues associated with limited travel between states, Baker said, adding that he heard from the lodging industry that the advisory is working. Massachusetts has seen COVID-19 cases fall gradually since its surge in mid-April. The Department of Public Health announced 101 new cases and 35 deaths linked to the coronavirus Monday. Since the pandemic began, the state has recorded 108,768 cases, and 8,095 deaths. While Massachusetts slowly reopens its economy, other states such as Florida, Arizona and South Carolina have seen spikes in COVID-19 cases. Massachusetts is in the latter half of Phase 2, meaning beaches, retailers and restaurants can reopen with safety workplace protocols in place. Restaurants were cleared on June 22 to resume indoor dining, as long as they spaced out tables, used partitions and disinfected tables between customers, among other rules. Baker urged residents to use masks and face coverings, as well as washing their hands. I think continued vigilance with respect to this is the way you contain it, Baker said. The big message I take from whats happening in some other parts of the country, you need to respect the virus, you should be careful and cautious about the way you reopen, Baker said, and you should be willing to rely on a solid foundation of guidance and information that you believe people will actually comply with if you open. Related Content: BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority said Tuesday it received reports of 19 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Monday, including eight domestically transmitted and 11 imported ones. Of the eight domestically transmitted cases, seven were reported in Beijing and one in Shanghai, the National Health Commission said in its daily report. No deaths related to the disease were reported Monday, according to the commission. On Monday, nine people were discharged from hospital after recovery, and one new suspected case, who was imported from outside the mainland, was reported in Shanghai. As of Monday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 83,531, including 428 patients who were still being treated, with seven in severe conditions. Altogether 78,469 people had been discharged from hospitals after recovery and 4,634 people had died of the disease, the commission said. By Monday, the Chinese mainland had reported a total of 1,918 imported cases. Of the cases, 1,830 had been discharged after recovery, and 88 remained hospitalized. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported. The commission said there were currently seven suspected cases as of Monday. According to the commission, 6,809 close contacts were still under medical observation after 458 people were discharged from medical observation on Monday. Four new asymptomatic cases, including three imported, were reported on the mainland Monday, it said, adding that three asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases. Four asymptomatic cases were discharged from medical observation. The commission said 99 asymptomatic cases, including 60 imported ones, were still under medical observation. By Monday, 1,203 confirmed cases including seven deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 46 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 447 in Taiwan including seven deaths. A total of 1,105 patients in the Hong Kong SAR, 45 in the Macao SAR, and 435 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery. In one week, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases shot up a staggering 46% statewide from 100,217 to 146,341 as of Monday, June 29. That seven-day figure also includes a rise in deaths from 3,173 to 3,447 among Florida residents, an eight-percent increase. For the first time this week, the state also released the number of non-Florida resident deaths from COVID-19, with the Department of Health reporting 99 such deaths as of June 29. That brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths statewide to 3,546 since the pandemic began. In Lee County, the number of cases grew at the same precise rate as the state, going from 3,666 to 5,363, a 46% increase. Despite the higher numbers, Lee County has fallen behind Duval County down to eighth statewide in terms of its number of cases. Of the 5,363 cases, two percent are among non-Florida residents. The number of deaths in Lee County rose from 149 to 156. Lee County reported its youngest death from COVID-19 when 17-year-old Cypress Lake High School student Carsyn Davis died on June 23. The most recently reported death since then was a 49-year-old female who died with COVID-19 on June 27. The Town of Fort Myers Beach saw its largest weekly uptick of COVID-19 cases from June 22 to June 29, going from 20 to 29 confirmed cases. There have been 56,031 people tested in Lee County for the coronavirus, putting the percentage of positive cases at 9.5%. There have been 1.9 million people tested statewide, meaning the statewide percentage of positive COVID-19 cases amongst those tested is 7.7%. Florida established new single-day records for the state on June 24 when 8,813 COVID-19 positives were reported, which was topped on June 26 by 9,557 new cases. The cases have begun shifting to the younger population in a stark way with 55% of all COVID-19 cases in Florida amongst those 44 and younger. That percentage was 51% a week ago and 42% on June 2. In the last two to three weeks, DeSantis said the median age of those testing positive are those in their early 30s. The 25-34 age bracket represents 20 percent of all cases, the highest percentage in the state. As of June 29, there were 219 patients at Lee Health hospitals with COVID-19. At a press conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers on Friday, Lee Health CEO Larry Antonucci urged people to wear masks. We are trying to get to the hearts and minds to the people of this community why it is important to wear a mask and if youre not wearing a mask tell us why. We want to know why youre not, Antonucci said. The European Union announced on Tuesday that it will gradually lift the temporary restrictions on 14 countries that were travel was previously halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. Citizens from Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay will be allowed to reenter the EU starting on July 1. However, most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S., according to the Associated Press. On Monday, a day after the world surpassed 500,000 coronavirus deaths, U.S. fatalities account for more than one-fifth of that total, which includes roughly 125,747 deaths as of Sunday. Cases in other parts of the U.S. continue to surge, like Florida, Texas and California. Nearly a dozen states have halted their reopening plans as a result of the spike in cases. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, there have been 191,411 deaths due to COVID-19. The five countries reporting most deaths are United Kingdom with 43,575, Italy with 34,744, France with 29,813, Spain with 28,346 and Belgium has 9,747. Massachusetts, however, is one of only four states in the U.S. on track to contain the virus, according to data analyzed by Covid Act Now. The rate of infection in Massachusetts is hovering around 2%, which represents a 94% decline since mid-April. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control President Donald J. Trump suspended the entry of all people from Europes ID check-free travel zone in March, making it extremely difficult for the EU to include the U.S. on their safe travel list. The EU added that China is subject to confirmation of reciprocity, meaning it should lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China before European countries will allow Chinese citizens back in. The Council [of the EU] today adopted a recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU. Travel restrictions should be lifted for countries listed in the recommendation, with this list being reviewed and, as the case may be, updated every two weeks, said the Council of the European Union. On March 16, the EU Commission adopted a communication recommending a temporary restriction of all non-essential travel from third countries into the EU for one month. EU heads of state or government agreed to implement this restriction on March 17. The travel restriction was extended for a further month respectively on April 8 and May 8. The term Third Country is a term often used in the context of migration, referring to individuals who are in transit and/or applying for visas in countries that are not their country of origin. Residents of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican, the statement reads. Should be considered as EU residents for the purpose of this recommendation. Moored gondolas are reflected on the water of the Gran Canal, in Venice. The European Union announced Tuesday, that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)AP To be allowed back into the EU, countries have to meet set criteria: Number of new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100 000 inhabitants close to or below the EU average (as it stood on 15 June 2020) The stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days The overall response to COVID-19 taking into account available information, including on aspects such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting, as well as the reliability of the information and, if needed, the total average score for International Health Regulations (IHR). Information provided by EU delegations on these aspects should also be taken into account. Those that are exempt from this are: EU citizens and their family members Long-term EU residents and their family members Travelers with an essential function or need, as listed in the Recommendation. The EU list does not apply to travel into the United Kingdom, which left the EU in January. The U.K. now requires all incoming travelers, with a few exceptions like truck drivers, to go into self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks. The requirement also applies to U.K. citizens. Massachusetts health officials said that there were no new coronavirus deaths to report on Tuesday an encouraging bit of news and a sign of progress in the fight against the virus, as cases continue to spike elsewhere around the country. Officials confirmed that there were 114 new cases of the virus, including 41 probable, according to the Department of Public Health. Thats based on 5,813 new molecular tests and 918 antibody tests reported on Tuesday. DPH said that they had removed duplicate reports of confirmed and probable deaths as part of ongoing data cleaning, resulting in the lowered figure. The death toll in Massachusetts now stands at 8,054, which has been lowered by 41 as a result of the data cleaning. Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday said that the United States could see as many as 100,000 new cases every day if Americans dont adhere to public health guidelines amid a spike in infections in other parts of the country, most prominently in Texas, Florida and Arizona. But infection rates in the Northeastern states have been declining, including in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York. On June 22, a group of academics ranked Massachusetts as having the lowest transmission rate of COVID-19 in the country, according to Gov. Charlie Baker. Baker said the infection rate in Massachusetts is just under 2%, which represents about a 93% decline since the middle of April. None of this would have been possible without everybody playing their part, Baker said during his daily briefing on Tuesday. Its worked for us, but we clearly need to stay on our game. Baker on Tuesday also instructed all out-of-state travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days, with the exception of visitors from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York or New Jersey, effective on July 1. He said that the quarantine advisory will replace previous guidance that has been in place for several months now. What were doing is basically adjusting that 14-day quarantine to say that for those states that are sort of around us up here in the Northeast, that have very low positive test rates, there wont be a quarantine, Baker said. As Phase 2 of Bakers reopening plan enters its fourth week, Phase 3 which includes the reopening of museums, fitness centers, indoor recreation centers with go karts, trampolines and more is expected to begin soon. Here are the cases listed by county: Barnstable County: 1,538 Berkshire County: 594 Bristol County: 8,225 Dukes County: 49 Essex County: 16,088 Franklin County: 366 Hampden County: 6,776 Hampshire County: 962 Middlesex County: 23,962 Nantucket County: 15 Norfolk County: 9,166 Plymouth County: 8,684 Suffolk County: 19,819 Worcester County: 12,350 Unknown location: 288 Related Content: SPRINGFIELD Police leadership are defending a mass gathering of officers sans protective face masks at a recent United rally amid a pandemic and national protests against brutality and racism. The celebration at Riverfront Park on June 19, involved nearly 200 officers and included a group pose for a photograph with no masks or other face coverings being worn. City, state and federal health officials have called on people to wear face coverings whenever social distancing of six feet is not feasible, such as large public gatherings. The city lobbied for, and distributed, masks for all public safety officials. The day of the photo, we gathered for a few minutes, then went back to our normal course of work, which includes social distancing when safe to do so, said Ryan Walsh, Police Department spokesman. We have not had a single COVID-19 case in the 11 days since the photo was taken. In the news release after the event, police said it was conducted during trying times to show that the Springfield police are united and here to protect and serve you, adding Officers put their lives on the line each day to serve and protect you and during this pandemic showed up to work each day to keep you safe. This past month has been stressful for our Springfield Police Officers, more so than usual and due to circumstances we cant control, Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said in the release last week. I am so proud of how the women and men of the Springfield Police Department have continued to professionally do their jobs, which is to protect and serve. The unity gathering came after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and national protests that followed over police brutality and racism. A Minneapolis police officer was charged with murder after kneeling on Floyds neck for almost nine minutes. Walsh noted that 52% of Springfield patrol officers are Black or Hispanic, and 30% of police supervisors are minorities. City Health Commissioner Helen R. Caulton-Harris, who urges people to wear face coverings for such gatherings, was asked about the police gathering. It is not just the gathering of police, but also during social events where people are not keeping a safe distance, she said. However, Caulton-Harris has not criticized a budget meeting at City Hall on Monday night when many city officials were not wearing masks. Approximately 20 people were seen in the conference room, about 15 without masks. Caulton-Harris, who was there and wearing a mask, said she believed people were either about six feet apart or sitting near someone who was wearing a mask. in addition, it was after City Hall hours where employees and visitors are required to wear masks, she said. Caulton-Harris said Massachusetts has been doing well in reducing new coronavirus cases, as many other states report spikes in cases. The country remains in the throe of the virus and everyone should remain vigilant on protecting themselves and others, she said. Walsh, citing protests and violence against police offices across the country, said Springfield police have returned to two-officer cars, rather than stay with one-person cars which was being done as protection against the spread of COVID-19. The department has been forced to abandon some of the precautions we put in place early to prevent a widespread of the virus within our ranks, said Walsh within a email response to The Republican. Clapprood had Walsh respond to the questions. UPDATE: The North Brookfield Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night postponed the July 4 festivities, claiming the towns board of health used political operatives to sabotage the event. An updated story can be read here. ----------------------------- North Brookfields plans for its first annual Fourth of July parade followed by an evening light show remains unchanged despite the towns Board of Health condemning the event as a threat to public safety. North Brookfields plan for a parade down Main Street at 11 a.m. on Saturday remains in place along with a laser show at night and activities for children on the common, according to the office of the Board of Selectmen. The move directly defies Gov. Charlie Bakers reopening plan that places parades in phase 4. On July 4, the state will remain in phase 2. The position of the board on this issue is, if Black Lives Matter can protest down the center of Main Street, on a sidewalk, all on top of each other, and congregate on a church common all on top of each other then the people of North Brookfield can march separated, down Main Street, onto the town Common, Dale Kiley, selectmen chairman, said at a June 23 meeting where the parade plans were discussed. Ethan Melad, a member of the North Brookfield Board of Health, also spoke during the June 23 meeting, recommending the events be canceled. Kiley thanked Melad for his words, but disagreed. I and the board of selectmen collectively do not think it is the problem that other people are saying, and I think if you do the numbers, thats the case and thats the case across the country, Kiley said. Kiley said North Brookfield had 16 positive cases for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. He said only two of those cases occurred within the last 21 days. Of course if people dont feel comfortable were not forcing anybody to join, Kiley said. If you dont feel comfortable being in that setting, please dont be in that setting. Melad interrupted asking about those individuals who will have to work the events or work with the people who attended the event. Getting the virus is not a death sentence, Kiley said. Following the meeting, the North Brookfield Board of Health again publicly condemned the parade and the events planned for July 4. When the Board of Selectmen collectively and unanimously call the current Health Crisis COVID hysteria in open defiance of the health and well-being of the citizens of North Brookfield, the Board of Health cannot condone or encourage such a gathering as it is counter to the health and safety of the residents, the Board of Health said in a statement. Much larger municipalities such as Boston and Worcester canceled their July 4 celebrations. Worcester plans to host a virtual event that will air Wednesday and continue through July 4. Boston canceled its annual celebration that gains national exposure in May. Related Content: New Bedfords new COVID-19 cases are down to the single digits, mirroring a statewide decline of positive tests. But Damon Chaplin worries the coronavirus data thats available isnt telling the whole story. I think our numbers in the Hispanic and Black populations in New Bedford are even higher. Its just we havent had an ability to test at a level to show it, the New Bedford health director told senators during a virtual listening session on health care and COVID-19. Chaplin was one of several public health officials who urged senators to push for universal testing at a time when the Baker administration is taking a different approach. Local health officials raised a host of concerns, ranging from the fractured public health network that includes 351 local boards of health to the lack of free, universal COVID-19 testing and slow delivery of results from the state Department of Public Health. Local officials also raised concerns that they werent given a seat at the states reopening advisory board, yet theyre the ones who have to interpret the guidance coming out from the Baker administration and enforce it in their communities. When asked by Sen. Cindy Friedman about any short-term recommendations, Chaplin and two other local officials called for universal testing and having a voice in the reopening process. Could we get somebody from local public health to be part of any future closing and reopening? asked Phoebe Walker, director of Community Services for the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. I think whats been done is done, and I do have some sympathy for why it was done that way, absolutely, but I do feel like if theres to be any shutting down from fall surges, we really need a local public health seat at that table. Gov. Charlie Baker announced in mid-May plans to ramp up coronavirus testing capacity. The state set a goal of performing up to 45,000 coronavirus tests daily by late July and a goal of 75,000 daily tests by December. The states testing capacity at the time was 30,000 daily. Yet Baker stopped short of implementing universal testing. The most important thing we need to be able to do with our testing strategy is to make sure were testing in places where people have the biggest concerns, Baker said at the time. Gov. Charlie Baker delivers remarks at a recent news briefing at the Massachusetts State House. Sam Doran/State House News Servi When asked about the states approach to testing, Acting Health and Human Services Secretary Daniel Tsai said the state is seeking contractors to help expand a range of strategic pop-up sites for testing across the state. The state is looking to expand testing in communities with higher COVID-19 rates, DPH Commissioner Monica Bharel said. Were really currently targeting our approach to increasing testing in areas where we most need it and then doing surveillance, Bharel said. Theres pros and cons to different approaches, and thats the current approach we have here. Neither she nor Tsai explained why the state is not exploring universal testing. The lack of universal testing becomes a bigger concern as the state continues to reopen and more people return to work, Chaplin said. New Bedford, a city of 95,000, has reported 2,162 COVID-19 cases and 111 deaths, Chaplin said. While Latinos make up one-quarter of the population, they account for roughly 49% of COVID-19 cases. Black residents, who make up 6% of the population, account for 9% of COVID-19 cases. Chaplin said he believes the disparities are even higher, especially among Latino residents, but not enough tests have been performed to prove his hunch. He said the cost is a major deterrent for New Bedford residents. A lot of folks are afraid of receiving the bill in the mail for a test that they went and received, Chaplin said. Free testing for anyone who needs it and wants it, in my opinion, is the one thing that I would want to see happen. Dr. Matilde Castiel, commissioner of the Worcester Division of Health, said states and municipalities cant wait to find out if companies are footing the bill for COVID-19 testing in their workplace, as Walmart did. Castiel said she has already heard from preschools and other organizations that are hesitant to conduct testing for fear of losing staff. It should happen, she said. How do we open up our city if we dont have universal testing? Worcester has seen a total of 5,172 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, including 67 cases announced last week. Castiel said she is drafting a letter to the Baker administration urging officials to make COVID-19 testing universal, raising concerns essential workers and others returning to the workplace dont have access to tests. She said free, universal testing can help reduce racial and income-based disparities, which might not be immediately clear in the data thats available. If we are looking at communities of color and changes in disparities in health care, that is a huge piece of going out into the community and being able to do testing for COVID with no questions asked and just more or less give instructions, give out masks, give out sanitizers, talk about what COVID is about, Castiel said. In Massachusetts, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic and other residents have higher mortality rates in every age group compared to white and Asians, according to the health equity advisory group convened by the state Department of Public Health. For residents between ages 60 and 69, the mortality rate among Blacks was nearly five times as high, and the mortality rate among Hispanics was three times as high. Chaplin said the state needs to better communicate with and support local public health officials, but making testing available and free for all residents would be a start. If were going to have universal reopening, we need to have universal testing, for free. Period, he said. Related Content: Restaurants in Massachusetts have been allowed to welcome diners back to their patios and dining rooms, but some restaurateurs still have their eye on a relief bill that's pending before the state Senate. Passed unanimously by the House on June 2, the bill (H 4767) includes several measures aimed at buoying an industry that has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and public health restrictions. It proposes to cap third-party delivery service fees, waive penalties and interest for late meals tax payment, and authorize the sale of cocktails with takeout and delivery food orders. Josh Weinstein, owner of the East Boston bar The Quiet Few, said that while he has more than 120 liquor bottles "sitting around on our back bar collecting dust right now," he's been watching as friends in New York have been able to sell to-go cocktails for weeks. "They're going to make it through this because of frozen margaritas," he said. "It seems silly to say, but it's so simple." As COVID-19 cases began to mount in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker in March issued an emergency order that limited restaurants to takeout and delivery service only. Restaurants were cleared to resume outdoor dining when the state entered Phase 2 of its reopening plan on June 8, and to offer indoor dining service on June 22. However, new social distancing requirements limit the number of customers who can be served in a restaurant's existing space, and not all establishments have the outdoor space to expand their footprints. Bars that do not offer seated food service are part of the fourth and final phase of the state's reopening plan, which involves having a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 available. Weinstein said his bar, with a 49-person capacity, is "not rushing to get people seated indoors" because of health concerns and instead is open three days a week for takeout food sales, with four available seats outside. Working through what he described as "some late-night tired math," Weinstein said selling 10 to 15 cocktails per day would have covered his bar's June rent. "I'm guessing we'd do a lot more, but just being super conservative about what we might sell, that's our rent, that's a salary," he said. "It's a lot, and it allows bartenders to be bartenders and allows us to do our thing."Weinstein said he's been advocating for the Senate to pass the restaurant relief bill, and his bar's patrons and neighbors have been "sending emails and calling legislators to sort of push this thing through." Other bars -- State Park in Cambridge and Bar 25 in Ayer among them -- have been encouraging their social media followers to contact legislators as well, and an online "Cocktails for Commonwealth" petition has more than 700 signatures. The bill (H 4767) has been before the Senate Ways and Means Committee since June 4. Senate President Karen Spilka told the News Service last week that the bill is one the Senate is "clearly looking at." "We've been having conversations with the restaurant folks and others, and that is actively being looked at," she said. "We're getting feedback, we're pulling together information and possibly other areas that we may want to add to it, but that is clearly on our radar and we are working on it." Asked about the House bill on Friday, Gov. Charlie Baker expressed support for its passage. He said he didn't know why it appears to have stalled out but attributed the lack of movement to "a disagreement of some sort between the branches." "We supported the restaurant bill when it was originally proposed, and that's one of those elements I would hope would make it through the process," Baker said. "In fairness, the Legislature, despite the difficulty of the framework through which they have to operate now, has passed a lot of legislation that's provided significant support to many businesses and a lot of communities around Massachusetts over the course of the past 90 days or so, but we certainly support the restaurant bill and think it would be a good thing." Earlier on in the pandemic, when the restrictions on restaurant service were newer, the House and Senate passed a law -- signed by Baker on April 3 -- allowing establishments holding liquor licenses to sell beer and wine with takeout or delivery food orders. The House bill extends that authorization until the end of February 2021, and adds in the ability to sell to-go cocktails with food orders. The drinks would need to be in sealed containers and customers would be limited to 64 ounces of mixed drinks per transaction. House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said in early June that lawmakers wanted to see how to-go beer and wine sales went before green-lighting takeout cocktails as well. "So far I think it's something that the restaurants have certainly appreciated," Michlewitz said at the time. "It's not the be all and end all, and it hasn't saved the restaurant industry to say the least, but it's certainly something they've been appreciative of." Weinstein said he hasn't seen much benefit from to-go beer and wine sales, because the different markups and pricing structures between restaurants and package stores mean his bar would need to dramatically lower its beer prices to match what a customer would pay at the shop across the street. "Anybody who's going to order beer from us is sort of doing it for charity or out of immense convenience," he said. Weinstein said people ask him "all the time" about to-go cocktail sales. Its really disappointing that this thing has languished for three weeks now when it was passed so overwhelmingly by the House, and I just dont get it, he said. British historical fiction writer Philippa Gregory is as well known on this side of the Atlantic as the other. There will be a touch of New England Hadley, to be precise in fact in her next book, Dark Tides, the second installment in her Fairemile Series due out this fall from Simon & Schuster. (Shes probably most well known for her series on the Plantagenet and Tudor women, including The Other Boleyn Girl, which became a movie.) Set in 1670, the synopsis on Gregorys website shares, Meanwhile in New England, Alinors brother Ned cannot find justice in the New World, as the kings revenge stretches across the Atlantic and turns the pioneers against each other and against the American Indians. This part of the story is set in 17th century Hadley. On Gregorys Facebook page, you can catch video Gregory as she visited Hadley back in February, sharing a view of the Connecticut River from the dike at the rivers edge. Says Gregory in the video, Im on the Connecticut River in historic Hadley, where Ned ends up in America...Im just so thrilled to be here. Its so much a place of now, I can hear traffic and so much a place of then, I can hear the birds. I am in Hadley, Massachusetts One of the most exciting things about being a writer is when the novel takes you somewhere you werent expecting. Ive almost finished the first draft of book two in the new series, Dark Tides, which has storylines in London and Venice, but Ned, Alinors brother, comes to America to build a life away from the muddy shores of Tidelands. So Ive come too. I am in Hadley, Massachusetts - and I am so glad I came. Dark Tides is out in December. Links here: UK: http://bit.ly/DarkTides USA: http://bit.ly/DarkTidesUS Canada: http://bit.ly/2qUXIcX Posted by Philippa Gregory on Wednesday, February 12, 2020 In her Facebook post, Gregory writes, One of the most exciting things about being a writer is when the novel takes you somewhere you werent expecting. Ive almost finished the first draft of book two in the new series, Dark Tides, which has storylines in London and Venice, but Ned, Alinors brother, comes to America to build a life away from the muddy shores of Tidelands. So Ive come too. I am in Hadley, Massachusetts and I am so glad I came. You can catch the video online at Facebook.com/PhilippaGregoryOfficial. Massachusetts shelters are helping mans best friend find forever homes. Of the 35,149 dogs and cats that entered Massachusetts shelters in 2019, 28,420 found positive placements, according to Best Friends Animal Society. It gives the state a state save rate of 80.86%, the organization reported. Best Friends has always believed that anyone can help homeless pets, said Julie Castle, chief executive officer, Best Friends Animal Society. Although Massachusetts ranked 36th in the U.S. for shelter pet deaths, only 11.27% of Massachusetts shelters are no-kill. A shelter must be saving 90% or more of the animals it takes in to be considered no-kill, the website states. We are seeing continued momentum and progress towards the goal of ending the killing of dogs and cats in U.S. shelters by the year 2025, with the overall number of pets being killed in the U.S. continuing to go down and the number of shelters that are no-kill going up, said Castle. Nationally, 625,000 dogs and cats are killed annually, which is about 1,700 per day. About 5.4 million dogs and cats entered shelters across the U.S. in 2019. Of those 4.2 million found forever homes, making the national save rate 79.02%. This is up slightly from 2018s 76.6%. You dont need a rescue label, special credentials or permission to help save animals, said Castle. Individual community members are the no-kill movements greatest resource. Related Content: SPRINGFIELD Two Fire Department supervisors have included allegations of racist Facebook posts, harassment, and retaliation in a newly amended federal lawsuit against the city. The Black fire supervisors District Chief Marc Savage and Fire Lt. Randolph Blake amended their 2018 civil suit in U.S. District Court on Friday by adding newer allegations, and by adding current Fire Commissioner Bernard J. Calvi as a defendant, their lawyer said in a prepared release. The fire supervisors lawyer, Arnold J. Lizana III, of Atlanta, Georgia, said the amended complaint claims that under former Fire Commissioner Joseph Conants leadership, Black firefighters were allegedly subjected to offensive social media posts on a Fire Department-sponsored platform. Lizana, in the prepared release. said the comments were shocking to anyone who values decency and respect in the workplace. As one example, Lizana said that white firefighters posted an image depicting a group of enslaved black people standing behind a Slave Master, with the caption You never picked any cotton -- Get over it. That specific case dates back to 2016, Lizana said. City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said the city is in the process of responding to the amended complaint. However, my initial impression is that neither the press release, nor the amended complaint filed with the court Friday evening, accurately portray the work environment in the Springfield Fire Department or even the courts decision to allow amendment of this case that was filed a few years ago, Pikula said. In addition, Pikula said he believes each of the allegations regarding social media posts were investigated, and in cases where the city received timely information to corroborate violation of department rules, resulted in discipline, up to and including termination. Pikula, in response to a request for information from The Republican, did not identify which department employees were disciplined, and the specific penalties. The updated federal suit also alleged: That the city created a hostile work environment that led to a verbal assault and offensive racial slurs against Blake by a firefighter in June of 2019. The city was previously warned about prior alleged social media harassment and physical threats to Blake and Savage, but the behavior was not addressed, the suit said. That Savage spoke with Calvi in March of 2019 about his concerns that he was being subjected to discrimination and retaliation by a district chief due to active lawsuits against the city. The suit claims that Calvi in response said that if Savage wanted to be promoted to district chief, he needed to leave the legal issue of residency outside the department. Savage was promoted to district chief in February. That in late 2019, the city threatened disciplinary action against Blake after he complained to a Human Resources official about the departments alleged discriminatory hiring. The original lawsuit claims the city and its Fire Department violated discrimination laws and the constitutional equal protection rights of minority firefighters. The suit also claims that Black firefighters were denied promotion opportunities by the citys failure to enforce its residency against white non-residents. Several other graphic images defended the Confederate flag, promoted violence against Black Lives Matter protesters and advocated the extermination of all Muslims, Lazana said in his prepared statement regarding posts on Facebook. The amended complaint also alleges that when Black firefighters complained about the harassment and discrimination, they received a threat that they could be left to die in a fire if they were ever overcome by smoke. The federal suit lists the names of multiple fire supervisors who allegedly have posted offensive images on Facebook. One of the Facebook pages was created for current and retired members of the Fire Department, the suit said. In January of 2019, the city reached agreement with its first labor group -- the district fire chiefs -- regarding a new social media policy and warned of disciplinary action for violations, including information that unlawfully harasses, threatens or discriminates against others Mayor Domenic J. Sarno at the time had criticized social media comments involving fire and police personnel. The current suit attempted to add Sarno as a plaintiff, but that was denied, Pikula said. The internet postings alleged involve some despicable remarks which we condemn, Pikula said. However, employee postings made on personal time and in chat rooms not authorized by the City is a problem all employers are struggling with as to how properly to monitor and control every time someone posts or likes a post on social media. Lizana said the city and fire commissioners can not be allowed to ignore their obligation to protect minority firefighters from egregious racial and religious harassment. The citys continued retaliation against the African-American firefighters who are advocating for inclusion is unacceptable, and must stop, Lizana said. The citys residency requirement has been a source of controversy for decades, including if existing personnel were required to live in Springfield, or when promoted. The city in recent years has reached contract settlements with city employee groups that requires residency for newly hired employees.. The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the City to comply with its residency ordinance and compensation for lost income incurred by minority firefighters who were denied promotional opportunities, Lizana said. Savage had also filed complaints against the city with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and in a suit filed in Hampden Superior Court. He had sought the position of deputy fire chief in Springfield.in 2014. As of last January, the MCAD had dismissed Savages complaint, ruling that he failed to show sufficient evidence that he was discriminated against because of color and religion. A ruling from Superior Court is believed to be still pending, regarding a civil suit filed by Savage and 10 other residents in 2016, claiming the city has failed to uphold a residency requirement for promotions. The city denies the claim. Carol A. Learys last days as president of Bay Path University were not allowed to pass unnoticed. The institutions Board of Trustees saw to that. Trustees bestowed upon Leary the title of President Emerita, which will begin July 1, on her first day of retirement. Learys 25-year tenure as Bay Path president, a transformative time of growth for the Longmeadow campus, had a June 30 end date. Leary was the longest-serving president in Bay Paths history. Her successor is Sandra Doran, whose tenure as Bay Paths sixth president begins July 1. Carol Leary led a remarkable transformation of Bay Path during her 25-year tenure. The Board was honored to pay tribute to her and express gratitude for the countless ways she and her husband Noel have impacted Bay Path and the western Massachusetts community, trustees chairman Jonathan Besse said. Emeritus status is a special honor given to an individual who has provided distinguished service to an institution or organization. Leary guided Bay Path through a vast array of institutional improvements and initiatives that included strengthening academic offerings, enhancing the student experience, investing in capital projects, establishing ties with the greater community and cultivating new partnerships. In addition to granting Leary the status of President Emerita, trustees voted to rename the campuss main administration building, Deepwood Hall, to Leary Hall. Trustees praised Carol and Noel Leary for their commitment to diversity and inclusion, and the tremendous impact they have had on all students. Each was a first-generation college student. They are featured in the universitys I Am Bay Path campaign that celebrates diverse experiences and perspectives from members of the university community. Noel Leary was awarded an honorary degree for his commitment to Bay Path. For this selfless community servant, who without fanfare, has dedicated his life to the betterment of others, we are proud to bestow Bay Paths highest honor, the doctor of humane letters, honoris causa, (upon Noel Leary, Besse said. President Carol Learys legacy can be viewed online in a special archival piece, Legacy of Leadership, which highlights and chronicles her impact. The front piece is a first glimpse of the official portrait of Leary painted by Doug Brega, a local artist of national renown. It will be unveiled at a later date. Citations have been received from Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno, U.S. Congressman Richard Neal, Massachusetts State Senator Eric Lesser, Massachusetts State Rep.e Brian Ashe, and Longmeadow Town Manager Lyn Simmons. Sarno declared May 18 Carol Leary Day in Springfield. LUDLOW A 36-year-old Enfield man has been arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a Center Street gasoline station last week. Police Chief Daniel Valadas told WWLP detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Nathan S. Yell last Friday. He faces charges of armed and masked robbery and larceny under $1,200. Yell was subsequently arrested by Enfield police. The armed robbery occurred last Tuesday at the Shell gasoline station at 223 Center St., Valadas said. The suspect reportedly robbed the store with a knife about 3:25 p.m. and fled in a motor vehicle. Yell was held on $100,000 bond pending a rendition hearing in Connecticut, according to WWLP. NORTHFIELD The cause of a fire that displaced a West Northfield Road couple from their home Friday night, while not considered suspicious, remains under investigation, a fire official said. Fire Chief Floyd Skip Dunnell lll told The Recorder the blaze at 121 West Northfield Road was reported about 9:45 p.m. on Friday. The fire broke out in an upstairs bedroom and spread to a second bedroom before it was contained by firefighters. Firefighters remained on scene until about 1:30 a.m. Dunnell said the fire is considered accidental but remains under investigation. Firefighters from Bernardston, Erving and the New Hampshire towns of Hinsdale, and Vernon provided mutual aid. The Gill Fire Department provided coverage at the fire station and the Greenfield Fire Department served as the rapid intervention team, the Recorder reported. NORTHAMPTON The controversy over a roundabout project took a new turn this week as leaders of one of Massachusetts Native American tribes publicly distanced themselves from an online petition that claims construction would destroy a 10,000-year-old undisturbed ancient village. A statement issued by the Nipmuc Nation said that whatever happens with the project at Hatfield Road and North King Street does not concern the tribe. The current issue in the media, to stop construction of a roundabout, is a matter between a private landowner and the state. It does not involve our Tribal community, said a statement authored by Chief Cheryll Toney Holley and tribal council Chairwoman Tenah Richarson. Nipmuc leaders are not calling for the project to be halted, but will monitor construction with the possibility of getting involved later if needed. The Nipmuc Nation, recognized by both the state of Massachusetts and the U.S. Government, is the historical tribe that populated much of southern New England, including Hampshire and Franklin counties. It claims kinship with the Indigenous people who lived in what centuries later would become Northampton. The nation consists of some 600 people, and its tribal council is based in Grafton. The site in question involves a wooded property just off Hatfield Street that falls within the construction footprint of a $3.4 million roundabout to be built by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The discovery of artifacts led to an archeological dig, which led to a lawsuit against the state by John F. Skibiski Jr., who owned the site until it was taken by the state under eminent domain. Work was scheduled to begin Wednesday, but is being delayed until at least July 13 when a court hearing is scheduled. - 6/26/2020 - aerial view, facing north, of the intersection of Hatfield Street and Route 10 in Northampton. The city plans to install a rotary at the intersection. Hatfield Street is on the left. On the far right is Interstate-91. An archaeological dig in the wooded area to the left of Hatfield Street found artifacts dating back 8,000 years. (Patrick Johnson / The Republican) The state Department of Transportation sees the rotary as necessary to improve traffic safety at the intersection just south of the River Valley Co-op. But the co-op has recently come out against disturbing the site. The Skibiski family has been leading the charge to stop the rotary project in courts of law and of public opinion. An online petition on MoveOn.Org created recently by Greg Skibiski has, as of Tuesday afternoon, garnered 48,683 signatures nearly 20,000 more than the population of Northampton, and close to the petitions goal of 50,000 signatures. John Skibiski said people have been signing at a rate of around 300 per hour, and at times it was even more than that. But the Nipmuc statement says the petition is false and misleading and has contributed to confusion among the public and has spread misinformation. Specifically, it argues the petition does not represent any local Native American tribes or any individuals representing local tribes. The statement also takes issue with the description of the property as an undisturbed ancient village site. The statement charges there is no evidence it was ever a village, and once the archeological dig got underway, it could no longer be described as undisturbed. The archeological process is itself a destructive process, the statement notes. Through archeology, disturbance has already occurred. Design specifications by the Mass. Department of Transportation detailing a planned roundabout at Hatfield and North King streets in Northampton. The statement also takes issue with John Skibiskis claim in a federal suit filed last year in which he asserted ownership of all artifacts found on the site and sought damages for their removal from the property. The rightful owners of any and all artifacts are the ancestors themselves and all artifacts removed from the site should be returned to the earth, the Nipmuc statement said. John Skibiski said Tuesday that he was aware of the Nipmuc statement, and chalked it up to a misunderstanding of what his family is trying to do. On Tuesday afternoon, Greg Skibiski provided The Republican with a copy of a letter he addressed to Toney Holley and Richardson in which he apologized on behalf of his family for implying on our public petition that we speak on behalf of, or represent in any way the Nipmuc Nation of Massachusetts. He said the family has been working with other Native Americans and has been in contact with other federally recognized tribes. John said he is interested in reaching out to tribal leaders to better understand each other and possibly agree to collaborate and cooperate about the future of the property. He said he and his family are interested in keeping the property as it is as what he described as a historical resource instead of flattening it and covering it with asphalt and concrete for a traffic roundabout. We want to preserve the site for Native Americans, with the possibility for future research by historians and others, he said. A statement issued by the Nipmuc Nation distancing itself from the controversy regarding the construction of a rotary in Norhampton over the site where native artifacts have been found. Related Content: Instructors in the auto technology program at Springfield Technical Community College decried the elimination of their program, which was among seven that fell victim to budget cuts. Ramiro Soares, department chair of the auto tech program, and instructor Jesse Martello said dropping the program not only ran counter to the colleges mission, but that the interest level among students defied the colleges stated reason of low enrollment. STCC will no longer offer automotive technology, biomedical engineering technology, biotechnology, civil engineering technology, cosmetology, dental assistant training and landscape design and management technology. College president John Cook said the 95 students in those seven programs will be able to complete their degree work in those programs in a reasonable time frame, while also being allowed alternative options. No new students will be accepted into those programs, Cook said. Of the 95 students in the seven affected programs, 12 were returning in auto tech, according to Soares. Cook said enrollment levels were a factor as the college confronted the broader necessity of finding budget reductions. The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to sustain all previous functions, he said. Soares said the interest level in the STCC auto technology program, its unavailability elsewhere within proximity, and the demand within the auto industry for skilled technicians should have safeguarded the program from the budget ax. My numbers are not the problem. I already (had) students enrolled. I also have state-of-the-art equipment - we dont need (to purchase) anything,' he said. The auto technology program is a two-step process. The first step is a certificate program that, according to Soares, has had room for only 20 students because the automotive equipment takes up space. He said he always enrolls at least 21, or a few more in case students change their minds before school opens. The second step has been the associates degree program that instructs students in skills for cars with automatic transmissions and newer models. Some students leave after the first year to begin work or for other reasons. Those leaving after the certificate program have much lower earning potential. The STCC associates degree program, the second step, averaged 14 students per year between 2011 and 2018. Since 2011, combined enrollment in the certificate and associates degree programs ranged between 34 and 42 students. Prior to the cost-cutting announcement, Soares said he sent a detailed plan to administrators, outlining his strategy based on COVID-19 considerations. The 2020-21 certificate program was to be capped at 16 students rather than 20 for social distancing purposes. Soares said that by June 17, enrollment and registration had occurred for 17 students, one higher than the maximum. Past history indicated that at least one registered student would not follow through, leaving class size at the prescribed number. Soares said those numbers belie the overall interest in auto technology. He said he received applications from 51 students this year. In past years, applications have often ranged between 70 and 85 and at times, well over 100. Soares said this years lower number occurred because applications were shut off much earlier, due to limited space caused by COVID-19 restrictions. In proposing a 2020-21 curriculum, Soares said lectures would be online (which he conceded was far from ideal) and that lab costs would double by splitting into two groups for social distancing. Martello said that in Massachusetts, the STCC auto technology program was the only one of its kind offered at the college level west of Worcester. Very few are offered anywhere in the state,' he said. There are kids coming out of schools like Putnam Academy - where are they going to go? he asked. Soares doesnt know how students already in the midst of the program will finish. He said if his full-time position is eliminated, he cant afford to come back part-time as an adjunct. Martello said the STCC program reflects a diversity of the students in attracts, one he says is symbiotic to the colleges stated mission. Cutting this program shows very little concern for the population we serve,' he said. Soares said his own personal tools are locked up on campus, with no way to retrieve them. He said some working vehicles were in the process of repair when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the campus, and they, too, remain in the buildings, unfinished and unusable. The Supreme Court has once again protected a womans constitutional right to abortion. But the latest ruling, in a case decided with a 5-4 vote on Monday, demonstrated clearly how much that right remains in peril. Though it was a decision that abortion-rights advocates could easily cheer, their celebration would wisely be tempered by the reality that theyd won a squeaker. Monday's case concerned a Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Though that may seem simple enough on its face, in reality, had it taken effect, Louisiana, which has 4.64 million residents and is nearly five times larger in area than Massachusetts, would have ended up with but one clinic providing abortions. Simply put, the law, while ostensibly written to protect the health of women who elect to have their pregnancies terminated, was actually an effort to make it nearly impossible for many women to seek out the services of an abortion provider. In almost every way, the law was the same as one, from Texas, that was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supremes back in 2016. That case was decided by a 5-3 vote, with the four generally liberal members joined by -then Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has since retired, having been succeeded by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh, it is important to recall, ascended to the high court only after a highly contentious and bruising confirmation battle. The vote was 50-48. He gained the backing of Republican Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, only after pledging to stand by precedent on abortion cases. And yet, he voted to uphold the Louisiana law that was nearly identical to the Texas law the high court had struck down just four years earlier. So much for precedent. And promises to a senator. Thankfully, Chief Justice John Roberts, one of the three who backed the Texas law in 2016, switched sides in Monday's ruling and joined the liberals. Not because he agreed with them, he wrote, but because he didn't want to undermine the court's antecedent ruling. It's been 47 years since Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal in all 50 states. Should a case on overturning Roe come before the Supreme Court, would Kavanaugh honor that precedent? Would Roberts? Abortion rights should not hang on such a thread. This is an update of a story posted at 9:31 a.m. SPRINGFIELD - Two city men and one man from Chicopee are facing multiple counts of home invasion and breaking and entering following their arrest Tuesday morning on Sycamore Street, police said. Police spokesman Ryan Walsh said the three men forced their way inside a home at around 5:30 a.m. Five residents, including some young children, were on the second floor at the time. They were not harmed, Walsh said. Arrested were Anthony Lewis, 28, of Orange Street, Alen McMillan, 36, of Foster Street, and Trey Palmer, 22, of Chicopee Street in Chicopee. Palmer was found in possession of a loaded .357 caliber revolver that had previously been reported stolen in Vermont. Each was charged with five counts of home invasion and a single count of daytime breaking and entering while armed. Palmer is also charged with possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, without a license to carry, and while loaded, possession of a dangerous weapon while named in a warrant, receiving stolen property, and assault and battery on a police officer. He was also named in four arrest warrants. Walsh said that while Palmer was being booked at the police station, he grew combative and spit at an officer. Sycamore Street is in between Bay and Acorn streets in the citys Bay neighborhood. For the first time in recent years, Massachusetts will enter a new fiscal year with no proposed budget from lawmakers for fiscal 2021. Instead, the state will start its year with a $5.25 billion interim budget, which essentially funds government operations at fiscal 2020 levels to cover the month of July in the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. A new report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, however, suggests that even if the state entirely reverted to fiscal 2020 levels for the next fiscal year, it wouldnt be enough to cover a spending gap the foundation puts at roughly $6 billion. If the interim budget were extended to cover August, September and even thereafter, MTF wrote the spending levels would be 3.3% below what the governor suggested when he filed his proposed budget in January the only fiscal 2021 proposal released to date. At the time, Gov. Charlie Baker proposed a $44.6 billion budget for fiscal 2021, roughly $1.46 billion higher than what the state is spending for fiscal 2020. These lower appropriation levels address the need for continuing government operations while adjusting for lower tax revenue collections, the report states, but even this reduced spending could prove to be overly optimistic should federal assistance levels fall short, the economic recovery is delayed or circumstances otherwise further decline. The states financial picture has been clouded by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, from closure of non-essential businesses to historic unemployment levels to the delay of tax filings and payments from April 15 to July 15. The Department of Revenue has reported at least $2.25 billion in tax revenue shortfalls, though it is unclear how much of that is due to the tax payment extension and can be recuperated in mid-July. Without clarity on revenue or an answer on Congress will pass a stimulus bill with state and local aid, the Massachusetts House and the Senate have held off on filing fiscal 2021 budgets even though the state cannot start the new fiscal year with a deficit. That means the governors proposed budget, filed months before the pandemic hit the state, is the only draft economists can draw from at the moment. If the state extended its interim budget beyond July, the state would see differences in funding levels than they were expecting when Baker filed his budget proposal. If Massachusetts reverted to fiscal 2020 spending levels, the state would lose $484 million in education, $498 million in Health and Human Services and $155 million in transportation, including roughly $40 million for snow and ice removal, compared to what Baker proposed in January. The different funding levels would cut $1.5 billion in spending, accounting for perhaps 25% of the estimated $6 billion revenue shortfall, MTF states. The report states the foundation isnt recommending such cuts, but rather illustrating what impact extending the interim budget could have. The projection comes as public health and education officials call for increasing funding to help them meet their needs under the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 108,000 people statewide and forced schools to go remote. One of the biggest questions about the budget is whether the Student Opportunity Act, a landmark $1.5 billion education law, would be phased in as scheduled or put on the back burner. If the state continued operating at fiscal 2020 spending levels, the education sector could see its Chapter 70 spending capped at $5.17 billion, up to $303.5 million less than it expected to. Over the past decade, lawmakers have repeatedly sent fiscal year budgets to the governors desk days, sometimes weeks, after July 1, often approving interim budgets to cover operating costs in the mean time. Yet the governor often received and signed a fiscal budget into law by late July. This year, however, state officials have to determine how much revenue the state received because of the extended tax deadline and whether Congress will return from recess in July to pass a federal stimulus package before legislators can draft their own budget, much less get the governor to sign it. Related Content: McAlester, OK (74501) Today Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 79F. W winds shifting to NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Low 54F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Back-to-school plans Here's a look at what local school districts have decided when it comes to in-person or virtual instruction or a combination of both/hybrid: Atlanta: making its decision in July; delaying back-to-school date from Aug. 10 to 24 Cobb: in-person classes with an option for virtual ones; back-to-school date delayed from Aug. 3 to 17 Decatur: making its decision in July DeKalb: making its decision in July Fulton: in-person classes with an option for virtual ones; back-to-school date delayed from Aug. 10 to 17 Gwinnett: in-person classes with an option for virtual ones; back-to-school date delayed from Aug. 5 to 12 Atlanta, GA (30303) Today Cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 84F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 69F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Submit A Press Release $25.00 / for 2 days Ensure your press release runs prominently on our website and in our E-mail Newsletter. Gauranteed placement on these platforms is $25. Note: All submissions will go through our editorial approval process before being posted. Note: We have changed our commenting system. If you do not have an mdjonline.com account, you will need to create one in order to comment. 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 On a Saturday in March, after Gov. Tom Wolf urged nonessential businesses to close, Cameron Peters turned off the lights in her flower shop on Phoenixvilles main street, pulled the candy-pink door closed, and started sobbing. She was unsure when, or if, she would be able to come back. The picturesque downtown, normally bustling with activity, was eerily quiet. I was locking the door on my dreams, she said. Five days later, Wolf issued a sweeping order to close all but life-sustaining businesses, ensuring Peters flower shop and thousands of other businesses would remain closed indefinitely as part of some of the strictest shutdown rules in the nation. Public health experts agree the move was necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus and prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. But the Wolf administration has faced widespread criticism for how it carried out the closures. Central to those complaints were a lack of enforcement, allowing for wide variation in how businesses and competitors interpreted the rules, and a controversial waiver process decided entirely in secret, allowing certain businesses to reopen. Those waivers, while well-intentioned, gave state officials the power to determine winners and losers in the market. Sometimes, direct competitors received conflicting guidance, with one being allowed to reopen while another had to stay closed. Now as most counties move into the green phase of reopening, and business owners face tough choices about how to move forward the long-term consequences of those inconsistencies are coming into sharper focus. Some have already announced permanent layoffs, while others are still taking stock of the financial damage done by the shutdown but fear they wont survive. To this day, theres no doubt that businesses were harmed because they were shut down and shouldnt have been, said Guy Ciarrocchi, president and CEO of the Chester County Chamber of Commerce. Theres no doubt that there are people who will lose their jobs because their employer was shut down and may not need to have been. Casey Smith a spokesperson for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, which oversaw the waiver process said the effort was organized in just a few days and steps were taken to make it as fair as possible. Quality control efforts were ongoing throughout the duration of the process to ensure that there was consistency across industries, Smith said. If the department received valid complaints from business owners that led state officials to believe they had made a mistake, the team would review that application and revise the determination if necessary, she said. Dennis Davin, secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, declined an interview request, citing pending litigation. That includes a federal lawsuit brought by businesses including a Bucks County pool store that was denied a waiver, despite the fact that two local competitors remained open, according to a complaint filed in the case. Senate Republicans have also sued the Wolf administration to enforce a legislative subpoena seeking thousands of pages of records relating to the waiver process, including emails, notes, and internal memos. Auditor General Eugene DePasquales office is separately reviewing the process. A fraught process Pennsylvania was one of 13 states that developed its own rules about which businesses could stay open, according to an analysis by Multistate Associates, a lobbying firm. Others followed federal guidance issued by the Department of Homeland Security. The business shutdown was fraught from the start. The administrations guidelines for which businesses were considered life-sustaining continuously changed, sowing confusion in communities across the state. In an attempt to better respond to individual circumstances, the Department of Community and Economic Development launched the waiver system, but officials there were quickly deluged by tens of thousands of requests. As the process lurched forward, frustration mounted throughout the business community because the department refused to state exactly what criteria it was using to consider applications, or explain to applicants why waivers were granted or denied. For weeks, it also refused to make public even the names of businesses that were approved or denied, moving to do so only after coming under intense public scrutiny and pressure from the legislature. The state relied on information provided by businesses, but gave little guidance on how to fill out the three-question application. Small differences in how businesses completed the form could lead to very different outcomes. In some instances, business owners watched as their competitors reopened, gaining a valuable advantage. In others, after state officials were questioned about why a business was deemed life-sustaining, they reversed course and revoked a waiver. There was no real, true standard, said Ciarrocchi, of the Chester County Chamber of Commerce. When the administration launched the waiver process, Peters, the flower shop owner, emailed the Department of Community and Economic Development, confused. I dont want my shop open to the public, only for phone and web orders, she wrote. Please advise. I am a tiny business who without any revenue could close due to these circumstances. Peters said she never got a response and so, later that day, she submitted a waiver application, making the same plea. To her surprise, the department denied her request via form email. Yet just a month later, as Peters observed other flower shops doing deliveries, she confirmed with the governors office that she never needed a waiver. Some businesses did open and probably shouldnt have been open, and others closed and found out later that they might have been able to be open, said Michelle Crowley, president and CEO of the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce. Some of these things have been clear as mud. Two shops, one waiver According to the Wolf administration, the waiver program was an attempt to make the shutdown more fair and responsive to individual business needs. But business owners like Miguel Cabrera Jr. of Avondale said it had the opposite effect. Cabreras company, A&A Auto Tags, sells license plates and insurance, offers notary services, and processes title transfers. Auto Tags Plus, in a neighboring Chester County borough just 12 miles away, is in the same business. A&A was denied a waiver, while Auto Tags Plus received one. It just kind of felt weird, Cabrera said. We didnt know what they had over us. The difference, according to state spokesperson Smith, was how the companies filled out the waiver application. Smith said Auto Tags Plus was granted a waiver for one employee to collect insurance premium payments. A&A also provides insurance services, but did not list that as the reason it should be granted a waiver, Smith said. Still, the owner of Auto Tags Plus, who declined to be named on the record, said he thought the waiver meant his entire business could stay open, as long as he followed CDC guidelines. Cabreras sister, Zory Baer, who manages the business, was furious when she started getting calls from customers, asking why the competitor company was open. Hes raking it in because hes the only one in town, Baer said. But even with the waiver, Auto Tags Plus has lost a lot of business, the owner said. He doesnt think the system was fair to other businesses, either. And hes been dragged into the rancor surrounding the process, he said, receiving threatening phone calls and a lot of negative backlash about receiving a waiver. While the waiver process pitted one small business against the other, many big box stores were able to stay open selling their full range of products. At first, Matt Muccitelli, vice president of Park Home Stores in Altoona, thought the discrepancy must be a mistake. Then, his companys waiver application was denied. In April, Muccitelli posted pictures on Facebook of the crowded parking lot and busy aisles of the local Lowes. Some customers responded with promises that they would wait to buy new appliances until Park Home was open again. Standing up for local! one woman posted. Its beyond frustrating that these stores look like its Black Friday! Simply crazy! wrote another. Different companies did not get equal treatment, Muccitelli said. It was such an arbitrary process. For some, a risk worth taking While the state was able to issue fines and penalties to businesses that defied the coronavirus business closure order and potentially put their employees health at risk, Wolf repeatedly said he favored voluntary compliance over enforcement. But that approach has meant there have been very few consequences so far for businesses who played fast and loose with the rules. Some nonessential business owners stayed open without seeking a waiver, taking the view that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission, said Helen Kissick, president and executive director of the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce. CabinetWorks Group, a cabinet door manufacturer in Mifflinburg, in central Pennsylvania, stayed open during the pandemic, even though many of its competitors were forced to shut down. Household and kitchen-cabinet manufacturing was not deemed life-sustaining under Wolfs guidelines. Yet CabinetWorks did not apply for or receive a waiver, according to state officials. Officials from CabinetWorks did not return calls seeking comment. Pam Stuter, whose father retired from the company and whose son now works there, said employees were told the business was reclassifying itself as a sawmill, which was considered life-sustaining. Yet Stuter said the company continued to produce cabinet doors throughout. My dad is rolling in his grave right now, she said. He never would have had his employees come to work back at that time. He was the plant manager for 45 years. Smith, the Department of Community and Economic Development spokesperson, acknowledged that some businesses may have been taking advantage of the process. Responsibility for enforcing the order has been split between the Pennsylvania State Police, which has issued just three citations since March 23, and local police departments, many of which opted not to get involved. District attorneys in some counties said they would not prosecute businesses that violated the order. As a result, some business owners decided the risk was worth it. At the beginning of April, Patrick Penfield applied for a waiver for his bait shop a 12-by-12-foot shed next to the Clarion River in Elk County, with one refrigerator full of sodas, another with worms and night crawlers, and an aquarium of minnows. A day later, he received a denial. But the following week, with the start of trout season, he opened anyway, defying the shutdown order. I never had anybody come to my shop and question me being open, Penfield said. I have had police officers come in here to buy bait and nothing was said. Waiver process The state denied Cameron Peters' waiver to fulfill online orders from her Phoenixville flower shop. But, after being closed for a month, she c An unclear future The future is precarious for Peters Phoenixville flower shop. The events she relies on weddings, proms, graduations have been canceled or postponed. She and her husband have spent down their savings to keep up with rent and utilities. The business is only a few years old and wasnt making much of a profit even before the shutdown. Its not yet clear whether the uneven playing field created during the shutdown, which the waiver process intensified, will have long-term consequences for local businesses, said Joe Hurd, president and CEO of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce. Still, when the chamber surveyed all 1,080 member businesses, the ones who said, Were doing OK, a lot of them followed that statement with, We were able to get a waiver, Hurd said. But getting a waiver wasnt always a golden ticket. Gitman Bros., a high-end shirt-maker in Schuylkill County that traces its business roots to the early 1930s, received a waiver to manufacture personal protective gear. Unlike some companies that used their exemptions to reopen at full capacity, Gitman halted its shirt-making and limited its work to medical gowns for health networks in the state. For us it was a way to keep the lights on, said Chris Olberding, president of Gitman and Gitman Vintage. It never crossed our mind to resume normal production. Even with a waiver, the financial toll was steep. The storied company recently announced that it will close its factory in Ashland at the end of the summer, and will move production of the Gitman brand to another state. Ninety employees will be laid off, although all have been offered positions at those out-of-state locations, said Olberding. Its a sad time, he said. 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. Meadville, PA (16335) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 78F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Cloudy skies. Low 51F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Using a mouse model of experimental renal failure and a diet enriched in fat and fructose to simulate a western diet, the researchers found that production of the peptide NaKtide in fat cells inhibited the signaling function of the sodium pump, Na/K-ATPase. The peptide also prevented the development of renal failure-associated cardiomyopathy as well as other consequences of renal failure such as anemia. Targeting NaKtide production to skeletal muscle cells with a similar manipulation had essentially no effect on the cardiomyopathy or anemia in mice with experimental renal failure."This research provides an important breakthrough with translational application and demonstrates that Na/K-ATPase oxidant-amplification loop and/or adipocytes are potential targets for disease intervention," said lead author Komal Sodhi, M.D., associate professor of surgery and biomedical sciences at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.Future research will help determine if these findings can be confirmed in humans, representing a novel and successful therapeutic target in chronic renal failure."According to this novel study, targeting this oxidant amplification loop in adipocytes could serve as a viable clinical strategy for the prevention and treatment of renal failure-associated cardiomyopathy," said Joseph I. Shapiro, M.D., dean of the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and the study's senior author.Source: Eurekalert They must also consider individual patient characteristics, such as history of atherosclerotic disease, heart failure, or chronic renal disease. A network meta-analysis that presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive evidence map of the pharmacologic treatment of type 2 diabetes and serves as a bridge between the deluge of clinical research and routine clinical practice.Researchers from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece reviewed 453 trials assessing 21 antidiabetic interventions from 9 drug classes to compare benefits and harms of glucose-lowering drugs in adults with type 2 diabetes.The design and rationale of the study were informed by patients' input regarding their views and concerns about the management of the type 2 diabetes and its impact on their lives.Interventions included monotherapies, add-on to metformin-based therapies, and monotherapies versus add-on to metformin therapies. Based on the data, the researchers found no differences between treatments in drug-naive patients at low cardiovascular risk. Insulin regimens and specific glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) added to metformin-based background therapy produced the greatest reductions in hemoglobin A1c level.For patients at increased cardiovascular risk receiving metformin-based background therapy, specific GLP-1 RAs and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors had a favorable effect on certain cardiovascular outcomes.These conclusions corroborate and build on the latest treatment recommendations of international scientific organizations by documenting the cardiovascular effects of all available antidiabetic medications and by highlighting differences, not only between drug classes, but also between drugs of the same class.Editorialists from the National Institutes of Health discuss the findings and suggest ways that future clinical trials can best inform individualized care for persons with type 2 diabetes.Source: Eurekalert Blood flow measurements are important in chronic conditions too, as in the cases of measuring blood flow to the feet and lower limbs of people with diabetes. True flow measurements with 2D ultrasound are rarely used clinically due to reliability issues and cumbersome implementation. In addition, results often vary considerably between facilities and operators. Measurements from an experienced ultrasound technologist might differ significantly from those of a less experienced one."Right now, we just don't have anything better to quantify blood flow," said study lead author Oliver D. Kripfgans, Ph.D., associate professor of radiology from the Department of Radiology at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, Michigan.Dr. Kripfgans and his Michigan Medicine colleagues J. Brian Fowlkes, Ph.D., Stephen Z. Pinter, Ph.D., and Jonathan M. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., have spent years developing and studying a 3D approach for quantitatively measuring blood flow. For the new study, he and his colleagues, along with other volunteers involved in the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA), tested this 3D approach on three clinical scanners using a custom flow phantom, a device that mimics blood flow in humans. They used seven different laboratories and manipulated the testing conditions by changing flow rate, imaging depth and other parameters for a total of eight distinct testing conditions.The results showed that blood volume flow estimated by 3D color-flow ultrasound was accurate and reproducible among the seven laboratories."We had less than 10% error or variation," Dr. Kripfgans said. "For some of the systems, we were down to only 3% to 5% difference between labs. These are fantastic results that show that, from a technology point of view, some systems could be ready to go to the clinic."Dr. Kripfgans credited the simplicity of the 3D approach, ease of data collection and elimination of assumptions plaguing other methods for minimizing the variation in results between users and systems. That simplicity, coupled with the availability of 3D on many existing ultrasound systems, is likely to hasten its arrival to clinical medicine, Dr. Kripfgans said."Once the technique becomes available commercially on scanners, clinical adoption will be much faster because then it's not a research project anymore, it's something that's readily available, and after that it's just a matter of time before it reaches the clinic," he said.QIBA, an alliance of researchers, health care professionals and industry representatives, was organized by the Radiological Society of North America in 2007 to improve current biomarkers and investigate new ones. Biomarkers are measurable indicators of the state of a person's health.The QIBA initiative includes collaboration to identify needs, barriers and solutions to create consistent, reliable, valid and achievable quantitative imaging results across imaging platforms, clinical sites, and time. QIBA aims to accelerate development and adoption of hardware and software standards to achieve accurate and reproducible quantitative results from imaging methods."Because of QIBA and this study I'm confident that this 3D ultrasound technology is on a path to the clinic," Dr. Kripfgans said.Source: Eurekalert Bill Graham / The Meridian Star Jeremy Pogue, a flight paramedic with PHI Air Medical, speaks with Dr. Minh Pham, a resident with Rush Health Systems, prior to the announcement of a partnership between the two organizations on Monday. The partnership involves an EC-135 helicopter, which will expedite medical care for local patients. Meridian leaders are considering a proposal to add more cameras throughout the city. Currently, there are 20 cameras in three park areas. Mark David Howard, a representative of Mississippi Power, discussed adding eight cameras to two more parks at a city council work session Tuesday. There is a possibility for a full citywide enhancement that would include 33 additional cameras and nine license plate recognition cameras, according to Mississippi Power. Some of those cameras would be able to detect gunshots and aggressive behavior, according to Interim Police Chief Charles Coleman. Howard estimated the system could cost the city $10,000 a month. Were pleased to have the opportunity to possibly expand this service in Meridian, Howard said in a statement. Our customers are seeing much success with this program in improving public safety and enhancing quality of life. Other matters +2 Group seeks removal of Confederate monument at Lauderdale County Courthouse A representative of a movement to remove the Confederate monument at the Lauderdale County C The city council is also considering drafting a resolution in support of relocating the Confederate monument at the Lauderdale County courthouse. The resolution would require three votes by the council to pass and Council Vice President Weston Lindemann of Ward 5 said he expected it could be brought up at the next council meeting on July 7. N'spire Walker, president of Dream Team of the South, provided a plan of action to the council that called for the monument to be moved to a Confederate cemetery. The monument is on public property owned and maintained by the county, according to Lauderdale County Administrator Chris Lafferty. The Board of Supervisors is the public body responsible for maintaining it, Lafferty said. He said earlier this month that any position that the board takes will be in light of a state statute, Miss. Code Ann. 55-15-81. The statute prohibits the alteration of historical monuments and memorials erected on public property. The governing body may move the memorial to a more suitable location if it is determined that the location is more appropriate to displaying the monument, according to the statute. Governor Whitmer Requests USDA Disaster Designation for Michigan Counties Impacted by Severe Weather Governor Whitmer Requests USDA Disaster Designation for Michigan Counties Impacted by Severe Weather FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2020 Media Contact: press@michigan.gov LANSING, Mich. Governor Gretchen Whitmer today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting a disaster designation for Michigan counties impacted by severe weather. The governor is also requesting the USDA make available any other possible assistance under the Federal Crop Insurance Program or other USDA programs to help Michigans hard-working farmers recover. Our hardworking Michigan farmers are once again facing challenges due to weather following one of the toughest years in recent memory, Governor Whitmer said. From freezing temperatures to flooding caused by dam failures and high-water levels following periods of prolonged rainfall, many of our producers are finding themselves in the midst of yet another difficult growing season. A disaster designation for impacted counties would provide some much-needed support to Michigan farmers. This spring, Michigan experienced a significant period of freezing temperatures after many warm days, which negatively impacted several crops at a key time in their development. Damage assessments are still coming in, but early reports show varying degrees of damage to cherries, peaches, wine grapes, apples, blueberries and row crops. In fact, the effects of the cold temperatures have already prompted 20 counties to initiate disaster designations from the USDA. Michigan farmers have also been impacted by flooding caused by periods of heavy rainfall that led to dam failures and high water levels. Earlier this month, Governor Whitmer asked President Trump to issue a Major Disaster Declaration for the five counties directly impacted by the dam failures in an effort to help those impacted by the catastrophic flooding including Michigan farmers rebuild and recover. To view the governors letters, click the link below: ### Governor Whitmer Proposes Additional Police Reforms for Michigan Governor Whitmer Proposes Additional Police Reforms for Michigan FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 29, 2020 Contact: Press@michigan.gov LANSING, Mich. -- Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer proposed additional police reform policies to help strengthen police-community relations and ensure that all Michiganders are treated with dignity and respect under the law. The four-pronged plan, which was developed in partnership with community leaders and law enforcement organizations, will make significant reforms in policy, personnel, participation and community engagement, and prevention and accountability to address racial disparities in how law enforcement is applied toward communities of color. All Michiganders, no matter their community or the color of their skin, deserve equal treatment under the law, Governor Whitmer said. This proposal will help us ensure that law enforcement officials treat all Michiganders with humanity and respect, and will help us keep our communities safe. I will continue working with leaders in law enforcement to make public safety more just and equitable in Michigan. People across Michigan have been calling for changes to police practices, and these actions are clear steps in the direction of needed reform, Lt. Governor Gilchrist said. These reforms will help us build a more just and equitable law enforcement system and ensure the safety of Black Michiganders across the state. Over the last several weeks, the governor added four seats to The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES), including the Director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, to bring more community voices to the table as the commission considers police reforms for our state. The governor also requested that MCOLES provide guidance to law enforcement agencies on continuing education that will help officers keep up with the ever-changing landscape of new laws and issues facing the community, including diversity and implicit bias training. Additionally, the governor has encouraged police departments to participate in efforts that are underway on comprehensive reporting on the use of force by police departments and urged law enforcement agencies to implement duty to intervene policies. The governor proposed the following reforms today: POLICY: The Whitmer Administration supports legislation that makes the following reforms to law enforcement policies: Ban chokeholds/windpipe blockage. Further limit the use of no-knock warrants. Require "duty to intervene" policies. Classify false, racially-motivated 911 calls as a hate crime. Require in-service training for all licensed law enforcement officers to maintain licensure. Authorize MCOLES to do the following: Audit law enforcement agencies to ensure they are accurately reporting violations of law or improper use of force. Establish penalties for agencies who dont comply with reporting. Direct the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Mental Health Diversion Council to make recommendations on best practices and training for police departments when responding to situations involving persons with mental illnesses. PERSONNEL: The Whitmer Administration will work with leaders in law enforcement to make the following reforms to build a more empathetic police force: Provide incentive programs for law enforcement agencies to hire/retain officers who live where they work. Require retention of disciplinary records resulting from violations of law or improper use of force. PARTNERSHIP/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: The Whitmer Administration will promote the following community engagement strategies to strengthen trust between police officers and the communities they serve: Invest in programming in communities around the state that connect local police and community leaders to build relationships. Invest in expanding existing community relationship programs to break down barriers between police and communities around the state. PREVENTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY: The Whitmer Administration will support legislation that makes the following reforms to improve transparency and accountability in investigations: Require independent investigations of all shootings and use of force that resulted in the death of unarmed civilians at the hands of law enforcement. QUOTES FROM LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT: Law enforcement derives its authority from the public who entrusts us to protect and serve them, and I am fully committed to working with Governor Whitmer and her administration to increase accountability and improve transparency in order to build community support and trust. Colonel Joe Gasper, Director of the Michigan State Police The MLBC stands with Gov. Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Gilchrist and the administration on this next step in addressing the issues of police brutality and accountability. As members of the Senate and House we continue to work on bicameral legislation to place these and other reforms into statute and look forward to continued collaboration with her, the community and the departments. Senator Marshall Bullock, Chairman of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus "These proposed reforms will continue to put Michigan ahead of the nation in setting standards for professional police conduct that leads to trust between police officers and the communities they serve. Good police officers accept accountability as they risk their lives everyday to protect Michigan's citizens." Lt. Mark Young, President of the Detroit Police Lieutenants and Sergeants Association and Vice President of the National Association of Police Organizations ### MIDDLETOWN The weather Tuesday fluctuated between light showers and heavy downpours, but the temperament of the Mercy High School community was sky-high as members bid a fond adieu to the schools leader of nearly a half-century. Retiring President Sister Mary McCarthy, outfitted in an embroidered white dress with a peach sweater and sandals, was led outside the facility for a surprise caravan of alumnae, current students, friends and family, led by a contingent of Middletown fire trucks, police cruisers and others who honked their horns, waved and called out greetings. The love the community has for her was apparent, a feeling echoed by many staff. Once she spied the procession snaking its way around the parking lot, McCarthy oscillated between astonishment and faux chagrin, repeating the words, Oh, my God, as staff applauded the occasion. The school community recently welcomed McCarthys successor, 1995 graduate and valedictorian Alissa K. DeJonge. McCarthy, who has ushered more than 9,000 students toward their futures, has enjoyed an illustrious career, following her graduation from Waterbury Catholic High School in 1960. She forged a career as a high school teacher and assistant principal at Lauralton Hall in Milford. Beginning in 1975 at Mercy, McCarthy rose from dean of studies to principal, eventually leading the facility. When asked what shell miss most about her time at the school, Dean of Students Annie Drewry, an alumna, piped up, spelling out her name, as McCarthy laughed, saying the miracles that people like this could turn out well. All kidding aside, McCarthy expressed her true feelings: the sense of community; the girls, the daily interaction with students. Its been great. The legend has retired, a sentiment shared by all in attendance, was written with blue icing on McCarthys going-away cake. McCarthy hopes to continue to serve the school in some way. The last quarter of the year involved distance learning because of the coronavirus pandemic, something that brought a sense of poignancy to the day. That was hard for everybody, not just me. It was such a long period where there was no contact. In a school like this, where people really appreciate each other, enjoy each other, love each other, the lack of that was difficult, McCarthy said. Officials made an extra effort to give the students a special sendoff, including a class video, a cap and gown drive-by pickup for seniors, and socially distanced graduation ceremony during which students and their families stayed in their cars. They all appreciated it. It wasnt what they expected, but it was flawless and a happy time for them, McCarthy said. Mercy women always rise to the occasion, she said. We did the distance learning so well, but it was hard for them. McCarthy joked with staff about the last 44 graduations being a success that is, until the last one. But it was worth every minute. Aside from all the festivities and celebrations, they missed the interaction thats such a part of the school community, she said. People tell me when you walk through the door, you can sense a happy place. Many graduates went on to becoome staff members at every level, McCarthy said. She gave it her all every single day, said Drewry, who graduated in 1997 with Mary-Clare Wamester, director of admissions. I feel so fortunate to be a part of the legacy that will be carried on for her, Drewry said. I feel such happiness that she has put her time in, and now she can sit back and enjoy her lifes work and the people she has reared building our character, strengthening our faith. We know her expectations to have this community remain hospitable, friendly, and a second home to so many, Drewry said. Shes taught me what it means to be a true woman of Mercy, and that started when I was in high school and carried on to being an employee, Wamester said. Not only is she a great leader, but shes been the most wonderful boss you could ever ask for. For me, its her being in the trenches, not afraid to get her hands dirty in the most poverty-stricken area in the northern hemisphere during mission trips to Haiti together, she said. Madeline OHanlon, a 2019 graduate, is interning at Mercy. She is a strong woman building other strong women she fosters, a community of supportive, encouraging and loving girls and staff. Communications Director Marie Kalita, also an alumna, is beginning her 10th year at the school. She welcomed DeJonge, a former board member. Shes been here, so theres a lot that doesnt have to be learned. Over the past four-and-a-half decades, McCarthy touched many lives in countless ways, Kalita said. McCarthy saw Kalita had potential. People have their personal stories, and some of them will never know what they are anything from helping financially to helping girls get their Mercy education to steering them in the right direction while theyre here, she said. Maybe high school wasnt their thing to learn, but giving them the compassion to go forward and do your best and to achieve, Kalita said. Shes been a prime example of what it means to be a successful woman in the workforce, OHanlon said. Its definitely a sad day. MIDDLETOWN Democratic Town Committee leaders are calling for Republican former mayor and current South Fire District commissioner Sebastian N. Giuliano to resign due to what they consider an offensive statement he made on social media. However, the head of the Republican Town Committee said Giulianos comments are being misconstrued and are constitutionally protected. The fire districts union last week condemned a Facebook comment made by Giuilano on a friends post about a Ghanaian ministers invitation to Blacks in America to move to Africa. Barbara Oteng Gyasi made the public statement welcoming Black Americans to Ghana in early June. Giuliano said his words have nothing to do with the fire district. A friend of Giuliano posted on Facebook a headline and photo saying, Ghana Minister Invites African-Americans to Re-settle in Africa if They Feel Unwanted in the U.S. In a reply comment, Giuliano wrote, How long do you think the Ghanaian people will put up with their [expletive]? An open letter sent just before 6:30 a.m. Tuesday to the RTC by DTC Treasurer Amy Albert said the executive board is asking Giuliano to resign because of his insensitive and inappropriate words. No, Giuliano said Tuesday when asked whether he would consider the request. It will be a cold day in (expletive) when I take advice from the Democratic Town Committee or any member. RTC Chairman William Wilson, who has known Giuliano for two decades, defended Giulianos opinion, which, he said, falls under the First Amendment. People should not jump to conclusions or read into his comment, Wilson said. I would never ask a member to resign due to his First Amendment right to free speech, he said. I know Seb and what he meant: the behavior of people he was talking about, the rioting, destruction, burning and breaking in to things. I truly believe he was talking about the actions that are going along with the protests; tearing down statues, Wilson said. Everyone is offended these days. But Alberts email said that as Giuliano is a publicly elected official, his racist comments are offensive to the people he was elected to represent. The union has fielded complaints, the South Fire District has fielded complaints, and he has been asked to apologize or resign, which he has failed to do. Giuliano was elected Feb. 3 with 160 votes to Daniel Penneys 144 and Wilsons 44. We call on the Republican Town Committee to demand he resign. Anything short of his resignation will communicate to Middletown that the Republican Town Committee agrees with his comments, condones them, and are proud to have him represent their organization, the letter said. When asked about the DTCs demands, Wilson said, Its a Republican matter. Seb is a big boy and he can make his own decisions. Giuliano said advice he received from a friend in the past applies in this situation: Dont ever take advice from somebody who doesnt have your best interests at heart. They dont care about the well-being of the Republican Town Committee. Why would anybody listen to them any more than they would take advice from us? Giuliano said. Last week, Giuliano told the Press The people of Ghana are seeing the same images we are seeing about whats been going on in the last few weeks. Why would they want that in their country? he said, referring to burning and looting that took place in some other states. When he wrote who would want these malcontents? he refers to people who have been moved to act by witnessing George Floyds murder. This has become a nation- and worldwide uprising against police brutality and racism in the United States, Albert wrote. Nick Fischer, president of the IAFF Local 3918, said Giulianos statement was appalling, and we certainly do not share his views. South Fire Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Mary Bartolotta, in an email she sent Wednesday to staff and fellow commissioners, called Giulanos words an insensitive and inappropriate remark. Although the social media remark was not made in the official course of the individuals duties as a commissioner, nor does it reflect the official perspective of the district, we recognize we must all hold ourselves to the highest standards of conduct. Our community deserves nothing less, Bartolotta wrote in the email. In his comment, Guiliano asked why Ghana would want a similar situation to happen in that country. He misses the point, Albert wrote in the open letter. These are human beings who are suffering under racism here. They wouldnt suffer the same in Ghana. There has been a change in the country and the community in recognition of intolerance at every level, DTC Chairwoman Lisa Loomis said Tuesday. Giuliano was not copied on the email Albert sent, Loomis said, because the South Fire Board of Commissioners asked him last week to apologize and step down, actions he did not take. He, rather than doing that, really doubled down on the comments (in the Press story), Loomis said. The letter effectively asked the RTC whether it endorsed Giulianos position, and, if not, whether it would take action, Loomis said. Last week, Giuliano called his comments a private conversation between two Facebook friends. That, Albert said, indicates he does not understand that social media is the most public of forums. Bryan Haeffele / Hearst Connecticut Media WILTON The town has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases as seven new illnesses have been identified in the last seven days, according to a report issued on June 29 by First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice. The state Department of Public Health has not provided the Wilton Department of Health with the names of all those affected, but there may be more cases reported over the next few days, she said. It is possible the states reopening of businesses and loosening of restrictions on public and private gatherings may have given people a false sense of security, but those guidelines have been based on the wearing of face masks and continued social distancing. SHELTON A rally is planned Thursday for residents to show support for local police officers. Chris Jones, who has twice run unsuccessfully against Mayor Mark Lauretti and remains a vocal critic of his administration, is organizing the rally titled The Thin Blue Line: Peaceful Rally for a Cause, which will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Riverwalk, known locally as The Slab. Jones said he started putting together Thursdays rally after two incidents last week in which officers were injured while helping rescue residents. Four were hospitalized after helping rescue a 91-year-old man from a house fire on High Street on June 24. We ask our officers for help every day, Jones said in a social media post, and now is our time to help them. Jones, whose father and grandfather were Shelton police officers, said the recent bathroom/locker room disagreement between the union and the chief during which portable toilets were placed in the department parking lot for use by officers drew his attention. Last month, the union filed a grievance alleging three female patrol officers were denied use of their headquarters restrooms while the 49 men had access. The police chief then limited use of headquarters locker rooms and bathrooms for both men and women and set up portable toilets for patrol officers in the parking lot. The current administration, especially Mayor Mark Lauretti and Chief (Shawn) Sequeira, are lashing out at all members of the department, Jones said. Sequeira said he denied any retaliation against officers. Lauretti has in the past stated his support for the chief, adding that some officers do not appreciate Sequeira holding them accountable for their actions and disciplining when appropriate. Lauretti, a Republican, did not comment on Jones claims, simply saying Jones has been talking about me for 29 years. Why would I even respond to him? Jones has served on the Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Aldermen as a Democrat. He has since changed his political party to Republican and forced a primary last year to get on the GOP ballot for Planning and Zoning but failed. The police chief said his department is investigating photos posted on the police unions Facebook page which the union describes as town officers changing clothes in the departments parking lot. Sequeira, in a post on the departments Facebook page, said he was informed about the images of men and women with their faces blocked out which were posted on June 4 on the Support the Shelton Police Union Inc. Facebook page. The pictures appear to show male officers changing their pants and female officers in their bras as they change their shirts. Eventually, once our investigation is complete, people will have a clearer picture as to what is really happening here, Sequeira said. I would ask the public to not prejudge anything until we have completed our investigation and released the findings. Sequeira said police headquarters has reopened, with required safety protocols, but the lower level locker rooms and bathroom will remain closed for two weeks as renovations are performed to those areas. Multiple requests for comment from the police union were not returned. brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com WESTPORT The town is continuing its three-pronged approach to reopening schools in the fall, pending further or more precise information from the state. On Monday, the towns School Reopening Steering Committee presented a report on work its done over the past month to prepare for the fall school year. This is a working draft, Anthony Buono, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said at a Board of Education meeting. These are not recommendations at this point. These are just ideas and things that are being developed, and some of our best thinking at this time. Buono, who also co-chairs the reopening committee, said state guidelines for reopening schools were Monday afternoon but more time was needed to incorporate them in local plans. The committee is still working on a three-pronged approach: a blended learning model, strengthening the distance learning program and a complete return to the schools, he said. The goal of the state at this time and the recommendation is to get all of our students back to the schools in the fall, he said. The state guidelines strongly encourage schools to group students in small permanent groups to encourage social distancing and minimize the chance of closing a school if an infection is reported. Suzanne Lavassuer, supervisor of health services, said spacing between desks, as well as staggering of arrival and dismissal times, are all being considered. I think as we start to map this out and start to wrap our brains around how many kids will be coming to school at one time, well have to look at some of these different entry ways, Lavassuer said. Transportation will be available, but Lavasseur said the district would encourage parents to transport their kids. Schools will also monitor attendance and illness to track trends. Students who have medical conditions that might put them at risk, or they might have a a family member whos immunocompromised or has other risk factors, will be provided options for virtual learning, she said. Certainly this will be done on a case-by-case basis. BOE member Vik Muktavaram said he was glad state guidelines had came in, but noted the importance of the communitys confidence in the guidelines. The transparency, the way we are doing it now, I think is incredibly helpful in terms of alleviating some of those concerns, he said. I just want to reiterate that its important to consider the aspect in terms of confidence. Muktavaram said the earlier specific concerns can be addressed, the better prepared the district will be. Several parents submitted public comment voicing concern they were being left out of the decision making process. But Lavassuer said the steering committee is proposing frequent updates throughout the summer to keep the community up-to-date. I think communication is key in allowing families and staff to speak to us directly or contact us easily with any concerns and addressing them then, she said. Lavassuer said the committee has also been working with Westport-Weston Health District Health Director Mark Cooper to possibly set specific triggers for closing a school, or the district, if COVID-19 cases begin to spike again. We dont have the specifics ironed out yet, but that is part of the plan. she said. Board members also discussed paying for implementing guidelines to accommodate changes, such as bus monitors, in the fall. John Bayers, co-chair of the reopening committee, said now that state guidelines hae been released, the committee would be able to answer budget concerns in the coming weeks. Now that we have the guidelines from (the state) we will be in a better position to provide a financial update for the board in the next few weeks, he said. Therefore the board will be in a better position to move forward to the Board of Finance, the RTM and whoever else is needed in the conversation. dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com MILFORD Three people have been arrested for allegedly shoplifting $800 in merchandise from the Boscovs store at the Connecticut Post Mall. Police went to the store around 6 p.m. Monday after receiving a report of shoplifting. Government is determined to strengthen the effectiveness of its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, and investors as well as the international community must rest assured that the Mauritian Government is serious in its fight against money laundering and terrorism and proliferation financing. This statement was made by the Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mr Mahen Seeruttun, today, at the National Assembly, during the second reading of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020. Minister Seeruttun highlighted that this Bill is another step to reinforce the local legal framework and thus consolidate the countrys robust foundation to strengthen the effectiveness of our AML/CFT regime. He observed that the Bills purpose is twofold, as follows: it will assist Mauritius to support the third application for technical compliance rerating of the remaining five Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations; and it will support the implementation of the FATF Action Plan. Moreover, he underlined that the Bill provides for amending 19 pieces of legislations, including: the Banking Act; the Civil Status Act; the Companies Act; the Financial Intelligence and Anti-Money Laundering Act; the Financial Reporting Act; the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act; the Prevention of Corruption Act; and the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Act. The Minister also reiterated Governments determination to comply with the international standards to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation by bringing fundamental changes to the AML/CFT legislative framework. He further stressed that, under the FATF Action Plan, Mauritius does not have any technical deficiencies that must be addressed and is focussing on the strengthening of the effectiveness of its AML/CFT Regime. The plan from the beginning was for Sarah Stein to give birth at Ruber International Hospital in Madrid, where the Steins have lived on military orders since August. But this was before COVID-19, before the global pandemic was declared, before Spain became a coronavirus hotspot, and before Sarah and her husband, Air Force Major Chris Stein, contracted the illness. Read Next: Cluster of COVID-19 Cases in US Troops Emerges at Kuwaiti Air Base Lives have been upended worldwide by the pandemic, and sadly, thousands have died. But amid the hospitalizations, lockdown orders, lost wages, restlessness, rancor and stress, there are small successes and triumphs, like Sarah and Chris Stein's, who didn't know they had it in them to deliver a baby at home, without help, in the middle of a raging plague. "It turns out that that birth is not this traumatic medical event for most people, for a healthy person. It's just a natural process that you have to be present with," said Chris Stein during a phone interview from his family's apartment near Plaza de Espana. The Steins were looking forward to a three-year tour in Spain for an assignment at the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy. They wanted their two daughters, Lorelai, 7, and Audrey, 4, to learn Spanish, and they knew that they would be adding to their family, with a third baby due on April 4. Air Force Major Chris Stein, with baby Sadie. (Courtesy of the Stein Family) Soon after settling into their apartment in December, however, reports of a new flu-like illness in Wuhan, China, began gaining attention. By the end of January, that city was sealed off. And in late February, the novel coronavirus turned up in northern Italy. Three weeks after that, Chris Stein began to feel ill -- fatigue, chills, body aches, "just ripped," he said. "I didn't know it was COVID at the time because that was when they were like 'Oh, you don't have to worry unless you have this really strong dry cough, high fever or have been in contact with someone from China or Northern Italy,' " he said. When Sarah lost her sense of smell days later and started feeling "off," the couple began to worry. "From that point forward, it was like the most stressed experience we've had in our lives," Chris Stein recalled. After Chris's boss tested positive for the virus, the couple was tested and found positive. With the baby due in just over two weeks, they called Sarah's obstetrician to find out what the protocol would be for a mother with the coronavirus. The Steins learned that if Sarah tested positive during delivery, the baby would be taken from them and kept in isolation in the hospital. For the couple, this was a horrifying thought -- a lost opportunity to nurture the baby in the first weeks of his or her life. The two began praying the baby would arrive on the due date, when Sarah likely would test negative. "How was Sarah going to nurse? How could she have skin-to-skin contact?" Chris asked. "We really are committed to those things." The positive tests also affected their plan for childcare of Lorelai and Audrey during the birth. Since Chris and Sarah both had the virus, the girls likely carried it too, even though they tested negative. They couldn't be around others who didnt have COVID-19, so Chris's supervisor, Navy Capt. Jason Weddle, and his wife, Stacie Weddle, volunteered to take them. Their entire household -- Jason, Stacie and three children -- had also been ill, from March 14 to March 26. "That is what military families do -- we help each other out no matter what the cost," Stacie Weddle said in an email to Military.com. "We had stocked up on dry goods and frozen food and not left the house until it was time to pick up the Stein's girls." The new plan was for Chris Stein to get retested on April 1, and if negative, let him take the baby home from the hospital. But on April 1, Sarah woke up with irregular contractions. She thought they were false labor because they were sporadic. Nevertheless, when they didn't stop, the Steins called the Weddles to pick up their girls, a drive Stacie said was the "most challenging aspect" of the ordeal for them. "It was my first time out of the house since March 13. The roads were deserted and there was a general sense of abandonment on what normally are crowded highways and city streets. I had to go through two armed checkpoints -- one upon entering the city and one while leaving the city. I did not want the girls to be scared so I told them what a great job the policemen were doing keeping us safe," Stacie said. At the Stein apartment, the contractions remained sporadic, coming 7 minutes apart and sometimes 2 minutes apart. When the doctor finally recommended they go to the hospital, Sarah stood, and her water broke. She felt the urge to push. "I was like, DON'T PUSH, DON'T PUSH! I'll grab the bag," Chris Stein said. Sarah simply sat back down on the sofa. "If we leave now, we're having the baby in the car," Chris remembers her saying. He grabbed some towels, and three contractions later, the baby "just came right out" into Chris's arms. "It was so wild -- the biggest rush you can ever imagine in your life. I put her on Sarah's stomach and then when she started to cry, we knew she was healthy and safe. It was a huge relief," Chris Stein said. Anyone who has ever had a baby or attended a birth knows the experience doesn't end with delivery of a squirming, squalling, tiny little human. The next part is really messy, involving the umbilical cord, delivery of the placenta and recovery care for the mother. Chris ransacked a first aid kit he'd just received during a State Department medical class, finding it was "all for trauma like clotting massive wounds and tying off limbs" but "nothing in here I could use for a birth." He didn't want to cut the umbilical cord without a doctor's supervision, but after Sarah delivered the placenta, and they decided to go to the hospital, Chris couldn't figure out how to carry the baby (still attached to the placenta) and the bucket holding the placenta AND help his wife to the car. Thank God for Google. Chris found instructions on the internet and cut the cord. When the couple arrived at the hospital, they were met by a team of doctors who wanted to take the baby and isolate her from Sarah until she tested negative for COVID-19 for at least 24 hours. Not wanting to be separated from their newborn, they declined care. A pediatrician looked over the baby to make sure she was healthy and the trio returned home. After the experience, Chris and Sarah decided that none of the names they'd picked for their new daughter were suitable. Turning once again to the internet, Chris Stein became drawn to the name Sadie, which he learned is a diminutive form of Sarah. "After everything we went through with this baby, I hope she is half as strong as her mother. I definitely wanted her to have her mom's name," Chris said. Today, the enlarged Stein family is settling into life in Spain under the new normal -- specified outdoor hours in the morning or late night for adult workouts, working from home and home- schooling, and taking their daughters outside during the hours set aside for "children's walk time." The Weddles have adjusted too, with a son having flown to Spain after his university closed, conducting virtual visits to college campuses with another son and teleworking. For Americans living overseas, the pandemic has been both "challenging and a benefit," Stacie Weddle said. It has drawn members of the military community even closer, she said, but they also are frustrated by what they see as "many European countries successfully managing outbreaks and quarantines while news from home reveals violence and protests over wearing masks." But taking care of the Steins children and the home birth, she added "was the absolute best news we had in so long." "It was heartwarming to be able to help out others at a time when we had been feeling at a loss as to how to help out our community from a place of quarantine," Stacie Weddle said. Chris Stein said he and Sarah were very worried about having a baby during the pandemic, especially since early reports out of China were that women delivering babies who had COVID were getting very sick, being put on ventilators and given Cesarean sections. A study released this week appeared to confirm the early anecdotal reports, finding that pregnant women are five times more likely to be hospitalized and 1.5 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU for COVID-19. But as the birth was happening, their concerns evaporated, he said. "Everything we deal with on a daily basis, on a yearly basis, like PCS moves, deployments -- all that prepares [military families] for the challenges in life. Military families are just strong," Chris Stein said. While he doesn't recommend home birth for everyone, he does encourage other military families to "take control of their own health outcomes." "Had we not done our own research and felt empowered to make our own decisions, we would have induced the day that we had a positive test. The baby would have been quarantined for 14 days away from us and everything that we had planned about 'skin-to-skin' and breastfeeding and all that kind of stuff would have been ruined," Chris said. "You have to speak up. You have to do your own research." -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: DoDs COVID-19 Cases Pass 10,000 as Army Sees 31% Increase in a Week The Air Force Knew It Had an Ejection Seat Problem, But Didn't Speed Up a Fix. Then a Pilot Died And his widow fears that another pilot may suffer the same fate. U.S. Army Special Operations Command officials announced today that 90 students who were going through survival training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina have tested positive for COVID-19. The soldiers were participating in the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) course, according to a news release from the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Read Next: Unidentified Remains Found in Same Area as Body of Fort Hood Soldier The New York Times first reported this news. Out of the 110 students in the course, 82 students, along with eight instructors, tested positive for COVID-19, Janice Burton, a spokeswoman for SWCS told Military.com. The course was terminated and all 110 soldiers are being quarantined for 14 days, Burton said. The three-week SERE course at Camp Mackall is one of the phases of the Special Forces Qualification Course (Q-Course). Students receive two weeks of training to learn how to live off the land, evade enemy patrols, resist the enemy's interrogation techniques and escape from captivity. On week three, the students are broken up into small groups for a field training exercise which involves two to four days in a prisoner-of-war setting. SWCS officials said the command implemented strict COVID-19 guidelines at the outbreak of the pandemic. "We have 2,400 students training here every day at SWCS and that [90] is the only sick population we have," Burton said. Before attending any SWCS course, students are isolated for 14 days, Burton said, who added that if they test positive, they are quarantined for another 14 days. "The health and wellness of our students and staff is our top priority," Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, commander and commandant of SWCS, said in the release. "We will do everything we can to protect our students and their families." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Cluster of COVID-19 Cases in US Troops Emerges at Kuwaiti Air Base The current House defense policy bill contains a cluster of provisions to improve opportunities for minorities in the armed forces -- measures that House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said are a top priority for passage. The defense bill, which will be debated Wednesday by the committee, would provide $3 million in scholarships at minority institutions for students engaged in the Defense Department's Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation, or SMART, program. Read Next: Amendment Aims to Overturn Ban on Transgender Military Service And it would give $17 million to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, and other minority institutions in an effort to diversify the national security workforce. The bill also would require the military departments to submit a report summarizing the gender and race of each officer recommended on a list for promotion for the pay grades O-4 and above. In a phone call with members of the Defense Writers Group Tuesday from Washington, D.C., Smith said the funding is needed because "there is statistically disparate treatment of people of color and others within the [Uniform Code of Military Justice]." "Also in terms of hiring and promotion. We aren't doing enough there," Smith said. More measures to improve equality in the U.S. military are expected to be introduced when the committee convenes Wednesday. After the committee approves the bill, it will have to pass the House and be reconciled with the Senate's final version, which also contains proposals aimed at improving diversity within the Defense Department. The current Senate bill would require the Defense Department to conduct an in-depth study on the racial, ethnic and gender composition of units, the participation rates of minority populations in certain units and a review of minority leadership at the general officer level, as well as identify barriers to minority accession and training. The Senate bill also would require the military services to expand their Reserve Officer Training Corps programs at several historically black colleges and universities and minority institutions for at least five years under pilot programs. In the wake of the May 25 killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd while in police custody and the growing call to recognize the discrimination Americans of color often face in education, employment and their communities, Defense Secretary Mark Esper this month announced a package of military-wide initiatives to improve diversity. DoD has established a Defense Board on Diversity and Inclusion in the Military, a group assigned to develop recommendations to increase racial diversity and ensure equal opportunity in the ranks. It also plans to stand up a Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion in the Armed Services, similar to the successful Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, established nearly 70 years ago. In the past month, the individual services also have announced steps to improve diversity and quash racism in the ranks. The Army, which established a diversity office in 2005, announced this month it would stop using photos in promotion board applications to reduce bias. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday announced the formation of a Navy task force on racial equality. The Air Force, whose chief of staff, Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown is the first African American ever to lead a military branch, increased the size of scholarships for ROTC students attending an HBCU or Hispanic-serving institution. And the Marine Corps became the first service to ban the Confederate flag from military bases. Lawmakers have said they want the services to be the source of change within their ranks and have encouraged DoD to "recognize there is more work to be done." "We are at a transformational point in this country, civilian and military wise," said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., during a hearing of the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee this month. "And I think there's a lot of work to do." Smith said Tuesday that in addition to improving racial equality across DoD, his other top personnel priority for the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act is the military health system, which is undergoing a consolidation and reform effort initiated in 2017. As part of the changes, the Defense Health Agency is assuming management of the military services' hospitals and clinics and the service medical commands are shifting focus from caring for service members, families and retirees to treating only uniformed personnel. The House bill currently contains a provision to delay the changes until the Pentagon provides Congress with an update of its medical staffing and plan to shift more retirees and family members to Tricare. "I see the merit of what they are talking about doing in merging [the system] together ... but I need a better understanding. Reconciling that would certainly be at the top of the list," Smith said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Sen. Warren: Revoke Medals of Honor Awarded to Troops in 'Wounded Knee' Massacre The U.S. Space Force has determined how it will be organized, right down to the squadron level. The newest military branch on Tuesday announced that it will operate with three primary field commands, responsible for training space professionals; acquiring space systems from industry; and supporting combatant commanders with space force personnel and capabilities. The three primary field commands expected to be activated later this summer are: Space Operations Command (SpOC), Space Systems Command (SSC), and Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), according to a release. Read Next: Pentagon Lifts Travel Ban in All States Except Florida, California, Michigan In the Air Force, subordinate to its headquarters is the major command, which is then composed of a numbered air force, wing, group, squadron and flight. The Space Force by comparison will only have three echelons of command: the field commands, deltas and squadrons, officials said. "This is the most significant restructuring of space units undertaken by the United States since the establishment of Air Force Space Command in 1982," Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said in a statement. "Innovation and efficiency are driving our mission as we position the Space Force to respond with agility to protect our nation's space capabilities and the American way of life." STARCOM will be responsible for educating and training space professionals, according to the Space Force announcement. A two-star general will oversee this field command; officials estimate STARCOM will be active by 2021. Meanwhile, a Space Force officer in the rank of O-6 will lead a provisional Space Training and Readiness Delta, to be established at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado next month. "This unit will serve as the parent organization for a number of education, training, and operational test and evaluation units transferring to the Space Force in summer 2020," officials said. The service said deltas will be led by O-6 officers, a rank equivalent to Navy captains or colonels in the other services, and will be organized to support a specific function, such as operations, training and installation support. Squadrons manage the "specific tactics" needed to execute the Space Force mission, according to the announcement. Meanwhile, the SpOC will be the provider of forces for the combatant commands, coalition partners and the joint force. In December, the Air Force announced it had renamed one of its numbered Air Forces, 14th Air Force of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, as SpOC. Now it will be renamed once again following the organization of SpOC as a field command, anticipated at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. An estimated activation date was not provided. Unlike STARCOM, SpOC and Space Systems Command will be led by three-star generals, officials said. The last element of the triad, Space Systems Command (SSC), will oversee space acquisition and launch. Its other authorities include developing and fielding "lethal and resilient space capabilities for warfighters" and "developmental testing, on-orbit checkout, sustainment and maintenance of [Space Force] space systems, as well as oversight of [Space Force] science and technology activities." The Space Force will draw from current organizations, such as the Space and Missile Systems Center and the Commercial Satellite Communications Office, to create the foundation for SSC, the release said. When the command structure is fully achieved for all three commands, leadership will eliminate "one general officer echelon and one O-6 echelon of command" in order to streamline operations. The sixth military service, which was signed into existence by President Donald Trump on Dec. 20, 2019, is currently operating with the aid of 16,000 airmen, detailed temporarily from what was formerly known as Air Force Space Command. Officials have said that about 6,000 of those temporary personnel will be offered the opportunity to formally transfer into the Space Force by year's end. Earlier this month, the service said that more than 8,500 active-duty airmen had volunteered to transfer into the branch. "This is an historic opportunity to launch the Space Force on the right trajectory to deliver the capabilities needed to ensure freedom of movement and deter aggression in, from and to space," Gen. Jay Raymond, Space Force chief of space operations, said Tuesday. "How we organize the Space Force will have lasting impact on our ability to respond with speed and agility to emerging threats in support of the National Defense Strategy and Space Strategy." Other pending Space Force decisions include base renaming, uniform updates, insignia and a logo design. Officials are also still deciding what to call Space Force members. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: Here's How US Space Force Will Be Built An amendment to the massive defense policy bill offered by prominent Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren would revoke Medals of Honors awarded to troops of the U.S Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment in what has come to be known as the "Wounded Knee Massacre." The fate of the amendment will likely be decided this week as the Senate moves to pass the National Defense Authorization Act before the July 4 holiday. Read Next: Pentagon Lifts Travel Ban in All States Except Florida, California, Michigan The amendment is similar to the "Remove the Stain Act" introduced in the House and Senate last November. It would revoke Medals of Honor granted to 20 troops in the Dec. 29, 1890 action, a Senate aide said on background. Some estimates put the number of Lakota tribe members killed at Wounded Knee on the Pine River Reservation in what was then the new state of South Dakota at 300, most of them women and children. "The horrifying acts of violence against hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee should be condemned, not celebrated with Medals of Honor," Warren said in a statement in November. The bill had the backing of numerous Indian organizations, including the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, the National Congress of American Indians and others. The proposed legislation was "an important step in beginning to correct our country's past wrongdoings and in charting a new path forward based on mutual understanding and respect," Tribal Chairman Charles R. Vig of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community wrote in backing the bill. "It is shameful to honor soldiers for massacring defenseless men, women and children," Vig said. Native American issues have at times been controversial for Warren, who has repeatedly been mocked by President Donald Trump as "Pochahontas" for claiming Native American heritage in the past. In October of last year, Warren released results of a DNA test that she said showed she had at least one Native American ancestor, but later apologized for taking the test. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: Senators Back Revoking Wounded Knee Medals for US Soldiers President Donald Trump has signed off on the Pentagon's plan to implement his controversial order to withdraw 9,500 U.S. troops from Germany -- an order that has rattled the NATO alliance and prompted moves in the Senate to block funding for the effort. In a statement Tuesday, the Defense Department said that Trump approved the withdrawal proposals presented at a White House briefing by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. Read Next: Major Space Force Units to Be Called Deltas, Officials Announce Critics of the withdrawal have labeled it a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the Pentagon statement said that reducing the number of U.S. troops in Germany to about 25,000 would be done in a way designed to strengthen NATO's ability to deter Russia. Without giving details, Pentagon chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in the statement that "the proposal that was approved not only meets the President's directive, it will also enhance Russian deterrence, strengthen NATO, reassure allies, improve U.S. strategic flexibility and U.S. European Command's operational flexibility." In addition, DoD pledged to provide "timely updates to potentially affected personnel, their families and communities as planning progresses," Hoffman said. Hoffman gave no initial indication of the cost of the withdrawal plan that is facing bipartisan pushback in the House and Senate. This week, Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida, joined Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware, Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire in introducing an amendment to the 2021 defense policy act that would block funding for the move. "In addition to undermining our NATO alliance, a withdrawal would present serious logistical challenges and prevent our military from performing routine military readiness exercises," Romney said. "We cannot abandon our commitment to our allies, and instead must strengthen our alliances in order to reign in the world's bad actors." The amendment would require Defense Secretary Mark Esper to submit a report to Congress showing that moving troops out of Germany is in the national security interest of the U.S., doesn't undermine the security of European allies and won't negatively affect military families. On the House side, 22 Republican lawmakers earlier this month sent a letter to Trump expressing their alarm over the plan. Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, and 21 other HASC Republicans signed the letter. "We strongly believe that NATO allies, such as Germany, should do more to contribute to our joint defense efforts," it states. "At the same time, we also know that the forward stationing of American troops since the end of World War II has helped to prevent another world war and, most importantly, has helped make America safer." -- Gina Harkins contributed to this report. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com. Related: Trump Directs Pentagon to Pull 9,500 Troops from Germany Captain James L. Anderson is an active duty Air Force staff intelligence officer. He is also a NextGen National Security Fellow with the Center for a New American Security. Follow him on Twitter at @JimmyLAnderson The first African American Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown, recently released a sobering video describing his career as a black man "living in two worlds." The video gave me hope that he understands the issues we face -- and I do remain hopeful. But my one caution is that short-term fixes are not the solution. We have long-term issues to deal with. We must not forget that our service culture gives us a competitive advantage when it comes to making lasting change for racial equity. And I say equity rather than equality: racial equality in its ideal type provides equal opportunities to people of all races, defined by equal treatment under the law, but it fails to evaluate the structures that influence outcomes for people of color. Small groups within Air Force Squadrons and Commands are having open conversations on police brutality, racial inequity and discrimination. A white female airman chimed in during one of my recent group sessions with a profound thought: that "the Air Force should engage diversity the way we approach innovation." When it comes to the F-35 program, pilot retention or "open architecture," the long-term plan is a priority for the Air Force. Service leaders are quick to place current discussions in the context of what the future might hold. But on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the Air Force's strategy is unclear. To be fair, senior U.S. Air Force leaders have shown solidarity, but we need an enduring strategy to address issues that impact airmen of color. Examining the Air Force's racial disparities within the military justice system is a good first step. But moves like the decision to extend shaving waivers to make grooming policies more equitable for Black airmen, although positive, do not bring about long-term change. Surveys may capture the racial experiences of our airmen, but our airmen also need to be a part of the solution. The Air Force has a window of opportunity to influence the Pentagon's approach to diversity, equity and inclusion in the Armed Services. We cannot let it pass us by. Our service culture is the best weapon to combat anti-black racism in the military, and inequities in both the justice and promotion systems. A Storied History Historically, changes in societal norms involving race have led to reform in the armed services. We see this play out from the service of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen and the brutal assault of Isaac Woodard that led to the desegregation of the armed forces, to Thurgood Marshall's review of 32 courts-martial of Black soldiers during the Korean war and the Vietnam protests that led to the creation of the Pentagon's Equal Opportunity office structure. The murder of George Floyd can spur our generation's change towards racial equity in the Pentagon. Change starts with our service culture. Air Force service culture focuses on the following: education, technology, strategic analysis and "people first." We are driven by technological innovation, grassroots ideas and a slight ambivalence to military doctrine. And we have a strong relationship with the private sector. But how can Air Force service culture reform the infrastructure of diversity, equity and inclusion? The current diversity and inclusion effort is an "orphan" mission in the Pentagon. We can rebrand and rebuild the DEI effort in these ways. Strategic Communications The Air Force's diversity and inclusion statement is outdated. A top-down directive from Air Force leadership that provides guidance to subordinate units on what's currently happening and what the future holds is necessary. Air Force leadership (SECAF and CSAF) should adopt a model similar to that used by the Obama Administration to address the lack of diversity in the national security workforce. I am aware that a task force is currently working on diversity and inclusion efforts, but the rest of the force is unaware. We need to use directives, op-eds from senior leaders and public affairs materials to communicate to our airmen that work is underway. Compiling a video recounting the experiences of Black airmen, similar to video that highlighted female pilots, may better illustrate the challenges our airmen face. Bureaucratic Restructuring Transition the diversity and inclusion effort from an "orphan mission" with no influence in the Pentagon to a place of influence. A chairperson of diversity, equity and inclusion should report directly to the service secretary. We also need to bring in a private-sector partner to conduct an objective analysis of the racial inequities in the promotion and training systems. Disrupt the Air Force's traditional staff structure. And then create a demographically diverse standing council (enlisted and officer) to act as a watchdog on the Air Force's DEI efforts. People First Every professional military education course should devote a significant amount of time to diversity, equity and inclusion. Our future leaders need to understand that more racially diverse teams can lead to greater productivity and more innovative thinking. Airmen should be aware of the invisible labor clause, inclusion tax, unconscious biases, racial conflict management and the overall experiences of Black members. Authors like Dr. Tsedale Melaku should be as recognizable as Clausewitz or Jomini. We need to eliminate the normative "barrier" on race and educate our future leaders. Lastly, the Air Force should invest significant resources into the Minority Air Force Officers (MAFO) effort that has gained significant traction on social media sites. Innovation Grassroots innovation is what the Air Force does better than the other services. We understand that our airmen source the best ideas. But currently no forum exists for airmen to offer ideas to address the problems we face around DEI issues. Leveraging innovation incubators, such as the AFWERX's Spark Tank, could solve this problem. Private companies have used virtual reality technology to conduct diversity, equity and inclusion training. We need to use our private sector partners and forums to address DEI through innovation. Don't Miss the Moment The Air Force needs to bring its service culture to bear to rebuild and rebrand the diversity, equity and inclusion effort. We are uniquely equipped for this moment. I am a Black man. I am a father. I am an Air Force Officer. And I cannot help but think, what happens when the fervor dampens and normalcy resumes? Long after the protests wind down, I want to be able to say the Air Force is making lasting change towards racial equity. If we can do that, the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice and Philando Castile will not be in vain. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the views of the author alone. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Defense, or any other entity within the U.S. Government; and the author is not authorized to provide any official position of these entities. -- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. Its the highest award the country can bestow upon the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States. The Medal of Honor was first conceived during the Civil War, and through all the wars since it has been awarded to only 3,505 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines -- and one Coast Guardsman. Needless to say, earning the medal can be extremely hazardous to your health, as many are awarded posthumously. But what many people may not know is that actually receiving the award may be as difficult a battle as earning it in the first place. In a recent episode of Military.coms podcast, Left of Boom, Managing Editor Hope Hodge Seck sits down with Doug Sterner, creator of the Hall of Valor, to talk about why the Medal of Honor is so closely guarded and policed. To be awarded the Medal of Honor, there has to be a significant risk to ones life in the battlefield actions they take. The justification also requires an eyewitness and it must meet one of the most stringent legal standards there is: beyond a reasonable doubt. But even if the medal isnt awarded right away, reviews of top-tier awards, such as the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross and the Air Force Cross, are often conducted and found that they warrant an upgrade. Doug Sterner is the foremost expert on all things Medal of Honor. Sterner was an Army combat engineer from the Vietnam War who created Home of Heroes, an online museum dedicated to the Medal of Honor and other valor awards. It is the most comprehensive database of military valor awards there is. Hes also the author of 73 books on the subject. Only a combat engineer could do what Im doing. DoD said it was impossible, engineers say nothing is impossible. Essayons, We Will Try, Sterner told Seck, echoing the motto of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. When he started compiling Medal of Honor stories, there were only around 3,000 recipients. He has not only compiled a historical database for Medal of Honor recipients, but has also added more than 25,000 recipients of the Navy Cross, Air Force Cross and Distinguished Service Cross. Not only did he work to catalog the top two tiers of military awards, he then moved on to add citations and stories for recipients of the Silver Star, all 130,000 of them. Over the course of 17 years, he found 107,000 of those -- including 70,000 digitized citations. Its not impossible, Sterner says. The effort is not without its complications. In the course of compiling so many stories of valor, hes come across citations that are phony and others that are completely lost to history. I have identified approximately 40 individuals who got Silver Stars in the 1993 Mogadishu operation that was the basis of the Black Hawk Down movie, he recalls. I FOIA-ed them, [referring to making a Freedom of Information Act request for official government documents] and found there was no record of the Silver Star in their military personnel file and yet I found Department of the Army general orders listing them as Silver Star recipients. Sterner goes on to say that the most difficult time period for gathering historical records is actually 1975 to the present. The reason: record keeping. None of the services really track the awards theyre giving out, he says. The DoD told the Baltimore Sun that they didnt have a list of Silver Star recipients from Iraq and Afghanistan because they couldnt find them all. For more about Dog Sterners ongoing quest to memorialize the men and women who earn awards for valor, check the episode of Left of Boom. Tune in to new episodes of Military.com's podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and Stitcher. Follow host Hope Hodge Seck on Twitter @HopeSeck. -- 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. Marine veteran Mike Waldron was desperate to learn why he felt like he was dying every day. It took a lot of study for him to figure out the problems he faced were related to his military service, even though he'd been out for years. Once he was able to help himself, he decided that he needed to help others. To do that, he looked to experts, developing a program for veterans based on both his personal recovery and methods developed by professional psychologists in the field. The nonprofit 23rd Veteran was the result of that journey. Chances are good you've seen photos of its now-famous Nearly Naked Ruck March. But a healthy dose of patriotism and physical activity is just the beginning of what it does. 23rd Veteran uses a 14-week reconditioning program that pulls together a dozen or so veterans to rebuild their sense of purpose and create the esprit de corps of a unit. "We have a boot camp on the way in, one that teaches us how to be successful in the military," Waldron said. "And that changes our brains. Then if we go to combat or deployment, our brain has changed even more. But when getting out, it's a five-day class on how to be a civilian again, after years of training on how to be military. It just doesn't make a lot of sense, when you look at it that way." Waldron served in the Marine Corps from 2000 to 2004. He was part of the ground force of the U.S.-led Iraq invasion, rolling across the Kuwaiti-Iraqi border just a few days shy of his 21st birthday. He left the Corps at age 22 and, by 27, he was struggling with the effects of his service. 23rd Veteran founder Mike Waldron while serving in Iraq. (Courtesy of Mike Waldron) His struggles began ten years after he saw combat. Like many veterans, he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and didn't even realize it. "I was having panic attacks every day," he said. "I always felt like I was dying. I went to the VA and used medication and counseling but, about five years after the symptoms started, I had to find my own way to overcome it." That included a dynamic fitness regimen and community engagement. These are now the principles of 23rd Veteran's realignment program. "I went back and forth a number of times before I realized that fitness and community were helping more than anything," Waldron said. As soon as he realized the changes that had happened within him, he began to notice his old friends in the Marine Corps going through the same struggles. In true Marine fashion, he decided to do something about it, bringing in an Army fitness specialist and a psychologist to help develop his retraining regimen. Together, they created 23rd Veteran's 14-week program. It starts with taking veterans out of their comfort zone into an unfamiliar geographic location. For seven days, the team learns how to trust one another and redevelop the leadership abilities inherent in them. "We come back with a completely renewed sense of purpose and self, along with a team that we haven't experienced often since the military," Waldron said. "So not only do we feel comfortable going out in society now, we want to, because we finally have this trusting team that we've been missing for a long time." Once back in familiar territory, the newly formed team works out together at a gym three times a week, the idea being to release brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein in the brain that helps memory. After the workouts, the team practices positive psychology, which includes some memory retraining or trigger retraining. Veterans in 23V Recon meet three times a week for three months to complete physical and mental activities to help them transition to civilian life. (23rd Veteran) "Using those common negative triggers from combat and other traumatic instances of the military, we can retrain our brains to relate to new positive events rather than having our brain relate those to the old negative events," Waldron said. Experiencing the triggers together in a fun environment with a trusting team does the "retraining. Gradually, the team builds up to facing more and more severe triggers in order to train their brains into associating traumatic experiences into enjoyable ones. The teams they built and the friendships they made will become their new, more positive experiences. "We start with a restaurant where we have a lot of people around us, a lot of noises in a crowded place," Waldron said. "Instead of associating the experience to a negative place in combat from years ago, our brain can now relate it to this new, fun, trusting event with these people that we know." From there, the group may go to a trampoline park, with the ground shaking and kids screaming all around them. Next, they'll hit up a bowling alley, filled with sudden movement, pins rocketing around and maybe even reverberating shocks. Eventually, they will go to a shooting range. Just 14 weeks before, the veterans of 23rd Veteran may not have been able to get anywhere near a shooting range, but they are now able to go have a good time with their new friends. 23rd Veteran will soon celebrate its five-year anniversary and has been able to help more than 50 struggling veterans, 12 people at a time. While that may not seem like much to outsiders, 23rd Veteran has taken in people who were barely able to get on a plane, those who never thought they would be able to work again, and even struggling alcoholics. Five years later, the same people are fully integrated members of their community, enjoying full-time careers with a home and family, who continue their fitness regimens and spiritual activities -- all because Waldron wanted to help his buddies free themselves from the struggles he faced. Waldron began 23rd Veteran while he still had a day job, and the journey has not been easy. The Minnesota-based nonprofit has run fundraising events in six cities, and in each city will run its program based on that fundraising. 23rd Veteran also supports education and training on how human brains are wired after combat and how to create a more veteran-friendly environment in your university or workplace. "We are not a program of last resort or intervention," Waldron said. "But we know a lot of veterans tend to isolate themselves after their service. That's really dangerous for the mind and leads to things like substance abuse, negative habits and suicide. The first thing we do is combat that isolation. We want to give every veteran a path to hope and happiness." To learn more about Waldron and 23rd Veteran's program or to donate to the cause, visit its website. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook. Want to Know More About Veteran Jobs? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. TAIPEI, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The second cub of giant panda Yuan Yuan, born Sunday afternoon at the Taipei Zoo, is female and weighs about 186 grams, the zoo said Monday. The newborn cub is in good condition but suffered a minor injury on her back, possibly by her mother, when she tried to grasp and cuddle with her, Taipei Zoo spokesman Eric Tsao said at a press conference. The cub has been fed with the milk taken from Yuan Yuan by zookeepers, since the mother panda had failed to feed her for five hours since the birth, Tsao said. "She had drunk a total of 18 ml of milk four times by Monday morning," he said. Yuan Yuan and Tuan Tuan, the panda pair who arrived in Taipei as a goodwill gift from the Chinese mainland in December 2008, had their first cub, a female, on July 6, 2013. According to the zoo, Yuan Yuan has received artificial insemination from Tuan Tuan every year since 2015. This year's operation, conducted on February 26 and 27, has been successful and she has shown signs of pregnancy, such as eating less, since June 2. The cub was born at 1:53 p.m. Sunday after five hours of labor. The Taipei Zoo extended gratitude to the mainland experts for providing expertise online, Tsao said. "They could not be at the scene due to epidemic control policies, but closely communicated with us online, and provided valuable help," he said. The zoo hopes that the panda cub will be healthy and grown-up enough to meet the public by this Christmas, he said. Key This company leases 9 acres of land in sections 34 and 35, township 25 N., 27 W. The mine is about 3 1/2 miles east of Purdy, on the St. Louis & San Francisco railway, the shipping point to which all ore was hauled. The mine was opened in May, 1888, by Geo H. Hofford. Shortly after this it passed into the hands of Dr. Wiley Brown, who held it until March, 1891, when it was transferred to Messrs. Seamon, Richards & Drake. Mr. E. A. Drake was manager. The workings are in upper limestone beds of the Lower Carboniferous formation, here coarsely crystallized, hard and pure, as much as 75 feet thick, with some interbedded chert; beneath this, heavily bedded chert of the same formation crops out. In the vicinity , masses of chert were seen, with no stratification planes apparent, the chert being gnarled and knotted in a very pecallar manner. North and east of this mine such chert is particularly abundant. The mine had been opened by a drift run into the side of the hill, which followed irregularly the course of the ore. The workings widened and narrowed considerably, as the nature of the roof and the amount of ore in sight demanded. A shaft was also sunk 100 yards to the east, on the top of a hill, and, from this opening, a little lead ore had been taken out. Recently, a drift has been ran from the main drift to intersect this shaft. The ore consisted mainly of calamine, although considerable blende was found. These generally cemented broken fragments of chert, but were also, at times, rudely interbedded with the limestone and chert; especially was this true with the blende. Large quantities of joint and tallow clays were found associated with the ore. The ore body appeared to be in the form of a "run," of the nature of others previously described; it was approximately 50 feet or less in width, and had been opened for 20 to 30 ft. in depth and for a distance of not less than 75 feet in length. The mine had been very irregularly worked in the past, and it was almost impossible, in consequence, to define with any accuracy the shape of the ore body. The calamine and the zinc blende were the only minerals noted here at the time of inspection. Select Mineral List Type Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Dana Chemical Elements Commodity List This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality. Zinc Mineral List Smithsonite Sphalerite 2 valid minerals. 2 valid minerals. Detailed Mineral List: Smithsonite Formula: ZnCO 3 Reference: Winslow, Arthur (1894) Lead and Zinc Deposits (Section 2). Missouri Geological Survey, Volume VII: 621. Sphalerite Formula: ZnS Reference: Winslow, Arthur (1894) Lead and Zinc Deposits (Section 2). Missouri Geological Survey, Volume VII: 621. Gallery: List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts Sphalerite 2.CB.05a ZnS Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates Smithsonite 5.AB.05 ZnCO 3 List of minerals arranged by Dana 8th Edition classification Group 2 - SULFIDES A m X p , with m:p = 1:1 Sphalerite 2.8.2.1 ZnS Group 14 - ANHYDROUS NORMAL CARBONATES A(XO 3 ) Smithsonite 14.1.1.6 ZnCO 3 List of minerals for each chemical element C Carbon C Smithsonite ZnCO 3 O Oxygen O Smithsonite ZnCO 3 S Sulfur S Sphalerite ZnS Zn Zinc Zn Smithsonite ZnCO 3 Zn Sphalerite ZnS References Sort by Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A) In-text Citation No. Winslow, Arthur (1894) Lead and Zinc Deposits (Section 2). Missouri Geological Survey, Volume VII: 621. Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality North America Plate Tectonic Plate Every MLB club faces a difficult task in launching and sustaining a 2020 season. But the Blue Jays face some unique challenges as the only affiliated organization located outside of the United States. The Toronto organization announced today that it will gather its players and personnel at its facility in Dunedin, Florida. The club says it will begin the intake screening and isolation process there. [RELATED: Blue Jays 60-Man Player Pool] The Jays next step will depend upon the views of the relevant Canadian authorities. If approval is granted, the club says itll charter a flight to train in Toronto under a modified quarantine, isolated from the general public. Otherwise, itll keep its employees at the Dunedin facility and undertake Summer Training there. It was just ten days ago that the Blue Jays halted activities at its spring complex as coronavirus cases hit the neighboring Phillies facility and soared in the state of Florida generally. There was indeed cause for concern, as several players and staff members ended up testing positive for COVID-19 infections. That mini-outbreak served to highlight the need for strict measures if this campaign is to occur in a reasonably safe manner. Thats all the more true for the Jays. With cases within the organization already, and the situation in Florida only continuing to worsen, gathering in Dunedin will have to be done carefully. No doubt the Blue Jays are aware of all that and planning accordingly. The teams stated preference is to train and play in Toronto, which will mean convincing the Canadian federal, provincial, and local governments that it can be done without unreasonable risk. As Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reported earlier today on Twitter, it seems as if that process is moving towards a favorable outcome for the Jays. The Pirates outrighted hurler Yacksel Rios to Triple-A Indianapolis over the weekend, Adam Berry of MLB.com was among those to report. Rios has not been outrighted previously, and he doesnt have the necessary service time to reject the assignment, so hell stay with the Pirates. A 12th-round pick of the Phillies in 2011, the right-handed, hard-throwing Rios debuted with Philadelphia in 2017, though he has since had immense difficulty preventing runs at the major league level. After Rios posted a 6.38 ERA/5.64 FIP over 55 innings and parts of three seasons in its uniform, Philadelphia designated Rios for assignment last summer. When the in-state rival Phillies booted the 27-year-old Rios from their roster, the Pirates took a flyer on him via the waiver wire. Rios went on to throw 10 1/3 frames across 10 appearances as a Pirate in 2019, but he yielded six earned runs on 10 hits (including two homers) and five walks, also totaling 10 strikeouts. The Tigers have agreed to terms with top overall draft choice Spencer Torkelson, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). Hes set to receive a hefty $8,416,300 bonus. While he only topped the 1-1 draft slot allocation by a nominal amount ($1K), its still quite a notable number. Per Callis, this is the biggest draft bonus ever given. Its also the first time a first overall pick has reached the full slot value since the current draft system (with prohibitive penalties for excessive spending) went into effect. Torkelson entered the draft as the consensus top overall talent, so it came as no surprise when he went first overall. The Tigers have enjoyed quite a lot of good years from Miguel Cabrera, who may overlap in Detroit if Torkelson moves as quickly as many expect. Over his three seasons at Arizona State, Torkelson carried a prodigious .337/.463/.729 batting line. He not only launched 54 home runs over his 628 trips to the plate, but walked more often than he struck out. As you might expect, Torkelson was more dominant than ever during the truncated 2020 season, solidifying his position as the top available player. The greatest bit of intrigue on draft day came not with the calling of Torkelsons name, but the Tigers announcement that they viewed him as a third baseman. Most anticipate the big slugger will end up at first base by the time he arrives in Motown. But the Tigers will at least give him a shot at settling in at the hot corner, where his monster bat could have even greater value. Torkelsons polish is all the more impressive given that he still hasnt reached his 21st birthday. Itll certainly be interesting to see how swiftly he forces his way up the farm system. No doubt the Tigers are hopeful that Torkelson will catch up to the many intriguing power pitchers already lining up for MLB opportunities. Photo courtesy of Arizona State University Athletic Department. WALLED LAKE., MI - A Michigan company is letting you show off your personality by getting creative with your face. You can design and personalize your own reusable and machine washable face covering available with or without anti-microbial filter inserts. The founders of TVStoreOnline.com and UglyChristmasSweater.com, Fred and Mark Hajjar, have launched MaskMarket.com. This site features a face mask design tool allowing you to upload an image, logo or artwork to create your own masks. Once the company receives your creation, it makes all of the masks locally. We wanted to keep jobs right here in Michigan, Fred Hajjar told MLive. Most of the masks are made in Walled Lake, but what we also did was when the demand became so high, we were able to outsource local seamstresses and tailors in the area, around 50 of them, whose businesses were very slow because there have been no weddings or events. We were able to have them sew a lot of our masks. You can customize your own face masks at MaskMarket.com, a company based in Metro Detroit. (Photo by Edward Pevos | MLive) Once you custom order your face mask, it ships to your home in four to seven days. Hajjar says the most popular design is people making their own face. 40 percent have been of peoples faces. When you go to the grocery store, the mood seems down. When you see someone with that type of mask on, it just makes you smile. The other popular ones have been company logos. Pet ones seem to be a pretty big, too. If you dont want to create your own mask, MaskMarket.com also has many designs available for purchase with tie-dye being one of the top sellers. For each mask sold, the company says it will donate a specially produced five-filter version to a frontline worker through the American Hospital Associations 100 Million Mask Challenge. You can customize your own face masks at MaskMarket.com, a company based in Metro Detroit. (Photo by Edward Pevos | MLive) Customized face masks begin at $17.95 per mask with discounted pricing for bulk orders starting at $12.95 per each for quantities of 25. MORE FROM MLIVE: Affordable face mask deals available for purchase right now online Are shoppers wearing masks? We went to 37 stores across Michigan to find out EAST LANSING, MI Positive COVID-19 coronavirus cases traced to an East Lansing bar have climbed to 107 a week after health officials warned the public about possible exposure. The outbreak has prompted the Ingham County Health Department to issue an emergency order to reduce restaurant capacity to 50% or no more than 75 people, whichever is fewer Health officials first warned of the exposure site on Tuesday, June 23, when there were 14 known COVID-19 coronavirus cases associated with visits to Harpers Restaurant and Brew Pub between June 12-20. The following day, the case total jumped to 25. The day after that, 51 cases had been identified. As of Monday, June 29, there are 107 positive cases linked to the bar. The countys emergency order is on top of Gov. Gretchen Whitmers executive order that allowed restaurants and bars to open at 50% capacity but did not impose a limit on the number of patrons. The local order affects establishments with normal capacity of 150 or more. Violating the order is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $200. Large crowds are difficult to control, said Ingham County Health Officer Linda S. Vail. By allowing no more than 75 people, restaurants and bars will be better able to enforce social distancing and the use of masks and face coverings. I strongly encourage all bars and restaurants to strictly enforce safety measures and to do all they can to help stop the spread of coronavirus in our community. Of the 107 people infected with the virus, 95 are primary cases, meaning they visited Harpers during the exposure period, the health department said. The remaining 12 are secondary cases, which means they were in contact with someone who visited the bar during the exposure period. Fifty-nine of the 95 primary cases are in Ingham County residents, the health department said. The others have residency in Clinton, Oakland, Wayne, St. Clair, Macomb, Eaton, Shiawassee, Livingston, Kalamazoo, Ottawa, Berrien and Calhoun counties. All the people with cases linked to Harpers are between 16 and 28 years old, the health department said. None of them have been hospitalized. Most have mild symptoms. Twenty-eight are asymptomatic, which means they dont have symptoms but are contagious. At least 40 percent are Michigan State University (MSU) students or recent graduates. People who visited Harpers June 12-20 are considered exposed and have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days since their visit, the health department said. They should also seek coronavirus testing. During the self-quarantine, people should stay home, monitor for symptoms and distance themselves from other members of the household. Even Harper's patrons who test negative for the virus should continue to self-quarantine because there is a possibility of false-negative results, the health department said. Harpers was following safety procedures related to employees, capacity and table spacing when inspected by the health department after cases were linked to it. The bar voluntarily closed to enhance safety, including modifications to its HVAC system. A public testing event will be held June 30 from 12-4 p.m. on the MSU campus at 846 Service Road in East Lansing. There is no cost, and no appointment is necessary. In addition, anyone wishing to be tested can contact their primary care physician or visit a no-cost testing site. On Monday, June 29, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 236 new cases and four new deaths associated with coronavirus, pushing state totals to 63,497 known cases of COVID-19 and 5,915 deaths. Mondays new cases were fewer than the seven-day moving average, which has climbed to 290 new cases per day. The four new deaths were less than the seven-day average of seven deaths per day, marking a continued downward trend. CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. 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 MORE: Tuesday, June 30: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan 26th annual Woodward Dream Cruise canceled Meijer suspends cash payments at self-checkout lanes A booming drumline fed the energy of hundreds of Detroit protesters Monday night as they marched the streets and chanted for the firing of Detroit Police Chief James Craig. One month ago on May 29, more than 1,500 people first marched in the streets to protest police brutality in the wake of George Floyds murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. On a 90-degree day June 29, the energy remained high for 400-500 protesters motivated by a video showing Detroit police officers driving through a circle of protesters in what Craig called an attempt to avoid a perceived threat. Detroit Police officer seen on video driving through crowd of protesters The protest, organized by the group Detroit Will Breathe, took aim at Craig, accusing him of not holding the officers accountable for putting protesters lives in danger, said organizer Tristan Taylor. Craig said at a Monday press conference that the officers did the right thing by trying to remove themselves from an agitated crowd. Detroit Police Chief says officers did the right thing after driving through crowd While the incident is still under investigation, protesters such as Nakia Wallace called for Craig and Mayor Mike Duggan to resign for allowing the Detroit Police Department to be bullies. Theyre trying to make us scared, and we might have fear, but were not backing down, she said. Weve backed down for too long, and were still getting slaughtered... Chief Craig got to resign. Mayor Duggan has to resign. Taylor and other speakers demanded more transparency from Detroit police on the incident, as well as the names of the officers who drove the car through the crowd and criminal charges brought against them. During the press conference Monday, Craig showed three videos from the incident, including two from the dash cams that were recording when the protesters surrounded the cruiser. The first video shows the protesters laying on and jumping on the hood of the vehicle, but the view is obstructed by a sign carried by a protester. People can be seen on the hood as the car accelerates away at speeds of about 25 miles per hour, Craig said, adding that the cruisers back window was broken, possibly by protesters with hammers. Protesters surround two Detroit Police vehicles. Dash cam video from 2nd vehicle pic.twitter.com/o5JPjU1ycL Detroit Police Dept. (@detroitpolice) June 29, 2020 In a video taken by protester Ethan Ketner, of Ann Arbor, three cruisers blocked the roadway and did not appear to communicate with protesters before accelerating through the crowd. The incident occurred after officers were trying to redirect the march off of Vernor Highway, Craig said. Marchers traveled more than six miles, starting at the police departments 4th Precinct, 4700 W. Fort St. in southwest Detroit. They want to control our movement, said organizer Dwane Taylor after the march ended back at the Southwestern District building. They want to control the narrative, and they want to control our voice. Organizers plan another march Tuesday at 5 p.m. back at the southwestern precinct building to further call for Craigs resignation and punishment of the officers from the incident. Read more: Detroit police officer suspended amid investigation of MLive photographer shot with rubber pellets while covering protest Europe reopened to visitors from 14 countries on Tuesday, June 30 but not the United States where the COVID-19 coronavirus is resurging. States that pushed hardest and earliest to reopen their economies are now in retreat due to a surge in confirmed coronavirus infections. On Monday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey closed bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks, and officials in Republican and Democratic strongholds alike mandated the wearing of masks. The European Unions decision not to allow Americans to visit came the following day. The ban on visitors also applies to China, Russia, Brazil, India and other countries where virus cases are on the rise. President Donald Trump suspended the entry of most Europeans in March. The coronavirus has been blamed for over a half-million deaths worldwide, including about 130,000 in the U.S., where the number of confirmed infections has skyrocketed over the past month to around 40,000 per day, primarily in the South and West. A large share of the cases are among young people who are going out again to bars and restaurants. RELATED: Coronavirus outbreak linked to East Lansing bar tops 100, officials take emergency action On the same day as the EUs decision, Dr. Anthony Fauci, leading infectious disease expert in the U.S., warned that the number of new daily COVID-19 cases in the country could surpass 100,000 if Americans dont start following public health recommendations regarding the virus. RELATED: Fauci warns daily coronavirus cases could top 100K if guidelines keep being ignored States such as Texas, Florida and California are backtracking their economic reopening by closing beaches and bars or rolling back restaurant restrictions in some cases. Arizonas daily new cases have surpassed the 3,000 mark and are expected to continue to rise. Also Monday, Los Angeles announced it will close beaches and ban fireworks displays over the Fourth of July. And New Jersey's governor said he is postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing masks or complying with other social-distancing rules. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has not opened anything new since June 5. RELATED: Whats allowed to reopen in Michigan and what isnt? On Monday, June 29, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 236 new cases and four new deaths associated with coronavirus, pushing state totals to 63,497 known cases of COVID-19 and 5,915 deaths. Mondays new cases were fewer than the seven-day moving average, which has climbed to 290 new cases per day. The four new deaths were less than the seven-day average of seven deaths per day, marking a continued downward trend. CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. 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: Tuesday, June 30: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Meijer suspends cash payments at self-checkout lanes Light fireworks not wildfires on Fourth of July, DNR gives tips MARQUETTE, MI A person was rescued from a cave near a Lake Superior lookout on Monday, June 29. The Marquette City Fire Department was called to the rescue around 9:50 p.m. on Monday at Presque Isle Park in Marquette, Upper Michigans Source reports. The person was stuck in a cave near the water at the Presque Isle Lookout. The rescue involved lowering a first responder on a rope down to the stranded person, the report said. The person was then hooked into a harness and tethered to the rescuer. Both were hoisted up. There were no injuries related to this incident. It is unclear how the person ended up in the cave. READ MORE: Fireworks allowed in Michigan for Fourth of July through holiday amid hot, dry conditions 18th Century sleeve button unearthed at Fort Michilimackinac Tuesday, June 30: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Meijer suspends cash payments at self-checkout lanes 26th annual Woodward Dream Cruise canceled Courtesy : University of Michigan Board of Regents meet over Zoom to discuss the 2020-21 fiscal year budget. ANN ARBOR, MI After rejecting an initial proposal for a tuition increase, the University of Michigan Board of Regents ultimately OKd rate hikes Monday evening, also boosting financial aid measures in its 2020-21 budget. The board held a special meeting June 29 to discus the new budget proposal. The new proposal made adjustments to financial aid and funding for UMs Dearborn and Flint campuses. The budget was approved in a 5-2 vote, with regents Shauna Ryder Diggs and Denise Ilitch casting the dissenting votes and regent Katherine White being absent. The vote came after the initial budget proposal stalled in a 4-4 vote in the last regents meeting, prompting the special meeting before the July 1 fiscal year begins. The most common lower-division undergraduate rate will increase by 1.9%, or $290 annually, according to the budget. This came with a 3.9% tuition increase for UM Flint students and a 1.9% increase for UM Dearborn students. A $50 per semester COVID-19 fee was also added for testing and other health and safety-related services for the university, according to the approved budget. But $12.8 million of need-based financial aid was also approved for undergraduates, an increase of 5.9%. University president Mark Schlissel said the increase in financial aid will cover the entire cost of the increase of tuition for in-state students receiving need-based aid. The financial aid office is ready to adjust or grant new aid in cases of families facing financial changes, Schlissel said. The budget also doubles the amount of money proposed to enhance recruitment, retention and graduation at the universitys Flint and Dearborn campuses. The amount is now up to $20 million, Schlissel said. The budget also calls for pulling $400 million from the university endowment, Schlissel said. Jordan Acker and Paul Brown, two of the regents who voted no at the previous meeting, voted yes on the amended proposal. Brown said he was concerned that the budget proposed last week did not support the needs of the students, staff and all campuses. Now, with added clarity and investments to the Flint and Dearborn campuses, he supports the budget. In the days since our last meeting, the presidents staff has spent countless hours giving me clarity on, and adding to, those programs designed to support those in our community who are in need, Brown said. Because of those efforts, I am an enthusiastic supporter of this budget. Regent Mark Bernstein said the budget will help students who receive financial aid who find it difficult to pay tuition costs. I believe lower-income students who struggle to pay tuition depend upon those who can (pay) to reduce the cost of their college education, Bernstein said. But Diggs said she could not vote for a tuition increase during a period of uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and the university should focus on long-term value instead of short-term gain. She does not agree that students should share the burden of increased university costs. This period in our history is not the time for tuition increase, Diggs said. Ilitch said Michigan is still facing new coronavirus cases in significant numbers and that most fall semester classes will be held remotely. She said the administration said theres a 50/50 chance that the semester wont even be completed this fall and prices should not raise for students and families during a pandemic. Other schools such as Grand Valley State University and Eastern Michigan University have increased tuition as many universities are facing losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Michigan State University, Central Michigan University and Wayne State University each chose to freeze tuition for the upcoming academic year. ANN ARBOR, MI -- Big changes to hospital operations during the coronavirus pandemics first surge are causing a forecasted multi-million dollar operating loss at Michigan Medicine, officials said. Even after government assistance, the financial impact of COVID-19 has resulted in a $3-million operating loss in clinical operations in fiscal year 2020, which ends Tuesday, June 30. Thats even with $4.7 billion in revenue and government grants for treating coronavirus patients, officials said. Abrupt surgery and procedure cancellations during March and April caused dramatic revenue drops, officials said. Michigan Medicine accepted more than 800 transfers of all types from southeastern Michigan hospitals during the six-week height of the pandemic. As the pandemic surged, Michigan Medicine stepped up to provide care for patients, expanding ICU beds, increasing personal protective equipment and other resources and accepting more than 300 COVID-19 transfer patients -- regardless of the cost, Dave Spahlinger, executive vice dean for clinical affairs and president of the University of Michigan Health System, said in a statement. Our staff responded quickly and carefully to transform our operations, illustrating their dedication to caring for our community. But the expenses of the COVID-19 care, coupled with the revenue loss from canceled procedures and surgeries resulted in hundreds of millions in lost revenue. University of Michigan medical students help Ypsilanti clinic with food deliveries during coronavirus outbreak The losses were nearly offset by $136 million in government assistance, along with recent efforts to reschedule and catch up on delayed appointments, surgeries and procedures, officials said. Michigan Medicine announced plans to layoff or furlough 1,400 employees in May. About half of that goal was addressed on June 19, when the health system announced that 738 jobs would be cut by the end of the month. The rest of the cuts were achieved through furloughs or attrition, officials said at the time. Michigan Medicine nearly cuts layoffs in half; 738 employees to be cut by end of June Other cost cutting measures include the suspension of merit raises, employer retirement matches and tuition reimbursement; supply reductions; executive salary reductions and delays to capital projects, including plans for a new 12-story adult hospital. Cuts are expected to result in an operating margin of $44.1 million, or the expected profit after paying for operating costs, for fiscal year 2021 beginning July 1, according to a news release. The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved the fiscal 2021 budget for Michigan Medicines clinical operations on Monday, June 29. MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS AND MLIVE: Local Eats: Delicious dishes from all over Michigan Michigans new auto insurance law brings excitement, concern Robots to deliver groceries for free in Ann Arbor ANN ARBOR, MI -- Delivery robots are being deployed to ship groceries to Ann Arbor residents during the coronavirus pandemic. Ann Arbor-based robotics startup Refraction AI created the self-driving Rev-1 robot to deliver food from restaurants to customers, launching the service last year, but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced Tuesday its expanding its reach to grocery delivery. Refraction AI partnered with Ann Arbors Produce Station to deliver goods to residents within three miles of the store at 1629 S State St. in Ann Arbor, free of charge. Our expansion into grocery delivery was a no-brainer during this time when the need for contactless delivery is so strong, said Matthew Johnson-Roberson, co-founder and CEO of Refraction AI, in a statement. Were really happy to provide a safer solution for grocery shopping, especially for the at-risk members of our community. Through this partnership with Produce Station, well be gathering insight and data to further expand our grocery delivery model. Self-driving food delivery service launches in Ann Arbor Autonomous food delivery service created by Ann Arbor company Customers within the delivery radius can place orders online and receive a text message with a code to open the Rev-1 door once it arrives. Robots are disinfected in between deliveries and have ultraviolet sterilizing lights installed in food compartments, the company said. Deliveries are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to the news release. Weve been delivering now for two months, said Andrew Gorsuch, vice president of Produce Station. Its been working out great. It allows people to get the food and groceries they need and it keeps them from having to come out. The store additionally offers curbside service. Each robot can hold six grocery bags, Gorsuch added. The company delivers food orders from Ann Arbors Miss Kim and Tios Mexican Cafe restaurants. Since March, the service has been making four times as many runs as it was before the coronavirus outbreak. Robots delivering four times as many food orders in Ann Arbor during coronavirus crisis Refraction AIs tele-ops drivers, who monitor the robots through a wireless data connection, are able to work from home through a setup that allows them to take control of the Rev-1 if necessary with one team member working on a single robot at a time, the company said. Ann Arbor marijuana shop Greenstone Provisions to reopen Monday under new name Coronavirus halts Bank of Ann Arbors acquisition of First National Bank Healthy streets plan to slow traffic in Ann Arbor residential areas ANN ARBOR, MI -- After the coronavirus outbreak hit Michigan, many business owners have had to shut down, at least temporarily, and rethink their ways of doing businesses. Shops like downtown Ann Arbors Rock Paper Scissors created quarantine kits to keep business flowing by delivering boxes filled with books, bath bombs, candles, puzzles, cocktail mix, stationery, cards and more. Literati Bookstore and Encore Records promoted fundraisers to keep the businesses afloat. Literati successfully raised more than $100,000 to pay its staff and keep up with expenses to keep the popular bookstore running. However, not every business successfully managed to stay open amid the pandemic. Here is a list of Washtenaw County businesses that have closed through the first half of the year, with many citing burdensome circumstances due to the pandemic: Aut Bar The bar catered to Ann Arbors LGBT community for 25 years, but owner Micah Bartelme is shutting it down. Bartelme said the closure is due to declining business and costly building improvement needs between $150,000-$225,000. He hopes someone will want to revive it and continue the legacy former owners Martin Contreras and Keith Orr started in the 90s. Ann Arbors Aut Bar, longtime LGBT refuge, to close after 25 years Espresso Royale The popular cafe announced online that the company did not survive the pandemic and that it would close locations in Ann Arbor, East Lansing and Madison. Owners closed all cafes in March and initially anticipated it would be temporary. The company opened its first Ann Arbor cafe in 1988 on State Street and later on Main Street, Plymouth Road in the Traver Village Shopping Center, South University Avenue and Woodland Plaza. Coronavirus forces Espresso Royale to close all locations Logan After 16 years in business, Logan owners announced the restaurant at 115 W Washington St. in downtown Ann Arbor is closing. Owners Thad and Ryan Gillies also own Chow Asian Street Food around the corner. Logan restaurant to close after 16 years in downtown Ann Arbor Treasure Mart After 60 years in business, a beloved antique shop in Ann Arbor is closing in August. Treasure Mart sold items like pottery, rare mid-century modern furniture and unused Versace china that ranged in price from less than $1 to thousands. Owners Carl and Elaine Johns listed the property for sale in January and said it was not an easy decision, but they feel the need to make a change due to Elaines 2018 ALS diagnosis. While the pandemic was not the sole reason for giving up the business, the owners struggled to find a buyer willing to take on the venture amid the outbreak. With no buyer on the horizon, Ann Arbors treasured Treasure Mart nears closure Arbor Brewing Company Challenges from the coronavirus and downtowns changing landscape led Arbor Brewing Company owner Mike Collins to close the space at 114 E. Washington St. in Ann Arbor after 25 years. Collins was reaching the end of a lease amid the pandemic and decided to search for a new location in the city. Arbor Brewing Companys locations in Ypsilanti and Plymouth remain open. Arbor Brewing Company leaving downtown Ann Arbor after 25 years Wilmas Owner Sava Farah of the former restaurant at 403 E. Washington St. in Ann Arbor announced the closure in April, citing financial concerns amid the pandemic. Other factors included issues of renegotiating the lease terms with the landlord. Downtown Ann Arbor Wilmas restaurant closing permanently Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the following businesses announced closures for reasons unrelated to the pandemic: Hollanders The owners of Kerrytowns Hollanders, a paper and bookbinding shop, closed after nearly 30 years in Ann Arbor. The shop at 410 N. 4th Ave., was expected to close on June 30, but owners Tom and Cindy Hollander announced on their website that the pandemic forced them to close earlier. Customers will be able to purchase remaining items online. The two plan to continue operating a smaller online business and open a new space for packaging and workshops. Kerrytowns Hollanders paper shop to close after nearly 30 years Beanberry Cafe A cafe that boasted a selfieccino machine at 305 S. Main St. in downtown Ann Arbor closed after a few months without and explanation. Beanberry Cafe had a machine that printed faces, logos or any other uploaded image atop a cappuccino and offered bubble waffles, bubble tea, ice cream, coffee and organic tea. Downtown Ann Arbor cafe with selfieccino announces closure Luckys Market The Colorado-based chain announced nationwide closures earlier this year, including the store at 1919 S. Industrial Highway in Ann Arbor. The chain filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in January and offered store-wide discounts to clear the inventory. Luckys Market closing in Ann Arbor, Traverse City store remains open Elevation Burger A Virginia-based burger chain abruptly closed its locations at 3365 Washtenaw Ave. and 529 E Liberty St. in Ann Arbor. A notice was left on the door announcing the closures without explanation. Elevation Burger abruptly closes Ann Arbor restaurants Walmart Walmart in Ypsilanti at 2515 Ellsworth Road closed in April due to overall financial performance, spokesman Phillip Keene said. The chain offered transfer options to 220 employees, but any who did not transfer were to be paid through May 8. New hours during Walmart closure in Ypsilanti Township ALLEGAN, MI For the first time since World War II, the Allegan County Fair is being canceled, according to event organizers. The Allegan County Fair Board of Directors decided to cancel the 2020 Allegan County Fair after many months of deliberation and sad hearts, the organization said in a news release on June 30. The fair was scheduled for Sept. 11- 19, 2020. The fair has been going on for 167 years and has been canceled only once before, at the commencement of World War II, according to the news release. The health and welfare of visitors, vendors, carnival and employees is the priority, the Allegan County Fair said. The coronavirus pandemic and the mandates of the state of Michigan made the difficult decision necessary, the fair said. The fair said it was one of the toughest decisions the organization has ever faced. Details are being determined regarding 4-H livestock showing and the 4-H sale with MSU Extension and 4-H Livestock Leaders, the fair said. Concession, vendor, and trailer deposits can be transferred to next year or refunded upon request, according to the news release. The fair asks people to call between July 8 and July 20 to request refunds. People wishing to transfer a deposit to 2021 do not need to contact the fair, the organization said. People who purchased tickets for the Jeff Dunham Show that was to be held at the Allegan County Fair on Sept. 11, may request a refund for tickets and service fees from July 8th to July 20, 2020. Alternatively, tickets and will be honored for the September 10, 2021, Jeff Dunham Show at the Allegan County Fair. These tickets must have been purchased from etix or the Allegan County Fair. People who bought tickets from another source will have to collect refunds from the original purchaser. Jeff Dunham and several other concerts and shows we had planned will also be at the 2021 Fair, scheduled for Sept. 10 - 18, 2021. Read more: Kalamazoo school board approves $7.4M in budget cuts Meijer suspends cash payments at self-checkout lanes Local Eats: Black-owned restaurants offer community favorites in Kalamazoo GRAND RAPIDS, MI Maru Sushi & Grill did not rush to reopen in the first week the lock down to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus ended for Michigan restaurants and bars. Robert Song, the founder and owner of the restaurant at 927 Cherry St., instead continued to move methodically in the direction of a safe reopening for his staff and customers. Last week, the nearly eight-year-old establishment reopened and is once again serving up traditional Japanese cuisine combined with a contemporary twist. The impact of closing has been hard, Song said about shutting down in March. We had to regroup, refocus and really almost reorganize for a different way of doing business.' He said his team took their time reopening to be more than prepared and have all the necessary employee training and safety measures in place. Michigans stay-at-home order prompted by COVID-19 prevented in-person dining, so many places were offering takeout and/or curbside service to survive the closure. Song said shifting exclusively to carryout was quite a departure from what they were used to in the popular culinary section of Cherry Street. He said they were doing substantially less business and operating with limited resources. He repeatedly expressed his gratitude for his dedicated employees and the support and understanding of their loyal customers. They made it possible for us to still be standing strong,' said Song, who has Marus in five other locations across the state. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lifted her executive order earlier this month allowing all bars and restaurants to reopen June 8 at half capacity, keeping patrons six feet from one another. Song, who said they are fortunate to have indoor and outdoor dining areas, is looking forward to being able to increase capacity and expand their condensed hours in the future. While the atmosphere is different with social distancing and masks, Song said the quality of the food and their top-notch customer service remains the same. We are not going to lose focus on the attention to detail and the hospitality we provide each guest that walks into our restaurant,' he said. We are preparing thoughtfully prepared sushi to each guest. We work hard to exceed their expectations.' Carrie Barrix, director of corporate affairs for Maru Hospitality, said she monitors the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website daily to make sure their restaurants are adhering to the latest safety guidelines. Barrix said making sure their employees and managers are appropriately trained has been a priority. She said there are sanitization areas, staff wear mask, and customers are also required to wear them until seated. Marus other locations are in Kalamazoo, East Lansing, Detroit, Okemos and Midland. Song also owns Ando Sushi + Bar in Grand Rapids, Located at 415 Bridge St. NW, which also reopened this month. Song encourages people to check their website for any changes to the hours at Marus Cherry Street location. As of Friday, June 26, the restaurant was open from 4 to 8 p.m. during the week and 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the weekend. More on MLive: Tuesday, June 30: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan The Rapids CEO, deputy step down Motorcyclist, 56, dies in Ottawa County crash GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- More than 150 people, including the Grand Rapids police chief, came downtown to Calder Plaza on Monday, June 29 for a pro-police rally. Dubbed the Grand Rapids Unity Event, more than a half dozen people spoke on the importance of police in society, the dangers they face and the need to keep departments well-staffed with officers. Hosted by police advocacy group Voice For The Badge and Tom Norton, a Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, the rally was in response to repeated calls to defund or reallocate funding away from the Grand Rapids Police Department. The speakers were flanked by the names and images of three area officers shot and killed while on duty. The parents of one of the fallen officers, Grand Rapids Police Officer Robert Kozminski, spoke at the event. When our son was killed, my wife and I said, We dont want the community to forget that he gave his life, and one thing I can say is this community, western Michigan, the whole state, all you people here youve never forgotten our son and were so appreciative for that, said the officers father, Richard Kozminski. He believed in helping the people of this community, helping a mother and son that night, and he had to pay the ultimate sacrifice. Robert Kozminski was 29-years-old when he died July 8, 2007 after being fatally shot in an ambush on the citys Northeast Side. The Monday afternoon event was kicked off with a prayer by Make Michigan Great Again founder Mark Gurley. Gurley rebuked left-wing politics in his prayer and called on God to protect police officers from harm. Most of whats happening here is not about police, he said. Its about a new ideology, an old ideology called Marxism trying to remove things from a free America. Most of the speakers didnt touch on ongoing protests against police brutality and racial injustice. The overarching theme of the rally was unified support, no matter the political party or race, for police officers. Im here to ask for your voice to make the many, the majority, to stand up for our police officers,' said Esteban Steve Moreno, a retired police officer from the Grand Rapids Police Department. It is evident that they need us. They need the taxpayers to hold the city, chief and sheriff accountable. We ask that your voice be heard in supporting our police department and making our city safer for all. Moreno took issue with Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Payne and Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young taking a knee with protesters earlier this month in a show of solidarity with those outraged over the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while he was handcuffed on the ground pleading he could not breathe. His death, caught on tape, has triggered protests across the country and world. We do have to hold these city leaders accountable. Have to. I dont wish any of them, especially our chief and our sheriff, to ever have to kneel again unless its in prayer for our officers, Moreno said to resounding applause. Related: Grand Rapids police chief kneels, chants with protesters Like in Grand Rapids and other Michigan cities, groups across the country are calling for defunding the police. Speakers at the event emphasized that all police are not bad. Defunding some portion of police department budgets and reallocating those funds to other community resources and aid, such as mental health workers responding to service calls instead of officers, has gained national attention following the death of Floyd. Two city commissioners, Joe Jones and Kurt Reppart, have said theyre comfortable talking about divesting about $9.4 million from the department to reimagine policing in the city. Payne previously said that level of cuts could hurt community safety. Payne, who left the rally early and said he wasnt there at the beginning, said support for officers is needed right now. Im seeing a lot of support out there from the community and thats what we need. We need people working together with us with every voice thats out there in the community and thats what Im seeing out here, the chief said. We need to work together and we will. Well make this a better community and a better police department. We have a good police department. Diane Zickefoose traveled from her home in Ionia to attend the rally. We need to support our police. We need to fund our police, she said. Grand Rapids has had a lot of issues lately, so its a place where the police need to know that we support them. Read more: Police identify shooting victim found dead on porch on Grand Rapids Northwest Side Young activists protest racism, police brutality in Grand Rapids Kids March What protesters, community activists are saying about Grand Rapids police reforms Grand Rapids police chiefs says significant cuts being discussed could impact community safety GRAND RAPIDS, MI Three Republicans are running in the Aug. 4 primary election to compete in November to fill Michigans open 73rd House District seat. The seat is open because state Rep. Lynn Afendoulis, R-Grand Rapids Township, opted not to pursue a second term in order to run for the 3rd Congressional District. The candidates battling for the two-year seat are John Inhulsen, Bryan Posthumus and Robert Regan, who ran for the seat in 2018. The winner will face Democrat Bill Saxton in the Nov. 3 general election. Saxton, of East Grand Rapids, competed for the seat in 2018. The software engineer is running unopposed in the primary for the Democratic Party nomination. The 73rd District includes the city of East Grand Rapids and the townships of Cannon, Courtland, Nelson, Oakfield, Plainfield, Spencer and Grand Rapids Charter Township. This year, MLive Media Group partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide candidate information for readers. Each candidate was asked to outline their stances on a variety of public policy issues. Information on all state and federal races and many of Michigans county and local races will be available at Vote411.org, an online voter guide created by the League of Women Voters. Here is some background information on the primary candidates: Inhulsen, 45, of East Grand Rapids, is an attorney. He owns Inhulsen Law and specializes in providing strategic legal counsel on business and litigation matters. He earned his law degree from Michigan State University. He has served in leaderships roles, including on the Board of Directors for the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation, Leukemia & Lymphoma, and Broadway Grand Rapids. Posthumus, 35, of Greenville, is a fourth-generation farmer and small business owner. He shared that they have built from scratch the largest farmer owned and operated hop farm in the state, West Michigan Hopyards. His Bachelor of Science degree in Agribusiness Management is from Michigan State University. He wants to use his business experience to get Michigan back to work. Regan, 52, of Grand Rapids, is vice president of business development at Grey Cap Transportation. His MBA is from Northwood University and he has a Bachelor of Science in finance from Indiana University. He shared he has eight years of banking and finance experience, five years in operations research, 10 years in manufacturing (laboratory equipment), five years in professional recruiting (Medical Device Industry) and five years in the transportation industry. MLive Media Group partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide candidate information for readers. Each candidate was asked to outline their stances on a variety of public policy issues. Information on all state and federal races and many of Michigans county and local races is available at Vote411.org, an online voter guide created by the League of Women Voters. All responses in the voter guide were submitted directly by the candidate and have not been edited by the League of Women Voters, except for a necessary cut if a reply exceeded character limitations. Spelling and grammar were not corrected. Publication of candidate statements and opinions is solely in the interest of public service and should not be considered as an endorsement. The League never supports or opposes any candidates or political parties. Heres a look at how the candidates responded to questions on some key issues in Michigan: What is your position on the role of public funding of education in Michigan? What measures do you support/propose to improve educational outcomes and accessibility for all Michigan students? Inhulsen: I support public and private education in Michigan. I believe in school choice and that parents, not zip codes, should determine where kids attend school. I believe in hiring and retaining extraordinary teachers and ensuring they have the freedom to teach outside of the box. One-size-fits-all approaches dont work. I also believe in accountability and dont believe ANY child should be trapped in a failing school. Posthumus: Education is one of the most important issues facing our state, and we have a long way to go to ensure our kids are educated for 21st century jobs. To move in that direction, I will work toward the following: 1. Ensure a higher proportion of funding is directed to the classroom instead of tied up in administration and overhead. 2. Empower parents instead of zip codes to determine whats best for their child. 3. Expand career tech educational opportunities. In doing this, we will move our state forward and ensure our children are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. Regan: My position is that parents need to have more of a say in what is going on and failed districts need to reallocate resources. For example, Michigan lost a lawsuit on behalf of Detroit public schools for failure to teach kids to read and poor conditions. That is not disputable but the court ordered the state to give DPS $90 million to fix the problem. Why would it give money to the source of the problem? Why not distribute this money to Detroits parents directly in the form of grants so they can make their own educational choices? If we continue to give more money to the problem, we magnify the problem. What policies do you support to increase jobs and help Michigan residents improve their economic positions, in general and given the pandemic? Inhulsen: We have to get our economy back on track. I support public-private partnerships for job training and trade schools to get people ready for a changing economy. We need to get government off the backs of small business and allow them to succeed. We need new and better paying jobs. We shouldnt be asking ourselves if people are making enough money to pay their bills, but are they making enough money to save for retirement and take a family vacation. Lets raise the bar. Posthumus: While the government cant create jobs, it can create an environment that fosters that creation by job providers. I will work to enact policies that gets the government out of the way, reduces the regulatory burden facing job providers, and cuts through the bureaucracy standing in the way of economic and job growth. Regan: Lower taxes, reduce regulations and licensing requirements and refocus educational priorities to the highly skilled trades by encouraging low-interest loans for new businesses for students with a two-year associates degree. This approach will stimulate business as well as job growth while at the same time, reducing the burdensome college loan debt that has a tendency to enslave students for decades. Presently, 40% of college students that take out these 4-year degree loans do not even get their degree. College is a good thing, but it is not the end all be all solution. A focus on the trades is needed. What state policies do you support regarding Michigan elections, voting and campaign funding? Do you support mailing ballots to all eligible voters? Inhulsen: I believe in ensuring our elections are free, fair and secure. Period. I will not support any policies that threaten those values. Posthumus: Candidate has not yet responded. Regan: I believe current state policy regarding elections and campaign finance are fine as is. I do not support mail-in-voting due to the propensity for fraud and ballot harvesting. Absentee voting is different because it is initiated by the voter and not proactively solicited by the State, which is unconstitutional. I completely disagree with the Secretary of State who recently sent out 7 million absentee ballot applications to all registered voters in the state of Michigan. I will protect the integrity and fairness of our voting rights by opposing all mail-in-voting attempts by the Governor. What actions or policies do you support to protect Michigans water, air and land for current and future generations? What is your position on energy efficiency and renewable energy? Inhulsen: I believe clean drinking water and affordable energy are both critical. We have incredible resources in Michigan that we need to take care of and I will fight to protect them. I believe in free markets and support an all of the above approach to energy. Posthumus: As a conservative and an outdoorsman, conservation is important to me, and I believe we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our environment. I will protect and preserve our wildlife, lakes, and rivers for responsible recreation today and for future generations. Further, I will work with the legislature to ensure local communities have the clean drinking water that all residents deserve. Regan: Every person in Michigan wants to drink clean water and breath clean air. Id like to see the politics removed from environmental issues. Of course, we need to be sensitive to wildlife and our natural resources, but I place a much higher value on humans and their property than I do on freshwater mussels. The political focus on mussels and the clear disregard for the safety of human lives and personal property is something I will and would have opposed. There is always a balance between energy, profit, and the environment. I think we need minimal oversight and maximum market input through competition & innovation. How would you address the racial, economic, health, education, etc. inequities, including Michigans 20% of children and 17% of seniors living in poverty? Inhulsen: Government has created more problems than it has solved when it comes to poverty. Helping our fellow man doesnt require more money going to the government to waste, it requires neighbors and communities who care about one another. We have to ensure that kids arent trapped in failing schools, that were taking care of the least among us, and that our systems are truly safety nets and not being abused. Lets work to get our neighbors out of the cycle of poverty. Posthumus: The first and most important step we need to take is to get Michigan back to work. I am the only candidate with the business experience to do just that. Second, we need to increase educational opportunities for children by expanding career tech education initiatives, as well as remove the arbitrary requirement that zipcodes determine our childrens future. Regan: I would encourage a family-first approach. Out of wedlock births are a major contributing factor for children in poverty. I will support legislative initiatives that encourage two-parent families to raise their children together. Tax-credits for families that are taking care of elderly parents could be an idea as well as increasing tax-breaks for parents reading their children. I would propose lowering taxes so more take-home pay is made available to working parents and minimizing corporate taxes so more businesses are attracted to Michigan. There should be a minimum amount of direct government and state aid. Do you believe that Michigan has a gun violence problem? If so, what measures would you support to alleviate this problem? Inhulsen: I believe in protecting the 2nd Amendment and that law abiding citizens have a right to defend their families. I want to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and anyone who intends to do harm to another person. Posthumus: I am a strong supporter of our 2nd Amendment rights, and I believe our constitution meant what it said in the words shall not be infringed. Regan: I believe Michigan as a whole, does not have a gun violence problem. Certain areas of Michigan have a violence problem, but not the entire state. When 80% of men in prison and 80% of men who commit violent and sexual crimes are found to be raised without a father, I think the answer is clear. We need to encourage fathers to be involved in their childrens lives. This is not anything against mothers. I love mothers and have three daughters, but the data is pretty clear, that a fathers impact in a childs life is very important to their development. I would like to see the system be more balanced toward dads. More on MLive: See how Republican primary candidates for 3rd Congressional District answered questions on key issues Republicans square off in 90th District primary race A therapist and professor face off in the Democratic primary for Michigans 89th House District GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The office manager at a Kalamazoo-area medical office will serve time in prison for his involvement in a healthcare fraud scheme that has also implicated the practices owner. Mark J. Sabor, who worked in the office of Urological Solutions of Michigan, will serve two years in prison and help pay off a $1.26 million civil settlement for his involvement in a Medicare fraud conspiracy at his place of work that resulted in nearly a million dollars worth of false insurance claims, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced on Monday, June 29. The prison sentence was intended, in part, to deter other healthcare providers from bilking government programs, according to a news release explaining the reasoning of U.S. District Judge Janet T. Neff, who sentenced Sabor. The owner of the medical practice, Dr. Roger Beyer, and his wife, Susan Wright, a nurse practitioner, each previously pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing Medicare for certain services. They also admitted reusing single-use medical tools on multiple patients at their Kalamazoo-area clinic, and while operating a mobile urological service in the greater Traverse City, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo areas. The judgment found that Sabor was complicit in his workplace, defrauding Medicare of about $914,000 in false claims. These included coding a therapy service known as pelvic muscle rehabilitation (PMR) as something more lucrative, doing likewise with ultrasound services, billing for evaluation and management services that did not take place, and billing for use of an unlicensed nursing assistant. Sabors sentence was increased because the medical practice had already been ordered by an administrative law judge in 2011 not to bill Medicare for the PMR therapy, according to the news release. Instead of following the rules, Mr. Sabor and USM found new ways to exploit the Medicare program of hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Birge in a statement. As the government emphasized in its sentencing memorandum, If you bill the government, learn the rules; if you are audited and found to be doing something wrong, rectify your practices; if a judge tells you to stop billing improperly, stop it. And if you dont, expect to pay back the ill-gotten gains and anticipate a prison sentence. Sabor will also pay $150,000 towards a $1.26 million civil settlement, established under the federal False Claims Act, in order to reimburse the Medicare program of the defrauded money. Sabor pleaded guilty to the felony conspiracy charges in December, according to public court records. Hed worked for the health facility since March 2007, according to a public LinkedIn profile. U.S. attorneys, investigators from two federal agencies and the FBI investigated Urological Solutions of Michigan and Womens Health Care Specialists, located at 7110 Stadium Drive in Oshtemo Township, after a nurse in the office said that a single-use rectal pressure sensor had been used more than 100 times before being replaced, a move that could have caused viral transmission. No known infections resulted from the reuse of the tools, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which received the nurses complaint in May of last year. On May 15, Beyer pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and adulteration of a medical device, and Wright pleaded guilty to deliberately concealing her knowledge of the healthcare fraud - known as misprision - and to adulteration of a medical device. Beyer and Wright are scheduled to be sentenced by Neff on Sept. 9. Conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud can carry a fine of $250,000 and up to 10 years in prison. The misuse of a medical device can carry a fine of $100,000 and up to one year in prison. Beyer may face up to three years for having directed his staff to misuse the devices. Misprision of fraud can carry a fine of $250,000 and up to three years in prison, according to court documents. The USM and WHCS medical practices are now shuttered. Read more on MLive: Whitmer, legislature reach deal to address coronavirus shortfall in 2020 budget Michigan Secretary of State Benson should be held in contempt of court, blind voters argue Grand Rapids school board approves $10.6M budget cut for next year due to coronavirus MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI Some drivers heading south on U.S. 31 from Holton Road will need to find a different route for the better part of Tuesday. The ramp from eastbound Holton Road (M-120) to southbound U.S. 31 was set to close at 10 a.m. June 30, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. It is expected to reopen later the same day, around 2 p.m. The closure is part of ongoing work on U.S. 31, which includes lane closures on southbound U.S. 31 between Russell Road and Apple Avenue (M-46). Those lane closures will remain in effect through July 24, according to MDOT. MDOT is in the midst of an $8.3 million project to resurface 6.5 miles of northbound and southbound U.S. 31. That work is expected to be finished by the end of August. More on MLive: Motorcyclist found dead from crash that could have occurred 7 hours earlier Local Eats: Corine Roses cakes and soul foods earns Taste of Muskegon victory Whitmer seeks federal help for flooded West Michigan homeowners MIDLAND, MI A night of tunes performed by blues guitarist Larry McCray is planned to help raise money for residents of mid-Michigan impacted by recent flooding. The concert is set for 7 p.m. Friday, July 24, at the parking lot of Faith United Methodist Church, 209 E. Jefferson St., in Coleman. Admission is any donation amount or $10. McCrays three-decade career has taken him around the world from his family roots in Arkansas and Saginaw and earned him acclaim from blues and rock musicians. He has played in some of the worlds most famous blues festivals from Monterey, California to King Biscuit in Arkansas, to the United Kingdom and across Europe. The guitarists achievements have been noted with an Orville H. Gibson Male Blues Guitarist of the Year award, the Top Guitarist prize in International Blues Matters 2014 writers poll and in 2015, the Sunshine Sonny Payne Award for Blues Excellence, according to a Faith United Methodist Church press release. Many residents in Midland County and other areas were hit hard with flooding after the Edenville and Sandford dams, both located in Midland County, failed on May 19. Concert goers are encouraged to bring a lawn chair, wear a mask or bandana to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and enjoy an evening of music outside and at safe distances from others attending the show. To donate with a check, make it payable to Faith UMC and write Concert in the notes area; mail to Faith UMC, P.O. Box 376, Coleman, MI 48618. McCrayss appearance in Coleman is supported by local sponsors such as Faith UMC, Pizza Man, Tigner Printing, the Old Brick Bakery and Coffee Shop, Ricks Body Shop, Heaven Scent Flowers and many more. For more information, visit here. Find more information on Larry McCray and his schedule of engagements at www.larrymccray.net or on his Facebook page. According to Gov. Gretchen Whitmers executive order, a social gathering or organized event among persons not part of the same household is permitted, but only to the extent that: Persons not part of the same household maintain six feet of distance from one another. If it is indoors, the gathering or event does not exceed 50 people. If it is outdoors, the gathering or event does not exceed 250 people. Related news: Larry McCray brings the blues home All lanes of US-10 reopen after flood damage repairs, work moves to M-30 bridges An ex-sheriff's deputy killed his wife, fakes her suicide note, and in an effort to hide evidence, set his house on fire. In 2011, for a Kansas couple, their marriage will go up in smokes in the spring of that year. Brett Seacat and Vashti Seacat's relationship litterally ended in flames and death. According to Oxygen, a 911 call alerted the authorities to a house on fire and an alert for suicide on April 30, 2011. According to Brett, his wife allegedly committed suicide and burned their house down. The holes in Brett Seacat's story He told authorities that he was lying on the couch, at the conjugal Kingman, Kansas residence when everything unraveled. He said that Vashti was on the second floor when she called his mobile. She told him to get the children and leave because she did not want them harmed. A shot rang upstairs, and he ran to see Vashti. He got their two kids and put them in his wife's car. He quickly run back inside and called 911. He allegedly tried to save his wife, but the flames and smoke were too much for him. A gunshot was heard at 3:15 am, Brett called at 3:57 am to report the fire. When authorities arrived to the scene, they were perturbed by how the former deputy sheriff approached them. For a man who just lost his wife to a terrible accident, Brett was certainly acting suspicious. He was not even visibly distraught with Vashti's death. When the flames were extinguished, firefighters discovered Vashti's lifeless body in the master bedroom. Both met in high school and got married years later at Belize Beach. After their wedding, they resided in their house at Kingsman. They started off well, but things weren't the same after their children were born, according to Vashti's relatives. Also read: Badly Decomposed Corpse of Missing Mom Found in Garage, Cause of Death Still a Mystery Brett was a former sheriff's deputy and a teacher at a Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center. He was not happy with his wife's career development. Vashti's growing profession and social circle upset her husband. On the night the house was aflamed and Vashti died, both agreed to live in the house despite the problems. According to Brett, when they were planning on the finances, he claimed that she got aggravated, started the fire, and then shot herself. That was according to the husband's narrative, but the authorities did not buy it. None of her family believe that she would commit suicide, and her husband's claims were suspicious. Her brother, Rich Forrest, told the Show 'Accident, Suicide or Murder' that his sister would not commit suicide. Possible motive for the crime According to David Falletti, a senior special agent with the KBI, possible talks of divorce is a serious red flag. The house fire was further investigated. Everything was checked, including the body of Vashti on the burnt metal bed frame. The gun was found with the barrel face down. It did not seem right, and it definitely alerted authorities that something was wrong. The angle of the killing shot was too odd for the investigators too. During the autopsy, indicators show that she was dead before the fire. Accprding to University of Chicago Press, her charred body made it hard to determine the cause of death. An analysis also claimed that the suicide note was forged. He was arrested on May 14, 2011, for second-degree murder and arson. In 2016, the ex-sheriff's deputy was sentenced for murder, the family was happy with the conviction, according to Wichita Eagle. Related article: Woman Shot Dead, Man Injured Due to Altercation Over Dog Poop @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Michigan State Capitol Commission does indeed have the power to decide whether guns are allowed inside the Capitol building, members agreed Tuesday. But whether theyll move to exercise that authority remains unclear. An independent legal review requested by members at their last meeting concurred with Attorney General Dana Nessels opinion that the commission - which manages the state Capitols grounds and facilities - has the authority to set rules banning or regulating the use of guns in the Capitol. Related: Commission can ban guns at Michigan Capitol, AG says in formal opinion That came as a surprise to some Republican members of the commission, which is made up of the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House, two members appointed by the governor and two members jointly appointed by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House. Clearly, from what weve been given now on two occasions, (the decision) is thrown to us, said John Truscott, the panels vice-chair. We have to deal with it. Commission members demurred on making a final decision on the matter at its Tuesday meeting, instead opting to mull over various options and return to the question at a July 13 meeting. Some of the questions commissioners posed included whether gun rules should be different for the grounds and building, if any regulations should extend to concealed firearms as well as open carry and if restrictions should be limited to certain types of guns. The issue was brought to the spotlight by armed protests of the states stay-at-home order, although guns have long been allowed in and around the Michigan Capitol building. Advocates frequently host open carry days at the Capitol, encouraging supporters to bring their firearms to Lansing in support of gun rights. House and Senate Democrats called on the commission to ban guns in the Capitol shortly after Nessel issued her opinion, citing safety concerns at recent protests of the stay-at-home order. At one protest, a group of protesters gathered outside of the main entrance to the House floor, demanding to be let into House chambers. Many in the group were armed with guns, and a lawmakers photo of armed observers in the Senate gallery went viral on social media. Firearms are banned in the U.S. Capitol and many other state capitols around the country. Related: Should Michigan keep allowing guns in the Capitol? Committee to investigate Update: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 30 with comment from the Secretary of States Office and again at 11 a.m. July 1 to include additional information about the states remote voting options for the blind or those with other disabilities. Attorneys for blind Michigan residents are asking a federal judge to find Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Director of Elections Jonathan Brater and their attorneys to be in contempt of court. Blind residents Michael Powell and Fred Wurtzel, the current and former president of the Michigan Affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind, filed a lawsuit on April 25, which resulted in all parties entering into a court-enforced consent agreement on May 19. The agreement required the state to introduce a remote accessible vote-by-mail (RAVBM) system for the August 2020 election, which would allow blind voters to cast an absentee ballot privately and independently, in the same manner as non-disabled voters, said a statement issued by the Southfield-based Nyman Turkish law firm that represents the plaintiffs. The lawsuit followed the lead of other states who have implemented such systems to ensure the blind are not excluded from the democratic process. It has now come to light that Secretary Benson failed to take any steps to implement the RAVBM system in time for August, violating the agreement entered into by the parties and threatening to disenfranchise blind voters. If unforeseen circumstances beyond the states control made acquiring a remote voting system prior to the August election impossible, the state was to inform the plaintiffs immediately but no later than June 29. A status update submitted at 6:40 p.m. Monday by the Attorney Generals Office on behalf of Benson and Brater blamed bureaucracy that slowed the bid process to purchase a new remote voting system and the COVID-19 crisis for its inability to comply. The Secretary of States Office on June 26 issued a press statement notifying Michigan residents that it launched an online absentee ballot application request system that could be utilized by blind voters using personal assistance programs for completion. Blind voters and others with severe disabilities that prevent them from voting absent voter ballots privately and independently can mark the documents on an electronic device, using their own assistive technology, without visiting a polling place or clerks office, the statement said, adding this will be in place as the state develops a permanent solution for November. The lawsuit claimed the states push for absentee voting amid the coronavirus pandemic neglected to provide absentee options to blind voters. Attorneys Jason M. Turkish of the Southfield-based Nyman Turkish law firm and Eve Hill of the Brown, Goldstein and Levy law firm in Baltimore, Maryland, filed a motion on Monday, June 29 requesting the judge find Benson, Brater, as well as their attorneys, Heather S. Meingast and Erik A. Grill, both employees of Attorney General Dana Nessels office, in contempt of court. Defendants have not made a good faith effort to comply with the consent decree, and in fact, they demonstrated bad faith during the negotiation process, the motion said. The attorneys are requesting U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain demand Benson and Brater appear in court to explain why they failed to comply with the agreement and to devise a plan to ensure blind voters will be given access to absentee voting prior to the Aug. 4 primary election. They are also asking the judge to appoint a third party to monitor the states compliance with the agreement and to order Michigan election officials to issue a press release informing the electorate of their deliberate violations of the consent decree and their plan for remediation -- in order to prevent further disenfranchisement of the blind community. Jake Rollow, a Michigan Department of State spokesman, said the plaintiffs claims are are inconsistent with the terms of the original settlement. While were perplexed by this hostility toward an ally who has chosen not to fight and instead resolve this case amicably, we remain focused on pursuing long-term improvements for the benefit of all voters, he said in a statement. Rollow said the state shares the same goals as the opposing litigants: to ensure all voters, including the blind, have equal access to the polls. When the original consent decree was signed, the federal judge ordered Michigan to pay the plaintiffs $124,258.25 in attorney fees and to publish a press release notifying the public that a consent agreement had been entered into and the terms. While representatives for the state indicated the bid process to obtain a remote voting system for the blind was underway in early June, according to the contempt of court motion, Michigan officials flouted the courts order and waited five weeks to issue a request for bids. The request for bids was issued on June 24 and allows vendors 17 days to submit bids, the state said in a status update filed in federal court Monday. With proposals being submitted through July 17, the Department of State determined it would not be practicable to launch a (remote voting system) ... in time for use for the August 4, 2020 Election, the status update said. " ... The Department of State also developed a version of the electronic ballot issued to military and overseas voters that can be read and marked with screen readers. Because of the complexity of the ballot, the development and testing of this version of an accessible electronic ballot took longer than the May ballot. Nevertheless, the Department of State was able to complete development and launch the accessible electronic absent voter ballot. Judge Drain called a status conference in the case to begin at 3 p.m. Thursday, June 29. This case was supposed to ensure that the blind voters are not treated as an afterthoughtto ensure their full inclusion and participation in the democratic process, Turkish said. It is unfortunate that Jocelyn Benson is forcing us to return to court to make that a reality, but it is necessary to ensure the blind are not excluded from the ballot box. Motion for contempt of court determination: 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 on MLive: Michigan to register outgoing prisoners to vote Absentee ballots arriving soon All elections may be conducted by mail May election draws record number of ballots Benson dumbfounded by Trump statements Thursday, June 25: Latest developments on coronavirus Opening Michigan gyms is essential to public health, experts say. But it also threatens it. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Republican-led Michigan Legislature have reached a deal on balancing the states Fiscal Year 2020 budget, using a combination of spending cuts and $915 million worth of federal coronavirus aid to patch up a multibillion-dollar shortfall caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The deal relies on using federal coronavirus funds to cover costs schools, universities and local governments are facing due to the coronavirus while making corresponding cuts in state general fund dollars to make up the $2.2 billion dollar shortfall. The spending plan would balance the budget for the current fiscal year after the state saw a steep drop in expected tax revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Legislative leaders still need to work out anticipated multibillion-dollar shortfalls for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. In a joint statement, Whitmer, House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, said theyre committed to working together to address remaining shortfalls in next years budget, and called on Congress for additional assistance. We are looking to our partners in Congress for support to help maintain the essential services relied upon by our families and small businesses, the statement reads. Shirkey in a separate statement urged Congressional leaders not to rely on defaulting to additional federal debt to help balance state budgets. As Congress contemplates further assistance to states, our caucus encourages them to balance fiscal responsibility with the realities of unprecedented challenges related to this insidious virus, he said. Restraint on spending will be difficult in the face of these needs, but absolutely necessary. Federal dollars as allocated in the spending deal will put $512 million towards schools and an additional $53 million for hazard pay for teachers, as well as $200 million for universities and community colleges and another $150 million for local governments. To make up the rest of the state budget shortfall, the deal cuts $256 million in state aid for schools, $200 million for universities, $97 million for local governments and $475 million in public safety costs now eligible for federal coronavirus funds. The deal also pulls $350 million from the states rainy day fund, which had a balance of about $1.1 billion as of September 2019. $490 million in cuts will come from state budget cuts in the form of hiring and discretionary spending freezes and layoffs, and another $340 million in general fund revenue will be saved through using federal matching funds for Medicaid costs and other state COVID-19 response spending that is now eligible for federal funding. 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. Read more: Whitmer administration calls for federal funding to help fill Michigans multibillion-dollar budget hole Coronavirus prompts projected $3.2B drop in Michigan tax revenue, more losses expected Michigan set to lose billions in tax revenue as coronavirus hits state budgets nationwide Michigan to lay off 2,900 state employees amid budget woes caused by coronavirus outbreak Yes, Michigan is in a recession, and a quick recovery is unlikely Republicans, Democrats at odds about who should return to work and when When and how will it end? Considering the end-game for Michigans coronavirus crisis A Michigan state office building previously named after a slave-owning territorial governor and U.S. Senator will now be named after the sponsors of the states civil rights law. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Tuesday the Lewis Cass building will now be named the Elliott-Larsen building after former state Reps. Daisy Elliott and Melvin Larsen, who sponsored the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act signed into law in 1976. That law protects people from discrimination based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status. In recent years, there have been many efforts to update the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include protections for the LGBT community. Related: Backers of Michigan LGBT rights initiative granted extra time for ballot petition signatures The building, located at 320 S. Walnut St. in Lansing, is Michigans oldest standing state office building. According to Whitmers office, its the first time in Michigan history that a state building has been named after a Black woman. Whitmer made the change on the last day of June, which is celebrated as Pride Month by the LGBT community and allies. In a statement, she called on the legislature to expand the law to include protections for LGBT residents. We must hold up those who worked to build a better Michigan for us all, regardless of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity, she said. There is still more work to do. Both Larsen and the Elliott family said they were honored by the name change. There is not a day that goes by that we dont think of our beloved Daisy, and there is not a day that goes by in the state of Michigan when the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act is not utilized in one of Michigans courts to protect the civil rights of its residents, said Badriyyah Sabree, Elliotts granddaughter. Michigan is forever indebted to Daisy Elliott and Mel Larson for championing this landmark legislation. The building was previously one of many things in Michigan named after Cass, who was an influential figure in the states early history as a territorial governor and as a U.S. Senator. Cass, along with former President Gerald Ford, is one of the states two statues represented in the U.S. Capitols National Statuary Hall. But as statues of the Confederacy and other monuments to people who enslaved others come toppling down across the country, Cass legacy has been called into question. He owned a slave and was an advocate for allowing territories and states to decide individually whether slavery should be abolished. As Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, he also helped implement policies that removed Native Americans from their lands. No one can deny the important role that Lewis Cass (1782-1866) played in Michigans and the nations early history, a press release from Whitmers office states. But Governor Whitmer recognizes that the names we elevate express our values: to the workers who enter those halls every day and the public who those workers serve. The change is effective immediately, and the Department of Management, Technology and Budget will soon begin updating the buildings signage, according to Whitmers office. The Saharan Dust has arrived high in the atmosphere over the Great Lakes region. Sunlight through dust can make for some magical skies in Michigan. Here are the 10 best sun scenes in the past few days. Sunset near Petoskey on June 29, 2020 Photo courtesy Cyndie Miller Sunset at Charlevoix on June 29, 2020 photo courtesy Larry Puskar One way to know you are likely looking at a dusted sunrise or sunset are the sun pillars showing. A sun pillar is a streak of sunlight that shoots straight up out of the sun. Empire, MI sunset on June 29, 2020. Photo courtesy Tim Griffith Higgins Lake sunrise on June 20,2020. Photo courtesy Melissa Seitz Sunset on Saginaw Bay on June 29, 2020. Photo courtesy Linda Clark Sunset on June 28, 2020 over Grand Traverse Bay at Traverse City. Photo courtesy John Robert Williams Sunset over a Michigan lake on June 29, 2020 Photo courtesy Billy and Sarah Ball Sunset at Sylvan Lake on June 29, 2020. Photo courtesy of Pamela Todoroff Sunset over Lake Michigan at Glen Arbor on June 29, 2020 Photo courtesy Laura Bresson Sunset over the Mackinac Bridge on June 29, 2020. Photo courtesy David-Nickola The dusty sunrises and sunsets may not end real abruptly. The upper atmosphere wont be moving much over the next week. Dust in the upper atmosphere now will likely linger in the upper atmosphere. There are also three more batches of Saharan Dust expected to cross the Atlantic and hover in the U.S. skies over the next week. There should be plenty of great sunsets and sunrises coming in the next week, in case you missed it last night. If you took a great sunrise or sunset picture, please submit it here. Listen to article The Chief Executive Officer of the EIB Network Nathan Kwabena Anokye Adisi popularly known as Bola Ray together with some of his team members joined the Queen of the Airwaves Doreen Andoh of Multimedia Group specifically Joy FM to celebrate her silver jubilee thus 25years of active Radio. Bola Ray who was also a member of the Joy FM crew until he resigned and started with Starr 103.5 FM in the year 2014 was clearly happy for Doreen Andoh for been able to survive the hurdles and challenges associated with Media work in Ghana. There was joy all over as her old and new workplace colleagues came together to congratulate her and wish her well for the days ahead as a media practitioner. Doreen Andoh joined the Multimedia group in 1995 and has since brought cheers and soothing programmes to listeners which has earned the station some number of constant listeners and followers. She has a unique presentation style and voice which usually blends the rhythms of music to soothe her listeners. Ahead of the 2020 elections, the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) have trained 150 journalists in Media Literacy, Election Reporting and Safety of Journalists. The journalists were selected from all 16 regions across the country. The three-part series of workshops, organized in the northern, middle and southern zones (Tamale, Kumasi, and Accra, respectively), were aimed at promoting media professionalism and safety before, during and after the elections. Given the critical role of the media in the countrys democratic processes, the training also sought to enhance the medias skills in providing accurate information, creating platforms for participatory governance, and promoting peace. Renowned academics, media ethics and fact-checking advocates and security experts took participants through relevant modules such as hate speech reporting, public interest reporting; guarding against fake news; safety of journalists during election reporting; and peace promotion through reportage. Addressing participants at the Greater Accra workshop, Dr. Kojo Pumpuni Asante, CDD-Ghanas Director for Advocacy and Policy Engagement, stressed the need for the media to uphold high ethical standards while reporting on the elections. The December general election is a crucial one, he said. Recent developments such as the 2019 Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election and its fall-out and the increasing politically-charged atmosphere in the country need not remind us that we all, as stakeholders in our national development, need to tread cautiously in all our public engagement. Mr Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA, reiterated this call. People rely on the media to let them know what the real issues, he said. We [the media] have a lot of work to do because people expect a lot from us and we should not fail them. The media training project forms part of CDD-Ghanas Electoral Support Project which has been made possible by the generous support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID-Ghana). About CDD-Ghana With a mission to promote and deepen democratic consolidation, good governance, and inclusive growth and development, the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) works to support and promote a free, peaceful, and well-governed democracy in Ghana and in other parts of Africa. The Center has over two decades of experience, expansive reach, and a robust network of partners at the national, continental, and global levels. CDD-Ghana has cultivated an enduring reputation as a leader in the field of democracy and governance, which enables the adoption and implementation of targeted strategies aimed at addressing the fundamental issues hindering citizens from enjoying the full benefits democracy and good governance have to offer. The coronavirus pandemic could set back incomes in sub-Saharan Africa by a decade as weak oil prices, a tourism standstill and business lockdowns shrink the region's economy 3.2 percent in 2020, an IMF official said Monday. Activity is expected to recover in 2021, but countries first will have to get through a year in which many will see tepid growth at best, while those that rely on commodities or tourism will suffer severe declines. "It is a worrisome picture, really, in terms of the economic outlook, and really reflects the continuing weak global economic environment that countries in the region face," Africa director for the International Monetary Fund Abebe Aemro Selassie told AFP. The continent is grappling with more than 383,000 cases of coronavirus, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The IMF on Monday released its updated outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, showing the downturn is set to cause a drop in real per-capita income of as much as 15 percent in all but two countries, meaning the region overall will suffer a decline of 7.0 percent, back to where it was a decade ago. With oil prices low globally, crude exporters will be badly hit. Nigeria is expected to shrink by 5.4 percent and Angola by 4.0 percent, its fifth straight year of economic contraction. Flight bans and health concerns mean less tourists, and the IMF expects the Seychelles to shrink by 13.8 percent in 2020 and Mauritius by 12.2 percent. Even diversified economies will suffer. Ethiopia's GDP is expected to grow just 1.9 percent in fiscal year 2020 then "stall completely" the following year, the IMF said. South Africa, the continent's most-industrialized economy -- which also has the highest number of recorded coronavirus infections -- will contract 8.0 percent in 2020 due to lockdowns imposed to curb the virus, a risk Abebe said countries across the continent face. "Unfortunately, the region remains still on the exponential side of how the pandemic is playing out in the vast majority of countries," he said. "Absent vigilance, there's no reason why we cannot expect the same kind of dynamics that we've seen elsewhere in terms of the pandemic." Fear of spillovers The Washington-based crisis lender has moved quickly to roll out support programs to help African economies weather the downturn, with aid totaling up to $10 billion over the last two months or so, and more to be announced, Abebe said. Africa also stands to benefit from debt relief agreed to in April by the G20 representing the world's largest economies. There is "strong willingness to provide" the relief and about 25 countries have applied, though details are still being discussed with some creditors, Abebe said. The world's poorest continent is expected to rebound in 2021 with growth in sub-Saharan Africa of 3.4 percent, assuming lockdowns have eased and the pandemic does not get markedly worse with a second wave of infections. But given the tentative nature of the "phase one" trade deal between the United States and China, and Washington's threat of new taxes on European goods amid a trade feud, Abebe warned that wider tensions could threaten Africa's recovery. "A tense geopolitical environment, one which leads to adverse trade outcomes, growth outcomes, economic outcomes, will also have some spillover on the region." Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the comments made by Mr K.T. Hammond, the NPP Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa to the effect that, government deployed soldiers to Volta and Oti regions, to prevent Togolese from registering for the new voter ID cards, as not a representation of government's position. Mr Oppong Nkrumah, responding to the NDC's claims that government had deployed soldiers to suppress NDC's votes in its strongholds, at a news conference on Monday, said there were a number of government functionaries who were recognised to put out government information. He said they included the President, the Vice President, the Information Ministry, Ministers or Deputy Ministers of a sector ministry and Press Secretary to the Office of the President. Mr Oppong Nkrumah entreated the media to exercise circumspection whenever they are attributing government's position on issues to members of Parliament, especially when that MP is not in government or a government appointee. He said: "Mr K.T Hammond's suspicion about what might be the reasons for the deployment of soldiers is not government's position and we must be clear in distinguishing his views and that of government's position". The Minister expressed surprise about the NDC's " Pick and Choose" attitude, noting that, the opposition NDC often select issues to create fear and panic..."I don't remember the NDC organising a full blown press conference on the arrest of the secessionists, but you see what they're doing with the soldiers' deployment". "We only find it interesting and we believe the good people of Ghana will see it as it is and judge for themselves," the Minister said. Earlier, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister of Defence, explained that government has deployed soldiers across all the borders regions, and not only the Volta and Oti regions. He said soldiers were to complement the efforts of the personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service to enforce the border closure and Covid-19 protocols, in order to limit the importation of the virus. The Minister described the NDC's claims of government perpetrating "ethnocentric agenda" as mere propaganda and mischief. ---GNA French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday urged European countries, especially the so-called frugal EU member states, to reach an agreement on a deal for a coronavirus recovery fund. We're confronted by economic challenges the likes of which we haven't seen for decades, said Merkel, who hosted Macron at Schloss Meseberg, a palace 65 kilometres north of Berlin. The meeting comes as Germany assumes the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council on 1 July. Both leaders are pushing for a 750-billion euro recovery fund proposed by European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen. The Franco-German alliance has outlined a rough plan for the fund, but it has fallen foul of more economically cautious countries like the Netherlands and Austria. Southern European countries, such as Italy and Spain, who have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, are calling on the EU to make more money available to deal with the economic aftermath of the coronavirus. Merkel said she hopes that debate will result in a strong instrument that will help countries strongly affected by the pandemic. Macron took a tough stance on countries who are holding out, saying it would not be in their interest to torpedo a deal that could help countries who play a significant role in the European economy. It's solidarity to have this transfer but also it is in their own interests," said Macron, according to the AFP news agency. Germany's government has somewhat changed its usual position of fiscal discipline in reaction to the coronavirus crisis, supporting a considerable mobilisation of resources on a European level. Berlin fared better in the health emergency compared to many other European countries. It has already tabled more than one trillion euros in additional spending, loans and guarantees to safeguard the German economy. The EU coronavirus recovery fund will offer grants with no obligation for repayment to states hit hardest by the outbreak. Merkel said on Monday that maybe more fiscally conservative or prudent countries could be convinced if beneficiary nations took action to improve their own economies. Germany's presidency of the EU Council has until year end to get a deal done. Continued Brexit negotiations are also on the cards and in November the focus will be on US elections and possibility of President Donald Trump's reelection. On June 26, a federal appeals court ruled out that President Trump can't use the funds of the military to pay for the undergoing construction and development of the steel border wall on the US-Mexico border. The decision was made days after the President visited a section of the wall in Arizona. Court ruling The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 ruling that the transfer of $2.5 billion circumvented Congress. Congress holds complete authority over the use of government funds. The legal fight over the Defense Department funds started from Trump's declaration of national emergency on the US-Mexico border in 2019. President Trump then declared the national emergency again in February 2020 even though the arrests of illegal immigrants already decreased, according to The New York Times. Chief Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas wrote that the Executive Branch did not have the authority to independently authorize the transfer of funds. The panel also noted that there are Appropriations Clause stated on the U.S Constitution and the clause grants the power of funds transfer to the Congress. The panel stated that the transfer of funds to pay for the wall violated the clause and they deemed the attempted move as unlawful. Although the ruling was in favor of the environmental groups and states that are questioning the use of military funds, a Supreme Court decision that was issued last year that allows funds to be used is still in effect, but just for the time being. Also Read: Fact Check: Are Black Lives Matter Supporters Poisoning Fast Food Orders of White Patrons? The American Civil Liberties Union was happy with the decision and stated that Trump's wall reflects his xenophobia. They also stated that the construction of the wall is leveling the country's protected lands, that it is destroying wildlife around the border and it is also desecrating cultural sites. According to Dror Ladin, a staff attorney with the ACLU's National Security Project, the damage that the wall had done to the environment can't be undone, but they will still fight for the complete stop of the wall's construction and will be back in front of the Supreme Court. The legality of the wall The President faced numerous legal battles over the construction of the border wall for the past three years. Trump had also faced criticism over his attempt of using the funds of other government accounts to speed up the construction of the wall. Despite all of the issues, Trump proudly talked about the progress of the wall and he even went on a trip to visit it this week to celebrate the completion of the 200 miles of new steel wall system, as reported by CNN. President Trump told officials that his administration has done more than any administration in the history of the United States to secure the country's southern border. He added that the border has never been more secure. The administration has said that it still intends to build 450 miles by the end of 2020 and if President Trump wins the Presidential Election this November, his administration will continue to add more miles. In 2019, the Supreme Court made it possible for President Trump to use around $2.5 billion from the funds of the Pentagon in order to build parts of the wall along the southwestern border. The Supreme Court's decision allowed the Defense Department budget to be used by the Trump administration. The ruling of the Supreme Court was 5-4, and it allowed the funds to be used for the wall while the court appeals continued. Related Article: Fact Check: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Urge Governors to Close Businesses Until Presidential Election Ends? @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Listen to article From day one of her appointment as the nations top election officer, Ms. Jean Mensah and her Electoral Commission (EC) has been needlessly attacked, vilified, insulted, and delegitimized, mostly by J.D. Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC). Apparently, the source of Mahama-controlled main opposition partys mistrust, anger, or unstoppable insults against Madam Jean Mensah is because the Electoral Commission has uncovered a bloated voters register of non-citizens or ineligible voters compiled under Mr. Mahama-appointed former Electoral CommissionerMs. Charlotte Osei. To that extent, ex-President Mahama and his NDC flatterers have pursued every means possible, and that includes psychological warfare or mind game, political, social, and lawsuits. The sole aim here is not only to question or undermine the legitimate powers of the EC but also, to try to make the head of the Electoral Commission in particular loses credibility in the full glare of the Ghanaian public. Having thrown everything but the kitchen sink, Mr. Mahama and his desperate NDC cheerleaders unsurprisingly bundled themselves into the Supreme Court. Among others, they argue that the EC might have exceeded its constitutional powers regarding the commissions attempt to compile new voters register so as to purge the old election register of ineligible voters. Well, they say sometimes we must be careful about what we wish for. More so, we often create our own circumstances without realizing what may be creating. In other words, when Mr. Mahama and his minions created the lawsuit circumstances at the nations apex court, one wonders if the countrys main opposition party also realized that the outcome of their legal action is binary or twofoldin other words, the ruling could be in their favor or the other way around. Sensing that the highest court of the lands verdict might not have gone their way, Mr. Mahama and his team are now composing and singing entirely new song about the motive of the ECs registration. The tune of their new song comprises large voters disenfranchisement and lack of inclusive democracy under the present government of Nana Akufo-Addo. Closely reading between the lines, Mr. Mahamas sour grapes response to the Supreme Court ruling in view of the voters register seems to imply that the NDC as the main opposition party has become a victim of Ms. Jean Mensahs so-called diabolical agenda, but the contrary is the case here. Mr. Mahama is simply using Ms. Jean Mensah to play on the intelligence of Ghanaians. Culturally, Ghanaian society warmly gravitates toward people who display some form of humility/respect in public even if it is based on pretence. The NDC leader has pretentiously cultivated a persona of Mr. Cool and Collected in the public arena. Indeed, ex-President Mahama is good at prevention and psychological exploitation of the vulnerable Ghanaian public, including the media. The former president now turned flagbearer keeps talking as if the world will end tomorrow because he cant have his way by using the existing inflated voters register that his ideal Electoral Commissioner Ms. Charlotte Osei put together. In that regard, Mahamas NDC has turned the present EC as a cannon fodder or an obstacle that stands in the way of inclusive democracy. Now, all reasonable-minded Ghanaians should be asking these sobering questions: why is Mr. Mahama and his followers not insisting on the transparent compilation of new voters register rather than passionately pushing against a new one? Which one is more expensive, fixing the perceived errors in the old voters register or compiling a new one? More importantly, what is hidden in the old voters register that is providing fuel for NDC flag bearers anger and disdain, leading almost the entire partys leadership to continue throwing shades at the EC and misleading Ghanaians in the process? Why is the ECs constitutionally-mandated responsibilitiesamong othersthe power to review or conduct periodic voter registration exercise, freaking out Mahama-owned NDC? Here is former President Mahama in reaction to the Supreme Court verdict last week or so: It is worrying that the Court deferred the reasons for its decisions to the 15th of July, by which time the EC would have been two weeks into the registration exercise...throughout its history, the NDC has stood strongly for an inclusive democracy (Ghanaweb, 6/25/20). The majority of Ghanaians, including Mr. Mahama and his diehard supporters, may recall the 2012 general elections. This same countrys Supreme Court system ruled that the fiercely contested presidential election should go in favour of the then incumbent President John Drama(ni) Mahama as opposed to his challenger Nana Akufo-Addo. The latter wisely said at the time that he disagree but accept the courts verdict in the interest of Ghana. During that tensed period in Ghanas body politic, Mr. John Mahama glorified our court system; advised all to support the countrys fledgling democracy as well as the rule of law. But, today the shoe is on the other foot so he finds the ruling worrying and not inclusive democracy enough for his liking. How time can change, educate or miseducate people, is quite amazing. Perhaps, what ex-President Mahama, Asiedu Nketia, Ofosu-Ampofo, and their ilks dont understand is that inclusive democracy (in its true essence) does not mean democratic societies should sit idly by and allow their voting system/ballot boxes to be bloated or compromised by ineligible voters or non-citizens in the flawed argument of inclusion. In short, the submission here is that including unqualified voters or non-citizens in a countrys democratic elections does not in any way promote inclusive democracy as Mr. Mahama is falsely trying to make the gullible among us belief. Bernard Asubonteng is a US-based writer and a political science lecturer. Listen to article Akwasi Konadu, the NPP Parliamentary Candidate elect for Manhyia North Constituency has called for unity of purpose during his *thank you tour*. He made mention of this during his thank-you tour to the delegates of Manhyia North Constituency to express his appreciation to the delegates of Manhyia North Constituency. In his tour to all the electoral areas in the constituency, he encouraged executives, coordinators, polling station officers, and members of the NPP Kukrudu family to have a united front. He emphasized that when we as a political party stand together, we stand a higher and better chance to succeed strongly for the party and enhance the democracy of our countrys development and caution that if there is division, there is the higher tendency to fail and fall to our opponents. He reiterated that as a political party our aspirations are to win power to spearhead the development of the constituency and mother Ghana, therefore, a united front would incorporate ideas that strongly will take the party to success. Once again he strongly admonished people who are +18 and of sound mind not to hesitate to register and come out to vote as a means of their democratic right. Let me tell you even those concerned about the personalization of politics will not ignore the strength of an all-hands-on-deck call to action. In the present environment, a united front would send a powerful signal to voters about the pressing nature of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, especially during the voter registration exercise. Unity could run on a simple and powerful idea: that this uniquely vulnerable moment in Manhyia North democracy calls upon us to put aside our differences and commit ourselves to reinvest in and reinvigorating government by, for, and on behalf of the people of Manhyia North and Ghana as a whole. Everyone can contribute to the team according to their particular strengths and abilities. He admonished party faithful to take the Presidential and Parliamentary election with all the seriousness and attention it deserves. The Constituency Chairman, Chairman Oppong also retreated what Akwasi Konadu has said. He said delegates must forget about the past to help move the party forward. Akwasi Konadu was accompanied by the electoral area coordinators, constituency executives, council of elders, and patrons in the constituency. Members, present also include Kukrudu!! NPP!!! Kukrudu family members and well-wishers. Akwasi Konadu, NPP Manhyia North Parliamentary Candidate elect urges all citizens to be law obedient and continue to wear their face mask, wash their hands with running water, and sanitize their hands often so as to avoid the spread of the coronavirus virus. United we stand divided we fall. Listen to article Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong has heaped praise on the members of the 2nd parliament of the 4th republic. The controversial Member of Parliament made these remarks in an interview with Metro TVs Paul Adom Otchere on his current affairs show, Good Evening Ghana. When asked about who he looked up to in that parliament, Hon Agyapong said; All of them, they were really good. We had Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Osafo Maafo, and co. They were big gurus. They were the brains. When JH Mensah gets up to talk, when Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku slangs, ``Oh mehn, we learned a lot from them. Kennedy Agyapong was voted into parliament in the 2nd Parliament of the 4th republic. He has however announced that the 2020 parliamentary election will be the last time he stands to be elected into Parliament. Roger House is an associate professor of American studies at Emerson College in Boston and the author of Blue Smoke: The Recorded Journey of Big Bill Broonzy. This story is reprinted courtesy of The Hill. After weeks of protests, African American observers can reasonably conclude that the expenditure of time and resources will result in few substantive changes. And even more dismaying, that the Black Lives Matter rallies have degenerated into a form of street therapy for previously homebound white liberals. So, the aftermath may provide an opportunity to question the purpose of the leading organization of black politics, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Founded about 50 years ago during a time of expansive political vision, the CBC was the brainchild of Rep. Charles Diggs Jr. (D-Mich.), elected to the House in 1955. He joined Reps. William Dawson (D-Ill) and Adam Clayton Powell (D-N.Y.) as the delegation for 22 million black people. He was part of a generation of political thinkers influenced by the 1945 resolution of the fifth Pan-African Congress: We are determined to be free. We want education. We want the right to earn a decent living, the right to express our thoughts and emotions, to adopt and create forms of beauty. We demand Black Africa autonomy and independence. During the 91st Congress (1969-1971), as the black delegation expanded, Diggs proposed the formation of the Democratic Select Committee (DSC) as a forum for a coordinated strategy. In 1971, the DSC became the CBC, with Diggs elected as chairman. He asserted, Our concerns and obligations as members of Congress do not stop at the boundaries of our districts, our concerns are national and international in scope. By 1972, Diggs envisioned the CBC as a vanguard entity for black empowerment. He promoted a Black Declaration of Independence and CBC leadership for a political convention in Gary, Ind. At this point, some organization members balked over playing the role of a black national congress. Instead, they elected Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio) as chairman and he moved the group under the umbrella of a white liberal coalition. He believed that if we were to be effective, if we were going to make the meaningful contribution to minority citizens in this country, then it must be as legislators. Since then, the CBC has suffered a question of identity and relevance. Its high points were in the 1980s, with bills for a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and sanctions against apartheid in South Africa. Today, however, the organization is perhaps most associated with the shrill screeds of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mich.), symbolic gestures such as removing the statues of Confederate figures from the National Statuary Hall, and legislation seemingly devised for the appearance of reform like the bills in response to George Floyd's death. Political scientist Kenny Whitby, in Dimensions of Representation and the Congressional Black Caucus, wrote that the CBC lacked the confidence to speak out on substantive issues and relied too much on a strategy of protest. Moreover, he found that its undue dependence on the liberal wing of the Democratic Party poses a dilemma for members of the group as players in the world of congressional politics. So, how might the organization find its way back to the pathway of black empowerment? It could begin by revisiting the earlier desires for self-determination and Pan-African identification. It is ironic that early organizations with far less resources than the CBC could better speak to the needs of the ordinary folk. On the question of economic development, for example, there was Booker T. Washingtons program in advanced agriculture and industrial skills. His founding of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881 became a model for leaders of developing societies around the world. It even inspired the Pan-African activist Marcus Garvey to incorporate a self-help economic program in his Universal Negro Improvement Association in the 1920s. Meanwhile, Elijah Poole, a Georgia sharecropper of modest education who took the name Elijah Muhammad, was astute enough to promote economic principles for everyday folk in the book, Message to the Blackman in America. Surely, the CBC could find direction from these humble beginnings and speak to the Black population plainly. It might advocate the practical steps one can take to improve economic standing: live within your means, save as much as possible, nurture a supportive family life, spend your money among yourselves, support Black-owned businesses or non-Black businesses that hire your people, seek to improve health, home, education and community. Such basic lessons of self-improvement may not address the problem of structural racism but they do empower people to help themselves and offer more chances of rewards than taking to the streets. In addition, the CBC should question the economic implications of the Democratic Party position on immigration legal and illegal for the Black labor force. Members have raised few concerns publicly about the consequences of liberal immigration initiatives. Fair-minded people can see evidence of policies that have undercut the status of Black labor in agriculture, hospitality, restaurants, construction, and the civil services. In higher education, Black students encounter objections from immigrants and their children under a right-wing campaign to target affirmative action policies that relate exclusively to Black standing. Finally, the organization must engage in the quest to build sustainable bases of political power in the states. Clearly, the needs of Black folk are best addressed at the state and local levels. As Ive suggested, Georgia is the most likely state for the establishment of a stable Black political majority (or plurality in a coalition). With over 30 percent of the population, Black voters have developed a talented political class ready to challenge suspicions of election fraud. However, the Georgia imperative needs the support of Blacks from other areas to help grow the voter base quickly. The narrow loss in the 2018 gubernatorial race of Democrat Stacey Abrams to Republican Brian Kemp showed that victory is well within reach. With a sustainable political power base, the interests of ordinary folk would be reflected in the major offices, laws, and police forces of the state. The CBC can play a role in coordinating a winning strategy for Georgia and other states. In the 1950s poem, Harlem, Langston Hughes poses the question, What happens to a dream deferred? The poem explores a frustrating vision of a symbolic Black political entity. Today, the CBC faces the same question for the prospect of an autonomous Black political entity how will it respond? His Spiritual Eminence, The Tijaniyya Spiritual Cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Salis Shaban, who is the Khalifa and Grand Khadim of Sheikh Ibrahim Niass for Ghana, Togo and Benin, has called for peace before, during and after the voter registration exercise which will commence tomorrow, 30th of June, 2020. His Spiritual Eminence, the Tijaniyya Spiritual Cleric therefore urged all qualified Ghanaians to take part in the exercise. His Spiritual Eminence made this appeal in a press release from The Faidhatu-Tijaniyya Ibrahimiyya Council Of Ghana Read The Full Press Release Below: Faidhatu-Tijaniyya Ibrahimiyya Council of Ghana calls for Peaceful Voter Registration Process The Electoral Commission of Ghana as mandated by law has announced the compilation of the new voter register for the forthcoming 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary election starting from Tuesday 30th June 2020 On behalf of His Spiritual Eminence, The Tijaniyya Spiritual Cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Salis Shaban, The council entreat all qualified Ghanaians especially the Faidhatu-Tijaniyya Ibrahimiyya Fraternity to avail themselves and their families to register in a very peaceful manner. His Spiritual Eminence advises that we all abide strictly by laws and regulations governing the exercise and observe all the COVID - 19 protocols in the process God Bless Ghana!!! Sheikh Abdul Rahman Alfa-Jei Shaban Chairman of Faidhatu-Tijaniyya Ibrahimiyya Council of Ghana The Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) has learned about the use of the Ghana Armed Forces in civil matters. We are in a civilian, democratic dispensation; so deploying the military to exert force domestically must be condemned by all. We are of the opinion that if there is an extreme situation where the President needs to use the military in severe or unprecedented ways domestically that can affect Ghanaian citizens, then it is of utmost importance for him to secure specific authority from Parliament. Similarly, it is important that we do not allow the authorities to act in a fanciful manner capable of creating fear and panic and also preventing civilians from exercising their democratic rights. We are very much concerned about the reports that a security contingent which includes the military and the Ghana Immigration Service have been deployed heavily into some communities along the Ghana-Togo boarder such as Wudoaba, Korpeyia and Anoenu since Monday, June 22, 2020. It would be recalled that not too long ago, Maj. Bright Basuglo, the Chief Instructor at the jungle warfare school in the Eastern Region, is reported to have said that, the military is fully prepared for the December polls and Ghanaians must believe in us. The question we are asking is, should the military be used to exert force domestically against Ghanaians in a civilian dispensation? It is interesting to note that in 2012, the then Acting Chief of Defence Staff, Rear Admiral Quarshie reiterated that the Army was prepared to ensure that Ghana was peaceful before, during and after the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections. How was the military prepared then as they are now to get into the middle of a civilian democratic activity? We contrast this willingness of the Ghanaian Armed Forces to be used by a civilian administration to what happened in the USA recently, when authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to scatter protesters in the Lafayette Square, to enable President Donald Trump take a picture in front of a Church. In the case of the U.S., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, recently apologized in a video commencement address to the National Defense University for accompanying President Trump to the photo opportunity at the Washington, D.C., church. "My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involvement in domestic politics. As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from", Milley said. Milley, who wore combat fatigues during the controversial appearance with Trump on the streets of the nation's capital, also said he was angry about "the senseless and brutal killing of George Floyd." Our military must learn from best practices and resist the repeated temptations to get themselves involved in civilian issues. The Akufo-Addo Administration must understand that we are no more in a military junta where the military could be deployed in civilian matters. We call on the administration to condemn in no uncertain terms the ethnocentric comments made by the MP for Adansi Asokwa, Mr. K.T. Hammond about the people in the Volta Region. It is our considered opinion that in a constitutional era, state actors must avoid sending a terrible message to create the impression that we are now militarising domestic law enforcement and risk damaging the militarys relationship with the broader civilian population. We owe ourselves a responsibility to strengthen the constitutional dispensation that has allowed political parties to compete and win power to administer the affairs of the nation. The president should not try to portray himself as being more in charge than he actually is. Say NO to the deployment of the military in domestic issues. Signed Paa Kow Ackon Communication Director The impact of the novel Coronavirus known as COVID-19 particularly the devastating effect it has had on mankind globally cannot be underestimated. Despite all these burdens and difficulties, frontline health workers have been magnanimous, resilient and resolute in their services all over the world. Given this, I deem it right to pay tribute and homage to these gallant men and women of our time who have stood audaciously to battle with the virus now a pandemic On 17th November 2019, the first confirmed COVID-19 case was recorded in Wuhan, a province in China that happened to be contagious and later to other provinces. From the onset, many referred to the virus as the Wuhan virus or Chinese virus including the leader of a country considered to be a superpower but it eventually spread to other parts of the world. Currently, over two hundred countries all over the world have recorded some cases. On 31st December 2019, the first Coronavirus death case was recorded. It later came to be known as COVID-19 and it has since been used all over the world. What intrigues me is why people decided to restrict this disease to Wuhan and China knowing very well the mode by which the virus can be contracted. Many have blamed China for not taking the disease seriously leaving it to spread to other territories. Others have also blamed the World Health Organization (WHO) about its negligence and sluggish ways of responding to the issue. Donald Trump, the US president is on record to have said that the organization has allowed itself to be used as a puppet by China. This has also led the US government to withdraw its financial support to the organization. The World Health Organization led by its Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on March 11, 2020, declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. At the time of this declaration, there were less than a million cases confirmed all over the world and less than 100 thousand deaths of the disease. However, after 3 months of this declaration, the world has recorded over 10 million cases with over 500,000 deaths. The WHO has made known that the mode of transmission of the virus is through human contact. In short, if you want to avoid this virus you need to stay away from people and avoid large gatherings. This indeed is good advice by the WHO and other health experts but how can medical doctors and nurses stay away from their patients especially those who may have contracted this virus? This is indeed a big issue that will be tough to address. In war, combatants who are brave and courageous are needed if an enemy is to be defeated. Not only brave warlords are needed, but one also needs sophisticated weapons to assist in defeating the foe. In the history of the World Wars, (World War 1 and World War 2) victors did not find it easy in vanquishing their antagonists. The Soviet Union, Britain and France did not find it easy in dealing and defeating the German armies in World War 1 and also World War 2. These gallant and fearless armies fought tirelessly in making sure the foes were conquered and such was the valour of these combatants. Today, we're likewise in a war and a great war indeed. As such, we need to assemble all our arsenals in making sure the enemy is conquered. What makes this war a peculiar one is that we are not dealing with a visible force to point guns and war weapons at, but we are dealing with an invisible force. An opponent we cannot see and shoot. I believe that if this enemy could be seen, the world would have rallied to unanimously defeat it. As we had these courageous combatants in defeating the enemies in the World Wars, we also have gallant men and women who have put their lives at risk to save the world from this pandemic. If this is a war, of which I am convinced that it is, then these frontline health workers are the bravest and most courageous warriors that the world has ever seen. How can someone fight an enemy he or she cannot see? Yet, our gallant frontline health workers are doing this. These frontline health workers have families they return to after work and the possibility of them transporting the virus home is very high, but this fear does not deter them from rendering their hallowed duties to the world. From the bottom of my heart, I salute these courageous and selfless men and women who have the lives of mankind at heart. No one can do what they do and have done and continue to do. It is about time the world came together to pay tribute and homage to these resilient folks. Since the fight of this battle commenced, many frontline health workers have died or contracted the virus in the line of duty. Others have put their families at risk by transporting the virus home for which their families have been exposed to. I have reiterated that this is the most sacrosanct and devoted work and service a patriot can render to his or her country. To frontline health workers all over the world, we love you and your courage to change the world for good most especially your unrelenting effort to control this virus is laudable worthy of commendation. The world is indebted to you forever and ever. Our money cannot pay you. We cannot build mansions to thank you enough for the tremendous work you have done and continue to do. YOUNG POSITIVIST, through this solemn piece, wants to eulogize you for your frantic effort to sustain our lives. If I had the power to make changes, I would set aside a day to celebrate your magnificent and glorious contribution to the world and mark it as a holiday as we do on Christmas day and Easter day. We are grateful for your love and attention that you at the expense of your life has given to the world. I am optimistic that our Heavenly Father will reward you for this priceless service given us. Our hearts are with every frontline health worker who has died or contracted the virus or has put his or her family at risk in the line of duty. We express our condolence and say we love you and the world has seen your work. What can we do as citizens to help curtail the spread of this virus? We need to religiously follow all the protocols and guidelines given by the WHO and the health experts by washing our hands with soap frequently under running water, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, avoid large crowds, practice social distancing, wearing of nose mask or face shield mask and all the other preventive measures put in place. Our efforts in thoroughly obeying these measures will reduce the burden that will be put on frontline health workers and health facilities. In conclusion, if the world has not appreciated your services enough over the years, this is the right time to do some retrospection and do the needful. Again, if leaders of various countries have not prioritized the health sectors of their countries and their staff, this is the appropriate time to bring some revolutions into that sector to facilitate their works smoothly. Leaders should establish pandemic centres and also save funds for any unforeseen future pandemics. The lessons COVID-19 has thought us are enormous and we need to learn quickly. On this note, I would like to say Ayekoo (Well Done) to all frontline health workers. We love you and appreciate your work and service to us, God bless you abundantly! Ghana must work again, Ghana will work again, YOUNG POSITIVIST a concerned citizen of Ghana. The Botswana Weekend Post June 20 edition. Two journalists from the paper were recently detained over their coverage of the country's intelligence services. (Screenshot by CPJ) New York, June 29, 2020 Authorities in Botswana should drop all charges against journalists David Baaitse and Kenneth Mosekiemang, and allow them to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 2:30 p.m. on June 18, intelligence agents arrested Baaitse, a reporter for the privately-owned Weekend Post weekly, and Mosekiemang, a photographer for the outlet, after they photographed a building linked to the Directorate of Intelligence and Security, the country's domestic and international intelligence agency, according to Baaitse and his editor, Aubrey Lute, who spoke to CPJ via phone and messaging app. Over a period of about seven hours, agents brought the journalists to different locations in Gaborone, the capital, and interrogated them about why they were investigating the agency and how they conducted their reporting, according to Baaitse, Lute, and a June 20 article in the Weekend Post, which CPJ reviewed. The journalists were detained overnight in police holding cells and, after the intervention of their lawyer, were released the following morning at about 9 a.m. after being charged with common nuisance, Lute said. Baaitse told CPJ that he and Mosekiemang are expected to appear at the Broadhurst Magistrate's Court in relation to the charges, but said a date has not been set. If convicted of a common nuisance, the journalists could face fines of up to 5,000 Botswana pula ($426) or jail terms of up to two years, or both, according to the Botswanan penal code. The pair refused to plead guilty to the charges and said they were simply doing their jobs, Lute said. David Baaitse and Kenneth Mosekiemang should never have been detained, let alone charged for taking a photograph of a building that has been linked to Botswana's intelligence service, said Angela Quintal, CPJ's Africa program coordinator. Instead of pursuing journalists, President Mokgweetsi Masisi's administration should direct its energy to reform the country's intelligence service and creating an environment where members of the press can hold elected leaders and the state's security forces to account. Lute told CPJ that agents confiscated the journalists' phones and camera for analysis during the arrest and that authorities called both journalists last week and asked for their phone passwords, which they refused to surrender. Baaitse told CPJ today that their phones and camera still had not been returned. In the June 27 print edition of the newspaper, which CPJ reviewed, Baaitse wrote that the dilapidated and unattractive building they photographed was a Grey House run by the intelligence services, and contained state-of-the-art equipment that he alleged was used in an operation involving last year's general election. The newspaper has recently published many investigative pieces about the intelligence agency, including allegations that it helped to rig the 2019 election in favor of Masisi, who narrowly won, according to CPJ's review of the paper's coverage and media reports. Baaitse told his employer in an interview shared on Facebook that the intelligence agents did not treat us in a vicious manner [in custody], but we slept on empty stomachs. Botswana's Ink Centre for Investigative Journalism said in a statement that the pair's detention was part of a growing pattern of official harassment of Botswana's private media under the government of President Mokgweetsi Masisi, whose office oversees the intelligence services. A spokesperson for Masisi, Batlhalefi Leagajang, disputed that account and told CPJ via email that media freedom had improved under Masisi's administration. Leagajang wrote that the administration planned to remove all legislative instruments perceived to be inimical to press freedom. However, he also wrote that there were undeniable instances of media excesses in search of bolder headlines at the expense of infringement of activities of some law enforcement agencies. Leagajang wrote that the law takes its course when journalists stray into operations of ongoing law enforcement investigations or legally protected zones in the search for sensational headlines. Journalists are not above the law and may be liable to criminal investigation just like all other citizens and residents, he wrote. A South Korea-based religious group named the Shincheonji Church of Jesus said that over 4,000 members of the church recovered from COVID-19 are willing to donate plasma for developing a new treatment. The amount of blood will be about $83 billion worth if the 4,000 patients donate 500ml individually, according to the current transaction in the United States. It is difficult to accelerate developing medicine for COVID-19 with only 200 recovered patients who expressed their will to donate blood. The massive donation from the recovered patients in the Shincheonji Church will solve the problem of the lack of blood for research, said an official from Green Cross Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company in South Korea. For the first quarter of this year, the rapid virus spread hit the church members in Daegu of South Korea, where the early signs of the crisis appeared with the controversy over the massive visitors from China before the infection of church members. Mr. Man Hee Lee, the founder of the Shincheonji Church, said that members of the church are advised to donate plasma voluntarily. As Jesus sacrificed himself with his blood for life, we hope that the blood of people can bring positive effects on overcoming the current situation, said Mr. Lee. We had a discussion with the health authorities and tried to establish a plan with details for donation. Some of the recovered members have already donated individually, feeling thankful for the assistance from the government and medical teams. They expressed their will to make a contribution to the society, said an official in the church. Some local governments in South Korea recently brought lawsuits against the church with allegations that the church did not cooperate with the authorities by not submitting the full list of church facilities and members. No evidence has been found that Shincheonji supplied missing or altered lists. And there were only minor differences, said Kim Kang-lip, vice-minister of Health. Academic researches on Shincheonji and COVID-19 stated that the church provided the list of its South Korean members six days after it was requested and it was initially unclear whether shut down facilities and properties should be included when the government asked for the lists of real estate. (Shincheonji and Coronavirus in South Korea: Sorting Fact from Fiction - A White Paper https://www.eupoliticalreport.eu/covid-19-and-the-shincheonji-church-in-south-korea-a-white-paper-reveals-the-truth/) A Shincheonji media coordinator said the church will cooperate fully with investigations from government agencies. South Korea reported 12,535 confirmed cases and 281 deaths from COVID-19. Following deployment of PPEs to schools, the Municipal Chief Executive of Wenchi, Dr. Prince Kwakye Afriyie has paid a working visit to Second Cycle Institutions in the Wenchi Municipality. The two days visit was to assess the preparedness of the school authorities on arrangements in regards to what has become the "new normal" against the novel Coronavirus. The tour was also to welcome and encourage the students for a comfortable stay and adequate academic preparations ahead of the delayed final year examinations in September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour took the MCE with an entourage to Istiqaama SHS, Koase SHS, Nchiraa SHS, and Wenchi Methodist SHS, where he met and interacted with students, teachers, and staff for effective collaboration and steps to ensure corona free environment in the schools. In his observation, the Chief Executive was pleased with the level of adherence to measures and protocols being put in place in the schools as directed by the President. He urged the school authorities to continually make their stay safe and secure. The Chief Executive noted that the successful implementation of the Free Senior High School Policy undoubtedly proved the determination, competence, capacity, and demonstrated the political will of the NPP Nana Addo led the government to ensure that no child was left out of school. He charged the students, as the first batch of the Free SHS policy, to pass their exams to justify and vindicate the position of government in making education accessible and affordable for all. He announced a number of government intervention packages including infrastructural developments, teaching and learning materials, Teachers' motivation policies, Parents' relief policies, student excellence, currently in place to make Ghana's educational system robust and efficient. The MCE used the occasion to educate on the health dynamics of the disease as in the recorded cases, active cases, recoveries, and rate of deaths. He said Ghana was doing well in managing and containing the disease. He advised the students, teachers, and staff to adjust themselves to the new normal, regardless of the inconveniences, assuring that the government would do all it could to protect them. The Municipal Director for Education Madam Effua Amoah directed the heads of schools and teachers to begin lessons immediately. She also charged students to study hard for academic excellence in the upcoming final exams. Heads of all the Senior High Schools confirmed receipt of PPEs and logistics from the government to effectively run the schools. They promised to do their best. A new memoir, "Royals at War," claimed that Meghan Markle's pregnancy ignited concerning discussions. Such discussions transpired within the higher tiers of the British royal family. The book was produced by investigative journalists Andy Tillett and Dylan Howard. Problems were exacerbated when the former "Suits" actress became pregnant not only upon marrying into the royal family but also due to the way the news was declared, reported Class. The discussions carried out were reportedly disturbing. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle differ from other couples of the royal family, due to the fact that the duchess was a commoner who is unaware of the royal family's rituals, according to Gizmo Posts. The former Hollywood actress' lifestyle would often upset Queen Elizabeth II and the couple's renouncement of their membership as senior members of the royal family upset the family, especially the Queen. She fell pregnant 3 months following her and Prince Harry's marriage, reported Diana Legacy. The pregnancy then was officially declared on October 15, 2018. The memoir, however, claimed that Markle told the royal members that she was expecting at Princess Eugenie's wedding, Prince Harry's cousin. According to a source, her pregnancy meant the duchess was "ensuring her connection with the family was now irrevocable and ceding even more power to her." The announcement reportedly humiliated Prince Harry. In a statement on their son Archie's birthday, Kensington Palace said the kings were pleased with the news of pregnancy. Markle's choice of fashion amid pregnancy raised eyebrows of royal officials, the memoir indicated. Also Read: Prince William, Kate Middleton's Special Parenting Trick: The Chat Sofa "Royals at War" had numerous revelations about the closed doors of the royal family. Prince Harry and Markle ignored the judgment of the royal family and happily celebrated the pregnancy. They are now enjoying parenthood towards their child, Archie. The three have currently relocated to Los Angeles, Markle's hometown. In the book, according to Howard and Tillett, "Meghan put her foot in it when she decided that it would be the ideal moment to announce that she and Harry were expecting their first child." "This was a huge social gaffe, even if you were not a Royal - stealing the limelight from Eugenie, who was furious, as was her mother, Sarah," they continued. Howard and Tillett added on Markle's appearance, "In the early days of the pregnancy, internal sources said Meghan had received a stern rebuke." The alleged judgment was refuted by other sources while the palace stated that the senior royals were pleased by the pregnancy. A year later, Prince Harry shared in their engagement interview, "You know, I think one step ahead and we hope to create a family in the near future." He and Markle were reportedly eager to become parents. The duchess said in a 2016 interview that motherhood was on her bucket list. The former royal couple's son Archie was born on May 6, 2019, in London's Portland Hospital. Related Article: Kate Middleton Ready to be Future Queen Consort? Supportive Duchess Mirrors Prince Philip @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Ghanas forest reserves are dwindling at an alarming rate of 2% per annum, with about 480.000 m3 woods harvested illegally for both export and domestic use. To regulate the sector and conserve the remaining forest, the government of Ghana has signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) to only export legal timber to the European Union Market. To ensure the sustainability of the VPA and forest conservation, the government in collaboration with CSOs, private lumbering companies, and other key stakeholders are collaborating to develop a domestic legal wood market policy. The process which is been led by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resource (MNLR) in collaboration with Nature and Development Foundation (NDF), Forestry Commission of Ghana, private logging companies and other key stakeholders, developed strategies for the implementation of sustainable consumption of wood by government for re-submission for Cabinet review. At as stakeholder dialogue meeting organized by NDF in Accra to review the proposed domestic market strategies, Mr. Mustapha Seidu, Director of NDF, stated that government as the biggest procurement entity must use its purchasing power to lead the process of increasing the production of legal wood for the local market. He lamented that the government uses public funds to procure illegal wood for its construction projects, therefore contributing to the increase in the degradation of its natural resources. He applauded the government's commitment to collaborate with CSOs and the private sector to come up with guidelines for driving legal wood trade locally. Mr. Abu Juam, the Technical Director of the Department of Forestry at MLNR, bemoaned how fast Ghana's timber stock is being depleted, which can lead to its inability to provide enough wood to meet local demand shortly if proactive measures are not put in place to remedy the situation. He intimated that, if the government leads the way and demand for legal timber during procurement, it will encourage the private sector to follow suit. He reiterated that despite the dwindling forest reserves "if we are disciplined enough, we can ensure that legal wood is available for both the domestic market and export. Mr. Francis Ayittey, the Principal Operations Officer for Policy Planning and Research at the Public Procurement Authority stated that the PPA is committed to ensuring the legal wood market policy is implemented should cabinet approve the policy. He informed participants that, the Public Procurement Act 2003, Act 663 has been amended to include the issues of environmental sustainability as a key component in government procurement and therefore can be adopted for the implementation of the Domestic Legal Wood Market Policy. He allayed the fears of government and individuals that legal wood is more expensive by restating that, sustainably sourced timber for government's projects in effect prevents environmental degradation and reduce the cost involved in reafforestation and restoring degraded forest. Dr. Kwame Asamoah Adam, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Timber Millers Organisation (GTMO), affirmed the private sector's commitment to the supply of legal timber for the domestic market, saying " as part of their business ethics the association's members don't want to engage in illegal logging of trees. He appealed to the government to regulate the activities of illegal chainsaw operators and punish culprits to serve as a deterrent to others. In his closing remarks, Mr. Mustapha Seidu thank all the stakeholders for their contributions to the discourse and their commitment towards further engagement on the establishment of the Public Procurement Policy on Timber and Timber Products. He also informed the participants that, NDF, is currently developing a Timber Market App to help consumers to identify companies producing legal timber. Residents of Ferkessedougou, a commercial hub in northern Ivory Coast, are shaken by this month's brazen jihadist attack just 100 kilometres (60 miles) away -- the first assault by Islamist extremists in the country in more than four years. "The people are afraid," Kiali Ouattara, the local traditional chief, said of the city's 160,000 inhabitants. Dozens of gunmen had targeted a frontier post at Kafolo, on the border with Burkina Faso, in the June 11 pre-dawn attack which killed 13 soldiers. Ferkessedougou, commonly known as Ferke, sits at a major crossroad with direct routes to border crossings into Mali and Burkina Faso. Its residents now worry that a jihadist revolt which began in Mali in 2012 will cross into Ivory Coast, which has only recently returned to stability after a decade-long period of turbulence. A major exporter of cocoa and coffee, the country has also returned to its position as the biggest economy in West Africa. Kiali Ouattara, the local traditional chief, said gendarmerie patrols regularly pass through Ferkessedougou. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP) The attack in Kafolo was the first by Islamist extremists since March 2016, when a raid on hotel terraces in the southeastern beach resort of Grand-Bassam left 19 people dead. "What happened (in Kafolo), is what has happened in Mali and Burkina Faso," Ouattara said of the country's troubled neighbours to the north where jihadist violence has claimed thousands of lives and forced more than a million people from their homes. "I see gendarmerie patrols criss-crossing the town, but fear remains," he said. Military operations continue in the Kafolo region and it is out of bounds for journalists. Attributed to the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), an organisation linked to Al-Qaeda, this attack was "much more worrying", according to a security source, because it was carried out by fighters who had based themselves in the area. Ferkessedougou's mayor Kaweli Ouattara said he was worried for his city. "What happened in Kafolo ... could happen here. Mali and Burkina Faso are not far away. We are on the front line," he said. Long-term strategy The latest attack took place in the same zone where Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso last month launched a ground-breaking joint operation to flush out jihadists. "Operation Comoe", named after a river that flows through the two countries, led to the death of eight suspected jihadists, the capture of 38 others and the destruction of a "terrorist base" at Alidougou in Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast army said on May 24. The predominantly Muslim north is the stronghold of President Alassane Ouattara. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP) The operation was launched after jihadists were spotted last year to the north of Ivory Coast's Comoe national park. The attack in Kafolo was carried out by fighters from Burkina Faso and even Mali, who had holed up in Ivory Coast before they were "disturbed", according to several sources. About 60 people in total, including the "commando leader", who was from Burkina Faso, were arrested before and after the attack, including those arrested during Operation Comoe, according to authorities. "There is probably a long-term strategy for installing themselves. They blend in with the population," a security source said, drawing parallels with the emergence of jihadism in Burkina Faso six years ago. "We played that down in the beginning, but look what has happened," the source said. In Burkina Faso, jihadists offer young people up to 25,000 CFA francs a month ($45, 40 euros) -- a large sum in the region -- to gather intelligence for them. "It is more than likely that they are doing the same in Ivory Coast," the source said. The mayor of Ferkessedougou, Kaweli Ouattara, says the city is on the 'front line'. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP) Long neglected by the political power coming from the south, the predominantly Muslim north is the stronghold of President Alassane Ouattara, elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2015, who has invested a lot in the region though it remains poor. "Poverty attracts jihadism. Jihadists make 'attractive proposals' to young people and young people are tempted," said Kone Soungalo, president of a Ferkessedougou youth group. "We have to raise awareness to say that agriculture is not a lesser job... Even if you have 100,000 CFA francs in your pocket, you can't buy someone's life," Soungalo said. Jihadists' 'generosity' "We explain to them that a terrorist is an ordinary person who is among us, and acts when he can or when he wants to," Soungalo said. "We must not let this chaos arrive here," he added. The jihadists' "generosity" can win them the goodwill of the population, who do not necessarily appreciate the presence of the police. Ferkessedougou is the capital of the Tchologo region. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP) There is also often collusion between jihadists and traffickers, smugglers and other criminals. In some areas, extremists have infiltrated and radicalised communities and their practice of Islam. South of Ferkessedougou, "there's at least one village where men now go to the mosque alone and many women are veiling themselves," which is not the custom of local Islam, a security official said. "The prefect asked us to be very careful. If we see strange people we suspect, we have to keep them informed," said Mohamed Lamine Kone, the imam of Ferkessedougou's main mosque, adding that he has never seen a case of radicalisation. In the city, residents remain vigilant but wary. "Life goes on, but now we're thinking about moving outside Ferke," said one shopkeeper. The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) will today, Tuesday, June 30 begin a nationwide voter registration exercise towards the compilation of a new electoral roll for the December presidential and parliamentary elections. The exercise will be held at 6,788 clusters made up of five registration centres each across the country. This covers over 33,367 registration centres situated within the country. It will be conducted in five phases, each phase spanning six days with additional days for mop-up. Statistics from the election management body show that over 44,000 staff and over 5,000 technicians have been recruited, trained, and deployed while 8,000 biometric registration kits tried, tested and deployed. On average, an applicant is expected to be registered and issued a Voter ID Card within 10 minutes. As affirmed by the Supreme Court in last Thursday's decision in the case of NDC, Mark Takyi-Banson and the Electoral Commission, a prospective applicant must present either a Ghanaian Passport or a National Identity Card issued by the National Identification Authority (commonly called Ghana Card) or two guarantors who must themselves have been registered under the new system. This is in line with the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2020 as amended (CI 126). A guarantor can vouch for up to ten prospective applicants. EC Chair, Jean Mensah at a press briefing Monday night described the guarantor as the lesser of two evils in relation to public concerns raised against the system. COVID-19 protocols The Electoral Commission says 7,000 health assistants have also been released by the Ghana Health Service to help ensure that the necessary COVID-19 safety protocols are adhered to at the various clusters. The Commission maintains it will observe a strict, mandatory hand washing and nose mask guidelines, deploy thermometer guns for first-hand screening of applicants, provide hand sanitizers for use as well as maintaining a strict one-meter physical distance between applicants. Registration centres, the Commission says, will be set up in open fields using the Commission's own furniture and fittings. These are to be wiped intermittently with alcohol wipes. Aged and Vulnerable According to the EC, special arrangements have been made for persons with disabilities, pregnant women and nursing, the aged, that is persons 60 years and above as well as the sick, will be given priority at all registration centres. Such persons can walk into the District Offices of the Electoral Commission to be registered from Thursday, July 2, 2020. Meanwhile, Citi News understands that the Electoral Commission will hold a crucial meeting on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, to consider modalities for the registration of eligible Ghanaian voters resident abroad. ---citinewsroom The National Chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), Benard Mornah, who has over time disagreed with the Electoral Commissions (EC) decision to introduce a new voters register says there is no other option now than to get registered. Mr. Mornah, leading the Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voters Register has embarked in demonstrations and several acts to resist the new register. The EC however, insisted on its decision and was even given clearance by the Supreme Court to conduct the exercise. Even though Mr. Mornah still stands with the view that the ECs reasons for the registration are illogical, needless and without merit, he says the parties that resisted the EC have no choice now than to partake in the exercise. These comments come a day before the registration exercise will begin. I would want to say once again that it is illogical, needless and without merit to compile a new voters register. Particularly so, when it is the same Electoral Commission that has said on countless times that the current register is very credible and without blemish. The reasons the EC had given for wanting to change the current register has been defeated multiple times in any argument, but the EC is in persistent in doing this. It is something that marvels many citizens. Never in the history of our nation has the EC decided to embark on an exercise received such a massive rejection from the population. The EC has the backing of the ruling party and therefore they want to go ahead. We have no option because our hands are tied to our backs, but we have alerted some potential dangers and the EC much watch out, he said on Eyewitness News on Monday. The registration exercise The compilation of the new voters' register will be done in phases with eligible Ghanaians going to polling stations to register. Based on the ruling of the Supreme Court last week, only a Ghanaian passport or Ghana Card will be admitted as proof of identification for the registration. Starting from Tuesday, June 30, the exercise will end on August 6, 2020. According to the EC, over 44,000 registration officers have been recruited for the voter registration exercise. Additionally, 7,000 health personnel have also been deployed to assist with the sensitization and compliance of safety measures given the outbreak of the Coronavirus infections in the country. 8,000 voters biometric kits have also been deployed for use on the field. They have been thoroughly tested for the exercise. Meanwhile, some 5, 000 technicians will also assist with the registration process. ---Citinewsroom Lawyer John Akparibo Ndebugre, a private legal practitioner and former Member of Parliament for Zebilla constituency in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of seeking to disenfranchise some people in the upcoming registration exercise. At a press briefing on Monday in Bolgatanga, Lawyer Ndebugre stated that in the EC Gazette released on 26th May, 2020 announced the registration centres for the compilation of a new voters' register. According to him, Timonde, Goriga, Timond-natinga, Biringu and others were in Batch 1 phase 1 which was scheduled to start from 1st to 6th July however, it turned out that those communities are now rescheduled from Batch 1 phase 1 to Batch 2, phase 5 which starts 1st to 6th August, without notifying the residents who are aware of the earlier date. Ndebugre alleged that many of his people will be disenfranchised due to the rescheduling of the date from today Tuesday July 30 to August 1 which the residents are not aware of. Mr. Ndebugre said, August, is a month of heavy and prolonged rainfall where it could rain continuously for three to four days non stop. He called on the EC to as a matter of urgency revert to its earlier date to allow people in the areas register today Tuesday 30th June as planned and indicated in the Gazette form earlier. Meanwhile, the Upper East Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, William Obeng Adarkwa reacting to the allegation said, the changes were as a result of constraints of supply of kits from China to the country due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Listen to article Ms. Hanna Tetteh, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union Hanna Tetteh is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union. As head of the UN Office to the African Union (UNOAU), Ms. Tetteh spoke with Africa Renewals Kingsley Ighobor on, among other issues, the current state of the UN-AU partnership and how women and young people can help resolve conflict. These are excerpts from the interview: How is the partnership between the United Nations and Africa Union going? There are currently three partnerships between the UN and the AU: There's the Partnership on Africa's Integration and Development Agenda (PAIDA), one on Peace and Security, and another on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Unions Agenda 2063. A fourth partnership framework, on human rights, has been negotiated but not yet signed. The partnership thats largely implemented by the UNOAU is the one on peace and security, and it plays to the strength of the AU because it has been more successful so far as a political organization than as an economic integration organization. We do common analyses and take common positions, and we have achieved progress. What are some of the challenges or opportunities in the UN-AU partnership? With every partnership, you're not going to agree on every issue. But we have had more consensus than disagreements. We worked closely together, and with IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa], to help resolve the second round of conflict in South Sudan. That resulted in the establishment of a new transitional government this year. Last year, we worked together on the Central African Republic to negotiate a new peace agreement. We look forward to elections in that country later this year, assuming COVID-19 will allow. We support AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia]. The AU force is providing military support for the transition process. UNSOM [the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia] and AMISOM help with political engagement and logistics. We have been challenged by the Libya process where the AU would like to be more proactive in resolving the conflict. Even then, we have made significant progress there following a peace summit in Berlin in January 2020. How is COVID-19 impacting peace and security in Africa? Countries in conflict already have infrastructure and resource challenges: inadequate healthcare facilities and low number of medical personnel, and so on. And then COVID-19 arrived on our doorsteps. In addition, most African countries, in conflict or not, have large informal economies wherein if people don't work in a day, they cant feed themselves. So, lockdowns have put a strain on peoples lives, especially those in the informal sector. In countries with elections coming up, the pandemic is challenging because the virus is passed through human contact, which happens at campaign events. We have about 15 or so more elections to go this year, and appropriate healthcare protocols will be needed to protect people. Could post-COVID-19 recovery be an opportunity for Africa to build back better? Yes, but it will depend on the policy choices member states make, as well as the resources available to them. A few countries are middle income countrieshigher middle-income or lower middle-income. Those countries have the resilience and the resources to undertake prevention, response and recovery measures. But the LDCs [Least Developed Countries], whose economies are much more fragile, will need a lot of preparedness to develop appropriate policy responses that don't require a huge outlay of resources. The international development community can help such countries build back better. Is there a role for pan-African institutions such as the AU in building back better? As I mentioned, the AU has been more of a political organization than an economic organization. But its development agency [African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)] and other pan-African institutions such as the African Development Bank and, on the UN side, the Economic Commission for Africa, can help countries develop policy responses. How is the Silencing the Guns 2020 campaign going? Silencing the Guns 2020 is the theme of the AU for this year, which is why it's getting a lot of attention. But the Silencing the Guns campaign started in 2013, on the 50th anniversary of the AU [formerly, the Organisation of African Unity]. The idea was to accelerate efforts at ending conflicts through mediation. In some cases, as with South Sudan, progress has been made. In some cases, as with the Sahel, we haven't made the desired progress. We also see that conflict is spreading to other countries outside of MaliNiger and Burkina Faso being the most vulnerable lately. I don't think we can silence all the guns this year because of all the challenges, but it is a valid aspiration. What more work can be done to silence the guns in Africa? There needs to be an acceleration of mediation efforts. It is not easy to mediate in the way in which we are having this conversation [via video link]. When you want to bring political actors and communities together, you organize face-to-face discussions that enable people to come to agreements, and then you support them to implement such agreements. COVID-19 is challenging that kind of support and intervention. Do you envision an Africa without war? There is potential because the last two or three decades have witnessed considerable political progress and economic growth, and several conflicts have ended. But we need to look beyond simply ending conflicts to addressing the root causes of conflicts. And the root causes of conflict lie in bad governance which creates inequalities and does not promote growth and development. Its important that we realise that peace is not a state that once achieved, can be taken for granted. Even countries that are relatively stable need conditions that help consolidate and enhance peace and stabilitygood governance, inclusiveness, strong institutions, the rule of law, etc. Is Africa moving in the right direction, considering there are more democracies today than, say, 20 years ago? The fact that we have more democracies today than previously is a good sign. But regular elections in and of themselves do not mean democracy. Democracy is about respect for human rights, good governance, responsive institutions that people can interact with, including a framework for the protection of stability through law and order, so people can go about their daily lives and achieve their dreams and their aspirations. How is COVID-19 affecting refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons in Africa? In some instances, the pandemic has worsened the situation. As cases increased in some countries, the response has been to deport irregular migrants. And in the refugee camps, especially in areas in conflict or coming out of conflict, it's been difficult to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The IOM [International Organisation for Migration] has urged countries to respect the rights of refugees and to provide necessary facilities that safeguard them from the disease. The IOM also called for a halt to the deportation of irregular migrants at this time of COVID-19. From a peace and security perspective, what are the challenges that may impede successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)? The challenge for AfCFTA is not so much peace and security; it's concluding negotiations for the rules of origin. It is also ensuring the agreement is implemented in a way that benefits economies. Because, remember, the AfCFTA is a very ambitious experiment to encourage trade among African nations. Some countries may lose customs revenues, and so those countries need to see the benefits of free trade. What are your views on the role of women in peace and security in Africa? Unfortunately, women are not included enough, and that needs to be addressed. Creating lasting peace and security in countries or communities in conflict involves negotiating a peace agreement and a process of reconciliationthat involves men and women. In situations where you are trying to rebuild communities, it requires the participation of the entirety of the community to make sure that the peace is consolidated. The UN has supported the AUs project of developing a cohort of female mediatorsFemWise Africafor deployment in countries to ensure more women and young people are brought into the processes of mediation and peacebuilding. Do young people have a role to play in conflict prevention, possibly resolution? Absolutely. You can't build peace without encouraging young people to be part of the peacebuilding process. They are the ones recruited as irregular fighters. You have to think about disarmament, demobilization and reintegration into communities. You make sure they don't have the incentive to be part of organizations that terrorize communities. You want them to be part of the productive economy. What is your message to Africans in these trying times? We are a very strong and resilient continent. We have been through difficult times before. We have more democracies now and we've also seen economic growth. We need to be engaged in rebuilding our countries and creating an inclusive platform for integration. We are a continent of multiple ethnicities, and our diversity should be our strength. In the same way we condemn acts of discrimination in other parts of the world, we should not discriminate amongst ourselves on the basis of ethnicity. Thats an important aspect to promote our growth and development and to strengthen peace. Listen to article My name is Chelvin Ramsamy and I was born in 1994 in the southern rural village of LEscalier on the African island of Mauritius. I was raised in a very modest family of four. As a nurse, my father worked long hours, including on public holidays, to enable us to have a decent living. Since I was a young child, my parents, who failed to get the opportunity to attend university, would always emphasize: We are making so many sacrifices for you to become a proud university graduate one day. I heeded their words and saw education as the most powerful weapon to change the world. In primary school, while many of my classmates came from well-off families, contrary to my meagre possessions and small change for pocket money, I always stood either first or second in class. I was among the top students in the Mauritius Certificate of Primary Education exams in 2005, and subsequently one of the best performing students at the Saint Aubin State Secondary School. When the time came for me to begin the Cambridge Higher School Certificate, I joined the Royal College Curepipe with the reputation of Star Student. Nothing is unachievable once someone puts their mind to it. After graduating from Middlesex University London in 2017 with a first-class Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree, I received the Most Outstanding Student Award and a postgraduate alumni scholarship. I then enrolled in the LLM International Business Law programme in 2018, and in 2019 secured a second consecutive bursary to study a Master of Business Administration. In the same year, I was awarded a fully funded fellowship by the US Department of State through President Obamas Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) to pursue a public management and governance course at the University of South Africa, and subsequently represented Mauritius at the African Union Youth Volunteer Corps programme in Egypt. Both experiences were a true eye-opener, exposure and impetus, challenging me to think more strategically and believe in my potential as a young African leader. I do not boast magical skills or abilities, but I simply aim higher, work tirelessly and never give up so that what initially appears impossible became inevitable. Joining the AU In May 2020 I was appointed as a Special Assistant Advisor on Regional Integration for the African Union at the African Union Commission Bureau of the Chairperson in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I was chosen based on my work as a youth activist, working with grassroots mobilization at the national, continental and global levels. This role provides me with the unique opportunity to contribute to continental development and support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Indeed, my success has been catalysed by my extensive involvement in voluntary activities and an unconditional passion to champion African youth empowerment, pan-Africanism and continental integration. I spearheaded the International Executive Board as Southern African Regional Associate for the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA), a non-profit set up by Harvard University students from Africa that provides a forum for university youth and those abroad with a commitment to the welfare of the continent. I also serve as continent director for the Africa-Asia Youth Foundation, a dynamic platform for young people that seeks to promote cross-continental cooperation. In addition, I am the country representative for the African Youth for Development Commission. At the national level, I founded Lets Glow Organisation, an NGO engaging youth in environmental, educational and empowerment initiatives. While giving back to the community demands time and dedication, it nurtures the essential skills that are part and parcel of any career in the contemporary world. The biggest takeaway lies perhaps in the connections made with people from different backgrounds My advice to my fellow youth is to develop a passion for your work, build an undying commitment to succeed, use your time effectively, embrace constructive criticism, act upon your mistakes to improve, keep going despite feeling defeated and celebrate even the smallest milestones. My achievements would never have been possible without self-belief, discipline, perseverance, prayers and the unflinching support of my whole family, particularly my parents, who continuously pushed me to become a better version of myself every single day. Inspired by former US President Obamas life-changing journey to the White House, I now believe that regardless of your background, you can always make it to the top, insofar as you work hard and leverage all opportunities. My message to African youth My message to African youth is that we are a generation with the potential to change the course of history for the betterment of humanity. We should no longer be mere consumers, but creators and innovators driving global development. Africa missed the first, second and third industrial revolutions but is now well-positioned to take advantage of the fourth technology and innovation-driven industrial revolution. African youth are paramount to realizing Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, which seeks to transform the continent into the global powerhouse of the future and deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development. There is no better time for us as young people to start than NOW to build a new world by striving towards the attainment of the pan-African vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena. Better education for African youth and investment in intergenerational leadership will be instrumental to help establish lasting peace and prosperity and achieve the AUs Silencing the Guns by 2020 initiative in Africa. Listen to article My name is Paul Alain Mouafo. I am 33 years old. I come from the West Region of Cameroon, and I live in the capital city, Yaounde. My neighbourhood, Elig-Edzoa, is one of the poorest and most dangerous in the city. The reputations of young people in this neighbourhood are often associated with gangsters, but not all of us are bad. I am the third in a family of four children. In the early 1990s, due to poverty, I was sent to live with my grandmother in Kumba a city in the anglophone South West region of Cameroon that is now one of the most affected areas by the current crisis. It is here where I attended Presbyterian Primary School Fiango, before moving to Great Soppo-Buea and then back to Fiango, where I continued until Class 7. Unfortunately for me, my grandmother could not afford to send me to secondary school. She decided to send me to help out in my uncles carpentry workshop. The following year, she paid for my Common Entrance Examination in order for me to be enrolled in a technical school, and I passed my First School Leaving Certificate. Having been far from my biological parents for so long, I requested to return to Yaounde. Once there, my mother enrolled me in the Government Bilingual Primary School Mballa IV, where I passed the exams and proceeded to secondary school. My fathers cousin helped pay my school fees. I performed well and was admitted to the University of Yaounde I, where I studied English Modern Letters. During my first year at university, I emerged as the best out of a total of 520 students. I specialized in American and Commonwealth Literatures, in which I remained among the top students. I am now waiting to complete my master's degree. In 2013, I was admitted into the Higher Teacher Training College Yaounde, where I graduated as a teacher of English Language and Literature. Since my graduation, I have been teaching the English language to francophone speakers at the Lycee Technique de Betare Oya, in a small town in the East Region. Teaching refugee children Many of my students are refugees from the Central African Republic, which is facing a humanitarian crisis due to the ongoing conflict. The condition of my students and the children from the conflict region is pitiful and thats why I want to help them. They have seen conflict and I want them to embrace peace. Thats why, using my poems, I teach them the dangers of the gun. I have personally helped pay the examination fees for one of them this year. Today I call myself The Avatar of Charity because charity is now my raison d'etre. This is because I know what it means to be poor, and my experience with these refugee students has greatly increased my desire to help the needy. Their situation, just like that of my anglophone brothers and sisters of the South West and North West Regions, has inspired me to write Childrens Plea, a drama piece with the main theme of Silencing the Guns in Africa. I have also written a poetry collection titled Useless Tears, whose themes revolve around the uselessness of guns, the horrors of wars and the quest for peace. Beyond teaching, I use social media to share my poems. I have posted some of the poems on my Facebook timeline and page to help change the mentality, especially of my fellow young Africans, and to help the African Union attain its Agenda 2063 on peace and security. I have also created a WhatsApp group called English Online Forum where I share my philosophy of life along with some English language lessons. I like children. And I am working harder to inspire, guide and sponsor a good number of the needy children I am in contact with. Apart from teaching, Ive tried my hand at agriculture, especially catfish farming and pig rearing. I intend to do more and employ street children once I amass enough money to run such a project. I believe in Africa. I admire how AU Commissioner Professor Sarah Anyang Agbor puts it in her interview with LifeGate speaking about #AfricaUniteForYouth, where she says the AU should entice African youths to stay back home. If you give them opportunities, they will bloom like the flowers that we love to smell. In all, Africa is my pride and Cameroon is my sacred treasure. Some of the poems: Gun You are a beast Whose brain knows nothing but pain Your only help for man is his beastification You made Mercy your eternal foe And man, your fervent penitent So has your stay on earth made it a hell. Smiles on peoples faces, you wont see if you must grow And your shark-like teeth Just like those of your brothers and sisters Have made sorrow and trauma our creed Your death is my treasure, even though Archangel Michael and his friends Revere your kindred for their ordained duties. Preachers of Blood Preachers of blood Are haters of love. Let the bombs To our tombs Take us all And let the night of all our breath fall. They wont let the ancients of life play their roles. But will with their F10s impose their rules. Let the bombs To our tombs Take us all And let the night of all our breath fall. Then maybe Jah will be glad to see us there. Or will He reshape his ball and let His real children live there? Please, let me know! Should He with His breathalyser Sanction our breath? For it seems all of our bites and liquor have been doctored. Listen to article [Accra, June,29th] Thursday 25th June 2020, is a day that will go down in judicial history as a day that the Justice Anin-Yeboah-led JSCs made a ground-breaking ruling. The Supreme Court gave a verdict that is competent, reconstructive, and democratically sustainable. By this verdict, JSCs have reinforced the learned attribute of the bench and the independence of the Judiciary. The competent nature of the verdict is that a simple question to the Jean Mensah led Electoral Commission forced the Commission to unravel her own operational inefficiency of issuance of Voter ID Card with CI-12 from 1992 to 2012 i.e. since the inception of the 4th Republic. The EC was therefore intellectually persuaded to present self-incriminating evidence of its own operation. Any intellectually honest Ghanaian would have been surprised if JSCs had not unanimously dismissed the use of the old voter ID card. There is no ambiguity in the verdict and if anyone is in doubt whatsoever, then the individual may not have yet understood the masterful communication and propaganda machinery of the NDC. The same NDC MPs in Parliament in 2017, unanimously legislated against the Old Voter ID card per NIA Act 950. So the Voter ID Card and NIA Card are mutually exclusive. It takes craft to boldly present to SC and still be able to create doubt in the minds of most Ghanaians. I respect that craft but I hold the belief that when positively used for the nation, Ghana can beat the pressure from our international development partners. Another competent verdict had to do with birth certificates as determinants of the citizenry. There is no need to belabor the point of birth certificates being as easy to acquire as houseflies around decomposing bodies. It was tricky for the SC itself but was competently dismissed by upholding CI-126. It was exciting to see the JSC attempt reconstruction via the granting of reliefs 2 & 3 which concerns the right to vote as a Ghanaian; a citizen has an accrued right to vote which cannot be divested in an arbitrary and capricious manner. However, these reliefs were granted by the court subject to the use of CI-126 which has been legislated for 2020 elections. The CI-126 is a reconstructive mechanism for the issuance of a more credible Voter ID Card for the subsequent creation of more credible New Biometric Voters Register for 2020 elections. So the JSCs were absolutely spot-on when Relief 7 unequivocally states CI-126 is authorized and cannot be faulted. In sustaining the democracy of the government, the Justice Anin Yeboah-led SC verdict offered consequential reliefs to uphold the 1992 constitutional provisions and to bring sanity in the lower courts in handling Voters Registration issues against EC; more importantly for Ghanaians to have a free will and the Electoral Commission to exercise their respective constitutional rights without fear or favour. If some Ghanaians are still confused about the verdict of SC, the same should appreciate how IPAC had to deal with the masterpiece communication craft of the NDC. The predicament of the Jean Mensah led EC has been exacerbated due to the circumstances leading to the appointment and the complex change management handling of 28 years old culture of operations at the EC. Thank God the thought of civil war on this matter has subsided. The JOY2020 team would like to encourage all Ghanaians to go and massively register so they have the opportunity to vote out NPP and NDC in the 2020 December elections. For the 2020 elections should be a new beginning for Ghana. The Electoral Commission should also ensure that the mediocre application of Political Parties Law Act 574 and Constitutional Provisions of Article 55(7) & (14) are applied to complete the change management process of its constitutional mandate without persuasion from the Courts. God bless our homeland Ghana. Contact: Office of JOY 2012 President Akufo-Addo on the 29th of June, 2020 asked the Auditor General of the country, Mr. Daniel Domelevo to proceed on an aggregated leave, an announcement from the administration has said. In a statement signed by Director of Communications at the presidency, Eugene Arhin, it was noted therein that the Presidents decision to ask Mr.Domelevo to take his accumulated leave is based on sections 20 (1) and 31 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which applies to workers including public office holders such as the Auditor-General. According to the Act, a worker is entitled to annual leave with full pay, in a calendar year of continuous service which cannot be relinquished or forgone by the worker or the employer, the statement said. See the full statement below; However, the directive albeit constitution has raised a red flag as past and eminent happenings point out that the move was made by the government to cover up foul play with how it spent the COVID-19 Fund. It can be recalled that the minority in parliament recently urged the Auditor General to audit how the COVID-19 Fund was spent by the government. Some Ghanaians also believe that the Auditor General might be on his way of being sacked since he was not appointed by the ruling party and records show almost all public service workers appointed by the previous government were all sacked. But here is the thing, it is in the interest of the President to protect the independence of the Auditor-General. Any attempts to remove him from office, no matter how clever, will be seen as interference with his work and will irreparably tarnish the Presidents record. Once appointed the Auditor General must be allowed to hold office until the age of sixty years subject to an Article 199(4) extension for a 2+2+1 post-retirement tenure. On the record, I also urge the President to grant the Auditor General this Article 199(4) dispensation. The law is abundantly clear that the AGs right to leave of absence cannot be varied to his disadvantage. The reason for the law is to protect his independence. Thus, the AG cannot be forced to take his leave or to forfeit his leave. There must be a compelling reason to force the AG to take his leave. His leave conditions must be determined by the more specific Audit Service Act, not the general Labour Act (generalia specializes non-derogant). I do not find the Mills precedent persuasive. Actually, I find it amusing. Nor do I find sections 20(1) or 31 of the Labour Act as a reasonable basis for forcing the AG to take his leave. Section 20(1) merely provides for a leave entitlement and section 31 merely voids any agreement to relinquish the entitlement. There are several ongoing audits, including KROLL, MP backpay, etc. where one can reasonably say the AG is clashing with the executive. Under those circumstances, any attempts to remove the AG will offend the separation of powers, constitutionalism, and the growth of our institutions. The President must reconsider and the AG must stand his grounds. Civil society groups have a role here. They should, as in Malawi, protest this move to interfere with the functions of the AG, culminating in lawsuits and an injunction preventing the removal of the Chief Justice for the same accumulated leave offense. The group Rolling Stones are threatening President Donald Trump with legal action for using their songs at his rallies. This is despite cease-and-desist directives. Song ban The group tried to stop Trump and his team from using their song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" for four years, but since the President's team is not taking the warning seriously, the rock band are now looking to take the matter to court so that they can enforce a ban. Rolling Stones members Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. who wrote the song, are said to be angry that their music is being used for the political rallies of the President. President Trump had a massive fight with the band 31 years ago, yet still chose to play their song from 1969 at the end of his rallies. The President also used Rolling Stone's hit "Start Me Up" before he arrives on stage. The band already sent him a cease and desist letter back in 2016 but it was ignored, according to The Guardian. In a statement on June 28, the band stated that their legal team is currently working with the music rights organization BMI in order to stop Trump's team from using their songs at his reelection campaign. The BMI had already notified the President's campaign on behalf of the group that the use of the Rolling Stone's songs is unauthorized and it will constitute an breach of its licencing agreement, according to Mirror UK. Also Read: Fact Check: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Urge Governors to Close Businesses Until Presidential Election Ends? If Trump and his team still disregards the warnings and will still use the songs, he will be charged with a lawsuit for playing songs that has not been licensed.The Rolling Stones had complained back in 2016 about Trump's use of their songs during his rallies. Rolling Stone's songs The song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a 1969 classic and it was a very popular song at Trump's events. It was played again at the close of the President's recent rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was an indoor event criticized by the medical experts and the public because of its potential to spread the coronavirus. The Rolling Stones are not the only ones who do not want their songs played at Trump's events. Other musicians and their companies have complained about having their songs played at the President's rallies. The family of the late Tom Petty stated that they had issued a cease-and-desist order after Petty's song "I Won't Back Down" was used in Trump's Tulsa rally, as reported by The Guardian. The statement released by Petty's family said that the President is not authorized to use Petty's song during his campaign. They added that Trump's campaign leaves a lot of Americans and common sense behind. The statement also ready that both the late Tom Petty and his family stand firmly against racism and any kind of discrimination and that Petty would never want his song to be used in a campaign fueled by hate as he liked to bring people together. Neil Young also criticized Trump back in 2018 after one of his songs was played against his wishes during Trump's pre-midterm campaign rallies. Trump used his song "Rockin' in the Free World", his 1990's hit. The President still used the song despite Young's warnings. Related Article: John Bolton Said Trump "Turned a Blind Eye" To the Pandemic @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Listen to article COVID-19 and its attendant lockdown have negatively affected the global education sector with over 1.3 billion children missing months of school days. In Africa, COVID-19 has threatened the sector by virtually cutting short the 2019/2020 academic year in the middle of March instead of July. While students have lost over 14 weeks of instruction, countries are strategizing to salvage the academic year by ensuring that at least, all finalists complete and graduate. Ivory Coast, Namibia, South Africa, Senegal, Benin and Ghana are among countries that have partially reopened schools for up to one month, focusing on final year students at the various levels of the educational system. This is to ensure finalists graduate and pave way for admissions at pre-basic to tertiary by the commencement of the 2020/21 academic year. The agenda to reopen schools becomes even more pressing having cognizance of the inequalities and exclusion associated with the largely undeveloped e-learning systems deployed by many countries as a stop-gap intervention during the COVID-19 lockdown. In the coming weeks, countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria have school reopening plans whereas others like Uganda is still debating whether to reopen schools this year or not. As countries plan and approach reopening, the lessons from other African counties that have reopened schools in the past weeks remains valuable, practical information that would help enrich the Continent's preparation for universal school reopening by all countries. The notable strategies including testing of teachers, distancing in school, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities provision, teacher capacity building on COVID-19 school management among others. Testing of the school population: Countries like Benin, with a teacher population of about 100,000 embarked on the testing of teachers ahead of school reopening over a month ago. This was to give authorities an idea of the incidence of the disease in the school environment. This strategy may be expensive for countries with high teacher population as testing doesn't come cheap. However, countries can consider a randomized-sample test of at least 1% of both teacher and student population in schools, both ahead of reopening and monthly to inform education and COVID-19 policy. Psychosocial and pedagogical training of teachers: In the midst of the stigma and fear surrounding COVID-19, training teachers to provide adequate psychosocial support to students is necessary. Also, pedagogical capacity enhancement in accelerated learning may be required bearing in mind the reducing impact of COVID-19 on time on task. Health and Safety Orientation for teachers and students: COVID-19 -Complaint Health and Safety training for teachers must happen prior to reopening to ensure teachers and school workers are adequately equipped with the know-how to guide students through the observance of COVID-19 safety protocols. Teachers may in turn conduct orientation for students when they arrive in school. In Ivory Coast, teachers were trained in COVID-19 safety before the reopening of schools. Providing and enforcing mandatory wearing of facemasks: Ghana reopened schools with each student being given three reusable face masks and a bottle of hand sanitizer which must be used throughout the 12 weeks or so to be spent. Similar to Benin which was one of the first African countries to make wearing of masks obligatory in public when it introduced the measures in main cities and towns on April 8, the enforcement of the wearing of facemasks in Ghanaian schools is backed by a law which makes it an offence NOT to wear facemasks in public, with liabilities of up to three years imprisonment. Health screening and data management: In Namibia, schools have set up a screening station where each learner is screened and sanitized before entering the classroom daily. The details of the learners are recorded, including the overall wellbeing done based on a health questionnaire which is submitted to health authorities periodically. This includes temperature checking using a laser thermometer. We encourage governments through their respective Public Health Directorates to train teachers to undertake his function as there may not be enough public health nurses to man every school. Distribution of COVID-19 items: The distribution of buckets, sanitizers, face masks etc. is a major cause of concern, as there were delays ahead of school reopening. In Ghana, for instance, many Senior High Schools in rural areas received their consignment on day two and three of reopening, amidst headteachers improvising the use of local resources to manage the gap. This was due to the centralized procurement and distribution of COVID-19 items which were managed by the Office of the Senior Minister from the Capital, Accra, and not the Ghana Education Service which is decentralised administratively in every district. Key lessons include the need to either decentralize the procurement of COVID-19 items or ensure every school receive their COVID-19 supplies BEFORE the day of reopening. Observing social distancing in school: Social distancing protocols being observed include maximum class sizes of 30, no large gatherings of more than 100 people and no external break time. In countries like Ghana, break time is observed in the classroom with teacher supervision, while dinning sessions for boarding schools are phased into three batches to allow a maximum of four (4) students on a table compared to the usual eighteen (18) during the pre-COVID-19 era. To restrict the potential of any imported infection in boarding schools, Ghana has a mandatory policy to admit all day students into boarding houses and prevent any form of student visitation while on campus. Developing e-learning policies, infrastructure: Across the continent, countries without active eLearning policies are developing, operationalizing or reinforcing them. These include pre and in-service teacher training in e-learning Instruction and assessments, curriculum digitization, provision of eLearning infrastructure and equipment for teachers, schools and students, setting up of digital Knowledge Banks, and the delivery of teaching and learning on these platforms. As we approach this relatively new enterprise, e-learning policies must be inclusive, especially, to encompass the needs of rural children without electricity and those with disabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic has really presented a threat to our survival as individuals, families, communities, and nations. It has brought disruptions to many, if not all, of our socio-economic lives and activities; education inclusive. However, our ability to evolve, adopt and adapt creative/innovative practices to steer society through this storm, without compromising on quality, will indicate whether we are experiencing a threat of catastrophe or opportunity to prove ourselves as problem solvers. As we prepare to enter the post-COVID-19 era, we will need quality learners to be enrolled in schools with quality learning environments, where they will access quality content through quality processes to ensure quality outcomes. The author, Kofi Asare is the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch www.africaeducationwatch.org Heads of Basic Schools in the Gomoa Central District have been urged to form mandatory COVID-19 Risk Management Team to monitor health conditions of BECE candidates as they prepare for their final exams Addressing them at Gomoa Ekroful recently, the Gomoa Central District Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Miss Theodora Abaloo noted that the students ought to be protected from Covid-19 infections. "We are not in normal times, things have changed and we must adjust to the present situation. As Heads of Schools, you are to make sure all precautionary measures are put in place to ensure the safety of the students Take advantage of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), being the Thermometer Gun, Veronica Buckets, Hand Sanitizers, wearing of Nose Masks and Social Distancing" The Gomoa Central District Director thanked Government for provision of PPEs assuring that strict supervision and monitoring would be carried out in all the school to ensure adhering of Covid-19 protocols The 50 Heads of the Basic Schools were drawn from 36 Public and 14 Private Basic Schools in the Gomoa Central District " I expect to see few students in a class, if the JHS classrooms cannot accommodate the candidates, you can extend the classes to Upper Primary classrooms to ease congestion No Assembly, no sporting activities, no visitors nor food vendors are allowed in the Schools. Remember we are not in the normal time. Things have changed. The Ghana Education Service in collaboration School Health Coordinators and staff of Ghana Health Service will visit schools regularly to ensure strict adhering of the Covid-19 protocols" Miss Theodora Abaloo urged the Heads to sensitize the students psychologically bearing in mind they ought to write their exams and pass well to move to the next level of their studies adding all JHS teachers should be present on daily basis DCE for Gomoa Central, Hon. Benjamin Kojo Otoo noted that Government was committed to the safety of the final year students to complete their course of study. She assured the Directorate that the Gomoa Central District Assembly would provide the needed assistance within the period the BECE candidates would be in school Presiding Member for Gomoa Central District Assembly, Hon. Kweku Nyarko Koomson on behalf of the Basic School Headteachers assured that they will execute their assigned duties. Listen to article A key recommendation of a recent report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which deals with trade, investment, and development issues, is for official development assistance to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to be channeled to the productive sector. In an interview with Africa Renewals Kingsley Ighobor, Paul Akiwumi, UNCTADs Director, Division for Africa, LDCs and Special Programmes, discusses the report as well as other issues. These are excerpts. Lets begin with COVID-19. What impact do you think the pandemic will have on ODA flows to LDCs? The pandemic highlights the vulnerability of LDCs to external shocks. Although it is too early to know its full impact on ODA [Overseas Development Assistance] disbursements to LDCs, we hope that the health and wellbeing of the 1.1 billion people living in the worlds most vulnerable countries is not severely affected. UNCTAD recommends that LDCs adopt policies that improve the coordination, allocation and accountability of the ODA received. Priority should be given to structural transformation-inducing activities to develop individual countries productive capacities. What message do you have for donors regarding the potentially precarious situation of LDCs post-COVID-19? The international community should aim to meet commitments made by many developed countries to achieve 0.7% of GNI [Gross National Income] for ODA and between 0.15% and 0.20% of GNI for ODA to LDCs. Among other interventions, donors should offer more grants than loans, so as not to worsen the LDCs debt levels. One of UNCTADs latest reports on LDCs focuses on the management of ODA. What are the key takeaways from the report? The most important takeaway is that most of the ODA coming to LDCs focuses on a limited number of countries. In addition, about 70% of ODA goes to the social sector, and about 20-25% goes to the productive sector. And the last takeaway, I would say, is that ODA is becoming more loans than grants. That means countries are borrowing morethe debt stock is increasing rapidly. This is a concern because many of the LDCs are now heavily in debt. What difference could it make were more ODA to go to the productive sector? The point is that we have spent a lot of time and resources on the social sector. Without a solid productive sector, all the investments in the social sector health, education, etc., people graduating from universities will have no jobs. Investment in the productive sector means diversifying the economy, ensuring that value is added to what is being produced. Isn't it the case that donor countries usually tie ODA to specific sectors? If so, how do you influence the rechanneling of such assistance to production? Well, our report has asked for a new way of looking at ODA. We ask that recipient countries decide priority sectors for ODA deployment, which enables control over implementation as well as becoming a part of the accountability framework. Also, when ODA goes only to the social sector, project-based activities, there is domestic brain drainpeople are moving from government institutions to better-paying jobs in these projects. Can the donors be influenced to change the current paradigm? I think the important thing is for everybody to recognize that what we're trying to do is put the facts on the table. And I think we must recognize that over the last 40-50 years, only very few LDCs have graduated out of that status. This means we must try something different; you cannot continue with business as usual and expect different results. Donors and governments need to see a need to change the way ODA is delivered. ODA for LDCs has increased by only 2% since the start in 2011 of the Istanbul Programme of Action, far below the 7% increase during the prior period of the Brussels Programme of Action (2001-2010). Is the current trend worrisome? I would say that countries need to focus on where ODA will have more impact. Developing countries have done tremendous work in domestic resource mobilization, in tax collection, for example. But unless you have a vibrant productive sector, you can only squeeze so much out of tax. The important thing is to make sure that donor assistance goes to the right sectors, as identified by countries in their national development plans, as opposed to as desired by donors. Regarding the action agenda, we have new players and actors involved, particularly the private sector. We have to be careful that we are supporting the national firms as opposed to multinationals. Your report also mentions that Africa cannot mobilize adequate domestic resources for development because of its weak productive base. How do you counter those who argue that there are enough domestic resources that, if efficiently mobilized, could diminish the need for aid? The thing is, like I mentioned earlier, LDCs have spent a lot of time improving tax collection. But there is a point you reach that, if you do not produce things, and you don't have the industry, and you do not have the services, there's only so much you can tax out of an economy. So it's important that economies grow. If an economy grows, you become self-sufficient. It's a process. Therefore, the ODA must support diversification of an economy, so that the productive sector can build itself up. And then countries can increase their domestic resources. What should African countries do in view of the fact donor support is dwindling? For Africa, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will be key. Intra-African trade is only approximately 17%. In Europe, it's about 70%. If you go to Asia, it's about 59%. So there's a need for African countries to trade amongst themselves and to add value to what they trade in. That will help build productive capacity and diversify the economy. How hopeful are you regarding AfCFTA? I am very optimistic. I think the free trade area will give Africa a real chance to break away from this yoke of commodity-driven economies because we've seen that it doesnt often succeed. You know the common stories about the cocoa industry and chocolates: the fact that 80% of Africas cocoa is exported without adding value to it. But even the chocolate that is manufactured within Africa, primarily in South Africa and Egypt, the tariffs within Africa are much higher than those for chocolate exported from Switzerland to the UK, for instance. The AfCFTA should reduce and eventually get rid of the tariffs on African products within Africa. Your report seems to prefer ODA as opposed to private sector-led development financing. Why is that? First, the private sector needs to make a profit. Second, when we're talking about LDCs, the private sector we are talking about are the multinational companies. And they are competing actorsthey have different interests. As a result, there's a fragmentation of interests of the donors who provide the money, the private sector that is involved in it, and the government itself. So the government is often left out of the accountability framework, because the private sector is more accountable to the donor than the government. I think this is a critical area to be examined. We're not saying the private sector should not be involved; what we're saying is that governments need to be involved in the accountability framework, and that ODA must be aligned with national development plans and structures. While you are canvassing for more ODA to LDCs, many African leaders and development experts are saying we need more trade than aid. Is that a contradiction? It's not a contradiction. Countries need aid to be able to develop the productive sector, to be able to trade more things. Unless you produce something, you can't trade in goods and services. We use ODA to diversify economies and build productive sectors. Does it make sense to advocate for debt cancellation for African countries to free up debt repayment funds for development? Well, this discussion has been going on even as debt is increasing. The international community and LDCs will have to sit down to discuss how to move toward debt cancellation or restructuring of the debt payment. A growing number of countries that are getting a lot of funding from non-traditional donors are in serious debt, and they can't pay back the monies that they borrowed. Political parties have had to battle it out on issues centered on nationality anytime the issue of a new voter register cropped up in Ghana. This unfortunate incident could have been averted if not for the parochial interest and irresponsible behaviour of those who thought were being politically smart not knowing they were rather depriving the indigenes of this nation to benefit from their choice. Let me make it brief for you; TOGO When you go to Togo, their recognised national languages are Ewe and Kabieye. The ordinary Togolese on the street speak the same Ewe language our brothers/sisters in the volta region speak, but it does not in any way make them Ghanaians. They still remain Togolese. The NDC, years ago, identified that similarity and saw it as the biggest opportunity to capitalise on which has resulted in many of the French Togolese pretending to be British Togolese (those who decided to join the Gold Coast, who we refer as Voltarians) to register as Ghanaians and vote, knowing very well it was an illegal act. This has been the norm for years, which many have complained about with no positive solution. The truth of the matter is, when you go to the Volta region today, it is not everyone who speaks Ewe who can be classified or considered as a Ghanaian to be on our voter's register. The porous nature of our borders with so many illegal entry points has paved way for many infiltrations. The fact that you speak the Ewe language alone can't be a guarantee since that language is spoken in Togo and Southeastern Ghana by approximately 4.5 million people as a first language. What makes you a Ghanaian is clearly stipulated in our constitution, not by virtue of you speaking the same language with some of our people to deceive us. We have been too soft and lenient for years, this can't happen in Togo, Cote d'Ivoire or Burkina Faso. COTE D'IVOIRE The same scenario presents itself in the Western part of Ghana too as we speak. When you go to Cote d'Ivoire today, the Baoules, Agnis, Attie and Apollo all understand and speak our Twi, Nzema and Fante languages. A lot of those people were brought in to register in towns like Elubo, Jomoro, Sampa, Ellembele etc..by this same NDC. BURKINA/MALI/NIGER Same tactics over the years has been applied in the Northern part of Ghana were most of those brought on board were Burkinabes, Malians, people from Niger etc..because of the Hausa they could speak including some of the local languages in the 3 northern regions. MAIN REASON One will ask, why bringing all these people from outside Ghana to be on our register and influence our decision making as a country all these years? The answer is very simple and straight forward; the NDC knows very well how the majority of Ghanaians have never liked them and their leadership style just because of how Rawlings came to power and the chaos, brutalities, and murders that surrounded his reign, hence looking for this diabolic alternative beyond our borders became the solution for them. They have planned and have been doing this since 1992 (don't forget about the Stolen Verdict). Their cup is now full, courtesy the advent of Coronavirus which has made almost every country close their borders with strong security checks to prevent potential carriers from entering Ghana. Because they want to bring those people again on the register with the Supreme court ruling for a new register. Those soldiers have been there since our borders got closed 3 months ago, why the noise now? If you hear them ranting today and making all these ugly noises then your guess is as good as mine. Ghana is now free and ready to decide properly. The true Ghanaians will finally make their decision known this year. Freddy King Dodou Ghana Borders Citizen Vigilante Ace Investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaws expose into illegalities during the coronavirus pandemic is set to shine a light on corruption in the managing of relief food meant to be given freely to the needy. Speaking on Citi TVs The Point of View after the airing of his piece on quack doctors selling purported coronavirus cures, he noted that there was more rot he had uncovered during his latest investigative work. The first part shone the spotlight on some allegedly fraudulent herbalists who were peddling fake coronavirus cures. He looked into the Abdellah Herbal Clinic and COA FS Herbal Centre. The former operation was busted by police and the Abdellah brothers arrested. The part two [of the coronavirus investigations] will focus on the stealing and I am very sad about part two, he said. These social intervention things that the President took to give to the people of Chorkor and other places, I got a call from my source that food was ready to be sold. The government had committed to feeding vulnerable persons, most notably kayayei, during the partial lockdown of Accra and general economic slowdown. [But] there were these guys who brought out this same food that the President has given out to be shared being sold; bags of rice, eggs [etc]. Anas Aremeyaw said the people in question worked from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA). For, him, all these happenings during the coronavirus pandemic tells you that all of us need to be quite alert. The investigative journalist also acknowledged the disappointment of persons who were expecting a much more damning expose. But he stressed that the impact of such work ought not to be underestimated. We are getting to elections and people think you have to drop the name of that big politician. That is fine for their thoughts, but look, in journalism, nothing is small. It is more about impact; how many people does this affect? ---citinewsroom Kojo Oppong Nkrumah Listen to article Government has condemned the minority NDC's posturing over the deployment of security personnel into border towns to prevent the influx of persons from neighboring countries. According to government, the deployment of these personnel is to tighten the country's borders to curtail the importation of the coronavirus and to maintain the country's peaceful atmosphere ahead of the compilation of the voters' register. Addressing journalists at a Press Briefing in Accra on Monday June 29, 2020, the Defence Minister, Diminic Nitiwul criticized the NDC for fueling ethno-centric politics and creating a false sense of ethno-tribal agenda amidst government's strategy to maintain the security within the country. We have deployed across the entire country and the purpose is to aid and support the Ghana Immigration Service to stop people from crossing because we have too many unapproved riots and the COVID-19 numbers are getting higher and higher. So we will not sit aloof and allow our people to die because people are crossing into our country. if people have any reason, whether NDC, NPP, CPP or anyother party has any reason and have the intention of bringing in anybody for whatever purpose, the protocol is very clear, bring them in through the approved channels, let them quarantine themselves for 14 days and then they can do whatever they want to do. But for the people of Ghana, we are concerned about their health. It is my duty to make sure that the people of Ghana are safe and at this particular time, we are all in danger and for anybody to suggest that we just deployed only to Aflao or Volta Region is misplaced the Minister said. Speaking on the number of security personnel government has deployed to the various regions so far, Mr. Nitiwul pointed out that 3 officers have been deployed to the Volta Region along with 95 soldiers, 2 officers and 70 soldiers to the Oti Region, 8 officers with 199 soldiers to the Upper East Region, 3 officers and 44 soldiers to the North East Region, 4 officers and 65 soldiers to the Upper West Region, 2 officers with 26 soldiers in the Western Region and only 64 soldiers to the Savannah Region. This comes at the back of a viral tape that was making rounds on social media pointing to comments passed by Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa, K.T Hammond on the mission of the security personnel deployed to the Volta and Oti Regions ahead of the start of the voters registration exercise on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. This the Information Minister reiterated that the comments passed by K.T Hammond is not government's position on the matter. When government want to put out a position, there are a number of government's functionaries who put out on government's position. His Excellency the President himself may speak, the Vice President may speak, the Minister or Deputy Minister responsible for the sector in this case these are matters of military deployment so either the Defence Minister or his Deputies will put it up or the Ministry of Information may put it up for government. Additionally, you have the press secretary at the office of the President who may put it out. These are the categories of government's spokespersons. I think we have to be very careful in for example hearing from a member of parliament who is not a member of government expressing his suspicions about what he guesses is the reason for a particular exercise. We have to be clear to distinguish that from government's position, he added. The idea of being a President, who emerges from a rigged election, is abhorrent to every fibre of my being, adding: I want to continue to be the President of a Ghanaian people who have given me their free consent, with the blessing of the Almighty, President Nana Akufo-Addo has said. without any form of equivocation, that the deployment of military personnel to Ghanas borders, is not in any way intended to intimidate or prevent eligible Ghanaians from registering to vote in December, adding: They are there for their express purpose, which is to guard our borders. That is the limit of their remit, and they will not be permitted to stray beyond that remit. He said in a national address to Ghanaians on Monday night ahead of today's commencement of the voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission. The President said it is crucial that both the registration exercise and the electoral process itself are conducted in an atmosphere of peace and security devoid of intimidation and violence. The President indicated that he had been encouraged by the recent reassurance by the Inspector General of Police that the law officers will be even-handed in their response to issues. The longstanding deployment of security personnel, especially the military, along our borders is another dimension of this process of guaranteeing the peace of the nation. Fellow Ghanaians, it is no secret that our neighbour to the north, Burkina Faso, has, in recent times, been at the receiving end of a number of terrorist attacks, as has another neighbour, Cote dIvoire, he said. To shore up Ghanas borders against such attacks, and to defend the countrys territorial integrity, President Akufo-Addo stressed that the Armed Forces have been very proactive in engaging in operations to secure the countrys borders, and foil any potential terror attacks on Ghanaian soil. Operations such as Conquered Fist and Koudangou have been going along for some time, since 21st February 2019, to meet this objective. Deployments of soldiers in areas along our borders have been regular, and residents living in border towns will bear testimony to this, he added. Again, in the fight against COVID-19, it will be recalled that the President took the decision, on Saturday, 21st March, to close all the countrys borders by land, air and sea, with the military assisting personnel of the Immigration Service to shore up the countrys eastern, western and northern borders. This development, for example, during the period of the three-week lockdown of Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi, led to the arrest of some five thousand (5,000) persons along our borders, who had entered our country illegally. Indeed, the first six (6) recorded cases of COVID-19 in the Volta Region, for example, were those of West African nationals, who entered the country illegally, he said. President Akufo-Addo continued, In total, two hundred and seven (207) soldiers have been deployed along the borders of the Upper East Region; one hundred and ten soldiers (110) in the Northern Region; one hundred and two (102) in the North East Region; ninety-eight (98) in the Volta Region; seventy-two (72) in the Oti Region; sixty-nine (69) in Upper West; sixty-four (64) in Bono Region; twenty-one (21) in the Savanna Region; and fourteen (14) in the Western Region. I have no interest in disenfranchising any eligible Ghanaian from registering in tomorrows exercise, nor am I interested in any improper machinations to win any election. I have spent my life fighting for free, democratic institutions in our country, and I will continue in that fight for the rest of my life, he said. ---classfmonline The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the McDan Group of Companies, Mr. Daniel McKorley has allegedly defied the judgment declared against him by the Supreme Court over the 2.59 acres land located at Light Industrial Area at Nungua in Accra, which is belonging to Yehans International Limited. The Supreme Court which is the highest court of the land in its judgment on October 24, 2018 warned Mr McKorley and his agents and assigns not to trespass on the said land but he ignored the court order and still continue to trespass on the said land which was a clear case of contempt of the court. The issue of the land litigation begun sometime around 2006 at the High Court and the plaintiff, Yehans International Limited won the case at the High Court against the defendants at the time, Martey Tsuru family and 18th July Company Limited. The defendants filed the case at the court of appeal and lost. Not satisfied, the defendants proceeded to the Supreme Court, they also lost at the Supreme Court. While the matter was at the Court of Appeal, a company purported owned by Dr. Daniel McKorley (McDan) took advantage of the litigation in court and started constructing two ware houses on the land. Dr. McDan however denied any knowledge of the said property even after the matter was reported at the police station. Constructing of the two ware houses were built while the issue of litigation was still in court. A notice of a writ of possession was served to Dr. McKorley by the counsel of Yehans International on 26th March, 2020 to notify them to take possession of the land. But they did not bother or put any notice of claim in court or anything of sort. After the Supreme Court judgment, according to the lawyer of Yehans International Limited, Mr Kofi Bosompem the plaintiff which is the land owner removed items items in a warehouse purported belonging to Mr McKorley. Mr Bosompem disclosed that while the matter was at the court of appeal, a company purported owned by Dr. Daniel Mckorley (McDan) took advantage of the litigation in court and started constructing two (2) ware houses on the land. When approached, McDan denied any knowledge of the said property even after the matter was reported at the police station. A notice of a writ of possession was issued to Dr. McKorley on 26th March, 2020 informing him of Yehans International Limited taking possession of the land. However, they did not bother or put any notice of claim in court or anything of sort. In a media interview during the evacuation of items from the warehouse, Lawyer Bosompem said they were only enforcing rule of law to ensure that the right thing is done. It is high time we discourage people from acting with impunity where people just encroach other peoples land and due to whatever influences, just engage in land grabbing without caring about the inconvenience they put the rightful owners to. Its been established that Dr. Daniel McKorley (McDan) has no claim to the said land and hence the evacuation was to ensure the rightful owners of the land (Yehans International Limited) have their land. BELINDA AWUKU, who is standing trial together with her husband, Edwin Awuku, in a murder case, has said in court that her life is being threatened by people she does not know. She told the Asokwa Court 3 yesterday that she had constantly been receiving death threats from faceless people. Belinda, who is on bail, said she usually receives death threats from people she suspects to be family members of the deceased anytime she comes to court. The suspect explained to court that her failure to appear before it (court) during its last sitting was not intentional. She said the threats forced her to stay away. The Presiding Judge, Rosemarie Afua Asante, in her response, told Belinda Awuku to officially report to the court about the alleged threats on her life. Shooting Incident Belinda Awuku's husband, Edwin, a driver, allegedly shot her girlfriend, Comfort Owusu Afriyie, 46, dead at close range in a room at Cedar Crescent Hotel at Denyame, a suburb of Kumasi. After committing the crime, Edwin rushed to his house and narrated what had transpired to his wife, Belinda, before they returned to the hotel later on. The couple reportedly told the hotel staff that Edwin and Comfort were attacked by robbers in the hotel room, and Comfort was shot dead. Edwin and Belinda reported same to the police at the station. But the police, after investigations, arrested the couple and arraigned them. Charges Edwin and Belinda have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime and murder. Significantly, Edwin, who had previously been remanded in prison custody by the court, was not in court on Monday due to the Covid-19 restrictions. AG Studies Docket The prosecuting team told the court that the case docket had been sent to the Attorney General's (AG's) Department for advice. According to them, the advice from the AG's office would determine whether the charges preferred against the suspects would be maintained or changed. The court has adjourned the case to July 30, 2020. ---Daily Guide Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said it is hypocritical for President Nana Akufo-Addo to just condemn his party members for breaching COVID-19 safety protocols during the New Patriotic Partys primaries. He said meanwhile a pastor and some ordinary citizens have been jailed for similar offences. President Nana Akufo-Addo, at the weekend, told members of the NPP that they must not break the COVID-19 safety protocols again as they did during the parliamentary primaries on Saturday, 20 June 2020. In his acceptance speech at the partys ceremony to acclaim him as the presidential candidate for 2020 on Saturday, 27 June 2020, Mr Akufo-Addo said: My dear friends and colleagues, this past weekend, our party came to the end of the processes that we have to go through to prepare for the elections in December with the primaries in constituencies, where we have sitting MPs. Unfortunately, in our enthusiasm and sheer unbridled joy, we broke some of the COVID-19 safety protocols. It should not happen again, he warned. However, speaking in an interview with Kwabena Bobie Ansah on Accra100.5FMs Citizen Show on Monday, 29 June 2020, the National Chairman of the NDC said: A pastor has been jailed for breaking the Presidents Executive Instrument but why do you watch your own people break your own rules before you just condemn it? Its hypocrisy. According to Mr Ofosu-Ampofo, The police just walked about at the primaries and did nothing, only for you to come and condemn it, adding: Governance and leadership is not an easy thing. He, thus, asked the President to release the jailed pastor and the others, and, in like manner, just condemn them for breaking the protocols as he did to the NPP members. Its a selective application of your own executive orders. You cant govern a country like that, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo insisted. ---classfmonline The semi-official Fars news agency reported on June 22 that Iran has now issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed a top general in Iran back in January. President's arrest warrant Aside from US President Donald Trump, there are also 36 other people who are included in the arrest warrants issued by Iran. This is connected to the death of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, or IRGC. Ali Alqasi Mehr, the Tehran attorney general, said that President Trump was at the top of their list, as reported by Fars. According to Mehr, President Trump would be prosecuted as soon as his term ends. Iran also stated that it had asked Interpol so that they can issue a Red Notice for all of the people on their list, including Trump. New agency ISNA reported that it is impossible that Interpol will help Iran with their request. Interpol stated in a statement to CNN that it would not consider any requests of this nature. Interpol also explained that Iran's request is not in accordance with the rules and constitution. The rules and constitution state that it is forbidden for the Interpol to undertake any activities or intervention of a military, religious, political, or racial character. Also Read: Appeals Court Prohibits Trump Administration in Using Military Funding to Pay for Border Wall Political stunt Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran, called the move of the country as a political stunt during a joint press conference with Adel al-Jubeir, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi on June 22. Hook said that the arrest warrant for Trump is propaganda that they are used to. Hook added that Iran's request has nothing to do with national security, promoting stability or international peace so they see it as a propaganda stunt that no one takes seriously and that will only make Iranians look foolish. Soleimani's death Soleimani was killed in a drone strike under the command of the US military force. He was at the Baghdad International Airport when he was killed along with five other people. One of the people killed by the US military force was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces or PMF. The drone strike was immediately condemned by Iran and its allies and labeled it as an assassination. Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, a spokesman for Iran's judiciary, stated a few weeks ago that Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi Majd, an Iranian, had been sentenced to death for working for the US intelligence. Esmaili also claimed that Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi Majd disclosed the location of Soleimani to US intelligence officials, which then led to his assassination. According to the Trump administration, the drone attack was necessary because Soleimani was a ruthless killed and that President Trump told reported in January that the Iranian general should have been assassinated by the previous presidents. The Pentagon stated that Soleimani was the person behind the deaths of hundreds of Americans in the months leading up to his death. The Pentagon stated that the general was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. The Pentagon called the strike a decisive defensive action that is aimed at deterring future attacks. Related Article: Rolling Stones Threaten to Sue Donald Trump fro Using their Songs on at Rallies @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Dynamic Youth Movement of Ghana (DYMOG) has accused President Akufo-Addo of abusing power by ordering Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo to proceed on his accumulated leave. According to the group, Mr Domelevo has displayed sterling performance in the discharge of his duties as Auditor-General. All well-meaning anti-corruption crusaders including DYMOG, recognise his peerless contribution and we shall forever remember him, the group said in a statement. The President, in his letter, said Mr Domelevo must take his accumulated annual leave of 123 working days effective Wednesday, 1 July 2020. A statement released by the office of the President and signed by the Director of Communication, Mr Eugene Arhin, on Monday, 29 June 2020, said: The Presidents decision to direct Mr Domelevo to take his accumulated annual leave is based on Sections 20(1) and Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which apply to all workers including public officeholders such as the Auditor-General. Per the Act, a worker is entitled to annual leave with full pay, in a calendar year of continuous service which cannot be relinquished or forgone by the worker or the employer. However, since Mr Domelevos appointment as Auditor-General on 30 December 2016, Mr Domelevo has taken only nine working days of his accumulated annual leave of 132 working days. The statement made reference to 9 April 2009, when the third President of the 4th Republic, Prof John Evans Atta Mills, directed the then-Auditor-General, Mr Edward Duah Agyeman, to take his accumulated annual leave of approximately 264 working days. It further continued: President Akufo-Addo paid attention to the precedent in directing the Auditor-General to take his accumulated annual leave of 123 working days. Mr Domelevo has been further directed to hand over all matters relating to his office to Mr Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, the Deputy Auditor-General to act as Auditor-General until his return. But DYMOG said: It's regrettable that 'precedence' was the principal decision-making factor for this move by the President. It is largely expected that other more compelling reasons, such as moral misconduct or incompetence, would have informed directives of this nature. The President's meddling in disagreements between the Auditor-General and his Board Chairman portrays the measure of value he places on the unimpeachable work of Mr Daniel Domelevo, DYMOG said. We consider the directive to Mr Daniel Domelevo to proceed on accumulated leave, an affront to the anti-corruption community and a well-calculated derailment to the much-needed agenda to exterminate corruption within our public sector, the group asserted. It continued: The President has incessantly spoken about his quest to fight corruption in Ghana. It's, therefore, counter-intuitive that the President will let go of Mr Domelevo, who has demonstrated, beyond reasonable doubt, his abhorrence for corruption. Without ambiguity, we, at the Dynamic Youth Movement of Ghana, find this move by the president as a case of complete abuse of power and her ugly sister authoritarianism. ---classfmonline Two voter ID applicants have been arrested for not wearing a nose mask at a registration centre in Koforidua in the Eastern region. The arrest was effected on the orders of the Koforidua-Effiduase District Police Commander .S.A Young at a Polling Station in Ogua Electoral Area in New Juaben North Constituency. The suspects are a male and a female. He also ensured that applicants who had massed up observed social distancing protocols. Meanwhile, there are armed military personnel also patrolling the registration Centers in the Eastern Regional Capital. Averagely, an applicant spends 2 to 3 hours in a queue but spends about 10 minutes going through the registration process. At Police Station Polling station, 25 had registered as at 9:40 am using Ghana Card as means of identity. As at 10:06 am, 30 persons had duly registered at Obotanso Polling Station all using the Ghana Card as proof of identity. As at 10:16 am only 29 applicants had been registered at Effiduase Methodist Chapel registration centre. One of the registrants was registered through the guarantor system. At Effiduase Methodist JHS, as at 10:30 am 30 qualified applicants had registered. Effiduase Methodist primary registration centre had registered 34 applicants as at 10:41 am. 43 had registered at MTTU Polling station as of 10:53 am all using NIA as proof of identity. The Member of Parliament for New Juaben North also a Deputy Local Government Minister , Nana Adjei Boateng, however, told the media that the registration process has been smooth. He was however not happy that many constituents do not understand the movement plan of the Electoral Commission hence roaming through polling stations to have their turn to register. The Municipal Chief Executive for New Juaben North, Comfort Asante told Starr News her only concern was inadequate chairs for the applicants to sit one while waiting for their turn. she, however, said efforts were underway to help mitigate the challenge. --starrfmonline Listen to article Tuesday 30 June 2020 - The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) was due to implemented this week, 1 July 2020, before the impact of COVID-19 caused its inevitable delay. However, AfCFTA Secretary General Wamkele Mene confirmed recently at a Bloomberg Invest Global virtual conference that the pandemic would not impact the agreement and that public health protocols would be developed if necessary to allow the AfCFTA secretariat to push forward with its implementation. Virusha Subban, partner specialising in Customs and Trade at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg, says that AfCFTAs successful implementation was vital to assist in Africas recovery and renewal after COVID-19. At a high level, AfCFTA is focused on stimulating growth, creating employment and diversifying economies across the African continent, through the creation of a single African market for goods and services, she notes. According to Baker McKenzie recent research with Oxford Economics - AfCFTA's US$ 3 trillion Opportunity - AfCFTA's pending implementation means there are now unprecedented opportunities for Africa to reap economic and social benefits on the back of the possible future improvements in transport infrastructure, reduction of red tape for cross-border dealings, renewed funding and improved liquidity, Subban explains. Subban notes that AfCFTA will provide the opportunity for African countries to diversify their economies, scale production capacity and widen the range of products made in Africa, in particular boosting the production of manufactured goods. Closer integration of neighbouring economies is one potential avenue for creating scale and competitiveness through domestic market enlargement, thereby promoting development through greater efficiency. This relates to both intraregional trade and trade with non-African nations. Taking a longer view, regional trade cooperation could potentially become a successful bridge for connecting the regions wealthier and poorer nations, promoting the growth of value chains and laying the foundations for increased international exports, especially given existing strong trade ties with the European Union (EU) and Asia, she says. The report shows that currently, regional integration in Africa is largely an unattained goal, despite the continents Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Overall, the RECs have complex and often conflicting policies and have achieved very different levels of integration to-date. And while African nations may trade within their respective RECs under preferential terms, trade beyond these regional agreements is generally subject to most-favored nation (MFN) tariffs, which are much higher and have acted as a disincentive to trade integration. Despite the challenges, however, some RECs have successfully created effective trade bridges between member countries. For example, Cote dIvoire, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa have become regional trading hubs, having leveraged the alliances they established through their RECs. One of the ways forward for African economies to further implement effective intraregional trade may be to draw on the lessons learned from the successful RECs, she notes. The Report also underscores the importance of not only lowering tariff barriers, but also addressing non-tariff barriers to intra-regional trade. Some of the most significant obstacles to AfCFTA are inadequate infrastructure, poor trade logistics, onerous regulatory requirements, volatile financial markets, regional conflict and complex and corrupt customs procedures. These can be even more detrimental to trade expansion than tariff measures, explains Subban. AfCFTA is already acting as a strong impetus for African governments to overhaul regulations relating to tariffs, bilateral trade, cross-border initiatives as well as capital flows. Domestic policies will also play a crucial role in alleviating some of the current trade barriers that are not related to tariffs, such as corruption, lack of investment in infrastructure development (most notably transport and utilities) and security threats. There is a strong consensus that the vast infrastructure gap in Africa, including transport and utilities infrastructure, must be urgently addressed so as not to restrict increased trade integration. Developing infrastructure is also key to addressing the devastating economic impact of COVID-19. For example, In his supplementary budget speech in late June 2020, South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni noted that infrastructure would be the fly wheel by which South Africas grew the economy post COVID-19. Mboweni said that building a bridge to a postlockdown future would require that the country builds highquality physical bridges, roads, railways, ports and other infrastructures. As such, it is fair to say that if the barriers to AfCFTAs successful implementation can be sufficiently addressed, it could help facilitate the construction of a bridge to a post lockdown future, right across the continent, Subban adds. George Floyd's aunt and uncle speak to the press that the Court process of the case is slated to begin in March next year. The trial for the killing of African-American George Floyd during a brutal police operation in Minneapolis is scheduled to begin in March. The judge warned of measures to guarantee a fair trial. "Will there be a fair trial?" The main trial of four ex-policemen accused of killing the African-American George Floyd is scheduled to begin on March 8 next year, according to US media reports. Before that, there is to be a hearing on procedural issues on September 11, as Judge Peter Cahill ordered on Monday (local time). He also warned the parties that further public statements on the case may require a transfer of the trial to another venue in order to guarantee a fair trial, local television stations ABC5 and Kare11 reported. The main defendant Derek C. attended the hearing via video link from the prison, the other three were present in the courtroom, they further reported. They face long prison sentences. Two of the now released officers have been released on bail. The unarmed Floyd died on May 25 in the city of Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota in a brutal arrest. His death led to mass protests against police violence and racism throughout the country. Police officers had arrested Floyd on suspicion of paying with a counterfeit $20 bill. They pushed him to the ground in the street. White officer Derek C. pushed his knee into Floyd's neck for about eight minutes while the latter begged to let him breathe. According to the autopsy, Floyd lost consciousness and died on the spot. Up to 40 years in prison Derek C. is accused of, among other things, second-degree murder, which in Minnesota carries up to 40 years in prison. The remaining ex-cops are charged with aiding and abetting. One of them, Alexander K., pleaded not guilty and invoked the right to use proportionate force in self-defense, as a document submitted to the court showed. The lawyers of the other defendants did not yet comment on the accusations, as reported by the local media. The hearing, which lasted about one hour, was not broadcast on television. Access to the courtroom for journalists had also been restricted because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Francis Tawiah (Duisburg - Germany) Belgium's King Philippe has expressed his "deepest regrets" to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the abuses committed under Belgian colonial rule. It marks a first in Belgium's history, but the king stopped short of an apology. "I want to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past whose pain is reawakened today by the discrimination still present in our societies," Philippe said Tuesday in a letter to President Felix Tshisekedi on the 60th anniversary of DRC's independence. Historians say as many as 10 million Africans from areas in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo were killed, mutilated or died of disease as they worked on rubber plantations belonging to Belgium's King Leopold II, King Philippe's great-great grandfather. Photos show how colonial officials amputated and mutilated Congolese people, including children, as punishment. Without mentioning Leopold by name, Philippe said that during this period (from 1885-1908) "acts of violence and cruelty were committed which weigh on our collective memory. The king also referred to the colonial period after 1908 when, facing criticism from other colonial powers for his bloody rule, the Belgian government forced Leopold II to hand the Congo over to the state. A period that had "also caused suffering and humiliation he wrote. Dominique Migisha, an adviser to president Tshisekedi welcome the king's words which "showed times had well and truly changed", he tweeted. Recently Belgium's first black mayor, Congolese-born Pierre Kompany, said the country was due a reckoning with its colonial past and it should apologise. But as Gisele Kaj Adjeta, a journalist with the UN's Radio Okapi in DRC, tweeted "there was no apology for the atrocities committed by the king's ancestor". Push to remove Leopold II statues The recent death of George Floyd in police custody in the US and the Black Lives Matter protests that ensued has focused attention on Belgium's colonial past. Several statues of Leopold II, who ruled between 1865 and 1909, have been daubed with red paint in the towns of Ghent and Ostend or torn down by protesters in Brussels in recent weeks. A petition to have all the statues removed has gathered over 82,000 signatures. On Tuesday, the city of Ghent is to pull down a statue of Leopold to mark the 60th anniversary of Congolese independence. In his letter, King Philippe said he would combat all forms of racism and wanted to encourage reflection on the issue begun by the Belgian parliament so that our collective memory is pacified once and for all. However, his younger brother, Prince Laurent, recently defended his ancestor. I do not see how he could have made people there suffer, he said in an interview. He never went to the Congo himself. Prince Laurent went on to say that whenever he met African heads of state he always apologised for the actions of Europeans towards Africans in general. (with newswires) Iran has issued an arrest warrant for Donald Trump. The country accuses the US president and 30 other persons of murder and terrorist crimes. Interpol is also supposed to help. Iran has issued a warrant for the arrest of US President Donald Trump and 30 other persons not mentioned by name. After the killing of Iranian General Kassem Soleimani in January, they are accused of murder and terrorist crimes, according to the public prosecutor Ali Alkassimehr. This was reported by the "Redaktion-Netzwerk Deutschland" with reference to the Iranian state news agency "Irna". The international police authority Interpol has also been asked for help. Will this arrest warrant shake Trump It is true that the US president has no reason to fear arrest. But the case clearly shows the tense situation between Iran and the USA. According to the report, the Islamic Republic will continue to pursue criminal prosecution even after Trump's term of office ends. The decision to arrest him will be made by local authorities. They cannot be forced to make an arrest in the name of the country demanding it, according to international arrest warrants. However, the travel options of suspects could be restricted. In January, the USA killed General Ghassem Soleimani with a missile attack. This was followed by demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people in Iran. In a mass panic, numerous demonstrators died. In retaliation against the killing of Soleimani, the Iranians launched an attack on US soldiers in Iraq. Francis Tawiah (Duisburg - Germany) The Deputy General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party; Lawyer Nana Obiri Boahen has descended heavily on opposers of Military men deployed in the Volta Region. On Tuesday, 30th June 2020, the Electoral Commission of Ghana will begin the process of compiling a new register of voters, which the Commission will use for the 7th December 2020, presidential and parliamentary elections. Factions of Ghanaian citizens have been in strong aversion to the decision of the New Patriotic Party and the Electoral Commission to compile the new Voters register. The Volta Region of Ghana which has been a stronghold of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has, at the call of the NPP government, been besieged by military men at the Togo border ahead of the Compilation of the Voters' register to prevent the intrusion of foreigners from neighbouring countries. Several concerns have been raised by the opposition party, NDC and other reputable Ghanaians concerning the presence of the soldiers in the Volta Region. According to the NDC, the already existing restrictions concerning the COVID-19 pandemic has had its ravaging effects on people in the Region, and the presence of the military do not only exacerbates matters but also serves as a recipe to rig the December 7th general elections. Reacting to this in an interview on Monday on Dwenehobioma popular Political Show hosted by well-versed broadcaster, Nelson Kwadwo Asamoah aka KK on Accra-based Hot93.FM, Lawyer Obiri Boahen described the critics as stupid. According to him, those soldiers are present in the Region just like they are in several other parts of the country. The Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, who went on an insulting spree, after unapologetically describing the critics as stupid, injudicious and likening them to a mad man and a drunkard from a town called Abronye, condemned apparent ethnocentric politics going on in the country. Kindly listen to the full interview below. Source:HotfmGhana.com/Hot 93.9FM From Ghana Highways Authority to Bawku Municipal Assembly; from Zanamat to Mobile Filling station; from Ahmed Drugstore to Bawku Presbyterian Hospital; and from Traffic to St Anthony Primary/ Junior High School, the road network of the Municipality is an eyesore. We cannot have one of the ancient towns that have curved an excellent name in terms of producing the finest politicians to business tycoons; women with nobility to men with integrity and our roads including other social amenities to be in shambles. The era of party democracy has seen the Rawlings led administration working on the major roads of the region including the Bawku Municipality with the successive government including the New Patriotic Party also working on inter-community roads. One experience that we must reiterate is the classical role of Hajia Fati Seidu who used part of the share of the common funds to first work on the 'Kariyama road' a suburb of the Bawku Municipal township communities. This is a reference to settle the debate that, MPs are not only to go to parliament and make laws rather focusing on lobbying, influencing and take pragmatic initiatives to help in addressing some key socio-economic issues affecting their constituents. It is a known fact that, in 2004, count down to the elections, Hon. Mahama Ayariga and even in subsequent seasons have been taking initiatives to fix potholes. One will have thought as an MP, much would have been done to getting all the major roads of the town fixed. It is worrying to see a vibrant politician who is one of the standouts in Ghana's parliament neglects his responsibility as the peoples presentative. A section of road near Sunshine FM a few meters from the Bawku Municipal Police Station Let me spare space to school anybody who feels that an MPs mandates do not include socio-economic initiative. The answer to naive thinkers is simple. Examine the sources of funding or resources that are accrued to MPs. Our MPs owe us a lot rather than come after the peak of COVID- 19 to distribute, liquid soap, veronica buckets. Do you know every MP has an allocation for? Health Insurance Fund Get Fund Social Investment Fund Common Fund Our MP has three terms in Parliament and a constitutional benefactor to these allocations. What has he used all these statutory allocations for; we must begin to rethink that, political leadership must transit ethnic orientation and academic qualification and vote decisively on transformational, development-oriented and visionary leadership. This stretch is between A disco chop bar and the Bawku Municipal Assembly It is regrettably that Hon. Mahama Ayariga has occupied high profile government positions, including, a onetime spokesperson to the president of the Republic of Ghana (Late President. Professor John Evans Atta Mills), Minister of Information, Youth and Sport, and to Minister of Environment, Science and Technology. With all these opportunities to serving the good people of Ghana and Bawku, does one need to advise our vibrant scholar the need to prioritize his constituents? Hon. Ayariga has dented the image of the Opposition National Democratic Party (NDC) by forcing his way through to becoming the partys parliamentary candidate. The coup that led to his acclamation is a spat on the believes and traditions of the party. It is factual that Hon. Mahama Ayariga has not done much to deserve a fourth Team in parliament. The wanton neglects of the Bawku Township roads after many failed promises of Hon. Mahama Ayariga to fixing the road is enough grounds to show him the exit come 7th December, 2020. Let vote decisively to securing our future. Bawku Deserves better! Author; Tahiru Lukman Email: [email protected] Tel: +233(0) 209154057 / +233 (0) 551018778 Position; Youth Activist, Devt Consultant & Pan- African Author Residents of Sakumono Estates in Tema West, thronged registration centres on Tuesday to acquire Voter's Identification Cards. The mass voters' registration exercise, being conducted by the Electoral Commission which commenced Tuesday nationwide, witnessed anxious eligible residents queuing up to participate in the exercise. As earlier as 5am, before the start of the exercise at 7am, residents had converged at various centres and were spotted wearing their face masks and observing social distancing. An EC official, took turns to check their temperatures with thermometer guns and intermittently cautioned them to stay one metre apart. The aged had also turned up in their numbers to embark on the exercise, albeit the EC had designated their district offices to register them including persons with disability as well as those requiring special needs. Amidst Covid-19, Sakumono Estate, a middle class voter population, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) observed a high turn out at both registration centres - Holy Child Pre-school and the Sakumono School Complex. Some of the residents the GNA spoke to, expressed frustration at the slow pace of the exercise and questioned why it was not being conducted at all polling stations simultaneously. They said, with the number of registrations per day, it was unfeasible to register as many people as expected. Mr Aborik Jesse, Registration Office at the Holy Child Registration Centre, told the GNA that as off midday, only 50 persons had been duly registered and issued with cards. He said residents were cooperative and the exercise had been smooth. He called on prospective voters to exercise restraint as registration was being conducted in phases to enable as many eligible voters as possible to be captured. Meanwhile, registration at the Sakomono School Complex commenced as scheduled with dozens of prospective voters queuing to register. ---GNA Listen to article Just like the two previous episodes, this episode (Episode 3) is equally dedicated to Nana Tabono Bonsu III, Asantehenes Brempon of Asante Akyem Achiase in the Ashanti Region. It was a conversation with him that brought the topic to mind. Religion in the form of the church and Mosque on one hand and politics in the form of government or politicians have collaborated in diverse ways in Ghana over the years. Society has ultimately benefited from that collaborations good results in the area of social service delivery. Religious bodies have established many schools and health facilities across the nation. These educational and health institutions augment governments developmental and social service delivery efforts. There are numerous Christian and Islamic schools and health facilities in Ghana. The religious bodies equally contribute meaningfully to moral upbringing of the people. Such result-oriented collaborations are commendable. Incessant prayers for political leadership is another way in which religion supports politics in Ghana. However, some untoward exceptions abound in this collaboration. Some clergymen use the pulpit to preach partisan politics. Clergymen are revered because they occupy priestly offices and exercise authority therefrom. Advisedly therefore, they should eschew unnecessary partisan politics that has the tendency of disrupting the church. In Ghana, there are times that some segments of society are not happy about the results of collaboration between government and religious leaders. One such example is the divided societal opinion regarding the building of the National Cathedral by government. Many discerning Ghanaians objected vehemently to the idea. They think it is not a priority at the moment. They think the nation needs some physical solutions at the moment. They think government should rather use the funds to provide social amenities. They think that some communities lack good roads, potable water, electricity, hospitals and there are still some schools under trees so government should satisfy those needs. They think that there are homeless people on the streets who need help. They also think that God would prefer the saving of the lives of cancer and other patients to building a physical cathedral. Some people think that a national cathedral in a nation that is not fighting corruption with the desired commitment is not necessary. They equally think that the national cathedral cannot solve the galamsey problem that destroys our waters. They think that God is omnipresent so He does not reside only in a cathedral. They think that our hearts constitute the best cathedral for God. They think that the top notch clergy such as Archbishops Duncan-Wiiliams, Palmer-Buckle and other Rt. Reverends like Asante-Antwi are not giving the right religious counsels to the political leadership. I agree with those thoughts. Daniel, Joseph and Nehemiah Politicians in Ghana The Bible has vivid accounts of how Daniel, Joseph and Nehemiah occupied both religious and political positions and how they used those positions for the benefit of the people. They did not use their positions as men of God to divide the people just because they walked on the corridors of political power. For example, we can learn the following lessons from Daniels occupancy of political office. One must not compromise on acceptable moral values. God hears prayers from political offices, including the Osu Castle and the Jubilee House. He was a politician without a scandal Character is the determination to do things right and to do the right things He was a courageous and consistent politician. His political character was not influenced by vote-winning thoughts or to please his earthly master. Joseph also used his political office to store enough food that was used to feed the people in ancient Egypt and beyond during a famine. He acted with remarkable integrity, stayed positive and he was foresighted. Regarding Nehemiah, he was a transformational leader and development-centric. He exhibited humility, perseverance, sacrifice and was concerned about the plights of his Jewish people. He was a servant -leader with commendable communal spirit. He was also politically correct. In our Ghanaian society, Daniels and Josephs may be found in political positions but most people dislike them because they (Daniels and Josephs) do not condone corrupt practices. They are therefore removed from office or they are frustrated on the job. In some cases, they may be denied promotions and certain genuine benefits they are entitled to. Paradoxically, they become targets of victimization and vilification even within their own political parties. Apart from Daniel and Joseph politicians, Nehemiah politicians can also be found in Ghana. They build and do not destroy. They think proactively about the peoples welfare. They are focused, humble and act as unifiers. Societal transformation becomes their thirst to quench. The Nehemiah politicians make the communal needs more of a priority than their personal needs. Nehemiah Members of Parliament tend to develop their constituencies. They receive the skirt and blouse votes. The constituency may be the stronghold of the NPP or the NDC and they belong to the opposition party but they still win the election because of their communal and developmental personality and attitudes. Indeed, there are adequate political lessons to learn from Daniel, Joseph and Nehemiah. If it is so, why must some priestly officials in contemporary times rather act to divide the people from behind the pulpit just to please their political tradition of affiliation? Must the Glory be to God in priestly duties or to the pastors political master? Why are those pastors more concerned with a national cathedral project than human lives, which God expects us to save. Both the clergy and the politician wield power that influences society in so many ways. The pastor wields power from the pulpit and the politician derives power from the ballot box. Politics and religion influence each other. However, the pastors pulpit is sacred and must therefore be a unifier rather than a divider that preaches animosity and not peace. The pulpit must cohere various segments of society. Partisan politics must not be given way to classically condition the pulpit to speak divisive voices. The pulpit must support political governments in Ghana irrespective of the party that forms government. Politicians must be wary of the prophets who are into political prophetic war of predicting who wins election and who loses or who dies. It should not be lost on us however, that sometimes, politicians wear cassocks and control the pulpits. At other times, the non-ordained persons who are rather pastors by birth put on the political suits and run governmental affairs more positively. Anytime they do, they preach peace like the late Asomdweehene who did not victimize his political opponents. Even after Mills death, his political opponents admitted that he was tolerant to criticism. May the Lord God continue to comfort and reward his gentle soul. Stay alert for the final episode (Episode 4). ~Asante Sana ~ Author: Philip Afeti Korto Email: [email protected] A new strain of flu that surfaced in China has the probability to become a pandemic. The flu is carried by pigs that can be transmitted to humans. A strain of influenza emerged lately among pigs named G4 EA H1N1 identified by scientists. The strain is similar to 2009's swine flu. According to researchers, it needs vigilance even as the globe tackles to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control, reported Daily Star. This new type of flu results in respiratory illnesses and researchers indicate that it has the capacity to become the next prevalent pandemic upon mutation and transmission from person to person. Scientists have detected evidence of the flu spreading to people working in abattoirs and other Chinese swine facilities, according to Mirror. G4 EA H1N1 develops and multiplies in the human airway's cells. The world does not need a pandemic on top of a pandemic, indicated Science Magazine. The discovery has infectious disease researchers globally taking serious concern. The Chinese Academy of Sciences experts stated that pigs are a "key intermediate host" or "mixing vessel" for viruses that can be transmitted from wild animals to humans. The research team has been examining swine flu outbreaks in pig farms throughout China. According to infectious disease expert Doctor Dena Grayson, "Researchers warn of a new flu strain in China that is similar to the 2009 H1N1 swine and has the potential to become a pandemic. It primarily infects pigs but can infect humans. It's not an if, it is a when the next pandemic virus will emerge." Also Read: Can Salt Water Gargling and Nasal Rinsing Work as Coronavirus Cure? The new swine flu has "all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans," stated the scientists at Chinese universities and China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers sampled 30,000 nasal swabs from pigs from 2011 to 2018 in ten Chinese provinces and in a veterinary hospital. This allowed them to isolate 179 swine flu viruses. While it is not an immediate problem, scientists are dubious that the flu virus could mutate further and trigger a global outbreak. Professor Kin-Chow Chang and his colleagues said it needs close monitoring to control its transmission among pigs, they indicated in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" journal. People could have little or no immunity towards the flu virus as it is new which makes it more dangerous. It is genetically similar to Swine Flu. Current flu vaccines do not seem to provide immunization against the flu virus, however, they could be adapted serve the purpose. COVID-19 fatalities on a global scale have passed the 500,000 mark, with millions of confirmed cases since it first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. According to Robert Webster, an influenza investigator who recently retired from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, it is a "guessing game" as to whether the new strain will mutate to readily spread from person to person, which has not transpired yet. "We just do not know a pandemic is going to occur until the damn thing occurs." Related Article: Toilet Flushing Could Spread Coronavirus Through Aerosols All Over @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Electoral Commission (EC) has cautioned the citizenry against the use of violence in challenging the eligibility of registrants at the voter registration exercise. Mr. Benjamin Bano-Bio, Ashanti Regional Director of the Commission, said those who were in doubt of the eligibility of anyone to register should do so through the challenge form. "No one has the right to take the law into his or her own hands," he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Kumasi, saying the citizenry should not resort to violence in putting across their concerns. The EC commenced a nationwide voter registration exercise on Tuesday, June 30, to compile a new voters' register for this year's elections. In the Ashanti Region, the exercise is being conducted in the EC's designated 1,196 clusters, which had been carved out of the 5,890 polling stations. Mr. Bano-Bio said the exercise was being done in five phases and would end in August, saying it was important for all eligible Ghanaians to patronize it. He expressed satisfaction at the smooth manner in which registration was being done on the first day of the exercise. ---GNA The voter registration exercise is proceeding smoothly in the Ho Municipality. At the time the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the District Education Office Registration Centre l One, five cards have been issued as at 0835 hours with lots of people in the queue waiting to have their turn. Mr Edward Matsi, the Registration Officer told the GNA that the exercise was proceeding as expected and no challenge has been encountered. He said the machines were working effectively as expected and expressed the hope that no problem would be encountered as the day progresses so that the desired objective of the exercise would be attained. At the District Education Office Polling Station Two, 14 cards were issued as at 0845 with more people in the queue. Madam Josephine Emefa Yawa Dente, the Registration Officer, said the exercise has so far been encouraging with no problems. Mr Bright Huno and Mr Julius Anderson, the agents of the New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress, respectively described the exercise as smooth, adding that they were satisfied with the process so far. At the GBC Revenue Office Polling Station, a total of 19 cards have been issued as at 0920. Mr Nyadro George, the Registration Officer, told GNA that the exercise was so far peaceful and encouraging and urged the citizenry to come out to register. ---GNA Prospective registrants at the Local Authority School at Ho Leprosarium centre complained of the poor seating arrangement when the voter registration exercise started at 0700 hours on Tuesday. They claimed that as the exercise was being done in a school compound it was proper for the Electoral Commission to arrange with the School for seats to be made available. In all, 20 centres in batch one of phase one in the Ho Municipal have started the registration exercise in earnest and this is expected to run through 193 centres for the 30 day period. Ms Belinda Kwame-Dorvi, Registration Officer, said plans are afoot to remedy the seating arrangement as that would help ensure that the distancing protocols are observed. She said the Centre has all its set of registration logistics and is poised for action. At the centre, the Ghana News Agency observed the presence of health personnel, political representations and security, who are observing the exercise with about 30 people bidding their time in queue to have their turn, majority of them standing. A total of 12 people had been registered by 0850 hours. ---GNA Residents in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region have trooped early to registration centres for the National Identification Card registration. As early as 0500 hours, tens had gathered at the Ho SSNIT Flats, which hosts the SSNIT Flats Ho Ahoe number 1 registration centre. An official of the Electoral Commission told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the exercise begun at the required 0700 hours. Seven persons had been fully processed by 0740 hours. Madam Dorcas Akuaku, agent for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said she arrived as early as 0430 hours to observe the process. The Ho-Heve registration center also begun operations at 0700 hours, with people arriving also as early as 0500 hours. Both centres had nurse assistants on hand, with all the coronavirus preventive protocols including handwashing and sanitizing, social distancing, and temperature checks, being fully enforced. Security personnel were present as well as agents of major political parties. Mobile information centres could be heard entreating people to go out and register, whiles some political parties were also using information vans to rally eligible voters. The Ho cluster is made of 20 registration centers. ---GNA DR Congo hailed Belgium on Tuesday after its monarch, King Philippe, voiced his "deepest regrets" for the country's brutal colonial occupation, but some in the country demanded reparations for the past. In a letter to President Felix Tshisekedi on the nation's 60th anniversary of independence, Philippe expressed unprecedented sorrow for colonial acts that historians say led to the death of millions of Congolese. "I want to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past whose pain is reawakened today by the discrimination still present in our societies," Philippe said. "Acts of violence and cruelty were committed which weigh on our collective memory," he said. DR Congo Foreign Minister Marie Ntumba Nzeza, in statement to AFP, said the king's letter was "balm to the heart of the Congolese people. This is a step forward that will boost friendly relations between our nations." Tshisekedi, in a TV address on the eve of the anniversary, paid tribute to Belgium, where he lived in self-imposed exile before returning to run successfully in the 2018 elections. Philippe, he said, "is searching, just like me, to strengthen the ties between our two countries, without denying our common past, but with the goal of preparing a bright and harmonious future." In contrast, Lambert Mende, the former spokesman of Tshisekedi's predecessor, Joseph Kabila, said, "It's not enough to say, 'I feel regret.' "People should be willing to repair the damage in terms of investment and compensation with interest. That's what we expect from our Belgian partners." Herve Diakiese, spokesman of a citizen's movement called Congolais Debout (Congolese, Stand Up), said the monarch's letter was "a step in the right direction." "But this belated remorse can only be accepted after adequate reparations for these atrocities which enabled the personal enrichment of Leopold II and his friends," he said, referring to the former Belgian monarch who pillaged Congo from 1885 to 1908. "Belgium's mischief-making after independence on June 30 1960 to control the DRC's minerals should also feature among reparation issues," he said. Looted Congolese artefacts, too, should be returned, he added. Jean-Claude Katende, the president of Asadho, one of the oldest rights groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, called for a greater effort to identify provinces where colonial Belgium carried out its worst atrocities. "In Equateur (province), people were killed and others had their hands cut off," he said. Belgium is contemplating setting up a parliamentary commission to investigate its colonial rule, which also extended over Rwanda and Burundi. Listen to article Heinz Wohlfarth asked: "Which door to use?" "Which door to take?" asked George Fahnrich. "Which door to use?" asked Moshe Shalom. "Which door to take?" asked Seth Wooly. "Which door to use?" asked Linda Evans. They stood side by side in inner silence. Their eyes were wide opened, their minds confused. Silently did they ask themselves how possible to be standing at the place they were standing. They looked around, it was all quiet, no sound to be heard, no cry disturbing the peace of the moment. Each of them looked down on their shape to convince themselves of themselves. Yes, what each of them saw was the shape of a human body, but were they real bodies with flesh and blood, with brain and imagination, with moral values and dreams and hopes? They had their doubts pinching each other by their arms. They did not feel any pain, yet they were able to see each other in human shape, not ghost like style of humans once born and gone for good into heaven and hell. No, they stood side by side in human bodies, in their shapes. They looked around, then they turned around. Nothing but doors to be seen. Doors with no numbers, doors with no ending, doors endless as far as their eyes could see. And they stood in front of the doors. White all round, nothing had an end, only white all around. No sound to be heard, no heartbeat to be noticed; no whispering to blow like a quiet wind through their ranks. Time was nowhere to be seen. Loneliness among others lifted itself up in their minds. They saw each other next to one another yet having to stand still alone all by themselves. Everything did not feel right, not real, nothing possible to understand based on what they knew from their past; from down under, from under their feet. All in white he appeared, right of the invisible, the unknown. He looked at them carefully, one by one. He knew all of them down to their last bones, dust to dust, ashes to ashes seemed to be written over the newcomers. He on the other hands has a daily mission to fulfill, to welcome the newly visitors and see that more are about to arrive in due course. Standing tall with his iron rod in his right hand, he stepped forward. As the light was shining so bright around him, it was hard to see his physical shape, his appearance was it that made the newcomers scared and at the same time at ease feeling nothing serious would happen to them having reached at a point of never-ending bright white light. "My name is Mr. Ceremony, simple to remember," did he say in confident and quiet tone looking each into the eyes. He smiled tenderly knowing what was about to come and how they felt. He turned to the doors before them that were not fixed to any wall or any ground other than the white shining color. "These doors are many, in fact...they are endless as endless as they can possibly be. They are endless," Mr. Ceremony turned his face back to the newcomers and smiled with wisdom in his face, "as endless as souls are supposed to walk on earth. We always have more than enough just in case you people decide to be too fruitful and multiply too much as we originally did not plan for here. So, there is enough for all of you. Anyway," Mr. Ceremony turned his back to the newcomers facing the doors, "let me explain the situation here for you. You see these and many more doors lifted up standing on nothing...but down there at the left corner of each door you can see some shoes, a kind of house shoes I guess you would call it. These shoes as you can see are all the same in style and sizes...and the doors are all the same when you look at them with an innocent eye and overlook the details...indeed, open eyes can spot details and see they are different." He stepped closer to one of the doors that was the nearest to him. He looked down to the shoes put before that particular door. "Now you see these shoes, beautifully handcrafted, carefully selected...really well done to perfection...as regards of our concern. Anyway," he turned around again facing the newcomer feeling they were eager to take their next step after listening to his instructions, you will now decide to which door you want to go. You will look at the door you want to pass through, which room you want to enter and before you can do so you will put your feet into these shoes before the door as these shoes are the keeps to unlock the doors. When you pass the door and enter the rooms behind, the doors will automatically close and whatever will happen in that room is up to you. No one will say anything form our side here, no judgement given, no comments made. Listen now carefully...listen up...hear my final words." He paused for a few moments, than added: "When you have enough of a particular room, turn round, face the look, look at the door with all yourself and say the simple word `I have enough`. That moment the door will open, you will step out, put the shoes back to its original place, decide whether or not you would want to enter another door to look behind the closed curtains, do as you did with the first door and so on as many door as you pleases; or you go back to the place you are standing in right now and say `I have enough`, for us a sign that we know you very well and can focus on the once that need to know what is behind all these doors. Do you understand?" All agreed and nodded their heads. Mr. Ceremony disappeared into the unknown as fast as he had appeared. They looked at each other, who of them would dear to be the first and put his feet into one of the shoes, and most of all, which door to choose in the first place. Linda Evans stepped forward move straight to the door that was closest to her, not thinking which one to choose, just to give it a go and see what would happen. She took her own shoes off, places it at the side and put her feet into the shoes provided. She looked behind, saw her friends with wide-open eyes standing unmoved but inside their mind ready to go, knocked at the door, saw the door got opened but nothing behind the door to see, only bright white light. She made one, then two and finally step three after which the door closed behind her. She closed her eyes, tried to focus on herself, opened her eyes again. She stood in the middle of a most impressive living room, a room of the kind she had seen always in her dreams as an innocent child when playing with dolls in her mothers apartment, a simple place with few furniture and the smell of poverty hanging all over the place. Here she stood in the middle of a field full of flowers, so pink, so fresh, so beautiful. She looked around and around, she was spinning around on her feet not falling at all. She smelled the beauty, the flowers, the caring love that filled the atmosphere. Hospitality all over the room, nothing to miss, nothing more to desire for, everything provided. She stopped turning as he heard the deep voice of an old man approaching her. She looked into his tender eyes that smiled like the universe of stars would look at her. He asked what would please her, a ride on her pony, a walk with her dog, some sweets, a delicious cake baked this morning in the downstairs kitchen of the magnificent castle she called home or a freshly squeezed orange or mano juice. It did not take her too long to answer and she opted for the oven warm freshly baked cake with cream and lots of dark red cherries in it made by her favorite chef, Ms. Courtenay, a lady for sure that she loved so much. While James, the old butler was about to follow her instructions by the letter she walked over to the big glass window that lead out to a vast veranda and saw in the distance her pony grasping peacefully. Her dog, a German shepherd dog she had named Arthur as he had that kind of upper-class snobbish behavior that was surely crying out to be identified with the name Arthur. The sun was shining on this beautiful Sunday morning. In the background the church bells were ringing from the nearby church located in the heart of the village that was owned by the castles owner, old tradition from generations past. She knew it still was plenty of time before her parents would ask the chauffeur to pull up their old Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, two toned, the upper part in silver-gold while the lower part in a most impressive powerful red, the best car ever build, the best color combination ever chosen, as the church bells would always ring one hour before the service would start and the drive was only five minutes to take. Her parents were still on the upper flow of the castle, her father most certainly making phone calls with his Factory Managers in different countries around the world, while her mother would dress up and dress up never able to choose at first sight which dress and which accomplishing shoes and rings to wear. Most certainly she would complain that the wardrobe was empty, nothing suitable to wear and in the end smile about her good choice to look attractive once again. Her younger brother was storming into the room and shouted on her to come out as he had seen a bird with broken fathers just besides their doorsteps that needed their help. Leaving Butler James unattended to they rushed down to the scene. Butler James was not moved but carried the plates with the cake to the living room, placed it on the long Victorian table with well-placed inlays, not too many, not too shiny, just the right match to demonstrate the house and table owners were of old royal status knowing who they were no need to show off their wealth. They left the birds in the good and caring hands of Ms. Courtenay that took it to her room to nurture it with formula she had always stored away for the babies of guests. As it was her habit and wish Linda Evans sat behind in the church next to Josephine. Even her parents did not like her to mix with the underprivileged class, over time they gave in and allowed her to meet up with them. In fact, Josephine was her best friend playing with her as often as possible. Sometimes Josephine would ask her over to come and play in her small apartment and she loved to see her there always. Fred Walter looked to his right, looks to his left before stepping forward. His door was standing next to the one Linda Evans had gone through. He looked down to the shoes waiting for him. For a moment he hesitated to put his feet into them. He picked them up, checked them out from all sides whether this would not be a trick and draw him into misery. He was thinking, not moving. He was not easily to be convinced. He turned round and looked at his friends for advice. They advised him, he should not hesitate but put on the shoes, walk through the door, and see what will happen. He looked down to the shoes, put his feet into them and felt instantly how well they were fitting him, made for a man like him that was written all over his face. With confidence did he open the door, stepped in; the door closed behind him. He was standing in the middle of a humble living room, green plants everywhere where there was enough space to spare. The white painted furniture was old, the TV set new, flatscreen of the latest model, a dining table placed alongside the wall facing the two small windows that were half blinded by dust from the street. Artificial white orchid made in China was the only decoration on the table the family of four used for their meals and the three children doing their homework. His mother was single, divorced year back, no boy-friend insight, no support from her family, she worked hard for her money to give her children a better life. Her youngest daughter constantly claimed she would not be her mother as she would not deserve to be the daughter of such a mother born in low living standard. When her heart was hearing her daughter, the one that had come out of her own womb say that cruel comment that the small girl was so convinced off, she cried in her heart for the children not to see. At nights she would lay in her master sized bed all alone and cry over her situation and what her youngest child would think in her heart about her. While during the day she tried to be tough where she had to demonstrate strength and the loving caring mother whenever possible. She called Fred Walter to sit opposite her at the dining table knowing her daughters are safe outside in the small park playing with friends. Looking straight into his eyes she shared with him her thoughts. As much as his teachers wanted to promote him in class and school finally it would only lay on his shoulders to progress and make it. Knowing her education background, was she letting him understand, she would be unable to assist him in his moving ahead and up. But all she would be able to do for him that is what she would do and provide for. He looked at her with understanding mind. Why she mentioned all of a sudden that she is fed up with the calls for donating money to Africa, the children dying for nothing only because of lack of food and money, the unwillingness of all Charities around the world engaging in charitable work in those African countries to demand from their leaders accountability and right and correct performance of their duties as the lack of it was the cause of all the evil, was not known to him. She was outraged about her own government that gave her taxpayers money to support countries that have even more than her own country, made her mad. Africa rather, that is what she was more than convinced, should rule the waves of the world instead begging and begging for money while hiding mountains of cash in their bank accounts, the once of their leaders in foreign lands or in water containers on the roofs of their mansions like recently made public from one of the leaders in Nigeria. She stressed out to Fred Walter, she would not understand much about politics, but the little that she knew was enough to make her understand her own government should be taken to court and brought to justice for giving money to in the end destroy the African continent and keep it in poverty for good. He looked into her eyes with great surprise never having expected from her to think like that and to express herself that strongly. He was very proud of his mother that very moment, felt energized in his heart and soul, felt the spirit of fight in his mind. Listen to article The coalition of aggrieved customers of the collapsed banks says its members are resolved to register for the new voter ID card because they passionately want to vote out President Akufo-Addo. The angry members noted that governments refusal to pay their locked up funds has rendered them poorer with other adverse implications. At a press conference in Bolgatanga Tuesday, the group noted that if they are not paid in two weeks, they will besiege the Jubilee House. According to them, they have been disappointed in the Akufo-Addo governments handling of the financial sector cleanup. Many of our businesses have collapsed, we lost our loved ones who died from the shock and pain of losing their lifetime investments and savings, and many could not pay their medical bills for surgeries that could have otherwise saved their lives. A good number of us with underlying debilitating health conditions could not cope with the financial pressures associated with healthcare costs and many have lost their lives. Our wives have deserted us and have taken our children to other men because we could not properly take care of them and our marital responsibilities with dignity as fathers and husbands anymore. Most women among us are facing wretched lives as well, the group said in a statement. Below are details of the statement PRESS CONFERENCE BY COALITION OF AGGRIEVED CUSTOMERS OF COLLAPSED BANKS Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen from the Media, you are welcome to todays Press conference by the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Collapsed Banks. We thank you for making yourselves available at very short notice for this all important presser. Ladies and Gentlemen, you may recall that Government in 2017-2018 decided to undertake some reforms in the banking and financial services sector. Government through various press communiques assured us depositors that our monies would be safe and that we should not panic because the cardinal objective of the financial sector reforms was to clean-up the system and make banks and allied financial institutions stronger. Many of us who entrusted our money and lifetime savings in these banks and financial institutions held on to Governments promise that our monies would be safe. We never anticipated that Governments so-called clean-up of the banking and financial sector would take-down so many banks and financial institutions especially on the basis that Government itself indicated that it required between GHC 9 billion to GHC13 billion Cedis to solve the crises in the banking and financial sector. Considering that most of these banks that were taken down were indigenous banks, owned and operated by Ghanaians, we believe it was most cruel on the part of this and any Government to do this to its own people and turn around to advocate local content and private sector participation as the engine of economic growth. This also flies against governments own Ghana Beyond Aid agenda. After cruelly collapsing these banks and financial institutions, thereby rendering our children jobless, and denying our SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises) and Micro-businesses access to credit because these indigenous banks and locally owned financial institutions were and are the only source of financing for SMEs, Microbusinesses, traders etc. in the country. So in one stroke Government by collapsing local banks and financial institutions thus forcing the owners of these banks and financial institutions to lose their capital investments, has also collapsed many SMEs, Microbusinesses, and Ghanaian owned businesses who depended on these banks and financial institutions for financing and as a result many local businesses have folded up or wound their businesses for lack of credit financing and working capital finance to support and keep their businesses operating and afloat. The cumulative effect of Governments collapse of banking and financial institutions is that liquidity or circulation of money (i.e. flow of money) in the real sectors of the economy from which banks and financial institutions used to mobilise deposits and honour customer withdrawals has dried up. Worse still through this action Government has rendered us depositors impotent, useless and redundant. Many of our businesses have collapsed, we lost our loved ones who died from the shock and pain of losing their lifetime investments and savings, and many could not pay their medical bills for surgeries that could have otherwise saved their lives. A good number of us with underlying debilitating health conditions could not cope with the financial pressures associated with healthcare costs and many have lost their lives. Our wives have deserted us and have taken our children to other men because we could not properly take care of them and our marital responsibilities with dignity as fathers and husbands anymore. Most women among us are facing wretched lives as well. With these developments how can we wake up at night to go and queue and vote for a Government only for the Government to come into power and do this us? Today Government is saying it cannot pay us, so they have issued a 5-year bond for our locked up deposits (i.e. savings and investments). Five (5) years paper (IOU) ooh! With zero coupon rate, that is zero or no interest paid on our deposits and investments. We have to wait for the 5 years to receive our money (deposits, savings and investments) back! What sort of wickedness is this? How can you take someones money for 5 good years and say you would not add interest to the money? When many of us depositors agitated by refusing to wait for 5 years but want our money now, the Government tells us to take the 5-year bonds to CBG (Consolidated Bank of Ghana) who will discount the bonds by 50% of the face value amount of the bond and pay that to us immediately (now) whilst we forfeit or forgo the remaining 50% of the bond value which CBG will keep. So if you have Gh100,000 deposit locked up and converted into the 5-year bond and you want your money now and cannot wait for 5 years, CBG will discount and only pay you Gh50,000 and take away the remaining Gh50,000 of your money which you will forfeit and forever! God! This Government is not only wicked but they are recklessly cruel as well. How can you say we forfeit 50% of our own hard-earned money if we want our money now? If you dont have money to pay us now, where are you getting the money to pay for the discounted 50% at CBG? We want to use this medium to serve a two weeks ultimatum to Government, to initiate alternative plans to pay all depositors our monies as soon as possible! Certainly we cannot wait for 5 years to be short changed when the value of our deposits will lose value because no interest is accruing on it. We want Government to understand that we didnt force them to collapse any bank or financial institution, they took the decision on their own perhaps borne out of cruelty, witchcraft and greed; or better still grand deception! If after two weeks we dont receive any favourable revised payment plan from Government to refund and pay us all our monies, we shall besiege the Jubilee House and Occupy it till they pay us our money. We shall not leave the Jubilee House until every single one of us is paid. We have duly served our notice, may the officials who have ears listen. This is not a threat, we are not in normal times. If anyone attempts to mess with us, we will also mess with the person too. Ladies and gentlemen of the media, as a result of our disappointment, we are by this press conference here in Bolgatanga encouraging all our over 2500 members in Upper East and by extension, all depositors in the country who have their monies locked up in these collapsed banks, microfinance and savings and loans companies to defy the consequences of covid19 and join the queues, no matter the restrictions you may encounter, get registered to be able to vote against the government who have decided to make our lives miserable by withholding our hard earned money for God knows how long without any justified cause. Nobody should expect us, victims of this governments wickedness in the financial sector to turn around and praise the same government that have rendered our lives miserable. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media we thank you for honouring our invitation. Please carry our message across to reach them. We are serious; we mean what we say! Thank you, God bless you and may he bless our homeland Ghana. The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has lamented the inadequacy of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline health personnel leading the countrys fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The association, wants the government to expeditiously find solutions towards supplying the PPE to health facilities across the country to reduce the rate of infections among health personnel. Health professionals continue to face huge challenges accessing the appropriate PPE for their work. This has contributed significantly to large numbers of health professionals getting infected in the line of duty. The GMA calls on the government to as a matter of priority and urgency, provide the needed PPE's (both in quality and quantity) at all times to address the recurrent inadequacy of PPE at health facilities. Any supply chain challenges should also be addressed with immediate effect, a statement from the GMA noted. GMA has also raised concerns over what it believes is the inadequacy of essential medication needed to manage the country's Coronavirus cases and demands that the periodic shortages of the needed drugs for case management should be addressed with immediate effect. This is not the first time the Association has decried the distribution of PPE to health facilities although the government has assured of significant domestic production and supply of protective equipment to health workers as they wage war on COVID-19. The group says, it is faced with an all-time high challenge of inadequate PPE and wants a proper mode of distribution so it members do not endanger their lives. Some medical doctors and other health practitioners have tested positive for COVID-19 in line with duty. Meanwhile, GMA has asked for the institution of stringent measures to curtail the increase in cases due to the high communal spread. Currently, Ghana has recorded 17,741 Coronavirus cases as of Tuesday, June 30, 2020. The total number of recoveries and deaths is pegged at 13,268 and 112 respectively. ---citinewsroom The NPP Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, K.T. Hammond says some media houses deliberately misreported his comments on the deployment of soldiers to parts of the country. He feels they were trying to cause him extraordinary political and social disaffection with Ghanaians from the Volta Region. This is a deliberate, malicious, shameless twist of my responses with the sole purpose if causing me extraordinary political and social disaffection with Ghanaians from the Volta Region, he said in a statement. The Adansi Asokwa lawmaker has been taken on by some members of the public over what they say are his unsavoury comments about the people of Togo and their relationship with residents in the Volta Region. But Mr. Hammond reminded that he is old enough to know Ghanas history and knows the implications of making such comments. It is clear beyond argument that in my responses in the interview, at no point in the 4-minute segment did I suggest, let alone state, that Ghanaians from the Volta Region were not Ghanaians. He further said he has taken steps to report the said media houses to the National Media Commission. In the meanwhile, I call on the general public to disregard the twists to my responses and also to disregard the suggestions that my responses amount to the facts behind the states action, he added. Meanwhile, on the same deployment of issues, the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, on Monday, June 29, 2020, said the security personnel are to protect the countrys borders. The longstanding deployment of security personnel, especially the military, along our borders is another dimension of this process of guaranteeing the peace of the nation. To shore up our borders against such attacks, and to defend our nation's territorial integrity, the Armed Forces, at least since I came into office, have been very proactive in engaging in operations to secure our borders and foil any potential terror attacks on our soil. Deployments of soldiers in areas along our borders have been regular, and residents living in border towns will bear testimony to this, he said. citinewsroom Sahel countries and their ally France on Tuesday vowed to press ahead with a tactical shift in their campaign against an eight-year-old jihadist insurgency, saying the change had notched up substantial gains although major challenges also remain. After a summit in the Mauritanian capital Noukchott to review the new strategy at the six-month mark, French President Emmanuel Macron said there had been "spectacular results." "We are convinced that victory is possible in the Sahel, and that it is decisive for stability in Africa and Europe," he said. "We are in the process of finding the right path thanks to the efforts that have been made over these last six months." The one-day summit gathered the presidents of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, as well as their former colonial ruler France. It was called to take stock of a more aggressive approach, driven by a string of setbacks last year crowned by the loss of 13 French soldiers in a helicopter crash. Under the change, France deployed an extra 500 troops to its Barkhane anti-jihad force in the Sahel, bringing its complement to 5,100. Since then, the jihadists have continued to carry out attacks almost daily, but they also lost a key leader to a French raid and are fighting internally, according to security sources. Coalition forces have focussed on the "three-border region," a hotspot of jihadism where the frontiers of Burkina, Niger and Mali converge. "Areas have been taken back from the terrorist groups (and) the armies have redeployed," said Macron, adding that the tactics "have shifted the dynamic." "We now have to consolidate this dynamic and strengthen it... The ground that we have recovered will not be given back," he warned. In contrast, summit host President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani of Mauritania earlier sounded a more cautious note, saying there had been "significant progress" but this was "insufficient in the face of the mounting challanges that we have to meet." "Violent extremism in all its forms continues to hit several zones... and is expanding in a worrying manner," he said. Tactical shift The insurgency kicked off in northern Mali in 2012, during a rebellion by Tuareg separatists that was later overtaken by the jihadists. Despite thousands of UN and French troops, the conflict spread to central Mali, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, stirring feuds between ethnic groups and triggering fears for states further south. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and the economies of the three countries, already among the poorest in the world, have been grievously damaged. Macron arrived for a round trip from Europe for the summit, with representatives from the UN, African Union and European Union in attendance. The leaders of Spain, Germany and Italy also joined, by video link or in person. The meeting marked the first time that Sahel allies had gathered physically since the start of the coronavirus crisis. UN, African and French forces in the G5 Sahel region, as of June 2020. By (AFP) The campaign in the three-border region is targeting an Islamic State-affiliated group led by Abou Walid al-Sahraoui. On June 5, French forces in northern Mali, helped by a US drone, killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the notorious head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). And in a new development, jihadists respectively linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have clashed several times since the start of the year in Mali and Burkina Faso, after long steering clear of one another, according to security experts. Troubled region Despite this, problems in the Sahel run deep. Local armies are poorly equipped and under-funded and in some areas, essential services and the presence of government have evaporated. Rights group say troops are to blame for hundreds of killings and other abuses of civilians -- a concern that the summit addressed by warning of "exemplary punishment" if such cases are confirmed. General Oumarou Namata Gazama, head of the G5 Sahel force. The five-nation scheme has encountered many problems, from funding and equipment to training and coordination. By MICHELE CATTANI (AFP/File) Staunch French ally Chad has yet to fulfil a promise to send troops to the three-border region, and a much-trumpeted initiative to create a joint 5,000-man G5 Sahel force is making poor progress. In Mali, anger at insecurity has fuelled discontent over coronavirus restrictions and the outcome of elections, creating a political crisis for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Both Burkina and Niger are due to hold presidential elections by year's end, fuelling concerns about the outcome. On Monday, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the 13,000-troop MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali for another year, to June 30 2021. The next summit of the Sahel allies was set for early 2021. The drug that Gilead Sciences Inc. produced, remdesivir, would cost approximately $3,120 for a typical patient of the coronavirus. Accessible price tag On Monday, the company revealed its pricing of the drug as it begins to take payments for the drug starting July after weeks of donating it to hospitals, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Since the drug's authorization for emergency use last May, the United States has been distributing remdesivir that Gilead had donated to fight off the coronavirus pandemic. The drugmaker plans to charge a much higher price for the drug to most patients in the US and at a lower cost to the rest of the world as governments continue to negotiate prices. While Gilead will distribute the lower price tag to a few US government agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, this would not be delivered to programs like Medicare and Medicaid who do not purchase medicine directly, said one spokesman for Gilead. The US government would be paying $390 per dose of the drug, or $2,340 for a patient who undergoes the shortest treatment course, and up to $4,290 for the longer treatment course. Gilead stated it would charge non-government US buyers, including hospitals approximately $520 per dose of the drug, nearly 33% more of the price provided to governments for patients who possess commercial insurance. The cost would end up at around $3,120 for the shorter treatment course and up to $5,720 for the longer treatment course. Also Read: Heart Disease Cure Finally Found? Single Shot Heals Monkeys in Medical Experiment According to CNN, remdesivir is administered through infusions and is the only drug that the United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for emergency use against the coronavirus infection. The donations of the drug handed out by Gilead had been distributed by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) along with several states. The last shipments of the donations, however, have just run out. Wide distribution Gilead Sciences chairman and CEO, Daniel O'Day, said the company aimed to bring the drug to as many patients as possible, and in the shortest time, they are able in the most responsible way. Their objective has been the focal point of their efforts in finding ways to produce a drug that could be used against the pandemic. O'Day added that the company's price would make it accessible to all patients if government programs are in place. The CEO noted that Gilead is working with the US HHS, who will monitor the distribution of the drug across the country. On Monday in an appearance on "Good Morning America," Alex Azar, the secretary of HHS, announced the agreement with Gilead. Azar also told reporters that United States President Donald Trump had gathered half a million remdesivir treatment courses that would last until September. The secretary noted that with remdesivir, patients who are hospitalized due to the coronavirus could be discharged earlier by approximately one-third of the usual time. Azar also said that the drugmaker is ensuring that the hospitals that most need the drug are given enough supplies. Related Article: Fauci Says Herd Immunity Against COVID-19 May Not be Achieved Even With Vaccine Due to Anti-Vaxxers @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Tiktok India will meet government stakeholders to respond and submit clarifications after the Indian government banned the social media app and other 58 apps due to concerns over data security and privacy. In a statement, the company said, Tiktok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under India law and has not shared any information of users under India law with any foreign government, including Chinese government. ALSO READ: These are the best alternatives to the popular Chinese apps banned in India Further, if we requested to in the future we would not do so. We place highest importance on user privacy and integrity, the statement added. The Ministry of Information Technology, on June 29, banned 59 mobile apps, saying they are engaged in activities which are "prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. However this is not the first time Tiktok has been banned. It was suspended for a short period in April 2019 due to concerns over inappropriate content available and hence "dangerous for children". The ban was released later by the Madras High court. India is one of the largest and fastest growing market for Tiktok. According to reports, the app has been downloaded 323 million times about 40 percent of the global aggregate and it has nearly 120 million daily active users. The short video app is available in 14 languages and enjoys popularity among young adults and those in early 20s. Crude oil futures declined to Rs 2,960 per barrel on June 30 as participants increased their short positions. Prices slipped after weak Japanese industrial production data and resurgence of coronavirus cases in the US renewed concerns that restrictions may be put in place again limiting demand revival. In the futures market, crude oil for July delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 2,993 and an intraday low of Rs 2,956 per barrel on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, black gold has touched a low of Rs 1,655 and a high of Rs 3,153. Crude oil delivery for July slipped Rs 40, or 1.33 percent, to Rs 2,960 per barrel at 15:19 hours IST on a business turnover of 4,499 lots. The same for August delivery edged lower by Rs 39, or 1.29 percent, to Rs 2,986 per barrel on a business volume of 139 lots. The value of July and August contracts traded so far is Rs 1,104.68 crore and Rs 3.54 crore, respectively. Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities, expects oil prices to trade sideways to down for the day with support at $36 and resistance at $42. "MCX July Crude Oil futures has support at Rs 2,890 with resistance at Rs 3,010." West Texas Intermediate crude declined 1.56 percent at $39.08 per barrel, while Brent crude, the London-based international benchmark, was down 1.34 percent to $41.29 per barrel. The Commodity Participants Association of India (CPAI) has sought a nine-month extension to the move to collect stamp duty through common agencies like stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories. The move comes into force from July 1. The proposal to centralise stamp-duty collection through exchanges and depositories was made in the February 2019 Budget and the notification with final guidelines was issued on December 10. CPAI National President Narinder Wadhwa, in his letter to the Finance Ministry in the second week of June, said that since a majority of staff is working from work from home, and stock exchanges have only recently extended the timeline for compliance with regulatory requirement, an extension till March 1, 2021, was required. Till now, stamp duty on stock market transactions has been a state subject. Currently, there is a 0.2 percent stamp duty on every trade. However, Gujarat has recently implemented zero levy of stamp duty on stock exchange members who shift their offices to Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). This has led to a stampede of stock exchange members shifting their offices from many states like Telangana, Delhi, and West Bengal. The GST collection of these states will be hit since under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) rules, the exchanges will raise IGST invoices on the registered offices of the stock exchange members, which will now be in Gujarat, an official from a broking firm told Moneycontrol. The proposed system will increase the cost of mutual funds as stamp duty will be levied even on debt schemes and exchange-traded funds. The new regime also takes away the cap on stamp duty from brokers that some states have introduced. Wadhwas letter also said that members are apprehensive that the cost of transaction would go up substantially with the new rates and there is a liquidity crunch in the market. Even though relief has been provided to all sections through simpler and lower taxes, the stock market continues to be burdened by non-movable taxes like STT, CTT, stamp duty and capital gains Tax. Even off-market transactions and transactions between relatives will now be taxed, making demat transactions very cumbersome. In the midst of COVID-19, people will have to give small cheques for stamp duty on off-market transfers to their depository participants, brokers argue. business 3 Point Analysis | India bans 59 Chinese apps: Is this the end of road? Moneycontrol's Sakshi Batra does a 3 Point Analysis to understand the reasons behind banning of these apps and what will be the impact of this on Indian users. The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) on June 30 assured pharmaceutical industry executives about taking up the matter related to Chinese pharma raw materials and medical supply shipments getting stuck at customs at various ports due to the latest standoff between Indian and China at Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. "The clearance of the stocks by customs has begun, and would take about four days for the whole thing to be cleared," said Dinesh Dua, Chairman of Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) the agency under Department of Commerce for promotion of pharmaceutical exports and CEO of Nectar Lifesciences. Dua said Pharmexcil has been in touch with the Ministry of Finance, and other departments and apprised the situation arising out of the stocks getting stuck at ports. India and China have witnessed a dip in their bilateral ties, including trade relations, following death of 20 Indian soliders in a clash with Chinese People's Liberation Army at LAC in Galwan, Ladakh. On June 29, India banned 59 mobile apps of Chinese companies citing threat to country's "sovereignty and security". COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show But industry experts said it is not easy to replicate such bans on other areas such as pharmaceuticals. Imported raw materials such as intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from China are integral components in India's drug supply chain. Also Read | No shortage of dexamethasone in India, Chinese raw materials remain key In FY19, India imported about $4.5 billion worth of drug raw materials from China. This equates to about 70-80 percent of our requirement. For drugs like penicillins, hormonal pills and essential vitamins, among others, India completely relies on China. Much of our medical devices such as ventilators, thermometers, BP monitors, stethoscopes, pulse-oximeters so are made in China. Mahesh Doshi, National President of Indian Drugs Manufacturers Association (IDMA) told Moneycontrol that it will take years for the industry to be self-sufficient on APIs and intermediates, until then we will have to rely on Chinese raw materials. He believes that Indian government understands this. Indian pharmaceutical companies warned that delay in clearance of their stocks could lead to shortages of medicines at time when India is fighting COVID-19 pandemic. For instance it was reported that imports from pharmaceutical major Mylan, containing raw materials for antiviral drugs Remdesivir and Favipiravir used for treating COVID-19 patients, have been stalled at Mumbai air cargo for five days. "We have all (pharma companies) suffered, when Wuhan and Hubei province was shutdown due to Coronavirus outbreak, hitting supply of raw materials," said Yugal Sikri, Managing Director, RPG Life Sciences. Wuhan - the epicentre of the novel Coronavirus outbreak is located in Hubei province, a major pharmaceutical manufacuturing hub in China. "Some companies who may have a buffer of 2-3 months inventory of intermediates and APIs may manage the situation, but most others it is concerning," Sikri said. "India is majorly dependent on China for critical care and high-quality medical equipment along with COVID supply. A lot of COVID and non-covid essential equipment come from China for the Indian market," said Vivek Tiwari, co-founder and CEO of Medikabazaar, India's largest business-to-business (B2B) online marketplace for medical devices. "The masks like N95 and KN95 get imported from China along with lifesaving equipment like ventilators and since shipments from China are laying at ports due to delay in clearances and medical supplies imports are getting affected by the same. The non-availability of resources when the country is aggressively forming policies to fight the pandemic, will act as a deterrent in the fight against COVID-19," Tiwari added. Follow our coverage of the coronavirus crisis live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Two more board members have quit Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank ahead of their terms. Major differences between some shareholders and them has been cited as a cause, according to multiple sources. On Tuesday, K.N. Murali, Independent Director and G. Venkatanarayanan, Additional Director resigned from the Board of the Bank with effect from June 29, 2020 citing personal reasons. Murli joined the bank nearly 1.5 years ago while Venkatanarayanan joined only a few months ago. According to two people familiar with the development, these resignations are due to differences among board members on policies. When people begin to act as a faction within the board, it is natural that such events happen, said one of the persons quoted above. On Monday, Sajeev Krishnan, part-time Chairman and independent director of Dhanlaxmi Bank, resigned citing personal reasons, the bank said in a communique to exchanges. His resignation will be with effect from June 29. Krishnan too resigned from the bank ahead of his term on account of differences with the management and some board members. He had joined the Kerala-headquartered bank as part-time Chairman in February 2018 for a period of three years. It appears that he didnt want to continue on account of some differences with the management, said an industry official on condition of anonymity. Krishnan has been with the State Bank group since 1977. He handled large credits and projects and internal audit at State Bank of India (SBI) in the Republic of Maldives from 1998 to 1999. In 2004, he was promoted as a Deputy General Manager and deputed to State Bank of Indore to head the integrated treasury and risk management departments. Last week, Dhanlaxmi Bank reported a 90.5 percent decline in net profit at Rs 2.6 crore for the January-March quarter, hit by higher provisions for bad loans and contingencies. In the year ago quarter, the bank posted a profit of Rs 27.61 crore. Last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took the lender out of prompt corrective action (PCA), subject to certain conditions and continuous monitoring, after the regulator noted improvement in the banks financials. Dhanlaxmi Banks shares ended the day at Rs 14.55, down 2 percent on the BSE. China's state-run newspaper Global Times has estimated a 50 percent hit on trade volumes with India as a result of the two countries' bitter, unending standoff in the Eastern Ladakh's Galwan valley, coupled with challenges posed by coronavirus pandemic. Put in numbers, this translates to as much as $46.35 billion, or over Rs 3.42 lakh crore, of business loss at current prices if we go by 2019 trade data released by General Administration of Customs of China measuring trade volumes between the two countries at $92.84 billion. The report in the daily blames Indian nationalism for the loss of business for both the countries apart from the coronavirus pandemic. It says, "Following the recent deadly border clash between China and India, increased nationalism has been instigated among Indian citizens by certain politicians and media in India. In addition to a campaign to boycott Chinese products among Indian residents, the country's ports have reportedly put extra customs checks on cargoes from China since June 22, including massive components and parts needed by India-based producers, as well as products of Apple, Cisco and Dell." "Under such circumstances, bilateral trade between China and India is likely to drop one third on a yearly basis in 2020, and could even dive by 50 percent," the report adds. The report goes on to state that investors should be careful before investing in India, "With rapidly rising uncertainties in bilateral relations, China's investments in India deserve increased comprehensive reassessment and Chinese investors should be fully cautious toward the risk of the expanding nationalism in India." To put it in perspective, China is Indias one of the leading trade partners and constitutes 9 percent of Indias total export and 18 percent of total merchandise imports. The import dependency on China for a range of raw materials (APIs, basic chemicals, agro-intermediates) and critical components (Auto, Durables, Capital goods) is skewed. To give a flavour, out of the respective imports, 20 percent of the auto components and 70 percent of electronic components come from China. Similarly, 45 percent of consumer durables, 70 percent of APIs and 40 percent of leather goods imported are from China. You can read about India's import dependence on China in this analysis from our research team: How dependent is India on China? Here is what trade data reveals Border tensions escalated between India and China when the Chinese army laid claim over Indian territory in the Galwan valley after an incursion. Lately, China has put forth a proposal where it has asked Indian forces to step back if India wants China to retreat - a demand which India has termed untenable. Amid border tensions, the Centre on Monday night banned 59 Chinese apps saying they are engaged in activities which are "prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". India's top gas importer Petronet LNG will soon finalise a deal to import at least 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas with prices near the spot markets, its chief executive Prabhat Singh said on Tuesday. India wants to raise the share of natural gas in its energy mix from to 15 percent by 2030 from 6.2 percent now and is seeking affordable gas for its price-sensitive customers. "We are now in a position to come to a stage where very quickly we will be coming to nation with virtually spot pricing for a long-term deal," Singh told a news conference. Earlier this year, Petronet invited bids to buy 1 mtpa of LNG for 10 years with pricing linked to Henry Hub natural gas futures in the United States and Dutch TTF gas futures and shipped on a delivered ex-ship basis. Singh said Petronet has received 13 offers and would soon finalise the deal, but did not give a specific time. LNG prices under Petronet's current long-term deals cost about $3.5-$4.5/million British thermal units (mmBtu) compared to a spot price of about $2/mmBtu, Singh said. Petronet has a deal to buy 7.5 mtpa of LNG from Qatar and 1.44 mtpa from Exxon Mobil Corp's Gorgon project in Australia. Petronet declared force majeure in March for supplies under long-term deals when a nationwide lockdown to contain COVID-19 reduced demand. Petronet's head of finance V.K. Mishra said Qatargas and Exxon objected to the force majeure, which waives contractual obligations. Petronet invoked the clause on eight LNG cargoes from Qatar and one from Exxon for loading from March to May, Mishra said. "We are trying to convince them and hopefully we will work out a solution because as per contract this is admissible," Mishra said. Qatargas did not immediately reply to emails from Reuters requesting comment. Exxon said in an email it did not comment "on the details of commercial matters". Mishra and Singh also said Petronet was in talks with Qatargas to renegotiate gas pricing under its long-term deals as spot prices have declined. Foreign investors who were net sellers in 8 out of the last 12 months have reduced stake in over 250 companies in the 4 quarters of the past year. Although on an overall basis, FIIs were net buyers with little over Rs 5,000 crore, data from AceEquity showed. Foreign investors' selling decisions could be based on valuations, corporate governance issues, fall in demand, or just profit-taking. Many of the stocks in which FIIs have pulled down their stake are from financials, pharma, capital goods, tourism, and infrastructure companies. There are as many as 254 companies in which FIIs have reduced their stake, including Sun Pharma, Dabur India, Cipla, HCL Technologies and Jubilant FoodWorks. Out of 254 companies, 93 have fallen more than 50 percent in the last one year. These include PC Jeweller, Future Retail, Sadbhav Engineering, Cox & Kings, Manpasand Beverages, Magma Fincorp, and Dewan Housing Finance. 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 FIIs reduce stakes for many reasons like stretched valuations, bad corporate governance, increasing competition etc. As you pointed out FIIs have reduced stake in many bluechip companies like Jubilant FoodWorks, Nestle India, Alembic Pharma, Cipla, Dabur, Atish Matlawala, Sr Analyst, SSJ Finance & Securities told Moneycontrol. We believe FIIs have sold these companies purely on the basis of valuations and would buy again when valuations become attractive. There are also few companies in the list where the standard of corporate governance is way below par so that could be the reason why FIIs exited the stocks, he said. On Monday, at least 20 residents were killed, and several dozen others were injured after mortar shells struck a congested livestock market in the southern part of Afghanistan. The horrific attack is one that both the government and the Taliban are blaming each other for being responsible. Civilian casualties According to The New York Times, civilians living in the district of Sangin located in the province of Helmand stated the three mortar shells hit the area just as a crowd of almost 500 people and several hundred animals. Local elders also said that the Second Brigade of the Afghan Army was responsible for firing the projectiles while having a base of operations located in the southwestern part of the district. One civilian present at the scene of the incident, Saifullah Khan, said he observed the mixing of human and animal flesh. Khan noted he saw 25 people dying on the spot and that ten others died after receiving severe injuries. The civilian also said that while the Taliban group had previously launched rockets to attack the army base the day before, the morning of Monday was relatively peaceful and there were no signs of fighting before the start of the bazaar. Footage from the clinic of the district showed groups of people carrying victims of the assault with blood lining the floor of the compound while the sounds of children crying could be heard. The dead bodies of animals could be found lying still next to accessories sold in the bazaar, as reported by 24NewsOrder. A medical charity, Emergency that operates a first-aid post located in Sangin stated a part of their facility was also affected by the mortal strikes but continued their efforts to treat those who were injured. A program coordinator for the charity, Marco Puntin, said they had received thirty of the wounded at the Sangin First Aid Post, seven of whom sadly lost their lives before arriving due to the injuries they received in the explosions. Also Read: President Trump Says Russian Bounty on US Troops is Not True, Dares Newspaper to Reveal Its Source Throwing accusations While the Afghan government denied that its forces were responsible for the attack, the Helmand provincial governor's office estimated the death toll to be 23 and announced that the Taliban group have previously attempted to attack military bases, have misfired their mortars which landed on civilians. A spokesman for the governor, Omar Zwak, said that their military did not launch any artillery projectiles. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani's office wrote in a statement condemning the assault and considered it a terrorist attack. Sediq Sediqqi, the president's spokesman, accused the Taliban group of being responsible for the mortar strikes, as reported by The Daily James Online. Amid the growing intensity of violence in Afghanistan, there is little to no accountability for civilian deaths. Most attacks are unclaimed while other bloody events lead to both sides accusing each other of being responsible while moving forward to more violence. Rarely would investigations looking into the source of airstrikes or mortar attacks result in answers being made public. Frequent assassinations and targeted killing have further diminished opportunities for activists and human rights workers to demand answers on incidents that lead to civilian injuries or fatalities. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, accused the Afghan military of the Monday assault and said the government diverted the citizen's attention by framing their group using a car bomb as a premise. Related Article: Russian Spy Unit Allegedly Paid Bounties to Taliban to Lethally Attack US Soldiers in Afghanistan @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. India Gold August Futures rose on June 30 tracking positive strength in international spot prices as fears over rising coronavirus cases around the world boosted demand for the safe-haven metal. Bullion, with more than 12 percent gain, is on track for its best quarter since January-March 2016. Gold was also headed for its third straight monthly gain, said a Reuters report. On the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), August gold contracts were trading higher by 0.07 percent at Rs 48,280 per 10 gram at 09:20 hours. July futures for silver were trading 0.55 percent higher at Rs 48,390 per kg. Gold and silver prices settled on a flattish note on Monday. The Spot Gold settled at $1,781.20 per troy ounce and silver settled at $18.06 per troy ounce with minor gains in the international market. Due to strength in rupee both the precious metals were settled on a slightly weaker note in the domestic market. Gold settled around Rs 48,250 and silver also slipped below Rs 49,000 levels. Gold & Silver Rates Yesterday Gold Rate in Mumbai Yesterday 10g of 24K gold in Mumbai 47,220 47,220 10g of 22K gold in Mumbai 46,220 46,220 View more Silver Rate in Mumbai Yesterday 10g silver in Mumbai 740 740 1kg silver in Mumbai 74,000 74,000 View more Show We expect both the precious metals remain firm due to global uncertainty amid rising coronavirus cases, geo-political tensions and volatility in global equities. Gold is expected to hold support levels of $1,766/Rs 47,920, if prices sustain above $1,788/Rs 48,330 could extend the gains towards $1,800-1,814 per troy ounce /Rs 48,500-48,700 levels, Manoj Jain, Director (Head - Commodity & Currency Research) at Prithvi Finmart Pvt Ltd told Moneycontrol. Buy on dip strategy will work for both the precious metals. Silver prices also expected to hold $17.70 per troy ounce /Rs 48,100 levels. If prices sustain above $18.10/Rs 49,100, it could extend the gains towards $18.24-18.40 per troy ounce /Rs 49,500-49,950 levels, he said. Track live gold price here Trading Strategy Expert: Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities International gold and silver ended with small gains on Monday supported by a safe-haven appeal for the metal. Technically, MCX Gold August contract traded in a narrow range where it closes above Rs 48,250 levels indicating to trade on sideways to bullish momentum upto Rs 48,550-48,760 levels. Support is placed on Rs 48,000-47,700 levels. MCX Silver September traded in Rs 48,720-49,584 levels range where it has bounced from Rs 48,720 levels and closed on some negative note. Still, downside momentum to continue and prices can trade in a range of Rs 48,500-49,740 levels. Expert: Ravindra Rao, VP- Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities COMEX gold trades in a narrow range above $1,780/oz as support from rising virus cases, robust investor buying, choppy US dollar and increased US-China tensions is countered by gains in the US equity market and some upbeat economic data from US and China. Gold may continue to witness choppy trade as virus risks are assessed and as price remains below the pivotal $1,800/oz level, however, the general bias may be on the upside due to persisting worries about the health of global economies. Expert: Hareesh V, Head Commodity Research at Geojit Financial Services. Demand for safe assets amid concerns over rising new coronavirus cases across the world continue to support the bullish outlook of gold. Increased geopolitical tensions and a weak dollar also lifted the sentiments. However, investors may take a cautious note ahead of the key US economic releases scheduled this week. Technical Outlook (London spot): Expect rallies to continue as long as prices stay above $1710. However, strong resistance is seen at $1,780 followed by $1,800 levels. The immediate downside reversal point is $1,664. : The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. The coronavirus pandemic has been a black swan and the response of markets, its participants, and global central banks has turned it into a VUCA--Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous--situation, Vinay Paharia, Chief Investment Officer of Union Asset Management Company Private Limited, tells Moneycontrols Kshitij Anand in an interview. Edited excerpts: Q) The International Monetary Funds global outlook is slightly worrying but is not something that is not known to markets. We saw some knee-jerk reaction in equities across the globe and India was no exception amid rising cases of COVID-19. Do you think these factors will cap the upside for Indian markets? A) The IMF's economic outlook revision is in line with that of many other institutions that have released their recent forecasts for Indias economy. According to our internal estimates, the fair value of Nifty50 companies has fallen by about 10 percent due to the impact of the ongoing pandemic. Q) What is that one word you will use to describe the first six months of 2020? Q) Where do you see markets and earnings in the next six months? However, over the medium term, this fair value is likely to grow, strongly driven by economic growth. Since the market tracks fair value growth over longer time periods, we remain optimistic about equity returns over the medium to long term.A) VUCA -- Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. The pandemic has been a black swan and the response of markets, its participants and global central banks have made it into a VUCA situation. A) We think markets have more than factored in the fall in fair values of companies due to the ongoing pandemic and the resultant disruption. Q) In the first six months of the year we have seen plenty of buybacks as well as delistings. What is the rationale behind them and will this trend extend into the next six months as well? Q) Which sectors are likely to be leaders and laggards over the next six months? While it is difficult to talk about the next six months, we remain optimistic about markets over the medium to long term.A) Most companies are taking the buyback route due to cheaper market prices compared with fair value. Buybacks can increase per share fair value when done at an attractive price. The same logic holds true for de-listing at cheaper valuations. A) We are overweight on sectors like healthcare, IT and telecom and underweight on consumer discretionary and financials. Q) Many new investors joined the party on D-Street in the first six months but as we enter the second half of the year, which survival tips will you share with them to keep them afloat amid volatility? A) Investors can expect to earn good returns from equity if they stay invested for a fairly long period of time. They should avoid both Greed (buying due to fear of missing out) and Fear (selling in panic). They should take advice from a professional financial adviser and adhere to their investment goals through ups and downs of the market. : 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. Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as traders took profits after sharp gains in the previous session and Libya's state oil company flagged progress on talks to resume exports, potentially boosting supply. The more-active Brent crude futures for September fell 24 cents, or 0.6%, to $41.61 a barrel by 0610 GMT, paring Monday's 92 cent gain. The August contract, which expires on Tuesday, fell 24 cents to $41.47. U.S. crude was down 33 cents, or 0.8% at $39.37 a barrel. "Both (benchmark crude) contracts have retreated modestly today, driven by profit-taking flows after the robust New York session," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA. "Although the ranges overnight were impressive, it is essential to note that oil markets are range trading and not trending." Coronavirus cases continue to rise in southern and southwestern U.S. states, but strong growth in U.S. pending home sales bolstered some optimism that global fuel demand is rising. "It's really difficult to say that demand is a one-way street. There are still plenty of risks going both ways," said Vivek Dhar, mining and energy commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Bulls will be looking for more signs of a demand recovery in data due on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute industry group, and from the U.S. government on Wednesday. A preliminary Reuters poll showed analysts expect U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell from record highs last week and gasoline inventories decreased for a third straight week. On the supply side, investors are watching to see whether Libya, which can produce about 1% of global oil supply, is able to resume exports, blockaded since January amid a civil war. Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Monday it was making progress on talks with neighbouring countries to lift the blockade. Weak Japanese industrial production data also weighed on market sentiment, reinforcing the prospect of a bumpy recovery in fuel demand. But stronger-than-expected Chinese factory data, and a drop in Iraq's June oil exports helped cap bigger losses. The failure of Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) would haunt depositors for long. As the powers that be seek to ensure that such episodes do not occur again, there is some cheer for depositors of co-operative banks. They can expect a higher level of confidence and security, along with the comfort that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could step in to prevent a PMC Bank-like crisis in future. The central government has promulgated an ordinance to bring co-operative banks under RBIs supervision. This move will give the central bank more teeth to regulate 1482 urban co-operative banks (UCBs) and 58 multi-state co-operative banks. Collectively, these banks happen to be custodians of close to Rs 4.84 lakh crore in deposits from 8.6 crore depositors. RBI powers, as they apply to scheduled commercial banks, will now apply for co-operative banks too, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted on June 24. The finance ministry on June 27 stated that the ordinance would improve governance and oversight by extending powers already available with the RBI. It has amended Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, which will now enable the central bank to proceed with reconstruction or amalgamation of co-operative banks in public interest, without first imposing a moratorium to avoid disruption of its operations. The statement clarified that the amendments will not affect existing powers of the State Registrars of Co-operative Societies. Here are three ways in which co-operative bank would now be a tad safer than before. Better RBI control, greater safety for depositors The decision was long-awaited, as it was announced in the Union Budget 2020. A key reason for the PMC Bank crisis and that with several other co-operative banks, 44 of which the RBI has put under its watch in 2020 alone is of dual control. It is divided between the RBI and Registrar of Co-operative Societies, with the latter being under the purview of states and, therefore, tinged with political colour. There is near-consensus that the move will boost depositor protection. The case of two regulators blurred the lines of regulation. Now with the RBI being the supervisor, the norms followed by commercial banks can be imposed here to ensure that there is more discipline, says Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, CARE Ratings. The scrutiny that co-operative banks corporate governance, lending and accounting practices will face would be at par with that of scheduled commercial banks, though finer details of the ordinance are awaited. Dubious lending practices will come under a stricter scanner, potentially reducing bad loans that can wreck banks balance sheets. We have seen depositor funds being at considerable risk in the past when cooperative banks had failed. However, depositors with scheduled commercial banks have experienced much higher safety levels, a key driver of which has been the close supervision and regulatory oversight by RBI of these banks, explains Krishnan Sitharaman, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings. Allows RBI to nip any crisis in the bud The mayhem at PMC Co-operative Bank was a bolt from the blue, with even the RBI admitting that it was kept in the dark on loans sanctioned to HDIL. But now, it is expected that the banking regulator will have greater power to monitor and take swift action to stem crises. If co-operative banks start exhibiting financial stress, the regulator can step in to ensure expeditious resolution. Going forward, the RBI can take action as soon as, say, the banks net non-performing assets (NPA) exceeds six per cent of its net advances, or the bank makes losses for two consequent financial years or losses accumulate in its balance sheet, explains financial consultant VN Kulkarni, former banker and credit counsellor. Similarly, serious governance issues can be the other trigger. With direct supervision, the RBI will ensure that the best practices in commercial banking are also adhered to here, which will improve the quality of governance. This means that there will be more inspection from the central bank to eschew such (PMC Bank-like) mishaps, says Sabnavis. On the flipside, this will also stretch the resources of the apex bank as it will now get involved with over 1,500 entities, in addition to existing commercial banks. YES Bank-like rescue missions to get easier RBI has a track record of not letting scheduled commercial banks fail as seen even recently in the way it devised a reconstruction plan to rescue YES Bank. Since the ordinance now specifically allows the RBI to devise reconstruction or amalgamation plans for co-operative banks without imposing a moratorium, customers can hope for simpler resolution without having to face restrictions on withdrawals, like in the case of PMC Bank. At present, RBI takes care of functions such as maintaining cash reserve and capital adequacy, while the Registrar looks after incorporation, supersession of board, liquidation and so on. Now, it will be relatively easier for the regulator to rescue troubled co-operative banks, like it did in the case of YES Bank, says Joydeep Sen, founder, Wiseinvestor.in. The RBI getting more powers to monitor co-operative banks may seem like a panacea at a time when news around troubled banks has been making headlines since September last year. However, the picture will not suddenly turn hunky dory for co-operative bank customers, though there will be assurance that the regulator will follow a professional (and not political) approach to monitoring these banks, adds Sen. The fact remains that irregularities in PMC Banks accounts escaped RBIs attention, with the regulators affidavit accusing bank officials of having cheated its auditors. Customers should still exercise caution Not everyone is convinced that the move will usher in all-round benefits. Jehangir Gai, a Mumbai-based consumer activist, remains sceptical of the RBI being able to safeguard the depositors against frauds, mismanagement and collapse of cooperative banks, despite greater powers. The ordinance may look good on paper, but it is not going to be of any help to the common man. The RBI had always been exercising control over scheduled banks listed in the Second Schedule to the RBI Act. This schedule includes State, Urban and Gramin Co-operative Banks, he says. Therefore, at your end, keep your eyes open to spot signs of trouble with your bank. More importantly, do not choose a bank merely because it operates a branch in your neighbourhood, has convenient working hours or offers higher rates of interest on deposits compared to larger, reputed banks. Always choose safety over extra returns. Representative image Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) a statutory authority under the ministry of railways responsible for the development of vacant railway land, is targeting to issue tenders worth Rs 10,000 crore in 2020-2021 and eyeing revenue of Rs 3,000 crore, top sources in RLDA said. RLDA issued tenders worth Rs 3,500 crore during 2019-2020 and the total earnings was Rs 931 crore. "While our target is to issue tenders worth Rs 10,000 crore in 2020-21 against Rs 3,500 crore in the previous year, a sum Rs 3,000 crore is expected from these prime plots. The plot in Kolkata alone is expected to generate Rs 800 crore as it is along a riverfront," said Ved Parkash Dudeja, vice chairman of RLDA. The rest would be generated from prime commercial and residential plots located in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi. RLDA awarded lease contracts worth Rs 1,553 crore during the financial year 2019-2020. The huge increase in leasing activity was a result of a shift in strategy that focuses on monetising land in Tier II cities. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show One of the major deals included a 10.76 hectare land at Ashok Vihar, New Delhi to Godrej Properties Limited for an upfront lease premium of Rs 1,359 crore. Other deals struck last year were to do with land parcels located at Aishbagh-Lucknow (Rs 54 crore), Gwaltoli-Kanpur (67 crore), Etawah in Uttar Pradesh (Rs 5 crore), Vijaywada (Rs 6 crore), Nizamabad-Telangana (Rs 5 crore), Vishakhapatnam (Rs 11 crore), Ayanavaram Chennai (Rs 28 crore), and Amritsar (Rs 15 crore). Also Read | RLDA to redevelop railway colony in Civil Lines in north Delhi Currently, RLDA is working on four type of projects - commercial projects(74 Nos), multifunctional complexes(123 Nos), colony redevelopment ( 84 Nos)and station development( 62 Nos). 62 Railway stations are being redeveloped by RLDA mainly on PPP mode including New Delhi, Mumbai Central and Howrah,Tirupati & Pudcherry Railway stations etc . These stations are planned for re-development in synergy with Smart City projects launched by the government. Entire cost of station redevelopment will be met by leveraging commercial development of spare railway land/airspace in and around the railway station. As many as 84 railway colonies with dilapidated quarters are being redeveloped by RLDA after monetising the surplus colony land & use of full FSI as prevailing DCR norms. These are spread over different parts of India including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Guwahati. Railway colonies are being redeveloped by efficient utilization of FSI/FAR. This is being achieved by redeveloping the railway colony in one pocket and freeing the remaining land parcel for monetisation which is then leased to a potential developer, Dudeja said. There will be potential earnings to railways in the form of upfront lease premium as well as development of railway colonies without any investment on the part of railways. This will involve redevelopment of about 22,000 railway quarters and monetization of about 400 hectares of railway land, thus creating an investment opportunity for about Rs 4,000 crore for construction of railway quarters and additional non-fare revenue of about Rs 12,000 crore for the railways, Dudeja said. Follow our coverage of the coronavirus crisis Representative image Canadian investment fund Brookfield Asset Management recently won the bid to acquire two floors of office space in Mumbai's business district of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) from the grounded Jet Airways recently for Rs 490 crore, a price which is roughly 25 percent lower than the market price. Real estate experts say that, going forward, this may not impact capital valuation of Grade A office spaces in the area as there has been no fresh premium office supply addition in the BKC market of late and the Grade A vacancy percentage has also reduced from two digits in 2018 to below 7 percent in the last two quarters. Grade A building vacancies are below 7 percent and there is no new supply coming up for the next four years at least in the BKC micro market. Office market fundamentals in this area remain strong, says Karan Singh Sodi, the regional managing director, of JLL India. The total saleable area of the entire Godrej BKC building is over 1.2 million sq ft. The third and the fourth floor that have been recently acquired by Brookfield Asset Management comprise just about 10 percent of the building, experts told Moneycontrol. JLL India had facilitated the sale of IDBI Towers spread across 3 lakh sq ft to Securities Exchange Board of India in the third quarter of 2018 that had fetched over Rs 900 crore at Rs 30,000 per sq ft. The Citigroup Centre office spread across 1,30,000 sq ft had fetched over Rs 400 crore at capital value of Rs 36,500 per sq ft in the third quarter of 2019. During the lockdown, some HNIs have been in discussions for the sale of some assets in BKC at a price point of Rs 36,000 per sq ft, sources said. Godrej BKC has witnessed rents increase from Rs 235 to 240 per square foot (psf) in the last quarter of 2018 to Rs 270-275 psf level in recent months. Rents, too, have gone up by 18 to 20 percent due to scarcity of new supply in the area. Letters of intent (LOI) are also being signed by clients who are in the process of renewing the lease of Grade A properties at a rent of around Rs 300 per sq ft. It was Rs 260 per sq ft six months ago, brokers told Moneycontrol. In COVID-19 times, Maker Maxity building has fetched a rent of Rs 450 per sq ft as there is no new supply and the vacancy levels have dropped. Leasing may remain muted in 2020 but normalcy will return by 2021. Rents will stabilize at 275 per sq ft, real estate experts said. Landlords have not been open to waivers either. No waivers have been granted due to the lockdown as existing contracts do not have a force majeure clause for a pandemic or a lockdown situation. But, this clause is being included in the new leases, brokers said. More about the Jet Airways property The third and the fourth floors of the building are spread across 1,69,983 sq ft saleable area. The reserve price of the recent transaction translates to a value of Rs 28,900 per sq ft. Godrej BKC is a 19-storey commercial project, jointly developed by Godrej Properties Ltd (GPL) and Jet Airways (India) Ltd in 2011. Godrej Properties had acquired the development rights from Jet Airways to build the property. In September 2015, pharmaceutical firm Abbott India Ltd bought 435,000 sq ft for total value of Rs 1,475 crore in BKC. Jets two floors had been mortgaged to HDFC. Earlier in June, the National Company Law Tribunal had allowed the sale of the property. According to reports, the proceeds of the sale will be used to clear the grounded airlines debt. Around Rs 360 crore from the sale will be paid to HDFC against its claim of Rs 424 crore. A portion of the proceeds will be used to settle a pending aircraft loan from the US Exim Bank. "Pursuant to the e-public auction held on June 26, 2020, Vrihis Properties Private Limited, has emerged as the successful bidder. The company has decided to accept the offer of the Successful Bidder for the transfer of the immovable property, at a price of 490 crore," the company had said in the filing last week. The proceeds from the sale will be utilised as per the directions of the Honble NCLT, Delhi, Principal Bench in its order dated June 11, 2020. The Successful Bidder is not a part of the promoter group of the Company or a group company. The proposed transaction will not qualify as a related party transaction. "The sale and purchase is contingent upon transaction documents proposed to be executed between the Company and the Bidder. Importantly, the proposed transfer of the Immovable Property by the Company to the Successful Bidder is contingent (amongst other things) on the Successful Bidder obtaining the consent of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority for transfer of the Immovable Property to the Successful Bidder, it said. Vrihis Properties is an entity controlled by Brookfield Asset Management. The Canada-based investment fund owns 25 million square feet of commercial space in the country and was the sole bidder in an auction last week. The resolution professional managing the insolvency proceedings of Jet Airways had issued a public notice on June 13 for the sale of two floors (3rd and 4th) of the companys building known as Jet Airways Godrej BKC through a public auction. Jet Airways had shut down in April 2019 and was under the insolvency process since June 2019. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Bharat Dynamics share price jumped over 12 percent intraday on June 30 after the company reported surge in net profit in its March quarter numbers. The company reported a 149.51 percent surge in net profit to Rs 309.72 crore in Q4 FY20 over Q4 FY19. Revenue went up 63.7 percent at Rs 1,435.4 crore against Rs 878 crore YoY. EBITDA of the .company stood at Rs 404.7 crore against Rs 120.3 crore YoY. EBITDA margin came in at 28.2 percent against 13.7 percent YoY. The Board of Directors of the company have recommended a final dividend at Rs 2.55 per share (face value of Rs 10 each) for the year ended March 31, 2020. This dividend upon approval by the shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting(AGM) will be paid within 30 days from the date of AGM, the company said in a filing to the exchanges. The stock price zoomed over 88 percent in the last 3 months and was trading at Rs 339.45, up Rs 37.90, or 12.57 percent at 09:57 hours. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 349.70 and an intraday low of Rs 334.15. It was also one of the top BSE smallcap gainers. The stock also witnessed spurt in volume by more than 3.18 times and was trading with volumes of 97,048 shares, compared to its five day average of 31,141 shares, an increase of 211.64 percent. According to Moneycontrol SWOT Analysis powered by Trendlyne, Bharat Dynamics has zero promoter pledge with low debt. The stock movement is showing strong momentum with price above short, medium and long term moving averages. Moneycontrol technical rating is bullish with moving averages and technical indicators being bullish. : 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. The ban on 59 Chinese apps might not be final, and the government might permit the companies to submit clarification, CNBC-TV18 reported. The "emergency" ban was an interim measure and any delay was unacceptable, sources told the news channel A committee of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) might allow the companies a hearing where they can reply and submit clarifications, before sending a recommendation to the MeitY Secretary, the report said. Also read: 59 Chinese apps banned | Here's why PUBG Mobile and Zoom are not banned in India The final order can be passed only after MeitY Secretary vets the committee's recommendations, the report said. Until then, the interim ban on the apps will be in effect. The government on June 29 banned 59 Chinese apps amid rising border tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The listed apps "are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," MeitY said in a statement. In a statement, Tiktok India said it will meet government stakeholders to respond and submit clarifications. June 30, 2020 / 11:06 PM IST Coronavirus News Highlights: Today is the ninety-eighth day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown, to curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. India has so far recorded 5,66,840 lakh cases, which includes 16,893 deaths. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat have reported the highest number of cases. However, the recovery rate is rising and now stands at 59.1 percent. The government released guidelines for 'Unlock 2.0' yesterday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the nation at 4.00 pm today.Globally, there have been over 1.03 crore confirmed cases of COVID-19. More than 5.04 lakh people have died so far. The three teams of medical experts constituted by the Union health ministry will conduct regular and surprise inspections at various COVID hospitals in the national capital, officials said. Each of the three teams will have domain experts from the AIIMS, Directorate General of Health Services in the Union health ministry, Delhi government and civic bodies. "The teams will conduct inspections and submit their report for the preceding week to the Secretary, health ministry and Chief Secretary of Delhi every week by 5 pm on next Tuesday," according to an order issued by the Delhi health department on June 29. Coronavirus India News LIVE Updates It said, the Union health ministry on June 14 had constituted the three teams of domain knowledge experts comprising doctors from the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, Delhi, DGHS (Health Ministry) and the Delhi government, assisted by officers from municipal bodies. The aim is rapid assessment of the existing capacity, patient care amenities and associated aspects of the COVID care facilities under the supervision of the Delhi government in order to have efficient and timely decision-making, the order said. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The teams shall perform the work as per the orders of the Supreme Court on June 19, officials said. The order said it is directed that the teams will inspect each of the dedicated COVID hospitals in Delhi, as per the plan, on a weekly basis and also conduct surprise visits, and suggest specific measures for betterment of facilities and patient care services. "The doctors from AIIMS and DGHS are empowered to co-opt other doctors from their institutes or organisation to assist them in this endeavour," it said. First team will inspect nine hospitals, including LNJP Hospital, Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the order said. Second team will visit facilities, including GTB Hospital and Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra Hospital. The third team of experts will inspect hospitals, including Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla and Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, it said. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- An integration of 5G and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is expected to become the most important infrastructure in the era of intelligence, said an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Liu Jingnan, also a professor at Wuhan University, expressed his confidence in the vast number of opportunities and innovative technologies emerging from the integration of 5G and BDS, said a report in the Science and Technology Daily. The timing accuracy of the BDS system ranges from 20 to 30 nanoseconds, which can reach one nanosecond or even less through ground-based and space-based enhancements. The real-time positioning accuracy can reach one centimeter, Liu said. As an infrastructure in the era of intelligence, 5G has the advantages of more bandwidth, larger capacity and large-scale connectivity, providing basic support to industries such as virtual reality, intelligent manufacturing and autonomous driving. However, problems like the millisecond delay and virtual network location of 5G also restrict the remote control of driverless vehicles, Liu said, adding that the BDS system is the solution. The system provides navigation signals of multiple frequencies. It also for the first time integrates navigation and communication capabilities, and can provide navigation services, short message communication, satellite-based augmentation, as well as precise positioning. The integration of 5G and BDS is expected to serve fields including the self-driving industry. Besides, it projects the future development of the system by integrating with new technologies, such as big data and artificial intelligence, which will help promote change in production and lifestyle, as well as the innovation of business models. In the mid-1990s, Liu led his team to participate in BDS research. From the BDS-1 to BDS-3, the team has conquered many key technologies of the system, said the report. On June 23, China launched the last BDS satellite, the 55th in the BeiDou family, marking the completion of the deployment of its own global navigation constellation. China has allegedly been forcing birth control or sterilization to women in Xinjiang to curb the population growth of Muslim Uighurs, a new research suggests. The report by Adrian Zenz, a Chinese scholar, has urged international reports and calls for the United Nations to look into the case and investigate, as reported by BBC. Chinese officials, however, have denied the reports calling them baseless and without supportive evidence. The claims come amid widespread criticism of the Asian nation for keeping Uighurs inside detention camps. Controlling birth rates There are an estimated one million Uighur citizens and other Muslim-majority groups in China who are placed in what the country considers as "re-education" camps. Previously, China had denied that the camps existed before defending their necessity as a countermeasure against terrorists amid violence from separatists in the region of Xinjiang. Mike Pompeo, the United States secretary of state, demanded China shut down the operations and release the citizens immediately. The secretary wrote in a statement that every nation around the world should work together to force China to abuse that dehumanizes its citizens. The controversial nation has been facing global criticism over how it treats the Uighur people for the past few years. BBC previously conducted an investigation in 2019 that claimed children residing in Xinjiang were systematically separated from their parents in an attempt to divide them from their Muslim society. According to AP News, even though several women have openly expressed their thoughts of forced birth control, the method is still widely used and much more strategic than previously thought. An investigation by AP News on government statistics, state documents, and verbal communication with 30 ex-detainees of the camps, their family members, and a former instructor for the camps revealed the findings. In the last four years, the campaign inside Xinjiang is seen leading up to what experts call a type of demographical genocide of the Uighur. Also Read: China Unanimously Passes Restrictive Law Limiting Hong Kong's Political Freedom Regular and continuous checks Allegedly, China conducts regular pregnancy checks to minority women and forces them to use intrauterine devices, sterilization, and abortion which has affected hundreds of thousands of citizens, as showed in data and interviews. The use of IUDs and sterilization in the country had fallen in recent years but in Xinjiang have been rising sharply. The measures used to control the growth of the population are supported by mass detention. They are considered as both a threat and a punishment for failure to follow the exaggerated rules. People are sent to detention camps, mainly due to having too many children where parents who have three or more children are stripped away from their loved ones unless they can pay massive fines. Police officers raid the homes of these families, striking fear in the parents as the officials search the area for children who may have been hidden. As seen in interviews one after another, the result of the forced birth control campaign shows a season of terror and fear of having children. In the regions of Hotan and Kashgar where there are mostly Uighur, birth rates dropped by more than 60% between 2015 and 2018, which is the latest available data from government statistics. Across the region of Xinjiang, on the other hand, birth rates continue to drop, plummeting to nearly 24% in just the last year, while the entire nation sits at a drop of 4.2%, as reported by the Time. The Chinese government has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to regulating birth control in the Xinjiang region. It has transformed the area from one of the nation's fastest-growing areas into one of the slowest in a few short years, as shown in Zenz' publication. Zenz noted the horrifying state that the drop in birth rate suggests, saying that the program is only a small part of a grander control campaign that aims to control the Uighurs. Related Article: China Warns US of Intervening With International Affairs, Says Trade Deal Could be in Jeopardy @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. File image Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra on June 30 took potshots at Chinese state-run media Global Times Editor-in Chief Hu Xijin over his comments on India banning 59 Chinese apps. On June 29, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, Cam Scanner, ShareIt, UC Browser, WeChat, Weibo, ClubFactory, etc saying they are engaged in activities which are "prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order." In response to the move, Hu Xijin tweeted, "Well, even if Chinese people want to boycott Indian products, they can't really find many Indian goods. Indian friends, you need to have some things that are more important than nationalism." I suspect this comment might well be the most effective & motivating rallying cry that India Inc. has ever received. Thank you for the provocation. We will rise to the occasion.. https://t.co/LZbQhS8xVW anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 30, 2020 To this, Mahindra quipped, "I suspect this comment might well be the most effective and motivating rallying cry that India Inc has ever received." Tensions have been simmering between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. They had intensified after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley on the intervening night of June 15-16. The Chinese sides also suffered casualties. PM Modi (India Government Press Information Bureau via AP) Prime Minister @narendramodi will address the nation at 4 PM tomorrow. PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 29, 2020 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on June 30 at 4 pm. His address comes against the backdrop of a bitter standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh where 20 Indian army personnel were killed in clashes on June 15 in Galwan Valley. Also, the country will be entering "unlock 2" from July 1 for which guidelines were issued by the Union Home Ministry on Monday night, further easing the restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus lockdown. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 4 PM tomorrow," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted on Monday night. This would be the prime minister's sixth address to the nation since the outbreak of the pandemic. Modi had last addressed the nation on May 12 when he had announced a Rs 20-lakh-crore financial package to boost the economy recovering from coronavirus-induced lockdown. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show In his monthly "Mann ki Baat" address on Sunday, the prime minister had asserted that India has given a befitting reply to those who cast an evil eye on its territory in Ladakh. On COVID-19, he had urged the people to be more vigilant in the unlock phase and take necessary precautions, stressing that not doing so will put at risk their lives and those of others. In his recent interaction with the chief ministers, he had urged them to think about phase 2 of unlocking to boost the economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown. In his March 19 address, the prime minister announced a "janta curfew" on March 22. On March 24, he announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown. On April 14, he extended the lockdown period till May 3. On April 3, in a video message, Modi asked the nation to light lamps for frontline corona warriors on April 5. The lockdown was further extended till May 17 by the Home Ministry.Now, the country is in the phase one of 'unlock' and the month-long phase 2 begins on July 1. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Terming the coronavirus pandemic as an unprecedented challenge, Mahindra & Mahindra MD Pawan Goenka on Tuesday said the present scenario is an opportune time for industry verticals to re-invent itself. The auto industry leader, while speaking at a covocation ceremony of a post graduate institute here, said that businesses that will redefine themselves will be the ones to survive the current scenario. "The past few months have taught us a lot, it has made average person rethink, businesses rethink and the government rethink," Goenka said in a webinar to mark the 22nd convocation ceremony of New Delhi Institute of Management. COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly thrown greatest ever challenge to all industry verticals but it may also be an opportunity for every business to rethink, redefine itself, he noted. "There are some businesses which will emerge stronger out of this crisis while there will be others which will vanish," Goenka 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 Citing example, he said the lockdown period has pushed boundaries of verticals like e- commerce. Describing the current situation as unprecedented, Goenka said that the narrative has changed in the last three months. "World has turned upside down, optimisim has given way to despair... there is huge economic impact. Going into financial year 2021, we are staring at negative GDP growth, first time in over 40 years and an uncertain future," he noted. Goenka said this is the time to think as how do we transform manufacturing to be globally competitive and achieve scale as well. This is the time to upgrade technology, look at sectors like affordable housing, agriculture growth and healthcare services, he added. "In fact every sector of the economy will require to be rebooted and this will require some very innovative thinking and approaches of scientific management," Goenka said. Comparing the current situation with 1991, when economic reforms were initiated, Goenka said the next 3-5 years will be "something similar to modern context of geopolitics and new economy where the world order is changing and global value chains are getting redefined". On his own experiences of dealing with slowdowns in his long career, Goenka said that the current situation is much more difficult than any of the challenges he faced anytime earlier. "Seen many slowdown in many career but nothing like this. What are the learnings? most important is to manage the present without mortgaging the future. To manage the present you need to conserve cash, manage cost but you need to prepare to sprint when growth returns and it always does," he noted. "You have to make systematic changes for the future, should not cut down investment for the future," he added. Difficult periods are also time for the leaderships to to build teams, to make relations with dealers, customers and the society at large, Goenka said. "And no compromise with core values of the company," he noted. He acknowledged that there is strong focus of the government to become self-reliant across various sectors. "What does it mean? It is leveraging our own strengths and global expertise together to create India a source of distinct value add and be globally competitive," Goenka said. Representative Image The Indian Police Service (IPS) Association on June 30 condemned the "acts of violence against citizens in police custody" while referring to the deaths of Jayaraj and Fenix after they were allegedly tortured by officers in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district. "We exhort the investigation agencies to investigate the case of Tuticorin district expeditiously and fairly," the association's handle tweeted. Earlier today, the Tuticorin Superintendent of Police was shunted out of the district and placed under "compulsory wait" by the Tamil Nadu government. Arun Balagopalan IPS "is brought to the compulsory wait at office of the Director General of Police," a Home Department order said. Also Read: Explained | Tamil Nadu custodial deaths: Here's what has happened so far The Tuticorin district administration also deputed officials to take "control" of Sathankulam police station, in line with a Madras High Court directive that it be brought under the revenue department. P Jayaraj and his son Fenix, arrested for 'violating' lockdown norms over business hours of their cellphone shop, died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23, with the relatives alleging that they were severely tortured at the Sathankulam police station by the personnel earlier. The probe into the case has been since transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Tamil Nadu government, even as the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has taken up the matter. Apps banned in India Chinese short video sharing app TikTok, now banned in India, had donated Rs 30 crore to the PM CARES Fund. The government on June 29 banned 59 Chinese apps, including ByteDance's TikTok, amid rising border tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). These listed apps are "are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) said in a statement. Also Read: TikTok vanishes from Google Play Store and Apple App Store Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up the coronavirus relief fund in March, and it received donations from several domestic and foreign companies. We got an overwhelming response from our users for our in-app quiz to raise awareness about COVID-19. To commemorate this effort, we're making a humble contribution of INR 30 crore to PM Cares. https://t.co/MzbqIDAaYv @PMOIndia@narendramodi@rsprasad TikTok India (@TikTok_IN) April 27, 2020 Apart from TikTok, other China-based companies such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo and OnePlus had also donated to the fund. Apps belonging to Oppo, Huawei, and OnePlus are not included in the current list. Smartphone maker Xiaomi, also impacted by the ban, had in April donated Rs 10 crore to the PM CARES Fund and Rs 5 crore to chief ministers' relief funds in various states. Two of Xiaomi's apps - Mi Video Call and Mi Community - are on the list of banned apps. Indian startups that have significant investments from Chinese companies, such as Paytm, Ola and Oyo also donated to the COVID-19 relief fund. Also read: From Paytm, Flipkart to Swiggy, big Indian startups are stuffed with Chinese money Opposition parties have called for greater transparency in the usage of donations made to the PM CARES Fund. The Congress has also been critical of donations from Chinese firms to the fund. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said that the decision to ban the apps was welcome, but added that more substantial measures are required. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had on June 28 questioned donations to the PM CARES Fund from Paytm. We welcome the decision to ban Chinese apps. In light of the grave intrusion of our territory & the unprovoked attack on our armed forces by the Chinese army, we expect our government to take more substantial & effective measures Ahmed Patel (@ahmedpatel) June 29, 2020 PM-CARES Received Donations from Chinese Companies- @DrAMSinghvi Press Briefing (2/3) pic.twitter.com/epSilC5iBu INC Sandesh (@INCSandesh) June 28, 2020 In a response to Congress' comments about Chinese companies donating to PM CARES fund, Smriti Irani addressing a virtual rally for BJP workers alleged that Rajiv Gandhi Foundation got donations from China. Representative image At least two workers died and four were hospitalised after Benzimidazole gas leakage at Sainor Life Sciences facility in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The situation is under control and the gas has not spread anywhere else, senior police officer Uday Kumar, told news agency ANI. The leakage happened at 11.30 pm on June 29. The pharmaceuticals factory was shut down immediately as a precautionary measure, ANI quoted Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Office (CMO) as saying. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has inquired about the accident in Visakhapatnam. The exact cause of the leakage is yet to be ascertained. In May, there was a major gas leak at the LG Polymers plant in Vizag. The incident had claimed 12 lives and over 500 people in the area had to be hospitalised. The West Bengal government has requested the Centre to stop sending trains and domestic flights from five states, having a large number of COVID-19 cases in India, reported Hindustan Times. West Bengal has registered a total of 17,907 COVID-19 cases and 653 deaths so far, according to the health ministry data. With these numbers, the Mamata Banerjee-led state has become the sixth-worst COVID-19 affected state in India, following Maharashtra (1,69,883), Tamil Nadu (86,224), Delhi (85,161), Gujarat (31,938) and Uttar Pradesh (22,828). Addressing a press conference on June 29, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the chief secretary had written to stop train service to the state five states with immediate effect at least for some time now, said the report. Although the chief minister did not name the states, a senior official told said as per the report that the states are Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, the state had sent migrant labourers who returned from these states to institutional quarantine, said the report. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic The state has also urged the central government to stop sending domestic flights from these five states, as per the report. However, flights from other states can be allowed once a week, Banerjee was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, the state government has urged the Kolkata Metro authorities to resume operations in a limited manner at the earliest, said Banerjee. "We are requesting the metro authorities to resume services as early as possible. I know the manner in which they are operating suburban trains in Mumbai (only for people in the essential services), she said. The Kolkata Metro Railway authorities are trying to develop a mobile application to help people in the emergency services to commute. "If they resume operations in this manner, I think that too will help one-fourth of the city's commuters. Those who are travelling by buses now will be able to take the metro, giving opportunities to others to avail bus services. We have requested them to do it as quickly as possible," she said. (With inputs from PTI) Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here A heart-shaped Chinese flag installation ahead of the 70th founding anniversary of People's Republic of China is seen on a street in Shanghai, China, September 26, 2019. Picture taken with a slow shutter speed and a zoom effect. REUTERS/Aly Song - RC1E885344D0 Karthik Subbaraman On June 29, a day before the meeting of military commanders from India and China to de-escalate the standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) bordering in the union territory of Ladakh, the government announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps, many of them household names here. India could not be clearer about its mood and its intentions the time for pussy-footing around the China problem is over. Even if the Chinese were to restore status quo ante and return to the positions they held in early April, the rupture will be impossible to mend for years at least. Trust has been broken and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be hard-pressed to ask the Indian public to take the Chinese at their word ever again. Geopolitics is changing forever, and so, it appears, is Indian foreign policy. On June 30, the third round of talks takes place between the Indian and Chinese military commanders. The first one was on June 6, when the Chinese made commitments and broke them, leading to the deadly clash on June 15/16. A further meeting on June 22 saw a similar agreement, but it is clear that the Chinese have not moved back to where they came from. What is the point of the third meeting if not for the sake of just talking? Both sides know that the talks at the military level are for the sake of form. For substance, look at what Modi has been saying he has called out China as an aggressor and a force of evil. His utterances are the words of a man betrayed. Which is why a military agreement alone will not suffice. Now let us assume that the Chinese feel that they have miscalculated Ladakh and want to backtrack. To win back Indian favour, Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks to Modi and demonstrates contrition. Chinese forces pull back, and the commander of Chinas western military theatre, General Zhao Zongqi, the man who instigated the confrontation, is moved out. Will this be enough to appease India? Quite unlikely. Knowing the Chinese track record, how will Modi be able to tell his citizens that we must go back to believing China? From here on, we cannot take our eyes off even a square inch of the LAC not as long as the authoritarian communist regime is in power. The ship of reconciliation has sailed, and is now patrolling the Indian Ocean. What can we now expect? For the immediate future, India can be expected to build up its military strength along the LAC and at sea. Being a country which values peace and respects the international law, India will not start a confrontation. The troops will guard against further Chinese incursions, but we are unlikely to forcibly eject Chinese troops from our side of the LAC, wherever they are. If the Chinese provoke Indian forces, they will be get a fitting reply, as they did in Galwan where they intruded. Chinas experience in Galwan, where it is not even disclosing the extent of its casualties, should hopefully prove salutary. While military preparations continue, geopolitical realignment is well underway. Top United States officials have been making a series of statements, all aimed against China. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that it is rebalancing its forces away from Europe and towards the Indo-Pacific. Christopher Wray, the head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), recently described China as the biggest threat to the US economy, and disclosed that his agency is investigating more than 2,000 cases connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CPC). The same week, Robert OBrien, the US National Security Adviser, called China as a Marxist-Leninist nation and compared Xi to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The scales have fallen from the US eyes, just as they have from Indias eyes. While America repositions itself, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc is coming to the realisation that each of its 10 members may not be individually able to confront Chinas aggrandising ambitions in the South China Sea. However, together they have a better chance. Which is why on June 27 Asean leaders issued a declaration saying that a 1982 UN treaty on the oceans should be the basis for settling maritime claims. China lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea on whimsical historical grounds. Further to the southeast, Australia, under Prime Minister Scott Morrison, has moved out of the Chinese orbit. Australia clearly recognises the potential for China to become a neo-colonial power and a demographic aggressor. Japan, a historical rival, has major economic interests in China. However, it is also bound to the US by a security treaty. The two major unknowns in the coming geopolitical match are the European Union and Russia the key players in the Cold War. For Europe, taking a stand on China will involve making a firm commitment to the ideals which have shaped the world after World War II. China presents no threat to Europes territorial boundaries, unlike the former Soviet Union. However, Chinas values certainly do not accord those of the EU. The unity of the EU, as well as its commitment to liberal democratic values, will be tested like never before. Russia and China may seemingly enjoy a close relationship, but Russian President Vladimir Putin will definitely be under no illusions about the potential danger from China. Russia has been displaced as US main strategic rival by China, with which Russia shares a border that stretches nearly 4,300 kilometres. Chinas penchant for territorial gains by demographic conquest is well-known, and Russia will not forget that fact. China is a long-term threat to Russia, and Putin knows it. So what we see are a number of forces ranged against communist China. We are on the cusp of a New Cold War, and this time a choice has been forced on India. Despite sincere attempts to build a multi-polar world and not take sides, China has compelled India to get drawn into an alliance of nations which believes in democracy and a rules-based world order. As long as a dictatorial Chinese regime is in power, India cannot return to status quo ante. This is an entirely new situation for the foreign policy establishment, but India has the confidence, flexibility and creativity that are needed to influence world affairs for the good of all. Just like India is taking a stand against the Chinese dictatorial regime by decoupling economically, the West and Japan also have choices to make. For major American companies China is a lucrative market, but they must stand up and be counted when it comes to humanity core values. If it is alright for some companies to boycott Facebook in the name of values, it is definitely imperative to reconsider the reliance on the China market. The world is a large enough place without China and its communist regime. Along with strategic realignment, India must get its economic and governance act together. There is no strategic space without economic space. If India does not grow at the same rate that China did for two decades, the gap between the two countries will continue to widen. We cannot equip our military the way it must be equipped or make credible foreign policy if we continue to bungle on the all-important project of national development. In order to be able to face the threat from the C factor without, we must confront the three Cs within Corruption, Communalism and Casteism. Otherwise we will not be living up to the ideals which we proclaim dear to us. Samir Saran The current violent confrontation between India and China in east Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control should come as a surprise to none. This was inevitable. An inexorable chain of events was set in motion in 2017 when New Delhi rejected Beijings imperial invitation to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) event presided over by Chinese President Xi Jinping. A second rude rebuff followed later in the summer of that year when India stood up to Chinas efforts to reorganise Himalayan political geography on the Doklam plateau. India must be prepared to strongly repel the backlash from Beijing on our mountains, in our waters and through our digital platforms. The Indian commentariat is needlessly agonising over the drivers of the latest Chinese actions. Let us stop theorising, and be bold enough to accept that China is just being itself. India has made decisions like independent nations do as an exercise of their sovereignty. To argue otherwise would be tantamount to ignoring the sum total of Beijings behaviour during the Made in China pandemic: The acceleration of territorial revisionism in the South China Sea; the subjugation of Hong Kong through the stoutly contested national security law; repeated violations of Taiwanese airspace; heightened naval aggression around Japans Senkaku Islands; and its most recent encroachment in Nepal. There is a pattern to this madness; a reason for this seemingly inexplicable restlessness. In Jiang Zemins 2002 report to the 16th Party Congress, the Communist Party of China (CPC) presciently foresaw a 20-year period of strategic opportunity for China linked to its entry into the World Trade Organization and Americas misguided interventions in West Asia that enabled Beijing to play a deft game of Chinese Checkers and build national power. Emperor Xi, anointed to office for life with a heavenly mandate, is now exercising that power as a counterpoise to the diminishing clout of American influence, and the weakening resolve of a wavering EU and unsure Europe. This is the moment for the Xi Dynasty (like the Mao Gang in another era) to take charge of the wheel and steer China to its centennial objective of world domination by 2049. The new version of Chinese exceptionalism shaped and directed under Xis tutelage is linked to Chinas past identity, largely a product of myth-making. It has willed itself into believing that it does not need to work within the matrix of international laws, rules and norms. It has decided that the time when China would hide and bide its motivations and capabilities is past. The CPC is now externalising the authoritarian idiosyncrasies it wields at home. Medievalism is the hallmark of Chinese external assessments. This is evident from its insatiable urge to redraw boundaries as an adventure sport and from its estimation of its population (as well as others) as mere fodder. This behaviour is exemplified in Chinas hostage diplomacy with Canada. Chen Weihua, the European Union bureau chief of the China Daily, offered an unsympathetic glimpse into how China views the issue: People often fail to note that Meng is worth 10 Kovrig and Spavor, if not more. Supplementing this behaviour are two critical tools: an expansionist military and modern methods of engagement. Xi has overseen what is arguably the most wide-ranging modernisation of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA): purging it of corrupt or disloyal officials, ensuring its transition to a capable and expeditionary naval force; undertaking crucial administrative and organisational reforms; and reaffirming its absolute loyalty to the CPC and its ideology. In parallel, Xi has presided over Chinas long-term efforts to securitise and weaponise global supply chains, flows of technology, finance and data, and institutions of global governance. The all-pervasive Chinese State is but an instrument for the benefit of the CPC. Time and again India has confronted these realities at 14,000 feet above sea level and soon it may have to defend its blue waters against the rising crimson tides. At one level, Beijing is merely attempting to remind India of Asias geopolitical hierarchy that failure to kow-tow to the Middle Kingdom carries consequences. More worryingly, Beijing may have concluded from Indias history that heightened aggression along the LAC will invariably bring India to the negotiating table that India will grant China greater political concessions, market access or economic bargains as the price for peace and tranquillity. The Indian State will have to dispel and disprove this Chinese assumption. China is also using this moment to send a message to its other neighbours in the East and South China Sea. While a similar escalation in those waters by China carries the risk of drawing in American military response, the attempt to reorganise boundaries on the Himalayas conveys the same intent. China is demonstrating to the world the limitations of decaying American power without having to actually confront it. In its neo-Confucian assessment an Indian capitulation may signal the final rites of Pax Americana. Beijing may be in for a surprise on both counts, provided countries are able to correctly assess the deeper import of recent Chinese actions. India must begin with the daunting acknowledgement that the worlds second largest economy is its primary long-term geopolitical and geo-economic rival. It must also internalise that it will not be able to negotiate its way into any favourable outcomes with China. While nations must talk and unofficial summits such as Wuhan and Mamallapuram are important, India must have the singular purpose of investing in and developing robust political, economic, digital and military tools that should, for the short to medium-term, be able to protect territory and rebuff the northern marauders. For too long, Delhi has been hesitant to impose costs for Chinas military adventurism, preferring instead to settle matters diplomatically. In doing so, India has failed to realise that while Xis China is irrational, it is not an entirely unpredictable actor. It sees capitulation and a preference for negotiation as a sign of weakness. Delhi must be creative about how it imposes costs for this behaviour creating unconventional and asymmetric options that help in area denial operations in the Himalayas. Accelerating roads and infrastructure is one part, building emplacements is the second. The politics of sharp presence (physical) is the only vocabulary understood in those terrains. The adage it is the economy stupid has never been more relevant. Obsession with building Indias economic heft must override all other considerations. Chinas rise was underwritten by its strategic co-option of globalisation. In an era where global flows of data are outstripping trade in goods, and where technology supply chains are being jealously guarded, Indias goal should be to emerge as one of the centres of the topography of digital globalisation. India did well to reject the BRI; it must now ensure that it rejects BRIs digital avatar as well. The banning of Chinese goods may be important signalling but will have little impact on the northern neighbour due to the asymmetry in trade. Zealous protection of Indias digital backbone and networks (5G) and billion-people-plus digital platforms from Chinese encroachment and intrusion, either openly or by stealth, must be the clear-eyed strategic objective. However, India cannot do this alone and here is where its own period of strategic opportunity begins. In a powerful dissent against the Xi regime, Tsinghua University professor Xu Zhangrun laments the consequences of Beijings global assertiveness: Instead of embracing a [global] community, he writes, China is increasingly isolating itself from it. The challenge for India is to capture this moment to shed (self) righteous theories of foreign policy in favour of pragmatic, even cynical, partnerships that bolster its economy, provide it with technology, arm its military and support its global ambitions. That India is still debating Non-Alignment as a choice is a sad reflection of its inability to grasp the reality that stares it in the face, its failure to read the writing on the wall, its myopic disregard for what the future holds. When Non-Alignment was conceived it was an attempt by the leadership of the day to carve out a space for India in a world dominated by two superpowers. Does its propagation allow similar space to India now? Or does a string of strategic partnerships (not of the variety that exists in the dozens) serve Indias interests better? Indeed, the time for hiding behind strategic ambiguity is over. This stands true for New Delhis involvement with international institutions as well. How will India take advantage of its seat in the UN Security Council, its upcoming presidency of the G-20, its chairmanship of the WHO, its position in the Global AI Alliance, or its leadership of the International Solar Alliance? India now increasingly finds a place on the high table of global governance. Question is, can it make the most of these arenas? Can Delhi marshal its diplomatic resources to convince the international community that events in the Himalayas carry global consequences, and that silence now, only emboldens Chinas perverse great power ambitions in other geographies and domains? Will New Delhi develop the appetite to call out China on Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong in international forums? Can it incubate a discursive space that will challenge wolf warrior propaganda? (This article first appeared in the ORF) Representative Image At the recent 22nd EU-China summit, which took place via video conference, the EU leaders recognised that engagement with China is both an opportunity and necessity and the partnership is crucial for trade, climate, technology and the defence of multilateralism. However, it was also distinctly asserted that the European Union and China do not share the same values, political systems, or approach to multilateralism. It also stated that for these relations to develop further, they must become more rules-based and reciprocal, in order to achieve a real level playing field. In its earlier strategy paper on China, the EU recognised China as an economic competitor in the pursuit of technological leadership, and a systemic rival promoting alternative models of governance. As China is becoming more assertive, EUs suspicions about Beijing are growing. The EU and China are both economic heavyweights. They have strong influence within their own regions and beyond. They also have global ambitions. Economically they are deeply engaged with each other. The EU is number one trading partner of China. In 2019, bilateral trade in both goods and services was about 640 billion euros. It means close to $2 billion worth of goods and services are being exchanged between the EU and China every day. This engagement led to their strategic partnership in 2003. A huge institutional mechanism, including more than 50 dialogues, has also been developed. Initial enthusiasm from both sides led to more sober and mature ties in later years. Still, most policy papers released both by the EU and China looked at each others economic strengths as huge opportunities. In addition to the EU, China also signed separate strategic partnerships with the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Greece, Hungary and Czechia. In has established 17+1 dialogue with Central and East European countries. The European approach towards Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is also changing. Initially, the EU focused more on the developmental aspect of the initiative. It also established the EU-China Connectivity Platform in 2015. Italy, Greece, Hungary support the initiative. Few others recognised advantages, but have shown some concerns. When China started dividing Europeans, buying infrastructure facilities and started investing in key technology companies, the EU policy makers woke up to the reality of increasing Chinese influence in the continent. 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 2019, the EU outlined its own Europe-Asia connectivity strategy. It has also established partnership with Japan for sustainable connectivity and quality infrastructure. Recently, its High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell asserted that China is getting more powerful and assertive and its rise is impressive and triggers respect, but also many questions and fears. He favoured a more robust strategy for China which he argued will require better relations with India, Japan and South Korea. Broadly, Europe has been regarded by China as a group of countries that have no fundamental conflicting interests with Beijing. This assessment was emphasized in a recent editorial in The Global Times. Although Chinese position about Europe has not changed, the EU is definitely re-assessing its ties with China. When various strategies of counterbalancing China in Asia are being proposed, the EU has been careful not to be part of any US-China geopolitical struggle. Its foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell believes that following Frank Sinatra, we Europeans have to do things My Way. This includes keeping the multilateral system as a space for cooperation even if great powers use it increasingly as a battleground. Within days of this assertion, however, the EU and the US have established a new transatlantic dialogue on China to deal with Beijings assertiveness on many fronts. The EUs global ambition is changing and becoming more geopolitical. Despite a solid economic engagement, its ties with Beijing are witnessing lack of trust, transparency and reciprocity. Many issue including COVID-19, Hong Kongs security law, South China Sea, market access, subsidies, illegal technology transfers, cyber security threats and human rights have raised concerns in the EU. Under German presidency, the Leipzig Summit in September between the Chinese authorities and 27 European heads of government or states has been postponed. The European parliament has condemned new security law on Hong Kong and voted in favour of bringing China before the International Court of Justice. Due to border clashes, India-China ties are on a turning point. Apart from working with the US and the Quad to counterbalance an assertive China, New Delhi also must upgrade its consultations with Brussels. In its developing China strategy, the EU is looking for new inputs and partners. As India-EU summit is likely to happen soon, New Delhi and Brussels can also establish a new dialogue to deal with China. In an odd case involving a paternity test on goats, a Florida woman filed a lawsuit against a neighbor who sold her goats demanding to either prove the DNA lineage of the goats or give her a refund. According to Snopes, back in February, Kris Hedstrom has initially demanded a paternity test proving DNA lineage of the goats she purchased from Heather Dayner. Hedstrom said that she would take the matters to court if Dayner did not comply with her request. To prove she wasn't kidding around and was serious about suing, by the end of May a civil lawsuit was filed against Dayner. The lawsuit included the demands for proof of DNA of the goats or refund of the money used to purchased the goats and also the costs for lawyer and fees. Based on the reports, Dayner soled five Nigerian Dwarf goats to Hedstrom for $900 back in December. It was also stated that Hedstrom expected that she would be able to register the goats with a group that records pedigrees for goats, the American Dairy Goat Association since registered goats are valued higher. According to Hedstrom, when she bought the goats Dayner said that the father of the goats was registered to the organization. However, the group rejected the registration application which Hedstrom tried to submit for the babies claiming that Dayner is not an active member of their organization. In order for the paternity test to go through, about 40 hair follicles from the father goat will be needed for the test. This is the reason why Hedstrom sent a letter to Dayner requesting the DNA back in February. Read also: Baby Girl in India Born Without Four Limbs But is Considered Healthy Dayner on the other hand who has been in the goat selling business for almost a decade at Baxter Lane Farm said that she offered to refund the money to Hedstrom in exchange for the goats. She also said that information about the goats is typically given to her clients upon purchase so that they will be able to register the animals. Dayner also said that in the past months, Hedstrom had trespassed on her farm and has called on the police on her. This was proven by the documents obtained from the office of the Hillsborough County Sheriff which stated that a deputy visited the property back in the spring for at least three times. Moreover, Dayner said that she tried to contact Hedstrom in order to discuss the matter. However, the last message that she received from her neighbor was sent back in March telling her not to contact Hedstrom again. After this, she did not hear anything from Hedstrom until she filed the lawsuit in May. Meanwhile, according to Tampa Bay Times, one of their reporters spoke with Hedstrom and even got a copy of the goats' pictures, however, after the outlet spoke to Dayner, Hedstrom immediately retracted her statement and also threatened to impose legal action on the website if a story about the goats will be published. Dayner, on the other hand, said that she would represent herself in court because she does not want to spend money paying a lawyer. Related article: New Swine Flu Strain Found in Pigs in China, Experts Warn It Has 'Pandemic Potential' @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In September 2019, depositors of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank received a shock as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suspended the banks operations, placing withdrawal restrictions and leaving many depositors in a lurch. While the RBI eased withdrawal restrictions over time, the bank will be under moratorium until December 22. No quick resolution could be found for the banks woes, unlike in case of Yes Bank, where the banking regulator acted swiftly to stabilise the private sector lender in March. Such a rescue eludes PMC Bank, as also several other co-operative banks 44 of which have been placed under moratorium in 2020 alone. The central government has now promulgated an ordinance that will give RBI more powers to mount such rescue missions for co-operative banks too. In this episode of Simply Save podcast, Moneycontrol's Keerthana Tiwari talks to Preeti Kulkarni to find out more about this ordinance. Indias ban on 59 Chinese applications or apps is more of an economic move than a political reaction to the military standoff in Ladakh. "There are genuine apprehensions in India about how China would use all the information stored in apps like TikTok, which has 300 million downloads in India and use that information to assess consumer behaviour in this country, says Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of Chinese Studies at JNU and one of Indias foremost Sinologists. Tik Tok and some other Chinese apps, which had about 100-150 million downloads or so, store a lot of advertisements and backchannel communications. They would be a great source of information as far as the Chinese are concerned and so Indias security concerns, after what happened at Ladakh, should be considered legitimate, he said. "It is interesting to note that the unequal balance of trade between the two countries has been triggered by Chinese reluctance to allow Indian companies from investing in their country, even while their own firms, particularly in the technology business are conducting business in India, says Kondapalli, who has studied Chinese language at the Beijing Language and Culture University and was a Postdoctoral Researcher cum Visiting Fellow at the Peoples University, Beijing from 1996-1998. China has entered the Indian market through venture investments in start-ups and penetrated the online ecosystem with its popular smartphones and their apps. Chinese tech investors have put an estimated $4 billion into Indian start-ups and such is their success that over the five years ending March 2020, 18 of Indias 30 unicorns are now Chinese-funded. TikToks 300 million subscribers have overtaken YouTube in India. Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance rival the US penetration of Facebook, Amazon and Google in India. Chinese smartphones like Oppo and Xiaomi lead the Indian market with an estimated 72 percent share, leaving Samsung and Apple behind. According to a recent Gateway House report on Chinese investments in India, there are three reasons for Chinas tech depth in India. First, there are no major Indian venture investors for start-ups. China has taken early advantage of this gap. Alibabas 2015 investment in 40% of Paytm, a digital payments platform, paid off barely a year later when in November 2016, India demonetised its large currency notes and simultaneously promoted a move to a cashless economy. Paytm benefitted from Alibabas superior fintech experience, which it applied to India seamlessly, making it a dominant player. Second, China provides the patient capital needed to support the Indian start-ups, which like any other, are loss-making. The trade-off for market share is worthwhile. Third, for China, the huge Indian market has both retail and strategic value. Therefore, companies like Alibaba and Tencent have different considerations and horizons for their investments. Also Read: Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, which has big Chinese investments, says Chinese apps ban is in national interest Kondapalli, who has published in the worlds leading news outlets, including Xinhua and China Daily, points out that no Indian company has been allowed to be listed at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, despite the best efforts of firms like Tata Consultancy Services to do so. The trend is one of competition and not cooperation in other businesses as well. "There is no place China has not blocked India out. Take energy. ONGC has been kept out at multiple places: at Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Sudan, Nigeria, Angola and Iran, even though with the latter, it was also the question of American sanctions, he points out. At a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit a few years ago, the Chinese defence minister had threatened to cut off the cables of all foreign companies operating in the South China Sea and India, whose 55 per cent trade passes though the route, staged a walkout along with other countries at this brazen display of aggression. In January 2018, China objected to Vietnam's invitation to India to invest in the oil and natural gas sector in the disputed South China Sea, saying it is firmly opposed to infringement of its rights using development of bilateral ties as an 'excuse'. In the case of South China Sea, India has not exercised its historical rights to the Sea, as China frequently does: the ancient Tamil Chola dynasty were the worlds leading ship farers and between the ninth century till the beginning of the 13th, the Chola fleet represented the zenith of ancient Indian sea power, trading frequently with China, among other countries in the region. According to Kondapalli, China has refused to comply with WTO regulations on free trade that includes banking, telecom and intellectual property rights, among others. The only place where they have agreed to accommodate Indian interests are in agriculture. Also Read: TikTok, now banned, had donated Rs 30 crore to PM CARES Fund What could be Chinas reaction, given the Indian ban on their apps? "I dont see any significant Chinese reaction. There are about 200 Indian companies trading in Shanghai and it is likely that some restrictions may be placed on them. These include IT firms, iron and steel companies and automobiles. Infosys has brought a 50-acre piece of land in Shanghai, he points out. Could there be further Indian action against Chinese companies? Kondapalli believes it all boils down to what happens in Ladakh, where the top brass from the two militaries are discussing steps to disengage. "If the situation deteriorates, expect India to take further steps to ban Chinese companies, he says. Will the two countries go to war? The veteran Beijing observer believes that is the unlikeliest option, despite all the drum beating. "China is in a tricky position, post-Covid. If it loses soldiers in an engagement with India, its ambitions of world domination will go for a toss. For India too losing soldiers is not going to be easy, but it has 1962 at the back of its mind and that can act as a spur, states Kondapalli. Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray has said the Civil Aviation Ministry should coordinate with state governments on the repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission for effectively reaching out to Indians stranded around the world. In a letter, dated June 29, to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Thackeray said most evacuees are in touch with their respective state governments. Thackeray said in his earlier communication to the Ministry of External Affairs and the managing director of Air India, he had requested flights for the Middle East, Australia, Russia along with other routes. "Although some flights were organised, we need many more for the same," the minister said in his letter. The Vande Bharat Mission-4 schedule has been handed over to the state. "There is not a single flight from the Middle East to Maharashtra, despite repeated requests from the state and the people stuck in the Middle East," he said. All the 21 flights under the fourth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission from seven cities of six countries are hopping flights, which means not many passengers would be from Maharashtra. "We would like you to address this issue and injustice meted out to Maharashtra. Every state should have its people repatriated, but it should be in equal measure and in a fair way," the minister said. He said the feedback from those who have already come back is about unaffordable air fares for repatriationand the poor in-flight facilities provided against it, like the food quality, delays and absence of food services at hop-overs. "This causes more stress to the ones being repatriated from various countries after a stressful extended stay abroad," he said. The central government started the Vande Bharat Mission on May 6 to help stranded people reach their destinations using special repatriation flights. Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. A day after the government imposed a ban on 59 Chinese apps in the country, popular social media app TikTok has stopped working in India. Earlier today, the app was removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. However, the app was still accessible to users who had it preinstalled on their smartphones until now. However, TikTok seems to have now become completely inoperable, on both iOS and Android devices. It looks like internet service providers (ISPs) and telecom operators have begun to block all data traffic to the app. Users who were trying to access the app were greeted with the following message: Dear users, we are in the process of complying with the Government of Indias directive to block 59 apps. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users in India remains our utmost priority. Also Read: Why has the clock run out on TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in India? Earlier in the day, TikTok responded to the ban through Twitter and said that they are complying with the government orders and have been invited to respond and submit clarifications to the concerned government stakeholders. Since the app shows network issues, we can assume that telecom and internet service providers have blocked TikTok. The app is expected to remain blocked until the any further orders from the government. Also Read: 59 Chinese apps banned | PIB deletes official TikTok account; IRCTC and MyGov India follow suit 59 Chinese apps banned | From Files Go to JioSwitch, here are five excellent SHAREit alternatives Indian and Chinese militaries on Tuesday held another round of Lt General-level talks with a focus on finalising modalities for disengagement of troops from several friction points in eastern Ladakh, government sources said. The talks took place at a meeting point in Chushul sector on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, they said. In the previous two rounds of talks, the Indian side pitched for restoration of status quo ante and immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso and a number of other areas. The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks, and the tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. In the talks on June 22, the two sides arrived at a "mutual consensus" to "disengage" from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh. The previous two rounds of dialogue took place at Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC. The Indian delegation at the meeting is headed by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh, while the Chinese side was to be led by the Commander of the Tibet Military District Major General Liu Lin. Following the Galwan Valley incident, the government has given the armed forces "full freedom" to give a "befitting" response to any Chinese misadventure along the LAC, the 3,500-km de-facto border. The Army has sent thousands of additional troops to forward locations along the border in the last two weeks. The IAF has also moved air defence systems as well as a sizeable number of its frontline combat jets and attack helicopters to several key air bases. The first round of the Lt General talks were held on June 6 during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley. However, the situation deteriorated following the Galwan Valley clash as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC. The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5 and 6. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9. Representative image Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that has spread to at least 188 countries infecting over one crore people, researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu virus that is capable of triggering a pandemic. According to a study published in the US science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers are concerned that the new flu could mutate further so that it can spread easily from person to person, and trigger a global outbreak. Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused the swine flu pandemic in 2009. We report on an influenza virus surveillance of pigs from 2011 to 2018 in China, and identify a recently emerged genotype 4 (G4) reassortant Eurasian avian-like (EA) H1N1 virus, which bears 2009 pandemic (pdm/09) and triple-reassortant (TR)-derived internal genes and has been predominant in swine populations since 2016, said the researchers. Results of blood tests showed that more than 10 percent of swine workers were positive for the G4 EA H1N1 virus. According to the study, serological surveillance among occupational exposure population showed that 10.4 percent (35/338) of swine workers were positive for G4 EA H1N1 virus, especially for participants in the age between 18 years to 35 years, who had 20.5 percent (9/44) seropositive rates, indicating that the predominant G4 EA H1N1 virus has acquired increased human infectivity. Such infectivity greatly enhances the opportunity for virus adaptation in humans and raises concerns for the possible generation of pandemic viruses, scientists said. The virus possesses all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus, they said. Any immunity human beings gain from exposure to seasonal flu does not provide protection from G4, added the researchers. Similar to pdm/09 virus, G4 viruses bind to human-type receptors, produce much higher progeny virus in human airway epithelial cells, and show efficient infectivity and aerosol transmission in ferrets. Moreover, low antigenic cross-reactivity of human influenza vaccine strains with G4 reassortant EA H1N1 virus indicates that preexisting population immunity does not provide protection against G4 viruses, scientists stated in the study. For more than three years, President Donald Trump instilled such fear in the Republican Partys leaders that most kept criticism of his turbulent leadership or inconsistent politics to themselves. Thats beginning to change. Four months before voters decide the Republican presidents reelection, some in Trumps party are daring to say the quiet part out loud as Trump struggles to navigate competing national crises and a scattershot campaign message. He is losing, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Trump friend and confidant, said Sunday of Trumps reelection prospects on ABCs This Week. And if he doesnt change course, both in terms of the substance of what hes discussing and the way that he approaches the American people, then he will lose. Beyond politics, Trumps allies even some in his own administration are distancing themselves from his policies. While Trump avoids wearing a mask in public, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, We must have no stigma none about wearing masks when we leave our homes. Vice President Mike Pence was pictured this weekend wearing a mask and urged other Americans to do the same. And Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, tweeted a picture of her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, wearing a mask with the hashtag #realmenwearmasks. At the same time, Trump has been criticized by some Republicans for inconsistent leadership during the sweeping national protests against police brutality. On Sunday, the president tweeted and subsequently deleted a video in which a supporter used the white supremacist mantra White power. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the GOPs sole Black senator, called Trumps decision to share the video indefensible. Make no mistake, Trump still has a tight grip on the party. And the intensifying concerns are remarkably similar to those that emerged in 2016, when Trump overcame glaring personal and political liabilities to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. The splits signal that Republicans are aware of the presidents weak political standing and may feel increasingly free to break from him as voting nears. While Election Day isnt until November 3, early voting in a handful of key states, including the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Virginia, begins in mid-September. Trump has come to accept that he is currently trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden following a series of phone calls and polling presentations with advisers, according to four campaign officials and Republicans close to the campaign who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to publicly discuss private conversations. He has responded with a mix of disbelief and anger, including frequent frustration that the pandemic robbed him of a strong economy and drowned out the attacks he hoped to land against Biden, according to the officials. The presidents popularity with the party base remains strong. But in an implicit acknowledgement of GOP anxiety, Trumps deputy campaign manager Bill Stepien released a memo Sunday evening questioning polling data that gives Biden an advantage, while pointing to voter participation numbers in recent primaries suggesting Trumps supporters are excited. Clearly, Democrats have not rallied around their flawed candidate, Stepien wrote. Today there can be no debate that President Trump has a decided advantage in base enthusiasm and can be most confident that his supporters will turn out. Biden pollster John Anzalone laughed at the argument. You know a candidate is in trouble when their only argument for reelection is the enthusiasm of their dwindling pool of supporters, which is now barely over 40 percent, he said. One factor driving recent concerns has been Trumps inability to articulate an agenda or a clear message for his second term. After a first term defined almost exclusively by his desire to undo former President Barack Obamas accomplishments, Trump has failed to offer a single future policy priority of his own during multiple recent interviews. Jerry Falwell Jr., a Trump confidant and the president of Liberty University, conceded that the president has not been clear enough about his plans. I do think he needs to talk more about what hes going to do in the next four years versus taking credit for what hes already done, Falwell said in an interview, even as he predicted Trumps political standing would improve once voters see Biden on the debate stage this fall. Whatever hesitance they might have about Donald Trump is going to turn into fear about Joe Bidens ability to confidently do the job, he said. For now, however, aides privately worry about Trumps increasingly scattershot approach to the campaign. Many hoped that his comeback rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, earlier in the month would spark new momentum, when it instead raised questions about his supporters enthusiasm and his management of the pandemic. The officials close to the campaign report that Trump was ecstatic about the raucous crowd he drew to Phoenix a few days later, but the positive development was quickly overshadowed by the resurgence of the virus. COVID-19 infections have exploded across several states, including Arizona, forcing some governors to scale back reopening plans. Trumps campaign has also continued to struggle with its attempts to define and attack Biden, as broadsides over China and his sons work overseas have failed to land. Trump himself has begun wondering if his pet nickname for Biden, Sleepy Joe, remains effective. Over the weekend, he tested out a new one: Corrupt Joe. Meanwhile, Trump aides at all levels have begun to accept the potential that their time in the White House may be short-lived. Where six months ago, they plotted their promotion path within government, some are beginning to draw up plans to return to the private sector. To be sure, Trumps White House has set records for turnover, but efforts to prepare for life after the administration have been taken up in earnest in some corners of the White House complex. Democrats, meanwhile, are working to avoid overconfidence. Were being really cautious, Anzalone said, although we know theres something going on. Gilead Sciences Inc on Monday priced its COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir at $2,340 per patient for wealthier nations and agreed to send nearly all of its supply of the drug to the United States over the next three months. The price tag is slightly below the range of $2,520 to $2,800 suggested last week by U.S. drug pricing research group the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) after British researchers said they found that the cheap, widely available steroid dexamethasone significantly reduced mortality among severely ill COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir is expected to be in high demand as one of the only treatments so far shown to alter the course of COVID-19. After the intravenously administered medicine helped shorten hospital recovery times in a clinical trial, it won emergency use authorization in the United States and full approval in Japan. The drug is believed to be most effective in treating patients earlier in the course of disease than dexamethasone, which reduced deaths in patients requiring supportive oxygen and those on a ventilator. Still, remdesivir in its currently formulation, is only being used on patients sick enough to require hospitalization as a five-day treatment course. The company is developing an inhaled version that could be used outside a hospital setting. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show For U.S. patients with commercial insurance, Gilead said it will charge $3,120 per course, or $520 per vial. That is a 33% increase over the $390 per vial Gilead said it will charge governments of developed countries and U.S. patients in government healthcare programs. 'OUTRAGEOUS PRICE FOR A VERY MODEST DRUG' In an open letter, Gilead Chief Executive Daniel O'Day said the price is well below the value it provides given that early hospital discharges could save around $12,000 per patient in the United States. Patient advocates have argued that the cost should be lower since remdesivir was developed with financial support from the U.S. government. U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas, said it was "an outrageous price for a very modest drug, which taxpayer funding saved from a scrap heap of failures." Remdesivir had previously failed as an Ebola treatment and has not shown that it can reduce COVID-19 deaths. Gilead also said it agreed to continue to send most of its supply of remdesivir to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with the agency and states set to manage allocation to U.S. hospitals until the end of September. There are currently more cases of COVID-19 in the United States than in Europe, with several U.S. states hitting new records for numbers of cases. HHS has been distributing the drug since May and was due to run out after this week. A senior HHS official said the agency expects the drug will soon be a scarce resource, and so it wanted to remain involved in allocating it. The agency said it secured more than 500,000 remdesivir courses for U.S. hospitals through September. That represents all of Gilead's projected production for July and 90% of its production in August and September, in addition to an allocation for clinical trials, HHS said. Once supplies are less constrained, HHS will stop managing the allocation, Gilead said. The company did not discuss its supply strategy for developed nations outside the United States. Remdesivir's price has been a topic of intense debate. Experts have said Gilead would need to avoid appearing to take advantage of a health crisis for profits. Gilead shares were about flat on Monday. Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada forecast the drug could generate $2.3 billion in revenue 2020, helping offset more than $1 billion in development and distribution costs. They said additional profits could be limited because vaccines and better treatments are on the horizon. The European Union's healthcare regulator last week recommended conditional approval of the drug when used in the critically ill. Gilead has linked up with generic drugmakers based in India and Pakistan, including Cipla Ltd and Hetero Labs Ltd, to make and supply remdesivir in 127 developing countries. Cipla's version is priced at less than 5,000 Indian rupees ($66.24), while Hetero Lab's version is priced at 5,400 rupees ($71.54). Representative Image New Zealand on Tuesday canceled its plans to host a major meeting of U.S. and Asian leaders next year because of the coronavirus, opting instead to lead a virtual summit. New Zealand was scheduled to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Auckland. The event would have brought thousands of people to the country throughout the year, culminating in a leader's week in November 2021. APEC focuses on trade issues, although it also provides a chance for world leaders to catch up. Its 21 members include the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia and Hong Kong. Last year, Chile canceled the APEC leaders' meeting because of violent anti-government protests. This year Malaysia has been hosting virtual APEC meetings. New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said it was necessary to cancel next year's summit now for planning and security reasons. There were people who would be coming in months and months in advance, all caught by the COVID-19 situation," Peters 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 "So we had to accept the plain fact that we couldn't do it, other than by the mechanism we're going to use now. New Zealand has been praised globally for its health response to the virus. After a strict lockdown, the nation of 5 million people has eliminated community transmission, at least for now. Its 22 active cases are all quarantined travellers who returned from virus hot spots including the US, India, Pakistan and Britain. New Zealand has shut its borders to almost everybody except returning citizens and residents, who are required to spend two weeks in quarantine. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said he understood the reasoning behind the cancellation. I am disappointed that Auckland won't physically host APEC, but the health of our country has to come first," Goff said in a statement. New Zealand had already run into problems with an expensive convention center it was building to host the summit. Workers accidentally set the roof on fire in October. It burned for several days, sending a noxious plume of smoke over the city and forcing organizers to find alternative venues. File image EASA has suspended PIA's permission to operate to EU member states for 6 months w.e.f July 1, 2020: 0000Hrs UTC. PIA is in touch with EASA to allay their concerns and hopes that the suspension will be revoked with our CBMs soon. PIA (@Official_PIA) June 30, 2020 Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the country's national carrier, has been barred from flying to European Union (EU) member states for the next six months, with effect from July 1, 2020. The European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended the authorisation for Pakistan's national airline to operate in Europe for six months, the airline's spokesman said on June 30. The decision follows the grounding of 262 Pakistani pilots whose licences the country's aviation minister termed "dubious". Pakistan's aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan had earlier this month said that nearly 40 percent of all civil aviation pilots in the country hold fake licences. He had reportedly made these claims when findings were revealed after an investigation was conducted following a PIA plane crash that killed nearly 100 people in Karachi last month. Read More | PIA plane crash: Nearly 40% pilots in Pakistan have fake licences, are not qualified to fly, says country's aviation minister "EASA has temporarily suspended PIA's authorization to operate to the EU member states for a period of 6 months effective July 1, 2020 with the right to appeal against this decision," a Pakistan International Airlines' statement said. It added that PIA would discontinue all its flights to Europe temporarily. Authorities from Kansas City, Missouri, are now asking for tips in the murder of a 4-year-old boy. The murder happened on June 29 at around 2:30 am and according to the police, the child was sleeping in his bed when an unknown assailant shot him in the face. Murdered while sleeping The police are now reminding everyone that a reward of $25,000 will be given to anyone who will provide a helpful tip that will lead to the arrest of the suspect. As of today, the police had not received a single tip in the murder case yet, according to Crime Online. The 4-year-old child has been identified as Legend Taliferro. The child was asleep in his bed when gunfire erupted outside of his apartment. When the police arrived at the Citadel Apartments, they found out that a family member rushed the child to the hospital where he was declared dead. Rick Smith, the Kansas City Police Chief, said that the murder of Legend was not because of a stray bullet nor was it because of a drive-by shooting. The authorities are still trying to figure out what the motive of the suspect could be to kill a child, but they are certain that the apartment of the Taliferro's was targeted. The mayor of Kansas and the police chief are urging the community to speak up if they know something. Mayor Quinton Lucas said that it is the resident's duty to share information because there is a family grieving right now over the incident. Also Read: Secretive Government Agency Has Been Planting 'Cyanide Bombs' Across the US, Has Injured a Child The murder of the 4-year-old boy is the 92nd homicide case in Kansas City this year. The city labeled 2020 as the deadliest year in the history of Kansas. The all-time record was back in 1993 and the second deadliest year was in 2017, according to the Kansas City Police Department. Seeking justice KCTV5 News interviewed Pat Clarke, the community activist, and he said that this incident is something that happens too often in the black communities of the city. Clarke added that most neighborhoods know who is committing violent crimes but they do not say anything. Clark also said that staying silent leads to heartbreaking tragedies like Legend's death. He also stated that he is angry and passionate and that everyone should be. He also believes that the black community has a lot of misplaced anger and stated that they won't prosper until the black people come together first. Mayor Lucas and Clarke both agreed that the solution to violent crime in Kansas City has to come from the community. The city's activist said that he knows the family of the child and described them as good and hardworking people. Mayor Lucas also said that he was impressed after talking to the family as the child's mother wanted to make sure that the incident won't happen to anyone else. The mayor and Clarke agree that long term change should start with the community but in the short term, the suspect should be identified and arrested immediately. Clarke also said that people should not march for peace but they should march against those who commit crimes and that justice should be served fairly. Related Article: Teenage Girl's Face Slashed from Chin to Ear While Stopping Boys Fight @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Image: Reuters) The European Union (EU) has drawn up a list of 14 countries whose residents will be allowed to travel to the bloc's member states starting July 1. The countries that figure on the EU's 'safe' list are expected to lift any bans or restrictions that they might have in place on European travellers. This comes at a time when the European economies are reeling under the impact of the coronavirus and the lockdown that followed. Countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are waiting for travel restrictions to be lifted in order to ease into a resumption of their tourism sectors, which have been hit hard due to the pandemic. People from these countries will be able to travel to the EU's 27 members and four other nations in Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone, which includes Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The list is to be revised every 14 days, with new countries being added and some even dropping off depending on the extent of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic there and how far these countries are able to control the transmission of the virus. 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 United States, despite having a large number of its citizens who travel to Europe, has been left off the EU's latest travel list due to the high number of COVID-19 cases being reported there. Due to the soaring number of infections, Americans will not be allowed to travel to the EU member states for at least another two weeks. More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic.Other big countries like China, Russia, India and Brazil also did not find a spot on EU's safe list for travel. As per reports, the EU said China is "subject to confirmation of reciprocity", meaning it must lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China for its own citizens are to be allowed into EU member states. Failure of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank triggered the Union government into taking action, which resulted in amending the Banking Regulation Act 1949, bringing the cooperative banks within the direct regulatory ambit of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), putting a full stop to dual regulation of the cooperative banking sector. The ordinance does not include primary cooperative societies, the principal constituents of the state cooperative banks (StCB) and district cooperative central banks (DCCBs). Only those urban cooperative banks (UCBs) and multi state cooperative banks (MS-UCBs) and the rest of the rural cooperative credit structures which fall within the ambit of the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) supervision will be subject to such amended regulation. The preamble to the ordinance on the Banking Regulation Act 1949 Amendment makes it clear that the cooperative banks are not well managed; not properly regulated; and the affairs conducted are detrimental to the interests of the depositors. They also lack professionalism, good governance and sound banking practices. The objective of the amendment is to correct all of them. It is important to view this ordinance in the backdrop of the latest report on UCBs chaired by R Gandhi, when he was the deputy governor. The R Gandhi (2015) report says: As UCBs form an important vehicle for financial inclusion and facilitate payment and settlement, it may be appropriate to support their growth and proliferation further in the background of the differentiated bank model. However, the question remains whether unrestrained growth can be allowed, keeping in view the restricted ability of UCBs to raise capital, lack of level playing field in regulation and supervision and absence of a resolution mechanism at par with commercial banks. UCBs now have high aspirations of competing with commercial banks and they expect RBI to provide relaxations in various regulatory restrictions. In countries like Canada, the cooperative banks pose a formidable challenge to commercial banks and the former follow the capital regulations of Basel, conduct elections regularly, associations of cooperatives conduct induction courses and retreats for board members on governance. Without harming the principles of cooperatives, cooperative banks pose a stiff competition to the commercial banks. A study was conducted on behalf of Gandhi committee to ascertain the range of loans granted by scheduled and non-scheduled UCBs. The study shows diametrically opposite trends in the range of loans granted by the two types of cooperative banks. While the scheduled banks granted 59.6% of the total loans in the largest loan size ranging from the Rs1 crore to 5 crore range and the above Rs5 crore segment, the non-scheduled banks catered to the small loan segments up to Rs10 lakh in a substantial way as this segment constituted 59.5% of the loans granted by this component of UCBs. The study further supports the premise that large MS-UCBs have aligned their business models and goals with those of commercial banks while availing of the concessions granted to the sector. Even this study could not bring out the frauds and maleficence of banks like PMC because the fraud has been traced to an even earlier period. The report says; "Major considerations to be kept in mind are the aspirations of large UCBs, conflicts of interest, decline in cooperativeness, regulatory arbitrage, limitations on raising capital, limited resolution powers of RBI, the capital structure of UCBs and opportunities for growth that will accrue after such conversions. The UCBs are subject to annual inspections by the RBI. Yet it could not hold them accountable for the large scale frauds in UCBs. Insofar as StCBs and DCCBs are concerned, they are under the supervision of NABARD and the board appointments are supposed to be done as per the fit and proper criteria fixed by RBI. Elections to the cooperative societies are conducted by the registrar of cooperative societies. Cooperative societies as per cooperative statute are member-driven, member-controlled and member-protected. If members who are large in numbers choose to abdicate their responsibilities or do not take enough interest in their activities, jeopardising the interests of other stakeholders and particularly the non-member depositors, the remedy rests only with the registrar. In so far as banking is concerned, it is only RBI that regulates all, and all UCBs are subject to inspections by the RBI annually or whenever any aberration comes to their notice even during a year. Depositors constituency for long has been asking for a representation on the board and this can be done only by an amendment to the Cooperative Act. The latest Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India from RBI (December 2019) has stated that the importance of cooperative banks in India lies in their grassroots integration into the life and ethos of the widest sections of society and their being effective instruments of financial inclusion. They account for about 10% of total assets of the scheduled commercial banks in 2017-18. The report also clarifies that the combined balance sheet of UCBs witnessed robust expansion underscoring the effectiveness of measures taken to strengthen their financials. Although 89.5% of the UCBs resource base happens to be deposits, their growth is muted and remains well-below the average of 13.9% achieved during 2007-08 to 2016-17. A capital adequacy; asset quality; management; earnings; liquidity; and systems and control (CAMELS) rating model is used to classify UCBs for regulatory and supervisory purposes. UCBs in the top-ranking categories with ratings A and Baccounted for 78% of the sector. Only 4% to 5% are in D category for the past five years. And yet, the well-rated UCBs have defalcated with impunity for years. Will this ordinance rectify this malady? UCBs are under the regulation of RBI and the registrar of cooperatives of the state government where they were situated. The regulatory conflicts were being resolved through the Task Force on Co-operative Urban Banks (TAFCUB) during the past 10 years to the satisfaction of both banks and the regulators at the altar of RBI. During the last two decades, the Marathe Committee, the Madhava Rao Committee, the Malegam Committee, the Gandhi Committee and RBI Vision of UCBs have gone on record on the measures to be taken for strengthening them in the face of a series of frauds and maleficence and even closure of several UCBs in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh. The government of India even brought out a comprehensive 97th Amendment to the Constitution of India in 2011 as a Model Cooperative Act to be enacted by the state governments. None except the government of Orissa showed interest. Had this Act been passed and implemented in letter and spirit there would have been no need for the ordinance now. No state is keen on legal reforms to cooperatives. Cooperatives are the seedbed of politics and every prominent politician of the country, barring some Rajya Sabha or Legislative Council Members, everyone started his/her political career with a cooperative society as the base. One may well say that cooperatives without politics are lame and politics without cooperatives is blind. Viewed from this perspective, this ordinance makes a great difference. It sets at naught all political interferences beyond the primary cooperative societies. Several commercial banks, fully under the regulation of the RBI since 1949, have also been victims of frauds and maleficence. Several banks, both in the public and private sectors, like SBI, ICICI, PNB etc continue to hit the headlines on such a count. The difference is that in all such cases, the interests of depositors have been protected. There were mergers or amalgamations but there were very few occasions wherein the affected banks were closed or deposits barred from withdrawal. It should be worthy to recall that even in case of commercial banks the deposits are secured to the same extent as UCBs/MSCBs, viz., Rs1 lakh earlier, recently enhanced to Rs5 lakh per depositor. Several UCBs are already part of the national payments system. Financial inclusion demands customer centricity and smart technology applications, apart from financial learning at the institutional and client level. Rural credit cooperatives have been in the throes of change: accounting practices, (from single entry book keeping to double entry book keeping), technology change; regulatory changes and structural changes. They have come into the mainstream of financial inclusion agenda of the country. When NABARD has a new guard, it would have allowed scope for the new management to carry out the required improvements to the short term cooperative credit structure instead of clubbing them with the UCBs. All the DCCBs have already been brought under the regulation of RBI notwithstanding the ordinance. Further, RBI invested in computerization of both the UCBs and rural cooperative societies and banks with the allocation of Rs4 lakh per UCB and a maintenance cost of Rs15,000 per month for a period of three years post-implementation. The government of India in their 2017-18 budget allocated Rs1900 crore towards computerization of the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). This initiative should have been properly monitored to ensure transparency, better accounting practices and better customer service on par with commercial banks. To search for a solution of lost opportunity in the ordinance does not reflect a good governance practice. Though the organisation may introduce appropriate strategies, it is the culture of the organisation and governance that would require to be looked at in cooperatives. They can improve the bottom-lines through reduced costs; enhance customer experience; and strengthen security and compliance through state-of-the art encryption practices, audit trails and security certifications. Customers always need their data to be safe and secure. When the problem rests with the regulator lax inspections, lack of transparency in dealing with the banks and improving governance, the remedy is sought through a legislative amendment! This may perhaps provide a better lever to RBI to merge weak UCBs with strong ones and disable closures as a solution to protect the interests of depositors. Will the PMC depositors now get fully all their deposits and interest? We should wait and see. Development of cooperatives is no longer an option, but a compelling necessity to achieve financial inclusion. Implementation of the ordinance should only strengthen the cooperative system and not eliminate them under the guise of regulation. (The author is an economist and risk management specialist.) The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may set back the recovery of India's banking sector by years, which could hit credit flows and, ultimately, the economy. Non-performing loans (NPLs) in India will hit a fresh high, raising credit costs, and putting pressure on ratings, says ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P). According to a report "COVID And Indian Banks: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back," published by S&P Global Ratings, Indian banks' NPL ratio could increase by about 50% in the current fiscal year and it will take 12-18 months to get Indian financial institutions sector recovery back on track, leading us to our recent negative ratings actions on lenders. "In our base case, we expect the NPL to shoot up to 13%-14% of total loans in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2021, compared with an estimated 8.5% in the previous fiscal year," says S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Deepali Seth-Chhabria. "Moreover, the resolution of these bad-debt situations will likely unfold slowly, which means banks may also be saddled with a huge stock of bad loans next year. We assume only about a 100 basis points (bps) improvement in nonperforming loans in fiscal 2022." According to S&P, after years of deterioration, asset quality in the Indian banking system had improved over the past 18 months, helped by higher write-offs, slower accretion of bad loans, and resolution of some big cases under the new bankruptcy law. Nevertheless, it says, Indian banks were still working through a formidable overhang of nonperforming assets when the COVID crisis struck and this largely derailed that rehabilitation process. "We believe that the effect on finance companies will be more pronounced than on banks," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Geeta Chugh. "Some finance companies lend to weaker customers and have high reliance on wholesale funding. These companies were already facing a trust deficit since the 2018 default of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS). Finance companies also face accentuated liquidity risks due to high proportion of borrowers opting for loan moratorium." S&P says it assume India's GDP will contract 5% in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2021, which will translate into diminished asset quality for Indian financial institutions over the next couple of years. The ratings agency says it expects credit growth to remain weak in the current fiscal year. "We estimate low single digit loan growth for the system for the current year, mainly driven by government-guaranteed small businesses loans and the capitalisation of accumulated interest." ON 26 May 2020, the Indian government launched a Rs3 trillion emergency credit scheme for micro, small and midsize enterprises (MSMEs), to help them weather the pandemic. "Otherwise, lending should remain slow due to tepid demand, and because banks have turned risk averse (despite ample liquidity). Among the risks to our assumptions, the government may push public-sector banks to revive credit growth to support the economy," S&P says. The ratings agency sees slippages to shoot up in banking sector. It says, "In our base case, we estimate the banking sector's bad loan accretion will be 6% of existing loans in the current fiscal year, much higher than other large Asian banking sectors. If Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allows restructuring of loans, it may reduce the level of slippage this fiscal. However, in our view, restructuring may not resolve the problem. It may just defer NPL recognition, as it did a few years ago." At that time, S&P says, following rampant restructuring, the RBI had to come up with an asset quality review and withdrew forbearance on the majority of restructured loans, leading to exceptionally high credit costs. "Businesses' operational outages and the recession will have a deeper and longer effect on lenders than we previously assumed. We believe service sectors such as airlines, hotels, malls, multiplexes, restaurants, and retail may see a significant loss of revenue and profits due to the outbreak. In addition, highly leveraged sectors--real estate developers, telecom companies and power firms--may remain a source of increased bad debt," it added. According to S&P, MSMEs will likely be most vulnerable in this down cycle. Under the government credit guarantee plan, MSMEs with up to Rs250 million of debt can borrow an extra 20%. The government will entirely guarantee the incremental loans. The program's Rs3 trillion size equals about one-fifth of outstanding MSME credit. "This will provide some reprieve to the MSMEs that were going through a stressful period after twin effect of demonetisation (where the government in 2016 ruled certain high denomination notes as invalid, creating cash shortages) and the operational challenges of handling a new goods and services tax, rolled out in 2017," it added. The rise in bad loans should lead to heightened credit costs for lenders, the ratings agency says, adding the credit costs will likely increase again in the current fiscal year and surpass the highs seen in fiscal 2018. It says, "We anticipate credit costs will rise to about 3.7% of average loans in fiscal 2021. This cost should drop to 2% in fiscal year 2022, but this would still be above the 15-year average of 1.5%." Talking about recapitalisation of banks, the ratings agency says, most public-sector banks (PSBs) improved their capitalization last year, which should provide some support. The common equity Tier-1 ratio of PSBs was 10.1% as of 31 December 2019, higher than the regulatory requirement of 8% (including a capital conservation buffer). Similarly, the Tier-1 ratio was 11.1%, higher than the regulatory requirement of 7%. In its base case, S&P says, government-owned banks as a whole should be able to absorb the estimated credit losses without breaching the regulatory minimum, but these banks need capital to grow. "In our base case, where we have factored in 4%-5% credit growth for government-owned banks in the current fiscal year, and we estimate that the government-owned banks need about Rs350 billion to Rs400 billion of capital this year. That is less than what the government pumped into the lenders in the recent past. The requirement may vary from bank to bank, depending on the growth and level of provisioning. In our view, the government will likely infuse capital into these banks, if and when required, even though they haven't provided for any capital infusion in the current year's budget." "On the other hand, the private-sector banks that we rate are well capitalised and should be able to absorb the increase in provisioning. Moreover, these banks have more capacity to raise external capital than public-sector banks, if required. For example, ICICI Bank has recently divested its stakes in some of its insurance subsidiaries. Moreover, we expect the bank will structurally improve its capital position and balance sheet over the next 12-18 months, which will offset the impact of deteriorating operating conditions and may support ratings at the current level," the ratings agency added. The Trump administration has doubled down on its claims that coronavirus case counts are up because the U.S. has increased testing. However, a closer look at graphs of testing numbers and positive cases shows that this isnt the case for many states. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have repeatedly attributed the increase in the coronavirus case count in the United States to an increase in testing. Were doing so much testing, so much more than any other country, Trump said in an interview with CBN News on Monday . And to be honest with you, when you do more testing, you find more cases. And then they report our cases are through the roof. I would just encourage you all, as we talk about these things, to make sure and continue to explain to your citizens the magnitude of increase in testing, Pence said on a call with the nations governors last week, according to audio obtained by The New York Times . And that in most of the cases where we are seeing some marginal rise in number, thats more a result of the extraordinary work youre doing. These assertions are not backed up by the data, a ProPublica analysis shows. While it is true that there has been a dramatic increase in testing since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the increase in positive cases in recent weeks cannot be attributed to the rise in testing alone. After weeks in which coronavirus cases and deaths were slowly declining, the tide has turned. On Wednesday, the United States surpassed its previous record high number of cases, reached in April when the virus was battering the Northeast, according to data gathered from states by The COVID Tracking Project . Hospitalizations are also increasing, though they are far from their peak nationally in April. The tip of the iceberg cant be growing with the iceberg shrinking, said Dr. Sten Vermund, dean of the Yale School of Public Health. It violates laws of physics and oceanography. A White House spokesman did not return an email seeking comment. Deaths have not increased, but they are considered a lagging indicator. It takes several days after exposure for someone with COVID-19 to show symptoms and an additional five to seven days, on average, for the illness to be severe enough to require hospitalization. After that, it can take a couple days to a week to progress to intensive care, and a patient can linger there for some time before recovering or dying. Just speaking as an epidemiologist, if I saw rising testing, rising case numbers and declining hospitalizations and deaths, I would say that Donald Trump and Vice President Pence are correct, Vermund said. Conversely, if those measures are rising, I would say that they are blowing smoke. ProPublica looked at changes in the seven-day average of COVID-19 tests performed and the change in the overall number of positive tests in each state from Memorial Day, May 25, to Tuesday. By Memorial Day, most states had reopened and news reports noted that groups were congregating again. 1.1 General Guidelines 1.2 Degree Types and Application Requirements Degree Seeking Certificate Non-Degree Continuing Education/ Extended University Dual Degree 1.3 Admission Decision Notification Full Admission Full Admission with Provision Full Admission with Condition Full Admission with Provision and Condition Denied Admission 1.1 General Guidelines Prior to applying to Montana State University (MSU), it is recommended that the applicant contact the department of the intended area of study, as department information, requirements, and deadlines may vary. See the link to Graduate Areas of Study for a list of all of the graduate programs offered at MSU. Any applicant who has received a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university may apply for admission to The Graduate School. This can be done by applying online. The non-refundable application fee can be paid by credit card or online check. A full application fee ($60) is required for the first application and a partial application fee ($30) is assessed for subsequent applications to different programs within the same first year (each application is reviewed by the appropriate graduate committee). Applications are valid for one year; after one year, the $60/$30 application fees are assessed. If the student already has graduated from a graduate program and is seeking a degree/certificate in another program, a new application must be completed. The application fee will not be waived, deferred, or refunded for any reason. The application fee must be paid before the application will be processed (See Board of Regents Policy 940.2). Exceptions are made for individuals who have earned a graduate degree and wish to return as a non-degree graduate student; only an intent to register form should be completed (see the link to Intent). Students who have earned an undergraduate degree at Montana State University (Bozeman) and now want to come as a non-degree graduate student will need to apply to the Graduate School. See the section below for specifics. During the application process, applicants will be asked to voluntarily provide a Social Security number to distinguish between individuals with the same or similar names. Applicants will not be penalized if they decline to provide this number. Federal law requires that when applicants apply for financial aid, graduate assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, or tuition waiver, they must provide their Social Security number for purposes of identification. Once an applicant applies, an MSU identification (ID) number is assigned. If admitted, this number becomes the students ID. This ID number will be a permanent part of the MSU system. The initial application fee is valid for no more than one (1) year from the term of the initial application. An applicant who has not been offered admittance will have the opportunity to reapply to the same program within this time frame without incurring an additional application fee by contacting The Graduate School ([email protected]) with the request. If an applicant waits longer than one (1) year, it will be necessary to apply and pay the application fee again. Note: Every applicant who applies for admission to MSU and completes an application will receive a formal decision by The Graduate School, whether they have or have not been admitted. Note: The falsification, omission, or willful suppression by an applicant of any information requested, whether on the application forms or in the application documents, is grounds for either denial of admission or dismissal from MSU. 1.2 Degree Types and Application Requirements DEGREE-SEEKING Applicants are encouraged to contact the department of their intended area of study prior to applying, as department requirements and deadlines may vary, with some departments requiring an applicant to secure a major research professor prior to applying. For a graduate degree application to be reviewed for admission, all required application documents must be submitted prior to the departments posted deadline. The Graduate School recommends that the applicant check the link to the application portal to determine if all requested documents have been received. If the applicant is uncertain as to whether or not the documents have been received, they should contact the intended admitting department. Departments typically do not begin a review of applicants until after their posted deadline. Once the department reviews the application and documents, a recommendation is communicated to The Graduate School. The Graduate School will review the departments recommendations and issue a formal decision. Application Requirements All applicants applying to MSU must provide the following during the online application process: A completed Application for Graduate Admission . Payment of a non-refundable application fee. The fee must be paid before the application will be processed. Official transcripts (one of which must have a conferred degree posted) reflecting all undergraduate and/or post-baccalaureate study. Applicants who are alumni of MSU do not need to submit their transcripts. An undergraduate GPA of at least 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale). Applicants with post-baccalaureate experience must have a graduate GPA of at least 3.00. See the link to Provisional Admission for more information. Three (3) letters of reference. A personal statement. Official entrance examination scores (if required by the admitting department), e.g., Graduate Records Exam (GRE), if required by the admitting department (use code: 4488). A resume, if required by the admitting department. See the link to Departments/Areas of Study . International Applicants International applicants must submit additional documents to complete their application. See the link to International Applicants. If admitted and any of the required application documents are not provided (e.g., official transcripts, official English proficiency scores), registration will be prevented until the missing documents are received. See the link to Fees & Holds. Immunization All students admitted to MSU are required to submit immunization records. See the link to Immunizations and to Fees & Holds. Deadlines Each admitting department sets its own application deadlines. See the link to Departments/Areas of study. International applicants must be prepared to submit a completed application approximately one-hundred (100) days prior to the start of the intended term, however departments may request more time for the application review. Typically, MSU will need approximately 75 days from the time an offer is made to the start of term, to allow for the issuance of an I-20. Contact the intended admitting department. See Departments/Areas of Study. See Masters Degree Requirements. See Doctoral Degree Requirements. NON-DEGREE Non-degree graduate applicants are those who have earned a bachelors degree and: are taking graduaete coursework (400-600);* are not yet pursuing a graduate program leading to an advanced degree, but wish to take graduate coursework; have not been offered full or provisional admission to a graduate program; have non-degree standing as recommended by the admitting department or The Graduate School; applied after the admission deadline; are applying for programs such as: WWAMI Medical Education program, National Teacher Enhancement Network, and Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Certificate. See the link to Graduate Areas of Study. *If you are taking ONLY undergraduate 100-300 coursework, apply as an undergraduate non-degree through undergrad admissions. If you are an undergraduate alumnus of MSU, then complete this form through the Office of the Registrar for retuning students. In some cases, taking and passing coursework as a non-degree graduate student may help to provide evidence of a student's ability to perform well in a graduate program. Some departments also may recommend the completion of undergraduate coursework prior to admission into a specific graduate program. Application Requirements All applicants applying to MSU must provide the following during the online application process: A completed Application for Graduate Admission Payment of a non-refundable application fee. The fee must be paid before the application will be processed. Official transcripts (one of which must have a conferred degree posted from a regionally accredited university) reflecting all undergraduate and/or post-baccalaureate study. Applicants who are alumni of MSU do not need to submit their MSU transcripts. Note: Every applicant who applies for admission to MSU and completes an application will receive a formal decision by The Graduate School, whether they have or have not been admitted. Note: Non-degree graduate students are not eligible for graduate assistantships or financial aid. Note: If you are applying as a non-degree and then decide to apply to a degree program, you will need to complete a new application. Degree application will require significantly more application materials, letters of recommendation, and so forth. International Applicants International applicants can have a status of non-degree graduate student only for one (1) year. It is recommended that the applicant select a degree type and an admitting department when applying. They must meet minimum standards for evidence of English language proficiency. See the link to International Applicants. Immunization See the link to Immunizations and Fees & Holds. Deadlines Domestic applications must be received by The Graduate School by the first (1st) day of classes. See Dates & Deadlines. International applicants must be prepared to submit a completed application approximately one-hundred (100) days prior to the start of the intended term, however departments may request more time for the application review. Typically, MSU will need approximately 75 days from the time an offer is made to start of term, to allow for the issuance of an I-20, For non-degree international applicants, deadlines are as follows: Fall Term: May 15 Spring Term: October 1 Summer Term: February 1 Registration Non-degree students will be eligible to register for classes as soon as the completed application is processed. Students will receive an email with information including directions on their next steps, such as addressing holds and registration. If there are documents missing from the application, it will be noted in the acceptance letter. Applicants may be admitted conditionally with a hold limiting their ability to register. CERTIFICATE A certificate is typically less than thirty (30) credits of graduate coursework in a specific program. To apply, see the department offering the certificate. International Applicants International applicants must submit additional documents to complete their application. See the International link to learn more. Immunization See the link to Immunizations and to Fees & Holds for more information. Deadlines Each admitting department sets its own application deadlines. See the link to department websites. See the link to Certificate Requirements. Note: Only some certificate programs are eligible for financial aid. See the link to Financial Aid. CONTINUING EDUCATION/Montana State Online Some individuals choose to take online coursework through Extended University (also known as continuing education). Enrollment in continuing education coursework does not immediately admit a student into Montana State Univeristy as a non-degree student. These courses are typically numbered as 588 (see the link to Online Education at MSU). NOTE: As a Continuing Education student, you are not eligible to take courses which can be counted towards a degree (See Online Education at MSU). DUAL DEGREE Dual degree is when an applicant is seeking two (2) graduate degrees simultaneously. The Graduate School recommends communicating your intent with both departments prior to applying to both programs. If both departments agree that the applicant can apply, then the applicant completes two (2) applications, one for each program. To avoid sending two sets of identical transcripts, please notify The Graduate School ([email protected]). Note: The applicant will need to complete all the application requirements (See the link to degree-seeking) for each degree program. For example, if one degree program does not require the GRE and the other does, the applicant would need to satisfy the GRE requirements. Confer with the departments regarding documents that can be used for both degree programs. Application documents will be reviewed separately by each department and all requirements must be met. An applicant may be admitted or denied from one or both programs. 1.3 Admission Decision Notification Admission decisions are made on an individual basis. Applications are typically reviewed by the department after their posted deadlines. After the initial review, an application recommendation is submitted to The Graduate School for review of the applicant's academic history and preparation. All applicants will receive a formal decision. If an international applicant is admitted to MSU, a letter of acceptance, an I-20 form (necessary for an F-1 student visa) and other registration information will be mailed to the student from the Office of International Programs. Enrollment in a graduate degree program may be limited by the availability of faculty, staff, facilities, area of interest, and so forth. In such cases, it is not possible to admit all applicants who are otherwise qualified. Students may be admitted to MSU with a status of either: Full Admission,Full Admission with Provision, Full Admission with Condition, or Full Admission with Provision & Condition; this will be specified in the letter of acceptance. Applicants should consider themselves admitted only when an official acceptance notification has been received from The Graduate School. Admission is typically for only one (1) graduate degree program at a time unless seeking dual graduate degrees. Applicants are typically admitted into the requested term. Occasionally, the admitting department may select a different starting term than originally requested by an applicant. This change can be due to a variety of reasons. For example, if qualified research advisors are unavailable, capacity of the graduate program is exceeded, and so forth. Applicants should apply for the term they wish to be admitted. However, if an admitted student would like to request a change in the term admitted (i.e., a deferral), this request must be made in writing to both The Graduate School and the admitting department (email is acceptable). If approved, a deferral can be for up to one (1) year or two (2) terms, not including summer term. Note: Some departments will not allow a newly admitted student to defer their starting term. FULL ADMISSION A status of full admission is assigned when an applicant demonstrates the potential for success in graduate studies and they meet the requirements of the admitting department and The Graduate School. See the link to Application Requirements. FULL ADMISSION WITH PROVISION A status of provisional admission is assigned when the applicant has not met the requirements for full admission. For example: a cumulative undergraduate GPA greater than 2.75, but less than 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale); insufficient rigor in the last two (2) years of study; a major change in the area of specialization (e.g., B.A. in English, applying for an M.S. in Psychology); low entrance examination scores as determined by the admitting department or other academic weaknesses. The Graduate School assigns a provisional admission status with up to fifteen (15) credits of leveling coursework. The admitting department will communicate in writing to the applicant the leveling coursework on or before the first (1st) day of the term the student begins their graduate study. This coursework also will be listed in writing on the official acceptance letter from The Graduate School. Applicants admitted provisionally may be suspended without a probationary period if the provisions placed on their admission have not been met. See the link to Suspensions. FULL ADMISSION WITH CONDITION A status of full admission with condition(s) results in a hold and occurs when the application is missing an official document, such as official transcripts or examination scores. See the link to Fees & Holds. FULL ADMISSION WITH PROVISION & CONDITION A status of provisional admission with condition occurs when the applicant has been admitted with both provisions and conditions. See Provisional Admission and Conditional Admission above. DENIED ADMISSION Applicants may not be offered admission based on academic qualifications, low-examination scores, lack of available faculty/facilities, and so forth. The admitting department may recommend that the applicant enroll as a non-degree graduate student. BOZEMAN- A biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) is expected to fully recover after being attacked by a grizzly bear in the Centennial Valley Wednesday morning. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the biologist was working on a sage grouse monitoring project on Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge about a mile west of Elk Lake when they heard a noise in the sagebrush and turned to see two grizzly bears about 80 to 100 yards away. One bear stood up and the other charged the biologist who deployed bear spray at the charging bear and throughout the attack until both the bears ran away. The Biologist then began leaving the site and reported the incident to other USFWS staff who came and helped them get medical attention. The biologist was transported to Rexburg, Idaho for medical treatment and was released later that day. A report from the biologist indicated the bears may have been young siblings around three years old. Idaho Fish and Game assisted Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in the early stages of the ongoing investigation. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks says seven people have been injured this year by bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Recreationalists and people who work outdoors are being warned by FWP to always be prepared to handle a bear encounter. Precautions people should keep in mind when outside from FWP: Be aware of your surroundings and look for bear sign. Read signs at trailheads and stay on trails. Be especially careful around creeks and in areas with dense brush. Carry bear spray. Know how to use it and be prepared to deploy it at a seconds notice. Travel in groups whenever possible and make casual noise, which can help alert bears to your presence. Stay away from animal carcasses, which often attract bears. Follow U.S. Forest Service (USFS) food storage orders, which have been in effect for public lands in Montana since March 1. If you encounter a bear, never approach it. Back away slowly and leave the area. A Glacier County Sheriff's Deputy is recovering after being involved in a 2 car crash Monday night along Highway 2 between Cut Bank and Browning. According to Highway Patrol Trooper Kurt Miller, the crash happened near mile marker 233 near the Camp Disappointment Monument. Trooper Miller says the Deputy suffered from minor injuries and is expected to be okay. The other driver, a Montana man who has not been identified, was taken to the Blackfeet Community Hospital for his injuries. Right now MHP believes alcohol may be a factor in the crash but their investigation is still ongoing. We will continue to update this story with any developments. Lansdale, PA (19446) Today Mostly cloudy...isolated thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 89F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 67F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. June 30, 2020 Boris Johnson's Government Hides Covid-19 Data That Is Needed To Control New Local Outbreaks Britain has had quite a problem with the Covid-19 epidemic. The coronavirus travails of Boris Johnson did not help. The countrywide lockdown came too late and had therefore stay on longer than elsewhere. In April 2020 monthly gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 20.4%. So far England and Wales have had some 50,000 death from the coronavirus. Scotland registered some 2,500 death and North Ireland some 550. After the long lockdown the number of death per day has normalized. The data from the Office for National Statistics shows that no more excess death occur. That is good news but there are still very bad surprises. The British government is still hiding information on Covid-19 testing results. It is not even sure how large the current reproduction rate of the epidemic is. This at a time when people, businesses and local administrations need such data as guidance on how much they have to limit their contacts to keep the epidemic under control. Yesterday the British Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that the city and metro area of Leicester with some 840,000 inhabitants had to go back under lockdown. The people in Leicester had no idea that such an order was coming. They had anticipated to go back to the pubs which were supposed to reopen on July 4. The announcement came as a surprise for even the city's mayor: The mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, has told a press conference he was "a little surprised" when the local lockdown was suggested by government because officials hadn't been given any data to suggest there were any "particular issues" in the city at that point. He said he had a virtual meeting with the secretary of state the following day, when he pushed for the figures that showed coronavirus cases had spiked in the city. Sir Peter said it took "quite some time to get any decent data through to us" and it didn't arrive until a week later. The mayor said his colleagues are still working through the "mountain" of data they have now received to map it and see where in the community the virus is still active and might be spreading. The mayor and the people of Leicester had looked at the government's coronavirus page and the publicly available data of daily new cases in their region. That data showed sinking numbers. But as the Financial Times' John Burn-Murdoch just pointed out that data is very incomplete. It includes only those cases which were tested in hospitals. At the onset of the epidemic testing was rather rare and only done in hospitals when new patients came in. At that time that data was all that was available. But now there is public testing available and the greatest number of new cases are coming from there. A different British government website explains that the total count consists of categories: Breakdown of testing by testing strategy pillars Pillar 1: swab testing in Public Health England (PHE) labs and NHS hospitals for those with a clinical need, and health and care workers Pillar 2: swab testing for the wider population, as set out in government guidance Pillar 3: serology testing to show if people have antibodies from having had COVID-19 ... The data on the official coronavirus website the British government promoted only show the new daily cases number of Pillar 1, the hospital testing. That fact is not even mentioned on the overview page that most people look at. The Financial Times data group has now constructed the real picture (paywalled) from data they have received from a different source. This is the real data from Leicester for all new cases. Almost all of them are from Pillar 2, the public testing outside of hospitals. Nobody in Leicester knew that the numbers of new cases in their city had spiked over the last two weeks. Now nothing and nobody is prepared for a new local lockdown. The police do not know how to manage it. Why isn't that data publicized? Not only is the data flow completely insufficient but the testing situation in Britain is also still bad: The mayor of Leicester has said officials struggled to persuade testing staff to stick around despite a major coronavirus outbreak in the city. Sir Peter Soulsby said testing had been "pretty patchy" and "not sufficiently systematic" to allow local public health experts to get a proper picture of the outbreak, which has prompted the first localised lockdown in England. Sir Peter, a former Labour MP, claimed officials had spent time trying to persuade testing staff to stay in Leicester rather than "decamp to go and measure elsewhere". ... Sir Peter said testing was finally ramping up in Leicester but expressed concern that local leaders had been slow to receive information from government. That Boris Johnson's government is unwilling to hand local new cases data to the local governments is only one of its dozens of major screw-ups during the pandemic. Informing the public as detailed as possible is the very first and most important point in any epidemic preparation plan. The people can not help to fight the epidemic if they have no information about its current extent. Looking from the outside its hard to understand how the people and the media in the United Kingdom let their government get away with these and the many other willful mistakes it has made during the last months. Posted by b on June 30, 2020 at 16:35 UTC | Permalink Comments 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. The Canada Revenue Agency has announced that it will be taking a closer look at real estate transactions in the United States to search for Canadians with hidden income. In its cross-border investigations, the CRA will be studying transactions spanning from 2014 to 2020, with particular focus on owner names, municipal addresses and assessments, sales histories, and property land/floor areas, among others. This information will enhance the Agencys ability to administer tax programs and to enhance the various tax Acts in order to protect Canadas revenue base and to support the Agencys business and research processes, the CRA said in a notice. The agency requires US real estate and real property data where a Canadian resident is the owner or party to the purchase, sale or transfer. In 2016, the agency instituted a fine of up to $8,000 for an owner failing to report the sale of their primary residence, although the sale itself is non-taxable. The policy was intended to establish paper trails for taxable transactions such as sales of investment and recreational properties, according to Blacklocks Reporter. In recent years, the agency has increasingly been identifying cases where taxpayers did not report their income from real estate transactions, the CRA said last year. The penalties and interest associated with unreported real estate sales can be substantial. Last year, the CRA estimated that the amount lost due to unpaid gross real estate taxes since 2015 was more than $1 billion. The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) has called for a thorough investigation of the proliferation of racist hate symbols in Toronto construction sites. The statement was in response to the discovery of nooses in a growing number of in-progress projects in Toronto. Late last week, two such symbols were found in separate projects by unrelated developers. These are disturbing and shocking racially motivated incidents that are denounced by everyone who works in our industry, said Richard Lyall, president of RESCON. These are acts of cowardice and racism that have no place in our industry nor society. The perpetrators must be caught and prosecuted. Lyall vowed grave consequences for any industry players involved in the offenses. Our industry and members have zero tolerance for racism and discriminatory behaviour of any kind, Lyall said. Hanging a noose is a hate crime. These perpetrators will be terminated and no longer welcome in the industry. The Daniels Corporation, one of the developers that saw its project defaced by the symbols last week, said that it has already filed a report with Toronto police. We are disgusted and horrified at this heinous act, which we are treating as a hate crime, The Daniels Corporation said in a statement. This deplorable act against the Black community is unacceptable and we reaffirm that there is zero tolerance for racism, prejudice and hate on our construction sites and within our organization. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident within the construction industry and reinforces that more action is required. Moultrie, GA (31768) Today Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High around 85F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Before a camping and kayaking trip along the Texas coast, Pam LeBlanc and Jimmy Harvey decided to get coronavirus tests. They wanted a bit more peace of mind before spending 13 days in close quarters along with three friends. The two got drive-thru tests at Austin Emergency Center in Austin. The center advertises a minimally invasive testing experience in a state now battling one of the countrys worst coronavirus outbreaks. Texas recorded 5,799 new cases Sunday and recently reversed some if its reopening policies. They both recalled how uncomfortable it was to have the long nasal swab pushed up their noses. LeBlancs eyes started to tear up; Harvey felt as if the swab was in my brain. Their tests came back with the same result negative, allowing the trip to go ahead but the accompanying bills were quite different. The emergency room charged Harvey $199 in cash. LeBlanc, who paid with insurance, was charged $6,408. I assumed, like an idiot, it would be cheaper to use my insurance than pay cash right there, LeBlanc said. This is 32 times the cost of what my friend paid for the exact same thing. LeBlancs health insurer negotiated the total bill down to $1,128. The plan said she was responsible for $928 of that. During the pandemic, there has been wide variation between what providers bill for the same basic diagnostic test, with some charging $27, others $2,315. It turns out there is also significant variation in how much a test can cost two patients at the same location. Harvey and LeBlanc were among four New York Times readers who shared bills they received from the same chain of emergency rooms in Austin. Their experiences offer a rare window into the unpredictable way health prices vary for patients who receive seemingly identical care. Three paid with insurance and one with cash. Even after negotiations between insurers and the emergency room, the total that patients and their insurers ended up paying varied by 2,700%. Such discrepancies arise from a fundamental fact about the U.S. health care system: The government does not regulate health care prices. Some academic research confirms that prices can vary within the same hospital. One 2015 paper found substantial within-hospital price differences for basic procedures, such as MRI scans, depending on the health insurer. The researchers say these differences arent about quality. In all likelihood, the expensive MRIs and the cheap MRIs are done on the same machine. Instead, they reflect different insurers market clout. A large insurer with many members can demand lower prices, while small insurers have less negotiating leverage. Because health prices in the United States are so opaque, some researchers have turned to their own medical bills to understand this type of price variation. Two health researchers who gave birth at the same hospital with the same insurance compared notes afterward. They found that one received a surprise $1,600 bill while the other one didnt. The difference? One woman happened to give birth while an out-of-network anesthesiologist was staffing the maternity ward; the other received her epidural from an in-network provider. The additional out-of-pocket charge on top of the other labor and delivery expenses was left entirely up to chance, co-authors Erin Taylor and Layla Parast wrote in a blog post summarizing the experience. Parast, who received the surprise bill, ultimately got it reversed but not until her baby was nearly 1 year old. The Trump administration has taken steps to limit patients out-of-pocket costs for coronavirus testing and treatment, using relief funds to reimburse providers for uninsured patients bills. Insurers are required to cover patients coronavirus tests with no cost-sharing or copayments. Alex Azar, the health and human services secretary, reiterated that commitment in a Sunday interview on CNN, saying, If you are uninsured, it will be covered by us. The testing experience of the Texas group suggests that it doesnt always work out that way. Some emergency rooms charge cash prices and tack on testing fees that insurers are not required to cover. In this case, the patient who paid cash actually got the best deal. Harvey has health insurance but felt it would be a hassle to use it for the coronavirus test. So he paid for his test with two $100 bills after receiving the nasal swab and was on his way. LeBlanc let the emergency room take a photograph of her insurance card. She ended up with $6,408 in charges, mostly from an outside lab called Genesis Laboratory that handled her testing. She received explanation-of-benefit statements suggesting she would owe more than $1,000. Jay Lenner, who also got a drive-thru test from the same provider, used his insurance and received a similarly long list of charges. He recalls a provider saying he would be tested only for coronavirus, but bill records show he was also screened for Legionnaires disease, herpes and enterovirus, among other things. The emergency room also charged him $1,684 for using its facility and $634 to see one of its doctors. All told, he ended up with $5,649 in bills, of which his insurance plan paid $4,914. Lenner didnt end up on the hook for any of it, but he is still frustrated. Ultimately, we pay for this in higher premiums, he said. Michelle Tribble, a spokesperson for Austin Emergency Center, said it needed to charge high prices because insurers often pay only a small share of their fees. For emergency room visits, the reimbursement to us by insurance companies is typically a fifth or a third of total charges, she said. If an insurance company were to bill a patient for an out-of-network visit to our emergency room, our billing company would go to bat for that patient and would appeal on their behalf. Austin Emergency Center and Genesis Laboratory had differing explanations for why patients like Lenner were screened for so many conditions. Tribble said the lab makes the determination of what to test for. Edward Cienki, a spokesperson for the laboratory, said, Genesis does not order clinical laboratory tests. LeBlanc learned of the discrepancy only because her husband happened to be on the phone with Harvey when a price estimate from her insurer arrived in the mail. Harvey said, I hear Pam in the background saying, What the heck is this? She used the information about what her friend had paid to negotiate her charges down to $199 as well. And after she reached out to a local television station, which devoted a segment to her charges, her health plan began investigating the bill. On Thursday, after returning from another camping trip, LeBlanc learned the bill would be dropped entirely. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. (Bloomberg) -- Oil posted its best quarter in nearly 30 years, bouncing back from this years historic price crash. Futures in New York surged 92% in the three months through June 30th following crudes worst quarter on record, buoyed by OPEC+ production cuts and rebounding oil consumption in post-lockdown China. The markets climb from negative territory in April has been swift but bumpy, with the U.S. benchmark struggling to hold above $40 a barrel amid a stubborn supply glut and a resurgence of Covid-19 cases thats darkened the demand outlook. Its not going to jump back up to $60 overnight, but to get to where we are now from where we were at is an incredible story, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. How quickly the market can complete its recovery is an open question. Coming out of the rut will have to happen one day at a time, he said. While demand is gradually improving, its still a long way off pre-crisis levels. In the U.S., a spike in virus cases is prompting many states to pause or reverse re-openings, which could curb summer travel just as fuel consumption was beginning to ramp up. Across the Atlantic, European Union governments extended a travel ban for U.S. residents. Rising American inventories are also weighing on prices, which are still down more than 30% so far this year. Crude stockpiles have expanded for the last three weeks to the highest level on record, while diesel supplies have swelled for 11 of the last 12 weeks. The tide may turn once the Energy Information Administration releases its latest inventory data on Wednesday. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. crude stockpiles declined 8.16 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data. If confirmed by the government report, it would be the largest draw since December. Supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma rose by 164,000 barrels, the report said. Rising prices have prompted some U.S. producers to restart wells they shuttered after the crash. ConocoPhillips said Tuesday it will restore some curtailed production next month. While increasing U.S. output complicates OPEC+s goal of balancing the market, the producer alliance has made good on its historic pledge to cut production but almost 10 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia and Russia have both slashed exports to multi-year lows, supporting physical prices in some parts of the world. In another bright spot for the oil market, Chinas recovery is continuing with manufacturing data for June beating estimates, pointing to stronger demand from the worlds largest consumer. The worst is behind us, Amin Nasser, chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco, said in an interview with consultant IHS Markit. Im very optimistic about the second half of this year. We see it in China today, its almost at 90%. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. A Texas mayor urged teenagers who attended a large party on June 20 to self-isolate after several attendees tested positive for the virus. The 300-person party took place on June 20 in Lakeway, a city in the Lake Travis area outside Austin. "Some attendees reported they were waiting for their COVID-19 test results at the time of the party and have now received positive results," said the Austin Public Health Department. Lakeway Mayor Sandy Cox noted Thursday that the city's caseload would probably increase because of the party, known as "Pongfest," which drew area high school students. READ MORE: 20 San Antonio ZIP codes with the highest number of COVID-19 cases "Unfortunately, they went to that party and some of them didn't realize they were positive until after the party but therein lies an exposure," Cox said. "It was a very, very large party." Austin Public Health warned that "the virus often hides in the healthy and is given to those who are at grave risk of being hospitalized or dying." The agency also reminded residents that younger people are not immune to severe illness or death from COVID-19. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, a hospital in Lakeway, offered a pop-up test site for students and parents on Saturday. "We need anyone who went to that party to isolate for 14 days," Cox said. "And if you have been in contact with anyone else since that party, they need to isolate for 14 days. If you are symptomatic, go get tested." We'll keep you connected to all the updated local news and information about what's happening in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County! Click Here to Subscribe! This still shot was taken from video filmed by a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter flying over the protests on May 31. The image, uploaded online by the Murfreesboro Police Department, shows protesters blocking the intersection of Middle Tennessee Boulevard and East Main Street not long before police deployed tear gas. THP We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Contact us Muskogee, OK (74401) Today Thunderstorms during the morning will give way to steady rain this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High near 75F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 54F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, or activate your access, to continue reading. Discuss this article with your neighbors or join the community conversation. Click here to get access During a speech to U.S. Air Force personnel station in the United Kingdom recently, President Joe Biden warned that global warming is the greatest physical theat to the nations security. Biden has suggested that climate change poses a threat to U.S. military security on multiple occasions. In February, he noted that he had directed the Pentagon to reimagine the countrys strategy for dealing with the impact of climate change. Do you agree with the President that climate change is the great physical threat to the United States? Choices are: You voted: Photo provided CARLINVILLE Historian and researcher Tom Emery of Carlinville has been awarded the Certificate of Excellence from the Illinois State Historical Society. It is the 13th career award from the group for Emery, who previously has earned honors for some of his books, newspaper columns, speaking programs and exhibitions. Morgan County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Jonathan M. Weber, 33, of 210 Masters St., Murrayville, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 5:41 p.m. Saturday on a battery charge. Tamara L. Waters, 53, of 210 Masters St., Murrayville, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 5:56 p.m. Saturday on a battery charge. Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Byron R. Kindred, 37, of 217 Allen Ave. was arrested at 11:18 p.m. Sunday on a charge of resisting or obstructing a peace officer after police said he refused to obey commands and to stop shouting during a reported disturbance. A 14-year-old girl was cited on a charge of disorderly conduct-fighting after another girl was punched numerous times in the face and sprayed with pepper spray at 6:38 p.m. Sunday in the 600 block of Freedman Street. OTHER REPORTS A Brandywine Lane resident told police a man entered her house at 6:30 p.m. Sunday and threatened her. The man was detained and taken to a hospital for evaluation. Greene County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Heather M. Breedlove, 31, of Roodhouse was booked into the Greene County Jail at 9:35 p.m. June 21 on a charge of obstruction of identification. Daniel A. Brooks, 30, of Murrayville was booked into the Greene County Jail at 5:35 p.m. June 16 on a burglary charge. Greenfield Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Bruce R. Hacker, 35, of Beardstown was booked into the Greene County Jail at 2:37 a.m. June 22 on a charge of driving while license is revoked or suspended. Derek A. Mitchell, 31, of Beardstown was booked into the Greene County Jail at 12:27 a.m. June 22 on a charge of possession of methamphetamine. Scott A. Ward, 23, of Carlinville was booked into the Greene County Jail at 2:08 a.m. June 21 on charges of driving under the influence and driving while license is suspended. Edwin Lee Sweeten, 35, of White Hall was booked into the Greene County Jail at 5:40 p.m. June 20 on charges of obstructing identification and driving while license is suspended and on a Morgan County warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court. Dara J. Fulmer, 42, of Troy was booked into the Greene County Jail at 11:46 p.m. June 15 on charges of driving under the influence and speeding and on a Pike County warrant accusing her of failing to appear in court. Roodhouse Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Heather M. Breedlove, 32, of Roodhouse was booked into the Greene County Jail at 12:19 a.m. June 23 on a criminal trespassing charge. Tristen Lee Stewart, 23, of Greenfield was booked into the Greene County Jail at 12:38 a.m. June 18 on a charge of criminal sexual assault with force. State police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Corey S. Beavers, 41, of Exeter was booked into the Greene County Jail at 7:29 p.m. June 11 on a charge of driving under the influence. White Hall Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Malindy A. Farris, 24, of White Hall was booked into the Greene County Jail at 11:27 a.m. June 23 on a charge of driving while license is revoked or suspended. Matthew R. Bonjean, 30, of Jacksonville was booked into the Greene County Jail at 4:33 a.m. June 20 on a charge of driving under the influence. Mark A. McFarland, 62, of Jacksonville was booked into the Greene County Jail at 11:33 a.m. June 17 on a charge of driving while license is suspended. Victor T. Rector, 60, of White Hall was booked into the Greene County Jail at 11:22 p.m. June 14 on a domestic battery charge. Darin M. Morrell, 34, of White Hall was booked into the Greene County Jail at 11:37 a.m. June 11 on charges of aggravated battery and domestic battery. Pike County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Angela J. Baxter, 44, of Pittsfield was arrested at 6:36 p.m. June 22 on a violation of an order of protection. TC Littrice, 19, of Chicago was arrested at 9:48 p.m. Wednesday on charges of driving without a valid license and delivery of cannabis. Darryl W. Bequette, 33, of Pleasant Hill was arrested at 12:14 a.m. Saturday on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and delivery of alcohol to a minor. John T. Stinebaker, 45, of Griggsville was arrested at 7:17 p.m. Saturday on charges of driving under the influence and failure to reduce speed. Compiled by David C.L. Bauer Workers with masks during the lockdown for the Covid-19 pandemic, with a pipe cutter, cut a galvanized steel pipe positioned on a stand to perform a repair of an underground gas line. The third person who died after being shot at a Springfield warehouse has been identified. Marsha Strumpher, 54, of Springfield died Saturday at a hospital of multiple gunshot wounds, Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said. Police believe Michael L. Collins opened fire Friday on three of his coworkers, killing two at the Bunn-O-Matic facility in Springfield shortly after 11 a.m. Collins, 48, of Springfield was found dead later Friday inside his vehicle in rural Morgan County. He died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. The victims who died Friday are Christopher Aumiller, 25, and Bill Gibbons, 61, both of Springfield, Allmon said. Their autopsies, conducted Saturday, concluded both died of multiple gunshot wounds. The warehouse was scheduled to be closed Monday. There was a workers meeting there Monday and grief counselors were to be made available. There will be a memorial vigil for the victims tonight at Centennial Park in Springfield. Springfield Police Deputy Chief Joshua Stuenkel said police are meeting with the families of the victims and will be reaching out to many of the employees who were working that day. Bunn-O-Matic manufactures dispensed-beverage equipment and is headquartered in Springfield, according to the companys website. There was even more yelling and screaming than usual in Washington. Im not talking about the peaceful demonstrators in Lafayette Park, who were putting ropes and chains on the statue of Andrew Jackson and trying to pull it down. Im talking about in Congress, where theres always a lot brave yelling and screaming about We gotta do something about this and We gotta solve that. Now it is a police reform bill proposed by Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. Called the Justice Act, it included incentives for police departments to ban things like choke holds and no-knock raids, plus grants for body cams and a commission to study the social status of Black men. Everyone especially the Democrats has been clamoring for police reform for a month in the wake of the George Floyd killing by police in Minneapolis. Scotts proposal, designed as a first draft subject to bipartisan debate, went nowhere. Though Democrats and Republicans agreed on probably 75% of its content, Democrats in the Senate wanted much more, so they killed the Justice Act in its cradle. You can understand why ordinary Americans are so frustrated by the people in D.C. They posture. They bloviate. They sling all this BS and then do nothing until after the next election. Meanwhile, across the country, young demonstrators continue to use Floyds death and what they say is systemic racism by police as excuses to riot and mindlessly tear down or threaten the statues of American heroes like Abraham Lincoln. Dozens of cities have done virtually nothing to protect their statues or property owners from the mob. Its long past time for Barack Obama, Basement Joe Biden and Blue State political leaders to condemn the lawlessness of the street protesters, the statue destruction and the takeover of several blocks in downtown Seattle. Yet even as people die, buildings burn and gangs of looters and violent professional agitators roam their streets, Democrats and the liberal media keep calling it a peaceful revolution. But the mass of the American people knows better. For a month, theyve been watching nothing being done to stop the destruction and violence. This is where were at in upside-down America. The good guys are the bad guys and bad guys are the good guys. The sad thing is, nothing is going to change anytime soon. The Democrat appeasers are not going to get tough on the street mobs. They see the wave of lawlessness and disorder as a weapon to defeat President Trump. It may backfire, however. Democrats are so foolish they actually think if Joe Biden becomes president things will get back to normal. Im sure the Poles thought the same way when they were taken over by Soviets after World War II: If we just act nice to these bad guys, itll all be OK. But Democrats have learned nothing from history. You dont appease mobs, especially destructive mobs. They only get more violent and demand more power. The young Americans mindlessly tearing down statues of Ulysses S. Grant and demanding that police departments be defunded or disbanded are historical illiterates, but thats not all. Theyve been brainwashed by their college teachers into thinking that America is a terrible country built on racism. Are there racists in America? Sure. But racism is not systemic the way it once was for 70 years in the Jim Crow South by law and in fact in the North. Institutional racism, even if it existed the way demonstrators claim, is no excuse for destroying the country. Its time for all of them to quit breaking things and start studying history. Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant and the author of Lessons My Father Taught Me: The Strength, Integrity, and Faith of Ronald Reagan. He can be reached at Reagan@caglecartoons.com. His column is distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Finally. After nearly three decades of pleading to deaf Republican and Democratic congresses for a fair shake, American workers can celebrate. Breaking with his White House predecessors, all of whom displayed an addicted-like commitment to more employment-based visas, President Trump gave American workers a reason at long last to cheer. Whether low- or high-skilled, Trumps announcement that he would cut 525,000 visas from among those who would have entered and taken a U.S. job during this years final six months means that 45 million unemployed Americans futures are suddenly brighter. Trump expanded his April 22 Executive Order that only inconsequentially lowered legal immigration totals, and left employment visas untouched. For the remainder of 2020, the following visas, all of which include work permission, will be restricted: H-1B, mostly for tech; and H-2B for seasonal non-agricultural workers that ludicrously include lifeguards, leisure industry employees and amusement park workers as if young American wouldnt do those jobs. Also included are J visas that allow au pairs to work on the cheap in tony D.C. suburbs; H-4, an Obama-era program, never congressionally approved, that gives work permission to H-1B spouses, and L visas that allow, for example, a Hong Kong-based IBM accountant to transfer to the Armonk corporate headquarters as if the New York/Connecticut region has no available bookkeepers. By the way, accompanying L visa holders will be their spouses and unmarried children age 21 or younger. Bringing family members keeps the U.S. population exploding and assures that K-12 schools remain overcrowded, both of which reduce Americans quality of life. But President Trump put extended family chain migration on hold. Only Green Card holders nuclear family will get Green Cards, making them eligible for lifetime-valid work permits. The president moved to correct another preposterous immigration flaw. The Trump administration announced a new regulation that will prevent most of those who come to the U.S. illegally from getting work permits while they apply for asylum or make other pleas for special dispensation. Currently, aliens can obtain work permits while their cases are pending, a period that often stretches out for years. This misguided policy represents an obvious incentive to enter illegally, and then be rewarded with work permission. When they learned of the presidents order, expansionists that include the Chamber of Commerce, the tech lobby and some in Congress went apoplectic, and sounded foolish. FWD.us, the immigration advocacy group that Mark Zuckerberg co-founded, pulled out the predictable hysterical claims that President Trumps newest order was a full-frontal attack on American innovation and our nations ability to benefit from attracting talent from around the world and that it will hurt our economy, another tired old saw. No intelligent argument can be made that the U.S. needs employment-based visas or for that matter more people. Americans agree with President Trumps immigration pause. A Zogby Analytics poll taken in swing states Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin showed that a strong majority, about 60% of registered voters, favor immigration reductions. In all 10 states, majorities of voters concurred that limiting admission of new immigrants and guest workers will improve the chances of laid-off American workers being rehired. With record high unemployment, for Congress to force unemployed Americans to compete with imported labor is an outrage. While Trumps order doesnt go far enough, or last as long as it should, hes taken an important step in the right direction to protect beleaguered, job-seeking U.S. workers. Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. He can be reached at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org. Microphone and US Flag View Photo During the Democratic Weekly Address, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) celebrated Pride Month and stated that the Equality Act still needs to be passed by the Senate. Maloney was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words: Hello, Im Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, and it is my honor to represent New Yorks 18th Congressional District in the Hudson Valley. I am also proud to be New Yorks first openly gay Member of Congress. Each June, the LGBTQ community and our allies come together to celebrate Pride Month. Pride is different this year, but its fundamental promise has never been more important. Remember, we celebrate Pride in June to commemorate the Stonewall Inn riots from June 1969, which happened when police raided that Greenwich Village hangout, a normal thing back then, and brutalized the peaceful patrons for no other reason than they were Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. But that night was different. The people fought back, and that changed everything. Every year since, even in the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, LGBTQ people and our allies have grown stronger and marched on. Now, 51 years after Stonewall, the riots and marches have become parades and parties, but at its core, Pride Month commemorates a moment when brave men and women said enough and demanded equality. People like me stand on the shoulders of those pioneers, and we must pick up their torch and carry it forward for ourselves and for all oppressed communities. Just a few days ago the Supreme Court ruled that Americans cannot be fired simply because of sexual orientation or gender identity. Millions of Americans in dozens of states where no protection existed can now legally fight back if they are fired because of who they are or who they love. Thats reason to celebrate. Last year, the Democrats in the House, under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, passed the Equality Act. This landmark bill would finally protect LGBTQ people in the same way we protect all other minority groups in employment, education, access to credit, jury service, federal funding, housing and public accommodations. No more, no less. Simple equality. But like so many other important bills passed by the Democratic House, this legislation is still sitting on Mitch McConnells desk. So, we still have work to do. We must keep pushing and marching until all vulnerable LGBTQ people our youth whove been rejected, our international brothers and sisters who face brutal persecution, our transgender neighbors, particularly trans women of color who face an epidemic of violence until all of us are equal and free. Yes, this Pride is different. There are few parades or parties, but we are still marching. This time were protesting police brutality against people of color. Thats the spirit of Stonewall. You know, my husband Randy and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this week. We could legally marry just a few years ago, of course, but weve been together for 28 years. Today, we celebrate the fifth anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the historic ruling that delivered marriage equality to the United States. Its a beautiful thing when your country catches up to you. Randy and I have raised three kids together, Reiniel, Daley and Essie. We all joined the vigils and protests following the murder of George Floyd this month because, for us, demanding that Black Lives Matter is a powerful way to celebrate Pride Month. And this week, those of us in the LGBT Equality Caucus joined our colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus in casting our votes for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This is the living embodiment of what Pride Month truly means. You see, Pride Month isnt something disease or violence can diminish or defeat. Pride is the strength of people who come together across all our lines of difference to say, enough. We want better we want the promise of America for ourselves, for our families and for everyone. Thanks for listening, and Happy Pride! 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. Kremlin denies report on Russian bounties for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan MOSCOW, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Kremlin on Monday denied a New York Times report alleging that Russia offered bounties for killing U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. "Once again, we can only express regret that one of the largest, reputable and high-quality world media outlets have been increasingly publishing elaborate hoaxes in recent years," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily briefing. On Friday, the New York Times published a report, saying that according to U.S. intelligence officials, "a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan -- including targeting American troops." U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax." Srinagar/IBNS: At a time India was busy in tackling China's territorial aggression along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Beijing's all-weather friend Pakistan had tried to inflame the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir though New Delhi's operations in the valley killed 41 militants in June, a media report said. There have been 382 ceasefire violations along LoC in May and 302 in June registering a sharp rise from the figures recorded in the similar months last year, an Indian Express report said. It is important to note that Jammu and Kashmir was a state with special status in May and June last year. The number of ceasefire violations has sharply increased after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre took a bold step on Aug 5, 2019 to abrogate Articles 370 and 35A to strip the valley of its special powers. "On the LoC, the number of CFVs had gone up last year and has remained high since. It is unlikely that it will come down anytime soon. The Pakistan army is keen on sending militants across as its aim is to make this summer in Kashmir hot. We are responding in good measure to its actions on the LoC," an official told the daily. In similar words, Lt General BS Raju, Chinar Corps Commander told the newspaper, "There is only one reason for the near constant ceasefire violation: Pakistans attempt to assist more terrorists to infiltrate into India in order to disrupt normalcy in the Kashmir valley. Pakistan Army facilitates these infiltration attempts. "Pakistans persistence in infiltrating terrorists, proliferating false propaganda are intended to disturb peace and its actions are unlikely to change anytime soon," he added. However, India's security forces were ready to battle Pakistan's onslaught by increasing the counter-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir, which is now a Union Territory. Any Union Territory's administration completely falls under the control of Union Home Ministry which is now handled by BJP's second-most powerful man Amit Shah. As per the official data, 119 militants were killed till June this year including 41 in the current month. Lt General (retd) Subrata Saha, member of the National Security Advisory Board, who served as the Chinar Corps Commander, said as quoted by The Indian Express, "The security forces in Kashmir have been additionally proactive, given the tense situation on the Line of Actual Control against China, it is a good strategy to keep the terrorists on the run." "Because of the pressure in the hinterland, the handlers in Pakistan are trying to heat up the LoC to divert attention of the Army. It is also trying to push infiltration to make up for the denuding numbers of terrorists," Lt General Saha added. On Jun 15, at least 20 Indian soldiers were martyred in a clash, which turned out deadly for the first time in 45 years, with the Chinese troops at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. Though China didn't reveal any figure about the killing of its soldiers, unconfirmed reports said around 45 Chinese soldiers were killed in the skirmish, justifying Prime Minister Modi's words that the Indian personnel who were martyred gave befitting reply in the border till their last breath. A second employee of the City of Plainview has tested positive for the coronavirus. The newest individual to have a confirmed case of the virus is an employee of the fire department, according to the news release. It is believed that the firefighter contracted the virus locally and is currently in self-isolation. Other fire department staff are being monitored. Firefighters put themselves at risk for our citizens day in and day out and it was just a matter of time before we started having first responders exposed and testing positive, says Fire Chief Tim Gibson. We do need our citizens and businesses to adopt the CDC recommended mitigation protocols such as social distancing, hand sanitizer and mask wearing when 6-foot distancing is not practical. Enhanced sanitizing, disinfecting of equipment and gear and other Centers for Disease Control-recommended actions to help prevent spread of the virus will continue to be implemented. Those with concerns about the coronavirus should call the Plainview-Hale County Health Department at 806-293-1359. This article will be updated throughout the week with coronavirus case counts and other need-to-know information about the pandemic in San Antonio. Highest single day death count since pandemic began: The coronavirus continued its unabated spread through the area Sunday as Bexar County reported 198 new cases and eight new deaths. July 4 High death count on Fourth of July: The coronavirus continued to exact a deadly toll in San Antonio on the Fourth of July as city official reported five new deaths and 341 new cases of COVID-19. Saturdays death count was the highest for a single day in Bexar County since mid-April. In all, 122 people have died of COVID-19 in Bexar County since the start of the pandemic in March. July 3 San Antonio reported another record-high number of new coronavirus cases Friday a 1,334-case increase after sending an emergency alert to area residents cellphones, urging them heed the state's new face covering mandate. It was a 4,000-case jump since Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in Bexar County to 14,212. July 2 Gov. Greg Abbott issues new order: On Thursday, the governor issued an executive order requiring Texans to wear a face mask in public spaces in counties with more 20 or more positive cases. The order also gives mayors and county judges the ability to impose restrictions on some outdoor gatherings of over 10 people. With certain exceptions, people cannot be in groups larger than 10 and must maintain 6 feet of social distancing from others. The face mask requirement comes during a statewide rise in COVID-19 cases. Big Bend closes: The Big Bend National Park was ordered closed again Thursday after a park resident turned up positive for COVID-19. After being largely spared during the early stages of the pandemic, the Big Bend area is now being hit with a wave of positive COVID-19 cases. July 1 Coronavirus cases: The novel coronavirus continued its unchecked spread through the San Antonio region as Bexar County reported 439 more cases of COVID-19 and 53 new hospitalized patients Wednesday. One more person has died of COVID-19, an Hispanic man in his 80s, bringing the toll to 111. The number of people are now hospitalized with the virus stands at 1,019. UTSA laying off more than 300 employees: The University of Texas at San Antonio is notifying 312 employees today that their positions are being eliminated to help close a $36 million shortfall caused by COVID-19. Laid-off employees will be released from their responsibilities immediately but will maintain their pay and benefits through August. JUNE 30 Coronavirus updates: San Antonio reported its largest one-day increase in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, reporting 1,268 new infections. That represent a 60 percent increase from the previous one-day high of 795, which was set Saturday. CPS employees: As the coronavirus races through San Antonio, 32 CPS Energy employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and an additional 246 workers are quarantined at home, utility officials said Monday. In other words, 8 percent of CPS Energys 3,083 employees are under quarantine. JUNE 29 Coronavirus updates: San Antonio officials reported 650 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday as the virus rapid spread continued to put pressure on area hospitals. The confirmed new cases brought the countys total to 10,797. San Antonio-area hospitals were treating 881 COVID-19 patients, an increase of 79 since Sunday. Half of S.A.'s COVID-19 cases confirmed in June: "Good Morning America" pointed out that more than half of the city's cases were reported in June. Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the current situation is a "stark difference" from previous months, when he said the city had one of the lowest infection rates per capita. USAA delaying office reopening: The San Antonio insurance and financial services company informed employees last week that the bulk of its 35,000-person workforce will continue to work from home through Dec. 31, instead of Sept. 1 as originally planned. USAA employs 19,000 people in San Antonio. H-E-B employees positive: Twenty-four H-E-B employees in San Antonio tested positive for COVID-19 last weekend. In June alone, more than 100 S.A. grocery employees had been infected with COVID-19, including the 24 cases this past weekend. Cases surpass 10,000: San Antonio coronavirus cases continued to rise exponentially Sunday, topping 10,000 as local hospitals scramble to find enough hospital beds and nurses to care for the wave of new patients in the last two weeks. JUNE 28 Pence in Dallas: This is all hands on deck, Vice President Mike Pence said during a June 28 meeting with Abbott and White House coronavirus expert Dr. Deborah Birx at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. President Trump wanted us to be here today with the developments over the last two weeks with the rising positivity and the rising number of cases with a very simple message that is to you and the people of Texas: Were with you and were going to stay with you. TRACKING COVID-19: Maps and graphics show the spread of the virus through San Antonio and Texas. Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer H-E-B will require customers to wear masks at all of its locations, including stores in areas that do not mandate wearing them. The new policy, which has exceptions for children and individuals with health-related issues, will go into effect Wednesday. Wikimedia Commons Kathmandu/IBNS: Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday received backlash from top leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party for blaming India to topple his government. Members of the ruling Nepal Communist Party now want PM Oli to step down from his post, media reports said. This comes after PM Oli on Sunday alleged that meetings are being organized in India to topple his government. Oli said the ouster plan will fail. Plots are being hatched to topple me for releasing the countrys new map and getting it adopted through Parliament, he said while addressing a function on Sunday. Given the ongoing intellectual discussions, media reports from New Delhi, embassys activities and meetings at different hotels in Kathmandu, it is not very difficult to understand how people are openly active to oust me. But they wont succeed," he had said. However, the remark earned him backlash in his country with former PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" slamming Oli for the same. As things progressed, party co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal asked PM Oli to quit owing to the governments gross, all-round incompetence, according to a source close to Dahal. Many NCP (NCP) leaders came down heavily on PM Oli for failing to deliver as well as for applying diversion tactics to fend off criticisms, the Himalayan Times report said. The House of Representatives of Nepal this month passed the Constitutional Amendment Bill revising the Coat of Arms of Nepal which has included a stretch of land in the mountains that India claims as its own. Out of the 275 members of Nepal's House of Representatives, 258 votes went in favour of the amendment bill, which was passed by a two-thirds majority. The new map of Nepal includes a portion of land on the east of river Kali, which extends out from the northwestern tip of Nepal. The area includes the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and also Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, which are strategically significant areas for India and the country has been guarding since the 1962 war with China. Five years ago, Natalie Arrufat came up with the idea to own a nail salon on wheels after realizing how popular delivery and curbside options are. Finally, the dream was going to come true in March with Lady of Luxury Nails. Her plans, however, were derailed by a pandemic that has temporarily change the way of life. Not only could she not open in March because or stay home orders, but businesses like hers were not allowed to operate until May. The salon, which is dubbed as Texas' only "luxury mobile nail salon," officially took appointments for the first time on Mother's Day. READ ALSO: Popular San Antonio nail artists shipping custom, press-on kits to clients during pandemic Although business has been "up-and-down," Arrufat said she takes pleasure in customers responding well to the natural nail services her mobile salon offers. The custom-designed and engineered nail salon provides only natural nail services and uses a vegan, gel product named Dazzle Dry, which dries in five minutes and lasts up to three weeks, Arrufat said. As Lake Houston area residents patiently waited for their coronavirus test on Tuesday, a line of cars stretched nearly half a mile from Emergency Hospital Systems Deerbrook on FM 1960 to the Kroger entrance near the intersection of Townsen Boulevard. The hospital, located at 8901 FM 1960 Bypass Rd. W. Suite 105, Humble, started doing COVID-19 testing on June 24 and will continue until at least the end of this week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is unclear how long they will continue testing in the future. Originally they had planned to only do the testing site last week, so it is up to upper management to continue next week, according to Tamesha James, the director of registration and lab manager. EARLY VOTING: Face shields, gloves, wipes: Texas votes as virus rages James said they have completed as many as 600 tests in a day since they started the program last week. The hospital has to capability to do as many tests as possible, however, they are limited by staff size. They have tried to increase the number of people helping so that they can provide more tests, but currently have only about seven people working the testing line. Ill be honest with you, we didnt expect the turn out to be what it was, James said. Each day its increased, almost doubled. The decision to provide tests came as positive coronavirus cases began to rise across the state. The trend has followed suit in the Lake Houston area. In District E, encompassing Kingwood, some of Summerwood and Clear Lake, positive results have grown from 1.6% to 11% in less than 30 days, according to Dave Martin, Mayor Pro Tem and District E Councilmember. Today I have a plea for my neighbors in District E, mask up, stay home, wash your hands and please social distance, Martin said in a Houston Television video last week. THE LATEST: Texas counties with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases so far Emergency Hospital Systemss goal was to help provide people in the area with a local resource for testing, although they have had individuals tested from as far as Angleton and Lake Jackson. Their Cleveland location is also providing testing that is drawing in people as far away as Lufkin. A lot of people that were calling back and telling them that theyre positive, theyre shocked...I think people were just coming to get tested just to see, you know, to get the test because they are hearing numbers are increasing, James said. James said that many are surprised to hear a positive result as they do not have symptoms. The lab manager said she has heard of several devastated parents who found out their children tested positive. I dont think over half of the people that we are calling back and telling them that they are positive thought that they would be positive. A lot of them are asymptomatic, meaning they dont have symptoms (yet), and so theyre shocked, theyre in disbelief I think were really seeing how its affecting the community as a whole right now. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Daily coronavirus numbers for Houston, rest of Texas To help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, James recommends wearing a mask, washing hands, and cleaning. The CDC also recommends wearing a mask, washing hands frequently, and clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, among other measures that can be found on their website. She said its important for people to see that if the health care workers are following these rules to stay safe, its important that the general public does as well to protect themselves or just stay home. Those who were contacted with a positive case said that while they didnt know, they had been around others who they could have accidentally spread it to. After letting those individuals know of their positive case, those who were potentially exposed are coming to be tested as well. By wearing a mask and following guidelines, James said she thinks it will help in flattening to curve. Wearing the mask is a very important thing, thats what we depend on here as health care workers to keep us safe, James said. We deal with positive patients every day and so far the staff has been safe because we are wearing our mask so that is very important. Kingwood lab opens for COVID-19 testing BAS Premier Testing in Kingwood is a clinical lab providing COVID-19 tests to the local community at cost. Located at 22175 Professional Drive, Kingwood, BAS Premier Testing completes the COVID--19 test for $139 and will have results in 24 hours. They provide forms for reimbursement for insurance providers as well. In addition to their testing location, they will come to offices on-site and test employees and have results with 24 to 36 hours. According to their website, they are working on a COVID-19 home test kit that is coming soon. For more information, call (281) 319-TEST. savannah.mehrtens@chron.com She found herself listening for the sirens all the time. Before, they had been just background noise, ambulances regularly blasting through Beth Blauer's neighborhood in Baltimore to or from a nearby critical-care facility for the elderly. Now she knew every emergency trip from the nursing home could turn up later as a statistic on her computer screen. The novel coronavirus was working its way through the United States, and Blauer - along with dozens of colleagues at Johns Hopkins University - was actively tracking its path. "The sirens now feel different," she said recently. "They come with a different flood of emotions." The noise outside her window was a tangible reminder of the human lives hidden in the maze of anonymous data that had come to dominate her days. Since launching in January, the university's Coronavirus Resource Center had exploded in scope and popularity, garnering millions of page views and popping up in news coverage and daily conversation. Through numbers, the tracker has told the story of what the virus is doing while the story is still unfolding, offering a nearly real-time picture of its silent march across the globe. But even as data has jumped to the forefront of international discussions about the virus, the Johns Hopkins team wrestles with doubts about whether the numbers can truly capture the scope of the pandemic, or whether the public and policymakers are failing to absorb the big picture. They know what they are producing is not a high-resolution snapshot of the pandemic, but a constantly shifting Etch a Sketch of the trail of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. Case counts are consistently inconsistent. Reporting practices differ from country to country, state to state, even county to county. If authorities fail to contextualize the virus with other factors - like Zip codes, race or Medicaid usage - the hardest-hit communities can go unseen. "Numbers in some ways instill this sense of comfort. But then on the other hand, they can be wrong," said Lauren Gardner, the associate professor at Johns Hopkins's Whiting School of Engineering who has spearheaded the global tracker since day one. "And they can be wrong for lots of different reasons." For those looking closely, the Hopkins project does lay out a clearly legible story about American life today, one involving economic inequality, racial disparities and poor access to health care. Many of the same issues flared up in street protests following the May 25 killing of George Floyd in police custody, an incident that sparked civil unrest and temporarily pushed the pandemic off America's front pages. The tracker data can offer a bridge between the two news cycles, those working all hours to maintain it say. And as cases again begin to spike in the south and west, the Johns Hopkins project remains a key resource for understanding the virus's impact. "This is the first time data has been such a central part of the narrative," said Blauer, the executive director of Johns Hopkins University's Centers for Civic Impact. "The human connection - I think we need more of that in the larger national narrative. It just feels like the compassion is getting lost." - - - It started over coffee. The virus had clouded Ensheng Dong's thoughts all January. Every time the first-year PhD student called home to China's Shanxi province, he heard about the sickness spreading from Wuhan. Dong modeled outbreaks as part of his studies. He had lived through China's 2003 SARS pandemic. Combing the available Chinese statistics, he realized each data point could be a former classmate or neighbor or family member. So when Gardner, his adviser at Hopkins, suggested that Dong create a map to track the global reach of the infection, he readily agreed. "I wanted to use my experience to collect data to show the public," Dong said. "And the first member of the public was me." Gardner, an expert in modeling infectious-disease spread, initially had a fairly modest vision for the project. She knew disease reporting - or how authorities track and publicize the numbers - is inconsistent. She figured that by noting the data in real time, she and Dong could provide academic colleagues with statistics for later analysis. "When we started this there was not a single dedicated covid-19 tracking website by a public health authority anywhere," she said. Dong went straight to work. For 12 hours, he collected data, translated information from Chinese, designed tables and bulldozed the statistics into a program that would create a map. His stark aesthetic choices - black for the background, red for dots indicating infections - were deliberate: "I wanted to alarm people that the situation was getting worse." The next morning, Jan. 22, Dong showed Gardner his results. After a few tweaks, the project went live, with red dots ballooning across countries - and provinces,when possible - to show numbers of known cases, and charts listing confirmed cases and deaths for each jurisdiction. Gardner and Dong fished through media reports and Twitter accounts for updates, manually punching in the new figures. Early on, as the virus spread to Japan and South Korea, the project was a crowdsourced effort, with people from around the world emailing about new cases. The data feeding into the dashboard was open to the public in a Google Sheets file, so anyone could click through the numbers and pinpoint mistakes or offer suggestions. As the potential dimensions of the disaster took shape - millions sick, global lockdowns, a scorched-earth economy - the public looked to the tracker to make sense of a frightful ordeal. Lainie Rutkow, a professor of health policy and management at Hopkins's Bloomberg School of Public Health, was reminded of the public anxiety she witnessed in the days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a cataclysmic event that had rerouted her from a career in law to one in public health. "That same type of uncertainty, I see now," she said. "Those feelings of uncertainty about what happens next." She joined the team with the idea that what Gardner and Dong had started could grow into a more ambitious tool, one that could not only track the virus but explain and contextualize the spread for a global audience desperate for information. At the same time, the mechanics behind the project were rapidly changing. In February, governments began releasing virus statistics. Rather than ease the workload, the shift revealed a major shortcoming: There was no international body laying out criteria for how to tally coronavirus infections or deaths. Each country put out its own data, sometimes revising it weeks or months later in ways that dramatically changed the trends the tracker was trying to identify. The pace of infection - faster every day - created more issues for the small team. "Initially, I was trying to update it two to three times a day, at 12 p.m. and 12 a.m.," Dong said. "But people were so anxious to see the dashboard, so I had to update every three to four hours. But sometimes by the time I had collected it all, the data had updated in the original data source, so I would have to tear down everything I'd done and collect it again." - - - Blauer first pulled up the tracker out of personal caution. It was February, and she was supposed to travel to Israel and India soon. As she scanned the dashboard, Blauer recognized that what her colleagues were building hit on concerns central to her own work at the Centers for Civic Impact, which helps local and state governments use data in decision-making. She contacted Rutkow and asked to join the team. Her own plunge into data started after college, when Blauer worked as a juvenile probation officer in Baltimore City. She would get called to police stations in the middle of the night and asked to determine whether a child who had just been arrested could go home with family or needed to spend the night in jail. "I was asked to make a decision in the lives of these kids based on no information," she said. "I didn't know if the child had been in school that day, if they had access to food at home, if there was a social worker involved with the family." There had to be a better way, she decided. In 2004, she became a key player in then-Mayor Martin O'Malley's CitiStat program, a data-driven effort to track and monitor municipal work. When O'Malley became governor, Blauer ran a similar statewide effort from Annapolis, tracking everything from infant mortality rates to budget spending. The large-scale effort - one of the first of its kind in government - "became a kind of religion," she said. The experience schooled Blauer on the nitty-gritty complexities of American inequity. Any given Zip code was layered with the historical baggage of past policies. Discriminatory housing, health-care access, school stability - they were all baked in. So when Blauer and others began plotting a U.S. dashboard to complement the global tracker in March, they decided a simple tally of infections and deaths would not be enough to fully explain what the virus was primed to do to black, Latino and Native American communities. The team settled on three areas of additional information for each county in the United States. The first was health-care capacity - not only the number of intensive care unit beds and staffing statistics, but how people had access to the local health-care system, whether through private insurance or Medicaid. Next, they decided to add information on the demographics of each county, including a racial breakdown, unemployment figures and age distribution. The third focus was comparing county disease data against the state as a whole. The goal was to measure whether the virus posed an equal-opportunity risk, or whether all that historical baggage would determine who lives and dies. The U.S. map went live in mid-April, and was quickly complicated by inconsistencies in how different jurisdictions presented data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just changed its guidance, suggesting that local health officials include probable deaths and probable infections in their counts. Some states did. Some didn't. Sometimes some counties within a state would follow it, and others would chart a different course. "It's one thing that this is not consistent globally, that Spain presents data differently from Indonesia, and Indonesia reports differently from the U.S.," Gardner explained. "The thing that's crazy to me is how different the reporting is within a state in the United States, let alone state to state." By then, Johns Hopkins, like the rest of the county, was on lockdown. The tracker team - which now comprises dozens of professors, experts and students from multiple departments - coordinated via long Zoom meetings, emails and phone calls. "The first six and a half weeks, we were building the plane as it flew, and we were flying at supersonic speeds," said Sheri Lewis, a member of Hopkins's Applied Physics Laboratory working on the tracker. The U.S. map soon illustrated what anecdotal reports were suggesting: Minority communities were being hit hardest by the disease. In Washington, D.C., African Americans accounted for 74% of deaths, but 46% of the city's population. In Arizona, Native Americans - who make up about 5% of the population - accounted for 18% of deaths. And in South Dakota, where African Americans are less than 3% of the population, they represented 17% of coronavirus cases; other minority populations totaling around 16% of the population, including Latinos and Native Americans, made up 70% of cases. For Gardner, the U.S. map put a spotlight on inequalities that made the pandemic more heartbreaking. "When you actually start looking at the affected populations, the breakdown of race and age and ethnicity and socioeconomic demographics, it becomes so much more human," she said. Even Blauer, who has spent her career teasing out the social ills hidden inside strings of numbers, felt frustration and resignation as she watched the virus's path. "We've known for generations that populations that are poor and living in highly dense areas have these co-morbidities that are presenting for risk for covid-19," she said. "But the reality of the situation is we don't do anything about it. If you are born black in this country, it's harder for you to get a job, harder for you to keep a job and also harder for you to stay alive." Behind every successful student is an outstanding educator that works above and beyond the call of duty to lead, inspire, and teach our future leaders for academic achievement. The African American Excellence in Education Awards honors outstanding public-school professionals for their dedication and commitment to academic excellence for all students. K-12 School Leadership attrition is a national problem, particularly in large urban school districts. Research confirms that schools serving high proportions of children living in poverty have the most difficulty attracting and retaining competent school leaders. Principals who are at the helm of high poverty schools have a higher turnover rate than the national average of three to four years and higher rates of teacher attrition. The Fred S. Klipsch Educators Collegeat Marian University is excited to partner with the Indianapolis Chapter of the Indiana Black Expo, Educate Me Foundation and Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper, to ensure that we continue to develop African American educational servant leaders. To celebrate the Indianapolis Recorders 125th anniversary, Marian University will offer scholarship opportunities for all recipients of the 2020 African American Excellence in Education Awards for our Masters of Arts in Educational Leadership (M.A) and the Building Level Administrator Licensure Only Program (BLA). Black educators play a significant role in the lives of students, especially students of color, said Recorder President and CEO Robert Shegog. These powerful leaders eliminate bias that can sometimes have negative effects on students learning outcomes, and Black educators also serve as true role models for students by holding them accountable and demonstrating whats possible. The Recorder is proud of the dedication Marian University shows to educators of color, and we are honored to partner with the university on this important initiative. The Masters of Arts in Educational Leadership (M.A) is an innovative program designed for licensed K-12 teachers who want to expand their career opportunities and become school principals, administrators, and program directors. The Building Level Administrator (BLA) 12 -month licensure only program is for licensed teachers with a masters degree in any field who want to work as K-12 program directors, principals, assistant principals, or serve in other administrative functions. Both hybrid programs are offered through our Academy for Teaching and Learning Leadership and meet Indiana Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability (REPA) and other state and national standards. Our long-term, strategic goals for the Fred S. Klipsch Educators College at Marian University are in line to help change the narrative for education in Indiana. Ken Britt, Ph.D., Dean of the Educators College, continues, We are improving the quality of educators, growing the number of minority teachers and leaders for schools, and increasing the number and level of services provided to the public, charter, and private schools we must support teachers and school leaders to ensure that every child succeeds no matter their background or circumstance. All recipients of this years awards can schedule a one-on-one meeting with our program coordinators to discuss the program and how they may utilize the scholarship this year. The Fred S. Klipsch Educators Collegeat Marian University is proud to partner with the Indianapolis Chapter of the Indiana Black Expo, Educate Me Foundation and Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper to affirm and provide our city, state, and the world with an infusion of high quality prepared Black K-12 educators. Thank you in advance for supporting African American Educators in our community. To attend this years event, please register today. Watch footage from the 2019 African American Excellence in Education Awards https://vimeo.com/363204544 By mid-March, coronavirus response efforts were underway worldwide. President Donald Trump had declared a national emergency. France was in lockdown. And Japanese public schools were closed. But schools on American military bases in Japan planned to remain open, much to the dismay of nervous parents. Then the news appeared in Stars and Stripes, the Pentagon-subsidized but editorially independent newspaper that covers the U.S. armed forces at home and abroad. "School is such an easy place for viruses and germs to spread," one Navy spouse fretted to the publication, "and it seems like too much of a risk." A day later, closures were announced. Stars and Stripes has been chronicling the military angle of the covid-19 crisis for months now: sailors infected on Navy ships, face masks purchased for the Department of Defense workforce, stimulus checks cut for veterans. But in the midst of the pandemic, the newspaper faces an unprecedented threat all its own: In February, the Trump administration proposed eliminating all of the publication's federal support in 2021. That's more than $15 million a year, about half its budget. "I can't think of a graver threat to its independence," the paper's ombudsman, Ernie Gates, told me recently. "That's a fatal cut." Defense Secretary Mark Esper justifies the cut by saying the publication's money should be spent on "higher-priority issues," including space and nuclear programs. But considering that Stars and Stripes represents a minuscule fraction of the department's $705 billion budget - "decimal dust," as editorial director Terry Leonard puts it - critics see the proposal as consistent with the president's broader war on journalism. "It's another obnoxious assault by the Trump administration on freedom of the press," says Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., a Marine veteran and member of the House Armed Services Committee, who blasts the defunding plan as "un-American." Now Moulton's committee - and ultimately the rest of Congress - must decide whether to support the appropriation by the fall, preserving a news organization with a unique civic role. This deliberation comes as the coronavirus economic crisis exacerbates the news industry's financial woes, adding to what The Washington Post recently described as a "tsunami of layoffs, cutbacks, furloughs and closures" washing over American newsrooms. Stars and Stripes, which dates back to the Civil War, has published continuously since World War II. In 2010, the paper won a prestigious George Polk Award for revealing the Defense Department's use of a public relations firm that profiled reporters and steered them toward favorable coverage of the war in Afghanistan. In 2015, the publication broke the news that NBC anchor Brian Williams had exaggerated a story about his reporting in Iraq. Much of the day-to-day coverage is news of direct concern to service members and their families: pay and benefits, life on base and in the field, the real people behind the global geopolitics. The paper is a modern multimedia operation with a website, a social media presence and a couple of podcasts, and the print edition reaches troops in parts of the world where internet access is absent. "I remember being in al-Anbar and Haditha and picking up Stars and Stripes in the middle of a war zone," says Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., one of Moulton's committee colleagues and a fellow Marine veteran. "I didn't have a cellphone. Access to the internet was very limited. But with every mail delivery there came a Stars and Stripes, and I was able to keep connected to the world." "Stars and Stripes kept our spirits up and kept us informed at some of the most difficult times," says Moulton, who served four tours of duty in Iraq. "Just knowing they were out there doing their job - looking out for us by doggedly pursuing the truth - gave us more faith in our work and reinforced the values we were literally putting our lives on the line for." The paper's publisher, Max Lederer says, "You can give a service member the best gun in the world, but if his mind is elsewhere - if he's worried about things at home - then he's not going to be as good a soldier, and part of our role is to provide that information to give him a sense of comfort." Though the Trump administration is the first to propose defunding the paper, there has always been a natural tension between Stars and Stripes and the Pentagon. The paper's editorial staffers are Department of Defense employees, but their charge is different from - and sometimes at odds with - that of the military's public affairs team. Elaine McCusker, the Pentagon's acting comptroller, told reporters in February, "that newspaper is probably not the best way that we communicate any longer." But that misrepresents what the paper is meant to communicate. "We're not there to provide the command message," Lederer said. "We're there to analyze the command message and to provide information necessary for the military community." Another impediment to providing that information, Lederer said, is a Pentagon that restricts journalistic access more than under previous administrations. Fewer reporters are allowed to travel with military officials. Asking questions in informal "gaggles" is no longer routine, and formal briefings were discontinued until Esper revived them. In general, information is harder to come by, inhibiting reporters from playing their watchdog role. But Stars and Stripes has always garnered strong bipartisan support from another Pentagon watchdog: Congress. And that looks likely to continue this year. "We have the numbers," Gallego said. "I think we have the votes." Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, likewise opposes cutting the funding, despite asserting that "Secretary Esper is right to look for efficiencies." "This service cannot be duplicated in the private sector and should be maintained," Thornberry said in a statement to The Post. "Ultimately, 'Stripes' should be preserved, but the business model will have to change so that the program can be maintained without taxing DOD resources." But Thornberry concedes the fundamental point: "Stars and Stripes performs a useful function for men and women in uniform, particularly those who are forward deployed with limited access to news." As Gates puts it, "Nobody else covers the Defense Department schools in Japan." A leaking pipe caused the evacuation at a Southwest Side Kiolbassa meat factory late Monday night. San Antonio Fire officials said an ammonia pipe for a refrigeration system started leaking causing the evacuation just before midnight. Hazmat teams were called to the 1500 block of S. San Marcos to assist with clean up from the leak. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Four employees were assessed on scene for exposure to the fumes, but none were hospitalized. Officials said there was no danger to the surrounding neighborhood. Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway Courtesy, Pop of Color Images A local photographer is hoping to bring a smile to San Antonio's COVID-19 frontline workers and capture it in free family photos to show her appreciation. Megan Bowling, of Pop of Color Images, is organizing free mini-photo sessions on Aug. 2 for grocery store employees, nurses and first responders. The photographer gives away photoshoots annually in honor of fallen San Antonio Fire Department firefighter Scott Deem, who died in May 2017 while on duty. She dedicated the upcoming installment to those working the frontlines of the pandemic, considering the pressure they have endured for months. One man is dead and a second hospitalized in critical condition after a shooting on the West Side Monday night. San Antonio police believe three men got into an altercation near Zarzamora and San Luis Streets around 9:30 p.m., when shots were fired. One unidentified man died at the scene and a 50-year-old man was hit and transported to University Hospital. There are three words no parent wants to hear when discussing their childs upcoming surgery. Risk of death. Thats where the spinal surgeon lost my wife in that conversation two years ago. She told me later that she zoned out and what followed was a blur. That included the possibility of paralysis. My breakdown came later, at the childrens hospital on the morning of the surgery. When a team of physicians wheeled my 13-year-old little girl past the red line that cordons off the operating rooms, I started bawling. Did you know June is National Scoliosis Awareness Month? I recently asked my teenage daughter, Jacqui. No, thats not a thing, the 15-year-old scoffed. The young lady is confident, opinionated and argumentative. I cant imagine who she takes after. Yes, I assured her, National Scoliosis Awareness Month is really a thing. And an abnormal curvature of the spine is most certainly a thing and something that people especially parents should know more about. There are both juvenile and adolescent scoliosis. The former is slightly more common in boys, the latter much more common in girls. No one seems to know what causes scoliosis. Adolescent scoliosis is usually detectable during a growth spurt. Its a serious condition, but some people can live with it if the curvature isnt too large or increasing too rapidly. According to experts, only about 0.5 percent of young people who develop scoliosis require treatment. An even smaller percentage will require surgery to straighten the spine. In some cases, bracing may slow the curve. Jacqui, in fact, required two surgeries, one at 13 and one at 15. The operation consists of inserting rods and screws, and sometimes they break or come loose. Today, shes fine and able to help her old man conduct an interview with New Jersey-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Rahul Shah. After medical school at Rutgers and a residency at Yale New Haven Hospital, Shah went on to become a nationally renowned specialist in treating scoliosis. I asked the questions, but Jacqui wrote them. That explains why the interview went better than usual. In simple terms, what is scoliosis? I asked, reading the index card she handed me. Its an abnormal curvature, Shah said. The spine has the basic curves it needs, and its typically fairly straight. Most curves are less than 10 degrees, but anything more than 10 degrees is considered scoliosis. Is it genetic? It tends to run in families, he said. But sometimes, it skips generations or crosses siblings. How can it be detected? If its adolescent scoliosis, during a growth spurt, look at their shoulders, their hips, and see if theyre level, he said. Also, when they bend forward, pay attention to the shape of their spine. Why is it important to detect as soon as possible? Now that there is more awareness, were able to catch more cases, he said. And maybe we can avoid surgery because sometimes bracing can work. The goal is to arrest the curve progression and keep it from getting worse. Shah knows his fellow Americans pretty well. As we get busier in our lives, and things become more virtual and more remote, as we get more engaged with screens, were not necessarily paying attention to these things, he said. Something like scoliosis can go undetected. And you fall behind the eight ball. Shah has two children of his own, a 13-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. So hes familiar with parental guilt. As a parent, what hurts me is the self-blame you hear from parents about how they should have picked it up sooner, he said. You pick it up when you pick it up. You take care of it the best way you can. There are excellent treatments. Finally, I was curious about how the doctor found his way to this specialty. My attraction to scoliosis came from my dad, he said. Im the son of an immigrant. And he had scoliosis. Over time, he compensated. But it affected him in ways that he could not have imagined. He felt deformed, but because he didnt speak English, he couldnt express it. For Shah, scoliosis is personal. In my view, it touched my life in so many ways because Ive seen it and Ive lived it, he said. I know what it is. And I know the difficulty that folks have with it. Then its all about asking, How I can optimize life for people who have that? Thats what drives me. Be glad it does. As my family knows, the battle against scoliosis is real. Fortunately, our children have in their corner a fierce warrior. ruben@rubennavarrette.com. Yves here. I trust readers will not devote energy to debating the authors vigorous criticism of Trump. It is true that Trump has provided just about the worst leadership possible on Covid-19, and if he loses next fall, that will be the biggest reason why. However, public health is a state and local matter. So even though Trump has made himself the biggest owner of the US Covid-19 train wreck by putting himself out in front of it, the reality is that this disaster had many parents. Living in red state Alabama, I am not convinced that things would have been much different here with President Hillary. A large segment of the population, and it included members of the upper middle class, are anti-vax, skeptical of science and government, and are temperamentally Dont tell me what to do libertarians. Blue state New York closed public schools only because teachers threatened to walk out. Cuomo initially opposed Di Blasios plans to shut down all but essential businesses. And those red states that hadnt seen much in the way of infection could blame the results on the coasts on furriners and public transportation and too many people living in apartments. In other words, its quite plausible that Republican-dominates states would have behaved more or less the same way even with a Democratic administration. The big difference on the health response could have been a much earlier pivot to masks, including browbeating newscasters to wear them. By Roy Poses, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University, and the President of FIRM the Foundation for Integrity and Responsibility in Medicine. Originally published at Health Care Renewal Introduction: Health Care Professionals Vilified After They Caution Against Premature Reopening During the Pandemic As we discussed in April, 2020, after the curve of the coronavirus pandemic began to flatten in the first heavily affected areas in the northeast US, supposedly popular protests, broke out calling for the end of onerous social distancing measures, ostensibly to let the economy recover. President Trump then jumped in, calling for the liberation of multiple states from these measures. Trump wrote: LIBERATE MINNESOTA and then, LIBERATE MICHIGAN and then, LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege! As these protests multiplied, health care professionals responded by staging counter-protests to warn people about the danger of premature reopening. For their pains, they were often vilified. In particular, we noted that one brave ICU nurse silently stood at the capitol of Arizona. She would spend the next few hours standing silent, her facial expressions partly hidden behind her medical mask. Her body standing rigid in surgical scrubs. For that, she was insulted, scorned and generally screamed at by flag-waving protesters, some of whom carried signs about an overblown crisis and a pretend-demic. The state Republican chairwoman even accused her of one of the actors playing parts. In that and a later post we noted how these reopening protests were egged on by right-wing politicians, including President Trump himself; infiltrated by extreme right-wing groups, including armed militias; accompanied by threats of death and violence to counter-protesters and anyone preaching restraint; and organized and funded by right-wing political organizations, often allied with Trump, and often funded by plutocrats. It was unclear whether more than a small minority of the protesters were truly concerned about the economic costs of delaying reopening. Rather, they seemed mainly about pushing a political agenda which had little to do with public health or health care. Was this any way to make health care and public health policy? Nonetheless, these protests, which were orders of magnitude smaller than those which later broke out after the death of George Floyd, and pressure from Trump et al seemed to induce Republican state leaders to reopen early and quickly. Now the health care professionals warning are shown to be valid. Consider the case of Arizona. Health Care Professionals Inundated as Coronavirus Surges As documented by the Washington Post on June 25, 2020: Arizona has emerged as an epicenter of the early summer coronavirus crisis as the outbreak has expanded, flaring across new parts of the country and, notably, infecting more young people. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, is recording as many as 2,000 cases a day, eclipsing the New York City boroughs even on their worst days, warned a Wednesday brief by disease trackers at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, which observed, Arizona has lost control of the epidemic. This came after Arizona became the poster child for early and quick reopening. The states cases began rising dramatically about May 25, 10 days after Ducey allowed the states stay-at-home order to expire. said a local public health expert. The Republican Governor seemed to be reacting directly to Trumps push to liberate states: Trump, who was urging governors to jump-start their economies, was coming to Arizona to tour a Honeywell plant and to convene a discussion about issues facing Native Americans. The day before the presidents visit, Ducey announced plans to accelerate the reopening of his states economy, lifting restrictions on salons and barbershops and allowing restaurants to resume dine-in service. A chart displaying the number of new cases, which did not show the 14-day decline recommended by White House guidelines, really doesnt tell you much, Ducey said at his May 4 news conference. In the Washington Posts summary: At critical junctures, blunders by top officials undermined faith in the data purportedly driving decision-making, according to experts monitoring Arizonas response. And when forbearance was most required, as the state began to reopen despite continued community transmission, an abrupt and uniform approach without transparent benchmarks or latitude for stricken areas to hold back led large parts of the public to believe the pandemic was over. Stories coming out of Arizona are starting to resemble those that came out of New York at its peak of pandemic induced misery. On June 24, 2020, the Arizona Republic published a vivid anecdote of yet another person who scoffed at the virus, and then became ill. Jimmy Flores, 30, met up with his close friends at the bars in Scottsdale on a Saturday night in June. This bar was super packed. I was kind of concerned because I was like, man, everyones tight, they have limited cups. Some people were sharing drinks, it was weird, said Flores, who also shared drinks with his friends at a bar in north Scottsdale that night. He ended up hospitalized for over a week. He was discharged home Monday, but breathing is still a challenge and he is taking multiple medications. He started posting about his case on Facebook, but his friends thought he was being political. Now he says, I really care about people not going through this and that they have to take this seriously because it really hurts. [Old Town, Scottsdale in happier times] And the New York Times published an op-ed on June 26, 2020 from an emergency department physician sadly mirroring the tales of despair coming out of New York only a few months ago. Patients are evaluated, stabilized and admitted to an inpatient medical team. But many admitted patients remain in the emergency department, boarding while awaiting transfer to the hospital wards because there are no more intensive-care beds available in the hospital or there is insufficient staff to care for them in the beds that are available. Because of that, far fewer emergency department beds are availablefor people with non-Covid-19 health conditions and medical emergencies. So sick people wait for an emergency department bed to become available. The surge in cases night after night shows no sign of slowing and it is terrifying. The media has reported how few hospital beds are available in the state. But even if we had enough beds, it wouldnt matter if our staff wasnt physically and emotionally well enough to attend to the people occupying those beds. Many hospital systems have chosen to furlough staff and tighten belts even as health care teams were beginning to feel the psychological strain of the pandemic. Physicians are a small part of our clinical care teams. We are profoundly limited in what we can do without the support of nurses, paramedics, emergency and intensive-care technicians, respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, environmental services workers, social workers, case managers, unit coordinators, clinical pharmacists and others. Health care workers are exhausted. Staffing shortages and increasing fatigue are the new normal for emergency departments, intensive-care units and Covid-19 units, and across hospital wards. Staffing levels are being set with an emphasis on productivity as determined by financial calculations rather than clinical severity or the complex needs of our patients and the community we serve. Finally, Emergency medical and critical-care team members are canaries in the coal mine. When we are understaffed and overworked, when there is no staff to triage patients, when more and more patients are piling up at the emergency department door, the system breaks down, then people break down. You can borrow ventilators (until you cant) and make more personal protective equipment (we hope). You cannot magically produce more nurses, respiratory therapists, physicians or other professionals. And things are getting worse every single day. The Arizona Republic reported June 28, 2020: Arizona cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, increased by more than 3,850 cases on Sunday the highest number of cases in a single day, according to data released by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Arizonas total identified cases rose to 73,908 on Sunday with 1,588 known deaths, according to the most recent state figures. Thats an increase of 3,857 confirmed cases, or 5.5%, since Saturday. Inpatients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and ventilator and ICU bed use again hit record highs Saturday, while emergency department visits dropped from Thursdays record of 1,249, according to the daily report from the Arizona Department of Health Services. As of Saturday, 85% of current inpatient beds and 87% of ICU beds were in use for COVID-19 and other patients. But it did not have to happen. Had Arizonas political leadership paid attention to the message of one brave ICU nurse back in April, or numerous messages from other health care and public health professionals, had they resisted President Trumps constant exhortations that the economy comes first, and that coronavirus is not a big problem, the pandemic would likely have been better controlled in Arizona, and elsewhere, than is actually the case. So do cry for those in Arizona. Summary Traditionally, political leaders have trusted health policy experts, and health care and public health professionals to help them make health policy. In the past, political leaders listened to such experts and professionals when planning for epidemics and pandemics, and addressing new health and public health emergencies. However, in our new (ab)normal, many political leaders follow the lead of the current president, Donald Trump, and his party. They seem unworried that the president has a record of peddling lies and disinformation (look here), and has a record of conflicts of interest and corruption goes far beyond any conceivable precedent (look here). They accept Trumps multiple assurances that the coronavirus pandemic is either a hoax, or fake news, or inconsequential, or fading away (look here). They shrug when Trump scoffs at public health measures meant to slow viral spread, such as face masks (look here). They put extreme politics, ideology, and sectarianism (look here) ahead of science, logic, and the warnings of experts. So, health care professionals trying to uphold their mission to put patients and the publics health first have stumbled into a political conflict far beyond anything we have seen in our lifetimes. Upholding the mission is proving to be difficult, unpleasant, and now dangerous. The danger is not just from the virus, but from our fellow humans putting their politics and ideology ahead of all else. That does not make the mission any less important. Innocent lives are still hanging in the balance. We could retreat in fear from the powerful opposition we have stirred up. That would allow complete politicization of the management of the coronavirus pandemic, doubtless leading to even more disease and death (and ironically, even worse economic disruption). Retreating would betray our patients and make a mockery of our mission. Or we could persist. What will it be? And if not now, when? Yves here. I left the original headline on this post because it would drive readers crazy and a better one would be very Daily-Mailish. However, the subhead gives a better idea of the focus of the piece: Reconstructing our tax system is an integral part of future national industrial policy as we restart the economy. Marshall Auerback uses the international row over taxing Big Tech as a point of departure for discussing the role of tax in industrial policy. And dont pretend we dont have one. Health care is subsidized by virtue of employer-provided health insurance being a corporate tax deduction but not taxable to the employee as a benefit. Real estate and oil and gas get special breaks in the code. Amazon got big because states were very slow to crack down on its evasion of sales tax (which theyd made the mistake of long tolerating with mail order catalogues). Auerback provides other examples and I am sure readers can add to the list. By Marshall Auerback, a market analyst and commentator. Produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute Major talks between the United States and the European Union to establish a shared tax framework for multinational companies broke down on the issue of seeking to secure an agreement on digital taxation. Big tech, which is heavily a U.S. creation, has long been in the sights of European economies, as their profits and revenues have soared and they have increasingly become major components of the 21st-century economy. Taxation is one of those areas that exposes the contradictions at the heart of globalization. Globalization of goods has proceeded quickly, as has the harmonization of industrial standards across countries. Harmonization of taxation? Not so easy. The power to tax is the ultimate national prerogative, one that very few sovereign nations would ever seriously contemplate surrendering to a multinational global entity, even in limited degrees, as has been done in trade (e.g., the World Trade Organization), or global security (e.g., the United Nations). It therefore seems ironic that the Trump administration, largely driven by an economic nationalist agenda, would contemplate, even on an interim basis, changes to global taxation law that would affect leading U.S. big tech companies. Yet in spite of Trumps America First rhetoric, he did authorize Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to attempt to get the EU and the U.S. on the same page on a global digital tax framework, in part as a means of curbing the practice of global tax arbitrage. It would make sense for all concerned to agree on a framework that provides some degree of tax uniformity. In theory, that is; as with agriculture or oil, the tech business is a multinational one, but curiously the U.S. Treasury remains loath to expose big tech to the same kinds of global tax pressures that Monsanto or Exxon regularly deal with today. Perhaps this is because these Silicon Valley behemoths are now among the most economically dominant and profitable U.S. companies, as well as increasingly large sources of political funding for the parties (although more so Democrat than Republican at this juncture). That would explain why the Trump administration wants to keep as much of that revenue pie for itself. But since so much of the future will be increasingly digitalized, something has to give. Indeed, in the new internet-based economy, there is much to be said for an approach to taxation that recognizes that revenues can be earned via online activities, irrespective of whether or not the company generating the profits concerned actually has a brick-and-mortar presence in that particular country. In India, for example, this is the rationale behind the imposition of a 2 percent tax in April on online sales of goods and services to people in India by large foreign firms, as the New York Times reports. This move by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis government in turn has encouraged the European Union [to revive] its push for a similar tax as a way to help fund response measures to the coronavirus. The United States is certainly going to go for every advantage to protect its tech industry, but Washington must recognize that the EU (and likely the rest of the world) will move ahead with plans to tax these tech giants, with or without agreement from the United States. But absent a buy-in from Washington, a failure to produce any kind of agreement will simply perpetuate the kind of destructive global tax arbitrage that was the rationale for the talks in the first place. It also has the potential to expand the global economys growing list of trade disputes. By virtue of the odd institutional arrangements of the eurozone (where state money has been divorced from the control of the national governments since the establishment of the euro), raising revenues from taxation to fund economic activities is a matter of ensuring national solvency for these countries. There are also geopolitical considerations at work: if the EU is prevented from generating additional revenues for its tax base, it will dangerously push the United States and Europe even further apart, making the disagreement over relative defense budget contributions among NATO members seem puny by comparison. This drive for a digital taxation framework represents a cry for help from all across Europethe UK, France, and Germany all want in. After all, Google, Apple, Facebook, et al, all derive significant revenues from their European operations. Its not unreasonable for the EU to want a piece of that pie. It is widely expected that there will be some form of agreement, probably in stages, over the coming years. But it is also inevitable that tech companies will find new ways of avoiding taxes, and that overall multinationals and their coterie of investors will continue to find ways to keep the tax haven game going. The negotiations could take some yearsand until we get to the point where both sides can agree on a workable digital tax framework, there are other ideas worth considering. Taxing inescapable assets, such as land, and reconsidering our treatment of intellectual property are two ideas that should be considered. In regard to the former, a national property tax is one possibility. The United States had one in 1798 in the quasi-war with France and again in the War of 1812. The 19th-century economist Henry George was one of the first to promote a land tax on the grounds that such taxes could fall on [unproductive] income without increasing costs to the rest of the economy [such as] labor and industry, Michael Hudson writes in Henry Georges Political Critics. As economist Bill Mitchell, who cites Hudson, writes, Georges idea was also consistent with the views expressed by John Stuart Mill in his 1848 book Principles of Political Economy that: The ordinary progress of a society which increases in wealth, is at all times tending to augment the incomes of landlords; to give them both a greater amount and a greater proportion of the wealth of the community, independently of any trouble or outlay incurred by themselves. They grow richer, as it were in their sleep, without working, risking, or economizing. What claim have they, on the general principle of social justice, to this accession of riches? In what would they have been wronged if society had, from the beginning, reserved the right of taxing the spontaneous increase of rent, to the highest amount required by financial exigencies? A land tax could also help to prevent housing bubbles, thereby mitigating the significant affordability gap now prevalent in many of Americas largest cities. And it also addresses the issue of tax avoidance, as land is an asset that cant be parked into an offshore bank account. A second approach would address taxing intellectual property (IP) rights that are attributed to Bermuda or the Cayman Islands. Here, the economist Dean Baker is right: [G]overnment-granted patent and copyright monopolies have been made longer and stronger over the last four decades. Many items that were not even patentable 40 years ago, such as life forms and business methods, now bring in tens or hundreds of billions of dollars to their owners. Instead of letting rentiers accumulate vast fortunes from a single innovation and then playing whack-a-mole trying to tax them, Baker is correct to suggest limiting patent and copyright terms, or force firms to share their IP, or have the government buy out their IP and publicize it for free to stimulate innovation. As Thomas Jefferson said when he set up the patent office, IP is a necessary evil that should be minimized in the public interest. The alternative is an approach suggested by the economist Mariana Mazzucato, whereby the government secures a perpetual royalty stream from tech companies for the IP, on the grounds that massive public investment laid the groundwork for these companies considerable profits. As Mazzucato notes, Without the massive amount of public investment behind the computer and internet revolutions, such attributes might have led only to the invention of a new toy. Overall, the tax system in the United States is making things worse. In their most recent work on inequality, The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay, economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman illustrate, as economist Michael Roberts writes, how the American tax system, far from reducing the rising inequality of income and wealth in the U.S., actually drives it higher. Roberts cites the authors work in support of the proposition that the U.S. tax system is in fact highly regressive and entrenches existing wealth inequality: Contrary to widely held view, [the] U.S. tax system is not progressive. The effective rate of tax takes into account all forms of taxation on the individual (income taxes, corporate tax, capital income taxes[,] etc[.]). On that measure for the top 400 income holders (billionaires) the effective tax rate is 23% while it is 25-30% for working and middle classes. Americas tax system is now technically regressive and is a new engine for increasing inequality. A large part of the problem is that the U.S. tax system taxes labor far more harshly than property and financial assets, which receive disproportionately favorable taxation treatment. Additionally, as Ive written before, the U.S. corporate tax is low and has been lowered even further, thanks to Trumps recent tax reform package. Some figures, notably former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, have proposed national consumption taxes. Consumption taxes do capture spending that occurs within a country, but they are problematic in the sense that they are regressive (as Roberts notes). On the other hand, this is the Swedish model. In the 1970s, Swedens high income tax created capital flight and induced the emigration of the wealthy. In response, the Swedish government capped income taxes and raised revenue for big government from the VAT and payroll taxes. These are regressive in incidence, but as a quid pro quo, if spending is progressive then the overall tax system itself can become progressive and largely retain its political legitimacy, as it does in Sweden. How does this play into national industrial redevelopment? If the goal is also to redomicile manufacturing, taxation measures can be reinforced via local content requirements, as I have suggested before. Forget incentives; coercion works even better. Do these things, and many of the problems associated with global tax arbitrage, offshore accounts, or outright tax evasion go away. In the meantime, the breakdown in these digital tax talks between the U.S. and EU is likely to mean more tariff impositions by the Trump administration, followed by retaliation from the EU (and the rest of the world). A renewed trade war is hardly what a highly depressed global economy needs at this time. Lost in this crossfire is the fact that the rest of us would certainly benefit from finally facing down those with vested interests, who will no doubt mobilize strongly against viable tax reforms, and continue to undermine global cooperation. That means governments continuing a futile attempt to police increasingly creative tax and accounting dodges. (Natural News) Californias Democrat-controlled legislature has voted to bring back racial discrimination in the name of anti-racism. (Article by Chris Menahan republished from InformationLiberation.com) The California legislature last week voted to strike these words from their state constitution: The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. The vote wasnt even close. The California legislature has now voted to strike these words from our state constitution: The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. Im speechless. pic.twitter.com/X09mWlM9sX Steve Miller (@SteveMillerOC) June 24, 2020 Such language is now beyond the pale for the woke left. From The Wall Street Journal: We live in strange times, and strange indeed is that, while deploring racism, the Democratic Legislature in California has voted to codify racial discrimination in state law. On Wednesday the state Senate voted for a constitutional amendment, ACA 5, that would reintroduce racial preferences for who gets a state job or contract, or who is admitted to a state university. The state Assembly previously passed the measure, which means the amendment will be on the November ballot. It would repeal Proposition 209, which voters approved in 1996 and outlawed racial bias in state policy. The repeal effort received a boost from the killing of George Floyd, no matter the irony of voting for discrimination by race in the name of eliminating discrimination by race. Is this what they call systemic racism? Upcoming Movie "Cracka" Puts Blacks As Slave Owners And Whites As Slaves pic.twitter.com/bvuNvuMwXQ putyourselfon (@putyourselfontv) June 19, 2020 Read more at: InformationLiberation.com On June 9, the city-county council unanimously passed a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis in Marion County. According to the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), a public health emergency is instituted when a situation becomes emergent; when its health consequences have the potential to overwhelm routine community capabilities to address them. It is vital to our communitys health for us to understand precisely how racism affects ones health and what can be done to begin the healing process. Lets begin by looking at the data that convinced the city-county council that the mental health of Marion County was at risk and therefore needed to pass Proposal 182: Health equity is defined as all residents having the opportunity to attain their highest level of health. The American Public Health Association finds racism to be a barrier to health equity and has named racism a driving force of how these social determinants of health are distributed. The American Academy of Pediatrics has declared that racism is a barrier to wellness that has a profound impact on the health status of children, adolescents, emerging adults and their families, and that the continued negative impact of racism on health and well-being through implicit and explicit biases, institutional structures, and interpersonal relationships are clear. The American College of Physicians has found that African-Americans, in particular, are at risk of being subjected to discrimination and violence against them because of their race, endangering them and even costing them their lives. The non-partisan National Partnership for Women and Families has found that in the United States, health and racism are inextricably linked, creating a harmful impact on individuals and communities of color, including unequal access to quality education, employment, livable wages, healthy food, stable and affordable housing, and safe and sustainable communities. On a local level, Black residents are 29% of the Marion County population but account for 37% of COVID- 19-related deaths to date. The life expectancy in some Indianapolis communities of color is as many 14 years less than that of their white neighbors. These factors alone would appear to be at crisis levels for our community in particular. People of color are at greater risk for damaging their mental health, physical health and financial health due to circumstances beyond their control. Now is the time to purposefully deconstruct the social constructs that engineered our belief systems so that we may better understand how racism impacts the mental health of our community. Now that racism has been declared a public health crisis, what are we going to do about it? Corporate America has addressed racism and discrimination in familiar practices such as: diversity training, implicit bias training and anti-racism training. However, one must question after all of this time, What are the long-term effects of these well-intentioned efforts? A study of the cumulative effects of diversity training noted that it has a positive effect on attitudes, behaviors and actions in the short term. However, after the training time passes people will remember the new knowledge, but their beliefs and behaviors tend to revert back to how they were before the training. The missing component necessary to make lasting transformational change, is one that addresses our core racial belief system taught to us from childhood from parents, family, teachers, churches and friends. When strategically addressing a public health crisis, the AJPH prescribes a three-factor response strategy: prevention, mitigation and recovery. Preventing the health endangering impact of racism entails addressing belief systems such as the ideology of white supremacy. Mitigation of the current and continuing practices associated with systemic racism requires self-evaluation of individual and organizational environments potentially causing harm. Upon awareness of these harmful practices, they must be immediately terminated as to not cause further and continual damage. Recovery addresses the psychological, physiological and economic harm that has been inflicted on the respective members of the public health concern. The acknowledgment of these damages inflicted is necessary, and the commitment to make them whole mandatory. The status quo no longer works. It doesnt make sense to spend taxpayer resources on practices that have continually failed. Unfortunately, many of these organizations in regular receipt of these monies are unknowingly perpetrators of the very crisis that they are trying to address. There are local organizations already addressing these issues. In response to COVID-19, the Indy Black Chamber of Commerce (IBCC) launched the Mental Health Disparities Initiative. Through a collaboration of business and mental health professionals, a program was designed to address the impacts of racism using a therapeutic cognitive behavioral approach. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an evidence-based and highly effective intervention eliciting genuine behavioral change in clients. Workshops focus on race ideology, racism and the disproportionate outcomes and disparities resulting from it. The IBCC membership boasts a talented pool of qualified mental health professionals. The Mental Health Disparities Initiative takes place at 7 p.m. each Tuesday via Zoom and is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Churches, community organizations, businesses and service provider agencies are encouraged to join us and participate in this unique solution to our current public health crisis. Please contact IBCC President Larry Williams Jr. for details. George Middleton is a mental health counselor who holds a Bachelor of Arts from the School of Music at Indiana University, a Master of Science in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University, and a Master of Science in Human Services from Capella University. He is author of three books, addressing the connection between mental health and the social impact of the race construct. He regularly presents workshops to service providers with the goal of increased culturally relevant services. (Natural News) As researchers around the world are scrambling to come up with a COVID-19 vaccine, many of us are wondering exactly who is going to volunteer as test subjects. If vaccines with decades of research behind them are still so dangerous, its disturbing to think what a rushed vaccine might do to human health. When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccines being funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, however, it appears that theres already a game plan and its one that wont come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the Gates over the years. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates wife, Melinda Gates, said that healthcare workers deserve to get the vaccine first, but after that, shed like to see it given to black people. During a virtual appearance by the couple at the recent Forbes philanthropy summit, she said: Here in the United States, its going to be black people who really should get it first and many indigenous people, as well as people with underlying symptoms, and then elderly people. Their foundation supports Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which they say will buy and distribute doses of the vaccine to low-income countries. The role of the couples foundation in funding research into a COVID-19 vaccine is hugely concerning given their track record when it comes to issues like abortion and the fact that they have advocated for population control in the past. Vaccines connected to Gates behind countless deaths and injuries to African women and children Childrens Health Defense Chairman Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. recently took a look back at the Gates obsession with vaccines over the years. Here are just a few of the occasions when that pursuit did not end well for black people. In 2010, the foundation funded a phase 3 trial of an experimental malaria vaccine that ended up killing 151 African infants and leaving more than 1,000 with severe adverse effects like paralysis and seizures. A similar campaign in Sub-Saharan Africa, the 2002 MenAfriVac effort involving the forced vaccination of thousands of African children, left 50 kids paralyzed. After Gates committed $10 billion to the World Health Organization (WHO), he said that new vaccines could reduce population. In a 2010 TED Talk, he stated: The world today has 6.8 billion people thats headed up to about 9 billion. Now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, healthcare, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent. A few years later, the WHO was accused by the Catholic Doctors Association in Kenya of chemically sterilizing millions of women in that country via their tetanus vaccine campaign. Lab tests revealed that every vaccine tested contained a sterility formula, and the WHO later admitted it had been developing sterility vaccines for more than a decade. Its also worth noting that a 2017 study found that the popular DTP vaccine from the World Health Organization was killing African children at an alarming rate, with DTP-vaccinated girls experiencing 10 times the death rate of kids who had not been given the vaccine. At a Global Family Planning Summit in London, Melinda Gates announced that the foundation would be donating $375 million to organizations that provide women with abortions and contraceptives over the following four years. Planned Parenthood received $71 million from the foundation between the years 2009 and 2013. PPs abortion clinics are mostly located in African American neighborhoods, and most of the abortions in this country are performed on African American women. At a time when the left is so quick to label anyone or anything imaginable as being racist including milk its interesting that no one is calling out the Gates foundation on their comprehensive and frighteningly well-funded efforts to accelerate the depopulation of black people. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com FoxBusiness.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Back in the fall, an alleged child sex crime victim of former President Bill Clinton went to the FBI to tell all about the horrors he endured, only to have the FBI respond by covering it all up. According to this alleged victim, Clinton raped him on a yacht in New England when the victim was just eight years old. After the FBI created a special task force to handle sexual assault and sex trafficking claims linked to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, this individual, now an adult, felt as though he finally had an avenue to tell his story. But instead of listening and taking action, the FBI apparently listened to this individuals testimony and proceeded to ignore it. All of this and more is spelled out in a recent episode of the Thomas Paine Podcast. At the time when this individual came forward, the FBI initially responded by stating that it would be treating him as a victim. But since that time, the FBI has failed to act in going after Clinton or any others with whom he may have been associated. As far as we know, not a single thing has happened in the pursuit of justice with this case, and the perpetrator(s) are still roaming free. What this means, of course, is that the FBI has once again shirked its responsibility by covering for child abusers and silencing their victims. In the following episode of The Health Ranger Report be sure to listen! Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how to find sanity amid all the insanity being perpetrated by the deep state: Watch the video of the alleged victim giving his account of events True Pundit has published video testimony of the alleged victim that contains explosive and graphic details of what he says Clinton did to him while the victim was still a child. Be warned that the detailed account he provides is gruesome, so viewer discretion is advised. It is sad that such horrors have to come to the court of public opinion like this, but since the FBI is refusing to do anything about the case, perhaps the general public can somehow get the ball rolling. Thomas Paine himself admits that the FBI initially appeared to be handling the case appropriately, treating the victim with respect and dignity. At the same time, the FBI failed to follow through in fully investigating the victims claims and taking action, hence why we are drawing attention to it. It is also important to note that Paine first interviewed the victim alongside Jen Moore, who has since died after mysteriously turning up dead inside a Washington, D.C., hotel room. Her strange death bears all the hallmarks of a Clinton Body Count-style suicide, suggesting even more foul play. Moore and the traumatized victim wanted to contact Homeland Security and the FBI first to see if they would open a criminal case against Clinton prior to publicizing the claims, Paine writes about how the case initially proceeded. Four weeks after contacting the Feds, Jen Moore was found dead in a D.C. hotel room, he adds. Moore died of an apparent seizure, though her death remains suspicious and the timing beyond disturbing. After Moores death, the victim, fearful for his own life, decided to not go public with that interview. Be sure to listen to the full Thomas Paine Podcast episode for the full details, and forward it on to your family and friends. To keep up with the latest news about deep state corruption, be sure to check out DeepState.news. Sources for this article include: TruePundit.com TruePundit.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) After battering the Northeast early this year, the coronavirus is now barreling towards the rest of the United States. In the South, Texas and Florida are among the hardest-hit states, with both reporting record numbers of new cases this week. Texas logged almost 6,000 new cases its highest one-day record, to date on Thursday, while Floridas health department reported over 8,900 new cases in a provisional report early Friday. In an executive order released Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the closure of all bars and reduction of seating capacity in restaurants amid soaring coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. As I said from the start, if the positivity rate rose above 10%, the State of Texas would take further action to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Abbott said in a statement. At this time, it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars. In the new coronavirus edict, establishments that get more than 51 percent of their profit from alcohol sales, such as bars and liquor stores, are to close their storefronts by Friday noon; delivery and takeout, even for alcoholic products, will be allowed. It also orders restaurants to cut back on dine-in service and reduce their indoor occupancy to 50 percent. Rafting and tubing businesses are ordered closed, and outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people must first be approved by local governments. The rollbacks come a day after Abbott said that he would hit pause on the states reopening plan. On Thursday, he ordered all elective medical procedures to be postponed in counties that included that states largest cities Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin in preparation for a surge in new COVID-19 patients. The last thing we want to do as a state is go backwards and close down businesses, added Abbott. New cases soar ahead of 4th of July holiday On Friday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo placed the county to its highest COVID-19 threat level, citing a severe and uncontrolled outbreak. The county, which includes the city of Houston, has reported an exponential increase in new cases, which could push its healthcare to the brink. If these spikes in new cases and hospitalizations continue, Houston the fourth most populous city in the U.S. could be the countrys next epicenter, warned Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine. Low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be the citys next hotspots since these are densely populated and have more people with chronic conditions the latter being a significant risk factor for COVID-19 according to Hotez. Current figures in the country reveal a nearly vertical trajectory in new cases, a trend seen in earlier hotspots like New York. (Related: Coronavirus surges in Texas: Houston hospitals at max capacity in 11 days 5,000 new cases per day YOUNG people now hit the hardest.) We are potentially facing a very serious public health threat, he added. We cant go there. Over half of the U.S. report spikes in new cases On Friday, the U.S. reported more than 45,000 new coronavirus cases a new record to bring the countrys total caseload to 2,492,246, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In particular, 34 states across the U.S., including Texas, Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada, reported a 5% increase in new cases, based on a seven-day average. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the countrys top infectious disease expert, warned that an increase in new cases could also indicate a looming increase in deaths. He said that even as the countrys death toll is declining, that doesnt mean that youre not going to start seeing them coming up now. Fauci, together with other members of the White House coronavirus task force, also issued a plea for younger people to follow the guidelines and limit their risk as much as possible. During Fridays press briefing, he added that younger adults can still be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 even if they feel healthy and infect people who are more vulnerable to serious disease. Ultimately, you will infect someone whos vulnerable, he said. That may be somebodys grandmother or grandfather, uncle whos on chemotherapy and whos on radiation or chemotherapy, or a child who has leukemia. Pandemic.news has more on the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. Sources include: FT.com CNBC.com 1 NPR.org Bloomberg.com ABC13.com CNBC.com 2 Coronavirus.JHU.edu PopCulture.com (Natural News) The mass exodus away from the tech tyrants is now underway as millions of people are leaving Facebook, Twitter and YouTube due to extreme censorship and viewpoint discrimination. The left-wing lunatic-run tech tyrants have decided that they alone get to decide what views and opinions are allowed to be uttered in the public square, and since they are all run by drooling, sniveling left-wing mobs, theyve decided that hate speech is anything they hate. And my God, are they full of hate. So theyre banning everyone who doesnt bow down and lick the boots of Black Lies Matter terrorists and Antifa soy boy hormone-disrupted basement weenies who think theyre combat ninjas. Its no surprise then, that everybody is moving to new alt platforms like Parler, Bitchute, Brighteon, Minds, Spreely and others. Just two days ago, YouTube banned video philosophy legend Stefan Molyneux, who promptly began posting videos on Brighteon. Heres his explanation of the ban and why hes not backing down: Brighteon.com/1d60d57e-2101-460e-baef-2840358b957a Laura Loomer, of course, has been designated a dangerous person by Facebook, and is now running for the U.S. Congress on a platform of ending Big Techs malicious censorship that selectively silences conservatives. I recently interviewed Laura Loomer about her being banned, and you can watch that interview here: Health Ranger joins Parler.com and Spreely.com after being banned by YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Vimeo Weve joined Parler.com and are now posting content and comments there: Official Health Ranger channel, with more personal posts coming: https://parler.com/profile/HealthRanger/posts Official Natural News channel: https://parler.com/profile/naturalnews/posts Official Brighteon channel: https://parler.com/profile/brighteon/posts Weve also joined Spreely.com, a new Facebook alternative thats run by patriots. Youll need to sign in to view the posts: Official Natural News channel on Spreely.com https://www.spreely.com/page/NaturalNews Official Health Ranger channel on Spreely.com https://www.spreely.com/page/HealthRanger We will be posting more content on all these channels soon. Join these platforms and follow our channels to stay informed. Take action: Join ALL the alternative platforms if you ever wish to speak freely again Our world is under extreme attack by a radical left-wing authoritarian cult of dangerous lunatics who think they alone get to decide what speech is acceptable. And they dont tolerate any criticism of Black Lives Matter, Antifa, transgenderism, vaccines, abortions or anything else they love (since they are all death worshipers and demon-infested entities). Your best option right now is to join all the alternative platforms and speak there. Bring all your followers and friends with you, of course, so they can see your posts. YouTube alternative = Brighteon.com or Bitchute.com Facebook alternative = Spreely.com Twitter alternative = Parler.com or Gab.com Google alternative? Were working on one, at least in a limited way, to be announced later. Most importantly, stop using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google! Dont use the platforms of the very same enemies who are trying to enslave humanity and silence voices of reason. Its time to move away from evil and embrace the freedom of alt platforms. (Natural News) Just before the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared to be a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), Hollywood had wrapped up on a film production yet-to-be-released that depicts Jesus Christ as a lesbian woman. Entitled, Habit, the film features Paris Jackson, the 22-year-old daughter of the late Michael Jackson, who is depicted as a female Jesus. Co-star Bella Thorne is depicted as a street-smart girl with a Jesus fetish who pretends to be a nun while trying to escape the consequences of a violent drug deal. The whole thing is blasphemy on steroids, and it remains to be seen if the film will ever even be released now that the world has fallen to not just fears about a virus but also escalating race wars. Since there is still time to stop it, The Christian Film & Television Commission (CFTC) is urging people to sign a petition calling on the creators of Habit to kill the project before it gets publicly released. The movie is already in post-production after wrapping filming about a week before the industrys coronavirus shutdowns, reports the CFTC. However, no release date has been planned. This means that there is still a chance to stop the widescale release of the film. Sign the petition to help stop the release of Habit! Because of all the chaos taking place as society swirls the toilet, perhaps the minds behind Habit will rethink its release all on their own. Maybe, just maybe, they will recognize that God is trying to get their attention with everything going on, urging them to repent. Or maybe this is just wishful thinking, seeing as how the collective consciences of those pulling the strings in Hollywood have been seared beyond all recognition. In either case, good, decent people need to let Hollywood know what they think of this film in the hopes that it can be stopped. Among the production teams behind it are Donovan Leitch, 852 Films, Martingale Pictures, Voltage Pictures, Cloudlight, and Elevated Films. Michael Jones and Silver Heart Productions were also involved early on, but are no longer listed as members of the production team. This mischaracterization of Jesus needs to be addressed before it reaches susceptible young people! says the CFTC. Through this petition, we can pressure those companies to halt the release of these films while also building a coalition to show Hollywood that this kind of movie is unacceptable, unwanted, and unprofitable! In the petition, which you can sign at this link, it is explained that the portrayal of Jesus Christ in Habit goes far beyond artistic liberty. His blasphemous depiction as a lesbian woman is a massive slap in the face to the more than two billion Christians around the world who revere Jesus as part of their triune God, it goes on to state. Just imagine if the film had portrayed Mohammed of the Islamic faith as a transgender black woman? Would that be considered artistic license? If the answer is no, then the same applies to Jesus. Your portrayal of Christ is such a grotesque representation that it is offensive even for those outside of the Christian faith who deny Christs deity but revere him as an important historical figure, the petition goes on to state. This includes more than one billion Muslims around the world. Since Christians still make up a large percentage of the American population, it is unclear who the target audience of this film might be. Many Americans who do not proclaim to be Christians still have Christian backgrounds, it is important to note, and a good many of them are likely to find the content of Habit both offensive and unpalatable. More stories about Hollywood filth are available at Evil.news. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com CitizenGo.org (Natural News) By now, you may have read where a heroic white couple in a wealthy St. Louis suburb was forced to defend their property and their lives from an angry mob of Black Lives Matter supporters who were threatening to kill them. Actually, if all youve read or heard about the incident comes from the mainstream media, you havent been told any of this. Because once again, the mainstream media is lying to protect BLM thugs because most media editors, reporters, and producer share the same Left-wing Marxist mindset. According to NewsBusters, the vast majority of establishment media reporters have painted the couple Mark McCloskey, 63, and wife Patricia McCloskey, 61 as the villains here, when in fact, they were the victims and, frankly, they are lucky to be alive. Heres a sampling of the complete garbage being reported by the usual media suspects: St. Louis couple points guns at peaceful crowd of protesters calling for mayor to resign https://t.co/o2SS6Ml3HJ The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 29, 2020 (And of course, lets add in the racial component, despite the fact that many of the BLM demonstrators were white.) St. Louis couple points guns at peaceful crowd of protesters calling for mayor to resign https://t.co/UvLAr4PTMI Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 29, 2020 Chilling moment white couple pull guns on peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters https://t.co/lNcBxGAI9t pic.twitter.com/hxHu3WRJlN Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) June 29, 2020 Video shows a white couple pointed guns at protesters in St. Louis, AP reports https://t.co/RRTVt7olkA Bloomberg (@business) June 29, 2020 Now, for the rest of the story, as the late, great Paul Harvey used to say. In an interview with local NBC affiliate KSDK, Mark McCloskey said that he and his wife were startled Sunday evening when a crowd of people who turned out to be BLM demonstrators literally broke into the private community, destroying the front gates so badly they had to be pieced back together with chain. Im a little, Im a little blurry, but we were preparing dinner. We went out to the east patio, open porch that faces Kingshighway on one side and Portland Place Drive on the south, and were sitting down for dinner. We heard all this stuff going on down on Maryland Plaza. And then the mob started to move up Kingshighway, but it got parallel with the Kingshighway gate on Portland Place, he said. (Related: A civil war has begun, but only one side is fighting: Soon, normal people across America will pick up rifles and defend this nation against Black Lives TERRORIST.) Somebody forced the gate, and I stood up and announced that this is private property. Go back. I cant remember in detail anymore. I went inside, I got a rifle. And when they because as soon as I said this is private property, those words enraged the crowd, Mark McCloskey added. Horde, absolute horde came through the now smashed down gates coming right at the house. My house, my east patio was 40 feet from Portland Place Drive. And these people were right up in my face, scared to death. And then, I stood out there. The only thing we said is this is private property. Go back. Private property. Leave now, he added. Then he said this: At that point, everybody got enraged. There were people wearing body armor. One person pulled out some loaded pistol magazines and clicked them together and said that you were next. We were threatened with our lives, threatened with a house being burned down, my office building being burned down, even our dogs life being threatened. It was, it was about as bad as it can get. I mean, those you know, I really thought it was Storming the Bastille that we would be dead and the house would be burned and there was nothing we could do about it. It was a huge and frightening crowd. And they were they broken the gate were coming at us. McCloskey also pushed back against claims on social media that the front gates to the community were already broken. That is nonsense. Absolute nonsense, he told KDSK. Its probably a good thing that both Mark and Patricia McCloskey are attorneys because the highly politicized and black St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is reportedly considering charges against them, not the mob that broke in and threatened them. Sources include: RiverFrontTimes.com KSDK.com NewsTarget.com A small grain elevator on a farm near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada (Wikimedia Commons). , Saskatchewan is looking into the adoption of small modular nuclear reactors. These modular reactors may be small enough for transport, but this project is considered the most significant shift in terms of energy technology in this century. (Photo : Wikimedia Commons) This small Canadian province has an enormously promising future as an energy technology frontrunner. Instead of solar power companies granting loans or wind power businesses giving large land grants, the Saskatchewan is looking into the adoption of small modular nuclear reactors. These modular reactors may be small enough for transport, and this project is considered to be the most significant shift in terms of energy technology this century. The Saskatchewan government has announced the establishment of an office to help the push for nuclear power. The office will assist in the planning and development of nuclear reactors in the province. The Ministry of Environment, through Minister Dustin Duncan, expressed that collaboration with several partners in this endeavor is required. In order to establish and adopt small modular reactors, the government's nuclear secretariat needs to coordinate with the Climate Change and Adaptation Division regarding its nuclear policy and program work. The policy is considered suitable for the Saskatchewan since Cigar Lake Uranium Mine, the world's highest-grade uranium mine is located in the northern part of the province. Innovation in Saskatchewan uses a jet-boring method to mine Cigar Lake's ore, which is considered a challenging feat. The jet-boring technique does not require direct personnel contact with the orebody. Instead, it uses high-pressure water to cut cavities from the ore. This new program will ensure the localization of energy production within the province. Due to the mobility of these small modular reactors (SMRs), a geographically large but small in population province like Saskatchewan can significantly benefit from these nuclear power plants. Around 50 to 300 megawatts of power is projected to be produced by these SMRs, and the Saskatchewan government is aiming for reactors or power modules that are designed to be small enough for truck or shipping container transportation. The minister has expressed that clean nuclear energy will provide the province economic and environmental advantages as this new energy tech is considered safe but also competitively priced. The use of SMRs, however, is projected in the 2030s the earliest. John Root of the University of Saskatchewan's Fedoruk Centre for Nuclear Innovation said that it is economically beneficial as the province is one of the primary producers of uranium. Opposition NDP Leader Ryan Meili has expressed that there are so many renewable power opportunities that the government has failed to transition into, such as solar, wind, and geothermal. There have been mixed reactions regarding the small nuclear reactors. Nuclear chemist and board member of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, Ann Coxworth, explained that it might take decades to fully operational nuclear reactors in Saskatchewan. Coxworth believes that there are many cheaper and safer alternatives that are wiser to invest in, and easier to put in place than the nuclear power reactors. Some environmentalists have also expressed their concerns that these modular nuclear reactors have many issues, particularly radioactive waste. Apart from this, the project is touted as a tool to combat the causes and effects of climate change. Yet, new technology's operations immediacy is already being pushed for. On June 18 2020, Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace AS and Boeing signed an agreement for P-8 maritime patrol aircraft maintenance and support, with the opportunity to create new jobs in Norway and to develop the local industry. On June 18 2020, Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace AS and Boeing signed an agreement for P-8 maritime patrol aircraft maintenance and support, with the opportunity to create new jobs in Norway and to develop the local industry. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link The P-8 is a long-range multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. (Picture source: US Navy Photography by Liz Wolter) Boeing and KONGSBERG signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for P-8 maintenance and support. "Over the past few years, Boeing has been active with Norwegian industry, which has demonstrated that they have a robust and highly capable defense sector that can support our business," said Maria Laine, Boeing Vice President, International Strategic Partnerships. "The size, scope and strategic value of our collaboration opportunities reinforce our commitment to Norway, and our promises of industrial agreements," she says. The comprehensive MoU agreement with KONGSBERG will be able to contain maintenance and support for the Norwegian P-8 fleet. This will entail a need for a new maintenance center for production and maintenance, as well as additional training in the aviation industry in Norway. We are very pleased to extend our close cooperation with Boeing by including support for the Norwegian P-8 fleet, with the possibility of further expansion in the future. Collaboration with international platform suppliers is of strategic importance to KONGSBERG. It ensures continuity and preparedness in Norway, and gives KONGSBERG further export opportunities, says Terje Brathen, division director at Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace AS. Boeing and KONGSBERG's collaboration extends 20 years with NATO's fleet of AWACS aircraft, and will be able to be lifted further through the P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft that Norway acquired in 2017. The P-8 is a long-range multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations. (Picture source: Kongsberg) About the P-8 Poseidon: The Boeing P-8 Poseidon (formerly Multimission Maritime Aircraft) is a military aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, modified from the 737-800ERX. It was developed for the United States Navy (USN). The P-8 is being operated in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), and shipping interdiction roles. It is armed with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and other weapons, and is able to drop and monitor sonobuoys, as well as operate in conjunction with other assets, including the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The P-8 is operated by the United States Navy, the Indian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF). It has also been ordered by the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), and the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). According to news published by the Newspaper website Daily Sabah, Turkish Company STM has signed an agreement with the Turkish Military Factory and Shipyard Management Corporation (ASFAT) to supply and integrates the main drive system for the future Ada-class corvettes of Pakistan Navy. According to news published by the Newspaper website Daily Sabah, Turkish Company STM has signed an agreement with the Turkish Military Factory and Shipyard Management Corporation (ASFAT) to supply and integrates the main drive system for the future Ada-class corvettes of Pakistan Navy. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Turkish Navy Ada-class Corvette TCG Buyukada at IDEF 2017 defense exhibition in Istanbul. (Picture source Navy Recognition) Citing Daily Sabah, In May 2017, Turkish and Pakistani defense companies signed a goodwill agreement outlining the construction of four Turkish Ada-class MILGEM corvettes at the Karachi Shipyard. According to the final agreement, two ships will be built in Istanbul and two others in Karachi thanks to a technology transfer. The four Ada-class corvettes are being developed within the scope of Turkeys MILGEM (National Ship) project and will be delivered to Pakistan as part of Ankara's largest-ever single defense export deal. The first two corvettes are planned to be delivered to the Pakistani Navy in 2023 and two more ships in 2024. MILGEM project is a national warship program of the Republic of Turkey. Managed by the Turkish Navy, the project aims at developing multipurpose corvettes and frigates that can be deployed in a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, early warning, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare, and amphibious operations. The Ada class is a class of corvettes, a part of the MILGEM project, developed primarily for the Turkish Navy. The Turkish Navy has already commissioned all four Ada-class corvettes. The ships are propelled by a RENK CODAG Cross-Connect propulsion plant. It consists of a gas turbine rated at 23,000 kilowatts (31,000 hp) and two diesel engines rated at 4,320 kW (5,790 hp). Each diesel engine drives one controllable pitch propeller via a two-speed main reduction gear. According to the Naval Analyses website, the Ada-class corvette will be armed with OTO Melara Super Rapido main gun of 76mm/62cal fitted with a stealth cupola and located on the bow deck. She will be also armed with two Aselsan Stabilized Machine Gun Platforms (STAMP) with 12.7mm heavy machine guns. For air defense, the corvette will be fitted with one Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS) with 21 missiles each ready to launch RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) (Block 1A). Each corvette is equipped with eight (8) Boeing RGM-84L Harpoon anti-ship missiles in two Mk141 quad launchers amidships. For Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) the ships are equipped with two twin Mk32 (Mod 9?) 324mm torpedo launchers in fixed positions for Honeywell Mk46 Mod 5 or Mk54 active or passive/active acoustic homing lightweight torpedoes. Damen Shipyards Group has recently delivered a new lifeboat, a Damen RHIB 975 Inboard, to the Naarden Lifeboat Brigade (Reddingsbrigade Naarden). Following a training period, during which the crew will familarise themselves with the new vessel, the Damen RHIB will conduct rescue operations on the Gooimeer, IJmeer and southern Markermeer lakes in the Netherlands. Damen Shipyards Group has recently delivered a new lifeboat, a Damen RHIB 975 Inboard, to the Naarden Lifeboat Brigade (Reddingsbrigade Naarden). Following a training period, during which the crew will familarise themselves with the new vessel, the Damen RHIB will conduct rescue operations on the Gooimeer, IJmeer and southern Markermeer lakes in the Netherlands. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Damen Delivers Custom RHIB To Dutch Naarden Lifeboat Brigade (Picture source: Damen) The lifeboat has been made available to Naarden Lifeboat Brigade by a donor. Damen Shipyards Hardinxveld, where the RHIB was built, fully supports the initiative and has itself been partly involved in the sponsorship of the project. The brigade is a voluntary organisation that does not receive any governmental subsidies. It is, therefore, dependent on the support of such donations for its continued existence. The Naarden Lifeboat Brigade provides a highly important service and has, so far this year, experienced 40 call outs. With this delivery, the lifeboat brigade has two operational lifeboats, thus ensuring that it is at able to provide assistance at all times, even when one vessel is undergoing maintenance. The new vessel is based at the Naarden Marina, from where it will perform search and rescue operations to watersports enthusiasts and commercial shipping alike. Damen Delivers Custom RHIB To Dutch Naarden Lifeboat Brigade (Picture source: Damen) Damen has delivered a customised vessel, designed specifically for the Naarden Lifeboat Brigade. The RHIB 975 is 9.75 metres long with a beam of 3.3 metres. It has two Volvo Penta D6 inboard engines, each offering 370 HP. With such propulsion the lifeboat can operate at speeds above 50 knots. Other requirements were for ample deck and storage space in order that the vessel can easily transport the equipment necessary to save lives. The RHIB can accommodate four lifeguards and in the region of 25 rescue personnel. The crew are comfortably seated on Ullman Biscaya suspension jockey seats featuring stay on cordura covers and rubber coated grip handles for extra safety. The lifeboat is named Promers, after Bastion Promers, part of the distinctive fortifications of the historic city of Naarden. Weather Alert ...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 9 PM PDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures between 98 to 102. * WHERE...In Washington, Lower Columbia Basin of Washington and Eastern Columbia River Gorge of Washington. In Oregon, Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon and Eastern Columbia River Gorge of Oregon. * WHEN...From noon to 9 PM PDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Temperatures will cool slightly Tuesday but still remain hot. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. && New Castle, PA (16103) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 82F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low 53F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. The Australian entrepreneur Melanie Perkins sought to compete with Microsoft and Adobe with a design product she would build herself, which would now be known as Canva. Perkins' goal was to take the whole graphic design ecosystem and fit it all into a single page, which would be accessible to people all over the world. At age 32, she is now the youngest billionaire in Australia with a net worth of $2.5 billion. The Spark That Lit The Fire The Filipino-Australian entrepreneur initially thought up the idea when she 19, which was when she was still in university in 2006. She would scrounge up some income by being a graphic design teacher. Her students would find Adobe's and Microsoft's graphic design programs to be difficult, which lead her to think that there has to be a more accessible way to do graphic design. The teen would earn a little income on the side by teaching other students design programs. But students found the platforms offered by the likes of Microsoft and Adobe "crazy hard" and she felt there must be a better way. This made her turn her idea into reality with the assistance of co-founder, who is now her soon-to-be husband, Cliff Obrecht. The Humble Beginnings The couple didn't have much, to begin with, both in resources and experience. They created a modest online school yearbook design business called Fusion Books so they could test the waters. They launched the website so students could work together to design their profile pages as well as articles. The duo would print the yearbooks and send them to the school around Australia. Their business became a success and it's still active. But this was only Perkins' first step in her dream for the one-page accessible graphic design website, which is why she searched for investors. Read More: Vulnerable Windows Devices Are Being Taken Advantage Of To Spread The Lucifer Malware The Climb To Success In 2010, she got her first break when she was at a conference in Perth. She happened to meet with Silicon Valley investor Bill Tai, which leads to him inviting Perkins to San Francisco so she could pitch her dream idea. A few hours later, Tai was impressed and connected her with a couple of his contacts. Perkins discovered soon after that making connections in Silicon Valley wasn't going to be easy. Bill Tai invited her to his networking retreat called MaiTai that's for investors as well as kitesurfing enthusiasts. This made her rush to learn how to kitesurf. Perkins has no experience kitesurfing, and she would have never tried it of her own accord. She decided to try it since she knew that if she didn't have connections, she wouldn't have a network. Wedging your foot in the door and wiggling and forcing your foot through is something you have to do. The Growth Of Her Team Learning how to kitesurf lead to great results since the pair was earning the interest of big investors, which lead to them building the design platform of Canva with a quickly-expanding team of technological engineers. This all happened back in 2012, which was when the business was still in its beginning stage. Their tech advisor, Lars Rasumessen helped them get a tech co-founder and tech developer, Cameron Adams and Dave Hearnden respectively. The company was oversubscribed when they closed their first round of funding a few months later. Their initial investment was matched by Australia's government so the business would stay on the shores of Australia. In the next year, the Canva site officially went up, which let its subscribers create various online designs free of charge. Read More: The University of California San Francisco Pays $1.14 Million Ransom To Cybercriminals Byfield - David Jackson, age 62, of Byfield, formerly of Amesbury, passed peacefully at Penacook Place Nursing Home in Haverhill on Monday evening June 14, 2021. Born in Winthrop, Decermber 20, 1958, he was one of seven children of the late Austin and Marie (Redman) Jackson. Among the variou Highlights from the West Berkshire Museum Collection by curator Janine Fox Portrait of Harold John Edward Peake, Honorary Curator of Newbury Museum. Most of the museums World Collections were acquired during his time as curator Continuing our 'Highlights from the West Berkshire Museum Collection' series, here curator Janine Fox talks about how it is a time for museums "to listen and learn". The Black Lives Matter movement is sweeping the world. Protests, the removal of statues, and discussions about the renaming of roads and buildings that venerate cultural oppression are markers for change. The leading membership bodies representing UK museums, galleries, heritage and archives have produced a joint statement of intent to end racism - you can read it here. This work will cover all aspects of the heritage sector, including the curating of historic collections, their staff members, volunteers and learning programmes. This conversation and desire for change within museums is ongoing. West Berkshire Museum has a collection of objects from around the world that was largely compiled by Harold Peake, Honorary Curator between 1909 and 1946, who was best known as an archaeologist and anthropologist. He travelled for his research and purchased objects to bring back. He also bought objects from other museums and dealers, and sold pieces from the Newbury collection. This is not how museums build and manage collections today, although it was common practice during this time. Peakes collections focussed on his interests in India, Europe and the Middle East. The museum has donations and transfers of objects from other museums within this world collection as well that have connections to Ancient Egypt and the tourist trade in Africa, America and Asia. The museum also holds objects relating to military campaigns such as the Boer War, the Anglo-Ashanti Wars and the First and Second World Wars that can tell layered and meaningful histories of our colonial past. Like many institutions founded in the 19th and 20th centuries, West Berkshire Museum has structures rooted in enormous privilege. We care for material culture and attempt to interpret local histories that will sometimes inevitably have connections to colonialism and oppression. The systemic challenges museums face include lost stories and associations, outdated interpretations and research that might be incorrect or offensive. We also have a clear lack of representational voices from source communities. Museums have started the process of decolonisation, but it is complex and varies for each institution. The reason to do it is simple, however. This is a time for us to listen and learn. As part of West Berkshire Council, the museum has a public equality duty and is committed to being an equal and diverse organisation. It has a Lifetime Learning and Participation programme that currently helps us to connect with local groups and work together on projects that enhance inclusion, empathy and cultural understanding. As a community museum, were looking to reconstruct new ways of thinking about the collections we hold, to better reflect peoples history and sense of place. We will educate ourselves, but we also want the people of West Berkshire, our community, to have their say and work with us. We want to have the conversations that will develop our collections and build sustainable relationships that will enable an ongoing dialogue. This way, we can create a trusted, socially-conscious museum that represents us all. University News Members of the University of New Havens award-winning Model United Nations team will be hosting a virtual conference to introduce prospective, incoming, and current students to the many opportunities they would have through their involvement with the organization. By Renee Chmiel, Office of Marketing and Communications Marissa Lehner (center) at a Model United Nations conference. Marissa Lehner 21 has had many meaningful experiences as part of the University of New Havens Model United Nations (MUN) program, and she wants to share her passion with other students. Thats why shes helping to plan a conference to introduce students to the program. A national security major, Lehner is involved with organizing the logistics of the conference, titled Zoom Model United Nations (ZMUN), and shes working to ensure that the conference, which will be held virtually, retains the most impactful parts of an in-person Model United Nations event. The most important thing that Ive learned during the process is how important it is to be adaptable, said Lehner, who attended an international MUN conference in Erfurt, Germany, with the Universitys team last year. "This is a great opportunity for students to work together to address real challenges facing the world now and in the very near future." Marissa Lehner 21 A year ago, no one would have expected that virtual conferences would be the new reality, but we have been able to adapt the spirit of the experience into what students will see at ZMUN. It has shown me that, especially now, it is worth it to make minor sacrifices in order to preserve as many opportunities as possible. The conference, which is free of charge, is designed for students who are new to MUN, although experienced delegates are welcome. Open to prospective, incoming, and current University of New Haven students, it will take place on July 8 and 9 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day. It is for students who are interested in topics such as international affairs, national security, political science, global challenges, and the United Nations. This is a great opportunity for students to work together to address real challenges facing the world now and in the very near future, said Lehner. I hope that participants gain a better idea of what MUN is. I hope that they are able to take full advantage of the experiences they will have during the ZMUN conference. During the two days, students will work in groups to discuss possible solutions to world challenges, give speeches about their assigned countrys stance on a topic, and hear from keynote speakers. University of New Haven students will serve as guides for each working group, helping facilitate the simulations and offering suggestions and guidance. Marissa Lehner (right) and MUN partner Isabelle Lupinacci 22. "Our MUN program is excited to organize ZMUN, a joint national security, international affairs, and political science conference engaging students in a simulation of the United Nations, said Chris Haynes, Ph.D., an associate professor of political science and national security and director of the Universitys Model United Nations program. ZMUN is the latest MUN endeavor inspired by the vision and values of our benefactors Philip Bartels 11 Hon. and Susan Bartels, who always encourage our students to give back to our community and inspire the next generation of student leaders. I am so proud of our team of more than 15 students, led by Marissa, who are spending their summer responding to the Bartels familys call by organizing this great event." Students will hear from Matthew Schmidt, Ph.D., an associate professor of political science and national security, and Howard Stoffer, Ph.D., an associate professor of national security who served as a senior foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State for 25 years. Richard Boucher, a senior fellow in international and public affairs at Brown University who served as an ambassador to Cyprus and is a former spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, will also serve as a keynote speaker. This is something Im involved with because I truly believe it is important, said Lehner. The skills that I have developed through MUN have helped me become the person I am today. I can only imagine how much more impactful the experience would have been if I had been exposed to it earlier. Thats why this conference is so important. It allows interested students to experience what our program is like, no matter where they are or what prior experience they have. To learn more about ZMUN, please visit the event website. To register for ZMUN, click here. The registration deadline is July 5. Students who would like more information should email Marissa Lehner at mlehn1@unh.newhaven.edu. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Early on Monday, India woke up to a new Covid-19 feature on their smartphones that created a bit of worry among many when there are enough confusion already about privacy policy. A Whatsapp message was also circulated claiming that a COVID-19 exposure sensor has been installed on all Android as well as iPhone device. However, it was later found that the COVID-19 exposure notifications feature does not work as of now. Recently, the US tech giants Google and Apple have jointly released a contact-tracing API or application programming interface on Android and iOS. What we have built is not an app rather public health agencies will incorporate the API into their own apple that people install, the companies said in a release. In other words, API is a tool which allows various public health authority apps like Aarogya Setu to monitor your movement and alert you of Covid-19 infections around. Both the companies have also approached the central government to link their APIs to the government-run Aarogya Setu app. With the lack of any supporting app, the feature, the feature remains non-function for Indians. Currently, countries such as Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya,Latvia, Philippines,Poland, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the UK, and Uruguay, are using the Apple-Google contact tracing app. However, authorities in India havent shown interest in using APIs by these tech giants and has instead developed its own Aarogya Setu app which already has an in-built contact-tracing API. A likely reason is the fact that the API does not allow location data to be retrieved, which Aarogya Setu does. Separately, United Nations Internet Governance Forum Secretariat Head Chengetai Masango on Monday also said privacy is an important policy aspect of contact-tracing apps being developed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it needs to be ensured that these apps are used for their stated purpose only. Privacy and surveillance, whether public or private, are the most important risks. So, purpose limitation is important and then making sure that you are having transparent disclosures, he said at the BIF-BEs conference on Internet Governance. HOW DOES IT WORK FOR COUNTRIES USING IT? If two people meet for more than five minutes, their phones exchange an identifier via Bluetooth. If one of those people later tests positive and the data enters the governments application. The person that the now-positive user had met will be matched and will be alerted Arshad Khan By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Concerned over supply constraint of finished goods such as automobile, smartphones and pharaceuticals in the domestic market, several industry bodies have asked the government to release the supplies stuck at airports and ports on an immediate basis Following the deadly clash of Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley and a wide call to boycott Chinese goods, import consignments from China are being subjected to a hundred per cent manual inspection resulting in delays in clearance. Members are concerned that if there is a delay, it will hamper production. Indias auto industry in dependent on China for crucial parts and a delay at this point of time will impact the sector which is showing early signs of recovery, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Director General Vinnie Mehta told The New Indian Express. Parts worth $4.75 billion is imported for China which accounts for four per cent of the total auto industry turnover, Mehta said. A few critical items imported from China are yet to be manufactured locally. Until a feasible alternative is found, the existing supply chain should not be disturbed, he added. Rajan Wadhera, president, SIAM, said that inordinate delays in clearance due to congestions at port could eventually impact manufacturing of vehicles in India. The industry is piecing itself together as growth is limping back; any further disruption at this juncture is best avoided, Wadhera said. Similarly, the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) in a letter to government said that members are facing acute disruption in manufacturing of pharmaceutical products over the last three days. According to the letter, critical devices such as infrared thermometers and pulse oximeters which are specifically aimed at Covid-19 diagnosis as also glucometers and strips are also held up at airports. Last week, inudustry body Industry association India Cellular and Electronics Association had also written to the government saying the move to check every assignment will lead to millions of dollars of losses and spook the large foreign investors. Strict scrutiny Delay in clearances of goods was adding to the crisis for auto industry China-origin consignment are stuck at Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai airports By PTI KOLKATA: Engineering exporters on Tuesday expressed concern over reported non-clearance of imported cargo from China at Indian ports, saying the move will disrupt supply chain and subsequently affect exports. Amid heightened border tensions with China, Indian customs officials have started physical inspection of all consignments coming from the neighbouring country, based on intelligence inputs, though there is no formal order, according to government sources. "Imports from China are not being cleared at various ports by the customs. EEPC members have written to the authorities concerned that this will impact the supply chain which in turn will affect exports," a source at Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India said. According to the source, some of the engineering exporters have conveyed to EEPC that the move will have an impact on their operations. "One way out is to differentiate steps which are reasonable and those which will have an adverse impact," the source said. In May 2020, when the lockdown was in force, engineering exports to China at USD 8 crore (about Rs 600 crore) were higher than that to the US, which traditionally has been the biggest importer of Indian engineering goods. "So, no such step should be taken which will backfire and have an adverse impact on the economy and GDP," the source said. Presently, engineering exports are witnessing de-growth of 23 per cent, and what scene will emerge by the end of this fiscal cannot be predicted, the source added. An official of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said some clearances have taken place in the last two days. "We are requesting that imports made by manufacturers and those importing for exports under various schemes may be accorded expeditious clearance so that domestic production may commence," the official added. FIEO had earlier flagged concerns over holding up of consignments at Hong Kong and Chinese ports in response to the action being taken by Indian authorities at Mumbai and Chennai ports. On June 15, 20 Indian army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a violent confrontation with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, which increased border tensions between the two countries. Donate Now As a public service during this pandemic, the Jewish News is providing free, unlimited access to all articles. Jewish News is a nonprofit publication that is owned by the community and relies on community support. By PTI NEW DELHI: State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Tuesday said it has set up a joint venture with Bangladesh's RR Holdings Ltd for LPG business in the neighbouring country. "IOC Middle East FZE, Dubai, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IOC, and RR Holdings Ltd, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, the holding company of Beximco LPG of Bangladesh, signed an agreement for the formation of a 50:50 joint venture company (JVC) for LPG business in Bangladesh," the company said in a statement. IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh said the company, which started with lubricant marketing in Bangladesh in 1999, is now joining hands with a formidable partner. "LPG market in Bangladesh has seen a five-fold growth in the past five years and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12-13 per cent," he said. The joint venture company will import LPG for sale in the local market. As per the business plan, the joint venture would begin functioning by acquiring Beximco's existing LPG assets. "We intend to set up a large LPG terminal at a deep-water port in Bangladesh, which would facilitate receipt of LPG in Very Large Gas Carriers, leading to a reduction in the cost of import. Reduction in cost of import would help make LPG available at an affordable price to the people of Bangladesh," he said. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who presided over the function, said the agreement is a major milestone in the annals of India-Bangladesh cooperation when a group company of IOC based in Dubai is joining hands with one of the most promising LPG companies in Bangladesh through its holding company in the UAE. He expressed confidence that similar to the success of LPG penetration in rural India, the new joint venture will be the catalyst of socio-economic change in Bangladesh through greater penetration of affordable LPG in the country. Salman Fazlur Rahman MP, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh said: "The joint venture company should serve as a testament to the remarkable investment potential of Bangladesh. " "At a time when the entire world is grappling with the severe economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, this investment also reflects the resilient and enduring friendship between Bangladesh and India," he said. The joint venture company aspires to become the most trusted, admired, and premiere LPG company in Bangladesh offering the safest, smartest, and most convenient LPG solutions with best-in-class customer service, the statement said. It also intends to diversify into other downstream oil and gas businesses such as lube blending plant, LNG, petrochemicals, LPG export to Northeast India through pipeline between the two nations and renewable energy. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced an ex-gratia of `1 crore for the family of a senior doctor of the city government-run LNJP Hospital who died battling COVID-19, and said the society has lost a very valuable fighter. The 52-year-old doctor served in the war against the pandemic at the government facility, and died of the infection in an ICU of a private hospital on Sunday. Dr Aseem Gupta was a senior doctor serving COVID patients for the last few months. He was posted in the ICU. His colleagues speak about the dedication and commitment with which he served patients, the chief minister said. Kejriwal said, his wife, also a doctor, had contracted COVID-19 too, but has now recovered. It is because of people like him that we have been able to fight COVID-19. He is a big inspiration to us and we bow to his spirit of service to humanity. As a mark of honour, Delhi government will offer an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore to the family of Dr Gupta, he said. The amount will be given by the government on behalf of the country, and the people of Delhi, for the services rendered by the doctor, he said. Earlier in the day, he had tweeted to pay tribute to Dr Gupta, who was battling the disease for the last two weeks at Max Hospital. Lt Governor Anil Baijal also tweeted to express his condolences: Deeply saddened at the death of Dr Aseem Gupta of LNJP who served tirelessly in fight against COVID-19. He was a great warrior who brought glory to the frontline doctors and health workers. My utmost sympathies are with family members ! (With PTI inputs) By PTI NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Tuesday allowed shifting of 65 foreign nationals connected to Tablighi Jamaat, who participated in the religious congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz event during the COVID-19 lockdown, to alternate accommodation. A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar passed the order after the counsel for Centre, Delhi government and Delhi Police gave the statements that they do not have any objection to it. The high court allowed the plea to shift 65 foreigners from the existing accommodation to another as they were facing certain issues including unhygienic condition. The bench, which conducted the hearing through video conferencing, allowed the application for modification in the high court's May 28 order by seeking to include three more places of alternate accommodation for the foreign nationals connected to Tablighi Jamaat in light of ongoing criminal proceedings. On May 28, the high court had directed that 955 foreign nationals, who had participated in the Markaz, be shifted from institutional quarantine centres, where they were kept since March 30 despite testing negative for COVID-19, to nine alternate accommodations. The plea, filed through advocates Mandakini Singh and Ashima Mandla, said that during the course of the month, 65 foreign nationals housed at Meeraj International School have faced discomfort with regard to the arrangements there. On Tuesday, the high court allowed them to be shifted from Meeraj International School to Texan Public School in Moujpur here, a new accommodation suggested by them. The bench also observed that for such modifications the petitioners need not approach the high court directly in future and they give the representation to the Delhi Police which will forward it to the Union of India for a decision and the entire process should be completed in one week. During the hearing, Central government standing counsel Amit Mahajan and Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra said they do not have any objection to the plea of the foreign nationals. The application also said, Apart from the Texan Public School, the community has now identified two additional places of accommodation, which may be used in the future, if need be, to house any of the 955 foreign nationals in question. The community once again undertakes to bear all costs for shifting accommodation and further duly notify the Respondent No.4 (Delhi Police) of the whereabouts of the foreign nationals". The high court had on May 28 disposed of two petitions filed by various foreign nationals seeking to be shifted to alternate accommodation and stating that the financial burden will be borne by the community, Tablighi Jamaat. The high court had warned that they should not shift to any other location without the permission of Delhi Police. The high court had allowed the shifting of the foreign nationals to the eight facilities -- Jamiat Ulema Hind, Haj House, Zayed College, HR School, two MS Creative Schools, Meeraj International School (Couples) and Axle School -- and to Hotel Smart Plaza at Mahipalpur here in respect of the Malaysian Nationals. Delhi Police had told the high court that 47 charge sheets have been filed in respect of 910 foreign nationals belonging to 35 countries. After being exposed to a large gathering in March amid the COVID-19 or coronavirus lockdown many members of Tablighi Jamaat from Markaz Hazrat Nizamuddin were taken out by the authorities and lodged in different quarantine centres in Delhi. Some of them were sent to the centres a few days later after being detained from various mosques. In April, COVID-19 cases in Delhi spiked after hundreds of many Tablighi Jamaat members, who had attended a large congregation in Nizamuddin, tested positive. The other members were directly taken to quarantine centres to contain the spread of COVID-19. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A retired BSNL employee, Challati Shanmukha Chary of Nalgonda, was found dead in his car at an isolated area near Choutuppal. The car was locked and there were signs of fire inside the parked vehicle and the bodys head appeared burnt. Chary (57) retired from BSNL at Nalgonda in January 2020. A probe is on to find if it was a homicide or suicide. On Sunday morning, Chary set out from Nalgonda without informing his family members. Patrol teams discovered his body when they noticed his vehicle near the temple. By Express News Service KOCHI: Five persons tested positive for Covid-19 in the district on Monday. Of them, two returned from abroad while three got infected through local contact.A 45-year-old healthcare worker hailing from Kanjoor is among the new cases, which has raised concerns. Her husband, aged 53, also tested positive. Their source of infection is yet to be traced, said health officials. Around 40 persons, including more healthcare workers, have been identified as their contacts and have been placed under observation. We are tracking more persons who could have come in contact with the healthcare worker who works at a community health centre. We believe she might have become infected from there, said an official.The other persons who tested positive on the day include a 27-year-old Kizhakkabalam native who arrived from Kuwait on June 14 and a 81-year-old Kanjoor native, the father of a Malayattoor native who had tested positive on June 23. A 49-year-old Payipra native who arrived from June 26 from Riyadh is being treated at Manjeri MCH in Malappuram. Four persons recovered. They are a 53-year-old Kollam native who tested positive on June 15, a 31-year-old Alappuzha native who tested positive on June 28, a 38-year-old Ezhikkara native who tested positive on June 5 and a 35-year-old Edakochi native who tested positive on June 9. By PTI THANE: A 103-year-old man was on Monday discharged from a hospital here in Maharashtra after recovering from COVID-19 disease, the doctor who treated him said. According to Dr Sameet Sohoni, the 85-year-old brother of the 103-year-old is also on the path of recovery from the viral infection and will be discharged soon. He said the 103-year-old was born in 1917, just one year before the Spanish flu pandemic, which is said to be the most severe in recent history. The centenarian, a resident of Siddheshwar Talao locality, was admitted in the hospital for COVID-Pneumonia a month ago, Dr Sohoni said. "He remained admitted in the ICU for 20 days. He has recovered completely from the infection and discharged on Monday," Dr Sohoni said, adding that a grandson of the 103- year-old was also treated at the same hospital for coronavirus and has been discharged after recovery. Meanwhile, authorities are mulling imposition of a total lockdown in Thane for ten days beginning July 2 in view of the surge in coronavirus cases. The Thane city police have put out a notice on its tweeter handle asking people to stock essential items. Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation commissioner Pankaj Ashiya has told reporters that an additional 2,000 to 2,500 beds will be made available for COVID-19 patients in the powerloom town in the next one week. By Online Desk With 18,522 people testing positive for COVID-19 in a single day, India's case count reached 5,66,840 on Tuesday while the death toll rose to 16,893 with 418 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The number of active cases stands at 2,15,125, while 3,34,821 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, according to the updated data at 8 am. "Thus, around 59.07 per cent of patients have recovered so far," an official said. The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners. Of the 418 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 181 are from Maharashtra; 62 from Tamil Nadu; 57 from Delhi; 19 each from Gujarat and Karnataka; 14 from West Bengal; 12 from Uttar Pradesh; 11 from Andhra Pradesh; nine from Haryana; seven from Madhya Pradesh; six each from Rajasthan and Telangana; five from Punjab; three from Jharkhand; two each from Bihar and Odisha and one each from Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. By PTI IMPHAL: Days after surviving a rebellion in the ruling coalition, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday landed in Delhi to meet NDA's central leadership to discuss allocation of portfolios to his ministers. Interestingly, Congress MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh accompanied the CM to the national capital in a chartered flight. Second term Congress MLA from Sagolband, Imo Singh, is the son-in-law of the chief minister. The political circle in the state is abuzz with the news that two Congress legislators had indulged in cross-voting in favour of BJP candidate in the June 19 election for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Manipur and he could be one of them. Imo Singh is son of former Congress chief minister Rajkumar Jaichandra Singh. Singh told reporters at Imphal airport that besides discussing ministerial portfolios, he would also thank the central leadership for victory of BJP's Rajya Sabha nominee Sanajaoba Leishemba. The saffron party nominee had emerged victorious in a tough battle taking place in the shadow of political turbulence in Manipur triggered by the resignation of nine ruling coalition members, including four NPP ministers. Though his itinerary in Delhi is not immediately available, sources close to the CM said, he is likely to meet BJP national president J P Nadda and will try to get time for an audience with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Following intervention of Shah and Nadda, the four National People's Party (MPP) MLAs returned to the BJP-led coalition and submitted a letter to Governor Najma Heptullah on Thursday last backing Biren Singh. NPP national president Conrad Sangma, who is running the government in Meghalaya with the BJP, and the saffron party's key leader in the Northeast Himanta Biswa Sarma had also played an important role in resolution of the logjam in Manipur. Having braved the crisis, Biren Singh is facing another challenge in meeting ministerial aspirations of his own party MLAs and also allies for which he is likely to seek guidance of central leaders. While the four NPP legislators are all set to regain their position in the cabinet, the chief minister has to deal with the heightened aspirations of some of his BJP legislators to become ministers, besides that of the Congress legislators, who had defected to the saffron party shortly after the last state election in 2017. Out of the seven defecting Congress MLAs, whose cases under anti-defection law were heard by the Manipur High Court and the Speaker's Tribunal, the membership of four have been restored and they even voted in the Rajya Sabha election for the lone seat in Manipur. There have been reports that another ally -the Naga People's Front (NPF)- which stood with the saffron party during the turmoil, is demanding parity with NPP in the cabinet, with the NPF having four legislators in the 60-member House. While NPP has four ministers, the NPF has two members in the cabinet. As per constitutional provisions, there can be a maximum of 12 ministers in the state including the chief minister. Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service PATNA: In a first such instance, 80 out of nearly 300 guests, who were part of a wedding feast-cum-function in Patna's Paliganj area have tested positive sending the entire health wing of the state government into a tizzy. Shockingly, the groom had lost his life a couple of days after the marriage which was held on June 15. The groom, working in Gurugram as a software techie, had arrived on June 12 days for his wedding on June 15 but died in a couple of days after developing fever and other symptoms akin to COVID-19. Panic prevailed thereafter across the village and samples of 250 persons including the family members and the newly wed-bride, were taken for tests amid doubts of COVID-19. The samples of 80 out of nearly 350 persons have tested positive sending the entire areas in panic now. "Such a huge gathering must have been avoided but having no administrative move to check such social gathering has aggravated the pandemic now", remarked an official at state capital fearing that pandemic going monstrous can push the state population in danger,if not checked now again. In Bihar with marriage season going on, majority of barats (marriage ceremonies) go beyond the fixed number of 50. Now, according to Paliganj BDO Chiranjivi Pandey, many of the areas, wherefrom people attended the wedding feast-cum-function, have been sealed and sanitization works have started. The samples of even cooks, vegetable sellers and all those who were associated with the ill-fated wedding event on June 15 were collected and tested. Meanwhile, the total count of COVID-19 positive cases till Sunday morning has gone to 9,618 with 63 deaths in Bihar. By PTI NEW DELHI: Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Tuesday said all apps released in India must adhere to the country's data integrity, privacy and sovereignty, a day after the government banned 59 apps. Asserting that India has to be a data sovereign country, Kant also said apps must be transparent in terms of origin and final destination of data. The 59 apps, most of which have Chinese links, were banned by the government citing that they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country. "All Apps released in India must adhere to India's data integrity, privacy, sovereignty and transparency. "They must be transparent in origin & final destination of data. India has to be a data sovereign country. This is critical. Apps against whom action taken are lifestyle apps," Kant said in a tweet. In a series of tweets, he also said that time is ripe for the best of India technology companies to develop technology solutions for India and the world. ALSO READ: Government bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser as India-China border tensions intensify Indians will leverage strength of diversity and build for India together, Kant said, adding that transparency, privacy, security and ease of access will be the key principles of our product design. He also pointed out that the AarogyaSetu app, developed for tracking COVID-19 patients, has been a unique example of technology innovation in India, built for India, and used by millions of Indians. "Many more such examples will be created by young Indian innovators," he said. The ban on the 59 apps also came against the backdrop of the current stand-off between India and China along the Line of Actual control in Ladakh. On Monday, the Information Technology Ministry said it has received many complaints from various sources, including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India". "The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," the ministry had said in a statement. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: A day after Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli accused New Delhi of trying to topple his government, its Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said border issues should not affect other dynamics of India-Nepal ties. The government is concerned about multifaceted relations with India and one particular issue that revolves around the boundary dispute should not impact the overall status of Nepals relations with India, he was quoted as saying at a meeting of the National Assembly of the Nepal Parliament. The statement comes a day after Oli accused New Delhi of trying to topple his government following its decision to include the areas of Lipulekh, Limiyadhura and Kalapani in its new map after a constitutional amendment. No one should spread bitterness, all stakeholders must contribute in building a positive tone. I appeal to all stakeholders to make positive contributions to bilateral ties, Gyawali was quoted as saying. By ANI NEW DELHI: Short video making app TikTok, one of the 59 apps banned by the Central government on Tuesday, has said that it complies with all data privacy and security requirements under the Indian law and has not shared any information of its users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Taking to microblogging site Twitter, Tiktok India posted the statement issued by Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok, India. "The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government," reads the statement. Tik Tok India head, Nikhil Gandhi said that the company continues to comply with the govt guidelines and hasn't shared any data/ content with foreign govts including China @NewIndianXpress @XpressBengaluru @santwana99 @TNIEBiz Bismah Malik (@bismahmalik) June 30, 2020 "Further, if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity. TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first-time internet users," the statement further reads. Amid border tensions with China in Eastern Ladakh, the Centre had on Monday banned 59 mobile apps including Tik Tok, UC Browser and other Chinese apps "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity and defence" of the country. A senior official at the IT ministry said the prime reason to block the apps under section 69 A of Information Technology Act is to stop the violation and threat to the security of the state and public order and to plug the data leaks. "Almost all of them have some preferential Chinese interest. Few are from countries like Singapore. However, the majority have parent companies which are Chinese," the official said. This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace, Ministry of Information Technology said. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Tuesday extended till August 11 the time for giving suggestions to the draft Environment Impact Assessment notification of 2020, saying it was surprised at the Centre's "obstinacy" in not addressing the "ambiguity" in it. The draft EIA notification provides for post facto approval of projects and does away with public consultation in some cases. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan passed the order after the Environment Ministry did not address the court's query regarding "ambiguity" in its decision extending time till June 30 for giving objections and suggestions to its draft EIA 2020. Referring to the reply filed by the Environment Ministry, the bench said: "There is not a word (in the affidavit) on the ambiguity. Your reply is silent on the main point. We are, frankly, a little surprised at the obstinacy of the central government. The government is being obdurate in this matter". The bench also observed that "absolutely no effort has been made to address the court's query on ambiguity. Your reply is conspicuously silent about it. It amounts to not answering our query." The court further said that it was not pleased with "this attitude" of the government and added that process of public consultation was "not an obstacle". "It (consultation) has some importance, it has some sanctity," the bench said. It said it was partly allowing the petition, by environmental conservationist Vikrant Tongad, seeking extension of the time, to respond to the draft EIA 2020, till the time the COVID-19 pandemic subsists. The detailed order is awaited. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Tongad, said it was "disturbing" that the government, as per its affidavit, has sent e-mails to over 78,000 project proponents informing them about the draft EIA and inviting their suggestions, but was not willing to publish it in vernacular languages so that everyone who would be affected by such projects can also give their view. Sankaranarayanan, during the hearing, urged the court to issue directions to the ministry to publish the draft EIA 2020 in all vernacular languages so that majority of the people can understand it and also give suggestions or objections regarding it. The court had earlier said there was ambiguity in the May 8 notification extending time for public to respond to the draft EIA 2020, as it mentions a further period of 60 days and also that the window closes on June 30. It had asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Acharya to seek instructions with regard to the ambiguity. On Tuesday the ASG reiterated the stand taken on Monday -- that the intent was to extend the period only till June 30. The stand was not welcomed by the bench. The ASG also said the draft EIA 2020 was published on April 11 and 60 days from then was to expire on June 11, but in view of the COVID-19 pandemic it was decided to extend the period till June 30. She also said that it has already been published in English and Hindi. The petition had claimed the May 8 notification states that the period for inviting objections has been extended by another 60 days, but it is not clear as to when the initial period of 60 days commenced. "If the sixty-day period commences on the date of the draft notification, i.e., March 23, 2020, the extended date of expiry will be July 18, 2020. If the date of notification in the Gazette (i.e. April 11, 2020) is taken as the start of the sixty-day period, the extended date of expiry will be August 9, 2020," the petition, filed through advocates Srishti Agnihotri and Abishek Jebaraj, had said. It had also stated that at the same time a contradiction arises in the extension notification as an end date of June 30, 2020 is specified, which is less than sixty days from the date of issuance of the extension notification May 8. The draft EIA 2020, according to the petition, completely supersedes and replaces the existing environmental norms. "This draft notification proposes significant changes to the existing regime, including removing public consultation entirely in certain instances, reducing the time for public consultation from 45 days to 40 days, and allowing post facto approvals for projects," it said. By PTI NEW DELHI: Tihar Jail authorities told the Delhi High Court Tuesday efforts will be made to provide a Pinjra Tod group woman member, arrested in a case related to the communal violence in north-east Delhi earlier this year, legal interviews with her lawyer for 30 minutes, twice a week, via video conferencing. The prison authorities also said they have no objection to Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) group member Natasha Narwal sourcing books from outside, provided the material does not infract any provision of the jail rules. The submissions were made by Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra, representing Tihar Jail authorities, in response to Narwal's plea that she be provided books and reading material to complete her M. Phil as also 30-minute legal interviews twice a week with her lawyer via video conferencing. Mehra assured the court that subject to adjustments which maybe required, efforts would be made for two video conferencing facilities of 30 minutes each for Narwal. As per the jail manual, an undertrial is allowed 10 minutes of legal interview with his/ her counsel twice a week. Noting the submissions of Tihar's counsel and that the grievances of the accused have been resolved, Justice C Hari Shankar said: "This litigation has ended on a happy note. The petition is disposed of." The court also placed on record its appreciation for proactive approach of Mehra which well deserves the status of senior standing counsel (criminal). The counsel submitted that he has engaged in a detailed interaction with the DG (Prisons) and concerned jail officials and has made efforts to ensure that the grievance is mitigated. Narwal, lodged in Tihar jail along with another JNU student and member of the group, Devangana Kalitha, was arrested by Delhi Police on May 23 in connection with a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in north-east Delhi's Jafrabad area in February. On May 24, they were granted bail by the trial court in the case, but moments later Delhi Police crime branch had moved an application seeking to interrogate them and formally arrest them in a separate case. Narwal was also arrested in a third case related to her role in north-east Delhi violence matter. Advocate Adit S Pujari, appearing for Narwal, submitted that at the time of video conferencing, jail officials are also present besides the woman due to which she is unable to communicate with him properly. He said as per jail manual, the jail officials can be within the sight but out of hearing. To this, Mehra along with advocate Chaitanya Gosain, said Narwal will be provided headphones and jail officials will be present in the room but will remain at a visual distance. On Monday, the jail authorities submitted a status report in the court saying that several foreign inmates had turned violent in Tihar Jail on June 16, injuring 25 people, including 10 staff who tried to control them. The authorities filed a status report in response to Narwal's allegations that there was a "large scale violence" inside Tihar Jail on June 16 and inmates were prohibited from getting in touch with anyone, including via video conferencing, outside the prison. Legal interviews of inmates with their lawyers in person were suspended in Delhi prisons in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured. Rajesh Asnani By Express News Service JAIPUR: A major row has erupted in Rajasthan BJP over a digital poster created for a Jan Samvaad rally to celebrate the first anniversary of the Modi 2.0 Government at the centre. The poster displays former CM Vasundhara Raje prominently but the picture of Satish Poonia, the current BJP President in Rajasthan is missing from the poster which was created by the former Cabinet Minister in the state, Younus Khan. The digital poster, released on Social Media by Khan who is a known Raje loyalist, has angered many BJP workers who have started trolling Khan. The digital poster for the rally by Union Transport and Highway Minister, Nitin Gadkari, has pictures of PM Narendra Modi, BJP President J P Nadda and Vasundhara Raje printed quite prominently. But the shocking omission of current BJP Chief in the state, Satish Poonia, an RSS-backed leader, has angered a large section in the party. Younus Khan is a key member of the group known as Raje-loyalists in the Rajasthan BJP and was considered very powerful during the previous Raje government. However, Khan was on the verge of being denied a party ticket in the last Assembly elections but due to Rajes pressure he was finally made the BJP candidate against Congress state President Sachin Pilot who eventually emerged victorious. An angry worker remarked, when Poonia is the president why is Vasundhra Raje being projected in the poster when she is not holding any portfolio in the state BJP unit. We work on the directions of the PM and the BJP National President but ignoring state BJP Chief is not at all correct. A defensive Khan now says, "Satish Poonia is an elected state President for all of us. But I dont want to make any comment on whose picture is on the poster or not." Khans clarification, however, has hardly pacified the state BJP Chief or his supporters. Poonia has advised Khan that no matter what ones personal loyalties may be, everyone must adhere to party protocol. "Whichever person or leader one may like, nobody is bigger than the party or the norms of the party. Sometimes people even forget about PM Modi or Amit Shah ji. All this is about using ones mindset in a way that all leaders adhere to the party protocol all the time. If that discipline is maintained by all leaders, there is no scope for any confusion or misunderstanding among party workers. We can all have our feelings but these must be expressed within the party decorum. Ever since the BJP lost the Assembly polls in Rajasthan in December 2018, the top leadership of the saffron party has made Vasundhara Raje the national Vice President of the party in order to keep her sidelined from active politics in the state. In contrast, in both the state BJP unit and in the central ministry, its leaders from the anti-Raje faction have been given prominence. However, Raje herself is said to be keen to maintain her hold in the state BJP and return to state politics in an aggressive way. Her loyalists are even more keen to see her return to a greater role in Rajasthan. In the recent Rajya Sabha elections, the fact that Raje had remained quite aloof was being discussed by political analysts and power corridors. By PTI NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday condemned the missile and UAV attacks reportedly by Yemeni rebels last week targeting civilian areas in Riyadh and hoped for an early resolution of the conflict. Saudi Arabia last week had said that it intercepted ballistic missiles and bomb-laden drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels. In response to a question on the missile and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks in Saudi Arabia, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "We condemn the missiles and UAVs attack on 23 June, 2020 targeting civilian areas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." "We reiterate our hope for an early resolution of the conflict resulting in peace, progress and prosperity in the region," he said. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: In a curious case of the use of the epidemic act against her in-laws, a homemaker in Kanpur lodged a police complaint against her mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, her husband and her two children accusing all of assault, insult and criminal intimidation on Tuesday. The cops were in for a surprise when they found out that the woman had also mentioned in her complaint that her in-laws violated the COVID protocol while tormenting her, neither did they follow the social distancing norm, nor did they have the masks on their faces during the assault, causing the risk of COVID-19. A case, the first of its kind, was registered against her in-laws under the relevant sections pertaining to domestic violence and also the Epidemic Act in Juhi police station. On the other hand, her in-laws have registered a case against her accusing her of threatening them. According to police sources, Basanti Nagar resident Deepika Gupta under Juhi police station area approached the local cops alleging that her in-laws were putting pressure on her to withdraw the case of dowry harassment which she had lodged a few months back against them. She allegedly claimed that when her husband used to back her, he was also intimidated by his family. As per Deepikas complaint, on June 27, when she was in her room, her in-laws including the mother-in-law Reeta Gupta, father-in-law Anil Gupta, sister-in-law Ekta Srivastava, her husband Satya Prakash, their children Aditya and Saumya, all barged in her room and pressured her to withdraw the case of dowry harassment. Deepika claimed in her complaint that all of them threatened her life and when she objected, they all thrashed her with a cane. Not only did they violate the norm by not maintaining social distancing, but also by not wearing masks. According to police sources, Juhi police station incharge, Santosh Yadav lodged the case under sections of domestic violence and also Epidemic Act and the probe was on into the case. By PTI AHMEDABAD: Seven persons, including two children, were killed in separate incidents of lightning strike in Gujarat's Saurashtra region that witnessed heavy rainfall on Tuesday, police said. A 35-year-old woman and her 12-year-old son were struck by lightning at their farm in Rakka village at Lalpur in Jamnagar district, while two women were killed at Viramdad village in Devbhoomi Dwarka district, an official said. In similar incidents, three persons died in a lightning strike at two villages in Botad district, he said. The deceased included a five-year-old boy, his 60- year-old grandfather and a 17-year-old girl, the official said. Bodies of the deceased were taken to the nearest hospitals for post-mortem, he added. Heavy rains lashed several parts of Saurashtra, especially Jamnagar, Gir Somnath, Junagadh, Rajkot and Bhavnagar districts. According to the meteorological department, Kalavad in Jamnagar received the maximum rainfall of 73 mm in just two hours on Tuesday afternoon, while Veraval in Gir Somnath district and Dhrol in Jamnagar district received 48 mm rainfall till 4 pm. As many as nine talukas of Gujarat received over 40 mm rainfall between 6 am and 4 pm, it was stated. By PTI LUCKNOW: Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya on Tuesday visited the Medanta Hospital here to enquire about the health of Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon, a senior doctor said. "The condition of Governor of Madhya Pradesh Lalji Tandon is stable. He is still on critical care ventilator support through tracheostomy. A team of medical experts is working for best medical treatment," Medanta Hospital's Medical Director Rakesh Kapoor said in the medical bulletin issued here. "Today (on Tuesday), Governor of Uttarakhand Baby Rani Maurya visited Medanta, Lucknow to know the well-being of Lalji Tandon," he added. Tracheostomy is a medical procedure that involves creating an opening in the neck to insert a tube into the windpipe. Tandon (85), was admitted to the hospital on June 11 with breathing problems, difficulty in urination and fever. By PTI KANNAUJ: In a heart-wrenching incident caught on tape, parents were seen grieving over the death of their one-year-old child at a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj. An emotional father was seen clinging to the body of his son who died of fever after he was brought to the district hospital there for treatment on Sunday night. Premchand, a resident of Mishripur village in Kannauj district, is heard alleging in the video that no doctor saw his child. "No doctor attended to him though we stayed there for around 45 minutes. We were told to go to Kanpur. I am a poor man; I have no money. What can I do," he is heard saying in the video that has gone viral on social media. Kannauj: A one-year-old child who had high fever and was admitted to the District Hospital here, died on 28th June. His father, Premchand says, "My child died due to negligence. We had made severeal requests to the doctors but no one listened to us." pic.twitter.com/8qoURWzjr3 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 29, 2020 Kannauj Chief Medical Officer Dr Krishna Swaroop has denied the charge. "A resident of Mishripur, Premchand, admitted his son Anuj to the hospital. A child specialist treated the child. But the child died after half an hour of treatment. It is wrong to say that the child was not admitted and that doctors did not attend to him," he said. 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 By PTI CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police on Tuesday claimed to have foiled a bid by Pakistan-backed terrorists to target socio-religious leaders and disturb the communal harmony with the arrest of three members of the Khalistan Liberation Front. DGP Dinkar Gupta said the terror module, busted on Sunday, was operating in various parts of the state at the behest of pro-Khalistani elements based in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UK. A 32-bore pistol, along with seven cartridges, has been recovered from the accused identified as Sukhchain Singh, a resident of Patiala; Amritpal Singh, a resident of Mansa; and Jaspreet Singh, a resident of Amritsar, said Gupta in an official release here. Recently, the Delhi Police had arrested their associate Lovepreet Singh, a resident of Kaithal in Haryana, along with other members of the front. The DGP said the three men had come into contact with each other through social media. They further came in touch with Pakistan-based handlers who provoked them to target socio-religious leaders and disturb Punjab's peace, he said. Amritpal Singh was instrumental in connecting and motivating Sukhchain and Lovepreet in taking their agenda forward. Initial investigations show that their handlers also invited them to Pakistan for planning the future course of action. One of the foreign handlers, based in Saudi Arabia, promised to provide them with shelter once they execute their actions on ground, he said. A case has been registered at the Sadar police station of Samana in Patiala under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and the Arms Act. By ANI NEW DELHI: A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrived at the residence of Congress leader Ahmed Patel for questioning in connection with Sandesara scam. Earlier on Saturday, after a team of ED interrogated Ahmed Patel at his residence the senior Congress leader said that "there is nothing to hide". In a statement, Patel also targeted the Central government and said, "Rather than fighting the (COVID-19) pandemic and China, this government is more keen to fight the Opposition." "If you were to do an analysis, you will see a clear pattern over the past many years. Every time their is Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha election or the government is facing a crisis, one or more investigative agencies become active on the instructions of one individual," Patel said. "Unfortunately, this time the (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi government's failure to manage an economic, health and national security crisis is now so huge, that none of the agencies can help spin the narrative," he added. Patel went on to add, "Nonetheless, our conscience is clear. We have nothing to hide, nor are we afraid to criticise and expose the government's failures and their past corruption." Patel's name surfaced during the investigation against Sandesara Group of Companies in alleged bank loan fraud case. ED's investigation reveals that Sterling Biotech Ltd (SBL) / Sandesara Group and its main promoters namely Nitin Sandesara, Chetan Sandesara, and Deepti Sandesara have allegedly cheated more than Rs 14,500 crores. Not only Ahmed Patel, his son, Faisal Patel, and his son-in-law, Irfan Siddiqui, have been named by a corporate executive being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection to a money laundering case. Sumi Sukanya dutta By Express News Service With Covid-19 cases rising, the government seems to have quietly changed its focus from containment to mitigation in areas worst hit by the infectious disease such as Delhi. Last week, the Indian Council of Medical Research had asked states to allow coronavirus testing for symptomatic persons in any part of the country. Since test, track and treat is the only way to prevent spread of infection and save lives, it is imperative that testing should be made widely available to all symptomatic individuals in every part of the country and contact tracing mechanisms for containment of infection are further strengthened, the ICMR said in a paper called Newer Additional Strategies for Covid-19 Testing on June 23. Until now, only people with influenza-like illnesses living in containment zones and other high-risk groups such as quarantine camps were eligible for Covid-19 tests. The shift in focus to mitigation has resulted in the government taking measures to ramp up the availability of hospital beds and Covid care centres. This has been most evident in Delhi, where the Ministry of Home Affairs declared last week that 20,000 additional beds would soon be ready. Many experts who believe that community transmission has already started, although the government is yet to accept this view, have argued for shifting the focus to mitigation rather than containment. While processes like testing and tracing will continue, the focus is shifting to minimising deaths through early case detection, triage and ensuring that adequate hospital facilities are available to manage the surge in cases, said Sanjay Rai, professor of community medicine at AIIMS-Delhi, who is assisting the state government with its Covid response. Another epidemiologist who is part of a team of experts helping the ICMR, said if ongoing serosurvey shows a high number of people have already been exposed to the virus, it would be wise to pay attention to managing patients. By Express News Service RAIPUR: A magisterial probe has been ordered on Tuesday into the self-immolation attempt by an unemployed youth in front of official residence of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister. A distressed resident of Dhamtari district, around 90 km from Raipur, tried to immolate self outside the CM's house in the civil lines area on Monday. Dhamtari collector ordered for an inquiry to be carried out by the district sub-divisional magistrate and it would be accomplished within a month, said an official press statement. The youth, aged 27, was immediately rescued after he set himself ablaze and rushed to hospital by the security personnel deployed at the CM House. The youth who, according to his father, was unemployed and living with his family without any food at home. We were providing him food and he got around 5 kg of rice from his neighbour to feed the family. Without informing anyone of us he left for Raipur, his father told the media persons. With 60 percent burn injuries his condition remains out of danger. The government officials were quick to cite the person, identified as Hardev Sinha, as mentally unstable. The opposition BJP called the incident a reflection of the deep desperation among the youths in the state as the Congress government miserably failed to keep its promise of generating employment opportunities besides offering the unemployment allowance. The probe aims to find out why the youth was not given treatment if he was mentally unstable, why he tried to self-immolate, was there any provocation for this incident. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: China seems to be upping the ante with its latest article in the Communist governments mouthpiece Global Times saying that it was wishful thinking on Indias part if they thought that the US was going to aid them in case of a war. The USs only motive is to use India as a pawn in its geopolitical game. As senior Indian military officers are expecting a prolonged standoff in the China-India border region with the US reportedly voicing support for India, the Chinese military is demonstrating high military readiness on all fronts, as the intensive, simultaneous military exercises in the South China Sea, near Taiwan island and near the China-India border show Indias wishful thinking of taking advantage of US support is merely an illusion, the article said. The article comes a day before the Corps Commanders of the two militaries meet on Tuesday.The article also blamed India for escalating tensions by deploying the Aakash air defence system in Ladakh. The US has been hoping to play India as a card in its strategy to contain China, and it is now using Indias domestic nationalists and hardliners in the China-India border tensions, it said. By ANI NEW DELHI: As the water-flow has increased in the Galwan river, the Indian Security forces are now feeling the need for specialised waterproof clothing for the troops deployed there in a standoff position with China. The Chinese side seems to have come prepared for the deployment as their troops deployed in the Galwan river valley bed are wearing water-proof clothes which allows them to step in the icy water there. "There is a need felt for specialised clothing for deployment alongside the river with ice-cold water as the water flow has increased in the river with the rise in temperature," sources told ANI. The Chinese side which has made camps all along the Galwan river valley up to near the Indian Patrolling Point 14 has come with specialised clothing where the lower portion of the combat dress is made up of waterproof material which allows them to step into the water, the sources said. The Galwan river after originating from Aksai Chin passes through the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and merged with the Shyok river near Indian PP-14. Earlier also while patrolling the area from KM-120 post to the PP-14, Indian security men had to step inside the river water which would wet their shoes, they said. Sources said the special clothing with Chinese could have helped them in avoiding a higher number of hypothermia casualties during the Galwan valley clash on June 15 with Indian soldiers. The Indian side is also preparing itself for the possible long term deployment in the Galwan valley and other areas where the Chinese have deployed heavily along the LAC. All along the LAC from the Ladakh sector to Arunachal Pradesh, the Chinese Army has done heavy deployments and not showing any signs of thinning down despite holding talks at multiple levels with the Indian agencies. The Chinese buildup had started around May 4 almost two months ago when they marched along the LAC to multiple points including the Finger area, Galwan valley, DBO sector, PP-15, Hot Springs and Ghoghra. The Chinese have also been fortifying their positions and troops' strength in areas where they have come and it is being perceived that they are using the time in talks for building up further. By Express News Service KURNOOL: In an inhumane act, the body of a nine-month pregnant woman was abandoned in the forest area of Rudravaram after the locals prevented the final rites of the woman in the village believing that cremating the body of a pregnant woman will be an ill omen to the village. Police were trying to convince the villagers to perform the last rites of the woman in the village when reports last came in. According to information reaching the district headquarters, the woman, Lavanya, was married to Dharmendra, a daily wage worker from B Nagireddypalle village in Rudravaram village in the district. She went to her parents home in the neighbouring Sirivella mandal for delivery. On Friday, she was shifted to Nandyal government hospital as she developed labour. However, she died the next day due to complications while delivery. The family members shifted her body to B Nagireddypalle for final rites and all preparations were made for burial of the body as per rituals. The villagers, however, did not allow the burial of the body in the village as they believe that performing the last rites of a pregnant woman will bring bad omen to the village. They argued that the village will not receive rains if the pregnant woman's body is cremated in the village. With no other option, the family members shifted the dead body to the forest area nearby and abandoned it there. Neighbouring villagers, who ventured into the forest to collect firewood, noticed the body on Saturday evening and alerted the Rudravaram police. "After enquiry, we traced the family members of the deceased woman and are trying to convince the villagers to cremate the woman's body in the village,'' Rudravaram sub-inspector of police Rammohan Reddy told TNIE. He added that they will ask the family members to perform last rites in the forest itself if the village elders did not get convinced and allow the final rites in the village, the SI said. By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: YSRC MP Raghu Ramakrishna Raju on Monday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, seeking his appointment to explain his stand over various issues and affirming his loyalty to the latters leadership, while rebutting charges made against him. Last Wednesday, the YSRC had issued a show-cause notice to the Lok Sabha member from Narsapuram for publicly adopting a stand discordant with the party line. In the letter, the MP, called himself a trusted soldier of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party and said he had never uttered a single word against the party or party president other than raising a few issues. Stating that he wanted to bring to the notice of the party president about the shortcomings in the letter sent to him by party national general secretary V Vijaya Sai Reddy, the MP noted the letter was sent on a wrong letterhead. As an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, I stood by the sentiments of all devotees and spoke on the subject (of sale of TTD properties). On introduction of English as the medium of instruction in all schools, I spoke out because it was unconstitutional, Raju pointed out. Referring to his remarks on the governments sand policy, Raju said he had reiterated what Mines Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy had said on sand pilferage. On the dinner meeting in New Delhi organised by him for MPs to showcase the Godavari district cuisine, he clarified it was attended by over 300 MPs from various parties and several Union ministers, and not just BJP MPs. On his alleged remarks attributing his victory to no one else, the MP said he made it very clear on several occasions that he dedicated his victory 90 per cent to the party president and 10 per cent to his own efforts. Stating that the protests against him were orchestrated, Raju said he was getting several threatening calls. He said his complaints to local police and his efforts to meet the DGP went in vain. This forced me to approach Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking protection of central forces, he noted. By Express News Service MANGALURU: As many as 44 people including 10 doctors tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday in Dakshina Kannada taking the total tally to 741. A chief medical officer of Wenlock hospital who was treating Covid-19 patients for the last two months tested positive for coronavirus and several other doctors and nurses were quarantined. Nine doctors from three private hospitals in Mangaluru too have tested positive and 60 staff from their hospitals have been quarantined. Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sindhu B Roopesh speaking to The New Indian Express said that the treatment of Covid-positive patients will not be affected. "Doctors are at high risk of getting infected with the virus. There is no need to panic," she said. Meanwhile, on Monday out of 44 people, 2 are returnees from Saudi Arabia, one person has an inter-state travel history, 9 ILI and 3 SARI cases. The contact of 5 patients is being traced and 21 others are primary contacts. On Tuesday, 17 patients have been discharged from Wenlock hospital and reports of 325 samples are awaited. Four patients are being treated at the ICU and there are 342 active cases in the district. By PTI KOCHI: BSNL has served a notice asking controversial activist and its dismissed employee Rehana Fathima to vacate from its residential quarters here, citing the recent police raid on her house and registration of a POCSO case over a video posted by her on social media. The police action has 'tarnished' its image, the state-owned telecom major said. Fathima, who made a vain bid to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in 2018, was booked last week after she posed semi-nude in front of her minor children, allowing them to paint on her bare body and sharing the video on social media. ALSO READ: Kerala activist Rehana Fathima booked for posting 'offensive' video of her kids painting on her body Police on June 25 had carried out a search at her house in the BSNL quarters at Panampilly Nagar as part of the probe in the case registered under various sections of POCSO Act and the IT Act by the city police. The case was filed based on a report filed by Cyberdom, the cyber wing of Kerala police, for posting an "offensive" video titled "Body and Politics" on social media. "The above event tarnished the image of BSNL. Hence you are instructed to vacate the quarters within 30 days from the date of receipt of this notice, failing which further proceedings will be initiated for eviction", said the June 27 notice, copy of which has been made available to media. ALSO READ: BSNL sacks activist Rehana Fathima As she ceased to be a BSNL employee, Fathima was ineligible to occupy the company quarters, it said. Fathima was sacked from employment by the BSNL in May this year for her intentional act of outraging the religious feelings of devotees through social media posts. The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights had earlier sought a report from police on the video matter and said case should be registered against the woman under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The activist has last week moved the Kerala High Court seeking anticipatory bail, apprehending arrest in the POCSO case. After the Supreme Court allowed women in traditionally barred age groups of 10-50 into the Sabarimala temple in September 2018, Fathima made an attempt to enter the hill shrine, but had to retreat following protests by Hindu activists and devotees. Jegadeeswari Pandian By Express News Service MADURAI: In a shocking revelation, the Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate I told the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court that CCTV footage at the Sathankulam police station has been deliberately erased to hide the happenings at the police station on June 19, the fateful day on which two traders from Sathankulam - Jeyaraj and his son Beniks - were 'brutally assaulted' leading to their death. In a report submitted by him to the court on Monday, the magistrate said, "Pursuant to the court's instructions, on June 28, 2020, I went to the Sathankulam police station and attempted to download the footage of the CCTV cameras with system officers deputed for the purpose. However, I came to know that even though the hard disk of the cameras had enough storage space of 1TB, the settings of the same were programmed in such a manner that the data gets erased automatically. Especially, the footage starting from the date of occurrence was missing." He added that he seized the hard disk as evidence. The judicial officer further stated that a woman constable, who was an eye-witness to the incident, was 'terrified' to reveal the truth. "After much coaxing, she confirmed that the victims were repeatedly thrashed by the cops the whole night and that the blood of the victims can be found in the lathi and table situated in the station," the magistrate stated. He also added that though she said that she would sign the printed copy of her statement, she refused to sign later owing to the threat made by the other policemen but eventually signed after being assured that her protection would be ensured. "Even while recording her statement, the policemen were continuously causing disturbance by making noises which frightened the woman constable even more," he said. The magistrate further spoke about the hostile attitude shown by the police personnel at the station, especially the ADSP D Kumar, DSP C Prathapan and constable Maharajan, which had later prompted the court to initiate suo motu contempt proceedings against them. The magistrate added that Maharajan was giving contradictory answers to the questions posed and that he also refused to hand over the evidence - his lathi stick. Maharajan went on to make a disparaging comment in Tamil, the magistrate added. Another policeman, who was also asked to hand over his lathi, immediately fled the spot, the magistrate said. Due to the continued disturbance, the magistrate had to leave the station, he added. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Brace up, for another round of lockdown is here. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday announced extension of certain restrictions till July 31 across the State. However, the intensified lockdown that is currently being enforced in Chennai, its neighbouring districts, and Madurai will end on Sunday (July 5). From the following day, the lockdown will be implemented as it was till June 19 in Chennai and surroundings, and for Madurai, as it was before June 23. Sundays will see complete lockdown. In a major move, Palaniswami has announced that worship would be allowed in small temples, mosques, and churches in all village panchayats from July 1, except within the Chennai police limits. From July 16, places of worship in Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Madurai may also allow worship. These decisions come on a day when the State reported 3,949 cases and 62 deaths, of which 2,167 cases and 37 deaths were in Chennai. The States tally now stands at 86,224 and toll at 1,141. An increase in deaths among younger patients has sparked concerns. Similarly, a 25 year old man from Chennai with diabetes died a day after being admitted, due to cardiopulmonary arrest, Covid pneumonia, and diabetes mellitus. A 23-year-old Chennai resident, who had no co-morbid conditions, died on June 29 in a private hospital. He had fever, cough, and breathing difficulty for six days. Earlier in the day, the health experts committee held a two-hour meeting with the Chief Minister. We have not recommended extending the lockdown. Its not the best solution, said Prabhdeep Kaur, an ICMR Scientist who is a part of the panel, after the meeting. Initially, lockdown was necessary and now we need to adopt a new strategy to handle the present situation, said WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan who attended the meeting virtually. In the last two weeks, there has been a spike in Tiruchy, Madurai, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai, where the doubling time has come down. The initiatives enforced in Chennai should be replicated in these districts too. The indicators to assess the situation in a district includes case growth, number of deaths, doubling time, test positivity, bed occupancy, reserved beds, number of contacts traced, etc. After this, restrictions should be tightened in the areas where the infection rate is high, said Kaur. The e-pass system will continue to be in force for inter-State and inter-district travel till July 31, clarified the government. In places where complete lockdown is being extended, the e-passes issued till June 30 will be valid till July 5. District Collectors will issue e-passes to contractors who are in need to go to other districts for government works. By PTI CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Tamil Nadu government to consider the sufferings of parents and private educational institutions and formulate a scheme on collection of fees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Justice R Mahadevan posted the matter for passing appropriate orders to July 8. The matter relates to a petition from All India Private Educational Institutions Association challenging a government order dated April 20 restraining all private schools and colleges across the state from demanding fee as fixed by the fee fixation committee by citing the COVID-19 outbreak. The state government earlier submitted that the government order only restrains private schools and colleges from compelling parents to pay fees and parents are welcome to pay fees if they are willing to. The judge directed the petitioner to submit a detailed representation with respect to equalities and feasibilities after considering the financial constraints of parents as well as the educational institutions. The detailed representations should be based not on the fee fixation committee but based on the sufferings of parents and the institutions. The judge ordered that the representations be sent through mail to the government by Wednesday evening and also send a copy to the Advocate General. The judge further directed the government to consider the representations and take a decision and report it to the court on July 8. When the matter came up, Advocate General Vijay Narayan submitted: "Considering the present situation, we have instructed the institutions not to collect the fees." Parents are welcome to pay the school/college fee of their children, if they are willing to and that the restriction is only against the institutions not to compel the parents to pay, the Advocate General said. Moreover, the state has already sanctioned Rs 248.79 crore to such institutions towards the reimbursement for 25 per cent of seats allotted under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. With this amount they can manage for at least for two to three months, he said. He further submitted that the fee has not been waived for the lockdown period as at some point of time the institutions are going to get back the money. "We have to consider the plight of the parents who are affected by the ongoing crisis also. Many have lost their livelihood," Narayan said. Harish Murali By Express News Service CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court that the government order passed by the state only restrains private schools and colleges from forcibly collecting fees from parents. It does not prevent parents from paying fees voluntarily. The court was hearing a plea moved by private school associations and colleges who have challenged the order prohibiting them from collecting fees. The counsel representing private schools argued that the state government wants institutions to pay the salaries of the teachers without collecting fees from the students. In response, advocate general Vijay Narayan submitted that the state has already disbursed Rs 248.79 crore to private institutions towards reimbursement for 25% seats allotted under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which can be utilised in paying the fees to the teachers for the next few months. "We have to consider the plight of parents who have lost their livelihood due to the pandemic lockdown," he said. Recording the submissions, Justice R Mahadevan directed the Federation of Association of Private School and All India Private Educational Institutions Association members to file a detailed report on the process of collecting fees in instalments for a while without affecting parents and their children. The court also directed the state to consider the report to be submitted by the association and inform the court by July 6. By Express News Service THOOTHUKUDI: After being pulled by Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Thoothukudi SP Arun Balagopalan transferred Additional Superintendent of Police D Kumar and DSP C Prathapan while ordered the suspension of police constable Maharajan. The district administration had appointed a Tahsildar in order to bring the police station under the control of revenue, abiding by the High Court directions. Social Security Scheme Tahsildar Chendur Rajan had been appointed to take control of the Sathankulam police station. "He will provide all necessary documents and records requisite by the magistrate", said a senior revenue official. The decision was taken after the trio made disparaging remarks against the Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate Barathidasan and prevented him from proceeding the inquiry. ALSO READ | You cannot do anything: Cop's disparaging comments to judicial magistrate shocks Sathankulam custody death victims' family Registrar of High Court was told on Monday, that the Sathankulam policemen were taking video of the magisterial proceedings in the very presence of the Kumar and Prathaban. The policemen were not giving records of the station to the magistrate and a constable Maharajan went a step ahead to disparaging remark in Tamil that he could not do anything against him. The Madurai Bench on Monday had also observed that unless the two police officers and other cops are transferred, it will be difficult for free and fair investigation and inquiry. The court moved criminal contempt motion against the police officers under section 15(1) r/w section 2C of the contempt of courts act, 1973 against the three and subsequently directed court registrar (Judicial) to register a suo-motu criminal contempt case in the Sathankulam incident. The court also pulled Thoothukudi SP and Tirunelveli Range DIG and ordered to accompany the Additional Advocate General on Tuesday. As the court had viewed the incidents seriously, SP Arun Balagopalan ordered the transfer of police officers Kumar and Prathaban, who are placed under waiting list, while suspending police constable Maharajan pending inquiry. The development comes after Madurai Bench of Madras High Court slammed the trio of hindering the magisterial probe into the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and Beniks. New police personnel appointed to Sathankulam station Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Arun Balagopalan appointed 27 new police personnel to Sathankulam police station on Monday. Transfer orders for the same with immediate effect were issued on Monday. The action came hours after the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court slammed the Sathankulam policemen for not cooperating with the Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate for the judicial inquiry. Over 17 personnel, including a special sub-inspector, seven head constables, a woman head constable, six police constables and two women police constables, who all worked in various police stations have been transferred to Sathankulam police station. The SP ordered all the respective inspectors to relieve them of duty immediately. In addition, 10 police personnel were transferred to Sathankulam police station from the Armed Reserve (AR). On Sunday, two Sub-Inspectors -- T Manimaran and S Muthumari -- were transferred to Sathankulam police station from Kovilpatti East and Pudukottai police stations, respectively. In an order dated June 27, Tirunelveli DIG transferred F Bernar Xavier to Sathankulam from Vadasery police station of Kanniyakumari district. By Express News Service MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court transferred the investigation into the deaths of father-son duo Jeyaraj and Beniks of Sathankulam to the CB-CID till the CBI takes over the case. The decision was made as an interim measure to preserve the evidence in connection with the incident. A Bench comprising Justices PN Prakash and B Pugalendhi, which was hearing the suo motu petition filed in connection with the incident, said there is a risk of tampering of evidence and that every moment is crucial. After elaborate discussion whether the case could be handed over to the Deputy Inspector General of Tirunelveli range or to the CB-CID, the judges concluded that the case should be transferred to CB-CID and appointed CB-CID Deputy Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar in charge of the case. A detailed order in this regard would be passed soon, they added. 'Prima facie materials to register murder case' During the hearing, the judges referred to the preliminary post-mortem examination report filed in the case and said that serious injuries were noted on the bodies of Jeyaraj and Beniks. "This, along with a statement given by a woman police constable of the Sathankulam station, is prima facie evidence to register a murder case against the police," the judges stated. They also told the government to give protection to the woman constable as the judicial magistrate mentioned that she was terrified while giving her statement. Contempt proceedings Earlier, the judges heard the suo motu criminal contempt petition filed against three policemen -- Thoothukudi Additional Superintendent of Police D Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police C Prathapan and constable Maharajan of Sathankulam police station -- for preventing Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate I from conducting inquiry at Sathankulam police station in connection with the incident. WATCH: The Additional Advocate General (AAG) Chellapandian, appearing on behalf of the state, submitted that the trio acted so owing to immense stress due to the prevailing situation and that they regretted it. He further informed the court that the ADSP Kumar and DSP Prathapan have been placed on waiting list and the constable Maharajan has been transferred. He added that 24 other police personnel of Sathankulam police station were also transferred to various places in view of the apprehensions made by the court in the contempt petition that a fair probe is not possible unless they are transferred. Recording the submissions and also granting opportunity to the three policemen to file their response to the allegations against them, the judges adjourned the contempt petition for four weeks. By Express News Service THOOTHUKUDI: Sathankulam government hospital doctor Dr Vennila, who gave the medical fitness certificate for P Jeyaraj and his son J Beniks when they were brought from the Sathankulam station on June 20, has taken 15 days medical leave starting Tuesday. Dr Vennila, a native of Kanniyakumari, is said to have been acting under police pressure when providing the fitness certificate for the traders who died just two later. Jeyaraj and Beniks were taken to the hospital on June 20 after the Sathankulam police had held them at the station overnight. Eyewitnesses said that the duo were badly beaten and were bleeding profusely when taken to the hospital. ALSO READ | Sathankulam custodial deaths: Suspended cop's name found in attempt to murder FIR According to reliable sources, Dr Vennila treated them at the hospital for over five hours from 7 am to 12 pm. Both father and son presented high blood pressure with systolic reaching 190 for Jeyaraj and 180 for Beniks. The doctor first focused on bringing down the blood pressure. As Jeyaraj was diabetic, she also provided him his regular medication after finding out the name of pills from his family, the source added. However, on the medical fitness certificate, she remarked that the duo had suffered scratches as they had fallen down on the ground -- as had been claimed by the FIR filed against them by Sathankulam police. Deputy director (Medical Services and Family Welfare) Dr P Pon Issaki, who is the joint director in-charge, refused to comment on the issue. He did not comment on whether a department inquiry was initiated against the hospital's doctors. Thinakaran Rajamani By Express News Service TENKASI: Autorickshaw driver Kumaresan, who died due to the alleged custodial torture at the hands of the Veerakeralampudur police, had multiple assault injuries when he was admitted to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TvMCH), a report made by a doctor has revealed. "Kindly call Intensive Medical Care Unit (IMCU) and give your valuable opinion for this patient, a case of 'assault with multiple injuries'/Multi-organ Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS)/Acute Kidney Disease (AKD)/ACF and respiratory failure," reads the investigation report that a doctor wrote to his counterpart in the Nephrology Department of the hospital, which The New Indian Express has now accessed. 25-year-old Kumaresan was admitted to the IMCU on June 12 according to the report. "The doctor's comment clearly says that Kumaresan has been assaulted by someone. The postmortem report may reveal more details," said sources in the health department wishing anonymity. Stating that the victim's family is preparing to file a petition before the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court demanding a CBI inquiry into the case, CPM district secretary KG Baskaran alleged the police had inflicted internal injuries during the custodial torture. ALSO READ | Sathankulam custodial deaths: 'Investigate role of Friends of Police volunteers' This led to Kumaresan's death after he had battled for life for more than six weeks. Kumaresan was allegedly tortured by the police on May 10 and died in TvMCH on June 27. "We noticed many changes in him after he returned home on May 10. He couldn't eat properly and did not talk to us much," said Navaneethakrishnan, father of Kumaresan. He added that his son had started vomiting blood in the beginning of June and rued, "since he was threatened by the police that we would be lodged in jail under the Goondas Act, he did not tell us anything about the custodial torture. He spoke about it only with the doctors of TvMCH who recorded it in the report." "Police might be trying to escape in this case by questioning the interval between the custodial torture and death of Kumaresan. But the truth is that the police had damaged Kumaresan's internal organs like his kidneys and lungs in such a way that no outside injuries were visible. Also, before he was admitted to the TvMCH for 16 days, he took treatment in three other hospitals in Tenkasi district. He hid the fact from his family members only because he was threatened with the Goondas Act," Baskaran added. When contacted by The New Indian Express, Suguna Singh, Superintendent of Police, Tenkasi said the inquiry officer will investigate the case from all angles. "It would not suitable for me to comment on this issue as there is already an inquiry going on. The two cops who were accused of custodial torture have been transferred to the Armed Reserve, Palayamkottai," he said. Deepak Sathish By Express News Service COIMBATORE: Days after a textile shop owner and his 18 employees in Masakalipalayam tested positive for Covid-19, it has emerged that the shop in Lal Bahadur Nagar near Masakalipalayam was closed twice by the revenue department and city corporation for violating the social distancing norms. The shop owner and the employees tested positive on Sunday. According to a revenue department official, the showroom had been closed just earlier that week, on June 24, citing violation of physical distancing rules. In the meanwhile, a senior staff of the shop with travel history tested positive for Covid-19. Despite this and in defiance of the rules, the shop owner allegedly reopened the showroom the very next day. The shop was again closed by the Coimbatore Corporation officials on June 26, officials said. A senior official of the health department said they had started tracking customers who had visited the shop with the help of CCTV footage and the visitors' record book. The samples of people who were placed under home quarantine are also being tested, said the corporation officials. Incidentally, the shop owner and his employees are the first Covid-19 patients in Coimbatore to be placed at a Covid Care Centre (CCC), at Uppilipalayam, for treatment, as per the protocol to treat asymptomatic patients. By Express News Service CHENNAI: The opposition parties of the state, including the DMK, have demanded that the policemen involved in the Sathankulam custodial death be booked under murder charges. In a statement on Tuesday, DMK president MK Stalin said that the chief minister has failed in managing even a police station and accused him of covering up the issue. ALSO READ: Sathankulam custodial deaths: Suspended cop's name found in attempt to murder FIR He said the chief minister must resign as he has lost the moral ground or at least hand over the home portfolio to some other minister. He said all those involved must be booked under murder charges and arrested. ALSO READ: 80 TN cops with anger issues taken off duty to undergo behavioral therapy post Sathankulam Congress leader KS Alagiri also made a similar demand and said a special investigation team must be set up under the supervision of the Madras high court. AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran welcomed the high court's observations that a prima facie case of murder has been made against the policemen involved in the deaths. He urged the high court to ensure appropriate punishment to the accused policemen. Universities in China recently lit up buildings on their campuses, putting on heart-warming light shows for the class of 2020, the WeChat account of China Youth Daily reported Monday. Beihang University Beihang University in Beijing lit up buildings in its two campuses on the evening of June 28 to express its good wishes to its graduating students. Beihang University The sight of major buildings showing various loving patterns and illuminated words prompted netizens to say they never knew a university that taught science and engineering could be so romantic. Zhuhai College of Jilin University in Zhuhai, south Chinas Guangdong province, lit up dormitory buildings at the campus to bid farewell to graduating students on the evening of June 22. The special parting gift moved many students to tears. Zhuhai College of Jilin University On the evening of June 20, 50 counselors from Northeast Normal University in Changchun, northeast Chinas Jilin province, jointly held a light show at the campus as a graduation gift for senior students. Zhuhai College of Jilin University The university holds a light show for graduating students every year, according to a student there, adding that many students have not been able to return to the school to say goodbye to their alma mater in person, which made the online show even more touching. Most Canada Day events have been cancelled because of COVID-19 but plans for a first-time blood donor clinic in Peachland are going ahead. Shown here is a blood donor clinic in Calgary. By Associated Press The Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population, even as it encourages some of the countrys Han majority to have more children. While individual women have spoken out before about forced birth control, the practice is far more widespread and systematic than previously known, according to an AP investigation based on government statistics, state documents and interviews with 30 ex-detainees, family members and a former detention camp instructor. The campaign over the past four years in the far west region of Xinjiang is leading to what some experts are calling a form of demographic genocide." The state regularly subjects minority women to pregnancy checks, and forces intrauterine devices, sterilization and even abortion on hundreds of thousands, the interviews and data show. Even while the use of IUDs and sterilization has fallen nationwide, it is rising sharply in Xinjiang. The population control measures are backed by mass detention both as a threat and as a punishment for failure to comply. Having too many children is a major reason people are sent to detention camps, the AP found, with the parents of three or more ripped away from their families unless they can pay huge fines. Police raid homes, terrifying parents as they search for hidden children. After Gulnar Omirzakh, a Chinese-born Kazakh, had her third child, the government ordered her to get an IUD inserted. Two years later, in January 2018, four officials in military camouflage came knocking at her door anyway. They gave Omirzakh, the penniless wife of a detained vegetable trader, three days to pay a $2,685 fine for having more than two children. If she didnt, they warned, she would join her husband and a million other ethnic minorities locked up in internment camps often for having too many children. God bequeaths children on you. To prevent people from having children is wrong, said Omirzakh, who tears up even now thinking back to that day. They want to destroy us as a people. The result of the birth control campaign is a climate of terror around having children, as seen in interview after interview. Birth rates in the mostly Uighur regions of Hotan and Kashgar plunged by more than 60% from 2015 to 2018, the latest year available in government statistics. Across the Xinjiang region, birth rates continue to plummet, falling nearly 24% last year alone compared to just 4.2% nationwide, statistics show. ALSO READ: China expressed strong opposition over US' Uighur Human Rights bill The hundreds of millions of dollars the government pours into birth control has transformed Xinjiang from one of Chinas fastest-growing regions to among its slowest in just a few years, according to new research obtained by The Associated Press in advance of publication by China scholar Adrian Zenz. This kind of drop is unprecedented....there's a ruthlessness to it, said Zenz, a leading expert in the policing of China's minority regions. This is part of a wider control campaign to subjugate the Uighurs. U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo denounced the policies in a statement Monday. We call on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately end these horrific practices," he said. China's foreign minister derided the story as fabricated and fake news, saying the government treats all ethnicities equally and protects the legal rights of minorities. Everyone, regardless of whether they're an ethnic minority or Han Chinese, must follow and act in accordance with the law," ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday when asked about the AP story. Chinese officials have said in the past that the new measures are merely meant to be fair, allowing both Han Chinese and ethnic minorities the same number of children. For decades, China had one of the most extensive systems of minority entitlements in the world, with Uighurs and others getting more points on college entrance exams, hiring quotas for government posts and laxer birth control restrictions. Under Chinas now-abandoned one child policy, the authorities had long encouraged, often forced, contraceptives, sterilization and abortion on Han Chinese. But minorities were allowed two children three if they came from the countryside. Under President Xi Jinping, Chinas most authoritarian leader in decades, those benefits are now being rolled back. In 2014, soon after Xi visited Xinjiang, the regions top official said it was time to implement equal family planning policies for all ethnicities and reduce and stabilize birth rates. In the following years, the government declared that instead of just one child, Han Chinese could now have two, and three in Xinjiang's rural areas, just like minorities. But while equal on paper, in practice Han Chinese are largely spared the abortions, sterilizations, IUD insertions and detentions for having too many children that are forced on Xinjiangs other ethnicities, interviews and data show. Some rural Muslims, like Omirzakh, are punished even for having the three children allowed by the law. State-backed scholars have warned for years that large rural religious families were at the root of bombings, knifings and other attacks the Xinjiang government blamed on Islamic terrorists. The growing Muslim population was a breeding ground for poverty and extremism which could "heighten political risk, according to a 2017 paper by the head of the Institute of Sociology at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. Another cited as a key obstacle the religious belief that the fetus is a gift from God. Outside experts say the birth control campaign is part of a state-orchestrated assault on the Uighurs to purge them of their faith and identity and forcibly assimilate them. Theyre subjected to political and religious re-education in camps and forced labor in factories, while their children are indoctrinated in orphanages. Uighurs, who are often but not always Muslim, are also tracked by a vast digital surveillance apparatus. The intention may not be to fully eliminate the Uighur population, but it will sharply diminish their vitality, said Darren Byler, an expert on Uighurs at the University of Colorado. It will make them easier to assimilate into the mainstream Chinese population. Some go a step further. It's genocide, full stop. Its not immediate, shocking, mass-killing on the spot type genocide, but its slow, painful, creeping genocide, said Joanne Smith Finley, who works at Newcastle University in the U.K. These are direct means of genetically reducing the Uighur population. ALSO READ: Leaked data shows China's Uighurs detained due to religion ___ For centuries, the majority was Muslim in the arid, landlocked region China now calls Xinjiang meaning New Frontier in Mandarin. After the Peoples Liberation Army swept through in 1949, Chinas new Communist rulers ordered thousands of soldiers to settle in Xinjiang, pushing the Han population from 6.7% that year to more than 40% by 1980. The move sowed anxiety about Chinese migration that persists to this day. Drastic efforts to restrict birth rates in the 1990s were relaxed after major pushback, with many parents paying bribes or registering children as the offspring of friends or other family members. That all changed with an unprecedented crackdown starting in 2017, throwing hundreds of thousands of people into prisons and camps for alleged signs of religious extremism such as traveling abroad, praying or using foreign social media. Authorities launched what several notices called dragnet-style investigations to root out parents with too many children, even those who gave birth decades ago. Leave no blind spots, said two county and township directives in 2018 and 2019 uncovered by Zenz, who is also an independent contractor with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a bipartisan nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Contain illegal births and lower fertility levels, said a third. Officials and armed police began pounding on doors, looking for kids and pregnant women. Minority residents were ordered to attend weekly flag-raising ceremonies, where officials threatened detention if they didnt register all their children, according to interviews backed by attendance slips and booklets. Notices found by the AP show that local governments set up or expanded systems to reward those who report illegal births. In some areas, women were ordered to take gynecology exams after the ceremonies, they said. In others, officials outfitted special rooms with ultrasound scanners for pregnancy tests. Test all who need to be tested, ordered a township directive from 2018. Detect and deal with those who violate policies early. Abdushukur Umar was among the first to fall victim to the crackdown on children. A jovial Uighur tractor driver-turned-fruit merchant, the proud father considered his seven children a blessing from God. But authorities began pursuing him in 2016. The following year, he was thrown into a camp and later sentenced to seven years in prison one for each child, authorities told relatives. My cousin spent all his time taking care of his family, he never took part in any political movements, Zuhra Sultan, Umars cousin, said from exile in Turkey. How can you get seven years in prison for having too many children? Were living in the 21st century this is unimaginable. Sixteen Uighurs and Kazakhs told the AP they knew people interned or jailed for having too many children. Many received years, even decades in prison. Leaked data obtained and corroborated by the AP showed that of 484 camp detainees listed in Karakax county in Xinjiang, 149 were there for having too many children - the most common reason for holding them. Time in a camp what the government calls education and training for parents with too many children is written policy in at least three counties, notices found by Zenz confirmed. In 2017, the Xinjiang government also tripled the already hefty fines for violating family planning laws for even the poorest residents to at least three times the annual disposable income of the county. While fines also apply to Han Chinese, only minorities are sent to the detention camps if they cannot pay, according to interviews and data. Government reports show the counties collect millions of dollars from the fines each year. In other efforts to change the population balance of Xinjiang, China is dangling land, jobs and economic subsidies to lure Han migrants there. It is also aggressively promoting intermarriage between Han Chinese and Uighurs, with one couple telling the AP they were given money for housing and amenities like a washing machine, refrigerator and TV. ALSO READ: Apple, Sony, BMW using Uighur Muslim detainees as 'forced labour' in China It links back to Chinas long history of dabbling in eugenics.you dont want people who are poorly educated, marginal minorities breeding quickly, said James Leibold, a specialist in Chinese ethnic policy at La Trobe in Melbourne. What you want is your educated Han to increase their birth rate. Sultan describes how the policy looks to Uighurs like her: The Chinese government wants to control the Uighur population and make us fewer and fewer, until we disappear. ___ Once in the detention camps, women are subjected to forced IUDs and what appear to be pregnancy prevention shots, according to former detainees. They are also made to attend lectures on how many children they should have. Seven former detainees told the AP that they were force-fed birth control pills or injected with fluids, often with no explanation. Many felt dizzy, tired or ill, and women stopped getting their periods. After being released and leaving China, some went to get medical check-ups and found they were sterile. Its unclear what former detainees were injected with, but Xinjiang hospital slides obtained by the AP show that pregnancy prevention injections, sometimes with the hormonal medication Depo-Provera, are a common family planning measure. Side effects can include headaches and dizziness. Dina Nurdybay, a Kazakh woman, was detained in a camp which separated married and unmarried women. The married women were given pregnancy tests, Nurdybay recalled, and forced to have IUDs installed if they had children. She was spared because she was unmarried and childless. One day in February 2018, one of her cellmates, a Uighur woman, had to give a speech confessing what guards called her crimes. When a visiting official peered through the iron bars of their cell, she recited her lines in halting Mandarin. I gave birth to too many children, she said. It shows Im uneducated and know little about the law. Do you think its fair that Han people are only allowed to have one child? the official asked, according to Nurdybay. You ethnic minorities are shameless, wild and uncivilized. Nurdybay met at least two others in the camps whom she learned were locked up for having too many children. Later, she was transferred to another facility with an orphanage that housed hundreds of children, including those with parents detained for giving birth too many times. The children counted the days until they could see their parents on rare visits. They told me they wanted to hug their parents, but they were not allowed, she said. They always looked very sad. Another former detainee, Tursunay Ziyawudun, said she was injected until she stopped having her period, and kicked repeatedly in the lower stomach during interrogations. She now cant have children and often doubles over in pain, bleeding from her womb, she said. Ziyawudun and the 40 other women in her class were forced to attend family planning lectures most Wednesdays, where films were screened about impoverished women struggling to feed many children. Married women were rewarded for good behavior with conjugal visits from their husbands, along with showers, towels, and two hours in a bedroom. But there was a catch they had to take birth control pills beforehand. Some women have even reported forced abortions. Ziyawudun said a teacher at her camp told women they would face abortions if found pregnant during gynecology exams. A woman in another class turned out to be pregnant and disappeared from the camp, she said. She added that two of her cousins who were pregnant got rid of their children on their own because they were so afraid. Another woman, Gulbahar Jelilova, confirmed that detainees in her camp were forced to abort their children. She also saw a new mother, still leaking breast milk, who did not know what had happened to her infant. And she met doctors and medical students who were detained for helping Uighurs dodge the system and give birth at home. In December 2017, on a visit from Kazakhstan back to China, Gulzia Mogdin was taken to a hospital after police found WhatsApp on her phone. A urine sample revealed she was two months pregnant with her third child. Officials told Mogdin she needed to get an abortion and threatened to detain her brother if she didn't. During the procedure, medics inserted an electric vacuum into her womb and sucked her fetus out of her body. She was taken home and told to rest, as they planned to take her to a camp. Months later, Mogdin made it back to Kazakhstan, where her husband lives. That baby was going to be the only baby we had together, said Mogdin, who had recently remarried. I cannot sleep. Its terribly unfair. ___ The success of Chinas push to control births among Muslim minorities shows up in the numbers for IUDs and sterilization. In 2014, just over 200,000 IUDs were inserted in Xinjiang. By 2018, that jumped more than 60 percent to nearly 330,000 IUDs. At the same time, IUD use tumbled elsewhere in China, as many women began getting the devices removed. A former teacher drafted to work as an instructor at a detention camp described her experience with IUDs to the AP. She said it started with flag-raising assemblies at her compound in the beginning of 2017, where officials made Uighur residents recite anti-terror lessons. They chanted, If we have too many children, we're religious extremists....That means we have to go to the training centers. Police rounded up over 180 parents with too many children until not a single one was left, she said. At night, she said, she lay in bed, stiff with terror, as officers with guns and tasers hauled her neighbors away. From time to time police pounded on her door and searched her apartment for Qurans, knives, prayer mats and of course children, she said. Your heart would leap out of your chest, she said. Then, that August, officials in the teacher's compound were told to install IUDs on all women of childbearing age. She protested, saying she was nearly 50 with just one child and no plans to have more. Officials threatened to drag her to a police station and strap her to an iron chair for interrogation. She was forced into a bus with four armed officers and taken to a hospital where hundreds of Uighur women lined up in silence, waiting for IUDs to be inserted. Some wept quietly, but nobody dared say a word because of the surveillance cameras hanging overhead. Her IUD was designed to be irremovable without special instruments. The first 15 days, she got headaches and nonstop menstrual bleeding. I couldnt eat properly, I couldnt sleep properly. It gave me huge psychological pressure, she said. Only Uighurs had to wear it. Chinese health statistics also show a sterilization boom in Xinjiang. Budget documents obtained by Zenz show that starting in 2016, the Xinjiang government began pumping tens of millions of dollars into a birth control surgery program and cash incentives for women to get sterilized. While sterilization rates plunged in the rest of the country, they surged seven-fold in Xinjiang from 2016 to 2018, to more than 60,000 procedures. The Uighur-majority city of Hotan budgeted for 14,872 sterilizations in 2019 over 34% of all married women of childbearing age, Zenz found. Even within Xinjiang, policies vary widely, being harsher in the heavily Uighur south than the Han-majority north. In Shihezi, a Han-dominated city where Uighurs make up less than 2% of the population, the government subsidizes baby formula and hospital birth services to encourage more children, state media reported. Zumret Dawut got no such benefits. In 2018, the mother of three was locked in a camp for two months for having an American visa. When she returned home under house arrest, officials forced her to get gynecology exams every month, along with all other Uighur women in her compound. Han women were exempted. They warned that if she didn't take what they called free examinations, she could end up back in the camp. One day, they turned up with a list of at least 200 Uighur women in her compound with more than two children who had to get sterilized, Dawut recalled. My Han Chinese neighbors, they sympathized with us Uighurs, Dawut said. They told me, oh, youre suffering terribly, the government is going way too far! Dawut protested, but police again threatened to send her back to the camp. During the sterilization procedure, Han Chinese doctors injected her with anesthesia and tied her fallopian tubes a permanent operation. When Dawut came to, she felt her womb ache. I was so angry," she said. "I wanted another son. ___ Looking back, Omirzakh considers herself lucky. After that frigid day when officials threatened to lock her up, Omirzakh called relatives around the clock. Hours before the deadline, she scraped together enough money to pay the fine from the sale of her sisters cow and high-interest loans, leaving her deep in debt. For the next year, Omirzakh attended classes with the wives of others detained for having too many children. She and her children lived with two local party officials sent specially to spy on them. When her husband was finally released, they fled for Kazakhstan with just a few bundles of blankets and clothes. The IUD still in Omirzakh's womb has now sunk into her flesh, causing inflammation and piercing back pain, like being stabbed with a knife. For Omirzakh, its a bitter reminder of everything shes lost and the plight of those she left behind. People there are now terrified of giving birth, she said. When I think of the word Xinjiang, I can still feel that fear. By Associated Press MADRID: Spain's foreign minister says that the European Union is putting together a list of 15 countries that are not bloc members and whose nationals will be allowed to visit from Wednesday. The final list will be announced later on Monday or Tuesday morning, Arancha Gonzalez Laya told Spain's Cadena SER radio. She said she wasn't aware of pressure from the United States for the EU to reopen travel to their nationals, adding that countries have been chosen according to their coronavirus statistic, whether similar or not to that in the EU, trends of contagion and how realiable data is. "This is not an exercise to be nice or unfriendly to other countries, this is an exercise of self-responsibility," Gonzalez Laya said. Among the countries being discussed is Morocco, whose government doesn't plan to open borders until July 10. Gonzalez Laya said that the EU is considering to accept travelers from China if Beijing reciprocates accepting travelers from the EU starting on July 1. The minister also confirmed that Spain will fully reopen borders with Portugal, despite a spike in infections in the neighbouring country. By Associated Press The European Continent on Tuesday decided to reopen to visitors from 14 countries but not the U.S., where some of the states that pushed hardest and earliest to reopen their economies are now in retreat because of an alarming surge in confirmed coronavirus infections. The European Unions decision came a day after Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey closed bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks, and officials in Republican and Democratic strongholds alike mandated the wearing of masks. We have to remain vigilant and keep our most vulnerable safe, tweeted European Council President Charles Michel. The EU extended its ban on visitors not just from the U.S. but from China and from countries such as Russia, Brazil and India where infections are running high. Britain dropped out of the EU in January and maintains its own rules, requiring arriving travelers to go into 14-day self-quarantine. President Donald Trump suspended the entry of most Europeans in March. American make up a big share of Europe's tourism industry, and summer is a key period. More than 15 million Americans travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic. The news was a blow to struggling shopkeepers hoping for a summertime boom. Americans were 50% of my clientele, said Paola Pellizzari, who owns a mask and jewelry shop on the Saint-Louis island in the heart of Paris and heads its business association. We cant substitute that clientele with another. The Louvre museum is scheduled to reopen July 6. Americans used to be the largest single group of foreign visitors to the home of the Mona Lisa. When I returned after lockdown, five businesses had closed, Pellizzari said. As days go by, and I listen to the business owners, it gets worse. Sharmaigne Shives, an American who lives in Paris, said she hopes her countrymen can turn things around soon. Paris isnt Paris when there arent people who really appreciate it and marvel at everything, she said. I miss that. Seriously, I feel the emotion welling up. Its so sad here. Across the English Channel, things are also headed in reverse in places. Britain reimposed a lockdown in Leicester, a city of 330,000 people that officials said accounted for 10% of all new coronavirus cases in the nation last week. Stores closed their doors, and schools prepared to send children home. I opened my shop last week for the first time and saw an instant increase in orders, and now I worry this change will go back to no orders, said James West, who runs a design and printing business in Thurmaston, just outside Leicester. The coronavirus has been blamed for over a half-million deaths worldwide, including about 130,000 in the U.S., where the number of confirmed infections has rocketed over the past month to around 40,000 per day, primarily in the South and West. A large share of the cases are among young people who are going out again to bars and restaurants. On Capitol Hill, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious-disease expert, warned: "I would not be surprised if we go up to to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned. He cited scenes of people socializing in crowds, often without masks. States such as Texas, Florida and California are backtracking, closing beaches and bars or rolling back restaurant restrictions in some cases. Our expectation is that our numbers next week will be worse, Ducey said in Arizona, where for seven times in 10 days, the number of new cases per day has surpassed the 3,000 mark. Also Monday, Los Angeles announced it will close beaches and ban fireworks displays over the Fourth of July. And New Jersey's governor said he is postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing masks or complying with other social-distancing rules. In Florida, Walt Disney World forged ahead with plans to reopen on July 11, despite a spike in confirmed cases in the past week. The state on Tuesday reported more than 6,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. More than 8,000 new cases were recorded on each of three days late last week. Florida has seen more than 3,500 deaths. Hospital intensive care units are starting to fill up. Miami's Baptist Hospital had only six of its 82 ICU beds available, state officials said. On Monday, the city of Jacksonville, where President Donald Trump is expected to accept the Republican nomination in August, required the wearing of masks. Florida Republicans said they will adopt safety precaution for the event, including their own special mask design. I think we can do it in a way where you can follow the social guidelines that are in place but still have a successful event, said state Sen. Joe Gruters, Florida GOP chairman. Van Johnson, mayor of the tourism-dependent city of Savannah, Georgia, population 145,000, announced he is requiring the wearing of masks, with violators subject to $500 fines. Savannah becomes one of the first cities in Georgia to take such a step. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has largely prohibited local governments from imposing rules stricter than the state's. By PTI NEW DELHI: French Defence Minister Florence Parly has written a letter to her Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, condoling the death of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley, and offering to visit India to boost bilateral strategic cooperation, French diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. Referring to the death of the soldiers, Parly conveyed to Singh in the letter on Monday her "steadfast and friendly" support along with that of the French armed forces in these "difficult circumstances". "This was a hard blow against the soldiers, their families, and the nation. In these difficult circumstances, I wish to express my steadfast and friendly support, along with that of the French armed forces," the sources quoted her as saying. The French defence minister conveyed her condolences to the entire Indian armed forces as well as to the grieving families, they said. Recalling that India is France's strategic partner in the region, she reiterated her country's deep solidarity with the country and expressed her readiness to visit India to follow up on bilateral talks to deepen defence ties, the sources said. The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks, and the tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. Defence and strategic ties between India and France have been on an upswing in the last few years. India is likely to receive on July 27 the first batch of six Rafale fighter jets from France. The jets are expected to significantly boost the combat capability of the Indian Air Force. India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore The aircraft is capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA's Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets. By ANI HONG KONG: Hours after Beijing passed the controversial national security legislation for Hong Kong, activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, Jeffrey Ngo and Agnes Chow step-down from the pro-democracy group Demosisto on Tuesday morning. They made the announcement on Facebook, around two hours after China's top legislative body passed a law that is set to criminalise secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Press Free reported. Demosisto was founded in 2016 as a political platform and sought to field candidates for legislative elections. However, its candidates were repeatedly barred from standing for election with authorities citing their stance on "self-determination" for the city. Wong said that, under the newly-passed national security legislation, it was no longer "nonsense" for pro-democracy figures to worry about their lives and personal safety. He cited concerns over a 10-year "political imprisonment," as well as being extradited to China, saying "no one could be sure [what would happen] tomorrow." ALSO READ: Hong Kong security law a 'sword' over lawbreakers' heads, says China "I hereby declare withdrawing from Demosisto...If my voice will not be heard soon, I hope that the international community will continue to speak up for Hong Kong and step up concrete efforts to defend our last bit of freedom," Wong wrote on twitter. He said in the face of his "dire destiny," he had to resign from his role as the group's secretary-general and continue advocating for his beliefs individually. "I believe at this moment, there are countless pairs of eyes in the world caring about Hong Kong, and gazing at my personal situation under the national security legislation. I will continue to defend my home - Hong Kong - until they silence, obliterate me from this piece of land," Wong wrote. A similar action was undertaken by other pro-democracy groups as well. Pro-independence group Hong Kong National Front also took to social media to announce that it would disband its local members starting on Tuesday. The group said its overseas divisions in Taipei and the UK would take over the work of the Hong Kong division and continue to promote independence. Studentlocalism - which also advocates for an independent Hong Kong - said it would do the same, and establish overseas divisions in Taiwan, the US and Australia to handle the organisation's ongoing work. While details of the security legislation have not been made public, many in Hong Kong fear it will be used to silence dissent. China says the national security law will target only a small group of troublemakers and people who abide by the legislation have no reason to worry. However, the law has alarmed foreign governments concerned that Beijing is eroding the high degree of autonomy granted to the city when it was returned to Chinese rule in 1997, which underpins its role as a financial centre. By IANS ISLAMABAD: After dubious licenses scandal involving pilots, another scam hit the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with its officials making about 8 million PKR in the sale of tickets for special flights to Europe. Sources told Dawn news on Monday that some officials at the Sialkot PIA office accommodated some 50 old ticket holders for their travel to Italy and Paris on special flights in violation of rules to mint money. As per policy, the PIA has not been accommodating passengers having tickets issued prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, (since mid-March) for any destination. For special flights, the PIA is issuing new tickets which are almost double the price of the fare charged for regular flights issued prior to the pandemic. ALSO READ | Karachi crash aftermath: PIA tries to allay global concerns over pilot licenses after grounding 141 of them "The officials in question accommodated old purchased tickets by charging extra money from their holders (passengers) for their travel to Italy and Paris," a source told Dawn news, adding the officials committed this fraud in collaboration with some travel agents. "Through this fraud the officials also deprived the PIA of a huge sum of money," he said and added that the fraud had been detected and an inquiry launched against those involved. Those availing the special repatriation flights to Pakistan have earlier expressed their concern on inadequate arrangements to acquire tickets, costly fares and non-refundable tickets in case of any mishap. Earlier, the federal government had asked the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to book tickets, instead of PIA, for those repatriated from the US. Meanwhile, the family of one of the 97 victims of the PIA crash on May 22 has urged the Supreme Court to take action against the `mafia' that it claimed has ruined the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the national flag carrier, and demanded early release of the insurance amount as per the carriage act law. "There has been a series of fatal accidents in the past and nothing has changed as we have not learned a lesson from these accidents. We request the Supreme Court chief justice to take action against those who ruined the CAA and the airline industry in the country," Danish Awan, whose mother died in the crash, told Dawn news on Monday. He said financial compensation (insurance) should be provided immediately to the affected families as per the carriage act law. By Associated Press HOUSTON: Health departments around the US that are using contact tracers to contain coronavirus outbreaks are scrambling to bolster their ranks amid a surge of cases and resistance to cooperation from those infected or exposed. With too few trained contact tracers to handle soaring caseloads, one hard-hit Arizona county is relying on National Guard members to pitch in. In Louisiana, people who have tested positive typically wait more than two days to respond to health officials. giving the disease crucial time to spread. Many tracers are finding it hard to break through suspicion and apathy to convince people that compliance is crucial. Contact tracing, tracking people who test positive and anyone they've come in contact with, was challenging even when stay-at-home orders were in place. Tracers say it's exponentially more difficult now that many restaurants, bars and gyms are full, and people are gathering with family and friends. "People are probably letting their guard down a little, they think there is no longer a threat," said Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Health Officer Wendy Hirschenberger, who was alerted by health officials in another part of the state that infected tourists had visited vineyards and bars in her area. Her health department was then able to urge local residents who had visited those businesses to self-quarantine. Hirschenberger was lucky she received that information only made possible because the tourists had cooperated with contact tracers. But that's often not the case. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said Friday that contact tracing simply isn't working in the U.S. Some who test positive don't cooperate because they don't feel sick. Others refuse testing even after being exposed. Some never call back contact tracers. And still others simply object to sharing any information. Another new challenge: More young people are getting infected, and they're less likely to feel sick or believe that they're a danger to others. While older adults were more likely to be diagnosed with the virus early in the pandemic, figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the picture flipped almost as soon as states began reopening. Now, people 18 to 49 years old are most likely to be diagnosed. On Monday, the United States reported 38,800 newly confirmed infections, with the total surpassing 2.5 million, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. For a few days now, daily reported cases in the U.S. have broken the record set in April. That partially reflects increased testing. Some states were caught off guard by the surge and are trying to quickly bolster the number of contact tracers. "Right now we have an insufficient capacity to do the job we need to," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said recently, announcing he wanted to use federal coronavirus relief funds to increase the number of contact tracers to 900. Arkansas already has 200 doing the job, but infections have risen more than 230% and hospitalizations nearly 170% since Memorial Day. Businesses that had closed because of the virus were allowed to reopen in early May, and the state further eased its restrictions this month. In addition to needing more staff to handle rising case numbers, contact-tracing teams also must build trust with people who might be uneasy or scared, said Dr. Umair Shah, executive director for Harris County Public Health in Houston, where an outbreak threatens to overwhelm hospitals. That's difficult to do if infected people don't return calls. In Louisiana, only 59% of those who have tested positive since mid-May have responded to phone calls from contact tracers, according to the latest data from the state health department. Just one-third answered within the crucial first 24 hours after the test results. Tracers there get an answered phone call, on average, more than two days after receiving information about the positive test. Help support your local hometown newspaper/website. Independent local news reporting matters. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription, for as little as $3, so we can continue to provide independent local reporting on our communities. Whippany, NJ (07981) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 91F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 66F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. BRIDGEPORT Police said mourners dove for cover as a teenager fired multiple shots at them from his car Sunday afternoon. No one in the group, gathered at a memorial for a recent murder victim, reported any injuries, police said. Treyvon Rabb, who was free on bond on a litany of charges at the time, including robbery, burglary and larceny, was later arrested by Derby police. The 19-year-old Derby resident was charged with attempted first-degree assault, illegally firing a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment, possession of weapons in a motor vehicle and possession of a pistol without a permit. Police said it was the latest act of violence as rival groups of young men try to flex their muscle in the city. In the past two weeks, two people have been shot to death and a half dozen others wounded. We are doing everything we can to stop this surge in violence, Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez said. Perez said they are working with state police and community activists to try and get the violence under control. On Monday, the police chief said he was meeting with the federally-funded law enforcement initiative Project Longevity. Police said at about noon on Sunday, several people were gathered around the memorial for Eugene Stink Stinson, 18, on Anthony Street in the P.T. Barnum housing project. A dark-colored Chrysler sedan slowly drove by the memorial and the driver leaned out and began firing at the mourners, police said. The car then sped off. Police said ShotSpotter recorded five gunshots. A description of the vehicle was circulated to nearby departments and about an hour later, Derby Police alerted Bridgeport they had located the car. Police said Rabb was the driver and sole occupant in the car when it was stopped in Derby. Inside they found several spent bullet casings as well as a bag of marijuana and a jar containing THC concentrate. No gun was recovered. Police said Rabb admitted he had been in Bridgeport earlier but denied he had been in the area of the memorial. During Rabbs arraignment Monday afternoon, Senior Assistant States Attorney Edward Lee Miller urged Superior Court Judge Alex Hernandez to set a high bond for Rabb, pointing out Rabb was already free on $50,000 bond on the other pending charges. The state is concerned he is a risk to the community, Miller said. If the allegations are correct, he showed an indifference to the suffering of other people, the judge said, ordering Rabb held in lieu of $250,000 bond. Stinson was shot as he drove by the housing project. Wounded, he continued to drive a short distance before crashing on Fairfield Avenue, police said. Two memorials were set up, one where it was believed he was shot and the other where he crashed. The investigation into Stinsons death is ongoing. Free access for current print subscribers As a home delivery subscriber, you get free unlimited digital access to news-daily.com including stories, photos, obituaries, e-edition and more on your computer, tablet or phone. All you need is your print subscription account number and your last name. Don't know your subscription number? Email access@news-daily.com with your delivery address. Activate your account now. Pikeville, KY (41501) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 87F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low near 60F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall possibly over one inch. Reporter Ben Zigterman is a reporter covering business at The News-Gazette. His email is bzigterman@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@bzigterman). Fire Engineer Brian Murphy lines up the ladder as he comes back down from running a test on it Monday at the Savoy Fire Department. Firefighters will take part in a drive-by parade from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, starting at Carrie Busey Elementary. Columnist Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich). Two Easy Ways To Subscribe! The Kodiak Daily Mirror offers full-service, five-day a week subscriptions with home delivery in addition to unlimited access to our online services (including our e-Edition). Online-access-only subscriptions include unlimited access to the Mirror's online services without delivery of the printed newspaper. (Note: New users: You must register and login before purchasing a subscription. Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Submit One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 @MarkMeszoros on Twitter Mark is a lifelong Northeast Ohioan and an Ohio University grad. Along with loving music, movies and television, he is crazy about sports and tech. Reach the author at mmeszoros@news-herald.com or follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkMeszoros. Perry Township still plans to hold its 2020 Summer Concert Series but will encourage spectators to follow state guidelines for preventing the Recipe Chilled Melon Soup Ingredients 4 cups ripe honeydew melon, cubed (or cantaloupe or watermelon) cup mint leaves (plus extra chopped mint for garnish) 4 ounces light rum 2 tablespoons lime juice, freshly squeezed 1 tablespoon honey 1 pinch cayenne pepper cup plain Greek yogurt 1 lime, sliced Instructions Add melon, mint, lime juice, honey and cayenne to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine then process until smooth. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving. To serve, divide soup among 24 shot glasses. Stir a teaspoon of yogurt into each glass. Garnish with mint and lime slices. Courtesy of the Loretta Paganini School of Cooking. Find more recipes on its website, lpscinc.com. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading. To subscribe, click here. Already a subscriber? Click here. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic first emerged in a seafood market in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. Since then, it has spread to 188 countries and territories and infected more than 10 million people. The viral infection has so far killed more than 500,000 people worldwide. Image Credit: zhangjin_net / Shutterstock Many countries grapple with skyrocketing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, with North America, South America, and Europe reporting the highest toll of cases. China has contained the spread of the virus, but recent cases have spiked after lockdown measures were eased, and many businesses were reopened to aid the countrys ailing economy. Many countries have also lifted restrictions and resumed many businesses, letting people go out of their homes to work. But with the fresh cluster of cases, China has imposed a new strict COVID-19 lockdown in Beijing and nearby provinces. The second wave of infections After China brought the coronavirus under control a few months ago, hundreds of new cases were reported in Beijing, spanning across the neighboring Hebei Province over the past weeks. Most of the new cases were tied to the Xinfadi wholesale food market, which provides much of the citys fresh produce, sparking concerns over the safety of food supplies. The first outbreak in Wuhan City was also traced to a food market, which fueled fears over a heightened risk of coronavirus infections in these places. Mass testing Still, mass testing, intensive contact tracing, and isolation of infected individuals are effective measures to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Since the first case was reported on June 11, more than 300 cases emerged, which were linked to the food market. Some cases went as far as Hebei province and northeastern Liaoning, which is over 400 kilometers away. COVID-19 Disinfection squad in Beijing, China. Image Credit: Openfinal / Shutterstock The capital city of China has tested millions of people, including restaurant workers, market workers, residents of medium and high-risk neighborhoods, and even courier delivery persons over the past two weeks. So far, the local health officials reported that nearly 8.3 million samples had been collected, wherein an estimated 7.7 million have already been tested. About 100,000 delivery riders, ranging from those who deliver food and groceries and those who handle online shopping packages, were also ordered to undergo nucleic acid testing for the coronavirus. Health experts announced that the capital city has entered a control period, where new cases will continue to drop and soon fall to zero since it has already experienced two incubation periods. The citys mass testing scale and preventive measures have helped contain the further spread of the virus. Traditional medicine for coronavirus China pushes for the use of traditional medicine amid the coronavirus pandemic. The country is well-known for traditional medicine practices, which can be traced back to thousands of years ago. As scientists and health experts race to develop a vaccine or medicine to combat the novel coronavirus, Beijing has used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a treatment for COVID-19. In a new paper released by the Chinese government, the scientists reported that 92 percent of the countrys coronavirus cases were treated with it. TCM is one of the oldest medical practices in the world, which includes an ancient system of health wellness that focuses not only on treating a disease but also promoting overall wellness. It includes practices such as the use of herbal concoctions, acupuncture, and Tai Chi, among others. Traditional remedies for COVID-19 The China National Health Commission has a special TCM chapter that underscores the role of traditional medicine in previous outbreaks, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. China proposes the use of six traditional medicines as treatments for COVID-19. The country reports that 91.6 percent of patients in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak in China, and 92.4 percent across the country have been treated with TCM. The countrys COVID-19 TCM used include three formulas and three medicines, which were claimed to be effective in treating infection. These include the Jinhua Qinggan granule, which was developed during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the Lianhua Qingwen capsule, a common treatment for flu and colds, the Xuebijing injection, which was developed during the SARS epidemic, the Lung cleansing and detoxifying decoction, which has 21 herbal components to improve fever, cough, and fatigue, the Huashi Baidu formula, a core recipe developed by Chinese herbal experts, and the Xuanfei Baidu granule, which contains 13 potent herbal components. Meanwhile, the United States National Institutes of Health said that while the herbal medicines may help in relieving the symptoms of COVID-19, their overall efficacy is still inconclusive. The number of people who have contracted the novel coronavirus has exceeded 10 million, with more than 504,000 deaths, according to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University. The United States accounts for 25 percent of the total global case toll, topping 2.58 million confirmed cases and a death toll of more than 126,000 people. Brazil trails behind with more than 1.36 million people and at least 58,000 deaths, while Russia and India have recorded more than 640,000 and 548,000 confirmed cases, respectively. Meanwhile, North America, Europe, and Latin America make up for 25 percent of the total number of cases, followed by Asia that accounts for 11 percent of all cases and the Middle East that accounts for 9 percent. The true number of global infections and deaths, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is likely to be significantly higher due to lack of testing. Some people are also asymptomatic, which means they had no symptoms of the illness. Despite this, the global case toll is about two times greater than the number of severe influenza cases that are recorded every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports. The number of deaths, however, is just around like the number of annual influenza deaths. The WHO has provided a timeline of the organizations COVID-19 response activities for general information. SARS-CoV-2 virus particles. Image Credit: Darryl Fonseka / Shutterstock War far from over Many health experts have warned that surges in new infections will emerge as regions and nations start to reopen. The new outbreaks in some parts of the world highlight how hard it is to contain the disease unless a vaccine becomes widely available. The coronavirus pandemic is still actively spreading, with some countries reporting skyrocketing cases and others experiencing a second wave of the outbreak. Health officials estimate that the pandemic can have a recurring pattern of lockdowns and lifting of restrictions in the coming months and into 2021. "In other regions, some countries are continuing to see a rapid increase in cases and deaths. Some countries that have successfully suppressed transmission are now seeing an upswing in cases as they reopen their societies and economies," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said in a statement. He went on to say, "Many countries have implemented unprecedented measures to suppress transmission and save lives and these measures have been successful in slowing the spread of the virus. But they have not completely stopped it. Most people remain susceptible. The virus still has a lot of room to move. We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is: this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress, globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up. We're all in this together, and we're all in this for the long haul." New surges in infections The latest country to report a second wave is China, when Beijing has reported new clusters of infections. The country has reinstated strict lockdown in Hebe province, near Beijing, affecting about 400,000 people. Over the past 24 hours, Beijing has reported 7 new cases of the novel coronavirus infection, taking the total since over the past two weeks to 318. The U.S., for one, has also seen several consecutive days of record increases in coronavirus cases after some states lifting lockdown restrictions to reopening businesses. The country has also reported spiking cases in Texas, Arizona, Florida, and California, where lockdowns were eased. Overall, the country has reported more than 40,000 cases over the weekend. Further, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that ten times more people have COVID-19 antibodies than are being diagnosed, which means that for every reported case, there are about ten additional infections. Texas has announced its move to pause the aggressive reopening and suspend elective surgeries in four counties to prevent overwhelming the capacity of its hospitals. Meanwhile, Australia has reported a new cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections. The country has been dubbed as one of the most successful countries in responding to the pandemic, reporting only more than 7,772 infections and just over one hundred deaths out of a 25-million population. Recently, the Australian state of Victoria has confirmed a total of 71 new cases, the state's highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic. Melbourne has reported nearly 50 daily cases of the disease, the highest number since April. Health authorities are eyeing reinstating some restrictions to contain the spread of the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) urges everyone to still abide by policies to prevent infection, including practicing social distancing, washing the hands regularly, and wearing masks. "Every individual must understand that they are not helpless there are things everyone should do to protect themselves and others. Your health is in your hands. That includes physical distancing, hand hygiene, covering coughs, staying home if you feel sick, wearing masks when appropriate, and only sharing information from reliable sources. You may be in a low-risk category, but the choices you make could be the difference between life and death for someone else," Dr. Ghebreyesus explained. When the paradise tree snake flies from one tall branch to another, its body ripples with waves like green cursive on a blank pad of blue sky. That movement, aerial undulation, happens in each glide made by members of the Chrysopelea family, the only known limbless vertebrates capable of flight. Scientists have known this, but have yet to fully explain it. For more than 20 years, Jake Socha, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, has sought to measure and model the biomechanics of snake flight and answer questions about them, like that of aerial undulation's functional role. For a study published by Nature Physics, Socha assembled an interdisciplinary team to develop the first continuous, anatomically-accurate 3D mathematical model of Chrysopelea paradisi in flight. The team, which included Shane Ross, a professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, and Isaac Yeaton, a recent mechanical engineering doctoral graduate and the paper's lead author, developed the 3D model after measuring more than 100 live snake glides. The model factors in frequencies of undulating waves, their direction, forces acting on the body, and mass distribution. With it, the researchers have run virtual experiments to investigate aerial undulation. In one set of those experiments, to learn why undulation is a part of each glide, they simulated what would happen if it wasn't -- by turning it off. When their virtual flying snake could no longer aerially undulate, its body began to tumble. The test, paired with simulated glides that kept the waves of undulation going, confirmed the team's hypothesis: aerial undulation enhances rotational stability in flying snakes. Questions of flight and movement fill Socha's lab. The group has fit their work on flying snakes between studies of how frogs leap from water and skitter across it, how blood flows through insects, and how ducks land on ponds. In part, it was important to Socha to probe undulation's functional role in snake glides because it would be easy to assume that it didn't really have one. We know that snakes undulate for all kinds of reasons and in all kinds of locomotor contexts. That's their basal program. By program, I mean their neural, muscular program? -- they're receiving specific instructions: fire this muscle now, fire that muscle, fire this muscle. It's ancient." Jake Socha, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech It goes beyond snakes. That pattern of creating undulations is an old one. It's quite possible that a snake gets into the air, then it goes, 'What do I do? I'm a snake. I undulate.'" But Socha believed there was much more to it. Throughout the paradise tree snake's flight, so many things happen at once, it's difficult to untangle them with the naked eye. Socha described a few steps that take place with each glide ?-- steps that read as intentional. First, the snake jumps, usually by curving its body into a "J-loop" and springing up and out. As it launches, the snake reconfigures its shape, its muscles shifting to flatten its body out everywhere but the tail. The body becomes a "morphing wing" that produces lift and drag forces when air flows over it, as it accelerates downward under gravity. Socha has examined these aerodynamic properties in multiple studies. With the flattening comes undulation, as the snake sends waves down its body. At the outset of the study, Socha had a theory for aerial undulation he explained by comparing two types of aircraft: jumbo jets versus fighter jets. Jumbo jets are designed for stability and start to level back out on their own when perturbed, he said, whereas fighters roll out of control. So which would the snake be? "Is it like a big jumbo jet, or is it naturally unstable?" Socha said. "Is this undulation potentially a way of it dealing with stability?" He believed the snake would be more like a fighter jet. To run tests investigating undulation's importance to stability, the team set out to develop a 3D mathematical model that could produce simulated glides. But first, they needed to measure and analyze what real snakes do when gliding. In 2015, the researchers collected motion capture data from 131 live glides made by paradise tree snakes. They turned The Cube, a four-story black-box theater at the Moss Arts Center, into an indoor glide arena and used its 23 high-speed cameras to capture the snakes' motion as they jumped from 27 feet up -- from an oak tree branch atop a scissor lift -- and glided down to an artificial tree below, or onto the surrounding soft foam padding the team set out in sheets to cushion their landings. The cameras put out infrared light, so the snakes were marked with infrared-reflective tape on 11 to 17 points along their bodies, allowing the motion capture system to detect their changing position over time. Finding the number of measurement points has been key to the study; in past experiments, Socha marked the snake at three points, then five, but those numbers didn't provide enough information. The data from fewer video points only provided a coarse understanding, making for choppy and low-fidelity undulation in the resulting models. The team found a sweet spot in 11 to 17 points, which gave high-resolution data. "With this number, we could get a smooth representation of the snake, and an accurate one," said Socha. The researchers went on to build the 3D model by digitizing and reproducing the snake's motion while folding in measurements they had previously collected on mass distribution and aerodynamics. An expert in dynamic modeling, Ross guided Yeaton's work on a continuous model by drawing inspiration from work in spacecraft motion. He had worked with Socha to model flying snakes since 2013, and their previous models treated the snake's body in parts -- first in three parts, as a trunk, a middle, and an end, and then as a bunch of links. "This is the first one that's continuous," said Ross. "It's like a ribbon. It's the most realistic to this point." In virtual experiments, the model showed that aerial undulation not only kept the snake from tipping over during glides, but it increased the horizontal and vertical distances traveled. Ross sees an analogy for the snake's undulation in a frisbee's spin: the reciprocating motion increases rotational stability and results in a better glide. By undulating, he said, the snake is able to balance out the lift and drag forces its flattened body produces, rather than being overwhelmed by them and toppling, and it's able to go further. The experiments also revealed to the team details they hadn't previously been able to visualize. They saw that the snake employed two waves when undulating: a large-amplitude horizontal wave and a newly discovered, smaller-amplitude vertical wave. The waves went side to side and up and down at the same time, and the data showed that the vertical wave went at twice the rate of the horizontal one. "This is really, really freaky," said Socha. These double waves have only been discovered in one other snake, a sidewinder, but its waves go at the same frequency. "What really makes this study powerful is that we were able to dramatically advance both our understanding of glide kinematics and our ability to model the system," said Yeaton. "Snake flight is complicated, and it's often tricky to get the snakes to cooperate. And there are many intricacies to make the computational model accurate. But it's satisfying to put all of the pieces together." "In all these years, I think I've seen close to a thousand glides," said Socha. "It's still amazing to see every time. Seeing it in person, there's something a little different about it. It's shocking still. What exactly is this animal doing? Being able to answer the questions I've had since I was a graduate student, many, many years later, is incredibly satisfying." Socha credits some of the elements that shaped the real and simulated glide experiments to forces out of his control. Chance led him to the indoor glide arena: a few years after the Moss Arts Center opened, Tanner Upthegrove, a media engineer for the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, or ICAT, asked him if he'd ever thought about working in the Cube. "What's the Cube?" he asked. When Upthegrove showed him the space, he was floored. It seemed designed for Socha's experiments. In some ways, it was. "Many projects at ICAT used the advanced technology of the Cube, a studio unlike any other in the world, to reveal that which could normally not be seen," said Ben Knapp, the founding director of ICAT. "Scientists, engineers, artists, and designers join forces here to build, create, and innovate new ways to approach the world's grandest challenges." In one of the center's featured projects, "Body, Full of Time," media and visual artists used the space to motion capture the body movements of dancers for an immersive performance. Trading dancers for snakes, Socha was able to make the most of the Cube's motion capture system. The team could move cameras around, optimizing their position for the snake's path. They took advantage of latticework at the top of the space to position two cameras pointing down, providing an overhead view of the snake, which they'd never been able to do before. Socha and Ross see potential for their 3D model to continue exploring snake flight. The team is planning outdoor experiments to gather motion data from longer glides. And one day, they hope to cross the boundaries of biological reality. Right now, their virtual flying snake always glides down, like the real animal. But what if they could get it to move so that it would actually start to go up? To really fly? That ability could potentially be built into the algorithms of robotic snakes, which have exciting applications in search and rescue and disaster monitoring, Ross said. "Snakes are just so good at moving through complex environments," said Ross. "If you could add this new modality, it would work not only in a natural setting, but in an urban environment." "In some ways, Virginia Tech is a hub for bio-inspired engineering," said Socha. "Studies like this one not only provide insight into how nature works, but lay the groundwork for design inspired by nature. Evolution is the ultimate creative tinkerer, and we're excited to continue to discover nature's solutions to problems like this one, extracting flight from a wiggling cylinder." A study of COVID-19 in the quarantined Italian town of Vo, where most of the population was tested, reveals the importance of asymptomatic cases. The authors of the new research, from the University of Padova and at Imperial College London, published today in Nature, suggest asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people are an important factor in the transmission of COVID-19. They also argue that widespread testing, isolating infected people, and a community lockdown effectively stopped the outbreak in its tracks. The town of Vo, with a population of nearly 3,200 people, experienced Italy's first COVID-19 death on 21 February 2020. The town was put into immediate quarantine for 14 days. During this time, researchers tested most of the population for infection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, both at the start of the lockdown (86 percent tested) and after two weeks (72 percent tested). The testing revealed that at the start of the lockdown, 2.6 percent of the population (73 people) were positive for SARS-CoV-2, while after a couple of weeks only 1.2 percent (29 people) were positive. At both times, around 40 percent of the positive cases showed no symptoms (asymptomatic). The results also show it took on average 9.3 days (range of 8-14 days) for the virus to be cleared from someone's body. None of the children under ten years old in the study tested positive for COVID-19, despite several living with infected family members. This is in contrast to adults living with infected people, who were very likely to test positive. As a result of the mass testing any positive cases, symptomatic or not, were quarantined, slowing the spread of the disease and effectively suppressing it in only a few short weeks. Co-lead researcher Professor Andrea Crisanti, from the Department of Molecular Medicine of the University of Padua and the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial, said: "Our research shows that testing of all citizens, whether or not they have symptoms, provides a way to manage the spread of disease and prevent outbreaks getting out of hand. Despite 'silent' and widespread transmission, the disease can be controlled." The results of the mass testing programme in Vo informed policy in the wider Veneto Region, where all contacts of positive cases were offered testing. "This testing and tracing approach has had a tremendous impact on the course of the epidemic in Veneto compared to other Italian regions, and serves as a model for suppressing transmission and limiting the virus' substantial public health, economic and societal burden," added Professor Crisanti. As well as identifying the proportion of asymptomatic cases, the team also found that asymptomatic people had a similar 'viral load' - the total amount of virus a person has inside them - as symptomatic patients. Viral load also appeared to decrease in people who had no symptoms to begin with but later developed symptoms, suggesting that asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission could contribute significantly to the spread of disease, making testing and isolating even more important in controlling outbreaks. The Vo study demonstrates that the early identification of infection clusters and the timely isolation of symptomatic as well as asymptomatic infections can suppress transmission and curb an epidemic in its early phase. This is particularly relevant today, given the current risk of new infection clusters and of a second wave of transmission. There are still many open questions about the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, such as the role of children and the contribution of asymptomatic carriers to transmission. Finding answers to these questions is crucial to identifying targeted and sustainable control strategies to combat the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Italy and around the world." Dr. Ilaria Dorigatti, Co-lead researcher from the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Jameel Institute (J-IDEA), at Imperial College London Professor Enrico Lavezzo, from the Department of Molecular Medicine at the University of Padua said: "The result concerning asymptomatic carriers is key. We took a picture of the Vo population and found that about half of the population testing positive had no symptoms at the time of testing and some of them developed symptoms in the following days. This tells us that if we find a certain number of symptomatic people testing positive, we expect the same number of asymptomatic carriers that are much more difficult to identify and isolate. "The fact that the viral load is comparable between symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers means even asymptomatic infections have the potential to contribute to transmission, as some of the reconstructed chain of transmission obtained from the detailed contact tracing conducted in Vo confirmed. "On the one hand, it is likely that a symptomatic infection transmits large quantities of virus, for example via coughing, but it is also reasonable to think that symptoms may induce a person with a symptomatic infection to stay at home, limiting the number of contacts and hence the transmission potential. On the other hand, someone with an asymptomatic infection is entirely unconscious of carrying the virus and, according to their lifestyle and occupation, could meet a large number of people without modifying their behavior." This work highlights the efficacy of the containment strategies implemented since the finding of the first positive patient in the town of Vo. From a technical perspective, this work has been possible thanks to the most advanced diagnostic technologies that we had available and to the work of a large number of people with different skills: from nurses to clerks, technicians, biologists and medical doctors. The en mass participation of the Vo' population to this study has given us the opportunity to better understand the transmission of this virus and how to avoid future infections." Co-first author Dr Elisa Franchin, Co-first author from the Department of Molecular Medicine of the University of Padua Ghana's efforts to eliminate malaria could be in jeopardy as its improved economy results in reduced external funding for fighting malaria, a study suggests. With Ghana experiencing a five-fold increase in gross domestic product per capita from US$ 309 to US$1,517 between 2002 and 2016, and thus becoming a lower middle-income country, its dependence on external support for malaria has been diminishing, according to the study. The study explains that between 2005 and 2015, malaria cases and deaths in Ghana decreased by more than 50 per cent and 65 per cent respectively, although the disease still accounts for 30 per cent of outpatient attendances and 23 per cent inpatient admissions. However, the COVID-19 outbreak now means this progress is under threat, and the government must step up to avert a feared rise in cases. In the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, where lockdowns have limited access to health facilities and preventive malaria interventions have been interrupted, there is a risk that the recent progress made by Ghana in the fight against malaria will be reversed." Rima Shretta, lead author of the study and honorary visiting research fellow of Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, United Kingdom The study published this month in the Malaria Journal says that Ghana needs to increase domestic funding for malaria control from the 38 per cent of the total financing of malaria recorded in 2018 as donor support dwindles. "It is imperative that malaria services continue and additional funding is made available to counteract any unintended consequences," Shretta tells SciDev.Net. "The evidence generated by this study can be used to develop a robust and effective resource mobilisation strategy to facilitate advocacy actions to overcome the financial barriers to achieving malaria elimination in Ghana." The study assessed the impact of partially-funded and fully-funded malaria responses in Ghana. Researchers used the country's malaria data including its economic burden in 2018 to make projections for eliminating the disease by 2030. Shretta says that Ghana is currently dependent on external support from the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. However, with an increase in government financing in the past decade because of its lower middle-income status, the amount from the global fund is currently less than 25 per cent of the total sources of financing for malaria. Funding for malaria saw a surge from less than US$25 million in 2006 to US$100 million in 2011 but with this donor support falling, the resulting financial gap will need to be met domestically, Shretta adds "For each dollar invested in malaria elimination, Ghana can expect to see a 32-fold return on the total investment," says Shretta, comparing the outcome in 2018 and 2030. "Reducing investments and a resulting resurgence will lead to economic losses of US$14.1 billion." "The economic gain is substantial and is estimated at US$32 billion in reduced health system expenditure, increased household prosperity and productivity gains from 1.06 billion days of averted employee and caretaker absenteeism and presentism," Shreetta adds. Timothy Awine, a biostatistician at the Navrongo Health Research Centre in Ghana, commends the researchers estimating the burden of malaria and its associated cost in Ghana over the next decade. "The mathematical methods used are very valid and the estimates arrived at were supported by key managers of malaria control in Ghana as co-authors, who understand the business of malaria control better." Awine says. In Germany, there is currently a lack of infrastructure to deal with high-volume biological and biomedical data, such as data found in medical records. Two important types of data are genomic data, which contains information on an individual's genetic code, and phenomic data, which is about an individual's observable traits, arising from interactions between their genes and the environment. Both types of data are already generated on a large scale across Germany, but legal, ethical, and technical issues limit access to and reuse of such data for research purposes. The German Human Genome-Phenome Archive (GHGA), which has just received a funding commitment from the German research foundation DFG, will address the need for access to genomic and phenomic data within an ethical and legal framework. By establishing a German data archive and analytics platform, German scientists will have increased opportunities to participate in key international research networks. Genome research plays a central role in modern health research and is already contributing to better patient care. In cancer research, for example, the analysis of individual tumour genomes can reveal genetic changes in order to treat them with targeted therapies. Genomic analyses are also increasingly used to decipher the genetic causes of rare diseases. By establishing a standardised infrastructure for processing large volumes of data, the research community in Germany will benefit from more streamlined processes and the centralised nature of the data. The archive will provide greater opportunities to foster responsible data sharing throughout Germany and Europe overall. It will also enable us to better train the next generation of scientists in efficient, responsible use of data and management of biological and biomedical data in research." Jan Korbel, Group Leader, European Molecular Biology Laboratory Korbel is also one of the directors of the GHGA. The consortium, led by the DKFZ, brings together expertise from across Germany and Europe, including EMBL. It builds on and extends existing reliable and secure high-performance computing infrastructures to form a network of data hubs that German scientists will be able to access. This national infrastructure will be connected to institutes generating data throughout Germany, and will make the data accessible in a seamless manner. "We are proud that EMBL is part of this consortium," says Oliver Stegle, another director of the GHGA, associated with both the DKFZ and EMBL. "We bring our expertise to the table in handling large genomic datasets from multiple institutions. For decades, EMBL has been a great supporter of data archiving and exchange, and we are very pleased that we now have the opportunity to contribute to a better dissemination of genomic data in Germany." "The GHGA will closely interact with the European Genome-Phenome Archive at EMBL-EBI, and participate as a node within the future EGA federation network. This novel structure will enable a more rapid exchange of human genomic research data from Germany with international communities," says Korbel. The GHGA consortium will work closely with ethical and legal experts to ensure the highest standards of data processing and data security. The archive will boost genome research in Germany, enabling German research expertise to advance wider research efforts across Europe. The NRG Oncology Biospecimen Bank (NRG-BB) will be awarded six more years of funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to provide biospecimen banking support for the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) group NRG Oncology. During the peer-review grant renewal process, the NRG-BB was ranked within the "Exceptional" range with a score of 18. Reviewer comments highlighted the exceptional organizational structure, the strong leadership and execution of biospecimen banking activities, and support provided to NRG clinical trials and translational research activities. The NRG-BB, with locations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, San Francisco, California, Columbus, Ohio, and Houston Texas collects, manages, and distributes high quality and well-annotated biospecimens that are utilized in NRG Oncology phase I, II, and III NCTN and NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) clinical trials. The NRG-BB inventory through August 2019 included 3,276,452 biospecimens collected from 182,749 patients across 404 clinical trials. The biospecimens collected from the banks have been integral in the evolution of cancer care and have led to 82 highly influential and practice-changing scientific publications. The work of the NRG Biospecimen Banks is an important component of both NRG Oncology cancer clinical trials and translational research where biospecimens are utilized to test and validate biomarkers of tumor prognosis and to predict patients' responses to treatments. Our goal is to support NRG Oncology's mission to improve the lives of those affected by cancer." Richard Jordan, DDS, PhD, Contact Principal Investigator for the NRG-BB grant, Professor of Pathology, Oral Pathology, and Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco "We look forward to the advanced and continued efforts of our excellent team that will extend through the next 6-years of this grant cycle." The NRG-BB is projected to continue its growth as NRG Oncology aims to enroll 3,183 patients per year in future trials. The successful, dedicated work of the NRG-BB will continue to secure better quality biospecimens, expand access to biospecimens for translational scientists, and improve research outcomes. The six-year grant cycle starts on September 1, 2020 Classical pianist and organist Cho Jae-hyuck, right, speaks during a press conference at Ode Port in southern Seoul, last Wednesday, for his upcoming piano and organ recital to be held at Lotte Concert Hall on July 13. / Courtesy of Classic & By Park Ji-won Classical pianist and organist Cho Jae-hyuck will hold a recital where he will play both piano and organ. "To me, the piano is a good friend, whereas the organ is a mysterious one because the former can only sound like piano but the latter has sounds like a variety of woodwind and reed instruments," Cho said during a recent news conference in Seoul. He said he was excited for the upcoming recital because he can play both musical instruments for Korean audiences, who have only seen him playing piano before. Cho, who was educated in the U.S. since he was high school and continued an international career as a pianist and organist, will play pieces by Beethoven on piano, and pieces by Bach and "Pahdo," or wave in English, an original piece composed by Kim Texu, with organ at the Lotte Concert Hall on July 13. The recital is to commemorate the release of his recent organ album which was recorded in La Madeleine Catholic church in Paris with a pipe organ dating back to 1845. He said it was a privilege for him to play the organ there. "European musicians, particularly organists and those who are involved in the musical instrument, are exclusive. I mean they are not open-minded and usually don't allow just anybody to play the centuries-old organ there because it could hurt the musical instrument," he said. "So I was surprised when I heard I was allowed to play the organ there." Cho is one of the most active performers in the scene who gives easy commentaries during his concerts and broadcasts. He started practicing the organ at age 16 at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College out of curiosity to know more about the complex instrument. "I love complex machines. When I was little, I disassembled most machines like the refrigerator in my home. I was also curious about how the organ works and fascinated with the complexity of the instrument. The more I understood its mechanism, the more I thought that I could get better at it," Cho said. But he said it was still difficult for him to learn both piano and organ because they are fundamentally different instruments in terms of technique. "I knew how to use my fingers because I practiced piano. But fingering is not the same with organ. The most difficult part was pedaling. At that time I thought it was almost impossible to do so And it was also difficult to hit the keys. But as time goes by I learned how to separate the two as if we learn different languages." Thanks to those efforts, he stressed that playing two instruments became part of his unique career as a performer. He said he introduced "Pahdo" in the album and will play it during the recital to give audiences a rare chance to hear the Korean melody and techniques, which are rooted in Korean wind instruments like daegeum. "The organ and daegeum have a lot in common in terms of using wind to create sound. In some parts, I intentionally played the organ to sound like the Korean instrument which would never be realized with piano. I also tried to express Korean instruments such as taepyeongso, a wind instrument, as well to show the music's characteristics that highlight the variations of wave shapes including calm and stormy sounds." He is poised to present more music in the near future. He will be releasing albums in the second half of this year, playing Chopin's music on one and covering Rachmaninoff's piano concerto played with the Russia National Orchestra on another. Visit ticketlink.co.kr or ticket.interpark.com or call 070-7576-0612 for more details about the recital or to make reservations. Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) has led to the revolutionary development of an artificial liquid retinal prosthesis to counteract the effects of diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration that cause the progressive degeneration of photoreceptors of the retina, resulting in blindness. The study has been published in Nature Nanotechnology: The multidisciplinary team is composed by researchers from the IIT's Center for Synaptic Neuroscience and Technology in Genoa coordinated by Fabio Benfenati and a team from the IIT's Center for Nano Science and Technology in Milan coordinated by Guglielmo Lanzani. It also involves the IRCCS Ospedale Sacrocuore Don Calabria in Negrar (Verona) with the team lead by Grazia Pertile, the IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino in Genoa and the CNR in Bologna. The research has been supported by Fondazione 13 Marzo Onlus, Fondazione Ra.Mo., Rare Partners srl and Fondazione Cariplo. The study represents the state of the art in retinal prosthetics and is an evolution of the planar artificial retinal model developed by the same team in 2017 and based on organic semiconductor materials (Nature Materials 2017, 16: 681-689). The "second generation" artificial retina is biomimetic, offers high spatial resolution and consists of an aqueous component in which photoactive polymeric nanoparticles (whose size is of 350 nanometres, thus about 1/100 of the diameter of a hair) are suspended, going to replace the damaged photoreceptors. The experimental results show that the natural light stimulation of nanoparticles, in fact, causes the activation of retinal neurons spared from degeneration, thus mimicking the functioning of photoreceptors in healthy subjects. Compared to other existing approaches, the new liquid nature of the prosthesis ensures fast and less traumatic surgery that consist of microinjections of nanoparticles directly under the retina, where they remain trapped and replace the degenerated photoreceptors; this method also ensures an increased effectiveness. The data collected show also that the innovative experimental technique represents a valid alternative to the methods used to date to restore the photoreceptive capacity of retinal neurons while preserving their spatial resolution, laying a solid foundation for future clinical trials in humans. Moreover, the development of these photosensitive nanomaterials opens the way to new future applications in neuroscience and medicine. Our experimental results highlight the potential relevance of nanomaterials in the development of second-generation retinal prostheses to treat degenerative retinal blindness, and represents a major step forward." Fabio Benfenati, Researcher, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia "The creation of a liquid artificial retinal implant has great potential to ensure a wide-field vision and high-resolution vision. Enclosing the photoactive polymers in particles that are smaller than the photoreceptors, increases the active surface of interaction with the retinal neurons, allows to easily cover the entire retinal surface and to scale the photoactivation at the level of a single photoreceptor." "In this research we have applied nanotechnology to medicine" concludes Guglielmo Lanzani. "In particular in our labs we have realized polymer nanoparticles that behave like tiny photovoltaic cells, based on carbon and hydrogen, fundamental components of the biochemistry of life. Once injected into the retina, these nanoparticles form small aggregates the size of which is comparable to that of neurons, that effectively behave like photoreceptors." "The surgical procedure for the subretinal injection of photoactive nanoparticles is minimally invasive and potentially replicable over time, unlike planar retinal prostheses" adds Grazia Pertile, Director at Operating Unit of Ophthalmology at IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria. "At the same time maintaining the advantages of polymeric prosthesis, which is naturally sensitive to the light entering the eye and does not require glasses, cameras or external energy sources." The research study is based on preclinical models and further experimentations will be fundamental to make the technique a clinical treatment for diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. Back in 1998 when carmakers in India were launching affordable hatchbacks, Honda Decided to enter India with a seemingly premium product sedan called the City. 22 years down the line, when carmakers are going all about SUVs, Honda has decided to launch the 5th-Gen of the City. However things are quite different this time. The Honda City is one of the India's most trusted brand name and longest running nameplate. Also, Honda has promised the all-new City to be bigger and better. We were supposed to review the all-new Honda City back in March, but then the lockdown happened. Anyways, we have started to review the cars again as the lockdown has been eased, keeping in mind all the safety precautions. Let's see if the New Honda City was worth all this wait. Watch our first drive review here: Design In my personal opinion, the Mid-size Sedan segment is slowly losing its popularity in India among the youth and mostly the office going, chauffeur-driven executives want to own such a car. And this is where Honda City excels. Without going over the top, Honda has maintained a very niche design for the new City. The biggest USP of the new City is the fact that the design changes are subtle yet elevates the overall profile. Upfront is the new trademark Honda design language adding a large thick chrome grille called the Solid Wing Face, giving it the Accord inspired look. 2020 Honda City grille. (Image Credit: Manav Sinha/ News18.com) The highlight though, is the beautifully crafted LED headlamps with 9 LED arrays that make the face look aggressive and yet attractive. The sides now get sharper lines. At the rear are the large wraparound taillights that make the City look posh even from behind. Not just the design, but Honda has tweaked the dimensions too and the New City is both longer and wider than the outgoing model. As per Honda, they have been able to liberate additional space inside the cabin thanks to the exterior dimensions and it's similar to that of previous Honda Civic, which is a huge improvement. 2020 Honda City side profile. (Image Credit: Manav Sinha/ News18.com) Cabin Moving inside the cabin, the first thing you notice the spacious cabin with the sense of airyness thanks to the interesting use of Black, Beige and Grey colour tones. The spaciousness in the cabin is not just a feeling, but you actually get a lot of space, be it for the front seats or the back seats, where I am assuming a lot of people would want to sit. The legroom at the rear is generous to say the least. Even the seats are comfortable with enough cushioning and thigh support to make you feel at home. The boot space is 506-litre and is deep enough for big bags. As for the console design, the Honda engineers and designers deserve a pat on their back. The new Citys central console layout is classy, attractive, functional and most importantly, has impeccable fit and finish. You get a 8-inch system with a neat layout, rotary knobs for Aircon unit and vertically stacked AC vents. Even the instrument panel with 7-inch TFT display is designed to excite the driver inside you. And then theres an exhaustive feature list, few of which are particularly of my liking. 2020 Honda City cabin. (Image Credit: Manav Sinha/ News18.com) We shot the New Honda City in the peak summers of Delhi-NCR, with temperatures outside reaching 45-degrees. One feature that I really appreciate in such conditions apart from all the gimmicks that a connected app has to offer is the remote AC function thanks to the Honda Connect technology. Since putting on the AC means the engine has to start, this function is only available in the Honda City CVT variants. Not just the Honda connect, Honda has also partnered with Amazon to offer Alexa support for its connected technology. But then, you will have to operate all these functions using voice commands, which you have to learn and for me, it is a tedious job. I prefer the simple apps like Honda connect which gets 32 connected features. Honda City also gets a sunroof, rear sun shade, ambient light among others in terms of features. 2020 Honda City back seat. (Image Credit: Manav Sinha/ News18.com) Performance The all-new Honda City gets 2 engine options, a petrol and a diesel motor, both 1.5-litre in capacity. The one we drove was the petrol model with a claimed mileage of 18.4 kmpl in CVT version and 17.8 kmpl in the Manual version. The diesel engine, on the other hand has a claimed 24 kmpl mileage. The power output in the petrol motor is 121 ps and 145 Nm. The diesel engine generates 100 ps and 200 Nm of output. While the petrol engine gets a 6 speed manual and a CVT gearbox, the diesel only gets a manual unit. Now that we are done with numbers, heres what I feel after driving the new City in one word Flabbergasted. 2020 Honda City instrument cluster. (Image Credit: Manav Sinha/ News18.com) Now you see, we journalists have been driving so many SUVs off late, it seems like I forgot the fun of driving sedans. And on the top of that, the new 1.5-litre petrol engine was a delight to drive around the smooth roads of Noida. Honda says they have worked a great deal on the new petrol engine and you feel it rightaway. The engine is smooth, refined and amply powerful. The CVT gearbox complements the smooth engine with very less rubberband effect, something which earlier Hondas are known for. I also drove the manual City and it was equally fun, with a slick gearbox. Me, however, love driving the auto gearbox, using the paddle shifters whenever possible and how good it felt to use the ones in the City. 2020 Honda City CVT gearbox. (Image Credit: Manav Sinha/ News18.com) Not just the engine and gearbox, the overall vehicle dynamics work in your favour to give you a pleasurable driving experience. Right from the chunky steering wheel which is equally good to hold and offers precision handling to the planted ride thanks to the suspension setup. Even the NVH levels, barring the few moments when you are trying to accelerate CVT equipped model too hard, are massively refined. However, if I have to point out a couple of negatives, it has to be the brakes, which could have been better and the very fact that you are driving a sedan reduces a bit of confidence in terms of ground clearance when going over the speed breakers or through bad patch of road. Also the suspension was on a bit of the stiffer side, as I felt a lots of potholes inside the car. 2020 Honda City iVTEC badge for petrol engine. (Image Credit: Manav Sinha/ News18.com) Safety Lastly, the safety tech in the new Honda City is as exhaustive as the features. Honda has clearly raised the bar with the set of safety equipment they are offering in the new model and that too apart from the Honda Connect. Just so you know, the new Honda City is ASEAN 5-star safety rated car thanks to technology like a blind spot detector or 'LaneWatch' which provides the live feed on the infotainment system using a side camera below the ORVM, multi-view rear parking camera, vehicle stability assist, and 6 airbags among others. 2020 Honda City rear 3/4th. (Image Credit: Manav Sinha/ News18.com) Verdict What I like about the all-new 5th-gen Honda City is the fact that it gets the cabin space of Honda Civic, design somewhat inspired from Honda Accord and the successful brand name and pricing of the City, essentially combining the best of the three sedan segments. And then there are added connected features, segment best safety features and a refined powertrain. For me the all-new Honda City is one of those handful of sedans that still holds its value in the world of SUVs and should be a car high on your list if you are looking to buy a classy and comfortable car. Austria will boost financial incentives for buying battery-powered cars and bicycles, and triple grants for charging points from July in its efforts to fight global warming, the economy minister said on Monday. Electric car buyers will get 5,000 euros ($5,640) in support from Wednesday, up from 3,000 euros, Leonore Gewessler told a news conference. The increase is the result of a joint effort with the car industry, which will contribute 2,000 euros to the subsidy, she said. The minister also announced a tripling of support for charging points to 600 euros for home charging stations or intelligent charging cables, and 1,800 euros for charging points in multi-occupancy buildings. Also Watch: Austria currently has around 5,500 charge points and wants to increase that number as quickly as possible, she said. Nearly 33,000 electric vehicles (EVs) were registered in Austria by the end of May, just 0.7% of the total number of cars, according to Statistik Austria. Around two-thirds of the EVs are commercial vehicles. Up to 1,200 euros will also be provided to support the purchase of e-bikes, the minister said. Up to 700 euros will be provided by the state and the rest by the distributor. The European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended the authorisation for Pakistan's national airline to operate in Europe for six months, the airline's spokesman said on Tuesday. The move follows the grounding of 262 Pakistani pilots whose licenses the country's aviation minister termed "dubious". "EASA has temporarily suspended PIA's authorization to operate to the EU member states for a period of 6 months effective July 1, 2020 with the right to appeal against this decision," a Pakistan International Airlines' statement said. It added that PIA would discontinue all its flights to Europe temporarily. This move follows after the revelation of a startling fact by Pakistan's Minister for Civil Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan about the pilots in Pakistan, when he stated that nearly 40 per cent of the active ones did not have a genuine license. The Minister revealed that at least 262 out of the 860 active pilots did not attend the exam themselves. He claimed that Pilots were also appointed on political basis, unfortunately. Merit was ignored while appointing pilots. Also Watch: In response to the same, the Pakistan Aviation Ministry had issued a show-cause notice to 54 pilots out of which 9 pilots have confessed to having fake licenses. (WITH INPUTS FROM REUTERS AND IANS) India's Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) said on Tuesday it is selling its Oman subsidiary to Templar Investments Limited in a deal valued at over $1 billion, to ease the group's debt burden. The sale still needs to be approved by JSPL's shareholders and lenders as well as India's markets regulator, but JSPL said in a statement that it hopes it will be completed within a month. Selling Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel Co LLC (JSIS Oman) is expected to reduce JSPL's overall debt burden by 60 billion-70 billion rupees ($794 million-$927 million), Vidya Rattan Sharma, managing director at Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, told Reuters by phone. "The domestic debt exposure is around 340 billion rupees," Sharma said. "I'm just tired of everything, I don't want to know anything about coronavirus anymore. I've had enough," says 23-year-old Nandini, a college student from Kolkata. For Nandini*, the past three months have been nothing short of a Herculean battle - a battle with her own mind, with those around her urging her to use her time productively and her complete lack of motivation to do anything, even study for her exams which will be held as soon as educational institutes are allowed to reopen. But this uncertainty has left her irritable and drained of energy. And she is not the only one. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the world may very soon be facing a mental health crisis - nothing like we've ever seen before. And "coronavirus fatigue", a very real, very worrisome fallout of the pandemic is manifesting itself in thousands of hapless individuals around the world. Lockdown or coronavirus fatigue is affecting people now when we're somewhat halfway through the pandemic. The feelings of panic and paranoia, which one may have felt in the initial phases of the pandemic, have been replaced by that of constant boredom and lethargy, with your morale being affected. The questions on our minds are no longer "What does the lockdown mean for us?" it's "When will this end, if ever?" A study published in 2011 studied the impacts of uncertainty on those who survive a disaster. The researchers there explained how fatigue is often one of the most common symptoms of depression and mental health disorders. Feeling more drained than usual? Popular to contrary belief, fatigue can be mental or physical. And during the pandemic, it's a bit of both. People are over exhausted from an increase in workload, both in their places of work and at home. Moreover, there is the constant anxiety about the pandemic in the back of our minds. In India, the lockdown has lasted for over three months. When the pandemic first began, everyone would tune in to the news for daily updates on Covid-19. They would stay hooked to social media platforms so as to not miss out any important updates. With time, a feeling of monotony set in. Covid-19 in India has not yet reached its peak, but people's interests have. Recently, a photo went viral which showed how a Facebook page had altered its name from "Covid emergency updates" to "Fashion House", announcing that they would now be promoting local boutiques. Funny as this may sound, it is proof that Indians are tired, and the fatigue is beginning to show. "I quickly scroll past any news update about coronavirus. I'd been following the numbers very closely in the first few days. But for how long? It's been three months, and that's all we ever seem to talk about. At one point, my feed was full of just Covid posts. All my cute pup videos had disappeared I was on the verge of quitting social media," says Neelam Verma, a homemaker from New Delhi. The impact of social media in deepening the mental health crisis cannot be ignored here. In fact, Bollywood actor Sonakshi Sinha too decided that she could no longer take the negativity on Twitter and announced that she was taking a break. A break from social media, however, is a luxury few can afford. News organisations around the world are doing a stellar job covering the ongoing pandemic. But it can be tough to see the silver lining when death, disease and destruction are all you see every time you go on social media. A study showed how negative news can adversely affect one's emotional well-being and cognitive and behavioural responses. An interesting piece by LA Times said that the main reason news organisations tend to focus on negative news is because that triggers people more. Studies of viewers' interests have shown that they are more likely to pay attention to negative news than positive ones, which further shapes how newspapers and digital media companies organise their programmes and reports. But that comes with a price. "First there was coronavirus. Then Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely demise and all the hate spewed on social media over his suicide. Then we have India and China at loggerheads with each other. How much more are we supposed to take in?" asks Kusum*, a student based in Kolkata. Kusum is right. 2020 does seem to be one disaster after another. But while Kusum says that she has tried to steer clear of news updates and social media in the last few weeks, some may not have the option of doing so. Ananya*, a young journalist based in New Delhi, joined a news organisation after graduating in 2018. A fresher, she was in awe of the newsroom and was eager to hit the streets and start reporting. When the first cases of coronavirus were reported in Delhi, Ananya was covering the Delhi riots which ravaged through the capital earlier this year. She was at a relief camp for survivors when her editor asked her to head to the hospital nearby where some Covid-19 patients had been admitted. As she headed to the hospital to speak to doctors and those managing the Covid ward, Ananya suddenly found herself weary. "I had covered the protests at JNU from the ground. I had seen first-hand the trials and tribulations of the students there. Soon after, I spent days roaming the streets of North East Delhi to cover the riots. As soon as that was done, we had coronavirus. Suddenly, it was not about a story anymore. I live with my parents who are aged. I was worried about bringing the virus back home, but could not give up reporting either. At one point, I wished I could just quit and move to the hills. I just needed a few days of quietude and peace," she said. Is WFH adding to the stress? Kalpana Ravi is a media personality who has been in the industry for over twenty years. A single mother who lives with her 26-year-old son, Ravi runs a news organisation, MediaNews4U. Ravi along with her small team have been working from home since the lockdown. "When the lockdown started, it felt like a breeze. Like a holiday. And then reality set in. As a journalist, I have to constantly come up with new ideas for stories, pitch them and get it done. Very soon, I was working around the clock. WFH is no longer fun because we simply cannot respect other people's time," she said. She added that WFH as a woman is a "double-edged sword" because she has to take care of household chores and meet deadlines at the same time. "I wish I could switch everything off and just shut my eyes. There are so many days when I don't feel like logging in," she added. To make things easier for herself and her team, Ravi has decided to make it a five-day working week for the whole organisation. Is this what burnout looks like? According to Ruchita Chadrashekar, a trauma therapist, what many are facing right now sounds a lot like burnout. "Excessive and prolonged exposure to stress causes physical and emotional exhaustion. News, employment insecurity, fearing for one's health and the health of their loved ones, cabin fever from being confined at home, being in abusive households. Multiple environments are increasing stressors that are increasing vulnerability to exhaustion," she said. She added that WFH is probably adding to the stress and anxiety already dominating the situation. According to research, stress is how the human body responds to threat or demand. Whenever encountered with such stimuli, the body's defences kick in which is usually called the stress response. With almost everyone working from home these days, the boundaries between one's professional and personal spaces are blurred. Chandrashekhar said, "WFH for a prolonged period can add to stress if the boundaries with work continue to remain as blurry; especially with the state of the economy changing, employment insecurity, pay cuts and the increasing need to keep proving oneself so employment can be retained. Also, the lack of support from companies makes all this much worse." Riddhima*, who works in a multinational company, couldn't agree more. "My bosses don't respect my personal space at all. Just because I am working from home does not mean I am available 24*7. When we began, I had no idea this is how it would be. Now it is just tiresome. It is becoming claustrophobic. No matter what I do to try and distract myself, it becomes monotonous after a few days," she said. "Unable to focus on anything, I'm just tired" 26-year-old Ritika*, who works as a guest lecturer in a college in Kolkata, feels that during the pandemic, everything is at stake which makes it impossible for her to focus on anything. "I don't just work for money, but right now it is money that I need. My father's shop has been closed since the lockdown. Our expenses are rising with each passing day, but our income has gone down. How long will this last?" she said. She has also observed a lack of motivation in going about her chores. "I am completely exhausted, my voice has cracked. I wish I could pause for a moment and take a break. But when I do take a break, I am haunted by thoughts of what is going to happen. I haven't slept peacefully in ages. These days I just stay in my room, isolated. I try to stay away from the negativity that is on social media," she added. For Ritika, alienation has been her escape from the threat that the outer world harbours. In fact, Chandrashekhar believes that simply deactivating news alerts could work wonders. "Boundaries from the news are extremely necessary right now. It works because for a fraction of time, it reduces your brains exposure to stress. I recommend deactivating all news alerts and checking one reliable source of news, intentionally, once or twice a day, in order to stay updated," she advised. How long will this go on? What is the solution? That is a question no one seems to know the answer to, not even the World Health Organisation. Several countries around the world, like South Korea, are reporting the second wave of infections. The WHO has said that the pandemic is progressing at an accelerated and "dangerous pace." In India, the peak is still far away and studies show that cases may keep increasing at an alarming rate till October. A study suggests that one of the most important reasons why we're probably feeling more tired than usual is because it is the "fear of the pandemic" wearing us down. According to Chandrashekhar, it is recommended that you take it one day at a time. Planning for a future may not be the wisest thing to do. "Having good social support could help, having community spaces to process and validate the stress can also help. At this point, the best one can do is stay afloat and have reasonable expectations from themselves. If you made it through the day, youve won," she said. Karen Nimmo, a clinical psychologist, wrote in an article for Medium that we need to remember we're all rookies - none of us have lived through a pandemic before. It's a learning process, you pick up things as you go through the waves. There is still a long way to go, but many are finding themselves lacking the energy to see this through. The enthusiastic "we will get over this" assurances have been replaced with uncertain shrugs and denial that the situation may possibly get worse. It's no longer panic about the disease, it's more about what ensues - the illness, the plight of the families, the tales of horror from hospitals, recovery and the stigma associated with it. *Names have been changed to protect identities. Despite growing conversation regarding women's rights, gender equality, and highly publicized government schemes to fix India's skewed sex ratio, India continues to be one of the most unsafe countries for women, right from the moment they are born and sometimes even before that. According to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 2020 State of World Population report, 46 million women went missing from India in the last 50 years. As many as 4.6 lakh are killed pre-natally due to gender-biased sex selection (GBSS). Missing at Birth In the past six years, central as well as state governments have rolled out several flagship schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao in efforts to stabilize the dwindling sex ration. Data collected by the State of World Population (SWOP) Report 2020 by UNFPA, however, shows there are about 142 million "missing girls" across the world due to GBSS including both pre and postnatal sex selection out of which 46 million are from India. The report also found that an average of 4.6 lakh girls (46,000) went missing at birth each year from 2013-17 due to pre-natal gender-based sex selection. Despite laws against GBSS, two out of three missing girls in India are due to pre-natal sex-selective procedures. At 40 percent, India is the second-largest contributor to the global number of 1.2 million girls that go missing at birth due to pre-natal GBSS each year, beaten only by China that contributes 50 percent. India also has a high number of post-natal female mortality which means one in five deaths of females below the age of five is due to gender-biased sex selection. At 13.5 deaths per 1,000 female births, India displayed the highest rate of excess female mortality in the world. The SWOP report also cites the sex ratio at birth for the years 2016-2018 to be a dismal 899 girls for every 1,000 boys, Sample Registration System [SRS] Statistical Report 2018. The sex ratio fell below 900 in nine Indian states including Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Bihar] The number is in contrast with the sex ratio recorded by the 2011 Census of India which was 940 girls per 1000 boys. Child Marriage and Gender-based violence Not just GBSS, girls in India continue to be plagued by other gender-based atrocities such as child marriage, dowry, domestic violence as well as sexual abuse and violence. As per data by the National Health and Family Survey, one out of four girls in India were married before the age of 18 in 2015-16. The report also showed that 26.8 percent of women between the ages of 20-24 were married by age 18. The data on child marriages is particularly disturbing as child marriage is deeply linked to gender-based violence. The NFHS survey, which was conducted among 8,000 women from five states where child marriage is prevalent, as many as 32 percent of girls who were married before the age of 18 were subjected to "physical violence at the hands of their husbands". While the number remained low at 17 percent for women who were married post the age of 18, the data reveals that violence against women remained high even among non-child brides. Analysis of the data revealed by the survey also showed that one out of four girls between the ages of 15 to 19 experienced sexual violence from her husband The data pertains to five states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The data for child marriages varies from state to state. In Bihar and West Bengal, for instance, two out of three girls were married before 18 while one out of three girls became child brides in states like Jharkhand, Andhra Prades and Madhya Pradesh. Preference for Boys One of the primary reasons for the decreasing child sex ratio in India as well as sexist practices like child marriage remains the preference for boys. The shift toward nuclear families and persisting gender inequality also contribute to GBSS. "Son preference and gender-biased sex selection have resulted in over 142 million girls missing globally and 46 million girls missing in India. This reality is grim and unacceptable and needs to change immediately," UNFPA India representative Argentina Matavel says. "Change can only come about by transforming unequal power relations, structures and norms to ensure value for women and girls. We need to move towards a world based on principles of equality, autonomy, and choice," she adds. The report notes that while pre-natal sex-selective procedures are more prevalent in urban societies with higher incomes due to the expensive technologies required to carry out such procedures, But with the advent of technology, pre-natal GBSS may slowly be spreading to lower-income groups. Despite the grim numbers, not all is lost. The UN rpeort cites that "advances in India have contributed to a 50 percent decline in child marriage in South Asia. The education of women is also being seen as an important driver against gender-based ills such as child marriage. An analysis of large scale surveys including the SWOP report as well as NFHS surveys among others suggests that an increase of just one year of education in girls may increase the age of marriage by 0.36 years. The coronavirus pandemic, however, threatens to undo much that has already been done toward improving gender equality and reducing gender stereotypes and prejudices. The UN report calls for a fresh assessment of challenges amid the COVId-19 pandemic that threatens women's reproductive health, agency, and independence in India as well as the child sex ratio. It also calls for continuing work on creating an environment of equality for girls and boys by focusing on providing equal opportunities for both. Doing so can help women gain agency which can further help in changing the perception of male preference in both rural and urban society. London: "White silence is violence." It's a simple but powerful message shouted at Black Lives Matter protests around the world, and it marks a major shift in expectations: it's no longer OK to just not be racist, you have to be vocally anti-racist. If you're not, you're part of the problem. But what about brown silence? Just as people are being told to acknowledge their White privilege, calls are growing louder for South Asian diasporas, particularly Indians, in the UK, US and Canada to check their brown privilege and speak out against anti-Black racism. This tension has arisen in part because some Asian groups are still being held up as "model minorities," celebrated for achieving higher levels of socio-economic success than others, often even the White majority. It's an old tactic that has proven to cause more harm than good, but it's one that is still very much in use. The problem with the practice is that it pits ethnic minority groups, which could otherwise be allies, against each other. It perpetuates stereotypes in and outside the group and, worst of all, it gives governments, companies and institutions of power a mask for their own systemic racism. It completely ignores the fact that one minority group may face very different challenges or levels of racism than another. Many British media reports have pointed to the Indian diaspora's success in the country: British-Indian graduates in England and Wales, on average, earn more than most other ethnic minority groups, even slightly more than the White majority, government data shows. They achieve better results in primary and high school than the White majority, often second only to British-Chinese students. And they are arrested less often than White people. Black people, on the other hand, earn less than most other groups after graduating, achieve among the lowest levels in primary and high school, and are over three times more likely to be arrested than White people. Similar trends have been noted in the US and Canada. There are many ways to digest this kind of data. Some look at it as a clear sign more needs to be done to tackle structural racism and close the gap, but all too often, it is used to congratulate those who have found success, and shame those who haven't. Take UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Cabinet of ministers, for example, which he has touted as the country's most diverse in history. But really, a look at its makeup shows it's simply the most Indian Cabinet, with three ministers of Indian descent. The tension that has created was brought to the fore in parliament earlier this month, when Home Minister Priti Patel, who has Indian origins, dismissed Black opposition MP Florence Eshalomi, who was complaining the ruling Conservative government was not taking structural racism seriously. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, left, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on board a security vessel at the Port of Southampton on December 2, 2019. Patel's response was defensive and aggressive, arguing she too had suffered racism so "will not take lectures" on the issue. It was her way of saying that because she had been the victim of racism, she could not possibly be ignorant of the problems Black British people face. Joan Doe, a Black high school teacher from London, said she found Patel's response frustrating. She also said the Prime Minister's recent appointment of Munira Mirza to lead another diversity review in the country was problematic. Doe says her problem isn't so much that Mirza is of Pakistani origins, more that she is known to argue that structural racism doesn't exist, as she has written in several articles for the right-wing publication Spiked. "They think they can just put a brown face to the problem and it will go away. And it's always a Brown face that's not too dark, not too light, so they can say they are representing ethnic minority groups," Doe told CNN. She said that there was an issue in pooling all ethnic minorities under terms like BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) and POC (People of Color). "We all get banded together, and that just says that because you're not White, you must all have similar experiences and therefore must have similar outcomes, which is just completely untrue," Doe said. UK: 'POC Silence is Violence' It must be pointed out too that in the UK, South Asians' experiences are varied, and just as not all White people have led lives of privilege, neither have all Brown people. Where Indians, on average, do well financially and in education, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis haven't enjoyed the same socio-economic mobilization, on the whole, and many have borne the brunt of a wave of Islamophobia that swept the world following the 9/11 attacks. And even within ethnic groups, there are such diverse stories and different backgrounds that so many people simply don't fit the picture the data paints. But some in these diasporas who have had privileges are starting to recognize them, and young South Asians are beginning to speak up about them. Uncomfortable discussions on issues like the hierarchy of racism are taking place, and just as people are now discussing how national heroes, like Winston Churchill in the UK, held deeply racist views, Indian diasporas are now acknowledging Mahatma Gandhi's anti-Black racism, revealed in some of his writings during his time spent in South Africa. Jaskaran Sahota, a 34-year-old advertising executive and an amateur comedian, has attended Black Lives Matter protests in London. She carries a poster that say "POC silence is violence" and is part of a movement of British South Asians trying to change racist attitudes within their communities, particularly among the generation before them. She points to the way Indians will often attribute their success to simply working hard, and while there may be some truth to that, few stop to consider that other groups may be working hard too and just face other structural barriers. Jaskaran Sahota from London says Indians in the country need to face up to "colorist" attitudes. She laments the way Indians have been able to find social mobility but don't often help elevate other minority groups in the same way. "Unfortunately, brown people got a seat at the table and kicked down the other chairs. What they should have done was dismantle it or bring more chairs. That's what I see when I see Priti Patel. She took the benefits of BAME and none of the responsibility," Sahota said. Many have retained the "colorist" attitudes they or their families had in India, she said, where those with lighter skin typically benefited, while darker-skinned Indians faced more discrimination, a hierarchy validated by the Hindu caste system. In the UK, that has translated to anti-Black racism among some Indians. "South Asians can be inherently colorists. Some don't like people who are darker because that means as people, they are less morally worthy. It's an inherent bias, as if God doesn't like people with darker skin," she said. "The UK didn't teach us that. We need to own that. We're nasty that way, so let's deal with that." US: A Call to Indian-Americans There are similar calls coming from young Indians in the United States. A Tik Tok video by Indian-American Rishi Madnani that was widely shared last month deconstructs the problem with the model minority myth, which still pervades in some corners of the country. In it, Madnani points to the fact that many Indians moved to the United States during a wave of migration between 1965 and 1990 under visa programs that targeted skilled and highly educated people. In contrast, many Black Americans' ancestors were forcibly taken to the country as slaves. "Because of this we were pre-determined to be successful and when we were, the media painted us as model minorities, as good, law-abiding citizens that were the opposite of Black people," he says, adding that many Indian-Americans had been "fooled by the model minority myth." "Yes, South Asians face ignorance, casual racism and hate crimes, but we have never in American history been systematically dehumanized and oppressed in the way that Black people have." What Madnani does is offer some context, as simplified as it may be, as to why there may be differences in Black and Asian experiences in the United States. But there are still comparisons being made between ethnic minority groups in the country with no context at all. Charles Negy, a psychology professor from the University of Central Florida, sent a series of tweets recently dismissing criticisms of US structural racism by comparing Asian Americans and Black Americans. "If Afr. Americans as a group, had the same behavioral profile as Asian Americans (on average, performing the best academically, having the highest income, committing the lowest crime, etc.), would we still be proclaiming 'systematic racism' exists?" he wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted. The university issued a statement condemning his comments "in the strongest terms" and have launched an inquiry into his remarks and other matters. Negy defended his remarks in a New York Times interview, saying he was critical of all ethnic and cultural groups. "There is no way I can be brutally honest about each racial/cultural group without offending someone." Canada: Brown 'Silence has Been Absolutely Deafening' In Canada too, where protests have highlighted disproportionate police violence against Black and Indigenous Canadians, discussions around Brown privilege are starting to take place. The leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, was kicked out of a session in parliament earlier this month after calling another politician racist. Singh made the accusation in the House of Commons after Alain Therrien, from the Bloc Quebecois party, rejected a motion acknowledging the existence of systemic racism in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police force. Bloc Quebecois defended Therrien, saying in a statement that he voted against the motion because another committee was already studying the issue, Canada's public broadcaster CBC reported. And during a panel discussion in Toronto earlier this month on "Brown complicity in White supremacy," Canadians of South Asian origins came together to talk about issues such as brown silence, brown fragility and the continuation of the model minority myth. Herveen Singh, an education administration expert from Canada now working at the Zayed University in Dubai, said: "Essentially, the model minority myth was created to take attention away from the enslavement of Black people and replace it with 'you're just not working hard enough,' not taking into account the hundreds of years of slavery, the eugenics project, that firmly puts White people at the top of the hierarchy and gives them license to dehumanize Black people, who are firmly at the bottom of this racial hierarchy," she said, adding that brown people were usually placed "somewhere in the middle." "When Black communities are under siege, where are we? Where is collective brown solidarity for Black lives? Till now, the silence has been absolutely deafening." It's something that Nodin Nganji, a Burundian student studying international development in Toronto, has also noticed. In a recent tweet, he shared Madnani's Tik Tok video and called on brown people in Canada to join protests and check their privilege. "When it comes to protests that I've been part of here in Toronto, or ones that I saw in the media in Ottawa or Vancouver or Montreal, there were mostly two races -- Black and White. Yes, there were a few Asians, but very, very few," Nganji told CNN. "I see Black people raising posters, I see white people raising posters. I see very few Brown people engaging in these conversations, or protesting, or donating, or speaking out. I don't think many even recognize their privilege. I know we have some Asian people who are our allies, but from my end it's not enough." To draw attention to the continued need for wearing face masks despite the lifting of lockdown, PM Narendra Modi in his speech on Tuesday said that the leader of Bulgaria was fined Rs 13,000 for not wearing one. PM Modi sais that Indians had become more relaxed with following social distancing guidelines and mandatory wearing of face masks as the country entered Unlock. India was doing better than several countries in dealing with coronavirus, the timely lockdown and other restrictions have saved the lives of lakhs of people. But we are witnessing a certain carelessness in individual and social behavior ever since the beginning of the Unlock 1 phase, the PM said. Earlier in June, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov was fined 300 levs ($174) or the equivalent of Rs 13,000 for violating an order to wear a protective face mask during a visit to a church on June 23. On June 22, Health Minister Kiril Ananiev had ordered Bulgarians to resume wearing masks again at all indoor public venues after the Balkan country last week recorded its highest weekly rise in novel coronavirus cases. And the PM's transgression was not taken lightly. Not just Borissov, journalists, photographers and camera people who accompanied him into the church without masks will also be fined, the ministry said. Citing Borissov's example, PM Modi said that wearing masks was essential even as cases continued to rise despite the lifting of lockdown in India. He also said that authorities needed to implement the wearing of masks with similar zeal and dedication as shown in Bulgaria. Recently, authorities in Delhi implemented a Rs 500 spot fine on persons seen outside their homes without wearing a mask. "Nobody is above the rules, whether it is the head of a village or the country in India," the PM added. Apart from reminding Indians to wear masks, Modi also told the nation that the government will extend the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to provide free ration to 80 crore poor till the end of November. "Keeping in mind all the festivals that are coming up in the next few months, this scheme to provide 80 crore people with 5 kg free ration and 1 kg dal per month will now be extended till Diwali and Chhath Puja, or till the end of November," he said. READ: PM Modi Speech Highlights: 80 Crore Poor to Get Free Food Grains Till November-End, Announces PM (With inputs from Reuters) KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, left, and Carlyle Asia Partners advisory team managing director John Kim / Korea Times file Carlyle, KB partnership follows after KKR, Shinhan ties By Park Jae-hyuk World-class private equity firms (PEFs) have begun forming stronger partnerships with banking groups here, showing an optimistic outlook for the domestic financial market's growth potential and stability, according to industry officials, Tuesday. On June 18, the Carlyle Group announced it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with KB Financial Group for a strategic alliance. Through this alliance, they will draw on the respective strengths of their domestic and global networks to collaborate on new investment opportunities both in Korea and overseas. While KB will work with Carlyle on the structuring and financing of the PEF's investments in Korea, Carlyle will use its Carlyle Asia Partners V buyout fund to invest 240 billion won ($200 million) in an exchangeable bond utilizing KB's treasury shares. Among the 240 billion won it received from Carlyle, KB is expected to pay 210 billion won for the acquisition of Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea. "This strategic alliance will enable us to accelerate our global growth through close cooperation with Carlyle in discovering new investment opportunities, both in Korea and abroad," KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo said. "Equally, we believe that the strength of our domestic network will help Carlyle as it seeks to invest more into the Korean market." Carlyle Asia Partners advisory team managing director John Kim said: "KB's leading position in Korea was a key factor in signing the MOU, as was the group's stable growth, strength of management, and deep credibility. "The group has also demonstrated excellent risk management capabilities in the face of the economic downturn resulting from COVID-19. We look forward to starting this close partnership as we seek to build our presence in Korea." This was the first deal Kim had signed since his appointment as the Carlyle Asia Partners advisory team managing director in October 2019. When he moved to Carlyle from Goldman Sachs, the PEF vowed to continue to increase its investment in Korea, saying it saw compelling opportunities, driven by restructuring within the corporate sector, multinationals and chaebol looking to divest non-core businesses, and generational changes. Analysts attributed the recent agreement to the undervaluation of Korean banks. "The exchangeable bond was issued in favor of the issuer, so it means the global PEF values KB," Cape Investment & Securities analyst Kim Do-ha said. "The recent deal showed Korean banks have been severely undervalued." Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung, right, shakes hands with KKR Co-President Joseph Bae at the Shinhan Financial Group headquarters in Seoul, after signing a memorandum of understanding regarding a strategic partnership for global alternative investment on Sept. 21, 2018. / Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group The Indian government has announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps that were listed on the Google Play store and the Apple iOS App Store in India. These include the popular video-sharing social media platform TikTok. The ban comes in the backdrop of India's stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with Chinese troops. The IT Ministry said it has invoked its power under section 69A of the IT Act and rules and has decided to block 59 apps in view of the information available that they are "engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order". ALSO READ: Government's Ban on Chinese App TikTok Has Begun a Hilarious Meme Fest on Twitter The ban on TikTok has particularly come as a blow to the young Indians, who have been flooding various social media platforms with memes and threads to express their contrasting opinions regarding TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based internet technology company that was founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming. While many have come out to convey their likes for the move, others have disregarded the same. However, this is not the first time that a ban has been initiated towards the Chinese app. The app has been earlier prohibited in many public places including Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. There have been instances when shooting videos for the app had also caused danger pushing authorities to warn youth against the usage of the platform. The most commonly cited controversy to restrict the app was it's 'content', that has been argued to have an ill effect on young minds. ALSO READ: TikTok Among 59 Chinese Apps Banned. What is in Store for Your Existing Accounts? How many times has TikTok earned a dislike from people? In April, the Madras High Court had sent a directive to the Supreme Court to ban the download of TikTok in India suggesting the app was "encouraging pornography". The IT minister of Tamil Nadu described some of its more suggestive dance content as "unbearable", while a right-wing group close to the BJP has called for the app to be banned. The Madras High Court had also said children, who were using TikTok were vulnerable to exposure to sexual predators. "Inappropriate" content was TikTok's "dangerous aspect", the court said in an order, adding that "there is a possibility of the children contacting strangers directly". Responding to the orders, Indias Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) asked Apple and Google to disable the downloads of the TikTok app from the App Store and the Play Store respectively. Earlier reports suggest that the most important issue at hand for TikTok was its content quality and integrity, with multiple reports questioning the abusive or pornographic elements of a general section of TikTok. Cyberbullying is yet another factor, where comments left by users were seemingly uncouth and to combat this, TikTok had designed a proprietary filter, wherein users could ban specific words from their comments in order to reduce the attempt to enforce vile intentions by fellow users. ALSO READ: Chingari, Desi Alternative to TikTok, Crosses 1 Million Downloads After Chinese Apps Ban In 2019, Delhi's Jama Masjid had banned recording videos for TikTok following a viral video of two girls performing handstands inside the premises. The tourists wearing caps were seen performing difficult handstands repeatedly. The video triggered controversies with people asking whether a religious place is the right location to carry out such activities. Eventually, the Masjid put up a board in front of its entrance that reads, "TikTok is strictly prohibited inside the mosque". Later, the Imam had also added, "Whether it's a mosque, or a temple, or a gurudwara, these places are for worship, not for singing and dancing. I had come across such videos made on this app where people were seen dancing inside the mosque courtyard and then I took the decision." JAMA MASJID EK PICNIC SPOT ALLHA HEFAZT KARE pic.twitter.com/Fc92gZRgmS Abdul Rahim Abbasi (@AbdulRa02818732) April 30, 2019 In another incident in February, the Ministry of Indian Railways took to Twitter to warn commuters against filming TikTok videos at the cost of their lives. A viral TikTok video showed a young boy falling off a running train's door and almost coming under the wheels, while allegedly trying to perform a 'stunt'. Detesting the incident, the ministry said, "Getting off and climbing a moving train is fatal. Watch him lose his life in the course of a stunt, but every time luck will not be with him." In May, controversy brewed around creator Faizal Siddiqui's month-old video. The video received a lot of criticism for glorifying acid attack, compelling acid attack survivor Laxmi Aggarwal lashing out at Faizal. She also thanked the National Commission for Women for cognizance of the video. The entire incident had made Twitter trend with #BanonTikTok. Although TikTok was estimated to have around 120 million monthly Indian users as of June 2019, according to Global Web Index, the app has long been under the scanner for its content besides the recently cited security breaches. Shein app, a business-to-consumer (B2C) fashion brand, founded in 2008 and which primarily catered to women and girls, found a mention in the long list of mobile applications that have been banned by the Indian government. The fashion brand app, which was amongst the 59 Chinese apps that are set to go off the Indian market was collectively termed as "engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of state and public order." Subsequently, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has invoked its power under section 69A of the Indian Information Technology Act, 2000, which specifies "Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public". The move comes days after twenty Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in clashes with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation between India and China in over five decades. As Shein came under the scanner, Twitter users bid goodbye to their go-to app with memes. Instagram models and girls after shein banned- pic.twitter.com/3lpFfPLJI0 Mannat (@mannat_deep) June 29, 2020 suggest a good alternative for shein y'all pic.twitter.com/k2NokBSzK3 || || (@hasnuhana_x) June 29, 2020 Insta influenza after Government banned Shein: pic.twitter.com/91zV1Tiw97 Harshit Sharma (@Sharmajikaputtr) June 29, 2020 Sarojini nagar shopkeepers after #shein gets banned : pic.twitter.com/imFFZ5GM24 Kinda Joey (@Sahilarioussss) June 29, 2020 *Government bans SHEIN and 59 Chinese Apps* South Delhi Girls: pic.twitter.com/O7I58Ni51S Sangeet (@sangaldo99) June 29, 2020 girls after shein ban : pic.twitter.com/gfZN00dngp Pulpkey (@pulpkey) June 29, 2020 Shein got banned. I have no life now. No fashion. No accessories. No shoes. #shein pic.twitter.com/lcGHjpumU9 Sitara Thomas (@SitaraMThomas) June 29, 2020 Can we have two mins of silence for my #shein wishlist pic.twitter.com/vdT0Ei00cY Venisha Gonsalves (@VenishaGonsalv1) June 29, 2020 *shein gets banned* Instagram influencers rn: pic.twitter.com/6SptyhfB0D Khushveer Singh (@khushveerss) June 29, 2020 can we please have 2 minutes of silence for my shein points? umm (@jussshudyomouth) June 29, 2020 Shein is also one of the 59 Chinese apps that are banned in India. Meanwhile desi fashion blawgarz:#TikTok pic.twitter.com/7pnOoRP1z9 Shivani Pani (@priveledgedyet_) June 29, 2020 Here's a complete list of mobile applications that won't see a day in India: TikTok, Shareit, Kwai, UC Browser, Baidu map, Shein, Clash of Kings, DU battery saver, Helo, Likee, YouCam makeup, Mi Community, CM Browser, Virus Cleaner, APUS Browser, ROMWE, Club Factory, Newsdog, Beauty Plus, WeChat, UC News, QQ Mail, Weibo, Xender, QQ Music, QQ Newsfeed, Bigo Live, SelfieCity, Mail Master, Parallel Space, Mi Video Call Xiaomi, WeSync, ES File Explorer, Viva Video QU Video Inc, Meitu, Vigo Video, New Video Status, DU Recorder, Vault-Hide, Cache Cleaner DU App studio, DU Cleaner, DU Browser, Hago Play With New Friends, Cam Scanner, Clean Master Cheetah Mobile, Wonder Camera, Photo Wonder, QQ Player, We Meet, Sweet Selfie, Baidu Translate, Vmate, QQ International, QQ Security Center, QQ Launcher, U Video, V fly Status Video, Mobile Legends, DU Privacy. "The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said. The government of India has announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps that were listed on the Google Play Store and the Apple iOS App Store in India. The list includes the popular short video service TikTok, browser and content app UC Browser, file sharing service Shareit, shopping app Shein, popular mobile game Clash of Kings, and more. These apps have been deemed to be a threat to the sovereignty of India, and the ban comes in light of India and Chinas Galwan Valley clash. The apps have reportedly been penalised based on intelligence information regarding how they share data with their parent companies, all of which are based in India. But how do apps just get banned? What happens to an app that gets banned? Or the app that's already installed on your phone? Will you now have to deactivate your TikTok account? As soon as the ban was announced last night, Indians were bombarded with a ton of questions, mostly because these apps, including TikTok, are the ones with a majority of them use frequently. So, what happens next? There's no reason to fret, we'll break it down for you. What happens to apps on your phone? The 59 Chinese apps have been banned. But what exactly does this ban mean? These banned app are still available on play store and we can access them through regular ISP. Them what do you mean by ban? drsnlungare (@drsnlungare) June 30, 2020 The banned apps, are they working? What does it mean to ban an app? What's going to happen to all the data? Imp's Mom (@ImpsMom) June 30, 2020 A ban must mean you're expected to uninstall the app. It would be illegal to use it or even have it in your phone. Govt can't "switch off" the app centrally for everyone Sanjeev Chawla (@schawla13) June 30, 2020 One question on this Chinese apps ban - does it mean these apps to be not available in the app store or will these apps will not be able to connect to the internet even if one has them downloaded? If it is former, @TikTok_IN and @UCBrowser might just do fine. No? Puneet Kumar (@puneetiitm) June 30, 2020 Basically, all the apps that have been banned would cease to become functional on your phones. Now, the government is in discussion with the Internet Service Providers who will subsequently cease to provide support to the apps. Most of the apps in question, TikTok, Clash of Kings, UC Browser, they all rely on an Internet connection to work. Without Internet, they would simply stop working. Also Read: PUBG Not in List of Banned Chinese Apps So Relieved Indian Gamers Are Mocking 'TikTok Addicts' Will you have to delete the apps on your phone? That is entirely up to you. Previously, if an app had been banned, it would still continue to be functional if it did not rely on the Internet. But now that most apps do, they will not work in India anymore. However, if you move out of the Indian network space and to a country where the app is permitted, your app would work again. For instance, let's say you have TikTok on your phone. In India, you will not be able to use TikTok. But if you head to the United States, where there is no countrywide ban on the app, you will be able to use it. How to deactivate your account on TikTok? Once the ban was announced, several disheartened Indians desperately Googled how to deactivate their TikTok accounts. Here's how you can do it. On TikTok, deletion is permanent. Once you go through with it, there is no looking back. You can go to the settings option under profile and then confirm that you want to delete the app. Once you do, your account will be erased and you will lose all the videos that you had posted. You will no longer be able to use the same ID and password to log in. In short, if you are ever able to use TikTok again, you will have to start anew. Are these apps still available? A few hours after the ban, people checked to see if the apps were still available on their phones' playstores. And it was. So, does that mean you can still the app? Or does it mean it is illegal to use the app? This seemed to baffle a lot of people: Mere phone main to ab bhi chal raha hai Tik Tok. What does ban mean is it something like it's illegal to use the app? Scott (@sckautt) June 29, 2020 What does ban mean I have asked every minister jo dhol pitt rahe hain isss news ka Still app is visible Should common people stop using it and that is called ban or govt will block pic.twitter.com/BbjRacH2X0 NB (@bohara_navneet) June 29, 2020 What does ban mean? It is available for install on App Store and play store ! https://t.co/78FTB9M7wf Nilesh (@trakshin) June 29, 2020 Video sharing apps such as Helo and TikTok have been removed from the Android Playstore. That means you will not be able to download the app if you previously did not have it. This is what you get when you search for TikTok or Helo on your phone: However, other apps like ShareIt and Shein are still available but these too will be removed soon: On Apple, however, only TikTok has been removed so far. Most other apps are still available. Yet, we aren't sure for how long: Also Read: Shein Banned Among 59 Chinese Apps, Indian Fashion Lovers are Crying in Gucci Dupes The ban on the 59 apps came as a sudden announcement, without any prior warning. Naturally, unsuspecting Indians were caught off-guard. After the Galwan valley clash, many had called for a ban on Chinese products, which included Chinese apps. For days after the clash, #BoycottChineseApps and #BoycottChina remained the top trends on social media. But even those who called for the ban probably did not realise what it would mean when the government actually followed through with it. Also Read: Full list of Chinese apps banned by the government On February 24, 40-year-old Dr MA Anwer was woken from his afternoon nap by urgent calls from his neighbours. Riots had broken and the doctor, who had returned from a trip to his village in Bihar that very day, was needed at the hospital. Dr Anwer remembers that he didn't even have the time to change his clothes before rushing to Al-Hind hospital in New Mustafabad, which saved scores of lives in February when violent sectarian clashes broke out in several Hindu and Muslim majority areas across NE Delhi. Four months since, the doctor, hailed by his neighbours as a good samaritan and an "angel", is being investigated by Delhi Police for instigating the riots. His name has found mention in a riots-related charge sheet recently submitted by the Delhi police. "Being punished for humanity" "All I did was provide medical services to those who needed it. I did not even ask if the patients were Hindu or Muslim. I did what I could by virtue of humanity," Dr Anwer tells News18. The doctor, who founded Al-Hind in 2017, said that the news was both shocking and shameful. As roads across North East Delhi remained shut amid curfew in the week following March 23 with rioters especially targeting ambulances, Dr Anwer and his brother Dr Meraj Ekram who run Al-Hind, provided emergency medical services to nearly 500 patients. From victims with fractured skulls, broken bones, and even bullet wounds, to those who had been attacked with sticks and metal rods, the two doctors along with two nurses and one other medical professional, managed to arrange for medicines and emergency services even amid curfew and had serious patients sent to other hospitals such as GTB. Four months since the riots which killed nearly 51 people, Dr Anwer has been named by Delhi Police in a charge sheet for the murder of Dilbar Negi, a waiter who worked at a nearby restaurant and was killed by a mob during the riots. The doctor has been accused of leading illegal anti-CAA protests and instigating mobs that committed violence during the course of the riots. READ: Bloodiest Haircut Ever' for Two Mustafabad Barbers Who Helped Save Hundreds during Delhi Riots "I have never been part of any protests. I am a doctor and my job is to treat people and save lives, which is exactly what I did," Dr Anwer says. Dr Anwer had testified in front of Justice Muralidhar at a midnight hearing held at the judge's residence on March 25 at the behest of a plea filed by filmmaker Rahul Roy seeking safe passage for ambulances ferrying severely injured victims to the better-equipped GTB hospital. The doctor feels that naming him in the charge sheet may be the result of his efforts in securing safe passage for the ambulances. "The midnight hearing drew attention to the lack of efficiency shown by Delhi Police. I feel they are targeting me for the same," the doctor tells News18. Following the riots, Dr Anwer was called in several times for questioning. Each session lasted for several hours. "I told them I had nothing to do with the protests. I told them I was just a doctor doing my job. Yet they kept calling me," Dr Anwer recalls, adding that he was even called for questioning during Ramzaan and made to wait for hours outside the police station. "I am a medical professional. Sucha a case will not only tarnish my name in the medical community but also damage my reputation among the community of doctors which includes members across religions," Dr Anwer worries. "An angel in disguise" The news of Dr Anwer being named in Delhi Police's charge sheet has left not only the doctor but also locals appalled. Speaking to news18, Mustafabad resident Shahik Khan says that the services provided by Dr Anwer during that fateful week in February helped save many lives. "It was Dr Anwer who managed to get the ambulances moving, it was upon his word the local chemists opened their godowns and provided the hospital with medicines," Khan, who owns a jewellery store in the neighbourhood, says. "He is not just a doctor, he is a 'farishta' - an angel in disguise," Khan says. Wasim, 23, who runs a barber-shop next-door to Al-Hind, recalls the days of the riots as chaotic and scary. Wasim, who had been lending his hand at the hospital to shave the heads of riots victims says that it was Dr Anwer who convinced him to work as maskeshift barbers. "He taught us how to provide basic first-aid to victims and how to shave their heads so that they can be further treated," Wasim says. Wasim said that had it not been for Dr Anwer and Dr Meraj, many lives of victims would have been lost. Back at AL Hind, Dr Anwer continues to treat patients with diligence and regularity, despite bouts of ill health. "I have full confidence in the judiciary and India's justice system," he says before hanging up the phone. A patient with a seasonal cough had just approached his chamber and the doctor decides to move on with his day. Hyderabad: At least two people were killed and four taken ill late on Monday night after benzimidazole gas leaked at Sainor Life Sciences in Visakhapatnam's Parawada Pharma City. According to officials, of the four affected employees, one is said to be serious. They are undergoing treatment at Gajuwaka private hospital. The deceased have been identified as Narendra and Gowri Shankar. An official said that Narendra was the shift incharge when the incident occurred. The situation is under control now. The two persons who died were workers and were present at the leakage site. Gas has not spread anywhere else, Uday Kumar, an inspector with the Parwada Police Station, was quoted as saying by ANI. About 30 workers were in the factory at the time of the incident. District collector and other officials reached spot in the morning and ordered for inquiry. A statement by Andhra Pradesh CM's Office said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has enquired about the accident, and the factory was shut down immediately as a precautionary measure. This is the second incident in the district in two months. A major gas leak occurred in LG Polymers chemical plant on May 7 causing the death of at least 12 people and numerous cattle. One similar gas leak (in a paper mill in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh) and one boiler blast (Neyveli, Tamilnadu) followed. While these events were being investigated, on 22 May, Pune in Maharashtra saw a major fire break out in a chemical factory. Doctors of St George Hospital and JJ Hospital, who received flak for turning down 81 India-made ventilators, issued a clarification saying that the machines donated by NGOs in May were not in keeping with the requirements of critical Covid-19 patients. According to a Mumbai Mirror report, the ventilators that were given to the two hospitals were manufactured by AgVa Healthcare, a Delhi-based firm. Priced at around Rs 2.5 lakh each, the machines are believed to be one of the least expensive in the world. Given that the AgVa ventilator weighs merely 3.5 kg and its power use is relatively low, it was anticipated that less critical coronavirus patients could be shifted to their homes. But St George Hospital and JJ Hospital have submitted negative feedback of the ventilators. St George Hospital has returned the 39 ventilators given to it, and JJ Hospital's officials have also requested that 42 machines be taken back, the report added. In the feedback presented on June 19, the doctors of the two hospitals said that a test run revealed a variation in FiO2 the concentration of oxygen that is taken was more than 10 per cent. Also, one ventilator showed failure within 5 minutes of being plugged in. When these ventilators were tested on ICU patients, FiO2 did not increase to the desired level, it said. The physicians noted that the AgVa ventilators did not reach the 100 per cent-mark and it further showed inconsistency in its readings. The maximum level of displayed FiO2 did not indicate actual level delivered as patients showed signs of desaturation up to 86 per cent, said their report. The doctors added that the moment the patients were shifted to other ventilators, they showed immediate improvement in oxygen saturation. The doctors said that the problems were flagged to AgVa's engineers who were present at the time the ventilators were delivered on May 26. Mumbai City Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh had helped in the delivery arrangements of the ventilators to JJ Hospital. According to Mumbai Mirror, Dr TP Lahane, who leads the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, has asked the Guardian Minister to take back the 42 ventilators given to JJ Hospital or employ them on persons that do not need ICU intervention. AgVa Healthcare did not respond to an email query from the publication on Sunday. The firm had, however, claimed last week the ventilators are fully operational and are fit for all ICU patients, including those suffering from Covid-19. It had further alleged that the doctors of the two hospitals had declined to conduct a test on a patient during the May 26 demonstration and had, asked for an upgraded version of the machines. AgVa had added that it could supply the upgraded ventilators to the hospitals, but said that they must use the ones provided to them till the new stocks come. It was reported on June 23 that 3,000 of the 50,000 'Made in India' ventilators sanctioned under the PM CARES fund to help COVID-19 patients have been manufactured and over 1,300 have been delivered to various states. The flood situation in Assam improved marginally but remained serious with three more deaths on Tuesday taking the toll to 25, even as rains lashed several parts of the country and lightning killed seven in Gujarat. The weather in north India was predominantly sultry, whereas monsoon rains occurred in several areas in the western, central, eastern and northeastern regions, including Gujarat's Saurashtra where seven persons were killed in separate incidents of lightning strike. In the national capital, a partly cloudy sky and light rain in isolated areas kept the mercury in check. However, humidity levels shot up to 91 per cent, causing inconvenience to the residents. The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for Delhi, recorded a maximum of 37.5 degrees Celsius, as against 40.7 on Monday. Most places recorded their maximum temperatures between 36 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius. According to an official bulletin in Assam, flood water receded from two districts -- Udalguri and Kamrup (Metro) -out of a total 25 affected. The flooding has submerged over 1.5 lakh people and claimed 25 lives, of whom three died on Tuesday -- two in Barpeta district and one in Dibrugarh. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority said the flood situation remained serious in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Chirang, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, Hojai, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and West Karbi Anglong districts. According to a forecast by the India Meteorological Department, there will be "fairly widespread to widespread rainfall activity with isolated heavy falls very likely to continue over east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim and northeastern states during next five days" due to a cyclonic circulation that lies over north Chhattisgarh and neighbourhood. In Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi, Ballia and some others areas in the eastern region of the state received rains. State capital Lucknow recorded a maximum temperature of 35.6 degrees Celsius. Agra was the hottest city in the state with a maximum of 37.7 degrees Celsius, followed by Jhansi 37.6 and Etawah 37. The day temperature hovered close to normal in Haryana and Punjab. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, recorded a maximum temperature of 36.3 degrees Celsius. Hisar experienced a hot day recording a high of 40.4 degrees Celsius. Most cities in Rajasthan recorded an increase in maximum temperature by two to three degrees Celsius as compared to Monday. Bikaner recorded a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius, followed by 44.9 in Churu, 43.4 in Sriganganagar and Jaisalmer, 43.1 in Jodhpur, 42.4 in Barmer, 41.9 in Jaipur, 40 in Ajmer, 37.8 in Kota and 37.6 in Dabok. Minimum temperature was recorded between 25.2 and 33.8 degrees Celsius at most places of the state. In Gujarat, seven persons, including two children, were killed in separate incidents of lightning strike in Saurashtra region that witnessed heavy rainfall on Tuesday, police said. A 35-year-old woman and her 12-year-old son were struck by lightning at their farm in Rakka village at Lalpur in Jamnagar district, while two women were killed at Viramdad village in Devbhoomi Dwarka district, an official said. In similar incidents, three persons died in lightning strike at two villages in Botad district, he said. The deceased included a five-year-old boy, his 60-year-old grandfather and a 17-year-old girl, the official said. Heavy rains lashed several parts of Saurashtra, especially Jamnagar, Gir Somnath, Junagadh, Rajkot and Bhavnagar districts. According to the meteorological department, Kalavad in Jamnagar received the maximum rainfall of 73 mm in just two hours on Tuesday afternoon, while Veraval in Gir Somnath district and Dhrol in Jamnagar district received 48 mm rainfall till 4 pm. As many as nine talukas of Gujarat received over 40 mm rainfall between 6 am and 4 pm, it was stated. The AYUSH ministry on Tuesday said yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved will not be able to sell its medicine with claims of curing the coronavirus infection and with labels of Covid-19. Patanjali Ayurved last week launched a drug called Coronil, claiming it had cured within a week all COVID-19 patients who took part in a trial conducted at the privately-run National Institute of Medical Sciences in Jaipur. The claim triggered a row, with the Union AYUSH ministry telling the herbal products firm not to sell the drug till it has examined the issue. Uttarakhand's Ayurveda department said the firm had only applied for a licence to manufacture an immunity booster, and not a cure for COVID-19. It may be ensured that on the package and label displayed on the medicines (Divya Coronil Tablet and Divya Shwashari Vati), no claim for the cure of Covid-19 should be mentioned, said the drug policy section of the AYUSH ministry in an email to the Uttarakhand Licencing Authority, a copy of which is with News18. The advertisement and the publicity of the drugs should be ensured in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies, it added. The Uttarakhand AYUSH Department has given Coronil approval as an immunity booster and has given it the license to make three medicines and has allowed clinical trial under the rules. An Uttarakhand drug licence official said that Patanjali in its reply asserted that it had neither claimed to treat the virus nor had printed any symbolic photograph of the virus on the label of the medicine. However, a team inspected Patanjalis facility and found that the Coronil label carries a symbolic photo of the virus. We have asked Patanjali to remove any graphic or such claim, said YS Rawat, state drug licence official. "We will permit (Patanjali) once it adhere to the procedures. Replying to the Uttarakhand government's notice, the firm claimed that it has not promoted any "kit" to treat COVID-19 but only shared with the media the "successful trial" of a medicine. The company said it has not sold any product called 'Corona Kit' nor has it publicised it as a treatment against coronavirus. But it added, "We have only promoted the successful trial of the medicine before the media." The company said it had only packed medicines named Divya Swasari Vati, Divya Coronil tablet and Divya Anu Tel in a carton for "shipping purposes". It claimed it has not violated any law and the question of action against it does not arise. On Tuesday, Patanjali CEO Acharya Balakrishna said the company had not advertised the medicine. "We never said the medicine (Coronil) can cure or control coronavirus, we said we had made medicines and used them in clinical controlled trial which cured coronavirus patients. There is no confusion in it," news agency ANI quoted him as saying. Delhi police has filed three charge sheets against nine persons for allegedly bludgeoning three people to death in three separate cases during riots in north-east Delhi in February. The charge sheets were filed on Monday before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Kumar Gautam for the alleged murder of Hamza, Aamin and Bhure Ali. Though police said that nine Muslim persons had died in Ganga Vihar/ Bhagirathi Vihar area on February 25 and 26, the charge sheets have been filed in relation to only three deaths as the investigation in the matter is on. "During the investigation, it has been established that a group of Hindus comprising of accused persons - Jatin Sharma, Rishabh Chaudhary, Vivek Panchal, Lokesh Solanki, Pankaj Sharma, Prince, Sumit Chaudhary, Ankit Chaudhary and Himanshu Thakur, along with other identified and unidentified rioters - became active in Ganga Vihar/ Bhagirathi Vihar area since the morning of February 25 to 26 midnight and bludgeoned nine Muslim persons to death and injured several persons in Bhagirathi Vihar and other area," police said in all the three charge sheets. The final reports were filed under various sections including 147, 148 and 149 (related to rioting), 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. The court put up the charge sheets for consideration on July 13. In the first case, on February 26, one Hamza was killed by the rioters while he was coming from Mustafabad to Bhagirathi Vihar about 9.15 PM, police said. He was then thrown in sewage near E Block Bhagirathi Vihar. An FIR was lodged in this regard at Gokalpuri police station, in North East Delhi on March 3, it said. In the second case, one Aamin was killed and thrown into a sewage on February 25 by the rioters near C Block Bhagirathi Vihar. In the third case, one Bhure Ali was killed near C block Bhagirathi Vihar on February 26. Chennai: There is enough evidence of assault on the bodies of Jayaraj and his son Bennix, the Madras High Court said on Tuesday, adding that the prima facie proofs can lead to registration of murder case against police officers. "There is prima facie evidence of having case registered against police officers who assaulted the father-son duo," the court said. The Tamil Nadu government told the court that police officers were hostile with inquiring magistrate "because of immense pressure on them". It is shocking to see how the inquiring judicial magistrate was treated by police officers in Sathankulam police station, the court noted. It asked if the CBI could take up the death inquiry immediately. "Jayaram's family believes justice will be delivered. Not a second should be wasted. Until the CBI takes this up, can the Tirunelveli DIG begin the investigation?" court asked the government, while giving it time till noon to respond. P Jayaraj and his son Bennix, arrested for 'violating' lockdown norms over business hours of their cellphone shop, died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23, with the relatives alleging that they were severely thrashed at the Sathankulam police station by police personnel earlier. The incident had triggered a furore in the state, leading to the suspension of four policemen, including two sub-inspectors. The Madras High Court had taken up the case and ordered a video recording of the post-mortem after the relatives of the two men moved the court. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced Rs 10 lakh each to the family of the deceased and a government job to one person from the family, based on their qualification. Members of Incheon International Airport Corp.'s union hold up signs opposing the state-run firm's plan to directly hire contract security workers, as part of a protest against the move in front of Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. / Yonhap By Kim Bo-eun Questions are arising over the Moon Jae-in administration's labor policies to raise the minimum wage and grant regular worker status to subcontracted workers, at a time when the job market is frozen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These are two of Moon's key labor policy election pledges to raise the minimum hourly wage to 10,000 won ($8.35) and normalize employment for irregular workers. The measures are intended to help reduce Korea's wealth gap and improve employment conditions for people who face job instability. The minimum wage hike was also part of a larger plan to drive income-led growth. Each year, a panel representing the government, labor and management convene to decide on the minimum wage level for the following year. The tripartite panel votes on multiple proposals, and government representatives play a role in reaching a decision. While the rate of increase for the minimum wage for 2020 from the previous year was the lowest at 2.9 percent, the wage has continued to rise. It has spiked since Moon took office, from 6,470 won in 2017 to 7,530 won in 2018, 8,350 won in 2019 and 8,590 won this year. Members representing labor have called for the minimum wage for next year to be raised to as much as 10,770 won, citing the hike is necessary for the government to fulfill Moon's pledge. This is a 25.4 percent hike from 8,590 won this year. Members representing management are calling for the wage to be frozen or cut, as small businesses in particular are facing difficulties amid COVID-19. They proposed a system that applies different levels of minimum wage according to sector, but this was dismissed after labor representatives voted against the plan on Monday. The panel is set to begin discussions on the wage level today. Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki earlier implied that the government would not push for an increase in the minimum wage for next year, considering current circumstances. However, there is criticism that Moon's pledge to raise the minimum wage to 10,000 won was unrealistic to begin with. Possible side effects of raising the minimum wage are businesses reducing hiring, which would not benefit workers. Some experts point out that raising the minimum wage does not benefit the most vulnerable in the labor market, who face layoffs or are looking for a new job. Data from the Korea Economic Research Institute shows the rise in the minimum wage led to a reduction in jobs for low-wage workers. According to the research institute, 30 percent of those who lost minimum-wage jobs had lost their jobs due to the surge in wage level. The unemployment rate surged to 4.5 percent in May, the highest in 10 years, as the coronavirus took a toll on the job market. The number of employees dropped by 392,000 to 26.93 million in May, in the third consecutive monthly decline. Meanwhile, the Incheon International Airport Corp.'s plan to directly hire 1,900 contract security workers has stirred massive controversy, especially among young jobseekers. They contend that it is unfair that the contract workers get to become regular workers at the much-desired state-run corporation. Competition rates to enter the public agency is high, as it promises job stability and decent pay. In some cases, jobseekers prepare for several years to join the firm. A petition on the presidential office's website urging the IIAC to suspend its plan has gathered more than 260,000 supporters in a week since June 23. Polarization still exists between regular and contract workers, despite government efforts over the years. An official at the state-run Korea Labor Institute conceded that the move by Incheon International Airport Corp. to directly hire contract workers may not have been the best way to carry out the government's policy. "The policies have been well-intended, but the latest plan of the IIAC appears to have been devised in a way that escalates social conflict," an official heading the employment policy division said. "In the case of the minimum wage, an excessive hike would not be feasible under current economic circumstances." The Centre on Tuesday declared the entire Nagaland as "disturbed area" for a further period of six months till December-end. In a notification, the Home Ministry said the central government is of the opinion that the area comprising the whole Nagaland is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary. "Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (No. 28 of 1958) the central government hereby declares that whole of the said State to be a 'disturbed area' for a period of six months with effect from 30th June, 2020 for the purpose of that Act," the home ministry said. Nagaland has been under the coverage of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for almost six decades and it was not withdrawn even after a framework agreement was signed on August 3, 2015, by Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak Muivah) General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and government interlocutor RN Ravi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision to maintain the status quo in Nagaland regarding coverage of AFSPA, a law slammed by many civil society groups as "draconian", came amidst reports of deteriorating law and order situation there. The AFSPA gives the armed forces sweeping powers to search and arrest, and to open fire if they deem it necessary for "the maintenance of public order". The Indian Air Force has indigenously modified two Mi-17 helicopters for atomised airborne spraying of pesticide to deal with locust attack, according to a statement issued by the IAF on Tuesday. Using all indigenous components, the atomised airborne spraying of pesticide has been successfully achieved in air through a configuration of nozzles mounted both sides on external trusses of a Mi-17 helicopters, the statement added. The nozzles used for the purpose are a mix of commercially available as well as the ones developed by the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh. The pesticide malathion in appropriate concentration would be filled in the internal auxiliary tank of 800 litres capacity fitted inside the helicopter and pumped into the nozzles by using an electrical pump as well as compressed air, achieving nearly 40 minutes of spaying duration in the infected zone covering an area of approximately 750 hectares in each mission. A team of test pilots and test engineers of aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, Bangalore have successfully carried out ground and airborne trials of Airborne Locust Control System (ALCS) on a modified Mi-17 helicopter. The system is being offered for use with malathion for deployment in the locust control operation. Being an indigenously developed system, ALCS would offer inherent advantages of in-house maintenance, future upgradeability, saving of foreign exchange and help in making the country self-reliant in aviation-related technology. Initially, anticipating locust attack, the Ministry of Agriculture signed a contract with M/s Micron, UK to modify two Mi-17 Helicopters for spraying atomised pesticide to arrest locust breeding in May. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK-based firm would be able to manufacture and supply the modification kit to the IAF only from September onwards for system integration and testing, the statement added. Meanwhile, an unprecedented locust attack started manifesting from May last week and was fast spreading practically across many states. "In view of envisaged delay in provisioning of modification kits by M/s Micron, the Indian Air Force tasked No. 3 Base Repair Depot located at Chandigarh to undertake the challenging task of indigenously designing and developing an airborne Locust Control System (ALCS) for Mi-17 helicopters," the statement added. New Delhi: China on Tuesday said it is "strongly concerned" about the ban on Chinese applications in India and was verifying the situation. We want to stress that Chinese government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international and local laws-regulations. The Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors, including Chinese ones," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, adding that Beijing was concerned about the situation and is verifying it. India had on Monday banned 59 Chinese smartphone applications, including some popular ones like TikTok, Shareit and Cam Scan. The announcement came at a time when tensions between India and China are at an all-time high, after the military skirmishes earlier this month. There have been suspicions that the apps developed and or owned by Chinese companies and developers collect user data from their phones without their permissions and transmit it back to the owners. In an official statement, the IT Ministry said it has received many complaints from various sources, including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India". Union Minister Ramdas Athawale had on June 20 called for a ban on TikTok to impact China economically. He had claimed that 15 crore Indians use the Chinese app and that country makes crores in profit from this. Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Girish Chander Murmu on Tuesday sought to allay apprehensions that outsiders will occupy land under the new domicile law and said it is aimed at bringing economic prosperity to the new union territory. Incidents of violence have gone down in Jammu and Kashmir after the imposition of President's rule, Murmu told PTI in an interview. Had any Gujarati become a "problem" by setting up an industrial unit in Mumbai, he asked while explaining his position on the change in the domicile law. "There can be more than lakhs of crores (of rupees) of investment. Earlier, there was a big barrier, whether we (investors) have to go to J-K or not.... If some Gujarati set up an industrial unit in Mumbai, has any Gujarati become a problem. They (people of Jammu and Kashmir) have been fed (this fear) psychologically," he said. Noting that propaganda by certain quarters has created apprehension in the minds of the people, the Lieutenant Governor said, "Please see our intention. What we are going to do. People should not fall for anybody's propaganda. Our one-point agenda is development and creating (job) opportunity for the youth. Our target is a prosperous Jammu and Kashmir." "Law and order situation has largely improved after the imposition of President's rule. We can say there is largely peace prevailing (in Jammu and Kashmir)," Murmu said. "There have been no untoward incidents reported, in which there is public participation. People have been tolerant. No one has created any law and order situation. All have cooperated. Everything is moving smoothly," he said. The Lieutenant Governor said that as far as terrorism is concerned, it is also under control to a large extent. "The armed forces and police have got major successes in anti-terrorism operations. In some areas, terrorist cadres have been eliminated," he added. Requesting the people not to "mix facts with fiction" and to consider his administration's "intention" of ensuring a developed and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir, Murmu said the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to the erstwhile state would help attract industries and investment and create jobs. After the abrogation of Article 370 provisions, there is "a new ray of hope" among people across the country, who now think that they can come here and set up their units too, do business and ensure economic prosperity, he told PTI in an interview at the Raj Bhavan here. People should understand that those who come from outside Jammu and Kashmir, do not come here to occupy land, he said and sought participation of the people in the development journey of the newly created Union Territory. "We appeal to the people for ensuring public participation. We have to do a lot. Please do not mix facts with fiction. Please see the facts," he said. Murmu was responding to a question about the apprehension of the people of Jammu and Kashmir that a large number of the people will come from outside and settle here following the abrogation of Article 370 and framing of new domicile rules. There has been social media propaganda by several sections of people in Jammu and Kashmir that people from outside will come in large numbers and settle in the Union Territory, leading to a demographic change. Some people used social media to also give a call for defying and opposing the grant of domicile. Provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution were abrogated in August last year and the state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Subsequently, the Jammu and Kashmir administration framed new domicile rules. As per the new domicile law, non-permanent residents who have residency proof of at least 15 years in J-K are entitled to get domicile certificates. Prior to the nullification of Article 370 and Article 35A, only state subjects were allowed to buy land and apply for government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir. Asking people to take part in the process of industrialisation of Jammu and Kashmir, the L-G said that they themselves should set up factories. "Who have refused you. On one hand they will not do (it) themselves and on the other, they will not help those from the other side to do so. How is it possible?" Murmu asked. "For a strong and empowered Bharat, there is a need for strong J-K and empowered people. Development in one corner of India cannot be called development of the entire region.... Let us empower ourselves," he said. Meetings of parliamentary standing committees have resumed after they were suspended following adjournment of both Houses of Parliament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a panel on welfare of other backward classes meeting on Monday, sources said. In its meeting, the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) made recommendations to various ministries on implementation of reservation, they said. The meeting assumes significance as it was held with members physically present for it. Previously, chairmen of various parliamentary panels had sought virtual meetings but were denied. This was the first meeting of any parliamentary standing committee after the Parliament's Budget Session was adjourned before its schedule on March 23, in wake of COVID-19. After this, Parliament operations were also suspended during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes chaired by BJP MP Ganesh Singh met on Monday and out of its 26 members, 11 members were present in the meeting held at the Parliament's annexe building, sources said. Members from opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, were also present in the full day meeting which started at 11 am and ended at 5 pm. In between, the meeting was briefly adjourned for lunch, but no food was served as a precaution in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. Serving of lunch is customary during parliament panel meetings, the sources said. The members, who attended the meeting, took lunch at their residences, they said. Top officials from the health ministry, human resource development ministry and power ministry were called by the panel to discuss the implementation of OBC quota in their respective ministries and related departments and institutions. As per the Lok Sabha website, the next meeting of a parliamentary committee is of the Public Accounts Committee chaired by Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, scheduled for July 10. In his sixth address to the nation since the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, the scheme to provide free food to nearly 80 crore poor people put in place three months ago, will be extended till the end of November. "Keeping in mind all the festivals that are coming up in the next few months, this scheme to provide 80 crore people with 5 kg free ration and 1 kg dal per month will now be extended till Diwali and Chhath Puja, or till the end of November," he said in a televised address. Modi's direct reference to Chhath Puja, a festival majorly celebrated in Bihar, comes ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in the state. "The government will incur an expenditure of Rs 90,000 crore for extending the scheme for five months," he said. Modi said that if the expenditure already incurred on the free food grain scheme is added to this amount, the total expenditure on providing free food grains to the poor through the coronavirus crisis will be Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Modi spoke about the "One Nation, One Ration Card" scheme, which he said would benefit thousands of migrant workers and their families who had no fixed home or income. He credited farmers and taxpayers for bolstering India's fight against the coronavirus that has infected 5.6 lakh people in the country. Modi's address came amid heightened tensions with China over the clashes in Ladakh that left 20 Indian soldiers dead, but he did not make any reference to it in the 17-minute speech. Focusing his attention on Indias fight against coronavirus, Modi said while the situation in India is still under control, especially when compared to some other countries, there has been increasing negligence since the Unlock 1 was announced last month. Modi also said that local administrations, in keeping a tight check on the monitoring and adherence to guidelines issued by the Home Ministry, should consider no one above the law. He gave the example of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov who was fined around Rs 13,000 for not wearing a mask at a public place. In India also the local administration have to work with the same zeal. We are all working on a mission to save 130 crore lives. Be it the village head or the Prime Minister, nobody is above the law, Modi said. He urged Indians to observe the same sort of discipline that they had showed during the initial days of nationwide lockdown. Today when we need to be more careful then carelessness is creeping in, which is quite worrying. Citizens have to again maintain the same sort of discipline that they maintained in the initial days, especially in containment zones. If people are not obeying guidelines, we have to stop them, and make them understand, he said. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday had extended the lockdown in the containment zones till July 31. Fresh guidelines for Unlock 2.0 were also issued. Schools, colleges, cinema halls, gyms will remain shut till the end of July to curb the spread of the virus. The Judicial Magistrate probing the Jayaraj-Bennix custodial killings in Tamil Nadu, in his four-page report, has said there is evidence of assault on the father-son duo. The magistrate has said that according to eyewitnesses, both the father and the son were assaulted by police officers through the night of June 19, resulting in blood marks on canes and the table on which the victims were laid and beaten. P Jayaraj, 60, and J Bennix, 31, were arrested by the Thoothukudi police on June 19 for keeping their mobile store open after permitted hours. Relatives claim that Jayaraj, who was in the store, was picked up by police and verbally abused and assaulted. His son, Bennix, had later gone to the police station to plead with the police to release his father. The duo was allegedly thrashed and a case was filed against them under IPC Sections 188, 383 and 506(II). They were later taken to the Kovilpatti sub-jail. Both died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23 hours apart, with relatives alleging they were severely thrashed at Sathankulam police station. In his report, the Magistrate said, "Evidence could be erased, need to be protected immediately." "When asked to hand over the canes (lathis), police officers at Satankulam station acted as though they did not hear my command. When I asserted, they reluctantly handed over the lathis," the Magistrate wrote in the report. He added that police constable Maharajah uttered an expletive behind his back and said, 'I won't be able to do anything'. All this "harassment" was videographed by the police officer there, as per his report. The court documents will be handed over to CB-CID investigating officer, the Tirunelveli Deputy Superintendent of Police, as a stopgap measure until the CBI takes over the investigation into the case. The report added that CCTV footage at the police station has been erased as the settings automatically deleted the footage after 24 hours. The Madras High Court on Tuesday said there is enough evidence of assault on the bodies of Jayaraj and Bennix, adding that prima facie evidence can lead to registration of murder case against the police officers. The incident has triggered a furore in the state, leading to the suspension of four policemen, including two sub-inspectors. The High Court had taken up the case and ordered a video recording of the post-mortem after the relatives of the two men moved the court. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced Rs 10 lakh each to the family of the deceased and a government job to one person from the family, based on their qualification. The third round of Corps Commander-level talks between Indian and Chinese militaries has begun in an attempt to de-escalate tensions in eastern Ladakh and finalise modalities for disengagement of troops from the sensitive region. The talks are taking place in Chushul sector on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The first two meetings had taken place at Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC. "This time the talks will be held in Chushul on the Indian side. The last two meetings were held in Moldo on the Chinese side," government sources had said on Monday, adding the agenda of the meeting would be to take forward the proposals made by both the countries for disengagement. The two sides are expected to deliberate on the implementation of an agreement arrived at the first round of the Lt General talks on June 6, the sources said. "All contentious areas during the current standoff will be discussed to stabilise the situation," they added. At the first meeting on June 6, the two sides had agreed to disengage at multiple locations and India had asked the Chinese to return to their pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC. On June 22, the talks between the Indian and Chinese military delegates continued for around 11 hours. The dialogue was held in a cordial, positive and constructive atmosphere and there was "mutual consensus to disengage". "Modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in eastern Ladakh were discussed," the Indian Army had later said. The meeting between 14 Corps Commander Lieutenant General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin happened on the lines of the one they held at the Chushul-Moldo border personnel meeting (BPM) point in eastern Ladakh on June 6. Also, a Major General-level dialogue took place for three consecutive days after the violent clash at Patrolling Point 14 in Galwan Valley on June 15 left 20 Indian soldiers dead. The three-day talks were carried out to ease the situation and to get 10 Indian soldiers released, including four officers, who were in captivity. (With inputs from agencies) Top US senators have expressed solidarity with India as they slammed China for its "unwarranted and lawless armed aggression" against the country. Top Republican Senator Marco Rubio on Monday spoke with India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu and expressed solidarity with the people of India on the Chinese aggression. "I spoke to Amb Sandhu to express our solidarity with the people of #India as they firmly confront unwarranted and lawless armed aggression by the Communist Party of China," Rubio tweeted. "India has made it clear, they will not be bullied by Beijing," the top Republican Senator from Florida said. On the Senate Floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for the second time in less than a week, accused China of aggression against India. A day earlier, Senator Tom Cotton slammed China for its aggression against India. "China has resumed its submarine intrusions in the Japanese contiguous zones and picked deadly fights with India at high altitude," the top Republican Senator from Arkansas said. "Just go around the horn. You started in India, where, high up in the Himalayas, China has essentially invaded India, an ally of ours. And they have killed 20 Indian soldiers," Cotton told Fox News. The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last several weeks, and the tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese soldiers used stones, nail-studded sticks, iron rods and clubs in carrying out the brutal attacks on Indian soldiers after they protested the erection of a surveillance post by China on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Galwan. The two sides are holding diplomatic and military-level talks to ease the situation along the LAC. . SK C&C CEO Park Sung-ha, left, and Samsung SDS CEO Hong Won-pyo / Korea Times file KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday flagged off a Bell helicopter with pesticide spraying equipment from a helipad here for effective control of crop threatening locusts in the worst affected areas in Rajasthan. The country is battling locust attacks, largely in northern states. Last week, swarm of locusts reached outskirts of Delhi and even in Uttar Pradesh. The government is using all kinds of equipment, even modern drones and vehicles, for effective control of locusts and stopping its spread to more states, an official statement said. After launching helicopter service, Tomar said the helicopter will fly for Air Force Station at Uttarlai, Barmer, where it will be stationed initially, and will be deployed for locust control in desert areas of Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur and Nagaur. The Bell 206-B3 helicopter will have single pilot operation with a pesticide carrying capacity of 250 litres in one trip, and can cover about 25-50 hectares area in one flight, he said. An Empowered Committee had finalised the firm for deploying one helicopter for aerial spray in desert area after getting all clearances from Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Civil Aviation. In the statement, the Union Agriculture Ministry said that since April 11, locust control operations have been done in 2,33,487 hectares in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bihar. "No significant crop losses have been reported in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Haryana. However, some minor crop losses have been reported in some districts of Rajasthan," it said. The government said deployment of helicopter follows the need to strengthen air control capabilities for locust control through drones, helicopters and aircrafts. "It was estimated that this year there would be greater locust problems, but the government is in full preparedness. All the state governments have been alerted and are working in close coordination with the Centre," Tomar said. Deployment of machines, vehicles and manpower has been increased and concerned states are utilizing funds from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to tackle the problem, he said. An order has been placed for five aerial spraying machines from a UK-based company, and once these are received, they will be deployed in IAF helicopters and pressed into operation for locust control, Tomar added. Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary, Member of Parliament and former Union Minister Mahesh Sharma, and Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal were also present on the occasion. On use of drones, the government said it has engaged five companies to provide a total of 25 drones for effective control of locusts settling on tall trees and inaccessible areas. Till now, 12 drones have been deployed for locust control in Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Nagaur. Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt released the first poster of his comeback directorial feature "Sadak 2", starring daughters Alia Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt, on social media on Monday evening, and was almost immediately fending against massive trolling and hatred. Ever since the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput earlier this month, Bhatt has been at the receiving end on social media, like many Bollywood celebrities who accused of promoting nepotism and scuttling the chances of outsiders. On Monday, netizens' anger and hatred reflected in the comment section of the filmmaker's latest post. Mahesh Bhatt released the poster with a caption that stated: "When you come to the end, you discover that there is no END." When you come to the end, you discover that there is no END. pic.twitter.com/sAchR8k8mv Mahesh Bhatt (@MaheshNBhatt) June 29, 2020 Reacting to his tweet, netizens slammed the filmmaker, holding him responsible for demeaning Sushant's mental condition and threatening to boycott "Sadak 2". "Guy who declared 26/11 as RSS ki Sazish and his own son helped terrorists to identify the places, tried to declare Sushant as mentally unstable, having relationship with lady younger than her daughter's daughter, lowest scum possible...Don't know why this guy is not in jail," declared a social media user. "When you put END to someone's life intentionally, you'll soon release your END," wrote another user. "We are not interested... get lost," retorted another user. A user responded by sharing the poster of Sushant Singh Rajput's upcoming last film "Dil Bechara." Another user has started a poll asking people to choose between "Sadak 2" and "Dil Bechara". Dont forgot Sushant Sacrifice widespread it #Boycottsadak2 kumar p (@PurusharthKuma6) June 29, 2020 Thank you so much. It gives me immense pleasure to inform you that in the next series of string of flops to come, Sadak 2 will be the pioneer.Boycott. Halla Bol. Sandeep Kr Tiwary (@sandeeptiwary3) June 29, 2020 I will not even watch it on Hotstar.. This is the sadak that will lead u to ur redemption. #BoycottSadak2 #whokilledsushant Vikrant Gupta (@IAmVikrantGupta) June 29, 2020 When #Sadak2 will become utter flop you will realize that there is an end. #FansLikeNoOther stand together for #justiceforSushantforum Nisha (@Nisha1214Nisha) June 29, 2020 While Alia also shared the poster on Instagram, she smartly 'limited' the comments section. Only one comment is visible. However, Alia's "Sadak 2" co-actor Aditya Roy Kapur shared the poster on Instagram and met with heavy trolling. Aditya, who is the youngest brother of bigwig producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, was faced with a barrage of hate speech aimed at Mahesh Bhatt and Alia Bhatt. "Boycott Sadak 2. Boycott Alia Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt," wrote a user. "Sorry bro isme Alia Bhatt hai, hum nahi dekhenge (This film features Alia Bhatt and I am not going to watch it)," wrote another user. "Sadak 2" is a follow-up of Mahesh Bhatt's 1991 hit "Sadak" and is produced by his brother Mukesh Bhatt. The sequel reunites the original film's lead pair of Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt, and also stars Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur. "Sadak 2" marks Mahesh Bhatt's return to filmmaking after 20 years. On Monday afternoon, it was confirmed that the Bhatts have decided to bypass theatrical release for the film and take it directly to the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar for an OTT premiere. Actress Kangana Ranaut says Chinese manufacture everything "sasta and cheap", and that people should not go by their products. Kangana's message to fans comes after the Indian Government issued an interim order to block Chinese apps in India. "The government has banned Chinese apps and I think most people are celebrating because China is like we all know, it's a communist country and the way they have gone deep into our economy and our system... the data is scary, how much our business was dependent on China and this year apart from being the originator of coronavirus and giving the world the biggest adversity of recent times. In the midst of this adversity, now they are messing with our borders in Ladakh and they don't only want Ladakh. In the scheme of things, they want Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. They also want your Assam and it's never ending," said Kangana. "You can see the greed of these people and of course even the world is astonished by their ways of life and by the way they ill-treat animals and the way they beat you up if you do idol worshipping or if you follow your religion. I say that you know being an extremist or being a communist, both ways are extreme. Why do you want to believe there is god or no god? Why do you want to be so sure? Why can't you just be that...you don't know? I don't agree with their ways and obviously they've shown their real crude faces to the world. Also with this pandemic and the bio-war that they've unleashed on the world. What is feeding them is their economy. So it is definitely better we cut their roots here in India and of course when there will not be so much revenue and money, their evil power will come down and the world will be a better place," she added. Kangana has always urged people to go local and endorses the idea to all her fans. "In ancient times India led the world and the world was a prosperous and inclusive place, I believe that we need to go back to that time," she said. Follow @News18Movies for more Actor Akshay Kumar on Monday said theatres have the "first birth right" over movies and though he''s excited his upcoming "Laxmmi Bomb" will stream digitally, he feels sad it couldn''t release on the big screen. The horror-comedy is set to stream on Disney+Hotstar, bypassing a theatrical release as screens remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The streamer announced its slate of seven film which will have a direct-to-digital release, including Ajay Devgn's "Bhuj: The Pride of India", Abhishek Bachchan starrer "The Big Bull", and "Sadak 2", featuring Alia Bhatt. In a virtual press conference, Akshay said OTT release was the only wise option in the current scenario. "To be honest, today I am excited for this platform. But yes, I'll say that I am also sad for theatres. After all, movies are theatres first birth right. But in the current situation, everyone's safety is of utmost priority. "Today with theatres being shut and people watching movies on OTT platforms, if I can make my fans happy by releasing film on Disney+Hotstar which is a big platform with a massive reachthen I am glad," Akshay told reporters. "Laxmmi Bomb" would be the actor's first digital release in a career of nearly three decades. His "Sooryavanshi" co-star and longtime friend, Devgn, said he was equally thrilled to see his patriotic drama "Bhuj: The Pride of India" release on the platform. "First thing that you want when you make a film is that more and more people get to watch it. The base of Disney+Hotstar is so huge that when 'Bhuj' will come every person will try to watch the film, besides the fact that the film should be good. We have tried to make a good film," the actor told reporters. Adding to Akshay's comments, Uday Shankar, President, The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman, Star and Disney India, said no one but only fans of artistes have the right over films. "If anyone has birth right over films, it's the film goers and film fans. Fans of the actors, directors who want to see these films and it is our duty to show them films. "What's going to happen now is that our industry will grow bigger, be more successful, more people will be able to work, we will be able to produce more films. Theatres as well digital screens will survive and grow together with films." Shankar was of the view that a similar debate arose when TV first started airing films, with many fearing that people would stop going to cinema halls. "But that didn't happen. Cinema halls grew, more people started watching films, our screens grew, the economics of our films also grew. "The digital premiere will give industry a new lease of life. It''s going to create a completely new world. Theatres will continue to be very important because it''s an experience in itself to go there," he added. As theatres continue to remain shut, release of many films have been affected. Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi biopic were among the first films to opt for a digital release on Amazon Prime Video, a move that had irked theatre owners and exhibitors. Shankar said the digital medium will become an essential outlet for the industry. "People visit a cinema hall maximum five times a year but watch more number of films on their TV and mobile phones... This will become a huge outlet for our industry to showcase more work. We should see this as big leap for our film industry today," he added. A day before the meeting of military commanders from India and China to de-escalate the standoff on the Line of Actual Control bordering in the Union territory of Ladakh, the government announced a ban Monday on 59 Chinese apps, many of them household names here. India could not be clearer about its mood and its intentions the time for pussy-footing around the China problem is over. Even if the Chinese were to restore status quo ante and return to the positions they held in early April, the rupture will be impossible to mend for years at least. Trust has been broken and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be hard-pressed to ask the Indian public to take the Chinese at their word ever again. Geopolitics is changing forever, and so, it appears, is Indian foreign policy. On Tuesday, the third round of talks takes place between the Indian and Chinese military commanders. The first one was on June 6, when the Chinese made commitments and broke them, leading to the deadly clash on June 15-16. A further meeting on June 22 saw a similar agreement but it is clear that the Chinese have not moved back to where they came from. What is the point of the third meeting if not for the sake of just talking? Both sides know that the talks at the military level are for the sake of form. For substance, look at what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been saying he has called out China as an aggressor and a force of evil. Modis utterances are the words of a man betrayed, which is why a military agreement alone will not suffice. Now let us assume that the Chinese feel that they have miscalculated on Ladakh and want to backtrack. To win back Indian favour, President Xi Jinping speaks to Modi and demonstrates contrition. Chinese forces pull back, and the commander of Chinas western military theatre, General Zhao Zongqi, the man who instigated the confrontation, is moved out. Will this be enough to appease India? Quite unlikely. Knowing the Chinese track record, how will Modi be able to tell his citizens that we must go back to believing China? From here on, we cannot take our eyes off even a square inch of the LAC for even an instant not as long as the authoritarian communist regime is in power. The ship of reconciliation has sailed, and is now patrolling the Indian Ocean. What can we now expect? For the immediate future, India can be expected to build up its military strength along the LAC and at sea. Being a country which values peace and respects the international law, India will not start a confrontation. The troops will guard against further Chinese incursions but we are unlikely to forcibly eject Chinese troops from our side of the LAC, wherever they are. If the Chinese provoke Indian forces, they will be get a fitting reply, as they did in Galwan where they intruded. Chinas experience in Galwan, where it is not even disclosing the extent of its casualties, should hopefully prove salutary. While military preparations continue, geo-political realignment is well underway. Top US officials have been making a series of statements, all aimed against China. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has declared that it is rebalancing its forces away from Europe and towards the Indo-Pacific. Christopher Wray, the head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), last week described China as the biggest threat to the US economy and disclosed that his agency is investigating more than 2,000 cases connected to the Chinese communist party. The same week, Robert OBrien, the US National Security Adviser, described China as a Marxist-Leninist nation and compared Xi to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The scales have fallen from US eyes, just as they have from Indian eyes. While America repositions itself, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc is coming to the realisation that each of its ten members may not be individually able to confront Chinas aggrandising ambitions in the South China Sea. But together they have a better chance. Which is why last week Asean leaders issued a declaration saying that a 1982 UN treaty on the oceans should be the basis for settling maritime claims. China lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea on whimsical historical grounds. Further to the southeast, Australia under Prime Minister Scott Morrison has moved out of the Chinese orbit. Australia clearly recognises the potential for China to become a neo-colonial power and a demographic aggressor. Japan, a historical rival, has major economic interests in China. But it is also bound to the US by a security treaty. The two major unknowns in the coming geo-political match are the European Union and Russia the key players in the Cold War. For Europe, taking a stand on China will involve making a firm commitment to the ideals which have shaped the world after the second Great War. China presents no threat to Europes territorial boundaries, unlike the former Soviet Union. But Chinas values certainly do not accord those of the EU. The unity of the EU, as well as its commitment to liberal democratic values, will be tested like never before. Russia and China may seemingly enjoy a close relationship, but Russian President Vladimir Putin will definitely be under no illusions about the potential danger from China. Russia has been displaced as the main strategic rival of the United States by China, with which Russia shares a border that stretches nearly 4,300 kilometres. Chinas penchant for territorial gains by demographic conquest is well-known, and Russia will not forget that fact. China is long-term threat to Russia, and Putin knows it. So what we see are a number of forces ranged against communist China. We are on the cusp of a New Cold War, and this time a choice has been forced on India. Despite sincere attempts to build a multi-polar world and not take sides, China has compelled India to get drawn into an alliance of nations which believes in democracy and a rules-based world order. As long as a dictatorial Chinese regime is in power, India cannot return to status quo ante. This is an entirely new situation for the foreign policy establishment, but India has the confidence, flexibility and creativity that are needed to influence world affairs for the good of all. Just like India is taking a stand against the Chinese dictatorial regime by decoupling economically, the West and Japan also have choices to make. For major American companies China is a lucrative market, but they must stand up and be counted when it comes to humanity core values. If it is alright for some companies to boycott Facebook in the name of values, it is definitely imperative to reconsider the reliance on the China market. The world is a large enough place without China and its communist regime. Along with strategic realignment, India must get its economic and governance act together. There is no strategic space without economic space. If India does not grow at the same rate that China did for two decades, the gap between the two countries will continue to widen. We cannot equip our military the way it must be equipped or make credible foreign policy if we continue to bungle on the all-important project of national development. In order to be able to face the threat from the C factor without, we must confront the three Cs withinCorruption, Communalism and Casteism. 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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday extended free ration scheme for poor till June 2021. Banerjees announcement came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre would provide free foodgrains under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana to 80 crore poor people till November 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has affected livelihood of thousands in the country. The announcement comes just months ahead of the assembly polls in the state due in April-May next year. Addressing the media at the state secretariat Nabanna on Tuesday, Banerjee said, In Bengal, only 60 per cent people are getting central ration (under PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana) Today, they will give free foodgrains, tomorrow they will not give... Why such discrimination? Hence, I have decided to provide free ration to poor people till June 2021 in West Bengal. She further said the prime minister should announce free foodgrains for all citizens. I want our PM to give ration to all the 130 crore people of the country. Earlier in the day, Modi said, The PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana will be extended till the end of November and free ration will be provided to the poor. The extension will cost more than Rs 90,000 crore. Regarding the PMs assurances on the government working on One Nation, One Ration Card scheme, Banerjee said, Earlier, people used to get ration cards made of paper. Now, they get digital cards. I dont know what exactly he meant by One Nation, One Ration Card. I cannot comment further on this without knowing details about the scheme. Mocking her announcement on free ration, the BJP and the CPI(M) said the TMC will be out of power by June next year. "Why is she making promises she can't fulfil? Her party will be out of power by June next year. This is not an area (free rations) to compete. Just because the prime minister has announced something, it doesn't mean she needs to replicate it. The state government should stop making announcements but concentrate on seamless ration supply for the poor," CPI(M) legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty said. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha questioned Banerjee over her announcement and said her statement "will remain an announcement only on pen and paper" and will never see the light of the day. "The TMC won't be in power after April May next year," he claimed When asked about the border standoff with China, Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said the neighbouring must be given a befitting reply and it is for the Central government to take a call on the matter, adding that her party is with the Centre on the matter. We stand by the country in this hour of crisis. We stand with our motherland. Any kind of attack on India is not acceptable to us, she added. The chief minister also spoke about reports of commuters facing a harrowing time to reach their respective offices/destinations in the state with about 6,000 private buses staying off the roads over fare issues. I will not allow them to increase the fare. We have decided to give them a financial package of Rs 15,000 for three months so that they can resume the service from July 31 without increasing the fare. Also, bus drivers and conductors will now be eligible for Swasthya Sathi (health scheme of Rs 5 lakh). However, I have heard that they are not willing to accept our proposal. We have to find a solution to this. I will wait for tomorrow and after that we will take control of the private buses and will pay the salary of bus drivers and conductors. Regarding new relaxations that have come in force as part of easing of lockdown measures that are in place to contain the spread of coronavirus, Banerjee said, We are allowing morning walks from 5:30am to 8:30am but social distancing should be maintained. We have also increased the number of guests to be allowed in weddings from 25 to 50 people. (With inputs from PTI) The Congress on Tuesday said India needs to deal with China decisively and not with symbolic gestures like banning apps with Chinese links. India on Monday banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country. The ban, which comes in the backdrop of ongoing stand-off with China along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, is also applicable for WeChat and Bigo Live. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate alleged that China has not only intruded into India's territory but also the economy as under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's watch, the trade deficit with China has gone up to 53 billion dollars. "I think we need to deal with China far more decisively than symbolic gestures of banning Apps. One has to move away from these symbolic gestures. The tension with China is nothing like it has been in the past and it is of grave concern,"she said at a virtual press conference. Asked about the party's reaction to the banning of Apps with Chinese links, she said while China is in occupation of our territory and there is serious intrusion, India's retaliation after 20 brave hearts were martyred is by banning 59 apps. "What about the massive amount of investment that China has done under the Modi regime,"she asked. The Congress leader said when Congress demitted office, the FDI from China was 1.1 billion dollars which has risen to 26.6 billion dollars. "There is massive Chinese intrusion even in our economy. Under Mr Modi's watch, the trade deficit with China has gone up to 53 billion dollars which was just 36 billion dollars during our government. So, our reliance on Chinese imports have doubled. From importing Rs 3,000 per person from China, we are now importing Rs 6,000 per person from China. "I think these are symbolic gestures, they are not going to cut ice with the country like China. We need to take more decisive steps, whatever those steps may be, we stand with the government of the day. But, I don't think, the government can do away with banning 59 apps," she said. The list of apps that have been banned also include Helo, Likee, CamScanner, Vigo Video, Mi Video Call - Xiaomi, Clash of Kings as well as e-commerce platforms Club Factory and Shein. Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) was made with an eye on Bihar elections. Thorat, who is the state's revenue minister, also pointed out that the PM did not say anything about the stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh in his address. "The prime minister's speech was a let-down... he did not provide any relief to the poor nor did he show his 'red eyes' (gave any stern message to) to China," the Congress leader said. "After the coronavirus pandemic broke out, the free foodgrains scheme was launched to provide five kg of foodgrains to the poor. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had demanded that the scheme be extended till September. The decision to extend an existing scheme is administrative matter and there was no need to mention it through a national address," Thorat said. "But he announced the extension of the scheme with an eye on Bihar polls in November. The poor have other needs besides food. Five kg of rice, wheat and chana dal is a meager help. This will not last even for a month," he said, adding that Rs 7,500 in cash must be deposited in bank accounts of the poor every month. "The PM has indicated that the pandemic will stay till November," he quipped. Prime minister Modi on Tuesday announced extension of the PMGKAY, a programme to provide free ration to over 80 crore people, till November end. New Delhi: Targeting government post Chinese apps ban, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday posted a data chart showing that imports from the dragonland had increased after 2014. "Facts don't lie. BJP says: Make in India. BJP does: Buy from China," Rahul Gandhi said in a sharp tweet attaching a graphics of the percentage of imports from China during the UPA rule and the NDA government. The graphics showed that from 2008 to 2014, the imports from China were below 14 per cent, while during the BJP-led NDA rule, the Chinese import increased to over 18 per cent. The graphics also depicted that in 2008 under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the imports from China were at 12 per cent while it rose to 14 per cent in 2012 but again came down to 13 per cent in 2014. While under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the imports from China grew from 13 per cent to 14 per cent in 2015, to 16 per cent in 2016, to 17 per cent in 2017 and to 18 per cent in 2018, the graphics attached by Rahul Gandhi showed. Facts dont lie. BJP says: Make in India.BJP does: Buy from China. pic.twitter.com/hSiDIOP3aU Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 30, 2020 Gandhi's sister Priyanka also endorsed his data chart while retweeting it. She has recently been attacking the UP government over a number of issues like fuel price hike and arrest of Congress's minority cell chairman Shahnawaz Alam. "Congress leaders and activists are committed to raise their voice on public issues. The BJP government can use the Police as an instrument to suppress the voices of other parties, but not our party (Congress). Look, how the UP Police arrested the Chairman of our Minority cell in the darkness of the night," Priyanka Gandhi said in a series of tweets in Hindi. "First, our state president (Ajay Kumar Lallu) was kept in jail for four weeks on fake charges. Now this police action is repressive and undemocratic. Congress workers are not afraid of police and fake cases," she said in another tweet. According to UP Police, Alam was arrested by the Lucknow police, late on Monday night, for his alleged involvement in the anti-CAA violence which took place in December last year. A CCTV video circulated by UP Congress leaders shows cops taking away Alam from outside an apartment, close to the chief minister's residence, in a police vehicle. UP Police statement said that Alam was arrested for his involvement in the anti-CAA protest which took place on December 19, 2019 in Lucknow. He has been arrested after the police gathered sufficient evidence against him. Priyanka Gandhi has been critical of the state government for the past few months. She had locked horns with the state government over providing 1,000 buses for transporting the stranded migrant workers in the state in mid May. UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu was arrested in the same case. (With inputs from IANS) Members of Minimum Wage Commission attend a meeting at Sejong Government Complex, June 25. Yonhap The West Bengal government has requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation to suspend flight services to the state from COVID-19 hotspots like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai, Indore, Ahmedabad and Surat for two weeks from July 6. Expressing concern over rise in number of COVID-19 cases, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha wrote to ministry secretary PS Kharola on Tuesday and requested him to consider the concern raised by the state government. West Bengal is also witnessing a steep rise in cases. A large number of cases has been reported from people coming in the state from outside with infection. The government of West Bengal has decided to stop a curtail movement of incoming flights and trains into the State, said the letter. He requested the Centre to not schedule any flight to West Bengal from high prevalence places like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune,Nagpur, Chennai, Indore, Ahmedabad and Surat and to stop movement of flights from these cities to Kolkata or Bagdogra for two weeks starting July 6. "I also request you to restrict the number of flights to Kolkata, Bagdogra and Andal from other cities to a frequency of once a week for each airline starting July 6 to July 31, the letter said. China said on Tuesday that Indias move to ban 59 Chinese-origin mobile apps could be a breach of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, and urged New Delhi to create an open and fair business environment. Indias measure selectively and discriminatorily aims at certain Chinese apps on ambiguous and far-fetched grounds, runs against fair and transparent procedure requirements, abuses national security exceptions and (is suspected of) violating WTO rules, Ji Rong, a spokesman at the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, said in a statement. India banned the apps on Monday, its strongest move against China in the online space since fighting erupted on the two countries border this month. Rong said the ban would affect Indian jobs, and urged India to treat all investments and service providers equally and create an open, fair and just business environment. Indian social media platforms look to see an uptick in growth in light of last nights ban on 59 Chinese apps, as enforced by the government of India. While some claim to be seeing instantaneous growth surges, other platforms are more pragmatic about the approach, while stating that the ban on services like TikTok, Helo and Likee will definitely create ripple effects in the homegrown social media industry of India. Speaking to News18, Berges Malu, director of public policy at ShareChat states that while the platform is well poised to make the most of the opportunity that has opened up, the growth in terms of new users will be a gradual affair. He says, Its not an instant process anyone that uses an app like TikTok is likely already using other social media platforms too, such as ShareChat itself. Hence, the overall growth of users will likely reflect over the coming weeks, once the network-level bans are imposed on these apps. ShareChat presently has over 60 million monthly active users on its platform, making it the largest Indian social media platform. Prior to last nights ban of these Chinese apps, Farid Ahsan, co-founder and chief operating officer of ShareChat told News18 that the vocal for local narrative has given a slight push towards homegrown services, but ShareChats prime focus at the moment remains in seeing the growth of organic user engagement on its platform. With apps like TikTok and Helo being banned from Indias internet, the market may open up for just that. Mayank Bhangadia, founder of Roposo, has a far more optimistic view of things at the moment. In conversation with News18, Bhangadia says, I am seeing the highest surge in user traffic that Roposo has seen till date. All things considered, I expect to see up to 10 million new users join Roposo today itself. Bhangadia says that the growth is being buoyed by creators who are leaving platforms like ShareChat and Helo to join Roposo, which promotes itself as a creator-first platform. We built our tool over the past four years, and offer the best revenue scheme for creators to earn through. Our parent company, Glance, lets us reach over 125 million active users daily, and all of this makes Roposo among the best Indian platforms to use. Bhangadia confirms that Roposo has 25 million monthly active users at the moment on its platform, but expects this to rapidly change in the immediate future. Chingari, the Indian rival of TikTok that is presently going viral, has also made tall claims about instantaneous growth in light of the ban on 59 Chinese apps. Prior to the ban being announced in public, Biswatma Nayak, co-founder of Chingari, stated in a PTI report that subscriber count has spiked by 400 percent within the past few days in light of the anti-China sentiment. Sumit Ghosh, co-founder and head of product and growth at Chingari, has been posted a stream of numbers on Twitter since last night. He claimed that Chingari received 1 lakh downloads within the first one hour itself. Earlier today, Ghosh further stated that Chingari is witnessing a heavy surge in traffic, with data showing 1 million video views on the platform in 30 minutes. ShareChats Malu states that the ban is going to be more effective in the long run. Bans like these create a void in the market, where there is a demand for a service. In such a space, there is already an existing user base, which in turn leads to investors getting attracted. This can certainly boost the Indian startup ecosystem in this space, and is something that may see stronger growth of homegrown services than before, he adds. Sheroes, Indias women-first social network, also welcomes the move. Priya Florence-Shah, group editor of Sheroes, tells News18 that since the Covid-19 lockdown began, the platform has added 4 million users. In a prior interview with News18, Sairee Chahal, founder and CEO of Sheroes, had confirmed that the platform has over 20 million active users. Echoing positive sentiments for a push for Indian sentiments, Florence-Shah states, We have the best minds in the world and we can definitely develop solutions that work for us. The over-arching sentiment is positive, and the general outlook is that this can be a tipping point for social media and internet startups in India. While platforms like Roposo state that the effect has been immediate and exponential, the likes of ShareChat look forward to a steady growth in the longer run. The effects, as Malu stated, would definitely be clearer once the 59 Chinese apps are banned from operating in India in the coming days. Xiaomi India is going to host yet another sale of the Redmi Note 9 Pro today. Launched in March, the handset is a follow up of the companys popular Redmi Note 8 Pro. The smartphone boasts of a new square camera module and a punch-hole display at the front. The company had also launched the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, a slightly beefed-up version offering a higher resolution camera and higher memory and RAM options. The Note 9 Pro will go on sale today at 12PM noon on Amazon India and Mi.com. REDMI NOTE 9 PRO SPECIFICATIONS The Redmi Note 9 Pro features a 6.67-inch full-HD+ LCD display with a punch-hole placed on top center and a quad-camera setup in a square module. Like the previous Redmi Note 8 series, it has Gorilla Glass on the front and back, but this time the cameras are also protected with the same. Other notable design features include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner similar to the Poco X2 and the Realme 6 series. The device is powered by the new 8nm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G which should be more efficient and slightly more powerful than the 730G. The smartphone will be offered in two variants- 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage and 6GB RAM with 128GB storage. There is also a dedicated microSD card slot to expand the storage further. The square camera module is placed at the center and is raised from the main body. It includes a 48-megapixel main sensor next to an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera. There is also a 5-megapixel macro camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. At the front, there is a 16-megapixel selfie camera placed in the punch hole. According to the company, the camera is capable of shooting RAW photography and some nifty tricks in pro mode while shooting video. The battery unit is rated at 5,020mAh which is said to be the biggest on a Redmi Note device and supports 18W fast charging. Rest of the features include support for 4G VoLTE, NaVIC GPS, dual-SIM card slots, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, P2i coating, USB Type-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The handset will come with Android 10 with MIUI 11. There are three colour options to choose from including Aurora Blue, Glacier White, and Interstellar Black. PRICE AND OFFERS The smartphone is priced at Rs 13,999 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, and Rs 16,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. Airtel is offering double data benefits with Rs 298 and Rs 398 unlimited packs on the Note 9 Pro. Customers can also avail no-cost EMI as well as standard EMI options when purchasing the phone from Amazon. Amazon Prime members also get 5 percent off with Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit card. Just a few hours after the Government of India issued an order banning as many as 59 Chinese owned smartphone apps in the country, TikTok has confirmed that they have been invited to meet with the Government to respond to the order and submit clarifications. TikTok, a popular social media platform owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is on the list of banned apps. At this time, TikTok is also not available for download on the Google Play Store for Android phones and the Apple App Store for the iPhone. The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications, says Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok, India, in a statement. The company says they continue to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Gandhi insists that even if they are requested to do so in the future, they would not. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity, says Gandhi. Late yesterday, India banned as many as 59 popular smartphone apps for Android smartphones as well as the Apple iPhone. The notification issued by The Ministry of Information Technology of the Government of India derived powers under the section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 citing the concerns about the security, integrity and defense of India. The apps that now stand banned in India, across the Google Android ecosystem and the Apple iPhone as well as the iPad platforms now include TikTok, Shareit, WeChat, Helo, Likee, UC News, Bigo Live, UC Browser, ES File Explorer and Mi Community. For the millions of users who may also have these installed on their Android phones and iPhones, there will be checks at the Internet service provider (ISP) and mobile service provider stage to ensure that traffic to and from these apps is blocked on the network, thereby rendering them in-operational. It is expected that all mobile service providers will block these apps on the 3G/4G networks while all broadband companies will enable these filters on wired and wireless broadband options. Just a few hours ago, the Government of India issued an order banning as many as 59 Chinese owned smartphone apps in the country. The notification issued by The Ministry of Information Technology of the Government of India derived powers under the section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 citing the concerns about the security, integrity and defense of India. The apps that now stand banned in India, across all platforms now include TikTok, Shareit, WeChat, Helo, Likee, UC News, Bigo Live, UC Browser, ES File Explorer and Mi Community. All big names, but one does truly stand out. But does this open up the door for Facebook to take advantage of the situation and introduce the Facebook Lasso and Instagram Reels products in India. At this time, with TikTok inaccessible, all the creators and influencers on the platform are searching for a viable alternative to ply their trade. And show their creative side. This could be a good time for Facebook to simply bring their TikTok alternatives, because people need to switch. And fast. Never has there been a more ready-made demographic of users, just waiting to sign up. Facebook Lasso and Instagram Reels, With WhatsApp as the secret ingredient Facebook Lasso also has similar set of features as TikTok, including the ability to shoot and post 15-second videos. You can overlay these with popular music tracks, filters, effects, hashtags, the ability to directly share to Facebook and more. At this time, Lasso has pretty limited availability around the world, including the US, though it has already seen more than 5,000,000 downloads just on the Google Play Store till now. Facebook, which also owns Instagram, has a similar product for that photo sharing social media platform as well. It is called Instagram Reels and thats also all about the magic of 15-second videos, dressed up with a variety of music tracks, filters and editing tools. This app also has limited availability right now, including Brazil, Germany and France. In India, WhatsApp could prove to be the secret ingredient for Lasso or Reels, whichever one Facebook does eventually decide to launch in India. If at all. A simple integration in the most popular instant messaging app could make all the difference in terms of popularizing the new video sharing platform and give it the sort of adoption push that would otherwise be unimaginable. TikToks numbers must have worried Facebook TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, has climbed the popularity charts rapidly. The ability to showcase creativity and talent in quick 15-second videos had caught the attention of the masses. And that is truer in India than anywhere else in the world. According to data analytics firm App Annie, India accounted for 323 million, which is 44%, of the total 740 million TikTok app downloads in 2019 across all platforms. They also suggest that Indians spent 5.5 billion hours on the TikTok app last year. In fact, at the beginning of this year, it was reported that ByteDance was targeting Rs 100 crore in revenue in India, banking on new quick advert formats for brands as well. While TikToks revenue targets were still no match for Facebook, TikToks active user base was proving to be a headache for the worlds largest social media platform, Facebook. According to regulatory filings by Facebook, they clocked Rs 892 crore in revenue in India in 2018-19. Does TikTok still have a future? TikTok has confirmed that they have been invited to meet with the Government to respond to the order and submit clarifications. TikTok, a popular social media platform owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is on the list of banned apps. At this time, TikTok is also not available for download on the Google Play Store for Android phones and the Apple App Store for the iPhone. The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications, says Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok, India, in a statement. The company says they continue to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Gandhi insists that even if they are requested to do so in the future, they would not. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity, says Gandhi. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on Monday ordered the closure of bars, nightclubs, gyms, movie theaters and water parks, joining other Sunbelt states including Florida and Texas in reversing reopenings after a surge in coronavirus cases. Ducey also delayed the start of public schools until Aug. 17 after some districts planned to start their new year in July or early August. The orders, effective for 30 days, came after Arizona set records for new coronavirus cases and COVID-19 hospitalizations over the weekend. Ducey expected the numbers to get worse next week. We simply cannot let up, he told a press briefing. This is a time for us to put on a full-court press as a state. We cant be under any illusion that this virus is going to go away on its own." The Republican governor has taken heat from health experts for a "cavalier" approach to reopening, leaving it up to residents to voluntarily follow safety precautions. Images on social media over the weekend showed packed bars in Phoenix and the Salt River east of the city crowded with residents escaping 100-degree (38 Celsius) heat, with few wearing masks or following social distancing. Some Phoenix-area restaurants have voluntarily reclosed in the past two weeks to protect staff and customers. Several movie theater chains had yet to reopen in Arizona, though some private venues were open. Facing pressure from Democratic mayors and health professionals, Ducey allowed local governments to set their own face mask rules. The bulk of Arizona cities now require the wearing of face masks in public. Ducey's order on Monday prohibits gatherings of more than 50 people, unless local jurisdictions could ensure they met safety precautions, such as physical distancing. The order challenged rural communities like Eagar in eastern Arizona where Mayor Bryce Hamblin has vowed to "err on the side of freedom" and not cancel upcoming rodeos, a July 4 parade or require "healthy, law-abiding citizens" to wear masks. An anti-corruption court in Pakistan on Tuesday issued a bailable arrest warrant against former president Asif Ali Zardari for failing to appear before it in a 2008 luxury vehicles case. Former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Yousuf Raza Gilani are also accused in the case. Representing Zardari, advocate Farooq Naek told the court that his client was of advanced age and appearance in the court could expose him to the novel coronavirus. Naek pleaded for his exemption but the court refused. The court also rejected the plea that Zardari, 64, would appear once the COVID-19 situation improved. Issuing the bailable arrest warrant of Zardari, Accountability Court judge Asghar Ali adjourned the hearing till August 17. Former prime minister Sharif who is in London on medical parole was also absent for the hearing. His arrest warrant was issued in an earlier hearing. The court has ordered that the process to declare him as a proclaimed offender should be initiated. Former premier Gilani was also absent but was exempted by the court from personal appearance as he is suffering from the coronavirus. According to the charges, Zardari and Sharif received luxury vehicles from the Toshakhana (state treasure house) by paying 15 per cent of the price of the cars. Gilani was the then prime minister and had allegedly relaxed rules on sale of items from Toshakhana to facilitate the transactions. Gifts from foreign leaders and governments are deposited in the Toshakhana. An ex-policeman turned violent serial prowler known as the "Golden State Killer" pleaded guilty on Monday to 13 murders and confessed to dozens of rapes and home invasions that terrorised much of California during the 1970s and '80s. Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, entered the pleas as part of a broader agreement with prosecutors sparing him from a potential death sentence in exchange for his admission to all offenses he stood accused of - charged and uncharged - in 11 California counties. Under terms of the unusual plea deal, outlined by prosecutors and Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman at Monday's hearing, DeAngelo faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said they wanted to ensure that the dwindling number of aging survivors, victims' families, witnesses and investigators would live to see resolution of the case, saving them from legal proceedings that might have dragged on for another decade. "They deserve the opportunity, the victims and the next of kin, to be present when the verdicts are finally read," said Amy Holliday, deputy district attorney for Sacramento County. "The time for justice stands in front of us now." The plea hearing was held in a ballroom at Sacramento State University, rather than a courthouse, to allow for socially distanced seating amid the coronavirus pandemic. The defendant and his attorneys all wore medical-style, clear plastic face shields. DeAngelo, dressed in orange jail garb, sat expressionless in a wheelchair, his mouth agape, throughout much of the seven-hour proceeding. He spoke in a weak, raspy voice only to give yes and no answers to procedural questions from the judge at the start of the hearing, and later to answer "guilty" when Bowman asked his plea to each of 13 counts of first-degree murder and kidnapping. He also replied "I admit" to successive allegations of rape, robbery, weapon offenses and other crimes as prosecutors took turns presenting "factual-basis" statements graphically detailing every murder, sexual assault and home invasion with which DeAngelo was accused. His admissions encompassed a total of 161 uncharged crimes, prosecutors said. DeAngelo's arrest in 2018 capped more than 40 years of investigation in a case that authorities said was finally solved by comparing crime-scene DNA samples to information on genealogy websites consumers use to explore their ancestry. The breakthrough came about two months after the case gained renewed national attention in the bestselling book, "I'll Be Gone in the Dark." A TV documentary series spawned by the book premiered by coincidence on HBO on Sunday. In addition to 13 murders and kidnappings, prosecutors said DeAngelo was known to have committed nearly 50 rapes in all and more than 120 burglaries - most of them in and around Sacramento, the eastern San Francisco Bay area and Southern California. The crime spree spanned more than a decade - from 1975 to 1986 - and began while DeAngelo was a police officer, having served on two small-town departments during the 1970s, authorities said. The suspect, whom authorities also nicknamed the "East Area Rapist" and the "Original Night Stalker," was notorious for creeping into victims' bedrooms at night, binding them and raping them as well as stealing their valuables. Formal sentencing was set to begin on August 17. A staff member displays a sample of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccine production plant of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in Beijing, capital of China, April 10, 2020. Photo:Xinhua An institute of biological products in Beijing affiliated with the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) announced on June 28 that it had achieved positive results for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate it developed. The development came as the global number of confirmed patients exceeded 10 million as of 6:30 pm June 28 (Beijing time). Three of the four inactivated COVID-19 vaccines developed in China evoked positive immune responses in Phase I and II clinical trials, indicating that China has made great progress in the research and development (R&D) of this type of vaccine, experts said. The Beijing institute, which is under the Sinopharm China National Biotec Group (CNBG), said in a statement sent to the Global Times that all 1,120 volunteers in the first and second phase clinical trials successfully produced high-titer antibodies against COVID-19 after accepting two doses of the vaccine. The vaccine has proven to be effective and safe, read the statement. The clinical trials started on April 27 in Shangqiu county, Central China's Henan Province and were designed as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled studies, according to the statement. Another institute under CNBG in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, on June 16 announced the results of Phase I and II clinical trials of a vaccine candidate it developed. This provided further vital data for CNBG's research of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines, read the statement. On June 23, CNBG announced that it had agreed with authorities in the United Arab Emirates to start Phase III clinical trials for inactivated vaccine candidates CNBG developed. The group did not say which vaccines were involved. Experts said that if human trials go well overseas, the third phase trial will be closed in August, followed by medical observation in September, with data revealed as soon as October. A vaccine could then be approved for marketing after positive results at the end of October. Sinopharm is expanding manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines. One plant in Beijing and one in Wuhan can together produce at least 200 million doses annually, according to media reports. The plant in Beijing is the largest manufacturing center for COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, reports said. However, mass production of inactivated vaccines is still facing the initial challenge of insufficient capacity, warned experts. "Each person needs two doses of the inactivated vaccine to evoke an immune response, and 200 million doses would only meet the immunization needs of 100 million people. This is still far from enough for China and the world at a time when vaccines are urgently needed," Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine expert, told the Global Times on June 28 China is developing COVID-19 vaccines in five categories - inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, live attenuated influenza vaccines, adenovirus vaccines and nucleic acid-based vaccines, reports said. Except for live attenuated influenza vaccines, all four types have entered human clinical trials, showing that the progress of R&D for COVID-19 vaccines in China is markedly faster than in the US, analysts noted. Several other types of vaccines, if developed successfully, are theoretically more productive than inactivated vaccines, said Tao. "The World Health Organization (WHO) expects 2 billion doses of vaccine to be available worldwide by the end of 2021. Inactivated vaccines alone will certainly not be enough," Tao said. The WHO released plans on June 26 that target delivery of 500 million tests to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by mid-2021, 245 million courses of treatments to LMICs by mid-2021, and 2 billion vaccine doses, of which 1 billion will be purchased for LMICs by the end of 2021. According to the WHO's website, there are 16 COVID-19 candidate vaccines in clinical trials worldwide, of which seven are being developed by Chinese companies or jointly developed by Chinese and foreign companies. Installation view of Choi Wook-kyung's solo exhibition at the newly renovated Kukje Gallery / Courtesy of Kukje Gallery By Kwon Mee-yoo Choi Wook-kyung / Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery Artist Choi Wook-kyung (1940-85) lived a short but fierce life. She is best known for her bold abstract works influenced by her time in Korea and the United States. An exhibition at Kukje Gallery in downtown Seoul sheds light on Choi's early experimentations in painting and collages, created mostly from the 1960s to 1975 when she was in the U.S. This is Choi's third exhibit at the gallery following shows in 2005 and 2016. Choi, who graduated from Seoul Arts High School and the College of Fine Arts at Seoul National University, went to the U.S. in 1963 and studied at Cranbook Academy of Art and Brooklyn Museum Art School. The Korean art world was dominated by Dansaekhwa (Korean monochrome painting) and the avant-garde movement in the 1960s, but Choi ventured further into uncharted territory. The first part of the exhibition showcases Choi's more colorful works in which she strived to develop her own style through various experiments under the influence of Abstract Expressionism. Choi used diverse media from oil paint, acrylic and charcoal to conte, oil pastel and ink. She also collaged newspaper clippings and other materials, reflecting the social issues of the times. Some of works are playful she misspelled balance as "valance" and corrected her typo in the painting and some have phrases such as "I only like strawberry ice cream." Choi Wook-kyung's "Untitled" (c. 1960s) / Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery "My experiences, as a woman and a painter, serve as a daily source for the creative inspiration necessary for my work," Choi once said. "My paintings are collaged bits of time from my past and present experiences. Each work has its own life as the forms grow and I convey my feelings into a visual language. My paintings are about my life but I am not simply telling stories. I am trying to express, visually, my experience of the moment lived. I hope to share, to communicate, and to create an empathy for the experience." The second room is darker as it mainly features ink paintings in black and white. Choi's bold brush strokes remind of Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline as well as East Asian calligraphy in terms of the significance of negative space. Most of the paintings on display are on glossy paper, but the only titled work "The Raven of Death and Resurrection," inspired by her trip to New Mexico, is painted on canvas. Choi later returned to Korea and taught at Yeungnam University and Duksung Women's University before passing away at a young age from a heart attack in 1985. The exhibition is on view until July 31. Choi Wook-kyung's "The Raven of Death and Resurrection" (1975) / Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery Art meets lifestyle in gallery Choi's exhibit marks the reopening of Kukje Gallery's main space K1 after two years of remodeling. The renovated gallery also houses Wellness Center, which features a gym and a yoga and meditation room complete with works by famous artists. The transformation of the gallery signals its commitment to expanding the boundaries of contemporary art by redefining and expanding the function of a conventional art gallery. The Cafe on the first floor features graphic designer Na Kim's "Tracing 4-1" and "Tracing 6-1," adding the rhythm of colorful visuals to the casual venue. Dining under Yang Hae-gue's famous Venetian blind installation "Sol LeWitt Upside Down Open Geometric Structure 2-2, 1-1, Expanded 22 Times, Mirrored" would be an unparalleled experience. Wellness K features fitness and meditation facilities adorned with artworks by Korean artists Park Seo-bo and Ha Chong-hyun as well as top international artists Louise Bourgeois, Julian Opie and Ugo Rondinone. Yang Hae-gue's "Sol LeWitt Upside Down Open Geometric Structure 2-2, 1-1, Expanded 22 Times, Mirrored" is installed at the Restaurant of the newly renovated Kukje Gallery. Courtesy of Kukje Gallery Iran has sentenced to death Ruhollah Zam, a journalist-turned-activist captured abroad last year, for allegedly fuelling anti-government unrest in late 2017 on social media, Iranian media reported on Tuesday. The son of a pro-reform Shi'ite cleric, Zam headed Amadnews, which had more 1 million followers on social media before it was suspended by the messaging app Telegram in 2018 after Iran accused it of carrying calls for violence during the protests. The channel soon re-appeared under a new name. Last October, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had "trapped" Zam, who had been given political asylum in France and was also based in other parts of Europe, in a "complex operation using intelligence deception". It did not say where the operation took place. "Zam has been convicted of corruption on Earth by a Revolutionary Court, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said, according to the Mizan news agency, adding that he could appeal. The charge, used in cases of armed uprising and espionage, is a capital offence under Irans Islamic law. Iranian officials have accused arch-foe the United States as well as Tehran's regional rival Saudi Arabia and government opponents living in exile of fomenting the unrest, which began as protests about economic hardship and spread nationwide. Officials said 21 people were killed during the unrest and thousands were arrested. Jeffersonville, IN (47130) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom speaks during a meeting at the government complex in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap South Korea's population is expected to decline this year for the first time since the nation began compiling data, as the number of monthly births has hit a record low, Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said Friday. In April, the number of births fell for the 53rd consecutive month and South Korea has seen a natural decline in population since November last year, Kim said. A natural population decrease occurs when the deaths outnumber births. "This year is expected to become the first year of a population decline," Kim told a meeting of senior officials on demographic changes. (Newser) A 31-year-old COVID-19 patient saw herself being attacked by cats. That happened after she was being experimented on in a Japanese lab. Before that, she'd felt herself on fire, unable to move and frightened. "It was so real," she said. But it wasn't. Once thought to affect mostly older patients, often those with dementia, hospital delirium now is plaguing patients of all ages, the New York Times reports. More than two-thirds of coronavirus patients in ICU units could be affected, data indicates. The patients can suffer from paranoid hallucinations, agitation and confusion that leads them to become withdrawn. One woman broke down during occupational therapy, per Business Insider, distraught at her husband's death from the disease. But her husband was fine and was calling the hospital to check on her every day. story continues below Families suffer, as well, after expecting their loved one to be well again. And patients think: "I just had a lung disease. Why am I crying? Why can't I think straight for more than five minutes?" one doctor said. "That's the part that's unexpected, and therefore particularly bothersome." Hospitals have begun to develop best practices to counter the effects on patients. Many realities of this disease increase the risk of delirium: social and physical isolation, heavy sedatives, lack of sleepeven dealing with caregivers whose faces are covered by masks. Hospital staffs also can do small things that can help ease the minds of patients, a physician said, such as putting a photo of themselves on their gowns. "People are so creative in times of crisis," she said. (Read more coronavirus stories.) (Newser) Cape Cod's beaches and towns may be quieter because of the coronavirus pandemic, but officials are reminding visitors ahead of the July 4th holiday that the famous Massachusetts getaway remains a popular destination for other summertime travelers: great white sharks. Cape Cod National Seashore Chief Ranger Leslie Reynolds warned at a news conference that the powerful predators are coming close enough to shore to be a concern for swimmers. Officials in Orleans also have documented at least two shark attacks on seals in recent days, the Cape Cod Times reports. And Gregory Skomal, a prominent shark scientist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, says he tagged three great whites circling a whale carcass earlier this month. story continues below The peninsula southeast of Boston saw two shark attacks on humans in 2018, one of them fatal. Officials have recommended swimmers remain in waist-deep water where possible and avoid areas where sharks have been previously spotted, the AP reports. Authorities are weighing a range of responses to protect beachgoers and preserve the regions tourist economy. Local residents concerned about the booming shark population, meanwhile, say they'll boost their efforts to help protect swimmers this summer. More pilots have volunteered to radio in shark sightings as they fly over the peninsula, said Heather Doyle, co-founder of Cape Cod Ocean Community, a local group that advocates for white shark surveillance and detection measures. (Read more Cape Cod stories.) (Newser) A white couple who stood outside their St. Louis mansion and pointed guns at protesters support the Black Lives Matter movement and don't want to become heroes to those who oppose the cause, their attorney said Monday. Video posted online showed Mark McCloskey, 63, and his 61-year-old wife, Patricia, standing outside their Renaissance palazzo-style home Sunday night in the citys well-to-do Central West End neighborhood as protesters marched toward the mayors home to demand her resignation. He could be heard yelling while holding a long-barreled gun. His wife stood next to him with a handgun. Mark McCloskey told KMOV-TV that he and his wife, who are personal injury lawyers, were facing an angry mob on their private street and feared for their lives Sunday night, the AP reports. story continues below Their attorney, Albert Watkins, told the AP on Monday that the couple are long-time civil rights advocates and support the message of the Black Lives Matter movement. He said they grabbed their guns when two or three protesterswho were whiteviolently threatened the couple and their property and that of their neighbors. The most important thing for them is that their images (holding the guns) don't become the basis for a rallying cry for people who oppose the Black Lives Matter message," Watkins said. "They want to make it really clear that they believe the Black Lives Matter message is important. No charges have been brought, though police and the circuit attorney's office are still investigating. (Much more on the incident, and what protesters wanted, here.) (Newser) Former NASA scientist Serkan Golge, detained on terrorism charges in Turkey, is back on American soil for the first time in four years. The Turkish-American arrived with his family in Washington early Tuesday, some seven months after President Trump said he'd secured a deal for his release, per the New York Times. "He'll be coming back at some point in the not-too-distant future," Trump said at a White House briefing with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in November. The 40-year-old Golge, who studied the effects of radiation on astronauts at NASA's Johnson Space Center, was detained in July 2016 while visiting his parents in Turkey's Hatay province, reports Science. One of some 20 Americans accused of involvement in an attempted coup against Erdogan, he was sentenced to seven years in prison on terrorism charges before being transferred to house arrest in May 2019. story continues below Trump announced Golge would soon return to Houston, but Turkish officials only increased restrictions on his movements. "The last judicial controls were only finally lifted in April" and international flights only began again this month, per the Times. Golge returned to the US with his wife and two sons, all US citizens, who'd been barred from leaving Turkey as well. Through it all, Golge maintained his innocence. He believes authorities received a tip from a relative "with a history of disagreements with his immediate family," per Physics Today. He was convicted on the basis he had an account at a bank linked to the coup movement, and that a $1 billan apparent secret sign of membershipwas found at his parents' home. Some see Golge as a bargaining chip, per Science. Erdogan hopes to thwart many US court cases, including one in which a state-owned bank allegedly helped Iran evade US sanctions. (Read more Turkey stories.) (Newser) One California correctional facility currently accounts for nearly half of the state's 2,000-plus prison cases of COVID-19, a fact that Gov. Gavin Newsom is now calling a "deep area of focus and concern." Citing data from the state's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, USA Today reports that of the 2,600 or so active coronavirus cases in California's prisons, more than 1,000 are at San Quentin State Prisonnearly a third of its population of 3,500. Per the Marin Independent Journal, an autopsy is set to see if 71-year-old Richard Stitely, a death row inmate with COVID-19 who died last week, is the prison's first COVID-19 death. NPR notes there were no inmate cases there from March through May, but that once the outbreak hit, it spread rapidly. "It's devastating how fast this has moved," a UC San Francisco medical professor says, calling the outbreak "shocking." story continues below So what spurred the outbreak? Newsom on Monday suggested a transfer in late May of 120-plus prisoners from Chino's California Institution for Men, where the virus has been running rampant, could be behind it. "Unfortunately, they arrived untested and ... really kind of seeded an outbreak," a Marin County public health official tells NPR. What's going on at San Quentin is having ripple effects throughout the county, as health officials say hospital capacity is being overwhelmed with the prison cases. The reopening of gyms, hotels, and other businesses originally scheduled for Monday has since been postponed. Meanwhile, in addition to preventive measures taken within the prison, Newsom says officials are looking to see if some inmates can be released early, per CBS San Francisco. (Read more San Quentin stories.) (Newser) The new controversy over allegations that Russia put bounties on US troops in Afghanistanand whether President Trump himself was briefed about itcontinues to gain steam. The White House briefed a group of Republican lawmakers on the issue Monday, and a group of Democratic lawmakers will be briefed on Tuesday, reports Politico. Trump has insisted that he was never told about the allegations, though reports continue to surface challenging that. The AP, for example, is out with a story saying that top White House officials were aware of classified intel on the matter in early 2019 and that it "was included in at least one of President Donald Trumps written daily intelligence briefings at the time." The story also reports that former national security adviser John Bolton has told friends he briefed Trump about it. story continues below The New York Times makes a similar assertion in the first paragraph of its latest story: "American officials provided a written briefing in late February to President Trump laying out their conclusion that a Russian military intelligence unit offered and paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan, two officials familiar with the matter said." One of the Republicans in Monday's briefing, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, defended the president afterward, reports NBC News. Yes, the allegation may have appeared in a written briefing to the president, he said, but it wasn't deemed to be "a credible, actionable piece of intelligence" at the time. "And if at any point it did, it would be raised to his attention." McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, added that he came out of the briefing concerned that the bounty allegations were true. (Read more President Trump stories.) (Newser) If she wanted to get up close and personal, then success: A 72-year-old California woman was trying to snap a photo of a bison at Yellowstone National Park on Thursday when she was gored. The unidentified woman "sustained multiple goring wounds" before being flown to an Idaho hospital, the National Park Service said Monday, per NBC News. The woman was camping at Bridge Bay Campground in northwest Wyoming, on the northwestern side of Yellowstone Lake, when she "approached within 10 feet of a bison multiple times to take its photo," the park service added. Park visitors are asked to stay at least 25 yards away from bison, elk, moose, and other large animals. story continues below Yellowstone Senior Bison Biologist Chris Geremia said the animal likely felt threatened, per NBC. Bison typically charge after first "displaying aggressive behaviors like pawing the ground, snorting, bobbing their head, bellowing, and raising their tail," he said. Another park visitor got too close to a bison last month near Old Faithful Upper Geyser Basin and was knocked to the ground, per NBC. And last week, a 37-year-old female hiker was knocked to the ground by a female grizzly bear who was protecting her cub near Old Faithful, the park said. The woman, who'd tried to use bear spray, suffered only a minor injury. Park visitors are asked to stay at least 100 yards away from bears, per CNN. (Read more Yellowstone National Park stories.) (Newser) We may now know why North Korea was so upset with a recent round of anti-Pyongyang leaflets floated across the border from South Korea. Leaflets launched May 31two weeks before North Korean officials blew up a joint liaison officeincluded provocative, Photoshopped images of Kim Jong Un's wife, Ri Sol Ju, according to Russia's ambassador to North Korea. It was "a special kind of dirty, insulting propaganda, aimed at the leader's spouse," says Alexander Matsegora, one of the longest-serving ambassadors in Pyongyang, per AFP. He adds the leaflets caused "serious outrage" and served as "the last straw" for North Korea. The country threatened to send troops to the border but later suspended that plan. story continues below The suspension likely comes out of financial need rather than "a desire to place North-South reconciliation back on track," as months of closed borders "has deprived the North Korean economy of almost all foreign-exchange inflows," Korea Society President Thomas Byrne writes at the Wall Street Journal. It might be too much to hope for concessions during a future meeting of Kim and President Trump. Such a meeting is "probably unlikely between now and the US election" owing to the coronavirus pandemic, US Deputy Secretary of State Steve Biegun says, per the Japan Times. But "we believe there's still time for the United States and North Korea to make substantial progress in the direction that we believe that both sides want to go." (Read more North Korea stories.) (Newser) More than 30 bar owners in Texas have filed a legal challenge against Gov. Greg Abbott's order Friday to close all bars for a second time. "Why does he continue unilaterally acting like a king?" says Houston lawyer Jared Woodfill, who filed the lawsuit in Travis County District Court on Monday, per the Texas Tribune. Woodfillwho's challenged Abbott's other coronavirus-related restrictions, including mask requirementssays the governor is "sentencing bar owners to bankruptcy." Tee Allen Parker, owner of Machine Shed Bar & Grill in Kilgore, says she plans to protest the order at the Capitol Grounds on Tuesday. Abbott is "violating our constitutional rights," she tells the Tribune. "I don't like that he can't be consistent Everything he's said he's walked back." story continues below Abbott said the order was "essential to our mission to swiftly contain this virus and enhance public health." He acknowledged "Texans congregating in bars" were partly responsible for an increase in COVID-19 cases in the state and said he regretted reopening bars at 25% indoor capacity on May 22, followed by 50% capacity on June 3, per the Tribune. "If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars, now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting," he told KVIA. The rolling, seven-day average of new cases in Texas has hit a record high "for the past 20 days straight," per the Washington Post. Some 800,000 workers in the restaurant industry have lost their jobs, according to the Texas Restaurant Association. (Read more Texas stories.) In this file photo taken on Feb. 27, 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un following a meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi. AFP The top U.S. envoy for North Korea said Monday that another summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is unlikely before the November presidential election in the United States. Stephen Biegun, deputy secretary of state and lead negotiator on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, made the comment during a virtual forum hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a think tank headquartered in Washington. "I think it's probably unlikely between now and the U.S. election," he said in response to a question about the possibility of Trump and Kim meeting again. "In the time remaining and with the wet blanket the COVID-19 has put over the entire world it's hard to envision the circumstances where we could do an in-person international summit, but certainly engagement between the two sides, and we're prepared to do so," he said. Trump and Kim have met three times since June 2018 to try to reach a deal on dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program in exchange for U.S. concessions. But working-level negotiations have failed to make progress amid wide gaps over the scope of North Korea's denuclearization and sanctions relief from the U.S. (Newser) California was seen as an early success case in combating COVID-19, shutting down early and getting the numbers low enough so that Gov. Gavin Newsom felt comfortable in starting to reopen the state. Now, however, the coronavirus has come roaring back, and in LA County especially, the state's epicenter for the virus, things look especially concerning. The New York Times reports that on Monday, the county saw more than 2,800 new cases, the most of any day during the pandemic, with more than 100,000 people overall now infectedtranslating to an infection in 1 out of every 140 people. These new numbers are now leading to worries about hospital capacity: The county estimates it will run out of ICU beds sometime next month, and hospital beds overall in just a few weeks. "We didn't expect to see increases that were this steep so quickly," a biostatistician tells the Los Angeles Times. story continues below The NYT lays out how, after California counties started some of the nation's earliest shutdowns in mid-March, the numbers dropped, and in May, Newsom started to feel real pressure to reopen the state. Residents didn't exactly take a slow-and-steady approach to reentry when that happened: On the weekend of June 20, when bars were once again open in LA County, a half-million people visited their favorite watering holes. Newsom has since closed bars and nightclubs again in seven counties, using what he calls a "dimmer switch" in LA County and other hard-hit areas, per Deadline. "We know what to do," says state Sen. Richard Pan. "We're just not doing it." Barbara Ferrer, LA County's public health director, has her own plea. "This is the time to hunker down back in your home whenever you can," she says. "Let's not let go of everything we worked hard and sacrificed for." (Read more Los Angeles County stories.) (Newser) Three police officers are under investigation in Aurora, Colorado, after they were photographed near the site of Elijah McClain's fatal encounter with police, reports CBS Denver. Reporter Brian Maass says the photos show officers reenacting the chokehold used on the 23-year-old. The site where he died is now a memorial. McClain was detained on Aug. 24 after a person called 911 to report a person "wearing a ski mask and waving his arms," per Vice. McClain was listening to music at the time, and his family says he occasionally wore the mask because he had anemia and felt cold, reports NPR. Police said McClain refused requests to "stop walking down the street" before he was placed in a carotid hold and held down by three officers. story continues below Paramedics then injected McClain with the sedative ketamine. He suffered multiple cardiac arrests and was declared brain dead before being taken off life support on Aug. 30. Local prosecutors declined to charge officers Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt, and Randy Roedema. However, all three were removed from regular duty before Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser was appointed to reopen case last week, per CBS Denver and the Washington Post. Interim police chief Vanessa Wilson said an "accelerated investigation" into the photos by Internal Affairs concluded Monday evening and would be "publicly released in its entirety." She added "all involved officers were immediately placed on administrative leave with pay in non-enforcement capacities." (Read more Elijah McClain stories.) (Newser) While the debate about taking down Confederate flags raged in some parts of the country, an Oklahoma woman was nearly killed for taking down a Nazi flag. Police say the 26-year-old woman was shot multiple times early Sunday after taking one of two swastika flags from the front yard of Hunter resident Daniel John Feaster, Fox 4 reports. Garfield County Sheriff Jody Helm says the woman was at a nearby party and apparently stole the flag on a darethough distaste for Adolf Hitler's genocidal regime may also have played a role. "On the way back someone hollered gun," Helm says. "She dropped the flag at the end of the driveway and shots were fired." The woman, who was shot four times in the back with a 5.56 rifle, is expected to survive, reports Enid News. story continues below Feaster, 44, was charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon and shooting with intent to kill, NBC reports. Police executed a search warrant and removed 14 guns from his home. Authorities say any charges against the woman who took the flag will be up to the district attorney. Neighbors say Feaster, who "keeps to himself," has been flying the flags for around a year. "His flags got stolen a couple times when he first put them out but nothing ever came of it. This is the first time its ever come to violence," one neighbor says. "Hes been out mowing neighbors yards and just smiling and waving at everyone." The neighbor says Feaster is sometimes seen in public wearing an all-black outfit with a red swastika armband. It's not clear whether that was the outfit he mowed lawns in. (Read more Oklahoma stories.) (Newser) The European Union wants the world's tourists to know it will be back open for business on Wednesday, but only if they hail from 15 countries. And the US is not one of them. The EU on Tuesday listed the nations whose residents are welcome when the borders reopen: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay, per Business Insider. The 15th is China, provided China reciprocates and allows in EU residents. As for Americans, the soaring number of coronavirus cases in the US means they're off-limits for at least another two weeks, reports the AP. story continues below The US joins nations including Russia, Brazil, and India on the not-welcome list, which will be updated every 14 days. In New Zealand, meanwhile, which has been hailed as a success story in the COVID-19 fight, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pushed back against calls for her nation to reopen its own borders to foreign travelers. In her view, it doesn't make sense to expose New Zealanders to "a world where the virus is escalating, not slowing, and not even peaking in some countries yet," per the Guardian. "All of the while, we get to enjoy weekend sport, go to restaurants and bars, our workplaces are open, and we can gather in whatever numbers we like." (Read more European Union stories.) (Newser) Land reform legislation gave Scots the right to roam through Queen Elizabeth II's vast Balmoral estatebut too many of them have been using it as an outdoor toilet, the Queen's rangers say. In a tweet, Balmoral Castle staff said they were "disappointed" to see so many non-biodegradable wet wipes discarded on the 50,000-acre Aberdeenshire estate, some of them right next to monuments, CNN reports. The rangers noted that public toilets for miles around have been closed due to coronavirus restrictions, but people have been breaking into them and they are "becoming unsanitary." They say they have found "increased amounts of human waste," and "people are choosing to relieve themselves right next to busy paths or monuments rather than move a little bit further away to avoid contamination." story continues below Estate staff acknowledged that Her Majesty's subjects do sometimes have to answer the call of nature, but said they would like them to be more discreet, the BBC reports. "If you've got to go, you've got to go," they said in a Facebook post. "If you need to pee, please do so at least 30 metres from lochs or streams. If you need to defecate, do so as far away as possible from buildings, from open water or rivers and streams, and from any farm animals. Bury feces in a shallow hole and replace the turf. Use biodegradable toilet paper rather than wipes." The estate is the Scottish home of the royal family, though the Queen hasn't visited Scotland since the lockdown began in March. (Earlier this month, the palace released photos of the monarch riding a pony called Balmoral Fern.) It all started last year when he spent two hours making the original track in his bedroom in his family home. "It just came about when I sat on my laptop. I jumped on, made a lazy beat, and whatever it felt like after, that's what I called it. So it was sort of laxed and that's why I called it Laxed." The catchy tune 'Laxed-Siren Beat' then started becoming popular on TikTok. The 'culture dance' craze took off, and the moves were picked up by the likes of Lizzo, Jessica Alba and of course Jason Derulo himself, who messaged the teen directly. "All I see is a text from him. I just ran to my room, showed my mum, showed my little siblings." Derulo initially came under fire for using Nanai's music, but that later led to a collaboration. "It sort of went weird, but I was happy that we came to an agreement and made the song 'Savage Love'." So far, it's had 48 million Spotify streams, it's number one in New Zealand and it's about to hit number one in the UK. All that's left for Nanai is to meet Derulo in person. "[I would] just get a photo or something, just go to eat." Now, the River Authority is the joint that Crown and iwi voices set up to act and speak for the river. Its chief executive Bob Penter has revealed if Auckland wants 25 million litres extra per day, it can pay 10c a litre for the privilege - or $2.5 million a day. Outrageous isn't it? What a cheek. Lose the bravado, drop the egos and help a brother out. We are all guardians of our rivers and mountains, and we are here for a mere millisecond. Hamiltonians should be ashamed of these people who are deliberately blocking progress for Auckland. Now I know Auckland has stuffed up, and perhaps Auckland needs new water leadership - but right now, they just need a drink. I think Waikato should be ashamed of this River Authority, who are deliberately mischief-making. Maybe we should go further up the creek and ask another iwi or another authority until we find some friendly faces who can help. Imagine if we in Auckland boycotted Hamilton and drove around it every time, and refused to spend money in your city. Unhelpful, isn't it? Grow up and be useful. Duncan Garner is the host of The AM Show. "Today's sentencing is another small step on a very long journey for us and no punishment administered by the justice system will ever allow us to see Hunter's beautiful smile again, nor does it dull the extreme pain we all feel everyday he is not here. We all miss him so very much," they said in a statement. "Hunter now has a wee brother who will never know him and his cousins still cry when he is not there. Time has not yet eased any of the pain caused by this senseless act and we still wait for an explanation as to what happened and why." Speaking in court for her victim impact statement, Hunter's mother gave a harrowing victim impact statement, saying the pain never ends. "The feelings of loss are so strong that I wonder how I can keep living," she said. "I have no regrets except leaving him with Daniel that evening... I will never forgive myself and I have to live with that forever." And the boy's aunt said her nephew's murder "ripped apart" her world. "I was in shock and disbelief at how someone could be so hurtful... to take someone away from this world." By Guyon Espiner and John Daniell of RNZ The SIS broke into the Indian High Commission for MI6 and the Iranian Embassy for the CIA in the late 1980s and early 1990s to photograph code books, plant bugs and steal communications. The operations included at least two raids on the Indian High Commission in Wellington in 1989 and 1991 to photograph thousands of pages from the commission's code books, which were used to encrypt communications. The covert attack on the Indian High Commission was code-named Operation Dunnage and was a joint mission between the New Zealand SIS and Britain's MI6. Thousands of photographs containing the codes were sent back to the UK so that Britain's foreign intelligence service could decipher the communications of Indian government officials and diplomats. RNZ has also learned that in the early 1990s the New Zealand SIS targeted the Iranian embassy in Wellington in a mission named Operation Horoscope, which was driven by the CIA. The CIA altered circuit boards on a telex machine used by the Iranian Embassy in Wellington, allowing the American intelligence agency to intercept the Iranian's communications. The SIS entered the embassy for the CIA, photographed the building and installed listening devices supplied by the CIA. Operation Horoscope involved months of covert work and remained active for many years afterwards. RNZ learned about the raids after piecing together information gained after months of engaging with multiple sources in New Zealand, Britain and the US. One New Zealand source, who has spent more than 20 years at the highest levels of the public sector, told RNZ he was concerned about the nature of the work the SIS carried out for its Five Eyes partners. The source, who has had close dealings with the intelligence agencies, said New Zealand came under pressure from its Five Eyes partners, especially the US and Australia, to do their dirty work. He felt New Zealand sometimes risked its international reputation by doing things that largely benefited Five Eyes partners. The source said the embassy raids uncovered by RNZ needed to be made public as the disclosure might help keep the SIS more tightly "on the leash". In a statement, the SIS said it was "unable to respond to questions about what may or not be specific operational matters". "The mission of the NZSIS has always been to keep New Zealanders safe, protect our key national institutions and promote New Zealand's national advantage," the statement said. It said the SIS had always been subject to processes which ensured its activities were authorised, even though the details of those processes have changed over time in line with changes in legislation. Former prime minister Helen Clark has also expressed her concern about New Zealand drifting too close to its Five Eyes partners, in an interview for The Service podcast about New Zealand's role in the Cold War. A $37.6 million programme is being launched to help people on temporary New Zealand visas who are experiencing serious hardship as a result of COVID-19. From July 1 struggling foreign nationals can apply for assistance to meet basic needs such as food and accomodation. Assistance may also be provided for: Food and household goods Blankets, hot water bottles and basic clothing Over-the-counter medication Accommodation (including rent, boarding costs and rent arrears) Utilities (electricity, gas). Excludes internet and broadband connection and plans If required, prepaid phone cards to enable emergency communication and communication with consulate/embassy Petrol/travel (limited to travel required to shift to new location for employment purposes or to an airport to leave New Zealand) The programme is run by the Department of Internal Affairs (Te Tari Taiwhenua) and the Red Cross who will provide support directly to third parties. No cash payments will be offered. U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun / AP Stephen Biegun, U.S. deputy secretary of state and the point man on North Korea, is planning to visit South Korea as early as next month, diplomatic sources said Tuesday. Officials in Seoul and Washington have been in talks to arrange details for the envisioned trip, taking into account various circumstances amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the sources. A local newspaper reported that Biegun plans to travel to Seoul early next month and related ministry officials in Seoul are in talks to exempt him from a two-week self-isolation as required under current quarantine rules in South Korea. "A visit by the deputy secretary has yet to be confirmed since there are a lot of factors to consider. It could be July or August," a source said. Peters said given the current global environment, planning to have such a large volume of high-level visitors in New Zealand from late 2020 onwards is "impractical". "For planning and security reasons, we had to make a call on our APEC hosting now. It wasn't practical to wait for many more months till a clearer picture of the virus' spread emerged." Leaders' Week isn't till November 2021, but Peters said an in-person APEC we would have seen thousands of people entering the country from late 2020 onwards - some of them from COVID-19 hotspots. "We simply couldn't guarantee these people would be able to enter New Zealand without being quarantined," he said. "This decision to 'go virtual' is a pragmatic solution which preserves New Zealand's longstanding commitment to host APEC 2021." Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker said APEC is the leading economic and trade forum in the Asia-Pacific region and believes holding it virtually will still bring success to the event. It has an important role to play as we and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region work to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, especially its economic impacts," he said. "Deciding now on the different format of the APEC meetings gives certainty and allows us to focus on achieving meaningful outcomes through virtual means for New Zealand and the APEC membership." He said the Government will continue to look to find ways to showcase New Zealand and "leverage the virtual hosting of APEC to our national advantage". Planning for APEC 2021 got off to a rocky start when Auckland's SkyCity convention centre - set to host the trade event - caught on fire in October 2019. APEC in 2021 was set to be a massive event for New Zealand, with thousands of international visitors. It was tipped as a once-in-20-year investment opportunity. The total cost of hosting APEC 2021 was expected to be between $265 and $330 million. Cameras on fishing boats are causing conniptions and contradictions. "New Zealand First has not been the cause of delays on cameras," Nash has claimed on Tuesday. But in February 2018, a few months after he took office, the explanation was remarkably different according to this secret recording obtained by Newshub. "I've got to play the political game in a way that allows me to make these changes. Now, Winston Peters and Shane Jones have made it very clear they do not want cameras on boats," Nash can be heard saying in a recording. Nash then went on to say a public review of the fisheries management is needed to get the cameras rolled out. "If Winston wants to have that discussion with Jacinda, it is had in the public arena and it is almost impossible for him to win it," he said. "But if he has it behind closed doors on the 9th floor now, then the public will never know about it. So what I am trying to do is put Winston and Shane into a position where they cannot back down." A strategy was discussed. "By revoking these regulations, first of all people like Winston and the industry will go, 'oh there, there you go. That's fantastic, that's been done. We don't have to worry about this'," he said in the recording. "Little do they know behind the scenes the tidal wave on this is coming and they won't be able to avoid it." But that tidal wave never came, nor did the planned fisheries review nor cameras on all boats. If you have more information, contact Michael Morrah in confidence by email: michaelmorrah@mediaworks.co.nz On Tuesday, Nash said his comments were a mistake and that he 'misread' NZ First's position. "I just got it wrong. I was a new Minister. I was coming to grips with the portfolio. I got it wrong," he told Newshub. NZ First MPs are adamant they haven't delayed things, with Jones blaming the pandemic. "I'm not the Fisheries Minister, but I suspect that COVID has got a lot to do with it," Regional Development Minister Shane Jones told Newshub. "Cameras on fishing boats is really interesting. We haven't blocked cameras on fishing boats," NZ First MP Tracey Martin told Newshub Nation. Although in an interview with Newshub less than two weeks ago, party leader Winston Peters eventually acknowledged NZ First was involved in the delay. "Do we listen to industry representation, yes. Are we concerned about families and their economic representation? Yes. Are we the cause of that delay? Well, we are part of the representation that has ended up with a more rational and sane policy, yes" he said. Asked whether that was a yes to the original question, Peters responded: "yes". Fishing company Talley's donated $10,000 to Shane Jones' 2017 election campaign. RNZ also revealed that Talleys donated $26,950 to the NZ First Foundation. Newshub has verified these donations. Talley's Andrew Talley told Newshub "within the right framework cameras have a place in modern fisheries management". He says there's "no connection" with donations and the camera delays. When questioned if NZ First had delayed the cameras because he got financial backing from the fishing industry, Peters called it an "insulting question". "Stop making your vile, defamatory allegations by way of an accusatory question," he told Newshub. "This conversation is over." And with that the interview ended abruptly. Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman is convinced NZ First killed off the cameras. "It is completely unacceptable that NZ First has anything to do with fisheries policy in this country, given the money flowing from the big fishing companies to them," Norman says. "This recording just brings it to the surface more than it was already." In the recording, Nash also offered a blunt assessment of the difficulties he'd faced with his portfolios. "I've got Police, Fisheries, Small Business and Tax. Fisheries is by far the most philosophically challenging," he said. "You think Police deal with dodgy buggers? They've got nothing in the fisheries sector." Nash says the dodgy buggers were Hawke's Bay Seafoods, whose directors were prosecuted for misreporting catches. "What I was talking about was a very high profile case in my own electorate," he told Newshub. As for Peters - he didn't want to talk about anything on Tuesday but he did put out a press release. In it, he claimed it was Nash's office who asked to delay the cameras on boats, not New Zealand First. Newshub spoke to Nash's office. They said the Minister did sign off on the delay - but did so taking into account the views of NZ First and the Greens. Peters went on to attack Morrah, saying the story was "unethical tabloid journalism" and "clickbait journalism at its worst" even though he hadn't seen it. Newshub believes this story is in the public interest. Fisheries is a public asset. There's been evidence of widespread dumping and misreporting in the past, and cameras on boats are all about transparency for the public and preventing illegal behaviour. Kiwis that travel to Europe will not have to spend time in isolation when they arrive, according to reports. But the Prime Minister confirmed New Zealand will not be returning the favour and that two weeks of quarantine upon return will remain. "Essentially, it changes nothing from New Zealand's perspective," she told reporters on Tuesday. "What it does mean is that New Zealanders will have the ability to enter without isolation requirements. But in New Zealand, our restrictions remain." Ardern said she'd find it "surprising" if New Zealanders went on holiday to Europe, considering COVID-19 is still widespread there - particularly in the UK where more than 43,000 people have died from the virus. "I certainly haven't heard of New Zealanders considering holidays knowing they would have to have a two-week period in quarantine on return," she said. "What we are doing is getting advice for Kiwis who might be making a deliberate decision to leave without good reason or rationale picking up the cost of that on their return." The minister in charge of managed isolation, Megan Woods, has already signalled the Government's intention to explore co-payment of the facilities with returnees. But there are legal implications since Kiwis have the right to return home. "I think we should move fairly quickly on that because we are seeing other borders opening up," Ardern said. "I do think we need to have those measures in place." National leader Todd Muller says the Government needs to provide some clarity about when New Zealand could potentially open up to other countries. "We need to know when those standards will be in place so that New Zealanders have confidence to progressively and safely open the border and grow the economy," he said. "Locking down what's left of the economy and waiting for a vaccine isn't an option." Muller said he doesn't think the border needs to be opened up anytime soon, but that the Government should provide a strategy and criteria for it. "I'm not saying in any way that this is short-term, but what I am saying is this thinking should be put in the public. We should be reflecting about that as New Zealanders and saying, how would that work?" The Prime Minister had a blunt message for Kiwis considering travel to Europe: "Don't." "Enjoy your own backyard. There are still risks with travel. This is a pandemic that is growing at an extraordinary rate and at the same time I don't think it's fair that for those decisions New Zealanders would pick up the cost." She said Kiwis who choose to travel overseas should meet the full cost of that holiday. "The question ultimately is whether or not we can differentiate from someone who is choosing to leave versus someone who needs to return." As for the prospect of a state-by-state trans-Tasman travel bubble, Ardern said it's up to Australia. "That would depend on the provisions around what those state borders look like," she said. "But as I've said, a lot of this sits with Australia and we'll keep the work going in between." ASB's latest report on the impacts of COVID-19 on the New Zealand tourism sector says due to the loss of international tourism, GDP will be three to five percent lower than it would otherwise be. But the switch towards domestic tourist experiences of New Zealanders will lessen the economic hit, it adds. Finance Minister Grant Robertson avoided taking a position on the issue on Tuesday. "I'm certainly not saying that's our policy. What I'm saying is we will announce our policy in the future Today's not the day for announcements." The National Party's finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says Labour is "desperate" to increase taxes. "They want to spend more and they want to tax more, and they need to be clear about who's going to be paying it and when." Being vague around tax has got Labour into trouble before. During the 2017 election, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had to back down on new taxes after relentless attacks. But members of the public Newshub spoke to said they could now be onside with a higher tax bracket. "As people earn more, they have more to give," one said. "Definitely. There's people that are doing it hard out here," another said. "At a selfish level, no [there shouldn't be a higher tax bracket]. From an economic, wider-governmental perspective, yes," a third claimed. National lumping Labour in with the Greens on its new policy is unfair, but Labour isn't helping itself by not having an answer. That leaves it wide open for speculation, and Labour should know by now that tax and National's tax attacks are its greatest achilles heel. Retiring National MP Paula Bennett is dishing out high praise for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, just a day after she announced she was quitting politics. Bennett, who was Deputy Prime Minister under Sir Bill English, is reflecting on 15 years in politics after revealing on Monday she would be resigning come election time. Speaking to The AM Show on Tuesday, Bennett said Ardern deserves respect and admitted admiration of her. "As the Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash will attest, New Zealand First raised legitimate concerns about cameras on boats, namely their cost and who would be able to access the data," he said. "New Zealand First can also confirm that it was Mr Nash's office who asked to delay the introduction of cameras on boats, not us." Plans to have the cameras installed on all boats were delayed by the Government in late 2018, then delayed again in June 2020 to push the implementation date out to 2021. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash said this was due to camera technology not being ready and too expensive. He also said NZ First backed his efforts to get cameras on boats. However tonight Newshub will reveal what else has been going on behind the scenes. Peters is calling it "the worst form of unethical tabloid journalism". "What is appalling is how clickbait journalism is affecting the public's right to be informed accurately about government policy," he said. "Newshub's 'shock horror' special investigation will be as shallow as the motives behind its creation, and highlight once again some in the New Zealand's media's inability to understand how coalitions work." Morrah has covered the fishing industry for a decade and stands by his reporting. "The public can make their own mind up tonight on Newshub Live at 6pm about whether this is clickbait journalism as Peters has claimed," he says. "I strongly reject any such suggestion, and I believe this story is in the public interest." "This is about creating jobs as we recover and rebuild from the recession caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic... Building infrastructure is a key component of our economic recovery plan. It creates jobs and provides much-needed economic stimulus." About $400 million has been set aside for a rainy day, and funds not required for that will be put towards further infrastructure projects providing an incentive for local councils to deliver the approved projects on time and on budget. How the funding is split: $464 million for housing and urban development $460 million environmental projects $670 million for community and social development $708 million for transport, including cycleways, walkways, ports and roads Where the funding will be spent: $500 million for Auckland $170 million for Bay of Plenty $300 million for Canterbury $106 million for East Coast $130 million for Hawke's Bay $140 million for Manawatu/Whanganui $150 million for Northland $260 million for Otago $90 million for Southland $85 million for Taranaki $85 million for top of the South Island $150 million for Waikato $185 million for Wellington $90 million for West Coast The $3 billion to fund infrastructure in Budget 2020 was in addition to the Government's $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced in January. The Government has provided some examples of the projects receiving funding, but further announcements on project details will be made over coming weeks. Around $22 million is going to the Auckland City Mission HomeGround redevelopment. An average of 80 workers will be on site during construction over the next 12 months with over 150 offsite personnel for the remainder of 2020 and into next year. Around $55 million will go towards the development of Maori land and housing in the Bay of Plenty, around $15 million will contribute to the Christchurch Coastal Pathway, and $8 million to replace the Rugby Park Grandstand in East Coast. Other allocations include $20 million for the Whakatu Inland Port in Hawke's Bay, $20 million for Whangarei rejuvenation in Northland, $37 million for the New Plymouth Wastewater Treatment Plant, and $11 million to develop the Blenheim Art Gallery and Library. Invercargill will get $10 million for inner city development, $20 million will go towards developing Taupo town centre, $14 million will be spent on refurbishing the Wellington District Court, and a $7 million ports package for West Coast. Earlier this year, the Government established the independent Industry Reference Group (IRG), which was given the task of identifying projects to be progressed quickly. When Budget 2020 was unveiled in May, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones said ministers would "soon" decide which projects to progress and consider advice from the IRG which received a total of 1924 submissions with a combined value of $136 billion. Jones said the pipeline of projects would create immediate economic activity in the metropolitan centres as well as the regions. National's economic development spokesperson Judith Collins has been critical of the time it's taken to get infrastructure projects up and running. The main fear for many is the bill incentivises the acceleration of productive farmland being converted to pines planted for carbon credits. With New Zealand's goal to be carbon neutral by 2050, the ETS has effectively turned carbon into a currency. People receive credits for planting trees which can then be sold to companies to offset their emissions. But 50 Shades of Green spokesperson Pattie OBoyle says the legislation doesn't have effective safeguards in place to protect prime agricultural land. According to 50 Shades of Green and other industry groups, around 70,000 hectares of productive sheep and beef land has been, or is in the process of being, converted to forestry. Those numbers differ from Government figures, however, which state around 11,000 hectares have gone to planting. O'Boyle said the figure of 70,000 had been validated by Beef + Lamb NZ. "My understanding is that figure is actually a lot higher than that but until it's got its final validation 70,000 is where it is presently sitting," O'Boyle told Magic Talk's Rural Today on Tuesday. "It's actually land that has been sold for those purposes. I'm not absolutely sure that it's all been planted but that is the intention of those coming in to gain those carbon credits and basically launder their carbon on food producing land - which we all know, and it has become even more apparent since COVID, that New Zealand has a huge role to play in global food supply and more importantly for our domestic consumer." She said carbon forestry was taking its toll on rural livelihoods. "It's compelling, the data around jobs, around local economies, around the environment." The group is launching a TV ad campaign starting on July 1 to raise awareness for its cause, using footage that shows what O'Boyle describes as "the death of the landscape, the death of the community, the death of the breeding grounds for that very first step in a food supply chain". The group said it felt it was necessary to create an ad campaign because: "We dont think the vision of a New Zealand covered in pine is a vision that resonates with most New Zealanders nor have New Zealanders caught up with what the impact on our landscape will be". The Government has rejected criticism by industry groups, saying its scheme is one of the most ambitious in the world. There has been controversy in recent weeks over the Emissions Trading Scheme, with many fearing prime farming land will be blanketed in pine trees for carbon credits. But Ross Verry, chief executive of agribusiness investment company Syndex, says COVID-19 has shown the value New Zealand has in the world as a food producer. Because of that value, investing in the farming sector should be a no-brainer, he says. "We are world-class producers of food - we do it efficiently, we do it high-quality, we do it sustainably - and the last three months have shown us the world is valuing highly nutrition and health and good quality food. So why wouldn't you as an investor see the opportunity and support it?" Verry told Rural Exchange. "I'm still a great believer in the food story of New Zealand. I think that's our greatest opportunity and it would be an absolute shame if good quality productive land is directed towards an asset class which isn't going to deliver holistically for our economy and New Zealand generally." Listen to the full interview with Ross Verry. This article was created for Syndex. Rural Exchange with Hamish McKay and Richard Loe, 6-8am Saturday and Sunday on Magic Talk. David Baines, chief executive of NZ Pork, says he agrees it would be great to fill the open positions with New Zealanders but to do so quickly is not practical. "The sector's strong preference would be to have a pool of available skilled and unskilled New Zealand workers," Baines said on Tuesday. "However, pig farming is a relatively niche sector in New Zealand and the reality is that there is a significant shortage of New Zealanders applying for roles." He said the industry here relies on a supply of skilled migrant workers who have been trained in their home country. "The numbers in total are small, particularly compared to major industries such as dairy, but the productivity of the industry is very vulnerable because of the precision nature of pig farming." Baines said NZ Pork has requested an urgent meeting with Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway to discuss the issue. "While we recognise that COVID-19 has and will continue to leave New Zealanders out of work, and hopefully create some opportunities for New Zealanders who are prepared and willing to work on pig farms, the sector cannot wait for such people to perhaps become available," said Baines. As well as the problem of existing workers being unable to return from overseas visits, Baines said a number of pig farmers had expressed concern some workers already here would have to leave the country if their work visas were not renewed. There were also concerns over the cost of visas, processing times and a lack of consistency in terms of visa lengths and conditions. Police on Tuesday called in the head of a North Korean defector group over its anti-Pyongyang leafleting campaign, which Seoul views as a breach of law and Pyongyang vehemently criticizes. Park Sang-hak, head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, showed up for questioning at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at 9:30 a.m. The former defector is known to have scheduled his attendance in advance with authorities. Defying the government's warning against leafleting, Park claimed that his group sent some 500,000 leaflets carried by 20 large helium balloons over to the North on Monday last week. Cheong Wa Dae earlier warned that the government would crack down on such acts, which it said constitute a violation of laws including the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation act. The campaign to scatter leaflets that criticize the North Korean political system and the North's ruling Kim family has recently been a major source of confrontation between the two Koreas. Police plan to question him on various suspicions raised against his activist group that has been leading the leafleting campaign. Last week, police raided the offices of the Seoul-based group as well as Kuensaem, another anti-North Korea activist group run by Park's younger brother. They have also been probing into the case by interviewing residents in the border towns of Gimpo, Paju and Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province and Gangwha in Incheon, west of Seoul. Police are expected to decide whether to push for Park's indictment following the questioning. (Yonhap) NZ Tahr Foundation spokesperson Willie Duley and Forest and Bird Canterbury West Coast regional manager, Nicky Snoyink, spoke to Morning Report. Duley said: "We are hugely concerned. If this goes ahead it will be the end of the tahr hunting resource as we know it ... it's a threefold increase in culling and they are also going to be culling bulls in national parks which they haven't done in many years. "That's going to see hundreds, if not thousands, of those majestic bulls left to rot on the hillsides, all in a time when we are struggling, our industry is hurting, the borders are closed and there's no tourist hunters coming over... "It is a real kick in the guts for us at the moment." Snoyink said she didn't accept Duley's comments at all. "We made a declaration to the High Court regarding the lawfulness of the tahr operational plan back in March and our main key issue with that was leaving bull tahr in national parks, which is inconsistent with the National Parks Act. "The National Parks Act and the National Park Management Plans are unequivocal in that populations of tahr in the national parks should be zero ... the issue is that there are simply too many tahr and the department just needs to get on and do that work." Duley said if the cull went ahead, the tahr breeding population would be "nuked". "It is the end of the tahr population as we know it." He claimed that because tahr had been in New Zealand since 1904 and the National Parks Act came into effect in 1980, "we really have to question the laws, does it reflect the values, the culture". Snoyink said the Himalayan Tahr Control Plan allowed for a population of 10,000, but "in the national parks the population is zero and that is unequivocal in the law and the National Park Management Plans. "The priority of those ... plans and the act is to protect and preserve natural values and that is your indigenous species, your flora and fauna, and protection and preservation is also about restoration and enhancement and that is unlikely to be happening also long a bull tahr are in national parks." RNZ Team NZ manager Grant Dalton tells Newshub he doesn't know exactly what was leaked, who it was leaked to or why. "That's a million dollar question - can't get past the fact of what's the motive and we can't get past that." On Tuesday, the Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation (MBIE) said it was conducting an investigation after information on the team's finances was leaked. MBIE said the motives of those who leaked the information could only be guessed. "In addition, these people have made highly defamatory and inaccurate allegations regarding financial and structural matters against ACE, ETNZ and its personnel." American Magic - the New York challenger - arrived in Auckland on Tuesday. Along with Italy's Luna Rosa and Ineos Team UK, they say they had nothing to do with the leak. "I don't know [if it was one of the other teams]," Dalton says. "I know the other characters just couldn't get there in my own mind." But when it comes to the America's Cup, there's no such thing as bad publicity, says event historian Tom Ehman says. "Here we go, the America's Cup is back on and that's good news, when there's a little intrigue and mystery. The bad news is there is something going on internally." Another strain of influenza has been detected in China - and researchers say it has the potential to infect humans and cause a fresh global health crisis. The new flu virus - known only as G4 EA H1N1 - has so far only been found in pigs, but scientists say it has "all the hallmarks" of being highly adapted to humans and capable of triggering a pandemic in a similar fashion to COVID-19. The research - published on Monday in scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - suggests Chinese pig farmers already show elevated levels of the virus, which could eventually cause widespread disease. TDT | Manama Five Bahraini companies have been named on a prestigious Forbes list of the Top 100 Arab Family Businesses in the Middle East. They include YK Almoayyed and Sons, Yusuf Bin Ahmed (YBA) Kanoo, Abdulla Yousif Fakhro Group, Al Zayani Investments, and Haji Hassan Group. YK Almoayyed and Sons was the lists top-ranked Bahraini business (30th in the top 100), while YBA Kanoo was second (39th). Abdulla Yousif Fakhro Group was ranked third in the Kingdom (74th), Al Zayani Investments fourth (80th), and Haji Hassan Group fifth (99th). We are of course very proud to be one of the regions top family businesses, and the first ranked in Bahrain, YK Almoayyed chairman Farouk Yousuf Almoayyed told TDT yesterday. We are keen to continue the tradition of supporting the Bahraini economy, especially during these difficult economic times. Almoayyed said that one of the keys to his companys success over the years is its open-door policy to both customers and staff. When I came into the business as a young man, I always thought that I should put myself in the customers place whenever I make a decision, even if I lose sometimes; and that has kept our customers happy, he explained. We always have an open-door policywe deal with all kinds of feedback, either from our staff or from a customerand try to solve the problem effectively. Weve had a lot of repeat customers over time. I think that somebody who buys from you once and they get bad treatment, they will not come again; but if satisfied, they will come back 10 times. Addressing the current economic challenges brought about by the coronavirus (COVID-19), Almoayyed said that his company has been able to manage the impact of the pandemic, and has even been able to keep its Bahraini and expatriate staff fully intact throughout the crisis. With the help of the governments economic stimulus package initiatives, we have been able to overcome the most severe times over the last three months, Almoayyed explained. We have not laid off any of our staff, both Bahrainis and expatriates, and we hope that the worst is over. It is a difficult time but we have managed to get through it, and we have also been benevolent in relieving a lot of the pressure with payments from some of our clients. Almoayyed said that despite the current economic climate, a positive outlook must be maintained by businesses, especially young entrepreneurs who may be looking to launch their ventures in the near future. This is the worst time unfortunately for young entrepreneurs to start, but we must take it day by day and be optimistic rather than pessimistic, he encouraged. We must deal with something when it happens, rather than keep worrying about it. Meanwhile, YBA Kanoo director Nabeel Kanoo expressed his delight in his company being included in the Forbes list, especially as it is marking 130 years in operation. Being one of the Top 100 Family Businesses in the Middle East, and the second ranking in Bahrain, is a true testament for the Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo family, and adds more pride to our 130th anniversary celebrations, Kanoo told TDT. The success that the brand has achieved in its long years in business is attributed to the hard work of six generations of Kanoo family members who dedicated their lives to growing and expanding the group. I would like to thank the leaderships of the GCC countries for their continuous support to our business which has been pivotal in our journey in trade. I would also like to thank both our loyal clients who continue to trust our brand and our hardworking employees who without them the Group wouldnt have achieved this prestigious status. Approximately 200 Arab family-owned businesses in the region were studied by Forbes Middle East in compiling the top 100 list. Forbes considered group investments in regional and global stock exchanges and real estate assets; business diversification and the number of sectors in which they have significant operations; types of business activity and to what extent they have been affected by the current crisis; the companies number of employees; the number of countries they are present in and geographical diversification; and their dates of establishment. Atop the ranking is Mansour Group from Egypt, while Al Futtaim Group from the UAE was ranked second and Olayan Group from Saudi Arabia third. Saudi had the highest number of businesses in the top 100 with 36. The full list can be viewed on forbesmiddleeast.com. TDT | Manama Nearly 81 per cent of the initiatives launched as part of the Bahrainouna National Plan to promote loyalty and patriotism among citizens here are progressing steadily, said a top official. The plan, launched in March last year by Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, comes as part of a comprehensive vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to reinforce the spirit of belonging to the nation and reinforce the values of nationalism. Some 105 initiatives, targeting various sections of society, especially youth, were rolled out as part of the plan. In yesterdays announcement, Hala Sulaiman, Bahrainounas Executive Office Director, said the project is attracting great interaction and engagement both from partners in the private-public sector and NGOs. The plans initiatives, as per the directives of the Follow-up Committee led by the Minister of Interior, have five main streams focusing on belonging, public relations, media campaigns, curricula and legislative. A set of national performance indicators are also being developed to gauge citizens patriotism and attitude towards national values. The effectiveness of the initiatives launched and their impact on the community will also be reviewed. On the role of the private sector, Hala hailed the role of Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) in implementing Bahrainouna initiatives. BBK Group Chief Executive, Dr Abdulrahman Saif, thanked the Interior Minister for ensuring the successful implementation of the plans initiatives. The Bahraini identity is genuine and solid in all Bahrainis, and all of us are ambassadors of our beloved country, Bahrain, and we are honoured to play a part in reinforcing our unique culture and values for all those who live in Bahrain, he said. He highlighted the banks role in achieving community responsibility and partnership, especially during the current situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The bank, he said, is supporting the Feena Khair and Together We Care campaigns to back workers affected by the coronavirus and postponed installments. They are also contributing to national campaigns to promote precautionary measures against the virus. A man wearing a face mask walks in front of the display of South Korea's capital Seoul logo in Seoul, Sunday, June 28, 2020. AP South Korea's new virus cases were below 50 for the second straight day Tuesday, but cases traced to religious gatherings continued in addition to a rise in imported cases. Health authorities said they could regulate small-scale gatherings tied to churches if the virus continues to spread across the country through such meetings. The country added 43 cases, including 23 local infections, raising the total caseload to 12,800, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The tally compared with 42 new cases of COVID-19 reported Monday and 62 additional cases identified Sunday. The country's health authorities remain anxious about a potential new wave of virus outbreaks in the summer amid sustained rises in local infections and cases coming in from overseas. Of the locally transmitted cases, 13 cases were reported in the densely populated Seoul and the surrounding area. The virus is spreading fast beyond the greater Seoul area, spawning concerns over a further virus spread into other parts of the country. Five cases were reported in the central city of Daejeon, including two elementary school students who came into contact with a classmate, and three cases in Gwangju, 329 kilometers south of Seoul, the KCDC said. One case each was reported in the eastern Gangwon Province and the North Chungcheong Province that sits in the country's central region. Health authorities voiced concerns that virus transmissions traced to small gatherings have continued to become a drag on their efforts to contain the virus spread. "Stronger restrictive measures will be in place if COVID-19 continues to spread through small gatherings," Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health official, told reporters without elaborating. But it is not the time for the country to consider raising the degree of social distancing to Level 2 as the current virus situation is manageable with the medical system, Yoon said. The KCDC earlier said the country is currently in the first of a three-level social distancing scheme as the number of daily new virus cases, mostly below 50, is manageable with its virus response capability. South Korea's vice health minister said the country still has a long way to go in its virus fight as it may have to brace for a protracted pandemic. "The biggest challenge ahead of us is fears that the COVID-19 pandemic will not end soon," Vice Health Minister Kim Ganglip said at a peace forum, hosted by Yonhap News Agency. Cluster infections tied to churches in the greater Seoul area have emerged as the bugbear in the country's virus fight. "We call for people to take precautionary steps in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading through gatherings," KDCD Deputy Director Kwon Joon-wook said in a briefing. Cases traced to a major church in Seoul's southwestern ward of Gwanak reached 31 as of noon, up three cases from the previous day. Those tied to a church in Anyang, south of Seoul, reached 23, up one over the past 24 hours. Cases linked to a Buddhist temple in Gwangju rose by two to 14. Health authorities are juggling the idea of adopting "effective" measures to stem the spread of the virus in connection to churches and other religious facilities. South Korea has been gripped by rises in sporadic cluster infections in the greater Seoul area since it relaxed strict social distancing on May 6 on the back of the flattened virus curve. Health officials warned that they may consider expanding tougher infection preventive measures -- currently in place only in the Seoul metropolitan area -- across the country if the virus situations get worse. The portion of cases whose transmission routes are unknown reached 11.5 percent over the past two weeks, according to the KCDC. Such cases are on a rise, putting a strain on health officials' virus fight. The KCDC said it has been conducting antibody tests on some 3,000 blood samples in a bid to gauge people's immunity against the coronavirus. "As the outcomes of foreign studies show, it appears to be an elusive hope to believe that herd immunity has been built in the community," Kwon said, adding that South Korea may not be different from other countries. The country, meanwhile, reported 20 additional imported cases, raising the total such cases to 1,582. Imported cases, once the main source of virus cases here, fell to a single-digit figure early this month after the country strengthened quarantine measures on all international arrivals in April. But such cases have bounced back to double-digit numbers since mid-June. South Korea, meanwhile, reported no additional deaths, bringing the death toll to 282. The fatality rate was 2.2 percent. The total number of people released from quarantine after full recoveries stood at 11,537, up 108 from the previous day. The country has carried out 1,273,766 tests since Jan. 3. Related to broader efforts to tackle the outbreaks that are expected to continue until a treatment drug or vaccine has been developed, a meeting of the state infectious disease management committee called for more hospital beds to be set aside for COVID-19 patients and the hiring of at least 130 more epidemiology investigators. The committee said the central, southeastern and southwestern regions need to be prepared for more outbreaks and that there is a need to assess the size of the national strategic stockpile to counter infectious illnesses going forward. It then advised that dedicated infectious disease support boards be formed for large cities and existing laws be changed to better prevent the inflow of people who may bring in the illness from abroad. (Yonhap) NEW MILFORD The superintendent of schools announced Tuesday evening that she is resigning. Kerry Parker, who has held the position for only a year, sent an email to families saying she was leaving to take a position with a school district in Colorado. I will always cherish my time here, as I have truly enjoyed getting to know the community and the supportive families, she wrote. Parker could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. She doesnt say what the new position is in the email, only that the opportunity was presented this past week. I will miss the students, parents, and staff members I have had the pleasure of working with this past year, she wrote. I cannot thank you enough for the support you have provided me during my time in New Milford. The New Milford Board of Education named her as the superintendent in May 2019 before she was formally approved the following month. She was selected from a national pool of 26 applicants. She came to the district from New Mexico, where she was assistant superintendent of human resources for the Clovis Municipal School District. She started her more than 35-year career in Texas and New Mexico as an English and theater teacher, which she continued in Colorado before becoming an administrator. She worked at two technical high schools in Connecticut from 2005 to 2011. Parker has a bachelors degree in communications and theater, and earned a masters degree in education and a doctorate in educational leadership. I appreciate your understanding and I wish you all the very best, Parker wrote. kkoerting@newstimes.com A 19-year-old New Haven resident pleaded guilty Monday to obstruction of justice, according to federal authorities. Diavion Hutchings, also known as Avi, 19, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in a court proceeding via videoconference, federal authorities said in a statement. The videoconference took place pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES act, the release noted. The case unfolded beginning in Febraury 2019 when the New Haven Police Department conducted a video-recorded interview with an individual who had just been arrested, the release said. During the interview, the individual provided information that led to the state arrest of Hutchings significant other, who federal authorities named as L.W., attributing the information to court documents and statements made in court, A copy of the interview video was provided to L.W.s lawyer, the release said. A federal grand jury in April 2019 returned an indictment against the individual whose interview was video recorded, the release said. On April 24, 2019, Hutchings viewed the interview video at the office of L.W.s lawyer, and recorded at least 15 separate portions of the interview using her iPhone, the release said. Hutchings transmitted portions of the recordings that she made of the interview video to others via text message and through the use of Facebook Live. In those transmissions, Hutchings communicated threats of harm toward the individual who provided information about L.W. Hutchings was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on June 3, 2019, according to federal authorities. Hall scheduled sentencing for Sept. 23, and Hutchings faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, the release said. Hutchings is free on a $10,000 bond pending sentencing. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maria del Pilar Gonzalez and Sarah P. Karwan. Connecticut magazine in its June issue published several articles honoring the hard work done by health care providers around the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lead article highlighted the medical staff at Danbury Hospital who diagnosed and successfully treated the first Connecticut resident with COVID-19. It described how the patient, a 45-year-old, had recently returned in late February from San Francisco. In early March, exhausted and not feeling well, he saw a physician and was treated for possible flu. But he became short of breath and developed pneumonia and went to the Danbury Hospital emergency room, where Dr. Saad suspected COVID-19. She contacted Dr. Paul Nee, an infectious disease specialist, and Dr. Jose Mendez, a lung specialist, both of whom felt this could be COVID-19 (as tests confirmed) and decided to admit the patient. Two additional pulmonary specialists, Dr. Guillermo Ballarino (who took care of the patient the night of admission) and Dr. John Chronakos were also consulted. All had vital roles in caring for the patient. Soon after admission, when the patients breathing worsened, he was moved to the ICU where he was intubated (a tube placed thorough his mouth and trachea into his lungs) and put on a ventilator. After 10 days he improved and the ventilator was discontinued. While in the ICU, Dawn Martin RN, chief nursing officer, commented how the nursing staff played music outside of his room and arranged video calls for his wife so she could see her husband. She recalled his wife saying that the staff took care not only of him, but also of her and her twin babies. With the medical staffs technical skills and personal connection skills, the patient continued to get better and eventually was discharged. Dr. Nee emphasized how important everyone on the team was for the successful outcome, from the doctors and nurses to those who cleared the hospital. It is remarkable that in the very early stages of the pandemic, when so little was known about COVID-19 or how to treat it, the diagnosis was made and the patient saved. Sadly, others in Connecticut and around the world were not as fortunate. After the patient was discharged, Dr. Nee later contacted him at home to see how he was doing and to discuss his experience in the hospital. The patient remarked that he wanted the story of his case and recovery to focus on the health care staff who worked to save him. Theyre the ones who should be getting praise he said. So be it. Kudos to Dr. Ballerina, Dr. Chronakos, Dawn Martin R.N., Dr. Mendez, Dr. Nee, Dr. Saad, the ICU nurses, the respiratory therapists, and the many others at Danbury Hospital not mentioned including, as Dr.Nee noted, those who cleaned the hospital. Edward Volpintesta, MD, is a resident of Bethel. NEWTOWN Police are investigating an overnight motor vehicle theft in the Sandy Hook section of town. A black 2017 Mazda CX5 was stolen from a Canterbury Road driveway during the overnight hours of Monday into Tuesday, according to authorities. The vehicle has Connecticut plates with license No. AR74404. The police department also received calls from residents in other areas of town reporting that their vehicles had been opened and rummaged through overnight. Police ask residents to remove car keys and valuables from their unoccupied vehicles, and to lock their car doors. Anyone with information is asked to call Newtown police at 203-270-4255. Carol Kaliff NEWTOWN Police are looking for the hit-and-run rental truck driver who destroyed a mailbox over the weekend. A yellow Penske box-style truck backed into a mailbox on South Main Street around 9 p.m. and fled the scene, according to authorities. SOUTHBURY A pickup truck driver who crashed into a light pole and guide rail on Interstate 84 early Tuesday morning told state police it happened because he fell asleep. Brian Johnson, 24, of Southbury, was ticketed for failing to maintain lane after crashing a 2008 Ford F350 Super Duty pickup truck near Exit 15 shortly after midnight. MONTREAL, June 30, 2020 /CNW/ -- A team of economists from Analysis Group, one of the largest international economics consulting firms, undertook a pro bono project to help the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en analyse des organisations (CIRANO) understand the risks of reopening the province's economy and inform decision making should a second wave emerge. The project involved an adaption of the Vancouver School of Economics's COVID-19 Risk/Reward Assessment Tool. The COVID-19 Risk/Reward Assessment Tool for Quebec takes into account how Quebec's unique population density, economic workings, and societal preferences affect important factors in the viral transmission risk for jobs from more than 100 occupations, as well as the importance of each occupation to Quebec's overall economy. The tool uses streamlined, interactive graphics to make sense of highly complex data, obtained from O*NET Online, about aspects of an occupation that could impact transmission risk; and data obtained from Statistics Canada about the workers themselves, based on the Canadian Labor Force Surveys from 2010 to 2020 and the 2016 Canadian Census of Population. Policymakers can use the tool to understand viral transmission risk to certain occupations from many industries to help inform decision making. The benefits of reopening an industry are measured by how many people an industry employs, job losses due to coronavirus, and the sector's economic contribution as measured by its gross domestic product. The tool takes into account occupational risk factors such as physical proximity of employees, number of face-to-face contacts, whether the work is performed indoors or outdoors, and the extent to which the job requires working with external customers or the public. The workers' socioeconomic factors are also considered in the risk calculations. For example, living with a health care worker, taking public transportation, and being unable to work from home can all impact transmission risk, as can living conditions and occupancy density relative to the size of a worker's home. Analysis Group Managing Principal Lisa Pinheiro, Principal Jimmy Royer, Manager Patrick Gagnon, and Associates Timea Laura Molnar and Jutong Pan worked with a team of experts from CIRANO, and in collaboration with University of Quebec in Montreal's Research Group on Human Capital, Dalhousie University, and the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia. The COVID-19 Risk/Reward Assessment Tool for Quebec is free to access from CIRANO's website, in English or in French. The tool has been presented to the Institut national de sante publique du Quebec, Commission des partenaires du marche du travail, Chambre de commerce du Montreal metropolitain, Health Canada, and Statistics Canada. To learn more about Analysis Group's capabilities, visit www.AnalysisGroup.com About Analysis Group: Analysis Group is one of the largest international economics consulting firms, with more than 1,000 professionals across 14 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since 1981, we have provided expertise in economics, finance, health care analytics, and strategy to top law firms, Fortune Global 500 companies, and government agencies worldwide. Our internal experts, together with our network of affiliated experts from academia, industry, and government, offer our clients exceptional breadth and depth of expertise. Contact: Analysis Group Eric Seymour, +1 617 425 8103 [email protected] SOURCE Analysis Group Related Links www.analysisgroup.com Five community organizations providing programs tailored in response to COVID-19 crisis TORONTO, June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - True Patriot Love Foundation today announced the recipients of the 2020 Bell True Patriot Love Fund. The selection of grant recipients was expedited this year to support 5 organizations that are equipped and able to provide immediate mental health support to serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans and their families during the COVID-19 crisis. The programs receiving funding offer a wide range of services and supports including mental health crisis support for Veterans and serving members; post-traumatic stress counselling; yoga and other therapeutic interventions reducing isolation and stimulating cognitive activity for Veterans in long-term care; virtual telemedicine mental health supports; and virtual psycho-educational services. Launched in 2013 in partnership with Bell Let's Talk, the Bell True Patriot Love Fund is a multi-year initiative supporting mental health programs for the military and Veteran community across Canada. Since the launch, a total of $2 million has been committed to the mental health of military families with 100 grants distributed to date to support much needed programs and resources. Receiving grants in 2020 are: Legacy Place Society , Alberta Responding to the increased need for mental health crisis support as a result of COVID-19. , Responding to the increased need for mental health crisis support as a result of COVID-19. Project Trauma Support , Ontario Post-Traumatic Growth Program with social distancing measures in place. , Post-Traumatic Growth Program with social distancing measures in place. Quebec Veterans Foundation , Quebec Yoga and Meditation program with social distancing in place. , Quebec Yoga and Meditation program with social distancing in place. Valcartier Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) , Quebec In-person with social distancing and virtual mental health supports through Beacon telemedicine for military families in rural Eastern Quebec. , Quebec In-person with social distancing and virtual mental health supports through Beacon telemedicine for military families in rural Eastern Quebec. Veterans Transition Network, Nova Scotia Virtual psycho-educational programming in Atlantic Canada . Quotes "As we face the difficulties associated with the pandemic, now more than ever we need to come together to support those who have and continue to serve and protect our country. Many military families already face challenges and the COVID-19 crisis can intensify pre-existing issues. Access to mental health programs and resources are vital, and we are proud to partner with Bell Let's Talk to support serving members, Veterans and families most in need in communities across Canada." Nick Booth, CEO, True Patriot Love Foundation "Bell Let's Talk is honoured to support the mental health of Canada's military members, Veterans and their families through the Bell True Patriot Love Fund. In the midst of the COVID-19 impact, this year's Fund recipients are making tremendous efforts during these challenging times to provide increased mental health supports for those who serve our country." Mary Deacon, Chair, Bell Let's Talk "Due to COVID-19 and economic uncertainty we are in a season of extending extra vigilance to our military families. Physical distancing isn't going to prevent us from connecting and providing unique means of strengthening the family. We continue to focus on facilitating a call during times of personal crisis and education partnerships that are relevant to today's emerging needs. Legacy Place Society appreciates the support from the Bell True Patriot Love Fund." Diana Festejo, Executive Director, Legacy Place Society "At this time of global uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health becomes even more important. Project Trauma Support delivers a program for military members, Veterans and first responders who have been psychologically impacted as a result of their service. We are grateful to Bell Let's Talk and True Patriot Love for being strong supporters of military families. We could not stand in service to our servicemen and women without your help." Manuela Joannou, Director, Project Trauma Support "The first call we received from a partner in March, as we were trying to manage the COVID-19 crisis, came from True Patriot Love. Once again, True Patriot Love demonstrated its undeniable leadership. This pandemic has caused significant collateral impacts, and we need to stand united for our Veterans. With support from the Bell True Patriot Love Fund, we will be able to continue offering wellness activities dedicated to Veterans who need them now more than ever." Anne Hurtubise, Executive Director (interim), Quebec Veterans Foundation "By implementing our virtualization project and enhancing mental health services with support from the Bell True Patriot Love Fund, we will be able to sustain our virtual response to COVID-19 in rural Eastern Quebec and help in new ways the families that are turning to us and requesting mental health services." Frederic Moisan, Executive Director, Valcartier MFRC "Over the past 6 years, the support of the Bell True Patriot Love Fund has helped us expand our Veterans' programs from coast to coast, allowing us to train more counsellors, expand our services in both languages, and offer hundreds of hours of Veterans' counselling in communities across Canada. Thanks to Bell Let's Talk and True Patriot Love our programs have remained accessible to Veterans regardless of where they live, the language they speak, or the challenges they face due to COVID-19." Oliver Thorne, Executive Director, Veterans Transition Network For more information about the Bell True Patriot Love Fund, please visit Bell True Patriot Love Fund. About True Patriot Love Foundation Founded in 2009, True Patriot Love Foundation has become Canada's leading organization supporting the military community. The foundation raises awareness around the challenges related to military service and funds programs for serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans and their families that support their well-being, enable rehabilitation and recovery from injury, assist the children and spouses of those who serve, and promote re-integration into communities following service. Since inception, True Patriot Love has committed over $28 million in funding to 825 community-based programs across the country, which has helped change the lives of more than 30,000 military members, Veterans and families. For more information, visit www.truepatriotlove.com . SOURCE True Patriot Love Foundation For further information: For media inquiries please contact: Ya Shan Waley, Senior Director, Marketing and Communications, True Patriot Love Foundation, 416-206-2481, [email protected] Related Links http://truepatriotlove.com/ NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - The health and well-being of Canadians are the top priorities of the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador. But the COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than Canadians' personal health. It is having a profound effect on the economy. That is why governments have been taking decisive action to support families, businesses and communities, and continue to look ahead to see what more can be done. Strategic investments in building safer communities across the province, including the Great Northern Peninsula, are important to ensure residents thrive. Today, Gudie Hutchings, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development and Member of Parliament for Long Range Mountains, on behalf of the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and the Honourable Christopher Mitchelmore, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour, Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs, and Member of the House of Assembly for St. BarbeL'Anse aux Meadows, on behalf of the Honourable Derrick Bragg, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment, announced funding to improve the safety of local roads and water systems in seven municipalities of the Great Northern Peninsula. The roadwork projects will improve safety of drivers and pedestrians by upgrading local roadways, building sidewalks, paving streets, and installing culverts and ditches. The water projects involve building a water dispensing unit and upgrading a pump house to provide residents with reliable and safe drinking water. The Government of Canada is investing more than $1.18 million in these projects through the Rural and Northern Infrastructure Stream (RNIS) and the Green Infrastructure Stream (GIS) of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure plan as well as the federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF). The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is providing $971,980, while the municipalities are contributing over $727,000. Quotes "Investing in improved road networks and reliable drinking water is essential to building healthy and safe communities. Upgrading roadways not only provides a more secure means of travel but also helps to prevent flooding, which in turn protects infrastructure. Improving access to clean drinking water benefits residents' health and also supports sustainability. In addition, these projects will provide employment as we recover from the economic effects of the pandemic." Gudie Hutchings, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development on behalf of the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities "Our government is collaborating with federal and municipal partners on these projects to enhance communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. We are pleased to contribute more than $944,000 for upgrades in the towns of Conche, Port aux Choix, Port Saunders, Raleigh, St. Anthony, St. Lunaire-Griquet and Forrester's Point that will improve communities and the quality of life for residents." The Honourable Christopher Mitchelmore, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour, and Member of the House of Assembly for St. BarbeL'Anse aux Meadows Related product Backgrounder Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador invest in building safer communities on the Great Northern Peninsula Joint federal, provincial, and municipal funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure plan will support five road projects and three water projects on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador. These investments will support safer, healthier, and more sustainable communities. The Government of Canada is investing over $1.18 million in these projects through the Rural and Northern Infrastructure Stream, the Green Infrastructure Stream and the federal Gas Tax Fund. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is contributing $971,980, while municipalities on the Great Northern Peninsula are contributing over $727,000. Project Information: Location Fund Project Name Project Details Federal Funding Provincial Funding Municipal / Other Funding Conche RNIS, GTF Local Road Upgrades Upgrades to the local roads to provide an improved and more reliable road network for residents. $210,885 $117,127 $59,508 Forrester's Point GIS Intake Screen Cleaning System Install water cleaning and heat tracing system $21,944 $27,430 $11,122 Port au Choix RNIS, GTF Sidewalk/Retaining Wall Build sidewalks on the main street to keep gravel off the roads and provide safer walking for residents and visitors. $178,944 $99,403 $50,533 Port Saunders GIS Upgrades to the Water Supply Pump house Upgrades to the pump house will include the replacement of two water pumps that service the entire town. The project aims to provide reliable and safe drinking water for residents. $71,581 $89,476 $36,280 Port Saunders RNIS Paving Upper Main Street Pave Main Street to provide a safe and reliable roadway for drivers. $241,492 $241,420 $315,835 Raleigh RNIS Culverts and Ditching Install culverts and ditches in addition to upgrading the roadway to accommodate water flow to prevent flooding, protect infrastructure, and provide reliable roads to travel on. $89,232 $89,205 $116,702 St. Anthony RNIS, GTF Paving Various Streets Pave 18 local roads to reduce damage to residents' vehicles and improve safety for drivers. $227,854 $126,552 $64,296 St. Lunaire-Griquet GIS Potable Water Dispensing Unit Build a potable water dispensing unit to provide residents with improved drinking water. $145,094 $181,367 $73,593 Quick facts Through the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, the Government of Canada is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada's rural and northern communities. infrastructure plan, the Government of is investing more than over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and rural and northern communities. $26.9 billion of this funding is supporting green infrastructure in Canadian communities. of this funding is supporting green infrastructure in Canadian communities. $10.1 billion of this funding is supporting trade and transportation infrastructure throughout Canada . Associated links Government of Canada Resources - Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): www.canada.ca/coronavirus Investing in Canada Plan Project Map: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/map Federal infrastructure investments in Newfoundland and Labrador: https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/investments-2002-investissements/nl-eng.html Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan: http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Web: Infrastructure Canada SOURCE Infrastructure Canada For further information: Chantalle Aubertin, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, 613-949-1759, [email protected]; Lynn Robinson, Media Relations, Municipal Affairs and Environment, 709-691-9466, [email protected]; Media Relations, Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, Email: [email protected] Related Links www.infrastructure.gc.ca During his time with McDonald's Canada, Mr. Betts led the most significant restaurant brand transformation in the organization's Canadian history. Under his leadership, McDonald's Canada modernized the look, feel and function of the majority of its more than 1,400 restaurants across the country. Significant milestones of the McDonald's Canada brand evolution during Mr. Betts' tenure include the launch, extreme success and subsequent expansion of the McCafe brand; the introduction of All-Day Breakfast; being a founding member of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB), alongside other leading organizations; and, spearheading the company's ongoing commitment to sustainability. These successes were made possible by substantial ongoing investment in transforming the in-restaurant guest experience and launching the brand into the digital age with McDelivery and the My McD's mobile app. Today, McDonald's is a favourite and trusted destination among Canadians for premium coffee. "I came into this role 12 years ago recognizing the immense potential of the McDonald's Canada business, to align franchisees, employees and suppliers under the single focus of delivering the best possible guest experience to the Canadian market," said Mr. Betts. "I am tremendously proud of what we have accomplished together as one team, and our success is a testament to what people and collaboration can achieve. I am confident this success will continue in the years ahead." McDonald's Canada will appoint Jacques Mignault to succeed Mr. Betts on August 1, 2020, when he returns to the Canadian business after a successful tenure as Managing Director of McDonald's Switzerland. Over the last three years, Jacques successfully led the turnaround of the Swiss market to achieve record results. He focused on modernizing the restaurants and advancing both the digital and McDelivery experience to grow the business and meet the needs of the Swiss consumer. "I am incredibly excited to be returning home to lead the McDonald's Canada business. John is truly a visionary and the business achieved remarkable things under his leadership. It is an honour to be continuing his legacy of working as one team to bring our guests the very best," said Mr. Mignault. "Throughout my time in Switzerland, I've kept the Canadian team in my heart, and look forward to maintaining the growth of the Canadian business." Mr. Betts began his journey with McDonald's 50 years ago in 1970. As a crew member in Southampton, New York, he recognized early on the important role McDonald's plays in its communities and its many opportunities for career growth. Mr. Betts held numerous roles of increasing responsibility in operations, field service, training and purchasing throughout the U.S. before becoming the Canadian leader in 2008. Today, Canada is recognized across the McDonald's global network as a market that leads in innovation, in no small part due to Mr. Betts' dedication to sharing best practices with other regions. His leadership has been recognized through several designations, including McDonald's prestigious Presidents' Awardreserved for the top one per cent of McDonald's employees globallyand an induction into the American Marketing Association's Marketing Hall of Legends. About McDonald's Canada In 1967, Canadians welcomed the first McDonald's restaurant to Richmond, British Columbia. Today, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Limited has become part of the Canadian fabric, serving close to three million guests every day. Together with our franchisees, we proudly employ nearly 100,000 people from coast-to-coast, and more than 90 per cent of McDonald's 1,400 Canadian restaurants are locally owned and operated by independent entrepreneurs. Of the almost $1 billion spent on food, more than 85 per cent is purchased from suppliers in Canada. For more information on McDonald's Canada visit McDonalds.ca. SOURCE McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Ltd. For further information: interviews or images please contact: McDonald's Media Relations Line, [email protected], 1-877-786-3342 "Everyone has experienced dramatic change over the past few months and we are accelerating our growth and innovation plans to help businesses recover, to help people and families adapt and stay safe and to kick-start the Canadian economy," said John Ferguson, President and CEO, Purolator. "Our service performance is solid, we are investing in urgent network capacity, speed and access, and I am incredibly proud of our 12,000 employees soon to be more than 13,000 who continue to provide heroic, essential and safe services during this extraordinary time." What's next? Purolator accelerating delivering the future growth and innovation priorities As the economy enters recovery, the company is focused on five priorities to serve the critical needs of businesses, consumers and communities, which include: Continuing significant investments in health and safety and contactless deliveries to keep people and communities safe and connected Increasing network capacity, speed and access to help businesses grow and benefit from emerging market opportunities Enriching the digital experience of shippers and receivers Expanding global supply chain capabilities for businesses shipping to and from Canada Advancing social responsibility and sustainability across all areas of the business Purolator creates 1,100+ new courier and sorter jobs Purolator is creating more than 1,100 quality courier and sorter jobs as part of its strategic priority to add capacity to its network. The new jobs are located across Canada, and the company expects to hire another 1,000 employees in a few months to help satisfy peak season demand. About Purolator Purolator Inc. is a leading integrated freight, package and logistics solutions provider in Canada. Celebrating almost 60 years of delivering its customers' promises, Purolator continues to expand its reach and renowned service levels and reliability to more people, more businesses and more places across the country and around the world. Purolator is proud of its Canadian heritage and is focused on sustainably positioning itself for future growth and success. Purolator is also committed to contributing to the well-being of the communities it serves and where more than 12,000 of its employees live, work and play. For more information, visit purolator.com. _______________________ 1 April 2020 retail e-commerce sales were 120% higher than those in April 2019. Source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=2010007201#timeframe SOURCE Purolator Inc. For further information: Media requiring further information, please contact: Dave Bauer, Head of Corporate Communications, Purolator, 647 354-5376, [email protected] Related Links http://www.purolator.com Today and on Canada Day at participating restaurants in Canada, guests can also get a free donut when they place a mobile order that includes any beverage. Just add a donut to a mobile order that includes a drink and the donut will be on us! Visit the Tim Hortons mobile app for more details. "Every year we're proud to sponsor Canada Day festivities in communities across the country and we thought it was especially important this year," said Hope Bagozzi, Chief Marketing Officer. "For so many of our guests, a great Canada Day is capped off with their families by sharing a box of Timbits and drinking a coffee or Iced Capp while watching some fireworks and singing O Canada. Celebrations will have to be a little different this year, but we know Canadians will find ways to make new traditions and honour our great country." Among the Canada Day events being sponsored in part by Tim Hortons are the National virtual Canada Day celebrations, which include two livestreamed shows starting at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. (local time) Hosted by Serena Ryder and Pierre-Yves Lord, musical performers appearing during the shows will include Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Alan Doyle, Paul Brandt, Charlotte Cardin, Corneille and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. At 10 p.m. local time, Canadians can visit this website and point their smartphone or tablet in the sky to watch a virtual fireworks show, sponsored by Tim Hortons. * * * The Canada Day menu items will be available at participating restaurants across Canada until July 7 or while supplies last. On June 30 and July 1, 2020, guests who make an eligible beverage purchase through the Tim Hortons mobile app are eligible to receive one (1) free donut per order. Offer valid at participating restaurants across Canada. Other conditions apply. Visit mobile app for more details. About Tim Hortons Canada In 1964, the first Tim Hortons restaurant in Hamilton, Ontario opened its doors and Canadians have been ordering Tim Hortons iconic Original Blend coffee, Double-Double coffees, Donuts and Timbits in the years since. Over the last 55 years, Tim Hortons has captured the hearts and taste buds of Canadians. Tim Hortons is Canada's largest restaurant chain operating in the quick service industry serving over 5 million cups of coffee every day with 80% of Canadians visiting one of nearly 4,000 Tim Hortons in Canada at least once a month. More than a coffee and bake shop, Tim Hortons is part of the Canadian fabric and guests can enjoy hot and cold specialty beverages including lattes, cappuccinos and espressos, teas and our famous Iced Capps alongside delicious breakfast, sandwiches, wraps, soups and more. Tim Hortons has more than 4,800 restaurants in Canada, the United States and around the world. For more information on Tim Hortons visit TimHortons.ca. SOURCE Tim Hortons For further information: [email protected] Actor Aamir Khan on Tuesday confirmed that some of his staff members tested positive for Covid-19. The rest of his family tested negative, while the test results of his mother are pending. Actor Aamir Khan on Tuesday issued a statement and confirmed that some of his staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, while the rest of his family members have tested negative. Khan also announced that he was taking his mother for a COVID-19 test and urged his fans to pray for her test to come out as negative. The 3 Idiots star put out the statement on Instagram and said, This is to inform you that some of my staff have tested positive. They were immediately quarantined, and BMC officials were very prompt and efficient in taking them to a medical facility. Thanking the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for their precautionary steps, he added, I would like to thank the BMC for taking such good care of them, and for fumigating and sterilizing the entire society. Also Read: Road to 20: Abhishek Bachchan recalls shooting for All is Well with Rishi Kapoor Also Read: Bhumi Pednekar pledges to feed 550 impoverished families in memory of Sushant Singh Rajput Informing about the health of his family members, the Thugs of Hindostan actor added, The rest of us have all been tested and found negative, and informed that, Right now I am taking my mother to get her tested. She is the last person in the loop. Please pray that she is negative. Thanking the BMC, and hospital authorities for their swift prompt, he added, I would, once again, like to thank the BMC for the prompt, professional and caring manner in which they helped us. And a big thank you to Kokilaben Hospital and the doctors, nurses and staff there. They were very caring and professional with the testing process. Aamir also urged his fans to be safe amid the coronavirus outbreak. Also Read: Indias Covid-19 count at 5.66 lakh, spike of 18,522 cases in last 24 hours For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe / Korea Times file Tensions simmering on dispute over Korea's G7 participation By Kang Seung-woo The rift between Korea and Japan, caused by court-ordered compensation for wartime forced laborers and other history-related issues, is showing no signs of closing as bilateral tensions are running high in more sectors, with the two sides engaging in full-on tit-for-tat spats. Since July last year when the Japanese government imposed restriction on exports of three key industrial materials critical for Korea's chip and display industries in apparent retaliation over the forced labor rulings by Korea's Supreme Court, relations have remained at their lowest ebb in years. While dismissing Seoul's repeated requests to lift the ban, Tokyo recently ruffled Korea's feathers by voicing its opposition to the neighboring country's participation in a G7 meeting a plan devised by U.S. President Donald Trump to expand the current format to either a G11 or G12 one in order to contain China in the Indo-Pacific region. According to a Kyodo News report, Sunday, a senior Japanese government official expressed Tokyo's objection to the expansion plan to the U.S.; and a day later, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also stressed the importance of maintaining the current G7 framework. In response, Cheong Wa Dae struck back, saying Japan has "the world's highest level of shamelessness" and was accustomed to "harming" a neighboring country." In addition, President Moon Jae-in told a weekly meeting of senior aides Monday that the nation has successfully dealt with the sudden export curbs, turning the misfortune to its advantage an indication that his administration will not hurry efforts to remove the trade restrictions, at least for the time being. Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee is running for the director-general position of the World Trade Organization (WTO), but Japan is expected to emerge as a stumbling block in her bid for the top job. Kareena Kapoor shares her 'first shot' as she completes 20 years in the industry with the film Refugee. She thanks her fans for all their love and support. Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan who completed 20 years in the industry on Tuesday shared her first shot taken for the movie Refugee and thanked her fans for the overwhelming support. With more than 55 films and an impressive array of roles under her belt, Khan credited fans for their love, support, and strength throughout her journey. The Jab We Met actor took to Instagram and recalled her first shot from the 2000 released movie a close-up shot that was taken at 4 am. I woke up this morning at 4, looked in the mirror, and said to myself that this was the best decision I could have ever taken, the diva captioned the post. Read Also: Sadak 2: Alia Bhatt explains reason behind choosing Mount Kailash poster Read Also: Aamir Khans staff members test positive for Covid-19 Marking her 20 years of hard work, dedication, and self-confidence, she continued her note of thanks to fans. The Heroine actor, further thanked the director of Refugee J.P.Dutta for giving her the movie, and also Abhishek Bachchan, for being the sweetest co-star. Given that, Abhishek Bachchan, too, is celebrating the 20 years of his journey in the Bollywood today. Kareena Kapoor Khan is fondly referred to as Bollywoods Bebo by her admirers. After making her debut mark in the romantic drama film, Khan proved her mettle in acting, even in her initial movies like historical drama Ashoka, and the family entertainer Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in 2001. However, after many hits and misses, she gave several memorable performances in movies like Chameli, Dev, Omkara, and many more. Romantic comedy Jab We Met, to thriller movies like Kurbaan, Talaash, Udta Punjab, Khan has delivered a variety of roles. Daughter of Randhir Kapoor and Babita, the actor is a recipient of several awards including six Filmfare Awards. She shares a close bonding with her sister and evergreen actor Karisma Kapoor. Kareena Kapoor is married to actor Saif Ali Khan and has a son Taimur Ali Khan. Read Also: Akshay Kumars Sooryavanshi, Ranveer Singhs 83 will release in theaters, confirm makers For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App Google on Monday announced that it is partnering with local news publishers to bring local news about the COVID-19 pandemic to its Google News application. As cities and towns across the world respond with local policies and guidelines, the need for timely and reliable local news and information is vital. Google said that to help people navigate these complexities, they are working across their news products to highlight the latest local guidance and surfacing more content from local news publishers so users can understand how the virus is affecting their community. Finding consolidated and trustworthy COVID-19 guidance can be challenging. To help each community be prepared for whats next, the Google News app is piloting a new feature in partnership with local news publishers. We will test this in a few geographic areas in the COVID-19 special section of the app, where users can view community reopening timelines, plus updates around business and school openings, Daniel Rocha, Director, Engineering, News, said in a blog post. They can also see the status of the local healthcare infrastructure, public transportation, events and sections with resources for residents looking for or wanting to help families in need. This feature is available in more than 21 areas, ranging across both small and large newsrooms from The Raleigh News & Observer, NOLA.com, CBS Chicago, Oregon Live and Gothamist, Rocha added. Also Read: WhatsApp tests animated stickers on iOS, Android Also Read: iPhone 12 may not come with earphones, adapter in retail box Rocha further stated that they will also continue to expand their coverage across the U.S. and Canada, and plan to bring this feature to products beyond the Google News app in the future. Also Read: Google adds fact-check feature to image search results For all the latest Gadgets News, download NewsX App China propagates 'three war strategy' amidst India-china standoff along the Line of Actual Control. Unlike Doklam, in the recent face off, the Chinese media was employed to give mixed signals. In an unprecedented disregard for the prevalent Peace and Tranquility along the India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC), PLA troops transgressed the LAC at three locations in Eastern Ladakh, forcing the Indian Army to prevent them from any ingress leading to Faceoff at Galwan and Pangang Tso. Again in a first since 20 Oct 1975, 20 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice at Galwan when implementing an agreement arrived at by top military commanders on 06 June 20. While the actions along the LAC have been constantly commented and analysed by many experts, China in a subtle though planned manner launched an all-out Information War. Unlike the 73 day standoff at Doklam in 2017, where China had indulged in an Information War through Global Times, a known China mouthpiece, this time around China exploited some well known former soldiers turned journalists. On account of their earlier service to the nation and the prefix of rank, their credentials are above board as also they indirectly allude to contacts perceived by many as authentic and knowledgeable of the ground situation and actions in contact. Also Read: Return Chinese donations from PM Cares Fund: Punjab CM to Centre Also Read: YS Chowdarys dual business standards and SECs impartiality questioned after secret meet in Hotel Sun Tzu in the Art of War (III.2) writes Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence: supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemys resistance without fighting. Following Sun Tzu, China propagates and practices the Three Warfare Strategy of public opinion warfare, psychological warfare, and legal warfare. It is essential for the military, sinologists, and strategists to understand the Three Warfares concept and their influence operations to be able to discern Beijings intentions. In the recent faceoff, unlike Doklam, the Chinese media was employed to send mixed signals, some conciliatory and others threatening conflict. In a possibly first of its kind, China did not need to use its massive state-owned information war structures and resources. This task was unwittingly performed by select eager veterans who possibly fell prey to the larger designs of our adversaries, contributing in a major way to Chinas Influence Operations. Not to single out anyone but one particular unfounded narrative by Colonel Ajay Shukla (Retired), a respected journalist of repute is an indicator. He one among a few wrote regular broadcasts giving updates on Chinese activities making it seem much larger and grave even blaming the top military commanders for inept handling which was likely to lead to their ultimate sacking. It is another matter that the Army commander is by far one of the best and most experienced soldiers as also one of the best regarded and respected military leader recognized for his gallantry and a cool head. A China expert, he has tenanted all possible appointments along the LAC and the China desk at Military Operations Directorate at Delhi with this author. The larger issue is as these insinuations come from some among those who have served the army; it does create certain doubts not only in the minds of Indian public but also among the uniformed community and veterans. It is a given fact that the Indian soldier is among the most simple, dedicated, and trusting and hence is an easy target for Psychology operations especially from our own community. Given the extensive and real time reach of social media, such negative narratives from former soldiers do have an adverse impact on the morale of soldiers, creating avoidable dilemmas. There is no denying the fact that in a democratic India, unlike China, the armed forces have to learn to live under Media scrutiny and Media glare. The Victory in Kargil War is in equal measure due to the media as much as the indomitable fighting spirit of our soldiers. The government should also have provided the media with relevant briefs and press statement taking the military in confidence. The Media would definitely have understood that everything can not be in public domain. Lack of official information has also contributed to media speculation and conjecture. Also Read: India bans 59 Chinese apps, including Tik Tok, UC Browser, CamScanner Also Read: Safoora Zargar demands justice from the system she wants to overthrow New age warfare is equally a war of narratives, where fires are brought to bear not only in the kinetic domain but also in the virtual domain. Todays world is an interconnected networked world with billions having easy and instant access to numerous apps feeding their narratives and perceptions of events to satiate the hunger for information of critical events. India should factor Information warfare in its strategy to deter Chinas aggressive behaviour. Former soldiers too need to be taken on board to ensure that they do not unknowingly and inadvertently become tools of our adversaries Information war which adversely impacts the military and national security. Also Read: With a spike of 19,459 new cases, Indias Covid-19 tally crosses 5.4 lakh For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine is the first in India to get approved for human trials. The firm submitted results from pre-clinical studies of the vaccine that vouched for its safety and immune response. Thank Bharat Biotech, has successfully developed COVAXIN, Indias 1st vaccine candidate for COVID-19, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) National Institute of Virology (NIV). The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotechs BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) High Containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, India. The Drug Controller General of India CDSCO, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare granted permission to initiate Phase I & II Human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response. Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across India in July 2020. Announcing the vaccine development milestone, Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director said: We are proud to announce COVAXIN, Indias first indigenous vaccine against COVID-19.The collaboration with ICMR and NIV was instrumental in the development of this vaccine. The proactive support and guidance from CDSCO has enabled approvals to this project. Our R&D and Manufacturing teams worked tirelessly to deploy our proprietary technologies towards this platform. Also Read: Delhi to start plasma bank for Covid patients: Arvind Kejriwal Also Read: Opposition hits the streets over rising fuel prices Expedited through national regulatory protocols , the company accelerated its objective in completing the comprehensive pre-clinical studies. Results from these studies have been promising and show extensive safety and effective immune responses. Speaking about Bharat Biotechs prowess, Mrs. Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director said, Our ongoing research and expertise in forecasting epidemics has enabled us to successfully manufacture a vaccine for the H1N1 pandemic. Continuing our focus on creating the only BSL-3 containment facilities for manufacturing and testing in India, Bharat Biotech is committed to advancing vaccine development as a matter of national importance to demonstrate Indias strength in handling future pandemics. Bharat Biotechs track record in developing vero cell culture platform technologies has been proven in several vaccines for Polio, Rabies, Rotavirus, Japanese Encephalitis, Chikungunya and zika Also Read: High alert in Bihar over possibility of terrorist intrusion through Nepal For all the latest National News, download NewsX App The third round of Corps Commander-level meeting is underway to discuss the modalities of disengagement as the Chinese side didn't respond despite arriving on mutual consensus in the previous meeting. Corps Commander-level meeting between armies of India and China has started in Chushul on Tuesday, to resolve the ongoing dispute over Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh area, said Indian Army Sources. This is the third round of Corps Commander-level talks being held. The first two rounds had taken place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC. In the second round of Corps Commander-level talks held on June 22, both sides reached a mutual consensus to disengage in the Eastern Ladakh sector, army sources said. The modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in Eastern Ladakh were discussed and these will be taken forward by both sides, sources added. Also read: Hours after ban, TikTok denies data sharing with China Also read: Galwan: Chinas information warfare The military commanders from both sides had met initially on June 6 and had agreed to disengage at multiple locations. India had asked the Chinese side to return to pre-May 4 military positions along the LAC. The Chinese side had not given any response to the specific Indian proposal and not even shown intent on the ground to withdraw troops from rear positions where they had amassed over 10,000 troops. India and China have been involved in talks to ease the ongoing border tensions since last month. Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in a violent face-off in Galwan valley on June 15-16 after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation. Indian intercepts revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the face-off. Also read: India to receive six fully-loaded Rafales amid standoff with China For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Mumbai police informed that the calls were received from Karachi late on Monday, which threatened to blow Taj hotels, eyeing a 26/11 repeat. Security outside Mumbais two Taj hotels Colaba and Bandra and the nearby areas has been tightened after a bomb threat call from Karachi said the Mumbai Police on Tuesday. Security tightened outside Taj Hotels and nearby areas after a threat call was received yesterday from Karachi, Pakistan to blow up the hotels with bombs, said the Mumbai Police. The police further added that the call from Karachi came in the late hours on Monday. Taj Hotel was one of the venues which was targeted during the 26/11 attacks in 2008. Mumbai had come to a standstill on November 26, 2008, when 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists who entered the city via sea route from Pakistan carried out a series of coordinated shootings and bombings that injured over 300 and claimed the lives of 166 people in Indias financial capital. Also read: Safoora Zargar demands justice from the system she wants to overthrow Also read: Galwan: Chinas information warfare The attacks took place at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station, Cama Hospital, Nariman House business and residential complex, Leopold Cafe, Taj Hotel and Tower, and the Oberoi-Trident Hotel. Also read: KK Venugopal appointed Attorney General of India for another year For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high level meetinf today to review the preparations being undertaken for vaccination against COVID-19 as and when vaccine will be available. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparations being undertaken for vaccination against COVID-19, as and when a vaccine is available. The Prime Minister directed officials to evaluate various technology tools to ensure efficient and timely vaccination in due course of time. He also emphasised that detailed planning for such large scale vaccination should be undertaken immediately. The current status of Indian and global vaccine development efforts was also reviewed at the meeting. The Prime Minister highlighted that Indias responsibility and commitment to the global community to play an enabling role in global vaccination efforts against COVID-19. PM-CARES (Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund Trust had earlier allocated Rs 100 crore for coronavirus vaccine development. Indias coronavirus count has reached 5,66,840 including 16,893 deaths, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Tuesday. Also Read: Mumbais Taj Hotel to high alert after Paks threat call Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparations being undertaken for vaccination against #COVID19, as and when a vaccine is available. pic.twitter.com/HaAOIKX2wp ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2020 Also Read: Hours after ban, TikTok denies data sharing with China Earlier, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech announced that it has successfully developed Covaxin, Indias first vaccine candidate for COVID-19, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV). The Drug Controller General of India CDSCO, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare granted permission to initiate Phase I & II Human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response. Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed officials to evaluate various technology tools to ensure efficient and timely vaccination in due course of time. Prime Minister also directed that detailed planning for such large scale vaccination should be undertaken immediately. ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2020 Also Read: India China standoff: Corps commander-level meeting underway to discuss on-ground situation Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across India in July 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Safoora Zargar who was charged under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was granted bail on humanitarian grounds, she further demands justice from the system. While majority of the students join universities in their pursuit for higher education there are some who do it solely for the purpose of fulfilling their political aspirations. Ever since the coming to power of Narendra Modi government at the center, a breed of so-called student politics has taken over in several Universities of the country. An infamous name that arose of these anarchist movements is that of Safoora Zargar. As media coordinator for Jamia Coordination Committee, Zargar has become known for her role in North East Delhi riots. She and her over 50 colleagues from the JCC have been booked by Delhi police for inciting riots in North East Delhi. Arrested by Delhi police under the UAPA for her role in riots, Zargar had been pleading for bail on pretext of being pregnant. Much to the horror of victims of North East Delhi violence she was given bail by Delhi Court. Delhi police by not opposing the grant of bail to Safoora Zargar has seemingly created a big question mark over the investigation process into the riots. However, its another matter that 44 deliveries had taken in prisons in Delhi. Many believe Zargar was not entitled for any special treatment just because she is pregnant. Also Read: High alert in Bihar over possibility of terrorist intrusion through Nepal Also Read: Maharashtra extends lockdown till July 31 Interestingly, while Zargar was able to secure bail on humanitarian grounds, it is a historical fact that despite not being convicted Sadhvi Pragya was kept in prison and physically assaulted over a period of 9 years. The assault by ATS officers damaged her lungs and had to be hospitalized. It is not the first time that Zargar has had brush with the law. She had earlier been booked for harassing and assaulting Seema Aiman Rizvi, a Muslim activist. The activist had filed an FIR against her for assault and calling her an RSS agent. Safooras claim to fame is delivering speeches that call for overthrowing of Indian state. Only in India can a Muslim fundamentalist threaten the nation, its people and indulge in criminal activity and successfully get away with it. Despite all this, by agreeing to grant of bail to Zargar, Delhi Police have proved its humanitarian stance during Covid 19 outbreak in the national capital. Her getting the bail sheds a light on Indian institutions and legal system are not against the minorities and even the anarchists who are trying desperately to overthrow the system. Though bail doesnt mean that Zargar has been acquitted, the legal process to seek justice for over 50 people killed in Delhi riots is likely to be a long drawn one. Activists and legal fraternity who are lending support to riot victims in North East Delhi would need to tighten up their act if they want anarchists and fundamentalists like Zargar to stand the trial by the law of the land and be brought to justice. (Vivek Bansal is former Media Consultant to Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. He is currently working as a poll strategist and digital media professional. Follow me on Twitter @ivivekbansal) Also Read: With a spike of 19,459 new cases, Indias Covid-19 tally crosses 5.4 lakh China calls it India's reponsibility to protect interests of foreign investors as India bans 59 Chinese apps amid the ongoing tussle on the Indo-China border. China on Tuesday expressed concerns over Indias decision to ban 59 apps developed by Chinese firms and stressed that New Delhi has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese. In first reaction after the Indian government announced the ban, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said: China is strongly concerned, verifying the situation. We want to stress that Chinese Govt always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international & local laws-regulations. Indian Govt has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese ones, he added. Amid the ongoing border tensions with China in Eastern Ladakh, the Centre had on Monday banned 59 mobile apps including Tik Tok, UC Browser and other Chinese apps prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity and defence of the country. Also read: Rahul Gandhis attack on BJP: Make in India but buys from China Also read: Hours after ban, TikTok denies data sharing with China A senior official at the IT Ministry said the prime reason to block the apps under section 69 A of Information Technology Act is to stop the violation and threat to the security of the state and public order and to plug the data leaks. Almost all of them have some preferential Chinese interest. Few are from countries like Singapore. However, the majority have parent companies which are Chinese, the official said. This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace, Ministry of Information Technology said. Also read: Galwan: Chinas information warfare For all the latest National News, download NewsX App WHO Director-General added that the failure in contact tracing is keeping the spread unchecked in many countries, as the global toll sees a spike of 180,000 new positive cases in the last 24 hours. The coronavirus pandemic is not even close to being over, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus while adding that about 180,000 people worldwide have tested positive in the last 24 hours. The reality is this is not close to being overGlobally, the pandemic is actually speeding up., The Hill quoted Tedros. He said, For many of our countries to really not hunt down this virus is our failure in contact tracing, because we have lame excuses, saying its too many and its too difficult to trace. Trust me, there is not too many even in a world situation. If contact tracing helps you to win the fight, you do it, even risking your life, he added. Also read: Bangladeshs Defence Secretary dies of Covid-19 Also read: Global Covid-19 toll crosses 9.8M with more than 189,000 cases in the past 24 hours Tedros also said that the WHO would be sending a team to Wuhan next week to investigate the potential animal source of the new coronavirus. As per the latest update by the Johns Hopkins University, a total of 10,199,798 coronavirus cases and 502,947 deaths have been reported so far. Also read: US imposes visa restrictions against Chinese officials over Hong Kong security bill For all the latest World News, download NewsX App RAS Korea's recently printed Transactions vol.94 / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar By Steven L. Shields Four outstanding Korean high school students were chosen, from among their peers, in the first-ever essay contest. These young people took a bold step and submitted essays on Korean history and culture in English. The judges were challenged to choose and rank the entries for prizes. The relevance of the topic, the essayists' development of their arguments and their overall ability to communicate in written English were all considered. The idea to hold an essay contest developed after several young students at Dongducheon Foreign Language High School took the initiative to approach RAS Korea last year with their efforts. These students had read of RAS Korea's financial plight that was published in the Chosun Ilbo in the fall of 2018. Declaring that as high school students they were unable to send money, all they could send was essays. RAS Korea officers and members were overwhelmed by their outstanding and generous response and published their essays in its annual journal, Transactions. Those students are the youngest writers ever to have been published by RAS Korea in the 93 volumes of Transactions. After publication, those same students invited RAS Korea to send representatives to their high school and conduct an afternoon seminar, attended by more than 200 students. The event was organized solely by the students a remarkable testimony of the fine young people who will build Korea's future. Many more students expressed interest in contributing their writing, and RAS Korea's 2020 Essay Contest was born. The contest is a fitting event to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the world's oldest Korean studies association. The first-place winner of the first essay contest is published in Transactions vol.94. The runners-up and honorable mention will be acknowledged on a special page. RAS Korea plans to make the essay contest an annual event, and a prize sponsor has generously stepped forward so that scholarships can be awarded to the winning entrants. RAS Korea is proud to announce the first-place winner of the 2020 Essay Contest is Park Jiwon of Daejeon Foreign Language High School. Her essay, "Your Memory, Our Memories," explores the painful topic of wartime sex slavery and the focus on Japan these days but recalls the Vietnam War, where Korean soldiers exerted sexual violence against Vietnamese women. She argues that one part of history demands attention to the other part of history; that Korea cannot focus on one and ignore the other. Two runners-up were also chosen. Cho Yoonsung of Dongducheon Foreign Language High School wrote an essay titled, "The Korean Minjokseong." Cho noted that while "Minjokseong" might be rendered as "people's essential character" in English, such a translation falls short of the deeper meaning of the Korean terminology. He poses two historical events as examples of how this "essential character" has been expressed. First, Cho cites the March 1 Independence Movement. He then suggests the "Miracle on the Han River" is another example. As the 21st century dawned, Korea was struggling through the IMF crisis and emerged successfully with stronger economic foundations. Another example of this exceptional national spirit was on display during the 2016-17 mass rallies against then-President Park Geun-hye. Cho concludes by stating his affirmation that "minjokseong" is part of Korean DNA. Koreans respond collectively when the nation needs them the most. The other runner-up is Choi Yeeun of Daeil Foreign Language High School in Seoul. She wrote "The Cherishable Island of Korea, Dokdo." While giving a brief introduction of the history and territorial claims about the island, she focuses much of her essay on the vibrant ecosystem of the two small, rocky outcroppings. She reports there are at least 160 types of birds, more than 130 kinds of insects and at least 60 different types of plant life. Of course, the seas surrounding the island are rich with a variety of sea life, due to the confluence of the swirling cold and warm currents. She reports that "Dokdo" means "lonely island" and suggests that people should relieve its loneliness by remembering and protecting such a valuable resource. Finally, the judges granted an honorable mention to Lee Juhyun of Myung Duk Foreign Language High School. Her essay was titled "The development of women's right in Korea from the Joseon dynasty to present: Focusing on Korean literature." Lee argues that women were treated equally during the 918-1392 Goryeo Dynasty. With the advent of Joseon and its reliance on neo-Confucianism as a societal system, women came under severe oppression. Strict rules governing women were institutionalized in the Gyeongguk Daejeon, a collection of the fundamental laws governing the kingdom. Lee makes several references to the oppression of women showing up in 17th- and 18th-century Korean poetry as well. Finally, modern feminist movements had their beginnings during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of Korea, and have continued to the present. Although women's rights have advanced, there is still much work to be done. RAS Korea is delighted to be able to sponsor this essay contest to further the work of the society in promoting all things Korean. Again, these four young people are congratulated with the highest acclaim for jobs well done. RAS Korea looks forward with high expectations for next year's contest. This year's publication of Transactions also includes 10 more essays, including an essay on Korean poetic dissent by RAS Korea President Brother Anthony, a by CedarBough T. Saeji, the "K-pop doctor," plus the bloody history of Korean wolves as told by Robert Neff and a photo essay on Jeju shamanism by author Joey Rositano. Steven L. Shields, a retired cleric, serves as a vice president of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea (www.raskb.com) and is a columnist for The Korea Times. The Connecticut craft beer scene has taken another hit during the ongoing pandemic. The Beer Collective, a New Haven bar that prided itself on a selection of craft brews from throughout the globe, has decided to close its doors permanently. According to a Facebook post, Craig Sklar and Taurean Davis, owners of the bar, said they weighed various strategies to remain opened but ultimately decided to close. Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Alec Kramer / Contributed photo HAMDEN The Navy celebrated a Hamden native for completing his tour of duty on the USS Constitution with an announcement Tuesday. Damage Controlman 2nd Class Thomas Wyant-Cruz completed his three-year run aboard the ship June 29, according to Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Samoluk. NEW HAVEN Eighteen New Haven Police Department recruits of Class XXIV became New Haven police cadets and City of New Haven employees Monday, June 29, 2020, at a swearing-in ceremony at the New Haven Police Training Academy. The cadets will have 6 months of training and when sworn-in as police officers will continue with in-the-field training. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, police Chief Otoniel Reyes, assistant police chiefs, the NHPD Command Staff and Training Academy Commander Lt. Robert Maturo, Training Academy Deputy Commander Sgt. Shayna Kendall and police commissioners attended the ceremony. By Hong Ji-min The Korea Times and ETS Korea signed an agreement to hold the first English Presentation Contest, Tuesday. ETS, the creator of the TOEFL iBT test, is officially the main sponsor of contest to be hosted by the nation's longest-published English newspaper.In celebration of its 70th anniversary, The Korea Times will host the inaugural English Presentation Contest to help Korean middle- and high-school, undergraduate and graduate students cultivate the global mindset necessary to grow into future leaders and to improve their English fluency.Korea Times President Publisher Oh Young-jin and ETS Korea Country Manager Paul Lee signed a sponsorship agreement for the event during a ceremony at the daily's headquarters in Seoul.Amid COVID-19 challenges that have made physical gatherings next to impossible, the newspaper hopes to help young people develop their talents through submitting content for the contest via video platforms such as YouTube."We are pleased to host this meaningful event in cooperation with ETS Korea. We want this event to become an opportunity for students to foster creative and logical thinking as well as English-language presentation skills," Korea Times President Oh said. "We will strive to make this contest a platform to help students grow into future leaders."ETS, the creator of the TOEFL iBT test, is a nonprofit organization that develops assessment products with industry-leading insight, rigorous research and an uncompromising commitment to quality. ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually in more than 180 countries worldwide.Paul Lee, country manager of ETS Korea, said, "We are more than happy to sponsor The Korea Times in hosting the English Presentation Contest funded by the TOEFL test. We hope the contest can help young students prepare themselves for the new post COVID-19 world with strong English skills essential for various future communications either domestically or across borders."Lee also said that ETS will "continue serving the needs of Korean students and provide practical support" as it is committed to improving education through its assessment tools known around the world.Participation in the contest is open to middle and high school, undergraduate and graduate students. Those attending schools in Korea can enter the contest, but students from countries using English as an official language are ineligible. Applicants can either apply as an individual or as a team of up to three people.Applicants should upload a video clip addressing the topic for a maximum of five minutes to YouTube or other channels, and submit them via the website https://bit.ly/2AHS0QO from June 20 to July 31.Contestants are evaluated in four areas: topic development, delivery, language use, quality of the video.After the final evaluation, 12 winners from four categories will be announced in mid-August, and an awards ceremony will take place on Aug. 27.Details regarding the contest can be found at the following link, GUILFORD The Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night to immediately discontinue Guilford High Schools Indians emblem. While the board broached the topic last fall, a push for a mascot change gained momentum as over a hundred students, former students and parents sent statements to the district over the last few weeks. Most of those statements asked that the mascot be changed because it was harmful to Native Americans. After Superintendent of Schools Paul Freeman recommended the mascot be dropped immediately, all nine board members voted in favor of the decision, according to footage of the meeting, which was broadcast live on YouTube. Freeman suggested that the district incorporate community input when choosing the new mascot and put the final decision to student vote. Board chairwoman Katie Balestracci was strongly in favor of changing the Guilford High School mascot, she said at the meeting. There is a consistent message from Native tribes and organizations, that use of Native mascots and monikers by non-Native schools and organizations is offensive, demeaning and harmful, she said. Last fall, when the Board brought up the topic, representatives from the Native American community spoke to the harm that mascots and monikers which evoke stereotypical Native American imagery cause. James Rawlings, former president of the Connecticut Native American Inter-Tribal Urban Council, said not only is the imagery commonly seen in schools degrading, but it passes myths about what Native Americans are like on to young people. They have stolen our history without reading our history, Rawlings said. [The mascots are] problematic because they dehumanize native people, said Norm Clement, an indigenous activist from New Haven. If you really want to honor Native people, then honor their requests to stop using their symbols and mascots at your schools, Clement said. When giving his recommendation to change the mascot Monday, Freeman said he had heard from mascot supporters who felt that the Indians emblem was a compliment, and honorary to Native Americans, according to the video. The mascot and the moniker may have been selected with good intention, but it is unavoidable that the people that we are attempting to honor do not feel so honored, Freeman said. Formerly the Rams, Guilford High School adopted the Indians mascot around 70 years ago, Freeman said. While he did not believe the decision was meant to cause harm, Freeman pointed to statements from Connecticut tribal nations and the National Congress of American Indians that said the Indians emblem was hurtful. That harm was more important than the intent, Freeman said. It has become unavoidably obvious as we think about this moniker moving forward that the reality, and the offense that is delivered or perceived through such a moniker, is substantially more important than the intention that exists behind that moniker, Freeman said. Toward the end of his recommendation, the superintendent gave an apology. It is my responsibility that this decision did not happen sooner, and for that I apologize, Freeman said, thanking friends and constituents for persistently bringing the problem to his attention. At the meeting, the superintendent and board members also spoke of changing school curricula to better educate students about racism. We must educate our students to be citizens that act in a manner that values all people, Balestracci said. I believe that this requires both that we model this behavior as an educational system but also that we commit to providing instruction on race, ethnicity and institutional racism. meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com NEW HAVEN What was once of the heaviest air polluters in the city is now the site of a manufacturer of art frames in a spacious automated plant with local employees and a new owner who is reveling in what feels like a bucolic setting compared to his New York site. I love working here. Coming here from New York. It is so noisy. This is quiet; you have the water here, Joe Minsky, COO in Connecticut of Art to Frames, said pointing to the nearby Quinnipiac River. The city had a delayed ribbon-cutting for the company Monday, the first outdoor celebration of a new business since January, a function shut down by the coronavirus pandemic where everything came to a standstill for three months. Michael Piscitelli, economic development administrator for the city, said the previous business, Von Roll, which made insulating products, was one of the more intense generators of air pollution in New Haven. This is a much more appropriate for a mixed use area, Piscitelli said of the new company, which bought 128 and 166 Chapel St. a year ago in January and worked to convert it to its new use since then. It opened with some 35-40 local workers in May. The first thing it manufactured was face shields, donating 200 of them to the city for local businesses, which Livable City Initiative Project Manager Jeffrey Moreno who has been doing outreach during the pandemic gave to barber shops and others along Grand Avenue. The impact was immediately felt and so welcomed, Moreno said. It was in their hands. It was tangible. I felt like I was Santa Claus. Minsky, whose father, Jeff Minsky, started the Art to Frame business in Brooklyn, will be transferring it here over time. The New Haven site is now operating at 25 percent capacity, continuing to manufacture the face shields, as well its framing business. We should have between 150 and 200 employees on the site, at full capacity, Joe Minsky hopes within a year. Minsky said they toured many sites before settling on the property in New Haven. It was very easy to work with the people here. This worked out the best, he said. All the workers on the assembly-line business were wearing masks and Joe Minsky said they take the temperature of each employee as he or she come in daily. Joel Minsky said he came to the U.S. from Israel and opened Art to Frame in Brooklyn 12 years ago. He said almost 99 percent of his workers are immigrants. Piscitelli said his office decided to start its public celebration of new and old businesses opening in the Fair Haven neighborhood as the most diverse in the city, a place that has always been welcoming to immigrants and represents both homeowners and renters. His department has done extensive planning and production of webinars for businesses as they tried to survive the pandemic and are now slowly reopening, while Health Director Maritza Bond provided information on the steps necessary to safely reopen for workers and the public. Bond, who grew up in Fair Haven, is part of a team that has been touring businesses to make sure they are in compliance, visiting them with a focus on education, rather than punishment. The new companys close neighbors, Fair Haven Furniture, celebrated with the Art to Frame owners as the press conference shifted to its store at Blatchley and River streets. The economic development staff had planned to visit more businesses in the area, but changed direction as a thunderstorm threatened. Fair Haven Furniture is the strongest retail outlet in the Mill River Municipal Development Plan since the beginning, Piscitelli said of the company with its artistic presence, quality merchandise and strong street presence. Colleen Gala and Lao Triffin, co-owners of Fair Haven Furniture, said business at the store is going well, in addition to their design services where they go to customers homes. I think there is a pent up demand for furniture, especially as people are spending more time at home. Everyone has been really respectful of all of the rules, Gala said. We are getting some new inventory in. We are trying to keep everything rolling like we always did. As more people have time to shop, we want to have what they are looking for. They are allowing three groups at a time to visit so they can enforce social distancing. If there are fewer than that at any one time, the general public can visit. Most people come by appointment. They both are happy with their new neighbor. They are investing in the community. It is great to see their employees out cleaning up the area. We do that all the time. It is nice to see other people caring about it in the same way that we do, Triffin said. mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com;203-641-2577. Some college graduates in China are celebrating their graduations online due to the COVID-19 epidemic, while others celebrate their graduation by driving tractors in a parade. A modern agricultural equipment exhibition of Huazhong Agricultural University, located in Wuhan city of central China's Hubei province, was held on the morning of June 20. The college seniors celebrate their graduation in the form of a special professional practice class. This year's exhibition focuses on reflecting the college's educational culture, said Professor Liao Qingxi, dean of the College of Engineering of the university, adding that the 16 sets of agricultural equipment on display represent 15 undergraduate graduation classes and one class of graduate students respectively. Liao Qingxi pointed out that the 16 sets of agricultural equipment have their own strong power, which means that graduates will have strong motivation and will have a bright future ahead of them. The New Holland CX6.80 combine harvester, which is known as the "bumblebee," is the most advanced and intelligent combine harvester in the world. According to Zhang Yongjun, secretary of the Party Committee of College of Engineering, as early as a few days ago, the college began to make meticulous preparations, including cleaning, overhauling and refueling of the tractors. South Korea mobilized one of its aerial tankers Tuesday to send rotational troops to the United Arab Emirates, the defense ministry said. The Air Force's KC-330 left Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, earlier in the day carrying the 17th batch of the 170-strong Akh Unit, according to the ministry. It is the first time for the aerial tanker to carry out the troop transport mission since being put into service last year. On its way back, the aircraft will bring home the 16th batch of the unit Friday. The newly dispatched members underwent a virus test and all tested negative, the ministry said. "Despite the COVID-19 situation, the rotation could take place in a timely manner through close bilateral coordination, which was possible thanks to the special relationship between the two countries and the confidence in South Korea's quarantine measures," the defense ministry said in a release. The unit is tasked with training the Middle East country's special forces since 2011. "Akh" means "brother" in Arabic. "The deployment of the aerial tanker not only helps save costs, it ensures the safety of troops," it added. South Korea introduced four aerial tankers aimed at expanding its area of operations. The KC-330, which measures 60.3 meters in width and 58.8 meters in length, can carry up to 245,000 pounds of fuel and is capable of refueling up to 10 F-15Ks or up to 20 KF-16s. In addition, it can carry 300 crewmembers and 47 tons of cargo. The tanker can fly distances up to 15,320 kilometers, with a maximum flight altitude of 12,600 meters. (Yonhap) Professor Jay Bergman has called any analogy of the U.S. and Nazi Germany false, unconscionable libel, and a moral obscenity. I fear this is a case where truth is a defense against libel and obscenity is in the eye of the beholder. There are disturbing parallels in the behavior of Donald Trump, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. And it is fair to characterize all three as fascistic leaders. A majority of mainstream scholars would agree that fascism is characterized by the following traits: anti-egalitarianism; an aggrieved past; cult of the leader; ethno-nationalism; violence and propaganda; reactionary modernism. Trumps tenure fits the preceding criteria. By word and deed, it is clear that he does not consider all people are equal, and it is clear who he thinks is on top. Niagara Falls, NY (14301) Today Windy with thunderstorms, especially during the morning hours. A few storms may be severe. High 81F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 52F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Double-distilled in small copper pots and aged for a full year in a Bourbon cask, a rum joins the list of School Spirits crafted and released by Niagara Colleges teaching distillery. It comes from the colleges inaugural artisan distilling class of 2019, which also created an Eau-de-vie de Fruits in January 2019, a vodka in March 2019 and a small batch gin in May 2019. The distillery program started in September 2018, the first of its kind in Canada. Its 2,500-square-foot facility comes with five stills, four mash tuns and 10 fermenters. In a release, distiller David Dickson said School Spirits Rum is an achievement for the students responsible for its creation and the college as well. The rum production came at a time when the students had already honed their distilling and fermentation skills, and they were able to execute the production with a higher degree of independence, said Dickson. He said the students set the bar high for the quality of aged spirits produced by the teaching distillery. Steve Gill, general manager of learning enterprises at the college, said the rum was highly anticipated. Our first student-crafted rum showcases the distillation and fermentation talents and skills of our students, and offers a taste of what our countrys future craft distilling leaders are producing, he said. The rum started as a base material of dark brown sugar a combination of refined sugar with molasses blended back in and was double-distilled in small copper pot stills before being fermented in a two-week process, slower than typical rum production. One of the most important set of flavour components captured during rum distillation are esters, which give rum some of its distinctive aromas and flavours, said Dickson. It was aged for a full year in a 57-litre Bourbon cask before its release. Dickson said smaller barrels have a larger surface area proportionally, which leads to more rapid extraction and aging. Another interesting feature was that the cask had only been used for two years, whereas most bourbon casks are used for at least four years, he said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... He said that may have led to both the increase in colour and barrel character present in the spirit. The rum is available in limited quantities at the colleges Wine, Visitor + Education Centre, 135 Taylor Rd., Niagara-on-the-Lake. A notice for an application for alternative service is seen on a partition at a Seoul branch of the Military Manpower Administration (MMA), Tuesday, when it opened up applications for conscientious objectors who wish to perform other duties than military service due to religious or other ideological reasons. Yonhap Military opens applications for alternative service By Jung Da-min The nation's nearly 70-year-long conscription policy has entered a new stage, Tuesday, with the military allowing alternatives to mandatory military service. The change became possible following a June 2018 Constitutional Court ruling that found a relevant law unconstitutional for failing to institute measures for alternative public services for conscientious objectors who refuse military service for religious or other ideological reasons. Starting Tuesday, the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) began to receive applications for alternative service. In South Korea, all able-bodied men must complete about two years of compulsory military service. For decades since the 1950-53 Korean War, conscientious objectors in the South, who refuse to serve in the military mostly on religious grounds, had been forced to join the military or imprisoned. In the historic ruling in June 2018, the court recognized the need for a legal system to offer alternative service options for conscientious objectors. Following the court decision, the National Assembly revised relevant laws to implement an alternative service system, which is now taking effect. The MMA said draftees for active service and reserve members of the military can apply for the alternative duties by submitting relevant documents up until five days before their enlistment day. The MMA's alternative service commission will look into applicants' religious and personal beliefs to decide if they are eligible for alternative service. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo delivers an opening speech during a ceremony to appoint members of the Military Manpower Administration's (MMA) alternative service commission, at the defense ministry in Seoul, June 23. Starting Tuesday, the MMA opened applications for conscientious objectors who prefer alternative duties. Yonhap U.S. border officers arrested a Canadian truck driver after seizing marijuana worth more than $27 million from a tractor-trailer at the Peace Bridge. It is the largest narcotics seizure by U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded along the northern border. The resurgence of large-scale illicit marijuana seizures is alarming and brazen, given the public health crisis, said Kevin Kelly, spokesman with Homeland Security Investigations in Buffalo. On June 25, a 26-year-old man drove a truck across the Peace Bridge from Fort Erie and presented border officers with a manifest indicating the trailer contained storage bins. Officers conducted an electronic scan of the commercial truck and noticed anomalies within the storage bins. A further physical exam revealed 55 wooden pallet boxes that contained vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana. In total, officers seized more than 4,200 kilograms of marijuana with an estimated street value of more than C$27 million. The driver, a native of India who has permanent resident status in Canada, has been charged with possessing with the intent to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana and importation of marijuana into the U.S. In the past three weeks, nearly $30 million in drugs has been seized at border crossings patrolled by Buffalo CBP officers. We will remain vigilant to protect our border from those who seek to profit from the importation of these illegal substances, as they not only fuel the violent drug trafficking organizations who distribute them but jeopardize the health and well-being of those, including minors, who use them, said U.S. Attorney General James Kennedy. The latest seizure adds to the already huge increase in drug seizures within the CBP Buffalo Field Office, which covers 16 ports of entry throughout New York. From Oct. 1, 2019, to June 27, 2020, officers have made more than 700 narcotic seizures totalling more than 9,100 kilograms an increase of approximately 2,000 per cent compared to the same time last year. On June 5, for example, border agents at the Peace Bridge discovered more than $3 million in marijuana hidden in crates of coffee grounds inside a truck. The driver, a 21-year-old man, was arrested. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The work of the officers has been incredible and their dedication to CBPs enforcement mission is evident in these recent large-load narcotics seizures, said Buffalo field officer director Rose Brophy. Criminal organizations are not going to stop just because the border has restricted travel and CBP officers continue to work and ensure our border is secure. The Canada-U.S. border remains closed to all non-essential travel until at least July 21. Two St. Catharines residents face assault charges after an altercation at Sunset Beach Sunday night in the north end of the city sent one woman to hospital. Niagara Regional Police laid the charges after three people were sprayed with bear mace, and a suspect brandished a knife. Niagara Emergency Medical Services paramedics treated two victims at the scene and transferred a female to hospital for further treatment. Police said the injuries were not life-threatening. When you mix drinking with the hot sun, sooner or later, you will have trouble, a neighbour said. I wouldnt say there are problems every day, but, now and again, it can get a little rowdy. Grantham Ward Coun. Bill Phillips attended a city hall meeting about the beach Monday with the mayor, fire chief, senior staff and fellow ward Coun. Dawn Dodge. Phillips said everyone is concerned. We view it as a problem, he said. Its a problem we want to solve without too much of an impact on the people who enjoy the beach responsibly. In the short term, Phillips said, the city will likely move to close the beach earlier in the evening. Its Sunset Beach, so we want people to enjoy the sunset, but we had to break up a big party in May, and now this fight, he said. The city has asked police to step up patrols. Sunday, we had our city traffic enforcement down there ticketing and towing vehicles, Phillips said. Our tickets are only $30. If you go to a beach in Toronto, you pay $50 for parking for the day. People are saying, Ill take the ticket. In Wainfleet, the tickets are $100. Im not saying we are going to do that, but we have to do something in the short term and look for long-term solutions. The beach was renamed in 2015 it was Municipal Beach and features a 360-metre stretch of sand on Lake Ontario and a boat launch. There are also beach volleyball courts and other amenities. We have created a bit of a monster down here, Phillips said. Its a great spot, but the people who live down here are taking the brunt of this. On a weekend afternoon, its crazy, and getting worse. Another neighbour said as the situation deteriorated in Port Dalhousie with flood damage and the closure of the piers, more people are using Sunset Beach. Yesterday (Sunday) was as busy as Ive ever seen it, he said. The water was filled with boats and Jet Skis. Mackenzie Benard, 22, is charged with assault, administering a noxious substance, assault with a weapon and uttering threats. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Sasha Smith, 23, is charged with assault. Both were released with a Sept. 1 court date. Wainfleet isnt quite the quiet, inclusive place its made out to be, according to a couple who say they are experiencing implicit and overt racism. Now the pair Kevin, who is white, and Amanda, who is of Indo-Guyanese descent are planning to leave, less than a year after moving to the township from Toronto. They say they dont want to raise their son, and a second child on its way, in a place where a neighbour vowed to harass the two until they moved. Or where, they say, others ignore them, scream at their friends and call them drug dealers and thieves. The couple said they did not want their last names used for this article, but wanted to speak about the conditions they found in Wainfleet. They also said many neighbours have been friendly. But there are so many who havent been and for the wrong reasons, the pair say that they want out. It seemed one neighbour had an issue with us moving in immediately. The first thing they said was the previous owner would not want to have an immigrant family living here, said Kevin. He said the neighbour appeared angry that the couple purchased the property, and used a pejorative to denigrate Amanda, who he thought was Pakistani. The two said trouble started almost immediately as they worked to clean up the land they bought in the northeastern part of the township. We had a massive cleanup, and we had the township called on us the fire department was here for 10 days straight, said Kevin. He said the fire department warned him about one fire he had, and told him to get permits for anything else he wanted to burn. He heeded the warning, he said, and obtained permits, but someone still called the fire department on him when he did burn. Amanda said she has experienced implicit racism since moving to Wainfleet, including people staring at her and her son, who has lighter skin, in area grocery stores. In the first couple of months, I was walking down the street and a person came out and asked me what I did for a living. That took me by surprise, she said, adding the person never said hello, but came out with the direct question. She replied, Im a professor, and that appeared to put the person at ease. Amanda was a behavioural therapist and said her interests lay in working with ethnically diverse children with disabilities. Walking down the street with her son, Amanda said, she would wave and try to say hello to neighbours, but few would acknowledge her, making the trips uncomfortable. I dont want my son growing up in an environment like this, she said. No one ever said anything overtly racist to Amanda, said Kevin, adding the racist comments were made in his presence. The two said the situation escalated in the last few weeks when a family friend put up a real estate sign on their property, advertising his business. A neighbour ran across the street and said the sign was on her property the sign was moved by someone and then stolen. That was quite shocking to me, said Amanda. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... She said her friend, a visible minority, was embarrassed to talk about what happened and what the neighbour had said to him. You just dont expect that type of behaviour in whats supposed to be a quiet town, she said. Kevin said it felt like the person was insinuating they were selling stolen property, or property that was not theirs. Kevin said someone on a Facebook group chimed in about the sign and the property, which is up for a partial severance, and that drew unwanted attention. When the two used his Facebook account to comment, they were met with negative responses. Anyone who defended them, they said, was attacked and had their comments removed. There were comments saying we were trying to benefit from whats happening right now in the world that in itself is a racist and white privilege type of thing to say, said Amanda. What do we have to benefit from this? There was a lack of acknowledgement on the (Facebook) group for what was going on. Kevin said someone asked what his problem was. They said, Youre white, what do you care? That shocked me. You dont have to be a visible minority to speak up about racism, he said. Kevin said there are a lot of good neighbours in the area. People have offered to help clean the property being complained about. They have done all sorts of things to help us here, he said. The two said they are going to move away from Wainfleet. Were lucky that we have another property, said Kevin, adding those who have been racist toward the couple should be outed for their behaviour. I want them to feel bad for us having to uproot our lives. REGINA - Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says details are coming soon on when nearly all businesses in the province will be allowed to reopen, signalling an end to the financial support to get them through the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Moe said many businesses are already operating again, except for some like bingo halls and casinos. The premier said specific dates on when more COVID-19 restrictions can lift is to be unveiled Tuesday. These last few months have not been easy for any business whether theyve been open or not, he said. Moe said that with the reopenings, the governments $50-million emergency program for small and medium-sized businesses, designed to provide relief to those forced to close because of provincial COVID-19 restrictions, will be winding down. It would be coming to a close here as most of our businesses would be able to be open now. The Opposition NDP said the Saskatchewan Party government has spent about $27 million of the programs $50 million funding and that applications have been rejected because its parameters are too narrow. Moe said the intention of the grants was clear and, as compared to elsewhere in Canada, many people were able to keep working during the pandemic. We havent been impacted quite as much as some other provinces, he said Monday. Saskatchewan reported one new case of COVID-19 on Monday in the far north region, bringing the provinces total to 779 infections. So far, 679 people have recovered and 13 have died. Moe said the small business grants were in addition to the relief programs announced by the federal government to which the province also contributed. The premier said as of right now theres no more provincial support on the horizon to help cushion the impact of the pandemic, but stated nothing is off the table if Saskatchewan gets hit with a second wave of cases that requires another shutdown. For the short term what we see is what we have put out to support our businesses. NDP leader Ryan Meili accused Moes government of not spending enough on health care, small businesses or education to help people in those sectors weather the global health crisis. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The provincial government has already announced it will spend an extra $2 billion on infrastructure over the next two years in an effort to stimulate the economy and create jobs as Saskatchewan recovers from the pandemic. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2020 OTTAWA - The federal government says it has extended tight rules barring most foreign travellers from entering Canada until the end of July as part of efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. The restrictions covering people seeking to enter Canada from countries other than the United States were set to expire at midnight Tuesday, the end of June. The rule was imposed by an order of the federal cabinet in March. I can confirm the order has been extended, said Rebecca Purdy, a spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency. All travel of an optional or discretionary nature, including tourism or recreation, is covered by these measures. Entry from the United States is covered by a separate order thats currently in effect until July 21 after having been extended three times. The border agency pointedly reminded people Tuesday that the restrictions on travel into Canada from the United States remain even on Canada Day and U.S. Independence Day on July 4. The exceptions to the order barring people entering from non-U.S. countries include immediate family of Canadian citizens or permanent residents, as well as to cover cases such as flight crews. The extension of the order comes at the same time as the European Unions council recommended its members lift entry restrictions on residents of a number of non-EU countries, including Canada. That recommendation isnt binding on member states. The EU says its based on the current COVID-19 situation in those countries and the measures each is taking to keep the novel coronavirus contained. The United States, where cases of the illness have been rising again, is not on the list. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2020. WASHINGTON - Experts and ambassadors across the continent are urging North American businesses to keep their heads up and their eyes open for both growth opportunities and perils in the fine print as the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement comes into force. Assuming that the USMCA, which takes effect Wednesday, does little more than update its old NAFTA predecessor would risk running afoul of the deals new rules or worse, leaving money and new prosperity on the table, said Paul Burns, an international trade lawyer in Baker McKenzies Toronto office. While some operations have been doing their due diligence for months in anticipation of the deal taking effect, Burns said others have waited until the last minute, if the sudden surge of interest in the firms USMCA online seminars is any indication. I think there is now a real focus on understanding what the agreement means for the business and what steps have to be taken by July 1 in order to be able to claim the benefits of this new agreement, he said. The deal is coming into force under a familiar cloud: U.S. threats of new 10 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports of aluminum, which U.S. trade ambassador Robert Lighthizer says have spiked past acceptable levels in recent months, a claim officials in Ottawa strenuously dispute. Canadas aluminum is in high demand south of the border, where existing manufacturing capacity can only meet a fraction of demand, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. Imposing tariffs would only drag down both countries, he warned, as both economies struggle to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States needs Canadian aluminum. They do not produce enough nowhere near enough aluminum in the States to be able to fill their domestic manufacturing needs, Trudeau said. If they put tariffs on Canadian aluminum, theyre simply increasing the costs of necessary inputs to their manufacturing base, which will hurt the American economy. Again, we see that our economies are so interlinked that punitive actions by the United States administration end up hurting Americans the same way they end up hurting Canadians. Quebec Premier Francois Legault, whose province is home to the bulk of Canadas aluminum smelters, urged the prime minister to take a strong stand against any further tariffs, which he suggested are a direct result of the political pressures facing U.S. President Donald Trump. Obviously, there is an election in November and we will follow the result, Legault said Tuesday. But its certain its hurting us. And I asked the federal government to be very tough with the Americans in order to avoid this tariff on aluminum. Trudeau said the new agreement, which he referred to as a renewed NAFTA, will help to protect intellectual property north of the border, provide security for auto manufacturers and encourage investors with new confidence that Canada will have preferred access to the U.S. market for years to come. Burns said its also a perfect chance for businesses to make sure their in-house trade expertise is up to speed on the new rules, which may be similar to NAFTA but also differ in critical ways that could cost companies money if they dont fully understand them. Products that didnt qualify for duty-free treatment under NAFTA may now qualify, he said. I think this is a huge opportunity now for companies to reset, Burns said. The new agreement extends well beyond traditional areas of Canadian trade like agriculture, natural resources and manufacturing, and now includes provisions specifically for small businesses, and in particular those run by women and people with diverse backgrounds, said Ailish Campbell, Canadas chief trade commissioner. This agreement exists for them, Campbell told a panel discussion Tuesday hosted by the Washington-based Wilson Center. With the explosive growth of e-commerce in recent years, she added, the deal will help reduce costs and red tape while connecting buyers with sellers all across North America. With the help of Export Development Canada and provincial partners, small- and medium-sized businesses will have enhanced access to trade finance, insurance coverage and growth capital under the USMCA, she said a distinction from its predecessor, the great failing of which was its lack of inclusivity. The real challenge for us is to make sure that all business owners understand that the preferential market access thats been so hard fought for and integrated into this agreement is meant for them. Campbell said its also worth keeping in mind the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of ensuring that the agreement provides an economic benefit to as many people across North America as possible. In a joint statement late Tuesday marking the agreements coming into force, a coalition of business leaders from all three countries called on their governments to do exactly that as well as resist the temptation to impose new tariffs or other trade barriers. USMCA can accelerate the North American economic recovery, in part by providing much-needed certainty for businesses, said the statement from the Business Council of Canada, the U.S. Business Roundtable and the Mexican Business Council. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... We urge all three governments to prioritize dialogue and co-operation and resist the imposition of duties, including Section 232 tariffs, and other barriers or measures that will undermine the objectives of the comprehensive trade agreement and weaken North American competitiveness. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2020. Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle High in the canopy, surrounded by tree tops and blue sky, sits Portola Valley Residence, just south of San Francisco, Calif. The original, 1960s-era home was small, closed-in and built low on the deeply-sloping lot. A nearby and massive old oak tree would have been killed by tearing the house down. Instead, architect Malcolm Davis pushed and pulled the 60-year-old, mid-century-modern dwelling into a modern, airy family home with a unique vibe. So, the house has this wonderful treehouse sort of feel to it, said Davis. Now accompanied by a two-storey, 750-sq.-ft. art studio with guest quarters, the main Portola Valley Residence covers 3,600 sq. ft., and includes an open living, dining and central kitchen area on the top floor. Cantilevers are used for minimal impact on the oak tree and surrounding land. Down a half level are two childrens bedrooms as well as the master bedroom and ensuite. On the lowest level, theres a library/media room and guest suite leading out to a swimming pool. The original lower floor was lowered by six feet to provide higher ceilings throughout the structure. An outdoor, upper-level bridge connects the two buildings. Much of the original homes wood was salvaged and used in the new building: old timber serves as shelving in the pantry, kitchen and family library. Because its in a wildfire-prone area in one of Californias Wildland Urban Interface Zones with more homes but little wildland vegetation, the houses exterior is stucco and shou sugi ban Japanese charring technique to make it flame-resistant and weathered corten steel. Portola Valley Residence, completed in 2014, took three years to design and build. Architect Malcolm Davis, principal of Malcolm Davis Architecture, in San Francisco, answers a few questions about Portola Valley Residence: What role did the old oak tree play in the way you renovated the house? There was the possibility of tearing down the original home, but it was so close to the oak tree there was no way without potentially killing the oak. So, the house has this wonderful treehouse sort of feel to it. With the root system, though, you have to stay outside of the drip line and not change how the waters going to hit the tree. We added the deck around the dining room a lot of that is cantilevered so we dont have a lot of impact on the tree. What are the upsides of building on a steep slope? What can be really nice is coming in on the upper level of a house, because the rooms you use in the daytime wind up as the rooms with the potential for vaulted ceilings and skylights. What were the construction challenges? There was a lot of structural work. For example, seismic loading is very important. So when you do a big wall of glass, it doesnt have any lateral strength. It doesnt have anything to resist earthquake or wind load. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Sometimes we take a wide-flanged steel-beam a big U-shaped steel frame thats exposed in the room and that allows the window to be enormous, looking at the view without a big chunk of wall. You could bury the steel but I think its cool when you see it. Will the pandemic affect your work? I think, generally, the pandemic reinforces the obvious need for a comfortable home that one enjoys and that size is not key to functionality. My partner and I have been working remotely from our modest, 100-year-old craftsman house in Healdsburg (north of San Francisco). We have a little more space here than in the city but having rooms that can work as offices for each of us has been great for the sanity of being able to have separate space, focus and do our respective Zoom meetings. VANCOUVER As China prepares to impose new legislation in Hong Kong experts say strips the region of its autonomy, activists in Canada are urging Ottawa to streamline the asylum process for members of the citys democracy movement. Cherie Wong of Alliance Canada Hong Kong (ACHK), a recently formed organization created in part to counter the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said when the national security law is implemented this week, democracy activists in Hong Kong will be in danger. This is a good opportunity for Canada to show leadership and to offer a path for Hong Kongers to escape state-sponsored violence, said Wong, the alliances executive director. I understand there is hesitation, but I also urge the Canadian government to take action. We shouldnt wait until there is even a larger surge of Hong Kongers fleeing for safety, she said. More democracy activists from the city will be looking for a way out, fearing arrest when Beijings imposed law comes into effect, Wong said. Wong said ACHK has submitted a paper to Global Affairs Canada and numerous MPs detailing policy options Ottawa can implement outside of the countrys conventional refugee and asylum process to aid people at risk in the city. But ACHKs paper doesnt stop at requests to help Hong Kong activists come to Canada. It asks Ottawa to include those persecuted in mainland China, such as ethnic Uighurs in the countrys far western Xinjiang autonomous region, where reports indicate as many as two million people are in internment camps. Hong Kong is meant to enjoy autonomy from China until 2047 under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the document laying out the agreement for the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to mainland China by the United Kingdom. The region has been gripped by demonstrations and political unrest for more than a year, when the local government tried to pass an extradition law, which opponents charged meant critics of Beijing could be sent to mainland China to face politically charged trials. Protesters relentlessly brought the city to a standstill for months and the law was shelved last September. Observers say the national security law breaks the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Plans include a special bureau in Hong Kong to investigate and prosecute crimes of national security and making all the regions governmental bodies answerable to the central government in Beijing. In its list of recommendations to help those in Hong Kong, ACHK suggests providing asylum and travel documents to known democratic activists whose freedom of movement is restricted. Other suggestions include leveraging existing employment and labour programs to aid those seeking refuge and enhance sponsorship programs, making it easier to bring in claimants. We have to take action now, we cannot wait any longer, Wong said. Prioritizing Hong Kong citizens move to Canada will benefit the country, as the influx will include those with a breadth of knowledge, insight and language skills related to China, Wong said, helping Canada navigate future relations with China. Other countries, including Japan and the United Kingdom, have already established such policies for Hong Kong residents. Garnett Genuis, a Conservative MP on the Committee of Canada-China Relations, said the paper offers ideas the federal government should consider, especially given concerns in Canadas Hong Kong community that people involved in activism may be at risk. He said its important Canada maintain its own values and not allow current ongoing tensions with Beijing to influence decision-making where Hong Kong refugees are concerned. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Our first priority needs to be the defence of our interests and our values, Genuis said. It should be purely about doing all we can within our capacity to receive claims that have merit. But Genuis said, with the special parliamentary committee on Canada-China Relations shut down due to COVID-19, he doubts there will be much engagement on issues related to China until the virus is under control. With files from The Associated Press Read more about: VICTORIABritish Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says he wants to see the evidence that its safe for the countrys two largest airlines to drop their in-flight distancing policies during the pandemic. What Id like to hear from Transport Canada, from Health Canada is do they agree with this, Dix told a news conference on Monday. The safety of passengers and the safety of all people in B.C., of Canada, in particular for us in B.C. is very important. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said spacing policies on airplanes are not within her jurisdiction, but she assumed there was evidence to support the move. We are concerned, Henry said. Its an environment that we know people spend a lot of time in close contact with each other. She said it is important that people wear masks during flights and continue to practise physical distancing. People should not be travelling if they are ill, Henry said, adding that she would like to see passenger screening for signs of sickness before flights. Air Canada and WestJet announced they are ending their on-board seat distancing policies starting Wednesday. The carriers said Friday they will follow health recommendations from the United Nations aviation agency and the International Air Transport Association trade group. Transport Canada said in a statement it issued guidance to the aviation industry, including recommendations for passenger spacing, but it is not mandatory. As physical distancing may not always be possible, all travellers, except those under the age of two years, and certain individuals with medical conditions, are required to wear a non-medical mask or face covering when travelling by air, said the statement. Transport Canada will also now require temperature screenings for passengers at select airports. Air Canada could not be immediately reached for comment Monday, but it has said it is offering flexible rebooking options to customers on flights that are close to capacity. It is also introducing additional touchless processes at airports. WestJet also could not be reached for comment, but it has said its cabin crew can assist customers if there is space to accommodate them. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Dix said he would like to hear from the federal agencies to allay fears or explain why theyve allowed Air Canada and WestJet to end the seat-distancing policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The minister said he will discuss the policy change with his provincial counterparts, adding hes looking for more than just a business case from the airlines. Read more about: They came, they honked, they conquered. Flying in their signature V-formation, Canada geese are often hailed as a symbol of the Canadian wilderness, marking the change of seasons with their southern migration each winter and return every spring. In recent decades, however, honkers have been derided as urban pests as the big, black-necked birds overran new habitats across North America, where in some cases, theyve taken up residence year-round. This has given rise to a contentious coexistence: Gaggles of geese swarm public grounds, scattering their droppings across parks and beaches. There are clashes between protective mother geese and unwitting human intruders who stray too close to their nests. Between crop losses and car crashes, one province pegs the cost of goose-related damage at hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. As Canada Day approaches, experts say we have no one but ourselves to blame for the proliferation of Canadas avian agitators, so ultimately, its up to us to find a way to live in peace. Canada geese are very polarizing, said Christopher Sharp, a population management biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in the Ontario region. Because theres a lot of people who hate them ... but theres also a lot of people who still have a soft spot for Canada geese. Prior to European colonization, the historical nesting grounds of Canada geese was limited to southwest Ontario and the southern Prairies. By the turn of the 20th century, Sharp said unregulated hunting drove Canada geese to the brink of extinction from these native habitats. This prompted a concerted effort by wildlife officials and amateur aviculturalists, who bred the birds on their homesteads, to boost the numbers of Canada geese, sometimes introducing them to new areas. This mission, enshrined in the Migratory Birds Convention between Canada and the U.S. in 1916, coincided with human changes to the natural landscape that would prove to be a boon to the savvy birds, said Sharp. As forests were razed in favour of commercial crops and manicured lawns and waterfronts, Sharp said Canada geese flocked to these open pastures and urban refuges with an abundant supply of food and relatively few predators. Today, there are an estimated seven million Canada geese living in North America, according to the Canadian Wildlife Service. In regions with mild climates in much of the U.S. and some parts of Canada, so-called resident geese have gotten so comfortable that theyve stopped migrating to breed and instead stay in the same place throughout the year. Whats good for the goose, however, isnt always good for their human neighbours, said Sharp. As the population of Canada geese has boomed, so too has the prevalence of human-goose conflict. Geese are just doing what geese do, said Sharp. Its only when you throw humans in the mix that theres conflict. Frank Baldwin, a wildlife biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Manitoba, said the consequences of these conflicts can range from disturbance to damage to danger. According to the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation, crop damage by Canada geese resulted in an average annual compensation claims of more than $416,000 from 2015 to 2018. That doesnt account for other types of property damage, Baldwin noted, or public nuisances caused by high concentrations of geese, such as noise concerns, droppings and water quality. Geese can also become aggressive when they believe their nests are under threat, which can cause serious injury, Baldwin said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... They can also be a traffic hazard, he said. From 2015 to 2018, an annual average of approximately $372,528 in car crash claims in Manitoba could be attributed to Canada geese, according to Manitoba Public Insurance. Canada geese also pose risks to aircraft, said Baldwin. For example, the birds have been blamed for bringing down the jetliner that Chesley Sully Sullenberger safely landed on New Yorks Hudson River in 2009. At current growth rates, the number of Canada geese in Manitoba could double in eight years, despite population control efforts such as loosening hunting regulations and egg sterilization programs. The Canadian Wildlife Service has put forward a proposal to designate temperate-breeding Canada geese in southern Manitoba as overabundant, meaning their population size is considered detrimental to the conservation of other migratory birds, as well as agricultural, environmental or other interests. The move would also establish a spring hunting season for Canada geese with a daily bag limit of eight. Sharp, the wildlife biologist in Ontario, said the province isnt considering such drastic measures yet. The growth rate of the Canada goose population in southern Ontario has levelled off since the mid-2000s, he said. He noted wildlife officials in the province are working on strategies to reduce clashes between humans and geese in urban areas where hunting is not allowed. Between education and habitat modification, Sharp believes theres potential for waterfowl and city-dwellers to live more harmoniously. At the risk of anthropomorphism, he admits that Canadians may have more in common with Canada geese than they think. They provide a connection to nature amid a concrete jungle, and are harbingers of warm weather to come, he said. Canada geese are social, family-oriented and mate for life (at least to some degree), Sharp said. Theyre good parents, and these things that humans try to be, said Sharp. Im a biologist for crying out loud. And still, just looking at them interact, its hard not to say, Theyre thinking what Im thinking. Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae speaks during a meeting with lawmakers at the National Assembly, Monday. Yonhap By Kim Se-jeong Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl were never on good terms, but the tension between the two has never been as deep as it is now, according to legal pundits, Tuesday. Choo lashed out at Yoon, Monday, for refusing to follow her recommendation regarding an investigation into the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a Christian sect, in Daegu amid the COVID-19 outbreak in February. "If the prosecution had conducted a search of the church, it could have obtained CCTV data which could have helped in getting a list of members visiting the church. Yet, the authorities missed a golden opportunity to obtain critical information and it slowed down their response to the outbreak," Choo said during a meeting with a group of new lawmakers at the National Assembly. Earlier that day, Choo also wrote on Facebook: "When power is unchecked, it is like a runaway engine. And always, the result is damage to citizens. That's why this administration is stressing prosecutorial reform." Choo was apparently referring to Yoon for failing to comply with her orders on an old bribery case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, and another linked to his subordinate, Han Dong-hoon, who is alleged to have conspired with a broadcast journalist to blackmail a businessman to get information about one of President Moon Jae-in's close allies. Yoon has been quiet about Choo's open criticism, but he has supports in resisting her meddling into the prosecution's activities. Under the law, the chief prosecutor has the right to refuse any minister's recommendation. VANCOUVERJess Housty cant remember the last time Canada Day was celebrated in the Heiltsuk Nation. Housty lives in the coastal B.C. town of Bella Bella where the Heiltsuk Nation is known for its efforts to help conserve and protect the Great Bear Rainforest. I can recall a lot of celebrations here, were a community that loves to come together and celebrate things but Canada Day is not one of those things I remember bringing the community together, she said in an interview. Canada Day comes this year as Indigenous Peoples absorb reports of confrontations between the police and Aboriginal people, as well as accusations of systemic racism in British Columbias health-care system. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, the director of the University of British Columbias Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, has been appointed by the provincial government to investigate accusations that some B.C. emergency room staff played a game to guess the blood-alcohol levels of Indigenous patients. She said celebrations like Canada Day, Victoria Day and Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day are symbols of colonialism. Canada Day also comes after recent anti-pipeline protests by First Nations and the Black Lives Matter movement, which adds to the complexity of the national celebration, she said. This is a Canada Day like no other Canada Day for some time, said Turpel-Lafond, who is also a law professor at the university. Are we the just, rights-respecting society we think we are and we need to be? A recent poll of 1,000 people commissioned by Historica Canada found that Canadians have a lot to learn about the historical and cultural contributions of Indigenous Peoples and other Black, Asian and minority ethnic Canadians. Fewer than six per cent recognized figures such as Indigenous filmmakers and human rights activists, or the first RCMP officer to wear a turban. Byron Louis, the chief of the Okanagan Indian Band, says he cant remember the last time Canada Day was formally celebrated in his community. Its a stat holiday so well take it, other than that there is no celebration in our community, he said. What exactly is there to celebrate? Louis said there has been an erosion of the relationship between the Canadian government and Indigenous Peoples, which makes it difficult to join in the celebration. When you look at the last 110 years of our relationship, it was nowhere near what our relationship was when we first established contact, he said. Wade Grant, an intergovernmental officer with the Musqueam Indian Band, said he would like to see a greater emphasis placed on days that honour Indigenous Peoples. We have Canada Day parades, we have Canada Day celebrations downtown. On National Indigenous Day we dont have cities or municipalities holding parades or holding events where concerts are played to celebrate Indigenous people, he said in an interview. Grant said he understands the aspirational aspect of Canada Day, but as someone of mixed heritage whose grandfather was forced to pay the Chinese head tax, he would like to see more discussion of what other races have experienced in Canada. Chief Judith Wilson of the Neskonlith Indian Band said she views Canada Day as a chance to better educate others, explaining how she helped organize a skit depicting the writing of a letter in 1910 from Indigenous chiefs to Canadas seventh prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The scene recreated the chiefs of the Secwepemc, Syilx and Nlakapamux peoples relaying grievances over their treatment by the federal government. Wilson presented the scene during Canada Day celebrations in Chase, B.C., to show the public the issues Indigenous people have faced. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Housty said she would also like to see a greater recognition of what Indigenous communities are facing. I dont think we can say everyone in Canada has grappled with the reality of what systemic racism is in this country, she said. The fact that it isnt historical, its something that is alive and present and a lived reality for people around us. Note to readers: This is a corrected version of an earlier story. It fixes the spelling of Sir Wilfrid Lauriers first name. Read more about: MONTREALQuebec is making masks mandatory for all public transit users, but Premier Francois Legault says police will not enforce the new rule and those who refuse to wear them wont be fined. Instead, Legault told reporters Tuesday in Montreal, employees of the various public transit agencies across the province will be responsible for enforcing the directive. He also suggested a mixture of public shaming and the honour system will be enough to ensure transit riders are covering their face to stop the spread of COVID-19. Quebec Premier Francois Legault says masks will be mandatory for everyone 12 and older as of July 13. Legault says there won't be any fines, but those not wearing one won't be permitted to board. Legault says masks are not a sign of fear, but rather a sign of respect for fellow citizens. The new rule comes into effect July 13. Following a two-week grace period ending July 27, anyone without a mask will not be permitted onto a public transit system anywhere in the province. There are no fines, Legault said. The only negative consequence will be that you wont have access. We expect the various transit agencies to apply the rules. Legault said he was also counting on Quebecers to be responsible and respectful of others. Just saying its mandatory sends a message, he said, adding that transit riders can also police themselves. A citizen can tell another citizen its mandatory to wear a mask. The union representing roughly 4,700 of Montreals bus and subway employees which had been calling for months to make masks mandatory for transit users indicated it wasnt fully on board with the governments plan. Interim president Daniel Leroux declined an interview request but said in an emailed statement his union welcomes Legaults announcement. However, our members wont be playing mask police, Leroux said. Its not up to our members to manage who has a mask and who doesnt, nor to limit access to public transit. Legault said bus drivers, for instance, dont let people on board without paying a fare, and the same principle should apply for masks. Health Canada says COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets from infected people when they cough, sneeze, speak or laugh including by those who may be asymptomatic. Wearing a mask, authorities say, can help block infected droplets from coming into contact with non-infected people. Health officials in Quebec have strongly promoted wearing a mask in situations where physical distancing isnt possible, but had resisted making them mandatory for a number of reasons, including availability of masks. But Legault said the province is in a different phase now. The province has largely reopened, Legault said, adding there are more people taking public transit. Legault also pointed to U.S. states such as Florida and Texas, which have witnessed a sudden increase in COVID-19 cases as they reopened bars and restaurants. Wearing a mask is not about fear its about respect, the premier said. Wearing a mask protects other people in case were infected. Any transit user over the age of 12 will be required to wear a mask, while it is strongly recommended that children between the ages of two and 12 wear one, he said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Children younger than two years old, however, should not wear a mask on public transit because it could be dangerous for their health, said Legault. Both Legault and Dr. Horacio Arruda, director of public health, said they have not ruled out making masks mandatory in other public areas, including stores. Arruda said the government wanted to proceed gradually, and any new rules will be imposed as a function of the rate of COVID-19 infection in the province. Quebec reported 68 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday along with 18 more deaths seven of which occurred in the previous 24 hours. The province now has reported 55,458 infections, including 24,798 cases considered recovered, as well as a total of 5,503 deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus. Read more about: BRUSSELS - The European Union will reopen its borders to travellers from 14 countries, and possibly China soon, the bloc announced Tuesday, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. As Europes economies reel from the impact of the coronavirus, southern EU countries like Greece, Italy and Spain are desperate to entice back sun-loving visitors and breathe life into their damaged tourism industries. American tourists make up a big slice of the EU market and the summer holiday season is a key time. Citizens from the following countries will be allowed into the EUs 27 members and four other nations in Europes visa-free Schengen travel zone: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The EU said China is subject to confirmation of reciprocity, meaning Beijing should lift all restrictions on European citizens entering China before European countries will allow Chinese citizens back in. Millions of travellers who come from Russia, Brazil and India will miss out. The 31 European countries have agreed to begin lifting restrictions from Wednesday. The list is to be updated every 14 days, with new countries being added or dropped off depending on whether they are keeping the pandemic under control. Non-EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban, nor are British citizens. We are entering a new phase with a targeted opening of our external borders as of tomorrow, European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs summits of EU national leaders, tweeted. We have to remain vigilant and keep our most vulnerable safe. American tourists made 27 million trips to Europe in 2016 while around 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic each year. Still, many people both inside and outside of Europe remain wary about travelling in the coronavirus era, given the unpredictability of the pandemic and the possibility of second waves of infection that could affect flights and hotel bookings. Tens of thousands of travellers had a frantic, chaotic scramble in March to get home as the pandemic swept the world and borders slammed shut. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States has surged over the past week, and President Donald Trump also suspended the entry of all people from Europes ID check-free travel zone in a decree in March, making it extremely difficult for the EU to include the U.S. on their safe travel list for now. In contrast, aside from a recent outbreak tied to a slaughterhouse in western Germany, the spread of the virus has generally stabilized across much of continental Europe. To qualify for the safe list, EU headquarters said that countries should have a comparable per capita number of COVID-19 cases to those in the 31 European countries over the last 14 days and have a stable or decreasing trend in the number of infections. The Europeans are also taking into account those countries standards on virus testing, surveillance, contact tracing and treatment and the general reliability of their virus data. For tourist sites and stores in Paris that are already feeling the pinch of losing clients from around the world, the decision not to readmit most American travellers is another blow. In the heart of Paris, on the two small islands in the Seine River that are home to Notre Dame Cathedral and a wealth of tempting boutiques, businesses were already mourning the loss of American visitors during the coronavirus lockdown, and now the summer season that usually attracts teeming crowds is proving eerily quiet since France reopened. Americans were 50% of my clientele, said Paola Pellizzari, who owns a mask and jewelry shop on the Saint-Louis island and heads its business association. We cant substitute that clientele with another. When I returned after lockdown, five businesses had closed, Pellizzari said. As days go by, and I listen to the business owners, it gets worse. American travellers spent $67 billion in the European Union in 2019, according to U.S. government figures. That was up 46% from 2014. The continued absence of Americans also hurts the Louvre as the worlds most-visited museum plans its reopening on July 6. Americans used to be the largest single group of foreign visitors to the home of the Mona Lisa. Sharmaigne Shives, an American who lives in Paris, is yearning for the day when her countrymen and women can return to the clothing shop where she works on Saint-Louis island and drive away her blues at having so few summer visitors. I hope that they can get it together and bring down their numbers as much as they can, she said of the United States. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Paris isnt Paris when there arent people who really appreciate it and marvel at everything, Shives added. I miss that. Seriously, I feel the emotion welling up. Its so sad here. A trade group for the biggest U.S. carriers including the three that fly to Europe United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines said it was obviously disappointed by the EU decision. We are hopeful that the decision will be reviewed soon and that at least on a limited basis international traffic between the United States and the EU will resume, said Nicholas Calio, CEO of Airlines for America. U.S. airlines hope the Europeans will give the U.S. credit if it implements steps such as temperature checks on passengers bound for Europe, which he said was discussed between U.S. government and EU officials. Last year, United got 38% of its passenger revenue from international travel including 17% from flights between the U.S. and Europe, while Delta and American were slightly less dependent on those routes. Business travel on routes such as New York-London is highly profitable for all three. In Brussels, EU headquarters underlined that the list is not a legally binding instrument which means the 31 governments can apply it as they see fit. But the bloc urged all member nations not to lift travel restrictions to other countries without co-ordinating such a move with their European partners. Officials fear that such ad hoc moves could incite countries inside Europe to start closing their borders to each other again. Panic closures after the disease began spreading in Italy in February caused major traffic jams at crossing points and slowed deliveries of medical equipment. Italy is still insisting on coronavirus quarantines for visitors from the 14 countries greenlighted by the European Union to visit. Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Italy was taking the line of caution given its battle to contain the outbreak in the onetime epicenter of Europes COVID-19 emergency. In publishing its list, the EU also recommended that restrictions be lifted on all people wanting to enter who are European citizens and their family members, long-term EU residents who are not citizens of the bloc, and travellers with an essential function or need, regardless of whether their country is on the safe list or not. ___ John Leicester in Paris, David Koenig in Dallas, and Dee-Ann Durbin in Ann Arbor, Michigan, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak CAIRO - A Yemeni rights group on Tuesday accused both sides in the countrys civil war of arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture of hundreds of people in the past four years in unofficial detention centres across war-torn Yemen. The Mwatana Organization for Human Rights said it documented over 1,600 cases of arbitrary detentions, 770 cases of forced disappearances, 344 cases of torture and at least 66 deaths in secret prisons run by the warring sides since April 2016. The group released a 87-page report identifying at least 11 unofficial detention centres across Yemen, where torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are particularly prevalent. The scale and severity of abuse ... has had significant societal impact, it said. Many of the secret sites held people for lengthy periods, with the detainees families not knowing where their relatives were held until after their release or transfer to another detention, the group said. Yemens conflicted erupted late in 2014 when Iran-backed Houthi rebels swept across much of the north and seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi into exile. The following year, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states formed a coalition to take on the Houthis in what they said was an effort to stop Iran;s growing sway in Yemen. The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people and created the worlds worst humanitarian disaster, with more than 3 million people internally displaced and two-thirds of the population relying on food aid for survival. The report blamed the Houthis and militias trained and funded by the United Arab Emirates for the majority of the abuse. Forces loyal to the internationally recognized government were responsible for at least 65 cases of torture and over two dozen deaths in detention centres, the group said. The report, titled, In the Darkness: Abusive Detention, Disappearance and Torture in Yemens Unofficial Prisons, was based on 2,566 interviews with former detainees, witnesses, relatives of detainees, activists, and lawyers, along with medical reports and photographic evidence, the group said. Yemeni officials on both sides of the conflict did not answer calls on Tuesday seeking comment. The group said over two dozen people died and around 140 were tortured in Houthi detention centres. The rebels used the security and intelligence agency in Sanaa and residential buildings in the city of Taiz as secret prisons where detainees were beaten and endured several kinds of torture, including having their nails ripped out and electric shocks. An investigation by The Associated Press in December 2018 showed that thousands of Yemenis were imprisoned by the Houthis, many suffering extreme torture such as being smashed in their faces with batons, being hung from chains by their wrists or genitals for weeks at a time, and scorched with acid. In the southern port city of Aden, which is controlled by UAE-backed separatist militias, the rights group said the secessionist Southern Transitional Council used two underground halls and rooms at the counter-terrorism agency as a detention centre. Its report documented at least 18 cases of torture and two deaths at this secret prison. The AP also in 2018 revealed that hundreds of Yemenis swept up in anti-terror raids by Emirati-backed forces have been subjected to torture and sexual abuse aimed at brutalizing the detainees and extracting confessions as part of a U.S.-backed anti-terror campaign. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Tuesday came under growing pressure to respond to allegations that Russia offered bounties for killing American troops in Afghanistan, with Democrats demanding answers and accusing Trump of bowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the risk of U.S. soldiers lives. Frustrated House Democrats returning from a briefing at the White House said they learned nothing new about American intelligence assessments that suggested Russia was making overtures to militants as the U.S. and the Taliban held talks to end the conflict in Afghanistan. Senate Republicans who attended a separate briefing largely defended the president, arguing along with the White House that the intelligence was unverified. The intelligence assessments were first reported by The New York Times, then confirmed to The Associated Press by American intelligence officials and others with knowledge of the matter. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday that Trump had been briefed on the intelligence, a day after saying he hadnt because it had not been verified. McEnany added that there were still reservations within the intelligence community on the veracity of the allegations, and insisted that Trump would act to safeguard American forces. Make no mistake. This president will always protect American troops, she said. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and a small group of other House Democrats met with White House officials as Trump downplayed the allegations and aides said he had not been briefed on them. The Democrats questioned why Trump wouldnt have been briefed sooner and pushed White House officials to have the president make a strong statement about the matter. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, one of the Democrats who attended the briefing, said it was inexplicable why Trump wont say publicly that he is working to get to the bottom of the issue and why he wont call out Putin. He said Trumps defence that he hasnt been briefed is inexcusable. Many of us do not understand his affinity for that autocratic ruler who means our nation ill, Schiff said. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., a freshman and former Navy helicopter pilot and Russia policy officer, said White House chief of staff Mark Meadows briefed the group. She said the Democrats told the White House briefers that the president should make a statement. These are very concerning allegations and if theyre true, Russia is going to face repercussions, Sherrill said. We really pushed that strongly in the meeting. She wouldnt say how the White House officials reacted or say if the briefers told the Democrats that in fact Trump had been briefed. Trump and his aides set a high bar for briefing a president since it is rare for intelligence to be confirmed without a shadow of doubt before it is presented to senior government decision-makers. McEnany declined to say why a different standard of confidence in the intelligence might apply to briefing lawmakers than for bringing information to the president. Some House Republicans who were briefed by the White House on Monday also said they left with questions. Texas Rep. Mac Thornberry, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said the panel would leave no stone unturned in seeking further information. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming insisted there would be ramifications for any targeting of Americans. But Senate Republicans seemed less concerned and questioned the media reports. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he didnt think Trump should be subjected to every rumour. Conclusions, apparently, were not reached, McConnell said. And Republicans briefed in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday appeared mostly satisfied with the answers they received. Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said he was convinced Trump didnt know about the intelligence. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Trump cant be made aware of every piece of unverified intelligence. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Marco Rubio said he believed the U.S. was prepared to do everything possible to protect our men or women stationed abroad, from a variety of threats. Rubio said new Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, one of the briefers, would be meeting with the Senate panel for a previously-scheduled meeting on Wednesday. Senators reviewed classified documents related to the allegations Monday evening and Tuesday, including information that was not previously known, according to one aide who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear what was contained in the documents. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Some Republican senators did express frustration. Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse, a member of the intelligence panel, said Monday evening that Congress should focus on finding out who knew what, and when, and did the commander in chief know? And if not, how the hell not? While Russian meddling in Afghanistan isnt new, officials said Russian operatives became more aggressive in their desire to contract with the Taliban and members of the Haqqani Network, a militant group aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan and designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2012. The intelligence community has been investigating an April 2019 attack on an American convoy that killed three U.S. Marines after a car rigged with explosives detonated near their armoured vehicles as they travelled back to Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military installation in Afghanistan, officials told the AP. Three other U.S. service members were wounded in the attack, along with an Afghan contractor. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The officials the AP spoke to also said they were looking closely at insider attacks sometimes called green-on-blue attacks from 2019 to determine if they are also linked to Russian bounties. One official said the administration discussed several potential responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any. Intelligence officials told the AP that the White House first became aware of alleged Russian bounties in early 2019 a year earlier than had been previously reported. The assessments were included in one of Trumps written daily briefings at the time, and then-National Security Adviser John Bolton told colleagues he had briefed Trump on the matter. Bolton declined to comment on that matter, and the White House did not respond to questions. The intelligence officials and others with knowledge of the matter insisted on anonymity to discuss the highly sensitive matter. Trumps Democratic general election rival, former Vice-President Joe Biden, accused the president Monday of a betrayal of American troops in favour of an embarrassing campaign of deferring and debasing himself before Putin. Im disgusted, Biden told donors, as he recalled his late son Beaus military service. Families of service members, Biden said, should never, ever have to worry theyll face a threat like this: the commander in chief turning a blind eye. Asked about the reports on the alleged bounties, Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, These claims are lies. ___ Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Alan Fram, and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report. OTTAWAWhoever becomes Conservative leader in August will face a tough job holding the party together after what has been an extraordinarily vitriolic and fractious campaign, Conservative MPs and party insiders tell the Star. The partys 2020 leadership race has included disqualifications and legal challenges, a failed attempt to kick one candidate out of caucus, public frustration with the partys leadership committee, the threat of at least one defamation suit and, now, a police investigation into "hacking allegations. The relationship between the races two front-runners, Peter MacKay and Erin OToole, appears to be growing increasingly hostile boiling over at the partys French-language debate earlier this month, with the two men trading barbs and shouting over each other. One non-aligned Conservative MP told the Star the race has created more division within caucus than the last leadership contest in 2017, with squabbles that would normally stay within the party being litigated in public. (The new leader will) need to quickly unite caucus, and swiftly unify caucus around some sort of vision for the country that gets everybody working in the same direction, said the MP, who asked for anonymity to discuss internal caucus dynamics, in an interview Monday. We had 10 years of Harper, and were now five years past that point. I think what is really needed is that vision I think that might even be a ballot question for members, is who is going to get everyone pointed in the right direction, or in a unified direction. Is that even possible? Leadership contests, by nature, split a party into camps. But unlike the 2017 race where 13 candidates competed for the leadership, including several sitting MPs the Conservative caucus is roughly divided in two. MacKay has secured the endorsement of 56 sitting MPs and senators, while OToole has the support of 36. Leslyn Lewis, a Toronto lawyer and social conservative, has picked up a handful of MP endorsements, while Derek Sloan has received no caucus support. The dynamic in this race has some significant differences than 2017 campaign, according to Hamish Marshall, who ran Andrew Scheers successful leadership bid and the Conservatives 2019 election campaign. The front-runner in 2017, Maxime Bernier, had virtually no caucus support despite polling at the head of the leadership pack. And while Scheer and OToole were competing for the same votes, there wasnt a lot of vitriol between the two campaigns, Marshall said. But even after the comparatively cordial 2017 race, Scheer and his team spent a lot of time and energy working to repair rifts that the leadership contest exposed. Former rivals like OToole, Lisa Raitt, and Bernier were given prominent critic portfolios. Same with non-aligned MPs like Pierre Poilievre, who remains the partys finance critic. The dynamic now is very different, because youve got two big, big blocks supporting each guy, Marshall said. And theres a lot of dirt being thrown. The divisions within caucus are not simply personal, but include ideological and regional factors. While no western Conservative stepped into the race, the issues facing the partys heartland are still front and centre. On Monday, the Hill Times reported that Calgary Midnapore MP Stephanie Kusie an OToole backer warned that a MacKay victory could create problems for party unity. Kusie, who declined an interview with the Star, told the Ottawa paper that MacKay would have to appoint both Western MPs and social conservatives to prominent roles to smooth things over. Otherwise, Kusie said, some of those MPs could leave the fold. At the same time, the Conservatives are faced with the prospect of a more organized populist party in their backyard. Jay Hill, a former Harper cabinet minister, has agreed to temporarily run the Wexit party a Western separatist movement. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... While Wexit has been dismissed as a fringe party, Hill is well-known and respected within Conservative circles. Asked if the movement had any chance at picking up political momentum, Marshall immediately said yes. The potential is there, Marshall said. Read more about: OTTAWA Freedom for two Canadians held in Chinese prisons may well depend on the steps Ottawa now takes to redefine its ever-souring relationship with Beijing. The two countries have been locked in an increasingly tense impasse since December 2018, when Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested in China, just days after RCMP detained Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on an extradition request from the United States. Over the weekend, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa denied China had linked the arrests of Kovrig and Spavor with Canadas arrest of Meng, and warned Canada against megaphone diplomacy. The Chinese embassy claimed a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing merely quoted Kovrigs wife last week when he said Mengs release could open a space for the resolution of the detained Canadians cases. Mengs arrest is a grave political incident concocted by the United States to suppress Chinese high-tech enterprises and Huawei, and Canada is its accomplice, said the embassy. The Meng Wanzhou incident is totally different from the cases of the two Canadians in essence. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is looking at a range of options and measures to bring the two Canadians home. To achieve that, Canada has a range of options but none are ideal. More back-channel diplomacy An effort at informal, unofficial communication was tried last November to no avail, but many like former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Jean Chretien have argued quiet talks and diplomacy is the only way. Pros: It would keep Canada and China talking. Cons: It could risk hardening positions. If hopes for compromise are raised and later dashed, China could decide that its had enough talking, and proceed with secret trials for the two Canadians on spying charges. They face minimum 10-year jail terms in an opaque system that has a 99 per cent conviction rate. Hope The B.C. Supreme Court might eventually agree with Mengs defence lawyers on their next two legal challenges and order her released on the grounds of an unconstitutional arrest. Pros: It would take the decision out of the Trudeau governments hands, provide a legal basis for refusing to surrender her to the U.S. and allow Meng to leave Canada, possibly clearing the way for China to release the two Michaels. Cons: Hope is not a strategy. Theres no guarantee that Judge Heather Holmes will agree to release Meng even if she finds her rights were violated. Holmes may conclude the violation was minor, and decide that allowing the extradition and a full trial of the evidence in the United States would not undermine respect for the administration of justice in Canada. Ban Huawei Ottawa could move to formally exclude the Chinese tech giant from participating in the development of Canadas 5G wireless networks. Pros: It would allow Canada to side with its closest ally the United States, and put it in line with other Five Eyes allies the U.K., Australia and New Zealand all of whom have banned or tightened the leash on Huawei in 5G networks. Cons: Its almost too late to wring any good out of such a declaration. The large three telecom companies in Canada have effectively made the decision during Ottawas years of indecision, opting not to use Huawei even in the absence of a federal ban. Beijing has already expressed its disgust for Canadas treatment of Huawei, declaring Canada was acting as a puppet of the U.S. when it arrested Meng. Trade moves Canada could redirect its trade focus on China to other Asia-Pacific allies, like Taiwan, Malaysia, or Vietnam. Or it could attempt to limit Chinese imports to Canada in some way. Pros: It would show Canadas government is really angry. Cons: It would hurt Canadian exporters, manufacturers and consumers, and likely result in retaliatory action by China. Applying sanctions could appear to be a hypocritical move, after Ottawa challenged China over its punitive limits on Canadian exports of canola at the World Trade Organization.And, like the rest of the world, Canada is reliant on China for much of the personal protective equipment and other medical supplies needed during the pandemic, and would not want to risk already fragile supply chains. Toughen diplomatic pressure on China Former ambassador to China David Mulroney says Canada should find allies to challenge Chinas hostage diplomacy in shared statements, but also take common measures to reduce China-bound travel from each country. Mulroney says if things remain unchanged, it will be all but impossible for Canada to send a team to the Beijing Games in 2022. We should encourage others to join us in this, but should be prepared to take this step on our own. Pros: It would embarrass China. Cons: It would likely cement Chinas resolve to detain Kovrig and Spavor. It could backfire if no other allies sign on, and allow China to claim Canada is isolated and therefore is the party thats acting in an improper fashion. Stand up for Hong Kong protesters Canada could provide asylum and travel documents to known democratic activists whose freedom of movement is restricted, as a group of Canadians urged Ottawa on Monday. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Pros: It would send a strong signal of Canadas respect for human rights and align Canada with allies like the U.K. and the U.S., which condemn Chinas actions in Hong Kong. Cons: It would anger Chinas Communist Party rulers, who believe other countries are interfering in their sovereign exercise of jurisdiction. If Canada put out the welcome mat, it could also lead to a massive influx of arrivals from Hong Kong, where some 300,000 Canadian citizens live. Target Chinese officials Canada could apply financial sanctions on individual Chinese officials using the Magnitsky law, which allows for asset freezes and travel bans on individuals who are accused of human rights abuses. Canada could mount an international campaign among allies who have also passed Magnitsky laws. Pros: It would leverage a legal power to take aim at high-ranking Chinese officials or midranking jail officials to express the governments extreme disapproval. Cons: It may not be possible to individually identify the officials responsible for violating Kovrigs and Spavors human rights. Taking aim at top Chinese officials could trigger massive reprisals against top Canadian officials and/or Canadian business and financial leaders. Travel limits Ottawa could limit the number of tourists, students, business people or academics, or the number of immigrant applications it will process each year. Mulroney says that post-pandemic, the Canadian government should scale back its support for China-bound missions and visits, and warn Canadians they travel there at their own risk. Pros: This would express Canadas extreme concern and disapproval of Chinas arbitrary detention of Canadian citizens. Cons: It would most certainly trigger tit-for-tat measures, and the impact of such restrictions would be felt most by ordinary Canadian and Chinese families, researchers, businesspeople and academic institutions. Funding cuts Canada could withdraw funding for the Asian Infrastructure Bank, as Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has urged. Pros: It would show Canada is prepared to thumb its nose at the Beijing-based project. Cons: It would have little real effect on the workings of the bank, which has more than 80 countries and two dozen others investing in it, and about $100 billion in capital. Canadas contribution was pegged at little more than $250 million over five years. Reject the extradition request Canadas justice minister could decide that the prosecution has become overly politicized and order Meng released from custody. Pros: It would assert Canadas independence from the United States, and show Ottawa is willing to stand up to its closest ally if there is evidence that American prosecutors are pursuing a political agenda rather than enforcing criminal law. Cons: Experts say it would be dynamite for our relationship with the U.S. if Canada says the Meng prosecution was politically motivated. Trudeau has also said that bowing to China's request to free Meng would put all Canadians abroad at risk by sending a message that foreign countries can get what they want from Canada by kidnapping its citizens and holding them for ransom. Read more about: OTTAWA The Trudeau government expressed concern Tuesday over Chinas expansion of national security law to Hong Kong but did not indicate it would take any action to protest the move, as China blasted its other critics in Japan, the United States and Britain. China has not yet published the exact text of new legislation that takes effect in Hong Kong on Wednesday the 23rd anniversary of the end of British rule in Hong Kong and handover of the territory to China. As a result a number of pro-democracy activists immediately disbanded their organizations, fearing arrest and reprisals for political opposition to Beijing. The new law is said to criminalize activities supporting secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign or external forces, according to the BBC. Chinese state media report conviction on national security offences could lead to life in prison. Britain, the United States, Japan and Canada say the law undermines the letter and spirit of the legal framework for the handover of Hong Kong that was originally reached. It guaranteed Hong Kong autonomy over its legislative and judicial affairs for 50 years. Tensions between China and the U.S. are escalating over Beijings move in Hong Kong. Late Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said: Per President Trumps instruction, we will eliminate policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment, with few exceptions. That could mean an end to special commercial treatments for Chinese exports that arrive in the U.S. via Hong Kong. Trump tweeted Wednesday night he is more and more angry at China over the pandemic spread, too. As well, they exchanged bitter words over what U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called disturbing reports that the Chinese Communist Party is using forced sterilization, forced abortion, and coercive family planning against Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang as part of a continuing campaign of repression. The two dominant economies in the world exchanged threats and new punitive measures in the past few days. China announced visa restrictions on U.S. officials, in a tit-for-tat measure after the U.S. acted Friday. China denounced its egregious conduct and meddling in Hong Kong affairs; and by the end of Monday, the U.S. ended exports of U.S. defence & dual-use technologies to Hong Kong and China. Late Monday, Pompeo retorted, that the Chinese Communist Partys crackdown on Hong Kong prompted the United States to retool its relationship with the territory. If China wants to regain the trust of Hong Kongers and the international community, it should honour the promises it made to the Hong Kong people and to the United Kingdom in the U.N.-registered 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. In comparison, Canadas statement was mild. Canada reiterates its deepest concern following Chinas adoption of a national security law on Hong Kong that would undermine peoples freedom and the one country, two systems framework, said Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement posted to his Twitter account. But the Canadian ministers statement stopped short of promising any action on Canadas part, despite calls for the federal Liberal government to pave the way for Hong Kong emigres. Canada is actively consulting with allies and reviewing the implications of this decision, Champagne said. Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in a tweet Tuesday said Canadas Conservatives condemn Beijings unilateral move to impose a security law on Hong Kong. This directly undermines its heritage of freedom and the rule of law. Justin Trudeau must do the right thing and stand up for the democratic aspirations of Hong Kongers, Scheer said, without further elaboration. Canada is already bearing the brunt of Chinas anger over the RCMPs arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, under a U.S. extradition request. Two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained shortly after Mengs late 2018 arrest. Meng is out on bail fighting the case in a Canadian court. The two Canadians are jailed separately, and have been formally charged with spying over Canadas objections their arrests are arbitrary and unlawful. Champagnes office said the minister was not planning to make further statements to the media today. A foreign ministry spokesman for China, Zhao Lijian, warned the U.S. on Tuesday to back down. Intimidation does not work on China. Zhao responded to similar criticisms from Japan, saying, Establishing and improving a legal framework and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security in Hong Kong is in itself a embodiment of one country, two systems. On Chinas treatment of its Uighur population, Zhao said Mr. Pompeo is a brazen liar. He then launched into a critique of how the U.S. treats ethnic minorities and American Indians, saying they have long suffered from bullying, exclusion and wide, systemic discrimination in economic, cultural, social and other aspects. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... In Canada, Champagnes office did not comment on a call by a group of Canadian advocates, Alliance Canada Hong Kong, who urged Ottawa to provide temporary protected or permanent residency status to Hong Kong residents, participants and activists of Hong Kongs democratic protests, citing humanitarian and other reasons for accepting them. Granting residence to Hong Kongers would provide Canada a foreign policy win, a national security advantage, an economic lifeline, and an enhanced cultural mosaic, the groups brief said. It said Hong Kong emigres are likely to be young, educated, English-speaking global citizens whose values align with those of Canada. It cited federal figures from January to March this year showing 25 Hong Kongers made refugee claims in Canada, adding the past three months have shown a seven-year high in refugee applications. Read more about: OTTAWAOne of the co-founders of WE Charity says he misspoke when he told youth leaders that Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus staff reached out in April to see if the organization would administer what became a $900-million federal student-aid program. The Canadian Press has obtained video of Marc Kielburger telling youth leaders during a conference call earlier this month that Trudeaus office contacted the charity one day after the prime minister announced plans for the Canada Student Service Grant on April 22. Trudeau has been on the defensive since the government revealed last week that WE had been chosen to administer the grant program, which will provide students with up to $5,000 toward their education costs for volunteering for causes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The attacks against the prime minister have included allegations of cronyism and questions about a conflict of interest as Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, both have long-standing connections with the Toronto-based organization. Trudeau has said WE will be paid only to cover its costs and that the non-partisan public service concluded that the WE organization was the only group in Canada with the capacity to run the volunteering program and reach the many thousands of young people who might sign up for it. In the video, Kielburger describes Trudeaus April announcement that the government planned to provide more money for summer jobs and volunteer positions as substantive given the challenges many young people are expected to face paying for their schooling during COVID-19. Then the next day, the Prime Ministers Office kindly called us and said: You know that announcement we just made, would you be interested in helping us actually implement? Kielburger says in the recording. After much consideration, we put up our hand and said: Of course, were happy to be of assistance. The 43-year-old, who founded the WE Movement and associated youth charities with his brother Craig more than two decades ago and has since guided its growth into an international organization, backtracked on those assertions on Tuesday. I misspoke, Kielburger said in a statement. Speaking loosely and enthusiastically, I incorrectly referred to the Prime Ministers Office. In fact, the outreach came from unelected officials at Employment and Social Development Canada. Kielburger went on to say that contact came to WE Charity from a senior assistant deputy minister the week of April 26 the week after Trudeaus announcement. WE did not immediately respond to followup questions about whether there was contact between it and Trudeau or his staff during the week of April 20, when the actual announcement was made. Asked Tuesday whether there was contact between the Prime Ministers Office and WE the week of April 20, Trudeau spokesman Alex Wellstead said: No, not to our knowledge, adding: No one from the Prime Ministers Office asked WE Charity to administer the Canada Student Service Grant. The official Opposition Conservatives nonetheless referred to Trudeaus connections to WE in a letter to auditor general Karen Hogan on Sunday, asking her to investigate the decision to have the charity administer the student grant program. The Tories say contracting an outside organization to administer the program circumvents Parliaments ability to hold the Liberal government to account over the program as well as ensure value for money. In his statement, Kielburger said that all discussions came at the instigation of departmental officials and they led discussions with respect to contract and program parameters. In a separate statement Tuesday, a senior public servant defended the decision to award the work to WE while asserting there was no pressure either from the Prime Ministers Office or from (Youth) Minister (Bardish) Chaggers office to formalize an agreement with WE Charity. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... To ensure we could maximize the award money available to students during this difficult time, we needed to move quickly to set up the program, said Gina Wilson, Canadian Heritages senior associate deputy minister of diversity, inclusion and youth, in a statement relayed through the Department of Employment and Social Development. Officials determined that utilizing WE Charity with its extensive reach and capacity would be the most effective approach to quickly deliver this program. More than 26,000 applications for the grant have been received so far from interested students, Wilson added. Read more about: Canadian identity has long been carved out of two fundamental ideas: were not American and our health-care system is better. What a banner year that 2020 is shaping up to be then, for celebrating Canadas birthday this July 1. A global pandemic is demonstrating every day how much it matters to have Canadian-style health care and a political system that is not American. Happy Canada Day in the age of COVID-19 the border between this country and the United States has never been this sharply defined, literally and politically. As many states in America are tumbling back into a resurgence of the virus, Canada and its health-care system are slowly emerging from the crisis in much better shape than our neighbour to the south. Those two big identity differences our not-Americanism and our medicare program are not just figments of our imaginative pride anymore. Its a good thing that Canadians are too polite to be smug. Normally around about this time every year, Canadas prime minister would have been getting together with the leaders of all the other G-7 nations for the annual summit. This years G-7 gathering was due to take place in the United States, but that meeting has been postponed until later in 2020. Just as well it could have been an awkward occasion for host Donald Trump. Of all the G-7 nations, the U.S. stands apart from its allies in failing to have the pandemic under control. One website, www.endcoronavirus.org, tracks that reality in stark and vivid detail: nations are grouped according to whether theyve beaten COVID-19, nearly there, or whether they need to take action. Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan are all in the nearly-there club, with chart curves that look comfortably similar, rising up to late April or early May, then declining. Only the United States is in the red category on this site, its numbers still on a sharp ascent as of the end of June. COVID-19, in short, is punching a big hole in U.S. claims to superiority with its allies and Americans themselves are noticing. One former health-care executive in the United States has been getting a lot of attention in this country lately because of a mea culpa he posted on Twitter. Wendell Potter, who used to work with the Cigna health-insurance firm, said he was sorry for all the lies he used to tell about Canadas health-care system and pointed to the COVID-19 response in our two countries as proof of which one was better. Potters Twitter thread confessed that big money was spent in his business to push the idea that Canadas single-payer system was awful & the U.S. system much better. Now, however, he said its clear it was a lie & the nations COVID responses prove it. Potter has now posted a video as well, called One Pandemic, Two Countries, which plainly states: When it comes to keeping people safe from COVID, Canada has the United States beat by a long shot. Whats going on in the United States now is no cause for celebration, not even for the most smug Canadians, but it is a reminder as the entire pandemic has illustrated that government matters. COVID-19 demanded that political leaders stand up and give people what they needed, rather than simply what they wanted. Trump kept telling Americans what he thought they wanted to hear, rather than the hard truths they needed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadas premiers, on the other hand, presented a united, if gloomy front for most of the first half of this year. Their reward, though, will be in getting to mark this Canada Day with cautious optimism that the worst has passed here, unlike in the U.S. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The pandemic is also proving to be a boon for patriotism when it comes to vacations. Many Canadians would usually be getting ready to hit the road for the U.S. or other countries right after Canada Day. Not so this year 2020 will be the summer of Canadians getting to know their own country better, if theyve been listening to the last few weeks of holiday advice from the premiers and public-health officials. So in all, while this will be one of the stranger Canada Days this country has marked in its 153-year history, it will be one which we may see in retrospect as an identity-booster. Americans will mark their nations birthday this weekend still worrying about how to get COVID-19 under control. Canadians get to celebrate Canada Day on Wednesday with hard proof that those twin pillars of our identity our health-care system and our differences with the United States really do matter. Susan Delacourt is an Ottawa-based columnist covering national politics for the Star. Reach her via email: sdelacourt@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @susandelacourt Read more about: A powerful rainstorm battered parts of South Korea between Monday evening and early Tuesday morning, with the southern and eastern coastal areas and Jeju Island hit hard by heavy downpours accompanied by strong winds, officials said. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSC), 170 millimeters of rain fell in Gangneung, an eastern coastal city about 240 kilometers east of Seoul, as of 10 a.m. Tuesday. Its neighboring county of Goseong reported a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 32.3 meters per second (mps), they said. The precipitation in Jeju, Busan, Ulsan and Seoul reached 224.5 mm, 140 mm, 118.5 mm and 73 mm, respectively, as of 5 a.m., the agency said, noting the southern resort island of Jeju was also hit particularly hard by gusts blowing at maximum instantaneous speeds of over 30 mps. The maximum instantaneous wind speed over Jeju International Airport reached 31.1 mps late Monday night, forcing the cancellations of 10 flights, while 23 cases of property damage, including destroyed house roofs and windows and fallen street trees, were reported overnight from the island. The CDSC said a total of 22 houses and a dozen vehicles were flooded by downpours overnight across the country, with a total of 16 domestic flights canceled. But no casualties have been reported, it noted. Numerous collapses of house walls, utility poles and street trees were also reported in Busan and the neighboring southeastern coastal areas battered by heavy rain of over 100 mm and strong winds with maximum instantaneous speeds of up to 17 mps, the agency noted. The KMA lifted its heavy rain advisory for almost all parts of the country Tuesday morning, but maintained its heavy rain warning for Gangwon Province's coastal areas that include Gangneung, forecasting heavy downpours and strong winds in the region until late evening. A strong wind advisory is still in effect in Jeju and southern and western coastal areas. "Very strong winds and heavy downpours are expected in Gangwon's coastal areas until late evening," the KMA said, asking the affected residents to take precautions against various safety accidents. (Yonhap) Ontario ombudsman Paul Dube says his investigation into the high death toll from COVID-19 at nursing homes is looking at how more inspections and higher standards could have saved lives. Were moving full speed ahead on this, Dube told reporters Tuesday after releasing his annual report. Its not just identifying problems, its proposing feasible solutions that are going to make this better in the future. Dube said that beyond concerns about long-term care where 1,809 vulnerable residents and seven staff have died to date the pandemic has kept his office busy with complaints from people unable to reach government offices, unhappy with home schooling and unable to claim lottery prizes. The Ministry of Health reported 157 new cases of the virus in its Tuesday report, including five residents and one staffer in nursing homes, where 5,473 residents and 2,284 workers have been infected since January. Dubes investigation into the provincial governments oversight of 626 nursing homes began June 1, prompted by a shocking Canadian Armed Forces report into deplorable conditions at five facilities where military medical teams were deployed because of a drastic shortage of staff. There were examples of residents malnourished or forcefully fed to the point of choking, left in bed for weeks to develop painful bedsores that ate through their skin, left in soiled diapers for extended periods or left crying for help for hours because there was no one to help them. Premier Doug Ford has acknowledged the long-term care system is broken and promised an independent commission into the problems to begin in July, although he has not yet named a commissioner, terms of reference, or hearing dates for families of residents and industry stakeholders to testify. Dube said his probe will centre on the roles played by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Long-Term Care on a systemic level and leave individual concerns surrounding residents to a separate probe by the Ministry of Healths patient ombudsmans office. The focus will be on best practices that kept death tolls in nursing homes lower in jurisdictions such as Australia, which took more pre-emptive measures to protect against the highly contagious novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Dube added. He deflected criticisms that the focus will be too narrow, given concerns that problems in long-term care such as staffing shortages and funding pre-date the virus by decades, and said a broader investigation into the entire sector would take four or five years. Whats really essential is to get to the crux of the problem. People died in long-term care during the pandemic. Why did it happen? How can we prevent that from happening again? Dube added, noting its hard to predict when the probe will wrap up and issue a report. What were trying to do is bring positive change to the areas of, primarily ... standards and inspections and standards and compliance. Fords government has been criticized for not doing enough inspections at nursing homes and for a lack of personal protective equipment, such as masks and face shields, for staff in the early stages of the pandemic. The Ontario Health Coalition said Tuesday that access to PPE has improved somewhat for surgical masks, but that gowns and the more effective N95 masks remain in short supply, and gave the government a grade of F on staffing levels. Without enough staff, there is not enough time to bathe, feed, hydrate, reposition, and provide even the most basic care for residents, let alone provide care with residents and staff sick with COVID-19 and in isolation, the coalition said in a statement. Dube said his office received more than 800 complaints related to COVID-19 by the end of March, when the fiscal year ended just two weeks after Ford declared a state of emergency in the province. If there is one lesson we can draw from this pandemic, it is how much citizens rely on their public services, he said. Given the scale of this pandemic and the speed with which it spread, there were bound to be gaps. In his 92-page report, Dube said concerns ranged from a lack of personal protective equipment for staff and residents of youth group homes to a member of a group that won a $1 million lottery prize and was unable to reach Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporations prize centre because it was shut down due to the pandemic. When the ombudsmans office intervened, OLG officials told us the groups claim had been approved, and it sent the cheques to the winners the same day. There was also the case of a disabled woman with cancer, who was relying on the Ontario Disability Support Program for income. She needed money for transportation but could not reach her case worker because the office was closed a problem that was rectified. Moms, dads and kids were also not thrilled with the new world of education at home instead of in the classroom. Many parents and students complained to us about such issues as the quality and accessibility of at-home learning, Dube said, referring to concerns about a lack of sufficient communication and support. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The top concern in the report, however, was over correctional services, with more than 6,000 complaints, many citing terrible conditions in the aging and overcrowded Thunder Bay jail, which Dube visited. I was shaken when I left, he said. In the four years Ive been ombudsman, the most disturbing thing Ive seen and the most appalling conditions Ive observed are in the Thunder Bay jail. Dube said he reminded the government that time is of the essence in building a new jail. Dear Amy: Ive been married to my wife since 2003. In 2011, I found her texting and flirting with a friend of mine. We ultimately broke up. It was pretty much a mutual decision. I met another woman who was everything I dreamed of. I moved toward divorcing my wife. I wanted to move on with my life. Tragically, three years after falling in love, my fiance died...right in front of me. Well, it turns out, my wife never filed the divorce papers, so we are still married. We have two sons (both born before the breakup). Concerned for the well-being of my sons, I worked things out with her, and we got back together. Fast-forward to today. I feel like Im serving a jail sentence with this person. My oldest son is on his way to the Marines, and my youngest is on his way to sixth grade. I am married to a selfish, unemotional woman who doesn't seem to have any love or compassion for me. There is no communication, no intimacy, no anything! Ive got just over five years to go until my youngest will be 18. My plan is to move out the day after his birthday. I've tried everything I can think of -- from talking to her directly to even talking to her mother. I'm afraid she's cheating again, but I have no proof. She just seems totally not interested in me at all. I love her, but my love is not reciprocated. Should I ride this out until it goes down in flames -- or stick to the plan of just staying under the radar until my son turns 18 and then leave and ghost her? It feels like Im just here to help with bills and kids. Thats it. Lonely Man Dear Lonely: You sound depressed and very sad. You say you are staying in this prison of a marriage for your sons sake but you and your wife lived separately once before. Your previous breakup lasted for several years, and your sons were in the picture during that period. My point is that when you were motivated to leave the marriage previously, you did and you found love with someone else. Many parents in empty marriages say they are staying together for the sake of their children, but children dont necessarily benefit from living with two parents who dont want to be together. Your five-year plan sounds like a very tough haul. Sessions with a marriage counselor might not bring your wife back to you, but you two would at least have the opportunity to come up with a workable plan for either staying together, or parting peacefully. Dear Amy: When I go to the grocery store, I notice other customers not wearing their masks correctly (not covering their noses). The cashiers are the same! This gives me anxiety. I want to say, Hey, youre not wearing your mask right! but I hate confrontation. Also, they have markers on the floor to indicate where you should stand so you are six feet apart, but three times I have had someone stand way too close to me as I waited in line. It just freaks me out! I let them get in front of me and I scoot back to six feet. What is the best way to ask someone to back up? I am just fearful someone will curse me out if I ask them to back up or to wear their mask correctly. Anxious Dear Anxious: In order to minimize your own risk/anxiety, you should make choices to shop at places where employees comply, and during times when there are the fewest other customers. No I dont think you should call out another customer for wearing a mask incorrectly (because this involves them and their body), but yes you should definitely ask someone to space themselves further from you (because this involves you and your body): Hey, could you do me a favor and step back a little bit? Dear Amy: Exasperated Mom complained about not being able to get her teens to help around the house. I come from a family of 12 kids. You can imagine the pile of shoes left around the living room. One time my mom decided to put all the shoes in her and Dads bedroom, and we could redeem them for $.05 a pair. (It was a long time ago.) Good Memories Dear Memories: Looks like they really were cheaper by the dozen! (You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.) COPYRIGHT 2020 BY AMY DICKINSON. Read more advice: Ask Amy: Separated soulmates are eager to connect Dear Annie: Looking to hop off the hamster wheel Dear Abby: Children cut off stepmother with dads power of attorney Dear Annie: I'm heartbroken over an event that took place 52 years ago. I dated a girl in high school for several years and was truly in love. After I graduated from high school in 1967, I asked her to marry me. She took my hand and said that she couldn't because she was pregnant from her former boyfriend. I was shocked, hurt and destroyed from within. Naturally, we broke up, and we both moved on with our lives. It bothered me more because of the fact that he was an addict and I believe he got her hooked on drugs, and she died at the age of 49. I worked at the local hospital for many years. One day, upon my return from vacation, I was told that a woman in the ICU had been asking for me. Now, this was 32 years after our breakup. She remembered me and followed my career in medicine to know I worked there. She died a few days before I returned from vacation. I found her grave today. It was a sad day. Why does this bother me so much? The cemetery had her obituary. In it, I found enough information about her life after me, including information on her two daughters. Should I contact them and get filled in on her life? -- Heartbroken Dear Heartbroken: I am so sorry for your loss. It's understandable that you are still upset about her death. While time is known to heal wounds, it does not mean we forget about people who were important to us growing up. Just because you both went on to love other people does not mean you didn't stop caring about each other as friends. The fact that she looked you up all those years later and knew where you worked shows that. I can imagine being a drug addict and being married to one is a very lonely life. She probably remembered you from before her life was filled with addiction and wanted to say goodbye. Although it is so sad you weren't able to, you could connect to her through her daughters. There is nothing wrong with reaching out to them, sharing memories of how great their mother was and learning about her life. The main point to stress is this is not about romantic love but rather how you care deeply about her as a friend. The man she married is probably their father, so I would not tell them your opinion of him. Dear Annie: I was raised by a very strict mother. I am now a middle-aged man. Several years ago, out of the blue, my mother asked me if she had been too strict when I was young. I told her I thought she was. Do you think this was her way of apologizing or something else? -- Strict Mother's Son Dear Strict Mother's Son: It very well could be an apology. If that is something you are looking for, why not ask her? You are very sparse with your words in discussing this issue. It would be helpful to be aware of this and to try to relax before talking to her. Also make a list of all the things she did right and that you love about her. The more you tell her these things, the more it will facilitate the conversation. "Ask Me Anything: A Year of Advice From Dear Annie" is out now! Annie Lane's debut book -- featuring favorite columns on love, friendship, family and etiquette -- is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM Read more advice: Ask Amy: Separated soulmates are eager to connect Dear Annie: Looking to hop off the hamster wheel Dear Abby: Children cut off stepmother with dads power of attorney A Camden resident was arrested in the kidnapping and fatal shooting of a Pine Hill man, whose body was discovered in an alley over the weekend, authorities said Monday. Michael Branon, 32, was charged with felony murder in the death of 30-year-old Pedro Fernandez, according to the Camden County Prosecutors Office. Witnesses said they saw Fernandez being forced into a pickup truck shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday in the 1500 block of Pershing Street in Camden, according to authorities. After receiving the report, the prosecutors office issued a public plea for information to find Fernandez. Police early Sunday stopped Branon as he was driving a truck that matched the description from the abduction, authorities said. Investigators found Fernandezs body around 2 p.m. Sunday in an alleyway off the 400 block of Marlton Avenue in the city, the prosecutors office said in a statement. He was shot multiple times. Authorities did not comment on a possible motive for the slaying. Meanwhile, Branon was being held at the county jail ahead of a detention hearing. Anyone with information can contact prosecutors office Detective Andy McNeil at 856-225-8407 or Camden County Police Detective Ed Gonzalez at 856-757-7400. Tips can also be sent to ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. An asphalt tank exploded and erupted in flames early Tuesday in Camden County, shaking up a neighborhood and forcing families to flee their homes, authorities said. Police began receiving 911 calls about 12:49 a.m. from people living near the Blueknight Energy Partners in the 200 block of Water Street in Gloucester City, according to the countys Office of Emergency Management. The tank, which is used for asphalt emulsion, caught fire and exploded, the county said in a statement. The tank was in use when the incident occurred, officials said. A tank used to emulsify asphalt caught fire and exploded early Tuesday in a Camden County neighborhood, officials said.Pennsauken Fire Department Neighbors told 6abc.com they woke up to a loud bang and that their homes shook. HAZMAT workers, members of the Camden County Foam Task Force and several area fire departments were quickly on the scene. Firefighters fought the blaze until about 4 a.m. and 6abc.com news video showed the top portion of the tank had melted. Just before sunrise, fire officials reported most of the fire had been extinguished and that there was no damage to surrounding homes or other parts of the city. Blueknight officials told fire investigators it was possible that vapors ignited in one of the holding tanks, causing an explosion near the top of the structure. As a precaution, homes were evacuated from both sides of Jersey Street to 4th Street and residents were told to shelter at a Knights of Columbus of at the Gloucester Heights Community Center, the countys OEM said. In a statement, Blueknight said it was in the process of cleaning up. We are working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as well as the Environmental Protection Agency and (U.S.) Coast Guard, the statement said. " We are grateful to the local fire crews who quickly responded to the incident. The Red Cross of New Jersey was also standing by to help. The incident remains under investigation, county officials said. Firefighters early Tuesday extinguish a blaze at an asphalt tank in Gloucester City in Camden County.Pennsauken Fire Department Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. A deal with the largest union of state workers to avert mass layoffs by instituting furloughs and a pausing a planned 2% wage increase will save the state more than $100 million, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday. The agreement, ratified by members of the Communications Workers of America late last week, shields the state workers from layoffs through the end of 2021. Union leaders described the tradeoff as a loss of some pay in exchange for ironclad job security. Our members are safe while the economy improves. This agreement will save thousands of jobs, union leadership said in a note to workers. The governor has warned sharp revenue losses would prompt historic layoffs in state and local government. His administration has lowered by $10 billion the amount it expects to collect in taxes through June 30, 2021. As we face the unique and unparalleled challenges created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this agreement will provide critical cost savings for the state while minimizing the financial impact on employees, Murphy said in a statement Monday. Together, we have reached the best possible outcome for our state, our workers and our taxpayers. The CWAs contract had called for 2% raises in July 2020, July 2021 and April 2022. Two of the three salary bumps will be postponed, with workers instead seeing three, 2% increases in the span of a year: July 2021, December 2021 and July 2022. By the end of the contract, you will get every raise promised, union leaders said in their report to members. We have not given up any raises. The agreement does not freeze the so-called increments, or step increases, employees receive when they hit additional years of service that can add thousands of dollars a year in increased pay. This drew criticism from Republicans in the Legislature, who said Murphy should have pushed for a true wage freeze. In a regular year, the (cost-of-living adjustment) and step increase combine to provide most state workers with a 6% pay raise, they said. As a result of the agreement you negotiated, some state workers will simply have their pay increases trimmed slightly from 6% to 4% over the next 12 months, far from a real wage freeze. As part of the deal, workers will also be required to take up to 12 furlough days, including 10 before the end of July, when the federal governments $600 supplement to state unemployment benefits which are capped at $713 a week expires. Just how many furlough days state workers will be required to take and when appears to largely depend on individual circumstances, such as rate of pay, in order to maximize unemployment benefits. For example, workers making up to $68,000 can take off a week at a time and receive either the same compensation or more through unemployment. Higher-wage workers may work partial weeks to take full advantage of state and federal unemployment, though they will still lose money. Under the deal, theyll be able to bank two days of paid leave as a result. Some workers deemed essential will be exempt from these furloughs, according to unions outline. Most CWA members will also be required to take unpaid furlough days on the day after Thanksgiving and on Presidents Day in 2021, according to the breakdown. No worker covered by the agreement will lose more than five paid days, and the vast majority will only lose two, the CWA said. This, too, is too little, too late Republican lawmakers said. During a vote on the proposed three-month, stopgap budget Monday, Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, R-Union, slammed Murphy for not furloughing thousands of state workers who havent been able to perform their job duties because of pandemic-related closures since March. By not implementing broad furloughs months ago when much of New Jersey, including most government offices, were shut down, the opportunity to achieve savings has been greatly diminished, Senate Republicans similarly said last week. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Health care was the No. 1 issue two years ago, when Democrats captured four Republican-held House seats in New Jersey and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez beat back a well-funded challenge from a former drug company executive. The House on Monday returned to that issue as lawmakers voted largely along party lines, 234-179, to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, even as President Donald Trump renewed his plea to the Supreme Court to kill it and threatened to veto this legislation. In a recent Quinnipiac University poll, 56% of U.S. voters disapprove of the way Trump has handled health care, compared with 39% who approve. And by 55% to 41%, they said presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden would do a better job on health care than Trump. Only two Republicans supported the bill. One was Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., who had backed earlier efforts to strengthen the ACA when he was a Democrat. The other was Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Rep. Chris Smith, one of only five Republicans to support a May 2019 Democratic bill to strengthen the health care law, voted no this time around. The Republican-controlled Senate, which fell just one vote short of repealing the ACA in 2017, has refused to take up that legislation. The vote took place in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, when thousands of Americans have lost their jobs and their insurance in the ongoing economic downturn. Enrollment in NJ FamilyCare has grown by 88,500 since March. As Americans continue to face both the COVID-19 pandemic and a severe economic downturn, they are justifiably concerned about their health and their financial future, said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th Dist. The bill would make more Americans eligible for tax credits and increase the amount they would receive, create a national reinsurance program to help cover patients with high medical costs, and pay 100% of the costs of expanding Medicaid for those states that have yet to do so. The measure also would provide federal aid to states to help them lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, and to help them set up their own marketplaces, as New Jersey is doing. And it would stop the Trump administration from allowing the sale of insurance plans that have lower premiums because they do not cover pre-existing conditions and do not provide many other benefits required under Obamacare. The expanded ACA coverage would be paid for through lower drug prices since Medicare would be able to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies. Those lower prices also would be extended to private insurance plans. Health care was a big issue two years ago in New Jerseys 3rd District, where Democrat Andy Kim ousted Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur, who played a major role in the House Republican repeal effort to abolish Obamacare. New Jersey Republicans now trying to win back the congressional seats they lost in 2018 have shied away from supporting an Affordable Care Act repeal. They instead have attacked Medicare for All, a proposal for a single-payer, government-run health system, that is opposed by Pallone and most other New Jersey House Democrats. Trump and several Republican-run states have asked the Supreme Court to throw out the Affordable Care Act, including its protections for those with pre-existing conditions, the expansion of Medicaid, and the subsidies that make insurance affordable. New Jersey is one of the states that have asked the Supreme Court to uphold the law. The choice we have is clear: We can make sure more of our neighbors can access affordable health care, or we can let the Trump administration kick them off their plans and leave them in the cold, Kim said. If the lawsuit succeeds, 225,000 New Jerseyans with pre-existing health conditions could lose coverage, face unaffordable premiums or be unable to find any insurance at all, according to a 2018 study by the House Oversight Committee Democratic staff. And 595,000 additional New Jerseyans would not have health coverage and another 181,000 would lose their tax credits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive research group. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Most Atlantic City casinos are holding their ground and reopening in time for the July 4 weekend, though theyll have to do it without indoor dining or drinking after Gov. Phil Murphys decision Monday to postpone the next step of reopening during the coronavirus. New Jersey will allow casinos to open their doors Thursday with a 25% limit on capacity, but the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is so far the only casino that has announced it will postpone opening because it will be unable to provide guests with the special experience they expect. Meanwhile, the citys other casinos are scrambling to find alternative dining and drinking options for their guests and gamblers. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos restaurants will offer takeout and room service when it opens Thursday, a spokeswoman said. The Ocean Casino Resorts restaurants will also offer takeout, and a spokeswoman said the casino is also bringing in Bites + Brews, a beer and food truck, that will be parked outside daily. Also planning to reopen Thursday are Golden Nugget, Resorts, and Tropicana. Caesars, Ballys and Harrahs will open to the public Friday. Tom Pohlman, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, said on Facebook that he was still awaiting official guidelines on reopening, writing, this is a very fluid situation and we continue to adapt as we receive new information. Eldorado Resorts, which owns Tropicana Atlantic City and 22 other properties around the country, said Tuesday that Tropicana would still open Thursday, making it the last El Dorado property to reopen. Murphy postponed indoor dining indefinitely on Monday, citing spikes in other states and scenes of crowds at Jersey Shore bars and restaurants disregarding social distancing. At his daily press briefing Tuesday, the governor said he wasnt considering any exemptions for casinos. Given the current situation in numerous other states we do not believe it is prudent at this time to push forward with what is, in effect, a sedentary indoor activity especially when we know that this virus moves differently indoors than out, making it even more deadly, Murphy said. We have seen spikes in other states driven, in part, by the return of patrons to indoor dining establishments, where they are seated, and without face coverings, for significant periods of time, the governor said. We are also moved to take this step because of what we have seen in some establishments across the state of late. Murphys executive order halting indoor dining also came with a smoking ban for casinos. With an eye to reopening Thursday, most casinos are emphasizing that their health and safety reopening plans many of which mandate plexiglass at gaming tables, space between slot machines and deep-cleaning of common areas are enough to ensure the safety of patrons. We are waiting for details from Governor Murphys Executive Order before updating our guests and team members on business operations, Joe Lupo, President of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. We are disappointed that we cannot provide the experience our guests expect and deserve, as our brand has always excelled at prioritizing a premium guest experience. We are confident our enhanced Safe + Sound protocols are a responsible approach to safely opening our property and bringing our team members back to work. Instead of crafting its own guidelines for casinos to implement, the states Division of Gaming Enforcement on Monday officially adopted as the baseline and minimum standards the reopening protocols recommended by the Casino Association of New Jersey, in collaboration with AtlantiCare Health System and UNITE 54, the union representing many casino workers. Among other things, the 13-page plan calls for mask-wearing indoors, signage to make sure people in lines stay six feet apart, and casino staff screening and guests or patrons with a series of questions to determine if they are ill or have been exposed to anyone with COVID-19. Casinos must submit their individual reopening protocols to the state by 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to the division. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. New Jerseys list of states with surging coronavirus outbreaks that meet the criteria for a 14-day quarantine has increased to 16, as cases continue to increase rapidly in the southern United States where local officials were quicker to reopen businesses. Gov. Phil Murphy joined New York and Connecticut last week in calling on people to self-quarantine if they spend time in places where COVID-19 are quickly on the rise. New Jersey has the third most total positive tests after New York and California and the second most deaths, the number of new deaths and positive cases New Jersey have steadily declined in recent weeks. The latest list of states under voluntary quarantine, according to the states Department of Health include: Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina Nevada South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah The new additions from the original eight states are California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee. Washington state was on the list the day Murphy made the announcement, but it was dropped within a day because of the formula the state uses to calculate which areas are considered hotspots. The quarantine criteria includes states with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average. The quarantine includes New Jersey residents who travel to those states and return. Unlike in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said first-time offenders could get slapped with $1,000 fines, Murphy said New Jersey is taking more of a public awareness approach, but the execution is up to us in the state. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Travelers and those residents who are returning from impacted states should self-quarantine at their home, or a hotel or other temporary lodging, according to the state Department of Health website. Individuals should leave the place of self-quarantine only to seek medical care/treatment or to obtain food and other essential items. As one example, no one who has traveled to or from a state on the COVID-19 hotspot list should be participating in or attending an in-person or drive-in graduation ceremony. N.J. health officials said the list of states would be updated regularly. The administration all but signaled last week the advisory wont be enforced and Murphy acknowledged he could not order checks at the states borders for out-of-state license plates from the states where coronavirus cases are spiking. Although this is voluntary, we do expect compliance, said Judith Persichilli, commissioner of the states Department of Health. Persichilli, who conceded the quarantine is discretionary, is the person with the authority to enforce the advisory under the health emergency the state is currently under. Critical and essential workers, including truckers and those in the transportation industry, are exempt, Persichilli said. She also advised those arriving from states where outbreaks are increase to get a coronavirus test upon arrival and self-isolate for 10 days if they test positive. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. The federal program that guarantees loans to small businesses and forgives them if the companies keep their employees on the payroll ends at midnight Tuesday. Applications for the paycheck protection program, set up under the $2 trillion stimulus law, must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. There still is $134 billion available for businesses. Through Saturday, New Jersey businesses have taken out 144,523 loans worth $17 billion. Overall, the federal government has awarded $519 billion to 4.8 million small businesses. Close to two-thirds of the loans, 3.1 million, were for $50,000 or less. The initial $349 billion program proved so popular that Congress added another $310 billion. While larger banks dominated the initial round of loans, much of the second tranche of money went to smaller lenders and their clients. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage The Small Business Administration, which originally worked with 1,800 banks, wound up dealing with close to 5,500 lenders. The program came under fire after some of the loans went to publicly traded companies, some of which returned the loans to make them available for smaller businesses that initially were shut out. Some well-known companies that initially received loans, including the Los Angeles Lakers, Potbelly and Shake Shack, also gave back the money. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant. Seoul city is moving to provide emergency relief funds to foreigners living in the capital city that could benefit some 100,000 households, municipal authorities said Tuesday. The city government said that Seoul Metropolitan Council earlier in the day passed an extra budget bill, that includes a 50 billion-won ($41.5 million) increase in the emergency account that can be used to offer relief money. Authorities said that with some 300,000 foreign nationals living in the city, about 30 billion won may be provided to help the non-Korean residents. "Rules regarding emergency relief funds to foreigners will be the same as that applied to other citizens, though the exact sum to be provided was not specified in the budget proposal," a city official said. He said registered foreigners who make a living in the country can get the relief funds if they meet the income criteria. He did not reveal when the payments would be made. Seoul earlier provided assistance to Koreans based on median income levels, with four-person households making less than some 4.7 million won per month being eligible for support. Funds were even given to single-person households with monthly earnings under 1.7 million won. The latest move comes after the National Human Rights Commission issued a policy recommendation on June 11, calling on Seoul city and Gyeonggi Province not to discriminate against foreigners in regards to COVID-19 emergency relief funds. (Yonhap) I just got the wind knocked out of me.' Those were the words of Marilyn Schlossbach, owner of three Asbury Park restaurants, in reaction to Gov. Phil Murphys decision Monday to postpone indefinitely indoor dining, which had been scheduled to start up again this Thursday. I dont blame the government,' she added. I see these (bar and restaurant) operators violating the rules, and its we who are playing by the rules who are being punished.' Domenick Torlucci, executive chef and director of Stone Water on Lake Hopatcong, agreed. We are extremely disheartened with Governor Murphys decision to indefinitely postpone the return of indoor dining,' Torlucci said. We were both excited and fully prepared for this important next step. It is unfortunate that the irresponsibility and non-compliance of a few bad operators will ruin it for those of us who take service and safety to heart.' Moshe Mo Atzbi, owner of Haileys Harp & Pub in Metuchen, said he was obviously upset at the news. Although I understand that its for the greater good of our New Jersey community, most businesses need time to react to news about expanding their capacity. Once we get that news we have to jump on it. To ask us to begin ramping up and then pulling the rug out from under us is very inconvenient.' Murphy said he made his decision based on recent scenes from expanded outdoor bars and restaurants showing packed knucklehead crowds not wearing masks and ignoring social distancing. We have seen spikes in other states driven, in part, by the return of patrons to indoor dining establishments, where they are seated, and without face coverings, for significant periods of time, the governor said at his daily coronavirus briefing. We are also moved to take this step because of what we have seen in some establishments across the state of late. At least one restaurant owner was happy'' about Murphys decision. We have even had customers walk away because they dont want to wear a mask or follow our safety guidelines of social distance,' said Uzziel C. Arias, president of Charritos, which has restaurants in Weehawken and Hoboken. As a restaurant owner it is embarrassing and sad to see how many restaurants are not following the 6 feet rule between tables and tons of people are being completely careless about the virus. This is a major concern to us, if people cant follow these safety guidelines outside, inside will be much worse. As a result I am happy about his decision, no money is worth the safety of our staff and customers.' New Jersey reopened outdoor dining on June 15 after about three months of allowing restaurants to provide takeout or delivery only. For restaurant owners, especially those down the Shore, the timing of the indoor dining postponement could not have been worse, with the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, one of the biggest weekends of any restaurants year. What, Schlossbach wondered, happens to all the food restaurant owners bought in anticipation of the holiday weekend? How long will restaurant owners, already operating on thin margins, have to wait for indoor dining to take effect? A week? Two weeks? Longer? Now we cant have indoor dining because a few people screwed up,' Schlossbach said. Ive driven by places where even the employees are not obeying the rules. If they are not, how do you expect their customers to?' Indoor dining, when it is allowed, will have rules. Capacity will be limited to 25 percent of maximum seating capacity, excluding restaurant staff members. All customers must wear face coverings unless they are eating. Guests cant walk around while drinking or eating and must remain seated. Bill Chrisafinis said the 25 percent capacity rule would not be smart business at Rutts Hut, New Jerseys legendary hot dog joint, or restaurants in general. What waiter or waitress is going to work for (a restaurant operating at) 25 percent? said Chrisafinis, brother of Rutts Hut co-owner Gus Chrisafinis. Mike Hull, assistant general manager of Martells Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant Beach, said the governors announcement came as a bit of relief'' because the restaurant can put off, for the time being, enforcing the 25 percent capacity and other rules. I get why hes doing it,' Hull said. We were apprehensive about going inside.' Martells, billed as New Jerseys premier tiki and beach bar,' seats about 800 people inside, with seven restaurants inside and outside. Its sister restaurant, Martells Waters Edge in Bayville, will not offer indoor dining until 100 percent capacity is allowed, which doesnt seem a possibility any time soon. Torlucci, at Stone Water, understands the governor is being overly cautious in the midst of this outbreak'' but said a much better solution would be to enforce the guidelines rather than punish the industry, and the nearly 350,000 people (in New Jersey) who work in it, at large.' Changing the rules mid-game doesnt do anyone any good, said Atzbi of Haileys Harp & Pub. If Murphys game is trying to scare people into staying home, he won. No ones doing fireworks (in Asbury Park this weekend), there are no events,' Schlossbach said. We were really looking forward to (indoor dining). This is getting tiring.' Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Peter Genovese may be reached at pgenovese@njadvancemedia.com. Schools. Must. Open. That message came loud and clear from Gov. Phil Murphy last week as the state released long-awaited guidance for reopening more than 2,500 public schools. But what, exactly, will socially distant school look like this fall? How many new rules are coming? And how long can we expect schools to stay open before the coronavirus strikes again? The answers are going to vary among the states 500-plus districts, which were essentially given minimum requirements and afforded maximum flexibility to hit the ground running. Schools must develop their restart plans over the coming weeks. Here are 10 key questions they are trying to answer. Is it possible to bring back every student, every day? The states guidance is all about options. How many students can return to school buildings is one of them. Districts are allowed to reopen at normal capacity. But unless those schools have an abundance of extra space, it will mean mandatory face coverings and sacrificing social distancing. School leaders have been drawing up plans to determine the maximum number of students they can fit while maintaining social distancing. And its just not going to work for many of them. I really think that people want try to get all the kids in, said Tony Trongone, superintendent of Pemberton Township Schools. With social distancing, with six feet, you cant do that. The state guidance allows schools to abandon social distancing requirements, so long as students wear face coverings. But some districts are already erring on the side of caution. Theyre preparing for split schedules instead of attempting to bring all students back sitting closely together. How many families wont send their kids back to school? Plenty of parents are desperate for their children to go back to school. And the American Academy of Pediatrics has stressed a long list of benefits for kids who are going back into the classroom. But some students have medical reasons for staying home, and schools know other families wont be ready to return until theres a COVID-19 vaccine. I know families that are still really in the house, said Cathy Lindenbaum, president of the New Jersey PTA. We cant say to those families, Youre wrong.' How can we do that? We dont really know enough about this disease. The state guidance does not detail whether parents can opt their children out of going to school in person if they are not comfortable with the risk of COVID-19 infection. But state Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet said school districts will have flexibility to meet the needs of their students. We hope that district leaders do not penalize students and parents who opt to use a remote level, Repollet said. Schools must figure out the best way to incorporate those students into their plans. Should virtual-only students be in the same class as students who attend both virtual and in-person classes? Or should schools create a virtual section of third grade taught by one teacher? Much will depend on exactly how many students stay home. Whats a good reason for employees to work remotely? The states largest teachers union has been adamant that staff members who are at high risk should be allowed to work from home. But what about a teacher or staff member who lives with a senior citizen or a high-risk spouse? And how many heathy employees will ask to stay home out of an abundance of caution? We have a lot of members who are not comfortable, even with the guidelines, short of a vaccine, said Anthony Rosamilia, president of the Essex County Education Association. Districts will have to make decisions about who gets to work from home, and its going to be difficult to please everyone, said David Rubin, a longtime school board attorney. The question is one of a Disney World of legal issues schools must consider, he said. The manual encourages districts to be accommodating to people, perhaps even beyond what their legal rights may be, Rubin said. How do you draw that line without others feeling like they are carrying the weight of other people? One district, Mount Olive Township, has already said it plans to handle those requests on a case-by-case basis. Yet no district can have a final plan for reopening until it knows just how many teachers are working from home, Trongone said. Hopefully, the teachers who are medically compromised are congruent to students who are medically comprised, so they can teach those kids, Trongone said. Its just a Jenga puzzle. Should districts require all students to wear face coverings? Highland Park Public Schools officials were so convinced the state would require face coverings that they already bought three reusable masks for every student, Superintendent Scott Taylor said. Then came the surprise: Face coverings are strongly encouraged, but not mandatory as long as social distancing is observed, according to state guidance. Now, Taylor worries schools could be pulled into the national health and political debate over masks. You know how it is with all these communities making different decisions, he said. There is going to be pressure to do what the neighboring community is going to do when it comes to kids wearing masks. Teachers are required to wear face coverings, and Taylor thinks they would be safest if students wear them too, he said. But the district has not yet made a final decision. How will new rules be enforced? One-way hallways. Masks on teachers. Social distancing on buses. New rules in schools will be ample and wide-ranging, which begs a critical question. How is that enforceable? asked Patricia Wright, executive director of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association. What does that look like? What policies need to be developed? But beyond stopping first graders from touching each other, larger enforcement questions linger. Whos watching school districts to ensure they follow the guidelines? And how much power does the state really have to force districts to comply? It is a manual, Rubin said of the 104-page guidance document. Just what the legal standing of it is, is a question in and of itself. Can schools pay for all of this? From masks for teachers to extra hand soap to plexiglass dividers, schools are staring at a mounting pile of bills just to get their doors open. The average American school district, with about 3,600 students, will need to spend an extra $1.7 million next school year because of COVID-19 precautions, according to a projection by the national School Superintendents Association. The words unfunded mandate come to mind when you look at a lot of the things that are being required, Rubin said. The state is giving schools flexibility in using reserve funds and federal CARES Act money, which should help districts with unanticipated expenditures. But that hasnt eliminated significant concerns among some school leaders, especially since theres no telling when schools can actually return to normal. The CARES Act money seems to be the panacea, Trongone said. The CARES Act money will take care of this. The CARES Act money will take care of that.' That might be the solution for one year. What happens the year after that? Can schools really do contract tracing? State guidance says schools must work their local health department and school nurses to use contact tracing to identify anyone who has come in contact with people with COVID-19. But several superintendents have said thats entirely out of their wheelhouse. It makes me a bit uneasy that contact tracing is pushed on local districts rather than the state, said Robert Beers, superintendent of Manville Public Schools. I think there has to be some type of protocol and structure on that whether it comes from county, state, federal, and what our best practices should be. And some schools have already heard complaints about potential invasions of privacy if the school is tracking the activities of students and staff. You know, they want to look at who theyre interacting with, how long youre interacting with them, said Thomas Smith, superintendent of the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. Who does that fall on? Who will do the tracing will likely vary from district to district. In Mount Olive, the district is recruiting some staff members to take a three-hour online certification course through Johns Hopkins University, Zywicki said. What will it take for schools to shut down again? Even before Gov. Phil Murphy ordered all schools to shut down in March, many districts were already temporarily closed because of COVID-19 exposure among students and staff. With the virus still circulating (and cases escalating in other states), it could be only a matter of time before districts are forced to grapple with coronavirus cases again. So what causes a closure? And for how long? Ive got to be honest with you, Taylor said. We havent crossed that bridge yet. Highland Park plans to speak with an infectious disease expert to coordinate plans for various of levels of student or staff exposure to the virus, he said. Will students feel safe? Sure, schools can reopen. But teachers are worried the friendly learning environments students left in March will not return until theres a cure. Will students, especially young students, will they feel safe? Rosamilia said. I think thats a very big question. I know thats what my members are asking. It is going to be very difficult under those conditions for learning. Beyond implementing safety measures, schools will need to undertake a massive effort to assess the mental health of students. Highland Park is already beginning that project with a special program for small groups of students this summer, Taylor said. What if COVID-19 stops schools from reopening entirely? Whether the state can reopen shops and restaurants and contain the virus remains to be seen. The governor already has delayed the reopening of restaurants for indoor dining. So schools are also preparing for the possibility that their doors remain closed if the health landscape changes. They have to improve remote education, Lindenbaum said, because parents will expect more than when virtual learning ended in June. Hopefully there wont be a next time, she said. But if we do have to shut down again, I think we will know more about the kinks here and better be able to fix that. NJ Advance Media staff writer Sophie Nieto-Munoz contributed to this report. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Will the kids be able to learn? Even after she finishes graduate school and launches her professional career, Chelsea Greene said she wont be giving back to her high school alma mater, Mount Saint Dominic Academy, because of the racial ignorance, insensitivity and micro-aggression she and other Black alumnae say they were subjected to by some of their white classmates and even faculty members. A lot of us want nothing to do with the school so we dont want to give, said Greene, 21, of West Orange, who received her bachelors degree in special education this spring at American University in Washington, D.C, where shes now pursuing her masters. My class had about 12 or 15 students of color freshman year, but by the time I graduated, there was, like, five of us, Greene said of Mount Saint Dominic. So, a lot of the Black students literally cannot deal with every single day going to school with teachers making assumptions about you, administration treating you less-than. Its a lot to be a 15-year-old and have to go through all of this. Students telling you, When is your dad going to get out of jail? or administrators assuming that youre lying about things. Unlike public schools, which are funded through state and local tax dollars, parochial schools like Mount St. Dominic and other independent, or private, institutions rely in part on funding from alumni to help pay for capital projects, operations, financial aid or other programs, and to grow or sustain their endowments. So as the nationwide call for racial justice in the wake of the George Floyds death at the hands of white police officers reaches over the ivy-covered walls of the most prestigious prep schools, one way alumni of color have made their voices heard is through their pocketbook. For example, an alumna of the 246-year-old Newark Academy launched a Change.org online petition with signatories pledging not to contribute financially to the school unless the administration meets demands that include issuing an apology for harm done to members of the NA community, and clear, measurable commitments to increase transparency and accountability. The Newark Academy graduate who launched the petition, Becca Zimmerman, is one of the white allies in the fight for racial justice. Several schools contacted by NJ Advance Media acknowledged there were problems with race relations that needed to be addressed, and offered apologies for the pain they had inflicted or allowed. Tom Nammack, the headmaster at Montclair Kimberly Academy in Essex County, acknowledged there had been problems at MKA, an institution with roots dating back to 1887. Nammack said the school had already begun implementing reforms under a set of recommendations released by a school task force in February, including a ban on speaking the N-word aloud under any circumstances, including reading historical or literary works. Nammack downplayed the notion that school officials were motivated to implement reforms out of fear they would lose donations from angry alumni. Its more about the quality of our relationship with our alumni, he said, referring to the role graduates play in recruitment, job networking, and the spirit of an institution. Newark Academy did not make its headmaster, Donald Austin, available for an interview. But the school issued a statement saying officials had listened in recent weeks, as our Black students and alumni shared painful experiences of racism within our school community, and we acknowledged those experiences and have apologized for actions, unintentional and intentional, that have been a source of pain and isolation for our students and alumni. The school noted it was already scheduled to host an Equity and Inclusion Summit this week, where the petitions recommendations, and those made by our current student body, will be developed into an action plan to ensure that every member of our community feels valued, included and safe. On Friday, Mount Saint Dominic released an open letter to the school community from the head of school, Sister Frances Sullivan, in which Sullivan condemned racism, bigotry and hate anywhere around the globe, while promising action at the school and apologizing to Black students and graduates. We must also look inward and listen to the voices of our Black students and alumnae who have recounted their own experiences of racism, micro-aggressions and implicit bias within the walls of our school, Sullivan stated. We have made mistakes, and have been blind to what has been within our sight. For this I sincerely apologize. However, Sullivan added, it is not enough to apologize, we must commit to action and we are committed to doing just that, taking action! Mount Saint Dominic Academy alumna Chelsea Greene, right, has led an effort to address racial insensitivity at her alma mater. Greene is pictured with her friend and fellow Class of 2016 graduate, Andie Kajouras.Courtesy of Chelsea Greene At Newark Academy on Saturday, Black students and women graduates led a rally on the campus in Livingston, the affluent Essex County suburb where the school relocated in 1964, during a period when many white residents were also leaving Newark. The rally drew a crowd of about 200 current students and graduates, parents, faculty and school officials, most of them white. There were chants of No justice/No peace! No racist/Police! and many people wore Black Lives Matter: Newark Academy T-shirts. There were also impassioned remarks by the Black students and alumnae challenging white students and other school community members to take a more active, lasting interest in improving racial sensitivity and equality on campus. In an interview, Samantha Powell, a 2019 Newark Academy graduate from West Orange, recalled one incident that she said was particularly disturbing to her and other Black students, and one that also illustrates the complexity that educators face when attempting to present unvarnished lessons on racist or other uncomfortable aspects of the countrys history. It involved a guest speaker at Newark Academy named Daryl Davis, an African-American blues pianist, lecturer and author of Klan-Destine Relationships, about his mission to befriend Ku Klux Klan members, often through music, in order to inform their ignorance and soften their hearts. But when Davis showed students a set of the authentic KKK hoods and robes he collects from new friends who renounce the Klan, Powell said it was too much to bear. I cried, she said, wishing school officials had anticipated the visceral impact the unholy vestments might have on her and other Black teenagers. Kerri Breznak is a friend and former classmate of Chelsea Greene at Mount Saint Dominic, and has remained an ally. Breznak, 22, of Montville, said the racism she had seen at the school was sometimes cloaked in the language of concern. Breznak recalled an incident during her junior year in 2015, when she was approached furtively by a teacher who had seen her with a group of Black friends and classmates. And she said, I know you have morals and goals, and I want to see you go to college, and I dont know if the people youre hanging out with are going to get you there, said Breznak, now a physical therapy PhD candidate at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. And I remember thinking, like, hmm, these are my good friends. They all have the same morals and goals that I have. Although private school alumni may hold more financial sway over their almae matres, public school graduates have also pressed their institutions on racial reform. Former students at Northern Highlands Regional High School, a public school in Bergen County, formed the Northern Highlands Alumni Action Committee. The group has submitted a letter to the regional school board, requesting a series of specific steps to implement action. There was definitely a lot of micro-aggression, said Brianna Weck, an NHRHS Class of 14 member and alumni committee co-founder, whose mom is Black and dad is white. In terms of when I was going to the school it wasnt as overt. There was just a lot of ignorance, and a lot of people trying to be funny when it was just hurtful. Weck said school officials would take up the committees requests after the schools July 8 graduation, a complex endeavor for all schools this year thanks to social distancing requirements of the coronavirus, the simultaneous health crisis that has vied for time and energy with the racial reform movement on campuses. Students and alumni of some independent schools have been posting about their experiences on Black at Instagram pages, which typically allow anonymous posts to encourage students or alumni to speak candidly. There was a point where most of the black girls in high school wore name tags saying. I am not and listed all the other black girls in the school, read a post on Black At Kent Place., for current and former students of the Kent Place School in Summit. Its a shame we had to do this because the administration and our fellow white classmates didnt bother to take the time to recognize us as individuals, felt our names were hard to pronounce and generally saw us all as the same. Kent Place officials posted a statement on the schools website last week acknowledging the pain expressed by its students and alumnae, and vowing to engage students, examine the schools own policies and practices, and build an equitable environment for all students. We serve students of all backgrounds, and it is clear we have not succeeded for everyone, the statement read. For that, we sincerely apologize. Students at Montclair Kimberly Academy post on a Black at MKA page, which describes itself as a safe space for black MKA students and alums to share their stories. Nammack, the MKA headmaster, said he had been reading the Black at MKA page every day. I think its an extraordinary look into the experiences of our Black students, and there are a number of the administrators who are reading it, and some of our trustees, said Nammack, who has led the K-12 school for 15 years. Nammack said the school had created a Black Student Experience task force that released recommendations this past February on curriculum and hiring practices. Although the origin of the schools recent reforms predate Floyds killing under the knee of a white officer on May 25, Nammack said that and other police-involved deaths had spurred discussion and awareness of racial issues among members of the school community. Our Black students are speaking up, along with their white allies, he said. Im proud of them and its a force for good. Newark Academy alum Oluwadamilola Oshewa speaks at a Black Lives Matter demonstration on the school's campus on Saturday. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips A Jersey City mans crime spree in Hoboken ended last week when he was detained in Jersey City and turned over to Hoboken police, authorities said. Juan Jimenez, 42, is facing charges that he stole packages from Hoboken residential buildings at least seven times over an 18-day span, Hoboken Lt. Danilo Cabrera said. Jimenez is also accused of stealing five bicycles from the buildings he victimized. Cabrera said Jimenez was arrested at 7 p.m. Thursday and charged with burglary, theft, possession of burglar tools and criminal mischief. He had been detained by Jersey City police earlier in the day. Between June 6 and June 24, Jimenez stole packages from buildings in the area of First and Jackson streets three times, Paterson Plank Road and Monroe Street, Seventh and Grand, Eighth and Grand, and 13th and Adams, police said. In three of those incidents, he stole one bike; and in one other incident he swiped a bike and returned 90 minutes to steal another bike, Cabrera said. In most of the incidents, Jimenez used tools to pry open doors, and in one incident he slipped into the garage behind a car that was entering, Cabrera said. Jimenez was processed by police and then taken to Hudson County jail in Kearny. A North Bergen man is facing five years in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday in a June 2019 crash that killed a 20-year-old North Bergen woman. Fernando Batista, 25, who authorities say had THC/marijuana in his system at the time, was driving with Alysa Matos and another passenger when he ran a red light at 60th and Jefferson streets in West New York on June 18, 2019 and crashed with another vehicle. Matos died five days later at the Jersey City Medical Center. During the virtual plea hearing that was attended by family members of the victim, Batista pleaded guilty to second-degree death by auto, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre, who presided over the plea hearing, on Aug. 28. The state is recommending a sentence of five years in state prison subject to the No Early Release Act. Additionally, Batistas drivers license would be suspended for a period between five years and life, Suarez said. The crash occurred at 12:30 a.m., involving Batistas 2002 Acura TL and a 2004 Infiniti G35 driven by a 26-year-old West New York man. Alysa Matos, 20, who died five days after she was involved in a two-vehicle crash. Facebook Batista was taken to Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen and treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Matos and the other passenger, a 22-year-old North Bergen man, were taken to the Jersey City Medical Center. The driver of the Infiniti G35 was treated at the Palisades Medical Center and his passenger suffered minor injuries, but refused medical treatment at the scene. Matos died five days later at the hospital. The Regional Medical Examiners Office determined the cause of death to be blunt impact injuries of the head. According to her obituary, Matos loved art and spent time being creative through her drawing, painting, makeup artistry and graphic design. She attended North Bergen High School and Hudson County Community College, according to her social media accounts. Suarez said the investigation by the prosecutors offices Regional Collision Investigation Unit determined Batistafailed to observe the red traffic signal when it collided with the Infiniti. It was also determined by the State Police forensic laboratory that Batista had THC/marijuana in his system at the time of the collision. Jersey City police visited a popular bar and restaurant twice over the weekend and issued summonses after finding hundreds of people inside without masks, Chief Prosecutor Jake Hudnut announced. Hudnut said The Factory Restaurant and Lounge has regularly violated COVID-19 restrictions throughout the pandemic, and posted a video to Twitter showing dozens of people inside the Communipaw Avenue business on Sunday not socially distancing themselves or wearing masks. Hudnut said police responded to a call of a disorderly group fighting outside the restaurant on Saturday night and noticed that people were inside. Indoor dining has been prohibited in New Jersey since March. The following night, members of the citys Quality of Life police unit received a tip that a party was being held inside The Factory. When officers returned to the venue they found hundreds of people inside with a DJ, Hudnut said. The Factory on Communipaw has regularly violated COVID restrictions throughout the pandemic. 100s of people inside w/ no masks twice this weekend. JCPD summonses were issued both times. Well see them in court (1/2) pic.twitter.com/HPzBjgjyD9 Jake Hudnut (@JakeHudnut) June 29, 2020 Police issued summonses to The Factory owner Robert Paulino on both nights. Hudnut, who heads the citys Quality of Life Task Force said the citations carry the possibility of jail time and community service, as well as up to $2,000 in fines each. Paulino could not be reached for comment. A bartender who answered the phone at the restaurant on Monday said The Factory is being singled out while restaurants and bars in Downtown Jersey City that have been over capacity during the pandemic. Hudnut added that he is requesting that the citys Board of Alcohol Beverage Control file administrative violations against The Factory, which would result in the temporary or permanent loss of the venues liquor license. Hudnut also said he will ask the citys Division of Commerce to deny any application for expanded outdoor dining that The Factory files. We will aggressively prosecute any business that places profit over public health, Hudnut said Monday afternoon. Citing similar scenes at bars and restaurants around the state especially at the Jersey Shore Gov. Phil Murphy scrapped the states plan to allow indoor dining to resume starting Thursday. Unfortunately, the national situation, compounded by instances of knucklehead behavior here at home, are requiring us to hit pause on the restart of indoor dining for the foreseeable future, Murphy said. Hudnut, meanwhile, encouraged Jersey City residents to report businesses not adhering to COVID-19 restrictions by emailing photos of the violations to prosecutor@jcnj.org. JERSEY CITY Theres nothing like a good sale on a new pair of shoes. Some discounted sandals is what a trio of Jersey City women found when they visited Newport Mall Monday, the day it reopened after being closed for more than three months. Antoinette Brooks, 50, who left the mall with a half-off pair of Clarks sandals, said the mall was just the latest daily excursion she and her friends decided to go on. Its like doing it all over again, Brooks said. Everything is new again. Face-masked clients browsed the sparkling clean mall, perusing sales and observing new sanitization and capacity limits on the first day malls reopened in New Jersey since coronavirus forced the closure of non-essential businesses in mid-March. The size of the crowd wasnt too different from a typical weekday afternoon, but the atmosphere was, as diners navigated a food court void of tables and chairs and shoppers squeezed on hand sanitizer upon entering each store. Many retailers were still shuttered, offering only apologetic letters to their potential customers on the doors, while some aggregated a small line as the employees maintained a limited capacity. Theyre taking their precautions, said Sandy Wissa, of Bayonne, who was holding a Zara bag. You have to sanitize before you go in and wear the mask throughout. An employee at a cell phone accessory kiosk, who requested anonymity, said she had been slightly nervous to return to work, but was happy to see that nearly all customers were wearing masks. She was seeing less business than usual, she said, and working for the first time in three months felt unfamiliar. She hadnt been receiving unemployment benefits though, and as a student, the mall position was her only job. Coming to work after a long time and earning something is better than nothing, she said. Joey Moreira starts up work again at Zumiez next week. He came on the first day the mall opened as a customer, joining his friends and scoping out the atmosphere. He had already been briefed on the new policies his store is enacting. Were trying our best to ensure that not a lot of customers touch the clothes, said Moreira, 18, of Hoboken. They go in, come out with their stuff. A quick, yet fun experience. Lush, a beauty supplies store, had a paper sign posted on its storefront advising our dearest Lushies that all of its 258 stores are closed until further notice. A digital screen, also in the storefront, showed a montage that included a colorful portrait of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man shot while jogging in a Georgia neighborhood, and white text reading Black Lives Matter. Staying silent is not an option. Enough. Renee Holmes, a member of Brooks shopping trio, said overall, her experience at the mall wasnt much different from usual. If anything, it was better because it was slightly emptier. She left with a new purse and some shoes for her baby grandchild. A 77-year-old woman died after the vehicle she was driving plunged into the Manasquan River in Monmouth County, police said Monday. The single-vehicle crash occurred around 9:30 p.m. Sunday near Route 35 in Brielle, where emergency crews rushed to reports of a sport utility vehicle that drove into the river, according to Police Chief Gary Olsen. A security system at a nearby business picked up motion on the dock, alerting authorities to the vehicle. The SUV ended up under the Route 35 bridge. Olsen said responders pulled a Wall Township woman from the vehicle about an hour later and she was pronounced dead at an area hospital. Divers also confirmed there was no else in the SUV or possibly thrown from the vehicle, the chief said. Security footage captured a portion of the incident and Olsen said there was no evidence of a suicide or any foul play. Police were continuing to investigate the crash and the womans name was not immediately made public. Weather reports show it was raining when the crash occurred. Crews using a large crane recovered the SUV from the water on Monday afternoon. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. A New Jersey state corrections officer was among five men charged in a multi-million dollar, coast-to-coast drug trafficking ring that was foiled in New York, authorities said Monday. Investigators seized more than $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of heroin, about 4,000 oxycodone pills and nine firearms in the takedown of the Long Island-based narcotics trafficking operation, according to officials in Suffolk County, New York. The magnitude of this drug distribution ring is enormous; they were responsible for peddling millions of dollars in narcotics on an almost weekly basis, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said. Not only did this organization continue their illicit operation during the coronavirus pandemic, they were also exploiting the limited availability of certain narcotics during the health crisis to generate even greater profits off their sales. New Jersey Department of Corrections Officer Anthony Cyntje was charged with conspiracy and criminal possession of a controlled substance, authorities said. The 22-year-old Passaic resident was released after being arraigned. Public records show Cyntje has been an officer for less than a year. Another Passaic man, 33-year-old Dashawn Jones was charged with conspiracy, operating as a major trafficker and drug possession, according to officials. Jones was ordered held on $2.5 million bail. Members of the ring would purchase drugs on the West Coast and transport the illicit substances back to Suffolk County using methods including cross-country drives, by air travel and the mail, authorities said. The network allegedly received almost $2.1 million worth of drugs a week. Suffolk County authorities, joined by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), launched an investigation in May 2019 into drug dealing by James Sosa, 25, of Wading River, Brian Sullivan, 24, of Lake Grove and their associates, according to the DAs office. The New York duo also face charges of operating as major traffickers. Allegedly, the Sosa organizations operation was a major drug supplier for Long Island and the tri-state area; and by seizing 9 guns and millions of dollars worth of illicit narcotics law enforcement is saving lives, said Ray Donovan, special agent in charge of the DEAs New York division. Representatives from the Department of Corrections did not immediately return a message about Cyntje. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. An organization that seeks to provide homes for hundreds of abused and neglected children across New Jersey has found a new home for itself. Court Appointed Special Advocates of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties (CASA SHaW), established in 2005, has moved its central office from Washington Township in Warren County to Lebanon Borough in Hunterdon County, a spot more centered in its tri-county service area. CASA ShaW is part of a statewide network of community-based, non-profit programs through which volunteers serve as advocates or mentors for foster care children and youth as they navigate their way through the New Jersey Family Court system. Tracey Heisler, executive director of CASA SHaW, described the offices new location at 148 Main St., Building D1, as an improvement upon its predecessor largely because of its increased convenience for the organizations staff members and volunteers. Our Warren office up in Washington was hard to get to, frankly particularly for some of our southern Somerset County volunteers. When we would have trainings they would forego coming because it was a 45-minute drive for them, Heisler explained. This puts everybody within 30 minutes of the office ... and it puts everybody within 20 minutes of all the court houses and the DCP&P offices, so its just a much more central location. The offices are also larger than those at the organizations previous location, enjoying five rooms for staff offices as opposed to the two in Washington Township and 800 more square feet of space. Stating that initial planning for the move began in January of this year, Heisler acknowledged that its timing could not have not more fortuitous in light of the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. We were kind of jam-packed before, and now with social distancing its much safer for our staff because I could put two people in a room instead of four or five, Heisler said. So from a health and safety perspective, it was an excellent move as well. Court Appointed Special Advocates of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties' new offices in Lebanon Township.Courtesy CASA SHaW Despite the obstacles presented by the coronavirus pandemic, CASA SHaW has remained fully operational throughout the past several months by supplying foster care children with technology to enable them to virtually connect with their mentors, of which there are approximately 120 in the organization. We reached out to our donors, who provided resources for us to get Chromebooks, and laptops, and phones for kids who didnt have access to that digital platform so that the advocates can continue to ensure that everybody was OK, Heisler said. Theyve been helping with homework, playing games, reading stories, all through this platform. Its been scary for these kids; theyre generally not with their biological families ... and resource parents do a fantastic job, but one of the hallmarks of CASA is they have the same advocate from the time they come into care until they either go home or are adopted or age out. So theres a long-term relationship there that can be very comforting in times of stress, like COVID-19, she added. The organizations successful shift to virtual services is further illustrated by its donors continuous support of CASA SHaW both financially and supply-wise which Heisler said has not wavered as a result of the global crisis. Our donors have been just fantastic, and have really stepped up their game in the last year or two, Heisler said. All of them have jumped in with both feet to say, Yes, thats something we can do, and something we can provide. Gift cards to purchase food, countless numbers of school supplies, and tote bags full of toiletries, games, books, blankets, and pillows are amongst the numerous supplies that have been provided to foster care children and their families throughout pandemic. While expressing her eagerness to have all staff and volunteers reunited within the new and improved offices, Heisler acknowledged that the continuance of the pandemic across the state requires the majority of those involved with the organization to continue working remotely for the foreseeable future. With the new office opening, we are also acutely aware of the concerns about the virus spreading, Heisler explained. So most people are continuing to work off-site, and if they want to come into the office they are emailing their peers and coordinating to make sure that theres not more than two or three of them there at the same time. Nonetheless, even if the extent to which the new offices can be used currently remains limited, the organizations commitment to improving the lives of New Jersey children removed from homes of abuse or neglect will remain anything but. Court Appointed Special Advocates of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties' new offices in Lebanon Township.Courtesy CASA SHaW Coming from a middle class lens of we expect to kids to end up with an Ozzie and Harriet kind of family life thats not realistic. But what is realistic is to see that you helped a kid graduate high school. You helped a kid get a drivers license, or get therapy to deal with the trauma, Heisler said. Its all really just basic things that most of us take for granted, but many of our kids desperately need." And the advocates, because they stay with them from when they first come into care until they go home, intimately know the history and the needs of these children. 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. South Korean President Moon Jae-in will hold a virtual summit with European Union leaders later Tuesday, as the two sides mark the 10th anniversary of signing a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and forging strategic partnerships, Cheong Wa Dae said. In the session to open in the afternoon, Moon is expected to focus discussions with EU Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on ways to cope with the COVID-19 crisis and strengthen cooperation on the Korean Peninsula issue. It will be Moon's first bilateral summit talks of the year and also his first official dialogue with the new EU leadership that assumed office last December. South Korea and the EU initially planned to hold an in-person summit in Seoul in the first half of 2020, but they have agreed to hold a videoconference first amid the continued spread of COVID-19 at the EU's offer, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Among the agenda items are joint efforts to overcome the pandemic, including the development of a vaccine and treatment, and how to promote bilateral trade and investment as well as push for closer cooperation on the digital economy and renewable energy, he added. South Korea views the EU as a potential major partner in its Green New Deal project aimed at slashing the nation's fossil fuel use and instead boosting low-carbon, environmentally friendly energy industries for job creation. South Korea is one of the EU's 10 strategic partners, along with the United States, Japan, China, Brazil, Russia, India, Canada, Mexico and South Africa. In October 2010, South Korea and the EU signed their FTA and established the strategic partner relationship. (Yonhap) State officials dont have a current count of how many police agencies in New Jersey use body cameras, but a survey by New Jersey Advance Media found that officers in four of our 10 most-populated towns dont have them. Police departments in New Jersey and around the nation have rushed to outfit officers with cameras in recent years, but the expense is a primary reason why many departments go without. The cameras themselves may cost a few hundred bucks each, but the annual bill for operating these systems can run in the hundreds of thousands. The dead fish floated along the surface, covering much of Branch Brook Lake. Catherine Marcal was stunned by the sheer number of them, stretching from the lion statues at the Prudential Concert Grove to the Park Avenue overpass. But somehow, that was not the most disturbing image the Bloomfield resident saw earlier this month when she visited Branch Brook Park in Newark. A lot of them were still alive, Marcal said. They were still flip-flopping, and it was just horrifying. The fish die-off June 16 claimed hundreds of bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish, plus a few largemouth bass, said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. I had no idea that there were even fish like that living there, Marcal said. I couldnt believe the quantity. There were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of fish. Branch Brook Lake sits in the heart of Branch Brook Park the largest stretch of open space in Newark and one of the crown jewels of the Essex County parks system. Its one of New Jerseys iconic locales: An idyllic lake in a park sculpted by the famed Frederick Law Olmsted, in the shadow of the towering Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Generations have come to its banks to unwind, get some fresh air and socialize. But these days, all is not well in the water. The fish die-off comes as the lake continues to be plagued by a persistent toxic algal bloom, which has been ongoing since September. The Branch Brook Lake bloom was part of a record-setting wave of algae that spread across New Jersey in 2019. Climate change is expected to make the harmful blooms more common in the state, as temperatures rise and heavy rain events become more frequent. Branch Brook Lake also had toxic blooms in 2017 and 2018. The DEP began its harmful algal bloom monitoring program in 2017. Parks staff cleaned up the fish, said Anthony Puglisi, a spokesman for the county. Some of the dead fish and water samples from the lake were sent to the DEP for necropsies and analysis. The DEP has examined the dead fish, but not determined a definitive cause of the die-off, Hajna said. Multiple stressors, such as warm temperatures and low oxygen levels in the water, could have contributed to the incident. It is not unusual for these types of events to occur at this time of year, when water temperatures increase and dissolved oxygen decreases, Hajna said. The harmful algal bloom may have contributed to stressors in the pond, but is not believed to be the cause of the die-off. The blooms, caused by cyanobacteria, are potentially harmful to people and fatal to dogs. Contact with blooms can cause a variety of health problems, from rashes and allergy-like reactions to flu-like symptoms and gastroenteritis. If the bloom is actively producing cyanotoxins, more serious health effects like liver toxicity and neurological effects may occur. Harmful algal blooms can also be a big problem for fish, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Essex County takes steps to try to slow algae growth in the lake, according to Puglisi. The lakes picturesque fountains are part of that effort. While the fountains in the lake are nice to look at, their primary function is to promote the circulation of the water to prevent it from stagnating, which in turn leads to the growth of the algae, Puglisi said. In addition, we periodically spray the lake with approved chemicals to slow the spread of the algae. In November, Gov. Phil Murphy announced a $13.5 million plan to deal with the toxic blooms around New Jersey. As part of that initiative, the DEP awarded $500,000 to the New Jersey Institute of Technology to study the effectiveness of floating platforms that will pump microscopic bubbles into Branch Brook Lake in an effort to improve water quality. NJIT will also develop a long-term harmful algal bloom strategy for the lake. Branch Brook Lake has had an ongoing harmful algal bloom since 2019, and previously reported blooms in 2017 and 2018. Branch Brook Park, Newark, NJ, June 24, 2020.Michael Sol Warren | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The toxic algae in the lake is fed by nutrient pollution, which happens when materials high in phosphates like fertilizers and dog poop wash into the water during storms. But those nutrients arent the only thing carried by the stormwater. Branch Brook Lake is surrounded by roads and parking lots, paved surfaces that collect oils and pollution from cars and trucks. The runoff washes the substances off the pavement, sending it flowing into the lake. The threats posed by the algae and stormwater pollution are why signs have been posted, urging people not to eat fish pulled from the water or to let their pets play in the lake. In an abundance of caution, our policy through the years has been to not encourage people to eat the fish they catch in the lake, Puglisi said. Over the last couple of summers, the algae bloom also has contributed to that warning. Its unclear when the water quality will recover enough for the warnings to be removed. The advisories have been in effect for quite some time, Puglisi said. We do not anticipate removing them in the near future. Read more of NJ.coms coverage of New Jersey water issues here. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. I opened my email Monday and came across this headline on a message from the Trump re-election campaign: President Trump Protects Our Country from Radical Mobs While Joe Biden Continues to Abandon the American People. Who could have predicted Trump would take that approach? Omar Wasow, thats who. And look at the thanks hes getting. Wasow is an assistant professor at Princeton who has the finest academic pedigree. He got his undergraduate degree from Stanford and three advanced degrees from Harvard including a Ph.D. in African-American studies. Wasow was born in Kenya to an African-American mother and a father of German-Jewish heritage. His paternal grandfather was a mathematician and Wasow himself is a numbers guy. So I figured I would give him a call when I heard last month that he had written a paper on a topic Im quite familiar with. Thats the demonstrations of the 1960s. I witnessed quite a few of the most violent such demonstrations while I was going to college in California. On the phone, Wasow came across as the very model of a dispassionate academic. Its important to think of two reasons people engage in protest, Wasow told me. One is to express yourself, your anger. And the other is more pragmatic: There is some policy goal you want to achieve. Those two emotions sometimes work against each other. They certainly did in the late 1960s, Wasow said. The violent protests of 1968 were followed by the election of Republican Richard Nixon. He drew a contrast to the nonviolent protests led by Martin Luther King and others in the first half of the decade. What really got the national media to cover the demonstrations was that nonviolent protesters were met with violence by police, he said. They were making themselves targets of violence to attract national media attention. That attention in turn brought great sympathy for their cause, which led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act as well as the re-election of Democratic President Lyndon Johnson. But violent protests, particularly following the King assassination in 1968, turned public opinion toward electing law-and-order candidates like Nixon, he said. (Read an interview in the New Yorker here.) Then as now, Wasow said, most of the participants in those demonstrations may have been peaceful. But it only takes a small minority to create the chaos that TV loves to exploit, he said. If there are a thousand people protesting and ten of them light a car on fire, the thing thats dramatic is the car on fire, he said. Its the same reason TV doesnt cover a plane landing safely. It is indeed, and thats exactly the phenomenon the Trump campaign is exploiting in its press releases and ads. So youd think progressives would want to read Wasows work and learn from it. That was not the case. I hadnt yet written about my interview with Wasow when I came across an article in the Atlantic Magazine headlined Stop Firing the Innocent. The piece by Yascha Mounk described how an analyst by the name of David Shor has been terminated from his job at the progressive Civis Analytics firm after he tweeted a reference to Masows work: Post-MLK-assassination race riots reduced Democratic vote share in surrounding counties by 2%, which was enough to tip the 1968 election to Nixon. Non-violent protests *increase* Dem vote, mainly by encouraging warm elite discourse and media coverage. Mounk wrote that Shors company denied the firing was related to the tweet. But sources in the firm indicated that was the reason, he wrote. Soon after that, Shor was kicked off Progressphiles, an online email network for progressives because of his racist tweet. Writer Jonathan Chait of New York Magazines Intelligencer site got a copy of the thread. An excerpt: We cannot begin to decolonize our minds if we do not create safety for those fighting against white supremacy By not acting, we are perpetuating the racism and sexism we know exists on this list and in our community at large. As such, we have removed David Shor from Progressphiles. Heres how Chait summed up the thread: The majority of posters affirmed that sharing Wasows paper was indeed ipso facto racist, because it could be used to support the conclusion that violent protest is harmful. I tried to get Wasow on the phone again to see what he thinks of all this, but apparently hes lying low. As a conservative I cant for the life of me understand what these liberals find so objectionable about a 53-page paper packed with facts, charts and statistics. But as we go into the November elections, let me offer them this piece of advice: If you wont read Wasows paper, at least read Trumps press releases. Then you might get the message. Also, after deadline Wasow replied to my email. Heres his synopsis: It does appear that President Trump is trying to use Nixons late-1960s law and order playbook right down to invoking Nixons supposed coalition of a silent majority. The challenge for President Trump is three-fold. First, unlike 1968, the protests of the last few weeks have been overwhelmingly peaceful which make concerns about safety and order less salient. Even events in which protesters tear down a statue are, I predict, unlikely to trigger a backlash as that sort of property damage is very targeted and less likely to provoke more general concerns about security. So far, polling suggests even a majority of Republicans are sympathetic to the concerns of protesters, even when they disagree with some the tactics. Second, culture war rallying cries about radical mobs are just much less meaningful when people face more immediate threats of an economy in disarray and the federal governments failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Third, unlike Nixon, President Trump is the incumbent and has very high negative ratings. Joe Biden, by contrast, is a well known and generally well liked politician who is hard to smear as someone abandoning the American people. If anything, it appears Americans view Trump as the one who has abandoned them: https://news.gallup.com/poll/313070/trump-economic-ratings-no-longer-best-class.aspx BELOW - WASOWS INTERVIEW WITH ROLLING STONE: By Stephen R. Shalom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annex some 30% of the occupied West Bank including the strategic Jordan Valley and dozens of Jewish settlements starting in July. As this date approaches, it is critical for all those who care about social justice and peace to strongly condemn Israels planned immoral, illegal annexation. It is important as well to denounce the U.S. governments role in facilitating Israels appalling action and to demand a cut-off of U.S. military aid For more than 50 years, Israel has been slowly but inexorably working to incorporate territory it seized in the June 1967 Middle East war. Each year more and more Israeli settlers have been moved in in clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and more and more Palestinians have been displaced, their lands confiscated, and their homes demolished. Each year the prospect for Palestinians being able to live in freedom and dignity has become more remote. U.S. policy toward this ongoing land grab has been mixed. Sometimes Washington has offered mild expressions of discouragement and calls for peace. However, these words have always been accompanied by massive amounts of military aid to Israel, which has enabled its occupation and by a guaranteed Security Council veto to protect Israel from facing any consequences for its violations of international law. At other times, Washington has enthusiastically endorsed Israels expansionism, while showering it with military and diplomatic support. Either way, the blank check has continued. Not surprisingly, Israeli leaders have learned that the words dont matter, but actions do. Under the Trump administration, U.S. enthusiasm for Israeli territorial expansion has grown. Trump declared Israels capital to be a united Jerusalem, which includes occupied East Jerusalem. He recognized Israels annexation of Syrias Golan Heights. He proclaimed that the illegal Israeli West Bank settlements were not illegal. And he put forward a Peace Plan that would add even more territory to Greater Israel. Encouraged by his U.S. champion, Prime Minister Netanyahu ran in the recent Israeli election on a campaign plank of annexing key parts of the West Bank. After Netanyahus moderate opponents collapsed, the path to annexation seemed clear. Then, at the last minute, Washington demurred, concerned that perhaps they would destabilize the whole region, but the aid keeps flowing and Israel keeps growing. Trumps 11th-hour second thoughts, and even stronger words from previous administrations, could not stop Israel. As supporters of justice have long been saying, words must be backed up by actions: actions that actually deny Israel military supplies or even hurt the Israeli economy. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), a Palestinian-led campaign promoting various nonviolent forms of actions against Israel, follows a time-honored history as in the Montgomery bus boycott and the divestment from South Africas apartheid regime of peacefully opposing injustice. U.S. sanctions against Israel are the only way to stop the Israeli annexation juggernaut, and that means ending U.S. military aid now. Until these annexations are stopped and reversed, the prospect for justice in the Middle East are grim indeed. Stephen R. Shalom is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace of Northern 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. By Anibal Ramos Jr. Over the last few weeks, my City Council office has received numerous calls and emails asking me to defund the police. This call to action is in response to incidents of police brutality, such as the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other incidents caught on camera over the past decade where police abuse is apparent. In response, the Minneapolis City Council recently sponsored a resolution dismantling its police department. While the anger and frustration stemming from these visible acts of abuse and brutality is warranted, what isnt clear is what actions should be taken to improve police and community relations. Even many of those who are calling to defund the police acknowledge that every community is different and there isnt a one-size-fits-all approach. Mayor Ras Baraka most recently presented an ordinance to the City Council asking to ban racist, white supremacist and other hate groups, something that we all agree with. However, the ordinance calls for a minimum 5% reduction in the citys Public Safety Department budget, a cut of just under $12 million. Our Public Safety Department, which is made up of police and fire divisions, is the largest in the state and provides a wide range of different services to the community. The reality is that most police budgets are 90% personnel costs, so any reshifting of funds will entail cutting police personnel. The hiring of police officers is recognized as a sign of investment in cities across America. Mayor Baraka and the Newark Council have proudly celebrated the hiring of an additional 500 officers in the last four years, opening up additional police precincts across the city. With all the recent investment in building up our police division and progress made in a department that is operating under a federal consent order, is defunding the right thing to do in the City of Newark? It is important to understand what our police division actually does. The reality is that modern-day police officers do more than just traditional law enforcement work. Police respond to a wide range of different complaints from homelessness to mental health issues and non-emergency calls concerning noise, cars double-parked and blocking driveways. Police respond to animal control complaints, code enforcement and domestic violence complaints. Rethinking police will require us to look at how our police division is structured and assess what is it that the community expects from them. Residents in our city call 911 (emergency) and 973-733-6000 (non-emergency) more than any other city number to access services. Reduction in funding for organizations and state and federal agencies responding to child abuse allegations, homelessness complaints and other important local challenges have placed the police in an important position where they respond to these non-emergency complaints. Police response time to complaints is one of the biggest expectations that our residents have. Do residents want closed police precincts and firehouses? Who will determine the optimal size of your police force? Are we jeopardizing years of progress made in reducing violence in our city? Making our police division more responsive to community needs doesnt necessarily mean diverting resources away from public safety. We can agree that having access to social workers on call to respond to homelessness and other non emergency issues is important. I am glad to see that the recent Presidential Executive Order, which doesnt go far enough on reform, will at least offer incentives for local departments and municipalities to hire social workers. We also need to create a non-emergency call center that can effectively refer calls from residents 24/ 7 to various city departments to respond to various issues. That will require city departments such as code enforcement, animal control and health, to name a few, must be accessible during off hours. The state and the Police Training Commission need to re-evaluate how it trains police officers. The average police academy class is about six months and the training offered is important, but is similar at least in the onset to a military boot camp. The renewed focus needs to be placed on de-escalation techniques and training officers to be more guardians as opposed to warriors. Officer training should include recognizing unconscious and implicit racial bias. I believe there is value in having residents and other stakeholders take part in evaluating police functions and provide feedback and guidance on how it can be more responsive to community needs. Ultimately, the function of any police department is to protect and serve. The recommendations I have outlined are additional suggestions that can help our Public Safety Department and Police Division to continue to protect our communities with the diligence, care and integrity that we all deserve. Anibal Ramos Jr. has represented the North Ward on the Newark Municipal Council since 2006. 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. By Daniel L. Lombardo It is hard to fathom the magnitude of the long-term social and economic impacts that COVID-19 will have on communities across the state of New Jersey, as well as our nation. Even as we see the curve flatten from new infections, we are far from witnessing the end of COVID-19, nor its ripple effects. However, one thing is clear underserved communities have undoubtedly been the hardest hit by this pandemic. Individuals experiencing homelessness, those returning to society from prison of jail, low-wage earners, minority communities all of these populations have had to shoulder the crippling burdens of battling this pandemic from a mental, environmental and socio-economic standpoint. As many of us have been lucky to shelter in place, work from home and reduce our exposure, many at-risk individuals, like Latasha Kendrick who was profiled in a recent Star Ledger/NJ.com story, have been left exposed and vulnerable without the proper resources to protect themselves, yet significantly more susceptible to infection, spread and even death. We cannot ignore the fact that those with the lowest incomes and least savings are feeling the hardest, most direct impacts of shutdowns caused by the pandemic. We have not seen unemployment numbers at this level since the Great Depression, with more than 1 million New Jersey residents filing unemployment claims. And now, the Federal Reserve estimates that nearly 40% of households making less than $40,000 a year have lost their jobs. It is no surprise that according to a recent study conducted by a Columbia University economist and professor, homelessness in the United States could grow as much as 45% over the next year as a direct result of the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, social service programs have been more crucial than ever by diverting individuals away from costly crisis-oriented systems, including emergency rooms and jails, and, instead, to expert social service providers who can more appropriately address their needs and ensure success. The assistance services provided through these programs encompass all needs including, but not limited to, housing, job training and counseling, medical care, mental health, and substance abuse treatment while simultaneously recognizing the special challenges faced by more vulnerable populations, such as veterans, immigrants and those serving time in the criminal justice system. When the pandemic began, the health and safety of those experiencing homelessness were not always the first to be considered. However, VOADVs Navigator program made sure the needs of this population were addressed, even in the most uncertain of times. The vital support provided by this program spearheaded the establishment of the only full-time residential program in Southern New Jersey, developed specifically to safeguard individuals experiencing homelessness who tested positive for COVID-19. When the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered low-risk county inmates to be released in order to limit the spread of coronavirus, VOADVs Safe Return program was one of the only resources available to provide these inmates with a variety of essential services from safe transportation from county jails and emergency shelter beds for those with nowhere else to go, to hot meals and essential health, counseling and therapeutic services. Programs like Navigator and Safe Return are often the only resources available to these hard-to-serve populations. The services offered by them have proven successful time and time again helping individuals secure a stable, safe environment, reducing the risk of re-offense and encouraging proper reintegration back into society. In fact, the recidivism rate for participants in the Safe Return program has been calculated at 10.43% which is 84% lower than the national average. Yet, these programs are now at risk of being eliminated altogether as a direct result of COVID-19. Ignoring the needs of our communities most vulnerable populations could have dire consequences the destruction of our public health system, the deterioration of any progress made in the criminal justice system, the safety and welfare of millions of New Jersey residents pushed deeper into poverty and the further erosion of social equality across our state. It is simply unacceptable and unrealistic to think that our communities most vulnerable, at-risk citizens will be expected to find housing on their own, keep their children fed, uncover employment opportunities or manage their mental well-being and addictions without a proper support system. But unfortunately, we are on the brink of that exact scenario becoming a reality here in New Jersey. With massive revenue shortfalls, our legislature has some very difficult decisions to make in the coming weeks. However, cuts to critical social services would be more catastrophic than anyone could begin to imagine. If we do not support our social services now, we will pay much higher costs later when our prisons are overcrowded, our hospitals are even more overburdened and our homeless population rises. Our collective responsibility remains two-fold: respond to the now and plan for the future, at the benefit of ALL residents. We are more than equipped with the knowledge and decision-making power to advance the social rights and well-being of all people living in our state. Now is the time to lead through example. We cannot afford to leave any individual in the dark, with nowhere to turn. Daniel L. Lombardo is president & CEO of Volunteers of America Delaware Valley. 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. Police are investigating after two women were shot late Monday in a residential neighborhood in Paterson. Officers responded shortly after 10 p.m. to a report of shots fired in the area of East 25th Street and 15th Avenue, according to Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes. Responding officers discovered a potential crime scene, but no victims, Valdes said in a statement. A short time later, police received information that a Paterson woman and a Lodi woman, both 24, had arrived at St. Josephs Regional Medical Center seeking treatment for gunshot wounds, Valdes said. Both women are expected to survive. Investigators ask that anyone with information call 1-877-370-PCPO or 973-321-1342. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Want to check your credit report? Notice an error and need it corrected? Under legislation that passed the House on Monday largely along party lines by 234-179, you can do it all online. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., would require the three major credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to set up a one-stop, online portal for consumers to see their reports and report any errors in them. That site would give consumers free and unlimited access to their reports and scores and allow them to place and remove credit freezes on their accounts, find out where the bureaus have sold their information, and file complaints and resolve problems with the bureaus. It also requires the bureaus to take steps to match full Social Security numbers or other unique identifiers with credit reports. There are three companies in the United States that literally hold the keys to deciding Americans financial future, Gottheimer said. They have their own secret formula, and its up to each American consumer to track it, beg the credit bureaus to fix inaccuracies and acts of fraud, and deal with data breaches, which occur far too often. The measure now goes to the Senate. President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the bill. Gottheimer said 15.4 million Americans a year are victims of credit card fraud, and 42 million Americans have errors in their credit reports. And almost 400,000 complaints about credit reporting have been filed with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, according to National Consumer Law Center lawyer Chi Chi Wu. The industrys trade group, the Consumer Data Industry Association, complained that the bill would create an unnecessary new government-mandated website for consumers when existing options for consumers already exist. Consumers currently can visit any of the websites of the nationwide CRAs and file a dispute, set a security freeze and exercise other rights that are guaranteed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, president and chief executive Francis Creighton said in a letter to House leaders. Consumer organizations, though, applauded the legislation, known as the Protecting Your Credit Score Act. This bill is an important step in making credit reports more accessible to consumers and fixing a broken system for credit reporting disputes, said Rachel Gittleman, financial services and membership outreach manager for the Consumer Federation of America. And Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said that especially during a pandemic that has also harmed family finances, Congress should give consumers more pocketbook protections. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant. Rep. Mikie Sherrill emerged from an hour-long meeting at the White House saying she was not satisfied with the administrations responses to reports that Russia offered bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American troops in Afghanistan, and how President Donald Trump planned to react. Sherrill, D-11th Dist., said she didnt get the answers she sought from White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and said she wanted to hear what U.S. intelligence officials know. To hear the allegations that Russia put a bounty on the heads of our troops, this crosses a line and is something that was really unacceptable, Sherrill told NJ Advance Media after the briefing. I was glad that Meadows held a briefing but certainly it didnt not answer all the questions. We want to hear from the intelligence agencies. She said she could not discuss what was said at the meeting, saying it was classified. Sherrill, a former Navy pilot and Russian policy officer for the Commander in Chief, U.S. Navy Europe office, was one of several lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds who joined House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., at the invitation of the White House. People there advocated very strongly for our troops and said it was imperative the White House get to the bottom of the allegations and determine what the intelligence says, Sherrill said. She also expressed concerns about Trumps relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump recently called for re-admitting Russia into the G-7 group of nations with the largest developed economies. He met with Putin in 2018 behind closed doors with no other American officials present, appeared to side with the Russian leader and reject the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow intervened in the 2016 election on his behalf, and embraced a baseless Russian conspiracy theory that it was really Ukraine that was involved in 2016, an action that helped lead to his impeachment. We know that the goals of Russia across the world are not aligned with our goals, Sherrill said. Ive always been very concerned about this presidents seemingly close relationship with Putin. Hoyer expressed similar concerns at a Capitol press conference after the briefing. We need to make sure that members of Congress and the public know whether or not our relationship with Russia is compromised by the relationship between the president and Mr. Putin, Hoyer said. That is a danger to our country if that is the case, and this matter needs to be gotten to the bottom of. He said Tuesdays meeting was not a substitute for a briefing for the entire Congress, as requested by congressional Democratic leaders. But if the White House asked you to come down for a meeting and to be briefed, you respond to that request, he said. At any time when you have a threat to American personnel, whether they be military or civilian, it is a serious matter and needs to be taken with the utmost importance and utmost concern. The allegations, plus Trumps claim that he never was briefed on the reports, have dominated recent discussion on Capitol Hill. The president tweeted Sunday night that U.S. intelligence officials did not find the information credible and he suggested it was possibly another fabricated Russia hoax, the term he has used to describe findings that Moscow worked to elect him in 2016. And White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday the intelligence was not verified. Intelligence is verified before it reaches the president of the United States, she said. Hoyer, though, said he left the White House meeting convinced that the reports should be taken seriously. The president called this a hoax publicly, Hoyer said. Nothing in the briefing that we have just received led me to believe it is a hoax. There may be different judgments as to the level of credibility, but there was no assertion that the information we had was a hoax. U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined two other senators Tuesday in asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper what they knew about the allegations and how their agencies responded to them. U.S. service members raise their right hands to protect and defend the United States, wrote Menendez, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, and Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. They deserve a commander in chief who will respond forcefully if bounties are put on them by enemies of the United States. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant. By Kim Rahn Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl participates in an event at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul in this February photo. Yonhap Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl has emerged as the third-most-favored potential presidential contender, a poll showed, Tuesday. Although an appointee of liberal President Moon Jae-in, Yoon has been considered a potential candidate for the conservative opposition bloc in recent months, following a series of conflicts with the administration over corruption investigations involving pro-Moon figures. According to the poll conducted by Realmeter of 2,537 adults last week, Yoon came in third with 10.1 percent, behind Rep. Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) with 30.8 percent, and Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, also a DPK member, with 15.6 percent. This is the first Realmeter survey on potential presidential candidates in which Yoon was included. The support rate for Lee Nak-yon fell by 3.5 percentage points from the previous month, while that for Lee Jae-myung rose by 1.4 percentage points. Watertown, NY (13601) Today Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High 83F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. Low 53F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Gov. Andrew Cuomo pleads during a pandemic briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., for federal lawmakers to pass COVID-19 legislation to assist state and local governments during the pandemic. The state Department of Health is investigating COVID-19 exposure in four virus clusters after officials traced multiple new infections to a student who recently traveled to Florida and attended a downstate graduation ceremony. Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomos office Six candidates are in the running to replace Santa Cruz County Sheriff Antonio Estrada, who is retiring after seven terms in office. President Moon Jae-in speaks during a virtual summit with European Council President Charles Michel, on the left screen, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on the right screen, at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday, to mark the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership. The two sides discussed strengthening cooperation in fight against the COVID-19 crisis and on Korean Peninsula issues. The two sides planned to hold the summit here this year, but it was held online due to the pandemic. Yonhap When the Broad Theater in New Orleans reopened June 5, manager Michael Domangue said, the first show was an emotional experience. "There are still moments where it's overwhelming," Domangue said. "It's a very surreal moment right now to be working in a movie theater." If you want to venture out to see a movie, a few New Orleans theaters are open, including the Broad, Prytania Theatre, Chalmette Movies, and Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge in Arabi. Major multiplex chains remain closed as the movie theater business tries to survive the pandemic. And as opening dates of summer blockbusters like Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" and Disney's live-action remake of "Mulan" continue to be pushed back, theaters could face another hurdle. Surreal moments For those independently operated theaters that have reopened, business is down, and the atmosphere is ... weird. "I think people are afraid to go to the movies," said Ellis Fortinberry, film booker and general manager of Chalmette Movies. "People still don't know that we're open because they see all the other movie theaters are closed. People want to see all the good blockbusters, and there's not a lot to watch." Of the four New Orleans theaters that have returned, Chalmette Movies is operating at 50% capacity. The other three are operating at 25% capacity. Cleaning and sanitizing procedures for auditoriums as well as social distancing guidelines have been updated. Hours and showtimes have fluctuated, too, allowing more time between shows for adequate cleaning. "All of the staff understands that we have to keep the theaters clean because all of our futures depend on making sure that this place is as safe and clean as possible," said Domangue, of the Broad. Old and new Like the big chains, small movie theaters are hampered by the lack of new titles. Instead, all the local theaters except Zeitgeist have relied on a mix of old and newer titles. The Broad is still offering limited release films alongside titles like "Jurassic Park" and "Jaws." Prytania Theatre has been screening Harry Potter and Batman movies. In the coming weeks, Chalmette Movies will screen Spike Lee's 2009 musical "Passing Strange" as well as the 1995 hit "Babe." The Broad and Zeitgeist also partnered with smaller movie studios and distributors to provide virtual cinema screenings to customers. Domangue said the screenings didn't provide much financially, but helped "keep people aware that we were keeping things moving." With or without virtual screenings, the months when independently owned theaters were closed took their toll. "It was kind of sad," Fortinberry said. But, in the two weeks since local theaters welcomed back customers, patrons have been appreciative that they're open, Fortinberry said. Over at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge, founder/director Rene Broussard joked that his venue was "doing social distancing before it was cool." When the Arabi screen reopened, Broussard said it helped that a lot of customers came in to purchase memberships and/or renew them. However, the closing period was rough as Zeitgeist had planned events to coincide with its 33 anniversary. To add to the blow, the cost of operations didn't stop. Bills keep coming "The weekend before our big celebration, all the theaters got shut down," Broussard said. "We had a lot of things scheduled. We were closed, and everybody was staying at home. Even though we were closed, we still had a lot of expenses. I was still having to pay for state and parish permits while dealing with all the other bills that come in." But, in preparation for new social distancing requirements and in an effort to make patrons feel safe, Zeitgeist removed 80-plus seats from its auditorium, replacing them with cocktail tables and easy-clean armchairs to accommodate about a third of that. High-top cocktail tables and barstools in the lobby also keep patrons grouped apart from each other. Less visibly, but perhaps just as important: Air scrubbers have been installed in the building, and doors have been equipped with electronic controls so they can be opened with an elbow, rather than a hand. As theaters come back, owners agree it's anything but business as usual. "Our programming hasn't changed," Broussard said. "We just don't have the audience yet to support it. We're struggling right now in terms of trying to stay afloat." Like Broussard, Domangue has seen a positive response to his theater remaining open and alive while dealing with an overall lack of customers. "I think yes, people want to go to the movies, but I think they're still holding out," Domangue said. "There are people who are happy we are staying in business, and I can tell that just by looking at our social media response. At the same time, they're telling themselves they're not ready yet. "Each person has to make that decision on their own. As a business, we don't want to force anyone. We just want to be open when they are ready to come back." *************** Is your favorite movie theater open? Though Louisiana is currently in Phase 2 of reopening, some movie theaters are still able to operate with a limited occupancy. Below is the latest information on New Orleans-area movie theaters. AMC Theaters: Locations are currently set to reopen on July 30. The movie theater chain listed Thanksgiving as its expected date to move to full capacity. Masks are required for guests and employees. Social distance signage, daily health screenings for employees, and new cleaning policies will be implemented. Regal Theaters: Locations are currently set to reopen on July 31. The movie theater chain will offer contactless payment through its app, daily health screenings for employees, and wall-mounted sanitizer dispensers. Masks are required for guests and employees. Movie Tavern locations: No reopening date set. A list of information on what to expect when theaters reopen is available at marcustheatres.com/reopening. Prytania Theatre: Open and operating at 25% capacity. Masks are required for guests and employees. Customers are encouraged to buy tickets online at theprytania.com The Broad Theater: Open and operating at 25% capacity. Masks are required for guests and employees. Spare masks are available in the lobby. Updated cleaning procedures and social distancing guidelines. Sanitizer is located throughout the theater area. thebroadtheater.com Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge: Open and operating at 25% capacity. New air scrubbers have been installed in the building. Masks are encouraged for guests but not required. Updated cleaning procedures. Sanitizer stations have been installed. zeitgeistnola.org Chalmette Movies: Open and operating at 50% capacity. Masks are recommended but not required. Updated social distancing guidelines include blocked-off seats. Cleaning procedures are in place. chalmettemovies.com. The Grand 16 Slidell: No reopening date set. However, the theater is offering private group screenings for $100. Social distancing and cleaning guidelines have been updated. Employees are required to wear masks and gloves. thegrand16slidell.com. History tells us that the surrender of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox on May 9, 1865, finally ended hostilities in the long, bloody American Civil War. For the most part, thats true. In New Orleans, however, racial tensions lingered, as did outbursts of violence including one horrifyingly deadly day in summer 1866 that made it crystal clear to anyone paying attention that more than a few Confederate loyalists, including many New Orleanians in power, werent at all ready to give up the fight. In fact, many consider the oft-forgotten, race-fueled massacre inside and outside the old Mechanics Institute a James Gallier-designed Greek Revival-style structure built in the 1850s that served briefly as the state Capitol during Reconstruction to be an extension of the ostensibly settled war. Theres at least some truth to that, as the entire tragedy was rooted in Reconstruction. To be specific, it was rooted in the reconvened Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1866, which was demanded by Republicans of the day after the initial convention two years earlier failed to give people of color the right to vote. On the first day of the reconvened convention, which Democrats vociferously opposed, a group of Black convention supporters, many of them Union Army veterans, held a parade through the streets, ending at the Mechanics Institute, which stood just off Canal Street at the site occupied today by the Roosevelt Hotels main tower. They flew the American flag as throngs of onlookers including many Confederate veterans and sympathizers watched. A band led the way, marching its way right into the building. And then, out amid the crowd on the street, a single shot was fired. Then came another. Thats when all hell broke loose. The crowd in and out of the Mechanics Hall were worked up to a pitch of desperation and madness, and firearms were handled as freely as on the battlefield, read an account published the next day in The Daily Picayune. The reports of pistols were heard in every direction, and balls whizzed by, threatening as much danger to the observed as the active participant. Many marchers sought cover in the Mechanics Hall which is where many of them died as the White mob, led by police, laid siege to the building with a withering fire. Those who tried to escape through back or side windows were seized upon and either shot, beaten to death or arrested. When the dust settled, and martial law instituted by federal troops, the city got down to the business of counting the bodies. Thirty to 50 people of color were dead. Some 150 others were wounded. New Orleans newspapers of the day clucked their tongues at the unfortunate violence, blaming it on radical agitators seeking to upset the status quo. That take was contradicted by a scathing article in the national magazine Harpers Weekly, which would later run illustrations depicting armed White men gunning down Black men fleeing the site. In a letter to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant dated Aug. 2, Army Maj. Gen P.H. Sheridan, writing from New Orleans, made it clear the riot was not some accident and that the blame lay squarely at the feet of Mayor James T. Monroe. The more information I obtain of the affair of the 30th, in this city, the more revolting it becomes, Sheridan wrote. It was no riot; it was an absolute massacre by the police. It was a murder which the Mayor and police of the city perpetrated without the shadow of a necessity; furthermore, I believe it was premeditated, and every indication points to this. Within eight months, Sheridan would depose Monroe under powers granted to him by the Reconstruction Acts, replacing him with Edward Heath. The Mechanics Hall, which served briefly as the state Capitol during the Reconstruction era, would later become part of the original Tulane University campus. The building was demolished in 1905. While they were demolishing it, workmen toiling in the attic found a human skeleton clutching a gun, the wooden butt of which had rotted away. According to The Picayune, it was presumed the remains belonged to a victim of the 1866 massacre. No public historical marker exists to mark the site or memorialize the victims. Know of a New Orleans building worth profiling in this column, or just curious about one? Contact Mike Scott at moviegoermike@gmail.com. Federal bank regulators are seeking to ban the former head of failed First NBC Bank, Ashton Ryan, from banking and to fine him $5 million for what it alleges was a pattern of lending that flouted federal rules and in some cases amounted to fraud in the run-up to the bank's 2017 collapse. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the agency that took control of First NBC when it collapsed three years ago, on Friday published its charges against Ryan and his former chief credit officer, William Burnell, in a 46-page account of the alleged wrongdoing. In the documents, regulators point to several transactions with major customers of the bank where Ryan, in concert with Burnell, allegedly made loans based on documents or collateral they knew had been faked. The FDIC maintains Ryan's alleged breaches of rules and the law resulted in losses at the bank of at least $105 million, while personally benefiting himself to the tune of at least $2.2 million. The FDIC's main conclusion is that Ryan abused his authority in order to make unsafe loans, while benefiting himself, and that "Burnells repeated failures to object enabled Ryan to have his incremental authority renewed each time a loan was presented for review, which allowed Ryan to continue making unsafe or unsound loans." +4 Coronavirus puts hold on massive federal case over First NBC implosion, other grand jury probes Before the coronavirus began ravaging Louisiana, federal prosecutors in New Orleans were closing in on one of their biggest targets in recent The FDIC's civil case a notice of intention to ban Ryan and Burnell from banking and the impose the fines is widely seen as a preview of a parallel criminal case being pursued against Ryan and Burnell by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans. Prosecutors have already secured guilty pleas from three former First NBC customers and one of its former senior executives. The FDIC's case is familiar from previous criminal and civil proceedings, though some details about the alleged schemes and the amounts involved are new, including the gains Ryan is alleged to have made from the schemes. In the first set of allegations, the FDIC lays out how Ryan, aided by Burnell, circumvented the bank's oversight procedures to keep funneling cash to what it refers to as "Borrower 1, 2 and 3," which it is clear from the details provided refers to Slidell real estate developer Jeffrey Dunlap and companies controlled by him. To defraud First NBC, a Kenner hotelier conspired with the bank's former CEO, feds say Federal prosecutors have charged a Kenner hotelier with conspiring with former First NBC Bank CEO Ashton Ryan to defraud the bank of up to $39 Dunlap last year pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. In doing so, he detailed a $22 million scheme to keep his bankrupt companies afloat by obtaining loans from First NBC using false information he provided about his financial condition and the use of the loan proceeds. The FDIC alleges that Ryan and Burnell were instrumental in the scheme by knowingly approving loans under false pretenses. It further alleges that Ryan personally benefited, receiving at least $61,000 from one of Dunlap's real estate companies. Ryan's attorney, Eddie Castaing, said his client maintains his innocence and will fight the FDIC case on the fine and the lifetime ban, even though Ryan is now in his mid-70s. "Ashton Ryan intends to fight this administrative civil complaint, Castaing said. Burnell's attorney, Brian Capitelli, also said his client maintains he is innocent. 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 "We will continue to defend Bill Burnell against these baseless allegations," Capitelli said. Burnell is facing a fine of $200,000 as well as a lifetime ban from banking industry. The FDIC case also recounts allegations that resulted last year in a guilty plea by Gregory St. Angelo, First NBC's former top lawyer, who admitted to one count of bank fraud. When the bank collapsed, St. Angelo owed nearly $50 million. His guilty plea detailed how he allegedly conspired with Ryan and Burnell to conceal his true financial position. The loans he received from them were backed by collateral that didn't exist and were used to cover losses on previous loans, according to allegations made in court documents. The FDIC said the loans to St. Angelo, whom it names, "were part of a series of unrelated loan relationships commonly referred to at the bank as 'DORKS,' which many times, at the end of each month, required the bank to use the various methods ... to keep the loans current." The St. Angelo loans were the S in DORKS, The FDIC report says, though it gives no further information about what accounts the other letters in the acronym referred to. The DORKS loan scheme included fraudulently claiming tax credits for renovation of historical buildings in the French Quarter and elsewhere that Ryan and Burnell knew were not actually owned by St. Angelo, the FDIC alleges. Another charge in the FDIC's case appears to refer to the allegedly fraudulent loans obtained by Kenneth Charity, a developer and another long-term client of the bank referred to as "Borrower 6". Mississippi developer alleged to be major player in loans that brought down First NBC Bank The investigations into the collapse of First NBC Bank have unearthed a new series of suspicious, multimillion-dollar loans that regulators al From 2014 to 2016, the FDIC alleges that Ryan arranged for loans totaling more than $2.5 million for Charity backed by collateral that didn't exist, and to renovate a beignet shop at 620 Decatur St. in the French Quarter, and other properties that were never renovated. In fact, they were used to cover bad loans and Charity's personal expenses with the full knowledge of Ryan and Burnell, the government alleges. Charity pleaded guilty in July 2019 to conspiracy to defraud First NBC Bank. Another of the charges appears to refer to a previous FDIC civil charge against former First NBC loan officer Robert Brad Calloway. The FDIC alleges that Calloway submitted false or misleading documentation in order to make a series of loans to Diamondhead, Mississippi-based businessman Gary R. Gibbs that totaled $123 million at the time of the New Orleans bank's collapse. +2 Federal regulator sues auditor Ernst & Young for negligence over First NBC collapse Federal bank regulators are suing the audit firm Ernst & Young LLP in the $1 billion failure of First NBC Bank in 2017, alleging that the The FDIC's case against Ryan and Burnell alleges that they also played a key part in keeping Gibbs's lending scheme going by falsifying documents to conceal his true financial condition and to keep funneling loans to him and his companies. Neither Calloway nor Gibbs have been criminally charged. Gibbs, through a lawyer, declined the comment on the case. Calloway's attorney, Michael Magner, said his client will contest the civil case and pointed the finger at Ryan as having approved all the loans allegedly made under false pretenses to Gibbs. New Orleans-area leaders took a harder line against the coronavirus Monday amid rising infections in the region, with Mayor LaToya Cantrell warning of possible stricter restrictions on businesses in the city and Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng mandating mask-wearing for the first time. Cantrell said Monday that more stringent rules in the city could come ahead of Independence Day weekend, after a task force she appointed last week found cases of non-compliance with current mask rules at local grocery stores and other businesses. LaToya Cantrell: Abide by coronavirus restrictions or New Orleans will be shut down New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell warned a rise in new coronavirus cases could lead the administration to reintroduce restrictions on gatherin A team of city employees was expected to decide Monday afternoon whether to enact stricter restrictions, according to Cantrell, who spoke at a press conference Monday during the unveiling of a new Department of Public Works administration building. She didn't provide details on what those restrictions might be or when they might be announced, though she said that if businesses fail to comply with rules mandating that employees wear masks, they could be closed. "The need for people to follow rules is so important," Cantrell said. "This is a matter of life and death." In Jefferson, Lee Sheng said she would issue an emergency proclamation requiring people to wear masks inside businesses and public places. Under the order, anyone including customers inside a business must be masked. The order is set to begin on Wednesday and has no end date. "I need our community as a whole to respond to this," Lee Sheng said. It's not clear how the proclamation will be enforced. Lee Sheng said Monday that attorneys for the parish are working "feverishly" to hammer out those details and that enforcement may be handled by Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies or parish government's code-enforcement and quality-of-life inspectors. The moves by Cantrell and Lee Sheng underscored the growing concern among public officials about rising coronavirus cases in the area and across Louisiana. State and local officials have begun reopening bars, restaurants and other businesses as part of a phased plan to restart the economy. At the same time, infections have increased, with clusters of cases arising from Tigerland bars in Baton Rouge as well as a series of graduation parties in New Orleans. Last week, Gov. John Bel Edwards held off on moving the state to the third phase of re-opening due to the worrying increases in infections. On Monday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 845 new cases of coronavirus in the state. The percentage of positive test results climbed to 9.9%, an indication that rising case numbers aren't simply due to expanded testing. Over the past week, the seven-day average daily increase in cases has risen to nearly 980 per day, the highest since early April. In Orleans Parish, cases haven't risen as sharply in recent days as in the rest of the state even as they have started to tick higher. However, cases in Jefferson Parish which has reported more cases than any other Louisiana parish appear to rising faster in recent days than those in Orleans Parish. 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 Even as the state has beefed up its ability to trace the disease and as hospitals remain generally well equipped, more people are forgoing masks as they enter newly reopened businesses. Public health officials and infectious-disease experts say that mask-wearing is among the most effective means of controlling the spread of the disease. But the widely recommended public-health advice has in some instances devolved into a debate about whether the requirement is an infringement upon personal rights. +2 Amid coronavirus, New Orleans requests $3.5 million of a state fund for unemployed residents New Orleans is seeking $3.5 million from a state fund meant to help people unemployed amid the coronavirus, money officials say will help thou The calls to wear masks have been dogged by the challenge of enforcement. Edwards has encouraged, but not required, the step because the state has little means of enforcing compliance, a stance Lee Sheng also adopted initially. Cantrell required mask-wearing in mid-May but left the enforcement of her rule up to businesses, some of which balked at the notion that they would be forced to impose the government edict on their customers. Cantrell said Monday some businesses have been doing a poor job of keeping to the rules, after a task force she appointed last week investigated Walmart in New Orleans East, Rouses Supermarket in Algiers and some Family Dollar and Dollar Tree stores and found them lacking. Inspectors found that some employees at the Walmart weren't wearing masks, as required, and that many customers weren't wearing masks either, Cantrell said. "They know, and they have heard from me. Unacceptable," Cantrell said, adding that fines and potential closures are among the consequences businesses will face if their employees or customers aren't following the rules. A Walmart spokesperson said that employees are required to wear masks and that stores have signs posted at their entrances informing customers of mask-wearing requirements. A Rouses representative said employees are required to wear masks in all 64 stores across Louisiana and Mississippi, and that posted signs in New Orleans stores advise customers of the mandate. "We are doing everything we possibly can to keep everyone safe," spokeswoman Marcy Nathan said. Cantrell said she had spoken with Rouses owner Donny Rouse and that he "committed to making sure that they're in compliance 100%." Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, did not return a request for comment. Cantrell said the city could impose further restrictions this week. Officials said last week that if more rules are enacted, they would likely only apply to the types of businesses or gatherings that have been found to present problems. As it stands, the city has some of the strictest coronavirus guidelines in the state, with lower capacity limits on casinos, churches and movie theaters than elsewhere, and unique rules for event venues that require officers to manage capped crowds. Staff writer Jeff Adelson contributed to this report. While the Archdiocese of New Orleans prefers a "traditional" school setting for the upcoming academic year -- meaning, children in classrooms -- its plan for the reopening of Catholic schools next month leaves many key details up to teachers and principals, who will make decisions depending on the unique needs of each school. Like many public-school leaders around the region, Catholic-school principals have been tasked to create several scenarios that include teaching their students on campus, teaching them through distance learning or some hybrid containing elements of both. A 70-page guidance document was released by Catholic schools Superintendent RaeNell Houston to Catholic school leaders on Friday, at the end of a week with rising COVID-19 cases across the state. The document walks each schools leaders through all the details that must be considered before the archdiocese can safely reopen its network of schools, which educate around 34,000 elementary and secondary students. Majority of Jefferson Parish parents prefer in-person school instruction, survey shows As school districts finalize plans for the 2020-21 year amid the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of parents, teachers and community members Gov. John Bel Edwards said last week that he expects schools to open as planned in the fall. But across the nation, public-health and education officials -- and some parents -- fear that without proper precautions elementary and high schools could turn into germ factories for spreading coronavirus. Though the archdiocese did not make its specific guidance public, Houston described some of the documents principles. Catholic schools will follow the guidance of both the state education and health departments. Because that guidance changes regularly, the Catholic schools document is not cast in stone, said Houston. Its fluid; its changing as the situation evolves and as we know more about COVID-19, she said. For instance, Houston said, officials first heard that face masks would be required worn in all areas of the school -- for students in fifth grade and up. But last Thursday, the plan was revised to reflect the states newly-issued face-mask requirements, which includes students in third grade and above. +2 What do parents, teachers want for school? A distance learning option, New Orleans survey shows As the new school year rapidly approaches, local families and teachers are wondering: What will the return to class look like as coronavirus c 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 Catholic schools will also heed state public health guidelines by conducting body-temperature checks and handwashing for all students at the beginning of the day and either handwashing or hand-sanitizing every two hours. Bathrooms will be cleaned regularly throughout the day and some schools with tightly configured bathrooms could install Plexiglass partitions between sinks. Catholic schools will also follow governmental guidance for maximum classroom capacity: 10 for Phase One, 25 for Phase Two and 50 for Phase Three. While public school districts are also capping school-bus capacity, Catholic schools do not own and operate their own school buses. Their bus riders will be governed by the public school districts that operate the buses. Arrival and dismissal times will be staggered, with different grade levels assigned to different entrances, Houston said, to avoid the crowd and rush of everyone coming in the same entrance at the same time. For some class changes, teachers, rather than students will move from room to room. Though students will receive some grab-and-go, pre-packaged food, each Catholic school will offer cooked meals, Houston said. 'Distance learning options here to stay': Orleans, Jefferson charters chart coronavirus return Orleans and Jefferson Parish public school districts have not released final school plans for the 2020-2021 year, but among some charter schoo In some instances, all kids will eat meals delivered to the classrooms from the school cafeteria, she said, noting that some of her schools are making plans to have pre-K and kindergarten students eat in cafeterias, socially distanced, with Plexiglass dividers between them. Like all other local educational plans, Catholic schools will help to provide needed laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots to students and will incorporate some proportion of virtual learning into their weekly calendars. There also may be periods where we have to close schools and we dont want to compromise instructional time, Houston said. State Education Superintendent Cade Brumley has instructed schools to plan for closures of up to five days if they show ongoing COVID-19 spread. Morning prayers will be offered over the intercom rather than during a morning gathering, Houston said, while Mass may be attended by smaller groups and streamed schoolwide, with communion administered within each classroom. Though we are in the midst of trials and challenges, its important for our students to remember that God is walking with us, she said. His Fourth of July weekend working on a house in Pensacola figures to be the most relaxing in years for New Orleans attorney Michael Arata, with prison no longer on the horizon. Its been six years since Arata, Hollywood producer Peter Hoffman and his wife, Susan Hoffman, fell under a 25-count federal indictment that accused them of bilking a state tax credit program that subsidized film industry infrastructure to the tune of more than $1 million. It's been three years since a federal jury convicted all three of them. A federal appeals court had all but measured up Peter Hoffman and Arata for prison scrubs in 2018, when it threw out an unusual decision by U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman to hand each of them probation -- despite sentencing guidelines that recommended years in prison for each of them. The court also restored numerous charges that Feldman had tossed, rejecting the jury's verdicts on those counts. Less than a week before Mardi Gras, Feldman took another swing at leveling a punishment that would pass muster. The second round wasn't a lot stiffer than the first. He again gave Arata probation, though this time he said that the lawyer would have to serve an additional year of probation confined to his home. A month later, as New Orleans weathered the early throes of the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors returned to court on March 19, this time to strike a deal with Arata that ended the case against him. The government agreed to Feldman's probation term for Arata, in exchange for Arata accepting his conviction. Even that mild penalty came with some wiggle room, though. Last week, Arata sought and received permission from Feldman to travel to Pensacola during his home confinement through July 3, "and thereafter as necessary," as long as Arata notifies probation officers. Hoffman didn't fare quite as well as Arata. But Feldman gave him a revised sentence of just 20 months in prison, which the producer is still fighting. Federal sentencing guidelines had called for Arata to serve between 9 and 11 years behind bars. His attorney, Billy Gibbens, declined to comment on the deal. The leniency Feldman has shown Arata, who comes from a local family prominent in local politics and the law, has caused some buzz in New Orleans legal circles. Arata's late father, Blake, managed Moon Landrieu's winning 1970 mayoral campaign and then served as his city attorney. Arata's wife, Emily, was for years a top aide to Lt. Gov. and then Mayor Mitch Landrieu. A nominee of President Ronald Reagan, Feldman took a deeply jaundiced view of the governments case throughout the prolonged prosecution. It showed both times he sentenced the two men, who along with Susan Hoffman had been accused of conspiring to steal more than $1 million in tax credits by inflating the costs for the conversion of a moribund Esplanade Avenue mansion into a post-production film studio. In a 124-page denunciation of the government's attack, Feldman described unchecked prosecutorial zeal and accused prosecutors of employing mean-spirited hype to convict them. The rules surrounding the states film tax credit program were at best gray when the renovation began, he wrote, and the law spelling out the incentives was implemented haphazardly and in a manner rife with disorder. 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 Though he upheld the jury's convictions of all three defendants on the conspiracy charge, among others, Feldman questioned whether the state had actually lost any money from the scheme, given that work on the project had eventually gotten done. He noted that the studio ultimately earned at least the amount in tax credits that it received. But the appeals court didnt buy his reasoning, restoring convictions on all five counts that Feldman had thrown out against Peter Hoffman, and nine of the 11 counts hed tossed against Arata. The panels 2-1 majority was particularly put out by the probation sentence that Feldman handed to Peter Hoffman, whose guidelines called for him to serve at least 14 years. Giving probation to the leader of a sophisticated, multimillion-dollar fraud scheme perpetuates one of the problems Congress sought to eliminate when it created a Sentencing Commission, wrote appeals court Judge Gregg Costa, a nominee of President Barack Obama. While judges have discretion, it's not absolute, and Costa slammed Feldman for going from roughly 15 years in prison to zero, calling it a colossal gap and a variance too far. Costa added that Hoffman would have stolen millions from the state if it had not detected his scheme. The appeals court chided Feldman less over Aratas sentence. It noted that its decision to reinstate charges against Arata could have a greater effect on his recommended prison term. For at least one thing, our reversal of some of the false statement counts means that Arata lied to the FBI in connection with the investigation, Costa noted. Judge Carolyn Dineen King, a nominee of President Jimmy Carter, joined Costa for the majority. Judge James Dennis, a nominee of President Bill Clinton, dissented from the decision to upend Hoffman's sentence. Dennis argued that deference to judges should be equally respected with regard to low-ball sentences as to high ones, which courts rarely overturn. In response to the appeals court, Feldman added a year to Aratas probation, from four to five years, records show. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has asked a federal judge to "indefinitely suspend" a long-planned jail expansion in light of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the parishs declining inmate population. Cantrell had already telegraphed that she would ask U.S. District Judge Lance Africk to halt plans for a new 89-bed jail building meant to house inmates with medical and mental health problems. But a court motion on Monday marked the lengthiest and most formal request yet from the city. Africk oversees the jails reform agreement with the federal government, known as a consent decree, and could accept or reject the city's request. +3 New Orleans stops work on jail expansion plan, calling it a 'waste of taxpayer dollars' New Orleans this month halted design work on a long-planned expansion of the parish jail for inmates with medical and mental health problems, "This administration is focused on making decisions that take into account all of the relevant factors when it comes to committing City resources, and doing what is right for all of our people," Cantrell said in a statement. "We have to meet the many challenges being presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as address our community's call for reform. We believe this action meets both challenges." The Federal Emergency Management Administration would pay for at least $36 million of the cost of the new building planned for the vacant space between the main Orleans Justice Center and the jails kitchen on Perdido Street in Mid-City. However, the city says it could be on the hook for $15 million above that cost if the expansion plan goes forward. Speaking outside City Hall, city infrastructure chief Ramsey Green said the city believes the Temporary Detention Center, which is in the final weeks of a $6.3 million renovation, will be adequate to house inmates with mental health problems through at least 2022. That renovation was meant to serve only as a stopgap until the permanent jail expansion, known as Phase III, is built. The city hasn't made a final determination on whether it will move to retrofit the main jail as a permanent solution for housing inmates with mental and medical problems, Green said. Advocates have long proposed a rehab of the main lockup, pointing to the long-term decline in the jail inmate population. Last year the jail had an average daily population of 1,160 inmates, compared to 2,645 inmates in 2012, and its population has dipped well below 1,000 people during the pandemic. However, Sheriff Marlin Gusman has dismissed the jail rehab plan as a fantasy. While the main jail building has space for 1,438 beds, he says he needs elbow room to separate inmates who cant be mixed, such as people from warring gangs or youths and adults. Africk has expressed serious doubts about the citys move to call off the jail expansion, which he has long said is required to provide adequate care to dozens of inmates at the long-troubled jail. Africk didn't immediately rule on the city's request for a quick hearing on its motion. 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 In its filing on Monday, the city said while Africk has ordered the construction of the jail expansion, its no longer needed to provide adequate care. They point to the increasingly positive reviews of jail conditions from court-appointed monitors and one of their advisers. In an affidavit with the city's filing, Ronald Shansky, a doctor whos served as a court expert on correctional care for decades, said federal court monitors havent opined that a lack of an infirmary is holding the jail back from reaching compliance with the consent decree. Shansky said adequate staffing and training were more important than facilities, and a secure and dedicated ward of a nearby hospital could substitute for a building on the jail campus itself. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell calls for quick end to oversight as NOPD braces for harsh report Mayor LaToya Cantrell called for a quick end to federal oversight of the New Orleans Police Department on Thursday, even as her police chief w Gusman's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Gusman, whos independently elected, oversees the jail with an administrator appointed by Africk, but the city is responsible under state law for providing its facilities. The sheriff last month contended in a court filing that it was time for the court to terminate the consent decree because hes brought the lockup into compliance with the Constitution. In its filing on Monday, the city seemed to back that assertion. As the OPSO is at near full compliance with the rigorous Consent Decree without the Phase III facility, the City and OPSO are well poised to develop a new plan to continue providing constitutionally adequate services for those with serious mental illness in its custody in lieu of constructing the Phase III facility, the city said. Jail reform advocates dont agree with the city about whether the jails done with its reform process. Serious deficiencies in the medical and mental health care provided in OJC continue to result in harm to the people imprisoned at the jail," said Emily Washington, an attorney at the MacArthur Justice Center in New Orleans who represents inmates under the consent decree agreement. "A swift and effective means of providing constitutional care must be prioritized. Given this administrations notable absence from the ongoing efforts to reform conditions at the facility, the City cannot support its broad declarations of compliance. One group did hail Cantrells move to put the expansion plan on ice, however. The consideration of a new jail facility in our resource-strapped city should not have made it this far, but were encouraged that the city has finally acknowledged the disapproval and demands of our community, said Sade Dumas, executive director of the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition. A St. John the Baptist Parish firefighter tried to sneak more than 150 pounds of marijuana past a checkpoint at Texas border with Mexico but was arrested by federal authorities earlier this month, according to court records. Michael Moscona faces one count of possessing and intending to distribute 70.7 kilos of marijuana, the records said. A parish government spokeswoman said Monday that Moscona is on paid leave pending an internal disciplinary investigation. A criminal complaint filed against Moscona alleges that Border Patrol agents stopped him at an immigration checkpoint north of McAllen, Texas, at about 6:35 a.m. on June 17. Moscona claimed he was on vacation with his family but was headed back home alone in a rental truck because the firefighting crew on which he worked was short-handed, the complaint said. The complaint alleged that Moscona appeared to grow nervous as agents questioned him, including asking about a new toolbox in the bed of the truck. Moscona said he didnt have the key to the toolbox, but agents forced it open after a drug-sniffing dog showed an interest in it, the complaint said. Agents said they found 18 bundles of marijuana roughly worth $150,000 wrapped in black plastic. Moscona allegedly waived his right to remain silent and confessed that he was delivering marijuana from the Rio Grande Valley area to the Tangipahoa Parish community of Ponchatoula. According to the complaint, Moscona had made several such runs in previous months. The agents arrested Moscona and confiscated a handgun in a bag on the front passenger seat. 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 A federal magistrate in Corpus Christi, Texas, on June 24 allowed Moscona to be released from jail on a $75,000 signature bond and to travel home. He could face prison time if he is eventually convicted as accused. Moscona is a 15-year veteran of St. Johns Fire Department. Hes been a member of a team that has won a statewide firefighting drills competition multiple times. Attempts to contact Mosconas attorney on Monday were unsuccessful. Earlier, he told WWL-TV, who first reported on Mosconas case, that he couldnt comment because he hadnt seen any evidence yet. A young father who died after collapsing at the New Orleans jail tested positive for the coronavirus at his autopsy, according to his family and the Orleans Parish Coroners Office. The positive test result for Christian Freeman, the 35-year-old who died suddenly after collapsing at the Orleans Justice Center on Thursday, undermines the claim from Sheriff Marlin Gusmans office that it banished COVID-19 through the use of quarantines and testing. The jail said June 18 that it had no remaining inmate cases. Freeman had been in custody since his December arrest, so he couldnt have carried the virus into the jail himself. Freemans uncle, Shannon Freeman, said the Orleans Parish Coroners Office informed the familys funeral home about the test result so that it could take proper precautions. The coroner on Tuesday confirmed the positive test. The autopsys preliminary findings include hypertensive cardiovascular disease, according to a Coroners Office spokesman. However, the cause and manner of Freemans death remain under investigation pending further studies and toxicology tests. The spokesman said there was no evidence of significant trauma to Freemans body. New Orleans asks court to 'indefinitely suspend' jail expansion plan New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has asked a federal judge to "indefinitely suspend" a long-planned jail expansion in light of the economic c A Metairie native and father to a 4-year-old boy, Christian Freeman was facing a variety of gun and drug charges, and rightfully so, according to his uncle. He was not charged with any crimes of violence. When he was arrested, family members breathed a sigh of relief. We thought, hes going to be safe, Shannon Freeman said. Christian Freemans struggles with drugs stretched back years. His mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age and died when he was a teenager, Shannon said. Christian Freemans father also struggled with drugs for much of his life, and it was Christian who discovered his father dead on the floor of his house in 2015, his uncle said. After his arrest, Shannon Freeman said, his nephew kept a positive attitude. He couldnt wait to get outside and return to the company of his son. Despite the troubles hed faced in life, Christian was a loving father, Shannon Freeman said. His son was as rambunctious as he was, he said. I think they connected because of that. Christian sort of had an understanding of that. 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 Christian Freemans sudden death after the loss of his mother and father has left Christians grandmother heartbroken, his Shannon Freeman said. Although she knew he was a troubled soul, she still loves him dearly, he said. The family is searching for answers about what happened. So far the Sheriffs Office has released few details. The jail said that Freeman collapsed while a medication pass was being conducted on his tier of the jail. According to the Sheriffs Office, deputies and a medical worker on duty in the tier attempted to revive Freeman. He was pronounced dead after being transported to the hospital. +2 Another inmate dies at New Orleans jail after collapsing, sheriff says A man whos been incarcerated at the New Orleans jail since December collapsed and died on Thursday, less than a week after another relatively An attorney for the Sheriffs Office has told him that there is video of his nephews final moments, which Shannon Freeman hopes he will be able to view. We simply want to know what happened. A 35-year-old young man. You look at him, he was a bodybuilder, Shannon Freeman said. Freeman was represented by the Orleans Public Defenders. In a statement, the group called for a "full investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Freeman's death and for measures to be put in place to prevent the senseless loss of life of valuable community members like Mr. Freeman." Shannon Freeman said he also hopes to learn whether there is any connection between the death of his nephew and that of another man who died at the lock-up the week before. Desmond Guild, 27, died after collapsing on his tiers day room on June 19, according to the jail. The Coroners Office says Guild was negative for coronavirus and his preliminary cause of death was pulmonary thromboembolus, with the manner undetermined. The Sheriffs Office hasnt answered questions about whether it suspects any link between the sudden deaths, which came after a more than 18-month period with no deaths in custody. Its also unclear whether the jail is conducting any additional testing as a result of Freemans positive test result. Im a very conservative person when it comes to our justice system, Shannon Freeman said. But even Im like, 'my goodness, it shouldnt be a death sentence for people being accused of a crime to go to jail.' There just has to be some additional protections for these guys. Otherwise, if its a non-violent crime they need to let them go. The Opelousas Police Department officer busted alongside now-Congressman Clay Higgins for lying to internal affairs in 2007 about the unjustified beating of a bystander has been on the congressmans payroll since shortly after Higgins took office three and a half years ago. John Chautin, a former Opelousas patrolman, helped Higgins violently take the man Andre Red Richard to the ground after Richard pulled up outside a house that Higgins, Chautin and other police officers were searching. An internal affairs report found that Higgins and Chautin tried to cover up the incident by lying about it. Higgins hired Chautin as a field representative for his congressional office in early February 2017, just over a month after Higgins, a Lafayette Republican, was sworn in to replace departing former U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany. Chautin was paid $69,805 in 2019, records show. +2 Under Congress police reform package, Clay Higgins' own policing career might've drawn closer scrutiny Amid a spirited and sometimes wrenching congressional debate over what should be done about cops who brutalize minorities, one Louisiana repre Neither Chautin nor Higgins responded to messages seeking comment. Higgins spokesman refused interview requests about the 2007 incident last week, responding instead with a statement attacking the newspaper and vowing, Were not going to participate in the liberal fake news Advocates attempt to tear down law enforcement and demonize police officers. The internal investigation in Opelousas later found that Higgins repeatedly grabbed Richard around the neck, struck him across the head and allegedly kicked him as he lay handcuffed. Chautin, like Higgins, lied about the incident to Capt. Craig Thomas, who investigated after Richard filed a complaint. Chautin and Higgins both falsely accused Richard of battery, claiming Richard had grabbed Higgins before the cops took him down. That story unravelled after another police officer who witnessed the incident contradicted Chautin and Higgins. Higgins later admitted lying, acknowledging he struck Richard and apologizing for his actions. Then-Opelousas Police Chief Perry Gallow recommended Higgins be demoted, removed from the SWAT team and suspended for 160 hours without pay. The Opelousas City Council later signed off on that discipline. But in the midst of another internal affairs investigation involving Higgins and Chautin, Higgins quit before his punishment could be imposed. The second investigation found Higgins and Chautin bought beer together at a LaPlace gas station, in uniform and driving marked police cars, en route to a SWAT competition. That probe, which Higgins has said was the real reason behind his resignation, also looked into whether Higgins and other members of the SWAT team had disparaged Gallow during the trip. Gallow said Monday that Chautin was also disciplined for lying, but couldnt recall the length of his suspension. Current Opelousas Police Chief Martin McLendon didnt immediately respond to inquiries on Monday. 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 Gallow, who left the department in 2014, said Chautin accepted the discipline instead of resigning like Higgins and remained an Opelousas policeman for a period of time after the incident. Higgins, meanwhile, soon landed a job with the Port Barre Police Department and then, in 2011, was hired by the St. Landry Sheriffs Office, where his tough-talking CrimeStoppers TV segments propelled him to viral online fame. St. Landry Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said in an interview last week he wouldve never hired Higgins had he been aware of the 2007 incident. Higgins quit the Sheriffs Office amid controversy over the insults he hurled at suspects during the clips. Guidroz said he found some of the comments unprofessional and had asked Higgins to tone down his trash talking. Guidroz said he was poised to fire Higgins in 2016 when the brash deputy abruptly called a press conference to announce his resignation, claiming Guidroz was trying to muzzle him. Guidroz accused Higgins of repeatedly defying orders and with trying to profit in ways that ran afoul of Sheriffs Office policy and state law, including by spending time on-the-clock hawking Captain Higgins merchandise and trying to line up paid speaking gigs. Emails later obtained by news outlets including the Lafayette Independent and KATC-TV also showed Higgins pitching a television show that was to star himself. In a December 2015 email to a producer, Higgins listed the potential cast of a proposed reality show featuring Higgins joining SWAT raids around the country. Among the regular interaction characters Higgins sketched into the show was Chautin, whom Higgins writing in the third person described as a retired SWAT cop and his best friend, workout partner and assistant Sensei. Rob Anderson, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran against Higgins in 2018 and is challenging him again this year, called on Higgins to fire Chautin. Anderson accused Higgins of cronyism for hiring Chautin and claimed without citing specific evidence that Chautins job amounted to a reward for lying as part of the failed 2007 cover-up. Anderson also ripped Higgins over the incident and contended it should disqualify him from office. That he has a say in police reform legislation makes me sick to my stomach, Anderson said of Higgins. By Kang Seung-woo The government is seeking stronger measures against activist and North Korean defectors groups that have been sending anti-North Korea leaflets across the inter-Korean border, stating that their campaigns are not helping to create peace on the Korean Peninsula. Park Jung-oh, head of the North Korean defectors' group Keunsaem, speaks to reporters after attending a unification ministry hearing on whether its license will be revoked, at the Inter-Korean Dialogue Office in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap A federal indictment on a raft of tax fraud charges hasnt shaken the resolve of New Orleans City Council President Jason Williams to become the next district attorney, he said in a fundraising email on Sunday. Williams said the felony charges wont stop him from trying to unseat Orleans Parish DA Leon Cannizzaro, but the incumbent called Williams delusional in a statement on Monday. The back-and-forth comes a few weeks before qualifying for what was one of the most anticipated local elections this fall, after years of sparring between Williams and Cannizzaro over criminal justice policy. In his pitch for campaign donations over the weekend, Williams, a criminal defense attorney, cast the federal indictment as a product of undue influence from Cannizzaros camp, without offering evidence. Jason Williams, New Orleans City Council president, indicted on federal tax fraud charges A federal grand jury on Friday indicted New Orleans City Council President Jason Williams on charges of tax fraud, just weeks ahead of qualify On the City Council, I have led the fight against Leon Cannizzaro and his repressive and illegal prosecutorial tactics that too often deny justice for all, Williams said. So, I knew they would come after me, but the stakes are too high to back down now. Chip in to help us wage this battle. The email led to a sharp-tongued response from Cannizzaro, who said Williamss legal problems are of his own making. Blaming others for his criminal charges, or arrogantly seeking to fundraise off them, are but desperate attempts to divert attention from an 11-count indictment that details a compelling case against a corrupt politician, Cannizzaro said. Perhaps this will become more apparent to this delusional defendant at his upcoming arraignment in federal court. Williams is accused of inflating his business expenses by more than $700,000 to dodge more $200,000 in tax liability, as well as failing to report cash payments from clients totaling $66,516. Williams and an attorney in his office, Nicole Burdett, are set to enter their formal pleas at a July 10 arraignment. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman. The councilman adamantly denies the accusations and says he was the victim of a tax preparer who falsely held himself out as a certified public accountant. 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 While Williams apparently might be able to use campaign donations to pay for his courtroom defense, he said he would absolutely not do so. That would be unethical and improper, Williams said. I will also timely file all campaign finance reports, as I always have, so that the public can see how every campaign contribution we receive is properly spent to unseat Leon Cannizzaro. Robert Travis Scott, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, said candidates have been allowed to use donations for legal expenses in the past. Former northshore DA Walter Reed, for one, tapped his campaign fund after he fell under a federal investigation that eventually led to his conviction and imprisonment. Reed tapping campaign funds to pay counsel Walter Reed, the embattled district attorney for St. Tammany and Washington parishes, is tapping his sizable campaign war chest to pay for leg +14 Labor agency investigating New Orleans garbage contractor Metro Services as workers move to unionize A federal labor agency has started an investigation into Metro Services Group over a dispute with a group of its sanitation workers who have b Louisiana law requires candidates to file tax returns in order to qualify for the ballot, that wont necessarily present a problem for Williams. Federal prosecutors have not alleged that he failed to file tax returns. A tax problem in dispute and still in process would not prevent a candidate from running for office, Scott said. Williams had $66,746 in cash on hand in his most recent campaign filing on May 4, which listed Burdett as his treasurer. Cannizzaro hasn't announced whether he'll run for a third term, but he had $302,190 on hand in a Jan. 16 report. Recently retired Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Arthur Hunter also hasn't announced whether he'll run for the office, but he has filed a candidate's report where he says he has $50,355 in the bank. Some people are downright evil. They dont care what others feel and think. They dont care about all of this Black Lives Matter stuff they see as crap. They just want to do what they want to do. And Im not talking about White folks. These are the Black folks who refuse to stay at home, who insist on going out without masks to hang out at barber and beauty shops, the neighborhood bar and they jump to get lit at the first sign of a serious throw down. For these Black people, Black Lives Do Not Matter. Some of them went out in droves to get funky and loose on Baronne Street in New Orleans on June 19; some went to bust a move at a block party in Kenner on Sunday afternoon. According to authorities, the unauthorized Baronne party attracted nearly 500 partygoers and the unauthorized Kenner party on Acron Street had about 200 people. I didnt witness either event since Im in my Serious Slow Phase, and Im staying close to and in the house. But Ive watched news and social media reports and posts. Ive seen the posts and videos. I didnt see a single person wearing a mask. Kenner Police Department Lt. Michael Cunningham said city officials denied a request to host the party in that community, and the requestor decided to hold the event anyway. Thats not cool. The party, scheduled for 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., ended when gunfire erupted about 4:35 p.m., sending folks scrambling. Was that fun, yall? +3 The story of a Newman graduation soiree, downtown bash and coronavirus outbreak in New Orleans A DJ party in downtown New Orleans on Friday night drew hundreds of people shoulder to shoulder inside a short-term rental property and spil In Orleans Parish, the Baronne Street party was interrupted when city officials closed it down. New Orleans City Director of Code Enforcement Winston Reid told me the city is continuing to investigate. Theyre looking at someone from Baton Rouge who rented the place to host the party. Theyve found his intentions by observing flyers and posts on social media. Theyre looking at violations of city public gathering orders, hosting an event without a permit, charging and serving alcohol without a permit and admitting minors to an event where alcohol was being served. That could add up to a big dollar penalty. None of this seems to bother host/renter Malcolm Darensbourg III and his hosting colleagues. With a $20 per person cover charge and illegal liquor sales, the hosts considered the event a success. Thank yall for coming out to celebrate Juneteenth with us last night. We went....UP!!! they posted on Twitter the next day. Actually, they said on another platform, it was even better. A Million Roses 'Juneteenth' Celebration was an absolute success. We had over 700+ people come out to enjoy themselves. We also earned enough money to donate a portion of it to an organization of our choice. We wish to continue to throw more events such as this one. We thank everybody for coming out and showing us support. +13 New Orleans might see tougher coronavirus rules; LaToya Cantrell calls out businesses New Orleans-area leaders took a harder line against the coronavirus Monday amid rising infections in the region, with Mayor LaToya Cantrell wa More, eh? Lets kill more Black people. Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the New Orleans health director, joined Mayor LaToya Cantrell at a news conference not long ago. She put it bluntly. If you are planning a party for 100 people, look around and decide which seven of them you would be comfortable sentencing to death, she said. If you were at the Baronne party, that means about 35 people are at risk and youve put your mom, auntie, pop-pop and maw-maw at risk, too. If you were one of the scores at the Kenner par-tay, that means at least 14 people are at risk and youve put your sisters, brothers and work colleagues at risk. And for what? Gordon McLeod and his family have owned the Baronne property since May 2019. Its one of 3,400 short-term rental properties in the Crescent City. McLeod rented the property for a small group of up to eight people to enjoy on June 19. The renter did not say anything about a party for hundreds. McLeod confirmed there was excessive damage to furnishings. More money for the hosts to pay. For those not paying attention, Louisiana has had more than 57,000 COVID cases and more than 3,000 deaths and more than 52% of those deaths were Black people. Weve had more than 530 deaths in New Orleans. Weve had more than 480 deaths in Jefferson Parish. A whole lot of those dead people were Black. My people, my people. Please understand. Rudy Rona is out to get us. Stay at home. If you go out, mask up. If you go out, dont go to large gatherings to party. Save yourselves. Save your momma and them. Black Lives Matter, and they must matter to all of us. Even us. North Augusta, SC (29841) Today Some sunshine with a thunderstorm or two possible this afternoon. High near 90F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 74F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. COVID-19 Data for Pennsylvania The PA Dept. of Health COVID-19 Dashboard reports 84,130 cases as of June 30, 2020. The state reports 2,476 probable cases, 677,581 negative cases, and 6,649 deaths attributed to the virus. The Department of Health's Dashboard provides up-to-date statistics on confirmed, probable, and negative cases, and deaths, as well as a county-by-county breakdown. Also find graphics that represent number of cases and testing. The website also offers a weekly report for deaths attributed to COVID-19. Related reading: CDC recognizes PA as one of three states for consistent COVID-19 reduction success Looking for all statistics on the state's COVID-19 situation? Visit the Department of Health website. Also find updated information on the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) in Pennsylvania. You can play a role in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19 Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. Cover any coughs or sneezes with your elbow, not your hands. Clean surfaces frequently. Stay home to avoid spreading COVID-19, especially if you are unwell. Calhoun, GA (30701) Today Cloudy skies this morning followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 87F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. La Fayette, GA (30728) Today Cloudy this morning with thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 85F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Showers and thunderstorms likely. Low around 65F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Cedartown, GA (30125) Today Cloudy skies this morning followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 84F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 69F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rome, GA (30161) Today Cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 87F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 69F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. HRAUN/iStockBy DR. MARK ABDELMALEK, OLIVIA RUBIN, KAYLEE HARTUNG and ROBERT ZEPEDA, ABC News (PHOENIX) -- Hospitals in Arizona are seeing an intense wave of new coronavirus cases, doctors at the Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix told ABC News on Monday, and it is filling up their intensive care units and pushing their nurses to the brink. Dr. Jennifer O'Hea, a Banner ICU doctor overseeing 100 patients, said the situation "exploded" towards the end of May and has snowballed into a dire situation. "Never, never, ever have I seen this many patients in our ICU," O'Hea, who has worked at the hospital for 22 years, said. "We were using ICUs that we've never used before. Rooms that were vacant we're now using as ICUs." Dr. Marjorie Bessel, the chief clinical officer for the Banner Health System, told ABC News she has "been concerned for weeks." "We're not New York at this time. What we're concerned is we don't want to become New York," Bessel said. "The curves suggest we could be headed there." Banner Health System is the largest healthcare delivery system in Arizona -- a state that has seen a significant and worrisome outbreak of the virus in recent weeks as over 30 states across the country report increases in cases after reopening. Arizona set new records for new cases and hospitalizations just this weekend, according to an ABC News analysis, with over 3,800 new cases and 2,691 hospitalizations reported. Banner Health, which has 17 hospitals across the state, is treating nearly 50% of those hospitalized in Arizona. "Patients are dying, patients are suffering, they're on ventilators for weeks. Families cannot be here," O'Hea said. "There are patients begging me not to put them on a breathing machine because they know that they might die, they might never talk to their families again." Still, the hospital is participating in a state-run surge plan that sees patients transferred in helicopters and ambulances from one hospital to another when capacity is full. As of today, just two of Banner's 17 Arizona hospitals can accept patients from the surge line because of capacity issues relating to bed availability and staffing -- an indicator of just how strained the system truly is. As of Monday, there have been over 75,000 cases of the coronavirus in the state, and 1,588 people have died, according to the state health department website. Nearly 7,500 cases were reported in just the last two days alone. With cases and hospitalizations rising quickly, Dr. Bradley Dreifuss, an emergency medicine physician at the hospital, told ABC News he fears Arizona "is on the brink of losing control of the epidemic." But it's not just the patients who are suffering. The emotional toll on nurses and staff is extraordinary, and staffing remains a main concern as capacity grows. Dr. O'Hea said the hospital starts "everyday" short on nurses. "We have people calling out from work because they're emotionally overwhelmed, considering other careers," Dreifuss said, describing the stress as "exhausting." "We're leaving the hospital sometimes in tears," he said. The dire situation has left doctors pleading with the public to begin masking, and wondering why it hasn't been mandated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear masks to reduce the spread of COVID-19, especially if social distancing is not possible. "I absolutely think that our leadership here in Arizona has cost lives. If people were masking weeks ago, we could have prevented this," O'Hea said. Dreiffus added that it makes doctors "angry" and "frustrated" to see people without masks. "I have colleagues who say if they see one more person unmasked, they're going to quit. Of course, it's a bit of hyperbole, but really, it's frustrating," he said. But with cases continuing to rise with no end in sight, Dreiffus worries about the long term. When flu season arrives in the fall, and even more people require medical care, how are they going to keep up with both diseases? "My concern is that we're not going to have a break before the big flu/COVID-19 wave that's going to come this winter. And who's going to be staffing that? If residual workers get sick, we're not going to have the workforce," Dreiffus said, noting the combination will be "devastating." "It stands to crumple our health system across the board," Dreiffus added. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Industrial enterprises in China achieve first positive profit growth of the year in May Profits of Chinas industrial enterprises above designated size reached 582.3 billion yuan (about $82.3 billion) in May, marking a 6-percent growth year-on-year and the first positive growth of industrial profits of the country in 2020, suggested data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). An employee operates a mechanical arm for production in the workshop of a manufacturing enterprise in Qingzhou, east Chinas Shandong province. (Photo by Wang Jilin/Peoples Daily) In April, the year-on-year growth rate of the profits of the countrys major industrial enterprises decreased by 4.3 percent, according to a monthly report on Chinas industrial economic performance released by the NBS on June 28. The total profits of the countrys industrial companies, with annual revenue of over 20 million yuan, stood at 1,8 trillion yuan in the first five months of the year, dropping by 19.3 percent from the same period of the previous year, disclosed the NBS. The decline narrowed 8.1 percentage points from that of the first four months, data of the NBS indicated. Ten of the 41 industrial sectors recorded year-on-year profit growth in the first five months of 2020, while 30 sectors saw decline in their profits, and profits of one sector were at the same level as that of the period last year, the report revealed. Profits of computer, telecommunications and other electronic equipment manufacturing sectors rose by 34.7 percent year-on-year during the January-May period, while that of farm and sideline food processing industry and special-purpose equipment manufacturing sector grew by 19 percent and 16.6 percent respectively, according to the report. Certain key sectors witnessed significant profit increases in May, said the report, disclosing that petroleum processing industry logged total profits of 11.6 billion yuan in May, up 8.9 percent from the same period last year, while the whole industry had suffered losses of 21.8 billion yuan in April. Profits of the electricity sector reported a 10.9-percent growth year-on-year in May, a significant increase from the 15.7-percent decline in April, the report suggested. As of May 27, 67.4 percent of Chinas industrial enterprises above designated size had seen their production capacity reach over 80 percent of the normal levels, 6.6 percentage points more than that in late April, according to an earlier sampling survey conducted by the NBS. The value-added industrial output of these major industrial enterprises continued to pick up in May after realizing positive growth in April, rising by 4.4 percent year on year, 0.5 percentage points higher than that of the previous month, revealed the survey. The profit improvement in Chinas industrial enterprises mainly resulted from the countrys policies designed to reduce corporate burden, including those on tax and fee cuts, said Liu Xiangdong, deputy head of the economic research department of China Center for International Economic Exchanges. The drop in prices of imported raw bulk materials has also reduced the pressure of procurement costs for enterprises, Liu told Peoples Daily. With the gradual resumption of domestic consumer market, companies in the country accelerated inventory digestion and made efforts to promote consumer price recovery, which helped increase profits, Liu pointed out. In addition, benefiting from the introduction of policies and measures on stabilizing domestic and foreign investment, enterprises increased their capital expenditure on investment, which has driven economic recovery and growth in returns on investment, thus leading to profit increase for industrial enterprises, according to Liu. By Mark Leonard BERLIN When COVID-19 struck Europe and forced millions of people into internal exile, many were overcome by a deep sense of loneliness. This reflected not only a craving to be reunited with friends and family, but also a broader feeling that their countries had been helpless and abandoned in the face of the global pandemic. This sense of rejection is profoundly affecting the individual psyches and worldviews of Europe's citizens. That is the main finding of a recent European Council on Foreign Relations poll of 11,000 people across nine European countries Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden that together represent two-thirds of the EU's population. Paradoxically, the ECFR poll shows that the absence of European Union help for member states during the first phase of the crisis has led to an overwhelming demand for concerted EU action both to help countries recover from the crisis and to equip them to survive in the world the pandemic is creating. The ECFR's survey reveals that Europeans have felt completely let down during the crisis by EU institutions, multilateral organizations, and Europe's closest partners. Some 63 percent of respondents in Italy and 61 percent in France said that the EU did not rise to the challenge posed by the pandemic. Moreover, the percentage of respondents who felt that the United States had been a key ally for their country in this crisis was vanishingly small, with Italy having the largest share, at just 6 percent. In three countries Denmark, Portugal, and Germany a majority of the citizens said that their opinion of the U.S. had worsened during the crisis, a view held by a large minority in Italy, Poland, and Bulgaria. This worsening of perceptions of the U.S. seems to reflect more than just disapproval of President Donald Trump. Many Europeans are no doubt looking at America's chaotic COVID-19 response and asking themselves how a country that is struggling to help itself can be relied upon to protect the West. At the same time, over 60 percent of French and Danish respondents, and almost half of those surveyed in Germany, claim to have cooled on China. Indeed, except in Spain and Bulgaria, a plurality of respondents in each country blame China for the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis in Europe. But Europeans' current anxiety about being left alone is fueling a new desire for joint action. Some 63 percent of all respondents (including a majority in each of the nine countries surveyed) think that the current crisis has shown the need for more cooperation at EU level. Before the pandemic, European politics often seemed to be defined by opposing camps of nationalists and globalists. But our polling suggests that the COVID-19 crisis has scrambled the distinction between the two. Many nationalists have come to realize that a nation-state cannot rescue itself by standing alone, while globalists increasingly recognize that there will never be a perfect international order while Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping are in power. As a result, both groups are increasingly exploring the possibility of building a rules-based Kantian utopia in Europe. Because neither nationalist retrenchment nor global cooperation will help to avert the next crisis, a new space for finding European solutions is opening up. Indeed, 52 percent of respondents in the ECFR poll want a more unified EU response to global threats and challenges, 46 percent support increased controls over the bloc's external borders, and 41 percent favor pushing firms to produce more medical supplies within the EU, even if this results in higher prices. And in all nine countries, the proportion of respondents who support more action on climate change as a result of the pandemic exceeds the share who favor less. Across Europe, people recognize that if a Sino-American trade and technology war jeopardized globalization, then greater European unity including in the form of the EU's proposed recovery plan offers the best hope of safeguarding their economies and values. Rather than just preaching the merits of a greener economy, Europe can set a price for carbon and use border adjustment taxes to persuade others to meet its standards or absorb the costs. Likewise, the EU's digital agenda and plans for a digital-services tax may yet force global tech giants to abide by European rules. National governments and Brussels-based EU institutions realize that the COVID-19 crisis has created an opening for stronger collective European action. But policymakers must understand that the demands of voters across the continent for greater cooperation do not reflect an appetite for institution-building, but rather a deeper anxiety about losing control in a perilous world. Europe is now a community of necessity rather than choice. And voters increasingly see the EU as a tool to strengthen, rather than weaken, national sovereignty. The Franco-German recovery plan presented in May could mark the start of a crucial new chapter of the European story. But building a more powerful and unified Europe will require the bloc's leaders to tailor their arguments in a way that connects with rather than repels European voters. Mark Leonard is director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. His article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org). Napoleon, OH (43545) Today Windy with showers early then cloudy in the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. New leaked Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 images show the upcoming wearable in both black titanium and what has been classified as bronze, although it certainly looks more like rose gold. It appears Samsung has opted to go for an elegant design for its Galaxy Watch 3, although that does not mean style has been entirely chosen over substance. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker Recent leaked images of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 showed the smartwatch looking ironically timeless with its attractive stainless steel casing and black leather strap. Now we have some more images of the Galaxy Watch 3 that show Samsung is going to offer potential customers a range of colors to select from. The first image, which was posted by noted tipster Evan Blass, shows a slim-looking 41 mm variant of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, which according to the leaker is classified as bronze in color. Perhaps the wearable will look different in live images, but the color looks more like rose gold in this particular picture (see below). Along with the bronze Galaxy Watch 3, there are also some leaked images of an elegant black titanium variant. These images (and a gif revealing a 360-degree view), which come from the same source, feature the 45 mm model of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 completely decked out it black. However, as stylish as all of these models look, the Galaxy Watch 3 is also expected to be packed full of useful functions, such as a heart-rate monitor, Bluetooth connectivity, blood pressure monitoring, and even a barometer. Its rumored that an official announcement about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 could be made in July, with a possible launch in August. Sale off - Buy Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2 now on Amazon Xiaomi Malaysia has just listed the Redmi 9A and Redmi 9C on its official Facebook page. Both phones come with a MediaTek Helio SoC, 5,000mAh battery that can be charged at 10W, a 6.5-inch HD+ screen, and a paltry 2GB of RAM. The Redmi 9A is priced at RM 359 ($83), while the latter costs RM 429 ($100) 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker Shortly after unveiling the Redmi 9 in Spain and China, Xiaomi Malaysia has lifted the veil off the Redmi 9A and Redmi 9C. Both devices are affordable versions of the Redmi 9. The former is priced at RM 359 ($83), while the latter retails at RM 429 ($100). They are also one of the first devices to run MediaTek's new Helio G35 and Helio G25 SoCs. The Redmi 9A and Redmi 9C are quite similar in many regards. Both phones come with a 6.53-inch HD+ display with a waterdrop notch cut out at the front. It houses the 5MP selfie shooter, which happens to be the same across both devices. Each SKU comes with the same memory configuration consisting of 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The internal storage is expandable via a micro SD card. Lastly, they also share the same 5,000mAh battery that supports charging at up to 10W. The primary differences between the Redmi 9A and Redmi 9C lie in their choice of SoC. The Redmi 9A comes features the slightly less powerful MediaTek Helio G25, while the latter features a MediaTek Helio G35. The Redmi 9C gets a triple rear camera setup that has a 13MP sensor at the helm. The Redmi 9A, on the other hand, gets the same 13MP sensor without any bells and whistles. The general availability of the Redmi 9A and Redmi 9C is unknown at this point. It will be up for sale in Malaysia first, and will likely land in countries like China and India shortly after. Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro now on Amazon Roseburg, OR (97470) Today Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. Hot. High near 95F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low near 60F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Police in Somerset, Massachusetts, are investigating the death of an estranged couple who died on Saturday, as a possible murder-suicide, according to WCVB. The two victims were identified as 31-year-old Joshua Pereira and 30-year-old Amber Pereira, and according to the news outlet, the couple had recently separated. On Saturday, just before 8 a.m., Joshua drove himself to 160 Thelma Avenue, where he and his estranged wife had lived prior to their separation. A neighbor reported seeing Joshua there but didnt think anything of it. It was later that witnesses reported hearing gunshots coming from inside the house, according to the news outlet. At around 8:05 a.m., authorities received a 911 call from a relative of the estranged couple who said she found both of them dead inside the house. Officers responding to the scene found the couple with gunshot wounds. The Bristol County District Attorneys Office said that authorities also discovered a gun underneath Joshuas body. Investigators said they believe that no other individuals are involved in the incident and that Joshua shot his wife before turning the gun on himself. The incident is currently being investigated as a murder-suicide. Autopsies will be conducted to determine the cause of death. The couple was recently estranged and not living together at the time and that Joshua had recently moved out of their Somerset home. A neighbor, Russel Michaud, said that they were nice people and that he felt heartbroken by the news. Michaud said he never heard Joshua and Amber arguing at all, adding that they were a quiet couple. Another neighbor, Matt Silva, was taken aback by the news, saying, you dont think about something that in your own neighborhood. Its pretty crazy. The family member stopped by the house on Saturday evening to pick up the dog, but did not comment on the incident. The investigation into the case is still ongoing and is being conducted by the Bristol County District Attorneys Office, the detectives from the Massachusetts State Police, and Somerset Police officials. Demonstrations over police brutality ended with dozens of arrests after a large crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters blocked a bridge that connects Kentucky to Indiana for several hours, authorities said. Multiple lanes on the Clark Memorial Bridge, which connects Louisville to Jefferson, were shut down for about three hours on Monday because of the demonstrations, local news agency Wave3 News reported. Authorities were eventually forced to ask the crowd of demonstrators to disperse, spokesman Lamont Washington told The Associated Press. Washington said dozens of protesters refused police orders and 33 people have been taken into custody. In addition to the dozens of arrests, protesters used 19 vehicles and interfered with the traffic flow. Tow trucks were notified and the vehicles have been removed from the bridge. The protests that erupted called for justice in the March shooting death of Breonna Taylor. Protesters could be seen setting up signs and banners with images of Taylor that read: They tried to bury me. They didnt know I was a seed. Breonna Taylor. The revolution is now, Wave3 News reported. The bridge is one of the only toll-free bridges which crosses the Ohio River and connects Louisville, Kentucky, to Jefferson, Indiana. Officials in Louisville notified the public that the bridge reopened just before 3 p.m. on Monday. The dispersed crowd of protesters who decided to leave continued their demonstrations at Jefferson Square Park in Louisville, where Tyler Gerth was fatally shot at a protest Saturday. Gerth was a 27-year-old Kentucky man and an avid photographer and a vocal supporter of the ongoing police brutality protests, The Courier-Journal reported. The suspect, Steven Nelson Lopez, was arrested on Saturday in connection with the shooting. Hes been charged with one count of murder and one count of wanton endangerment in the first degree. I am deeply saddened by the violence that erupted in Jefferson Square Park tonight, where those who have been voicing their concerns have been gathered, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement. It is a tragedy that this area of peaceful protest is now a crime scene. The shooting was at least the second during nearly a month of protests in Louisville over Taylors death. Seven people were wounded May 28 when gunfire erupted near City Hall, prompting Taylors mother to issue a statement asking people to demand justice without hurting each other. Former Louisville Metro Police Department officer Brett Hankison was involved in the shooting death of Taylor and was fired on June 23. Authorities said Hankison violated procedures by showing extreme indifference to the value of human life when he wantonly and blindly fired 10 shots into Taylors apartment. Law enforcement officers executed a no-knock drug warrant after midnight. No-knock warrants allow law enforcement officials enter a residence forcibly without having to announce their purpose or identifying themselves as police. Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of Taylor, fired a handgun which he legally owned, believing the Louisville home he and Taylor shared was being broken into. In the confrontation, a police officer was struck by a round. Police returned fire, hitting Taylor eight times, resulting in her death. No drugs were found in the home. Following Taylors death, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced a bill to ban no-knock warrants. He said in a press release on June 11 that the bill is named in memory and honor of Taylor. After talking with Breonna Taylors family, Ive come to the conclusion that its long past time to get rid of no-knock warrants. This bill will effectively end no-knock raids in the United States, said Paul. The bill, called the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act (pdf), prohibits any state or local police agency nationwide from executing a warrant that does not require the law enforcement officer serving the warrant to provide notice of his or her authority and purpose before forcibly entering a premises. Isabel Van Brugen contributed to this report. Montanas decision to leave religious schools out of a state scholarship program funded by tax credits violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a divided Supreme Court ruled this morning. The 5-4 decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue is a victory for the Trump administration, which had supported the students and their parents. Oral arguments took place Jan. 22. On the campaign trail in September 2016, President Donald Trump expressed his support for the school-choice movement. There is no failed policy more in need of urgent change than our government-run education monopoly, he said. Ethan Blevins, an attorney with the Sacramento, California-based Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a public interest law firm that filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, praised the court decision. The ruling recognizes a fundamental truth: kids deserve equal access to educational benefits, regardless of which school they decide to attend, he said in a statement. The Montana Department of Revenue cannot prohibit students from receiving privately funded scholarship funds just because they choose to attend a religious school. Todays decision marks a major victory for school choice and equality under the law. The petitioners in the case are three low-income mothers who needed the scholarship funds to keep their children in Stillwater Christian School, a nondenominational school in Kalispell, Montana. The program provided individuals and corporations a tax credit for giving as much as $150 annually to a nonprofit student scholarship organization helping poor students attend private schools. The parents sued after the states Department of Revenue ruled that those scholarship funds could not be used for religious schools. A trial judge enjoined the rule and then the Montana Supreme Court struck down the program by a 5-2 vote on Dec. 12, 2018. The court declared that, unmodified by the Department of Revenue rule, the program ran afoul of the states constitution, which contains a no aid provision preventing tax dollars from flowing to religious schools. Every member of the U.S. Supreme Court filed an opinion in the case, except for Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan, suggesting passions may have run high during the justices deliberative process. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion which four conservative justices joined. In addition, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch each filed a separate concurring opinion. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor each filed a separate dissenting opinion. A State need not subsidize private education, Roberts writes for the court. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious. In this case the parties do not dispute that the scholarship program is permissible under the Establishment Clause [of the federal Constitution]. Nor could they. We have repeatedly held that the Establishment Clause is not offended when religious observers and organizations benefit from neutral government programs. During oral arguments five months ago, Justices Alito and Kavanaugh spoke of the anti-religious, and particularly anti-Roman Catholic, bias of the so-called Blaine Amendment, a failed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have prohibited direct government aid to educational institutions with religious affiliations. Despite the failure of the amendment at the federal level, three-quarters of the 50 states later adopted similar amendments in their state constitutions. Laws banning funding of religious schools are certainly rooted in grotesque religious bigotry against Catholics, Kavanaugh said. Roberts echoed that sentiment in the majority opinion, tying the no aid provision in the Montana constitution to the era of the Blaine Amendment. The Blaine Amendment was born of bigotry and arose at a time of pervasive hostility to the Catholic Church and to Catholics in general; many of its state counterparts have a similarly shameful pedigree[,] Roberts wrote, citing a previous Supreme Court ruling and a law review article. From The Epoch Times June 23, I interviewed Dr. Nir Menachemi, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, for the second time. Menachemi is the leader of the random sample study of COVID-19 prevalence in Indiana. He has overseen two phases of testing so far, one in late April and the second in early June. From June 3 - 8, his group of researchers tested 3,600 Hoosiers for active viral infections and for antibodies of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Approximately 2,700 people were randomly selected for this testing. Another 1,000 participants were found through reaching out to at-risk populations in Allen, LaGrange, and Marion Counties. The major takeaway from the studies so far is this: The results show a greater number of Hoosiers testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies evidence of previous infection and fewer testing positive for active infections. Taken together, this indicates that virus spread has slowed in Indiana, for the time being. In comparing the results of phase two to phase one testing, IUPUI researchers ascertained that the active infection rate among Hoosiers was 0.6 percent, a decrease from 1.7 percent in phase one. The estimate for antibody positivity in phase two was 1.5 percent an increase from 1.1 percent in the phase one results, according to a June 17 press release from IUPUI. As for communities of color, the rate of infection has also decreased, but is still higher when compared to whites. The rate of antibody positivity has also increased, mirroring the increase in the white population. The active infection rate, however, was found to be 1.4 percent, much higher than the rate for whites. Questions on Facebook Before our interview, I asked my Facebook friends for questions that I could ask Dr. Menachemi. I received two similar questions by two Facebook friends who had experienced COVID like symptoms in January. One of them had been diagnosed with Influenza B, but wondered if he had experienced COVID at the same time. Both wanted to ask Dr. Menachemi if they should be tested for antibodies, in order to find out whether they had previously been infected with the virus. My knee jerk reaction is no, said Menachemi. Whether their test comes back as positive or negative, it shouldn't affect anything that they do. Because if it comes back positive and they did have COVID at some point, whether it was that bout or some other bout, they don't know if it's protective and to what extent or for how long. To relax anything you would do to be prudent would not be wise. If it came back negative, we would still practice all of the same social distancing, hygiene, masking and etc. If your behavior isn't going to be changed, why do the tests that shouldn't affect your behavior or decision making? It should be noted that this question is separate from whether or not you should be tested if you are experiencing symptoms, live in close contact with someone with COVID-19, or if there is ongoing virus spread in your community. In these situations, according to the CDC, you should call your healthcare provider, explain your exposure and your symptoms, and let them counsel your next steps. Certain of uncertainty Dr. Menachemis answer reflects current uncertainty about the novel coronavirus. So did the current research he cited in our interview. A study was published recently in Nature Medicine that found that asymptomatic infections, within eight weeks, a significant portion of them I think it was almost half have antibodies, IgGs, at undetectable levels, he said. This also is a result seen in people who are mildly infected. Another complication is that IgGs (Immunoglobulin G) eventually turn into IgMs (a class of immunoglobulins of high molecular weight). We're not testing for IgMs, continued Menachemi. And so not seeing IGGs doesn't mean someone isn't immune. On top of that, just because you don't see any of those antibodies, doesn't mean you were previously infected and your body didn't store a copy of the antibody in case it isn't. This uncertainty also extends to the question about whether or not one can acquire immunity through previous infection, Menachemi pointed out. It further extends to the ability for humans as a group to acquire herd immunity by reaching 70 - 80 percent rate of previous infection. What is herd immunity? Menachemi describes an example of someone walking into a crowded room where herd immunity is present to describe the phenomenon. If you are unvaccinated for some disease and you're in a room with a bunch of people who are not susceptible to it, you cannot get it from anyone, he said. So you are also, thereby protected. That's what herd immunity means; It's the small percentage of people that are vulnerable to infection that are protected. The efficacy of testing Another Facebook friend asked about the accuracy of the COVID-19 tests being used. But, according to Menachemi, the real question is not so much the efficacy of the test itself, but at what point, after being infected, that you take the test. Each antibody test is a little bit different, has 100 percent sensitivity at 14 days of infection, and 99.6% specificity, he said. Now, the reason 14 days of infection is important is antibodies are produced in response to exposure to the virus. Antibodies are your body's immunological response. On day six of infection, you might not have antibodies yet. Or you might not have sufficient levels of antibodies that can be detected by the test. Then Dr. Menachemi posed a rhetorical question: Does this mean, if you test negative at six days and then develop symptoms at day 14, that the test fails? At 14 days, it picks up everyone who has these antibodies, he said. Where the accuracy of the test falters is when you are early in the infection bout [...] A complicating factor In phase two testing in early June, the IUPUI researchers had to deal with a complicating factor: If you were randomly selected for our study in wave one, you were much more likely to participate because nothing was known; No one knew anything about how far this has gone, he said. If you wanted to get tested you were unable to because of just bottlenecks everywhere and insufficient testing. During the time that phase two testing was taking place, however, tests were much easier to obtain. The question becomes, Menachemi continued, Who was most likely not to participate, that might have participated in wave one had they been invited in wave two. It was probably people who've already been tested and tested positive. But if you already knew you had been sick, you were probably less likely to participate in phase two testing, he said. We're right now, literally, trying to figure out how much of an effect that might have had on this edition, he said. We know who was randomly selected and we know who in the state was tested. We're trying to figure out how many of them have already screened positive, excluding them from wanting to participate. Until I have that answer I can't do the math to tell you what amongst the random sample, the true previous infection rate is. Despite such questions, Menachemi is confident that the data from the random sample study will be helpful for the state and federal agencies that are creating policy to deal with COVID-19. I think when you have multiple, disparate sources of data, all pointing in the same direction it builds up your confidence that a decision might be sound, he said. I think this has played a role in contributing to another important independent data point to the things that have been considered. We know deaths, we know hospitalizations. We now know infections. We now know ratios of current to previous infections. Apples to pineapples One data point that I wondered about was whether the Indiana result finding 45 percent asymptomatic positives in phase (or wave) one, and 43 percent in phase two, was duplicated in testing elsewhere in the country. But Indiana is the only state testing on a statewide level the first and so far only state to do so and it may be difficult, I thought, comparing these results to those of any other study. So I asked Menachemi whether when comparing Indianas results to other studies done on city, county, or on clinical levels was like comparing apples to pineapples. (This happens to be one of his favorite expressions.) I think CDC and other researchers have estimated the asymptomatic rates to be somewhere between 20 and 45 or 50 percent, Menachemi said. Lots of studies that have tried to ascertain this. Many of them have come from the clinical setting. So it's not exactly the same. But, nevertheless, there are some clinical studies that find high asymptomatic rates, like for example, If you tested every pregnant woman coming in to deliver. I think they found something like a 40 percent asymptomatic rate among infections. No Going Back to Business as Usual I also asked the doctor about whether the states Back on Track reopening might eventually be slowed or halted by the high number of asymptomatic cases. How do you, for example, check the spread of the virus in crowded schools among children if nobody knows who's sick? I've been fascinated by and this is not political but really just the two polar opposite ways of thinking about it, and I'm not sure I agree personally with either one, he said in response. The first approach, Menachemi told me, is Don't let anyone eat, breathe, touch talk; Don't do anything, literally freeze everything. The other approach is to go back to the pre-pandemic idea of normal. I think both of those options are equally implausible and unrealistic, given what I know, Menachemi said. The happy medium is somewhere in between. and it probably involves accommodations. So, opening five days a week is not necessarily bad unless it's going back to business as usual as in 2019. Menachemi said that he has, overall, been impressed with Indianas statewide handling of COVID-19 in comparison to other states, particularly and the South and the West, where the novel coronavirus is surging. (On June 28 alone, 38,800 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the U.S., with the number of confirmed cases at 2,581,539 as of June 28, according to Axios while cases in the U.S. are up 80 percent over the past two weeks) I've lived in many states, Menachemi said. I find Hoosiers to be reasonable people. I have a colleague that literally just drove down to Florida for a week with his family to go do something. And he said, As you got to the states south and south, you saw less and less and less until you saw no masks on anyone, anywhere. I think Hoosiers are just willing to be reasonable, willing to accommodate, willing to understand what the risks are, and willing to do things to minimize those risks. I think that goes a long way. Ruling party should embrace opposition The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has come under attack for its winner-take-all mantra after it took all but one of the chairman's posts at the National Assembly's 18 standing committees. The monopoly of the posts is the direct result of a failure to strike a deal with the opposition United Future Party (UFP) over which party should chair the Legislation and Judiciary Committee to ensure democratic checks and balances. On Monday, the Assembly elected DPK lawmakers to lead 11 standing committees as the rival parties failed in their last-ditch effort to reach an agreement on the issue. This increased the number of the DPK's total committee chairman's posts to 17. This is the first time since 1985 that any governing party has monopolized the posts. The floor leaders of the parties seemed to have reached a package deal to assign seven of the committee chairmanships to the UFP. But at the last minute, the main opposition party rejected the deal because its hardline legislators insisted on chairing the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The UFP has been at loggerheads with the DPK over the committee chairmanship since the new Assembly was inaugurated May 30 following the April 15 general election. The conservative opposition has insisted that it should lead the committee to check the "tyranny" of the strong ruling party with 177 seats in the 300-seat unicameral Assembly. The committee plays an important role as it reviews all bills to be submitted to the Assembly. The UFP is also apparently seeking to curb the Moon Jae-in administration's push for prosecutorial and judicial reform. Whatever the reason, the absence of compromise between the two parties has led to political deadlock. Even worse, the DPK and the UFP are playing a blame game in order to shirk their own responsibility for the rocky start to the Assembly, and the partisan confrontation. UFP floor leader Rep. Joo Ho-young denounced the DPK for "destroying" parliamentary democracy with a "one-party monopoly." The minor progressive Justice Party did not participate in a vote to elect the committee chairmen to protest the DPK's unilateral move. However, the DPK blamed the UFP for refusing to compromise over the issue. Then it vowed to pass pending bills even without the cooperation of the opposition. Yet, the UFP cannot avoid criticism for refusing the deal and framing the DPK as returning to "dictatorship." For its part, the DPK should take responsibility for breaking its promise to form a partnership with the opposition. President Moon is also not free from criticism because he has so far failed to keep his campaign promise to promote "cooperative politics" with minority parties. Before it is too late, the rival parties must fix the problem through dialogue and compromise. This is not the time for partisan struggles, but for bipartisanship. The DPK should work together with the UFP to pass this year's third supplementary budget bill of 35.3 trillion won ($29.3 billion) aimed at creating jobs and stimulating the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Barone is a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and longtime co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. Artist Laurel Izard explores the mass extinction through animal species in a new exhibit at the Art Barn School of Art in Valparaiso. "On the Edge: Quilts of Endangered Animals" opens Wednesday at the gallery at 695 N 400 E in unincorporated Valparaiso. "I have always had a deep concern for the planet and all the people, animals and plants living on it, yet it is only recently that I have begun to address the mass extinction of animals by portraying them in my art quilts," she said. "As I do the research for each artwork I learn quite a bit about the factors underlying the perilous edge many of these animals exist on. It is my hope to evoke these 'edges' as I portray endangered animals in my quilts." The free exhibit will run through Aug. 10 at the Art Barn gallery. Onyeukwu was charged with five counts of dealing in a controlled substance by a practitioner, a level 4 felony, and two counts of unlawful possession or use of a legend drug, a level 6 felony. Nwawueze is facing seven counts of dealing in a controlled substance by a practitioner. Akeem was charged with five counts of dealing in a controlled substance by a practitioner and one count of use of a fictitious registration number, a level 6 felony. Onyeukwu and Kareem each posted bond and have initial hearings set for July 22 and 20, respectively. Nwawueze posted bond after an arrest Monday, but no initial hearing date was listed yet, online records showed. DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Gannon commended the Lake County prosecutor's office, the Indiana attorney general's office and the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General for their work on the case. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to remember we are still in the midst of a prescription drug crisis that is claiming the lives of thousands of United States citizens each year," Gannon said. "It is of the utmost importance that physicians and nurse practitioners who illegally prescribe controlled substance medications be brought to justice." Instead, utilities must offer payment plans of at least six months to all customers who fall behind on their utility bills during the pandemic. Temporarily prohibiting disconnections until Aug. 14, 2020 is a balanced solution that allows both customers and utilities additional time to enter into reasonable payment arrangements to address any arrearages that may have accumulated and maintain essential utility services for the benefit of all customers, the utilities, and other stakeholders," the IURC ruled. While customers won't be charged for electricity that wasn't used during the state-mandated shutdown, such as at a closed restaurant or bar, those who have struggled to pay their utility bills because of a job loss or reduced income may have to pay more later. The IURC decided to let utilities track the COVID-19 impacts on the prohibition of disconnections and late fees, "which may be considered for cost recovery in the future." The National Federation of Independent Businesses said the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission's decision would help already struggling small businesses across the state. Perkins' appointment likely will result in the transfer of several high-profile cases to other Lake Criminal Court judges because of potential conflicts of interest stemming from her contact with defendants who have cases in the court over which she now presides. Stracci said his office was in the process of notifying Perkins' clients of their options, which include working with another attorney with Stracci Law Group or hiring a different lawyer. One of those cases involves Darren Taylor, 40, of Hammond, who is charged with murdering his father's former mistress, Temia Haywood, 35, and her 13-year-old son, Lavell Edmond, on March 23, 2019, at Haywood's home in the 6800 block of East Third Avenue in Gary. Pagano ordered Taylor released from jail in March after finding the Lake County prosecutor's office missed a statutory deadline to hold him in custody while he awaits trial. Taylor had been scheduled for trial in October, but the trial date was canceled when Judge Diane Boswell accepted the transfer. By Choi Sung-jin Two weeks ago, a loud explosion shook the North Korean border city of Gaeseong. The North's destruction of the inter-Korean liaison office building there dealt an immeasurable blow to President Moon Jae-in's North Korea policy. The damage stretched beyond the structure's construction cost of 17.4 billion won ($14.5 million). It was the death knell for Moon's three-year effort to bring about reconciliation of the two Koreas and reconnect their severed ties. A week after that, a mustachioed U.S. neocon added insult to injury. Exposing behind-the-scenes diplomatic episodes during his service as the national security adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, John Bolton did not just criticize Moon's inter-Korean policy but disparaged it. The two incidents occurred as the Koreas commemorated the 70th anniversary of their fratricidal war, which started June 25, 1950. Technically, they are still at war because the truce signed July 27, 1953, suspended the conflict, not ending it. These events have made South Koreans ponder this peninsula's past, present and future, and what the two Koreas mean to each other. The North's destruction of the office turned the relationship between Koreas back to 2017 or before the first inter-Korean summit of June 2000. Bolton's exposure provided fodder for hawks here to call for a shift from cooperation to confrontation. I don't know whether or not Bolton is a liar, as his former boss claims. Like most inter-Korean well-wishers, I would love to hate this Cold War-era warrior who professed confidently and proudly he had tried to thwart any attempts for detente or dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington. If anyone believes Bolton could do it singlehandedly as he bragged, however, they are either incredibly naive or as simpleminded as the author himself. Bolton was just an errand boy of the U.S. right-wingers. More pitiable than them are the conservatives in this country. These rightists lament that President Moon puts up with insults from the North but takes no issue with a foreigner's description of their President as "schizophrenic." They also take, too readily, Bolton's allegation that Moon pursued inter-Korean rapprochement, and even created a diplomatic tension with Tokyo, for domestic political gain. Political leaders from across the ideological spectrum seek starkly different policies, including foreign policy. How do these politicians not realize partisan squabbles stop at the border? The former White House official said President Trump agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un mostly, if not entirely, for photo ops to boost his re-election chances. And Bolton says he kept Kim from deceiving his boss in Vietnam in February 2019. In refuting this, Trump accused Bolton of destroying the Hanoi deal by putting forth the "Libyan model" that calls for denuclearization first and discussing rewards later. If Bolton is right, Kim tried to dupe Trump by just dismantling his Yongbyon nuclear facilities and seeking the lifting of most of the international sanctions. But Kim knows better than to think he could deceive the entire U.S. establishment. If Trump is right, the tail was wagging the dog within the White House at the time. Considering it was Trump who brought in Bolton knowing the latter too well, the self-styled master of the deal might have wanted to use his hawkish aide as a scapegoat in case he changed mind but didn't want that to be known. Anything is possible in the political world, especially in Trump's, where the ends justify all means. Any decent media outlets here should have rebuked the glaring mutiny and lack of coherence within the U.S. foreign policy team. Instead, the so-called mainstream media here called for the inspection of the administration based on Bolton's allegations. Ideology seems to be far thicker than blood. Pyongyang has no excuse for blowing up the symbol of inter-Korean unity and harmony. However frustrated and desperate it had come to be, the act was insane and stupid. If Kim and his coterie had thought such a provocation would make Seoul, let alone Washington, move to its liking, nothing could be further from reality. Nor the vulgar, abusive language by its propaganda machine, most recently in the name of Kim's sister and seeming heir-apparent, would help at all except for venting the anger for the domestic audience. Now is the time for President Moon and his national security team to take a calmer and longer-term approach. Like in everything, haste makes waste in the inter-Korean relationship. To the relief of many, Pyongyang seems to be taking a breather either because it cringed at the sight of the U.S. strategic assets unfolding here or because Kim Jong-un has read Bolton's memoir and belatedly learned paradoxically how hard Moon tried between him and Trump braving all the criticisms from within and without. No one can say for sure whether and when the North will abandon its nuclear weapons. It is also true, however, no U.S. leaders have put forth a full guarantee of security and peace regime in exchange for denuclearization, step by step and action for action. We also know the North's nuclear program started in the early 1990s after the socialist bloc collapsed, and Moscow and Beijing normalized ties with Seoul; but Washington and Tokyo refused to do so, in part at the request of the then Roh Tae-woo administration, a general-turned-president. Seoul's role should be to persuade Washington to restart the process in return for phased denuclearization instead of waiting for the U.S. "permitting benefits," which won't come for lack of interest, willingness or capacity. That was the most significant, if not the only, lesson South Koreans should learn from Bolton's book. Blind adherence to ideological allies would make at least one country happy Japan, which wants Korea divided forever and never wants to see the latter emerge as a global player, as seen by its ongoing opposition to Seoul's attendance at a "G7 plus four" meeting. Some might say all this comes from outdated and narrow-minded nationalism. Centuries after the birth of nation-states, nationalism is now resurging, not waning. There will be more explosions (clashes) and exposures (obstructions) in the way to attaining lasting peace and prosperity on this divided peninsula. However, there is only one direction in which the two Koreas should go forward. Choi Sung-jin (choisj1955@naver.com) is a Korea Times columnist. In a normal year, 60 percent of Indiana Dunes visitors are from outside Indiana and only 20 percent from the Region. Combine the visitor statistics for the two parks, and the Indiana Dunes would rank high on the list of most-visited national parks, Weimer said. This year could be a record for visitors, she said. West Beach, on the Porter-Lake county line, has a 600-car parking lot. It normally fills up just a few times a year. So far in 2020, though, it has already filled up four or five times, Rowe said. Theres an added element this year with COVID-19, he said. The pandemic is sending visitors to the Indiana beaches, particularly those who have sought a place to go when pools and Chicagos beaches were closed. Lifeguards are on duty at West Beach from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. If you want to social distance, you can do it. You might have to walk a couple of hundred yards down the beach, Rowe said, and you might have to wait a bit to change clothes or use the restroom at the bathhouse. TUESDAY PUZZLE Now this is a great tribute puzzle: Its a crossed-word homage to someone who has fought tirelessly for the ideals of our country, instead of a Hollywood figure. Its also a well-made debut by Zachary David Levy and, as a cherry on the sundae, its a sort of love letter to his wife. A very nice home run by a new (to The Times) constructor. Before we get started, however, some news that will be of interest to those who attend the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. A Note From Will Shortz Dear Friends, With disappointment, this is to announce that the 2020 A.C.P.T., which was rescheduled for September 11-13, is now canceled because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Over the past few months we kept modifying our plans for the event, as the pandemic persisted, but now it has become clear that it cannot be held this year at all. Nicole Taylor, 42, a Georgia-born New York food writer who has participated in several alliance events and produced media for the alliance (and whose work has appeared in The Times), admires the mission of the organization, but joined the growing call for his resignation. I cant tell you how many times over the last 10-plus years I have been in the room with white women and men and there have been hourslong conversations about John T. needing to resign, she said. When you look at the history of the organization, its built on black stories, and there is not one black person in a position of power. In a state whose population is nearly 40 percent African-American, the S.F.A. staff of nine includes only one person of color, Cynthia Greenlee, an African-American writer and historian who has a doctorate in history from Duke University. She works 20 hours a week on contract as the deputy editor of Gravy. The latest issue is filled largely with work from writers of color she solicited or selected, except for several pandemic-related stories by white authors that Mr. Edge added. She told Mr. Edge Monday night she was resigning. In an interview last week, Mr. Edge pointed out that almost all of the alliances staff members were women, and that most decisions were made collaboratively. Plans to elevate the roles of two of its longstanding staff members, Melissa Booth Hall and Mary Beth Lasseter, to positions of co-director, on par with Mr. Edge, are in development. The University of Mississippi handles personnel and approves pay changes for the organization. Mr. Edge requested pay increases for Ms. Hall and Ms. Lasseter. In addition, the alliance announced that it would require at least half the jury selecting its fellowships be people who are not white or heterosexual, and that other parts of alliance programming would have new, more rigorous diversity requirements, too. Mr. Edge emphasized that a succession plan has been discussed for five years, and for the last two, he has been raising money to make sure the position and others in the organization can be sustained with an endowment. He said he had pledges of $2.1 million toward a goal of $3 million, which will fund the directorship at an annual salary of $90,000 once he steps down. I dont want to hand over the S.F.A. as a busted wagon, Mr. Edge said. He and several others say the alliance could fall apart if the proper steps arent taken to make the change. The university, which is facing a hiring freeze and financial strain from the pandemic, would hire his replacement. The process is encumbered by laws and regulations that govern how a new director would be chosen, regardless of who it might be. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. If a quintessential denizen of bohemian Greenwich Village in Manhattan existed, it might have been Yvonne Sherwell, who appeared in a small-budget movie, acted in plays, sang cabaret and wrote a memoir. But Ms. Sherwell had other sides to an eclectic life: She was a member of the leadership of the Village Independent Democrats political club and worked as a coat checker at the Algonquin Hotel in the early 1980s. Ms. Sherwell was in need of a part-time job and enjoyed the ambience of the hotel, her daughter, Candela Prol, said: She liked the glamour of all the writers and journalists and actors and actresses that would frequent the Algonquin Hotel. There we go. Good. There we go. Yay. Yay. [MUSIC PLAYING] Were the Pauls. Were the Orangos. We are at the Carter-McLaughlin-Milstein family. Or Mill Carterstein McDonlaughlinsons. We spent the first three weeks just butting heads. I dont keep track anymore. Everythings blurred together. Being a naturally rather bossy person, like, I was looking to control what I can control, and so there is, like, it sets up an inherent conflict. At this point, things are getting annoying. Im a single dad. Im a chief revenue officer in a technology company. Yeah, that sounds that sounds good. Im sort of applying what I would in terms of management at work into my home structure with my kids, who have never seen me in that mode before. He thinks we are his team, but were not. You are my home team. Yeah, and were not used to it. Youre my home team. But this is not how OK. This is not we work. No, no. I know. I know. So so We cant work like this. He thinks were not during our work and were just reading when were really reading for school. Ill see her sort of lounging back on the couch. What are you doing? Reading. Reading a book. Shes doing what shes supposed to be doing, but to me visually it sort of looks like shes just lounging. He doesnt know what were doing at all. I look at your agenda every morning. No, you dont. Most of the times. No. OK, fine. Before quarantine, our dad would do this thing where he would live his life with these three principles honesty, integrity and purpose. Honesty, integrity, purpose. Meaning, like, he wants to do meditation. Now we get dragged into it. This is, like, a goal that I want for them. But we dont have any interest in this. No, we dont. No shared interest here. Ill tell you what, I do have a swear jar, and theres way, way more money in that swear jar than Oh, youve kept up with that? Yeah. Yeah. Theres a lot of cash in there now, because I dont know what you guys are hearing anymore. Most of the fighting that went on in this house was the boss and my son. My son was away in college, and I think he didnt understand the severity of the situation. Kind of a hard adjustment. Like, I had a lot of freedom and independence. I could what I want, when I wanted, whenever I wanted, and then, when I came home, it was kind of like going back to listening to Mom and Dad. I want to go out. You cant go out. Why not? Were in a global pandemic. I was like, maybe it was better when he was back in his dorm. Shes the boss, so Ill follow the rules, too, you know? Ive been following the rules for 20 years now. The first rule is, we all have to have dinner together. Were your typical New York family. You know, everybody is sitting at the table with a little frown on their face. Since were all together in the house all day, like, there isnt really much to talk about. Shes like, watching, like, TikToks, because shes obsessed with the app. I dont watch TikTok at dinner. Very [INAUDIBLE]. My second rule is more pertains to Skye. She does remote learning in her bedroom and I do teaching out in our living room space, and so I ask her if she needs any help to come into my space. And its so funny. Sometimes I will walk by her room and shes like, Bro, you just walked past my door. Why cant you just come to me? But she doesnt realize that its, like, either I quickly took a bathroom break, I quickly went to get something from my bedroom, but I need to get back to where I was at. So Ill make her come out, and shes literally like Why cant you just come over to me, and why do you have to make this rule? My mom has a rule that nobody can come into her space, but she comes into my space all the time, unwanted and unasked for. What are you doing? Stop. So Ill come in the room, and then Ill sit. And hes like, whoa, whoa, whoa. What just happened? Why are you sitting down? What you, like, what, wait, what, what? Whats happening? Shes always like, smiling, wanting to, like, kiss me and hug me all the time. Im like, yo, Ma, like, get out. What are you doing? Let me look at that face. All right, but like, get out. This is absolutely just a parenting nightmare. Im Christine, and I live with my daughters Amalia, Fiona and Macy. Macys my stepdaughter. You can cut my hair after, if I can cut yours. Stepson Tanner, my husband, Mark. This is actually not Mark, this is Mike. Mike is my first husband. And I live within a mile down the road with my wife, Tanya, and my stepdaughter Sophie. So because theres four parents and five kids, it has really complicated how we shelter in place. So were always dealing with new things that the kids are always bringing up on, how about if I can do this? How about if I can do that? First, a kid will come forward with a proposal. We actually call them proposals. It did remind me of when I was in middle school and I had to, like, ask my parents permission before I could go anywhere. You know, it really could have been the four parents against the five kids. I have this idea that my family doesnt understand when they do understand, and so I just kind of take it out on them. It was like, you dont get me. I think it was a lot harder at first to really be empathetic and to listen to the kids concerns and to sort of see that the ways in which they are suffering are really different than the ways that we are struggling. The first time that I had my best friend over, we had set up this entire protocol. I was all the way over here, and she was all the way back here. So we were pretty far apart. And my brother Tanner, who is 17, he sits directly next to her. They had made, like, a big case that they didnt need to be watched or policed, but then, there I was watching them, and I saw it happen and came out. Shes super mad and is saying, youre not six feet away, and everything, and got so mad. It was quite a scene. I really had the time to come around and realize that my actions will affect people in our joint family who, you know, I never really see on a daily basis. You know, Im taking care of them, and Im still working, so Ive kind of had to lay off of myself and not put external pressures to be some type of, I dont know, Betty Crocker quarantine mom, because Im not, at all. Mm-mmm. Even though its been, I think, more work up front to come together, its resulted for us as a family in a lot less conflict. And the truth is, Ive also really put to the test, like, how patient I am, how patient they are with me. How was that noodle lunch? Whats another word for disgusting? Disgusting? And I think we again, nine weeks into this quarantine, I think It feels like I dont even know. It feels like a lifetime ago when I could actually have a sleepover with my friends. Like thats Yes. So it just boils down to sleepover. I dont think they heard a word I just said. [MUSIC PLAYING] By Lee Seong-hyon Despite years of speculation, there is no evidence that suggests the U.S. and China have agreed on an action plan in the event of sudden unrest in North Korea. However, it has its own long-running storyline that goes back to the year 2009. It is commonly known that 2009 was the first time the U.S. and China jointly discussed such a scenario. At the venue in Beijing of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), a research arm of China's main spy agency, South Korean media headlines stated that America and China were having their first consultation on the sensitive matter. However, after checking directly with one of the U.S. participants in the meeting, things were different than reported. Firstly, the meeting's agenda covered a broad range of East Asian security topics, including the presence of U.S. troops in the region, U.S.-China relations, the Korean Peninsula, and Sino-Japan relations. In that context, the U.S. side also raised the need for a joint U.S.-China contingency plan in case of sudden turmoil in North Korea. "Duly noted," was the response from the Chinese side, according to the American participant in the meeting. The Chinese refused to be drawn to elaborate. This cannot be called a "discussion." The second U.S.-China talks on the topic were allegedly held when U.S. Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno paid a visit to the Chinese military in Shenyang in 2014. The visit received keen attention because Shenyang is close to the North Korean border and the Chinese military there would be the troops that would be first deployed in case of a North Korean crisis. However, the visit was part of confidence-building efforts agreed upon during the 2013 U.S.-China summit during which the two nations acknowledged that they lacked military exchanges. In particular, the news that the U.S. side received a Chinese briefing on "North Korean troop movements" did not conform to the fact. Stephen Bosworth, former U.S. special representative for North Korea policy under Obama, told me that while he was in charge of North Korea affairs in the U.S. government, there had been no official discussion between the U.S. and China on the North Korean contingency. It was 2014. (He and I were both visiting scholars at Stanford University, with his office next to mine.) I asked Ambassador Bosworth if it would be okay to make his remarks public. He graciously agreed. In August 2017, in Beijing, Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Fang Fenghui, Chief of Joint Staff of the People's Liberation Army, agreed for the first time in the history of the two militaries, to open a dialogue channel, the Joint Staff Dialogue Mechanism (JSDM), to prevent miscalculation. Paradoxically, this meant that there had been no such consultation mechanism between the U.S. and China previously. In November of that year, Maj. Gen. Shao Yuanming and Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke sat down in Washington D.C. The contents of their discussions were later made public by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. While attending a forum on the Korean Peninsula in Washington, he said the U.S. discussed a North Korean contingency plan with China. According to Tillerson, the U.S. presented China with the so-called "four no's" principles regarding North Korea. "We do not seek regime change; we do not seek regime collapse; we do not seek an accelerated unification of the Korean Peninsula; we do not seek a reason to send our own military forces north of the demilitarized zone," he said, adding "That is our commitment we made to them." Critically, however, the Chinese position was not known. When rumors of Kim Jong-un's death emerged in April, a former U.S. official who handled the North Korea affairs stressed the need for such a dialogue between Washington and Beijing. The person said the U.S. and China have never had a "meaningful" level of dialogue on North Korea's contingency to this day. To summarize, despite years of speculation, there is no evidence that the governments of the United States and China have agreed upon a specific action plan in the event of sudden turmoil in North Korea. A North Korean contingency is a critical issue that determines the fate of the Korean people if it ever occurs. It's an opportune time for the South Korean government to review and update relevant facts. Lee Seong-hyon (sunnybbsfs@gmail.com), Ph.D., is director, the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute. Beauty insiders have speculated that both Mr. Dawson and Mr. Star played a large behind-the-scenes role in stoking backlash against James Charles, another beauty YouTuber, last year. Mr. Stars tight hold on the beauty community and broader relevance on YouTube has begun slipping, as has Mr. Dawsons. In the past few months, several channels that document drama have released investigations into Mr. Stars past, resurfacing old content in which Mr. Star posed for a brand he was set to start called Lipstick Nazi and supported a fellow music artist, Dahvie Vanity, who was accused of sexual misconduct. Mr. Star also allegedly gathered damning information about fellow YouTube stars to wield over their heads as blackmail. Neither Mr. Star nor Mr. Dawson responded to a request for comment. While many of these incidents have surfaced before, the repeated accusations against the two YouTubers at a time when the broader culture is coming to grips with rampant racism and problematic behavior could lead to permanent changes in the beauty world. Already, Mr. Dawson and Mr. Star are hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of followers and face a storm of criticism online. Target has removed Mr. Dawsons books from its shelves, according to Insider. On Tuesday, YouTube announced the company had suspended monetization across all three of Mr. Dawsons channels. For the longest time Jeffree and Shane have been untouchable, said Will Larkins, a 15-year-old who provides commentary on internet drama and has been documenting these events on his Twitter handle @OhMyGodExposeU. Theyve gotten away with everything. I think people are finally fed up and realizing that we cant just keep giving people like this a platform. Twitch, the livestreaming platform, said on Monday that it was suspending President Trumps channel for hateful conduct, in what appeared to be the first deliberate suspension of one of Mr. Trumps social media accounts. The site, which is owned by Amazon, said two recent streams on Mr. Trumps channel violated its rules. One stream was of a rebroadcasted 2015 campaign event in which Mr. Trump made comments about Mexico sending drugs, crime and rapists over the border. The other was of his recent rally in Tulsa, Okla., where he talked about a very tough hombre breaking into a womans house at 1 a.m. Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch, a Twitch spokeswoman said in a statement. In line with our policies, President Trumps channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending content has been removed. It was unclear how long the suspension would last. With its move, Twitch went further than other social media platforms. In recent months, some tech companies have become more proactive in handling speech issues by Mr. Trump and his supporters. Twitter began adding labels to some of the presidents tweets; Snap has said it will stop promoting Mr. Trumps Snapchat account; and Reddit on Monday said it would ban The_Donald community, which had been a highly influential digital gathering place for Mr. Trumps acolytes. michael barbaro From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. [music] Today: The Supreme Court issues its first major ruling on abortion since President Trump appointed a conservative majority. Adam Liptak on what the decision tells us about the court and its chief justice. Its Tuesday, June 30. adam liptak Im starting a recording. michael barbaro Oh, gorgeous. Thank you for doing that. We were all just joking if its a Monday in June, its Adam Liptak time. adam liptak Yeah. Once in a while, the spotlight swings my way. michael barbaro A lot of the time, in June, every year. So Adam, tell us about this latest Supreme Court ruling on Monday. adam liptak We got a big abortion case and a somewhat surprising abortion case. The court struck down a Louisiana abortion restriction law that would have made it much harder for women in that state to get abortions. And the particular law at issue was about admitting privileges about whether doctors who provide abortions have to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. michael barbaro Right. And Adam, we have talked about admitting privileges for doctors who performed abortions in the past. But as a reminder, what is the idea behind them? adam liptak Its a kind of business relationship between a doctor and a hospital. It allows doctors to admit and care for their patients at given hospitals. Supporters of admitting privileges laws say that its a kind of credentialing function, that you are likely to be a slightly better doctor if a nearby hospital kind of vouches for you by giving you admitting privileges. Opponents of admitting privileges laws say theyre a bit of a scam, that abortion is very safe. If you do have to go to a hospital, they say youre going to be admitted, whether you have a doctor with admitting privileges or not. michael barbaro Mm-hmm. So the Supreme Court on Monday sided with skeptics of this law who saw it as what you just described, as a kind of fake something that, in practical terms, was a way to restrict abortion, not make abortion safer by giving the doctors who perform it a formal relationship to a hospital. adam liptak Yeah, the court basically says it doesnt provide any benefits. And it imposes enormous costs on the ability of women to have access to their constitutional right to abortion. michael barbaro Mm-hmm. You know, on the surface, Adam, this case doesnt seem all that legally complicated, if I know my Supreme Court history well from talking to you for now three years. Which is that time and time again, the Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot place an undue burden on a womans right to have an abortion. And a law like this in Louisiana would seem to place a significant burden on a womans ability to have an abortion. adam liptak Well, theres a good reason to think that, Michael. Because the Supreme Court in 2016, in a case involving the identical law but in Texas, said exactly that said that that Texas law did impose an undue burden, and it struck down the law. Two things made opponents of abortion hopeful that the court would come to a different conclusion just four years later. President Trump has appointed a couple of justices. And President Trump has said hes committing to appointing justices who will do away with abortion rights and overrule Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established the constitutional right to abortion. And we also knew that Chief Justice Roberts, in the Texas case, had dissented. He was prepared to uphold this very same law in the Texas setting. So the surprise on Monday was that the chief justice, as it were, switched sides. Thats a bit of an overstatement. But he said, listen, we have a precedent. The rule of law requires us to uphold precedent, except for very good reasons. And here, even though Id gone the other way in 2016, Im going to live with that precedent today and vote with the four more liberal members of the court to strike down the Louisiana law. michael barbaro So Chief Justice Roberts is saying, even though I didnt agree with a very similar case a few years ago, I am bound by the precedent that that ruling I disagree with created for the Louisiana law. adam liptak Exactly right. So heres what the chief justice said: I joined the dissent in the Texas case, and continue to believe the case was wrongly decided. The question today, however, is not whether that Texas case was right or wrong, but whether to adhere to it in deciding the present case. michael barbaro Hm. So theres something a little bit grudging about this. adam liptak Yeah, I suppose grudging is one word for it. Another is principled. You know, this is a chief justice whos deeply concerned about the institutional integrity of the Supreme Court, doesnt want to have it seen as a political body that changes positions depending on changes in personnel. So it may well be that he wasnt happy to find himself in this position. But at the same time, he might have been sending an important message about the court. michael barbaro But of course, not every justice voted that way. So Adam, help me understand the thinking of the conservative justices who dissented in this case and disagreed with Roberts that the Texas case created a binding precedent that should be applied to the Louisiana law. adam liptak Yeah, so everybody agrees, everybody on both sides agrees that this is the same law. It has the same words. But the dissenters say Louisiana is different from Texas. The evidence in the case was different. The nature of the state is different. And so Justice Samuel Alito, serving the evidence in the Louisiana case, says, at least in that case, quote, There is ample evidence in the record showing that admitting privileges helped to protect the health of women by ensuring that physicians who perform abortions meet higher standards of competence than is shown by the mere possession of a license to practice. So Alito is saying that in Louisiana, this makes a difference. And the evidence in the record, he says, shows that it makes a difference. michael barbaro Mm-hmm. I mean, does that represent a disregard for precedent in your mind? Because I remember the hearings for almost each and every one of these conservative justices. And they were all asked over the past decade or so about the role of precedent. And Im thinking back in particular to two of the conservative justices who dissented in this case Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh. And both of them were specifically asked by Senate Democrats during confirmation hearings about the role of precedent when it came to abortion. And here they seem to be saying that the precedent doesnt apply. adam liptak Yeah, so I guess I want to stop at the very beginning of that analysis, Michael. I dont think theyre quite saying that. I mean, I think thats the music of the decision. But really, what theyre saying is we can live with the precedent, but were good lawyers. And well distinguish that precedent. And when we apply it to a different set of facts in a different state, were going to come to a different conclusion. michael barbaro Got it. Im curious what the practical implications of this ruling are on the ground, pretty much across the country, now the court has ruled that the Louisiana law is unconstitutional. adam liptak It would seem to rule out this particular kind of abortion restriction. Now that Texas has lost and Louisiana has lost, were not going to see states enacting admitting privileges restrictions, although creative opponents of abortion rights will find other ways to try to restrict the procedure. michael barbaro Mm-hmm. But this particular brand of restriction is now probably going to go away. adam liptak You would think so. michael barbaro And what about in Louisiana, where this case originated? adam liptak Well, what would have been really striking in Louisiana is what would have happened if the case went the other way. Louisiana currently has three abortion clinics. That would have gone to one. And it currently has about five doctors who are willing to provide abortion. And that also would apparently have gone to one. So it would have required every woman in the state to travel to New Orleans to get abortions. And its not clear that that clinic would have had the capacity to serve those women, even if they could make what, in some instances, would be a very long drive five hours each way and do it twice. Because Louisiana also has a law requiring a waiting period between the initial consultation and the procedure itself. [music] So I mean, we start with this law that sounds kind of basic, standard, unexceptional. The doctors should have admitting privileges. But it turns out that when you drill down, its a vastly consequential restriction on abortion rights. michael barbaro Well be right back. Adam, we are now well into a series of very consequential rulings in a term that you have described as the most consequential since a conservative majority arrived on the court under President Trump. So how does this abortion ruling fit into the emerging picture we have of this conservative majority court? adam liptak Well, we have a conservative majority court and youre quite right to say thats what it is delivering in the space of two weeks three big liberal victories: on job protections for L.G.B.T.Q. workers, on protection from deportation for young immigrants known as Dreamers, and now this abortion case. So we have a court that is full of surprises. michael barbaro Right. And in each case, it was a member of the conservative majority that proved decisive. adam liptak Right. Well, it sort of cant be otherwise. Because its a 5-4 court with the four liberals in the minority. So they have to pick up at least one conservative justice to prevail. So in the employment discrimination case, they picked up not only the chief justice, but also Justice Gorsuch one of the Trump appointees who actually wrote the majority decision. In the Dreamers case, the DACA case, they picked up Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion. And now in the abortion case, they again picked up Chief Justice John Roberts, who voted with the majority but didnt join its reasoning. michael barbaro Im curious why this keeps happening that the liberal wing of the court keeps picking up these conservative justices. And the reason I ask this is because we have talked so many times with you, Adam, and with our colleagues about the intense vetting process that has led to conservative justices making it into the pipeline for the Supreme Court, getting picked and then confirmed. And my sense is that the conservative legal apparatus is extremely careful about this vetting process. And it expects these judges and tell me if Im oversimplifying to vote consistently and conservatively. And yet. adam liptak So youre right, Michael. Its extraordinary. The conservative legal movement has put so much energy into identifying people they can count on, who will vote the way they want. And the vetting process is intense. And the reason the confirmation battles are so heated is because people on both sides are convinced that once one of these people gets on the court, they will vote in a right-wing direction. But it turns out that if you put a serious judge on the Supreme Court and give him or her life tenure, they are going to follow their judicial commitments, sometimes in directions that arent political, but are legal. And so in these three cases, theyre all different, but they all conform to jurisprudential commitments of the justices who voted that way. So in the employment discrimination case, Justice Gorsuch thinks the law simply means what it says. And he couldnt get away from that. And thats a conservative idea. In the DACA case, Chief Justice Roberts thought the Trump administration simply hadnt offered an adequate reason for winding down the program. Thats also a conservative idea. And then in this latest case, the abortion case, Chief Justice Roberts said, listen, we have a precedent on point. Were supposed to follow precedent. Thats basically a conservative idea. So depending on how you think about these cases, they may be politically liberal, but in an important sense, judicially conservative. michael barbaro I have to imagine that the greatest disappointment for this right-wing legal apparatus that you described is with Justice Roberts. Because he has been the most consistent swing vote to swing over to the liberals. And I hear you just saying that hes coming up with a conservative legal rationale in each decision. But I have to imagine this pattern is complicating his reputation with the people who supported his nomination. adam liptak Oh, thats way an understatement. archived recording (tom cotton) Chief Justice Roberts consistently seems more concerned about the reputation of the court and his reputation among Democrats and the media than the rule of law. adam liptak The right-wing the conservative legal movement, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Tom Cotton are furious with John Roberts. archived recording (tom cotton) I would recommend that he resign and travel to Iowa for the caucuses and see if he can earn the votes of his fellow Americans. adam liptak I mean, maybe they could forgive him his two votes for upholding the Affordable Care Act. Maybe they could forgive him in the census case for not letting the Trump administration add a question on citizenship. archived recording (ted cruz) Judging is not a game. But sadly, over recent years, more and more Chief Justice Roberts has been playing games. adam liptak But to come to three liberal conclusions in the space of two weeks, in three different blockbuster cases, is a bitter, bitter pill for them to swallow. michael barbaro Mm. And theyre saying so. adam liptak Sure. But heres the thing, Michael. Roberts, in moving to the center of the court, has become the most powerful chief justice since at least 1937. michael barbaro Wow. adam liptak The idea of both being the chief justice and the swing justice, as it were, is almost unheard of. But what you have in Chief Justice Roberts is someone whos been in the majority 98 percent of the time so far this term. michael barbaro Wow. adam liptak And hes been in the majority in every 5-4 decision so far, which looks like it will set a record for a chief justice if it lasts through the end of the term. michael barbaro Hm. So perhaps he has alienated the right, but he has amassed a tremendous amount of influence as a justice on this court. adam liptak Yes. I mean, people talk about the Roberts court because you always talk about the court by the name of the chief justice. But this is really the Roberts court in a second sense, too, that John Roberts is driving this train. michael barbaro You established a narrative for us about a year ago, Adam, around this question of John Roberts. And you accurately predicted he might end up being a swing vote on a question like abortion. And when we have talked about him, you said that he prizes the reputation of the Supreme Court as a nonpartisan institution, and that he might prize that reputation above his own, kind of the most natural, legal instincts. Is that what you think may be at play here? Or is it possible that we just didnt quite understand his legal instincts the entire time? adam liptak I think a large part of what explains this is what John Roberts goes around saying all the time and nobody takes seriously. archived recording (chief justice john g. roberts jr.) [APPLAUSE] Thank you very much. Thank you. adam liptak That the court is not a political institution archived recording (chief justice john g. roberts jr.) We do not speak for the people. But we speak for the Constitution. Our role is very clear. adam liptak And I think hes demonstrating that commitment that these are not sort of empty civics lesson statements that he makes in his public comments, but that he is authentically committed to them. archived recording (chief justice john g. roberts jr.) We do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle. We do not caucus in separate rooms. We do not serve one party or one interest. We serve one nation. And I want to assure all of you that we will continue to do that to the best of our abilities, whether times are calm or contentious. Thanks very much. [APPLAUSE] adam liptak I think he earnestly believes in the legal conclusions hes drawn. But at least incidentally, it helps maintain the institutional prestige, authority, legitimacy of the Supreme Court if it doesnt break along predictable ideological lines. michael barbaro Mm-hmm. So in a way, hes being the change he wants to see, which does fit with who he is, but may also stretch who he is. adam liptak Yeah, OK. michael barbaro [LAUGHS] Adam, it feels like from everything youre saying about Chief Justice John Roberts that we may be getting an answer to the biggest question of all, about how he may rule, which is on any kind of challenge to Roe v. Wade. Because the rulings of the past couple weeks, and especially the ruling on the Louisiana law, suggest that he favors precedent, does not want to polarize the country. And collectively, that would all suggest tell me if Im wrong here that he would be inclined to support the precedent that is Roe v. Wade if it is challenged. adam liptak Well, so I think we have some substantial evidence for that proposition in todays ruling. He took precedent very seriously in an abortion case. But its not as though John Roberts has never voted to overrule precedent. He voted to overrule precedent in Citizens United and in other cases. And he set out a fairly elaborate set of principles for when precedents can be overruled. And its not clear to me that just because he thought this one precedent, which is trivial in comparison to the abortion rights itself in Roe, will give you the answer of how we will treat Roe. So I wouldnt count any chickens here. But there is more evidence Monday than there was last week that the chief justice takes precedent quite seriously. [music] michael barbaro Well, Adam, thank you very much. We appreciate it. adam liptak Yes, thank you. michael barbaro On Monday evening, both the White House and President Trumps campaign issued statements denouncing the Supreme Courts ruling on abortion. Without naming him, the statement from the campaign appeared to criticize Chief Justice Roberts, saying, quote, Five unelected Supreme Court justices decided to insert their political agenda in place of democratically determined policies. Well be right back. Heres what else you need to know today. Global deaths from the coronavirus have now surpassed 500,000, prompting a new wave of restrictions. China imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a county south of Beijing in an effort to contain an outbreak there that is challenging the countrys claim to have beaten back the virus. In the U.S., several states moved to delay reopenings. archived recording (phil murphy) We must hit pause on the resumption of indoor dining. michael barbaro In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy scrapped a plan to open restaurants for limited indoor dining later this week, saying it posed too great a risk. archived recording (phil murphy) Given the current situation in numerous other states, we do not believe it is prudent at this time to push forward with what is, in effect, a sedentary indoor activity, especially when we know that this virus moves differently indoors than out, making it even more deadly. michael barbaro And The Times reports that intelligence officials gave President Trump a written briefing months ago, laying out their conclusion that Russia offered and paid out bounties to militants in Afghanistan to kill U.S. and coalition troops there. So far, Trump has denied ever being briefed on the Russian bounties. But the intelligence has provoked a furor, because the Russian bounties may be linked to the death of three U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, and because the White House has not authorized any response. [music] California backslides Early in the outbreak, California emerged as a leader in fighting the spread of the coronavirus. It was the first state to impose a stay-at-home order, and its swift response is thought to have prevented 1.7 million coronavirus cases in the state. For months it seemed that California considered especially vulnerable to the virus because of its large, globe-trotting population was weathering the storm relatively well. But over the last week, things have changed. The states case count has exploded, reaching 200,000 infections. Gov. Gavin Newsom has rolled back reopening plans. And officials in Los Angeles County are projecting that they may run out of hospital beds in two to three weeks. Now Californians are asking themselves, what went wrong? The turn, some say, may have come Memorial Day weekend, when cooped-up residents responded to the states reopening by getting out and socializing. According to an analysis by The Los Angeles Times, coronavirus hospitalizations in the state began accelerating around June 15 which, given the incubation period of the virus, points to holiday barbecues, beach trips and graduation parties as potential culprits. This article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. WASHINGTON A federal judge in Rochester, N.Y., on Monday rejected a Trump administration effort to use the Patriot Act to indefinitely detain a stateless Palestinian man after he completed a 15-year prison sentence for sending support to Islamic militants in the 1990s. United States District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford gave the Immigration and Customs Enforcement service until Thursday to free the man, Adham A. Hassoun, 58, from the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, N.Y. She ordered six months of supervised release at the home of his sister, with an ankle monitor and other restrictions, including not associating with known terrorists or extremists. The American Civil Liberties Union, which took part in the court challenge to Mr. Hassouns continued imprisonment, declared the decision a rebuff of a claim of executive authority gained after the Sept. 11 attacks. The government sought to invoke a never-before-used administrative provision of the Patriot Act to declare Mr. Hassoun a danger to national security and hold him indefinitely in a migrant detention center upon completion of his prison sentence. In her 43-page decision, Judge Wolford said the government failed to prove that Mr. Hassoun would be a danger in the future. Of course, theres a big difference between being the president and being his running mate. Is the implication that a woman with less power is somehow palatable and more appealing? This moment of upheaval over race is clearly prompting some soul searching in Democratic circles. When Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a former presidential candidate, took herself out of consideration for vice president this month, she made a point of saying she thought the ticket should include a woman of color. By then, it was hardly a novel idea. Aimee Allison, the founder of She the People, a national network that advocates on behalf of women of color in politics, has been pressing the Democratic Party to do more for years. Ms. Allison grew increasingly frustrated during the 2016 and 2018 election cycles when, she said, women of color were rarely treated as a powerful group with distinct needs and strengths. At last, she said in an interview, her views no longer seem so radical. Were not waiting part of this moment is were not waiting for permission, Ms. Allison said. We know more how to assert our power, how to translate street heat into power as voters. Now what were demanding is governance. Last month, Ms. Allison and dozens of other African-American women signed a letter urging Mr. Biden to choose a black woman as his running mate. American intelligence officers and Special Operations forces in Afghanistan began raising alarms as early as January, and the National Security Council convened an interagency meeting to discuss the problem and what to do about it in late March, The New York Times has previously reported. But despite being presented with options, including a diplomatic protest and sanctions, the White House authorized no response. The administrations explanations on Monday, in public and in private, appeared to be an attempt to placate lawmakers, particularly Mr. Trumps fellow Republicans, alarmed by news reports in recent days revealing the existence of the intelligence assessment and Mr. Trumps insistence he had not been warned of the suspected Russian plot. The assessments pointing to a Russian scheme to offer bounties to Taliban-linked militants and criminals were based on information collected in raids and interrogations on the ground in Afghanistan, where American military commanders came to believe Russia was behind the plot, as well as more sensitive and unspecified intelligence that came in over time, an American official said. Officials said there was disagreement among intelligence officials about the strength of the evidence about the suspected Russian plot and the evidence linking the attack on the Marines to the suspected Russian plot, but they did not detail those disputes. Notably, the National Security Agency, which specializes in hacking and electronic surveillance, has been more skeptical about interrogations and other human intelligence, officials said. Typically, the president is formally briefed when the information has been vetted and seen as sufficiently credible and important by the intelligence professionals. Such information would most likely be included in the Presidents Daily Brief. Former officials said that in previous administrations, accusations of such profound importance even if the evidence was not fully established were conveyed to the president. We had two threshold questions: Does the president need to know this? and Why does he need to know it now? said Robert Cardillo, a former senior intelligence official who briefed President Barack Obama from 2010 to 2014. WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Monday let stand an appeals court ruling allowing the Trump administration to resume executions in federal death penalty cases after a 17-year hiatus. The courts order cleared the way for the executions of four men in the coming months. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor said they would have heard the case. Attorney General William P. Barr announced last summer that the federal government would end what had amounted to a moratorium on capital punishment. There are more than 60 prisoners on death row in federal prisons. Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, of the Federal District Court in Washington, blocked the executions in November, saying the protocol the government planned to use did not comply with the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, which requires executions to be carried out in the manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence is imposed. The central legal question in the case is whether the word manner in the 1994 law refers to the methods of execution authorized by the relevant states (like hanging, firing squad or lethal injection) or the protocols the states require (like the particular chemicals used in lethal injections, whether a doctor must be present or how a catheter is to be inserted). Watch: Dancing at Dusk Many of us have a clear image of the moment just before the world was shut down by the pandemic. A last trip, or carefree evening with friends, or a performance in a darkened theater, forever frozen in time. On March 14, 38 dancers from across Africa were in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal, at the Ecole des Sables, rehearsing Pina Bauschs harrowing work The Rite of Spring (1975). They were to perform it in Dakar later that month, before touring to Wuppertal (the home of Bauschs company) and London. In the morning, the dancers rehearsed. In the afternoon, they were informed that all public gatherings and performances were canceled for the foreseeable future. With enviable presence of mind, the filmmaker Florian Heinzen-Ziob, who was documenting the rehearsals, captured a final rehearsal, moved to a nearby beach at dusk. The result is Dancing at Dusk, which will be streamed by Sadlers Wells, a co-producer of the canceled tour. (The film is available Wednesday through July 31 on Sadlers Wells Digital Stage, for $6.50.) The setting is eerily perfect: Rite is normally performed on a stage covered in dirt. Here dancers move within a large square of sand on a vast beach, with a stripe of sea, and the pale blue sky, behind them. Over the course of the 35-minute piece, that sky turns slightly pink, then a shadowy purple. The dancing is convulsive and self-lacerating but also beautiful, and at times tender. The performance has the raw energy of something that hasnt yet been rehearsed to synchronized perfection, and that looseness adds to the pieces immediacy. As the light dims and the figures become less distinct, the dramaturgy of the piece and the drama of the moment the final evening before a planet-wide intake of breath become one. Mr. Glaser designed this lethally succinct poster printed on cheap paper and circulated as widely as possible in support of a five-year labor strike by Californian farm workers protesting their low pay and their exposure to carcinogenic pesticides. Beneath the bunch of grapes reshaped into a skull, the designer printed part of a letter from Cesar Chavez to the president of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League. It decried discrimination on the basis of the colors of our skins, the languages of our cultural and native origins, and insisted that they would win a nonviolent death struggle against mans inhumanity to man. Civil rights groups persuaded grocery stores to withdraw nonunion grapes, and by 1970 the United Farm Workers had won new contracts that guaranteed fairer working conditions. Tokyo should drop opposition to Seoul in G7 Japan has reportedly opposed South Korea's joining an expanded G7 summit, citing Seoul's stance was not "in lockstep" with the existing members toward North Korea and China. With myriad contentious issues prevailing between Seoul and Tokyo, it's difficult to grasp how this latest step will in any way improve bilateral ties. Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported a top Cheong Wa Dae official as saying that that there was nothing surprising about Japan's consistency in not acknowledging or repenting for the harm it had afflicted on a neighboring country. When U.S. President Trump raised the idea in late May of seeking to include South Korea, Australia, India and Russia within the group saying that the current G7 format does not represent "what's going on in the world," South Korea responded positively. The G7 is a prestigious grouping of advanced economies where global issues have a chance for resolution. Thus President Moon Jae-in promptly accepted Trump's invitation, even though there was skepticism that by inviting the Indo-Pacific countries of South Korea and India, the U.S. president was trying to counter the rise of China. Japan as a member of the G7 along with the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy can duly debate any possible changes to the existing format. Britain and Canada have opposed Russia's invitation since it was expelled from the G8 over its annexation of Crimea. Nevertheless, an opportunity to work together in a neutral venue such as the G7 could help tide over differences between Seoul and Tokyo on trade and wartime forced labor issues. Japan last July restricted the export of three core materials needed by South Korean semiconductor and display panel manufacturers, largely viewed as retaliation against a ruling by the Korean Supreme Court ordering Japanese firms to compensate the surviving victims of wartime forced labor. The two neighboring countries have since engaged in tit-for-tat retaliatory measures. Recently, Seoul reopened the complaint with the World Trade Organization as the year-long trade friction with Japan has continued, suggesting that the two neighboring countries may engage in a prolonged trade dispute without a clear winner. It's regrettable to see the two leading Asian economies divided at a time of an unprecedented pandemic with the accompanying economic fallout. As the Kyodo News report stated,Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may want to maintain diplomatic superiority as the only Asian member of the G7. Such narrow-mindedness will not serve any nation well when the International Monetary Fund forecast a 4.9 percent contraction for the global economy in 2020, and the OECD a 7.6 percent contraction if the pandemic resurges. Both Moon and Abe should use their respective leaderships to find a way to work together to resolve history-based conflicts and forge a future-oriented partnership. The audience response to early performances was mixed, at best. When Dr. Rogers and the glee club toured cities including Washington and Johannesburg, the reaction was sometimes aggressive. I took a lot of heat, Dr. Rogers said in an interview. I went against many people who asked me not to do the piece. We had people in the audience rip up their programs and throw them in the trash, right in front of the choir, and walk out. I had letters written to my dean about it. But now, in the wake of the death of George Floyd, the protests about police violence that have engulfed the nation and the sudden, broad realignment of opinion on racial issues, the work is finding new, and newly enthusiastic, listeners. On June 4, Carnegie Hall streamed a recording on its website and social media channels. People wouldnt touch it with a 10-foot pole five years ago, Mr. Thompson said. Im grateful that people are willing to engage with it now, but Im also simultaneously frustrated. Im hoping that the people who are sharing this piece come to realize how white supremacy itself has been embedded into this genre. We need to make substantive structural change to how things are run in classical music. Had the coronavirus pandemic not hit, Mr. Thompson said, he would currently be lost in the archives of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra; the ensemble received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to commission a piece from him about the 1956 Tallahassee bus boycott. Instead, he spoke from his apartment in New Haven, Conn., occasionally setting the phone down to play riffs from his keyboard as he explained his work. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. 1. Accompong Maroon Festival The Maroons are Africans who were brought to Jamaica in the time of slavery. They led a revolt against their owners and ran away off various plantations around the island and started a new development of their own in the mountains. And they have a huge Christmas celebration that is a sight to see. The celebration is in January, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, and people from all over Jamaica go to celebrate the Maroons emancipation and freedom. Maroon Christmas is incredibly entertaining and mind-opening and just wonderful. Its singing and dancing, its history and food. But its vibing with the people, and getting that warmth and that smile on your face, that really brings it home. 2. Jerk in Boston Bay Portland is my favorite parish. It has beaches but its also a rainforest, so its the most lush parish in Jamaica. And its the home of the jerk. Boston Bay is where theres the pimento wood that adds the flavor to jerk chicken and jerk pork. Of course, jerk is now exported all over the world, and everybody does it. But when you want to get the real one, you go to the Mecca of it. 3. Street Dancing Jamaica is about the street dance. Theyre a sound-system culture. The Verzuz competition online they broke the internet a couple of times comes from clashing. And clashing is from sound systems playing battle music against each other. With street dances, they put two huge speaker boxes on each side of the road and block it. People come outside, and theres the guy thats got the sugar cane cut up and the guy that is selling the peanuts and a curry goat pot thats cooking. And then theres the bar, and theyre drinking their Guinness, and the music is playing with everybody dancing in the street. I go every chance I can get. 4. River Rafting on the Rio Grande My favorite thing to do. Thats also in Portland. You get a raft for you and yours. We normally have a floating bar, so the bartender will be on that raft. You can pull up to it and get your drinks. Theres a food raft that has all the snacks. And the D.J. raft, where the guy has a generator and a speaker. The music is loud. The water is cool. And if youre there with 10 or 12 of your friends, and they all have a raft going down, its one hell of a party. 5. Screechies Screechies is this guy in Portmore. Hes got a shack right on the seaside, and he makes the best fresh fish and lobster. He catches it, cuts it up. He makes the escovitch with vinegar, pimento, onions, Scotch bonnet pepper, fish seasoning, deep-fried, and puts it with festival, which is a cornmeal dumpling-type paste with a little bit of sugar in it and molasses. They also do what they call chicken lobster, which are smaller lobsters so theyre very tender, and those are also deep fried. Its just an amazing experience, and I will be doing that hopefully when I get in. Its hard enough to think back four months, much less four years, but try to recall the early weeks of 2016 another time, another planet. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., a professor of African-American Studies at Princeton, had just published Democracy in Black, his blistering indictment of the Obama era. Under the watch of the first black president, Glaude wrote, black people have suffered tremendously. A Democratic machine that took black voters for granted had convinced Glaude that the only way forward would be an electoral blank-out. He called on black Americans to turn out in record numbers again in November 2016 and cast a vote for none of the above. This, mind you, preceded Donald Trump plowing through the primaries to become the Republican nominee. For Glaude, a Trump presidency was completely unfathomable until it actually happened. White America would never elect such a person to the highest office in the land, he writes in his new book, Begin Again: James Baldwins America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, recalling what he told himself in 2016. I was wrong, and given my lifelong reading of Baldwin, it was an egregious mistake. Image Credit... . Over the last several years theres been a popular resurgence of interest in Baldwins work: Barry Jenkinss film adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk and Raoul Pecks documentary I Am Not Your Negro; Ta-Nehisi Coatess homage in Between the World and Me and Jesmyn Wards The Fire This Time, a 2016 anthology of essays by a younger generation writing about Baldwins legacy with appreciation and ambivalence. Baldwins example took on renewed relevance toward the end of the Obama presidency, as soaring hopes collided with an enduring reality of police violence and mass incarceration. Writers found in Baldwin a mix of rigor and freedom: Here was an unsparing diagnostician who nevertheless embraced contradictions. With the pacing of a thriller and the insight of a superb work of history, the book paints an understandable yet dismaying picture of a missed opportunity. We have heard before about two of the reasons behind Obamas actions the likelihood that Hillary Clinton would be elected and the likelihood that a defeated Donald Trump would claim he had been cheated. But these well-known concerns hardly explain the absence of a covert cyberattack or any other countermeasure before the election. In part, Shimer discovers, it was because the Obama White House initially underestimated the scope of Russian mischief. Although it had identified Putins complicity quickly, it was slow to connect the dots of Russian intelligences multiplatform assault, which ultimately reached about 220 million Americans on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Michael Morell, then the second in command at the C.I.A., calls it an intelligence failure. The failure was not just of counterintelligence, but also of analysis. The administration had no understanding of the damaging effect of digital disinformation on our democracy. It was kind of a shock to me personally how disconnected I was from flyover America, Obamas director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said. But it has never been the job of American intelligence to assess the effect of foreign disinformation on our society. Thats the job of elected leaders. The Obama team worried less about what Putin had done than what he could do, and, as a result, they missed the fact that Russias interference represented the greatest degree of Kremlin risk-taking aimed at the United States since the Cuban missile crisis. Our overriding objective was to prevent Russia from doing more and worse than they had already done when we discovered it[s] operation, the national security adviser, Susan Rice, recalled. Obama was always worried about escalation, the former assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland added. In the Cold War, the most successful foreign policy presidents were those who didnt overestimate the Kremlins capabilities. To give just two examples: Harry Truman defied Stalins blockade of West Berlin and Dwight Eisenhower ignored Khrushchevs threats toward that same city. But in 2016, as Shimer reveals, President Obama concluded the United States would lose in a game of tit-for-tat risk-taking with Putin. To contextualize the mind-sets of Obama and Putin and their secret warriors in the fall of 2016, Shimer skillfully reconstructs the history of how both Washington and Moscow got into the business of election interference in the first place. While not breaking much new archival ground, he provides a powerful primer, at the same time avoiding the reflexive whataboutism that mars so much analysis. My aims are twofold: to examine a centurys worth of covert electoral interference, and to analyze Putins 2016 operation as the evolution of a practice rather than its creation. For democracies today, the stakes of grappling with this hidden and revelatory history could hardly be higher. The twin processes of globalization and digital connectivity have empowered hostile actors to manipulate democracies everywhere. The evolving threat of covert electoral interference is a symptom of a still more momentous challenge: the exposure of democracies in the age of the internet. [Russia] is taking advantage of our free and open societies in using these capabilities, said H. R. McMaster, Trumps former national security adviser. Its important for us to develop better means of defending ourselves against this kind of sustained, really sustained campaign of political subversion. If democracies do not meet this challenge, foreign actorsfor now Russia, but soon otherswill erode them from within. Some definitions are needed to keep my arguments precise. The words covert, interference, and electoral determine the scope of this book. An operation is covert only if the hand of the interfering actor is meant to be hidden; a public endorsement by a foreign leader, for example, does not qualify, but stolen emails released by a third party do. An operation amounts to interference only if the foreign actor deploys active measures, defined as activities intended to influence a person or government that are carried out in coordination with, or at the behest of, political leaders, including through the establishment or funding of a front group . . . covert broadcasting . . . media manipulation . . . disinformation and forgeries . . . funding agents of influence . . . [and] assassinations. And an operation qualifies as electoral only if it targets a vote that determines who becomes another countrys leader. Covert electoral interference can thus be defined as a concealed foreign effort to influence a democratic vote of succession. Staged coups detat do not involve votes of succession and therefore fall outside the bounds of this book. Democracy is a procedure to change rulers, writes historian Timothy Snyder. Democracies die when people cease to believe that voting matters. The question is not whether elections are held, but whether they are free and fair. Many factors can undermine an election, from voter suppression to voter intimidation. My focus is on foreign disruptions to electoral processes and on the power those operations have to corrupt democratic governments. This book advances four core arguments. First, the story of covert electoral interference is, above all, a story of Washington and Moscow. This story has spanned the past century, beginning with the end of World War I, when old empires collapsed and vulnerable democracies emerged. The Soviet Union, but not the United States, seized the opportunity to manipulate elections overseas. A break occurred between 1941 and 1945, as a result of a U.S.-Soviet alliance during another world war. The next phase of this history arose thereafter as Moscow rigged elections in Eastern Europe, and the world witnessed an explosion of covert electoral interference. Between 1948 and 1991, the CIA and the KGB, competing in a global Cold War, targeted elections aggressively and frequently. After the Soviet Union collapsed, a divergence took place. The United States moved away from covert electoral interference as a policy option, while Putins Russia, empowered by the internet, doubled down on the practice, marking its second global explosion. Today, as in 1919, Moscow is covertly interfering in elections abroad while Washington sits on the sidelinesonly now Russia possesses a digital arsenal to which the United States is profoundly vulnerable. Second, American operations to interfere in elections are comparable but not identical to Russian efforts to do the same. Every instance of covert electoral interference can be understood across two planes. One has to do with individual change: whether the intention of an operation is to promote a friendly candidate, defeat an unfriendly candidate, or exhibits no preference. The other has to do with systemic change: whether the intention of an operation is to strengthen, weaken, or not at all impact the internal functions of a democracy. Washington and Moscow are equivalent across the first plane. Both have used covert electoral interference to advantage specific candidates. But Moscow and Washington are not equivalent across the second plane. Putin and his predecessors have long believed they could use covert electoral interference to weaken foreign democracies, while American presidents, sometimes wrongly, have long believed they could use covert electoral interference to strengthen foreign democracies. Some operations detailed in this book exclusively involved individual change, as when the KGB supported major-party candidates in Cold Warera U.S. elections, not to weaken American democracy, but to promote friendlier American governments. Other operations exclusively involved systemic change, as when Russia covertly spread propaganda in favor of the Leave campaign in the United Kingdom, in order to weaken British democracy. And certain operations involved both systemic and individual change, as when the CIA, in 2000, supported the opposition to Slobodan Milosevic, a murderous tyrant, not just to establish a more conciliatory Serbian government, but also to strengthen Serbian democracy. The guy was a war criminal, President Bill Clinton told me, in explaining why he authorized the CIA to interfere in this election. I didnt consider Milosevic to be a democracy candidate; I thought he was trying to get rid of democracy. In this sense, covert electoral interference is a more tense policy option for Washingtonwhich has purported to manipulate democracies in order to solidify those democracies than for Moscow, which has manipulated democracies in order to tear them apart. Third, Russian interference in the 2016 election marked a direct continuation of old ideas. Covert electoral interference has always taken two forms: changing ballots and changing minds. The former can range from falsifying vote counts and buying votes to blackmailing voters and hacking into voting systems; the latter, from influencing foreign media and disseminating propaganda to leaking salacious information and funding political campaigns. The purpose of Russias 2016 operation is not new, either: assisting a friendly candidate, undermining a threatening candidate, and sowing discord within a foreign democracy. Voters, once aware of a covert campaign to influence them, have always struggled to accept that they might have been played. And across history, as in 2016, the mere discovery of such an operation can divide a nation. From Britains 1924 election, to Chiles 1964 election, to Americas 2016 election, this book recognizes and learns from these patterns. We can fight the virus better when we know everything about the virus, including how it started, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the organization, said on Monday. Meanwhile, the Chinese government approved a coronavirus vaccine candidate for use by the countrys military for one year, its maker said. CanSino Biologics says it has seen promising results for the vaccine in early trials. The vaccine candidate was developed by the pharmaceutical company and a research institute at Chinas Academy of Military Science. Context: The CanSino product is one of eight Chinese vaccine candidates approved for human trials. We wrote about the scramble to get treatment off the ground last month. In other news: Boris Johnson, Britains prime minister, is trying to regroup in the coronavirus pandemic by burying Thatcherism and embarking on a program of ambitious public works. A top official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Monday that the surge of coronavirus cases was discouraging. At least 15 states have paused or reversed plans to reopen. Here are the latest updates and maps of where the virus has spread. The Times is providing free access to much of our coronavirus coverage, and our Coronavirus Briefing newsletter like all of our newsletters is free. Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription. The new legislation, released to the public for the first time after its adoption, provides a blueprint for the authorities and courts to suppress the citys protest movement and for Chinas national security apparatus to pervade layers of Hong Kong society. In ambiguous wording, it lays out new crimes and authorizes life imprisonment in the most serious cases. Here are some key points: The law takes aim at antigovernment protesters. Activities like damaging government buildings and interrupting public transit are described as acts of subversion and terrorism. It allows Beijing to seize broad control in security cases, especially during crises. A new Committee for Safeguarding National Security will operate in total secrecy and will be shielded from legal challenges. The law focuses heavily on the perceived role of foreigners in Hong Kongs unrest. It will impose harsh penalties on anyone who urges foreign countries to criticize or to impose sanctions on the government. Big picture: Critics have called it a death knell to the One Country, Two Systems political framework that preserved Hong Kongs distinctive status. Response: The business world has largely fallen in line behind Chinas campaign to tighten its grip on Hong Kong. Many leaders around the world condemned the law, The Financial Times reports. For anyone trying to make sense of the Supreme Court run by Chief Justice John Roberts, yesterdays two big decisions were helpful. In the more prominent one, Roberts joined the courts four liberal justices to strike down a restrictive Louisiana abortion law. It was the third major decision this month in which Roberts sided with the liberals, having already done so on L.G.B.T.Q. rights and immigration. The cases have been reminders that the Roberts court is not reliably conservative on every issue, even though Republican presidents appointed five of the nine justices, including Roberts. Over the years, the court has also established a constitutional right to same-sex marriage (with Anthony Kennedy, now retired, as the swing vote); declined to outlaw affirmative action; upheld most parts of Obamacare; and more. These decisions have left many conservatives feeling betrayed. Yet there is at least one big area in which the Roberts court has continued to lean strongly right: business regulation. A top Adidas executive resigned on Tuesday, weeks after a number of Black employees pushed for her ouster amid a wider outcry over what they said were past acts of racism and discrimination at the company. Karen Parkin, who is British, had been the only woman on Adidass six-person executive board since 2017, and was responsible for human resources across the company. She worked for Adidas for over 20 years in sales, business development and supply chain positions across Britain and the United States and at the companys headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Her decision to leave the company reflects that commitment and her belief that a new H.R. leader will best drive forward the pace of change that Adidas needs at this time, said Igor Landau, chairman of the companys supervisory board, in a release announcing her resignation. Germany has a two-tiered board system in which a supervisory board is elected both by shareholders and employees, while the executive board runs the day-to-day operations of the company. In a letter sent to employees and seen by The New York Times, Ms. Parkin acknowledged that she had lost the trust of Adidas employees. HONG KONG The business world has largely fallen in line behind Chinas campaign to tighten its grip on Hong Kong, including its support for a new national security law that many residents fear will hurt the former British colonys status as a laissez-faire, freethinking city. Beijing twisted some arms to win that support, hinting that it could use its huge clout to punish any global company or local tycoon who crosses it. China has also won over some business hearts and minds and a big new inflow of Chinese money into the territory has helped it make its case. On Tuesday, Beijing made good on its promise and passed the sweeping national security law, a far-reaching blueprint for the authorities and the courts to suppress the citys protest movement and for Chinas national security apparatus to pervade many layers of Hong Kongs society. The law, which took effect immediately, lays out crimes for subverting the government or colluding with foreign governments or external forces to spy on or gravely harm China. Hong Kongs top official will be given the power to appoint judges to hear certain security-related cases, raising alarms about the erosion of Hong Kongs once coveted independent judiciary. By David Tizzard David Tizzard Netflix said on Tuesday that it would move up to $100 million, or 2 percent of its cash holdings, to financial institutions that focus on Black communities. It is intended to address a longstanding problem that these communities face: a lack of capital for the banks and other lenders that service them. Earlier in June, the streaming companys chief executive, Reed Hastings, pledged $120 million to support scholarships at historically Black colleges and universities. The move on Tuesday by the company he runs aims to fight racial inequality not through charity but via a routine commercial aspect of its business. As the companys considerable cash pile grows, so might its deposits. Netflix will start with $35 million, split two ways: $25 million in financing for a new fund, the Black Economic Development Initiative, that will itself invest in Black financial institutions, and $10 million deposited with the Hope Credit Union. These institutions join the roughly 30 banks worldwide that Netflix uses to hold its cash. Want this delivered to your inbox each day? Sign up here. Netflixs $100 million plan to boost black lenders We have the first look at a new move to help bridge the racial economic divide in America: Netflix will shift some of its $5 billion in cash to financial institutions that focus on black communities. Netflix will bank up to 2 percent of its holdings, or about $100 million, with such lenders. It will start with $35 million, split two ways: financing a new fund, the Black Economic Development Initiative, that will invest in black financial institutions; and banking with the Hope Credit Union. (Netflix already spreads its cash among about 30 banks worldwide.) The billionaire investor Robert F. Smith proposed that big companies donate 2 percent of their annual profits to black-owned businesses, but this was developed before he aired that idea. Also, this move addresses racial inequality not through charity, but via a routine commercial aspect of Netflixs business. As the companys cash pile grows, so might its deposits at banks like Hope. Lenders cited two main reasons there was money left over. First, most eligible companies that wanted a loan were ultimately able to obtain one. (The program limited each applicant to only one loan.) Also, the programs complicated and shifting requirements dissuaded some qualified borrowers, who feared they would be unable to get their loan forgiven. Trying to comply with those rules was a challenge for many businesses. Tracy Singleton closed her farm-to-table restaurant in Minneapolis, the Birchwood Cafe, in mid-March and laid off all but a handful of her 62 workers. She received a $382,200 loan in early April, a week after the program began, and soon spent it all even though she wont be fully reopening any time soon. Ms. Singleton said she might have chosen to spend the money more slowly if things had been different. But I had to go with the rules as they were at the time, she said. When she received the loan, businesses had just eight weeks to spend the cash if they wanted to have the loan completely forgiven. So Ms. Singleton, who had switched to curbside pickup sales, brought back dozens of workers, brainstorming new projects for them to tackle. Her payroll ballooned from a skeleton crew of eight to a peak of 48 employees. But as the clock ticked down to the end of her eight weeks of support, it became clearer to lawmakers that the downturn wasnt ending anytime soon. Congress amended the loan program in early June to give recipients nearly six months to use their aid money, but Ms. Singleton had already spent most of her funds. When the money ran out, she laid off workers again. She is down to a staff of about 20. We looked at this as a bridge, she said. Then our time was up, and theres no solid ground to stand on yet. It was not immediately clear what such a review would entail and whether it includes other airlines with similar policies. It was also not clear what the C.D.C. might do in response and whether it even had the power to compel airlines to leave some seats empty. Dr. Redfields comments come amid a surge in coronavirus cases in states like Arizona, California, Florida and Texas that had been allowing more businesses to reopen and relaxing restrictions on gatherings. Some of those states have paused or reversed their reopening plans in recent days. American said its decision would not put passengers at greater risk. We are unwavering in our commitment to the safety and well-being of our customers and team members, Ross Feinstein, an American spokesman, said in a statement. We have multiple layers of protection in place for those who fly with us, including required face coverings, enhanced cleaning procedures, and a preflight Covid-19 symptom checklist. American had been limiting flights to about 85 percent capacity, enough to leave half the middle seats empty, but said last week that it would let customers buy up all the available seats on its flights starting Wednesday. Other airlines have taken a similar approach. United Airlines had never limited the number of passengers on its flights. United and American have said that they will warn customers when they are on a fully booked flights and let them switch to a less-packed flight. By comparison, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines have said that they will continue to cap the number of passengers on their flights through September. Southwest, which does not assign seats, is limiting flights at a level that would allow each middle seat to remain empty, though it will allow passengers to sit where they want. Delta is capping main cabins at 60 percent and first class cabins at 50 percent, while also blocking middle seats. Niraj Chokshi The Paycheck Protection Program is ending with money to spare. On Oct. 22, 2018, at 8:59 a.m. Pacific time, Jenny Gao, the Los Angeles-based chef and founder of the Sichuan condiment company Fly By Jing, posted a photo on Twitter: an advertisement she saw at a shop in Chongqing, China, featuring a towering swirl of soft-serve vanilla ice cream, a slick of crimson-red, debris-studded chile oil rippling down its surface and pooling at the rim of the plastic cup. Within the next hour, I was at a local Chinese supermarket, buying four bottles of Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp that I then dropped off at my restaurant, Wursthall, in San Mateo, Calif. By noon, my sous chef and I were cobbling together our own recipe for a spicy chile condiment, leaning heavily on one that the chef and writer Sohla El-Waylly published on Serious Eats earlier that year. Throughout the afternoon, we drizzled jarred sauces and iterations of our homemade version over spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream. By that evening, an early take on our spicy chile crisp sundae was on our secret, word-of-mouth, late-night menu. Things move fast in the age of social media. When 17-year-old Darnella Frazier filmed the police killing of George Floyd on her phone in May, her video reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and nationwide protests, even prompting one supporter to name her the Rosa Parks of her generation. In addition to setting off policy debates about police reform, the protests have also renewed interest in books, visual art and movies, especially documentaries about race and social justice. Ava DuVernays 13TH, her Academy Award-nominated film about the disproportionate criminalization and incarceration of African-Americans from the end of slavery until today, was originally released in 2016 but has been among Netflixs most-watched films, let alone documentaries, in recent weeks. Stanley Nelsons The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, from 2015, about the rise of the Black Panther Party in the 1960s and 70s and its continuing influence in American culture and politics, has gotten new life, running as part of a PBS rebroadcast earlier this month and getting showcased on Amazon Prime Video. And on Hulu, Whose Streets?, the 2018 directorial debut of Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis, follows a group of young, Black Ferguson protesters and their families, at the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014, when a white police officer killed an unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown, in St. Louis. While these films span time periods and political movements, they all share an unflinching commitment to racial justice and depict Black resistance and African-American resilience as a powerful strategy against white supremacy. But they also all recognize the entrenched obstacles be it local police forces, F.B.I. surveillance or the National Guard lobbing tear gas against peacefully protesting Americans that are systematically used against African-Americans in their long struggle for the full rights, benefits and equal protection under the law to which they are entitled. I met virtually with DuVernay in Los Angeles, Nelson in Marthas Vineyard, Folayan in Philadelphia, and Davis in St. Louis for a lively and powerful discussion on race, the African-American documentary tradition, and the power of film in our current moment. These filmmakers all knew one another and were fans of each others work, so despite the weight of the topic and the tragedy that brought us together, this intergenerational dialogue was intimate and familiar, turning the flattened reality of a Zoom call into a family reunion on a warm, summer day. These are excerpts from that conversation. Casting Black and Latino actors as the founding fathers and their allies Daveed Diggs as Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Hamiltons mortal frenemy Aaron Burr was much more than a gesture of inclusiveness. (Jonathan Groff channels the essential, irreducible whiteness of King George III.) The shows argument, woven through songs that brilliantly synthesized hip-hop, show tunes and every flavor of pop, was that American history is an open book. Any of us should be able to write ourselves into it. Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the Treasury and an architect of the American banking system, was Mirandas chosen embodiment of this belief: an outsider with no money and scant connections who propelled himself into the center of the national narrative through sheer brains, talent and drive. Miranda shares some of his heros ambition and intelligence, and turns Hamilton into an avatar of modern American aspiration. Just like his country, he sings, hes young, scrappy and hungry. The tale of his rise fuses individual striving and collective struggle. For all his sometimes comical self-regard (he has a pickup line about my top-notch brain), Hamilton doesnt measure success just in personal terms. Thats Burrs great shortcoming: He scrambles after power and prestige without taking a risk or committing himself to a principle. But Hamilton wants to make his mark by making a difference. Self-making and nation-building are aspects of a single project. Hamilton is a brilliant feat of historical imagination, which isnt the same as a history lesson. Miranda used Ron Chernows dad-lit doorstop the way Shakespeare drew on Holinsheds Chronicles as a treasure trove of character, anecdote and dramatic raw material. One of the marvels of the show is the way it brings long-dead, legend-shrouded people to vivid and sympathetic life. The close-ups and camera movements in this version enhance the charisma of the performers, adding a dimension of intimacy that compensates for the lost electricity of the live theatrical experience. Upon returning to civilian life, Mr. Carlino attended El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., and then studied playwriting at the University of Southern California. After graduating in 1959, he earned a masters degree in theater from the university in 1960. His first plays were produced by the universitys Workshop Theater while he was an undergraduate there. His work later found its way onto professional stages in Los Angeles and New York, where he earned the Drama DeskVernon Rice Award for excellence in Off Broadway theater. After a successful run at a summer theater festival in 1967, his play The Exercise opened on Broadway in April 1968, starring Anne Jackson and Stephen Joyce. But the reviews were negative, and it closed after only five performances. When Mr. Carlino returned to El Camino College to direct his play The Brick and the Rose in the early 1960s, he met and married Natelle Lamkin, who later acted in local productions in Ojai, Calif. They had three children: Vone Natelle Carlino, who died in 1988; Lewis John Carlino II, who died in 2018; and Alessa, who survives him, along with one grandson and one great-granddaughter. Mr. Carlinos first marriage ended in divorce in 1970. In 1976 he married Jilly Chadwick, whom he met while she was working as a script supervisor on The Brotherhood. She died in 2015. Though his work faced harsh criticism at times, Mr. Carlino always prided himself on knowing his characters inside and out. Kagnew Battalion's chaplain in Gapyeong, May 5, 1952. Robert Neff Collection By Robert Neff The chaplain's speech on May 5, 1952. Robert Neff Collection One of the least-known participants in the Korean War was Ethiopia. The first battalion of Ethiopian soldiers arrived in Busan in May 1951. Known as the Kagnew ("to bring order out of chaos") Battalion, it was viewed with a degree of skepticism by American officers. Many felt the Ethiopians should be placed in rear areas instead of the front line, but the Ethiopians insisted on being in the heat of battle with their American counterparts. So they were assigned to the American Seventh Division. Things were not easy. The Ethiopian soldiers could not speak English, were unfamiliar with American army tactics and many were leery of Western doctors. After several weeks of training (three to six weeks, depending on the source) near Busan, the Kagnew Battalion was sent north to the front and within days the unit distinguished itself in combat. The Ethiopian soldiers soon gained a reputation. The Chinese feared them. The Kagnew Battalion never left a man behind wounded or dead and none of their soldiers were ever captured by the North Koreans or Chinese. It was like they were ghosts. Perhaps even more alarming were the rumors of cannibalism by the Ethiopians. Of course, these were false, but they only made the Kagnew Battalion even more terrifying to the enemy. Fred Dustin, a young American soldier with the 7th Infantry Division's band, recalled seeing the Ethiopian soldiers at Gapyeong on May 5, 1952. For the most part, he knew little about the unit, save that his band would take part in one an Ethiopian celebration. Dustin was not in his own words "a fighter," so he was probably unaware of the Ethiopian unit's reputation in battle. He was also not very religious but there was something about the unit's chaplain and his "very beautiful costume" that left a lasting impression. Several years ago, I found a copy of the chaplain's speech in an old box of Dustin's photographs. I asked him about it but he only shook his head and smiled. Now that I have reread it, perhaps I do understand why a young soldier would carefully tuck it away into his rucksack and keep it for the rest of his life. Gapyeong village, May 1952. Robert Neff Collection Skyman, Daniel Myricks curiously gentle contribution to the alien-visitation genre, is a faux documentary and an all-too-real examination of the way a single childhood incident can infect an entire life. That life belongs to Carl Merryweather (Michael Selle), an obsessive loner whose claim of having been visited by an extraterrestrial three decades earlier has isolated him from the other residents of his small California town. Now, on the eve of his 40th birthday, Carl is eagerly anticipating the promised return of his skyman: Having spent the intervening years compiling first-person accounts of other contactees, Carl is excited when a documentary crew wants to film the reunion and silence his naysayers. The Hathaway-Andrews Battle of Wills In scene after scene, Mia and her prim and proper grandma match wits and trade repartee. Andrews is a closet sass-master whose exasperated comebacks occasionally conquer her granddaughters endless loop of lip. Andrews made her name as Henry Higginss cheeky pupil, Eliza Doolittle, in My Fair Lady on Broadway in 1956. But as a queen tasked with whipping her sulky granddaughter into shape, her firm approach isnt without humor. When Mias clunky Mustang dies halfway up one of San Franciscos Russian Hill steep streets, sending her and Clarisse sliding into a cable car, the queen knights a police officer with the fictitious Genovian Order of the Rose, saving Mia from a ticket. An awe-struck Mia declares, You are the coolest queen ever! a pronouncement she quickly forgets when Clarisse chews her out after the paparazzi corner her clad in only a towel at a beach party. But in the film-long feud of royalty vs. rebel, the conflict is one of exasperation rather than true enmity. Everything About Joe (Or Joseph. But Never Joey.) Hector Elizondos Joe might be the best perk of Mias princess-ship: The head of Genovian security never panics; he gut-checks Clarisse when he thinks shes being too harsh on her granddaughter; and, in a major wingman move, swoops in mid-thunderstorm with a limo to escort a soaked Mia to her inaugural ball. (True, her car has broken down, but he also guessed shed try to run away.) He gets all the great one-liners as Mias chauffeur, bodyguard and eventual father figure. (Ive never put on pantyhose, but it sounds dangerous.) The princess and the queen may be the main players, but as the counselor to both, Joe is the emotional linchpin of the film. Just dont call him Joey. Hop Kee is a basement Cantonese eatery offering $9.50 shrimp lo mein. Hwa Yuan Szechuan is a three-story, white-tablecloth restaurant where the whole fish with hot bean sauce is $45. Both have long histories in Manhattans Chinatown, and a deep aversion to delivery apps. Hop Kees owner could not afford the services high fees. Hwa Yuans owner, Chen Lieh Tang, 67, said his cuisine was meant to be eaten in one place: Hwa Yuan. I dont want people to eat the food cold, he said. Its not my style. So, when the coronavirus pandemic shut down all on-site dining, almost no one was able to enjoy their food, forcing them to confront difficult questions about modernization and adaptation that may reshape businesses across the storied neighborhood. Since its formation around the 1870s, Chinatown has managed to preserve its working-class immigrant character, even as wealth transformed nearly every neighborhood around it. Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, said that last Tuesdays elections were a referendum on black lives that signaled a political realignment was in progress. This was a what side are you on moment, he said. The early results underscored a national trend in Democratic politics that seems to be playing out in New York, too: Candidates of color are assembling broad winning coalitions that bring together liberal white voters and voters of color. White majority districts can be led by people of color and black candidates if the message is broad, progressive and inclusive, said Sochie Nnaemeka, head of the New York State Working Families Party. Voters are hungry for a different type of leadership, she said. Nowhere does that appear to be more true than in Mr. Joness race in the 17th Congressional District, which includes Rockland County and parts of Westchester County and is majority white and only 10 percent black. My story is quintessentially the American dream, and people want to be inspired by their elected officials, said Mr. Jones, who grew up poor in Rockland County and then went to Stanford University and to Harvard Law School. When people bring their lived experience with them to policymaking, that process becomes more informed. Race and identity politics were not necessarily the only thing driving insurgent campaigns. Most candidates ran on unabashedly left-wing platforms, supporting Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. They hammered their opponents for being absent from their districts. In Westchester County, a female federal prosecutor, Mimi Rocah, whose campaign was centered on a progressive Right Side of Justice agenda, was leading the incumbent district attorney, Anthony Scarpino. Many challengers had deep ties to their communities: They were teachers, activists, tenant organizers. But race was certainly an underlying factor in many of the candidacies, and it was amplified by the recent civil unrest over police brutality. Defunding police means defunding police, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. Mr. de Blasios former deputy mayor, Richard Buery Jr., also chimed in, saying on Twitter that the police cuts did not reflect a fundamental shift in the nature of policing, and that the city had failed to capitalize on an opportunity to begin that journey. Critics cited, for example, City Halls assertion that the transfer of school safety agents to the Department of Education from the Police Department amounted to a $400 million shift of police resources. The Department of Education already funds the school safety program, sending some $300 million a year to the Police Department, according to New York Citys Independent Budget Office. The move simply means that the Department of Education will now operate a program it had already been underwriting. If you are not spending the money on that agency, if money that agency was planning to spend is no longer in their budget, that is savings by any measure, Mr. de Blasio argued, during a news conference on Tuesday afternoon. The mayor and Mr. Johnson are also projecting the Police Department will be able to reduce its overtime costs by $350 million, but it is not clear what basis they are using for that projection, especially when officers are policing frequent protests and crime is rising. Hes really just moving money around, and hes not really meeting the demand of the campaign, said Anthonine Pierre, the deputy director of the Brooklyn Movement Center, who has joined protesters in front of City Hall to demand Police Department cuts. On Tuesday morning, those protests became more confrontational, which Ms. Pierre said underscored the need for more radical change. A vast majority of students navigate this process alone. They share their college counselors with 430 other students on average. It is therefore no surprise that 40 percent fall at the first hurdle and dont even complete their FAFSA. And no surprise, too, that no students complete all the financial aid applications available to them. The coronavirus pandemic only worsens the situation. School counselors are even harder to reach, a lot of this information is online where students without a decent computer cant find it, and many families ability to pay has been significantly reduced, making financial aid even more important. The $100 billion in student loans issued each year is an unsustainable consequence, but the most damaging repercussion is the impact on students ambitions. To simplify the process, we developed a free platform, Going Merry, to help students find and apply for private scholarships, college financial aid and government grants, in one place. About 350,000 students and 7,500 counselors use the service. Along with applying for assistance, students can see what aid various colleges offer to students. Stanford University, for example, shows its commitment to meet the full need to students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. The University of Virginia highlights its same commitment to ensure that out-of-state students know about its financial aid as well as those in-state. Colleges can also feature particular programs. Centre College in Kentucky, for example, shows its Grissom Scholars Program, a full-tuition scholarship for first-generation college students. [MUSIC PLAYING] I mostly care for people in their homes, people like parents, grandparents This is Nancy. This is my sweetheart. the most vulnerable population of our society, people who need help going to the bathroom, eating, taking the medications. This is for your bones. This is for your pain. Brendan is paralyzed from the neck down. We do everything for him. All right, so Ive got to lift you up. Yep. All right? I work seven days a week, but I love my job. I wouldnt do anything else. Ive worked for over 30 years doing this, and I make just over $15 an hour. I live in Massachusetts, and my salary is actually one of the highest in the country. 18 percent of us live below the poverty line. Nationally, we make just over $16,200 a year. And even though I work in health care, I cannot afford health insurance. I avoid going to the doctors. I have medical bills I havent paid. My new tattoo is Were all in this together, and it is the world as a heart. Since Covid, the federal government is giving out more than $100 billion of emergency money to hospitals, nursing homes, long-term-care facilities. Thats great, but most of the money isnt going to people like me. Im not a materialistic person, and Im not asking to make a million dollars. I dont mind doing hard work, but I need to make a living. I need to be able to pay my bills, especially now with coronavirus. Most home givers arent receiving hazard pay. Ive had to pay for a lot of their P.P.E. out of my own pocket. If we are essential workers, we need to be treated like essential workers. I know. I know, right? If I were to go on unemployment and stop working, I would make about the same amount of money, if not more. And then theres not going to be anybody to take care of these people, and thats just crazy. Its a very broken system. These patients are sick, and they need to be cared for. This is every innocent persons nightmare. Last Tuesday, Nancy fell. She basically sat on the floor until she was found. I would hate to have her end up in a nursing home or a long-term-care facility, but thats whats going to happen if she doesnt receive the care. I give her a quality of life that she deserves, and I dont want her to lose that. Thats why I do what I do. If she falls, she loses all of that. [Crying] Im sorry. You all right? You want to change it? You all right? I love you. Get up. Dont cry. Youre going to make me cry. Come on. It doesnt have to be like this. The federal government and the Department of Health and Human Services must require some of the money that is going out for relief to go to the front-line caregivers. States could also use the Medicaid to increase our pay. Some states increased wages for all health workers, including home caregivers. Arkansas is doing it now. Arkansas did prove that it is possible. Even a few dollars more an hour would change our lives and make the health care system more sustainable and safer for our patients. All right, kiddo. But when this is all over in the post-Covid world, the money shouldnt get taken away. Caregivers will still be needed, and we should be paid a living wage. We need help. And then when I get old, you can take of me, right? Oh, yeah. This is what Ive always done. This is what Ill always do. Im a caregiver. This article is part of the Debatable newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it Tuesdays and Thursdays. For many weeks now in New York City, a heartening number of signs have been popping up of what one might dare call a semblance of normalcy. Around the corner from where I live, my favorite coffee shop has started serving iced lattes again for the first time in months. (With paper straws, of course.) Across the street, my least unfavorite dentist is back to doing root canals. But a little farther down the avenue, there is a collection of public schools that closed back in March, and whose doors I have seen open since only once. In New York, as in the rest of the country, parents and guardians are asking whether their children will be able to go back to school in the fall. But as with so many questions about the coronavirus, the answer often seems to be we dont know. As new Covid-19 cases surge in the United States, what are the risks of restarting in-person classes, and how should we weigh them? Heres what people are saying. To the Editor: In A Plague of Willful Ignorance (column, June 23), Paul Krugman excoriates the bad leadership at the top, meaning Donald Trumps lethal delays, ego-obsessed actions and his bungling examples bringing out the worst behavior among his supporters and officeholding political loyalists around the country. But Mr. Krugman decried the situation without a demand and without giving readers the conclusion from his convictions. Urgently, there must be a public and congressional call for President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to step aside and let professional public health specialists manage the federal effort against the Covid-19 pandemic. This will diminish the daily White House damage, confusion, fabrications and flight from responsibility inflicted on the American people. Other places, like Taiwan, New Zealand, Thailand, British Columbia and Uruguay, put their health professionals in charge with results far superior to those of the United States. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, second from left, tours Semes, Samsung's key semiconductor equipment affiliate, in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, Tuesday. Samsung said he inspected production lines of chip- and display-making equipment as part of his on-site management activities. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics An open letter to the boy and girl with matching airbrush book bags on the corner of Lawndale Avenue and Cermak Road. I began to worry about police violence in Chicago back in the summer of 2004. Thats when I saw you on your knees at the corner of South Lawndale Avenue and West Cermak Road. Its been more than a decade. I know youre much older now, and yet when I see black and brown teenagers of todays Chicago, I always return to that scene. Four police cars were parked along the curb. Six officers patted you down. Your bags were both white, each with a different word airbrushed in graffiti letters. Your names, I assumed, though I couldnt make them out from where I stood. I had moved to Chicago two weeks prior to this incident, and it scared me for two reasons. I was worried that this was something that I too might face. At the same time, I was reliving a scene from my past. When I was around the same age as you were then, I found myself in a similar position. My two older brothers and I had just moved from Baltimore to Columbia, Maryland. We decided to go to the mall. Before long, we realized a plainclothes police officer was following us from store to store. He eventually ordered us to stop. He frisked both of my brothers, who were 15 and 16, against the rail on the second floor. The cop took my eldest brother Wole through one of those doors that you never notice along the corridors of a mall until all of your senses are heightened, and you notice everything. It would take four long hours for Wole to be released. When the police released you, I felt a similar kind of relief as I felt then. But I also felt the familiar combination of anger, frustration, and, yes, fear. I cannot change the anger and frustration and fear you must have felt. All I can say is that if I could press rewind and go back to the moment that you too were released, this time I will say a few words to you. It was not your fault that you were stopped by the police. I know they probably suggested it was, but those accusations are just a way of concealing the open secret. The open secret is this: The kind of police harassment you faced has grown into torture, and has even resulted in death, all because police violence is rooted in fear. Another open letter to the boy and girl with matching airbrush book bags on the corner of Lawndale Avenue and Cermak Road. Its been so long since I saw you detained on that corner in Chicago. Even though I still dont have all the answers, and I still dont know how to solve this scourge, I have at least done something. Ive done as an academic the thing I know how to do best, research, and study and write. So I started a research project about the history of police violence in Chicago. For this project, Ive interviewed black youth in Chicago and talked about their experiences with the police. Their stories would probably sound familiar to you, given that they are your younger brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, friends, and in a way, your younger selves. During one of our conversations, for instance, Nakia explained to a group of teenagers that when her brother was around 15, the same age she was then, he got arrested. My mom was there, so of course she was trying to calm me down. But she was distracted, because I have older siblings. Nakias brothers and sisters were angry and getting more and more agitated, which put pressure on Nakias mother to make sure no one else went to jail. I definitely didnt understand what was happening. There was a lot going on, and I was just like, wheres he going? When Nakia finished sharing her story, Phillip spoke. My first memory of the police is from when I was 13, and there was a shooting on the block. Phillip had been walking in a large group with his brothers and cousins, eight of them in all. An unmarked police car braked right in front of them, and an officer jumped out and told everyone to put their hands above their heads. He started groping us in our private parts to look for guns and stuff. I was 13. What would I be doing with a gun? Like Phillip, what happened to you on Lawndale and Cermak is probably something youve worked hard to move beyond. But I vow to make sure that your experience will impact a younger generation of Chicagoans who are searching for a way to process their feelings about the police. I cannot change that day, and I cannot change the pain, and frustration and confusion you must have felt walking home with your heads hung low. I hope that if you could read this letter, you would feel the pain of that day, the burdens of that mistreatment growing into something else, a greater sense of purpose, perhaps. When I think about that, I cant help but smile. An open letter to the late Dominique Damo Franklin. I didnt know you while you were living, but I do know you in death. You died at 23, and were much loved by your friends and family. But as a teenager and as a young adult, you experienced run-ins with the Chicago police that instilled in you a healthy fear of the cops a fear familiar to many African-American youth. I also know that on May 7, 2014, you allegedly stole a bottle of liquor from a convenience store. When the police showed up, you ran. The officers chased and then caught you. Once they handcuffed you, they used a taser on you two different times. The second time, you fell and hit your head, lapsing into a coma, from which you never awoke. When I think about the circumstances of your death, I cant help but remember the first man to expose police torture in Chicago, Andrew Wilson. His life and your death lead us to question: what kinds of police violence are we willing to accept? The police electrocuted Andrew with a mysterious device called the black box. A police commander Jon Burge supposedly engineered that box for the sole purpose of inflicting pain. The City of Chicago has now apologized to more than 100 black men who were tortured in this way. What Burge did to them and to Andrew Wilson is now considered unacceptable, unlike what the Chicago police did to you. The police electrocuted you with the weapon weve all become familiar with. The taser company engineered the device for the purpose of incapacitating people who are deemed dangerous. The police tased you just past midnight because of your alleged actions. But the City of Chicago has never apologized to you. When it comes to you, our government believes that the police acted within the scope of the law. And therefore what those officers did to you, how they killed you, has been deemed reasonable. I want to tell you that a growing number of Americans disagree. From the taser to the black box, police violence exists on a continuum. And the violence on that continuum has one thing in common. It represents the ways our country injures and kills its most vulnerable groups. And we must change our countrys tendency to systematically kill and deliberately control people in honor of you, Damo. An open letter to the late Andrew Wilson. You passed away on November 19, 2007, while serving out your life sentence in Menard Correctional Center. But in Chicago, your memory is very much alive. I dont know where your soul or your spirit resides. But in this world, your name will forever be linked to that of Jon Burge, given that you filed the civil suit that marked the beginning of the end of his reign of torture. Im writing because I want you to understand the magnitude of the evil you helped thwart, though at great personal cost to yourself. I thought about your sacrifice recently when I reread the famous letter that Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to his fellow clergy from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama. It was quoted in a court ruling that described the scene of a black boys torture. In 1991, that boy, Marcus Wiggins, then 13, was brought into Burges Precinct for questioning about a murder. A few hours later, Wiggins was electrocuted with a torture device. Several years later, he sued Burge and the City of Chicago. After the trial, the police wanted evidence related to the Wiggins case kept confidential. But Judge Ruben Castillo disagreed. He ordered the public release of numerous disciplinary files containing allegations of torture. His rationale was that the files must be exposed to the light of human conscience. In making his case, Judge Castillo referenced Kings letter. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up, it must be open with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, and justice must be exposed with all the tension its exposure creates to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured. I could not agree more with Kings sentiment or with Castillos application of it. And yet, comparing the torture of a 13-year-old to a boil doesnt do justice to the suffering that people like Wiggins experienced. A boil can be cured relatively easily, but the scars left by torture can last a lifetime. Because torture is so deeply rooted in the culture of the Chicago Police force, I think that we require another more apt metaphor. Police torture is more like a tree, a hideous and disfigured tree, a tree that blooms death rather than life, a tree that casts a long and dark shadow. You helped me see that our country bears responsibility for the torture tree, Andrew, and that our countrys investment in fear is what has allowed the torture tree to grow. Or consider a different example, one raised by puckish conservatives in the last few weeks: The case of Yale University, named for a 17th-century merchant, official and dealer in slaves named Elihu Yale. What is honored and memorialized in the schools name (and this is true of many schools) is exactly one deed from Yales often wicked and dishonest life the donation of his money to the young college. The name Yale doesnt honor old Elihus slaving; it simply pays the schools debt to him, acknowledging that Yale owes part of its very existence to a rich mans desire to see ill-gotten money put to better use. Now some might suggest that Yales existence is not in fact a good thing, and that honoring the man whose money helped establish it is therefore a mistake. But if Yale is bad in this profound sense, then renaming the school wont magically make it good; it will remain the same bad place, continue taking money from todays Elihu Yales (how much money touched by slave labor in China fills Yales coffers even now?), and all it will have done is added self-righteous amnesia and historical ingratitude to its list of sins. Or consider a case with wider application the monuments to Christopher Columbus, like the one removed from a small park in my hometown, New Haven, Conn., just last week. These statues acknowledge the general debt that the New Worlds colonists, settlers and immigrants owe to the man who connected Europe and the Americas, along with (in most cases) the specific desire of Italian-American immigrants to acknowledge and lay claim to an Italian explorer. And just as Yales debt to Elihu exists so long as anyone believes that Yale is good and worth preserving, the American debt to Columbuss audacity exists so long as we are grateful to have had ancestors who crossed the seas to settle here notwithstanding his cruelty in governing Hispaniola or any other crime. Again, as in the previous examples, you can believe that gratitude of any sort is the wrong emotion to feel for 1492; you can believe that the settlement of the Americas was a purely wicked project whose fruits should be redistributed and whose legacy abjured. This belief is consistent with taking down the statues of Columbus; indeed its consistent with smashing them. But unless the endgame of New Havens removal of Columbus is the expropriation of white property (Yales property, I suppose, especially) and its redistribution to the Pequots and Mohegans, then a consistent rejection of Columbuss legacy isnt what my city is embracing. Instead, its just doing the same thing as Princeton: keeping the inheritance, but repudiating the benefactor. Keeping the gains, but making a big show of pronouncing them ill gotten. If this dance eventually falters, and the true radicals take over, maybe I will regret being too critical of its hypocrisies. (The Committee for the De-settling of the Americas can wave this column in my face when they come to expropriate my house.) But that possibility is one reason not to accentuate historical ingratitude so glaringly, lest the people who really pine for some genuine Year Zero take you up on the implied offer. Meanwhile, for now the ingratitude is being presented as a clear moral advance, and it is not. To enjoy an inheritance that comes from flawed men by pretending that it comes from nowhere, through nobody, is a betrayal of memory, not its rectification an act of self-righteousness that may not bring the revolution, but does make our ruling class that much less fit to rule. Thinking about the course of the Covid-19 pandemic in America, I found myself remembering Sam Smiths history of the march to war in Iraq, told entirely in official lies. So heres a modest attempt to do the same for the coronavirus, with statements from officials and right-wing media. Ive grouped the statements by topic, and used chronological order within each topic. The course of the pandemic We think we have it very well under control. We have contained this. I wont say airtight, but pretty close to airtight. We have done a good job in the United States. Its going to disappear. One day, like a miracle, its going to disappear. At worst worst case scenario it could be the flu. Were prepared, and were doing a great job with it. Its going to go away when you look at the kind of numbers that youre seeing coming out of other countries, its pretty amazing when you think of it. With new apartments only an elevator ride away or even just a walk down the hall many tenants are finding they dont need to hire movers. Instead, they are simply carrying their belongings to their new homes themselves. Moving in any manner wasnt something, Maria Liesen, 26, and Giacomo Novelli, 25, ever expected to be doing so soon. After all, they had only taken up residence in a one-bedroom apartment at 525 West 52nd, also in Hells Kitchen, in September. Recent transplants from Chicago, they had still been exploring New Yorks museums and cocktail bars when the coronavirus hit. Their place had felt plenty big when they had the whole city at their feet, but the world got a lot smaller when we had to stay indoors, said Mr. Novelli, who works at a trading firm. At first, he set up two of his big trading monitors on a card table in the living room. Ms. Liesen, a tech program manager at Amazon, would go back and forth between the sofa and the bedroom floor with her laptop and phone. But Mr. Novelli has a booming voice thats inescapable, said Ms. Liesen, even if she is in another room. I would hear: Buy! Sell! she said. Realizing the pandemic could go on for many months, they decided they needed a long-term solution that would provide more separation during the workday. Mr. Novelli called the buildings leasing agent and asked whether any two-bedroom units were available. At first there was only one. Then there were three. In the end the couple selected an apartment on a higher floor, with higher ceilings and an expansive south-facing view. All that, and they pay only about $200 more per month, Mr. Novelli said, because he entered rent discussions with a firm price in mind. The supply and demand factors were in our favor, he said. On a bright morning early this spring, David Ledford sat in his silver pickup at the end of a three-lane bridge spanning a deep gorge in southeast Kentucky. The bridge, which forks off U.S. 119, was constructed in 1998 by former Gov. Paul E. Patton for $6 million. It was seen at the time as a route to many things: a highway, a strip mall, housing developments. Today, it spills out onto Mr. Ledfords 12,000-acre property, which he and his business partner, Frank Allen, are developing into a nonprofit nature reserve called Boones Ridge. The road sloped up and disappeared around a hill, and Mr. Ledford took his right hand off the wheel for a moment to appreciate it. Its a hell of a driveway, he said. When Boones Ridge opens in 2022, it will offer a museum and opportunities for bird-watching and animal spotting. Two independent consultants have estimated that it could draw more than 1 million annual visitors and add over $150 million per year to the regional economy. This is in Bell County, in rural Appalachia, which has a poverty rate of 38 percent and an average household income of just under $25,000, making it one of the poorest counties in the United States. The decline of the coal industry created a multibillion-dollar hole in the economy and left hundreds of thousands of acres of scarred land. But it has also created opportunities. Boones Ridge is being established on reclaimed mine land, and one of its biggest selling points is a big animal that has only recently returned to Kentucky: elk. On any given day, somewhere in the United States, someone is going to wake up, leave the house and get in a huge argument with a stranger about wearing masks. Grocery store managers are training staff on how to handle screaming customers. Fistfights are breaking out at convenience stores. Some restaurants even say theyd rather close than face the wrath of various Americans who believe that masks, which help prevent the spread of coronavirus, impinge on their freedom. Joe Rogers, 47, a resident of Dallas, said that just last week, he had gotten in a physical fight over masks. In line at a Mini-Mart, he spotted a customer behind him not wearing a mask, he said, and he shook his head. The man asked why Mr. Rogers had been looking at him and Mr. Rogers, again, shook his head. The decision is the latest in a flurry of recent moves by tech companies to tighten the speech allowed on their popular services and more aggressively police extreme movements. The issue has become more pronounced in recent weeks after the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis who was killed in police custody last month. The killing set off major protests across the country demanding changes to police departments and the treatment of Black people more broadly. On Monday, Reddit said it was banning roughly 2,000 communities from across the political spectrum that attacked people or regularly engaged in hate speech, including r/The_Donald, a community devoted to President Trump. YouTube said it barred six channels for violating its policies, including those of two prominent white supremacists, David Duke and Richard Spencer. Facebooks changes have so far largely focused on the boogaloo movement and white supremacy hate groups. In May, Facebook said it updated its policies to ban the use of boogaloo and related terms when used in posts that contain depictions of armed violence. The company said it had identified and removed over 800 posts tied to boogaloo over the past two months because they defied its Violence and Incitement policy, and that it did not recommend pages and groups referencing the movement to others on the social network. This month, the company said that it had removed two networks of accounts connected to white supremacy groups that encouraged real-world violence. Followers of the boogaloo movement seek to exploit public unrest to incite a race war that will bring about a new government. Its adherents are usually staunch defenders of the Second Amendment, and some use Nazi iconography and its extremist symbols, according to organizations that track hate groups. Boogaloo is a pop culture reference derived from a 1984 movie called Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo that became a cult classic. Online, it has been connected to what some consider sarcastic and humorous memes, as well as with occasional physical violence and militaristic shows of force. The following video contains a Facebook newsfeed. While information contained in it is based on real posts and real events, the feed and characters depicted within it have been created for illustrative purposes. Section 1: INTRO On the surface Facebook seems pretty straight forward. You use it to spy on exes and make people jealous about that vacation you took that was actually a disaster. But in becoming such a central part of day-to-day communications Facebook has transformed into its own geopolitical force. One in five minutes spent online are spent on Facebook. Its a cyber kingdom with a population of over 2 billion. That power has made the leaders of many countries feel threatened. So governments have started to push back, attempting to regain some control over how their citizens communicate. Our story begins here where the fight between companies and countries has begun fragmenting the internet itself. TITLE: How Facebook is Changing Your Internet To understand Facebooks role in how the internet is breaking apart, you first have to leave the U.S. Zuck: Its great to be here in Barcelona with you Zuck: Its great to be here in Berlin Zuck: Its great to be here in India Zuck: I Wanted to come to Legos first Want to win an election in Ecuador? Are you trying to build a business in Brazil? Network in the Netherlands? Or are you trying to have your single go no. 1 in Senegal? It doesnt matter where you are or what youre doing Facebook has become a necessity for real world success. Section 2: Expansion Model In part, thats because the company has gone through extreme efforts to reach far flung corners of the globe. Theyre putting satellites into space and developing internet-beaming solar powered drones. Heres one taking off now. 1. Zuck: Connectivity cant be a privilege for just the rich and powerful. (It needs to be something that everyone shares, an opportunity for everyone.) The company is subsidizing connectivity in the developing world with the mission to make Facebook accessible to all. Here on the outskirts of Nairobi, Facebook made a deal with a telecom provider and now customers of that company can use Facebook free of charge. For those users, Facebook might be their entire experience of the internet. If you grew up and never had a computer and youve never used the internet and someone asked you if you wanted a data plan, you response would probably also be whats a data plan and why would I want one? They call it Free Basics a kind of mini version of the internet that gives users free access to Facebook and a few other sites. Theyre rolling it out in developing countries all around the world. So why does it matter if they gives away free Facebook access? KENYA - EX: 1 of Unintended Consequence Lets say you live in Nairobi and your name is Phyl. You find some cheap handbags made of the finest chinese pleather and decide to sell them online. With Facebook offering free internet and just about everyone you know using the site, you decide theres no need to pay for a shop, so you snap a photo of a blue bag, post it on your facebook page and soon customers from across East Africa are liking your photo. Some people even place orders, even a few who dont have a data plan because theyre using Facebooks free version of the internet. Theyre happy because they found a bag and didnt pay any sales tax or data fees. Your happy because you avoided renting a shop and got cash. So life is good. But then you realize, your entire economic existence is resting in the hands of a coder in a hoody who loves avocado toast sitting in Silicon Valley. The more you think about it, the more uncertainty there is. What would happen if Facebook decided to start taking a cut of your business? Or what would happen if the Kenyan government added fees to Facebook, would they pass it on to you? And what if you decided to cut them out and go straight to the customer yourself? How could you possibly have a chance against Facebook? Questions like these, have led some critics to compare Facebooks dominance in places like Kenya to a form of digital colonialism. For Kenyans, these issues are still theoretical, but for others the issues are much more real. JAKARTA - Ex: of Unintended Consequence #2 Lets say you live in Indonesia and youre a devout Muslim man. Youre not convinced about this whole internet thing and you dont want to spend a good chunk of your monthly income to get a connection. But your daughter keeps telling you, the internet thing really is a thing. So she sets you up with Facebooks free version of the internet. Online you discover cat videos are surprisingly fun to watch. Then you see a video of your mayor. In it, he appears to say the Quran is lying. You cant believe it. The video has millions of hits. NAT POP MAYOR AHOK: Thus ladies and gentlemen, if you feel that you cant vote for me because youre afraid you will go to hell, you are being lied to, but thats alright because this is your personal calling. In response, you and hundreds of thousands of other people come out to protest calling for the mayor to be removed from office. Six-months-later hes voted out of office. But the problem is the video that got you so angry was edited to make the statement seem more provocative than it actually was. But you dont know that. And you dont even have the ability to seek out other information because Facebooks free version of the internet only gives you access to a few sites. So youre left only with A Facebook reality. Section 3: Cause And Facebooks reality is one thats based on an algorithm. And that algorithm rewards engagement, which often means prioritizing inflammatory posts. Combine that with Facebooks ambitious mission to bring internet to the developing world and youve got a problem. On one hand, Facebooks efforts bring information to more of the world than ever before. On the other hand, you have the world as it looks today, where guys like your Uncle Joe bicker on behalf of candidates using rumors and propaganda. Trump Supporter: Fuck political correctness, Build the wall! This is a space where protests flare up around lies and measured voices are shouted down by radical ones. Duterte Nat Pop: President Obama is a son of a whore Trump nat pop: We will have so much winning if I get elected Wilders: There is lots of Moroccan scum in Holland Mr. Zuckerberg has said the company is working on squashing fake news, but the problem goes further into what gets promoted and why. But for Facebook, there isnt a lot of incentive to cut down on the half truths and misconceptions. Its main goal is to hold its audience captive and grow its community ever larger. Written Quote on Screen: Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. At stake is the future of the internet itself. Facebook and only a handful of other major internet companies control our online lives, and each is aggressively trying to expand. Does the Kenyan government care if Facebook has allowed Phyl to circumnavigate their tax system? Does the Indonesian government care that 200,000 people are in their streets protesting? The answer is yes. Section 4: Effect The end result pits countries against companies. And not all governments are willing to cede power to Facebook. So they create new laws to govern their countrys digital space that cater to their interests. This goes against the way the internet was original supposed to work, as a way for people to share information without borders or rules. Now, Instead of one internet there are many. Some are controlled by countries, others by companies. And everyone wants more control. Section 5: China Comparison Theres no better place to see the fragmentation of the internet than in China. Nat Pop Zuck: Xin Nian Kuai Le Chinas internet is cut off from the rest of the world by filters that keep websites like Facebook from working. Tank Man Clip Its sort of an anti-internet. Instead of facilitating free communication, it often works as a means to control that communication. Instead of connecting China to the world, it cuts it off. According to Chinas internet, this event never even happened. But if you compare Chinas internet to Facebook, some uncomfortable parallels emerge. While facebook lets you post plenty of articles and links from the greater internet, it also operates by its own rules. Just like Chinas internet, a central authority tracks what you do and decides what you see. Most of the time your feed is hiding a baby photo from that girl Jane who may have been in your 4th grade class, but you cant quite remember. But sometimes its hiding more. For example, these images were all banned from Facebook because they didnt meet its community standards and now theyre in this video. We think its important to show them, but because we did, Facebook could now block our video. [Cut to black] OUTRO The question is: Whose values are we following? Should we cater to the values of Facebooks algorithm and policies in order to be heard? Even understanding Facebooks values can be difficult. In many places they promote free speech, yet in others, they are willing to consider censoring. They push for encryption in some places, but turn around and in other places to fight privacy laws that would damage their ad business. That inconsistency is driving fragmentation. And while Facebook claims to be connecting people, theyre doing it their way, with their rules. And you dont really have a say in it. Thats because Facebook isnt a democracy, its a business. And their business interests are changing the future of your internet. ENDIT [This article is no longer being updated. See the list of countries currently open to American travelers here.] On July 1, after months of lockdown, European nations will begin to open their borders to nonessential travelers coming from a select list of countries in which the Covid-19 pandemic has been deemed sufficiently under control. The United States is not on the list. Moreover, the U.S. State Department continues to advise U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel. The situation is changing rapidly, but here is what we know about travel to Europe right now. Who is allowed to enter Europe? As of July 1, European nations (all members of the European Union, as well as the non-E.U. European nations of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) are expected to begin opening their borders to residents of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. Residents of Andorra, San Marino, Monaco and the Vatican will also be allowed entry. China is on the list, subject to confirmation of reciprocity that is, if the country will open its borders to European travelers. The official press statement noted that individual European nations may decide to take a progressive approach to lifting restrictions on travel from the listed countries. Residents of the United States, where the spread of Covid-19 has not been controlled, are not allowed to enter the European Union unless they qualify for an exception. How often will the list be reviewed? European officials have said that the list will be reviewed every two weeks. Its possible that the United States will be added to the list if the countrys epidemiological situation improves. A country may also be removed from the list if its situation worsens. Korea Electric Power Corp. headquarters in Naju, South Jeolla Province / Yonhap The board of South Korea's state-run utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) on Tuesday approved a business project to build two units of coal power plants in Indonesia despite controversies over profitability and the environment. KEPCO clinched a deal with Indonesia-based PT Barito Pacific in May 2019 to participate in the project worth US$3.46 billion to build the ninth and 10th coal-fired power plants with a total of 2,000 MW capacity on Java. Under the deal, KEPCO will invest $51 million to win a 15 percent stake in the special-purpose company that also involves PT Indonesia Power, which will carry out the project. The consortium won the right to operate the two coal plants for 25 years after the completion. The construction is anticipated to begin as early as next month, although the process can be delayed depending on situations. KEPCO and its sister firm Korea Midland Power Co. plan to send experts and provide technology support to the project. Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., South Korea's leading power plant maker, also won a 1.6 trillion-won (US$1.3 billion) order to build the plants. The heavy industry-focused Doosan Group has been implementing a self-rescue plan to pay its 3.6 trillion-won debt extended by its main creditors Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea. Environmental activists have been demanding that KEPCO scrap the project, insisting that it will significantly damage the environment. KEPCO, on the other hand, said the project has passed the feasibility test carried out by the Korea Development Institute and will strictly follow international environmental regulations. Amid the escalating controversies, the company's board of directors held a meeting on the issue last week but decided to hold off on its decision. (Yonhap) The police in Aurora, Colo., opened an investigation into multiple officers after photos of them surfaced from near the site where Elijah McClain died after being restrained by the police in a chokehold last year, the chief said late Monday. Vanessa Wilson, the interim police chief in Aurora, said in a statement on Monday night that an officer had reported allegations to internal affairs that multiple Aurora Police officers were depicted in photographs near the site where Elijah McClain died. Mr. McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, died last summer after the police in Aurora restrained him with a chokehold that has since been banned. His case has received renewed attention in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25, in protests around the country. Over the weekend, demonstrators protested outside the Aurora Municipal Center, calling for accountability in Mr. McClains death. Chief Wilson said the officers involved were immediately placed on administrative leave with pay in nonenforcement capacities. She did not provide any detail about the allegations or what the photos contained, and did not identify any of the officers or say how many were put on leave. An incrementalist and an institutionalist, the chief justice generally nudges the court to the right in small steps, with one eye on its prestige and legitimacy. He is impatient with legal shortcuts and, at only 65, can well afford to play the long game. Taking the place of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who retired in 2018, at the courts ideological center, Chief Justice Robertss vote is now the crucial one in closely divided cases. To be both the chief justice and the swing vote confers extraordinary power. His pivotal role on the court could be fleeting. Were President Trump able to appoint a replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is 87, or Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who is 81, the chief justice would almost certainly be outflanked by a conservative majority on his right. A President Joseph R. Biden Jr., on the other hand, may have fewer opportunities to reshape the court in the short term. Replacing Justices Ginsburg or Breyer with another liberal would not alter the courts ideological balance or the chief justices influence. And that would mean Chief Justice Roberts would continue to assign the majority opinion when he is in the majority, which these days is almost always. He uses that power strategically, picking colleagues likely to write broadly or narrowly and saving important decisions for himself. WASHINGTON The governments top infectious disease expert said on Tuesday that the rate of new coronavirus infections could more than double to 100,000 a day if current outbreaks were not contained, warning that the viruss march across the South and the West puts the entire country at risk. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, offered the grim prediction while testifying on Capitol Hill, telling senators that no region of the country is safe from the viruss resurgence. The number of new cases in the United States has shot up by 80 percent in the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database, with new hot spots flaring far from the Sun Belt epicenters. I cant make an accurate prediction, but it is going to be very disturbing, I will guarantee you that, Dr. Fauci said, because when you have an outbreak in one part of the country, even though in other parts of the country they are doing well, they are vulnerable. New flash points have weighed down talk of a resumption of normal life and a quick economic rebound. The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, issued his own gloomy assessment, cautioning lawmakers on Tuesday of an extraordinarily uncertain moment facing the American economy. WASHINGTON Daniel Lewis Lee is scheduled to be executed in less than two weeks, but he has been unable to see his lawyers for three months because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Lee, sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1996 murder of a married couple and their 8-year-old daughter, has been limited to phone calls, which one of his lawyers, Ruth Friedman, said she feared would jeopardize her clients confidentiality. And amid a pandemic that has put travel on hold, her team has been unable to discuss pressing issues with Mr. Lee, conduct investigations, or interview witnesses in person. I cant do my job right. Nobody can, Ms. Friedman said from her apartment 600 miles away, in Washington, D.C., where she is working to commute Mr. Lees sentence to life in prison. If she is unsuccessful, Mr. Lee, 47, will be the first federal death row inmate to be executed in 17 years. Last year, Attorney General William P. Barr announced that the Justice Department would resume executions of federal inmates sentenced to death. Two weeks ago, Mr. Barr scheduled the first four executions for this summer, all of men convicted of murdering children, and to be carried out at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. [Follow our live Trump vs Biden 2020 election updates and analysis.] WASHINGTON Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot who built a formidable campaign war chest, emerged Tuesday as the Democratic nominee to take on Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, fending off a challenge from the left that highlighted the partys ideological divisions. In Colorado, John Hickenlooper, the states former governor, survived a rough campaign to win his Democratic Senate primary, propelling him to a general election challenge to Senator Cory Gardner, a Republican and top target for Democrats looking to capture control of the Senate. And in Oklahoma, voters narrowly approved expanding Medicaid coverage to at least 200,000 lower-income adults, according to The Associated Press, an affirmation of Obamacare in an overwhelmingly Republican state. The results, coming as the state battles the coronavirus pandemic, was a repudiation of President Trump and Republican state leaders who had opposed the Medicaid expansion and who supported a court case seeking to overturn President Barack Obamas signature health care plan. One week after the Kentucky primary was conducted, The A.P. declared Ms. McGrath the winner after a campaign that was shaped by the coronavirus pandemic and protests against racial injustice. She narrowly defeated Charles Booker, an African-American state lawmaker who harnessed anger over a pair of fatal shootings by the authorities in Louisville to roar into contention in the final weeks of the campaign. A lawyer for Ms. Trump, Theodore J. Boutrous, vowed to appeal the decision. The trial courts temporary restraining order is only temporary, but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment, Mr. Boutrous said. We will immediately appeal. This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in an election year, should not be suppressed even for one day. Officials at Simon & Schuster said they planned to immediately appeal the decision to the New York State Supreme Courts Appellate Division. In a statement, Charles Harder, a lawyer for Robert Trump, said his client was very pleased with Judge Greenwalds decision. We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trumps breach of contract and Simon & Schusters intentional interference with that contract, Mr. Harder said. Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end. Ms. Trumps book has been described as a unique inside look at the Trump family. She is also expected to write that she was a source on an investigation by The New York Times into the presidents personal finances. The Times declined to comment. Other central bank officials who spoke on Tuesday joined him in warning that it was crucial to get the pandemic in check. The economy seems to have bottomed out, and were seeing some encouraging signs of a recovery, Lael Brainard, a Fed governor, said on a panel at the Brookings Institution. On the other hand, were seeing some resurgence of the virus. So right now, my focus is on steering through a very uncertain recovery. As infections persist, many areas of the economy continue to require government support. Lawmakers questioned Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Powell about what more could be done to help minorities and businesses in rural communities. In some cases, the two policymakers are still struggling to figure out how to prop up struggling sectors. Both Mr. Powell and Mr. Mnuchin said that they were interested in helping commercial real estate borrowers who have been hard-hit by the pandemic as tenants delay rent payments, but explained that it was difficult for them to do so. We have not yet figured out a way to set up a facility its not out of a lack of interest, or a lack of desire, Mr. Mnuchin said, suggesting that the next bill Congress passes may need to include some form of relief. Both he and Mr. Powell emphasized that the emergency central bank programs could provide only lending, not spending. More debt may not be the answer here, Mr. Powell said. Theres a serious problem here that needs to get fixed, and were racking our brains to see how if theres something we can do by lending. Congress gave the Treasury Department $454 billion to support the Feds emergency lending programs, more than half of which remains uncommitted. But those programs can only offer loans and help companies to issue debt they cannot provide outright grants, which is Congresss wheelhouse. Mr. Powell also described their challenges in funneling help to medium-size business through the Feds so-called Main Street lending program. Demand for the bank loans has been light, Mr. Powell said. And while thousands of banks should be eligible to lend through the program, which allows them to make associated fees while handing 95 percent of underwritten loans to the Fed, he said about 300 have registered. michael barbaro From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. [music] Today: A Times investigation has revealed evidence of a secret Russian operation to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan and the failure of the Trump administration to act on that evidence. I spoke with my colleague Eric Schmitt, one of the reporters who broke the original story, about what we know now. Its Wednesday, July 1. Eric, how is it that the U.S. first learned that Russia was up to something in Afghanistan? eric schmitt So, Michael, about six months ago or so, U.S. commandos, working with Afghan allies, carry out a raid on a Taliban safehouse. And they made a remarkable discovery. They found some $500,000 in American money inside this safehouse. Now, to be sure, from time to time when they do these kind of raids, you find weapons and you find other kinds of things. Even some money. But the military sources that weve talked to said theyd never seen such a large haul. I mean, what would these guys be doing with $500,000? How did they get it, and what was it going to be used for? So this set off a lot of questions. And as they conduct other raids, the commandos, C.I.A., other authorities in Afghanistan, they seize the cell phones of different fighters Taliban fighters and they start exploiting that to see if theres any clues in the cell phones that might lead them back to the source of this money. But perhaps one of most important things that happens is when they seize a couple of very important senior Taliban and Taliban-related figures. And of course, thats one of the first things they want to ask these operatives is do you know anything about this money? michael barbaro And what do the militants say? eric schmitt They had a remarkable story to tell. That this was money that they had been paid. That theyd been paid by a secretive Russian military intelligence unit for the express purpose of killing American, British and other coalition forces in Afghanistan. But these investigators, they were searching around for other proof how to link all this together because, of course, how do you assess that these Taliban guys werent telling lies or some kind of disinformation? And then investigators learned of something else that sealed the deal, that seemed to kind of be the glue that pieced all these disparate parts together. And that was intercepts. Basically electronic intercepts of the financial transactions themselves from this Russian military intelligence unit, down to the Afghans on the ground who are the intermediaries, who are basically managing this program for them there. And then onto the killers themselves before they were dispatched to target the American forces there. Essentially, it was an electronic paper trail, receipts if you will, for services asked and services rendered. This became a very compelling argument that the military C.I.A. and other authorities in Afghanistan started putting together. michael barbaro And a very serious conclusion, because from what youre describing, U.S. intelligence officials are not just putting together a theory that this money was offered to Taliban fighters to go after Americans to basically kill them for hire but that money had actually been paid out to them, suggesting that such killings had occurred. eric schmitt Thats right. This wasnt just in theory, but there was the idea that theyd actually recovered some of the proceeds that the Russians had paid the Afghans to carry out this mission. So obviously the next task was to figure out what deaths may have been actually the result of this campaign. michael barbaro And do we have an answer? eric schmitt So the military and the intelligence officers working with Afghan officials started looking back over different attacks to see which looked suspicious. And their attentions focused on one in particular: three Marines who were killed on a patrol just outside of Bagram Air Base. They were patrolling on a normal day when a large car bomb basically blew up. And this is something that the military is still determining, just what the links were, if any, to this program, this attack. But it was suspicious, and it may have had the hallmarks of this program and some of the receipts tying back to it. michael barbaro And, Eric, in the minds of these intelligence officials who are starting to piece this Russian bounty system together, why would Russia do this? I mean, why would they pay the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers? eric schmitt Well, Michael, I think you have to go back in the history of the U.S. and Russia and Afghanistan, essentially to the very end of the Cold War, where in the late 1980s, the C.I.A. secretly armed the Mujahideen resistance against the Soviet Union, which had invaded and occupied Afghanistan for nearly a decade. And the United States helped accelerate the departure of Soviet soldiers from Afghanistan. Fast forward to after 9/11 when its the U.S. that invades Afghanistan. Russians want a stable government there. They dont like Al Qaeda any more than the United States does. And so for some years, theres actually some cooperation between Moscow and Washington. Until a few years ago, when President Putin of Russia starts to become disillusioned with the U.S. plan in Afghanistan, doesnt believe its going to work, and begins behind the backs of the U.S. to support the Taliban. To provide weapons, arms the Taliban, who are still fighting the United States. And so we start to see this break where Russia is basically looking for ways to inflict pain on the United States, and maybe even accelerate the U.S. departure from Afghanistan, just as decades before the U.S. had done to the Soviet Union. So if you put that framework, where Russia is now looking for a way to replace the United States as the power inside of Afghanistan, and humiliate the United States at the same time, this bounty program starts to make a little bit of sense. If this secretive military intelligence unit can put bounties on the heads of American soldiers, increase the number of casualties, presumably that would also stir unrest back in the United States already war weary after two decades of conflict in Afghanistan. So the Russian theory is, why not just speed that departure along? We take the U.S.s place and we humiliate Washington and President Trump in the process. michael barbaro And I guess the reason why Russia would turn to a middleman, the Taliban, on this is because it would never want to attack U.S. soldiers on its own in Afghanistan, just the way the U.S. didnt want to ever attack Russian soldiers directly in the 1980s. eric schmitt Thats right. You hire basically cutouts to do your dirty work, and its very hard for the other side to prove that youre responsible. When its murky like this and you have Afghan intermediaries, criminals on the ground, and moneys passing back and forth, Russians would have plausible deniability to say, oh, perhaps we were just supporting them for other aims. Theres no evidence that we were behind this. michael barbaro But Eric, even so, even with a middleman cutout, as you just called it, I have to imagine that this kind of an operation by Russia is very risky and represents a pretty significant escalation by Russia. eric schmitt Absolutely, Michael. Any time you have a foreign power, much less one like Russia, targeting American service members American troops on the ground that is a very serious thing. michael barbaro Right because this is, in its own way, almost a kind of act of war. eric schmitt Absolutely. Thats the way many people would see it. Just because Russia might be using intermediaries or henchmen to do this, theyre the ones responsible. Theyre the ones setting these killings in motion if theyve happened. Theyre the ones that are essentially bribing the killers to carry out the attacks, and thats something thats very, very serious. And the Pentagon and the White House would have to address it. [music] michael barbaro Well be right back. So Eric, in your reporting on this Russian bounty operation, what do you learn about how the White House, how the Pentagon decides to respond to the conclusion of the intelligence agencies that this operation exists? eric schmitt So this assessment thats been put together by the C.I.A. and the military special-operations forces in Afghanistan starts to make its way up the chain of command into Washington, sometime in late January, early February perhaps. And its very closely held. This is some of the most sensitive intelligence in the American government, both because of the ramifications if its true that Russia has put a bounty on American soldiers heads, and the political sensitivity that anything to do with Russia has with this administration and specifically this White House. And that assessment is serious enough that it makes its way into whats called the presidential daily briefing. This is the compendium of top intelligence and news items. Its put together every day for the president to read. President Trump is not known to read it very often, very much. He relies more on verbal briefings, oral briefings. But by February 27, our sources tell us, it was in that document. About a month later, at the end of March, the National Security Council, the national security arm of the White House, holds its first meeting to discuss the intelligence assessment. Its representatives from the State Department, from the Pentagon, from the C.I.A., from around the government who can weigh in about the impact this might have, and most important, the options. How should the United States government respond to this? And the options that are discussed at this meeting in late March include everything from sending Moscow a stern letter basically cease and desist or else all the way up to sanctions, economic sanctions on top of those already imposed on Moscow that have been proven effective in damaging their economy. We dont know if President Trump was briefed on any of these options. But we do know that his administration did not authorize any kind of action in response. Nothing has happened so far as a result of this assessment. So thats the way things stood for many weeks, that this was very tightly held information at the most senior levels of the government, until late last week archived recording This is sort of stunning. Heres the lead. eric schmitt when the Times published a major investigation that basically spelled out everything weve just been discussing. archived recording A New York Times report alleges Russia offered bounties to the Taliban in exchange for killing U.S. forces in Afghanistan. michael barbaro And what was the immediate reaction to all that information? archived recording Well, look, Im sick to my stomach over this. eric schmitt Well, the immediate reaction was one of stunned disbelief archived recording Sick to my stomach as a member of Congress, a patriot, but also someone who served in Afghanistan archived recording (nancy pelosi) This is as bad as it gets. eric schmitt both by Democrats and Republicans in Congress. archived recording (nancy pelosi) And yet the president will not confront the Russians on this score. archived recording Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, he said, quote, imperative Congress get to the bottom of recent media reports. archived recording (chuck schumer) Where is President Trump? His number-one job is to protect American soldiers. eric schmitt There was outrage that if indeed this bounty program had existed, what was the United States government doing about it? How were they protecting their soldiers, first of all, in Afghanistan? And what steps were being taken to punish the Russians? archived recording (chuck schumer) He should have a plan. What are we doing? And above all, go after Putin. eric schmitt Because this is at a time when President Trump has continued to carry out conversations with President Putin. In fact, just a few weeks ago archived recording (donald trump) The problem is many of the things that we talk about are about Putin. eric schmitt he invited Russia to join the G8 conference in Washington archived recording (donald trump) Then I say have him in the room. Have him in the room. eric schmitt much to the disbelief of European allies and even some of his own Republican supporters here in the United States. archived recording (donald trump) So we have a G7. Hes not there. Half of the meeting is devoted to Russia. And if he was there, it would be much easier to solve. eric schmitt So as this information breaks, it breaks against a backdrop of the president continuing to enjoy, in his view, very warm relations with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. michael barbaro And how does the White House explain this? I mean not only not responding to this Russian bounty program, but actually growing closer to Russia and to Vladimir Putin after our government had reached this conclusion. archived recording (kayleigh mcenany) Hello, everyone. eric schmitt The White Houses immediate response is archived recording (kayleigh mcenany) The C.I.A. director, N.S.A., National Security Adviser, and the chief of staff can all confirm that neither the president nor the vice president were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence. eric schmitt that President Trump was never briefed on this. He never had a briefing from the C.I.A. director, from his national security adviser, from his director of national intelligence, and thus how could he have made any decision on it? archived recording (kayleigh mcenany) There is no consensus within the intelligence community on these allegations. And, in effect, there are dissenting opinions from some in the intelligence community with regards to the veracity of whats being reported. eric schmitt The White House press secretary is saying that the reason he wasnt briefed was because there was no consensus among the intelligence agencies on what to brief him about. archived recording (adam schiff) We need to get to the bottom of these reports. Im going to be briefed at the White House tomorrow. Im asking that my entire committee be briefed by the intel agencies and eric schmitt Democrats and Republicans both demand briefings from the presidents top advisers on what the intelligence report says. archived recording (adam schiff) But is this another situation where the president either was told and just rejects it eric schmitt And what the president knew and when he knew it. archived recording (adam schiff) or his people are too scared to tell him because it contradicts this narrative of Vladimir Putin being his buddy? eric schmitt What his aides knew and when they knew it. And if the president really wasnt briefed, why wasnt he briefed? michael barbaro Right, because the thinking is that the president knowing and not acting is extremely problematic. But the president not knowing is problematic as well, because what would it say about an administration if the president was somehow not told this information or did not digest it? eric schmitt Thats right. Theres no good answer for the White House in this. Either the president was told and he doesnt remember, he wasnt told because his aides feared what his reaction might be, or he was told and just dismissed it, because he didnt believe the intelligence because it involved negative reporting on Russia. You have to remember this has happened before. You think back to the allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 elections. archived recording Just now, President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. eric schmitt And when asked about this at a news conference in Helsinki archived recording Would you now, with the whole world watching, tell President Putin, would you denounce what happened in 2016, and would you warn him to never do it again? eric schmitt President Trump turned to President Putin. archived recording (donald trump) I have President Putin. He just said its not Russia. I will say this. I dont see any reason why it would be. But I really eric schmitt He said, I believe him over my intelligence agencies. This has a different feel to it though. So often weve seen the past about some of the presidents utterances and judgments and tweets which have kind of fallen into partisan camps, and people can say what he really meant or not. This is something different. This is about soldiers lives in Afghanistan. This is about somebodys brother, somebodys husband, somebodys daughter who are on the front lines in Afghanistan. And Trump, as the commander in chief, doesnt care enough to take the brief? Doesnt care enough to read the intelligence about this? Or his aides dont think he will? Something as sacrosanct as the American soldier in harms way in the battlefields of Afghanistan, the White House doesnt have its back? The president doesnt have their backs? Thats something very, very troubling indeed, if true. [music] michael barbaro Thank you, Eric. eric schmitt Thank you. michael barbaro Well be right back. Heres what else you need to know today. archived recording (elizabeth warren) Dr. Fauci, based on what youre seeing now, how many Covid-19 deaths and infections should America expect before this is all over? archived recording (anthony fauci) I cant make an accurate prediction, but it is going to be very disturbing. I will guarantee you that because when you have an outbreak michael barbaro During his latest appearance before Congress on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned lawmakers that the number of new infections in the U.S. could more than double if current conditions persist. archived recording (anthony fauci) We cant just focus on those areas that are having the surge. It puts the entire country at risk. We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned. michael barbaro His warning comes as a surge of infections in the South and West now extend to the Midwest, where six states are recording higher infection rates. Overall, U.S. infections have increased 80 percent over the past two weeks. And in a closely watched Senate primary in Kentucky, Amy McGrath, the moderate choice of the Democratic Party establishment, has narrowly defeated Charles Booker, a liberal challenger who harnessed growing public anger over police brutality. McGrath will now face Republican Senator Mitch McConnell in the fall. In its final weeks, the Kentucky primary had become a referendum on the future of the Democratic Party, and whether the outcry over race and policing could influence the outcome of an election. Despite losing, Booker won nearly 43 percent of the vote. [music] Abortion rights and the C.F.P.B. make it out of the Supreme Court alive, while Trumps hateful language gets the boot on social media platforms. Its Tuesday, and this is your politics tip sheet. Sign up here to get On Politics in your inbox every weekday. Writing for the majority, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that the Louisiana law unduly curtailed womens constitutional right to an abortion, calling it almost word-for-word identical to a law in Texas that the court had struck down in 2016, in the Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt case. A George W. Bush appointee with a largely conservative track record, Roberts has become the only backstop against a conservative majority whose members have often proved willing to throw out decades of precedent in order to enshrine a so-called constructionist interpretation of the Constitution. Chief Justice John Roberts has firmly established himself as the swing vote on a conservative-leaning Supreme Court. The latest proof came yesterday, when Roberts joined the courts four liberal justices in rejecting a Louisiana law that restricted womens access to abortions nearly to the point of banning the procedure in the state. Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined three other conservatives in dissent, and Democratic Senate candidates pounced on the news. A number of Republican senators facing tough re-election battles this year voted in 2018 to confirm Kavanaugh. One of them, Susan Collins of Maine, said at the time that she believed he would uphold court precedent around abortion rights. After the decision came down yesterday, Collinss Democratic opponent, Sara Gideon, tweeted: Do you still think Brett Kavanaugh believes Roe v. Wade is settled law, @SenSusanCollins? Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, promised to go after Republican senators who had supported Kavanaughs nomination. In whats becoming a trend, the court also issued some lower-profile decisions yesterday that were more favorable to conservatives. (The same thing happened a couple of weeks ago, when the court announced a landmark L.G.B.T.Q. nondiscrimination ruling.) It declined to hear the appeal of a ruling in a capital-punishment case, effectively clearing the way for the federal government to resume executions after a 17-year hiatus. And Roberts joined his four fellow conservatives in a decision that will allow President Trump to fire the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau without stated cause. Congress created the consumer-protection agency as part of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, stipulating that the president could remove its leader only in cases of inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance. Writing for the majority, Roberts argued that this provision violates the Constitutions separation of powers. But the decision also ensured that the C.F.P.B., an object of ire among many pro-business conservatives, would continue to exist answering a political question that has remained open for 10 years. The agency may therefore continue to operate, but its director, in light of our decision, must be removable by the president at will, Roberts wrote. The coronavirus is surging in areas across the country, and many state governments are either pausing their plans to reopen or rolling them back altogether. Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Philip Murphy of New Jersey each said yesterday that they were reconsidering plans to allow restaurants to reopen in the coming days. Vice President Mike Pence wore a mask at a series of recent events, something Trump continues to resist doing, even as the vice president echoed his bosss assertion largely rejected by public health experts that the reopening of businesses is not contributing to the viruss surge. Wearing a mask is just a good idea, Pence told reporters. And it will we know, from experience will slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Republican mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., the newly chosen home of Trumps convention speech, announced yesterday that he would require everyone in the city to wear masks when in a public, indoor space. The decision was likely to rankle Trump, who moved his speech to Jacksonville largely because he thought he would be able to give a traditional, rally-style speech there in late August. House Democrats yesterday passed a bill seeking to limit the amount of money Americans have to pay for health care, but it appears destined to fail in the Senate, where Republicans are united in their opposition. Motivated by the Covid-19 pandemic but carrying applications well beyond it, the Houses legislation would cap all health-insurance payments at 8.5 percent of peoples incomes. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, agreed to a budget yesterday that shifts $1 billion away from the Police Department, an apparent concession to the demands of protesters. Demonstrators have filled City Hall Park in Manhattan in recent days under the moniker Occupy City Hall, articulating a clear call for $1 billion in police cuts. The budget proposed on Monday by de Blasio and Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker, would ditch a previously hatched plan to hire over 1,000 new police cadets. But half of its cuts to the N.Y.P.D. would come through fiscal sleight-of-hand, moving functions such as school patrols and homelessness outreach away from the N.Y.P.D. and under the aegis of other departments. I dont think anyone marching for Black Lives Matter is doing it to see school safety agents moved from the N.Y.P.D. budget to the schools budget, Ben Kallos, a Democratic councilman, said on Monday. The citywide budget, which must be approved no later than tonight, also cuts spending from a range of other departments, in response to a revenue shortfall brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Trump received blowback on Sunday after he shared a video on Twitter in which a supporter of his shouted White power! in response to a protester. The president eventually removed that tweet but he doesnt appear to have been cowed. The next day, he retweeted a video in which a white man and woman in St. Louis point guns at peaceful Black protesters who were marching past their home. Trump retweeted an ABC News link to a video and an article about it, but didnt offer any comment of his own as he had on Sunday. Still, he has historically been a strong defender of Second Amendment rights and has made clear his distaste for protesters against racial injustice. Twitch has become the first known social-media platform to suspend Trumps account. The livestreaming service, which is owned by Amazon, said yesterday that two of Trumps recent streams had violated its rules around hateful speech. One of the videos featured the 2015 speech in which Trump accused Mexico of sending drugs, crime and rapists into the United States; the other was from Trumps recent rally in Tulsa, Okla., where he told the story of a very tough hombre breaking into a womans house at night. Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch, a Twitch spokeswoman said in a statement. In line with our policies, President Trumps channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream. Reddit offered a similar explanation yesterday as it announced that it had banned r/The_Donald, its biggest community (or subreddit) for fans of Trump. Reddit is a place for community and belonging, not for attacking people, Steve Huffman, the companys chief executive, told reporters. The_Donald has been in violation of that. When negotiators from the United States and Russia met in Vienna last week to discuss renewing the last major nuclear arms control treaty that still exists between the two countries, American officials surprised their counterparts with a classified briefing on new and threatening nuclear capabilities not Russias, but Chinas. The intelligence had not yet been made public in the United States, or even shared widely with Congress. But it was part of an effort to get the Russians on board with President Trumps determination to prod China to participate in New START, a treaty it has never joined. Along the way, the administration is portraying the small but increasingly potent Chinese nuclear arsenal still only one-fifth the size of those fielded by the United States or Russia as the new threat that Mr. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia should confront together. Marshall Billingslea, Mr. Trumps new arms control negotiator, opened his classified briefing, officials said, by describing the Chinese program as a crash nuclear buildup, a highly alarming effort to gain parity with the far larger arsenals that Russia and the United States have kept for decades. The American message was clear: Mr. Trump will not renew any major arms control treaty that China does not also join dangling the possibility that Mr. Trump would abandon New START altogether if he did not get his way. The treaty expires in February, just weeks after the next presidential inauguration. gettyimagesbank By Nam Hyun-woo Korea remains reliant on Japan's industrial materials and parts even after Seoul increased localization efforts of the materials over the past year in the wake of Tokyo's export restrictions, a report showed Tuesday. The report stressed Japan categorized those materials as strategic goods requiring stringent screening prior to export to Korea, which has strengthened its preparedness against additional restrictions by Japan. According to the report by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), of 100 items whose import volume from Japan surpasses $1 million and import reliance to Tokyo surpasses 70 percent, 57 percent of them were categorized as semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, plastic materials or petrochemical materials. Hospitals, medical clinics and physicians are offering this kind of information to varying degrees. In the New York City metropolitan area, Mount Sinai Health System has launched a comprehensive Safety Hub on its website featuring extensive information and videos. Mount Sinai also encourages physicians to reach out to patients with messages tailored to their conditions. People want to hear directly from their providers, said Karen Wish, the systems chief marketing officer. Dont hesitate to press for more details, said Dr. Allen Kachalia, senior vice president of patient safety and quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine: Where people get in trouble is when theyre afraid to bring their concerns forward. Seeking care. Wendy Hayum-Gross, 57, a counselor who lives in Naperville, Ill., had been waiting since mid-March to get blood tests that would help doctors diagnose the underlying cause of a new condition, a goiter. A few weeks ago, she decided it was time. The hospital lab she went to, operated by Edward-Elmhurst Health, told Hayum-Gross to wear a mask and gave her a number to call when she arrived in the parking lot. Outside the front door, she was met by a staffer who took her temperature, asked several screening questions and gave her hand sanitizer. Once I passed that, a phlebotomist met me on the other side of the door and took me to a chair that was still wet with disinfectant. She wore a mask and gloves, and there was no one else around, Hayum-Gross said. When I saw the precautions they had put in place and the almost military precision with which they were carrying them out, I felt much better. Marjorie Helsel DeWert, 67, of Athens, Ohio, was similarly impressed when she visited her dentist recently and noticed circular yellow signs on the floor of the office, spaced six feet apart, indicating where people should stand. Staffers had even put pens used to fill out paperwork in individual containers and arranged to disinfect them after use. Now the security law creating a murky realm of police agencies, crimes defined by Beijing and judges picked by Hong Kongs pro-Beijing leader is likely to make it harder to preserve the citys nebulous status as a semiautonomous enclave under a Communist Party-run superpower. The law sets out plans to build a complex of agencies and offices in Hong Kong dedicated to enforcing the rules. Those agencies will include an arm of the Chinese national security apparatus that will have the power to collect intelligence in Hong Kong, and handle cases when central authorities decide that the local forces are not up to the job. Its the most fundamental change since the handover, said Danny Gittings, an expert on Hong Kongs legal status. But that doesnt mean that the changes will be immediately apparent. So far, many companies in Hong Kong appear confident that commerce and contracts will remain largely untouched by the law. Hong Kong officials have said that only a small number of people would be targeted by the rules, and the territory is likely to preserve some room for criticism of the Communist Party of the kind forbidden inside mainland China. The law will not affect Hong Kongs renowned judicial independence, Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, who serves with Beijings blessing, said in a video speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday. It will not affect legitimate rights and freedoms of individuals. Still, the law may bite faster and sharper than some expect, including in education, where the party has warned against Western influence and dissenting ideas that challenge official Chinese history and values. The law cites schools as one of the targets for tighter control. Li-Min Huang, director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at National Taiwan University Hospital, said that a crucial next step would be finding out whether any of the infected workers at the pig farms had contracted the virus from humans, as well as whether any had spread the virus to their families. Its a very important study, and the virus looks quite dangerous, Dr. Huang said. We need to be worried about any disease with the potential to spread human to human. Eurasian variations of H1N1 have been circulating in pigs in Europe and Asia for decades, the study said, but the incidence of G4 viruses in farmed Chinese pigs with respiratory symptoms began rising sharply after 2014. Recent evidence indicates that G4 EA H1N1 virus is a growing problem in pig farms, and the widespread circulation of G4 viruses in pigs inevitably increases their exposure to humans, it said. Asked about the new strain at a U.S. Senate hearing on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, said that it was not an immediate threat but something we need to keep our eye on just the way we did with in 2009 with the emergence of the swine flu. The study was a collaboration among government agencies in China, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the World Health Organization, scientists from several universities in China and the University of Nottingham in Britain. Dr. Brown teaches at the University of Nottingham but was not involved in the research. The H1N1 virus that caused a pandemic in 2009 had a relatively low fatality rate, estimated at 0.02 percent. By contrast, the fatality rate of the 1918 flu pandemic was about 2.5 percent of its victims. But that virus killed an estimated 50 million, perhaps more, because it infected so many people and spread at a time when medical care was cruder. The attachment contained an invisible cyberattack tool called Aria-body, which had never been detected before and had alarming new capabilities. It allowed hackers to remotely take over a computer, to copy, delete or create files, and to carry out extensive searches of the device. A cybersecurity company in Israel later linked Aria-body to a group of hackers, called Naikon, that has been traced to the Chinese military. Peter Jennings, a former defense and intelligence official who heads the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said Beijing had leapfrogged other countries in its cyberabilities and the frequency of its attacks. Its just reaching unprecedented heights of activity, he said. Yes, its true countries do spy on each other; the problem here is the all-pervasive nature of what China is doing. In many ways, big and small, there are hints of bullying and coercion. The attacks, while constant, have become more troublesome since Australia angered China by calling for an international inquiry into the roots of the coronavirus outbreak. In Beijing, any questioning of the official narrative that China defeated the virus as quickly as possible is seen as an insult. The rising tensions between the two countries have already affected trade with China cutting imports of barley and beef and neither country has made a public effort to reconcile. China has also tried to turn the cyberspying accusations back on Australia, with its state media claiming that Beijing disrupted an Australian operation two years ago. The response on the cyberfront that Australia outlined on Tuesday starts with personnel. Roughly a third of the funding will go toward hiring hundreds of cybersecurity experts to study and share information about the evolution of emerging threats, and to create countermeasures of their own. In addition to the remarks from the king and prime minister, statues of King Leopold II, known for his violent personal rule of what was then the Congo Free State, have been removed from city squares and government buildings across Belgium. On Tuesday, the city of Ghent removed a bust of the former king from public display. Leopold, an ancestor of King Philippe, extracted wealth from the resource-rich territory in central Africa while inflicting immense harm that led to the deaths of millions. Jean-Luc Crucke, the finance minister for Wallonia, one of Belgiums three regions, said on Tuesday that a parliamentary commission would begin work in September to scrutinize the countrys colonial past. The panel would allow Belgium to continue this path laid out by the kings letter, which he called heavy with meaning and more than symbolic. Ms. Wilmes, speaking at a commemoration event in Brussels later in the day, acknowledged the troubled history with the Democratic Republic of Congo, a past imprinted with inequalities and violence against the Congolese. Some activists said that the kings letter did not go far enough because it did not contain an apology and, because he is not a member of the government, it did not formally reflect the views of the Belgian state, which took control of the vast land after King Leopold II and continued colonial exploitation. Jean Omasombo, a political scientist at the University of Kinshasa and a researcher at the Africa Museum in Tervuren, Belgium, said that the Belgian state had never recognized its responsibility for colonial atrocities. This letter is a first step, Mr. Omasombo said. But it is not sufficient. Mr. Omasombo added that he welcomed the idea of the parliamentary commission but that it should not be a distraction from accountability. Denmark, a Nordic nation that prides itself on its progressive attitudes, has suffered an upsurge in racial violence recently. Between 2007 and 2016, racially motivated hate crimes in Denmark more than quadrupled, the European Union said in a 2018 report. In response to the global protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, right-wing extremists of the Nordic Resistance Movement, an underground group, have put up White Lives Matter posters in at least two cities in Denmark. Some Danish news outlets have noted that a knee was pressed hard against Mr. Johansens neck, just as in the killing of Mr. Floyd, as well as the hard-right affiliation of one of the suspects. The story has nevertheless mostly been treated as a homicide and has received only modest news coverage. Danish police and judicial officials have gone out of their way to disavow any connection between the killings of Mr. Floyd and Mr. Johansen or, for that matter, that race was a factor. Daniel Villaindulu, a close family friend, strongly disagreed. He was tortured for hours, Mr. Villaindulu said, noting that he and Mr. Johansen were among the few Black people on the island of Bornholm. They say there was jealousy over something, he said in a telephone interview, but when you add everything up and you know these guys had a swastika tattoo and are right wingers, you can image why it ended like this. Another family friend, Tobias Krahmer, told local news outlets that he thought the killing was not racially motivated. But activists say Mr. Krahmer, who is white, ripped down a Black Lives Matter banner outside the Bornholm courthouse on Friday. BRUSSELS The European Union will open its borders to visitors from 15 countries as of Wednesday, but not to travelers from the United States, Brazil or Russia, putting into effect a complex policy that has sought to balance health concerns with politics, diplomacy and the desperate need for tourism revenue. The list of nations that European Union countries have approved includes Australia, Canada and New Zealand, while travelers from China will be permitted if China reciprocates. The plan was drawn up based on health criteria, and European Union officials went to great lengths to appear apolitical in their choices, but the decision to leave the United States off the list lumping travelers from there in with those from Brazil and Russia was a high-profile rebuke of the Trump administrations handling of the coronavirus crisis. Travelers country of residence, not their nationality, will be the determining factor for their ability to travel to countries in the European Union, officials said, and while the policy will not be legally binding, all 27 member nations will be under pressure to comply. If not, they risk having their European peers close borders within the bloc, which would set back efforts to restart the free travel-and-trade zone that is fundamental to the clubs economic survival. That was a very nice tribute, Mr. Trump said in November. Hell be coming back at some point in the not too distant future. Thats very good news for the United States and also very good news for Turkey. Mr. Erdogan did not mention Mr. Golge in his comments at that news briefing. Mr. Golges case, along with those of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was held for two years, and three Turkish employees of U.S. consulates, one of whom was sentenced to more than eight years in prison this month, have been seen by U.S. and European officials as a form of hostage-taking for leverage. Mr. Erdogans government has wanted several court cases in the United States against Turkish officials, potentially implicating Mr. Erdogan and his family, to be dropped. One such case, involving a state-owned bank accused of helping Iran evade sanctions, is still pending. Ties between the United States and Turkey, ostensibly NATO allies, have been badly frayed since an attempted coup against Mr. Erdogan in July 2016. Among those involved in the coup were followers of a U.S.-based Muslim preacher, Fethullah Gulen, whom the Turkish government describes as the main instigator, and it has demanded his extradition, so far to no avail. Turkey then went ahead last year with the purchase of a Russian antiaircraft missile system, despite NATO warnings that operating such a system was incompatible with membership in the alliance. Mr. Trump responded by canceling the sale of advanced F-35 jets to Turkey. TEHRAN, Iran An explosion from a gas leak in a medical clinic in northern Tehran killed 19 people, Iranian state TV reported Tuesday. Authorities initially said 13 people were dead, but Jalal Maleki, a spokesman for the Tehran Fire Department, later told state TV that the toll had risen to 19. The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Mr. Maleki as saying the dead included 15 women and four men. Mr. Maleki added that firefighters had rescued 20 people. Video posted online appeared to show more than one explosion and thick black smoke rising from the flames. An Iranian opposition journalist who played an active role in widespread protests that engulfed the country in 2017 and 2018 has been sentenced to death, Iranian authorities said on Tuesday, months after he disappeared in neighboring Iraq and ended up in his home country under murky conditions. The activist, Ruhollah Zam, was found guilty by a court in Tehran of corruption on earth, a term often used to describe attempts to overthrow the Iranian government, according to Gholam Hossein Esmaili, a judiciary spokesman who announced the death sentence at a news conference on Tuesday, Iranian news outlets reported. Mr. Zam spent years exiled in France as a refugee before his sudden disappearance and detention by Iranian authorities. It was unclear when Mr. Zam was convicted, but the sentencing is the latest move by Iranian authorities cracking down on dissenting voices that have challenged its ruling elite. Mr. Zam ran Amad News, a website and popular channel on the messaging platform Telegram, out of France, where he had lived since 2011 as a refugee. His Telegram account had more than 1 million followers, and he used it to post information about Iranian officials and share logistics about the protests that rocked the country. My Favorite Quotes Recent Quotes Portfolio Summary Your most recently viewed tickers will automatically show up here if you type a ticker in the Get Quotes box on the top of the page. LG Electronics North America executives and employees send out a message of thanks to their co-workers and volunteers for their COVID-19 pandemic response on the company's electronic billboard at Times Square in New York City. The special message has been running since June 4. / Courtesy of LG Electronics By Baek Byung-yeul Korea's two IT giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics could fare better than expected in the second quarter as demand for their appliances and smart gadgets in the Korean and other advanced markets are recovering this month, analysts said Monday. They said the virus pandemic has certainly impacted negatively on the demand for products of Samsung and LG in the global market, especially in April when countries implemented strict lockdown measures to keep their populations at home, but they could minimize the loss as retailers resumed their sales activities in June. Both companies are set to announce their estimated second-quarter earnings reports in the first week of July, and analysts added they would likely beat the market consensus, adding Samsung will benefit from recovered demand for its TVs and smartphones and LG will be buoyed by demand for its high-priced appliances. Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone maker, is expected to post an operating profit of mid-6 trillion won, better than the previous market consensus of around 6.1 trillion won ($5.09 billion) with help from robust chip sales and recovering demand for phones. Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Eugene Securities, said Samsung could post estimate-beating earnings reports in the second quarter thanks to soaring memory chip sales. Despite the virus pandemic, Samsung's chip business has remained upbeat thanks to demand from servers for data centers. According to market tracker TrendForce, shipments of servers are expected to be increased by 9 percent in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter. DRAMeXchange data also showed the contract price for 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM also rose to $3.31 in May from $2.84 in January. "Samsung sold 16.9 million smartphones in the global market in May, up 47 percent from the previous month. This could be possible as closed smartphone factories started to resume their operations and Samsung could supply more budget smartphones such as the Galaxy A series. Samsung's smartphone sales will be improved in June," said Noh Kyung-tak, an analyst at Eugene Securities. The analyst added Samsung's upbeat smartphone sales will be continued in the following months as its Chinese rival Huawei Technologies is struggling with a series of uncertainties such as the U.S. government's prolonged sanctions on the company and boycott Chinese goods movement in India due to the border dispute between the two. LG Electronics was also expected to suffer a heavy blow in the second quarter, but the company is likely to minimize the impact thanks to recovering demand for its products in the Korean market and increased online sales in the advanced countries. The market consensus expects the company will post an operating profit of around 400 billion won in the April-June period, about between 30 percent and 40 percent decrease from the same period in 2019, which was at 652.2 billion won ($544 million). This averaged figure can also be misleading because it masks the variability of spread from one person to the next. If nine out of 10 people dont pass on a virus at all, while the 10th passes it to 20 people, the average would still be two. In some diseases, such as influenza and smallpox, a large fraction of infected people pass on the pathogen to a few more. These diseases tend to grow steadily and slowly. Flu can really plod along, said Kristin Nelson, an assistant professor at Emory University. But other diseases, like measles and SARS, are prone to sudden flares, with only a few infected people spreading the disease. Epidemiologists capture the difference between the flare-ups and the plodding with something known as the dispersion parameter. It is a measure of how much variation there is from person to person in transmitting a pathogen. But James Lloyd-Smith, a U.C.L.A. disease ecologist who developed the dispersion parameter 15 years ago, cautioned that just because scientists can measure it doesnt mean they understand why some diseases have more superspreading than others. We just understand the bits of it, he said. When Covid-19 broke out, Dr. Kucharski and his colleagues tried to calculate that number by comparing cases in different countries. If Covid-19 was like the flu, youd expect the outbreaks in different places to be mostly the same size. But Dr. Kucharski and his colleagues found a wide variation. The best way to explain this pattern, they found, was that 10 percent of infected people were responsible for 80 percent of new infections. Which meant that most people passed on the virus to few, if any, others. Hyundai Motor's Nexo / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor By Nam Hyun-woo Hyundai Japan Twitter account / Captured from Twitter LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, right, shakes hands with Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun at LG Chem's Ochang plant in North Chungcheong Province, Monday. / Courtesy of LG Corp. Chairman Koo meets Hyundai EVC Chung at LG Chem's local battery plant for first time ever By Baek Byung-yeul LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo has gone all-out to expand the group's presence in the battery cell business, meeting with Hyundai Motor Group's Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun, a move interpreted by many as aiming to diversify his company's battery sales channels. The two leaders met for the first time ever at LG Chem's battery-manufacturing plant in Ochang, 120 kilometers south of Seoul, Monday morning, and toured the plant's electric vehicle (EV) battery production line. "Koo and Chung shared views relevant to the growth of the EV battery business and how their expanded partnership will be beneficial to both firms," LG said in a statement. The high-profile meeting came on the second anniversary of Koo becoming head of the conglomerate. Since he took the top seat, the young group leader has been searching for new business models beyond LG's conventional growth engines of consumer electronics, displays and chemicals. More precisely, Koo has been trying to break down barriers between group affiliates to achieve synergy in an era of web-based connectivity and convergence. Opelika Police Department >Unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle and theft occurred at Ashley Furniture, 2401 Interstate Dr. >Unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle and theft occurred at USA Town Center, 1220 Fox Run Parkway. >Tramorris Detavious Bryant, 25, of Opelika, was arrested and charged with second-degree burglary and third-degree theft of property. >Second-degree theft of property occurred in the 1000 block of Samford Way. >A burglary occurred in the 1000 block of Samford Court. >Second-degree assault occurred at Circle K, 511 Second Ave., at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. A 33-year-old victim received a through-and-through gunshot wound to the upper leg. The victim and the suspect are acquaintances who got into an argument. The suspect has been contacted. Charges are pending the completion of the investigation. >A burglary and theft occurred in the 3700 block of Marvyn Parkway. >Larry Charles Hutchins, 47, of Alexander City, was arrested and charged with unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, fraudulent use of credit/debit card and theft of property. A Dale County man has been indicted on 60 counts of child sex crimes, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Monday. Jason Park, 40, of Newton, was served notice Friday at the Dale County Jail where he is incarcerated after being arrested previously on many of the same charges. Parks was arrested in November and December 2019 on numerous counts of possession of pornography, sexual assault of a child less than 12, bestiality and production of obscene material. According to complaints filed against Park, the videos contain multiple victims, the youngest being a toddler and the oldest a 13-year-old boy. Video titles described in the complaint contain various acts of sexual assault against children, including rape and incest. The complaints in these cases listed probable cause that Park allegedly possessed these videos between December 2018 and November 2019. Marshall presented evidence to the grand jury June 17, resulting in Parks indictment. According to Marshall, the indictment charges Parks with 43 counts of possession of child pornography, 13 counts of production of child pornography, and four counts of sexual abuse of a child younger than 12 years old. The Intiative Group has been formed by a group of publicists who formerly worked for BWR Public Relations. Partners in the firm include Cindy Guagenti, Paulette Kam, Gary Mantoosh, Christina Papadopoulos, Lisa Perkins, Jamie Skinner and Alex Spieller. A statement from the new firm said that it would honor the legacy of BWR while returning back to its roots as an innovative independent public relations company. The Initiative Group will also offer such digital services as social media risk assessment diagnostics and reputation management. The Initiative Groups client roster will include Connie Britton, Drew Carey, Regina Hall, Matt LeBlanc, Mario Lopez and Joe Manganiello. BWR was merged into parent company Burson Cohn & Wolf in May, with the company citing the impact of COVID-19 as a factor in the decision. BWR co-founder Nanci Ryder passed away from ALS on June 11. Global tech PR specialist network the With Global Alliance has brought on five new members: FirstCom Comunicacao in Brazil, VinciPR in Russia, Frau Wenk in DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), GinjaNinjaPR in South Africa and DOK30 in Benelux. With these new members on board, the With Global Alliance now represents clients in 26 countries. The alliance says that the new members give it deeper experience in tech verticals including medtech, telco and retail tech. They also provide such services as personal branding, account-based marketing and financial communications. The new members come on board as the alliance launches an initiative, The Global Gathering, for colleagues of every level in each market to connect with their peers. Vladimir Jones has established a scholarship honoring Jim and Nechie Hall, who founded the agency in 1970. The Jim and Nechie Hall Scholarship will provide full tuition at Denver Ad School to a student who otherwise wouldnt be able to attend. Nechie Hall and current Vladimir Jones CEO Meredith Vaughan will collaborate with DAD leaders to help select the student who receives the scholarship. Over a 14-month period, DAD students receive specialized training in their chosen discipline from active industry professionals and participate in campaign classes to apply their learnings to real-life ideas and brands. With this scholarship, we want to provide an opportunity for a person from any background to enter this industry and thrive. We dont want debt, fear of not fitting in, or lack of industry experience to hold anyone back, said Vaughan. A fully automated filling station is due to open in Tullamore on Tuesday, June 30. The Certa filling station replaces the former Tesco filling station at Tullamore Retail Park. Work has been ongoing to transform the site over the last two weeks. As the filling station is unmanned, the shop on the site will not be open. Staff who worked for Tesco on the forecourts have been re-deployed back in to their stores. Caretakers will check the site a few times a day to pick up litter and replenish gloves etc. All sites are remotely monitored 24/7 and customers can simply hit a 'Help' key at any of the islands. Certa is part of DCC plc and have taken over the Tesco Fuel business in Ireland. The company is rolling out 34 new fully self service, unmanned filling stations across the country between now and August. Tullamore is the latest to open after the filling stations Drogheda, Dundalk, Dundrum, Maynooth, Clarehall and Clearwater over the last couple of weeks. Certa comes from the latin word certainty and our proposition is built around ultra convenience and value for money. Were endeavouring to always be the cheapest petrol station available. In addition customers with Tesco clubcards can earn points when they fill up. Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor By Nam Hyun-woo The looming U.S. election is weighing heavily on Korean carmakers and tire makers, as local unions and politicians are pressuring the companies to produce more products on American soil, or face hefty duties, industry officials said Thursday. The United Steelworkers (USW) union recently revealed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's answers to the union's candidate questionnaire. In the questionnaire, the USW called for stronger rules of origin provisions in trade agreements, requiring "melting and pouring of steel products" or "domestic content thresholds in automobiles over 60 percent." Biden answered that "rules of origin need to be carefully written to ensure that when a product is labelled Made in the USA, it really means that" and "steel and other products like aluminum must be melted and poured in the United States so that (other) countries can't exploit loopholes." The USW is the largest private sector union in North America, having more than 850,000 members across the continent. Currently, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors assemble vehicles in the U.S. with steel produced by their affiliate Hyundai Steel and other steelmakers in Korea. Since the steel is processed at Hyundai Steel America, those vehicles approximately 300,000 a year are exempt from duties. If the rule of origin gets amended to require the melting and pouring of steel products in the U.S., the carmakers will have to rely on U.S. steelmakers to avoid duties, meaning Hyundai Motor Group will have to make major changes to its supply chains. Hyundai Motor's 2019 sales volume in the U.S. grew 4.7 percent year-on-year, ending two consecutive years of backpedaling. As Biden, President Donald Trump's opposition candidate, also drops hint at protectionist moves, the company's rebound in the U.S., may fail to pick up momentum. The Trump administration's apparent pressure for Hyundai Motor to assemble new models in the U.S. is a challenge for the carmaker. Hyundai Motor union recently claimed the U.S. is demanding the Korean government pressure Hyundai Motor to produce the NX4 the codename of the new generation Tucson in the U.S., which will "never be accepted." The Tucson is one of the more popular Hyundai vehicles in the U.S., and is produced at Hyundai plant No. 5 in Ulsan. Though Hyundai Motor said it has not considered producing the new Tucson in the U.S., the union claimed rumors are growing among employees. Hankook Tire's plant in Tennessee / Courtesy of Hankook Tire A SURVEYOR will be appointed to value a portion of the land on which Bord na Mona hope to build a wind farm in west Offaly. Tullamore District Court heard the energy company has failed to locate the fee simple owner of land at Kilcamin which was acquired by compulsory purchase in 1949. The owner of the turbary rights, a Patrick Mulhare, was compensated at the time but the owner of the landed estate was a John William Ball and his successors have not been found. Judge Bernadette Owens was told that Bord na Mona needs to vest the land in itself so that it can progress a planning application for a wind farm. In order to do that Bord na Mona must appoint a surveyor to value the property, Patricia Gallagher, BL, told the court. Money is then paid into court so that if the true owner emerges at any stage that money will be paid out to them on proof of their title. Ms Gallagher said she was making her application under Section 58 of the Land Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845 which provided for situations where either the true owner of land is absent or cannot, after diligent enquiry, be found. Outlining the research Bord na Mona had done to find the true owner of the land, Ms Gallagher referred to a map and an affidavit dating from 1909 and said enquiries were made with the Land Commission in relation John William Ball. Bord na Mona contacted Hoey & Denning, the solicitors for the Ball estate, but drew a blank and then carried out probate searches which revealed that Mr Ball was living in Kingstown, now Dun Laoghaire and was married to Caroline Lydia Ball. John William Ball died on December 10, 1946 and his wife Caroline died on April 25, 1956, Ms Gallagher said. They had five children. Counsel for Bord na Mona said it appeared two of the children moved to England and were quite heavily involved in the armed forces and one of them became quite a senior figure over there. Both had since died. The will of Caroline Lydia Ball made no reference to the lands in Offaly but the residue of her estate was bequested to three trustees to be sold and divided between children who were living at her death, except those who were trustees. Ms Gallagher said one of them was a solicitor, Bernard Alfred Walker, and Bord na Mona contacted Mason Hayes and Curran, the firm which the Law Society said took over Mr Walker's firm. Though Mason Hayes and Curran had probate records and wills of John and Caroline Ball, the enquiries again ground to a halt. Bord na Mona did find another probate related to a son, William Henry Ball, who died on July 13, 1979 and from that they located a personal representative who was presumably his son, George Henry Ball. His address was Shankill, Co Dublin and though a search was carried out to see if he was still alive nothing emerged. Bord na Mona wrote to Mr Ball at that address but they have received any response so all of their enquiries have come to a blank. Ms Gallagher said she was satisfied John William Ball was the true owner of the land's fee simple when it was purchased by Bord na Mona and she was also satisfied they had carried out diligent enquiries to find the successors. Following the compulsory purchase on May 13, 1949, the land was in the possession of Bord na Mona and in active production for 70 years. It was part of the wider Drinagh bog. When land was being acquired Bord na Mona compensated both the fee simple owner and those with turbary rights but unfortunately in the case before the court, only the owner of the right of turbary was compensated and for reasons the company could not explain, there was no engagement with the fee simple owner at the time. It may have been thought that the owner of the turbary rights was the true owner, Ms Gallagher suggested. In order for the planning application for the wind farm to be successful, she added, her client needed to be the registered owner of all of the lands. The valuer to be appointed, a Mr Good, was experienced in these type of valuations and had dealt with matters for Bord na Mona in the past, she said. He was not present and needed to come to court at a later date to make a declaration. Judge Owens said she was satisfied Bord na Mona had made efforts to notify Mr Ball's successors in title and Mr Good could be nominated as the appropriate land surveyor to complete the valuation. She adjourned the matter to July 20. Bord na Mona has applied to An Bord Pleanala for permission to build a 21-turbine wind farm on land to the east and west of Derrinlough briquette factory. It proposes to locate 10 turbines in the Drinagh part of the site, to the east of the factory, and 11 more to the west at Clongawny bog. The main road from Cloghan to Birr passes through the site of the proposed wind farm. Kilcamin is one of a number of townlands in the wind farm site. The others are Balliver, Derryad (Eglish barony), Broughal, Derrymullin and Loughderry, Carrick (Garrycastle barony), Drinagh, Clongawny More, Galros East, Cloonacullina, Galros West, Clooneen, Guernal, Coolreagh or Cloghanhill, Cortullagh or Grove, Lumcloon, Crancreagh, Mullaghakaraun Bog, Dernafanny, Stonestown, Derrinlough, Timolin and Ballindown. Bord na Mona say the maximum capacity of the wind farm will be 85MW and the turbines will be 185m high. The nearest house to a turbine will be 750m. About 18km of road in the wind farm will be open for public use and Bord na Mona say they will provide about 6.5km of local amenity links with a future connection to Lough Boora Discovery Park and the proposed Whigsborough Amenity Walk. A GARDA from Offaly who is based in Dublin has told of how he narrowly escaped death when a man with a machine gun opened fire on him. Garda Niall Minnock received a bravery award from the Lord Mayor of Dublin on Monday for his role in disarming a gangland criminal in Ballymun in March, 2019. Garda Minnock, well known locally as the chair of Cappincur GAA Club, was one of three unarmed officers who responded to a call from a member of the public who reported a man outside a shop waving a gun around. The gardai were on a refreshment break during patrol when they responded to the call and did not have batons, handcuffs, personal protection equipment or pepper spray. Along with the loaded machine gun, the man had a hand grenade which could have killed anyone standing within 19 metres. The gardai chased the man into a house where he sought refuge in a bathroom. He was hiding in a bathrooom and we went into him and he fired off a few shots in the direction of us when we approached him, Garda Minnock told the Tullamore Tribune. He said it was just fluke that neither he nor the other gardai were hit. We tried to talk to him and talk him down and then he lifted the machine gun in our direction and let off shots and we jumped on top of him as he was firing and disarmed him then. We pushed him towards the bathtub and into the bathtub and sat on top of him and held him there until more guards came. Garda Minnock said he was frightened by the incident but added: It's just one of them things I suppose. You don't really dwell on what could possibly happen and what you don't expect to happen. At the time you just react and you can think about what happened after. We were definitely lucky. He said he was not even expecting a civic award and only got the call on Friday that he would be receiving it on Monday. The 36-year-old, who has a three-year-old child Liam with his partner Alison O'Gorman, was presented with the award on Monday afternoon by Dublin Lord Mayor Tom Brabazon. Now based in Santry, he has been in the Garda Siochana for 14 years. Garda Minnock said the man who fired the shots, Derek Devoy, was well known to gardai and residents of the Ballymun area. He was prosecuted and the Special Criminal Court heard his gun went off while a primed grenade was on the floor in the house at Crannogue Road, Ballymun on March 11 last year. Garda Minnock narrowly avoided being shot in the head when a bullet passed his eye-line in the hallway of the extension where the bathroom was located. A shell casing struck Garda Minnock and the court was told the Offaly man was lucky not to be two steps forward when Mr Devoy opened fire. When Garda Minnock and his colleagues, Sergeant Andrew OConnor and Garda Conor Garland, subdued the man they saw a grenade on the ground with its pin out and fly-lever not attached. It was detonated afterwards in a controlled explosion. The gunman, aged 37, was armed with a Makarov sub-machine gun and a Yugoslavian M75 hand grenade. He pleaded guilty to possession of the gun with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury and to assaulting gardai. Mr Devoy's father died when the man was eight, his sister was killed when an attempt was made on his own life and his older brother had been murdered in 2014. The maximum sentence faced by Derek Devoy is life imprisonment. The Central Criminal Court was told he had 27 previous convictions, including two for firearms offences. Finalisation of his sentencing has been scheduled for July 23 next. Olean, NY (14760) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 81F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Cloudy. Low near 50F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 716-372-3121 or email nfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com. A logo of Japan car manufacturer Nissan / Reuters Japanese automakers are suffering an extended slump in South Korea amid a protracted trade row between the two Asian neighbors and the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Sunday. Honda Motor Co. suffered a sharp decline in its operating income to 1.98 billion won (US$1.64 million) between April 2019 and March 2020, down from an operating income of 19.6 billion won a year earlier, according to its audit report. Its sales also plunged 23 percent to 363 billion won over the cited period. Its vehicle sales here also sank by 73 percent in the first five months of the year from a year earlier to 1,323. Nissan Motor Co. also decided to pull out from South Korea 16 years after its landing here amid an extended slump with weak sales caused by lingering anti-Japan sentiment and the new coronavirus outbreak. "A new baby comes in the family and the most natural inclination is for everyone to pass that baby around," Morgese said. "It's natural to want to let that baby see your face and feel you and hear you. I think it's very sad for new moms who had an idea in their mind of what it was going to be like when the family came to the hospital." Visitor restrictions at hospitals have been difficult to accept, but the strict rules are critical to protecting others from potential exposure to the virus. Halifax Health spokesman John Guthrie said in an email that visitors who have been in contact with an infected patient before and during a new mother's hospitalization are a possible source of influenza for other patients, visitors and staff. He added that all visitors are screened for signs and symptoms of acute respiratory illness before being allowed to enter the hospital or unit. It is currently unknown how susceptible newborns may be to the virus, he said. While safety measures like social distancing and hand washing can be used to reduce the risk of potential transmission to infants, advocates cautioned against another often-recommended precaution. Morgese advised new mothers not to place face masks on infants. A 38-year-old woman was driving 94 mph seconds before a collision at 90th and Maple Streets that killed two people, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Chinyere Nwuju also later tested positive for PCP, said Deputy Douglas County Attorney Ryan Lindberg. Nwuju, of Omaha, was ordered held on $200,000 bail on two charges of manslaughter. If convicted, Nwuju could face a maximum of 40 years in prison. Omaha police said Nwuju was driving a Dodge Nitro south on 90th Street about 9:10 p.m. last Wednesday when she ran the red light at the Maple Street intersection. The car collided with an eastbound 2002 Ram pickup truck. The force of the collision split the Ram in half and killed two Omahans 58-year-old Roberto Gonzalez and 56-year-old Annette North. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. The SUV then struck a 2017 Jeep Renegade at the intersection. The woman driving it was not injured. Investigators looked at the Dodge Nitros computer and found that Nwuju had been pressing the accelerator pedal 100%, was traveling 94 mph and did not use the brakes before the collision, Lindberg said. On the call, Welch also criticized Palmtag and Heineman for forcing the party to get involved in a race where the seat was ably filled by Slama, whom Ricketts and the GOP had already endorsed. Welch said on the call that Ricketts made the decision to go after Janet (Palmtag) hard to try and beat her in the primary so it would be over. His aim, Welch said, was party unity. Welch also said Ricketts legislative appointees have struggled in recent years to win when they stood for election. Welch wondered if some Republicans backed Palmtag to embarrass Ricketts. Heineman has said he supports Palmtag because he knows her from working with her at the state GOP. Ricketts spokesman referred questions to the state GOP. Palmtag said Nebraska needs a leader who will take responsibility, not someone who runs and hides. She called Welch an honorable man and a strong leader. Slama, who declined to comment Monday, has referred ad-related questions to the GOP. Jane Kleeb, chairwoman of the Nebraska Democratic Party, said her party prohibits spending state party money on Democrat vs. Democrat races. She offered to share a copy of the resolution with the GOP. Peter could be strong-willed, some who knew him said, but that went hand in hand with his passion. Bruce Haney, who went to high school with Peter, said his friend was a hands-on director at Boys Town, fully engaged in his work. In addition to his administrative duties, Peter made an effort to know the names of every child and teen on the Boys Town campus. He learned their backgrounds and stories, too. When Tony Jones arrived at Boys Town with his brother, they were scared, sad and alone. But Jones said his stress and frustration were eased after meeting with Peter for the first time. Jones, who is now the alumni director at Boys Town, said Peters heart was just open for children. Peter was able to connect with anyone, Jones said.Father could speak to an 8-year-old and then go into a board meeting and speak to a Ph.D. It didnt matter what spectrum you were on. Father was able to identify with you on any level, he said. Jones spent more than 20 years as a family teacher at Boys Town. He has shared one lesson from Peter with several of the students who passed through his home. When Jones was struggling in a math class, Peter told him: No two roses bloom at the same time. You will blossom on your own time. An unusual cloud of Saharan dust is expected to linger over eastern Nebraska and Iowa into Tuesday, according to federal scientists who track weather and air pollution. Visibility, air quality, peak temperatures and perhaps even cloud cover have all been affected in the Omaha metro area by the dust, scientists say. Dr. Linda Ford of the Asthma and Allergy Center in Bellevue said the dust cant move out fast enough. We had a busy day, she said Monday, with patients calling about itchy, red and watery eyes, congestion, gunk draining down their throats and greater difficulty breathing. As of Monday evening, her patients had simply taken more of their usual medication and she hadnt had to put anyone on steroids. It would have been worse if not for the coronavirus, she said. People would have been outside. A lot of people are still staying home. The thickest dust occurred Sunday. Lesser amounts occurred Monday and are forecast Tuesday. But even at those reduced levels, its enough to cause difficulty for people with compromised respiratory systems, Ford said. The best thing patients can do is to stay on their medication, she said. WASHINGTON Sen. Ben Sasse says hes heard from many Nebraska military families who are livid about reports that Russia offered bounties to the Taliban for killing U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan. A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sasse told reporters this week that, in deference to classification concerns, he would not confirm any facts of the story, which were first reported by the New York Times. But if the reports are accurate, Sasse said, Congress needs to focus on two areas. Number one, who knew what when? Did the commander in chief know and, if not, how the hell not? What is going on in our process? Sasse said. And, number two, what are we gonna do to impose proportional cost in response? In a situation like this, that would mean Taliban and GRU body bags. That GRU acronym refers to Russias military intelligence service. Other Midlands Republicans were less pointed than Sasse, with some offering more skepticism about the accuracy of the reporting. Rep. Don Bacon, for example, noted that as a retired Air Force brigadier general, he had personal experience with human intelligence-gathering. That includes his time stationed in the Philippines. The program made no distinction as to whether parents could use the scholarships at religious or secular schools. About 70% of private schools in the state are religious. The Montana Supreme Court said that measure ran counter to a state constitutional prohibition against using public funds for religious institutions and schools. Instead of saying the program could fund only secular schools, it struck down the tax credit program. Montana is one of about 40 states that exclude religious organizations from government funding available to others. Nebraska is not one of them. However, the Nebraska Constitution prohibits public funds from going to any private school or institution of learning, with a limited exception for special education students. State lawmakers have tried several times to pass a tax credit program similar to the one in Montana. State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn introduced the most recent bill and named it her priority for the current legislative session. The bill, which has a price tag of $10 million in its first year, remains in committee. Montana told the U.S. Supreme Court that it is reasonable for its constitution to prohibit direct or indirect aid to religious organizations. Hyundai Motor emblem / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor America By Nam Hyun-woo Hyundai Motor has joined a global brands' boycott of Facebook over its handling of hate speech, pulling its U.S. affiliate's ads from the social media platform. According to the carmaker, Hyundai Motor America paused running advertising on Facebook from June 19, after it announced a statement celebrating "Juneteenth," a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. "Hyundai Motor America opposes all forms of hate speech, including on social media platforms," the company told The Korea Times. "We have high expectations for the properties where we run advertising and closely monitor all of our paid media activities to determine if any adjustments are needed. We also regularly engage in conversations with our partners on their policies and procedures for managing content." In the Juneteenth statement, Hyundai Motor America referred to the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by Minneapolis police. The statement read, "His death and the subsequent protests have provided all of us an opportunity to do more than talk about the persistent racism that confronts African Americans. We can take tangible actions as a company to create greater opportunities, for more people and help keep the promise of this great nation." Following the statement, Hyundai Motor America said it would create a "diversity advisory council" in charge of taking "a critical look" at its business to improve its diversity representation. The decision to suspend ads on Facebook appears to be in line with this. Hyundai Motor headquarters in South Korea refused to provide additional comments over Hyundai Motor America's decision, such as the amount it paid for advertising on Facebook. Though Hyundai Motor did not speak out about its participation in the boycott, it came as a prompt move among rival automakers' response to the issue. Honda America said Friday that it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram, to "stand with people united against hate and racism." The emerald ash borer, an invasive insect expected to wipe out most ash trees, has been found in central Nebraska. The insect was found along a street in Kearney by the local parks department, and the discovery was confirmed by the Nebraska and U.S. Departments of Agriculture. This is the first Nebraska discovery outside the eastern portion of the state, according to a press release from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. The insect, native to Asia, was first found in Omaha in 2016, and since then several eastern Nebraska counties have been placed under quarantine for the movement of ash trees and wood. Steve Wellman, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, said its inevitable the insect will continue to spread. Infestations are devastating because ash trees make up a sizable percentage of the natural and urban forest. When they die, the trees become brittle and pose a significant hazard to property and public safety. Cities are proactively removing ash trees. It will still be a slow, methodical and often uphill battle to make change. But the goal of a just society is well worth the journey. Stay the energy, my young friends. My generation is with you in more ways than you realize. This one old timer still supports la Causa! Ben Salazar, Omaha Justice for Poindexter Thank you to Virginia Walsh for her June 26 letter regarding Ed Poindexter and the de Porres club. I did not know Ed, but I knew David Rice, though not well. He and I were both parishioners at Holy Family Catholic Church, and I saw him there Sunday after Sunday. I have never doubted Davids innocence, though, because, when this terrible thing happened, I was told by the pastor, Fr. Jack McCaslin, David did not do this! This is not difficult to believe if one is familiar with the FBIs COINTELPRO practices of the day. These were a series of covert and illegal projects conducted by the FBI aimed at surveilling, infiltrating and disrupting American political organizations, especially, at that time, the Black Panther movement. A Ralston man was sentenced to five years in prison for receiving child pornography after authorities found more than 8,900 images in his possession. United States District Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced Paul Zuroske, 62, to 60 months in prison followed by a five-year term of supervised release, according to a release from U.S. Attorney Joseph Kelly of the District of Nebraska. Zuroske must also register as a sex offender and pay a $5,000 fine, according to Kelly's office. CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped authorities to an IP address linked to someone uploading child pornography online. Investigated by the Bellevue Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations, more than 8,900 images of child pornography were reportedly found in Zuroskes possession. Some of the images depicted children as young as 2 years old engaging in sexually explicit conduct, according to the release. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, the release stated. Led by United States Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. More information can be found at Project Safe Childhood. 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. My parents placed more emphasis on one-on-one service, Bradley Martin said. We still do. We customer service the heck out of people. Martin said the jewelry industry pivoted about 10 years ago with the emergence of online jewelers who could beat the prices of local jewelers but offered little or no customer service. Martin Jewelry stays competitive because it buys diamonds from the same brokers as its online competitors. Local stores allow for the type of personal service couples want. Customers often are greeted and served by a member of the Martin family and are welcome to schedule an appointment to meet with a designer or simply drop in. A series of conversations turns a concept into an initial design. Once that initial design is better-defined, Martin Jewelry produces a simulated ring using a 3-D printer. She can place it on her finger with the center stones set and see what it looks like, Martin said. Martin Jewelry offers added value by providing free appraisals for insurance claims (competitors often charge for this service), a free 12-month care plan (again, a charge with some competitors) and a free band for the groom with the purchase of an engagement ring and band for the bride. Daewoo E&C and SK E&C ink a deal with Korea Energy Terminal to construct LNG plant in Ulsan at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul, on June 26. From right, Daewoo E&C President Kim Hyung, Korea Energy Terminal President Moon Byung-chan, SK E&C President Ahn Jae-hyun. Courtesy of Daewoo E&C By Kim Hyun-bin Daewoo E&C and SK E&C signed a deal with the Korea Energy Terminal, Friday, to construct the first stage of a petroleum and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Ulsan. Starting July 2020 through June 2024, Daewoo will construct a 215,000 kiloliter LNG tank at Ulsan along with additional facilities including a 1 million ton evaporation facility. Daewoo E&C and SK E&C established a joint venture to oversee and develop the blueprints, procurement, construction and trial runs as the original contractor. The construction expenses are estimated at 324.3 billion won, of which Daewoo will be responsible for 51 percent and SK will take 49 percent of the cost. Numerous major large construction companies took part in the bidding going through fierce competition in the design, technicality and price categories. However, through Daewoo and SK's knowledge, especially in execution, planning and compatibility, the two outscored their competitors in the bidding process. Daewoo E&C has inked numerous deals with the Korea Gas Corporation for the building of 22 LNG tanks in locations including Incheon, Tongyeong and Pyeongtaek. It also collaborated to successfully construct 2 overseas LNG tanks in Yemen. Through the construction experience, Daewoo has been recognized as having the best technology and expertise in the LNG plant sector. SK E&C is also known for its superior EPC capacity within the LNG field and has been successfully operating the Boryeong LNG terminal, which it oversaw the blueprint, procurement, construction and test runs of the plant. The company has constructed four LNG terminals in Boryeong that are currently in operation, while two additional terminals are under construction. The construction industry expects the demand for LNG plants in the country to continuously rise in the future. Daewoo has procured a deal to construct an LNG liquefied gas plant in Nigeria and with the firm's global competitiveness in the industry many experts believe there is a high possibility additional procurements will come from overseas in the future. Daewoo has set the LNG plant sector as the company's new growth engine and plans to actively take part in LNG tank biddings in the country. "Even during the COVID-19 pandemic where gas prices plummeted and created difficult situations, Daewoo E&C has established positive relations with LNG plant clients and has been recognized for the company's superior technical skills and experience," a Daewoo E&C official said. "Ulsan Metropolitan City has shown substantial growth in the heavy chemical industry including car, ship and chemical manufacturing and recently have been developing into the northeast Asia energy network base. Since the early 90s when Daewoo E&C entered the Ulsan market, it has successfully constructed S-Oil's oil-refining facilities and pipelines. Through the experience the company is closely cooperating with local society and clients and ensures safety and promises to complete construction without flaws." Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label. Women walk past a government-sponsored advertisement promoting the new national security law as a meeting on national security legislation takes place in in Hong Kong, June 29, 2020. Reuters Beijing's top legislative body has passed a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong prohibiting acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security. The law, approved by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Tuesday, is expected to carry a maximum penalty of life in jail, contrary to earlier indications of a 10-year limit. Only a handful of Hong Kong delegates to the national legislature saw a draft of the law before its passage, a major point of contention, with many in the city decrying the lack of transparency given the legislation's far-reaching consequences. On Sunday, the standing committee began a special meeting fast-tracking the bill, which was passed on the last day of the three-day session. FanReviews 24 Nov 2020 Check out the official trailer for the animated comedy movie The Boss Baby: Family Business, directed by Tom McGrath. It stars Alec.. Russia has dismissed as lies media reports alleging that a Russian military intelligence unit attempted to pay bounties to members of the Taliban militant group to kill American troops in Afghanistan. In a controversial report on Friday, the New York Times, citing an unnamed source, claimed that a top-secret unit within the Russian military intelligence, or the GRU, had allegedly offered monetary rewards to Taliban-linked militants to kill US troopers in... In this Tuesday, March 10, 2020, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. Xinhua via AP Katy Perry recently revealed she went through a breakdown and considered taking her own life following her split from Orlando Bloom three years ago, according to a story on CNN. She also said poor album sales contributed to her depression. Perry born Katheryn Hudson said she was left wallowing in her own sadness after she felt she hit rock bottom in her personal and professional life. I lost my smile, the California native told host Tom Power on the Canadian radio show Q on CBC. I dont know if my smile... UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urged China to "step back from the brink" and respect the rights of the people of Hong Kong. He said: "The success of Hong Kong, the entrepreneurial spirit, the vibrancy, the economic success, has been built on its autonomy in 'one country, two systems'... That clearly is at threat." The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, said: "It risks seriously undermining the high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong and will have a detrimental impact on the judiciary and the rule of law and we deplore this decision." The last UK governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, said the law marked the end of one-country, two-systems. Meanwhile, Nato Secretary-General Jens... Newsy 30 Jun 2020 Watch VideoAfter waiting a week to count mail-in ballots, the results of the Kentucky primary are in. In one of the.. 2008-2021 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Belfast Telegraph 27 Jan 2021 Anti-government protests have broken out in Polish cities after the countrys top court confirmed its highly divisive ruling that.. Al Jazeera STUDIO 28 Apr 2021 Al Jazeera look at US relations with China in President Joe Biden's first 100 days in office. Premier League Highlight: Brighton Vs. Manchester United Published June 29, 2020 by Sol FH The Premier League is live, Tuesday night at 20:15 GMT as the Red Devils try to claw their way back to the top 4. Manchester United travel to the Amex Stadium to take on Brighton in the Premier League. United have been in good form in recent weeks and will look to secure a top-four spot in the Premier League. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's squad recorded a huge 3-0 victory against Sheffield United in their previous league match and look to be ready to finish the year in a better position. Anthony Martial's knocked in his first league hat-trick, which was the highlight of the last match at Old Trafford, and they are now within five points of fourth-placed Chelsea. Brighton is also unbeaten since the restart after the COVID-19 break and secured a point against Leicester City in their previous league match. They are currently in 15th place, but if they continue earning points, they could go up to a top-ten finish before the year is up. Head-to-Head In the reverse fixture, the Red Devils secured a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford. Andreas Pereira, Scott McTominay, and Marcus Rashford each scored a goal for United. The Seagulls have won two of the last five Premier League encounters against the Red Devils since joining the Premier League in 2017, including the last two league matches at Amex Stadium. Premier League Odds and Wagering The fact that Brighton has won the last two home matches against United, one would think that the odds would be a lot closer than they are. At 888Sport, one of the leading online bookmakers in the world, Brighton is way back at 5.20 for the outright win. Manchester United is at 1.70 for the outright win, while a draw is also a big bet for punters at 3.55. As always, 888Sport will be providing live in-play bets throughout the match and punters can bet, interactively, as the match is played out. The odds mentioned in this article were accurate, at the mentioned bookmaker, on Monday, June 29 at 7:45 GMT. Comedic actor Dorien Wilson has had an amazing career starring in such series, as Martin, Dream On, The Parkers, and In The Cut and Christopher Martin, once a member of the legendary rap duo Kid N Play, is best known for his roles in the House Party Series, are joining forces to star in the new comedy series Church Folks, premiering on The ON! Channel Today. The Comedy series is shot Refrigeration Technologies, LLC has been awarded the sought-after (PCA OD-311-20) Specialty Trades Co-op Contract from the Purchasing Cooperative of America. The PCA is a 5-year contract, to be renewed automatically and continually, as approved, for four-year intervals. The PCA is a national contract, enabling Refrigeration Technologies, LLC to enter markets that are not budget controlled. This includes businesses with walk-in coolers/freezers, reach-in doors, and stand- alone commercial refrigeration units. Such It wasnt that long ago that Bradfords Raj Parmar was acting in TV soaps and in Bollywood movies, living out his passion for the performing arts. Now the entrepreneur and erstwhile ambassador of the city has taken up arms against a new sea of troubles caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Hes come up with a simple plan to help the plight of small independent businesses supplying the devastated UK wedding In this picture taken Saturday, Sept, 21, 2019, Merlion statue is seen with the background of business district in Singapore. AP New York - June 30, 2020 Advisor Wael Fayed continues his humanitarian efforts by launching a series of humanitarian initiatives in support of needy families in Egypt in the context of his role as an adviser IIMSAM, the Intergovernmental observer to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The initiatives of His Excellency Advisor Fayed come in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030, and mitigating the effects of the Kamelah Adams, owner and creator of Mimis Fresh Tees, doesnt bring signs when she attends Black Lives Matter protests. Instead, she wears her opinions on her shirts. Adams created Mimi's Fresh Tees about two and a half years ago after a substitute teacher at her son's school accused him of hitting another child. Although her son, Daniel Jr., told the teacher that a white classmate was responsible, Daniel Jr. was the one punished. The problem was later resolved, but Daniel was still traumatized, Adams said. I wanted to express those emotions without uttering a word, Adams said. I wanted to start a conversation by wearing my feelings on my chest. The first design she ever made was a cream-colored T-shirt that said, Black history didnt start with slavery. An outline of Africa was behind the message. The current designs on Mimis Fresh Tees website center more on the Black Lives Matter protests. Some of the T-shirts feature phrases such as Black Lives Matter and EMPOWERED WOMAN. The shirts are made at two local print shops, one of which is owned by women. A UNITY tee features a word cloud in the shape of a fist that includes words such as justice, fairness, opportunity and unity. Adams said she believes this shirt, which is the second-best seller, is popular because it illustrates how people need to work together to make change happen. People that have been in marginalized communities that have been historically underserved for generations cannot do it alone, Adams said. We all have to be united. The top seller on the website is, MAKE RACISM WRONG AGAIN, with over 50 shirts sold. This is also Adams favorite shirt to wear at protests, which she attends about once a week. Adams said that since the protests started a few weeks ago, her sales have increased by about 600%. Adams is the designer, but sometimes her daughter, Jasmine, 15, contributes ideas. She suggested her mom create a RACISM IS THE PANDEMIC EST. 1492 shirt, which is now the third most popular on the site. Jasmine, who protested almost every day for about four weeks, encouraged her mom to march and get involved in Black Lives Matter demonstrations. I just feel like people of color have been dealing with racial injustice for way too long now, and now that we are starting a revolution I want to be a part of it and do as much as I can, Jasmine said. I just dont want to raise my kids in a world like this. Jasmines favorite shirt to wear at protests is the Unity shirt. She said she wants to be an activist when she grows up. Adams said it always feels good when she sees people wearing her shirts at protests because she is helping other people express their opinions and spread the word about racism in America. I just feel like the message is getting out there, Adams said. Customer Christine Galgerud, 48, said she found Adams business a few years ago because their sons were in the same grade at Irvington Elementary School. She bought three shirts about two and a half years ago, two for herself and one for her son. Soon, she will purchase two of the UNITY shirts, one for her son and one for herself. She said she plans on wearing the shirt out to a protest because she feels like it would help start the conversation about racism and she wants to show support for Mimis Fresh Tees. For me it was very important to support a Black-owned business in my own community, Galgerud said. I think its important that we pull to the front people that our country have oppressed for so long. -- Madison Smalstig l msmalstig@oregonian.com l @madi_smals l Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories SALEM -- As Eddy Binford-Ross wandered near the Oregon Capitol Building Saturday, she could hardly take two steps before somebody recognized her. South Salem news, right? Youre with the how do you pronounce it Clypian? A sparse crowd on Court Street was gearing up for a fifth consecutive weekend of Black Lives Matter protests. Binford-Ross, an incoming South Salem High School senior and editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Clypian, has been a fixture of the demonstrations since May 31. (Oh, and for the gentleman asking, its pronounced like clip Ian.) Over the next four hours, bodies filled the Capitol steps and Binford-Ross would chronicle speeches and shouting matches, chants of Black Lives Matter and calls to remove armed police officers from Salem-Keizer schools. Binford-Ross, 17, wrote her first story about a Salem racial justice protest as she watched a friends live-stream of the May 30 demonstration. Binford-Ross followed the evenings events until about 1 a.m., shortly after police used tear gas to disperse an agitated crowd. She looked for live coverage from local media outlets, but couldnt find any reporters feeding Twitter with up-to-the-minute updates. The lack of live coverage inspired Binford-Ross to try her hand at it. So on May 31, she set out with a reporters notepad, a digital camera and her Clypian press badge to chronicle the evenings demonstrations. Her parents, a law professor at Willamette University and a private school teacher, had heard about demonstrations across the country culminating in tense standoffs between protesters and police. Still, they gave Binford-Ross the go-ahead, offering to check in on her once the sun set. They didnt have any reservations, she said. They recognized this was a pretty important story. Binford-Ross chronicles Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Salem via live tweets on her iPhone, photo galleries she produces with a Canon DSLR and articles she publishes on the Clypian website.Photo by Eder Campuzano/Staff Binford-Ross arrived at the Capitol shortly after noon and published live updates through the Clypians Twitter feed for nearly 12 hours. She followed protesters as they marched through downtown Salem and witnessed a tense exchange between demonstrators and police once authorities deemed the gathering an unlawful assembly. Thats when she caught her first whiff of tear gas. Police shot a canister near Binford-Ross in an effort to end the evenings demonstration. Gas billowed out and the sharp odor hit her nostrils. Then, she felt her arm start to itch and a stain in the back of her throat. Binford-Ross ran through the smoke and called it a night. Back in February, the self-proclaimed straight-laced teen never would have predicted shed be risking arrest to land a story. Im a stickler for the rules, Binford-Ross said. I dont think I would have imagined, four months ago, that I would be in a place where I would risk getting shot with projectiles or arrested or hit with a baton. Far from deterring Binford-Ross from covering further demonstrations, the episode strengthened her resolve to cover more protests. She even traveled to Portland to cover a demonstration in a larger city. Heres my article about the Portland protests on Sunday! I had a projectile gun pointed right at me by a member of @PortlandPolice while I was covering this story, so you should definitely check it out! #portlandprotests #portland #portlandoregon #oregon #studentjournalist https://t.co/pOUbGuqNGs Eddy Binford-Ross (@eddybinfordross) June 18, 2020 Binford-Ross was taken aback by the shows of force police undertook to end what she viewed as largely peaceful events. The police could do basically whatever they wanted and if theres nobody there covering it, theres nobody to hold them accountable for what theyre doing, she said. Binford-Ross live tweets demonstrations from the Clypians account as they happen. The next day, she publishes a story on the website, accompanied by photos she takes with her own Canon camera. Shes covered nearly every protest in Salem since late May. Before then, The Clypians audience was primarily students, faculty and staff at South Salem High. The newspaper ceased printing when schools shuttered in mid-March. Now Binford-Ross sees her online coverage retweeted and referenced by the public at large. She credits the recognition to her consistent presence and because shes the only reporter who still live tweets every demonstration. Neither of Salems major news sites covered Saturdays rally at the Capitol. Carving out a niche as the citys protest reporter isnt how Binford-Ross envisioned ending her junior year of high school. Her biggest pre-pandemic projects for The Clypian included coverage of the extensive bond-funded renovations at South Salem High and an analysis of the demographic differences between students and teachers in Salem-Keizer schools. Binford-Ross has covered nearly every Black Lives Matter demonstration in Salem since Memorial Day weekend, earning her a reputation as one of the most consistent media presences on the ground by attendees and organizers alike.Photo by Eder Campuzano/Staff The Salem Reporter last year found that 90% of educators in the district are white while 40% of students are Latino. But over the last few months and under Binford-Rosss leadership, the Clypians 40-odd staffers have poured their efforts into the pandemics effects on South Salem students, publishing articles every few days on everything from tips for readers to remain organized when every day bleeds into the next to Oregon Gov. Kate Browns plans to slowly allow businesses to reopen. The protests added another wrinkle to Binford-Rosss plans. Prior to the pandemic, she wasnt sure shed continue in journalism upon graduating from high school. Now, shes seriously considering a career as a reporter. Its cool to hear people say that they wait for my stories to come out, she said. Its also been great to see the community does care about local news and local media and that they want to be informed. They want to know whats going on. --Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Eder at ecampuzano@oregonian.com or message either of the social accounts above. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. In 1998, The Oregonian/OregonLive chronicled the story of an Iranian couple, who were facing the choice of whether to leave their severely handicapped son, a U.S. citizen, in Portland if immigration authorities deported them. They knew he would not get the medical care he needed in Iran. It was an impossible choice. Years later, another son in the family won a prestigious journalism award. Hamed Aleaziz is a reporter for BuzzFeed News. Below is The Oregonian story that changed the trajectory of his life. Hamed Aleaziz - @Haleaziz I know firsthand the impact journalism can have on families. In the 90s, an Oregonian reporter profiled my parents immigration saga. Because of the story, senators got involved. Now my parents are US citizens. I was 8 at the time and knew then pic.twitter.com/94pbDKFW7d Sherry DeWeerdt (@sdwrdt) June 13, 2020 Here is the story on National Public Radio, with host Ari Shapiro. Published June 12, 1998: By Katy Muldoon ILL BOY RESTS AT HEART OF CLASH BETWEEN LOVE, LAW An Iranian couple might have to leave their severely handicapped son, a U.S. citizen, in Portland if the INS deports them The calligraphy above Alireza Aleazizs hospital bed flows gracefully across a crisp white page. Translated from Farsi, it says: ``God be with you all the time.'' Whether he is aware of it or not, that belief flows through the life of this profoundly disabled 13-year-old. At the moment, others with powerful beliefs -- Muslims, Christians and Jews -- have united in an effort to ensure that Alireza can live the remainder of his life -- perhaps only a few years -- wrapped in the blanket of his family's love. Doctors, nurses, social workers, friends and acquaintances are writing to President Clinton and the chief of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, begging them to intercede on Alireza's behalf. At issue: a clash between love and law. On one side of the battle are the boy's parents -- Iranian citizens who risk deportation because their U.S. student visas have expired but who want to remain near their child, who has cerebral palsy and a long list of other ills. On the other sidethe INS -- an agency with such a massive workload that if it didn't live and breathe by strict regulations, it could not do its job. Farzad Aleaziz and Roya Ahmadi of Corvallis have lived legally in the United States for 19 and 15 years, respectively, while Aleaziz maintained his student status by learning English, then earning bachelor's and master's degrees and a doctorate in fisheries management at Oregon State University. Now fully educated, Aleaziz and his wife apparently are out of options to remain in the country. Unless they can persuade the INS to reconsider their case, the family, including two younger sons, who, like Alireza, are U.S. citizens because they were born here, might have to return to Iran. The move would split up their family, leaving behind Alireza, who has been severely handicapped since birth. One of his doctors says the child's health is so fragile he might not survive the 23-hour flight. Even if he did, say people familiar with the level of technology and medicine in Iranian nursing centers, he never could receive adequate care in that Left behind, he would be abandoned by the family that has cared for him through 13 years, a half-dozen surgeries and countless trips to scores of doctors. ``Its going to be like taking an arm off them -- or a heart -- to leave this baby here,' said Dr. Lydia Fussetti, a pediatrician at the Corvallis Childrens Clinic who has treated the Aleaziz children for 13 years. ``They have been very devoted. . . . ``They're not trying to pull anything. They're not trying to scam the government. They're just trying to keep their son.'' The INS, however, sees the family's case differently. As a last-ditch effort to stay in this country legally and to acquire a work permit so he can support his family, Farzad Aleaziz asked the INS earlier this year to place him and his wife in removal -- or deportation -- proceedings. If the INS granted that request, the two then could apply for work permits and for procedures called ``cancellation of removal'' and ``adjustment of status.' If the INS granted their request, the couple could plead to an immigration judge for permission to stay and work in the United States, based on the fact that their deportation would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to their U.S. citizen child, Alireza. It's a risk. The judge could say no. But the family and their attorney, Tilman Hasche, think it is their best chance to remain in Oregon with their firstborn son. Aleaziz and his wife say they always intended to return to Iran. But as their son's condition worsened, they tried other avenues to stay legally -- from entering visa lotteries to searching for an employer who could petition on their behalf. Each attempt failed. And although many noncitizens find ways to stay and to work illegally, Farzad Aleaziz, 40, says he has never -- and will never -- break the law. Now, their dilemma: This spring, David V. Beebe, district director of the INS in Portland, denied the Aleazizes' request to be placed in removal proceedings. In a written decision, Beebe said the family's situation doesn't top the priority list for the INS, an agency notoriously understaffed for its overwhelming workload. And, Beebe said, prosecuting -- or placing noncitizens in removal proceedings -- on demand is tantamount to relinquishing control of the service's enforcement resources to illegal noncitizens ``who intend to evade detection and apprehension by the Service until such time as they, too, become statutorily eligible to petition the Immigration Court for discretionary relief.'' The U.S. Census Bureau recently estimated that 5 million noncitizens illegally live in the United States; 40 percent of those people violated their nonimmigrant status by remaining after their authorized period of stay -- such as on student or employment visas -- expired. The Aleazizes' visas expired at the end of April. This year, Beebe said, the INS chose to focus its resources on criminal noncitizens; people who employ illegals; and immigrant smuggling organizations. ``Setting operational priorities, such as these'' Beebe wrote, ``assures the Congress and the American people that the Service is attempting to maximize the rate of return on every tax dollar so invested in the Service . . . .'' He said the Aleazizes family's case ``resembles literally hundreds of thousands of similar cases where aliens, of their own volition, have violated the conditions of their authorized period of temporary stay in the United States.'' In a telephone interview last week, Beebe added that neither the family nor their attorney ever asserted that Alireza would be denied medical treatment in Iran or supplied evidence that sufficient medical care was unavailable there. But Hasche, of Parker Bush & Lane Attorneys, said Beebe ``is not seeing the forest for all the trees.'' ``If Mr. Beebe felt that we had failed to adequately document the lack of medical facilities,'' Hasche said, ``he could have simply said: Do you have any further information on this? Instead, he simply took the position that we are scamming the system. So I think his argument falls short.'' The family has introduced testimony from a nurse who worked at a Tehran, center for the disabled; she said conditions are so poor that children with fewer medical problems than Alireza are essentially left to die. Checks with several other medical experts familiar with health care in Iran show that the family's fears are well-founded. Among them is Dr. Iradj Nazarian, an Iranian American who specializes in clinical pathology and family practice in the Los Angeles area and is affiliated with CultureNet, an online public service organization for Iranian American medical specialists. Nazarian said that for the most part, the disabled in Iran are cared for at home. Not only are medications scarce, but seizure medication, which Alireza requires, would not be available, he said. And skilled nursing centers are expensive and extraordinarily difficult to find. Even in the best centers, he said, the care would not approach U.S. standards. Roya Ahmadi, whose pregnancy with Alireza proceeded perfectly, knew shortly after he was born that something was wrong with her baby. He cried so incessantly that neighbors once called police, concerned for the infant's safety. At 6 months, tests revealed severe brain damage, and doctors warned that Alireza might not survive a decade. ``It was devastating,'' the boy's father said. At one point, Aleaziz told doctors: ``If he dies from these diseases, I want to die with him. He is everything to me.' Alireza was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, profound mental retardation, aphasia and intracranial calcifications. He is quadriplegic. His vision is severely impaired. He has such trouble swallowing that he has been fed through a stomach tube since he was 3. The older he got, the sicker he grew. Alireza's bouts of pneumonia, respiratory and cardiopulmonary problems sent the family racing to the emergency room time after time, including the day Ahmadi was due to deliver her second child by Caesarean section. It's difficult when thumbing through a family photo album to detect the family's anguish. Alireza, dressed in brightly colored baby rompers, grins broadly in picnic and birthday party pictures. His parents stroke his head, hold him tight and smile back. Although some doctors suggested they institutionalize the boy, his parents wanted him home. ``I took it as an insult,'' Ahmadi said. They tried to give him as normal a childhood as possible; he attended school in a special education class, then would return home, where his mother would feed him through a tube, change his clothes and administer medications. As Alireza grew, moving him from bed to wheelchair to car became increasingly difficult. Then Alireza began to have trouble with his hips. Two surgeries later, when he was 11, doctors told Aleaziz and Ahmadi that their son required such careful handling that home care was no longer a viable option. Alireza needed to be in a center equipped with the staff and machinery for the intensive care he required. They call it Alireza's neighborhood, this colorful batch of rooms, busy with activity and filled with music. He has lived in the Children's Nursing Center at Providence Child Center in Northeast Portland for two years. It is the only pediatric skilled nursing center in the Northwest. Because Alireza is a U.S. citizen -- and because at Providence, parents are not allowed to pay -- Medicaid covers much of the cost of his care; United Way and other Providence Child Center Foundation donors also contribute. When Aleaziz was working, his health insurance picked up some of the bills. Shoshana Grammer, foundation executive director and director of public affairs, describes Alireza simply: ``He's a smiler. ``We can't assess how much cognitive ability is there, but . . . he recognizes his mom, dad, friends and family. He laughs when you tickle him. He sees a bright color or hears a song, and he'll respond. He's engaging. He has a bit more than some.'' Alireza, a boy with wavy, thick brown hair and wide dark eyes, cannot walk or talk. He can't control his movement. And his only forms of communication are to laugh and to cry. Three or four times a week, Alireza's parents and brothers make the 180-mile round-trip drive from their modest Corvallis apartment to visit him. When they are near, he laughs and leans toward their touch. When they leave, he cries -- as does his mother, all the way home to Corvallis. Around the clock, he requires others to feed him through a gastrostomy tube with a feeding pump; every eight hours, a nurse assesses the site of the tube and treats it as necessary. To ease his pain and keep him comfortable, staff must move the boy's position every two hours -- from sitting in a wheelchair, to strapping him into a standing position, to lying down. It takes three people to move the boy, now 4-foot-7 and 80 pounds. They give him Phenobarbitol and Valproic Acid to manage his seizures and pain medication as needed. Alireza is incontinent and is monitored for constipation. He uses a product called Duoderm for skin breakdown. He receives calcium and vitamin supplements. He requires a custom-fitted wheelchair and other equipment to help keep his joints from contracting, increase his bone density and aid in digestion. Because of severe foot deformities, he requires special footwear, molded and fitted by a physical therapist and orthotist and adjusted as he grows. Pediatric specialists are required for his dental, neurology and orthopedic needs, as are physical therapists to help with his range of motion. Dr. John Springer, one of Alireza's physicians, said that puberty -- a time of growth and physical change -- can make children such as Alireza medically less stable, so they must be closely monitored. In a letter outlining his concerns about why Alireza could not travel to Iran if his parents are deported, Springer detailed the impossibility of such a long flight and worried at length that his patient never could access such specialized care abroad. Springer is not the only one to put pen to paper on Alireza's behalf. Foster grandmothers who work at Providence have started a letter-writing campaign, as have parents with children at the Montessori School affiliated with Providence, where Alireza spends time each week. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote to the INS urging the agency to reconsider its ruling. David Seldin, a spokesman for Wyden, said the senator ``just feels that in a case like this, where a young person's life could very well be at stake, the United States government should put basic principles of humanity first.'' And the Aleazizes' attorney sent a four-page memo to Doris Meissner, commissioner of the INS in Washington, D.C. In the memo, Hasche reminds Meissner of words she spoke emphasizing the importance of cohesive families during her confirmation hearing in 1993: ``Family reunification has been the centerpiece of our legal immigration system for decades, and it should remain so. The reason is that it benefits American citizens. . . . Legal immigrants come to the United States because our citizens believe family members should be able to live together.'' Farzad Aleaziz and Roya Ahmadi are touched by all the hands reaching to help them. Because Aleaziz is now out-of-status -- without a visa or work permit, in other words -- he cannot legally work. The Hewlett-Packard Co. computer chip plant in Corvallis, where Aleaziz has been a production worker, still considers him an employee. He is on a leave of absence until he can get a work permit. Friends are helping the family pay bills until Aleaziz can work again. He worries, however, that their generosity cant last more than another month or two. Hes particularly concerned about making his car payment; without transportation, the family could not regularly visit Alireza in Portland. And he worries about his rising legal bills. Grammer, of Providence Child Center, set up the Aleaziz Family Legal Defense Fund at U.S. Bank. The effort to gather donations to defer the familys legal bills is her own, she says, not one tied to the center. But she and others there are pushing hard to help Alireza's family stay near him, so they can continue their intense involvement in his care. ``This story goes beyond race and religion,'' Grammer said. ``Here we have a Catholic institution with a Muslim family. I'm Jewish. None of us even thinks twice. It's really kind of America at its best -- just working from our hearts and doing what's right. ``Were an extension of their family. We feel like were all in this together.' Postscript: Nearly a year later, an immigration judge granted a motion to allow the parents to become permanent legal U.S. residents. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, then U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, the Iranian-American community and many other supporters had pressed their case. Alireza now lives in an adult care home. While the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 continues to ravage the globe, scientists already have identified a swine-flu strain that has the potential to become the next pandemic, a new study concludes. The researchers examined some 30,000 pigs in Chinese slaughterhouses over four years and discovered an influenza that is a variant of the H1N1 virus that caused a deadly 2009-10 pandemic. That outbreak was brought to a halt when a vaccine was quickly developed for it. The scientists say the risk of a pandemic from this new strain appears to be low, but that health officials should remain vigilant. Their peer-reviewed study, published this week in the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that humans do not have immunity to the swine-flu strain, which the authors labeled G4 EA H1N1. G4 viruses have all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus, the scientists wrote. The BBC reports that current flu-vaccine protocols likely could be adapted to protect against the new strain. The studys researchers urged close monitoring of Chinese slaughterhouse workers and encouraged health officials around the world to pay attention to the flu strain. Nottingham University professor Kin-Chow Chang, who worked on the study, said in an interview that the new variant of the swine flu is not an immediate threat to human health. But, he added, we should not ignore it. Read the study -- Douglas Perry @douglasmperry Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are renewing a push to have the Trump administration investigate and potentially punish the government of Saudi Arabia for its suspected role in whisking its citizens out of the United States to escape criminal prosecution. The Oregon Democrats have proposed amendments to the annual National Defense Authorization Act that would require federal agents to probe the series of disappearances and to impose sanctions against any Saudi diplomat or official found to have assisted the fugitives. Prior efforts by Wyden and Merkley to advance the measures have come up short in the Senate, which continued debating the defense bill Monday. Members hope to finalize and pass the legislation before the July Fourth recess. [Read The Oregonian/OregonLives investigative series Fleeing Justice.] Congress and this administration cannot surrender and say nothing can be done about Saudi nationals who have been accused of violent crimes and then fled the United States with the aid of the Saudi regime, Wyden told The Oregonian/OregonLive in a statement. Senator Merkley and I offered these amendments to the must-pass defense policy bill to try once again to get a measure of justice for the victims of these crimes, and to send a message to the Saudi government that it wont get away with helping fugitives escape American justice. Their continued attempts are in response to an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive that found 25 cases where Saudi students studying throughout the U.S. vanished while facing manslaughter, sex crimes and other felony charges. The cases occurred under several U.S. administrations. Seven of the cases were in Oregon, including some Saudis who had surrendered their passports to authorities. One of the suspects, 21-year-old Portland Community College student Abulrahman Sameer Noorah, disappeared weeks before his 2017 trial in the hit-and-run death of 15-year-old Fallon Smart and later resurfaced in Saudi Arabia. Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service told The Oregonian/OregonLive that they believed Noorah left his Southeast Portland neighborhood in a black SUV and later used an illicit passport and private plane both likely provided by the Saudi government to flee. The Oregonian/OregonLives investigation later found similar cases in seven other states Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin and Canada. Some of the cases date back 30 years, suggesting the Saudi government may have spent decades subverting the U.S. criminal justice system and leaving untold numbers of victims without any recourse. The United States and Saudi Arabia dont share an extradition treaty. That makes the return of any Saudi suspect who has left the U.S. unlikely, if not impossible, without diplomatic or political pressure. A story co-published by The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica in April 2019 showed how the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have been aware of the Saudi intervention since at least 2008 yet never tried to stop it. Intelligence officials also believe the Saudi flights from justice before their trials or completing their sentences will continue without action by American authorities, according to declassified FBI documents released earlier this year by Wydens office. The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., has said that, as a policy, the Saudi government will cover the cost of bail for any citizen jailed in the U.S. who asks for assistance. The kingdom has also denied playing any role in helping Saudi citizens escape. The amendments introduced by Wyden and Merkley would: Require the State Department to investigate how the Saudi government issues passports and other travel documents to its citizens in the U.S. and deliver a report to Congress within 90 days. Require the U.S. attorney general to investigate any involvement the Saudi government had in the disappearance of Saudi fugitives and deliver a report to Congress within 90 days. Prohibit U.S. visas and travel to some Saudi nationals, including members of the royal family, should the Department of Justice determine the Saudi government assisted in the escape of suspected criminals in the U.S. Expel from the U.S. any Saudi diplomat found to have assisted a suspected criminal leave the country. Allow the president to shut down Saudi-owned diplomatic facilities Los Angeles and Fairfax, Virginia. Allow the president to suspend permits for Saudi air carriers. Its completely unacceptable that the Saudi government has orchestrated secret missions to help its citizens evade justice by removing them from the United States, Merkley said in a statement. We need to use all the tools available to us to make clear that Saudi Arabias blatant disrespect for international norms cannot be allowed to stand. Read The Oregonian/OregonLives investigative series Fleeing Justice. -- 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 few days after George Floyd was killed by a Minnesota police officer on May 25, Amerrah Horne-Vaden sat down with Abdi Mohamoud and recorded a video addressed to leaders in their school district. As the presidents of Tualatin and Tigard High Schools Black Student Unions, respectively, they felt disappointed in the Tigard-Tualatin School Districts silence on the incident. They felt no support from the district, and wanted to share how people could stand in solidarity with Black people. Its time to show with action, no more silence, Horne-Vaden said. Horne-Vadens family, much like most other Black families in the United States, have faced racism countless times. Lately theyve been involved in suburban marches and protests. Their connection to racism and police brutality goes beyond this movement. Soon after the Horne family moved to Oregon 31 years ago, Flora Horne, 62, experienced what she called true racism for the first time. Horne was walking home from Target in Tigard with her children and a niece who was visiting when five or six police officers in unmarked cars stopped them. Horne was told to stop and wait without an explanation. Then the police told her someone had stolen something from Target and she matched the suspects description. She showed the officers her receipt and everything she bought to prove she wasnt the one, but they ignored her. The children, including her daughter Octavia, were allowed to walk the rest of the way home on their own, but Horne had to wait around 30 minutes before one of the officers said, Shes not the one. You can go, the officer told her. The officers offered no apology for keeping her so long. Why is black the color of fear? Horne wonders. Flora Horne hands her daughter Octavia a piece of tape to hold down a tablecloth June 27 at a Black Student Union barbecue in Cook Park in Tigard. The family has worked together to start Black Student Unions in many of the schools in the Tigard-Tualatin School District. On Jan. 17, 2018, Octavias cousin Donte Shannon was shot and killed by two police officers in Racine, Wisconsin, after they received a tip that Shannon was in possession of a gun and marijuana. He was shot 10 times by police. He was 26. His death at the hands of police officers sparked a protest march in Racine because of the lack of information given about the incident and why lethal force had to be used. According to The Journal Times in Racine, at least 200 people attended the protest. The District Attorneys office decided not to press charges against the officers, stating they used lethal force because of Shannons deadly threat to the officers. Shannons family filed a civil lawsuit against the officers and the city. Their claim was that lethal force wasnt necessary because Shannon was from the neighborhood and police knew he wasnt violent. The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled again. Octavia Horne, 37, said she didnt understand why people tried to justify when someone was killed at the hands of officers. To see somebody attack someone you love, its like they just dont care, Octavia Horne said. Octavia and Flora Horne both work at Tualatin High School, where they interact with police officers every day. Octavia Horne said she didnt feel as though the officers actually cared about the prejudice Black people faced every day, including in the school theyre supposed to protect. Octavia Hornes oldest daughter and Flora Hornes granddaughter, Amerrah Horne-Vaden, 17, attends Tualatin High School and will be a senior in the fall. Octavia Horne said that she went to every class with her daughter when Amerrah started school in the district to better understand her daily life and the prejudice she might face as a young Black girl in a class full of white kids and white teachers. Since Flora Horne, her daughter and granddaughter were in the same building, any time there was an issue involving racism, they would confront it together. There was someone there you could lean on, Flora said. The Horne family has worked together to create a space for Black students to feel more welcomed in the school district. Flora and Octavia Horne started Black Student Unions at Tualatin High School and Tigard High School and helped model and guide ones at Fowler, Hazelbrook and Twality middle schools. They also started lunch mentoring programs with a couple elementary schools in the district, and more programs are in the works, Octavia Horne said. The idea for Black Student Unions came around 2015 after the older Hornes saw fighting and racist name-calling at Fowler Middle School. The population in both Tigard and Tualatin is mostly white, and the women saw that as an issue. Theres not a space to talk about racism, Octavia Horne said. Amerrah quickly became involved in the high schools Black Student Union after spending years hearing people use racist words and calling her ugly for being Black. She said she would often get white-washed by peers, telling her she shouldnt act a certain way because shes Black. Shes now the president of the schools BSU. She said she wanted to bring awareness to Black issues because people in the district just didnt know they existed. Her mom and grandma have worked with her to organize events, trips, movie showings, spirit weeks and more to help kids learn more about Black history. Kids dont know our history, Flora Horne said. Octavia Horne has had to teach her younger children about racism and police brutality to an extent, too. She said she didnt want to show her 9-year-old daughter the video of Floyds arrest because she didnt want her children to fear the police. Its been hard for her to teach her kids about current events in a way thats constructive and easy to understand. One thought thats always on her mind when it comes to her children is that they cant go out on their own or be the only Black person in the group theyre with. You cant do things by yourself anymore, she said. With a lack of people of color in positions of teaching and power in the district, Octavia Horne said its been even harder to get much change. She said for now, shes going to show her children how to stand up for themselves by participating in marches and vigils, conversing with other people of color and donating. Shell explain everything in more detail when its time. The Hornes havent been involved in any other protests in Portland, but have instead been sticking to events in the suburbs. Octavia Horne said the suburbs were the areas that needed work because theyre mostly white, and the family wanted to reach people who were distancing themselves from the protests message because they werent traveling downtown during the pandemic. You dont have to protest but you should feel some kind of way, she said. Amerrah helped organize a June 12 student march at Tualatin High School that a few hundred people attended. The Hornes plan to attend the March on Washington anniversary march on Aug. 28 in Washington, D.C., and are currently raising money through social media to make the trip possible. Were not gonna stop, Amerrah said. Were not gonna be quiet about it. -- Ty Vinson tvinson@oregonian.com 503-221-4315; @ty_vinson_ Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. I read with concern about the direction activist Ana del Rocio is pushing for TriMet by leveling a generic accusation of systematic racism at the agency (As TriMet pledges to retain transit police, Latinx leader arrested in 2018 pushes for more reforms, June 19). Two Portland State University studies showed there was not ethnic or racial disparity in fare citations. Del Rocio then moved the target, saying the two studies dont accurately capture the feelings of people of color, which cant be quantified in fare stop data. Thats disingenuous. TriMet shouldnt make policy around fare inspections based on feelings. Our transit system is funded by public money and fares, and we depend in part on riders to be fare-compliant. There could be good reasons to change the numbers of fare inspectors or transit police, but unfortunately del Rocio is more interested in trying to change the agencys policies through unfounded claims of racism. TriMet has made enough concessions on fare inspections and appears to have done so legally and in good faith. If we have a light-rail system without turnstiles, we must have fare inspectors on MAX and transit police system-wide to ensure the safety of riders and employees. The article points out that some people want a fareless system. A fareless system could be a great benefit and should be taken up with integrity. It should include study and public debate and follow the democratic process. Tyler Pedersen, Portland UPDATED 8:55 am.: The boy has been reunited with his family, according to Portland police. An agency spokeswoman said officers are looking into how he got lost and that an investigation has been opened. *** Portland police are asking for help tracking down the guardian of a young boy found in Northeast Portland early Tuesday. The boy, whos believed to be about 4 years old, was seen wandering around the area of 122nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard, according to Portland police. He didnt appear to be hurt. The boy was wearing a T-shirt but no pants, police said. Officers gave him clothing and are trying to find his parent or guardian. The boy has been asking for his grandmother, according to police. Police urge anyone who has information about the boys identity or where he lives to call 503-823-3333. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Emerging into the basalt amphitheater that contains Tamanawas Falls can be a transcendent experience. The 109-foot waterfall is far from the biggest or most impressive in Oregon, but its setting on the eastern slopes of Mount Hood makes it one of our states most beautiful, accessible by an easy day hike. Its accessibility also makes Tamanawas Falls a popular destination for those seeking natural beauty on the flanks of Oregons tallest mountain. The trailhead parking lot on the side of Oregon Route 35 accommodates roughly two dozen cars, and it tends to fill up fast on warm days and summer weekends. Those who want to avoid the crowds should consider going on weekdays, if possible, and should show up early in the morning or later in the afternoon. Extra precautions are also in order during the coronavirus pandemic, including carrying a face masks and hand sanitizer, maintaining six feet of social distance when possible and not hiking with anyone outside your immediate household. Cold Spring Creek flows from the base of Tamanawas Falls, a 109-foot waterfall found at the end of a two-mile hike on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian Cold Spring Creek flows beneath a footbridge on the trail to Tamanawas Falls.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian Wildflowers grow alongside the trail to Tamanawas Falls.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian Cold Spring Creek flows alongside the trail to Tamanawas Falls.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian An easy, 2-mile hike leads along forested mountain streams to the base of the waterfall, where a constant mist circulates inside the natural amphitheater walls. Trees and shrubs grow where sunlight reaches; thick moss covers boulders in the perpetual shade. Tamanawas Falls itself is a marvel, made of several uneven ribbons of water that give it an unusual look, as if its a group of smaller waterfalls all cascading in unison. Its easy to isolate any one piece, but peel your gaze back and the singular waterfall comes roaring into focus. Here, hikers can find room to spread out for a break, but only if theyre willing to cross the branching creek or scramble up boulders to higher reaches of the area. It can be tempting to linger at the falls for a long afternoon spent basking in the spray, but given the popularity of the place it might be best to move along after soaking it in. Head back the way you came in and free up a parking space for someone else to enjoy to the transcendent beauty of Tamanawas Falls. A summer morning at Tamanawas Falls, a 109-foot waterfall found at the end of a two-mile hike on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian TAMANAWAS FALLS HIKE Distance: 3.7 miles, out and back Difficulty: Moderately easy Amenities: Vault toilets, parking area, picnic tables at trailhead -To get to the trailhead, take Oregon Route 35 south from Hood River. In 24 miles, look for the trailhead parking area on the right side of the highway. If theres no room to safely park, DO NOT park illegally. Find another place to hike and try again later. Cars at the trailhead must display a valid Northwest Forest Pass, day pass or equivalent interagency pass (available online or at local retailers). -From the trailhead, go right and cross a wooden footbridge over the East Fork Hood River. The trail will run parallel to the highway for about a half mile before reaching a signed junction. -Stay left for the Tamanwas Falls Trail, which will soon cross Cold Spring Creek. -After 1 mile, the trail reaches another signed junction. Stay left to continue on toward Tamanawas Falls. -In .2 miles, the trail ends at the base of the waterfall. After youve soaked it in, go back the way you came. The East Fork Hood River flows beneath a footbridge on the trail to Tamanawas Falls, a 109-foot waterfall found on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian Oregon Route 35 is seen below the trail to Tamanawas Falls on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian A summer morning at Tamanawas Falls, a 109-foot waterfall found at the end of a two-mile hike on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian Cliffs rise up around Tamanawas Falls, a 109-foot waterfall on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian A bunchberry flower blooms alongside the trail to Tamanawas Falls on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian A sign marks the junction of the Tamanawas Falls Trail and a spur to the Elk Meadows Trail on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian A tiny waterfall cascades over a fallen log on Cold Spring Creek at the base Tamanawas Falls, a 109-foot waterfall found on the east side of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian --Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Over the course of the past decade, watch lovers have witnessed an increased attention to the world of womens timepieces. Some brands, however, have long focused on what was once termed, the fairer sex. Blancpain is one such brand. Not only has this Swiss company been creating womens watches for nearly a century, but also it was the first leading Swiss watch brand to have a female CEO. Valentine's Day 2020 Blancpain It was in 1930 that Blancpain 1735 unveiled its first automatic watch for women. That was under the leadership of Frederic-Emile Blancpain, the seventh-generation family member to run the company. Two years later, in 1932, he passed away and left the company to his assistant Betty Fiechter, who took over the helm as CEO. What a surprise that must have been for the Swiss watch industry. You can almost hear the gossip, the whispers, the wonders as to whether or not she could handle the task. Betty Fiechter Blancpain In fact, not only did she run the brand, but also, she brought it to new heights, insisting that Blancpain continue to innovate when it came to womens watches. It was under her direction that, in 1956, Blancpain created the first Ladybird watch. Not only did it set a world record for being the smallest round watch at the time (it was equipped with the 11.85mm in diameter Calibre R550 movement), but also it featured the winding crown on the back. Today, under the auspices of the Swatch Group, and the vigilant eye of Marc A. Hayek as President and CEO, Blancpain continues to create womens watches that deftly blend high-horology with artistic elegance. The Ladybird remains an important series for the brand. All of its womens watches are designed expressly for ladies. They are not just scaled down mens watches with a quartz movement inside. They are equipped with automatic movements that are finely finished by hand and that boast all of the attributes of haute horology. As mentioned, the Ladybird Ultraplate is an important series for Blancpain one in which the master artisans deftly combine technically advanced movements with Metiers d Arts to enhance the dials even further. In some instances, there are dials with hand-painted mother of pearl motifs and bezel-set diamonds, in other instances feminine swirls and waves of diamonds grace the dials, and certain models even feature heart-shaped motifs that not only adorn the dial, but also spread over onto the straps. In all instances, the watches are powered by the top-notch automatic Caliber 615 that is ultra-thin and equipped with a silicon balance spring. Ladybird Ultraplate Blancpain Easily one of the most beloved collections is the Blancpain Quantieme Phase de Lune signature moonphase watch. For the creation of this iconic moonphase indication, Blancpains artists added a sublime touch that radiates femininity: the moon is a woman. During a full moon, the face can be viewed through the aperture with eyes closed, long eyelashes and high eyebrows perfectly coiffed. Cherub-like lips grace the face, along with a fine beauty mark on the cheek to the right of the lips. The beauty on the dial of this watch is matched by the savoir faire on the inside. It is powered by the automatic Caliber 913QL.P movement with hours, minutes and seconds as well as date indication. Other Moonphase models include day and month indication and there is even a version with retrograde date hand. Quantieme Phase de Lune Blancpain Naturally, Blancpain also creates womens versions of its beloved Villeret watches and Complet Calendar lines. While these may not be designed just for women, they are core pieces that women desire. Additionally, in its universe, where Blancpain has a commitment to the Oceans and to the Art of Living, the brand has several women on its ambassador roster. In fact, just late last year, Michelin-star chef Marie Robert came on board as a friend of the brand. The 31-year-old chef at Cafe Suisse de Bex was elected Chef of the Year by Gault & Millau gourmet guide. According to Hayek, Blancpain is continually crafting a delicate and contemporary vision of feminine timepieces. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang holds a press conference for both foreign and domestic journalists in Beijing on May 14, 2019. UPI China announced Monday visa restrictions on US citizens who have "behaved egregiously" over Hong Kong, ahead of the expected approval by Chinese lawmakers of a controversial national security law for the city. The country is moving forward on a security law that would punish subversion and other offences against the state in Hong Kong, which saw massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests last year. On Friday, US President Donald Trump's administration said it was restricting US visas for a number of unspecified Chinese officials for infringing on the autonomy of the Asian financial hub. In response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday that the US "scheme... to obstruct the passage of the Hong Kong national security law will never prevail". "To target the US's above wrongful actions, China has decided to impose visa restrictions against American individuals who have behaved egregiously on matters concerning Hong Kong," Zhao said. China's top lawmaking committee is expected to adopt the law during sessions that end on Tuesday. The legislation was approved by Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament little more than six weeks after it was unveiled, sending shockwaves through semi-autonomous Hong Kong and beyond. While outlawing acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces, the legislation will allow China's security agencies to set up shop publicly in the city for the first time. The United States, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations rights watchdog have all voiced fears the law could be used to stifle criticism of Beijing, which uses similar laws on the authoritarian mainland to crush dissent. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would curb visas for unspecified current and former officials of the Chinese Communist Party "who were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong's freedoms". The officials targeted were "responsible for, or complicit in, undermining Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy", which Beijing promised before regaining control of the territory in 1997 from Britain, Pompeo said. Last week, the US Senate unanimously approved a bill that would impose mandatory economic sanctions in the United States against Chinese officials and Hong Kong police identified as hurting the city's autonomous status. Zhao warned Monday that the US "should not review, advance or implement relevant negative bills concerning Hong Kong, even less impose so-called sanctions on China, otherwise China will firmly take strong countermeasures". Hong Kong was upended by seven straight months of protests last year, initially sparked by an eventually abandoned plan to allow extraditions to the mainland. (AFP) The Siesta Key gang returns to television sets with another installment of the second half of the third season which continues with Episode 15 airing tonight, Tuesday, June 30, at 8 p.m. on MTV. You can watch episodes of Siesta Key live for FREE with fuboTV (free trial). Get away from your quarantine-drearies by diving into Siesta Key, Fla., with the rambunctious group of liars and manipulators. The third season of the popular reality show is back. The series resumed in June after taking a break back in March. The drama continues this week as Brandon and Camilla meet up to see if they can put the past behind them and move forward together. It is always hot and heavy in Florida, but especially so when everyone is lying and youll never know who will get caught up in one next. Get ready for the surf, the sun, and the secrets. TONIGHT at 8/7c on @mtv! pic.twitter.com/10VRG5j9cD Siesta Key (@SiestaKey) June 30, 2020 What: Siesta Key (Season 3, Episode 15) When: Tuesday, June 30 at 8 p.m. TV channel: MTV Watch live stream online: You can watch the show live for FREE with fuboTV (free trial), or you can also watch it live for FREE with Sling TV (free trial, other promotional offer). If you are out of free trials or promotional offers, you can also watch the show on Hulu Live if you prefer that streaming service. Channel finder and more ways to watch: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast / Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, Cox, DIRECTV, Dish. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. More on how to prepare for social distancing and how to protect yourself from the coronavirus: Kyle Ocker is the group editor of the Oskaloosa Herald and the Ottumwa Courier. He can be reached at kocker@oskyherald.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker. Construction continues Monday, June 29, 2020 at the site of the future Costco at 4816 Bay City Road in Midland. The Midland Costco will be the only one located in mid-Michigan, and the farthest one north in Michigan aside from Traverse City. According to the Midland County Register of Deeds, the property was sold by Fast Ice Development LLC, which according to the citys property tax records, acquired the property from Nicholas Rapanos in 2008. Members of the Midland Artists Guild gathered at Creative 360 Friday evening for a socially distanced awards presentation. Normally hosted at the beginning of the annual exhibit, this years COVID-19 precautions moved it to the end of June with social distancing guidelines in place. Chairs were spaced six feet apart in the gallery and everyone in attendance sported a mask. As an additional precaution, pre-packaged refreshments replaced the normal array of home prepared goodies. Even with the obvious safety measures in place, it was a celebratory evening as eight awards were presented to the following seven local artists: Best of Show and Members Choice Award: Roger King received both Best in Show and the Members Choice Award for his 3D art Great Blue Heron. First Place: Charles Bonham for his photography Warty Willow Tree. Second Place: Allise Noble for her mixed media Torn. Award of Excellence: Jasminka Blazina for her pottery Modern and Gail Leduc for her painting The Wild 80. Award of Merit: Rebecca Houck for her painting Rainbow Catch and Carol Nutter for her abstract painting Out of the Shadows. A video of the ceremony is available on Creative 360s Facebook page (creative360midland). Jurist Scott Rice, Kirtland Community College art professor, announced the winners, why they were chosen, and even delivered a bit of an art lesson during the presentation. Even though we were masked, it was easy to see the eyes of our friends light up as they greeted one another from a distance and celebrated the beautiful art on display, said Creative 360s Interim Executive Director Carol Speltz. It was good to see so many of our friends again. This is the 36th year for the MAG juried exhibition, but in many ways, it was the first of its kind. When it became apparent that gathering for a gala opening reception or to view an exhibit was out of the question, the event was in jeopardy of being canceled. At the time, the office was mandated closed and Creative 360 staff interacted via email and weekly online meetings. State Stay Safe at Home orders were continually being extended, and it was unclear when and if Creative 360 would be able to offer an exhibit during the months planned for this one. Creative 360s Program Director and Gallery Curator Colleen Reed was determined to find a way, and enlisted help from her colleagues to make it happen. People get so much joy from creating and viewing art that I didnt want this opportunity to also fall victim to COVID-19, Reed explained. I knew, working together, Creative 360 staff could make it happen. As a result of those efforts, 58 entries were delivered curbside by 22 artists and received by masked Creative 360 staff members, and some items were delivered directly to the gallery. Reed worked alone in the building to ready the art for adjudication, which was done with only three people present: Reed, the jurist Scott Rice, and MAG President Carol Nutter. The award winners were chosen and secreted until Fridays ceremony. Another change is that Creative 360 offered their first ever online exhibit with the help of award-winning photographer Charles Bonham. Bonham volunteered his talents and spent hours getting beautiful shots of each piece entered. His photos now comprise the MAG virtual exhibit on Creative 360s website at becreative360.org. View the art from the menu. Our Marketing Director Deb Cull was working on a website redesign at the time and added a virtual exhibit to her scope of work, explained Reed. Creating this online gallery enables an offering our website has never had before, allows the art to reach people who would have never seen it otherwise, and lays a foundation for future exhibits. Work is already underway for Artfest 55, our annual celebration of the creativity of artists across Michigan who are 55 and older. Jurist Scott Rice earned his bachelor's in fine arts degree in illustration from Kendall College of Art and Design and a master's in fine arts degree in painting and drawing from Central Michigan University. Since 1996, he has been a faculty member for Kirtland Community Colleges Art Department and is responsible for all the beginning and advanced courses in drawing, painting, watercolors, illustration, sculpture, design, photography, portolio, art appreciation and art history. Processed by Lori Qualls, lqualls@mdn.net Paducah, KY (42003) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning. A steady rain arriving this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 81F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Low 54F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Palestine, TX (75801) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 89F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 67F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The programme for Arab-African Trade Bridges (AATB) run by the multinational Islamic Trade Company (ITFC) Monday gave Benin an emergency financing to facilitate its national strategy of fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19), official sources said Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - The summit of G5 Sahel heads of state here Tuesday expressed deep concern with the security situation in the sub-region and the economic and social consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic Lome, Togo (PANA) - The number of people infected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) climbed to 643 following a new case here Monday, reliable sources told PANA here Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Congolese Ministry for Integration of Women in Development on Tuesday signed an agreement in Brazzaville to support women, whose Income generating activities collapsed during containment of the coronavirus pandemic Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libya was elected vice-president of the UN General Assembly for the 75th session held Monday at the seat of the UN in New York, a statement issued by the Libyan ministry of foreign affairs said here Tuesday Port Louis, Mauritius (PANA) Mauritian Financial Services and Good Governance minister Mahen Seeruttun, on Tuesday, told Parliament that the government is determined to strengthen the effectiveness of its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - The World Bank Board of Directors has approved a $40 million International Development Assistance (IDA) grant for Somalia as part of the Emergency Locust Response Program, which seeks to respond to the threat posed by the locust outbreak and strengthen systems for preparedness in affected countries in Africa and the Middle East Niamey, Niger (PANA) - The World Bank has approved additional funding of $150 million from the International Development Association (IDA) for the Water Resources Development Programme and for the sustainable management of ecosystems in the Niger river basin, it said in a press release NORMAL Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal, Advocate Eureka Hospital in Eureka and their affiliated medical sites in Central Illinois are one day away from being acquired by Urbana-based Carle Health. With state and federal approvals finalized, Carle's $190 million acquisition of BroMenn and Eureka hospitals and other area Advocate facilities from Advocate Aurora Health takes effect on Wednesday. Carle and Advocate Aurora Health, based in Downers Grove and Milwaukee, announced acquisition plans in January after they were approved by both hospital systems' governing boards. The Pantagraph asked Kannaday on Monday to describe five things that she wants people to know about this transition. Here's what she said. Staff will remain "Those caring for you today will be caring for you tomorrow," Kannaday said. The Advocate system's 2,000 team members and physicians will join Carle Health on Wednesday. "Our staf f will retain all of the tools they need to provide the high level of safe, quality care you have come to trust and expect from our sites of care," Kannaday said. Most insurance coverage won't change The same insurance plans will be accepted, with a few exceptions. Carle's goal is to make sure there are no gaps in care and create a seamless transition for patients' insurance coverage, Kannaday said. "The majority of our existing insurance plans will remain in place with a few exceptions," she said. "Patients can check Carle's website for further details or contact their insurance carrier directly with questions about benefits and in-network coverage." Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} More services are coming Expanded services will be available. "Joining Carle will provide an opportunity to expand the types of services offered in our community," Kannaday said. "We have a number of new physicians who will join our medical team, including two primary care physicians in Eureka, one in El Paso and one in Fairbury. In addition, a new physical medicine and rehabilitation physician will oversee our acute rehabilitation unit at BroMenn." Community partnerships continue "Our long tradition of community involvement will continue," she said. "We know that Carle is dedicated to education and innovation and is a great partner with the University of Illinois. "In addition, we are excited to strengthen our relationships with ISU, IWU and Eureka College with the resources we will have as a part of Carle Health. In fact, we are already having discussions with each of those schools about how we can collaborate on student health needs heading into the fall semester as COVID-19 continues to be an evolving situation." Get ready to see red Red will be the new purple. "We will 'paint the town red' so to speak, as you can expect to see all of our signage change over the next few weeks to match Carle's iconic branding," Kannaday said. PHOTOS: Advocate BroMenn responded to COVID-19 in April Contact Paul Swiech at 309-820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech. 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. BLOOMINGTON A 19-year-old Chicago man was sentenced to four years of probation Monday after he pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery. Dwayne M. Bell was charged in January and pleaded guilty in March to aggravated robbery for an incident in which he implied he had a gun and used or threatened force to take money and a key from a person on Dec. 14 in Bloomington. Two counts of armed robbery, one count of aggravated robbery and two counts of robbery were dismissed when he pleaded guilty. This sentence is an opportunity of a lifetime, said Judge Casey Costigan at the hearing Monday afternoon. Bells uncle DeAngelo Bennett testified he is prepared to take his nephew into his home in St. Charles, Missouri, and help him pursue his GED, secure a job and find mental health and substance treatment. I am living proof of what second chances will do for an individual, Bennett said. People being on your side is one of the biggest contributors to changing so thats what I hope for my nephew. After Bennett spoke, Bells attorney Jennifer Patton asked that Bell be given four years probation for his first adult felony offense. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Assistant States Attorney Ashley Scarborough asked for an eight-year sentence to the Department of Corrections and said Bells criminal history as a juvenile did not make him a good candidate for probation. Scarborough asked Bennett how he is prepared to handle a 19-year-old with a history of theft, robbery, acting out against authority. Hes my nephew. Im not going to give up on him, Bennett said. Im there to help him. Im going to facilitate a home and an environment where he can succeed. Costigan said hearing Bennett go to bat for Bell convinced him that the defendant will have structure going forward with probation. Its up to you as to whether youre going to take advantage of it or not, Costigan said. You need to step up and get the job done here. Photos: McLean County Jail mugshots Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer. Love 0 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. BLOOMINGTON A Bloomington man, accused of stabbing a woman more than 100 times in an unrelated homicide, was sentenced Friday to 36 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Kyle Brestan, 35, was sentenced to nine years for each of the four counts of child pornography with an $8,000 total fine. In September, he pleaded guilty to possessing pornographic images of a teenage girl on his cellphone. More than 20 charges, including three additional counts of child pornography and 16 counts of criminal sexual assault of a minor, were dismissed in the plea agreement. An 18-year-old Missouri woman testified at Fridays hearing before prosecutors made their sentence recommendations to Judge Casey Costigan. She said Brestan initiated a sexual relationship with her when she was 11 years old and living in DeKalb County. Their sexual contact lasted three years, while Brestan was dating her mother. Two detectives from the Bloomington Police Department also testified regarding their involvement in the investigation of Brestans case. Detective John Heinlen said the 15-year-old girl whose images were found on Brestans phone disclosed they had a sexual relationship, and she considered them boyfriend and girlfriend, having sex too often to count. Heinlen said when they first met, the girl told Brestan she was an adult. Later in a statement to Costigan, Brestan said after awhile he realized she lied about her age but continued the relationship. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. If I hadnt been a 15-year drug addict with a mind (so) twisted...I believe I wouldve stopped contact with her, he said. Brestans attorney Stephanie Wong said his history of substance abuse and mental illness, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, were substantial contributing factors in his behavior. Brestans sister Kellye Brestan testified, asking for leniency in sentencing and said the charges and what she heard in court were not consistent with the Kyle I was raised with. She described him as fun-loving, compassionate and supportive and said she was unaware of the severity of his mental illness and substance abuse. If I was aware, I would have helped, she said, adding Brestan has a strong support system of people willing to hold him accountable. Wong asked for the minimum sentence of 16 years, but Costigan said that was not appropriate Theres too much here." First Assistant States Attorney Brad Rigdon asked that Brestan be sentenced to 48 years in prison, the maximum he could be given within the plea agreement. If not for that agreement, Rigdon said he would be asking for the maximum because that is what the defendant deserves. Brestan will be back in McLean County court next month to be tried for the murder of 27-year-old Shannon Hastings of East Peoria, who was found with more than 100 stab wounds in the Econo Lodge on Brock Drive in west Bloomington in May 2017. Jury selection will begin Dec. 9. Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer. 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. NORMAL A group of McLean County Unit 5 high school students is demanding changes to address what they described as a long-running problem of systemic racism in the school district. Hundreds of students rallied Monday at a march led by the Black Student Union at Normal Community West High School and supported by the Bloomington-Normal NAACP. Organizers said the protest, which began at the high school, was in response to racist social media posts made by white students. But current and former students who addressed the crowd described the posts as part of a pattern of discrimination that must end. I felt like it was important for us to organize this because were fed up with all the racism and bias weve experienced in schools around this community," said Jasmyn Jordan, 17, president of the Normal West Black Student Union. We dont want students to feel invisible or unequal to other students." The student group's six demands included hiring more teachers and staff with diverse ethnic backgrounds, requiring diversity training for students and teachers, ensuring equality in discipline and enforcing serious consequences for hate speech that happens outside of school. "We had been talking about those six points for a long time, and that's some of the stuff that we've been discussing as soon as we started BSU," Jordan said. "We just want to bring positive change to Bloomington Normal and the Bloomington-Normal schools." STUDENT DEMANDS Hire teachers, administrators and staff of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Give non-white students the same opportunities and advancements as white students. Equality and fairness in discipline of black students. Students should attend a course on diversity and face serious consequences if hate speech occurs outside of school and immediate expulsion if the offense is repeated. Required diversity training for students, teachers and staff. Require a class that teaches the history of people of color. School board members expressed support for the student-led demonstration in a statement provided to The Pantagraph. "In Unit 5, we want our Black students to know that their lives matter," said Amy Roser, president of the Unit 5 board of education. "We will continue to build a school community that support their success, because it is our mission to education each student to achieve personal excellence." Screenshots of the social media posts, previously released by the NAACP, appeared to show students using racial slurs and a person in blackface. The Pantagraph is not publishing the posts because they include the identities of minors who are not charged with a crime. Unit 5 leaders condemned the posts but said discipline was challenging because they were not made on school property or devices. The district said it became aware of the posts on April 28 and contacted parents of the four students involved as well as police, who determined there was no specific threat to a person. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The district said the students showed remorse and there was discussion with families about a public apology, but it was decided not to proceed with that because the students were receiving death threats related to the comments they had made. If the incident had happened at school, the district said, consequences would have been given. Normal Community West Principal Dave Johnson said in an emailed statement Monday that the district was continuing to "work on" the situation. Speaking during the event, Bloomington-Normal NAACP President Linda Foster said the school district needed to listen to students. "Now its time to do what we have to do," she said. "If its harmful, dont say it. If its disrespectful, dont say it. If its degrading, dont say it. If its not good for the cause, dont say it. "These are historic times, but nothing about these actions are historic. Weve been marching for justice for a long, long time." Normal Community West former students Sydney Griffin, 19, and Sydney LeGrand, 18, said they wanted to bring change to Bloomington-Normal and see the district's administration take issues of racial discrimination seriously. "Me and my sister grew up in predominantly white schools our whole lives," said Sydney Griffin. "We were some of the only Black girls in our grade, so weve been through that and we know how it feels. I personally believe action needs to be taken." Griffin's sister, Jordynn Griffin, 16, who is a current student at the high school, said she is just tired of the discrimination. "I'm tired of white people getting away with anything they think they can get away with," she said. "I just think it has to stop." See photos: Normal West Black Student Union holds protest Contact Sierra Henry at 309-820-3234. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_sierrahenry. Love 4 Funny 6 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 20 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. BELLEVILE State Rep. Darren Bailey's lawsuit against Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been sent back to a Clay County circuit court, according to a federal court order. Bailey, a Republican from Xenia, gained national attention in May when he sued Pritzker, then won a temporary restraining order that exempted only himself from the stay-at-home rules imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. His lawsuit alleges that Pritzker overstepped his authority as governor by imposing, then extending the executive order to temporarily shut down "nonessential" businesses and limit gatherings. Because Bailey's complaint alleges a violation of constitutional rights, the Illinois attorney general's office argued that the federal court has jurisdiction. But Steven Weinhoeft, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, argued in a 21-page statement of interest that Bailey's suit belonged in the circuit court. U.S. Magistrate Gilbert C. Sison agreed. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} "In this instance, in the interest of federalism, the Court finds that the amended complaint does not give rise to federal jurisdiction and that this action is best committed to the courts of the State of Illinois for further consideration," the judge wrote in his order. Sison's order said while the Court "recognizes the enormity of the issues" the Bailey suit raises, but that the court's sole focus was the question of federal jurisdiction. "The stakes are high on both sides of this litigation," Sison wrote. "There is no easy balance between protecting the public from a silent, fast-spreading, novel virus and preventing great social upheaval and the heavy strain of economic and financial uncertainty." Sison noted that the court's operations have been disrupted due to the pandemic. Bailey represents Illinois' 109th legislative district, which follows the Indiana border from roughly Effingham to Salem. 10 ways Illinois schools could look different this fall Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD A new report from an Illinois think tank says the state was ill-prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily because of a pre-existing shortage of nurses, and that the pandemic has left state even more vulnerable in the event of another public health crisis. The report, by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization with strong ties to organized labor, also argues the state would be in a better position if nurses at more hospitals were unionized and if the state adopted a law requiring mandatory minimum nurse staffing levels, an idea that was proposed in the 2019 legislative session but was not adopted. But while the Illinois Health and Hospital Association agrees there is a nursing shortage, it argues the lack of preparedness was more of a federal problem, and that the nursing shortage did not diminish the quality of care patients received. It strongly opposes legislation requiring minimum nurse staffing levels at hospitals, and disputes any correlation between the quality of patient care and the presence of a nurses union in a hospital. The report notes that even before the pandemic, Illinois had a shortage of about 20,000 nurses statewide and that the shortage will likely be exacerbated in the coming years because about half of the nurses practicing are older than 55. Even prior to the pandemic, more than 75 percent of registered nurses reported that insufficient staffing levels adversely affects their job satisfaction, the report states, citing a national survey of nurses in 2019. COVID-19 has the potential to exacerbate the nursing shortage if registered nurses feel even more overworked and stressed. The report examines patient care data from all 169 hospitals in Illinois, 14 of which are unionized and 155 of which are not. All but four of the unionized hospitals are in Cook County and include some of the largest health care facilities in the state. Across all levels of care, it noted, nurses in unionized hospitals were able to spend more hours per day treating their patients. They also had lower turnover rates and lower vacancy rates for registered nurses. The report does not draw specific connections to staffing levels, or union presence, and patient outcomes during the pandemic. Frank Manzo, the institutes policy director, said its difficult to say with certainty the extent to which the nursing shortage contributed to the severity of the pandemic in Illinois. What we can say is that we could have had more infection prevention and control staff, he said. We could have had better turnover rates and retention rates for nurses and lower vacancy rates and that would have made us better prepared for the pandemic. Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. Last year, Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, introduced House Bill 2604, which would have required hospitals to have at least one nurse for every four patients in medical-surgical units; one for every three patients in intermediate care; and one for every two patients in intensive care. The bill passed out of a House committee but was never voted on by the full House. If the legislation had been fully implemented, Illinois would have had between 17,500 and 19,100 more registered nurses which would have eliminated the shortage of registered nurses, the report states. But Danny Chun, spokesman for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, strongly disagreed that hospitals werent prepared for the pandemic. First of all, we've been drilling and doing exercises on pandemics before the pandemic hit, Chun said during an interview. Every hospital in the state, as you know, has an emergency preparedness plan for disasters of all kinds mass shootings, traffic accidents, biochemical, biohazard, flu epidemics or pandemics. In the city of Chicago last year in the summer of 2019, Chicago hospitals did an exercise, a drill with the Chicago Department of Public Health on this exact issue pandemics. And we were directly involved in a lot of the planning and discussions back in January, February, March where hospitals got ready for the pandemic. Chun said hospitals were directly involved in discussions with Gov. J.B. Pritzkers administration in the early stages of the pandemic to plan mitigation efforts, including the decision to cancel or postpone nonemergency surgeries and procedures in order to free up hospital resources for COVID-19 patients. Look at the numbers. We flattened the curve, Chun said, referring to hospitalization data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, which have shown a consistent downward trend since May in hospitalizations, intensive care admissions and ventilator usage by COVID-19 patients. If there was any weakness in preparation, Chun said, it was with the federal government and its failure to maintain a national stockpile of personal protective equipment as well as open supply chains with China, where most PPE is manufactured. Enacting a law requiring minimum staffing levels, Chun argued, would not solve the states nursing shortage and would likely harm many smaller hospitals as well as safety-net hospitals in urban areas that wouldnt be able to meet the requirements. You have an existing shortage of at least 21,000 nurses in Illinois, he said. Simply requiring hospitals to have a certain number of nurses does not create new nurses. In and of itself, ratios don't do anything. Chun argued that to address the nursing shortage, the state needs a multi-pronged strategy that includes more scholarships for nursing students, incentives to keep nurse educators in the workforce, and policies that would make it easier for nurses licensed in other states to practice in Illinois. 100 years ago June 30, 1920: Shop men at the Chicago & Alton walked off the job over alleged broken promises. This is over the confirmed contamination of drinking water in the workplace, which killed several men this year. Water is still bad, they say, and the C&A hasnt fixed it. 75 years ago Please log in to keep reading. {{featured_button_text}} Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever. June 30, 1945: The Irvin and Castle Theaters had been pressing for a reduction in their city license fees, but the city wasnt having any of it. The fees went unpaid while the wrangling went on. Then last night Mayor Hayes told city council they were paid up: $1,309 to date. 50 years ago June 30, 1970: Normal police will install new radios in their squad cars. These units will connect NPD with the Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network. Bloomington and the McLean County sheriffs cars already have them. Normal took delivery on six radio sets. 25 years ago June 30, 1995: Diamond-Star Motors, the automobile plant in west Normal, has a new name. From now on it will be known as Mitsubishi Motors Manufacturing of America. The change in names reflects Mitsubishis 1991 buyout of Chryslers share in the Diamond-Star joint venture. Compiled by Jack Keefe; jkeefe@coldwellhomes.com. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Apple may have access to a new OLED player as soon as 2021 that will allow the company to expand their range of products with the superior OLED displays. Today Samsung has the lions share of OLED for iPhone orders followed by LG that will play a larger role this year. BOE a distant third that may or may not enter the iPhone market until 2021. We're now learning that Apple may have another OLED display supplier to choose from for 2021 and beyond while also expanding into mini-LED displays for certain products. A Korean tech report states that while South Korea is currently the undisputed leader within the global OLED display market, China is preparing to challenge the status quo with a new alliance with Japan's JOLED. Japan-based JOLED and China-based TCL have joined hands and finished the necessary preparations to target the global OLED market. JOLED is looking to target the medium-sized OLED panel market after getting a promise for support from the Japanese Government The alliance has emerged as a legitimate competitor to South Korean OLED panel makers. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) recently approved a plan for business reorganization submitted by JOLED in order to form a capital partnership with CSOT that is owned by TCL. TCL recently invested $186 million (223.6 billion KRW) in JOLED and agreed to receive about 11% of JOLEDs shares. Int he "Business Reorganization Plan," JOLED will focus on development and production of OLED panels that are between 10 and 32 inches. It presented a roadmap for full-scale mass-production of medium-sized OLED panels. The sizes outlined could product iPad through to iMacs should Apple consider JOLED in 2021. Samsung's only way to stay ahead of the new alliance is to secure a greater OLED technology "super gap" that's way out of their competitors league, according to Industry sources. In the end, no matter how this plays out in 2021-2022, it's likely to be a win-win for Apple. They'll be able to play one against the other on price or push Samsung to provide them with next-gen OLED displays with superior value for a reasonable price. In another scenario Samsung and LG Display could be the premium OLED brands for iPhones while BOE and JOLED could assist Apple in upgrading products from LCD to OLED for the iPhone SE, iPads and iMacs. Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing or contributing today. Major Internet service providers are scheduled to end their quarantine benefits soon, once again subjecting Americans to data caps and removing protections if they are unable to pay their bills. On July 1, data caps returned to some major ISPs. The FCCs Keep Americans Connected Pledge also expired on June 30. Companies initially agreed to the pledge and rushed to add benefits. ISPs like CenturyLink, T-Mobile, Verizon, and many others said they would not discontinue service or charge late fees for those unable to pay because of the coronavirus. They also agreed to open their Wi-Fi access points for free. So far, the FCC has not publicly said that it would extend the pledge. In some ways, ISPs face the same decision as governors in Florida and Texas: end their benefits, which encouraged users to stay home, or continue them for an indeterminate period of time. For many of those who are out of work, ISPs could begin demanding payment for outstanding broadband bills on June 30. Consumers who have been riding out the quarantine by streaming may also find that their unlimited data expired on July 1. On that day AT&T, Comcast Xfinity, and T-Mobile were scheduled to resume normal service, and once again impose data caps. Some ISPs, like Cox, have already terminated some benefits, as its temporary unlimited data program expired in May. Others, like AT&T, have extended theirs through Sept. 30. AT&T All AT&T consumer home Internet customers, as well as Fixed Wireless Internet, can use unlimited data through June 30. On June 30, AT&T said it would waive overage charges through Sept. 30 for AT&T Fiber and AT&T Internet customers. It excludes DSL, Fixed Wireless Internet, and AT&T Wireless Internet and Mobility plans. An automatic 10GB of data per month was temporarily added to customers capped phone plans, though that appears to have expired on June 24. Mobile hotspot data was increased by 15GB per month for those on unlimited cellular plans, through June 30. Navy personnel on select ships may make free calls to military bases, also through June 30. AT&T pledged not to terminate the service of any customer who cant pay their bill, and will waive the fees associated with late payments. (Waivers can be applied for here.) That expires on June 30. The company will continue to waive domestic postpaid wireless plan overage charges for data, voice or text for residential or small business wireless customers. AT&T will also keep its public Wi-Fi hotspots open to everyone, and has automatically increased hotspot data by 15GB per month per line. New AT&T TV/DirectTV customers will receive a free year of HBO. An AT&T Summer Camp collection of content has been added, along with a number of free channels to those customers who didnt already have them. CenturyLink Until June 30, CenturyLink said it committed to waive late fees and to not terminate a residential or small business customers service due to financial circumstances associated with COVID-19. The company suspended data usage limits for consumer customers during this time period. Consolidated Communications Consolidated joined the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, although its support page says that pledge expired on June 30. Consolidated already does not have data caps, the company said. Comcast On March 13, Comcast said it would pause enforcement of its data caps for 60 days, essentially giving all of its customers unlimited data for that period. (Comcast normally gives its Xfinity customers two grace months for every 12, allowing them to exceed their data cap without penalty.) That was extended through June 30. Students who sign up for Xfinity Internet will receive a $150 Visa card. (Comcast traditionally hasn't enforced data caps in the Northeast, where it competes with Verizon FIOS.) Comcast did increase its data cap from 1TB to 1.2TB. however. New subscribers to Comcasts $9.95/month Internet Essentials plan initially received two months free, and speeds were increased to 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up. Comcast said on June 19 that the two months free introductory offer for Internet Essentials will be extended through the rest of the year. Comcast is also making its Xfinity WiFi service free for everyone, regardless of whether youre a Comcast subscriber, through the end of 2020. (Heres a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots.) Comcast pledged not to to disconnect a customer if they cant pay their bill, and has waived late fees, though it now says that "were offering customers in this program a variety of flexible and extended payment options" to keep customers connected. Cox Cox eliminated data usage overages starting March 16 for 60 days, later extended until the end of June. Cox previously said that it would not terminate service for any residential or small business customers, and would open its Cox WiFi hotspot network to keep the public connected. That was later extended through June 30. Cox is offering free support calls and the first month free to its low-cost Internet service, Connect2Compete. (It will be free through July 15, Cox added.) Customers on its Essential plan will see their speeds increased from 30Mbps to 50Mbps, and Starter, StraightUp Internet and Connect2Compete packages will be automatically upgraded to speeds of 50 Mbps as well. "After reviewing data consumption since the coronavirus crisis, we know that nearly 90 percent of customers would not have been charged for going over their 1TB data plan," a Cox spokesman said in an email. Cox is now raising future data allowances from 1 TB/mo to 1.25TB/mo. Charter (Spectrum) Charter Communications Spectrum services do not have data caps, and the company said it will not terminate service for home or small business users who cant pay because of the coronavirus pandemic, through June 30. Charter initially said it would offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi for 60 days if that household has K-12 students or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription -- that offer was extended until June 30, too. Charter also said it will open its Wi-Fi hotspots for public use, through June 30. All of Charters existing HBO subscribers, including subscribers in its Spectrum Silver and Gold video packages, were automatically given access to HBO Max for no additional charge. Earthlink Earthlink is participating in the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, and pledged (as of March 16, 2020) not to terminate the service of any residential or small business customer because of their inability to pay their bill due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as not to charge late payment fees a residential or small business customer may incur because of economic hardship related to the coronavirus pandemic. The company does not appear to have coronavirus benefits currently in effect at this time. Earthlink does not offer data caps on its residential service. Frontier Communications Frontier does not have data caps, and this will continue through the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said. It also plans to increase its capacity. Google Google Fi has joined the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, according to a company spokesman, who has not said how long its pledge will be effective. Google Fi temporarily increased its limits for full-speed data to 30GB per user, for both Flexible and Unlimited Plans, as of April 1. After the 30GB limit is reached, a user can pay $10/GB to return to full-speed data for the remainder of the billing cycle. Google is also extending its billing grace period to 60 days beyond the billing date. All of these measures are effective as of June 24, Google has said. Mediacom Communications New customers who sign up for Mediacoms Access Internet 60 broadband service can do so for $19.99/mo for 12 months, rather than $29.99/mo. Mediacoms Connect2Compete service raised its speeds from 10Mbps down/1Mbps up to 25Mbps down/3Mbps up, and made it free for the first 60 days. It also made its Wi-Fi hotspot network publicly accessible, for free. Mediacom also paused monthly data allowances across all broadband service tiers, the company said on June 23. All of these initiatives now extend through August, Mediacom said. Beginning with the September billing cycle and continuing through the end of 2020, Mediacom will provide up to 100 gigabytes of additional data to any broadband customer that exceeds their monthly data allowance for free, the company said. Sparklight (formerly Cable One) Sparklight said on March 13 that it would make unlimited data available on all Internet plans for 30 days. Sparklight extended unlimited data through May 12. On March 16, the company said it would make its hotspots, accessible in its office parking lots, available for free public use, and added a 15Mbps internet plan for $10 per month, both of which it will extend through the remainder of 2020. The company now says it will work with customers who can't pay their bills on flexible payment plans, and will waive late fees through July 31. It will permanently boost its data caps by 50GB to 300GB, depending on the plan. Sprint (As of April 1, Sprint completed its merger with T-Mobile.) Sprint said on March 13 that it extended its network to include T-Mobiles network for the next 60 days. Sprint signed the Keep Americans Connected Pledge and committed to waiving fees and not terminating services if customers were unable to pay because of the coronavirus for the next 60 days. Customers with metered data plans received unlimited data for 60 days and 20GB of hotspot data for the same period. Customers will be able to place free international calls to CDC-designated Level 3 countries. Starry Wireless broadband ISP Starry made Starry Connect, a broadband program for public and affordable housing owners, free through May. Normally, the program, which provides 30Mbps symmetrical speeds, is $15 per month. Starry agreed to suspend cancellation of service due to nonpayment due to the coronavirus, reportedly through July. It already does not charge additional fees or late fees. Starrys service does not include data caps, either. TDS TDS said on March 16 that it would provide free broadband access to customer households with K-12 or college students. (Proof will be required.) TDS also its Wi-Fi hotspots to the public, for free. Other than that, TDS adhered to the FCCs Keep Americans Connected pledge only by agreeing not to disconnect customers who couldnt pay their bills through June 30. On June 29, TDS said that customers who received 60 days of free internet service will also receive a $10 credit off their bill for their next six months of service, and that it would work with customers to develop payment plans if necessary. T-Mobile All current T-Mobile plans with data were granted free unlimited data through June 30, excluding roaming. T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers were given an additional 20GB of mobile hotspot and tethering services through June 30 as well. Lifeline customers were given an extra 5GB of data per month for the next two months. We do not have an offer available for 60 days of free service and encourage consumers to be cautious of social media posts that may include fraudulent numbers, T-Mobile added. The company has also posted resources to help protect customers from scammers. T-Mobile extended its commitment to the FCC pledge through June 30, continuing to offer support for postpaid wireless, residential and small business customers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Verizon Verizon waived late fees to keep residential and small business customers connected if negatively impacted by the global crisis, the company said on March 13.Though the Keep Americans Connected pledge has expired, starting July 1, customers who signed up for the pledge will automatically be enrolled in Verizon's Stay Connected repayment program to provide options to stay connected, the company said. Verizon upgraded the data plan on its Verizon Innovative Learning program for Title 1 middle schools from 10GB/month to 30GB/month for two months, effective March 16. There are no data caps on Verizon home Internet subscribers, a company representative said. Previously: on March 23, Verizon updated its coronavirus relief plans, noting that it will waive overage charges, upgrade fees and activation fees. Verizon has also pledged to not terminate service and waive late fees. Verizon is also adding 15GB of 4G LTE data to consumer and small business plans for free, and adding some free overseas calls to some countries. Verizon waived the next two months of billing cycles on its Lifeline plan. On April 3, Verizon launched a new broadband discount program; customers may select any Verizon Fios speed in its Mix & Match plans and receive a $20 discount per month. Windstream (Kinetic) Windstream did not announce any relief for customers affected by the coronavirus. The service does not implement data caps, however. This story was updated on July 1 at 5:24 PM with additional details about Comcast's data plan. The Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC), has called on government to, as a matter of urgency, address the unsustainable debt of the Ghana National Gas (GNGC). At the launch of PIACs annual report, 2019 in Accra, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr Noble Wadzah, said in 2019, the Ghana National Petroluem Company (GNPC) supplied US$334.6 million worth of raw gas to the GNGC but no payment was received in respect of the supplies. This is largely on account of Volta River Authoritys (VRA) inability to pay GNGC for the lean gas supplied. Added to the outstanding balance of US$333.5 million, this brings the total indebtedness in respect of lean gas supplies to US$668.1 million, he disclosed. GNPC The committee reiterated its call to parliament to consider placing some restrictions on the portion of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPCs) budget on corporate social investment (CSI) and guarantees to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), especially when the corporation is unable to respond to some of its cash calls. The committee noted that the GNPC continued to provide guarantees for a range of SOEs which in 2019 amounted to US$645.5 million. The amount is about double compared to previous years, 2018, and outweighs the corporations total equity financing expenditure requirement of US$164.79 million. Violations and sanctions Apart from the GNPC, there is on record a violation by the Ministry of Finance to account for unutilised Annual Budget Fund Amount (ABFA), for the third consecutive year, bringing to total, unutilised and unaccounted for ABFA to GHC1.5 billion at the end of 2019. Mr Wadzah explained that PIAC did not have the legal wherewithal to prosecute people who misappropriated Ghanas oil revenue allocations. That does not fall within the mandate of the committee. There are institutions such as parliament that is required to take action when the reports are released. Our work basically engages the public and other relevant organisations to pick feedback and alert government on what the wrongs are, relative to the management of our resources, he said. He added that petroleum revenue issues are citizens issues, and so, we also believe that other professional bodies such as the Ghana Bar Association, civil society organisations, the Ghana Journalists Association should take the committees reports seriously and interrogate the issues. Section 58 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 815, on Penalties states that (l) A person who (a)misappropriates the Petroleum Funds; (b)defrauds, attempts to defraud or conspires with another person to defraud the Republic in relation to the Petroleum Funds; (c)uses, attempts to use or conspires with another person to use information on the Petroleum Funds or documents relating to the Petroleum Funds for personal benefit or advantage or for the personal advantage or benefit of another person; commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than five hundred thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than fifteen years or to both. (2) A person who abets in the commission of an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not less than seven years or to both. Some findings A total of 71.4 million (71,439,585) barrels of oil was obtained from the three producing fields Jubilee, Sankofa Gye Nyame (SGN) and Tweneboa, Enyera, Ntomme (TEN). Total oil production in 2019 exceeded that of 2018 by 15 per cent. Production in 2018 was 62.1 million (62,135,435.07) barrels. The high recorded volume is on account of increased production on Jubilee and SGN Fields. The Jubilee Field produced 31.9 million (31,915,377) barrels; TEN field produced 22.3 million (22,319,137) barrels and the SGN Field produced 17.2 million (17,205,070.85) barrels. Gas production witnessed its greatest boost since commercialisation of natural gas in Ghana in 2019. A total of 169,508.61 Million Standard Cubic Feet (MMSCF) of Associated Gas (AG) and Non-Associated Gas (NAG) was produced in 2019; an 85 per cent increase over the 2018 volume of 91,459.30 MMSCF. While the Jubilee Field has always produced the highest volumes, this trend was reversed for the first time in 2019, with the SGN Fields combined AG and NAG contributing the highest volume of 69,941.60 MMSCF. The Jubilee and TEN Fields produced 51,179.67 MMSCF and 48,387.34 MMSCF respectively. The PIAC is a statutory body, established under Section 51 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Authority (PRMA), 2011 (Act 815). Its objectives include: - To monitor and evaluate compliance with the Act by government and relevant institutions in the management and use of petroleum revenues and investments; - To provide space and platform for the public to debate on whether spending prospects and management and use of revenues conform to development priorities as provided under section 21(3); and - To provide independent assessment on the management and use of petroleum revenues to assist Parliament and the executive in the oversight and performance of related functions. The launch The PIAC launched the annual report on the management and use of petroleum revenues for 2019, three months later than its statutory reporting date of March 15, due to the delay in the release of data by some of the reporting state agencies, and the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which disrupted the timely completion of the report. The committees reports aim at keeping Ghanaians and other interested stakeholders constantly informed about how the countrys petroleum revenues are being managed. It also serves as a tool for citizens feedback to be collated and shared with duty bearers, including policy makers. So far, a total of 17 reports, nine annual and eight semi-annual, covering the period 2011 to 2019, have been published. 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 Head of Management Department of the University of Cape Coast Business School, Dr Abraham Ansong, has called for companies to use their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to show care for their employees, stakeholders, and their immediate communities. According to him, it is part of the companys responsibility to spend part of their budget to benefit society. He further explained that it was also important for these companies to pay their part of the contribution towards the Covid-19 fund which formed part of their CSR. He advised organisations to see to it that moderate and yet targeted CSR was a solid social investment. Budget Speaking at the fifth e-seminar series organised by the university, Dr Asong explained that whatever product or service produced by a company must be seen as an activity towards corporate social responsibility that must attract investments in order to ensure moderate prices and constant supply. He however advised companies against spending greater part of their budget on CSR when they do not have funds to promote their core activities. Essence For his part, Executive Director of the Institute of Directors-Ghana, Mr Frederick Aryeetey, explained that CSR should not be seen as an activity by only big companies, and that micro, small, and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), should all play a part in it. He explained that the essence of CSR during the pandemic is for businesses to use a fraction of their income to support other stakeholders. He therefore called companies with enough buffers to have an upward adjustment of their CSR budget. Mr Aryeetey further called on companies to support employees by providing them with personal protective equipment as part of their social responsibility. Shift in focus During the pandemic, much attention has been shifted to health and safety under the CSR with limited efforts at the environmental front, as the closure of airports and industrial carbon emissions have reduced significantly. A researcher at Vigeo Elris, which focus on environmental and social governance, Ms Selma El Fard, further advised companies to be balanced in how and where they spend their CSR budget in order to ensure sustainability. She also called for a shareholder activism to redirect CSR to reflect their interests and perspectives on proper CSR activities. For her, environmental consciousness is receiving a valued investment as 63 per cent of investors and 87 per cent of millennials prefer to invest in companies that promote social justice, social investment, and employee welfare. A Lecturer at the Department of Accounting at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Ms Sharon Donnir, noted that CSR was part of corporate strategy such that its expenditure must be budgeted for and approved by the board of directors and shareholders at annual general meetings (AGMs). She explained that CSR should be done with the long term goals of the organisation in mind. She said Covid-19 became a serious matter at the time that most companies were preparing for their AGMs coupled with lockdown and restrictions on movements and gatherings. This she said affected the approval of many annual financial plans including CSR activities and corresponding budgets. She therefore advised that companies should use virtual means to organise AGMs since spending without approval will have audit implications in the future. The e- seminar was chaired by the Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Francis Eric Amuquandoh. 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 With the easing of travel restrictions across the globe, Ethiopian Airlines is welcoming back business and leisure travellers with programmes aimed at safeguarding their health and safety. The programme reinforces Ethiopian pledge to protect the health and safety of its customers and staff. A statement issued in Accra by the Airlines said the steps the airline was taking to maintain customer and staff wellbeing through-out the service chain, begins from the first interaction with customers during ticketing/reservation up to arrival at destination. During the pandemic, Ethiopian Airlines, Africas largest airline, was the go-to airline for essential travel, repatriation flights and airlift of medical and personal protective equipment (PPE). Mr Tewolde Gebremariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian, said the Airline is proud to be there when the world needed it most--repatriating citizens, re-uniting families, facilitating essential travel and transporting much needed medical and PPE for health professionals and the public under very difficult and challenging circumstances. We are proud to be an integral part of the fight against COVID-19. Now we want to play a leading role in the new-normal, to a very large extent, its about getting back the confidence of business and leisure travellers, he said. The Group CEO said With the protective measures we are taking in line with Center for Disease Control, International Aviation Transportation Association, International Civil Aviation Organization and World Health Organisation guidelines, customers and staff can rest assured that their safety and health are well looked after when flying with us. Mr Tewolde said customers were, however, advised to check travel restrictions of destination countries prior to arriving at the airport for a flight with facemasks being mandatory for travel. Except children under the age two, all customers must keep their masks on throughout their journey, he added. He said all ET customer-facing staff would be in PPE, which includes ticket offices, airport and lounge staff, as well as cabin crew. He said on-board service was redesigned to minimize contact while maintaining the African flavoured Ethiopian hospitality. Items, such as magazines, menus and other reading materials that were traditionally shared will no longer be available, he said. The Group CEO said customers holding tickets purchased before August 31, 2020 and valid for travel until September 30, 2020 could rest assured that their tickets would be valid until 31 December 2021. He said customers, who have exchanged their tickets for vouchers could utilize the vouchers within one year. He said it was essential that customers satisfy destination entry requirements such as health certificates and fill health declaration forms if required. Customers feeling unwell are strongly encouraged not to travel and travel only when feeling well, meanwhile the airline has indicated that unwell customers will not be allowed to enter the airport and will be denied boarding a flight. He said all Ethiopian aircraft were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected prior to departing from the hub, and at turnaround stations. At the airport, enhanced health screenings, including temperature checks, are expected to be conducted and to ensure adequate social distancing, markings are placed through-out the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport terminal building and hand sanitisers will be available for use. Passengers must check in their cabin baggage and they are allowed to bring on board only essential items such as laptops, handbags, briefcases, and baby items with all checked-in bags sanitised before being loaded onto the aircraft. He said on board, in business class complimentary hygiene kits that include masks, antibacterial wipes, and hand sanitizer would be provided. In economy, masks, hand sanitizers and antibacterial wipes will be available on demand. Comfort items such as pillows, blankets, headphones, and toys are hygienically sealed. On-board lavatories will also be sanitized frequently during flight, he said. He said Menus, Magazines and newspapers would, however, not be available onboard, and meanwhile crew were trained to handle flight operations in a COVID-19 travel world. Mr Tewolde said as countries continue to open their borders and relax travel restrictions, Ethiopian was ready to increase frequencies to accommodate the demand by focusing on the wellbeing of customers and staff. Ethiopian is happy to welcome back business and leisure travellers. 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 grandmother died of a heart attack after being held at gun point and forced to watch as her three terrified granddaughters were brutally raped in front of her in South Africa. The grandmother, 71, was confronted by an intruder in a balaclava who broke into her home in Impendle in KwaZulu-Natal province. The attacker locked the three sisters aged 19, 22 and 25 in a bedroom. He dragged the women out one at a time to rape them in front of their horrified grandmother. The women and the grandmother - who all lived together - have not been named. South African Police investigating the shocking triple rape believe the trauma of helplessly having to witness each individual ordeal caused her heart to give out. Family spokesperson Mzandwile Ndlovu said: 'The suspect had locked the three girls in their grandmother's room and he brought them out one-by-one and raped them. Read Full Story .... dailymail.co.uk >>> : 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 four men standing trial at a Ho High Court for their alleged complicity in the gang rape of a 16-year old girl at Ehi, more than four years ago, last Friday attempted to assault a Ghanaian Times reporter as they sought to know why he was so interested in the case. This was just outside the court after their case was adjourned to July 16. They were waiting for this reporter on the stair case and as soon as this reporter stepped out of the courtroom they walked towards him, seeking to know if he had taken a photograph of them with his cellular phone. At this juncture, one of them, Joshua Kpeli walked towards this reporter, ostensibly to assault him, but their lawyer suddenly turned up at the scene to stop Kpeli, and also apologised on behalf of the accused persons for their unruly conduct. The case before the court is that six gangsters at Ehi allegedly dragged a teenage girl into a classroom where all but one took turns to savagely rape her for hours and also filmed the sex acts. Four members of the gang are now facing trial at the court. They are Joshua Kpeli alias Stigma; Francis Sabla, alias China; Innocent Alevi, alias Clerk and Miwoekpor Agbenyegah alias Agbey. The men were 21, 19, 19, and 20 years respectively, at the time of the rape. Two others, Julius Donkor and Paul Agumezor were said to be at large. The court, presided over by Mr Justice Eric Baah, was told that Kpeli who is charged with aiding and abetment of crime kept watch while the sex acts were going on, in readiness to alert his associates if someone was passing by. He pleaded not guilty, while the others who are charged with conspiracy to commit rape and rape also pleaded not guilty. Subsequently, a seven-member jury was empanelled to hear the case. Senior State Attorney, Mr Moses Asampoa has told the court that the victim who was then 16 and the accused persons all lived at Ehi. The court heard that on January 22, 2016 while the victim was helping her mother to cook in the evening, she received a call on her cellular phone from Agbey, asking her to buy him a canned-malt drink and send it to his house for him. The unsuspecting girl obliged and sent the drink to Agbeys house only for Agbey and the other members of the gang to follow her to Agbeys house and then managed to lead her to a classroom at the local Kaledzi C School that night, the jury was told. In the classroom, the prosecution said that the men pushed the girl onto a desk and Agumezor (at large) held her hands while Alevi held her legs. Sabla was the first to have sex with the girl after which he held the girls hand for the others to take turns to have sex with her, said the prosecution. The jury further heard that the girl cried and pleaded with the gangsters to have mercy on her but they ignored and continued to have sex with her in turns until well over midnight, when they had all satisfied themselves, except Kpeli who was still keeping watch for them. After the act, the prosecution said, the accused persons warned the girl not to disclose what they did to her to anyone. At about 2:50 am, the following morning, a police officer spotted the victim and Sabla and sought to know where they were coming from in the dark. The officer then noticed that the girl was groaning in pain and then told Sabla to go home, after which he took the girl to the nearby Dzodze Police Station, where the victim narrated the ordeal to the police, leading to the arrest of the accused person. During investigations, the police seized the cellular phones of the men and realised that the sex acts were recorded on one of the phones. The prosecution said that Sabla, Alevi, Agbenyega, Donkor and Agumezor admitted having sex with the girl in their police caution statements and pleaded for forgiveness. The court was told that Donkor and Agumezor were being pursued by the police. At the time of filing this report, news reaching the Ghanaian Times indicated that one of the fugitives, Donkor has been re-arrested and placed in police custody in Dzodze. Source: The Ghanaian Times 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 Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged parents whose wards are preparing to sit for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) this year to remain calm as the students return to school to prepare for the examination. I assure all parents and guardians that the government will not put the 750,000 students, teachers and non-teaching staff, who will be returning to school from tomorrow, at risk. We have made all the required provisions to protect them whilst in school, he said In a televised address to the nation on measures being taken by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the President said the government has put adequate measures to prevent an outbreak or spread of the pandemic in the schools. About 532,000 final year Junior High School (JHS) students in 17,439 schools across the country returned to school Monday, June 29, 2020 to prepare to sit for the BECE. As the countrys COVID-19 case count continues to increase, some parents have expressed concern over the safety of their wards following governments decision to open schools for BECE candidates to prepare for their exams. President Akufo-Addo said the government is determined to protect the lives of all students, teachers and other workers who will be going back to school. In consultation with the Conference of Heads of Basic Schools and Regional and District Directors of Education and Health, he said the government has put in place the relevant measures to safeguard the lives of students and teachers. President Akufo-Addo indicated that all Junior High Schools across the country have been fumigated and disinfected to ensure the safety of the students, teaching and non-teaching staff Each basic school has been mapped to a health facility where care will be provided to the sick by nurses assigned to these schools, he said. The President said 45,000 Veronica buckets, 90,000 gallons of liquid soap, 90,000 rolls of tissue paper, 40,000 thermometer guns, 750,000 pieces of 200 litres of sanitisers, and 2.2 million reusable face masks have been procured and distributed to the 17, 439 schools across the country. President Akufo-Addo noted that though there are few hitches during the reopening of the universities and senior high schools, he is impressed with the level of compliance to the enhanced hygiene and social distancing protocols by authorities and students in those institutions. He expressed the governments determination to ensure the same level of conformity in the Junior High Schools, and noted that all head teachers and their teaching staff will be taken through a COVID-19 sensitisation programme aimed at ensuring that hygiene and safety protocols are clearly spelt and relayed to students accordingly. It bears repeating, however, that they must all adhere strictly to enhanced personal hygiene and social distancing protocols, regularly wash their hands with soap under running water, refrain from shaking hands and hugging, and wear masks to protect themselves and others, he said Source: The Ghanaian Times 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 and second year College of Education tutees who have not returned to school as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been urged to take keen interest in the virtual lessons being organised by their colleges. The Principal of Enchi College of Education, Mr Phillip Ntaah who gave the advised, said students should endeavor to join the lectures on time and report challenges encountered to their tutors for redress. Mr Ntaah said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said so far, the Enchi College of Education had recorded 90 percent of students participation in the virtual lessons. He said students of the Enchi College of Education who find it difficult to access lessons at the time when it is being delivered because they dont have smart mobile phones or due to poor internet connectivity, would receive assistance from the government through Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-Tel) and National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE)". He said management with support from the Student Representative Council (SRC) have identified such students and they would be given the needed assistance through the initiation of a policy. We have been informed that fifty smart mobile phones are going to be given to these students at a cheaper price to enable them pay by installments, the Principal stated. Mr Ntaah further said SD cards have also been procured, so tutors have been made to upload their tutorials and very soon the materials will be ready and students can go for it at the nearest College of Education. The Principal mentioned that all these measures were being implemented by the various Colleges of Education and if students adhered to them, they would complete their studies even though COVID-19 was still in the country. 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 Mali and Burkina Faso must guarantee at a summit this week that their domestic political problems do not reverse fragile military successes against Islamist militants in the Sahel region, a French presidential source said on Monday. Former colonial power France has deployed thousands of soldiers in the arid region south of the Sahara desert since 2013, and now has 5,100 troops there. But attacks by groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have been on the rise. Leaders of the G5 Sahel states of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania will meet French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Nouakchott on Tuesday to assess recent military victories and plan next steps. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who is set to confirm a contribution to a special forces unit in the Sahel, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also take part by video call. But there are fears that recent advances may be derailed amid political instability in the Sahel. All the progress thats been made is fragile and can be put into question if the political momentum does not follow, the French official said ahead of a summit. We see that in the Burkina and Mali contextSo (whats at) stake is to put in guarantees so that these electoral contexts dont weaken the gains that have been achieved. Burkina Faso will hold legislative and presidential elections in November in which incumbent President Marc Roch Kabore is expected to seek a second term against opponents challenging his approach to tackling militants. In Mali, there are growing concerns about instability in recent weeks after thousands of people took to the streets for the second time in a month to demand President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita step down. Keita, in the middle of his second five-year mandate after a 2018 election, has struggled with an surge in militant attacks Source: reuters.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) with the assistance of the Police Drug Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Police CID has seized a total of 431 bottles of unregistered herbal drugs purported to be a cure for Covid-19. The fake medicinal products COVID-CURE (1) and COVID-CURE (2), were being manufactured by Dr Abdellah Herbal Home at Kojo Ashong, a village near Amasaman. The products were falsely labelled to bear forged FDA registration number: FDB/TMP03709 on both products and also have March 2020 and March 2021 as their manufacturing and expiry dates respectively. According to the FDA, the act breaches, Section 113(1) of the Public Health Act 2012, (Act 851), which states, A person commits an offence if that person labels, packages, sells or advertises a drug, a herbal medicinal product, cosmetic, medical device or household chemical substance, (a) in contravention or Regulations or Guidelines made under this Part. or (b) in a manner, that is false, misleading or deceptive or misbranded as regards its character, constitution, value, potency, quality, composition, merits or safety. Additionally, FDAs visit to the manufacturing premises revealed that the products were being manufactured under unhygienic conditions which is in contravention of Section 115 (1b) of the Public Health Act 2012, (Act 851), which states A person shall not manufacture a drug, herbal medicinal product, cosmetic, medical device or household chemical substance sale unless the conditions under Which the manufacture is to be carried on are as specified in the Guidelines of the Authority to ensure that the article will be of good quality and safe to use. A statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Delese Mimi Darko, warned that it has not registered any product for the treatment or cure for Covid-19 and has asked Ghanaians to desist from buying such products. The perpetrators of the crime, Dr Abdellah and his research assistant, Dr Abdul Samad Bin Musa have since been in police custody assisting with investigations. 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 Prophet Dr Eric Nana Kwasi Amponsah, General Overseer of the Hope Generation Ministry International, has called on the public to support the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. He said the fight could only be won if Ghanaians observe the safety protocols of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ghana Health Service by washing hands under running water, observing social distancing, the wearing of face masks and avoiding handshakes. Prophet Dr Amponsah made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Sunday. He said the COVID-19 disease was real and that everybody should adopt the precautionary measures outlined by the health experts to avoid the spread of the pandemic. Prophet Dr Amponsah commended government and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the leadership played in the fight against the pandemic. On the political scene, Prophet Dr Amponsah urged political leaders to go about the 2020 election campaign with circumspection to safeguard the peace of the country. He said they should also avoid politics of insults and attacks on personalities and rather do campaigns that address issues, which would bring about development to all Ghanaians. The General Overseer urged politicians to speak peace as they go about their campaigns and not talk as if we want to create conflicts, war and tensions in the communities. Whoever mounts a political platform should know that Ghana is at stake and we should ensure that peace continues to reign , Prophet Dr Amponsah 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 President Nana Akufo-Addo has indicated that under no circumstance will the 2020 elections be put on hold. Responding to calls for the voter registration exercise to be put on hold due to coronavirus, the President says putting the 2020 elections on hold is not possible. The constitution of our republic makes no provision to extend the mandate of the president beyond four years term, he said. He said the pandemic notwithstanding, we have to strengthen Ghanaian democracy. He says the country must vote on December 7, 2020 n line with the constitutional provisions. He stated that despite the coronavirus, elections are being held successfully in other arts of the world. He cited Poland, Mali, Malawi, adding that it is not beyond Ghana to organize a successful election like those nations that have done same in the midst of coronavirus. 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 Mrs Jean Mensa, Chairperson, Electoral Commission, has appealed to the public especially, the political parties to direct their energies towards making the voters' registration exercise a success. I urge to move forward with the Commission to implementing the ruling of the Supreme Court decision. Participate actively, monitor the system and draw the attention of the Commission to any anomaly, she said. Mrs Mensa said the registration exercise, which would start tomorrow Tuesday, June 30 and end on August 6, was a critical process in Ghana's election cycle and that it was the bedrock on which credible elections would rest as well as the foundation upon which the sovereign right of Ghanaians to choose their national leaders hinged. Therefore, in carrying out the registration exercise, we, as a Commission, are mindful of the significance of the task we are undertaking, she said. Mrs Mensa, stated that the Commission's rationale for the compilation of a new register, was not to disenfranchise any eligible voter but was to ensure that all citizens who qualified were afforded the opportunity to register and cast their votes. She said the Commission was of the view that only eligible citizens should be given the right to determine who governed and led "our dear country." Mrs Mensa said Constitutional Instrumental 126 specified that the documents that each citizen of Ghana was required to present in order to be eligible to register as a voter were valid passport, or a National Identification Card issued by the National Identification Authority. The legislation, she said, further specified that in the event that a citizen of Ghana did not have either of the above documents, he or she must present two guarantors, who must themselves have been registered under the current registration process, to vouch for, or guarantee the identity of the said person, as a citizen of Ghana. We wish to acknowledge those concerns. We understand that it may seem like a burden, having to find two registered persons to vouch for ones identity as a Ghanaian. And yet, this seems to us to be the lesser of two evils. Although it may take a little bit more of your time and that of your guarantors, it will ensure that only persons who are Ghanaians, and of age of 18 years and above, are listed on our Voters Register. This system has been with us since the beginning of our democracy, as the framers of the law anticipated situations in which Ghanaian citizens might for legitimate and unavoidable reasons, be unable to produce documents to prove their citizenship. According to he, in 2014, nine hundred and twenty-eight thousand, five hundred and forty (928, 540) persons were registered as voters of which about 82 per cent of registering voters used guarantors. In 2016, she said one million, forty-six thousand, and sixty-seven (1,460,067) persons were registered as voters. Of this number, 92.5 per cent used guarantors. Mrs Mensa said in 2019, one million, two hundred and eleven thousand, three hundred and ninety-five (1,211,395) persons were registered and 95.2 per cent used guarantors . Touching on anti COVID-19 measures, the EC Chairperson said the Commission, working with the National COVID19 team, had taken adequate steps Including setting up registration centres in open spaces, wearing of nose mass , checking of temperature, mandatory washing of hands before joining the queue, and observance of physical distance of at least one meter in queues at the centres. She said others were; cleaning fingerprint scans prior to the capturing of fingerprints of applicants, using alcohol wipes and mandatory sanitizing of hands when leaving the centres. Mrs Mensa said the Ghana Health Service had released 7000 Health assistants to each of the Registration Centres to ensure strict adherence to the safety protocols outlined by the Commission. 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 Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, has stated that even though people may disagree with pronouncements by the Supreme Court, every pronouncement ought to be respected. You may disagree with it, thats your right, you can express opinion about it as your right but you cannot go to the extent of saying that it amounts to some kind of conspiracy, that is the lowest a person can descend to, he bemoaned. He described as unfortunate, reprehensible and deplorable comments made by former President John Mahama after the Supreme Court judgment on the compilation of a new voters register and his reaction should be condemned by all well-meaning citizenry as it was an attack on the judiciary. As a statesman, the former president should have chosen his words carefully, and probably taken a cue from what current President Nana Akufo-Addo said in 2013 after the Supreme Court judgment on the Presidential Election Petition, Mr Dame noted. A former president ought to behave at all material times in a way as to uphold the institutions of the state which conduct actually has to induce to the strengthening of the institutions of state and a very important institution of state which is the judiciary and of all the organs of the judiciary, the most important is the Supreme Court, he noted. Mr Dame was lead counsel for Attorney General, which was 2nd defendant in the case, the judgment gave EC all-clear to conduct fresh registration of eligible voters for the December 7 polls which commences from today and end on August 6, 2020. Addressing journalists after the Court had unanimously dismissed application of National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President Mahama expressed disappointment and disagreement with its decision because the party was praying the Court to enjoin EC to include existing voter ID cards in required documents for upcoming registration exercise. Former President Mahama referred to the Supreme Courts decision as a grand conspiracy to deprive us of inalienable right to vote and we will in processes send clear signal it is only we the people who will decide who gets opportunity to lead our country and not governments we elect or state agencies who make themselves pliant accomplices in attempt to disenfranchise us. Source: The Ghanaian Times 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 Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South in the Upper East Region, Dr Clement Apaak, has berated the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for just scolding its members for flouting COVID-19 protocols during their primaries. He expressed disappointment in President Nana Akufo-Addo for just scolding members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for flouting COVID-19 protocols during their primaries and described the Presidents lack of firm action as very shameful in an open letter addressed to the President on June 28, 2020. Dr Apaaks abhorrence to the Presidents mild rebuke stems from the fact that some members of the public having conducted similar offences have been prosecuted and jailed saying having opportunity to address the nation a day after the NPP primaries on June 21, the President failed to mention the unfortunate show of impunity by members and supporters of his party. Indeed, many videos and pictures that were circulated, showed identifiable faces, which should pose no difficulty to law enforcement to identify culprits, if the President wished to apply the law but, as expected, a week on, the President, having grabbed another opportunity to address the issue. After a week of open criticism from a cross section of Ghanaians, to the effect of discriminating against some class of Ghanaians, President Akufo-Addo shamefully pardoned his party members for openly offending his own law. To close churches and order citizens about in a certain manner without same applying to his party members, smacks of hypocrisy, divisiveness, and is detrimental to national unity, President Akufo-Addo during his acclamation by his party on June 27, 2020, admitted that his party, the NPP, failed to fully comply with some of the COVID-19 preventive measures and hygienic protocols during its parliamentary primaries and admonished them not to let that repeat itself. This past weekend, our party came to the end of the processes that we have to go through to prepare for the elections in December to prepare for the primaries in constituencies where we have sitting MPs, unfortunately, in our enthusiasm and sheer unbridled joy, we broke some of the COVID-19 safety protocols and it should not happen again, President Akufo-Addo cautioned. Source: Ghanaian Times 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 Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government for delivering on the promises they made to Ghanaians in the run up to the 2016 elections. He said the President deserved commendation for delivering on most of his promises to Ghanaians and thanked the entire membership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for working tirelessly to support the government. Speaking at an acclamation ceremony for President Akufo-Addo as the presidential candidate of the NPP in the 2020 elections, former President Kufuor said the President and his vice, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia deserves high marks of success in political leadership. The hallmark of our president [Akufo-Addo] and his vice [Bawumia], truly is beautifully articulated leadership. They [Nana Addo and Bawumia] articulate the vision of our [NPP] tradition so ably and so down to earth in a way that the grassroots appreciates I believe in just a period of about three and a half years, theyve shown vision, theyve displayed strategy. Initially, even some of us said they were promising too much for a four-year term in office but within three and half years see what they have done, he said. I wouldnt say we are perfect, no, I dont believe perfection in humanity, I dont subscribe to that but even as I admit we are not perfect, I tell you, we have greats, he added. Vice President Bawumia, who spoke at the ceremony after his appointment as running mate to President Akufo-Addo for a fourth consecutive time, pledged his unalloyed commitment to the NPP and President Akufo-Addo. Dr Bawumia said he was honoured by his historic fourth successive nomination as running mate by President Akufo-Addo. I thank the Almighty Allah for this historic day. I want to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to H.E. the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for the honour of reaching out again to select me for the fourth time to serve as his running mate, and Insha-Allah, again as his Vice-President of the Republic, in his second term as President of the Republic, said Dr. Bawumia in his acceptance speech. This day is historic because it has never happened in the history of our country that a Presidential candidate will select the same running mate four times in a row! The president selected me in 2008, 2012, 2016 and now in 2020! While expressing his utmost gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for the resolute confidence he has in him, Dr. Bawumia also extolled the leadership qualities of the President. Ladies and Gentlemen, this commitment tells you about the man Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. He is a strong leader, a caring leader, a God-fearing leader, a trustworthy leader, and a consistent leader. He could have easily dropped me in 2012 and 2016 but he stuck with me and I am so honoured that he did and so eternally grateful. I would never take the trust and loyalty he has reposed in me for granted and will continue to do everything in my capacity to support him in the execution of his mandate as President. Mr. President, it has been a privilege working for you all these years and I thank you for giving me the opportunity. God Bless you. Source: The Ghanaian Times 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 Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the re-opening of schools in the country. But only primary and secondary school students in their final years will be allowed back into classrooms to enable them prepare for crucial examinations. Travel between Nigeria's different states will also be allowed from 1 July, as part of the gradual easing of the lockdown measures imposed in March. But a nightly, nationwide curfew from 22:00 local time to 04:00 remains in place, according to a media aide of President Buhari. However, earlier on Monday the head of Nigerias task force on Coronavirus, Boss Mustapha, suggested that the authorities might reimpose a total lockdown in 18 of the countrys 774 Local Government Areas. He said those 18 areas alone account for about 60% of Nigerias total number of cases - possibly requiring a "precision lockdown" for mass testing. Nigeria has recorded 24,567 cases of the virus with 565 deaths. Source: bbc Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Work is gradually progressing on the long-awaited 15.6-kilometre Adaklu Waya- Akuetey feeder road project. So far, the first primer has been carried out on the greater stretch of 10.6 kilometres between the Akwetey Junction and Adaklu-Anfoe. The GH19.5million government project, which is being undertaken by PREFACON Limited, a local firm, with financial support from SDC Finance Limited, is expected to be completed before the end of this year. The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa and the MP of Adaklu, Mr Kwame Agbodza toured the stretch on Friday to see the progress of work at first hand. The Managing Director of PREFACON Limited, Mr Wonder Madilo who conducted them along the road, said that work was going on smoothly, giving the assurance that the project would be executed according to schedule. He stated that tarring of the remaining few kilometres from Adaklu-Anfoe to the district capital, Waya, would also be done in due course. On his part, Dr Letsa acknowledged that the project was initiated by the previous government, saying it was being continued by the present government as an appropriate national development continuity move. He said the government was awake to the economically strategic position of Adaklu in the region, for which reason other roads projects would soon be carried out to open up the area and tap its vast potential in the broader national interest. Meanwhile, the DCE, Mr Donkor Kadey said that the districts business prospects were now much brighter with the road project. According to him, the road would definitely and rapidly facilitate the Planting for Food and Jobs, and Planting for Export and Development initiatives in the district to the benefit of generations yet unborn. Apart from that, Mr Donkor said that in the absence of a district hospital in Adaklu, referrals to the nearby health facilities in sister districts would now be followed smoothly without delay. Togbe Agbobada IV, Dufia of Adaklu-Anfoe and Senior Divisional Chief of the Adaklu State, described the project as worthy undertaking devoid of political party colours. The road, when completed, would be the first tarred road leading to the Adaklu District capital. Source: The Ghanaian Times 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 queues have formed at various polling centres across the country as Electoral Commission (EC) officials begin registration of eligible voters for the compilation of a new voters register for the conduct of the December 7, 2020 general elections The exercise has however been fraught with breaches of the laid down coronavirus protocols as most eligible Ghanaians who queued at the polling centres Tuesday morning to be registered refused to ensure social distancing and wear face masks. There was chaos outside the Gbegbeyise JHS at the Ablekuma West municipality in Accra as hundreds of people without face mask queued in close proximity to each other. Our correspondent Joseph Armstrong reports that more than half of the applicants are without a facemask and not adhering to social distancing just outside the cordoned area. According to him, anything that happens outside its [EC] circle is none of their business, nothing the protocols are enforced only when one is allowed into the cordoned area. Students of the Gbegbeyise JHS, he reports, risk contracting the deadly coronavirus as they have had to battle with the crowd to gain entry to the school compound. Although the EC had assured no polling centre will share space with students that is not the case at Gbegbeyise JHS. From the Odododiodio constituency also in Accra, Grace Hammoah Asare reports that registration is yet to start at all 15 polling centres in the area. Voters are agitated as registration officials say they are yet to be communicated to on what is causing the delay, she reports. The situation is however different at the Effia and Kwesimentsim constituencies in the Western Region where the exercise commence smoothly at the various registration centers. There are enough PPES and health protocols to ensure there is no possible infection. Nurses from the Kwesimentsim government hospital are also at the centers to ensure that applicants comply with all health protocols, Eric Yaw Adjei reports. Our correspondent reports that for most of the centers, there are markings on the ground to ensure that the two- meter distance rule is strictly obeyed, indicating that There are also caution tapes separating the applicants from the main point of registration. A resident of Effia, Salifu Adiza who just acquired her card told 3news.com that she is happy that she will be able to vote in the upcoming general elections. I spent less than 6 minutes here. I did not encounter any problem and the officers are also friendly she said. 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 government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, has advised individuals and investors interested in acquiring lands in the Voltaian Basin to contact the Lands Commission for guidance and assistance. Any individual, private or public establishment, be it local or foreign, intending to acquire land in the subject area for any developmental land-use activity is required to contact the Lands Commission Secretariat in the region where the land is situated or Head Office of the Lands Commission in Accra, it said in a statement. The statement, issued by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, said the Voltaian Basin had been set aside specifically for in-depth exploration and the management of various natural resources. This would, however, be conducted within the basins enclave to reduce the adverse impact on the environment. The Voltaian Basin is a lop-sided inland basin covering about 40 percent of Ghanas continental landmass. The areas include: Kete Krachie, Prang, Yabraso, Buipe, Kananto, Larabanga, Tamale, Yendi, Tibagona, Nasia, Coast of Keta, Kwahu in the Eastern Region, through to Atebubu in the Bono East Begion. The directive has become necessary as a result of alleged increase in land acquisition in the basin by both local and foreign investors, 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 Graduates of Ghana Armed Forces Junior Staff Course 73 have been asked to use the knowledge acquired to manage the multidimensional challenges in their field of disciplines. The graduands were reminded of the current and emerging trends, such as transnational organized crime, money laundering, cybercrime and terrorism, which required a multi-faceted approach as no single institution could successfully handle all. Commodore Osei Sarfo (Rtd), a former Deputy Commandant of Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), said this at a graduation ceremony of 52 officers, made up of 44 officers drawn from the Ghana Armed Forces, eight from Nigeria and one from the Liberia Armed Forces. These were contained in a statement issued by the Public Relations Directorate of the Ghana Armed Forces and copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra. The 19-week course, which started on February 7, 2020, was designed to offer the opportunity for students to broaden their professional and general outlook on matters of both national and international dimensions. Commodore Osei Sarfo (Rtd) stated the stress and anxiety related with the Coronavirus pandemic took a toll on the students. However, the students focused on their studies and did not relent, he added. He said COVID-19 and its devastating effect required the collaborative efforts of ministries, metropolitan and municipal assemblies, intelligent agencies, security agencies, environmentalists and traditional authorities. Commodore Osei Sarfo (Rtd) congratulated the graduands and commended the leadership of the institution for the success of the course. Brigadier General Mike Akpatsu, the Assistant Commandant in charge of the Juniors Division, said he was excited that all the students successfully met the required standards and were, therefore, qualified to be awarded the Junior Staff Course (JSC) qualification. Rear Admiral Moses Beick-Baffour, the Commandant of GAFCSC, consequently, conferred the JSC qualification symbol on the graduands and presented them with certificates. The ultimate prize went to Major R. Owusu-Ababio, who was adjudged the overall Best Student of the Course. The Second Best Student Award went to Maj H.J. Bavoke, while the third Best Student award went to Maj P.N.L. Anang. The Best Allied Security Services Award went to DIO II BA Sadiq form the Nigeria Defence Intelligence. Lt (NN) FG Oni from the Nigeria Armed Forces won the Best Allied Student Award. Students who excelled in academia were awarded with prizes. In the Assistant Commandants Paper Prize, Maj R Adonteng, Lt Cdr D Borkey and Sqn Ldr D Badu-Yeboah were awarded with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes, respectively. Present at the ceremony were; the Deputy Commandant, Brig Gen Adu, the incoming Assistant Commandant, Junior Division, Brig Gen Dawohoso, Directors from GAF, and some Senior Officers. 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 Magnolia, AR (71754) Today Scattered thunderstorms in the morning becoming more widespread in the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 86F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms in the evening, then variable clouds overnight with still a chance of showers. Low 63F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. The nationwide voters registration exercise has started on a high note in Teshie and Osu. A visit to some polling stations by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) namely the Teshie Neighbourhood Day Care Centre and the Saint Barnabas Anglican Primary School One at Osu, revealed that the exercise, was progressing smoothly. The nationwide voters registration exercise has started on a high note in Teshie and Osu. A visit to some polling stations by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) namely the Teshie Neighbourhood Day Care Centre and the Saint Barnabas Anglican Primary School One at Osu, revealed that the exercise, was progressing smoothly. Madam Christiana Mensah, a Co-Polling Station Officer at the Teshie Neighbourhood Day Care Centre Polling Station, told the GNA that the polling station opened at exactly 0700 hours and as at 0800 hours they had registered eight people. She said there were no technical challenges and that the applicants were observing the COVID-19 protocols. Mr Evans Acquah, the Presiding Officer at the Saint Barnabas Anglican Primary School One Polling Station, said registration at the Centre, begun at 0700 hours. He said the exercise was progressing smoothly; adding that there were no technical challenges and commended the applicants for comporting themselves and observing the COVID-19 protocols. Mr Bannerman Charles, a Fire Officer, who successfully registered at the Saint Barnabas Anglican Primary School One Polling Station, said the exercise was going on well, however, the machine was very slow in printing the Voters Identification. Ahead of the Nationwide Voters Registration Exercise the Electoral Commission (EC) deployed 8000 Biometric Voter Registration Kits and 5000 technicians into the field. In order to ensure smooth and seamless process the Commission had set up Zonal Centres throughout the country to be manned by technicians who were expected to ensure the prompt and timely replacement of faulty kits in the field. On mode of registration, the Commission has adopted a Cluster system would consist of five registration centres/polling stations in a district. In all a total of 6,788 clusters made up of five polling stations each would be covered, which means that all 33,367 registration centres would be covered during the registration exercise. The entire registration would be undertaken in five phases and each phase would span a duration of six days. 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 Applicants for United Staes (US) federal government jobs will now be vetted based on their skills rather than if they have a relevant college degree after President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order directing his agencies to change their hiring practices. At a signing ceremony at the White House, the president and other administration officials said the order would create a more merit-based system and opportunities for Americans who had previously been excluded from the workforce. The federal government will no longer be narrowly focused on where you went to school, but the skills and the talents that you bring to the job, President Trump said during the signing which coincided with a meeting of his American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. The order will direct federal agencies to shift to skills- and competency-based hiring rather than degree-based hiring which excludes capable candidates and undermines labor-market efficiencies, the order read. Mr Trump praised his daughter, senior advisor and policy board co-chair Ivanka Trump for leading the charge on the hiring edict. This will allow us to better recognise the talents and competencies of all Americans we hire, the First Daughter said, calling on the private sector to follow suit. With 2.1 million civilian workers, the federal government is the largest employer in the US and the order will open doors to the two-thirds of American adults who do not possess a college degree. White House aides said the new order would level the playing field and lift barriers to employment with a whopping 47 million Americans filing jobless claims since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Job applicants for federal gigs will now be vetted by relevant experts who will assess whether they possess the skills and ability to perform the job that theyre applying for, said Michael Regas, the acting Chief of the Office of Personnel Management which oversees all federal hirings. College degree requirements wont be tossed completely, but skills in jobs where having a degree is less important will be stressed under the new order, which will be implemented by Regas office. Those without a degree are at a major disadvantage in the federal hiring process. While education credentials are critical in many lines of work, such as the medical and legal field, this is far less clear in other areas, Mr Regas said. The civil service will create a more merit-based system. Im very eager to pursue the directive the President will sign today, he continued, vowing to overhaul standards that are limiting opportunity for those with diverse job backgrounds. Source: nypos.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The leading Greenhouse technology service provider in Ghana, Agri -Impact Consult has responded to a call for support and donated items, both cash and in-kind amounting to twenty thousand Ghana cedis (GHS 20,000) to the Berekuso Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compound in Brekusu. Presenting the items, Mrs Juliana Asante-Dartey, a director of the firm said AIC believes in giving back to the community and leading by example. I urged our community to observe the strict protocols and preventive measures declared by the government to prevent further spread of the COVID 19 virus. Receiving the items, Mrs. Emily Osman, Acting Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Services, Akwapim South expressed her appreciation to the company and called upon other corporate bodies to emulate the gesture. The items presented included a sum of 15,731.00 GHC and sanitary materials (I.e. Hand sanitizers, liquid soap, detergents, paper towels, toilet rolls.) AIC is the leading Agribusiness firm in Ghana and has established the Agribusiness Entrepreneurial Training Institute and a Greenhouse production and Training Centre at Berekuso offering training for youth, investors and institutions. The centre has trained more than 200 young graduates under Ghana EXIM Bank Youth in Greenhouse Enterprise Project. It presented these supplies to the medical facility in fulfilment of the companys Corporate Social Responsibility to communities and its support to combat COVID-19. 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 Mr Frank Ohene Okraku, the Deputy Bono Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), has said the Region is fully prepared for the start of the voters registration exercise on Tuesday, June 30. He said all the necessary kits and logistics have been received from Accra and distributed to the 12 Municipalities and Districts in the region. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani about the Commissions preparedness for the exercise in the region, Mr Okraku said 1, 596 registration officials have been trained for the registration processes to ensure a successful exercise. He said the Commission has put in place all the necessary safety protocols to ensure the protection of everyone at any registration centre and also to stem the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Mr Okraku said the districts have been divided into clusters and each cluster consisted of five registration centres, adding that the registration officials would be spending six days at a centre and move to another one in a cluster. Mr Okraku reminded anyone going for registration must take note of the requirement of either the national Identification card or a passport, saying without any of the two, one must get two guarantors before arriving at a centre. But a guarantor could guarantee for not more than 10 people, he added. Mr Okraku said the regional office of the EC has held series of meetings with the security agencies and has given them a list of all the centres, including flash points in the region for the provision of effective security during the period of the exercise. In a related interview with the GNA, Chief Inspector Augustine Kingsley Oppong, the Bono Regional Police Public Relations Officer, said about 150 police personnel would be deployed to the registration centres to ensure peace and orderliness as well as strict compliance with and observation of the COVID-19 directives and protocols. He entreated the public to cooperate with the Police personnel to execute their constitutional mandate of protecting lives and properties, saying everybody must conduct himself /herself very well to avoid arrest and prosecution. 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 As Covid-19 pandemic ravages the world indiscriminately, Plan international Ghana says the disease posses a unique challenge to millions of African Children and Ghana is no exception. This came to light as the world class NGO observed this years day of the African child in Ghana. The science surrounding Covid-19 show symptoms similar to common child ailments like malaria and sickle cell anaemia and unless they are tested, the status of our children will never the known. As an NGO committed to providing safe and protective environment where children can operate especially during this critical times, Plan International Ghana has engaged stakeholders on round table discussion at the Labadi Beach Hotel to deliberate on the impact of Covid-19 on Ghanaian children. In her opening comment, Madam Anna Nabere, the girls advocacy manager of Plan International Ghana shared light on the plight of Ghanaian children in the mist of covid-19. She said her outfit has launched series of programs that seek to promote, protect and provide children with their basic needs and if care is not taken, the devastating effects of Covid-19 will erase all these humble gains. She added that Plan International Ghana has supported the Ministry of Health to provide free antenatal care to will-be mothers. On education, Madam Anna said a lot of girls have been supported to go back to school before the pandemic but sadly some of these girls risk becoming pregnant during the COVID session owing to deceit by men. Rape, Defilement, Transactional Sex have been on the increase and these developments are negatively affecting the very existence of innocent children. On his take, the executive director of Child Rights International Mr. Bright Appiah via telephone link related that in the case of Ghana, over 200 children tested positive to corona virus out of the first 4000 earlier cases recorded in Ghana with 2 deaths and 1 in critical condition. His major concern was the fact that a lot of these children are asymptomatic to covid-19 and the issue of infections is a course for worry. Bright Appiah called for responsible systems to control the social space Ghanaian children occupy to reduce the spread. He also called for better understanding of the disease to protect children. Speaking on government intervention towards children, Mr Samuel Anaglate, the head of Foster Care at the Social Welfare Department mentioned that his outfit has provided hot meals to children in these foster homes to sustain lives. They have also provided PPEs for use by these children and enhanced education on sanitation and hygiene to reduce the risk of infection. Acknowledging the huge challenge of the Social Welfare Department, Mr Anaglate commended Plan International and allied NGOs, corporate Ghana and Individuals for their continues support for their continuous support. He said no child in the foster home has recorded any infection of Covid-19. Nana Frimpomaa, the CEO of Caring Kids International, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and former Vice Presidential Candidate of the CPP called for concerted effort from all stakeholders towards the safety and protection of Ghanaian children. She said there are too many children on the street and sadly just a few use the face mask let alone observe the hygiene protocols. These are hungry children most of who have no home, no security, no family and no life, she said until we holistically engage these kids, the fight against covid-19 risk failing. The lively discussion moderated by Nana Odoi Gyampoh, an experienced journalist attracted a lot of media houses who engaged panelist of series of interview sessions after the session. The programs officer of International Needs Network Elikem Awuye on her part touched on the economic, health, education, social and protective effect of covid-19 on Ghanaian children. She said her outfit has provided dignity kits to over 7000 girls in their program areas and called for more collaboration to ease the pressure on girls. Making her final submission the CEO of Public Health Development Initiative, Ms Ophelia Awinboma Azure applauded Plan International for her selfless effort in protecting, providing and promoting children in Ghana. She said millions of Ghana children have critical issues made worse by the pandemic and the earlier we take responsible actions, the better for the future of Ghana. Source: Abena Okyere/Campaigns Africa 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 Most Reverend Dr. Paul K. Boafo, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana, has appealed to Ghanaians to allow justice and righteousness to flow to avert fear, monetization of politics and polarisation within societies. Most Rev. Boafo stated that these negative trends in the society could not be allowed to progress anymore and entreated politicians and the public to avoid personal attacks and insults. If we allow Justice and righteousness to flow in Ghana, we can have peaceful and credible elections. Justice is a good recipe for development because it brings about fairness and equity, he said. Righteousness also exalts a nation. God is not interested in paying lip service to Justice and righteousness. Rev. Dr Boafo, who is also the Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, was speaking at the 38th Anniversary Remembrance Service, held at the Ridge Church in Accra, in honour of the three High Court Justices, who were murdered in 1982. Justices Fred Poku Sarkodee, Mrs. Cecilia Korantang-Addow, and Mr. Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong as well as Major Sam Acquah, a Retired Army officer, were abducted and murdered during the curfew hours of June 30, at the Bundase Military Range in the Accra Plains. The Judiciary has since honoured the justices as Matyrs, erecting their bust statutes at the forecourt of the Supreme Court. The service was held by the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in collaboration with the Judiciary. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah and some superior court justices, Mr. Sam Okudjetu and Mr. Frank Beechem past GBA Executives and some lawyers attended the ceremony. Most Rev. Boafo called for a change of attitude by family leaders and other authorities, including heads of institutions, who he said, had made a mockery of what was right in society. Touching on the lives of the three murdered Judges, Rev. Dr. Boafo noted that the judges did not only fight for what they stood for but also left behind some legacies that all Ghanaians ought to learn from. In his view, the murdered judges resolved to stand for the truth in the midst of challenges, equity, transparency, fairness, justice and righteousness. Reading the life stories of the murdered judges, we realize that they stood for what is good and on this occasion, we are here to reaffirm to rule of law, peace, reconciliation, especially in the period of the COVID pandemic and the anxiety associated with the upcoming elections, he said. He, therefore, appealed to the Judiciary to put every person in their place as they fought corruption and injustice, saying: The judiciary must be seen to uphold the Rule of law. Let me remind us that the courts are there to protect citizens of Ghana, you should also allow justice and righteousness to flow without any impediment. Let honesty, peace and transparency rule in our democratic dispensation. Rev. Dr. Boafo said the remembrance service was not conducted to remind Ghanaians of their pain and sorrow but it was initiated for all to know that, we have a charge to keep and God to glorify. The ceremony saw the observance of the strict prescribed protocols to prevent COVID-19 spread. Chief Justice Anin Yeboah and Madam Gloria Akuffo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, read the first and second bible lessons, respectively. Prayers were offered to members of the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary and relations of the Matyrs. 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 Institute of Industrial Research (IIR) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has held an Open Day on the theme, Water for Food Production as part of its stakeholder engagements for Work Package 3 of the RECIRCUALTE project currently underway. The event was used as an advocacy tool and engagement strategy to raise awareness of the RECIRCULATE project and its activities in the development, transfer, and utilization of the research findings. It was also to exchange knowledge with farmers to explore the commercial potential of irrigation scheduling, which sought to address shortfalls in water availability for crop production within the context of national development. The RECIRCULATE programme comprises of five interlinked work-packages (WPs) that empowers partners to deliver high-quality research and innovation in Africa. According to the IIR, the core objectives of Water for Food Production which is Work Package 3 under the RECIRCULATE project are to identify what approaches to water efficient irrigation are most appropriate for the cultivation of fresh produce, given the water resource available. It is also to investigate how efficient techniques can be developed and optimized for farmer communities which will require an understanding of the socio-economic barriers to the adoption of water-saving irrigation techniques in selected communities. The open day was in two parts, split into an open session and a field trip to the project site where experimental field trials on various irrigation scheduling techniques are conducted to compare the growth, yield and water productivity response of tomato plants subjected to thermal imaging (plant sensing) Penman-Monteith (meteorology), tensiometer (soil sensing) and grower intuition methods of irrigation scheduling. In his welcome address to the Institute and event, Mr. Joseph Yaw Amoah, Deputy Director, CSIR-IIR who chaired the occasion welcomed farmers from the three selected communities in the Central Region of Ghana namely Gomoa Okyereko, Baifikrom and Mankesim as well as other key stakeholders in the Agri Food Chain. He re-emphasised CSIRs commitment to solving problems through research to facilitate national development. Mr. Amoah gave a brief overview of the Open Day and underscored why it is important for the Institute to open its doors to the general public. He further explained that, it is important for stakeholders to know more about CSIR so they tap into CSIRs expertise. He also acknowledged organisations which collaborated with the Institute, as well as those who helped the Institute to get data to enrich its field research. Dr. William Owusu Oduro, CSIR-IIR who is the coordinator for the Work Package 3 of the RECIRCULATE project, shed more light on the project with special emphasis of the various Work Packages and their relevance to human sustenance and development. He said the project sought to help minimize waste and to maximize the benefits derived from natural resources and the environment as a whole. The second session which lasted for almost two hours focused on the technical activities, knowledge sharing and interactions where scientific research findings met local knowledge and experience. The session was led by Mr. Gilbert Osei, a versatile researcher with interest in deficit irrigation, drip irrigation, pitcher irrigation and irrigation water quality and currently a doctoral fellow at the Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Cape Coast, Ghana pursuing a PhD in Irrigation technology and Management. In his closing remarks, the chairman said, It is about time Ghanaians tap into the technologies and research findings from research communities like the CSIR, saying it would be an impetus for national development. He urged participants to remain committed to the knowledge impacted in order to be successful in their various endeavours. Mr. Amoah acknowledged there were challenges within the agribusiness sector especially with access to funding opportunities and patronizing research outputs and technologies. He however advised farmers and other participants to form business networks and take advantage of government flagship initiatives like the One District One Factory (1D1F) and the Planting for Food and Jobs, saying these have the ability to improve their lot. 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 Work on the reconstruction of two major markets in the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region has commenced. The GH4.6 million project is expected to provide the Dodowa and Asutuare markets with 40 lockable stalls, 40 open sheds and a creche under the first and second phase respectively The project being executed by the Coastal Development Authority (CODA) under the One Constituency One million Dollar government programme is expected to be completed in six months to boost the socio-economic activity of the district. The area is one of the biggest producers of farm produce, including rice, mango, maize, cassava and vegetable, among others, but has little to show for it due to the lack of a dignified market, places of convenience, stores to house produce of traders, modern car parks and proper sheds to protect the traders from the vagaries of the weather. The Greater Accra Minister, Ishmael Ashitey, who performed the ground-breaking ceremony, commended CODA for supporting the assembly to undertake the projects, which are indicators of the governments belief in transforming the lives of the people through the provision of infrastructural projects. The structures housing the previous markets, he explained, have become outmoded and do not provide any protective cover for the traders, hence the need to transform to deal with the proliferation of hawkers and unsightly littering of kiosks and containers in the cities and towns. The minister said the provision of basic fundamental services to stimulate economic growth would improve the quality of life of the people, and urged the people to jealously guard the project to enable the contractor to ensure early completion. Mr Ashitey charged the assembly to effectively supervise the contractor to ensure they adhere strictly to the health and safety protocols of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), adding that the workers need to wear their face masks and other personal protective equipment to safeguard themselves and the entire community against the spread of the pandemic. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CODA, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, who also presented over 4,000 nose masks for the various social and religious groups in the beneficiary communities, said the facilities would transform the socio-economic lives of the people. He charged the contractor to recruit the labour force from the area, and also urged the people to offer the contractor the needed support to ensure that the project was completed on schedule. The chairman of the occasion, Okukurubour Nene Tei-Kwesi Agyeman V, urged the people to report any malfeasance or unproductive altitude of the contractor to the traditional authorities, and advised those recruited from the area as artisans to obey simple instructions towards ensuring peace and harmony at the site of the construction. The District Chief Executive, Mr Daniel Akuffo commended his predecessors for initiating the project and CODA for promoting the local economic development of the people. Source: The Ghanaian Times 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 Belinda Awuku, who is standing trial together with her husband, Edwin Awuku, in a murder case, has said in court that her life is in danger. She told the Asokwa Court 3 yesterday that she had constantly been receiving death threats from faceless people. Belinda, who is on bail, said she usually receives death threats from people she suspects to be family members of the deceased anytime she comes to court. The suspect explained to court that her failure to appear before it (court) during its last sitting was not intentional. She said the threats forced her to stay away. The Presiding Judge, Rosemarie Afua Asante, in her response, told Belinda Awuku to officially report to the court about the alleged threats on her life. Shooting Incident Belinda Awukus husband, Edwin, a driver, allegedly shot her girlfriend, Comfort Owusu Afriyie, 46, dead at close range in a room at Cedar Crescent Hotel at Denyame, a suburb of Kumasi. After committing the crime, Edwin rushed to his house and narrated what had transpired to his wife, Belinda, before they returned to the hotel later on. The couple reportedly told the hotel staff that Edwin and Comfort were attacked by robbers in the hotel room, and Comfort was shot dead. Edwin and Belinda reported same to the police at the station. But the police, after investigations, arrested the couple and arraigned them. Charges Edwin and Belinda have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime and murder. Significantly, Edwin, who had previously been remanded in prison custody by the court, was not in court on Monday due to the Covid-19 restrictions. AG Studies Docket The prosecuting team told the court that the case docket had been sent to the Attorney Generals (AGs) Department for advice. According to them, the advice from the AGs office would determine whether the charges preferred against the suspects would be maintained or changed. The court has adjourned the case to July 30, 2020. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi 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 It is illegal for muscularly-built men known in local parlance as machomen, mostly belonging to vigilante groups, to provide security at registration centres in the Ashanti Region during the nationwide voter registration exercise, it has been announced. In this regard, the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has sternly cautioned that any machomen or vigilante group that will flout this firm order will be quickly apprehended to face the laws of the land. State security will be in charge of the voter registration exercise in the region, no vigilante group or groups (machomen) will be allowed, Simon Osei-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister and Head of REGSEC, said. A press statement issued yesterday ahead of the crucial exercise commencing today, the minister stated that REGSEC had also banned motorbikes from plying around the registration centres, indicating that anyone who breaches it would have the motorbike seized. Mr. Osei-Mensah also said carrying offensive weapons to the registration centres is outlawed and offenders would not be spared by the law, making it clear that only security personnel could carry weapons at registration centres. He admonished registration officials to report any security concerns to security officers stationed at the registration centre, adding that eligible voters should also report any challenge to registration officers for peaceful and amicable resolution. Mr. Osei-Mensah warned that any person that would attempt to register with a document not accepted under C.I.126 would be arrested. He added that old voter ID cards and birth certificates are not a requirement for one to be registered. REGSEC, he said, is determined to make the registration exercise peaceful in the region so he advised the public, notably the political parties, to cooperate, warning that any act that undermines the peace would lead to instant arrest. 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 La rhetorique qui definit la race, fait delle une categorisation pensee par les individus conscients de leurs statuts sociaux. Partant des traits physiques, les segregationnistes font des eloges qui admettent les differenciations physiques et epidermiques, un monde a part. Cette classification depend des caracteres apparents distincts des individus evoluant dans le temps et dans lespace, ensembles ou separes. Chaque individu jouit de ses empreintes qui le singularisent, le rendant ainsi typique, mais genetiquement lie aux autres malgre les dissemblances. Ce classement partial en soi nest pas choquant, mais les jugements subjectifs de mepris au detriment des individus identifiables par leurs caracteristiques qui les sont propres, rend la cohabitation difficile. Ces dominantes ethniques, qui nous differencient les uns des autres donnant naissances aux puzzles de la variante vie, est une diversite necessaire a laventure existentielle. Lenveloppe couche de protection, (peau) etant un critere visible et selectif de distinction relatif au pigment, du suite au role essentiel joue par la melanine dans la protection de la peau contre les rayons ultraviolets. Malheureusement la coloration des teguments dans notre regne, nous differencie et engendre des conflits qui empoisonnent notre bien-etre. Les uvres environnementales deviennent determinantes par la presence ou labsence de pigment, que la peau arbore genetiquement a sa surface. Evidemment, les caracteristiques deviennent lobjet de discrimination. Pourtant le pigment est une reponse logique dadaptabilite ecosystemique. Le prototype humain est le meilleur produit des selections biologiques concues par la supra intelligence. Les reflets nets entre les individus soumis au racisme sont inherents a lenvironnement. Le metissage par son apport genomique quantitatif et qualitatif, accelere les transcriptions durables des modifications morphologiques. Le milieu est un veritable mixeur bio-social qui forge la morphologie et cree un accent linguistique propre aux individus attaches, longtemps a leurs terroirs renfermes ou enclaves. Les essences environnementales qui sentremelent dans nos differentes assimilations ontologiques au prix de la survie, presentees par les aleas climatiques, nous conditionnent. Certes cest la replique aux epreuves vecues. Celles-ci nous astreignent a la dependance afin dassimiler les combinaisons multiples notamment les substances alimentaires, curatives et esthetiques. Elles font de nous des milieux mixtes et varies, intimement lies a nos pouvoirs intrinseques dadaptabilite. Cette complexe alchimie metabolique et dynamique secretant des composes riches en substances essentielles aux modifications profondes, entrent dans les combinaisons des Acides Desoxyribonucleiques (ADN). Ces derniers nous impriment des caracteres indeniables inscrits dans nos souches genomiques correlatives a notre existence. Pourtant la nature nous disculpe de sentiment malsain en mettant notre prototype en exergue refletant notre modele dans la diversite, qui devient dans la nature, sujets au racisme. Cependant les meres sans le savoir, ont un pouvoir de transfert dinformations a leurs ftus en gestation. Ces messages biochimiques trop proches de leurs profonds sentiments de sympathie ou dantipathie pendant leurs grossesses influent sur leurs progenitures. Les nouveau-nes vraisemblablement garnis, presentent des caracteres psychiques, physiques et comportementaux dus aux sentiments profonds ressentis par leurs genitrices. Bref ! lenvironnement est un grand faconnier des individus, quil faut prendre en compte, en comparaison a lallure des saheliens freles au nez fins pour barrer les poussieres et grains de sable dans les milieux secs et arides. Citant ces conditions climatiques, les habitants des zones tropicales, faute despaces dans les forets, les individus sont habituellement de courte taille et trapus. Labsence de poussieres a cause de lhumidite double de la rarete doxygene faconnent leurs facies. Ainsi, les organes respiratoires saillants, sont plus charnus retractes, et bien formes afin de mieux humer loxygene souvent rares sous les grands arbres des forets. Cest pourquoi les populations des zones tropicales, en Amazonie, dans les forets dAfrique et les forets dAsie, ont des facies semblables. Les races sont ineluctablement, les purs produits de lenvironnement. La pauvrete est la goutte qui fait deborder le vase. Elle vient peaufiner les marques. Elle est parfois un synthetiseur majeur de classification des individus dans la societe humaine, par la carence notoire des proteines et des sels mineraux, corrigeant le developpement biologique. En effet, les epoux par le manque de moyen se rabattent aux mariages dans leurs lignees. Les mariages intracommunautaires sont pour beaucoup dans la transmission des genes qui marquent les races en grands groupes. Finalement la progeniture devient accidentellement une selection naturelle. Lindividu ny peut rien, mais il doit savoir sassumer et defendre son droit a la vie. Reflexe de survie oblige. Pourquoi etant conscient des differences comme celles-ci, avons-nous honte de nous-memes ? Cest la perception de lautre comme ayant des avantages naturels ou artificiels de domination, incite a la recherche de le ressembler parfaitement. Cest utopique detre lautre. Cette quete detre comme lautre cree le complexe dinferiorite. Le complexe detre domine sur la base raciale nest que temporaire si nous prenons nos destinees en main. Telles sont les raisons fondamentales de nos differences biologiques et culturelles. Fatalement nous ne sommes que des produits passifs, nayant aucun pouvoir de choix de nos geniteurs donc de notre etre et paraitre. Le racisme resulte parfois de lignorance humaine. Souvent le raciste cherche a se justifier maladroitement face a ses semblables par des arguments qui ne tiennent pas debout. Naturellement nous, noirs prenons tout le poids de la discrimination a notre compte, alors que nous ne sommes pas les seuls discrimines sur terre. Logiquement quand une race prend de lavance sur une autre, elle se met a la dominer pour en faire des serfs. Nous avons entre nous, aussi des suzerains et des vassaux, cest un probleme de rapport de force. Les dominations ne sont pas propres aux noirs, il y a eu dautres peuples qui avaient subi le meme sort que nous. Cependant les autres peuples ont vite compris lenjeu. Cest pourquoi ils ne font guere de leur difference un probleme mais plutot un atout pour se demarquer et segaler a leurs colonisateurs ou envahisseurs afin de prendre leurs revanches economiques. Rien ne sert de pleurnicher, il faut briser les chaines invisibles du complexe dinferiorite. La discrimination raciale, quelle soit, favorable ou defavorable est une reponse aux questionnements qui aboutissent aux complexes de demerite sociale, ce qui creent la segregation et lasservissement. Le racisme est une doctrine basee sur la balance economique ignoble fondee sur linjustice humaine pour justifier les actions economiques a lencontre des personnes sur des bases epidermiques. Le drame est le sentiment de vouloir posseder lautre. Ce quaucune ethique ne laccepte. La frustration dominee par la presence de lautre, nadir jouissant des certains avantages naturels, suscitent le mal-etre jalousies ou simplement par mepris base sur les facies. Sinon les raisons profondes sont les partages des ressources naturelles ou lexploitation des potentialites humaines gratuitement, qui sexpliquent par la soumission. Pour etayer ces mauvaises pratiques gratuites, les racistes font recours a la religion et aux lois elaborees a des seins, juste pour legitimer leurs sales besognes et les pillages des ressources des peuples assujettis. RACIALISME Le racialisme est un neologisme qui me parait mignon pour traduire le sentiment dappartenir a un groupe racial donne, pour sa promotion sans discrimination negative aucune, vis-a-vis des autres. Cest une attitude modeste qui agit en faisant attention a la preservation de la race tout en laimant. Nous avons tendance a comprendre le sens de raciophile , ce dernier ne figure pas dans le dictionnaire de la langue francaise, mais traduit le sentiment daimer une race donnee ou detre fier de celle dont on est peint de ses pigment, sans porter prejudice aux autres sur cette base. Celui-ci le racialisme est plutot systemique du fait de lassimilation qui determine le groupe ethnique specifique. Si les groupes tribaux par leurs natures se mettent ensembles pour se proteger et proteger leurs interets, de fait, ceux-la ne sont que des pratiques logiques et legitimes quil faut perenniser. Cette philosophie qui se veut racialiste est une reponse de grosse pointure contre le racisme ou simple antidote valable pour neutraliser la discrimination negative. Nous observons souvent les groupes se former par affinite, tels les oiseaux et les differents animaux parmi lesquels les humains. Dans ce cas de figure, il ne sagit pas dun phenomene dexpression raciste mais plutot raciale cest-a-dire relatif a la race sans connotation discriminatoire negative contre lautre. Nous pouvons accepter le racialisme comme mouvement densemble dacception de soi-meme et de lautre sans discrimination mechante comme antidote du racisme radical et systemique negatif. La lutte contre le racisme ne trouve droit de cite, que dans un Etat de droit, celui-ci dissuade par le rapport de force populaire ou democratique. La politique a souvent eu un discours mitige contre les diverses pratiques discriminatoires nefastes, mais cautionne en sourdine les apports incommensurables, fruits de la segregation raciale, divisez pour regner . Le racialisme et le racisme Ces deux mots confondus, nous confrontent a une dialectique apre devant un auditoire qui trancherait afin de contrecarrer le sentiment haineux lie a la race. Ces caracteres indeniables aux populations qui se reconnaissent dans leur etre et paraitre, ont souvent suscite la problematique, quon est les memes ou bien differents ? Le racisme est un mal des communautes qui usent de leurs differences pour assaisonner le gout de leur existence communautaire. Les peuplades attisent larme raciale comme ciment communautaire. Ils se definissent comme differents des autres par des comportements ou des traitements intrinseques et extrinseques mitiges percus dans des prismes aux reflets pleins dillusions. Le racisme est un sentiment dinjustice et de mepris sans egal. Cependant les Etats modernes disculpent certains elements de leurs polices qui pourtant vomissent leurs haines raciales sous couvert de retablissement de lordre dans leurs missions regaliennes. Il est aberrant de nier ces actions visionnees par des passants ou filmees par des cameras postees dans des places publiques. Jadis les Etats expansionnistes et colonialistes avaient presque les memes attitudes de protections des negriers pour un asservissement des masses pour renflouer leurs tresors. Les discours feignent ignorer la realite discriminatoire. A nos jours les Etats soi-disant democratiques sapent les violences policieres parce quils ne peuvent pas les justifier. Dans un passe recent, certains pays pratiquaient le racisme ou apartheid au vu et au su du public. Dans les megapoles, des affiches insolentes ou des ecriteaux dans les lieux publics : Interdit aux noirs et aux chiens. Le noir comme specimen na jamais ete un enfant de cur, de ceux qui lont colonise. Certains musees dEurope exposaient le noir pour faire des recettes, dautres en faisaient de ces images un paysage de la jungle dans leurs musees pour attirer les touristes. A la longue, les affiches ont disparu du regard de grand public grace a la denonciation des mouvements antiracistes soutenus, mais le sentiment profond de haine qui couve lenvie decraser lautre comme une fourmi, par labus de pouvoir et de limpunite, couples de silence des institutions etatiques. Ainsi le racialisme devient pour nous une philosophie de lacception de lautre et partage de patrimoine racial qui consiste a etre preserve et inscrit parmi les droits fondamentaux de lHomme. Debout contre le racisme et contre linjustice injustifiables, ensemble pour lepanouissement du racialisme. Heureux sont ceux, qui ne sont pas racistes. Version anglophone The race The rhetoric that defines race makes it a categorization thought by individuals aware of their social status. Starting from physical traits, segregationists praise admitting physical and epidermal differentiations, a world apart. This classification depends on the apparent distinct characters of individuals evolving in time and space, together or separate. Each individual enjoys his imprints that set him apart, making him typical, but genetically linked to others despite the dissimilarities. This partial classification in itself is not shocking, but subjective judgments of contempt to the detriment of individuals identifiable by their own characteristics, makes cohabitation difficult. These dominant ethnicities, which differentiate us from each other giving birth to puzzles of the life variant, is a diversity necessary for the existential adventure. The protective layer envelope (skin) being a visible and selective criterion of distinction relating to the pigment, due to the essential role played by melanin in protecting the skin against ultraviolet rays. Unfortunately the coloration of the integuments in our reign, differentiates us and generates conflicts that poison our well-being Environmental works become decisive through the presence or absence of pigment, which the skin genetically displays on its surface. Obviously, characteristics become the object of discrimination. Yet the pigment is a logical response to ecosystem adaptability. The human prototype is the best product of biological selections designed by super intelligence. Clear reflections between individuals subject to racism are inherent in the environment. The interbreeding by its quantitative and qualitative genomic contribution, accelerates the lasting transcriptions of morphological modifications. The environment is a veritable bio-social mixer that forges the morphology and creates a linguistic accent specific to individuals who have long been attached to their land or enclaves. The environmental essences that intermingle in our various ontological assimilations at the cost of survival, presented by climatic vagaries, condition us. Admittedly, this is a replica of the trials we have experienced. These compel us to dependence in order to assimilate multiple combinations including food, healing and aesthetic substances. They make us mixed and varied environments, intimately linked to our intrinsic powers of adaptability. This complex metabolic and dynamic alchemy secreting compounds rich in substances essential to profound modifications, enter into the combinations of Deoxyribonucleic Acids (DNA). The latter imprint on us undeniable characters inscribed in our genomic strains correlative to our existence. Yet nature exonerates us from an unhealthy feeling by highlighting our prototype reflecting our model in diversity, which becomes in nature, subject to racism. Mothers, without knowing it, have the power to transfer information to their gestating fetuses. These biochemical messages too close to their deep feelings of sympathy or antipathy during their pregnancies influence their offspring The newborns, probably furnished, have psychic, physical and behavioral characteristics due to the deep feelings felt by their parents. In short ! the environment is a great shaping of individuals, which must be taken into account, in comparison with the appearance of frail Sahelians with fine noses to block dust and grains of sand in dry and arid environments. Citing these climatic conditions, the inhabitants of the tropical zones, for lack of spaces in the forests, the individuals are usually short and stocky. The absence of dust due to humidity coupled with the scarcity of oxygen shapes their facies. Thus, the protruding respiratory organs are more fleshy retracted, and well formed in order to better inhale the oxygen, often scarce, under the large trees of the forests. This is why the populations of the tropical zones, in Amazonia, in the forests of Africa and the forests of Asia, have similar facies. The races are inevitably the pure products of the environment Poverty is the drop that overflows the vase. She comes to refine the brands. It is sometimes a major synthesizer of classification of individuals in human society, by the notorious deficiency of proteins and mineral salts, correcting biological development. Indeed, the spouses by the lack of means fall back on marriages in their lines. Intra-community marriages have a lot to do with the transmission of genes that mark races in large groups. Ultimately the offspring accidentally become a natural selection. The individual can do nothing about it, but he must know how to assume responsibility and defend his right to life. Survival reflex obliges. Why being aware of differences like these, are we ashamed of ourselves? It is the perception of the other as having natural or artificial advantages of domination, incites research to resemble him perfectly. Its utopian to be the other. This quest to be like the other creates the inferiority complex. The complex of being dominated on a racial basis is only temporary if we take our destinies in hand. These are the fundamental reasons for our biological and cultural differences. We are only passive products, having no power to choose our parents and therefore our being and appearing. Racism sometimes results from human ignorance. Often the racist seeks to justify awkwardly in front of his fellow men by arguments which do not stand up Naturally we blacks take the brunt of discrimination on our own account, while we are not the only discriminated people on earth. Logically when one race gets ahead of another, it begins to dominate it to make them serfs. We have between us, also overlords and vassals, this is a problem of power relations. Dominations are not unique to blacks, there have been other peoples who have suffered the same fate as we have. However, other peoples quickly understood the issue. This is why they hardly make their difference a problem but rather an asset to stand out and be equal to their colonizers or invaders in order to take their economic revenge. There is no point in whining, you have to break the invisible chains of the inferiority complex. Racial discrimination, whether favorable or unfavorable, is a response to the questions that lead to social demerit complexes, which create segregation and enslavement. Racism is a doctrine based on the vile economic scale based on human injustice to justify economic actions against people on an epidermic basis. Drama is the feeling of wanting to own the other. What no ethics accepts. The frustration dominated by the presence of the other, nadir enjoying certain natural advantages, arouse "malaise" jealousy or simply by contempt based on facies. otherwise the underlying reasons are the sharing of natural resources or the exploitation of human potential free of charge, which can be explained by submission. To support these gratuitous bad practices, the racists resort to religion and the laws elaborated on breasts, just to legitimize their dirty work and the plundering of the resources of the subjugated peoples. RACIALISM "Racialism" is a neologism which seems cute to me to translate the feeling of belonging to a given racial group, for its promotion without any negative discrimination whatsoever, towards others. It is a modest attitude that works by paying attention to the preservation of the breed while loving it. We tend to understand the meaning of "raciophile", the latter does not appear in the dictionary of the French language, but translates the feeling of loving a given race or being proud of that with which one is painted with its pigments, without harming others on this basis. This "racialism" is rather systemic due to the assimilation that determines the specific ethnic group. If tribal groups by their natures come together to protect themselves and their interests, in fact, these are only logical and legitimate practices that must be perpetuated. This philosophy which claims to be "racialist" is a big answer against racism or a simple antidote valid to neutralize negative discrimination. We often observe groups formed by affinity, such as birds and different animals, including humans. In this case, it is not a phenomenon of racist expression but rather racial, that is to say relating to race without negative discriminatory connotation against the other. We can accept racialism as a whole movement of self-acceptance and self-acceptance without nasty discrimination as an antidote to radical and negative systemic racism. The fight against racism can only be found in a state of law, which is deterred by popular or democratic power relations. Politics have often had a mixed speech against various harmful discriminatory practices, but quietly condones the immeasurable contributions, the fruit of racial segregation, "divide and conquer". Racialism and racism These two words combined, confront us with a harsh dialectic before an audience that would decide in order to counteract the hateful feeling linked to race. These undeniable characteristics of the populations who recognize themselves in their being and appear, have often raised the problem, whether we are the same or different? Racism is an evil of communities which use their differences to season the taste of their community existence. The tribes stir up the racial weapon as community cement. They define themselves as different from the others by mixed intrinsic and extrinsic behaviors or treatments perceived in prisms with reflections full of illusions. Racism is a feeling of unrivaled injustice and contempt. However, modern states exonerate certain elements of their police force which, however, spew out their racial hatreds under the guise of restoring order in their sovereign missions. It is absurd to deny these actions viewed by passers-by or filmed by cameras posted in public places. Formerly the expansionist and colonialist states had almost the same attitudes of protection of the slave traders for a subjugation of the masses to replenish their treasures. The speeches pretend to ignore the discriminatory reality. Nowadays so-called democratic states undermine police violence because they cannot justify it. In the recent past, some countries practiced racism or apartheid in full view of the public. In mega-cities, cheeky posters or signs in public places : Black and dogs prohibited. The black as a specimen was never a child of heart, of those who colonized it. Some museums in Europe exhibited black for revenue, others turned these images into a jungle landscape in their museums to attract tourists. In the long run, the posters disappeared from the eyes of the general public thanks to the denunciation of the sustained anti-racist movements, but the deep feeling of hatred which smells of the desire to crush the other like an ant, by the abuse of power and of impunity, coupled with silence from state institutions. Thus "racialism" becomes for us a philosophy of the acceptance of the other and sharing of racial heritage which consists in being preserved and registered among the fundamental human rights. Stand against racism and unjustifiable injustice, together for the flourishing of racialism. Happy are those who are not racist. The government opened two Consulates General in Port Louis, Mauritius and Guangzhou, China, in 2019, with the view to better provide timely consular services, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey revealed. According to her, the move was to enhance the economic cooperation between Ghana and Mauritius on one hand and Ghana and the City of Guangzhou on the other. The ministry also facilitated the establishment of three new diplomatic missions in Ghana, namely the High Commissions of Suriname, Kenya and Rwanda, thus bringing the number of resident diplomatic missions in Ghana to 66 and 38 Honorary Consulates, she said. The minister made the disclosure in the budget performance report in respect to the ministry for the period of January to December 2019 submitted to Parliament. Purchase and Renovation of Properties She reported that the ministry, in its efforts to give a facelift and maintain the value of landed properties in Ghanas missions abroad, renovated the Chancery and the residence of the Head of Chancery at the Ghana Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia. The ministry also completed the construction of the Chancery of the Ghana Embassy in Bamako and also purchased the residencies for the Ghana Embassy in Oslo, Norway and the Ghana Embassy in Cotonou, Benin. Economic Diplomacy Shirley said Ghanas economic diplomacy agenda, in the year under review, focused on the national objective of diversifying and increasing Ghanas export base by actively seeking markets for Ghanaian products abroad and taking advantage of preferential arrangement and multilateral trade agreements. Economic Diplomacy also supports the diversification and expansion of the tourism industry for job creation and revenue generation by marketing Ghana abroad as a competitive tourist destination and attracting investment into the hospitality industry. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration organized its second Made-In-Ghana Bazar Extravaganza from July 26 to 28, 2019, which brought together over 231 Ghanaian small-to-medium businesses to exhibit their products, she said. The minister explained that the overarching objective of the Bazaar was to use the network of Ghanas diplomatic missions abroad and diplomatic missions accredited to Ghana to facilitate the internationalization of Ghanaian products and services. She noted that the expected outcome was for increased exports, job creation and to secure the needed foreign exchange for the economic growth of Ghana. To give effect to this expectation, the ministry devoted a special edition of its magazine, The Envoy, to the promotion of exhibitors of the maiden Bazaar Extravaganza in all its missions and diplomatic missions accredited to Ghana, she added. Passport Administration On passport administration, she disclosed that the ministry improved its service delivery of passports by reducing the turnaround time for processing a passport from a month to 12 days for express application and from three months to a month for standard/regular applications. In addition, the ministry took some initiatives to improve service delivery at the passport office. Among these initiatives were the online passport application and downloadable Portable Document Format (PDF) Passport Application Form. Others included the extension of Passport Applications Centres (PACs) to eight regional capitals, establishment of the Premium Passport Application Centre, overhauling of passport processing equipment and extension of the validity of passports from five years to 10 years. Additionally, action was initiated to introduce 48-page passport booklets to satisfy the needs of frequent travellers. The ministry has started discussions aimed at introducing chip-embedded passports to keep up with the pace of technological advancement and enhance the security of Ghanaian passports, she added. 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 Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has assured parents of maximum protection for their wards as basic schools re-opened to final year students on Monday, June 29. Mr. Osei Assibey-Antwi, the Mayor, said adequate safety measures were in place to benefit the students, and in line with this, the Assembly had facilitated the distribution of the requisite sanitary and protective items to the various schools. I can assure the public, especially parents that almost every basic school in the metropolis has received what it is due in terms of thermometer guns, Veronica buckets, hand sanitizers, tissue and soap, as well as nose masks, he insisted. The Assembly is enforcing strict adherence to the COVID-19 preventive guidelines in all basic schools under its jurisdiction, he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi. This was on the sidelines of a tour by the Mayor of some basic educational institutions in the metropolis to monitor activities as they welcomed final-year students, to begin academic work towards the writing of their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Ghanaian schools had since March, this year, been closed as the country took measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, whose case counts had now surpassed 17,350 with 112 deaths. Mr. Assibey Antwi said the KMA was working with the Public Health Committee and Health Directorate to create the requisite hygienic learning environment. He advised the students to be law-abiding, reminding them that it was an offence for one not to wear nose mask in public places. Schools visited included Adiebeba M/A Basic One and Two, as well as Opoku Ware Basic Schools. Mr. David Oppong, the Metropolitan Director of Education, said all the basic schools had been fumigated ahead of their reopening for the safety of the students. 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 total of 56 security personnel from the various security services have been deployed to eight registration centres in the Kpando Municipality. The service personnel were drawn from the Police Service, Prison Service, Fire Service and Immigration Service. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr Widom Lavoe, Kpando Divisional Commander, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the personnel would be deployed on a weekly basis to man the centres. He said their mandate is to ensure an incident free exercise and asked for the cooperation. Mr Eric Ackah, Municipal Electoral Commissioner- Kpando, said the idea to begin the exercise with only eight centres out of the about 76 centres was a policy directive from the headquarters of the Commission. He said the Kpando office had a mobile team that has been deployed to monitor activities from all centres during the exercise. Mr Ackah said the office was equipped with backup biometric machines in the event of any failure of the machines at the various centres. The GNA visited some registration centres and as early as 0630 hours, queues had been formed by people ready to register. At Aloyi R/C Primary, about 50 people including the aged, had queued and were ready to go through the exercise, which took off at exactly 0700 hours with the aged being attended to first. The same could be said for the Roman Catholic Sisters Convent in Gabi with the safety protocols being strictly observed. The other six centres for the first phase of the exercise are Immaculate Conception JHS-Tsakpe; Global Church, D A Primary- Gabi 2; D A Primary-Agudzi, D A Primary-Togorme and D A Primary- Aziave. The registration exercise runs from June 30 to August 5, 2020. 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 Language barriers can be frustrating for patients and health professionals during healthcare delivery. Clear correspondence is basic to delivering excellent healthcare. The results could be disastrous if medical information gets lost in translation when patients are describing their symptoms or when doctors explain treatment procedures. Vodafone Foundation through its Healthline Medical Call Centre is successfully addressing the gaps in healthcare delivery brought about by language limitations. As part of efforts to provide accurate information and medical advice on COVID-19 and other health issues, the Vodafone Healthline Medical Call Centre is resourced with medical doctors who speak a host of local languages including Ga, Twi, Fante, Ewe and Hausa. In addition to English, the doctors at the call centre deliver expert health advice in five other languages - Mandarin (Chinese), French, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese. This is one of the many interventions by the Vodafone Foundation to bring quality healthcare closer to Ghanaians and other foreign nationals residing in the country whilst providing support for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking on the Healthline Medical Call Centres multilingual approach, Geta Striggner-Quartey, Director of Legal and External Affairs at Vodafone Ghana said: Vodafone Foundation is proud to come up with such an initiative to serve Ghanaians and non-nationals in times like this. This is a true reflection of our commitment to using innovative technology to impact society positively and improve the lives of people. In light of the community spread during this pandemic, our firm belief in inclusion fueled the multilingual approach by our Healthline Call Centre in the provision of accurate information on the COVID-19 pandemic to Ghanaians and other nationals residing in Ghana. We are excited that the medical call centre continues to complement the efforts of the health authorities in the delivery of quality healthcare information in the fight against the pandemic. Dr Bright Asamoah, Clinical Director of the Vodafone Healthline Call Centre, said: We are happy to be associated with this revolutionary initiative. This innovation, which was made possible by the Vodafone Foundation, provides the platform for us to serve Ghanaians with our expertise as health professionals. Our team of doctors knowledge of multiple languages play a phenomenal role in providing many Ghanaians and other foreigners with medical advice and the right information in order to be safe during the pandemic. The Healthline Medical Call Centre operates a daily schedule from 8am to 8pm, and is manned by 50 doctors who have received COVID-19 training from the Ghana Health Services (GHS). The first of its kind in Ghana, the call centre provides expert medical advice to people in need of quality healthcare information from the convenience of their phones by dialling 255 from any Vodafone or MTN number. Healthline Call Centre, which has been a resounding success, was established in 2013 by the Vodafone Foundation to provide via phone, expert medical advice to Ghanaians, reducing the stress people usually go through to get medical service. The Vodafone Foundation in supporting the countrys fight against the pandemic reopened the medical call centre to provide guidance on COVID-19 and refer suspected cases to the Rapid Response Team (RRT). 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 Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has described the military deployment in Volta Region ahead of the voter registration exercise on Tuesday, 30th June 2020 as deliberate profiling and discrimination against people of Volta Region. According to him, the military deployment in Volta Region is intentional and targeting only Voltarians [people of Volta Region]. It is a deliberate profiling, discrimination and targeting of the Volta Region. It is not only Volta Region that is border region; we have other border regions like the Western border and Northern borders but why is that it is always Volta Region that is targeted?, he quizzed. Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Tertiary said it was wrong for K.T Hammond to conclude that Voltarians and Togolese are of the same ethnic descent. He also dismissed claims that there is empirical evidence to show the voters' register contains names of foreign nationals including some Togolese. Listen to K.T Hammond saying that Voltarians and Togolese are the same tribe; he does not understand the ethnic formation of our country. It is not every ethnic group in Volta Region that have a linkage with Togo; he should know that... It is not true that in Ghana we have had a confirmation before that there are foreigners or Togolese in voters' register. It has never been confirmed; there is no official document, no Electoral Commission communication to the effect that the various voters' register we have compiled over the years from 1992 has been invaded by foreigners or Togolese, he argued. The North Tongu MP pointed out that it was rather the then EC boss Dr Afari Gyan who provided evidence of minors having infiltrated the voters' register. There were minors, according to EC boss, who showcased their pictures in the register; and this was for the entire country and not only in the Volta Region. And everyone was cleraly shocked that EC officials could allow such minors to go through and complete the registration process in the first place, he recalled. To him, the claim of Togolese nationals in the voters register was first peddled by Dr Mahamudu Bawumia at a press conference prior to the 2016 general elections. . . Dr Bawumia held a press conference and said that the NPP has discovered some number of Togolese on the register and he even said he just put out 10 percent of the names and then later will add the 90 percent but up to now, he has not been able to do it in more than 5 years and we are still waiting for the evidence that he claimed he had. As we speak, the NPP has not made available a copy of that Togolese electoral register to us and that claim has absolute no merit; it was totally unmeritorious. Lets put it out there that this claim that Togolese take part in voting in the Volta Region is part of a certain agenda against Voltarians, which is wrong, he fumed. Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the deployment of Military to the Volta Region is to prevent terrorist attacks in the country. Ex-Prez Mahama Condemns Prez Akufo-Addo Former President John Dramani Mahama issued a statement to condemn the security presence in the Volta Region, stressing that sending troops to the Region is a declaration of war on the residents. He scolded President Nana Akufo-Addo for sanctioning the Military presence in the Region. "I have sufficient reason to believe that there is merit in the concerns raised by the residents of these Regions. This represents another unprecedented low in the shameless abuse of state power to attack the very citizens whose safety and security the Akufo-Addo government should be protecting. It is becoming evident by the day, that the Akufo-Addo government perceives political power as an end in itself hence the resort to such crude and high-handed measures to usurp the mandate of the people. "To send troops into regions in times of peace for the sole purpose of preventing them from registration amounts to declaring war on them. Any President sanctioning this sort of activity stands in breach of his oath to the people of Ghana. Any President doing this, commits a grave sin against the very people he swore to protect. No one would have imagined that a Ghanaian government would be so obsessed with hanging on to power as to subject its own citizens to such mistreatment and execute an ethno-tribal agenda of this magnitude against them," a statement released by his office read. NDC's 1-day Ultimatum to Gov't The NDC Minority in Parliament has also issued a day ultimatum to the government to withdraw military personnel from Ketu South in the Volta Region. Chairman of the Volta Regional Caucus, Emmanuel Bedzrah in a press conference at Aflao, made a strident call for the troops to be immediately recalled to their barracks. Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency and Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa further cautioned the government to withdraw the heavy military presence in the Volta region. To him, the security presence is to intimidate the residents in the Region. Army to defend Ghana's territorial integrity But according to President Akufo-Addo, there is no ill motive behind the security deployment. Delivering a nation address on the new voters' registration exercise Monday evening, he emphasized that the security personnel are in the Volta Region to defend Ghana's borders to ensure no acts of terrorism in the country. ''The longstanding deployment of security personnel, especially the military, along our borders is another dimension of this process of guaranteeing the peace of the nation. Fellow Ghanaians, it is no secret that our neighbour to the north, Burkina Faso, has, in recent times, been at the receiving end of a number of terrorist attacks, as has another neighbour, Cote divoire. To shore up our borders against such attacks, and to defend our nations territorial integrity, the Armed Forces, at least since I came into office, have been very proactive in engaging in operations to secure our borders, and foil any potential terror attacks on our soil''. ''Operations such as Conquered Fist and Koudangou have been going along for some time, since 21st February 2019, to meet this objective. Deployments of soldiers in areas along our borders have been regular, and residents living in border towns will bear testimony to this," he added. 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 Ghana returned into constitutional rule on January 7, 1993, after a military regime between January 1972 and October 1979 and it has since remained a republican state. After 11 years of military administration, a new constitution was approved through a referendum in 1992. Presidential elections were held in November in 1992 and the founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Jerry John Rawlings won the presidential elections while the party also attained 189 out of 200 seats in parliament. Presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana are held alongside each other, generally on 7 December every four years. Some Members of Parliament have been glued to their seat since 1992 to date while others who joined later have also remained in parliament making them the longest serving law makers. GhanaWeb compiled a list of some of the longest serving members of parliament in the 7th parliament. Alban S. K. Bagbin, is one of the oldest members of parliament in the Fourth Republic. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) member for Nadowli/Kaleo in the Upper West Region was first voted to represent his constituency, then known as Nadowli North, in the First Parliament of the Fourth Republic during the 1992 election. Since 1992, the MP also known as Nadowli/Kaleo Mugabe has been returned to parliament by massive votes even though he had to face other contestants both from within his own party and other opponents. Alban Bagbin rose through the ranks of the NDC as a result of hard work to the position of Minority Leader when the NDC lost the election to the NPP in 2000. In 2012, when the NDC was voted back to power under President John Evans Atta Mills, he was named as the Majority Leader. He has served in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th parliament and is currently Second Deputy Speaker. Collins Dauda Collins Dauda is also one of the longest serving MPs in Ghana. He has served in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th parliament of the republic. Collins Dauda became a member of the Asutifi District Assembly between 1978 and 1981. He was a member of the Consultative Assembly that drew up the 1992 Ghana constitution between 1991 and 1992. He was first elected to parliament in the 1992 parliamentary election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress making him the first MP for the Asutifi South in the Fourth Republic. He won a second term in the 1996 parliamentary election. He however lost his seat in 2000 parliamentary election. The lawmaker made a return in 2004 and regained the seat in parliament. In 2002 and 2004 when he was out of parliament, he was the Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Brong Ahafo Region. In February 2009, Collins Dauda was appointed Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources and reshuffled to the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing. Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, entered the House as a member for Old Tafo Suame on the ticket of the NPP in 1996 but currently represents Suame Constituency after the constituency was splitted. The current Majority Leader is one of the experienced MP with a lot of knowledge in the operations of parliament. Kobina Tahir Hammond K. T. Hammond as he is popularly known is also one of the longest serving MP in Ghanas parliament. He has served in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th parliament. He joined parliament in 2001 for Adansi-Asokwa Constituency in the Ashanti Region and since retained his seat. His hard work and knowledge in the Oil and Gas industry makes him one of the best MPs in the field. He serves under the Finance and Mines and Energy Committee. Kennedy Agyapong Kennedy Ohene Agyapong a member of the NPP also joined the House as the member for Assin South, then designated as Assin Central. He joined parliament in 2001 and has since served in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th parliament. He is currently the chairman of Local Government and Rural Development Committee and a member of the House Committee. Haruna Iddrisu Haruna Iddrissu has served in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th parliament of Ghana. He joined parliament after he stood for parliamentary elections in 2004 in the then newly formed Tamale South constituency and won the seat. He retained his seat in the 2008 parliamentary election. He has held various positions in government, including Minister for Communications under the Mills and Mahama governments as well as Minister for Trade between 2013 and 2014. His service and dedication to the NDC and the country at large is the reason he is currently serving as the Minority Leader of parliament in the 7th parliament. Since he joined parliament in 2005, he has since contested his seat unopposed as records shows same occurrence in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2020. James Klutse Avedzi James Klutse Avedzi has been a Member of the 4th, 5th, 6th 7th Parliaments. The politician joined Ghanas parliament in 2004 representing the Ketu North Constituency in the Volta Region on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress. James Klutse Avedzi is currently the Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament and the chairman of Public Account Committee. Joseph Yieleh Chireh Veteran Joseph Yieleh Chireh has served in 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th parliament. He joined in 2005 and has since served to date. He would however not be returning to 8th parliament after losing his seat to David Asante-Apeatus Executive Secretary, Peter Lanchene Toobu, who resigned from the Ghana Police Service (GPS) to join politics. Inusah Abdulai Bistav Fuseini Inusah Abdulai Bistav Fuseini has served in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th parliament. The MP for Tamale Central Constituency in the Northern Region is the ranking Member for the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. He was elected to parliament following a bye-election in 2006 after the incumbent, Wayo Seini who had occupied the seat for only two years since its creation, resigned and defected from the NDC to the New Patriotic Party. Since then he has become one of the well positioned and critical Members of Parliament and also a cherished figure in the NDC. However, the longest serving MP wont be in 8th parliament after his surprise announcement that he wont be seeking re-election before the Partys primaries in 2019. Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka has served in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th parliament. He first entered the Parliament of Ghana on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress in 2005 when he won a by-election in the Asawase constituency with a majority of 11,142 replacing the late Dr Gibrine also of the NDC who had won the seat in December 2004 with a majority of 4,474. The MP for Asawase Constituency in the Ashanti Region has served for 16 years and has risen through the ranks in parliament. Muntaka serves as the Chief Majority Whip in parliament under the John Mahama-led NDC Government but currently serves as the Minority Chief Whip after the NDC lost the elections in 2016. Joe Nana Kobina Akwa Ghartey Ghartey is currently the NPP Member of Parliament for Essikado/Ketan Constituency in the Western Region of the Republic of Ghana. He was first elected to the seat in the December 2004 elections and was re-elected in both the December 2008 and December 2012 elections. In all the three elections he was not contested in the primaries of the NPP to choose the parliamentary candidate for the Constituency. He serves for the Subsidiary Legislation Committee and Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee. Anthony Akoto Osei Anthony Akoso Osei is the MP for Old Tafo Constituency, Ashanti Region. He joined parliament in 2005 and has since served in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th. He is currently the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation and also a member of the Finance Committee, Defence and Interior Committee in parliament. 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 President Nana Akufo-Addo has said the idea of being a President, who emerges from a rigged election, is abhorrent to every fibre of my being, adding: I want to continue to be the President of a Ghanaian people who have given me their free consent, with the blessing of the Almighty. In a national address to Ghanaians on Monday night ahead of Tuesdays commencement of the voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission, President Nana Akufo-Addo noted, without any form of equivocation, that the deployment of military personnel to Ghanas borders, is not in any way intended to intimidate or prevent eligible Ghanaians from registering to vote in December, adding: They are there for their express purpose, which is to guard our borders. That is the limit of their remit, and they will not be permitted to stray beyond that remit. The President said it is crucial that both the registration exercise and the electoral process itself are conducted in an atmosphere of peace and security devoid of intimidation and violence. The President indicated that he had been encouraged by the recent reassurance by the Inspector General of Police that the law officers will be even-handed in their response to issues. The longstanding deployment of security personnel, especially the military, along our borders is another dimension of this process of guaranteeing the peace of the nation. Fellow Ghanaians, it is no secret that our neighbour to the north, Burkina Faso, has, in recent times, been at the receiving end of a number of terrorist attacks, as has another neighbour, Cote dIvoire, he said. To shore up Ghanas borders against such attacks, and to defend the countrys territorial integrity, President Akufo-Addo stressed that the Armed Forces have been very proactive in engaging in operations to secure the countrys borders, and foil any potential terror attacks on Ghanaian soil. Operations such as Conquered Fist and Koudangou have been going along for some time, since 21st February 2019, to meet this objective. Deployments of soldiers in areas along our borders have been regular, and residents living in border towns will bear testimony to this, he added. Again, in the fight against COVID-19, it will be recalled that the President took the decision, on Saturday, 21st March, to close all the countrys borders by land, air and sea, with the military assisting personnel of the Immigration Service to shore up the countrys eastern, western and northern borders. This development, for example, during the period of the three-week lockdown of Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi, led to the arrest of some five thousand (5,000) persons along our borders, who had entered our country illegally. Indeed, the first six (6) recorded cases of COVID-19 in the Volta Region, for example, were those of West African nationals, who entered the country illegally, he said. President Akufo-Addo continued, In total, two hundred and seven (207) soldiers have been deployed along the borders of the Upper East Region; one hundred and ten soldiers (110) in the Northern Region; one hundred and two (102) in the North East Region; ninety-eight (98) in the Volta Region; seventy-two (72) in the Oti Region; sixty-nine (69) in Upper West; sixty-four (64) in Bono Region; twenty-one (21) in the Savanna Region; and fourteen (14) in the Western Region. I have no interest in disenfranchising any eligible Ghanaian from registering in tomorrows exercise, nor am I interested in any improper machinations to win any election. I have spent my life fighting for free, democratic institutions in our country, and I will continue in that fight for the rest of my life, he said. 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 General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has described the Supreme Court's decision on the NDC vs Electoral Commission case over the compilation of a new voters register, as the "most bizarre" ruling he has ever heard in his entire political life. To him, the ruling simply "does not make sense". Earlier last week, the apex court, in a unanimous decision dismissed the NDCs writ seeking to stop the EC from rejecting the existing voters card as proof to obtain a new card in the new voter registration exercise which commenced on Tuesday, 30th June 2020. Still Stand By My Comments Speaking on Okay FM's Ade Akye Abia Morning Show for the first time since his gaffe on the Supreme Court ruling, the NDC scribe said he still stands by his comments though most political watchers consider as a deliberate misrepresentation. "If it hadn't been for the fact that they have asked the parties involved not come to the court on the issue again, we would have gone to seek a proper interpretation of what their ruling was, he added. Faux Pas Mr. Asiedu Nketia, bore the brunt of the joke of Ghanaians when he expressed satisfaction at the ruling minutes after it was delivered, saying the apex court had ruled in the partys favour by calling for the inclusion of the existing voter ID card as one of the source documents for registration during the upcoming voters registration exercise; a relief which the court clearly did not grant. ..the court has just delivered the verdict which has granted our request for the inclusion of the existing voter card as breeder document for the compilation of the new voters register. We feel vindicated, he told the media at the forecourt of the Supreme court. His reaction bemused the general public with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) calling on him to apologize for attempting to mislead Ghanaians. SC Dismisses The 7-member panel presided over by Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, in its decision on 24th June, held that the EC is an independent body and will only be directed by the court if it acts contrary to the law. The seven-member panel that heard the case included Justices Jones Dotse, Paul Baffoe Bonnie, Sule Gbagegbe, Samuel K. Marful-Sau, Nene Amegatcher, and Professor Ashie Kotey. It would be recalled that two groups, the opposition NDC and a Private citizen Mark Takyi-Banson filed the case asking the apex court to stop the EC from compiling the register or allow the use of the birth certificate and voters ID card by prospective voters as proof of identification. I Did No Wrong Though Ghanaians took to social media to mock him for misinterpreting the courts ruling, Asiedu Nketia said he still stands by his comments because he "did no wrong" in his analysis of the ruling. Watch Video Below Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) not to exclude patients in various hospitals from the ongoing new voters' registration exercise. The registration exercise began on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 and will last for 38 days. EC Chairperson's Message To Ghanaians Prior to the exercise, the EC Chairperson Jean Mensa urged all Ghanaians to participate and report any anomalies to the Commission. ''Dear citizens, your participation in, and monitoring of, the voters registration exercise will be critical to maintaining the integrity of the Register. Please participate in the Voters Registration Exercise. Monitor the process at your registration centre. Draw the attention of the Commission to any anomalies you might observe in the process. Together, we will arrive at a comprehensive and credible Voters Register," she urged. "We will like to assure you that, as a Commission, our rationale for compiling a new register, is not to disenfranchise any eligible voter. On the contrary, it is to ensure that all our citizens who qualify are afforded the opportunity to register and cast their votes. The Commission is of the view that only eligible citizens should be given the right to determine who governs and leads our dear country, and we are determined to ensure that no one is left behind. "We also deem it necessary to assure you that our decisions and actions are taken without fear or favour and without recourse to any individual or group of persons. We have a duty to our citizens to ensure that it is only the will of the people that stands," she said at the press conference, Monday evening. What Are The Arrangements For Patients? Kwesi Pratt, speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', sought to find out the EC's arrangements to ensure all patients of eligible voting age partake in the registration exercise. According to him, the fact that a person is sick doesn't negate his or her voting right, therefore they deserve to register their names. What are the processes for those who have been infected with COVID-19 and various diseases, and are in the hospitals? How can they also register their names? Because when you're sick, your right to vote has not been taken away from you, he said. Mr. Pratt further called on the EC to intensify public announcement on their cluster system of the registration process. It is against the law if the public announcement is not broad for people to know and understand what to do. It contravenes the process, he told the sit-in host Nana Yaw Kesseh. 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 Henry Nana Boakye popularly known as Nana B has condemned former President John Mahama for wading into the military deployment controversy. The National Youth Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) said Mahama being a former Head of state and commander in chief of the Armed Forces, he should not have joined the propaganda trail. Mahama in a statement had condemned the deployment of security and military personnel to the Volta, Oti, Upper East and Upper West Regions, appealing to officers of the military to resist being used as tools of abuse of the rights of Ghanaians, to whom they have sworn to protect. The singling out of the Volta, Oti and other regions for this kind of attack must be condemned by all. We cannot remain silent while a part of our country is marginalized on account of political calculation. The people of those regions reserve the right to support any political party of their choice and should not be punished unjustly for doing so, Mahama said. Contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FMs morning show 'Kokrokoo', Nana B said, former President Mahama has been a Head of state before; he's been a commander in chief of the Armed Forces before; I don't know if he makes such statement because he is the flagbearer of the NDC..." "The former President once urged the President to be responsible for the security of the nation and even told him to tighten the borders so what has changed . . . you have a whole former President saying there is an attack on voltarians by this government; how low can we go? what is it? why create this atmosphere of tension, he queried. Listen to him in the video below Meanwhile, Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul has denied targetting voltarians and having an agenda to disenfranchise them.Addressing journalists at the Information Ministry on Monday, 29 June 2020, Mr Nitiwul said the soldiers were not only deployed to the Volta and Oti regions, but also to all the border regions in the country.According to him, in the Volta Region three officers have been deployed, 95 soldiers; Oti Region two officers, 70 soldiers; Northern Region five officers, 105 soldiers; North-East Region three officers, 99 soldiers; Upper East eight officers, 199 soldiers; Upper West three operational areas Wa (One officer, 15 soldiers), Tumu (One officer, 35 soldiers), Hamile (four officers, 15 soldiers); Savanna (Damongo and Bole) no officers, 21 soldiers; Bono Region 64 soldiers. 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 National Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye a.k.a Nana B has chastised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for issuing an ultimatum to government to withdraw the Military in the Volta Region. Minority On Security Deployment Minority Spokesperson on Defence and Interior, James Agalga, addressing the press in Parliament, accused the government of deploying security personnel in the Volta Region to intimidate Voltarians and prevent them from participating in the new voters' registration exercise. ''There is a certain scheme which is designed by the government to intimidate our teeming supporters from coming out in their numbers to register and have their names on the new voter register'', he said. NDC's 1-day Ultimatum to Gov't The NDC Minority in Parliament also issued a day ultimatum to the government to withdraw the military personnel from the Region. Chairman of the Volta Regional Caucus, Emmanuel Bedzrah in a press conference at Aflao, called for the troops to be immediately recalled to their barracks. Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency and Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, sharing the sentiments of Mr. James Agalga, further cautioned the government to withdraw the heavy military presence in the Region. Nana Boakye Fires NDC Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', Nana Boakye shot back at the NDC for creating an impression that President Nana Akufo-Addo had strategically concentrated Military in the Volta Region to ensure the residents do not participate in the ongoing registration exercise. Nana Boakye questioned the NDC's logic stressing the Volta Region is not the only Region with heavy security presence but the security forces are also in eight other Regions. He explained that the joint security forces, comprising the Armed Forces, Police, Immigration Service and National Security operatives have been deployed to guard the borders of Ghana but not to terrorize any person in the Regions nor prevent them from registering their names. In the Upper East, we deployed 206 soldiers. We sent 110 and 102 soldiers to Northern and North East Regions respectively. We deployed 98 to the Volta Region. Oti Region had 92, Upper West with 65. Bono Region also has 60, Western and Savanna Regions with 27 and 21 respectively. In all, we have deployed the Military to nine Regions, he told host Nana Yaw Kesseh. The NPP National Organizer warned the NDC to refrain from tribal politics and stop creating tension in the country. ''By Executive Instrument, we have closed the border. How does the registration correlate with border issues? What is it?'' he questioned, adding that the NDC's logic is below the belt. ''...God bless the Defence Ministry; continue to protect our borders...The President has acted and he has acted rightly and the people of Ghana who gave him the mandate are backing him with prayers, he added. Former President John Dramani Mahama issued a statement to condemn the security presence in the Volta Region, stressing sending troops to the Region is a declaration of war on the residents.He scolded President Nana Akufo-Addo for sanctioning the Military presence in the Region."I have sufficient reason to believe that there is merit in the concerns raised by the residents of these Regions. This represents another unprecedented low in the shameless abuse of state power to attack the very citizens whose safety and security the Akufo-Addo government should be protecting. It is becoming evident by the day, that the Akufo-Addo government perceives political power as an end in itself hence the resort to such crude and high-handed measures to usurp the mandate of the people."To send troops into regions in times of peace for the sole purpose of preventing them from registration amounts to declaring war on them. Any President sanctioning this sort of activity stands in breach of his oath to the people of Ghana. Any President doing this, commits a grave sin against the very people he swore to protect. No one would have imagined that a Ghanaian government would be so obsessed with hanging on to power as to subject its own citizens to such mistreatment and execute an ethno-tribal agenda of this magnitude against them," a statement released by his office read.President Akufo-Addo, delivering a nation address on the new voters' registration exercise Monday evening, debunked the claims by the opposition party and their flagbearer, John Mahama.According to him, there is no ill motive behind the security deployment.He emphasized that the security personnel have been charged to defend Ghana's borders to foil any potential terror attacks in the country.''The longstanding deployment of security personnel, especially the military, along our borders is another dimension of this process of guaranteeing the peace of the nation. Fellow Ghanaians, it is no secret that our neighbour to the north, Burkina Faso, has, in recent times, been at the receiving end of a number of terrorist attacks, as has another neighbour, Cote divoire. To shore up our borders against such attacks, and to defend our nations territorial integrity, the Armed Forces, at least since I came into office, have been very proactive in engaging in operations to secure our borders, and foil any potential terror attacks on our soil''.''Operations such as Conquered Fist and Koudangou have been going along for some time, since 21st February 2019, to meet this objective. Deployments of soldiers in areas along our borders have been regular, and residents living in border towns will bear testimony to this," he added. 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 opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the ruling government of deploying military to the Volta and Oti regions to intimidate residents and prevent them from taking part in the ongoing voters' registration exercise. Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has described the military deployment as "a deliberate profiling, discrimination and targeting of the Volta Region. It is not only Volta Region that is border region; we have other border regions like the Western border and Northern borders" Ex-Prez Mahama's Take Former President John Dramani Mahama issued a statement in reaction to the military deployment saying: "I have sufficient reason to believe that there is merit in the concerns raised by the residents of these Regions. This represents another unprecedented low in the shameless abuse of state power to attack the very citizens whose safety and security the Akufo-Addo government should be protecting. It is becoming evident by the day, that the Akufo-Addo government perceives political power as an end in itself hence the resort to such crude and high-handed measures to usurp the mandate of the people. "To send troops into regions in times of peace for the sole purpose of preventing them from registration amounts to declaring war on them. Any President sanctioning this sort of activity stands in breach of his oath to the people of Ghana. Any President doing this, commits a grave sin against the very people he swore to protect. No one would have imagined that a Ghanaian government would be so obsessed with hanging on to power as to subject its own citizens to such mistreatment and execute an ethno-tribal agenda of this magnitude against them," a statement released by his office added. However, President Akufo-Addo says he has no intention of intimidating or disenfranchising anyone. Opanyin Agyekum's Story Opanyin Agyekum during Tuesday's edition of 'Kokrokoo' on Peace FM reacted to this controversy in a nice story. Listen to him in the video below Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video CheChe Da Lyricist, a fast rising Ghanaian rap musician, also known in real life as Nana Kofi Oppong Kenah, has expressed dissatisfaction at the over-hyping of foreign music in the showbiz circles. The talented musician has made a plea to Ghanaians to support their own music and regulate the listening of foreign music on the airwaves to pave way for embracing what belongs to us. This he said, would promote and place Ghanaian musicians in the showbiz industry across the world. The rapper made these submissions while speaking to The Spectator about his stylistic genre of music which uses metaphor to edutain (educate and entertain) music enthusiasts. The artiste told The Spectator that, most of fast rising musicians have very sensational and melodious tunes but their inability to penetrate the market has left them to be in an indeterminate state. According to him, the collections of songs interconnect with a lot of literary devices used in the local dialect in order to present a mesmerising tune. He said that, it was carefully crafted for the enjoyment of all who listen to songs by CheChe Da Lyricist which his rendition of rap music is jam-packed with wisdom-filled vibes. The Ankonam EP (Extended Play) hit-maker said it was more important to listen to our own Ghanaian songs because they represent the rich cultural elements of the land. CheChe De Lyricist reiterated his four EPs produced include Transition Tape, Prolific Tape, Ankonam EP, and Wave God EP were some mind-blowing tunes which attracted more audiences to follow his works. I have featured some musicians including lil Shaker, Kojo Cue, Adomaa, Klif Wonder, Ohene Savant, Aj Nelson, Suzz Black on my projects, he said. Highlighting on his upcoming project, the rapper revealed that, his new song would be a body of work that encompasses great composition of sounds from the African rhythm, and a toast from the western world. The new project, he said, was an album dubbed the Supreme Album and explained that he had the inspiration from God to do that particular album, stating that, every song on the album came with a truckload of spirit-filled vibes to the listener. The NodeyMessAround (NDMA) Army movement trailblazer expressed profound gratitude to his fans, especially Lady Asantewaa Boakye (CEO of readersblocx.com), among other loyalists of his music endeavour. CheChe Da Lyricist promised fans of more tunes this year and admonished them to take precautionary measures during these abnormal times, as the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: The Ghanaian Times Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video An employee at a Karns store has tested positive for COVID-19. The employee worked at the store in the Paxton Square shopping center on Allentown Boulevard in Lower Paxton Township. The individual has not worked since June 26. Any employees who might have had contact with the person were notified, according to Andrea Karns, vice president of sales and marketing at Karns. We have and continue to follow enhanced cleaning and sanitation practices in accordance with the PA Department of Health and CDC guidelines, Karns said in an e-mail. Additional cleaning was focused in the area the team member worked. We are committed to offering a clean and sanitized store for team members and shoppers. Safety is always a top priority. Karns said in addition to enhanced sanitation practices, the company supplies its staff with face masks and gloves and has implemented daily temperature checks for its employees. The Hampden Township grocery company has nine stores operating in Dauphin, Cumberland, York and Perry counties. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 618 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, raising the statewide total to 86,606. Across Pennsylvania, 6,649 deaths have been tied to COVID-19. --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 Americas newest minority? People who dont wear face masks in public interactions. A PennLive sampling of a grocery, a department store and a shopping center Monday found indisputable evidence that - if you count them up - far more shoppers are wearing masks in their inter-personal commerce than not. We looked at a Giant supermarket in Carlisle, a Walmart in Silver Spring Township, and the just-reopened Capital City Mall on Cumberland Countys West Shore. At each stop, at least 82 percent of the shoppers this reporter observed on Monday walk-arounds at the three stores were masked up; subtract children, and the percentages would tick even a little higher. The informal survey showed that whatever alarm people have felt recently about others not wearing a mask may be getting exaggerated by A) groups of people in settings like food courts, where, as eaters, theyre given a pass from the mask requirement; or B) many people do opt for facial liberty as soon as they hit the outdoors, or not until they hit the entrances. Or maybe theres an option C: That even 82 percent compliance really isnt enough for everyones comfort in the midst of an unrelenting pandemic. After all, theres no hiding wearing a mask. You either are, or you arent, and that means theyve become the one very public marker of how seriously a given individual is taking the coronavirus pandemic. But inside the stores, our unscientific survey showed midstaters in the overwhelming majority are sticking to the mask policies laid down in the states public health orders - which call for all persons to where masks when in any kind of face-to-face transaction with a business - and doing so at rates that are strikingly close to national findings. The green line in the graph shows the percentage of Americans who reported wearing a face mask outside the home within the last week, as tracked by the Gallup Poll. The numbers reflect a rolling seven-day average.Gallup Panel The famed Gallup Poll - which has been tracking mask-wearing throughout the pandemic - has reported that between June 8 and June 14, 84% of U.S. adults said they had worn a face mask outside their home in the past seven days. Thats staying on a plateau that was first reached in mid-May, the polling organization said. Compliance with this public health call is far from unanimous, its true. But it doesnt appear that its on the wane since area counties have moved to the green, or least restrictive phases, of Gov. Tom Wolfs pandemic reopening plan. At the Capital City Mall Monday, signs at the entrances tell visitors masks are required, and security guards - supplies in hand - are stationed in the concourses keeping a watchful eye for visitors who didnt get the message their, cheerfully asking: You guys need masks? as the unmasked walk by. Like at Giant or Walmart, they do not forcibly remove anyone who doesnt follow the rules, though there are a few stores that do have a hard stop at their entrances for the non-wearers. In doing so, these merchants are echoing the pleas of Gov. Tom Wolf, who has used his bully pulpit consistently as the state has reopened to implore all Pennsylvanians to wear masks as perhaps one of the simplest, and easiest ways to break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus. Masks are required in Pennsylvania businesses. No mask = no service. The importance of mask-wearing to reduce the spread of #COVID19 and protect people and businesses cannot be overstated. pic.twitter.com/XemRa6efbA Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) June 29, 2020 To be sure, the message doesnt resonate with everyone. People expressed a variety of reasons for foregoing masks Monday, ranging from those who said they are required to mask at work so they really enjoy - even need, some said - a respite from it during the rest of the day, to doubt that most of the masks people do wear are much more than a feel-good measure in a setting like the mall. There is also a persistent skepticism about the severity of COVID-19. I believe that the virus is real, but I dont feel it is as dangerous as people are making it out to be, said a West Pennsboro Township woman at the Carlisle Giant Monday, who agreed to talk with a reporter only if her name was not published because she owns a small business and is concerned about dragging it into politics. And, to her, COVID-19 has become largely about politics. Im not scared, I think it is politically based, and I think it will all be over November 3, the woman said, referring to the date of this years presidential election. Many have their own set of COVID-19 facts to support their position. If you have a passing moment with somebody, youre not going to get it. It doesnt work that way, said Mechanicsburg resident Julia Seidel, 18, who was wearing a mask at the mall on Monday, though her friend, 19-year-old Dustin Lerew, was not. Seidel said shes acquiesced primarily because she gets that masks can make other people feel better and, I dont really want a confrontation with somebody. Public health experts have said that the real keys to transmission are proximity and time of exposure to an infected person. To Seidels point, merely walking buy someone at a grocery store - barring a sneeze or a cough - isnt likely to cause someone to be infected. Another common strain among the non-wearers is the belief that the virus is way less lethal for most people than it has been portrayed, and that they know their own health best, and are prepared to take responsibility for it. If you want to (wear a mask), thats fine, said Jeremy Hamsher, an East Pennsboro Township resident who had just finished a shopping run at Walmart. If I dont feel I need to wear one, then I shouldnt be required to wear one... If Im not feeling well, Im not going to go out in the public. But it really all comes down to personal freedom, many non-wearers said, just like some motorcycle riders have pushed back against wearing helmets and some people still resist wearing seatbelts. Their emphasis on I, though, is misguided, mask proponents say, since this is an infectious disease, and the early science has shown that people not showing any symptoms of COVID-19 can in fact be infected and contagious. Americans have lost that language of mutual care, said Wendy E. Parmet, the director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University. Were very quick to perceive slights to our own liberties... but all these actions that we take can increase the general prevalence of the disease in the community, and that increases everybodys risk." The reality is, Parmet said, I never had a right to do something that could injure the health of my neighbors. Wolf and his Health Secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, were peppered with a fresh set of questions about the mask policy at a press conference outside Harrisburg Monday. While it was noted that the health disaster emergency orders that remain in effect today do ask public-facing businesses to deny entry to individuals not wearing masks, both state officials stressed they arent expecting businesses owner to play health police, and they dont want to see physical confrontations like happened last month at a convenience store in Bucks County. Rather, Wolf and Levine both stressed what theyre shooting for is a new social norm - both for customers and the businesses that serve them. Did you ever go into a store where it says: No shirt, No shoes, No service.' How did they enforce that? Wolf asked in response to one of the questions Monday. I think its the same thing... The biggest thing we can do is for every Pennsylvanian to recognize: Hey, this is whats going to ultimately defeat that enemy. That virus. Its not a law. Its not an edict. Its my own willingness to do the right thing. Thats the sense that compels Patti Tate, a 66-year-old cafeteria supervisor in the Cumberland Valley School District, to wear a mask. Tate said shes eager to get back into the schools this fall and for the students to have something more like a normal school year, so shes going to stick with the program. While she allows there are times when she admires the spunk exhibited by non-maskers in the face of all the public pressure, she also has a question about them, too: Why arent you as concerned as I am?... Because it seems like it (the virus) is coming back around. I dont think were out of the woods. The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE) and the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) on Monday announced in a press release a reminder to licensed liquor establishments and their patrons to abide by social distancing and masking requirements to help slow the spread of COVID-19. On June 17, the Wolf administration issued updated guidance for businesses in the restaurant and retail food-service industry as part of the commonwealths ongoing response to the health crisis. Among other requirements, all businesses and employees in the restaurant and retail food-service industry authorized to conduct in-person activities are mandated to: Require all customers to wear masks while entering, exiting or otherwise traveling throughout the restaurant or retail food-service business (face masks may be removed while seated). Further, employees are required to wear masks at all times. Provide at least 6 feet between parties at tables or physical barriers between customers where booths are arranged back to back. Ensure maximum occupancy limits for indoor and outdoor areas are posted and enforced. On June 18, the PLCB issued guidance to licensed liquor establishments choosing to resume on-premises service of alcohol counties in the yellow and green phases of reopening. The guidance incorporated and reinforced the governors mandates, including those noted above, the release said. Just as the PLCB requires masks for employees and customers at our Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores, licensees must remain vigilant in order to stay on the path to recovery and keep our businesses operating, PLCB Executive Director Charlie Mooney said. A licensee that fails to comply with requirements mandating the wearing of masks, providing at least 6 feet between parties at tables, and ensuring that maximum occupancy limits are observed risks citation by liquor control enforcement. Penalties may be assessed for each violation and include a fine of up to $1,000 and possible suspension and/or revocation of the liquor license. Continued operation in violation of the guidance after a warning or citation risks further enforcement action by liquor control and ultimately puts the liquor license at risk, both through the citation process and upon application for renewal to the PLCB, according to the release. Licensees are reminded that any person who violates the Liquor Code can be charged criminally with a misdemeanor. Major Jeffrey Fisher, director of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, said enforcement officers have found that a large majority of licensed liquor establishments statewide are complying with mitigation requirements. However, the commonwealth remains in the midst of a public health emergency, and serious consequences are possible for businesses that fail to take the necessary steps to keep their employees and customers safe, he said. Since mid-March BLCE officers have conducted compliance checks at over 15,100 licensed liquor establishments. Officers conduct an average of 1,500 compliance checks each day and have issued 162 warnings and 103 notices of violations to date. Three Rehoboth Beach lifeguards have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Delaware Online. Rehoboth Police Chief Keith Banks told the site we believe at this time there was very little contact with the public. According to the report, the lifeguards were asymptomatic, and are staying home until medically cleared to return to work. The news comes, according to the report, during a time in which coronavirus cases reported at Delawares beaches have spiked. And, on Monday, it said, the state reported its highest single-day of new cases with 150. That came a day after 135 new reported cases on Sunday. Tons of litter and outright garbage have been discarded along the states roadways, waterways and trails during the coronavirus shutdown. Photos of the trash build-up and outright dumping of household garbage have been frequent on social media throughout the pandemic. Its a sure bet that Pennsylvania is now home to much more than the 502 million pieces of litter most of it cigarette butts and assorted plastics estimated to reside along the states roadways by a pre-epidemic study of litter conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protect, Pennsylvania Depart of Transportation and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has a program for local residents, organizations, civic groups and businesses to attack the problem by adopting and caring for municipal roads, parks, neighborhood blocks, greenways, waterways and trails. The statewide organization partners with local municipalities to help cover the costs of cleanup by encouraging local residents to take ownership in their communities. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful provides a sign recognizing the groups or individuals who have adopted the road or area and asks the local municipality to provide the sign post, install the sign and provide trash disposal options as needed. Its encouraging to see Pennsylvania residents getting outside and cleaning up their neighborhoods, parks and trails. Unfortunately, with the increased number of people seeking outdoor recreation, theres a lot more litter to pick up, said Shannon Reiter, president of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. As the pandemic continues, KPB recommends that participants do a cleanup solo or with household family members and encourages adhering to the recommendations for social distancing. All that is needed is a trash bag, gloves and bright colored clothing, if you are cleaning up near a roadway. We are so grateful to individuals and groups who commit to a clean and beautiful community and to local municipalities who support them and our road adoption program. It really benefits everyone, said Reiter. Removing roadside litter sends a message to travelers that littering and dumping will not be tolerated; removes dangers to people, animals and maintenance equipment; makes communities more attractive for residents, tourists and potential newcomers; and increases property values and community pride. For more information, visit the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful website. For information about adopting a state-maintained road, visit the PennDOT Adopt-a-Highway webpage. If nature and outdoor reporting like this is important to you, please consider supporting our work. Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. Police say Melvin Banks, 35, walked into a Pittsburgh store Saturday night and stabbed one of the workers, then stabbed a total stranger on the street while walking away. That stranger, identified as Gregory Michael Walker, 37, of Penn Hills, died from his injuries. His mother remains in shock from the whole thing, even as the suspect who police believe stabbed a third person Sunday has been apprehended. I just cant believe hes not here. I dont believe it, Christine Walker, Greg Walkers mother, told KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. Greg was a very kind and warm, loving and giving person. He would never harm a fly. He would do anything for you. Greg Walker was mentally disabled and recently started living with his sister. The night he was stabbed, he left the house looking for cigarette butts, family members said. In other words, he had no money if robbery was the motive in his death. He was just wandering like he always does, his mother told KDKA. I dont know why this guy would just come up to him and stab him in the face. It just makes me sick, Christine said. BREAKING: Pa. couple allowed black bear in house with their kids: Im not going to lie, I feed the bears Pittsburgh Police arrested Banks Monday after releasing store surveillance images of the stabbing suspect after a third stabbing in 24 hours sent a victim in serious condition to a hospital on Sunday. The store worker remains in critical condition, as well. Pittsburgh Police released this store surveillance image of the suspect after a third stabbing in 24 hours have left 1 victim death and 2 others hospitalized. (Pittsburgh Police Photo via KDKA-TV) Initially, Banks has been charged in connection with the first two stabbings, facing counts of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, false identification to law enforcement and criminal contempt, KDKA reports. According to the criminal complaint, Banks told police he was in the care of mental health professionals and was taking anti-psychotic medications at the time of the incidents. READ MORE: ATV slams into tree, killing Pa. man, woman: coroner Pa. couple allowed black bear in house with their kids: Im not going to lie, I feed the bears 3 stabbings and 1 death in 24 hours have Pa. police chasing serial stabbing suspect Pa. man killed instantly in fireworks mishap: coroner Motorcyclist, 23, pronounced dead at scene of crash at Pa. intersection Pa. womans teacup Yorkie stolen from apartment, found dead in dumpster: My hearts torn up Protester, age 20, accused of kicking TV cameraman during George Floyd demonstration in Pa. 3-year-old girl found dead in bathtub, malnourished and bruised; 3 adults charged, including 1 on the run Daughter accused of setting up her 81-year-old dad for brutal robbery: Pa. state cops 3 teens are walking on Pa. railroad bridge when train comes; 1 girl is dead Husband dead, wife critical after shooting on Pa. street: cops 2 dead in FedEx truck vs. motorcycle crash in Pa. Accused meth-cooking ringleader, age 70, busted in Pa., along with 6 smurfs Steelers play-by-play radio broadcaster charged with DUI after crashing into supermarket Womans body found stuffed in suitcase left on Pa. street Inspired by History The refined aesthetic of the Tradition line is inspired by the design of the subscription caliber created by Breguet in 1796. After two years in Switzerland during the darkest days of the French Revolution, the watchmaker returned to Paris to find his workshops, located on Quai de lHorloge in Ile de la Cite, needed to be rebuilt. In a stroke of genius, Abraham-Louis Breguet, with a reputation for complex timepieces, created the simplest watch ever made: the subscription watch. With a robust construction and a pared-back aesthetic, a single hand indicates both the hours and minutes. The movement is characterized by a centrally positioned barrel, as well as by a symmetrical placement of the balance wheel and the opposite wheel, which are of identical diameters. Three years later, Breguet brought out his tact watches, including watch no. 611 which was to be acquired by the Empress Josephine, wife to Napoleon Bonaparte. The timepiece featured a flinque enamel dial with diamonds set at each hour, and can be viewed at the Breguet Museum in Paris. A subtle evolution from the subscription caliber, a number of these watches featured along with the external hand a pared-back dial with only one or two hands. This layout, taken up again in the current Tradition collection, allows both for the time to be read and the movement to be observed. 1. Breguet Tradition Dame 7038 With this new Tradition model, Breguet offers a contemporary reinterpretation of an aesthetic conceived by the Houses founder in the late eighteenth century. Visible from the dial, the movement, deep brown in color, takes up the symmetrical architecture of the historic subscription watch. This innovative timepiece design was created by Abraham-Louis Breguet, in Paris, in the wake of the French Revolution, following a long trip to Switzerland during which he had mused on a great number of projects. Mechanical and feminine in equal measure, the Tradition 7038 is easily recognizable by its off-center dial in Tahitian mother- of-pearl, inspired by Breguets tact watches. A diamond-set bezel adds sparkle to the creation, which is completed with a striking strap in orange leather. Delicately decorated and powered by a self-winding caliber with a silicon balance spring, the Tradition 7038 watch, which is reserved for Breguet boutiques, brings together the expertise of the House. Breguet is offering this model reserved for its boutiques only with an original case an elegant matching orange clutch bag fashioned from grained calfskin leather. Made in Italy in accordance with the great artisanal tradition, it features a clasp that echoes the rosette pattern on the barrel of the Tradition 7038 watch. Breguet Tradition Dame 7038 Breguet An ultra-mechanical yet feminine creation, the face of the Tradition 7038 reveals its historically inspired movement. The balance wheel with a hairspring the oscillating heart of the watch takes its place between 4 and 5 oclock under a bridge protected by a pare-chute anti-shock mechanism, invented by Breguet in 1790. Opposite, between 7 and 8 oclock, the center wheel and its bridge perfectly mirror the Breguet balance wheel, with identical dimensions. In golden hues, the central barrel, decorated with a rosette motif, and the wheels of the movement contrast with the deep brown and finely sandblasted bridges and mainplate. Breguet hands in gold indicate the hours and minutes on the Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial, which is off-center at 12 oclock. Its iridescent surface features clous de Paris (hobnailing) guilloche pattern topped with the Breguet inscription and the unique number of the timepiece. A delicate border, engine-turned by hand, outlines the hours chapter marked with Breguet numerals. A fine retrograde hand discretely points to the seconds engraved at 10 oclock. The movement of the Tradition 7038 model sits in a rose-gold case, with delicately fluted sides. The bezel set with 68 diamonds highlights the precious aesthetic of the composition, while a cabochon-cut ruby adorns the winding crown. The transparent caseback reveals the reverse side of the self-winding Breguet 505SR caliber. Its gold rotor, embellished with a rosette guilloche motif, echoes the decoration of the barrel on the dial. The welded lugs, which are slightly rounded at the edges, provide a holding place for the orange calfskin leather bracelet. Breguet Tradition Dame 7038 Breguet Breguet is offering the Tradition 7038 wristwatch, available exclusively in brand boutiques, with a unique and refined accessory which reimagines the idea of a watchcase. Breguet has called on the services of Italian craftsmen for this handcrafted and tailor-made clutch bag in grained calfskin leather. Its bright orange matches the bracelet of the Tradition 7038 and can be carried by hand, or worn over the shoulder, or across the body. The bags round and golden clasp is decorated with a rosette design, a larger version of the engine-turned barrel visible on the dial side of the Tradition 7038, which is barely 10 millimeters in size. Breguet Tradition Dame 7038 Breguet 2. Breguet Tradition Automatique Seconde Retrograde 7097 This year the original and remarkable line presents a new design version of the Tradition Automatique Seconde Retrograde 7097 with a blue colored guilloche dial. This wristwatch, like the rest of the collection, inspired by the subscription watches, recalls the genius of Abraham-Louis Breguet who first invented these one-hand pocket watches in 1796. They were fitted with a special movement of great simplicity and sold by subscription: a down payment of a quarter of the price on order and the rest on delivery. A.-L. Breguet used the movements of his subscription watches to create his first tact watches. Breguet Tradition Automatique Seconde Retrograde 7097 Breguet The Tradition 7097 pays tribute to the beauty of the calibers of the subscription and tact watches by revealing the bridges, wheels, escapement, barrel and other components of the movement, which are usually hidden beneath the mainplate. Refined finishing enhances the visual balance displayed by the symmetrical bridges. The bridges and mainplate are decorated to achieve a uniform, finely grained surface, which requires rare skill and faultless execution. The gold winding rotor borrows its shape from historical movements while the classic clous de Paris (hobnailing) guilloche pattern, executed by hand, highlights the blue dial in gold, positioned off-center at 12 o'clock. This timepiece gets its name from the retrograde seconds hand at 10 o'clock. The hours and minutes are shown by Breguet-style open-tipped hands in rhodium-plated steel. In order to provide optimum readability and to highlight the retrograde seconds complication, Breguet watchmakers used a semicircle with a circular brushed finish superimposed on the dial. To maintain the symmetry, the pare-chute is located at 4 o'clock. This Breguet invention, which protects the balance staff from shocks, can be identified at a glance as the emblematic feature of the Tradition collection. It is the forbear of all the shock-protection mechanisms in use in watch-making today, including the Incabloc system. Breguet Tradition Automatique Seconde Retrograde 7097 Breguet The 7097 reference features advanced technology. Its 40mm case houses a movement with an inverted in-line lever escapement with silicon pallets and a silicon Breguet overcoil balance spring that guarantee exceptional precision. The Tradition Automatique Seconde Retrograde 7097 watch is the result of the technical and aesthetic excellence which Breguet consistently strives for. Its refined and pure style honours the legacy of the House, while its technical characteristics are the prerogative of a watchmaking company that is resolutely turned towards the future. A Newberry Township man led his one-year-old dogs to a nearby creek and shot them to death, police said in court documents charging him with animal cruelty. Township police said 51-year-old Jimmy Rickey Lawman was home alone June 20 when he shot his pit bull and Akita at the creek next to his house on the 800 block of Valley Green Road. His family found the dead dogs two days later, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Lawmans family turned over video which shows him walking the dogs toward the creek, then hearing whats believed to be gunshots, the affidavit said. The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals determined each dog was shot. The Lawman family told police they believe he killed the dogs, the affidavit said. Documents show they requested he be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility. READ MORE: Fugitive in tractor-trailer killed after I-81 chase, standoff with Pa. state police Mom cant get back car her daughter used to transport crystal meth, Pa. court say Mom accused of killing kids found hanging in Pa. home says she cant afford lawyer The ex-husband of Dina Manzo, a former star on the Bravo show The Real Housewives of New Jersey, and a reported member of an organized crime family were charged by federal prosecutors Tuesday with conspiring to assault Manzos then-boyfriend in an incident in 2015, reports FOX news. The U.S. Attorneys Office in New Jersey said Thomas Manzo, 55, of Franklin Lakes, N.J., and John Perna, 43, of Cedar Grove, N.J., face charges in connection with the assault on Dinas current husband David Cantin, who she was dating at the time. Manzo commissioned Perna, a made man in the Lucchese mob family, in exchange for a discounted wedding reception at Thomas Manzos restaurant the Brownstone Restaurant in Paterson, N.J., officials said. Manzo and Perna are each charged by indictment with committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity and conspiracy to commit a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity. Both Thomas Manzo and Perna face up to 20 years in prison on the most serious of the charges against them. Perna was also charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud related to the submission of a false car insurance claim. Manzo was charged with falsifying and concealing records related to the federal investigation of the assault and to the documents of Pernas wedding reception. Former 'RHONJ' Star Dina Manzo's Ex-Husband Tommy Arrested by FBI Agents After Allegedly Hiring a Crime Family Member to Beat Her Current Husband Dave Cantin in Exchange for a Discounted Wedding at The Brownstone #RHONJ #DinaManzo #TommyManzo #DaveCantin https://t.co/egQE2oFNX9 Reality Blurb (@RealityBlurb) June 30, 2020 Perna allegedly planned and carried out the assault in July 2015. He then threw a lavish wedding reception in August at the Brownstone at a cheaper price paid for by another member of the Lucchese associate, the release states, citing court documents. Dina appeared on four seasons of The Real Housewives of New Jersey before departing in 2015 to relocate to California, where she married Cantin in 2017. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Read more: A recall of bagged salad mixes that may be contaminated with the cyclospora parasite has been expanded to include retailers in Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Fresh Express on June 27 recalled the bagged salad mixes that contain either iceberg lettuce, red cabbage or carrots and have the product code Z178 or a lower number. The product code is in the upper right-hand corner. The best-by dates run through July 14, 2020, according to the FDA. The salad mixes may have the Fresh Express brand or other store brands including Aldi Little Salad Bar, Giant Eagle, Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco Signature Farms, ShopRite, Wholesale Pantry or Walmart Marketside. The salads have been linked to a multi-state outbreak of cyclospora infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control. According to the CDC, 6 people with laboratory-confirmed cyclospora infections and who reported eating bagged salad mix before getting sick have been reported from 8 Midwestern states (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wisconsin). The people became sick between May 11, 2020, and June 17, 2020. Of those sickened, 23 had to be hospitalized. Cyclospora parasite infection can cause frequent bowel movements, loss of appetite, cramps, gas, nausea, fatigue and bloating, according to the CDC. The salads were distributed in Pennsylvania as well as Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. According to the FDA, it is working with the CDC and Illinois state officials to investigate and inspect the Fresh Express facility in Streamwood, Ill., trying to find the source of the outbreak. For more information, customers can contact the Fresh Express Consumer Response Center toll-free at 800-242-5472, between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Saturday or 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. Bagged salad mixes made by Fresh Express and distributed to retailers across the nation are being recalled because they may be contaminated with cyclospora, a parasite. More than 200 people have become ill, according to the CDC. The brand name will be different depending on where the salad was sold. (Provided photo) OTHER RECALL NEWS 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. Officials broke ground recently in North Cornwall Township, Lebanon County at the future site of a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott. The hotel will be located at North Cornwall Commons, a mixed-use development which that will include townhomes, retail shops, luxury apartments and office space. The four-story hotel will have 90 rooms as well as a fitness center, meeting space, an outdoor swimming pool and a business center. Byler Holdings, the Shaner Hotel Group and other partners as well as Campbell Commercial Real Estate held a groundbreaking ceremony on June 11. Commercial Real Estate is the listing broker for North Cornwall Commons. The large mixed-use project that has been years in the making and probably a decade from completion is coming along. The mixed-use development known as North Cornwall Commons is located in North Cornwall Township, Lebanon County at the intersections of Rocherty Road and Cornwall Road, across from the Lebanon Valley Exposition Center and Fairgrounds facility. The 120-acre site will eventually have between 500,000 and 600,000 square feet of office and retail space over five phases. Springwood Development Partners, a partnership between Blackford Development and Byler Holdings, is the developer of the site. The first residents began moving into the townhomes at North Cornwall Commons in June of 2018, and the first business to open at North Cornwall Commons was Ancestor Coffee House & Crepery. Nail salon, Premiere Nails is expected to move into a retail space at the shopping center but the opening date has not been set yet. Planning for the project began in the early 2000s. Construction began in 2017 and is expected to take about a decade, Jonathan Byler, president and CEO of Byler Holdings told PennLive last year. --Business Buzz --Sign up for PennLives newsletters The Pennsylvania Bowhunters Festival the oldest gathering of bowhunters in the world has been canceled for 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions. Only once previously since 1957 was the mid-September festival that draws thousands to the small town of Forksville in Sullivan County canceled. That was in 2011, after devastating floodwaters cut a swath of destruction through the Loyalsock Creek Valley, where the festival is held. The festival board of directors issued a statement explaining their reluctant cancelation of the festival for 2020: It is with great sadness and reluctance that we had to make the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Pennsylvania Bowhunters Festival. Many factors came into play when finalizing this decision, most of them were out of our hands, and none of us wanted this to be the case. However, when looking at the current situation and potential future guidelines, we have determined it is not feasible to hold the event in true bowhunters festival fashion. Consequently, we have decided to accept that the decision to proceed with the Festival has ultimately been taken out of our hands due to the potential restrictions that would be placed on the festival. We have hit the point in our planning and preparation timeline where we need to be making critical purchases and decisions, and without any certainty of what those future restrictions look like, we cannot responsibly make those purchases or decisions. We also have to consider both our vendors and suppliers so that they can make appropriate plans for their year. As the guidelines continue to change for Pennsylvania, we cannot guarantee that, even if we planned to open, we would be permitted to open within the guidelines at that time. The three-day festival is known for its Forksville Running Deer target, moving small game targets, the steel boar, a timed clay pigeon shoot, stationary targets set at variable distances, and three game trails designed with all 3-D targets to simulate bow hunting in a northern hardwood forest. The festival also brings together dozens of vendors of bowhunting gear and related merchandise. For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Bowhunters Festival website. If nature and outdoor reporting like this is important to you, please consider supporting our work. Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. This post has been updated with a statement from Walmart to CBS MoneyWatch that the retailer will only stop the sale of the All Lives Matters shirts, not the other variations of the slogan. Walmart.com has removed All Lives Matter and other similar T-shirts offered by a third-party seller at its online store after receiving backlash on social media, according to CNN. CBS reported this afternoon that Walmart will continue to sell shirts with other variations include Blue Lives Matter. We will continue to sell other variations, including Blue Lives Matter, a Walmart spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch in an email. CNN reported that Walmart came under fire for what social media users said was mocking the Black Lives Matter movement. CNN wrote, The slogan was born after the controversial killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012. Since then, Black Lives Matter, has become a rallying cry, most recently, by protestors nationwide and around the world in the aftermath of George Floyds killing at the hands of law enforcement in Minneapolis in June. In a comment to CBC, Walmart Canada said it stand[s] against any form of racism or discrimination. We promote listening, seeking to understand and embracing individual differences. Today, our third-party marketplace has a number of items with variations on the phrase lives matter. We will continue to review those items to ensure compliance with our terms and conditions. This post on Twitter from Beth MacDonnell says, Remove these now. You should be ashamed. Hey, @Walmart @WalmartCanada can you explain why you're selling "All Lives Matter" and "Blue Lives Matter" shirts on your website? Who approved this? Remove these now. You should be ashamed.#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/PxTt1t3Vds Beth MacDonnell (@bethmacdonnell) June 23, 2020 Appalled to learn that Walmart Canada's on-line store is selling "All Lives Matter" t-shirts. This slogan was created by racists to oppose the legitimate demand that "Black Lives Matter." By selling these t-shirts, Walmart is siding with racists. Susan White (@susanleewhite) June 25, 2020 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. An 18-month-old boy was found living in an animal cage in a trailer home in Tennessee where officials also removed 622 animals - including a 10-foot boa constrictor - in a rescue operation dubbed Operation Caged Hell. Animal Rescue Corps of Tennessee posted on Facebook that it had assisted the Henry County Sheriffs Department with the removal of 622 animals living in horrendous conditions on a property in Buchanan, TN; where a toddler was also found living in a cage. In the room where the child was found, there were also large snakes, some of which were ten feet long; as well as mice, rats, and other small animals. The property owner and two others living in the trailer were arrested and taken to the Henry County Jail. They have been charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated cruelty to animals, cruelty to animals, manufacturing of marijuana, as well as other charges related to weapons found on the property. Additional charges are pending, and all three individuals are being held with a $300,000 bond each. On Saturday, the owner of the animals agreed to surrender 100% of the animals seized on this property. Animal Rescue Corps dubbed this rescue Operation Caged Hell. According to WKRN.com, the people arrested were Heather Scarbough, 42; T.J. Brown, 46, and Charles Brown, 82. WKRN reported that the sheriffs department had responded to the property on Thursday of last week after receiving a tip about possible animal cruelty. Deputies found the child in the animal cage inside. They also found a ten-foot boa constrictor and seven other snakes inside the room with the child, including two snakes that were right above the childs head along with buckets that contained several hundred mice. Law enforcement told WKRN that there were also 15 to 20 dogs running loose inside, as well as thousands of cockroaches and maggots and the floor of the home was covered in feces. Seized from the property were chickens, dogs, cats, rabbits, parakeets, snakes, a pheasant, mice, rats, hamsters, a gecko and three sugar gliders along with 127 marijuana plants and 17 guns, including one AR-15. The rescue group is seeking donations to help care the animals, many of which have severe health issues. The Jackson Sun reported that the toddler was not injured but was hungry. A deputy at the scene cared for the toddler until the Department of Childrens Services took custody of the child. 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. If you live in the U.S., and had plans to visit Europe this summer, you may need to reconsider. According to a report by CNBC only travelers from a list of 15 nations will be allowed entry to the European Union starting Wednesday - the United States is not on the list. The report said that 30 countries in Europe (26 of which are members of the EU) closed their external borders in March, to reduce the spread of Covid-19. As most of those countries reopen their economies, they are also starting to welcome external visitors - but at a much slower rate than before the pandemic, the report said. European Union governments made a decision on Tuesday - based on the health situation of the countries of origin - to open their external borders to Algeria, Tunisia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand and Uruguay. Chinese travelers will also be allowed in the EU, but only if China announces that it will also accept European visitors, the report said. The decision will be reviewed every two weeks. According to the report, for each country on the list, the EU said the following criteria needed to be met: the number of new Covid-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100 000 inhabitants needed to be close to or below the EU average; there should be a stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 day; and the overall response to Covid-19 needed to be considered. The recommendation was given to all EU member states and the Schengen-associated countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), the report said. However, it is non-binding. According to the report, that means that EU member states can reopen their borders to whichever countries they want. The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has insisted that in order to avoid any travel chaos, external borders should be reopened in a coordinated way, but that ultimately it is a national decision. In this context, the report said, European governments have been advised to not lift the travel restrictions for non-listed countries until it has been decided in a coordinated manner. Currently, the United States has the highest number of coronavirus infections in the world - nearly 2.6 million - according to Johns Hopkins University. In an interview Monday, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the virus is moving too rapidly across the United States, in what she described as a very discouraging situation, the report cited. Cases have surged across the country in recent days, mostly in the South and West, and the U.S. has set records for daily new infections, the report said. In March, President Donald Trump suspended travel from Europe into the United States. The report said that at the time, the EU criticized the decision for being taken unilaterally and without consultation. 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. For the second time in four years, the Harrisburg City Council is considering the creation of a police advisory board. The previous effort in 2016 never got out of committee. But residents are hoping for a better outcome this time as the worlds attention is focused on police reform after the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. City council members are poised to discuss the proposed legislation at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday during a work session via video conference. But more than 50 residents met via video conference Monday to educate themselves on the legislation. Several residents shared their desire to create a review board that would have more teeth, instead of merely an advisory body. The bill, as it stands, appears to have been written from the police departments point-of-view instead of residents, said Kimeka Campbell, co-founder of Young Professionals of Color-Greater Harrisburg, who lead the video conference. The YPOC group along with The Movement sponsored Monday nights session to learn more about the proposed legislation and possible amendments. Instead, she said the bill should be written from the perspective of residents. She particularly objected to the first listed core function of the board, which is intended for police to teach residents about the role of law enforcement. That should be amended, she said. Language matters. According to the current proposed legislation, the boards core functions would be to: Assist in fostering a better understanding of the role of law enforcement and reviewing policies, practices and data. The goal should be to improve transparency and accessibility to public information. Provide residents with a forum to voice concerns about police interactions and responses and to identify systemic or recurring issues of importance to residents. Promote policies and practices for the protection of the community to further the goal of the fair, just and dignified treatment of each and every person. Provide recommendations to the police bureau, the mayor and city council on policies to maintain public safety for all, promote law and order, assist in the reduction of crime and protect all in the community. Foster positive relationships and an improved understanding between the police department and residents. The citys police union already has signed off on the proposed advisory board legislation, according to Mayor Eric Papenfuse. Its unclear what changes, if any, the union would support, and whether city council members would need their support for particular changes. But some residents on the video conference Monday night said they wanted meaningful changes and an advisory-only board might not deliver. Jayne Buchwach, a Harrisburg school board member who participated in Monday nights call, suggested amending the legislation to give the board subpoena powers and the ability to summon independent investigators, prosecutors and medical experts, if necessary, after a police interaction that injures or kills a community member. The board wants that right. Its critical, she said. I would assume were going to get some pushback. But this has to be the community that wants this. In other suggested amendments, Buchwach said the board should receive a report after community complaints have been investigated by the Internal Affairs unit so board members can understand the thoroughness of the investigation and the outcome. She also said residents want their police officers to be residents of the city, but that would require a change to the police collective bargaining unit, which was renegotiated last year and could remain in effect for five years. Buchwach said she would favor a gradual restoration of the city residency requirement, which had been in effect for many years until the city bargained it away in exchange for pay cuts during the citys financial crisis. Campbell shared the citys organization chart that showed the citizens of Harrisburg at the top of the chart, with the elected mayor, city council, city treasurer and city controller reporting directly to them. The police bureau is several levels below in the department of public safety. City residents pay taxes that finance the citys activities, Campbell said, so its only right that residents should weigh in on how officers police the community and how accountable officers are to the community. Campbell encouraged residents on the call to write letters to city council members and participate in Tuesday nights work session to make their wishes known as council weighs the legislation. After the call, Buchwach told PennLive the proposed legislation needs amendments to become more meaningful. Otherwise, its just a glorified complaint center, she said. We dont need that. We already have city council and they are accountable to voters. We need a mechanism to provide fair and honest accountabilityIts not anti-police. Its just absolutely not. We want them to be part of this. In addition to legislation to create an advisory board, city council on Tuesday also will discuss a bill that would provide guidelines for the review of use of force policies and practices in the city and establish timelines for such reporting to the mayor and council. City council members are expected to deliberate but not act upon the legislation at the work session. Instead, council members typically vote on legislation at legislative sessions. The next legislative session is scheduled for July 7 but neither of the police bills are currently listed on the agenda. The council will then break for summer recess, but Councilwoman Ausha Green, who chairs the public safety committee, said residents could continue to discuss the legislation. I do believe we will be going on hiatus so it probably wont be getting passed before we go on hiatus, she previously told PennLive, but I think it will give us a great opportunity to continue the conversation to the summer on different platforms and in-person if we can. If not, well do it virtually. READ: Engineers figured out how to fix Harrisburg collapse site, but plans are collecting dust. Heres why READ: Harrisburg police accuse gunman of killing man in dispute over comments to woman A Lebanon County jury convicted Gilberto Torres-Reyes on two counts of first-degree murder among other charges June 26 following a week-long trial. Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf, who tried the case for the commonwealth, thanked the jury members in a press release for their service during the trial. Evil thrives in this world when good men and women fail to act if given the chance. The trial and the jurys verdict proves our community cares deeply for justice, Graf said. According to a press release, Reyes robbed a bank in Wyomissing on April 9, 2018, and paid his victims to help him get away from the bank robbery. A witness placed all three men in the car together and said Torres-Reyes smoked crack cocaine and used other drugs during the incident. Officials said after leaving the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Lebanon-Lancaster exit, their car crashed on Route 72 before Torres-Reyes fatally shot Alexis Perez-Garcia in the back and Jelson Dejesus-Ortiz in the face and back. Witnesses saw Torres-Reyes flee the scene and try to carjack a passing motorist before he escaped the area, Graf said. Law enforcement eventually located Reyes in a New York City hospital where he was using a fake name. Officials said Reyes denied any involvement with the murders and maintained a total lack of involvement when interviewed a second time. He is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 19 and will receive a life imprisonment penalty for each victim, Graf said. According to Graf, this trial was likely the first major trial throughout the commonwealth since COVID struck. The state and court took every possible safety precaution to protect both its witnesses and the jury, he noted. RELATED: Selon les chiffres de Statistiv Mauritus et de la Mauritius Police Force, les cas de delits et infractions a un peu baisse passant 35.9 a 35.6 par habitant en 2019 compare en 2018. Police Offences reported to the Police, excluding contraventions, decreased by 1.0% from 45,457 to 45,004, mainly due to a drop in assault (-6.3%), partly offset by an increase in theft (+4.1%). Road traffic contraventions decreased by 27.4%, from 243,425 in 2018 to 176,692 in 2019. It is to be noted that exceeding speed limit decreased by 6.5% from 87,408 to 81,691. Some 15,941 persons were suspected, arrested and/or cautioned in the course of criminal investigations in 2019, down by 16.8% from 19,156 in 2018. The number of persons prosecuted rose by 25.5% from 11,823 in 2018 to 14,841 in 2019. Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) From 2018 to 2019, the number of cases referred by Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Intermediate and Supreme Courts decreased by 20.5% from 1,305 in 2018 to 1,037 in 2019. Judiciary The number of criminal cases lodged in Court decreased by 20.0% from 101,208 to 80,993. During the same period, the number of criminal cases disposed of dropped by 15.1% from 99,334 to 84,363. Prison Out of the 3,898 adult convicts admitted in prison in 2019, some 69.2% were re-offenders who had been imprisoned in the past, regardless of any observation period. An average amount of Rs 746 was spent daily to maintain a detainee in 2019 in the Island of Mauritius compared to Rs 800 in 2018. Probation The number of Probation Orders issued, decreased by 21.3% from 254 in 2018 to 200 in 2019. The number of offenders, subjected to Community Service Orders, decreased by 13.5% from 606 in 2018 to 524 in 2019. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn READING, Pa. (AP) A woman is seeking taxpayer funds to pay for her defense on murder charges in the deaths of two young children found hanging in an eastern Pennsylvania basement last fall. Defense attorney Dennis Charles told a Berks County judge Monday that Lisa Snyder, 37, cannot afford her defense and filed a motion seeking funding for expert witnesses she will need at trial. The judge took the motion to declare her indigent under advisement. Snyder is charged with first- and third-degree murder, child endangerment and evidence-tampering in the September deaths of 4-year-old Brinley and 8-year-old Conner. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Charles has dismissed the case as amounting to only "speculation and guesswork." Assistant District Attorney Margaret McCallum said Snyder was the only adult in the house when the children were found hanging in the basement of the Albany Township house. They died three days later. Snyder has maintained that the children killed themselves. She had alleged the boy was bullied, but authorities said there was no evidence of that, and he showed no sign of distress on bus security video that day. An occupational therapist said the boy was not physically capable of harming himself or his sister in that way. Conner and Brinley Snyder were found hanged from a wire dog lead in the basement of this home on on the 2400 block of Route 143 in Albany Township, Berks County. Their mother, Lisa R. Snyder now faces charges related to their deaths. Prosecutors have argued that the case merits the death penalty if Snyder is convicted of first-degree murder, citing the fact that there were multiple fatalities and both were children. At the hearing, Snyders attorney said his client had less than $400 in the bank when she was taken into custody. Her only asset, he said, was a 2017 Ford Fusion that she acquired by trading in a jeep her grandfather gave her, The (Allentown) Morning Call reported. Snyders parents want to sell the car to reimburse their retirement fund, which they used to get their daughter a lawyer. Prosecutors say proceeds from any sale of the vehicle, which they say is worth about $23,000, should be spent on her defense before public funds are used. More: Jury convicts man of 2018 double murder in Lebanon County Arrest made in 2013 shooting of 15-month-old boy in Pittsburgh York County Prison official accused of pointing loaded gun at neighbors while drunk Government officials in New Jersey, along with those in New York and Connecticut, are asking travelers to quarantine for 14 days if they come from a list of states that has expanded from eight to 16 within a week. Cases of the coronavirus and hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have soared in some parts of the country in recent days, while New Jersey has seen a steady decline in the spread of the virus. Last week, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said people should voluntarily quarantine for two weeks if they traveled from any one of eight states. The number doubled this week. Heres the full list of states, according to New Jerseys department of health (those added in the past week are italicized and bolded): Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina Nevada South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah States land on the travel advisory list if their residents have a COVID-19 test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 or if they have a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average, the department of health wrote on its website. In New Jersey, Murphy did not say travelers would face punishment if they resisted the self-quarantine guidelines. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state could fine offenders up to $1,000. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. The search for a Lancaster County Amish teen who has been missing continues after more than a week of searching. The East Lampeter Township Police Department is asking anyone who may have traveled near the area where 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos disappeared on June 21 to contact them. Anyone who traveled these five Lancaster County Roads between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on June 21 is asked to contact East Lampeter Township Police: Mill Creek School Road Stumptown Road Gibbons Road Beechdale Road Millcreek Road Anyone who traveled in the area where Linda Stoltzfoos was last seen on June 21 is asked to contact police. Officials said Stoltzfoos has been missing since Fathers Day when she didnt return home after a church service. Stoltzfoos was last seen at a farm on Stumptown Road between the intersection of Beechdale and Gibbons roads in Bird-in-Hand, police said. She is around 510 and weighs 125 pounds and was last seen wearing a tan dress, white apron and black head covering, according to police. Officials said the circumstances of her disappearance have not been determined. If Stoltzfoos did leave on her own will, police are asking her to reach out to confirm she is OK. Members of the community will gather Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. for a prayer meeting and time of worship at the Smucker Homestead (320 N. Ronks Road, Bird-in-Hand, PA 17505), according to a Facebook post. Anyone with information is asked to contact the East Lampeter Township Police Department at 717 291-4676 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or at tips.fbi.gov. RELATED: Two state lawmakers said they want to know why some people have waited weeks, even months, for unemployment assistance. State Reps. Tim ONeal, R-Washington, and Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, said Tuesday they want an investigation of the states unemployment system failures during the coronavirus pandemic. They sent a letter to House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, and want the House Government Oversight Committee to investigate. Week after week, year after year, most workers contributed to the Unemployment Trust Fund through payroll deductions, Ciresi said in a statement. Yet the failures of this system have left too many without income during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when they need these benefits more than ever. As of Monday, more than 2.2 million Pennsylvania residents have filed unemployment compensation claims. Thousands of businesses were shut down under Gov. Tom Wolfs orders to try and slow the spread of the virus. The labor department struggled to deal with the overwhelming numbers of people seeking aid. At the same time, lawmakers have hammered the department for delays in filing some claims. ONeal said hes working on a bipartisan effort with Ciresi to address the unemployment systems problems. Ensuring a program works as its designed to work is obviously a non-partisan issue, ONeal said in a statement. We need to make sure Pennsylvanians will never again face this issue. Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said Monday more than 90 percent of eligible claimants have received a payment. The labor department has paid more than $21.5 billion in unemployment compensation benefits since March 15. The department has hired more than 300 employees to help handle the number of claims and more than 300 state workers from other agencies have been tapped to help as well. Customer service staff have logged 172,000 hours in overtime since March 15, Oleksiak said Monday. Mike Straub, a spokesman for Cutler, said in an email a House oversight committee investigation is certainly possible, and we will work quickly to determine if that is the correct course of action. The administrations handling of unemployment claims, payments, processing and even just providing information has been shameful on behalf of Pennsylvanians in need, Straub said. In their letter to Cutler, the lawmakers note the General Assembly has directed funds to improve the unemployment compensation system. Despite these systems upgrades and continued work on overall system modernization, our program has failed to handle the strain of the 2.1 million unemployment claims created by the COVID-l9 pandemic, ONeal and Ciresi wrote. The lawmakers acknowledged the labor departments efforts to improve but insist an investigation is needed. While we appreciate the work of Secretary Oleksiak during this pandemic and towards system modernization, we urge that this investigation take place so that we can move forward to ensure that should another pandemic, or similar situation, hit the Commonwealth, the residents of Pennsylvania can be assured that they will not face the same issues, ONeal and Ciresi wrote. Other lawmakers are pursuing remedies to deal with unemployment claims. State Reps. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, and Jerry Knowles, R-Schuylkill, have sent a memo to fellow lawmakers saying they plan to introduce a bill that would allow legislative staff to help process unemployment claims. Oleksiak on Monday announced that people who exhaust their regular unemployment compensation and federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation may now qualify for 13 additional weeks of payments through the states Unemployment Compensation Extended Benefits program . The labor department has also been dealing with reports of scams and attempts at identity theft, which state and federal authorities are investigating. Authorities say scammers have used stolen identities of people to file claims for unemployment benefits. Then, scammers direct the money to be sent to their own bank accounts. Victims of identity theft find out their personal information was stolen when they receive an unemployment compensation check, or a direct deposit of unemployment aid, for which they never applied. The vast majority of reports of fraudulent claims had proven to be valid claims, Oleksiak said in a news conference Monday. Fraud attempts like these are a national problem and should serve as a reminder to everyone to be as vigilant as possible, Oleksiak said. More from PennLive Pa. unemployment rate in May was 13.1%, which actually represents an improvement Pa. lawmaker wonders why she got $7,000 in unemployment compensation she never requested Whos paying to decommission Three Mile Island? You are, and youre keeping the nuclear waste, too. Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) members, employees, and spouses/partners have been granted unprecedented access to Harrisburg University of Science and Technology courses and programs. Its the result of an agreement reached between the university and the physician-led, member-driven organization representing all physicians and medical students throughout Pennsylvania, according to a press release. Through the agreement, PAMED members, employees, and spouses/partners will receive a significant reduction in tuition and training fees for Harrisburg University undergraduate, graduate, certificate, and training programs, the release said. We are pleased to partner with the Pennsylvania Medical Society to provide this opportunity, said Harrisburg University President Dr. Eric Darr. The agreement clears a path to an affordable, world-class science and technology education also focused intensively on health care. Ranked the No. 1 STEM University in the U.S. during the past two years by Corporate LiveWire, Harrisburg University courses and programs are delivered in various formats. Whether in person, online, or via an accelerated format, physician members, eligible employees, and their spouses/partners can enroll in any Harrisburg University program including professional development courses at a reduced rate, courtesy of the agreement, according to the release. As an organization that represents life-long learners in a field that is always evolving, we are delighted to partner with Harrisburg University to offer these opportunities, said PAMED President Dr. Lawrence John. Pennsylvania is seeing a slight overall rise in COVID-19 cases and a spike in western Pa., although Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday said he believes surges can be handled without steps such as moving a county back to yellow phase restrictions. We can do things with surgical precision that we couldnt do three months ago, Wolf said, referring to the ability to take narrowly tailored rather than statewide steps to address outbreaks. Pennsylvania logged 621 new cases on Saturday and 600 on Friday levels of new cases that hadnt been seen in several weeks. The state reported 505 new cases on Sunday and 492 on Monday. As of early Monday, new cases were rising in 21 counties, based on case counts from the previous two weeks, according to tracking by SpotlightPa. New cases were falling in 9 counties, while 37 counties were seeing no significant change. A significant rise was taking place in Allegheny County, which logged 90 new cases on Saturday and 96 on Sunday before the number dropped slightly to 83 on Monday. Sundays total marked the first time Allegheny led the state in new cases, as well as the countys highest total since March 14, according to PublicSource. The 83 new cases reported Monday were well above the 45 reported the previous Monday. However, state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the Allegheny County upturn involves many young people who had socialized in bars, including some who had traveled to southern states that are seeing major outbreaks. Many had been in situations where people werent wearing masks, she said. The situation prompted Allegheny health officials to ban on-site alcohol sales at bars and restaurants. Levine said there are no plans to return Allegheny to yellow status of greater restrictions on all businesses. Other counties with increasing case counts included Lancaster and York. Cases were falling in Lebanon County, where an earlier surge had made it the last county to qualify to move to green reopening status. State officials on Monday also noted an uptick in the percentage of positive COVID-19 test results another sign the disease might be spreading faster. But they have yet to see any increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, which have been decreasing. As of early Monday, 634 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, according to the state health department, with 111 needing a ventilator or ECMO machine to breathe. In late May, the daily count of people hospitalized with COVID-19 was about 1,500. About 40 percent of regular and ICU beds remained available as of early Monday. About 4,000 ventilators were available. Wolf has said that high levels of available capacity at hospitals make is less likely the state will have to return to draconian restrictions of the first months of the pandemic. Nationally, an alarming upward trend began last week and continued over the weekend, with Sunday marking the fourth consecutive day of more than 40,000 new cases. That included 44,703 new cases on Sunday and 44,602 on Saturday. The previous daily record for new cases, 43,438, had taken place April 6. The new hot spots are concentrated in the south, especially Florida, Arizona and Texas, where the mayor of Houston said the supply of intensive care beds was dangerously stretched. 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. Legislation to strengthen police hiring, training and mental health evaluations in Pennsylvania has advanced through the state Legislature and is heading to Gov. Tom Wolfs desk for enactment. The Senate on Tuesday, with no debate, unanimously passed two House-passed bills that begin to address some of the police reforms that protesters across the state have been calling for in the wake of the May 25 killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. Wolf has indicated he will sign these measures into law. In fact, some of them resemble the police reforms he proposed in early June to enhance community relations with law enforcement and stronger accountability measures. House Bill 1841 would require employers to disclose employment information to a law enforcement agency that is conducting a background investigation of an applicant; free a previous employer from civil liability for sharing that information with a police department; and create an electronic database containing separation records of law enforcement officers for use by other law enforcement agencies in hiring decisions. Attorney General Josh Shapiro championed the effort for the database of officer misconduct, which the legislation states would be created and maintained by the Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission. Access to the database would be limited to law enforcement agencies but not the public as is the case in 13 other states. According to Spotlight PA, legal experts consider that a shortcoming of this legislation. House Bill 1910 calls for strengthening training of officers on interacting with individuals of diverse racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds; implicit bias training; recognizing and reporting child abuse; and annual training on the use of appropriate force. In addition, the bill would establish better access to mental health evaluations for law enforcement officers. The bill would require police officers to be tested for post-traumatic stress disorder every two years and within 30 days of any lethal use-of-force incident. The Senate previously passed two bills that would mandate additional reforms to how law enforcement conducts its business, although some members of the law enforcement community say these initiatives are already in place. Both now await action in the House of Representatives. One bill, Senate Bill 459, would require police departments to maintain records of use of force incidents and forward them to the Pennsylvania State Police. Another bill, Senate Bill 1205, would ban chokeholds when used to detain an individual and require municipal police departments to have and publish use of force policies and train officers to that standard. Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee Chairman Vince Hughes of Philadelphia said at a news conference Tuesday evening that the passage of the legislation is a sign that the protests in the streets and cries that Black Lives Matter including in communities where just a few years ago, there were efforts to organize the Klan is translating into policy and real change. Keep it up. Dont stop. Keep marching. Keep stepping up. Keep raising your voice, he said. Keep folks understanding that we are in a different moment. That the moment is transitioning into a movement. The Senate Democrats intend to continue their march for reforms by announcing a statewide, member-led, community-driven tour. Dubbed the Racial Equity Solutions Tour: Reimagining Public Safety, Ending Systemic Racism, it will take place over the summer. The tour will include both in-person and virtual conversations about solutions to systemic racism with community activists, clergy, law enforcement, and others and take on the issues of housing, employment, education, and health disparity in hopes of building a broad coalition to fight for solutions. Details of events on that tour will be announced in coming weeks. By taking on those challenges and finding solutions it will begin to relieve Pennsylvanians and Americans of some of the burdens that institutional racism has carried since the days of slavery, said Sen. Tony Williams, D-Philadelphia. So this tour is a roadmap to how we unleash the possibilities for all Pennsylvanians, he said. *This post was updated to include remarks from Senate Democrats. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Philadelphia is bringing a halt to its plans to allow indoor dining, bars, gyms and fitness centers to reopen, with officials saying Tuesday that the city is seeing rising case COVID-19 counts and could be affected by a growing epidemic elsewhere in the country. The city's health commissioner, Dr. Tom Farley, broke the bad news during a news conference ahead of its Friday target to lift more restrictions, noting the city is seeing more than 100 new cases per day, instead of a count below 80 that it had aimed for. Farley pointed out that he had warned last week that if the city didn't meet its targets for reductions in new infections that it would not lift some restrictions. "We want to get the economy going as well, but at the same time we are very concerned about the epidemic and we are noticing quite a bit what's going on around the country," Farley said during an online news conference. Farley is also asking travelers to Philadelphia from places with rising case counts to self-quarantine for 14 days. The city's health department has contract tracers in touch with some of the people testing positive and a number of them are reporting taking trips to the shore, where they said they were living together at beach houses or socializing in bars and restaurants, Farley said. He does not believe the city's large demonstrations over racial justice and police brutality, spurred by the death of George Floyd, had a big impact on the case counts, but said he'll never know for sure. Philadelphia, nevertheless, is allowing some places of business to reopen, including indoor shopping malls, casinos, museums and libraries. Outdoor dining can continue and the city has a mandatory mask order for both indoor and outdoor spaces for those in contact with someone they don't live with. Across the state, Allegheny County, where officials over the weekend ordered a halt to drinking alcohol in bars and restaurants due to what they call an "alarming" spike in COVID-19 cases, recorded another single-day record high of new cases reported Tuesday. For the first time, the county, which includes Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's second-most populous with 1.2 million residents, broke triple digits in one day, saying it had confirmed another 109 cases. Hospitalizations grew by seven, the county said. Hospitalizations in Philadelphia are not seeing a corresponding increase, but Farley said that figure is a lagging indicator. Statewide, Pennsylvania's Health Department on Tuesday reported another 618 coronavirus cases, sending the total above 86,600, and another 35 deaths, for a total of 6,649. One-third of the approximately 3,900 new positive cases over the past seven days were in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, with Lancaster and Dauphin counties leading the state in the number of new cases per 100,000 residents over that period. Statewide, new case counts grew by almost a quarter and the percentage of positive tests also ticked up in the last seven days, compared with the previous seven-day period, according to state data. ___ More from PennLive Delaware to close bars near beaches for July 4 weekend, report says Coronavirus in Pa.: 86,606 cases, 6,649 deaths reported as of June 30 Pa. officials voice concern, but sound no major alarm over COVID-19 spike that ended drinking in bars in Pittsburgh Whos paying to decommission Three Mile Island? You are, and youre keeping the nuclear waste, too. 2 Harrisburg-based Marine Reservists deaths may be linked to Russian bounties There are life-changing, inspiring stories emerging amid the coronavirus pandemic. The unprecedented events of these past months have been a catalyst for introspection and change for many people. According to a report by WCVB, a 30-year-old Massachusetts resident, who describes himself as a former burnout, made the decision to go back to school when classes switched to online learning during the pandemic. Clayton Ward said in the report that he got burned out at his first attempt, by trying to work and attend college. The Tennessee native eventually moved to Massachusetts and landed a job as a bus driver. According to the report, that move would provide him the inspiration he needed to earn his degree. Ward said the students he drove to school taught him a lesson in patience and told him that he should be a teacher. That hit home for me and finally I just, was like, You know what, I am going back to school, the report quoted Ward. During the pandemic, the report said Ward became one of the top students in his class, earned academic awards and finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Whats next for Ward? Ward plans to continue attending classes this fall, the report said. His goal is to become a high school history teacher. According to the report, Ward said the students he drove to school each day taught him that achieving goals is more important than how you get there. We all come from different walks of life, he said. One person might dress differently, one might act differently, but were all the same, the report quoted. 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. Two more employees at Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Carlisle have tested positive for COVID-19, Cumberland County officials announced Monday. So far, no residents have tested positive for COVID-19, but four employees have tested positive. The first employee to test positive was reported by the county on April 9. The two individuals had little to no contact with residents. Several employees who worked with the individuals have been tested and are currently self-monitoring at home prior to returning to work, per Center for Disease Control guidelines. As of Monday, Cumberland County is reporting 847 cases of COVID-19, and 63 deaths. The statewide total of positive test results is 85,988 the eighth-most confirmed cases in the United States and 6,614 deaths. In accordance with guidance from the CDC and the Department of Health, Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center residents are reminded to practice social distancing, covering their coughs and are instructed to frequently wash their hands and remain in their rooms. READ MORE: More Dauphin County Prison inmates, staff found to have COVID-19 as testing continues More than 200 Planet Fitness members asked to quarantine after fellow gym-goer tests positive for coronavirus: reports Coronavirus cases by day in Pa. (6/29/20): How fast is COVID-19 spreading? Steve Zucker (231) 439-9346 CHARLEVOIX The Michigan Department of Transportation is expecting a road resurfacing project on U.S. 31 south of Charlevoix to begin on Monday, July 6. According to a Michigan Department of Transportation news release, the project will involve resurfacing 1.6 miles of U.S. 31 from south of Richardson Road to south of Norwood/Barnard Road. The resurfacing work will include a combination fog and chip seal of the asphalt surface. Such sealants are typically used to fill small cracks in the road surface and thus extend the life of the underlying asphalt. The work, which is expected to be completed around Aug. 23, will be done at a cost of about $250,000. Officials noted that the work, which will also include new pavement markings, will require intermittent lane closures that will be controlled by construction crews. A Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman said the state will suspend many of its construction projects around the state for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Among those projects that will be suspended is the ongoing work to resurface U.S. 131 in Charlevoix County from Thumb Lake Road to Bear River Road. Portions of the project have already been completed including culvert repair and intersection work. The project involves removing the top 1.5 inches of existing pavement and replacing it with a new top layer of asphalt. Steve Zucker (231) 439-9346 BOYNE CITY Officials with the Boyne City Fourth of July Festival recently announced a full slate of virtual events that will take the place of the communitys traditional day-long lineup of festivities. The celebration kicks off early as organizers are hosting a Home Town Fourth of July Decorating Contest, that is slated for all weekend. Festival organizers are encouraging residents and businesses to decorate their yards/storefronts and submit pictures to the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce. Winners will receive $100 in Boyne Area Chamber Checks. The celebration on Saturday will include a virtual Fourth of July parade that will air on local CBS affiliate 9&10 News at the parades traditional starting time: 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 4. Organizers noted that the 30-minute program will feature the national anthem performed by Asuka Barden, footage from parades past, along with historical facts, photos and stories. The 30-minute special will also be available for on-demand viewing on the SBTV app following the premiere. This year, the festival committee honors Kate Hartlep of Boyne City, who turned 100 years old on April 30, 2020, as the virtual parades grand marshal. The Boyne City High School graduating class of 2020 will be this years honored citizens. From 2-4 p.m. another staple of the communitys Fourth of July celebration, the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerces annual duck drop, will take place in a virtual setting. The event, which typically takes place on the Boyne River, allows people to buy numbered plastic ducks. All the ducks are normally dropped into the river and the person whose duck is first to cross the finish line downriver wins the grand prize of $1,000. This year, the duck race will instead take place at the Avalanche Bay indoor water park at Boyne Mountain. People may view the event live via the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerces Facebook page. Tickets are $10 each and are available at the chamber office, 115 S. Lake St., Suite A. The chamber has added new wrinkles to the event this year, including offering $100 in Chamber Checks to anyone who buys 10 $10 tickets. The chamber will also sell up to 100 VIP tickets to the event for $25 each, which allow entry to the outdoor VIP area while enjoying a cash bar on race day. Chamber officials have previously noted that the event is a significant fundraiser for the organization. A virtual arts and crafts show will also be taking place on Saturday. To view participants in the show, visit www.boyne4thofjuly.com/virtual-arts--craft-show.html. Finally, at 10:30 p.m. a virtual fireworks show will be offered. To participate, people will need to download the TotalAR app for free at GooglePlay or the App store, allow the app to enable location and camera; open the app and click on GeoAR to enjoy the experiences. To experience this exciting augmented reality technology, hold your device at face-level and point the device towards the sky, festival officials noted on the organizations website. For more on the Fourth of July Festival, visit the organizations website at www.boyne4thofjuly.com. Like many other Northern Michigan summer festivals, on May 20, festival organizers announced that all of this years event would be canceled because of safety concerns tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to the News-Review following the cancellation announcement in May, festival committee chairwoman Ann Park said the group is hoping to continue raising money for the festivals biggest expense the fireworks show through this year and next in hopes of celebrating the 2021 Fourth of July Festival with an bigger-than-normal display. Steve Zucker (231) 439-9346 EAST JORDAN The East Jordan City Commission has given its blessing to a small Independence Day-related parade on Friday, July 3. The commission gave its approval during a brief special meeting called for just that purpose Monday, city administrator Tom Cannon said Tuesday. In a recent letter to the city commission, representatives from East Jordans American Legion Post 227 asked permission to organize a condensed version of our annual Freedom Festival parade beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday. Organizers indicated that the parade is to begin at the American Legion hall on Main Street, progress down Main Street to the Hammond/Esterly streets intersection, then proceed west to Memorial Park. Last week, Cannon noted that parade organizers indicated the parade will only include a small group of veterans and emergency vehicles as there wont be a band, floats or other typical parade participants. Cannon indicated he spoke with an American Legion representative Tuesday morning who reported the group is expecting a small parade but will stress social distancing with any entrants. The American Legion is also planning a roughly 10-minute veterans presentation in Memorial Park at the conclusion of the parade. Organizers with the communitys annual Freedom Festival, which usually takes place in late June, canceled the event in May because of concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival typically contains a long weekend full of events, including a parade and fireworks. At an earlier meeting the city commission approved a permit request from the South Arm Yacht Club to host a fireworks show to be launched from a barge on Lake Charlevoix about a mile north of the downtown area around 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 4. William T. Perkins (231) 439-9353 State officials Tuesday denied a request from Enbridge to expedite a permit for the companys proposed utility tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac. In April, the energy company filed two requests with the Michigan Public Service Commission, one of the many pending applications being processed before the corporation can move ahead with its plan to build a tunnel beneath the Straits which will house a replacement section of its Line 5 pipeline. The first part of Enbridges joint requests asks the regulators to approve the companys plan for the construction of the tunnel after a standard vetting procedure. The second request urges the commission to waive its normal review on the grounds that it is unnecessary. According Enbridges original application, the project involves no more than maintaining and continuing to operate Line 5 by replacing and relocating one approximate four-mile segment of the over 600-mile line. At their meeting early Tuesday, commissioners disagreed, meaning the application will go through a full public hearing process. In todays order, the Commission found that, based on Enbridges application and comments received from stakeholders, the Line 5 project differs substantially from the pipeline approved in 1953, and therefore the company does not have authority for the project under the 1953 order, a press release from the commission stated. Whereas the Commission approved in 1953 dual 20-inch pipelines constructed on the lakebed, Enbridge proposes replacing them with a single 30-inch pipeline housed in a concrete-lined tunnel 60-250 feet beneath the lakebed, involving a new easement and a 99-year lease of public trust property. If approved, it would only be one piece in the many procedures preceding tunnel construction. Enbridge is still planning a 2024 completion date for the tunnel first proposed under a set of agreements between the company and former Gov. Rick Snyder in October 2018. Since then, the issue has been wrapped up in a web of lawsuits with the current administration, challenging the legality of the pipeline, the tunnel, and governmental agreements setting the stage for this new project. In a statement Tuesday, Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy said the company respects the commissions decision (and) look(s) forward to the next steps in the regulatory process. We know that the majority of Michiganders support the Great Lakes Tunnel project, including the replacement pipeline at issue in the MPSC proceeding, and we are committed to building it, he said. We appreciate the timeliness of the decision by the MPSC as it allows us to remain on schedule for completion of the project. Placing a new pipeline in a new Great Lakes Tunnel will provide extra layers of safety and environmental protection and make what are currently safe pipelines even safer. Many in the state took issue with the request to waive the normal review process, including Attorney General Dana Nessel who, in public statements earlier this year, argued that the tunnel constitutes an entirely new piece of infrastructure. Similarly, area environmental groups have stood in opposition to the request. A number of organizations, spearheaded in part by the Michigan Climate Action Network and the Environmental Law & Policy Center, have filed a joint petition as intervenor-defendants opposing the application now under review. The Michigan Environmental Council, Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, National Wildlife Federation and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians thank the Michigan Public Service Commission for recognizing the critical need for through review of Enbridges proposed tunnel project, which would run through public trust lands in the Great Lakes, said Jennifer McKay, spokeswoman for Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in Petoskey. As intervenors in this case, we stand ready to protect the Great Lakes and ensure full accounting from Enbridge, including a complete review of alternatives to Line 5 as well as a full environmental impact review of risks this project could pose to our water and ecosystems. A remote public hearing is slated for Aug. 24, allowing public comment, an overview of the approval process and a review of Enbridges application. Keith Matheny - Detroit Free Press The Petoskey News-Review A nonprofit consortium of university researchers have reassessed the flood risk for every property in the nation more than 142 million homes and properties across the contiguous U.S. exposing a federal flood mapping system that is often either badly outdated or missing information altogether. Brooklyn-based First Street Foundation's release Monday of its flood risk data and its modernized, more comprehensive model for assessing it identifies 70% more properties nationwide with flood risk than the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Special Flood Hazard Areas maps. In Michigan, First Street finds almost 400,000 more properties with flood risk than FEMA identifies a big potential liability for property owners and renters, as most outside of FEMA flood zones are probably not covered by flood insurance, meaning their regular insurance wouldn't cover their losses if a flood occurred, and forcing residents to pay out of pocket for hundreds or even thousands of dollars in damages. Detroit not surprisingly, given it's the largest city in Michigan has the most properties identified as being at some flood risk under First Street's evaluation, with 39,744 parcels. Next on the list is Warren, with 11,916 parcels identified with some flood risk, followed by Grand Rapids with 9,448 parcels. "We did this because the data hasn't existed," said Matthew Eby, founder and executive director of First Street. Understanding flood risk in the U.S. has customarily meant looking at FEMA maps, designed to delineate flood risk areas for purposes of requiring those within them seeking a federally-backed mortgage to obtain flood insurance. But those maps come with limitations, Eby said. "They look historically to understand your current risk," he said. "They say, 'Based on all of these events that have happened in the past, what is the likelihood of that happening again, today?' on an annualized basis. "What we've done that's different from that is, we say, let's take all of those past events and learn from them, but also, what was the environment like when all of those events happened, and what does the current environment look like? The current atmospheric temperature, the current sea surface temperature. How does that change current risk?" First Street, unlike FEMA, also looks at changing flood risk into the future, factoring in climate change. "The flood risk isn't static; it's changing all the time," Eby said. "The atmosphere is getting warmer; sea surface temperatures are getting warmer. And those all fundamentally change the risk of flooding." First Street also looks at rainfall-related flooding in different ways than FEMA does, and looks further away from rivers and lakes into smaller streams and tributaries and the potential for flooding around them. Among the First Street flood risk study's findings for Michigan: FEMA counts just over 124,000 properties across Michigan as in Special Flood Hazard Areas, meaning they have a 1% or greater chance of flooding every year. First Street's method finds 516,760 parcels at that level of flood risk, more than four times as many. Some 60,500 properties statewide have a Flood Factor score of 9 or 10, indicating a "severe" or "extreme" risk of flooding. Of those, 51,710 properties are considered to have a greater than 99% chance of flooding of a centimeter or more at the home or building footprint within the next 30 years. Flood risk exists whether a community is rich or poor. The city with the highest percentage of its total parcels at flood risk is River Rouge, at 81%. Coming in second is Grosse Pointe Woods with 60% of its total parcels at risk. River Rouge has a median household income of $29,671; Grosse Pointe Woods' is $95,697. In Emmet County, at the Tip of the Mitt on the Lake Michigan side, FEMA maps identify 199 parcels at flood risk. First Street's method finds 2,136 parcels at flood risk, more than 10 times as many. It's a similar story in Gladwin County, where FEMA lists 495 parcels at flood risk, about 2% of total parcels. First Street lists 5,235 parcels at flood risk, about 19% of total parcels in the county. The large-scale flooding in Midland County last month caused by two failed dams wouldn't be captured in First Street's analysis, which presumes that dams and levees are in good working order. First Street director of research and development Jeremy Porter was surprised by what he didn't find in Michigan's data. "Outside of downtown Detroit, there's really not any FEMA special flood hazard areas," he said. "From Warren, all the way over to Southfield, south of Dearborn is almost completely empty of FEMA special flood hazard areas. Kelly Karll is the environment and infrastructure manager at the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, a regional planning agency. She's quite familiar with the limitations of FEMA data on flood risk, and said she's "excited to look at" First Street's new study. "In areas where communities aren't part of the FEMA flood insurance program, those areas aren't mapped. But there's still flooding that occurs there," she said. "In areas where it has been studied, the data's very old." Even areas where FEMA has updated flood studies within the past 10 years, it appears to have been built off a foundation of old, paper flood maps, Karll said. "A lot of the data is still based on the 1970s," she said. "We all know over the last 30-40 years we have more frequent rainfall, more intense rain storms, more rain each year. Combine that with all of the development that's occurred more impervious surfaces relates to more runoff." FEMA itself understands its flood assessment limitations. In Feb. 27 testimony before a House subcommittee, Michael Grimm, assistant administrator for risk management for FEMA's Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, testified about the federal flood mapping program. "While maintaining current flood maps is critical, we are still far from completing the initial job of mapping the entire nation," he said. "There are many counties and communities throughout the nation identified as not having flood maps at all." FEMA has historically prioritized limited mapping resources to the most highly populated areas. "The unfortunate consequence is that areas of potential future development remain unmapped," Grimm said. "Furthermore, there are roughly 3,300 communities with maps that are over 15 years old." Grimm added that new flood maps were taking seven years to complete on average due to various regulations with which FEMA must comply. Yet FEMA's regulations call for it to reassess flood maps every five years to qualify them as current, he said. "(It) can result in a situation in which maps have technically expired by the time that they are approved and publicly available," he said. Grimm also testified about FEMA's "lack of consideration about future weather patterns and changing coastal conditions" in the development of its flood maps, "important factors" for communities on the ocean coasts and "communities along the Great Lakes." Where are FEMAs flood risk models different from First Streets? Explore the map and zoom in to see how zipcodes and counties throughout the US compare. In Detroit neighborhood, flood risk high, mostly unknown Amanda Johnson moved into her home on Warwick Street, in west Detroit east of Rouge Park, two-and-a-half years ago. Then the rains and the flooding, came. "Twelve days after we moved in," she said, sitting on a bicycle outside her home, her 2-year-old daughter, Willow Brown, strapped in the back. "They didn't recover anything; I just had to throw everything away." She's endured three flood events at the house. "I have low-income housing," she said. "You contact people, and they told me, '(You need) flood insurance.' And it just keeps flooding. Anytime it rains, there are foundation issues over here. "There's really nothing you can do. It's an older home, and I don't have the money to fix it." So Johnson and her daughter are now planning to move to Dearborn Heights next month. FEMA considers Johnson's neighborhood an "area of minimal flood hazard." But First Street Foundation's assessment puts it at a "severe" or "extreme" risk of flooding within the next 30 years, at a 9 or 10 on its "Flood Factor" scale of 10. Down Warwick Street from Johnson, Shirley Ellis has lived in her home since 1990. She was surprised to learn it's listed at extreme flood risk. "I'm not planning on getting (flood insurance); I'll move first," she said. "I can't afford it." It was a recurring theme cited by residents in and near the Warrendale neighborhood: renters whose insurance coverage, if any, almost certainly doesn't cover flood damages; no flood insurance and no financial means to buy any. "In the vast majority of cases, it's, 'I'm not in a flood zone. Great; I don't need flood insurance,'" Eby said. "And what happens is, like Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, three-quarters of the flood damage is for uninsured residential homeowners who now have no mechanism to try to build back their home because they don't have any insurance to give them the financial means to do so." Other avenues for study First Street will be able to add inputs to its supercomputers and update its Flood Factor analysis nationwide on a continuing basis, Eby said. Already, about 100 academic researchers at 20 different universities are using First Street's data sets for diverse research, Porter said. "It's primarily economists and sociologists interested in the social and economic impacts of flood risk," he said. As First Street makes much of its data publicly available, it can also sell its valuable data sets to for-profit companies helping fund the building of further, similar modeling, Eby said. "We can do the same thing around heat and drought and fire," he said. "So then you can end up with a Fire Factor, or a Heat Factor, a Drought Factor, to truly understand all of these perils and risks and how they impact the individual property." That probably doesnt come as much of a surprise to anyone who has watched the president of the United States and his No. 2, the latter of whom happens to be the chair of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, fly in the face of science by not covering their own faces in public. Or maybe your lack of surprise comes from the curious sight of a family unit who has caught your eye: The mother and children are dutifully mask-clad out in public but, for some reason, the father is not. Paul Egan < p>

Detroit Free Press LANSING Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Monday she wants to ban police use of chokeholds and make racially motivated 911 calls hate crimes. The measures were among a new series of police reforms called for by Whitmer, who on June 3 announced other measures she wants enacted in Michigan, including requiring police officers to intervene if they see colleagues using excessive force. Whitmer called for the ban on chokeholds as protests continue in Michigan and across the country over the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, after an arrest by Minneapolis police in which a former officer used his knee to press down on Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes, despite the fact Floyd said he could not breathe. All Michiganders, no matter their community or the color of their skin, deserve equal treatment under the law, Whitmer said in a news release. This proposal will help us ensure that law enforcement officials treat all Michiganders with humanity and respect, and will help us keep our communities safe. I will continue working with leaders in law enforcement to make public safety more just and equitable in Michigan. The measures Whitmer called for Monday include: Further limits on use of no-knock warrants Incentive programs for law enforcement agencies to hire/retain officers who live where they work Call on an arm of the Department of Health and Human Services to recommend best practices and training for police responding to calls involving people who are mentally ill Promotion of programs to improve relationships between police, communities and community leaders On June 3, Whitmer called for the police intervention requirement, as well as improved police training, including training on implicit bias and improved reporting of police use of force. She set a goal to increase the minority trooper applicant pool to 25% and the female trooper applicant pool to 20%. She has also called for the addition of four seats to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, which sets professional standards in education, selection, employment, licensing and funding in law enforcement and criminal justice in Michigan, to give it a greater community voice. Some of the proposed reforms could be implemented administratively, or through the commission, whose members Whitmer appoints. Others would require legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. On Monday, Whitmer said the commission should audit law enforcement agencies to ensure they are accurately reporting violations of law or improper use of force, and establish penalties for agencies that fail to comply. Whitmer said in an early June interview she supports the spirit of defund the police a slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement. Though Whitmer said in the interview defunding the police is about prioritizing resources, she later clarified her remarks to say the spirit of it is about rebuilding communities in a just and equitable manner to level the playing field, but not necessarily at the expense of police departments. Support local journalism We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story. Thank you for reading the Philadelphia Tribune. You have exhausted your free article views for this month. Please press the "subscribe" button below and see our introductory price of $0.25 per week for 13 weeks. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you next month. Back in early April, a team including Scott Goldberg, an emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, was preparing to move all the residents of one nursing home into other facilities, so that the space could be used as a center dedicated for COVID-19 patients. Goldberg and his colleagues decided they would test every resident for the coronavirus, just to be sure they were not inadvertently sending people with the virus to the other facilities. The nursing home had no reported, or even suspected, COVID-19 cases. It had been closed to visitors and had followed all recommended social distancing guidelines at that time. When the tests were performed, about 54% of the nursing homes residents tested positive for COVID-19. Support The Philadelphia Tribune Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support the nation's longest continuously published newspaper serving the African American community by making a contribution. Contribute This was really alarming, Goldberg said. I think that we were expecting a few cases, and thats why we did the testing, just to be sure. Of course, the team did not end up moving those residents to other nursing homes, and they separated the facility into COVID and non-COVID floors. Goldberg and his colleagues recently published their findings in a research letter for the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, with more follow-up data on those patients forthcoming. If there is COVID really anywhere in the community, then you have to assume that anybody could be positive, with or without symptoms, and this has pretty dramatic implications across our whole health care system, Goldberg said. Its still unclear how many people will be infected by the novel coronavirus without ever developing symptoms which is known as asymptomatic spread. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for the World Health Organizations health emergencies program, said estimates range from 6% to 41%, but some studies, like one of people on an Antarctic cruise, have found a rate as high at 81%, as reported by NPR. With states lifting lockdown restrictions and more people returning to their workplaces and resuming social and shopping routines, asymptomatic spread could become a serious concern. Early on, a lot of businesses that stayed open, including Amazon warehouses and health clinics, screened employees for symptoms, doing temperature checks and asking whether they had been coughing or had trouble breathing. A doctor who worked at a primary care clinic outside Reading said that back in early March, the clinic, like many others, didnt have universal masking guidelines yet, and some of the staff were worried about the early reports of asymptomatic spread. (The doctor, who did not have permission to talk about the clinic, asked not to be named in this article). The doctor remembered a conference call from that time when this medical assistant, who had maybe been there for a couple months, and just graduated from medical assistant school said, But if Im seeing these patients and I get it and theres asymptomatic spread, how do I know Im not giving this to patients? And that this would occur to a medical assistant, that precautions that were being taken seemed inadequate, I found really striking, the doctor told WHYY. That, the doctor said and Goldberg concurred is why its important to keep wearing masks to protect the people around us and to continue following social distancing guidelines. It worries them when they see people not doing those things. Musically, Homegrown finds Young returning to the folk-rock sound of his 1973 classic album Harvest; only Homegrown sounds less polished and more intimate. The guess here is Young wanted these performances to be raw and immediate, and if they had a glitch or two, so be it. That honest character, coupled with the fact that most of the songs are keepers, make Homegrown a solid effort. The old saying, better late than never, certainly applies to the arrival of Homegrown, an album Young fans will likely savor as a long-lost treasure. BERLIN Uganda and Germany are engaging in bilateral negotiations albeit in a virtual format concerning refugees, rural electrification development and water and sanitation. The revelation was made by Mr. James Macbeth Forbes, Incoming Country Director / Resident Representative for the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH while meeting Ugandas Ambassador to Germany Marcel R. Tibaleka, on June 29, 2020. Mr. Forbes was paying a courtesy call on the Ambassador in order to introduce himself. He added that many of his colleagues are eager to resume work in Uganda, when and if the current conditions allow travelling. Mr. Forbes said that he was looking forward to returning to Uganda after nearly 16 years. He was stationed in Kampala between 2001 and 2005 with what was then called GTZ, the predecessor of GIZ. Tibaleka congratulated his guest upon his appointment as the new GIZ Country Director to Uganda and thanked the Agency for its work in Uganda and support to the German Government in achieving its objectives in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. He also informed Mr. Forbes that the Embassy was in process of repatriating stranded Ugandans with the possibility of flying out the first batch in the month of July 2020. Comments Foxen Leads The Charge in the partypoker High Roller Club June 29, 2020 Matthew Pitt partypoker created the High Roller Club on June 6, a series of high buy-in tournaments running every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday until July 16. These events have attracted some of the worlds elite player to the partypoker-branded virtual felt during the first three weeks. Not only does each tournament feature a sizeable guaranteed prize pool, theres the not-so-small matter of the $100,000 High Roller Club leaderboard. This leaderboard pays out the top 20 points earners during the High Roller Club series, awarding the eventual winner a cool $30,000 on top of whatever theyve won already. Alex Foxen was the man at the top of the leaderboards before Sundays High Roller Club events. Hes the only player to break through the 1,000 point barrier although Foxen is being hunted down by a stellar chasing pack. Rok Gostisa is Foxens nearest rival. Hes on 940 points, 72 behind the leader. Others in the top 10 places include the United Kingdoms Luke Reeves, Netherlands Teun Mulder, Thomas Muehloecker, and high roller specialist Timothy Adams. $500K worth of WPT World Online Championship tickets being given away! High Roller Club Leaderboard Top 20 (as of June 26) Place Player Points 1 Alex Foxen 1,012 2 Rok Gostisa 940 3 Luke Reeves 899 4 Teun Mulder 794 5 Thomas Muehloecker 725 6 Timothy Adams 715 7 Wiktor Malinowski 714 8 Preben Stokkan 677 9 Matthias Eibinger 660 10 Juan Pardo 655 11 Pascal Lefrancois 617 12 Artur Martirosian 613 13 Michael Addamo 549 14 Sergi Reixach 516 15 Jans Arends 505 16 Giuseppe Iadisernia 494 17 Daniel Dvoress 494 18 Kristen Bicknell 492 19 Mark Davis 477 20 George Wolff 473 The leaderboard could be in for something of a shake-up when the partypoker LIVE team upload the latest results. This is because some of the current top 20 performed exceptionally well on June 28. Rok Gostisa finished third in a $1,050 Knockout tournament and walked away with $9,749, including bounties. Only Georgios Zisimpopoulos and champion Joel Nystedt went further than Gostosa, the latter padding his bankroll with a combined prize worth $30,872. Thomas Muehloecker finished fourth in the same tournament and could leapfrog Teun Mulder into fourth spot. Sam Trickett's tips for those wanting to play high stakes In the $5,200 buy-in Big Game, a brace of players currently chasing down that $30,000 top leaderboard prize reached the final table. Pascal Lefrancois busted in sixth-place for $36,877 while Daniel Dvoress fell at the final hurdle and got his hands on the $130,302 runner-up prize. Dvoress was defeated by Simon Pedersen, the Dane seeing his $5,200 investment swell to a cool $181,357. Timothy Adams and Juan Pardo both cashed in the $10,300 Mix-Max 2nd Chance. Adams was the first of this pair to fall, doing so in fourth-place for a $41,400 score. Pardo lasted one place more and netted $59,800. Team partypokers Isaac Haxton took down the tournament for $184,000 after busting Swedish legend Niklas Astedt in second-place. Astedt collected $117,734. One result thats sure to shuffle things up is the $25,500 Main Event. Only 31 players bought in, but this ensured the $750,000 gurantee was surpassed by one buy-in. Nick Petrangelo won the Main Event and he banked $356,500 for his efforts. Petrangelo defeated Michael Addamo heads-up for the title, Addamo scooping $217,000. The points he should pick up for this result will likely see Addamo enter the leaderboard top 10. The next High Roller Club events take place on June 30 from 7:00 p.m. CET. No doubt the players mentioned above will be doing everything they can to hunt down Foxen and put themselves in a position to secure a free $30,000. This Weeks High Roller Club Events Isaac Haxton Wins Poker Masters Online PLO Series Main Event June 30, 2020 Will Shillibier Isaac Haxton has triumphed in the Poker Masters Online PLO Series Main Event, winning $675,000 after defeating Grazvydas Kontautas heads-up. The partypoker Ambassador topped a field of 29 players that included Viktor Blom, Sam Trickett, Joni Jouhkimainen, Andras Nemeth, Laszlo Bujtas, Pascal Lefrancois and purple jacket winner Eelis Parssinen. Poker Masters Online PLO Series Main Event Results Rank Player Country Payout (USD) 1 Isaac Haxton Canada $675,000 2 Grazvydas Kontautas Lithuania $442,104 3 Aku Joentausta Finland $225,000 4 Chris Kruk Canada $157,896 Haxton failed to record a cash during the Poker Masters Online PLO Series festival before the Main Event, but made it count as he walked away with a six-figure payday. just setting up my twttr jack (@jack) READ MORE: Parssinen Holds Off Nemeth and Kyllonen to Win Poker Masters Online PLO Series Final Day Recap With five players left and only four places paid, Haxton held a commanding chip lead with 2.8 million at the start of the day, and soon increased that to over 3.6 million by the time the first break was reached. When play resumed, Haxton didn't let up. As Kontautas, Santos and Joentausta all battled it out at the bottom of the ladder, only Kruk managed to show any resistance. That was until Joentausta doubled through him to move into second place. However, second place was only 532,000 chips compared to the 4.2 million of Haxton. Bubble Bursts Meanwhile, Santos had fallen to the bottom of the chip counts and was sent to the rail by Haxton, guaranteeing the remaining players $157,896. Isaac Haxton raised to 120,000. Andre Filipe Santos called. The flop came and Haxton bet 98,121 and Santos called all in. The turn was the and the river and Santos was eliminated, bubbling the Poker Masters Onlien PLO Series Main Event. Joentausta would double up through Haxton twice, with Kontautas getting one of his own to leave Kruk short. He would double once, before getting in kings against Haxton. However, the turn gave Haxton trips to eliminate Kruk. Closing Stages Over the course of three-handed play, Kontautas battled back to overtake Haxton as the stacks levelled out between the players. Haxton even took a spell as the shortstack, but eventually after an hour of three-handed play there was a breakthrough. Joentausta was sent to the rail in a hand that saw Haxton regain the chip lead, holding 3.6m in chips compared to heads-up opponent Grazvydas Kontautas. Compared to three-handed play, heads-up play took a lot shorter. Eventually, both players flopped flush draws, and after Kontautas shoved the ace on the turn, Haxton called with top pair and the nut flush draw and rivered the flush to secure victory and the $675,000 payout. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Sunny to partly cloudy. High around 90F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 76F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. British Airways has taken delivery from Boeing of its first South Carolina-made 787-10, about six months later than originally planned. The new Dreamliner aircraft took off from Charleston late Saturday night and arrived shortly before noon local time at London's Heathrow Airport, according to the flight tracking site FlightRadar24. Officials from the British carrier had planned to come to North Charleston to receive their first "Dash 10" months earlier, in January. The aircraft was going to be put into service the next month, on a route from London to Atlanta. But January came and went, and the aircraft, which is the first of a dozen 787-10s British Airways has on order, remained in North Charleston. Then in late May, plane watchers again reported that delivery of the aircraft was imminent. But the month passed, and the jet stayed put. Boeing delivered just four airplanes in May, none of which was a passenger jet. The company also logged nine new orders and twice as many cancellations in the month. British Airways' new 787-10 was registered in the United Kingdom on Friday, ahead of its weekend delivery, according to records from the Civil Aviation Authority. While Boeing's North Charleston plant is expected to send more Dreamliners to London this year at least one other Great Britain-bound 787-10 is already ready for delivery, according to a spreadsheet from the blog All Things 787 British Airways' jets aren't likely to be flying from Heathrow to Charleston International anytime soon. The carrier was supposed to run a second season of its new Charleston-London route from March to October, but the flight's return was put off because of COVID-19. Airport officials later announced that British Airways would not be returning to the Holy City this calendar year. During its inaugural run last year, British Airways flew a 787-8 Dreamliner twice weekly from Heathrow to Charleston International. Sign up for our new business newsletter We're starting a weekly newsletter about the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free. Email Sign Up! From deliveries to orders to production, Boeing's business has taken a huge blow this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Concerns about the spread of the virus combined with a sharp drop in demand for new jets prompted Boeing to temporarily halt production at its factories on both the East and West coasts. Boeing's North Charleston production line was shut down for about three and a half weeks. Workers started to return May 3. Shortly before the campus reopened, Boeing announced in an earnings call that it would be cutting Dreamliner production from 14 per month to seven by 2022 and would reduce its workforce by 10 percent. During the last week of May, about 6,770 Boeing workers in the U.S., including an undisclosed number of Boeing South Carolina employees, learned they had lost their jobs. While the company said those job losses constituted the largest wave of job cuts, several thousand additional layoffs were still to come. A 15 percent workforce cut, which is what Boeing CEO David Calhoun said the commercial airplanes and services divisions of the company could expect, would total about 1,000 of the nearly 7,000 jobs Boeing's South Carolina operation had at the beginning of the year. The 787-10 is the longest of the three models of the Dreamliner, and it's built exclusively at Boeing's North Charleston plant. Final assembly of the 787-8 and 787-9 is split with the company's factory in Everett, Wash. With the arrival of its Dash 10s, British Airways will become the first European carrier and third carrier overall to fly all three versions of the Dreamliner. United Airlines and All Nippon Airways already do. The 787-10s will be joining a fleet with a dozen 787-8s and 18 787-9s. Need inspiration for your next meal in? Weve asked food producers (and food fans) around town for their favorite takeout and delivery dinners. Carole Roberts previously owned Annies Bistro in Mount Pleasant with her husband, Mark Manley. After nearly two years, the couple is readying to reopen as Ville Sante in the former Cinco Tex-Mex on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard. I dont want to say, Roberts says when asked her favorite way to prepare shrimp from Tarvin Seafood, which she names as a takeout staple. Roberts will reveal shes been trying out new recipes with the South Carolina shrimp, a few of which have yielded dishes for Ville Saintes still-secret menu. But you know I have supported local since day one, she says, adding that shes equally excited about strawberries and peaches at this time of year. Sign up for our food & dining newsletter. We publish our free Food & Dining newsletter every Wednesday at 10 a.m. to keep you informed on everything happening in the Charleston culinary scene. Sign up today! Email Sign Up! For home cooks, Roberts suggests cooking Tarvin shrimp with saffron or working them into a paella. Shes also fond of a peel-and-eat preparation, which she plans to offer at the restaurants happy hour. The shrimp will also be available for takeout, although Roberts suspects some guests will want to dine in after seeing the space. This is the most perfect place we could have dreamed of, she says. Its very bright, very bright; its fabulous. Each day, we watch as new coronavirus cases reach record highs. The alarming growth rates are causing increasing concern for our health and our economy. The tri-county region is experiencing an 8.8% increase in daily cases. According to MUSC, we could have more than 45,000 active cases by August, and our medical system could reach capacity in the fall. We are quickly exhausting our grace period. Our region is rapidly approaching crisis mode. This means all patients, whether seeking medical care for coronavirus or another reason, will be challenged in getting the level of care they need. Its time to listen to our medical professionals and start taking the necessary precautions. As a community, we can change this course by acting now. We can choose to take responsibility for lowering the transmission rate. The well-being of our community depends on it. The Charleston Metro Chamber urges every citizen and every business to diligently follow the four safety protocols laid out by our health professionals: Always wear a mask when in public; stay at least 6 feet away from others in public; follow hand-washing best practices; and protect our vulnerable populations. While adhering to these practices creates a slight inconvenience in our lives, doing so demonstrates a personal commitment to keeping our community safe and healthy. Its a small price to pay to help protect our family, friends and neighbors from becoming ill. These are simple actions to help our students return to school in the fall and get us back to doing all the things we love more quickly. Taking these four simple precautions will help ensure our region can remain open and our economy has the opportunity for a healthy recovery. Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! One Region Ready has released a safety-based set of reopening guidelines, in line with accelerateSC and DHEC. We ask each business to visit oneregionready.com and commit to following these safety protocols. By signing and practicing the One Region Ready pledge, you are demonstrating to your customers, clients and employees that you care about them and are part of the recovery solution. Labels and words wont defeat the novel coronavirus. We need action. Lets join together by acknowledging that our nation is facing an unprecedented pandemic. Lets write another rich chapter in our regions history by playing a role in bringing this plague to an end: washing our hands frequently, wearing a mask, practicing social distancing and respecting the health of every person. Now is our time for action. Willis Cantey and Bryan Derreberry serve as the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerces chairman of the board and president-CEO, respectively. Kansas is now requiring all travelers coming from South Carolina to self-quarantine for two weeks, joining three other states that adopted the rule last week because of rising coronavirus case numbers. Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas announced the new policy, which took effect Monday, during her daily press briefing. Florida was also added to the list, which had included Arkansas, Arizona and Alabama. Travelers coming from South Carolina have already had to follow the same guidelines in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut since last Thursday when the governors of those states issued a joint travel advisory. Another deterrent to New Yorkers considering a trip to South Carolina was put in place over the weekend when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an order that will make residents ineligible for COVID-19 paid sick leave benefits if they voluntarily travel to high-risk states. Until that order was signed, employers would have been required to pay for workers' post-vacation lockdown periods because of an earlier executive order that mandated employees be paid if they're in a required quarantine. The states considered high-risk, which include South Carolina, have either a positive COVID-19 test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or have a test positivity rate higher than 10 percent over a seven-day rolling average. Seven other states, including North Carolina, Alabama and Florida in the southeast, were part of the initial quarantine order. That list was doubled on Tuesday. South Carolina remains on the roster of 16 states with self-quarantining requirements, and nearby Georgia and Tennessee were just added. The new quarantine rules mark a pronounced shift from just a few months ago, when Gov. Henry McMaster was telling travelers coming from places then considered hot spots to self-quarantine upon arrival in South Carolina. At one point, hoteliers and vacation rental owners in the state were ordered to not to rent out rooms to New Yorkers. But now, with COVID-19 cases rising sharply in the Palmetto State while once hard-hit areas are seeing cases slow, South Carolina is among the spots some states are eyeing as a potential risk to their residents. Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! Meanwhile, South Carolina tourism leaders are trying to a revive a sector that's already lost more than $3 billion in revenue because of the pandemic. Recent hotel figures have shown the state may be outpacing others trying to coax back visitors occupancy rates in South Carolina have, for eight weeks straight, been higher than those for the Southeast and U.S. but it's unclear if new quarantine advisories will have an effect on bookings. None of the states requiring travelers coming from South Carolina to self-quarantine is within its "drive market," the places within reasonable road trip distance that tourism leaders have focused on to revive the struggling sector. But at least four states in that target market have recently reported COVID-19 outbreaks that health officials linked to vacations to Myrtle Beach. Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and, most recently, Virginia traced clusters of coronavirus cases back to the popular Grand Strand destination. Loudoun County health director Dr. David Goodfriend told Virginia news station WUSA9 Monday that "hundreds" of teens had recently traveled to Myrtle Beach, and some of them "caught coronavirus while they were down there." In response to the recent reports, Karen Riordan, CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, has said that the focus "should not be on individual cities or states." It is the responsibility of every individual to take the necessary precautions when they venture out of their homes or travel, such as social distancing, wearing masks and sanitizing," she said. Social media advertising to West Virginia was temporarily paused last week. No major changes to marketing plans were made since then, though Myrtle Beach is lessening its ad presence in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut because of the travel advisory. According to the Chamber, some Myrtle Beach businesses have reported July cancellations connected to the travel advisories and reports of COVID-19 cases. Nearly 30 South Carolina cities and counties have either passed or plan to adopt rules requiring masks in public as COVID-19 cases continue to set records in the state. Local governments are passing rules mandating face coverings because Gov. Henry McMaster has said he has no plans to issue an order, saying it would be impractical and unenforceable. But S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson said he would not stop local governments from enforcing mask rules. Six of the state's nine largest cities including Columbia, Charleston and Greenville have already passed face-cover ordinances. At least 23 cities with mask rules as of Tuesday night stretch from Clemson in the northwest corner of the state, to Beaufort on the southern edge. Many coastal cities from North Myrtle Beach to Edisto Beach are requiring face coverings ahead of the July Fourth holiday, the busiest time of the summer tourist season. Myrtle Beach, the state's top visitor destination, is expected to approve a mask mandate Thursday. Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! One county, Colleton, passed a mask regulation. Another five cities, including Sumter, Port Royal and Anderson, along with Beaufort County have announced plans to vote on face coverings this week. If all ordinances pass, an estimated 930,000 South Carolinians, or 18 percent of the state population, will be under mask requirements. Most of South Carolina's local ordinances require face coverings in all commercial establishments, including all stores and restaurants. A few, such as those in Mount Pleasant and Greenville, require masks only in grocery stores and pharmacies. Exceptions to wearing masks usually include exercising, attending religious services and while eating and drinking. A majority of the mask ordinances carry a fine of $25. Some reach $50 or $100. Violators on Hilton Head Island face a fine up to $500 or 30 days in jail. Most of the local mask ordinances last through the end of August but could be extended. South Carolina reported a new daily record of COVID-19 cases Tuesday at 1,741 the seventh consecutive day with more than 1,000 cases. The state has had twice as many cases in June than the previous three months combined to become one of the nation's coronavirus hot spots. The seven-day moving case average has risen by 500 percent in the past month since restrictions on leaving home for nonessential travel, eating in restaurants and shopping in stores have ended. South Carolina health officials warned against traveling over the July Fourth holiday weekend after blaming a recent spike of cases on group gatherings where people did not wear masks. The state also has seen a sharp rise in positive tests from people ages 11 to 30. Getting into good trouble is a guiding principle for John Lewis. Its not only OK, but necessary to enact and inspire meaningful change. And its not just rhetoric, either. The 80-year-old congressman has the receipts to prove it. He has been arrested 45 times, five of which happened while he was a sitting representative. In the new documentary " John Lewis: Good Trouble, he couldnt be prouder of that fact because its all been in service of his lifelong fight for civil rights. He even predicts that hell add to that tally. MOUNT PLEASANT Wearing face masks to limit spread of the coronavirus will be mandatory in groceries, pharmacies and the town's municipal buildings starting Wednesday. Town Council narrowly approved the mandate in a Monday afternoon emergency meeting. Residents who attended the meeting were divided, with some calling for adoption of the rule and others decrying it as an assault on civil liberties. Representatives of Mount Pleasant Hospital and Roper St. Francis urged the council to require masks, as did some residents. I really hope you all have the courage to do the right thing and follow good medical practices and do what needs to be done here," said Kathleen King. Others suggested there's no proof that masks limit the spread of the virus and some claimed masks cause heath problems. Right now, God, our divinity, is being challenged," resident Linda Seaton said. This is a fascist attempt, what is going on right here." She suggested the proposed mask rule was also connected to Agenda 21, a 1990s United Nations resolution related to sustainability that some believe is a part of a worldwide conspiracy. After about 90 minutes of discussion, council members acted, and the regulation received just the necessary six votes for approval (a two-thirds majority was needed because it was an emergency meeting). Council members Kathy Landing and Gary Santos voted against it, and Brenda Corley was absent. Before the vote, several council members made attempts to strengthen, or weaken, the rules. Councilwoman Guang Ming Whitley wanted the mask requirements to be broader than originally proposed, to include retail stores and salons among places where everyone must wear masks, but she could not find enough support for her amendment. The town rule requires employees, but not patrons, to wear masks in retail shops and salons. Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! Landing went in the other direction, suggesting the town should suggest rather than require masks. She said residents should take steps toward building up their immunity, such as getting more fresh air and sunshine. She also recommended zinc. I do believe we need to let people and businesses do what they believe is right for them," Landing said. Councilman Jake Rambo authored a change in the rules that allows anyone who claims they have a medical condition to go mask-free, without specifying what condition they have. That rule is part of the approved ordinance. So, if youre asked why you dont have a mask on, you dont have to go into details about your medical condition," Rambo said. Members of the public who supported a mask mandate cited medical advice, and several medical professionals offered supportive comments. It didnt occur to me that we might not pass this today," said a visibly frustrated Mayor Will Haynie, as he went through a litany of health statistics prior to the vote. Charleston County has been leading South Carolina in new coronavirus cases, and the state has become such a hot spot that at least three states are requiring visitors from the Palmetto State to quarantine for two weeks. Meanwhile, Councilman Howard Chapman said tourists from other states are coming to Mount Pleasant and the nearby beaches and he wants them to wear masks, too. Many other states that had serious problems, theyre coming here," he said. Violating Mount Pleasant's new mask rules could result in a $25 civil penalty for individuals and fines starting at $100 for businesses. Mount Pleasant is the latest large South Carolina city to mandate protective masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, and a number of smaller towns and cities have approved rules of their own. Just on Monday, Mount Pleasant, Summerville, Folly Beach, Kiawah, Walterboro, Colleton County, Beaufort, Hilton Head and Newberry approved face mask mandates. Right now thats the only thing we got, said Summerville Mayor Ricky Waring. Other towns around us are passing ordinances similar to this. Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg and Isle of Palms did so last week. In the greater Charleston area, most mask requirements take effect Wednesday. The state hasn't taken the lead on the issue, leaving it instead to more than 300 towns, cities and counties to decide. Local officials have faced residents who, in some cases, have demanded tough mask regulations and in other cases objected. Frequently, town and city council members have heard from residents on both sides, as in Mount Pleasant on Monday. At a Town Council meeting about a dozen residents spoke before Mount Pleasant approved a mask requirement. Some urged approval, citing medical advice, or representing local hospitals. I really hope you all have the courage to do the right thing and follow good medical practices and do what needs to be done here, said Kathleen King. Others said a mask requirement was an infringement on their liberty, or worse. Right now, God, our divinity, is being challenged, resident Linda Seaton said. This is a fascist attempt, what is going on right here. Last week on Isle of Palms, City Council voted against a mask mandate on Tuesday, then held an emergency meeting on Friday and approved one after a large majority of residents demanded it. The lack of statewide regulations has prompted a cascade of municipal rules as the number of coronavirus cases in SC soars. That's resulted in regulations that vary from one town or city to another. Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! Some, including the city of Charleston and Colleton County, require face masks to be worn by anyone entering a business. Others, such as Mount Pleasant and Greenville, require all to wear face masks in grocery stores and pharmacies, but only employees must wear them in other businesses. Grocery stores and pharmacies are considered essential business that people can't simply choose to not patronize if they're afraid of catching the virus. Other towns and cities, including North Charleston, Goose Creek and Hanahan, have encouraged residents to wear masks but do not require them. State and federal public health officials, and representatives of local hospitals, have urged people to wear masks, which can reduce the chances of an infected person passing the virus to others. Most municipal mask regulations include exemptions for people who, for medical reasons, are unable to wear one, and for babies and toddlers. In most cases, requirements to wear masks in restaurants require that they be worn except when people are eating. Most of us thought by now wed be on the downside of a curve, Kiawah Councilman Dan Prickett said. I think everyone realizes how serious this is. Most rules come with the threat of a small fine, in the $25 to $50 range for individuals, though some are larger $500 in Hilton Head, for example. Here's a roundup of some of the mask mandates approved Monday in various SC towns and cities. Mount Pleasant: Requires masks in groceries, pharmacies and town buildings. Employees must wear them in other businesses. Starts Wednesday. Summerville: Requires masks in retail and food- service businesses. Takes effect Wednesday but lasts only nine days unless extended. Folly Beach: Requires masks in enclosed public spaces, including restaurants and stores, and in outdoor spaces when it is not possible to stay 6 feet away from others. Businesses must post notices to wear masks or face a fine of $100 per day of violation. Effective noon Tuesday. Kiawah Island: Requires masks in businesses and restaurants, starting at noon Wednesday. Walterboro and Colleton County: Require face masks in all commercial establishments. Employees must wear them, too. Effective 6 a.m. Wednesday. Beaufort: Requires masks in all publicly accessible buildings, including stores and restaurants, starting Wednesday morning. Hilton Head: Requires masks within commercial establishments starting Wednesday morning. Penalties include a $500 fine or 30 days in jail. City of Newberry: Requires masks in groceries and pharmacies. Notably, Newberry's ordinance specifies that Walmart and Dollar General count as grocery stores. Effective Wednesday. Edisto Beach: Requires masks for patrons and employees older than 10 in all retail stores, restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies, barber shops, salons, convenience stores, and gas stations. Effective Wednesday. Regulations approved previously, in most cases last week: Charleston County: Masks are required in county buildings and encouraged elsewhere. In effect. City of Charleston: Requires masks in public indoor spaces such as grocery stores and restaurants, while interacting with people outdoors, on public or commercial transportation and outdoors where its too crowded to keep 6 feet apart. Starts Wednesday. Columbia: Requires masks in all commercial businesses. In effect. City of Greenville: Requires masks in grocery stores and pharmacies, and for staff in restaurants, retail shops, barbershops and salons. In effect. Isle of Palms: Requires masks in retail and food-service establishments (including grocery stores). Starts Wednesday. City of Clemson: Requires masks in any building open to the public, and on public transportation, and "when coming into contact with any person who is not a family or household member, whether indoors or outdoors." In effect. City of Spartanburg: Requires masks in groceries, pharmacies and municipal buildings. Staff must wear them in other businesses. In effect. Staff writers Chloe Johnson, Gregory Yee and Jerrel Floyd contributed to this report. South Carolina reported a new daily record of coronavirus cases on Tuesday. Out of the more than 1,700 cases reported, Charleston County saw 375 cases, also a record. Roper St. Francis Healthcare said its hospitals saw a 65 percent spike in COVID-19 patients in a single day, from 46 inpatients on Monday to 76 Tuesday. Beginning Monday, they'll postpone elective surgeries that would require overnight care, in order to free up beds as cases swell statewide. Health officials are recommending that South Carolina residents try to celebrate the Fourth of July at home to slow the spread of COVID-19. That includes avoiding the beaches. Families should avoid gatherings and plan festivities at home or watch fireworks virtually or from their vehicles, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said Tuesday. Young people in particular should be careful to reduce their chances of infection. South Carolina has seen a 996 percent increase in those aged 11 to 20 and a 413 percent increase in those aged 21 to 30 testing positive for the coronavirus, DHEC said. Statewide numbers Number of new cases reported: 1,741, a new record Total number of cases in S.C.: 36,297 Number of new deaths reported: 17 Total number of deaths in S.C.: 735 Number of hospitalized patients: 1,021 Percent of tests that were positive: 19 percent Total number of tests in S.C.: 420,061 Which areas are hardest-hit? Charleston County again led the state in new confirmed infections on Tuesday with 375 cases, a new record. Horry County followed with 170 cases, then Richland County with 137 and Greenville County with 125. Whats happening in the tri-county region? Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! The tri-county continued to see high coronavirus case numbers on Tuesday. In addition to 375 cases in Charleston County, Berkeley counted 70 and Dorchester saw 87. The Roper St. Francis Healthcare system reported that the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in their four hospitals spiked 65 percent in one day, from 46 patients on Monday to 76 on Tuesday. Starting Monday, they will stop elective surgeries that require overnight stays in order to keep beds free. After a staff member tested positive, Dorchester County Magistrate Court is closed for the rest of the week and hearings are canceled while the facility is cleaned. Deaths Of the newly deceased patients, 15 were individuals above the age of 65 living in Aiken, Berkeley, Charleston, Dillon, Edgefield, Florence, Greenville, Horry, Lexington, McCormick, Orangeburg, Pickens and Spartanburg counties. Two were between the ages of 35 and 65 and resided in Florence and Richland counties. Officials are working to confirm another two deaths related to suspected coronavirus infections. According to data updated Tuesday by DHEC, 324 of the total deaths in the state have been among patients in long-term care facilities. Overall, 1,769 cases have been reported among such residents, along with 887 cases among staff and four related deaths. How to stop the spread Medical experts and government officials have begged people to wear masks as cases spike. While Gov. Henry McMaster declined to issue a statewide mask-wearing mandate, several cities have enacted ordinances within city limits. The state Department of Health and Environmental Control also asked that South Carolinians avoid crowds, stay 6 feet away from others outside their households, and regularly wash their hands. What do experts say? The rise in the number of people hospitalized with the virus has concerned medical officials. Dr. Lee Biggs, chief medical officer for Trident Health, said the hospital system has 51 COVID-19 patients. That is more than double the 21 patients the health system had a week before. The hospital is admitting about a third of its COVID-19 patients, which Biggs said is a sign that cases are more serious. This COVID surge is on a 7-day doubling cycle, which is incredibly white hot and dangerous," he said, referring to increased numbers in area hospitals. Biggs is concerned these trends will continue. If leaders are making public health decisions based on hopes for an economic boost during the July 4 weekend, Biggs said the consequences could be dire. "In doing that, are we going to be writing a check that were never able to pay for? he said. MK Wildeman contributed to this report. ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. Florida and other states across the Sunbelt are thinning out the deck chairs, turning over the bar stools and rushing to line up more hospital beds as they head into the height of the summer season amid a startling surge in confirmed cases of the coronavirus. With newly reported infections running at around 40,000 a day in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious-disease expert, warned on Tuesday that the number could rocket to 100,000 if Americans don't start following public health recommendations. Over the past few days, states such as Florida, Arizona, Texas and California have reversed course, closing or otherwise clamping down on bars, shutting beaches, rolling back restaurant capacity, putting limits on crowds at pools, or taking other steps to curb a scourge that may be thriving because of such factors as air conditioning and resistance to wearing masks. "Any time you have these reopenings, you're depending on people to do the right things, to follow the rules. I think that's where the weak spots come in," said Dr. Cindy Prins, a University of Florida epidemiologist. She warned that things are likely to get worse before they get better. New confirmed cases in Florida have spiked over the past week, especially in younger people, who may be more likely to survive COVID-19 but can spread it to the Sunshine State's many vulnerable older residents. The state on Tuesday reported more than 6,000 new cases. More than 8,000 were recorded on each of three days late last week. Deaths have climbed past 3,500. Floridians ages 15 to 34 now make up 31 percent of all cases, up from 25 percent in early June. Last week, more than 8,000 new cases were reported in that age group, compared with about 2,000 among people 55 to 64 years old. Hospital intensive care units are starting to fill up in South Florida, with a steadily increasing number of patients requiring ventilators. Miami's Baptist Hospital had only six of its 82 ICU beds available, officials said. Hard-hit Arizona called on hospitals to increase their number of beds for a surge of patients and to fully staff their facilities. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey shut down bars, movie theaters and gyms and banned groups larger than 10 at swimming pools. Air conditioning could be a factor in hot-weather states where new cases have been spiking, because it recirculates air instead of bringing it in fresh from outside, said Dr. Kristin Englund, an infectious-disease physician at Cleveland Clinic. "I definitely think the air condition and the oppressive heat in the South is going to play a role in this," she said. The coronavirus has been blamed for over a half-million deaths worldwide, including about 130,000 in the U.S., where the number of new cases per day has soared over the past month, primarily in the South and West. "I would not be surprised if we go up to to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned," Fauci said on Capitol Hill. Van Johnson, mayor of the tourism-dependent city of Savannah, Georgia, population 145,000, announced he is requiring the wearing of masks, with violators subject to $500 fines. Savannah becomes one of the first cities in Georgia to take such a step. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has largely prohibited local governments from imposing rules stricter than the state's. The new round of shutdowns around the country is likely to cause another spike in layoffs. Nikki Forsberg said she is relying on government loans to keep afloat the Old Ironhorse Saloon, the only bar in the Texas Hill Country town of Blanco, after it was closed for two months beginning in mid-March and then shut down again on Friday by the governor's order. She said money got so tight for some of her eight employees during the first shutdown that she told them to go the bar and take whatever they needed petty cash, toilet paper, even one of the refrigerators. Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! "That's how desperate it got," she said. "By the time we had opened back up, we had stripped the bar of all the non-liquor inventory." Health officials say the next several weeks will be critical to Florida's success, or failure, with the virus. The Fourth of July, the reopening of Walt Disney World on July 11, and the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville at the end of August all loom on the calendar, promising to draw crowds and the potential for person-to-person spread. While cities like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg and Sarasota have mandated masks, some people in Florida have been resistant. Zoe Mitchell wasn't wearing a mask as she tucked into a salad in St. Petersburg. The 26-year-old bartender said that if people are worried, "they should stay home." In The Villages retirement community near Orlando, tension has developed among residents who wear masks and those who don't. And the split has been along political lines. Ira Friedman, who along with wife, Ellen, is active in the local Democratic Party, said that at first, he would just make an exaggerated cough to get his point across if he saw someone without a mask. But he said he has become more vocal about it as the number of cases has grown. "Unfortunately, we don't find that the Republicans are following the same protocols as we are," his wife said. Elsewhere around the world, the European Continent decided to reopen to visitors from 14 countries but not the U.S. The European Union also kept its ban in place for visitors from China and from countries such as Russia, Brazil and India where infections are running high. "We have to remain vigilant and keep our most vulnerable safe," tweeted European Council President Charles Michel. President Donald Trump suspended the entry of most Europeans in March. Americans make up a big share of Europe's tourism industry, and summer is a key period. More than 15 million Americans travel to Europe each year, while some 10 million Europeans head across the Atlantic. The news was a blow to struggling shopkeepers hoping for a summertime boom. "Americans were 50 percent of my clientele," lamented Paola Pellizzari, who owns a mask and jewelry shop on the Saint-Louis island in the heart of Paris and heads its business association. "We can't substitute that clientele with another." Across the English Channel, things are also headed in reverse in places. Britain reimposed a lockdown in Leicester, a city of 330,000 people that officials said accounted for 10 percent of all new coronavirus cases in the nation last week. Stores closed their doors, and schools prepared to send children home. "I opened my shop last week for the first time and saw an instant increase in orders, and now I worry this change will go back to no orders," said James West, who runs a design and printing business in Thurmaston, just outside Leicester. Summerville has joined other municipalities in South Carolina in requiring people to wear masks. At an emergency Town Council meeting Monday, members voted unanimously to approve an ordinance that requires face coverings in food-service and retail establishments. The ordinance will go into effect Wednesday and last for nine days. It will be reviewed again July 9, when council will vote on whether to extend the ordinance. "I hope it will work," Councilman Walter Bailey said. "I hope it is very temporary." At the special meeting, council members debated whether to require parents to make sure children under 12 wear masks. Bailey pushed to loosen those rules, and council approved altering the ordinance language to only recommend children wear a face covering. Sign up for our new health newsletter The best of health, hospital and science coverage in South Carolina, delivered to your inbox weekly. Email Sign Up! Mayor Ricky Waring told council members that he came to his decision after discussing the pandemic with medical experts. They convinced him that wearing a mask is one of the main protections available now. "Right now, that's the only thing we got," he said, noting there is no vaccine yet. "Other towns around us are passing ordinances similar to this." Council will revisit the ordinance next week, and if it is extended, members will continue to review the ordinance at every meeting. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 49 cases of the coronavirus in Dorchester County. The county has seen over 600 cases of the virus since the emergence of the pandemic. DHEC estimates that there are nearly 4,000 cases in the county. Summerville, SC (29483) Today Sunny to partly cloudy. High 92F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. This Fourth of July, military planes from bases across the state will fly the entire stretch of South Carolina's coastline. On Saturday, the 11th annual Salute From The Shore event will begin about 1 p.m. featuring planes from Charleston Air Force Base, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter and even some historic planes flown by private owners. Starting at the North Carolina/South Carolina border, the planes will fly from Myrtle Beach to Bluffton and land at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort near Hilton Head Island. South Carolina is a very patriotic state, Cam Smith, a co-founder of Salute From the Shore, said in a statement. We figured the coast of South Carolina would be a great platform for an audience to gather and show gratitude to the military. To kick off the event, two Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons from Shaw will start the parade in the skies. It will be followed by a Boeing C-17 Globemaster flown out of Charleston. Other private aircraft are expected to join in the procession. Most notably, a privately owned P-51 Mustang dubbed "The Swamp Fox," a single-seat fighter plane and bomber successfully used during World War II and the Korean War, will also travel the coastline. Sign up for our SC Military Digest newsletter Get exclusive military reporting, updates from Palmetto State bases, headlines from around the globe and more delivered to your inbox each Tuesday. Email Sign up! Ive known about Salute From the Shore since its inception, RT Dickson, the pilot of the vintage P-51, said in a statement. Im definitely excited. Ive seen Salute From the Shore on numerous occasions, and Im proud and honored to be able to participate this year. Flight schedule The 11th annual Salute From The Shore flyover will be happening on Saturday, July 4. Here are the approximate times that spectators can see the military planes fly by their closest beach. Cherry Grove: F-16s at 1 p.m., C-17 at 1:05 p.m. Myrtle Beach: F-16s at 1:03 p.m., C-17 at 1:06 p.m. Pawleys Island: F-16s at 1:06 p.m., C-17 at 1:14 p.m. Isle of Palms: F-16s at 1:15 p.m., C-17 at 1:29 p.m. Charleston Harbor: F-16s at 1:16 p.m., C-17 at 1:32 p.m. Folly Beach: F-16s at 1:20 p.m., C-17 at 1:35 p.m. Edisto Island: F-16s at 1:24 p.m., C-17 at 1:41 p.m. Hilton Head/Bluffton: F-16s at 1:31 p.m., C-17 at 1:48 p.m. Beaufort: F-16s at 1:35 p.m., C-17 at 1:54 p.m. The event has been going on for more than a decade. "There's just this reverence that takes over the beach during the entire event," Jill Armbruster, another co-founder of the event, said in a promotional video. "The people of South Carolina take this seriously." The flyover is scheduled to last about an hour and the trek will hit every major beach from Cherry Grove to Beaufort. What I want to stress here though is that, in our study, participants were able to smoke the amount of cannabis they wanted to. When participants smoke to their desired high, we call this titrating to effect, explains Justin Matheson, the studys lead author. Titrating to effect is possible when smoking cannabis because THC delivery to the brain is very rapid with this route of administration, so users can feel the high as they are still smoking. Last week, the city of Charleston removed John Calhoun's statue from atop this monument, and it also removed the plaques and lettering from the column's base. The name "Calhoun" has been temporary covered by a wooden box. Robert Behre/Staff Political Reporter Caitlin Byrd is a political reporter at The Post and Courier and author of the Palmetto Politics newsletter. Before moving to Charleston in 2016, her byline appeared in the Asheville Citizen-Times. To date, Byrd has won 17 awards for her work. COLUMBIA An audit of the agency tasked with helping South Carolina's seniors live independently found a host of problems, including no statewide plan for reducing waiting lists, not correctly distributing money and insufficient oversight of groups actually providing the services. The report by the Legislative Audit Council, released Monday, also found chronically poor morale in an agency that's been in near-constant transition for two decades. Before the state Senate confirmed director Connie Munn in January, none of the 10 directors who had come and gone since 2003 staying as little as six months had any background in aging programs. Almost three-fourths of employees responding to a survey in January complained of back-biting and malicious gossip, fewer than half believed what their managers told them, half said there's gender discrimination and about half said promotions aren't based on merit. "This shows what she was walking into," audit director Earle Powell said of Munn, whose experience in senior issues includes leading a regional aging office. It's the first legislative audit of the state Department of Aging, which became a stand-alone, Cabinet agency last year. It was previously under the lieutenant governor's office, occupied by six different politicians in the last decade. Poor morale and allegations of discrimination were largely why the Senate refused to confirm Munn's predecessor, Stephen Morris, a friend of Gov. Henry McMaster's who was originally hired in 2015 when McMaster was lieutenant governor. "You had so much turnover. How can you get any direction?" Powell said, adding the timing was right for a thorough review. The audit can serve as a "good guidebook" for Munn, he said, crediting her for already implementing many of the recommendations. While Munn thanked the audit council, which is the Legislature's auditing arm, for pointing out deficiencies she says are being corrected, she still took issue with the finding that her agency had no plan to reduce waiting lists. She said that's the responsibility of the regional providers. As of January, more than 5,000 seniors were on waiting lists for services, mostly for home-delivered meals and in-home personal care, with totals varying widely between the state's 10 regions for aging programs. Other services with waiting lists were homemakers who help with housekeeping and cooking, transportation, minor home repair, yard work and group dining at senior centers, according to the audit. The agency does not track the number of people on waiting lists or how long they've been waiting, the audit said. "Without timely and accurate waiting list data, (the agency) cannot fully understand the extent of unmet needs throughout the state and will be unable to determine the effectiveness of its efforts to reduce waiting lists," reads the audit. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Sen. Katrina Shealy, who requested the audit, said the agency needs to come up with a plan of some sort in a state where the population of residents 60 and older has increased 40 percent in the last decade. Despite the hike in the older population, the number of seniors receiving Aging services increased just 1.3 percent between 2008 and 2018, the latest year a breakdown was available. For some services, including homemakers and group meals, the number receiving help actually declined, according to the audit. About 36 percent of the agency's $52 million budget comes from state taxes, while the bulk comes from the federal government. "Ask the Legislature for more money. That's a plan," said Shealy, R-Lexington, adding that requires knowing how much is needed and having the data to back it up. "Get in line and ask for the money. The Legislature's not going to offer it to you if you don't ask for it." Munn accused auditors of not understanding the issue's complications and the agency's role in essentially funneling money to regional providers. "In various cases, it is not funding alone that will eliminate waiting lists, but the availability of resources, staff, and transportation issues that can preclude services being provided," Munn wrote in her official response. The harsh reality is, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, waiting lists can never fully be eliminated due to the growing number of seniors in need of services." Still, she wrote, the agency will develop better tracking protocols. Another problem is that the agency is not using the most recent Census data when distributing money to the 10 regions. The difference in what regions would receive using updated numbers is small by percentage, at less than 1 percent, but could still mean some regions should be receiving more than $100,000 additional for services. And for preventative health services, the agency isn't using a different formula that gives priority to rural areas that lack access to medical care, as required by the federal Older Americans Act. It's only a technical violation, as the federal government has approved how South Carolina distributes that money. But it still means the agency isn't ensuring that the seniors who most need the services are getting them, auditors said. Nearly half of the LAC's recommendations deal with the need to monitor the local governments and businesses providing the services around the state, to make sure they're following the rules, spending money appropriately and not offering shoddy services. For the bulk of the programs, there was no documentation of any monitoring, the report said. Munn said she started an initiative for uniform monitoring in January. Those efforts have been delayed by COVID-19 but should be in place within the next six months, she said. Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email circulation@postregister.com for help creating one. Janet Colliton, Esq. is a Certified Elder Law Attorney and limits her practice to elder law, retirement and estate planning, Medicaid, Medicare, life care and special needs at 790 East Market St., Suite 250, West Chester, Pa., 19382, 610-436-6674 Call via Mitel , colliton@collitonlaw.com. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and, with Jeffrey Jones, CSA, co-founder of Life Transition Services LLC, a service for families with long term care needs. Tune in on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. to radio WCHE 1520, 50+ Planning Ahead, with Janet Colliton, Colliton Elder Law Associates, and Phil McFadden, Home Instead Senior Care. Last week, when I briefly previewed the remainder of the Supreme Court term, I suggested that most of the big cases wouldnt go well for conservatives, but that conservatives might squeak out wins in the religious liberty cases. Today, the Supreme Court decided one of those cases, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, and the conservative position prevailed. By a 5-4 vote, the Court held that the Montana supreme court violated the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution when it applied a state constitutional no-aid provision to bar religious schools from receiving scholarship money under a state tax-credit program. The Montana Legislature had established the tax credit to provide tuition assistance to parents who send their children to private schools. But when parents sought to use the scholarships at a religious school, the Montana Supreme Court struck down the program. It relied on the no-aid provision of the State Constitution, which prohibits any aid to a school controlled by a church, sect, or denomination. The majority concluded that the Free Exercise Clause bars that application of the no-aid provision. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion. Ed Whelan breaks down that opinion here. The four conservative Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh joined the Chief Justices opinion. In addition, Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch each wrote concurring opinions. Ed summarizes them here. Of the religious freedom cases before the Court, Espinoza could have been viewed as the most likely one to get away from conservatives. Thats because, with the Montana Supreme Court having eliminated the scholarship program altogether, a majority might have concluded that there is no discrimination against those who want to use scholarships at religious schools. However, for reasons Ed describes, Roberts wisely rejected this argument. The Court still has two major religious liberty cases to decide this term. They are: Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania and Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru. In Little Sisters of the Poor, the issue is whether the federal government lawfully exempted religious objectors from the regulatory requirement to provide health plans that include contraceptive coverage. There is also a technical issue regarding standing. The issue in the Lady of Guadalupe School case is whether the First Amendments religion clauses prevent civil courts from adjudicating employment discrimination claims brought by an employee against her religious employer, when the employee carried out important religious functions. These are massive cases, in my opinion. Lets hope the Chief Justice stays with the four conservative Justices and upholds the First Amendments guarantees of religious liberty. Not long ago I had occasion to write an article for the Bipartisan Policy Center lamenting the decline in the discipline of history, noting, among other things: [C]onservatives in history departments are scarce and dwindling. . . conservative-minded historians are likewise alienated from both the ideological center of gravity and the dominant methodological focus of American history today. . . The effect of this is not simply a further narrowing of campus orthodoxy that sometimes aggressively marginalizes non-left thinkers and ideas (the cancel culture phenomenon); the mainstream of academia is becoming even more remote from the mainstream of America. There are a few exceptions to this general dreariness and leftward drift in history, including Wilfred McClay and Allen Guelzo. Another exception worth knowing is Gregory L. Schneider, who is the Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professor of Emporia State University in Kansas. Ive known Greg for a long while now, and we team-taught a summer school course together about the Great Society for the Ashbrook Centers fine program for high school history and government teachers. He the author of five books on the history of railroads, and also American conservatism itself, all highly recommended. Greg sent along the following text that parents ought to print off and pass along to their high school and college age kids: What I Will Say I teach modern American history at a regional university in Kansas, and I am a conservative, one of the rare modern American historians who can claim, and will proudly embrace, that distinction. Given the circumstances politically and socially in the country right now since the death of George Floyd, and given the assault on free speech in the wider society, many professors probably fear saying the wrong thing, or fear even how to address the subject in their classes. I do not. This is what I will say on my first day of class in the fall term: * * Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the introductory course, U.S. history since 1877. We are going to embark on a story of hope and opportunity, covering an era which saw America become a great power, both in economic and in military terms. It was an era in which capitalism did more to lift people out of poverty and give them opportunity than in any comparable period in the worlds history. It was an era where Americans helped win two world wars, in the second defeating German fascism and Japanese militarism. In its aftermath we fought a Cold War which saw western democracy triumph over totalitarianism and communism. Not least, this era was one of extraordinary gains for those left behind from racism and gender inequalities in the nation; the people of the nation continue to pursue those ends despite the imperfect achievement of them. It is a national history to be proud of, rather than one to despise. It is a story of the fulfillment of the goals of equality laid out in Thomas Jeffersons Declaration of Independence, that America was founded on God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and no one, especially in government, could take those rights from you. Somewhere, people in the nation have lost sight of that. Whether it is the fault of educators, the media, educational administrators, politicians, ministers, celebrities, or social media influencers, somewhere your generation has been led astray. Somewhere you have been taught that social justice is the end goal of all history, and that failure to achieve it now signifies a failure in our institutions and democracy. This course will stress a different conclusion: my course is a history of reaffirmation. It is a history of context and nuance. It is a history of the good, without ignoring the bad, and the ugly. It is a history of a nation which Abraham Lincoln called, correctly, the last, best hope of Earth. And what made this history possible? Two things. The first was the vision of the founders, Thomas Jeffersons radical doctrine of equality embraced in the Declaration of Independence, and the charter which gave sustenance to those rights (and responsibilities), the American Constitution. The second was American capitalism and its promotion of economic opportunity should you choose to avail yourselves of it. You might ask right now: How can we celebrate the vision of the founders when we had such rampant racism from the end of Reconstruction until the civil rights movement of the 1960s? And what about today? I mean, how can you say that America is a great nation given what happened to George Floyd? How can we think anything good about a country and its people who fought brutal wars against the natives in the West? And who trampled on the rights and freedoms of women, and exploited immigrant labor for profit? How can we think that this country represented anything more than the selfish interests of a racist, misogynistic, plutocratic, and nativist caste? How can we think otherwise? Well, my young friends, you will be taught otherwise, but you will be instructed to think for yourselves in this class. The founders were flawed men, as all men are. They owned slaves in some cases; they perpetuated an elitist view of republicanism rather than democracy; and they failed to see the verity of Jeffersons radical claimall men are created equal. It took a civil war to bring about the doctrine of equality and it took the Reconstruction era to attempt to ensure it. It did not. What followed was a century of discrimination, racism, murder, hate for black Americans and for many other minority groups as well. Our job is to understand why this happened, not so we can alter the past to fit it to our own sensibilities (that just leads to charging against windmills, or tearing down statues, which serve as the same symbols as windmills for todays Don Quixotes). Rather, we understand the past in its own context so we can understand more forthrightly why things were the way they were. Knowing that racism was far worse long ago, may give one an appreciation for the life we live today, built on the work and legacy of people some castigate so easily, and triumphantly, as racists. We will address issues of racism in their proper context. The goal of this course is not to turn you into activists, but for you to acquire the knowledge to be good citizens and to learn from our past. At the same time, this class will affirm the great things about America. Not everything in American history is problematicmuch in our history is splendid and worth celebrating. If historians are going to surrender their duties to instruct and to teach the context of the past in favor of redressing contemporary problems, you will learn much that will profit you on the barricades, but you will have no understanding of history. You will have no understanding of the importance of this moment in comparison with other moments. Nor will you understand why some people feel differently about the institutions and the traditions being cast asunder and why they oppose protestors and vandals tearing away the past. The founders understood this about society and about history, which is why they created a system which remains so enduring that it has lasted for two-and-a-half centuries (so far). The model for the current proteststhe French revolution and its successors in communist revolutions in the 20th century created systems which, in their denial of human freedom and in their denial of human rights, lasted less than a century (thank goodness). Our country has its problems but turning towards the manifest inhumanity of Marxist solutions and communist revolutionary models will make us all poorer, and all slaves of the state. So, as we begin this class, no topic is off limits and no discussion is off the table. Free speech is the basis for intellectual growth and development. It is the basis for a free society. Without free speech, there is no way democracy survives; attempts to subvert it through intimidation will not work in this class. In return, you will benefit from hearing views with which you disagree both from me, and, probably, from your classmates. This class will test your beliefs every day and will do so in a respectful manner. Your professor is a zealous advocate and defender of free speech, one cause worthy of defending on campus, and in society, and one which is under dire threat. The threat to free speech is something all Americans should awake to. Free speech and the debate which comes with it is one of the most important legacies the founders bequeathed to us, which will always resonate with reasonable Americans, even in unreasonable times. Let us begin our journey through American history and let us reason together. This weekends body count from Chicago: Chaser: Trumps letter to Chicago Mayor Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. Lightweight: More Americans have been killed in Chicago than in combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq combined since September 11, 2001, a deadly trend that has continued under your tenure. . . Your lack of leadership on this important issue continues to fail the people you have sworn to protect. But Chicago has strict gun control, so theres that! Ive got a couple of great new Power Line podcast episodes in the can and rolling out later this week, but I was also a guest on the In the Trenches podcast with the young Seth Root a couple weeks ago, discussing the statesmanship of Ronald Reaganalways a fit topic, especially for the younger generation. While you wait breathlessly for the next Power Line Show, you can download and give a listen to this episode here. At this point it looks as though Republicans will need to appoint all nine members of the Supreme Court to stand a 50/50 chance that five of them will rule sensibly. It has now been 36 days since the death of George Floyd, and Yale University still hasnt changed its name. #CancelYale A number of colleges have rescinded admissions for students who they subsequently discovered had indulged in insensitive (or worse) comments or behavior some time in their youthful past. I note in passing that the leader of the effort to topple the statue of Lincoln in Washington DC is a Harvard student. Will he face any discipline from Harvard for this advocacy of criminal vandalism? Hypothetical: How would Harvard react if a conservative student advocated vandalizing the Martin Luther King memorial on the Capitol Mall? I think we know howd theyd respond. I asked if he wants to talk about what took place with the murder and he told me that he hadnt slept for 5 days and that he just flipped, the man told police, according to the warrant. He said he didnt know why he did it and that he was remorseful for it. ... He was very careful about what he would say and it seemed like he didnt want to face the reality of what happened. Over the weekend Minneapoliss FOX 9 broke Tom Lydens story of the three Minneapolis city council members who have private security officers protecting them at city expense. Toms story is posted here. The video is below. The three council members are vocal proponents of substituting a Department of Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows for the Minneapolis Police Department. They all voted in favor of the ordinance advancing such a proposal last week. I posted a copy of the ordinance here yesterday. The council members Andrea Jenkins, Phillipe Cunningham, and Alondra Arma virumque Cano are a little vague about the threats to which they have been subject. Lyden obtained this giggle-inducing quote from Jenkins: My concern is the large number of white nationalist(s) in our city and other threatening communications Ive been receiving. Im thinking the number of white nationalists in Minneapolis must be smaller than the the number of Minneapolis members in our local chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Considerably smaller. Lyden adds this: Jenkins said she has not reported the threats to Minneapolis Police because she has been preoccupied with the dual crisis of the global pandemic and global uprising over the killing of George Floyd. The city of Minneapolis has become a political madhouse. Cano is not singing. Lyden reports that she did not return messages seeking comment. While Lydens story rocketed around the national media over the weekend, the Star Tribune wasnt singing either. Today the Star Tribunes Liz Navratil reports the story. She adds nothing to Lydens report while failing to mention it. The council members private security arrangement gives us a glimpse into the future. It is the future Jenkins et al. will deliver in Minneapolis if they get their way. Not on everything, presumably. But on the key issues of our time, he is right on the money. I didnt know about this interview on Friday until I saw it linked on InstaPundit this evening, and I havent seen a complete transcript. But The Federalist is a good source, so here we go: In a wide-ranging interview in the Oval Office Friday, President Donald J. Trump said that the country is in the midst of a political war where the left will use anything to win, including the culture. True. The president said that to restore order and win in 2020, his Republican allies need to be stronger in standing up to rioters and those who would tear down statues. Theyve got to get much tougher, Trump said, drawing comparisons to moments when Republicans stood together on impeachment and in battles over judicial nominees. They have to be stronger, have to come together, or risk losing politically and worse. True again. The Democrat-backed riots, looting and arson that have bedeviled many American cities (generally in their poorer, and often African-American, neighborhoods) give Republicans a golden opportunity for sweeping victories in November. It is hard to understand why some Republicans dont seem to understand this. While acknowledging the horrible scene that played out in Minnesota with the death of George Floyd, Trump argued that the Floyd-related protest movement has since morphed into an anti-cop, defund the police, anti-American movement that puts American communities at risk. Police never get the credit they deserve by politicians, who are being weak, Trump said, positing that fear of criticizing the excesses of rioters and violent protesters is driven by political correctness and the danger of being called racist. I cant for the life of me understand why anyone is afraid of being called a racist. The word has lost all meaning, and when it is not a generic term of abuse it is often used to refer to the exact opposite of its true significance; i.e., the current doctrine that being color-blind, paying no attention to race, is racist. How dumb do liberals think we are? Republicans need to be fighting, Trump said, citing the ideology of the more radical agitators in the streets as vicious and seditious. As the president recognizes, the goals of those sowing the seeds of unrest are clear. You see their leaders on TV saying give us what we want, or well burn down this system and replace it. Thats almost terrorism. Again, totally true statements, except I would strike the almost. The Federalist story notes that there are around 500 federal investigations of violent rioters now in progress. Needless to say, I would like to see rioters, looters and arsonists prosecuted and jailed. But: For his part, the president seemed frustrated that he was being called in to deal with problems within Democratic-represented states and Democratic-run cities. This should be about the mayor, and then the governor, before it even gets to the president, Trump said, noting that while he has made the National Guard available to restore order in many cities, they havent called for them. Again, Trump is entirely correct. The police power belongs to the states, not the federal government. The problem is the extreme malfeasance of many state and local officials. (In a week or two, Minnesotas biggest-circulation magazine, Thinking Minnesota, will feature a cover story on the extraordinary incompetence of the states governor and other politicians in responding to the riots.) Trump was surprisingly candid in talking about his use of social media: In response to a question on whether he expects to soon be banned by Twitter where he has over 82 million followers Trump said: Yes, I do. The president believes the ban from the popular platform will happen in the fall before the 2020 election, an opinion shared by others in the White House. I think they are right. As I wrote here, many major businesses are withholding their advertising dollars from social media platforms to pressure those companies to do more to help elect Joe Biden. The main target is Facebook, but Twitter is also feeling the pressure, and unlike Facebook, Twitter is run by people who dont even pretend to have any commitment to free speech. The social media freeze-out of conservative and Republican voices will flower in the Fall. Is there an alternative? Some people say I should join Parler, Trump said. Maybe. We do have over 194 million followers, though, across multiple sites. For what it is worth, I have joined Parler. Trump also made some sophisticated comments about the legal structure that protects social media companies from legal liability. He moved on to talk about Americas utterly corrupt press: Describing the media as worse than fake news, Trump expressed derision for prize-winning journalism which ultimately proved false. The Pulitzer Prize is a joke, Trump said. Giving the Pulitzer to the New York Times, the Washington Post for wrong coverage, false coverage? Years of it on Russia? They should all have to give them back. Truer words were never spoken, but of course it wont happen. The Times and the Post are proud that their false coverage damaged the President. That was their goal. Trump looked ahead to Novembers election: Despite facing serious political headwinds as well as some cautionary recent polling data, Trumps mood was confident and relaxed. Acknowledging the challenge of proving he can lead the country out of a global pandemic and an economic funk, he said that re-election looked easy as recently as three, four months ago before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Yes. As of January, I would have given President Trump a 99% chance of re-election. Referring to Joe Biden as a Trojan Horse for leftist policy, Trump said that he fully expects the left flank of the Democratic Party, represented by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to push Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer to deploy the nuclear option, banning the filibuster to jam radical, far-left policies through the Senate. Schumer will go nuclear option on day one if we lose, Trump said. I think he is right there, too. It is vitally important that Republicans keep the Senate, and it would be great to recapture the House, too. Finally, the President talked about his upcoming visit to Mount Rushmore, which is now under threat from Democrats: Trump plans to head to Mount Rushmore in the coming week to deliver remarks and take in the first fireworks display held at the famed destination in a decade, on July 3rd. A survey released this week by academic Eric Kaufmann, author of Whiteshift, found that 44 percent of liberal respondents and 58 percent of very liberal respondents agreed that Mount Rushmore should be eliminated. I do wonder sometimes if Democrats love our country, Trump said in response to the figures. Do Democrats love our country? Very few, I think. Those who do have left that extremist party. And if you think there is no threat to Mount Rushmore, think again. Liberals are talking about blowing it up or otherwise destroying it. South Dakotas current Governor, Kristi Noem, stands in their way: Not on my watch. https://t.co/U6gGap5Ib6 Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) June 23, 2020 At noon Central time on July 8, I will be interviewing Governor Noem, mostly on her states successful response to the Wuhan epidemic, where she was the only governor (or possibly one of two) who refused to order a shutdown. But I hope to get in a question or two on other topics, including the threats against Mount Rushmore. If you would like to attend (for free), go here to register. But I digress. The point here is that Presidents Trumps observations on the current scene could hardly be more accurate. Gord Bamford and his band (Lisa Dodd on the far right). He will be outside for his July concert in Lethbridge. Yes, no matter what Yes, but it depends on variety No, for medical reasons, uncertainty No, principle Vote View Results ADVERTISEMENT Nigerian actress, Olutoyin Aimakhu, popularly known as Toyin Abraham, has signed an ambassadorial deal with a real estate company in Nigeria, Revolution Plus Properties. The signing of the new deal was held in Lagos, 29 June, and will see the award-winning actress become the face of the company. 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READ ALSO: I think why I accepted this deal is because they represent who I am, and what I want to achieve, and hence, we are doing this signing today which by Gods grace will be the beginning of better things to come, she added. Toyin joins other industry colleagues like Odunlade Adekola, Omoni Oboli, and Testimony Jaga who also represent the brand. The new deal comes after she starred in a Nollywood blockbuster titled Elevator Baby, alongside Timini Egbuson. The movie, directed by Akay Mason, was listed among the highest-grossing Nigerian films of 2019. Elevator Baby, is centered around Dare, a privileged young man with a fiery temper who gets stuck in a faulty elevator with a semi-illiterate pregnant woman (Mrs Abraham) who later went into labour. ADVERTISEMENT A veteran Nollywood actress, Ifey Onwuemene, is currently down with endometrial cancer and needs financial support to continue undergoing chemotherapy. The soft-spoken actress began her acting career as the wife of late veteran actor, Sam Loco Efe, in the 1990s popular TV drama series Everyday People. The once chubby actress now looks like a shadow of her former self. Her colleague, Gloria Anozie-Young, recently drew the attention of fans to Ms Onwuemenes plight when she stated that she had been ill since February 2019 and has spent over N6 million on medical bills. According to her, Ms Onwuemene tried sourcing funds for her treatment but has met a brick wall. She appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to come to her aid. Folks please we need help for our sister @ifyonwuemene an actress from the days of Sam loco and Enebeliuwa. I worked with her last on the set of Tajudeen Adepetus Everyday People in the late 90s, she wrote. She is down with endometrial cancer. She has tried sourcing for funds on her own, but nothing is too small. Please send whatever you can to Ifey Onwuemene, Fidelity Bank 6010999993 Thank you. Hours later, Anozie-Young shared a video of Ms Onwuemene thanking those who have been donating towards her hospital bills. The ailing actress disclosed that she was diagnosed with stage three endometrial cancer in February 2019 and has so far spent N6 million having undergone eight chemotherapy sessions. READ ALSO: She said the ailment resurfaced again this year and she will be needing another six rounds of chemotherapy and blood transfusion. Nigerian music star, Davido, reportedly contributed to her hospital bills when she came public with the ailment for the first time in June 2019. Ms Onwuemene, who has been in the industry for over two decades, starred in several movies alongside late Sam Loco and Enebeli Elebuwa. ADVERTISEMENT The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday ruled against a damages suit filed by a man in his late seventies who was forcibly sterilised as a young teenager in 1957 under Japans eugenics protection law. The court dismissed the plaintiffs claim for 30 million yen ($280,000 U.S.), owing to it considering the statute of limitations for damages expired 20 years after the 77-year-old was operated on against his will. The plaintiff had claimed that the statute of limitations had not expired as he did not have the luxury of knowing about the details of the operation or level of damage until recently. The Presiding Judge, Masaharu Ito was quoted as saying as he handed down the courts ruling, however, that the forced sterilisation had infringed upon the (plaintiffs) freedom to have a child ensured by the Constitution. The lawyers of the plaintiff who was forced to have surgery aged around 14 years old when living at an orphanage in Japans northeast, said they will appeal the courts decision. Many plaintiffs have claimed that being forcibly sterilised under Japans now defunct eugenics law, which was enacted in postwar Japan in 1948 and kept in place until 1996, deprived them of their constitutional right to choose whether or not to have children. The controversial law, similar to Nazi Germanys sterilisation law, was enacted here as a population control measure to deal with the nations postwar food shortage. This also made it possible for the state to sterilise thousands of people without receiving their consent, due to mental disabilities and other illnesses. (Xinhua/NAN) ADVERTISEMENT At least 45 people were killed during ethnic clashes in the volatile nation of South Sudan, an official said on Tuesday. About 18 others were wounded when heavily armed men from the Atok Buk ethnic group attacked several villages of the Apuk Parek ethnic group in Tonj North County in northern Warrap State, the countys acting commissioner, Andrew Deng, told dpa. According to Mr Deng, several villages were burned to the ground in the attack, while thousands of residents had fled the area. Local authorities believe the raid was a revenge attack for a similar incident several weeks earlier. Ethnic clashes have occurred for centuries between ethnic groups in the East African nation. Frequent attacks include cattle raiding and sometimes the abduction of children to be used as domestic slaves. Earlier in June, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that armed violence causing death, injury and displacement was on the rise in various regions of South Sudan. Our surgical teams are working overtime, with national and international travel restrictions (due to the Covid-19 pandemic) making it difficult to bring in reinforcements, the ICRC said in a statement. (dpa/NAN) Chinas top legislative body approved a national security law for Hong Kong on Tuesday in a move expected to raise tensions between Beijing and foreign governments. Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kongs sole representative to the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee, confirmed the laws passage in an interview broadcast by Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK. Tam said the law, which targets secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference in Hong Kong, is not too spicy and that he believes people wont be too worried after they see the details. Critics fear, however, that the law intends to quash dissent in the financial hub, which has been roiled by protests for the past year. The law was approved unanimously by the standing committee within minutes of the start of its meeting on Tuesday morning, sources told the South China Morning Post. The legislation is expected to come into effect on July 1, the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kongs handover from Britain to China. There are fears that Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, will see some of the political freedoms it enjoys stifled by the law. The legislation carries a maximum penalty of life in jail, sources told the Post. Japan said if Chinas passage of the law were true, that would be regrettable. The move would erode the trust of the international community in the one country, two systems principle, Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said, referring to a 1997 agreement between China and Britain that guaranteed certain freedoms for Hong Kong until 2047. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said the one country, two systems principle has failed because Beijing has betrayed its promises. Its very disappointing that China fails to keep its promises, Tsai told reporters in Taipei. Taiwan is set to open a new institution on Wednesday, focused on offering special services for Hong Kong residents seeking opportunities to study, work or invest in Taiwan. The law will also see the establishment of mainland Chinese security agencies in Hong Kong, according to a summary previously published by Chinas state-run Xinhua news agency. Only a handful of Hong Kong delegates to the national legislature saw a draft of the law before its approval, a contentious point with Hong Kong residents. The citys chief executive, Carrie Lam, who must answer to Beijing, will be empowered to decide which judges can hear trials for state security cases. Lam refused to comment on the national security law during a press conference Tuesday morning. chinas president She said she would do her best to answer questions after the introduction of the legislation into Hong Kongs Basic Law. ADVERTISEMENT Lam said threats from the U.S. and other governments to impose sanctions over the law would not scare Hong Kong, and that the city would collaborate with Beijing on any potential countermeasures. READ ALSO: On Monday, China announced it will impose visa restrictions against U.S. individuals over Hong Kong following a similar move last week by Washington, which announced visa curbs against Chinese officials thought to undermine freedoms in the city. The U.S. has also threatened to strip Hong Kong of its preferential trading status. On Monday, Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the U.S. was ending exports of defence equipment to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong and his co-leaders of pro-democracy group Demosisto on Tuesday announced their withdrawal from the group. Wong, who has been a prominent leader of Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement for years, has said he believes he will be a prime target for the new national security law. (dpa/NAN) A New York judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the publication of a new book deemed controversial written by President Donald Trumps niece. Mr Trump had said the publication- Too Much and Never Enough, How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man- would violate a nondisclosure agreement Mary Trump previously signed. Shes not allowed to write a book, Mr Trump had told Axios in an interview published Sunday evening. You know, when we settled with her and her brother, who I do have a good relationship with shes got a brother, Fred, who I do have a good relationship with, but when we settled, she has a total signed a nondisclosure, he said. The agreement itself is a very powerful one, Mr Trump added, adding, It covers everything. According to the president, he and members of his family were blindsided last week when news of the book came to light. Temporary relief The judge, Hal Greenwald, in his ruling Tuesday, ordered a temporary injunction against Mary Trump and her publisher, Simon & Schuster Inc., over the books publication until a slated hearing fixed for July 10. The book is slated to be released July 28. President Trumps brother, Robert, had initiated the move to block the books publication. Robert Trumps lawyer has lauded the judges decision in a statement Tuesday, saying his client is very pleased with the ruling. The actions of Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster are truly reprehensible, lawyer Charles Harder wrote. We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trumps breach of contract and Simon & Schusters intentional interference with that contract. A lawyer for Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster, Ted Boutrous, has vowed to appeal the decision, according to Politico. Boutrous called the injunction prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the first amendment. Mary L. Trump (https://twitter.com/MaryLTrump/media?lang=en) Credit: Mary L Trump/Twitter This book, which addresses matters of great concern and importance about a sitting president in election year, should not be suppressed even for one day, the lawyer said. Battles on many fronts Mr Trump, who is seeking reelection amidst a biting coronavirus pandemic that has badly hit the U.S. economy, is not just battling a family member, over disclosure of possible insider information about the inner workings of his controversial persona and tenure. The U.S. Justice Department recently filed a federal lawsuit against his former aide, John Bolton, to block the publication and sale of his White House tell-all book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir. ADVERTISEMENT The American government had argued that the former national security advisers publication also published by Simon & Schuster, contains classified information that cannot be released to the public. This is a civil action by the United States to prevent Defendant John R. Bolton, a former National Security Advisor, from compromising national security by publishing a book containing classified information in clear breach of agreements he signed as a condition of his employment and as a condition of gaining access to highly classified information and in clear breach of the trust placed within him by the United States Government, read part of the 27-page court filing with the US District Court in DC. Mr Bolton left the White House last September after he had a conflict with Mr Trump over some of his policies regarding Ukraine, North Korea and Iran, among others. Mr Trumps estranged aide had argued that the book does not contain any classified material. His lawyer, Charles Cooper, also said Mr Bolton had spent months working with the National Security Council to ensure that and that many edits have been made to the book at the White Houses request. Mr Bolton had said in an interview with ABC News that Mr Trump is stunningly uninformed, lacks competence to carry out the job, and not fit for office. There really isnt any guiding principle that I was able to discern other than whats good for Donald Trumps reelection, Mr Bolton said in the interview. He was so focused on the reelection that longer-term considerations fell by the wayside. Legal experts say while the White House lawsuit may not stop the publication of the book, which was billed for June 23, it could stop Mr Bolton from making profits from the sale. The suit had urged the court to set up a trust to direct any profits from the book to the U.S. Treasury. Harris said Parker can afford a tax hike, but working class families cant. Parker pointed out that he grew up on a farm in Mississippi with a father who didnt graduate from high school and a mother who only had her high school diploma. He said hes in the position he is today because of people investing in his education and the opportunities he received, something he believes Allentown children could receive if the district raises taxes and creates a fund balance. Obinwanne Okeke, the Nigerian businessman arrested in the United States last August for fraud, has admitted to American authorities that his participation in the fraudulent schemes for which he has pleaded guilty was undertaken knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully and not as a result of an accident, mistake or other innocent reason. Mr Okeke, who was charged with two counts of computer fraud and wire fraud, also said he decided to plead guilty because he realised that the findings by investigators and the statement of facts filed in court by prosecutors are true and accurate. He said had the matter proceeded to trial, he was sure the United States authorities would prove the allegations against him beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr Okekes explanations are contained in the Statement of Facts submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia by G. Zachary Terwilliger (United States attorney), Brian J. Samuels (assistant United States Attorney) and Mathew P. Mattis ( special assistant United States attorney). The document, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, was filed in open court on June 18 as the businessman, also known as Invictus Obi in Nigeria, capitulated and pleaded guilty. He is to be sentenced on October 22. Mr Okekes attorney, John Iweanoge, also agreed, saying pleading guilty remained the best course of action for his client. I have carefully reviewed the above Statement of Facts with him, Mr Iweanoge said. To my knowledge, his decision to stipulate to these facts is an informed and voluntary one. The Statement of Facts which the three United States Attorney deposed to and for which Mr Okeke pleaded guilty read as follows: If this matter were to proceed to trial, the United States of America would prove beyond a reasonable doubt, by competent and admissible evidence, the following facts: 1. Beginning on a date unknown, but believed to be in or about 2015, and continuing until in or about at least 2019, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, OBINWANNE OKEKE, the defendant herein, and others known and unknown did knowingly and willfully combine, conspire, and agree with each other and others known and unknown to knowingly devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and for obtaining money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretences, representations, and promises, for which the defendants and conspirators transmitted and caused to be transmitted by means of wire communications in interstate commerce certain writings, signs, signals and sounds, for the purpose of executing the scheme and artifice, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. 2. An investigation by federal authorities revealed that the primary purpose of the conspiracy was for the conspirators to obtain funds through fraudulent means by engaging in fraudulent business emails, phishing and other computer-based schemes. READ ALSO: 3. It was a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that conspirators, including the defendant, sent phishing emails to one or more businesses in an effort to obtain login credentials of employees. 4. It was further a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that the conspirators, including defendant, obtained legitimate credentials of other individuals that the conspirators then used to commit fraudulent acts targeting other businesses and individuals in order to obtain money and other property, including, but not limited to, accessing protected computers without authorization, sending fraudulent wire transfer requests, using fake invoices and viewing and downloading files belonging to other individual and business victims. 5. It was further a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that the conspirators, including defendant, unlawfully obtained funds belonging to other individuals and/or business entities and caused the transfer of funds to accounts controlled by the conspirators and defendant. 6. It was further a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that the conspirators, including defendant, obtained and compiled credentials of hundreds of victims, including victims in the Eastern District of Virginia. 7. It was further a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that the conspirators, including defendant, engaged in and caused wire communications affecting interstate and foreign commerce between the Eastern District of Virginia and locations outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 8. Unatrac Holding Limited, a company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the export sales office for Caterpillar heavy industrial and farm equipment. In or about the Spring of 2018, Unatrac was victimized in their United Kingdom offices through an email compromise scheme, in which the defendant participated, which ultimately resulted in fraudulent wire transfers totalling nearly $ 11 million (11 million US Dollars). Some portion of these funds was subsequently recovered. ADVERTISEMENT 9. On or about April 1, 2018, Unatracs Chief Financial Officer (CFO) received a phishing email containing a web link, purportedly to the login page of the CFOs online email account hosted by Microsoft Office365. When the CFO opened the link, it instead led him to a phishing website crafted to imitate the legitimate Office365 login page. Believing the page to be real, he entered his login credentials, which were captured by an unknown intruder who controlled the spoofed web page. 10. After capturing the legitimate credentials, the intruder was able to remotely login and access the CFOs entire Office365 account, which included all of his emails and various digital files. Between April 6 and April 20, 2018, the intruder accessed the CFOs account at least 464 times, mostly from Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in Nigeria, but also from other identified locations. 11. With full access to the account, the intruder sent fraudulent wire transfer requests from the CFOs email account to members of Unatracs internal financial team. The intruder also attached fake invoices to the emails to enhance the credibility of the requests. For many of the invoices, the intruder used content sourced from within the CFOs own account, ostensibly to make the invoices appear authentic. Knowing that invoices typically originate from outside the organization, the intruder also apparently sent emails to the CFOs account from an external address, and then forwarded them to the financial team. 12. During the period of unauthorized access, activity logs show that the intruder created or modified email filter rules for the CFOs account on seven occasions between April 10 and April 17, 2018. The rules intercepted legitimate emails to and from employees on the financial team, marked them as read, and moved them to another folder outside the inbox. These rules appeared to have been created in an attempt to hide from the CFO any responses from the individuals to whom the intruder was sending fabricated emails. 13. Believing the wire transfer requests had come from their CFO, Unatrac finance staff processed a number of fraudulent payments between April 11 and April 19, 2018. In some cases, several payments were sent to the same account. For example, the finance staff received and processed three invoices to Pak Fei Trade Limited: one for $278,270.66, one for $898,461.17, and one for $1,957,100.00. In total, nearly $11,000,000 (11 million US dollars) was sent, all of which went to overseas accounts. By the time the fraud was discovered, it was too late to cancel the transfers, and Unatrac was able to recover very little of the transferred funds. 14. With full access to the Microsoft Office365 account, the intruder was also able to browse the CFOs files hosted by Microsofts online file storage service OneDrive. The intruder viewed at least 15 of the CFOs files. The intruder downloaded one of these files, which contained portions of Unatracs standard terms and conditions and sent it to the external email address iconoclast1960@gmail.com. 15. The iconoclast1960@gmail.com was an account subsequently determined to be associated with and used by defendant. The defendant is a Nigerian citizen and entrepreneur who operated a group of companies known as the Invictus Group. 16. The defendant used the iconoclast1960@gmail.com email account and other accounts to engage with extensive discussions with other conspirators about creating fraudulent web pages, designed to trick unsuspecting users into providing their account credentials. 17. Between at least December 2017 and October 2018, the defendant (using the iconoclastl960@gmail.com email address) and another individual discussed over e-mail specific details about how to create fraudulent web pages that would capture users* email and password credentials. In order to demonstrate and test their web designs, the iconoclast1960@gmail.com and other accounts also sent each other copies of code used to create the fraudulent web pages. 18. The defendant and other individuals acted to compile collected credentials of others for use in acts of fraud. 19. Among these credentials were passwords of accounts belonging to victims located within the Eastern District of Virginia. Emails dated January 17, 2018, contained the passwords for victims in Mechanicsville, Virginia and Midlothian, Virginia. An email dated January 18, 2019, contained a password for a victim in Richmond, Virginia, and an email dated February 26, 2018, contained a password for a victim in Ashburn, Virginia. The capture of these passwords was facilitated by wire communications affecting interstate commerce between the Eastern District of Virginia and locations outside Virginia. 20. Other email accounts that were linked to or corresponded with conspirators accounts engaged in fraudulent schemes targeting individuals and businesses in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere from the time period beginning in at least 2015. 21. The defendant stipulates and agrees that his participation in the events described was undertaken knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully and not as a result of an accident, mistake or other innocent reason. ADVERTISEMENT The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed a suit filed by a former Kogi senator, Dino Melaye, seeking to stop the passage of the controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020 into law. Sponsored by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, the bill seeks to, among other things, make possession of health cards mandatory for international travellers leaving or arriving in Nigeria just like the cards for yellow fever. Adapted from a similar law in Singapore, some Nigerians have labelled it draconian and unfit for a democratic Nigeria. Some critics of the bill also questioned the powers it vested in the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the health minister. Mr Melaye had on May 5, filed the suit FHC/ABJ/CS/463/2020, citing alleged breach of his right to freedom and life. Joined as defendants in the suit are Clerk of the National Assembly, Clerk and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Attorney-General of the Federation and the Inspector-General of Police. He urged the court to delete sections 5, 8, 15, 16 and 17 of the bill, which he said constituted a violation or would likely violate his rights under the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights as well the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The provisions of the bill being contested by the former senator included the ones seeking to empower the Director-General of the NCDC to compel anyone to take medical examination or treatment and also collect the blood sample of such person in the case of a public health emergency. Also, part of the provisions also seeks to empower the NCDC to take over any premises and turn them into isolation centres without compensation for the owner. The bill also seeks to arrest and detain a suspected infected person with his or her consent. Mr Melaye alleged that the controversial bill, if passed into law would specifically violate his fundamental rights to dignity of his person, personal liberty, private and family life, right to freedom of movement and right to own immovable property in Nigeria. But, on Tuesday, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu upheld the notices of preliminary objection filed against the suit for lack of jurisdiction to hear it. Justice Ojukwu, who did not bother to consider the case on merit, held that the issue raised in it was not justiciable, as the bill could not be a subject of litigation until it is signed into law. Relying on the doctrine of separation of powers, the court said it could not at this stage determine whether contents of the Bill would amount to gross violation of fundamental rights of the applicant. What started like a peaceful committee meeting between the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, and the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on Employment and Labour on Tuesday ended in chaos as both parties began exchanging words. The meeting was aimed at discussing the progress of the planned employment of 774,000 Nigerians by the federal government. The National Assembly had in the 2020 budget appropriated N52 billion for the Special Public Works Programme aimed at employing 774,000 citizens, a thousand from each of the 774 Local Government Areas in the country. The controversy The argument started when members of the committee, headed by Godiya Akwashiki, asked the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Nasiru Ladan, to explain the composition of a 20-member committee inaugurated on Monday by the ministry for the implementation of the programme. In his response, Mr Ladan noted that he was aware of only eight members of the committee and asked the lawmakers to seek further clarification from Mr Keyamo. Unsatisfied with Mr Ladans response, members of the panel implied that he was not in control of the programmme. When Mr Keyamo was asked for further clarification, he snapped, furiously hitting the table. He wondered if he was being accused of hijacking the programme from the NDE and whether the lawmakers were alleging the committee composition was lopsided. The chaos intensified and lawmakers asked that journalists leave for an executive session with the minister. But Mr Keyamo firmly rejected the demand, insisting that having been openly accused and disgraced, the cameras should remain in the room. How can you expose corruption without the cameras? How can, how can you expose it? I must respond to what he said. You cannot say something and I wont respond. It is wrong, he said. The ministers outburst angered the lawmakers who asked that he apologise for his behaviour. Mr Keyamo refused to apologise and insisted that he had done nothing wrong. He said he had been denied the opportunity to respond to their allegations and threatened to walk out of the meeting. The lawmakers responded in anger, shouting back at the minister to leave if he wanted. Go go, get out. Where is the sergeant-at-arms to walk him, members of the panel yelled. The lawmakers thereafter reached a resolution asking Mr Keyamo to leave which he obliged. Speaking with Journalists, Mr Keyamo accused the lawmakers of trying to take control of the recruitment exercise under his ministry. He said while he was not aversed to them investigating the programme, they cannot direct him on what to do. He said doing so will mean sharing in the powers of President Muhammadu Buhari. He also admitted that lawmakers were given slots by the ministry. ADVERTISEMENT He said despite granting the lawmakers 15 per cent of the job placement, they still want to hijack the entire the programme, taking over the power of the president in the process. While Nigerians have been told to get set for massive recruitment of about 774,000 unemployed and unskilled workers, 15 per cent of the jobs (116,100) have already been allocated to lawmakers, a minister has said. Festus Keyamo, the minister of state for labour, added that the lawmakers were still not satisfied with what they were given. They still want to hijack the entire programme, taking over the power of the president in the process, Mr Keyamo told journalists after a stormy session with lawmakers on Tuesday in Abuja. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported the clash between Mr Keyamo and the lawmakers at a meeting he had with the joint committee of the National Assembly on employment and labour. The meeting was aimed at discussing the progress of the planned employment of 774,000 Nigerians by the federal government. The National Assembly had in the 2020 budget appropriated N52 billion for the special public works programme aimed at employing 774,000 citizens, a thousand from each of the 774 local government areas in the country. Lawmakers attempt to hijack process After his exit, Mr Keyamo told journalists the inter-ministerial committee recommended a 20-man committee which was approved by the ministry. He also said the lawmakers pressured him to submit the names of those involved in the recruitment process. Meanwhile they are comfortable with the eight which are clearly stated like Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Jammatu Nasir Islam (JNI) and others. The others are youth organisations and we cannot list youth organisations because from state to state there are different youths organisations depending on the peculiarity of the state. The background to this was that a couple of days ago, they started mounting pressure on me that I must bring the list of those to select the 1000 persons from all the local government to them for them to direct me as to what to do from state to state. The chairman insisted I must come to them privately for them to hand over to me certain instructions as to how this programme will be across the country. I said no that would be sharing the powers of the President and that I can only be answerable for what I have done by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution. They can only investigate the programme, they cannot direct it, he said. I never walked out on the committee In a statement released shortly after the meeting, Mr Keyamo refuted claims that he walked out of the joint committee following the misunderstanding. Festus Keyamo, Minister of State Labour and Employment [Photo: ChannelsTV] He accused the lawmakers of trying to control the recruitment process even though the constitution does not allow them. they questioned why I did not privately submit the programme to them for vetting before taking certain steps. They suggested that they ought to have input on how the programme should be implemented. In other words, they sought to control the programme as to who gets what, where and how. I insisted that I could not surrender the programme to their control since their powers under the constitution do not extend to that. He said after he refused to apologise, he was then permitted to leave. I took a bow and left. I never walked out on the respected committee as they may want to bend the narrative. ADVERTISEMENT The minister further directed all the committees set up nationwide made up of CAN, NSCIA, NURTW, market women, CSOS, youth organisations, traditional rulers, others to proceed with their work unhindered. He added that the joint committee no power to suspend or decide how the programme should be run as that will be challenging the powers of the president. Panel denies requesting more slots The chairman of the committee, Godiya Akwasiki, denied the allegations by the minister. He explained that the assembly has a duty to check the appropriation act that allows for spending and the allocated money that should be spent by the National Directorate of Employment under the ministry. we asked the minister to brief us how he came about that committee. He said it was a tripartite committee set up by Mr President that comprised of eight ministries but we disagreed with him on that because we are lawmakers and we try to work always within the ambit of the law for the implementation of whatever we have for the Nigerian people. We said that this money (N52 billion) has been approved under NDE. It is even in the budget. So for him to say it is eight ministries that are involved in this, we disagreed with him. We asked how he came about the 20-man selection committee because if you did not get it right with the selection committee, I want to tell you that this programme is going to be a failure. Nobody is requesting for any slot from him and he cannot blackmail us, he explained. Trend This is not the first time federal lawmakers have been accused of taking job slots from several agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and National Open University to share or sell to their constituents. In 2019, some lawmakers had threatened to cause trouble over the sharing formula of the employment slots given to them by the federal agency. The slots were allegedly shared among the 10-member body of principal officers. Although the former Senate spokesperson, Adedayo Adeyeye, feigned ignorance about the allegations, the Senate committee on federal character, commenced an investigation into the matter which is still ongoing. Recently, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, denied reports that about 500 slots were allocated to federal lawmakers and politicians across the country by the ministry of humanitarian affairs. The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to direct the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture to liaise with the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to look at the Listed Sites (Prevention) Law, 2015, with a view to removing all vestiges of slave trade and colonialism. This motion was moved by the Deputy Majority Leader, Noheem Adams, representing Eti-Osa constituency 01 at the plenary session on Tuesday. In the motion, the lawmaker recalled the gruesome killing of George Floyd in the U.S. by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin. The Assembly further noted that this brutal and callous murder of Floyd triggered worldwide condemnations, demonstrations, and protests against the continue police violence and racism of blacks in US and Europe without provocation. The House is aware that these protests further drew attention to the reality of systematic racism, oppression and domination of blacks by whites in spite of abolition of vexatious slave trade and related activities since the 18th century. This House is further aware that the demonstration brought about the pulling down of status of Edward Colston, a notable slave trader into a river in Bristol, London, while the British authorities removed from her museum status of another prominent slave master and promised a review of history pertaining to slave trade monument and sites, he said. In his comment, the Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, said the motion was not about history, and that history could not be changed. Mr Obasa added that statues are not history and that Africans all over the world should give backing to blacks fighting for the rights of fellow blacks. South Africa got her independence much later than the rest African countries and they are not talking about Black Lives Matters campaign, he said. We must protect the interest of our people all over the world. So many statues in London and other places are being brought down. We should change the names of some of these buildings. We cannot bring down the buildings because they were once used by colonial masters. We can change the names of some of these buildings and streets. Some of the names remind us of these people that enslaved our people. We need to change the names, but it does not affect our history. We should look at the history, he said. The speaker further asked why anybody would ascribe the discovery of River Niger to Mungo Park and Richard Landers brothers. Does that mean people were not living there before the arrivals of the foreigners? The speaker said even the name Nigeria was given by the colonial masters. It is what you believe that says who and what you are. It is about what you believe and what you can do on your own. You need to exhibit your own beliefs and culture. Most times, we speak like foreigners and some of our children cannot speak our mother tongues. We are saying that our own language is inferior to their own language. We should let our children know that we are superior. ADVERTISEMENT The motion is about us, about Africans. We have to tell the world about our own civilization. The resolve is not broad enough. It is not about Lagos State alone. We have to tell African Union about reparation which was started by the late Chief M.K.O Abiola. The President can issue an Executive Order that all over Nigeria we should change the names of streets named after beneficiaries of slave trade. Those who dehumanized Africans should not be celebrated. Our people who collaborated with the colonial masters should be made to apologise to us, he said. In his submission, Gbolahan Yishawu representing Eti-Osa constituency 02, who supported the motion said that history that makes the blacks to feel inferior to the whites should be changed. This is a right step in a right direction and we need to change our psyche and history that will not make to feel as human being. We need to change the narrative that connotes superiority in our history. I want my colleagues to support the motion, he said. The motion was passed unanimously and the House asked the clerk to make the resolution known to the governor. The executive arm may determine whether or not to act as such resolutions are not usually backed by law. ADVERTISEMENT The Senate resumed on Tuesday after a three-week recess. The lawmakers held plenary for a brief period and then adjourned their sitting to Wednesday after about eight minutes. The adjournment followed a motion by the Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya, who formally announced the death of the Lagos senator, Bayo Osinowo, who died on June 15. He prayed his colleagues observe a minute silence and postpone plenary and other legislative activities in honour of the late senator in accordance with the Senate rule. His motion was seconded by the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe. Mr Osinowo who represented Lagos-East Senatorial district died in a Lagos isolation centre after battling with complications arising from COVID-19. He was 64. The late lawmaker was a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress and a first-time senator. The senators, after the minute silence, adjourned the plenary around 11:05 a.m. after a voice vote. The Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who presided at the plenary, announced that a valedictory session will be held in honour of the late lawmaker. He urged senators to dress appropriately. House too The House of Representatives also adjourned its plenary to Thursday, in honor of Mr Osinowo. Sen. Adebayo Osinowo [PHOTO CREDIT: @SenatorOsinowo] The lawmakers resumed plenary on Tuesday after embarking on a three-week recess. After observing a minute silence, the House Leader, Alhassan Doguwa (APC, Kano) moved a motion to adjourn, saying it was in line with the standard practice of the National Assembly. ADVERTISEMENT The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) (www.ITFC-IDB.org), member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, signed a $200 million syndicated Murabaha financing agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), a multilateral financial institution established by African governments and institutional investors. The facility seeks to help African countries address some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This syndication is supported by a number of partners and financial institutions who allocated resources to the agriculture sector in African. The agreement, which is indicative of ITFCs ongoing commitment to and trust in Africa, will finance the export of soft commodities, such as raw cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seeds and maize. The financing will provide critical support for the agriculture sector (the continents largest employer and a key driver of SME development) of 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Commenting on the Murabaha financing agreement, Hani Salem Sonbol, ITFC CEO, said: The financing of agricultural exports during these extremely challenging economic conditions will provide a lifeline to exporters affected by the impact that COVID-19 has had on the price of commodities. Hundreds of millions of people in Africa rely on agriculture for employment and many countries food security rests on the smooth and affordable import and export of foodstuffs. We thank our financial partners for joining ITFC in this syndication, particularly for their unabated support in this turbulent time, to allocate resources for Africa. This new partnership with Afreximbank will go some way to supporting businesses and ordinary people as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic. The Africa region has been a priority for ITFC since its inception in 2008, mandated to answer to the developmental and economic requirements of the member countries in the continent. For this reason, ITFC disbursed $2.38 billion in Africa in 2019 alone, taking the total since 2008 to $15.6 billion, helping OIC member countries in the region to achieve sustained economic growth, job creation and value creation in the key export sectors of agriculture, energy and manufacturing. It is worth mentioning that ITFC first partnered with Afreximbank in 2017 with the signing of a US$100 million agreement with the aim of facilitating and financing exports amongst African countries and between Africa and the rest of the world. Afreximbank is also a key partner in the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) Program initiated by ITFC, a program with a mandate of enhancing economic integration between the Africa and Arab regions and strengthening SME export development across key sectors. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC). ADVERTISEMENT Following its recent sanctions of six Nigerians for alleged internet-related fraud, the United States government has arraigned 11 more Nigerian in another case of alleged $6 million bank fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice in a statement on Thursday said the Nigerian nationals were arraigned before Justice Joel Schneider of District court of New Jersey. The accused are Sulaiman Dosunmu, 39; Tunde Adeowo, 40; Muritala Adeowo, 55; Ayanniyi Alayande, 47; Ahmed Ponle, 41; Margiettu Kamu, 34; Rafiat Sarumi, 36; Babatunde Oke, 40; Adekunle Owolabi, 49; Olayinka Olaseinde, 42; and Olugbenga Oyedele, 47. The U.S. treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, had earlier announced the sanctioning of six Nigerians for allegedly scamming U.S. businesses and individuals through business email compromise (BEC) and romance fraud of over $6 million. But in Thursdays court hearing, the U.S. Attorney, Craig Carpenito, said the 11 are members of a Nigeria-based, multi-layered organisation that engaged in a massive bank fraud conspiracy in several states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Rhode Island. The alleged fraudulent acts were committed between June 2016 and March this year, according to the statement. Mr Carpenito added that the accused used debit cards to purchase money orders from third party stores to purchase used automobiles exported to Nigeria and other African countries at the higher market values. Mr Carpenito noted that if found guilty, the 11 could face a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million. Members of the group stole numerous business checks from the United States mail, altered the payee on the checks with over 400 fraudulent accounts with fake identity documents to defraud several major banks of $6 million and then launder that money and send it overseas to other conspirators. The organisation also used fraudulent name and deposited the checks in bank accounts that had been opened with forged foreign passport documents and fraudulent U.S. visas that matched the names on the stolen checks. Once the banks credited all or a portion of the funds to the accounts but before the checks had cleared the defendants withdrew the funds from ATMs or purchased money orders, using debit cards associated with the fraudulent accounts, Mr Carpenito said. ADVERTISEMENT Belgian King Philippe has expressed regret for the acts of cruelty committed during the years that his ancestor, Leopold II, presided over what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as his personal property. In a letter to DRC President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday, Philippe wrote for the first time of his deep regret for these past injuries, the pain of which is also revived by the discriminations that are all too present in our societies. The 60-year-old monarch also apologised for the suffering and humiliation caused after the end of Leopold IIs administration of the Congo Free State (1885-1908) when the country became Belgian Congo. DRC marks the 60th anniversary of the declaration of independence from its former colonial power on Tuesday. An estimated 10 million people half of the countrys population at the time died in Congo Free State during the years Leopold II presided over the territory as his private property. The country and its people were exploited for natural resources, including rubber. Many people died and others were maimed while working on plantations for the king. Authorities would chop off the limbs of enslaved people when they did not meet quotas of materials such as rubber demanded by the Belgian crown. Leopolds atrocious reign lasted from 1885 to 1908 after conditions became so terrible other countries condemned the atrocities. After Leopold II gave up direct control in 1908, Belgium formally annexed the country, renaming it the Belgian Congo. After the violent death of African-American George Floyd in police custody in the U.S., there have also been demonstrations against racism in Belgium in recent weeks. Protests were also directed against monuments from the colonial era, especially statues of Leopold II. President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said that Nigeria had learnt invaluable lessons from the global COVID-19 pandemic and some oil-rich countries that have used their crude as a pathway to economic and industrial diversification. The president spoke in Abuja during the virtual and simultaneous flag-off ceremony of the project Ajakuota-Kaduna-Kano Gas (AKK) gas pipeline project at the Ajaokuta, Kogi and Rigachikun, Kaduna campsites. Gulf countries that have similar levels of gas reserves as Nigeria, have a strategy centred around gas-industrialization as their foundation towards export diversification. This has to be our guiding principle as we seek to attract investment and create opportunities for our people. Mr Buhari affirmed the Nigerian governments commitment to ensure timely delivery of the landmark gas pipeline project within budgetary allocation and specifications, adding that the project is dear to the people and must succeed. He directed the NNPC and partners to remain focused, noting that the AKK project was part of the delivery of the present administrations Next Level Agenda for sustainable development, enhancement of economic prosperity and increase of the countrys infrastructure assets. Governors Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna physically flagged off the commencement of works at Ajaokuta and Rigachikun sites respectively, while the president watched remotely via video-conference from the Council Chamber in Abuja. We promised the Nation that we will expand the critical gas infrastructure in the country to promote the use of gas in the domestic market, Mr Buhari said. These include the Escravos to Lagos Pipeline System 2 (ELPS-2), Obiafu to Obrikom (OB3) pipeline and AKK. These projects are fundamental to our desire to industrialize and energize the entrepreneurial spirit that is ever-present in our population. While enumerating the benefits of the project, billed to be completed in two years, the president said it would provide gas for generation of power and for gas-based industries which would facilitate the development of new industries. He also expressed optimism that the project, when completed, would ensure the revival of moribund industries along the transit towns in Kogi, Abuja (FCT), Niger, Kaduna and Kano States. According to him, the cascading effect and impact of the AKK, when operational, will be immeasurable. It has significant job creation potential both direct and indirect, while fostering the development and utilization of local skills and manpower, technology transfer and promotion of local manufacturing, he said. On COVID-19, the president said the pandemic had further underscored the drive of his administration for export substitution initiatives and projects that promote local manufacturing. The president also used the occasion to challenge the private sector to lead the charge in maximising the nations gas resources. According to him, the private sector can create a petrochemical hub that will resurrect the manufacturing industry and put the nation on the path to increased self-sufficiency. As the world evolves, we owe our people the responsibility to prepare them for what the future holds. We, therefore, must be bold and fearless and can no longer be incremental in our approach, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Time is short, and our peoples zeal is strong and palpable. Infrastructure development although long, tedious and complex remains a cardinal objective of our administrations drive towards ensuring a stable, sustainable and more prosperous future for our citizenry. Today marks an important chapter in the history of our great nation. It marks the day when our domestic natural gas pipeline networks; from Obiafu in Rivers State, Escravos in Delta State and Lekki in Lagos State, are being connected through Kaduna to Kano States thereby enhancing national energy security, creating balanced development, and further integrating our nation. Chinese-financed The president commended the financiers, the Bank of China and SINOSURE, and the two EPC Contractors (Brentex/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau-CPP Consortia and Oilserve/China First Highway Engineering Company-CFHEC Consortia) for their support to deliver the important project. He appealed to the governors of Kogi, Niger, Kaduna and Kano States as well as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to provide the enabling environment and support for the project. In his remarks, Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, explained that the AKK gas pipeline project is part of the Trans-Nigeria gas pipeline project. According to him, the project involves the establishment of a connecting gas pipeline network that will integrate the Northern region of the country with the Niger Delta, Eastern and Western regions of the country. He said the EPC contract for the 614km AKK gas pipeline project was awarded at a contract sum of $2.592 billion to Messrs. Oilserv Plc/China First Highway Engineering Company (Oilserv/CFHEC Consortium) for the first segment covering 303km. According to the GMD NNPC, Messrs Brentex Petroleum Services/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (Brentex/CPP Consortium) got the contract for the second segment covering 311km under a debt-equity financing model with loan from Bank of China and SINOSURE. He said the loan would be repaid through the pipeline transmission tariff and supported by a sovereign guarantee. We are confident that the EPC contractors will deliver the project on time, within budget and to quality/specifications, he said. Mr Kyari added that upon completion, the project would enable the injection of 2.2bscf/d of gas into the domestic market and facilitate additional power generation capacity of 3,600MW. (NAN) You have all these structures, which are approaching 45 years old. The lake used to have nice bathrooms, but now we have port-o-johns. When you look at the picnic area, those are still the original charcoal grills, and the benches are rotting away, Mauser told The Morning Call in 2018. ADVERTISEMENT The leaders of the National Assembly have explained their positions against the plan to increase electricity tariffs in the country by July. Senate President Ahmad Lawan and House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila expressed their rejection of the plan on Monday at a meeting with electricity distribution companies, DISCOs and the regulator, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. On Tuesday the two leaders met with Vice President Osinbajo on the same subject. They spoke to journalists after the meeting. Read their remarks below. Ahmad Lawan We have come to visit our Vice President, one of our leaders in connection with the impending electricity tariff in the country. The joint leadership of the National Assembly sat yesterday with DISCOS and Nigeria Regulatory Agency. We believe that this is not the right time to increase the tariff in the electricity sector. Nigerians have a lot of challenges today because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the situation requires that we do everything possible to make life easy for our citizens. Of course, government is doing a lot in this respect but we believe that DISCOS should meet with consumers, find better cost effective tariff. But before then, there must be some steps to ensure that the consumers are properly metered otherwise, you will still go back to guessing what consumers are consuming. That is to say that let the billing be scientifically based, it has to be based on what you actually consumed. So we had this discussion with Mr. Vice President and we are sure that that announcement in the increase of electricity tariff in Nigeria is untimely. We believe that we need to do more work to ensure that before any increase, there must be some measures, steps, line of actions that must be exhausted including the metering. This is a welcome idea to the Vice President as well. Can we get to a point where we can get steady power supply so that billing, metering and all of that wont be too hard for Nigerians? I believe that the share purchase agreement signed by the government and the DISCOS at the point of the privatization must be adhered to. These are businesses and they must do everything possible to provide services. It is when they provide efficient and effective services to consumers that they can make money. But as a government, we too must make sure that we discharge our obligations as provided for in share purchase agreement signed. Once we are able to achieve that, we will have a better situation in the power sector in Nigeria. It is doable, it has happened elsewhere. So, we cannot continue to give DISCOS and GENCOS the resources that we can ordinarily deploy to build hospitals. But whatever its necessary for us to do as part of our agreement with them we must do those. Today is International Day of Parliamentarism, how well have you supported government and discharged your responsibility in this period of COVID-19 in terms of emergency laws, monitoring spending etc? Well, we have been doing our best but its for the public to judge what we do. I wouldnt say we should rate ourselves but I want to assure you that in the prevailing circumstances, the National Assembly has been doing its best. We try to attend to all those issues we believe are contemprenous, those resources that government need to address COVID-19 situation. Recently, we passed the budget 2020 and of course that included the stimulus package to support the COVID-19 situation. So we have been doing our best and we are always available to undertake those parliamentary interventions that will be required as at when due. Femi Gbajabiamila On the hike of electricity tariff and the DISCOS complaints of operating under heavy financial burden: Let me just say that we saw the President earlier this morning and we have seen the Vice President today. The whole idea is that when there is a major policy decision, it is always good that the legislature and the executive are on the same page so that we dont sing different tunes. I will like to say that I think we have all agreed on an increase in cost-reflective tariff but the issue is that the timing is also important. Sometimes, timing is more important than even the policy decision that you make. There is a saying that the road to hell is often paved with good intentions. So the intentions is good but what about the timing. We have all agreed to suspend this for a while, tarry a while and get the buy-in of the people, explain to the people why this has to be done, that it is for the betterment for the electricity to get stable. They are businessmen and cannot be undercutting themselves. I think so far so good, the President listener attentively, the Vice President listener attentively and I think everybody is on the same page and hopefully, we will get some reprieve between now and whenever but its not going to happen today. President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday at the United Nations outlined the Federal Governments plans to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years. The president spoke in a video message to a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on poverty eradication. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the virtual meeting featured the launch of the Alliance for Poverty Eradication (APE). At least, 94 million Nigerians live below the poverty line, according to Oxfam. APE is designed to serve as a forum to galvanise UN member states, the international community and other stakeholders to support actions geared toward poverty eradication. Mr Buhari welcomed the launch of the initiative and expressed Nigerias endorsement of all multilateral actions aimed at actualising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said: Nigeria attaches great importance to poverty eradication. It is for this reason that in May, 2019, on my inauguration for a second term in office, our government committed itself to starting a new programme of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within a 10-year period. It is my conviction that devoting our efforts towards human capital development, efficient management of our resources, greater financial inclusion, and transformation of the agricultural sector to ensure food security are crucial to poverty eradication. In this regard, Nigeria continues to strengthen its existing social safety net initiative by increasing access to enrollees who fit the various programmes in the scheme. Nigeria will also continue to provide easier and increased access to financial services for micro and small-scale businesses through the governments Enterprise and Empowerment Programme. The president expressed his administrations determination to do more, including massive investment in education, especially of the girl-child. Nigeria holds the view that education is a critical driver of sustainable development and has immense capacity to eradicate poverty. Educating our children, especially the girl child, contributes significantly to the fight against poverty, environmental sustainability and improved health as well as building peace and resilient societies, he said. Mr Buhari said the Federal Government had also integrated the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the SDGs into its economic plans. He decried the adverse economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic which he said was threatening to reverse decades of progress made in poverty eradication. The president said that in Nigeria, as was the case in many other countries, the domestic supply chains and trading corridors had come under enormous strain. According to him, the situation is dire for Sub-Saharan countries with large informal economies and a significant number of daily wage earners. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Buhari noted that the potential economic devastation of the pandemic had made it a national development priority. In response to the challenges posed by COVID-19, he said the government recently developed an economic sustainability plan. The plan, he said, would stimulate the economy and extend protection to the very poor and other vulnerable groups through pro-poor spending. The president lauded the over 30 UN member states anchoring the Alliance for Poverty Eradication. In these difficult times, it takes considerable boldness and courage to consider that which is in the interest of the greater good. The anchor members have done just that, he said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, has said his administration will leverage on the high tech innovation and services offered by the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) to advance its e-governance strategies. The governor stated this when he hosted the management of NIGCOMMSAT, led by its Managing Director, Abimbola Alale, at the governors lodge in Abuja. The governor who underscored the importance of information technology in development, said his administration had developed an ICT blueprint and keyed into the federal governments digitisation agenda. NIGCOMSAT Limited, which owns and operates the Nigerian Communications Satellite systems, says it is opening its North-east regional office in Gombe. He said plans have already reached an advanced stage for the establishment of Gombe State Information Technology Development Agency. He said with NIGCOMMSATS setting up of its North-east regional office in Gombe, the satellite operator will have in the state government a partner in its broadband and other broadcast services. For us, the order of the day is for everyone to go digital. That is why during the transition period prior to my inauguration as the state Governor, I set up a committee on Information Communications Technology under the chairmanship of Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, when he was then the DG of NITDA. This was to help us fashion out a digital technology plan and strategy that will engender efficiency and effectiveness in our governance and support our teeming youth to take advantage of the ICT to advance their knowledge and socio-economic activities. We appreciate the efforts of NIGCOMSAT in trying to change our fortunes for the better through your services. Let me assure you of our support to facilitate your setting up of the regional office in Gombe and patronage as you do your business here. Earlier, Mrs Alale, commended the efforts of Governor Yahaya in bringing innovation to the governance of Gombe. She said the agencys broadband and satellite services will further support the governors digitisation and e-governance drive. She said the office will create a lot of opportunities for the people of the state in terms of manpower development, business, e-learning, Tele-medicine services and e-governance, among others. The official said the company will partner with the state ministry of science and technology and other companies that may spring up on account of the presence of NIGCOMSAT in Gombe on all ICT related businesses and activities. The Kano State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, reinstated five members it suspended for kicking against the investigation of corruption allegations against Muhammadu Sanusi while he was still the Kano emir. Mr Sanusi was later deposed as the emir of Kano by the state government and a replacement appointed. The five lawmakers participated in Tuesdays plenary of the assembly after the Federal High Court, Kano, declared their suspension null and void, and ordered their reinstatement. The suspended members are Garba Yau-Gwarmai (APC) representing Kunchi/Tsanyawa Constituency, Labaran Abdul Madari (APC) representing Warawa Constituency, and Isyaku Ali Danja (PDP) representing Gezawa Constituency. The others are Mohammed Bello (APC) representing Rimin Gado/Tofa Constituency and Salisu Ahmed-Gwamgwazo (PDP) representing Kano Municipal. It would be recalled that the assembly had on March 3 suspended them for six months for allegedly causing rowdiness in the house. The assembly had descended into chaos over the report of its committee that investigated the allegations against Mr Sanusi, who was later deposed by the state government as emir of Kano. The Speaker, Abdulazeez Gafasa, said the five members were suspended for misconduct and violation of the rules of the house. The five members were suspended for violating the rules of the house, especially Order IV Sub 4 a, b, d and e disrupted the sittings of the house and prevented proceedings from going on, the speaker said. They behaved violently and even attempted to snatch away the mace in a clear attempt to sabotage the sitting of the house, Mr Gafasa said. Three weeks later, the House suspended its plenary session on March 27 in compliance with COVID-19 protocol. But on June 3, the Federal High Court set aside the suspension of the five members after they urged the court to declare the sanction as a violation of Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. They said that the section stipulates and guarantees their tenure. The counsel to the lawmakers also said the suspension contravenes Article 13 of the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights and Section 109 of the Constitution. The presiding judge, Lewis Allagoa, agreed with the submission of the counsel to the lawmakers, saying their suspension was unconstitutional, null and void. He also ordered the speaker and the assembly to pay the salaries and allowances of the five suspended members. However, when the House failed to reinstate the lawmakers, they went back to the court and obtained an order compelling the assembly to reinstate them in compliance with the judgement. But the assembly through its counsel, Ibrahim Aliyu, on June 18, filed an application requesting the court to set aside the form 48 it issued directing the assembly to comply with the judgment, pending the determination of an appeal filed by the defendants. ADVERTISEMENT Justice Allagoa adjourned the matter to July 6 for the hearing of the motion. The counsel to the Kano assembly, Mr Aliyu, told PREMIUM TIMES that after the judgement on June 3, they filed an appeal and motion of stay of execution until the appeal is determined. But the counsel to the lawmakers argued that the House is compelled by law to comply with the judgement as soon as it was delivered by the court. Whether there is an appeal or not, if the judgement is delivered, until that judgement is set aside, any party affected by it ought to comply with it. ADVERTISEMENT Onyekachukwu Ibezim, the Special Adviser to Gov Willie Obiano of Anambra on Indigenous Medicine and Herbal Practice, said the government has identified six herbal drugs that could be used to manage coronavirus in the state. Mr Ibezim told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Tuesday that the agency had forwarded the products to the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). He said a team of medical experts was assembled to review the process before they decided to take the products to NAFDAC for its final confirmation and approval for public consumption. Mr Ibezim said the products were in capsule, powdered and liquid forms. He urged herbal practitioners in the state who peddle different types of herbal products without seeking approval from the government agency in-charge of herbal products to desist forthwith. We have a team of medical experts in all areas of medicines who are saddled with the responsibility of reviewing herbal products in the state before they would be made public for use. We will give approval if the products fits our standard. We do not discriminate, the government has provided a friendly environment for business to thrive for all genuine herbal practitioners despite their states of origin, he said. Anambra Traditional Medicine Board has been assigned the responsibility of properly analysing herbal products in the state and declare them fit for use by the public or otherwise before they are pushed out ; all practitioners are advised to comply, he said. Mr Ibezim said there were several unauthorised herbal products being peddled by some practitioners in the state, adding that government would soon clamp down on such. He said the state government had provided enough support for the agency to ensure that fake herbal products are wiped out from circulation. Mr Ibezim said the agency had achieved some results and was desirous to consolidate on its past success while commending the governor for his support to the office of Indigenous Medicine and Herbal Practice. All our success is attributed to Gov. Obianos interest in providing total health for the residents of Anambra, he said. (NAN) Residents of Isuaniocha and Mgbakwu on Tuesday began patch works on Obibia Bridge, linking Awka South Local Government Area through Okpuno to Awka North Local Government Area. The bridge also serves as a link from other communities such as Amanuke, Urum and parts of Achala all in Awka North to the state capital. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that some of the reinforcement rods on the bridge have been unearthed with mild potholes. Speaking on the bridge, Frank Mkpume, the President-General of Isuaniocha Town Union, said that the communities had mobilised to rehabilitate the bridge which was strategic to them and save it from possible collapse. Mr Mkpume, who described the area as a provider of houses to a large number of workers in Awka, stressed the need for the state government to intervene as the patch works might provide only a temporary solution to the problem. This palliative is from the efforts of people and residents of Isuaniocha and Mgbakwu communities. We have done it in the past but it was not good enough but we have come back to do a more formidable job. This time we will use chippings, sharp sand and cement to protect this bridge so that the reinforcement rods can be covered and that the flood water can flow out without gathering to cause further damage. Isuaniocha is the gateway into Awka North where a large population of people working in Awka, Federal establishments and state higher institutions of learning reside, but there is no road leading to these places. People doing patch work in Anambra I am speaking with pain in my heart because we are also part of the state capital territory but it appears Awka is abandoned. We need governments intervention for sustainable repairs, he said. Also, Jaja Nwanegbo, a resident of the area, said the residents had been passing through difficult times using the bridge because of its deplorable state. Mr Nwanegbo expressed fear that the people living in the area might not be able to access their homes if the government did not intervene soon. Government officials have to make up their mind on what they want to do to this bridge. It is in bad shape and the traffic during peak hours is something else, we are afraid that we may not be able to access our homes if it collapses. They must find a way to channel water away from the bridge, he said. Contributing, a tricycle operator, Jonathan Adams, said they were spending so much on repairs as the bad section caused serious damage to their vehicles. Vehicles passing Mr Adams lauded the communities for the timely efforts, saying that it will go a long way to ameliorate their plight. ADVERTISEMENT Reacting to the development, Commissioner for Works in Anambra, Marcel Ifejiofor, said the government was aware of the condition of the bridge but added that it was not as endangered as people were painting the picture. Mr Ifejiofor said a team of engineers had inspected the bridge and concluded that the integrity was still intact. He gave an assurance that the government would carry out repair works on the bridge at the end of the rainy season. We will work on that bridge as soon as the rains are over but the bridge is not as bad as people think, our engineers have been there, he said. (NAN) ADVERTISEMENT A murder suspect has narrated how he killed his 30-year-old girlfriend, Happiness Winifred, and dumped her body in a well. Shagbada Erigga made the confession on Tuesday when he was paraded alongside 32 other suspects for various criminal offences at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan. He said he attacked Happiness because she denied him sex. The incident, according to him, occurred during a visit by the deceased to his house in Oritoke area of Ojoo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. She came to my house on Sunday around 7 p.m. After we took our bath, I demanded for sex but she refused and that was what led to the misunderstanding. I told her that every time I wanted to have sex with her would I be begging her? I slapped her and she slapped me back. I later gave her three blows on her neck and she fell down and started bleeding. After she died, I took her body and dumped it inside a well. I was caught after one of my neighbours came back from work in the night and wanted to fetched water from the well, My neighbour now discovered that the water had been polluted and bringing bad odour, the water was traced and that was how it was discovered that a lady was thrown inside the well. I was later arrested after the case was reported to the police, the suspects told journalists. The police said exhibits recovered from the suspects include one cell phone, a wristwatch, chain, hand bag, undies, door key, and a sandal. ADVERTISEMENT As part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Chief Judge of Lagos, Kazeem Alogba, on Tuesday, granted freedom to 18 inmates of Kirikiri Medium Security Correctional Centre. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the release of the inmates followed President Muhammadu Buharis order and further directive by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad, to heads of courts to decongest correctional centres to curtail the spread of the disease among inmates. The freed inmates, who had been incarcerated since 2016 for offences, such as stealing, burglary and fraudulent conversion, gained freedom at the event, themed: Correctional Centres Decongestion Exercise. They were released under the power vested on the Chief Judge under Section 1(1) of the Criminal Justice Release from Custody (Special Provisions) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2007. In his address, Mr Alogba admonished the freed prisoners to go and sin no more, adding that they should not breach the law again. He warned that if any of them was found in breach of the law again, he/she would serve the full length of terms of imprisonment of his/her offences. Mr Alogba said that the prison decongestion exercise did not begin immediately after the orders of the president and the CJN because of the peculiarity of Lagos and the condition of the custodial centres in the state. He said because Lagos had a large number of defendants, due diligence had to be conducted on the submitted list to determine those who met the required qualifications. The exercise was also delayed to avoid past experiences, where people whose cases were going on well in court and nearing judgment, were released only to discover they were not qualified for such prerogative of mercy. We took so much time in doing a thorough and painstaking exercise on the information and the list provided us. We had to contact relevant courts handling their cases and other stakeholders, and cross-check records all through so that those we are processing are not those whose cases are in court and are making progress, he said. READ ALSO: Earlier, in his address of welcome, the Controller of the Lagos State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS), Samuel Iyakoreagh, commended the chief judge and other judges for their efforts at ensuring that only those qualified benefited from the exercise. Mr Iyakoreagh noted that such exercise would assist the correctional centre in the management of other inmates. He, however, appealed to Alogba to help the centre to liaise with the state government for reconstruction of the roads leading to the Kirikiri Medium Security Correctional Centre. Most times, when we leave the courts with inmates, we do not arrive at the correctional centre until it is very late, due to bad conditions of the roads. The bad roads constitute threats to our lives while conveying the inmates, he said. (NAN) Sterling Heights, MI (48312) Today Windy and partly cloudy this morning. Mostly cloudy with diminishing winds this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 75F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Low 46F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has said in a statement on Tuesday that he vows to continue the battle for comstruction and to face domestic and external challenges with the same determination displayed during the 30 June Revolution. In a post on Facebook commemorating the seventh anniversary of the revolution, El-Sisi stressed that Egypt is a nation that has made history and continues to make history on various fronts, and said the country serves as an inspiration for humanity. The president also said that the revolution would live in the memories of all generations due to what it instilled in terms of pride, dignity and patriotism, and for safeguarding the countrys identity from abduction. I renew the vow to continue our honorable battle to achieve development and face challenges both at home and abroad, he said. On 30 June 2013, millions of Egyptians took to the streets to protest the tumultous rule of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who had come to power in June 2012. Amid the mass protests against his rule, Morsi was removed from office on 3 July by a wide coalition of political forces, which set a roadmap for amending the country's constitution and holding new elections. Thursday, 2 July, will be a fully paid day off for governmental and private sector workers on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the 30 June revolution. Short link: That could explain how the black holes in this collision grew so big, she said. The black hole that emerged from this collision and left a fiery trail through the accretion disk was at least 100 times as massive as the sun. But 50 solar masses is the weight limit for black holes formed directly from dead stars, meaning that the two holes that collided in May 2019 were right at the limit and probably even bigger. So they didnt result directly from a stellar collapse, she said. Rather, they probably formed through a series of ever-larger mergers. The Cape May County Prosecutors Office will hold a discussion 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 15 at the Martin Luther King Center in Whitesboro. The topic of conversation will be police use of force. As part of New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewals 21 County/21st Century Community Policing Project, Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland will facilitate a discussion with the residents of Cape May County and will welcome ideas and input to assist the attorney general on revisions to the statewide use of force policy. Topics to be addressed: Tactics designed to subdue a subject, such as chokeholds, neck restraints, strikes to head and face, use of police dogs Reporting and training requirements Applying force appropriate to subjects' alleged conduct, limiting the use of force when the subject has committed a nonviolent offense Duty to intervene when another officer engages in excessive use of force Less-than-lethal use of force, such as bean bag shots, rubber bullets, disabling netting High-speed car pursuits ATLANTIC CITY Ralph Hunter started collecting stereotypical images of Black people that were used for commercial purposes 44 years ago. One of the first exhibits ever created by the founder of the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey was called stereotypes when the only branch of the museum was in Newtonville, Buena Vista Township. The stereotypes exhibit still exists, but now, it is inside the African American Heritage Museum at the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University on Fairmount Avenue. Soon, it will be one of the few places to learn about the historical packaging of such food as Aunt Jemima syrup and pancake mixes, Uncle Bens rice and Cream of Wheat cereal, which were based on racial stereotypes. On June 17, PepsiCo, which owns the 130-year-old Aunt Jemima breakfast brand, announced it was scrapping it because the image of the black woman on the packaging is based on a minstrel character. In this case, minstrel means a savage parody of a Black person, and it frequently involved a person darkening their skin, or being in blackface, to portray a Black person. Ocean has been thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom and over 4,000 air filters have been replaced, said Terry Glebocki, CEO of the casino. Callender, on behalf of the casino association, issued a statement Tuesday evening, saying, This is a critical moment for our industry. Atlantic City has seen strong gains in recent years, which were abruptly halted because of this global health and economic crisis. We know rebuilding from this crisis wont be easy, but we are committed to helping Atlantic City and New Jersey recover and continue the revitalization of this world-class resort destination. Initially, indoor dining was scheduled to resume the same day as the casinos. But Murphy said the publics noncompliance with masks and social distancing forced his hand. The smoking ban caught the industry by surprise, Callender and other casino executives said. Bally's, Caesars, Harrah's to reopen July 3 Caesars Entertainment Corp.s three Atlantic City properties will open at 10 a.m. July 3, th The casinos still intend to offer food and beverage options for guests, but nothing can be consumed on the gaming floor. Takeout food must either be taken back to a hotel room or outside the casino. On Tuesday, the head of the local casino workers union weighed in on the impact Murphys orders will have on the industry. Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday that while many restaurant and bar owners are following mandated COVID-19 guidelines, it only takes one person to undo months of progress and ruin it for the rest of us. A day after announcing that indoor dining would not restart Thursday, Murphy thanked the many bar and restaurant owners he said have been setting up the right way and enforcing social distancing. But one establishment ignoring the rules or even just one patron ignoring the rules can undue months of progress and ruin it for the rest of us, Murphy said during his daily briefing with other state officials. As a bar-goer, you have just as much a responsibility as anyone who works at that bar. Ignorance is not, in this case, bliss. Period. He said patrons should not congregate at the bar, should social distance from others, wear a face covering and, if they feel uncomfortable, leave. The number of positive cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey has increased by 461, bringing the total to 171,667, Murphy said. There have been 47 additional deaths confirmed, bringing the state total to 13,181. There are also 1,854 probable deaths, according to the state dashboard. The scenes that we all saw over the weekend of crowded bars in our state, where social distance was neither enforced by owners, nor practiced by patrons, sadly, dont look terribly different from this one, and they cannot continue, Murphy said, showing a photo of a crowded Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend in Missouri. This is how flare-ups happen. This is how you risk turning your community into a hotspot. There are 992 people hospitalized across the state, including 211 people in intensive care and 174 people on ventilators, Murphy said. Between 10 p.m. Sunday and 10 p.m. Monday, 50 residents were discharged from hospitals, while 44 people entered hospitals. In South Jersey, there were 13 new hospitalizations, Murphy said, with 20 discharges. So far, Atlantic County has reported 2,938 cases with 205 deaths and 1,471 cleared as recovered. Cape May County has reported 755 cases with 68 deaths and 594 designated off quarantine. Cumberland County has reported 2,466 cases with 132 deaths. Included in the totals are 16 new cases and two fatalities Atlantic County officials announced Tuesday. The deaths included a 98-year-old Egg Harbor Township resident and a 72-year-old Galloway Township resident, according to a news release from county spokeswoman Linda Gilmore. The new cases were found among six men, ages 23 to 66, and 10 women, ages 18 to 64. Five were from Atlantic City, four were from Pleasantville, two were from Hammonton and one each was from Galloway, Hamilton Township, Linwood, Margate and Mullica Township, Gilmore said. Cape May County, meanwhile, announced the deaths of a 94-year-old Dennis Township woman and two men, ages 88 and 78, from Lower Township. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Murphy also updated the list of states from which visitors coming to New Jersey should self-quarantine for 14 days. They include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Wildwood on Tuesday announced it is canceling its Fourth of July fireworks. In a news release, city commissioners said they made the call to discourage large gatherings on what is traditionally the busiest holiday of the year which also happens to fall on the busiest day of the week: Saturday. Wildwood is ready, willing and able to produce a spectacular fireworks show, said Mayor Pete Byron. However, as weve seen with the delay of opening indoor dining this week, the public is not adequately following COVID-19 public safety rules such as social distancing. We cant take a chance that Wildwood sees a spike in cases and shuts down our businesses who have already suffered immensely due to closures. Even though we moved the location to the widest part of the Wildwoods, we expect large crowds to gather in and around Rio Grande Avenue for the display, said Commissioner Steve Mikulski. We cannot take the chance that the public will be unable to practice social distancing due to crowds. Officials said they are hopeful they can come to a resolution regarding the Friday Night Fireworks that have been a fixture in the city since 1995. Additionally, Margate has postponed its Fourth of July fireworks until Sept. 26, during the Fall Funfest. One in 4 New Jerseyans admits they broke social distancing rules during the state's shelter-in-place period, according to a recent survey. The survey also found: 1 in 5 people are more concerned about the coronavirus vaccine than the infection itself. If a COVID-19 vaccine is introduced, 70% said they would wait and assess the results rather than getting vaccinated as soon as possible. Nearly 1 in 5 does not know the difference between a viral and bacterial infection. MyBioSource.com, a biotechnological products distribution company, conducted a survey of 7,500 adults across the U.S. to find out how many were truly compliant with shelter-in-place orders, according to a news release. It found that overall, 25% of New Jerseyans admit they broke social distancing rules, such as visiting friends or family while it was prohibited, compared with a national average of 36%. A group of Atlantic County Democrats urged Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday to reopen indoor dining Thursday. Sheriff Eric Scheffler, Surrogate candidate Stephen Dicht, Freeholder Caren Fitzpatrick and Freeholder candidates Celeste Fernandez and Thelma Witherspoon issued a joint statement. "The governor did a great job during the immediate outbreak of COVID-19 to flatten the curve, which kept our numbers low in Atlantic County. Since that time, our business owners and residents have by and large adhered to social distancing measures, including wearing masks, keeping restaurants and retail establishments clean, and reporting the few businesses that aren't compliant. "The state should not penalize Atlantic County just because of a few bad actors. If some restaurants and casinos don't adhere to social distancing, then they should be closed, but the overwhelming majority of businesses in Atlantic County will reopen responsibly. We lived through the casino closings of 2014, one of the most economically devastating periods in our history, and we can't go through that again. We are urging the governor to restore indoor dining in Atlantic County." An AtlantiCare nurse who recently recovered from COVID-19 was recognized by the hospital Wednesday after caring for a patient with Down syndrome fighting the coronavirus. Hospital officials recognized Mainland Campus nurse Samantha OBrien, of Mays Landing, and her colleagues in a news release. O'Brien's unit was temporarily changed to a respiratory care unit during the pandemic, according to the release. It has cared for many patients with COVID-19, including Joey Ortiz. Watch Joeys story here. We have glass windows that allow us to see into rooms from the nursing station, said OBrien. I could tell Joey seemed particularly lonely one day. She added because shed recently recovered from COVID-19, she especially understood how isolated Joey might have felt. Since he was a person with Down syndrome, I knew it was hard for him to understand the visitor policy changes that we and other hospitals had temporarily implemented. I decided to draw some fun pictures on his window. He immediately brightened up," she said. Joeys family said they are grateful for how the team treated Joey and kept them connected with him and his caregivers. By the tone of his voice, I could tell he felt at home, said his sister, Norma Ortiz. He was getting the attention that he wanted and he wasnt scared. There was no fear in his voice. I knew that he was comfortable and taken care of. Sam having just come out of being quarantined for COVID-19 herself, she was able to make a special connection with Joey, said Beth Tieri, clinical manager of the PCU. It was really heartwarming. OBrien has worked at AtlantiCare for nine years, first as a medical assistant, then as a patient care technician, before becoming a nurse. We're used to caring for patients as if they are members of our own families, she said. Its been our privilege to take this care to a whole new level. "There is a limited window for Boardwalk restaurants and their employees to earn a living each summer, and Gov. Murphy just slammed it shut," Ocean City Boardwalk Merchants Association President Wes Kazmarck said Monday. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} The statement came after Murphy announced that indoor dining would not reopen as planned Thursday, citing concerns over spikes in cases in other states. "We are extremely disappointed in the governor reversing himself and refusing to allow our Boardwalk restaurants to offer indoor dining beginning this week. It is a frustrating and potentially devastating blow to our dozens of restaurants, their families and their employees. "The governor is implementing a one-size-fits-all solution to a nuanced and complicated problem. He is imposing the same restrictions on largely open-air Boardwalk restaurants in a dry community as he is on enclosed restaurants and bars. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa will not reopen when gaming is allowed to resume Thursday as a result of Gov. Phil Murphys surprise announcement Monday that indoor dining would be indefinitely suspended. Casinos were also informed Monday that beverage service of any kind, including alcohol, would not be permitted on gaming floors or at indoor bars. Two hotels in the Wildwoods will not open for the 2020 season, according to local outlet Watch the Tramcar Please. The El Coronado Motor Inn located in Wildwood Crest and The Sandpiper in North Wildwood will not be open this summer, according to their report. Ventnor officials announced Monday that barbecuing on city beaches will be permitted every day starting July 4 through Labor Day. Only propane grills will be allowed, according to a post on the city police's Facebook page, and only during the hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cumberland County has suspended operation of its drive thru COVID-19 testing site at Rowan College of South Jersey Cumberland Campus Vineland, county officials said Monday night. Due to the widespread availability of testing at multiple facilities throughout Cumberland County, the demand for testing at our drive through facility has been reduced," Freeholder Director Joseph Derella said in a news release. Derella indicated that the county has contingency plans to establish pop up testing sites should the need arise. We have the option of restarting our college site or to bring pop up testing services to underserved areas throughout the County if necessary," he said. Beginning July 1, CompleteCare Health Network will continue to offer testing in Cumberland County, according to the release. Ensuring that everyone in the communities that we serve has access to testing is a top priority, said Curtis Edwards, President and CEO of CompleteCare. Our partnership with the County and local Health Departments made it possible for us to test many people when the need was the greatest and we look forward to partnering with them again in the future. In order to receive testing, individuals can go to CompleteCareNJ.org or call 856-451-4700 and request to be screened, officials said. All individuals will then receive a telemedicine appointment to be screened by a CompleteCare provider to ensure they meet the testing criteria. If testing is recommended, a representative will contact the individual to schedule a testing appointment and let the individual know the location address for the testing appointment. CompleteCare accepts Medicaid, Medicare as well as private insurance plans and those without insurance, according to the release. Everyone who meets the criteria to be tested will be tested whether or not they have insurance. The test will be free of charge and no co-pay will be required for the screening. Only CompleteCare Health Network patients and Cumberland County residents will be able to be tested, officials said.First responders who are residents of Cumberland County will be given priority testing. Other testing site in the county include: Mid-Atlantic Pain Specialists Drive Thru COVID-19 TestingSite 2466 E. Chestnut Avenue,Vineland Hours of Operation for Testing Site: 9 a.m. to noon Mondays and Thursdays Appointments are required - call (856) 691-2211 Testing will be free, no prescription is required. Must be symptomatic or have come in contact with someone who has tested positive. MedExpress Urgent Care 3403 S. Delsea Drive, Vineland 301S. Main Road, Vineland Open 8 a.m.8 p.m. daily Individuals can review the CDC-based screening criteria and call their local MedExpress center to speak with an employee who will go over next steps. CVS Drive Thru 3629 E. Landis Avenue,Vineland Must schedule an appointment in advance at cvs.com Test will be available for individuals meeting CDC criteria and age guidelines. State officials scheduled a 1 p.m. briefing Tuesday to update residents on the spread of COVID-19. Appearing for the briefing will be Gov. Phil Murphy, Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, Department of Health Communicable Disease Service Medical Director Dr. Edward Lifshitz and State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan. So far, Atlantic County has reported 2,922 cases with 203 deaths and 1,471 cleared as recovered. Cape May County has reported 750 cases with 65 deaths and 597 designated off quarantine. Cumberland County has reported 2,461 cases with 132 deaths. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. How many people will be allowed on casino gaming floors when they reopen? 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. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. Fortune said it has been hard for some members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation to not be able to enter the building because they anticipate being inside the church and looking through the windows to see the pine trees, a place where they find holiness. Every one of us understands that the church is not the building, and boy, oh boy, we are learning that lesson fully at this time. We are figuring out how to be a church without a building, Fortune said. +14 South Jersey synagogues remember Pittsburgh shootings NORTHFIELD As many American Jews did nationwide Friday, Rabbi David M. Weis of Congregatio If there is ever a vaccine, treatment or cure for COVID-19, the faith forum participants believe they will move forward with a hybrid of in-person and online religious services. Francois raised the specter that some members of the faithful may not want to come back into buildings again or will find the current methods of delivering the services boring eventually. Religious leaders have to be ready for whatever comes next, Francois said. I am no longer settling for trying to use or adapting existing platforms. I think its time for us as faith leaders of a faith community to start thinking about how do we become the Silicon Valley business of our community and start innovating, Francois said. There was this intense focus on dash cam footage of officers being killed in the line of duty, Schiffer said. I know thats burned into all of our brains. And I dont know if we trained on de-escalation enough and were given the understanding that not everyone is out there to kill us. We, as police officers, really have the power to deescalate a situation unlike anyone else there. Now that COVID-19 cases are declining and the majority of Minnesotans have received vaccinations, what activities are you most looking forward to resuming this summer? You voted: Plattsburgh, NY (12901) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 86F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening, with mostly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 59F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Police officer found dead at Flagstaff House barracks A policeman has reportedly been found dead in his room at the Flagstaff House Police arrest two Karela fans over attack on Medeama players Police have arrested two persons believed to be Karela United fans who attacked Ghana to establish cocoa processing plant in Rwanda Ghana is collaborating to establish a chocolate production plant in Rwanda to WHO says Africa experiencing full-blown third wave of COVID-19 The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Africa is in the middle of a Police officer found dead at Flagstaff House barracks A policeman has reportedly been found dead in his room at the Flagstaff House The Prince William Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. Zero Hedge June 30, 2020 Update (0920ET): Irans call for the arrest of President Trump has been dismissed as a propaganda stunt by the Trump Administrations special representative for Iran, Brian Hook. * * * A top Iranian prosecutor has called for the arrest of President Trump and dozens of other Americans for their involvement in the brutal murder of former IRGC General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. According to the AP, the charges underscore the heightened tensions between Iran and the US since President Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers, though President Trump faces no danger of arrest. Irans state-run IRNA news agency reported Monday that Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr has accused Trump and more than 30 other Americans (whom Iran believes were involved in planning and executing the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad) of murder and terrorism charges. The identities of those other than Trump werent disclosed, however. After filing the charges, Alqasimehr on behalf of Iran reportedly requested an Interpol red notice be issued calling for the arrest of Trump and the others, which represents the highest level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities end up making the arrests on behalf of the country that request it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, though they can put subjects at risk of arrest or detention if they travel abroad. Interpol hasnt commented on the requests, suggesting that it isnt taking Irans petition seriously. Interpols guidelines for red notices explicitly states that the agency cant get involved in political issues. Soleimani, the head of the IRGCs Quds Force (an international arm tasked with coordinating terror attacks in accordance with Irans interests around the world) was killed during the opening days of 2020, kicking off what has been a year of non-stop news and activity as both Iran and the US were soon hammered by the coronavirus as it spread internationally from Wuhan, China. This article was posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 3:30 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Kistler cautioned, though, that health authorities have no way of knowing how truthful people are. They may divulge some contacts but not others. They may say they are isolating for two weeks because they were exposed, when they really arent. Michael Snyder End Of The American Dream June 30, 2020 If the elite really do intend to use COVID-19 to fundamentally transform our society, they are going to need to continue to find ways to make it sound a lot more scary than it really is. Over the past couple of weeks, we have been endlessly barraged with news stories that boldly declare that the second wave is here, and now we are being told that this coronavirus is 10 times more infectious than it was when it first started spreading in China. And we are also being told that COVID-19 causes infected human cells to sprout tentacles loaded with viral venom to help it spread around the body. All of that definitely sounds quite frightening, and over the past couple of weeks a lot of people have really been freaking out as the number of confirmed cases has surged. But it has become clear that this virus is not going to kill more than 50 million people like the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 to 1920 did. So far, the death toll from this virus has surpassed half a million, and more will keep dying every day. However, we need to keep in mind that millions of people die from various diseases every single year. According to the WHO, the flu kills between 290,000 and 650,000 people each year, but we dont shut down everything because of that. Yes, COVID-19 is more serious than the flu. But there is absolutely no reason that it should be paralyzing our society at this point. If millions upon millions of people were suddenly dropping dead all over the globe, avoiding this virus would be a matter of survival. That is not the scenario that we are currently facing, and we need people to understand that. Someday a pandemic will come along which will be that serious, but as far as COVID-19 is concerned, fear of the virus has been even worse than the virus itself. Sadly, the mainstream media continues to drum up more fear every chance they get. For example, the following is from a Washington Post article that discussed how a mutant form of COVID-19 has now become the dominant strain here in the U.S. and around the rest of the globe When the first coronavirus cases in Chicago appeared in January, they bore the same genetic signatures as a germ that emerged in China weeks before. But as Egon Ozer, an infectious-disease specialist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examined the genetic structure of virus samples from local patients, he noticed something different. A change in the virus was appearing again and again. This mutation, associated with outbreaks in Europe and New York, eventually took over the city. By May, it was found in 95 percent of all the genomes Ozer sequenced. According to the Daily Mail, scientists are telling us that as a result of this mutation COVID-19 appears to be approximately 10 times more infectious than when it originally appeared A genetic mutation which scientists around the world have been picking up on for months appears to have caused this spike to be less likely to snap, and also to force the coronaviruses to produce more of them to make itself more infectious. As a result the virus appears to be approximately 10 times more infectious than it was when it first jumped to humans in China at the end of the year, scientists say. If I didnt know better, I would definitely be deeply alarmed to read something like that. And the World Health Organization is now saying that the worst is yet to come for this pandemic. Its been six months since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, but on Monday it told the world to prepare for the long haul ahead. The worst is yet to come, WHOs director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on a call with reporters from Geneva. Im sorry to say that. But with this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst. We should all be able to agree that more people are going to get sick and more people are going to die. Now that this virus has spread all over the planet, there is zero chance of containing it. Eventually, almost everyone will be exposed to this virus, and a lot of people will not be able to fight it off successfully. But of course the same thing could be said about the flu. One of more strains of the flu will sweep across the world this year, and hundreds of thousands of people will die. Yes, we will be facing a truly catastrophic pandemic at some point, but this is not it. In a newly released article, Ron Paul does a great job of summarizing the hysteria that we are currently witnessing Unfortunately our mainstream media is only interested in pushing the party line. So the good news that millions more have been exposed while the fatality rate continues to decline meaning the virus is getting weaker is buried under hysterical false reporting of new cases. Unfortunately many governors, including our own here in Texas, are incapable of resisting the endless lies of the mainstream media. They are putting Americans again through the nightmare of forced business closures, mandated face masks, and restrictions of Constitutional liberties based on false propaganda. In Texas the second wave propaganda has gotten so bad that the leaders of the four major hospitals in Houston took the extraordinary step late last week of holding a joint press conference to clarify that the scare stories of Houston hospitals being overwhelmed with Covid cases are simply untrue. Dr. Marc Boom of Houston Methodist said the reporting on hospital capacity is misleading. He said, quite frankly, were concerned that there is a level of alarm in the community that is unwarranted right now. The more the mainstream media keeps spreading unwarranted fear, the more people will be afraid of resuming their normal activities. For example, one recent survey found that 64 percent of Americans are uncomfortable returning to church because of this pandemic The American Enterprise Institute conducted a poll of 3,504 Americans from late May to early June, asking them about their comfort levels on returning to church. Among respondents, 64% said they were either somewhat uncomfortable or very uncomfortable with returning to in-person church services. Needless to say, this pandemic also continues to paralyze economic activity, and we continue to see more than a million Americans file new claims for unemployment benefits every single week. If our society cannot handle a pandemic that kills hundreds of thousands of people, what in the world is going to happen when a pandemic comes along that kills tens of millions? The good news is that COVID-19 didnt turn out to be as bad as some of the experts were originally projecting, but dont allow that to lull you into a false sense of security. This pandemic turned out to be mostly fear, but it is just a matter of time before a much more deadly bug hits us. This article was posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 2:03 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Chris Menahan Information Liberation June 30, 2020 Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater late last week hit Black Lives Matter rioters with various charges ranging from terrorism and rioting to assault and battery upon a police officer. This is not Seattle, Prater said Friday after unveiling the charges. Were not putting up with this lawlessness here. The ACLU criticized the district attorney Saturday evening, one day after he charged three protesters with terrorism, four with rioting and one with assault and battery upon a police officer, The Oklahoman reported on Monday. The civil liberties organization called the felony charges excessive, politically based and upsetting. For them to say its a political statement, do they not know hes a Democrat? John George, president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police responded. From The Oklahoman: Prater on Sunday defended the charges, saying, When you act like a terrorist, you will be treated like a terrorist. The terrorism, rioting and assault charges arose from protests that turned violent in Oklahoma City on May 30 and 31. More rioting charges against other protesters are expected to be filed later this week. KOCO 5 News has footage from the riots. More from The Oklahoman: The terrorism charges involved the burning of an Oklahoma County sheriffs van and the damage done to an Oklahoma City bail bonds business. One defendant, Isael Antonio Ortiz, 21, of Welch, is charged in both incidents. He was jailed Saturday morning. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Ortiz already is on probation after pleading guilty last year to endangering others while attempting to elude police. He also already is facing a 2019 drive-by shooting charge. No wonder he wants to abolish the police! This article was posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 3:32 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Zero Hedge June 30, 2020 Having been convinced by the latest batch of national polls that Trump cant possibly win in November, dozens of major companies are joining a Facebook advertising boycott intended to punish the company for refusing to censor conservative views, opinions and even facts that contradict the official far-left narrative. And now, more social media organizations are turning their own virtue-signaling dials up to 11, with Reddit shutting down one of the most popular pro-Trump subreddits. Reddits r/The_Donald subreddit garnered plenty of media attention during the 2016 primary, and later during the campaign, as a popular online gathering place for Trumps most fanatical supporters. According to a recently archived copy of the site, the subreddit had nearly 800k subscribers, making it one of the most popular conservative-focused subreddits on the site. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told reporters according to Axios that the company tried everything to avoid outright banning The_Donald, including approaching users in good faith, but they continued to break Reddits rules, including by upvoting more prohibited content and antagonizing other communities. It was becoming clear that the companys values and the way discourse was playing out on the platform was one of the main things we wanted to fix in our content policy update, Huffman said. But in a transparent attempt to play fair, Reddit also banned the subreddit dedicated to the popular left-wing podcast Chapo Trap House, known as r/ChapoTrapHouse. Both subreddits were among the most popular political platforms still on Reddit, which has seen its usage rates decline sharply over the past decade. Notably, both r/Chapo and r/The_Donald have hosted plenty of criticism of Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who is a frequent object of hatred from democratic socialists who listen to Chapo. But Reddit isnt the only social media platform to take a swipe at conservatives on Monday: Popular video-game streaming service Twitch has temporarily banned Trumps account for its airing of hateful conduct. Twitch claimed the offending content was the now-infamous Trump campaign kickoff rally, where he accused Mexicans of being rapists and bringing drugs into the US. Twitch also flagged racist comments from his rally in Tulsa. Differing slightly from a policy articulated by Facebook, the Amazon-owned Twitch explained that like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules. Twitchs crackdown has included banning one of the most popular channels on the platform Dr. Disrespect. The user has claimed he wasnt informed why the account was taken down, and Twitch has refused to elaborate. Is this all a ruse to allow Amazon to weaponize Twitch in its ongoing cold war with the president? Or is this simply an example of two more companies kowtowing to the woke mob? Of course, if its hate speech Reddit is trying to battle, shutting down r/the_Donald and the other subs will probably have the opposite effect, as more users are forced to migrate to uninhibited environs like 4chans /pol, long criticized as a hotbed for white nationalist and otherwise extremist thought. Though, fortunately, the subreddit has been backed up on an independent site, www.thedonald.win. This article was posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 3:29 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Terrorists are using infected members to spread COVID-19 Steve Watson Prison Planet.com June 30, 2020 The head of Russias Anti-Terrorism Center has warned that terrorists are intentionally trying to spread the coronavirus, using it as a form of bio-weapon. Andrei Novikov, head of Russias Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), told Russian state news agency Tass that the terrorists are using the health crisis to further their own agendas. While governments are trying to ensure health security, focusing on protecting the lives and health of their people, recruiters of international terrorist groups are not just taking advantage of the difficult situation in order to recruit more Jihad soldiers, they are calling on infected members to spread COVID-19 as wide as possible in public places, state agencies and so on, Novikov said. The anti-terror chief also noted that terrorists have been hampered by lockdowns and so are finding other ways of recruiting and spreading fear. As the population started moving into self-isolation and borders between countries were closing, the level of terrorist activity had somewhat decreased, Novikov said. The reason is obvious it became significantly more difficult for terrorists to move around, especially between countries, given that border control as well as disease control and prevention were heightened, he continued. A d v e r t i s e m e n t Novikov further added that online Media centers were activated which combine the spread of terrorist and extremist ideology and the recruitment of new members. He stated that anti-terror efforts are now focusing more on stopping the spread of misinformation designed to induce societal collapse. Above all, they are linked to mobilization technologies to ensure public safety, to thwart the spread of unreliable information and any attempts to wreak panic and social tension, Novikov asserted. Interestingly, Novikov also claimed that terrorists are using resentment against government imposed lockdowns, as well as a declining quality of life in countries hit hardest by the coronavirus, to entice new recruits. There is a common understanding that the objective social fatigue should be separated from the restrictions introduced and its artificial amplification in order to destabilize the constitutional structure, Novikov stated. The warnings echo those of European Union counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove, who recently noted that terrorists are planning to use upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic to find holes in the national security of target countries. Kerchove warned that a massive amount of money that will be spent to address the economic, social, and healthcare consequences of the virus should not be taken away from national security spending. We must prevent the one crisis ending up producing another, he urged. This article was posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 5:21 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: Enough is enough. Paul Joseph Watson PrisonPlanet.com June 29, 2020 Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best asked why two African-Americans were dead at a place that clamed to be working for Black Lives Matter after a 16-year-old teenager was killed inside the CHOP police-free zone. Despite organizers urging occupiers to abandon the CHOP zone last week, it still remains very much active and as crime-ridden as ever. A 19-year-old man was shot dead and another wounded during an incident in the area two weekends ago. That was followed by a similar incident in the early hours of Monday which left a 16-year-old dead and a 14-year-old critically wounded. During a press conference where she was heckled throughout by BLM supporters, Police Chief Carmen Best stated, Its very unfortunate that we have yet another murder in this area identified as the CHOP two African-American men dead at a place where they claim to be working for Black Lives Matter. "Two African-American men are dead at a place where they claim to be working for Black Lives Matter." Seattle police chief @carmenbest is heckled by angry protesters at a press conference inside "CHAZ" addressing the homicide & injury of two black children by CHAZ security. pic.twitter.com/RvvLkFyYxc Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) June 30, 2020 Best went on to assert that activists shouldnt have been allowed to take over an entire neighborhood, adding enough is enough here. A d v e r t i s e m e n t As an African-American woman with uncles and brothers and stuff, I wouldnt want them to be in this area, said Best, before she was interrupted again by someone using a bullhorn. This kind of behavior is irrational and unacceptable, she added. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan originally defended CHOP by characterizing it as a summer of love despite an explosion of rapes and other violent crimes in the area. She did a 180 last week and ordered police to dismantle the CHOP zone, but that has yet to happen. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: Follow on Twitter: Follow @PrisonPlanet My voice is being silenced by free speech-hating Silicon Valley behemoths who want me disappeared forever. It is CRUCIAL that you support me. Please sign up for the free newsletter here. Donate to me on SubscribeStar here. Support my sponsor Turbo Force a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. This article was posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 6:29 am Print this page. Infowars.com Videos: As the largest bank in Africa, Standard Bank Group, along with its strategic partner ICBC, has been attending the CIIE since its inception. It has also introduced 20 businesses from the continent to the expo. Impressed by the size and diversity of the event, the bank intends to leverage the opportunity to access one of the world's most consequential and dynamic markets to actively engage its client base. At the most recent edition of the CIIE, Standard Bank hosted two stands: one in the financial services pavilion and the other in the agro-processing pavilion, greatly benefitting our customers who were predominantly from this sector, he says. Gamet points out that many of Standard Bank's customers who attended the CIIE have successfully negotiated sales agreements, with Chinese buyers purchasing products such as wines, fruits, nuts, chilies, and a variety of other agricultural and agro-processed goods. For many clients, it was their first sale in the Chinese market and therefore an exciting, lucrative, new market entry for them. In some instances, these exporters had to increase capacity to meet their first orders, further indicating the extent to which the CIIE can benefit African businesses, says Gamet. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in slower economic growth this year, Gamet retains his confidence in the Chinese economy and the Belt and Road Initiative, which has brought important development opportunities to African countries. Despite the gloomy economic outlook, the structural drivers in the China-Africa corridor remain intact, and are likely to re-assert themselves soon, he says. Over the past 16 years, African countries have enjoyed a strong trade relationship with China. Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that bilateral trade between the two sides reached more than $200 billion in 2018, representing a year-on-year rise of 20 percent. China has now been the continent's largest trade partner for 10 consecutive years. Standard Bank remains committed to driving Africa's growth and sees trade with China as key to supporting this commitment, says Gamet. This year's CIIE will take place from Nov 5 to 10 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. So far, more than 90 percent of the planned business exhibition area has been reserved by exhibitors, according to the organizers. And despite the current economic uncertainty, one thing seems certain the trend for increased economic cooperation between China and Africa is set to continue. More information of CIIE is as follows: with two editions successfully held since 2018, CIIE serves as the platform for international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchange, as well as opening-up and cooperation. The third edition of CIIE will take place in Shanghai from November 5th to 10th. Thousands of companies, which are leading players in their industries, will gather at the expo to showcase their products and services, and seek business opportunities with global buyers. At CIIE, participants can both purchase a wide range of products from the world and can also sell their products to the world. CIIE helps drive investment both inward and outward and contributes to maintaining a stable global supply chain. CIIE welcomes global buyers to join the upcoming event and to share opportunities presented by China's further opening up. Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197865/CIIE_Standard_Bank_Africa.mp4 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1077995/CIIE_Logo.jpg Contact: Ms. Nie Qingxin Tel.: +86-21-59760717, +86-21-59761076 Email: ciie2020@ciie.org Website: http://www.ciie.org/zbh/en/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ciieonline Twitter: https://twitter.com/ciieonline YouTube: https://youtu.be/fhejGnVdGWk Related Links https://www.ciie.org/zbh/en/ SOURCE CIIE RAMALLAH, Palestine, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 25, 2020, Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC) issued new five-year bonds through two parallel issuances in both the US dollars and euro currencies with a gross value of USD 73.841 million, of which USD 58 million and I14 million are in a private subscription with the participation of nine banks and companies including Arab Bank, Cairo Amman Bank, Bank of Palestine, Quds Bank, Bank of Jordan, Jordan Ahli Bank, the National Bank, Palestine Deposit Insurance Company and the National Insurance Company. The bondholders of the two issuances held a general assembly on Thursday, June 25, 2020, in Ramallah, which was chaired by APIC Chairman and CEO Tarek Aggad, and was also attended by APIC's executive management team; the manager of the Securities Directorate at the Palestine Capital Market Authority Murad Al-Jadbih; representatives for the bondholders; the custodian of Cairo Amman Bank; as well as Shehadeh Law Firm, the legal counselor of APIC. At the bonds general assembly, Wasata Securities Company was elected and assigned as the trustee for both issuances. APIC's General Assembly had approved and ratified the issuance of new corporate bonds with a nominal gross value of up to USD 75 million during its extraordinary meeting that took place in Ramallah earlier in May. In his statement, Aggad said that the bond issuance is an important step towards assisting the company in achieving its future plans and will also effectively enhance its capital structure. Aggad added, "We thank all the institutions that subscribed to APIC bonds, which proves their trust in APIC group particularly during the current challenges that include political uncertainty, the current closures and preventive measures in place due to the coronavirus pandemic." Aggad noted that several of the banks that had subscribed to the first and second bond issuances in 2012 and 2017 have since renewed their subscriptions for this third issuance, which demonstrates the great trust that APIC has enjoyed from bondholders during the past years. APIC bonds are structured with a bullet repayment after five years; are not traded nor listed on Palestine Exchange and any other stock exchange; are not convertible into shares; represent excellent debt; and are collateralized with 100% collateral coverage ratio. About APIC APIC is a foreign public shareholding investment holding company listed on the Palestine Exchange (PEX: APIC). It holds diversified investments across the manufacturing, trade, distribution and service sectors in Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates through nine subsidiaries: Siniora Food Industries Company; Unipal General Trading Company; Palestine Automobile Company; Medical Supplies and Services Company; National Aluminum and Profiles Company (NAPCO); Sky Advertising and Public Relations and Event Management Company; Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (BRAVO); Arab Leasing Company and Arab Palestinian Storage and Cooling Company, employing over 2000 staff through its group of subsidiaries. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/640722/APIC_Logo.jpg SOURCE Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC) Ouided Bouchamaoui , Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (Tunisia), Paul Polman , former Chairman of Unilever and Honorary Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce (Netherlands), Sir Richard Branson , Founder and Chairman, Virgin Group (UK), and Harley Seyedin , President, Allelon Energy Systems, and President of AmCham South China (USA) are among the 24 international business leaders and signatories of the call to action working to address these challenges. These signatories are also past recipients of the Oslo Business for Peace Award the highest award an individual business leader can receive, for their businessworthy accomplishments. The award is given by the Award Committee of Nobel Laureates in Peace and Economics to business leaders who ethically and responsibly solve societal problems that create value both for business and society. The 24 signatories urgently call for: 1. Immediate debt cancellation and increased investment linked to a green and socially equitable recovery. 2. Increased global co-ordination, especially avoiding export barriers on personal protective equipment and maintaining fair and efficient markets for both the Global North and the South. 3. Investment in and support for SMEs, ensuring employment especially for underserved communities. 4. Global co-ordination on strategies for financial investment and income transfer to strengthen the participation of women in the economy and the job market. 5. Increased attention to racial harmony, integration and inclusion. By some estimates, the consequences of the pandemic are that 265 million people will suffer acute food shortages, 0.5 billion people may be pushed back into poverty and women are disproportionately negatively affected. "As we rebuild a world in the wake of COVID-19, let's look to the real business leaders who stand out as role models to society and their peers, are earning the trust of their stakeholders, advocate for businessworthy leadership, and are contributing to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These very diverse Business for Peace Honourees, ranging from young health-tech entrepreneurs to CEOs of multinationals and Nobel Peace Prize winners are such real leaders. This call to action is for business leaders who want to make actual change. Now is the moment to reshape the world that creates value for all," concludes Per Saxegaard, founder of the Business for Peace Foundation. For the full text of the open letter please visit https://businessforpeace.no/ About the Oslo Business for Peace Award The Oslo Business for Peace Award is given out annually to exemplary business leaders who apply their business energy ethically and responsibly, creating both economic and societal value. Winners are selected by the Award Committee of Nobel Laureates in Peace and Economics after a global nomination process through the International Chamber of Commerce, United Nations Global Compact, United Nations Development Programme, and Principles for Responsible Investment. The committee evaluates the nominees on the criteria of being a role model to society and their peers, having earned trust by stakeholders, and standing out as an advocate. About the American Chamber of Commerce in South China The American Chamber of Commerce in South China (AmCham South China) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating bilateral trade between the United States and the People's Republic of China. Certified in 1995 by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC, AmCham South China represents more than 2,300 corporate and individual members, is governed by a fully-independent Board of Governors elected from its membership, and provides dynamic, on-the-ground support for American and International companies doing business in South China. In 2018, AmCham South China hosted more than 10,000 business executives and government leaders from around the world at its briefings, seminars, committee meetings and social gatherings. AmCham South China is a fully-independent organization accredited by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC. All AmChams in China are independently governed and represent member companies in their respective regions. ---END SOURCE American Chamber of Commerce in South China WASHINGTON, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, 340 organizations signed a letter urging Congressional leaders to make telehealth flexibilities created during the COVID-19 pandemic permanent. Those signing this multi-stakeholder letter include national and regional organizations representing a full range of health care stakeholders and all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Congress quickly waived statutory barriers to allow for expanded access to telehealth at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing federal agencies with the flexibility to allow healthcare providers to deliver care virtually. If Congress does not act before the COVID-19 public health emergency expires, current flexibilities will immediately disappear. Therefore, 340 stakeholders have sent a powerful message to Congress outlining the immediate actions necessary to ensure CMS has the authority to continue to make telehealth services available once the national health emergency is rescinded: Remove obsolete restrictions on the location of the patient to ensure that all patients can access care at home, and other appropriate locations; Maintain and enhance HHS authority to determine appropriate providers and services for telehealth; Ensure Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics can furnish telehealth services after the public health emergency; and Make permanent Health and Human Services (HHS) temporary waiver authority for future emergencies. While federal agencies can address some of these policies going forward, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) does not have the authority to make changes to Medicare reimbursement policy for telehealth under the outdated Section 1834(m) of the Social Security Act. Following these priorities will allow CMS to build on the experience gained during the pandemic and expand access to telehealth in a thoughtful, data-driven way. Read the letter to Congress, including the list of 340 stakeholders, here. The following quotes are from the organizations co-leading this effort: Scott Whitaker, President and CEO, AdvaMed "Too many patients are still going without care that is absolutely vital to their health and putting essential medical procedures on hold due to the pandemic or lack of access to care. Making recently expanded telehealth access permanent will improve patients' ability to get care outside of doctors' offices and other traditional health care settings and save and improve countless lives." AdvaMed MEDIA CONTACT: Jon Dobson ( [email protected] ) Krista Drobac, Executive Director, Alliance for Connected Care "The pandemic has given many seniors their first real experience with telehealth, as clinicians leveraged connected care tools to meet access challenges. It's time for Congress to eliminate outdated statutory barriers to telehealth and give HHS the ability to expand telehealth while remaining a good steward of American tax dollars." ACC MEDIA CONTACT: Chris Adamec ( [email protected] ) Ann Mond Johnson, CEO, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) "As we all work to understand the impact of the waivers put in place in response to the pandemic and assess what should be made permanent, we encourage Congressional leaders to focus on existing statutory barriers that must be immediately addressed to ensure the administration can appropriately transition and modernize telehealth under Medicare and importantly, keep us all from falling off the 'telehealth cliff.'" ATA MEDIA CONTACT: Gina Cella ( [email protected] ) Jennifer Covich Bordenick, CEO, eHealth Initiative "The pandemic provided us with an opportunity to see the benefits of broad telehealth adoption. Virtual care doesn't just support COVID-19 care, it increases access to communities and consumers for whom traditional office visits don't always work. Hundreds of organizations want Congress to make these changes permanent because they make sense clinically and financially for both providers and patients." eHI MEDIA CONTACT: Catherine Pugh ( [email protected] ) Joel White, Executive Director, Health Innovation Alliance "During the current crisis, telehealth met the challenge to fill a vital gap in services for patients. It should not require another pandemic for patients to gain broad access to state of the art treatment telehealth delivers." HIA MEDIA CONTACT: Greg Johnson ( [email protected] ) Rob Havasy, Managing Director, Personal Connected Health Alliance "HIMSS and PCHAlliance call upon Congress to take swift action and make permanent the flexibilities that have supported the use of evidence-based connected care technologies to improve healthcare quality, access, and value for all Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic." PCHALLIANCE MEDIA CONTACT: Karen Groppe ( [email protected] ) SOURCE AdvaMed; Alliance for Connected Care; American Telemedicine Association (ATA); eHealth Initiative; Health Innovation Alliance; HIMSS; Personal Connected Health Alliance BOSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A plan that is being considered by the European Commission to tax the carbon emissions attributed to imported goods could create competitive advantages for foreign companies with small greenhouse gas footprintsand have financial repercussions for other exporters, adding to the financial strain caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The tax could slash the profits that are generated by imported materials, such as crude oil, flat-rolled steel, and wood pulp, by 10% to 65%, and the tax could impact European Union and non-EU producers of such goods as chemicals and machinery, according to new research released today by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The study, which is described in an article titled "How an EU Carbon Border Tax Could Jolt World Trade," found that an EU carbon tax on imports could rewrite the terms of competitive advantage in one of the world's biggest markets. Higher prices for Russian crude oil, for example, could cause European chemical producers to import more oil from Saudi Arabia, where extraction methods leave a smaller carbon footprint. And steel that is produced in Chinese or Ukrainian mills using blast furnaces would become less competitive in the EU against steel from other countries that is made in more carbon-efficient mills. The details and timing of the policy are still to be determined and must be approved by legislators. But the article contends that some sort of carbon-pricing mechanism is likely to be imposed on importsand companies should prepare. "Whatever policy is adopted, the size and strategic importance of the EU market means its action could transform the fundamentals of global advantage," said Johan Oberg, a BCG managing director and senior partner who coauthored the article. "Companies around the world will be compelled to manage their carbon footprints with greater urgency." A carbon border tax is one of several mechanisms that the European Commission is considering as part of the European Green Deal, a bold initiative to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by 50% over the next decadecompared with the current target of 40%and make Europe the world's first climate-neutral continent. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyan, has recently called the European Green Deal a key element of the region's post-COVID-19 economic recovery. A carbon tax on imports also has strong support among European manufacturers. Many have been paying for carbon emissions since 2005 under the EU's Emissions Trading System, and they have wanted a more level playing field against importers, especially those from nations with more lax environmental standards. The BCG study assessed the impact of a potential carbon border tax on a wide variety of industrial sectors in different countries. The study assumed that the initial levy will be set at $30 per metric ton of CO 2 emissionsone potential scenario. The degree of impact on industrial sectors would be largely influenced by their carbon intensitythe relative propensity to contribute to the so-called greenhouse gas effectand trade intensity, the degree to which goods in that sector are traded. The study also estimated the tax's impact on the profits that are generated by exports to the EU in each sector. Considering the effects of the tax on competitive advantage and profits, the sectors that would be hit most directly are those that produce refined petroleum products, coke (a key input in steel manufacturing), and mining and quarrying products. The tax would reduce the profitability of crude oil shipments to the EU by about 20%, on average, for example, assuming crude oil prices remain in the range of $30 to $40 per barrel. The total profit pool generated by EU imports of wood pulp would shrink by 65%, on average. Sectors such as basic metals, chemical products, and paper products, while less dependent on trade, would also be directly affected because of their high carbon intensity. The tax would slash the profit pool generated by imported flat-rolled steel products, used by automotive and machinery makers and construction companies, by about 40%, on average. In terms of commodity steel, Chinese and Ukrainian industries, which mostly produce steel using blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces, would be hit much harder, on average, than those of Canada and South Korea, where a greater portion of steel comes from mills using cleaner electric arc furnaces. Because the costs of the carbon border tax would be felt far downstream in supply chains, it would impact companies in every sector, whether they are European or non-European. Owing to the size of the EU market, the tax is also likely to intensify pressure on companies and governments around the world to take stronger measures to limit emissions. Companies in nations with their own carbon-pricing schemes, such as Australia, Canada, and Japan, may be exempt if their governments negotiate new trade pacts with the EU or update existing ones. Despite the uncertainties surrounding the price mechanisms and the timing of the policy, CEOs should start preparing now for some form of an EU carbon tax on imports. The article recommends that companies begin measuring their carbon footprints, tracking carbon pricing and its impact on their costs, building a playbook of actions to take under various scenarios, and working with governments to help shape policy. "The best performers in each sector will not only enjoy a competitive edge in Europe," said Marc Gilbert, a BCG managing director and senior partner who leads the firm's work in geopolitics and trade. "They will also have a head start against less adaptable rivals in other markets as more nations embrace financial incentives to push companies to accelerate the fight against climate change." A copy of the study can be downloaded here. To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or [email protected]. About Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we help clients with total transformationinspiring complex change, enabling organizations to grow, building competitive advantage, and driving bottom-line impact. To succeed, organizations must blend digital and human capabilities. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives to spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting along with technology and design, corporate and digital venturesand business purpose. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, generating results that allow our clients to thrive. SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Related Links www.bcg.com Then, of course, there's the Trump administration's reckless approach to COVID-19. It's possible that the president's so-called campaign restart in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was so sparsely attended because there is at least one thing I have in common with some of his voters: I'm not ready to reopen. He chose to go ahead with the next rally, in Arizona, where about 3,000 of his supporters filled the Dream City Church and hooted at the notion that masks were necessary. BOZEMAN, Mont., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascent Vision Technologies (AVT) has received a contract from the Defence Technology Institute (DTI) of Thailand for its field-proven eXpeditionary Mobile Air Defense Integrated System (X-MADIS). The X-MADIS will protect critical assets against hostile small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS). Air Chief Marshall Dr. Preecha Pradabmook, Director-General of DTI (r), and Mrs.Supadee Anantarangsi, Managing Director of GCS Group The X-MADIS was selected by the DTI following a series of Counter small Unmanned Aerial System (C-sUAS) demonstrations and tests to showcase the capabilities of the system. Developed to achieve optimal performance in high-heat and humid conditions, the X-MADIS will provide reliable, fixed-site and full-spectrum protection against commercial, off-the-shelf sUAS and state-level adversaries. AVT's X-MADIS is a portable solution that incorporates industry-leading components designed specifically for detection, tracking, identification, classification and defeat of sUAS and drone swarms. The X-MADIS is tailored to each customer's mission through advanced system integration, providing customers with a selection of components to meet their specific needs. The DTI's X-MADIS FS (Fixed Site) combines four all-threat air surveillance radars with an RF detection sensor for reliable detection, classification and locating of commercial sUAS. A CM202U optic delivers rapid positive identification and tracking of an airborne object to increase the operator's decision time when responding to a threat. An Electronic Warfare (EW) system neutralizes one or multiple sUAS. All components are integrated into AVT's CUAS Suite software to enable seamless, single operation of the entire kill-chain. "We are grateful that the Defence Technology Institute has recognized the X-MADIS as a powerful solution to protect their assets against sUAS threats," said Stephen Zinda, Vice President of International Business Development at AVT. "The award was granted following a series of test events to demonstrate the suitability of the X-MADIS for this specific operation. "I would like to thank our partners, GCS Group Corporation, for their support and effort in helping us secure the contract," added Zinda. "We look forward to continuing a strong relationship with both GCS Group and the DTI as we support their needs." Established in 2004, GCS Group Corporation is a reputable organization based in Thailand that designs, manufactures and trades high-level technology for the defense industry. Ascent Vision Technologies (AVT) specializes in gyro-stabilized imaging systems, fully integrated solutions and innovative software development for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR); Air Defense; and Counter small Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-sUAS) operations. AVT provides cutting-edge technology solutions for the defense, aerospace and unmanned systems industries, supporting airborne, ground and maritime missions around the world. Founded in 2015 by combat veterans of the U.S. military, AVT has grown into a global organization, with six offices and two independent production facilities to support AVT's worldwide customer base. AVT has become a leader in various disciplines, including C-sUAS technology, Aerial Firefighting Sensors and ISR systems, and offers custom innovations as well as a range of field-proven solutions. For more information, please visit www.ascentvision.com. Media Contact: Bianca Villiers [email protected]ion.com Related Images ascent-vision-technologies-secures.jpg Ascent Vision Technologies Secures CUAS Contract with Key Thailand Defense Agency Air Chief Marshall Dr. Preecha Pradabmook, Director-General of DTI (r), and Mrs. Supadee Anantarangsi, Managing Director of GCS Group Related Links Website SOURCE Ascent Vision Technologies KFAR SABA, Israel, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascom UMS, an Italian telecommunication solutions provider focused on healthcare ICT - part of international Ascom group - announced that it has selected Oxitone Medical, creator of the wrist-sensor pulse oximetry monitor, as a wearable solution for continuous remote monitoring of COVID-19 patients. Oxitone 1000M, the industry's first FDA-cleared and CE-certified wrist medical monitor, has been integrated into Ascom's Digistat Wearables remote surveillance system to enhance remote care. Ascom's clients, who have decided to rely on cutting-edge digital technology rather than manually updating their computerized health records, are implementing the Digistat Wearables solution with the Oxitone 1000M device for remote continuous monitoring of the health of COVID-19 patients who do not need hospitalization. This easy-to-use solution contributes to reliably and safely identification of decompensating patients, including those who have so called "silent hypoxia," while optimizing the workflow of healthcare professionals. "Integration of the Oxitone 1000M into the Digistat Wearables solution," said Francesco Deventi, Director of Sales of Ascom UMS, "will enable us to significantly enrich the information collected from patients and to optimize the process of measuring, recording and sending vital signs that contribute to increasing patient's safety." Pulse Oximetry (SpO2 and pulse rate) is an important monitoring tool to identify impending respiratory failure events. Modern pulse oximeters are exploiting different body sites such as the fingertip, forehead or earlobe. All those are bulky and uncomfortable. Specifically, ambulatory COPD patients use so called fingertip spot-check monitors for random and episodic measurements. Oxitone's flagman device Oxitone 1000M makes all the difference thanks to cutting-edge sensors technology. It has all sensors placed in a watch-like device on the wrist ulnar bone and gives readings every second, providing easy and comfortable continuous and prolonged measurements. "We're proud that Ascom UMS has entrusted us to enhance their COVID-19 patient monitoring solution in Italy," said Ofer Harpak, CTO and Chairman of Oxitone Medical. "This collaboration validates the value of our game-changing wearable medical solution. This is a major step in our continued strategic expansion into Europe." For more information about Oxitone solution, please visit www.oxitone.com. About Ascom Ascom is a global solutions provider focused on healthcare ICT and mobile workflow solutions. The vision of Ascom is to close digital information gaps allowing for the best possible decisions anytime and anywhere. Ascom's mission is to provide mission-critical, real-time solutions for highly mobile, ad hoc, and time-sensitive environments. Ascom uses its unique product and solutions portfolio and software architecture capabilities to devise integration and mobilization solutions that provide truly smooth, complete, and efficient workflows for healthcare as well as for industry and retail sectors. Ascom is headquartered in Baar (Switzerland), has operating businesses in 18 countries and employs around 1,300 people worldwide. Ascom registered shares (ASCN) are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich. About Ascom UMS Ascom UMS is based in Scandicci (Florence) and has a strong know-how in healthcare segment especially regarding software solutions for critical care area (ICU and surgical) to contribute to clinical workflows optimization and patients safety improvement. www.ascom.com/it About Oxitone Medical Oxitone Medical is using wearable medical devices, continuous remote monitoring and personalized data analytics to empower proactive care of people with severe chronic conditions, so they can live a healthier life. An Oxitone full-suite continuous care solution enables remote passive monitoring of severe chronic disease patients automatically flagging critical medical issues. Oxitone's flagman device, Oxitone 1000M pulse oximetry monitor, is the industry's first FDA-cleared medical device with all sensors placed around the wrist ulnar bone and giving readings every second. Covered by four US patents, it has proved to be one of the most accurate wearable medical technologies in the market. Ascom Media Relations: Paolo Pirotta [email protected] Phone: +39-333-6894095 Oxitone Medical Contact: Leon Eisen [email protected] Phone: +1-925-271-7676 SOURCE Oxitone Medical Related Links https://www.oxitone.com EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkeley Research Group (BRG) is ranked as a "Band 1" global firm for Economic Analysts in Chambers Litigation Support 2020, a comprehensive guide to the leading professional services providers in key markets worldwide for lawyers, general counsel and companies tackling complex disputes. In its first year of ranking in the guide, BRG is one of three firms featured in the top band for Economic Analysts. Overall, Chambers ranked five BRG practices across the US, UK and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions and globally, as well as three BRG experts. "We are delighted to be recognized among the very top professional services providers worldwide," said BRG Chairman and Principal Executive Officer David Teece. "BRG is a leader in the areas that can impact business most significantly. We have an evidence-based, theory-informed and insight-driven approach that underpins all we do. Our experts are superb, and we are recognized for our independence and deep contextual understanding of complex, unstructured problems." Clients note that BRG's strengths in economic analysis include experts who are "creative, flexible and know how to arrive at a credible independent report," while "quality and diversity of services provided by BRG is very high." The Economic Analysts category relates to several of BRG's core practices, covering areas including International Arbitration, Valuation, Damages, Antitrust and Intellectual Property, and its experts based across offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa and APAC. Political Risk BRG, and in particular Global Investigations and Latin America leader Frank L. Holder, received special recognition for expertise in Political Risk, with Chambers noting a client's praise: "Their team is exceptional. BRG's capacity to develop information about all sorts of data points and how they approach analyzing the local market in question is top notch." Commentators said Holder is "a huge value add" and that no one else "has the knowledge of Latin America that he does, particularly in Argentina, Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador." Business Intelligence & Investigations - APAC In the APAC region, BRG ranked in Band 2 for Business Intelligence & Investigations. BRG is praised for its investigative capabilities and ability to "go beyond litigation and find answers that solved the client's problems." As a recent entry to the Asian market, BRG was noted as being "in growth mode here in Asia" and already having a good presence. Forensic Accountants - UK UK-wide, BRG ranked in Band 3 for Forensic Accountants. Commentators appreciate BRG's "seamless experience, from the term sheet onwards," and flexibility in adapting to each organization's needs. Managing Director Ben Johnson was ranked in Band 2, with a source saying "he's brilliant and the best I've come acrossvery experienced and very diligent." Business Intelligence & Investigations - US In the US, BRG ranked in Band 3 for Business Intelligence & Investigations and is noted as having one of the largest nationwide presences of any private investigatory agency. Commentators highlighted BRG's "great geographic coverage" and ability to deliver. Additional ranked individuals include Managing Director Brian Stapleton, who is ranked in Band 4 for UK-wide Business Intelligence & Investigations. He was highlighted for his deep experience in forensic investigations, corporate disputes and multijurisdictional asset tracing. Commentators said that "he is one of the leading figures in the market" and ties up "business intelligence with forensic accounting as a synergy of disciplines." About BRG Berkeley Research Group, LLC (BRG) is a global consulting firm that helps leading organizations advance in three key areas: disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and performance improvement and advisory. Headquartered in California with offices around the world, we are an integrated group of experts, industry leaders, academics, data scientists, and professionals working beyond borders and disciplines. We harness our collective expertise to deliver the inspired insights and practical strategies our clients need to stay ahead of what's next. Visit thinkbrg.com to learn more. SOURCE Berkeley Research Group The Virtual Summer Research Village is helping more than 80 students develop research skills and a portfolio, which demonstrates expertise that can be applied to their careers and academic interests. The program is open to all students, including those in the class of 2020. Research topics include crisis communications, inequality, constitutional law, global studies, economic data and analysis literacy, ethics, machine learning, predictive analytics, and more. All 30 of the faculty members involved as organizers and mentors serve voluntarily to make this program possible. Full list below. "I continue to be impressed and proud of the way faculty and students are adapting and innovating to enhance the educational experience during this challenging time," says Provost and Chief Academic Officer Glenn Sulmasy, JD, LL.M, "In addition to providing an alternative to summer internships, the program is also promoting academic excellence and fostering Bryant's culture of innovation and research." "Every crisis presents opportunities to discover new ways of solving problems," adds Economics Professor and program co-chair Edi Tebaldi, Ph.D., who also leads Bryant's Honors Program. "This is an opportunity to harness the intellectual power of Bryant students and faculty. We can expand the possibilities for talented students, creating meaningful learning experiences, new career possibilities, and options for graduate study." Tebaldi is joined in developing the program by co-chairs Peter Nigro, Ph.D., Professor of Finance, and Michael Roberto, D.B.A., Trustee Professor of Management. Roberto, who is mentoring students on research projects related to a management case study and corporate decision-making, says he "treasures the opportunity to work one-on-one this summer with several bright, curious students on issues that are of importance and interest to each of us. The collaboration benefits both mentor and mentee tremendously." "The world of finance is changing rapidly, and the financial technology (fintech) sector is at the center of the storm," said Nigro, who is leading a workshop on the topic. "The summer village is a place where we get together and discuss these innovations in financelearning from one another and alumni industry experts." To be accepted to the program, students submitted research proposals for projects in their area of interest some within their major and others outside of the scope of classwork during the academic year. Each student works with a faculty mentor and collaborates with peers, dedicating a minimum of 10 hour a week on tasks related to program. They receive support through virtual meetings with mentors, webinars on specific topics, and research skills. Students will also attend group meetings as well as presentations by alumni guest speakers, including Joseph J. Cabral '09, Ph.D. , Louisiana State University, and Hana Nguyen '12, Ph.D. Candidate, Georgia State University. The final project deliverable is a summer portfolio: a sample of work, a personal reflection about learning/lessons, a written report, or something else the advisor recommends. In the process, students will gain enhanced skills, potential product development and publication opportunities, and certificate of participation that demonstrates a commitment to excellence. The program concludes with a ceremony (guest speaker to be announced) on August 6. Faculty mentors: About Bryant University For 157 years, Bryant University has been at the forefront of delivering an exceptional education that anticipates the future and prepares students to be innovative leaders of character in a changing world. Located on a contemporary campus in Smithfield, R.I., Bryant enrolls approximately 3800 undergraduate students from 38 states and 49 countries. Bryant is recognized as a leader in international education and regularly receives top rankings from U.S. News and World Report, Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wall Street Journal, College Factual, and Barron's. Visit www.Bryant.edu. SOURCE Bryant University Related Links https://www.bryant.edu SAN DIEGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Camino Pharma, LLC, a biotech company focused on finding cures for cancer and brain disorders, announced today that its co-founder and CSO, Reto Gadient, Ph.D., has been awarded a two-year, $920K SBIR grant by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at the National Institutes of Health. The grant will fund a collaborative effort between Camino Pharma, LLC, University of California San Diego (UCSD) and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute to validate negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) of metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 and 3 (mGlu 2/3 ) for the treatment of major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression. "This exciting collaboration between Camino Pharma, UCSD and Sanford Burnham Prebys is aimed at bringing forth novel therapeutic options for patients suffering from major depression," says Gonul Velicelebi, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of the company. "We are optimistic that our lead compound, SBP-9881, and its analogsall discovered at Sanford Burnham Prebyshave the properties to become safe and effective drugs to help the millions of people affected by depression. Importantly, SBP-9881 can be dosed orally and has fast-acting and long-lasting effects in vivo," adds Gadient. The grant will enable the multidisciplinary team of scientists to validate SBP-9881 in two novel rodent models of anhedonia and avolition designed to translate to clinical efficacy. "These behavioral models reflect the imbalance(s) in brain circuitries affected in patients suffering from depression. Activity in these models will provide us with higher confidence that efficacy can be obtained in the clinic, which has been notoriously difficult in depression using traditional models," says Andre Der-Avakian, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, UCSD. "A large body of experimental evidence suggests that glutamate neurotransmission is involved in the pathophysiology of depression," says Nicholas Cosford, Ph.D., co-founder of Camino Pharma, LLC, and a professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys' National Cancer Institutedesignated Cancer Center and Director of Translational Research. "Our compounds increase glutamate neurotransmission by negatively modulating mGlu 2/3 , and therefore represent a mechanism distinct from other drugs used in the treatment of depression." About metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlus) The mGlu receptors are a family of eight G protein-coupled glutamate receptors that are widely expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) and are classified into three groups based on sequence homology and signaling mechanisms. The group II mGlus (mGlu 2 and mGlu 3 ) are located presynaptically at glutamatergic synapses, where they play a key role in maintaining glutamate homeostasis. mGlu 2 and mGlu 3 are abundantly expressed in forebrain regions affected in depression, where they modulate glutamate transmission and the release of other neurotransmitters involved in reward processing. mGlu 2 and mGlu 3 are also abundantly expressed in brain regions implicated in drug abuse and addiction, including the cortex, hippocampus, striatum and amygdala. Thus, negative modulators of presynaptic mGlu 2 and mGlu 3 represent a new class of drugs to treat depression, and positive modulators for substance abuse disorders. Camino Pharma is collaborating with Sanford Burnham Prebys to pursue both strategies. About Camino Pharma, LLC (www.caminopharma.com) Camino Pharma is a San Diegobased start-up focused on discovering and developing safe and effective, first-in-class drugs to treat patients suffering from (1) psychiatric disorders that are poorly addressed by current medications, including substance abuse and major depression, and (2) the most aggressive forms of cancer with currently limited treatment options. We target signaling proteins based on emerging biological concepts and discover novel mechanisms for modulating these targets with small molecule drugs. Our leadership team has proven expertise in the relevant target biology as well as extensive experience in drug discovery and development. Our innovative technology platform allows for exploiting inadequately served targets that require a highly adaptive and specialized approach to drug discovery. We intend to find novel cures using our deep understanding in target biology combined with well-tailored, cutting-edge discovery technologies. SOURCE Camino Pharma, LLC Related Links https://www.caminopharma.com PITTSBURGH, June 30, 2020 Workers from across four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh locations announced on Monday, June 29, that they will be conducting an election to join the United Steelworkers (USW) union. Presenting themselves as the United Museum Workers, the group of more than 500 scientists, educators, art handlers, front staff, gift shop clerks, event ushers, and other workers said, in their mission statement, "We are proud future members of the United Steelworkers union, whose members built the fortune of our museum's founder." The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh was founded in 1895, originally as the Carnegie Institute, by steel giant Andrew Carnegie. The museums consist of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Carnegie Science Center, and the Andy Warhol Museum. Despite their diverse range of departments and duties, Gabi DiDonna, an assistant registrar of loans at the Carnegie Museum of Art, said in the campaign's video announcement, "What unites us is a dedication to preserving and presenting art, scientific collections, and ideas." DiDonna also said that although working at a prestigious, mission-driven nonprofit is often a labor of love, many of the workers struggle to make ends meet. "Prestige doesn't pay the rent," she said. Along with better pay and benefits, the United Museum Workers are demanding inclusivity in hiring, accessibility, increased transparency and a voice in the museum's decision-making process. "We are looking forward to the days ahead," DiDonna said at the rally's conclusion, "and we can't wait to win our election." The USW represents 850,000 working people employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations. Contact: Chelsey Engel, [email protected], 412-212-8173 SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW) Related Links http://www.usw.org SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers thinking about purchasing a new vehicle this Fourth of July holiday weekend should consider looking at the used vehicle market, according to the car shopping experts at Edmunds. Edmunds' experts note that selection and savings are currently limited in the new vehicle market because inventory levels for new vehicles are running low due to factory shutdowns during COVID-19 and that the generous financing incentives offered by automakers at the start of the pandemic are drying up since more shoppers have returned to the market. According to Edmunds data, new car inventory at the beginning of June was down by a third compared to the same time last year. "This Independence Day weekend might look a bit different than years past when it comes to incentives and deals on new vehicles, but the good news for price-conscious shoppers is that there's plenty of value and selection in the used market," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of insights. "For those concerned about the risks associated with buying used, a certified pre-owned vehicle might be a good compromise as it comes with a warranty and is generally newer with lower mileage. And, thanks to a deluge of off-lease vehicles hitting the market, there's a much wider selection of these vehicles for shoppers to choose from." Edmunds data reveals that the cost of a 3-year-old CPO vehicle is 33% less on average than the same new vehicle, which comes out to $12,193 in average savings. To help shoppers looking to purchase a CPO vehicle this holiday weekend, Edmunds experts have compiled a list of average savings for 2017 model-year CPO vehicles compared to their 2020 model-year new counterparts. Edmunds experts have also put together some tips and considerations for car shoppers if they're considering purchasing a CPO vehicle this holiday weekend: Make sure it is a genuine CPO vehicle. Sometimes a dealership will label a vehicle as "certified," but it isn't the same thing as a manufacturer's CPO program. Check the window sticker for the manufacturer's CPO logo and find out who is providing the warranty. If the name of the warranty provider is the same as the make of the vehicle, you're in good shape. Sometimes a dealership will label a vehicle as "certified," but it isn't the same thing as a manufacturer's CPO program. Check the window sticker for the manufacturer's CPO logo and find out who is providing the warranty. If the name of the warranty provider is the same as the make of the vehicle, you're in good shape. Know what the warranty covers. A manufacturer CPO vehicle will always come with a limited warranty, or a limited warranty and a powertrain warranty, which will cover major engine and transmission components. Every automaker's website lists the details of its CPO warranty. Take the time to read about the brand you're interested in and learn which items are and are not covered before making a decision to buy. A manufacturer CPO vehicle will always come with a limited warranty, or a limited warranty and a powertrain warranty, which will cover major engine and transmission components. Every automaker's website lists the details of its CPO warranty. Take the time to read about the brand you're interested in and learn which items are and are not covered before making a decision to buy. Make sure to check the car out in person. This doesn't necessarily mean going to the dealership. Due to safety concerns during COVID-19, many dealerships are willing to drive vehicles to local shoppers' homes for test drives while following social distancing measures such as wearing masks and sanitizing the vehicle fully. Just call or text the dealership in advance to see what your options are. "Many shoppers are unaware of the benefits of CPO vehicles, but given some of the financial uncertainties faced by so many Americans today, now is a great time for consumers to look into them as an alternative to new," said Ivan Drury, Edmunds' senior manager of insights. "These vehicles come pre-inspected, are required to meet automakers' condition standards, and offer peace of mind with an extended warranty. Also, specific colors and features can change from must haves to nice-to-haves when you're looking at savings in the $10,000 range, especially on models that haven't been redesigned in the last few years." For more automotive research and insights, visit the Edmunds Industry Center here: https://www.edmunds.com/industry/insights/ . About Edmunds Edmunds guides car shoppers online from research to purchase. With in-depth reviews of every new vehicle, shopping tips from an in-house team of experts, plus a wealth of consumer and automotive market insights, Edmunds helps millions of shoppers each month select, price and buy a car with confidence. Regarded as one of America's best workplaces by Fortune and Great Place to Work, Edmunds is based in Santa Monica, California, and has a satellite office in Detroit, Michigan. Follow us on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram . CONTACT: Talia James-Armand Senior Manager, Public Relations [email protected] 310-309-4900 http://edmunds.com/about/press SOURCE Edmunds Related Links http://www.edmunds.com DUBLIN, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "China Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market, 2020-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report features an extensive study of the current market landscape and future opportunities associated with the contract manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals in China. The study also features a detailed analysis of key drivers and trends related to this evolving domain. One of the key objectives of the report was to estimate the existing market size and the future growth potential within the biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing market in China. Based on various parameters, such as projected growth of the overall biopharmaceutical market in China, cost of goods sold, and direct manufacturing costs, we have provided an informed estimate of the likely evolution of the market in the short to mid-term and mid to long term, for the period 2020-2030. The report also provides details on the likely distribution of the current and forecasted opportunity across: [A] type of product (active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished dosage formulations (FDFs)) [B] types of expression systems used (mammalian, microbial and others) [C] scale of operation (preclinical, clinical and commercial) [D] company size (small, mid-sized and large / very large) In order to account for future uncertainties and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three forecast scenarios, namely conservative, base and optimistic scenarios, representing different tracks of the industry's growth. China represents nearly 18% of the global population Studies indicate that the Chinese pharmaceutical market is the second largest in terms of annual pharmaceutical revenues, and is estimated to generate more than 10% of the global sales. Till date, over 25 biologics and biosimilar products have been approved in China. In addition, close to 1,000 clinical trials, investigating a variety of biologics and biosimilars for treating a diverse range of diseases, are presently underway in this region. The growing pipeline, coupled to an increasing demand for biopharmaceuticals, has compelled industry stakeholders to enlist the help of capable contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs). Due to benefits, such as low labor costs, access to a large indigenous consumer base and a relatively less stringent regulatory environment, several players have demonstrated the preference to partner with contract service providers based in China. The biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing market in China presently features a mix of large, mid-sized and small players, some of which offer end-to-end solutions, ranging from development and clinical trial services to commercial manufacturing and regulatory consulting. Additionally, in order to attract more foreign clients and stay ahead within a competitive environment, Chinese CMOs are actively expanding their manufacturing related capabilities and capacities. This has led to the establishment of several partnerships and strategic acquisitions. The novel Coronavirus outbreak in China has resulted in immediate disruptions / slow-down in global pharma / biopharma supply chains. In the short-term, it is anticipated to substantially impact the global contract manufacturing market, specifically those countries that have opted to lockdown. However, in the longer term, we remain bullish on the industry's growth prospects as we expect biopharma companies to resume normal operations after the COVID-19 pandemic is put under control. Amongst other elements, the report includes: A detailed review of the overall landscape of companies offering contract manufacturing services for biopharmaceuticals in China , along with information on year of establishment, company size, scale of operation (preclinical, clinical and commercial), location of headquarters, number of manufacturing facilities, as well as location of these facilities, type of business segment, type of manufacturing service(s) offered (process development and characterization, method validation and testing, analytical development, stability studies, quality assurance and control, scale-up, downstream processing, regulatory support, data analytics and reporting, and others), type of biologic(s) manufactured (peptides / proteins, antibodies, vaccines, cell therapies, gene therapies, antibody drug conjugates, vectors, biosimilars, nucleic acids and others), type of expression system(s) used (mammalian, microbial and others), type of bioreactor(s) used (single-use bioreactors and stainless steel bioreactors) and its mode of operation (batch, fed-batch and perfusion), type of packaging, and affiliations to regulatory accreditations and certifications (if any). , along with information on year of establishment, company size, scale of operation (preclinical, clinical and commercial), location of headquarters, number of manufacturing facilities, as well as location of these facilities, type of business segment, type of manufacturing service(s) offered (process development and characterization, method validation and testing, analytical development, stability studies, quality assurance and control, scale-up, downstream processing, regulatory support, data analytics and reporting, and others), type of biologic(s) manufactured (peptides / proteins, antibodies, vaccines, cell therapies, gene therapies, antibody drug conjugates, vectors, biosimilars, nucleic acids and others), type of expression system(s) used (mammalian, microbial and others), type of bioreactor(s) used (single-use bioreactors and stainless steel bioreactors) and its mode of operation (batch, fed-batch and perfusion), type of packaging, and affiliations to regulatory accreditations and certifications (if any). An analysis of the various partnerships pertaining to biopharmaceutical manufacturing in China , which have been established since 2016, based on several parameters, such as the year of partnership, type of partnership model adopted, scale of operation, type of biologic, focus area of the deal, target indication, most active players (in terms of number of partnerships signed), and geography. , which have been established since 2016, based on several parameters, such as the year of partnership, type of partnership model adopted, scale of operation, type of biologic, focus area of the deal, target indication, most active players (in terms of number of partnerships signed), and geography. An analysis of the various expansion initiatives undertaken by contract manufacturers in China , in order to augment their capabilities, over the period 2016-2020 (till February), taking into consideration several relevant parameters, such as year of expansion, type of expansion (capability expansion, capacity expansion, facility expansion and new facility), scale of operation of manufacturing facility, type of biologic and location of manufacturing facility. , in order to augment their capabilities, over the period 2016-2020 (till February), taking into consideration several relevant parameters, such as year of expansion, type of expansion (capability expansion, capacity expansion, facility expansion and new facility), scale of operation of manufacturing facility, type of biologic and location of manufacturing facility. A clinical trial analysis of completed and active studies related to biopharmaceuticals that have been / are being / are likely to be conducted in China , based on trial registration year, trial phase, trial recruitment status, type of sponsor / collaborator, geography and number of patients enrolled. , based on trial registration year, trial phase, trial recruitment status, type of sponsor / collaborator, geography and number of patients enrolled. An estimate of the overall, installed capacity for manufacturing biopharmaceuticals, based on data reported by industry stakeholders in the public domain; it highlights the distribution of available biopharmaceutical production capacity on the basis of company size (small, mid-sized, large and very large firms), scale of operation (preclinical, clinical and commercial), key geographical regions ( China , Hong-Kong , Taiwan ) and expression system used. , , ) and expression system used. A review of recent initiatives undertaken by big pharma players in China for the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, highlighting trends across various parameters, such as number of initiatives, year of initiative, and benchmark analysis of big pharma players. for the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, highlighting trends across various parameters, such as number of initiatives, year of initiative, and benchmark analysis of big pharma players. A qualitative analysis, highlighting the various factors that need to be taken into consideration by drug / therapy developers while deciding whether to manufacture their respective products in-house or engage the services of a CMO. Elaborate profiles of key players that have a diverse range of capabilities for the development, manufacturing and packaging of biopharmaceutical products. Each profile features an overview of the company, its financial performance (if available), information on its service portfolio, details related to manufacturing capabilities and facilities, recent developments (partnerships and expansions), and an informed future outlook. A case study comparing the key characteristics of large molecule and small molecule drugs, along with details on the various steps involved in their respective manufacturing processes. A discussion on industry affiliated trends, key drivers and challenges, under a SWOT framework, which are likely to impact the evolution of this field. It also includes a Harvey ball analysis, highlighting the relative impact of each SWOT parameter on industry dynamics. The opinions and insights presented in the report were influenced by discussions held with senior stakeholders in the industry. The report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with the following industry stakeholders: Birgit Schwab , Senior Manager Strategic Marketing, Rentschler Biotechnologie , Senior Manager Strategic Marketing, Rentschler Biotechnologie Jeffrey Hung , Chief Commercial Officer, Vigene Biosciences , Chief Commercial Officer, Vigene Biosciences Stephen Taylor , Senior Vice President Commercial, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Key Topics Covered 1. PREFACE 1.1. Scope of the Report 1.2. Research Methodology 1.3. Chapter Outlines 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3. INTRODUCTION 3.1. Chapter Overview 3.2. Overview of Biopharmaceuticals 3.3. Manufacturing of Biopharmaceuticals 3.3.1. Types of Expression Systems Used 3.3.1.1. Bacterial Expression Systems 3.3.1.2. Yeast Expression Systems 3.3.1.3. Insect Expression Systems 3.3.1.4. Plant Expression Systems 3.3.1.5. Mammalian Expression Systems 3.3.1.6. Fungal Expression Systems 3.3.2. Processing Steps 3.3.2.1. Upstream Processing 3.3.2.2. Downstream Processing 3.4. Overview of Contract Manufacturing 3.4.1. Contract Manufacturing Scenario in China 3.5. Need for Outsourcing in the Biopharmaceutical Industry 3.5.1. Regulatory Considerations while Outsourcing Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing to China 3.6. Commonly Outsourced Operations in the Biopharmaceutical Industry 3.7. Basic Guidelines for Selecting a CMO Partner 3.8. Advantages of Outsourcing Manufacturing Services 3.8.1. Advantages of Selecting a China-Based Contract Manufacturer 3.9. Risks and Challenges Associated with Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing 3.9.1. Challenges Specific to China-based Contract Manufacturers 4. CASE STUDY: COMPARISON OF SMALL MOLECULES AND LARGE MOLECULES 4.1. Chapter Overview 4.2. Small Molecule and Large Molecule Drugs / Therapies 4.2.1. Comparison of Key Characteristics 4.2.2. Comparison of Manufacturing Processes 4.2.3. Comparison of Key Manuafcturing Challenges 5. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 5.1. Chapter Overview 5.2. Chinese Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturers: Overall Market Landscape 5.2.1. Analysis by Year of Establishment 5.2.2. Analysis by Company Size 5.2.3. Analysis by Scale of Operation 5.2.4. Analysis by Location of Headquarters 5.2.5. Analysis by Location of Manufacturing Fcailities 5.2.6. Analysis by Type of Product 5.2.7. Analysis by Types of Services Offered 5.2.8. Analysis by Type of Biologic 5.2.9. Analysis by Expression System Used 5.2.10. Analysis by Type of Bioreactor Used 5.2.11. Analysis by Mode of Operation of Bioreactor 5.2.12. Analysis by Packaging Form Used 5.2.13. Analysis by Regulatory Accreditations / Certifications 6. COMPANY PROFILES 6.1 Chapter Overview 6.2 ChemPartner Biologics 6.2.1. Company Overview 6.2.2. Service Portfolio 6.2.3. Manufacturing Facilities and Capabilities 6.2.4. Recent Developments and Future Outlook 6.3. JHL Biotech 6.4. JOINN Biologics 6.5. MabPlex 6.6. Mycenax Biotech 6.7. WuXi AppTec 7. PARTNERSHIPS 7.1 Chapter Overview 7.2. Partnership Models 7.3. Chinese Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturers: Recent Partnerships 7.3.1. Analysis by Year of Partnership 7.3.2. Analysis by Partnership Model 7.3.3. Analysis by Scale of Operation 7.3.4. Analysis by Type of Biologic 7.3.5. Analysis by Focus Area 7.3.6. Analysis by Target Indication 7.3.7. Most Active Players: Geographical Distribution by Number of Partnerships 7.3.8. Intercontinental and Intracontinental Agreements 8. RECENT EXPANSIONS 8.1. Chapter Overview 8.2. Chinese Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturers: Recent Expansions 8.2.1. Analysis by Year of Expansion 8.2.2. Analysis by Type of Expansion 8.2.3. Analysis by Scale of Operation 8.2.4. Analysis by Type of Biologic 8.2.5. Analysis by Location of Expansion Project 8.2.6. Analysis by Region 9. CLINICAL TRIAL ANALYSIS 9.1. Chapter Overview 9.2. Scope and Methodology 9.3 Clinical Trial Analysis: Biologic Drugs 9.3.1. Analysis by Trial Registration Year 9.3.2. Analysis by Trial Phase 9.3.3. Analysis by Trial Recruitment Status 9.3.4. Geographical Analysis by Number of Clinical Trials 9.3.5. Geographical Analysis by Enrolled Patient Population 9.3.6. Analysis by Type of Sponsor / Collaborator 9.3.7. Most Active Players: Analysis by Number of Registered Trials 10. REGIONAL CAPABILITY ANALYSIS 10.1. Chapter Overview 10.2. Key Assumptions and Methodology 10.3. Regional Capability Analysis: Biopharmaceuticals Contract Manufacturers in Northern China 10.4. Regional Capability Analysis: Biopharmaceuticals Contract Manufacturers in Eastern China 10.5. Regional Capability Analysis: Biopharmaceuticals Contract Manufacturers in Southern China 11. CAPACITY ANALYSIS 11.1. Chapter Overview 11.2. Assumptions and Methodology 11.3. Chinese Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufactures: Installed Capacity 11.3.1. Analysis by Company Size 11.3.2. Analysis by Scale of Operation 11.3.3. Analysis by Location of Manufacturing Facility 11.3.4. Analysis by Expression System Used 11.4. Concluding Remarks 12. BIG PHARMA BIOPHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING INITIATIVES IN CHINA 12.1. Chapter Overview 12.2. Scope and Methodology 12.3. List of Biopharmaceutical R&D and Manufacturing Initiatives of Big Pharma Players in China 12.3.1. Analysis by Number of Initiatives 12.3.2. Analysis by Year of Initiative 12.3.3. Analysis by Type of Initiative 12.4. Competitive Benchmarking of Big Pharma Players 12.4.1. Harvey Ball Analysis: Big Pharma Investment Summary 13. MAKE VERSUS BUY DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK 13.1. Chapter Overview 13.2. Assumptions and Key Parameters 13.3. Chines Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturers: Make versus Buy Decision Making 13.4. Conclusion 14. MARKET SIZING AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS 14.1. Chapter Overview 14.2. Key Assumptions and Forecast Methodology 14.3. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030 14.3.1. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China for APIs, 2020-2030 14.3.2. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China for FDFs, 2020-2030 14.4. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Distribution by Expression System Used 14.4.1. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Share of Mammalian Systems 14.4.2. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Share of Microbial Systems 14.4.3. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Share of Other Expression Systems 14.5. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Distribution by Scale of Operation 14.5.1. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Share of Preclinical / Clinical Scale Operations 14.5.2. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Share of Commercial Operations 14.6. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Distribution by Size of Manufacturers 14.6.1. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Share of Small Companies 14.6.2. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Share of Mid-sized Companies 14.6.3. Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market in China, 2020-2030: Share of Large / Very Large Companies 15. SWOT ANALYSIS 15.1. Chapter Overview 15.2. Strengths 15.3. Weaknesses 15.4. Opportunities 15.5. Threats 15.6. Comparison of SWOT Factors 15.7. Concluding Remarks 16. FUTURE OF THE CHINA BIOPHARMACEUTICAL CMO MARKET 16.1. Chapter Overview 16.2. Outsourcing Activities Anticipated to Increase in Future 16.3. Shift from One-time Contracts to Strategic Partnerships 16.4. Adoption of Innovative Technologies 16.4.1. Single Use Bioreactors 16.4.2. Novel Bioprocessing Techniques 16.4.3. Bioprocess Automation 16.5. Growing Popularity of the Quality by Design Principle in Bioprocessing 16.6. Increasing Focus on Niche Therapeutic Areas 16.7. Biosimilars Market to Contribute to Contract Service Revenues 16.8. Capability and Facility Expansions to Establish One Stop Shop Expertise 16.9. Increase in Financial In-flow and Outsourcing Budgets 16.10. Challenges Faced by Sponsors and Service Providers 16.10.1. Concerns Associated with Single Use Systems 16.10.2. Issues Related to Capacity Fluctuations 16.11. Concluding Remarks 17. INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 18. APPENDIX 1: TABULATED DATA Companies Mentioned 3SBio ABL Bio AC Immune Adagene Adimmune Almirall Alvotech Amaran Biotechnology AmbioPharm Amicus Therapeutics AMW Applied Biological Materials Aravive Biologics Arch Biopartners Arcus Biosciences AstraZeneca Asymchem Laboratories AutekBio Bayer BeiGene Berkeley Lights Bioasis Technologies BioMarin Pharmaceutical BJ Bioscience Boehringer Ingelheim BioXcellence Boyalife Brii Biosciences CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Canton Biologics Beijing CC-Pharming Celltrion Changchun High & New Technology Industry & New Technology Industry ChemPartner Chime Biologics China Regenerative Medicine International Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Chinese Peptide Chinese General Hospital CMAB Biopharma CPC Scientific CSBio EirGenix Eli Lilly Encure Biopharma EOC Pharma Etinpro Fapon Biopharma Fuda Cancer Hospital GE Healthcare GeneMedicine GeneQuantum Healthcare GenScript GlaxoSmithKline GreenPak Biotech Harbour BioMed Henlius Biotech Hile Bio-Technology Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology Hummingbird Bioscience Hybio Pharmaceutical iBio I-Mab Biopharma Immune Pharmaceuticals IncoCell Tianjin Inhibrx IQVIA JHL Biotech Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention JOINN Biologics Kanda BioTech Levena Biopharma Lonza MabPlex Mab-Venture Biopharma MedImmune Merck Millipore Mycenax Biotech Nan Fung Group National Taiwan University Hospital Navrogen NBE-Therapeutics Novartis NovoCodex Biopharmaceuticals Oxford BioTherapeutics PaizaBio Pall Corporation Peking Union Medical College Hospital Pfizer Phanes Therapeutics Pharmadule Morimatsu Qilu Pharmaceutical Regulus Therapeutics Roche Samsung Bioepis Sandoz Sanofi ScinoPharm Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shenzhen Geno-immune Medical Institute Shenzhen JYMed Technology Stellar Biotechnologies Sun Yat -sen University -sen University Suzhou Kintor Pharmaceuticals Taiwan Liposome Company Taron Solutions Therapure Biopharma Thermo Fisher Scientific ThermoGenesis Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals Tsinghua University Innovation Center for Immune Therapy UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Vectron Biosolutions Verseau Therapeutics Vir Biotechnology WuXi AppTec WuXi Biologics Yunfeng Capital Zai Lab Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Zhejiang Teruisi Pharmaceutical For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ofb0sk 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 CHICAGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Cision announced it has expanded its current product offering, making available global print content from more than 100 countries to the 7 million+ sources it currently monitors in the Next Generation Communications Cloud. Cision customers are now able to get print clips from regions across the world including Europe, Africa, Latin and Central America, Caribbean, Asia, and Middle East. Learn more about global print content and Cision media monitoring here. "Cision is thrilled to announce global print monitoring to give PR and communications professionals expanded native print options to complete their views of their media coverage and its impact," said Brendon O'Donovan, Cision's Global Head of Product Marketing. "We are committed to providing communicators with a single solution to effectively monitor, measure, and interpret earned media across all channels, and this new capability will help ensure that our clients capture global mentions of their brand, inclusive of print and off-line sources." Cision partnered with print suppliers to provide clients with this new comprehensive library of global content, which includes newspapers, magazines, trade publications and more. Global print content is now competently integrated into the media management, reporting, and measurement capabilities that are included in the Next Generation Communications Cloud, providing communicators with one place for fast and thorough media analysis. Learn more about Cision global print monitoring here. About Cision Cision is a leading global provider of earned media software and services to public relations and marketing communications professionals. Cision's software allows users to identify key influencers, craft and distribute strategic content, and measure meaningful impact. Cision has over 4,800 employees with offices in 24 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information about Cision's award-winning products and services, including the Cision Communications Cloud, visit www.cision.com and follow Cision on Twitter @Cision. Media Contact Rebecca Dersh PR Manager [email protected] SOURCE Cision Ltd. Related Links http://www.cision.com ASHEVILLE, N.C., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- This year marks the 10th anniversary of Cloud for Good, one of the most trusted and decorated Salesforce implementation partners for higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations. Cloud for Good has grown from a one-person vision to a completely virtual company, completing over 2,500 Salesforce implementations to date. Garnering numerous industry awards, such as 2019 Salesforce.org Nonprofit Partner of the Year, and recognized as a 3-time Computerworld #1 Small Organization Best Places to Work in IT, 6-time certified Great Place to Work, and 6-time Inc. 5000 company, Cloud for Good continues to deliver on their promise of "creating transformational value with Salesforce." Reflecting on the past 10 years, Tal Frankfurt, Cloud for Good's Founder and CEO, says, "I believe the truly extraordinary group of people and personalities assembled has been one of our greatest successes. We communicate openly internally and with our clients and partners to encourage one another's growth and lend an ear and open mind to the unique struggles we all experience. There is no better feeling than knowing the company culture we've curated at Cloud for Good is one of empathy, understanding, and trust." Salesforce.org's VP of Global Alliances, David Averill, shares his thoughts on the past 10-year partnership with Cloud for Good, saying "Since the beginning of Cloud for Good's journey, Tal's vision to bring transformational change to nonprofit and education organizations, paired with his commitment to make positive change in the world, has resonated with his customers. The team he's built over the last 10 years has shown their impact-mindset sets them apart. Cloud for Good represents the best of the Salesforce.org Partner ecosystem and I'm looking forward to seeing what's ahead in the next 10 years." Walid Ayoub, Human Rights Watch CITO and current Cloud for Good client, notes, "As an international organization seeking to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all, Human Rights Watch depends on technology to maximize our impact. Cloud for Good helped us improve our fundraising operations, resulting in an increased ability to focus our research and advocacy work. Cloud for Good is more than a vendor for us, they are a partner that allows us to achieve our mission and, especially in the turbulent year that is 2020, has been a true difference-maker for Human Rights Watch. We congratulate Cloud for Good on 10 great years and look forward to many more to come." Evan Thrailkill, Director of Digital Strategy at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, joined the celebrating by saying, "The Cloud for Good family has welcomed The University of Alabama at Birmingham with open arms since partnering up in early 2020. The entire Cloud for Good team has been fantastic to work with. All team members are true experts in their field and have been extremely patient and helpful in integrating 3 disparate data systems into the Salesforce EDA model. While The University of Alabama at Birmingham's relationship with Cloud for Good has only just begun, we feel honored to be a part of this momentous anniversary and look forward to celebrating many more future milestones." About Cloud for Good Cloud for Good (www.cloud4good.com) is a leading cloud consulting firm that helps organizations create transformational value with technology. Founded in 2010, Cloud for Good is a certified B Corp, a certified Great Place to Work, and a Salesforce.org Premium Partner. Collaborating with nonprofits and higher education institutions, Cloud for Good helps organizations achieve results, innovate, and transform their operations. Media Contact: Jenn Tate, (855) 536-1251, [email protected] SOURCE Cloud for Good Related Links www.cloud4good.com My daughter lives there. She says people her age (20s) were going to the bars and not practicing social distancing. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, not wearing mask. One of her friends who is a bouncer told her the owners would rather pay the fine then enforce the occupancy rate or face mask. VANCOUVER, BC, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Copper Mountain Mining Corporation (TSX: CMMC) (ASX: C6C) ("Copper Mountain" or the "Company") will be releasing its financial and operating results for the second quarter of 2020 before markets open on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. The Company will be hosting a conference call on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at 7:30 am (Pacific Time) for senior management to discuss the second quarter 2020 results. Dial-in information: Toronto and international: 647-427-7450 North America (toll-free): 1-888-231-8191 To participate in the webcast live via computer go to: https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1339910&tp_key=930bdc54ab Replay Call Information Toronto and international: 416-849-0833, Passcode: 1289867 North America (toll-free): 1-855-859-2056, Passcode: 1289867 The conference call replay will be available until 8:59 pm (Pacific Time) on August 5, 2020. An archive of the audio webcast will also be available on the company's website at http://www.cumtn.com. About Copper Mountain Mining Corporation: Copper Mountain's flagship asset is the 75% owned Copper Mountain mine located in southern British Columbia near the town of Princeton. The Copper Mountain mine currently produces on average approximately 90 million pounds of copper equivalent annually. Copper Mountain also has the permitted, development-stage Eva Copper Project in Queensland, Australia and an extensive 4,000 km2 highly prospective land package in the Mount Isa area. Copper Mountain trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "CMMC" and Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol "C6C". Additional information is available on the Company's web page at www.CuMtn.com. On behalf of the Board of COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION "Gil Clausen" Gil Clausen, P.Eng. Chief Executive Officer Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance and opportunities to differ materially from those implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include the successful exploration of the Company's properties in Canada and Australia, the reliability of the historical data referenced in this press release and risks set out in Copper Mountain's public documents, including in each management discussion and analysis, filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Copper Mountain believes that the information and assumptions 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 time frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, Copper Mountain disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE Copper Mountain Mining Corporation Related Links www.CuMtn.com DENVER, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) announced an impressive roster of dedicated celebrity supporters for its marquee Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show scheduled for Saturday, October 3. The annual event is the largest fundraiser for Down syndrome in the world, raising over $20 million to date for life-saving and transformative research and medical care. The star-studded roster includes Academy and Grammy Award winner Jamie Foxx; award-winning actors John C. McGinley, Zack Gottsagen, Jamie Brewer, Megan Bomgaars, and Caterina Scorsone; Denver Broncos' Brandon McManus, world-renowned swimmer Karen Gaffney, and Colorado Rapids' Kellyn Acosta; award-winning speakers, journalists, and TV anchors DeOndra Dixon, Frank Stephens, Kyra Phillips, John Roberts, Kim Christiansen, and Tom Green; R&B power couple Ronnie & Shamari DeVoe; and supermodel Amanda Booth. A full roster of celebrities will be announced in the coming weeks. The event will honor GLOBAL Ambassador Walt Snodgrass from Omaha, Nebraska. Walt is a sophomore at Westside High School, where he is fully included. He runs track and plays in the school band, and is part of "Sparklers" Cheer and the unified bowling team. Walt is a staunch advocate for inclusion. His contributions to his family and community, his zest for life, and compassion for others make him beloved wherever her goes. "I love modeling in GLOBAL's fashion show in Denver, showing the world what people with Down syndrome can do. Together, we are changing the world," says Walt. During the fashion show, 20 brilliant and beautiful models with Down syndrome will rock the runway, including GLOBAL's Ambassador. "At GLOBAL we are taking COVID-19 very seriously, and we are closely monitoring and following government guidelines to determine the format of the fashion show," says Michelle Sie Whitten, GLOBAL President and CEO. "As of now, we are planning a smaller in-person event and a larger virtual component that we hope will be every bit as magical and inspiring." In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, GLOBAL has been a leader for the Down syndrome community creating important resources like the Down syndrome/COVID-19 Q&A and supporting legislation that prohibits discrimination so that people with Down syndrome and other disabilities can receive COVID-19 medical care in the event there is medical care rationing. GLOBAL also provided COVID-19 Emergency Relief Global Grants to over 100 individuals with Down syndrome and their families needing food, medicine, and shelter, and most recently GLOBAL provided over 31,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are wards of the state in Colorado. Proceeds from GLOBAL's Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show underwrite GLOBAL's direct help to the community, excellent quality health care to over 2,000 patients with Down syndrome from 28 states and 10 countries, and transformative research focused on the relationship between Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease, solid tumors, autoimmune disorders and more. To support GLOBAL's work, please consider a donation. To learn more, visit: www.bebeautifulbeyourself.org To buy tickets, visit: https://bebeautifulbeyourself.org/buy-tickets/ About Global Down Syndrome Foundation The Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) is the largest non-profit in the U.S. working to save lives and dramatically improve health outcomes for people with Down syndrome. GLOBAL has donated more than $32 million to establish the first Down syndrome research institute supporting over 400 scientists and over 2,000 patients with Down syndrome from 28 states and 10 countries. Working closely with Congress and the National Institutes of Health, GLOBAL is the lead advocacy organization in the U.S. for Down syndrome research and medical care. GLOBAL has a membership of over 150 Down syndrome organizations worldwide, and is part of a network of Affiliates the Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, the Sie Center for Down Syndrome, and the University of Colorado Alzheimer's and Cognition Center all on the Anschutz Medical Campus. GLOBAL's widely-circulated medical publications include GLOBAL Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome, Prenatal Testing and Information about Down Syndrome, and the award-winning Down Syndrome WorldTM magazine. GLOBAL also organizes the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show, the largest Down syndrome fundraiser in the world. Visit globaldownsyndrome.org and follow us on social media (Facebook & Twitter: @GDSFoundation, Instagram: @globaldownsyndrome). SOURCE Global Down Syndrome Foundation Related Links www.globaldownsyndrome.org CHICAGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Forteam Investments Ltd., an investment company controlled by the American private equity firm Delta Capital Partners Management LLC ("Delta"), which is seeking approximately USD $86 million from Mariusz Switalski and companies he controls, has secured an injunction against Switalski and his assets. A second injunction was also obtained against Switalski and his four children, Mateusz, Natasza, Marcin and Mikoaj in relation to their ownership in the Switalski FIZ investment fund. Switalski is a Polish entrepreneur that has been named one of the richest persons in Poland by Wprost Weekly. On June 25, 2020, a Poznan, Poland court rejected a request to lift the first injunction against Switalski in a decision that is unappealable. Delta's CEO Christopher DeLise said, "This decision bodes well for the success of our legal case against Mariusz Switalski. The court's choice to deny Switalski's appeal underscores the judges' confidence in the merits of our legal arguments. Moreover, the attempt to conceal expensive cars at the Switalski family residence by changing their number plates ahead of our bailiff's visit demonstrates desperate tactics to avoid fulfilling clear legal obligations. We understand that this matter with supporting evidence has been referred to the appropriate criminal prosecutor in Srem. We are also reassured by statements made last week by the Polish President and Prime Minister regarding the security and attractiveness of US investments in Poland. We are aware that this matter is being carefully observed by the American investment community." The two injunctions related to Forteam's civil suits against Switalski have been widely reported in the press, with outlets such as Gazeta Wyborcza and Puls Biznesu detailing Switalski's history of evading contractual obligations. By way of background, on May 8, 2015, Forteam purchased from Czerwona Torebka, a 100% stake in Mapka, the owner of the Mapka Express chain. Forteam eventually sold its 16.18% stake in Czerwona Torebka. The parties to that transaction were aware of Mapka's challenging situation and thus acknowledged in the agreement that additional considerable financing would be needed in order for Mapka to remain afloat. Accordingly, Mariusz Switalski and Sowiniec Group contractually agreed to guarantee that Forteam would make a profit from its investment when it eventually exited the business. In connection with the issuance of the guarantee in favor of Forteam, Mariusz Switalski submitted a written declaration that his personal assets were sufficient to enable him to honor his obligations under the guarantee agreement. Despite having engaged a well-respected independent investment bank in 2018 to run a robust sales process for it, Forteam was only able to sell Mapka Express for an amount well-below the minimum set forth in the definitive transaction documents and related guarantee agreement. On December 28, 2018, Forteam notified Switalski of its obligation to remit the monies owed to Forteam pursuant to the guarantee agreement. Notwithstanding, Switalski and his companies have failed to pay any amounts due and owing to Forteam, which necessitated the filing of the injunctions and civil lawsuits. SOURCE Delta Capital Partners MORRISTOWN, N.J., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Donnelly Minter & Kelly, LLC is proud to welcome attorney Linda N. Engleby as the Firm's newest partner. Ms. Engleby brings extensive experience to the Firm's Estate Planning and Trust & Estate Administration Department. Headshot of Linda N. Engleby, Esq., Partner at Donnelly Minter & Kelly, LLC Linda N. Engleby joined the law firm of Donnelly Minter & Kelly, LLC as partner on June 22, 2020, where she will continue in her practice of advising clients in all matters relating to estate and trust administration and probate litigation. Ms. Engleby also counsels clients relating to guardianship matters, having served as Guardian Ad Litem and Court Appointed Attorney on numerous occasions. "Linda is an outstanding addition to our Firm," said Laura Ann Kelly, one of the Firm's founding partners. "Her ability to develop close client-attorney relationships coupled with her talent for designing sophisticated estate planning documents tailored to address each client's specific needs are the type of skills our clients value." Prior to attending George Washington University Law School, from where she received her law degree in 1998, Ms. Engleby attended Union Theological Seminary, receiving her Master of Divinity in 1988. For a time, she served as a hospital chaplain working with families as they dealt with traumatic health and medical issues. Ms. Engleby has said that her concentration on Estate Planning and Trust & Estate Administration allows her to combine her love of working with people to resolve intrafamily issues with her interest in the law. Beyond estate tax matters, Ms. Engleby is experienced in helping her clients navigate family disputes over the interpretation of trusts and wills, as well as representing her clients' interests in adversarial matters relating to the dispersion of family assets. Throughout her career as an attorney, Ms. Engleby has also counseled both individual and corporate executors and trustees on their fiduciary responsibilities. When not practicing law, Ms. Engleby volunteers with El Hogar, a non-profit that works to provide homes and education for children of Honduras to improve their potential of becoming caring, productive citizens. She also serves on the Vestry of St. Bernard's Church in Bernardsville, NJ. "Linda's values and thoughtful approach fit well with our Firm's commitment to providing our clients with personalized legal services through open communication, as well as with our commitment to community service," Ms. Kelly stated. "We hope you will join us in welcoming her aboard." Donnelly Minter & Kelly is a progressive law firm with traditional values serving clients from its offices in Morristown, NJ and New York City, NY. The Firm focuses on several areas of law in addition to Trust and Estate Planning, including Commercial Litigation, Commercial Real Estate, Corporate Transactions, and Product Liability. To contact Ms. Engleby or any of the DMK attorneys, visit their website or call (973) 200-6400 in New Jersey or (212) 537-9125 in New York. Related Images linda-n-engleby-esq.png Linda N. Engleby, Esq. Headshot of LInda N. Engleby, Esq., Partner at Donnelly Minter & Kelly, LLC SOURCE Donnelly Minter & Kelly, LLC SINGAPORE, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EMURGO Ptd. Ltd. EMURGO , a global blockchain solutions provider & a founding entity of the Cardano protocol, announces its partnership with Online Travel Agency (OTA) Travala.com - the world's leading blockchain-based travel booking platform trusted by customers worldwide. This partnership will enable travelers to easily book hotels & travel accommodations worldwide using Cardano's native cryptocurrency ADA on Travala.com's online platform. As the official travel partner of EMURGO, Cardano ADA users will also receive 10% cashback for all hotel bookings made with ADA until July 31. EMURGO partners with Online Travel Agency Travala.com to drive Cardano ADA adoption worldwide Hotel chosen at random as of June 25th This partnership will be an additional, substantial step forward with regards to EMURGO's mission to drive the adoption of ADA, as economies reopen and travel restrictions are lifted. This will further provide value to the core ADA community, as well as the larger cryptocurrency communities. Through Travala.com's existing partnership with digital travel company Booking.com to integrate accommodations listings, Travala.com currently offers 2,000,000+ bookable properties across 90,000 worldwide destinations in 230 countries and territories, at competitive prices up to 40% cheaper than mainstream travel booking platforms. Travala.com users are able to seamlessly pay for their travel bookings with Cardano ADA in addition to 28 other accepted cryptocurrencies and traditional online payments. "As global travel begins to gradually resume, EMURGO is excited to partner with Travala.com to bring functional utility to Cardano ADA users. Being able to book flights, hotels, and other travel accommodations with ADA at over 2 million properties in 90,000 international destinations demonstrates EMURGO's focus to drive real-world Cardano adoption," said EMURGO CEO Ken Kodama. "We're extremely excited to partner with an industry titan to boost ADA adoption. Travel is the ideal venue for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and as we all start to travel again, Travala.com will continue to provide a frictionless travel booking experience to anyone, anywhere," said Juan Otero, Travala.com CEO. According to recent data provided by Travala.com, 60% of all bookings on the platform in the last twelve months have been paid in cryptocurrencies. Over the past six weeks, there have been more than 20% week-over-week growth in total bookings, pointing towards a gradual recovery in the travel industry from the global COVID-19 pandemic. The most booked travel destinations with cryptocurrency payments to date have been the U.S., Thailand, and Australia. About EMURGO EMURGO is a global blockchain technology company providing solutions for developers, startups, enterprises and governments. EMURGO develops enterprise-grade applications, builds developer tools, invests in startups, and provides blockchain education. EMURGO has offices and manages projects in Singapore, Japan, the USA, India, and Indonesia. EMURGO is a founding member of the Cardano protocol. To connect and learn more, visit https://emurgo.io. For further information from EMURGO Florian Bohnert Chief Marketing Officer [email protected] +65 8648 1576 About Travala.com Founded in 2017, Travala.com is the leading cryptocurrency-friendly travel booking service with 2,000,000+ properties in 230 countries and 600 airlines globally. Backed by industry-giant Binance, Travala.com is a champion of cryptocurrency adoption, accepting over 28 leading cryptocurrencies in addition to traditional payment methods. The Travala.com value proposition is bolstered by AVA. As the native cryptocurrency of the platform, AVA can be used for payments, receiving loyalty rewards, discounts and bonuses, among several other use cases. For more information, visit www.travala.com For further information from Travala.com Ben Rogers Chief Marketing Officer [email protected] +852 8191 5752 SOURCE EMURGO Related Links http://emurgo.io SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fuel Cycle, Inc. the leading market research cloud for Fortune 500 companies partners with 0ptimus Analytics. 0ptimus transforms data-driven insight on how people think, feel and act into predictive models and people-based audiences for activation at scale. Fuel Cycle's partnership with 0ptimus Analytics gives users the power to transform first party customer intelligence and consumer insight from Fuel Cycle survey panels and online communities into bespoke first party people-based audiences for activation at scale via addressable media, marketing and CRM activation. Benefits for Users: Activate Research Insight Transform people-based insight into people-based audiences for activation at scale, anywhere, anytime. First Party Audiences Drive key business outcomes in the experience economy with the precision, personalization and relevance. More Impact, Less Cost Inspire more impactful creative briefs, facilitate more efficient media campaigns and enable more effective marketing investment. "The future of market research is tied to the ability to combine stated preference with opt-in behavioral data for insights that are actionable, scalable, and impactful for brands," says Rick Kelly, Chief Product Officer at Fuel Cycle, "Our partnership with 0ptimus will help our customers enhance ROI in marketing spend and identify new revenue sources." "Together with Fuel Cycle, we're amplifying the business impact of customer intelligence for brands by transforming high-impact customer insight into bespoke, scaled, people-based audiences for activation," said Katie Casavant, President of 0ptimus Analytics. "The result is one-of-a-kind, direct-from-insights audiences that deliver better consumer experiences and drive sustained brand growth." There are countless potential outcomes for users who leverage both solutions together for more powerful data gathering. Here are some specific use cases: Increase the ROI of Insights Transform first party research, intelligence and insight on brand preference, perception, motivation, feedback, purchase drivers, etc. into first party audiences for activation at scale. Activate Consumer Segmentation Convert discrete segments of strategically important consumers into scaled, activation-ready people-based audiences. Optimize Product Launches Support new product launches with Precision Audiences to drive loyalty, and Targeted Reach Audiences to drive trial. Reduce Acquisition Costs Differentiate target consumers from non-target consumers; divest spending on Non-Target Populations and invest spending on Best Prospect Audiences. Engage Creative and Media Colleagues Inform the development of creative marketing collateral with insights gathered from richly profiled, activation-ready first party audiences. How It Works: Users can now match Fuel Cycle survey panel, online community and continuous research response data to 0ptimus National Consumer File data, to build predictive models and to scale bespoke first party people-based audiences for activation. 0ptimus uses proven scientific modeling algorithms, testing and scoring methodologies powered by 0ptimus' first party data and delivered with full model performance transparency and rich audience insights. Fuel Cycle clients own the bespoke first party people-based audiences 0ptimus builds for them, and can activate them whenever, wherever, as often as desired for a single fixed rate fee. Learn more about Fuel Cycle at fuelcycle.com and 0ptimus Analytics at 0ptimus.com. SOURCE Fuel Cycle Related Links http://www.fuelcycle.com ATLANTA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC) announced today that it has completed the sale of its S.P. Richards operations through two separate transactions. The Company has sold S.P. Richards' core U.S. operations to an Investor Group led by industry professionals and has sold S.P. Richards' Supply Source Enterprises business ("SSE"), comprised of The Safety Zone and Impact Products operations, to an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital. Both transactions are effective today, June 30, 2020. GPC expects to use the net cash proceeds from the transactions to enhance its cash position for capital allocation and to repay debt. S.P. Richards Co. is a leading national business products wholesaler that distributes more than 98,000 products to 9,000 resellers and distributors throughout the United States from a network of 44 locations. Its core U.S. operations offer products and services in four primary product categories, including general office products, technology products and accessories, office furniture and JanSan and safety supplies, to national and independent business products resellers and janitorial supply distributors. The Safety Zone and Impact Products operations specialize in providing personal protective equipment and janitorial, safety, hygiene and sanitation products to a diversified customer base, including janitorial and sanitation supply distributors, safety products resellers, foodservice and food processing distributors and retailers. Paul Donahue, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GPC, stated, "The sale of S.P. Richards represents the further streamlining of our operations and a significant step forward in our long-term strategy to optimize our portfolio. With this divestiture, we will continue to opportunistically expand our global footprint and strengthen our focus on sustainable, value-driving initiatives associated with our faster growing and higher margin automotive and industrial businesses." Mr. Donahue added, "On behalf of the GPC Board and management team, I want to thank Rick Toppin and the S.P. Richards team, whose hard work and dedication has made these transactions possible. Both the Investor Group and H.I.G. are supported by talented and experienced teams, and we are confident they are the right partners to lead these respective operations into the future. We look forward to working closely with them to support a smooth transition for our employees, customers and supply base, particularly during the ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19." Yancey Jones, on behalf of the Investor Group, said, "Our group comprises several industry leaders who envision a new, industry-changing alignment and partnership among manufacturers, wholesalers and resellers. This represents a shift in the traditional industry supply chain that will eliminate redundant costs and help all partners become more competitive. The acquisition of S.P. Richards' core U.S. operations represents a major step forward in this process, and we are focused on strengthening our mutually beneficial partnerships and driving long-term, sustainable value creation." Rahul Vinnakota, Managing Director at H.I.G., said, "SSE offers an extensive product portfolio and differentiated value-added services to distributors servicing a wide array of end users across several end markets. We appreciate the loyalty and support of SSE's strong customer base during these difficult times and look forward to continuing to exceed their expectations in the future. H.I.G. will bring additional expertise and resources to SSE to support management as they continue to broaden SSE's customer base, expand offerings and enhance services. Importantly, given the critical role of these businesses in the COVID-19 pandemic, we remain committed to ensuring continuity of service to customers while prioritizing the wellbeing of employees." J.P. Morgan is acting as financial advisor and Troutman Sanders LLP is acting as legal counsel to GPC. B. Riley Financial is acting as financial advisor and Whiteford Taylor Preston, LLP is acting as legal counsel to the Investor Group. Harris Williams and Robert W. Baird are acting as financial advisors and McDermott, Will & Emery is acting as legal counsel to H.I.G. Capital. About Genuine Parts Company Founded in 1928, Genuine Parts Company is a global service organization engaged in the distribution of automotive replacement parts and industrial parts. The Company's Automotive Parts Group distributes automotive replacement parts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australasia, France, the U.K., Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. The Company's Industrial Parts Group distributes industrial replacement parts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australasia. Genuine Parts Company had 2019 revenues of $19.4 billion. Further information is available at www.genpt.com. About the Investor Group The Investor Group is comprised of key investors, including well-respected industry professionals, who have partnered to acquire S.P. Richards' core U.S. operations. The Investor Group is committed to the business products industry and the long-term growth of S.P. Richards and, as owners, intends to act swiftly to build a stronger and more competitive distribution business well-positioned to capture greater market share, capitalize on opportunities to create value and help its customers succeed. About H.I.G. Capital H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with $37 billion of equity capital under management. Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Stamford in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused / value-added approach. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the proposed business transactions with the Investor Group and H.I.G. Capital, including our planned use of proceeds and our future strategy. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied here, including but not limited to: post-closing risks attendant to selling a business, including the possibility of indemnification or other claims, and the challenges to implementing our longer-term strategic plans, including COVID-19, the economy as a whole, and demand for the products that we sell, the ability of our vendors to fulfill our needs, and competitive actions by others. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made, and GPC disclaims any duty to update its forward-looking statements except as required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our subsequent Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and other reports to the SEC. SOURCE Genuine Parts Company Related Links http://www.genpt.com The board will provide perspective and guidance on the company's ongoing strategic direction, including go-to-market planning and future fundraising. Both board appointments bring extensive and proven executive management experience to their new roles. The inaugural appointments joining HighByte co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tony Paine on the Board of Directors include: Betsy Peters , Independent Board Chair. Peters has worked as intrapreneur and entrepreneur for the past twenty-five yearsbuilding products, leading teams, raising funds, and managing growth. During her career, she has answered directly to various boards, constructed her own startup board, served as a publicly elected board official, and helped lead the strategic direction of Maine -based software startup CourseStorm as Board Chair for the past four years. Peters is currently the CEO of Cambium Enterprises, an innovation strategy firm, and an adjunct instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ). Peters has worked as intrapreneur and entrepreneur for the past twenty-five yearsbuilding products, leading teams, raising funds, and managing growth. During her career, she has answered directly to various boards, constructed her own startup board, served as a publicly elected board official, and helped lead the strategic direction of -based software startup CourseStorm as Board Chair for the past four years. Peters is currently the CEO of Cambium Enterprises, an innovation strategy firm, and an adjunct instructor at the ( ). Corson Ellis , Investor Director. Ellis was previously Founder and Chairman of Kepware, an industrial software communications company that sold to PTC, a Boston -based enterprise software company, in January 2016 . Ellis has served as Board Chair of Maine Venture Fund (MVF) and Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) and is currently a board member of Coastal Ventures, a Maine -based venture capital firm. Ellis also invests in and advises software startups, serves on several technical investment boards, and supports the Lewiston, Maine public school system in their effort to institute a K-12 software coding curriculum. Ellis was an investor in the HighByte pre-seed funding round and will now represent investors on the company's Board of Directors. "I was honored to accept the role of Board Chair because of the talented and experienced HighByte team who have demonstrated success working together in this market," said Peters. "They've developed a promising and desirable solution to help customers unlock the potential of their industrial data. I'm committed to supporting them as they achieve the next stages of growth, feasibility, and viability." Board observers include Joe Powers of MVF and Matthew Hoffner of Maine Technology Institute (MTI) whose institutions participated in the pre-seed funding round. John Harrington and Torey Penrod-Cambra, both HighByte co-founders, will also serve as board observers. Prior to founding HighByte in August 2018, Paine, Harrington, and Penrod-Cambra have worked together since 2012 and have more than 50 years of experience delivering software to the industrial automation market. Additional Resources About HighByte HighByte is an industrial software development company in Portland, Maine building solutions that address the data architecture and security challenges created by Industry 4.0. We've developed the first DataOps solution purpose-built to meet the unique requirements of industrial assets, products, processes, and systems at the Edge. Learn more at https://highbyte.com. HighByte is a registered trademark of HighByte, Inc. Media Contact HighByte Torey Penrod-Cambra Chief Marketing Officer +1 844.328.2677 x701 [email protected] SOURCE HighByte Related Links www.highbyte.com "The National Cooperative Bank is proud to work with Capital Impact Partners to award these three deserving organizations," stated Charles Snyder, CEO of NCB. "Each one is deeply rooted in their community and will enhance the cooperative model to address income inequality and increase community ownership. We look forward to seeing the impact of their work in the years to come." This year's Co-op Innovation Award focused on organizations educating new audiences on the impact and potential of the cooperative model to disrupt income inequality, steward community ownership, and create strong vibrant places of opportunity. Priority was given to food, worker, and housing cooperatives, but all sectors were invited to apply. While the award was advertised before restrictions were implemented around the COVID-19 pandemic, co-ops provide community stability which is critical in weathering crises that can be crippling to small businesses and workers with low wages. Working in community, co-ops allow their members to determine what is best for everyone. ChiFresh Kitchen is being awarded $50,000 to expand its commercial kitchen, owned and determined by formerly incarcerated Chicagoans, primarily Black women. ChiFresh pushed forward its intended launch in response to the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on Chicagoans of color and residents with low incomes. ChiFresh is now delivering prepared meals that are freshly cooked, healthy, delicious, and rooted in the culture and traditions of the people being served. Many of the members lost jobs because of COVID so launching the co-op provided much needed income in addition to getting food out to the community. They are working closely with local government and anchor institutions to become the go-to prepared meal vendor for anchor institutions implementing good food purchasing policies. ChiFresh hopes to influence the narrative around worker cooperatives and their impact on the lives of the most marginalized community members. "ChiFresh planned to serve meals to after school and summer programs, but as we launch in the midst of this crisis, we have pivoted to meet the immediate needs facing our communities," said Camille Kerr, ChiFresh Coordinator. "This grant allows us to partner with our fellow Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)-owned worker cooperative farms and food operators to address COVID-related food insecurity. With Capital Impact's support, we can use this moment to build up the infrastructure for cooperatives to play a larger role in our local food ecosystem long-term." The Guild in Atlanta is being awarded $25,000 to support its mission of building community wealth through real estate, entrepreneurship programs, and access to capital, creating equitable and sustainable communities by addressing the root causes of economic inequality. The grant will support the Guild's "whole systems" approach, allowing the Guild to continue providing technical assistance to Black and Brown enterprises through its Community Wealth Building Accelerator; launch its Integrated Capital Fund that will coordinate and deploy different types of capital and investments to entrepreneurs of color; and launch the Groundcover Community Investment Trust to introduce an alternative real estate development model to the Atlanta community. "The Guild offers equitable real estate, entrepreneurship programs, and access to non-extractive capital to build community wealth and resilience," said Avery Ebron, Head of Product at The Guild. "Capital Impact Partners' Co-op Innovation Award will help The Guild democratize ownership of businesses and real estate through a racial equity lens. The Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative (BCDI) is being awarded $25,000 to bring worker ownership to an entirely new audience of minority business owners and workers through an industry focused strategy. The grant will support the creation of a worker-owned integrated pest management (IPM) co-op that provides living wages and the opportunity to scale through demand from institutional purchasers. BCDI is a community-led economic development organization focused on building an equitable, democratic economy that creates shared wealth and ownership for people of color with low incomes. They are an inclusive organization that provides materials, training, and workshops in several different languages. A key objective for the organization is localizing procurement to Bronx-based minority/women-owned businesses and worker-owned cooperatives by leveraging stakeholder relationships. "Through the Co-op Innovation Award, grant, BCDI and DAWI are forming an Integrated Pest Management cooperative that will be owned and operated by its workers," said Michael Partis, Executive Director of BCDI. "Our intervention promises to create jobs, generate shared wealth, and move us closer to ending generational poverty in the poorest urban county in the United States." During times of crisis, the cooperative model encourages greater civic engagement, as well as community self-determination, agency, and resilience. Worker cooperatives, in particular, have been increasing through innovative organizing and growth strategies that empower workers and build wealth for those who locked out the mainstream economy. As mission-driven organizations focus more on expanding economic, social, and racial justice across the country, cooperatives and organizations that empower them will continue to be partners in broadening opportunities for all. About Capital Impact Partners Through capital and commitment, Capital Impact Partners helps people build communities of opportunity that break barriers to success. Through mission-driven financing, social innovation programs, capacity building, and impact investing, we work to champion key issues of equity and social and economic justice. Our commitment to community focuses on ensuring that individuals with low-to-moderate incomes have access to quality health care and education, healthy foods, affordable housing, and the ability to age with dignity. A nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution, Capital Impact has disbursed more than $2.5 billion since 1982 to ensure that individuals with low-to-moderate incomes have access to quality health care and education, healthy foods, affordable housing, and the ability to age with dignity. Our leadership in delivering financial and social impact has resulted in Capital Impact being rated by S&P Global and recognized by Aeris for our performance. Headquartered in Arlington, VA, Capital Impact Partners operates nationally, with local offices in Detroit, MI, New York, NY, and Oakland, CA. Learn more at www.capitalimpact.org. About National Cooperative Bank: National Cooperative Bank is dedicated to strengthening communities nationwide through the delivery of banking and financial services, complemented by a special focus on cooperative expansion and economic development. NCB provides financial products and services for the nation's cooperatives, their members, and socially responsible organizations. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Bank has offices in Alaska, California, New York, Ohio and Virginia. To learn more, visit www.ncb.coop, National Cooperative Bank on Facebook and Instagram, or on Twitter @natlcoopbank. SOURCE Capital Impact Partners Related Links http://www.capitalimpact.org COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- INFOhio is Ohio's PreK-12 Digital Library supporting schools and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. A program of the Management Council, this state-funded agency partners with Ohio's public, academic, and state libraries to license quality digital content that is freely available to all Ohio teachers, students, and parents. "As COVID-19 necessitates school closures, PreK-12 educators are pivoting from in-person instruction to teaching remotely," noted John E. Miller, Loudonville-Perrysville Exempted Village School Board Member. "Fortunately, a powerful ally is available to assist with this transition: INFOhio." Throughout the last three months, INFOhio has provided solutions for remote learning to Ohio's schools and families. INFOhio's Remote Learning blog series singled out the digital content from INFOhio that could be used online or in print, allowing educators to meet the needs of students whether they have Internet at home or not. "This school year alone, students, teachers, and parents have exceeded 23 million downloads of INFOhio's digital content to extend learning from the classroom to the kitchen table," shared Theresa Fredericka, Director of INFOhio. "Now more than ever, equitable access to high quality, digital content, is at the heart of delivering education 24/7 to our students." Along with high-quality digital resources, INFOhio continues to support educators with professional development with their Remote Learning webinar series, where INFOhio delivers engaging learning opportunities for educators to share with students in preparation for a very different kind of summer. INFOhio also introduces educators to professional development options that are personalized and flexible for help planning the 20-21 school year. Geoffrey Andrews, CEO of the Management Council, stated, "We are committed to providing Ohio's education community with quality digital resources for students, teachers, and parents that support remote learning." INFOhio creates web tools for education and provides professional development and training focused on enhancing teaching and learning for the 21st century. INFOhio also supports many Ohio school libraries, providing software to inventory and manage library and technology assets. The eBooks, newspaper and magazine articles, videos, educational web tools, and online encyclopedias available from INFOhio at no cost make it an equitable solution for teaching and learning anywhere. To learn more about INFOhio and the Management Council, visit https://www.infohio.org/about and https://www.managementcouncil.org/. Contact: Jessica Madison Phone: 614.840.9810 Email: [email protected] SOURCE The Management Council ATLANTA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 3rd Fathom Films and Gravitas Ventures announce an official release date of June 30, 2020 for Taylor Ri'chard's 'Hallowed Be Thy Name.' During early stages of the pandemic, 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' abandoned theaters while businesses began to shut down. After months of altering plans from theaters to digital platforms to prepare for a June 2 release, the date was postponed due to changing circumstances throughout uncertain times. Writer/Director/Producer, Taylor Ri'chard made the announcement in late May. Hallowed Be Thy Name Cast Immediately following the release, horror fans will be able to watch 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' on multiple streaming platforms such as Hulu Amazon Prime, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play, YouTubeTV, Microsoft, Fandango NOW, and Vimeo. The film will also be available for viewing on video on demand through the following networks Comcast, AT&T Uverse, DirectTV, Verizon, Cox, DishNetwork, Frontier, WOW!, Shaw, SuddenLink, Shaw, Telus, and more. 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' will be available for purchase on Blu-Ray DVD at Amazon, Target, and Barnes & Noble. Notable stars in the film are Collin Shephard as Devin, Alissa Hale as Skylar, Bryen Lenis as Mick, Hal Whiteside as Robert Freeman, Bill Barrett as CAUCHEMAR, Mamie Morgan as Miss Jess, Lolita Price as Lea, Zander Krenger as Jude, Bailey Campbell as Aiden, and Fiona McQuinn as Jo. Synopsis: The film starts with Devin, a teenage boy being forced to move to a rural town in Louisiana following his parents' divorce. Bored and searching for excitement, Devin decides to make friends with two local teens, Skylar and Mick. After being warned by the townspeople not to disturb the rest of an ancient demon, Devin, Skylar, and Mick decide to ignore the advice. Regretful of his decisions, Devin's challenge to save himself and his friends increases in difficulty when the deity becomes more deadly with every passing minute. Superstition, magic, and bad decisions drive us down a small rural road, yet the lurking question becomes - who will survive? Have you ever heard the saying "When man plans, God laughs?" This statement has never been truer than in this story. Even though Devin, Skylar, and Mick thought their wishes would be granted in the cave, it turns out they should have been careful since not all prayers are meant to be answered. Watch 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' to find out if the wicked will prevail. 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' is Taylor Ri'chard's second film, following his first success, 'The Final Project.' This Atlanta-based film director shows his loyalty to the state by filming scenes in local locations and by featuring a crew of dedicated locals well acquainted with the haunted history of the South. Taylor Ri'chard also pays a tribute to his Louisiana heritage by reflecting his French influences through character names. This is a common premise Taylor adds to his screen-writing art and he has done it again in the film through the character CAUCHEMAR. Ri'chard combines the horror genre with authentic folklore and updates the southern gothic ghost story by exploiting a history too chillingly real to deny. Taylor is a huge fan of 80's horror, particularly, 'Freddy and Jason.' Taylor might have created a new horror icon in the film 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' through the demon CAUCHEMAR based on his childhood in Louisiana and Cajun folklore. 2019 Content Creators of Atlanta Award Winner: Best Feature Film, 'Hallowed Be Thy Name.' Genre: Horror Run-Time: 100 minutes Release Date: June 30, 2020 For more information about the film, follow @hallowedbemovie on Instagram or visit www.hallowedbemovie.com For more information about Taylor Ri'chard and 3rd Fathom Films, follow @reel_taylor and @3rdfathom on Instagram or visit www.3rdfathom.com Media Contact: Cody Clark Email: [email protected] Phone: 470-709-1090 SOURCE 3rd Fathom Films BOSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE: PDT) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC and subadvised by Manulife Investment Management (US) LLC, announced today sources of its monthly distribution of $0.0975 per share paid to all shareholders of record as of June 11, 2020, pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan. This press release is issued as required by an exemptive order granted to the Fund by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Notification of Sources of Distribution This notice provides shareholders of the John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund (NYSE: PDT) with important information concerning the distribution declared on June 1, 2020, and payable on June 30, 2020. No action is required on your part. Distribution Period: June 2020 Distribution Amount Per Common Share: $0.0975 The following table sets forth the estimated sources of the current distribution, payable June 30, 2020, and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short term capital gains; net realized long term capital gains; and return of capital or other capital source. All amounts are expressed on a per common share basis and as a percentage of the distribution amount. For the period 6/1/2020-6/30/2020 For the fiscal year-to-date period 11/1/2019-6/30/2020 1 Source Current Distribution ($) % Breakdown of the Current Distribution Total Cumulative Distributions ($) % Breakdown of the Total Cumulative Distributions Net Investment Income 0.0791 81% 0.6064 78% Net Realized Short- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Net Realized Long- Term Capital Gains 0.0017 2% 0.0157 2% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.0167 17% 0.1573 20% Total per common share 0.0975 100% 0.7794 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the 5 years ended on May 31, 2020 5.00% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of May 31, 2020 9.24% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through May 31, 2020 -15.42% Cumulative fiscal year-to-date distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of May 31, 2020 6.16% __________________________ 1 The Fund's current fiscal year began on November 1, 2019, and will end on October 31, 2020. You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution plan. The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has declared the June 2020 distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "Plan"). Under the Plan, the Fund makes fixed monthly distributions in the amount of $0.0975 per share, which will continue to be paid monthly until further notice. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact your financial professional or call the John Hancock Investment Management Closed-End Fund Information Line at 1-800-843-0090, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. An investor should consider a Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial John Hancock is a division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the right advice and solutions. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and as Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups, and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were over CAD$1.2 trillion (US$800 billion) as of March 31, 2020. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com. One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports approximately 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and education savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com. SOURCE John Hancock Investment Management HOUSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Larry Mullne from AA Logistics Trucking discusses several new developments due to the global pandemic. AA Logistics Trucking Due to the pandemic, there's a strong demand for "essential commodities" at this time. Global logistics market size is projected to grow from USD 2,734 billion in 2020 to USD 3,215 billion by 2021, at a Y-O-Y of 17.6%. Stronger demand for PPE gear and government funding of supply chains has played a role. https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/covid-19-impact-on-logistics-supply-chain-industry-market-to-reach-3215-billion-in-2021-2020-06-08?mod=mw_quote_news The Agriculture sector of the economy is not experiencing as much regulation as other sectors. This allows for an increase use in logistics companies to move agricultural freight from A. to B. Ordering groceries online has become more commonplace. Shipping companies have fulfilled grocery store demands. Trucking is considered an "essential" form of shipping now, while airlines or boats have more government restrictions. Because of concern over health and safety, there is a current shortage of drivers. They are needed the most during this time because of the transport of essential goods like medicines, and food. Bigger and more experienced logistics companies with higher inventory levels and better performance will survive, while smaller logistics companies will go out of business, thus reducing the competition. Logistics consultants, like Larry Mullne, recommend that freight shippers fully evaluate their processes and the services they offer when implementing a cost-savings plan. Learn the differences between different types of shipping. https://aalogisticstrucking.com Larry Mullne defines some terms of logistics: FTL, Full Truckload, is used for dry vans, flatbeds, stepdecks, RGNS, aluminum end dump, and steel end dump. LTL, Less Than Truckload, is used for below 8,000 lb. Partial Truckload is above 8,000 lb. When a load of goods doesn't fill up a truck, partial truckloads can help decrease the cost to ship. Less than truckload (LTL) shipping requirements are hard for most businesses, however, many of them don't ship enough goods to fill up a truck or make it worth the cost of a full truckload (FTL). This is when using partial truckload shipping is the most cost-effective option. Less than truckloads (or LTL) are designed to ship smaller amounts of goods like one to six pallets. While appearing cost-effective up front, they are smaller than six pallets. Chance for damage is increased when loading and unloading on the truck. The stops can take longer than anticipated, which delays the delivery times and becomes more costly than partial truckloads. AA Logistics offers a state-of-the-art LTL system that puts the shippers in control of their LTL process. Larry's main goal is to help his customers find a cost-effective option that allows them to have control over their shipments. Call Larry Mullne at 713-300-4054 to discuss how this current business climate affects your Logistics. https://aalogisticstrucking.com. Related Images call-larry-mullne-at-713-300-4054.png Call Larry Mullne at 713-300-4054 to discuss how this current business climate affects your Logistics. https://aalogisticstrucking.com/. SOURCE AA Logistics Trucking Related Links http://aalogisticstrucking.com "Each CREMO cologne has a luxurious scent that you'd expect to find at a high-end boutique," said Matthew Biggins, CEO and president of Cremo Company. "We work together with the finest fragrance houses in the world to develop the best smelling, long-lasting scents that men would want to wear." Cremo Company's fragrance research indicates men prefer more refined, fresh scents that are distinctive but not over powering. Designed by its team of professional scent experts, CREMO fragrances are layered and complex and last well throughout the day. Each cologne is made with a careful blend of quality ingredients, not a pre-mixed formula, and intentionally designed for the modern man. "Our mission is to make men's grooming products that are best in class but also accessible," noted Biggins. "CREMO believes everyone deserves high performance at an affordable price point, and now we're able to bring our cologne to more men across the country, thanks to Walmart." The two new Walmart exclusives are "Bourbon Vanilla," a clean but distinctive blend of distiller spices, aged oak and vanilla bourbon, and "Iced Citron & Driftwood," a cooling, fresh scent blend of citron, mint, cedar and moss. The CREMO original "Blue Cedar & Cypress" offers a refreshing, woodsy scent, while "Spice & Black Vanilla" features a bold, vibrant spice fragrance. Beginning this week, 775 Walmart locations across America will offer CREMO fragrances, available in four spray colognes, with each bottle of eau de toilette at 3.4 fl. oz. (MSRP: $20). More information about the CREMO cologne collection, in both spray and solid formulas, is available online at CremoCompany.com. About CREMO As the fastest growing men's grooming company in the U.S., CREMO offers a full line of shave, beard, hair and body products that deliver astonishingly superior results. CREMO's category-defining products are made by an experienced team of chemists and curators who are experts in skin care. We are committed to developing superior performing CREMO products that use the best ingredients to deliver noticeable, dramatic results. More information about CREMO products may be found online at http://cremocompany.com . CREMO is also on Instagram @cremocompany and Twitter at http://twitter.com/cremocompany and can be found through the social media hashtags #cremo and #cremocompany. SOURCE Cremo Company Related Links https://cremocompany.com ArtiSential instruments feature a double-jointed end effector and an ergonomic grip that facilitates wristed movements to provide 7 degrees of freedom. These capabilities are incorporated into a low cost, fully mechanical instrument, enabling surgeons the same advantages as robotic platforms while also providing tactile feedback, which robotic systems lack. ArtiSential devices can be used with any 8mm, or larger, sized trocar, and can be immediately incorporated into any surgical setting without the need for additional capital equipment or large footprint in the operating room. "We are pleased to offer a full suite of wristed Instruments, which has only been afforded via robotics until now," says Karl Im, President of LivsMed USA Inc. "ArtiSential is gaining interest with institutions and surgeons alike, who are looking for alternative options to a robotic procedure. We have essentially revolutionized traditional laparoscopy by introducing the dexterity of a robotic system to a laparoscopic instrument without the loss of tactile feedback," says Im. The ArtiSential energy instruments join LivsMed's existing product line that includes the Needle Holder, Clip Applier, non-energy Fenestrated Forceps and Maryland Dissector. These instruments are available in three different lengths (25cm, 38cm and 45cm) and optionally feature a locking mechanism that secures the articulating joints. Dr. Joel Dunning, a thoracic surgeon from the UK, summarizes by saying, "We want to mimic our hands in the body, and ArtiSential does this." "We are excited that Dr. Dunning has been a great spokesperson for ArtiSential," says Dr. Jung Joo Lee, founder and CEO of LivsMed Inc. "Now, with more surgeons in the US experiencing ArtiSential, we are on our way to fulfill our mission of 'bringing precision surgery into the hands of surgeons, one patient at a time.'" Dr. Lee further states, "There has been a tremendous amount of interest from surgeons in South Korea where we first launched the product in 2018. Today, we now have a surgeon who has completed over 1000 cases using ArtiSential devices who says that he 'can't go back to using straight instruments'. We plan to continue to innovate and support the US market, which is largest in the world." About LivsMed: LivsMed Inc. is a medical device company that brings groundbreaking technology to minimally invasive surgery. Founded in South Korea, LivsMed is the creation of Dr. Jung Joo Lee, who envisioned a new paradigm of laparoscopic surgery where articulating technology is available to every surgeon. With this vision, the ArtiSential product line was introduced to the Korean medical device market in 2018 and expanded into the US in 2019. Upon entering the US market, ArtiSential was immediately met with excitement from surgeons around the world, receiving the Red Dot Design Award and recognition from SAGES. Working with physicians worldwide, LivsMed focuses on revolutionizing the capabilities of minimally invasive surgery, advancing patient outcomes and extending life for patients around the world. For more information about LivsMed, visit www.livsmed.com. SOURCE LivsMed Related Links http://www.livsmed.com/ JERSEY CITY, N.J., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: CLI) today announced that the Company has rescheduled its 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders for Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Due to public health concerns associated with the ongoing coronavirus outbreak (Covid-19), and to support the health and well-being of its stockholders, the meeting will be held in a virtual-only format and stockholders will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person, at a physical location. As described in previously distributed proxy materials, stockholders of record of our common stock as of the close of business on April 16, 2020, the record date, are entitled to participate in the Annual Meeting. Stockholders that have pre-registered to attend the virtual meeting can refer to their confirmation email from CESVote.com containing a link and instructions for entering the virtual Annual Meeting. About Mack-Cali Realty Corporation One of the country's leading real estate investment trusts (REITs), Mack-Cali Realty Corporation is an owner, manager and developer of premier office and multifamily properties in select waterfront and transit-oriented markets throughout New Jersey. Mack-Cali is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, and is the visionary behind the city's flourishing waterfront, where the company is leading development, improvement and place-making initiatives for Harborside, a master-planned destination comprised of class A office, luxury apartments, diverse retail and restaurants, and public spaces. A fully integrated and self-managed company, Mack-Cali has provided world-class management, leasing, and development services throughout New Jersey and the surrounding region for two decades. By regularly investing in its properties and innovative lifestyle amenity packages, Mack-Cali creates environments that empower tenants and residents to reimagine the way they work and live. For more information on Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and its properties, visit www.mack-cali.com. Forward Looking Statements Statements made in this communication may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "plan," "potential," "projected," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "target," "continue," or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading "Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are incorporated herein by reference. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. Important Additional Information and Where to Find It This communication may be deemed to contain solicitation material in respect to the solicitation of proxies from the Company's stockholders in connection with the Annual Meeting. The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and mailed to its stockholders a definitive proxy statement in connection with the Annual Meeting. The definitive proxy statement contains important information about the Company, the Annual Meeting and related matters. Stockholders may obtain a free copy of the definitive proxy statement and other documents that the Company files with the SEC on the SEC's website, at www.sec.gov. INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT SOLICITATION MATERIALS BECAUSE THESE DOCUMENTS WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Certain Information Regarding Participants Mack-Cali and certain of its directors and executive officers are participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Company's stockholders in connection with the Annual Meeting. Information regarding the names of these directors and executive officers and their respective interests in the Company as of the date of this communication is set forth in the definitive proxy statement filed by the Company for the Annual Meeting. The definitive proxy statement and any other documents filed by the Company with the SEC may be obtained by investors and stockholders free of charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Copies will also be available at no charge on the Company's website at https://www.mack-cali.com. Contacts: Michael J. DeMarco Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Chief Executive Officer (732) 590-1589 [email protected] Deidre Crockett Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Chief Administrative Officer (732) 590-1025 [email protected] SOURCE Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Related Links http://www.mack-cali.com MT. WASHINGTON, Ky., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MHS, a single-source provider of material handling automation and software solutions, today announced that it has named Senior Vice President John Sorensen as the head of its North America Parcel division. Sorensen succeeds MHS Co-Founder Greg Judge, as Greg steps down from his position as the company's President in a well-planned leadership transition. Co-Founder Scott McReynolds remains the company's CEO. MHS was jointly founded in 1999 by McReynolds, Judge and Tony Mouser, who was the company's previous CEO and continues to serve as Special Advisor. Together, they grew the company into a nearly $1 billion enterprise that counts among its customers some of the world's largest logistics providers and e-commerce retailers. In April 2017, the trio led MHS to a recapitalization in partnership with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. ("THL"), followed by a series of acquisitions that expanded the company's global footprint, capabilities and product and service lines. "Greg has shown tremendous vision and leadership as he has helped build MHS into the successful, growing company it is today," said Jim Carlisle, Managing Director for THL. "We appreciate his contributions as a company founder and valued partner to THL." "Meanwhile, John has more than lived up to his impressive resume, leading MHS's Lifecycle Performance Services (aftermarket) division during the past two years," Carlisle added. "His deep industry knowledge, relentless determination and unwavering commitment to the MHS vision and culture make him the ideal candidate to lead MHS's largest business unit." "It has been an incredible journey to build MHS alongside Scott and Tony, and I am excited to see the company continue to reach new heights," Judge said. "We have always placed a premium on orderly succession planning, and this was no different. John is a rare find and a tremendous asset to MHS, which is why I recommended him for the role. I appreciate that Scott and the Board chose to support my recommendation, and I know he will successfully carry the NAP division well into the future." Sorensen has more than 17 years' experience in the material handling industry, including senior leadership roles with Evergreen Industrial Services and Intelligrated (now Honeywell Intelligrated). He holds a bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering Technology from DeVry University and an MBA from Webster University. "Building a company with someone is a bonding experience like no other, and I consider it a great privilege to have worked alongside Greg for the past 20 years," McReynolds said. "He has left a permanent imprint on this company and his legacy is irreplaceable. He will always be a part of the MHS family." "We are also fortunate to have a worthy successor in John," McReynolds continued. "Since joining our company in 2018, he has proven himself many times over and commands respect for all the right reasons. John is perceptive, practical and forward-thinking, while managing to balance strength and humility all of which makes him a great fit for our culture. I am eager to see his continued impact on our company as he moves into his new role." "I'm grateful for this opportunity and look forward to helping lead MHS toward a bright and promising future," Sorensen said. "I am proud to be part of a company whose values so closely reflect my own, and I know we will continue to advance toward our goal of becoming one of the top intralogistics providers worldwide." About MHS Founded in 1999, MHS Global is a full-service provider of innovative material handling systems that solve the challenges of distribution and fulfillment operations. We take a comprehensive, customer-centric approach that includes custom engineering, design, manufacturing and turnkey integration services. Our quality solutions leverage a broad range of controls and automated equipment, including but not limited to sorters, conveyors, extendable loading and unloading systems. We provide complete, responsive support to maintain systems for peak performance, with predictive analytics and local technicians to maximize long-term value and return on investment. MHS has a global installed base of over $5 billion for small to large distribution and fulfillment projects in a variety of industries, including e-commerce, parcel, third party logistics and outside integrators. SOURCE Material Handling Systems, Inc. Related Links mhsglobal.com CHICAGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With so much volatility in our world and economy today, it is more important than ever to communicate effectively with employees. The right message, delivered at the right times and through the right channels, goes a long way toward building community and engagement. Use the Right Channels to Communicate with Impact in Challenging Times To further support leaders and communicators in this unprecedented period, The Grossman Group, a Chicago-based leadership and communications consultancy, has updated its popular communication channels guide eBook. The newly updated eBook, Use the Right Channels to Communicate with Impact In Challenging Times, is an invaluable resource for leaders looking to build the kind of strong and resilient team that can readily tackle a host of new challenges. "For so many teams that have suddenly become remote due to COVID-19 and many others struggling to navigate the new normal in business today, effective communication is undoubtedly a key to success," says David Grossman, founder and CEO of The Grossman Group. "Adopting the right approach to communication by using the right channels at the right times is one of the best and most powerful tools companies have in breaking down barriers and bringing people together." Communicators and leaders have a wide range of options for communication channels today, and the list of channels keeps growing, Grossman says. Only a few months ago, for instance, video conferences like ZOOM and Microsoft Teams were used far less than they are today. Still, having access to so many channels doesn't always mean your messages are received, heard, understood or acted upon. "With more options to choose from, leaders need to ensure channels are selected strategically so employees aren't victims of information overload," Grossman says. "You want to make sure your choices engage employees in the most meaningful ways so they can achieve more, both personally and for the organization." The eBook provides a quick overview of the key communication options and guidance on which channels may work best for any particular organization. All of this aids in crafting or updating a strategic communication plan. The eBook helps leaders decide among the many options today, including: Video Conference Calls (such as ZOOM and Microsoft Teams) Traditional Conference Calls Town Halls Podcasts Emails Blogs Face-to-Face Internal Publications Internal Social Media And more! DownloadUse the Right Communication Channels to Communicate with Impacttoday and see how being more purposeful when choosing communication channels will lead to less clutter and more effective communications. About The Grossman Group The Grossman Group is an award-winning Chicago-based communications consultancy focusing on organizational consulting, strategic leadership development and internal communication. A certified diversity supplier, The Grossman Group works closely with Fortune 500 companies and other organizations including Amazon, Astellas, Hillrom, Lockheed Martin, McDonald's, Sage Therapeutics and Tecomet, among others. About David Grossman A leading consultant, speaker and author, David Grossman ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CSP is one of America's foremost authorities on communication and leadership inside organizations. He is Founder and CEO of The Grossman Group, an award-winning Chicago-based leadership and communications consultancy that focuses on organizational consulting, strategic leadership development and internal communications for Fortune 500 clients. A frequent media source, David provides expert commentary and analysis on employee and leadership issues. He's been featured on "NBC Nightly News," WSJ.com, Today.com, in the Chicago Tribune, LA Times, and CBS MoneyWatch, among others. His latest book "No Cape Needed: The Simplest, Smartest, Fastest Steps To Improve How You Communicate By Leaps and Bounds" recently won the Pinnacle Book Award for the "Best in Business" category and the Beverly Hills International Book Award's President's award. Contact: Jen Hirsch The Grossman Group 312.934.3276 | [email protected] SOURCE The Grossman Group NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced Silver One Resources Inc. (TSX-V: SVE;OTCQX: SLVRF), a Canadian junior mining company focused on the exploration and development of quality silver assets, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market. Silver One Resources Inc. upgraded to OTCQX from the OTCQB Venture Market. Silver One Resources Inc. begins trading today on OTCQX under the symbol "SLVRF." U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com. The OTCQX Market is designed for established, investor-focused U.S. and international companies. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. Graduating to the OTCQX Market from the OTCQB Market marks an important milestone for companies, enabling them to demonstrate their qualifications and build visibility among U.S. investors. "We are pleased to reach the milestone of advancing from trading on the OTCQB to the OTCQX. This will make it easier for our U.S. investors to participate in Silver One, by reducing the requirement of having a Canadian trading account," said Greg Crowe, the CEO of Silver One. "With three highly prospective silver properties in the safe mining jurisdictions of Nevada and Arizona, Silver One is well positioned as a potential silver investment. This is becoming increasingly important for those who are concerned with operators in less secure areas of the world. Silver One has attracted a significant number of investors in the U.S. since it began trading on the OTCQB in May 2019 and the advancement to the OTCQX will only make investing easier for many of our current and future Silver One shareholders. O'Neill Law LLP acted as the company's OTCQX sponsor. About Silver One Resources Inc. Silver One is focused on the exploration and development of quality silver projects. The Company holds an option to acquire a 100%-interest in its flagship project, the past-producing Candelaria Silver Mine, Nevada. Potential reprocessing of silver from the historic leach pads at Candelaria is being investigated. Additional opportunities lie in previously identified high-grade silver intercepts down-dip and the possibility of increasing the substantive silver mineralization along-strike from the two past-producing open pits. The Company has staked 636 lode claims and entered into a Lease/Purchase Agreement to acquire five patented claims on its Cherokee project located in Lincoln County, Nevada, host to multiple silver-copper-gold vein systems traced to date for over 12 km along-strike. The property also has potential for limestone related polymetallic plus silver and gold and/or other intrusive related systems at depth. Silver One holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Silver Phoenix Project. The Silver Phoenix Project is a very high-grade native silver prospect that lies within the "Arizona Silver Belt", immediately adjacent to the prolific copper producing area of Globe, Arizona. In addition, the Company also holds a 100% interest in three significant silver assets located in Mexico Penasco Quemado, Sonora; La Frazada, Nayarit; and Pluton, Durango, acquired from First Mining Gold, one of the Company's largest shareholders. About OTC Markets Group Inc. OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com. OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are SEC regulated ATSs, operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed Media Contact: OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected] SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc. Related Links http://www.otcmarkets.com NORMAN, Okla., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Oklahoma is presenting the second in the four-part OU Global Risks & Threats Series Leadership Forum with leaders from the intelligence, finance, law enforcement, corporate and cyber sectors. OU GRTS is a collaborative effort between the Michael F. Price College of Business and the OU Center for Intelligence and National Securityan Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence. Reopening in a Post-COVID World, which is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. Central Time (USA) Saturday, July 18, will address business-related post-COVID issues, including strengthening the global supply chain. The series is offered complimentary to the public by sponsor Manufacturing Talk Radio at www.mfgtalkradio.com and via YouTube. Additional information, including a full agenda, presenter bios and registration, as well as past and future speakers, is available online at price.ou.edu/GRTS. Adriana Sanford, founding director of OU GRTS and Senior Fellow at OU CINS, will lead off each event and preside throughout the series. The OU GRTS inauguration on June 6 was livestreamed, allowing tens of thousands of participants to receive expert guidance. The lineup for the July 18 event is: Lucian Cernat , Head of Global Trade Regulations & International Procurement Negotiations, and former Chief Trade Economist at the European Commission Head of Global Trade Regulations & International Procurement Negotiations, and former Chief Trade Economist at the European Commission Horacio Gutierrez , Spotify's Head of Global Affairs & Chief Legal Officer; former Microsoft General Counsel and Corporate Vice President , Spotify's Head of Global Affairs & Chief Legal Officer; former Microsoft General Counsel and Corporate Vice President Brian Hinman , Chief Commercial Officer for Aon Intellectual Property Solutions; former Chief IP Officer at Philips; former IBM Vice President , Chief Commercial Officer for Aon Intellectual Property Solutions; former Chief IP Officer at Philips; former IBM Vice President Matt Addington , Former Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent; former CIA Operations Officer (Narco-Terrorism and Global Security Threats) , Former Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent; former CIA Operations Officer (Narco-Terrorism and Global Security Threats) Gerold Knight , Group Chief Risk Officer for Coca-Cola Hellenic , Group Chief Risk Officer for Coca-Cola Hellenic Christopher Libertelli , Former Global Head of Policy at YouTube; former Global Public Policy at Netflix; former Senior Legal Advisor to the FCC , Former Global Head of Policy at YouTube; former Global Public Policy at Netflix; former Senior Legal Advisor to the FCC Seth Schachner , Managing Director of Strat Americas; former senior digital business executive at Sony Music, Microsoft, Liberty Media, Viacom and AOL's first executive for music Corporate sponsors, global organizations and allies supporting this effort during a time of world crisis include AON Corp., Willis Towers Watson, Ernst & Young, ISC2, Spotify, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co., Basel Institute on Governance, Task Force 7, Puga Ortiz, Berliner Corcoran and Rowe, International Enforcement Law Reporter, Peritus Partners, Strat Americas, ManchesterCF, WorldTowning and Search Consultants International. Two additional sessions will occur in August and September. Follow on Twitter: @OUPriceCollege SOURCE The University of Oklahoma Price College of Business COLUMBIA, Md., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearson, which delivers Connections Academy, the full-time online school program for grades K-12 and a new collection of K-12 online learning solutions for school districts, has announced today new partnerships that will expand access to quality K-12 online learning in the US. "Schools and families are looking for quality online learning amid uncertainty around when and how schools will re-open in the fall. We're also seeing students who thrived online and who want a more permanent online education. In Missouri, an online public school is a great option for K-12 students who want to go to school online, all-the-time. We look forward to supporting Missouri Connections Academy and sharing our online school program with families across the state," said Tom ap Simon, managing director for Pearson's Online & Blended Learning division. The new Missouri Connections Academy is a full-time online public school serving students statewide in grades K-12. Missouri Connections Academy is based in Springfield, MO and authorized by the Ozark School District. Missouri Connections Academy joins another new Connections Academy announced in 2020; Washington Connections Academy at Goldendale is a K-12 online public school in the state of Washington that launched in January. As public schools, both Connections Academy schools are tuition free. As of June 2020, 42 Connections Academy schools in 29 states will operate in the 2020-21 school year. In the 2019-20 school year, Connections Academy schools served over 75,000 K-12 students with full-time online school. For students who reside in states without online public school options, or those who prefer private school, Pearson's online private school, Pearson Online Academy is currently enrolling students. New and expanded school and district partnerships will be supported by Pearson's recently announced collection of online learning solutions -- which have quickly garnered interest and partnerships in states like Colorado, Wisconsin, and Michigan. A new Parent Pulse Report revealed that 88% of parents believe online learning will become a long- lasting requirement for their child and 91% believe schools need to be better prepared to switch to virtual learning programs. In addition, 83% now support using virtual learning for smaller scale school disruptions. Pearson's Connections Academy online school program and online learning solutions have been built from the ground up for the online environment; over a million students across the US have received all or part of their K-12 education from a Connections Academy school. For more information on district programs, please email [email protected] or visit go.pearson.com/OnlineLearningEfficacy For families, visit https://www.connectionsacademy.com or https://www.pearsononlineacademy.com For Media Inquiries: Allison Bazin, [email protected], (609) 247-0275 About Pearson We are the world's learning company with more than 22,500 employees operating in 70 countries. We provide content, assessment and digital services to learners, educational institutions, employers, governments and other partners globally. We are committed to helping equip learners with the skills they need to enhance their employability prospects and to succeed in the changing world of work. We believe that wherever learning flourishes so do people. Visit www.Pearson.com for more. SOURCE Pearson Related Links www.pearson.com HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) has been ranked 38th in the 2020 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, up two places from last year. The rankings were jointly released by WPP, the world's largest communications services group, and Kantar Millward Brown, the world's leading evidence-based insights and consulting company. Ping An also maintained its top position among global insurance brands for the fifth consecutive year. With a 15% growth in brand value to US$33.81 billion, Ping An ranked sixth among all Chinese brands in the list. The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands is one of the world's most influential brand valuation reports. The brand valuation ranking combines rigorous analysis of Bloomberg market data with extensive consumer insights from over 3.8 million consumers around the world, covering over 17,500+ different brands in 51 markets. Doreen Wang, Global Head of BrandZ at Kantar Millward Brown, said, "Chinese brands are the 'calling cards' of China. Ping An has topped its global insurance peers for five consecutive years. Capitalizing on innovation and technology, Ping An constantly redefines its boundaries and become a preferred brand that is relevant to customers' lives. I am proud to see a homegrown Chinese brand become the preferred choice of Chinese citizens." In 2020, 17 Chinese brands made the BrandZ Top 100 list, with China having the second largest number of brands on the list and the fastest brand value growth. The total brand value of Chinese brands in the ranking increased by 16%, close to three times of the global growth rate. The top 100 global brands have seen their total brand value increase by 5.9%, despite the economic, social and personal impacts of COVID-19. The total brand value of the top 100 global brands reached US$5 trillion, equivalent to the annual GDP of Japan. In 2019, Ping An clearly defined "finance + technology" as its core business strategy, ensuring steady growth in its main financial businesses while increasing its investment in technology. Ping An aims to "empowering financial services with technologies, empowering ecosystems with technologies, and empowering financial services with ecosystems". In 2019, the Group's revenue amounted to RMB1,168,867 million, up 19.7% year on year, while net profit grew 36.5% year on year to RMB164,365 million. As at the end of 2019, the number of retail customers exceeded 200 million for the first time, with the Group's internet users and app users up to 516 million and 470 million respectively. Empowering financial services with technologies Ping An applies innovative technologies in its financial business. For example, the Group's life and health insurance unit entirely uses artificial intelligence (AI) interview robots to recruit sales agents. The agents' exclusive smart personal assistant, AskBob, has served agents 340 million times since going live. Ping An Property & Casualty launched the "Ping An Credit-Based Auto Insurance Claim" service for auto owners with safe driving behaviors to provide 45 million auto owners with a line of credit and turnaround times from quotation to policy issue as short as 20 seconds. At Ping An Bank, 14.3 million credit cards issued and nearly 90% were automatically approved by AI. Empowering ecosystems with technologies Ping An has been actively developing five ecosystems in recent years: financial services, health care, auto services, real estate services, and smart city services. These ecosystems enable Ping An to maximize the brand's share of voice, enhance customer loyalty and expand its customer base. For example, in healthcare, Ping An's Health 360 program provides customers with comprehensive outpatient, inpatient, surgical and recuperation services. Ping An Good Doctor provides services including 24/7 online consultation, referral, registration, online drug purchase, and one-hour drug delivery. The platform provided more than 670 million online consultations and yearly active users reached 282 million. Empowering finance services with ecosystems Ping An exploits synergies between ecosystems to provide smart, online/offline and one-stop services. Many internet users in the five ecosystems have become the Group's financial services customers. In 2019, the Company acquired 36.57 million new customers, 40.7% of whom were sourced from internet users within the Group's five ecosystems. Retail customers growth overall was by 11.2%. Environmental, Social and Governance investment Ping An supports a green environment, a harmonious society and a sustainable economy. As of 31 December 2019, Ping An's responsible investment reached RMB954,449 million, the insured amount of sustainable insurance totaled RMB121.21 trillion and green credit lines granted reached RMB59,056 million. Ping An also continues to evolve its Ping An Rural Communities Support programs, including industry promotion, healthcare and education support and a new smart model of poverty alleviation. Ping An Rural Communities Support has been implemented in 21 provinces or autonomous regions across China, with the total poverty alleviation funds granted of RMB15.745 billion. Through the program, 949 village and township clinics were upgraded, 11,175 village doctors were trained, 1,054 village primary schools were upgraded, and 11,826 village teachers were trained. Besides Ping An, other Chinese brands in the Top 100 include Alibaba (6th), Tencent (7th), Moutai (18th), ICBC (31st), China Mobile (36th), Huawei (45th), JD (52nd), Meituan (54th), China Construction Bank (58th), Didi (64th), Haier (68th), China Agricultural Bank (69th), TikTok (79th), Xiaomi (81st), Baidu (91st) and Bank of China (97th). - End - About Ping An Group Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") is a world-leading technology-powered retail financial services group. With over 204 million retail customers and 534 million Internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An has two over-arching strategies, "pan financial assets" and "pan health care", which focus on the provision of financial and healthcare services through our integrated financial services platform and our five ecosystems of financial services, health care, auto services, real estate services and smart city services. Our "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An Group is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Company is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. In 2020, Ping An ranked 7th in the Forbes Global 2000 list. In 2019, Ping An ranked 29th on the Fortune Global 500 list. Ping An also ranked 38th in the 2020 WPP Kantar Millward Brown BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list. For more information, please visit www.pingan.cn. SOURCE Ping An Insurance Group Ltd. R&S AVQA stands for ATC Voice Quality Assurance and provides air traffic service providers (ANSP) with unique passive monitoring capabilities for ATM communications that covers signaling as well as media and radio transmission performance. Rohde & Schwarz teamed up with Voipfuture to create a unique solution for this important market. The development of R&S AVQA strongly benefited from the experience Voipfuture gained in over 10 years of Voice over IP (VoIP) monitoring in the telecommunications industry. The solution is already deployed in a few ANSP networks assuring service quality. Typical use cases are monitoring quality and performance KPIs agreed on with WAN providers/carriers or the regular reporting of network quality towards the respective Civil Aviation Authority. An additional benefit is a reduced troubleshooting time by quickly identifying and localizing root causes of IP network problems such as misconfigured routers/switches or faulty fibers. "We identified these market requirements early and entered into a partnership with Voipfuture," Constantin von Reden, Vice President Market Segment ATC at Rohde & Schwarz, states. "Voipfuture stood out with their impressive technology and their experience. The Voipfuture team is very customer-oriented, which perfectly aligns with our approach to the market. We are very happy to work with them on the outstanding R&S AVQA product." "We are proud to provide our outstanding technology to this partnership," says Eyal Ullert, Chief Sales Officer, Voipfuture. "Thanks to Rohde & Schwarz' deep understanding of the needs of ANSPs, we managed to adopt our existing technology to the specific requirement in the ATM market." R&S AVQA is part of CERTIUM Analysis which includes leading test and measurement solutions for VoIP networks, radios, navigation and satellite. Rohde & Schwarz recently introduced CERTIUM, as a one-stop solution for the full lifecycle of an ATC system. Voipfuture, a premium voice quality analytics vendor providing tools for assessing, aggregating, analyzing, and visualizing voice quality information, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, brings years of experience in the domain of VoIP monitoring. Rohde & Schwarz with its partner Voipfuture make a significant contribution to safe, secure and efficient ATM. More about Voipfuture More press releases, posts, white papers Rohde & Schwarz Rohde & Schwarz is a leading supplier of solutions in the fields of test and measurement, broadcast and media, aerospace | defense | security and networks and cybersecurity. The technology group's innovative communications, information and security products help industry and government customers ensure a safer and connected world. On June 30, 2019, Rohde & Schwarz had 12,100 employees. The independent group achieved a net revenue of EUR 2.14 billion in the 2018/2019 fiscal year (July to June). The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and has subsidiaries in more than 70 countries, with regional hubs in Asia and America. R&S is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197852/RS_AVQA.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197853/Voipfuture_Logo.jpg Press Contacts Press contacts: Europe (headquarters): Dennis-P. Merklinghaus (phone: +49 89 4129 15671; email: [email protected]) North America: Tomas Berghall (phone: +1 503 5239489; email: [email protected]) Asia Pacific: Wen Shi Tong (phone: +65 6 307-0029; email: [email protected]) Voipfuture (Hamburg): Carsten Niepmann ([email protected]), +49 40 688900125 Contacts for readers: Customer Support Europe, Africa, Middle East: +49 89 4129 12345 [email protected] Customer Support North America: +1 888 TEST RSA (+1 888 837 87 72) [email protected] Customer Support Latin America: +1 410 910 79 88 [email protected] Customer Support Asia Pacific: +65 65 13 04 88 [email protected] Customer Support China: +86 800 810 8228 or +86 400 650 5896 [email protected] SOURCE Voipfuture Related Links https://www.voipfuture.com BOULDER, Colo., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rural Cloud Initiative (RCI), a unique coalition of network and edge innovation partners committed to promoting and accelerating the digital transformation of rural America, announces a series of technology and business value milestones. Launched by Trilogy Networks earlier this year, the RCI is rapidly gaining momentum, having formed partnership agreements with 26 Network Providers and 11 Edge Innovation Partners. The purpose of the initiative is to deploy a unified, distributed cloud covering an area of 1.5 million square miles of rural America. Today, the RCI is unveiling a series of solution deployments, as well as the establishment of its ACRES leadership council. At Hurst Greenery in Westboro, MO, the RCI has launched the first phase of its "Farm of the Future" series, using distributed cloud edge capabilities to facilitate and unlock the value of precision agriculture. The RCI has also launched a Digital Transformation Showcase in Chicago to allow Trilogy and its Edge Innovation Partners to architect upcoming solutions. "The proliferation of smart technology has sparked America's fourth Industrial Revolution, with a massive impact on the opportunity to drive enhanced productivity and increased security. The rural market is rife with IoT devices critical to industries like agriculture and the digital oilfield," said George Woodward, CEO of Trilogy Networks. "Supporting this transformation will require the deployment of connected devices at the network edge that will enable new business models for both network operators and rural industries. While others are talking about it - Trilogy and our RCI partners are proving that both the technology and business value of edge solutions is provable, scalable and repeatable across a number of use cases and vertical applications." "Farm of the Future" Series Deployment of the distributed cloud with real time data processing capability at Hurst Greenery reflects the RCI ecosystem in action; requiring coordination spanning sections of a two states area as well as the input and technology support of RCI Edge Innovation partners. Trilogy's ConEx edge delivery platform will be deployed across four locations, including sites operated by RCI partners IAMO Communications, Chat Mobility and Farmers Mutual Telephone Company. Trilogy and fellow RCI partners Pluribus Networks, ClearBlade and Lanner are teaming to deploy the project, which will include a private LTE network inclusive of Intel technology; machine vision solutions, such as crop tracking and inventory monitoring; and connected device solutions, such as temperature and humidity monitoring. With access to real time data control and decision-making of connected devices, Hurst Greenery will significantly increase overall efficiency and yield, through reductions in spoilage, energy costs, insurance and human resource costs. "Automating energy, water and yield management with such transformative technologies are critical for family farms to protect future agriculture production," said Blake Hurst, owner of Hurst Greenery, as well as President of the Missouri Farm Bureau and Vice-Chair of the FCC Precision Connectivity Working Group. "As this network scales it will be able to address the needs of the 2,300 farms in this coverage area." Digital Transformation Showcase Trilogy Networks and other RCI partners have built a Digital Transformation Showcase currently supporting Internet offload, rich media streaming, AI-based network capacity planning and AI-based video analytics for customers, ecosystem partners and the media. Based at the New Continuum West Chicago NAP data center, RCI partner AlefEdge's Software-Defined Mobile Edge (SD-ME) platform for application enablement is deployed on the Trilogy ConEx edge delivery platform with its LinX private network access, along with direct Internet peering from United IX. Trilogy worked with Intel to develop the solution, including the use of Intel Xeon processor-based servers, and the resulting 5G like experience is a vast improvement in video performance over traditional networks, enabling network providers to improve customer satisfaction and reduce churn. ACRES Advisory Council Established With a market in complete transformation the RCI announces the formation ACRES the Advisory Council for Rural Edge Solutions. This council will be made up of industry thought leaders, operators and stakeholders representing the ever-changing landscape. These executives will bring industry and legislative insight to the RCI assisting them to shape the strategy and evaluate these market dynamics. "Within rural markets, there is clearly demand for services running at the edge and the adoption of advanced LTE and 5G will only drive that demand further," said Caroline Chan, Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Network Business Incubator Division and member of the RCI's ACRES leadership council. "RCI is bringing together organizations that are able to contribute at every stage of the edge computing value chain. This provides meaningful opportunities for leading technology providers to help spur digital transformation across rural America through a viable, scalable and repeatable model that addresses this unique market." About Trilogy Trilogy is an established leader in the emerging Edge Compute ecosystem with the deployment of distributed Cloud installations across the United States. Trilogy recently founded the Rural Cloud Initiative, a coalition of network operators and technology providers committed to promoting and accelerating the digital transformation of rural America. In conjunction with network operators and edge innovation partners, Trilogy is utilizing its LinX virtual private network and ConEx service delivery platform to build a unified, distributed cloud capability on a single network fabric to cover 1.5 million square miles. To learn more, please visit www.ruralcloud.com or www.trilogynet.com . Andy Meltzer Guyer Group [email protected] 617-821-4829 SOURCE Rural Cloud Initiative Related Links http://www.ruralcloud.com WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today the launch of two South Carolina Women's Business Centers hosted by HBCU Benedict College in Columbia, SC and Community Works Women's Business Center in Greenville, SC. These new opportunity centers will carry out the mission of helping women-owned small businesses start, grow, expand and recover their businesses as America works to restart the economy. The commitment to continue to safely open and expand Women Business Centers (WBC) reflects the SBA's priority to increase access for women entrepreneurs to make an impact on job creation and economic recovery. "The SBA's funding of the Women's Business Centers will continue to empower women entrepreneurs in South Carolina, especially as businesses start to recover. The new Women's Business Centers will provide the entrepreneurs with greater access to the training and technical assistance services they need to reopen, sustain or grow their businesses as well as serve as the engine for job creation," said SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza. "The new centers are a key part of the SBA's expansion of service to foster stronger local economic opportunities, especially to those businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic and are now focusing on a safe reopening of our great country. The soul and spirit of American entrepreneurs and small business owners will continue to thrive and grow in the community and workforce as they participate in the pursuit of the American dream." The SBA's Women's Business Centers are a national network of more than 100 centers that offer one-on-one counseling, training, networking, workshops, technical assistance, and mentoring to women entrepreneurs on numerous business development topics, including business startup, financial management, and procurement. "As an ongoing commitment to build strong and healthy economic ecosystems and create business-friendly environments, Benedict College is the perfect location for the new WBC and a top priority for the SBA. Founded in 1870 by an African American woman, Bathsheba A. Benedict, this WBC will strive to prepare men and women to be a 'power of good in society,' just as Ms. Benedict had intended so many years ago. The SBA is honored to be a part of this partnership and many more across the country as we work toward a safe reopening," said SBA Associate Administrator for the Office of Entrepreneurial Development Allen Gutierrez. "This expansion in both Greenville and Columbia will enable Women's Business Centers to help more women entrepreneurs not just stay afloat or recover but be poised to expand." To learn more about SBA's programs and services for women entrepreneurs, visit online at www.sba.gov/women, and to find other WBC locations and SBA resources, visit www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance. About the U.S. Small Business Administration The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov. Contact: [email protected] (202) 401-3059 Follow us on: Twitter , Facebook , Blogs & Instagram Release Number: 20-52 SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration Related Links http://www.sba.gov WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today received the Friends of Zion Award in a ceremony at the U.S. State Department. The award was commissioned by the late Shimon Peres, the ninth President of the State of Israel and former chair of Friends of Zion. Friends of Zion Founder Dr. Mike Evans presented U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with the Friends of Zion Award (Credit: U.S. State Department) (PRNewsfoto/Friends of Zion Museum) The Friends of Zion Award honors world leaders who have exceptionally served above and beyond the call of duty to support Israel and the Jewish people. Past recipients include President George W. Bush, President Donald Trump and eight other heads of state, such as Prince Albert II of Monaco and President Rosen Plevneliev of Bulgaria. "The year of Israel's 70th anniversary, you became America's 70th Secretary of State," Friends of Zion Founder Dr. Mike Evans said as he made the presentation. "Israel has never had a greater friend leading the State Department than Mike Pompeo, due in large part to the foundational principles by which you live and your great faith." Evans noted that more than seven decades ago Pompeo's predecessor, then-Secretary of State George C. Marshall, opposed the recognition of Israel, wanting only to secede Palestine to a U.N. trusteeship. On May 12, 1948, Marshall openly clashed with President Truman at the White House over the issue, manner and timing of U.S. recognition. During that meeting, Marshall even threatened to resign his Cabinet position. "Israel has received a gift from God in an evangelical Secretary of State, an evangelical Vice President and a President who is the most pro-Israel, pro-evangelical President in American history," Evans added. "Without a doubt, your collective commitment to the State of Israel and the Jewish people represents the Dream Team. What you, the President and this Administration have accomplished is astonishing. No one would have believed the State Department would rise to such heights of moral clarity in the midst of a world governed by political appeasement. To God be all the glory. "It is my great privilege to present this Friends of Zion Award to you, Mr. Secretary," Evans said, explaining the significance of its menorah configuration, based on the symbol of the State of Israel, reaches back to the time of King David and the Tabernacle. "It's a symbol of divine inspiration and light. You have been put into a position of leadership for such a time as this, and it is my honor to honor you. "Thank you for having the courage to declare that sovereignty is Israel's decision," Evans concluded. "Evangelicals do not believe the Bible is illegal, nor are Bible lands. We know the decision has already been made by God Almighty. Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. Thank you for blessing Israel." About Friends of Zion Friends of Zion Heritage Center (FOZHC), located in the heart of Jerusalem, is the largest organization combating antisemitism globally via social media, with 73 million followers. FOZHC hosts a world-class museum, state-of-the-art Communications Center, Think Tank and Ambassador and Research Institutes. For more information visit www.friendsofzion.com. EDITOR'S NOTE: Dr. Mike Evans, Friends of Zion Founder and No. 1 New York Times best-selling author of 105 books and thousands of articles, is a media source expert on Israel and the Middle East and available for interviews on request. FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Heidi McDow, (214) 679-3409 [email protected] SOURCE Friends of Zion Museum Related Links http://www.friendsofzion.com/ In mid-June, Swing had tested positive for COVID-19 and due to several complications was admitted to the hospital. His family created a GoFundMe donation page to share updates with the community and solicit support for expenses. The link remains active for donations for his family and a memorial fund. Swing is survived by his wife and six children. The Board of Directors issued the following statement: "The entire board and staff of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans mourn the loss of our beloved leader, colleague and friend John Swing. John is known throughout the community for his dedicated, compassionate service in Historic Filipinotown, and we are proud of his latest achievement in being appointed our executive director. John was an extraordinarily kind and selfless human being, and we will carry on his legacy of community service and empowerment. We respectfully extend our deepest sympathies to John's family, particularly his wife and children." Under Swing's leadership, SIPA staff had migrated its community services, support services and educational programs online to provide ongoing, uninterrupted assistance for small businesses, youth and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, Swing led a food delivery project for seniors and minority families in HiFi with support from the office of California State Senator Ling Ling Chang. The California State Senate honored SIPA and Swing's leadership for early efforts during the pandemic with a certificate of recognition as "Unsung Heroes of Southern California." "We are devastated by the passing of our friend and colleague, John Swing. John loved his family, first and foremost. He also cared deeply for his extended family SIPA, the HiFi neighborhood, the greater L.A. Pilipino community, and the many entrepreneurs that he worked with, first as SIPA's business counselor and most recently as its executive director. His leadership and compassion will be missed," noted Ron Fong, executive director of the Asian Pacific Island Small Business Program. Swing previously was appointed business director for the Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture (FPAC) and led fund development and operational management for Filipino American Services Group, Inc. (FASGI), as well as the Asian Pacific Health Foundation and Hep B Free San Diego. He served on the board for the Coalition of Filipino American Chambers of Commerce and My New Hope Foundation. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and avid world traveler, Swing was trilingual, fluent in Tagalog/Filipino, Spanish, and English. Prior to his death, in an unreleased announcement about his executive appointment, Swing was quoted as saying: "I am honored to be able to support, advocate, and program for the needs of the greater Filipino American community. While SIPA is centered on diversity and culture, we also work in the culture of changing all lives for the better. I invite everyone to join us in this effort as we build a stronger community in Historic Filipinotown and beyond." Yesterday, the Board approved a motion to name its future small business center in Swing's honor. Tentatively planned as the "John Eric Swing Small Business Center," the future space will be a part of SIPA's soon-to-be redesigned headquarters at 3200 W. Temple Street. Details about the new mixed-use redevelopment project in Historic Filipinotown will be announced at a later date. More about John Swing's life's work is available at https://sipacares.org. More information on how to make a donation for the Swing family may be found at the family's GoFundMe page at: https://gf.me/u/ycc4t7. Since 1972, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the multicultural district of Historic Filipinotown and the greater Filipino American community. As one of the oldest and largest Fil-Am non-profits in the United States, SIPA is widely known as an ambassador of Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles, where it is headquartered and where all are welcome. Led by Fil-Am business and community leaders, SIPA provides youth services and programming, family health and human services, small business counsel, arts and cultural education, events and resources. For press inquiries only, please contact 10storyhouse PR for SIPA at 1-323-741-5600. SOURCE Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) Related Links https://sipacares.org LAS VEGAS, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time in the history of the International Whisky Competition, Stephanie Macleod, Master Blender for John Dewar and Sons, becomes the first woman ever to blend a Whisky of the Year. The International Whisky Competition just released its results for this year's most respected blind tasting judging event. The top recognition, Whisky of the Year, was awarded to John Dewar and Sons - Double Double 32 Year Old (Blended Scotch), which scored 96.4 points, the highest-scoring whisky of the competition.Official results: www.whiskycompetition.com/2020-results The 11th edition of the International Whisky Competition took place in Estes Park, CO, over four days, from June 10th to 14th, and received whisky submissions from all over the world. A world-class tasting panel made of whisky, spirit, beer, and wine experts blind tasted each whisky on an individual basis (8 minutes per whisky). Each whisky was scored using a comprehensive 100-point scale system developed by Sebastien Gavillet, IWC Head of Tasting Panel. This process and the fact that only three medals are awarded in any category make the International Whisky Competition the most followed whisky competition and one of the most professional competitions of its kind in the world. We warmly congratulate Stephanie Macleod, Master Blender at John Dewar and Sons, as well as her team, for crafting such a complex, unctuous, and perfectly balanced whisky. John Dewar and Sons will receive the Golden Barrel Trophy for winning Whisky of the Year during a ceremony to be held this Fall in Aberfeldy, Scotland. The International Whisky Competition is the most followed Whisky Competition on Social Media. It brings whiskies from around the world to be blind tasted and rated by a professional tasting panel using the most comprehensive tasting method available. Fifteen criteria are required to produce the tasting notes as well as aroma and flavor profiles for the International Whisky Guide. Unlike other competitions, the judges are presented with one whisky at a time to ensure each whisky gets the proper attention. It's the only competition in the spirits world to deliver unique medals designed to promote each of the winning whiskies. Only three medals (Gold, Silver & Bronze) are awarded per category. The Whisky of the Year (highest score during the competition) gets rewarded with the Golden Barrel Trophy. For more information about the International Whisky Competition, please visit whiskycompetition.com This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE International Whisky Competition Related Links http://www.whiskycompetition.com The study finds that the U.S. has no licensed spectrum today in a key swath of mid-band spectrum from 3.3-3.6 GHz, while other benchmark countries that have made these airwaves available average nearly 200 megahertz. If the U.S. government moved quickly to make the lower 3 GHz band available for commercial 5G operations, the U.S. would become a "leading benchmark" country in this area, according to Analysys Mason. "The FCC is making great progress with the auctions of 3.5 GHz and 3.7 GHz mid-band spectrum this year. This study shows how crucial it is for the U.S. to replicate that success particularly in the lower 3 GHz range," said Meredith Attwell Baker, CTIA President and CEO. "The Administration and the FCC need to develop a meaningful plan to make at least 250 megahertz in the lower 3 GHz band available for commercial use on terms that will allow robust 5G deploymentsand quickly." Mid-band spectrum is the key to 5G networks because of its blend of capacity and range. A report earlier this year from Analysys Mason showed that the U.S. needs to effectively double its amount of mid-band in order to keep pace with Japan, China, South Korea and other countries. In the U.S., the lower 3 GHz band is the only near-term opportunity for additional licensed mid-band spectrum. Internationally, lower 3 GHz spectrum is considered a 5G priority because it allows device and network equipment manufacturers to build to globally harmonized, international specifications, reducing network deployment and consumer costs. To conduct the study, Analysys Mason looked at the amount of spectrum currently available, as well as the amount being considered for future allocation, in 14 key countries. Other key findings include: The U.S. is a global leader in low-band spectrum availability. Other countries are moving aggressively in this range, and commercial access to the 1.3 GHz and 1.7 GHz bands will be an important element of continued U.S. low-band leadership. The U.S. leads the world in licensed high-band spectrum. However, other countries, such as China , are also looking to make significant amounts of high-band spectrum available for 5G use. , are also looking to make significant amounts of high-band spectrum available for 5G use. The U.S. has tipped the scales in favor of unlicensed spectrum, making around three times as much spectrum available for unlicensed as for licensed. "With this study, we wanted to take a longer-term look at potential spectrum availability that other countries are considering," said Janette Stewart, a Principal with Analysys Mason and the lead author of the study. "The U.S. is in a very strong position on low- and high-band spectrum, but our work makes clear that mid-bandand the lower 3 GHz range in particularshould remain at the forefront of policymaker efforts." The full study is available at CTIA.org. About Analysys Mason Analysys Mason is a leading global adviser on telecoms, media and technology. Analysys Mason works with operators, regulators and end users to design winning strategies that deliver measurable results, make informed decisions based on market intelligence and analytical rigor, develop innovative proposals to gain competitive advantage and implement operational solutions to improve business efficiency. With over 280 staff in 17 offices worldwide, we are respected internationally for our exceptional quality of work, independence and flexibility in responding to client needs. Analysys Mason has been operating for over 30 years. Over the past three years Analysys Mason has conducted nearly 100 5G-related projects, in 21 countries, for 46 different clients and as well as authoring several reports for CTIA, including the mid-band spectrum report. About CTIA CTIA ( www.ctia.org ) represents the U.S. wireless communications industry and the companies throughout the mobile ecosystem that enable Americans to lead a 21st century connected life. The association's members include wireless carriers, device manufacturers, suppliers as well as apps and content companies. CTIA vigorously advocates at all levels of government for policies that foster continued wireless innovation and investment. The association also coordinates the industry's voluntary best practices, hosts educational events that promote the wireless industry and co-produces the industry's leading wireless tradeshow. CTIA was founded in 1984 and is based in Washington, D.C. SOURCE CTIA Related Links http://www.ctia.org Two new tinctures will provide Texas patients with high-quality, highly-consistent, plant-based cannabinoid medicine for an expanded set of medical conditions AUSTIN, TX, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Surterra Wellness, an established health and wellness medical cannabis retail and product brand, today announced an expansion of its line of medical cannabis Surterra Wellness tinctures for patients across the state of Texas. The new tinctures are available immediately for delivery across the state. Delivery is free for orders over $100 (or when ordering two or more products), and contactless delivery is available upon request. Surterra Wellness has introduced two new therapeutic tinctures and has revamped its existing line including: TranquilTM, a 19:1 CBD:THC ratio; SereneTM, a 4:1 CBD:THC ratio; and SootheTM, a 1:1 CBD:THC ratio. Each of the tincture blends has been formulated with proprietary terpene profiles to enhance the experience of the cannabinoid ratios. "We are thrilled to expand our Surterra Wellness product line of medical tinctures in the Texas market to provide patients with high-quality, plant-based cannabis products formulated for conditions such as cancer, autism, spasticity, epilepsy, and neurodegenerative diseases," said Marcus Ruark, President of Surterra Wellness, Texas. "We are committed to making natural and effective medical cannabis products accessible to patients across Texas." Surterra Wellness continues to offer compassionate pricing for its products in the Texas market. The newly launched Soothe tincture is compassionately priced at $60, compared to similar products on the market priced at $75. Surterra Wellness' parent company, Parallel, is a leading, global company pioneering human well-being through proprietary cannabis brands and technology-led innovation. With operations in Texas, Florida, Nevada, and Massachusetts, Parallel is one of the largest providers of medical, wellness and lifestyle cannabis products in the United States. For more information on Surterra Wellness' products in Texas, access www.surterra.com/Texas. About Parallel Parallel is a leading, global company that is pioneering human wellbeing and improving the quality of lives of humanity through the benefits of cannabinoids. Parallel is one of the fastest growing cannabis companies in the world, with vertical operations in Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Massachusetts, and a diverse portfolio of high quality, proprietary consumer brands, including Surterra Wellness, Coral Reefer, and Float. Parallel's business also includes Massachusetts' New England Treatment Access (NETA), a leading vertical cannabis operation with regional retail dispensaries and consumer brands; Molecular Infusions (Mi), a cannabis-based biopharmaceutical company; and Nevada's The Apothecary Shoppe, a vertical cannabis dispensary. Parallel's integrated footprint includes 42 retail dispensaries across the United States (US), including 39 in Florida; almost one million total square feet of cultivation and manufacturing operations across the platform; and R&D facilities in Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, and Budapest, Hungary. Parallel follows rigorous operations and business practices to ensure the quality, safety, consistency and efficacy of its products and is building a business based on strong values to be the gold standard for the industry. For more information: www.liveParallel.com. SOURCE Surterra Wellness MIAMI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ferraro Law Firm announced today that it is naming James Ferraro, Jr. and Marc Kunen as partners, and hiring Natalia Salas as trial counsel, effective July 2020. Since joining Ferraro Law in 2013, James Ferraro, Jr. has not only grown as a trial attorney, but has been instrumental to the firm's expansion into several high-profile mass tort areas, including, but not limited to, environmental litigation and pharmaceutical litigation involving harmful chemicals, opioids, and Zantac. Part of Mr. Ferraro, Jr.'s expansion initiative has involved representing municipal clients in both opioid and environmental litigation. Additionally, he has been involved in several multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. For example, in 2015, he served as co-lead counsel in Taylor v. Georgia-Pacific LLC (Miami-Dade County) and secured a $17,175,000 verdict. Mr. Ferraro, Jr. was also named to the list of "Top 40 Under 40" lawyers in South Florida. He currently sits on two different subcommittees within the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee in In re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams (AFFF) Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2873. Marc Kunen joined Ferraro Law as a law clerk in 2009, and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2011. Since that time, Mr. Kunen has tried numerous cases and recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for the firm. Within the last year alone, Mr. Kunen has secured verdicts in the amount of $70,102,000 in Thornton v. GEA Mechanical Equipment US, Inc., $2,854,159 in Hernandez v. Union Carbide Corporation, and $9,000,000 in Moure-Cabrera v. Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Kunen's $70 million verdict in Thornton was the third largest verdict in the State of Florida last year. Mr. Kunen's $9 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in February of this year was the first verdict against a talcum powder manufacturer in the State of Florida. Mr. Kunen has been named to the National Trial Lawyer's "Top 40 Under 40" for the last three years and has served on the Board of Directors for the Miami-Dade Trial Lawyers Association since 2016. "Both James and Marc have exceeded my expectations. They are both instrumental in the current success of the firm and a cornerstone for its future. We are proud to elevate them to partner status," said Jim Ferraro, Ferraro Law's founding partner. Ferraro Law is also is also pleased to announce the hiring of Natalia Salas. Prior to joining Ferraro Law, Mrs. Salas served as Assistant General Counsel for the University of Miami, in the areas of litigation, healthcare, data privacy, intellectual property, research, and technology transfer. From 2012 to 2018, Salas was Senior Counsel in the business litigation group of Foley & Lardner LLP, where she was recognized as a "40 Under 40" Outstanding Lawyers of South Florida. Mrs. Salas was the MDL law clerk for the Honorable James Lawrence King of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida from 2011 to 2012. She also worked as a litigation associate for Coffey Burlington, P.L. from 2007 to 2011. Throughout her career, Mrs. Salas has litigated a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters through trial and appellate levels, including, but not limited to, healthcare, intellectual property, real estate, and government enforcement actions. Mrs. Salas is an experienced litigator who will represent plaintiffs in both Federal and State courts and provide trial support to trial lawyers, preparing major trial-level motions and memoranda, with an emphasis on multi-district litigation. "Natalia has a stellar reputation as a litigator," said Mr. Ferraro. "She is a key strategic hire for Ferraro Law, particularly for our growing multi-district litigation practice. Her long track record of success and experience at the highest levels will greatly benefit our clients." Established in 1985, The Ferraro Law Firm has recovered billions of dollars handling a broad range of complex tort lawsuits, including dozens of multi-million-dollar verdicts, and in the process has successfully participated in some of the most important and groundbreaking cases and appeals in Florida legal history. SOURCE The Ferraro Law Firm PHILADELPHIA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The India Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IFN) (the "Fund"), a closed-end equity fund, today announced that it paid on June 30, 2020, a distribution of US$0.42 per share to all shareholders of record as of June 19, 2020 (ex-dividend date June 18, 2020). The Fund's distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy") is to pay quarterly distributions at an annual rate, set once a year, that is a percentage of the average daily NAV for the previous three months as of the month-end prior to declaration. In February 2020, the Board determined the rolling distribution rate to continue to be 10% for the 12-month period commencing with the distribution payable in March 2020. The Distribution Policy is subject to regular review by the Board. The Distribution Policy seeks to provide investors with a stable quarterly distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital. Your Fund's policy is to provide investors with a stable distribution rate. Each quarterly distribution will be paid out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital. Under U.S. tax rules applicable to the Fund, the amount and character of distributable income for each fiscal year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related Rules, the Fund may be required to indicate to shareholders the source of certain distributions to shareholders. The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distribution for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the Rules adopted thereunder. The table has been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The table includes estimated amounts and percentages for these distributions and for the cumulative distributions paid fiscal year to date (01/01/2020 05/31/2020), from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated composition of the distributions may vary from quarter to quarter because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies. Estimated Amounts of Current Quarterly Distribution per share ($) Estimated Amounts of Current Quarterly Distribution per share (%) Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per share ($) Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per share (%) Net Investment Income - - - - Net Realized Short-Term Capital Gains* - - - - Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gains $0.2814 67% $0.6633 67% Return of Capital $0.1386 33% $0.3267 33% Total (per common share) $0.4200 100% $0.9900 100% *includes currency gains The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the Distribution Policy. The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions in 2020 will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The following table provides information regarding the Fund's total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Fund's annualized and cumulative distribution rates. Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 05/31/20201 1.20% Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV2 13.37% Fiscal Year to Date (01/01/2020 to 05/31/2020) Cumulative Total Return on NAV1 -21.32% Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV2 3.34% 1Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan. 2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of May 31, 2020. While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market. Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2010, the Fund may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Fund during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Fund, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held, capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received. Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the terms of the distribution policy. The final determination of the source of all distributions will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report distributions for federal income tax purposes. The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. The Fund's Board of Directors has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances. Circular 230 disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. In the United States, Aberdeen Standard Investments is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd., Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, Aberdeen Standard Investments ETFs Advisors LLC and Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Ltd. Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the NAV of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results. If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected] aberdeenifn.com SOURCE The India Fund, Inc. Related Links http://www.aberdeenifn.com GIG HARBOR, Wash., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russell Family Foundation (TRFF) today announced six general operating grants totaling $175,000 across its Jane's Fund portfolio, which emphasizes community-based efforts to boost students' access to education, end youth homelessness and develop grassroots leaders in Pierce County. Grants range from supporting Degrees of Change to increase access to and persistence in college to helping Hilltop Artists sustain its glassblowing and arts youth mentorship outreach programs at local schools. "We are proud to support organizations whose missions are centered around the development of young leaders," said Kathleen Simpson, Interim Chief Executive Officer of TRFF. "Flexibility in funding to support community organizations working with the next generation will go a long way in keeping young people of our region supported and on track for success." Details for the organizations receiving general operating fund grants are as follows: A Way Home Washington - $15,000 A Way Home Washington exists to end youth homelessness in Washington state . The organization provides leadership, best practices, technical assistance and coordination to Pierce County , as one of four communities identified in its Anchor Communities Initiative addressing youth homelessness, launched in 2018. A Way Home Washington exists to end youth homelessness in . The organization provides leadership, best practices, technical assistance and coordination to , as one of four communities identified in its Anchor Communities Initiative addressing youth homelessness, launched in 2018. The Coffee Oasis - $25,000 The Coffee Oasis supports ongoing specialized services, programming and case management for homeless and at-risk youth. Its Serra House in Tacoma provides emergency housing for 13-17 year-old homeless youth in Pierce County . The Coffee Oasis supports ongoing specialized services, programming and case management for homeless and at-risk youth. Its Serra House in provides emergency housing for 13-17 year-old homeless youth in . Degrees of Change - $45,000 Degrees of Changes works to help close persistent gaps in college completion through partnerships with higher education institutions and other anchor organizations. The organization's programs support students as they begin, persist in and graduate from college and transition into the workforce. Degrees of Changes works to help close persistent gaps in college completion through partnerships with higher education institutions and other anchor organizations. The organization's programs support students as they begin, persist in and graduate from college and transition into the workforce. Foundation for Tacoma Students - $35,000 (multi-year) The Foundation for Tacoma Students supports a collective-impact approach to help students achieve success from cradle to college and career through a partnership of 270+ organizations. This includes working to remove barriers such as startup costs and housing as students graduate and transition into higher education pursuits. The Foundation for Tacoma Students supports a collective-impact approach to help students achieve success from cradle to college and career through a partnership of 270+ organizations. This includes working to remove barriers such as startup costs and housing as students graduate and transition into higher education pursuits. Hilltop Artists - $15,000 Hilltop Artists' efforts include a youth mentorship program involving hands-on skill building and learning in glassblowing for 650 youth in Tacoma, Wash. and surrounding areas, as well as comprehensive support for students experiencing homelessness, food insecurity and other issues through its year-round outreach program. Hilltop Artists' efforts include a youth mentorship program involving hands-on skill building and learning in glassblowing for 650 youth in and surrounding areas, as well as comprehensive support for students experiencing homelessness, food insecurity and other issues through its year-round outreach program. REACH Center - $40,000 (multi-year) REACH Center is a Tacoma, Wash. -based drop-in center working to equip and embolden young people to achieve success in education, employment and housing stability. The organization delivers programs to support education, employment training and housing support, peer mentorship, legal assistance and mental health resources. For more information about Jane's Fund or The Russell Family Foundation, visit www.trff.org. About The Russell Family Foundation Founded by Jane and George Russell in 1999, The Russell Family Foundation provides a way for their extended family to make a positive impact in the community. The foundation does so by funding local, regional and global change through community investment in causes including grassroots leadership, environmental sustainability and global peace. The foundation applies its values of integrity, mutual trust, constructive communication, lifelong learning and courage to all its work with a focus on place-based philanthropy particularly in the Puget Sound region. For more information, please visit www.trff.org and on Facebook . MEDIA CONTACTS: Jacque Seaman / May Wildman The Fearey Group for The Russell Family Foundation (206) 343-1543, [email protected] SOURCE The Russell Family Foundation NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TradingFront, an innovative technology and unified custodian solution for independent RIAs, announced today that the company has been selected as a Finalist in two categories for the 2020 "Wealthies" the yearly WealthManagement.com Industry Awards Event by a judging panel of industry experts in a highly competitive review process. Over 220 companies submitted over 625 nominations in this year's Wealthies Award Program, and TradingFront has been shortlisted in the Client Onboarding and Client Portal categories. The 6th annual Wealthies recognize current initiatives across a broad range of individuals, companies and organizations whose work helps financial advisors build better practices and improves the quality of services for their clients. "We're honored to be acknowledged along with other established, well-known Finalists and proud to be recognized with this prestigious distinction which coincides with the launch of TradingFront earlier this year," said Yang Xu, CEO of TradingFront. "This industry-wide acknowledgment of the quality and impact of our investment in building out a unified technology platform validates our mission to provide advisors with the tools, resources and technology to simplify the lives of RIAs and their clients.". The TradingFront Finalist-selected entry for their Onboarding Module allows RIAs and their clients to easily submit a discretionary account online in minutes, through multiple-public channels, with or without customizable questionnaires saving time, eliminating paperwork and allowing for control over the process, as well as a complete time-stamped compliance and an audit trail covering documents such as IMA, ADV, Form CRS and so on. TradingFront's Client Portal was chosen as a Finalist based on its suite of tools and features that help save time opening brokerage accounts, funding them with instant ACH authentication, aggregating held-away accounts, centralizing key documents, direct messaging to advisors, two-step security, white-labeling with RIA's branding, and offering a mobile client portal app to allow oversight 24/7 anywhere. "We look forward to gathering with the industry to celebrate the winners of this year's Wealthies at the virtual event in September," said Xu. "In the meantime, we will continue to invest in TradingFront to make the platform even more useful and valuable to advisors and their clients." About TradingFront TradingFront is a white-label, customizable technology platform built expressly for RIAs. Our feature-rich, cost-effective solution helps RIAs efficiently run and grow their business and delivers a world-class experience to their clients. Designed by RIA industry veterans, technologists and partnered with Interactive Brokers, TradingFront is on the leading edge of the future of wealth management technology. For more information about TradingFront, visit www.tradingfront.com. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. SOURCE TradingFront Related Links http://www.tradingfront.com SLOUGH, England and RICHMOND, Virginia, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Indivior PLC (LON: INDV) notes that Shaun Thaxter, its former Chief Executive Officer, entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today and pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count under the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine. The plea agreement between Mr. Thaxter and the DOJ is in his personal capacity and not on behalf of the Group. As the Group has previously noted, it continues to pursue its strategy to resolve outstanding investigations and litigations as expeditiously as possible, and as the matter is ongoing it has no further comment. The Group notes that the provision for litigation/investigative matters remains unchanged as of today's date. For Further Information Investor Enquiries Jason Thompson VP, Investor Relations Indivior PLC +1 804 402 7123 [email protected] Media Enquiries Jonathan Sibun Tulchan Communications US Media Inquiries +44 207 353 4200 +1 804 594 0836 [email protected] SOURCE Indivior Related Links http://indivior.com PETALUMA, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ygrene, the nation's leading PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) provider, today announced that it has surpassed $1 Billion in PACE investment in the state of Florida. PACE financing through Ygrene provides homeowners and businesses vital access to affordable, long-term financing for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and natural disaster resiliency improvements. "One billion in investments in local communities shows how PACE through Ygrene has become a significant engine for economic growth and a vital financing option for property owners across Florida to make upgrades for safer and more comfortable homes," said Jim Reinhart, Ygrene Chief Executive Officer. "What's more, Ygrene's PACE program has the leading consumer protections and customer satisfaction in the industry. We're proud of the positive impact Ygrene is having in Florida and look forward with anticipation to PACE's future in the Sunshine State." "PACE-financing offers a market-friendly approach to help homeowners invest in risk mitigation," said R.J. Lehmann, Director of Finance, Insurance and Trade Policy for the R Street Institute and a resident of St. Petersburg, FL. "This is particularly important for Florida, given our exposure to tropical storms and other natural disasters. Homeowners who use PACE to invest in mitigation save thousands on their insurance premiums each year, and collectively could save hundreds of millions of dollars in avoided natural disaster losses." "Having researched PACE and its impact on our state, it's clear that one billion in PACE investments are helping to build a cleaner, more resilient Florida," said Pradeep Haldar, Professor at the Patel College of Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida. "Looking at the data, it's clear that PACE is a critical public policy asset to state and local leaders to help meet our economic and environmental goals." PACE is a proven solution to help combat the impacts and costs of natural disasters and climate change, while creating jobs and providing huge positive economic impact boosting local and state economies. In fact, PACE projects financed by Ygrene across Florida have created more than 25,000 jobs and more than $2.4 billion in local economic stimulus. Research out of the University of South Florida's Patel College of Global Sustainability shows that every $1 of PACE investment in hurricane home and business protection saves over $2.30 in avoided property damage and displacement costs in the event of a hurricane. PACE projects financed by Ygrene are also expected to save property owners over $1.4 billion in insurance costs over the lifetime of their projects. Ygrene and PACE are also playing a crucial role protecting Florida's environment, installing more than 18 megawatts of clean solar energy and reducing more than 640,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of taking more than 138,000 cars off the road for a year. PACE comes at no cost to local governments and provides a valuable option for families and businesses to invest in the efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency of their properties. Homes and businesses with hurricane resistant windows and doors are better prepared to withstand and survive the devastating impact of climate change. That means more businesses remaining open, more working families feeding the local economy, and more stable property and sales tax revenue which funds essential local government services. PACE financing offers homeowners the strongest consumer protections and contractor oversight in the home improvement finance industry. Homeowners receive all of the program disclosures and participate in a verification call that confirms their understanding of the financing terms. Traditional forms of home improvement financing like credit cards and bank loans have far fewer consumer protections built into them. PACE's consumer protections, underwriting standards, and overall customer service far exceed that of other financing products in the home improvement market. About Ygrene Energy Fund Ygrene's award-winning PACE program, with built-in consumer protections, is delivering greater choice for home and business owners by providing accessible and affordable financing for energy efficiency, resiliency, renewables, water conservation, storm protection and seismic upgrades. Recognized as one of the fastest growing asset classes in the country, PACE has proven to be a successful tool for supporting public policy initiatives, all without the use of public tax dollars or credits. By providing over $2 billion of private capital to more than 550 local communities, Ygrene has created tens of thousands of jobs and invested millions into local economies across the United States. Learn more at ygrene.com. SOURCE Ygrene Energy Fund Related Links http://ygrene.com/ WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a jury verdict that a management company and skilled nursing facilities owned by Consulate Health Care engaged in a multi-year scheme to defraud Medicare by misrepresenting the level of services they provided. The court rejected the defendants' argument that their billing practices were immaterial to the government. The decision reinstates the jury's verdict of $85,137,095, resulting in a judgment of more than $255 million after trebling and statutory penalties. This represents one of the largest False Claims Act (FCA) jury verdict upheld on appeal. "We are gratified that the jury's Medicare verdict has been affirmed and we are thankful for our client's personal sacrifice to ensure one of the nation's largest providers of senior healthcare services is held accountable for committing fraud against American taxpayers," stated Derek Ho, lead appellate counsel for the whistleblower, Angela Ruckh. Ms. Ruckh is a career nurse with more than 20 years' experience working in skilled nursing facilities. When she worked at Consulate's facilities, she observed them routinely submitting upcoded claims and falsifying reports summarizing patients' medical conditions and treatment. Ms. Ruckh filed a False Claims Act complaint in 2011 on behalf of the United States and the State of Florida. The U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Florida declined to intervene in the case, but Ms. Ruckh and her attorneys persisted and fought the defendants on the government's behalf. The case went before a federal jury in Tampa, Florida, in January 2017. The evidence at trial included not only the financial loss suffered by taxpayers, but also the human cost associated with defendants' practices. As lead trial counsel, James Webster, explained to the jury: "[T]he mission was not care, it was making money. They placed profits ahead of care. They pressured the therapists and the nurses to do whatever it took to maximize profits." After a 20-day trial, the jury returned one of the largest qui tam verdicts in history. However, the district judge granted the defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Ms. Ruckh and her attorneys appealed. "The affirmance of the jury's verdict is the culmination of nearly eight years of work on the part of our client and our legal team," stated the whistleblower's lead counsel, Silvija Strikis. "We are thankful for the trust our client placed in us to take on this case with her." Kellogg Hansen partners for the plaintiffs include Derek Ho, Silvija Strikis, James Webster and Joseph Hall. Co-counsel is Royston Delaney, with Delaney Kester LLP, and Kevin J. Darken. Trial: United States ex rel. Ruckh v. CMC II LLC, No. 11-1303 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 1, 2017) Appeal: United States ex rel. Ruckh v. Salus Rehabilitation, LLC, No. 18-10500, 2020 WL 3467393 (11th Cir. June 25, 2020). SOURCE Kellogg Hansen Related Links www.kellogghansen.com FALLS CHURCH, Va., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Assisting Families of Inmates (AFOI) is proud to announce that it has recently received a generous donation from GTL, a corrections technology company, to provide new clothing for children in AFOI's programs. GTL recently held a company-wide pajama drive to gather clothing for children and adults affected by incarceration. Over 250 pairs of new pajamas were donated, and a portion of those were given to AFOI, which will distribute them among the approximately 140 children served by AFOI's Transportation, Video Visitation, and Milk and Cookies Children's Programs. "More than 5.7 children nationwide1 in 12 children under the age of 18have experienced the incarceration of a father or mother, and these children and the other family members left behind deeply struggle with the effects and impacts of incarceration," said Fran Bolin, Executive Director. "This figure is staggering, and AFOI has spent the past four decades assisting families in the Richmond area, and beyond, with visitation and family reintegration opportunities, resources and referrals, and other services to help families not only cope during the time of incarceration but thrive upon release and reunification. GTL's donation means a lot to the children served by our programs, who are often without basic resources, like pajamas, underwear and socks." AFOI is one of a handful of programs in the country to provide support and resources, referrals and education services, and regular, meaningful visitation to prevent the breakdown of relationships during incarceration. "GTL believes that staying connected is one of the most important aspects of successful reentry after release," said Matthew Caesar, GTL Executive Vice President, Customer Solutions. "We applaud AFOI's mission to keep families together throughout an incarcerated individual's sentence by providing assistance for remote video visitation and transportation for in-person visits. During these extraordinary times, the support of loved ones is more important than ever. We hope that our simple donation will bring some joy to the children served by AFOI's exceptional programs." About AFOI The mission of AFOI is to provide opportunities for regular, meaningful visitation, referrals to community resources, and other services that help families cope with incarceration and prepare for release and reunification. We strive to prevent the breakdown of relationships among inmates and their families by providing regular, meaningful visitation, support, referrals and education services. Our programs help families and loved ones throughout the period of incarceration and also prepare families for a successful transition when the inmate is released from prison back into our community. Assisting Families of Inmates is one of only a handful of such programs to provide these services in Virginia and across the United States. To learn more about AFOI, please visit www.afoi.org. About GTL GTL leads the fields of corrections technology, education, and intelligence, as well as government payment services, with visionary solutions that integrate seamlessly to deliver security, financial value, and operational efficiencies while aiding inmate rehabilitation. As a trusted industry leader, GTL provides services to over 1.6 million inmates in more than 2,300 correctional facilities in the United States and Canada, including 29 U.S. departments of corrections, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. GTL is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, with an employee presence throughout North America. To learn more about GTL, please visit www.gtl.net or social media sites on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Press Contact: Randy Brown 703-215-5383 [email protected] SOURCE GTL Related Links http://www.gtl.net PHILADELPHIA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Australia Equity Fund, Inc. (NYSE American: IAF) (the "Fund"), a closed-end equity fund, today announced that it paid on June 30, 2020 a quarterly stock distribution of US$0.12 per share to all shareholders of record as of May 21, 2020 (ex-dividend date May 20, 2020). Your Fund's policy is to provide investors with a stable distribution rate. Each quarterly distribution will be paid out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital. This stock distribution was automatically paid in newly issued shares of the Fund unless otherwise instructed by the shareholder to be paid in cash. Shares of common stock were issued at the lower of the net asset value ("NAV") per share or the market price per share with a floor for the NAV of not less than 95% of the market price on June 22, 2020. The market price per share for this distribution was $4.47. Fractional shares were generally settled in cash, except for registered shareholders with book entry accounts at Computershare Investor Services who had whole and fractional shares added to their account. To have received the quarterly distribution payable in June 2020 in cash instead of shares of common stock, the bank, brokerage or nominee who holds the shares must have advised the Depository Trust Company as to their full and fractional share requirements by June 19, 2020 for shareholders who hold shares in "street name", and written notification for the election of cash by registered shareholders must have been received by Computershare Investor Services prior to June 19, 2020 for shares that are held in registered form. Under U.S. tax rules applicable to the Fund, the amount and character of distributable income for each fiscal year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related Rules, the Fund may be required to indicate to shareholders the source of certain distributions to shareholders. The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distribution for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the Rules adopted thereunder. The table has been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The table includes estimated amounts and percentages for this distribution and for the cumulative distributions paid fiscal year to date (11/01/2019 05/31/2020), from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated composition of the distributions may vary from quarter to quarter because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies. Estimated Amounts of Current Quarterly Distribution per share ($) Estimated Amounts of Current Quarterly Distribution per share (%) Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per share ($) Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per share (%) Net Investment Income $0.0168 14% $0.0560 14% Net Realized Short-Term Capital Gains* - - - - Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gains $0.0132 11% $0.0440 11% Return of Capital $0.0900 75% $0.3000 75% Total (per common share) $0.1200 100% $0.4000 100% *includes currency gains The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy"). The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions in 2020 will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The following table provides information regarding the Fund's total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Fund's annualized and cumulative distribution rates. Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 04/30/20201 0.75% Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV2 12.31% Fiscal Year to Date (11/01/2019 to 04/30/2020) Cumulative Total Return on NAV1 -16.24% Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV2 6.15% 1Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan. 2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of April 30, 2020. While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market. Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2010, the Fund may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Fund during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Fund, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held, capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received. Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the terms of the distribution policy. The final determination of the source of all distributions will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report distributions for federal income tax purposes. The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. The Fund's Board of Directors has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances. To the extent stockholders elect to receive cash under the Distribution Policy, there may be a resulting decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. Cash elections under the Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. The Fund's Board of Directors has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances. Circular 230 disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. In the United States, Aberdeen Standard Investments is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd., Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, Aberdeen Standard Investments ETFs Advisors LLC and Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Ltd. Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the NAV of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results. If you If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected] aberdeeniaf.com SOURCE Aberdeen Australia Equity Fund, Inc. Related Links http://www.aberdeeniaf.com Burley, ID (83318) Today Mainly sunny. High 92F. ENE winds shifting to NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 60F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. PHILADELPHIA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Global Premier Properties Fund (NYSE: AWP) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund, today announced that it paid on June 30, 2020, a distribution of US $0.04 per share to all shareholders of record as of June 19, 2020 (ex-dividend date June 18, 2020). The Fund reduced its monthly distribution from $0.05 per share to $0.04 per share, commencing with the distribution paid on August 27, 2019. Your Fund's distribution policy is to provide investors with a stable monthly distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital. Under U.S. tax rules applicable to the Fund, the amount and character of distributable income for each fiscal year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related Rules, the Fund may be required to indicate to shareholders the estimated source of certain distributions to shareholders. The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distribution for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the Rules adopted thereunder. The table has been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The table includes estimated amounts and percentages for this distribution and for the cumulative distributions paid relating to fiscal year to date (11/01/2019 - 05/31/2020), from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated composition of the distributions may vary from month to month because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies. Estimated Amounts of Current Monthly Distribution per share ($) Estimated Amounts of Current Monthly Distribution per share (%) Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per share ($) Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per share (%) Net Investment Income $0.0152 38% $0.1216 38% Net Realized Short-Term Capital Gains* - - - - Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gains - - - - Return of Capital $0.0248 62% $0.1984 62% Total (per common share) $0.0400 100% $0.3200 100% *includes currency gains The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy"). The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions in 2020 will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The following table provides information regarding the Fund's total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Fund's annualized and cumulative distribution rates. Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 05/31/20201 2.01% Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV2 8.96% Fiscal Year to Date (11/01/2019 to 05/31/2020) Cumulative Total Return on NAV1 (22.42%) Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV2 5.22% 1Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan. 2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of May 31, 2020. While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market. Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2010, the Fund may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Fund during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Fund, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held, capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received. Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the terms of the distribution policy. The final determination of the source of all distributions will be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report distributions for federal income tax purposes. The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. The Fund's Board of Directors has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances. Circular 230 disclosure : To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. In the United States, Aberdeen Standard Investments is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: Aberdeen Standard Investments Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Ltd., Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Ltd., Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, Aberdeen Standard Investments ETFs Advisors LLC and Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Ltd. Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. The Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the NAV of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results. If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected] aberdeenawp.com SOURCE Aberdeen Global Premier Properties Fund Related Links http://www.aberdeenawp.com MT. LAUREL, N.J., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Agilence, Inc., the leading provider of operational analytics & reporting solutions to the retail and restaurant industries, today announced the formation of its new Strategic Advisory Board (SAB). The newly formed SAB will work closely with the Agilence management team to further advance its progress in the data analytics industry and support the company's continued growth. "We are pleased to formally welcome such established industry leaders to our newly formed Strategic Advisory Board," said Russ Hawkins, President and CEO of Agilence. "With vast corporate experience within the retail and technology space, Agilence will hugely benefit from their strong global senior leadership perspective. Their combined experience will be a great asset as we work to enable all retail and restaurant chain operators to unlock the power in their data, break down data access bottlenecks and empower all associates to make better, data-driven decisions throughout the organization." The following individuals have been confirmed as members of the Agilence Strategic Advisory Board: Lisa Cramer, former co-founder and President of LeadLife Solutions, SVP of Global Sales & Marketing at InReality, and current Head of North America Sales Leader Performance at SAP. Cramer serves to provide experience building growth engines through operational excellence that accelerate sales velocity and increase ARR. Mike Lukianoff, previous CEO of CZAR Metrics and former Chief Analytics Officer at Fishbowl. Lukianoff prides himself on creating quantitative solutions for brick-and-mortar retail and restaurant businesses. He is also an advisory board member at Bite. Paul Melchiorre, previous President of iPipeLine, CRO at Anaplan, Global Vice President at Ariba and SVP of Global Accounts at SAP. Melchiorre is currently an Operating Partner at Stripes and holds board or advisory positions at R3, Scout RFP, and MissionOG. He brings 30+ years of experience as an established software executive. Ken Morris, founder and Principal of Boston Retail Partners, former CEO of CTF Consulting, and CEO of LakeWest Group. Currently, Morris applies his 40+ years of retail industry & consulting knowledge as an analyst for the Boston Main Streets Foundation. About Agilence Agilence, Inc. is the industry leader in Operational Analytics & Reporting for retail, restaurant and convenience organizations. Agilence develops a highly flexible and powerful cloud-based analytics & reporting platform that provides organizations with a complete view of their business, empowering them to make informed decisions faster, increase sales, and eliminate losses. Agilence, Inc. is headquartered in Greater Philadelphia. Learn more about Agilence. Media Contact Brian Donnelly Marketing Director [email protected] 856-366-1200 Related Links Agilence Overview Agilence Customer Stories SOURCE Agilence NEW YORK and CHICAGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aircall , a cloud-based voice platform helping companies across the globe manage millions of customer support and sales calls every day, today announced a strategic partnership with TBI, the nation's leading technology brokerage firm. Under this new program, Aircall and TBI will help more businesses replace aging infrastructure by offering a software-first approach and creating more flexibility for employees. Aircall's solutions will help TBI partners of all sizes utilize the full power of voice for their business from SMB and mid-market customers who are looking for simple and affordable yet powerful call center solutions, to large consumer-facing enterprise workgroups looking for a cloud-based platform. "In a trend that is showing no signs of slowing down, remote work continues to rise across the country. As we grapple with the "new normal," flexible working tools, at an affordable price point, are all the more essential to ensuring the survival and success of businesses across the U.S.," said Cary Bush, Director of Channel Partnerships at Aircall. "Our channel expansion with TBI means that we are able to integrate our more than 60 pre-built integrations into its provider portfolio, helping businesses adapt quickly and provide their teams with easy to use tools that allow them to work efficiently from any location." TBI's Vice President of Sales, Keith Connolly shared how this partnership will greatly benefit TBI selling partners, saying, "Aircall's aggressive price point and pre-built integrations with platforms like Salesforce and Microsoft Teams gives our partners the tools they need to target those SMB and mid-market customers while still having all the advanced capabilities required for Enterprise level accounts. Having quick, easy to deploy cloud-based solutions will only streamline and speed up the sales process. We are excited to add this global CCaaS provider to our portfolio." About Aircall Aircall is the phone system for modern business. An entirely cloud-based voice platform that integrates seamlessly with popular productivity and helpdesk tools that workplaces are already using, Aircall was built to make phone support as easy to manage as any other business workflowaccessible, transparent, and collaborative. Aircall believes that voice is the most powerful way to communicate with customers, prospects, candidates, and colleagues, and it is designed to take the headache out of what should be a delightful moment of human connection. For more information, visit www.aircall.io About TBI TBI is the nation's leading third-party technology distributor. Since 1991, it has assisted Systems Integrators, VARs, MSPs, IT consultants, developers, software distributors and more in advising and sourcing the right technology solutions. TBI serves as a partner's advocate, ensuring the proper provisioning of cloud, Internet, data, mobility, voice, and managed services from best-in-class service providers to achieve clients' desired business outcomes. Through training and marketing programs focused on the benefits of technology to the business, TBI empowers its partners to be the foremost authority to advise and source all their clients' technology needs. With the largest back-office in the industry, TBI partners are fully supported by pre- and post-sales operations, project managers, and solutions engineers certified in the latest industry-leading technologies. For more information, visit www.tbicom.com. U.S. Contact InkHouse for Aircall [email protected] SOURCE Aircall Related Links https://aircall.io PALO ALTO, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new industry-driven approach provides enterprise CIOs and CISOs with a reliable, easy-to-implement way to protect corporate data anywhereputting an end to the ongoing problem of data insecurity. Anjuna Security Inc., the enterprise enclaves company, today announced it has closed a critical gap in data security, using full hardware-grade protection to enable new and existing applications to run without modification. Anjuna Enterprise Enclaves extend hardware runtime data protection to data-at-rest and data-in-motion, while addressing one of the most vexing flaws in enterprise data security: Data cannot be used and secured simultaneouslya flaw at the heart of virtually every enterprise data breach. The Problem While software security solutions offer some protection, they are ultimately undermined by attackers who gain full control of servers or encryption keys exposed in memory during runtime. Encryption keys are central to most data protection schemes. When exposed, security tools can no longer protect data or applications from malicious insiders, unauthorized third parties, and other bad actors, such as rogue nation states. "Software-based security is inherently flawed, because data-in-use is fundamentally not secured in memory or the CPU. As a result, security teams play a never-ending game of cat-and-mouse with bad actorsbuilding software barriers they know will eventually be breached," said Ayal Yogev, CEO and co-founder of Anjuna Security. "This means CISOs live in a rather uncomfortable perpetual state of data insecurity." The Technology to Fix the Flaw In recent years, such CPU vendors as Intel (SGX) and AMD (SEV) added proprietary security features into their high performance CPUs. These enhanced instruction sets enable programmers to create secure enclavesfully protected and encrypted regions of computer memory effectively invisible outside the enclave. To utilize these facilities, however, requires rewriting software code. "These new silicon-level technologies solve the data security flawa great first step to opening up applications we can't even imagine today," said Yogev. "They finally solve the data insecurity challenges that have plagued companies, for decadesbuilding extremely complex layered security software defenses that never totally eliminate the ever-present threat of incursions." Broad Industry Support Technology CPUs with secure enclave capabilities are already being used in the latest servers for data centers, and public cloud vendors are also rapidly adopting the technology. Anjuna is a member of the Confidential Computing Consortium, a group formed by the largest industry players to bring this technology to commercial use. Led by Microsoft, Intel and AMD, the consortium is driving deployment of new data secure cloud services based on these secure hardware platforms, such as Azure confidential computing, Baidu, and more. Secure Enclaves Made Enterprise-Ready Even with secure hardware within reach, enclaving an application is still not a simple process for enterprises. Proprietary software developer kits do not generate applications that can run on multiple hardware platforms. This makes implementing enclaves a time consuming and expensive process that most enterprises aren't willing to undertake on their own. "We knew enterprises couldn't afford to rewrite applications for each hardware platform, " said Yogev. "That's why we created a way for them to deploy fully managed enterprise-class enclaves that span memory, storage, networks and clouds instantlysimply, as is, and without any recoding." A New Era of Secure Computing: Anjuna Enterprise Enclaves Software According to Yogev, Anjuna sees a future where enterprises achieve a state of absolute data security for all data and applications anywhere they are used. This frictionless security will enable completely new ways to deploy data and applications more effectively, while allowing enterprises to work more efficiently with absolute data security. "Anjuna Enterprise Enclaves deliver on the the promise of a new level of data security by addressing the problem CIOs and CISOs have chased for decades: how to seamlessly run trusted workloads in uncontrolled and/or hostile environments and prevent data leaksall while maintaining productivity," said Michael Johnson, former CISO of Capital One and former CIO of the US Department of Energy. "Now CISOs can feel comfortable saying yes to the cloudknowing their information is secure, no matter where it is run or stored." Available Now Anjuna Enterprise Enclaves software is available now directly from Anjuna and through the Microsoft Azure confidential computing marketplace. About Anjuna Anjuna provides simple secure enterprise-ready application and data protection that is invulnerable to malicious software, IT insiders, and bad actors. With Anjuna, enterprise IT can safely run workloads within the isolated and encrypted confines of a secure enclave on-site or in the cloud. Unlike point solutions, Anjuna enables enterprises to deploy fully managed enterprise-class enclaves that span memory, storage, networks, and cloud instantly, as is, and without re-coding. Anjuna is based in Palo Alto, California. To learn more, go to www.anjuna.io or email [email protected]. SOURCE Anjuna Security, Inc Related Links https://www.anjuna.io/ NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) announced today the publication of the Standardization Roadmap for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Version 2.0).* The roadmap was developed by the Institute's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative (UASSC), a group established to coordinate and accelerate the development of the standards and conformity assessment programs needed to facilitate the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, or "drones") into the national airspace system of the United States. More than 400 individuals from 250 public- and private-sector organizations supported the document's development, including representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), other U.S. federal government agencies, standards developing organizations (SDOs), industry, academia, and others. A webinar with UASSC leaders providing an overview of the roadmap will be held on July 15 at 12 noon Eastern. Register here. The release of the updated roadmap represents the culmination of the UASSC's work over the last nine months to identify existing standards and standards in development, assess gaps, and make recommendations for priority areas where there is a perceived need for additional standardization including pre-standardization research and development (R&D). Issues are addressed under the broad headings of airworthiness; flight operations; personnel training, qualifications, and certification; infrastructure inspections; environmental applications; commercial services; workplace safety; and public safety operations. The document also includes brief overviews of the UAS activities of the FAA, other U.S. federal government agencies, SDOs, and various industry groups. Ultimately, the aim of the UASSC roadmap is to support the growth of the UAS market with an emphasis on civil, commercial, and public safety applications. While the UASSC does not itself develop standards, its roadmap recommendations are anticipated to see wide adoption by the standards community. The reason for undertaking the version 2.0 update was to expand the document's content, engage subject matter experts not previously involved, identify potentially overlooked gaps, track progress by SDOs to address the recommendations contained in version 1.0, review priorities, and otherwise incorporate feedback. Of 78 issue areas examined, 71 open gaps were identified, meaning there is currently no published standard or specification that covers the issue in question. Each gap includes a corresponding recommendation for action, along with a priority level for producing a standard and the name of a suggested organization(s) that can address the need. Of the open gaps, 47 have been identified as high priority, 21 as medium priority, and 3 as lower priority. In 53 cases, additional R&D is needed. Two version 1.0 gaps were closed, 3 were withdrawn, and 16 new gaps were added. Many sections of the document were substantially revised or expanded, including such areas as: categories of spectrum applicable to command and control (C2) link and communications, continued operational safety, UAS detection and mitigation, and public safety tactical operations. New gap analysis sections were added related to: Blockchain for UAS Recreational Operations Design and Operation of Aerodrome Facilities for UAS UAS Service Suppliers (USS) Process and Quality Implementing UAS for Hydrocarbon Pipeline Inspections Implementing UAS in Airport Operations Commercial Cargo Transport via UAS Commercial Passenger Air Taxi/Transport via UAS (both short- and long-haul flights) Commercial Sensing Services Use of small UAS for News Gathering UAS for Emergency Management and Disasters Standardization of Data Formatting for small UAS Public Safety Operations It is envisioned that future work will entail promotion of the roadmap and establishing a mechanism to assess progress on its implementation. "ANSI extends its thanks and congratulations to all the volunteers who contributed to the development of the updated UASSC roadmap," said ANSI president and CEO Joe Bhatia. "This latest accomplishment is illustrative of ANSI's ability to bring together public- and private-sector stakeholders to define standardization needs for emerging technologies and national and global priorities." ANSI's facilitation of the UASSC is supported in part by contributions from the FAA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, ASTM International, and others. For more information, visit www.ansi.org/uassc. *Note: The roadmap link above will not be accessible on July 3rd at 11 am Eastern for about 12 hours due to site maintenance. About ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is made up of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. ANSI represents and serves the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. The Institute is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For more information, visit www.ansi.org. SOURCE American National Standards Institute Related Links http://www.ansi.org/ AOBiome's 576 patient Phase 2b trial commences patient enrollment CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AOBiome Therapeutics, Inc. ("AOBiome"), a leading clinical-stage microbiome company focusing on inflammation, announced initiation of a Phase 2b clinical trial in pruritus (itch) associated with atopic dermatitis based on positive clinical trial results related to the investigation of its lead product candidate, B244, in patients with atopic dermatitis (eczema) in a Phase 2a clinical trial in adults, as well as a Phase 1b clinical trial in pediatric patients. The adult trial was a double blind, placebo controlled, multicenter, Phase 2a study of B244, a first-in-class, topical formulation of beneficial ammonia oxidizing bacteria, delivered as a topical spray twice daily for 28 days. This trial was designed to assess safety and efficacy in 122 patients 18 years and older with mild-to-moderate pruritus associated with atopic dermatitis. Patients receiving the investigational drug achieved a statistically significant improvement in their pruritus over patients receiving placebo (p value = 0.01) after two weeks. In addition, 23% of patients receiving the drug achieved at least a 4 point improvement (out of 10) utilizing the visual analog scale (VAS) for pruritus, versus 6% of patients receiving placebo. B244 was very well tolerated and side effects of the active were equal to that of the placebo. This was consistent with all previous trials the company has completed with this drug. Typical itch drugs take significantly longer to show improvement, highlighting a significant market opportunity for the company. The pediatric trial was an open-label, single dose level, multicenter, Phase 1b study of the B244 topical formulation, administered twice daily and was designed to assess its safety and tolerability in 28 pediatric patients aged 2 to 17 years with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis over a 28-day period. The drug was very well tolerated. 28% of patients achieved at least a two point (out of 5) improvement on the ITCHMAN pruritus scale at week four and 64% achieved at least a 1 point improvement. Based on these early efficacy signals, a double blind, randomized, placebo controlled, multicenter, Phase 2b dose selection study was initiated to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of B244 topical spray twice daily for 28 days for the treatment of pruritus in 576 adults with a history of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis. Patient enrollment has begun, with approximately 50 US sites across 27 states participating in this trial. Primary efficacy endpoint and key secondary efficacy endpoint will include mean change in Worst Itch Numeric Rating Scale (WI-NRS) from baseline to week 4 and proportion of subjects with 4 point improvement in WI-NRS from baseline to week 4, respectively. The Itch NRS is a validated, self-reported instrument for measurement of itch intensity. Additionally, endpoints of Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) and Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) for Atopic Dermatitis will be captured. As this trial will be conducted during the COVID-19 era, patient and site staff safety will be of paramount concern. AOBiome has implemented a comprehensive risk mitigation plan to ensure such safety. "There is a significant medical need for new therapies to treat both adults and children with itch associated with atopic dermatitis. In younger populations, itch can be the primary complaint and can exacerbate the severity of disease through an itch-scratch-lesion worsening cycle. Our safety profile and rapid onset of efficacy has led us to focus on pruritus as the lead indication in our next clinical trial," said President & CEO, Todd Krueger. "We look forward to announcing results from this study in 2021." In the United States, 12% of children (or 9.6 million) under the age of 18 years suffer from eczema and associated pruritus.1 Of these, approximately one third have moderate to severe cases. 7% of adults in the US suffer from eczema and associated pruritus. "The potential beneficial effect of B244 on atopic dermatitis and its associated pruritus is multi-pronged. Pruritus relief may be mediated through an immunomodulatory mechanism of action. Pre-clinical results have shown that the bacteria exert an anti-inflammatory effect on certain markers associated with itch. Company studies have also shown the potential antimicrobial mechanism of action that contribute to the reduction of pathogenic bacteria infecting the established skin lesions," said Board of Director, Dr. Annalisa Jenkins, MBBS MRCP. "Furthermore, current therapies for pruritus can cause local side effects such as stinging, burning, and thinning of skin, especially in pediatric patients. B244's innovative nature represents a novel therapeutic opportunity to safely address the medical needs of patients. Additional information regarding this and AOBiome's other ongoing clinical programs may be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov . About Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) AOBiome's AOB platform is a patented, proprietary, topical and intranasal formulation incorporating a single strain of beneficial AOB, Nitrosomonas eutropha. The platform is designed to repopulate the skin or nasal microbiome with AOB. Once deployed, AOB produces nitric oxide, a signaling molecule known to regulate inflammation and vasodilation. About AOBiome Therapeutics, Inc. AOBiome Therapeutics, Inc. is a Cambridge, MA-based life sciences company focused on transforming human health by developing microbiome-based therapies for local, nasal and systemic inflammatory conditions. Founded in 2012 by PatientsLikeMe founder Jamie Heywood and MIT-trained Chemical Engineer David Whitlock, AOBiome is advancing a pipeline of multiple, clinical-stage therapeutic candidates. The company's portfolio includes multiple clinical-stage programs: a completed Phase 2 study to treat patients with acne vulgaris or acne, a Phase 1b study to treat patients with pediatric eczema (atopic dermatitis), a Phase 2 study to treat patients with adult eczema (atopic dermatitis), a Phase 2 study for the prevention of episodic migraines, and a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, as well as earlier-stage preclinical programs targeting diverse inflammatory indications. Learn more at www.aobiome.com . Contacts: For Media Inquiries: Jim Hoffman 845-417-3487 [email protected] 1 Hanifin J, Reed M. A Population-Based Survey of Eczema Prevalence in the United States. Dermatitis. 2007;18(2):82-91. doi:10.2310/6620.2007.06034. 2 Gustafsson, D., et al. "Development of Allergies and Asthma in Infants and Young Children with Atopic Dermatitis a Prospective Followup to 7 Years of Age." The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Wiley-Blackwell, 9 Oct. 2008, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1034/j.1398-9995.2000.00391.x. SOURCE AOBiome Related Links https://www.aobiome.com On International Nurses Day on 12 th May 2020, UIN launched a giveaway campaign for nurses who have borne the brunt of the pandemic all over the world. As the world's leading art travel shoe brand, UIN launched a special edition sky blue shoe for nurses, with a special heart and cardiographic pattern that truly sets them apart. Nurses are on their feet all day and they need shoes that will help them get through their endless hours of caring. UIN shoes are the perfect answer. They are super light and yet supportive, with soft, cushioned insoles that provide a massage-like function to keep your feet feeling fresh and comfortable. They also have arch supports, so as the day wears on and the nurses' feet get tired, UIN shoes are helping them to get through their day. Just as they are helping so many people get through this terrible disease. As part of the "Stand by Me" program, UIN also invited nurses to share their stories and pictures on the UIN Facebook. Many pictures they sent in showed faces bruised and creased with fatigue, but with firm, clear eyes behind their protective shields. One nurse explained that "Either fighting at the frontline of the COVID-19 battle or continuing our daily working routine, this disease changed us all greatly. I was consumed with fear every day as many of my colleagues had died, but I was also proud knowing I was about to help someone, and this enabled me to conquer my fear." These moving images and stories captured the hearts of UIN fans everywhere. With tremendous support from the worldwide UIN community of fans, the "Stand by Me" program has so far given away the Special Edition UIN shoes to nurses in the US, Italy, Canada, Germany, and other countries globally. UIN Footwear Founded in 2014, UIN Footwear is a Spain originated D2C (Direct to Customer) footwear brand. Deeply rooted in travel and art, UIN has created the unique category of Art Travel Shoes and ranks 5th on Amazon worldwide in Loafers and Slip-On shoe category. Art and Comfort are the two most crucial features of UIN's canvas shoes which bear creative designs from artists across the globe. The contoured insoles of UIN shoes resemble the natural shape of feet, while the soft and breathable material creates flexibility for all-day comfort. For more information, visit https://www.uinfootwear.com/ SOURCE UIN Footwear Related Links http://www.uinfootwear.com/ The AEMP's new plans are designed to position the association for the future and help its members overcome particular challenges related to this tumultuous year. Priorities include the deployment of virtual and in-person educational opportunities through AEMPU , its online university; professional certification; the ongoing development and implementation of best practices and industry standards; and continued relationship-building with OEMs, government agencies, and others in the industry. "Exciting things are happening with the implementation of our new strategic plan," says AEMP CEO Donte P. Shannon, FASAE, CAE. "As we look to the future, partnerships will be vital in helping us achieve our goals as an association. We are excited that Machinery Trader will be one of our partners in helping us expand our reach and become even more of a recognized brand." New Website Launch: AEMP Equipment Through its strategic partnership with AEMP, Sandhills will provide support for many of the association's initiatives. The newly launched AEMP Equipment website, for example, is built and hosted by Sandhills, and provides AEMP members with a simple and lucrative avenue for selling used heavy machinery, agricultural equipment, trucks, trailers, and attachments. "Partnering with AEMP to launch the new website brings more potential for members to stay interconnected and reach more industry buyers, while broadening the exposure of the association's benefits and mission," says Elli Murray, Manager, Machinery Trader Contractor Sales. A Symbiotic Partnership Sandhills brings a wealth of industry experience and used equipment data to the partnership, and Sandhills' initiatives in the asset valuation and telematics space are complementary to the goals of the AEMP and its membership. In fact, due in part to inspiration from AEMP members, Sandhills developed its new TelematicsPlus to enable fleet managers, operators, rental companies, and similar businesses to easily access all of their varied telematics data in one portalfor freewith a single login. "With our new TelematicsPlus platform, we are transforming the way equipment management professionals manage and gain insights into their assets," says Murray. "In the process, TelematicsPlus helps reduce overhead and leverage new technology to the fullest." Furthermore, Sandhills' contractor program combines multiple tools and sales platforms to provide multi-faceted liquidation avenuesincluding wholesale, retail, and auctionacross the entire asset life cycle. "We are fully committed to AEMP and its members," says Matt Sterup, Sandhills' Manager, Machinery Trader Contractor Sales. "Our partnership will continue to help push the advancement of the industry, and open new avenues for the asset management profession." About AEMP Formed in 1982, the Association of Equipment Management Professionals represents fleet professionals working in construction, government, utilities, energy, mining and more. AEMP created the term "Equipment Triangle." It is the cornerstone of the association's philosophy that a balanced relationship must exist between the End User, Distributor, and OEM/Supplier in the life cycle of a piece of heavy equipment or product. AEMP advances this philosophy through its education and certification programs. Contact AEMP Chris Turek [email protected] About Sandhills Global Sandhills Global is an information processing company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our products and services gather, process, and distribute information in the form of trade publications, websites, and online services that connect buyers and sellers across the construction, agriculture, forestry, oil and gas, heavy equipment, commercial trucking, and aviation industries. Our integrated, industry-specific approach to hosted technologies and services offers solutions that help businesses large and small operate efficiently and grow securely, cost-effectively, and successfully. Sandhills Globalwe are the cloud. Contact Sandhills www.sandhills.com/contact-us 402-479-2181 SOURCE Sandhills Global Related Links http://www.sandhills.com MEMPHIS, Tennessee, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ATWEC Technologies, Inc. (OTC Markets: ATWT), a US-based technology company specializing in child safety, today announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters to a new office park just outside of Memphis, in order to support the rapid growth of the Company's operations. The new state-of-the-art facility in the Southwind Office Plaza will enable the Company to better serve its growing customer base, as it seeks to make several strategic acquisitions during 2020. The 2200 square foot space is a substantial upgrade from the Company's prior office, and will provide its staff with enhanced creativity, for optimal productivity, as ATWT offers its expanded line of new technology products for the first time. "ATWEC's relocation provides us with the opportunity to consolidate our staff in a modern and efficient new facility, and really accommodates our aggressive expansion plans," said Company Secretary Darnell Stitts. "We are scheduled to move during the last week of July, and get settled in during August." The Company's Board has been busy making several changes, as it will implement a new multi-platform branding and advertising campaign, geared to draw attention to ATWEC's mission of "Around The World Educating Children" and saving lives. Alex Wiley, the Company's founder and CEO, explained "We decided to take this opportunity to think about our 'brand' that is, what do we stand for, and what is important to us? The answer was clear, to never leave a child behind, and to provide parents with ongoing peace-of-mind. That will make the world a better place, especially during these difficult times." The Company has engaged a consulting firm to redesign its corporate website at www.atwec.com, in order to better project these breakthrough developments. The site will showcase the Company's new products and services, and have e-commerce tools to enable school and day care customers to obtain key information and upgrades quickly and easily. The Company anticipates the new website improvements to "go live" sometime in early July. Shareholders and other investors can find the disclosure related to the Company's relocation and new branding campaign on the OTC Markets website, as well as the Company's restructured website, www.atwec.com. About ATWEC Technologies, Inc. (OTC PINK: ATWT): ATWEC Technologies, Inc. is a child safety and security technology company, headquartered in Memphis, TN, in business since 1979. ATWT has developed three unique child safety devices which protect children while they are being transported, both to and from schools, events, and homes, and gives parents and administrators 'peace of mind'. ATWT has been issued patent number 7,646,288, B2 for its KV-3 system by the US patent office, and its business model is associated with legislation designed to mandate these systems for school and other vehicles, on a state-by-state basis. The KV-3 and the Kiddie Alert backup systems are currently being sold to customers across the globe. The company recently announced their new "state of the art" KV-4 platform which uses RFID technology and their new cloud-based system to easily track children on vehicles to and from home. The Company also recently announced its KV-X product which used ultra-violet rays to sanitize a bus or van from bacteria and pathogens. The Company trades on the OTC Markets under the symbol "ATWT", and the Company's website is www.atwec.com. Safe Harbor Statement This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in the Company's disclosure information. All company or product names used are the property of their respective owners and may be the trade marks (TM), service marks (SM), or registered marks (R) of other companies, and are used for information purposes only and to their owners' benefit, without intent to infringe. Contact: ATWEC Technologies, Inc. 901-690-2471 901-289-2621 [email protected] SOURCE ATWEC Technologies, Inc. Related Links http://www.atwec.com/ Investigative journalist Dylan Howardthe Australian-born reporter previously was named the Entertainment Journalist of the Year in the United Stateswill take readers inside a riven Buckingham Palace to provide the definitive account of the unfolding abdication crisis of 2020 that ended with Harry stating he had to take "leap of faith" in a bid for a "more peaceful life." In ROYALS AT WAR, Howard along with co-author Andy Tillett, will document how Harry has worn many crowns in his thirty-five years, before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the ex-Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, become royal outcasts. The book was released nationwide on June 30. Critically, ROYALS AT WAR is the first book to market to chronicle the unprecedented royal crisis. Howard and Tillett were first to report about Harry and Meghan's desire to quit the royals and move to America. "Harry was the heartbroken twelve-year-old who we all remember following his mother's coffin through the streets of London, to the Playboy Prince busted at naked Vegas pool parties, the dedicated soldier who saw action in Afghanistan, the loving family man and father to baby Archie," said Howard. "But his latest move has sent shockwaves through the heart of the monarchyand threatened the very foundations of the institution many believe responsible for the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. "ROYALS AT WAR will examine, how like Diana before them, Harry and Meghan rebelled against convention from the startand as with Diana, the British establishment has fought back equally as hard." Through Howard's revealing interviews with royal insiders, friends, aides, historians, royal watchers, and others with intimate knowledge of The House of Windsor, ROYALS AT WAR looks back at the events, motives and crises which led to Harry (sixth in line to the throne) dramatically abandoning his birthrightin a move not seen for nearly a century, when King Edward VIII also gave up the crown for the woman he loved as Europe teetered on the brink of fascism and war. "Just like Edward and Wallis Simpson, the catalyst for this scandal here is also an ambitious, controversial American woman," added Howard. Meghan Markle, a mixed-race Hollywood actress and star of television show, Suits, undoubtedly "ruffled royal feathers inside The Establishment with a series of bitter feuds involving senior royals including the Queen, Princes Charles and Andrew, Harry's brother and future King Prince William, and his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. There have been accusations of racism, snobbery, furious arguments, and unreasonable demands. . . on both sides." Howard, author of Diana: Case Solved and the Executive Producer of the royal podcast Fatal Voyage, charts how Meghan's relationship with Harry was viewed as controversial from the startand how her brief honeymoon with the British public began to sour shortly after she and Harry announced in November 2018 that they would be leaving Kensington Palace to move to Frogmore Cottage, an hour outside London. As senior royals expressed disapproval, the public at first seemed to enjoy the royal spat, with many still supporting Team Meghanuntil it emerged that the bill to renovate Frogmore Cottage to Meghan's lavish expectations would be $3 million. . . and be picked up by British taxpayers. The gloves were off, and soon both sides were activelyif secretlybriefing against each other. Gossips claimed the move was due to a rift between the brothers and a rivalry between Meghan and Kate. Stories emerged that Meghan had been made to feel like a commoner by the stuffy, class-obsessed Palace elite; insiders whispered that "Duchess Difficult" had made her sister-in-law, Kate, cry during a fitting for Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid's dress. The Palace, when it finally commented, called the rumors of a feud overblown, but those closest knew different. Finally, in a move nobody saw coming, Harry announced he was turning his back on the role he had been groomed for since birth. Howard's unique access and insight into this constitutional crisis will not only address the tensions and tantrums behind closed palace doors, but seek to answer the questions many are still asking: Has Prince Harry ever really recovered from the death of his mother Dianaand the resentment he feels against the institution that tried to destroy her? Why did Meghan, once hailed as a breath of fresh air, rile up the monarchy? Why did she refuse to conform to royal conventions in the way that Catherine did before her? Did the public and media criticism of Meghan go too far? And just how valid are the accusations of racism? How did these modern royals treat the tabloids differently to tradition? And did it backfire? What next for Harry and Meghan? And how will theyand the institution they've turned their back onreact to their new lives outside the confines of the Palace and free from the strict codes and conventions that bind all members of the Royal Family? In December 2019, Howard founded and created The Royals Monthly, a book-a-zine and has covered the royals for Us Weekly, OK!, Star, In Touch, Life & Style magazines, and RadarOnline.com which he previously oversaw as Chief Content Officer at American Media. Howard also previously authored Diana: Case Solved, Aaron Hernandez's Killing Fields, Charles Manson: The Last Tapes and is also scheduled to release soon a sequel to his hit title, Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales, titled EPSTEIN Inc.: How the US Government Made Blackmail, Sex Trafficking, and Spying Big Business. The book will be published on June 30. Prior to its release, ROYALS AT WAR: The Untold Story of Harry and Meghan's Shocking Split with the House of Windsor climbed to number one on Amazon's Hot New Releasesa benchmark of its best-selling new and future releasesin the English History category. For press requests, please contact: A.J. Rice [email protected] | (800) 995-0786 Hector Carosso [email protected] | (212) 643-6816 x277 Related Links https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781510761193/royals-at-war/ SOURCE Skyhorse Publishing http://skyhorsepublishing.com SOURCE Skyhorse Publishing Related Links http://skyhorsepublishing.com LE MARS, Iowa, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pools are closed, concerts are canceled, and summer just looks different this year. That's why Blue Bunny is helping to bring the fun beyond the ice cream parlor with a series of epic activities that are sure to spark Funlightenment just in time for National Ice Cream Month. Today Blue Bunny is jump-starting National Ice Cream Month with the introduction of its Blue Bunny Personal Poolthe perfect addition to even the smallest porch or backyard. This premium pool is inspired by Blue Bunny's Load'd treat line outfitted with a Load'd Sundae holder and a decorative arch adorned with a NEW Load'd Cone, so you can have a solo pool party and indulge in your favorite frozen treat while lounging in cool comfort. Visit Funlightenment.com between now and July 13 and enter for a chance to win one of our 100 limited edition pools. "Our new Load'd Cones and Load'd Sundaes are a direct path to Funlightenment, straight from the freezer," said Jamee Pearlstein, director of brand marketing for Blue Bunny. "We're hoping to spark that same instant feeling of fun this summer, starting with Blue Bunny Personal Pools. They're the perfect way for adults to enjoy summer a little differently, and what better time to start soaking up the fun than National Ice Cream month!" Find Funlightenment all summer long and get all the fun of the ice cream parlor at home with NEW Blue Bunny Load'd Cones and Load'd Sundaes, loaded up with your favorite delicious mix-ins and swirls. Blue Bunny Load'd Cones (SRP: $5.99 / four cones per box) are a deliciously fun take on a traditional cone, packed with 2X the mix-ins* to make the perfect fun-filled treat. Now available in five decadent flavors: Bunny Tracks, Brownie Bomb, Strawberry Shortcake, Cookie Dough and S'mores. Blue Bunny Load'd Sundaes (SRP: $2.99 per 8.5-oz. single-serve cup) are soft, frozen treats packed with tons of toppings swirled right into a cup and ready for your spoon. Now available in 16 total flavors with four new flavors: Turtle Cheesecake, French Silk Pie, Chocolate Caramel Pretzel and S'more S'mores. Follow Blue Bunny on Facebook (BlueBunnyIceCream), Twitter (@Blue_Bunny), and Instagram (@Blue_Bunny) and stay tuned to find out how we're bringing the fun back to your favorite missed activities from events to movies throughout National Ice Cream Month and all summer long. To learn more about Blue Bunny, visit www.bluebunny.com. *As compared to Blue Bunny Hot Fudge and Caramel Lovers Cones. Excludes toppings. About Blue Bunny For more than 80 years, Blue Bunny has been bringing delicious dairy desserts made with fun, fresh ingredientsadding a little playfulness to any occasion. Blue Bunny offers over 75 flavors of ice cream and frozen novelty products with recent innovations, such as new Load'd Cones, Load'd Sundaes, Bunny Snacks and Mini Swirls, available at retailers and convenience stores nationwide. For more information, visit BlueBunny.com. About Wells Enterprises Wells Enterprises, Inc. is the largest privately held, family-owned ice cream manufacturer in the United States. Founded in 1913 by Fred H. Wells, the company is still proudly owned by the Wells family today. Wells produces more than 200 million gallons of ice cream per year and distributes products in all 50 states. Wells manufactures its signature brand Blue Bunny, lower-calorie Halo Top, the iconic Bomb Pop, and Blue Ribbon Classics. Wells employs more than 4,000 ice cream aficionados across the country. The company is headquartered in Iowa and operates two manufacturing plants in Le Mars, Iowa, a manufacturing plant in Dunkirk, New York, a manufacturing plant in Lakewood, New Jersey and a manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada. As the world's largest manufacturer of ice cream in one location, Wells has made Le Mars the "Ice Cream Capital of the World." SOURCE Blue Bunny Royal Dutch Distillers specializes in crafting ultra-premium and bartender-focused spirits and cream-based wines. In the last 6 years, Royal Dutch Distillers has grown its premium spirits and wine portfolio, including ChocoVine, a cream-based wine, as well as premium spirits like Rutte gins and genevers, Mandarine Napoleon liqueur, Cherry Heering, BEBO Cuban Coffee Liqueur and Fiorito Limoncello to over 100,000 9l cases in the US. Chief executive officer of Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing, Carlos Carreras commented, "It is an honor to represent Royal Dutch Distillers' portfolio and we look forward to building on the success they've already achieved as we help them expand across the country." Chief operating officer of Royal Dutch Distillers, Peter Iglesias adds, "We are thrilled to partner with Blue Ridge's team of industry veterans who provide sales and distribution expertise and a collaborative morale that we know will take the Royal Dutch Distillers' portfolio to the next level." About Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing (BRSWM) is an American sales and marketing company that focuses primarily on premium spirit and wine brands. It provides a strong sales force with established distributor and retailer relationships. Carlos Carreras added: "Our team has over a century of combined experience in the industry and is committed to fostering and promoting quality brand building nationwide. Blue Ridge aims to grow brands and build legacies." For more information, visit www.blueridgespirits.com. About Royal Dutch Distillers Royal Dutch Distillers is the American subsidiary of the family owned De Kuyper Royal Distillers company. With US operations based in Miami, Royal Dutch Distillers is a sales and marketing company which specializes in building brands and launching them into the US market. The company's award-winning portfolio is made up of ultra-premium spirits and cream wines, to include: Rutte gins and genevers, Mandarine Napoleon liqueur, Cherry Heering , BEBO Cuban Coffee Liqueur, Fiorito Limoncello and the original chocolate wine ChocoVine. Royal Dutch Distillers is led by Peter Iglesias, Chief Operating Officer. For more information, visit www.royaldistillers.com. About De Kuyper Royal Distillers De Kuyper Royal Distillers is a family-owned premium liqueur and premium spirits company founded in 1695 by Petrus De Kuyper, today operating in more than 100 markets worldwide. The company, headquartered in Schiedam near Rotterdam (NL), holds the global market leading brand in cocktail liqueurs and is owner as well as producer of a number of world-famous liqueurs, such as Peachtree, Cherry Heering, Mandarine Napoleon and the juniper-based spirits of the Rutte Gin and Genever range. The premium liqueur specialist has been awarded "Liqueur Producer of the Year" at the International Spirits Challenge (ISC) in 2019. Mark de Witte is the Global CEO of the company. SOURCE Blue Ridge Spirits & Wine Marketing Related Links www.blueridgespirits.com This is Bryant's first independent grant secured from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and it enables Professor Reid to develop chemical tools to study how the cell wall is disassembled to allow for growth of bacteria. The grant will provide an opportunity for undergraduate students and post-baccalaureate fellows to acquire multi-disciplinary training at the interface of chemistry and biology. New areas of investigation "We are excited that our undergraduate-driven research will be supported by the National Science Foundation," says Reid, who will work to accomplish two ambitious goals over the course of the three-year grant, helping to advance our understanding of cell wall remodeling into new areas of investigation. First, Reid will "investigate the differences between chemical and genetic inactivation of a protein." Second, he hopes to "validate these molecules as viable probes to study bacterial cell wall physiology that can be used by the microbiology community." "Bryant has been working hard to establish and build programming in the areas of health and behavioral sciences and environmental science, adding to the diversity of the Bryant brand," says Kirsten Hokeness, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Science and Technology. "Securing independent funding, which is another major milestone for development in these areas, is not easy to do as a primarily undergraduate institution. I am extremely proud of Professor Reid and his team for this tremendous accomplishment." Several Bryant University undergraduate students helped lay the foundation for the grant and will support Professor Reid to generate and analyze the data that arise from the research. "Bryant is committed to offering experiential opportunities to science students, to ensure they not only secure and reinforce their passions, but that they will be prepared for and competitive in getting to graduate programs and entry-level careers," adds Hokeness. "This grant will help us to do that, even in times where the pandemic has limited undergraduate research capabilities." An opportunity for students According to Professor Reid, the grant will support two undergraduate summer research fellows, fund a fellowship to a junior/senior high school student from underrepresented groups in the STEM fields, and provide resources for Bryant Honors Program students who are working on aspects of this research project. One of the undergraduate summer research fellows, Biology major Joseph Prete '21, will carry out biophysical studies to characterize how the molecules interact with the protein target. The other fellow, Biology major Caroline Williams '22, will compare the differences that occur at a molecular level when a cell wall acting enzyme is either chemically inactivated by our molecule or is inactivated (deleted) by genetic means. "The successful student outcomes from those who have worked under Professor Reid's guidance are tremendous," says Hokeness. "Some of [these students] have been published, others have secured patents, and all have built on their analytic skill sets." This grant, from the Chemistry of Life Processes (CLP) Program within the National Science Foundation's Division of Chemistry, was made possible by the support of the Rhode Island IDeA Network for Excellence in Biomedical Research (RI-INBRE), which funded the preliminary study that led to the award. In addition, continued support from Bryant University administration, faculty, and staff was instrumental in the grant application process. Provisional patent This is not the first major research undertaking of Professor Reid and his team. After nearly a decade of research, they recently received a provisional patent for a promising antibacterial compound they've developed one that they hope will combat antibiotic-resistant infections. Read more here: https://news.bryant.edu/building-path-improved-antibiotics. About Science and Technology at Bryant Bryant University's Department of Science and Technology offers study within career tracks - including pre-health, cellular and molecular biology, general biology, ecology and conservation, sustainability management and environmental health, and toxicology - that prepare students to work in their fields or graduate school. Graduates have gone on to successful careers in science-related fields such as medicine, dentistry, public health, environmental conservation, sustainability, bio-pharma, and scientific research. About Bryant University For 157 years, Bryant University has been at the forefront of delivering an exceptional education that anticipates the future and prepares students to be innovative leaders of character in a changing world. Located on a contemporary campus in Smithfield, R.I., Bryant enrolls approximately 3800 undergraduate students from 38 states and 49 countries. Bryant is recognized as a leader in international education and regularly receives top rankings from U.S. News and World Report, Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wall Street Journal, College Factual, and Barron's. Visit www.Bryant.edu. SOURCE Bryant University Related Links www.bryant.edu STOCKHOLM, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Annual General Meeting of RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) held today, the following resolutions were adopted. It was resolved to re-elect Carl Filip Bergendal, Johan Lof, Britta Wallgren, Hans Wigzell, Lars Wollung and Johanna Oberg as board members of the company and to re-elect Lars Wollung as chairman of the board. The Annual General Meeting adopted the balance sheets and income statements and discharged the members of the board and the CEO from liability. It was resolved that the accumulated profit, amounting to SEK 206,198,000 be brought forward and balanced in the new accounts. It was resolved to adopt the guidelines for remuneration to senior executives proposed by the board. It was resolved that remuneration to board members who do not receive a salary from any Group company shall amount to SEK 700,000 to the chairman of the board and SEK 250,000 to each of the other board members elected by the general meeting. It was resolved that the auditor's fees be paid in accordance with approved invoicing and to re-elect the auditing firm Ernst & Young as auditor. The Annual General Meeting also approved the board's proposal regarding amendments of the articles of association. CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Johan Lof, Founder and CEO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) Telephone: +46-(0)8-510-530-00 [email protected] Peter Thysell, CFO, RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) Telephone: +46-(0)70-661-05-59 [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/raysearch-laboratories/r/bulletin-from-the-annual-general-meeting-2020,c3145657 The following files are available for download: SOURCE RaySearch Laboratories LAS VEGAS, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Throughout the pandemic, restaurants around the globe have been challenged to rise up to the occasion, adapting service and business models to fit the new norm. Through strategic growth, extraordinary innovation and a forward-thinking mindset Capriotti's Sandwich Shop has taken this challenge head-on. After initial uncertainty, the brand has bolstered both its menu and franchise opportunity and is now reporting strong performance and growth, having signed 18 development agreements during the pandemic. From adapting operations to prioritizing customer and employee safety to unveiling a new menu, the brand's success can be attributed to commitment to innovation this quarter. Earlier this month, Capriotti's partnered with Snake River Farms, the premier producer of American Wagyu steaks and roasts, to make beef that is served in top-rated restaurants worldwide available at shops across the nation. Beyond the menu, Capriotti's has also expanded its franchise opportunity to include ghost kitchens and virtual brands that cater to consumer demand for delivery, catering and online ordering. Ghost kitchens offer a low-cost entry into urban markets making it simple and cost-effective for franchise partners to serve fan-favorite subs to communities across the nation. Capriotti's also has plans to roll out nine virtual brands that serve reimagined versions of extraordinary classic subs to fans through delivery platforms like GrubHub and Door Dash. Capriotti's has been able to maintain growth through franchising this quarter with seven ghost kitchen opportunities under development and 11 area development agreements for traditional stores, making up a total of 40 restaurants slated to open across the United States in 2020 with another 180 shops in the pipeline for development for coming years. During the pandemic, the brand was also ranked #17 on Fast Casual's Movers and Shakers list for its outstanding performance and commitment to innovation. Amid change and uncertainty, Capriotti's has also remained dedicated to serving the community. Franchise partners across the nation have worked to donate several hundred meals to essential workers to thank them for their efforts in keeping communities healthy. Las Vegas shops participated in the Las Vegas Frontline Food Fund's GoFundMe efforts in which all funds were used to purchase more than 4,500 individual meals from Las Vegas restaurants for frontline workers. In addition to donations and fundraising, the brand supported front-line workers on a national level through BOGO promotions for nurses, law enforcement officers and emergency medical responders. "Restaurants around the globe have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and we are no exception. The last few months have been challenging, but keeping our people and our customers safe while supporting our communities has been and continues to be our number one priority," said Ashley Morris, CEO of Capriotti's Sandwich Shop. "Through ghost kitchens and virtual brands, we hope to offer fans peace of mind and comfort when they are ordering our extraordinary subs, while providing a low-cost, high demand franchise option for interested franchise partners." With the top 25 percent of shops averaging $1.1 million average unit volume and an initial average investment of $376,000 with high growth potential, Capriotti's is a profitable and rewarding franchise investment. The brand is backed by a corporate leadership team that offers a continuous support program for franchisees, called CAPMastery. This online and field program provides significant support to franchisees for marketing, retail sales, operations and growth strategies through every stage of their ownership. Capriotti's plans to expand to 500 locations by 2025 through franchising, with franchise opportunities for single and multi-unit developers. For more information about Capriotti's or its franchise opportunity, visit ownacapriottis.com. About Capriotti's Sandwich Shop Founded in 1976, Capriotti's Sandwich Shop is an award-winning national franchised restaurant chain that remains true to its 40-year tradition of slow-roasting whole, all-natural turkeys in-house every day. Capriotti's cold, grilled and vegetarian subs, cheese steaks and salads are available at more than 100 locations across the United States. Capriotti's signature sub, The Bobbie, was voted "The Greatest Sandwich in America" by thousands of readers across the country, as reported by AOL.com. Capriotti's fans can also download the CAPAddicts Rewards app for iOS and Android, where they can earn and redeem rewards. Capriotti's plans to grow to over 500 locations by 2025. For more information, visit capriottis.com. Like Capriotti's on Facebook, follow on Twitter or Instagram. Media Contact: Marissa Pasillas, Fishman Public Relations, [email protected] SOURCE Capriotti's Sandwich Shop Related Links http://www.capriottis.com LANSING, Mich., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Michigan Catholic Conference released the following statement after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 today in Espinoza v. Montana. The Court found unconstitutional that state's policy to prohibit religious schools from equal access to a public education benefit. The full impact of the ruling on the State of Michigan and Article 8 Section 2 of the state constitution Michigan's "Blaine Amendment" - will require additional review and study. "We're pleased with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court and believe it is an important step toward bringing an end to 50 years of systemic and state-recognized discrimination and injustice against Michigan's non-public schools, students and families," said Michigan Catholic Conference President and CEO Paul A. Long. "While the decision will require a full review for its impact in Michigan, it is clear that the Court has handed down a path forward toward educational freedom and opportunity for all." In 1970 the Michigan Constitution was amended to prohibit state aid to nonpublic schools and is considered among the most prohibitive "Blaine" amendments in the country. Such amendments are named after James G. Blaine, a former U.S. Senator from Maine, who sought a federal constitutional amendment in the late 19th Century to prohibit state aid to Catholic schools. Although Blaine was unsuccessful at the federal level, his legacy endured at the state level as 37 states, including Michigan, prohibit aid to religious schools. Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state. SOURCE Michigan Catholic Conference Milton Carroll, Executive Chairman, said, "The Board determined in February that it was the right time for CenterPoint Energy to name an experienced executive leader with a fresh strategic perspective, proven achievement in shareholder and stakeholder value creation and a track record of delivering results to lead the company through its next phase of growth. After a thorough search process that included external candidates, we are delighted to have found that leader in Dave Lesar and welcome him as our next president and CEO. "Over the past three decades, Dave has built an enviable track record of vision, strategy implementation, execution capability, financial sophistication and operational experience. During his 17 years leading Halliburton, he was the architect of how that company ultimately led the industry in growth, margins and returns. He will work with the Board and the entire CenterPoint Energy team to evaluate, refine and advance our strategy, and then position us to execute on our robust capital plans and seize attractive growth opportunities. He will help us ensure that CenterPoint Energy achieves our potential and promise, building on the company's impressive service territories and strong regulatory position," Mr. Carroll concluded. Mr. Lesar said, "We are committed to unlocking the power and potential within this company and its premium regulated utilities and to maintaining our earnings growth rate. We have a dedicated team with the right skills to position us to create attractive value, building on a base of strong utility assets. Our utility-focused strategy, combined with our newly strengthened financial position, enables us to focus on how best to optimize and drive return on our assets. We need to ensure that the financial community, our employees and other key stakeholders can clearly see and understand our strategy. With respect to current and potential investors, my number one near-term goal is to achieve greater shareholder confidence by setting, communicating and working tirelessly to achieve our financial and business goals. Throughout my career, I have worked to maximize sustainable shareholder value and build strong relationships with the constituencies that are central to the success and sustainability of the companies I have led. I am honored by the trust the Board has placed in me, and excited to immediately start in this new role, working alongside our dedicated and talented team members who make a tremendous difference for customers every day. "CenterPoint Energy is a backbone, supporting economic vitality in the state of Texas and the other states it serves. We will continue to strive to meet the energy delivery needs of our customers and communities safely and reliably. We will also build on our proven ability to innovate and utilize the vast creativity of our people to drive value for all of the stakeholders who rely, trust and invest in us," continued Mr. Lesar. Mr. Lesar stated, "I am dedicated to accelerating the company's environmental commitments and leadership in emissions reduction, infrastructure modernization and delivering sustainable and cleaner energy. CenterPoint Energy is also steadfast about building on our long history of investing in the communities in which we operate. I am devoted to having our employees including our leadershipand our suppliers reflect those diverse communities, and inclusion is an important part of my vision for how CenterPoint Energy will lead." Mr. Carroll added, "On behalf of the Board of Directors and CenterPoint Energy's employees, I would also like to thank John for serving as interim CEO during a time of significant change and transition for our company and the country and for his prior service as a director. We have all valued and benefited from John's substantial contributions, leadership and support and wish him well." CenterPoint Energy also announced that Earl M. Cummings has been appointed to serve as a new independent member of the company's Board of Directors. He fills the vacancy created by Mr. Somerhalder's departure from the Board as of June 30, 2020. With Mr. Cummings' appointment, the Board comprises directors with independence, relevant skills, expertise and a valuable diversity reflective of the company and customers, constituencies and communities served. Mr. Carroll said, "We are delighted to have Earl join the Board as a new outside director. His experience, leadership and commitment to creating value for all our stakeholders will further strengthen our Board's oversight and contributions to CenterPoint Energy." New director Earl Cummings added, "I am pleased to be joining the distinguished board of such an important and outstanding company. I look forward to working with CenterPoint Energy, our new CEO and my fellow directors to capitalize on the opportunities ahead and uphold our commitments to service, safety, inclusion and performance." Mr. Lesar, who recently joined the CenterPoint Energy Board, has chaired the Board's Business Review and Evaluation Committee since its formation in early May 2020. CenterPoint Energy intends to host an investor day by early 2021 to update stakeholders on the company's vision and plans. About David J. Lesar Dave Lesar joined CenterPoint Energy as a director in May 2020. He served as interim CEO of Health Care Service Corporation, the largest privately-held health insurer in the U.S., from July 2019 through June 1, 2020, having joined the company's board of directors in 2018. He was the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Halliburton Company from 2000 to 2017 and Executive Chairman of the Board from June 2017 until December 2018. Mr. Lesar joined Halliburton in 1993 and served in a variety of other roles, including executive vice president of Finance and Administration for Halliburton Energy Services, a Halliburton business unit, CFO of Halliburton from 1995 through May 1997, President and Chief Operating Officer from May 1997 through August 2000. He has also served on the board of directors of several companies, most recently Agrium, Inc. as well as Lyondell Chemical Co., Southern Co., Cordant Technologies, and Mirant. A Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Lesar was previously a partner at Arthur Andersen. He received both his B.S. and MBA from the University of Wisconsin. About Earl Cummings Since 2012, Mr. Cummings has served as Managing Partner of MCM Houston Properties, LLC, a real estate fund that invests in single family residential properties in Houston, Texas. In his role as Managing Partner, he is responsible for overall capital raising, investment, acquisition, and business strategies of the fund and its assets. Mr. Cummings also serves as Chief Executive Officer of The BTS Team, which began as an information technology and staffing firm providing solutions and services across various regions and evolved into a company that also invested financial resources in various industries to create value for shareholders and other stakeholders, and he previously served as its Chief Information Officer and Chairman of its board. He also served as Chief Executive Officer of BestAssets, Inc., a private company providing real estate portfolio management and related services. Active across communities and in non-profit board service, Mr. Cummings has served on the boards of the University of Houston Board of Visitors, C-STEM Robotics (where he was founding Chairman of the Executive Board for C-STEM), Yellowstone Academy and has also served on the advisory boards for KIPP Academy and Texas Southern University School of Business. Mr. Cummings holds a BBA of Management Information Systems from the University of Houston and an MBA from Pepperdine University. About CenterPoint Energy, Inc. As the only investor owned electric and gas utility based in Texas, CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) is an energy delivery company with electric transmission & distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve more than 7 million metered customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. As of March 31, 2020, the company owns approximately $33 billion in assets and also owns 53.7 percent of the common units representing limited partner interests in Enable Midstream Partners, LP, a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops strategically located natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets. With approximately 9,600 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 150 years. For more information, visit CenterPointEnergy.com. This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projection," "should," "target," "will," "can" or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any statements in this news release regarding the company's prospects or potential or the intentions of management or the board, capital investment plans, future financial and business goals, earnings growth rates or financial condition, growth or business opportunities, stakeholder (including shareholder) value creation, environmental and sustainability commitments including emissions reductions, social goals including relating to diversity, activities of the board's business review and evaluation committee, future investor days hosted by the Company, inclusion, strategic initiatives, future financial performance and results of operations, , and any other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) the impact of COVID-19; (2) financial market conditions; (3) general economic conditions; (4) the timing and impact of future regulatory and legislative decisions; (5) effects of competition; (6) weather variations; (7) changes in business plans; and (8) other factors discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, CenterPoint Energy's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information contact Media: Alicia Dixon Phone 713.207.5885 Investors: Dave Mordy Phone 713.207.6500 SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc. Related Links http://www.centerpointenergy.com DENVER, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) today announced that Qwest Corporation, its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary ("Qwest"), has issued notices to redeem the remaining $300 million outstanding aggregate principal amount of its 6.875% Notes due 2054 (the "Qwest Notes"). Pursuant to these notices, on Aug. 7, 2020, the remaining $300 million outstanding aggregate principal amount of the Qwest Notes will be redeemed at par plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the redemption date. Additional information regarding the redemption of the Qwest Notes is available from Bank of New York Mellon. This press release does not constitute a notice of redemption with respect to the Qwest Notes. About CenturyLink CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) is a technology leader delivering hybrid networking, cloud connectivity, and security solutions to customers around the world. Through its extensive global fiber network, CenturyLink provides secure and reliable services to meet the growing digital demands of businesses and consumers. CenturyLink strives to be the trusted connection to the networked world and is focused on delivering technology that enhances the customer experience. Learn more at http://news.centurylink.com/. Forward-Looking Statements Except for historical and factual information, the matters set forth in this release and other of our oral or written statements identified by words such as "estimates," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "intends," and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are based on current expectations only, are inherently speculative, and are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual events and results may differ materially from those anticipated, estimated, projected or implied by us in those statements if one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect. Factors that could affect actual results include but are not limited to: changes in Qwest's cash requirements or financial position; unanticipated delays in redeeming our outstanding debt securities as described above; changes in general market, economic, tax, regulatory or industry conditions; corporate developments that could preclude, impair or delay the above-described transactions due to restrictions under the federal securities laws; and other risks referenced from time to time in CenturyLink's or Qwest's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). You should be aware that new factors may emerge from time to time and it is not possible for CenturyLink or Qwest to identify all such factors, nor can CenturyLink or Qwest predict the impact of each such factor on its plans, or the extent to which any one or more factors may cause actual results to differ from those reflected in any of their forward-looking statements. For all the reasons set forth above and in our SEC filings, you are cautioned not to unduly rely upon our forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments, changed circumstances, or otherwise. Furthermore, any information about our intentions contained in any of our forward-looking statements reflects our intentions as of the date of such forward-looking statement, and is based upon, among other things, existing regulatory, technological, industry, competitive, economic and market conditions, and our assumptions as of such date. We may change our intentions, strategies or plans (including our plans expressed herein) without notice at any time and for any reason. SOURCE CenturyLink Inc. Related Links http://www.centurylink.com AUBURN, Ala., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicken Salad Chick, the nation's only southern inspired, fast casual chicken salad restaurant concept, announced today it will be expanding in Illinois with its newest restaurant in East Peoria. Following the brand's first-to-market restaurant opening in Edwardsville last year, the new East Peoria location marks Chicken Salad Chick's second restaurant in Illinois and first in the central region. The East Peoria restaurant is located at 412 West Washington Street and will celebrate its grand opening on July 14 by offering free chicken salad for a year to the first 100 guests. Those awarded will be properly distanced and will receive a designated return time upon arrival to spread out the number of guests at the restaurant throughout the day. As Illinois continues to reopen, Chicken Salad Chick is closely following state guidelines and will open the East Peoria restaurant at limited capacity with social distancing measures in place. Additionally, all employees will be wearing masks and gloves, as well as practicing proper handwashing and food safety protocol. During grand opening week, guests will experience the southern hospitality that Chicken Salad Chick is known for, with modified giveaways and specials that include: Tuesday, July 14 Free Chicken Salad for a Year The first 100 guests will receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per month for an entire year, with one of those lucky guests randomly selected to win one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per week.* Any guest not part of the first 100 in line can make an in-store purchase and enter for a chance to win free chicken salad for a year.** Free Chicken Salad for a Year The first 100 guests will receive one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per month for an entire year, with one of those lucky guests randomly selected to win one large Quick Chick of chicken salad per week.* Any guest not part of the first 100 in line can make an in-store purchase and enter for a chance to win free chicken salad for a year.** Wednesday, July 15 The first 100 guests to purchase a Chick Special will receive a free Chick Special redeemable on the next visit. The first 100 guests to purchase a Chick Special will receive a free Chick Special redeemable on the next visit. Thursday, July 16 The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Trio will receive a free Chick tumbler. The first 50 guests to purchase a Chick Trio will receive a free Chick tumbler. Friday, July 17 The first 100 guests to purchase a Chick Special will receive a free scoop of Classic Carol. The first 100 guests to purchase a Chick Special will receive a free scoop of Classic Carol. Saturday, July 18 The first 50 guests to purchase two large Quick Chicks will receive a free large Chick cooler. The East Peoria restaurant is owned and operated by first-time Chicken Salad Chick franchise owner Yonas Hagos of DLH Chicken Salad EP, LLC. More than two decades ago, Hagos and his family fled a Sudan refugee camp and moved to Wheaton, Illinois, where his love for the restaurant industry began. He started working at a fast-food restaurant at the age of 14 and stayed in the foodservice industry until his enlistment in the military after the 9/11 attacks. Hagos completed tours in Germany, Kuwait and Iraq and after nearly losing his life, was awarded a purple heart for his efforts. Upon his return to the U.S., Hagos went on to open seven Dunkin' Donuts locations, one Arby's restaurant, 12 Smoothie King franchises and is now expanding his portfolio to include Chicken Salad Chick. Following his opening in East Peoria, Hagos plans to open an additional location in Bloomington over the next few years. "Becoming a business owner has been a lifelong dream of mine. In my teenage years, I shoveled driveways, worked in fast-food restaurants, cut grass anything to make money to support my goal and here I am today, opening my fourth franchise concept," said Yonas Hagos. "Chicken Salad Chick is the perfect addition to my portfolio because the brand combines the fresh, flavorful menu items that guests crave with an inclusive and welcoming ambiance that keeps guests coming back for more. I can't wait to start this next chapter and look forward to introducing Central Illinois to this one-of-a-kind restaurant." The Chicken Salad Chick concept was established in 2008 by founder, Stacy Brown. With more than a dozen original chicken salad flavors as well as fresh side salads, gourmet soups, signature sandwiches and delicious desserts, Chicken Salad Chick's robust menu offers a variety of options suitable for any guest. Under the leadership of CEO Scott Deviney and the Chicken Salad Chick team, the company now has more than 160 restaurants currently open in 17 states and remains a standout brand within the fast casual segment. Chicken Salad Chick in East Peoria will be open Monday Saturday from 10:00a.m. 8p.m. For more information, visit www.chickensaladchick.com. Follow Chicken Salad Chick on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news and trends. *Guests should arrive between 7-10am to get checked in. The first 100 guests will be assigned a number and designated return time between 10-11:15am. Upon return, guests will make a purchase of "The Chick" or anything of greater value and scan the code '1st 100 Spot' on the CravingCredits app to officially secure your spot. If you are late, or miss return time, your spot will be awarded to next in-line. Guests much be 16 years or older, redemption begins 7/20. **Eligible winners must be 16 years or older and are required to download the Craving Credits app. 10 winners will be drawn at the end of the day. Redemption will start 7/20. For more information on giveaways and specials, visit https://www.facebook.com/ChickenSaladChickEastPeoria/ About Chicken Salad Chick Founded in Auburn, Alabama, in 2008, Chicken Salad Chick serves full-flavored, Southern-style chicken salad made from scratch and served from the heart. With more than a dozen original chicken salad flavors as well as fresh side salads, gourmet soups, signature sandwiches and delicious desserts, Chicken Salad Chick's robust menu is a perfect fit for any guest. Today, the brand has more than 160 restaurants in 17 states and is continuing its rapid expansion with both franchise and company locations. Chicken Salad Chick has received numerous accolades including rankings in Franchise Times' Fast & Serious and Fast Casual.com's top Movers and Shakers for the third consecutive year and Franchise Times' Dealmaker Awards and Franchise Business Review's Top Food Franchises in 2020. See www.chickensaladchick.com for additional information. Contact: Nikki Rode Fish Consulting 954-893-9150 [email protected] SOURCE Chicken Salad Chick Related Links http://www.chickensaladchick.com WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's National Hospital today announced a $36 million investment from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation to provide families with greater access to mental health care and community resources. "We are deeply grateful for the longstanding support and generosity of the Clark Foundation and their desire to invest in the D.C. community," said Kurt Newman, M.D., President and CEO of Children's National Hospital. "The impact of their philanthropy will enable Children's National to provide better maternal care and mental health resources for mothers and families, which could provide life-long benefits to children in our community." The Clark Parent & Child Network pairs clinical innovation with community partnerships to support underserved pregnant and postpartum women and children up to age 3. It will bridge a gap between prenatal care and early childhood development with a focus on mental health: Creating greater access to mental health care by increasing community-based screenings and support for pregnant women, placing more mental health specialists alongside pediatricians and creating a mental health clinic for infants and toddlers Promoting positive home environments and building a stronger safety net for at-risk children Placing family advocates in vulnerable neighborhoods Establishing a network of community partners to support families with social, emotional, and financial challenges "Simply put, healthy moms have healthy babies," said Catherine Limperopoulos, Ph.D., Director of the Developing Brain Institute at Children's National. "The goal of the Clark Parent & Child Network is to give all women supportive and positive environments for them and their children." In addition to Children's National, the Clark Foundation is investing in other hospitals and community-based care providers in Washington, D.C. These Clark-funded organizations will share findings and progress with one another, working hand-in-hand to help pave the way for a healthy, thriving future for children and families. "As the premier children's hospital in the region, Children's National Hospital has been a longstanding partner of the Clark Foundation, the Clark family and countless families in D.C.," said Courtney Clark Pastrick, Clark Foundation Board Chair. "We are proud to invest in their work to meet families where they are and provide critical support to mothers, caregivers and children during their early years of life. We are confident that Children's National's commitment to innovation and to sharing best practices with providers across the city will result in impact, not only at a family level, but at a community level and beyond." "Our team is excited to build a powerful network in partnership with vital community groups, thanks to the city-wide investment of the Clark Foundation," said Lee Beers, M.D., FAAP, Medical Director of Community Health and Advocacy at the Child Health Advocacy Institute at Children's National. "This is a tremendous opportunity to affect significant and lasting change at the family, community and eventually population level." The Clark Parent & Child Network will launch on July 1, 2020. About Children's National Hospital Children's National Hospital, based in Washington, D.C., celebrates 150 years of pediatric care, research and commitment to community. Volunteers opened the hospital in 1870 with 12 beds for children displaced after the Civil War. Today, 150 years stronger, it is among the nation's top 10 children's hospitals. It is ranked No. 1 for newborn care for the fourth straight year and ranked in all specialties evaluated by U.S. News & World Report. Children's National is transforming pediatric medicine for all children. In 2020, construction will be complete on the Children's National Research and Innovation Campus, the first in the nation dedicated to pediatric research. Children's National has been designated twice as a Magnet hospital, demonstrating the highest standards of nursing and patient care delivery. This pediatric academic health system offers expert care through a convenient, community-based primary care network and specialty outpatient centers in the D.C., metropolitan area, including the Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs. Children's National is home to the Children's National Research Institute and Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation and is the nation's seventh-highest NIH-funded children's hospital. It is recognized for its expertise and innovation in pediatric care and as a strong voice for children through advocacy at the local, regional and national levels. For more information, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. About the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation The A. James & Alice. B Clark Foundation partners with grantees who build practical, immediate and concrete connections between effort and opportunity, and focuses its investments in the following areas: educating engineers to solve society's toughest problems, improving the lives of veterans and their families, and providing members of the DC community the best opportunity to thrive. SOURCE Childrens National Hospital; Children's National Health System Related Links http://www.childrensnational.org Two extremely dangerous terrorists have been killed by Egyptian security forces in a shootout in North Sinai, Egypts interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The two terrorists, who were attempting to gather information about security checkpoints in the area as part of a plot to launch a series of attacks, were killed after they fired shots at police who were attempting to apprehend them, according to the statement. The ministry said that police retrieved from the scene two automatic rifles, ammunition, and a weapon that was stolen by the suspects in an earlier attack on a policeman in August 2017 in North Sinais Bir Al-Abd. The interior ministry said it acted upon information gathered by its National Security Bureau that terrorists were scouting North Sinais Galbana area in preparation for carrying out attacks against army and police personnel on the seventh anniversary of the 30 June Revolution. Egypt has been conducting Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018 for the past two years to combat takfiri elements in Norh Sinai. Short link: SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Hotel & Lodging Association Hospitality Foundation proudly awarded $116,000 in scholarships on June 21 to 62 students pursuing hospitality, tourism and culinary arts degrees at 13 California colleges. The annual gala celebrating the honorees and raising funds for future scholarships has been postponed to a yet-to-be-determined date that will align with public health guidelines. The Foundation, however, remained committed to providing the scholarships to this year's deserving recipients and continues to welcome financial contributions to support our deserving students. "Engaging with the hospitality students during the scholarship interview process solidified the importance of why the Foundation encourages future leaders to pursue careers in hotels and restaurants," said Gena Chen, Foundation Treasurer and Director of Catering and Event Management at The St. Regis San Francisco. "Ours is a symbiotic relationship that we are building to develop the next generation of hospitality talent and ensure the growth of our industry. " More than 102 students applied for the coveted scholarships. The scholarship committee, comprised of hospitality professionals, reviewed each application, selecting the honorees based on their grade point average, declaration to pursue a hospitality degree and dedicated hospitality work experience. The colleges whose hospitality students received scholarships include: Cal Poly Pomona, San Diego State University, University of San Francisco, San Francisco State University, San Jose State, Palomar College, Orange Coast College, Cerritos College, City College of San Francisco, Chico State University, Long Beach State University, California State University East Bay, and California State University Northridge. About California Hotel & Lodging Association Hospitality Foundation CHLAHF is a non-profit organization that provides scholarships and research in support of excellence among industry employees and hospitality students, to raise the profile of the California hospitality industry. CHLAHF was formed in April 2019 when The Hotel & Restaurant Foundation and The CHLA Education Foundation combined to support the future of hospitality in California. For more information, please go to https://chlafoundation.org Contact: Deb Kurtti 1-916-554-2660 [email protected] SOURCE California Hotel & Lodging Association Hospitality Foundation Related Links https://chlafoundation.org ZURICH, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chubb Limited (NYSE: CB) will hold its second quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The company expects to issue its second quarter earnings release and financial supplement after the market closes on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. These documents will be available on the company's investor website at investors.chubb.com. The earnings conference call will be available via live webcast at investors.chubb.com or by dialing 800-458-4121 (within the United States) or 323-794-2093 (international), passcode 8265970. Please refer to the Chubb website under Events and Presentations for details. A replay of the call will be available until Wednesday, August 12, 2020, and the archived webcast will be available on our website for approximately one month. To listen to the replay, please click here to register and receive dial-in numbers. 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: www.chubb.com. SOURCE Chubb Limited Related Links http://new.chubb.com BALTIMORE, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Business today announced it has earned approved vendor status with the State of Maryland allowing Maryland state and local government agencies to purchase data services and access Comcast Business' high-performance network offering last-mile connectivity to end users. Comcast Business serves 20 of the nation's top 25 markets and is one of the fastest-growing Ethernet providers in the nation. With a comprehensive portfolio of Ethernet options, Comcast Business serves businesses and organizations that require large amounts of bandwidth, are looking to link multiple sites or branch locations or plan to connect their offices to a third-party data center. Under the terms of the five-year Maryland agreement, Comcast Business will provide state agencies and municipalities with its full suite of data networking products and services. "We are excited for this opportunity to provide the State of Maryland with the nation's leading technology and innovative services, backed by our excellent customer service and support expertise," said Wolf Lewis, Senior Director of Enterprise for Comcast's Beltway Region, which includes Maryland. "This partnership allows us to offer additional fiber, coax and wireless solutions so Maryland's agencies, commissions, councils, bureaus, authorities and boards have access to the critical last mile of connectivity." Nationally, Comcast Business provides more than 600 data center connections, four network operations centers available 24/7 and more than 153,000 fiber route miles across its network. Comcast Business is powered by an advanced network privately managed by an experienced team. About Comcast Business Comcast Business offers Ethernet, Internet, Wi-Fi, Voice, TV and Managed Enterprise Solutions to help organizations of all sizes transform their business. Powered by an advanced network, and backed by 24/7 customer support, Comcast Business is one of the largest contributors to the growth of Comcast Cable. Comcast Business is the nation's largest cable provider to small and mid-size businesses and has emerged as a force in the Enterprise market being recognized over the last two years by leading industry associations as one of the fastest growing providers of Ethernet services. To learn more, visit http://business.comcast.com , call 866-429-3085 or follow us on Twitter @Comcast Business and on other social media platforms at http://business.comcast.com/social. SOURCE Comcast Business Related Links http://business.comcast.com SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Common Networksa revolutionary wireless internet service provider (ISP)officially welcomes telecom industry veterans John Barrett and Janice Roberts to their Advisory Board. John and Janice, who have worked for some of the largest telecom companies in the country, bring deep finance and operations expertise to Common's Advisory Board. "As a company reinventing the technology, business model, and customer experience of home internet service, we're excited to learn from John and Janice's years of experience in these areas," says Grace Chen, CEO of Common Networks. "Their expertise will be invaluable as we expand to new markets and scale our operations." John Barrett most recently served as President and CEO of CCU, a fiber optics construction firm in the southeast. Prior to that, with Clearwater Advisors, John provided executive consulting services concentrated upon the internet and video provider industries for clients including investment and international consulting firms. A major portion of John's career has been spent in leadership roles with Comcast Corporation as he helped guide the company's growth from a small regional cable operator to a Fortune 50 enterprise. His roles included CFO for a $5 billion cable division and as Senior Vice President managing Comcast's broadband business serving over 3 million customers in the southeast. John resides in Atlanta and recently co-founded a startup mentorship program for students of Oglethorpe University. Janice Roberts was Senior Vice President of Field Services at Cox Communications, Inc., where she was responsible for strategy and day-to-day enterprise operations for installation and service delivery of Cox video, voice, data, and home security & automation services for residential and commercial customers. Before Cox, she was a partner at Accenture in their Communications & High Technology practice. She began her career with AT&T as an outside plant engineer, designing distribution networks, after receiving her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Clemson University. She earned her MBA degree from Kennesaw State University, Michael J. Coles College of Business. ABOUT COMMON NETWORKS, INC. Common Networks is a technology company providing first-of-its-kind wireless internet powered by open 5G and local connections. Using groundbreaking proprietary innovations, Common delivers unparalleled speed at a reduced cost. Common is disrupting industry standards with complete transparency in pricing and customer service. In less than three years, Common's network has provided coverage to over 100,000 people in a fraction of the timeand at less than 1/50th of the price it would take to lay fiber optic internet for these communities. The company has raised more than $34 million in funding to date from notable partners, including General Catalyst, Eclipse Ventures, and Lux Capital. Based in San Francisco, Common was founded in 2016 by Grace Chen, Jessica Shalek, Zach Brock and Mark Jen to provide accessible, high-speed internet services for all. CONTACT: [email protected] SOURCE Common Networks Related Links http://common.net DENVER, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cordant Health Solutions (Cordant) offers a video-observed oral fluid drug testing solution ideal for helping drug courts and other government agencies continue to monitor participants' adherence to their treatment programs during safer at home orders. Saliva testing is a useful tool that has been recognized as an effective method for testing in addiction treatment settings according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Due to the need for social distancing to minimize exposure to COVID-19, many government agencies are struggling to maintain their monitoring programs. While some may already offer virtual services, drug testing to monitor adherence is a challenge in this environment. After courts began suspending cases due to safety concerns, officials at the Hamilton County Adult Probation Department in Indiana realized that participants who were in treatment programs for substance use disorder were at risk of relapse or even overdose without drug monitoring. "At first, we thought delaying testing for a week or 10 days would be okay," said Madonna Wagoner, director of the department. "But once it became close to a month, we knew we needed to figure out a better plan to help our clients stay compliant." As drug testing frequency decreased, participants in the drug court program, who are at higher risk of relapse, began expressing their discomfort with the lack of screening. "Our clients were telling us they want more screening, that they rely on it to stay adherent to their drug treatment program," said Krista Radican, assistant director adult probation/drug court coordinator. "Several participants self-reported relapses, and some worried aloud to their probation officers or counselors early on that they didn't know how they would get through the pandemic sober." Radican also went on to say that they looked to national resources such as the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) for best practices, but "there are no best practices for the situation we're in right now. Nobody was prepared for a crisis like this." Cordant's video-observed saliva testing is one solution they have adopted to help participants. Video saliva drug testing is easily observed and can be done conveniently in the participant's home, reducing their risk of exposure to COVID-19. The entire process is conducted under video supervision by a remote Cordant collection specialist or a probation officer. "Any disruption in addiction treatment, combined with the increased stress and uncertainty caused by the current pandemic, can increase the chance of relapse in this vulnerable population," said Sue Sommer, CEO and president of Cordant. "By having a solution like video-observed saliva drug testing available, many of our clients, like Hamilton County, were able to adjust their operations to be done remotely, minimizing the effect in disruption of care for participants." Agencies interested in learning more about Cordant's solutions can contact Cordant at [email protected] or 844-848-5955. About Cordant Health Solutions Cordant is committed to developing solutions for payers, clinicians and organizations involved with substance use disorder, pain management and criminal justice agencies. Cordant is one of the only healthcare companies that offers monitoring and risk assessment tools through its innovative drug testing options and full-service, high-touch pharmacies, which specialize in the complex management and dispensing of controlled substances. Cordant's testing protocols and digital case-management tools help clients become more efficient and effective in using drug testing programs to monitor patient adherence, reduce risk and improve patient outcomes. Media Contact: Tiffany Tuetken 303-570-4585 [email protected] Related Images cordant-health-solutions.jpg Cordant Health Solutions SOURCE Cordant Health Solutions OVERLAND PARK, Kan., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Creative Planning Inc. ("Creative Planning"), one of the nation's largest Registered Investment Advisers ("RIA"), today announced the acquisition of Starfire Investment Advisers, a Registered Investment Advisory firm located in Southfield, Michigan. Starfire Investment Advisers provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management for clients with approximately $530 million in Assets Under Management. Peter Mallouk, Chief Executive Officer of Creative Planning, said, "Ron Humenny called me a few months ago letting me know he had spent several years talking with different RIAs, but had heard about Creative and didn't want to finish his search without a conversation. We hit it off and a few months later, got it done. Ron and I share both professional and personal interests, so we quickly got to know each other well. His practice matches our philosophy and we are going to be able to provide his clients with the additional services he was seeking." Ron Humenny, President of Starfire Investment Advisers, said: "We built our practice over the past 29 years by always striving to put client interests first. We were in no rush to find a buyer. We sought the perfect partner. Thoroughly investigating all potential suitors was imperative. We sought a firm that shared our client-centric focus and fiduciary values. After discussions with twelve other firms, we found our ideal fit in Creative Planning. We are honored to join the Creative team and look forward to many years of providing the best possible service and value to our clients, utilizing Creative Planning's considerable resources." About Creative Planning Creative Planning, Inc. is an independent wealth management firm that provides a financial planning led investment management approach, retirement planning, estate planning, trust services, tax advice and family office services for individuals as well as 401(k) and institutional money management. Creative Planning manages approximately $48 billion in assets across all 50 states. Data as of May 14, 2020. Contact: Peter Mallouk, Creative Planning, Inc.,913-696-0500 SOURCE Creative Planning, Inc. Related Links www.creativeplanning.com SOURCE Creative Planning Related Links http://www.creativeplanning.com "Successful disappearance of tumors in subjects upon administering the pain-free anticancer drug, Polytaxel, without side effects such as weight loss." Suppressed 99.8% of tumors despite a non-toxic dosemore effective than existing FDA-approved pancreatic cancer drugs. Hopes for a Korean 'Anti-cancer Drug' amidst chemotherapy's 70 year history. SEOUL, South Korea, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- There has been an increase in the possibility for the 'conquering of cancer' as test results confirm, for the first time, the disappearance of tumors upon administering a 'pain-free anticancer drug.' On June 30th, Hyundai Bioscience (CEO, Oh Sang-Ki/ KOSDAQ: 048410) announced that its majority Shareholder, CNPharm, had conducted animal testing at a non-clinical CRO agency to compare the efficacy of Polytaxel, developed as a new pain-free anticancer drug, to Nab-paclitaxel. As a result of administering 20mg/kg, which is a dose within the maximum non-toxic 'No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL),' to Polytaxel group animals, it was confirmed that the tumor nearly disappeared upon observation of the tumor's height decreased and flattened in two thirds of the animals. Among a total of 48 animals tested in this study, particularly one of the four animals, out of the six animal groups of Polytaxel administration, showed that the tumor had disappeared completely, while the tumors of three others showing to have nearly disappeared. CNPharm continues to observe changes in the tumors of the remaining three animals. In addition to the four animals, two animals are being involved in a follow-up experiment to remove the tumors, such as administering one or two additional doses. Hyundai Bioscience administered Polytaxel within NOAEL, which is undergoing clinical procedures for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and has been proven to have higher safety and efficacy than Nab-paclitaxel, a pancreatic cancer treatment approved by the FDA. As a result of the study, a Polytaxel dose within NOAEL of 20 mg/kg that was administered inhibited tumor growth in the body by 99.8% without the side effect of weight loss to the subject caused by drug toxicity. On the other hand, even though a Nab-paclitaxel dose of 30mg/kg, 30 times greater than NOAEL, was administered, only 41.4% of tumor growth inhibition was observed. Nab-paclitaxel is currently widely used as a pancreatic cancer treatment. Additionally, the body weight of the Nab-paclitaxel-administered subject was reduced by 0.9%, which shows that the subject was not free from toxicity. In the results of animal experiments of pancreatic cancer published at the Global Bio Conference (GBC) last year, a dose within NOAEL of Polytaxel has proved that it is safer and more effective than Docetaxel, a candidate for pancreatic cancer treatment. There have been no cases where existing chemotherapy drugs such as Nab-paclitaxel or Docetaxel showed efficacy in animal experiments when dosed within NOAEL. CNPharm's use of 'pain-free anticancer therapy' (NOAEL Therapy), which can cure cancer without causing side effects due to drug toxicity by administering 'ultra-low-toxicity' doses of anticancer drugs within NOAEL, was first unveiled at the GBC hosted by the Korean Government in June, 2019 and attracted much international attention. When the results of this experiment are confirmed in human clinical trials, cancer patients can cure cancer with painless chemotherapy without suffering side effects from drug toxicity due to surgery or radiation therapy. In this case, this form of treatment is expected to replace standard chemotherapy which appeared on the medical scene in the 1950's and has been widely used thus far. Existing anticancer therapies administer toxic drugs at levels far higher than NOAEL, and patients are in need of a recovery period after the drugs are administered. They have a limitation in that they extend the patient's life by reducing the size of the tumor rather than curing the cancer. On the other hand, this new pain-free anticancer therapy cures cancer without side effects by continuously attacking only the tumor cells while the drug administered within the NOAEL dosage stays in the body for a long time for long circulation. An official from Hyundai Bio said, "Once this pain-free anticancer therapy is put into practice, patients will not only be relieved from side effects caused by drug toxicity, but also will not need surgery or radiation treatment." On the heels of the Polytaxel research, CNPharm is currently conducting a related experiment by designating 'Polyplatin', a platinum-based anticancer drug, as a new pain-free drug. CNPharm plans to expand the range of diseases that can be treated with pain-free anticancer drugs, such as Polytaxel and Polyplatin, using its platform-based technology to treat various cancers as well as viral diseases. For more information, please visit: www.hyundaibioscience.com -END- Q&A Question: What is the most important point in this animal test comparing the efficacies on pancreatic cancer? Answer: It was confirmed that the tumor was completely removed in an efficacy comparison experiment on an intractable cancer, pancreatic cancer. It is also the first case that a tumor disappeared completely by administering an anticancer drug within the maximum non-toxic limit (NOAEL) that doesn't cause side effects due to toxicity. This proves that cancer can be cured by administering anticancer drugs at a dose that does not develop drug toxicity. In other words, it can be summarized that conquering cancer without bodily harm has been proven to no longer be a dream. If universalization of this is achieved through clinical trials, cancer patients can be cured by continuing administration of non-toxic anticancer drugs without the need for surgery or radiation therapy. In the course of chemotherapy, it means that patients can live a normal life while maintaining a certain level of health. Question: At last year's GBC, CNPharm announced the results that Polytaxel can eliminate tumors within NOAEL. What is difference regarding these latest experiments? Answer: The experiment published at last year's GBC confirmed that the pain-free anticancer drug, Polytaxel, is effective in treating pancreatic cancer. The drug to be compared was Docetaxel, which has not yet been approved as a treatment for pancreatic cancer by the FDA. As a result of the experiments conducted from December 2018 to March of the following year, it was proven that Polytaxel is more effective than Docetaxel in treating pancreatic cancer without side effects caused by toxicity. At the same time, tumors nearly disappeared in some of the subjects administered with Polytaxel, but the pattern was relatively less pronounced in the results of this experiment. Complete death was not observed. This experiment was conducted to confirm whether Polytaxel can completely remove tumors within NOAEL. As a result of the experiment, tumors disappeared in four out of six subjects, and in one of them, the complete elimination of the tumor was confirmed for the first time. Therefore, a follow-up experiment is underway to confirm the results of the complete cancer treatment in all six subjects of the experimental group. An efficacy comparison experiment was conducted against Nab-paclitaxel, a pancreatic cancer drug currently on the market that is approved by the FDA. As a result of the experiment, Polytaxel administered within NOAEL did not cause side effects and showed better efficacy than Nab-paclitaxel, which was administered at 30 times higher than NOAEL. This is a preclinical result; however it proves that Polytaxel can be a next-generation anticancer drug that is superior to the existing pancreatic cancer treatments in terms of ability to control toxicity and its efficacy. Question: How would you best portray pain-free therapy (NOAEL)? Answer: NOAEL therapy, a painless anti-cancer therapy, liberates the patient from the toxicity of the drug by administering it in a pain-free dosage that shows efficacy in curing cancer, even when the dose is within the maximum non-toxic limit and the drug's toxicity is not apparent in the body. This is a next-generation patient-friendly form of chemotherapy. It can be said that this is the emergence of a 'new standard therapy,' which can simultaneously replace chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Patients do not suffer from side effects due to drug toxicity because such an ultra-low toxicity dose is administered causing little to no discomfort from side effects. Since there are no side effects due to drug toxicity, it is possible to continuously administer the drug until the tumor disappears completely without a recovery period to overcome side effects. NOAEL therapy is treating cancer until it is completely cured, with safe drugs that do not harm the patient's health. Question: What makes pain-free chemotherapy different from conventional chemotherapy? Answer: The standard treatment of chemotherapy generally attacks cancer cells, causes gene damage or interferes with gene replication. However, it is known that fully curing cancer cells is almost impossible theoretically. For this reason, this form is designed to attack as many cancer cells as possible by administering a dose within the range that the human body can withstand the side effects of drug toxicity. This is why the dosage far exceeds NOAEL. As a result, highly toxic anticancer drugs attack even normal cells, seriously damaging the patient's health in the course of chemotherapy. Therefore, in currently existing anti-cancer therapies, a recovery period of about 2 to 4 weeks is usually expected so that normal cells can recover. Another purpose of chemotherapy is the reduction of tumors to extend the patients' life rather than complete regression of cancer. It is almost impossible to cure cancer with existing anti-cancer therapies, especially for metastatic and resistant cancers. Existing anti-cancer drugs are administered to patients with a recovery period in mind because the strong toxicity attacks normal cells as well. Resistant cancers have been pointed out as a common limitation of existing anticancer therapies along with the development of metastatic cancer. Moreover, in the existing anticancer therapy, surgery or radiation therapy is combined with the administration of anticancer drugs. Due to this, patients suffer from various concurrent treatment side effects in addition to the side effects due to drug toxicity. It is a reality that many patients treated with conventional anticancer therapies have lost their health or suffered unfortunate deaths due to side effects of the drugs and/or concurrent treatments. Unlike conventional therapies, CNPharm's pain-free anticancer therapy has a mechanism to cure cancer within a non-toxic dosage. One of its great features is that it does not require a combination of surgery or radiation therapy, but only drug administration. When treated with this pain-free therapy, there are no side effects due to drug toxicity and the patient does not suffer from side effects due to surgery or radiation treatment. Drugs used in this pain-free therapy also apply a new concept of a 'targeted anticancer drug', such as Polytaxel, which circulates in the body for a long time and exerts efficacy only on cancer cells, continuously attacking cancer cells without a rest or recovery period. The hope to cure cancer is no longer a dream if it is administered continuously. Question: What about 'Metronomic Chemotherapy', treating cancer by repeatedly administering the lowest dose of an anticancer drug so that the toxic expression can be suppressed as much as possible? Answer: Metronome anticancer therapy is a new form of therapy that continuously administers the lowest dose of an anticancer drug so that the toxicity of the drug does not affect the human body. Like a metronome that determines the speed of music, this is an anticancer therapy that periodically administers the lowest dose of anticancer drugs, which are often very toxic and ineffective. Unlike conventional chemotherapy, where toxic drugs attack cancer cells directly, this form of therapy indirectly prevents the growth of cancer cells by suppressing angiogenesis which is necessary for tumor growth. If conventional anti-cancer therapy wields a strong punch against tumors, the metronome therapy can be compared to a jab. This is a therapy that first appeared in the early 1990's so there are not many papers related to it and cannot be treated with existing anticancer therapies. There is a limitation for patients with very weak bodies, such as the elderly. In addition, there is a problem in that if a low-dose drug is continuously administered, drug resistance is expressed in cancer cells and side effects due to accumulation of toxicity appear in the body. It is also pointed out that this form of treatment is insignificant for carcinomas. As mentioned above, metronome chemotherapy can be said to be a treatment that supports existing chemotherapies, the standard treatment for cancer. In this regard, it is a sub-therapy that cannot be compared with the pain-free anticancer therapy of CNPharm, which continuously administers safe anticancer drugs controlled by advanced technology until the cancer cells die. Pain-free chemotherapy, which directly attacks only cancer cells, can theoretically prevent resistant cancers and treat metastatic cancer as well. Question: What are the future plans for pain-free anticancer therapy? Answer: CNPharm's pain-free anticancer therapy constitutes a safe drug that does not express toxicity in the body and aims to cure all cancers. This not only relieves the patient's pain caused by drug toxicity, but also eliminates the need for surgery or radiation therapy that has many side effects. CNPharm is in the process of developing Polytaxel as a new pain-free anticancer drug to treat pancreatic cancer in the U.S. and abroad. CNPharm plans to carry out an IND filing this year in cooperation with its affiliated company Hyundai Bioscience for the global clinical trials of Polytaxel. Polytaxel is a modified new drug loaded with Docetaxel. The main difference between it and Docetaxel is that it is effective within NOAEL and does not exhibit toxicity. Since it stays in the body for a long circulation and attacks only cancer cells, it can be administered continuously until the tumors die. Docetaxel is widely used as a treatment for eight different cancer types including gastric cancer, lung cancer, and cervical cancer, so there are plans to expand the target in fast track to other cancers while conducting clinical trials for pancreatic cancer. On the heels of Polytaxel, CNPharm has developed 'Polyplatin,' a pain-free platinum-based anticancer drug targeting cervical, bladder, and rectal cancer. CNPharm plans to expand the range of diseases that can be treated with pain-free anticancer drugs using its platform-based technology, such as Polytaxel and Polyplatin, to combat various cancers as well as viral diseases. -END- SOURCE Hyundai Bioscience Related Links http://www.hyundaibioscience.com/ RICHMOND, British Columbia, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- delicious living magazine, a trusted health and wellness resource for more than 30 years, announces the winners of its annual Best Bite Awards today. Veggies Made Great Double Chocolate Muffins wins the Gold in the Delicious Living 2020 Best Bites Awards as the Best Breakfast Product - Retailer Choice Awards. Dave's Killer Bread took the silver and bronze. This year the awards had two categories which were the Retailer Choice Awards and the Consumer Choice Awards. Veggies Made Great Double Chocolate Muffins Veggies Made Great Double Chocolate Muffins wins "Gold" with Delicious Living Magazine Best Bites Awards 2020 The Gold winner in the Retailer Choice Awards, Veggies Made Great, is a plant-based company that creatively combines clean and simple ingredients to create a remarkably delicious line of veggie-rich prepared foods for everyday snacks and meals. The amazingly convenient and frozen line of products are gluten free, soy free, peanut and tree nut free (with many dairy free options) and always made with veggies as the first and primary ingredient. Double Chocolate Chip Muffins from their line of Veggie Packed Sweet Muffins. The Double Chocolate Muffin may sound suspicious, but these muffins are made with clean and simple ingredients and taste like a decadent lava cake when heated! You will never believe the first ingredient in these muffins is vegetables. Made with a delicious blend of zucchini and carrots to moisten and sweeten the muffins, Veggies Made Great Muffins make the perfect breakfast, snack or guilt-free indulgence. The Muffins are 120 calories or less and offer a great source of fiber and protein, using vegetables as the primary ingredients. "Congrats to the winnersthe competition was tough this year," said Kristina Hall, editor-in-chief of delicious living. "Every company that participated contributes healthy and tasty foods to our industry, and we thank them for that." "We are beyond thrilled to be selected as the Gold winner in the 2020 delicious living Retailer Choice Awards for the Best Breakfast Product," says Christine Luongo, Marketing Manager of Veggies Made Great. "We are the best for so many reasons and appreciate the recognition of both the retailers and Delicious Living Magazine." This year's awards are more extensive than ever before, as delicious living has created two distinct types of awards: Retailer Choice Awards (voted on by natural health retailers) and Consumer Choice Awards (voted on by natural health shoppers). For more exclusive content on these winners, visit deliciousliving.com and pick up the July 2020 issue of delicious living at your local natural health retailer. For more information about the delicious foods from Veggies Made Great, sizes and prices, and to find out where to buy them, visit www.veggiesmadegreat.com or www.thehealthfoodstore.com . About delicious living: delicious living is a leading consumer-facing magazine and health information provider for the natural, organic, and healthy products industry. The print edition is distributed 12 times annually and available at natural health retailers nationwide. About Veggies Made Great Veggies Made Great is a New Classic Cooking, LLC brand based in Avenel and Rahway, New Jersey. Since 2008, Veggies Made Great has raised the bar in healthy foods by delivering surprisingly delicious veggie-rich foods. Veggies Made Great is the recipient of numerous awards, including; Women's Health Top Health Picks; Cooking Light - The Healthiest Frozen Foods in the Supermarket: Breakfast; Grocery Headquarters Trailblazer Award; Parents Magazine 25 Best Frozen Food for Families; Gluten Free Digest Chocolate Muffins; 2015 Pioneers of Better For You: Refrigerated and Frozen Foods, and Runner's World Editor's Pick. For more information on Veggies Made Great visit www.veggiesmadegreat.com "Like" Veggies Made Great on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/veggiesmadegreat Follow Veggies Made Great on Instagram @veggiesmadegreat Follow Veggies Made Great on Twitter @veggiesmadegr8 Contact: Hayden Hammerling 973-405-4600 [email protected] SOURCE Veggies Made Great Related Links http://www.veggiesmadegreat.com MARLBOROUGH, Mass., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Doble Engineering Company, a leader in power grid diagnostic solutions and subsidiary of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ESE), today announced it has seen sustained growth in its Transient Cyber Asset (TCA) program. During the first half of 2020, the company achieved a record client renewal rate and strong customer acquisition growth, especially among the Fortune 500 and top electric utilities in the U.S. Doble's Transient Cyber Asset program is a comprehensive Managed Security Services (MSS) solution that supports electric utility field crews. As part of the offering, customers can choose from a range of rugged, special-purpose laptops or tablets, called Doble Universal Controllers (DUCs), or use their own transient devices. Doble's expert team hardens the devices to minimize cybersecurity risks and optimizes them for efficient field work. Doble's solution also includes remote management, 24/7 customer support, and compliance monitoring to ensure the devices remain secure and compliant to applicable regulations over their operational lifetime. Doble's Transient Cyber Asset program is growing due to the continuing evolution of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's (NERC) critical infrastructure protection (CIP) cybersecurity standards. NERC CIP-003-8, which went into effect in January 2020, expanded transient cyber asset requirements to low impact substations, bringing many more power plants and utilities within scope of the security mandates. "Transient cyber asset security is a significant security and regulatory issue facing the power industry today. Any laptop or tablet used in a bulk electric system substation must now meet NERC's CIP standards," said Bryan Sayler, president of Doble Engineering Company. "Our program is designed to support utilities of all sizes, working in any application, whether transmission, distribution, conventional generation, or renewable power. Our managed program provides customers and regulators confidence in the security of their critical assets and the ability to meet the new standards. We expect demand for the program to remain high, especially as the cybersecurity and compliance landscape increases in complexity." Doble's Transient Cyber Asset program was launched in 2015, two years before NERC CIP-010 went into effect. For more than four years, the holistic cybersecurity offering has been widely adopted by leading electric utilities to secure transient devices, such as testing laptops and tablets, which are vectors for spreading malware across critical infrastructure, and ease the burden of implementing NERC CIP compliant testing programs. Doble currently has over 1,000 transient cyber asset devices deployed under the program. "Cybersecurity is an ongoing and critical challenge to grid reliability. We make it as easy as possible for utilities to adhere to mandates and ensure the highest levels of security, without taking away from productivity in the field," said Gowri Rajappan, director of technology and cybersecurity at Doble Engineering Company. "We've built our offering with multiple, configurable controls to meet companies' unique security needs and help them prioritize the work processes that need to be secured. We also remotely manage monthly updates on fleet devices so field teams get time back in their day to focus on their real job of asset testing and maintenance." To learn more about Doble's Transient Cyber Asset program, please visit here. About Doble Engineering Company The team at Doble Engineering Company ensures reliable, safe, and secure power for all. We do this by providing comprehensive diagnostics and engineering expertise for the energy industry. Founded in 1920, Doble is committed to the continuing education of our customers, and the support and training of the next generation of power industry workers uniting the utility sector for an innovative future. Doble serves customers around the globe; our companies and product lines include ENOSERV, Manta Test Systems, Morgan Schaffer, Vanguard Instruments, and Xtensible Solutions. Doble is part of the Utility Solutions Group of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ESE). For more information, visit: www.doble.com, follow us on Twitter @doble, and connect on LinkedIn. SOURCE Doble Engineering Company Related Links http://www.doble.com KNOXVILLE, Tenn., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Education Loan Finance ("ELFI"), a division of SouthEast Bank, announces the successful closing of the ELFI Graduate Loan Program 2020-A Asset-Backed Notes, with record-setting pricing on the company's third securitization of refinanced student loans. ELFI 2020-A financing was a $300 million fixed-rate transaction, comprised of $271.650 million Class A Notes, $18.850 million Class B Notes, and $9.500 million Class C Notes. The Class A Notes were rated AAA by S&P and DBRS. The Class B and C Notes were rated AA and A, respectively, by DBRS. ELFI achieved a major milestone with the 2020-A transaction by securing the lowest all-in weighted average market yield of all major student loan refinance companies' publicly issued and offered securitization fixed-rate notes since the inception of the industry in December 2013. ELFI set a record and became the first student loan refinance lender to offer securitization fixed-rated notes at an all-in weighted average yield of less than 2%, at 1.863%, on the ELFI 2020-A fixed-rate offered Notes due to strong investor demand. ELFI's 2020-A deal was also priced very competitively at an all-in weighted average yield level below those of three major student loan refinance securitizations issued recently by major companies in the student loan refinance market. "We are incredibly proud of this record-setting achievement, as our investors and the overall securitization market recognize the strength of ELFI's lending platform, the high credit quality of our loans, as well as our significant expertise in the student loan refinance sector," said Barbara Thomas, SouthEast Bank's Chief Operating Officer and Head of the ELFI Division. "The strong performance of our ELFI loans, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, together with the excellence we offer our borrowers in customer service, sets us apart from the competition and garnered broad investor interest in our ELFI platform, including 7 new institutional investors. Our management team's 30+ years of experience in student lending, coupled with the financial strength of both SouthEast Bank and our parent company, Education Loan Finance, Inc., was also well received by investors." BMO Capital Markets and Citigroup served as joint lead book runners on the ELFI 2020-A transaction. ELFI has been providing low-cost refinancing and consolidation solutions for borrowers with both federal and private student loans since December 2015 and has funded over $1.3 billion of refinanced student loans to over 17,400 borrowers. ELFI's superior customer service, driven by a process of assigning a highly-trained Personal Loan Advisor to every applicant, has earned ELFI an industry-best 4.9 out of 5 TrustPilot score. About Education Loan Finance Education Loan Finance, a division of SouthEast Bank, is a leading online lender committed to funding higher education for students and graduates. ELFI provides competitive products and rates, flexible payment options, a smooth digital experience, and a knowledgeable workforce. Education Loan Finance believes that providing students and parents with in-school funding options and graduates with comprehensive refinancing and consolidation options, students, parents, and graduates are empowered along their financial journey. To learn more, visit www.elfi.com. About SouthEast Bank SouthEast Bank operates branches throughout East and Middle Tennessee, blending modern amenities with hometown service and local decision-making. Our customers enjoy convenient electronic and mobile platforms such as online banking, remote deposit, automatic fraud monitoring, and a worldwide ATM network. In the last decade, SouthEast Bank, along with its holding company, has donated over $20 million to support secondary and post-secondary education in our local communities and universities throughout the state of Tennessee. To learn more about SouthEast Bank, please visit southeastbank.com. Member FDIC. Media Contact: Skylar Smith 865-210-0783 [email protected] SOURCE Education Loan Finance Related Links https://www.elfi.com LONG BEACH, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As pandemic restrictions begin to lift across the country, restaurants must alter operations to comply with both local and state guidelines to ensure both patron and employee health and safety. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) considerations for restaurants and bars, businesses are now challenged to print and display signs to explain preventative and protective measures, as well as plan for using single-use items, such as menus with daily specials. How can small business owners return to their day-to-day operations, while meeting the new CDC guidelines that are constantly changing? Epson America, Inc. delivers an extensive line of business print solutions to help meet the needs of today's restaurant owners looking to bring professional printing in-house. For small restaurants like GG's Bistro, some were forced to close dining room doors at the start of the pandemic, and were initially challenged with incorporating online ordering and payment options to their company websites. Now, to keep the doors open, GG's Bistro is taking action to retain employees and regain business while complying with the new regulations. By installing the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-C8690 A3 color multifunction printer, it can now easily print required signage and full color documents up to 13" x 19" on-demand. "I'm really impressed with this printer. We no longer have to send everything out to a print shop," said Francesca Gundogar, co-owner, GG's Bistro in Laguna Beach, California. "Now, when I have an idea for a drink or salad special, I can print it almost immediately, then start taking orders." Leveraging Epson's proprietary PrecisionCore Heat-Free Printing Technology, the WF-C8690 has fewer moving parts than laser and competing inkjet printing solutions, leading to less intervention and increased reliability.1 With no warm-up time and fast print speeds of 24 pages per minute for single-sided sheets and 16 pages per minute for double-sided sheets, the WF-C8690 produces high-quality color carry-out specials and signage to bring additional visibility to the restaurant, such as announcements that the restaurant is open for takeout or pickup instructions. Using Epson's pigment-based DURABrite Pro ink, the WF-C8690 produces prints that are truly touchable right out of the printer, ideal for restaurants, as well as professional-quality color prints to ensure all text and graphics printed are sharp and vibrant. It's economical as well, saving businesses up to 35 percent on printing costs versus color laser.2 In addition, the WF-C8690 includes a two-year limited warranty, providing peace of mind to businesses. "Small business restaurant owners wear many hats from bartending and running the kitchen to managing the finances, and sales and marketing," said Sean Gunduz, group product manager, business printers, Epson America, Inc. "To alleviate some of the stresses of restaurant owners, Epson's portfolio of print solutions gives the flexibility to produce high-quality prints for single-use, long-term display or reporting needs paramount to business operations affordably. With the convenience of printing in-house and on-demand, they can eliminate the timely task of having to outsource to a printshop." To read the case study on how GG Bistro is offering its customers a great experience while facing the challenge of adhering to local and state guidelines to ensure patron health and safety, with the integration of the WorkForce Pro WF-C8690, click here. For more information on Epson's portfolio of business inkjet printers, please visit https://epson.com/business-printers. For more information about the BusinessFirst Partner Program, please visit https://epson.com/epson-partners-program. About Epson Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to becoming indispensable to society by connecting people, things and information with its original efficient, compact and precision technologies. The company is focused on driving innovations and exceeding customer expectations in inkjet, visual communications, wearables and robotics. Epson is proud of its contributions to realizing a sustainable society and its ongoing efforts to realizing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of more than JPY 1 trillion. global.epson.com/ Epson America, Inc., based in Long Beach, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), Twitter (twitter.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/user/EpsonTV/), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica). GG's Bistro received an Epson WorkForce Pro WF C8690 Printer free of cost. *This product uses only genuine Epson-brand cartridges. Other brands of ink cartridges and ink supplies are not compatible and, even if described as compatible, may not function properly. Black and color print speeds are measured in accordance with ISO/IEC 24734. Actual print times will vary based on factors including system configuration, software, and page complexity. For more information, visit www.epson.com/printspeed 1 High-yield cartridges let you print up to 8,000 ISO color pages before changing the ink cartridges; Replacement cartridge yields are based on ISO/IEC 24711 tests in Default Mode printing continuously. Cartridge yields vary considerably for reasons including images printed, print settings, temperature, and humidity. Yields may be lower when printing infrequently or predominantly with one ink color. All ink colors are used for printing and printer maintenance, and all colors have to be installed for printing. For print quality, part of the ink from the included cartridges is used for printer startup and a variable amount of ink remains in the cartridges after the "replace cartridge" signal. For details, see www.epson.com/inkinfo 2 Based on printing costs with the WF-C8190 and WF-C8690 printers and highest-capacity replacement ink compared with the costs of printing equivalent ISO pages with best-selling, similarly featured A3 color laser printers priced at $2,499 USD or lower with speeds of 30 ppm or lower as of December 2017. Toner and ink costs based on manufacturer's highest-capacity yields and pricing; printer costs based on average selling price per industry-available data as of December 2017. Actual savings will vary based on usage conditions. EPSON, DURABrite, PrecisionCore, and WorkForce are registered trademarks, EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark and PrecisionCore Heat-Free Technology is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. BusinessFirst is a service mark of Epson America, Inc. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2020 Epson America, Inc. SOURCE Epson America, Inc. Related Links http://www.epson.com WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) will award top honors this year to CNN host Fareed Zakaria and two intrepid founders of investigative news sites in Egypt and Russia, countries with harsh controls on the press. Zakaria , whose thoughtful insights and expert analysis have helped Americans make sense of complex global issues for nearly three decades, will receive the ICFJ Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism. The host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" and a columnist for The Washington Post, he has brought his clear-eyed perspectives to the biggest, most important stories of the day from the Brexit debate to Russian interference in U.S. elections to the coronavirus pandemic that is rocking the world. "Fareed is one of the smartest analysts on foreign policy," ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan said. "He has a deep understanding of global trends and an unmatched ability to explain how they impact us." The ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award will go to Egyptian editor Lina Attalah . Russian journalist Roman Anin will receive the ICFJ Knight Trailblazer Award. Attalah is founder and editor-in-chief of Mada Masr , an online news organization that unflinchingly produces investigative reports exposing corruption and misconduct in the midst of Egypt's harsh crackdown on independent voices. The website, which the government constantly seeks to block, has shed light on Egypt's COVID-19 crisis, from its spread among medical staff to its economic toll on the most vulnerable communities. "Lina's bravery and grit in the face of tremendous obstacles set a powerful example for journalists around the world," said Politico editor Carrie Budoff Brown, a judge for this year's award and an ICFJ board member. Anin will receive the ICFJ Knight Trailblazer Award for launching a collaborative, online investigative news outlet called IStories (for "important stories") in Russia. He conceived the project as a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. Early investigations center on corruption involving Russia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2013, he won the Knight International Journalism Award for his intrepid investigative reporting amid Vladimir Putin's crackdowns on freedom of expression. Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibarguen said: "Roman Anin is one of the most courageous journalists in the world, committed to tough investigative reporting in a country where sources of independent news are increasingly rare." "We are proud to recognize Lina and Roman, two digital news founders who dare to bring us the truth despite the dangers," Barnathan said. "They take on the tough stories in countries where distortions and disinformation are common." The awards will be presented on October 5, 2020, during a virtual tribute to journalism excellence, hosted by CNN lead political anchor Wolf Blitzer . Because of ongoing health threats from COVID-19, an in-person gathering is not possible this year. ICFJ's Tribute to Journalists 2020 event will take ICFJ's Annual Awards Dinner Washington, D.C.'s top international journalism event from one ballroom to the world. The ICFJ Knight International Journalism Award and the ICFJ Knight Trailblazer Award are supported by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation , which funds the ICFJ Knight Fellowships . SOURCE International Center for Journalists Related Links https://www.icfj.org/ TUSCALOOSA, Ala., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FastHealth Corporation, at the direction of Antelope Memorial Hospital, has activated its FastCommand System in response to the emergency situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. FastCommand technology has quickly launched and transformed the hospital website https://www.amhne.org from its traditional role into immediate emergency information and action system. Families, staff, and the surrounding community will now use FastCommand to access the hospital command and information portal. Allowing Antelope Memorial Hospital to increase its response and control activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Round FastCommand sign with stars circling a bald eagle that is carrying a shield with an American flag inside. Sign hanging on the grey FastCommand Corporate office behind green shrubs. Lush green lawn, a tree and shrubs in front of the grey FastCommand Corporate office adorned with an abundance of windows. Diane Carlin, CEO of Antelope Memorial Hospital said, "FastCommand provides our hospital with the technology that was needed by our administration. We were prepared. The tools provided by FastCommand are allowing our staff to quickly increase communications, coordination, and information flow. Keeping our staff and patients safer and better informed, all leading to better patient care during this emergency situation." Antelope Memorial Hospital is using FastCommand's perpetual pandemic banner to allow the public to access COVID-19 information while redirecting bandwidth traffic away from their standard website, so that it will remain online during panics or high traffic situations. FastCommand supplies the following tools to protect hospital staff and patients: Smart Alert Messaging: A tool that allows hospitals to send out mass amounts of information to their staff, including attachments and disaster plans to be received instantly through their mobile devices. Website Deflection: Patented technology that helps the hospital website be capable of handling more bandwidth. Website deflection also helps the hospital website to be less likely to collapse in the event of a panic, emergency, or hack. Message Boards: Tools that allow communications to continue during phone outages or website collapses. Message boards allow patients, staff, and the community to post messages back and forth to each other to stay informed when phone systems collapse. Kevin Foote, CEO of FastCommand says, "More hospitals are aware of their emergency communication needs because of the pandemic. CEO's want to improve their emergency communications to care for and protect patients, staff, and the community. FastCommand was developed for just such a purpose and will be working around the clock to support Antelope Memorial Hospital during the pandemic." About FastCommand FastCommand patented website deflection technologies are specifically designed for critical emergency situations. This cutting-edge continuity technology helps communications to endure even during website overload or phone collapse. The tools are used by non-technical healthcare staff during many threats that can quickly occur in the healthcare industry, such as pandemics, hacking situations, active shooter events, natural disasters, etc. FastCommand has public safety teams available 24 hours a day 365 days a year to serve as the hospital's emergency communication personnel. Learn more at https://www.fastcommand.com/press. For More Information Visit Links Below: https://www.fastcommand.com/docs/FastCommandHospitals.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qGnssn2sxI&feature=emb_logo https://www.fastcommand.com/getpage.php?name=Pandemic_Alerts Contact: Kasey Sellers [email protected] https://www.fastcommand.com 205-752-5050, Ext. 110 Diane Carlin, CEO Antelope Memorial Hospital [email protected] https://www.amhne.org 402-887-6213 SOURCE FastCommand Related Links http://www.fastcommand.com ROCKLAND, Mass. and NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the US and Canada, and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for BAVENCIO (avelumab) for the maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. The approval is based on results from the Phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 study, which demonstrated a significant 7.1-month improvement in median overall survival (OS) with BAVENCIO as first-line maintenance plus best supportive care (BSC) compared with BSC alone: 21.4 months (95% CI: 18.9 to 26.1) vs. 14.3 months (95% CI: 12.9 to 17.9).1 This statistically significant improvement in OS represents a 31% reduction in the risk of death in the overall population (HR 0.69; 95% CI: 0.56 to 0.86; 2-sided P=0.001).1 OS was measured from the time of randomization, after patients were treated with four to six cycles of gemcitabine plus cisplatin or carboplatin over a period of approximately four months.2 The JAVELIN Bladder 100 results were presented at the ASCO 2020 Virtual Scientific Meeting. "As the first immunotherapy to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in overall survival in the first-line setting in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, the FDA approval of avelumab is one of the most significant advances in the treatment paradigm in this setting in 30 years," said Petros Grivas, M.D., Ph.D., one of the principal investigators in the JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial. "With median overall survival of more than 21 months measured from randomization, the longest overall survival in a Phase III trial in advanced urothelial carcinoma, the JAVELIN Bladder 100 regimen with avelumab as a first-line switch maintenance treatment has the potential to become a new standard of care based on its proven ability to reinforce the benefit (response or stable disease) of induction chemotherapy and extend the lives of patients with this devastating disease." Platinum-based chemotherapy is currently the first-line standard of care for eligible patients with advanced disease based on high initial response rates. However, most patients will ultimately experience disease progression within nine months of initiation of treatment,3,4 and only 5% of patients with metastatic disease at diagnosis will live longer than five years.5 "Many patients newly diagnosed with advanced urothelial carcinoma receive benefit from initial chemotherapy, but we still need treatment options that can help patients live longer," said Andrea Maddox-Smith, CEO of the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network. "We wholeheartedly support the development of new and promising treatments like BAVENCIO that can offer patients and their loved ones hope." For patients that do not progress on platinum-containing chemotherapy, BAVENCIO is administered as a first-line maintenance treatment until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The FDA previously approved BAVENCIO under the accelerated approval program in 2017 for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or who have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy, based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval was contingent upon verification of clinical benefit, which was demonstrated in JAVELIN Bladder 100. The FDA has now converted the accelerated approval to full approval. "Today's approval of BAVENCIO in the most common type of advanced bladder cancer underscores our commitment to advancing scientific innovation and transforming outcomes for people with genitourinary cancers," said Andy Schmeltz, Global President, Pfizer Oncology. "With this approval for BAVENCIO, we have the opportunity to fundamentally shift the standard of care in the first-line setting of advanced bladder cancer. Our focus now is to work closely with the GU community to ensure that this novel and potentially life-changing treatment paradigm is rapidly integrated into clinical practice," said Rehan Verjee, President, EMD Serono and Global Head of Innovative Medicine Franchises for the Biopharma business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The alliance is committed to providing patient access and reimbursement support through its CoverOne program to patients who have been prescribed BAVENCIO. This program provides a spectrum of patient access and reimbursement support services intended to help US patients prescribed BAVENCIO receive appropriate access. CoverOne may be reached by phone at 844-8COVER1 (844-826-8371) or online at www.CoverOne.com. About JAVELIN Bladder 100 JAVELIN Bladder 100 (NCT02603432) is a Phase III, multicenter, multinational, randomized, open-label, parallel-arm study investigating first-line maintenance treatment with BAVENCIO plus BSC versus BSC alone in patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC that did not progress with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy as per RECIST v1.1. A total of 700 patients were randomly assigned to receive either BAVENCIO (10 mg/kg intravenous infusion every 2 weeks) plus BSC (n=350) or BSC alone (n=350). The primary endpoint was OS in the two primary populations of all randomized patients and patients with PD-L1+ tumors defined by the Ventana SP263 assay. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival, anti-tumor activity, safety, pharmacokinetics, immunogenicity, predictive biomarkers and patient-reported outcomes in the two primary populations. All primary and secondary endpoints are measured from the time of randomization, after completion of four to six cycles of chemotherapy. Patients with autoimmune disease or a medical condition that required immunosuppression were excluded. In PD-L1+ patients (n=358, 51%), the risk of death was reduced by 44% in the BAVENCIO arm versus the control arm (HR 0.56; 95% CI: 0.40 to 0.79; 2-sided p-value <0.001). Consistent results were observed across the pre-specified subgroups of complete or partial response versus stable disease to first-line chemotherapy.1 In an exploratory analysis of patients with PDL1negative tumors (n=271, 39%), the OS hazard ratio was 0.85 (95% CI: 0.62, 1.18). A fatal adverse reaction (sepsis) occurred in one (0.3%) patient receiving BAVENCIO plus BSC. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 28% of patients receiving BAVENCIO plus BSC. Serious adverse reactions in 1% of patients included urinary tract infection (including kidney infection, pyelonephritis, and urosepsis) (6.1%), pain (including abdominal, back, bone, flank, extremity, and pelvic pain) (3.2%), acute kidney injury (1.7%), hematuria (1.5%), sepsis (1.2%), and infusion-related reaction (1.2%). The most common adverse reactions (20%) in patients receiving BAVENCIO plus BSC were fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, urinary tract infection, and rash.1 About Urothelial Carcinoma Bladder cancer is the tenth most common cancer worldwide and the sixth most common cancer in the US.5,6 In 2018, there were over half a million new cases of bladder cancer diagnosed, with around 200,000 deaths from the disease globally.6 In the US, an estimated 80,470 cases of bladder cancer were diagnosed in 2019, with around 12,500 locally advanced or metastatic cases presented annually.5,7 UC accounts for about 90% of all bladder cancers.8 UC becomes harder to treat as it advances, spreading through the layers of the bladder wall.9 About BAVENCIO (avelumab) BAVENCIO is a human anti-programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) antibody. BAVENCIO has been shown in preclinical models to engage both the adaptive and innate immune functions. By blocking the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 receptors, BAVENCIO has been shown to release the suppression of the T cell-mediated antitumor immune response in preclinical models.10-12 In November 2014, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer announced a strategic alliance to co-develop and co-commercialize BAVENCIO. BAVENCIO Approved Indications BAVENCIO (avelumab) is indicated in the US for the maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO is also indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib is indicated in the US for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In the US, the FDA granted accelerated approval for BAVENCIO for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. Avelumab is currently approved for patients with MCC in 50 countries globally, with the majority of these approvals in a broad indication that is not limited to a specific line of treatment. BAVENCIO Important Safety Information from the US FDA-Approved Label BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis, including fatal cases. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of pneumonitis and evaluate suspected cases with radiographic imaging. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater pneumonitis. Withhold BAVENCIO for moderate (Grade 2) and permanently discontinue for severe (Grade 3), life-threatening (Grade 4), or recurrent moderate (Grade 2) pneumonitis. Pneumonitis occurred in 1.2% of patients, including one (0.1%) patient with fatal, one (0.1%) with Grade 4, and five (0.3%) with Grade 3. BAVENCIO can cause hepatotoxicity and immune-mediated hepatitis, including fatal cases. Monitor patients for abnormal liver tests prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hepatitis. Withhold BAVENCIO for moderate (Grade 2) immune-mediated hepatitis until resolution and permanently discontinue for severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) immune-mediated hepatitis. Immune-mediated hepatitis occurred with BAVENCIO as a single agent in 0.9% of patients, including two (0.1%) patients with fatal, and 11 (0.6%) with Grade 3. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib can cause hepatotoxicity with higher than expected frequencies of Grade 3 and 4 alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) elevation. Consider more frequent monitoring of liver enzymes as compared to when the drugs are used as monotherapy. Withhold BAVENCIO and axitinib for moderate (Grade 2) hepatotoxicity and permanently discontinue the combination for severe or life-threatening (Grade 3 or 4) hepatotoxicity. Administer corticosteroids as needed. In patients treated with BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib, Grades 3 and 4 increased ALT and AST occurred in 9% and 7% of patients, respectively, and immune-mediated hepatitis occurred in 7% of patients, including 4.9% with Grade 3 or 4. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated colitis. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater colitis. Withhold BAVENCIO until resolution for moderate or severe (Grade 2 or 3) colitis until resolution. Permanently discontinue for life-threatening (Grade 4) or recurrent (Grade 3) colitis upon reinitiation of BAVENCIO. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 1.5% of patients, including seven (0.4%) with Grade 3. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated endocrinopathies, including adrenal insufficiency, thyroid disorders, and type 1 diabetes mellitus. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency during and after treatment, and administer corticosteroids as appropriate. Withhold BAVENCIO for severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) adrenal insufficiency. Adrenal insufficiency was reported in 0.5% of patients, including one (0.1%) with Grade 3. Thyroid disorders can occur at any time during treatment. Monitor patients for changes in thyroid function at the start of treatment, periodically during treatment, and as indicated based on clinical evaluation. Manage hypothyroidism with hormone replacement therapy and control hyperthyroidism with medical management. Withhold BAVENCIO for severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) thyroid disorders. Thyroid disorders, including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and thyroiditis, were reported in 6% of patients, including three (0.2%) with Grade 3. Type 1 diabetes mellitus including diabetic ketoacidosis: Monitor patients for hyperglycemia or other signs and symptoms of diabetes. Withhold BAVENCIO and administer antihyperglycemics or insulin in patients with severe or life-threatening (Grade 3) hyperglycemia, and resume treatment when metabolic control is achieved. Type 1 diabetes mellitus without an alternative etiology occurred in 0.1% of patients, including two cases of Grade 3 hyperglycemia. BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction. Monitor patients for elevated serum creatinine prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater nephritis. Withhold BAVENCIO for moderate (Grade 2) or severe (Grade 3) nephritis until resolution to Grade 1 or lower. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for life-threatening (Grade 4) nephritis. Immune-mediated nephritis occurred in 0.1% of patients. BAVENCIO can result in other severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions involving any organ system during treatment or after treatment discontinuation. For suspected immune-mediated adverse reactions, evaluate to confirm or rule out an immune-mediated adverse reaction and to exclude other causes. Depending on the severity of the adverse reaction, withhold or permanently discontinue BAVENCIO, administer high-dose corticosteroids, and initiate hormone replacement therapy, if appropriate. Resume BAVENCIO when the immune-mediated adverse reaction remains at Grade 1 or lower following a corticosteroid taper. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for any severe (Grade 3) immune-mediated adverse reaction that recurs and for any life-threatening (Grade 4) immune-mediated adverse reaction. The following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred in less than 1% of 1738 patients treated with BAVENCIO as a single agent or in 489 patients who received BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib: myocarditis including fatal cases, pancreatitis including fatal cases, myositis, psoriasis, arthritis, exfoliative dermatitis, erythema multiforme, pemphigoid, hypopituitarism, uveitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and systemic inflammatory response. BAVENCIO can cause severe or life-threatening infusion-related reactions. Premedicate patients with an antihistamine and acetaminophen prior to the first 4 infusions. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of infusion-related reactions, including pyrexia, chills, flushing, hypotension, dyspnea, wheezing, back pain, abdominal pain, and urticaria. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion for mild (Grade 1) or moderate (Grade 2) infusion-related reactions. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) infusion-related reactions. Infusion-related reactions occurred in 25% of patients, including three (0.2%) patients with Grade 4 and nine (0.5%) with Grade 3. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib can cause major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including severe and fatal events. Consider baseline and periodic evaluations of left ventricular ejection fraction. Monitor for signs and symptoms of cardiovascular events. Optimize management of cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia. Discontinue BAVENCIO and axitinib for Grade 3-4 cardiovascular events. MACE occurred in 7% of patients with advanced RCC treated with BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib compared to 3.4% treated with sunitinib. These events included death due to cardiac events (1.4%), Grade 3-4 myocardial infarction (2.8%), and Grade 3-4 congestive heart failure (1.8%). BAVENCIO can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise patients of the potential risk to a fetus including the risk of fetal death. Advise females of childbearing potential to use effective contraception during treatment with BAVENCIO and for at least 1 month after the last dose of BAVENCIO. It is not known whether BAVENCIO is excreted in human milk. Advise a lactating woman not to breastfeed during treatment and for at least 1 month after the last dose of BAVENCIO due to the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed infants. The most common adverse reactions (all grades, 20%) in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) were fatigue (50%), musculoskeletal pain (32%), diarrhea (23%), nausea (22%), infusion-related reaction (22%), rash (22%), decreased appetite (20%), and peripheral edema (20%). Selected treatment-emergent laboratory abnormalities (all grades, 20%) in patients with metastatic MCC were lymphopenia (49%), anemia (35%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (34%), thrombocytopenia (27%), and increased alanine aminotransferase (20%). A fatal adverse reaction (sepsis) occurred in one (0.3%) patient with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) receiving BAVENCIO plus best supportive care (BSC) as first-line maintenance treatment. In patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic UC, fourteen patients (6%) who were treated with BAVENCIO experienced either pneumonitis, respiratory failure, sepsis/urosepsis, cerebrovascular accident, or gastrointestinal adverse events, which led to death. The most common adverse reactions (all grades, 20%) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO plus BSC (vs BSC alone) as first-line maintenance treatment were fatigue (35% vs 13%), musculoskeletal pain (24% vs 15%), urinary tract infection (20% vs 11%), and rash (20% vs 2.3%). In patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO, the most common adverse reactions (all grades, 20%) were fatigue, infusion-related reaction, musculoskeletal pain, nausea, decreased appetite, and urinary tract infection. Selected laboratory abnormalities (all grades, 20%) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC receiving BAVENCIO plus BSC (vs BSC alone) as first-line maintenance treatment were blood triglycerides increased (34% vs 28%), alkaline phosphate increased (30% vs 20%), blood sodium decreased (28% vs 20%), lipase increased (25% vs 16%), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) increased (24% vs 12%), blood potassium increased (24% vs 16%), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) increased (24% vs 12%), blood cholesterol increased (22% vs 16%), serum amylase increased (21% vs 12%), hemoglobin decreased (28% vs 18%), and white blood cell decreased (20% vs 10%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 1.8% of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib. These included sudden cardiac death (1.2%), stroke (0.2%), myocarditis (0.2%), and necrotizing pancreatitis (0.2%). The most common adverse reactions (all grades, 20%) in patients with advanced RCC receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib (vs sunitinib) were diarrhea (62% vs 48%), fatigue (53% vs 54%), hypertension (50% vs 36%), musculoskeletal pain (40% vs 33%), nausea (34% vs 39%), mucositis (34% vs 35%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (33% vs 34%), dysphonia (31% vs 3.2%), decreased appetite (26% vs 29%), hypothyroidism (25% vs 14%), rash (25% vs 16%), hepatotoxicity (24% vs 18%), cough (23% vs 19%), dyspnea (23% vs 16%), abdominal pain (22% vs 19%), and headache (21% vs 16%). Selected laboratory abnormalities (all grades, 20%) worsening from baseline in patients with advanced RCC receiving BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib (vs sunitinib) were blood triglycerides increased (71% vs 48%), blood creatinine increased (62% vs 68%), blood cholesterol increased (57% vs 22%), alanine aminotransferase increased (ALT) (50% vs 46%), aspartate aminotransferase increased (AST) (47% vs 57%), blood sodium decreased (38% vs 37%), lipase increased (37% vs 25%), blood potassium increased (35% vs 28%), platelet count decreased (27% vs 80%), blood bilirubin increased (21% vs 23%), and hemoglobin decreased (21% vs 65%). Please see full US Prescribing Information and Medication Guide available at http://www.BAVENCIO.com. About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany-Pfizer Alliance Immuno-oncology is a top priority for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer. The global strategic alliance between Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer enables the companies to benefit from each other's strengths and capabilities and further explore the therapeutic potential of BAVENCIO, an anti-PD-L1 antibody initially discovered and developed by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The immuno-oncology alliance is jointly developing and commercializing BAVENCIO. The alliance is focused on developing high-priority international clinical programs to investigate BAVENCIO as a monotherapy as well as combination regimens, and is striving to find new ways to treat cancer. All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the EMD Group Website. In case you are a resident of the USA or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register again for your online subscription of this service as our newly introduced geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service. About EMD Serono, Inc. EMD Serono - the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the U.S. and Canada - is engaged in the discovery, research and development of medicines for patients with difficult to treat diseases. The business is committed to transforming lives by developing and delivering meaningful solutions that help address the therapeutic and support needs of individual patients. Building on a proven legacy and deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, EMD Serono is developing potential new oncology and immuno-oncology medicines while continuing to explore potential therapeutic options for diseases such as psoriasis, lupus and MS. Today, the business has approximately 1,500 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts. www.emdserono.com . About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 57,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of 16.2 billion in 66 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials. Since its founding 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Pfizer Inc.: Breakthroughs that change patients' lives At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer_News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer. Pfizer Disclosure Notice The information contained in this release is as of June 30, 2020. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments. This release contains forward-looking information about BAVENCIO (avelumab), including a new indication in the U.S. for the maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy, the alliance between Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer involving BAVENCIO and clinical development plans, including their potential benefits, that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, uncertainties regarding the commercial success of BAVENCIO; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including the ability to meet anticipated clinical endpoints, commencement and/or completion dates for our clinical trials, regulatory submission dates, regulatory approval dates and/or launch dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable new clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data; risks associated with interim data; the risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations and assessments by regulatory authorities; whether regulatory authorities will be satisfied with the design of and results from our clinical studies; whether and when any drug applications may be filed for BAVENCIO for first-line maintenance treatment for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in any other jurisdictions or in any jurisdictions for any other potential indications for BAVENCIO or combination therapies; whether and when regulatory authorities in any jurisdictions where any applications are pending or may be submitted for BAVENCIO or combination therapies, including BAVENCIO for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma may approve any such applications, which will depend on myriad factors, including making a determination as to whether the product's benefits outweigh its known risks and determination of the product's efficacy, and, if approved, whether they will be commercially successful; decisions by regulatory authorities impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, safety and/or other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of BAVENCIO, including BAVENCIO for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma; the impact of COVID-19 on Pfizer's business, operations and financial results; and competitive developments. A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results", as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com. References BAVENCIO Prescribing Information. Rockland, MA : EMD Serono Inc.; 2020. Powles T, et al. "Maintenance avelumab + best supportive care (BSC) versus BSC alone after platinum-based first-line chemotherapy in advanced urothelial carcinoma: JAVELIN Bladder 100 phase III results." 2020 ASCO Annual Meeting, 31 May 2020 , virtual. Conference Presentation. Bukhari N, et al. Update on the treatment of metastatic urothelial carcinoma. ScientificWorldJournal. 2018;2018:5682078. Von der Maase H, et al. Long-term survival results of a randomized trial comparing gemcitabine plus cisplatin, with methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, plus cisplatin in patients with bladder cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2005;23(21):4602-4608. SEER. Cancer stat facts: bladder cancer. https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/urinb.html. Accessed June 2020 . Bray F, et al. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA: A Cancer Journal. 2018;68(6):394-424. Galsky M, et al. Cisplatin ineligibility for patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma: a survey of clinical practice perspectives among US oncologists. Bladder Cancer. 2019;5:281-288. Cancer.net. Bladder cancer: introduction. https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/bladder-cancer/introduction. Accessed June 2020 . American Cancer Society. What is bladder cancer? https://www.cancer.org/cancer/bladder-cancer/about/what-is-bladder-cancer.html. Accessed June 2020 . Dolan DE, Gupta S. PD-1 pathway inhibitors: changing the landscape of cancer immunotherapy. Cancer Control. 2014;21(3):231-237. Dahan R, Sega E, Engelhardt J, et al. FcRs modulate the anti-tumor activity of antibodies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. Cancer Cell. 2015;28(3):285-295. Boyerinas B, Jochems C, Fantini M, et al. Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity of a novel anti-PD-L1 antibody avelumab (MSB0010718C) on human tumor cells. Cancer Immunol Res. 2015;3(10):1148-1157. Your Contacts EMD Serono Inc. Media Julissa Viana +1 781 206 5795 Investor Relations +49 6151 72-3321 Pfizer Inc., New York, USA Media Jessica Smith +1 212 733 6213 Investor Relations Ryan Crowe +1 215 260 0914 SOURCE EMD Serono NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PacerPro, a leading provider of workflow automation and experience capture services for US federal court litigation is pleased to announce that Fireman & Company has published a white paper covering usage and ROI data for 21 of its major AMLaw 100 and leading litigation boutique firms. Firms participating in the white paper include: Baker Botts LLP; Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP; DLA Piper LLP (US); Durie Tangri LLP; Husch Blackwell LLP; Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP; Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick P.L.L.C.; Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel LLP; Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP; McKool Smith P.C.; Morrison & Foerster LLP; Reed Smith LLP; Richards, Layton & Finger, PA; Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., Steptoe & Johnson PLLC; Susman Godfrey LLP; Winston & Strawn LLP; Shearman & Sterling LLP "As advisors, it's our job to help the industry understand the tools and technology available using concrete metrics. Thanks to the willingness of PacerPro's clients to share their usage data publicly, we have been able to produce a report that quantifies in straightforward, easy to understand terms, actual impact of an automation and experience capture tool in wide use among US law firms. Our hope is that more firms will follow the example set by these firms with other services to help create a more robust, transparent legal technology market." Joshua Fireman, Fireman & Company. "It's exciting to build product. But you can't get lost in the clouds. Exercises like this help keep everyone aligned around tangible impact." Gavin McGrane, CEO, PacerPro. The report is available at no cost at PacerPro and at Fireman . About Fireman & Company Fireman & Company is a legal industry-focused management consulting firm. Fireman team members have decades of experience as leaders in the industry, working as attorneys, CIOs, CKOs, and experts in document management, enterprise search, intranets, experience management, change management, and master data management. Fireman & Company is a trusted advisor to the world's most innovative law firms and corporations, and its mission is to help clients make substantial, distinctive, and lasting improvements in performance. About PacerPro PacerPro automates the download, distribution and capture of firm's federal court filing records, enabling case teams to better manage current litigation, and firms to better leverage past experience. For more information, please see pacerpro.com. Questions? Contact [email protected] SOURCE PacerPro Related Links http://www.pacerpro.com SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living (SFCJL) is preparing to open the new Lynne and Roy M. Frank Residences in the Fall of 2020 - offering the most innovative memory care for seniors in the Bay Area and possibly the country. Serving at the forefront of senior care for more than a century, SFCJL's experience will provide a firm foundation for the new community at Frank Residences, including innovating programming and services. The 270,000 square foot, $140 Million addition includes Frank Residences, 113 modern assisted-living apartments and 77 memory care support suites utilizing the latest in technology for older-adult care. Byer Square, a new multi-generational community center, will feature a cafe, a fitness center and pool, a cinema, and performing arts center. It will eventually include medical offices and care navigation. Byer Square will also offer programming tailored to provide life-long learning and experiences in a multi-generational community space. Memory care programming will focus heavily on creative arts therapies including music, art, dance, storytelling, improvisation, poetry, and drama. Memory care support groups for caregivers and family members will be available on campus and online to provide tools to manage memory challenges. In addition, SFCJL has created partnerships with Creative Aging SF, Medical Clown Project, Alzheimer's Association, UCSF, Family Caregiver Alliance, California Institute of Integral Studies, tailored to MA Psychology student interns in expressive arts and drama therapy. Robert Sarison, SFCJL Director of Campus Programs, felt it was important to create a residential feel as part of the memory care offering at Frank Residences. This effort includes creating five different neighborhoods as well as camouflaged medication carts, no nursing stations, and medical staff wearing regular clothes instead of scrubs. Dining areas look and operate just like a restaurant. These details matter for the overarching sense of wellness that residents at Frank Residences will enjoy. "We know that people retain their social sense even with memory challenges such as dementia and Alzheimer's. Therefore, our programming is geared toward interaction instead of simply filling time. We are dedicated to creating an environment where caregivers and residents are at their best and choose to focus on strengths not deficits. One of our most intriguing built-in programs is "Experience Stations" which offer Virtual Reality, sensory experiences for residents where realistic environments are created through scents and sounds to evoke memories," said Sarison. "The secret ingredient to the SFCJL philosophy is properly training caregivers and hiring the right people for the job. Every resident has an identity, and we focus on creating individualized programming to support every individual's unique needs," he concluded. Construction began in mid 2017 and is expected to welcome its first residents this Spring. For more information, or to schedule an appointment for a tour, please visit https://www.frankresidences.org. San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living (SFCJL), located in San Francisco's Excelsior District offers a modern housing model for older adults to receive higher levels of care. A $140-million community including 270,000 square feet of new construction and renovations on SFCJL's 362 skilled nursing, short-stay rehabilitation and behavioral health units includes the new Frank Residences - 113 assisted living apartments and 77 memory care suites, slated for occupancy the Spring of 2020. Byer Square, the "downtown" campus epicenter, will feature a primary, specialty and integrative health care clinic, fitness and aquatics center, library, cafe, cinema, and a cultural and performing arts center. Programs for healthy aging and wellness, along with support for caregivers will be available on-site, in-home, and virtually for older adults and their families. To schedule an appointment for an introduction to Frank Residences and a virtual tour, contact the Preview Center at 415-562-2020 or visit https://sfcjl.org/ . Contact: Marcus Young 415-505-2524 [email protected] SOURCE San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living Related Links https://sfcjl.org DUBLIN, Ohio, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Using the free TotalAR app on a smartphone or tablet, you can watch augmented reality fireworks from any location from 9 p.m. to midnight local time on July 4, HoloPundits announced today. The fireworks display will run 12 minutes and will feature patriotic virtual fireworks and music. Communities across the country are promoting the mobile app as an alternative or a supplement to their in-person fireworks displays. The city of Dayton, Ohio is one community offering the virtual fireworks and other augmented experiences through the mobile app. "It's fun to watch the hot air balloons and the other experiences available on the app," said Nick Terbay, Recreation Program Coordinator for the City of Dayton. "You just hold your phone up to the sky and experience all the augmented reality displays." Leading up to July 4, you will be able to enjoy other fun experiences through the app. You can witness a beautiful rainbow, a stunning show of lanterns, a hot air balloon launch, a UFO landing, and more. "We wanted to make something special for the community to enjoy," said HoloPundits Founder and CEO Vinod Dega. "With our app, these experiences can be brought to life wherever you are through augmented reality. People can enjoy the holiday safely, and that is important to us." Though more than 60 communities in 20 states are teaming up with HoloPundits to provide this to their community members, individuals from anywhere can participate in the experiences. To participate, download the TotalAR app for free at GooglePlay or the AppStore (no ads appear in this app). Allow the app to enable camera and location services. Click on Geo AR and enjoy the experiences. For more information, visit https://www.totalar.com/fireworks.html or view https://youtu.be/cSdoEGjkomg HoloPundits is a global technology company with expertise that spans the entire spectrum of AR, VR, and mixed reality. Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio with offices in Chennai, India, Holopundits works with brands across a variety of industries to transform their experience through immersive technology. For more about HoloPundits, visit our website. *IMAGE: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/20-0630s2p-totalar-fireworks-300dpi.jpg This release was issued through Send2Press, a unit of Neotrope. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.Send2Press.com. SOURCE HoloPundits The fundraiser was organized by Team Freedom Cares , Freedom Mortgage's employee engagement and corporate giving program that focuses on giving back to the community. The donations were divided among more than a dozen food banks around the country through Feeding America's COVID-19 Response Fund, which was created to meet the increased need for food security brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Freedom Mortgage is proud to support Feeding America's COVID-19 Response Fund and help get food and funds to the communities where they're needed most," Middleman said. "While philanthropy has always been engrained in our company culture, I've been moved by the passion, energy and generosity that our employees have shown to help families in need during this extraordinary time." "Now more than ever, it's increasingly important to help provide food to our neighbors in need," said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. "We're proud to work together with Freedom Mortgage toward fulfilling our vision of a hunger-free America." For the past three years, Freedom Mortgage has partnered with Feeding America to fill the shelves of food banks. Last year alone, the company collected nine tons of food for food banks in eight different states. Freedom is also a sponsor of the Southern N.J. Summer Meals program, which provides nutritious breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks to 6,400 local children who normally depend on their school lunch program as a source for meals. The $1 million in donations raised for Feeding America were distributed to the following food banks: Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana , Inc. , Inc. Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan Food Bank of South Jersey Philabundance ( Philadelphia ) ) Capital Area Food Bank ( Washington, DC ) ) Maryland Food Bank Island Harvest ( Bethpage, NY ) ) Food Bank For New York City Feeding South Florida Feeding Northeast Florida Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida North Texas Food Bank Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Feeding San Diego United Food Bank ( Mesa, Arizona ) ) St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance ( Phoenix, Arizona ) Though Team Freedom Cares, company employees have donated thousands of volunteer hours over the years and have raised funds for many different military and civilian non-profits. Last year, volunteers collected more than 2,600 backpacks and school supplies for military families across the country and sent over 1,000 handwritten notes to traveling troops through USO airport lounges. Most recently, Freedom Mortgage employees collected over 3,400 toys nationally at the company's annual toy drive. Beneficiary organizations include the Salvation Army, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ronald McDonald House and Toys for Tots. "No matter the cause whether it's feeding hungry families, helping out the children of military families or financing the homeownership dreams of our veterans, the Freedom Mortgage family is always ready to lend a hand," Middleman said. About Freedom Mortgage Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Marlton, New Jersey, Freedom Mortgage is a non-bank, full-service mortgage company that provides mortgage loans through retail, wholesale, and correspondent channels. One of the nation's largest loan originators and servicers, the company is licensed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Freedom Mortgage is a leader in VA mortgage lending and one of the mortgage industry's largest philanthropic supporters of the USO and military families. The company is also renowned for its vibrant work environment where its team members can thrive. For more information, please visit FreedomMortgage.com. About Feeding America Feeding America is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, we provide meals to more than 40 million people each year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit FeedingAmerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. CORPORATE CONTACT: Audrey Shapiro Freedom Mortgage Corporation (856) 380-9073 [email protected] Shari Senior Freedom Mortgage Corporation (856) 712-7034 [email protected] PRESS CONTACT: Henry Drennan Strategic Vantage Marketing & Public Relations [email protected] (615) 497-8358 SOURCE Freedom Mortgage Corporation Related Links http://www.freedommortgage.com NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EMPEA, the global industry association for private capital in emerging markets, today announced the appointment of Bill Ford, Chief Executive Officer of General Atlantic, and Suyi Kim, Head of Asia Pacific at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), to its Board of Directors. EMPEA Chair Nicolas Rohatyn, Chief Executive Officer of The Rohatyn Group, commented: "It is vital for private capital investors to continue to put money to work across emerging markets as these investments have a real life impact on companies and the sustainability of economies in these regions. Having recently combined forces with LAVCA to expand our reach and capabilities, this depth must also be present at the highest levels of leadership at EMPEA. Bill Ford is an eminent investor, and known globally General Atlantic has deep roots in Latin America and Asia as a leading growth and technology investor. Suyi Kim brings a unique Asian sensibility to our board and a breadth of experience across all types of private investing on behalf of one of the world's truly great institutions, CPP Investments. We are thrilled to welcome both General Atlantic and CPP Investments to EMPEA at a moment of significant transition for the world and our industry." Ford added: "The growing global nature of entrepreneurship is foundational to General Atlantic, with more than one-third of our investments in emerging markets. I am honored to join the board of EMPEA and collaborate across its network to support the work of entrepreneurs advancing technological enablement, innovation, and positive impact within and beyond their communities." Kim commented: "Emerging markets are core to CPP Investments' long-term strategy. We have been investing in emerging markets for over a decade and currently have over 20% of our total assets invested in these markets with the majority in Asian emerging markets. I am pleased to join EMPEA's efforts to promote transparency and sustainable investing, which are critical at a time of global market uncertainty and turbulence." This announcement comes on the heels of the introduction of EMPEA's new CEO and Board Member Cate Ambrose in October 2019, as well as a formalized institutional integration with the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America (LAVCA). "There is an extraordinary opportunity to influence future private capital investment across Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and CEE and CIS," said Ambrose. "During a time of heightened protectionism, it is essential that long-term investors of all types including fund managers, pension funds, DFIs, family offices, corporates, and sovereign wealth funds rewrite the map and find ways to collaborate on an international and local level to sustain populations and ultimately global economies." EMPEA's full Board of Directors: Chair: Nicolas Rohatyn, CEO and CIO, The Rohatyn Group (TRG) Vice Chair: Runa Alam, CEO and Partner, Development Partners International (DPI) Vice Chair: Fernando Borges, Managing Director and Co-Head of the Carlyle South America Buyout Group, The Carlyle Group Vice Chair: Brian Lim, Partner and Head of Asia and Emerging Markets Investments, Pantheon Ventures Secretary: Mark Kenderdine-Davies, Chief Legal Officer, CDC Group Treasurer: Maninder Saluja, Co-Head, Emerging Markets Private Equity, Quilvest Cate Ambrose, CEO, EMPEA Torbjorn Caesar, Senior Partner, Actis William E. Ford, CEO, General Atlantic Carlos Garcia, Managing Partner, Victoria Capital Partners Drew Guff, Managing Director and Founding Partner, Siguler Guff & Company Suyi Kim, Head of Asia Pacific, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) Maria Kozloski, Chief Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Andrew Kuper, Founder and CEO, LeapFrog Investments Renuka Ramnath, Founder, Managing Director, and CEO, Multiples Alternative Asset Management Mauricio Salgar, Managing Director, Advent International About EMPEA EMPEA is a non-profit, independent network representing investors with more than USD1 trillion in private capital assets across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. United by a long-term, intentional investment approach, our community of fund and institutional investors is empowered by primary-source investment data and intelligence. EMPEA's mission is to influence and connect key market participants to drive transparency and sustainable economic development. To find out more, please visit EMPEA.org. Contact Caitlin Mitchell, EMPEA [email protected] | [email protected] | +1.646.315.6737 SOURCE EMPEA Related Links https://www.empea.org NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KEY FINDINGS The global smart inhalers market is projected to garner considerable revenue, growing at a CAGR of 31.66%, during the forecast period of 2019 to 2028. The drivers facilitating the market growth include a high incidence of chronic respiratory diseases like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma, an increase in air pollution, and indoor air pollutants. Moreover, the growing geriatric population has also contributed to market growth. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05917875/?utm_source=PRN MARKET INSIGHTS Smart inhalers are used to deliver a variety of medications through inhalation.The drugs in the inhalers comprise glucocorticoids, anti-cholinergic, insulin, and beta-agonists for preventing and treating respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD. The inhalers are called smart inhalers due to the sensors clipped on them, monitoring the right dose, with each intake.The data registered by the sensor is shared with the patient and healthcare professionals to measure and track the inhaler use. The monitored information is then shared using Bluetooth technology to their mobile applications through a specific platform.The global smart inhalers market growth is propelled by the upsurge in the prevalence of COPD and asthma, which is caused by an increase in air pollution. Therefore, the high rates of air pollution are anticipated to cause a rise in respiratory disorders, which stimulates market growth. However, expensive treatments and limited availability of inhalers, hinder the global smart inhalers market growth. REGIONAL INSIGHTS The geographical segmentation of the global smart inhalers market comprises Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and the rest of the world.Asia Pacific is estimated to project the highest CAGR, in terms of revenue, across the forecast period. Growing pollution rates in India, have led to a hike in the prevalence of respiratory diseases. This has significantly raised the demand for smart inhalers in the country, thereby propelling the market growth. COMPETITIVE INSIGHTS The global smart inhalers market is highly fragmented and comprises several large-scale and small-scale industries.Thus, intense competition is witnessed among participants. Companies stimulating the market growth include, ResMed Inc (Propeller Health), Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, etc. Our report offerings include: Explore key findings of the overall market Strategic breakdown of market dynamics (Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, Challenges) Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years, along with 3 years of historical data for all segments, sub-segments, and regions Market Segmentation cater to a thorough assessment of key segments with their market estimations Geographical Analysis: Assessments of the mentioned regions and country-level segments with their market share Key analytics: Porter's Five Forces Analysis, Vendor Landscape, Opportunity Matrix, Key Buying Criteria, etc. Competitive landscape is the theoretical explanation of the key companies based on factors, market share, etc. Company profiling: A detailed company overview, product/services offered, SCOT analysis, and recent strategic developments Companies mentioned 1. 3M COMPANY 2. ADHERIUM LIMITED 3. AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC 4. ASTRAZENECA PLC 5. BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM GMBH 6. COHERO HEALTH INC 7. GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC 8. KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV 9. NOVARTIS AG 10. OPKO HEALTH INC 11. RESMED INC (PROPELLER HEALTH) 12. TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED 13. VECTURA GROUP PLC Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05917875/?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 As a current print subscriber, you receive 24/7 access to our website and online e-edition at no additional charge. All you have to do is activate your access. To activate digital access, you will need your account number. You can find your account number on any recent subscription notice or bill. Revenue Fluctuated during the Pandemic, The Group is Confident to Meet Future Challenges Sustainable Growth in Beijing Sunbow O&G Hospital, Interim Achievements in Cell Therapy Clinical Trials For the Year Ended 31 March 2020 (HK$'000) 2019 (HK$'000) Change (%) Revenue 307,141 315,668 (2.7) Healthcare services segment revenue 151,600 167,752 (9.6) Hospital services income 145,043 147,014 (1.3) Cells and tissues storage and genetic testing services income 1,521 13,692 (88.9) Medical insurance administration services income 5,036 7,046 (28.5) Medical devices segment revenue 147,168 142,564 3.2 Strategic investments revenue 8,373 5,352 56.4 Gross profit 118,518 134,425 (11.8) Loss from operations (163,428) (549,863) (70.3) Exchange gain on interest-bearing borrowings(1) 44,348 24,029 84.6 Interest income from other receivables(2) 28,834 86,478 (66.7) Impairment loss on other receivables(3) (18,642) (378,843) (95.1) Adjusted loss from operations(4) (217,968) (281,527) (22.6) Finance costs (51,656) (74,271) (30.4) Loss attributable to the Company's equity shareholders (261,364) (675,444) (61.3) Withholding tax on PRC dividend(5) - (37,763) N/M Adjusted loss attributable to the Company's equity shareholders(6) (315,904) (369,345) (14.5) Basic loss per share (in HK cents) (9.0) (23.2) (61.2) Adjusted basic loss per share(6) (in HK cents) (10.8) (12.7) (15.0) (1) Exchange differences on RMB-denominated bank loans. (2) Income recorded due to the settlement agreement signed with Sanpower Group Limited. (3) A non-cash impairment provision of HK$18,642,000 (FY2018/2019:HK$378,843,000) against outstanding receivables due from Sanpower was further made, due to the lack of improvement in liquidity. (4) Excluding (1), (2) and (3). (5) In FY2018/2019, the withholding tax on dividend distributed by a wholly-owned PRC subsidiary of the Group of HK$37,763,000 was recorded. (6) Excluding (1), (2), (3) and (5). HONG KONG, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Golden Meditech Holdings Limited (SEHK stock code: 00801) ("Golden Meditech" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"), a leading integrated healthcare enterprise in China, announces today its annual results for the year ended 31 March 2020 (the "Year"). Revenue of the Group decreased slightly by 2.7% year-on-year to HK$307,141,000. This was because the impact of COVID-19 outbreak was only started in early 2020. Among them, revenue generated from the healthcare services segment decreased by 9.6% year-on-year to HK$151,600,000, accounting for 49.4% of the Group's revenue; while the medical devices segment recorded a revenue increase of 3.2% year-on-year to HK$147,168,000, accounting for 47.9% of the Group's revenue. The adjusted loss attributable to equity shareholders of the Company was HK$315,904,000, down 14.5% year-on-year; the adjusted basic loss per share was 10.8 HK cents, down 15.0% year-on-year. The decrease was mainly attributable to the decrease in adjusted operating loss, finance costs and the withholding tax on PRC dividend. Mr. Feng Wen, Chairman of the Group, said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Group to a certain context, nevertheless, we are confident to deal with the tough time ahead, and will try our best to minimise the impact of the pandemic on the Group's results in anticipation of the challenging market environment. With respect to healthcare services, we will continue to build the predominant disciplines of our hospitals, fully tapping into the market potential of the premium healthcare services. At the same time, we will fully utilise the long-term competitiveness underpinned by the Group's nationwide marketing network to expand the sales channels and sales volume of medical devices. The Group will also further integrate its resources and strengthen the synergetic effect among its various business segments, so as to enhance its revenue and profitability." Healthcare Services Segment During the Year, the fluctuations in the performance of the healthcare services segment were mainly caused by a number of factors, including the expansion work and relocation of Shanghai East International Medical Center, the modification work to the laboratory and the impact of the pandemic. Revenue from hospital businesses, medical insurance administration business and cells and tissues storage and genetic testing services businesses have decreased by 1.3%, 28.5% and 88.9% year-on-year to HK$145,043,000, HK$5,036,000 and HK$1,521,000, respectively, accounting for 95.7%, 3.3% and 1.0% of the healthcare services revenue. Being the key expansion of the Group, hospital businesses maintain a sustainable development, laying a solid foundation for the steady development of the healthcare services segment. Hospital Businesses Beijing Sunbow Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital recorded revenue of HK$39,924,000, up 29.6% year-on-year. The increase was mainly attributable to the growing demand of expectant mothers for quality healthcare services, good reputation of the hospital and its innovative services. Beijing Qinghe Hospital's rental income reduced by 9.9% year-on-year to HK$60,424,000. Shanghai East International Medical Center has relocated to the new operating site after completing the expansion work in the second half of 2019, and recorded a year-on-year decrease of 9.1% in revenue to HK$44,695,000. Medical Insurance Administration Business Revenue from medical insurance administration business amounted to HK$5,036,000 during the Year. Counting on its self-developed smart platform and cloud data processing center, as well as comprehensive domestic and international background and experience in the healthcare sector, the Group will further expand large insurance company customers, so as to enhance its business performance. Cells and Tissues Storage and Genetic Testing Services Businesses As a result of laboratory modification work during the Year, revenue generated from cells and tissues storage and genetic testing businesses was down by 88.9% to HK$1,521,000. Medical Devices Segment The medical devices segment showed steady development. Among them, revenue from sales of medical devices and distribution of third parties medical device and consumables increased by 30.7% and 31.8% year-on-year to HK$2,727,000 and HK$52,043,000, respectively. The increase was mainly attributable to the increased sales volume as a result of the drop in prices of the Group's medical devices, and the increased selling prices of the third parties medical devices and consumables. Revenue from medical device consumables decreased by 8.5% year-on-year to HK$92,398,000 due mainly to the pandemic. Strategic Investments and Developments Chinese Herbal Medicines Business The Chinese herbal medicines business recorded a revenue of HK$8,373,000 during the Year, up 56.4% year-on-year, primarily attributable to the improved sales volume in certain regions. Cell Therapy Business The Group has obtained a number of interim achievements in the research and development of cell therapies, providing a solid ground for the Group to penetrate into high-end healthcare market with a first-mover advantage in the big health industry. In 2019, the Group collaborated with the Department of Biology of Hong Kong Baptist University to conduct in-depth research in the area of cell therapy, particularly treating neurodegenerative diseases with stem cells. Additionally, the Group's associate company in the United States ("U.S."), Cellenkos, has initiated Phase I clinical trial of its lead product, CK0801, for treatment of bone marrow failure syndrome as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome. In June 2020, Cellenkos once again obtained the approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to initiate Phase I clinical trial of CK0802 for treatment of COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome. Proposal for the Privatisation of Golden Meditech * On 17 June 2020, Meditech Global Group Limited (the "Offeror") and Golden Meditech issued a joint announcement in connection with the proposed privatisation of Golden Meditech by way of a scheme of arrangement (the "Proposal"). The sole director of the Offeror is Mr. Kam Yuen, the Company's major shareholder. An Independent Board Committee has been established to make a recommendation to the Disinterested Shareholders. A Scheme Document will be dispatched to the Shareholders as soon as practicable and in compliance with the requirements of the Takeovers Code and applicable laws and regulations. Outlook Looking ahead, Mr. Feng commented, "It is highly possible that China will continue to implement favourable policies and encourage the development of big health industry since the industrial restructuring is becoming the norm. The next ten years is set to be the golden decade of the big health industry, representing a huge opportunity to the Group. As a leading integrated healthcare enterprise in China, we will, as always, capture the opportunities brought by the upgrade and development of the healthcare industry, and we will actively participate in the fast-growing big health market, creating sustainable and favourable returns for the shareholders of the Company." End About Golden Meditech Holdings Limited (SEHK stock code: 00801) Golden Meditech (www.goldenmeditech.com) is a leading integrated-healthcare enterprise in China. It is a first-mover in China, having established its dominant positions in several markets including the medical devices market and the hospital market in the healthcare industry, thanks to its strengths in innovation and market expertise and the ability to capture emerging market opportunities. Going forward, Golden Meditech will continue to pursue a leading position in China's healthcare industry both through organic growth and strategic expansion. * Details of the Proposal have been published by the Company in accordance with the Hong Kong Listing Rules and posted on the Company's website as follows: http://www.goldenmeditech.com/eng/ir/announcements.php?year=2020 SOURCE Golden Meditech Holdings Limited Related Links http://www.goldenmeditech.com MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Google.org announced it is donating $500,000 to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, an organization protecting and defending the rights of Black transgender people as part of its over $2 million in grants for LGBTQ+ organizations around the world. With its grants, Google.org is supporting Black trans women, and the many LGBTQ+ women of color, honoring the community that led this movement 50 years ago during the first Pride march and Stonewall Uprising in 1969. Decades later, The Marsha P. Johnson Institute continues to advocate for justice and equality. Until her tragic death in 1992, Marsha P. Johnson also was a self-identified drag queen, performer and survivor, in addition to being a prominent figure in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. Marsha went by "Black Marsha" before settling on Marsha P. Johnson. The "P" stood for "Pay It No Mind," which is what Marsha would say in response to questions about her gender. It is the consideration of who "Black Marsha" was that inspired The Marsha P. Johnson Institute. "Through her advocacy for an inclusive LGBTQ+ movement and an end to police brutality, Marsha P. Johnson challenged the world to acknowledge the intersections of Black+ and Queer identity," said Maab Ibrahim, Inclusion Grantmaking Lead at Google.org. "Google.org's efforts to end racial injustice and support LGBTQ+ organizations includes a grant to The Marsha P. Johnson Institute, an organization working to end violence against Black+ transgender women." "Google.org's donation will allow us to expand our ever-important COVID relief grants to support and protect the Black trans communities, as they have been disproportionately impacted by COVID," said Elle Hearns, founder and executive director of The Marsha P. Johnson Institute. "The donation will strengthen our direct cash assistance program, which is empowering individuals to secure housing, healthcare, and other essential supports during this time. Black Trans women are too often forgotten by our society, and with Google.org's help we're giving them the support they need." The institute was also founded in response to the high rate of murders of Black trans women. In addition, the institute works tirelessly to fight against the exclusion of this community in social justice issues, namely racial, gender and reproductive justice, as well as gun violence. In 2019, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) advocates tracked at least 27 deaths of transgender or gender non-conforming people in the U.S. due to violence, the majority of whom were black transgender women. In 2020, 15 trans women have already been murdered. Statistics prove transgender women of color are disproportionately victims of violent death, in addition to racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobia bias. "We are grateful to Google, for not only lending their voice and brightening light in supporting the work the institute does, but for also advocating and understanding the need for protecting the human rights of Black trans women," added Ms. Hearns. About The Marsha P. Johnson Institute: The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI) protects and defends the human rights of black transgender people. We do this by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power. We were founded both as a response to the murders of black trans women and women of color and how that is connected to our exclusion from social justice issues, namely racial, gender, and reproductive justice, as well as gun violence. MPJI is a fiscally sponsored project of Social Good Fund, a California nonprofit corporation and registered 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, please visit our website at https://marshap.org/ . About Google.org's Commitment to the LGBTQ+ Community & Racial Equity: Google.org is donating over $2 million to organizations around the world that create change for local LGBTQ+ people of color, tans and non-binary communities, LGBTQ+ families and many more. Learn more about Google's response efforts for racial equity at www.google.com/racialjustice. SOURCE The Marsha P. Johnson Institute Related Links http://www.marshap.org ATLANTA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ericka Russell-Petty, M.D., was sworn into office as the president of the Georgia State Medical Association (GSMA ) during a virtual ceremony that took place on June 28th. "I am humbled, honored and excited to serve my patients and my fellow physicians in this role," says Dr. Russell-Petty, a pediatric specialist who founded PEds Health, in the Savannah area. Dr. Russell-Petty believes that today's physicians are "trusted messengers and can play an important role in pursuing equal access to healthcare and appropriate treatment for Black Lives." She further explains that "during this pandemic, everyone must take the mandatory steps to care for yourself and to help protect others by wearing masks, socially distancing from others by at least six-feet, and washing hands often, and doing your best to not touch your face, mouth, nose or eyes, especially for those who must be outside their homes." During her two-year term as GSMA's president, Dr. Russell-Petty will focus immediately on "combating the spread of COVID-19, especially in underrepresented and essential worker populations, and will continue to build programs that support the increase of minority student representation in health care careers." Dr. Russell-Petty concludes that, "but am driven by Luke 12:48 ...For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. And since I cannot do this alone, from each of you I ask the more." Dr. Russell-Petty has served on a number of GSMA and statewide committees and is a member of the American Medical Association, the National Medical Association, and a lifetime member of the Georgia NAACP. Dr. Russell-Petty has a degree from Pennsylvania State University / College of Medicine. GSMA is a collective voice actively representing African American physicians across the State of Georgia for over 125 years; a leading force advocating for our members in the importance of maintaining physician autonomy, health care access for all, and health care equity for our patients in the state. GSMA seeks to elevate the professional success of its members through information, education, advocacy, and networking opportunities. Founded in 1893, GSMA is a component of the National Medical Association (NMA). Media Contact: Kimberly Williams, PhD (404) 752-1564 [email protected] SOURCE Georgia State Medical Association, Inc. Related Links http://www.gsmanet.org AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HEAT X, one of the technology leaders and largest patent holders of magnetocaloric and magnetic induction technologies, has signed an agreement with NextEnergy to accelerate the adoption and commercialization of several transformational clean heating technologies, as available alternatives for the world's residential, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors. The strategic partnership between HEAT X and NextEnergy, a non-profit organization based in Detroit working with innovators to accelerate smarter, cleaner, more accessible solutions for cities and communities, will be multifaceted. In addition to facilitating various technology demonstrations with both public and private stakeholders to showcase their magnetocaloric heating technologies for air, surface and fluids, NextEnergy will support the promotion, marketing and commercialization with multiple actions including introductions to Heat X of highly selected and qualified potential licensees and investors. "The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing critical insights regarding human impact on the environment of fossil fuels. We believe our 100 % clean and emission-free technologies can be a vital alternative to positively impact the world and substantially reduce carbon footprint, even after the world moves past these unprecedented events," said Christopher Meso, one of the founding investors of HEAT X. "Our technology is not only third-party validated to deliver heat with substantially less electrical consumption than available solutions but can also deliver energy cost efficiencies that could potentially displace gas/fuel heating. HEAT X is ready for the new global reality after this pandemic." "NextEnergy is very excited to partner with this innovative Michigan-based company to help them scale and deploy their groundbreaking thermal technologies globally. By partnering with HEAT X, we will advance our mission and move towards our vision for a carbon-free energy future," said Jim Saber, President and CEO of NextEnergy. Magnetocaloric heating technology was theorized by NASA back in the 1970's. HEAT X accomplished their key goals of delivering emission-free heating technologies more efficiently with less components and lower material cost than existing fuel-based technologies. HEAT X technologies utilizes its innovative designs, combined with the right mix of cost competitive materials, and will begin licensing globally its technologies in the second half of 2020. NextEnergy with this partnership continues with its goal to accelerate innovative technologies into real solutions that will create a better quality of life for all. For further information about HEAT X, visit www.heatxtech.com To learn more about NextEnergy, visit www.nextenergy.org or call 313.833.0100. About HEAT X HEAT X is a technology development and licensing company established in June of 2018 and is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich., USA. HEAT X relentlessly focuses on improving people's lives, reducing the use of energy and delivering the next generation of clean technologies in magnetocaloric/magnetic induction heating for air, surfaces and fluids. Our innovative approach to these technologies enables us also to empower our partners to become leaders in solving climate challenges. The result is the development of unique technologies for residential, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors that creates value for customers, users and a positive impact in our environment and the world at large. About NextEnergy Founded in 2002 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and based in Detroit, NextEnergy works with innovators to accelerate smarter, cleaner, more accessible solutions for communities and cities. Since its inception, NextEnergy has worked with more than 400 companies, universities, federal agencies, and philanthropic organizations to drive more than $1.5 billion in advanced energy and mobility technology investments. We demonstrate and pilot technologies in real-world environments to gather data and diverse user-experiences. This process helps us to quickly scale and deploy solutions by accelerating commercialization with a specific focus on smart mobility and smart grid. Our depth of experience, technical knowledge, and an established network of partners have enabled us to develop effective programs and pilots and facilitate new relationships to help our clients achieve their commercialization goals. Contact us today to learn how you can start transforming your ideas and technology into smarter, cleaner more accessible solutions to create a better quality of life for all. SOURCE NextEnergy Related Links http://www.nextenergy.org HONG KONG, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In the 21st century, the rapid development of international commercial space industry is recognized as one of the most innovative and explosive industries. As the first commercial organization member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group, Ltd. (HKATG) is committed to launching the "Golden Bauhinia" low-orbit satellite constellation as the industry core, focusing on the layout of regional space satellite big data services, building space industry infrastructure, serving regional aerospace commercialization needs, promoting marketization of space technology, and making up for regional commercial gap in the space industry of the Greater Bay Area. Recently, based on the principle of equality and mutual benefit, HKATG has signed a strategic partnership cooperation agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC). CGWIC is the only commercial organization authorized by the Chinese government to operate commercial launches, provide satellites and carry out international space technology cooperation, while providing professional personnel training and other aerospace system integration services as well as carrying out international operations and professional services for aerospace technology application products. The cooperation includes joint development of the Golden Bauhinia constellation system design, satellite design, research and development, testing, launch and in-orbit delivery. HKATG will purchase the Golden Bauhinia series of low-orbit satellite systems, supporting ground facilities and related services from CGWIC. In addition, the two sides will conduct in-depth cooperation in commercial deep space exploration, data application services and product promotion, space talent training and capacity-building, etc. This cooperation is an important milestone for HKATG to pioneer international commercial satellite business, and it will use its strategic partner's commercial space channels and international advantages to jointly develop the extremely high-end market, laying a solid foundation for HKATG to become an advanced international space enterprise. About HKATG Founded in September 2019 by eleven of the world's leading aerospace scientists and HKFIHG, HKATG is the first commercial aerospace enterprise in Hong Kong. In November 2019, it became the first organization member recognized by International Astronautical Federation (IAF). About CGWIC Founded in 1980, CGWIC is a commercial agency authorized by the Chinese government to provide commercial launch, satellite systems and space technology cooperation, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Committed to the internationalization of China's space industry, it has developed into a space products and services system integrator. Please check out www.hkatg.com for more information. SOURCE Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group Related Links http://www.hkatg.com HELSINKI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Metsa Wood's Hybrid City Challenge called for ways to make construction more sustainable, while maintaining efficiency using current building methods. The answer lies in hybrid construction: modular construction practically combining wood and other construction materials. The Hybrid City Challenge gathered some 40 ideas from 22 countries. The winner of the first prize of 10,000 was a design called "WHAT IF New York's SEAGRAM Building was a HYBRID building", by Colombian architect Jose Gustavo Garzon. The design presents a hybrid system with a core made of concrete and steel. When moving outwards and upwards, the frame gradually blends into a wooden frame. The jury had the difficult task of selecting the winners from the suggestions. "The competition was of a very high standard. In the top 10, many great innovations and ideas were presented that on their own would be extremely interesting in any context," says the chairman of the jury Jussi Bjorman, Director, Technical Customer Service at Metsa Wood. The challenge was to select a structure, module or concept used in an existing multi-storey building made of non-wooden materials and redesign it by replacing some of the materials with wood. The criteria for selecting the winners were: 1.) efficiency - a modular solution compatible with current building methods; and 2.) sustainability - using Metsa Wood's Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) as the main material. "The winning solution shows good understanding of different materials and makes use of their best properties to create an optimal combination. The system is a construction method with great potential for high-rise buildings in the future," Bjorman remarks. "The Hybrid City Challenge is an inspiring exercise to explore the smarter combination of building materials and systems in creating sustainable, durable and high-performance buildings, according to the complexity of the industry," says winner, Jose Gustavo Garzon. "Hybrid construction - mixing concrete, steel and indoor wood - offers the most promising opportunities in the coming years, and I think it will be the standard for high-rise buildings." The second prizes of 5,000 were awarded to "Alexandra Road Estate Reimagined", by Frederick Pittman and "Villa Mokum, mostly wood, some steel and a concrete base", by Jasper Middelberg. The construction sector alone uses 50% of the world's resources and causes 30% of all CO 2 emissions. At the same time, we are forced to build at breakneck speed to support the ever-growing need for housing - while keeping costs low. And then there's the environment All construction materials have their benefits. But wood is the only renewable construction material, and it also stores carbon. We need to find ways to use wood more. Hybrid structures offer an opportunity to use more wood in construction without disrupting the existing processes, making the change easier. The competition designs offer practical approaches to how the construction industry can gradually move forwards with more sustainable urban construction. See all the competition designs at Opensourcewood.com See the details of the winning designs: Read more about the Plan B: Hybrid City initiative. Images: https://databank.metsagroup.com/l/SwNFtGFMZ2Vd For more information, please contact: Viivi Kylama, Marketing Manager, Metsa Wood tel. +358-40-820-9850, [email protected] For press information in UK, please contact: Matt Trace, Director, Defero Communications tel. 07828663988, [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/metsa-wood/r/hybrid-city-competition-results-offer-solutions-to-improve-both-sustainability-and-efficiency,c3144974 The following files are available for download: SOURCE Metsa Wood More information about NHTSA's best practices can be found at https://www.nhtsa.gov/child-safety/help-prevent-hot-car-deaths. Other Tips for Adults with Kids in the Car Place a briefcase, purse, or cell phone next to the child's car seat so that you'll always check the back seat before leaving the car. Keep a stuffed animal or another memento in your child's car seat when it's empty. Move it to the front seat as a visual reminder when your child is in the back seat. Set a rule for your child care provider; have them call you if your child doesn't arrive as scheduled. To do its part, Hyundai is voluntarily making its Rear Occupant Alert (ROA) door-logic system standard on most of its new vehicles by 2022. It recently added standard ROA to the 2020 Sonata and Sonata Hybrid and will add the system to the all-new 2021 Elantra, by the end of the year. Hyundai will also make its optional Ultrasonic Rear Occupant Alert, or a similar sensor-based system, available on more of its models in the future. It is available today in the popular Palisade and Santa Fe SUVs, vehicles most driven by families with young children. NHTSA and Hyundai are now calling on the public via social media to help prevent children from dying in hot cars this summer. Four Hyundai models are available today with door-logic ROA as standard equipment: the 2020 Santa Fe, Palisade, Sonata and Sonata Hybrid. Both of the SUVs have the Ultrasonic ROA available as an option. The 2019 Santa Fe also has the Ultrasonic ROA feature available as an option. Hyundai currently offers two types of ROA systems to help prevent these tragedies from occurring. The ROA door-logic system detects if a rear door was opened or closed before the car was started, then reminds the driver to check the rear seat with a message on the center cluster when exiting the vehicle. The Ultrasonic ROA has the door-logic technology and an ultrasonic sensor that helps to detect the movements of children and pets in the second-row seats. If the system detects movement in the second-row seats after the driver leaves the vehicle and locks the doors, it will honk the horn and send an alert to the driver's smartphone via Hyundai's Blue Link connected car system (if equipped with Blue Link and the Blue Link service is active). These videos have more information on how the systems work. 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. Hyundai's 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. 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 FRANKLIN, Tenn., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- i2i Population Health is pleased to announce the latest release of PRiZiM to the market. This is i2i's second release of the PRiZiM platform, designed with the entire enterprise in mind, from quality improvement to care management. All stakeholders can access one synchronized data set to explore, analyze, and act. Users can configure and customize unlimited "pages" of dashboards and scorecards to examine performance across clinics, hospitals, networks and providers, using benchmarks to drive measurable performance improvement. One Patient. One Population. One Platform. (PRNewsfoto/i2i Population Health) (PRNewsfoto/i2i Population Health) Improving the health of communities is a core passion of the i2i Team. This starts with providing innovative technology solutions that integrate with the users workflow. With PRiZiM and LINKS 2020, care teams can analyze quality performance, interactively, with highlighted trends and alerts across hundreds of measures, drilling down into drivers of utilization, cost, and even patient records, which will drive significant quality improvement across your community. Whether you are an individual health center, private practice, hospital, health plan, or network, PRiZiM powers a 360 degree view of your organization's quality performance. A single source of truth enabling providers and health plans to focus on Patients not Technology. Altura Centers for Health in Tulare, California, teamed with i2i to implement PRiZiM across their community health centers. Altura provides quality, community-driven, healthcare across six different clinics which include primary care, behavioral health, and dental services. Leveraging i2iTracks for daily operational population health management, Altura has been an i2i client for over 14 years. Adding PRiZiM to Altura's population health strategies was a key component to enhancing quality program performance and further building continuity of care programs across their network of clinics. "We are proud to partner with i2i in launching PRiZiM in addition to i2iTracks as our complete population health platform," states Eric Medina, Altura Quality Improvement Director. "PRiZiM will support our health center's overall mission and vision of providing quality healthcare to several communities. Our care teams, quality management, and finance staff will utilize PRiZiM to better identify care opportunities that help Altura Centers and our thousands of patients live healthier lives." i2i CEO, Justin L. Neece, echoes these statements. "We are grateful for Altura Centers for Health's leadership and partnership. i2i's mission, Serving Others for Healthy Communities, is exemplified in our continued efforts to innovate and transform population health technologies that meet our customers' needs. PRiZiM delivers one interoperable platform that connects, data-rich solutions to meet the dynamic needs of health centers, hospitals, health plans, and government." Along with the launch of the latest version of PRiZiM, i2i is pleased to announce the unveiling of a new website, i2ipophealth.com. The new site provides up-to-date information and news on the company's latest solutions and services, as well as success stories. For existing customers, the i2i Support Community portal is still one click away from great service, training content, and many more valuable resources. The content provided throughout the website speaks to the significant growth and contributions many have made to the i2i Family. About Altura Centers for Health Altura Centers for Health has been providing medical and dental care to the community since 1995. Historically the clinic was formerly owned and operated by Tulare Local Health Care District. It was purchased from Tulare District Hospital (TDH) on July 1998. Altura first became a Federal Qualified Look A-Like Clinic in 1997 and in 2000 became a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), and is a deemed federal public health service employee. In addition, the clinic is a 501 (C) 3 Non-profit Organization. Altura is governed by a committed Volunteer Community Board of Directors which meet once a month and serve on several committees. The majority of the Board of Directors are patients of Altura. Hence, it is a clinic governed by its patients as well as the community. About i2i Population Health i2i is the nation's largest population health technology company serving the underserved, safety net market. With 20 years of experience spanning 37 states and 30 million lives, i2i has consistently ranked as a category leader of KLAS' annual software review. The i2i platform powers an advanced data integration and aggregation engine that publishes normalized clinical and administrative data through a unique quality management and care coordination application. Driving improved outcomes in quality program performance is a core competency of i2i. The results are demonstrative through an expansive base of clients in the Federally Qualified Health Center, Community Hospital, Managed Care Health Plan, and Government market segments. For more information about and the latest news from i2i Population Health, visit i2ipophealth.com or follow @i2iPopHealth on Twitter, and @i2i Population Health on LinkedIn. SOURCE i2i Population Health Related Links http://www.i2ipophealth.com NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Logicalis US has been named a 2020 IBM Systems North America Systems Channel Excellence Award winner. IBM Systems recognized Logicalis for its outstanding double-digit year-over-year growth in Power and Storage. "This recognition by IBM Systems underscores the success of our hard-working employees and is a testament to the true value of partnership," said Jon Groves, CEO of Logicalis US. "At Logicalis, we are dedicated to working alongside longstanding partners like IBM Systems to be Architects of Change for our customers. This award emphasizes the value such dedicated partnerships can provide." The IBM North America Systems Channel Excellence Awards recognize partners who demonstrate an outstanding storage solution achievement. In addition to its yearly growth, IBM recognized Logicalis US for specific work with a client in financial services, including solutions related to disaster recovery and business continuity, and a healthcare project that marked one of the single largest IBM Power EPIC installations in the US. "As the North America Systems Ecosystem Leader, I am proud to award Logicalis US the North America Systems Channel Excellence Award for their double-digit growth in both Power and Storage in 2019," said Susan Martens, VP of IBM Ecosystems Sales and NA Systems. Logicalis has been an IBM partner for 20 years. The 2020 award ceremony was held virtually on June 18. "I congratulate the entire team on this well-deserved recognition of the hard work they put in to drive such tremendous success," said Brandon Harris, Senior Director, Business Development for Data Center at Logicalis US. "I am extremely proud of everyone who helped achieve such significant growth over the last year for our IBM lines in Power and Storage. We look forward to continuing the momentum and seeing similar success with IBM in the year to come." About Logicalis US Logicalis is an international solutions provider of digital services currently accelerating the digital transformation of its 10,000 customers around the world. Through a globally connected network of specialist hubs, sector-leading experts (in education, financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, retail and telecommunications) and strategic partnerships (including Cisco, Microsoft, HPE, IBM, NetApp, Oracle, ServiceNow, and VMware), Logicalis has more than 6,500 employees focused on understanding customer priorities and enhancing their experience. As Architects of Change, Logicalis' focus is to design, support, and execute customers' digital transformation by bringing together their vision with its technological expertise and industry insights. The company, through its deep knowledge in key IT industry drivers such as Security, Cloud, Data Management and IoT, can address customer priorities such as revenue and business growth, operational efficiency, innovation, risk and compliance, data governance and sustainability. The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of $1.7 billion, from operations in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Africa. It is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with revenues of over $4.3 billion. For more information, visit https://www.us.logicalis.com/ or visit LogicalisUS on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. SOURCE Logicalis Related Links https://www.us.logicalis.com SAN DIEGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ImageWare Systems, Inc. (OTCQB: IWSY), a leader in multimodal biometric identification and authentication, today announced that in response to the accelerated growth and importance of multimodal biometrics in identity and authentication within cybersecurity, the Company has launched an IP licensing program marked by the engagement of ipCapital Group, Inc., based in Williston, Vermont. ipCapital Group will assist in first establishing a new business unit and then co-create an IP monetization model from which ImageWare will derive a discrete stream of annual revenue. Under the agreement, ipCapital will oversee the first two years of developing the business unit. Over the past 16 years, ImageWare has built the most cited multimodal biometric patent portfolio. As part of its new IP monetization plan, ImageWare will begin to request that companies take a license should they leverage ImageWare's biometric intellectual property for their own products and platforms. The new in-house licensing team will sit separate from the Company's main biometric business. This team will be responsible for driving a licensing program within the cybersecurity technology sector. ipCapital, led by John E. Cronin, has a 22-year history of creating profitable licensing businesses and models for companies from Fortune 1000's to small businesses with essential patents. Cronin developed and ran the "Patent Factory" for IBM Research in his 17-year tenure there. He was IBM's top inventor with more than 100 patents and 150 patent publications. "We have developed 100's of licensing programs to drive revenue and protect intellectual property. ImageWare reminds us of a small telecommunications company that we created a licensing program for. They had minimal revenues, until we helped them initiate a 4% royalty licensing program. Once licensing started, the company valuation rose and they were purchased by a Fortune 500 for >$150M," said Cronin. Cronin is deeply familiar with the distinguishing value of the ImageWare patent portfolio as he was a former member of the Company's Board of Directors for more than eight years. John E. Cronin, Managing Director and Chairman, ipCapital Group, Inc., said that, "I am intimately familiar with ImageWare. Our recent analysis of the patent portfolio suggests that with a successful licensing program, adopted by the market, the current value of the Company would be increased significantly." He went onto say that, "Multimodal biometrics is simply the best way to identify or authenticate a person to grant access to sensitive spaces, assets and systems. For example, the MFA authentication market is forecasted for rapid migration from 2F (two-factor) authentication to biometric multifactor authentication in the coming years. The global market for cybersecurity is forecasted by Forbes to reach $334B by 2026. Data from Global Market Insights suggests that biometrics represents over 11% of that market, representing a $37B opportunity for ImageWare. Many companies in many markets could leverage ImageWare's IP in integrating MFA into their solutions, as ImageWare are the pioneers of MFA and the foundational patents holders of multimodal biometric authentication methods." Kristin A. Taylor, President and CEO of ImageWare, said, "Companies around the world are increasingly building-in the use of multiple biometrics into their products and platforms for greater security and a convenient, contactless user experience. Hiring ipCapital Group, the best in the industry in terms of patent strategy, was imperative in our launching and maintaining a successful IP monetization program. Their track record of working with software companies specifically, and delivering large sums of revenue for their IP, was the unquestionable reason we chose to work with them. "Establishing an IP licensing business unit inside of our existing software product business will allow us to build on our important IP foundation to drive a discreet stream of revenue to further fuel the Company. Additionally, new IP will be developed to align the foundational IP to the new markets as we start to license." About ImageWare Systems, Inc. In 1987, ImageWare was founded to innovate imaging. After a bold start evolving silver halide photography into digital images, ImageWare built the first statewide digital booking platform for the United States law enforcement in 1998. Since then, ImageWare has evolved into the largest holder of multimodal biometrics, managing millions of identities daily. With vast experience in the government sector, ImageWare is democratizing biometrics by offering defense-grade identity and authentication solutions to the masses. By identifying the person, not a device, ImageWare is giving populations around the globe access to their important data. www.iwsinc.com Forward-Looking Statements Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "if," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to ImageWare Systems, Inc. are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. ImageWare may from time to time update publicly announced projections, but it is not obligated to do so. Any projections of future results of operations should not be construed in any manner as a guarantee that such results will in fact occur. These projections are subject to change and could differ materially from final reported results. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" in ImageWare's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and its other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. Media Contact: Jessica Belair Veritas Lux (310) 717-0877 [email protected] Investor Relations: Harvey Bibicoff, CEO, Bibicoff + MacInnis, Inc. (818) 379-8500 [email protected] SOURCE ImageWare Systems, Inc. Related Links http://www.iwsinc.com SEATTLE, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Impel NeuroPharma, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of transformative therapies for patients living with central nervous system (CNS) disorders with high unmet medical needs, today announced the publication of positive results from the SNAP 101 study ( S afety and Tolerability of Intra na sal P OD-olanzapine), a Phase 1 double-blind, placebo/active-controlled study evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic effects of INP105 in healthy adults in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. INP105 is comprised of a powder formulation of olanzapine targeting the upper nasal cavity using the Company's unique propellant-enabled POD technology. Olanzapine is the most commonly used treatment for acute agitation, but its use is currently limited to intramuscular injection. The published results from the study, which can be found here, demonstrated that INP105 reached peak plasma levels (T max ) approximately twice as fast as intramuscular olanzapine (Zyprexa), and ten-times faster than orally-disintegrating tablets (ODT, Zyprexa Zydis). Maximum and total plasma levels (C max and AUC) were similar to intramuscular delivery of the same dose and exceeded the total plasma levels for ODT. Additionally, pharmacodynamic measures of sedation, including Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Agitation and Calmness Evaluation Scale (ACES) and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) all showed a robust statistical significance compared to placebo. "Acute agitation often manifests in people living with serious mental health conditions, such as bipolar I disorder or schizophrenia, and places a significant burden on emergency rooms, the healthcare system, and the friends and families of those afflicted," said Stephen Shrewsbury, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Impel. "The results published today are encouraging for our INP105 clinical program, which is being developed to disrupt the acute agitation treatment landscape by safely, effectively and non-invasively delivering the preferred standard of care, olanzapine. Our goal is for INP105 to become the first viable and rapidly effective treatment option that allows patients, their caregivers, and providers the ability to treat agitation without the need for an injectable drug or requiring in-patient treatment." INP105 utilizes Impel's proprietary drug delivery POD technology system which targets the vascular rich upper nasal space and may enable rapid absorption and consistent drug bioavailability, with both powder and liquid formulations, supported by results from multiple clinical trials across Impel's pipeline. Unlike traditional nasal delivery systems, such as spray pumps, that predominantly deliver medicine to the lower nasal cavity which can lead to high variability and low overall absorption, INP105 is part of a suite of product candidates that utilize the POD technology and are designed to achieve rapid absorption with predictability, reliability and consistency. Agitation episodes related to neuropsychiatric disorders account for approximately 1.7 million visits to the emergency room (ER) each year, placing a significant economic and resource burden on the healthcare system.1 An ideal medication for acute agitation, according to a 2005 expert consensus, is easy-to-administer, non-traumatically administered, provides rapid tranquilization without excessive sedation, has a swift onset of action with sufficient duration to prevent untimely recurrence, and has low risk for adverse events and drug interactions.2 Such an optimal medication could be suitable for administration earlier during an agitation episode, possibly avoiding the need for ER attendance, as well as reduce the need for injected drugs and the associated risks of needlestick injuries and assaults on healthcare staff. About the SNAP 101 Study The "SNAP 101" study evaluated the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profile of INP105 at three ascending doses compared with two doses of Zyprexa intramuscular (5 mg and 10 mg) and orally disintegrating Zyprexa Zydis (10 mg) in 36 healthy volunteers. The aim of the SNAP 101 study was to establish the safety and tolerability of INP105 while informing appropriate dosing for future studies based on the PK and PD profiles. Further details of the SNAP 101 (INP105-101) study can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov. About INP105 Impel NeuroPharma is currently developing INP105 with the goal to be a preferred choice for the safe and rapid treatment of acute agitation associated with bipolar I disorder, schizophrenia and autism. INP105 is comprised of an upper nasal formulation of olanzapine powder administered using Impel's propellant-enabled POD technology. Olanzapine is the most commonly used treatment for acute agitation, but its use is currently limited to intramuscular injection. Because INP105 is designed to be non-invasive, it has the potential to expand the treatment setting beyond the emergency room, such as inpatient treatment or community care facilities and the patient's home. About Acute Agitation Acute agitation is defined as excessive motor activity associated with a feeling of inner tension, often manifesting from a number of serious underlying mental health conditions such as bipolar I disorder, schizophrenia or autism. Agitation episodes related to neuropsychiatric disorders account for 1.7 million visits to the emergency room (ER) in the US each year.1 This places a significant burden on ERs, the healthcare system, and the friends and families of those afflicted, and is responsible for many healthcare staff assaults and injuries. The historic approach of "restrain and sedate" is being abandoned in favor of less coercive, more compassionate, de-escalation approaches that include less invasive pharmacologic interventions. An ideal medication for acute agitation, according to a 2005 expert consensus, is easy-to-administer, non-traumatically administered, provides rapid tranquilization without excessive sedation, has a swift onset of action with sufficient duration to prevent untimely recurrence, and has low risk for adverse events and drug interactions.2 About Impel NeuroPharma Impel NeuroPharma, Inc. is a privately held, Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative therapies for people living with central nervous system (CNS) disorders with high unmet medical needs. The Company is rapidly advancing a late-stage product pipeline that optimizes the effectiveness of proven treatments for neurological conditions, including INP104 for acute migraine, INP105 for acute agitation associated with schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and autism, and INP107 for OFF episodes in Parkinson's disease. The Company has completed its Phase 3 clinical program for INP104 and is on track to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the second half of 2020. IMPEL, POD and the IMPEL Logo are registered trademarks of Impel NeuroPharma, Inc. To learn more about Impel NeuroPharma, please visit our website at http://impelnp.com. About Precision Olfactory Delivery or POD Technology Impel's proprietary Precision Olfactory Delivery (POD) technology is able to deliver a range of therapeutic molecules and formulations into the vascular-rich upper nasal space, believed to be a gateway for unlocking the previously unrealized full potential of these molecules. By delivering predictable doses of drug directly to the upper nasal space, Impel's precision performance technology has the goal of enabling increased and consistent absorption of drug, overriding the high variability associated with other nasal delivery systems, yet without the need for an injection. While an ideal target for drug administration, to date no technology has been able to consistently deliver drugs to the upper nasal space. By utilizing this route of administration, Impel NeuroPharma has been able to demonstrate blood concentration levels for its investigational therapies that are comparable to intramuscular (IM) administration and can even reach intravenous (IV)-like systemic levels quickly, which could transform the treatment landscape for CNS disorders. Importantly, the POD technology offers propellant-enabled delivery of dry powder and liquid formulations that eliminates the need for coordination of breathing, allowing for self- or caregiver-administration in a manner that may improve patient outcome, comfort, and potentially, compliance. Contact: Melyssa Weible Elixir Health Public Relations Phone: (1) 201-723-5805 Email: [email protected] 1 Allen MH, Currier GW, Hughes DH et al. J Psychiatr Pract 2005. 11(Suppl 1); 5-108 2 The Diagnosis and Management of Agitation. Edited by Scott L. Zeller, Kimberly D. Nordstrom and Michael P. Watson. Cambridge University Press 2017, Page 1. SOURCE Impel NeuroPharma Related Links https://impelnp.com REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Informatica, the enterprise cloud data management leader, today announced it has updated its Intelligent Data Platform, powered by Informatica's AI-powered CLAIRE engine. Today's release includes the introduction of a privacy analytics dashboard for reducing the cost of compliance with laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Asset Analytics (DAA) for data valuation, end-to-end support for DataOps and MLOps, and integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) updates that enable organizations to build more resilient and reliable integrations while providing 24/7 operations for business continuity. Updates to multi-cloud Master Data Management (MDM) allow businesses to master business-critical data to increase customer retention and loyalty, manage supply chain risk, drive digital commerce, and boost operational efficiency. "In today's era of Data 4.0, and as businesses navigate an increasingly complex landscape, digital transformation must be data-led," said Amit Walia, CEO of Informatica. "Today's release empowers data leaders to create more value and improve operational efficiency, all while ensuring business continuity. By introducing more automation and intelligence capabilities powered by CLAIRE businesses can accelerate ROI, decrease risk and improve productivity across hybrid and multi-cloud environments." Highlights include: Updates to Informatica Cloud Native Data Management Solution for Cloud Data Warehouses, Data Lakes, and Lakehouses Updates to Informatica's Cloud Native Data Management Solution for Cloud Data Warehouses, Data Lakes, and Lakehouses deliver high availability and upgrade management enhancements for business continuity to avoid downtime from scheduled events and upgrades without job interruption, including: Support for serverless computing, intelligent pushdown processing, auto-tuning and auto-scaling, as well as a heatmap for integration jobs for optimizing performance, resources, and schedules. End-to-end support for DataOps and MLOps, including enhanced support for schema drift, data quality transformations and deduplication, blockchain and image transformations, data pipeline and data prep recipe recommendations, similarity-based pipeline categorization, and streaming data lineage. Enhanced cloud ecosystem support, including for Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Snowflake, and Databricks. These updates will empower organizations to build lakehouses in the cloud by merging data warehouses and data lakes into one platform, combining technologies for business analytics and decision-making with those for exploratory analytics and data science. Compared to on-premises data warehouses and data lakes, this modern approach offers more flexibility and agility at a lower cost. Updates to Informatica's Intelligent Cloud Services (IICS) With this release, Informatica supports application and data continuity with blue-green execution, continued job execution when workers change, and AI-powered operational insights with abilities such as preventive actions based on alerts for application and data integration. Informatica's next gen iPaaS enables teams to build resilient and reliable integrations while providing 24/7 operations with global availability on AWS, Azure & GCP. No-code development tools empower application experts to build composable APIs and services and expose these in the API portal for easy consumption. Additionally, it offers the ability to integrate with corporate GitHub version-control tooling and provides controlled deployment and codeline management. Informatica delivers more AI/machine learning-powered capabilities to automate data and application integration tasks with design-time recommendations, runtime autoscaling, easy-to-build ingestion processes, data quality rule recommendations for profiles and PII identification, and blocking of APIs. Cloud Data Quality extends capabilities to deliver easy-to-use parsing and de-duplication integrated into IICS. Updates to Informatica Data Governance & Privacy Solutions With CCPA enforcement expected to begin after July 1 , and continued efforts to improve compliance with GDPR, Informatica's best-of-breed privacy operations suite delivers ease of adoption, avoiding complicated integrations with shared metadata intelligence. With CCPA enforcement expected to begin after , and continued efforts to improve compliance with GDPR, Informatica's best-of-breed privacy operations suite delivers ease of adoption, avoiding complicated integrations with shared metadata intelligence. A new privacy analytics and intelligence dashboard within Data Privacy Management (DPM) enables organizations to accelerate compliance and measure progress and performance. Subject registry updates help organizations automate responses to data subject requests (DSRs), aligning with policy alignment and catalog metadata intelligence for expanded insights, enabling data transparency that extends the value of governance solutions, and reducing the cost of compliance and time-to-value for privacy mandate compliance. Additional features include a new unstructured data scanning agent that improves performance and accuracy while reducing false positives, and updated extensibility to support Microsoft SharePoint and OneDrive. Updates to 360 Solutions & MDM Since most organizations use multiple cloud providers, they need the flexibility to deploy MDM on the cloud provider of choice. Multi-cloud deployment of Informatica MDM accelerates time to value and insights, while lowering costs and improving productivity. Since most organizations use multiple cloud providers, they need the flexibility to deploy MDM on the cloud provider of choice. Multi-cloud deployment of Informatica MDM accelerates time to value and insights, while lowering costs and improving productivity. Informatica MDM is now supported on AWS, Azure and GCP, eliminating the need to buy and set up hardware for MDM deployments. Businesses only need to purchase the MDM processing power they need and can automatically scale to address future requirements as record and domain volumes grow. Updates to Customer 360 for Salesforce, Reference 360, and Product 360 allow businesses to master their business-critical data to increase customer retention and loyalty, manage supply chain risk, drive digital commerce, and boost operational efficiency with the industry's only multi-cloud MDM solution delivering enhanced dashboards, improved search requests, faster exports, and more. Onboard new suppliers faster, and get visibility into tier-1, tier-2, and tier-3 suppliers and their performance, leading to better supply chain planning during crises, as well as cost savings. Platform, AI, and Data Cataloging As data drives digital transformation, its importance as a strategic asset has grown but most organizations' understanding of data and its value is limited by their inability to catalog all data across legacy systems and newer cloud applications, an incomplete view of data lineage, and no ability to measure data value and risks. With this release, Informatica delivers new capabilities to effectively manage enterprise data as an asset, including: As data drives digital transformation, its importance as a strategic asset has grown but most organizations' understanding of data and its value is limited by their inability to catalog all data across legacy systems and newer cloud applications, an incomplete view of data lineage, and no ability to measure data value and risks. With this release, Informatica delivers new capabilities to effectively manage enterprise data as an asset, including: The industry's first and only data balance sheet that is based on a metadata-driven automated data valuation framework to capture data value and identify levers for data asset appreciation and risk, enabling more effective management of data as a strategic asset. Data Asset Analytics (DAA) with data value reports and dashboards for instant visibility of data asset usage, inventory, enrichment, collaboration, and value. The industry's only catalog of catalogs now extends the industry's broadest metadata connectivity and lineage with new scanners for enterprise applications, cloud data lakes, Informatica MDM, and NoSQL databases. The catalog also includes an enhanced lineage diagram, enabling data discovery and curation at enterprise scale across hybrid and multi-cloud. Tweet this: News: @Informatica unveils data management innovations that drive business continuity and value with intelligence and automation. https://infa.media/pr200630 About Informatica Informatica, the Enterprise Cloud Data Management leader, accelerates data-driven digital transformation. Informatica enables companies to fuel innovation, become more agile, and realize new growth opportunities, resulting in intelligent market disruptions. Over the last 25 years, Informatica has helped more than 9,000 customers unleash the power of data. For more information, call +1 650-385-5000 (1-800-653-3871 in the U.S.), or visit www.informatica.com. Connect with Informatica on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Note: Informatica and CLAIRE are trademarks or registered trademarks of Informatica in the United States and in jurisdictions throughout the world. All other company and product names may be trade names or trademarks of their respective owners. The information provided herein is subject to change without notice. In addition, the development, release and timing of any product or functionality described today remain at the sole discretion of Informatica and should not be relied upon in making a purchasing decision, nor as a representation, warranty, or commitment to deliver specific products or functionality in the future. Contact: Informatica Public Relations [email protected] SOURCE Informatica Related Links www.informatica.com MIAMI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Motivated by the economic crisis in the late 2000s, the J Cidel Collection was created in Jeannie Cidel's living room after losing her job in 2009 as a science teacher. The Miami, Florida, native, born to Haitian immigrants, rediscovered her passion for art and fashion, as she always had a love for vibrant colors and exquisite patterns, and began sewing clutch bags by hand using textiles from local suppliers. J Cidel Collection Jeannie's bags were a hit but she demanded more for the J Cidel Collection. She traveled to different parts of the world in search of unique and exclusive artwork and was amazed by the creations of world-renowned artists Roberto Alborghetti, Darryll Schiff, Fu Wenjun, and others. She sought out the finest materials and design concepts used by leaders in the handbag industry. Her travels and affinity for high-end fashion landed her in Italy, one of the world's most recognized destinations for fine materials, exquisite fashion design, superb craftsmanship, and quality production. The realization of the collection can only be described as "walking pieces of art" as they are not just handbags. It's about a cultural experience of fine art and exquisite fashion coming together and not just the wearing of an accessory. They're unexpected, unrestricted, and unapologetic. When Jeannie ventured on this journey, she wanted to design handbags that were bold, vibrant, unique, colorful, abstract, sexy, edgy, trendy, and elegant. She wanted to design handbags that were a representation of these confessions and the reason why the bags will be labeled as such. "I live my life with only one quote made by Denis Diderot: 'Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things,'" said Jeannie Cidel, founder and creator of the J Cidel Collection. "I couldn't be more excited about this venture and I hope everyone enjoys the bags as much as I've enjoyed creating them." However, the J Cidel Collection is more than just about designing luxury handbags; it's about Jeannie finding inspiration in other entrepreneurs who traveled a similar journey and became philanthropists. She saw a need in her community and was inspired to motivate young adults to become entrepreneurs by using their talents to achieve great things and giving back to those in need. In addition to designing trendy and vibrant walking art pieces, Jeannie plans to create a foundation and collaborate with high schools in urban communities to bring awareness to entrepreneurship. Ultimately, the foundation will provide college scholarships to high school students, affording them the opportunity to live out their dreams. Due to the impacts of COVID19, the J Cidel Collection is expected to launch in early 2021. Media Contact: Jeannie Cidel [email protected] Related Images jeannie-cidel.jpeg Jeannie Cidel Related Links J Cidel Collection SOURCE J Cidel Collection Related Links http://jeanniecidel.com BOSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund (NYSE: HEQ) (the "Fund"), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC (the "Adviser") and subadvised by Wellington Management Company LLP (the "Subadviser"), announced today sources of its quarterly distribution of $0.3760 per share paid to all shareholders of record as of June 11, 2020, pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan. This press release is issued as required by an exemptive order granted to the Fund by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Notification of Sources of Distribution This notice provides shareholders of the John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund (NYSE: HEQ) with important information concerning the distribution declared on June 1, 2020, and payable on June 30, 2020. No action is required on your part. Distribution Period: June 2020 Distribution Amount Per Common Share: $0.3760 The following table sets forth the estimated sources of the current distribution, payable June 30, 2020, and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short term capital gains; net realized long term capital gains; and return of capital or other capital source. All amounts are expressed on a per common share basis and as a percentage of the distribution amount. For the period 4/01/2020-6/30/2020 For the fiscal year-to-date period 1/1/2020-6/30/2020 1 Source Current Distribution ($) % Breakdown of the Current Distribution Total Cumulative Distributions ($) % Breakdown of the Total Cumulative Distributions Net Investment Income 0.0987 26% 0.2161 29% Net Realized Short- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Net Realized Long- Term Capital Gains 0.0000 0% 0.0000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.2773 74% 0.5359 71% Total per common share 0.3760 100% 0.7520 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the 5 years ended on May 31, 2020 1.46% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of May 31, 2020 12.35% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through May 31, 2020 -14.90% Cumulative fiscal year-to-date distribution rate expressed as a percentage of NAV as of May 31, 2020 6.17% 1 The Fund's current fiscal year began on January 1, 2020 and will end on December 31, 2020. You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's managed distribution plan. The Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The Fund has declared the June 2020 distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "Plan"). Under the Plan, the Fund makes fixed quarterly distributions in the amount of $0.3760 per share, which will continue to be paid quarterly until further notice. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact your financial professional or call the John Hancock Investment Management Closed-End Fund Information Line at 1-800-843-0090, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined by the United States securities laws. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Fund's control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. An investor should consider a Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Wellington Management Company LLP is an independent and unaffiliated investment subadviser to John Hancock Hedged Equity & Income Fund. About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial John Hancock is a division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people achieve their dreams and aspirations by putting customers' needs first and providing the right advice and solutions. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States and as Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups, and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were over CAD$1.2 trillion (US$800 billion) as of March 31, 2020. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com. One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports approximately 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and education savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com. SOURCE John Hancock Investment Management KANAZAWA,Japan, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Biomaterials a high-speed atomic-force microscopy study of protein filaments in the nuclear pore complex. The visualization in real-time of the filaments' dynamics is an important step in our understanding of molecular transport mechanisms between a cell nucleus and its surrounding medium. In human cells, the nucleus is enclosed by a structure called the nuclear pore complex (NPC). It acts as a 'gatekeeper' controlling the transport of molecules between the nucleus and the surrounding cytoplasm (the protein-containing solution in the inside of a cell). The NPC consists of proteins known as nucleoporins; some of these, the so-called FG-NUPs, belong to the class of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and capable of forming liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), lacking a well-defined tertiary structure (that is, a particular 3D shape). Although a lot is known about FG-NUPs, a thorough understanding of how their structure varies in time and space has been missing. But now, by applying high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM), Richard Wong from Kanazawa University and colleagues provide much-needed insights into the spatiotemporal structure of FG-NUPs. The technique used by the researchers, HS-AFM, is typically used for imaging surfaces. A tiny cantilever is made to move over the surface; at any given time, the force experienced by the cantilever probe can be converted into a height measure. A scan of the whole surface then results in a height map of the sample. By repeatedly scanning the surface rapidly, a video of its evolving structure is obtained. Applying HS-AFM to FG-NUPs, Wong and colleagues were able to measure several of the molecules' properties, including the extension velocity of FG-NUP filaments (thread-like protruding structures), their bending angles and how they form knots. The scientists studied FG-NUPs in normal colon cells and in colorectal cancer cells and organoids. They found that the former displayed less conformational dynamics. A particularly interesting conclusion is that in colon cancer cells, the structure of the so-called central plug is smaller, and cannot develop filamentous features as easily as in normal cells, a finding with high clinical relevance. The results of Wong and colleagues regarding the central plug are very important and timely, as its morphology and function have been the subject of debate. The researchers now provide strong evidence that the central plug at least partially consists of FG-NUPs. Apart from demonstrating that HS-AFM is a tool capable of visualizing FG-NUP filament motion in real time, another implication of the work of the scientists is "that bio-recycled nanomaterials [like NPC nanopores] have biocompatible advantages directly derived from cells and organoids, rather than other engineered nanomaterials [like e.g. carbon nanotubes, which may induce tumors and related pathologies] opening a new avenue for nano-tissue engineering." Background Nuclear pore complex The nucleus of a cell is of key importance to any organism. It stores and organizes genetic information (DNA) in a way separating it from other cellular components in the surrounding cytoplasm. The nuclear pore complex (NPC), a very large protein complex dressed around the nucleus, is the 'gatekeeper' in the exchange of molecules between the nucleus and the cytoplasm; it lets material pass that should reach the nucleus and blocks material that should not. This communication can happen because of pores in the NPC, structures built from proteins known as FG-NUPs. FG-NUPs do not have well-defined shapes; instead, they vary in time and space. By applying a technique called high-speed atomic force microscopy, Richard Wong from Kanazawa University and colleagues have now provided new, valuable insights into the spatiotemporal structure of FG-NUPs of both normal and cancer cells. Atomic force microscopy Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an imaging technique in which the image is formed by scanning a surface with a very small tip. Horizontal scanning motion of the tip is controlled via piezoelectric elements, while vertical motion is converted into a height profile, resulting in a height distribution of the sample's surface. As the technique does not involve lenses, its resolution is not restricted by the so-called diffraction limit. In a high-speed setup (HS-AFM), the method can be used to produce movies of a sample's structural evolution in real time. Wong and colleagues have successfully used HS-AFM to study the dynamics of FG-NUPs, proteins playing a key role in the transport-regulating function of the nuclear pore complex situated between a cell's nucleus and the surrounding cytoplasm. Reference Mahmoud Shaaban Mohamed, Masaharu Hazawa, Akiko Kobayashi, Laurent Guillaud, Takahiro Watanabe-Nakayama, Mizuho Nakayama, Hanbo Wang, Noriyuki Kodera, Masanobu Oshima, Toshio Ando, and Richard W. Wong. Spatiotemporally tracking of nano-biofilaments inside the nuclear pore complex core, Biomaterials Available online 23 June 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120198 URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961220304440 Figure 1. https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Wong1.png Caption: Schematic illustration of manipulation and tracking of native nuclear nano-pores from colon cancer cells and mouse organoids. Live tracking of single bio-filament conformations inside the nuclear pore presented as a nano diagnosis tool for the colorectal cancer. Figure 2. https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Wong2.png Caption: HS-AFM enables dynamically studying filament structures in FG-NUP LLPS proteins, including twisting and knot formation. About Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/en/ Nano Life Science Institute (NanoLSI), Kanazawa University is a research center established in 2017 as part of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The objective of this initiative is to form world-tier research centers. NanoLSI combines the foremost knowledge of bio-scanning probe microscopy to establish 'nano-endoscopic techniques' to directly image, analyze, and manipulate biomolecules for insights into mechanisms governing life phenomena such as diseases. About Institute for Frontier Science Initiative (InFiniti) https://infiniti.adm.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/en/ Institute for Frontier Science Initiative (InFiniti) was established in April 2015 for the purpose of creating innovative research results and opening new fields of scientific inquiry. The Institute enhances the academic advantages of Kanazawa University, promotes interdisciplinary research, and accelerates international circulation of talented researchers. It also cultivates young researchers' interdisciplinarity, comprehensiveness, and internationality on the basis of its research results. About Kanazawa University http://www.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/e/ As the leading comprehensive university on the Sea of Japan coast, Kanazawa University has contributed greatly to higher education and academic research in Japan since it was founded in 1949. The University has three colleges and 17 schools offering courses in subjects that include medicine, computer engineering, and humanities. The University is located on the coast of the Sea of Japan in Kanazawa a city rich in history and culture. The city of Kanazawa has a highly respected intellectual profile since the time of the fiefdom (1598-1867). Kanazawa University is divided into two main campuses: Kakuma and Takaramachi for its approximately 10,200 students including 600 from overseas. About WPI nanoLSI Kanazawa University Hiroe Yoneda Vice Director of Public Affairs WPI Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) Kanazawa University Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan Email: [email protected] Tel: +81 (76) 234-4550 SOURCE Kanazawa University HOUSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KBR (NYSE: KBR) announced today it has been awarded a $42.5 million task order to support technical training product development for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). KBR was awarded this recompete task order under the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center's (DoD IAC) multiple-award contract by the USAF Installation Contracting Center. As part of this cost-plus-fixed-fee task order, KBR will provide research and analysis to upgrade, modernize, and develop state-of-the-art training products associated with aircraft and other systems. KBR will work with NAVAIR, the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Training and Simulator Division (NAWCTSD) to support training needs in response to updated requirements and systems. This work is expected to be performed over 60 months and will include additional technical training and product development support for other government agencies and Foreign Military Sales. KBR will perform the work for this contract primarily in Orange Park and Orlando, Florida and Lexington Park, Maryland. "I am proud of our KBR team for its hard work and unwavering dedication to meet emergent training requirements that help sustain fleet readiness and ensure the safety of maintainers and operators in the U.S. military," said Byron Bright, President, Government Solutions U.S. "We look forward to developing training solutions with NAVAIR as we continue to solidify our position as a trusted source of innovative engineering and technical expertise for the Department of Defense," Bright continued. KBR has provided technical training product development for NAVAIR for almost a decade and has supported the mission of the DoD research and development community through various predecessor DoD IAC contracts since 2005. KBR is one of DoD IAC's leading prime contractors, having successfully provided over $3 billion in solutions to a variety of DoD customers. About DoD IAC Program The DoD IAC program operates as a part of Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) 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 KBR, Inc. KBR is a global provider of differentiated professional services and technologies across the asset and program lifecycle within the Government Solutions and Energy sectors. KBR employs approximately 37,000 people worldwide (including our joint ventures), with customers in more than 80 countries, and operations in 40 countries, across three synergistic global businesses: Government Solutions, serving government customers globally, including capabilities that cover the full lifecycle of defense, space, aviation and other government programs and missions from research and development, through systems engineering, test and evaluation, program management, to operations, maintenance, and field logistics Technology Solutions, featuring proprietary technology, equipment, catalysts, digital solutions and related technical services for the monetization of hydrocarbons, including refining, petrochemicals, ammonia and specialty chemicals, as well as inorganics Energy Solutions, including onshore oil and gas; LNG (liquefaction and regasification)/GTL; oil refining; petrochemicals; chemicals; fertilizers; differentiated EPC; maintenance services (Brown & Root Industrial Services); offshore oil and gas (shallow-water, deep-water, subsea); floating solutions (FPU, FPSO, FLNG & FSRU); program management and consulting services KBR is proud to work with its customers across the globe to provide technology, value-added services, integrated EPC delivery and long-term operations and maintenance services to ensure consistent delivery with predictable results. At KBR, We Deliver. Visit www.kbr.com Forward Looking Statement The statements in this press release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding future financial performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the outcome of and the publicity surrounding audits and investigations by domestic and foreign government agencies and legislative bodies; potential adverse proceedings by such agencies and potential adverse results and consequences from such proceedings; the scope and enforceability of the company's indemnities from its former parent; changes in capital spending by the company's customers; the company's ability to obtain contracts from existing and new customers and perform under those contracts; structural changes in the industries in which the company operates; escalating costs associated with and the performance of fixed-fee projects and the company's ability to control its cost under its contracts; claims negotiations and contract disputes with the company's customers; changes in the demand for or price of oil and/or natural gas; protection of intellectual property rights; compliance with environmental laws; changes in government regulations and regulatory requirements; compliance with laws related to income taxes; unsettled political conditions, war and the effects of terrorism; foreign operations and foreign exchange rates and controls; the development and installation of financial systems; increased competition for employees; the ability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions; and operations of joint ventures, including joint ventures that are not controlled by the company. KBR's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequent Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks, and other U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss some of the important risk factors that KBR has identified that may affect the business, results of operations and financial condition. Except as required by law, KBR undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason. SOURCE KBR, Inc. Related Links http://www.kbr.com SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kong Inc. , the leading cloud connectivity company, today announced that it has donated open source Kuma to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) as a Sandbox project , becoming the first Envoy-based control plane for service mesh to be part of the foundation. The CNCF hosts critical components of the global technology infrastructure, including Kubernetes, and is focused on building sustainable ecosystems for cloud native software. Kuma Based on the popular open source Envoy proxy, a graduated CNCF project, Kuma is a universal control plane that enables seamless management of any service on the network, from any platformincluding Kubernetes, containers, virtual machines, bare metal and other environments. Kuma focuses on ease of use and aims to be a turnkey service mesh that can quickly provide value to production environments. It features unique capabilities such as multi-mesh support, hybrid universal mode, global/remote control plane scalability, and built-in service discovery and GUI, among other features. "It's truly remarkable to see the ecosystem around Envoy continue to develop, and as a vendor-neutral organization, CNCF is the ideal home for Kuma," said Matt Klein, creator of the Envoy proxy. "Now developers have access to the service mesh data plane they love with Envoy as well as a CNCF hosted Envoy-based control plane with Kuma, offering a powerful combination to make it easier to create and manage cloud native applications." Since Kuma was open sourced in September 2019, Kong has steadily improved the software through more than 10 releases and established an open governance policy for the project. Now production-ready, Kuma is at the ideal stage to be transferred to the CNCF as a Sandbox project. "When Kong open sourced Kuma last year, our ultimate goal was to donate it to the CNCF, where it can serve the most good in the community and benefit from the brightest developer minds," said Marco Palladino, CTO and co-founder of Kong Inc. "The industry needs and deserves to have a cloud native, Envoy-based control plane that is open and not governed by a single commercial entity. From a technology standpoint, it makes no sense for individual companies to create their own control plane but rather build their own unique applications on proven technologies like Envoy and Kuma. We welcome the broader community to join Kuma on Slack and on our bi-weekly community calls to contribute to the project and continue the incredible momentum we have achieved so far." Kuma: Service Mesh for All Kuma democratizes service mesh for organizations of all types without sacrificing advanced customization. Compared to other service meshes that are either platform-specific or hard to use and hard to scale, Kuma is designed for ease of use and enables rapid adoption of mesh by leveraging the de-facto industry sidecar proxy Envoy. Built on Envoy, Kuma can easily support all environments in the organization, including containers and virtual machines, and can run on any cloud. This enables new applications to be built in Kubernetes while existing applications can still be leveraged in their traditional environments, providing comprehensive coverage across an organization and the highest business value. Kuma couples a fast data plane with an advanced control plane that allows users to easily secure all traffic, establish service connectivity permissions, expose metrics, logs and traces, and create routing rules with just a few commands by either using native CRDs or a RESTful API among other features. It also ships with out-of-the-box policies for the most common service mesh use cases. The control plane is the core enabler for the service mesh that holds the master truth for all the service configurations and infinitely scales to manage tens of thousands of services across single or multi-cluster setups. To learn more about Kuma, please visit: https://kuma.io/ . Availability Kong released Kuma 0.6 today, which features a new 'hybrid universal mode' designed to enable Kuma service meshes to support complex applications running across heterogeneous environments, including VMs, multiple Kubernetes clusters and multiple data centers. It does this by simplifying both management and service connectivity across all of these environments. Kuma 0.6 can be downloaded at https://kuma.io/install . About Kong Inc. Kong creates software that connects APIs and microservices natively across and within clouds, Kubernetes, data centers and more using intelligent automation. Built on an open source core, Kong's solutions enable digital innovation by allowing organizations to reliably and securely manage the full lifecycle of APIs and services for modern architectures including microservices, serverless and service mesh. By providing developer teams with unprecedented architectural freedom, Kong accelerates innovation cycles, increases productivity, and seamlessly bridges legacy and modern systems and applications. For more information about Kong, please visit konghq.com or follow @thekonginc on Twitter. Media Contacts: Pauline Louie, Kong, 415.754.9283, [email protected] Jill Reed, Sift Communications for Kong, [email protected] SOURCE Kong Inc. Related Links http://www.konghq.com SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kong Inc. , the leading cloud connectivity company, today announced a significant upgrade to open source Kuma , the universal service mesh originally released in September 2019. The centerpiece of Kuma 0.6 is its powerful 'hybrid universal mode' designed to enable Kuma service meshes to support complex applications running across heterogeneous environments, including VMs, multiple Kubernetes clusters and multiple data centers. Built to meet enterprise service mesh requirements out-of-the-box, Kuma will help accelerate an organization's digital transformation and increase business agility by making it easier to manage, secure and govern connectivity across the entire organization. Kuma: The Universal Service Mesh Kuma 0.6 features a new hybrid universal mode, support for global/remote control plane replication, a new ingress data plane and multi-zone DNS service discovery IDC predicts global digital transformation spend will reach $2.3 trillion in 2023 and account for more than 50 percent of information and communications technology spend. Organizations across industries are transitioning to distributed architectures and service-driven applications. This has given rise to the service mesh infrastructure ecosystem, which has seen significant investment, vendor support and technology innovation over the past 18 months. The new release of Kuma is uniquely designed for broad enterprise adoption and to meet the needs of organizations with heterogeneous network and application architectures. Based on the popular open source Envoy proxy, Kuma provides the most portable, secure and robust control plane for service mesh available in the industry. It enables comprehensive visibility and simplified management of service mesh workloads running on any platform and in multiple data centers as if they were running in one cluster to provide a scalable solution for hybrid workloads. Kuma is the first Envoy-based service mesh control plane project now governed by the CNCF (see related press release issued today). To download Kuma 0.6, please visit https://kuma.io/ . Introducing Hybrid Universal Mode for Complex Service Meshes Previous versions of Kuma supported a simple universal mode, with a flat networking requirement, which is ideal for greenfield environments that do not require integration with legacy systems. Because most enterprises have complex networks composed of old and new application infrastructure, Kuma's new hybrid universal mode makes it fast and easy for technology teams to quickly implement and derive value from service meshes deployed across their organization. Key features of Kuma 0.6 include: Automated Service Connectivity: By automating and abstracting service mesh connectivity across all enterprise environments and platforms, hybrid universal service meshes across the entire organization work out-of-the-box. By automating and abstracting service mesh connectivity across all enterprise environments and platforms, hybrid universal service meshes across the entire organization work out-of-the-box. Advanced Control Plane Replication: New support for global/remote control plane replication improves scalability and operational visibility across multiple platforms and clusters with hundreds of thousands of data plane proxies. New support for global/remote control plane replication improves scalability and operational visibility across multiple platforms and clusters with hundreds of thousands of data plane proxies. New Ingress Data Plane Resource : A new ingress data plane mode can automate cross-platform and cross-cluster service mesh communication out-of-the-box, which is notoriously hard to implement manually and can take months. : A new ingress data plane mode can automate cross-platform and cross-cluster service mesh communication out-of-the-box, which is notoriously hard to implement manually and can take months. DNS Service Discovery: A native universal DNS service discovery API abstracts away underlying services running across multiple platforms and clusters as if they were running in one cluster. A native universal DNS service discovery API abstracts away underlying services running across multiple platforms and clusters as if they were running in one cluster. Hybrid Multi-Mesh Support: The new hybrid universal mode can run in the native multi-tenant and multi-mesh mode that Kuma already supports, allowing the organization to create flexible service meshes for any use-case. "With Kuma, TELUS Digital will be able to deliver the fast, secure and innovative solutions that our customers require," said Luca Maraschi, chief architect at TELUS Digital. "One of the many things we love about Kuma is that it abstracts away the complexity and fully supports our zero-trust network. Because TELUS Digital lives in the cloud, security is of the utmost importance and Kuma enables us to enforce zero-trust networking policy in a simple way. We also plan to expand our use of Kuma across the organization to accelerate Telus' broader digital transformation in the coming months." "A service mesh is more valuable as the number of services grows. Managing an enterprise network with new and old applications running on both new and old platforms, combined with a rapidly growing number of service-driven applications, presents technology leaders with an overwhelming task fraught with hidden risks, limited visibility, and insecure and unreliable connection points that are hard to pinpoint," said Marco Palladino, CTO and co-founder of Kong Inc. "Service mesh was designed to precisely solve this problem, but solutions weren't ready for enterprise prime-time until now. With Kuma 0.6, we're providing an out-of-the-box solution built for the most demanding enterprise mesh requirements that removes the complexity and automates the hard parts so that organizations can reap the benefits of service mesh." Availability Kuma 0.6 is available for download today at: https://kuma.io/ . Modern infrastructure is open source, and open source has always been part of Kong's DNA. To further strengthen Kong's commitment to open source, Kuma is now the only Envoy-based service mesh in the industry with an open governance contribution model. Architects and developers from all over the world can be part of Kuma's development by joining the bi-weekly Kuma community calls at https://kuma.io/community/ . About Kuma Based on the popular open source Envoy proxy, Kuma is a universal control plane that addresses limitations of first-generation service mesh technologies in modern enterprise environments by enabling seamless management and connectivity between any L4/L7 service running across any environment. Focused on ease of use, Kuma runs on any platform including Kubernetes, containers, virtual machines and bare metal and includes a bundled data plane and advanced control plane solution with out-of-the-box policies for security, encryption, traffic control, observability and routing, among others. By supporting every service in the organization, Kuma drives greater value from an enterprise service mesh, improving security in the organization while reducing connectivity costs. About Kong Inc. Kong creates software that connects APIs and microservices natively across and within clouds, Kubernetes, data centers and more using intelligent automation. Built on an open source core, Kong's solutions enable digital innovation by allowing organizations to reliably and securely manage the full lifecycle of APIs and services for modern architectures including microservices, serverless and service mesh. By providing developer teams with unprecedented architectural freedom, Kong accelerates innovation cycles, increases productivity, and seamlessly bridges legacy and modern systems and applications. For more information about Kong, please visit konghq.com or follow @thekonginc on Twitter. Media Contacts: Pauline Louie, Kong, 415-754-9283, [email protected] Jill Reed, Sift Communications for Kong, [email protected] SOURCE Kong Inc. Related Links http://www.konghq.com NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kustomer, the omnichannel SaaS platform reimagining enterprise customer service to deliver standout experiences, today announced new data on the state of the customer service industry which underscores the need for greater efficiency, particularly in today's rapidly shifting business environment. The survey of over 120 customer service professionals, across a variety of industries, found that 92% of organizations say more efficiency is needed, and 51% reported that there is a greater need for efficiency than a year ago. "When business is booming and a wealth of resources are available, efficiency may not be the number one priority for a customer service organization, but as the pandemic continues to challenge brands and customer expectations continue to shift, the power of an efficient and effective customer service organization cannot be underestimated," said Brad Birnbaum, Co-Founder and CEO of Kustomer. "As businesses have no choice but to do more with less, having the technology tools in place that can minimize the impact of decreased resources and make agents' jobs easier will play an increasingly important role in delivering a stellar customer experience while ensuring profitability." Key Survey Findings Kustomer surveyed customer service professionals across twenty industries including healthcare, food, beverage and grocery, and finance and insurance industries to better understand the current customer service environment, what tools and strategies businesses are currently using to achieve efficiency, and how technology can play a more central role in turning customer service organizations into profit centers. Key findings include: Limited staff, budget and executive buy-in pose significant efficiency challenges: Sixty-three percent of respondents reported having limited staff, while 44% reported being on a strict budget. Fifty-six percent of agents said that budget prevented their organizations from implementing efficiency tools, while 34% pointed to the absence of executive buy-in. Sixty-three percent of respondents reported having limited staff, while 44% reported being on a strict budget. Fifty-six percent of agents said that budget prevented their organizations from implementing efficiency tools, while 34% pointed to the absence of executive buy-in. Agents perceive immediacy and accuracy of responses to be key customer priorities : Ninety-one percent of respondents said their customers simply cannot stand long wait times, while 79% said their customers won't tolerate having to repeat information. : Ninety-one percent of respondents said their customers simply cannot stand long wait times, while 79% said their customers won't tolerate having to repeat information. Type and volume of inquiries are the biggest obstacles to delivering efficient support: Thirty-eight percent of respondents point to challenging inquiries as the main reason for inability to provide efficient support, followed by 29% of respondents that say too many inquiries are problematic. Thirty-eight percent of respondents point to challenging inquiries as the main reason for inability to provide efficient support, followed by 29% of respondents that say too many inquiries are problematic. Adoption of the right tools is necessary to stay efficient and effective: While 57% reported that they are not using any of the typical tools and strategies to deliver efficient support, organizations are considering adopting a variety of tools, including intelligent routing, knowledge base deflection, auto responses and chatbots. "Now that we have a greater understanding of the efficiency pressures and challenges facing today's customer service organizations, the adoption of intelligent tools that can handle low level tasks and free up agents' time to handle challenging inquiries becomes even more essential," added Birnbaum. "By combining tools like AI-powered technology, sentiment analysis, intelligent routing and chatbots, the Kustomer platform provides agents what they need to deliver highly efficient service, build long-lasting customer relationships, boost brand loyalty and make valuable contributions to the company's bottom line." Survey Methodology The results presented in this report are from a survey conducted online within the United States by Qualtrics on behalf of Kustomer between May 28th and June 2nd, 2020. A total of 121 responses were recorded, of adults 18+ who reside within the United States and are employed full time in a customer service role. Respondents worked at organizations with an annual revenue of at least $10M in one of the following industries: Consumer Products / Packaged Goods, Education, Financial Services, Food / Beverage / Grocery, Government / Environmental, Healthcare, Hospitality, Insurance, Media / Advertising, Retail, and Technology / Software. Kustomer developed the survey in conjunction with the Qualtrics Expert Method team and data was scrubbed twice during the course of the research to ensure accurate responses. No personal information was gathered from respondents during the course of the survey. Our "Special Report: The Efficiency Mandate in Customer Service" can be accessed here . About Kustomer Kustomer is the omnichannel SaaS CRM platform reimagining enterprise customer service to deliver standout experiences. Built with intelligent automation, Kustomer scales to meet the needs of any contact center and business by unifying data from multiple sources and enabling companies to deliver effortless, consistent and personalized service and support through a single timeline view. Today, Kustomer is the core platform of some of the leading customer service brands like Ring, Glovo, Glossier and Sweetgreen. Headquartered in NYC, Kustomer was founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneurs Brad Birnbaum and Jeremy Suriel, has raised over $174M in venture funding, and is backed by leading VCs including: Coatue, Tiger Global Management, Battery Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Cisco Investments, Canaan Partners, Boldstart Ventures and Social Leverage. Media Contact: Cari Sommer Raise Communications [email protected] SOURCE Kustomer LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LCX and LunarCRUSH have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a long term partnership to provide advanced crypto market insights for security tokens and compliant digital assets. LunarCRUSH crypto market data gathers real-time and historical insights from hundreds of sources and social media channels worldwide. LCX and LunarCRUSH have entered into this strategic partnership to provide the data it needs to make smarter trading and investment decisions for the crypto market. Monty C. M. Metzger, CEO and Founder of LCX The agreement brings together two influential technology companies serving the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry: LCX, the new category leader in tokenization of assets, and LunarCRUSH, the social data science company for crypto markets. LCX's clients will soon have access to real-time social signals and community insights directly at LCX Terminal trading interface. This advanced analytics capability will measure trading, price and social media data and will provide insights that include the most critical metrics such as volume, social and influencer engagement and quantitative sentiment analysis. Furthermore, LunarCRUSH and LCX agreed to combine their technology and knowledge to deliver advanced market analytics for security tokens and other compliant digital assets as well. The goal is to deliver community insights, research, background information, historical and real-time market data to crypto investors and traders. "The market of digital assets needs more transparency. Working with LunarCRUSH on security tokens will simplify the process of evaluating digital assets, analyzing token fundamentals, and understanding industry trends," said Monty C. M. Metzger, CEO and Founder of LCX. "We are excited to work with LCX to bring the power of social insights to even more people and to power the next generation of cryptocurrencies," said Joe Vezzani, CEO and Founder of LunarCRUSH. "This partnership will enable us to accelerate the development of key insights into newly issued security tokens and deliver vital information every investor needs." About LunarCRUSH: Unlike traditional stock markets, cryptocurrencies do not have earnings reports or 10-Ks. Markets are open 24/7 and are truly global. Cryptocurrencies are valued based on the traction and community they build. The community is built on social media. LunarCRUSH helps investors make better decisions by tracking the community each cryptocurrency is building through beautiful dashboards and real-time data analysis. https://lunarcrush.com About LCX: LCX is a financial services company that focuses on tokenization of assets, security token offerings and advanced trading tools. LCX Terminal is a sophisticated crypto trading platform to manage your portfolio across all major cryptocurrency exchanges on one single user-interface. LCX STO Launchpad will be the new issuing platform for security tokens, while LCX Exchange aims to become the preferred marketplace for compliant digital assets. LCX is headquartered in Liechtenstein and is operating in accordance with the new Blockchain laws and regulations. www.LCX.com Press Contact: Mr. D. Sood [email protected] Related Images monty-metzger.jpg Monty Metzger Monty C. M. Metzger, CEO and Founder of LCX Related Links LCX Insights LCX Terminal SOURCE LCX.com I don't feel alone anymore, Silvia Soto tells the New York Times in response to the civil protests challenging the use of excessive force on African American's throughout the country. Silvia Soto's husband, Marshall Miles died in 2018 after being in the custody of the Sacramento Sheriff's. While in custody, Marshall repeatedly told the Deputies he could not breathe as they threw him facedown in the jail and applied unnecessary and unwarranted force to his upper body thereby constructing his air. Unfortunately, Marshall Miles' case is not uncommon, as shown by the 70 other similar cases the New York Times uncovered throughout the country. Lessem, Newstat & Tooson, LLP is working to prevent other families from feeling the same pain, grief and hopelessness of the Miles family. Attorney Jamal Tooson explains; "They took a father, a husband and a member of the Sacramento community, and for what? Suspicion of a low-level misdemeanor. A misdemeanor, which should never equate to a death sentence, but in the hands of force-prone, unaccountable deputies, this is the reoccurring outcome." The lawyers for Marshall Miles are seeking to depose the Sacramento Sheriff, Scott Jones, about his department, policies and procedures to get answers for the Miles family. However, Attorney Jamal Tooson states he is not optimistic that Sheriff Jones will ever come forward, leaving the Miles family deprived of the answers they deserve. The law affords officers, like those who caused the death of Marshall Miles, unfettered protection, which is a significant contributing factor to the excessive force problem we are facing in America. If we want real change in this regard, it must come from the legislature. Notably, of the 70 cases involving deaths cited by the New York times only a deminimus number resulted in a criminal conviction of the officers involved. Without consequences, how do we expect change? The link to the full New York Times article is below: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/28/us/i-cant-breathe-police-arrest.html SOURCE Lessem, Newstat & Tooson, LLP VANCOUVER, BC, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Lida Resources Inc. (CSE: LIDA) ("Lida" or the "Company") is a Canadian exploration company that is pleased to announce that it has entered into two agreements to acquire 400 hectares which encompass the Quiruvilca mine. While several million has been spent on this property, the total acquisition cost to the Company was USD $200,000 with no further obligations. "Our goal is to completely change the mining methodology. The 2.5km gold/copper sulfide zone requires infill drilling to prove out tonnage. Our objective is to change from a vein type silver mine profile to a high tonnage gold/copper mine profile", stated Len De Melt, CEO. The Quiruvilca Mine (the "Property"), Quiruvilca District, Santiago de Chuco Province, La Libertad, Peru is located 6 miles south-east of the Company's San Vincente Property. The mine is located at an elevation of 3,800 meters in the Andes Mountains of Northern Peru, approximately 80 miles inland from the coastal city of Trujillo, Peru in the district of Agallpampa, Province of Otuzco. The Property is located in the occidental part of the Tertiary Volcanic Belt of the Western Cordillera and is underlain by rocks of the Calipuy Formation, a precious and base metals metallotects formation found in Peru. The Calipuy Formation is the product of post tectonic volcanism in the Cordillera region. Quiruvilca Mine Quiruvilca is one of Peru's oldest mines with mineralization first reported in the area in 1789. Mining at a corporate level started in 1907 and more or less until 1930 or so. The Quiruvilca Mine has been in continuous operation since about 1940 until 2018 and was initially, focused on the silver bearing veins on the property. In 1967, the mill started to treat complex ores producing silver, lead and zinc concentrate. In 1995, Pan American acquired an 80% interest in the Quiruvilca Mine and increased their interest to 99.7% by 1996. The workings are extensive, spread out over a wide area, in many veins. Currently, grades run at about 150 g/t silver, 4% zinc, 1.5% lead and 0.5% copper. Stoping has taken place in, reportedly, 60 places. Considering the 1,725 tons/per/day that the mine can process, that is a lot of small stopes! The underground working places are accessed by several adits/ramps and one shaft. Ore is moved to surface, primarily, by one long conveyor belt system but also supplemented by rail movement from ore passes plus skip-hoisted ore. The Quiruvilca deposits are in layered volcanic rocks of the Miocene Calipuy Formation which includes andesite and minor basalt flows. The Calipuy formations have an estimated thickness in excess of 2,000m. Intrusive rocks include andesite stocks and dykes. The ore zones have four distinct zones. Ores in the central part of the district are mesothermal and are dominated by enargite. The mesothermal deposits grade outward to the epithermal deposits. Lewis (1956) described the various zones in some detail. The inner zone is called the Enargite Zone and, in the past, encompassed the major part of the Quiruvilca Mine. Little mining is done in that zone today. Minerals associated with the enargite in this zone are pyrite tennantite, wurtzite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, orpiment, galena and rare hutcinsonite. The second zone outwards is the Transition Zone which is up to 1,400m wide. Its dominant ore mineral is sphalerite with pyrite and tennatite-tetrahedrite. Other sulphides include chalcopyrite, galena, marcasite, arsenopyrite, covellite and wurtzite. Gangue minerals are mostly massive quartz and occasional rhodochrosite and calcite. The third zone outward is the epithermal Lead-Zinc Zone characterized by sphalerite and galena accompanied by pyrite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite-tennantite, marcasite, arsenopyrite and gratonite. Gangue minerals in the lead zinc zone are quartz, dolomite, rhodochrosite and calcite. The outermost zone is the Stibnite zone. In addition to stibnite, the other minerals there are arsenopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and arsenic. Leonard De Melt, CEO of Lida stated, "This transaction is an important consolidation of land in an important part of Peru. The San Vicente mine was in production of gold and silver concentrate until 2011. The Quiruvilca Mine is only 6 miles away from the Company's San Vincente Property and we feel that mineralized zones connect the two properties. I feel that the large near massive sulphide copper rich zone near the bottom of the Quiruvilca mine has excellent potential and I believe this structure had a 2.5km potential that had only a few drill holes into it. I believe this combined project would potentially make an excellent exploration/resource build project that could return to mining with some key investment and management. Our goal is the completely change the mining methodology. The 2.5km gold/copper sulfides zone requires infill drilling to prove out tonnage. Our objective is to change from a vein type silver mine profile to a high tonnage gold/copper mine profile." About Lida Resources Inc. Lida acquires properties by staking initial mineral claims, negotiating for permits from government authorities, acquiring mineral claims or permits from existing holders, entering into option agreements to acquire interests in mineral claims or purchasing companies with mineral claims or permits. On these properties, the Company explores for minerals on its own or in joint ventures with others. Exploration for metals usually includes surface sampling, airborne and/or ground geophysical surveys and drilling. The Company is not limited to any particular metal or region, but the corporate focus is on precious and base metals in South America, specifically Peru, as at the date hereof. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION DISCLAIMER Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward looking information, including but not limited to, expansion of operations. Forward looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "should", and similar expressions. Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward looking information. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward looking information as a result of competitive factors and competition for investment opportunities, challenges relating to operations in international markets, transaction execution risk, changes to the Company's strategic growth plans, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable based on current expectations and potential investment pipeline, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Company's expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. 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, except as required by applicable securities legislation. SOURCE Lida Resources Inc LANSING, Mich., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Liquid Web, LLC, (https://www.liquidweb.com), the market leader in managed hosting and managed application services to SMBs and entrepreneurs, is excited to announce the acquisition of ServerSide adding proven experience in hosting the leading Microsoft Windows Content Management solutions to Liquid Web's portfolio. The acquisition of ServerSide bolsters Liquid Web's VMware cloud hosting capabilities for small to medium businesses launched in 2019. It also accelerates the company's entrance into the Progress Sitefinity, Kentico, and Sitecore hosting market. The ServerSide team, including Steve Oren, founder, and CEO, have joined Liquid Web and have helped lead the effort to migrate customers onto the Liquid Web platform. "The acquisition of ServerSide supports Liquid Web's mission to power leading content management platforms. With ServerSide, we are excited about building upon the relationships ServerSide had with Sitefinity, Kentico, and Sitecore and their ecosystem partners", said Joe Oesterling, CTO. "We are excited about joining the Liquid Web team. We've successfully migrated our customers to Liquid Web's platform, and we are working hand and hand to deploy our VMware architecture more broadly within Liquid Web", said Steve Oren, Former CEO at ServerSide. "We look forward to using Liquid Web's scale to be a bigger player in the leading Windows CMS ecosystems," said Oren. To learn more about the Liquid Web Private Cloud powered by VMware and NetApp visit: https://www.liquidweb.com/products/private-cloud/. To learn more about the Liquid Web Windows CMS offerings visit: Kentico: https://www.liquidweb.com/products/add-ons/software/kentico/ Progress Sitefinity: https://www.liquidweb.com/products/add-ons/software/sitefinity/ ElcomCMS: https://www.liquidweb.com/products/add-ons/software/elcom/ Sitecore: https://www.liquidweb.com/products/add-ons/software/sitecore/ About the Liquid Web Family of Brands Building on over 20 years of success, our Liquid Web Brand Family consists of four companies (Liquid Web, Nexcess, iThemes, and InterWorx), delivering software, solutions, and managed services for mission-critical sites, stores, and applications to SMBs and the designers, developers, and agencies who create for them. With more than 1.5 million sites under management, The Liquid Web Family of Brands serves over 45,000 customers spanning 150 countries. Collectively, the companies have assembled a world-class team of industry experts, provide unparalleled service from a dedicated group of solution engineers available 24/7/365, and own and manage 10 global data centers. As an industry leader in customer service*, the rapidly expanding brand family has been recognized among INC. Magazine's 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies for twelve years. For more information, please visit https://www.liquidweb.com/ for more info. *2019 Net Promoter Score of 67 Contact: Mayra Pena, [email protected] SOURCE Liquid Web Inc. Related Links http://www.liquidweb.com LAS VEGAS, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LMBPN Publishing, a global leader in indie digital book publishing, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with RosettaBooks to publish the first six books of David Brin's Out of Time series. Through this agreement, the Out of Time series will be introduced to LMBPN's extensive global sci-fi fan base. Additionally, it will allow both companies to combine their marketing reach to further expand on David Brin's award-winning platform. David Brin, Author Corporate logos Michael Anderle, President/Chief Executive Officer at LMBPN, said, "Partnering with another publishing company is still new to us at LMBPN, but when the opportunity arose to embark on a new venture with RosettaBooks, allowing us to publish David Brin, I immediately said yes! David is a Hugo*, Locus*, Campbell*, and Nebula* Award winner, and his writing aligns with our aim to deliver high-quality, entertaining stories our readers want to read and reread over and over." David Brin comments: "I crafted the Out of Time premise kids from both our own time and past eras are hurtled forward to save a 24th Century in terrible crisis to offer readers of all ages adventures filled with tension, thoughtfulness and optimism about the power of youth to courageously and ingeniously make a difference. Novels by some of the best living science fiction authors - Nancy Kress, Sheila Finch and Roger Allen run with this fun premise, using characters from history, the present and an exciting future to weave a saga like no other." Arthur Klebanoff, Chief Executive Officer at RosettaBooks said, "After 20 years as an independent eBook publisher building a catalog of over 800 perennial backlist titles, we are pleased to enter a targeted marketing agreement with one of the leaders in science fiction publishing. I am confident that the combination of LMBPN and RosettaBooks will serve the authors and both companies well." About David Brin Dr. David Brin is an American scientist and author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell, and Nebula Awards. His novel The Postman was adapted as a feature film and starred Kevin Costner in 1997. Brin's nonfiction book The Transparent Society won the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association and the McGannon Communication Award. About LMBPN Publishing Founded in 2015, LMBPN has rapidly become an industry leader in the digital sci-fi and urban fantasy genres. The company has gained a loyal global fan base that consistently propels LMBPN's books into Amazon.com*, Inc. top ranks and has made founding author Michael Anderle a #1 ranked sci-fi author. LMBPN's digital catalog presently includes over seven hundred titles, many of them in the top 1,000 on Amazon.com*, and over two hundred titles on Audible.com * through LMBPN Audio and close to three hundred titles licensed for audio through partners such as Dreamscape Media*, Graphic Audio*, Tantor Media*, and Podium Audio*. Combined, the current series in the company's portfolio have sold over 4,000,000 books, and over a billion pages have been read on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited*. Visit http://LMBPN.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or contact [email protected] *Brands are property of their respective owners About RosettaBooks RosettaBooks is a leading independent publisher headquartered in New York City. Launched in 2001, it pioneered by building an 800-eBook catalog of iconic titles, including those from popular sci-fi authors Arthur C. Clarke, Richard Matheson, Ben Bova, and John Wyndham. For the past five years, RosettaBooks' trade book program has focused on high-profile thought-leadership and nonfiction titles. RosettaBooks distributes its print titles through Simon & Schuster and publishes its own eBook editions on all platforms worldwide. Most of its titles are licensed to leading independent audiobook publishers for simultaneous release with the hardcover and eBook editions. For more information, visit https://www.rosettabooks.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter or contact [email protected]. Press contact: Judith Anderle [email protected] Cell: +1-626-827-4549 SOURCE LMBPN Publishing Related Links http://LMBPN.com Allow us to become part of your life story. Spend time in the kitchen and use San Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP tomatoes to spice up any dish from salads and soups to pastas. Check out our Instagram and Facebook pages for a delicious Authentic Tomato Sauce Recipe https://www.instagram.com/p/CBkppWADqg-/ https://www.facebook.com/I-Love-San-Marzano-DOP-102106421510309/ While you're crafting meals at home, many others will be enjoying dishes featuring I San Marzano DOP prepared for them through the generosity of the non-profit Italians Feed America https://www.italiansfeedamerica.org/ founded by world renown Executive Chef Fabrizio Facchini. With help from friends like celebrity chefs Rocco Dispirito and Elizabeth Falkner, IFA has now served over 100,000 meals nationwide to first responders, homeless and families in need. Their daily menus often feature healthy Pomodoro San Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese - Nocerino DOP. "I wanted to create this organization a long time ago. The COVID-19 outbreak gave me the push to make it happen!" - Fabrizio Facchini. Please reach out to us if you'd like to schedule an interview or virtual cooking segment with Chef Fabrizio. There are plenty of Italian sounding canned tomato brands out there, and some even use the San Marzano name, but these are the real deal! When shopping for the best, look for tomatoes marked Pomodoro San Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP with the PDO label (also defined by their 28 oz cans). The DOP (denominazione di origine protetta) refers to the protected designation of origin (PDO). "San Marzano DOP: Excellence from Europe"! The "Crown Jewel" of European canned tomatoes! I San Marzano DOP is a campaign co-financed by the European Commission promoting San Marzano dell'agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP tomatoes in the USA. #iLoveSanMarzanoDOP SOURCE I Love San Marzano DOP Related Links http://www.ilovesanmarzanodop.com MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In October 2019, MLPD collaborated with Mt Laurel Animal Hospital to raise funds to purchase and train an explosives detection dog, the first for the township police. However, through the overwhelming generosity and support of the citizens, they were able to acquire an explosives detection dog as well as a scent detection dog. Local businesses, including Kerbeck Automotive and Holman Automotive, rallied around the cause to help materialize this initiative. Owner/Veterinarian of Mount Laurel Animal Hospital, Dr. Robert Mankowski, pictured with Patrolman Kyle Gardner & K-9 Drake (left) and Cpl. Christopher O'Prandy & K-9 Meeko (right) Mt Laurel Police Department Chief of Police (Chief Stephen Riedener) said: "I've always maintained that we best serve the needs of the community when we have the partnership and support of residents. This generosity is a prime example of the importance of partnership. We are extremely grateful for the generosity of the citizens and thank everyone who supported the cause to amplify the unit's resources." Dr. Robert Mankowski, Co-owner and Veterinarian at Mount Laurel Animal Hospital said: "We are in awe of the amazing support received for this initiative and thank all those who supported this effort to improve the security of our community." The donations were allocated towards the purchase, training and associated expenses for the two police dogs. The K-9 unit, which already consists of two narcotic detection/patrol dogs, recently welcomed its newest recruits, Drake and Meeko. Drake is a Labrador Retriever trained for tracking and narcotics detection, while Meeko is a German Shepherd explosives detection and tracking dog. The increased canine presence will be a great asset to Burlington County. The new dogs will respond to threats within the Mount Laurel community as well as in other municipalities working with the Mount Laurel Police Department. For further information or to learn more about Mount Laurel Police Department visit: http://mountlaurelpd.org. Learn more about Mount Laurel Animal Hospital at https://mlahvet.com. Media contact: Dr. Robert Mankowski Email: [email protected] Phone: 856-234-7626 Related Images new-k-9-officers.jpg New K-9 Officers Owner/Veterinarian of Mount Laurel Animal Hospital, Dr. Robert Mankowski, pictured with Patrolman Kyle Gardner & K-9 Drake (left) and Cpl. Christopher O'Prandy & K-9 Meeko (right) Related Links Mount Laurel Animal Hospital Mount Laurel Police Department SOURCE Mount Laurel Animal Hospital Related Links https://mlahvet.com DALLAS, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas and our co-sponsors invite members of the media to the following: What: A Press Conference will be held on Wednesday July 1st When: At 2:00 PM on July 1st, 2020. Address: 13111 N. Central EXPY, suite 380, Dallas Tx 75243 Contact: Morjan Al Taweel: [email protected] Syed Hassan: [email protected] Host: Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas Co-Sponsors: Council for American and Islamic Relations (CAIR); Dallas Peace and Justice Center; Dallas Palestine Coalition; American Muslims For Palestine-Dallas; Dallas Anti-war Committee; Dallas Alliance Against Racism And Police Repression (DAARPR); Dallas Palestine Coalition; PACT; Party For Socialism And Liberation. The annexation plan of Palestinian land by the Israeli government is the most offensive and greatest level of escalation which poses a catastrophic threat to the Middle East peace. The expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are flagrant violations of international norms, UN resolutions and calls from the World Community for condemnation. This new offensive against Palestinian people is ending the possibilities for a long sought two state solution and any peace in the Middle East. The occupation, land annexation, the wall, and the expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land undermine any chance for peace and the viability of a future Palestinian state by fragmenting and destroying the contiguity of the land within the 1967 borders. The annexation plan changes facts in violation of signed and longstanding agreements between the Palestinians and the Israelis mediated by successive US administrations. It effectively constitutes an aggression on the Palestinian People's inalienable rights, perpetuates violence, highlights racism, injustice and blatantly undermines basic Palestinian human rights. Yossi Klein expressing his opinion on June 24, 2020, in the Daily Haaretz wrote, "The idea of the annexation is racism; discriminating between the superior and the inferior. The racism virus can't be destroyed with hand sanitizer, it's more dangerous and resistant than the coronavirus, it adapts quickly to heat and humidity, and it's very contagious. You won't believe how many racism carriers walk among us; you'd be amazed how many confirmed cases there are." 61% of the West Bank is currently under Israeli control. The Israeli settler population in the West Bank has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 750,000. The Netanyahu government has exacerbated this situation by constructing 2,000 or more new settlements units each year. Palestinian families have been separated logistically from one another and from their livelihood. The lives of men, women and children suffer perpetual violence. The Israeli Military has constructed checkpoints and concrete barriers blocking pathways between Palestinian neighborhoods. These drastic measures have obliterated the Palestinian's historical background, society and freedom. The overwhelming majority of the international community agrees that the most effective and feasible way to guarantee both Palestinian human rights and Israel's security is through the creation of a Palestinian state in the Occupied Territories. Without the possibility of a two-state solution, Israel will either become a full-fledged apartheid state or a dangerously unstable binational state. SOURCE Muslim Democratic Caucus of Texas Related Links https://www.mdctexas.com WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has selected 409 technology proposals for the first phase of funding from the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. The contracts will provide approximately $51 million to 312 small businesses in 44 states and Washington, D.C. "NASA depends on America's small businesses for innovative technology development that helps us achieve our wide variety of missions," said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington. "Whether we're landing Artemis astronauts on the Moon, sending rovers to Mars, or developing next-generation aircraft our small business partners play an important role." More than 100 of the selected companies will be first-time recipients of a NASA SBIR or STTR contract. Additionally, 27% of the small businesses are from underrepresented groups, including minority and women-owned businesses. Companies will receive up to $125,000 for each of the Phase I selections. SBIR awards are made to only a small business, while STTR awards are made to a small business in partnership with a non-profit research institution. The selected proposals represent a range of technologies that aim to benefit human exploration, including NASA's Artemis program, as well as science, technology, and aeronautics. Many of the innovations also have potential applications on Earth. The following are among the selections. Opterus Research and Development in Fort Collins, Colorado , was selected for an SBIR award to develop high-power solar arrays to provide power on the Moon, Mars, and onboard spacecraft. , was selected for an SBIR award to develop high-power solar arrays to provide power on the Moon, Mars, and onboard spacecraft. Architecture Technology Corporation in Eden Prairie, Minnesota , was selected for an SBIR contract to advance a safe and efficient air traffic control system for urban transportation systems in the sky. The system could help cities plan for commercial air taxi services. , was selected for an SBIR contract to advance a safe and efficient air traffic control system for urban transportation systems in the sky. The system could help cities plan for commercial air taxi services. CU Aerospace in Champaign, Illinois , was selected for an SBIR award to develop a compact sterilizer for use on spacecraft materials and throughout the medical industry, including personal protective equipment. , was selected for an SBIR award to develop a compact sterilizer for use on spacecraft materials and throughout the medical industry, including personal protective equipment. Paragon Space Development Corporation in Tucson, Arizona , was selected for an SBIR award to mature a system to collect and purify water found on the Moon. The research and development could inform how to generate products with local materials in space. , was selected for an SBIR award to mature a system to collect and purify water found on the Moon. The research and development could inform how to generate products with local materials in space. Aegis Technology in Santa Ana, California , was selected for an STTR award in partnership with Cornell University to develop low cost lithium-ion batteries with more desirable performance, including longer lifespans. The batteries could benefit hybrid electric or all-electric power generation. Phase I awards are made to small businesses to establish the merit and feasibility of their innovations. Phase I SBIR contracts last for six months and Phase I STTR contracts last for 13 months. Based on their progress during Phase I, companies may submit proposals to subsequent SBIR/STTR opportunities and receive additional funding. "A Phase I award is just the first step in helping these small businesses bring their technologies and ideas to market," said NASA SBIR/STTR Program Executive Jenn Gustetic. "We know these companies not only need funding, but business guidance and industry expertise to help them develop better products and grow. Our program aims to help each of them in their journeys to commercialization." The structure of NASA's SBIR/STTR program allows the agency to continuously invest in small businesses as their technologies reach different maturity stages. Phase II contracts support prototyping. The program also fosters rapid development and integration into the commercial marketplace and NASA missions through post-Phase II opportunities. NASA plans to select and award multimillion-dollar sequential Phase II contracts to some companies with previous Phase II contracts. These upcoming awards will further mature a range of technologies related to the sustainable exploration of the Moon, the Artemis program, and America's broader Moon to Mars objectives. NASA's SBIR/STTR program is part of the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate and is managed by NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. The program encourages small businesses to develop innovative ideas that meet the federal government's specific research and development needs with the potential for commercialization. To view the NASA SBIR 2020 Phase I selections, visit: https://sbir.nasa.gov/prg_selection/node/63001 To view the NASA STTR 2020 Phase I selections, visit: https://sbir.nasa.gov/prg_selection/node/63002 For more information about NASA's investment in space technology, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/spacetech SOURCE NASA Related Links https://www.nasa.gov "OnPoint works every day to support the financial well-being of local families, businesses and the overall economy," said Rob Stuart, President and Chief Executive Officer, OnPoint Community Credit Union. "Sherwood businesses and residents have been hit hard by the ripple effect of COVID-19, and we are ready to support our new neighbors, nonprofits and business partners as we all move forward." OnPoint's Sherwood Branch will offer the community a robust suite of financial services, including membership enrollment, consumer and commercial lending, mortgages, financial planning, ATM, a coin machine and notarization. The branch will be led by Branch Manager Josh Peterson, who has been with OnPoint for eight years and Assistant Branch Manager and Sherwood resident Marina Mijares, who has been with OnPoint nearly 10 years. "We are thrilled to open OnPoint's newest branch in the thriving Sherwood community," said Branch Manager Josh Peterson. "Our experienced team brings with it an extraordinary combination of knowledge and banking expertise to serve the gateway to Oregon's wine country. We look forward to providing a quality banking experience for both consumers and businesses while developing lasting relationships in the community for years to come." In addition to adding eight jobs to the Sherwood economy, OnPoint's new branch will support the financial health of the community through customized financial education and advice. OnPoint also invests in the communities it serves by forging deep relationships to understand and address their most urgent needs. In 2019 alone, OnPoint donated $1,052,836 to nonprofits in Oregon and Southwest Washington and allocated 12,080 paid volunteer hours to its employees. With growing families making up almost 80 percent of Sherwood households, OnPoint will donate $2,500 to In Kind Boxes. In Kind Boxes is run by four Sherwood mothers who are dedicated to ensuring every new mom and baby receive the same high standard of care by donating high-quality personal care and essential items to families in need. Click here to learn more about In Kind Boxes. "In Kind Boxes is grateful to OnPoint Community Credit Union for the support of the Sherwood community," said President, Maria Berglund. "Because of its generous donation, we will be able to purchase enough supplies to donate 45 gift boxes to families in need. Every dollar that is donated to In Kind Boxes, or made from sales, goes directly back to furthering our mission to provide every mother and child with the same standard of care. We are so thankful to local businesses like OnPoint who are dedicated to giving back to the community." ABOUT ONPOINT COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION Founded in 1932, OnPoint Community Credit Union is the largest credit union in Oregon, serving more than 400,000 members and with assets of $7.2 billion. OnPoint membership is available to anyone who lives or works in one of 28 Oregon counties (Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Gilliam, Hood River, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Polk, Sherman, Tillamook, Wasco, Washington, Wheeler and Yamhill) and two Washington counties (Skamania and Clark) and their immediate family members. More information is available at http://www.onpointcu.com or 800-527-3932. SOURCE OnPoint Community Credit Union Related Links http://www.onpointcu.com DENMAN ISLAND, British Columbia, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After a successful soft launch, DomainerSuite recently announced the official release of 1AISEO (https://1aiseo.com). 1AISEO is a proprietary subscription-based digital service that leverages the power of AI to help boost important SEO stats across the web by giving solid, actionable advice to users. Simple to use, subscribers input keywords and search parameters, triggering 1AISEO to begin feeding millions of data points into a complex system of machine learning models. 1AISEO was developed to keep up with ever-changing search engine algorithms, offering solid SEO advice based on daily readings of the digital landscape. 1AISEO offers multiple subscription packages, including a premium status, with free trial searches and recommendations for new users. logo 1AISEO: The Power of AI to Boost Critical SEO 1AISEO is a unique AI tool that helps sites rank better on the most popular and influential search engines like Google or Bing. Offering data and insights delivered from the AI-SEO Recommendation Engine, 1AISEO gives subscribers an insider look at how daily SEO algorithms rank searches, ultimately allowing subscribers to stay ahead of the SEO game with new strategies they can implement to rank all desired target keywords. 1AISEO looks at the top 100 search results for each keyword imputed to see which websites are ranking, while offering reasons why this might be so. 1AISEO crawls across every URL and pulls hundreds of important metrics concerning each one; using this data, 1AISEO then delivers crucial advice that can be leveraged to ultimately stay ahead of competitors. 1AISEO: Easy to Begin 1AISEO is the first system that harnesses the previously untapped power of a constantly evolving AI to give subscribers the information they need to increase their rankings. The AI settings are fully customizable and changeable, allowing daily recommendations to shift and reflect new information, based on alternating search-engine algorithms and parameters. Getting started using the 1AISEO tool is easy: Sign up for an account: subscription-based, or multiple free-access options available. Choose a keyword and select where to rank (Google, Bing, for mobile/desktop, etc.). The 1AISEO Recommendation Engine analyzes website rankings for specific keywords and URL combinations. Based on the results, 1AISEO provides usable future strategies to help rank better next time. This information is organic, changing each day as subscribers change their digital tactics and keyword approaches. Unregistered users can get started immediately on 1AISEO for free, with three saved searches and three recommendations per day, per keyword. Registered users are also permitted three saved searches, but are allowed five recommendations per day, per keyword. Premium subscriptions are offered at $1 per setting (keyword + URL + search engine + device + city/country location) and routinely offer up to 30 SEO recommendations per keyword. About DomainerSuite Founded by Tony Aly, DomainerSuite is a Canadian software company engaged in website building since 2015. Tony is a longtime web developer and internet marketer who has specialized in SEO since 1999. Enlisting the help of senior computer scientist Sergio Abrahao, Tony and Sergio collaborated to create an AI platform that helps users boost SEO stats through research and targeted searches. After two years of extensive development and beta testing, 1AISEO was born. Learn more about the newest software innovations at: https://domainersuite.com/ Media Contact: Tony Aly, CEO (310)801-2693 [email protected] SOURCE 1AISEO Related Links https://1aiseo.com NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Q BioMed Inc. (OTCQB: QBIO), a commercial stage biotech company, today issued a letter to shareholders. Dear Fellow Shareholders, We are extremely pleased to have reached our initial goal of becoming a commercial pharmaceutical company. As mentioned on February 13th, we launched Strontium89 (Strontium Chloride Sr-89 Injection, USP), our FDA approved non-opioid drug which has been shown to relieve the pain associated with cancer that has metastasized to bone. Our contract manufacturing facility, which is FDA approved to produce Strontium89, is manufacturing commercial-scale quantities now. Our new Strontium89 website has been launched and outreach to health care professionals and patients has commenced. The response has been positive thus far and it is very gratifying to have already impacted those suffering from cancer bone pain. We expect to book revenues in the current quarter, even as COVID restrictions have limited our access to hospitals and physicians. We anticipate exceeding $25 million in annual sales in 2022 based on the current potential market size. In several multicenter, placebo-controlled trials in cancer patients with pain from bone metastases, pain relief occurred in more patients treated with a single injection of Strontium89 than in patients treated with an injection of placebo. Strontium89 is administered intravenously once every three months and for some patients can reduce or even eliminate the need for opioid analgesics. (Please see Important Safety Information and the full Prescribing Information on our website www.strontium 89.com ). The opioid crisis is pervasive, and clinicians worldwide are being asked to re-examine opioid use. Over 10 million people around the world suffer from pain associated with metastatic cancer in the bone and can benefit from Strontium89. Through our distribution partner, Jubilant Radiopharma, we have the capability to reach patients in all 50 U.S. states. Commercial and marketing activities, including marketing at conferences and direct sales, have commenced concurrent with commercial availability. Strontium89 is reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance companies. Near term, this opportunity will provide meaningful revenue for the Company. We also plan to launch the drug in several substantial international markets during 2020 and 2021. Looking to the future, we are assembling a world class scientific advisory board to assist in market access and plan Phase 4 clinical trial programs that may expand the indication beyond palliation into a therapeutic use that may increase patient survival, accessing the much larger therapeutic market. A comparative drug in the radiopharmaceutical space was purchased by Bayer for $2.9 billion in 2013 with peak sales projected by Bayer exceeding $1 billion a year. As we reflect on our mission of finding undervalued assets and advancing them to increased value, we are proud to say that we are accomplishing that goal. Launching Strontium89 distinguishes QBioMed from publicly traded biotech companies that have yet to launch a regulatory approved commercial product and generate revenues. Building a robust pipeline, we continue to work closely with our technology partners to develop treatments for unmet needs in multi-billion-dollar markets. Our technology partner Mannin Research Inc. (Mannin) was recently granted up to $7.7 million in Europe, which will fund 65 percent of every dollar incurred to advance a portfolio of therapeutic assets for vascular diseases currently in development at Mannin, including: glaucoma, cardiovascular diseases, acute kidney disease, and infectious diseases such as influenza and coronavirus, among others. Given the urgent need for therapeutics to treat COVID-19, Mannin is rapidly accelerating the time to the first clinical milestone for MAN-19. An Investigational New Drug (IND) application (or similar clinical trial proposal) to regulators are planned for late 2020. It is important to note that the MAN-19 therapeutic is virus-agnostic, which makes it relevant to other viral diseases today like influenza and future viral pandemic outbreaks. Therefore, a successful infectious disease application in COVID-19 would position MAN-19 very well as a potential government stockpile drug for inevitable future pandemics. Furthermore, a successful proof-of-concept clinical trial with MAN-19 in COVID-19 patients would provide the clinical dataset to quickly support the development of therapeutics for other vascular diseases such as sepsis, acute kidney injury, and of course glaucoma. All of these are very large markets with significant potential. We continue to support the development of Mannin's MAN-01 and MAN-11 therapeutics, a novel small-molecule, and novel biologic therapeutic for glaucoma, respectively. There are over 60 million patients worldwide with primary open-angle glaucoma. The MAN-01 program is developing topical drops designed to reduce pressure build-up in the eye by assisting with, and correcting, drainage problems in tiny vessels in the eye. We have advanced this asset from 'concept to compound' and have seen very promising preliminary data that inspires confidence in the program and the market it addresses. Again, as we assess this against our mission, we have found a unique opportunity in a neglected market with significant potential and are advancing it towards real value. Our next steps for the MAN-01 and MAN-11 programs are to initiate toxicology studies in 2021, with the goal of initiating a Phase 1 proof of concept trial in late 2021. These successful data points should command a significant value proposition with potential partner companies that have a specific interest in ophthalmology. In addition, in early 2019, we licensed a diagnostic marker known as GDF-15 for determining the severity of glaucoma from Washington University in St. Louis. GDF-15 is a perfect companion diagnostic for the MAN-01 and MAN-11 drugs, as well as a very important and novel tool for practicing ophthalmologists and drug developers, because it allows them to assess the efficacy of the treatment or disease progression in their practice. This product represents a unique opportunity and current clinical trials are yielding promising results. In partnership with Mannin Research Inc. and McMaster University, we are nearing the completion of development of an in-vitro-diagnostic (IVD) with both point-of-care (detection in a doctor's office) as well as an external laboratory-based detection (i.e. for use in existing CLIA laboratories using existing diagnostic equipment). We anticipate completion of the IVD device by the end of 2020 with submission to the FDA for in vitro diagnostic approval in early 2021. We are innovating in the treatment of liver cancer, a disease indication that currently has a high unmet need. Currently, there are only two approved first-line therapies. We licensed and have advanced Uttroside-B, a new molecule that showed ten times the potency of the current standard of care in early pre-clinical investigation. Uttroside-B was discovered in the leaf of the Black Nightshade plant in India. As it is not feasible to use the plant as the source for a drug, we successfully synthesized the molecule thereby creating an exact replica of the naturally occurring chemical compound. We are now preparing to advance this into a pre-clinical program leading to an orphan drug application and IND application with the FDA and a proof of concept clinical program. If we are successful in achieving a positive proof of concept, we would expect the commercial market to recognize the additional value created in this billion-dollar market. While our immediate focus is on the above-mentioned assets, we are also developing a new drug candidate to treat young children with pediatric minimally verbal autism. The advancement of this program will depend on the availability of funds and resources as we prioritize our clinical development milestones. There is no effective treatment available to help an estimated 250,000 children born with the condition worldwide each year, 20,000 of them in the U.S. We are working on a discovery and development program to address this highly unmet need. In that regard, we recently filed an Orphan Drug application with the FDA based on a collaboration that resulted in a breakthrough discovery examining 1,953 autistic biomarkers that could identify the condition in a narrow patient population. We are in communication with the FDA's Office of Orphan Products Development and hope to be successful in the orphan designation. Since Q BioMed's inception 5 years ago, we have been busy building significant value ranging from blockbuster potential drugs to imminent revenue producing opportunities. Our mission is to solve problems by accelerating the development of important therapies and availability of those therapies to patients. As we successfully accomplish this, we believe we are creating value for our shareholders as we approach some significant milestones and catalysts. Finally, I will be presenting at Proactive Investors One2One Forum which is taking place today, Tuesday 30th June 2020 at 1pm EST. You are invited to register and attend the event https://event.webinarjam.com/register/458/xyy9gs6l. Denis Corin CEO About Q BioMed Inc. Q BioMed Inc is a biotech acceleration and commercial stage company. Q BioMed is focused on licensing and acquiring undervalued biomedical assets in the healthcare sector. Q BioMed is dedicated to providing these target assets the strategic resources, developmental support, and expansion capital needed to ensure they meet their developmental potential, enabling them to provide products to patients in need. Please visit http://www.QBioMed.com and sign up for regular updates. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may 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. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our growth strategy and product development programs and any other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated are: risks related to our growth strategy; risks relating to the results of research and development activities; our ability to obtain, perform under and maintain financing and strategic agreements and relationships; uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical testing; our dependence on third-party suppliers; our ability to attract, integrate, and retain key personnel; the early stage of products under development; our need for substantial additional funds; government regulation; patent and intellectual property matters; competition; as well as other risks described in our SEC filings. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. Q BioMed Media Contact: Denis Corin CEO Investor Relations: Keith Pinder +1-(404)-995-6671 [email protected] SOURCE Q BioMed Inc. Related Links https://qbiomed.com This partnership comes at a time when, of the more than one million disabled and fallen U.S. service members, there are another two million spouses and children who are adversely impacted by war. In fact, 9 out of 10 military dependents are not eligible for college financial assistance. In addition to the economic and emotional burdens families of fallen or disabled service members already face, the current COVID-19 pandemic is placing additional financial stress on many living on a one-household income. This partnership is designed to both to honor and protect the legacy of these military heroes by ensuring the educational future of their loved ones. "Red Gold was founded in 1942 in an effort to feed U.S. troops during World War II. Since then, giving back to those in need is a foundational element of our family history at Red Gold," said Colt Reichart, Director of Marketing and fourth-generation owner at Red Gold. "The Folds of Honor mission is a natural fit for us. For more than 75 years, our family has been proud to work with more than 40 Midwestern growers to produce quality tomato products that are American Owned, Grown and Made to serve families all over the country." For the first time in their history, Red Gold is unveiling a new look for the label of its best-selling premium ketchup products to highlight a partner organization. As part of the Ketchup with a Cause partnership, the most popular Red Gold ketchup bottles have been rebranded to feature the Folds of Honor logo in recognition of our nation's military heroes. A portion of each ketchup sale will directly support the Folds of Honor mission. "We are proud to partner with a company like Red Gold that shares our same passion and drive for supporting American military families and communities," said Ben Leslie, Executive Vice President at Folds of Honor. "As families prepare for their summer barbeques this year, we encourage they participate in the Ketchup with a Cause program as a way to support and honor our nation's heroes." Today, Red Gold's Folds of Honor Ketchup can be purchased in all military commissaries and in select stores across all 50 states. Albertsons, BJ's, Costco, Cub Foods, Fresco Y Mas, Kroger, Jewel Osco, Meijer, Price Chopper, Save-a-Lot, Schnucks, SpartanNash, Walmart, Winn-Dixie, and several independent grocery retailers are among the retailers who carry the product. Customers dining in restaurants using Red Gold ketchup will also be assured they too are supporting military families. "We are happy to partner with Red Gold in supporting the Folds of Honor program," said Jonathan Brown, Grocery Merchandising Manager at Houchens Industries Inc., which operates retailers like Food Giant, IGA, and Save A Lot. "It is a worthy cause to give back to the families that sacrifice for our country." About Folds of Honor Folds of Honor is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization, rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and platinum on GuideStar, that provides educational scholarships to the families of military men and women who have fallen or been disabled while on active duty in the United States armed forces. Our educational scholarships support private educational tuition and tutoring for children in grades K-12, as well as higher education tuition assistance for spouses and dependents. Founded in 2007 by Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, a PGA Professional and F-16 fighter pilot in the Air Force Reserves who served three tours of duty in Iraq, Folds of Honor is proud to have awarded approximately 24,500 scholarships in all 50 states and some US territories, including over 4,500 in 2019 alone. For more information or to donate in support of a Folds of Honor scholarship, please visit foldsofhonor.org. About Red Gold, Inc. Four generations of the Reichart family have been producing premium quality tomato products since 1942. When the US entered WWII, the government asked citizens to step up and help the war effort and the call was answered. Since then, Red Gold has become the largest privately owned tomato processor in the nation with three state-of-the-art facilities in Elwood, Geneva, and Orestes, Indiana. The company also boasts a million square foot distribution center in Alexandria and operates the subsidiary RG Transport trucking fleet in Elwood. Red Gold partners with local family farms across Indiana, southern Michigan, and Northwest Ohio to sustainably produce premium quality canned tomatoes, ketchup, sauces, salsas, and juices for foodservice, private brands, export, co-pack and club channels of distribution. The Red Gold family of consumer brands includes Red Gold, Redpack, Tuttorosso, Huy Fong, and Sacramento. Exceptional quality and operational excellence are the shared values that contributed to the employee-created mission statement: "To produce the freshest, best tasting tomato products in the world." Visit the award-winning website RedGoldTomatoes.com for great recipes, tips and culinary inspiration. Contact: Megan Fricke, BRG Communications [email protected] 703-739-8373 SOURCE Red Gold ATLANTA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A father-son team that includes a Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) professor has launched Count COVID - a survey that tracks symptoms of participants in an effort to assess the spread of COVID-19. Initial data has been gathered, and the survey is now being expanded, as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise. The survey - developed by Dr. David Ku and his son, Ben Ku - prompts participants to fill out six questions via the online questionnaire on a daily basis - even if they are asymptomatic. The data gathered can help track COVID-19 symptoms to identify geographic patterns in virus outbreak as well as locations where the virus is subsiding. This allows health officials to track symptoms and direct appropriate resources. The information gathered helps determine if areas are approaching herd immunity and provides a better understanding of coronavirus prevalence to allow local officials to evaluate potential adjustments to ordinances without widespread testing. "Other forms of testing are expensive, and unfortunately, not widely available. The sampling of data generated by Count COVID provides reliable estimates of community infection rapidly and at minimal costs," said Dr. David Ku. "We've all been touched in one way or another by COVID-19. And there are still not enough tests for everyone. This is an easy way we can all give back and help track the virus." Initial findings show a community prevalence of 7% in Georgia - this is approximately 40 times greater than reported confirmed cases. These findings were analyzed from 3,161 cases reported to CountCOVID.org. The results indicate that prevalence and incidence of COVID-19 symptoms in the community can be estimated by a crowd-sourced website like CountCOVID.org at considerably less expense than widespread PCR testing. Dr. David Ku is the Lawrence P. Huang Chair Professor of Engineering Entrepreneurship at Georgia Tech, a Regents' Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship's Program for Engineering Entrepreneurship. His work is supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association. Ben Ku is an established programming expert and a commissioner for Gwinnett County. The website for the survey was developed by doctors, scientists and engineers at Georgia Tech, Emory School of Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Gwinnett County government offices. Participants can take the survey by visiting www.countcovid.org and are encouraged to take the survey daily - even if people feel well. All data captured by the survey is anonymous and secure. About Georgia Institute of Technology: The Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, is one of the nation's leading research universities, providing a focused, technologically based education to more than 36,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The Institute has many nationally recognized programs, and is ranked among the nation's top five public universities by U.S. News & World Report. It offers degrees through the Colleges of Computing, Design, Engineering, Sciences, the Scheller College of Business, and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech has more than 100 centers focused on interdisciplinary research that consistently contribute vital research and innovation to government, industry, and business. SOURCE The Georgia Institute of Technology WESTBURY, N.Y., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The services offered by RXVIP Concierge highlight the critical role that pharmacists play as front-line healthcare providers. In the company's concierge approach to patient engagement, PharmDs and PharmD interns perform thorough and accurate risk assessments of patients' health, allowing them to make cost-saving and in some cases life-saving recommendations to their physician. This distinctly modern platform also supports the ongoing care coordination to closely monitor the well-being of patients. Additionally, the PharmD helps Physicians assess patients virtually via telemedicine, thereby protecting vulnerable patients who should not be coming into the office. The Pharmacist Society of New York (PSSNY) recently addressed the widespread misconception that it would be less expensive and easier for patients to obtain their medications directly from their doctor instead of their local pharmacy. A Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that doctors should be able to prescribe medication directly to patients instead of going through a pharmacist to dispense them. PSSNY argued in its rebuttal that prescriptions should be dispensed by pharmacists who specialize in the complex nature of medications including their side effects and possible interactions. The expertise of Pharmacists has saved lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Pharmacists rose to the challenge when doctors' offices and hospitals became overwhelmed. They sorted and packaged daily doses for high-risk patients who could not be exposed to their caregivers, delivered medication free of charge, and donated hand sanitizer and gloves to local hospitals. In this way, Pharmacists became a lifeline for patients and eased the burden on the healthcare system as a whole. "As the Chief Pharmacist Officer of RXVIP Concierge, I felt the need to work with our team to move swiftly from Covid-19 crisis response we all faced initially, towards recovery as quickly as possible. We recognized the challenges we faced in developing and executing strategies for restarting our business, especially the education of PharmD candidates who were impacted. We decided to continue to focus on exactly what got us to the point before the pandemic, and then leveraged our greatest strength, which is the passion for our profession," said Ken Sternfeld, Founder of RXVIP Concierge. "With no revenue to support them, and with the country shut down, we came together to utilize the only capital we had which was our people and their unwavering dedication to our mission," Sternfeld continued. "By doing that, we created a centralized, go-to resource and think tank for insights to address the changing landscape created by this nationwide health care crisis. All considerations for restarting our business operations, especially as it related to the students we were mentoring as preceptors, focused on safely and productively. Our people stepped up, big time, because like our Pharmacist brothers and sisters on the front lines at retail stores, we needed to help save lives," Sternfeld added. We asked our technology partner, WellTrackONE, to think out of the box and move our entire business model over to a mobile engagement patient portal solution. We needed something scalable that would allow us to deliver our services seamlessly while patients stayed home. They provided us with their proprietary THEO assessment platform that allowed our PharmDs and Students of Pharmacy the ability to offer telemedicine consultations, in collaboration with the physicians we worked with that documented our encounters and billed for our services. They provided this hand-held 'Pharmacist in a Box" risk management solution via an iPad. "While working with Ken and his management team at RXVIP Concierge the past year, our company recognized the value of the Pharmacist in the health care continuum. The vision they have of setting a higher standard of patient engagement perfectly aligned to our goals as a clinical risk management provider," stated Peter Bechtel, president of WellTrackONE. "Helping more PharmD Concierge providers reach out to patients proactively to provide wellness programs that significantly enable physicians and large-scale healthcare organizations to significantly increase their revenue as they come out of this pandemic, made this partnership even stronger," Bechtel added. "We look forward to continued growth with RXVIP Concierge as we support their innovative ideas and vision," Bechtel concluded. RXVIP Concierge has stepped up to support Pharmacists, Physicians and Patients in its own unique way. The network of PharmDs and students of pharmacy work collaboratively with other healthcare providers to provide a suite of value-based services, delivered at the point of care. These services increase reimbursements and enhance quality measures while providing a more personalized level of care as part of the PharmD Concierge program. The mission of RXVIP Concierge is to enhance the role of pharmacists as vital healthcare providers. "We are in a period in the history of healthcare where it's not an option any longer for any Pharmacist whether they are new, mid-career or close to retirement to function as we have for the last 10 or 20 years," stated Todd Eury, founder, publisher of Pharmacy Podcast Network. "Ken designed the concierge pharmacist model by seeing the changes needed on how members of our profession were being paid while he was working at a retail chain six years ago. Now it is coming full circle as every Pharmacist can have their profession in the palm of their hand and be paid for the professional services they deliver as a provider," Eury added. "The pharmacist is the hub of healthcare and can help lower the exorbitant costs associated for tens of millions of patients with this new mobile telemedicine outreach iPad solution. So we are excited about being the RXVIP Concierge marketing partner to bring this to our 70,000 subscribers as an expansion of our commitment to the pharmacy profession that we have had since 2009," Eury concluded. "Our vision of placing a trained Pharmacist right at the point of care to work with physicians never wavered during the crisis. We simply pivoted our in-office model seamlessly so that we could continue to service all of the patients with telemedicine. This allowed us to help to reach the patients plus also rebuild the practices at the same time," said Crystal Cruz, ExVP/COO of RXVIP Concierge. "For today and for the future, we felt the need to go to the patients and not expect or wait for them to come to us. They are frightened and scared so as health care providers, led by our Students of Pharmacy, we were able to connect with them to keep them healthy and possibly save their lives," Cruz added. "Our commitment to provide education and experiential eLearning has been enhanced as a result of the impact of the Covid19 pandemic which forced us to change the way we engage with our students, who have adapted to this change with great enthusiasm," Cruz concluded. "The future of telehealth solutions that include direct observed therapy and remote patient monitoring for patients with chronic diseases have never been more critical to implement. Sadly, more people over the next year may die who don't test positive for Covid19 if we are unable to stay connected with their care providers," Sternfeld concluded. The CareONE Concierge Academy, created by RXVIP Concierge as a result of Covid19, provides mentoring, eLearning plus job training to PharmD candidates and Alumni from colleges of pharmacy and universities across the United States. Recognizing the need to help the experiential education pathways continue for students hoping to graduate this year, we opened our doors to all 2020 candidates impacted. Working closely with the schools, we were able to develop a fully remote course of study that aligns to traditional IPPE, APPE and residency timelines that PharmDs typically follow. It also included a Master of APPE proficiency course that secures a position for the student to join RXVIP as a PharmD provider at graduation. By placing a pharmacist in a doctor's office as an extension of their medical team, RXVIP Concierge staffs them with a healthcare provider who facilitates a high-quality level of care for patients and delivers an unmatched suite of services including: Medication Reconciliations Pharmacogenomic Analysis & PGx Testing Annual Wellness Visits Advanced Care Planning Chronic Care Management Direct Observed Therapy Remote Patient Monitoring Alcohol, Obesity, CVD and other types of counseling RXVIP Concierge is also helping champion federal and state agencies to secure reimbursement for pharmacists who administer virtual services that are not covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private payers, including expanding payments for Covid19 Testing and Contact Tracing. RXVIP Concierge knows that empowering the next generation of PharmDs entering our profession now on how to deliver Covid19 tests and services, will benefit the community as a whole. To that end, the company recently partnered with several laboratories to offer solutions that include in-office, on-campus and at-home Covid19 testing options to help bring employees, faculty and students back safely in the fall. "Our resilient nature as professionals has never been stronger as Pharmacists who have proven over time that as medication experts, we are the Hub of Healthcare," Sternfeld continued. "Last year alone there were over 4 Billion prescriptions written. It was the Pharmacists who filled those prescriptions while also providing critical patient consultations and education." "No matter what the healthcare industry says about our profession, the patients we serve know that Pharmacists are Providers. It's been too long and disrespectful that the voices of legislative change remain silent, so perhaps the impact of a pandemic where Pharmacists are saving lives will help them see the light," Sternfeld concluded. For weekly updates on Cononavirus and to get more information on the RXVIP Concierge partnership with the Pharmacy Podcast Network, visit www.coronavirusrx.us You can also Text RXVIP to 67634 for daily updates sent right to your phone with information directly from the CDC. About RXVIP Concierge RXVIP Concierge is a network of Pharmacists, PharmDs and Students of Pharmacy who are committed to enhancing their roles as healthcare providers. By working collaboratively with other healthcare providers, RXVIP is able to deliver a suite of value-based services. These services increase reimbursements and enhance quality measures with the innovative PharmD Concierge program. Setting a new standard of patient engagement, the program includes training for PharmDs, PharmD interns, Physicians and their staff at no cost to those team members. RXVIP Concierge seamlessly integrates these offerings with zero out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare practitioners looking to add a trained PharmD to serve as their medication expert and peer professional. Visit www.rxvipconcierge.com to learn more. About Pharmacy Podcast Network (PPN) The PPN launched in 2009 and is the first podcast network dedicated to the pharmacy industry, with over 1000 episodes published to date on topics including, but not limited to Pharmacogenomics, financial planning, business franchising, marketing, and career development. The PPN has unmatched relationships within the Pharmacy vertical market and is currently interviewing several national and regional pharmacy brands plus continuing education partnerships for clinical pharmacist expertise and sponsorship for future consumer-oriented content. With close to 40 different co-hosts helping to develop audio content about different subjects in pharmacy, the PPN delivers a unique publication to all health care professionals with a specific focus on pharmacy. Over the last twelve years, the podcast publication has gathered over 80,000 listeners with over one million downloads and partnered with the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy and the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. With unmatched relationships within the pharmacy vertical market, PPN is currently interviewing several national and regional pharmacy brands for clinical pharmacist expertise and sponsorship for future consumer-oriented content. Visit http://pharmacypodcast.com to learn more. About WellTrackONE Corporation WellTrackONE is an industry leader dedicated to providing quality wellness program solutions to healthcare providers and organizations throughout the country. The company focuses on patient wellness related to Medicare, Medicaid and commercial populations. Their unique approved patient assessment software provides physicians and organizations with a comprehensive baseline report detailing modifiable risk factors, preventative goals and measurable data. WellTrackONE's information allows accountable care organizations to target patient care while reducing total healthcare costs. WellTrackONE works with organizations to offer Medicare patients access to their Annual Wellness Visits year after year and provides a full-service wellness solution, including scheduling, screening and documentation that allows healthcare providers to provide wellness visits for all your Medicare patients easily and seamlessly. Visit https://www.welltrackone.co to learn more. Media Contact Theresa Jacobellis [email protected] 631-606-0525 SOURCE RXVIP Concierge Related Links http://www.rxvipconcierge.com PHOENIX, June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BackChecked LLC, a leading Software as a Service (SaaS) provider to the background screening industry, announced today that it has completed a SOC 2 Type 2 audit, earning an unqualified opinion from the auditor with no deviations found. "Since the company's inception, the task of keeping consumer data secure has been our highest priority," explained BackChecked president and co-founder, John Kloos. "Passing the AICPA's SOC 2 Type 2 examination is a key milestone in that endeavor and we hope others in our space follow suit, if they have not already done so." BackChecked clients are Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRA's), primarily engaged in FCRA-compliant pre-employment screening, on behalf of employers in the United States. The audit was commissioned by BackChecked in order to provide transparent proof of the company's controls in the areas of Security, Availability and Confidentiality. The SOC 2 Type 2 report has become the go-to compliance vehicle for cyber-service organizations because it is both rigorous and continuous. "It is no longer sufficient to simply house servers in a compliant data center or cloud environment," Kloos went on to say. "It's critical that you certify your own system and your own operation, as well." About BackChecked LLC BackChecked LLC is an independent software company, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2002, the company is dedicated, exclusively, to the task of providing state of the art systems technology to growing background screening firms. For further information on BackChecked and its service, visit www.backchecked.com or send email to [email protected]. Press Contact: John Kloos 6028924681 Website: www.backchecked.com SOURCE BackChecked LLC NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seagram's 7 Crown has always been at home in dive bars, and now these local havens and their bartenders are facing unprecedented challenges. To show support as bars begin to re-open this summer, Seagram's 7 Crown is joining Diageo's #TipsFromHome social program, a movement providing the bartending community with ongoing financial relief. As part of the initiative, Seagram's 7 Crown has teamed up with bartenders from across the country to mix up unique twists on the classic 7&7 cocktail through a social video series. These recipes tap into the spirit of ease, comfort and total lack of pretension we've missed from our neighborhood dives while they've been closed. In addition to walking through a unique 7&7 recipe, each bartender shares what dive bars mean to them. Now, each time someone shares the brand's #TipsFromHome posts and tags up to seven friends, Seagram's 7 Crown & Diageo will donate $1 up to $1 million to the USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Program. Through the #TipsFromHome program, the brand is helping hundreds of bartenders get back to work, while also pledging financial support to the USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Fund. Seagram's 7 Crown hopes adults of legal age can join in raising a glass and tip the local bartenders they've missed seeing. "Bartenders are truly the heart and soul of our favorite dive bars and it's important we continue to support this community. While we would normally celebrate National Dive Bar Day in July, we realize it will take more than one day to help our friends across the hospitality industry, so we'll be supporting them all summer long with #TipsFromHome," said Diageo Brand Director Jason Sorley. "We're hoping this program helps our friends in the hospitality industry, while giving loyal patrons an opportunity to raise a glass and support their favorite bars across the country for years to come." Diageo first launched the #TipsFromHome program in April, giving people recipes to make delicious cocktails at-home, along with the ability to "tip" those in the bar and restaurant community who are in need across a selection of national and local charities. As part of the #TipsFromHome program, Seagram's 7 Crown partnered with five bartenders working at dive bars across the country, including St. Louis Bartender Meggan Hunott, Houston Bartender Kamikka McQueen, Indianapolis Bartender Alli King, Los Angeles Bartender Dorian Dorsey and Jacksonville Bartender Fernando Meza. You can find their take on the classic 7&7 on Seagram's Instagram. Seagram's 7 Crown is a carefully blended American whiskey aged in oak with a rich and casual history. The whiskey shares a storied past with dive bars, as both have been an integral part of American drinking culture. To learn more about #TipsFromHome and the USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Program, adults 21 and older can visit seagrams7.com or follow the #TipsFromHome conversation on social media. No matter how you choose to celebrate dive bars re-opening this summer, Seagram's 7 Crown reminds you to always drink responsibly. About Seagram's 7 Crown Seagram's 7 Crown is an American icon with a rich heritage dating back to the 1930s. A blended American whiskey, Seagram's 7 Crown has a legacy of bringing people together through its easy-to-drink, smooth liquid. Seagram's 7 Crown is casual, approachable and has a taste profile that stands the test of time on its own and in its signature drink, the 7 & 7. For more information, visit seagrams7.com and follow us on Instagram @seagrams7. Seagram's 7 Crown encourages all consumers to please enjoy responsibly. About Diageo Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Casamigos, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Follow us on Twitter for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA. Celebrating life, every day, everywhere. Media Contacts Jason Sorley DIAGEO [email protected] (203) 229-4002 Joe Clarkson Taylor Strategy [email protected] 704-644-6912 SOURCE Seagram's 7 Crown Related Links https://www.seagrams7.com/ NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ShopKeep, a top-rated tablet-to-cloud commerce platform chosen by tens of thousands of independent retailers and restaurants, today announced the launch of ShopKeep R.I.S.E. (Reinvesting in Small-Business Equality), a new initiative designed to make funding more accessible to minority-owned businesses. Born out of a desire to close existing racial disparities in obtaining small business capital, ShopKeep R.I.S.E. offers no-fee, no-interest cash advances to minority-owned business owners to help their businesses grow. "While we must all make decisions about the types of actions we take as individuals, we believe it's also critical for the business community to take a stand and to take action where it can make a difference," said Michael DeSimone, CEO of ShopKeep. "With the creation of this special fund we are taking sustainable action to help drive real and impactful change." The R.I.S.E program will award a total of $250,000 in funding on a rolling basis. Eligible ShopKeep customers can apply to receive an advance of $1,000 to $10,000. Businesses that qualify for funding through ShopKeep R.I.S.E. are small businesses that: Meet the criteria for minority-owned or controlled business . For the purposes of this program, a minority group member is an individual who is at least 25% Asian, Black, Hispanic, or Native American as defined by the National Minority Supplier Development Council . . For the purposes of this program, a minority group member is an individual who is at least 25% Asian, Black, Hispanic, or Native American as defined by the . Use ShopKeep as their sole point of sale. Actively process transactions with ShopKeep Payments. Non-ShopKeep Payments customers can still apply for a R.I.S.E. advance and switch if approved for the program. Are based in the United States and majority-owned by a U.S. citizen. Applications for ShopKeep R.I.S.E. are now open. For more information, visit shopkeep.com/blog/shopkeep-rise . About ShopKeep ShopKeep empowers tens of thousands of businesses to thrive in the modern economy by enabling them to take payments and manage their operations smarter, quicker, and easier. ShopKeep merchants are able to easily manage inventory, optimize staffing, and access real-time sales reports and customer information all from one, seamless, cloud-based platform. ShopKeep's award-winning customer care team is available 24/7 and provides robust support to businesses in the retail, quick serve, and full service restaurant & bar space. ShopKeep is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Portland (OR), Chicago (IL), and Belfast (NIR). Visit www.ShopKeep.com to learn more about our small business software. You can also join the conversation on the ShopKeep blog and follow us @ShopKeep on Twitter. Contact: Bernadette Libonate, [email protected] SOURCE ShopKeep Related Links https://www.shopkeep.com NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), a leading global technology company offering a creative platform for high-quality content, tools and services, will report its second quarter 2020 business and financial results on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 before the market opens. The company will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the results. The conference call can be accessed in the U.S. at (844) 634-1442 or outside the U.S. at (615) 247-0239 with the conference ID# 2957776. A live audio webcast of the call will also be available on Shutterstock's website at http://investor.shutterstock.com. Following completion of the call, a recorded replay of the webcast will be available in the investor relations section of Shutterstock's website. A telephone replay of the call will also be available until August 4, 2020 in the U.S. at (855) 859-2056 or outside the U.S. at (404) 537-3406 with the conference ID# 2957776. About Shutterstock, Inc. Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), directly and through its group subsidiaries, is a leading global provider of high-quality licensed photographs, vectors, illustrations, videos and music to businesses, marketing agencies and media organizations around the world. Working with its growing community of over 1 million contributors, Shutterstock adds hundreds of thousands of images each week, and currently has more than 330 million images and more than 18 million video clips available. Headquartered in New York City, Shutterstock has offices around the world and customers in more than 150 countries. The company's brands also include Bigstock, a value-oriented stock media offering; Shutterstock Custom, a custom content creation platform; Offset, a high-end image collection; PremiumBeat a curated royalty-free music library; and Shutterstock Editorial, a premier source of editorial images for the world's media. For more information, please visit www.shutterstock.com and follow Shutterstock on Twitter and on Facebook. SOURCE Shutterstock, Inc. Related Links http://www.shutterstock.com GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bernd Stephan, President, Automotive and Aerospace, has stepped down from his role in Group Management for health reasons. Responsibility for Automotive sales and the Aerospace business unit has been assumed on an interim basis by Alrik Danielson, President and CEO. Bernd will support Alrik on an advisory basis, until his retirement from SKF on 31 December 2020. Responsibility for Automotive manufacturing has been moved to Kent Viitanen, President, Bearing Operations. Alrik Danielson says: "I would like to thank Bernd for all that he has done for SKF during his more than 25 years of service. Bernd has been instrumental in developing many parts of the company and he will be missed." Aktiebolaget SKF (publ) For further information, please contact: PRESS: Theo Kjellberg, Director, Press Relations tel: 46 31 337 6576, mobile: 46 725-776576, e-mail: [email protected] INVESTOR RELATIONS: Patrik Stenberg, Head of Investor Relations Patrik Stenberg, 46 31-337 2104; 46 705-472 104; [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/skf/r/skf-announces-changes-to-group-management,c3144017 The following files are available for download: SOURCE SKF OKLAHOMA CITY, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Skydweller Aero Inc., a U.S.-Spanish aerospace company developing renewably powered aircraft for defense and commercial industries, announced the establishment of their corporate headquarters and engineering operations in Oklahoma City and testing and integration in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Skydweller plans to increase operations to 120 aerospace engineering and field technician jobs in Oklahoma by 2024. "It has been my pleasure to work closely with the leadership team at Skydweller, and I am thrilled they have decided to locate their new headquarters in Oklahoma. Our state's commitment to aviation and aerospace makes Oklahoma City an ideal choice for a cutting-edge company with a commitment to advancing the industry. At a time when job creation and economic growth are so vital, we are excited that Skydweller will be hiring our bright engineers and helping to enrich our state's economy," said Governor Kevin Stitt. Founded in 2017, Skydweller recently closed a Series A funding round in September 2019. The company currently has offices in the Washington, D.C. area, Madrid and Valdepenas, Spain. This rapidly growing multi-national startup will be recruiting top-tier aerospace and software engineering talent to further the development and deployment of their ultra-persistent, unmanned aircraft in both locations over the coming years. "Skydweller was founded to develop ultra-persistent aircraft to enable the next generation of connectivity and global insights," said CEO Dr. Robert Miller. "We are honored to be moving our corporate headquarters to Oklahoma, following in the footsteps of Oklahoma aviation titans like Wiley Post. Oklahoma's inspired and dedicated engineering talent will help make our vision a reality." "Skydweller has chosen the right state for their new headquarters and testing facility," US Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) said. "Because of our state's remarkable skilled workforce, Skydweller will be an excellent addition to our aerospace industry, producing cutting edge unmanned aviation technology for our military. I am confident that this facility will benefit our economy and our military both now, and in the future." "It's great to welcome Skydweller to Oklahoma as they announce their plans to make Oklahoma City the new home of their US headquarters. Oklahoma is home to innovative technology across all industries, so it's no wonder they chose our state to expand their aerospace engineering to continue production of aircraft that can carry heavy payloads. This is exciting news for Oklahoma City and our state," said US Senator James Lankford (R-OK). With a commitment to STEM education and ongoing civic engagement, Skydweller will partner with local educational and state and federal research institutions to further Oklahoma's legacy of aviation and aerospace innovation. Skydweller also plans to expand their operations within the state, building a manufacturing plant and flight test facilities in Ardmore. About Skydweller Aero Inc. Skydweller is a US-Spanish aerospace company developing renewably powered aircraft solutions capable of achieving perpetual flight with heavy, powerful payload capacity. Utilizing technology based upon the longest continuous renewably powered flight program in history, this fast-growing startup is developing a new class of unmanned aircraft, providing the persistence of geosynchronous satellites with the powerful sensing capabilities and range of a large, airborne platform. With a flexible payload system, including: communications relay, 4G/5G cellular, day/night full motion video, satellite communication, imaging radar, and more, Skydweller will enhance commercial and government telecommunication, geospatial, meteorological and emergency operation efforts around the world, allowing customers to operate persistently in more challenging areas for longer durations, while reducing environmental impact. For more information about Skydweller, visit www.skydweller.aero. Follow us on social media LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skydwelleraero.com Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Skydweller_Aero SOURCE Skydweller Related Links http://www.skydweller.aero DALLAS, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) issued a new invitation to returning travelers by launching a three-day sale that offers Customers an opportunity to "Summer How You Wanna" when they're ready to travel. Customers may take advantage of fares starting as low as $49 nationwide one-way to select domestic destinations, today through July 2, 2020, 11:59 p.m., Central Daylight Time. Southwest Airlines is also offering Rapid Rewards Members a chance to earn 5X points when booking hotels and double the points when purchasing flights. "As our Customers begin to reconnect with family and friends, or to fly for business or vacation, we offer the flexibility and value they need right now," said Bill Tierney, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Marketing. "At the same time, we're giving Customers peace of mind with our Southwest Promise that requires face coverings for everyone traveling with us, middle seats open through at least September 30, and enhanced cleaning of our cabins and airport spaces." NATIONWIDE FARE SALE Fares are limited by seats and to certain days of the week with applicable travel and blackout dates. See full fare rules and terms and conditions at Southwest.com, and below. Examples of Southwest Airlines' domestic low fares include: As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Las Vegas and Orange County one-way nonstop between and As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Pensacola and Nashville one-way nonstop between and As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Atlanta and Tampa one-way nonstop between and As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Oklahoma City and Denver one-way nonstop between and As low as $49 one-way nonstop between Chicago (MDW) and Buffalo one-way nonstop between and As low as $79 one-way nonstop between San Jose and Phoenix one-way nonstop between and As low as $79 one-way nonstop between Chicago (MDW) and Charlotte one-way nonstop between and As low as $79 one-way nonstop between Cleveland and Atlanta one-way nonstop between and As low as $99 one-way nonstop between Dallas (DAL) and Charleston RAPID REWARDSMEMBERS EARN BIG Members of the Southwest Rapid Rewards Program may earn points by flying or spending with Southwest Airlines partners and may use points how and when they wantpoints don't expire. The loyalty program gives Customers a chance to pick from any available seat on any flight, regardless of day or season. Members must register to be eligible for the promotion. Visit Southwest.com to join Rapid Rewards and to read full terms and conditions. There are two ways to earn more points: Earn 5X the Rapid Reward Points when booking at SouthwestHotels.com until July 20 when booking at SouthwestHotels.com until Earn Double Points on Travel Nationwide for all flights booked and flown now through August 31, 2020 . Members may use Rapid Rewards points to book future travel, hotel rooms, rental cars, purchase gift cards, and more 'SUMMER HOW YOU WANNA' WITH SOUTHWEST AIRLINES' DESTINATIONS To give travelers options to "Summer How You Wanna," Southwest is collaborating with travel media company, Matador Network, to launch a travel content series to inspire the feeling of "Summer How You Wanna." The series will showcase destinations, beginning with Denver, to provide our Customers with options to plan getaways to places with beaches, the mountains, desert landscapes, and more. The videos will air across Southwest's social channels (@SouthwestAir) throughout the month of July in collaboration with each destination's Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). On MatadorNetwork.com, the CVBs will share an itinerary for their destination from a local's perspective, helping visitors plan the ultimate getaway. As viewers take in each video, they will be encouraged to share some of their favorite things to see and do in those destinations to inspire fellow travelers for their next trip. "Southwest Airlines has been one of Denver's premier air service provider for many years, and we are thrilled to join their efforts to inspire responsible travel to The Mile High City during our peak summer season and beyond," said Richard W. Scharf, President and CEO of VISIT DENVER. "With its extensive network of flights into Denver International Airport, Southwest helps to make Denver easily accessible to travelers seeking adventure in the urban and cultural epicenter of the Rocky Mountain Region. We're proud to partner with Southwest on this critical program." SOUTHWEST AIRLINES SALE FARE RULES Visit Southwest.com for a full list of terms and conditions. Purchase June 30 through July 2, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Time. Travel across the continental U.S. is valid Aug. 11 through Dec. 17, 2020. Travel to/from San Juan, Puerto Rico is valid Aug. 18 through Dec. 3, 2020. International travel is valid Aug. 18 through Dec. 9, 2020. Travel across the continental U.S. is blacked out Nov. 25 and 28-30, 2020. Sale fares to international destinations blacked out November 20-22, 2020; sale fares from international destinations blacked out November 27-30, 2020. Except as otherwise specified, continental U.S. travel is not valid on Fridays and Sundays. Fares are nonrefundable but may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines as long as reservations are canceled at least ten minutes prior to scheduled departure. Failure to cancel prior to departure will result in forfeiture of remaining funds on the reservation. Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Standby travel may require an upgrade to an Anytime fare depending on Rapid Rewards tier status. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Offer applies only to published, scheduled service. EARN DOUBLE RAPID REWARDS POINTS RULES Offer available to all Rapid Reward Members, May 12 Aug. 31, 2020. Members must register to participate. Qualifying flight must be booked and flown May 12 Aug. 31, 2020. Member's Rapid Rewards account number must be entered at time of booking Member's qualifying flight to earn double Rapid Rewards points for the flight. Travel booked or flown prior to registration for this promotion is not eligible for the double points offer. Bonus points will not count towards A-List, A-list Preferred, or Companion Pass qualification. Members will receive 12 bonus points per dollar spent on Business Select fares, 10 bonus points per dollar spent on Anytime fares, and six bonus points per dollar spent on Wanna Get Away fares. Bonus points are in addition to the standard flight points earned through Rapid Rewards. Charter flights, group travel, Companion Pass, Southwest Vacations Packages, and reward travel do not qualify for this promotion. Visit Southwest.com to learn more. SOUTHWEST HOTEL 5X RULES: This promotion is valid for completed stays booked between June 29, 2020 and July 20, 2020. All Booking.com booking conditions and general terms apply. Please allow up to eight weeks after completion of stay for the Rapid Rewards points to be credited to your account. All Rapid Rewards rules and regulations apply and can be found at Southwest.com/rrterms. Southwest reserves the right to amend, suspend, or change the program and/or program rules at any time without notice. Rapid Rewards Members do not acquire property rights in accrued points. The number of points needed for a particular Southwest flight is set by Southwest and will vary depending on destination, time, day of travel, demand, fare type, point redemption rate, and other factors, and is subject to change at any time until the booking is confirmed. ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO. In its 50th 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. In early 2020, the carrier added service to Hilo, Hawaii, and Cozumel, Mexico for a total of 103 airports served. The carrier issued its Southwest Promise in May 2020 to highlight new and round-the-clock efforts to support its Customers and Employees wellbeing and comfort. Among the changes are enhanced cleaning efforts at airports and onboard aircraft, facemask requirements for Customers and Employees, and capping the number of passengers on every flight to allow middle seats to remain open through at least September 30, 2020. Additional details about the Southwest Promise are available at Southwest.com/Promise. Southwest coined Transfarency to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, and low fares actually staying low. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply, some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in qualified circumstances), and there are no change fees, though fare differences might apply. Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. Learn more about how the carrier gives back to communities across the world by visiting Southwest.com/citizenship. Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA. SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co. Related Links http://www.southwest.com LONDON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently re-elected Team Unity coalition in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis has started delivering on their pre-campaign promises in the healthcare sector. On June 25th, Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris inaugurated the renamed and improved Sylvia Garnett Primary Health Care Facility in Tabernacle. Local media reported on June 29th that PM Harris confirmed plans to build a new General Hospital in West Basseterre. Later this year, the government aims to complete the Cardiac Catheterisation Unit at the Joseph Nathaniel France General Hospital in Basseterre. Besides building many new health facilities, Team Unity also pledged to enhance medical training and education for doctors and nurses. There will also be a special programme for those suffering from cancer, diabetes and heart disease, which account for every four in five deaths. Though COVID-19 caused no fatalities and only 15, fully recovered cases, the government plans to build a permanent quarantine facility. "We are going to be relying upon a strong health promotion and prevention programme, which will speak to our young people in particular," the Prime Minister said on June 25th. He added: "My government will never get tired of working hard to improve the lives of our people of St Kitts and Nevis." PM Harris encouraged citizens "to look forward with optimism to a stronger and safer future [] We deserve this stronger and safer future and we must work hard to get it." Supporting St Kitts and Nevis' healthcare advancement is the country's famous Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. The fund option, which foreign investors contribute to in order to gain citizenship, was especially designed to assist socio-economic initiatives. Ever since PM Harris introduced it in 2018, the fund route attracted families, in particular, looking for the fastest way to obtain second citizenship. First, though, everyone must pass a series of rigorous due diligence checks. New economic citizens therefore contribute to improving the social and economic development of their adoptive country. Many generations of the successful applicants will benefit from this, since citizenship obtained through CBI can be passed down. They will also be able to travel visa-free or with a visa-on-arrival to around 160 countries and territories. Foreign Minister Mark Brantley added 17 more such destinations in the past five years. Contact: [email protected] www.csglobalpartners.com SOURCE CS Global Partners Related Links https://csglobalpartners.com As the largest bank in Africa, Standard Bank Group, along with its strategic partner ICBC, has been attending the CIIE since its inception. It has also introduced 20 businesses from the continent to the expo. Impressed by the size and diversity of the event, the bank intends to leverage the opportunity to access one of the world's most consequential and dynamic markets to actively engage its client base. At the most recent edition of the CIIE, Standard Bank hosted two stands: one in the financial services pavilion and the other in the agro-processing pavilion, greatly benefitting our customers who were predominantly from this sector, he says. Gamet points out that many of Standard Bank's customers who attended the CIIE have successfully negotiated sales agreements, with Chinese buyers purchasing products such as wines, fruits, nuts, chilies, and a variety of other agricultural and agro-processed goods. For many clients, it was their first sale in the Chinese market and therefore an exciting, lucrative, new market entry for them. In some instances, these exporters had to increase capacity to meet their first orders, further indicating the extent to which the CIIE can benefit African businesses, says Gamet. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in slower economic growth this year, Gamet retains his confidence in the Chinese economy and the Belt and Road Initiative, which has brought important development opportunities to African countries. Despite the gloomy economic outlook, the structural drivers in the China-Africa corridor remain intact, and are likely to re-assert themselves soon, he says. Over the past 16 years, African countries have enjoyed a strong trade relationship with China. Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that bilateral trade between the two sides reached more than $200 billion in 2018, representing a year-on-year rise of 20 percent. China has now been the continent's largest trade partner for 10 consecutive years. Standard Bank remains committed to driving Africa's growth and sees trade with China as key to supporting this commitment, says Gamet. This year's CIIE will take place from Nov 5 to 10 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. So far, more than 90 percent of the planned business exhibition area has been reserved by exhibitors, according to the organizers. And despite the current economic uncertainty, one thing seems certain the trend for increased economic cooperation between China and Africa is set to continue. More information of CIIE is as follows: with two editions successfully held since 2018, CIIE serves as the platform for international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchange, as well as opening-up and cooperation. The third edition of CIIE will take place in Shanghai from November 5th to 10th. Thousands of companies, which are leading players in their industries, will gather at the expo to showcase their products and services, and seek business opportunities with global buyers. At CIIE, participants can both purchase a wide range of products from the world and can also sell their products to the world. CIIE helps drive investment both inward and outward and contributes to maintaining a stable global supply chain. CIIE welcomes global buyers to join the upcoming event and to share opportunities presented by China's further opening up. Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197865/CIIE_Standard_Bank_Africa.mp4 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1077995/CIIE_Logo.jpg Contact: Ms. Nie Qingxin Tel.: +86-21-59760717, +86-21-59761076 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.ciie.org/zbh/en/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ciieonline Twitter: https://twitter.com/ciieonline YouTube: https://youtu.be/fhejGnVdGWk SOURCE CIIE Related Links https://www.ciie.org/zbh/en/ CHICAGO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- StateUniversity.com, the leading website for college and university information, has issued the updated rankings for the Top 2,000 colleges and universities in the United States. The list is available on StateUniversity.com's website at http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/score_rank.html. The StateUniversity.com ranking is based on statistical analysis, comparison of student/faculty ratio, student retention, test scores and other critical factors. The website also provides Top 500 ranking lists on data points including faculty salaries, SAT scores, student debt, top schools by state, best-ranked public state universities, best private colleges and universities, top-ranked community colleges, top vocational, technical and career colleges, and other criteria. A key distinction between StateUniversity.com and other college ranking organizations is that the StateUniversity.com system is based purely on a mathematical comparison of key statistics. Many other popular college-ranking lists utilize peer review feedback, wherein colleges rate other colleges. Some critics have argued that peer review rankings may be subjective and perhaps even biased. The top ranked 20 colleges and universities for 2020 are: The StateUniversity.com college rankings, first released in 2009, were designed to compare raw statistical data, without peer ratings or subjective adjustment such as the school's prestige/brand influencing the list. Dominik Mazur, founder of StateUniversity.com, cautions students to evaluate schools based on their personal values and preferences, and not just on numbers or ranking lists. StateUniversity.com's college rankings may be reprinted or reproduced, in whole or in part, under the terms of the Creative Commons 3.0 license, provided that proper attribution is given. Other Top 500 ranking lists for 2020 include total cost of attendance, student enrollment, and ACT scores. About StateUniversity.com Covering all U.S. institutions of higher learning, StateUniversity.com features the most complete collection of school statistics anywhere. The website allows prospective students to compare schools, research degree programs and research career options . CONTACT: Dominik Mazur (708) 308-1496 [email protected] SOURCE StateUniversity.com Related Links http://www.stateuniversity.com At the closing ceremony, InferVision, Danish Carenborg Eco-Industrial Park, and Sino-Singapore Eco-City shared their development experiences, and Wei Ya, a popular Taobao livestream host, explained in detail the scientific and technological elements in "influencer marketing". Yu Lin, general manager of the strategic development department of Alibaba Group in Tianjin, introduced three modes of online poverty alleviation. Liu Gang, deputy dean of Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategies, released the Report on the Development of China's New Generation Artificial Intelligence Technology Industry (2020): The Development of China's New Generation Artificial Intelligence Technology Industry under New Challenges and Opportunities, and Yin Jihui, director of Tianjin Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, released the Annual Report on the Development of Tianjin Intelligent Technology Industry (2020), which pointed out the direction for the development trend of the artificial intelligence technology industry. With the help of intelligent technology, this congress held six online events. The unique experience made people feel the charm of intelligent technology and deeply perceive Tianjin's past, present, and future in the field of intelligent technology. According to statistics, the congress released 26 achievements including reports, policies, and products to the world. Among them, the national ministries and commissions issued 12 achievements, including Talent Development Report of Artificial Intelligence Industry issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, smart travel products and solutions, and White Paper on Digital Health issued by the National Health Commission, etc. Tianjin released two achievements, namely, China's New Generation Artificial Intelligence Technology Industry Development Report (2020) and the Annual Report of Tianjin Intelligent Technology Industry Development (2020). Enterprises and districts in Tianjin released 12 achievements, including Galaxy Kylin desktop operating system V10 and advanced server operating system V10 released by KylinSoft, support policies of Tianjin Binhai New District, and Kunpeng Ecological Innovation Center of Huawei Company. On the closing of the 4th World Intelligence Congress, Tianjin Municipal People's Government formally extends an invitation to industry leaders, world talents, and friends from all over the world. Welcome to attend the 5th World Intelligence Congress! Contact: Cui Kejia Tel: +86-400-019-0516, +86-15120084132 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE The 4th World Intelligence Congress Related Links https://www.wicongress.org/en YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Brilliance School , a high-performing K-8 school founded on national educational best practices, announced today that it is welcoming all kindergarten through 8th grade students to join in its inaugural year. The Youngstown community will enjoy a first-of-its kind, safe, structured, disciplined, blended-learning based free public charter school for children. "Our team has taken the best of the best in education and combined it with a proven, fun and positive behavior system to better serve the education of families in the Youngstown area," said Joshua Batchelor, executive director and head of school. "The Brilliance team believes school should provide a safe and structured environment where our teachers and staff unlock the brilliance in every scholar. Based on our experience, scholars can teach us genius every day." Just a short drive from Youngstown State University, Brilliance provides scholars with a college prep education that will allow them to succeed in a four-year college or university, or in the career of their choice. The Brilliance model utilizes a longer school day, intervention strategies to remove deficiencies, Saturday school, social emotional learning, mentoring, and other effective practices to ensure that scholars are performing at or above grade level. "The goal of Brilliance is to illuminate the truth, and the truth is all of our kids are brilliant each in their own way," said Danny Thomas, The Brilliance School board president. "Our kids get the passion, the love, the joy and the care that they need to feel fully themselves, fully engaged and fully supported in their educational journeys." And parents have been taking notice. With free school uniforms, laptops and before and after school care options, the Youngstown community is welcoming The Brilliance School with open arms. "The principal came out to help us with the enrollment process, which really made me feel like part of the family," said Gabrielle Hopkins, a new Brilliance School parent. "I'm confident that the school will give our kindergartener support; and I'm really happy that both of our kids can go to a school where the principal and the staff care so much." Admission in The Brilliance School helps parents realize a big future for their children. The stated goal is for Brilliance scholars to graduate, attend a college prep high school, and ultimately gain acceptance to a four-year college or university. And that all graduates will positively effect change in their local communities while making an impact on global society. The Brilliance School is now accepting K-8 student applications online, at: http://thebrillianceschool.org/enroll-now/ . Or, call Taron Slone, enrollment coordinator, at 330-274-4306. About The Brilliance School The Brilliance School is a tuition-free, public charter school for scholars K-8 in Youngstown, Ohio. Our mission is to prepare students for academic achievement and personal success. Our vision is to create, for all of our scholars, a culture of high expectations for behavior and academics through a rigorous, research-based curricula and a focus on achievement, and personal growth. We. Are. Brilliance. Learn more at thebrillianceschool.org . SOURCE The Brilliance School Related Links http://thebrillianceschool.org SEATTLE, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The EndBrainCancer Initiative (EBCI) announced today that GT Medical Technologies , manufacturers of GammaTile Therapy for Brain Cancer Patients, has joined EBCI's roster of corporate partners. According to the EndBrainCancer Initiative, GT Medical Technologies is dedicated to improving the lives of patients with brain tumors through a promising new intervention in the treatment of brain cancer, GammaTile Therapy. Part of EBCI's business model is to partner with other companies that are also offering promising new treatment options to treat brain cancer including metastatic disease to the brain. (PRNewsfoto/End Brain Cancer Initiative (EB) (PRNewsfoto/End Brain Cancer Initiative (EB) GammaTile Therapy is an FDA-cleared, Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) for patients with newly diagnosed malignant and recurrent brain tumors including primary and metastatic tumors. The small, bioresorbable GammaTile: Is placed directly and surgically at the tumor site after the tumor is surgically removed. Provides immediate radiation treatment to remaining tumor cells before they can replicate while preserving healthy tissue. Means no additional trips to the hospital or clinic for standard radiation therapy Allows patients to receive radiation treatment while going about their daily lives. According to the EndBrainCancer Initiative, the partnership with will result in: Education, Awareness & Outreach about GammaTile Therapy to a National audience of patients with brain tumors, their caregivers, medical practitioners, industry, and the general public with a total annual reach of over 18,000,000. Patients facing surgery and radiation who contact EBCI's "Direct Connect" Patient Services Program and Referral Clinic being provided with information about GammaTile Therapy IMMEDIATE ACCESS to brain tumor specialists and cancer centers across the country where GammaTile Therapy is offered for those patients who express interest (to get connected please fill out a Patient Advocacy & Inquiry Form or call 425.445.2215). "We are proud to welcome GT Medical Technologies as an EBCI Corporate Partner," commented Dellann Elliott Mydland , EBCI President & CEO. "Representing a breakthrough in delivering radiation, GammaTile Therapy is a triple win for patients with brain cancer that it: Has been shown to delay brain tumor recurrence, potentially extending survival Minimizes side effects and eliminates all those trips to the hospital or clinic that standard radiation requires. Allows patients and their caregivers to focus on healing, doing those things that are important to them as well as time to explore all of their treatment options, which also include Standard of Care (SOC), advanced treatments, clinical trials and the Optune device." "We look forward to bringing on additional Corporate Partners who share EBCI's commitment to improving the lives and extending survivorship for this patient population and who are 'moving the dial' through making available new options for treating this disease." To become a Corporate Partner, please contact Dellann Elliott Mydland directly at [email protected] , 425-785-8489 or fill out our Partnership Inquiry Form . About the EndBrainCancer Initiative The EndBrainCancer Initiative (EBCI, formerly the Chris Elliott Fund) is a national brain cancer and brain tumor patient advocacy and services organization and 501(c) 3 social enterprise with offices and its "Direct Connect" Center & Referral Clinic located in Redmond, Washington. Established in 2002 and now celebrating 18+ years of service, EBCI is committed to finding a cure for brain cancer and bringing HOPE to the lives of patients and their families through its programs: "Direct Connect" Patient Services Program and Referral Clinic Brain Tumor Disease Education, Awareness, and Outreach Program Brain Tumor Patient Advocacy and Access First Step Initiative and our Team Up Initiative Since its founding, EBCI has helped thousands of patients, caregivers, and their families and has become a credible and trusted resource at all levels in the brain cancer treatment community from patients to research institutions to pharmaceutical and regulatory entities advocating on the National and State level for the approval and reimbursement of new therapies for cancer patients. Please contact us at [email protected] or 425.444.2215. To support EBCI's efforts, programs, and free services, provide a gift, designate funds, sponsorship or grant today contact us at www.endbraincancer.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/EndBrainCancer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndBrainCancer/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endbraincancer/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chris-elliott-fund/ Media Contact: Dellann Elliott Mydland 425.785.8489 | [email protected] SOURCE End Brain Cancer Initiative (EBCI) Related Links https://endbraincancer.org/ DENVER, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After a successful launch this afternoon, the third Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)-built GPS III satellite is now headed to orbit under its own propulsion. The satellite has separated from its rocket and is using onboard power to climb to its operational orbit, approximately 12,550 miles above the Earth. GPS III Space Vehicle 03 (GPS III SV03) is responding to commands from U.S. Space Force and Lockheed Martin engineers in the Launch & Checkout Center at the company's Denver facility. There, they declared rocket booster separation and satellite control about 90 minutes after the satellite's 4:10 p.m. EST launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. "In the coming days, GPS III SV03's onboard liquid apogee engines will continue to propel the satellite towards its operational orbit," said Tonya Ladwig, Lockheed Martin's Acting Vice President for Navigation Systems. "Once it arrives, we'll send the satellite commands to deploy its solar arrays and antennas, and prepare the satellite for handover to Space Operations Command." After on-orbit testing, GPS III SV03 is expected to join the GPS constellation including GPS III SV01 and SV02, which were declared operational in January and April in providing positioning, navigation and timing signals for more than four billion military, civil and commercial users. Lockheed Martin designed GPS III to help the Space Force modernize the GPS constellation with new technology and capabilities. The new GPS IIIs provide three times better accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities over any previous GPS satellite. They also offer a new L1C civil signal, which is compatible with other international global navigation satellite systems, like Europe's Galileo, to improve civilian user connectivity. GPS III also continues the Space Force's plan to field M-Code, a more-secure, harder-to-jam and spoof GPS signal for our military forces. GPS III SV03 brings the number of M-Code enabled satellites to 22 in the 31-satellite GPS constellation. "As a nation, we use GPS signals every day -- they time-stamp all our financial transactions, they make aviation safe, they make precision farming possible, and so much more. GPS has become a critical part of our national infrastructure. In fact, the U.S. economic benefit of GPS is estimated to be over $300 billion per year and $1.4 trillion since its inception," added Ladwig. "Continued investment in modernizing GPS updating technology, improving its capabilities is well worth it." Lockheed Martin is proud to be a part of the GPS III team led by the Space Production Corps Medium Earth Orbit Division, at the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base. The GPS Operational Control Segment sustainment is managed by the Enterprise Corps, GPS Sustainment Division at Peterson Air Force Base. The 2nd Space Operations Squadron, at Schriever Air Force Base, manages and operates the GPS constellation for both civil and military users. For additional GPS III information, photos and video visit: www.lockheedmartin.com/gps. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin Related Links http://www.lockheedmartin.com DATE LOCATION NEW INVESTMENT NEW JOBS DETAILS January 2020 Princeton, IN $700 million 150 Completion of plant modernization project; added 40,000 units of vehicle capacity September 2019 San Antonio, TX $391 million --- Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) and advanced technologies March 2019 Huntsville, AL Georgetown, KY Troy, MO Jackson, TN Buffalo, WV $750 million 600 Vehicle and unit plant expansion April 2018 Blue Springs, MS $170 million 400 TNGA for 12th generation Corolla September 2017 Huntsville, AL Georgetown, KY Troy, MO Jackson, TN Buffalo, WV $373.8 million 50 Support production of TNGA hybrid powertrain August 2017 Huntsville, AL $800 million *4,000 Greenfield vehicle manufacturing facility with Mazda (*Mazda Toyota Manufacturing JV) July 2017 Plano, TX $1 billion 1,000 Completion of new regional corporate headquarters April 2017 Georgetown, KY $1.33 billion --- TNGA and advanced technologies January 2017 Princeton, IN $600 million 400 Plant modernization project In addition to the investments previously announced, the company invested $5.9 billion in supplier tooling, general plant upgrades, research & development, and other selling, general administrative costs, as well as a $1 billion investment into the Toyota Research Institute. "For more than six decades, we have been committed to serving our U.S. customers by investing locally and building cars where we sell them," said Ted Ogawa, chief executive officer for Toyota Motor North America. "Our commitment to the U.S. market is unwavering, and we are underscoring this point today with the completion of a $13 billion investment and over 6,500 new jobs since 2017 as we focus on advancing electrification and improving mobility for more Americans." As the new USMCA takes effect on July 1, Toyota is well-positioned to meet the aggressive new content requirements. Toyota has created a tremendous value chain in the U.S., with more than $28.4 billion direct investment in the U.S., nine manufacturing facilities, 10 including our joint venture with Mazda, nearly 1,500 dealerships and over 184,000 people working across the U.S. About Toyota Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2019. Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com. Contact: Victor Vanov 469.292.1318 SOURCE Toyota Motor North America Related Links www.toyota.com LOS ANGELES, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivera Pharmaceuticals today filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against Gannett, its publication USA Today, and their reporters and executives for damages in excess of $500 million for defamation, trade libel and intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage. On June 2, 2020, USA Today reporters David Heath, Kevin McCoy and Donovan Slack, published an article entitled "You could see the train wreck coming': Inexperienced, dubious companies, among many aiming to cash in on coronavirus antibody tests." According to the lawsuit, the article contained numerous false and misleading statements about Vivera and its COVID-19 antibody tests. The article is a disparaging hit piece against CEO Paul Edalat. The reporters personally attacked Edalat with false claims about his character, business dealings and ongoing litigation. USA Today chose to publish false information about the accuracy rates of Vivera's COVID-19 antibody tests, misleading readers by taking quotes out of context in order to make it appear as though Vivera was hiding information from the public. Vivera has always been transparent about its two COVID-19 antibody test kits and published the validation results of those tests on its website. On June 3, 2020, one day after the article was published, Vivera, through its legal counsel, delivered a letter to USA Today specifying the false and misleading statements and demanded that USA Today issue a retraction. Seven days later on June 10, 2020, USA Today's parent company, Gannett Media refused to retract the article or remove or correct any false and misleading statements about Vivera. The paper did, however, change the title of the article to "Inexperienced, dubious companies on FDA list to sell coronavirus antibody tests." "It is unfortunate that Gannett, and USA Today, chose to knowingly print false, misleading, and disparaging comments about myself and Vivera," said Paul Edalat, CEO of Vivera Pharmaceuticals. "We provided USA Today an opportunity to retract this article, which they refused. This article has nothing to do with the quality of Vivera's antibody tests and was a coordinated attack on me in an effort to disparage Vivera." Vivera has filed suit in the United States District Court, Central District of California. About Vivera Pharmaceuticals Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an innovative, science-driven pharmaceutical company focused on novel therapies for a variety of indications. In addition to its pharmaceutical and medical device products, the company has global exclusivity to license the patented and patent-pending TABMELT sublingual drug-delivery system for the pharmaceutical use of therapeutic compounds. The company is vertically integrated with patented technology, manufacturing capabilities, and distribution for its products. CONTACT: Adam Sechrist for Vivera Pharmaceuticals [email protected] SOURCE Vivera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WIND Ventures, since 2019 the corporate venture capital arm of Copec, a leading energy and mobility company throughout Latin America and the Southeast United States, has partnered with global innovation platform, Plug and Play, to help accelerate its goal of providing global startups access to the Latin America market. "WIND Ventures is looking to back top innovators aiming to drive change in the energy, mobility and retail sectors and offers them 'unfair' access in Latin America when they are ready to expand to the region," said Brian Walsh, head of WIND Ventures. "By partnering with Plug and Play we have access to an ecosystem of passionate entrepreneurs interested in bringing innovative solutions to the growing, highly connected, and mobile population that makes up Latin America." "We are looking forward to our collaboration with one of Latin America's most trusted brands committed to beginning impactful innovation to the region," says Wade Bitaraf, Founder of Plug and Play's Energy division. "This partnership is creating opportunities for global startups to partner and have access to industry expertise in the region. The WIND team has already demonstrated its ability to invest in and form strategic partnerships with the startups that are looking to enter the Latin American market." "Innovation is in Copec's DNA," said Leonardo Ljubetic, Chief Corporate Development and Strategy Officer of Copec. "We are certain it is one of the keys to face planetary challenges, such as the health emergency that affects us today, and is already playing a fundamental role against global warming. The entire industry is thinking about new energy solutions and Copec wants to help navigate this change throughout Latin America and the rest of the world, accelerating energy transition. Our partnership with Plug and Play will reveal new opportunities that will help us bring the future energy, mobility and convenience closer to Latin America." WIND Ventures joins other renowned energy companies in the partnership, including Dominon Energy, Exxon Mobil, and Tokyo Gas. About WIND Ventures Based in San Francisco since 2019, WIND Ventures is the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Copec, one of the leading energy companies in Central and South America and one of the most valued brands throughout Latin America. WIND Ventures leverages Copec's capabilities to accelerate growth, primarily within Latin America, for startups and scaleups across the world within the new mobility, energy and retail sectors. Visit windventures.vc or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter About Plug and Play Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since our inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 25 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 400 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup Protected ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $9 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com. SOURCE WIND Ventures Related Links http://windventures.vc Washington, June 30 : The US Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana's tough restrictions that could have left the southern US state with a single abortion clinic violate the Constitution, a surprising win for abortion rights advocates since the court has become more conservative with President Donald Trump's two appointments. The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John Roberts voting with the court's four liberal justices, Xinhua news agency reported. The Louisiana law, enacted in 2014, requires any doctor performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. Two Louisiana doctors and a medical clinic sued to get the law overturned, arguing that it would leave only one doctor at a single clinic to provide services for nearly 10,000 women who seek abortions in the state each year, local media reported. The challengers also said the requirement was identical to a Texas law the Supreme Court struck down in 2016. Roberts said he thought the court was wrong to strike down the Texas law in 2016 but he voted with the liberal wing this time because that was binding precedent. "The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons. Therefore Louisiana's law cannot stand under our precedents," Roberts wrote. The case was the court's first on abortion since Trump's appointments of two justices shifted the court to the right. Ankara, June 30 : Turkey will extend a wage support system for one more month to ease the impact of COVID-19, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced. The government will also extend a financial aid program for low-income families for one more month, Erdogan told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. The wage support system, which covers the workers whose working hours are reduced by their employers, was introduced in March for three months just after Turkey introduced strict measures to tackle the virus outbreak. The Turkish president also said Turkey will deliver an aid package to Iraq on Tuesday. Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Monday reported 1,374 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 198,613. In a single day, 18 more patients died, taking the death toll to 5,115 in Turkey, the minister tweeted. Turkey conducted 51,014 tests for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall number of tests carried out so far to 3,331,158, he stated. Koca said that a total of 171,809 patients have recovered in the country since the outbreak after 1,214 more recoveries were added in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, 1,018 patients are being treated at the intensive care units and 375 being intubated, he added. 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 China's experience in treating coronavirus patients, protecting medical workers, and controlling the spread of the virus. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Washington, June 30 : Testing among quarantined contacts of patients with COVID-19 in a correctional and detention facility in the United States identified a high proportion of asymptomatic and presymptomatic cases, according a report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The cases were not identified through symptom screening alone. Approximately one fourth of cases were found through serial testing during quarantine, according to the report, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. Correctional and detention facilities face unique challenges in detecting and mitigating transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection, said the CDC. On May 7, the CDC and the Louisiana Department of Health initiated an investigation to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among incarcerated and detained persons residing in quarantined dormitories. During May 7 to 21, among 98 incarcerated and detained persons who were quarantined because of exposure to the virus, 71 had laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection identified through serial testing. Among those with positive test results, approximately one fourth had positive test results after one or two negative tests at previous time points in quarantine, and 45 percent did not report any symptoms at the time of testing, according to the CDC. These findings suggest ongoing transmission among quarantined persons living in congregate settings, said the CDC. Serial testing, particularly for close contacts of patients, is important for complete identification of cases and prompt public health response in congregate settings, said the CDC. Berlin, June 30 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany would spearhead efforts to ensure an effective post-pandemic EU recovery, after she held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. "We are going to work together and make Europe fit for tackling this crisis," Merkel said on Monday following talks with Macron at the German government guesthouse in Meseberg, north of Berlin. It is the first face-to-face meeting between the chancellor and another state leader after the coronavirus outbreak, Xinhua news agency reported. "I'm very happy that we agree on the challenges that we want to overcome together," added Merkel, who noted that "expectations are high" -- referring to Germany's EU presidency starting from July 1 -- but Berlin and Paris are ready to rise to the task, in a bid to invest more into the future to meet those challenges after the pandemic. "It is important to me that we come out of the debate with a strong instrument at the end," said the German Chancellor. She said there would be changes to the European Commission's proposal, "but it has to remain a fund that helps, that really also helps the countries that otherwise threaten to be much more affected by the crisis." Macron stressed that the fund needs to be effective and defended the price tag of the current proposal. The 500-billion-euro recovery fund is the joint commitment of both France and Germany. Solidarity is needed to transfer the Franco-German consensus to the success of Europe. France and Germany are backing a European Commission proposal for a recovery fund including 500 billion euros in budgetary transfers and 250 billion euros in loans. Opposing that idea are Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, who reject any pooling of member states' debts. Macron warned the four countries, nicknamed "frugal four," that they were acting against their own best interests. They "gain a lot -- more than others -- from taking part in a common space of prosperity and exchange," he argued. "And so it is not in their interest to see some members, especially important markets in the European economy, affected," said Macron. He said the pandemic is not yet at its peak, and that steps needed to be taken at the EU level to deal with challenges on the horizon. "The chancellor and I put it on paper: It's our absolute priority. Without this, Europe wouldn't rise to the challenge," Macron said, referring to the post-pandemic recovery plan. EU leaders are due to meet up in person next month to try to reach an agreement on the recovery package. San Francisco, June 30 : Facebook which has seen its market cap eroded by at least $55 billion saw more big brands like adidas and Ford boycotting its platform against the unchecked spread of hateful and disinformation on its platforms. adidas, cleaning supply firm Clorox, Conagra (the maker of Slim Jim, Duncan Hines and Pam), fast food chain Denny's, Ford and Starbucks on Monday joined over 100 advertisers who have announced to pull their ads from the platform. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also supported the ad boycott, according to media reports. However, none of these brands are the biggest spenders on Facebook which has nearly 8 million advertisers on its platforms. The growing ad boycott campaign "did not appear to trouble investors on Monday, as they sent Facebook shares up more than 2 per cent," reports CNBC. A pledge by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week to put warning labels on all posts, including political ones, has not done enough to pacify advertisers. Coca-Cola, Honda, Unilever, Verizon, Hersheys and others have also decided to boycott advertising on Facebook. The social network makes about 98 per cent of its $70 billion annual revenue from advertising. The decision, however, opens the door to label controversial posts by US President Donald Trump. Twitter has already flagged a couple of his controversial tweets while Facebook is facing widespread criticism for its inaction over Trump posts that glorified violence in the aftermath of the death of African-American George Floyd. Tehran, June 30 : A senior Iranian judge has said that Interpol Red Notices have been issued for the prosecution of dozens of military and political officials of the US, including President Donald Trump, "who were involved in the assassination" of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, it was reported. "Thirty-six people who were involved in the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani have been identified, including political and military officials from the US and other governments," Press TV quoted Tehran Prosecutor Ali Alqasi-Mehr as saying on Monday. "At the top of the list is US President Donald Trump, and his prosecution will be pursued even after the end of his term in office," he said. The judge added that Iran's Judiciary has issued arrest warrants and requested "Red Notices" to be put out for them by Interpol. Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq's Hashd al-Shaabi, were killed on January 3 in a US airstrike that targeted their convoy near the Baghdad airport. In a related development on Monday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Mohsen Baharvand said about 40 people have been identified in relation to the Soleimani's killing, Press TV reported. "Our intelligence and security agencies have so far identified about 40 Americans, who have been one way or another involved in this assassination through issuing order or facilitation of the process. "A number of other people, including some American drone operators, have are not known yet, but will be identified in the near future," he said. Lucknow, June 30 : Shahnawaz Alam, the chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Congress minority cell, was arrested by the Lucknow police, late on Monday night, for his alleged involvement in the anti-CAA violence which took place in December last year. A CCTV video circulated by UP Congress leaders shows cops taking away Alam from outside an apartment, close to the chief minister's residence, in a police vehicle. A statement issued after midnight by DCP central, Dinesh Singh, said that Shahnawaz was arrested for his involvement in the anti-CAA protest which took place on December 19, 2019 in Lucknow. He has been arrested after the police gathered sufficient evidence against him. The police said, Shahnawaz's mobile locations have confirmed his presence in places where the violent protests took place. Meanwhile, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and state Congress legislative party leader Aradhana Misra, along with the party workers, reached the Hazratganj police station to inquire about the action against the party leader and two other people. The Congress leaders also had an argument with senior cops at the police station. As some party workers started slogan shouting inside the police station, the cops resorted to lathi-charge to disperse them. Shivam Tripathi, youth wing general secretary, was injured in the police action while another party worker Tariq suffered a fracture. UP Congress media convener Lalan Kumar said, "Shahnawaz, his driver and a party worker were picked up by the police on Monday late evening. However, the police arrested Shahnawaz and released the other two people. The cops have also seized a vehicle. This government is behaving like an autocrat and is unnecessarily targeting Congress leaders and workers who are exposing the wrong doings of the state government." He said that the government had earlier booked our state president Ajay Kumar Lallu under false charges and now other leaders are being targeted. "However, our voice cannot be muzzled and we will continue to fight for the rights of migrant workers and the deprived," he added. Shahnawaz Alam, a native of Ballia district, was affiliated to Rihai Manch, a human rights' group, before he joined the Congress in 2018. Said to be a member of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's core team, Shahnawaz was appointed as the chairman of the Congress minority cell in January this year. The appointment caused considerable heartburn among party leaders who felt he was relatively new in the party and should not have been given the responsibility. San Francisco, June 30 : Microsoft which spent more than $115 million on Facebook ads last year is reportedly pausing advertising on both Facebook and Instagram. According to a report in Axios on Tuesday, the Windows maker is concerned about ads running alongside "inappropriate content" such as hate speech and pornography. The software giant, however, has not announced its participation in the broader ad boycott campaign joined by over 100 brands. Microsoft had suspended its advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the US in May. "Microsoft is concerned about where its ads are shown, not Facebook's policies. But the move still means yet another big advertiser is not spending on Facebook right now," said the report citing internal Microsoft posts. Microsoft was yet to make the move official. "Based on concerns we had back in May we suspended all media spending on Facebook/Instagram in the US and we've subsequently suspended all spending on Facebook/Instagram worldwide," Microsoft CMO Chris Capossela reportedly said in an internal post on enterprise social network Yammer. "The timeline on resuming our media spending is dependent on the positive actions they take, but I expect our pause will continue through August," Capossela added. Microsoft earlier paused spending on Google's YouTube over similar concerns. Srinagar, June 30 : Two terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir's Anantnag district on Tuesday morning. The encounter took place in the Waghma village. The police in a statement on Twitter said: "Waghama Encounter Update: 02 #unidentified terrorists killed. Search going on. Further details shall follow." The Army and the police had launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) on the basis of a specific information about the presence of terrorists. As the cordon was tightened the hiding terrorists fired at the security forces which triggered the encounter. This year, so far there have been several successful anti terror operations by the security forces that has led to the killing of many terrorists and their commanders. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Lucknow, June 30 : Microsoft India will set up its campus in Uttar Pradesh, giving a major boost to the state's efforts to bring in investments. This will ensure employment to about 4,000 persons in the state. An agreement through a virtual discussion has been reached between Microsoft India managing director, Rajiv Kumar, and UP MSME minister Sidharth Nath Singh. The Microsoft team will soon make a site visit. According to the minister, "The government had earlier said that it will make it simpler for investors willing to acquire land within 1 km distance on each side of the state's expressways. The company has said that they want to move their North India campus to Greater Noida. The next step will be a site inspection by the team both in Greater Noida and along the Yamuna Expressway and this will be followed by their proposal which the state government will examine." The software major currently has two campuses, with capacities of 5,000 and 2,000 each, in its headquarters in Hyderabad and in Bengaluru. Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, plans to develop an electronics manufacturing park near the Jewar International Airport. Paris, June 30 : French President Emmanuel Macron has announced an investment package worth 15 billion euros ($16 billion) over the next two years to accelerate a switch to a more environment-friendly economic model. "The state will take its full responsibility: an additional 15 billion euros over two years will be injected for the ecological conversion of our economy," Macron said when addressing members of the Citizens' Convention on Climate (CCC) at the Elysee Palace on Monday. "We must put environment ambition at the heart of the productive model. It is by investing in clean transport, housing renovation and innovation in future industries that we will be able to meet challenges," he added. The CCC, composed of 150 members selected randomly, emerged from the national consultations Macron had launched last year to quell social roar over fuel tax, reports Xinhua news agency. Based on shared expertise and in-depth consultations of the citizens, the initiative aims at finding adequate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in France by at least 40 per cent in 2030. Macron, who has put climate change at the heart of his presidency, backed almost all the CCC propositions, including the establishment of "ecocide", a serious offence against the environment, as a crime under French law. Furthermore, the President said he was open to submit certain proposals to referendums from 2021, such as rewriting article 1 of the Constitution to introduce the concepts of biodiversity, environment, fight against global warming. However, Macro disapproved of the council's proposition for a 4 per cent tax on dividends to help fund new environmental policies, arguing it would discourage investments. He also rejected lowering speed limits on highways from 130 to 100 km per hour, saying "the ecological transition must not come at the cost of the most isolated regions". Macron's new push of deliberative process in which citizens might usefully shape the country's future climate policies, came a day after the Greens emerged winners from the two-round local elections, pointing to a spectacular surge of environmentally conscious voters. European Ecologists and the Greens (EELV) won control of major cities including Lyon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg. It also claimed victory in Poitiers, Besancon, Annecy, Bastia and Tours, putting Macron's party on the back foot. Lucknow, June 30 : The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested an imposter from Jharkhand who ran an extortion racket in several states. The STF said that the accused Ranjan Kumar Mishra, arrested on Monday, has been duping government officials, engineers and project managers in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and Kerala since 2008. He had even posed as a former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and extorted Rs 40 lakh from another political leader. An FIR was lodged in this case in Ranchi. Mishra would make extortion demands by posing as different officials and extorted as much as Rs 50 crore in a span of 12 years. He has over 50 cases of fraud registered against him. He also forced four members of Legislative Assembly in Madhya Pradesh to shell out large amounts by posing as the Governor, according to a complaint lodged in Sagar district. Mishra was also lodged in Tihar jail for duping a government contractor in Delhi to the tune of Rs 5 lakh in 2018. Amitabh Yash, Inspector General (IG) of Police of UP STF, said that Mishra had mastered the art of negotiating with officials. Seven cases of fraud have been registered against him in UP alone. The STF tracked Mishra after a case was registered against him for extorting Rs 10 lakh from a project manager of UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam. The imposter had also posed as a Chief Justice and demanded Rs 10 lakh from the Director of Judicial Training and Research Institute (JTRI) in Lucknow. Lucknow Police Commissioner had sought an STF probe in the case. IG STF said, "While Mishra was lodged in a jail in Patna in 2011, he called the then SDM Mankapur in Gonda posing as Divisional Commissioner and demanded Rs 50,000. Likewise, he called SDM Bilsi in the same year for Rs 50,000 and SDM in Etawah for the same amount." The IG said that during probe it surfaced that Mishra had many aides in different states in whose accounts he used to get the money transferred. Mishra will now be brought to Lucknow from Jharkhand for further interrogation. Mishra's modus operandi is strikingly similar to the legendary Natwarlal, India's best-known conman who had even 'sold' the Taj Mahal. Berlin, June 30 : Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the German flag carrier Lufthansa announced on that it would continue to ramp up flight operations, and published flight schedules until the end of October. In July, the airline said that it will offer more than 40 per cent of its "originally planned flight program", reports Xinhua news agency. More than 380 aircraft would be in use until October, which would mean that half of the Lufthansa fleet would be "in the air again". "Little by little, the borders open again. Demand is increasing, in the short term but also in the long term," said Harry Hohmeister, member of the executive board of Deutsche Lufthansa. The airline has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. Last week, Lufthansa shareholders had "paved the way for stabilization measures" when 98 per cent voted in favour of the German government's aid package of 9 billion euros at a general meeting. Due to the impact of the pandemic, the flag carrier had announced earlier this month that it planned to lay off a total of 22,000 full-time employees and also reduce its fleet by around 100 aircraft. New Delhi, June 30 : Chinese short-video making app TikTok on Tuesday said it is in the process of complying with the Indian government order to ban 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, and is not sharing any data of Indian users with the Chinese government. The Indian government on Monday banned apps like TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. "The government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it," Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok India, said in a statement, adding that the company has been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. "TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government," Gandhi explained. The app disappeared from both Google Play Store and Apple App Store on Tuesday. There was no official communication from Google or Apple on its removal from their respective stores. ByteDance-owned TikTok said that it places the highest importance on user privacy and integrity. "TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first-time internet users," said Gandhi. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Monday issued a list of 59 Chinese apps that are now banned in the country. "These measures have been undertaken since there is credible information that these apps are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," said a MeitY statement. The ministry received complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. The MeitY said the move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile users. Other Chinese apps in the banned list are Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, Bigo Live and others. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Riyadh, June 30 : Official from Saudi Arabian and the US have called on the international community to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran, warning that the expiry would allow Tehran to destabilize the region. Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir and US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook held a joint press conference here on Monday, where weapons, including drones and missiles, which were used in recent Houthi attacks on Saudi cities, were displayed, reports Xinhua news agency. Al-Jubeir said that Saudi Arabia is consulting with all the countries on the UN Security Council on the dangers of letting the arms embargo on Iran expire. Hook warned if the UN arms embargo against Iran is lifted, Tehran will be able to further develop its military capabilities and acquire new sensitive technologies and re-export to its proxies in the region. "The weapons that we see here today are all the evidence we need that the arms embargo on Iran must not be lifted," Hook added, highlighting that Iran will never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. Hook arrived in Riyadh after his visit to the United Arab Emirates where he discussed about extending the UN arms embargo on Iran, which will expire on October 18. The development comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month that Washington was considering "every possibility" to renew the ban on selling conventional arms to Iran In response, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had said that his country would not accept the renewal of the arms ban "under any circumstance". New Delhi, June 30 : Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the arrest of party's minority cell chairman Shahnawaz Alam, saying the police action is undemocratic and repressive. "Congress leaders and activists are committed to raise their voice on public issues. The BJP government can use the Police as an instrument to suppress the voices of other parties, but not our party (Congress). Look, how the UP Police arrested the Chairman of our Minority cell in the darkness of the night," Priyanka Gandhi said in a series of tweets in Hindi. "First, our state president (Ajay Kumar Lallu) was kept in jail for four weeks on fake charges. Now this police action is repressive and undemocratic. Congress workers are not afraid of police and fake cases," she said in another tweet. According to UP Police, Alam was arrested by the Lucknow police, late on Monday night, for his alleged involvement in the anti-CAA violence which took place in December last year. A CCTV video circulated by UP Congress leaders shows cops taking away Alam from outside an apartment, close to the chief minister's residence, in a police vehicle. UP Police statement said that Alam was arrested for his involvement in the anti-CAA protest which took place on December 19, 2019 in Lucknow. He has been arrested after the police gathered sufficient evidence against him. Priyanka Gandhi has been critical of the state government for the past few months. She had locked horns with the state government over providing 1,000 buses for transporting the stranded migrant workers in the state in mid May. UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu was arrested in the same case. United Nations, June 30 : The World Bank has signed agreements worth $250 million to promote private sector role in developing affordable housing in Tamil Nadu. The agreements were signed on Monday between the World Bank, the Indian Central government and the Tamil Nadu state government. Of the funds to be provided through the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, $200 million will go to the First Tamil Nadu Housing Sector Strengthening Programme as the first of two operations, the Bank said. The first operation is to support the government's efforts "to increase the availability of affordable housing by gradually shifting the role of the state from being the main provider to an enabler". According to the Bank, the second operation will try to make the affordable housing sector more efficient and inclusive in the state which is the most urbanised in India. The Bank's Senior Urban Economist Yoonhee Kim said: "Global experience shows that the public sector alone cannot address a growing housing demand, especially as countries undergo rapid urbanization." According to the Bank, almost half the state's population is urban and the percentage is expected to rise to 63 per cent by 2030 and it is estimated that 16.6 per cent of the state's urban population lives in slums. The other $50 million will go to the Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development Project to support innovations in housing, the Bank said. It will finance the newly created Tamil Nadu Shelter Fund with an equity contribution of $35 million to enable cross-subsidisation where higher returns from commercial and high-income developments will compensate for lower returns from affordable housing, according to the Bank. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) Jerusalem, June 30 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main coalition partner, Benny Gantz, were at odds over the timing of the country's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. On Monday, Netanyahu and Gantz, who serves as alternate Prime Minister and Defence Minister, held separate meetings with Avi Berkowitz, US President Donald Trump's envoy for international negotiations over the annexation plan, reports Xinhua news agency. Netanyahu had already declared that he wants to begin imposing Israeli sovereignty over Jordan Valley, part of the West Bank, as soon as July 1, in accordance with Trump's Middle East peace plan. But Gantz told a meeting of lawmakers with his centrist Blue and White party that "anything not related to the struggle against the coronavirus will wait". "Before making any political moves, we need to help the public to get back to earn a living with dignity," Gantz said. In the afternoon, Netanyahu was quoted as dismissing Gantz's remarks. He told a meeting of lawmakers with his right-wing Likud party that he is working "discretely" with envoys of Trump, his close ally. "The issue does not depend on Blue and White," he said, according to local media reports. Under their power-sharing deal, both Netanyahu and Gantz hold veto power over key government decisions. However, the deal allows Netanyahu to bring an annexation proposal to the cabinet starting from July 1, even without Gantz approval. The annexation plan was accepted with widespread condemnations by the Palestinians, most of the Arab world, and the international community. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged Israel on Monday to halt the "illegal" plan. "I am deeply concerned that even the most minimalist form of annexation would lead to increased violence and loss of life, as walls are erected, security forces deployed and the two populations brought into closer proximity," Bachelet said in a statement. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and has controlled the territory ever since, despite international criticism. Jaipur, June 30 : In Rajasthan they are "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs", feels a key minister of the Ashok Gehlot Cabinet as the Tourism Department is stuck in an ongoing deadlock between the bureaucracy and the government. State Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh has shot a series of tweets recently to reflect his dissatisfaction with the working in his department, though that did not have much of an effect. Speaking to IANS, Vishvendra Singh said: "I am keen to generate revenues by bringing in PPP initiatives to boost domestic tourism. I want to see quick implementation of new tourism policy and turn the bleeding RTDC into a milching cow. "However, it seems, I have no powers to churn the system, RTDC is bleeding, employees have no salaries for the last few months, there is no chairman in RTDC and I have no powers to intervene. Hope the higher-ups are listening, he said adding, "Padharo Mhare Des, our tagline, will lose its meaning if things don't fall into place." Singh, on June 26, took to Twitter to show the stalemate on. He said that the department has failed to bring out a new Tourism policy in last one and half years after the Gehlot government came to power in 2018. Not just there was no fresh policy introduced under the Congress government, but even no fresh hiring took place. "Despite changing two Managing Directors, there are no plans of RTDC revival on paper," said Singh, who is said to be from Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot's camp. The minister, who shares his Ministry with two others -- a Minister for State and a Art and Culture Minister -- has complained that his department, which expected to propel the economy being the most vibrant in terms of attarcting tourists from all over the world, is in fact not prepared at all for the new normal whenever that kicks in. "The tourist figures have already tumbled after the Covid outbreak and successive lockdowns. The tourism industry lies in shambles but the officials won't budge and prefer to act blind," he said in one of his tweets. Singh demanded changes and tagged the Chief Minister in a tweet, saying, "For a very long time, going against my nature and work ethic, I kept silent on many things but my CM @ashokgehlot has always advocated transparency and honesty and I am now forced to share the shortcomings of the tourism department." Seeking Gehlot's support, he said: "Yes, I look forward to your support in some drastic but necessary decisions in the near future to save the interests and livelihoods of millions of people engaged in tourism and related industries in #Rajasthan. The tourism sector was trifurcated in December 2018, breaking all past traditions after the formation of the new government. Tourism, art and culture departments were given three ministers against one minister system in earlier BJP and Congress regimes. All three departments though were put under one principal secretary. Vishvendra Singh is the state tourism minister, Govind Singh Dotasara is minister of state for tourism (apart from being the state minister for education) and B.D. Kalla is Minister for art and culture, but also enjoys bigger portfolios like Power and PHED. "Too many cooks spoil the broth! Same goes the case with Rajasthan tourism," said a senior official expressing anonymity. It's not only the minister, but the tourism stakeholders in Rajasthan are equally upset with continuous slashing of funds for the sector. Funds around Rs 100 crore have been allotted since last 2 years, which was earlier Rs 179.23 crore for 2018-19 under the BJP government. Rajasthan faces stiff competition from states like Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala who generally spend big to attract tourists; we also need to follow them on marketing, promotion and advertising, said travel expert Sanjay Kaushik. Thiruvananthapuram, June 30 : A 76-year-old man who arrived from Mumbai and was undergoing treatment at the Medical College hospital here died of Covid-19, said a state Minister on Tuesday. He passed away on Saturday, but the Covid test results came on Monday night. With this, the death toll in the state due to Covid-19 rose to 23. The deceased hails from the state capital and was suffering from multiple ailments. Speaking to the media, State Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran who is in charge of the capital district overlooking Covid activities, said it was unfortunate that another person has succumbed to Covid-19. "Right from the time he arrived from Mumbai he was under observation and under treatment. He had maintained all the prescribed health protocols and hence there is no reason for a worry on tracing his route map," said Surendran. So far Kerala has recorded 4,311 positive cases, with 2,057 currently active. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Beijing, June 30 : China's top legislative body on Tuesday unanimously passed a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong prohibiting acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security. The law, approved by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), is expected to carry a maximum penalty of life in jail, reports the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper. Sources told the SCMP that the law was approved unanimously by the standing committee's 162 members, within 15 minutes of the meeting that started at 9 a.m. On Sunday, the NPCSC began a special meeting fast-tracking the bill, which was passed on the last day of the three-day session. The Post was told that the Basic Law Committee, which advises Beijing on Hong Kong's mini-constitution, would meet "immediately after the standing committee passed the law to discuss its insertion into Annex III of the Basic Law". All Hong Kong delegates to the nation's top advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the NPC, have been asked to attend a meeting, believed to be a briefing on the bill, at the central government's liaison office on Tuesday afternoon. The law is expected to come into effect on July 1, the 23rd anniversary of the city's handover to China from British rule, according to the newspaper. Passage of the controversial legislation came a day after China announced visa restrictions on US officials who have "behaved extremely badly" over Hong Kong. Beijing and Washington had been locked in an escalating diplomatic row over the year-long Hong Kong protests and the national security law. The US had earlier vowed to strip Hong Kong of its preferential trade status, and had enacted visa restrictions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for undermining local autonomy and freedoms. Addressing the media before China passed the law, Hong kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday said that any warnings from the US or other foreign governments to impose sanctions over the matter "would not scare Hong Kong", and the city's government would fully cooperate with Beijing on any potential countermeasures. Shortly after the law was passed in Beijing, key members of Hong Kong's pro-democratic Demosisto party, Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Agnes Chow, announced they had quit the group. Demosisto is believed to be one of the prime targets of the law, as Wong played a major role in lobbying US politicians for their support to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act last year, said the SCMP report. The Hong Kong National Front, a pro-independence activist group led by former lawmaker Sixtus Baggio Leung, is also expected to shut down its operation in the city. In a Facebook post, the group, which was formed in 2015, said it would continue to promote Hong Kong independence from its bases in Taipei and the UK. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, June 30 : Three days after questioning senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, a close aide of party interim Chief Sonia Gandhi, a team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday once again arrived at his residence to question him in connection with the alleged multi-crore bank fraud case by the Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech. A team of financial probe agency officials arrived at the 23, Mother Teresa Crescent road here on Tuesday morning to record Patel's statement under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). An ED source related to the development told IANS, "The agency had questioned Patel on Saturday but they were not satisfied with the answers. So they have once again come to his residence to record his statement." Patel, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP and Congress treasurer, said after the questioning for eight hours on Saturday, "Instead of taking action against China, dealing with Covid-19 pandemic, they are attacking opposition. (Prime Minister) Modi and (Union Home Minister) Shah's people came and questioned me and I replied to their questions." Last year, the ED had questioned Patel's son Faisal Patel about his relations with the Sandesara brothers (Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara and Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara), owners and promoters of the Vadodara-based pharmaceutical firm. The ED had also confronted Faisal with the statement of Sunil Yadav, an employee of the Sandesara group, in which he had alleged that the son of the Congress leader took his friends to a farm house for party and all the expenses were borne by Chetan. The ED suspected that Faisal and his brother-in-law Irfan Siddiqui were close to the Sandesara brothers. On July 30 last year, the ED had questioned Patel's son-in-law and advocate Irfan Siddiqui in connection with the probe. According to ED officials, Yadav alleged that Siddiqui and Faisal were given code names by Chetan Sandesara. "Chetan and Gagan referred to Siddiqui as Irfan Bhai," he said. Irfan's code name was 'i2' and Faisal's 'i1', Yadav had said. He also said, Faisal would take his friends to Puspanjali Farms for party and all the expenses were borne by Chetan Sandesara. The ED registered a money laundering case against the Sandesara brothers and others in August 2017 after a case of alleged bank fraud of Rs 5,700 crore was filed against them by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The ED probe revealed that the Sandesara brothers and others hatched a criminal conspiracy to cheat banks by manipulating figures in the balance sheets of their flagship companies and induce banks to sanction higher loans. The ED has also attached properties to the tune of Rs 9,778 crore of Sterling Biotech in its investigation against the pharmaceutical company and others involving domestic and offshore branches of Indian banks in 2004-12. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, June 30 : Food delivery platform Swiggy on Tuesday launched its own digital wallet to enable single-click checkout experience on its platform. Called 'Swiggy Money,' the full-fledged digital wallet in partnership with ICICI Bank will enable customers to store money and be used for all food orders. Users choosing 'Swiggy Money' can avail instant refunds and use the money for easy checkouts and hassle-free payment processing on future food orders, the company said in a statement. "Along with a host of existing payment options offered to consumers, Swiggy Money will ensure seamless and swift transactions on food orders by minimising hassles such as lengthy payment procedures or payment failures resulting in improved customer experience," said Anand Agrawal, VP Products, Swiggy. If the Swiggy customer is an existing ICICI Bank customer, he or she can instantly start using the wallet. Non-ICICI Bank customers can also start using this immediately by providing details of a government ID to ICICI Bank. 'Swiggy Money' users will further be able to top-up their wallet using various banking instruments and enjoy single click purchase without multiple authentications. In cases where the order value exceeds the wallet balance, the users will be provided with a 'split-pay' option which will enable making payment through a combination of money from their wallet and another payment source/instruments to complete the transaction. "This is our third offering, jointly with Swiggy. A year ago, we had customised an industry-first UPI led payment solution for Swiggy's delivery partners to transfer funds. We had also introduced UPI-led instant one-click payment for millions of Swiggy's customers," informed Bijith Bhaskar, Head- Digital Channels & Partnership, ICICI Bank. Swiggy is currently present in over 500 cities in the country. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Ottawa, June 30 : As far as the reopening of businesses was concerned, Canada has been better than the US at slowing the spread of COVID-19 through physical distancing and people increasingly wearing face masks in public, according to a health official. "As the epidemic has slowed, the incident rate has steadily declined in all age groups," Xinhua news agency quoted Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, as saying at a briefing here on Monday. "The epidemiology indicates the transmission is largely under control." Canada has so far reported a total of 105,830 COVID-19 cases, with 8,628 deaths. In contrast, 41,075 new cases were reported in the US on Monday, bringing its national total to 2,590,552, while the death toll stood at 126,140 after with 885 new fatalities wer reported on Monday. The Canada-US border, closed to non-essential travel since March 21, is scheduled to reopen on July 21. But at his regular COVID-related news conference on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted that it could be halted. "We will continue to assess the situation and work with the Americans on what steps need to be taken in the month of August," he said. "What the situation we're seeing in the US and elsewhere highlights for us is that, even as our economy is reopening, we need to make sure we are continuing to remain vigilant individually and collectively," he said. However, with the return of in-store shopping and greater numbers of people gathering, the demographic picture of the pandemic in Canada has changed. People 80 years of age and older remain the hardest-hit population, accounting for nearly 18,000 cases. Yet the 80-plus crowd has experienced the steepest decline in transmission since late May, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, which reported a relative increase in cases among people between the ages of 20 and 39, who "now account for a greater proportion of total cases in recent weeks", said Tam. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Chennai, June 30 : The Indian government should first gather data as to the share of space sector in the country's gross domestic product (GDP), hold discussions with the industry players, look at the tax structure and resolve possible conflict of interest issue before framing its policies and laws allowing the private sector, said industry experts. "Nobody knows what the country's space sector's share in India's GDP. Nobody has any clue about the number of jobs the space sector creates in a year. One needs hard data before framing policies and laws while allowing private sector investment," Narayan Prasad, CEO, satsearch.com told IANS. Agreeing with him on the aspect of lack of data on the space sector's contribution to GDP was a senior official in the government owned Indian space sector. "There is no estimate now. But roughly, since only ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is operating, its revenue (about Rs 2,000 crore) minus ISRO's budget may be the starting point," he told IANS preferring anonymity. "First mapping of the state of space sector services in India should be done and estimate the economic value of those activities," Prasad said. According to him, many Indian companies are using the satellite data of the European satellites and providing their value-added services to their customers here. He said, the Indian space agencies do not release the satellite data on a daily basis. "Now some Indian states are saying they will be using remote sensing satellite data. The real change will happen only when the government department sources the data from the private sector. Then the sector will really open up," Prasad said. "First mapping of the state of space sector services in India should be done and their economic value should be estimated," Prasad said. "Market study is essential at this juncture for the private sector to assess the business cases. The Indian space sector is expected to provide a large market where a company can earn sufficient revenues from operations within the country itself unlike many other countries. This is a big advantage for the Indian companies who plan to venture into the space domain," Rakesh, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Antrix Corporation Ltd, told IANS. According to Rakesh, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Space Committee has plans to initiate this study for the benefit of its members. Referring to the structure of the proposed Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) Prasad said it will be under the Department of Space (DOS). The IN-SPACe is expected to provide a level playing field for private companies to use the Indian space infrastructure owned by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). "With ISRO headed by Secretary, DOS there will be conflict of interest. So, these two positions are held by two different persons," Prasad said. However, the Co-founder and CEO of Agnikul Cosmos Srinath Ravichandran does not view the conflict of interest as the show stopper. The city based Agnikul is in the process of building a small rocket with a carrying capacity of 100 kg to play in the 2-2.5 billion per year global small satellite launch market. "The proposed IN-SPACe should have technical experts so that valid proposals are taken forward as well as marketing people who understand business," Ravichandran told IANS. Private sector officials said there should be a consultative process between the government and the industry before finalising the laws and policies. The government should invite the views of startups, small and medium enterprises. "The IN-SPACe should have a statistical division and a group of social scientists, economists to quantify the space sector's contribution," Prasad said. For the private players to enter the space sector, tax provisions also play an important role. "The revenue-tax measures should also be looked at and there should be a level playing field. If an Indian is to launch a satellite from India then the GST (goods and services tax) is 18 per cent on the other hand it is zero per cent for a foreign entity. It will be easy to register a company somewhere else and launch from here without paying GST," Prasad remarked. Similarly, the government nod for private sector space projects should be fast and there should be single window clearance. "The committee that gives the permission to the private sector for space activities, including satellite launches and others should have members from the Ministries like Home, Defence and others so that it is really a single window clearance," Prasad said. Visakhapatnam, June 30 : Two persons died and four others took ill in a gas leak at a pharmaceutical unit in Visakhapatnam on Monday night, the second industrial disaster to strike the port city in less than two months. The incident occurred at Sainor Life Sciences Private Limited, a pharma company located at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Parwada on the city outskirts around 11.30 p.m. on Monday. However, it came to light only in the early hours of Tuesday. Revenue Divisional Officer P. Kishore told reporters at the scene that Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) leaked while it was being pumped from one reactor to the other. Initially, the leaked gas was suspected to be benzimidazole. Six people working there inhaled the gas. While two persons died, four others were shifted to a hospital, where condition of one of them is stated to be critical. The deceased were identified as shift incharge R. Narendra, 33, and chemist M. Gowri Shankar, 26. The condition of L.V. Chandrashekhar, a helper, was critical. He was kept on a ventilator. The other affected persons were out of danger and they were identified as P. Ananad Babu, a helper, and D. Janaki Rao and M. Surya Narayana, both chemists. Visakhapatnam Superintendent of Police R. K. Meena and District Collector Vinay Chand visited the plant. The collector has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy enquired about the incident. As a precautionary measure, the factory has been closed. Sainor Life Sciences manufactures Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), pellets and intermediates. "The officials informed the Chief Minister that leakage was confined to the reactor unit only and there was no need for any panic as the situation is under control," reads a statement from the chief minister's office. Meena told reporters that a First Information Report (FIR) would be registered into the incident and an inquiry would be conducted. "The gas leakage was arrested immediately. There is no threat to other units in Pharma City or to nearby habitation," the RDO said. Pendurthi MLA Annamreddy Adeep Raj said the negligence by the company management led to the gas leak. He said necessary precautions were not taken while pumping the gas and this led to the tragedy. This is the second incident at the company in five years. Two workers including a pharmacist were killed and five injured in a reactor blast at active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing plant of Sainor Life Sciences in September 2015. Monday's gas leak incident comes close on the heels of May 7 disaster at LG Polymers plant at Venkatapuram on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam. Styrene gas leak from the plan had claimed the lives of 12 people and affected around 500 in the surrounding villages. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed CARACAS, Aug. 5, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a nationally televised address from the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, Aug. 4, 2018. Nicolas Maduro escaped unharmed from an attempted attack of Image Source: IANS News CARACAS, Feb. 22, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Image provided by Venezuela's Presidency shows Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, taking part in a meeting with the high command of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, Feb. 21, Image Source: IANS News Caracas, June 30 : Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has asked the head of the European Union (EU) mission in Caracas, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, to leave the country within 72 hours, after the bloc released sanctions against 11 Venezuelan officials. "We will sort it out in 72 hours... she will be given a plane to leave, but we will arrange our things with the European Union," Xinhua news agency quoted Maduro as saying on Monday. However, Venezuela's airspace is currently closed to commercial airplanes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the officials sanctioned is the opposition legislator Luis Parra, who is contesting the leadership of the National Assembly controlled by the opposition and Maduro's main challenger Juan Guaido. Relations between Venezuela and the EU have been tense since 2017, when the latter launched sanctions against the former, including an arms embargo. Egypt has set the specifications for the production and distribution of cloth facemasks to the public through food ration cards starting 1 July, setting a final price of EGP 8.5 per mask, a statement by the supply ministry said on Tuesday. Supply Minister Ali Mosseilhi said the masks will be offered through ration cards at two masks per card, adding that 250,000 masks will be offered on 1 July and that this number will reach 19 million masks by the end of the month. According to the statement, the masks are fluid resistant, are washable up to 50 times and do not trigger skin allergies. The statement added that the masks have a layer that is designed to kill bacteria and microbes. The announcement comes a few weeks after Mosseilhi said that the need to provide facemasks has become pressing amid the outbreak of the highly contagious coronavirus. Around 70 million citizens benefit from the countrys food subsidy programme, which offers staples like rice, pasta and other items. The programme has been revised multiple times in the past few years in an effort to ensure access by those most in need. As of Monday, Egypt has recorded 66,754 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 2,872 deaths. The announcement by the ministry comes as Egypt continues to make wearing facemasks in certain public places mandatory as it reopens its economy, with violators facing hefty fines of up to EGP 4,000 ($247). Wearing facemasks is mandatory for workers or visitors at markets, shops, banks, government and private institutions, and on public and private transportation. Egypt said earlier this month that over 100 textile factories would begin manufacturing reusable cloth facemasks at a capacity of 8 million masks per month in the initial phase, which will later be increased to 30 million masks a month. Short link: 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. Mumbai, June 30 : Bollywood actor Aamir Khan on Tuesday sent out a statement announcing some of his staff had tested positive and immediately quarantined. The actor also assured that the "rest of us", which includes him, "have all been tested and found negative". He also mentioned he was taking his mother for testing since she "is the last person in the loop". Here is Aamir's statement: "Hello everyone, this is to inform you that some of my staff have tested positive. They were immediately quarantined, and BMC officials were very prompt and efficient in taking them to a medical facility. I would like to thank the BMC for taking such good care of them, and for fumigating and sterilising the entire society. "The rest of us have all been tested and found negative. "Right now I am taking my mother to get her tested. She is the last person in the loop. Please pray that she is negative. "I would, once again, like to thank the BMC for the prompt, professional and caring manner in which they helped us. "And a big thank you to Kokilaben Hospital, and the doctors, nurses and staff there. They were very caring and professional with the testing process. God bless and stay safe. Love. Aamir." The actor has been busy shooting his upcoming film "Laal Singh Chaddha", a recreation of the Hollywood hit "Forrest Gump", over the past few months. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Cairo, June 30 : Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi presided over a virtual ceremony to inaugurate two airports as the government announced multi-billion dollar investments in construction after receiving two credit lines from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. During the event on Monday, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly confirmed the government plans to invest $18.5 billion in infrastructure during the upcoming fiscal year, which starts on July 1, reports Efe news. Madbouly on Monday revised downwards to 4 per cent the economic growth forecast for this fiscal year set earlier at 4.2 per cent by Finance Minister Mohamed Meit. This figure, however, is "high in comparison" with other countries, the premier said. "Large investments must be injected into the country to ensure that the construction, industrial and agriculture sectors continue to operate and that the low rate of employment we have attained is not affected," he said. During the event, the government listed the "achievements" the country has made since 2013. A total of $278 billion has been invested in several sectors in an "unprecedented effort", Madbouly said. One of the government's flagship projects is the new administrative capital: a city the size of Chicago that has been built just east of Cairo. The new administrative capital has its own airport - which was inaugurated virtually on Monday due to the coronavirus epidemic - but it is not clear when it will become operational. During the event, the Sphinx International Airport was inaugurated over a year after it started domestic flight operations. The coronavirus did not halt Egypt's megaprojects. Rather, it prompted the government to ask the IMF for help to deal with the pandemic that has severely hit the tourism industry, one of the country's main sources of income. On June 26, the IMF approved a 12-month $5.2 billion Stand-By Arrangement and the immediate access to $2 billion to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus. On May 11, the IMF approved $2.77 billion as an extension to the loan pending under the IMF Expanded Service, under which $12 billion has been approved since 2016 for structural reforms. In the wake of that loan, Egypt has carried out tough reforms by removing fuel and electricity subsides, significantly affecting the purchasing power of low-income citizens. Over 30 per cent of Egyptians live below the poverty threshold, according to official figures. Bhopal, June 30 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has been camping in Delhi for two days with key BJP leaders for consensus on cabinet expansion, returned to Bhopal on Tuesday morning. Chouhan had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Monday to discuss cabinet expansion in the state, but that seems to have delayed as no consensus could emerge. Chouhan and state government officials along with Madhya Pradesh BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma and State General Secretary Suhas Bhagat had gone to Delhi on Sunday and there was a possibility that a second extension of the cabinet could take place on Tuesday or Wednesday. Apart from Prime Minister, Chouhan met party's national president J.P. Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, newly elected Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia in Delhi to reach a consensus on cabinet expansion. Sources have said, no consensus could be arrived at on the cabinet berths in meetings in Delhi as there is a tussle between Scindia camp and the BJP loyalists. Chief Minister Chouhan has several meetings scheduled on Tuesday. He will discuss the Covid situation in the state after a meeting with Finance Department officials. Canberra, June 30 : The Australian government announced on Tuesday that it will allocate A$1.35 billion ($928 million) to strengthen the country's cyber security amid escalating tensions due to suspicion of meddling and espionage by foreign countries. The investment, which will be made over a period of a decade, will also be used to enhance Australia's intelligence capabilities, Efe news. "The federal government's top priority is protecting our nation's economy, national security and sovereignty. Malicious cyber activity undermines that," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement. "My gGovernment's record investment in our nation's cyber security will help ensure we have the tools and capabilities we need to fight back and keep Australians safe," he added. On June 19, Morrison announced that Australia had suffered a large-scale cyber attack, allegedly backed by a foreign country. "We know it's a sophisticated state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the tradecraft used," he said at an impromptu press conference. Although Morrison did not name any country at the time, a few days later, the country's authorities raided the house and office of a New South Wales lawmaker for his alleged links with the Chinese government. In the past, China has been a target of suspicion for the cyber-attack on the Australian parliament in February 2019, ahead of Australia's general election, and cyber attacks on state agencies and universities. Amid this climate of tensions between China and Australia over suspicions of interference and espionage, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused Canberra of inciting defections in China, spying on its students and encouraging theories in the media about Chinese espionage. Lijian said that the charges of espionage and interference against China were not based on "solid evidence" while emphasizing that "irrefutable evidence abound to prove Australia's operation of spying activities in China", without providing further details. The bilateral relationship has deteriorated due to issues such as a proposal by Australia for a "transparent" investigation into the origin of the novel coronavirus and the approval in Australia of laws against foreign interference and espionage after uncovering Chinese donations to political parties. The Australian government has also blocked Chinese companies, Huawei and ZTE, from providing equipment for the country's 5G network citing security reasons, as well as from the purchase of land deemed strategic. Amaravati, June 30 : Enraged over being asked to wear a face-mask, a government officer brutally assaulted a woman colleague in Andhra Pradesh. The incident occurred in tourism department's office in Nellore on Saturday but came to light on Tuesday after the victim lodged a police complaint. Deputy Manager Bhaskar pulled the woman staffer by hair, dragged her and repeatedly attacked her with what looks like an iron rod even as other employees in the office tried to intervene. The official's brutality was captured on CCTV camera. He is seen rushing towards the woman, pulling her down from the chair and dragging her by hair. He then picked up some object from the table and hit her. Another employee tried to control him but he pushed him to the ground. He then picked up what looks like an iron rod and repeatedly attacked the woman as other employees watched in horror. Unable to see the assault, another woman present in the office was seen rushing out. A man who walked in finally managed to snatch the rod from Bhaskar's hands. Police registered a case and are on the lookout for the accused. Police said the official got angry and felt insulted after the woman colleague advised him to wear the face mask to contain the spread of Coronavirus. New Delhi, June 30 : The Border Security Force breached the four-digit-mark in terms of number of coronavirus or COVID-19 cases on Tuesday when 53 more troops tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 1,018 in the paramilitary wing. As per official data updated on Tuesday, a total of 354 active cases have been reported in the Border Security Force (BSF) so far. The number of recovered troops in the force, however, stands at 659. A total of four BSF personnel have succumbed due to the infection while one died in a road accident on June 20 and he was later declared COVID-19 positive. The last 24 hours report shows fresh 53 cases and four recoveries in the paramilitary force, charged with guarding India's land border during peace time and preventing transnational crime. All of the active cases in the force are under treatment at designated COVID health care hospitals, the BSF informed on Tuesday. Established on December 1, 1965, BSF is a Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. With force strength of over 2.5 lakh personnel, the BSF is mandated to guard 4,096 km India-Bangladesh and 3,323 km India-Pakistan borders. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, June 30 : With the change in lifestyle patterns, educational or career demands, delayed marriages, rise in corporate stress, some women, for various reasons, choose to get married and get pregnant later in life. In recent years, a social trend toward delaying childbearing has been observed in women of reproductive age. Many women also choose to be single because they have not yet found a partner. As a consequence, by the time they decide to conceive or have children, it's at an age is when their fertility is likely to have declined. One of the most novel medical advances available now is through fertility preservation techniques that can be obtained through so-called "social egg freezing". The credit for this goes to a few significant changes like openness in society, awareness about the changing trends, and importantly, women themselves. With more women choosing to have careers, we're seeing more of them consciously adopting egg freezing as a welcomed lifestyle choice - as a need of the hour. Dr. Beena Muktesh, Clinical Director - Fertility, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Gurgaon explains all about social egg freezing. What is social egg freezing? Social egg-freezing is a method to preserve a woman's ovarian reserve through eggs in order to avoid age related fertility issues. This technique is useful when a woman chooses to have her own biological child with sperm from a partner or a sperm donor whenever she desires to. It also implies storing eggs of a healthy, fertile woman, in order to have a pregnancy later in her life, that is at the age of 40. It's not like our fertility drops off a cliff at age 35; fertility decline happens throughout our adult lives. But fertility decline is a snowball effect-meaning as we age, not only does our fertility decline, but the rate at which it declines actually increases. So, the downward slope of fertility and age gets steeper in our mid-30s. Thanks our body and biology! Egg count is just one part of the equation. The quality of those eggs is even more important. Egg quality refers to the state of an egg as genetically normal or abnormal. As you age, the DNA inside your eggs begins to degrade. Many women cannot opt to get pregnant during their window of fertile periods due to various reasons like unable to find a suitable partner, carrier, job, education , personal choice, family conflict etc. If she is ageing it is important for her to go for egg freezing. What are the benefits of egg freezing? In October 2014, the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society released its position statement on egg freezing, describing it as "an option for women wishing to preserve their fertility in the face of anticipated decline. One can use these eggs in an assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure when the time to have children is right for them. Egg freezing allows women's biology to better match the way they actually live. Egg freezing can help reduce "fertility anxiety" and allows you to focus on your life goals in your early adult years without feeling the constant worry of a ticking biological clock. It can take away your anxiety about your future fertility and leave you feeling empowered. Egg freezing can give you time to find the right partner Egg quality diminishes as women age. Egg freezing helps preserve egg quality. It allows you to stop worrying about the quality of your eggs diminishing after you reach your thirties. It doesn't mean that they have to use them if the time is right for them, they can try naturally but in case of failure, can fall back on stored eggs. Age significantly affects the reproductive capacity of women; between the ages of 25-30 a woman's fertility has already started to diminish and these reserves will decrease from the age of 35. At 38 years, the quantity and quality of a woman's eggs diminish and there is increased probability of having embryos with chromosome abnormality. For better results, it is preferred that a woman should freeze her eggs between 32-36 years though, there is no upper age but up to 40 years is considered optimal for it. The eggs can be frozen from 1-2 cycles to have enough number of eggs to be frozen .These eggs can be stored for at least five years in an IVF lab or more if need arises . (Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Islamabad, June 30 : After dubious licenses scandal involving pilots, another scam hit the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with its officials making about 8 million PKR in the sale of tickets for special flights to Europe. Sources told Dawn news on Monday that some officials at the Sialkot PIA office accommodated some 50 old ticket holders for their travel to Italy and Paris on special flights in violation of rules to mint money. As per policy, the PIA has not been accommodating passengers having tickets issued prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, (since mid-March) for any destination. For special flights, the PIA is issuing new tickets which are almost double the price of the fare charged for regular flights issued prior to the pandemic. "The officials in question accommodated old purchased tickets by charging extra money from their holders (passengers) for their travel to Italy and Paris," a source told Dawn news, adding the officials committed this fraud in collaboration with some travel agents. "Through this fraud the officials also deprived the PIA of a huge sum of money," he said and added that the fraud had been detected and an inquiry launched against those involved. Those availing the special repatriation flights to Pakistan have earlier expressed their concern on inadequate arrangements to acquire tickets, costly fares and non-refundable tickets in case of any mishap. Earlier, the federal government had asked the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to book tickets, instead of PIA, for those repatriated from the US. Meanwhile, the family of one of the 97 victims of the PIA crash on May 22 has urged the Supreme Court to take action against the `mafia' that it claimed has ruined the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the national flag carrier, and demanded early release of the insurance amount as per the carriage act law. "There has been a series of fatal accidents in the past and nothing has changed as we have not learned a lesson from these accidents. We request the Supreme Court chief justice to take action against those who ruined the CAA and the airline industry in the country," Danish Awan, whose mother died in the crash, told Dawn news on Monday. He said financial compensation (insurance) should be provided immediately to the affected families as per the carriage act law. Kabul, June 30 : Afghanistan's National Security Council (NSC) has accused the Taliban of killing or injuring 24 civilians per day in the country since earlier this year. "On average, the Taliban has carried out 44 attacks and killed or wounded 24 civilians every day in Afghanistan since the February 22 reduction in violence week," TOLO News quoted NSC spokesman Javid Faisal as saying in a tweet on Monday. Faisal called for a reduction in violence in the country. "The success of the Doha deal and peace in Afghanistan requires an immediate reduction in violence and the start of direct talks," he added. The Taliban did not comment yet about these allegations. The comments come after at least 23 civilians were killed after four rockets hit a festival being held at a market in Sangin district in Helmand province on Monday morning. The provincial governor's office said in a statement that 15 other civilians were wounded in the explosions. The Taliban has denied involvement in the attack. New Delhi, June 30 : Soon after the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps, including Chinese short-video making app TikTok over national security concerns, netizens on social media platforms hailed the government's decision. As the short-video making app is removed from the App Store and Google Play Store, #RIPTikTok has started trending on Twitter. People across the country are now sharing memes, funny posts, GIFs and expressing happiness after the ban of the app. Many famous actors, social media influencers also came in support and the government and praised its decision on banning the apps. Daily soap actress and famous Television star Kamya Shalabh Dan wrote from her Twitter account: "Superbbbbbbb @PMOIndia excellent news #JaiHind #BoycottChineseProducts #BoycottChineseApps." "Let's be united, please. Can we be a responsible citizen and support the current situation instead of just playing blame games and trolling one and other," famous TV actress Rashmi Desai wrote in a post which she shared on Instagram. "Indian leftist are demanding for the return of Rs 30 crore to TikTok which they donated in PM Cares fund Face with tears of joy," another person tweeted. Meanwhile, TikTok community in the country has also shown its support and welcomed PM Modi government's decision to ban 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok. In a video message, the social media star and famous TikToker Muskan Sharma said: "I stand by my country and the way that China is attacking India is simply not done especially when the Indian market is flooded with Chinese apps and products." The government on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. Other Chinese apps in the banned list are Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, Bigo Live and others. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Moradabad : June 30 (IANS) In a rare incident, a pet dog 'informed' the brother of his master about the latter's murder. The incident took place in Peepal Tola locality in Thakudwara area in Moradabad on Monday night. Ginger, the pet dog of Mohit Varma, went to the house of his brother Sanjay Varma who lives at a short distance and started barking loudly. Sanjay was surprised to see Ginger alone and felt that something was wrong because the dog never went out without the master. Sanjay called up his brother Mohit and his wife Mona but there was no response. He then asked his son to go to Mohit's house and check. The son reached the house with the dog and saw Mohit and Mona lying in a pool of blood. The son informed his farther and the police and several neighbours who immediately reached the spot. SSP Moradabad Amit Pathak said that prima facie, it seems to be a case of loot and murder. Forensic teams have been called in while the bodies have been sent for post mortem. Mohit Varma was involved in cable business and the murder could be a result of business rivalry, police suspects. Patna, June 30 : A wedding ceremony has proved to be one of the worst cases of COVID-19 super spreader in Bihar due to which over 100 persons got infected and the bridegroom died two days after the marriage. It took the administration a lot of time and effort to detect and break the chain. A total of 369 persons took part in the wedding event, said the officials. A health department official said 79 persons, who attended the wedding event together on Monday were found corona-infected. Another 24 persons have also been found infected by contact tracing. A resident of the Dehpali village in Paliganj, nearly 50 km from Patna, who worked as a software engineer in Gurugram, returned to his village on May 12 to get married. Two days after the marriage on June 15, the bridegroom died. After the administration came to know about this, the officials started tracing the people who attended the ceremony. On Monday, of the total 369 attendees, 79 were found corona-infected by tracing the corona chain. And, as many as 24 others were found to be infected earlier. Paliganj Sub-Divisional Health Officer Prajit Kumar said some patients were sent to Bemeti, Phulwarisharif and most have been sent to Bihta. Chiranjeev Pandey, Block Development Officer, Paliganj, said on Tuesday that many mohallas have been sealed. Seoul, June 30 : Police in South Korea on Tuesday called in North Korean defector brothers over their groups' anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaign. Park Sang-hak, head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, and his younger brother Jung-oh, who leads another defector group, Kuensaem, showed up for questioning at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at 9.20 a.m., reports Yonhap News Agency Defying the government's warning against leafleting, Park claimed that his group sent some 500,000 leaflets carried by 20 large helium balloons over to the North last week. The South Korean presidential office earlier warned that the government would crack down on such acts, which it said constitute a violation of laws including the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation act. On June 10, the Unification Ministry filed a criminal complaint with police against the two organizations and decided to revoke their business permits. The campaign to scatter leaflets that criticize the North Korean political system and the North's ruling Kim family has recently been a major source of confrontation between the two Koreas. Police plan to question the brothers on various suspicions raised against their activist groups that have been leading the leaflet campaign. Last week, police raided the offices of the two defector groups, said the Yonhap News Agency report. They have also been probing into the case by interviewing residents in the border towns of Gimpo, Paju and Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province and Gangwha in Incheon, west of Seoul. Police are expected to decide whether to push for their indictment following the questioning. New Delhi, June 30 : The Authentication Solutions Providers' Association (ASPA) and GS1 India, a standards organisation set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, have joined hands for developing the anti-counterfeiting ecosystem using global standards. ASPA is a self-regulated non-profit organisation representing the physical and digital authentication solutions industry. GS1 India, a standards body, is responsible for administering the use of global supply chain standards in India that enable businesses to implement counterfeit detection and product authentication solutions. "The two organisations have signed an MoU to jointly work towards mainstreaming and nurturing the anti-counterfeiting ecosystem by promoting the use of standards based solutions for the betterment of industry and consumers, at large," said a statement. It noted that counterfeit products across various sectors in India are causing losses of over Rs 1 lakh crore every year to the government and the number of counterfeit cases has increased by nearly 24 per cent in 2019 as compared to 2018. This causes businesses to lose brand equity and revenues, besides putting consumer safety at risk, it added. Speaking about the partnership Nakul Pasricha, President, ASPA said: "The authentication environment will support the government's 'Make in India' initiative and its image at global level, where trust is becoming an especially important factor." New Delhi, June 30 : The much prolonged resolution of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd, is stuck in its last leg as JSW Steel is not ready to pay the resolution amount unless the Enforcement Directorate (ED) releases the attached assets of the insolvent company. Sources said that in the past few months during the pandemic, the lenders of BPSL, led by the State Bank of India have written to the JSW Steel seeking the resolution amount of Rs 19,700 crore as allowed by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in February, along with immunity from prosecution by the ED. ED has so far attached assets worth over Rs 4,000 crore of Bhushan Power. The top court has directed the Committee of Creditors that if JSW Steel pays the amount but ends up losing it, the lenders should return the money. The company, however, is not relenting on paying the amount without release of the attached assets. A JSW official said: "Pending adjudication of appeals and CoC application before SC the plan is incapable of implementation more so when the assets of BPSL are continued to be attached by the ED." While the Supreme Court has not stayed the implementation of the resolution plan, it admitted Singhal's plea. The matter was last heard on June 10, when the court directed all parties, including ED, to file additional documents within two weeks. Sanjay Singhal, the former promoter of BPSL also moved the Supreme Court against the NCLAT approval to the JSW Steel's offer and the top court admitted Singhal's plea. The matter will be next heard on July 6, when the stakeholders would get further clarity on the matter and if the clarity does not emerge, the saga of one of the most high profile resolution cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) may stretch further. The matter was last heard on June 10, and the court directed all parties, including ED, to file submissions to the court within two weeks in response to the application filed by JSW Steel. After the NCLAT approved the JSW Steel's resolution plan in February, the deadline for paying the amount was March 17. The Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel has had to face a number of challenges apart from the usual competition in terms of bids and resolution plans. Melbourne, June 30 : Australian authorities announced on Tuesday that they will impose a four-week mandatory lockdown in 10 areas of Melbourne following an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases due to fresh outbreaks in the city. The stay-at-home orders will come into effect at 11.59 p.m. on Wednesday and will remain until July 29, Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews said in a press conference. Andrews also announced a judicial inquiry into the state's management of hotel quarantines after a number of cases between late May and early June were suspected to be linked to infection control protocol breaches, reports Efe news. Andrews explained that a "significant number" of cases in northern Melbourne have been attributed, through genomic sequencing, to breaches of infection control protocols by staff members in hotel quarantine. The state government will also ask Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to divert international flights to Melbourne over the next two weeks to reduce the number of people in mandatory hotel quarantine although domestic flights will continue to operate. The state authorities, which imposed the country's strictest restrictions at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, have conducted some 93,000 tests to detect the novel coronavirus among its inhabitants over the past five days, when it stepped up their testing plan, which includes health care workers going door-to-door to test the residents. The authorities of Victoria, which have asked the central government and other states for reinforcement to tackle the crisis, have reported 71 new cases since Monday, a large part of them linked to the new outbreak, bringing the total number of infections since the start of the epidemic to 2,099. Australia, which has managed to control the pan and has resumed a large part of its economic activities, has recorded more than 7,760 cases with 104 deaths. New Delhi, June 30 : Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar hailed the Modi government's decision to ban 59 Chinese applications, connecting the move to 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. Taking to social media, Javadekar remarked, "The whole country has appreciated the decision of the @narendramodi govt to ban 59 Chinese Apps. This will give fillip to Indian Startups & they will come up with better versions very soon. This is a right step towards #AtmaNirbharBharat". The Modi government on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns amid strained India-China relations after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a list of 59 Chinese apps that are now banned in the country. "These measures have been undertaken since there is credible information that these apps are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," said a MeitY statement. Javadekar's statement makes sense given that Indians have rushed to download social app Chingari, a desi alternative to Chinese TikTok, which is witnessing nearly 1 lakh downloads and over 2 million views per hour since the government banned 59 Chinese apps, last night. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, June 30 : Continuing with its expansionist agenda, China has now created a new border dispute with Bhutan, one of India's traditional ally. At a virtual meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in the first week of June, Beijing objected to the grant for Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) in eastern Bhutan's Trashigang district bordering India and China, claiming that the location was disputed. Even as the rest of the world is struggling with the the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in Wuhan city of China's Hubei province, Beijing has been aggressively attempting to alter the status quo in East China Sea, South China Sea and with India in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh. As per Strat News Global, the GEF Council gathered to decide on funding for various environmental projects across the world, was shocked by China's objection and instantly rubbished it. The majority of the GEF council members supported Bhutan's view and the draft summary of the chair was approved by the council and despite objection from the Chinese council member, the work programme was adopted. The council refused to record China's reason for objection, saying that the footnote would only record that China objected to the project. However, the Chinese council member said that he would need time to consult with his higher ups to come to a view on the matter. The reasons were included in the highlights of the discussion, which is a less formal record, and not in the chair's summary, Strat News reported. The draft summary of the chair mentioned in the footnote that "China abstains and does not join the Council decision on this project." The Bhutan government has since issued a formal letter to the GEF council, strongly opposing the references questioning the sovereignty of Bhutan and its territory on the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in the documents of the council's session. Bhutan has urged the GEF council to purge all references of China's baseless claims from Council's documents. Bhutan and China have a border dispute since 1984. Talks between Thimphu and Beijing have been limited to three areas of dispute (two in North Bhutan -- Jakarlung and Pasamlung areas -- and one in West Bhutan). Sakteng is not part of any of the three disputed areas. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Hong Kong, June 30 : Veteran Hong Kong opposition activists on Tuesday announced plans to defy a police ban on the annual July 1 pro-democracy rally and organise a march to protest against China's national security law, which is expected to take effect the same day. The announcement came just hours after Beijing's top legislative body passed the controversial law, which targets acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security, reports the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper. For the first time since the 1997 handover, the police on June 27 rejected an application by the Civil Human Rights Front to hold the march protesting the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. The force cited public health risks related to the coronavirus pandemic and violence at earlier rallies organised by the Front. Sources told the SCMP newspaper on Monday that more than 4,000 riot police officers would be on standby across the city from Tuesday evening in anticipation of potential unrest, while the area around the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, the site of the ceremony marking the handover, had been placed on lockdown. But Figo Chan, deputy convenor of the Front, said he would press ahead with the march in his capacity as a private citizen, collaborating with Democratic Party leader Wu Chi-wai and independent lawmaker Eddie Chu. "We hope all Hongkongers can take to the streets to oppose the national security law," the SCMP quoted Chan as saying. New Delhi, June 30 : Talks between top Indian and Chinese military delegates started on Tuesday morning to resolve the border issue in eastern Ladakh. The meeting is taking place at Chushul wherein India has put a strong message that China's People's Liberation Army troops have not been aided by the disengagement consensus. This is the third meeting between both country's military delegates. Last two meetings at Corp Commanders level were held on June 6 and June 22. This time it's being held in Chushul on the Indian side. Last two meetings were in Moldo on Chinese side. "All contentious areas during the current stand-off will be discussed to stabilize the situation," a source said. China had agreed to move back in Pangong Tso but it did not. India claims Line of Actual Control at Finger 8 and Chinese are sitting between Finger 4 and Finger 5. Similar, differences exist in Depsang and Demchok areas. On June 22, the talks took place for around 11 hours between India and China military delegates. The dialogue was held in a cordial, positive and constructive atmosphere and there was a "mutual consensus to disengage". "Modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in eastern Ladakh were discussed," Indian Army had stated. On June 22, the corps commanders of two countries' military met at Moldo to resolve the border issue and ease tension in Eastern Ladakh. It was the second such meeting after the first one on June 6 to defuse the tensions in Eastern Ladakh. The meeting between 14 Corps commander Lieutenant General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin happened on the lines of the one they held at the Chushul-Moldo border personnel meeting (BPM) point in eastern Ladakh on June 6. Also Major General level dialogue took place for three consecutive days after the barbaric attack at patrolling point 14 in Galwan Valley on June 15 night where 20 Indian soldiers were killed. The three consecutive days talks were carried out to ease out the tense situation and to get released 10 Indian soldiers, including four officers, who were in Chinese captivity. Major General Abhijit Bapat, who is the Commander of the 3 Division of the Indian Army, had raised several points with the Chinese with regards to the incident on the night intervening June 15-16. The clash occurred at the south bank of Galwan river, which flows in an east-west direction before its confluence with Shayok river, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed. It is the first casualties faced by the Indian Army in a clash with the Chinese People's Liberation Army since 1975 when an Indian patrol was ambushed by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh. Sources said Indian Army troopers were outnumbered by 1:5 ratio when they came under attack from the Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers at patrolling point number 14 in Ladakh on the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh. China's PLA troopers "savagely attacked" Indian Army personnel, according to sources in the government with knowledge of the details of the Monday night clashes between the two army soldiers. "The numbers were stacked up against the Indian Army troopers. Yet, the Indian side decided to fight the PLA troopers. The Indian soldiers were outnumbers 1:5 by the Chinese troopers," a source said on Wednesday. China is also said to have used thermal imaging drones to trace the Indian Army soldiers scattered on the treacherous terrain before brutally attacking them. "It was the deadliest attack carried on Indian Army personnel by the Chinese military personnel to our memory," the government sources said. Several Indian Army soldiers are currently "critically injured" and are undergoing treatment. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text SUPPORT THIS INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM The article youre about to read is from our reporters doing their important work investigating, researching, and writing their stories. We want to provide informative and inspirational stories that connect you to the people, issues and opportunities within our community. Journalism takes a lot of resources. Today, our business model has been interrupted by the pandemic; the vast majority of our advertisers businesses have been impacted. Thats why the Weekly is now turning to you for financial support. Learn more about our new Insiders program here. Thank you. JOIN NOW New Delhi, June 30 : The Franklin Templeton group, which is facing several serious litigations and strong proceedings for illegally winding up six schemes in India recently wherein around Rs 28,000 crore of around 40,000 investors has got stuck, has a long and controversial history of regulatory violations, globally, according to a research report issued by the Chennai Financial Markets and Accountability (CFMA). The Franklin Templeton group has long been found to have indulged in regulatory breaches and shoddy practices for which global regulators not fined it heavily which has been reported to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), since Franklin Templeton is headquartered in Washington DC, says the report. The CFMA, a society to protect the interests of investors, was the first to oppose the Franklin Templeton move to abruptly close its six debt schemes and filed a PIL in Madras High Court which then issued notices to Franklin Templeton and SEBI on May 26, 2020. According to the research report, the US SEC has also reprimanded Franklin Templeton several times in the past. As per the US SEC Report of 2019, three global regulators, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Korea; the Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong; and the Ontario Securities Commission, Canada, have severely castigated and fined the Franklin Templeton group for serious regulatory violations over the past decade. Last year, as per the report, the FSS, Korea, imposed an institutional caution and fine of KRW 50 million, ultimately reduced to KRW 40 million (approximately $34,036 at the time of payment) for timely payment against Franklin Templeton Investment Trust Management Co. LTD. In 2010, the Securities and Futures Commission issued a public censure of Templeton Asset Management Ltd (TAML) in connection with its finding that TAML breached Rule 22 of the Hong Kong Takeovers Code as a result of TAML's inadvertent failure to disclose its dealings in the shares of a Hong Kong company between January 26, 2010 and April 15, 2010. TAML cooperated with the SFC and consented to the censure in connection with its inadvertent failure to make disclosures required by the Takeovers Code. Similarly, in 2005, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) had censured Franklin Templeton Investment Corp (FTIC) after its investigation into the latter's market timing activity found several anomalies. In sharp contrast to the prompt and diligent action taken by world regulators, the CFMA pointed out, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) fined Franklin Templeton a mere Rs 10 lakh, despite that the violations were of much graver scale and implications in this case. The SEBI's order indicting Franklin Templeton stated that as an India-domiciled mutual fund, it did not operate in accordance with the SEBI regulations that stipulate the form of the fund's investment committee (IC) and require that the fund carry out all of its operations, including location of IC members, within India, said the CFMA. In such a scenario which smacks of a cover-up, it remains to be seen whether such remote operations were the cause of the nature of investments made by Franklin Templeton which eventually led to their six schemes being illegally wound up, the CFMA said, adding that the global operation of critical decision making of Indian investment may also require an assessment of what should be the responsibility of the parent company against the losses incurred on account of such a winding up. "By allowing Franklin Templeton to close these debt schemes, the SEBI is legalising an anticipated loss of Rs 23,000 Crore on around 40,000 unit holders, causing them to receive only Rs 5,000 crore over an indefinite period of time. This is criminal on the part of SEBI as its duty is to protect and not sabotage the interests of investors," the CFMA noted. "The irony of the situation is, both Franklin Templeton and SEBI are silent on who is going to bear the Rs 23,000 crore loss due to this abrupt closure of these 6 debt schemes. Investors are demanding that SEBI declare Franklin Templeton 'not fit and proper' since it manages a total investment of Rs 1.16 Lakh Crore in its other schemes which could be similarly at risk to approximately 38 lakh investors if the closure of these 6 schemes is permitted. Instead of siding with Franklin Templeton, SEBI needs to safeguard the interest of investors and save the mutual fund industry," it added. The CFMA said if Franklin Templeton is allowed to illegally close these 6 debt schemes, in theory, it extrapolates to other mutual funds also. Then, tens of crores of investors are estimated to have loss of Rs 20 lakh crore out of total investment of Rs 25 lakh crore. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ruled that all cases related to Franklin Templeton India shutting down six of its debt schemes being heard in various high courts -- Gujarat, Madras and Delhi -- will be transferred to the Karnataka High Court where the fresh hearing will start early next month. Bhopal, June 30 : The BJP is finding itself in a predicament over the proposed expansion of the council of ministers in Madhya Pradesh due to pulls and pressures over the finalisation of names of prospective inductees and allocation of portfolios. A day earlier, IANS had reported that the intra-party discussions on the Cabinet expansion were in the final stages and the BJP sources had claimed that the expansion could be effected in a day or two. Whenever it takes place, the expansion would be the second in the council of ministers in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, which regained power in the state over three months ago. At present, apart from Chouhan, there are five ministers in the state. The Assembly session is slated to be held in July and as per constitutional requirements, a minimum of 12-member council of ministers has to be in place by then. The sources said that Chouhan remained in Delhi for two days along with Madhya Pradesh BJP chief Vishnu Dutt Sharma and organisation general secretary Suhas Bhagat to discuss the issue with the central leadership but to no avail. The party sources said that BJP Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia wanted at least 6-7 ministers of his choice, whereas the party wanted to appoint as ministers 10 of the 22 Congress MLAs who resigned from the Congress to join the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh. The sources said that Scindia was backing former minister Imarti Devi, Pardyuman Singh Tomar, Prabhuram Choudhary, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon, Ranvir Jatav and OPS Bhadoria for inclusion in the council of ministers. He was allegedly not in favour of appointing Aidal Singh Kansana, Bisahulal Singh, and Hardeep Singh Dang from his quota. Former Congress MLAs Govind Singh Rajput and Tulsiram Silawat have already been made Ministers in the state government. Scindia also wanted one of the home, transport and revenues departments, apart from higher education, child and women welfare, food and civil supplies, public relations, and rural development portfolios for ministers appointed from his quota. Scindia had voiced his choices during a meeting with the Chief Minister on Monday. On the other hand, Chouhan was said to have assured Bisahulal and Dang of ministerial posts for resigning from the Congress, while Home Minister Narottam Mishra has been backing Kansana. The BJP sources said that with two ministers already appointed from among the former Congress MLAs, Scindia's backing for seven candidates and three others who were front runners, there was pressure to appoint 12 ministers in total, which could reduce the BJP quota in the council of ministers. Since the BJP has senior and experienced MLAs, the situation has created headache for the party and there would be no surprise if the proposed expansion is postponed for now. Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh Congress mocked the delay in the expansion of the council of ministers, saying that the government was not able to "divide the area" among the ministers. Political analyst Ravinder Vyas said that it was a devil-and-the-deep-sea situation for Chouhan and the BJP. He pointed out that they needed to keep the MLAs who had crossed over from the Congress in good humour while taking care not to leave their own lawmakers dissatisfied. Chouhan returned to the state capital Bhopal on Tuesday morning after a two-day stay in Delhi, during which he held discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and Scindia. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed London, June 30 : The vast majority of England's galleries and museums won't reopen on July 4, despite being given the go-ahead by the UK government to do so last week amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was reported on Tuesday. While the National Gallery will be the first major London gallery to reopen its doors from July 8, The Royal Academy also announced its plans on Tuesday to reopen from July 9, with face masks compulsory, reports the BBC. The Barbican gallery will reopen on July 13, but the Tate Modern said its four venues would not reopen their doors until July 27. Many other venues have not yet set a firm date, but some will not let the public back in until August or September. In their announcements on Tuesday, the National Gallery, Tate, Barbican and Royal Academy all said visitors would need to book timed tickets in advance. Last week, the government confirmed that museums and galleries can open from Saturday, as can cinemas, pubs, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers, libraries, theme parks and zoos. Cultural institutions opening on that date will include Scarborough Art Gallery. But many will not have had time to implement the government safety guidance. Visitors will be asked to follow one-way routes around the building, and to maintain the 2-metre social distancing, the BBC reported. The other venues opening soon include Derby Museum & Art Gallery and the National Army Museum in London, both from July 7. The capital's Foundling Museum will reopen "in early July". The Whitechapel Gallery will open on July 14, and the Wallace Collection a day later. The Hepworth Wakefield and the Serpentine will both follow in early August, but the Whitworth in Manchester will not let visitors back until September. Meanwhile, the British Museum, Natural History Museum, National Museums Liverpool and Royal Armouries are among those who have not set a reopening date, but have confirmed it won't be July 4. New Delhi, June 30 : Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) -- one of the key components of the National Rural Health Mission -- played a crucial role in a combat against novel coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh by tracing 30.43 lakh migrant returnees. ASHA workers supported the Uttar Pradesh government in the COVID-19 management at a time when lakhs of migrant workers started moving to the state from different cities after losing jobs due to the nationwide lockdown after March 25. During the crisis, when every state was combating with the disease to contain its spread, Uttar Pradesh government pushed its ASHA workers to trace the migrant returnees so that they could be quarantined to avoid possible infection to others in case they are found COVID-19 positive As per the Union Health Ministry data, 1.6 lakh ASHAs have tracked over nearly 30.43 lakh migrant returnees in two phases -- 11.24 lakh in the first and 19.19 lakh in the second phase -- in a gigantic exercise in Uttar Pradesh, which so far has reported 22,828 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 672 deaths as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHF) data. The ASHA workers assisted in contact tracing and community level surveillance. They not only identified 7,965 persons with symptoms, but also regularly followed up on their health status. These workers have facilitated sample collection from 2,232 returnees of which 203 were found to be positive and were referred to COVID health care services. They came in contact with the 'Nigrani Samitis' (vigilance committee) -- a committee formed in all the villages under the Gram Pradhan (village head) -- and collected details of the migrants in the villages. These committees in turn helped the ASHA workers with the follow up on the migrants. Suresh Kumar, a 20-year-old native of Bahraich (Huzoorpur Block, Nibuhi Kala village), worked at a juice shop in Mumbai city. He returned home along with other migrant workers in a truck in early May after travelling for five days. As soon as Suresh reached home, a local ASHA worker, Chandra Prabha, met him and recorded his details. She informed the Rapid Response Team (RRT) of district Bahraich, which advised Suresh to quarantine himself at home. Prabha also counselled the family members and explained in detail the steps to be taken during home quarantine. She undertook regular followup visits and kept in touch with the family. Alertness, motivational skills and support of the ASHA worker ensured that as soon as Suresh began experiencing symptoms, he was sent to the Community Health Centre, Chitaura, which is also a designated COVID Care facility. Prabha also ensured that Suresh's family members and his fellow migrants were referred for COVID testing. With the surge in the cases of COVID-19 in the country and the influx of migrant population from hotspot areas, one of the major challenges in Uttar Pradesh was to cater to the healthcare needs of returnees and arrest the spread in its rural population. Officials in the Health Ministry said that ASHAs have played a critical role in sensitising the communities about the preventive measures to be adopted such as regular hand washing with soap and water, the importance of wearing masks when out in public spaces, and maintaining adequate physical distancing. As a result of their efforts, the officials said, there has been an enhanced awareness about essential and non-essential healthcare services and how to access these. As per the health ministry, these ASHAs are provided basic protective gear like masks and soap or sanitizers as they go about their duties. ASHAs have assisted the Panchayati Raj Department in the development of the community quarantine centres, in buildings like Anganwadi centres and primary schools. They have also ensured adoption of the Aarogya Setu app at the community level through awareness generation and supporting in its installation. "The contribution of ASHAs in non-COVID essential services have been exemplary. At the Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres, ASHAs are contributing in conducting line listing of all individuals, risk assessment and mobilisation for screening for chronic illness like Hypertension, Diabetes, three cancers (oral, breast and cervical cancers), TB and Leprosy," the Ministry said in a statement. These ASHA workers have also been instrumental in providing Reproductive Maternal Neonatal and Child Health (RMNCH) services which were directly affected by the lockdown measures and the necessity of maintaining physical distancing. They have created awareness about the availability of these services and helped people to access them. The National Health Mission supports nearly 10 lakh ASHAs in rural and urban areas of most parts of the country, the Ministry said, adding that nearly one-sixth (1.67 lakh) are from Uttar Pradesh. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, June 30 : Just ahead of the Prime Minister's address to the nation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday demanded that Narendra Modi should announce the Nyay scheme to benefit the poor and also tell the nation when the Chinese troops "will leave the Indian soil". In a video message, Rahul Gandhi said: "Coronavirus has caused irreversible damage to the poor, middle, and salaried classes; we have demanded the government to implement Nyay scheme even if it is for six months." "The government should transfer Rs 7,500 per month to the accounts of the poor, the Congress leader added. Gandhi added: "Everybody knows the Chinese troops have occupied our holy land at four places." He also attacked the central government for raising fuel prices in the last three weeks since June 7. The Congress had proposed Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay) in the 2019 general election manifesto, promising that if voted to power, its government would enact a law to give cash to bottom 20 per cent of India's families in terms of wealth. Such households were to receive up to Rs 72,000 each per year, benefiting 250 million people. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Washington, June 30 : Deborah Birx, head of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce, has called on local authorities to expand testing as the us continues to grapple with the largest outbreak in the world. In a call with the country's governors on Monday, Birx identified the states of Texas and Arizona as "signficant hotspots", and said the task force wanted to help "deploy some new testing techniques to really test large populations at the community level", the BBC reported citing CBS News. "Although our mortality continues to decline week over week, we believe this week it will stabilize, with the potential of going back up if we don't intervene comprehensively now," she added. As of Tuesday morning, the US accounted for 2,588,582 COVID-19 cases, with 126,133 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Both tallies are currently the highest in the world. On June 26, the US reported the highest number of new cases in a single day, with at least 40,173 new infections. Thirty-six states were reporting a rise in COVID-19 cases. During Monday's call Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert, said young people needed to understand they had a role to play in helping to contain the spread. "We don't want to go back to shutdown," he added. "We want to let the public health process be the vehicle to opening up, not the obstacle to opening up." The call came a day after US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said the "window is closing" for the country to curb the surge of coronavirus cases. "Things are very different from two months ago... So it is a very different situation, but this is a very, very serious situation and the window is closing for us to take action and get this under control," Xinhua news agency quoted Azar as saying in a CNN interview on Sunday. Azar said that in many southern states where the virus is spiking, including Florida and Texas, the majority of the cases were people under 35, and a large number of those will be asymptomatic. Azar said the administration is working with local authorities and states to understand why the virus is surging in certain areas. He noted that treatments like steroids and remdesivir were now available for COVID-19, and encouraged people who have had the virus to donate plasma to increase the supply. The 22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenangyaung), one of the Indian ArmyAAAs artillery regiment, celebrated its 100-year anniversary of its raising on June 29, 2020. The regiment fought in the 1962 war where in Bum La, it defeated numerous C Image Source: IANS News The 22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenangyaung), one of the Indian ArmyAAAs artillery regiment, celebrated its 100-year anniversary of its raising on June 29, 2020. The regiment fought in the 1962 war where in Bum La, it defeated numerous C Image Source: IANS News The 22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenangyaung), one of the Indian ArmyAAAs artillery regiment, celebrated its 100-year anniversary of its raising on June 29, 2020. The regiment fought in the 1962 war where in Bum La, it defeated numerous C Image Source: IANS News The 22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenangyaung), one of the Indian ArmyAAAs artillery regiment, celebrated its 100-year anniversary of its raising on June 29, 2020. The regiment fought in the 1962 war where in Bum La, it defeated numerous C Image Source: IANS News The 22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenangyaung), one of the Indian ArmyAAAs artillery regiment, celebrated its 100-year anniversary of its raising on June 29, 2020. The regiment fought in the 1962 war where in Bum La, it defeated numerous C Image Source: IANS News The 22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenangyaung), one of the Indian ArmyAAAs artillery regiment, celebrated its 100-year anniversary of its raising on June 29, 2020. The regiment fought in the 1962 war where in Bum La, it defeated numerous C Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, June 30 : The 22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenangyaung), one of the Indian Army's artillery regiments, celebrated the 100-year anniversary of its raising on June 29, 2020. The regiment fought in the 1962 war where in Bum La, it defeated numerous Chinese attacks in support of 1 Sikh. Post-1971, the regiment has conducted numerous counter insurgency operations in North East and in Jammu & Kashmir and also fought terrorists in the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, major commemoration plans were postponed, however wreath laying was conducted to honour the martyrs of the regiment in numerous wars and other operations, the Indian Army stated. A senior Indian Army officer of the same regiment said, "June 29, 2020 is a momentous landmark in the history of 22 Medium Regiment (Sittang and Yenangyaung), wherein the regiment completed a century of its raising." 100 years back on this day, the four oldest artillery batteries in British India, 22 (Derajat) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force), 5 (Bombay) Mountain Battery, 4 (Hazara) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) and 7 (Bengal) Mountain Battery were grouped to raise the artillery regiment as part of the then British Indian Army at Peshawar in present-day Pakistan. The regiment was initially named as 8 Pack Artillery Brigade and later renamed as 22 Mountain Regiment. The number 22 was taken from 22 (Derajat) Mountain Battery. Lieutenant Colonel Alan Gordon Haig, CMG, DSO was designated as the first Commandant. Prior to 1920 the four constituent batteries that are Derajat, Bombay, Hazara and Bengal fought numerous legendary battles to include battles of Kabul, Afghan Wars, Battle of Chitral and Battle of Ali Masjid, to name a few. These gunners also fought valiant battles in First World War in German East Africa, Abyssinia and Mesopotamia. These historic actions were honoured by 35 battle honours. Post-1920, on amalgamation, the regiment fought numerous gallant battles in Second World War in Burma theatre wherein the regiment was awarded with two battle honours, one each for battle of Sittang Bridge and battle of Yenang Yaung. The famous action of Havildar Umrao Singh in battle of Kaladan Valley won him the highest gallantry award of the 'Victoria Cross'. The officers of the regiment were also awarded with Nine Military Crosses apart from numerous other gallantry awards. Immediately after independence, the regiment fought the nefarious designs of the adversary in Battle of Naushera in Jammu & Kashmir. As a rare feat in military history, the regiment was awarded with four Vir Chakras in a single battle. In 1951, in recognition of the illustrious actions of the regiment and the constituent batteries prior to regimentation, the regiment was conferred with the title of 'Corps D'Elite', and granted honour to wear 'red and dark blue' lanyard on right shoulder vide Army Order 81/51 by the Chief of Army Staff. In the 1962 war, the accurate fire by the regiment in Battle of Bum La, defeated numerous Chinese attacks in support of 1 Sikh. The guns and men of the regiment also engaged the enemy accurately in Battle of Nuranag including close range direct engagements of enemy along with 4 Garhwal Rifles which is regarded as one of the fiercest defensive action in 1962 war. The regiment also fought hand to hand combat in the Battle of Bomdi La against the belligerents. A total 20 gallant men of the regiment including three officers were martyred in this war. In the 1965 war, the famous battle of 'Ichhogoil Canal' was fought under the leadership of Major General Mohinder Singh, Military Cross, first Indian Commandant of the regiment. He was awarded with Maha Vir Chakra during the 1965 operations. Furthermore, during liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, the fire power of the regiment proved decisive in numerous battles to include Battle of Madhumati River and raid of Dhopakali, to name a few. In fact the war in Eastern Theatre commenced with the salvo fired by 7 (Bengal) Mountain Battery, as part of the regiment. "Post 1971, the regiment has effectively conducted numerous counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in North East and in Jammu & Kashmir. An officer of the regiment fought the terrorists in 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai and was awarded Shaurya Chakra for the same," said Indian Army. The men of this regiment have also been the sentinels of Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world from 2017 to 2019. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Canberra, June 30 : A website aimed at streamlining divorces and helping couples avoid expensive legal fees has been launched in Australia. The site, called Amica, was developed by National Legal Aid with A$3 million ($2.06 million) in government funding, reports Xinhua news agency. It uses technology to guide separating couples to amicable agreements on parenting arrangements and property settlements without hefty legal bills. The settlement tool uses an Artificial Intelligence (AI) program to search through a database of past court judgments to provide a recommendation on how a former couple should divide their assets based on their unique circumstances. A man told News Corp Australia that he and his former spouse used amica in its testing phase after being told that their divorce would cost each party A$20,000 in legal fees. "It was absolutely fabulous. Amica helped us create a document that has allowed us to move forward with the care of our kids, which was a godsend," he said. "It's unfortunate that people go through this but, at the same time, if there is a third party or a system like amica that helps you come to common ground, that makes the conversation that little bit easier. "It's taking a lot of pressure off us when it comes to working out what the next step is." According to data released by The Separation Guide, a divorce information group, there has been a 314 per cent increase in the number of couples thinking about separating during the coronavirus pandemic. Research by National Legal Aid found that 78 per cent of Australians going through a divorce were willing to use a service like amica. Bengaluru, June 30 : The Met Department issued a yellow alert and forecast heavy rains for three coastal districts and 12 more in the south interior Karnataka, an official said on Tuesday. "Thunderstorm with lightning is likely to occur at isolated places over south interior Karnataka from Tuesday to Wednesday," said a Met official. Coastal Karnataka -- Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts have been issued a yellow alert for the next two days with thundershowers and gusty winds. Winds blowing at speed of 40-50 km per hour are expected on the coast and the Met department warned fishermen against venturing into the sea. Meanwhile, heavy showers on Sunday night in Vijayapura district gave rise to flash floods in the Doni river and Sogali stream. An overflowing Doni river submerged Talikote - Hadaginal bridge, an old one from the British times, and also some agricultural lands. Only recently, the agricultural lands were sown with tur. Similarly, many SSLC students also struggled to cross the bridge to reach their examination centres on Monday. Many houses were also flooded due to the rainfall at Nalatwad and Talikote taluk. Muddebihal, Basavana Bagewadi and Sindagi taluks also witnessed heavy rainfall. A 40-year-old farmer from Dharwad district was washed away in the Tuppari Halla stream, which is prone to flood during the monsoon season. Likewise, a truck carrying cotton also got washed away in a stream in Yadgir district. "There is an offshore trough and a circulation, because of that rain will continue in coastal area. Only Malnad has not got sufficient rain this year. Probably after two days, Malnad may get some rains," Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) Director Srinivas Reddy told IANS. Otherwise, entire state got normal rainfall, said Reddy, though it is not active over Malnad. For Bengaluru city, the Met department has forecast a generally cloudy sky with light rain for the next three days. Washington, June 30 : Former US Vice Ppresident and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden has expanded his campaign team, adding Indian-American Medha Raj as his digital chief of staff, it was reported. In addition to Raj, Biden announced several new names for his almost entirely virtual campaign trail, IndiaWest news reported on Monday citing CNN as saying. Raj was joined by Clarke Humphrey as the new deputy digital director for grassroots fundraising; Jose Nunez as the digital organizing director; and Christian Tom as the new director of digital partnerships. The four new additions, whose collective experience includes digital work on the Democratic presidential campaigns of California Senator Kamala Harris, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and online expertise from companies like Twitter and NowThis, will be devoted to online organizing, content and grassroots fundraising. Raj will work across all facets of the digital department to streamline and coordinate how to maximize the impact of its digital outputs. She comes from former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's campaign, said India-West. "Excited to share that I've joined Joe Biden's campaign as the Digital Chief of Staff. 130 days to the election and we're not going to waste a minute," she wrote on her LinkedIn profile. Raj is based out of the Los Angeles area in Southern California. She worked for eight months on the Buttigieg campaign, from August 2019 to March 2020. A graduate of Georgetown University and Stanford, Raj was a research assistant for Real Institute Elcano in Spain; a consultant at Deloitte; on the strategy team for Flippable.org; and the investment team at Higher Ground Labs. She also served in the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and on California Governor Gavin Newsom's campaign in 2018. News Pennsylvania State Police, LCB: Licensed liquor establishments must require masks HARRISBURG The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE) and the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) called on licensed liquor establishments and their patrons to abide by social distancing and masking requirements to help slow the spread of COVID-19 through a press release issued Monday. On June 17, the Wolf administration issued updated guidance for businesses in the restaurant and retail food service industry as part of the commonwealths ongoing response to the COVID-19 public health crisis. Among other requirements, all businesses and employees in the restaurant and retail food service industry authorized to conduct in-person activities are mandated to: Require all customers to wear masks while entering, exiting or otherwise traveling throughout the restaurant or retail food service business (face masks may be removed while seated). Further, employees are required to wear masks at all times. Provide at least six feet between parties at tables or physical barriers between customers where booths are arranged back to back. Ensure maximum occupancy limits for indoor and outdoor areas are posted and enforced. On June 18, the PLCB issued guidance to licensed liquor establishments choosing to resume on-premises service of alcohol in counties in the yellow and green phases of reopening. The guidance incorporated and reinforced the governors mandates, including those noted above. Pennsylvanias COVID-19 mitigation efforts have been among the most successful in the country in slowing the spread of this dangerous virus and allowing for the cautious reopening of restaurants and other licensed liquor establishments, said PLCB Executive Director Charlie Mooney. Just as the PLCB requires masks for employees and customers at our Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores, licensees must remain vigilant in order to stay on the path to recovery and keep our businesses operating. An establishment that fails to comply with requirements mandating the wearing of masks, providing at least six feet between parties at tables, and ensuring that maximum occupancy limits are observed risks citation by the BLCE. Penalties may be assessed for each violation and include a fine of up to $1,000 and possible suspension and/or revocation of the liquor license. Continued operation in violation of the guidance after a warning or citation risks further enforcement action by BLCE and ultimately puts the liquor license at risk, both through the citation process and upon application for renewal to the PLCB. Licensees are reminded that any person who violates the Liquor Code may be charged criminally with a misdemeanor, the press release said. Our enforcement officers have found that the vast majority of licensed liquor establishments statewide are voluntarily complying with mitigation requirements, and we remain focused on education and working with licensees during this challenging time, said Major Jeffrey Fisher, director of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. However, the commonwealth remains in the midst of a public health emergency, and serious consequences are possible for businesses that fail to take the necessary steps to keep their employees and customers safe. Since mid-March, BLCE officers have conducted compliance checks at over 15,100 licensed liquor establishments. Officers conduct an average of 1,500 compliance checks each day and have issued 162 warnings and 103 notices of violations to date. Complaints regarding licensees not complying with COVID-19 mitigation mandates may be directed to the BLCE at 1-800-932-0602 or reported through the BLCEs online complaint form. Los Angeles, June 30 : Actress Anne Hathaway says Hollywood filmmaker Christopher Nolan does not allow chairs on his sets as he feels that "if they're sitting they're not working". Hathaway was seen as Batman's nemesis Catwoman in Nolan's 2012 movie "The Dark Knight Rises". In an interview for Variety's Actors on Actors issue, Hathaway talked with actor Hugh Jackman about the conversations she had with Nolan before starting her work as Catwoman. Jackman worked with Nolan in 2006's magician drama "The Prestige", reports variety.com. "You know how you have those jobs and you just go, 'I don't know how I'm going to work again because this was such fun'. I'm such a director nerd. I love just seeking out the best directors I can and then just watching them. Chris' whole approach to filmmaking is one of my favourite ones. He's broken it down to its most minimal, but also his movies are just so huge and ornate. That combination of really being intentional about what it was that we were doing -- and also, he's just so inspiring," she said. The actress also recalled a specific detail from Nolan's movie sets. "He doesn't allow chairs, and his reasoning is, if you have chairs, people will sit, and if they're sitting, they're not working. I mean, he has these incredible movies in terms of scope and ambition and technical prowess and emotion. It always arrives at the end under schedule and under budget. I think he's onto something with the chair thing," Hathaway said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Srinagar, June 30 : Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh on Tuesday said 48 terrorists have been killed in anti-terror operations in the month of June. Speaking to reporters in the border district of Poonch in Jammu, Singh said security forces have led many anti-terror operations in which a number of terrorists and their commanders were eliminated. Giving details, he said 128 terrorists have been killed during this year so far. Of these, 48 terrorists were killed in the month of June alone. "Out of 128 terrorists killed during this year, 70 belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen, 20 each were from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the rest were from other terrorist outfits," he said. He said the two terrorists killed in an encounter with the security forces in Kashmir on Saturday were involved in the killing of a five-year-old child and a CRPF jawan last week. He said the terrorist launch pads were active in Pakistan and attempts were being made to infiltrate terrorists into India. "In the past many such attempts were foiled and they will be foiled in the future also," he said. He also said that it was being noticed that there was a decline in the number of local boys joining terror ranks. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Hazira : , June 30 (IANS) The heavy engineering arm of Larsen and Toubro, has completed the final assembly of cryostat, the largest stainless steel, high-vacuum pressure chamber in the world. It's an important milestone in the global nuclear fusion sector as well as a moment of pride for the 'Make in India' initiative, said L&T, India's leading engineering, construction, technology, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, in a statement, here on Tuesday. The ceremony was attended through video link by International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Global's Director-General Bernard Bigot, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman K.N. Vyas, ITER-India Project Director U.K. Baruah, NITI Aayog Member V.K. Saraswat, L&T Group Chairman A.M. Naik, CEO & MD of L&T S.N. Subrahmanyan and others. "Today, in Hazira, we celebrate the completion of fabrication of all segments, including the Top Lid, of the cryostat. We achieved it under these challenging conditions," said Bigot. Speaking on the occasion, Subrahmanyan said it was a proud moment for L&T as it had achieved another milestone in the development of world's largest stainless steel, high-vacuum pressure chamber. The company used innovative and digital manufacturing techniques to ensure uninterrupted supply of high quality, high-precision assemblies to the ITER, he said and added, it would pave the way for installation of cryostat at the project site in France and "lead to the demonstration of large-scale feasibility of fusion power." "It has empowered India to move towards Atmanirbhar Bharat plan by acquiring knowledge in this highly specialised field of science and technology," the L&T CEO said. The cryostat assembly referred as the Top Lid, weighing 650 tonnes, is to be installed with other cryostat segments for ITER at a reactor pit in southern France. L&T has already delivered the base section, the lower cylinder and the upper cylinder for the cryostat, which provides cooling to the fusion reactor and keeps very high temperatures at its core under control. The project scope for L&T Heavy Engineering was divided into three aspects. First, the company was to manufacture assemblies at its Hazira complex. The second aspect involved building a temporary workshop at the project site in Cadarache, France, for the assembly of various sectors. And finally, to integrate the cryostat with the Tokamak Reactor building. With the flagging off, L&T Heavy Engineering has completed the manufacturing work planned in India. New Delhi, June 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that economic activities in the country will be increased further while observing all precautions to combat the coronavirus crisis. In his address to the nation, Modi said that as India enters into 'Unlock Two' more economic activities will be allowed. However, he cautioned against laxity in ensuring precautions against the deadly virus. He further said that schemes focused on agriculture, economically weaker sections of society and rural areas will aid in employment generating during the monsoon and thereafter. Besides, he pointed out, the country will continue with its efforts for import substitution and will become even more 'Vocal for Local'. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Chennai, June 30 : The non-life insurance industry is expected to log negative growth this financial year (FY21) due to Covid-19 pandemic, according to a top official of Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company, here on Tuesday. Announcing retirement from the Mugugappa Group insurance firm, S.S. Gopalarathnam said V. Suryanarayanan, President & COO, would take over as the Managing Director on July 1. The company is a joint venture between the Rs 381 billion turnover Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, Japan. Gopalarathnam said the non-life insurance industry would suffer degrowth in the first quarter of FY21. The second quarter business figures might be flat compared with Q2FY20. The industry could start logging growth from the third quarter, but overall there might be zero growth or two per cent negative growth for FY21, he added. For Cholamandalam MS General, the business degrowth during Q1FY21 was about 14 per cent, he said. According to him, the rural demand for two-wheelers will give a necessary push to the automobile insurance business. An increase in demand for two-wheelers has resulted in better business for the non-life insurers. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India too recently tweaked the norms for long-term policies, resulting in lower premium outgo for new vehicle buyers. On crop insurance, he said the business was expected to go down to about Rs 12,000 crore this year from Rs 27,000 earlier due to change in the scheme. Gopalarathnam ruled out any fresh capital infusion in the current financial year. New Delhi, June 30 : In a bid to give reprieve to the property tax depositors in North Delhi, the Municipal corporation has extended the deadline of 15 per cent rebate till July 31. In an office order issued by NDMC, "It is informed to all concerned that date of deposit for property tax for the year 20-21, the lump sum payment with 15 per cent rebate, has been extended to July 31 for convenience of the tax payers". MCD takes property tax on buildings and vacant land. There are three ways of computing taxes -- annual rental value, capital value and unit area system. Property taxes are the main source of revenue for municipal authorities to maintain the basic civic services in the area of jurisdiction, which is charged every year. New Delhi, June 30 : China on Tuesday reached out to India, expressing anxiety about the ban imposed by the Indian government on popular Chinese mobile applications like TikTok and WeChat, among others. During a daily news briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing, "China is strongly concerned about the relevant notice issued by the Indian side. We are checking on and verifying the situation." "We want to stress that the Chinese government always asks the Chinese businesses to abide by international and local laws and regulations," Zhao said, adding that India also has a responsibility to uphold the rights of Chinese businesses. "The practical cooperation between China and India is actually mutually beneficial and win-win," he said. In a diplomatic reaction to the Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, where 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed two weeks ago, India on Monday banned over 50 Chinese mobile applications. The government in its statement said that the 59 applications were prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state, and public order. "This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users," the Indian IT ministry statement said. Since the violent face-off and aggressive posturing of Beijing, there has been a vocal sentiment against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime in India. -- Syndicated from IANS New Delhi, June 30 : Amid the face-off between the Congress and the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, the nearly dormant Congress is giving a tough fight to the ruling party on the streets of Lucknow. On Tuesday, state Congress President Ajay Kumar Lallu and Congress legislature party leader Aradhana Misra staged protests against the arrest of Congress minority cell chief Shahnawaz Alam. Prior to this, the Congress state chief was seen in a verbal spat with police personnel on Monday night when Alam was arrested by the Lucknow police for his alleged role in the anti-CAA violence which took place in December last year. Ever since Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took over as party in-charge of eastern UP, the Congress has been confronting the Yogi Adityanath government on every issue -- the most recent was the buses for migrants where Priyanka Gandhi caught the Yogi government off guard and offered 1,000 buses to transport migrants. Jitin Prasada, a Congress Working Committee member from the state, said "Only the Congress is raising the issue of people -- from migrants to collapse of law and order in the state to the killings of the Brahmins, which has increased in this regime." Aiming a barb at the Chief Minister who belongs to the Rajput community, Prasada said "the government is rattled by the Congress raising issues constantly." "First, our state president was kept in jail for four weeks on fake charges. Now this police action is repressive and undemocratic. Congress workers are not afraid of police and fake cases," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet on Tuesday morning. The Congress leaders alleged that the SP and the BSP have been keeping mum, with Priyanka Gandhi even targeting BSP leader Mayawati saying she was the unofficial spokesperson of the BJP. "As I said, some opposition leaders have become unannounced spokespersons of the BJP, which is beyond my comprehension," Priyanka alleged. The Congress wants to place itself to a position where it is considered a serious player in UP politics where the SP and the BSP have core votebanks which the Congress lacks, a Congress leader said. But the problem plaguing the party for long is its weak organisation which is now being fixed by infusing fresh blood. The Congress leader is eyeing the BSP's Dalit vote bank and wants to discredit Mayawati by accusing her of being with the BJP as the Congress thinks the vote is against the BJP. Also, during this corona crisis the BSP has allegedly left its supporters to fend for themselves, said a party insider. The Congress by taking a fierce anti-CAA stand has already made a dent in the Muslim votebank of the SP. But the party knows that this vote will only come when it will have a core base. Another Congress leader Vishwanath Chaturvedi said, "without Brahmins the survival of the Congress in the state is difficult as the core vote is Brahmin, Dalit and Muslim and to fight BJP the Congress will have to tap the support of this community which is miffed with the BJP." Chandigarh, June 30 : Chandigarh Police has arrested five persons, including three women, on the charge of usurping high-end properties, especially of NRIs, after taking them on rent. Their modus operandi was to identify the properties of NRIs and take them on rent. After a certain period, they stopped paying the rent and made ownership claims on that property. They were arrested when they tried to occupy a house of US-based Harbhajan Singh in Chandigarh's Sector 40. One of the accused women, Neeraj Malhotra, 45, is a proclaimed offender in at least half a dozen cheque bounce cases in Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali, police said. The other accused have been identified as Dilpreet Grewal, 33, Kunti, 34, Amardeep Singh, 27, and Vikas Joshi, 29. They were arrested on Sunday on the complaint of Ludhiana resident Amanjot Singh. According to the police, Harbhajan Singh had rented out the house to Jayesh Panchal for 11 months in September 2019. He later stopped paying the rent. When Harbhajan Singh's nephew Amanjot Singh and his wife visited the house, he found Neeraj Malhotra was staying there illegally along with four others. Initially, Neeraj Malhotra got Amanjot arrested on the charge of sexually harassing her. During investigation, the police found that they were illegal occupants of the house. They were arrested on charge of forcibly and fraudulently occupying the premises. As per the police, the women had illegally occupied seven houses of NRIs in the tricity. New Delhi, June 30 : The Delhi High Court, allowing the petition filed by foreigners involved in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation case to shift their present accommodation, also granted them the liberty to approach police in case any such modification is required in future. "The petitioners are at a liberty to approach the Delhi Police in the future if any such modification is required. The Delhi Police, if it has no objections, shall forward the same to the union (government)," a division bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar said. The directions were passed while the court was hearing a petition filed by application filed, through advocate Ashima Mandla, seeking permission to shift one of the venues where some of the foreign nationals were staying, with permission of the court. The petitioner had stated that 65 foreign nationals were housed at Meeraj International School but were facing discomfort with regard to the arrangements there, and had sought permission to immediately shift these foreign nationals to the Texan Public School. The application said that the community has now identified an additional two alternate places of accommodation, which may be used in the future, if need be, to house any of the 955 foreign nationals in question. "The community once again undertakes to bear all costs for shifting accommodation and further duly notify the Delhi Police of the whereabouts of the foreign nationals," the application stated. On May 28, the bench had allowed 955 foreign nationals, who attended the congregation at Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin area here, to shift to alternate places of accommodation. Earlier, the Tablighi Jamaat took the responsibilities for arranging food and daily needs of the foreign nationals. The foreign nationals, however, have been directed not to leave their respective places without intimation. The Central government said that none of the foreign nationals are under detention and the relief to fly back home has not been pressed. Earlier, the counsel for the petitioner had sought release of these foreign nationals, who participated in the event and are being held in institutional quarantine since March 30 despite having tested negative for Covid-19. It was further informed by way of the status report that the Delhi Police has neither arrested nor detained anyone in the case lodged against members of Tablighi Jamaat for participating in the religious congregation at the Nizamuddin Markaz during the Covid-19 lockdown. The Delhi Police had, in its response filed before the court, said that that Tablighi Jamaat "deliberately, wilfully, negligently and malignantly disobeyed" the orders of the government regarding the lockdown and social distancing amidst the outbreak of the pandemic. The police had informed the court that the authorities of Markaz at Tablighi Jamaat headquarters, were contacted by Delhi Police. Mufti Shahzad there was apprised of the situation arising out of the spread of Covid-19 and was asked to take immediate action for preventing the spread of this disease. He was directed to send the foreign devotees back to their respective countries and Indian participants to their respective native places. "However, no one paid any heed to the lawful directions of Delhi Police," the investigating agency told the court. The police report also said that written notices were also issued to Maulana Mohd Saad and the Markaz Management, but they refused to pay any heed. The Delhi Police also told the court that an audio has been found where Maulana Saad was allegedly "heard asking his followers to defy the lockdown and social distancing and to attend the religious gathering of the Markaz". Sayre, PA (18840) Today Isolated thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High 89F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 58F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. New Delhi, June 30 : PM Narendra Modi on Thursday made two big announcements during his address to the nation -- extension of the current free ration scheme for 80 crore Indians for another five months till the festive season gets over in November, besides announcing the 'One India, One ration Card' scheme. Hiniting that it is a long haul and India's poor and needy will continue to need the handholding of the government, the Prime Minister declared that the 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna' (PMGKAY) has been extended by another five months. It is a programme through which 80 crore Indians get free monthly ration. The Prime Minister said the scheme, which will provide 5 kg wheat or rice to every needy family with an addition of 1 kg chana every month, will cost the government Rs 90,000 crore. The total cost of the scheme, including the amount spent so far, has cost the Centre an estimated Rs 1.5 lakh crore. "During festivals, our needs also increase and so do the expenses. Keeping all these things in mind, it has been decided that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana will now be extended till Diwali and Chhath Puja, which is by the end of November," Modi said. The Prime Minister credited the farmers and the honest taxpayers for making the mammoth scheme possible. "Today, if the government is being able to provide free food grains to the poor and the needy, the credit goes to two sections. Firstly, the hardworking farmers of India, and secondly, the honest taxpayers. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart," said the Prime Minister. He also mentioned how in the last three months, Rs 31,000 crore has been deposited into the bank accounts of 20 crore poor families. He also said that about Rs 18,000 crore is being deposited into bank accounts of more than nine crore farmers. Modi also used the opportunity to propose 'One Nation, One Ration Card'. "Now a ration card is also being arranged for the whole of India. That is, 'One Nation, One Ration Card'. It will benefit those poor colleagues who leave their villages and go elsewhere for employment or other needs," Modi said. The Prime Minister also made two things very clear -- "India will see more economic activities in the coming days, but Indians have no room to be complacent about the coronavirus". His statement assumes significance given that many have lowered their guard in the battle against the pandemic in recent times. The Prime Minister has asked the government and the concerned administrations to more stringently ensure that those violating the basic rules like wearing masks or maintaining social distancing desist from repeating their mistake. "Ever since Unlock 1.0 started in the country, negligence in personal and social behaviour has been increasing," the Prime Minister said. Asking the administration to pay special attention to the contentment zones, he said, "During the lockdown, rules were strictly abided by. But now, the state governments, the local administrations and the citizens will have to again show similar caution. We need to pay special attention to the containment zones. If you see someone flouting norms, tell them they cannot do so." To make his point, Modi cited an example of a Prime Minister of another nation who was heavily fined for not wearing a mask. He asserted that when it comes to following rules to prevent the spread of the pandemic, no-one is untouchable, "be it the village head or the Prime Minister himself". -- Syndicated from IANS New Delhi, June 30 : Bharatiya Janata Party President JP Nadda hailed Prime minister Narendra Modi's announcement to extend the free ration programme for another 5 months, calling his leadership during the pandemic "alert and sensitive". Hinting that it is a long haul and India's poor and needy will continue to need the hand-holding by the state, PM Modi declared that India's Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna has now been extended by another 5 months. It is a programme through which 80 crore Indians get free monthly rations. The BJP President on Tuesday said it reflects Modi's "commitment and sensitivity for the upliftment of the poor". "The scheme, launched in April 2020 under Garib Kalyan Package, is expected to cost around Rs 1.50 lakh crore by November 2020. We congratulate him for making every possible effort to save both life and livelihood during this pandemic," Nadda remarked. However, for the Prime Minister, it was less about numbers and more about having a sympathetic outlook. "During festivals, our needs also increase and so do the expenses. Keeping all these things in mind, it has been decided that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana should now be extended till Diwali and Chhath Puja, which is by the end of November," he said during his address to the nation on Tuesday afternoon. Hailing that, Nadda said "I once again express my heartfelt gratitude for this decision of the Prime Minister to extend the Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for 80 crore poor people of the country till Diwali-Chhath." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, June 30 : Cracking its whip against the hawala operators, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday attached properties of Aijaz Hussain Khawaja, who was arrested in 2006 with one bag containing 2.05 kilograms of RDX and Rs 49 lakh in a terror funding case. The ED in a statement said that it has attached assets under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) worth Rs 7.32 lakh of Khawaja, a resident of Baramulla in Jammu & Kashmir in a terror funding case of 2006. The ED said that it attached a portion of a residential flat in Delhi's Jangpura and balances in the bank account held by wife of accused Khawaja. The present market value of attached property is higher, it said. The ED said that during probe it was revealed that Khawaja was operating as a hawala operator for financing various terror related illegal activities in J&K. "Out of such illegal hawala operation, he had generated proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs. 8.50 lakh during that period," it said, adding, "As a hawala operator he was in touch with Muktiar Ahmed Bhat alias Ahmed, a Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative in league with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelliegnece (IS) to undertake hawala transactions or dealings for various separatists and militant activities." The ED said that the property was attached after identification of these assets in the form of house and bank balances. According to ED, in 2006, Khawaja was apprehended with one bag containing 2.05 kg of RDX and Rs 49 lakh in cash by Delhi Police's Special Cell. Khawaja was convicted with sentence of imprisonment for a period of 7 years under section of Explosive Substances Act, 1908 along with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The seized amount was also confiscated by the trial court. Chennai, June 30 : The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Crime Branch Crime Investigation Department (CBCID) to take over the probe into the custodial death of father and son in the Tuticorin district. It's an interim measure to protect evidence till the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) takes up the case, as decided by the Tamil Nadu government. P. Jeyaraj and his son J. Bennicks had been booked for not closing their mobile shop in time on June 19 by the Sathankulam police. They were sent to the judicial custody and lodged in Kovilpatti jail on June 21. Jeyaraj died on June 22 night and Bennicks on June 23 morning in the judicial custody, allegedly due to the police torture. The court, which took suo moto cognizance of the case, observed that there were chances of the evidence being tampered with and appointed CB-CID Deputy Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar to handle the case. On Monday, the court had ordered the Revenue Department officials to take over the Sathankulam police station to protect evidences from tampering. The court also said there was prima facie evidence to register a murder case against the Santhankulam police officials. The preliminary post-mortem report pointed to various injuries on bodies of Jeyaraj and Bennicks. Meanwhile, the court asked the three policemen -- Additional Superintendent of Police D. Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police C. Prathapan, and constable Maharajan -- to file their explanations in four weeks, while hearing the criminal contempt case initiated against them. The high court also took a serious view of the report by the Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate who said Maharajan made a very disparaging remark against him while the other two officers were present. All the officials at the Sathankulam police station have been shifted out. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Thiruvananthapuram, June 30 : A day after the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) booted out its ally Kerala Congress (Mani) for defying its directive to vacate the president's post of the Kottayam district panchayat, the ousted group decided to wait and watch the developments. Kerala Congress (Mani) was founded by UDF veteran late K.M. Mani and is now led by his son and Rajya Sabha member Jose K. Mani. The Kerala Congress (Mani) comprises of two factions -- one presently led by Mani and the other led by veteran legislator P.J. Joseph. For all practical purposes for the past one year they have been functioning as two different entities. On Monday, Jose Mani and his faction were dropped from the UDF for defying its directive. "For 38 long years , Mani Sir (K.M. Mani) was the heart and soul of the UDF and in one day, we have been ousted, without remembering Mani Sir. This was nothing but political treachery . Everything that Joseph is saying are lies. Ever since Mani Sir passed away, Joseph was wanting to hijack the party. In the past also we have remained on our own and from now on we will be on our own and at the appropriate time we will take a decision," said Jose. Jose K. Mani appeared to have got a lifeline after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan did not belittle the former and said that nothing can be ruled out in politics. However, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran - the second biggest ally in the ruling Left - made no bones and said the LDF will not act as a ventilator to any party in the opposition. "I don't think I have to reply to every comment that Vijayan makes. The Left Front is not one, where anyone can just enter. Let Jose K. Mani decide his fate, what we have to say on this we will say it in the Left Democratic Front meeting," said Rajendran. With the local body polls scheduled for October, Jose and his faction will have to decide quickly on their way forward. Meanwhile top leaders of the Congress including former two time Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that there has to be discipline in a political front. All of us tried our best to speak to Jose K. Mani to see that he adheres to the directives of the UDF. "The doors of the UDF are not closed at all," said Chandy. At the moment, all eyes are on the UDF leadership meeting to be held on Wednesday, the first after Jose K. Mani was booted out, as very soon discussions will begin on seat sharing for the October civic polls. Bengaluru, June 30 : Fourteen medical colleges, both private and public, have joined forces with the government to combat Covid-19 in the city, committing to provide 6,500 beds, a minister said on Tuesday. "Private medical colleges in Bengaluru have agreed to join hands with the government for the treatment of Covid patients," said state Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar. He said that representatives from the colleges have promised to provide 2,000 beds immediately while another 4,500 will be added within a week. On Tuesday, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and Sudhakar held separate meetings with the representatives of the private colleges. "All the private colleges have assured to extend their support as per the government decision. There are 11 private and three government medical colleges in the city, and we will get about 6,500 beds from them for Covid treatment," Sudhakar said. Doctors and other staff working in these colleges will be made available to the government in a week's time and the beds will be allocated through the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike's (BBMP) centralised system. "Insurance facility will be extended to the doctors and staff serving in these private hospitals also. Post graduate students in private medical colleges and other staff will be utilised in the Covid Care Centres (CCC)," said Sudhakar. Meanwhile, the minister hinted that there will be changes in treatment protocols going forward and the decision on that front will be taken in a meeting chaired by Yediyurappa. "Symptomatic patients, persons aged above 60 years and those with comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension and serious kidney, liver, lungs and heart related ailments will be admitted to the hospitals," he said. Other asymptomatic persons will be monitored in CCCs and a detailed notification with these guidelines will be released on Wednesday. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New Delhi, June 30 : The Congress on Tuesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, claiming that he had only coming Bihar Assembly elections on his mind in these tough times when the people wanted "Nyay" to be implemented. The Congress also pointed out that now even the Prime Minister had accepted that coronavirus crisis will be there till November, though the opposition party had expected that the PM will announce cash transfer of Rs 7,500 per month to each poor family under Nyay. Party leader Supriya Shrinate told a press conference that "the Prime Minister has focus only on the Bihar elections and there was nothing in his address to confront the challenges posed to the country." "We're glad to hear that Modi has heeded the advice of Congress President Sonia Gandhi to extend the provisions of providing free food to the poor," said Shrinate. Sonia Gandhi had demanded free ration til September, which the Prime Minister extended till November 2020. The Prime Minister had announced extension in the benefit of free ration under the PMGKAY for another five months till November to help the poor in view of the upcoming festivals like Diwali and Chhath. The Congress had proposed Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay) in the 2019 general election manifesto, promising that if voted to power, its government would enact a law to give cash to bottom 20 per cent of India's families in terms of wealth. Such households were to receive up to Rs 72,000 each per year, benefiting 250 million people. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Thiruvananthapuram, June 30 : Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja on Tuesday said that 131 new Covid positive cases were registered in the state. It included 65 who came from abroad, 46 were those who came from within the country, 10 were local infectees, nine were CISF personnel at the Kannur airport and there was one death which took place on Saturday and tested positive late Monday night. "As of today there are 2,112 people who are positive, while 2,304 by now have been cured of the disease. There are 1,84,657 people presently in isolation at homes, corona care centres and it includes 2,781 who are in various hospitals," said Shailaja. On Tuesday when 19 hot spot areas was added, 10 were left out, taking the total hot spot areas to 127. New Delhi, June 30 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday held a meeting of Group of Ministers (GoM) at his North Block office here after Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the free ration scheme for 80 crore poor by five more months. Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Narendra Singh Tomar, Ram Vilas Paswan and Piyush Goel attended the meeting, which was chaired by Shah. The meeting began around 5.30 pm and was still on at the time of filing of the report. The Home Minister called the meeting soon after the Prime Minister in his address to the nation announced the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) till November to provide 5 kg free rice or wheat to each member of a beneficiary family along with 1 kg gram (chana) to each family per month. As the scheme would continue to remain applicable from July till November, it is learnt, the GoM is discussing the management and implementation of the PMGKAY scheme. During this five-month period, more than 80 crore people will be provided free ration per month and the government will spend more than Rs 90,000 crore on the same. If the expenses in the previous three months are taken into account, the expenditure totals to almost Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Panaji, June 30 : The Goa Police Cyber Crime Cell on Tuesday arrested two persons from Rajasthan for 'vishing' a woman and fraudulently withdrawing Rs 12.77 lakh from her bank account. "Accused Lakhvinder Singh, 26, and Darshan Singh, 43 are residents of Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan," a Goa Police spokesperson told reporters here. The spokesperson said that the accused called her on her mobile phone and posing as a private bank's staff got her to divulge her card and sensitive bank details, before withdrawing Rs 12.77 lakh and transferring it to other accounts. "We have seized ATM cards, passbooks, SIM cards, and mobile phones from the two accused," the spokesperson said. New Delhi, June 30 : Netizens including top venture capitalists came together in support of India's financial services company Paytm after trolls attacked it for having investments from a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. 'Paytm is Indian' was one of the top trends on Twitter and Google on Tuesday. The Noida, Uttar Pradesh headquartered company has been the target of trolls ever since the tensions in Galwan valley led to the unfortunate death of Indian soldiers and the ensuing tensions with China. After India issued direction to block 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, trolls on Tuesday started demanding the banning of Paytm in India. Trolls started questioning why the government did not ban Paytm which has Ant Financial, a subsidiary of Alibaba, as an investor in the firm. However, netizens soon came to the rescue of the Indian financial services major. "Paytm is Indian company that has quietly been feeding millions of daily labors amidst lockdown & providing employment to Indians. Nobody is highlighting that! Paytm Is Indian," (sic) tweeted Ramesh Bala. Some even took on Congress leader and Tamil Nadu MP Manickam Tagore who called upon the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban e-commerce mobile application Paytm, stating it has 'massive Chinese investments'. However he was quickly countered by Twitterati who pointed out the obvious that owning shares of the company and the country of origin of a firm are two different things. "Paytm is not a Chinese Company, Company origin and Company shares are different!" tweeted one user. Venture capitalist Anand Lunia in a series of tweets cleared all misconceptions about Paytm and others being trolled over funds from Chinese investors. "Paytm, Zomato, etc are all Indian cos. They have to follow Indian laws by being present here as a legal entity," (sic) he tweeted. He further questioned the selective outrage against Paytm. "ICICI Bank has over 40 percent FII holding. Nobody knows which country has eventual beneficiary holding. Yet, its as Indian a bank as you can get. RBI can shut it down, and send the CEO to custody," (sic) he wrote in the thread. Mumbai, June 30 : Security forces went into tizzy after the iconic Hotel Taj Mahal Palace near Gateway of India and Hotel Taj Lands End in Bandra received threats of terror attacks, official sources said, here on Tuesday. A threat call was received by the Hotel Taj Mahal Palace around 12.30 a.m. and the Hotel Taj Lands End. The police swiftly beefed up security outside both the hotels and have launched investigation into the calls. The call was purportedly made from a number in Karachi, Pakistan, and the caller, who reportedly claimed to be a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative, threatened to blow up the hotel with bombs. While the Mumbai Police have not yet commented on the issue, the Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) that runs the Taj Group issued a statement in afternoon. "We are proud to be a part of the fabric of this nation and the safety of our guests and associates is of paramount importance to us. We immediately alerted the authorities on receiving these calls and are providing full support and cooperation to the investigating agencies," said an IHCL spokesperson. "Our safety and security teams have ensured that all our protocols and guidelines are being followed towards safeguarding lives and assets. We would like to reassure our guests and associates that adequate steps are being taken towards the safety of the premises," the spokesperson said. The hotel was among the prime targets of Pakistani terrorists during the November 26, 2008 terror strikes. Coming barely 24 hours after the attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi on June 29, the authorities took the threat calls seriously. Dhaka, June 30 : Bangladesh has recorded 64 Covid-19 deaths and 3,682 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike, health department spokesperson Nasima Sultana said on Tuesday. Given the spike in the number of cases in the country, demand for the removal of the Health Minister was raised in the Parliament for the second time on Tuesday afternoon, in the presence of Prime minister Sheikh Hasina. With the single-day death toll touching a new high, Health Minister Zahid Maleque avoided his responsibility and instead blamed the media. He said that many people are recovering from the disease, but are not getting media attention. Meanwhile, Sunamganj lawmaker from the Opposition Jatiya Party (JP), Pir Fazlur Rahman Misbah, has placed a proposal in the Parliament to remove Health Minister Zahid Maleque. On June 23, Harunur Rashid, lawmaker from the Begum Khaleda Zia-led BNP, had also demanded the removal of the Health Minister. Pir Fazlur Rahman said that a more competent and committed person should be appointed as the Health Minister to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. He also proposed the name of Matia Chowdhury to take over the key ministry. Matiya is the incumbent MP and former Agriculture Minister under the Prime Ministership of Sheikh Hasina. She held the post twice before from 1996 to 2001 and 2009 to 2013 during the previous tenures of the Awami League. On June 23, BNP MP Harunur Rashid had demanded the removal of Zahid Maleque while participating in the general discussion on the proposed national budget for 2020-21 fiscal year. Bangladesh had confirmed the first coronavirus death on March 18, 10 days after the detection of the first Covid-19 case. New Delhi, June 30 : BSE has sought for a clarification from Kishore Biyanis Future Retail and Future Enterprises on the significant stock price movements. "The Exchange has sought clarification from Future Retail Ltd on June 30, 2020 with reference to significant movement in price, in order to ensure that investors have latest relevant information about the company and to inform the market so that the interest of the investors is safeguarded. The reply is awaited," the BSE said in a communication. The shares of Future Retail have been going up amid buzz that Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is reportedly looking to buy Future Group entities or parts as Kishore Biyani struggles with debt laden companies. The stock opened at a high of Rs 140 and closed the day at a low of Rs 128.95. The previous close of the stock was Rs 135.70. The BSE on Tuesday also sought a clarification from Future Enterprises. In its reply, the company said that Future Enterprises Limited has been following its Corporate Governance Code and practices prescribed thereunder read with applicable provisions of the listing regulations for the purpose of intimating stock exchanges and dissemination of information, including which may be considered as price sensitive and in connection with its operations/performance. "All such information/ announcement, to be provided in accordance with the requirements prescribed under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements), Regulations 2015, concerning matters prescribed thereunder, are intimated immediately pursuant to the decisions taken by the Board of Directors of the company from time to time and as and when any reportable event takes place," it said. "At present there is no such decision of the Board, which could have a bearing on the movement in price referred under the captioned letter," it said. Another group company, Future Consumer, was scheduled to hold a board meeting on Tuesday which stands cancelled. The exchanges had sought a similar clarification from the group company, Future Consumer, on June 26. The company in its reply said that Future Consumer Limited has been following its Corporate Governance Code and practices prescribed thereunder for the purpose of intimating stock exchanges and dissemination of information, including which may be considered as price sensitive in relation to the business operations or performance of the company. "Further, please note that all information/ announcement to be provided in accordance with the requirements prescribed under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 as amended, concerning matters prescribed thereunder are intimated in terms of the aid Code and pursuant to the decisions that may be taken by the Board of Directors of the company from time to time," Future Consumer said. "Presently there is no such decision that is taken by the Board of Directors of the company which may call for dissemination of information/intimation to be provided in terms of the aforesaid regulations. We therefore submit that, in relation to the movement in price of shares of the Company which is market driven, we have nothing to comment further, which you may please take note of," Future Consumer told the exchanges. Jammu, June 30 : Jammu & Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP), Dilbag Singh said on Tuesday that the resignation of veteran separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has proved the failure of separatism in the Union territory. Speaking to the media during his visit to Rajouri district, Dilbag Singh said separatists are now feeling dejected because of their failure. "It was the negative approach of the separatists that caused huge loss of life and property in Kashmir. Points mentioned by Geelani in his letter prove this", Singh said. He said the drone shot down by the BSF near the international border in Kathua district recently had been spotted in the area many times. He said the weapons consignment recovered from the drone after it was shot down was meant for one Ali Baba who is an active militant in south Kashmir. The police chief said due to better synergy and coordination between the security forces, 128 militants have been killed so far this year while 48 of them were killed in the month of June. New Delhi, June 30 : Indian think-tanks, The Tilak Chronicle (TTC) and the Centre for Advanced Strategic Studies (CASS), organised a two-day international conclave, 'Balochistan Dialogues', to discuss the conditions of the Baloch people, who have been leading a struggle for independence from Pakistan since 1948. The province of Balochistan remains one of Pakistan's poorest and neglected provinces despite being a storehouse of mineral wealth. Similarly, the Baloch community remains under the global spotlight for its nationalistic struggle and is believed to be one of the least understood communities in South Asia. Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale, who opened the discussion, said that drawn to the region for its mineral wealth, China has joined hands with Pakistan to exploit Balochistan. He added that with more and more Chinese settling in the region, the Chinese population will overtake that of the locals in about 25 years. Identifying one of the major traits of the people, Major Gaurav Arya said that the Baloch people never accepted Pakistan. "Very few people in history have suffered so much human rights abuses as the Balochs and yet they have continuously fought for their rights." He added that the Baloch people hold nationalism at a higher pedestal than religion. He also urged the Indian government to accord political recognition to the Baloch struggle for independence. Hyrbyair Marri, well-known Baloch nationalist leader and founder of the Free Balochistan Movement, living in exile in London, UK, emphasized that his people have a closer affinity to India than they have to Pakistan. "We are Muslims and proud of that. But we have not used our religion as a weapon against other people. This is because we take our beliefs from India." He added that for the Baloch people, national identity matters more than a religious identity. The Balochs are proud that they rejected Pakistan's invitation to join that country. They never gave a nod to the instrument of accession to join Pakistan during the time of Independence. Also, they are proud of their participation in the Indian independence struggle and find that they are closer to India in their thinking than they are to Pakistan. Another Baloch leader in exile who participated in the discussion is Arif Aajakia, a vocal critic of Pakistan and its army. An expert on South Asian geopolitics, he was the ex-Mayor of Jamshed Town, Karachi, when he was in Pakistan. Aajakia felt that India, despite being a power, has not done enough to help Balochistan in its struggle "We never had a conflict with Indians, yet the country has not supported the Baloch people. When Pakistan can openly train people in Kashmir and say that it is providing money and support to the people there, why cannot India do the same for the people of Balochistan. Why cannot India openly say that it is lending moral support to us." The Baloch leaders stressed upon the fact that their people remain devoted to secular concepts just like India. The people take their cultural identities from their land and not as much from religion, therefore, do not have sectarian or religious conflicts in Balochistan. An underlying thought running through the entire length of the discussion was that India should start by providing political recognition to Balochistan. It can thereafter initiate financial and diplomatic support to the beleaguered people. (This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) San Francisco, June 30 : Concerned at mass exodus of advertisers pulling out of its platform, Facebook on Tuesday said it would now prioritize articles in News Feed that it identifies as original reporting on a developing story or topic. To do this, Facebook would look at groups of articles on a particular story topic and identifying the ones most often cited as the original source. "We'll start by identifying original reporting in English language news and will do the same for news in other languages in the future," said Campbell Brown, VP, Global News Partnerships. The ranking signals to identify original articles are based on user research and were built with feedback from news publishers and academic experts and would only apply to news content, he added. Most of the news stories people see in News Feed are from sources they or their friends follow and that won't change. When multiple stories are shared by publishers and are available in a person's News Feed, Facebook will boost the more original one which will help it get more distribution. The social network admitted that defining original reporting and the standards for it are complex things so it would continue to work with publishers and academics to refine this approach over time. The company said it would also demote news content that does not have transparent information about the publisher's editorial staff. "We will review news articles for bylines or a staff page on the publisher's website that lists the first and last names of reporters or other editorial staff," informed Jon Levin, Product Manager. Facebook found that publishers who do not include this information often lack credibility to readers and produce content with clickbait or ad farms, "all content people tell us they don't want to see on Facebook". Original news and reporting may see an increase in distribution as a result of these changes, said Facebook, but it's important to remember that News Feed uses a variety of ranking signals to prioritize content. Facebook saw its market cap eroded by at least $55 billion as more big brands boycotted its platform on Monday against the unchecked spread of hateful and disinformation on its platforms. adidas, cleaning supply firm Clorox, Conagra (the maker of Slim Jim, Duncan Hines and Pam), fast food chain Denny's, Ford and Starbucks joined over 100 advertisers who have announced to pull their ads from the platform. Kolkata, June 30 : On a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension in free food grains to PMGKAY beneficiaries till November 2020, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her government would give free ration to people till June 2021. "We will give free ration till June 2021. The quality of ration is better than that of the Centre," the CM said minutes after Modi's address to the nation in the afternoon. She also claimed that only 60 per cent people in the state get central ration. Earlier, the Prime Minister said the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana's free food grain (5 kg wheat/rice per person and 1 kg gram per family) benefited 80 crore Indians since March during the countrywide lockdown. The PMGKAY -- a Rs 1.7-lakh crore financial package -- was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to minimise the impact of the nationawide lockdown on Indian economy and the poor. New Delhi, June 30 : The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) on Tuesday suggested that the Centre should raise the limit of all outstanding loans of MSMEs to Rs 100 crore instead of the current Rs 25 crore for being eligible for the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). "Borrowers with outstanding loans of up to Rs 100 crore should be considered for this ECLGS scheme," AEPC Chairman A. Sakthivel wrote in a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. AEPC said that similar letters have been sent to the MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani requesting them for initiating the amendment. The industry body also requested the government to make necessary amendments in the eligibility criteria for ECLGS based on the new definition of MSMEs so as to extend the credit benefit to all MSME exporters regardless of their turnover. "The eligibility criteria for applying for the ECLGS scheme may be amended with no annual turnover for exporters," Sakthivel said. The ECLGS scheme aims to provide 100 per cent guarantee coverage for the Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL), which is a pre-approved sanction limit of up to 20 per cent of loan outstanding as on February 29, 2020 to eligible borrowers. These loans can be additional working capital term loan facility, in case of banks and financial institutions, and additional term loan facility in case of NBFCs from all member lending institutions (MLIs) to eligible enterprises or MSME borrowers in view of the Covid-19 crisis. In the operational guidelines of ECLGS, it is mentioned that all business enterprises or MSME borrower accounts with combined outstanding loans across all MLIs of up to Rs 25 crore as on February 29, 2020, and annual turnover of up to Rs 100 crore for FY 2019-20 are eligible. "However, the MSME Ministry through its notification dated June 26, 2020 has clarified that while investment limit for an MSME is Rs 50 crore, exports of goods or services will be excluded while calculating its turnover. This relaxation should also be reflected in the criteria for applying for ECLGS," Sakthivel said. Accordingly, the annual turnover criteria of up to Rs 100 crore for FY 2019-20 may be removed, especially for apparel exporters, he added. The AEPC chairman said that the apparel industry will be deeply obliged for her intervention as these measures will help in mitigating the suffering of the industry and the millions of workers. Hyderabad, June 30 : The Telangana government on Tuesday decided to postpone all the Common Entrance Examinations (CETs) for admission to various professional courses in the state, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The CETs, including the Telangana State Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (TS EAMCET) 2020 were scheduled to begin from Wednesday. The government conveyed its decision to the Telangana High Court during hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking direction to postpone the examinations. Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India's (NSUI) state chief Venkat Balmoor had filed a PIL, seeking direction to the government to postpone the CETs in view of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the state. The high court, while hearing the petition, asked the government to clear the air on the likely re-imposition of lockdown in Hyderabad. It wondered how the government would conduct the examinations by re-imposing the lockdown. Advocate General B.S. Prasad conveyed to the court that the re-imposing lockdown depend on the cabinet decision. He said the cabinet meet would be held in a day or two. He then submitted to the court that he will discuss the issue of postponement of examinations with the Chief Secretary and inform the court. After the lunch break, the government informed the court that it is postponing the examinations. The new dates will be announced later. PG Engineering Common Entrance Test was scheduled from July 1 to 3 while Engineering Common Entrance Test was to be held on July 4. EAMCET was scheduled to be conducted from July 6 to 9. Law Common Entrance Test and PG Law Common Entrance Test was scheduled on July 10. Integrated Common Entrance Test and Education Common Entrance Test were scheduled on July 13 and 15, respectively. The government also announced postponement of typewriting examinations scheduled on July 4, 11 and 12. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad informed the court that it has no proposal to conduct the exams for engineering final semester. It recommended grading the students on the basis of their performance in the two previous semesters. The Telangana State Higher Education Council will take a final decision. The court directed the Higher Education Council and JNTU-H to give clarity on conducting undergraduate and post graduate examinations by July 9. An Asian Elephant resting in Thailand. The Smithsonians National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute announced the demise of a 45-year old Asian Elephant named Shanthi last Saturday. (Photo : Wikimedia Commons) The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute announced the demise of a 45-year old Asian Elephant named Shanthi last Saturday. The community is mourning the loss of the world's most studied elephant. They fondly remember Shanti as social and confident, yet friendly and respectful with her caretakers. She was under the care of the zoo for 44 years, nearly her entire life. Shanthi was well-loved by generations of staff and visitors, according to Monfort. Here is Smithsonian National Zoos' Tribute Video for her: "Her contributions to research and medicine have made an indelible mark on our efforts to save her wild counterparts from extinction, as well as improve the lives of her fellow animal ambassadors," Steven Monfort, the Zoo's Director said. She was from Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka before become coming to National Zoo in 1976. She was a gift to the United States of Americal by the children of Sri Lanka. More importantly, Shanti had greatly contributed to studying the biology, reproduction, disease, and ecology of the critically endangered Asian Elephants. These studies were used in conservation management worldwide. Bryan Amaral, the senior curator at the Zoo said that Shanti was probably one of the most studied elephants in the world, and has helped the zoo with several research projects. She is known as the first elephant to be artificially inseminated using the daily hormone monitoring technique. The results of the research were such a success that the procedure is used in conservation management efforts all over the globe. Her son Kandula was born through this method in 2001 and is now a resident of Oklahoma City Zoo. According to the Zoo, even her innovative treatments to manage the degenerative condition was itself a contribution to science. She was the first elephant to receive innovative therapeutic management like protein serum injections to delay the progression of her disease. She was also given intra-muscular medication to help reduce bony remodeling. She was also given non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, analgesics, and joint supplements to ease her pain and comfort. Despite years of intervention, zookeepers and veterinarians noted that Shanthi has become increasingly uncomfortable and in pain in the past weeks. She had limited interactions with her herd mates Bozie and Swarna, and animal care staff believes it is because Shanti did not have the energy to move and interact like the rest of the herd. She was having difficulty relieving the pressure from her joints that animal caretakers provided her sand piles, tractor tires, and large logs to lean against for support. Her quality of life was slowly slipping away. To ease her suffering, the animal care staff had to make a difficult decision of humanely euthanizing her. She died in the Elephant Barn. No elephant was present during the procedure but they were given space and time to spend with their deceased herd mate. Scientists believe that elephants go through the grieving process by exploring the body of the deceased elephant and make vocalizations as they inspect the body. Shanthi's herd mates Bosie and Maharani for example walked around Shanti for an hour. Maharani inspected Shanthi's trunk. Spike and Swarna also explored Shanti's body with their trunk as a way of paying their last respects to their friend. Mumbai, June 30 : As normalcy returns post lockdown and shooting resumes, actor Aftab Shivdasani is gearing up for his web series "Poison 2". On Instagram, the actor shared how he along with the makers of the show, has started working with precautionary measures of social distancing. They ca be seen with their faces in masks in a snapshot, even as they chekc out a visual footage on a monitor. Aftab plays the protagonist Aditya Singh Rathore in the second season of the action-crime thriller show. The first season was released last year that featured Arbaaz Khan and Tanuj Virwani in the lead roles. Bengaluru, June 30 : Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on fighting the coronavirus pandemic, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Tuesday dubbed the extension in food security for 80 crore poor till November as "historic". "Modi's announcement on extending free 5kg rice or wheat to the poor till Diwali and Chhath Puja in November under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is historic and augurs well for the government's 'one nation, one ration card' initiative," said Yediyurappa in a statement here. In his 6th nationwide address since the Covid-induced lockdown was enforced on March 25, Modi said in Hindi that food for the needy during the lockdown had been the government's priority. "With the hard work of farmers and taxpayers, the country is confronting the most challenging pandemic. As the Prime Minister advised, let us do our duty in this life-saving campaign by maintaining social distancing, wearing mask and sanitising hands to contain the virus spread," asserted Yediyurappa. Noting that "Modi is a true friend of the poor, deprived, farmers and labourers", the Chief Minister said everyone had to follow the path shown by him and strictly observe the guidelines. Asserting that the people of Karnataka would work hard to make the Prime Minister's call for Atmanirbhar Bharat a success, Yediyurappa said the 'one nation, one ration card' was yet another step towards creating an inclusive and self-sufficient new India. New Delhi, June 30 : Several changes will kick in for financial transactions from July 1, which will directly impact consumers at all levels. These changes include PF rules, ATM withdrawal charges, Atal Pension Yojana, registration in Kisan Samman Nidhi, mutual funds, minimum account balance, among others. The Central government has relaxed rules to withdraw money from the Employees' Pension Fund (EPF) during the lockdown imposed for the prevention of coronavirus. In view of the scarcity of cash with the people, the Finance Ministry had provided emergency withdrawal facility from the EPF and the last day of application is on June 30. Shareholders could withdraw an amount which was less than thrice the basic salary and dearness allowance or 75 per cent of the total deposit amount. In addition, the bank ATM cash withdrawal rules are going to change from July 1. During lockdown, norms for cash withdrawals from a bank ATM were relaxed but are now going to be tightened. The relaxation was announced for three months - April, May, June - and the deadline is June 30. If there is no extension announced, then the old ATM withdrawal rules will get reinstated. From July 1, ATM transactions would become expensive for all SBI customers. From July, the rule of minimum balance in the savings account will end. If there is no minimum balance in the accounts, the bank will be able to charge a penalty on it. Currently, according to the metro city, semi-urban and rural areas, the limit for keeping a minimum balance in a savings account in different banks is different. A minimum balance of Rs 3,000 is required in metro cities, Rs 2,000 in semi-urban areas and Rs 1,000 in rural areas on the accounts of State Bank of India (SBI). At the same time, this amount in HDFC Bank is Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively. From July 1, auto debit of monthly contribution will start from Atal Pension Yojana accounts. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority had, in April, directed banks to stop the auto debit of Atal Pension Yojana till June 30. Now from July 1, auto debit facility will be started once again. Most of the subscribers under this scheme are from the lower strata of the society and have been facing severe crunch due to the lockdown. A recent PFRDA notification stated that the penalty interest will not be levied if the subscriber's pension scheme account is regularised before September 30. The last date for payment of the Sabka Biswas Yojana, introduced for resolution of old pending disputed matters related to service tax and central excise, is June 30 and this scheme cannot be availed from Wednesday. The government has made it clear that it will not extend this scheme beyond June 30. In this context, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had given information, in a tweet, that 1.9 lakh declarations of Rs 90,000 crore have been filed under this scheme. If this is not paid by June 30, 2020, they will not get benefits. Under the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Rs 6,000 is given to the farmers in three installments of Rs 2,000 every year. So far five installments have been sent to the farmers. The scheme can be registered for by June 30. Investors will also have to pay stamp duty on purchasing mutual funds from July 1. Even if you are investing in mutual funds through Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) and Systematic Transfer Plan (STP), you still have to pay stamp duty. However, investors will not have to pay stamp duty on the withdrawal of mutual funds. This stamp duty will be levied on all types of mutual funds. The effect of stamp duty will be seen most on debt funds. Purchase of mutual funds will attract stamp duty at 0.005 per cent. Apart from this, transfer of units of mutual funds from demat account will attract stamp duty of 0.015 per cent. The imposition of stamp duty will affect the holding of 90 days and less. New Delhi, June 30 : The IIT Alumni Council has announced elimination of Chinese systems and software in all its initiatives, including MegaLab. For data security, privacy and assured data integrity, the IIT Alumni Council will facilitate the design of a Blockchain protected public cloud infrastructure to handle real time Covid diagnostic and treatment data. Research and relevant public policy data will also be uploaded on the blockchain protected public Cloud system for sharing among the authorised users. All Chinese systems and software used in the RTPCR industry will be removed with immediate effect and replaced by indigenous technologies. The Council has been working actively for the last few weeks with various Technical Institutes of Excellence and research institutions for developing indigenous and cost-effective solutions to replace the Chinese systems and software. These include an initiative with IIT Roorkee to recycle all the plastic disposables used in the RTPCR process, including viral sample tubes, sample plates and pipette tips which are consumed in large quantities adding to bio hazardous waste challenges as well as hard currency imports. Similarly, ICT Mumbai is supporting work on designing and piloting an indigenous technology line with indigenous capital goods for mass production of the RTPCR 2.0 test kits to be used in the MegaLab. "In support of the Indian government's ban on Chinese apps, the IIT Alumni Council is announcing an immediate ban on Chinese systems and software for all its initiatives, including MegaLab. We had already started work for indigenous development of requisite systems and software after the appeal of Prime Minister for 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'. "We are very confident that we shall be able to present world class systems and software with support of the global IIT Alumni community as well as partner institutions like the Mumbai University and the ICT Mumbai which are known for their technology supremacy worldwide. We hope to compete with China head-on in markets around the world," said Ravi Sharma, President and Chief Volunteer of the IIT Alumni Council. San Francisco, June 30 : Microsoft on Tuesday announced a new global skills initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills by the end of the year. The announcement comes in response to the global economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. "Covid-19 has created both a public health and an economic crisis, and as the world recovers, we need to ensure no one is left behind," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during a digital event. "Today, we're bringing together resources from Microsoft inclusive of LinkedIn and GitHub to reimagine how people learn and apply new skills -- and help 25 million people facing unemployment due to COVID-19 prepare for the jobs of the future." Expanded access to digital skills is an important step in accelerating economic recovery, especially for the people hardest hit by job losses. This initiative includes immediate steps to help those looking to reskill and pursue an in-demand job and brings together every part of the company, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub and Microsoft. This includes the use of data to identify in-demand jobs and the skills needed to fill them, free access to learning paths and content to help people develop the skills these positions require, and low-cost certifications and free job-seeking tools to help people who develop these skills pursue new jobs. This is a comprehensive technology initiative that will build on data and digital technology, Microsoft said. It starts with data on jobs and skills from the LinkedIn Economic Graph. The initiative provides free access to content in LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn and the GitHub Learning Lab, and couples those with Microsoft Certifications and LinkedIn job seeking tools. These resources can all be accessed at a central location, opportunity.linkedin.com, and will be broadly available online in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish. In addition, Microsoft is backing the effort with $20 million in cash grants to help nonprofit organisations worldwide assist the people who need it most. One-quarter of this total, or $5 million, will be provided in cash grants to community-based nonprofit organizations that are led by and serve communities of color in the United States. Microsoft also pledged to make stronger data and analytics -- including data from the LinkedIn Economic Graph -- available to governments around the world so they can better assess local economic needs. Microsoft will use its voice to advocate for public policy innovations that will advance skilling opportunities needed in the changed economy. The tech giant also announced it is creating a new learning app in Microsoft Teams designed to help employers skill and upskill new and current employees as people return to work and as the economy adds jobs. "The biggest brunt of the current downturn is being borne by those who can afford it the least," said Microsoft President Brad Smith. "Unemployment rates are spiking for people of color and women, as well as younger workers, people with disabilities and individuals with less formal education. Our goal is to combine the best in technology with stronger partnerships with governments and nonprofits to help people develop the skills needed to secure a new job." New Delhi, June 30 : The Press Club of India (PCI) has issued a very strong statement in favour of news agency PTI and against public broadcaster Prasar Bharti as well as the Centre. The PCI in a statement alleged that the warring letter to PTI was an act of the government "through its proxy, Prasar Bharati". Prasar Bharti, India's public broadcaster, had recently sent a letter threatening to end its "relationship" over the alleged "anti-national" reportage by the news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). It came soon after the PTI carried an interview of Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong, where he blamed India for the India-China violent standoff that saw 20 Indian bravehearts getting martyred. In a strongly worded statement, the PCI alleged, "For its pains, PB (Prasar Bharti) has accused PTI of acting to the 'detriment' of 'national interest'. This is preposterous and unacceptable. A bureaucratic outfit has arrogated to itself the right to define the 'national interest' and pass judgments on what constitutes news..." Prasar Bharti's letter was sent to PTI just ahead of its board meeting on Saturday where the public broadcaster expressed "deep displeasure on anti-national reporting by PTI". Speaking to The Print, PTI's former Editor-in-Chief M.K. Razdan clarified that the Chinese Embassy had put out a distorted version of the interview, long before PTI uploaded it. Razdan alleged that some of the questions used by the Embassy were not the same posed by the news agency. He even claimed that to the best of his knowledge, PTI has shot off a strong letter to the Chinese Embassy. "Today the PTI board again has a former Chief Justice of India, a former Foreign Secretary of India...plus the doyen of the India media industry...they all sit on the board. Do you think they will allow anything that is detrimental to national interests? It's unthinkable," Razdan said. He also added that contrary to the image that is sought to be painted, Prasar Bharti doesn't not fund or subsidise PTI, but pays a subscription fee for its host of news services. Meanwhile, the Press Club of India, in its statement that has been issued by President Anand K. Sahay and Secretary General Anant Bagaitkar, went a step further to allege that the government is been trying to interfere in the working of the news agency and this present interview has become a "convenient trick" for itself to financially attack the agency. San Francisco, June 30 : Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday announced a new business segment dedicated to accelerating innovation in the global aerospace and satellite industry. The 'Aerospace and Satellite Solutions' business segment will bring AWS services and solutions to the space enterprise, and work with customers and partners around the world, said Teresa Carlson, Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector, AWS, which is Amazon's Cloud arm. The new segment would help reimagine space system architectures, transform space enterprises, launch new services that process space data on Earth and in orbit and provide secure, scalable and cost-efficient cloud solutions to support government missions and companies. The company appointed retired Air Force Major General Clint Crosier, former director of Space Force Planning at the US Space Force, as the leader of this new business segment. "The world is entering an exciting and daring new age in space. New companies have moved into the space business and are launching more satellites and human missions into orbit than ever before," said Carlson. NASA continues to invest in developing a sustainable commercial space economy through Project Artemis. Earlier in the day, the US space agency said it is taking steps towards building Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters to support as many as six additional flights, for a total of up to nine Artemis missions. "Low-latency internet, high-resolution Earth observation, and ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT) communications companies will launch thousands of new satellites over the next five years to provide sensing capabilities to customers around the world," Carlson added. AWS Ground Station, a fully managed service already provides satellite owners and operators global access to their space workloads. AWS Ground Station is already being used by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and many other customers. "With a background in cloud computing, it's exciting to see Amazon Web Services extend that experience to space, fostering collaborations with Lockheed Martin to help solve some of the world's toughest problems," said Rick Ambrose, Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin Space. Dhaka, June 30 : Bangladesh State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said the boat capsize in the Buriganga river that killed 34 people was a "deliberate murder", and not an accident. The Bangladesh government formed a 7-member probe body to look into the incident. The Shipping Ministry formed the probe team on Monday. The double-decker 'Morning Bird' launch with over 50 passengers coming from Munshiganj sank in the river after being hit by Chandpur-bound vessel 'Mayur-2' while anchoring at the Kathpatti ghat near Shyambazar in the capital's old town at 9:33 am on Monday morning. The sunken launch was pulled out by rescue workers 26 hours after the accident. "After watching the CCTV footage, it seems that it's not an accident, it's a deliberate murder incident," the minister for shipping said. The minister also said the government will launch an investigation into the incident to identify whether there was negligence on the part of the launch owners. Witnesses said there were over 50 passengers in the launch. Although several passengers managed to swim ashore, many went missing. Members of Fire Service, River Police, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard launched a rescue operation after the accident and recovered several bodies on Monday. Besides, a man was rescued alive on Monday night 13 hours after the launch capsize. New Delhi, June 30 : The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday took suo motu cognizance of an incident of assault on a differently-abled woman in Andhra Pradesh, saying it was "perturbed and shocked by the incident". After public uproar, the Andhra Pradesh Police on Tuesday arrested a government official, since suspended from service, on charges of brutally assaulting a differently-abled woman colleague in office after she advised him to wear a face mask. "The Commission is perturbed and shocked by the incident of atrocity committed against a specially-abled woman employee by a person who is holding a responsible position at a time when the Government of India is also emphasising on the need for inclusion of the specially-abled at the highest level," NCW said in a statement. The Commission wrote a letter to D.G. Sawang, DGP, Andhra Pradesh Police, after it came across a Twitter post by a woman attaching a CCTV footage wherein it is seen that a differently-abled woman is mercilessly beaten by a Deputy Manager of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department. The incident occurred in the tourism department's office in Nellore on June 27 but came to light on Tuesday after the shocking visuals recorded on CCTV camera went viral on social media. The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has suspended the official, C.A. Bhaskar, who had assaulted the differently-abled woman. Nellore Police said the official was booked on the same day under Sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 355 (Assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person) and 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code. "The accused has been arrested sent to judicial remand. The Nellore district police are extremely sensitive to any violation or crime against women. Women's safety is our top priority," Nellore Police tweeted. New Delhi/Islamabad, June 30 : In a major setback to Islamabad, the European Union has suspended Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for six months over its fake pilot licence scandal. In an official letter, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said that though the PIA claims that it has grounded all pilots that were part of the list of fraudulent licence holders compiled by the Pakistani authorities, it does not mitigate its concern, as there are strong indications that a high number of Pakistani pilot licences are invalid. "EASA therefore no longer has confidence that Pakistan, as the state of operator, can effectively ensure that operators certified in Pakistan comply at all times with applicable requirement for crew qualification," in particular with the standards laid down in the Chicago convention. The agency conveyed its decision to the PIA saying that in accordance to the laws of the European Parliament and Council, the EASA suspends the Third Country Operator (TCO) authorization to PIA which had been issued on May 17, 2016. The suspension comes into effect from July 1, 2020 in all the EU member states. In its list of reasons for the suspension of the airlines, the EASA cited the fact that despite enough time, the PIA was yet to ensure safety data management, risk assessment and analysis including the statistical analysis and the ability to identify repeated or similar hazards/occurrences. The EASA said PIA had provided insufficient evidence about the implementation of safety measures and since December 2019 had not been processing its safety reports. The PIA, according to the EASA, had failed to develop extended guidance to facilitate the understanding and the application of the management of change and training for the involved staff. The EASA said that the PIA had submitted documents related to the measurement of Safety Performance Indicators (SPI) which revealed that some of the SPIs were controlled by different departments with different target settings. The letter said the PIA provided evidence of the correction of the calculation errors of the SPIs for the 2018, where EASA found some major inconsistencies, and even illogical, for instance the input for the SPIs are performed in flight hours, but the formula calculates number of landings. The submitted corporate SPIs do not contain all indicators measured by the department themselves," the letter said. "Following the tragic events that PIA has faced, including flight PK8303 on May 22, 2020 and the initial findings laid down in the preliminary accident report showing successive breaches of multiple layers of safety defenses in the safety management system, EASA is concerned that the safety management system is not achieving its primary objective," the EU agency said. The PIA has the right to appeal against the decision within two months from now. The EASA also has the right to extend the suspension of the airlines for additional three months after the six month suspension period is over, if it is not satisfied that successful corrective action has been taken by PIA. An image of village of Ik people in Uganda, 2005 (Wikimedia Commons).A described the Ik people as extraordinarily mean and loveless in his book. Currently, researchers believe that this reputation that has tarnished the Ik people is wholly undeserved. (Photo : Wikimedia Commons) In the 1960s, a published book that described the Ik people of Uganda as unfriendly and uncharitable marked this small mountain community with a reputation that will stay with them for forty years. Colin Turnbull, a prominent anthropologist, described the Ik people as extraordinarily mean and loveless in his book. Currently, researchers believe that this reputation that has tarnished the Ik people is wholly undeserved. New research suggests that the community is like any other self-serving group suffering a famine but just as cooperative and generous as the rest of the world. Unfortunately, Turnbull had caught the ethnic group in an unfortunate time when resources were extremely scarce. Far from cultivating a culture of selfishness, the researchers of the new study write that these claims made by Turnbull may be rejected. Researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick discovered that the Ik people are just as generous as others using an experimental game to test a person's generosity. This game has been played by hundreds of other people around the world, and the Ik, on average, are no less generous than others. Cathryn Townsend is an anthropologist who was granted access to live with the Ik people in 2016. She said that one of their favorite expressions about generosity is "tomora marang," which means "it's good to share." The Ik people also believe in a spirit called kiawika. This spirit in the Ik culture monitors and punishes selfish behavior. The researchers had also observed that the Ik people became more generous in the experimental game when the spirit character was introduced. Lee Cronk, an anthropologist from Rutgers University, said that Cathryn Townsend's work implies that there are numerous factors and considerations to be taken into account that also affect and shape how people behave. There are other possible reasons other than culture, including but not limited to famine or starvation. Another implication, according to Lee, is that the Ik people can no longer be used to illustrate a community or society that has accepted and embodied selfishness. Some of Turnbull's writings on the Ik people has also previously received criticism. Several scholars dispute the claims that the Ik people are unfeeling and immoral human beings entirely unconcerned with their loved ones and family. Bernd Heine, an anthropologist who lived with the Iks in the 1980s, said in one of his written works that living with the Ik made him feel he was dealing with a wholly different people. Turnbull's account of the Ik people and culture turned out to be inconsistent or discrepant from the observations made by anthropologists. Townsend's research is part of The Human Generosity Project, which aims to understand better how people and communities all around the world cooperate and share. Her recent observations and probes to the Ik people have revealed a common misunderstanding that is similar to other communities. Townsend determined that the Ik are "fairly normal" compared to other societies when she used the "dictator game." In this game, under changing parameters, a player can distribute resources to another player. The researchers identified that the Ik know what appropriate things to be shared are, and even during the hunger season, the Ik continued to share food. Unfortunately, Turnbull's research has plagued the community for a long time as he wanted to destroy the culture and language of the Ik. The authors now argue that Turnbull's error was to ultimately assume that all Ik behavior is only attributed to culture and no other factors. Bengaluru, June 30 : Karnataka's Ballari district administration has fired a health department field team for inhumanly handling and ruthlessly dumping eight Covid bodies in a pit, a video of which went viral, an official said on Tuesday. "The entire field team involved has been disbanded and will be replaced by a new team trained by the head of the department, forensics, VIMS," Ballari Deputy Commissioner S.S. Nakul told IANS. In the viral video, more than five men were seen mercilessly dumping large black bags containing the bodies into a freshly dug pit. No relatives of the deceased persons or any final rites were conducted at the deserted pit where some traffic noise and Kannada conversations among the dumpers could be heard. Wearing full body suits in white and blue, the field team took out one body after another from a vehicle and threw them into the pit. Another unidentified man, wearing a mask, gloves, white and blue half-sleeved t-shirt, dark trousers and wielding a mobile phone was also seen going to the other side of the pit as the dumping happened. In the video, three bodies could be counted being dumped into the pit where a JCB excavator was also spotted nearby, which may have been used to dig the pit. "A few videos have been circulating on social media since this morning, showing footage of burial procedures. It was found that the videos did belong to Ballari and comprised the burial of eight people who passed away after succumbing to Covid," confirmed Nakul. The Deputy Commissioner said the district administration has been deeply upset and sorrowful over the incident and the manner in which the bodies were handled. "The district administration condemns the disrespectful handling of the bodies while being lowered on to the ground by the field staff," he said. Nakul stated that the Ballari district administration unconditionally apologises for the incident to the families of the departed in particular and the district's people in general. Other than the dumping, he said the videos show that all other medical standard operating procedures have been followed, such as using body bags, lining and others. On Monday, Ballari witnessed the highest number of Covid deaths in the southern state at six, taking the overall death toll to 29. In the past 24 hours, 61 people have tested positive for the virus in the district. Bengaluru, June 30 : Alarmed over the rising Covid cases in Karnataka, the opposition Congress has urged the state government to set up an all-party committee to monitor the fight against the pandemic spread. "We urge Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to set up an all-party monitoring committee to examine the various measures taken to contain the coronavirus spread," said the party's state unit leader Siddaramaiah. Levelling corruption charges in the treatment of the Covid patients against the state government, the former chief minister said the treatment protocol should be made clear to the patients to gain public confidence in the face of complaints of negligence. "As Covid patients will be in despair, negligence during their treatment will demoralise them and cause agony to their families. The government should be sensitive to their concerns and welfare," asserted the opposition leader. The party's state unit also sought insurance and other benefits to private hospitals, which agreed to provide 50 per cent of beds for treating the Covid patients and their doctors, nurses and paramedics. "As the infection does not seem to go over the next 2-3 months, the problem of hunger will worsen if its spread is not contained and reduced. Several state-run hospitals are crowded and shortage of oxygen supply and ventilators is severe. As the treatment is expensive, patients are afraid of going to hospitals than the infection," asserted Siddaramaiah. New Delhi, July 1 : French Ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain, on Tuesday paid a visit to a fair price shop in Tughlakabad Extension in the national capital. India and France last week signed a credit financing agreement for 200 million euros to bolster India's Covid-19 response. Through this loan from the French Development Agency, France will work with India to increase the state and Central governments' capacities to support the country's most vulnerable sections in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme design, developed by the World Bank, focuses on boosting the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY). The programme will provide further benefits to low-income families to ensure that the health, social and economic shocks arising from Covid-19 do not endanger people's well-being or their contribution to the country's economic growth in the long run. Lenain was accompanied at the shop by Bruno Bosle, Country Director-AFD, and Anand Tiwari, Additional Commissioner. During his visit, Lenain said, "India's fair price shops are at the heart of its food security system and are key elements of its social protection system. We want to ensure that its benefits reach everyone. As part of this programme, France is working with the Government of India to ensure that even people who are not registered as residents in a state can avail of the subsidised food supplies through the fair price shops. This will be critical for urban residents' resilience to future shocks." Later, Lenain visited a training centre for underprivileged youth set up by the international NGO LP4Y, which is also supported by the French Development Agency. In the face of the pandemic, young people associated with LP4Y have been spreading awareness about health precautions and providing support to more vulnerable members of the community. Srinagar, July 1 : A major encounter between terrorists and security forces has started at Brinthal area of Tral in South kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said. The encounter started after the police and other security forces got a specific tip off about the presence of militants in that area. As the cordon was tightened around the place where terrorists were hiding, the security forces team came under a heavy volume of fire, triggering the encounter. According to sources two to three militants are holed up as the fire fight rages on. This is the second encounter in Kashmir in the last 24 hours and third in the last 48 hours. On Tuesday two terrorists who were responsible for the killing of a five year old and a CRPF jawan last week were killed in an encounter at Bijbihara in South Kashmir's Anantnag district. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address to those traveling to Gettysburg virtually for the 157th anniversary of the battle. Honoring the Battle of Gettysburg is just as important today as it was 157 years ago, said Michael McGar, president of QuantumERA. It was the turning point in the Civil War and the fight that led to freedom for slaves. Gettysburg shaped who we are as a people and a country. With uncertainty about travel plans during the Covid-19 pandemic, history lovers are traveling to the battlefield virtually with Gettysburg: A Nation Divided, an AR360 app that uses mixed reality to recreate one of the most pivotal battles in American history. The app recreates the battle anywhere across the globe using 360-degree views, avatars of real people who lived through the battle, and narration by actor, Scott Eastwood. I was able to stand next to President Lincoln as he delivered the Gettysburg Address and joined forces at McPhersons Ridge when the first shot in the battle was fired, all without leaving my living room, said history enthusiast and University of Texas student, Jed Golman. When used onsite, the historically accurate app overlays the battle onto locations where events took place 157 years ago. This feat is achieved with production-quality animation, geolocation, and an interactive map. It unites a storied location with modern-day technology to emulate time travel. Honoring the Battle of Gettysburg is just as important today as it was 157 years ago, said Michael McGar, president of QuantumERA, the content creation company that developed Gettysburg: A Nation Divided. It was the turning point in the Civil War and the fight that led to freedom for slaves. Gettysburg shaped who we are as a people and as a country. Its critical that we take time to remember what those before us fought for and what they achieved. QuantumERA is a leading content creation company that creates mixed-reality experiences. They are most well-known for their award-winning Experience Real History brand that recreates the Battle of the Alamo through augmented reality apps and products. Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, P.A. announced that 25 Florida attorneys have been recognized in The Legal 500 United States 2020 Guide (U.S. Guide). In addition, for the fourth consecutive year and sixth time overall, Greenberg Traurig was recognized nationally as a Top Tier firm in Real Estate. The practice was previously recognized in 2017-2019, and 2013-2014. Firmwide, the U.S. Guide recognized more than 150 Greenberg Traurig attorneys and 38 of the firms practice areas. According to the publisher, the U.S. Guides acknowledgements recognize practice area teams and practitioners who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel. The recognitions are based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, law firm submissions, and interviews with private practice lawyers, in addition to Legal 500s independent research in the legal market. The Greenberg Traurig Florida attorneys listed below are recommended in The Legal 500 United States 2020 Guide based on the publications industry or practice area designations as selected by researchers: Fort Lauderdale Bruce I. March M&A/corporate and commercial M&A: large deals ($1bn+) Donn A. Beloff M&A/corporate and commercial M&A: large deals ($1bn+) David C. Peck Industry focus Healthcare: advice to health insurers; Industry focus Healthcare: advice to service providers Miami Alan I. Annex M&A/corporate and commercial M&A: large deals ($1bn+) Ryan D. Bailine Real estate Land use/zoning Kerri L. Barsh Industry focus Environment: litigation; Industry Focus Environment: regulatory Brigid F. Cech Samole Dispute resolution Appellate: courts of appeals; Dispute resolution Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal) David A. Coulson Dispute resolution Product liability, mass tort and class action Defense: consumer products (including tobacco) Robert J. Downing Industry focus Energy: renewable/alternative power Jed E. Dwyer Dispute resolution Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to corporates; Dispute resolution Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to individuals Carl A. Fornaris Media, technology and telecoms Fintech Richard J. Giusto Real estate Martin Kalb Tax US taxes: non-contentious Nancy B. Lash Real estate Elliot H. Scherker Dispute resolution Appellate: courts of appeals; Dispute resolution Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal) William R. Siegel Tax US taxes: non-contentious Michael J. Thomas Real Estate Construction Tallahassee Michael J. Cherniga Industry focus Healthcare: advice to service providers Barry Richard Dispute resolution Appellate: courts of appeals; Dispute resolution Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal) Tampa Ryan T. Hopper Dispute resolution General commercial disputes (Rising Star); Dispute resolution General commercial disputes; Industry focus Environment: litigation Richard C. McCrea Jr. Labor and employment Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions): defense Christopher Torres Industry focus Environment: litigation David B. Weinstein Dispute resolution Product liability, mass tort and class action Defense: toxic tort; Industry focus Environment: litigation; Industry focus Environment: regulatory West Palm Beach Tracy L. Gerber Dispute resolution Securities litigation: defense Bradford D. Kaufman Dispute resolution Securities litigation: defense About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2200 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. Acker finished up the first half of its 2020 auction season late last week with a live online auction in New York totaling $3.2M and setting 106 New World Records, a fine finish to what has been an amazing season amidst global uncertainty. Despite the roller coaster of this year thanks to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, with the June sales close, Acker surged to over $50M worldwide sales for the first half of 2020, outpacing its nearest competitor by over 50%, dominating the fine wine marketplace with an estimated 40% market share in its bicentennial anniversary year. The initial six months of 2020 showed that buyers continued their hunt for fine wine at an even greater rate, with a 33% increase in the number of overall bidders in auctions over the first six months of 2020, compared with 2019, and 1,679 New World Records set overall. Of the $50M sold, the United States accounted for 45% of the buying power, while greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) was at 40% percent of all purchases, in comparison to Chinas slight edge of 45% to 43% over the U.S. in the first half of 2019. Other notables include Brazils growth from 5% of the market in the first half of 2019 to 7% in 2020 thus far. Additionally, European buyers collectively made their mark, coming in as the fourth largest buying segment in worldwide auctions. As Acker shifted from monthly online auctions to a weekly model, weekly web auction sales continued to grow at an impressive 37.8% over 2019. Domaine de la Romanee Conti once again took the first spot in the Top Ten Producers for the first half of 2020. Chateau Lafite Rothschild stood as the highest-grossing Bordeaux and the only Bordeaux chateau in the first five positions. Domaine Dujac, Domaine Leroy, and Armand Rousseau emphasized Burgundys strong presence in the marketplace with the third, fourth, and fifth places. Chateau Latour and Chateau Petrus kept Bordeaux relevant in sixth and seventh positions, while Coche-Dury stood as the only white Burgundy-focused producer to grace the Top Ten, in an impressive eighth place. Rounding out the list were the newest First Growth, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, and the rare Burgundian icon, Henri Jayer, despite the fact that the Domaine ceased making wine after 2001. The top wines sold in the first half of 2020 reiterated DRCs dominance in the world of fine wine, as the top brand held seven of the Top Ten Lots. However, it was a vertical lot of sixteen magnums 2002-2017 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair La Romanee that was the Top Lot sold in 2020 thus far, realizing $198,400 in Ackers Bicentennial New York auction, where over 200 lots direct from the cellars of 40 of the worlds top producers held the spotlight. DRC emerged in second through fifth places, with six magnums of 1995 DRC Romanee Conti selling for $179,200, while six bottles of the 1999 vintage realized $140,800. The fourth and fifth slots went to an exceptional twelve bottle lot of 1999 DRC La Tache and six bottles of 2002 Romanee Conti, both of which sold for $108,800. Sixth place was a three-way tie between six magnums of 1995 Henri Jayer Vosne Romanee Cros Parantoux, six bottles of 2003 DRC Romanee Conti, and a Jeroboam of 1979 Romanee Conti, which went for $102,400 a piece. The ninth and tenth lots of the year were also a tie, at $86,800, as six bottles of 2011 DRC Romanee Conti and the only Bordeaux to grace the Top Ten, an Imperial of 1961 Chateau Palmer rounded out the outstanding lineup. 2020 started off as a year of incredible celebration for Acker, said Acker Chairman, John Kapon. It marked our 200th anniversary, a milestone achieved by only a handful of companies in the history of the United States of America. Despite our 200-year history, the present became immediately uncertain. We quickly pivoted to a virtual world for our auctions, our tastings, and our retail sales, and were overwhelmed by the support shown to us by our longtime clients and friends. To achieve more sales in 2020 than we did in 2019, to have so many more bidders, to be clearly positioned so far ahead of our competitors, and to be working directly with so many of the world's greatest winemakers, I am so grateful and humbled. With great privilege comes great responsibility, so there will be no break this summer. We are currently working on an incredible Fall season, one befitting of a bicentennial. The wine market continues to blaze and amaze. We thank everyone who has supported us during these tumultuous times, and we look forward to continuing this historic year for Acker in the finest fashion. To achieve the wine auction markets Triple Crown of #1 in the World, #1 in America and #1 in Asia is always a thrill, and we are beginning the Fall season ahead of schedule with our first-ever July Hong Kong sale on Thursday, July 9th and Saturday, July 11th, live online, of course. The Fall season is already here! Acker is currently accepting consignments for its Fall auction season. Weekly web auctions are closing every week. For more information, email info@ackerwines.com. About Acker Established in 1820, Acker is the oldest wine shop in America and the worlds largest fine and rare wine auction house. Since third-generation wine merchant John Kapon, Chairman of Acker, started the auction business in 1998, the house has gained worldwide recognition. Acker offers a vast array of services, including cellar consultations, a deep retail inventory of fine and rare wine for immediate sale, first-class wine education amenities, and its ne plus ultra fine and rare wine auctions. Akima today announced that its subsidiary, RiverTech, has been awarded a task order to provide technical support services to the Department of Energy (DOE), Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), Rocky Mountain Region (RMR) under the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Small Business contract vehicle. The firm fixed-price task order has a 5-year period of performance and a total contract value of approximately $7 million, if all options are exercised. WAPA is a federal power marketing administration that markets and delivers reliable, cost-based hydroelectric power and related services within a 15-state region. Under the task order, RiverTech will deliver technical support services at various locations in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. The company will provide vehicle and heavy equipment maintenance, facility maintenance, environmental services, and engineering support services. This award is a testimony to our longstanding support of the DOE, said Duncan Greene, President of Akimas Mission Systems, Engineering & Technology Group. We are excited to work with WAPA and support their mission to deliver clean, renewable, reliable hydroelectric power while enhancing Americas energy security. About RiverTech RiverTech is an SBA certified 8(a) Alaska Native Corporation (ANC) and a wholly owned subsidiary of Akima. At RiverTech, we are dedicated to bringing innovative solutions to our customers complex engineering and operational challenges. Our teams deliver wide-ranging services for mission support, systems engineering, and IT, enabling information and communications dominance and superior command and control of forces across the globe. To learn more visit http://www.rivertechllc.com. About Akima Akima is a global enterprise with more than 7,500 employees, delivering agile solutions to the federal government in the core areas of facilities, maintenance, and repair; information technology; logistics; protective services; systems engineering; mission support; furniture, fixtures & equipment (FF&E); and construction. As a subsidiary of NANA, an Alaska Native Corporation owned by more than 14,300 Inupiat shareholders, Akimas core mission is to enable superior outcomes for our customers missions while simultaneously creating a long-lived asset for NANA consistent with our Inupiat values. In 2019, Washington Technology ranked Akima #38 amongst the top 100 government contractors. To learn more about Akima, visit http://www.akima.com. In an effort to support local families with the cost of their kids returning to school, the HeroZona Foundation will host its 8th Annual Phoenix Tools 4 School on Saturday, July 25, from 7 to 10 a.m. at the Travis L. Williams American Legion Post 65 (1624 E. Broadway Rd.) in Phoenix. To ensure the health and safety of volunteers, community members, students and their families, this years backpack drive will be adhering to COVID-19 CDC guidelines. This means the Tools 4 School backpack drive will now be a drive thru event and families will be asked to stay in their car while receiving supplies. This year has been especially tough on students and their families given the impact of COVID-19, says U.S. Army Desert Storm Veteran and Co-Founder of the HeroZona Foundation, Alan AP Powell. Through providing basic school readiness supplies for students whose families cannot afford any or all the necessary items to start off the school year, we hope to alleviate some of their financial burden. In just seven years, the Phoenix Tools 4 School annual event has impacted over 50,000 students and family members by providing them with supplies needed for their education, such as book bags, notebooks, writing utensils and more. Pre-coronavirus, the Tools 4 School event has also hosted a carnival and workshops from Maricopa Community Colleges and Arizona State University for 7th and 8th grade students to prepare them on their path to higher education. The event on July 25 is free and open to the public and is expected to draw thousands of families. Tools 4 School is open to all students in grades kindergarten through 8th grade. Supplies are limited, with registered backpacks distributed first and remaining backpacks distributed as first come first served while supplies last. People can preregister at Herozona.org. Attendees are encouraged to show up early and students must be present to receive their backpack and supplies. This years event is supported by partners such as APS, UPS and Crescent Crown Distributing. Community supporters include Phoenix Suns, SRP, ASU, Roosevelt School District #66, Southwest Airlines, EPCOR, 101.1 The Beat, Mega 104.3, 101.9 Campesina and Dollar Days. For more information about Phoenix Tools 4 School on July 25, visit herozona.org. About HeroZona Foundation The mission of HeroZona Foundation is to create and empower Heroes in Phoenix communities. The HeroZona Foundations annual HeroZona National Veteran Summit created a multi-day networking experience to improve Americas support of veteran companies through workshops, networking, entrepreneurial connections, and seminars. The summit will return to Arizona for a fourth year in November 2020. Other programs include the Bridge Forum, Phoenix Tools 4 School, Play it Forward, Honor Walk, Veterans Reach to Teach, Voting for Veterans and Play It Forward. For more information, visit herozona.org ### Denise Dove-Bernier, a proud mother of five and evangelist at Broken but Beautiful Ministries currently residing with her husband in Mystic, Connecticut. She has published her new book A Shattered Family: a poignant true story of heartache, faith. and renewal. A Shattered Family is about one American Christian family that fell apart. Denise tried everything in her power to save her marriage. She is a devout Christian woman who prayed, spoke the Word of God over her family, and never gave up. But everything soon changed when she heard the voice of God direct her to look through her husbands dresser drawers one night. With Denises world, she once knew came crashing down around her, she had turned to her faith in Jesus Christ. She turned her faith to the one who promised to never leave her or forsake her (Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6). This is a true story of one Christian woman who never gave up on life. Never gave up through a painful divorce, poverty, criticism, and her kids being scattered. With all odds stacked against her, she goes to college, true love of a Christian man finds her, moves to Connecticut, gets remarried, and with the help of the Almighty God, starts an online ministry called Broken but Beautiful Ministries, all by faith in God. Denise was broken in so many ways. However, she was broken but beautiful through Father God in so many ways. Published by Page Publishing, Denise Dove-Berniers engrossing book is an inspiring autobiography charting the authors difficult journey from despair to joy. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase A Shattered Family 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. What's Included With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 574-583-5121 or email cgrace@thehj.com. The 2020 Honda Accord is a midsize sedan that's available right now at Honda of Fife. The staff at Honda of Fife, an automotive dealership located in Fife, Washington, has begun building an online resource for car shoppers in the area. Researching vehicles is often the first step in the process of buying a new car, and car shoppers in the area can now start that part of their process right on http://www.hondaoffife.com. A new blog is already filling up with posts about the Honda vehicles available at the dealership, helping shoppers get a better idea of the different specifications, features and more that these models have to offer in a narrowed sense. For instance, one blog looks at the fuel economy and performance ratings of the new 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid. In addition to the blog, several informative model research pages have been added to the website. Unlike the posts making up the blog, these pages each focus on a specific Honda model such as the 2020 Honda Accord or 2020 Honda CR-V in a broad sense, highlighting a variety of information that car shoppers should know before making a buying decision. Each page also provides several pictures of the model, easy access to the dealerships inventory of that specific model and a quick way to reach out to the dealership for more information. All of this information and more can be found on the dealerships website, which was linked earlier. Shoppers with specific questions about the Honda vehicles available at the dealership can direct them to the sales team at 253-922-2673. Honda of Fife is located at 4301 20th St. E. in Fife. Cheesecake, a special needs kitten, and his adopter at Best Friends Lifesaving Center in New York, bestfriendsny.org Putting this data directly into the hands of the public allows individual community members and advocates like the members of our 2025 Action Team to gain a better understanding of exactly which shelters and types of pets are most in need of help and helps to connect them to those shelters. Best Friends Animal Society has released its 2020 pet lifesaving findings, which gives a national overview of the number of dogs and cats that enter shelters each year in the United States, and the number of dogs and cats that are leaving those shelters alive. The year-over-year data shows that the number of dogs and cats killed annually nationally has dropped from about 733,000 to 625,000 (or about 1,700 killed per day). In addition, this year, Best Friends released an inaugural state-by-state ranking that shows where the most dogs and cats need to be saved, and where the most dogs and cats are being killed. The top five states where the most pets need to be saved are California, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, who together make up more than 50% of the nations shelter killing of dogs and cats. While the top five states with the smallest number of pets being killed are Vermont, Rhode Island, North Dakota, New Hampshire and Delaware, which has once again reached no-kill status in the state (a state is considered to be no-kill when every brick-and-mortar shelter serving and/or located within the state has a save rate of 90% or higher). More highlights from the findings are listed below. Over the past three years, Best Friends has spearheaded a first-of-its-kind extensive data collection process that involved coordinated outreach to every shelter in America followed by additional research, data analysis, and technology development. To create the most comprehensive data set on animal welfare ever published, Best Friends collected data directly from shelters, state and local coalitions, government websites, and even FOIA requests. The Best Friends 2020 dataset (consisting of statistics collected during 2019) of U.S. shelters has a total net intake of 5,360,060 animals representing 4,850 known shelters. Of this intake total, 92% of the data is based on collected information from 3,608 brick and mortar shelters. The remaining 8% is estimated to cover the uncollected shelters and their respective counties. We are seeing continued momentum and progress towards the goal of ending the killing of dogs and cats in U.S. shelters by the year 2025, with the overall number of pets being killed in the U.S. continuing to go down and the number of shelters that are no-kill going up, said Julie Castle, chief executive officer, Best Friends Animal Society. Castle continued, For the past several years, Best Friends and progressive shelters nationwide have been changing the way they do business and the way they relate to their communities: simplifying adoption policies and requirements; building out community pet fostering programs; implementing trap, neuter, return (TNR) programs for community cats; passing more pet-friendly legislation to combat the retail sale of puppy mill dogs and breed discrimination; advocating for more pet-inclusive housing, and removing barriers for the public to help pets with the use of technology. And it is making a difference. Notable highlights from the findings include: -- Across the U.S., about 5.4 million dogs and cats entered shelters in 2019, and 4.2 million were saved making the national save rate 79.02% (2018 was 76.6%) -- There are more than 2,000 no-kill shelters nationwide (up 15% from 2018), which means that 44% of the nations shelters are now no-kill -- Despite continued progress, just 35% of communities around the country are considered no-kill (up from 28 percent in 2018) -- Of the total number of pets killed, 30.9% are dogs and 69.1% are cats (2018 was 32.9% dogs and 67.1% cats) -- While dog intakes are nearly 10% higher than cats, more than 2 cats are now being killed for every 1 dog -- Cats are in trouble due to outdated laws and ordinances and road blocks preventing communities from implementing effective trap-neuter-return programs that are proven to save lives and reduce the free-roaming cat population. -- Theres trouble in paradise in Hawaii this state has the lowest save rate percentage of any other state in the country (most of the killing is of cats) at 51.98% -- The top 14 states who killed the most dogs and cats in 2019 were CA, TX, NC, FL, LA, GA, AL, OK, HI, MI, VA, KY, AR, IL (2018 was TX, CA, NC, FL, GA, AL, LA, MI, SC, IL, KY, VA, HI, TN) -- The top 14 states make up more than 75% of the nations killing of dogs and cats Best Friends has always believed that anyone can help homeless pets. You dont need a rescue label, special credentials or permission to help save animals. Individual community members are the no-kill movements greatest resource. Putting this data directly into the hands of the public allows individual community members and advocates like the members of our 2025 Action Team to gain a better understanding of exactly which shelters and types of pets are most in need of help and helps to connect them to those shelters, Castle added. To view the 2020 lifesaving findings, visit bestfriends.org. About Best Friends Animal Society Best Friends Animal Society is a leading national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. In addition to running lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 3,100 animal welfare groups across the country, Best Friends has lifesaving centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City, and operates the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from an estimated 17 million per year to around 625,000. That means there are still about 1,700 dogs and cats killed every day in shelters, just because they dont have safe places to call home. We are determined to bring the country to no-kill by the year 2025. Working collaboratively with shelters, rescue groups, other organizations and you, we will end the killing and Save Them All. To check out our community lifesaving dashboard and for more information, visit bestfriends.org. Join the conversation on Facebook.com/bestfriendsanimalsociety, Twitter (@BestFriends) and Instagram (@BestFriendsAnimalSociety). Capstone Strategic guides RenoFi to partner with Ardent Credit Union With the Ardent deal, RenoFi will further deploy its solution set for credit unions and members while accelerating its wonderful growth trajectory." said John Dearing, Managing Director at Capstone. Capstone Strategic, Inc. (Capstone) announced today that RenoFi, an innovative financial technology company powering next-generation renovation loans, has partnered with Ardent Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in Southeast Pennsylvania. Capstone advised RenoFi on this partnership and introduced Ardents President/CEO, Rob Werner, to RenoFis Founder team. This partnership allows RenoFi to provide a digital and modern home renovation financing experience to the members of Ardent Credit Union. We are excited to partner with Ardent Credit Union and, as a result of this partnership, we are able to help Ardents members turn their current home into one they love, said Justin Goldman, Co-Founder & CEO of RenoFi. Founded in 2018, RenoFi provides renovation financing solutions that better meet the needs of today's homeowners. RenoFis unique program enables lenders to use the expected value of the home post-renovation rather than the homes current value, increasing the consumers borrowing power without the need to refinance a primary mortgage. Capstone helped identify the right partner that shares our commitment to excellent member service while seeking innovative new ideas to help the credit union movement thrive, said Lee Miller, Co-Founder & President of RenoFi. Homeowners taking out an Ardent Renovation Loan will work with RenoFi to review their plans or specs, conduct due diligence on the general contractor and provide a feasibility analysis of the budget--all with the aim of ensuring that members are put in the best position to successfully complete their renovation. We have always strived to provide differentiated loan products and exceptional levels of member service. This partnership will provide growth for the credit union as well as enhance services for current members and future clients. As a third-party advisor, Capstone facilitated a smooth and successful start to this partnership that will undoubtedly provide additional growth for both organizations for years to come, added Werner. Ardent Credit Union was originally founded in 1977 by the employees of the SmithKline Corporation. Ardent has more than $700 million in member assets. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Ardent serves Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Chester Counties. We are thrilled to continue to help RenoFi grow through strategic partnerships in the credit union world. With the Ardent deal, RenoFi will further deploy its solution set for credit unions and members while accelerating its wonderful growth trajectory. We have enjoyed our partnership with RenoFis team and are looking forward to the next chapter. They are making a difference, said John Dearing, Managing Director at Capstone. About Capstone Strategic, Inc. Capstone Strategic, Inc. is a consulting firm located outside of Washington DC specializing in proactive, external growth strategies, primarily mergers and acquisitions for the middle market. Founded in 1995 by CEO David Braun, Capstone has facilitated over $1 billion of successful transactions in a wide variety of manufacturing and service industries, including the credit union market. Capstone utilizes a proprietary process, The Roadmap to Acquisitions, to provide tailored services to clients in a broad range of domestic and international markets. Visit the Capstone website at http://www.CapstoneStrategic.com. Grant Cardone, Cardone Equity Fund VI and VIII Our objective is to give all people the opportunity to create generational wealth, not just the wealthy. Cardone Capital, a Miami-based private equity real estate firm founded and managed by Grant Cardone, announces the close of Cardone Equity Funds VI and VIII, which were collectively oversubscribed by $4.2 million. The Funds utilized $112 million of equity and capital raised to purchase four multifamily properties for $350 million, bringing the firms total assets under management to $1.7 billion. Cardone Capital invests in income producing multifamily apartment buildings across the southeast United States. Fund VI and VIII assets generate positive cash flow with an expected annual return of 6-8%, and total return of 15%, making monthly distributions to investors. The closing of Funds VI and VIII brings Cardone Capitals portfolio to 7,722 units. The company is currently active in six states, including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, and Maryland. The properties purchased in Funds VI and VIII include: 10X Living at Panama City Beach 288 units Panama City Beach, FL 10X Living at Columbia Towncenter 531 units Columbia, MD Retreat at Panama City Beach 360 units Panama City Beach, FL Addison Place 294 units Naples, FL On June 25, 2020, the company celebrated the closing of Funds VI and VIII, a $6.3 million distribution to investors, and the recent opening of Fund IX. Cardone Capital Founder and CEO, Grant Cardone, spoke out to his team and investors, I will always take advantage of a deal, but I will never take advantage of people. This statement defines the launch of Cardone Capitals Opportunity Fund, which focuses on distressed properties, and guarantees an 80/20 split to investors who invest in accordance with the funds standards. The funds described herein are open to accredited investors only, through an offering made in accordance with Regulation D, Rule 506(c) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. In purchasing securities through a 506(c) offering, we are obligated to verify any participating investors status as an accredited investor in accordance with Rule 501 of Regulation D. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the fund carefully before investing. We do not make any representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained on this website and undertake no obligation to update the information. Past performance is not an indicator of any future results. All investments contain risk and may lose value. This does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of interest to purchase any securities or investment advisory services in any country or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not permitted by law. ...With this beta launch of Experience Manager, were giving subscription companies what theyve asked for again and again: a way to easily create and evolve online cancel experiences without a reliance on engineering resources, so companies can react quickly to customer behavior and market forces. Brightback, the first customer retention solution to automatically save customers at the moment of cancel, today announced the beta launch of Experience Manager, an easy way for direct-to-consumer subscription companies to create and test high-performing cancel experiences to retain more customers. The beta launch of Experience Manager comes two years after Brightback raised $11 million in equity and debt from over 30 industry investors. Brightback is now taking advantage of the gulf in the market for automated solutions to help any subscription businessnot just top-tier tech companies like Netflix and Amazonachieve world-class retention results without diverting resources away from product and engineering projects. Brightbacks Experience Manager gives subscription retention leaders the ability to replace static exit surveys and outdated call centers with personalized online experiences that deflect 10 to 30 percent of cancels, while delighting customers at a critical point in their journey. The future of subscription cancel experiences for consumer businesses is online Brightback sees a clear gap in the market between the algorithm-driven online retention systems that only a handful of leading-edge tech companies are equipped to build and the notorious call centers that customers loathe and companies need, but are unable to improve. Brightback aims to close this gap in the exploding consumer subscription industry by making available customer-friendly, smart retention tools that empower direct-to-consumer leaders to save more customers. Today every e-commerce site has a shopping-cart abandonment tool, and yet, subscriber retention is an afterthought and trails 10 years behind marketing tech, said Guy Marion, co-founder and CEO of Brightback. With this beta launch of Experience Manager, were giving subscription companies what theyve asked for again and again: a way to easily create and evolve online cancel experiences without a reliance on engineering resources, so companies can react quickly to customer behavior and market forces. Why now? Retention reigns supreme in 2020 Earlier this year, Brightback published a study that found 96 percent of retention professionals believe they lose customers that could otherwise have been retained if they could be identified and engaged in real-time. More recently, the economic upheaval resulting from the Covid-19 global pandemic is reshuffling the subscription landscape into clear winners and losers: winners being those who are spinning on a dime to proactively improve customer relationships and retain subscribers despite a near total halt of consumer spending. Additionally, regulation and governments are increasingly pro-consumer. Legislation passed in California in 2018 requires subscriptions that can be purchased online must also be able to be cancelled online. The industry is steadily moving toward a customer-centric approach, with Visa introducing similar requirements for credit-card accepting merchants. Whats available in the Experience Manager beta? Brightback is flexible enough to support multiple types of customer journeys, including cancels, downgrades, and trials, while easily integrating with the retention tools that most direct-to-consumer subscription businesses use. Experience Manager: Create and manage multiple cancel experiences from a central view. Page Editor: Edit copy and imagery on the fly while personalizing the cancel page with dynamic content and components. Brand Manager: Apply logos, color schemes, URLs and custom CSS at a global level to ensure a seamless customer experience across all cancel pages. Reason Editor: Eliminate sampling bias in exit surveys with mandatory cancel, and leverage Brightbacks categorized reasons to track actionable change Offer Library: Create, test, and personalize offers using templates from six categories: pauses, discounts, plan changes, extensions, feedback, and support & training. Integrating the retention stack: Use the brightback.js code snippet to integrate with data warehouse and billing systems, or leverage pre-built workflow integrations with Slack, Segment, and Zapier, and enrichment integrations with Salesforce, Recurly and Stripe. Insights and deflection funnel: Gain a birds eye view across your retention programs, then drill into aggregated insights, trends and real-time activity. Revenue attribution: Validate save and deflection performance, and assess impact on revenue instantly, via pre-built integrations with Stripe and Recurly. The beta launch of Experience Manager opens the door for consumer subscription companies to launch high-performing cancel experiences, as well as target customer audiences and test a broad range of offers in order to achieve best-in-class retention results. Pricing starts at $500/mo. To see Brightbacks Experience Manager in action, request a live demo at: https://brightback.com About Brightback Brightback is the first customer retention solution that automatically saves customers at the moment of cancel. Trusted by high volume subscription businesses like MeUndies and Unbounce, Brightback helps retention leaders deflect churn with personalized cancel experiences, optimize offboarding processes through testing and targeting and gather aggregated insights to drive product and company improvements. Headquartered in San Francisco, Brightback is a remote-first company with a team of subscription-industry veterans located across the United States. Emotional ABCS for Parents and Teachers "So powerful and genius in its simplicity." ~ Stevie Award judges Emotional ABCs was named the 2020 winner of the GOLD Stevie Award in the 'K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution' category during the 18th Annual American Business Awards. Stevie Award judges described Emotional ABCs as, "So powerful and genius in its simplicity." The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.s premier business awards program. Out of more than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes this year, Emotional ABCs was named the winner of the GOLD Stevie Award in the 'K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution' category. Ross Brodie, Emotional ABCs' CEO, is thrilled the company received the prestigious accolade, saying, Thank you so much to the American Business Awards. The Stevie Gold Award is a culmination of 10 years of work by our team of psychologists, educators, artists, and software developers to make our program accessible to parents and teachers as well as fun and engaging for students." More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this years Stevie Award winners. Despite the toughest business conditions in memory, American organizations continue to demonstrate their commitment to innovation, creativity, and bottom-line results, said Stevie Awards president Maggie Gallagher. About Emotional ABCs Emotional ABCs is Americas #1 Awarded Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program and is used in more than 55,000 schools across the USA as well as at home by parents worldwide. Our evidence-based, online and in-classroom emotional skills programs are designed for children ages 4-11 and give children practical tools for dealing with impulse control, frustration, and acting out. Emotional ABCs content aligns with CASELs areas of social competencies (Self-Awareness, Social Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision-Making, Relationship Building) and is constantly updated by our team of educators, psychologists and therapists. Several formats of Emotional ABCs have been developed to meet different needs, including Parent Subscriptions, a Free-to-Teachers Emotional ABCs Classroom Subscription, and a Premium Schools option for school-wide accounts. Emotional ABCs programs are available over many different platforms including desktop, tablet, and smartphone. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2020 Stevie winners are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA. Details about Emotional ABCs can be found at http://www.EmotionalABCs.com About the Stevie Awards Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com. Emotional ABCs Awards The prestigious American Business Stevie Gold K-12 COURSE OR LEARNING MANAGEMENT SOLUTION Award adds to the many accolades Emotional ABCs has earned across a broad spectrum of categories. These include Common Sense Media's 2019 Education "Top Pick for Learning", the National Association of American Publishers "Revere" Judges' Award, Tilliwig's "Brain Child" Award, Creative Child Magazine's "Product of the Year," and a "Great Find" Award from AblePlay.org, an organization that evaluates products for their effectiveness in teaching children who have learning differences. Press Contact: Mitch Wenter at Support[at]EmotionalABCs.com or 310-399-8762 Carol Howard EvidenceCare, a leading provider of advanced clinical decision support (CDS) technology, today announced the launch of its innovative Admission Criteria solution expanding the companys CDS platform to create real impact on the hospital revenue cycle by ensuring accurate admission documentation to proactively address a significant source of denials. The company is also announcing the addition of Carol Howard as vice president of clinical content, an industry expert on the clinical aspects of the revenue cycle. The Admission Criteria solution, developed in partnership with MCG Health, enables a clinically driven revenue cycle by incorporating evidence-based admission criteria to properly determine and document bed status at the time of admission. The solution offers significant financial return for hospitals based on inappropriate bed status, determinations, and denials due to insufficient documentation. To support both content and business development efforts, Carol Howard offers a unique blend of clinical and revenue cycle experience to add to the EvidenceCare team. As a registered nurse with extensive background in decision support, denials, utilization and revenue management, she will leverage her deep knowledge base to lead the ongoing development and support of the Admission Criteria solution. Emergency Departments (ED) are the front door of the hospital. They face the daunting challenge of making split-second decisions and deserve immediate access to updated medical research to ensure the best clinical outcome for patients, said Dr. Brian Fengler, chief executive officer and co-founder of EvidenceCare. We are thrilled to have Carol join the team and apply her front-line nursing experience and revenue cycle expertise to the launch of the Admission Criteria solution. With Carols leadership, we will enable frontline providers to deliver effective, efficient, and evidenced-based care. Clinicians drive the revenue cycle through accurate documentation. Too often, we address denials after the fact when a proactive approach could address up to 60% of denials, said Carol Howard, vice president, clinical content of EvidenceCare. I am looking forward to becoming an integral part of the forward-thinkers at EvidenceCare that seek creative solutions to help hospitals remain solvent, especially given the impact of the pandemic, so that they might continue to deliver excellent care in the communities they serve. About EvidenceCare EvidenceCare is the leading clinical decision support system (CDSS) driving real ROI. Founded in response to the professional experience of emergency physician Dr. Brian Fengler, the platform is integrated into a clinicians EHR workflow, delivering customized, interactive, curated guidance directly into the care process. With EvidenceCare, hospitals, emergency departments and urgent care centers enable clinicians to deliver evidence-based care with measurable outcomes. Through advanced CDSS technology, variance is reduced, and the appropriate criteria are documented during utilization and admission decisions. With government-mandated compliance measures and quality program initiatives achieved, healthcare organizations ensure that quality and safety improve, liability is reduced, and operational efficiency is increased while capturing additional revenue. To learn more, visit http://www.evidence.care or follow us on Twitter @evidencecare or LinkedIn. About MCG Health MCG, part of the Hearst Health network, helps healthcare organizations implement informed care strategies that proactively and efficiently move people toward health. MCGs transparent assessment of the latest research and scholarly articles, along with our own data analysis, gives patients, providers, and payers the vetted information they need to feel confident in every care decision, in every moment. For more information visit http://www.mcg.com or follow our Twitter handle at @MCG_Health. fivestar* President Lou Camerlengo celebrates Extentia's 21st anniversary in Pune, India in March 2020. What makes this partnership particularly unique, is how aligned our organizations are in terms of delivering confidence through long-term solutions that address every facet of a customers requirements, said Lou Camerlengo, President and Co-Founder, fivestar*. Extentia and fivestar* announced a unique partnership earlier this month where each company brings decades of experience respectively to bring compelling Salesforce solutions to the US market - across clouds and domains. With over 23 years of experience, fivestar* is committed to growing and designing cloud-based, data-driven technology solutions that allow organizations to navigate the complexity of implementing new technology. Extentia, in turn, brings over two decades of experience working across different domains and a decade of core Salesforce expertise across various Salesforce clouds. As a Salesforce Gold Consulting Partner, and Product Development Partner (Specialist Navigator), Extentias focus is on Lightning-Ready AppExchange development, Third-party integrations, Lightning Web Components, and Heroku implementations. fivestar* will leverage Extentias Salesforce experience and couple it with their strong business analysis and customer relationship skills. Together, both companies will work closely to identify relevant opportunities, develop customized solutions, and offer powerful and compelling Salesforce solutions to customers. Extentias depth of experience in delivering solutions for non-for-profit space will add tremendous value to fivestar*s existing relationships in this domain, as also in the education and workforce management space. fivestar* will also leverage Extentias Financial Services Cloud team to offer high-impact Salesforce implementation services to financial organizations in the United States. What makes this partnership particularly unique, is how aligned our organizations are in terms of delivering confidence through long-term solutions that address every facet of a customers requirements, said Lou Camerlengo, President and Co-Founder, fivestar*. Extentia and fivestar* have been collaborating for years, added Umeed Kothavala, CEO, Extentia Information Technology. Having worked together on several projects, this partnership is a phenomenal next step in leveraging the combined expertise of our teams. To learn more about fivestar*'s Salesforce offerings, email us at info@fivestardev.com or contact us here. About Extentia Information Technology A global technology and services firm that helps clients transform and realize their digital strategies. With a unique Experience Centric Transformation approach, Extentias ground-breaking solutions are in the space of mobile, cloud, and design. The team is differentiated by an emphasis on excellent design skills that they bring to every project. Focused on enterprise mobility, cloud computing, and user experiences, Extentia strives to accomplish and surpass their customers business goals. The companys inclusive work environment and culture inspire team members to be innovative and creative. This provides clients an exceptional partnership experience. http://www.extentia.com About fivestar* fivestar* designs and develops custom software solutions that accelerate your business. Our solutions centralize workflows, optimize processes, and enable decision-making through real-time data and business intelligence. http://www.fivestardev.com/salesforce Shoppers can compare the capabilities of both the 2020 GMC Sierra 2500HD and 3500HD pickup trucks against one another. The Carl Black Roswell website is filled with informative research pages and blogs that detail the different Buick and GMC vehicles available at the dealership. The former take a look at the different vehicles individually under a broad scope, highlighting things like performance ratings or standard and available features, while the latter can be as focused as a single feature found in numerous vehicles or looking at different aspects of the vehicles such as performance or efficiency. In addition, the website offers several competitive comparisons that pit the new vehicles available at the dealership against some of their fiercest segment competitors and rivals. For shoppers in the Roswell, Georgia, area that are in the market for a new pickup truck, there are a few pages doing just this for the different GMC trucks. For instance, one page pits the 2020 GMC Canyon against the 2020 Ford Ranger. The page highlight some of the most important specifications to consider when shopping for trucks like these, including horsepower, payload and towing capacities. It then goes into detail on how they measure up against one another. A different page does the same thing for the 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 and the 2020 RAM 1500. While most of these comparisons are competitive in nature, another page pits the two 2020 GMC Sierra Heavy Duty pickup trucks against one another to highlight the differences between them. This helps customers that have already settled on GMC figure out which truck better suits their needs. Residents in the area that might be interested in a GMC pickup truck are encouraged to seek out these pages on the dealerships website, http://www.carlblackroswell.com. Specific questions about these trucks can be directed to the sales team at 888-491-7859. Carl Black Roswell is located at 11225 Alpharetta Hwy. in Roswell. We set out to create a digital experience that could bring the fintech community together and connect organizations to the bold ideas and emerging technologies that will move the world forward. FTT Virtual North America, a global virtual fintech event that brings together thought leaders from emerging technology brands and financial institutions, today announced it will host its first North American digital conference, FTT Virtual North America in the fall of 2020. This is the first large scale North American venture for VC Innovations, the team behind the very successful FinTECHTalents series. The virtual festival comes on the heels of the success of the European focused FTT Virtual Spring in as much as a virtual event has borders which ran on June 10, 2020. The theme of making distance irrelevant clearly resonated across the fintech community as over 3000 attendees joined live. Slated to debut September 9, this is the first virtual conference of its kind geared towards North American financial institutions, fintech brands, and providers that will showcase speakers sessions around digital innovation and transformation. At a time where in-person conferences and events have been canceled due to the pandemic crisis, the majority of businesses have sought new ways to network and engage with other industry professionals in the financial sector. Organized by VC Innovations, who run the annual FinTECHTalents Festival, FTT Virtual North America bridges that gap with a virtual experience that blends the traditional benefits of a physical conference with the speed and innovation of a nimble start-up. The COVID-19 crisis has created new challenges for businesses, but it hasnt eliminated business goals. For the financial services sector, this pandemic has only accelerated digital transformation, said Victor Cruz, CEO of VC Innovations. We set out to create a digital experience that could bring the fintech community together and connect organizations to the bold ideas and emerging technologies that will move the world forward. The fintech festival will showcase a number of live sessions by industry thought leaders, a virtual expo hall to connect and engage with fintech providers and features an online speed networking and happy hour event for all attendees. Additional benefits of FTT Virtual North America include: Main stage and live interactive sessions with more than 50 industry speakers Curated networking channels to connect and meet with other industry professionals Virtual drinks reception with access to video chatrooms Access to conference exhibitors and ability to schedule private discussions with prospects On-demand replays of conference sessions for all attendees Live discussions and Q&A with session speakers We didnt want to deliver just another webinar. This is a one-of-a-kind virtual experience that will set the standard for other industry conferences in the future, said Lisa Moyle, Director of Strategy. The financial sector is ready to move forward and we are creating a path for organizations to do so. To learn more about FTT Virtual North America, register at: https://www.fintechtalents.com/virtualnorthamerica/ About VC Innovations VC INNOVATIONS is a disruptive media and marketing services business that designs and builds communities, content and experiences for innovation industries. Through the creation of content assets, bespoke micro-events, industry conferences, large-scale tech festivals and digital platforms, we bring together ecosystems and stakeholders to explore how technology drives these industries digital transformation, supporting the creation of cutting edge and sustainable solutions. Smuggling of cigarettes from Zimbabwe into South Africa through illegal crossing points along the Limpopo River, always a problem because of the tax differences, increased dramatically from the beginning of April when South African lockdown regulations banned cigarette sales. Authorities estimate that around 30 percent of cigarettes sold in South Africa are smuggled from Zimbabwe including Pacific, Remington gold, Mega, Dullahs, Branson and Servilles brands. This has been a problem for some time because the South African Customs Union taxes tobacco at much higher rates than Zimbabwe, opening arbitrage possibilities for smugglers. The ban on tobacco sales under the South African lockdown just made supplying the black market even more profitable, so more people became involved. But a crackdown on both sides of the border has seen more than 30 people arrested in the last fortnight, and the seizure of cigarettes worth an estimated R4 million. Ideally a crate of a dozen bricks of cigarettes, around 120 boxes, is bought at US$120 from Zimbabwean manufacturers and sold for between US$250 and US$300 to the syndicates who then smuggle these into South Africa, where they sell for anything above R15 000. Those that illegally transport cigarettes across borders are paid between R100 and R300 per box and in most cases, this is done under the cover of darkness. Matabeleland South police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele said Zimbabwean police had increased patrols to curb all forms of criminal activities on the border. We are on the ground and we will continue maintaining a heavy presence as we enforce the law, he said. South Africas police services spokesperson for Limpopo Province, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said South African police had intensified patrols working with other security agents along the border and major roads in the province. The fight against the smuggling and dealing in illicit cigarettes in the province intensified on Sunday when four suspects aged between 32 and 34 were arrested, three vehicles and illicit cigarettes valued at more than R1 million were confiscated, said Brig Mojapelo. Acting on a tip off, our officers, including the K9 (Dog Unit), the South African National Defence Force and Custom officials jointly conducted a snap operation along the N1 between Beitbridge and Musina. A vehicle with two people was then stopped, searched and found with illicit cigarettes that were packed in bags. A further probe conducted by the members at the scene led them to the nearby mall where another suspect was found loading illicit cigarettes into a vehicle. The suspect attempted to evade arrest but was quickly apprehended after a short pursuit. The vehicle and the cigarettes were confiscated. He said they also picked some further information that the contraband was to be transported to a certain warehouse in Musina town where more cigarettes were stored. The official said the team rushed to the given address and on arrival, a vehicle already loaded with illicit cigarettes was found parked at the warehouse. Brig Mojapelo said the reaction team found some suspects unpacking them. A suspect was found hiding between the boxes and was arrested. The following were confiscated during the arrests: three vehicles, an Opel Corsa pick-up van and two Nissan NP300 pick-up trucks, 4 040 cartons of cigarettes of different brands valued at R1 070 193. We cant wait to share our knowledge and experience from working with new developments and look forward to partnering with the new homeowners to form a community of neighbors and friends, said Shauna Gatlin, regional director at FirstService Residential. FirstService Residential, North Americas leading community management company, was awarded the management contract for Deerlake Ranch in Chatsworth, California. The community is currently under development, with homes being built by Van Daele Homes and Landsea Homes. The anticipated buildout will be 314 single-family homes. FirstService Residential will begin management in July 2020. Established in May 2019, Deerlake Ranch is a master-planned single-family home community, with homes ranging from 3,941 square feet to 4,290 square feet. At full buildout, the gated community will be composed of six distinct neighborhoods. It features one large clubhouse, the Canyon Club, which includes a resort-style pool and spa, outdoor living room, game room and outdoor lounge. Our team is excited to kick off this new partnership with Deerlake Ranch. This beautiful new development has so much to offer, from the nearby hiking trails to the priceless views overlooking the San Fernando Valley and the exceptional and thoughtful design of their amenities, said Shauna Gatlin, regional director at FirstService Residential. We cant wait to share our knowledge and experience from working with new developments and look forward to partnering with the new homeowners to form a community of neighbors and friends. Deerlake Ranch offers easy access to the 118 freeway and is surrounded by miles of hiking trails that overlook the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood Hills. It is also located minutes away from popular shopping and dining destinations at the Westfield Topanga mall and on Ventura Boulevard. In addition, the community is located near some of the nations top medical facilities and award-winning schools, like Sierra Canyon and Chatsworth Charter High School. About FirstService Residential FirstService Residential is North Americas property management leader, partnering with 8,000 communities across the U.S. and Canada, including low-, mid- and high-rise condominiums and cooperatives; single-family communities; master-planned, lifestyle and active adult communities; and mixed-use and rental properties. HOAs, community associations, condos and strata corporations rely on their extensive experience, resources and local expertise to maximize property values and enhance their residents lifestyles. Dedicated to making a difference, every day, FirstService Residential goes above and beyond to deliver exceptional service. FirstService Residential is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation (FSV), a North American leader in the property services sector. For more information, visit http://www.fsresidential.com/california. In the face of unprecedented challenges, the circumstances of this school year could have written a tragic story for students who struggle to read. This year's winners -- both educators and school leadership -- displayed exemplary dedication that made all the difference in student learning. Learning Ally is excited to announce the recipients of its 2020 Winslow Coyne Reitnouer Excellence in Education Award, a national achievement award named for a longtime advocate for helping struggling readers reach their potential. Learning Allys mission is to transform the lives of struggling learners by providing educators with proven solutions that enable students to reach their academic potential. In a time when distance learning is necessary, the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution has become a crucial teacher resource that allows struggling readers to work independently at home and keep up with course work. This award honors educators in U.S. schools who embody our mission. Today we recognize four educators--and for the first time, a school--who have, despite the current challenges, provided exemplary opportunities for their students with reading deficits to achieve both inside and outside of the classroom. Terrie Noland, Learning Allys VP of Educator Initiatives, offered congratulations to this years nominees and winners, saying, In the face of unprecedented challenges, you stepped up and made a difference. The circumstances of this school year could have written a tragic story for many students, particularly those who struggle to read. Your dedication to education excellence has made all the difference, and we couldnt be more proud of you. A national selection committee chose this years award winners from a pool of hundreds of nominees. The 2020 Winslow Coyne Reitnouer Excellence in Education Award Winners are: Maria Arcodia, General Education Teacher at Brooklyn Arbor Elementary School, New York, NY Ms. Arcodia, the mother of a student with dyslexia and a visual impairment, has made it her goal to ensure all of her students develop a love of reading--even when learning to read--no matter what challenge or disability they face. She has been extremely proactive in her efforts to secure reading accommodations for her school, creating an educator and parent coalition to secure funding from charitable sources. She has held workshops for parents so they know to help their kids use accommodations at home, and has even helped fellow teachers advocate for accommodations to support their students who attend other schools. She is currently completing work to become a certified Orton-Gillingham instructor so she can ensure all her students succeed at reading. Julie Gutman, Director of Special Education at Lake Orion Community School District, MI Ms. Gutman and her district have been recognized by local, state and international organizations for their student successes in reading instruction and achievement. Her leadership and hard work has led to the development of many high impact programs that continue to have positive impacts on student outcomes, including 90% of the districts elementary students reading at or above grade-level reading. Susan Ketterer, Dyslexia Specialist at Cross Oaks Elementary School, Cross Roads, TX Ms. Ketterer is a strong advocate for all students who struggle to read, and has helped restructure her districts dyslexia department procedures, policies and communications. She creates a healthy environment for reading and learning with audiobooks among her students and takes time to share and educate other teachers about the resources available to them. She has also worked closely with parents in an effort to encourage and support their participation. Kevin Wright, General Education Teacher at Clarendon Avenue School, Mukwonago, WI Mr. Wright has long championed the use of assistive technology to support the reading development of students who struggle with decoding. Having partnered with his schools speech pathologist to identify new and better tools, his success, including improved test scores, has become a model for his district and led to his school being awarded exceeds expectation on their state report card two years in a row. Park Vista High School, Lake Worth, FL Park Vista HS presents a model for successfully creating an atmosphere that fosters inclusiveness and learning for all students, including those with reading deficits. The school encourages students to participate in their IEP meetings and provides academic counselors to discuss course work and other concerns, making them active participants in their education. They require all teachers to take dyslexia overview training and provide the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution to all qualifying students, even those taking technical classes. Their success has led a number of neighboring schools to try to emulate their model. For more information on Learning Ally, or to request a demo of the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution, visit http://www.learningally.org/educators or call 800-221-1098. About Learning Ally Learning Ally is a leading nonprofit education solutions organization dedicated to equipping educators with proven solutions that help new and struggling learners reach their potential. Our range of literacy-focused offerings for students Pre-K to 12th grade and catalog of professional learning allows us to support more than 99,000 educators across the US. The Learning Ally Audiobook Solution is our cornerstone award-winning reading accommodation used in more than 17,500 schools to help students with reading deficits succeed. Composed of high quality, human-read audiobooks and a suite of teacher resources to monitor and support student progress, it is designed to turn struggling readers into engaged learners. For more information, visit LearningAlly.org. In my service as president of the United States Mexico Chamber of Commerce, I have seen that there is a tremendous need in business and our community for our members and allies to help ensure that the U.S. Latin America business community is a welcoming place for all professionals, said Pena. Greenberg Traurig Miami Shareholder Antonio Pena, created and hosted the launch of a new diversity and inclusion initiative by the United States - Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Inter-American Chapter, which was held on June 19 via a virtual reception. The United States - Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Inter-American Chapters (USMCOC-IA) Together We Advance initiative aims to promote diversity and inclusion of members and partners within the U.S. and Latin America business community through networking, professional development, mentorship, and community engagement. In my service as president of the United States Mexico Chamber of Commerce, I have seen that there is a tremendous need in business and our community for our members and allies to help ensure that the U.S. Latin America business community is a welcoming place for all professionals, said Pena, president of the Inter-American Chapter, United States Mexico Chamber of Commerce. This initiative represents my efforts to extend Greenberg Traurigs long history of commitment to diversity and inclusion to this community in the most meaningful way. Pena welcomed guests and delivered the opening remarks at the virtual event. Other speakers included Jonathan Chait Auerbach, consul general of Mexico in Miami; Kristien Turner, president of Together We Advance; and Kevin Huntting, vice president & strategic head of the Together We Advance Committee. The events keynote speaker was Elizabeth F. Schwartz, founder of Miami law firm, Elizabeth Schwartz, P.A., and a recognized national advocate for the legal rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Schwartz was a key litigator in the Florida Supreme Court decision that legalized same sex marriage. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2200 attorneys in 39 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017 and is among the Top 20 on the 2018 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. David G. Mandelbaum, co-chair of the Environmental Practice of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, has been elected a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL). The ACOEL is a professional association of lawyers distinguished by experience in the practice of environmental law, ethics, and the development of environmental law. Mandelbaum is one of 27 lawyers elected this year as Fellows for their many years of substantial contributions to the field of environmental law and their high standards of practice, according to ACOEL. Induction into American College of Environmental Lawyers is a distinct honor, said Mandelbaum, who is a shareholder in Greenberg Traurigs Philadelphia and Boston offices. I look forward to participating in the work of the College. Mandelbaum represents clients facing issues arising under the environmental laws. He regularly represents clients in lawsuits and regulatory negotiation; he has also addressed environmental issues in many private transactions. He teaches Environmental Litigation, Superfund and Oil and Gas Law at Temple Law School and has previously taught Environmental Law, Climate Change, and Land Use Law and Administration. About Greenberg Traurigs Environmental Practice: Greenberg Traurigs Environmental Practice assists clients with issues under the environmental and natural resource laws that affect their businesses. The firms environmental attorneys assist with securing permits and approvals; negotiate and close transactions; defend clients in enforcement actions; handle a broad range of environmental and toxic tort litigation; ensure the understanding and satisfaction of regulatory requirements; prepare for and respond to emergencies; craft approaches for legacy cleanup issues; and develop solutions for product regulation, market access, and environmental policy challenges. Greenberg Traurig received a first-tier ranking in the "Environmental Law" and "Litigation Environmental" categories in the U.S. News - Best Lawyers 2019 "Best Law Firms" report. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2200 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. HealthLX announced today that it has formed a systems integrator partnership with Timmaron Group to help healthcare payers comply with the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access final rule. By July 1, 2021, most health plans in the United States must enable member access to their records through an API or risk enforcement actions. HealthLX and Timmaron Group have been pursuing the same objective - radically advancing healthcare in the U.S. one organization at a time - for several years now, said Will Tesch, CEO of HealthLX. Now that the CMS Patient Access final rule is in the books and deadlines are upon us, its the right time to formalize our partnership. With HealthLXs FHIR Enterprise solution and Timmarons experience and relationships with payers across the industry, we can help payers make genuine interoperability happen and do so quickly. People are making life-change decisions off the work we are doing, said Barbara Stinnett, CEO of Timmaron Group. Having a partner like HealthLX who understands not just how to connect the data but also the strategy behind it is invaluable. Together were positioned to create incredible value as well as compliance capability for healthcare organizations and the members they serve. HealthLX is a recognized leader in solving clinical data integration challenges with its leading-edge technology. As a founding member of the Da Vinci Project, HealthLX is involved in writing the workflows to satisfy interoperability mandates. Timmaron Group works with healthcare organizations to use actionable data to achieve Triple Aim results, including stronger outcomes, cost benefits, and efficiencies in delivery of care. HealthLX and Timmaron Group have been speaking the same language for years, said Tesch. By working together, were creating a powerhouse solution that, with the CMS Patient Access mandates, has the potential to fundamentally improve healthcare for all stakeholders. About HealthLX HealthLX (Healthcare Language Exchange) gives payers and providers an interoperability engine designed specifically for healthcare data exchange, including the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule. The HealthLX platform supports FHIR natively, and also supports an array of older healthcare data standards (HL7 v2, EDI, CDA). HealthLX simplifies the effort and cost of new solution integration by creating modern API endpoints on legacy systems, all while providing highly configurable security and enhanced levels of transaction monitoring. As a founding member of Health Level Seven International's (HL7) Da Vinci Project, HealthLX has been working with and supporting the development of use cases and the FHIR standard itself to comply with the Cures Act mandates. For more information, visit http://www.healthlx.com. For media inquiries, please contact: Jennifer Behnke Director of Marketing, HealthLX marketing@healthlx.com About Timmaron Group Timmaron Group is a global technologies, consulting, and managed services organization, and is all about the data, being an artificial technologies and healthcare company. Timmaron works with early-stage to Fortune 100 companies, developing their strategies through execution plans. Timmaron Group is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Its operating professionals bring a sensible and experienced view, provide innovative yet pragmatic solutions, and work with clients as a team member from strategy formation through execution to results. Learn more at http://www.timmarongroup.com. For media inquiries, please contact: Barbara Stinnett CEO, Timmaron Group +1 (612)991-0459 Help.org, a trusted online resource for individuals who struggle with addiction and their loved ones, has announced the Best Rehab Facilities in San Francisco, California for 2020. The informational guide recognizes the top 10 rehab facilities based on cost, treatment options, location, accompanying services and more. According to recent studies, drug overdose is the leading cause of death among people under age 50. In San Francisco, deaths related to opioid abuse increased significantly from 2011 to 2015. Substance abuse among adolescents is also escalating in San Francisco with 55 percent of high school students reported using alcohol, 38 percent reported using marijuana, 8 percent reported using prescription drugs without a valid prescription, and 2 percent reported using heroin. With the growing need for accessible and high-quality rehab programs, Help.org has developed a unique ranking process to help connect individuals with treatment providers that meet their needs. The Help.org research team analyzed thousands of facilities across the country and then identified the most cost-effective and highest rated programs in larger cities like San Francisco. Each facility was evaluated based on rehabilitation services, treatment approaches, cost, special programs for unique demographics and ancillary services. The website also provides information about drug use and side effects as well as educational articles. For a detailed listing of the Best Rehab Facilities in San Francisco, California please visit https://www.help.org/drug-and-alcohol-rehab-centers-in-san-francisco-ca/ 2020 Best Rehab Facilities in San Francisco, California (in alphabetical order) Adolescent Counseling Services Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Programs 643 Bair Island Road, Suite 301 Redwood City, CA 94063 650-424-0852 El Centro de Libertad (The Freedom Center) 500 Allerton Street, Floor 2 Redwood City, CA 94063 650-599-9955 HealthRIGHT 360 Asian American Recovery Services 1563 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415-762-3700 Horizons Unlimited of San Francisco, Inc. 440 Potrero Avenue San Francisco, CA 94110 415-487-6700 Jelani Inc.: The Family Program 1638 Kirkwood Avenue San Francisco, CA 94124 415-671-1165 Marin Treatment Center Outpatient Services 1466 Lincoln Avenue San Rafael, CA 94901 415-457-3755 Mission Council Family Day Treatment 154 A Capp Street, Room 10 San Francisco, CA 94110 415-864-0554 PRC Joe Healy Detoxification Program 170 9th Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415-777-0333 Star Vista Insights Adolescent Treatment Program 609 Price Ave, Suite 205 Redwood City, Ca 94063 650-366-8436 West Oakland Health Community Recovery Center 7501 International Boulevard Oakland, CA 94621 510-835-9610 ABOUT HELP.ORG Help.org is an online resource for individuals who struggle with addiction and their loved ones. The website provides the latest research through scientifically proven methods, community recovery resources as well as information about local financial assistance. Help.orgs team of researchers, activists and writers work together with addiction counselors and other professionals to offer useful and accurate resources to help individuals seeking recovery. To learn more, visit https://www.help.org/. stock photo of cars lined up at dealership lot with parking lines and partly cloudy blue sky The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic had an impact on all car dealerships, causing closures and a push to begin selling cars without any personal interaction. Now that some time has passed and some businesses are opening back up, Honda of Santa Maria is now reopening its showroom. The pandemic made dealerships like Honda of Santa Maria adapt and rely on making sales through phone calls and on their website. These methods will remain a major part of how the dealership sells cars in the future Additionally, practices like delivering vehicles to a shoppers home or office and remote test drives will become standard methods of serving customers. With the showroom at Honda of Santa Maria open once again, the dealership is returning to regular business hours. Currently, the dealership will be open from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. On Saturdays the sales department of the dealership will open at the same time but close an hour earlier at 5:00 p.m. The dealership will be open on Sundays as well but will not open the showroom until 11:00 a.m. and will close at 5:00 p.m. as well. Although the showroom is open again, the sales department will be staffed with a minimum number of associates. For this reason, customers are encouraged to shop the dealerships online inventory if they desire. The service and parts department may not have closed during the pandemic, but those looking to order parts or service their vehicles are encouraged to make an appointment online or over the phone. Hours for the service and parts department are separate from the sales department hours. On weekdays, the service and parts department opens at 7:30 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m. Saturdays are limited to opening at 8:00 a.m. and closing at 4:00 p.m. The parts and service department is closed all day on Sundays. Weve learned a great deal from the survey and our panelists, and we plan to look deeper into our results to find better ways to support and advise youth with disabilities, their families, and educators." - Dr. John O'Neill, Kessler Foundation Panel relates real-world experiences of graduates with disabilities to topline findings of the 2020 Kessler Foundation National Employment and Disability Survey: Recent College Graduates On a June 24 webinar, titled, The ADA Generation: A Dialogue with Recent College Graduates with Disabilities, experts in employment and disability engaged with three young professionals to relate the results of a new national survey to the real-world experiences of recent college graduates with disabilities. The survey, commissioned by Kessler Foundation and implemented by the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD), commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and explores its impact on the first generation to come of age since the ADAs passage in 1990. The panel focused on the topline findings of the 2020 Kessler Foundation National Employment and Disability Survey: Recent College Graduates, the third in a series of surveys that are changing perceptions about disability and work, and establishing new pathways for greater inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. The overall results of the 2020 survey were presented nationally on June 3, 2020 via a Zoom webinar, titled, The ADA Generation: New Perspectives on Employment and College Graduates with Disabilities, and via a EurekAlert release. The experts reported that college students with disabilities were taking advantages of career services during college, and were transitioning from college to work at the same rate as their peers without disabilities 90%. Economist Andrew Houtenville, PhD, of UNH-IOD chaired the June 24 webinar, which featured John ONeill, PhD, director of the Center for Employment and Disability at Kessler Foundation, Kimberly Phillips, PhD, of UNH-IOD, and psychologist Elizabeth Cardoso, PhD, chair of the Educational Foundations and Counseling Programs at Hunter College-City University of New York. Dr. Cardoso related the surveys new findings to the outcomes of the MIND Alliance grant she received from the National Science Foundation. MIND Alliance fosters careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among minority students with disabilities in high school, community college and college. The college graduates with disabilities who shared their experiences were Hieu Duc Dang, AA, BA, MS, benefits counselor at the Center for Independence of the Disabled (CIDNY), Bryce Stanley, BA, MS, PhD candidate, research assistant at the University of New Hampshire, and Annemarie Veira, BA, MS, CRC, coordinator of the Office of Disability Resources at of the School of Visual Arts in New York City. The 2020 survey collected a wealth of information, including details of college majors and occupations, finding that students with disabilities were more likely to pursue career paths focused on helping people, and less likely to choose STEM majors, or to work in STEM disciplines. Preparing for STEM careers will help people with disabilities take advantage of this growth sector in our economy, said Dr. ONeill. Research shows that this is a disparity that can be addressed with the right support system, he added. Providing comprehensive support beginning in high school can increase the participation of minorities with disabilities in STEM careers, according to Dr. Cardoso. More than 700 students received the services of the MIND Alliance, she reported, including role modeling, tutoring, and mentoring, as well as exposure to internships, exposure to careers in STEM, and exposure to individuals with disabilities in STEM careers. These MIND Alliance students excelled in terms of their graduation rates at every level, in transitioning to higher education, and in choosing STEM careers. During the webinar, Dang, Stanley and Veira shared how their college experiences compared with the surveys main findings, in terms of disability and career services, accommodations, and preparation for transitioning to the workplace. They were encouraged when the survey showed that peers with disabilities were striving to work and transitioning to jobs as they had, but cautioned that there are still disparities in job quality (e.g., earnings, hours working) between college graduates with and without disabilities. Weve learned a great deal from the survey and our panelists, Dr. ONeill acknowledged. We plan to look deeper into our results to find better ways to support and advise youth with disabilities, their families, and educators. Looking at the impact of the type of disability and the type of college, for example, will yield useful information, he predicted. Its clear that we can build on the gains that individuals with disabilities have made since the ADA, and improve their educational experience and employment outcomes. Visit https://kesslerfoundation.org/KFSurvey2020 for all survey materials: Recorded Webinar 1 (June 3): The ADA Generation: New Perspectives on Employment and College Graduates with Disabilities Press release, Executive summary, Survey results, PowerPoint slides, and FAQs. Recorded Webinar 2 (June 24): The ADA Generation: A Dialogue with Recent College Graduates with Disabilities Find Kessler Foundations previous employment and disability surveys below: 2015 Kessler Foundation National Employment & Disability Survey: https://kesslerfoundation.org/KFSurvey15 2017 Kessler Foundation National Employment & Disability Survey: Supervisor Perspectives: https://kesslerfoundation.org/KFSurvey17 About Kessler Foundation Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. Kessler Foundation and UNH issue National Trends in Disability Employment (#nTIDE), and nTIDE COVID Update, custom monthly reports that compare employment data for people with and without disabilities. Learn more by visiting http://www.KesslerFoundation.org. To talk to one of our experts, contact: Carolann Murphy, 201-803-0572, CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org Leaseweb's accomplishment is attributed to a focused approach to grow the companys global presence over five years. Leaseweb, a leading hosting cloud company, today announced that the growth in its global hosting infrastructure and related network capacity has grown twice the market average. The accomplishment is attributed to a focused approach to grow the companys global presence over five years and has seen Leaseweb achieve a 22% increase in data center locations worldwide. The result is a 55% increase in network capacity and a leap in bandwidth from 5.5 to 10Tbps, enabling Leaseweb to successfully adapt to international market change, and meet customer demand for local and global cloud infrastructures. Following the launch of new locations in London and Sydney at the end of 2017, Leaseweb opened a data center facility in Miami last year, providing a springboard into South America, and bringing to 20 the total number of data center locations operating globally, with 80,000 servers under management. Most recently, Leaseweb completed the network expansion of its Amsterdam data center, enabling further growth and paving the way for applications that benefit from 100Gbps connectivity. Additionally, the acquisition of US-based managed hosting services companies, ServInt and NOBIS Technology Group, has given more end-users access to Leasewebs portfolio of solutions via its existing data centers. As well as growing its data center location and services portfolio, Leaseweb extended its IaaS platform into Asia via Leaseweb Cloud, completing the full spectrum of its public and private cloud products available in the region. The company also enhanced its cloud backup and protection offerings, allowing the delivery of an easy-to-use, fast and reliable data protection solution for cloud and internet professionals. Moreover, Leaseweb began offering All Flash FAS storage across its cloud portfolio, reducing latency and increasing reliability for business-critical cloud applications. Businesses that operate worldwide, which take pride in their competitive edge, seek the kind of global hosting and infrastructure provider who can deliver best-in-class user experiences locally and reliably, said Alexander Kalkman, CMO at Leaseweb. This need feeds directly into our goal to grow globally as the first provider businesses turn to for the provision of cloud infrastructure that not only meets local requirements but offers a footprint to reach customers across borders. Looking forward, we are committed to a continued growth trajectory and delivering superior cloud hosting technology globally, engaging with our customers in a personalized, human-to-human manneran approach unmatched by industry giants and highly valued by our customers. Leasewebs commitment to helping customers meet their hosting and managed service needs is particularly evident in the Adtech and Martech sectors, which are key focus areas. Adjust, a mobile attribution and analytics company, leverages Leasewebs ability to provide multiple private racks of dedicated servers across the globe. Leaseweb provides racks which are redundantly connected to the core network with 2x 200 Gbps and offers high-speed links between servers (varying 20-40 Gbps, depending on the needs of the region). Algolia, a distributed search-as-a-service API, chose to work with Leaseweb due to its customer-centric and global mindset. Through this collaboration, Algolia was able to build a highly available API distributed over 12 regions, leading them to become one of the top companies for custom search. ## About Leaseweb Leaseweb is a leading Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider serving a worldwide portfolio of 18,000 customers ranging from SMBs to Enterprises. Services include Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Dedicated Servers, Colocation, Content Delivery Network, and Cyber Security Services supported by exceptional customer service and technical support. With more than 80,000 servers under management, Leaseweb has provided infrastructure for mission-critical websites, Internet applications, email servers, security, and storage services since 1997. The company operates 20 data centers in locations across Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America, all of which are backed by a superior worldwide network with a total capacity of more than 10 Tbps. Leaseweb offers services through its various subsidiaries, which are Leaseweb Netherlands B.V. (Leaseweb Netherlands), Leaseweb USA, Inc. (Leaseweb USA), Leaseweb Asia Pacific PTE. LTD (Leaseweb Asia), Leaseweb CDN B.V. (Leaseweb CDN), Leaseweb Deutschland GmbH (Leaseweb Germany), Leaseweb Australia Ltd. (Leaseweb Australia) and Leaseweb UK Ltd (Leaseweb UK). For more information visit: http://www.leaseweb.com. Dr. Susana Alcazar-Leyva Based on these new studies, we believe that X-2 and CRO-50 can make a significant contribution in the treatment of the novel Coronavirus. As part of its application for consideration to the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Luminec Pharmaceuticals is submitting new case studies showing strong evidence of the efficacy of our combined therapy of CRO-50 (ribonuclease) and X-2 (stable thiamine formulation) in COVID-19 patients, as well as in other Coronavirus patients. These case studies were compiled by Luminec Executive Board Member Susana Alcazar-Leyva, MD, PhD, based on her first-hand experience with patients around the world. According to Dr. Alcazar-Leyva, Based on these new studies, we believe that X-2 and CRO-50 can make a significant contribution in the treatment of the novel Coronavirus. In addition to her role with Luminec Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Alcazar-Leyva is a founding director of the prestigious Hans Selye Scientific Research Institute, and cofounder and director of the Heberto Alcazar-Montenegro Gerontology School (cofounded by, and named for, her father), and of the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Gerontology Center. Stephen Holt, MD, DSc, PhD, Luminec chief science officer, commented, We are presenting Dr. Alcazar-Leyvas findings to BARDA and NIAID to support our application in the hopes that our protocols will be cleared for a regulatory pathway to FDA approval. Dr. Holt noted that Luminec Pharmaceuticals is also making a similar submission to the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research (NIHP) for consideration in their battle with the Coronavirus. About Luminec Pharmaceuticals Headquartered in Carlsbad, CA, Luminec Pharmaceuticals currently offers a unique array of all-natural OTC products and clinical services for both human and animal use. Luminecs products include natural proprietary formulations based on the Schutt Paradigm of Free Amino Ion Alignment & Molecular Stability, in combination with proprietary partner technologies with a cutting edge delivery technology, oral and topically, composed of charged delivery spheres that encapsulate and transport active compounds into the system, naturally. Luminec Pharmaceuticals is a wholly owned subsidiary of Luminec Holding Corporation, a private company. EgyptAir CEO Rushdi Zakaria said on Tuesday that the company would not mandate social distancing on its planes, as all passengers will be required to wear masks Egypts national carrier is set to resume international flights on Wednesday. In a TV interview on This Morning on DMC channel, Zakaria said precautionary procedures had been taken in accordance with the guidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), starting with the entry of passengers to airports. The passengers temperatures will be measured and anyone with a temperature higher than 38 degrees wont be allowed on board the plane and will be directed to more tests, Zakaria said, adding that Egyptian airports have been fitted out with social distancing floor signs. All planes will be sterilised before flights and that all crews will wear masks, he said. The planes will also be equipped with a special filter that kills 99 percent of viruses and microbes. A bag of precautionary supplies will be distributed to all the passengers on the flights regardless of their ticket class, he said, adding that all the meals on the plane will be sealed and no hot beverages or magazines will be offered. Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar Ennaba has said previously that there would be no automatic empty seats on planes to create distancing between passengers, given the huge losses airline companies have endured during the recent period. The IATA said in May that leaving seats free would see airlines incur major losses, while it would not greatly affect passenger safety. Zakaria also hinted that all the tickets booked during the period of the flight suspension are still valid. Egypt suspended international flights in March to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country. EgyptAir has said it will resume flights gradually from Wednesday, with flights to and from 17 destinations in Europe, four destinations in Africa, four destinations in the Middle East, three destinations in North America, and Guangzhou in China. Short link: WITH Zimbabwe reeling from the double-whammy of the coronavirus pandemic and the countrys long-standing economic crisis, Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has lifted the lid on the immense challenges this is creating for the armed forces. This prompted analysts who spoke to the Daily News last night to say that the situation threatened peace and stability in the country as demoralised soldiers were being forced to survive on grossly inadequate rations all round. At the same time, it was also announced yesterday that the military had joined other security forces in a manhunt for dangerous criminals who recently escaped from the countrys coronavirus quarantine centres. Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Muchinguri-Kashiri who is also the chairperson of the ruling Zanu PF said the corona pandemic had particularly gutted the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) through diminished budgets. ZDF medical personnel have been deployed alongside their ministry of Health and Child Care counterparts in manning the various medical institutions and as such, are on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19. In both cases, the ZDF personnel are highly exposed to the risk of contracting Covid-19 due to their interaction with many people whose status is unknown, both in law enforcement and medical duties. Thus, constraints, such as the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) are serious challenges to their effectiveness and safety, Muchinguri-Kashiri told the portfolio committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services. Inadequate funding for food, transport, fuel and kitting, which became perennial after the imposition of illegal sanctions, also take their toll on both the morale of troops and effectiveness. Shortage of institutional accommodation further complicates matters because under such circumstances ZDF members are supposed to stay away from their families to avoid transmitting the disease. But this is not possible due to the shortage of barrack accommodation, Muchinguri-Kashiri said further. She also told the committee that at present the country had no functional military hospital, leaving soldiers and their families to join members of the public at State health facilities which were reeling from challenges of their own. She also told the committee that at present the country had no functional military hospital, leaving soldiers and their families to join members of the public at State health facilities which were reeling from challenges of their own. Under normal circumstances, ZDF members and their dependents are supposed to be treated at dedicated military hospitals. This is the trend the world over and Zimbabwe is one of the few countries that are lagging behind in this regard. Our plea is that resources be availed for this purpose in order to restore the dignity of our military forces, Muchinguri-Kashiri added. Aged equipment, motor vehicles, arms and munitions have not been replaced for years. These factors have reduced the effectiveness of ZDF and other security apparatus, and the advent of Covid-19 has not made matters any better. The ministry of Defence and War Veterans Affairs has suffered a drastic reduction in its monthly allocation of $154 million before the pandemic, to a mere $54 million, which is inadequate for the recurrent expenditure of the ministry, let alone the added requirements of PPEs, hand sanitisers and thermometers. It is indeed a tall order to expect the ministry to deliver to expectations with an allocation that is hardly adequate for the soldiers daily rations, Muchinguri-Kashiri further told the committee. She also revealed that at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the ZDF had submitted a $500 million budget to cover three months of Covid-19 operations, but Treasury had only released $100 million. Muchinguri-Kashiri also asked for the provision of resources to buy cameras and drones to facilitate remote electronic monitoring of borders to curb the high number of cases of border jumping which she said had the potential to spread Covid-19 in the country. Yesterday was not the first time that Muchinguri-Kashiri had revealed the carnage that had been caused by Zimbabwes dying economy on the ZDF. Addressing MPs in Victoria Falls during Finance minister Mthuli Ncubes budget consultations last year, she also painted a sorry picture of the state of affairs within the military. We are expected to host other defence forces but no one wants to come here because of these conditions. We cant beg for food for soldiers. These are people who have sacrificed themselves, she said. We need food rations as we are expected to provide 30 items, but we are only giving them (soldiers) 10. We are expected to provide four sets of uniforms but they have only one. You can identify a Zimbabwean soldier by their worn-out uniforms, Muchinguri-Kashiri told the MPs. A few days ahead of the presentation of his 2020 National Budget, Ncube told the Daily News in an exclusive interview that Zimbabweans should not see shadows behind the governments plans to improve the welfare of the security sector. Peace comes at a cost. So, you pay for the peace we consume peace, its a service. Just try war and see what happens to the value of everything when you have instability. People complain about soldiers this and that, but let me tell you, if we do not have peace you will have huge problems, he said. We are also working on a programme to acquire motorcycles and vehicles (for the police) they should not be driving BMWs but mushika-shikas. That is the way to go. Its very important that we should make sure that the security cluster is well funded, that soldiers have a decent meal, three meals a day, as well as the police, Ncube further said. Right now police cant respond to incidents of crime because there are no motorcycles, no vehicles and so forth. They also have nowhere decent to live. So, think about their accommodation and the same applies to the military. So, all of this is critically important. These are not things you do in one year, but food is for tomorrow transportation and housing you do it over time, he added. Meanwhile, Muchinguri-Kashiri also told Parliament yesterday that the military had been roped in to track dangerous criminals that recently escaped from quarantine centres across the country. We are concerned about more than 170 hard-core criminals who were released from neighbouring countries who have escaped from quarantine centres. Some of them are already causing havoc in the country. Some of them do not have identification documents and some are convicted murderers. Now, we are having to send rapid response teams to hunt for these people, Muchinguri-Kashiri said. The government has been criticised by some of the returning Zimbabweans for the deplorable conditions at quarantine centres. Hand-crafted detail goes into every L.J. Smith stair part. Made in America, these stairway systems are used in homes across the country. From the employees who produce our stairway components, to those who ship the product, to those who sell each stair system, this is an American operation with more than a century of strength and history. On July 2, Made in the USA Day, few stair companies shine as brightly as L.J. Smith Stair Systems. For 135 years, L.J. Smith has been making hand-crafted stairway system parts, pieces and full systems in our locations throughout America. Since 1885 the innovative company has developed new products, solutions and stylish rail systems for residential and commercial projects across America. L.J. Smith History Back in 1885 a gentleman named L.J. Smith began making staircases and stair parts in Pittsburgh, Pa. He moved his family to Conotton, Ohio in 1911 and continued his business as L.J. Smith and Son. There they created meticulously-crafted circular stairways for large homes throughout the south. Following the death of L.J. Smith in 1942, the company continued to thrive under the leadership of his son. In 1977 the Smith family sold the business. As demand for the sophisticated and more modern stair systems continued, the company moved into a larger manufacturing facility in Bowerston, Ohio in 1989. Moving Forward Since 1991 L.J. Smith has made many strategic acquisitions to stay on top of new stair system trends and bring people what they want. The company now has four manufacturing and distribution locations (in Bowerston, Ohio; Corona, Calif.; Ball Ground, Ga.; and Puyallup, Wash.). Three additional distribution facilities are located in Salem, N.H.; Houston, Texas and West Valley City, Utah. When NOVO Building Products purchased L.J. Smith in 2018, additional distribution locations --- in Zeeland, Mich.; Chesapeake, Va.; Allentown, Penn.; Lakeland, Fla.; and Dallas, Texas --- were added for the companys products. Made in the U.S.A. With more than 200 employees nationwide, L.J. Smith covers every state. The company has a sales staff in or around every major metropolitan area across America. Were the largest stair parts manufacturer in America, says Craig Kurtz, president of L.J. Smith Stair Systems. We have good, talented people in our company who do a great, consistent job. From the employees who produce our stairway components, to those who ship the product, to those who sell each stair system, this is an American operation with more than a century of strength and history. Here for Customers L.J. Smith is the "one stop shop" for everything needed to create a showpiece stairway. The company creates products that are "on trend" and crafted with unsurpassed strength and beauty. In 1983 L.J. Smith introduced the "systems approach" of ordering stair parts. This allows people to get exactly the stair parts and pieces they desire, whether traditional, contemporary or modern. L.J. Smith products --- including wooden and ornamental iron balusters, stainless steel cable and tube infills, metal panels, newel posts, hand rails and accessories --- are all defined by their unique designs, uncompromised durability and good looks. For more information, visit http://www.ljsmith.com or call 740-269-2221. Ken Hart "We are excited to welcome Ken to the Mente team as we continue to grow our transactions team. His broad experience in buying and selling aircraft will be a great asset to our organization," says Brian Proctor, President and CEO of Mente Group. Ken Hart is responsible for managing aircraft acquisition and disposition transaction activities for the companys Gulfstream and Turboprop clients. He brings strong cross-border experience to Mente Group with import and export transactions to-and-from Europe, Australia and Asia. "We are excited to welcome Ken to the Mente team as we continue to grow our transactions team. His broad experience in buying and selling aircraft will be a great asset to our organization," says Brian Proctor, President and CEO of Mente Group. Hart's career includes most recently, Executive Vice President with Hagerty Jet Group as well as an associate broker with Welsch Aviation and several years as an entrepreneur where he founded and operated several successful businesses. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration, with a Major in Marketing from NYIT, Old Westbury, New York. He will be based at Mente Group's corporate headquarters in Frisco, Texas. With offices in Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Portland, and Scottsdale, Mente Group professionals have handled more than $10.5 billion in aircraft transactions, compiled more than 60 years of aviation experience, and executed more than 500 business jet deliveries. The company specializes in aircraft transactions, asset management, and strategic, operational, and technical consulting. Mente serves large corporations, growth companies and private individuals. The company offers completion management services that include interior outfitting oversight and new business aircraft delivery. Mente Group partners with many of the world's largest corporations, prominent entrepreneurs, growth companies, and private individuals, including Andor Capital, Bank of Texas, BNSF Railway, Capital One, Delhaize Group, Entergy, Food Lion, JPMorgan Chase, LG, MassMutual Financial Group, Medical Properties Trust, MetLife, Quexco, Inc., Raytheon, Sprint, Stanley Black & Decker, Summit Alliance, and Williams-Sonoma. Mente Group is a member of Air Charter Safety Foundation, International Business Aviation Council (IS-BAO), International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA), National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), and the National Aircraft Finance Association (NAFA). It is an IADA-accredited aircraft dealer. Brian Proctor is former Chairman of IADA. For more info on Mente Group see http://www.mentegroup.com. SANY's SY215 Build Team Were never satisfied, always respecting, always being good citizens, and always making a difference. Over the past year, SANY America has made great strides in increasing production capabilities at its headquarters in Peachtree City, Georgia. From ramping up hiring to expanding the manufacturing floor, the company has grown its production line and worked to keep pace with increasing demand from customers across the U.S. And now, SANY is celebrating a major production milestone, as the companys 100th SY215C excavator recently rolled off the manufacturing line in Peachtree City, Georgia. View our Event Video: https://youtu.be/682iCMi_mTM SANYs Most Popular Excavator The SY215C excavator is SANYs most popular excavator model in the U.S. and for good reason. Offering a great balance of power, performance and price, this workhorse has been put to use by operators around the country in a variety of job conditions, from forestry and farming to construction and demolition. It is also the first unit to be fully manufactured right here in the U.S., helping to showcase SANYs commitment to delivering American-made products for American consumers. Since the first SY215C was completed in July 2019, SANY has made significant investments into its production line. Earlier this year, the company invested in growing the manufacturing space, increasing the size of the assembly floor to 150,000 square feet. SANY has also been rapidly hiring staff from the Atlanta area, and now employs 20 assemblers, two repair technicians and five painters to work on the production line, with openings still available for interested manufacturing team members. In total, the expanded operations and additional staffing contributed to allow SANY to reach the 100th SY215C machine milestone in less than a year. This team follows two processes and two principles the respect for people and continuous improvement, said John Spieth, SANY America Plant Manager, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this month, commemorating the manufacturing teams work on completing the 100th SY215C. Thats how weve been able to go from four machines a month to last month, when we lined off 24 machines. Weve made huge improvements in the last nine months. In addition to the SY215C, the same production line also manufactures SANYs SY225C, SY265C and SY265C Long Reach excavators, meaning the entire family of midsized excavators in the SANY lineup are Built in Georgia and Made for America. Coordination, Teamwork and Productivity Each SY215C excavator is comprised of more than 4,400 parts, requiring coordination and precision from every member of the team to complete accurately and on schedule. SANYs increased capabilities and staffing have helped to bring the time for production down, allowing for a new machine to be completed in roughly eight hours a pace that is expected to accelerate in the coming weeks. This team is going to go to two machines a day, and will continue on until three machines a day, said Spieth at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Were never satisfied, always respecting, always being good citizens, and always making a difference. Team members on the manufacturing line also marked the milestone by adding their signatures to the machine, commemorating this major achievement that they each had a hand in completing. In addition, SANY also was congratulated by the Georgia Department of Economic Development for reaching the 100th-machine mark. Its exciting to see SANY America further ramping up their production line in Peachtree City with more Georgians at work making this versatile, quality equipment, said Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson. We congratulate SANY on the production of their 100th SY215 excavator, were proud of their success, and we are thrilled that their investment in Georgia is paying off. Versatility and Performance Operators Count On Across the country, dealers, fleet owners and independent operators all have discovered the difference that SANY brings to heavy equipment. Offering powerful and reliable equipment at a fair price, SANY has made a name for delivering equipment owners can trust to get the job done while working confident in the knowledge that every SANY excavator is backed by the industrys strongest warranty five years, 5,000 hours. No matter the job, SANY equipment is built tough to take on the toughest applications, from hauling trees and clearing brush to digging trenches and pipelines. SANY is committed to growing the availability of machines through a strategy of Globalization by Localization, meaning that investing in building and supporting its U.S. customers by delivering equipment made locally at facilities like the Georgia headquarters. This philosophy is critical to SANYs success worldwide, both in allowing the company to provide quality machines rapidly to the marketplace and to deliver the parts and support that owners and dealers need to trust the quality and integrity behind the SANY name. About SANY SANY manufactures, sells and supports construction and material handling equipment, including crawler cranes, rough terrain cranes, excavators, container reach stackers and empty container handlers. The company handles SANY brand equipment sales and support in the United States, Mexico and Central America. SANY America's headquarters in Peachtree City, Ga., includes 340,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 60,000 square feet of office space. Excavators are assembled at the facility, which has the capacity to produce more than 2,000 units per year. In addition to assembly, the Peachtree City facility performs machine testing, touch up painting and distribution. Pennsylvania labor, employment and workers compensation law firm Willig, Williams & Davidson is pleased to announce that partner Nancy B. G. Lassen has been elected as a Fellow to the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers. Election as a Fellow is the highest recognition by ones colleagues of sustained outstanding performance in the profession, exemplifying integrity, dedication and excellence. After more than 30 years of practice as a union-side labor law attorney, Lassen has a reputation as a tireless and tenacious advocate for labor organizations and workers in every sector of the workforce. Her extensive experience includes representing clients in collective bargaining, state and federal trial and appellate litigation, state and federal administrative agency proceedings, grievance and interest arbitrations, internal union proceedings and occupational health and safety disputes. Lassen also is a sought-after speaker, educating union leaders and law students, workers and attorneys in matters such as employment discrimination, family and medical leave, occupational safety and health, effective advocacy and representation skills, fair labor standards and the rights and responsibilities of labor unions and union members. In addition to practicing law, Lassen also served as an adjunct professor of labor law at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University. The College of Labor & Employment Lawyers is a nonprofit professional association honoring the leading lawyers nationwide in the practice of Labor and Employment Law. Fellows are recognized as distinguished members of the labor and employment community who promote achievement, advancement and excellence in the practice by setting high standards of professionalism and civility, by sharing their experience and knowledge and by acting as a resource for academia, the government, the judiciary and the community at large. With the current installation, the College is represented by nearly 1,600 members in 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and eight Canadian Provinces. About Willig, Williams & Davidson Willig, Williams & Davidson (http://www.wwdlaw.com) is one of the largest and most respected union-side labor law firms in the United States. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Jenkintown Pa., as well as Haddonfield, N.J., and Chicago, Ill. Founded in 1979, Willig, Williams & Davidson focuses on representing labor unions, employee benefit funds and individual working people and their families on a variety of legal fronts, including national, regional and local contract negotiations; election and campaign finance; dispute resolution through mediation, arbitration and litigation; family law matters; benefits law design and compliance issues; discrimination, overtime and unpaid wages, and other employment matters; prepaid legal services for union members; social security disability; and workers compensation matters in Philadelphia and beyond. Workers inspire us. Why hasnt there been more progress in capturing the perspectives and needs of Black patients and caregivers? The National Alliance for Caregiving President and CEO, C. Grace Whiting, has issued a statement on the need for multicultural data in Americas health and social care systems. This statement was written in response to recent injustices facing Black Americans and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on this community. Recognizing that research in the field of healthcare has often taken a one-size-fits all approach, Whiting calls for the inclusion of the lived experiences of diverse populations in health and social care research. See her statement below, or by visiting http://www.caregiving.org/no-more-one-size-fits-all-research/. Dear Friends: This Juneteenth, I attended a national workshop on patient engagement and research agendas. Toward the end of the discussion, advocates raised an issue thats been top of mind: racial equity. Why hasnt there been more progress in capturing the perspectives and needs of Black patients and caregivers? Feathers began to ruffle. Well-meaning scientists and policy experts were put on the defensive. Inevitably, the 1932 Tuskegee Experiments came up as a way to acknowledge the historical fears in minority communities that contribute to gaps in representation. The Tuskegee Experiments were that shocking and horrifying study where Black men with syphilis were not treated for the disease so that scientists could track the course of the untreated disease. Where Black men and their families were not told that the patients would not receive any treatment. The experiment was supposed to last six months; it lasted for 40 years. Its easy to point to Tuskegee as a historical byproduct of days gone bybut the reality is that racial injustice in healthcare did not stop with Tuskegee. It continues today in a quieter, more passive way: assuming a one-size-fits-all solution that ignores the lived experiences of diverse populations. Nearly a hundred years since the Tuskegee Experiments began, nearly forty years since the disability rights movement took off, researchers and policymakers still need to hear, Nothing about us, without us. Look no further than the COVID-19 pandemic to see how racial injustice opens the door for health disparities. Despite public health advisories that Black and Latino families face heightened risk for the coronavirus, Johns Hopkins has indicated that only four states have released breakdowns of COVID-19 data by race (Nevada, Kansas, Illinois, and Delaware). The CDC is clear that current data suggest a disproportionate burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups. Yet, the policy community lacks data to track what is happening to these families. The CDC notes that health differences in COVID-19 between White families and families of color are often due to economic and social conditions such as: Years of residential housing segregation resulting in more densely populated areas, increasing the risk of contagion. Food deserts, which make it harder for families to get access to nutritious meals, and in turn increases the risk of chronic disease (another risk factor for COVID-19). Overrepresentation of minorities in jails, prisons, and detention centers which increases threats to their lives because of a higher risk of catching COVID-19 in these settings. These health risks are in addition to the fact that the pandemics economic fallout which threatens food, housing, and income security for so many families is being shouldered by Black businesses, as nearly 440,000 firms have folded (41% of all small business closures). While the health policy community debates the cost or inconvenience of integrating diverse populations into research design, caregivers are making it work in real time despite a system designed without them in mind and in the midst of a global pandemic. The need to make meals for someone doesnt stop because the grocery store has limited hours. The spouse or partner still has to pay medical bills even if the pandemic has created new economic pressures. Parents of kids with special needs still have to navigate individualized education plans and insurance paperwork even if schools are closed. Caregivers keep on, despite the roadblocks continually put in their way. For our part, we at the National Alliance for Caregiving are committing to equity and justice. We have joined the Diverse Elders Coalition and the John A. Hartford Foundation as they work to address the needs of caregivers in Black, Latino, Asian American, Native American, and the LGBTQ+ community. Were working with innovative companies like Amgen and seeking insight from nonprofit leaders such the National Minority Quality Forum to analyze the needs of multicultural care communities for a national report on caregivers of color. We will join the newly-launched Rare Disease Diversity Coalition, led by the Black Womens Health Imperative, to address the challenges facing diverse populations in rare disease. And, our data set from Caregiving in the U.S. 2020, a partnership with AARP going back to 1997, is one of the few caregiving data sets with nationally representative data of minority populations in the U.S. It reveals that four out of ten caregivers (39%) in the United States are non-white (14% Black, 17% Latino, 5% Asian American, and 3% other including multiracial). It also shows that Black caregivers are more likely to say that they are in worse health and more likely to want health care professionals to ask them what they need to help care for themselvesindicating a persistent lack of support for their well-being. On a closer look, the data challenge preconceived notions about minority populations. Latino and Black families are more likely to say caregiving gives them a sense of purpose and meaning in life than their White and Asian counterparts. Despite giving more hours of care on average and being placed in higher-intensity care situations, these families report less emotional stress. Perhaps these communities understand something about resilience that the rest of us have yet to master? Its past time we moved forward to be more inclusive and transparent in order to reduce patient risk and assign value to patients' health and well-being. Lets take a lesson from those who care in understanding what they need, rather than telling people and caregivers that we know best based on unrepresentative data and outdated cultural understandings of need. If caregivers can stand strong, day after day, despite a global pandemic, despite inequities, despite political unrest, we too can get up every day, with hope in our hearts, with resilience in our spirit, ready to build a more caring world. Frankly, we owe them that. C. Grace Whiting President and CEO National Alliance for Caregiving Jeff Socha joins the NMA leadership team as Chief Financial Officer National Merchants Association (NMA) is proud to announce its appointment of Jeff Socha as Chief Financial Officer. As one of the founding partners of Ark Financial Group, Jeff brings extensive experience in developing financial solutions for business owners in real estate, construction, software, and other industries. Jeffs technical expertise and extensive education make him a strong addition to carry forward National Merchants Association's mission. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Engineering and Finance from Texas A&M. In 2019, Jeff attended Harvard Business School's action-oriented and collaborative General Management Program where he learned skills to become an outstanding business leader. Even before his studies, Jeff spent his early years working in the family business founded by his grandfather in 1950; hiring his first financial advisor at 15 years old. Jeffs upbringing of working in the family business influenced his decision to specialize in financial consulting. In addition to his extensive knowledge of financial consulting, Jeffs dedication to business owners' rights motivated him to become involved in two political action committees where he lobbied the U.S. Congress on finance and tax regulations. His understanding of lobbying for business owners will begin to shape NMA's plans for credit card processing regulations. After leaving Capitol Hill, Jeff went on to found Ark Financial Group, a fractional family office that specializes in holistic financial planning and consulting for business and community leaders. Jeff's solutions for lowering the risk of business ownership and increasing his clients' profitability have been nationally recognized. This can be attributed to creating personalized plans and recommendations for each business. This fits well with NMA's goal of Payments Made Personal. Volunteer service in the community keeps Jeff's financial and leadership skills sharp. Jeff serves as a board member of the Entrepreneur's Organization. He has also served as Chairman of the Board for the Young Catholic Professionals 2016-2017, and as a Board Member for Holy Family Catholic School 2016-2019. Jeff Socha will make an excellent addition to the National Merchants Association as the new Chief Financial Officer. His experience and expertise will allow NMA to better serve their clients with expert financial advice. About National Merchants Association (NMA) National Merchants Association is a global leader in credit card processing and merchant services. They are a merchant advocacy group that specializes in high risk credit card processing. Their mission is to provide a merchant account that Works for You. NMA lobbies to reduce the unnecessary and unreasonable fees associated with accepting electronic transactions. They also help businesses grow by generating sales opportunities and providing solutions to maximize profits. For three years in a row, NMA has been ranked among the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies. Visit http://www.NationalMerchants.com or call (866) 509-7199 for more information. This report, and the data it presents, places a spotlight on the substantial impacts of the pandemic upon Latino-owned businesses in our region, and the multiple ways these businesses are being affected, often dramatically, while highlighting what they will need to weather this crisis. Not only do Latinos have the highest rate of COVID-19 infections of any group in the Washington, D.C. metro area (1), and are experiencing job losses at almost twice the rate of white counterparts (2), Latino-owned businesses are also suffering in the region. A survey of 150 Latino-owned businesses in the Washington, D.C. metro area shows the severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses. The results of this survey were compiled into the report, Assessing Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Latino-Owned Businesses in the DC-Metro Region. Conducted in late-April through June, the report is a collaboration between American University's Center for Latin American & Latino Studies, its Kogod School of Business and the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. While the report focuses on the Washington, D.C. metro area, it can provide a glimpse into the future for businesses in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California states with the largest percentage of Latino populations per capita and the newest epicenters for COVID-19. "This report, and the data it presents, places a spotlight on the substantial impacts of the pandemic upon Latino-owned businesses in our region, and the multiple ways these businesses are being affected, often dramatically, while highlighting what they will need to weather this crisis," said Robert Albro, Research Associate Professor at American University's Center for Latin American & Latino Studies. The report offers a snapshot of the diverse and extraordinary impacts facing Latino small businesses owners, which include substantial losses of revenue and customers, and major disruptions such as closures and layoffs. The report also highlights Latino entrepreneurs' most urgent concerns in this challenging moment, from a liquidity crisis, a need for more access to capital, to better business advising. It is our mission to speak for the community that often goes underserved, said Nicole Quiroga, President and CEO, Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GWHCC). GWHCC is proud to be in partnership with American University in our efforts to effect change for those we represent. Key highlights of the report include: 65% of owners report that the pandemic has resulted in extreme or many changes to their businesses, with only 10% reporting no or minimal impact. 56% of owners report severe upheaval to business as usual, including 30% having to close or to suspend operations, and 26% greatly reducing operations. 34% of businesses are unable to operate in-person (21%) or to operate at all (13%) during the pandemic. Only 9% of owners report having filed or plans to file an insurance claim for business interruptions due to COVID-19. It is striking how Latino owned businesses dominate the small business startup numbers over the past decade and how this pandemic is reversing that benefit to our community, said, James Dinegar, Director, Business in the Capital Center, Kogod School of Business. This report identifies the current status and immediate needs of Latino business owners so that focused assistance can be developed now. The report demonstrates the challenges and barriers to access financial assistance that Latino-owned businesses are facing and will face after the pandemic. This report intends to help community assistance organizations and decision-makers identify specific policies and programs to support Latino small businesses during and after the pandemic. For the full report and more information please visit: https://www.american.edu/centers/latin-american-latino-studies/upload/au_gwhcc-latino-business-report_june-2020.pdf About American University In its 127-year history, American University has established a reputation for producing change makers focused on the challenges of a changing world. AU has garnered recognition for global education, public service, experiential learning and politically active and diverse students, as well as academic and research expertise in a wide range of areas including the arts, sciences, humanities, business and communication, political science and policy, governance, law and diplomacy. About the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Founded in 1976, the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (formerly the Ibero American Chamber) is a membership driven organization that supports the economic development of the Washington, DC metropolitan region by facilitating the success of Latino and other minority-owned businesses and the communities they serve through networking, advocacy, education, and access to capital. The Chamber envisions building a stronger business network for the competitive future of the region. 1 Moya, Jose, Covid-19 and Latino Immigrants, http://ilas.columbia.edu/covid-19-and-latino-immigrants/ 2 Olivo, Antonio, Marissa J. Lang and John D. Harden, Crowded Housing and Essential Jobs: Why So Many Latinos are Getting Coronavirus, The Washington Post, May 26, 2020. A faster transition from coal to clean energy is within our grasp, and we show how to engineer that transition in ways that will save money for electricity customers around the world while aiding a just transition for workers and communities. Rocky Mountain Institute, Carbon Tracker Initiative, and Sierra Club have released a report How to Retire Early: Making Accelerated Coal Phase-Out Feasible and Just that reveals that new renewable energy is already cheaper than continuing to operate coal plants in much of the world. It lays out specific financial strategies that utilities and policy-makers can use to engineer a faster phase-out of coal in various regions of the world. This new analysis shows that new renewable energy is not only cheaper than new coal plants virtually everywhere, but that it is already cheaper to build new renewable energy capacity including battery storage than to continue operating 39 percent of the world's existing coal capacity. The share of uncompetitive coal plants worldwide will increase rapidly to 60 percent in 2022 and to 73 percent in 2025. Replacing the entire global coal fleet with clean energy can be done at a net savings to society as early as 2022. A faster transition from coal to clean energy is within our grasp, and we show how to engineer that transition in ways that will save money for electricity customers around the world while aiding a just transition for workers and communities, said Paul Bodnar, Managing Director at Rocky Mountain Institute. The authors estimate that replacing the entire fleet of global coal plants with clean energy plus battery storage could be done at a net annual savings as early as 2022. The rapidly declining costs of renewables push net annual savings to $105 billion in 2025. All this, the report states, is before considering coal's dire health, climate, and environmental impacts, or accounting for the social and environmental benefits of reducing pollutants. Currently, coal phaseout hasn't kept pace with eroding economics. To keep the Paris Agreement's temperature targets within reach, global coal use must decline by 80 percent below 2010 levels by 2030, requiring rapid transition in OECD countries over the next decade and phase-out in the rest of the world by 2040. Coal power is quickly facing economic obsolescence, independent of carbon pricing and air pollution policies. Closing coal capacity and replacing it with lower cost alternatives will not only save consumers and taxpayers money, but could also play a major role in the upcoming economic recovery, said Matt Gray, Managing Director, Co-Head of Power and Utilities at the Carbon Tracker Initiative. How to Retire Early lays out options for governments and public finance institutions to accelerate coal phase-out. The authors offer an integrated three-part approach: 1) refinancing to fund the coal transition and save customers money on day one, 2) reinvesting in clean energy, and 3) providing transition financing for workers and communities. In 2020, U.S. policymakers could help customers save up to $10 billion annually using the three-part approach to phase out the 79 percent of the 236 GW coal fleet that is uncompetitive today. Tackling the climate crisis requires a swift transition off of coal and onto clean, renewable energy. This report shows just how much cheaper it is to invest in renewable energy, and why it makes less and less sense to keep running coal plants, even before climate change is taken into account. What's more, this report shows how innovative financial tools can be used to retire coal plants while saving consumers money, cleaning the air and water, improving public health, and ensuring a just transition for workers and communities, said Mary Anne Hitt, National Director of Campaigns. Meanwhile, outside the United States, a third of the global coal fleet is already more costly to continue operating than building new renewables with storage today. By 2025, that number will reach nearly 80 percent globally with several regions and countries seeing next to no competitive coal. In the European Union, 81% of the coal fleet is uncompetitive today and that percentage will reach 100% by 2025. In China, 43% of the coal fleet is uncompetitive today, and that number will reach nearly 100% by 2025. In India, 17% of the coal fleet is uncompetitive today, and that number will reach 85% in 2025. Given the long lead times for electricity system planning and decision-making as well as the size of the opportunity, said Jules Kortenhorst, CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute, now is the time to start structuring accelerated coal phase-out in all regions. To download the report please visit: https://rmi.org/insight/how-to-retire-early Media Inquiries please contact: (RMI) Nick Steel, Manager - Media Relations, T: +1 347-574-0887, E: nsteel@rmi.org (CTI - US/India/China) Daniel Cronin, Communications Manager, T: 1-617-678-5263, E: dcronin@carbontracker.org (CTI Europe) Joel Benjamin, Communications Manager, T: +44 (0)7429 637423, E: jbenjamin@carbontracker.org (Sierra Club) Cindy Carr, Deputy Press Secretary, T: +1 202-495-3034, E: cindy.carr@sierraclub.org Notes to Editors About Rocky Mountain Institute Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)an independent nonprofit founded in 1982transforms global energy use to create a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon future. It engages businesses, communities, institutions, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the adoption of market-based solutions that cost-effectively shift from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables. RMI [i1] has offices in Basalt and Boulder, Colorado; New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing. More information on RMI can be found at http://www.rmi.org or follow us on Twitter @RockyMtnInst. About Carbon Tracker The Carbon Tracker Initiative is a not-for-profit financial think tank that seeks to promote a climate-secure global energy market by aligning capital markets with climate reality. Our research to date on the carbon bubble unburnable carbon and stranded assets has begun a new debate on how to align the financial system with the energy transition to a low carbon future. http://www.carbontracker.org About Sierra Club The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.org If there is not a door to open, youre going to have to build one. Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) has announced a partnership with the All Points North Foundation in support of NFTEs mission to activate the entrepreneurial mindset in youth from under-resourced communities. The $60,000 grant from the Foundation funded NFTE tech entrepreneurship courses in mid-Atlantic, North Texas and St. Louis middle schools. During the 2019-2020 school year, the Foundations funding supported 17 teachers, who taught Startup Tech, NFTEs blended tech entrepreneurship course, to over 700 of NFTEs youngest learners in 16 schools. NFTEs Startup Tech program asks students to identify ways to improve their world and to build marketable digital solutions using the user-friendly app development tool MIT App Inventor. Students then create an original app that addresses a community need, develop an abbreviated business plan using lean startup tools and methodologies, and pitch their app at a Startup Showcase where they have a chance to win funding and publicity. Because NFTEs work focuses on underserved communities, many NFTE students were disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and also lacked adequate technology tools and internet access. But despite school closures and widely disparate processes for remote learning, NFTE teachers and staff mobilized to help students participate in online learning, offering evolving and innovative support to students and educators. NFTE's Startup Tech teachers received a virtual learning guide that allowed them to continue the program with variations tailored to their students varying tech capabilities. One teacher in Dallas was able to host a live virtual Showcase on Zoom for her students this spring. NFTE St. Louis teacher Passion Bragg helped students complete their app development projects and participate in their end-of-program competition via video, even as her school faced attendance challenges once schools closed their doors. If there is not a door to open, youre going to have to build one, said Bragg. The NFTE curriculum really helps give children a foundation and a background in the hard and soft skills they will need in whatever job they end up in. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, Craig Morris, who teaches Startup Tech at Brittany Woods Middle School in University City, Missouri, shepherded his students to victory. There is an upside, he said. You learn new ways of reaching students for next year, and dealing with students who are ill, who might go on out-of-school suspension, or are having mental health issues. There are new ways to teach, new ways to connect. We believe that the middle-school years truly shape the future of our nations youth and todays middle-school education experience in underserved communities needs to change, said All Points North Foundation Director of Education Grant Partnerships Tony Moten. . Particularly in the current climate, teachers must be adequately prepared for an ever-evolving education environment that fosters academic, emotional and social growth. We greatly appreciate the support of All Points North Foundation, which allows us to prepare students for the fast-changing and increasingly skills-based future of work, said NFTE CEO Dr. J.D. LaRock. This years Startup Tech program also showcased student and teacher resilience, as they all were forced to adapt to changed circumstances in the face of COVID-19. The students enthusiasm and effort are proof of their developing entrepreneurial skills, and we look forward to continued innovation in next years program. About NFTE Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) is a global nonprofit that activates the entrepreneurial mindset and builds startup skills in young people from under-resourced communities. Reaching more than 100,000 middle and high school students annually, NFTE works with schools and community partners in 25 U.S. states and 10 countries around the world. Leveraging classroom teachers and volunteers from top-tier companies, NFTEs research-based model teaches students how to identify a business opportunity and launch a business; helps them learn about the range of jobs and occupations available to them; and develops their entrepreneurial mindset a set of skills including creativity, adaptability, communication, and collaboration that leads to success in any career. Since 1987, NFTE has educated 1.2 million young people worldwide, helping thousands launch businesses and companies of all sizes. Learn more at nfte.com. About All Points North Foundation All Points North Foundation was founded in 2011 by a family who believes passionately that everyone has a true North a place of achievement and that all should have equal opportunity and access to realize their goals. All Points North Foundation provides grants to U.S.-based nonprofits in two areas public middle-school education (grades 6-8) and solar energy that have the power to help communities navigate upward. AllPointsNorthFoundation.org Media Contacts Joanne Lessner/Lambert & Co. (212) 222-7436 Brenda Duong/Lambert & Co. (517) 827-1117 mediainquiries@nfte.com Stevens is dedicated to providing students with the best possible educational experience and our collaboration with Noodle Partners is part of this ongoing mission Responding quickly to adult learners needs amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Stevens Institute of Technology today announced a new emphasis on high-demand online graduate programs by partnering with Noodle Partners, the fastest-growing online program manager. The first phase of the partnership includes revising and growing Stevens existing online Master of Science in Computer Science and launching a new online Master of Science in Data Science. Marketing of the programs commences in August 2020, with students beginning study in January 2021. Long an innovation leader -- Stevens was the first university to require students to use a computer and it developed one of the nations first intranets -- Stevens launched StevensOnline to coalesce a growing body of online graduate programs in business, computer science, engineering, and systems engineering. Data science, a foundational pillar for Stevens, is routinely ranked as a thriving field in America. Offering the masters degree in data science online will help meet growing demand for data scientists across the labor market. The existing online Master of Science in Computer Science, already a strong performer, will be enhanced and re-marketed to a wider audience of adult learners seeking the same high-quality Stevens degree without having to be on campus. Stevens is dedicated to providing students with the best possible educational experience and our collaboration with Noodle Partners is part of this ongoing mission, said Christophe Pierre, Stevens provost and chief academic officer. We know that an increasing number of students are looking for options beyond traditional classroom learning. By partnering with Noodle, we are building on our many years of leadership in online education to deliver our highly ranked graduate programs to students across the United States and around the world. Stevens Institute of Technology is a vital new member of the Noodle Partners network, offering compelling STEM programs to a market hungry for computer and data science masters degrees, noted Noodle Partners CEO John Katzman. Covid-19 is accelerating the preference for, and proliferation of, high-quality online degrees, and Stevens Institute of Technology will find a ready audience of students. We look forward to launching additional programs with Stevens in the future. ### About Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a premier, private research university situated in Hoboken, New Jersey. Since our founding in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark of Stevens education and research. Within the universitys three schools and one college, 7,300 undergraduate and graduate students collaborate closely with faculty in an interdisciplinary, student-centric, entrepreneurial environment. Academic and research programs spanning business, computing, engineering, the arts and other disciplines actively advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to confront our most pressing global challenges. As Stevens celebrates its 150th anniversary, the university continues to be consistently ranked among the nations leaders in career services, post-graduation salaries of alumni, and return on tuition investment. About Noodle Partners Founded by a team of education and technology veterans, Noodle Partners creates innovative online and hybrid programs while improving traditional classroom models. Noodle Partners has the capability to work with universities on every aspect of building a certificate or degree program that they choosemarketing, student recruitment, enrollment, curriculum design, student engagement, support services, graduate placement, and alumni engagementand provides a high level of fit and finish. For more information, visit noodle-partners.com or follow us on Twitter @Noodle_Partners or LinkedIn. Stevens Media Contact: Thania Benios, thania.benios@stevens.edu, 917-930-5988 Noodle Partners Media Contact: Renee Young, ryoung@noodle.com, 914-523-5320 CONSUMERS with access to foreign currency are reaping the benefits of Governments decision to allow businesses to transact in forex as goods become cheaper compared to when one is buying using local currency. In March, Government gazetted a statutory instrument allowing the wider use of foreign currency in the country. The amended Statutory Instrument, Exchange Control (Exclusive Use of Zimbabwe dollar for Domestic Transactions) (Amendment) regulations 2020, allowed any person to pay for goods and services chargeable in Zimbabwe dollars, in foreign currency using his or her free funds at the ruling rate on the date of payment. Consumers say products have become cheaper if you buy using foreign currency as opposed to first converting the money into local currency. A number of shops in Bulawayo have taken advantage of that to mop up foreign currency on the market by offering rates higher than the official and black market rates for those buying using forex. Last week, Government introduced foreign currency auction system to instill discipline in the financial services with an average rate of US$1 selling for $58. Illegal forex dealers were yesterday offering a rate of US$1: $85. For customers buying in forex, Greens Supermarket pegged its rate at US$1:$95, Oceans Supermarket was using US$1:$100 and Choppies US$1:$90. Wholesaler, Fortwell was offering US$1:$95 while hardware shops such as Halsteds had rates as high as US$1:$100. Some supermarkets such as Oceans Supermarket have priced their goods in United States dollars but are still accepting local currency. Products priced in local currency are ridiculously high, making a lot of people to resort to paying for goods in foreign currency. TM Pick n Pay and OK and a few others are following the official rate and they have become a safe haven for those with no access to foreign currency. In some shops the price of 2kg rice ranges from US$2,10 to US$2,45 while the same product was being sold at $230 in some retail outlets. Peanut butter is being sold for US$1 in forex while in local currency its going for $140. Cooking oil was pegged at US$3 while in local currency it was being sold for between $250 and $330 in some of the shops. Consumers told Chronicle that they were having value for money when using forex. Mr Melusi Dlamini, who was queuing at Greens Supermarket, said he does not get the real value of his foreign currency when he converts it to local currency first. The rates being offered at Greens Supermarket are much higher. Yesterday, I wanted to buy a tin of shoe polish at one of the bigger retail shops but I couldnt as their rate was too low. I needed to spend more than US$1 to buy just that. But at Greens I can buy the same product and be given change using a dollar. So, this is just about the competition on prices in various shops, we will always opt for cheaper shops, said Mr Dlamini. Another shopper Mrs Nomsa Dube said she gets more products if she buys using foreign currency as opposed to first converting the money to local currency. I received the money from my relatives who live in the diaspora. For me its better to come and buy here using the foreign currency. If I change my money, I will not get the same quantities as directly buying using forex., said Ms Dube. Another resident, Miss Tryphen Mlala said she shops at Greens Supermarket as she was told that it was cheaper to do so. However, an illegal money changer who was selling goods just at the door step of one of the supermarkets, who identified herself only as Diana, said Government should act on shops offering rates that are higher than the official one. I admit that Im a money changer and what I do is illegal but how different are these shops from us. They are luring clients using rates that are higher than what the black market is offering. If Government is acting on money changers why is it not doing the same to these shops as what they are doing is also illegal, said Diana. An economic commentator, Mr Dumisani Sibanda said only the private sector and informal market will benefit from selling goods in foreign currency. He said public entities who comply with Government regulations stand to lose as their rates are less attractive. You have to understand how companies are structured. There are some public entities, parastatals and private sector including the smaller retail shops that you are referring to. You have shops like OK and TM Pick and Pay these are companies, that are following the official Government rate, he said. These other ones are mopping the foreign currency because there is less accountability, but you cant run an economic like that. Government needs to act on them. Employers need an advocate that truly understands the benefits landscape as they navigate the complexities of health plans and rising drug costs, said Bryan Statham, CEO of RxBenefits. RxBenefits, the industrys first and only technology-enabled pharmacy benefits optimizer (PBO), has named Kelly Chillingworth, RPh, MHA-Ed, CGP, director of business development for the companys northeast region. RxBenefits serves as a trusted pharmacy adviser to employee benefits consultants, enabling them to offer self-insured employers and their members a highly competitive, cost-effective pharmacy benefits solution, irrespective of company size. Chillingworth will lead RxBenefits northeast sales team in business development planning and activities. In this role, she will drive the regions strategic growth plan, leveraging her deep industry expertise and knowledge as a registered pharmacist to help employee benefits consultants identify and solve their self-funded clients toughest pharmacy benefit challenges. It is more critical now than ever for businesses to be able to provide best-in-class pharmacy benefits at affordable rates. Employers need an advocate that truly understands the benefits landscape as they navigate the complexities of health plans and rising drug costs, said Bryan Statham, CEO of RxBenefits. Kellys deep industry experience as both a pharmacist and a benefits consultant, combined with a dedication to improving the lives of others, brings a unique perspective and strength to our team as we help our clients develop customized pharmacy benefits strategies. Chillingworth has over 26 years of experience as a pharmacist, giving her a unique understanding of the intricacies of pharmacy benefits through the lens of a clinician. Before joining the RxBenefits team, Chillingworth held various positions in the benefits industry, including director level titles at a health plan and specialized renal pharmacy, as well as senior-level titles at employee benefits consultant firms. Recently, she served as the National Pharmacy Practice Leader for Lockton Benefits Group and as Senior VP, Pharmacy Practice Leader for the Lockton Kansas City Series. As an industry, there is much more we can do to ensure patients are on the right drug, at the right dose, at the right time. I am passionate about providing people with the information they need to make informed healthcare decisions, which is what drove me to join this industry decades ago, said Chillingworth. My experience first partnering with RxBenefits as a benefits consultant enabled me to see the significant impact the companys approach to pharmacy benefits can have on self-insured businesses and their employees. I am ecstatic to leverage my experience to help employee benefits consultants and their clients reduce the cost of pharmacy benefits while, at the same time, increase value and safety for members. Chillingworth is a registered pharmacist (RPh) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (BS Pharm) and Master of Healthcare Administration and Education (MHA-Ed). She also holds certifications in pharmacogenomics and is board certified in geriatric pharmacy (CGP). About RxBenefits RxBenefits is a technology-enabled pharmacy benefits optimizer (PBO) with more than 500 pharmacy pricing, data, and clinical experts working together to deliver prescription benefit savings to employee benefit consultants and their self-insured clients. With nearly 2 million members, RxBenefits brings market-leading purchasing power, independent clinical solutions, and high-touch service to its customers ensuring that all businesses, regardless of size, can provide an affordable and valuable pharmacy benefit plan to their employees. The company is headquartered in Birmingham, AL. For more details, visit http://www.rxbenefits.com or follow the company on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The Silicon Review 50 Leading Companies of the Year 2020 program identifies companies that not only have the most innovative, diversified and reliable solutions, but also have a self-evolving and self-adaptable quality to best fit the ever-changing needs of the marketplace. Sigmetrix today announced that The Silicon Review Magazine has named it among the 50 Leading Companies of the Year 2020. The Silicon Review 50 Leading Companies of the Year 2020 program identifies companies that not only have the most innovative, diversified and reliable solutions, but also have a self-evolving and self-adaptable quality to best fit the ever-changing needs of the marketplace, said Sreshtha Banerjee, Editor-in-Chief of The Silicon Review Magazine. The publication has selected Sigmetrix based on its brand reputation in the global market, openness to innovation, financial soundness, and the ability to understand the market and its customers at a deeper level. Sigmetrix is dedicated to helping their customers design better products through mechanical variation management. They are global leaders in tolerance analysis and standards-based GD&T authoring software, as well as training and consulting on topics of mechanical variation, GD&T, and dimensional management. These products and services enable companies to better understand the impact of manufacturing variations on their designs, facilitating the ability to make more objective cost and quality decisions, achieving faster time to market and delivering more innovative products. We are honored to be recognized by The Silicon Review Magazine as one of the 50 Leading Companies of the Year 2020, said James Stoddard, President of Sigmetrix. Mechanical variation is a reality of the manufacturing process. Learning to manage this variation can be difficult as one tries to objectively balance manufacturing cost with product quality. I am thrilled to have Sigmetrix recognized as a leading company in providing the best solutions and helping companies build better products through mechanical variation management. Read the article at: https://thesiliconreview.com/magazine/profile/sharpen-your-geometric-dimensioning-and-tolerance-sigmetrix About Sigmetrix Sigmetrix has been helping companies produce better products for over 20 years through a combination of software solutions, training, and consulting services that focus on managing the impact of mechanical variation. For more information, visit their website at http://www.sigmetrix.com. Companies are finding that high numbers of employees are willing to move to out-of-state locations that offer tax savings, superior school systems and affordable housing. Investors are launching a new program that will incentivize more companies to leave California and other states with punishing taxes and regulations, such as New York, New Jersey and Illinois -- in favor of friendlier business climates found elsewhere. As of today, a private equity firm will pay relocation costs, making it easier than ever for entrepreneurs to exit troublesome states. Business owners know they can improve profitability through an out-of-state relocation, but many are reluctant to undertake the costs of moving and finding a suitable building or land. Investors are seeking to provide capital to companies with revenues ranging from $5 million to $200 million that are likely to enjoy greater profitability in a business-friendly location, said Joseph Vranich, president of Spectrum Location Solutions. In certain circumstances, investors will purchase a company outright and move it to a more appealing state, said Vranich. Investors will provide financing tailored to meet individual circumstances, such as: Purchasing property and building a building, or buying and improving one for the company with lease and lease-to-purchase options. Lower capital expenditures can be found in other states where land and buildings are less expensive and where streamlined permitting approvals allows faster construction. Enhancing company owners probability of selling or re-capitalizing their businesses, which is particularly helpful to owners that are implementing generational transitions (i.e. family-owned businesses or founders that are seeking a liquidity event). Providing capital in the form of equity, debt, preferred equity and also the outright acquisition of a business. A primary objective is to invest in companies in a way that enables them to thrive in a more attractive location, said Vranich. In scenarios where investors acquire a significant or controlling interest in a company, the preference is to retain senior management and identify an optimal location for that business. The result will be greater profits for business owners and a higher quality of life for employees and shareholders. For example, a California firm moving to Texas could save about 35 percent in operating costs thanks to lower taxes, a more reasonable regulatory environment, lower workers compensation costs, and much lower energy costs. Some other states offer similar benefits. Companies are finding that high numbers of employees are willing to move to out-of-state locations that offer tax savings, superior school systems and affordable housing, said Vranich. The coronavirus has introduced a new factor as real estate experts report a surge in people looking to relocate to suburban communities from our biggest cities, he added. The American Enterprise Institute reports that the pandemics infection rate has been quite low in small cities and towns, so its no surprise that people are willing to move to places that reduce "exposure density" and where infection appears less likely. Over a recent eight-year period, its estimated that about 13,000 companies left California in full or in part and nearly $77 billion in capital was diverted to out-of-state locations, according to research by Spectrum Location Solutions, a site selection consulting firm. The study relied in part on data from economic development agencies, the SEC and the U.S. Department of Labor. A new study still in preparation will show an acceleration of companies fleeing California. No one needs to take my word for why company leaders are unhappy in California, said Vranich. Now, for the 20th consecutive year, CEOs nationwide surveyed by Chief Executive Magazine have declared California the worst state in which to do business. Joe Vranich can be reached confidentially at 800-508-5138 to explore whether the program makes sense for your company regardless of what state you are located in. It is a no-fee, no-obligation consultation. Smart and Final Stores Chooses Hypersonix Hypersonix is a key ingredient in leveraging actionable analytics that can be operationalized by our business teams as part of our on-going digital transformation, -- Ed Wong, EVP and Chief Digital Officer at Smart & Final. Smart & Final is rolling out Hypersonixs AI-driven analytics platform to support the companys enterprise analytics and digital transformation initiatives. The two companies started working together sixty days ago on a successful pilot program. With this announcement, Smart & Final officially joins a handful of early adopters in the grocery and consumer-commerce industries turning to the innovative company to help navigate the post-COVID-19 market. Hypersonix is a key ingredient in leveraging actionable analytics that can be operationalized by our business teams as part of our on-going digital transformation, said Ed Wong, EVP and Chief Digital Officer at Smart & Final. We established a great innovation-centric collaboration with Hypersonix where we are finding new ways to address our needs in key strategic areas for our business. Built by former executives from SAP, PayPal and IBM, and funded by Intel Capital, Hypersonix offers a cloud-based Unified Data Analytics Platform that is designed to ingest and integrate disparate data sources that reside in software applications from various vendors. These applications include Point-of-Sale, eCommerce, Merchandising, Marketing, and Inventory platforms. Hypersonix tears down data silos and provides a 360-degree view on customer behaviors, localized product assortments and operational processes, essentially becoming the glue to support data-driven decisions. Smart & Final is clearly a shopper-centric and innovative retailer, and we are excited to partner with them, said Todd P. Michaud, President and Chief Customer Officer of Hypersonix. As an increasingly data-driven culture, Smart & Final is leveraging our autonomous intelligence applications powered by robust data science and machine learning to enable profitable revenue growth. With Hypersonix, Smart & Final has empowered non-technical stakeholders with descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics. They have also helped Smart & Final understand how its various customer channels are doing while optimizing each channel to serve the rapidly changing needs of their online and in-store shoppers. Quickly turning insight into action is the key to success in todays competitive retail environment, said Joe VanDette, Group Vice President, Marketing at Smart & Final. The accessible, conversational nature of Hypersonixs platform allows our business leaders to leverage that insight directly, without the constraints typically associated with traditional data analysis. Unlike competing solutions, Hypersonix offers a simple Google-like user experience. This approach supports non-technical users across the organization to harness data-driven insights without dependency on data analysts or information technology professionals. This accessibility enables Smart & Finals leaders to use text or voice to quickly query their data on any device including their computer, tablet, or smart phone. The Hypersonix platform, regardless of the user device, has been augmented with a virtual intelligent decision agent named Jarvix, which leverages the latest innovations in Natural Language Processing (NLP). For more information on how Hypersonix is being used by grocery retailers, please visit the Hypersonix site. About Hypersonix, Inc. Hypersonix (http://www.hypersonix.ai) offers the most comprehensive cloud-based, AI-powered autonomous analytics platform that enables consumer commerce decision-makers to make smart decisions fastempowering them to get real-time intelligence, insights and recommendations to take timely actions leading to business success. Hypersonixs predictive and prescriptive analytics can measure and monitor business results, clarify why results are occurring, and recommend actions to drive improvements. Leveraging innovations in Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Programming (NLP) and real-time data computing, the platform offers a simple, fast "Google-like" experience supported by "Jarvix," a virtual assistant. Designed for Retail, Restaurant, Hospitality, e-Commerce, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and Brand Manufacturers. Hypersonix helps clients drive profitable growth, save money and improve customer engagement. Founded in 2018 by former executives from SAP, PayPal and IBM, the company has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, TechCrunch, along with other outlets. It is based in San Jose, with offices in Sacramento, California and Bangalore, India. About Smart & Final Smart & Final is the smaller, faster grocery warehouse store, headquartered near Los Angeles in Commerce, California. Smart & Finals 256 store locations offer quality products in a variety of sizes, saving customers time and money without a membership fee. Its larger format stores, Smart & Final Extra!, combine the warehouse store with traditional grocery offerings like farm-fresh produce and natural and organic options, to provide a one-stop shop for all. In business since 1871, Smart & Final remains committed to giving back to its communities through employee volunteer opportunities and donations to local nonprofits. ...Many property investors are known for predatory tactics that hurt sellers when they need help the most. We started Sundae to right this wrong, to be the advocate for this segment of home sellers by ensuring they get a fair price for their home and peace of mind for themselves and their families. Sundae, a residential real estate marketplace focused on helping sellers of distressed property get the best price for their home through a reliable and worry-free process, has raised $16.55 million in Series A funding. The round was led by QED Investors, with additional participation from Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, and a number of high profile real estate and FinTech investors and entrepreneurs. Sellers of dated or damaged properties are often vulnerable and exploited in the process of selling a home that requires investment in renovations and repairs before a new family can move in. Sundae offers sellers a reliable and trusted way to sell effortlessly and without doing any work on the property. Instead of talking to multiple small mom and pop property investors to find the right buyer, Sundae does the hard work for them by ensuring the property is exposed to thousands of qualified buyers to secure the maximum amount investors are willing to pay. For far too long, home sellers without the time or resources to get a house market-ready have been taken advantage of, said Josh Stech, Sundae Co-Founder and CEO. Many property investors are known for predatory tactics that hurt sellers when they need help the most. We started Sundae to right this wrong, to be the advocate for this segment of home sellers by ensuring they get a fair price for their home and peace of mind for themselves and their families. With Sundae there are no closing costs or agent fees, and homeowners can skip the hassle of home repairs, cleanings, and showings. Sundae also provides a $10,000 cash advance before closing to help homeowners with moving costs or other expenses. Homeowners can close in as quickly as 10 days and can choose to remain in the home for weeks after the sale. Since launching in January 2019 Sundae has grown to become the second largest homebuyer in the markets it serves across Southern California and has helped hundreds of sellers get a better outcome. With this new funding, Sundae plans to expand to new markets across the U.S. to help more homeowners in need. The distressed residential real estate market is ripe for innovation, especially now, said Frank Rotman, founding partner at QED Investors. There is a huge unmet need for solutions that make the selling process more efficient and transparent. As a team of ex-operators, QED is excited to work with the Sundae team to build out their footprint, support their rapid growth and deliver a sorely-needed customer-centric approach to the market. In addition to providing a marketplace to connect sellers of distressed property to the best buyer, Sundae also operates as a property investor and will purchase, renovate, and resell properties through its resale brokerage Sundae Homes. About Sundae Sundaes mission is to help homeowners get the best outcome when its time to sell a house that needs some love. Many sellers dont have the time or resources to invest in repairs and cleaning to get the home market-ready. We started Sundae to help sellers in this situation by offering a worry-free alternative to the traditional real estate agent sales process. Founded in August 2018 by veteran real estate and marketplace executives Josh Stech and Andrew Swain, Sundaes team brings a combined 250+ years of local real-estate experience. Sundae is headquartered in San Francisco, CA and has regional headquarters in Manhattan Beach, CA and Atlanta, GA. To learn more visit sundae.com. About QED Investors QED Investors is a leading boutique venture capital firm based in Alexandria, VA. QED Investors is focused on investing in early-stage, disruptive financial services companies in North America, South America, and the United Kingdom. QED is dedicated to building great businesses and uses a unique, hands-on approach that leverages its partners decades of entrepreneurial and operational experience, helping companies achieve breakthrough growth. Notable investments include Credit Karma, ClearScore, Nubank, SoFi, Avant, Remitly, Flywire, GreenSky, Klarna, QuintoAndar, Konfio, Creditas, and Mission Lane. GO Topeka has announced plans to develop a large-scale innovation campus in Topeka, Kansas, home to Plug and Plays Animal Health / Ag Tech Startup Accelerator program. Once we secured the Plug and Play Animal Health/Ag Tech Startup Accelerator program, it became our responsibility to devise a long-term strategy that supports the infrastructure of Topekas innovation scene, said Katrin Bridges, senior vice president of innovation, Greater Topeka Partnership. GO Topeka, the economic development group for Kansas Capitol City, today announced plans to develop a large-scale animal health innovation campus. The development will be home to Plug and Plays Animal Health / Ag Tech Startup Accelerator program, as well as research and development labs and office spaces for startups and corporate innovation partners. National real estate developers with expertise developing scientific research parks, Clark Enersen Partners and BioRealty, Inc., have been selected to identify and evaluate prospective locations. Initial findings will be presented this winter. Once we secured the Plug and Play Animal Health/Ag Tech Startup Accelerator program, it became our responsibility to devise a long-term strategy that supports the infrastructure of Topekas innovation scene; this means finding the best setting to develop our innovation campus, said Katrin Bridges, senior vice president of innovation, Greater Topeka Partnership. In August 2019, Plug and Play selected Topeka for its first Animal Health and Ag Tech Accelerator Program. Topeka is centrally located within the KC Animal Health Corridor, home to more than 300 animal health companies, representing the largest concentration in the world "Plug and Play is excited to see Topeka moving forward on building their innovation campus, said Stephen Fay, director of corporate partnerships, Plug and Play. Startups thrive when communities provide intentional space for coworking and collaboration. Topeka's commitment to pursue this concept is precisely why we chose to partner with them, and we are excited to watch this project develop. Contracted real estate developers for this project are Clark Enersen Partners and BioRealty, Inc. Both developers are nationally renowned for their work in developing state-of-the-art scientific research facilities. We will draw on a collective portfolio that includes Nebraska Innovation Campus, University of Kentucky Coldstream Research Park, University of Nebraska Kearney, South Dakota State University Innovation Campus and EnterpriseWorks @ University of Illinois Research Park for sound framework and a tailored approach, said Tom McVey, director of business development, Clark Enersen Partners. As part of its assessment, our team will perform initial planning for two different site options and identify the key economic drivers and key elements necessary for a successful project of this type based on the current market demand in the region, said Stan Wendzel, president of BioRealty, Inc., a leading life science real estate investment and development firm. For more information, contact Bob Ross at Bob.Ross@topekapartnership.com. About GO Topeka GO Topeka creates opportunities for economic growth that provide a thriving business climate and fulfilling lifestyle for Topeka and Shawnee County. GO Topeka operates under the Greater Topeka Partnership, the leading economic development agency in the region. https://www.gotopeka.com/ About Greater Topeka The Greater Topeka area in Shawnee County represents a community of 178,915 people, located in the Greater Kansas City region. As the state capital of Kansas, Topeka is home to a dynamic employer base with headquartered companies including Hills Pet Nutrition, Advisors Excel, Security Benefit, Capitol Federal and Energy. Topeka is proud to be a part of the #KCHeartland. About the KC Animal Health Corridor The KC Animal Health Corridor, anchored by Manhattan, Kansas, and Columbia, Missouri, is home to more than 300 animal health companies, representing the largest concentration in the world. KCanimalhealth.com Those in the Dallas and Lubbock areas looking for something to do in the Dallas area in early August can stop by Twisted Cycles Official Grand Opening of their second store. It will be hosted by Twisted Cycles but is supported by numerous local businesses in the Dallas area. The event will have free food, family fun and specials on motorcycles in their stock. The Grand Opening Event will be taking place on Saturday, August 1. It will last from 2:00 pm until 7:00 pm at their store location in North Dallas at 7700 S Interstate 35 E. During the event, Twisted Cycles will be giving away free merchandise and food and are offering various prizes to win. Other vendors will also be in attendance. Beyond the event, Twisted Cycles will also be holding various sales events before and during the celebration. This includes $0 down financing with approved credit on a selection of motorcycles in their inventory, as well as various other special offers from their inventory. The dealership has primarily Harley Davidson motorcycles but also carries many other major brands such as Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and others. The selection also includes motorcycles with low gas mileage as well as various engine types. Those interested in going to the Twisted Cycles Grand Opening event are welcome to follow their Facebook Event page for more information. Customers are also welcome to contact employees at 833-912-0272 or visit their Lubbock location at 2401 S Loop 289 for any questions or concerns. The dealership can also be reached online at their website at https://www.twisted-cycles.com/. William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, president, UT Health San Antonio "We have to respond with measures to lower the curve ... and save lives." -- William L. Henrich, MD, MACP UT Health San Antonios president, William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, today called for San Antonio and communities nationwide to intensify their commitment to safe behaviors. San Antonio, the nation's seventh-largest city, has seen a marked increase in COVID-19 cases since mid-June. As health care leaders, we are committed to our patients and communities during this pandemic, Dr. Henrich said. Our front-line health care providers are doing all they can to help San Antonio and surrounding communities stay healthy. Today, because of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, I am announcing We Can Stop the Spread, a public education initiative aimed at sustaining and increasing the simple behaviors that will keep us all safe. San Antonio and Bexar County reached 5,142 cases of COVID-19 on June 17, according to the COVID-19 dashboard of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. Hospitalized patients stood at 241, including 91 in an intensive care unit (ICU). In only 12 days, by June 29, the San Antonio dashboard showed 10,787 cases. Hospitalized patients totaled 881, with 274 patients sick enough to be treated in ICUs. The surge is exponential in the nation's seventh-largest city. We Can Stop the Spread is a most important undertaking, Dr. Henrich said. Our scientific experts are encouraging everyone to do their part by continuing to wash hands often, wearing a face covering in public, practicing social distancing and staying away from large social gatherings. Models of COVID-19s impact on Bexar and surrounding counties suggest the number of hospitalized patients could continue to climb through August. We have a number of models that are guiding us in planning for hospitalizations and preparing for a surge of COVID-19 patients, Dr. Henrich said. Hospitals are obligated to keep a certain number of beds open to meet the demands of this possible public health emergency. The models are estimates based on variables such as the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths and the number of tests in an area. Back in March, April and May, we had a bump in our cases that was largely related to nursing homes and jails, and we didnt have much community spread, Dr. Henrich said. But now whats happening is we have a lot of community spread and the number of cases is increasing. The rapid increase is a cause for concern, he said. What Im urging everyone to do now is to return to being careful about mask usage, personal hygiene with your hands, and staying out of crowded environments, especially crowded environments indoors. Weve let our guard down More people are shopping, working, getting together for family or social gatherings, and carrying on with daily activities. And it seems fewer people are wearing masks out in public. We have what I refer to as COVID virus fatigue with regard to our social interactions, Dr. Henrich said. Weve let our guard down. We must counter this by wearing masks and returning to what thwarted the virus in the first place. San Antonio does not want to repeat what happened in Seattle, and later on a much bigger scale in New York, where the health care system was overwhelmed with the number of hospitalized people needing specialized care. Stress on the number of available ICU beds, the number of mechanical respirators and the available experts to treat the patients proved to be significant challenges. The whole idea is to not reach that threshold, Dr. Henrich said. The health care system needs flexibility to take care of other patients. Remember that heart disease, cancer, stroke, dementia and all the diseases that we usually focus on are still there, Dr. Henrich said. We want to be able to take care of those individuals and not have to squeeze the system with all of these infected COVID-19 patients. Young people are not immune Patients of all ages are at risk of infection, and it is not only senior adults who are proving to be susceptible to COVID-19. A severe form of the disease has been seen in children. Meanwhile, young people in their teens, 20s and 30s are being treated in ICUs nationwide. COVID-19 is not a discriminator of age, Dr. Henrich said. It is being seen in all age groups. Upcoming summer activities make masking and social distancing even more necessary. Only safe behaviors can prevent a new peak of cases and hospitalizations from occurring in August. To prevent this, members of the public must return to the basics: Everyone should wear a mask or bandana. Do something that interrupts transmission of COVID-19 via aerosols from the mouth and nose. Be meticulous in the way we wash our hands and how we touch surfaces. Try to avoid touching the face, eyes and nose. Use hand sanitizer. Avoid crowded indoor venues, especially a party atmosphere. Parties lead to relaxed close contact. You dont know if the person youre talking to has inadvertently become infected, is a silent case and is shedding the virus, Dr. Henrich said. These basics work. We can stop the spread. We have to respond with measures to lower the curve, keep the medical system intact, take good care of the people who get sick, and save lives, Dr. Henrich said. If we dont, then we will be in a place where we have more collateral effects from the disease and heaven forbid, we will lose more people. # # # Data sources: San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also referred to as UT Health San Antonio, is one of the countrys leading health sciences universities and is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. With missions of teaching, research, patient care and community engagement, its schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have graduated more than 37,000 alumni who are leading change, advancing their fields, and renewing hope for patients and their families throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways We make lives better, visit http://www.uthscsa.edu. Stay connected with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. To see how we are battling COVID-19, read inspiring stories on Impact. VERICOOLER: THE ORIGINAL ECO-FRIENDLY COOLER We are excited to announce that the Vericooler is available coast-to-coast for the first time. Now, consumers across the country can buy the Original eco-friendly cooler, said Mr. Jobe, CEO of Vericool. Plus, we are working to expand distribution across all of North America, making Vericoolers av Vericool, Inc. (http://vericoolpackaging.com/), a leading innovator and manufacturer of environmentally friendly packaging solutions, announced its Vericooler is now available in over 2,000 retail stores coast-to-coast, including 7-11, Whole Foods, Save Mart Stores, Lucky Stores and BevMo!. Invented by founder Darrell Jobe in 2017, the Vericooler is the original 100 percent recyclable and biodegradable cooler, replacing coolers made with environmentally unfriendly Styrofoam. The Vericooler was created by Mr. Jobe while on vacation in Hawaii when he could not find an alternative to Styrofoam coolers for his family. Unveiled at the 2018 Pack Expo, it was designed to match the performance characteristics of Styrofoam, using sustainable, eco-friendly, plant-based/used recycled box materials that are curbside recyclable. The Vericooler sells for less than $10 at retail and holds up to 20 12-ounce cans. It is reusable, water resistant and holds ice for up to 18 hours. We are excited to announce that the Vericooler is available coast-to-coast for the first time. Now, consumers across the country can buy the Original eco-friendly cooler, said Mr. Jobe, CEO of Vericool. Plus, we are working to expand distribution across all of North America, making Vericoolers available to more and more consumers. Vericools mission is to replace traditional packaging materials that pollute the environment, such as polystyrene (Styrofoam). Polystyrene, used for its low-cost insulation qualities, is rarely recycled. Some experts say it can take 500 years to break down in landfills. As polystyrene foam manufacturers attempt to maintain sales, they continue to greenwash the public. Recently, a polystyrene foam cooler was introduced to retailers with the claim of being environmentally friendly. But this requires a bioreactor landfill for it to decompose in four years. Unfortunately, less than a dozen of these landfills exist in the U.S., ensuring continued pollution littering our beaches and roadways and being fatally ingested by wildlife. About Darrell Jobe Darrell Jobe grew up in Richmond, Calif. He dropped out of school in the 8th grade, joined a gang in his teens, was homeless, and in and out of trouble. In his early 20s, he decided to change his life. Finding a job was difficult, but he eventually landed a sales position with a packaging products distributor. Having dropped out of school, he taught himself sales and engineering skills. After a highly successful sales career, he founded Vericool, Inc. in 2015 after noticing the absence of environmentally friendly packaging products. About Vericool, Inc. Vericool, Inc. was founded in 2015 with the goal to protect people and the planet by reducing the use of unsustainable packaging materials (starting with, but not limited to, expanded polystyrene foam). The company created the worlds first eco-friendly cooler, the Original, in 2017 and is a leader in proprietary, patented, plant-based sustainable packaging solutions that are customizable and high-performing. Vericool is committed to a diverse workforce and to employing convicted felons, supporting those in need of a second chance in an effort to reduce prison recidivism. The company is headquartered in Livermore, Calif. To learn more about Vericool, visit http://vericoolpackaging.com/ or follow the company on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Media Contact Martin Stein Martin.Stein@OrcaPR.com 702-285-2873 Orca Public Relations Unlimited The insurance declaration page is an important document that can make the life of any policyholder a lot easier. Within this page, drivers can find all the information they need in various situations., said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that presents the most important things drivers should know about the car insurance declaration page. For more info and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/what-you-need-to-know-about-car-insurance-declaration-page/ An insurance declaration page is the first page of an insurance policy document and includes key information about the insurance policy. On the declaration page, policyholders can find the basic information that will help them file a claim, such as the coverage limits and deductible. The insurance declaration page includes a wealth of information. However, declaration pages are very user friendly, so its easy to find the information that is needed. The insurance declaration page, also called the DEC page, might actually be several pages long. However, policyholders will always find it in front of their insurance documents. Usually, policyholders can find in a DEC page information such as: Policy number. The policy number will be needed when filing a claim or when making a payment. Policy start and end date. In this section, drivers can find out when their policy starts and when it ends. Contact information for the policyholder. The name and address of the policyholder will be listed here. Premium. Drivers can find their insurance premium listed near the top of the DEC page. Named insureds on the policy. Drivers who have named insureds on the policy, like a relative or parent who lives with them, will have their names included here. Other named insureds. Policyholders who have a mortgage on their homes or a car loan, those lenders will be listed on the DEC page as another named insured. Insurance provider information. The name of the car insurance company, its address and contact details will be found in this section. Drivers who are working with an agent will find their direct information here. How to report a claim. In this section, drivers can find some basic information on filing a claim. It contains information about who drivers need to contact, what information they need to provide, and the timeframe for filing a claim after a loss occurs. Property details. In this section, the insured car information will be listed. Information like the make, model, and year of the car. Coverages. Here, drivers can find out what coverages are under their policies. The type of policy. For car insurance, this section will show if the policyholder has personal auto insurance, motorcycle insurance, RV insurance, etc. Coverage limits. Policyholders can find the coverage limits of their car insurance policies. Drivers are advised to review this information before filing claims. Deductible. Here, drivers can find the value of their deductible for certain coverages. Endorsements. Policyholders who added endorsements to their policies can find them listed here with the coverage limits and deductible, if applicable. Discounts. Drivers who are claiming discounts, like clean driving record discounts, can find them listed here with the savings amount. When buying a policy, the policyholder will receive a number of documents, which will include a declaration page. They can get hard copies of the documents or they can receive them electronically. Once the policyholder receives a declaration page, he should review it for accuracy. If theres a mistake in the DEC page, drivers should contact their providers and update the information as soon as possible. The insurance declaration page is important because it contains relevant information about the insurance policy. The DEC page can help drivers who are confused about what their policy covers and doesn't cover. Also, it can help drivers who are not sure about who to contact when filing a claim. 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 Zanu-PF Youth League yesterday castigated coordinated campaigns by detractors to cause chaos in the country while also seeking to soil the image of the First Family. In a Press conference at the Zanu-PF headquarters in Harare, the leagues acting secretary Cde Tendai Chirau, flanked by provincial youth chairpersons from 10 provinces, said they will not sit and watch. The Zanu-PF youth league notes with abstinent consternation mischievous discourse being peddled on the social media by misguided elements in their quest to incite innocent peace-loving nationals to cause anarchy within our motherland. While the youth league acknowledges and appreciates the rights to freedom of expression entitled to Zimbabwean populace, the league will never stand akimbo while the name of the party, its leadership and including the First Family are being brought into disrepute, said Cde Chirau. A right ceases to be a right once it starts to be used as a weapon to infringe on other peoples rights. As such the youth league wishes to send a stern warning to all these unscrupulous members abusing the social media to quench their thirst for mischief that the end of their shenanigans is nigh. Cde Chirau said they were disturbed by the recent baseless and misguided accusations by former police commissioner general Mr Augustine Chihuri against President Mnangagwa. What is worrying to us is that Chihuri is facing a number of crimes that he should answer within the court of law but he is hiding somewhere and as a youth league we are calling on him to come and face the law than to say unfounded things that attack the leadership of this country, said Cde Chirau . We encourage Chihuri to come out from his self-imposed exile and prove his innocence in the courts of law. Cde Chirau said they were also disturbed by the slander against the Government and First Family by former league commissar Mr Godfrey Tsenengamu. The video clip, which he recently fed to the social media, amply exposes his desperate desire to secure political capital through subsidised mudslinging and blatant character assassination, fuelled by a fertile imagination and hallucinatory self-hypnosis, he said. Cde Chirau said Mr Tsenengamus behaviour was not surprising as he was trying to get relevance after being chucked out of the party for indiscipline. He described as preposterous allegations by Mr Tsenengamu that China was Zimbabwes coloniser saying the stance showed that he is blind to reality. As the vanguard of the Party, we are very much aware that the enemy is not sleeping trying to find means to remove a democratically elected Government. This is also exhibited by the likes of Jimu Kunaka and Hopewell Chinonos antics who on several occasions have unsuccessfully tried to mobilise young Zimbabweans into streets through social media, he said. We strongly caution these two to desist from encouraging our innocent young population to engage in such dangerous games as they are retrogressive to national development. Cde Chirau said the youth league trusts the capability of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and relevant arms of the law and not mudslinging through name calling in Press conferences without presenting evidence. He said despite the antics of the countrys detractors, President Mnangagwa has the support of the people in the implementation of Vision 2030 and laying the right foundation for the country. Cde Chirau said the league was aware of characters who pretended to be Zanu-PF during the day and working against the party but their efforts will be in vain. Comics writer, filmmaker, and publisher David Walker, best known for his work on such Black superhero/adventure series as Luke Cage, Cyborg, Naomi and Bitter Root, is teaming with artist Marcus Kwame Anderson to produce The Black Panther Party: A Graphic History, which will be published by Ten Speed Press in January 2021. Organized by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in Oakland in 1966, the Black Panther Party was founded in response to police brutality and focused its early and later efforts on monitoring police activity in Black neighborhoods in Oakland. The group incorporated a number of influences under a Black Power/Black Nationalist philosophy that included the works of Malcolm X, anti-imperialist political ideology, and community-based self-defense efforts that included armed patrols to monitor the police. Over time, the BPP became well known for its Black Power rhetoric as well as for its community-based social programs and revolutionary art. Along with other Black civil rights and Black liberation organizations in the 1970s, the BPP was targeted by the FBI under the notorious COINTELPRO program. Walker is also the author of The Life Of Frederick Douglass (with art by Damon Smyth and Marissa Louise), published by Ten Speed in 2019. Walker said the roots of the BPP history began while working on the Douglass graphic bio, although he was focused on producing a graphic biography of Fred Hampton, a Black Panther Party leader murdered by the Chicago police in 1969. I pitched Ten Speed about the Hampton biography, but they wanted a full history of the Black Panther Party. I eventually realized that I needed to tell the whole story of the BPP to be able to tell Fred Hamptons story, Walker told PW. Walker acknowledged the timeliness of the book, although he said, it wasnt planned that it would be released at this time, and I wish it wasnt so relevant. The book will look into the roots of the BPP as well as at such key figures as Seale, Newton, and Emory Douglas, the BPP minister of culture who was noted for his revolutionary artwork and posters in the BPP newspaper. And the book will include the legacy of murdered Panther leader Hampton. The artist, Marcus Kwame Anderson, was chosen because of a very versatile style. We could approach a serious topic with a more cartoony style, though his work on this book is a little more serious than his other work," Walker explained. Walker said he received the art pages of the Hampton murder from Anderson about the same time the George Floyd video went public. I couldnt even look at them they were so raw, he said. I told Kwame that Im sorry you have to draw this right now but its important for people to understand this. This makes me feel that weve done something important, Walker said. Website organizes public camera footage to study social distancing WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Public camera footage of how people have responded so far to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines in spaces such as tourist spots and busy street corners could help inform new policies as the pandemic progresses. But that footage is scattered all over the internet. Purdue University engineers built a website that pools together live footage and images from approximately 30,000 network cameras in more than 100 countries, making data easier to analyze. The site has documented footage since March that could help evaluate the effectiveness of lockdowns and restrictions. Video and images captured by the system do not identify individuals just the number of people in a public space from a distance. The system also does not use facial recognition technology. Researchers and policymakers can visit the site cam2project.net to access the footage. The resource is described further in a paper pending publication and supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Researchers already have the tools they need to analyze human behavior from video and photos, but this behavior can vary significantly depending on the context or culture of a place. We need extensive data to get those detailed insights, and this site provides that data, said Yung-Hsiang Lu, a Purdue professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering A video by Lus lab explaining this resource is available on YouTube Images and footage from network cameras, such as those overlooking city streets and squares, are publicly available on the internet. But because each website organizes and presents visual data differently, it would be challenging and tedious to sift through each network cameras feed. The system that Lus team developed automatically discovers thousands of network cameras in public spaces. After the system discovers cameras, a computer program saves image data and downloads videos about every 10 minutes. Data recorded from these cameras are sent to cloud data centers for processing. The project has been allocated computational power and storage provided by the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility Cooley cluster located at the U.S. Department of Energys Argonne National Laboratory. The discovered cameras are a subset of a much larger system developed in Lus lab in 2016, called the Continuous Analysis of Many CAMeras (CAM2). The CAM2 system is the worlds largest camera network, accessing more than 120,000 cameras worldwide in settings ranging from public parking garages to highways. The cameras that Lus lab has discovered for studying the effects of COVID-19 restrictions focus on places typically dominated by pedestrians. Lu and his collaborators have been using the system and artificial intelligence tools to see how policies have affected crowd size over time. The data also is helping to build models for human interactions and the spread of disease. Lus team received approval and protocol from the Institutional Review Board to conduct this study. How have people responded to policy changes? Were there sudden increases of crowds when the restrictions lifted, or were there gradual increases? Are there obvious patterns by countries or regions? These are the types of questions we hope to answer, Lu said. The system is based on several technologies protected by patents filed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization Co-PIs on this project include Purdue professors David Ebert, David Barbarash and Wei Zakharov. George Thiruvathukal, a professor at Loyola University Chicago and visiting professor at Argonne National Laboratory, is the projects consultant for software development and data management. 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) Source: Yung-Hsiang Lu, yunglu@purdue.edu Note to Journalists : A video by the researchers explaining this project is available on YouTube. A copy of the paper is available for download via the Arxiv preprint server. A photo of Yung-Hsiang Lu and public camera images of Times Square are available via Google Drive ABSTRACT Observing Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic using Worldwide Network Cameras Isha Ghodgaonkar, Abhinav Goel, Fischer Bordwell, Caleb Tung, Sara Aghajanzadeh, Noah Curran, Ryan Chen, Kaiwen Yu, Sneha Mahapatra, Vishnu Banna, Gore Kao, Kate Lee, Xiao Hu, Nick Eliopolous, Akhil Chinnakotla, Damini Rijhwani, Ashley Kim, Aditya Chakraborty, Mark Daniel Ward, Yung-Hsiang Lu, George K. Thiruvathukal* Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA *Loyola University Chicago, IL, USA COVID-19 has resulted in a worldwide pandemic, leading to lockdown policies and social distancing. The pandemic has profoundly changed the world. Traditional methods for observing these historical events are difficult because sending reporters to areas with many infected people can put the reporters lives in danger. New technologies are needed for safely observing responses to these policies. This paper reports using thousands of network cameras deployed worldwide for the purpose of witnessing activities in response to the policies. The network cameras can continuously provide real-time visual data (image and video) without human efforts. Thus, network cameras can be utilized to observe activities without risking the lives of reporters. This paper describes a project that uses network cameras to observe responses to governments policies during the COVID-19 pandemic (March to April in 2020). The project discovers over 30,000 network cameras deployed in 110 countries. A set of computer tools are created to collect visual data from network cameras continuously during the pandemic. This paper describes the methods to discover network cameras on the Internet, the methods to collect and manage data, and preliminary results of data analysis. This project can be the foundation for observing the possible second wave in fall 2020. The data may be used for post-pandemic analysis by sociologists, public health experts, and meteorologists. Venture capitalists and other investors provide more than $400 million to grow Purdue startups; IPWatchdog ranks Purdue 3rd nationally in startup creation. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Purdue University will reach 275 startups within the coming fiscal year in startup creation. Providing strength and longevity to Purdue-affiliated startups is the more than $400 million dollars in support and investments the startups have brought to Indiana, much from venture capitalists. Venture capitalists are interested in companies with innovations that make an impact in the marketplace, said Purdue alumnus Bruce Schechter, who co-founded Silicon Valley Boilermaker Innovation Group, SVBIG, to support Purdues startup creation. According to the investment report U.S. Startup Outlook 2019 by Silicon Valley Bank, 52% of startups funding comes from venture capitalists. The report states that VCs are entrepreneurs go-to source for funding and that VCs greatest interest is in startups developing technologies in artificial intelligence, big data, cybersecurity, life sciences and digital health. Those types of technologies are exactly what a research institution like Purdue excels in, Schechter said. That explains why they are and should be interested in investing in a university innovation. More than 100 countries around the globe use Purdue-patented technologies. National and international corporations have invested $2.3 billion to acquire 10 Purdue startups, which are: All of the acquired companies were founded on Purdue-patented technologies. The respected IPWatchdog Institute recently published a report covering an 11-year period of technology commercialization activities that lists Purdue University as third in the U.S. for startup creation. The report collected data by AUTM over the period of 2008-18. The information is reported annually by members to AUTM, a nonprofit organization that collects technology transfer data, among other things, from more than 800 universities, research centers, hospitals and government organizations around the globe. IPWatchdog excluded the University of Texas System and the University of California System from its study because those schools report startup data that include the states collective results and not individual university results. Purdue also is ranked 13th globally for utility patents during the 2019 calendar year in a report published annually by the National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association. What this means is that Purdue is being extremely efficient in its patent-filing strategy and that when faculty scientists publish peer-reviewed articles, their research is highly likely to be disclosed, patented and become a product to help people, said Brooke Beier, vice president of the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization. As a land-grant university, Purdues greatest mission is to improve lives around the world and educate tomorrows leaders, and moving innovation to the market is an important part of that mission. Beier talks about the technology transfer process at Purdue at this video link. The IPWatchdog report also recognized Purdue for its leadership and support for startups and for its societal impact through biotechnology innovations and economic development. In 2013, the Purdue Research Foundation created the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub whose professionals have helped more than 300 entrepreneurs create startups. We are doing something that matters. Not just for Purdue but for all universities that strive to turn technologies into products with impact, said Greg Deason, senior vice president of entrepreneurship and place making for Purdue Research Foundation. In startup creation we are converting life-changing technologies to the market that create new jobs, new opportunities and new ways to positively impact our global society. Deason talks about the startup creation process at Purdue at this video link. The Purdue Foundry has worked with nearly 300 startups that generated around $400 million in funding and investments generated and more than 350 new jobs since 2013. Purdue also is recognized in the report for the number of startups that have been acquired by larger companies. As listed above, major national or international companies acquired 10 Purdue startups including Endocyte Inc., which was acquired in 2018 for $2.1 billion by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG. Philip S. Low, the Purdue Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, is a co-founder of Endocyte and several other promising startups based on Purdue innovations. Among these startups are On Target Laboratories Inc., a company developing tumor-targeted fluorescent dyes to help surgeons see cancer cells during surgeries. Another startup founded by Low and son Stewart Low is Novosteo Inc. Novosteo is developing an injectable drug to accelerate bone fracture repair and strengthen weak bones. It has raised more than $3 million. A fourth company co-founded by Low, Umoja Biopharma, has recently raised $8 million in startup funds to develop a promising immunotherapy for cancer. Like many researchers at Purdue and elsewhere, our strongest desire is to improve lives, and the best way we can do that is by moving our inventions to the public, Low said. Its not an easy process, but its highly rewarding to know at the end of the day you are helping people live longer, healthier and happier lives. To support continued growth, Purdue is undertaking Discovery Park District, a $1 billion-plus transformation of an area adjacent to its campus that includes strong support to advance research, partnerships with global companies and startup creation. In the past two years, the district has been actively involved with long-term research and development collaborations with Rolls-Royce, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and Saab Global Defense and Security. About IPWatchdog Launched in October 1999, IPWatchdog has been a trusted resource on intellectual property for tens of millions of unique visitors for nearly two decades. Recognized as one of the leading sources for news, information, analysis and commentary in the patent and innovation industries, IPWatchdog.com has grown into the largest online intellectual property publication in the world, with 1,632,736 users in 2019, accounting for 2,678,318 sessions and 3,806,192 page views throughout 2019. IPWatchdog also offers growing coverage of matters relating to trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks. About Purdue Research Foundation The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park, Purdue Technology Centers and University Development Office. The foundation received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. Writer: Cynthia Sequin, casequin@prf.org Sources: Brooke Beier, blbeier@prf.org Greg Deason, gwdeason@prf.org Phil Low, plow@purdue.edu Note to Journalists: Two videos and a photo are available in Google Drive at https://purdue.university/3eZ6ESI. Students to Benefit from Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association Appropriations The Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association (PVAA) Board of Directors has approved financial support for three new initiatives that will help Purdue Veterinary Medicine students and recruitment efforts in the upcoming academic year. The board made the budget decisions during a meeting held virtually on June 9. In preparing its 2020-2021 fiscal-year budget, the board sought input from Dr. Jim Weisman (PU DVM 97), assistant dean for student affairs, and Dr. Sandy San Miguel (PU DVM 93; PhD 95), associate dean for engagement. The board allocated $3,000 to support 4th year DVM students by helping to cover the cost of additional personal protective equipment (PPE) that the students will need to meet heightened safety measures being put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The added PPE supplies will provide protection for the students while they work in the Veterinary Hospital and gain valuable hands-on experiences during their clinical year. The board also approved $3,000 for Boiler Vet Camp scholarships that will help underrepresented minority students who want to attend either the junior or senior camps. This allocation is aimed at supporting the colleges engagement activities that seek to broaden diversity in veterinary medicine. A sub-committee was established to determine the criteria for awarding the scholarships. Additionally, the board allocated $2,000 of the PVAA budget to support a recently established food pantry located in Lynn Hall for the Purdue University community. In conjunction with Purdues ACE Campus Food Pantry and Food Finders Food Bank, Inc. of Lafayette, the pantry will be stocked with food for anyone in the PVM family facing food insecurity. This resource will help ensure that students have the nourishment they need to thrive academically as they cope with demanding schedules. The remainder of the PVAA budget will be used to sponsor recurring events and student traditions such as the Stethoscope Dinner, Thanksgiving Celebration, and Graduation Gala. The PVAA is a membership-based organization representing the entire PVM alumni base and functions as a subsidiary of the Purdue Alumni Association (PAA). All funding for the PVAA is generated through membership dues and seed money from the PAA. New graduates enjoy a year of free membership and then half-priced membership for two years. Membership in the PVAA is only $30 per calendar year. The PVAA Board of Directors is made up of representatives from each of the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association regional districts, as well as Veterinary Nursing representatives from across Indiana. Other seats on the board include young alumni seats, as well as members-at-large from across the nation. The 24 member board is led by an executive committee made-up of Dr. John Feutz (PU DVM 2005), president; Dr. Erin Kosta-Wilson (PU DVM 2008), president-elect; and Dr. Jerry Rodenbarger (PU DVM 79), secretary/treasurer. At the meeting, the board elected Dr. Angela Demaree (PU DVM 2002) as the incoming president-elect, whose term begins with the start of the new fiscal year July 1. Click here for more information or to join the Purdue Veterinary Alumni Association. Interested in serving on the PVAA Board of Directors? Please email Susan Xioufaridou at: susanx@purdue.edu. Writer(s): Susan Xioufaridou | pvmnews@purdue.edu New York City, NY (11385) Today Areas of patchy fog early. Mostly cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 83F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Rantoul, IL (61866) Today Mainly cloudy. Cooler. High around 70F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Today Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low around 65F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Tomorrow Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. Thunder possible. High 71F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Opinion Making lemonade: Creative and meaningful responses by brands amid the pandemic Telemedicine, also known as telehealth, is one way to increase access to health care. @LisaScheid on Twitter I explore how our lives are shaped by our relationship to the land, water and air. Have a question you want me to answer? Email me. The Department of Natural Resources said it will store the bus in a safe, secure location while considering options for its permanent disposition. "You need to get out!" Above, a First Amendment clash at the University of Missouri in 2015 when a faculty member sought to restrict a student photojournalist. By Mark Hemingway, RealClearInvestigations June 30, 2020 After leaving Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., in 2017 amid a clash with woke activists, progressive academic Bret Weinstein has often felt like a lonely voice on the left warning about the dangers of campus intolerance and unrest spilling out into the real world. Bret Weinstein, a progressive professor, on critics who dismissed his concerns about the spread of campus radicalism: Some of them have started to call and say: I got it wrong. What do we do now? But now, with "cancel culture" on the rise as protesters nationwide tear down statues in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, the biologist says he feels an uneasy sense of vindication -- and the tide turning. Ive started to get calls in the last week or two the people who mocked me and others for making too much of what appeared to be college kids going wild on college campuses, he said on the Joe Rogan podcast on June 18. Some of them have started to call and say: I got it wrong. What do we do now? It turns out that a quiet counterrevolution is already underway. In March of last year, President Trump issued an executive order making federal research funding contingent on universities having adequate free speech protections. At the state level, Texas last year became the 17th state since 2015 to enact legislation protecting First Amendment rights on campus. Currently, the conservative National Association of Scholars is working with four states Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Arizona to go further: pass laws to increase intellectual diversity at public universities. South Dakota has already done so, and the laws requirements amount to the most sweeping campus reforms in the country. It was triggered last year by a minor controversy over the stifling of a planned Hawaiian Day on one campus -- a last straw for critics of cultural hypersensitivity, which revived intellectual diversity legislation opposed by the state Board of Regents. Under intellectual diversity laws, not only must dissenting views be tolerated, but college administrations are required to actively take steps (yet to be specified) to ensure that students are exposed to competing cultural and political viewpoints. South Dakotas law includes a number of new free speech protections on campus, explicitly safeguarding remarks deemed offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical or wrong-headed. The legislation also mandates that the Board of Regents produce annual reports for each campus that (1) Sets forth all actions taken by each institution to promote and ensure intellectual diversity and the free exchange of ideas; and (2) Describes any events or occurrences that impeded intellectual diversity and the free exchange of ideas. The legislation further defines intellectual diversity as denot[ing] a learning environment that exposes students to and encourages exploration of a variety of ideological and political perspectives. Joan Wink, South Dakota Board of Regents: Intellectual diversity requirements are code speak for hiring more right-leaning, ideologically grounded professors and administrators. Though South Dakotas university system is small with about 35,000 students in six colleges the new requirements are sending shock waves through higher education. In March, the Chronicle of Higher Education framed them as a harbinger as lawmakers across the country "seek to set policy for public universities with an eye on reining in wayward politics. Joan Wink, a member of South Dakotas Board of Regents, said the legislature is trying to impose its own conservative ideology on campuses, telling the Chronicle that the laws intellectual diversity mandates were code speak for hiring more right-leaning, ideologically grounded professors and administrators. After it passed last year, four state legislators who sponsored it sent a letter to the board with suggestions on meeting the new intellectual diversity requirement. The letter urged the regents to create hiring practices to ensure the composition of the faculty and administration reflects a broad range of ideological viewpoints." Among their recommendations were ongoing surveys of the ideological viewpoints of the faculty, and the administrators with responsibility for the intellectual climate on campuses" in order to "measure progress toward intellectual diversity." In an article in the Rapid City Journal, Elizabeth Skarin, the policy director for South Dakotas ACLU chapter which opposed the law blasted the legislators for their approach to hiring. "To me, my brain immediately goes to blacklisting and McCarthyism and all of the problems when the government wants to keep lists of individuals' political ideologies," Skarin said. "I do not think that we want to get into a situation where discussion and debate is being monitored or being surveyed." Skarin later drafted a letter on behalf of the ACLU outlining its concerns about implementing the intellectual diversity requirement. Elizabeth Skarin, ACLU South Dakota: "To me, my brain immediately goes to blacklisting and McCarthyism." Patrick Garry, University of South Dakota law professor, disagrees with her. There was a lot of immediate reaction from my colleagues across the country that this is a terrible infringement on freedom of speech and academic freedom, Garry told RealClearInvestigations. That's what prompted me to look at it and say, No, I don't think it is an infringement on academic freedom. Garry, who also has a doctorate in constitutional history, is the author of the South Carolina Law Review article When Legislatures Become the Ally of Academic Freedom. In it, he writes that protections for academic freedom established in the 1950s and 60s are being honored in the breach today. A 2019 survey of 466 colleges by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) found that 89% had speech codes that ran afoul of the First Amendment. Garrys article cites a study published in Econ Journal Watch that found Democrats outnumber Republicans 11.5 to 1 on higher education faculties and that the ratio gets more dramatically skewed the younger the faculty; in departments "where politics may be more relevant, such as history"; and the greater the prestige of the university. More than a third of the 51 colleges surveyed in the study reported no Republicans on faculty at all. Garry concludes that political indoctrination is not a legitimate academic function and hence is undeserving of special constitutional protection. [Campuses] have, in a way, become like the southern states under the Voting Rights Act. Those states were put under judicial supervision to make sure that voting rights were respected in those states, Garry concludes. Perhaps, as the South Dakota Legislature has recognized, universities may now have to be put under a kind of formalized public review process regarding their actions concerning free speech and academic freedom. Patrick Garry, University of South Dakota School of Law: Campuses have "become like the southern states under the Voting Rights Act. Those states were put under judicial supervision to make sure that voting rights were respected in those states. Concern that South Dakota's campuses didn't reflect the state's more conservative politics and culture had been building for some time. The legislature first considered an academic reform bill in 2006, but repeatedly avoided legislation in favor of working with the Board of Regents. In 2018, at the behest of state Rep. Lee Qualm, the Board of Regents approved a new policy protecting free expression on campus. The policy's language was strong, but it didnt produce the desired results. A month before the reform law passed last year, a lawyer for FIRE told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader that every university in the state currently has at least one unconstitutional speech code, and legally questionable bans on funding religious and political student groups were still in place. Sue Peterson, one of the state representatives who sponsored the bill, told RealClearInvestigations the Board of Regents lack of progress over such a long period of time left the legislature no choice but to act. They did make some policy changes between 2018 and 2019 that were positive, she said. We still felt certain changes needed to be in statute because policies can change. South Dakota Rep. Tina Mulally was even blunter. I dont believe the Board of Regents has been responsive to the taxpayers for decades, she told the Chronicle of Higher Education. I tried to have conversations with them when I became a representative, and I got the impression that they didnt want to talk to me. The motivations for reining in campus radicalism arent just ideological. Legislators say radicalism is making their schools less attractive to prospective students. The University of Missouri, in one of the states currently considering intellectual diversity legislation, was rocked by violent protests in 2015 that caused such a steep enrollment drop that the university closed four dormitories, saw its credit rating downgraded, and created a budget shortfall of $32 million. Above and top photo: In a video that went viral from University of Missouri unrest in 2015, a professor tells a student journalist, "You need to get out," and later yells, "I need some muscle over here!" The current trend has roots in a 2014 statement by the privately run University of Chicago proclaiming its support for free speech in the wake of campus unrest -- a move since emulated by scores of private and public colleges. But such statements are non-binding. Current measures governing state schools have teeth. Higher education critic Stanley Kurtz approvingly notes that Kansas intellectual diversity bill, introduced by the legislature in February, instructs the public university system to stage debates, panels, and individual lectures that explore our most widely discussed public-policy controversies from diverse and conflicting perspectives. Though the National Association of Scholars and other groups are making detailed legislative recommendations on how to precisely measure and assess intellectual diversity, David Randall, director of research at NAS, acknowledged to RealClearInvestigations that achieving ideological balance is a challenge. It's a real question how do you translate a state [intellectual diversity] bill into operational practice? he said. But the legislative push for free speech and intellectual diversity on campus reflects hunger and a momentum among the American people for reform, he said, at a time when the results of academic radicalism are already widely evident in the culture at large. The entire idea is that higher education aims at creating activists who are out protesting on the streets, Randall said of the campus atmosphere today. I mean, look around this is whats happening. As a boy with his family in 1968, this author visited Virginia from the north and had to ask his parents why flags werent at half-staff following Martin Luther Kings assassination. Today, anyone with memories of the 1950s and 60s recognizes race relations have come a long way, as has The Old Dominion, yet a distance to go remains. In their own way, racial income statistics, covering a broad national cross section, can be more wrenching than George Floyd footage, an isolated although for many blacks representative incident. In 2018, over half a century since the Civil Rights Act, black household income was just 62% of the level for whites. Worse, after steadily increasing for three decades from 58% in 1980 (the beginning of Census Bureau data) to 68%, this ratio has fallen since 2008. The decade-long deterioration in back Americans economic status likely is a root cause of recent racial unrest catalyzed by police brutality. Black income decline in the last decade is due to slow economic growth since the Financial Crisis and not some sudden change in racial attitudes compared with the previous thirty years. The major driver of black household income is black employment, and black employments major driver is economic growth. Since the Financial Crisis recovery in 2010, U.S economic growth averaged 2.3% for ten years, compared with 3.1% for the previous thirty years of black income progress. In years black incomes gained relative to whites, growth averaged 3.2% compared to 1.8% in years black incomes receded. Notwithstanding evident slow but steady black advances before 2008, the U.S. economy had entered a period of stagnation. Liberal Northwestern economist Michael Gordon describes a slowdown since 1970, termed The Great Stagnation by libertarian George Mason economics professor Tyler Cowen. Gordon notes additional decline in growth since 2006 which has tipped black incomes into retrenchment. The deterioration prompts outcry for yet more government spending, but this politically convenient nostrum from antiquated economics textbooks has failed for the last fifty years. Increased government spending is the signal characteristic of the Great Stagnation. From 1952 to 1971, U.S. government spending was 28% of the entire economy, rising to 34% since then. Since 1970 there is a very strong negative relationship between government spending and both investment and growth, some of which is the ups and downs of the business cycle, but, adjusted for cycles, government spendings negative effect remains. This is true, not just for the U.S. but for other advanced economies as well. Countries with increased government see slower growth and countries with larger government sectors generally grow more slowly than their smaller government counterparts. The U.S. situation is worsening. The Congressional Budget Office projects another increase in government spending of 2.4% of Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years with still more after that. This path of diminishing prospects is selling out not just the young generation but the disadvantaged as well. Dont look to either party to face these issues. The Democrats offer merely redistributionist concoctions to increase spending that already have stifled growth around the world in Europe, Japan, and here. The Republicans, once a fount for innovative reform, are too brain dead even to muster an alternative to the Rube Goldberg contraption of Obamacare. Bipartisan adherence to the Alfred E. Neumann What me worry? doctrine of public finance must end before the wreckage of debt and deficits threatens everything government does. Radical spending reform is unimaginable in this era of polarized political trench warfare but countries that did this prospered with accelerated growth. Bernie Sanders favorite, Sweden, cut government spending by 20% of GDP and saw growth accelerate 1% yearly. Ireland reduced government by even more and grew 9% annually for the last six years. Throughout the world, countries such as Switzerland and Singapore have retirement and health plans superior to our insolvent programs. From crossing the Bering Strait 20,000 years ago to arriving in rickety boats whether in the 1600s or today, the promise of a better future has drawn Americans, excepting those who arrived enslaved. Their descendants must now fully participate in this promise. For them, its black jobs that matter, and those jobs need growth to ring from every mountainside enabling black Americans to join a thriving mainstream. Better than any big government program, radical spending reform can do this. On behalf of environmentalists everywhere, I would like to formally apologize for the climate scare we created over the last 30 years. Climate change is happening. Its just not the end of the world. Its not even our most serious environmental problem. Good morning. Its Tuesday, June 30, 2020. On this date in 1918, a small British passenger ship that had been converted to a wartime cargo vessel was finally allowed to dock at its destination port of Philadelphia. The HMS City of Exeter had sailed out of Liverpool on June 9, but as soon as it hit the open sea, members of its crew, primarily men from India, were laid low by an illness then known as the grippe. The term comes from French and it described the vise-like way this illness took hold of its victims. By mid-summer the entire world would know it as the Spanish Flu, although it didnt come from Spain, and we now call it the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918. In any event, some of the ships crew members were apparently buried at sea, while many others were fighting for their lives when the City of Exeter entered the mouth of the Delaware River on June 21. In a grim foreshadowing of what would happen with cruise ships a century later when COVID-19 escaped China, Philadelphia health officials ordered the City of Exeter quarantined for nine days. The crew was then evacuated to a local hospital ward set up to prevent the spread of the virus. Ill have more on this event in a moment. First Id point you to RealClearPolitics front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters and contributors, including the following: * * * WH Agenda Will Advance Largest Deregulation Effort in History. Phil Wegmann previews the administrations semi-annual unified agenda, which will be released today. Will Trump Hear the Republican Cries for Help? A.B. Stoddard spotlights the chorus of advice coming from within the GOP that the president make his reelection campaign more about policy than his personality. Vote Like Your Life Depends on It. Mine Does. Eradicating systemic racism in America starts at the ballot box, writes Lisa D.T. Rice. Momentum Builds to Require Campus Intellectual Diversity. As concern grows over cancel culture and intolerance of open discussion, statehouses are mounting a quiet counterrevolution, Mark Hemingway reports in RealClearInvestigations. Roundup Settlement Is Business as Usual for Tort Lawyer Bandits. Harold Kim assails the legal strategy in the pesticide case, part of a trend thats driving safe products off the market and pushing scores of companies into bankruptcy. The Pandemic Has Awakened the School Choice Movement. Libby Sobic explains in RealClearEducation. The Unintended Consequences of More Renewable Power Deployment. In RealClearEnergy, Chris Kimmett offers some advice to system operators. Strike a Nuclear Deal With Russia. In RealClearPolicy, Luke Griffith argues that the time is now to extend the New START agreement and pursue constraints on ground-based, intermediate-range missiles. * * * After Philadelphia health authorities ordered the City of Exeter quarantined, the British consul helped facilitate the removal of some of the ships crew to a hospital under extraordinary arrangements overseen by doctors and medical students from the University of Pennsylvania. The crew members were isolated in a separate ward, attended by specialists wearing masks and gloves. But no cure was available to this virus, just as no cure is available to the novel coronavirus crippling the world today, and the crewmen from the City of Exeter began dying anyway. The precise cause of their deaths was something of a mystery. It seemed like pneumonia, but the attending physicians noticed symptoms not associated with pneumonia -- bleeding through the nose, for one -- and one medical student noted in his records, The opinion was reached that they had influenza. But as author John M. Barry noted in his classic account of the 1918 pandemic, America was at war and Britain was an ally, so when newspaper reporters asked about the deaths, public health officials assured them that the men were not dying from influenza. They were lying, Barry wrote bluntly. Nonetheless, mitigation efforts worked: The Spanish influenza did not escape into the general populace of Philadelphia. Not then, anyway. But the virus would return to Philadelphia by August, probably mutated, in greater numerical force, and ready for battle again. This time, the city and the rest of Pennsylvania would not be so fortunate. Writing about these events a year before the phrase COVID-19 had been coined, medical historian James Higgins sounded a prescient warning. Yet, even a century removed from the greatest of disasters in the citys long history, Higgins wrote, historians and public health experts draw upon its story to remind leaders and the public that what once happened in Philadelphia might happen again were a new, virulent influenza virus to suddenly appear. Carl M. Cannon Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics @CarlCannon (Twitter) ccannon@realclearpolitics.com Protective masks, normally used for surgery, are now in use to fight the Corona Virus SARS-nCov-19. Beyond the proven positive academic impact of expanding K-12 educational options, particularly to Black and Hispanic students, parental choice programs have positive social, emotional, and cultural impacts. As America faces persistent life and death questions about racial and educational injustices, the multiple benefits of educational freedom heighten the importance of this weeks decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. In the case, the court held that state authorities cannot rely on so-called Blaine Amendments in their constitutions to prohibit families from using K-12 tuition-tax-credit-funded scholarships to help finance the attendance of their children at the private religious schools of their choice. For about a decade, research has shown that Black and Hispanic students participating in privately funded tax credit scholarship programs and state-funded voucher programs graduate at a higher rate relative to their peers who attend public schools. A recent study conducted by education economists at Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta generated data revealing that 99% of Black and Hispanic students receiving a Georgia GOAL Scholarship graduate from high school, with their public school peers graduating at an 82% rate. Based on high school graduation rates alone, educational justice dictates that states create or expand educational choice programs. But, in choosing a private school for their children, parents place much more emphasis on school climate and classroom discipline than on standardized test scores. A landmark 2013 study, titled More Than Scores: An Analysis of Why and How Parents Choose Private Schools, found that 98.6% of surveyed parents of children receiving a Georgia GOAL scholarship were overwhelmingly satisfied with their private school choice. The survey revealed that the top five reasons why parents chose a private school for their children are all related to school climate and classroom management, including better student discipline (50.9%), better learning environment (50.8%), smaller class sizes (48.9%), improved student safety (46.8%), and more individual attention for my child (39.3%). Only 10.2% of surveyed parents cited higher standardized test scores as one of the top five reasons they chose a particular private school for their child. Obviously, parents understand that better private school learning environments enhance social and emotional outcomes. Perhaps this is why many public schools districts are urgently instituting off the shelf social and emotional learning (SEL) programs that attempt to replicate the organic social and emotional learning that occurs in private or religious schools attended by families who voluntarily choose to educate their children according to the high standards, values, and expectations of their respective school communities. Public school districts are also implementing community-based education models, such as the Purpose Built Communities network, which, by offering counseling, therapy, wellness programs, and community partnerships to students and their families, attempt to realize the outstanding learning and behavioral outcomes for students who are fortunate enough to secure the funding to attend private religious schools. Meanwhile, according to the latest 2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress achievement levels in U.S. history, private Catholic schools appear to outperform public schools in creating citizens, with 29% of students scoring at least proficient in U.S. history, versus 14% of public school students. In civics, 41% of Catholic students were at least proficient, versus 23% of public school students. The NAEP results echo recent studies (controlled for variables such as level of family wealth or parent educational achievement) showing that, as a whole, private schools exceed or equal, and never lag, the performance of public schools in instilling civic knowledge and fostering behaviors such as volunteering in ones community. At the end of the 19th century, states adopted Blaine Amendments preventing the use of taxpayer funds at sectarian institutions. Fortunately, with its Espinoza decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has limited the application of these invidious provisions, which lawmakers adopted to make it especially difficult for Catholic families to educate their children in parochial schools and to make it nearly impossible for formerly enslaved Africans and their religious leaders to create private Christian academies at which their children could receive a classical liberal education. As President Trump observed in his remarks before signing his recent Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities, School choice is the civil rights issue of the year, of the decade, and probably beyond, encouraging people who know they shouldnt be opposing it to join the movement. We agree. If lawmakers truly believe that education is a pathway to equal opportunities and economic mobility, they should accept the fact that educational justice can only be achieved by providing parents with the funds required to send children from low- and middle-income families to the public, private, or religious schools of their choice. An overwhelming majority of their constituents desire greater opportunities for access to learning, and Americas children deserve it. Jim Kelly is the founder of the Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program and author of an amicus curie brief submitted in the Espinoza case. One of the recently vandalized monuments is a statue of poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Someone smeared "BLM" and "[expletive] Slave Owners" on the seated figure prominently displayed in the city named after him, Whittier, California. It happens that Whittier was a fiery abolitionist from Massachusetts. In a famous 1833 pamphlet, he called slavery "the master-evil before which all others dwindle into insignificance." And so, who was behind his defacing? It could have been someone from the Black Lives Matter movement ignorant of Whittier's history. It could have been a goon just out to damage public property. It could have been a right-wing agitator trying to make the BLM movement look ridiculous. No one knows. But there's developed a mindless war against public monuments, and it needs taming. Removing Confederate generals who made war on the United States to preserve slavery may be an easy call, but the future of all public monuments should be determined by public deliberation -- not the self-anointed social warrior with a strong rope and 10 friends on Instagram. Consider the threats against the controversial statue of Abraham Lincoln and a freed slave at the Freedmen's Memorial in Washington. Historian David Blight agrees that the image comes off as racist and not something we would commission today. The 1876 monument shows Lincoln standing high over an African American on one knee. But then Blight asks its critics to "please consider the people who created it and what it meant for their lives in a century not our own." African Americans, most of them former slaves, had raised the $20,000 needed to build the monument. Nearly every black organization participated in its unveiling. Is it OK for woke moderns to cancel these African Americans' sense of their history? I don't think so. Much is subject to interpretation. Some see the former slave crouching subserviently before Lincoln. Others see him rising up. Some object to his chains. Others see chains that are breaking, which, of course, is what was happening. Most strange are complaints that the African American is naked from the waist up. That reflected the misery of bondage. Putting a nice shirt on him would have amounted to slavery denial -- support for the claim by many slave owners that their captive, unpaid labor was well treated. (Slaves in ancient Rome were depicted without shirts, a sign of their degradation.) That the sculptor, Thomas Ball, was white should be of no consequence. The emancipated blacks sponsoring the monument hired him, and that was their right. For the record, Ball said he considered Archer Alexander, the former slave who modeled as the freed man, an "agent in his own resistance." What, if anything, should be done about the Freedmen's Memorial, which sits on federal land? Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District of Columbia in Congress, plans to introduce legislation to have it removed. But one hopes she will reconsider, that she will look again with more sensitivity toward those oppressed former slaves who had it built. And she might consider Blight's proposal to add rather than subtract from what's there. Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke during the memorial's dedication ceremony. Blight, his biographer, suggests commissioning a statue of him giving his famous speech. It was a tough speech criticizing Lincoln for his early hesitation on the slavery question. Though Lincoln "tarried long in the mountain," Douglass concluded, he eventually arrived. This reconsideration of the historic figures standing frozen in our downtowns has produced at least one positive outcome. Those willing to engage their brains are learning a lot of complicated history. There are some monumentally hard decisions to make, and only the broader public should make them. COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM If the Trump administration were a piece of office equipment, it would be a paper shredder. An industrial-grade, multi-bladed paper shredder. That infamous description by opponents is a representation administration members very much enjoy. Wherever and whenever possible for the past three-plus years, the White House has done its best to carve the federal registrar into confetti. And that deregulation has not slowed during the pandemic. Trump is in fact having a deregulatory moment, and the purpose is two-fold. The administration believes that taking a pair of shears to red tape will help beat the coronavirus and simultaneously boost an economic recovery. The president signed an executive order in May to direct agencies across the board to rescind or waive any regulation inhibiting those two purposes. It was, a senior administration official remarked at the time, one of the few moments of crisis in history that government rescinded rather than accumulated power. Details of the latest White House Unified Agenda, a semi-annual report first obtained by RealClearPolitics, continue that trend. During the pandemic, the administration has taken 740 actions on everything from loosening fuel efficiency requirements to easing telehealth regulations. And the shredder continues to shred, said acting Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought, telling RCP that nothing has slowed the largest deregulation effort in modern history. Vought insisted that the agenda, the eighth and final one issued before the November election, would be the capstone of Trumps effort to remove government obstacles that stifle small business growth, while growing our economy and saving American jobs. The administration set the goal of removing two regulations for each one it implements. When the president regularly asks Vought about progress in achieving that ratio, he answers that 7.5 regs are being removed to each one added. The same pace is expected to continue through the final year of the presidents first term. The entire exercise suits the president. Trump the real-estate developer chafed under zoning laws and environmental and labor regulations. Trump the candidate promised to go on a deregulatory tear if elected, and as president he has slashed big and small, most notably the Paris Climate Accord. Opponents have condemned those actions as irresponsible while supporters credit them with sparking the economy. According to White House numbers, shredding red tape before the pandemic cut regulatory costs by $50 billion. Officials estimated earlier that once those new rules were fully implemented, they would amount to nearly $220 billion in savings. Trump now plans to do more. When the president has a chance to do something on his own directly through executive order, not partnering with Congress, what does he do? His instincts tell him to go back to what has worked in the past, Anthony Campau, former chief of staff at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, told RCP in May. Paul Ray, the current administrator in that role, now says that more is on its way. He cited as accomplishments the Waters of the United States rule that freed landowners and ranchers from Environmental Protection Agency regulation as well as relaxed rules for automobile fuel economy. Both changes were met with protests from Democrats and environmentalists, complaints that fell on deaf ears inside the administration. This wont change in the final six months of the presidents first term. With the rulemakings featured in this years spring agenda, Ray told RCP, agencies will continue to rescind and revise regulations to promote economic recovery and growth. All of this is on brand for Trump. He told his Cabinet during a May meeting that he wanted them to go to town. He added that they should do it right and do it proper. Every change, the president insisted, should be safe and environmentally good. Good luck, he said before signing the executive order to make pandemic deregulations permanent. It gives you tremendous power to cut regulations. The upcoming Unified Agenda will detail more of those changes. A senior administration told RCP to stay tuned for year 5. U.S. President Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal has put Europe in a tight spot. The squeeze is made still tighter by his subsequent insistence that the deals five-year ban on conventional arms sales to Iran be extended before it expires in October. Though hardly eager for Iran to be permitted to purchase weapons, the European nations that remain party to the Iran deal (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) want to keep the agreement intact, with or without Washington's desired embargo extension. But theyre beset on one side by demands for compliance -- demands backed by the threat of further U.S. sanctions on Iran that could cause the nuclear deal to unravel altogether. On the other side, Russia and China --both would-be arms exporters to Iran who, like the United States, hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council -- are insisting the extension cannot happen. There is no easy path forward for French, German, and British diplomats, who are pushing for a middle-ground arrangement that can satisfy both sides without contentious Security Council votes. But there is a lesson here for U.S. foreign policy: It must recognize its limits. This is a lesson Washington does not wish to learn, and certainly one it has steadily avoided over the past two decades. Indeed, the story of our post-9/11 foreign policy failures can be told in many ways as an account of reckless rejections of limits on what American power, and especially American military power, can do. After beginning in Afghanistan with a quickly accomplished mission of retribution for the 9/11 attacks, our war on terror has metastasized into a global monstrosity. At home, it has brought unconstitutional surveillance, security theater, and militarized policing. Abroad, it has played out as an absurd attempt to reshape an entire region. Mission creep has moved the effort from retaliation to occupation to regime change and nation-building. Callous and counterproductive disregard for civilian casualties has created as many or more new enemies for the United States as our airstrikes and invasions can kill. Congressional authorizations of use of military force either stretch beyond any reasonable reading of their initial scope and intent, or are ignored altogether in favor of unfettered executive war-making. In its rejection of limits, our foreign policy has rejected any guidance of strategy, prudence, or humanity. This hubris has cost us dearly. It has added violence to the Middle East and North Africa without adding to our security. It has exacted a price in blood, health, and treasure we will feel for decades to come. It has not fostered security, stability, or peace. This scuffle over the Iranian arms embargo is but one tiny piece of U.S. foreign affairs -- though, in a worst-case scenario, it could put us back on the path toward a devastating war with Iran. But even if European diplomats can swing some more temperate resolution, and this disagreement fades into obscurity, Washington should still learn this lesson of limits. The proper aim of U.S. foreign policy is not world domination. We cannot police the planet, and we cannot expect to force other nations to stop acting in their own perceived interests, as France, Germany, and the U.K. seek to do by preserving the Iran deal. We desperately need a foreign policy built not on invasion and coercion, but on diplomacy and restraint. Bonnie Kristian is a fellow at Defense Priorities, contributing editor at The Week, and columnist at Christianity Today. Her writing has also appeared at CNN, Politico, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, Defense One, and The American Conservative, among other outlets. The views expressed are the author's own. Traverse City, MI (49684) Today Cloudy skies. Windy this morning. Morning high of 67F with temps falling to near 55. Winds NW at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 43F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph, becoming SW and decreasing to less than 5 mph. John and Nicolle Wisniewski planned to marry in Ireland this month but exchanged vows in Ester instead due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Courtesy John and Nicolle Wisniewski Chris Xavier is an activist and University of Georgia student who has organized three June protests for racial justice. He also identifies as transgender and aims to be an advocate for all people. Ive always been an advocate for Black people all Black people, Xavier said. June is Pride Month, which celebrates LGBTQ-identifying people and their fight for equality. This month also celebrates the anniversary of both the national legalization of same-sex marriage and the 1969 Stonewall riots when police raided a popular New York bar. The LGBTQ customers at the bar rioted, leading to six days of protests and violent encounters with law enforcement near the bar. Pride Month is usually celebrated worldwide and includes parades, marches and festivals. Due to COVID-19, many celebrations have been canceled. Protests for racial justice have also taken place this month in response to nationwide police brutality, and there has been a series of protests in Athens, too. These protests in response to the murderers of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have sparked conversations about racial awareness. Theyve also sparked conversations about intersectionality due to these protests taking place during Pride Month. Intersectionality is a theory which describes how multiple facets of a persons identityincluding race, sexuality, gender and classcan influence the discrimination a person faces. The term was coined by Columbia Law School professor Kimberle Crenshaw to describe how Black women both experience racism and sexism. The intersections of being both Black and LGBTQ Conversations about being Black and identifying as LGBTQ have highlighted the racism and homophobia in both Black and gay communities. Even as I advocate for myself as a Black and queer person, Im beginning to realize that the intersection of people who really care about my issues is very, very, very, very small, Xavier said. Its usually me speaking up for myself and, like, a small group of other people. While participating in activism work through protests and in working with organizations such as Fair Fight and the Democratic Party of Georgia, Xavier has seen some Black people arent willing to embrace the queer members of their community. In the queer community and in the Black community theres a concentrated hatred for being Black and queer at the same time, Xavier said. There are a lot of African American people who have homophobic beliefs, and theres a lot of gay people who are just racist. For UGA alumnus Damalas Moreland, the lack of people who understand the intersections of his identity can be overwhelming. Moreland identifies as Black and gay. He lives in Atlanta now and has many LGBTQ friends, so he often finds himself in queer spaces. But when the protests for racial justice took hold of the news, he found himself overwhelmedoftentimes, hes the only Black person in those spaces. I want to be comfortable in my own Blackness, Moreland said. So he packed his things and went home for a few nights to be with his mom. And Im honestly proud that I did. Experiences at UGA Moreland also said he was often the only Black student in his advertising classes at UGA. Alumnus Thomas Edge said the same thing of his upper-level German classes. He was also a computer science major and, in one of his courses, a white student said something which didnt sit right with him. There was this one white kid who said that it looked as if I had been in jail before, and he predicted that I wouldnt graduate and that I would probably end up in jail again, Edge said. At the time I had dreads. Edge, who identifies as bisexual, said that he didnt have negative experiences based on his sexual orientation because his Blackness is more apparent. Edges experience isnt isolated. Amongst college-educated Black people, 55% said people had acted as if they were suspicious of them, and 52% said people acted as though they werent smart, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. Rising senior Marq Norris experienced racism which took a different face. While at UGA, Norris has been involved in many organizations, including his time as the former director of communications for the Talking Dog Agency and as a student ambassador for Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. When it comes to being a Black gay person in positions of leadership, I think youre always expected to educate everybody, Norris said. Thats kind of one of the most frustrating things. At a Halloween party with one of the organizations hes been involved with, for example, there was a racial mishap. People came dressed as a caricature of rappers that was racially based, Norris said, when they came in with low chains and jerseys. It was blackface without the blackface, Norris said. A lot of Black people within the organization were just not comfortable. After that experience, Norris took the initiative to start a diversity panel. He also educated the group on why that experience was wrong. Norris said it was expected of him to take that leadership as the Black guy of the group. I wish people would be more educated about this topic that revolved around racism like that, Norris said. Campus conversations Although at times conversations and education can be exhausting, theyre even more important after the protests for racial justice this month, Norris said. He hopes to continue these conversations with peers and others when classes are in-person. I do want...to hold people accountable and keep putting pressure on the institution to get proper change and change these names of buildings, Norris said of the University System of Georgia advisory board. In addition to his activism work, Xavier also hopes to have conversations about UGAs racist history. Lets talk about how that history perpetuates itself, Xavier said. I hope to start facilitating more of these conversations in the fall and being able to utilize the energy that so many people have right now, to get some tangible things done at UGA. Athens, GA (30605) Today Mixed clouds and sun this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High near 90F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then thunderstorms developing late. Low 71F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. June 30, 2020 08:32 IST 'There is a misconception that gold is a dead asset in India.' 'Around 30 per cent of agriculture loans are collateralised by gold, Soumya Kanti Ghosh and Saket Hishikar, economists at the SBI, point out. Photograph: Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters According to available information, the government is contemplating 'a series of measures, including using household gold and foreign exchange reserves as collateral to print more currency, to finance the proposed expenditure to revive the economy'. Quite an exciting proposal, which essentially has two parts -- purchase of gold and using foreign exchange reserves as collateral. Households in India hold roughly 25,000 tonne of gold on their balance sheet although the exact amount has never been estimated. Thus the proposal to purchase gold under some arrangement -- either through banks or the RBI directly -- would put in motion the K U B Rao committee's recommendation of creating a market for gold where banks are free to give both bid/offer prices. Currently a bank is allowed to sell to a retail customer only with buy side of the transaction covered from the gold importer on a consignment basis. The proposal is good and must be allowed as it creates one of the most transparent mechanisms in household purchase of gold. It brings some element of competition, which checks behaviour of other sellers who have a dominant share in the physical gold market. It is propelled by the freewill of the household, which either wants to buy or discharge gold in its possession. The only pressure point is that 75 per cent of the household gold is in the form of jewellery. However, the proposal is to primarily finance consumption and not to generate income, which is the basis of demand in an Atmanirbhar Bharat. As a result, this measure will not kick-start the growth process as money created will be expended immediately with a zero income-multiplier effect. The expansion of base money via this route will also have a negative wealth effect on households, besides attracting the additional burden of seigniorage, which is a hidden tax. The household will lose valuable liquid collateral thus limiting the possibility of secondary credit creation via the banking system through gold loans. There is a misconception that gold is a dead asset in India. Around 30 per cent of agriculture loans are collateralised by gold. The gold NBFCs also lend for personal consumption and other purposes using gold as collateral. However, in this arrangement the jewellery is not melted, which explains the preference for monetising gold through this arrangement. Also, if the purpose is to finance current consumption, why not explore the possibility of, say, reverse mortgaging of gold with banks? If the purpose is to create a self-sufficient India, why not increase the LTV ratio for gold loans as the price of the collateral is not expected to fall soon? Households may not even desire to liquidate their gold holdings as explained above. Parting with gold is a sign of poverty and no economy has flourished by impoverishing its own people through the psychological channel of a wealth effect. The size of the package to revive the economy is really large and past experience shows relying on gold to raise finance can never be the mainstay of the resource mobilisation strategy. Coming to the second proposal -- using foreign exchange reserves as a collateral to increase money supply. The first question is, collateral with whom. That apart, the proposal utterly disregards the basis of the RBI balance sheet. Since FX reserves form the asset side of the RBI, assuming there is no sterilisation, an equivalent amount of rupee liquidity is already in circulation and creating more does not make sense unless there is significant credit demand. Unless we run a current account surplus, the current FX holding in India is just future claims of the rest of the world on India. Given that, collateralising FX is tantamount to pledging US treasury holdings of the RBI. But with whom? How will this impact external debt servicing and payment for imports? The problems with the second proposal are many. The expansion of the monetary base without increasing the sovereign debt reeks of ignorance of monetary economics. In a debt-based monetary system, the government debt forms the asset side of the Reserve Bank of India balance sheet. With FII outflow and no exports, the only way to expand the money supply is by issuing debt or by increasing the gold holding or by tying the money supply to the market price of the gold holdings. One way of doing that is buy-sell swaps of banks with the RBI whereby the gold holdings are pledged with the former. But that involves a definite price risk. Since the RBI's last major purchase of gold happened in 2009, the objective of increasing the base money without increasing public debt is futile. India has a sovereign debt to GDP ratio of 72 per cent while most European countries and the US have over 100 per cent. Those with debt to GDP ratio of greater than 100 per cent never face downgrade but marginal increase from 72 per cent is always considered credit negative. The main issue in such proposals is that while the blueprint to revive the economy is well thought out there is no clear strategy on how resources would be mobilised to generate Rs 20 trillion worth of demand. This is further compounded by erroneous thinking that money supply can be expanded without incurring debt. The best way to finance the fiscal stimulus will be to either issue long-dated sovereign zero-coupon bonds with 20-year maturity or a sovereign perpetuity bond bearing a nominal coupon of, say, 4 per cent. This will not create pressure of redemption or debt servicing. The funds may be used for a wide range of purposes such as providing equity to NIIF, capitalising banks if warranted, creating FOF for SMEs, VC funding for start-ups and so on. Once the economic cycle is set in motion, the government can exit by listing these and retiring some of the existing debt at that point in time. This is what the US did to stabilise its banking industry and in the process the US treasury made billions of dollars in profit. For some reason, what is 'right' for another economy is deemed 'wrong' for India. There must be more detailed discussion on the financing strategy of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package. The PM has laid out a vision; let us take it forward with a well considered strategy. Soumya Kanti Ghosh is group chief economic advisor & Saket Hishikar is an economist with State Bank of India. Views are personal. June 30, 2020 09:31 IST 'Saying the private industry will come and transform India's space programme is real moonshine!' IMAGE: SpaceX visionary Elon Musk, who celebrated his 49th birthday on Sunday, June 28. "It is high time the private sector makes investments in R&D in high-tech areas and also ventures into new horizons," G Madhavan Nair, former chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation, tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com in the concluding segment of a two-part interview: You said that it was mismanagement at NASA that led to the success of Elon Musk's SpaceX... There is no doubt that SpaceX is a real success story. It did not become a success overnight. Elon Musk has been working on it since 2003. 17 years of hard work took SpaceX to where it is right now. The philosophy adopted by Elon Musk was that everything from design, manufacturing and testing was done under one roof, not only literally, but physically also. One end, the raw materials and components go in and from the other end, rockets and spacecraft come out. You compared what SpaceX does with what ISRO does. Yes, SpaceX functions exactly like ISRO. Certainly, the work setup and culture is ditto that of ISRO. NASA was a great organisation that had great technology including the first manned missions. That was from the 1950s to the 1970s. NASA was at the peak of its performance and became the top leader in space technology. By the end of the 1970s, vested groups started making a noise, that NASA had not been running properly, etc. Just like what is happening in India against ISRO right now? Absolutely! What happened after this was NASA started giving sub-contracts to private players for every programme. The net result was that the cost multiplied several times. Just to maintain the space station itself, they had to shell out billions of dollars. The entire money was draining on the sub-contracts, but NASA was not able to show any substantial results. That was the time the space shuttle failure happened. They had to send men and supplies to the space station and for that, they were totally dependent on Russia. Only Russia had the rockets available then. Of course, the Chinese had rockets, but NASA had not used it then. During the Obama regime, they raised the question: When would they have a replacement for the space shuttle? NASA was rudderless on new vehicle development and its industrial partners came up with a $5 billion project to provide a new launcher for manned missions. That was when SpaceX came with a proposal of $500 million. There was no government funding to SpaceX; Elon Musk put in all his personal funds into the project. Only later, some donors came. He spent around $800 million to develop a man-rated vehicle (capable of carrying a manned mission). Where is $5 billion and where is less than $1 billion? This is why I said NASA's mismanagement gave a private player like Elon Musk an opportunity to excel in the space programme. But here in India, I cannot see an Elon Musk anywhere! Leave alone billions of dollars, one has to find some source to shell out even $100 million. In that context, saying the private industry will come and transform India's space programme is real moonshine! The government has been talking about the PPP model for every industry, but we don't see confidence in the private sector to start anything in the PPP model in any sector. So, do you feel in the space sector, it is out of the question? The government has been talking to various industrial houses for the last 10 years. So far, we have not seen anyone showing any interest. Last year, the government started a company owned by the Department of Space, NSIL. The mandate given to NSIL is to involve private parties by transferring technology to them so that they will be able to hand over major space projects to them. In a couple of years from now, we may see something happening. The point is, all this is fine with the application part like communication, merging data, etc. But when it comes to rockets, there is no difference between missile technology and launch vehicle. And there is no way to ensure security when private players are involved in such a crucial technology. There has to be a legal framework by which you can bind private players before technology is transferred. If the technology falls into wrong hands, they will be able to point the rocket to any part of the world. So, there is a big danger involved.] I feel if you make NSIL, which is currently owned by the government, a joint venture involving private players, it will be a right model to start with. Then, perhaps more and more industrial participation will come in and they can bring in the capital which will ease government funding. Is the newly created Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre on the same lines? Partly yes. It provides single window clearance mechanism for private players. But for this new initiative to succeed, the first requirement is to have a comprehensive space policy which only can ensure security, and also safeguard critical technologies. You said you do not see an Elon Musk anywhere in India. (Laughs) I will tell you a real story that happened in 2012. I was chairing a high-level committee on building passenger aircraft in India. As you know, India does not have a commercial aircraft of its own. We put up a proposal on how it can be developed in the country, and recommended a public private partnership for that. Dr R R Kelkar was instructed to talk to the industrial houses. But none of them ventured to take the risk of developing aircraft in India. After two years of dilly-dallying, it was handed over to HAL to jointly develop a 90-seater aircraft in partnership with NAL. Even today, it has not gone to the drawing board! If you had started the work in 2012, by this time, we would have had our own aircraft for all our internal flights from all our small to medium airports. Not only that, over a period of five years, we would have brought a Rs 50,000 crore income to the government! Around the same time, the Chinese started planning on making small aircraft. Today, they are flying in the skies. Not only that, they have even started work on making big aircraft with larger passenger capacity. It is high time the private sector makes investments in R&D in high-tech areas and also ventures into new horizons. June 30, 2020 15:03 IST In the first two months of the current fiscal, Indian exports of finished steel reportedly grew by almost 76 per cent on a YoY basis and China alone accounted for close to 60 per cent of the increase. In April and May, while India was under curbs to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, China emerged as the most important export destination for steel companies, accounting for about 48 per cent of total steel exports. According to Joint Plant Committee (JPC) data, finished steel exports to China during April 1, 2020 and May 31,2020, stood at 440,000 tonnes while semis was at 1 million tonnes; total finished steel exports during the same time was at 1.7 million tonnes and semis at 1.3 million tonnes. While in finished steel exports, volumes to Vietnam were higher, China accounted for the lion's share of semis. Icra senior vice president, Jayanta Roy, said, that in the first two months of the current fiscal, Indian exports of finished steel reportedly grew by almost 76 per cent on a YoY basis. "China alone accounted for close to 60 per cent of the increase, importing 440,000 tonnes of steel from India this year so far compared to negligible levels in the previous year. "Overall steel exports grew at a faster pace of 129 per cent YoY in April and May this year because of a near three-fold increase in the export of semis," he added. As domestic demand in India crashed, primary and secondary steel producers in the public sector and private sector resorted to exports. Jayant Acharya, director-commercial & marketing, JSW Steel, said, exports of products to China have been more in semis and hot rolled coils. "Exports of semis would be both from primary producers and secondary producers. Our export proportion to China is not that high," he added. Tata Steel managing director and chief executive officer, T V Narendran, explained that companies were exporting to China because demand was strong. "China is finding it better to import steel than import iron ore and coal at today's prices," he said. China is one of the biggest iron ore importing countries. Iron ore prices, which were about $83 a tonne in end-March, are currently at around $103 a tonne. Prices of coking coal, the other major input, have however, dropped during the same period $146 a tonne to $114 a tonne. Sushim Banerjee, director general, Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG), pointed out that domestic steel prices in China had increased significantly. The difference with imports, for hot rolled coil, was almost about $70 a tonne. On the other hand, there was demand led by government spending on infrastructure. Still, industry officials believe that this was unlikely to last and Indian companies should look for alternative markets. Roy said that sustainability of such growth rate in exports was doubtful as China ramps up its own production. A weak demand outlook in other parts of the world would also pose challenges to Indian steel mills, he added. China produced 92.3 million tonnes of crude steel in May 2020, an increase of 4.2 per cent compared to May 2019, even as most countries reported a decrease. Steel companies, however, said that with domestic demand picking up gradually, the overall share of exports would be coming down. Narendran said, for Tata Steel, exports was coming down and would be 30-35 per cent of sales from next month. Acharya also said, exports had been increased strategically during the lockdown period during which domestic demand was affected. "Overall reliance on exports will be going down in the next months with domestic demand improving," he added. For JSPL too, exports would be 30 per cent of sales next month. Rural markets, smaller cities and restart of some government projects were leading to an uptick in domestic demand. Photograph: Reuters June 30, 2020 07:12 IST 'Even those who do not like him will rally to his call if he says that the country's sovereignty is being threatened by China,' notes Aakar Patel. IMAGE: An anti-China protest in New Delhi, June 19, 2020. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters Even critics of the prime minister and his party have been taken aback by his position on China's intrusions. Of all the things that he has advertised himself, even the Modi haters had accepted that he was a nationalist, whether or not they agreed with nationalism or ultra nationalism of the sort he promotes. But nobody, including them, expected him to run away from an invasion of Bharat Mata, as he has done. Modi has made only one public statement on the matter of China and that was to say: 'Na koi wahan hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai, na hi hamari koi post kisi dusre ke kabze mein hain.' This was used by China to claim control over all of Galwan Valley, where it has intruded. Modi's words have become such an embarrassment that they have been removed from the official PMO video. Modi has not spoken on the issue after this, and appears to be pretending that there is no intrusion. Satellite imagery confirms that the tent our men died trying to remove has now become a series of Chinese structures on our side. Reports, which have not been denied by the government, say China has made a fourth intrusion at Depsang where it is 18 km inside India. Our response is so muted as to be shocking. Everyone in the government seems to be worried, and there has been a long statement from the foreign ministry and an interview with the Indian ambassador in Beijing asking China to respect the Line of Actual Control. But at the same time nobody is saying China has intruded, because they fear contradicting Modi. IMAGE: Indian Army trucks move along a highway leading to Ladakh, June 17, 2020. Photograph: Danish Ismail/Reuters The defence ministry has said anonymously to reporters that the army has been given a free hand. But this doesn't mean anything. The army cannot decide whether or not we are at war with China. This is a political decision. It is Modi who must decide that India will use force to kick the Chinese out, like Nehru decided, and only after that does the military come into the picture. Saying the forces have a free hand in this situation is abdication of duty and responsibility and passing off political accountability to the military. The government is treating this as a localised policing issue though clearly the intent of the Chinese is strategic. India is facing danger, but the government is not prepared or willing to acknowledge it. Because we are speaking in so many different voices we have lost the opportunity to mobilise international support on China's aggression. If we had been transparent about the aggression we could have put Xi Jinping on the backfoot. Instead, what has happened is that China has publicly used Modi's statement about no intrusion and not only blamed India for the stand-off but expanded its claim over our land. Modi's very vocal backers have gone silent over this because even they have been taken aback by the incompetence with which this is being handled. And, to go back to where we started, on an issue on which nobody thought Modi would be soft. After all the brave words from him when the UPA was in power with respect to China's temporary intrusions, to have him waffle and dissemble when they are making the intrusion permanent is unexpected. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi takes notes at the all-party meeting he convened on June 19, 2020 to discuss the China crisis. Photograph: PTI Photo What does that say about his nationalism? We can call it pseudo nationalism. It is fake. The dictionary defines nationalism as a patriotic feeling, and extreme devotion to one's nation. It is an ideology that promotes sovereignty and resists foreign influence. What we are seeing unfolding in Ladakh is the opposite of that. It is pseudo nationalism of the sort that only talks big and attacks its own citizens while cowering in the presence of the foreign bully. It is surprising to me that being as political smart as he is, Modi does not grasp the value of resistance here. It does not matter if we are a poorer, smaller and less powerful nation than China. We cannot be pushed around without resistance as is now happening. The bully wants the victim to not look him in the eye. It makes pushing them around easier. Modi must realise the value of our unity at this time. Even those who do not like him ('Modi haters') will rally to his call if he says that the country's sovereignty is being threatened by China's aggressive intrusions. The other political fights in our democracy will be put aside and can wait till we see off this immediate and external threat. Rallying and bringing us together is the responsibility of the government and of the prime minister. He has chosen instead to side with the opponent and agree that there is no aggression. Whatever else we can call his behaviour at this crucial time it cannot be called nationalism. Aakar Patel is a columnist and writer. You can read Aakar's columns here. This column was written before Prime Minister Modi's Mann Ki Baat on June 28. Production: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com June 30, 2020 14:58 IST 'The world paid a heavy price for the megalomania of the Third Reich's fuehrer.' 'Will it pay a similar price for the ambitions of China's leader-for-life?' asks Amulya Ganguli. IMAGE: Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist party of China, at the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, May 27, 2020. Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters If Hitler's Nazi Germany was the scourge of the 20th century, Xi Jinping's Communist China can be regarded as the curse of the 21st. The world paid a heavy price for the megalomania of the Third Reich's fuehrer. Will it pay a similar price for the ambitions of China's leader-for-life? There are uncanny similarities between the two regimes. Both are dictatorships. Both are led by leaders who have faith in their messianic role in history. Both have harped on a glorious future for their countries with their military prowess enabling the acquisition of lands whose ethnic compositions are akin to the motherland's. Hence, Nazi Germany's acquisition of Rhineland, Austria and Sudetenland as stepping stones in its quest for a lebensraum or living space for the German nation, and China's occupation of Tibet, the nibbling of Indian territory with an eye on the Tibetan plateau's five 'fingers' of Ladakh, Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan and Ariunachal Pradesh, the conversion of the South China Sea into a virtual inland lake of the mainland in defiance of international diktats, the trashing of the promise of pursuing the 'one country, two systems' goal in Hong Kong till 2047 and the menacing stance on Taiwan. Ironically, however, behind the militaristic expansionism of Germany and China can be discerned an inferiority complex born, in Germany's case, by the humiliating Versailles treaty after its World War I defeat and, in China's case, the years of overlordship by European powers when China was perceived as weak although the country was never a colony. Myths have also played a part in stoking their jingoism. For Germany, it was pride in its Aryan heritage. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed men were expected to rule the world For China, it is the memory of the country's hegemony over neighbouring areas as the Middle Kingdom of the medieval period. The Han people are the natural masters of the near and far. Both countries were keen, therefore, on reviving their past splendours. To achieve this objective, the ideologies which they chose are mirror images of one another. Both are 20th century dogmas although their roots lie in medieval autocracies. Fascism and Communism are the two draconian philosophies which guided the Nazis in the mid-20th century and the Chinese Communists today. Their core tenets are the running of One Party States and the obliteration of human rights. They have nothing but contempt for the weak-kneed concept of democracies where the unwashed masses chose their rulers in periodic elections. A fuehrer or a leader-for-life do not need them. The belief that democracies are weak and can, therefore, be pushed aside guides their militaries. Just as the Nazis thought of their opponents as untermenschen or sub-human, the Chinese have a similar view of their opponents in Asia and Europe. It is only a question of time when they will be brought to heel. The Nazis failed in this endeavour. But the Chinese are sure that they won't. The Nazis were stopped in their tracks by the unity of their opponents -- America, the Soviet Union and Britain. A similar gathering of the like-minded against the Chinese is in the making. As of now, the likely constituents are America, India, Japan, Vietnam and Australia with Western Europe as a back-up. Will there by a World War III or will China realise, as from the resistance it is facing in India's northern border, the fatuity of its dream of world conquest? Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs. Production: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com Last updated on: June 30, 2020 12:10 IST 'And this mirror imaging is the most dangerous thing because it leads to tremendous misunderstandings.' IMAGE: Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists burn a poster of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist party of China, in Bhopal, June 18, 2020, three days after 20 Indian soldiers were murdered by the People's Liberation Army in Ladakh. Photograph: PTI Photo "China has a pattern of risk taking behaviour at times of domestic crisis," Shivshankar Menon, former national security adviser, former foreign secretary and former Indian ambassador to China, tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Sheela Bhatt in the first part of an exclusive interview: Did India read the border situation little incorrectly in early May? Frankly, we cannot say what the reading was and what the actual situation is. We do not know enough about the situation because there are many stories, many leaks, many inspired stories, lots of guess work, the same satellite pictures are interpreted in opposite ways by different people. So, I think we need to accept that there is a whole area here that we don't know about. We will probably find out in time, but today if you ask what is the actual situation on the boundary, it's very hard to say. I don't think anyone outside official circles can give you the answer. Even in official circles very few people can give you an honest answer. So, once that (the factual ground situation) is established only then is it possible to say whether we misread the situation. If you don't know the situation, how can you read or misread? I can only say that we have worked ourselves into a position -- both sides have -- and from the outside it looks to me like this because of what China has chosen to do which is different from what she did before. We have worked ourselves into a position where there is certainly a crisis in the relationship. But your experienced eyes can read between the lines of the interviews of Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong and India's Ambassador in China, Vikram Misri. My experience applies to what I know in the past. Today, you have contradictory statements. What I mean is, that you have areas where certainly there are different suggestions where the Chinese are now saying that the entire Galwan Valley is theirs. (It is) Not the truth because we have been there. Secondly, what we know is that we are being prevented from patrolling certain areas which we have always patrolled in the past, in Galwan and in other places also. Thirdly, we know that China did it first and then India built up forces all along the Line (Line of Actual Control) and not only in the Western sector, also in other places. That, I think nobody has denied. Neither government has denied and it seems to be a fact. So, we have a crisis. That's why I say we have a crisis, not because of just one spot or another. Frankly, unless you are looking at the intelligence and dealing with it on a day to day basis, I will not guess. Whatever I might have known in the past is not necessarily relevant today, because the whole point is that it seems to me that the Chinese behaviour has changed on the border because this is now happening across the Line in several places. It is not just one intrusion in one place, not just a five or ten day event. It is not like the intrusion in Depsang as we had in 2013. This is something much bigger than what we faced in Doklam in 2017. I'd be very careful about drawing big conclusions on the basis of what little we know. In these things it is best to go by the facts. Right. It is best to be very careful about what we say about this. You know there are lives involved here and we have already lost 20 lives on our side. This is serious and you know it would be irresponsible for people to go on talking about this. This is not some game, this is a serious business between two serious countries with very large armies. And so, I am very careful, therefore, in jumping to big conclusions and saying things about the situation on the ground. We can talk about what the two countries think, what they should do, why are we in this position, all that is fine, but the actual situation on the ground, I think, there is far too much speculation and most of it is based on no knowledge whatsoever. Why now? Is it because China sees India as a weak country fighting an economic downturn and a pandemic? My own sense is that, you know, the pandemic has diminished all of us. China included. China will not admit it. It is not in their nature to say so, but the fact is it started there, it has hit them as well, their economy also is suffering and this is true of all the powers. Some might come out of it quicker; some might be less, but the fact is that it has diminished all of us. In that situation what we are seeing is an assertive China across the board. It is not only vis a vis India. It is tough on Hong Kong where despite the previous agreements, China has chosen to pass the national security law herself without consulting the Hong Kong institutions which gives her security control and presence within Hong Kong. This is diminishing Hong Kong's autonomy which she was permitted to maintain for fifty years. China is flying military aircraft in Taiwanese air space, she is also sending submarine ships near Senkaku in the East China Sea which is disputed with Japan. There is a pattern of Chinese behaviour of assertiveness in the last few months which, I think, is across the board. Therefore, I think what we are seeing is part of a larger pattern. When China itself is deep in problems, why now? People tend to talk aggressively from a position of strength. If you look at China's behaviour traditionally, it is an interesting thing. When China had a massive revolt in Tibet from 1959 onwards and a famine, when she was having a dispute with both the Soviet Union and the USA, that's when she went to war with India in 1962. When you look at China's response to a crisis, she has been willing to take risks abroad. At times she was willing to enter Korea in the Korean War in 1950 when she had still not consolidated even the People's Republic of China, when she had internal enemies, when China was facing the most powerful country on earth. So, China has a pattern of risk taking behaviour at times of domestic crisis. I think the leadership probably finds it a useful device to unite people around it, and they have made use of this before. In 1979 when they attacked Vietnam, it was when (Deng Xiaoping's economic) reform had barely started in December 1978. They attacked Vietnam in February 1979. It is not necessary that we should judge Chinese behaviour by their actions and to make assumptions that 'Oh, the domestic economy might be in trouble, therefore they want to do this' and so on, I think that is not correct. This is part of the problem. When we look at China, we expect China to behave the way we would. China looks at us and expects us to behave the way China would! And this mirror imaging is the most dangerous thing because it leads to tremendous misunderstandings. Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here Source: Edited By: June 30, 2020 23:53 IST Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised free ration to 80 crore people till Chhath puja on Tuesday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that free rations will be provided to the people of the state till June 2021. She also urged the Centre to extend its rationing system to the entire country without any discrimination. Modi in an address to the nation on Tuesday promised free five kg rice or wheat and one kg pulses per person till Chhath puja, which usually falls in November, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. Declining to comment on it, Banerjee said everybody is not eligible for ration provided by the central government. "In West Bengal, we will give free ration till June 2021... We have decided to extend it so that everybody has food to eat. We can't depend on what the Centre is providing," she said minutes after the prime minister's address to the nation. "We (state government) are providing ration to more than 10 crore people of the state. In West Bengal, the Centre provides ration to six crore people only. So what will the remaining four crore people do? There should not be any discrimination, the entire population of 130 crore people should get the ration," she said. The announcement by Banerjee, who is also the chief of the ruling TMC, comes just months ahead of the assembly polls, due in April-May. The Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the main opposition to the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state after it won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. Speaking on the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojna -- a job scheme for migrant workers by the Centre, in which West Bengal did not find a place -- Banerjee said "We (TMC government) can't comment on it, as our state has been excluded and we are not aware of the details of the scheme." Mocking her announcement on free ration, the BJP and the CPI(M) said the TMC will be out of power by June next year. "Why is she making promises she can't fulfil? Her party will be out of power by June next year. This is not an area (free rations) to compete. Just because the prime minister has announced something, it doesn't mean she needs to replicate it. The state government should stop making announcements but concentrate on seamless ration supply for the poor," CPI(M) legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty said. BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha questioned Banerjee over her announcement and said her statement "will remain an announcement only on pen and paper" and will never see the light of the day. "The TMC won't be in power after April May next year," he claimed. Source: Edited By: June 30, 2020 11:19 IST Amid the ongoing border tension between China and India following the June 15 standoff, the Indian newspapers and websites are not accessible in China. Though Chinese newspapers and websites continue to be accessible in India, people in China can only access the Indian media websites with Virtual Private Network server. The Indian TV channels also can be accessed through IP TV as of now. And ExpressVPN has not been working in the Communist state for the past two days on the iPhone as well as desktops. A virtual private network is a powerful tool that gives users online privacy and anonymity by creating a private network from a public internet connection. VPNs mask internet protocol address so a user's online actions are virtually untraceable. But China has created such a technologically advanced firewall that it blocks even the VPNs. The recent action comes amid the ongoing tension between India and China after the violent standoff on June 15 in Galwan Valley area in eastern Ladakh in which both sides suffered casualties. The Chinese action of banning Indian media sites came even before Indian government's move to ban 59 applications including Tik Tok, UC Browser and other Chinese apps "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity and defence" of the country. China has one of the strongest online censorship in the world. It is known to heavily regulate and censor domestic internet usage and actively block any websites or links that are seen as going against the narrative of the communist party. The Asian country has the world's most sophisticated censorship system known as the 'Great Firewall'. The Chinese government controls the media through techniques including blocking IP addresses, DNS attacks and filtering specific URLs and keywords within URLs, according to SCMP. According to an article in South China Morning Post in November, over the years, the number of websites blocked in China has ballooned to 10,000. The blacklist includes social networks like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp; news outlets like Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times; and popular collaboration tools such as Dropbox and Google Drive (or anything else on Google). In 2016, Freedom House ranked China last for the second consecutive year out of sixty-five countries that represent 88 per cent of the world's internet users. Last updated on: June 30, 2020 09:48 IST Chinese troops are reinforcing their posts in large numbers, increasing their patrolling, stepping up violations in the Tawang and Walong areas. Ajai Shukla reports. With Chinese and Indian troops eyeball to eyeball at seven places inside India's claimed territory in Ladakh and Sikkim, China's People's Liberation Army has begun stepping up activity opposite Arunachal Pradesh as well. Indian government sources say PLA troops are reinforcing their posts in large numbers, increasing their patrolling and stepping up violations of the Indian border, which in Arunachal Pradesh runs along the McMahon Line. The two sectors that are seeing the most PLA activity are Tawang and Walong -- both of which bore the brunt of the Chinese offensive in 1962. In the Tawang area, PLA patrols have come up to India's Old Khinzemane post on two occasions, and accosted the Indian troops there. Khinzemane is right on the McMahon Line and was the point at which the Dalai Lama entered India after escaping from Lhasa in March 1959. Khinzemane is located close to the Namka Chu river, where the Chinese launched the 1962 war with their first massed attacks on thinly held Indian defences. Also in the Tawang sector, the PLA has reinforced its base camp at Tsona Dzong, the main Tibetan border town located across the McMahon Line from Tawang. In the Walong sector, which is at the eastern-most tip of India, sources report aggressive activity from Chinese patrols at the Indian border post of Kibithoo. The PLA patrols, which have been coming right up to the border, are far more frequent and now include more than 40 soldiers in each -- almost twice the number in normal times. The PLA camp at Old Tatu, across the border from Kibithoo, has also been heavily reinforced. There are also reports of heavy reinforcements being moved to Rima, the border town across the McMahon Line from Walong. There is also aggressive Chinese activity in the Asaphila sector, which the Chinese attacked and captured in the 1962 War. Over preceding days, there have been multiple PLA incursions across the McMahon Line here, say sources. The Chinese have established temporary camps, just across the border from the Kepang La and Sying La passes. In the Upper Siang border district, where the Tsang Po river flows into India and becomes the Siang, and then the Brahmaputra, there have been a large number of border transgressions in recent days. India's military intelligence is assessing whether the PLA is reinforcing the sector to guard against the eventuality of an Indian attack, or whether the Chinese have plans to occupy Indian territory here as it did in Ladakh. While there has been no occupation of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh yet, as there has in Ladakh, the army is taking the Chinese activity seriously. In Ladakh, in April, the army misread PLA activity as routine training. It is determined not to make the same mistake in Arunachal Pradesh. The seven areas in Ladakh that have Chinese troops squatting on Indian territory are: Bottleneck in the Depsang area; Jeevan Nullah, the Y-Nullah in the Galwan River valley; Patrolling Point-15 in Galwan; Gogra Heights at PP-17; Chushul, and the north bank of Pangong Lake up to Finger 4. Source: Edited By: Last updated on: June 30, 2020 22:52 IST Indian and Chinese militaries on Tuesday held an over 10-hour Corps Commander-level dialogue with a focus on finalising modalities for the disengagement of troops from various standoff points in eastern Ladakh, and explored ways to ease tension in the region, government sources said. In the meeting, the Indian delegation conveyed concerns over China's "new claim lines" in the region and demanded restoration of status quo ante as well as immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso and a number of other areas, they said. The talks took place on the Indian side of Line of Actual Control in Chushul sector in eastern Ladakh. The meeting began at 11 am and was continuing beyond 9 pm, the sources said. The Indian delegation at the meeting was headed by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh while the Chinese side was led by the Commander of the Tibet Military District Major General Liu Lin. The sources said the Indian side also pitched for strictly following provisions of a number of agreements on dealing with issues relating to handling of border issues. The focus of the talks was on finalising the modalities for de-escalation, and disengagement of troops from various friction points, the sources said adding there were deliberations on confidence building measures as well. There was no official word on details of the meeting. It was the third corps commander-level meeting since the standoff began on May 5. In the previous two rounds of talks, the Indian side demanded immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from various areas in the region. The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks, and the tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. In the talks on June 22, the two sides arrived at a "mutual consensus" to "disengage" from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh. The previous two rounds of dialogue took place at Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC. Following the Galwan Valley incident, the government has given the armed forces "full freedom" to give a "befitting" response to any Chinese misadventure along the LAC, the 3,500-km de-facto border. The army has sent thousands of additional troops to forward locations along the border in the last two weeks. The IAF has also moved air defence systems as well as a sizeable number of its frontline combat jets and attack helicopters to several key air bases. In a strongly-worded statement, the external affairs ministry last week held China responsible for the standoff, saying it has has been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC since early May and that conduct of the Chinese forces is in complete disregard of all mutually agreed norms. The first round of the Lt General talks was held on June 6 during which both sides finalised an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley. However, the situation deteriorated following the Galwan Valley clashes as the two sides significantly bolstered their deployments in most areas along the LAC. Tensions had escalated in eastern Ladakh after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5 and 6. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9. Prior to the clashes, both sides had been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it was necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas. Source: Edited By: June 30, 2020 15:12 IST Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparations being undertaken for vaccination against COVID-19, as and when a vaccine is available. The PM directed officials to evaluate various technology tools to ensure efficient and timely vaccination in due course of time. He also emphasised that detailed planning for such large scale vaccination should be undertaken immediately. The current status of Indian and global vaccine development efforts was also reviewed at the meeting. The PM highlighted that India's responsibility and commitment to the global community to play an enabling role in global vaccination efforts against COVID-19. PM-CARES (Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund Trust had earlier allocated Rs 100 crore for coronavirus vaccine development. India's coronavirus count has reached 5,66,840 including 16,893 deaths, according to the Union health and family welfare ministry on Tuesday. Earlier, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech announced that it has successfully developed Covaxin, India's first vaccine candidate for COVID-19, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology. The Drug Controller General of India - CDSCO, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare granted permission to initiate Phase I & II Human clinical trials after the company submitted results generated from preclinical studies, demonstrating safety and immune response. Human clinical trials are scheduled to start across India in July 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. Source: Edited By: June 30, 2020 19:55 IST Amid the continuing tension with China along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, the Uttarakhand State Wildlife Advisory Board has approved proposals for transfer of 73.36 hectares of forest land within the protected Gangotri National Park for construction of three strategically important roads near the India-China border. IMAGE: An army convoy moves along the Srinagar-Leh National highway, in Ganderbal district of Central Kashmir. Photograph: S. Irfan/PTI Photo The roads will reduce the distance to the border considerably and make easier the movement of Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel, who at present have walk up to 25 kms to reach there, officials said. The proposals were approved on Monday during the 15th meeting of the board chaired by Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Principal Secretary (Forest) Anand Vardhan told PTI on Tuesday. A recommendation for a final clearance will now be sent to the National Board for Wildlife within a week, Vardhan said. The three stretches include the 17.60-km Mandi-Sangchola road, the 11.85-km Sumla-Thangla road and the 6.21-km Tripadi-Rangmachgaad road. The roads are to be developed by the Central Public Works Department in the protected Gangotri National Park area in Uttarkashi district. Around 73.36 hectares of forest land at different sites within the Gangotri National Park are to be transferred for construction of the roads, Vardhan said. The board unanimously agreed that proposals for the construction of roads which are important from the point of view of national security should be sent to the National Board for Wildlife for final clearance, the officer said. The panel also decided to send a recommendation to the National Board for Wildlife for transferring forest land for the expansion of Dehradun's Jollygrant Airport, he said. June 30, 2020 22:48 IST Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday signed a controversial security law that gave Beijing new powers over Hong Kong that are tailor-made to crackdown against dissent, criminalising sedition and effectively curtailing protests, amidst global anger and outrage in the former British colony. IMAGE: Protesters demonstrate outside the Hong Kong police headquarters. Photograph: Anthony Kwan/Getty Image Xi signed the legislation soon after Chinese lawmakers voted unanimously to adopt the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The law -- facilitating the presence of Chinese security offices in Hong Kong, besides prohibiting acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security -- was passed by the 162-member Standing Committee of China's legislature the National People's Congress. As soon as the draft legislation was adopted by the NPC, regarded as the rubber-stamp Parliament for its routine approval of whatever the ruling Communist Party of China proposes, Xi signed it immediately, making it into law ready for implementation. The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO have expressed concern on the new law and warned of retaliatory measures. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Washington has suspended regulations allowing Hong Kong to import US technology because of security risks posed by the law, which he said would undermine the city's semi-autonomous status. The law would heighten the risk that sensitive US tech exports to the city -- including metal alloys, high-powered computers and lasers -- would be diverted for use by the Chinese military or the Chinese Ministry of State Security, Ross was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. "Further actions to eliminate differential treatment are also being evaluated," Ross said in a statement issued in the US. "We urge Beijing to immediately reverse course and fulfil the promises it has made to the people of Hong Kong and the world," he said. The US was Hong Kong's second-largest trading partner in 2019, with trade worth USD 67 billion, official data showed. The EU condemned Beijing's move, saying it is "in the process" of considering follow-up action with lawmakers and international partners. "We deplore this decision. This law risks seriously undermining the high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong, and having a detrimental effect on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law," European Council President Charles Michel said. The European Parliament earlier this month passed a raft of recommendations for action against China over the legislation. The recommendations included imposing sanctions, providing a "lifeboat policy" for Hongkongers wishing to leave the city, and taking Beijing to the International Court of Justice for violating its commitments on Hong Kong's autonomy. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said, "Many across Europe, including in the European Parliament, have made similar statements, so we remain in touch with our international partners on this matter, and will pay careful attention on how to respond." UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said a statement would be released once the full text of the legislation was made available. He said the UK is "deeply concerned" over China passing the law. According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, NPC Standing Committee chairman Li Zhanshu described the law and its unanimous passage as a "reflection of the will of comrades in the whole of the nation including Hong Kong". Li said the law emphasised resolute and effective efforts to safeguard national security and the constitutional order and the order of rule of law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Li said the "one country, two systems" being followed in Hong Kong since it was transferred from Britain to China in 1997 should be steered towards the right direction. The new law would be added to Hong Kong's Basic Law annex, he said. The law enables China to firm up its grip over Hong Kong, which witnessed protests and riots since last year. It enables Chinese security agencies for the first time to open their establishments and operate in Hong Kong. Critics and opposition politicians in Hong Kong warned that imposing the law will erode the city's autonomy and freedoms under the one country, two systems principle by which it was to be governed until 2047 under the terms of the former British colony's return to Chinese control in 1997. Beijing has rejected that argument. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam who enjoys the backing of Beijing called on the international community on Tuesday to respect the new law. In a video message to the UN Human Rights Council, Lam said the legislation would only target an extremely small minority of people who had broken the law, while the basic rights and freedoms of the majority of Hong Kong residents would be protected. Meanwhile, Demosisto, a key pro-democracy group which spearheaded the protests against Chinese influence, said in a Facebook post that it is ceasing all operations and will function from overseas. The move was announced after Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong's most prominent activists, said he was leaving the group. Demosisto's founding chairman Nathan Law, a former student leader, also quit the group. In a Facebook post, Law said the legislation marked the start of a "bloody cultural revolution" and despite quitting Demosisto, he would continue to fight for democracy "in a personal capacity". Weather Alert This product covers Eastern North Carolina TROPICAL DEPRESSION CLAUDETTE APPROACHES NORTH CAROLINA, EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN SLIGHTLY** NEW INFORMATION --------------- * CHANGES TO WATCHES AND WARNINGS: - None * CURRENT WATCHES AND WARNINGS: - A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Coastal Onslow, East Carteret, Hatteras Island, Mainland Dare, Mainland Hyde, Northern Outer Banks, Ocracoke Island, and West Carteret * STORM INFORMATION: - About 280 miles west of Buxton NC or about 210 miles west of Morehead City NC - 34.7N 80.4W - Storm Intensity 35 mph - Movement East-northeast or 70 degrees at 20 mph SITUATION OVERVIEW ------------------ Tropical Depression Claudette will track across eastern North Carolina and strengthen to a minimal Tropical Storm overnight, and move offshore by mid-morning Monday. Heavy rain bands and embedded thunderstorms from this system will lead to the threat of flash flooding across the area overnight through tomorrow morning. Additionally, isolated tornadoes will be possible overnight, but the overall threat is low. Tropical storm force winds are expected across coastal sections of eastern North Carolina. This could lead to some downed trees and scattered power outages. Minor storm surge flooding of 1 to 3 feet above ground will be possible along sound-side locations of the Outer Banks and mainland counties adjacent to northern portions of the Pamlico Sound. Additional storm surge flooding of 1 to 2 feet above ground will be possible across Bogue Sound, and the into the lower New and White Oak rivers. Overwash of dunes and flooding of properties and roadways will also be possible for locations where dune structures are weak. The threat for stronger and more frequent rip currents will continue for area beaches through the middle of the week. Dangerous marine conditions are also expected, with strong winds and seas building to 7 to 10 feet creating treacherous conditions for mariners. POTENTIAL IMPACTS ----------------- * WIND: Prepare for hazardous wind having possible limited impacts across Eastern North Carolina. Potential impacts include: - Damage to porches, awnings, carports, sheds, and unanchored mobile homes. Unsecured lightweight objects blown about. - Many large tree limbs broken off. A few trees snapped or uprooted, but with greater numbers in places where trees are shallow rooted. Some fences and roadway signs blown over. - A few roads impassable from debris, particularly within urban or heavily wooded places. Hazardous driving conditions on bridges and other elevated roadways. - Scattered power and communications outages. * SURGE: Prepare for locally hazardous surge having possible limited impacts across the Outer Banks and mainland counties adjacent to northern portions of the Pamlico Sound. Potential impacts in this area include: - Localized inundation with storm surge flooding mainly along immediate shorelines and in low-lying spots, or in areas farther inland near where higher surge waters move ashore. - Sections of near-shore roads and parking lots become overspread with surge water. Driving conditions dangerous in places where surge water covers the road. - Moderate beach erosion. Heavy surf also breaching dunes, mainly in usually vulnerable locations. Strong rip currents. - Minor to locally moderate damage to marinas, docks, boardwalks, and piers. A few small craft broken away from moorings. Elsewhere across Eastern North Carolina, little to no impact is anticipated. * FLOODING RAIN: Prepare for dangerous rainfall flooding having possible significant impacts across areas south and east of a Manteo to Kenansville line. Potential impacts include: - Moderate rainfall flooding may prompt several evacuations and rescues. - Rivers and tributaries may quickly become swollen with swifter currents and overspill their banks in a few places, especially in usually vulnerable spots. Small streams, creeks, canals, and ditches overflow. - Flood waters can enter some structures or weaken foundations. Several places may experience expanded areas of rapid inundation at underpasses, low-lying spots, and poor drainage areas. Some streets and parking lots take on moving water as storm drains and retention ponds overflow. Driving conditions become hazardous. Some road and bridge closures. Prepare for locally hazardous rainfall flooding having possible limited impacts across all of eastern North Carolina. * TORNADOES: Prepare for a tornado event having possible limited impacts across Eastern North Carolina. Potential impacts include: - The occurrence of isolated tornadoes can hinder the execution of emergency plans during tropical events. - A few places may experience tornado damage, along with power and communications disruptions. - Locations could realize roofs peeled off buildings, chimneys toppled, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, large tree tops and branches snapped off, shallow-rooted trees knocked over, moving vehicles blown off roads, and small boats pulled from moorings. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS ---------------------------------- * OTHER PREPAREDNESS INFORMATION: Now is the time to check your emergency plan and emergency supplies kit and take necessary actions to protect your family and secure your home or business. If you are a visitor, know the name of the county or parish in which you are located and where it is relative to current watches and warnings. If staying at a hotel, ask the management staff about their onsite disaster plan. Listen for evacuation orders, especially pertaining to area visitors. Rapidly rising flood waters are deadly. If you are in a flood-prone area, consider moving to higher ground. Never drive through a flooded roadway. Remember, turn around don't drown! If a Tornado Warning is issued for your area, be ready to shelter quickly, preferably away from windows and in an interior room not prone to flooding. If driving, scan the roadside for quick shelter options. If in a place that is vulnerable to high wind, such as near large trees, a manufactured home, upper floors of a high-rise building, or on a boat, consider moving to a safer shelter before the onset of strong winds or flooding. Closely monitor weather.gov, NOAA Weather Radio and local news outlets for official storm information. Listen for possible changes to the forecast. * ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION: - For information on appropriate preparations see ready.gov - For information on creating an emergency plan see getagameplan.org - For additional disaster preparedness information see redcross.org NEXT UPDATE ----------- The next local statement will be issued by the National Weather Service in Newport/Morehead City NC around 6 AM, or sooner if conditions warrant. Drama played out on Tuesday as some senators walked the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, out of a meeting... Drama played out on Tuesday as some senators walked the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo, out of a meeting. The lawmakers had invited Keyamo to give details of the Special Public Works Programme where 774,000 people would be recruited by the Federal Government under the National Directorate of Employment (NDE). During the meeting which was held at the National Assembly in Abuja, members of the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on Labour sought to find out the method of selection of a 20-man committee from each state for the programme. However, a heated argument erupted between committee members and Keyamo over who should helm the programme which was to be domiciled under the NDE. As the rowdy session ensued, the committee decided to go into a closed-door session to discuss the matter, but the minister refused, insisting that the further discussions be held in the presence of journalists. This enraged the lawmakers who told Keyamo to apologise to the committee, but he ignored them. Thereafter, the minister was asked to leave the meeting since he refused to apologise to the committee members. The lawmakers claimed that Keyamo has no right to direct the committee on how to conduct its proceedings. This comes a day after the minster inaugurated the 20-member committees in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by virtual means. According to him, 1,000 persons would be selected from each of the 774 local government areas in the country to be engaged by the government in the Special Public Works Programme. The Federal Government on Monday said schools are allowed to reopen amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Gove... The Federal Government on Monday said schools are allowed to reopen amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, who made the disclosure, however, said only graduating students are allowed to resume. Mustapha, who is the chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19, explained that the measure would allow the graduating students resume and prepare for their final examinations. He disclosed this during the taskforce daily briefing in Abuja, on Monday. According to Mustapha: Safe re-opening of schools to allow students in graduating classes resume in-person in preparation for examinations. Safe reopening of domestic aviation services as soon as practicable. Beckley, WV (25801) Today Variable clouds with scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly during the afternoon hours. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 58F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Tuesday that Ethiopia had withheld updates on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its security systems from the technical committees during the trilateral negotiations between the two countries and Sudan. There are potential risks from GERD facing Sudan considering that it is nearer to the dam. Egypt also faces those risks, he told Sky News Arabia channel on Tuesday. He added that Egypt and Sudan were coordinating on the issue of GERD to reach a balanced and fair agreement that does not harm the downstream countries. Egypt is still committed to the diplomatic path on the GERD issue and has been flexible in the negotiations, but we did not reach an agreement because of the Ethiopian stance, he told the channel. Shoukry also said that Ethiopia had rejected any mediation for six years, adding that it had rejected the World Banks mediation despite the 2015 Declaration of Principles which supports mediation between the three countries. Resorting to International arbitration is bound by a prior agreement between all parties, he said. The minister said Egypt had gone to the UN Security Council because the talks had reached a deadlock. On Monday, the Security Council held an open session to discuss the issue at the request of Egypt. Shoukry addressed the council, saying that a unilateral filling and operation of the mega-dam without an agreement with the two downstream countries would heighten tensions and stir crises and conflicts in an already troubled region. Ethiopia has in recent days signalled it remains adamant on filling the dam in July, despite statements by Egypt and Sudan on Friday following an AU-brokered meeting that Addis Ababa would delay the filling of GERD. The previous round of talks, brokered by Sudan, collapsed earlier this month as Ethiopia refused to enter into a binding agreement. Addis Ababa insisted at the time it would begin filling the dam in July with or without an agreement. Search Keywords: Short link: Popular Nigerian doctor and Twitter influencer, Dr Olufunmilayo has been called out by a female colleague for allegedly abusing her sexu... Popular Nigerian doctor and Twitter influencer, Dr Olufunmilayo has been called out by a female colleague for allegedly abusing her sexually. The UK-based Nigerian doctor, @bola_aseyan who accused Olufunmilayo of being a different person from what he presents online, added that she has proof of all he allegedly did to her. She further revealed that she didn't press charges earlier because it will make him lose his license as a medical doctor. She tweeted; A woman can only tolerate so much abuse from a man. A completely different persona online, and a truly horrible man in person, an abuser to say the least, both sexually and emotionally. A human can only tolerate so much! I have proof all these madness. And God in heaven knows I dread the negative type of attention but people deserve to know what a horrible human being this man is!!!! Horribly terrible!!!! Now you are calling people to call me and speak to me ba?!!! You are calling frantically. When you were sexually and emotionally abusing, you didn't know it would resort to this. Because Bola doesn't air dirty laundry, Bola is private, you think I'm stupid??! Your fav influencer has sexually and emotionally abused me for so long, and Ive been hiding it. I didnt want to say anything because I DESPERATELY didnt want to be in the news for anything bad here. I kept telling myself it would be over soon. I cannot take it anymore! Everyone is telling me to consider his profession and not say anything, i shouldnt say anything. How about how I feel? Everytime. Im tired. I havent done a thing to deserve this. I have lodged a formal complaint with the police today! I cannot and will not take this anymore! We are both doctors. Both of us. And Ive been too nice just because I thought it would end soon. You bully me everytime. You know I hate social media issues and you have a lot of followers so its okay to do all these to me ba? Right!! I didnt press charges, only because you would lose your license to practise, and I cannot bear to carry that much guilt in my heart. Even with everything that youve done, Im still not a mean spirited person. I leave you to God to judge you, and my head will judge you!!! I am irritated to say the least at those who think my life occurrence is a gist thats waiting to happen. You think Im tweeting with eagerness and happiness. You think I want to be in this position or its a joke. I am hurting.I am sad and Ive never thought itll resort to this I use God to beg our fellow medical doctors in my DM asking me not to tweet or let it go. Please and please, they wont abuse your children. Pls dont give me unsolicited advise. I didnt press charges even though the cops here in the UK asked me to, dont push it. Your favorite online influencer also a medical doctor in the UK who always has an opinion on every topic on Twitter, he is morally upright on the Internet, yet does the exact opposite of what he preaches online, preaching against rape and doing the exact opposite in person. Dr FUNMILAYO is the accused! On a day when a monument to Christopher Columbus came down in Hartford at the direction of a Democratic mayor, Connecticuts state Republican chair called on the Democratic Party to change its name in recognition of its own human rights failings. The GOPs state central committee intends to adopt a resolution condemning the history of the Democratic Party, which sprang to life in the slave-holding South and amassed a long record protecting segregation before embracing labor and civil rights and ceding white southern voters to Republicans. We demand that the party change its name, said J.R. Romano, the state GOP chair. For me, I believe it is vital that every citizen know the truth about the so-called party of inclusion and acceptance. If we are to hold Christopher Columbus accountable for over 500 years after the fact, it is our duty and moral obligation to hold the Democratic Party accountable. The resolution and Romanos call echoes the approach of President Donald J. Trump, whose first instinct is to go on the attack, as he has with demonstrators who have demanded the removal of statues of Confederate generals. Over the weekend, Trump retweeted a video of a supporter chanting white power, and he expressed support for the prosecution of men arrested for defacing a statute of President Andrew Jackson, a Democratic Party founder now disavowed by many Democrats over his support of slavery and the forced relocation of American Indians. Connecticut is one of the many states where Democrats renamed annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinners, evidence of what the Democratic state chair, Nancy DiNardo, says is a willingness to evolve and confront a history of protecting agrarian big business, which made the party anti-labor as well as pro-slavery and pro-segregation. Democrats recognized the error of their ways nearly 100 years ago and since then have supported the New Deal, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, gay rights, gay marriage, choice, health care for all, racial justice and demilitarization of police, just to name a few important milestones, many of which Republicans have worked to defeat, DiNardo said. Without question, the Republicans were the party of Lincoln, founded shortly before the Civil War, with northern radical Republicans pushing and ultimately failing to keep the GOP fighting for political and economic freedom for Blacks during Reconstruction. Both parties evolved, with Republicans becoming the party of big business and Democrats turning to the left during the Great Depression and the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, even though southern segregationists remained important to the Democrats through the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Since the election of Richard Nixon in 1968 on his Southern Strategy that exploited Democrats new identity as a civil-rights party, the contemporary racial identities of the two parties are evident in voting patterns. Republican presidential candidates now typically win nearly 60 percent of the white vote, while about 90% of the African-American vote goes to Democrats. Democrats say Republicans want to talk about the past when the topic is human rights, because the present is an uncomfortable subject for the GOP. Just yesterday, the Republican President of the United States retweeted video of a supporter declaring white power, without a word of rebuke from J. R. Romano or the CT Republicans, DiNardo said in an email. Forget changing our name Republicans need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said the timing of Romanos press call underscored the GOP is more concerned with the Democratic past than the Republican present. Its hard to find a better demonstration of whats rotten at the core of the Republican Party today, Bronin said. Romano said the resolution was broached by state central committee members and will be adopted next month. The call for Democrats to change their name is serious, he said, and not a way to join Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in suggesting that the past cannot and should not be erased. They have to be honest and apologize for their history, Romano said. Two weeks ago, McConnell, a Republican of Kentucky, objected to efforts to remove statues of Confederate heroes from galleries of the U.S. Capitol that feature two monuments contributed by every state. What I do think is clearly a bridge too far is this nonsense that we need to airbrush the Capitol and scrub out everybody from years ago who had any connection to slavery, McConnell said. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York used a bit of Connecticut history in his retort: Candidly, I dont think it would be too imposing to ask our states not to send statues of people who actively fought against this country. You know, there is a reason that Connecticut doesnt send a statue of Benedict Arnold. Though Romano talked about Democratic support for the U.S. Supreme Courts Dred Scott decision of 1857, which rejected a slaves legal argument in favor of freedom and proclaimed that even freed Blacks were not U.S. citizens, he said Democrats had more recent questions about race to answer. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, worked with white segregationists in his 36-year career in the U.S. Senate, and he was condemned in May for questioning the cultural authenticity of any Black voter who goes for Trump. If you have a problem figuring out whether youre for me or Trump, then you aint Black, Biden said. According to NPR, he reportedly told another Black audience he shouldnt have been such a wise guy. I shouldnt have been so cavalier. The Minister of State, Labour and Employment, has declared that the National Assembly cannot stop the planned recruitment of Nigerians. ... The Minister of State, Labour and Employment, has declared that the National Assembly cannot stop the planned recruitment of Nigerians. One thousand citizens are to be employed from each of the 774,000 local government areas in Nigeria. In a statement on Tuesday, Keyamo said in obedience to their invitation, he appeared before the Joint Committees on Labour of both the Senate and the House. The meeting was for briefing on the implementation of the Special Public Works Programme. The minister said there was a misunderstanding when they questioned why he did not privately submit the program to them for vetting before taking certain steps. Keyamo said the lawmakers suggested that they ought to have input on how the programme should be implemented. In other words, they sought to control the programme as to who gets what, where and how. I insisted that I could not surrender the programme to their control since their powers under the Constitution does not extend to that. They insisted on a closed-door session. Keyamo said he remarked that it was only fair for him to respond to their position before the press, since their own position was also made public. I was then asked to apologize for insisting on a public interaction and I said there was nothing to apologize about, because their powers to expose corruption provided for in section 88 of the Constitution cannot be exercised in private. As such, there was no need to apologize by insisting on a Constitutional provision. Even their Rules that may provide for private hearings on public matters cannot override the provisions of the Constitution. I was then permitted to leave. I took a bow and left. I never walked out on the respected Committees as they may want to bend the narrative. After I left, I understand that the Joint Committees purportedly suspended the work of the Selection Committees nationwide until they decide how the programme should be run and who should be in those Committees. My opinion is that it is tantamount to challenging the powers of Mr. President. Keyamo said National Assembly powers under section 88 of the 1999 Constitution are only limited to investigations, but not give any directive to the executive. He noted that a committee or committees of both Houses do not even have powers to pass binding Resolutions and that they can only make recommendations to Plenary. All my life, I have fought for good governance and constitutional democracy. I will not come into government and be intimidated to abandon those principles. I will rather leave this assignment, if Mr. President so directs than compromise the jobs meant for ordinary Nigerians who have no Godfathers or who are not affiliated to any political party. The minister direct all the committees set up nationwide made up of CAN, NSCIA, NURTW, Market Women, CSOS, Youth Organisations, respected traditional rulers, etc to proceed with their work unhindered. Only Mr. President can stop their work, he declared. Local authorities are using drones in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district to spray insecticides against swarms of locusts that have arrived in the area and wreaking havoc on the local vegetation. According to the agriculture department, 60% of locusts have been killed. "Around 60% of locusts have been killed. Four drones given by the central government are being used to spray insecticides," said SN Singh, Assistant Director, Agriculture Department. Meanwhile, another department official said that the swarms arrived at the area at around 8 pm to 9 pm on Monday and since then, tractors and fire brigades are being used to spray insecticides. "Now a team assigned by Central Government has also arrived here with four drones to kill the locusts," the official informed. A resident, Nihal Singh who came out for a walk, told ANI that a large number of locusts surfaced early morning on Tuesday and it became difficult for the locals to even walk. READ | Locust Swarm Enters Kanpur After Crossing Madhya Pradesh, Authorities Issue High Alert READ | Country Tormented By Locusts And Losers: Naqvi's Jibe At Congress India 'the First' To Mobilise Drones The Union Ministry of Agriculture on Saturday said that India is the first country to control locust attacks with the help of drones. The Ministry said that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a body under the UN, has appreciated Indias move by saying it is the only country in the world to control locust using drones, even as the locust menace reached the national capital with distressing visuals emerging from Gurugram. "India is the first country to control locust by using drones after finalising the protocols and getting all statutory approvals. Major operations are concentrated in Rajasthan where maximum resources are committed," the Agriculture Ministry said in a release. The Ministry informed that locust swarms are being tracked by teams of the state agriculture departments of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, local administrations along with officials of the Central Locust Warning Organisation. Several control teams from Rajasthan have been moved to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to help in warding away locust swarms. (With ANI inputs) (Photo Credit for representation: PTI) READ | China Slammed For Petty Conditional Offer To Help India Fight Locusts; 'no One Trusts You' READ | As Locust Menace Reaches Delhi-NCR, India 'the First' To Mobilise Drones For Battle Chinese ambassador to India H.E. Sun Weidong on Tuesday visited the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) amid the escalated tensions between the two neighbouring countries. The Chinese envoy on his visit held 'detailed discussions' with the IDSA DG Sujan Chinoy over the Indo-China LAC standoff and the state of bilateral relations between the two countries. The visit comes just a day after the Indian government banned 59 Chinese mobile apps citing security and privacy concerns. READ | 'Seriously Concerned & Firmly Opposed': Chinese Embassy In India Responds To Apps Ban Chinese Ambassador H.E. Sun Weidong @China_Amb_India visited @IDSAIndia on 29 June and held detailed discussions with DG @SujanChinoy on #IndiaChinaBorder #IndiaChinaFaceOff and the state of bilateral relations between the two countries. pic.twitter.com/JTiKGwRZWk Manohar Parrikar IDSA, New Delhi (@IDSAIndia) June 30, 2020 India bans 59 Chinese mobile apps In a massive development, the Home Ministry on Monday banned 59 Chinese Apps including Tik-Tok. The Centre stated that it has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. Hence, in a move to protect the sovereignty of Indian Cyberspace and to ensure interests of crores of Indian mobile users, the government has stated that this was a major blow to Chinas Digital Silk Route ambitions. This move comes amid the escalated tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). READ | China's Government Issues First Response After India Bans 59 Apps; 'strongly Concerned' Chinese Embassy responds to ban Responding to the government's decision to ban 59 mobile apps, the Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in India, Ji Rong stated that the neighbouring nation is 'seriously concerned' and 'firmly opposed' to the action taken. Rong has alleged that the ban is 'selective and discriminatory' and is also not conducive to consumer interests, adding that it 'violates' the WTO rules. Moreover, the Chinese embassy Counselor has urged the Indian government to change its 'discriminatory practices' and maintain the momentum of China-India economic and trade cooperation. READ | Owaisi Mocks PM Modi's Extension Of Free Ration Scheme, Says 'should've Spoken On China' READ | France Condoles Martyrdom Of Indian Jawans In Galwan Clash With China; Assures Support An 80-year-old woman died while six others tested positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, pushing the states infection tally to 949. So far, nine people have succumbed to the disease in the state. A resident of Jungleberi village in Hamirpur district, the woman suffered from various other age-related problems. She died at Mandis Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital, an official said. The hospitals Senior Medical Superintendent Dr Jiwa Nand Chauhan said she had tested positive for coronavirus on June 22 after returning from Delhi. She was kept at the Bhota COVID care centre before being shifted to the Mandi facility, also called the Nerchowk medical college, on June 23. Meanwhile, six more peoplefour in Kangra and two in Hamirpur- contracted the infection, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 949. In Kangra, the fresh patients included an Army jawan's eight-year-old son. A seven-year-old boy in his relation also tested positive, a district official said. The 39-year-old Army jawan from Rakkar village had tested positive for coronavirus on June 28 after his arrival from Arunachal Pradesh on June 23. He was shifted to a military hospital in Yol. Both boys are also being shifted to the hospital, the official added. Besides, a 40-year-old man who recently returned from Delhi and his eight-year-old son also contracted the disease. They belong to Sarimolag village in Jaisinghpur tehsil. According to the official, they are being shifted to a Baijnath care centre. In Hamirpur, a 23-year-old girl from Bhoranj area who had recently returned from Kyrgyzstan via Delhi; and a 10-year-old boy from Teeda in Nadaun tested positive for coronavirus, a district official said. The boy had recently returned from Delhi with his mother, who has already tested positive for the infection. The girl had gone to Kyrgyzstan for higher studies. In the meantime, 13 patientsfive in Kangra; three each in Shimla and Solan; and two in Chamba recovered from the infection, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said. So far, 569 people have recovered while 11 COVID-19 patients have migrated out of the state, he said. The state has 358 active cases now. Kangra has the maximum number of active cases in the state at 112, followed by 104 in Hamirpur; 50 in Solan; 29 in Una; 17 in Shimla; 16 in Bilaspur; eight each in Chamba and Sirmaur; seven in Mandi; five in Kinnaur; and two in Lahaul-Spiti. READ | Monsoon Arrives In Himachal Pradesh; Rains Lash Most Parts Of State READ | Himachal Pradesh Records Three New COVID-19 Cases, Tally Rises To 779 The strict monitoring and vigour of Border Security Force (BSF) along the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal is bearing fruit as animal smugglers are failing in their attempts and now adopting hateful and cruel tactics to cross the borders. READ: Jammu & Kashmir: After Foiling Weapons Smuggling Bid, BSF Heightens Its Vigil Along The IB Animal smuggling decreases The BSF personnel from the South Bengal Frontier have busted a disgusting handiwork of smugglers from Malda district when a calf was being smuggled into Bangladesh via the river, hiding inside another dead animal's skin. The incident took place on Sunday evening when vigilant border guards of the 44th battalion of Border Security Force Sector Malda sector rescued the calf by nabbing the traffickers. Officials said that when the soldiers were monitoring the Mahananda river, which flows between the border post-Adampur and the border post-Kumarapur district Malda towards Bangladesh, they saw something floating in the water tied to a plastic sack. The border guards took their patrolling boat to the spot and reached close to see that something was tied inside the skin of the dead animal. Water hyacinth was also tied with it to camouflage it. Apart from this, the stem of a banana tree was also tied. READ: PETA India Distressed Over Animal Abuse, Urges Govt To Strengthen Laws To Protect Animals When BSF jawans looked at it carefully, they found that the nose of an animal was visible from a hole in the dead animal's skin covering it. When it was opened, a live calf was taken out of it, whose legs and eyes were tied with rope and cloth and the calf was suffering because it was having trouble breathing. The border guards immediately pulled out the calf. Talking to Republic Media Network a senior official said, a similar incident came to light in the first week of this month at the Golpara border outpost in North 24 Parganas district when smugglers smuggled fish eggs (fish balls) inside the bodies of dead animals into Bangladesh via the Echmati River Had tried This was also thwarted by the soldiers. He said especially in the times of rain and floods when the flow of water in the rivers becomes fast, the smugglers shed the animals in the river so that it will flow to Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi smugglers will take it out there. However, the alertness of Indian jawans does not allow any devious and hateful tricks of the smugglers to succeed, and battalion has stepped up vigil on the border so that the efforts are completely thwarting. Smugglers are trying to smuggle animals in any way taking advantage of the river flow. "In fact, humanity is also ashamed of the cruel tactics adopted by the animal smugglers," an official said. READ: BSF Apprehends Bangaldeshi Boy Travelling In Empty Goods Train Returning From Across Border According to officials, investigations have revealed that the smugglers' attempt was a trial. If this cattle had crossed, the smugglers would have tried to cross more cattle in this way. The entire area of South Bengal Frontier has tightened the noose on animal trafficking. Senior BSF officials said that through a strong strategy and a high-level of intelligence system, strict action to stop animal trafficking in this rainy season, even in India-Bangladesh Is being adopted on the international border. Full contact has also been made with the police department so that whatever police station is in the border area, their full cooperation can be obtained. READ: Maha: Seven Held For Smuggling Pangolins In Nanded The Home Ministry announced on Monday that a total of 59 Chinese Apps will be banned in India, which will also include TikTok, the popular video-sharing platform. The move comes during a tensed border dispute at the Galwan Valley and also when the country is grappling with the coronavirus situation. Furthermore, reports suggest that the apps mentioned in the Chinese Apps banned list allegedly misuse the apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India'. Therefore Indian authorities have made it a point to ban several applications. If one is wondering, Is PicsArt a Chinese app?, then read further to know: Also Read | Govt Of India Bans 59 Chinese Apps; Tik Tok, UC Browser, WeChat Included In The List Is PicsArt a Chinese app? After the Chinese apps ban announcements, several users of smartphones in India are confused about whether their daily use applications are of Chinese origin or not. Out of these apps, one popular application is PicsArt app, which is a video and photo edit and sharing platform. PicsArt app has a community of people downloading and sharing replay edits, sharing one-click artwork, using stickers and more. The PicsArt application is widely used by Android, IOS and Windows smartphone users across the country. However, PicsArt is not a Chinese brand. PicsArt is from which country? PicsArt, which is also known as PicsArt photo studio, can be used to edit images, make collages and also draw and share on the social network. The application started out as an editing tool, however, later turned to a full-fledged networking site, where people with art interests meet. The application was designed by Armenian programmers Hovhannes Avoyan and Artavazd Mehrabyan. However, the company is located in San-Franciso USA. PicsArt's origin country is the USA and not China. The video and photo editing-cum-sharing platform is widely used by Indians and is not a part of the Chinese apps banned list. PicsArt app is not in the Chinese apps banned list, here is the notification- Here is the list of banned Chinese apps as shared by the MHA: Also Read | Congress' Skeptical First Response To Modi Govt Banning 59 Chinese Apps: Asks 3 Questions Chinese goods boycott sentiment After 20 soldiers were martyred at the LAC, several groups across the nation have protested against the sale of Chinese goods. Moreover, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL)- a PSU under the aegis of the Ministry of Railways has terminated a Chinese companys contract. The BCCI too has called a council meeting to rethink its sponsorship from Chinese companies. Centre too has taken several steps to decrease Chinese imports to make India more self-reliant. Apart from these updates, recently, several Indian companies with Chinese funding have faced the ire of the public as 'ban Chinese goods' sentiment grows stronger. Also Read | S Gurumurthy Makes Big Statement About Modi Government As India Bans 59 Chinese Apps Also Read | Chinese Mouthpiece Stooge Hurls Low Jibe At India Over 59-app-ban; Gets Trolled By Netizen Obinwanne Okeke, the Nigerian businessman arrested in the United States last August for fraud, has admitted to American authorities ... Obinwanne Okeke, the Nigerian businessman arrested in the United States last August for fraud, has admitted to American authorities that his participation in the fraudulent schemes for which he has pleaded guilty was undertaken knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully and not as a result of an accident, mistake or other innocent reason. Mr Okeke, who was charged with two counts of computer fraud and wire fraud, also said he decided to plead guilty because he realised that the findings by investigators and the statement of facts filed in court by prosecutors are true and accurate. He said had the matter proceeded to trial, he was sure the United States authorities would prove the allegations against him beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr Okekes explanations are contained in the Statement of Facts submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia by G. Zachary Terwilliger (United States attorney), Brian J. Samuels (assistant United States Attorney) and Mathew P. Mattis ( special assistant United States attorney). The document was filed in open court on June 18 as the businessman, also known as Invictus Obi in Nigeria, capitulated and pleaded guilty. He is to be sentenced on October 22. Mr Okekes attorney, John Iweanoge, also agreed, saying pleading guilty remained the best course of action for his client. I have carefully reviewed the above Statement of Facts with him, Mr Iweanoge said. To my knowledge, his decision to stipulate to these facts is an informed and voluntary one. The Statement of Facts which the three United States Attorney deposed to and for which Mr Okeke pleaded guilty read as follows: If this matter were to proceed to trial, the United States of America would prove beyond a reasonable doubt, by competent and admissible evidence, the following facts: 1. Beginning on a date unknown, but believed to be in or about 2015, and continuing until in or about at least 2019, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, OBINWANNE OKEKE, the defendant herein, and others known and unknown did knowingly and willfully combine, conspire, and agree with each other and others known and unknown to knowingly devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and for obtaining money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretences, representations, and promises, for which the defendants and conspirators transmitted and caused to be transmitted by means of wire communications in interstate commerce certain writings, signs, signals and sounds, for the purpose of executing the scheme and artifice, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. 2. An investigation by federal authorities revealed that the primary purpose of the conspiracy was for the conspirators to obtain funds through fraudulent means by engaging in fraudulent business emails, phishing and other computer-based schemes. 3. It was a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that conspirators, including the defendant, sent phishing emails to one or more businesses in an effort to obtain login credentials of employees. 4. It was further a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that the conspirators, including defendant, obtained legitimate credentials of other individuals that the conspirators then used to commit fraudulent acts targeting other businesses and individuals in order to obtain money and other property, including, but not limited to, accessing protected computers without authorization, sending fraudulent wire transfer requests, using fake invoices and viewing and downloading files belonging to other individual and business victims. 5. It was further a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that the conspirators, including defendant, unlawfully obtained funds belonging to other individuals and/or business entities and caused the transfer of funds to accounts controlled by the conspirators and defendant. 6. It was further a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that the conspirators, including defendant, obtained and compiled credentials of hundreds of victims, including victims in the Eastern District of Virginia. 7. It was further a part of the conspiracy and the scheme and artifice that the conspirators, including defendant, engaged in and caused wire communications affecting interstate and foreign commerce between the Eastern District of Virginia and locations outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 8. Unatrac Holding Limited, a company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the export sales office for Caterpillar heavy industrial and farm equipment. In or about the Spring of 2018, Unatrac was victimized in their United Kingdom offices through an email compromise scheme, in which the defendant participated, which ultimately resulted in fraudulent wire transfers totalling nearly $ 11 million (11 million US Dollars). Some portion of these funds was subsequently recovered. 9. On or about April 1, 2018, Unatracs Chief Financial Officer (CFO) received a phishing email containing a web link, purportedly to the login page of the CFOs online email account hosted by Microsoft Office365. When the CFO opened the link, it instead led him to a phishing website crafted to imitate the legitimate Office365 login page. Believing the page to be real, he entered his login credentials, which were captured by an unknown intruder who controlled the spoofed web page. 10. After capturing the legitimate credentials, the intruder was able to remotely login and access the CFOs entire Office365 account, which included all of his emails and various digital files. Between April 6 and April 20, 2018, the intruder accessed the CFOs account at least 464 times, mostly from Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in Nigeria, but also from other identified locations. 11. With full access to the account, the intruder sent fraudulent wire transfer requests from the CFOs email account to members of Unatracs internal financial team. The intruder also attached fake invoices to the emails to enhance the credibility of the requests. For many of the invoices, the intruder used content sourced from within the CFOs own account, ostensibly to make the invoices appear authentic. Knowing that invoices typically originate from outside the organization, the intruder also apparently sent emails to the CFOs account from an external address, and then forwarded them to the financial team. 12. During the period of unauthorized access, activity logs show that the intruder created or modified email filter rules for the CFOs account on seven occasions between April 10 and April 17, 2018. The rules intercepted legitimate emails to and from employees on the financial team, marked them as read, and moved them to another folder outside the inbox. These rules appeared to have been created in an attempt to hide from the CFO any responses from the individuals to whom the intruder was sending fabricated emails. 13. Believing the wire transfer requests had come from their CFO, Unatrac finance staff processed a number of fraudulent payments between April 11 and April 19, 2018. In some cases, several payments were sent to the same account. For example, the finance staff received and processed three invoices to Pak Fei Trade Limited: one for $278,270.66, one for $898,461.17, and one for $1,957,100.00. In total, nearly $11,000,000 (11 million US dollars) was sent, all of which went to overseas accounts. By the time the fraud was discovered, it was too late to cancel the transfers, and Unatrac was able to recover very little of the transferred funds. 14. With full access to the Microsoft Office365 account, the intruder was also able to browse the CFOs files hosted by Microsofts online file storage service OneDrive. The intruder viewed at least 15 of the CFOs files. The intruder downloaded one of these files, which contained portions of Unatracs standard terms and conditions and sent it to the external email address iconoclast1960@gmail.com. 15. The iconoclast1960@gmail.com was an account subsequently determined to be associated with and used by defendant. The defendant is a Nigerian citizen and entrepreneur who operated a group of companies known as the Invictus Group. 16. The defendant used the iconoclast1960@gmail.com email account and other accounts to engage with extensive discussions with other conspirators about creating fraudulent web pages, designed to trick unsuspecting users into providing their account credentials. 17. Between at least December 2017 and October 2018, the defendant (using the iconoclastl960@gmail.com email address) and another individual discussed over e-mail specific details about how to create fraudulent web pages that would capture users* email and password credentials. In order to demonstrate and test their web designs, the iconoclast1960@gmail.com and other accounts also sent each other copies of code used to create the fraudulent web pages. 18. The defendant and other individuals acted to compile collected credentials of others for use in acts of fraud. 19. Among these credentials were passwords of accounts belonging to victims located within the Eastern District of Virginia. Emails dated January 17, 2018, contained the passwords for victims in Mechanicsville, Virginia and Midlothian, Virginia. An email dated January 18, 2019, contained a password for a victim in Richmond, Virginia, and an email dated February 26, 2018, contained a password for a victim in Ashburn, Virginia. The capture of these passwords was facilitated by wire communications affecting interstate commerce between the Eastern District of Virginia and locations outside Virginia. 20. Other email accounts that were linked to or corresponded with conspirators accounts engaged in fraudulent schemes targeting individuals and businesses in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere from the time period beginning in at least 2015. 21. The defendant stipulates and agrees that his participation in the events described was undertaken knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully and not as a result of an accident, mistake or other innocent reason. In a significant development and towards a breakthrough of a potential vaccine for COVID-19, Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) has given a green signal for conducting the human trials of India's first COVID-19 vaccine 'Covaxin'. The development comes after the Union Health Ministry gave a nod for clinical human trials of the potential vaccine after successfully testing it on animals. READ | TikTok Issues First Response After Being Banned By Modi Govt; Calls It 'interim Order' READ | Chinese Mouthpiece Stooge Hurls Low Jibe At India Over 59-app-ban; Gets Trolled By Netizen Covaxin has been approved for Phase I & II Human Clinical Trials which will begin from July. The vaccine is being developed by Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV). Announcing the milestone, Dr Krishna Ella, chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech, said, The collaboration with ICMR and NIV was instrumental in the development of this vaccine. The proactive support and guidance from CDSCO has enabled approvals to this project. Our R&D and manufacturing teams worked tirelessly to deploy our proprietary technologies towards this platform. Suchitra Ella, joint managing director of the company, said, Our ongoing research and expertise in forecasting epidemics has enabled us to successfully manufacture a vaccine for the H1N1 pandemic. Continuing our focus on creating the only BSL-3 containment facilities for manufacturing and testing in India, Bharat Biotech is committed to advancing vaccine development as a matter of national importance to demonstrate Indias strength in handling future pandemics. READ | India Bans 59 Chinese Apps: List Of Alternatives To Replace Chinese Mobile Applications READ | Congress' Skeptical First Response To Modi Govt Banning 59 Chinese Apps: Asks 3 Questions Race to COVID-19 vaccine There are several international pharmaceutical manufacturers in the race across the world to develop COVID-19 vaccine. Pharma major AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University's Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group has ramped up its capacity to produce a vaccine for COVID-19 on a wide scale. The British drugmaker was already in human trials phase of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, with a phase I trial in Britain due to end soon and a phase III trial already begun, CEO of AstraZeneca, Pascal Soriot had told broadcaster Bel RTL. China too is said to have developed a vaccine in association with the help of Chinese vaccine company CanSino Biologics, which shows promising results in early clinical trials. Libyan tribes loyal to military commander Khalifa Hifter on Monday offered to end their blockade of the countrys oil production, which has cost Libya over $6 billion since January, as part of a political settlement in the war-torn country. In a statement after a tribal meeting at Libyas Zueitina oil terminal, tribal leader Amhmed Idris al-Senussi said they have reopened the oil ports and given a mandate to Hifters forces to negotiate a restart in production. He said they hope Hifter can find solutions to ensure oil revenue does not land in the hands of terrorist militias," referring to forces allied with a rival U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli. Ahmed al-Mosmari, a spokesman for Hifters forces, said they welcome any popular mandate to protect oil installations. The announcement came as Libyas National Oil Corporation expressed hope that oilfields will start pumping again as foreign powers negotiate with the Tripoli-based government over the distribution of oil revenues in the divided country. The talks quietly got underway weeks ago, the corporation said, supervised by the United Nations and United States. A future agreement will seek to guarantee transparency and social justice for all Libyans, the corporation added. Early this year, powerful tribes loyal to Hifters eastern-based forces seized export terminals and choked off major pipelines, trying to starve the Tripoli administration of crucial revenues. Oil, the lifeline of Libyas economy, has long been at the center of the civil war, as rival authorities jostle for control of Africa's largest reserves. Hifter's supporters contend that the Libyan Central Bank, which holds the countrys vast oil wealth, benefits only the U.N.-supported government. They say oil revenues have been diverted to pay foreign mercenaries fighting Hifter. Oil is for all Libyans, al-Senussi said, The Libyan people have the right to benefit from their revenues to improve their living conditions and move forward with the reconstruction of the country. Ali Saad, the chairman of the tribal council in the southeastern al-Wahat region, the site of sprawling oil fields under Hifters control, echoed the popular complaints. We did not see any school being constructed, we did not see any bridges constructed, nor did we see roads being paved, he said. Money is being wasted, and the country has become poor. While ordinary Libyans suffer the effects of a crumbling economy, foreign powers have increasingly joined the conflict, drawn by strategic and economic interests in the eastern Mediterranean. Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and France support Hifters forces. A Kremlin-linked security company known as Wagner has employed hundreds of foreign mercenaries to bolster Hifters 14-month offensive to capture Tripoli, according to U.N. experts. Russian military contractors and other foreign mercenaries were seen meeting last week with a Hifter-allied militia in the Shahara oil field, Libyas largest, in an apparent bid to stave off an offensive by Tripoli forces and prevent the resumption of oil production. On the other side of the conflict, Turkey is the main sponsor of the Tripoli government. Its deployment of armed drones, military experts and thousands of Syrian mercenaries reversed the tide of war and forced Hifters forces to withdraw from much of the territory theyd seized since starting their campaign to capture Tripoli in April last year. An agreement to end the country's long-running standoff over oil wealth and resume production could pave the way for peace talks and help deter a Turkish-backed assault on the coastal town of Sirte. The city is a strategic gateway to the central and eastern oil crescent under Hifters control, where 1.2 million barrels a day were shipped around the world before the shutdown. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has called Sirte a red line, suggesting direct military intervention if Turkey crosses it. Hifter and his allies have pushed for a cease-fire. Amid the worldwide discontent against China for imposing the new national security law in Hong Kong, the country has imposed a visa ban on the United States officials since America has been a strong critic of China's move of imposing the law in Hong Kong. Besides, the US has been a strong opponent to China's aggressive expansionist policy be it in terms of international trade or the origination and spread of Coronavirus or the territorial disputes China has had with neighbouring countries. Beijing has announced visa restrictions on United States officials who have behaved extremely badly over Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. READ | Govt Of India Bans 59 Chinese Apps; Tik Tok, UC Browser, WeChat Included In The List READ | Mayawati Shames Congress And Backs Centre Over India-China Stand; Follows Sharad Pawar The US also earlier imposed visa restrictions on members of the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) as a mark of strong retaliation on China's aggressive policies on the semi-autonomous city Hong Kong. Earlier in May end, US President Donald Trump had announced a slew of measures against China including suspending visas of thousands of Chinese graduate students enrolled at US universities and deporting them, imposing other sanctions against Chinese officials and cancelling the special trade exemptions given to Hong Kong. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said, "President Trump promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong's freedoms. Today, we are taking action to do just that." "Beijing's continued actions undermine its commitments and obligations in the Sino-British Joint Declaration to respect Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy. At the same time, Beijing continues to undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong by putting pressure on local authorities to arrest pro-democracy activists and disqualify pro-democracy electoral candidates," he added. READ | 'Befitting Reply Given In Ladakh': PM Modi Fires Strong Statement On China In Mann Ki Baat READ | Third India-China Military-level Talks To Be Held At Moldo On June 30: Sources International community concerned over Hong Kong security law The decisions were taken by the US in view of China imposing the new security law in Hong Kong snatching the human rights and freedom of the citizens in Hong Kong, China's discreet way of handling the COVID-19 crisis and not alarming the world about the severity of the crisis and its alleged involvement in espionage and intellectual property theft by way of Chinese students enrolment in American universities. Hong Kong has been reeling under frequent protests since 2019 over the Chinese aggression jeopardising the autonomy of the city, its freedom and human rights, followed by the introduction and passage of the new security law which as touted by the world is sure to undermine the 'one country two systems' principle, eventually leading to the decimation of Hong Kong's autonomy stated under the Sino-British joint declaration of 1997. This unilateral decision by the Chinese communist regime has deeply concerned the International community as the US, UK, Canada and Australia opposed the decision of China to impose the security law in Hong Kong. In a joint statement, the four countries had said that direct imposition of national security legislation on Hong Kong by the Beijing authorities, rather than through Hong Kong's own institutions as provided for under Article 23 of the Basic Law, "would curtail the Hong Kong people's liberties, and in doing so, dramatically erode Hong Kong's autonomy and the system that made it so prosperous". Reacting to United States Secretary of the State Mike Pompeo's response after China imposed visa restrictions on US officials, Hu Xijin, the editor of Chinese mouthpiece Global Times, who has emerged as a sort-of unofficial spokesperson of China, has slammed Pompeo calling him the 'master of lying'. Its shameless to distort cause and result. Its Washington that first imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials over HK, then Beijing announced visa restrictions on relevant US officials. Now in Pompeos words, it's China that provoked first. You are a master of lying. pic.twitter.com/jVWrjuUM5b Hu Xijin (@HuXijin_GT) June 30, 2020 READ | TikTok Issues First Response After Being Banned By Modi Govt; Calls It 'interim Order' READ | Chinese Mouthpiece Stooge Hurls Low Jibe At India Over 59-app-ban; Gets Trolled By Netizen Xijin's rationale was China imposed visa ban as a retaliation to the US who imposed restrictions on members of the Communist Chinese Party (CCP). The US had imposed restrictions on CCP officials as a mark of strong retaliation on China's aggressive policies on the semi-autonomous city Hong Kong. The Global Times Editor has emphasised on the US measures against Chinese officials while clearly undermining or consciously ignoring the human rights violations suffered by Hong Kong citizens at the hands of the Chinese Communist Regime over a long period of time. The new national security law for Hong Kong pass by the Chinese regime has not only received strong criticisms by the US but also by other prominent countries such as the United Kingdon, Canada, Australia among others. READ | EAM Jaishankar Calls India-Bhutan Relationship 'unique', Assures Help In Fighting COVID READ | New virus With Pandemic Potential Found In China Even As Covid-19 Reigns Worldwide The US measures against China Besides imposing visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party officials, US President Donald Trump in May-end had announced a slew of measures against China including suspending visas of thousands of Chinese graduate students enrolled at US universities and deporting them, imposing other sanctions against Chinese officials and cancelling the special trade exemptions given to Hong Kong. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "President Trump promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong's freedoms. Today, we are taking action to do just that." The decisions were taken by the US in view of China imposing the new security law in Hong Kong snatching the human rights and freedom of the citizens in Hong Kong, China's discreet way of handling the COVID-19 crisis and not alarming the world about the severity of the crisis and its alleged involvement in espionage and intellectual property theft by way of Chinese students enrolment in American universities. Hong Kong turmoil Hong Kong has been reeling under frequent protests since 2019 over the Chinese aggression jeopardising the autonomy of the city, its freedom and human rights, followed by the introduction and passage of the new security law which as touted by the world is sure to undermine the 'one country two systems' principle, eventually leading to the decimation of Hong Kong's autonomy stated under the Sino-British joint declaration of 1997. This unilateral decision by the Chinese communist regime has deeply concerned the International community as the US, UK, Canada and Australia opposed the decision of China to impose the security law in Hong Kong. In a joint statement, the four countries had said that direct imposition of national security legislation on Hong Kong by the Beijing authorities, rather than through Hong Kong's own institutions as provided for under Article 23 of the Basic Law, "would curtail the Hong Kong people's liberties, and in doing so, dramatically erode Hong Kong's autonomy and the system that made it so prosperous". French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday lashed out against what he called Turkey's "criminal" behaviour in Libya. Speaking during a visit to Germany, Macron condemned Turkey's actions in Libya as unacceptable. "I think this is a historical and criminal responsibility for someone who is said to be a NATO member," he declared. France sees Turkey as an obstacle to securing a ceasefire in Libya. The French President spoke during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Mesberg. Tensions between France and Turkey escalated following a June 10 incident between Turkish warships and a French naval vessel in the Mediterranean, which France considered a hostile act under NATO's rules of engagement. Turkey has denied harassing the French frigate. Macron also reaffirmed its commitment to climate action, and played down his party's poor showing in municipal elections at the weekend. "We should not draw excessive conclusions from local elections," he said. Five biracial women born in Congo when the country was under Belgian rule who were taken away from their Black mothers have filed a lawsuit for crimes against humanity targeting the Belgian state. With their claim, they hope Belgium will finally recognize its responsibility in the suffering endured by the thousands of biracial children, known as "metis, who were snatched away from families and placed in religious institutions and homes. Last year, Belgium's then-prime minister, Charles Michel, apologised to the metis children who were kidnapped toward the end of the colonization period in the 1940s and 1950s. The five women, all born between 1945 and 1950, filed their lawsuit as the Democratic Republic of Congo prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country's independence amid growing demands that Belgium reassess its colonial past. In the wake of the protests against racial inequality in the United States, several statues of King Leopold II, who is blamed for the deaths of millions of Africans during Belgium's colonial rule, have been sprayed with paint, while a petition called for the country to remove all statues of the former king. Lawyer Michele Hirsch said the five women four who now live in Belgium and one in France were aged between 2 and 4 when they were taken away at the request of the Belgian colonial administration, in cooperation with the local Catholic church authorities. Monique Bitu Bingu was a four-year-old girl when she was taken away from her family in Belgian Congo and placed in a Catholic mission. Her friend Lea Tavares Mujinga was a two-year-old toddler. According to the legal documents, in all five cases the fathers did not exercise parental authority and the Belgian administration threatened the children's Congolese families with reprisals if they refused to let them go. The children were placed at a religious mission in Katende, in the province of Kasai, with the Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul. There, they lived with some 20 other biracial girls and Indigenous orphans in very hard conditions. According to the lawyer, the Belgian state's strategy aimed at preventing interracial unions and isolating metis children, known as the "children of shame," to make sure they would not claim a link with Belgium later in their lives. After independence, the legal documents claim that the children were left abandoned by both the State and the Church, and that some of them were sexually molested by militia fighters. The women have requested compensation of 50,000 euros each. "This is not for the money," Hirsch said. "We want a law that can apply to all so that the Belgian State recognizes the crimes committed and the suffering endured by metis children." Christophe Marchand, one of the layers representing the women, said what the women had been through was " a crime against humanity". Time has passed since the women were forced to cut ties with their relatives, but the trauma they went through has never been fully addressed, and their pain remains immense. Over the past few months, China has been under global fire for its aggressive posturing across various fronts. It has not only been at loggerheads with the US over the Coronavirus pandemic, but has also earned global condemnation for its human rights abuses and expansionist strategies in Hong Kong, South China Sea and Taiwan, among other old and new indiscretions. Among this, from China's brazenness to try to deflect from taking responsibility for thousands of deaths across the globe to its belligerence highlighted in its land-grabbing activities across geographical fronts, here are 5 ways in which India has smudged China's sheen of invincibility in the world's eyes - a far cry from the pre-pandemic days when China's predominance appeared almost inexorable, with few voices dissenting. 1. Going toe-to-toe with the Chinese PLA militarily India on the night of June 16, gave a befitting reply to China's People Liberation Army as violent clashes broke out along the LAC in the Galwan valley. Following this, China was quick to attempt a shift of blame to India without offering a sequence of events. It also shunned away from revealing casualty figures. While 20 of our Indian soldiers were martyred in the valley, sources report that PLA suffered at least 45 casualties. While both governments are trying to resolve the issue through diplomatic and military level talks, PM Modi during his Mann Ki Baat address said that the entire world had seen India's strength and commitment to protecting its sovereignty and borders and that in Ladakh, "a befitting reply has been given to those eyeing our territories." It is rare that China is challenged militarily in this way, and the incident was felt across the globe. 2. Blocking Chinese entities from investing in India under automatic FDA route India back in April took a huge step to curb and control Chinese investment in the country when it decided to amend its foreign direct investment policy to ensure no hostile takeover of stressed firms could take place during the COVID-19 lockdown, as China is want of doing. Reports had shown that in India, all successful start-ups worth over 1 billion US dollars (Unicorns) were in some way or the other funded by foreign entities with China as a major player in this market, with massive stakes in some very big names like-- Snapdeal, Ola, Swiggy, Zomato, Oyo, and others. Red flags were raised when People's Bank of China (PBoC) on April 12, bought a 1% stake in India's largest housing finance lenders - HDFC Ltd, an investment amounting to 1.75 crore shares in HDFC. As per the new FDI policy amended by the government on April 19, neighbouring countries, such as China, will now require government approval for investing in Indian companies. 3. Bolstering 123 nations' effort to probe China over Covid's origin The WHO on June 18 at the World Health Assembly acceded to the resolution signed by 123 members countries of the WHO seeking an independent investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected over 10.3 million people across the globe. India was one of the top supporters and signatories to this resolution, extending its support to probing the origins of the pandemic, despite China's objection to the resolution saying that it was 'too premature' to carry out the probe. Along with India, the resolution received overwhelming support from all the member countries of the European Union and 50 African nations. 4. Putting a full-stop to Chinese land-grabs, emboldening others Apart from emerging strong in protecting its own territories, India has also extended its support to countries across the continent as China continues to threaten geographical territories under its expansionist regime. Recently amid Chinese aggression in the South China sea, the Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force conducted a joint training operation to expand mutual understanding between the two naval forces. Back in May, BJP leaders from the Centre attended Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen's swearing-in ceremony in May, as China continues to force its 'one-nation policy' onto the country. It has also voiced its support for Tibet and given shelter to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama following the abortive uprising against Chinese rule back 1959. With China's Ladakh expansion meeting the Indian Army, China knows it won't have free reign on other fronts either. 5. Banning Chinese apps and teaching China that protectionism isn't a one-way street Giving China a taste of its own medicine, the Home Ministry on Monday banned 59 Chinese Apps including TikTok. The Centre stated that it received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers that have locations outside India. It is important to mention that China which is a totalitarian regime has indulged in a complete ban of some of the biggest apps and sites like Youtube, Twitter, Google and others in its country. The ones who started the boycott under the name of 'protectionism' should be ready to face the boycott themselves. India's move gives other nations a point-and-negotiate option over China. Read: Chinese Mouthpiece Stooge Hurls Low Jibe At India Over 59-app-ban; Gets Trolled By Netizen Read: 'Mission Accomplished': NCW Chief Rekha Sharma Thanks PM Modi For Ban On TikTok & Others India is supporting a global initiative by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that aims to stop the spread of misinformation and fake news related to coronavirus on social media and has also co-authored a cross-regional statement to fight the infodemic or the manipulated information relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. We support @antonioguterres UN Communications Response initiative #VERIFIED and call for global action to fight #infodemic in times of #COVID19," Indias Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted. India, along with Australia, Chile, France, Georgia, Indonesia, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Senegal and South Africa co-authored a cross-regional statement on infodemic and so far 132 countries have joined the statement that focuses on the need to spread fact-based content to counter misinformation on coronavirus. The UN had launched Verified, an initiative to combat the growing scourge of COVID-19 misinformation by increasing the volume and reach of trusted, accurate information. Through the initiative, the UN is calling on people around the world to pause before sharing content that may be false or have misinformation on social media. The pause campaign is launching Tuesday, coinciding with Social Media Day, and consists of videos, graphics and colourful gifs that stress sharing only trusted and accurate science-based social media content. Fake news is causing global harm. Misinformation spreading around the world is hampering our ability to make progress on many of the worlds most pressing issues: from fighting the pandemic, to the struggle for racial justice and the climate emergency, the Pause campaign says. As part of the global movement to tackle misinformation on June 30, Verified and the United Nations are asking people around the world to adopt a simple behavioural change when they feel their emotions rising online : Pause. Take care before you share. The Pause campaign will be available in Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian and Portuguese. One of the ways it (misinformation) is spreading is the way people are sharing. The idea of pause is: take care before you share. We hope that take care before you share, starts to be a social norm that people have in the back of their heads and that will enable a personal behavior change, Melissa Fleming, who oversees the UNs global communications effort, said. Through Verified, the UN has recruited so-called digital first responders to counter fake news. These responders of whom there are more than 10,000 signed up for the daily and weekly feeds range from fact checkers in Colombia, to young journalists in the United Kingdom, and the number signing up is growing at a rate of about 10 per cent per week, according to the UNs Department for Global Communications. The cross-regional statement, co-authored by the 13 nations, said that in times of the COVID-19 health crisis, the spread of the infodemic can be as dangerous to human health and security as the pandemic itself. Among other negative consequences, COVID-19 has created conditions that enable the spread of disinformation, fake news and doctored videos to foment violence and divide communities. It is critical that states counter misinformation as a toxic driver of secondary impacts of the pandemic that can heighten the risk of conflict, violence, human rights violations and mass atrocities, the cross-regional statement said. The 13 nations called on everybody to immediately cease spreading misinformation and to observe UN recommendations to tackle this issue. The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the crucial need for access to free, reliable, trustworthy, factual, multilingual, targeted, accurate, clear and science-based information, as well as for ensuring dialogue and participation of all stakeholders and affected communities during the preparedness, readiness and response, they said. The nations said that they along with other many countries and international institutions, such as the WHO and UNESCO, have worked towards increasing societal resilience against disinformation, which has improved overall preparedness to deal with and better comprehend both the infodemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are also concerned about the damage caused by the deliberate creation and circulation of false or manipulated information relating to the pandemic. We call on countries to take steps to counter the spread of such disinformation, in an objective manner and with due respect for citizens freedom of expression, as well as public order and safety. We reaffirm the importance of ensuring that people are accurately informed from trustworthy sources and are not misled by disinformation about COVID-19, the statement said. (Photo Credit: PTI) Dozens of Lebanese protesters gathered outside the Justice Palace in Beirut on Tuesday to demand the independence of the judiciary and the release of protesters who were recently detained over their opinions. More than 20 activists have been detained and are still held because of opinions they have expressed. The protesters waved Lebanese flags and chanted, "the people want to overthrow the regime". The protest comes after authorities started a new investigation into social media posts deemed insulting of President Michel Aoun. Protester Samir Skaf said he was demonstrating because he wants the judiciary to be "completely independent" of any political pressure. Lebanon is one of the most indebted nations in the world. The small Mediterranean country is going through an unprecedented economic meltdown that has seen the local currency lose more than 80% of its value against the US dollar in recent months, amid soaring prices and popular unrest. Imprisoned members of the Islamic State group rioted Monday in a jail controlled by U.S.-backed fighters in Syria, demanding fair trials and visits by their families. The riots in the northeastern city of Hassakeh started with the prisoners trying to break metal doors inside the jail, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor. It said that some detainees were wounded, without giving further details. The North Press Agency, a media platform operating in the Kurdish-administered areas, said the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are sending reinforcements to the prison. Kurdish authorities currently operate more than two dozen detention facilities scattered across northeastern Syria, holding about 10,000 IS fighters. Among the detainees are some 2,000 foreigners whose home countries have refused to repatriate them, including about 800 Europeans. Riots have broken out at least twice this year, in March and in early May. The two-day riots in March were among the most serious uprisings by the prisoners since IS was defeated a year ago, when the SDF seized control of the last sliver of land controlled by the extremists in eastern Syria. The Observatory reported that U.S. military helicopters flew over the prison on Monday night. SDF officials have been saying for months that the international community and the U.S.-led coalition bear responsibility for finding solutions for IS detainees, and need to give more support for security and living conditions at the prisons. IS has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks in recent months in Syria and Iraq, leaving scores of people dead in both countries. IS had declared a caliphate in June 2014 in large parts of Iraq and Syria, and was only defeated after a yearslong campaign by an array of international and local forces. The militant group appears to be expanding its operations as governments in both countries are focused on containing the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout. Thank you for reading! The bad news: youve reached our paywall. The good news: you can continue reading for FREE! We offer a FREE three-month trial subscription! No tricks. No auto- renewals. No payment information until youre ready! Just full online access and our print edition mailed to your door. The purpose of the attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange was to simultaneously target the country's economy and China because of its involvement in Balochistan, the banned separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army has said while claiming the responsibility for the terror strike. Four heavily armed militants on Monday made a brazen attempt to take over the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) building, killing three security guards and a police officer before being shot dead by security forces. The militants, who arrived in a car around 10 am, opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed grenades at the main gate of the multi-storey building situated in the city's high-security commercial hub as they tried to storm it. Armed with automatic machine guns, grenades and explosives, they tried to enter into the compound leading to the PSX building through a parking lot but security forces foiled their attack within the compound itself. After the attack, the BLA in emails to media outlets confirmed that its Majeed Brigade had carried out the strike. It also posted pictures of the four militants. In a message issued late Monday evening, the BLA said the purpose of the attack was to simultaneously target Pakistan's economy and China because of its involvement in Balochistan. Chinese companies have large interests and investments in the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The attack on PSX was the second such failed strike on a major installation in the city by the BLA. In November 2018, the BLA had claimed responsibility for an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in which three of the attackers were killed while trying to enter the building. According to security sources, BLA's Majeed Brigade was formed in 2011 and named after a guard of former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who tried to assassinate him but failed. The security sources said the presence of the BLA Majeed Brigade in Afghanistan is well known. "It is basically a suicide squad which has been tasked with targeting security forces, installations and Chinese interests in Pakistan," a source said. The group has been responsible for a number of terror attacks in Balochistan, notably when they attacked a bus carrying Chinese engineers and workers near Dalbandin in August 2018. Last year, it carried out an attack on the Pearl Continental five star hotel in Gwadar. At least five people and three terrorists were killed in the attack. After the hotel attack, the Majeed Brigade released a video warning the Chinese to leave the province, which is a major part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) land route besides the Gwadar port. Last month, the Majeed Brigade is understood to have carried out three attacks on security forces in the restive Balochistan province. A senior official of the Sindh Counter Terrorism Department noted that while the Majeed Brigade was a deadly force in Baluchistan province, they didn't appear to be well equipped or trained to carry out attacks in urban areas. "They dont seem drilled for attacks in urban areas/big cities," the official said, declining to be named. While massive coronavirus outbreaks in Brazil and the United States have garnered global attention in recent weeks, the per capita death rate has actually been higher in Mexico, the hemisphere's third giant. The three countries account for half of the global deaths with Mexico reporting 27,121 fatalities till now. As per John Hopkins University, Mexico also reported 2,20,657 cases becoming 12th the fourth-worst affected country. Read: US: 3 Dead, 1 Permanently Blind After Drinking Hand Sanitizer In New Mexico Read: New Mexico Reports 192 Additional COVID-19 Cases And 1 Death As per experts, Mexico has the highest fatality rate in the world with single day reporting surpassing that of the US. The Latin American nation reported 3,805 cases in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the country' health care system is struggling to cope with the rising number of infections. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, till march was encouraging Mexicans to continue to hug, kiss and gather in groups, indirectly expediting the spread of the virus. Mexico reopens The IMF projects a 10.5% contraction this year, while the UN says 17 million Mexicans could be living in extreme poverty by years end, up from 11 million now. Amidst all this, the Mexican government allowed more businesses to reopen in parts of the country despite continued high infection and death rates. On a four-colour alert level, in which red is the worst and green the best, Mexico City reportedly said it was downgrading the city's alert to orange even though it has the country's largest numbers of infections and deaths. Hotels and restaurants in the capital will reopen next week at about 30% seating capacity. And despite the announcement on markets, many of the city's street markets never closed during the pandemic. By July 6, shopping malls and department stores will open. Bars, gyms, schools and other businesses will remain closed. The city said hospital bed occupancy had declined somewhat, one indicator that could justify reopening. Read: Caravan Protest Against Mexico President In related news, demonstrators travelling in vehicles as part of a 'caravan' protested on June 28 in Mexico City against the government of President Obrador. At the centre of the discontent is lack of security and the economic devastation worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is pushing more Mexicans into poverty. Thousands of vehicles beeped their horns as they drove down Reforma Avenue to the centre of the city demanding Obrador's resignation. Read: Mexico City Mayor Praises Police Force After Attack Image credits: AP External affairs minister S Jaishankar on June 29 said that India-Bhutan relationship was truly unique and that both the countries were together in battling the coronavirus pandemic. Jaishankar, also assured Thimpu that India would assist the country in dealing with challenges post-pandemic. His remarks came after India signed 600 MW Kholongchhu Indo-Bhutan joint venture hydroelectric project. Read: Monsoon-hit Irrigation System Hampering Bhutan Restarting Water Supply For Assam Farmers Read: Agreement For Indo-Bhutan Joint Venture Hydroelectric Project Signed Terming it as another milestone in diverse and multi-faceted bilateral cooperation between the two countries he congratulated Druk Green Power Corporation of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited of India for its feat. He further said that both nations would do everything they can, to complete the project. India-Bhutan together in pandemic "Our two countries are together to fight this global pandemic. The government of India has provided support, it should, to Bhutan in terms of medical equipment, kits and medicines as part of our government of Bhutans requirements. We have also ensured uninterrupted ad essential goods to Bhutan despite lockdown. India stands with Bhutan in dealing with health and economic challenges post by this pandemic," he said. Further, Jaishankar said that the friendship between the two neighbours has actually created an example for the world. Saying that the relationship is bound with great friendship, it has 'only matured over years'. He also highlighted that the hydropower sector has been the most visible symbol of friendship. "Recently completed Mangdechhu hydroelectric power project has brought the government of India assisted installed capacity to more than 2100 MW", he added. The top leader then said that the Indian government was expediting all the projects. The hydroelectric project As per MEA statement, the 600 MW run-of-the-river project is located on the lower course of the Kholongchhu River in Trashiyangtse district in eastern Bhutan. The project envisages an underground powerhouse of four 150 MW turbines with water impounded by a concrete gravity dam of 95 metres height. It will be implemented by Kholongchhu Hydro Energy Limited, a joint venture company formed between Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) of Bhutan and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) of India. Read: Agreement For Indo-Bhutan Joint Venture Hydroelectric Project Signed Read: 'No Dispute, Bhutan Helping With Clearing Water Blockage': Assam Chief Secretary Clarifies Image credits: PTI Distancing himself from the notion that the world has lost the fight against the COVID-19 crisis, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, on June 29 asserted that though the coronavirus pandemic has changed the usual way of life, people should definitely not stand still. His remarks came as the central Asian nation reported 21,327 cases and 188 deaths until now, the latest tally by John Hopkins University stated. Speaking to an international media outlet, Tokayev stressed that the pandemic has altered the usual way of life. "Indeed, the pandemic has changed the usual way of life not only of our compatriots but of all humankind. We have witnessed that even the most developed states were helpless in the face of a serious illness. Leading European countries, the United States, Asian giantsChina, Japan, South Korea, and many others found themselves in an extremely difficult situation. I consider the argument that 'we are losing in the fight against the epidemic, and the Government has lost control over the situation', incorrect," he said as quoted by ANI. Read: Man Who Went Missing From Airport On His Return From Kazakhstan Traced To Ghaziabad, Quarantined Read: Kazakhstan Ex-president Infected With Coronavirus 'Everyone is affected' Painting a positive picture, he reportedly said that three COVID-19 hospitals were built quickly in cities of Nur Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent. He also said that not only were the clinicswell equipped but doctors also had the necessary knowledge to treat patients. Calling the pandemic 'a passing phenomenon', he said that everyone is affected by it. However, people could protect themselves by taking care of themselves and their loved ones. Further, he urged the Kazaks to not stand still otherwise they " will slip into stagnation with all consequences of statehood". He also emphasised that the prosperity of the country rested in the hands of its residents. In addition, Tokayev, called for respect for all creative arts saying that all professions should be looked at carefully. Earlier this month, it was reported that the ex-president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev had tested positive for the coronavirus. In a statement his spokespeople confirmed there are no reasons for concern" and the 79-year-old remains in isolation. Read: Kazak Authorities' New Laws To Impact Development Of Basic Institutions Of Democracy Read: Reports: Dozens Detained At Kazakhstan Opposition Protests Image credits: ANI (With inputs from agencies) Kosovos president on Monday denied committing war crimes during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia, and said he would resign if an indictment against him is confirmed. Hashim Thaci said in a televised address to the nation that there was no evidence he broke the law. Last week, a prosecutor of a Kosovo court based in The Hague said he had indicted Thaci, former Speaker Kadri Veseli and a group of other former independence fighters. They were accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Thaci's indictment led to the postponement of a White House meeting between the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia which was organised by US presidential envoy Richard Grenell. It would have been the first official talks between Serbia and Kosovo in 19 months. Thaci was travelling to Washington for the discussions when the indictment was announced. "I do not know whether it was chance or intrigue that, midway toward the White House, the notification for an unconfirmed indictment was released," he said. Both Kosovo's president and the prime minister cancelled their trips to Washington, and Grenell said he would reschedule the meeting. Thaci said the meeting being called off was "a strong blow to the opportunity of achieving peace between Kosovo and Serbia." The charges that were handed over say they are "criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders" of Serbs and Roma, as well as Kosovo Albanian political opponents, including enforced disappearances, persecution and torture. The list of charges was made public last week but a pre-trial judge at The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers hasn't made a decision on whether to proceed with the case or throw it out. Thaci was confident that the case wouldn't go ahead. "If the accusation is confirmed, I will immediately resign as your President and face the accusations," he said. Thaci was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation army, or KLA, that fought for independence from Serbia. The fighting left more than 10,000 dead - most of them ethnic Albanians - and 1,641 are still unaccounted for. It ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign in 1999 that forced Serbian troops to stop their crackdown against ethnic Albanians and leave Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Serbia refuses to recognize. Earlier Monday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama visited Kosovo to meet with Thaci and other top officials and politicians. Rama called the indictment a "shameful stain" of world justice. Rubbishing Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli's allegation that India was seeking to oust him from power, senior Nepal Communist Party leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda along with his party colleagues Madhav Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal, and Bamdev Gautam officially demanded his resignation. This development took place on Tuesday at the standing committee meeting of the Nepal Communist Party. Oli's resignation was sought on his alleged failures on a range of issues. On this occasion, Prachanda asked the Nepal PM to give proof on his claim that India was hatching a conspiracy to dislodge him. Reportedly, Prachanda asserted that it is not India but he himself who is seeking Oli's resignation. There has been infighting in the party ranks over the leadership of Nepal Communist Party and the government, Oli's unilateral style of functioning and his backing the Mahakali treaty signed with India in 1996. Ruling Communist Party's Co-Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other senior leaders Madhav Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam ask for PM KP Olis resignation in a standing committee meeting of the party, citing his failure over various issues. pic.twitter.com/4ev6MMQqYR ANI (@ANI) June 30, 2020 Read: Nepal Records 475 New Coronavirus Cases, Tally Crosses 13,000-mark Oli levels incredulous charge In an incredulous claim amid a rift over the new map, Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli on June 28 accused India of trying to hatch a conspiracy to destabilise his government. Alleging that meetings were being organized in hotels in India to topple his government, Oli exuded confidence that these plots would fail. Oli also hit out at the opposition for questioning him on the country's new map comprising the Indian territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura. Read: Traders In Bengal's Panitanki Stop Busines With Nepal For Claiming Indian Areas As Its Own India opposes Nepal's new map Addressing the Parliament on May 19, the Nepal PM claimed that India had made the aforesaid territories "disputed" by stationing its Army there. He vowed to reclaim these territories from India through diplomatic efforts. As per reports, Nepal's new map has been drawn on the basis of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 signed between Nepal and the then British Indian government and other relevant documents. When the Constitutional Amendment Bill to incorporate Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura in Nepal's map was passed by the House of Representatives on June 13, MEA official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava stated that India had already made its position clear on the matter. He stressed that the "artificial enlargement of claims" is not based on any evidence. The MEA spokesperson added that it was violative of the current understanding between the two countries of holding talks on outstanding boundary issues. After the bill was unanimously passed by all 57 members of Nepal's Upper House, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari ratified it on June 18. Read: 'Monitor Indo-Nepal Border Strictly': UP CM To Law Enforcement Agencies Syrian air defences responded to Israeli attacks on military posts in a central province early on Wednesday, shortly after similar attacks in the south killed two soldiers, the defense ministry in Damascus said. State media cited a military official as saying the attack targeted posts in rural areas of Hama province. The air defenses were activated and intercepted a number of the incoming missiles before they reached their target, the unnamed official said in a statement from the defense ministry. In those attacks, there was only material damage to the area, according to the official. But hours earlier, late on Tuesday, two soldiers were killed and four were wounded following coordinated aerial attacks on military bases in the country's Sweida and Deir el-Zour provinces, in south and southeastern Syria respectively. The defense ministry statement didn't identify who was behind the attacks, but said the aircraft flew over eastern Syria. Israel rarely comments on carrying out such attacks in Syria. But in recent weeks, it has carried out several attacks on targets inside Syria, believed to be Iranian and proxy interests. In recent months, Israeli officials have expressed concern that Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah is trying to establish production facilities to make precision guided missiles. In the past two months alone, Syria has accused Israel of carrying out at least eight air raids on its territories. As coronavirus contagion has is still spreading across the world, Taiwan has become the first country to resume ship travel with its cruise Explorer Dream to kickstart the tourism industry which was shut down due to global health crisis. While the global infections have surpassed 10.3 million as per John Hopkins University, the service which is part of the Dream Cruises brand will resume by July 26. The company said on June 30 that its cruise would operate for two and three-night Taiwan Island-hopping beginning next month. The Explorer Dream would depart from Keelung and will be calling at Penghu, Matzu and Kinmen islands. Dream Cruises brand is owned by Hong Kong-based Genting Cruise Lines and its chairman and CEO, Tan Sri KT Lim has appreciated the approval of the cruise by the authorities to resume operations after several months of detailed planning. Dream Cruises has become the worlds first cruise line to start sailing after the entire industry suffered a huge blow of the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak. Tan has also assured that the standard operating procedure will keep in mind the safety of the passengers who will get the first-hand experience of the ships. After months of detailed planning with the authorities to ensure the safety and health of guests and crew, we appreciate the approval of Explorer Dream resuming cruise operations in Taiwan. Dream Cruises will be the first cruise line in the world to begin sailing after the global cruise industry was shut down due to the pandemic, said Tan Sri KT Lim, Chairman and CEO of Genting Hong Kong. Read - Taiwan President Says China's Security Law Proved 'one Country, Two Systems' Not Viable Read - Taiwan: Fighting Erupts In Parliament After Opposition Barred Entry Of Ruling Party COVID-19 causes 196 deaths every hour Taiwan's announcement came just a day after a tally by international media agency concluded that 196 people are dying of the disease every hour, implying that one death is recorded every 18 seconds. As of June 30, the global COVID-19 cases have reached 10,344,778 with 505,300 deaths. However, Taiwan has reported 447 cases and seven deaths. Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak as pandemic on March 11, it has now spread to over 220 countries and territories out of which 189 have reported casualties. The respiratory illness that has infected over 10.1 million people across the globe has been causing the death of at least 4,700 people every 24 hours. Read - Taiwan Holds LGBTQ Pride Parade Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, See Pics Read - Hundreds In Taiwan Hold Pride Parade Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on June 30 accused the French President of seeking to increase Russian presence in Libya and called Frances involvement in the Libyan conflict a destructive approach. Amid the soaring tensions between the two NATO allies, Cavusoglu reportedly claimed that Emmanuel Macron cant manage to govern France and has only been in Libya for its own interests and ambitions. He further called it a destructive approach and pointed out that France pushed Africa to instability in the past with a colonialist approach and bombed and quit Libya in 2011. While the French President, Macron accused Turkey of criminal responsibility over its involvement in the Libyan conflict, the Turkish foreign minister responded by reportedly saying that NATO sees Russia as a threat but France is working to increase Russias presence in Libya. Cavusoglu statement comes after Macron strongly condemned Turkeys actions in Libya as unacceptable. READ: Macron Condemns Turkey's 'criminal' Actions In Libya On June 29, Macron reportedly lashed out at Turkey and said that they dont respect any of its commitments. As per reports, France also sees Ankara as an obstacle to securing a cease-fire in the conflict-torn country. The tensions between France and Turkey also escalated following an incident between Turkish warships and French naval vessel in the Mediterranean, which France considers a hostile act under NATOs rules of engagement. READ: Libyan Tribes Offer To End To Oil Blockade Amid Talks France accuses Turkey of repeated violations France has reportedly accused Turkey of repeated violations of the UN arms embargo and of importing Syrian fighters to Libya. While Cavusoglu said that France was working against NATO and in favour of Russia in Libya, earlier this month, Macron reportedly also condemned interference in Libya from Russian private military contractor Wagner. Libya has been In turmoil since 2011 when dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted. The oil-rich country has since been split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each backed by armed groups and different foreign governments. While Macron has repeatedly claimed that he is in favour of finding a political solution, some leaders also suspect that France is backing Haftar alongside Egypt, Russia and the UAE. Meanwhile, the UN-supported government in the capital Tripoli is mainly backed by Turkey. (Image: AmiraAmari2/Twitter) READ: Sudan Says Over 120 Arrested Before Going To Fight In Libya READ: Libya Oil Company: Russian Mercenaries Enter Major Oilfield The United Nations and aid organizations are making a plea for world leaders to boost financial support to conflict-torn Syria where around 11 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, as the European Union hosts a major donor conference on Wednesday. The conflict has killed more than 400,000 people and sparked a refugee exodus that has destabilized Syria's neighbors and hit Europe, but now economic chaos and the spread of the coronavirus are weighing even more heavily on its long-suffering people. Syria's struggling economy has sharply deteriorated recently. Prices have soared and the national currency, the Syrian pound, has collapsed, partly due to fears that international sanctions would further isolate the country. Farmers desperately need funds to prepare next year's crops. "In addition to the crisis that we've confronted before, so now you have two additional elements. One is the COVID-19, but perhaps even larger is the collapse of the Syrian economy," said the UN Assistant Secretary and Coordinator for Syria Kevin Kennedy. "Food prices are up over 200% from what they were this time a year ago. And you know, in a country where already the majority of people are living below the poverty line," he added. Other organizations are also calling for pledgers to give as needs increase. Oxfam, Humanity & Inclusion, CARE International, World Vision International, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, and the Norwegian Refugee Council said in a joint statement that 9.3 million Syrians are experiencing hunger and at least another 2 million are at risk. The UN's World Food Programme has warned that unless donor countries step up, more Syrians could be forced to flee from their home or host countries. Kennedy said that is a distinct possibility, especially if refugees don't get the basic aid they need. Perhaps wary of the state of coronavirus-ravaged national coffers, organizers have underlined that they have no fixed pledging target for Tuesday's donor conference. In a report last week, the EU said that in 2019 donors contributed 8.9 billion euros ($10 billion) in grants to Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The United Nations currently requires about $3.8 billion for its Syria-related work. It will be the eighth annual Syria pledging conference, and the fourth hosted by the EU, which estimates that it has donated around 20 billion euros ($23 billion) to Syria and the region over the years. Around 60 countries, including the US, key UN agencies and others involved in the conflict are expected to take part. Kennedy said that from his conversations with participating governments so far, he has not noticed an inability or disinterest to help. "We have not seen the so-called 'donor fatigue' yet in Syria. Yes, we never receive all that we're seeking, that never happens, but of all the appeals the United Nations issues worldwide for dozens of countries in crisis, the Syria appeal has been consistently the one that fulfills the highest percentage, if you will, of the request. That's a good sign, I anticipate that this will continue," he said. A perfect gift! Buy 1, Get 1 Two subscriptions for the price of one! Sign up a new subscriber and send a free year to anyone you choose. Well send them a Welcome Card. The United States along with Brazil and Russia are among the countries that did not make the initial safe list of destinations for non-essential travel to Europe. The EU governments are expected to give outline approval to leisure or business travel to 14 countries beyond its borders. And as the aforementioned countries are the top three hardest-hit nations by COVID-19 pandemic, the diplomats reportedly said that the authorities excluded them from the safe list. According to an international media report, countries, including Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay, made the initial safe list. China will also be provisionally approved, however, travel would only open if Chinese authorities also allow EU visitors. READ: European Union Extends Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine Conflict The safe list is yet to pass by a qualified majority of EU countries. As per reports, the 27-member-bloc is expected to give the outline approval and vote on the list on July 1. The safe list comes as the leaders aim to support the EU travel industry and tourist destinations, particularly those which are hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The safe-list will also reportedly act as a recommendation to EU members. The list will certainly not allow access to travellers from other countries and additionally, the authorities might set restrictions on those entering from the 14 nations as well. The announcement of the safe list also comes amid EUs effort to reopen internal borders. READ: European Leaders Join Global Fundraising Drive COVID-19 outbreak As per reports, Greece is mandating coronavirus tests for arrival from a range of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, with self-isolation. On the other hand, the Czech Republic is not allowing in tourists from Portugal and Sweden. Meanwhile, the European countries were among the hardest-hit by the pandemic. Italy and Spain remained topmost affected countries for quite some time before the United States surpassed them to become the worst-hit country in the world. According to figures by Johns Hopkins University, the world has recorded over 10 million coronavirus cases so far, of which more than 5,05,000 people have lost their lives and Italy, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom still in the top-10 list of worst-affected nations. (Image: AP) READ: Petitions Gaining Momentum To Remove European Rulers' Statues Who Promoted Slavery, Racism READ: Coronavirus Safety Measures To Follow For Safe Travel To European Countries The European Union is edging toward finalizing a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter Europe again in coming days, with Americans almost certain to be excluded in the short term due to the number of U.S. coronavirus cases. More than 15 million Americans are estimated to travel to Europe annually, and any delay would be a further blow to virus-ravaged economies and tourism sectors including the tourism capitals of Rome, Barcelona, Paris and Athens. In Italy, the European country that was hit the earliest by the pandemic, many hope to revive a decimated tourist industry, which is worth 13% of Italy's gross domestic product. Restaurants around the Trevi Fountain in Rome remained largely empty. Restaurant workers say a ban on American tourists would only stall the recovery process. In the coastal Spanish city of Barcelona food restaurants near the iconic Sagrada Familia basilica were not open on Monday. Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece visited by millions remains closed and will only begin opening gradually to locals on July 4. Despite the lack of tourists, taxis remained parked outside the basilica in the hope of getting customers. Javed Ikbal was one of them, but his wait was in vain. He has been driving tourists and locals around the city for the past 10 years and said that at least 20% of his passengers are American citizens. Now it is nearly 0. He said he understood the reason behind banning visitors from countries where virus cases were still on the rise, but hoped that would be over soon. In Paris' the famed Champs-Elysees avenue, cafes normally bursting with tourists saw empty tables. In Athen's Plaka district, the streets were also empty, but locals hope this will change soon. On Wednesday, international flights will be allowed at regional airports across Greece. Since June 15, tourists can fly only through the airports in Athens or the northern city of Thessaloniki. The Greek civil protection agency has said the regional airports opening to international flights on July 1 will have health teams that include members of the armed forces, fire department and police to assist in sample coronavirus testing of incoming passengers. Greece has been eager to attract foreign visitors, as tourism makes up a significant part of the country's economy. The Bank of Greece on Monday said it expects a major drop in tourism revenue which topped 18 billion euros ($20.3 billion), about 10 percent of the country's annual output. Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email please call (208) 542-6777 for help. We get it. You don't want to see the ads. We'd just ask you to understand that those ads help us pay the bills and our reporters. Please, consider white-listing the Standard Journal in your ad-blocker or, even better, purchase a subscription so that you can help support quality local journalism. A Cambodian vendor reads the Phnom Penh Post newspaper at her newsstand in Phnom Penh, May 7, 2018. The European Union should ramp up sanctions against Prime Minister Hun Sens government in Cambodia after a third reporter in three months was arrested for inciting chaos, Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Tuesday. A decision looms in Brussels next month over whether to withdraw Cambodias preferential trade treatment in response to a government crackdown on the political opposition, independent media and civil society launched three years ago. The reporters are the most recent of a long line of figures to be arrested. Ros Sokhet, the publisher of the Cheat Khmer (Khmer Nation) newspaper, was arrested on June 25 on a warrant issued the previous day by the Cybercrime Bureau of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police for incitement to cause chaos and harm social security under Article 495 of the Criminal Code. The warrant came after Ros Sokhet posted two comments to Facebook on June 24: one questioning Hun Sens recently declared intention to name his son as his successor, and another noting the lack of government assistance for borrowers who have been unable to repay their debts due to layoffs during the coronavirus pandemic. Ros Sokhet was sent to pre-trial detention on June 26 and additionally charged two days later with incitement to commit a felony under Article 494 of the Criminal Code. He faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison, if convicted. Cambodias Information Ministry has said it may revoke Cheat Khmers license, despite having renewed it two months ago without any issues. On Tuesday, RSF demanded Ros Sokhets release, saying in a statement that his detention for the two critical posts shows that Phnom Penh is now adopting the methods of the worst totalitarian regimes. Nothing is now holding back the Hun Sen cliques headlong rush to gag dissenting voices, said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSFs Asia-Pacific desk. For this reason, we urge the EU to toughen the trade sanctions it recently imposed on the Cambodian government. The EU in mid-February announced plans to suspend tariff-free access to its market under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme for around one-fifth of Cambodias exports, citing rollbacks on human rights, including press freedoma decision that would reinstate tariffs on garments and footwear beginning Aug. 12, unless it is overturned by the blocs governments or its parliament. The decision will result in a loss of around U.S. $1.1 billion of the countrys annual U.S. $5.8 billion in exports to the bloc, some 75 percent of which are made up of clothing and textilesa crucial industry in Cambodia that employs one million people. Hun Sen has shrugged off the EUs move, but unions have warned that the reinstatement of tariffs on Cambodian exports to the EU could leave 80,000 workers from more than 1,000 garment factories in Cambodia jobless if buyers from the bloc stop placing orders because of increased costs. When asked by RFAs Khmer Service about Ros Sokhets case on Tuesday, Ministry of Justice spokesman Chhin Malin refused to comment, saying it is a matter for the courts and that the government cannot interfere. Other arrests Amid the crackdown on the press, two other journalists have been targeted by authorities over the past three months for reporting deemed critical of the government. Sovann Rithy, a journalist working for the online news website TVFB, was detained on April 7 for reporting a speech by Hun Sen about the coronavirus and also charged with incitement to cause chaos and harm social security under Article 495 of the Criminal Code. The reporter had accurately posted on Facebook a comment by Hun Sen earlier that day telling motorbike-taxi drivers who go bankrupt because of the coronavirus outbreak to sell your motorbikes for spending money [because] the government does not have the ability to help. Sok Oudom, the owner and manager of Rithisen Radio in the seat of Kampong Chhnang province, was arrested for incitement to cause chaos on May 13 after broadcasting a report about a land conflict between villagers and a local military official. Last month, journalists in Cambodia expressed concern that a new law authorizing a state of emergency to contain the spread of the coronavirus will be used by the government to restrict their ability to work. The Law on Governing the Country in a State of Emergency was unanimously approved by Cambodias one-party legislature and signed into effect in April, despite warnings from rights groups and a United Nations expert that it could be used to unnecessarily increase already heavy restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. RFA closed its nearly 20-year-old bureau in Phnom Penh on Sept. 12, 2017 amid a crackdown by the government that also saw the Supreme Court dissolve the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) a month later. The move paved the way for Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) to sweep the ballot in national elections in 2018, effectively turning Cambodia into a one-party state. Cambodia is ranked 144th out of 180 countries and territories in RSFs 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen said Beijing had failed Hong Kong with the imposition on Tuesday of a sweeping national security law on the city banning a slew of offenses targeting anyone who challenges the ruling Communist Party's political and ideological supremacy. "I feel extremely disappointed [over the law's passage], which means China did not keep its promise to Hong Kong," Tsai told journalists as the law was added to Hong Kong's statute book, bypassing the city's Legislative Council (LegCo). Tsai said the law had put an end to Beijing's "one country, two systems" model, under which it saw the return of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese rule in 1997 and 1999 respectively. Chinese president Xi Jinping has called on Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, nor formed part of the People's Republic, to "unify" with China under the same plan as Hong Kong and Macau. But Tsai said the draconian new law that took effect at 11.00 p.m. on June 30, one hour before the anniversary of the handover on July 1, proved that the concept was "not feasible" for Taiwan. Tsai, whose government has set up a special agency tasked with easing the path of Hongkongers fleeing to the democratic island, said she hoped the people of Hong Kong would continue to fight to maintain their freedoms, democracy, and human rights after the law is implemented. But she also reiterated Taiwan's pledge of help to Hongkongers in the form of the Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchanges Office, which will begin operations Wednesday to provide one-stop services to Hong Kongers who wish to study, do business, make investments, or seek asylum on the island. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), an executive agency tasked with managing relations with China, also criticized the new law, saying it would seriously affect the city's freedoms and human rights protections. "Since the Chinese Communist Party announced the national security law for Hong Kong, people from all walks of life in the city have been worrying about what crimes they could be accused of in future," MAC spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng said. "What's more, the Chinese Communist Party has set up a national security agency in Hong Kong ... bringing more fear and suppression to the people of Hong Kong," he said. Worst-case scenario Lin Feifan, deputy secretary general of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said: "In response to the crisis in Hong Kong, we must make the best preparations for the worst-case scenario and give [its people] our strongest support." In the capital, Taipei, city authorities have set up a fast-track service helping Hongkongers find study and employment opportunities in the city. Deputy mayor Tsai Ping-kun said the city had been extending a helping hand to people fleeing arrest in Hong Kong since September 2019. "We have been doing this all along since last September ... but now we are further integrating our [resources and services] with a single point of contact, a dedicated helpline and area," Tsai said. "We don't have a new office, but there is integration of existing resources." Former Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kei, who fled to Taiwan fearing arrest by Chinese state security police, said he is teaming up with other exiled activists to provide help and information to Hongkongers wanting to flee their city. "[They] are setting up a platform to offer assistance and information to Hongkongers," Lam said. "Sometimes they might go to the wrong place, or even get targeted by fraudsters. That does happen." "We want to put them in touch with reliable friends or organizations that are going to help them," he said. Reported by Hwang Chun-mei for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Chung Kuang-cheng for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Chinese President Xi Jinping on signed a presidential order to impose draconian security legislation on Hong Kong, with effect from 11.00 p.m. local time, an hour before the handover anniversary. The full text of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which bans a vaguely defined and all-encompassing slew of actions including many seen during last year's pro-democracy protests and anti-extradition movement, was published in Chinese only in the Hong Kong government gazette and signed by its chief executive Carrie Lam. State-run Xinhua News Agency later published an English translation it said was "for reference only." Beijing's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) likened the national security law to a "sharp sword" hanging over the heads of anyone "endangering national security." However, the law also targets anyone in the world committing actions within its scope, regardless of whether they live in Hong Kong or are its permanent residents. Many of the actions and activities banned in the law could include those taken by protesters last year in the face of widespread police violence meted out even to peaceful mass marches. Trials under the law may be held in secret if "state secrets" are deemed to be involved. The mainland Chinese authorities have typically employed a highly elastic definition of what constitutes a state secret, and national security charges are frequently leveled at rights activists, authors and academics and human rights lawyers for something they posted online. Anyone suspected of "crimes" under the law can be issued with a travel ban, their passport confiscated and their assets frozen. Businesses, groups and other legal entities suspected of breaching the law may be shut down or have their licenses to operate revoked, echoing a process used by authorities in mainland China to revoke human rights lawyers' license to operate as a business. The law may also be used to require media or online service providers to remove copy deemed to harm national security, and to reveal details of its source. Anyone "causing residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to have misgivings about the Central People's Government through various unlawful means," will also be pursued under the law, a provision that also could potentially be used to target the media and anyone commenting on social media. Judges in national security trials may be appointed by Lam. Cases will be heard by three judges. Pro-China supporters display Chinese and Hong Kong flags as they raise a toast with champagne during a rally near the government headquarters in Hong Kong, as China passed a sweeping national security law for the city, June 30, 2020. Credit: AFP 'Foreign forces' Any activity that is deemed to have used "force or the threat of force" to advocate independence for Hong Kong would be covered by the law, as would any financial aid, help or other donations to such a cause. Anyone using or preparing explosive devices like the Molotov cocktails in widespread use by frontline protesters fighting back against riot police would fall within the law's remit. Potential targets could also include anyone advocating independence or self-sufficiency for Hong Kong, and anyone promoting, donating to, or helping such groups in any way. The law also targets those "seriously interfering with, obstructing or sabotaging the Central Authorities of the People's Republic of China or the performance of functions by the organs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which could mean obstructing almost any form of official business. A clause about "attacking, damaging or destroying [government] places and facilities" would encompass anyone vandalizing government property, which also occurred during last year's protests, as well as anyone funding or helping anyone to do these things. Anyone vandalizing the MTR or ticket machines, anyone using fire hydrants, or interfering with a CCTV camera, all of which became regular features of protests, could also fall into the law's net, as could anyone helping, funding or donating to people doing such things. People offering lifts to protesters or assisting them in other ways could also be targeted. The articles on "collusion with foreign forces" refer to anyone seen to be working with overseas organizations or individuals, not just to obtain state secrets, but also to "obstruct" Hong Kong government law or policy. Anyone colluding with foreign powers to impose sanctions on Hong Kong will also be targeted, which was a key plank of the pro-democracy movement's strategy, culminating in the passing of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in the U.S. in . Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. China on approved draconian new security legislation for Hong Kong banning activities deemed subversive or secessionist, paving the way for its feared state security police to operate in the city. The law's approval by the National People's Congress (NPC) standing committee after months of mass public protest was immediately condemned by Brussels as being in breach of China's treaty obligations to preserve Hong Kong's independent judicial status and traditional freedoms of speech and association. "We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble," Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kongs sole representative on the committee, told reporters after the law was approved. "Dont let Hong Kong be used as a tool to split the country." "Stirring up trouble" is frequently used as an accusation against peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which has sought to label last year's mass protests for democracy and the preservation of Hong Kong's freedoms as a secessionist movement instigated by foreign powers. Amid widespread fear that the law will be used to target opposition politicians and peaceful campaigners, two of Hong Kong's youth-led "localist" political parties announced they would dissolve shortly after the law was passed. Former 2014 pro-democracy movement leader Joshua Wong resigned as leader of Demosisto, the political group he founded in the wake of the Occupy Central movement. Soon afterwards, the group announced it would cease operations in Hong Kong. Demisisto said its current operations were "unsustainable" in the current political climate. "We hereby announced that Demosisto will disband and cease operations ... People of Hong Kong, see you on the streets!" Demosisto founder Agnes Wong, whose bid to run as a candidate for the city's Legislative Council (LegCo) was denied for political reasons, and former Demosisto lawmaker Nathan Law, who was stripped of his LegCo seat after an edict from Beijing, also announced their resignations at the same time. 'Heavy-hearted decision' Tony Chung, founder of the Studentlocalism activist group, announced his group would disband and that he would withdraw from political activism. ", I had no choice but to make a heavy-hearted decision to disband our Hong Kong members and operations," Chung said in a Facebook post after the law passed. "I have no choice based on [the new] political reality ... I will continue to walk with the people of Hong Kong after my occupation changes," he wrote. Meanwhile, democracy activists Figo Chan, Wu Chi Wai, Bull Tsang and Andy Tsui vowed to take to the streets in a protest march marking the 23rd anniversay of the 1997 handover in defiance of a police ban, and on the day the law -- which will bypass LegCo -- is expected to take effect in the city. China has yet to make public the full text of the law, which it claims has widespread support in Hong Kong. However, pro-Beijing politicians have warned that the maximum jail term for sedition, subversion, and colluding with "overseas forces" has been hiked from 10 years to life. State news agency Xinhua has reported that the law will target acts of "secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign or external forces that endanger national security." The law requires the setting up of a national security office under the direct control of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Beijing to oversee the implementation of the law and provides for mainland Chinese state security police to have a base in the city, in contravention of an article in the city's mini constitution, the Basic Law. Chief executive Carrie Lam will be given the power to appoint judges to hear cases brought under the law, a move that lawyers have warned will compromise judicial independence. Hong Kong's police force, already widely criticized for widespread violence against peaceful protesters and increasingly arbitrary arrests, has already set up a national security division to implement the law, according to Xinhua. Police enter a shopping mall to disperse people attending a lunchtime rally in Hong Kong on as China passed a sweeping national security law for the city, June 30, 2020. AFP Sweeping new powers Lam defended Beijings right to impose the legislation in Hong Kong in a speech via video link to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. All those countries which have pointed their fingers at China have their own national security legislation in place, she said. We could think of no valid reason why China alone should be inhibited from enacting national security legislation to protect every corner of its territory and all of its nationals. More than a hundred protesters gathered at a luxury mall in Hong Kong's Central business district, chanting slogans including Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now!" with several holding up a flag representing an independent Hong Kong as well as posters condemning the law. London-based rights group Amnesty International said the law would give China sweeping new powers to name anyone in Hong Kong a criminal suspect under the law. "The passing of the national security law is a painful moment for the people of Hong Kong and represents the greatest threat to human rights in the citys recent history," the group's China team leader Joshua Rosenzweig said in a statement. "From now on, China will have the power to impose its own laws on any criminal suspect it chooses." He said the fact that the law had been passed without anyone in Hong Kong seeing the full text suggested it would be used as a "weapon of repression" against peaceful opposition and criticism. "Their aim is to govern Hong Kong through fear from this point forward," Rosenzweig said. The EU Commission President said the EU is "seriously concerned" about the law, which "does not conform with Hong Kong's Basic Law or China's international commitments." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on said the U.S. would stop exporting sensitive military items to Hong Kong, following his announcement that Washington was imposing visa restrictions on current and former Chinese Communist Party members believed to be responsible for undermining Hong Kong's promised autonomy and traditional freedoms. The U.S. views the national security law as being in breach of China's international obligations under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration governing the 1997 handover. Activists fear that leaders of pro-democracy protests since 2014 could be among the first targets of mainland-inspired arrests. Reported by RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Large numbers of North Korean workers are stranded in Chinamade jobless by the coronavirus, but unable to return home until they meet hard currency quotas set by the government in Pyongyang that exports their labor and takes more than 90 percent of their wages. The workers, as well as the North Korean handlers who arrange the contracts in China and remittances to Pyongyang, are waiting out the coronavirus until jobs return, but laborers are getting by on little more than rice and kimchi, sources familiar with their plight told RFA. The workers have been able to save very little after surrendering about 95 percent of their wages to the North Korean government, which desperately needs foreign cash as it has been squeezed by U.S. and U.N. sanctions aimed at depriving it of resources that could be funneled into its nuclear and missile programs. The sanctions targeting labor exports mandated that North Koreans abroad on working visas return home by Dec. 22, 2019, but RFA reported at the time that workers in China were ignoring the deadline. North Koreans also enter China on family visit visas and find short-term jobs. In late January RFA reported that Chinese authorities had instructed police not to enter places of business employing North Koreans, a sign that Beijing was willing to look the other way in the face of sanctions violations. The stream of workers continued from North Korea to China even as late as February, well after COVID-19 had become endemic there. But now that social distancing measures in China have shut down the factories, North Koreans who were earning as little as U.S. $14 per month in takeaway pay are left with almost no safety net to rely on until businesses reopen. Many of the North Korean workers who have remained here in Dandong since the end of last year are scrambling, a Chinese citizen of Korean descent, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFAs Korean Service. The source said most of the workers remaining in Dandong, across the Yalu from the North Korean city of Sinuiju, have stayed in China in violation of sanctions. Some Chinese companies have unilaterally broken their labor contracts with the North Korean workers under the pretext of having no work due to the coronavirus crisis. So the workers are frantically looking for other jobs. Hard currency quota The source said that the North Korean handlers were reluctant to negotiate with the Chinese companies to work out a solution for fear of losing future business. It is wrong that the Chinese companies unilaterally broke their labor contracts, but the North Korean company that manages the workers cant even express their resentment out of fear that they could lose the opportunity for future employment, the source said. [The workers] hope that once the coronavirus crisis is resolved, they will be able to go to work again with better wages and treatment, so they are just bearing with the situation, said the source. North Korean companies that export labor to China have their hands tied: They cannot get support from Chinese companies for their unemployed workers, but they also cannot simply bring them home, said the source. They must somehow fill the foreign currency quota designated by the party, in order to be able to bring workers home, the source said. If they just leave the Chinese company, with which they had a hard-won labor contract, it would be a major setback for any future dispatch of North Korean workers to China, so they have no choice but to just endure the difficult reality and wait for the coronavirus situation to get better, the source added. A second source said Chinese companies normally pay about 2,500-3,000 yuan ($353-424) a month for each North Korean worker, of which the workers receive between 100 and 300 yuan ($14-42), or between four and 10 percent. Though this varies from worker to worker what they get is terribly small, said the second source, another Chinese citizen of Korean descent from Dandong, who declined to be named. Living conditions for the unemployed workers have become dire, according to both sources. They are divided into small groups of 10 to 20 workers and they try to earn money, at least for their rooms, by doing chores for small companies, said the first source. Their managers are letting the workers subsist on only rice and kimchi for their meals because they cant make any money, the source added. Brutal work for low pay But life was difficult for these workers even before the coronavirus hit, according to the source. Through November last year, thousands of North Korean workers were dispatched to Dandong to work in fisheries, food processing, and medicine and clothing manufacturing. They worked 12-hour days, pocketing only five to ten percent of the wages paid out by the Chinese companies. The second source said that although they paid low wages, Chinese companies provided workers with the basics they needed to survive. When they were working, they were provided with daily necessities and fairly good meals compared to the Chinese workers. Once the coronavirus hit, their work was greatly reduced, the second source said. I dont know why the North Korean authorities are giving such a hard time to these female workers, especially considering they have been working so hard to make lots of foreign currency, added the second source, who said most affected workers are young women in their early 20s. They may stay in the accommodation provided by the shut-down factory, but because the Chinese company does not support food expenses, they are having rice for their three meals a day without any side dishes, said the second source. RFA attempted to contact the UN Security Councils North Korean Sanctions Committee for comment on North Korean workers still in China after the Dec. 2019 sanctions deadline. As of Monday, there was no response. The Korean International Trade Association, a private economic organization, estimated the number of North Korean workers in China at 70,000 to 80,000 in August 2019. South Koreas Foreign Ministry put the number of North Korean workers overseas at 70,000-100,000 as of the end of 2017. Research institutes in Seoul, including the Korea Institute for National Unification and Sejong Institute, in numbers tallied before the sanctions deadline last year, estimated North Koreas overseas workers to be around 100,000, 80 percent of which are in neighboring China and Russia, with 50,000 and 30,000, respectively. Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisolith has announced a reduction in prices for power use following weeks of public anger at high costs, saying This is something we have to do. I have heard a lot of complaints about high power charges, Thongloun said during a meeting of the Lao National Assembly on June 25. One restaurant owner said that he had closed his restaurant for the duration of the business lockdown [to contain the spread of coronavirus], but that his bills had doubled, the prime minister said, adding that employees of the state-owned power company Electricite du Laos had read some meters incorrectly, claiming the meters were broken. I am now ordering Electricite du Laos to punish those corrupt employees and pay money back to their customers, he said. Earlier rate structures were not really fair and had disadvantaged low-income families and discouraged foreign investment, Thongloun said, noting that up to 70 percent of the Lao population use less than 150 kilowatt hours of power per month. So we, the government, proposed earlier this year to charge just half of a flat rate of 710 kip (U.S. $0.08) per kilowatt hour for those who use between 0 and 150 kilowatt hours per month, and to charge full price for those who use more than 150 kilowatt hours, Thongloun said. Because of business shutdowns to contain the spread of coronavirus, though, people were staying home, using more power, and complaining of higher chargeswhich had doubled in some households, he said. Now, in new rates taking immediate effect and retroactive to April, consumers of from 0-150 kilowatt hours will be charged 355 kip (U.S. $0.04) per kilowatt hour, half of the flat rate of 710 kip (U.S. $0.08) per kilowatt hour previously in force, the prime minister said. Charges will then climb incrementally, with power use of 461 and up then charged at the former flat rate, he said. The government knows that Electricite du Laos will lose 100 billion kip (U.S. $11 million) per year as a result of this new pricing system. But this is something we have to do, he said. 'Wait and see' Lao citizens welcomed the announced change but voiced caution in interviews with RFA on June 29, with one resident of Bolikhamxay province saying he will wait to see if any reduction to his bills is made. Im going to wait to see. Its hard now for people to pay their bills, because theyre so expensive. Ill believe this if I see my bills reduced, he said. A resident of Khammuane province meanwhile said he was happy to see the prime minister address the problem of power costs, and will follow developments to see what happens. Yes, [the government] is adjusting the price of electricity, its changing the unit price, he said, adding, We dont know the details yet. A restaurant owner in the capital Vientiane said, however, that he may see no benefit from the restructured costs, as his restaurant uses more than 461 kilowatt hours per month and will still have to pay the flat rate. The government is only resolving problems for the households. For us as a business, it will be the same price, he said. Power prices have become a sensitive issue in Laos, where people who were already poor before the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the economy now chafe at high rates in a country building billion-dollar hydropower dams on its major rivers to sell electricity to richer neighboring countries. Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney. Vietnamese activist Nguyen Van Duc Do is shown in an undated photo. Family members of a political prisoner who was recently beaten and fed human waste at one of Vietnams most notorious prisons have filed a petition demanding an end to inhumane treatment of inmates at the facility. The petition alleges that at the Xuan Loc Penitentiary in Dong Nai province, where Nguyen Van Duc Do is serving an 11-year sentence, guards tortured him for requesting time on weekends to sunbathe. Nguyen, incarcerated since 2016 for activities aimed at overthrowing the government, alerted his family to his inhumane treatment over the phone on June 12. After being physically assaulted, my brother was then held in an isolation cell, chained for two days and one night, making his legs swollen and possibly breaking his ligaments, Nguyens brother Nguyen Van Duc An wrote in the petition. My brother has requested medical treatment but has been denied. In addition, during his time in isolation, his food ration was mixed with feces. As of June 23, when the petition was signed, Nguyen had not received medical treatment. According to the petition he is still using funds sent by his family to purchase food at the prison. RFA reported in Oct. 2019 that Nguyen began a hunger strike to protest food prices at the prison, joining several others at the facility who had stopped eating after being subject to various forms of mistreatment. According to a friend interviewed in that report, political prisoners at Xuan Loc were being charged four or five times higher for food than other prisoners there. 2016 arrest Arrested in November 2016, Nguyen and four other activists were convicted on Oct. 5, 2018 in a Ho Chi Minh City court after being found guilty in a one-day trial of involvement in a political group that authorities deemed to have challenged Vietnams Communist one-party system. The group had been charged under Article 79 of Vietnams Penal Code, one of a set of vague provisions in the law used to detain writers, activists, and bloggers, and had been held without trial for almost two years. Authorities said their group, the Vietnam National Self-Determination Coalition, had knowingly worked to damage the image and policies of the country's ruling Communist Party. The group had previously been active in protesting the governments handling of a massive chemical spill in April 2016 that devastated the countrys central coast, leaving fishermen and tourism workers jobless in four central provinces. Group leader Luu Van Vinh was given 15 years. Nguyen Quoc Hoan was sentenced to 13 years, Nguyen Van Duc Do to 11 years, Tu Cong Nghia to 10 years, and Phan Trung to 8 years. Their sentences were upheld on appeal on March 18, 2019. Xuan Loc RFA has over the past several years documented inhumane living conditions and torture at Xuan Loc, which lies northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. In 2011 the wife of jailed blogger Nguyen Van Hai told RFA that prison authorities informed her that her husband had lost his arm at the prison without elaborating. In 2013, about 70 prisoners there rioted and took hostage the prisons chief. Sources said that many of the political prisoners at Xuan Loc were subject to harsh treatment to break their spirits and force confessions. In 2014, Huynh Anh Tri, who had just finished a 14-year sentence at Xuan Loc, told RFA he contracted HIV at the prison after being forced to share razors with other inmates. In May of this year, guards at the facility beat six political prisoners and placed them in solitary because they asked for more time working outside on weekends. The 88 Project, an Illinois-based NGO that tracks political prisoners, found that last year Vietnam arrested 41 people for peaceful activism and tried 61 for national security crimes. In addition the 88 Project documented 96 incidents of activists being harassed, and 16 cases of torture of political prisoners. Vietnam has failed to uphold its international commitments made during its [UN Human Rights Council] 2019 Universal Periodic Review, the 88 Project said in the 2019 Report on Political Prisoners and Activists at Risk in Vietnam. The crackdown on dissent shows no signs of slowing down in 2020, and it is highly unlikely that Vietnam will fulfill its human rights obligations moving forward, it added. Dissent is not tolerated in the communist nation, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers and bloggers. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Four activists, three of whom are related, were arrested June 24, 2020 for discussing January's violent Dong Tam protests on Facebook. From left to right: Trinh Ba Tu, his mother Can Thi Theu, his brother Trinh Ba Phuong and Nguyen Thi Tam, who was arrested on the same charge. Trinh Ba Phuong, an activist who was arrested last week along with his mother and brother for publicizing a decades-old land dispute that came to a violent end in January, has invoked his right to remain silent and is not cooperating with police, his lawyer said Monday. Trinh, his mother Can Thi Theu and brother Trinh Ba Tu had been outspoken in social media postings about a violent police raid in January at the Dong Tam commune, 25 miles south of the capital Hanoi. They had also openly offered information to embassies and other foreign figures to try to raise awareness of the incident. Can and Trinh Ba Phuong were arrested Wednesday from their home in Hanois Duong Noi ward, while Trinh Ba Tu was arrested at his home in nearby Hoa Binh province. Land rights petitioner Nguyen Thi Tam was arrested in Duong Noi on the same day on the same chargesmaking, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in violation of Article 117 of Vietnams penal code. The Jan. 9 raid on Dong Tam protesters, involving 3,000 security officers, was the latest flare-up of a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site about 25 miles south of Hanoi. Three police officers and a village leader lost their lives during the raid. On Friday, authorities in Vietnam indicted 25 people on murder-related charges for their involvement in the deadly clash. Lawyer readies defense Trinh Ba Phuongs lawyer Dang Dinh Manh told RFA Monday that since Trinhs arrest, he has invoked his right to remain silent and is not cooperating with police. Dang said he was able to file paperwork for the defense of his client after visiting Hanois investigation security office. According to the rules, in cases concerning national security, the participation of lawyers is limited, however, when I came directly to the police station in Hanoi, they agreed [to my participation], he said. Typically, within 24 hours after the defense procedures are completed, the police will issue an approval letter for the lawyer. It might also take two or three days, but the police said they would try to reply to me in the next few days, he added. Dang added that Trinh Ba Phuong and Nguyen Thi Tam are being held at Hanois No. 1 detention center, while Trinh Ba Tu and Can Thi Theu are detained at the Cham Mat detention center. He said authorities are handling their cases in two separate investigations. It was not immediately clear why Can was sent to Hoa Binh when she was arrested in Hanoi at the same time as Trinh Ba Phuong. Delivering supplies Trinh Ba Khiem, the Trinh familys patriarch, confirmed by phone to RFAs Vietnamese Service that he was able to drop off supplies to his wife and son in Cham Mat. I dropped off clothes, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, he said Monday. This morning, I went to the office of the Ministry of Public Security and asked them to allow me to deliver a care package to my wife and son. The police in the ministry called the detention center and they allowed me to leave those things, he added. The father and husband was however not allowed to leave medicine and osteoporosis milk to his wife, as the detention centers officials said he could only drop off items worth 50,000 dong (U.S. $2) per visit. Trinh Ba Phuong and Nguyen Thi Tam in Hanoi, meanwhile, were allowed only to receive clothes from their relatives, and had to buy other supplies from the detention camps cafeteria. The 88 Project, an Illinois-based NGO that tracks Vietnamese political prisoners, last week reported that in 2019 an increasing number of people were arrested under article 117. Many of those charged with this crime had no history of activism and were solely targeted for their peaceful expression online. Forty percent of the people arrested in 2019 were online commentators, the NGO said. Vietnam, with a population of 92 million people, of which 55 million are estimated to be users of Facebook, has been consistently rated not free in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group. Dissent is not tolerated in the communist nation, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers and bloggers. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov and his family have been tied to an undeclared Moscow apartment in the same building where the head of a group of Chechen terrorists lived and planned the deadly "Nord-Ost" hostage-taking at a Moscow theater in October 2002, an opposition-backed media outlet has reported. Open Media, an online investigative resource funded by Kremlin foe and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, reported on June 29 that Moscow property records show the Kadyrov family owns a 153-square-meter apartment on Veyernaya Street, in a leafy section of Moscow, with an estimated market value of about 50 million rubles ($713,000). Movsar Barayev, the leader of a Chechen militant group that seized some 850 hostages at Moscow's Dubrovka theater that was showing a production of the musical Nord-Ost in October 2002, lived in the same building in the days ahead of the attack, using a fake passport with the name Shamil Akhmatkhanov. All 40 of the attackers and around 200 of the hostages were killed when federal forces pumped a chemical anesthetic into the building and stormed it. In addition, Ruslan Geremeyev, who is a suspected organizer of the 2015 killing of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, stayed in two other buildings that are part of the same complex. According to a statement by Nemtsov family lawyer Olga Mikhailova in 2016, when she asked a court to summon Geremeyev to testify in the trial of the five defendants who were ultimately convicted in his killing, "It was precisely in these apartments that the defendants regularly met, where they lived temporarily, contacted one another, planned, and carried out Nemtsov's murder." One of the apartments was purchased by Geremeyev's relative, Artur Geremeyev, just two months before Nemtsov's killing. Geremeyev was a unit commander in the Russian Interior Ministry's Chechnya-based Sever (North) battalion. He is a nephew of Suleiman Geremeyev, who represents the executive branch of Chechnya's government in the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian legislature. He is also related to State Duma Deputy Adam Delimkhanov of the ruling United Russia party, who has been named by Kadyrov as his possible successor. During the investigation into Nemtsov's slaying, Zaur Dadayev, who was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison, reportedly confessed that a man identified as "Ruslik" paid him 5 million rubles and provided a car and a gun. Investigators have said they believe "Ruslik" was Ruslan Geremeyev, who commanded the Sever unit in which Dadayev served. Geremeyev disappeared and is believed to be in hiding in the United Arab Emirates or in Turkey. Dadayev later retracted his confession and said it was made under duress. In an April 2015 report, the newspaper Kommersant cited unnamed investigators as saying Nemtsov's killers may have hid out in the apartment on Veyernaya Street immediately after the murder. All three of the Moscow apartment buildings that figure in the Open Media investigation are part of a complex that was controlled by the Russian presidential administration. In the early 2000s, the administration of President Vladimir Putin distributed apartments in the complex to politicians, officials, and military officers. In June 2000, one apartment was given to Kadyrov's father, Akhmed Kadyrov, a former Chechen rebel and mufti who was named by Putin to head the restive North Caucasus republic. Kadyrov and his family privatized the apartment in January 2002 and the entire family, including Ramzan, was officially registered there. Akhmed Kadyrov was assassinated in Chechnya's capital, Grozny, in 2004, but the Kadyrov family retained the apartment. Nonetheless, the property never appeared in Ramzan Kadyrov's property declarations even after he became head of Chechnya in 2007. In 2010, the apartment was reregistered as the property of Kadyrov's mother, Aimani. Kadyrov has long been accused of human rights abuses, including torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. Many of his political rivals and critics, including investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya and Nemtsov, have been killed and many believe that either Kadyrov himself or Russian security agencies were involved. Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service Ruhollah Zam, an Iranian opposition journalist and activist whose online work helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017, has been sentenced to death for his actions following what Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called a grossly unfair trial. A Revolutionary Court considered that the 13 charges [against Zam] were the equivalent of the charge of spreading corruption on earth and therefore passed the death sentence, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said on June 30, according to the judiciary-affiliated Mizan Online news agency. The charge is often leveled in cases involving espionage or attempts to overthrow Iran's government. It was not clear when the sentence was handed down. Zam's website, AmadNews, and a channel he created on the popular messaging app Telegram had informed people on the timing of the protests and published embarrassing information about Iranian officials. The 2017 protests represented the biggest challenge to Iran since postelection mass unrest in 2009 and set the stage for similar revolts in November 2019. Thousands were detained by police in the protests, and 25 people were killed. Zam had been living and working in exile in Paris before being lured into returning to Iran, where he was arrested in October 2019 under still unclear circumstances. French authorities have "strongly condemned" the move. In a statement condemning Zams sentencing, RSF said he was kidnapped in Iraq by members of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and forcibly returned to Iran. After being illegally kidnapped and arrested, Rouhollah Zam has been tried in a grossly unfair manner and then given an inhuman and unacceptable sentence, said Reza Moini, the head of RSFs Iran-Afghanistan desk. Zam, whom the Paris-based media freedom watchdog described as a very controversial figure both in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora," appeared in televised confessions in recent months admitting his wrongdoings and offering an apology for his past activities. He had previously denied allegations he incited violence but openly admited that AmadNewss mission was to take down the government. Esmaili also announced on June 30 that a five-year sentence handed to Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah has been upheld. Adelkhah, an anthropologist who often traveled to Iran for research, was detained in June 2019 and sentenced in the last month on charges relating to security. Iran has rejected Pariss repeated calls to release her. With reporting by AP, AFP, and IRNA The European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended the authorization for Pakistans national flag carrier to operate in Europe for six months. The EASA said in a statement on June 30 it had suspended state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and a smaller private Pakistan airline "in view of the recent investigation reported on in the Pakistani Parliament which revealed that a large share of pilot licenses issued in Pakistan are invalid." The announcement follows last weeks grounding of 262 Pakistani airline pilots, including a third of PIA pilots, whose licences the country's aviation minister termed "dubious." PIA said in a statement that EASA suspended PIA's authorization to operate in the EU member states effective July 1, 2020 with the right to appeal against this decision." The carrier "sincerely hopes that with reparative and swift actions taken by the Government of Pakistan and PIA management, earliest possible lifting of this suspension can be expected," a statement said. A PIA spokesman quoted the EASA as telling the company "it is still not sure" if all the remaining pilots are properly qualified, and "they have lost their confidence" in the airline. Flights to Britain, which is no longer in the EU, will not be affected by EASAs decision, Khan said. PIA had not been flying to Europe because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the airline recently resumed bookings for five European capitals, including Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Barcelona, and Milan. It said that passengers booked on PIA flights to Europe will have the option to extend their bookings to a later date or get a full refund. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said during a June 24 parliamentary session that an inquiry had found 262 pilots -- out of a total of 860 active pilots in Pakistan -- had obtained their licenses through cheating and having others take exams for them. The pilots in question included 141 at PIA, while the remaining pilots were working for private airlines and charter services. However, PIA said the government list showed discrepancies, claiming that 36 of the 141 had either retired or moved out. The Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association (PALPA) also raised doubts about the list, saying it included names of qualified pilots. The scandal emerged after a PIA Airbus A320 crashed in Karachi on May 22, killing 97 people, following a resumption of domestic operations. Investigators blamed the planes two pilots and air-traffic controllers. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the UN Security Council on June 30 to extend an arms embargo on Iran, warning allowing it to expire in October would cause instability in the Middle East. "Don't just take it from me or the United States, listen to countries in the region, from Israel, the Gulf, countries in the Middle East who are most exposed to Iran's predations are speaking with a single voice: extend the arms embargo," Pompeo said. The United States has formally asked the 15-member Security Council to extend the UN embargo, which is set to be progressively eased beginning in October under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. Veto-wielding Russia and China have said they oppose the U.S. move and have questioned Washingtons right to use a disputed legal move to force a return of UN sanctions on Iran. "Having quit the JCPOA, the U.S. is no longer a participant and has no right to trigger a snapback at the Security Council," Chinese envoy Zhang Jun told the Security Council session, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal by its acronym. The United States pulled out of the nuclear agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions as part of what it calls a maximum pressure campaign on Iran. In response, Iran gradually started breaching its nuclear commitments. Washington has argued it can trigger a snapback mechanism on UN sanctions and the arms embargo because it was a signatory to the agreement in 2015 and Iran has since not fully complied with its commitments. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Security Council the removal of arms restrictions was an inseparable part of the nuclear deal. "Any attempt to change or amend the agreed timetable is thus tantamount to undermining Resolution 2231 in its entirety," he said. Buying Weapons If the embargo is lifted, Iran would likely seek to purchase fighter jets, tanks, naval assets, and other weapons from China and Russia to rebuild its aging military hardware. However, given the dire state of its economy there are questions over whether Tehran has the funds to make significant weapons purchases. Faced with the UN arms embargo, Iran has long sought to develop ballistic missiles as a deterrent and employed a relatively inexpensive strategy of asymmetric warfare and use of proxy forces around the region. The UN arms embargo has not prevented Iran from supplying weapons to allies across the Middle East, including to Syria, Iraqi militias, Lebanons Hizballah militant group, and Yemens Huthi rebels. The Security Council gathered to hear a UN report that found cruise missiles and drones used in attacks on oil facilities and an airport in Saudi Arabia last year were of Iranian origin. "Iran is already violating the arms embargo even before its expiration date. Imagine if Iranian activity were sanctioned -- authorized -- by this group if the restrictions are lifted," Pompeo said. If the United States is unsuccessful at extending the arms embargo, Washington has threatened to trigger at the Security Council a return of all UN sanctions on Iran under the nuclear deal. That policy is likely to be fraught with difficultly because the U.S. quit the deal and faces resistance from other countries, including allies. Britain, France, and Germany are concerned about the arms embargo being lifted but have said they are trying to reach a compromise out of concern Iran will completely exit the nuclear deal and act on threats to pull out of a key nonproliferation treaty. However, European parties to the nuclear treaty also say they will not back U.S. efforts to unilaterally trigger a return of all UN sanctions on Iran. With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters MINSK -- A court in Minsk has remanded in custody a potential opponent of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka as election officials announced what candidates would be allowed to run against the strongman in an August 9 presidential election. Lawyer Dzmitry Layeuski said on June 30 that the Minsk Central district court upheld the pretrial detention of his client Viktar Babaryka, who is charged with financial crimes. Babaryka and his son Eduard were arrested on June 18 after police questioned them on allegations of tax evasion and money laundering in connection with an investigation at Russian-owned Belgazprombank, where the elder Babaryka worked for 20 years. Belarusian authorities on June 15 took control of the bank and arrested more than a dozen top executives on charges of tax evasion and money laundering. Babaryka, 56, has said the actions taken against Belgazprombank were part of an intimidation campaign conducted on political orders." Earlier in June, opposition rallies and gatherings in support of would-be candidates attracted thousands of people across Belarus as the authoritarian Lukashenka seeks a sixth term. Babaryka has risen in popularity as the vote nears, and his election campaign has said it collected nearly 435,000 signatures -- more than four times the required 100,000 minimum needed to get on the ballot. But the Central Election Commission (CEC) claimed on June 30 that Babaryka received only 165,744 signatures, a day after election authorities rejected tens of thousands of signatures he and other opposition candidates had collected. Six other candidates, including Lukashenka, collected more than 100,000 signatures to run in the race, it said. The CEC said Valer Tsapkala, a former ambassador to the United States and the ex-head of a high-tech incubator in Minsk, failed to overcome the hurdle after his campaign said election officials rejected at least 38,000 signatures. Tsapkala submitted 160,000 signatures for registration and is expected to appeal. Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the wife of popular blogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski, barely made it over the 100,000-signature threshold. Election officials said Lukashenka collected 1,939,572 signatures, nearly three times more than all other five candidates allowed to run against him combined. The lead-up to the election has been marked by a widening crackdown and intimidation tactics on the opposition. Several opposition activists, politicians, and bloggers were sentenced to up to 15 days in jail then for taking part in what authorities called "unsanctioned rallies." On June 29, Amnesty International said it recognized Babaryka and his son, who heads his father's presidential-election campaign, as prisoners of conscience. "The timing and the manner of the arrests, the involvement of the KDB, and the secrecy surrounding the case indicate that the prosecution of Viktar and Eduard Babaryka is politically motivated. Amnesty International believes that Viktar and Eduard Babaryka are prisoners of conscience, prosecuted solely for the peaceful expression of their political opinions. The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release them," an Amnesty statement said. The London-based rights group also said that it recognizes Tsikhanouski and his eight supporters arrested on charges of obstructing elections, as prisoners of conscience. The statement also condemned the ill treatment of other activists and journalists arrested over their openly expressing opinions criticizing the Belarusian government and Lukashenka. Lukashenka, who has ruled the country of 9.5 million people since 1994, is currently serving his fifth presidential term and announced that he will run for office again. Belarus abolished presidential term limits in 2004. 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 Russias influence in the country. With reporting by BelaPAN When a Moscow couple turned up to cast their ballots in Russia's nationwide vote on constitutional amendments, they were surprised to learn from election officials that they had already voted. They hadn't. Yet an election official at Lefortovo voting precinct No. 1403 was showing them that their names, passport information, and signatures were clearly registered in the voting logs indicating they had cast ballots. The discussion revealed that the couple's daughter and son, who had not yet voted either, were also listed as having cast ballots that would help determine the outcome of a vote that would allow President Vladimir Putin to seek two more terms, potentially keeping him in the Kremlin until 2036. Whether it was a mistake or a deliberate falsification is unclear. The couple initially was given an apology from the official who showed them the book. But after refusing to accept the apology, and demanding an explanation from a higher-ranking election official who entered the discussion, they were met with defiance. Tightly holding the closed registration log, the superior asked if they had seen their names in the book. When answered in the affirmative, she said: "Prove it!" The episode was documented on film, as revealed on Twitter by supporters of anticorruption activist and opposition figure Aleksei Navalny. The incident has added to scrutiny of the weeklong vote, which has been marked by peculiarities, including it often being cast in the media as a national "referendum" when it is not. While the vote could be seen as a gauge of popular support for a package of proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution -- including one that would revert the number of terms Putin has served back to zero once his current term ends in 2024, allowing him to run for two more six-year terms -- its passage is not required for the amendments to be adopted. As it does not meet the requirements for a referendum under federal constitutional law, it has been structured as an "all-Russia vote," drawing criticism from democracy watchdogs at home and abroad. Analysts say Putin hopes the vote will lend legitimacy to the amendment giving him the option of seeking to remain president until 2036 -- a change that opponents say is a travesty. Putin had suggested in the past that he would not alter the constitution to allow for an extension of his rule. "It is clear, unchanging, and absolutely firm: the updated text of the constitution, all proposed amendments will come into force only with your approval, with your support," Putin said in a televised address to the nation on June 30, on the eve of the last day of voting. 'Open To Falsifications' Originally slated for April 22, the vote was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and rescheduled for July 1 but with balloting allowed over a week in what officials said was an effort to avoid crowds at polling stations. To boost turnout, the government has held raffles and promoted the vote on state-controlled and Kremlin-friendly media. Images of ad hoc voting stations set up in places like a car trunk and park benches have deepened the impression of a bid to get out the vote. The ballot has also been criticized for only offering voters the option to accept or reject the entire package of amendments in their entirety. And remote, online voting is allowed in Moscow and the Nizhny Novgorod region, another aspect that critics say has laid the vote open to falsifications. The architects of the system "cannot be trusted to plug the computer into the socket, let alone conduct electronic voting." electoral statistics researcher Sergei Shpilkin, who earlier calculated that Putin may have received up to 10 million fraudulent votes in the 2018 presidential election, wrote in a Facebook post on June 24. Apparent irregularities and voter turnout figures raised eyebrows early on in the voting process that will finish on July 1. Kirill Trofimov, a member of the local election commission in Moscow's Ramenki district, wrote on Facebook on June 29 that there had not been vote falsifications the likes of those seen in this vote since Russia's legislative elections in 2011, which the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2017 were "unfair" and "compromised." According to Trofimov, the data from polling stations in the district at one point showed that 393 people had voted remotely, whereas only 34 ballots for home voting had been issued. In another incident that marred the balloting, Russian news outlet Mediazona said that one of its reporters was attacked by a police officer and a vote observer at a polling station in St. Petersburg on June 30, and that his arm was broken by the officer. The incident was captured on video. That a state-funded opinion polling agency would publish an exit poll in the middle of the vote was also seen by some observers as unorthodox. On June 29, the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) announced that 76 percent of voters who were surveyed and agreed to reveal which way they voted cast ballots in favor of the amendment package, a figure that was roughly in line with a previous prognosis from VTsIOM. The release of the exit poll drew criticism from election-monitoring watchdogs such as Golos. In comments to the AFP news agency, Golos member Vitaly Averin said that the data "can influence the will of voters," and should be seen as part of the government's campaign to promote the vote. VTsIOM, for its part, said it published the data due to "high demand," and Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that there was nothing wrong with releasing the figures because the vote is not an election involving multiple candidates. KYIV -- Hundreds of demonstrators have rallied in the Ukrainian capital to protest against the appointment of Serhiy Shkarlet as acting Minister of Education and Science. Scholars, students, teachers, and civil rights activists took part in the rally on June 30, accusing the rector of Chernihiv National University of Technology of plagiarism and expressing outrage over his past association with the Russia-friendly Party of Regions. The protesters held placards and put a toilet with a sign reading, "For Diplomas from Shkarlet," next to a government building. One man wore a mask depicting Shkarlet and pretended to auction off diplomas. From the government building, the protesters marched to the presidential office where they staged a sit-in protest. The government appointed Shkarlet as acting Minister of Education and Science on June 25, several days after a parliamentary commission refused to approve him to the ministerial post. The protesters gathered all their posters and passed them to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy via the presidential office representatives. Shkarlet served as a council member for the Party of Regions in Chernihiv Oblast. Former President Viktor Yanukovych was a member of the party before he was toppled in 2014 by antigovernment protests known as Euromaidan. Shkarlet also ran for the Chernihiv Regional Council under former President Petro Poroshenkos bloc. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) says "initial, impartial" findings indicate the Afghan National Army fired mortars on a market in the southern province of Helmand earlier this week, inflicting multiple civilian casualties. "Multiple credible sources assert that the ANA [Afghan National Army] fired lethal mortars in response to Taliban fire, missing the intended target," UNAMA said in a tweet on June 30. Afghan officials have said at least 23 civilians were killed and 15 others wounded in the June 29 explosions in Sangin district. Children were among the dead. The militant group and the government blamed each other for the blasts, with President Ashraf Ghani calling the incident a "terrorist attack." In a separate tweet, UNAMA urged the warring sides to "stop fighting in civilian-populated areas," saying "such indirect-fire incidents in ground engagements cause 1000s of civilian casualties each year." The UN mission also called on the Afghan government to set up an independent team to investigate the incident. Helmand is a volatile province largely controlled by the Taliban. On June 28, officials said a roadside bomb in the provinces Washer district left six civilians dead, including women and children. Violence had dropped across much of Afghanistan after the Taliban offered a brief cease-fire to mark the Eid al-Fitr festival last month, but officials say the insurgents have stepped up attacks in recent weeks. In the wartime 1940s when the US military was looking for safe places in America to serve as storage stations, Shelby was chosen as the site for an Army Air Force Supply Depot. Opened in 1943 as the Parsel Supply Depot, the facility survived the war and was renamed, after the Air Force became a separate service, as the Wilkins Air Force Specialized Depot. With 60 acres of storage space under roof, the depot distributed more than 40,000 different parts, before it was decommissioned by the government in 1961. Today as Central Ohio Industrial Park, it serves as a warehousing headquarters for numerous industries. Images from the collection of the Shelby Museum of History. GALION The Fourth of July is upon us and with that comes fireworks and crowds. There is no doubt that this 4th may look a bit different from previous years. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many counties and cities to cancel their fireworks displays to keep large crowds from gathering in one place. Though some shows are still on, it is important to be very careful when it comes to things like social distancing. COVID-19 has altered many plans from travel, to family gatherings and of course, firework shows. Lt. Governor Husted noted last week that fireworks shows can proceed, but large gatherings were still prohibited. He encouraged any community that plans on holding a fireworks event to do so safely. Spectators are encouraged to find ways to celebrate the Fourth of July in small groups such as by watching displays from their porches, backyards, or cars. During the June 29th press conference, Governor DeWine announced that the Orders limiting mass gatherings would be extended through the end of the week. We know that there will be many celebrations across Ohio, and weve received some questions about them, Husted said. The large gathering order is still in place. Large gatherings are highly discouraged and not allowed. Fireworks shows are not prohibited. They can proceed. What we are not encouraging are large gatherings. Trish Factor, Galion City Health Commissioner, shared her own concerns on the potential for mass gatherings around the holiday. As guidelines continue to relax, our efforts to keep ourselves, our families and the community safe should not. Regardless of where were at in Galion, Crawford County, surrounding counties, or Ohios reopening, my recommendations arent going to change much, Ms. Factor said. The basic principles are the same: keep your distance, wear a mask, continue frequent hand hygiene, stay home if youre sick, and avoid large gatherings. Everything we do should be viewed through this lens. These simple rules will remain important in keeping ourselves, our families and our community as safe as possible. The virus hasnt left, Ms. Factor said. Were finding that approximately 12% of people that are testing positive dont have any symptoms and are going about life normally. If these people are maintaining social distancing and wearing masks, especially in public places or around others, the virus is less likely spread. As community members decide how they will celebrate, public health officials urge people to practice social distancing guidelines as well as wearing masks, proper hand hygiene, staying home if you are ill, and avoiding large gatherings is of utmost importance. Viewing fireworks displays from your own yard, from your car, or ensuring social distancing when in public areas is extremely important. We also acknowledge that other events are taking place over the holiday weekend. We ask that if youre not worried about yourself, worry about others. Consider the people you come into contact with, loved ones, coworkers, neighbors, and others that could have detrimental outcomes from COVID-19. July 4th will still be an exciting time in 2020 - it just may look different. The Galion City Health Department staff empathize with community members wanting to feel normal again. Many have the itch to get back to work and school, fully enjoy summer and times with friends. We can still enjoy these activities, but as Ms. Factor says, we must do it responsibly. COVID is still here and it isnt going away any time soon, she said. In fact, Ohio is seeing a rise in cases. We need people to remain vigilant. We need people to remain diligent. Mask up. Keep your distance. And as always, wash those hands! COVID-19 Galion City & Crawford County Data Update as of June 29 Within Crawford County, we are reporting 133 cases (111 Confirmed and 22 Probable): 29 Confirmed and 8 Probable cases within the Galion City Health Department jurisdiction, 82 Confirmed and 14 Probable within the Crawford County Public Health jurisdiction. * The ages for all confirmed cases fall between under 1 to 103 years of age. The cases involve 66 females and 67 males. 0 cases are currently hospitalized. We are saddened to announce that we now have 6 deaths being reported. We wish to express our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of these individuals. Identifying information will not be released to protect personal privacy and out of respect for the family. 119 (89.5%) of the total cases are now cleared from isolation and doing well. All other cases are isolated at home (under orders to remain in their homes), recovering, and under the care of their family physicians. Our public health staff have notified everyone that had been within 6ft of contact with these cases for a duration of 15 minutes or more. We wish all those affected by COVID-19 a speedy recovery. Within Crawford County, we have identified 2 separate outbreak categories - associations with either congregate care (nursing homes or residential facilities) or correctional institutions (prison/jail). Of our 133 total cases, 46 (34.59%) are associated with a congregates care settings and 45 (33.83%) are associated with correctional institutions. Which leaves 42 (31.58%) cases that acquired COVID-19 from other locations through community spread. It is important to note that of our 133 total cases, 16 (12.03%) of those were asymptomatic. As businesses continue to re-open, please remember the virus has not left our area. It is important to continue social distancing, washing your hands, avoid touching your face with unwashed hands, cleaning frequently touched surfaces often, and staying home if you are not feeling well. MANSFIELD According to the National Association of School Psychologists, there is a critical shortage in school psychology. Shortages in school psychology have the potential to significantly undermine the availability of high quality services to students, families, and schools. In order to mitigate this problem in the local area, Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center and the University of Toledo have collaborated to implement the Grow Your Own Mid-Ohio School Psychology Development Program. This program will encourage interested graduate students to pursue a career in school psychology with Mid-Ohio ESC. Successful applicants will have their tuition paid for the duration of the program. In exchange for the applicants tuition being paid for during graduate school, they agree to work for Mid-Ohio ESC for five years once they become fully licensed. For the 20-21 School Year, MOESC has accepted 2 program applicants and will accept 2 program applicants each year as it aligns with district need and attrition rates. This does depend on the University of Toledo having program seats available for acceptance each year. Jennifer Crum, Director of Student Services said, It is exciting to collaborate with the University of Toledo to offer a Grow You Own program, especially in the area of school psychology. Our efforts to recruit candidates, who reside within our regional school districts, offer a promising approach to consistently develop a healthy school psychology workforce and meet critical shortages within our region. Interested applicants may email Jennifer Crum at crum.jennifer@moesc.net and include the following subject line: MOESC/UT Grow Your Own School Psychologist Program Applicant. Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center provides specialized academic and support services, including professional development, to 10 school districts and over 17,000 students in Crawford, Morrow and Richland Counties. Client districts receive services from curriculum, gifted and special education consultants, speech pathologists, psychologists, special education teachers, occupational therapists and physical therapists. MANSFIELD A decline in expected gas tax revenue due to COVID-19 may impact road work planned in 2020, Richland County Engineer Adam Gove said Tuesday. "It's definitely reduced from what we expected," Gove said during a county commissioners' meeting. "I haven't seen June's deposits, which will reflect money collected in April. "But May was down $40,000 to $60,000 from what we expected to see," Gove said. "The May numbers are from March, which is when the shutdown began, but we were two-thirds of the way through the month when it began." During a meeting in April, Gove said he believed department would lose about $100,000 each month in gas tax revenue during the stay-at-home order. "We won't know what the total financial hit is until somewhere in the middle of summer. But we are expecting at least a 30-percent decrease in gas tax revenue during the time we are shut down," Gove said in April. The pandemic, which led to Gov. Mike DeWine shutting down the state's "non-essential" economy in March, came during a year when Gove believed a 10.5 cents per gallon gas increase approved by the state this year would allow for longer-lasting road improvements on the county's 347 road miles and 360 bridges. "We are definitely looking at cutting back on the amount of asphalt repairs we do. A second resurfacing project (on Windsor Road and the north end of Possum Run Road) may have to be delayed," Gove said. "We are waiting to hear from Ohio Public Works if grant money was still going to be available in July and then we will have to see if we have local dollars to match," Gove said. Gove said revenue his department receives through license fees has also suffered due to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles closing during the pandemic. He said that money is likely to come back now that local BMV offices are open again. During the meeting, commissioners approved Gove's request to put a four-ton weight limit on a bridge on London West Road between the Shelby Reservoir and Ohio 61. Gove said the road has more than 2,000 vehicles a day and the reduced weight limit would extend the life of the bridge. Also on Tuesday, commissioners: -- accepted the resignation of David Yoder from the Richland County Transit Board and appointed Gabe Zader as his replacement. -- approved a contract to have the Richland County Sheriff's Office provide a school resource officer for the 2020-2021 school year. -- met in executive session to discuss a potential land acquisition for the engineer's office. No action was taken. -- met in executive session to discuss a potential hire in the wastewater treatment plant. Commissioners said the applications came prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and voted to open the application process again. -- met in executive session to discuss compensation in the Richland County Jail. Afterward, commissioners approved an exception to the sick leave policy for a jail employee for up to 240 hours. Dr. Alan Lerner looks at how Ohio is growing its Alzheimers research capabilities and reflects on the strong foundation set. Our roots go deep, he said. Many of the leaders of the field worked in Ohio, grew up in Ohio. Today, Id say (Ohio) is square in the middle of the pack. The Cleveland Alzheimers Disease Research Center (CADRC) is a huge national acknowledgment of the progress, said Lerner, who is co-director of the Clinical Core at the Alzheimers Disease Research Center and Director of the Brain Health and Memory Center at the Neurological Institute of University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. Its like we know you are doing great things. Now you have a seat at the table. Ohio is emerging as a major model of collaboration in the area of Alzheimers research as the states population living with Alzheimers grows. Today, 220,000 Ohioans age 65 and older live with Alzheimers disease. By 2025, that number is expected to climb to 250,000. Eric VanVlymen, Executive Director of the Alzheimers Association in Ohio, said, Ohio has fantastic Alzheimers research areas and with the availability of research dollars, Ohio has the opportunity to use that funding to be a leader not only for Ohio residents but around the country. When research comes to Ohio, that means they are also bringing the latest and greatest techniques to Ohio. If you live here, you have access to those things, he said. The Cleveland Alzheimers Disease Research Center, which was announced in July 2019, is a prime example of bringing together the expertise of some of Ohios top Alzheimers researchers and clinicians. Funded by the National Institute on Aging, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Cleveland Alzheimers Disease Research Center leverages the resources of many of the major health care institutions in northeast Ohio from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, the MetroHealth System and University Hospitals. It is one of 31 Alzheimers Disease Centers around the country. Prior to its creation, Ohioans had to travel to Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis or Lexington, Ky. the closest other ADRCs - to access the expertise of an NIA-funded Alzheimers Research Center. Dr. James Leverenz, Director of the Cleveland Alzheimers Research Center and Director of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, said, at this point all though we are well aware of the expertise at Ohio State and I believe there is some expertise in Toledo as well as down in Cincinnati, the (Research Center) grant itself focuses on northeast Ohio. The focus is really to provide a foundation to expand research on Alzheimers and related dementiasIts creating an infrastructure for research to expand in the area. That infrastructure includes developing a structure to share research findings, engaging and enrolling a diverse group of individuals into observational studies, determining if basic science or animal model work can translate to human studies and providing expertise into other dementias like Lewy Body dementia. Data collected in Ohio helps researchers nationwide, Dr. Lerner said. Dr. Nina Silverberg, Director of the Alzheimers Disease Research Centers Program at the National Institute on Aging, said, the Ohio Center is unique in being connected to the National Prion Center and that is a wonderful addition to our network. The Center also brings additional expertise in Lewy Body dementia to the ADRC program. She added that the Cleveland Centers focus on translational therapeutics, which accelerates promising research into possible drug discoveries, is an area critical to the ADRC program and will help researchers reach the goal of finding treatments for these devastating diseases as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Dr. Leverenz said the Cleveland Alzheimers Disease Centers connection to the Cleveland-based National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University is important because there are things researchers can learn from Prion diseases that can shed insight into Lewy Body dementia and Alzheimers diagnosis. Additionally, Dr. Leverenz also leads the first U.S.-based Dementia with Lewy Bodies Consortium, an NIH-funded project with 10 sites around the country. An estimated 1.4 million Americans have Lewy Body dementia, which has some symptoms similar to Alzheimers disease. Alzheimers disease, which impacts approximately 5.8 million Americans, is a fatal brain disease that currently cannot be prevented, slowed or cured. Dr. Lerner said, before COVID, we had two epidemics, we had the Opioid epidemic and we have the Alzheimers epidemicIn my career, I have seen the number of Alzheimers cases go from 2 million to 4 million and now we are almost at 6 million. We need some version of flattening the curve. At The Ohio State University, Dr. Douglas Scharre, Director of the Division of Cognitive Neurology and Director of the Center for Cognitive and Memory Disorders, said, the University has a strong track record in clinical research in areas such as genetics, pre-clinical diagnostic measures, imaging, health disparities and drug trials. He said he is seeing great new collaborations and innovations happening because researchers in other medical fields like cancer are bringing their techniques to the field of Alzheimers research. Since Congress has increased the budgets for the NIA there definitely has been an uptick of collaborative research here at Ohio State, Dr. Scharre said. It encourages individuals who may not have been working directly in the Alzheimers field to say, I think I can apply my techniques and talents to the Alzheimers field, which is what we need. The Alzheimer's Association, which is the world's largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer's disease research, has lobbied extensively for increased federal funding for Alzheimers and related dementia research at the NIH. Since 2011, annual federal Alzheimers research funding has increased from $448 million to $2.8 billion nationwide. Ohio is getting a good share of the funding. According to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, an organization that each year publishes a ranking of NIH grant awards, last year Ohio ranked number 10 in the nation for NIH awards. In addition, between 1993 and 2020, the Alzheimers Association has funded about $16 million in Ohio research projects. Philanthropy and money from drug companies also drive new research initiatives. For example, on June 18, the Cleveland Clinic and The Womens Alzheimers Movement opened the nations first Alzheimers prevention clinic for women at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Los Vegas. It is a philanthropy-driven effort. Dr. Scharre said Alzheimers disease advances will follow the money. It depends entirely on how much money goes into this, he said. Nothing moves without funds. If you just keep the funds where they are, it will take a longer time. MANSFIELD Once the site of two tax-delinquent, ramshackle houses, the corner lot at 63 Rowland Ave. is now home to a new set of apartments. The two-unit structure, built on land formerly owned by the Richland County Land Bank, sits surrounded by a freshly-poured concrete driveway and budding grass. The grand opening of the duplex Monday morning was an exciting step, not only for the developers who built it, but the land bank as well. "This is what you have a land bank for -- that redevelopment, said Richland County Treasurer Bart Hamilton, the land bank board president. "This is just the beginning of a lot of new construction we're going to be getting soon." The apartments on the city's northwest side were built by Blue Door Development, run by William Barber and Chris McCauley. Each one-bedroom unit has an applianced kitchen, washer and dryer hookups, keyless entry and a remote-controlled air conditioning and heating system. According to Barber, the apartments are also energy efficient, with thick walls and tight insulation mirroring how homes are built in his home state of Alaska. Barber said it was opportunity that motivated him to move to Mansfield in 2017. Mansfield has a lot of opportunities that other places dont, Barber said, citing the land bank and general availability and affordability of land. McCauley has been involved in Mansfield-area real estate for the last 20 years, but has just begun venturing into new builds. Ive bought, sold, owned, rented, and managed a couple hundred units myself, and I was tired of remodeling things and thats when the lightbulb went off, McCauley said. The brand-new duplex is just the beginning of Blue Door Developments plans for Richland County. Blue Door plans to construct another 98 housing units within the next 10 years on properties acquired from the land bank. The company will break ground on its next project -- four one-bedroom units on South Franklin Avenue -- on July 6. Weve got to get rents up so people can afford to build these places and we can attract more people, he concluded. Barber said Blue Door will likely construct some two and three-bedroom units in the future, but decided to begin with one-bedroom units based on the demand. We have 130 rentals right now and all our one-bedrooms are full, he said. Since its founding seven years ago, the land bank has overseen the demolition of nearly 600 dilapidated homes and the transfer of nearly 800 parcels. While the land bank will still work to eliminate blight, Hamilton said hes excited to see new housing being built on former land bank-owned properties. According to Hamilton, higher property values will encourage more housing development at all price points, even affordable housing. This is where you start, Hamilton explained. You start with the non-subsidized stuff because this helps establish a real market value. And when it comes time for HUD to establish rents that are going to be subsidized, theyre going to look at these and it's going to help get a better rent for the landlord, and the tenants portion is not going to change. Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero and Mansfield City Council President Cliff Mears agreed the project signaled positive momentum for the area. "For those of you who don't think Mansfield's a happening place, check this out, Mears said. This is a testimonial, this is just the beginning." The Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities ticketed exhibit will be on display Saturday when the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts reopens. Other museums in Richmond are also welcoming visitors back this week with social distancing and other rules. (Details, Page A4.) Roseburg, OR (97470) Today Sunshine and some clouds. Hot. High 94F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear skies with a few passing clouds. Low around 60F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Genworth shareholders approved the acquisition in March 2017, but the planned closing of the deal has been extended 15 times as Genworth faced numerous delays getting approval from various state and federal insurance industry regulators. China Oceanwide is now trying to come up with money to close the deal amidst a severe economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Oceanwide has indicated that the financing has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertain macro-economic conditions, Genworth said on Tuesday. Genworth, which has thousands of employees in Virginia, said the latest extension gives Oceanwide additional time to finalize the financing for the acquisition. Financing for the deal might include debt funding of up to $1.8 billion through Hony Capital a Chinese private equity firm or other third parties, Genworth said. China Oceanwide also has to get approval from regulators in China to transfer funds for the acquisition, but Genworth said it has the option to terminate the deal on Aug. 31 if Oceanwide cannot show evidence that it can obtain at least $1 billion from sources outside of China and $1 billion from mainland China to finance the acquisition. The Virginia Employment Commission is ordering employees who work at the agencys headquarters in Henrico County to work from home after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. About 350 employees of the agency who are assigned to the headquarters offices in the Brookfield Place building at 6606 W. Broad St. will be required to work from home, the agency said Tuesday. Most of them had already been teleworking. The agency didnt say how many people were working there before it temporarily closed the offices. This is the fourth VEC employee to test positive for the coronavirus in the past three months, the agency said. After each case, the office was temporarily shut down and the office fully cleaned. The office will undergo a thorough cleaning tonight, and the agency will take appropriate steps to resume normal operations while continuing to encourage teleworking, the VEC said. Agency officials said operations will continue. The headquarters office primarily serves internal agency functions, including procurement, information technology, finance, accounting and leadership. In 1960, Floyd Patterson knocks out Ingemar Johansson in the fifth round in New York to become the first boxer to regain the world heavyweight As we confront racist policing, this avenue has become a battleground, with police using tear gas and other less lethal weapons against demonstrators. Stepping into this morass is Richmonds new police chief, Gerald Smith. Smith represents another Richmond tic a penchant for nostalgia. He served under then-Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C. Police Chief Rodney Monroe, a popular chief here from 2005 to 2008. But Smiths former employer has a history of police-community turmoil, including riots after the 2016 police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. The department is under a temporary restraining order for its use of so-called riot control methods in a peaceful protest June 2. Smith arrives after the two-week tenure of interim chief William Jody Blackwell, whose selection by Mayor Levar Stoney left folks beyond the Black Lives Matter movement incredulous. Blackwell fatally shot a man on the job in 2002. Although he was cleared of wrongdoing, his history at this moment should have been a nonstarter. You dont do reform by fiat. Smiths hiring, with no public say, is a continuum of profoundly undemocratic impulses in Virginia. This top-down rule by the elite was molded into a science by the Byrd machine and lives on today, even in cities run by African American elected officials. Also, the deputy would provide legal training to the police departments officers. Qualified candidates for the position, according to the job description, must have a law school degree and at least 15 years of experience practicing criminal law. Taylor said the annual salary for the new attorney would range from $102,828 to $189,157. While the job has yet to be filled, Taylors office has created an email account (CitizenCA@henrico.us) where people can file complaints against officers. Taylor said those complaints will be thoroughly investigated and considered public information. The police department currently has its own complaint intake process through its internal affairs division. But Taylor said those investigators have no obligation to contact her office about the complaints. Taylor said citizens have always been able to direct concerns to her office. On Monday, she was unsure how many complaints her office has received about police misconduct. Presumably, this new position will be able to monitor these numbers, she said. Similar requests have been approved by courts in cities such as Denver, Seattle, Oakland and Charlotte, said the ACLU. The injunction is being sought, the ACLU said, to protect the protesters rights to peaceably assemble and protest without being subjected to the risk of serious injury or having their rights denied. The ACLU is asking Snukals to bar the use of chemical munitions, irritants, explosives, stun weapons, and physical-impact weapons against peaceful protesters. They also want it ordered that such force only be used if there is clear and present danger of imminent violent conduct by three or more people; the violence cannot be controlled by removing individual perpetrators; alternative control measures have been exhausted; and it has been determined that the use of chemical agents and other means is the only way to protect lives. The ACLU also argues that there must be clear, loud and continuous orders issued prior to the use of irritants; exits must be available for the protesters; and dispersal orders must be reasonably limited in time and geographic area. Police and protesters reported injuries from last weeks use of tear gas and other projectiles. Police say they have been hit with rocks, bricks and other objects. Police have used tear gas, pepper spray, flash-bang grenades and other weapons to break up crowds and enforce their declarations of unlawful assemblies. They have defended the tactics, saying protesters have provoked the use of force by hurling projectiles at officers and have taken part in other lawbreaking. Dozens have been arrested. The Richmond Police Department has not, to date, responded to a request from The Times-Dispatch for an accounting of how many times its officers have used the weapons or how much the department has spent on them. Smith comes to Richmond from a department that faced backlash for its use of the weapons on protesters. A North Carolina judge issued a temporary restraining order suspending the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Departments use of tear gas in June. He inherits a department that protesters have demanded the City Council defund. Other initiatives are on the table, too, including a civilian review board and a ban on the use of chemical irritants and other weapons. Calling him a reform-minded leader, Stoney has charged Smith with working with residents to reimagine public safety in the city. Details have not yet been released on a task force Stoney said would aid that effort. Its important reflecting the people who live in those neighborhoods and those communities. Growing up in Lynchburg, Davis said, she had to navigate a lot of racism to get to where she is, but she doesnt want the story that emerges from her art to be a sad one. A lot of us are putting it all into this city, Davis said. Black Girl Magic was something so important to us growing up. Its why we have such a strong hustle. Were filling gaps we see in our community. An E.C. Glass High School graduate, Davis said being an artist requires an entrepreneurial spirit, and she drives around Virginia to partner with different artists. Make Waves was her first big project in more than two years since the birth of her daughter, Amara. She said her daughter was thrilled by the project even more thrilled to watch her mother paint a woman that looks like herself. She said these big, positive images will help broaden horizons for Amara and other girls around the city. Davis said she has returned to the art scene with a vengeance since Amaras birth, with new murals planned throughout the summer and her work currently displayed at the Academy downtown and at Bean Tree Cafe in Cornerstone. Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday quietly signed an executive order extending a state of emergency declaration in Richmond, citing civil unrest following weeks of protests that have resulted in some violent clashes between demonstrators and police. The extension came at the request of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who said in a Monday letter to the governor that the city has minimum funding to cover costs tied to the response, and that the bandwidth of our personnel will reach its limit. The order gives the administration the ability to deploy additional state resources to implement recovery and mitigation operations and activities to return the city to pre-event conditions as much as possible. That includes emergency funding for government response to the protests and activation of the Virginia National Guard, according to the order. Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said the administration has absolutely no plans to deploy the National Guard, and said a reference to it in the order is standard language. Gov. Ralph Northam is redirecting $30 million in state funds to pay for a 29% increase in Medicaid rates paid to primary care doctors, pediatricians and other health care providers who are struggling to survive the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Northam is making the rate increase retroactive to March 1, using money that had been budgeted for Medicaid managed care organizations to pay for nonelective surgeries and other medical services that were canceled or curtailed because of the spread of COVID-19. By taking this action to support these frontline providers, we can ensure access to care for our Medicaid members and preserve the health care network that is so critical for the well-being of families, children, low-income older adults, persons with disabilities, and individuals who have lost their jobs, said Karen Kimsey, director of the state Medicaid office. Northam already has used a similar approach to pay for a $20 daily state rate increase for Medicaid patients in nursing homes. He recently increased it by $7 a day per member for a total of $810 per patient each month. The increase was part of a $226 million package of federal and state relief for nursing homes the governor announced on June 19. As of Tuesday, at least 1,085 inmates and employees were confirmed to be infected at San Quentin, including nearly 900 who tested positive in the past 14 days, according to the states official figures. The alarming number accounts for 42% of all active cases across the states prisons and nearly one-third of San Quentins inmate population. The plaintiffs argued that under the law, a protest can only be an unlawful assembly if there are acts of unlawful force or violence, which they argue were not present that night at City Hall. As a result, they say, the police violated the protesters constitutional rights to speech, assembly and protest and chilled the future use of free speech. Snukals, however, wrote that the injunction sought by the ACLU, if granted, would require the court to dictate crowd control measures to police and other measures that would unnecessarily burden police and jeopardize public safety. On the other hand, the judge wrote, plaintiffs have the option in the future to protest without unlawful force, without blocking roadways, and without disrupting or jeopardizing public peace and order. Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, said Tuesday that the case will go forward and possibly to trial to get a final ruling on whether police are acting in compliance with the state law on unlawful assembly. The standards for winning such an emergency ruling are high, and Snukals decided the ACLU did not meet them, she said. Theres not a registration with us theyre free to do what they want to do, Hook said. They can be on the list and say no, Im not doing that anymore. Or not be on the list and do it anyway. It really is just for public convenience so the public can know the dealers when they need to do a gun transaction. Hook said state police are not set up for the public to come to department offices en masse to conduct a background check for a private sale. Thats one reason the [law] was implemented the way it was, to allow the licensed network dealers to absorb the volume of transactions, and get compensated for what they do, Hook said. As far as how the state will now enforce the background check requirement for private sales, Hook acknowledged there is no systematic way of determining whether somebody takes their gun through the background check process in consummating the sale. However, Hook said the law will be enforced when authorities learn of transactions between parties that dont comply with the background check requirement. Yes, the fall of America seems to be a most popular narrative. But it is a false one. And those predicting our downfall, some with almost gleeful tones, better hope they are wrong as well. A world without the United States would be a far different place then it is today. America remains the worlds economic engine. We still are the global force that keeps despots and dictators at bay. We have made some crucial misjudgments, but the good we do far outweighs the harm. We remain the destination of hope for vast majorities of immigrants. We remain the worlds most generous nation both our government and our people donate enormous amounts of money to charity and world organizations. When disaster strikes, we are among the first to step up with offers of assistance and aid. On this, our 244th birthday, the union remains strong. These are trying times. But it is temporary. We are going through an upheaval because many see the American dream as unachievable. Protesting today for a better tomorrow is as American as apple pie. After this, we will emerge a stronger, more resilient nation. The goodness and the greatness of this nation will survive President Donald Trump just as it will survive a President Joe Biden should that nomination come to pass. We will survive the current lack of strong leadership because of the resolve of the American people. People tend to think of that figure as being servile, but on second look, you will see something different, perhaps. That man is not kneeling on two knees with his head bowed. He is in the act of getting up. And his head is up, not bowed, because hes looking forward to a future of freedom, Marcia Cole, a member of the Female RE-Enactors of Distinction, told local Washington television station WJLA. She also said the shackle on the portrayed freed mans wrist is attached to a broken chain. The Madonna of the Trail monuments were built to evoke American exceptionalism, something many people still respect even though the drivers of our toxic political culture have found an abundance of manufactured reasons to decry it. Were the men and women in history who set out to travel west perfect? Of course not. They were flawed most of them poor or middle-class immigrants looking for a better life. Those who possessed wealth and power did much to undo the lives and traditions of the natives of western territories, but that does not mean we cast off or do not remember the history of what happened here, and everywhere the Madonnas stand. Maya Angelou, American poet and civil rights activist, once said, History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage need not be lived again. Were thankful Virginia is in a position to move forward. But were unwavering in our belief that behavior over the next few days will dictate whether we progress or regress in the weeks and months ahead. Consider one of the biggest changes associated with Phase 3: Restaurants and bars no longer will face 50% capacity restrictions. All parties must be separated by at least 6 feet, including in the bar area, (i.e., the 6 feet cannot include the space taken up by the seated guest), according to state guidelines. If tables are not movable, seat parties at least 6 feet apart, including in the bar area. Spacing must also allow for physical distancing from areas outside of the facilitys control (i.e., provide physical distancing from persons on public sidewalks). All parties, whether seated together or across multiple tables, must be limited to 250 patrons or less. That looks clear on paper. Depending on the space or the level of alcohol consumed replicating those safeguards in real time can be tougher. Richmond, KY (40475) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. But why havent we found him? Where did he go? Where is he? Kenney asked. If something happened to him because of the virus, or if he harmed himself, or even if someone did something to him, we would still find him. But hes just gone without a trace. 12 found connected to attempted murder of Mexico City police chief Mexico City, Mexico A Mexico City judge has found 12 people connected to the attempted murder of the citys police chief and death of three others in last weeks shooting. The 12, who were detained by the Fiscalia General de Justicia de la Ciudad de Mexico, are being held on firearm, homicide and attempted murder charges. The charges stem from the June 26 attack against a vehicle in which the citys police chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch was traveling. The SUV was riddled with bullets. Three people inside the vehicle were killed, while Garcia Harfuch was injured. Two of the three killed were police officers acting as bodyguards. One woman inside the SUV also died. Garcia Harfuch was shot three times and rushed to hospital where he is expected to survive. The persons mentioned in this communication are presumed innocent and will be treated as such at all stages of the procedure as long as their responsibility is not declared by means of a sentence issued by the jurisdictional body in the terms indicated in the CNPP, said the Prosecutors Office. The group of 10 men and two women were dispersed between two state prisons that involved a security escort of nearly 200. The mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, verified that a woman and two police officers died in the attack on Garcia Harfuchs motorcade. She also said that Garcia Harfuch is in good condition and recovering at a hospital. Following the attack, Garcia Harfuch has since said that he believes the attack was perpetrated by the Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartel (CJNG). Three people were killed after an attack against the Mexico City Police Chief This morning we were cowardly attacked by the CJNG. Two colleagues and friends of mine lost their lives. I have three bullet-wounds and several shards. Our nation must continue to confront the cowardly organized crime. We will continue working, he wrote. However, Mexican Secretary of Security, Alfonso Durazo has said that the cartels involvement is one of the hypotheses in the investigation. Security footage of the attack shows two vehicles and at least 10 men intercepting the SUV and opening fire. Initially, 19 people were arrested for the attack, however, 12 were found involved and transferred to city prisons. Federal report says Isla Mujeres most expensive diesel in state Isla Mujeres, Q.R. A gas station on Juarez Avenue in Isla Mujeres has been pointed out as having the most expensive diesel in the state. Ricardo Sheffield Padilla, head of la Procuraduria Federal del Consumidor (Profeco), reported that the station at Circunvalacion Aeropuerto de Isla Mujeres was selling diesel for 21.29 peso per liter. What happened to OXXO Gas? It was normally average, now it comes out as the most expensive diesel. News of the price was made public by Sheffield Padilla during a morning press conference from the National Palace in Mexico City. During his announcement, he also asked Mexicos gas stations to calibrate their measuring instruments in order to guarantee full liters of fuel. OXXO Gas station on Circunvalacion Aeropuerto de Isla Mujeres most expensive diesel in the state Over the last three weeks, there have been more gas stations that have been gradually increasing prices, while we see stability in the Mexican oil mix, said the federal official. He said the agency will double efforts to ensure that full liters are dispatched at all gas stations in the country, noting that they have found an increasing number of devices (without giving locations) which could be reducing the amount of fuel pumped to consumers. It costs approximately $9.6 million a year to run the Route 46 train, Glynn said, but much of that cost to Virginia is offset by ticket revenue. In 2019, ticket revenues on the Route 46 train were about $10 million. Glynn said much of the states funding concerns will be offset by the CARES Act, which capped state payment to Amtrak at no more than 80% of fiscal year 2019 operating costs. She said DRPT is still working through some of the details but is expecting to pay less in fiscal year 2020 than in fiscal year 2019. While COVID has certainly had an impact on revenue and ridership, the strong winter ridership and a return to normal travel patterns in Phase 3, we are hopeful that the Roanoke trains popularity, plus the CARES Act supplement, means the Roanoke train will once again operate in the black this year, Glynn said. Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine said since the first Virginia-sponsored train launched in Lynchburg in 2009, the rail has played an integral role in the transportation system. There seem to be three basic reasons a minority of people are flouting the wearing of masks. One is, some believe the order violates their constitutional rights. Theyve been encouraged by certain non-mask-wearing Western sheriffs who have made videos urging people not to be sheep. The part of the U.S. Constitution that addresses face masks is the same section that permits drivers to speed through red lights. In other words, it doesnt exist. But that doesnt stop certain libertarians-run-amok from proclaiming it, along with the Right to Ignorance and the Right to Do Whatever the Hell They Want. To check this, I consulted a respected (and now retired) Virginia circuit court judge, Martin Clark of Stuart. He was vacationing in Montana the state with the fewest number of coronavirus cases when I asked him about this via email. Putting the law aside, common sense and common decency ought to be the only requirements we need as citizens to wear a mask, Clark wrote back. Why do we even need to have the discussion? Are there really people who would selfishly insist that the right to endanger their neighbors and my family is both moral and legal? A change.org petition that highlights Jacksons case had gained more than 19,800 signatures by Monday. But neither the national climate nor the petition were spoken of Monday afternoon as relatives, friends and community advocates gathered together at Huff Lane Park. Instead, the group asked the community to focus on their search for any information or insight that could help piece together Jacksons final three weeks. I dont understand, said LuWillow Jackson, Israel Jacksons aunt, emotion lacing her voice as she struggled to finish her remarks. I dont understand. I dont understand how my boy could go lost for three weeks and nobody knows where he was, what he ate. Jackson had been working two jobs and had ambitions of one day opening his own business, said Jalin Gravely, a longtime close friend. He was fun-loving and down to earth. He was a part of Roanokes community, advocates said, and the community must do its part to honor his memory and help bring closure to his family. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, urged school administrators to get children back into schools as soon as possible. The basic fundamental goal would be as you possibly can to get the children back to school and to use the public health efforts as a tool to help the children get back to school, Fauci told a U.S. Senate panel Tuesday. At a meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Fauci advised that school administrators consider where their state is with regard to restrictions and the conditions of their communities as they decide how to reopen buildings. He said it was important that people adhere to guidelines on social distancing and masks to keep the level of infection in communities down, because that will make it easier to get children back into schools. Otherwise, he said schools will have to deal with the infection dynamics in their communities and create modified plans with altered school days and virtual learning. Always make the goal that it is very important to get the children back to school for the unintended negative consequences that occur when we keep them out of school, Fauci said. The Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia, a charitable organization that provides grants to numerous organizations in the Roanoke Valley and beyond, received a large financial gift of its own. Roanokes Fishwick family has given the Community Foundation more than $2.3 million to establish the Fishwick Fund, which will support programs that help elderly and poor people in Western Virginia. The money comes from the estate of the late Palmer Fishwick Posvar, who died in 2019 from a type of dementia at the age of 67. The money is part of the Fishwick Residuary Trust, which was established by Posvars father, railroad executive and philanthropist John Fishwick, who died in 2010. Posvar, who resided in Pittsburgh when she died, was a certified emergency medical technician, a community volunteer and a hospice worker. She and her husband of 40 years, Wesley, had two sons. Palmer Fishwick Posvars brother, Roanoke attorney John Fishwick Jr., was quoted in a news release that the Fishwick Fund will continue the familys history of service in the Roanoke Valley. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles will resume its DMV Select services at Roanokes city hall on Wednesday as part of the citys reopening of some government facilities. In the next week, other offices at the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building will reopen to employees and to the public and city libraries will begin offering curbside pickup of books at neighborhood branches. Most local government buildings have been closed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The municipal building reopened the treasurers office and commissioner of the revenue in early June. Starting Wednesday, DMV Select will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday with many restrictions in place. Due to physical distancing guidelines, only 10 customers at a time will be allowed in line inside the building. People will be required to wear face coverings, which can be provided for people who do not bring masks with them. The DMV services provided include vehicle registration renewal, purchase of license plates, voter applications and a few other transactions. DMV Select does not issue drivers licenses, learners permits or identification cards. More information can be found online at www.roanokeva.gov/2230/DMV-Select. Egypt and Sudan's water security is part and parcel of Arab security, the Saudi cabinet stressed Tuesday during a virtual meeting under King Salman bin Abdulaziz. The meeting addressed, among other things, the resolutions passed during the Arab Foreign Ministers Council's extraordinary session on Ethiopia's dam, regarding the formation of a special committee to follow up any developments on that score in coordination with the UN Security Council, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Asserting the need to resume good faith negotiations to reach a fair and well-balanced agreement, the kingdom rejected any measures that would infringe upon the water rights of all the parties involved. Short link: But after a three-month shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which it lost an estimated $30,000 in sales, the Homewood business reopened June 19 with zero orders on its books. Many events have been canceled, and some customers who need signs and other items cant afford them because of their own financial struggles or are opting for do-it-yourself digital printing. American exceptionalism? Northam made an announcement recently that likely got overshadowed by all his others. He announced $5,000 grants to 40 different visual artists. We hear lots about relief packages for different types of businesses but this was unusual because it was for artists. Actually, it only sounds unusual because were Americans. Were one of the few major countries that hasnt counted the arts as a business sector in need of relief during the pandemic. Australia, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and New Zealand have all done so. Politics isnt the driving factor some of those countries have conservative governments, some liberal ones but a general attitude toward the arts is. They all regard the arts as an actual business sector. It is, of course, but the U.S. is slow to count it that way. Why? A study last year found that the arts account for $64.2 million worth of economic activity in Roanoke supporting 1,774 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $6.5 million in tax revenue. Thats now a sector largely shuttered. The U.S. is exceptional in another way: We generally dont believe in government funding for the arts. Those grants Northam announced? They actually come from a private endowment. Democrats now oppose anti-gerrymandering amendment. Every 200,000 years or so, the earths magnetic poles flip. The north pole is still the north pole, but your compass will say that north is south and south is north. Weird, huh? It shouldnt be. We see the same thing happen in politics. When Democrats ruled Virginia and controlled the process for drawing new legislative lines, Republicans argued for a non-partisan commission to do the job. When Republicans won control, they forgot all about that and Democrats became the fans of a non-partisan commission. Now that Democrats are back in charge, well, you can guess where this is going. Last year, with the two parties nearly even, they reached a rare compromise and produced a constitutional amendment to set up a non-partisan commission for redistricting. With Democrats back in the majority this year, party leaders did their best to block that amendment from going to voters this fall but enough rogue Democrats joined with Republicans to put it on the ballot. Now Virginia Democrats, in their recent virtual convention, have formally urged a no vote. The official rationale is that the amendment doesnt sufficiently protect minority voters, that Democrats on their own could come up with a far better scheme not that they bothered to produce one during the recent session. The choice before voters this fall will be whether they want to write that compromise amendment into the states constitution or whether they trust Democrats to draw fair lines next year. Out of 65 proposed constitutional amendments since 1927, Virginians have only rejected 11 so the odds would seem to favor approval. On the other hand, Virginia is now trending Democratic, so if voters heed the partys official apparatus, they will vote in favor of gerrymandering. This may be the most unpredictable election on the states ballot. This is in regards to President Trumps rallies, it seems that the Democrats are concerned now about spreading the coronavirus while silently watching thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters marching through every state and city and some not wearing masks and being side by side to each other without regards to anyone's safety, from the virus. The do-nothing Democrats always have criticized the president, so if anyone's to blame it's them. Reiners comic highlights include his early TV work with Sid Caesar, The Dick Van Dyke Show, which he created, wrote produced and occasionally starred in, films such as the Steve Martin films and Oh, God! and his long collaboration with best friend Mel Brooks. They recorded a series of albums with Reiner playing the straight man interviewing Brooks 2000 Year Old Man. Rocky Mount, NC (27804) Today Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 94F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low near 75F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Mumbai: Police have beefed up security outside the Taj hotel in south Mumbai after the Karachi Stock Exchange terror attack, a senior official said on Tuesday. Taj hotel The iconic hotel in Colaba area was among the targets of Pakistani terrorists during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. The official said that Mumbai police are on high alert after Monday's Karachi exchange terror attack and as part of the enhanced anti-terror measures, security outside the hotel and other vital installations has been increased. File PhotoThere has been no confirmation from police so far about reports that a caller from Pakistan had threatened to blow up the luxury hotel. "Police are on alert and an adequate number of police personnel have been deployed in the (Taj hotel) area," the official said. Chandigarh: The Punjab Police has foiled a major bid by Pakistan-backed terrorists to target socio-religious leaders and disturb the communal harmony of the state with the arrest of three members of the Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF). According to Punjab DGP, Dinkar Gupta, the terror module, busted on Sunday, was operating in various parts of Punjab at the behest of pro-Khalistani elements based in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UK. DGP Dinkar GuptaGupta said one .32 bore pistol, along with 7 cartridges, has been recovered from the alleged terrorists, identified as Sukhchain Singh r/o Village Sehra, PS Ganda Kheri, Distt. Patiala; Amritpal Singh r/o Village Achanak, PS Boha, Distt Mansa; and Jaspreet Singh r/o Borewal Sohan, Police Station Majitha. Another of their associates, Lovepreet Singh r/o Kaithal, has already been arrested recently by Delhi Police, along with other KLF members. Giving details of the case, the DGP said the three men had come into contact with one other through social media. They further came in touch with Pakistan-based handlers who provoked them to target socio-religious leaders, and also disturb Punjabs peace and law & order. Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta Amritpal Singh was instrumental in connecting and motivating Sukhchain and Lovepreet Singh in taking the dangerous agenda forward. Initial investigations show that their Pakistan-based handlers also invited these men to visit Pakistan for planning the future course of action. One of the foreign handlers, based in Saudi Arabia, promised to provide them shelter once they execute their actions on ground. FIRAn FIR has been registered at Police Station Sadar, Samana, district Patiala under sections 13,16,18,20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and 25/54/59 Arms Act, and further investigations are in progress. Gupta said with this, the Punjab Police has busted a total of nine terror modules in the first six months of this year itself. Rutland, VT (05701) Today Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 88F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 63F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Another chapter of this fourth graders story described the restless nights she faced trying to balance work, schoolwork and family responsibilities. Her friends pleaded with her to skip her homework so she could rest. But she wouldnt. She couldnt. This little girl felt the weight of her ancestors on her shoulders. Her forefathers braved a tragic civil war. They fought so that one day, they could bring their family to America. Her own father braved the perilous journey to reach America in search of a better life. But he learned the streets of America were not paved with gold there was no El Dorado. He and his wife had a difficult life, money was always elusive. But together they had two daughters, the reason they came to America their children symbolized all the promise of the land of opportunity. And they would sacrifice anything ANYTHING to have their girls educated in America. A funny reminder of this is my friends calling me highlighter in the middle of math class. This was when my friend asked me if I had a highlighter. Naturally, I took out my yellow highlighter and handed it to her. She began to laugh because she wanted the makeup highlighter and I didnt have a clue about what it was. So my advice is to take every chance, learn something new, and try stepping out of the box. Always remember to take risks but be careful. Also, value relationships as well as give love to the people around you. As Mother Teresa said: Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier. Chula Vista is rising. Literally. To account for potential sea level rise, the Port of San Diego is elevating a portion of the citys Bayfront by as much as 8 feet in preparation for a $1 billion hotel and convention center. The soil will also improve drainage and prepare the area for roads, utilities and other infrastructure required for the long-awaited development that will be key to Chula Vistas economic development by generating thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue. When all of the soil is moved, the area will be 14 feet above sea level. Advertisement The Chula Vista Bayfront elevation project is just one of several the Port is doing to prepare for sea level rise. The Port manages 34 miles of waterfront real estate throughout San Diego. This includes hotels, restaurants, public parks, and museums. For more than a decade, planners at the Port have calculated potential sea level rise into its future projects through vulnerability assessments. This year marks a significant shift in which those abstract plans have materialized into concrete projects, according to regional experts. Sea level rise, for a long time, has been focused on vulnerability assessments and how to integrate that information into local plans, said Dani Boudreau, the vice chair of the San Diego Climate Collaborative. Apart from the Bayfront project, the Port is elevating the Shelter Island boat launch by two feet and building an oyster reef along Chula Vistas shoreline to prevent erosion. Additionally, the Brigantines Portside Pier project is currently under construction. This current batch of projects is only the beginning. Within the next five years, we are going to see some really interesting projects on the ground, Boudreau added. A lot of them are already in the design phase. The Climate Collaborative is made up of various cities and regional agencies such as the Port of San Diego. Their goal is to provide a regional forum to talk about different ways of preparing for the impacts of climate change, reduce carbon footprints, and mitigate greenhouse gases. Advertisement The collaborative helps its members develop best practices, share resources, and come up with a regional strategy. Because of the nature of climate change, every stakeholder along the coast and even those near the coast need to be on the same page, said Philip Gibbons, program manager for the Port of San Diego. Its really something thats going to affect all of us, Gibbons said. Sea level rise is not going to stop at the Ports jurisdiction, or Encinitas jurisdiction, or Carlsbad. Its something that we all have to work on. Because San Diego is so geographically diverse, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to climate change, he added. Advertisement For example, North Countys coastline is largely made up of cliffs and needs to guard against erosion while the South Bay is more densely populated and more threatened by flooding. To calculate potential sea level rise, the Port uses projections from the State of California Ocean Protection Council. Those assessments include short- and long-term projections. Because long-term projections vary, the Port considers conservative and liberal long-term projections. In March, the California Ocean Protection Council released an updated Sea Level Rise Guidance report that stated sea level rise could be between 2.5 and 6.9 feet by 2100. A more recent report, this one released in September by the California Coastal Commission, said that sea level rise could be as high as 10 feet depending on the condition of Arctic ice sheets. Advertisement A significant finding from this report is that Antarctic ice sheet loss could have an outsized impact on sea level rise in California compared to the global average due to ocean circulation dynamics, the report states. Further, the report states that rapid ice sheet loss could result in upwards of 10 feet of sea level rise along the California coast by 2100. According to models from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, several homes in Coronado, Imperial Beach and Mission Beach would be underwater with four-and-a-half feet of sea level rise. Parts of Chula Vistas Bayfront, Shelter Island, and the San Diego Convention Center would be vulnerable to flooding. Recent vulnerability assessments show that high sea levels combined with extreme weather events which scientists predict will be more common in the future have the potential to cause significant flooding in the the region, particularly San Diego Bay, according to the states Climate Change Assessment. San Diego Bay is particularly vulnerable to sea level rise due to the core location of several important transportation hubs, the airport, naval base, and port, as well as being a business and population center, according to the assessment. Advertisement An economic impact study commissioned by the Climate Collaborative found that between $395 million and $451 million of commercial and industrial property throughout the county could be lost annually if sea level rises by 6.6 feet, according to the report. Tourism and shipbuilding would be the most impacted sectors, according to the analysis. According to experts, some areas of San Diego are already seeing impacts of sea level rise. Were seeing in San Diego that there are communities that are starting to see impacts already, Boudreau said. Advertisement Some of the visible impacts of sea level rise include nuisance flooding during high tide or small rain events and changes to storm water systems, such as finding seaweed and salt water further into the systems than before. Tidal inundation already impacts many storm water outlets in Imperial Beach, where nearly 800 feet of wastewater pipe is exposed to erosion hazards and pump stations are currently vulnerable to coastal flooding, according to the citys Sea Level Rise Assessment. The Ocean Protection Council echoes the same sentiment in their sea level guidance reports. Coastal California is already experiencing the early impacts of a rising sea level, including more extensive coastal flooding during storms, periodic tidal flooding, and increased coastal erosion, the council wrote in an April 2017 report. Advertisement Apart from working with the Climate Collaborative, the Port is also working with the U.S. Navy to prepare for sea level rise. The Port and Navy are the two biggest land managers in San Diego Bay. The two recently signed a memorandum of agreement to align their sea level rise efforts. Those sea level rise efforts will be constantly updated and evaluated depending on how climate change impacts the region in the future. We are not trying to completely solve the problem today because we probably cant do that yet, Gibbons said. Theres a lot of uncertainty about what sea level rise will be like in 2050 or 2100 so we are creating a framework now. Were really setting afloat a process to plan what will likely change over time. Advertisement Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter One person involved in the fray was taken into custody and was expected to be charged with assault on a police officer, authorities said. A second was taken in on suspicion of disorderly conduct, but ultimately let go, sources said. Albany County officials provide an update on the COVID-19 pandemic as the Capital Region moves toward Phase 4 of the reopen. Jacobs now lives in Israel, according to the suit. He could not be reached. The alleged victim claims she told an OHEL case worker shed been repeatedly sexually abused and could not sit comfortably. The worker agreed to transfer her out of the house but only because she had lied and could no longer live in the home, the suit states. The liar label followed her while she remained in OHELs care, the suit states. A multidisciplinary team from two Johns Hopkins University institutions, including neurotoxicologists and virologists from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and infectious disease specialists from the school of medicine, has found that organoids (tiny tissue cultures made from human cells that simulate whole organs) known as "mini-brains" can be infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The results, which suggest that the virus can infect human brain cells, were published online June 26, 2020, in the journal ALTEX: Alternatives to Animal Experimentation. Early reports from Wuhan, China, the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, have suggested that 36% of patients with the disease show neurological symptoms, but it has been unclear whether or not the virus infects human brain cells. In their study, the Johns Hopkins researchers demonstrated that certain human neurons express a receptor, ACE2, which is the same one that the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to enter the lungs. Therefore, they surmised, ACE2 also might provide access to the brain. When the researchers introduced SARS-CoV-2 virus particles into a human mini-brain model, the team found -- for what is believed to be the first time -- evidence of infection by and replication of the pathogen. The human brain is well-shielded against many viruses, bacteria and chemical agents by the blood-brain barrier, which in turn, often prevents infections of the brain. "Whether or not the SARS-CoV-2 virus passes this barrier has yet to be shown," notes senior author Thomas Hartung, M.D., Ph.D., chair for evidence-based toxicology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. "However, it is known that severe inflammations, such as those observed in COVID-19 patients, make the barrier disintegrate." The impermeability of the blood-brain barrier, he adds, also can present a problem for drug developers targeting the brain. The impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the developing brain is another concern raised by the study. Previous research from Paris-Saclay University has shown that the virus crosses the placenta, and embryos lack the blood-brain barrier during early development. "To be very clear," Hartung says, "we have no evidence that the virus produces developmental disorders." However, the mini-brains -- which model the growing human brain -- contain the ACE2 receptor from their earliest stages of development. Therefore, Hartung says, the findings suggest that extra caution should be taken during pregnancy. "This study is another important step in our understanding of how infection leads to symptoms, and where we might tackle the COVID-19 disease with drug treatment," says William Bishai, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and leader of the infectious disease team for the study. The human stem cell-derived mini-brain models -- known as BrainSpheres -- were developed at the Bloomberg School of Public Health four years ago. They were the first mass-produced, highly standardized organoids of their kind, and have been used to model a number of diseases, including infections by viruses such as Zika, dengue and HIV. After several years of experimentation, scientists have engineered thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana, to behave like a succulent, improving water-use efficiency, salinity tolerance and reducing the effects of drought. The tissue succulence engineering method devised for this small flowering plant can be used in other plants to improve drought and salinity tolerance with the goal of moving this approach into food and bioenergy crops. "Water-storing tissue is one of the most successful adaptations in plants that enables them to survive long periods of drought. This anatomical trait will become more important as global temperatures rise, increasing the magnitude and duration of drought events during the 21st century," said University of Nevada, Reno Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Professor John Cushman, co-author of a new scientific paper on plant tissue succulence published in the Plant Journal. The work will be combined with another of Cushman's projects: engineering another trait called crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), a water-conserving mode of photosynthesis that can be applied to plants to improve water-use efficiency. "The two adaptations work hand-in-hand," Cushman, of the University's College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources, said. "Our overall goal is to engineer CAM, but in order to do this efficiently we needed to engineer a leaf anatomy that had larger cells to store malic acid that accumulates in the plant at night. An added bonus was that these larger cells also served to store water to overcome drought and to dilute salt and other ions taken up by the plant, making them more salt tolerant." When a plant takes up carbon dioxide, it takes it through its pores on the leaf, called stomata. They open their stomata so carbon dioxide goes in, and then it gets fixed into sugars and all other compounds that support most of life on earth. But, when stomata open, not only does carbon dioxide come in, but also water vapor goes out, and because plants transpire to cool themselves, they lose enormous amounts of water." Cushman's team of scientists created genetically modified A. thaliana with increased cell size resulting in larger plants with increased leaf thickness, more water-storage capacity, and fewer and less open stomatal pores to limit water loss from the leaf due to the overexpression of a gene, known as VvCEB1 to scientists. The gene is involved in the cell expansion phase of berry development in wine grapes. advertisement The resulting tissue succulence serves two purposes. "Larger cells have larger vacuoles to store malate at night, which serves as the carbon source for carbon dioxide release and refixation, by what's called Rubisco enzyme action, during the day behind closed stomatal pores, thereby limiting photorespiration and water loss" Cushman said. "And, the succulent tissue traps the carbon dioxide that is released during the day from the decarboxylation of malate so that it can be refixed more efficiently by Rubisco. One of the major benefits of VvCEB1 gene overexpression was the observed improvements in whole-plant instantaneous and integrated water-use efficiency, which increased up to 2.6-fold and 2.3-fold, respectively. Water-use efficiency is the ratio of carbon fixed or biomass produced to the rate of transpiration or water loss by the plant. These improvements were correlated with the degree of leaf thickness and tissue succulence, as well as lower stomatal pore density and reduced pore openings. "We tried a number of candidate genes, but we only observed this remarkable phenotype with the VvCEB1 gene," Cushman said. "We typically will survey between 10 to 30 independent transgenic lines, and then these are grown for two to three generations before detailed testing." Arabidopsis thaliana is a powerful model for the study of growth and development processes in plants. It is a small weed-like plant that has a short generation time of about six weeks and grows well under laboratory conditions where it produces large amounts of seeds. advertisement Engineered tissue succulence is expected to provide an effective strategy for improving water?use efficiency, drought avoidance or attenuation, salinity tolerance and for optimizing performance of CAM. CAM plants are very smart, keeping their stomata closed during the day, and only opening them at night when evapotranspiration is low because it is cooler and the sun is not shining, Cushman explained. The significance of CAM is found in its unique ability to conserve water. Where most plants would take in carbon dioxide during the day, CAM plants do so at night. "Essentially, CAM plants are five to six times more water-use efficient, whereas most plants are very water inefficient," he said. "The tissue succulence associated with CAM and other adaptive traits like thicker cuticles and the accumulation of epicuticular waxes, means that they can reduce leaf heating during the day by reflecting some of the light hitting the leaf. Many desert-adapted CAM plants also have a greater ability to tolerate high temperatures." With demand for agricultural products expected to increase by as much as 70% to serve a growing human population, which is predicted to reach about 9.6 billion by 2050, Cushman and his team are pursuing these biotechnology solutions to address potential future food and bioenergy shortages. "We plan to move both tissue succulence and CAM engineering into crop plants. This current work is proof-of-concept," Cushman said. The work was funded by the Department of Energy, Office of Science, Genomic Science Program. New Zealand's monster penguins that lived 62 million years ago had doppelgangers in Japan, the USA and Canada, a study published today in the Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research has found. Scientists have identified striking similarities between the penguins' fossilised bones and those of a group of much younger Northern Hemisphere birds, the plotopterids. These similarities suggest plotopterids and ancient penguins looked very similar and might help scientists understand how birds started using their wings to swim instead of fly. Around 62 million years ago, the earliest known penguins swam in tropical seas that almost submerged the land that is now New Zealand. Palaeontologists have found the fossilised bones of these ancient waddlers at Waipara, North Canterbury. They have identified nine different species, ranging in size from small penguins, the size of today's Yellow-Eyed Penguin, to 1.6 metre-high monsters. Plotopterids developed in the Northern Hemisphere much later than penguins, with the first species appearing between 37 and 34 million years ago. Their fossils have been found at a number of sites in North America and Japan. Like penguins, they used their flipper-like wings to swim through the sea. Unlike penguins, which have survived into the modern era, the last plotopterid species became extinct around 25 million years ago. The scientists -- Dr Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt; James Goedert of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and University of Washington, USA; and Canterbury Museum Curators Dr Paul Scofield and Dr Vanesa De Pietri -- compared the fossilised bones of plotopterids with fossil specimens of the giant penguin species Waimanu, Muriwaimanu and Sequiwaimanu from Canterbury Museum's collection. advertisement They found plotopterids and the ancient penguins had similar long beaks with slit-like nostrils, similar chest and shoulder bones, and similar wings. These similarities suggest both groups of birds were strong swimmers that used their wings to propel them deep underwater in search of food. Some species of both groups could grow to huge sizes. The largest known plotopterids were over 2 metres long, while some of the giant penguins were up to 1.6 metres tall. Despite sharing a number of physical features with penguins both ancient and modern, plotopterids are more closely related to boobies, gannets and cormorants than they are to penguins. "What's remarkable about all this is that plotopterids and ancient penguins evolved these shared features independently," says Dr De Pietri. "This is an example of what we call convergent evolution, when distantly related organisms develop similar morphological traits under similar environmental conditions." Dr Scofield says some large plotopterid species would have looked very similar to the ancient penguins. "These birds evolved in different hemispheres, millions of years apart, but from a distance you would be hard pressed to tell them apart," he says. "Plotopterids looked like penguins, they swam like penguins, they probably ate like penguins -- but they weren't penguins." Dr Mayr says the parallels in the evolution of the bird groups hint at an explanation for why birds developed the ability to swim with their wings. "Wing-propelled diving is quite rare among birds; most swimming birds use their feet. We think both penguins and plotodopterids had flying ancestors that would plunge from the air into the water in search of food. Over time these ancestor species got better at swimming and worse at flying." Fossils from New Zealand's giant penguins, including Waimanu and Sequiwaimanu are currently on display alongside life-sized models of the birds in Canterbury Museum's exhibition Ancient New Zealand: Squawkzilla and the Giants, extended until 16 August 2020. This research was partly supported by the Royal Society of New Zealand's Marsden Fund. Close The atmospheres of Neptune and Uranus are primarily made up of hydrogen, helium, and a small amount of methane. Beneath these atmospheric layers is a superhot, superdense fluid of 'icy' materials like water, methane, and ammonia that also wraps around the planet's core. These two planets could also be raining diamonds and scientists have now produced new experimental evidence showing how this could be possible. They hypothesize that the intense heat and pressure of thousands of kilometers below the surface of Neptune and Uranus should split apart hydrocarbon compounds, with the carbon compressing into a diamond which sinks towards the planetary cores. Knowing How Neptune Rains With Diamonds The researchers conducted a new experiment using the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser. This is to get the most precise measurement yet of how Neptune came to have a diamond rain and find out carbon transitions directly into a crystalline diamond. Plasma physicist Mike Dunne, the director of the LCLS, who is not part of the paper, explained that this new experiment provides information on a phenomenon that is very difficult to model computationally, which is the miscibility of the two elements. Neptune and Uranus are the most poorly understood planets in the Solar System since they are located very far with only a single space probe, Voyager 2, has even been close to them. But according to NASA, ice giants are fairly common in the Milky Way, with Neptune-like exoplanets are ten times more widespread than Jupiter-like exoplanets. Calculations and experiments done decades ago to understand what happens in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune have shown that sufficient pressure and temperature, methane can be broken down into diamonds. Physicist Dominik Kraus at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf in Germany led an experiment before which used X-ray diffraction to demonstrate this process. Presently, he and his team are taking it a step further, hopeful that their new approach based on X-ray scattering will become more relevant the more exoplanets are discovered. It is difficult to replicate the atmospheric conditions of the giant planets here on Earth because it will need intense equipment. Through LCLS and a material that replicates the things inside the giant planet-which they used the hydrocarbon polystyrene (C8H8) in place of methane (CH4) - the researchers were able to create a model that somehow replicates the giant planets. Read Also: Look up and Spot the Great Diamond in the Sky This Week! Here's How Replicating Neptune's Diamond Rain The researchers first heated and pressurized the material to replicate the conditions inside Neptune at a depth of 6,214 miles (10,000 kilometers). Pulses of optical laser produce shockwaves in the polystyrene that heats the material to 8,540 degrees Fahrenheit (4,727 degrees Celsius). This also created intense pressure, at about 1.5 million bars. This is equivalent to the pressure exerted by the weight of 250 Africa elephants on the surface of a thumbnail, Kraus said. In his previous experiment, X-ray diffraction was used to probe the material, especially those with crystalline structures. But in the new experiment, the researchers used a different method. They measured how X-rays scattered off electrons in the polystyrene. Through this, they were able to observe carbon turning into a diamond and see the rest of the sample split off into hydrogen that left no carbon after. This experiment showed that there is no alternative explanation as of yet, and it also showed a method to 'probe' interiors of other planets in the Solar System. They published their study in Nature Communications. Read More: It's Raining Iron on a Distant Exoplanet Everything was lining up for the next part of my brothers life. He was so close to getting out and then they took him away from us, said Floyds brother, Ramel Floyd. The actions of Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster are truly reprehensible. We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trumps breach of contract and Simon & Schusters intentional interference with that contract, Robert Trumps attorney Charles Harder said. Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end. On Wednesday morning, he allegedly flashed two girls, 11 and 13, as they walked a dog past the corner of Seventh Ave. and 18th St. The girls ran to their mom, who chased after him and snapped pictures as he fled. Police responding to a report of shots fired in Harlem early Sunday, June 28, 2020, were met by a raucous crowd hurling bottles. The officers pulled up to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. and 133 St. around 3:45 a.m. to investigate a shooting that was detected through ShotSpotter, according to police. After investigating the scene and recovering shell casings and fired bullets, the officers tried to disperse the crowd of over 500 that had gathered on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd between W. 131st and W. 133rd Sts., according to police. (@bagluck / Instagram) Always being on the lookout for emerging technologies with high growth potential is the basis of successful investing, particularly if youre open to making bold decisions. And when it comes to new tech, nothings quite as exciting as space exploration. Space the final frontier offers more than a few opportunities for the exploring investor. Moon rockets and space stations don't come cheap, and space was once the exclusive domain of national governments. But public and private companies are now involved in satellites, research, mining, communications and space tourism. The space business has branched into several distinct sectors, with hundreds of companies involved, and has even developed its own market index and specialized research sources. Related: How This AI Company Is Working to Transform Space Exploration in an Age of Global Change According to the Space Foundation, the revenue of the global space industry totaled almost $415 in 2018. More importantly, however, predictions by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch put the worth of the industry at a massive $2.7 trillion by 2045. So, if innovative technologies are your thing, nows the time to get in on the action and begin investing in space companies. Weve all heard about SpaceX the company behind the development of a reusable rocket and launch system, founded by Elon Musk. SpaceX is a privately funded company with no plans of going public, however, so at the time of writing it doesnt present any investment opportunities. Related: NASA Astronauts Successfully Dock SpaceX Crew Dragon at ISS However, there are several public companies on the market working in different areas of space exploration. Although they might not be receiving the same publicity as SpaceX, theyre no less worthy of attention and investment. 1. Virgin Galactic (SPCE) Virgin Galactic part of Richard Bransons Virgin Group empire was the first publicly traded commercial space tourism company. The majority of the companys efforts are focused on making passenger flights into space a reality. Related: Virgin Galactic Signs NASA Deal to Take Private Citizens to the ISS In addition to its ambition to conquer space, Virgin Galactic is also developing hypersonic travel technology, having entered into a Space Act Agreement with NASA. Hypersonic flights would revolutionize intercontinental travel, cutting down the transit time between London and New York to as little as two hours, instead of the eight it takes with current flight technology. A trip from London to Australia, meanwhile, would take just four and a half hours instead of almost 22. 2. Boeing (BA) In addition to designing, manufacturing and selling airplanes, telecoms equipment, missiles and rotor craft, Boeing is also working on rockets. Boeings history with space travel reaches back further than most people realize: in 1969, the company was involved in the creation of the Saturn V rocket, which propelled Apollo 11 to the Moon. In the course of its work with NASA, the company has also built numerous satellites, as well as being responsible for managing the International Space Station. Currently, Boeing is developing spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The companys largest space project is the Space Launch System rocket, intended to explore deep space. 3. Northrop Grumman (NOC) Northrop Grumman is one of the worlds leading weapons manufacturers, with an annual revenue of over $30 billion. Although recently, the companys been known mostly for its development of stealth bombers, it has been working in the field of space tech development for over 60 years. At the moment, Northrop Grumman is working on building NASAs James Webb Space Telescope. The company is also involved in the development of the Chandra Space Telescope and the Dawn asteroid explorer, as well as taking part in programs intended to develop technology for observing Earth from space. 4. Lockheed Martin (LMT) The worlds largest defence contractor, Lockheed Martin is one of the major players in the space industry, too. As a contractor to NASA, the company built parts for the Apollo 11 spacecraft in the 1960s as well as satellites and space probes. Lockheed Martins other major space projects include the deep-space Orion spacecraft and the Mars InSight lander. In terms of stock prices, Lockheed Martin is the highest on this list, having reached almost $440 in February this year. During the crisis-related crash in mid-March, the companys stock dropped to just under $300, suffering much less than the vast majority of other stocks. It also recovered very well, reaching over $400 in the first week of June. 5. Procure Space ETF (UFO) This exchange-traded fund focuses on investing in companies that are already profiting from the space industry, rather than looking to in-development tech and far-off revenue streams like space tourism. Specifically, the ETFs policy is that 80 percent of investments are into companies that receive at least half of their profits from the space industry. An example of how profit can be made from space without involving space flight or related tech is how satellites are used for emerging technologies on Earth. 5G, blockchain and crypto currencies, for instance, are all dependent on satellites and other space-based systems. Key holdings of Procure Space include Boeing (described above), Iridium Communications, Airbus and Maxar. Related: 25 Unforgettable Moments in Space Exploration to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Related: Fivetran Raises $100 Mn; Enters Unicorn Club Amid Pandemic Bangalore-Based Zeta Expands Its Footprint In Vietnam and Philippines A Portable UV-C Case Can Disinfect Your Phone and Small Belongings Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Bob Dylan has a habit of showing up with guns blazing just when you think he's starting to fade. In 1974, for example, he followed a period that included relative disappointments like Self Portrait and Planet Waves with the stunning Blood on the Tracks. And a series of uneven albums in the 1980s and early 1990s preceded the arrival of the terrific Time Out of Mind in 1997. You could be forgiven if you thought in recent years that he was once again down for the count. His last album of original compositions, Tempest, had come out in 2012, after which he had issued only archival material and three collections of covers from the Great American Songbook. The famous chorus of 1964's "My Back Pages" notwithstanding, moreover, he wasn't getting any younger: Dylan turned 79 in May. So it seemed reasonable to suspect that we'd seen the last of his greatest albums. But if that's what you concluded, well, here comes Rough and Rowdy Ways, a superb collection of 10 new originals, to prove you wrong. Unlike, say, Nashville Skyline or Blood on the Tracks, this 39th Dylan studio LP does not find him reinventing his vocal style or lyrical approach: if you've listened to the other collections of original material he has produced over the last couple of decades, you'll find a familiar-sounding artist on Rough and Rowdy Ways. Though Dylan's phrasing is arguably more subtle, precise, and evocative than some of what we've heard from him in recent years, he's still singing (and often half-talking) in the rough, world-weary voice that has characterized his other 21st-century albums. Many of his longtime lyrical preoccupations remain-especially mortality and love. And he's still mixing up a unique musical brew whose ingredients include blues, country, and rock and roll. His longtime band remains magnificent and in perfect step with his moods. He's also still heavily into uncredited borrowing, though not to the extent that raised eyebrows regarding 2006's Modern Times. As he has done since the beginning of his career (and as many other folk artists have done), he pulls ideas and phrases from umpteen sources and uses them as building blocks for something fresh. Here, he takes his album's moniker from an old Jimmie Rodgers number, lifts the title of "Murder Most Foul" from Shakespeare's Hamlet, and uses a Walt Whitman line for the title of "I Contain Multitudes." Dylan also weaves in a line about "the winter of my discontent" and a verse from the Who's Tommy. And the music for "False Prophet" has been said to derive directly from "If Lovin' Is Believin'," a 1954 Sun Records track by Billy "The Kid" Emerson. Another habit that continues on Rough and Rowdy Ways is Dylan's occasional penchant for using more plastic than necessary: the 71-minute album covers two CDs, with its longest track occupying all of disc two, though everything could have easily been accommodated on a single CD. His previous album, Triplicate, came on three discs but could have fit on two. (If it had, he would perhaps have been inclined to call it Duplicate.) There are important differences between Rough and Rowdy Ways and Dylan's other work over the past couple of decades, however. Most notably, this album seems to have been assembled more carefully. It also appears to contain more specific references to real places, things, and especially people: he namechecks Leon Russell, Liberace, Julius Caesar, Jimmy Reed (the ostensible subject of a whole song), Allen Ginsberg, Sigmund Freud, Harry Truman, Karl Marx, and many other well-known figures. In Dylan's first-person lyrics, moreover, he seems to be speaking for himself-rather than giving voice to some fictitious protagonist-more than at any time since Blood on the Tracks. ("I go right to the edge, I go right to the end," he proclaims at one point. "I sing the songs of experience like William Blake / I have no apologies to make.") He also credits himself as producer rather than using his frequent Jack Frost pseudonym for that role. "The lyrics are the real thing, tangible, they're not metaphors," Dylan told Douglas Brinkley in a recent New York Times interview. Maybe so, but they're still sometimes as enigmatic as we've come to expect from Dylan. Of course, Dylan being Dylan, that doesn't make them any less fascinating, memorable, quotable, or, at times, humorous. Virtually every number is loaded with wit, wordplay, and evidence of this Nobel laureate's wild imagination. The record's first track, the understated, percussion-free "I Contain Multitudes," features a soft blend of strings, pedal steel, and guitar and sets the dreamlike, death-haunted tone for much of the album with its opening lines: "Today and tomorrow and yesterday too / The flowers are dying like all things do." Later in the same song, Dylan compares himself-all in one verse-to Anne Frank, Indiana Jones, and "them British bad boys," the Rolling Stones. He also rhymes the song title with "nudes," "feuds," and-in an apparent reference to David Bowie-"all the young dudes." Another standout is the melodious "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You," a touching and complex statement of devotion that echoes the lyrical intensity of songs like Empire Burlesque's "I'll Remember You." Here, Dylan sings of traveling "a long road of despair" and confides, "I've seen the sunrise, I've seen the dawn / I'll lay down beside you when everyone's gone." And then there's the accordion-flavored "Key West (Philosopher Pilot)," a brilliant, rambling ballad that appears to be about an old man, perhaps on his deathbed. He was "born on the wrong side of the railroad track" and "never lived in the land of Oz" but has now found some kind of peace in Key West, which he calls "the place to be if you're looking for immortality." This album's centerpiece is "Murder Most Foul," the longest song Dylan has ever recorded. ("Highlands," on Time Out of Mind, is only 23 seconds shorter, but such epics as "Tempest," "Just Like a Woman," "Joey," and "Brownsville Girl" all wind down well before this one does.) Dylan talks/sings over piano and mournful, dirge-like strings, offering a sprawling and intriguing lyric that uses the assassination of President John F. Kennedy-an event that has interested him for years-as a jumping-off point for a romp through an American dream world. "It was a dark day in Dallas, November '63 / A day that will live on in infamy," Dylan begins. "President Kennedy was a-ridin' high / Good day to be livin' and a good day to die." Subsequent verses continue the assassination theme with references to the grassy knoll, the Zapruder film, the swearing in of Lyndon Johnson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby, but Dylan also manages enough sidetracks to mention everything from Gone with the Wind, the Aquarian Age, and Marilyn Monroe to Wolfman Jack, The Birdman of Alcatraz, Lindsey Buckingham, and The Merchant of Venice. He also names more than 70 songs, ranging from "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" and "Down in the Boondocks" to "Moonlight Sonata" and "That Old Devil Moon." What does it all mean? Well, in his 1966 Playboy interview with Nat Hentoff, Dylan famously answers a question about what his songs are about by saying, "Oh, some are about four minutes, some are about five, and some, believe it or not, are about 11 or 12." The best answer regarding "Murder Most Foul" might be that it's "about 17." At any rate, it works beautifully, much as an equally wild blizzard of words worked back in 1965, on Highway 61 Revisited's classic "Desolation Row." The post Music Review: 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' Delivers Classic Bob Dylan appeared first on Blogcritics. View the original article on blogcritics.org Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, in a report to the Legislature, says law enforcement statewide should be required to disclose all uses of deadly force, and that reports should be made part of a website accessible to all citizens. "There is currently no public, centralized location for information on deadly force by law enforcement in Washington," Ferguson said in a statement. "The public expects and deserves access to this information. These common-sense, broadly supported policies are long overdue." Washington voters in 2018 passed Initiative 940, which reformed conditions for charging police for excessive use of force and expanded training requirements. But there remains no single location where the public and Legislature can obtain information about cases in which deadly force has been used by police. Some individual law enforcement agencies do make deadly force incident information available, but Ferguson argues that transparency is not consistent across the state. Nor is the information compiled in one place. Last year, the FBI created a national use-of-force reporting system, but the program is voluntary and only 10% of Washington law enforcement agencies participate. Nor is the information reported to the FBI available to the public. The Attorney General's report requires two reforms: All law enforcement agencies in Washington would be required to report all uses of deadly force to the FBI's National Use-of-Force Data Collection program. A centralized, easy-to-access website in Washington would permit the public to access information about all uses of deadly force in the state.Given that the FBI program already exists, and is easy for police to use, Ferguson believes using it is the fastest, most cost-effective way to ensure full reporting on use of force. The state's website, regularly updated, would make available the following information: The date and location of incidents where deadly force is used; The police agency or agencies employing the officers involved; The type of force used by the officers; Injuries, if any, suffered by officers and members of the public; The demographic characteristics of the officers and members of the public, including sex, race, age and ethnicity; The reason or reasons for initial contact between police officers and members of the public; The agency investigating the incident. In his report, Ferguson writes: "Calling for comprehensive, mandatory data collection on use of deadly force is not new, and should not be controversial. For example, in 2016, Washington's Joint Legislative Task Force on Use of Deadly Force in Community Policing overwhelmingly supported statewide deadly force data collection." Ferguson is conducting a statewide inquiry into use of deadly force by law enforcement so far in 2020. The inquiry follows revelations that the Pierce County Sheriff's Office investigation into the March death of Manuel Ellis failed to comply, in multiple ways, with I-940 and legal requirements for independent investigations into police use of deadly force. The Pierce County Sheriff's Office investigated the death of Ellis for more than three months before telling the Pierce County Prosecutor that a sheriff's deputy was involved in restraining Ellis. Last week, Gov. Jay Inslee ordered the Washington State Patrol to take over the investigation of Ellis' death in police custody. Ovidiu Dugulan/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, IVAN PEREIRA and MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News (NEW YORK) -- A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 502,000 people worldwide. Over 10.1 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks. Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 2.5 million diagnosed cases and at least 125,928 deaths. Here's how the news developed Monday. All times Eastern: 11:17 p.m.: IRS won't postpone tax filing deadline The Department of the Treasury and IRS announced that the current tax filing and payment deadline of July 15 will not be postponed. The original deadline to file was April 15, but it was postponed three months due to the pandemic. Individual taxpayers unable to meet the July 15 due date can request an automatic extension of time to file until Oct. 15, but it is not an extension to pay taxes due. For those facing hardship due to the crisis, the IRS is offering a number of payment options. "The IRS understands that those affected by the coronavirus may not be able to pay their balances in full by July 15, but we have many payment options to help taxpayers," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig in a statement published on the IRS website. "These easy-to-use payment options are available on IRS.gov, and most can be done automatically without reaching out to an IRS representative." 8:42 p.m.: Los Angeles beaches to close July 4th weekend Los Angeles County beaches will be closed during the Fourth of July weekend, the county's Lost Hills Sheriff's Station said. Beaches, piers, beach bike paths and beach access points will be closed from Friday through Monday, officials said. Trespassers will be subject to a $1,000 fine, police said. The measure comes amid rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the county. Earlier Monday, Los Angeles became the first county in the country to hit 100,000 cases. 8:12 p.m.: Arizona bars, gyms, movie theaters to close for a month Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered bars, indoor gyms, indoor movie theaters, water parks and tubing operators to pause operations, as the state sees a surge in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The order is effective Monday at 8 p.m. local time and will last until July 27, unless extended. Bars can still provide take-out and curbside service. The state is also delaying the start of the school year to Aug. 17 and prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people. Arizona schools typically open as early as July. Most businesses were able to resume operations when the state's stay-at-home order expired in mid-May. On Sunday, Arizona saw a record 3,858 new daily COVID-19 cases, and a record 2,691 hospitalizations. 7:05 p.m.: Los Angeles County surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 cases Los Angeles County has become the first county in the country to hit 100,000 cases of COVID-19. The county has also reported its largest daily increase of new cases, with 2,903. It now has 100,772 total cases. Only seven states in the U.S. have more than 100,000 cases, according to data collected by the COVID Tracking Project: California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Los Angeles County's public health director, Barbara Ferrer, blamed the increase on businesses and individuals "who haven't followed the directives," by failing to physically distance at businesses and having close contact with those outside their household. The county's seven-day testing positivity rate has risen to nearly 9%, and hospitalizations have increased 27% in the last two weeks, officials said. Ferrer said the increase in cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations is "alarming." "If you're not part of the solution to slowing the spread, you're ending up being part of the problem," she said. 5:32 p.m.: U.S. airlines to strengthen travel policies All major U.S. airlines will now require passengers to answer a health assessment during the check-in process, which includes agreeing to wear a face mask on board. Airlines for America, the industry trade organization representing seven U.S. airlines, announced the new procedures for all passengers. They include agreeing to wear a face covering at the airport, on the jet bridge and on the plane; offering assurance that they are free of COVID-19 symptoms, such as coughing or loss of taste or smell; and offering assurance that they have not had exposure to someone who tested positive or had COVID-19 symptoms in the last 14 days. Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines now or will require passengers to complete the temporary health acknowledgment during the check-in process, the organization said. 3:06 p.m.: WHO official warns pandemic is not close to over Officials from the World Health Organization gave strong warnings about the pandemic, telling reporters COVID-19 is "not even close to being over." Tuesday marks the six-month anniversary since the organization was first notified about the virus and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said people need to reflect on the progress made and the road ahead. "None of us could have imagined how our world, and our lives would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus," he said. Tedros urged global solidarity in fighting the disease and increases seen across the world. "The worst is yet to come," he said. 2:38 p.m.: New Jersey backtracks on planned indoor dining reopening Gov. Phil Murphy announced that New Jersey will pause its reopening of the state's indoor dining, which was slated for Thursday. Murphy cited "spikes" in cases in other parts of the country where restrictions on indoor dining were lifted. "We have been cautious throughout every step of our restart," he tweeted. "We've always said that we would not hesitate to hit pause if needed to safeguard public health. This is one of those times." 2:15 p.m.: Utah governor urges Pence to encourage face coverings Utah Gov. Gary Herbert told Vice President Mike Pence during his weekly conference call with governors that his state is becoming complacent and led to a "spike" in cases over the last three or four weeks, according to audio obtained by ABC News. While Herbert, a Republican, stressed that the state's fatality rate is .8%, he urged Pence and the president to send a message to the public that wearing a face covering is the best way to fight the pandemic. "I think mister vice president if you and President Trump could say -- not as necessarily a mandate but as a best practice, 'If you want to stop the spread, if you want to slow down the spread, as a best practice ... we recommend that you wear a mask,'" Herbert said. Pence responded by reiterating that the administration would support leaders who promote face coverings. "We were in Texas yesterday and we made it very clear that people should wear a mask whenever state local authorities indicate that it's appropriate, or when social distancing is not possible," the vice president said. 2:07 p.m.: Planet Fitness responds to case in West Virginia location Planet Fitness said it is working with local health officials after one of its members tested positive for the novel coronavirus in West Virginia. More than 200 people who use the gym on Fort Pierpont Drive in Morgantown have been asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days. "At Planet Fitness, the safety of our team and members is our top priority," company spokeswoman McCall Gosselin told ABC News in a statement Monday. "We have been in communication with the Monongalia County Health Department upon being notified that a member in our Morgantown, WV location tested positive for COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, the club is temporarily closed for deep cleaning and we are not aware of any additional members or team members reporting symptoms at this time. We will continue to take every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of our community, and we have taken a number of steps across all of our locations, which include enhanced cleanliness and sanitization policies and procedures, extensive training for staff, physical distancing measures, reducing physical touch points in the club with touchless check-in, and more." 1:30 p.m.: WHO official asked about Trump's 'kung-flu' comments Officials from the World Health Organization were asked during their daily briefing about their thoughts on the president using racist terminology to talk about the pandemic. WHO emergencies Chief Dr. Mike Ryan didn't refer to Trump by name but said, "many people have used unfortunate language in this response." During a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump referred to the pandemic as "kung-flu," to a laughing crowd of supporters. "It is unfortunate if our global discourse is reduced to base language. That never helps," Ryan said. The official added WHO would like to see a discourse that was more appropriate from all world leaders. "In that sense, we encourage all people, at all levels, and in all countries to use language that is appropriate, respectful and is not associated with any connotations that are negative," Ryan said. WHO officials added they are sending a team to China to investigate the virus' origins and emphasized the important of strong contact tracing programs. 12:21 p.m.: Cuomo pushes Trump to mandate face coverings as cases decline in NY New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo slammed the federal government and other states for not doing enough to curb the rise in COVID-19 cases and urged them to enforce safeguards. Cuomo specifically called on President Donald Trump to sign an executive order that would mandate face coverings across the nation. "We did it two months ago ... the other states are just starting to this now," he said. "Let the president lead by example. Let the president put a mask on." Cuomo said he is concerned that the rise of coronavirus cases would hurt New York, which was once the epicenter of the pandemic but is now on a decline in the number of cases and deaths. At its peak in the beginning of April, the state saw its three-day average of new COVID-19 deaths around 763, and on Sunday, that three-day average was eight, according to Cuomo. The governor also unveiled a sculpture of a mountain made of Styrofoam that he said symbolized the state's coronavirus case curve. "I wanted to show New Yorkers what they did," he said. "And remember what we went through." 11:39 a.m.: Broadway shows suspended for rest of year New York City's iconic Broadway shows will be suspended through the rest of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, made the announcement Monday, saying theaters are now offering refunds and exchanges for tickets purchased for all performances through Jan. 3, 2021. The organization said it's working with city and state officials as well as key experts "to formulate the best plan to restart the industry." Broadway shows were initially suspended on March 12 at the start of the pandemic. There were 31 productions running at that time, while an additional eight were in rehearsals preparing to open in the spring. Returning productions are currently projected to resume performances over a series of rolling dates early next year. Tickets for performances next winter and spring are expected to go on sale in the coming weeks, according to the Broadway League. "The Broadway experience can be deeply personal but it is also, crucially, communal," Thomas Schumacher, chair of the board of the Broadway League, said in a statement Monday. "The alchemy of 1000 strangers bonding into a single audience fueling each performer on stage and behind the scenes will be possible again when Broadway theatres can safely host full houses. Every single member of our community is eager to get back to work sharing stories that inspire our audience through the transformative power of a shared live experience. The safety of our cast, crew, orchestra and audience is our highest priority and we look forward to returning to our stages only when it's safe to do so. One thing is for sure, when we return we will be stronger and more needed than ever." 11:02 a.m.: New York City's indoor dining 'now in question,' mayor says While New York City prepares to enter the next phase of its reopening plan, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that indoor dining "is now in question." De Blasio said the city is on track to move into phase three of reopening next Monday, but he will reexamine the indoor dining element and possibly pause or modify it. The mayor said he will have more to say on the issue in the coming days. However, de Blasio said outdoor dining is "clearly working." The mayor announced that barbecue areas in the city's parks will be reopened for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend. New York City, once the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the United States, entered phase two of reopening last week, which allowed restaurants to resume outdoor dining services. De Blasio said the COVID-19 indicators -- including the daily number of hospitalizations and patients in intensive care -- remain below the desired thresholds. "The New York City story is pretty damn good," the mayor told reporters Monday. 10:36 a.m.: UK needs an interventionist approach to economy, prime minister says The United Kingdom should take an activist and interventionist approach to the economy to help it recover from the coronavirus crisis, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday. "I believe personally that what the government has got to do right now is keep going with an activist, interventionist approach," Johnson told reporters. "But that's the way also to get business to be confident, to start investing, to start taking people back and start creating new jobs and driving new growth." The United Kingdom has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The country has one of the highest death tolls from COVID-19 in the world, after the United States and Brazil. Meanwhile, a recent forecast from the Bank of England predicts the United Kingdom is heading for its worst economic downturn in more than 300 years. 9:05 a.m.: Putin says he 'regularly' gets tested for COVID-19 Russian President Vladimir Putin said he gets tested for the novel coronavirus every "three to four days," according to a new interview with state-run television channel Rossiya-1. So far, Putin said all his tests results have been negative, "thank god." The Russian leader admitted that having to work from home was a challenge for him because he enjoys having direct communication with other people. On Monday, Russia's coronavirus headquarters reported 6,719 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the nationwide total to 641,156. Russia has the third-highest number of diagnosed cases in the world, after the United States and Brazil, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Russia's death toll from the disease now stands at 9,166, after an additional 93 patients died over the past 24 hours, according to the country's coronavirus headquarters. 8:20 a.m.: Americans must 'act responsibly,' health secretary says Amid a rise in coronavirus infections across the United States, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar is calling on Americans to practice social distancing and wear face masks as people return to work and school. "We have all got to as Americans act responsibly, even as we reopen and get back to work, get back to school and get back to health care, we've got to practice social distancing. We've got to use face coverings when we can't practice social distancing," Azar told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday on Good Morning America. Many areas in the southern part of the country are now experiencing "very serious outbreaks," where the average age of people testing positive for COVID-19 is reportedly 35 or younger and many are asymptomatic, according to Azar. "We have a lot more tools now than we had two months ago," he said, "but still there is a heavy burden on us in terms of our collective responsibility as individuals when we reopen." 7:12 a.m.: Trump secures half a million treatment courses of remdesivir U.S. President Donald Trump has secured half a million treatment courses of remdesivir for American hospitals through September, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Monday. It's the first antiviral medication to show effectiveness against the novel coronavirus in human clinical trials. "This is the drug that, if you're hospitalized, can reduce the length of your stay by a third," Azar told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday on Good Morning America. The deal between the Trump administration and California-based drug maker Gilean Sciences allows U.S. hospitals to purchase remdesivir in amounts allocated by the Department of Human and Health Services as well as state health departments. The federal government is working with states to make sure the drug "gets to the hospitals most in need," Azar added. Gilead originally developed remdesivir to treat patients with Ebola virus disease. In May, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the drug for emergency use to treat patients hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19. Since then, the U.S. government has been distributing treatment courses of remdesivir that were donated by Gilead. There is currently no FDA-approved products to treat or prevent COVID-19. Gilead announced Monday that it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course of remdesivir for patients covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed nations where the drug is authorized for use. The price would be $3,120 for patients with private health insurance in the United States. 6:18 a.m.: Over 200 urged to quarantine after positive case at a Planet Fitness More than 200 people in West Virginia are being asked to quarantine themselves and watch for symptoms after a gymgoer tested positive for COVID-19. The positive case is a client of Planet Fitness on Fort Pierpont Drive in Morgantown, and the Monongalia County Health Department is now urging members who were there between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time on June 24 to stay home for 14 days since being exposed. An estimated 205 people were at the gym during that window of time. ABC News has reached out to Planet Fitness for comment. The individuals should not leave their homes until July 8 or unless to seek medical care. Those who develop symptoms should contact their primary care provider and get tested. "They also should do their best to stay away from others in their household," Dr. Lee B. Smith, Monongalia County health officer and executive director of the county's health department, said in a statement Saturday. "Ways to do this would be to stay primarily in one area of the home and to wear a mask if you must be around others." West Virginia has seen an uptick in coronavirus infections in recent weeks. In the past 10 days, the Mountain State has reported an increase of about 400 COVID-19 cases. In the 10 days prior to that, the case count climbed by about 240, according to health officials. As of late Saturday afternoon, West Virginia had reported a total of 2,782 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Monongalia County currently has 152 cases, up 21 cases in the past 10 days, health officials said. Residents are encouraged to wear masks in public, wash hands thoroughly and often, and maintain a distance of six feet from others. "These measures have proven to slow the spread of COVID-19," Dr. Smith said. "If we want to continue to open up businesses and avoid the need to reverse some of the steps we have taken, people must take these precautions seriously." 5:52 a.m.: New York records lowest rise in deaths since March New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday the state's lowest death toll and hospitalizations from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Just five new deaths were reported in New York state on Saturday -- the lowest single-day increase since March 15. The statewide death toll now stands at 24,830, according to Cuomo. Hospitalizations also continued to drop -- now below 900 -- and less than 1% of COVID-19 tests were positive on Saturday, Cuomo said. There were 616 new cases confirmed, bringing the statewide total to 392,539, according to Cuomo. New York, once the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in the United States, and other northeastern states have made major progress in recovering from their outbreaks. Meanwhile, several southern and western states are experiencing an alarming surge in new infections. An ABC News analysis found that seven states -- Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah -- have seen a record number of new cases since Friday. 4:39 a.m.: China sees decline in new cases China on Monday reported just 12 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths, as the country which was the original epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic continues to see a downward trend in infections. Five of the new cases were imported from overseas while seven were cases of domestic transmission in Beijing, where more than 8 million of the city's 21 million residents have been tested for the novel coronavirus in recent weeks. The Chinese capital has seen a recent spike in infections, though the number of new cases reported there on Monday was down by half from the previous day, according to China's National Health Commission. Overall, the Chinese mainland has reported 83,512 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with at least 4,634 deaths. There are still 418 patients receiving treatment for the disease, while another 112 are under observation for testing positive without showing any symptoms or for being suspected cases, according to the National Health Commission. 3:42 a.m.: US reports more than 38,800 new cases More than 38,800 new cases of COVID-19 were identified in the United States on Sunday, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The latest daily caseload is down from the country's record high of more than 45,000 new cases identified last Friday. The national total currently stands at 2,549,028 diagnosed cases with at least 125,803 deaths. The new cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens. By May 20, all states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up to over 30,000 and then crossing 40,000 last week. Nearly half of all 50 states have seen a rise in infections in recent weeks, with some -- such as Florida, South Carolina and Georgia -- reporting daily records. ABC News' Alina Lobzina, Katherine Faulders, Marilyn Heck, Matthew Fuhrman, Bonnie Mclean, Sam Sweeney and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday he would be "risking the future" of his regime if he allowed Iran to be entrenched militarily in his country. "We will not allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria," he told reporters alongside visiting US pointman on Iran policy, Brian Hook. The two men called for an extension of an arms embargo on Iran, archfoe of both their countries, that expires in October. "I say to the ayatollahs in Tehran: 'Israel will continue to take the actions necessary to prevent you from creating another terror and military front against Israel'" in neighbouring Syria, the premier said. "And I say to Bashar al-Assad: 'You're risking the future of your country and your regime," Netanyahu said. Israel has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of its civil war in 2011, targeting government troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. It rarely confirms details of operations in Syria, but says Iran's presence in support of Assad is a threat to the Jewish state and that it will keep up such attacks. "We are absolutely resolved to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in our immediate vicinity," said Netanyahu. Hook focused on the arms embargo, put in place as part of a multilateral nuclear accord signed by Tehran, Washington and other major powers in 2015. A lifting of that embargo would allow Iran "to freely import fighter jets, attack helicopters, warships, submarines, large-calibre artillery systems and missiles of certain ranges", the US envoy said. "Iran will then be in a position to export these weapons and their technologies to their proxies such as Hezbollah, (Palestinian groups) Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Shiite militia groups in Iraq and Shiite militant networks in Bahrain and to the Huthis in Yemen," Hook said. "The last thing that this region needs is more Iranian weapons." The US unilaterally pulled out of the Iran nuclear accord in 2018. Short link: A group of friends gathered at the scene about two hours later. Were going to miss him. He wasnt looking for any trouble. He was a kid. Just a kid, said one of the friends, who didnt give his name. For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here. Grocery delivery service Instacart and the Washington Food Industry Association sued Seattle over the city's new premium pay for gig workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, passed by the city council in June. Council Bill 119799 required food delivery companies to provide their drivers with a $2.50 premium pay for each order completed in Seattle during the city's civil emergency, declared by Mayor Jenny Durkan on March 3. The bill was the first of its kind in the nation to give such compensation to gig workers, and went into effect Friday. The lawsuit, filed that same Friday, claimed that the bill violates Initiative 1634 which was passed by voters in 2018. According to Ballotpedia, that initiative prohibits local governments from enacting taxes or fees on grocery items. "To achieve its purpose, the initiative prohibits 'local government entities' from imposing any charge, or exaction of any kind on 'the 'transfer' or 'transportation' of groceries," states the complaint. "This lawsuit arises from just such a prohibited 'charge' or 'exaction' passed by the City on food and grocery delivery services in Seattle." Before the premium pay bill passed, Instacart threatened to stop serving Seattle, calling the legislation "misguided" as the pay would increase their operating costs. The bill was co-sponsored by Seattle City councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Andrew Lewis as food and grocery delivery has become an essential lifeline to those adhering social distancing guidelines. These workers, considered independent contractors, do not receive benefits from the parent company and must absorb any personal costs incurred to keep themselves safe while delivering during the pandemic. "We heard from many gig workers asking for increased protections, including hazard pay, during the COVID-19 crisis," Councilmember Lisa Herbold said. "Gig workers are essential workers. Theyre working on the frontlines of this crisis providing for our community, including delivering meals and groceries to families and seniors who have to self-isolate. Seattle will always be a place that fights for our most vulnerable and will protect all workers." The bill states that the premium pay cannot be passed onto the customer or taken out of a worker's tips or commission; however, an amendment provides a significant loophole for food delivery companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats, Caviar and Grubhub to still charge customers for the pay. Uber Eats The amendment, sponsored by Councilmember Tammy Morales, prohibits entities from adding "customer charges to online orders for delivery of groceries," allowing companies that deliver from restaurants to charge the customer instead. Working Washington, which supported the premium pay bill, offered the following statement about the lawsuit: "It must have been pretty expensive to pay a bunch of lawyers to dream up these absurd arguments but apparently the company has money to burn the coronavirus pandemic has made Instacart's CEO a billionaire and goosed the company's value up to $14 billion. Meanwhile, the people taking on the risk of essential work during a global pandemic are getting paid less than the minimum wage after expenses. That's why hazard pay is popular, necessary, appropriate, perfectly legal, and bound to expand from Seattle across the country." The City Attorneys Office said it is reviewing the suit from Instacart. RELATED: As the suspects left with various stolen items in their hands they got into a Ford Explorer with temporary Wisconsin plates. Just then, a police van pulled up and cut in front of the SUV. Mayor Jenny Durkan in a letter Tuesday called for the Seattle City Council to investigate councilmember Kshama Sawant, accusing her of taking actions that "undermines the safety of others." "As leaders of the City, it is incumbent upon all of us to bring people together in one of the Citys most challenging times," Durkan wrote in the letter addressed to Council President M. Lorena Gonzalez. "However, I have deep concerns about the continued actions of a Councilmember that I am requesting that you and the Council exercise your duties as described below." In the two-page letter, Durkan pointed to Sawant's actions earlier this month in letting hundreds of protesters fighting against police brutality and systemic racism into City Hall, which she said was closed to the public due the novel coronavirus pandemic. Durkan said Sawant's actions put the safety of protesters and city workers at risk. Durkan also accused Sawant of encouraging people at a rally to "illegally occupy City property, the East precinct, at a time the City has been trying to de-escalate the situation and ask individuals to depart because of violence in the area." Protesters have been occupying the area around the East Precinct, known as CHOP, for weeks now after Seattle police earlier this month left the building and let protesters move freely throughout the area. The city has said SPD will be returning to the building, but has not given a definitive timeline. Some protesters have pledged to remain in the zone until their demands are met. Other actions Durkan brought up included accusing Sawant of leading a march to her home even though her address was "protected under the state confidentiality program" and of using her office to promote a ballot initiative. Sawant has for the past several months been holding rallies and events around her Tax Amazon movement. "I completely respect that any of us may disagree on policy issues, sometimes strongly. Disagreements on policy contribute to a robust public debate," Durkan said. "However, policy disagreements do not justify a Councilmember who potentially uses their position in violation of law or who recklessly undermines the safety of others, all for political theatre." In the letter, Durkan notes the council can "punish or expel a member for disorderly or otherwise contemptuous behavior." "The City Council may choose to ignore and dismiss her actions, but I think that undermines public confidence in our institutions," Durkan said. In response, Sawant on Tuesday afternoon went after Durkan, saying her leadership has failed working people and communities of color across the city. Sawant called the mayor's letter an "attack on the grassroots campaigns we've participated in and helped lead...and the progressive victories we have all won together." "In reality, this is an attack on working people's movements, and everything we are fighting for, by a corporate politician desperately looking to distract from her failures of leadership and politically bankrupt administration," Sawant said. "Our movement will respond accordingly: we will fight with even greater unity and determination." Gonzalez in a statement Wednesday said she had full faith in the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission to handle complaints and that the council would continue focusing on the many issues facing the region right now, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and systemic racism. Over the past several months, I have heard from many of my constituents and it is clear to me that the people of Seattle want us to focus on addressing the concurrent crises facing thousands of families and small businesses in Seattle," she said in the statement. "There is an ongoing pandemic, a worsening economic and job loss crisis, and a civil rights movement demanding we divest from racist, anti-Black systems and redirect those investments towards housing, education, and wealth-building opportunities for Black and Brown community members. These are the issues that demand our attention." She said these issues require elected officials to "set aside our personal and political grievances and work together." The letter comes as Durkan has faced criticism over the past several weeks after Seattle police repeatedly used tear gas, flashbangs and pepper spray to disperse crowds of largely peaceful protesters rallying after the death of George Floyd. The Office of Police Accountability received thousands of complaints about the actions police took during the protests. Protesters have also said Durkan isn't doing nearly enough to meet their demands, which include defunding SPD by at least 50%, investing in the community and dropping all charges against protesters. In Durkan's proposal to rebalance the budget due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, she included cutting SPD's budget by just about 5%. Sawant has also voiced support for defunding SPD by 50% and has called multiple times for Durkan's resignation, efforts Durkan dismissed earlier this month as a political ploy. RELATED: The SUV was rolling down Metropolitan Ave. near Rentar Plaza outside Middle Village Cemetery about 1:15 p.m. when the box truck, which was stolen in Richmond Hill, plowed into it, cops said. by ZeroWolf Tue Jun 30, 2020 2:25 pm Greetings Seibertronians! This news comes from a listing found on Amazon.jp , of a book due out in Japan the first of July. This book, Transformers Fanbook 2020, is published by Kodansha and aimed at a very young audience, featuring colouring pages and puzzles based on the Transformers movieverse cast of characters and Cyberverse cartoon. To entice buyers further, the magazine also comes with legion class Megatron (his The Last Knight release featuring a brand new deco) and legion class Optimus Prime (the RotF mold but using the Optimus and Grimlock Toys R Us 2017 exclusive deco).The price (in yen) is 1078, roughly 9.99 dollars USWhat do you think of this? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews! Keene, NH (03431) Today Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Porter cant blame cabin fever for his need to get to a bar immediately. Alaska became the first U.S. state to reopen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when all businesses were cleared to resume operations at 100% on May 22. Thank you for reading! You have reached your 30-day limit of free access to SentinelSource.com, The Keene Sentinels website. If you would like to read two more articles for free at this time, please register for an account by clicking the sign up button below. We hope you find The Sentinels coverage of the Monadnock Region valuable. We rely on our subscribers to bring you strong local journalism and hope you will consider supporting our work by taking advantage of this special subscription offer here. The average American grocery store tends to be lacking in the canned seafood department. Besides shelves and shelves of tuna, one might find the odd can of clams, some salmon, some mackerel, and little else. But citizens of the Iberian peninsulathe region including Spain and Portugalare practically swimming in canned seafood. Entire shops in Portugal and grocery aisles in Spain are dedicated to the stuff. Though fish and shellfish are eaten fresh throughout the region, canning is an often preferred method for preparing and conserving the best of their plenteous waters. In fact, the resulting range of products, called conservas, are considered a delicacy. The Iberians preserve seafood by first lightly steaming or frying the product and then canning it in boiling water baths, like any other canned food. But when it comes to the liquido de cobertura (the liquid added to protect the seafood from drying out), their approach is focused on highlighting flavor and texture. Squid are often preserved in their own ink or stuffed with rice and covered in different sauces. Pricey bivalves go untampered with, and are canned in a soft natural brine to mimic the sea, while the more economical mussel usually gets the escabeche treatmenta vinegary brine of garlic, paprika, and bay leaf that was used for preservation long before canning was invented. Blue fish like tuna and mackerel have a dense texture and strong flavor that holds up to oil, and potent sardines are seasoned with every permutation of oil, spice, and tomato sauce the Iberians can imagine. But why choose canned over fresh seafood? The best conserva makers are canning fish caught literally the day before, says Abel Alvarez, the chef and owner of the restaurant Gueyu Mar, and an adjacent small specialty cannery next door, in Spains northern coastal region of Asturias. Why wouldnt you maintain the freshness of that fish as long as possible? This idea rings true with most conserva makers and consumers: canning is a way to capture the catch at its peaka tinned time capsule of unparalleled flavor and nutrients. The question of conservas sustainability isnt black and white, but there are definitely environmental benefits to eating seafood from a can. Responsible fishing practices vary depending on the cannery, though according to Sean Barrett, co-founder of Dock to Dish, its easier to trace canned seafood back to its source than it is fresh seafood because of lot numbers, dates, and locations noted in labeling. He, along with Alvarez and Rafael Viguer, owner of Central de Latas in Valencia and producer of Samare Conservas, notes that canning is a more energy-efficient alternative to storing massive seasonal catches in commercial freezers. Even when considering the environmental effects of transportation, Barrett says the carbon footprint of cans is lighter. Shipping cans of seafood on slow boats across the ocean from the Iberian peninsula is preferred to sending them on a plane (the method used for sending most fresh fish around the world) or on a truck. When considering that 90% of the seafood consumed in the US is imported, seeking out seafood from canneries using wild and well-regulated fisheries is an alternative worth seeking out, says Barrett. Today in the Iberian peninsula the appeal of conservas holds stronger than ever. Spaniards care more about quality seafood than almost any other culture, says Matt Goulding, author of author of Grape, Olive, Pig: Deep Travels Through Spains Food Culture. They know some of the best stuff goes in cans. A popular grocery or specialty shop item, as noted above, conservas also appear on restaurant menus: In fact, some bars in Spain and Portugal serve nothing but gourmet preserved seafood. The conserva naturally weaves itself into the everyday cuisine of the region, maintaining its place as an essential pantry item for home and professional cooks. When Covid-19 hit, the Portuguese Directorate of General Health put out a 37-page gourmet guide entitled Canned Recipes: Healthy Eating in Times of Isolation Using Canned Fish and Legumes. The reverence, and relevance, is real. Below is a list of cans to get you started. Serving them is simple: let the conserva shine with a few other ingredients, or eat them straight from the can with crusty bread. Sardines (Sardinas/Sardinhas) Sardines are the symbol of Portuguese cuisine, though theyre popular in both countries. Youll find cans of small tails, some containing the full loin with skin and bones, or others completely skinned and deboned. You may be inclined to go the cleaner route, but the rich skin and subtle crunch of the spines are part of what make canned sardines so unique. When choosing sardines in particular, look for small canneries with responsible harvesting practices, as the local Iberian stock has recently fallen because of unsustainable overfishing practices, according to seafood sustainability advocate Kate Findlay-Shirras of Best Fish Forward. There are a few stickers you can look for like MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) or ENEEK (the Basque Country's eco certification). (It's worth it to look for these stickers on other types of conservas as well.) Otherwise do your research on each cannerys purchasing practices via their website, physical address, distribution location, and even the barcode on the label. Transparency is key: The more information the cannery provides on their practices the better. The folks at Gueyu Mar are a great example and also take a more chef-driven approach. They grill their sardines before preserving them in Arbequina extra-virgin olive oil, and the flavor and texture of the tails is extraordinary. Gueyu Mar products will be available in the U.S. in late 2020. For a classic Portuguese conserva, Lisbon culinary tour guide Melissa Haun recommends Nuris line of sardines, which are processed by hand. Her basic formula for enjoying these sardines: gently toss the conserva in a bowl with a legume of some kind, fresh tomatoes or peppers, and olives. Top with an acid, parsley, a hard-boiled egg, and most importantly, the remaining sacred sardine oil. Nuri Portuguese Sardines, (Pack of 2) Buy on Amazon Mackerel (Caballa/Cavala) There are two main types of mackerel conservas. Sometimes referred to as Atlantic mackerel or chub mackerel, these skinned and deboned filets are a great substitute for the can of overfished tuna, as theyre compact and hold up to mixing. Small mackerel (caballita/cavalinha) are also an excellent alternative to the at-risk sardines. Canneries leave these guys intact, preserving them with their spotted skin and bones. Tejero mackerel is an economical household conserva found in many pantries in southern Spain, but its not readily available in the US; for a more accessible option, try Albo's mackerel in extra virgin olive oil. For small mackerel, check out Jose Gourmets delicate Portuguese cavalinhas in olive oil. Use Atlantic mackerel as you would tuna or in Hauns sardine formula. Try small mackerel on melon, with oranges and sherry vinegar, or as a garnish on ajo blanco. Again, hold on to that oil for salad dressings and garnishes by pouring it into a small container and refrigerating it until needed. Jose Gourmet Mackerel Fillets in Olive Oil Buy on Amazon Anchovies (Anchoas) Italians opened the first anchovy canneries in Spain in 1900, preserving the fish in butter to enjoy their favorite snack straight from the can. Eventually they switched to oils, and only a few still use butter. For the best oil-packed anchovies, look to Cantabria (specifically Santona), a region known for harvesting some of the best anchovies in the world. Quality Spanish anchovy conservas (like Ortiz), are a far reach from the salt bombs you scatter on pizza or blitz into Caesar dressing. Theyre carefully selected, hand-skinned, deboned, and canned with less salt than the common anchovy to let the natural fish flavors shine. Because they have less salt to preserve them, theyre kept in the refrigerator. Throughout Spain anchovies are elegantly strewn onto thin slices of bread or dabbed with a bit of marmalade to contrast the salinity. A tapas spot in the southern city of Seville serves anchovies in a tiny pressed sandwich with sweetened condensed milk. Also try anchovies draped over soft-boiled eggs or roasted broccoli. You just dont want to cook with theseit's better to savor their delicate texture and flavor rather than dissolve them into a sauce. Ortiz Spanish Anchovies in Olive Oil Buy on Amazon Mussels in Escabeche (Mejillones) Galicia produces the best mussels in the peninsula and the canned versions texture is vastly different from the fresh; they're soft and velvety rather than rubbery. Theyre commonly preserved in escabeche and come in two sizes, the bigger the better. These large guys mature longer on the rocks before theyre harvested, becoming plump and firm enough to hold up really well to preservation without disintegrating. Additionally, look for ones that say fritos (fried before canning), as frying them adds to their pleasantly meaty and juicy texture. Ramon Pena and Ria Arosa by Ortiz are excellent brands available stateside. Toss them into pasta with garlic, lemon, and fresh mint, or do what Sevillano Luis Blanco does with a can of giant Iglesias mussels at his restaurant, Salsamento, and perch them on a pile of potato chips for a swank sea nacho. Save the remaining oil to make into mayo or drizzle over roasted vegetables. Ortiz Conserva Ria De Arosa Ortiz Rias De Arosa Buy on Amazon Cockles & Clams (Berberechos & Almejas) Cockles and clams are actually some of the most approachable conservas. Steamed and preserved in a simple brine, each is a tender morsel with none of the chewiness that can be off-putting in over-cooked fresh molluscs. Matiz and Espinaler are great accessible options in the U.S., but check out the trusted brand Cuca the next time youre in Spain. Matiz Espana Wild Cockles from Galicia, Spain in Natural Sea Salt Brine Buy on Amazon Eat clams in raw salads with lots of good olive oil or toss them into a light pasta at the last minute. Cockles are best chilled for 15 minutes with a few splashes of white wine vinegar or served ceviche-esque with red onion and cilantro, mixing the brine with the lime. Squids (Calamares) Canned squid constitute a ready-made meal if you warm them up alongside a starch. The folks at Gueyu Mar serve their Calamares de Otro Planeta (calamaris from another planet) with a creamy risotto cooked in fish broth and a touch of their sharp local cheese. The grilled squid in its savory ink and sofrito gravy alongside the sweet fat of the cream is a pairing nothing short of otherworldly. Jose Gourmet similarly recommends a cream-based risotto with mint and basil for their Spiced Calamari (specifically whole baby squid) in Ragout Sauce. You can also try them with potatoes or beans. Fans wont be allowed in the seats for As home games this season but fans images will. The As announced Tuesday that fans can purchase a cutout featuring their photo to be placed in the Coliseum stands for the 2020 season, shortened to 60 games amid the coronavirus pandemic. Cutouts will cost $49 for As Access members and $89 for general fans. Fans also can pay $129 for a cutout in the Foul Ball Zone, where a foul ball that knocks over a cutout will be sent to that fan, the team said. Seat requests are not available but fans who buy cutouts will receive two tickets to the As first home exhibition game in 2021, with proceeds from the Coliseum Cutouts program going to benefit the Alameda County Community Food Bank, East Oakland Youth Development Center and Oaklands African American Chamber of Commerce, according to a team news release. Fans who purchase cutouts through the website are encouraged to upload their photo by Sunday to be installed before the As first home game. Photos cannot include social-media hashtags or handles, MLB player names or offensive or negative references to any MLB team, commercial advertisement or statements or endorsements of political candidates, according to the team. Cutouts will remain in the Coliseum through the regular season and can be picked up afterward, though the team noted it cannot guarantee the condition after two months outdoors. Matt Kawahara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mkawahara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @matthewkawahara As President Dave Kaval responded angrily to a letter from the Sierra Club to the Oakland City Council expressing opposition to the teams proposed stadium project at Howard Terminal. Kaval told The Chronicle that he wants the Sierra Club to retract the letter because of inaccuracies, including the contention that the As have sought shortcuts and exemptions from environmental laws ... to avoid strict remediation on the land to meet a residential standard, which could seriously harm environmental and public health. Were really surprised to see it, Kaval said, noting the As have partnered with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. I am going to call for them to formally rescind the letter. Kaval said the team is going through a full environmental impact report, which has been paused because of the coronavirus shutdown. As part of streamlining the process, the As agreed to stricter environmental standards on the site, including the construction being all LEED-Gold certified and full greenhouse-gas neutrality. The As have committed to 50% local offsets, which Kaval said will be an investment of millions of dollars in the West Oakland community and which is something no other major projects in the state have included. Cleaning up the air quality in that area will help everyone and is long overdue, Kaval said, mentioning that a potential power-plant conversion would reduce pollution. The Sierra Clubs letter to the City Council advocated for the As to build a stadium at the current Coliseum site; the team has agreed to buy the countys half of the site and the City Council recently voted to discuss selling its half of the site to the As. The Coliseum site is already approved for use as a stadium, is transit accessible, and would lift up surrounding East Oakland neighborhoods rather than displacing maritime businesses and workers, said Sierra Club Northern Alameda County group chair Igor Tregub. Howard Terminal, on the other hand, has less transit access and is vulnerable to sea-level rise. The Sierra Clubs letter expressed concern about increased vehicle traffic, citing the citys estimate of 10,000 more car trips in West Oakland, and also pointed to contaminants currently contained under a cap on the Howard Terminal site. Who would think turning an old industrial site into 18 acres of park and open space thats 100% greenhouse-gas neutral with local offsets can be bad for the environment? Kaval asked. It doesnt pass the sniff test. Susan Slusser covers the As for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser Good morning, Bay Area. Its Tuesday, June 30, and Golden State Killer case has come to a close with 26 guilty pleas. Heres what you need to know to start your day. Coronavirus cases in the Bay Area and across California continued to climb Monday after several days of record-breaking numbers, prompting two East Bay counties to pause reopening plans. Nineteen counties across California including Contra Costa, Santa Clara and, as of Monday, Solano in the Bay Area are now on a state watch list due to troubling signs that the virus is spreading widely in the community and potentially threatening to overload local hospitals. While hospitalizations are increasing, they havent been as dramatic as a recent spike in cases. Why? Public health experts take reporter Erin Allday through two possible explanations and why either way theyre concerned about younger people spreading the disease to older relatives or community members. More: Gov. Newsom hints at renewed restrictions in California: We dont like the trend line. Petaluma bars hopping even as nightspots become sources of outbreaks elsewhere. County-by-county: Rules for bars, wineries in Bay Area counties. Bay Area vs. Los Angeles: Coronavirus-fueled unemployment hitting hardest in Southern California. One out of every four: The outbreak inside San Quentin has skyrocketed, as more than 1,000 incarcerated people and 89 employees have now tested positive. Whats happening there? I admit Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Four decades after he started sneaking into homes, tying up victims, raping women and killing couples, former police officer Joseph DeAngelo pleaded guilty Monday to 26 charges of murder and kidnapping, admitting what pioneering forensic science had already proven he was the sadistic Golden State Killer. His acceptance of a plea deal spared him death, a reprieve the 74-year-old never offered more than a dozen men and women he shot and bludgeoned to death during a 12-year spree of rapes and killings during the 1970s and 80s. He only stopped, prosecutors believe, when he was no longer able to overpower victims. He will be sentenced to life without parole. Read more from the plea hearing from reporters Matthias Gafni and Alejandro Serrano. More: HBOs Ill Be Gone in the Dark goes deeper into authors hunt for Golden State Killer. A look back at the details of the notorious case, previous Chronicle coverage. Low-profile public servant to high-profile lightning rod Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle A colleague texted Dr. Erica Pan, the health officer for Alameda County, a photo of the yard sign. It showed a photo of her with the words Financially destroyed families and businesses and #A--holeMD. Im getting antagonism in all sorts of ways, said Dr. Pan, who has been trolled on social media, received threats to come to her house and been vilified on websites that rate doctors. Across California and the country, public health officers have become targets of intimidation and even death threats from people who resent mandates to slow the spread of the coronavirus by sheltering in place, closing businesses and wearing masks. While polls show most Californians support the pandemic prevention measures, reporter Carolyn Said writes, a vocal minority expresses opposition by harassing health officers. Scaled down version of an ambitious dining idea Baia A little more than a year after word spread that San Franciscos legendary Hayes Valley restaurant, Jardiniere, would be replaced by a plant-based Italian restaurant called Baia, the new project, or at least a version of it, finally has an opening date. Taste of Baia will be carry-out and delivery only. Replacing Jardiniere would not have been an easy task for any restaurant, even before the pandemic. There is space for more than 180 seats over two levels and the pandemic has only exacerbated financial problems within the industry for large restaurants, Justin Phillips reports. A crowd-sourced directory of Black-owned food businesses open now. Where you can order groceries during the pandemic. Around the Bay Rumors of his demise: Contrary to BET Awards, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown is very much alive. From Heather Knight: That quirky Bernal Heights rock has been repainted yet again but this time, the artist behind its Black Lives Matter message couldnt be happier. Joining other Bay Area cities: Supervisor Rafael Mandelman will introduce legislation prohibiting the use of natural gas in newly constructed buildings in San Francisco, aiming to cut carbon emissions. 12% of the current police budget: Berkeley mayor proposes cutting Police Department by $9.2 million. A sort-of regular opener: Giants tentatively scheduled to open shortened 2020 season at Dodgers. More: Sign up for the weekly Giants Splash newsletter. Nuru fallout continues: S.F. controller recommends ways to clean up contracting at Public Works. From Phil Matier: It started with Mohammed Nuru. Who knows where S.F. City Hall corruption investigation will end? SCOTUS ruling: Supreme Court allows Trump to override environmental laws to build border wall, but authority to spend redirected military funds remains in question. Lake Merritt cases still open: Oakland police launch three hate crime investigations after Black, LGBTQ communities targeted. In Memoriam Joe Rosenthal / The Chronicle 1972 The Vietnam War left a terrible mark on Lee Thorn, searing him with post-traumatic stress disorder from guilty memories of loading bombs onto jets to rain fiery death upon Laos. So he committed himself to peace first by co-founding Veterans for Peace and then working to try to heal the nation he helped devastate. In 1998, Thorn read a newsletter article by Bounthanh Phommasathit, a Laotian woman who had fled the village of Phon Hong in the 1970s to become a social worker in Ohio. She wanted to help her people back home. Thorn and a friend delivered medical supplies to Phon Hong, and soon after he founded the Jhai Foundation with Phommasathits help. Thorn expanded his efforts in Laos to pedal-powered wireless computers, exporting coffee beans to America, installing wells, and supporting efforts to clear unexploded U.S. bombs and mines from the countryside. I tried to do the best I could to make up for what wed done there, he told The Chronicle by phone from his hospice bed at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, where he died of cancer at 77 on June 25. I wish I could have done a lot more. Read more. Listen to Peter Hartlaubs interview with Lee Thorn and his son, podcast host Jesse Thorn. Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact Brown at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com. A Berkeley City Council member proposed shifting traffic and parking enforcement from the Police Department to unarmed civil servants in a first-of-its-kind measure put forth Monday, the same day the mayor proposed slashing the citys police budget by $9.2 million. The legislation, introduced by Councilmember Rigel Robinson, comes on the heels of weeks of nationwide protests denouncing police violence against Black people after the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. It will be one of several reforms included in the mayors proposed Reimagining Public Safety plan to redirect $9.2 million of the police budget to community projects and social services. In Berkeley, like in most cities nationwide, the Police Department enforces parking and traffic enforcement, while transportation planning occurs in a transportation division within the Department of Public Works. The measure, called BerkDOT: Reimagining Transportation for a Racially Just Future, proposes creating a city Department of Transportation staffed with unarmed civilians, in order to ensure a racial justice lens in traffic enforcement and the development of transportation policy, programs, and infrastructure, according to the text of the proposal. According to the proposal, the measure aims to fight a national pattern of racial bias and police brutality in traffic enforcement. The proposal names Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, and Maurice Gordon, three African American motorists killed by the police during routine traffic stops. The proposal also cites a 2018 report from the UC Berkeley Center for Policing Equity, which found that in Berkeley, Black and Hispanic drivers and pedestrians were stopped at a much higher rate by the police than other groups. The Berkeley City Council will vote on a proposed budget that devotes $200,000 to support the Reimaging Public Safety plan, including the BerkDOT measure, Tuesday evening. The council will vote on the BerkDOT measure July 14. Berkeley residents have made it clear that the current model of policing is not working for our city, Robinson said. Im grateful to have worked with policing and transportation advocates in our community to put forward this proposal, and Im excited to continue the conversation on reimagining public safety and reducing the role of police in our lives starting with the way we conduct enforcement on our streets. Brett Simpson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: brett.simpson@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @brettvsimpson California reported more than 8,000 new coronavirus cases on Monday, a single-day record that was 25% more than the previous high set last week. In the Bay Area, several counties are pausing reopening plans amid local spikes in cases and troubling jumps in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19. In San Francisco, the rate of cases is at 5.9 per 100,000 residents, nearing the marker of concern, according to health officer Dr. Tomas Aragon. Hospitalizations increased 49% during a short period of time. Because this has increased so rapidly over this short period of time, were actually in the red here, Aragon said. Whats behind the surge in statewide cases and hospitalizations, and are the same forces at work in the Bay Area? Health reporter Erin Allday discussed the recent trends in an episode of The Chronicles Fifth and Mission podcast, and while she emphasized that its hard to say just how much we know right now, health officials are citing three main reasons. Paul Chinn / The Chronicle 1. Prison outbreaks. San Quentin State Prison has more than 1,000 active cases of the coronavirus, and the numbers continue to climb. There were no coronavirus cases at San Quentin until the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation decided to transfer 121 incarcerated men from the California Institute for Men in Chino on May 30. At the time, the Chino facility was the site of one of the states deadliest prison outbreaks. A Chronicle investigation by reporters Megan Cassidy and Jason Fagone found that many of the transferred men werent tested for the coronavirus up to a month before they were put on crowded buses. Some began feeling sick right after getting to San Quentin, and several were found to be positive upon arrival. A team of health experts have recommended that the prison population be reduced by at least half, arguing that its nearly impossible to socially distance within a prison, especially one like San Quentin. If the situation isnt managed, the outbreak could have dire implications for the Bay Area, they noted. Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle 2. Nursing homes. Nursing homes have been hot spots for the virus from the pandemics outset, and nationwide are accounting for about 40% of deaths. Were still seeing those outbreaks, said Allday. When they happen, they tend to really affect the case counts in counties. Thirteen residents of a skilled nursing facility in Concord have died with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, according to state data. In Sonoma County, 40 people have been infected in senior care and nursing homes since the start of June and one person has died, officials said. Nina Riggio / Special to The Chronicle 3. Social gatherings. Contact tracing in some counties indicates that many infections are occurring during indoor gatherings of friends and family, including funerals and birthday and graduation parties. A lot of health officers are reporting cases from social gatherings, from people meeting up with friends and family, Allday said. And that comes from that fatigue that were feeling, people are eager to socialize, eager to get out... What were seeing are clusters of cases that are associated with one family gathering, and itll be across generations. So thats something that's really troubling. The gas stove, long considered a must-have for home chefs in the food-obsessed Bay Area, would be banned in new housing and commercial buildings in San Francisco under legislation aimed at significantly cutting the citys greenhouse gas emissions. On Tuesday, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, along with the citys Department of the Environment, will introduce legislation that would prohibit the use of natural gas in newly constructed buildings in San Francisco. This ordinance would apply to construction of all new buildings, both residential and nonresidential, that apply for initial building permits after Jan. 1, 2021. It would not impact existing buildings and would allow for some limited exceptions on a case-by-case basis if the developer or business is able to make a case that an all-electric building system would not be feasible using current technology. Proposed restaurants would have an extra year to come into compliance. Natural gas water heaters would also be banned as would any system or device for heating, cooling, cooking or clothes-drying. The ban would apply to about 16,000 housing units currently in the citys pipeline. We need to move to an all-electric future in California and the world, Mandelman said. The scale of the (coronavirus) crisis we are in pales in comparison to the crisis we will face if we dont get our greenhouse gas emissions under control. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle San Francisco has set greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets at 68% by 2030 and zero net emissions by 2050. In 2018, the residential buildings sector, which accounted for 22% of the citys carbon footprint, had 88% of emissions come from natural gas. At the same time, commercial buildings, which accounted for an additional 22% of the citys carbon footprint, generated 76% of their emissions from natural gas, according to the citys Department of the Environment. Debbie Raphael, who heads up the environment department, said eliminating natural gas would also cut down on fires. On average in the United States, a natural gas or oil pipeline catches fire every four days, results in an injury every five days, explodes every 11 days, and leads to a fatality every 26 days, according to research done by the city. In February 2019, a natural gas line explosion on Geary Street burned five buildings, while the 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno killed eight people and destroyed a neighborhood. The law is likely to face opposition from restaurant owners. A similar law that passed last year in Berkeley the first of its kind in the nation prompted a lawsuit from the California Restaurant Association, which alleged that the natural gas ban will have uniquely negative impacts on the culinary businesses. That lawsuit is still pending, although at least 25 California communities are weighing a similar measure. Golden Gate Restaurant Association Executive Director Laurie Thomas, who owns two eateries, said she appreciates that the legislation doesnt take effect immediately but voiced concern about its impact on restaurant owners, some facing bankruptcy because of the coronavirus pandemic. The economic survival of the restaurant industry is our primary concern right now, she said. We would have preferred to see this delayed. In particular it will hurt traditional Asian cuisines, which use gas in their cooking techniques. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle From a pure restaurant perspective, we are not happy about it, Thomas said. From an environmental perspective, we understand and that is why we are at the table. Housing Action Coalition Executive Director Todd David said the housing advocacy group is in information-gathering mode and has not taken a position on the legislation. We want to make sure we are not increasing the cost of building housing in San Francisco, which is already the highest in the world, David said. There are a lot of environmental advantages to urban infill housing the last thing we want to do is to make it more expensive and harder to build, thereby pushing residents farther out of the city. Several all-electric affordable buildings are under construction in San Francisco, including 2060 Folsom St. in the Mission District. Architect Mary Telling, project manager for 2060 Folsom, said the costs of all-electric versus natural gas average about the same and that electric is less expensive over the life of the building. The legislation could also mean big changes for the citys union plumbers. Larry Mazzola of the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 38 urged the city to wait and see what the state does. The California Public Utilities Commission is currently studying various approaches to reducing natural gas use. The timing is bad. With the pandemic and everything else going on, and we are asking the city to delay it until we have a better understanding of the whole picture, Mazzola said. Its tough enough to build anything in the city anymore. Daniel Tahara, a steering committee member of the San Francisco Climate Emergency Coalition, said he was encouraged by the draft of the ordinance and called it an essential first step in meeting climate goals. Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Especially now with COVID and all the inequities we are seeing in health outcomes, its essential we take steps to clean up our buildings, both indoor air pollution and outdoor air pollution, Tahara said. Chef Rachelle Boucher, a longtime champion for electric induction stoves, said that its challenging to convince chefs to consider alternatives to the fire-breathing dual-fuel range. But once chefs try the latest technology, they are often converted. The benefits are amazing but its mostly about cooking power and precision, she said. Boucher said she was able to test out an induction stove with Mayor London Breed at an environmental fair in January. We cooked some beautiful crispy-skin salmon, she said. It was a blast. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chroncle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen Michael Moscona, a longtime firefighter from St. John the Baptist Parish in Louisiana, falsely told a Border Patrol agent at a checkpoint on June 17 that he had gone on vacation but decided to leave his family behind and return to the U.S. to go back to work, federal officials wrote in a criminal complaint. Spraypaint Sally must be stewing. The woman caught spray-painting over a Black Lives Matter message emblazoned on a famously quirky rock atop Bernal Heights Park a few weeks ago said it was time for the rock to sport some pizza, something nonpolitical ... I just want to go for a walk and have a nice day. But the boulder brouhaha hasnt gone Sallys way. Not even a little bit. Youll recall a Bernal Heights artist repainted the rock to say Black Lives Matter a whopping six times after somebody kept painting over it. A middle-aged white woman dubbed Spraypaint Sally on social media was caught in the act and griped that the rock should be fun. But it wasnt entirely Sallys fault. The citys Public Works Department painted over the rock the fifth time after complaints of graffiti to 311. Well, the stone saga has continued. Big time. On Thursday night, the rock was repainted again but this time, the original artist whose work was covered loves it. It reads Black Trans Lives Matter with a raised black fist and pink, blue and white stripes. On Monday morning, the message remained, along with six smaller rocks painted in rainbow colors forming a semi-circle in front of it as if standing guard. To wake up and see that someone had emblazoned it with this super timely, super powerful message and it straight up came from the community was really exciting, and a perfect thing for Pride, said Kseniya Makarova, who painted attempts one through six. And the new message on the rock isnt all. Somebody else painted huge letters reading The Future Is Black on a nearby walking path circling the park hilltop. A flyer taped near the rock recommends painting small rocks with Black Lives Matter themes and dozens now lie at the foot of the larger stone. The man who caught Spraypaint Sally in the act at 5 a.m. one morning made T-shirts with an image of the rock and Black Lives Matter and gave them for free to anybody who provided a receipt with a donation to City of Dreams, a local nonprofit that provides mentors for low-income kids. So far, the effort has raised more than $4,000, and several neighbors said they plan to volunteer with City of Dreams. T-shirts and hoodies with the design can be ordered at bernalrock.com with buyers encouraged to donate to the same organization. Makarova held a Zoom meeting with Alaric Degrafinried, acting director of Public Works, who reiterated his apology for his crew painting over her fifth rock artwork and ensured it wouldnt happen again. He also offered to reimburse her for paint, but she declined, saying the cash-strapped city has far more urgent concerns. Perhaps most inspiring, windows in homes and businesses all over Bernal Heights sport signs reading Black Lives Matter many of them featuring an image of the rock. It almost feels like Bernal Heights found its activist heart again, Makarova said. Im really grateful that a lot of neighbors got to do a lot of thinking and a lot of talking. I think there were a lot of people who were able to get from step zero to step one of realizing that white supremacy and racism is all around us, and we have to fight it in ourselves and in our communities. Plus, theres a little bit of schadenfreude knowing Spraypaint Sally now has to see the message she tried to cover up all over her neighborhood. I like to imagine the people who were defacing the rock walking around seeing all those signs in support and realizing, Oh, wow, I was on the wrong side of this, said Rocky Smith, a Bernal Heights resident and a software engineer at Facebook. Hes the one who created the rock T-shirts after standing guard near the rock late one night to see who kept covering it in paint. He found the culprit: a white woman in a hoodie. He didnt ask for the womans name, but recounted their conversation on social media and in the press. He said the woman told him, Put something fun on there. If its not fun, Ill paint it again. Anybody whose biggest problem this year is that their neighborhood rock isnt fun enough should count themselves very, very lucky. For the uninitiated, the large rock atop Bernal Heights Park looks over the city skyline and has for years been painted and repainted, almost always anonymously. Its had serious messages about voting and wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. And its had a lot of silly motifs, too, like a slice of watermelon, an avocado, a ghost, a poop emoji and a black thong with a tattoo reading Mom on the butt cheek. Makarova, who lives in Bernal Heights, painted her message after the police killing of George Floyd sparked national protests demanding reform in police departments and an end to systemic racism. The fact it kept getting covered up demonstrated San Francisco and even uber-progressive Bernal Heights dont live up to their liberal reputations. Makarova said she has no idea who painted the latest message, but after some sleuthing, I do. It was a handful of trans and nonbinary artists who dont want to be named because they want the rock to return to its status as a community message board in which its the pictures and words that matter, not the identity of the artists. They visited the rock before midnight Thursday and, using no flashlights so as to not be spotted, painted the message in the dark. The idea was to have it in place when the neighborhood woke up Friday morning. Traditionally, the Friday of Pride Weekend features the Trans March, but, like just about everything, that was wrecked by COVID-19. The same group joined scores of other people to paint colorful messages Sunday night on the Stud reading, among other things, Queer Love, Black Trans Liberation and Out of the Bars, Into the Streets. After the owners of the iconic queer bar in the South of Market district had to close it and seek a new space due to the pandemic and rising rents, the landlord almost immediately had the colorful, one-of-a-kind building painted a boring off-white. Heres guessing that if the landlord goes the beige route again, the artists will respond in even bolder fashion. As for what happens next for the rock, Makarova said she thinks that these serious times call for the boulder to continue to sport messages of social justice, but one day it may be appropriate to revert to sillier artwork. Im excited to see what the rock has to say, she said. Its this weird, weird public object that lives a life of its own. As much as I dont think right now is the time for avocados, hopefully in time well get to a place where thats all right again. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Dont worry too much if you notice the landmark Ghirardelli sign has vanished. It will be back and brighter than ever, the owners of Ghirardelli Square say. The tall sign that illuminates the former chocolate factory turned retail complex near Fishermans Wharf will be transported letter by letter to an offsite facility where it will be replicated, according to Jamestown, the real estate company that owns the space. One of citys most recognizable features, the Ghirardelli sign was completed in 1915, the year the city hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and placed atop the chocolate factory. Originally double-sided, the sign was restored in 1964, with the city-facing letters removed. Despite numerous patch repairs over the past 100 years, the sign that sits on top of the Mustard and Cocoa buildings has endured significant damage. Many letters show corrosion, with missing glass bulbs and malfunctioning lights, and the steel truss frame is corroded and has lost paint. The Ghirardelli marquee is an iconic feature of the San Francisco skyline and an exhibit of the squares rich history, Jamestown President Michael Phillips said. We are pleased to be able to preserve its significance to the square, the neighborhood, and the history of a beloved California-born brand. In order to gain a vintage sign designation and secure permits for the work, it took an arduous 2 -year process with the Historic Preservation Commission and the San Francisco Planning Department. The project was approved in January and scheduled to start in March, but it was further delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Workers will remove the 19-foot-tall letters one at a time and transport them to a facility where laser scanners will obtain accurate measurements. The letters will then be reconstructed out of aluminum to match the existing size. Once replaced in the square, the complete 152-foot width of the sign will be restored. Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available. New LED lights will be installed, with bulb quantity and location that mirrors the existing sign. The letters will be painted with a high-performance coat that replicates the original color of the letters, and the existing steel frame will be retained and repaired. The completion of the project and unveiling of the restored sign is estimated to take place in early September. Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron Regarding Breeds quest for change (Page 1, June 29): Dominic Fracassas story on Mayor London Breed is a must-read. San Francisco could not have a better person guiding us through this critical time. Her leadership is born of direct experience on both sides of the issue: Growing up in poverty in a racist society, while also working most of her adult life to overcome that racism. This is not a theoretical challenge for Breed. Her successes in leading the African American Art and Cultural Complex, as supervisor and Board of Supervisors president, and now mayor, have all focused on creating opportunities for Black San Franciscans. Realistic results that include accountability and responsibility, along with equality and dignity, have been her hallmarks. Breed has made the right tough decisions based on the reality she learned throughout her life. She can always be trusted to do the right thing. Ted Loewenberg, San Francisco Let the youth vote Concerning Bill to allow voting in state primaries at age 17 on ballot (Page 1, June 27): Count me as a supporter of ACA4, which would allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they would turn 18 before the general election. A democracy functions most effectively when its citizens participate in the process of choosing their representatives. Why not support and enhance this process by allowing these almost-18-year-old Californians the opportunity to cast ballots? Our Democrat-majority state will be more like the GOP if it seeks to limit, instead of encourage, voting. Jake Yarborough, San Jose Not worth the risk I suppose Thinking outside the club (June 27) by Aidin Vaziri was supposed to tempt me to venture out to hear and support local music. It may have worked if I had not noticed in the accompanying pictures a lot of listeners not wearing masks and not social distancing. I miss the local sounds but not enough to risk my life and those I care about. Jay Abbott, San Francisco Understanding the virus Jason Fagones article Study pries secrets from virus (Page 1, June 27) provided a readily accessible window onto the workings of the virus and how science is uncovering ways to cure it. As scary as parts were, like the filopodia, it left me with confidence that we will someday control this horrible disease. Fagones clear explanation and wonderful command of English made it a treat to read. Rebecca Dixon, Oakland Dont reference religion As a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Im glad theres a news item called Confederate symbol (News of the Day, June 29), about Mississippi finally deciding to remove the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag. However, as a supporter of the separation of church and state, Im not glad to learn that Mississippi has decided that the words In God We Trust must be included in any new state flag design. Hannah Simmons-Clarke, San Jose Heartless actions The deliberate cruelty of the Trump administration is on full display in the news story Supreme Court urged to end Affordable Care Act (June 27). Its filing of a legal request to end the ACA on the same day the government reported that close to half a million people who lost their health insurance during this COVID-19 pandemic have gotten coverage through healthcare.gov is heartless. This president and his amoral minions are continuing to wage a now decade-long political battle over the ACA at the worst possible time, and largely because of the alternative name of this program: Obamacare. Vivian Wexford, San Francisco Grocery store debacle While I recognize the science behind handwashing and wearing a mask, there are a few items that seem more fear-mongering than based in any science. The only authorities out there policing the COVID-19 response seem to be grocery stores by refusing our use of our cloth bags. How is anyone going to get sick if I hold my own bag and pack it myself? I can appreciate not giving my bag to the clerk, but where is the risk of my holding it? We had only just started getting people used to thinking of the planet, yet now, because of this irrational fear, we will be cutting down hundreds of thousands of trees over the next year while we wait for a vaccine. There are other issues out there besides COVID-19. The planet is still waiting for us to make the right moves. Margaret Flaherty, Berkeley George Floyds murder at the hands of police was a unifying moment for police departments and the communities they serve because the actions of the involved officers were universally condemned. But instead of seizing the opportunity to unify our efforts to reform, many have capitalized on the moment to pursue their own agendas. Calls for disbanding and defunding the police fuel division rather than collaboration. Local communities and their police should work toward achieving racial equality in society and equity in policing. As a native San Franciscan, I am proud that our police are different from many other agencies as the officers are diverse in race, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background and political affiliations. As a union leader in the San Francisco Police Officers Association and a mid-level manager, I know we can achieve meaningful reform to ensure equitable treatment for our underserved communities. Weve already made good progress. In my 15-year tenure as a police officer, I have seen dramatic changes in the departments procedures. Following the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Mo., SFPD focused on momentous changes to its use-of-force training and procedural justice policies. These actions put us at the forefront of change: This past January, when the state Legislature passed AB392, which changed Californias standards for the use of deadly force, SFPDs 2016 policy was its model. Now the state of California has a use-of-force policy that requires de-escalation, crisis intervention and restrictions on the use of force. Collaborative efforts between San Francisco community members and officers also resulted in a 47% drop in use of force, zero sustained complaints for biased policing, and no officer-involved shootings from June 2018 to August 2019. Those are statistics to be celebrated. Reimagining the use of the criminal justice system as a last resort, rather than the first call, to resolving social issues is in the best interest of the community. The police cannot arrest our way out of social issues, including crimes committed by the homeless, people who are dependent on drugs, or persons suffering from mental health issues. The Police Officers Association and our members look forward to Mayor Breeds reform efforts, including redirecting funding and creating social services to address non-criminal calls. The Police Officers Association has already met with Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP, along with 15 other pastors to hear their concerns, and among other things the Association agrees, among many other things, that professionals specifically trained to deal with situations involving mental health crisis should address non-criminal calls. If defunding the police simply means reinvesting into services that are better suited to deal with non-criminal calls, the Police Officers Association is on board. At the Association, we are also working on enhancing police legitimacy by dealing with bias head on. The Association is providing meaningful input into the implementation of San Franciscos new bias-free policing policy. The policy is an actual reform effort detailing officer training with regard to bias and an institutional commitment to impartial policing. George Floyds murder should bring police and community together to address race relations and confront uncomfortable truths that exist in society. Post-Ferguson policies to reduce force can now be supplemented by a stronger focus on race relations. In a time fueled by divisiveness, San Francisco should remain at the forefront of change by bringing the police and our community together. Excluding our police officers from discussions of reform will cause officers morale to suffer and erode our ability to effectuate real reform and change. An inclusive environment is necessary to achieve our citys goals of racial equality and equitable treatment in policing. SFPD can continue to stand as a national model for policing. But we must all come together now. Sean Perdomo is on the executive board of the Police Officers Association and a 15-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department. The views expressed are his own and have not been approved by the San Francisco Police Department. The recent killing of a federal security officer in Oakland is the unconscionable result of a lethal combination: unrestricted weaponry and unchecked right-wing groups. We have mobs of angry people to use to our advantage, Steven Carrillo wrote in a Facebook message hours before he allegedly shot and murdered Federal Protective Service Officer David Patrick Underwood on May 29 outside Oaklands federal office building. Carrillo, an active-duty staff sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base who also allegedly murdered Santa Cruz Sheriffs Deputy Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller just days after Officer Underwood was killed, has since been linked to the Boogaloo movement a loose alignment of heavily armed right-wing extremists with members across the country. The group has a nebulous ideology but has made its presence felt across the country by interrupting Black Lives Matter protests with their signature exhibition of firearms and Hawaiian shirts. Their attempts to incite a race war, and to use violence to overthrow the government and law enforcement in order to gain power should scare us all, especially Carrillos use of what is known as a ghost gun. Brady defines ghost guns as: constructed by individuals using unfinished frames or receivers, the piece of the firearm that contains the operating parts of the firing mechanism, and which are the part of the gun regulated under federal law. However, when a frame or receiver is unfinished by a small fraction, it is unregulated. Ghost guns have no serial numbers and are untraceable by law enforcement, undermining every common-sense gun law weve worked so hard to pass and making them the perfect weapons for crime. There are no restrictions for those buying a kit or parts, meaning anyone can purchase these firearms including prohibited persons like domestic abusers and gun traffickers. In fact, ghost guns are marketed to those looking to avoid background checks or actively seeking untraceable firearms. This is dangerous and unacceptable. We must move swiftly to pass legislation like Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. David Cicillines, D-R.I., untraceable firearm bills, which would cover ghost guns, their components like unfinished frames and receivers, and gun-making kits. It would require a license for ghost gun kit and part manufacturers and distributors, put a serial number on each frame or receiver, and mandate background checks on all purchasers. This can no longer be a partisan issue. Dangerous weapons do not belong in the hands of dangerous people, and any responsible gun owner knows that the ability to trace a firearm used in crime is critical to keeping our communities safe. Officer Underwoods murder has also shed light on the growing need for further investigation into the extremist groups that are finding solace in hateful chat groups on Facebook and other online platforms. In an FBI affidavit, members of the movement Carrillo allegedly belongs to were defined as people who may identify as militia and share a narrative of inciting a violent uprising against perceived government tyranny. The FBI recognizes the threat that these groups pose to our democracy. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to Congress in February that the bureau has elevated to the top-level priority racially motivated violent extremism so its on the same footing in terms of our national threat banding as ISIS and homegrown violent extremism. Yet, our law and order president hasnt expressed a single word of condemnation against their violence and vitriol. He has failed, or refused, to call out this hate-fueled brutality stoked by white supremacy. Carrillo and his accomplice, Robert Alvin Justus Jr., sought to capitalize on our nations pain. They exploited a movement that has largely been peaceful to further an opposite and fringe ideology motivated by hate. This is a critical time for our nation: Our fight for justice is far from over, and, while we cannot let this violent and vile act distract us from changing systems that keep failing communities of color, we also cannot let this be swept under the rug. We must confront the urgent threat that white supremacy poses to our country, and we must back up our words with action. Our porous patchwork of gun laws weaponizes hate in this country. When our gun violence epidemic already kills 40,000 people annually, we cannot allow untraceable firearms to be sold without any kind of screening whatsoever. Meaningful gun reform is long overdue. The ghost gun problem highlights this fact. As Rep. Swalwell knows, the murders of officer Underwood and Deputy Sgt. Gutzwiller are the worst fear for every law enforcement family. With two brothers in uniform, he can attest that his stomach sinks every time there is a news alert showing that an officer has been killed. Our hearts grieve for the Underwood and Gutzwiller families. For them, for all of us, we must act. Rep. Eric Swalwell represents the East Bay in the U.S. House of Representatives. Kris Brown is president of Brady: United Against Gun Violence. Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the surge in coronavirus cases in California at a Tuesday press briefing and said he plans to pull back on the state's reopening plan before the three-day weekend. Newsom didn't provide details on changes to the order and whether these will be issued statewide or by county. He said he will announce the new restrictions Wednesday. We'll be making some additional announcements on efforts to use the 'dimmer switch' and begin to toggle back on our stay-at-home order and tighten things up, he said. The governor said family gatherings are one of the areas of highest concern, especially ahead of the Fourth of July holiday when families often congregate. He said it's not only bars and protests that contribute to the virus spread, but "specifically family gathering, where family members begin to mix and they take down their guard." Newsom said in recent discussions, county officials pointed to these gatherings spreading the virus as their top worry. The governor went on to describe how one of these gatherings might unfold. "They may walk into that barbecue with masks on, they may put the cooler down and immediately the mask comes off," he said. "... And all of a sudden here comes Uncle Bob, two hours late. He gives everyone a hug, and they're all, 'Hey, Uncle Bob, where's the mask?' And Uncle Bob, 'I don't believe in that' and the whole thing starts to take shape." The governor said the state is seeing a surge in cases. Hospitalizations went up 6.3% yesterday and the number of patients in intensive care units increased 4.3%. The state's positivity rate went from 4.4% two weeks ago to 5.6% on Tuesday. Newsom said the increasing positivity rate led him to order seven counties to close bars over the weekend and it's why he'll be taking additional steps to pull back on reopening. The state is likely to order counties to more strictly enforce mask wearing. "If you're not going to stay home, and you're not going to wear masks in public, we have to enforce, and we will," Newsom said. If jurisdictions don't enforce masks, the governor said there could be financial consequences. We have conditioned $2.5 million in our state budget on applying the spirit and the letter of the law as it relates to health directives at the county level, Newsom said. If local officials are unwilling to enforce and are being dismissive, we will condition the distribution of those dollars. Again, $2.5 million. Newsom implied changes also might be made to orders to encourage people to do more activities outdoors. "We also have to recognize that the spread, when youre not at home, in indoor facilities is much more probable than in outdoor settings," he said. "And so, well be looking at a lot of the current stay at home orders, or rather were start looking at the health orders and health directors in the counties, in relationship to indoor versus outdoor activities." MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. Gilead's $2,340 price for coronavirus drug draws criticism 'The miracle is over': UCSF doctor on what went wrong in California For these rural NorCal counties, a distinct pattern for coronavirus transmission emerges After recording new rise in cases, SF suspends next phase of reopening What they dont tell you about surviving COVID-19 Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com. The company said the 220 Facebook groups and 95 Instagram accounts that were removed violated the companys policies against organized violence. Facebook was removing 400 groups associated with the movement, as well. However, the term itself is not being banned. The controversial archbishop of San Francisco claimed Father Junipero Serra, the man famed for bringing Catholicism to California in the 1700s, is a "great hero" and "great defender" of Indigenous peoples and partly blamed the removal of Serra's monument in Golden Gate Park on the devil. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, head of the archdiocese of San Francisco, held an exorcism and conducted "acts of reparation" in Golden Gate Park Saturday at the site of the statue, which was pulled down by protesters on June 19. "This is the activity of the evil one who wants to bring down the church, who wants to bring down all Christian believers," Cordileone said in a YouTube video of the event. "So we offer that prayer and bless this ground with holy water so that God might purify it, sanctify it." He said the statue's removal was "disparaging of the memory of Serra, who was such a great hero, such a great defender of the Indigenous people of this land." This is not a characterization shared by most Indigenous peoples. Jonathan Cordero, chairperson of the Ramaytush Ohlone and California Native history expert, told the San Francisco Chronicle he believes up to 80% of the Indigenous population died in Serra's mission system. Serra is considered by some to be a de facto slave owner who used the labor of Native individuals against their will to build the missions. "Everywhere they put a mission the majority of Indians are gone," Ron Andrade, then-executive director of the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, told the Guardian at the time of Serra's canonization in 2015, "and Serra knew what they were doing: They were taking the land, taking the crops, he knew the soldiers were raping women, and he turned his head." READ ALSO: The disturbing pasts of Columbus, Friar Serra, others commemorated in SF Cordileone further praised the mission system at the weekend ceremony, saying there is "ignorance of the real history." "I would ask our people to learn the history of Father Serra, the missions, the whole history of the church, so they can appreciate the great legacy the church has given us, given the world. So much truth, beauty and goodness," he said. "Its a wonderful legacy that we should be proud of. There are those that want to make us feel ashamed of it." California's missions were centers of assimilation, often by force and violence. Native people were ordered to give up their culture, customs and language as part of the conversion process, which was sometimes demanded "nearly at gunpoint." Once baptized, they were, by law, required to submit completely to the Franciscans who ran the missions. Physical brutality, shackles and imprisonment were commonplace. Indigenous people who escaped could be and were hunted down. Unsanitary, crowded conditions enabled disease to run rampant. Their life expectancy, once in the missions, was 10 years. Katie Dowd is the SFGATE managing editor. Email her: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd I feel like he had complete disregard for my husbands life or any other body standing out there. There were three shots fired and only two entered my husband, she said. The emblematic marquee seen glimmering above the Fishermans Wharf waterfront for over a century will soon leave a vacant space in San Francisco's skyline. One of the city's most notable landmarks, the historic Ghirardelli sign has grown worse for wear over the years, its paint tarnished and lights plagued by electric malfunctions. One by one, each 19-foot-tall letter will be taken down so it can be replicated and preserved for years to come, according to The Chronicle. On Tuesday morning, the Max 737 took off from Boeing Field in Seattle for initial testing, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The certification flight kicked off three days of planned testing, officials said. WASHINGTON - Every Supreme Court decision seems to confirm that Chief Justice John Roberts's pivotal role at the center of the court, and Monday's ruling on abortion showed that restrictions on a woman's right to the procedure for now will go only as far as the chief justice allows. In a remarkable stretch of decisions over the past two weeks, Roberts has dismayed conservatives and the Trump administration by finding that federal anti-discrimination law protects gay, bisexual and transgender workers and stopping the president from ending the federal program that protects undocumented immigrants brought here as children. In Monday's decision, he said the court's allegiance to honoring its past decisions meant striking down a Louisiana law almost identical to one from Texas that the court said in 2016 was unconstitutional. The twist is that Roberts was a dissenter then. The votes do not mean that Roberts, nominated by President George W. Bush, has had an ideological conversion. But they do serve as a reminder of his 2018 rejoinder to President Donald Trump that "we do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges." Roberts's admirers speculate that he was turned off by the attempt to have the court's 2016 decision overturned because the court's membership had changed with Trump's two appointments. Too soon, said Richard Lazarus, a Harvard University law professor who has known Roberts since his law school days and who has taught summer courses with the chief justice. "The chief's clear message is that is not how justices do their work," Lazarus said in an email. "It is a shot across the bow at presidential candidates who campaign with lists of nominees based on the assumption that, if confirmed, they will of course necessarily vote based on the preferences of the majority who supported that candidate." Roberts has sought to defend the court's independence, and his votes often seem intended to keep the court from moving too quickly to the right, even if that is where he is more comfortable. "I find it hard to explain his body of work without some theory that he's playing a long political game," said Daniel Epps, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "He wants to push the law to the right, but is extremely careful not to do things that will make the court too much of a political focal point, and thus hurt its ability to shape the law longer-term." It seems beyond dispute that Roberts is now the justice in the center, the role that retired justice Anthony Kennedy once played. And, like Kennedy, Roberts is finding that the middle can be a lonely place. No other justice joined his opinion Monday, and his position brought little praise. Liberals searched his words with suspicion; conservatives expressed exasperation. "What a disappointment Chief Justice John Roberts has turned out to be," said Penny Vance, president of the conservative Concerned Women for America. Louise Melling, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, praised the outcome but indicated it was a small favor. "How perverse that things are such we dance over the court not overruling a precedent from just four years ago," she said in a tweet. That precedent, Roberts wrote, is what shaped his position in the current case. "The legal doctrine of stare decisis requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike," Roberts wrote in concurring with the decision. "The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons. Therefore Louisiana's law cannot stand under our precedents." Ilya Shapiro of the libertarian Cato Institute was another who thought Roberts was sending a message, but not in a good way. He said that Roberts was applying a "capricious" application of stare decisis and that overturning previous decisions had not stood in his way in other cases, such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which opened unlimited election spending by corporations and unions. "But a very recent 5-4 decision in which he dissented apparently carries more weight," Shapiro wrote in a statement. "Maybe Roberts ought to stop playing 87-dimensional chess and just call the legal balls and strikes." Epps, the Washington University professor, said the court's other conservative justices don't have the same incentives for compromise as Roberts does, or the same inclinations. "They vote for the outcome they prefer in each case as it comes, as I read them," he said. Carol Sanger, a law professor at Columbia University who closely follows abortion jurisprudence, said Roberts's opinion was a "civics lesson." But in giving abortion rights activists a win, he took a little back, she said. He rejected the liberals' approach of weighing the burdens and benefits of restrictions in deciding whether a law is legal, she said, something that had been helpful for those fighting restrictions. And Roberts noted that this case did not call on the court to reconsider its cases that established and then reinforced the constitutional right to abortion. "I don't think he was inviting one," Sanger said of the passage. "I don't think he wants to offer an invitation yet." The divisions in the decision provide motivation to both sides of the issue. Democrats pointed out the closeness of the win, and the importance of the coming presidential election. Two of the justices in the majority - Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer - are in their 80s. Abortion opponents vowed to redouble their efforts. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the antiabortion Susan B. Anthony List, called the decision a "bitter disappointment." "Today's ruling reinforces just how important Supreme Court judges are to advancing the pro-life cause," she said in a statement. "It is imperative that we reelect President Trump and our pro-life majority in the U.S. Senate so we can further restore the judiciary, most especially the Supreme Court." Lazarus, the Harvard professor, said he found Roberts's decision to be the opposite of that. "What I expect put the chief off is the idea of one political party - and again it could have been either one - so overtly trying to manipulate the court as if the justices were partisan legislators," Lazarus wrote in the email. "Here, the notion that as soon as they replace Kennedy off the court, they will go right back to the court and confidently expect that the vote will be different. As would be fair to expect if the court were a legislature." She knocked over the chair on purpose, Marotta told KRON 4. I dont know if she was intoxicated or not. I kind of hope she was. If she acts that way sober, then thats pretty scary. A bipartisan commission that unveiled its plan to reduce the risk of a devastating cyberattack on the scale of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks should be worried about another threat: Washington. Those who worked on the government response to 9/11 predict that today's policymakers aren't ready to take on ambitious changes - and there's no sense of urgency with the public fixated on other crises, from the coronavirus pandemic to the economy. This could be a huge challenge for the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which seeks to shore up potential government and intelligence blind spots to avert a mass casualty attack before it happens. "I don't want to say they can't get the job done, but we had things going for us that they don't that made our job much easier," former congressman Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who co-chaired the 9/11 Commission, said. "The whole country's attention was turned to the events of 9/11 and the response to it. . .Cybersecurity is a very important issue, but they won't have that public focus." Michael Chertoff, the second director of the Department of Homeland Security, which was created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, warned that "there's always more impetus when you've experienced a disastrous event." The comments reflect a struggle that has dogged cybersecurity advocates for years. A major cyberattack targeting parts of the electrical grid or transportation systems could be devastating for the nation but it's tough to focus money and energy on a threat that hasn't happened yet. Major digital attacks that have occurred, meanwhile, such as Russian efforts to upend the 2016 election and Chinese-linked theft of U.S. security clearance information have prompted limited changes that don't address the full scope of the dangers. "After 9/11 we learned a lot about warning signals that weren't spotted," Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, co-chair of the Solarium Commission along with Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told me. "In this case, the signals are gigantic neon signs. This is the longest windup for a punch in the history of the world. We know it's coming but we just don't know how or when." The most prominent of those is creating a new White House czar to oversee cybersecurity policy across the government. Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., a Solarium Commission member, introduced a bipartisan House bill that would create the position. But a Senate version is stalled, largely because of White House opposition. Another top recommendation would streamline the dozens of congressional committees and subcommittees that deal with cybersecurity to just one committee each in the House and Senate. That could be nearly impossible to implement because of congressional turf battles, officials who worked on the 9/11 response predicted. Indeed, despite years of efforts, DHS's anti-terrorism work is similarly overseen by numerous congressional panels. "At DHS we continually begged Congress to reduce the number of committees that had jurisdiction over the department, and that [begging] continues to happen and it continues to not be successful," the first DHS secretary and former Republican governor Tom Ridge told me. Several of those may be included in a major defense policy bill that is working its way through Congress. They include beefing up the role of the Department of Homeland Security's top cybersecurity official and requiring cybersecurity risk assessments from publicly traded companies. The Solarium Commission was based on an Eisenhower-era commission focused on how best to counter the Soviet Union. In addition to lawmakers, its members include top industry executives and former government officials who've been stumping for the report's recommendations since its March release. Within government, cybersecurity responsibilities are spread across dozens of agencies, including the defense, homeland security, commerce and state departments. And any one of dozens of U.S. industries could be the target for a devastating cyberattack, including finance, energy, telecommunications and health care. "There's some analogy to 9/11 but the scope of what you're dealing with with cyberthreats is much more comprehensive," Chertoff said. "There are many more kinds of harm that can occur in cyberspace and it requires a much more integrated approach." The pandemic began upending American life and prompting quarantine orders just weeks after the Solarium report came out. But as government and the public struggle to manage the virus it may drive home the importance of tackling big challenges before it's too late. Commissioners also released an additional set of recommendations last month focused on new digital vulnerabilities created by the pandemic, including a large share of the nation working from home. "One serious lesson out of the pandemic is the importance of having a plan in advance," Chertoff said. "All the actions I've taken over the years have been to prevent a cyber 9/11 from happening," Langevin, a co-founder of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, told me. "I felt like a lone voice in the wilderness initially, but people's awareness has been raised. Ask anyone who's had their credit card numbers or medical records stolen, and they understand this is an issue." The pervasiveness of cybersecurity also separates it from the pre-9/11 era when terrorism wasn't top of mind for most Americans. "One observation from the 9/11 Commission that's embedded in my head is when they talked about a failure of imagination," Ridge said. "This [Solarium Commission] report is saying that based on everything we know we can't plead surprise anymore. And before we have a cataclysmic cyber event we'd better get our act together." WASHINGTON - White House officials were first informed in early 2019 of intelligence reports that Russia was offering bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. and coalition military personnel in Afghanistan, but the information was deemed sketchy and in need of additional confirmation, according to people familiar with the matter. Several discussions were held with members of the National Security Council staff on the reports, which had been flagged as potentially significant and that came at a time of growing tensions between Russia and the United States. Instructions were given to the intelligence community and the U.S. Central Command, one person familiar with the briefings said, to "find out more" about the bounty reports before proposing that any action be taken. Intelligence provided by captured Afghan militants suggested that the bounty operation was in existence as far back as 2018, according to three individuals familiar with the matter, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity. Senior members of President Donald Trump's national security team indicated that they were not aware of the early intelligence, suggesting that it was mainly reviewed by lower-level officials. It was unclear whether John Bolton, the White House national security adviser at the time, relayed information about that initial intelligence directly to Trump. Asked about it through an aide, Bolton said he had no comment. Later, Bolton wrote on Twitter: "If reports that Russia offered bounty payments to Taliban forces for killing Americans in Afghanistan are true, it's tantamount to an attack on Americans directly. At a minimum, we must consider strong economic sanctions as part of a comprehensive response." The White House's awareness of the intelligence in 2019 was first reported by The Associated Press. Intelligence analysts believe that the bounties resulted in the deaths of three Marines killed in April 2019 when the vehicle they were traveling in was blown up just outside Bagram, the main U.S. air base in Afghanistan, according to four people familiar with the matter. This week, White House officials have said intelligence about the Russian bounty program - which was examined again by the NSC in March - was not sufficiently substantiated to be brought to Trump's attention. At a White House briefing Tuesday, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany did not deny media reports on the intelligence, but she repeated the administration's insistence that the information has not yet been "verified," a process she said had been hindered by news leaks. The leaks, she said, were "targeted . . . against this president" and had damaged "our ability as a nation to collect intelligence." While numerous intelligence and former government officials have said such reports would normally have reached the highest levels of government, including the president, McEnany said Trump is only briefed "when there is a strategic decision to be made." Trump, she said, has now been "briefed on what is unfortunately in the public domain," though that "does not change the fact that there is still no consensus" within the intelligence community on its veracity. But several people familiar with the matter noted that information is sometimes withheld from Trump, who often reacts negatively to reports that he thinks might undermine what he considers his good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House was "not the kind of environment, as in almost any business office, where you look to confront your boss with something," Bolton said in a Washington Post interview last week. "And those are the circumstances we all worked in." It is not known whether the subject of the bounty reports came up last year in regular conversations between Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, and his Russian counterpart, Gen. Valery Gerasimov. That was the customary channel for the United States to raise concerns with Russia on military matters. In the early White House discussion of the reports, officials questioned the reliability of the sources of the information, aware that the Taliban and the Russians were known to spread disinformation. More recent information about the Russian bounty program has also come from captured militants in Afghanistan, current and former officials said. Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, which U.S. officials say ran the bounty program, was known to have been given a relatively free hand to engage in operations to rattle the Americans, according to several people familiar with administration assessments. At the same time, the Russians were believed to want revenge for a number of perceived American transgressions, particularly against Russian interests in Syria. Among them were U.S. air and artillery strikes in February 2018 on forces in Syria that included members of the Wagner Group, a mercenary force run by a Russian businessman close to Putin that includes former members of Russian military and intelligence units. The U.S. strikes killed hundreds of attackers. As U.S. officials last year weighed the closely held information about Russia paying bounties, disagreements about its credibility and importance were set aside until more information was available, people familiar with the matter said. The extent to which more intelligence made its way to the White House before the end of 2019 is uncertain. But in February of this year, after discoveries of questionable militant cash flows and the interrogation of prisoners in Afghanistan, information again made its way to the NSC. In late March, after a restricted, high-level meeting at the White House, the CIA was tasked with assessing it. CIA analysts determined that the information was credible and showed a Russian plot to target U.S. and coalition forces, current and former officials familiar with the matter said. One former official said there was a significant amount of intelligence, and it left little doubt among those examining it that Russia was targeting American forces. The National Security Agency, which examines intercepted communications, took a more skeptical view of the 2020 information and the credibility of the underlying sources, people familiar with the information said. But some said that the disagreements between the NSA and the CIA have been overstated by Trump administration officials. Potentially important intelligence traditionally is shared with the president and senior officials before it has been fully vetted, assessed and subjected to the scrutiny of several intelligence agencies, a former official said. The 2020 information was deemed credible and significant enough that it was included this spring in the President's Daily Brief, which is produced for the president and shared with his top aides. In May, it was converted for broader distribution in The Wire, a regular CIA compendium of intelligence reports, which may be accessed by other agencies as well as certain congressional officials, people familiar with the matter said. "The President's Daily Brief traditionally includes the best assessments that analysts can provide on the issues of the most importance to the president," said David Priess, a former CIA briefer and author of "The President's Book of Secrets," a book about the secretive briefing and how it is constructed. "The primary criterion for putting an assessment into the PDB is not whether it has universal analytic agreement, but whether it will help the president address threats to national security or take advantage of opportunities in foreign policy," Priess said. House Democrats criticized administration officials for not doing more to make sure Trump was aware of the Russian operation, even if the intelligence community had not fully verified the information. "There are frequently times that the president of the United States will be briefed along with caveats . . . but you don't deprive the president of information he needs to keep the troops safe because you don't have it signed, sealed and delivered," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., after a briefing at the White House on the matter. "If you're going to be on the phone with Vladimir Putin, this is something you ought to know." Some Republicans countered that the information, as they understood it, didn't merit Trump's attention. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who received a briefing on the intelligence from senior White House officials Monday, called it "unverified and completely not actionable." "This is not a big deal," Johnson said. "The president's got a big job, he can't be made aware of every piece of unverified intelligence, and that's what this was: unverified intelligence." Democrats said Tuesday that Washington should start considering sanctions on Russia for targeting U.S. troops, while leading House Republicans called for even harsher potential retaliatory measures. "America's adversaries should know, they should have no doubt, that any targeting of U.S. forces by Russia, by anyone else, should face a very swift and deadly response," Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., told reporters. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who spoke Monday with the chief Taliban negotiator about ongoing U.S.-Taliban peace talks, said on Twitter that he pressed the militants "to live up to . . . their commitments . . . including, not to attack Americans." - - - The Washington Post's John Hudson, Greg Miller and Missy Ryan contributed to this report. Microsoft, it turned out, has been holding back on such advertising since May, weeks before the June 16 launch of Stop Hate for Profit, the computing conglomerate told Axios, though more out of a concern for what their ads appear next to rather than the content of the platform itself. The spokesperson of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Monday that its general command is examining the next steps on managing oil installations after gaining tribal approval to do so. Speaking to Al-Hadath Al-Youm, spokesman Ahmed Al-Mesmari said the general command has not issued any statement so far on this issue, though it has always welcomed "any Libyan movement to end the crisis and dry up financing for terorrism in Libya through oil." Al-Mesmari added that the general command continuously works on "maintaining and protecting oil installations," including the assets of companies, wells and oil ports. He pointed out that the closure of oil installations came as a result of popular and tribal management of them. But now, he said, the general command is leading the process. Earlier on Monday, an alliance of Libyan tribes announced the opening of oil fields and the approval for the LNA's general command, in cooperation with the United Nations (UN) and the international community, to ensure that "oil revenues do not fall in the hands of terrorist militias." Speaking in front of Zueitina Oil Company in Tripoli, leading tribal figures and sheikhs said they previously "stopped [oil] production and export to call on the international community and the UN to develop a mechanism" that guarantees that oil is not controlled by militias. This led to an increase in food prices and the US dollar exchange rate and an inability by the state to pay the salaries of citizens, they added. "We willingly allowed the flow of oil and we will shut it down if the oil is used again to kill and intimidate us," the tribal leaders warned. The Government of National Accord (GNA), which is based in Tripoli, is backed by Turkish troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries in its war against the LNA. Ankara, according to Reuters, is conducting talks with the GNA for a possible use of the Misrata naval base and Al-Watiya air base. Although the LNA controls Libya's oil crescent, the GNA controls the reserves of the central bank, which -- according to an AP report -- is mainly based on oil revenues. Libya has the biggest oil reserves in Africa. On Tuesday, the eastern Libyan parliament's defence and national security committee warned against the Turkish intervention in the war-torn state, accusing the latter of establishing control over state institutions in the capital Tripoli. According to Al-Arabiya bews channel, the committee also highlighted that militias and mercenaries benefit from oil revenues as they are fighting alongside the GNA against the LNA troops. Ankara, according to the same news source, continues to send new mercenaries to Libya. Short link: I feel its discrimination. I have a room here, Anita Williams-Wright says in the video as she says her room key. This lady here is discriminating (against) me. I have a key to get in and I can show you that it works I have a room here. I dont have to give my name. I didnt break the law. I was shocked to learn that the attorney general for Kentucky is a 34 year old black man. A republican. When Breonnas Mother Tamika asked to speak with him, he had someone else call her, Lawson wrote. I have no problem with who he marries, that is his personal business. That is not what this post is about! I just dont understand his actions!!! The top Senate Republican said Monday that there should be no stigma to wearing face masks to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus as President Donald Trump continues to refuse to wear one in public. The remarks by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., came one day after Vice President Mike Pence appeared at an event in Texas, one of the new coronavirus epicenters, where he urged Americans to don masks and wore one himself while not speaking. "We must have no stigma - none - about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people," McConnell said in Senate floor remarks Monday afternoon. "Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves. It is about protecting everyone we encounter." The virus has killed more than 123,000 people in the United States, and U.S. cases make up by far the largest share of the worldwide caseload. On Sunday, the U.S. surpassed 2.5 million confirmed cases amid a new spike in infections in Texas, Florida, California and other Southern and Western states. McConnell contracted polio as a 2-year-old in Alabama, and he has spoken in recent months about how the coronavirus crisis has made him think about his own life as well as the fear Americans felt during the polio epidemic that hit the country decades ago. McConnell has also stressed the importance of wearing face masks during appearances in Kentucky and in comments to reporters. On his trip to Dallas on Sunday, Pence attended a briefing with Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. All four were wearing face masks as they entered and left the meeting. As the pandemic has swept across the U.S., members of the White House coronavirus task force have typically not worn masks and have stood close to each other at media briefings, and Trump has frequently ridiculed reporters and others for wearing face coverings. The battle in Congress over face coverings has at times grown tense. Last week, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., who chairs the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, threatened to end the practice of holding in-person hearings because some Republicans on the panel refused to wear masks. "I will stay in the safety of my home as I would ask all of you to do," Clyburn said during the Friday hearing. Republicans, several of whom had worn masks into the hearing room before taking them off, contended that they could practice social distancing safely while seated maskless at the dais. On Monday, Clyburn sent a letter to the top Republican on the subcommittee, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, informing him that any member who does not wish to wear a mask may join the upcoming hearings via videoconference - but will not be allowed to participate in person. In the letter, Cyburn noted that the Office of the Attending Physician has issued guidance stating that face coverings are required for House meetings held "in a limited enclosed space, such as a committee hearing room, for greater than 15 minutes." "The Attending Physician's guidelines make clear that the mask requirement is in addition to - not an alternative to - social distancing guidelines," Clyburn said. He added: "Unfortunately, the Republican Members' refusal to wear masks undermined the safety of everyone in the hearing room." - - - The Washington Post's Robert Costa and Annie Linskey contributed to this report. The committee plans to investigate the decisions made by Fischer and members of his administration leading up to and following the death of Taylor, who was shot and killed by a trio of officers when they served a warrant at her apartment. The inquiry will likely also look into the handling of the citys Black Lives Matter protests in the aftermath of Taylors killing, in which local restaurant owner David McAtee was shot to death by a member of the Kentucky National Guard. The Grammy-winning guitarist was arrested about 1:50 p.m. local time on Saturday and released several hours later on $50,000 bond, according to the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department. Madden is due in court Sept. 29. After touring the Southern U.S. for more than a week, the intrepid plume of African dust that's brought haze and poor air quality along the Gulf Coast is finally withdrawing over the Atlantic. The extreme episode has contributed to record heat in South Florida, while draping a dull gray veil over a number of islands from the Caribbean to the Lesser Antilles. Experts heralded the outbreak as one the most prolific ever measured in the modern era. But more is on the way. On the heels of the first wave of dust is a second, albeit tamer, cloud of gritty sand once again drifting west across the ocean. Its sights are set on the western Gulf of Mexico, the aerosols impacting areas that already saw dust last week. Air quality and visibility could once again fall as the dust cloud closes in. --- Satellite imagery on Monday afternoon revealed a swath of dust extending from the Bay of Campeche and the Yucatan Peninsula eastwards through the Caribbean, with the greatest concentrations of dust particulates west of the Leeward Islands. Computer models suggested an ebb of that cloud would overspread parts of eastern Mexico, coastal Texas, and Louisiana between Tuesday and Wednesday before disintegrating late in the week. The dust should not be as widespread or thick as it was during much of last week or over the weekend, though a noticeable tinge to the sky should be evident in the areas affected. --- Last week's plume was arguably one of the most significant events on record from a dust transport standpoint. Joe Prospero, an atmospheric scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Miami, said the episode will be studied for years to come. "This event. . . was the largest event that we have ever seen over 50 years that we have been in Barbados," said Prospero, who has spearheaded efforts in the Leeward Islands to study Saharan dust. "It's pretty clear this was a phenomenal event. We know that the aerosol concentrations were the highest we've ever measured by a substantial amount." He also referenced "optical depth," or a vertically integrated metric measuring how densely the atmosphere is clouded over with a type of aerosol. "That was higher than everything we've seen in 25 years," Prospero noted. "It was really dramatic." A lidar device based at the University of Miami suggested that most of the dust was present between 1 and 2.5 miles above the ground. The data he reviewed also indicated a surprising homogeneity, or uniformness, in the size of the sand particles caught up in the air - indicating most of the dust came from a rather localized area in Africa. "I've never seen anything like that," said Prospero. "It raises interesting questions about what the sources [of the dust] are, and about the mechanisms for lifting it up." --- Prospero also explained that the dust cloud was strong enough to eradicate cloud cover over an enormous strip of the Atlantic, its parent Saharan Air Layer warm enough to preclude any air pockets near the surface from rising. "Normally when you see a Saharan dust outbreak, you have little fractals of cumulus," said Prospero. "This was unusually cloud-free." The same technique of evaluating satellite imagery lends credence to this next event being less significant. "The second pulse that [is coming] through has a bit more cloud in it," noted Prospero. "It's not going to last as long as the other one. But it's modifying the whole atmosphere up to twelve or fourteen thousand feet. Sometimes, it's up to eighteen or twenty thousand feet off the coast of Africa." --- Last week's dust plume brought elevated to unhealthy air quality indices to major metropolitan cities, like Houston, Galveston, Brownsville, New Orleans, and even Tallahassee, Florida. Previously, it had reduced visibilities down to as little as three miles in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Air quality indices from dusty particulate matter won't be as bad with the trailing cloud of dust, but there's a chance that additional air quality concerns could arise, particularly in South Texas as the Saharan Air Layer spreads overhead. The warm air at the mid levels "caps" the atmosphere, trapping pollutants near the surface. That means a 24 to 36 hour period of pollution buildup may be possible in some areas where weak winds and little venting will could help a few areas climb into the "moderate" category for air qualities. A few pockets of air unhealthy for sensitive groups is possible. Moreover, the hot temperatures - exacerbated by the paltry cloud cover eroded by the Saharan Air Layer - will help brew unhealthy levels of near-surface ozone ozone. "NASA GEOS-5 modeling indicates that another round of dust is also expected to reach the region by Wednesday morning, with haziest conditions from the dust possible Wednesday and Thursday," wrote the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi. Temperatures near 100 degrees were possible along the South Texas Coastal Plain on Wednesday, the National Weather Service in Brownsville advertising that the dust "will contribute to lower air quality." The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is specifically calling for poor air quality over Brownsville and Corpus Christy on Wednesday. "Overall, depending on the intensity and coverage of the arriving African dust cloud, the daily [particulate matter concentration] is forecast to possibly reach the lower end of the 'Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups' range in parts of the Brownsville-McAllen and Corpus Christi areas," wrote the Commission. Hot temperatures and potentially hazardous heat index values are possible as well, the Saharan Air Layer minimizing the development of afternoon clouds and rain showers that typically cool back coastal areas in the afternoon. Dust finally looks to diminish from the forecast by late in the week, but there is a chance additional waves of dust could propagate across the Atlantic into early July. The eight indicted officers, who are currently on leave, are all members of the Shreveport Police Department. They likely would have avoided scrutiny if not for the actions of a local Caddo Parish sheriffs deputy, who joined the chase and reported the beatings. Footage from his dashboard camera was used to confirm his report. The first time Texas officials ordered Tee Allen Parker to close up her brand-new bar during the coronavirus pandemic, she begrudgingly waited it out. Parker scrounged up money to pay her employees, manufactured her own hand sanitizer and started selling masks, she said, even though she doesn't wear them herself - and has since banned the face coverings from her very own watering hole in the east Texas town of Kilgore. But when coronavirus infections began soaring again throughout the state and Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, ordered drinking establishments statewide to shut down again Friday, the 45-year-old owner of the Machine Shed Bar & Grill decided to put up a fight. "You can't tell me that my tiny little bar is the problem. He's the problem," she said of Abbott in an interview with The Washington Post. "He's targeting us, and it's discrimination." Together with 21 other Texas bar owners, Parker on Monday sued Abbott and the state's alcohol regulators to halt the shutdown order, arguing it unconstitutionally bypasses the state legislature and comes at the particular detriment of bar owners, their families and employees. While barber shops, hair salons and other types of businesses can continue to operate at full capacity, the lawsuit filed in Travis County District Court says, an order specifically directed at Texas establishments that make most of their sales off alcohol unfairly singles them out. "This one individual is picking and choosing winners and losers," Jared Woodfill, a Houston lawyer representing the owners, said in an interview. "Governor Abbott has chosen to sentence bar owners to bankruptcy." Neither the governor's office nor the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission immediately responded to The Post's requests for comment. But as new infections have shot up in Texas this month, reaching more than 153,000 residents, Abbott admitted he should have been stricter on drinking establishments earlier in the pandemic. "If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars," he told ABC affiliate KVIA, "now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting." The rolling, seven-day average of new infections in Texas has hit a record high for the past 20 days straight, according to data tracked by The Post. Hospitalizations have soared, too, increasing to nearly 6,000 as of Monday. Earlier in June, a number of bars and restaurants across the state had already shut down again voluntarily upon learning their employees had tested positive. Abbott said the shutdown was "essential to our mission to swiftly contain this virus and enhance public health." But Parker, the lawsuit's lead plaintiff, said she was unfairly being scapegoated. Her tin-walled bar was down to less than 100 seats, and most of its tables had been brought outside to give customers enough space to practice social distancing, she said. Meanwhile, she said, a local county judge had organized a prayer rally, churches were holding services for dozens of worshipers, and a few hours away in Houston, thousands had gathered in proximity to mourn the death of George Floyd. Though Parker said she once supported Abbott, he moved too quickly and inconsistently to reopen, a move that means he is now being inconsistent in his enforcement. The lawsuit, also ties into a larger legal campaign by Woodfill, the former chair of the Harris County GOP. He has sued Abbott and top county officials six times for their virus-related restrictions on everything from church services to masks in public. Abbott's emergency orders have repeatedly cited a 1975 state law that gives his office special powers during disasters - which, until this year, have mostly consisted of hurricanes and tornadoes. But according to the state constitution, only the Texas legislature has the ability to suspend laws in the middle of the pandemic, he said. The governor can also call state legislators to Austin and ask them to draft up Texas's response to the virus, Woodfill said, but Abbott has also refused to do so. "It's just been a horde of infringement on people's individual liberties and constitutional rights in the form of executive orders," he added. "This is one individual making draconian decisions that have destroyed the Texas economy." Woodfill said he is hoping the Texas Supreme Court will take up all the pandemic-related lawsuits collectively, setting a legal precedent for what the governor might do in the case of another viral outbreak. Parker, meanwhile, has her eyes set on something different. In Kilgore, she organized a "Bar Lives Matter" concert outside her bar on Sunday to raise money for other Texas taprooms that need to pay the bills. Earlier on Monday, she drove to Austin, where she plans to stage a rally outside the Texas Capitol with other bar owners Tuesday, and invited the governor to speak with her one-on-one. After suing him, though, she's not so sure that will happen. WASHINGTON - Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious-disease specialist, warned Tuesday that the United States could soon have 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day"if this does not turn around"- a surge that would be more than twice as many as the record so far and three times as many as the original peak this spring. Fauci said that recent images of Americans gathering in bars or other crowds foreshadow a greater spike in infections that "is going to be very disturbing . . . We're going to continue to be in a lot of trouble, and there's going to be a lot of hurt if that does not go away." Fauci gave his bleak assessment in response to questions during his latest appearance on Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on the state of the pandemic as new infections are rampant across much of the South and West, with hospitalizations escalating in a dozen states. He and other top health officials acknowledge that the nation's public health system was ill prepared for a major infectious-disease outbreak, as the Republican chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee called on President Trump to start heeding federal guidance to wear a mask in public. "Unfortunately, this simple lifesaving practice has become part of the political debate that says this: If you're for Trump, you don't wear a mask. If you're against Trump, you do," said the chairman, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. "That's why I've suggested that the president occasionally wear a mask, even though in most case it's not necessary for him to do so. The president has plenty of admirers. They would follow his lead." The rare rebuke from a senator of the president's own political party attests to a disturbing reality for GOP politicians that the pandemic has veered lately from primarily Democratic-leaning states to red parts of the United States. The hearing took place as Republican governors of newly hard hit states, including Texas and Florida, have been rescinding reopening plans in the face of surging cases of the virus that has killed at least 124,000 people in the U.S. since February. Last weekend, the U.S. had a record daily number of confirmed new cases - 44,792. That is 30 percent higher than 34,203 on April 25, the peak day in the original surge of covid cases this spring. At Tuesday's hearing, Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, initially declined to directly answer a question by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., about how many deaths and infections Americans should expect before the pandemic ends. "It's going to be very disturbing," Fauci replied. "I will guarantee you that, because when you have an outbreak in one part of the country, even though in other parts of the country they're doing well, they are vulnerable . . . It puts the entire country at risk." Then Fauci added, "I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned." He also told senators that federal and state guidance this spring for people to stay at home to avoid exposure to the virus led about half the United States to shut down - far less compliance than in many European countries, he said, where 95 percent of activities in those nations shut down. As a result, he said, the slowdown of the virus's spread among Americans has been less pronounced. On another aspect of the nation's response to the pandemic, Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledged the ability to trace the contacts of people infected by the coronavirus has been hampered by outdated public health data systems. In response to questions from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Redfield said, that records of people possibly exposed to the virus "really are in need of aggressive modernization . . . There are a number of counties still doing this pen and pencil." Contact tracing - finding the people with whom an infected person has been in proximity - is regarded by public health specialists as a crucial tool in trying to contain an infectious virus, along with testing and isolating the people who have been exposed. And Sen. Amy Baldwin, D-Wis., asked Redfield whether the Trump administration would consider moving from recommendations to businesses about how to reopen safely to compulsory standards by the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Baldwin noted that some companies are following federal guidance, but others are not. She singled out American Airlines for returning to its practice of trying to fill every seat on planes, rather than leaving a distance between passengers. Redfield replied that Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia is a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, but said, "that specific topic we have not had directly." Also at the hearing, Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services who coordinates coronavirus testing, said that as far as he knows, he remains the U.S. representative to the World Health Organization. Trump said a month ago that the United States "will today be terminating our relationship" with the WHO. Giroir told senators he was confirmed as a WHO representative in early May. "I have not been recalled," he said. "I have not been given direction to recall myself." The peaceful protesters were not the subject of scorn or disdain by the McCloskeys, the couples attorney, Albert S. Watkins, told CNN. To the contrary, they were expecting and supportive of the message of the protesters. The actions of violence, destruction of property and acts of threatening aggression by a few individuals commingling with the peaceful protesters, gave rise to trepidation and fear of imminent and grave. The man known as the Golden State Killer pleaded guilty Monday to 13 murders, 13 kidnappings and dozens of other crimes, some in the Bay Area, after evading capture for years until he was identified in 2018 through investigative genetic genealogy, Contra Costa County prosecutors said. Joseph DeAngelo Jr., 74, made his pleas before Judge Michael Bowman in the Sacramento State Ballroom to allow the many victims and their family members to attend and maintain social distancing. DeAngelo is expected to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He murdered his last victim in 1986, according to prosecutors. DeAngelo, a former police officer, terrorized California residents during the 1970s and 1980s. Prosecutors from Contra Costa, Orange, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties prosecuted DeAngelo. He admitted to killing Claude Snelling in 1975, in Tulare County, Katie and Brian Maggiore in 1978, in Sacramento County; Debra Alexandria Manning in 1979, in Santa Barbara County; Robert Offerman in 1979, in Santa Barbara County; Cheri Domingo in 1981, in Santa Barbara County; Greg Sanchez in 1981, in Santa Barbara County; Charlene and Lyman Smith on or about March 13, 1980, in Ventura County; Keith and Patrice Harrington in 1980, in Orange County; Manuela Witthuhn in 1981, in Orange County and Janelle Cruz in 1986, in Orange County. Prosecutors said his crimes began when he was with the Exeter Police Department. He was fired in 1979 by the Auburn Police Department. DeAngelo's crimes started with peeping through windows and stalking, prosecutors said. DeAngelo earned the nicknames of Visalia Ransacker, the Original Night Stalker, East Area Rapist and the Golden State Killer. He admitted to dozens of uncharged crimes including rape, kidnapping, attempted murder and robbery, among others, according to prosecutors. Victims will be able to share how the crimes affected them starting Aug. 17 before DeAngelo is sentenced Aug. 21. The time and place of the sentencing have not been announced. Prosecutors agreed to let DeAngelo plead guilty to 26 charged crimes and admit to the uncharged crimes in order allow the victims and their families hear DeAngelo confess. Otherwise the prosecution of DeAngelo could have taken as many as 10 years. Some of the uncharged crimes that DeAngelo confessed to occurred in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. 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. LATEST June 30, 4:10 p.m. Santa Clara County Health released a 23-page guidance Tuesday regarding schools reopening, including requirements that all schools, public and private, distance teachers at least 6 feet away from students, and that all students and teachers wear face coverings when in-person lessons resume. Some requirements around masks are less strict for elementary-age students. School buses will also be affected by the changes. Drivers will need to wear masks and be 6 feet away from students, and students on the bus will need to practice social distancing as much as possible. Buses will also need to be deep cleaned and disinfected daily. Schools will not require temperature checks for students. June 30, 2:45 p.m. California surpassed 6,000 recorded coronavirus-related deaths in the state Tuesday. The surge in cases is the result of multiple factors, including economies reopening, indoor family gatherings and the George Floyd protests, officials say. The state crosses the milestone as counties across California pull back on their reopening strategies, citing a sharp rise in cases. June 30, 2 p.m. These days hearing someone cough or sneeze in public can cause instant anxiety if youre nearby, especially in closed spaces. But how often do you think of the other major route for COVID-19 the simple act of talking to another person? Droplets spewed during speech are believed to be the key transmission vector for COVID-19 for asymptomatic and presymptomatic patients, says research scientist Jeremy P. Howard, co-founder of fast.ai, which promotes deep learning via artificial intelligence. Read more from SFGATE's Mike Moffitt. June 30, 1:30 p.m. San Francisco Mayor London Breed is appealing to San Franciscans to stay home for the Fourth of July to help curb the spread of coronavirus. The Fourth of July is normally a time to gather and celebrate with family, friends and neighbors. Unfortunately these are not normal times, and these types of gatherings are the environments in which COVID-19 spread, said Mayor Breed in a press release. It is critical that all of us continue to follow the Health Orders designed to protect our safety. Please think carefully and act responsibly this weekend. On Monday, official fireworks shows across the Bay Area were canceled to discourage large gatherings of spectators. June 30, 1 p.m. In its Budget and Fiscal Update for FY 2021-2022, the SFMTA outlined survey results regarding how ridership might change in the near and long-term future for public transit. The agency expects to see a baseline 20% ridership drop going forward, attributed to a rise in permanent remote work prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. The update also outlined survey results compiled from 25,000 adults. Researchers found that 20% of respondents who used buses and public transit regularly before the outbreak said they now now longer would, and 28% said they would use these services less often. Additionally, more than 50% of respondents said they "would either use these less or stop using [rideshare options] completely." As a result, the SFMTA is planning accordingly. "Do not expect to return to the transit system you were used to before," the budget update notes. "We will continue to transform transit and move Muni Forward." June 30, 12:30 p.m. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday the state has procured 15,679 hotel and motel rooms as part of an initiative to house people living on the street during the coronavirus pandemic. Project Roomkey launched in April as the first of its type in the country and as of today 85% of those rooms are in use and 14,200 have been housed, the governor said. Newsom explained the program provides, "a room, a key, a lock" for people living in their cars, in shelters, in encampments, or on the street. The governor said he signed the state's budget on Monday and it includes an additional $1.3 billion for cities and counties to support homeless programs such as Project Roomkey. The funding will also help support a new program called Project Home Key that will allow the state to not only lease but acquire longterm housing for people on the streets. June 30, 12:20 p.m. Rent is due tomorrow and some San Francisco landlords dont want the new COVID-19 Tenant Protections Ordinance to stop them from collecting it. On Monday, four landlord and realtor groups filed a lawsuit against the city to obtain a temporary restraining order that would suspend the law immediately, according to KQED. The ordinance was signed by Mayor London Breed last Friday, permanently prohibiting a residential landlord from pursuing an eviction for nonpayment of rent due to COVID-19 from April through July. Read more from SFGATE Editor Tessa McLean. June 30, 12:10 p.m. The U.S. is going in the wrong direction with the coronavirus surging badly enough that Dr. Anthony Fauci told senators Tuesday some regions are putting the entire country at risk just as schools and colleges are wrestling with how to safely reopen. With about 40,000 new cases being reported a day, Fauci, the governments top infectious disease expert, said he would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around. I am very concerned, he told a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. Infections are rising rapidly mostly in parts of the West and South, and Fauci and other public health experts said Americans everywhere will have to start following key recommendations if they want to get back to more normal activities like going to school. Weve got to get the message out that we are all in this together, by wearing masks in public and keeping out of crowds, said Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Read more here. June 30, 11:50 a.m. An NPR report Tuesday outlines two methods for fighting COVID-19. One is the mitigation method, which consists of testing symptomatic people and employing contact tracing and isolation with a target of a positive test rate of under 10%. The other is the suppression method, which involves testing asymptomatic people in high-risk environments, contact tracing and isolation with a targeted test rate of under 3%. Currently, 32 states, including California, have not achieved mitigation or suppression. California would need to conduct 824,901 daily tests, or 2,088 per 100,000 people, but is currently averaging 92,858 tests per day, or 235 per 100,000 people. Read more at NPR. June 30, 11:30 a.m. San Quentin Prison, which now has over 1,000 cases of the coronavirus, has relocated infected prisoners to air-conditioned triage tents outside to keep them away from uninfected prisoners. Some who are critically ill have been taken to local hospitals, KTVU reports. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is facing criticism for not responding to the outbreak fast enough. Last month, there were zero cases at the prison. By Tuesday morning, there were 1,080 cases in prisoners and 102 in employees. The outbreak is believed to have begun when 100 inmates were transferred from a prison in Southern California to San Quentin. The CDCR is hoping to mitigate the spread by releasing up to 3,500 more non-violent inmates who have six months or fewer remaining on their sentence. June 30, 10:05 a.m. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and Public Health Department held a joint meeting Monday with the San Jose City Council to preview the county's new reopening plan that will be released later this week. Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody discussed the transition from a sector-to-sector reopening plan to a risk-aversion plan. "In this new phase we hope to create a framework that people will be able to live within for a long time to offer clarities on how to stay as safe as possible while doing the things we all need to do, and to create more certainty about the path ahead," Cody said. The new plan will include across-the-board guidelines for all open businesses, with some more restrictive guidelines for higher-risk activities that will be applicable for the long-term. This also means that some businesses will be deemed too high-risk to open up for the time being. Bay City News contributed to this story. June 30, 9:30 a.m. The mayors of the Bay Area coastal towns of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay told KPIX they want out-of-towners to stay home on the Fourth of July. Lets start off with the fact that we are a tourist town, and that we totally embrace tourists coming to Half Moon Bay, Mayor Adam Eisen told KPIX. I get the allure of the beach, but you know, then you want to flip it and say, Ive got people in the community, constituents that are literally fearful of their lives, as weve seen droves of people come at an unprecedented level.' As people are parking in neighborhoods there are elderly people, in particular, that are very fearful to even walk out of their house, Pacifica Mayor Deirdre Martin chimed in. June 30, 9:10 a.m. California announced a record number of new COVID-19 cases Monday, reporting nearly 8,100 new infections. Cases are surging and an LA Times analysis predict cases in June will be roughly double those in May. Gov. Gavin Newsom noted the number of cases has increased 45% in seven days and the state's positivity rate the number of people who have tested positive divided by the total number of tests administered has gone from 4.4% to 5.5% in two weeks. (Read more from Newsom's Monday press briefing on SFGATE). Newsom said "5.5% is of concern. Its not where some other states that are generating headlines are. Theyre substantially higher, but we dont like the trend line, and thats why, again, this mandatory mask requirement is in effect, and thats why, unfortunately, were using this dimmer switch to start to pull back on the stay-at-home order." June 30, 7:15 a.m. A 27-year-old Southern California man is sharing his family's experience with coronavirus to encourage people to practice social distancing. Richard Garay told KTLA he was the first in his family to contract COVID-19 and now 27 other members have tested positive. Garay's 60-year-old father died of the virus the day before Father's Day. It was painful to watch my dads health decline so drastically in front of me, Garay told KTLA. My father is my best friend. I dont want my fathers death to be in vain, he said. I want people to understand coronavirus is a real thing. Coronavirus in the greater Bay Area: Links you need COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENTS Alameda County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Contra Costa County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Lake County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Marin County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Monterey County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Napa County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. San Benito County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. San Francisco County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. San Mateo County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Santa Clara County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Santa Cruz County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Solano County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. Sonoma County: Find the latest COVID-19 numbers and health order. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Here are answers to your most frequently asked questions about coronavirus Forget a return to normal: How experts see COVID-19 unfolding this summer Newsom: 72% of California population now on watch list WHEN WILL THE BAY AREA REOPEN? 4 Bay Area counties pause reopening. Here's where all 9 stand. Will Bay Area schools reopen in-class this fall? Spike in coronavirus comes with economic reopening in California "I'm just different." That's what 23-year-old Elijah McClain told police in Aurora, Colo., after they stopped him as he walked home from a convenience store last August because someone saw the young black man and reported a suspicious person. Those would be some of McClain's last words. They haunt me as the parent of a child who is neurodiverse. My autistic son was only 5 the first time I took him to our local police precinct so that officers could meet him and understand that he is different. Last summer, police tackled McClain, who was listening to music and may not have initially heard the officers. They put him in a carotid hold - which cuts off blood flow to the brain - and paramedics called to the scene administered ketamine, a strong sedative, although the unarmed, 140-pound McClain was already handcuffed and on the ground. McClain went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital. On body-cam footage, he could be heard pleading and sobbing in police custody: "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to do that. I just can't breathe correctly." He also told officers that he loved them. Like many Americans, I had not heard of McClain until this month, when the decision not to pursue criminal charges against the arresting officers drew more scrutiny in the wake of George Floyd's killing. When my son, now 8, asked recently if he could go to a Black Lives Matter march, I hadn't known about the massage therapist in Colorado who played violin at a local shelter to soothe the animals. (McClain's family has said he was anemic and sensitive but not whether he had a disability. McClain himself told police he was an introvert.) I only knew that being different and black in America means that my son is vulnerable if stopped by police. A 2016 report, analyzing incidents from 2013 to 2015, found that nearly half the people killed by police had some sort of disability. A 2019 study of police-involved deaths found that 1 in every 1,000 black men is at risk of being killed by law enforcement. My son's behavior can be unpredictable. He doesn't read social cues, and he doesn't really understand authority. When he makes a mistake, he often starts shouting. After he calms down, he always apologizes - almost immediately - for "causing a little bit of trouble." I took my son to the police station as a kindergartner because I wanted officers to understand more about autism and how he might react if they confronted him. Autistic people may be extra sensitive to light, sound and touch, or have difficulty following commands - especially if they are yelled. So to officers, their behavior can appear suspicious or aggressive. Confrontations between police and people with autism often escalate quickly. Police need better, and mandatory, training about people who are "different," people like McClain or my son. Some departments use virtual reality programs to simulate interactions with someone who is autistic. A Florida-based organization that certifies theme parks as autism-friendly also provides training for first responders. I'm scared of how my son's behavior might be interpreted by others even now. I've been trying for years to get him to walk on the sidewalk and not cross the grass in other people's yards. If he sees a flower or leaf he likes, he often approaches to get a closer look. I'm terrified that someday he's going to try to pick the wrong flower in the wrong yard. I worry that as a teenager or young black man, if my son wears a hoodie someone might call the police because he looks threatening. If police approach him and he doesn't react in a typical way, would they wrestle him to the ground? As McClain did, would my son say that he is a vegetarian and beg for breath? Already, I've tried to instill how he should act around police. My son doesn't understand why anyone would be afraid of him or assume that he is a bad person because of his skin color. When I tried gently to explain, he cried. When he asked about attending a Black Lives Matter march, I said we could go but warned that it might be loud. (Noise can agitate my son, who often wears headphones in public.) I asked if he wanted instead to organize a march in our neighborhood. He did. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, neighbors and my son's special education teacher gathered at the corner of our street wearing masks and holding signs. As my son danced and twirled in front, about 150 people followed him on a six-block loop in a show of solidarity for racial justice. No one sang or chanted, out of respect for the 8-year-old organizer, who wore noise-canceling headphones and carried a yellow and green sign he painted himself: "Don't be scared of me." Under that he scribbled "your friend" and signed his name. As we turned a corner, a white man on a bicycle assessed the young marchers and then hollered, "You're racist!" My son stopped for a few seconds. "Why wasn't he wearing a helmet?" he asked me. "I hope he doesn't get hurt." - - - Spinner is an associate professor at Columbia College Chicago and a former staff writer for The Post. Mr. President, the crisis is real and its surging, Biden said. Promises and predictions and wishful thinking pulled out of thin air are not only doing this country no good, its making them lose more faith in their government. America knows this crisis isnt behind us, even if you dont. Sharon, PA (16146) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High around 80F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 52F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Growing up, I preferred my eggs to be scrambled and sprinkled with something my Grandma Barbra would call monkey dust. It was years later that I found out what monkey dust really was! What was it? McCormicks Natures Seasoning. I actually still use that very same seasoning today in many Cautionary note The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement Shell, Shell Group and Royal Dutch Shell are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words we, us and our are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. Subsidiaries, Shell subsidiaries and Shell companies as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as joint ventures and joint operations, respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as associates. The term Shell interest is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest. This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on managements current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing managements expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as aim, ambition, anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, goals, intend, may, objectives, outlook, plan, probably, project, risks, schedule, seek, should, target, will and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shells products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shells Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, June 30, 2020. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. LEI number of Royal Dutch Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70 This page contains all of The Sidney Heralds coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak, and the illness it causes, called COVID-19. Because this outbreak impacts public health, our coverage of the coronavirus is available to all readers. Our journalists are working hard to bring you the verified information below. Please consider supporting important local journalism with a subscription. (Click Here) Are you a Richland County resident whos been affected by the illness? Send us an email: editor@sidneyherald.com. But Hickenlooper, a moderate, has stumbled badly in the closing weeks of the campaign. He has been embroiled in a complicated ethics scandal and made at least two tone-deaf remarks about the racial justice protests sweeping the nation. New Delhi: The Telecom regulatory authority of India's latest data reveals the pain and the gain made by Indian telecom operators. The pain according to the data released for the month of February is acute solely for Vodafone Idea Limited. For the month of February 2020, landline and mobile users rose to 118 crores - growing 0.32 percent on a month-to-month basis. All telecom players except Vodafone-Idea limited contributed to the surge. Reliance Jio was on a song adding 62.57 lakh subscribers with a total user-base of 38.28 crores. Bharti Airtel was second best adding 9.2 lakh users with a tally of 32.90 crore users. Markets that had tanked in the wake of coronavirus are recovering despite India Inc failing to provide sizzling fourth quarter results. Mumbai: An unlocked India, recovering markets, and labourers heading back to cities may not be the signs of a recovery if this latest report from State Bank of India is to be believed. In response to the recent market gains despite negative reports on contraction of GDP, economists at SBI securities said "beautiful markets do not signify a beautiful economy." The economists warn that banks may start reporting higher non-performing assets by September. They attribute it to the end of the six-month moratorium on loan repayments. The note by the economists also reveals that deposits in bank accounts were slowly increasing than the borrowings. A huge population depends on interest earned from bank deposits to sustain themselves. The note also observed that transactions made on credit and debit cards have declined signalling that customers may abstain themselves from investing in luxury items. Per card transactions have made a dramatic decline from Rs 12,000 to Rs 3,600 in the case of credit cards and Rs 1,000 to Rs 350 in the case of debit cards, the economists explained. The dip in transactions is representative of restrictive spending a consumer behaviour trend that has surprised economists. Should this behaviour sustain in the long run, sales of several product categories may get hit. The note also observed that people have started pledging gold to borrow money from banks which could increase the secured loans for banks. The economists also made two key inferences. First, India cannot depend on farm sector to pull itself from the recession-like situation. That, because even if the farm sector provided the best output of 15.6 percent (as it did in 1951-52), the total GDP growth would be a a meagre 0.2%. Second, SBI economists also pitched in for a second fiscal support. Previously, the Modi government released Rs 20 lakh crores as part of a reform package. "We must think of a second round of fiscal support at least for the beleaguered sectors," read the SBI note. "On average, the Taliban has carried out 44 attacks and killed or wounded 24 civilians every day in Afghanistan since the February 22 reduction in violence week," TOLO News quoted NSC spokesman Javid Faisal as saying in a tweet on Monday. Kabul, June 30 (IANS) Afghanistan's National Security Council (NSC) has accused the Taliban of killing or injuring 24 civilians per day in the country since earlier this year. Faisal called for a reduction in violence in the country. "The success of the Doha deal and peace in Afghanistan requires an immediate reduction in violence and the start of direct talks," he added. The Taliban did not comment yet about these allegations. The comments come after at least 23 civilians were killed after four rockets hit a festival being held at a market in Sangin district in Helmand province on Monday morning. The provincial governor's office said in a statement that 15 other civilians were wounded in the explosions. The Taliban has denied involvement in the attack. --IANS ksk/ To everyone who is disappointed that we did not go farther ... I am disappointed, as well, the Manhattan Dem said. But this budget process involves the mayor, who was not budging more than what we got, and 49 other Council members currently, many of whom were not open or supportive to the kind of cuts that I was pushing for. The online classes began earlier this month and students from the US, Canada, South America, Caribbean countries and Mauritius have enrolled in the course. Ayodhya, June 30 (IANS) The Ayodhya Research Centre has started an online six-month certificate course that will educate people, mainly in foreign countries, on how Ram Lila is performed in India. Professor Y. P. Singh, Director of the institute, said the project was conceptualised during lockdown when online learning took the centrestage. "Two classes have already been held. We conduct classes at night in India so that students in western countries may attend it as it is morning there. We have taken Ram Lila abroad and have a network of people who either perform or organise Ram Lila. When we discussed the idea with them, their response was positive." He further said that efforts would be made to bring at least five of these groups to India to perform at Deepotsav during Diwali. In the online classes, students are taught about makeup and voice modulation. They learn how Sita's dressing up is different from that of Surpanakha and how Ravan's laughter is different from that of Ram. These youngsters are also getting an insight into the hard work that goes into staging of Ram Lila in north India. Singh said that the classes are being conducted by theatre artist Manvendra Tripathi of Gorakhpur, who himself plays the role of Ram. Live sessions have modules on makeup, dialogue delivery, decor, costumes, stage decorations are also a part of the course and these will be conducted using video and audio guides, lectures and demonstrations. "The students can pose questions to experts which will help them get a better understanding of the art form. They will learn about various genres of Ram Lila in India, while experts will specifically focus on the Vyasa style of performance," Singh said. Those who take part in the Master Artist Certificate course will be given an opportunity to perform on various platforms. The online course, financially supported by the Ministry of Culture, will soon be extended to other countries, including Australia and New Zealand, in coming days. --IANS amita/dpb Abbas made the remarks on Monday was made in a telephone conversation with Simonetta Sommaruga, President of the Swiss Confederation, reports Xinhua news agency. Ramallash, June 30 (IANS) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank on the basis of US President Donald Trump's Middle East "peace plan". Abbas stressed that the Palestinians reject the US Middle East "peace plan", adding that it violated all international resolutions. Sommaruga said that Switzerland opposes any unilateral actions or any changes that violate international law and the international legitimacy, and called for Israel and the Palestinians for a dialogue. She told Abbas that her country will continue providing support to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, mainly in the field of health to combat the coronavirus pandemic. In another development, during an online meeting with 40 British lawmakers, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye accused Israel of planning to dissolve the Palestinian Authority (PA), adding that they will not let Israel do so "because the PA was the result of the Palestinian struggle". "The Israeli annexation plan threatens the existence of the Palestinian people and their just cause and also threatens security and stability in the region," said Ishtaye. The developments came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was willing to negotiate with the Palestinians, asking them to "embrace" Trump's plan and "be prepared to negotiate a historic compromise that could bring peace to Israelis and Palestinians alike". Netanyahu has set July 1 as the date for his plan to annex the Jordan Valley, which makes up some 30 per cent of the West Bank, a territory seized by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians, who claim all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, have rejected the idea. The last Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in 2014, mainly because of their deep divisions on the issues of the Jewish settlements and Jerusalem. The resumption of peace talks has hit a roadblock since Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in late 2017 and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed holy city in mid-2018. Israel considers the entire Jerusalem as its eternal capital, a fact that is rejected by the Palestinians, who insist that East Jerusalem be the capital of their future independent state. More than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. --IANS ksk/ The budget counts on reducing police overtime from $523 million that was previously projected to $227 million, according to Melanie Hartzog, director of the mayors Office of Management and Budget. While similar efforts have faltered in the past, Johnson said the Council will roll out measures to make sure police overtime doesnt get out of control. While the country has entered the 5th phase of lockdown relaxation, Prayut on Monday said the decree had nothing to do with his government clinging onto power, reports Xinhua news agency. Bangkok, June 30 (IANS) Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has defended his government's decision to extend the national state of emergency until the end of July, noting that there was still a high risk of a second wave of COVID-19 infections. "The presence of emergency decree will empower the government the legal means to contain COVID-19," explained Prayut. "For example, state agencies can take immediate steps including the closure of Thailand's borders, businesses and leisure activities should a second wave occur." Prayut also praised the Thais' collaborative effort in helping the country stay free from local COVID-19 transmission for more than 30 days. "The state of emergency will only be for pre-emptive purposes only," said Prayut, noting that the government has already relaxed almost all restricted measures imposed previously to stem the virus. Meanwhile, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin said on Monday that pubs, bars, karaoke bars, massage parlours, internet and game cafes and tea houses can resume businesses, but only under certain conditions. "Bars, pubs and karaoke bars can operate up to midnight, but they must observe social distancing, with each table separated by at least two metres, each chair by one meter and each group must not exceed five people," said Taweesin. Convenience stores can operate 24/7, but shopping and community malls must close no later than 10 p.m. Thailand has reported a total of 3,169 COVID-19 cases, with 58 deaths. --IANS ksk/ The world is passing through a rough phase, courtesy COVID-19. Education is one of the hardest hit sector, where schools, colleges and institutions are almost under lockdown. But as technology is empowering every sphere of the industry & economy, education is not left behind. Though technology in the space of education is not a new concept but the adoption has been at a light speed post the pandemic hit us. This sudden rise of the need to integrate tech in education system has left many educational institutes in a fix. siliconindia, always a key partner in providing the tech news or update, this time through its webinar Building Tech-Friendly Education Sector discussed about the increasing use of technology in education sector, how to secure the internet and intranet, how to ensure leak-proof digital infrastructure and the way forward for the academia. siliconindia webinar was graced by speakers including: Dr. Shanmugam, Director, Regional Services Division, IGNOU Director, Regional Services Division, IGNOU Dr. A M Rawani, Director, NIT Raipur(CG) Director, NIT Raipur(CG) Srinivas Garimella, Director Education, Microsoft India Director Education, Microsoft India Prof. Madhu Veeraraghavan, Director & T.A.Pai Chair Professor of Finance, T.A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal. Dr. Shanmugam highlighted, Education is an important factor in the economic developed of the country. COVID-19 lockdown situation has made education sector to phase unprecedented challenge to take care of huge number of learners. In higher education particularly, there are more than 3.7 crore students attached with more than 50,000 institutions across the country and over 48,000 teachers. Technology is the only helping hand now to reach out to the students in the current times. This disruption in delivering of education is pushing policy makers to figure out how to drive through e-learning through their digital device. Open learning education system contributes nearly 20 percent of the total higher education enrollment, and IGNOU has an important role to play in open and distant learning. He also highlighted about the way IGNOU is integrating and adapting technology while training teachers in offering uninterrupted distance learning training programs. Dr. Rawani divided the education sector into three parts input (entrance exam, admission process, campus visit and more) transformation (teaching-learning including lab classes and internship) and output (carrier guidance, placement and others). Definitely technology will revolutionize the way teacher teaches and students learn. Pre-COVID-19 we were partially using technology to support some of these functions. As far as the journey of the students are concerned, technology can be used in the full extent and that is what the educational institutes are trying to achieve. For instance, as physical tour of campus is not possible during the current times, institutes can offer virtual tours through technology. He even mentioned that some institutes and corporates are offering virtual mode of internship allowing interns to work from home. However, he also put forth few concerns akin to why we are still at a nascent stage of technology adoption in the sphere of education, why the governing bodies have not made the MHRD supported online programs compulsory, inadequate digital infrastructure, tech-untrained manpower (academic professionals) and more. The lecture delivery online is not so impressive and engaging as physical lecture delivery and this is the reason that technology is not properly adopted. Hence it is important we develop certain tech-mechanism to make this transition more smooth, engaging and effective, Dr. Rawani adds. He also emphasizes that the improvement of the students knowledge remains questionable as in case of physical lectures, teachers can read a students face and know his level of understanding. The sole learning also results in less competitive attitude among students and peer-learning is missing too. One problem still needs tech-experts attention. It is how to cut-off the unauthorized persons to enter the online classes, he asserts. The online education market is growing rapidly, from $47 million we are almost heading to close to $2 billion. Indian are the second largest consumers of the MOOC. In my view it is the most positive disruption and is also now going to bring a shift in how education and training are imparted, and how students access courses, Prof. Madhu mentioned. Imparting education is no more a monolog but a two-way system, and the stakeholders need to learn this sooner even on the online learning platform. We now have to re-look at our model for delivering education where mobility is seriously under threat and make adjustments to transitions into the new learning environment seamlessly. However, security is paramount to ensure the sustainability of this emerging model and hence important to mind the security gap, he adds. Srinivas highlighted the reasons for changing landscape in education, which are Industry 4.0, democratization of technology and changing workplaces. There is a blur between the digital, physical and biological world. Everything is merging eliminating any difference between them. We are at such a time where we need to catch up with this phenomenon and adjust and see what is the innovation we can do. If we look at the future of work, no longer employees or workers are going to work in one company/job for say 45 years. As we move along, in a career span of 40 years, the current students and the new workforce who will join may have 10 different jobs being performed by them. So they tend to have new skills to fit in such shift, he mentioned. Apart from the core skills, companies will hunt for candidates having multi-skills akin to communication and having a transformative nature. The overall workplace is changing to social from working in silos. So students need to become lifelong learners to ensure they keep imbibing creative and transformative skills. Also the talent gap needs to be addressed and the need of the hour is to map the educational institutes with the industry. Hence the need for online learning becomes more relevant especially when students want to learn in their own speed and time, Srinivas adds. He also mentioned that India is in the most advantageous position where despite having digital infrastructure related issues, online education is going to be a game changer. Apart from this, administrative solutions like LMS, HR, campus management or even student management system and others will see a rise in demand. Technology is one leveler that will play a crucial role in the days to come. How we adopt it, what we are going to do in our institution and how it is going to impact us depends on each institution. However, there are few potential threat and hence securing ourselves become pertinent. The universities poses most sensitive information, most importantly the research work, and the IPs they generate, and hence they need to adapt every possible way to secure it. You need to have proper plan in place so identity and access control, and have proper policy for applications and data network is crucial, he concludes. The webinar also discusses about how the labs, innovation and learning will grow under the garb of technology and how institutes are preparing themselves to ensure students have seamless learning while also chiseling them to be job ready. It also discusses about the poor digital infrastructure and how to deal with it. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Individuals traveling to New York from eight additional states will be asked to quarantine for two weeks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday. California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee will be added to the list announced by New York, New Jersey and Connecticut last week. Those states join Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah and Texas on the list of states with travelers that will be asked to self quarantine when coming to the Empire State. As an increasing number of states around the country fight significant community spread, New York is taking action to maintain the precarious safety of its phased, data-driven reopening, Cuomo said. Weve set metrics for community spread just as weve set metrics for everything the state does to fight COVID-19, and eight more states have reached the level of spread required to qualify for New Yorks travel advisory, he continued. Levels necessitating quarantine are based on a seven-day rolling average of either 10% statewide infection or a new-case rate of 10 per 100,000 residents. Of the 52,025 tests conducted in New York State on Monday, 524, or 1 percent were positive. The seven-day rolling average for the percentage of positive tests in New York City, which was once the nations epicenter of the virus, was was 1.1% as of Monday. Enforcement will be left to each state. In New York, Cuomo said the advisory will serve as a way to inform travelers that they should quarantine for 14 days. He offered several mechanisms -- hotel clerks, business meetings and police officers stopping vehicles with license plate from affected states -- as ways New York could be notified of quarantine violations. If you are violating the quarantine, you can be subject to a judicial order and mandatory quarantine, Cuomo said last week. You could have to pay the costs of quarantine. There are also fines that could go along with violating the quarantine -- $2,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second, up to $10,000 if you cause harm. In late March, the federal government issued similar guidelines for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut residents, asking that they avoid non-essential travel and self-quarantine for 14 days if travel was necessary. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Employees at John F. Kennedy International Airport can now get screened for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) without leaving the worksite. On Monday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, alongside JFKIAT, the operator of Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and XpresSpas new brand XpresCheck, announced the first in-airport coronavirus screening and testing facility in the United States. The pilot program can screen up to 500 JFK terminal employees, airline employees and airport workers each day, ensuring the health and safety of both employees and those traveling through the airport, according to the Port Authority. The Port Authority is pleased to open the nations first COVID-19 and antibody testing facility for employees at JFK International Airport with JFTIAT and XpresSpa, said Kevin OToole, Port Authority chairman. The agency will continue to enhance safety at its facilities by piloting the new technologies, programs and policies needed to manage the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** The new modular testing site, located in the Arrivals Hall at Terminal 4, consists of nine separate testing rooms all equipped to perform both COVID-19 testing and antibody testing. Tests are sent to outside laboratories for analysis and all insurance plans are accepted. Safety and security are the Port Authoritys top priorities, and opening the new XpresCheck COVID-19 pilot program builds on measures the agency has taken to protect travelers and airport workers across the region, said Rick Cotton, Port Authority executive director. Todays announcement is an important addition to our commitment to providing a safe facility for workers and travelers alike. RESTRICTED TERMINAL ACCESS As another means of addressing the coronavirus, in late-April, the Port Authority began restricting airport terminal access at John F. Kennedy, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia airports. Only ticketed passengers, airport employees and those who can demonstrate a need to enter the facility for airport-related business are currently permitted to enter the terminals. Port Authority police are monitoring access to the terminals and may ask prospective entrants to provide evidence of their reason for entry. Passengers may be asked to show a ticket, boarding pass, flight reservation or some comparable confirmation that they are taking a departing flight from that airport. Airport employees may be asked to show their airport identification badge, while others conducting business within the facility may need to provide documentation that they are a vendor, contractor, or are otherwise performing authorized airport business. ENHANCED CLEANING MEASURES The agency has also ramped up its cleaning efforts at the regions airports and bus stations in response to the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus. At the regions four airports -- John F. Kennedy, Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and New York Stewart International -- all terminal operators have been instructed to intensify cleaning procedures. This includes increased wipe-downs of frequently touched surfaces, such as doors, countertops, handrails on stairs and escalators, elevator cabs and buttons, information kiosks, ticket vending machines, ticket counters, seating areas, charging stations and water fountains. Additionally, restrooms are receiving increased cleanings using EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed cleaning products. Terminal operators have also deployed additional hand-sanitizing stations near federal inspection areas. The agency has also increased the frequency and intensity of all cleanings at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, George Washington Bridge Bus Station and the Oculus World Trade Center Transportation Hub. All frequently touched surfaces are being sanitized on a regular basis with EPA-approved and CDC-endorsed cleaning products, similar to the measures being undertaken at the airports. Enhanced cleaning measures have also been deployed on all PATH cars and stations, as well as at the Journal Square Bus Terminal. Disinfecting is taking place on all commonly touched surfaces, including seating, doors, handrails, turnstiles, emergency gates, elevators, information kiosks, SmartLink and MetroCard ticket machines. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There is new evidence that most people infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19) dont pass it on to someone else -- but a small number infect many in what is called superspreading events, according to a New York Times report. The Times asked health experts about how COVID-19 spreads, including Ben Althouse, principal research scientist at the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, Wash., who likened the spread to throwing a match in a pile of kindling. You throw one match, it may not light the kindling. You throw another match, it may not light the kindling. But then one match hits in the right spot, and all of a sudden the fire goes up, he told the Times. Adam Kucharski, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said it is important to understand why some matches start fires while others dont, the media outlet reported. Epidemiologists tried to understand how the coronavirus spread from person-to-person when it first emerged in China -- trying to estimate the average number of people each sick person infected, known as the reproductive number. According to the New York Times, COVID-19 was found to have a reproductive number between two and three, but its impossible to find an exact number. Thats because peoples behavior can affect how the virus spreads. Lockdowns across the United States led to significant drops in infection rates. However, the Times reported that the average reproductive number can be misleading because the spread can vary. If nine out of 10 people dont pass the virus at all, but the 10th person passes it to 20 people, the average reproductive number is still two, the outlet said. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** In a study published in April as a preprint, which is a report that has not been reviewed by other scientists and published in a scientific journal, Kucharski and his colleagues tried to calculate the dispersion parameter for the coronavirus. That means finding a measure of how much variation there is from person to person in transmitting a pathogen. The researchers found a wide variation -- reporting that 10% of infected people were responsible for 80% of new infections -- meaning that most people passed on the virus to few people, according to the New York Times report. In another preprint by Kristin Nelson, an associate professor at Emory University, researchers analyzed over 9,5000 COVID-19 cases from March to May in Georgia and found many superspreading events. Just 2% of people were responsible for 20% of COVID-19 transmissions. Researchers are now trying to figure out why few people spread the virus to so many others. They are trying to find what causes superspreading of the coronavirus, who the superspreaders are, when superspreading takes place, and where. According to the Times, doctors have observed that viruses can multiply to bigger numbers inside some people more than others -- that some people can blast out clouds of pathogens with each breath. People who are in high-contact areas, like a bus driver or nursing home worker, are more likely to be around people who are infected or infect others. And doctors say that circumstances or events are more significant when it comes to spreading COVID-19, more than biological differences between people. Most COVID-19 transmission happens in a small window of time -- in the few days after infection before symptoms emerge. Some places can lend themselves to superspreading. A study from Japan found clusters of coronavirus cases in places like a busy bar, nursing homes, health-care facilities, daycare centers, restaurants, workplaces and musical events like live concerts. Health-care experts say that its possible to avoid more lockdowns by targeting those superspreading events, which can reduce most of the risk of future coronavirus outbreaks. FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. During March and April when the coronavirus pandemic was raging, dedicated nurses from all over the country trained in various specialties traveled to New York hospitals to help. Health care officials at Richmond University Medical Center expressed their gratitude to nearly 80 of those nurses last week, hailing them as frontline heroes as they begin to make their way back to their native states. The West Brighton health care facility even hosted a grab and go breakfast early that morning as nurses arrived for their 7 a.m. shift or left after completing their overnight duties. Providing breakfast is a small token of our appreciation for the dedication and commitment shown by these professionals, some of whom came from as far away as California, Oklahoma, Washington state and even Canada, Daniel J. Messina, president and chief executive officer said. Many of them will be leaving us shortly to return home, many to states that are seeing spikes of COVID-19 that rival what we faced just a few short weeks ago. I am hopeful that these men and women who came when we needed them most remain safe and can also take what they learned here, apply it in their own hospitals, and save lives. The nurses were assigned to RUMC to provide support during the height of the pandemic. RUMC admitted its first COVID-19 patient on March 14 and just three weeks later, the hospital would reach its high point of COVID-19 inpatients with 210 admitted. In addition to providing weeks of support in RUMCs emergency department and Intensive Care Units, the nurses were also assigned to various other departments to provide assistance including Labor and Delivery. Many of them have been away from their homes and families since early March working various assignments throughout the New York City area, chief nurse officer and chief operating officer Rosemarie Stazzone said. They came to us at a critical time. Their professionalism and enthusiasm to be a part of our RUMC team was truly a bright spot during one of the most difficult and challenging times on our hospitals history. As of June 29, RUMCs coronavirus inpatient population was down to 10 patients. The hospital has treated and discharged more than 1,200 COVID-19 patients since the pandemic began. Earlier in June, the hospital opened its comprehensive Post COVID-19 Care Center at 288 Kissel Ave. in Randall Manor to provide recovered COVID-19 individuals with continuous medical care to help them with their short-term and long-term recovery needs. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD is asking for the publics help to identify two men sought for questioning in connection with the theft of a backpack from a car parked near Urby in Stapleton. An unknown individual removed a 57-year-old male victims backpack from his unsecured vehicle in front of 7 Navy Pier Court on May 23 at about 4:30 a.m., according to a statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Among the items inside the victims backpack was his wallet, which contained his credit and debit cards, the statement said. The investigation revealed that a man was captured on surveillance camera footage carrying the victims wallet after the incident, according to the NYPD statement. A few hours after the theft, just after 7 a.m., another man used one of the victims credit cards to purchase $208 worth of merchandise at the Home Depot at 545 Targee St. in Stapleton, the statement said. The NYPD released surveillance images of two individuals sought for questioning in connection with the case. One image shows a man holding a wallet at Navy Pier Court, police said; he is described as a light-skinned male who wore a gray jacket, black pants and black sneakers. An image of a second man was taken by surveillance cameras at Home Depot, police said. He is described by police as a light-skinned male, seen wearing a multi-colored mask over his face, a red-hooded sweater and a dark-colored jacket. People with information are encouraged to contact the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (TIPS) or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782 (PISTA). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As fireworks persist to tick-off Staten Islanders, especially affecting borough residents with auditory processing disorders and sensitive pets, a trove of used pyrotechnics in West Brighton was found by a nearby resident last week. The photos show various fireworks strewn across the sidewalk and street in front of Corporal Thompson Park in West Brighton. The remnants of the display colorful pieces of debris scattered on the ground both inside and outside of the park was cleaned up shortly after the photo was taken, the Advance/SILive.com observed. From the North to South Shores of Staten Island, borough residents say they have noticed an uptick in fireworks being fired off in their neighborhoods helping spark a rise in 311 complaints on the Island, the Advance/SILive.com previously reported. However, while complaints have soared across the city in recent weeks, officials have cautioned that 311 expanded its system in late June 2019 to allow customers to submit complaints online, which was expected to lead to an increase in the subsequent data. It is not immediately clear what has led to the supposed-increase in fireworks on Staten Island, and borough residents have been left with more questions than answers. Some New Yorkers have theorized that the fireworks are related to recent protests against police brutality, with others pointing toward the effects of coronavirus restrictions. Authorities have seized thousands of dollars worth of pyrotechnics in the wake of Mayor Bill de Blasios announcement to create a task force centered on weeding out fireworks suppliers in the city as well as in neighboring states. The Sheriffs Office, FDNY and the NYPD are a part of the force that consists of more than 40 officers from each department, including 12 FDNY Fire Marshals, the NYPD Intelligence Bureau and deputy sheriffs. Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said State Police would join in on New Yorks crackdown against fireworks. Last week, Fire Marshals arrested two Queens residents on Staten Island possessing $2,800 worth of illegal fireworks. Previously, the NYC Sheriffs Office arrested and charged 10 people after a massive bust on Staten Island uncovered a litany of fireworks and three alligator carcasses. In a separate bust, the FDNY nabbed two Queens residents with more than $6,000 worth of illegal fireworks on the Staten Island Expressway. In a written statement, the NYPD said: Fireworks are illegal in New York City. If you use fireworks, you or someone else can get seriously hurt. To anonymously report the delivery, sale or storage of illegal fireworks, we encourage members of the public to call 911 for crimes in progress or 311 to report information, the statement read. As they have in years past, the NYPD is offering a reward up to $1,000 for Staten Islanders who provide information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons possessing or distributing fireworks. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A deputy director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had a dire message for anyone thinking weve turned a corner in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, cautioned the public for what she said could be something even worse than what we have already seen with the virus. A lot of people thought that we were over this, but we are not even beginning to being over with coronavirus, said Schuchat. States that were previously minimally affected by the illness such as Texas, Alabama, Missouri and Nevada have now reported daily highs in the past week. Theres a lot of factors about the last week that are worrisome, we are seeing increasing numbers in multiple places. Its so many geographic areas. While the initial deaths arent as high as they were in New York City, the cases are in younger people, so just how far it can spread from the young people is the question. According to Schuchat, knowledge about the way coronavirus works is constantly changing, which makes it difficult to pinpoint where the virus will go next. Theres some good that can eventually come out of what we learn from the pandemic, but theres a lot of pain before we get there. Schuchat explained that its important for researchers and people to remain humble and selfless during a pandemic of this proportion and that its vital that everyone wear masks and continue to take social distancing precautions seriously. Thirteen people were killed and several were injured in an explosion at a medical clinic in the north of the Iranian capital Tehran, the Khabaronline news site reported on Tuesday. The explosion was caused by a gas leak, Tehran Deputy Governor Hamid Reza Goudarzi told state TV. Short link: I think we need to emphasize the responsibility that we have both as individuals and as part of a societal effort to end the epidemic, that we all have to play a part in that, Fauci said. If we are going to contain this, weve got to contain it together. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 30-year-old man who was killed in New Jersey on the eve of Fathers Day was a beloved worker at Carmel Richmond Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in Dongan Hills, a spokesman for the facility told the Advance/SILive.com. A dedicated worker, Roobino Philemon was hired as an occupational therapy assistant through a third-party employer and assigned to Carmel Richmond approximately eight months ago, according to Jon Goldberg, a spokesman for the facility. Goldberg said Philemon did his job well and was well-liked by residents and staff. Our prayers are with his family and loved ones, he said. Philemon was killed on Saturday, June 20, after he attempted to go to a birthday party at former New York Jets Pro Bowler Muhammad Wilkersons home before being told to leave. As he was sitting in his car, authorities allege a man walked toward the rear of the car and fired multiple rounds in the direction of the vehicle, striking Philemon once, according to NJ.com, the Advance/SILive.coms sister site. The incident began after Philemon and his friend, Berlin Brun, arrived to the party just before midnight but were denied entry, NJ.com reported. After being told to leave, the pair waited outside the home for three women who were also leaving the party, but Wilkerson then tapped on the window telling them again that they had to leave. As they began to leave the home, Wilkersons brother Hafeez Brown, 33, of Linden, allegedly fired multiple shots at the vehicle from behind, NJ.com reported, hitting Philemon in the back. Brun told NJ.com that he dragged his friend to the back of the car and called 911 before attempting to drive to the hospital. Officers eventually intercepted the car and tried to provide emergency care ahead of an ambulance taking Philemon to a trauma center, where he was later pronounced dead. Browns lawyers, Joshua F. McMahon and Michael Noriega, said: The presumption of innocence is not just a legal formality. Mr. Brown, like any other citizen, is innocent until proven guilty, and looks forward to his day in court. Wilkerson, who was not charged in the incident, said his thoughts and prayers go out to all the individuals affected by this tragedy in a written statement issued by a spokesman. Brun said Philemon recently received his degree in occupational therapy from Eastwick College and planned to go back to school to earn additional degrees in the profession, NJ.com reported. Philemon, who was killed on the eve of Fathers Day, leaves behind two young children, according to NJ.com and a GoFundMe posted in his honor. He was a beloved boyfriend, father, son and brother, the GoFundMe read. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A political organization promoting military veterans in Congress said Tuesday that it will be pulling a TV ad highlighting Rep. Max Rose after multiple Staten Island organizations raised concerns about their presence in the commercial Members of multiple non-partisan veterans organizations contacted the Advance on Tuesday about the ad campaign paid for by With Honor Action after they noticed a photo of a meeting they had with Rose in April 2019 at his New Dorp office. President of the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter Gene DiGiacomo and Treasurer of the United Staten Island Veterans Organization Lee Covino said their meeting with Rose was strictly about local veterans issues and their presence at his office was not intended as a political statement. Not only is it my reputation, but its my (organizations) charter that I cannot endorse anybody, DiGiacomo said. Ive been with this organization since it started. Ive been president now for I dont know how many years, and weve made it our business to never never ever endorse anybody. The ad clearly favored Rose, highlighting his work with the National Guard during the pandemic, and his service in the U.S. Army. Veterans organizations will often recognize local elected officials for their service to the community, but most on Staten Island avoid taking stands in favor of any candidate. Covino and DiGiacomo both said they were pleased that the ad would be taken down. Covino said he hoped by speaking with the Advance that the organizations could clarify its positions. DiGiacomo said Rose had contacted him multiple times to express his own frustrations with the photo. With Honor Action is affiliated with the With Honor Fund super PAC. Federal Election Commission rules prohibit coordination between super PACs and campaigns, but candidates often circumvent those rules. A spokesman for the Rose campaign said they did not coordinate with the organization, and the congressman directly called for the ad to be taken down. The photo appeared to have been lifted from one of the offices social media accounts. With Honor, or any entity, should not be using official government photos in political ads or pictures of any veteran without permission, Rose said. Its frustrating to not have any control over this, but I apologize to the veterans featured regardless. That photo was from a non-partisan event and its wrong for any organization to try and politicize it. The organization announced the $250,000 ad campaign, titled Back Down, in a June 24 media release. A group of veterans, including Marine Corps veteran and current With Honor Action CEO Rye Barcott, founded the organization in 2017 with the aim of building a cross-partisan coalition of military veterans in Congress. Congressman Max Rose served our nation during this health crisis as a Captain in the National Guard and as a congressman, Barcott said. We thank Congressman Rose and the bipartisan For Country Caucus for fighting for those serving on the front lines and never backing down. Rose is a member of the bipartisan For Country Caucus, which is made up of military veterans serving in Congress. CDC SAYS TOO MUCH VIRUS TO CONTROL: Italy released encouraging study, and where are the NYC numbers? Posted by Staten Island Advance on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The coronavirus pandemic has turned our world upside-down. We need information like we never have before. How many new cases were there on Staten Island today? How many deaths? How many people have been released from the hospital? What did President Donald Trump say about the pandemic? What about Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio? More importantly, when is this pandemic going to be over? When are we going to get back to normal, whatever normal is? Its almost too much to keep up with. So twice a day, Mark Stein and I take to Facebook Live to give you all the Island information you need. Look for us around 2 p.m. and again at around 5:30 p.m. Then look for this wrap-up on SILive.com at the end of the day. Well give you the numbers and all the latest news. Well answer your questions. Well follow up on your news tips. Well share the good news too, the way that the Staten Island community is coming together in this time of crisis. Or well just share this strange and unique pandemic moment with you, as fellow Staten Islanders. On Tuesday, we talked about CDC officials raising the alarm about U.S. coronavirus spikes in states like California, Florida and Texas, while a study from Italy, which is causing controversy, suggested that the virus might not be packing the same punch as before. The study said that COVIDs viral load may be diminishing. Another Italian doctor said the virus is circulating less, thanks in part to social distancing and the wearing of masks. See the video above for that conversation. In the video below, Mark and I discussed how the number of Staten Islanders hospitalized with COVID-19 had plummeted in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the city added close to 700 virus victims to its death toll to account for New Yorkers who died outside of the city. Were all in this together. Well all get through this together. 2298334 Views on political impasse By Chia Yong Tai Although thoughts in this article have sprung out after reading Professor Tajuddin's article in Sin Chew, this article is not a reply to him. I have no wish to engage in a polemic with him, as I'm a fan of his writings and ideas. But this time I beg to differ. I understand that at this historical juncture, all concerned citizens of this land are at a loss because of the political quagmire we are in. We were euphoric to be able to get rid of the kleptocracy of Umno/BN after 61 years. We were hopeful of building a New Malaysia brought about by the victory of Harapan in GE14. But after 22 months of rule led by Mahathir, this dream had turned into a nightmare. The Sheraton coup succeeded in bringing down the Pakatan Harapan government, to be replaced by a precarious coalition which runs the high risk of bringing back to power the kleptocrats; which openly declared that it is a Malay-Muslim government; whose cabinet is made up of MPs whose appointments were rewards for betraying their own parties and the people's mandate. Furthermore, pro-government MPs were given posts in GLCs to enrich themselves. Indeed, the rakyat have very good reasons to be worried. This concern is reflected in the PH-Plus move to install Mahathir as the ninth PM for six months after which the helm will be passed on to Anwar. On the surface, in order to stop the return of Najib-Umno and PAS (Muafakat), it is logical for the PH Opposition to work with Mahathir and get back power. But, have we examined the pitfalls of this strategy? Is it good for PH in the long run politically and for reforms? It appears that the move is more of political expediency than for long-term interests. Hence it is difficult to avoid the public speculating that some in DAP and Amanah are too eager to return to power. Let's examine the stalemate presented before us: Without Anwar/PKR's support Tun Dr Mahathir (TDM) can't form the government; and without Mahathir/Warisan/GPS's support, Anwar can't form the government. One would have to give in to the other or the plan will flop. That's why we have people like Prof Tajuddin criticizing Anwar for not willing to "sacrifice" to let Mahathir have a go. Well, I would ask, why doesn't Prof Tajuddin ask Mahathir to "sacrifice" and let Anwar have a go? I personally think that Prof Tajuddin has been unfair to Anwar, because ultimately this boils down to the question: What's the sacrifice for? Is it to fulfill TDM's personal ambition? Is it for stopping the return of Najib and Muafakat? Is it for PH-Plus to return to power? Is it for the Reformasi agenda to build a multiracial New Malaysia? I think it's only the last objective, the Reformasi agenda, which I believe is dear to Prof Tajuddin too that would justify Anwar's "sacrifice". That's exactly Anwar's position when he explained why he didn't accept the PH-Plus proposal. Hence I support Anwar's position. Had Anwar taken up the offer, it would reinforce the accusation that he is PM-crazy. If TDM ditched him after six months, he would look like a fool and he would lose his credibility and support, momentum and most important of all, the moral authority to lead the Reformasi movement. Furthermore, the only "plus" PH-plus got is a deja vu -- the prolongation of the agony and uncertainty of PH in a government under Mahathir. First of all, there are fundamental differences between working with TDM before GE14 and working with him now, especially when we have the benefit of hindsight. We all know the political circumstances surrounding the GE14 that led Pakatan Harapan to work with Mahathir to overthrow Najib and Umno. TDM was our hero and there was no regret working with him. But now, the situation has changed: 1. PH has lost power and has been very much weakened as a coalition -- PKR is split; uncertainty looms over DAP and Amanah; and most importantly PH supporters are disappointed with their leaders, disillusioned with their performance and despaired on our country's politics and future. People are weary of what they perceive as politics of self-interests (expediency). 2. PH supporters, especially the Chinese in DAP, are totally dejected with Mahathir. It is amazing how DAP could justify supporting Mahathir. Are DAP's political goals so narrow, so short-term? The maneuvers to oust Muhyiddin will end up in a snap election that PH is not prepared for, even mentally. I find the move more of a political expedient that would backfire. 3. The protagonist of this plan is TDM whose reputation or standing among ALL Malaysians has dropped to the bottom of the valley! He has betrayed PH by not respecting the pact about Anwar taking over. As a result of his obsession to undermine Anwar that he fumbled in his strategy (resigned) and destroyed the PH government. He even dared to think that he could set up a "National Unity" government under his dictatorship with the support of Anwar and company (and most likely without Anwar!). How politically naive could he get? Yet, he is not repentant and continues to blame others. He has shown to every Malaysian that he is more concerned with his own agenda rather than wanting to "save Malaysia". It is very clear what Mahathir's agenda are: i. Mahathir wants to perpetuate the Malay agenda, read "Ketuanan Melayu". Mahathir doesn't believe in the multi-ethnicity of Malaysia. That's one of the reasons why Mahathir will never accept Anwar. To TDM, it is an ideological commitment -- he has to protect the interests of his own clique. Therefore, one cannot rule out the possibility that after becoming PM, he would maneuver once again to work with certain elements in Umno and install Hishamuddin Hussein, his favorite, as the next PM. This is part of the Malay agenda of this group of Malay elites. ii. Mahathir doesn't believe in the reforms of PH. That's another reason why Anwar, who is committed to reforms, will be stopped by Mahathir. It is clear to everyone that as a PM of PH, TDM stalled almost all the important reforms promised in the manifesto. He would never allow the New Malaysia narrative to take root. Iii. Besides all these, he has his personal/family agenda to protect. He dreads to see the day when Najib and company return to power. Najib has already started to reopen their old feud by releasing his sons' assets. Mahathir doesn't feel safe with Anwar, either. That's why TDM is bent on regaining power by all means. iv. Therefore, his betrayal is not only personal (against Anwar) but also an ideological one, that is to advance the Malay agenda at the expense of reforms in the interests of all Malaysians. Malaysians have to be vigilant. We can't give him the benefit of doubt anymore. Therefore, our counter actions must be ideological too to protect people's interests. The time has come for us to put the "Mahathir era" behind us because he has consistently shown himself to be untrustworthy. He has lost power that he fought so hard for and won at such an advanced age, only to "give it away" due to his own delusion of not letting Anwar take over as promised. Sadly, he has to pay for it. Ancient wisdom says that Heaven has its own way of settling matters. To date, TDM has lost all his political base. Surprisingly, only PH leaders are entertaining him. This is because they are still obsessed with regaining power with the inclusion of Mahathir, while the people have discarded him. PH has suffered enough under TDM. Enough is enough! Furthermore, the chance of regaining power is slim. DAP and Amanah leaders should not indulge further in this game which is not feasible for the simple reason that PH-Plus would not be given the chance to form the government, especially if PKR disagrees. Further indulgence is suicidal. PH will break up beyond recognition. At the time of writing, news of making Shafie Apdal the PM with Anwar and Muhkriz, son of Dr. M, as deputies came as a shock. The fact that Mat Sabu and Lim Guan Eng would consider this an option is unthinkable. It will cause further split among the three component parties. It is an open provocation to PKR. Why such an obsession? What is the intention of the person who proposed this? PH leaders are getting insensitive to people's feelings. After the collapse of the PH government, people were downhearted but when Mat Sabu told them PH was willing to fight as an opposition, a role they were used to, their spirit was lifted. The rakyat are not afraid; all they need are brave leaders to show the way. It is better to accept the reality of Muhyiddin being in power and work from there to face the coming general elections than to engage in a futile and divisive exercise. PH must choose their friends correctly. They must learn from their past mistakes, get rid of the delusion of power especially with Mahathir as the PM and face the reality squarely. It is immaterial who would become the PM; win the election first. Anwar has taken the decision to fight on; the other PH leaders must back him. Maybe the chance will come. It might be easier to break Muhyiddin than to break Najib -- this time without Mahathir. And PH must have faith in the rakyat who would choose the parties with principle, that would look after their interests. If it is unsuccessful this time, the younger leaders will make it the next time. That's why it's important to scout for new leaders now and keep the Reformasi agenda intact. 2298996 United we stand, together in harmony By Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, U.S. Ambassador Every July 4, the U.S. Embassy proudly hosts Independence Day celebrations in Kuala Lumpur and Sabah. We celebrate not only America's Declaration of Independence, which started the United States on its journey as a nation 244 years ago, but also the strong ties between the United States and Malaysia. It is a time to enjoy our friendship, to reaffirm our commitment to common democratic principles, and even serves as an occasion for dancing. This year, because of the pandemic, we unfortunately cannot come together in person. I still wish to celebrate the day, our close friendship, and our vibrant cooperation in trade, security, human rights, good governance, education, public health, environmental conservation, and cultural exchange. One remarkable aspect of the American colonies' Declaration of Independence was the huge risk taken by those who signed the document. Their signatures constituted treason, for which the punishment might well have deprived them of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Despite the likelihood of failure, on July 4, 1776, the signers knowingly assumed that risk and followed their collective consciences. In 2020, we have also seen great courage and commitment. Our health workers doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff in both the United States and Malaysia have faced real peril in their work, but have shown professional commitment and true heroism in continuing to provide critical health care in the face of great risk. It is not only health workers who have risen to the occasion, but also our scientists and researchers. We are especially proud of Professor Datuk Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman. An adjunct associate professor at Yale University and Dean at the Universiti Malaya Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Adeeba is embarking on a clinical study at four hospitals to evaluate a drug to treat severe cases of COVID-19. From Malaysia, she is working closely with her colleagues at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, showcasing the semangat inovasi that is essential to defeating this disease. Over the last decade, the United States and Malaysia collaborated on the PREDICT project, hunting zoonotic viruses in wildlife before they become human epidemics, and identifying the factors driving their emergence, amplification and spread. This program depended upon the efforts of hundreds of Malaysians and Americans and required strong partnerships with PERHILITAN, the Ministry of Health, the Department of Veterinary Service, and Sabah's Health and Wildlife Departments. Our joint efforts behind PREDICT have been instrumental in understanding the challenges we face in fighting COVID-19. Our exchange program alumni have showcased our shared commitment to helping others. Masala Wheels, headed by Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellow Kuhan Pathy, provided meals for medical personnel, stranded university students, and the less fortunate. Suzanne Ling, a YSEALI Academic Fellow and Co-Founder of PichaEats, employed refugees who cater food from their homelands to prepare meals for hospitals, other refugees, and the elderly. YSEALI Professional Fellow Baitulhusna Ahmad Azmri, founder of Nazkids, collaborated with a local bank to make and distribute cloth face masks in rural Kedah. What many may not know is that our annual Independence Day celebrations are supported by American companies in Malaysia, and every year we thank them for their generosity. This year, our private sector firms have done something even more important. Since March, the American-Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) has organized the efforts of nearly 50 companies to raise more than U.S. $7 million in cash and in-kind donations for Malaysian hospitals and social programs. Even in the face of the pandemic and financial concerns, U.S. companies continue to commit to Malaysia, in many cases in exciting new fields. Last week, U.S. medical device company DexCom, which produces glucose monitoring systems for individuals with diabetes, announced that it will set up manufacturing and research facilities outside on a 28-acre site in Penang. The facility is expected to create high-value manufacturing, facilities management, and research and development jobs over the course of the next decade. While we cannot share the dance floor at our Independence Day parties, we can share these stories of courage and cooperation. Still, we will miss the music. And in that spirit, this week the Embassy released a new recording of the Malaysian classic Standing in the Eyes of the World. The song showcases the true nature of the U.S.-Malaysia partnership. Produced by Malaysia's Helen Yap and composed by Dato' Wah Idris, both alumni of Boston's Berklee College of Music, the song is about the importance of perseverance in achieving one's goals. Appropriately, the bilingual lyrics were written by Malaysia's Habsah Hassan and American rock musician David Gates. Our version features several American cultural envoys who have performed in Malaysia in recent years, including the amazing Tony Memmel who wowed audiences in KL in 2018 by playing the guitar despite only having one hand, and a member of the U.S. Air Force's Band of the Pacific who played at LIMA 2019. The track also features the Ratu Rock, Ella, a legendary musician who became the first Malaysian to record an album in America with the 1994 record-breaking release Ella USA. This year we face daunting challenges and will require perseverance, courage, and kindness. Thankfully, we have great friends in the Malaysian people, who have stood with us in facing this unprecedented adversity. Please stay safe and may we dance together next year! Happy July 4th!!! (Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir is the United States Ambassador to Malaysia.) To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! The legislation is reportedly meant to criminalize secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces, but critics worry it could effectively criminalize any sort of dissension. It also marks what they call the biggest erosion to date of Hong Kongs British-style rule of law and the high degree of autonomy Beijing promised Hong Kong would enjoy at least through 2047. The chief executive of wealth giant AMP has warned the growing class action industry will lead to job losses, business failures and higher costs to consumers if litigation funders are not reined in with more regulation. Francesco De Ferrari told a Senate economics committee on Tuesday he was concerned about litigation funding in Australia, citing research from Liberal Party associated think tank Menzies Research Centre that found the amount received by plaintiffs had fallen by one-fifth over the past four years. "Its interesting to know that Australia, given its current set-up, is the second most attractive class action litigation jurisdiction in the world. The returns for the litigator funding are 17 times the average returns on the ASX 200," Mr De Ferrari said. AMP chief executive Francesco De Ferrari has taken aim at Australia's class action industry. Credit:Peter Braig AMP is facing two class actions one brought by shareholders following revelations at the banking royal commission and the other from consumers who claim they were excessively charged for superannuation services. AMP is also facing two additional class actions one brought by outgoing aligned advisers who claim to be saddled with debt following contract changes and the other by customers who claim to be sold bad insurance products. Around 50 employees will be laid off at biscuit making company Arnott's in an effort to keep the iconic company globally competitive, the first major change at the business since it was purchased by private equity giant KKR in 2019. In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Tim Tam and Shapes maker confirmed around 2 per cent of the company's 2400-strong workforce had been let go as part of a restructuring of the company's managerial positions. Arnott's has made around 50 staff redundant a year after it was purchased by private equity firm KKR. Credit:Craig Sillitoe The spokesperson said the redundancies were made to ensure the business could remain successful as a stand-alone company. Arnott's was split off from American snack food conglomerate Campbell's in July last year when it was purchased by KKR for $3.2 billion. "Arnotts must readjust and build its capabilities in order to remain competitive against overseas imports and continue to grow," the spokesperson said. Diversified developer Dexus is taking advantage of Collins Streets luxury focus to launch a series of high-end shops at its 80 Collins project. The ASX-listed developer, led by Darren Steinberg, has signed up jeweller Georg Jensen as a drawcard for the 5000 square metres of tenancies that line the ground floor of the developments two office towers and 255-room hotel. Dexus has snared jeweller Georg Jensen to open in its 80 Collins development. Credit: The luxury retailer joins Saint Laurent and Mulberry who will open shopfronts on Collins Street section of the development late this year. Saint Laurent's flagship will be a 431 sq m store and Mulberry will take 172 sq m. Georg Jensen until recently had a store in Mirvac's building at 90 Collins Street and operates two others in the Block Arcade and Melbourne Emporium. It has opened in the development facing Exhibition Street with its signature focus on jewellery, watches, home decor, dining and bar wares. Industrial property giant Goodman Group has expanded its exposure with the online retail behemoth Amazon after signing a lease at the $1.5 billion Oakdale West industrial park in Sydney's west, jointly owned with Brickworks. Amazon will take out close to 200,000 square metres of space over a 20-year lease in what will be a high-tech robotic distribution centre. It will be the first multi-level warehouse constructed in the country. An artist's impression of the new distribution centre, which will be the size of Taronga Zoo. The site, around the same land size as Taronga Zoo or 22 rugby fields, will be home to about 11 million items. CBRE industrial & logistics occupier and leasing teams advised Amazon and Goodman. Oakdale West is part of the wider Oakdale Industrial Estate, which is close to Sydney's second airport in the west and adds to the lease by Amazon at the Goodman site at Moorebank in South Sydney and a new warehouse in Brisbane. Strategists at the world's largest asset manager BlackRock have warned that decades of globalisation will erode due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving investors facing new risks as they emerge from lockdowns. After more than 25 years of integrating global supply chains and financial markets, "this is a moment of real pause or transformation," Mike Pyle, global chief investment strategist of the BlackRock Investment Institute, said on Monday in a virtual press briefing. "The sort of Rip Van Winkle character of this moment is most pronounced," Pyle said, referring to the story of a man who sleeps for 20 years and awakes to find a different world. "We're all out of our normal lives, all working from home, in the face of this very significant global event." In this June 2, 2020 photo, journalist Ruhollah Zam speaks during his trial at the Revolutionary Court, in Tehran, Iran. Iran. The judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, announced Tuesday, June 30, 2020 that Zam, a journalist whose online work helped inspire the 2017 economic protests and who returned from exile to Tehran was sentenced to death. The Persian writing on the podium reads, "defendant's place." (Ali Shirband/Mizan News Agency via AP) Cyber security startups have called on the federal government to ensure its $1.3 billion cyber security funding boost is directed towards helping Australian businesses develop herd immunity from cyber attacks. "Using the COVID-19 analogy, Australia needs herd immunity to guard against the most determined attackers," Sam Crowther, the founder of cyber security startup Kasada, said. "A concerted effort is needed across government agencies, businesses and the community to understand what's needed to stop criminals and other bad actors." Kasada founder and chief executive Sam Crowther has called for the funding to be used broadly. Credit:Arsineh Houspian Under the government's plan it will hire 500 intelligence agents, Australia's chief cyber defence agency will be given $31 million to build new offensive capabilities to go after cyber attackers offshore and there will also be a new $25 million cyber threat-sharing platform. The Berejiklian government's $1.17 billion plan to demolish two heritage buildings to make way for the new Parramatta Powerhouse has received a setback with the building and construction union, CFMEU NSW, adding its support to the public campaign to save the properties. The union of Jack Mundey, the crusading leader credited with saving The Rocks from redevelopment during the 1970s, says it will block any demolition work that damages the two historic buildings. The CFMEU says it will put "bodies in front of machinery" to protect the historic Willow Grove. Credit:Steven Siewert The union's intervention was announced as Parramatta residents warned they would be prepared to "put their bodies in front of machinery" to save Willow Grove and St George's Terrace. But the NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, through a spokesperson said: "Powerhouse Parramatta project will proceed. One-third of NSWs population is in western Sydney and they deserve to have an iconic cultural institution." Carl Reiner, the writer, director and producer who created The Dick Van Dyke Show, acted on Sid Caesar's memorable television shows and played straight man to Mel Brooks on their 2,000 Year Old Man records, has died. He was 98. He died on Monday at his home in Beverly Hills in California, according to entertainment industry publication Variety, citing his assistant Judy Nagy. Carl Reiner (right), pictured with Mel Brooks in 2014. Credit:AP The recipient of nine television Emmy awards dating from his role on Caesar's Your Show of Shows in the 1950s, Reiner was at home as well in movies as an actor, director and screenwriter. He also wrote books in a career that covered six decades. With Brooks, Reiner earned a Grammy award in 1998 for The 2,000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000. The record stemmed from a sketch they improvised to amuse friends almost 50 years earlier when working on Your Show of Shows. A wave of new coronavirus outbreaks is pushing Victorian health authorities to their limits as the state introduces a world-first saliva test. But don't expect to see the unpleasant, more accurate nasopharyngeal swab replaced in NSW's COVID-19-testing clinics. Victorians at a COVID-19 testing centre in Keilor. Credit:Darrian Traynor A total of 75 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Victoria on Monday - the fourth-highest single-day total that took the state's total to 2099. The spike in Victoria caused chaos to the AFL schedule, forced NRL side the Melbourne Storm to relocate to Brisbane for the foreseeable future and the Melbourne Rebels to move their upcoming Super Rugby AU game against the Queensland Reds to Sydney. Police have announced a $350,000 reward for information surrounding the suspected murder of a woman in Sydney's west after her son escaped from jail last month. Nadire Sensoy, who would now be 71, was last seen at her home in Prospect, near Blacktown, on December 6, 2018. Police have announced a $350,000 reward for information surrounding the suspicious disappearance and suspected murder of Nadire Sensoy, 71. Credit:NSW Police She was reported missing five days later. Mrs Sensoy's son, Salim Sensoy, 44, is on the run after breaking out of Glen Innes Correctional Centre in NSW five weeks ago. Funding shortfall fails to surprise It comes as no surprise that funding for public schools has fallen further behind funding for Catholic and private schools ("Public school spending falls further behind", July 30). That Blaise Joseph from the Centre for Independent Studies calculates that students in the public school system receive much more taxpayer funding than those in private schools suggests some creative number-crunching. Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan explains this away by explaining that private schools are funded by the Commonwealth whereas public schools are funded by the states. This is another example of the government shifting responsibility from federal to state when it suits, as it has done with health funding. Patricia Farrar, Concord Public schools receive much less money than private ("Public schools spending falls further behind" 30th June). This makes the superior academic results they achieve even more impressive. Judy Sherrington, Kensington The private sector is taking away funding that should be going to public schools. With so much public money going into the private sector, it is not saving the government money as some try to claim. This situation is a national disgrace which is leading to great imbalance, discontent and frustration in the public sector where they know what they should be getting. Augusta Monro, Dural It is incorrect to say that students in public schools receive more taxpayer funding than private school students. The research has been done and it shows clearly that when you compare apples with apples: that is, private school students get more government money than public school students. Yes, it's actually the reverse of what the propagandists claim to be self-evident. How this is allowed to happen when the public system educates so many more disadvantaged students than the private system is a very sad indictment on the federal government. David McMaster, Mosman I have to agree with Cynthia Pitt that private schools get to pick and choose their students, in complete opposition to the public school system who must take on allcomers (Letters, June 30). Some private schools are exclusive, not due to their specialisations and resources, but rather due to the students they exclude from joining their elite community. This is certainly not an environment in which to park millions of taxpayer dollars. Eric Sekula, Turramurra The Morrison government has cut funding to the ABC, universities and TAFE. At the same time, there seems to be increasing amounts of taxpayer money going to private and religious schools. We never seem to hear about cuts there. Victoria Harrington, Thirroul Get serious about border closures Gladys Berejiklian has warned people in NSW not to travel to Melbourne and NSW accommodation not to register guests from there ("Victoria 'at the limits' with cases", June 30). Unfortunately, this may be confusing or not taken seriously, and experience shows that some people ignore or flout advice. Perhaps now is the time to consider mandating some of this advice. This is a serious situation, with greater numbers making it to challenging to trace contacts. It is hoped that the NSW government would wish to prioritise the welfare of its citizens. Without this, there could be increased coronavirus cases, some serious and possibly life-threatening. Elaine Keane, Blaxland Can someone please tell the Premier that it is of no use for her to be "strongly suggesting nobody from broader Melbourne should come to NSW until the community outbreak is reduced". As the number of Victorians coming to Sydney demonstrates, "suggesting" won't achieve a thing. You either close the border or you share the fate befalling Victoria. Vincent Sicari, Haberfield It would be useful if some looked at a map of the NSW-Victoria border to see the impracticality of closing it. There are around 55 border crossings, several towns and cities that straddle the border and are interconnected. Other towns, villages and communities on one side of the river that rely on on towns on the other side for services, work and schools. Melbourne, the hotspot for COVID-19, which if locked down as is increasingly likely, is 3.5 hours by car away. No other state border has that level of interconnectivity or interdependability. It wasn't closed during the main outbreak, why should it be now. Trevor La Macchia, Eastwood Premier, it's time to do a Trump and build a wall to keep out those pesky Mexicans from south of the border (aka Victorians). Luke Connery, Manly Vale Virus is a long game I'm not sure if your correspondent was referring to the US when she spoke of countries with herd immunity recovering more quickly, but even if we just take sensible Sweden, the herd immunity strategy did not work because not enough people acquired the disease (Letters, June 30). They have one of the highest death tolls in Europe and have been the highest in deaths per million. The US in a different situation. It's chaotic and entirely unstrategic approach has lead to the highest death and illness numbers in the world. And when a vaccine becomes available, it may be rejected in the numbers needed to achieve herd immunity by anti-vaxxers. These are the same people who refuse to wear masks and to whom the public good is a deep state conspiracy. They keep the disease burning in record numbers in their communities, which drives the more thoughtful among them to stay indoors. Premature opening-up is a dead-end short-term sugar high, achieving neither economic recovery nor herd immunity. A long game must be played. Thomas Gough, Casula No tissue the issue When the NRL restarted, I was under the impression that players would be required to comply with certain conditions, one being to not spit on the playing surface. That seems to be a joke as I have observed several players not only spitting but also blowing snot from each nostril. What a disgusting thing to do. Creatures such as these should be penalised. Stan Keifer, Arakoon Why the praise? Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane defended his effusive praise of the Chinese government by claiming his view is consistent with that of the WHO and President Trump ("Political lynching': Moselmane hits back", June 30). But both the WHO and Trump have been widely criticised for their kid-glove approach to Beijing during the early stage of the pandemic out of political considerations. The WHO wanted to maintain good relations with an important member state. Trump was in trade negotiations with China and didn't wish to upset the stock market. What's Moselmane's reason? Han Yang, North Turramurra What exactly did Moselmane do? Sell Darwin port to the Chinese or something? Gay O'Connor, Manly With friends like this Until US President Donald Trump has gone, Australia has many tough questions to answer in its foreign relations ("How can we trust our US ally?", June 30). Clearly, the US cannot be relied upon while the self-obsessed Trump is president. At the same time, we have the Communist Party of China acting firmly to put us in our place. In the face of this dilemma, we really must develop good relations with other countries, especially those in the Asia-Pacific region. Paul Fergus, Manly Trump says he was unaware of claims that the Russians paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill US troops in Afghanistan. However, he has lied so many times that few believe anything he now says. Governments worldwide, including our own, continue to justify unnecessary secrecy and deliberate deception. These days we hear much about the lack of moral leadership. This affects us all, but change must come from the top. While leaders are more concerned with power and self-preservation than morals and ethics, society will continue to be in decline. We can play our part by not re-electing those who have sold their souls, but this requires an honest look at our own morals and values. Graham Lum, North Rocks Fix cyber holes Why is the government daily advertising our lack of cybersecurity ("Cyber warfare powers built up", June 30)? It seems it's a huge problem to which they haven't been paying proper attention. Wouldn't it be better to deal with the issues as they're suggesting without the song and dance? Yes, to keep one's home safe and functional, money needs to be spent. Just get on with it quietly. Anne Phillips, Wallarah Its own pandemic The national cabinet is the obvious place to co-ordinate a federal, state and territory strategy on how to reduce Australia's car emissions, including a long-term plan to transition to electric vehicles ("World's filthy cars end up on our roads", June 30). According to the WHO, outdoor air pollution, of which vehicle emissions are a significant factor, is a killer of pandemic-like proportions. It causes the premature deaths of more than 4 million people globally every year. It therefore requires a similar level of focus, leadership and bold action that we have already seen in dealing with COVID-19. Maree Nutt, Newport No sympathy for the devil Surely Donald Trump's post-rally walk-off song should be The Beatles' Fool on the Hill (Letters, June 30)? George Zivkovic, Northmead How apt The Rolling Stones want to stop Trump playing You Can't Always Get What You Want. This song contrasts "get what you want" with "get what you need". It is to be hoped that Trump finds the third outcome "get what you deserve". Ed Marel, Bathurst This wood be good Tradie the Musical a brilliant idea, Cathy Wilcox (Editorial cartoon, June 30). The score could include the reprise of Peter, Paul and Mary's If I Had a Hammer, Martin Plaza's Concrete and Clay along with Bobby Darin's If I were a carpenter. Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook With house prices in Sydney prohibitively expensive for many, buying an apartment has been a way for thousands of people many of them young to realise their Australian dream each year. The resulting demand for apartments has spurred a construction boom over the past 15 years, enriching many in the building and real estate industry. For most buyers, apartment living has met or beaten expectations, offering modern homes close to schools, hospitals, public transport and work. Yet for too many, their new home has become a financial noose, turning a dream into a nightmare. Apartment buildings riddled with high levels of defects have left many owners facing crippling costs and seemingly never-ending legal tussles. The poor workmanship has been a legacy of a loosely regulated industry, which has been allowed to prioritise profits and construction activity over the people who buy and live in their apartments. It took the evacuation of Opal Tower on Christmas Eve 2018 due to gaping cracks, followed by Mascot Towers in June last year, to shed a spotlight on the industry and force change. The passage through the NSW Parliament last month of the Design and Building Practitioners Bill has resulted in much-needed tightening of consumer protections for apartment owners. Likewise, the passing of the Residential Apartment Building Bill will give NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler new powers from September 1. That day could not come soon enough. The new powers will allow him to inspect and order rectification work on apartments built in the past 10 years and those constructed from here on. Most importantly, he will able able to withhold occupation certificates for buildings, preventing developers from forcing buyers of off-the-plan apartments to settle their purchases on incomplete or defect-ridden complexes. It is time for NSW to close its border with Victoria and stop all plane and car travel between the two states (except by those living in Albury-Wodonga). Not "wait and see". Not "closely monitor developments". But shut the border now before more school holiday travel does irreversible damage to NSWs chance of eliminating COVID-19 within the community. In March, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian faced what seems like a similar question. But the circumstances were in fact markedly different. Barriers installed to enforce the border closure between Queensland and New South Wales. Credit:AAP At the time, NSW and Victoria both had active and fast-growing COVID-19 outbreaks, and the challenge was to encourage a strong and effective national response. Together, Berejiklian and her Victorian counterpart, Daniel Andrews, helped achieve just that: they worked together, across party and state lines, to encourage federal and state governments to do more, and faster, to combat the emerging public-health challenge. Health experts, tourism and business groups say Queensland has struck a good balance between keeping coronavirus at bay and reopening the state to visitors in its border reopening announced on Tuesday. Queensland will open borders on July 10 with all other states and territories of Australia except for Victoria, which is experiencing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. Queensland's borders were closed in March at the height of the coronavirus crisis. Credit:Jason O'Brien/AAP The border with Victoria will be strengthened, with anyone travelling from Victoria to Queensland, including Queenslanders, required to undergo a mandatory two-week quarantine at their own expense from Friday. Public health expert Professor Gerry Fitzgerald said the measure struck a good balance between allowing movement and stopping the current virus cases in Victoria from making it to Queensland. Cassidy was on the first of four planned spacewalks to change the batteries that keep the station going while it orbits Earths night side. He and fellow astronaut Bob Behnken took out five old batteries and installed two new ones, with four more to go to complete the job, AP said. The replacements will last the rest of the space stations lifetime, AP said. COVID-19 has intensified the effects of overcrowding in Queensland's prisons, with frustrations over visitor restrictions and prisoners coming off drugs exacerbating the problems, a union says. Together Union industrial services director Michael Thomas said the pandemic created a "perfect storm" for attacks on prison officers. Queensland prisons have seen an increase in assaults on officers. Credit:Greg Henderson Photography "We've seen 20 assaults in the past 10 days [June 16-26] in Queensland," Mr Thomas said. "We've got overcrowding ... we've got the stresses of COVID-19 and having to isolate each individual who comes into prison, but also with visits going down, drugs getting into prisons have dried up. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused Queensland and South Australia's premiers of lacking perspective over their decision to close their borders to Victorians as the coronavirus surge in Melbourne threatens to destabilise the federal consensus that has existed for most of the crisis. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says blanket bans on travelling Victorians are disproportionate. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Tuesday the Sunshine State will reopen its borders on July 10 but travel from Victoria will remain restricted. She joins South Australian Premier Steven Marshall in banning Victorians from entering without undergoing a 14-day quarantine period. The NSW government, without closing its border to Victoria, has banned Victorians from attending NRL and AFL matches and is strongly discouraging residents from visiting Melbourne. Western Australia is accepting visitors only with a pre-approved exemption, while Tasmania mandates a 14-day quarantine for all visitors. Mr Morrison criticised the Queensland and South Australian decisions without mentioning the states directly, arguing regional Victoria is largely unaffected by the new outbreak of COVID-19 infections. The Prime Minister also praised the Northern Territory for continuing with its plan to open borders to all states on July 17. Heritage Victoria and police are investigating whether a bayside home at the centre of a lengthy demolition dispute was deliberately set ablaze - twice. Investigators initially deemed a 2015 fire at Spurling House in Brighton an electrical fault, prompting a $1.6 million insurance payout. But after a second fire in May at the 131-year-old Black Street property, police now believe both blazes - five years apart - may have been deliberately lit. Moorabbin Crime Investigation Unit detectives are investigating if a suspicious fire at a heritage-listed Brighton property in May is linked to an earlier fire. Credit:Victoria Police Heritage Victoria said Spurling House was so badly damaged in the May 16 fire, it forced the City of Bayside to issue an order for its demolition. Heritage places are important to current and future generations, and once lost they are gone forever," Heritage Victoria executive director Steven Avery said. Along the small strip of shops in Bonwick Street, Fawkner, Frank Andacic was packing up his familys bakery when Premier Daniel Andrews announced that his suburb was in one of the 10 Melbourne postcodes plunged back into lockdown. Frank Andacic of Fawkner's Pasticceria Podova. Credit:Justin McManus He, like many other local shopkeepers in Victoria's COVID-19 hotspots, was still trying to work out what it would mean for him and his small family business, Pasticceria Podova. Dunno. Back to takeaway I guess, he said. But Mr Andacic was attempting to stay positive, even as storm clouds loomed overhead and it began to rain. A question of timing With so few flights leaving the tarmac at Tullamarine because of coronavirus restrictions, some may question whether a multibillion-dollar airport rail link stacks up. Total travellers at the airport were 97 per cent fewer in April compared with 2019, prompting S&P Global Ratings to downgrade the airports credit rating, citing reduced cash flows and increased debt. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Travel numbers are not expected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2024 but Melbourne Airports landside access chief Lorie Argus says the rail link is still needed. Weve seen global shocks to the industry before, Argus says. We want to build capacity ahead of the demand. Fifty years of waiting for a rail link to the airport have locked taxpayers into a far more expensive project than would have been possible decades ago. A swag of Victorian premiers have investigated getting it built: Sir Henry Bolte in the '60s, John Cain jnr in the '80s, Joan Kirner and Jeff Kennett in the '90s and Steve Bracks, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine over the past two decades. They commissioned numerous taxpayer-funded feasibility studies on the project, but to no avail. In the '90s, the project involved extending the Broadmeadows line by five kilometres to the airport. That's no longer feasible because of development in the west and reduced rail capacity. "We talk about spending $5 billion now, that's 10 times what was being discussed 30 years ago," Public Transport Users Association spokesman Tony Morton says. Politicians say airport rail has long been popular among voters. So why the delay? The long take-off Kennett, a long-time proponent of airport rail, says the reason for the project's delay is simple. "Other pieces of infrastructure had higher priority and were simpler to deliver," the former Liberal premier says. "Its a lot of money for a fairly short piece of infrastructure." Initial 1963 drawings of a proposed underground train station at Melbourne Airport's international terminal. Credit:CAHS/Airservices/CASA Victoria has explored the likes of a French-built monorail and Dutch-inspired fast tram but time and demand hasnt justified the expenditure, especially in the face of a high-performing SkyBus service. Bracks won the 1999 election promising airport rail as Sydney and Brisbane were setting out to build their own. He envisioned a public-private partnership model, as did fellow Labor premier Kirner. "Internationally, most places had this and it was a gap we could easily fill," Bracks says. "There were certainly vested interests lobbying against our proposal" he says, referring to the taxi industry and the airport's operators who were seeking to protect substantial car parking revenue. Almost empty parking bays at Tullamarine Airport during the coronavirus lockdown. Credit:Getty Images More pressing though, Bracks says, was a clause that Kennett locked into the CityLink contract blocking a public transport link. But ultimately, it was the collapse of Australian airline Ansett reducing the high number of airport workers set to use the link that put the project "on hold". "Ansett was key," Bracks says. "I was very disappointed it couldnt go ahead." Virgin rose to become a major airline that was competitive with Qantas after Ansett's demise. Lyndsay Neilson, a former state infrastructure department secretary who oversaw a study into the project under Bracks, recommended a boost to SkyBus over rail. "Suburban rail has in itself fallen so far behind that investing in airport rail was considered a luxury,"he says. But bureaucrats underestimated the airports growth: "Nobody anticipated the extent to which China would open up as a source of international tourism," Neilson says. Follow the leader Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull beamed as he announced on a windy morning at Tullamarine in 2018 that he would build airport rail. He promised $5 billion beating Premier Daniel Andrews to the punch. Turnbull was a technocrat known to get hooked on the finer details of infrastructure. His announcement was paving the way for the type of big, city-shaping construction projects he hoped would become his legacy. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video It caught Andrews off guard, forcing the state to match the funding promise. Andrews had iced Denis Napthines airport rail plans in 2014 to pursue level crossing removals and the Metro Tunnel. "Services that people use every single day are my priority," Andrews said at the time. But towards the end of his first term, he put airport rail back in the spotlight, promising it would be built within a decade. "The Commonwealth was pushing hard to get airport rail on the agenda," said Mike Mrdak, who was secretary of the federal infrastructure department at the time. In 2019, Andrews outlined his vision for airport rail. It would probably involve a tunnel from the city and Sunshine and not stop at suburban stations. The project would be a boon for the regions, including Geelong and Ballarat, he said. As if on cue, an IFM Investors-led private consortium proposed to build a $7 billion tunnel, allowing 20-minute journeys running 24/7, that would service regional fast rail. It seemed like a done deal but the state went cool on the proposal, preferring a cheaper, above-ground route that put it at loggerheads with the federal government. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Premier Daniel Andrews speaking to media about the airport rail link at Sunshine station in April, 2019. Credit:Stefan Postles Canberra wanted to keep costs down while building an express, high-speed service that was competitive with SkyBus. Torn between Victoria and behind-the-scenes lobbying by IFM and regional Coalition MPs, including Victorian senator Sarah Henderson, Education Minister Dan Tehan and, more recently, Nationals MP Damian Drum, Prime Minister Scott Morrison decided he would not go to war with Victoria on airport rail. The airport rail link is important to Coalition MPs keen to score points on infrastructure. They want a tunnel to secure fast trains to their regional seats, with Henderson calling for "high speed dual track rail tunnel" to deliver 32-minute services to Geelong. Drum says the north-east rail line, which run through his seat of Nicholls, is the state's "worst performing" and that he wants faster services to Bendigo, Shepparton and AlburyWodonga. Fifty years after the airport opened there could be an alternative way of getting there. But Morrison is determined to build infrastructure with Andrews, sensing it is a winning formula with voters. If federally-funded projects build car parks at train stations in Victorian Liberal seats are to go ahead, the Victorian Premier has the keys. Party Matters Arun Chandu, who has written a PhD on the airport, says a rail link has traditionally been pushed by the Liberal Party. "Andrews is the first Labor person to start talking about a railway line seriously," Chandu says. Kennett rejects this idea, saying support for the project isnt a "Liberal or Labor thing". Former premier, Ted Baillieu. Credit: Chris Hopkins But Kosmos Samaras, a key Labor election strategist from 2006-2020, disagrees. "Its always been the Liberals flagship because the business community has generally always asked for it." The economic argument for an airport rail link falls flat without providing additional stops to stimulate the western suburbs, says Samaras. The question of whether the train runs express to the airport can be viewed through the prism of traditional Labor values. Loading In 1965, Labor joined the Country Party to stop Boltes express airport route in favour of a suburban service stopping at Keilor East, Avondale Heights and Airport West. Former Labor member for Broadmeadows John Wilton accused Bolte of building a "glamour project" for a "selected few who travel by air". Treasurer Tim Pallas has signalled airport trains may stop at suburban stations to boost sluggish patronage, despite Andrews previously ruling this out. This option would also use existing tracks between the city and Sunshine, which risks clogging any spare capacity for extra trains to the west. A suburban service is at odds with what is being proposed by the IFM-led consortium made up of Melbourne Airport, Metro Trains Australia and Southern Cross Station. IFM is fiercely pursuing an investment trifecta: a rail link connecting its two assets, the airport and Southern Cross Station. The consortium insists they want a low return on revenue, that tunnel access charges will be modest and they will absorb the construction risk. To Kennett, turning down IFMs $7 billion is reckless. As licensees of the airports, the superannuation funds "should be investing in the provisions of the infrastructure," he says. "And who better to own it than hundreds of thousands of Australians." But RMIT professor of urban policy Jago Dodson cautions against allowing the private sector to run airport rail. "Private companies dont get into building infrastructure for virtuous public purposes, they build it because they see a profit," he says. The airport link should be part of the suburban service accessible with a myki, with the cost on par with a regular zone 2 service and not be "fragmented out into separate rail systems," Dodson says. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Days after Ciara Glennon became the third woman to vanish off the streets of Claremont in Western Australia in the mid-1990s, her father, Denis, struggled through a press conference appealing for help. The way shes been brought up, she will fight, he said. More than two decades later, during the trial of her accused murderer, prosecutors claimed the 27-year-old lawyer did just that she fought and in doing so took a piece of her attacker with her, his DNA embedded underneath her fingernails after she scratched him. Ciara Glennon. The trace DNA, described as one-fifth of one-billionth of a gram, became the most crucial piece of evidence that would lead to the arrest of alleged Claremont serial killer Bradley Edwards in 2016. However his lawyer, Paul Yovich, said the state had the wrong man, and Mr Edwards DNA must have contaminated one of Ms Glennons nail samples in a lab, although he could not explain how or when that happened. Ms Glennon disappeared about midnight on March 14, 1997, after she was last seen walking alone on Stirling Highway looking for a taxi following a night out with friends at the Continental Hotel. Advertisement Her case is the strongest against Mr Edwards in relation to the three murder charges he is facing for the deaths of Ms Glennon, Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer. It includes DNA evidence, 61 fibres recovered from her body, witness sightings and a missing alibi for her accused. About a dozen people saw a woman who looked like Ms Glennon walking along the street, some telling police they were paying closer attention to her because of the two women who had recently gone missing from the area in similar circumstances. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Two of those witnesses were friends Troy Bond and Brandon Gray, who were sitting at a bus stop eating burgers when they noticed a newer model Holden Commodore VS station wagon pull up alongside a woman. Mr Bond said he saw the woman talking to the driver through the window, but did not continue watching to see if she got in. The car described by the men matched the description of the Telstra-issued 1996 Holden Commodore VS Series 1 station wagon Mr Edwards drove at the time. Less than three weeks later, Ms Glennons body was discovered in remote bushland in Eglinton, 40 kilometres north of Perth, by a man looking for cannabis. Advertisement The crime scene revealed her attacker had cut her throat and tried to conceal her body with branches from nearby trees. It would be another 11 years before the biggest breakthrough in her case was made. Loading In 2008, a clipping from Ms Glennons torn left thumbnail was tested for DNA in combination with her left middle fingernail. The low copy number testing took place in a UK lab with more advanced capabilities than WA and returned an unknown male profile that matched the profile of the perpetrator of an unsolved 1995 rape at Karrakatta cemetery. The mans profile was in the PathWest database as "unknown male 4". Despite the new lead, the trail to catch a killer eventually ran cold again. Investigators believed they had the Claremont serial killers DNA, but they didnt know who he was. Advertisement Another eight years would pass before an evidence box relating to a 1988 sex assault in Huntingdale would be sent to PathWest as part of a routine cold case review to see if any of the historical items could be tested for DNA. A semen-stained silk kimono left at the scene was tested and returned a DNA profile that matched the mystery Claremont profile. The Huntingdale case was reopened and solved within weeks. Mr Edwards was arrested in December 2016 and charged with the murders, the Karrakatta cemetery rape, and the Huntingdale sex attack. The kimono seized from the 1988 Huntingdale sex attack. After originally denying the Karrakatta rape and Huntingdale sex attack, Mr Edwards confessed to the crimes on the eve of his triple-murder trial amid overwhelming DNA evidence. However, he denied the murders. Advertisement The change in plea allowed Mr Yovich to argue the DNA found under Ms Glennons nails could have got there through contamination. He said Mr Edwards DNA was in the PathWest lab from February 1995, when he raped a 17-year-old girl he abducted from Claremont one year before his alleged murder spree began. Bradley Edwards in the mid-1990s. Mr Yovich argued while there was no documentation to support his theory, DNA from the rape exhibits somehow contaminated Ms Glennons fingernail container. The closest timeframe the exhibits were tested to each other was 14 months. International fibre expert Jonathan Whitaker described the likelihood of lab contamination as very low, while he said the odds Ms Glennon scratched Mr Edwards were moderately high to high. Fibres recovered from Ms Glennons hair and T-shirt also allegedly linked Mr Edwards to her murder through his Telstra uniform and the make and model work car he drove. Advertisement "The reaction so far has been very positive. "I have spoken to 20 small traders and all of them said they were ready and it's going OK. I have spoken to shoppers and their reaction is quite positive." He said he wanted people not "to jump to any conclusions" on the effect so far. Mr Howard said Opposition leader Kim Beazley had predicted a day of "ruin, disaster and chaos", but he said: "I certainly don't find it here and I've gone out and mixed with people and talked to them." PM John Howard tries to pay for his first GST coffee at the Rendezvous Coffee House shop on July 1, 2000. Credit:Lee Besford But Mr Beazley warned that the public would not be hit with the full impact of the GST for some time. "This is day one, the best day for the GST," Mr Beazley said. "Tomorrow is the second best day, the day after that is the third best, because the impact of the GST is a slow burn." Australians seem to react warily to the new tax yesterday. Trade was down at many department stores after Friday's frenzied buying to beat the GST deadline. Even though the GST was supposed to bring down the price of new cars and electronic goods, there was no sudden rush at car dealerships or electronic stores. Supermarkets appeared to have cushioned the initial impact of the GST by adjusting their prices well before yesterday. A basket of 60 supermarket goods monitored by The Sun-Herald fell 1.1pc yesterday, a saving of $2.27 on a shopping bill three weeks ago of $205.72. The largest drop was in fresh fruit and vegetables which fell by 6.5pc. They were expected to fall by just 1.3pc. The largest rise was for personal hygiene products, which went up an average 2.8pc. The previously tax-free tampons went up 9pc as they were hit by the GST. Tax experts warned that the large stores were masking the true impact of the GST so that shoppers would not be scared off. The PM examines a pamhplet on how to shop with the GST on July 1, 2000 Credit:Brendan Espositio National Tax and Accountants Association president Ray Regan said the supermarket price drop was a "smokescreen" and said the GST sting was yet to come. "Australians should be very sceptical and look at the bigger picture," he said. "Had retailers implemented the full price effect it would have immediately caused consumers to freeze their dollars and be selective." The boss of retail giant Harvey Norman, Gerry Harvey, said many of his stores would absorb the GST on furniture for the time being. "We're trying to keep the price down as much as we can," Mr Harvey said. But several taxi passengers reported rip-offs as cab drivers tried to hit them for an extra 10pc on top of the meter. The Taxi Industry Association said the GST put up fares by 7.8pc and drivers should consult a special conversion chart if their meters had not been adjusted. Tollbooths will be a problem with tomorrow's morning rush as vehicles banked up to find the extra coins for the GST. Loading The M4 toll increased to $1.60 from $1.50 but when one driver's $1.50 toll was not accepted, he jumped out of his car in a rage, yelled expletives and kicked the toll basket. Federal Labor says it has grave concerns about Israel's potential annexation of land in the West Bank under the provisions of the Trump administration's peace plan. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong and defence spokesman Richard Marles have joined to condemn the plans, saying it would weaken the viability of any future Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinians to embrace Donald Trump's vision for the Middle East. Credit:AP Israel is considering applying sovereignty of up to 30 per cent of the West Bank, covering Israeli settlements and the fertile agricultural lands of the Jordan Valley, from July 1. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Monday any Israeli plans to apply sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria would be "illegal", irrespective of whether it included all or only some of the settlements. The food and beverage regulator has revised the wording of pregnancy warnings on alcohol bottles but rejected arguments that adding red lettering would impose an unreasonable cost on the industry. Public health advocates are now calling on state, federal and New Zealand food ministers to approve the mandatory label when they meet on July 17. Food Standards Australia New Zealand has unveiled its revised pregnancy warning label. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) had previously recommended a red, black and white label that said "HEALTH WARNING: Alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby". Industry wanted to be allowed to use "contrasting" colours such as black, white and grey, and argued the only mandatory text should be "PREGNANCY WARNING". In April, FSANZ was asked by the food ministers to review the colour requirements and "signal wording" of the label, taking into account its cost to industry. In 1906, Michela Marciano was just a teenager when she fled her village in southern Italy as Mt. Vesuvius exploded in the worst eruption since Pompeii 2,000 years earlier. She survived a catastrophic event that killed 500 people and left 150,000 homeless. During the week in which ash covered the sun, she somehow managed to board a ship to New York, only to die five years later hunched over a sewing machine on the ninth floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Like so many Italian immigrants, she spent her short life doing backbreaking work under deplorable conditions for barely any money. Still, she managed to send back $200 to her parents, while joining the union that would go on to revolutionize labor rights in America. NSW will struggle to fund essential services in difficult economic times unless it embraces urgent and wide-ranging tax reform including the abolition of stamp duty and an increase to the GST. That's the finding of a year-long review of federal-state financial relations, ordered by NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and chaired by former Telstra boss David Thodey, which will be released on Wednesday. Former Telstra David Thodey chaired the review. Credit:Michele Mossop The report puts the state on a potential collision course with the Morrison government by recommending the state's most crucial source of revenue the GST be broadened and its rate lifted above 10 per cent. It also recommends stamp duty should be abolished, with homeowners given the option to opt-in to a land tax. Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has previously ruled out an increase in the GST, and said if the states wanted to embark on tax reform they would get no financial support from the government. Four international flights carrying 300 passengers destined for Melbourne's troubled hotel quarantine will be diverted away from Victoria on Wednesday as the state tries to stem its coronavirus outbreak. The decision to divert flights followed genomic testing of recent coronavirus cases across Melbourne that showed that lapses in the hotel quarantine program were definitively the cause of wider outbreaks in the community. The only two quarantine hotels to have been named as the source of confirmed outbreaks are the Rydges on Swanston in Carlton and the Stamford Plaza in the city centre. Returned traveller Patrick Enright (left) finishes his two-week hotel quarantine on Tuesday. Credit:Justin McManus The government on Tuesday moved to beef up security at the hotels, advertising for parole and prison officers, sheriffs and other authorised officers not already deployed within the Department of Justice and Community Safety to fill hundreds of new quarantine jobs. A marathon 16-hour day finishing after 2am awaits Waratahs players and staff this Friday as they prepare for a hit-and-run mission to Queensland to kick off Super Rugby AU. The Herald has obtained the sides strict hour-by-hour rundown, which involves a couple of charter flights, early check-ins and strict protocols that must be adhered to. The Waratahs are gearing up for a hit-and-run mission to Queensland on Friday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The NRL and AFL have already recommenced their seasons and have done similar things with fly-in, fly-out schedules on game day - something Waratahs coach Rob Penney has noted. "The Parramatta Eels did the same in Queensland against the Broncos and played outstandingly well," Penney said. "The last thing you would want is to use it as an excuse. Were well aware of it, were planning it and the boys know what is required. Its just a matter of getting your head around it as a player and preparing in a way that is not compromised in any way. Australia and Indonesia have been urged to lead a push to avoid a humanitarian crisis after almost 100 Rohingya refugees were rescued when their boat broke down. The refugees, who are part of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya ethnic minority, were rescued by local fishermen off Indonesia's Aceh province after the boat appeared to be sinking last week. A boat carries ethnic Rohingya off North Aceh, Indonesia, on June 24. Credit:AP Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the 94 people - comprising 49 women, 15 men, 10 boys and 20 girls were victims of people smugglers. "We give these people emergency assistance. At the same time we will continue to work with countries in the region through various mechanisms on early detection measures as well as to prevent boat people to take unsafe journeys at sea from their country of origin," she said. Haspel and Ratcliffe criticised leaks of classified information, which they said made it harder for the intelligence agencies to collect and assess information. American soldiers wait on the tarmac in Logar province, Afghanistan. Credit:AP/File The intelligence was considered significant and credible enough that it was included in the President's Daily Brief, according to two individuals familiar with the matter, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. The brief is a collection of the most significant analysis on issues affecting national security and foreign policy and is prepared for the President and his top advisers. Some officials think the Russian operation led to the deaths of several US service members, according to intelligence gleaned from captured militants in recent months. It was unclear exactly how many Americans or coalition troops from other countries may have been killed or targeted, several people familiar with the matter said. "There was intelligence reported on the allegation that the Russians were offering a bounty to the Taliban to kill Americans, but at the same time there was a very strong dissenting view from another agency within the intelligence community," said Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee. "This happens where you get one agency that does, say, human intelligence and another one does signals intelligence, and you'll have a difference in opinion as to the accuracy and credibility of the intelligence. It's got to be accurate and credible intelligence for them to present it to the President and for him to be able to make a decision on what action to take." Loading He said there was a "massive scrub within the intelligence community to try to find out the veracity of this reporting". He also said separately that if the intelligence was verified, the administration should take "swift and serious action" to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable. The White House briefings, which were given exclusively to Republican lawmakers, came amid outrage from Democrats, and rising concern from members of his own party, that President Donald Trump was again playing down Russian threats to US national interests. "I think we need to get the truth here, we need to find out - I mean, that's horrifying if it's true," said Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito. "And so we need to find out where the intelligence reports were lodged, and what the intelligence community thought about them, and was told." Democrat Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN that he had asked the intelligence agencies to brief the panel in a closed session, in person, and hopes it can be done "as soon as possible". He said he would be at a Tuesday morning briefing at the White House for a handful of Democrats who wanted to know whether Trump was told about the intelligence. The President has said he was not. "Is this again a concern with speaking truth to power - that Donald Trump doesn't want to hear anything negative about Vladimir Putin?" Schiff said. Within the intelligence agencies, there remains some disagreement about the credibility of all the sources, according to people familiar with the matter. It's not unusual for agencies to disagree about some pieces of information and even question the accuracy of a source but still agree that the intelligence points toward a particular conclusion. Trump dismissed the intelligence reports and said he was never told that a Russian military spy unit offered bounties to militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan, including US troops. "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP," Trump said in a tweet on Sunday, referring to Vice-President Mike Pence. He added that he considers such reports "possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax" spread by the "Fake News ... wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!" The White House has not addressed whether the information was included in the PDB and if so, whether Trump read it or was spoken to about it. Trump routinely skips reading the report, officials have said. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany echoed Trump's tweet during a briefing, saying he hadn't been briefed and asserting that "there is no consensus within the intelligence community on these allegations." "In effect, there are dissenting opinions from some in the intelligence community with regards to the veracity of what's being reported, and the veracity of the underlying allegations continue to be evaluated," she said from the White House podium. Former intelligence officials said it was unusual not to inform the President about threats to US forces, even if the information was still being assessed. They also noted reports that the United States shared the intelligence with British officials, given that their forces also were thought to have been targeted. Trump should have been briefed in case the issue came up in conversation with the British Prime Minister, the former officials said. Britain has nearly 1000 troops in Afghanistan and has a close intelligence relationship with the United States. Officials there are said to be particularly interested in whether the Russian intelligence unit said to have spearheaded the bounty program is the same one that orchestrated the 2018 poisoning in the English city of Salisbury of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for British intelligence, and his daughter. The intelligence was also the subject of meetings at the White House National Security Council, another indication that intelligence officials thought it was credible and merited senior-level attention. "Given that there was an NSC meeting, I suspect that [Trump] did know" about the intelligence, former CIA director Michael Hayden said. "It is reprehensible that Trump has said nothing about it since it's become public other than, 'I didn't know.' What is he going to do about it?" "When people at Liberty Crossing go to get coffee today, what are they saying to one another?" Hayden said, referring to the headquarters building of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in Virginia. Nada Bakos, a former CIA officer who handled intelligence obtained from detainees, which appears to be a source of at least some of the information on the Russian bounty program, said she could not understand why it would not be shared with the President. Bakos said that fragmentary intelligence will at times be included in the President's Daily Brief "especially if it's about something fast moving, like in a war zone". "Not everything that goes to the President is sure and solid - that's not what intel is," Bakos said. "Especially if it's a threat." US officials presented a "low key" briefing on the matter to NATO member countries in Brussels on Thursday, "including asking questions" about whether their own military and intelligence services had any information to add, a senior European official said. The official said the briefing took place on the "professional" level and did not rise to high-ranking officials involved in policymaking. Nearly every NATO member has some presence in the Afghanistan coalition, most of them in relatively low numbers. According to NATO figures for June, those with the highest number of troops are Germany, with 1300; Italy, with 895; Romania, with 738; and Turkey, with 600. Australia had 400 troops in Afghanistan at the start of 2020. The United States has about 8600 troops in Afghanistan, down from about 13,000 before withdrawals during the northern spring under the US-Taliban agreement signed in February. Afghanistan experts have questioned whether the mainline Taliban group would be involved in any plan to attack US forces, particularly as it moves closer to implementing an agreement with the United States that would achieve its overall goal of removing all foreign troops from Afghanistan. Although implementation has been slow, the deal, signed in February, calls for the last US forces to leave the country by May 2021. There are, however, thought to be a number of splinter Taliban groups opposed to the peace agreement. US negotiators think Russia, after spending years trying to create obstacles for the NATO effort in Afghanistan, has been cooperative, and even helpful, since serious American talks with the Taliban began last summer. It is unclear whether the bounty program, allegedly launched before that time, was part of a high-level Russian strategy that is ongoing. PHILIPSBURG:--- The police patrols were summoned to the Over The Bank area, on Monday, June 29th, 2020 at approximately 1:00 am, for what was described to officers as a family dispute. Upon arrival, officers were met by a female who was suffering from several lacerations from the hands of her son. The victim informed the officers on the scene that she and her son with initials L.P. (18) got into a verbal disagreement which quickly escalated into a physical altercation between the two. The police noticed that the mother had a swollen jaw and a big cut on her left ear and needed medical attention. She was treated on the scene by paramedics. The mother filed an official complaint with the officers present and her son, who was still at the location, was immediately arrested for ill-treatment. He transported to the police station in Philipsburg without incident where he is currently being held, pending further investigation. KPSM Press Release. ~ Inspector General comes under fire for negative advice.~ PHILIPSBURG:--- Several Members of Parliament expressed their concerns on the planned reopening of the country on July 1st. Members of Parliament believe that St. Maarten should follow the European Union who banned US travelers due to the huge amount of positive cases in several US states. Member of Parliament William Marlin made clear that he is not against the reopening of the country as he supports the decision of the government, however, Marlin asked if St. Maarten is fully prepared to handle visitors especially those coming from North America. Marlin said the government should consider pushing back the reopening for a week or two until everything is in place. MP Buncamper asked if an agreement was reached with the French side or if the borders will close since France has banned US travelers for now. Buncamper highlighted that there are a number of states in the USA that have high numbers of active cases, one being Florid, Texas, and several other states that are still struggling to bring the virus under control. In the meantime, President of Parliament Rolando Brison explained that while a date is set for the reopening, visitors will not be flocking the country on the very first day. Brison further explained that airlines do need a few weeks to plan and schedule their flights prior to the arrival date. Further to that, the chair of Parliament said that the government will be changing their plans as they move along. The UP leader said that there is a huge section of the community that is not earning any money, especially those working in the tourism sector, and the government must take decisions to ensure those people can also earn a living. Brison said that the government cannot sit back and wait until the tap in the Netherlands run dry before starting to become self-sufficient. During Brisons short address he attacked high paying civil servants that are not working along with their Minister. Brison called out the Inspector General Dr. Earl Best whom he said is only giving negative advice but no solutions. He said that based on the advice the Inspector General wants the island to remain closed. The chair of parliament said one of the things that should be done is to withhold the salaries of these highly paid civil servants, further to that he asked if Dr. Best is working as a consultant for the Government of Curacao while being a permanent civil servant on St. Maarten. The chair of parliament also asked that the evaluation of Dr. Best for the past 5 years be turned over to parliament. It should also be noted that while the country is reopening as of July 1st, St. Maarten can only conduct 1000 PCR tests in a month. The meeting that was called on Tuesday to discuss the plans in place by the Ministry of VSA has adjourned and may continue later today or sometime this week. ~PJIAE reopens to Europe and other Caribbean destinations on July 1st, the French threatened to close the border. ~ PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St. Maarten has decided to push back the arrival of flights from the United States for the next two weeks announced Minister of TEATT Ludmilla de Weever. De Weever said the decision to push back those flights for the next two weeks was indeed a hard one due to the countrys dying economy. However, the Minister said it was quite an easy decision when looking at the health and safety of everyone locally and the surge in positive COVID-19 cases in the United States. Minister de Weever said that discussions are ongoing with the French side since the European Union has placed a ban on all US flights. De Weever said that the French were even looking at closing the border between the two sides should St. Maarten open its borders to US flights. The Minister made clear that the French do not decide for the Dutch however, notifying passengers that were scheduled to visit St. Maarten that would not be able to cross the border would have been almost impossible on such short notice. She said that the decision to push back was based on the high amount of positive cases in several US states and not a Franco-Dutch fallout. The Minister further explained the safety of the people of St. Maarten took priority thus the decision was taken to postpone US flights for the next two weeks. De Weever called on residents to continue with maintaining social distancing and the hygiene measures and wearing a mask at all times when entering a public place. De Weever said St. Maarten cannot keep its borders to the US territory closed forever since the economy will be further impacted. She said there are people that are not working since March 2020. Minister de Weever said that the Princess Juliana Airport will open its borders as of July 1st to Europe, and several Caribbean Islands, while the government is still busy looking at having other Caribbean countries visit St. Maarten during the recovery. De Weever said that the government is also revising the list of nationals that can visit St. Maarten. The Minister also clarified that while St. Maarten took the decision to postpone for the next two weeks, airlines have not changed their schedules. She said that the airline that pushed back their flight schedule for a few days is Je Blue. In the meantime, the Minister said Government is looking at ways to get its residents that are stuck in US territories repatriated. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said that it is expected that the French and Dutch sides including the State, said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is being prepared for signature. She said that while the French threatened to close the border, should that take place will only be on the part of the French side. His campaign was reportedly seen removing thousands of social-distancing signs from his Tulsa rally to prevent the optics of empty seats unsuccessfully, it turned out, as only 6,200 people showed up at the 19,200-seat venue. Eight of his own campaign staffers who attended have since tested positive for coronavirus. Somerset, KY (42501) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 81F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 58F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Staff reports South Bend Tribune Picture this: A working-class citizen is accused of a minor crime by police, who then proceed to beat him. As a result of this horrible mistreatment by the cops, the man dies. His death ignites massive protests against the system for creating the situation that led to his death. Police use tear gas against demonstrators. The president calls the protesters extremists and rioters, threatens harsh punishment against them, and accuses the news media of spreading lies. Im not talking about the United States in 2020. Im talking about Tunisia in 2011. Aside from the fact that Mohamed Bouazizi committed suicide after being beaten rather than directly killed by the police, the parallels between the George Floyd situation and the beginning of the Tunisian Revolution are eerie. Tunisian president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali tried to crack down on the protests and failed. Eventually, the protests became so large that Ben Ali was forced to resign and flee to Saudi Arabia, thus beginning the Arab Spring. U.S. President Donald Trump could meet the same fate as Ben Ali if he continues to act like an autocrat and provoke the protesters, the way Ben Ali did. Chris Tidmarsh South Bend Columbus To honor and respect one cultural group does not require that we destroy, denigrate or ignore another group. Christopher Columbus should not represent everything that is wrong in the New World. The statue was a gift to the city of Mishawaka. A gift from The DiLoreto Society, a proud cultural group that emigrated from Italy. Proud and grateful to raise their families here, work in the factories and businesses and start businesses of their own. The statue was not commissioned to demean or cause pain or hurt to any other cultural group. Columbus is a well-known Italian, who took a courageous journey from his homeland. Perfect by no means. The statue also represents a new beginning in a New World for the 28 Italian families who left their homeland and came here to make a new life for themselves and their families in this city. To understand one cultural group demands that we understand and respect the other. Pat Perri Jr. President, Maria S. S. DiLoreto Society South Bend Now, as our fellow citizens protest another police killing of an unarmed black man, they continue to fill our avenues and parks with the uncontrollable eruptions of unruliness that attend all serious struggles for agency. Homemade signs and the regalia of resistance define the times as we paint our public space with color, poetry and splashes of spiritual shine on whatever moves or grooves. Deena Winter is a freelance journalist who has covered state and local government in four states over the past three decades. Johannesburg, 21 June 2020 (SPS) - South African activist for climate and human rights defender Catherine Constantinides stressed the need for an international solidarity action with the Sahrawi refugees, reiterating her support to the Sahrawi peoples inalienable right for self-determination. Little has been written on the Sahrawi refugees, however this situation is one of the most prolonged conflicts in the world, she said in a contribution published on the occasion of the World Refugee Day, celebrated on 20 June of each year, underlining that the Sahrawi refugees endure their 45th year of displacement. With the reduced financial aid of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Western Sahara over the years, access to food and nutrition has become more critical for the displaced populations of Africas last colony, she stressed. The crisis of Western Sahara is a representation of a global crisis that must be broached if the sustainable development goal 2 of Zero Hunger in the world has to be achieved, she said. She also broached the lack of infrastructures, shortage of medicines and the lack of appropriate medical equipment are challenges met by the medical staff in charge of running health centers in the refugee camps sheltering the population of the displaced refugee population of Western Sahara who are living in these temporary camps since 1975. (SPS) 062/SPS/APS Bir-Lahlou, June 26, 2020 - President of the Republic, Secretary-General of the Frente POLISARIO, Mr. Brahim Gali, has asserted that the failure of the UN Secretariat and the Security Council to act firmly in the face of Moroccos annexationist actions whose aim is to impose a fait accompli by force in the occupied Western Sahara has seriously undermined the credibility of the UN and deepened the loss of faith amid the Sahrawi people in the already fragile UN peace process. President Brahim Gali , added in his letter to UNSC, H.E. Mr Antonio Guterress on the occasion of the the 75th anniversary of creation of The United Nations, that as a result, the entire UN peace process in Western Sahara has been completely paralysed. The delay in appointing a new Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara after the resignation of President Horst Kohler in May 2019 has only added to the state of paralysis. President of the Republic went on sayinh that Twenty-nine years have already passed since the establishment of the MINURSO by the Security Council in April 1991. The United Nations however has so far failed in implementing the mandate for which MINURSO was created, namely the holding of a free and fair referendum by which the people of Western Sahara could exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence, and thus bringing to an end the decolonisation of the last colony in Africa. The Frente POLISARIO and the Sahrawi people however can never accept that Morocco persists in its annexationist actions aimed to forcibly entrench its illegal occupation and impose a fait accompli in the Occupied Territories of Western Sahara while the United Nations remains completely silent. Moreover, while recalling our decision of 30 October 2019 regarding the reconsideration of our engagement in the UN peace process, the Frente POLISARIO reaffirms that it cannot engage in any political process or negotiations while the Moroccan occupying power persists in its attempts to create a fait accompli on the ground. Gali stressed in his letter He has also said that the patience of the Sahrawi people is running out, and today they are saying to the United Nations and to the world, loud and clear, that enough is enough. As we have repeatedly warned, Morocco, the occupying power, is playing with fire. It would be making a serious mistake if it persisted in testing the patience of the Sahrawi people who are now more determined than ever to defend, with all legitimate means, their sacrosanct rights and legitimate national aspirations for freedom and independence. The 75th anniversary of the United Nations may be a cause for celebration for world peoples, but it is also a strong reminder of the sacred responsibility of the United Nations towards colonised countries and peoples. What the Sahrawi people expect from the UN Secretariat and the Security Council, therefore, is to see serious actions that practically demonstrate genuine will to create the necessary conditions to enable our people to exercise freely and democratically their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in accordance with the UN-OAU Settlement Plan on which basis the mandate of MINURSO and the terms of the ceasefire were established. Frente POLISARIOSG concluded his letter to UNSG SPS 125/090 Bir Lahlou, 29 June 2020 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Mr. Brahim Ghali, has sent a message of condolence to his Algerian counterpart, Mr. Abdelmadjid tebboune, following the passing of former Prime Minister, Moudjahid Belaid Abdesselam. "With great sadness and sorrow, we have learnt the news of the passing of Mujahed Belaid Abdesselam, former Prime Minister, and we would like to extend to you, and through you to the family of the deceased and to the Algerian people my deepest condolences and sincere sympathy," said the President of the Republic. Algeria has undoubtedly lost one of its heroic men and mujahedeen, who sacrificed for its liberation, progress and pride, and spared no effort in serving it, added the President of the Republic. (SPS) 062/SPS/T WASHINGTON - Sen. Charles Grassley is pretty ticked off these days. After a weekend of trying to offer President Donald Trump advice, the Iowa Republican still had not heard a peep from West Wing advisers. "No, I haven't heard anything from the White House," Grassley told reporters after opening the Senate on Monday, a duty bestowed on him as the longest-serving Republican in the GOP-led Senate. "And all I want to do is [have] the president be reelected." Grassley's open hectoring of Trump and his top advisers is the most public airing of a growing sense of irritation with how the president has positioned himself for his reelection bid this fall, a stumbling effort that has placed the GOP's Senate majority in great peril. Senate Republicans remain hesitant to openly criticize Trump on issues of race, his support for using force against protesters or his poor leadership in handling the coronavirus pandemic. The president treats direct attacks on his moral standing as betrayals that are met with fierce counterpunches, as happened in early June when Trump vowed to campaign in Alaska in 2022 against Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R, after she admitted that she has long questioned his fitness for office. So instead of such direct attacks on Trump, Senate Republicans are increasingly outspoken about his mismanaged campaign effort, how he gets distracted by petty fights and how he continues to embrace a tone that drives away middle-of-the-road voters who four months ago cheered on their relative stability in a roaring economy. Trump's incoherent answer Thursday, in an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, about what he wanted to accomplish in a second term served as a trigger moment for Grassley and other conservatives, including the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. "He still has no second term message beyond his own grievances," the Journal's Thursday editorial stated. The next morning Grassley fired off a couple of tweets directed at anyone with "access to the Oval Office," pleading for them to show the president that editorial. He urged the Trump campaign to tout lowering unemployment and placing conservative justices on the Supreme Court as central objectives in another term. Finally, by Saturday morning, Grassley put it bluntly: Trump was en route to losing badly to Democrat Joe Biden in the fall. "McKinley sat on his front porch and didn't campaign and was elected President. So it is possible for Biden to sit in his basement and not campaign and be elected President," Grassley tweeted Saturday morning. Sen. Lankford insists Republicans are 'still the party of Lincoln' as Trump tightens his grip on the GOP He was referencing the 1896 election, when former Ohio governor William McKinley, R, won without exerting much effort by building a big coalition looking for change - something Biden is trying to do as he rides out the pandemic mostly from his home in Wilmington, Del. Biden now has a lead in national polls of almost 10 percentage points, and - more troubling to the Senate Republicans - polls in key battleground states such as Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia show Biden tied with or ahead of Trump. Those states are also home to Senate races with GOP incumbents running in their first bid for another term. The main complaint from senators and GOP strategists is that Trump has done little to try to increase his support, focusing on pleasing his base of mostly older white voters, particularly those in exurbs and rural areas. "He's good with the base," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told CNN last week. "But all of the people who are going to decide in November are the people in the middle, and I think they want the president at a time like this . . . to strike a more empathetic tone." Thune is majority whip, the No. 2 Republican in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's leadership team, but for the past month he has sent up flares about how Trump is driving voters away. After Trump tweeted in late May that racial justice protesters would get shot, possibly by U.S. military forces, if they started looting, Thune politely said the president was wrong. "The country is looking for healing and calm. And I think the president needs to project that in his tone," he said late on the afternoon of June 1. About an hour later, U.S. Park Police violently cleared Lafayette Square so that Trump could walk to St. John's Episcopal Church for a photo opportunity, leading Thune to lament the next day that the president was unable to stick with a unifying message. "He has moments. But, you know, I mean, as you know, it lasts generally as long as the next tweet," Thune said. Republicans are increasingly taking their own cues to speak in their own voices about the biggest issues. For instance, while Trump has refused to wear a mask, Senate Republicans have come to fully embrace the concept, particularly now that the coronavirus is spiraling out of control in Southern and Western states that are home to many GOP senators. "We must have no stigma - none - about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people," McConnell, R-Ky., said in Senate floor remarks Monday afternoon. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, accompanied Vice President Mike Pence on a visit to Dallas on Sunday as his state pulls back some of its reopening measures because of the massive spike in coronavirus cases there. He is now preaching for a national testing strategy that in tone differs little from what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has been saying for almost four months. "I think now cries out for a strategy that tests more asymptomatic people so we can get a handle on the community spread, which is what's going on now," Cornyn told reporters Monday. Trying to win a fourth term, Cornyn is a favorite for reelection, but Biden appears to be running the most competitive race in Texas by a Democrat in a generation. The president has largely disappeared from GOP advertising, epitomized by an ad debuted in late May by Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., that never mentions Trump or which political party Tillis serves in. On Monday, Grassley, 86, talked about the president as if he were incapable of holding a single thought together and said it was Hannity's fault that Trump sounded so foolish. "I would blame Fox more than I blame the president, because the president, it's easy for him to digress here and there, but Hannity - you assume Fox wants him to get reelected. OK, so he says, What's your plans for the next four years? So the president starts to answer it, and then digresses a little bit. Hannity should have got him back on the subject," Grassley told reporters. When the first coronavirus cases in Chicago appeared in January, they bore the same genetic signatures as a germ that emerged in China weeks before. But as Egon Ozer, an infectious-disease specialist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, examined the genetic structure of virus samples from local patients, he noticed something different. A change in the virus was appearing again and again. This mutation, associated with outbreaks in Europe and New York, eventually took over the city. By May, it was found in 95% of all the genomes Ozer sequenced. At a glance, the mutation seemed trivial. About 1,300 amino acids serve as building blocks for a protein on the surface of the virus. In the mutant virus, the genetic instructions for just one of those amino acids - number 614 - switched in the new variant from a "D" (shorthand for aspartic acid) to a "G" (short for glycine). But the location was significant, because the switch occurred in the part of the genome that codes for the all-important "spike protein" - the protruding structure that gives the coronavirus its crownlike profile and allows it to enter human cells the way a burglar picks a lock. And its ubiquity is undeniable. Of the approximately 50,000 genomes of the new virus that researchers worldwide have uploaded to a shared database, about 70% carry the mutation, officially designated D614G but known more familiarly to scientists as "G." "G" hasn't just dominated the outbreak in Chicago - it has taken over the world. Now scientists are racing to figure out what it means. At least four laboratory experiments suggest that the mutation makes the virus more infectious, although none of that work has been peer-reviewed. Another unpublished study led by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory asserts that patients with the G variant actually have more virus in their bodies, making them more likely to spread it to others. The mutation doesn't appear to make people sicker, but a growing number of scientists worry that it has made the virus more contagious. "The epidemiological study and our data together really explain why the [G variant's] spread in Europe and the U.S. was really fast," said Hyeryun Choe, a virologist at Scripps Research and a lead author of an unpublished study on the G variant's enhanced infectiousness in laboratory cell cultures. "This is not just accidental." But there may be other explanations for the G variant's dominance: biases in where genetic data are being collected, quirks of timing that gave the mutated virus an early foothold in susceptible populations. "The bottom line is, we haven't seen anything definitive yet," said Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The scramble to unravel this mutation mystery embodies the challenges of science during the coronavirus pandemic. With millions of people infected and thousands dying every day around the world, researchers must strike a high-stakes balance between getting information out quickly and making sure that it's right. --- SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes the disease covid-19, can be thought of as an extremely destructive burglar. Unable to live or reproduce on its own, it breaks into human cells and co-opts their biological machinery to make thousands of copies of itself. That leaves a trail of damaged tissue and triggers an immune system response that for some people can be disastrous. This replication process is messy. Even though it has a "proofreading" mechanism for copying its genome, the coronavirus frequently makes mistakes, or mutations. The vast majority of mutations have no effect on the behavior of the virus. But since the virus's genome was first sequenced in January, scientists have been on the lookout for changes that are meaningful. And few genetic mutations could be more significant than ones that affect the spike protein - the virus's most powerful tool. This protein attaches to a receptor on respiratory cells called ACE2, which opens the cell and lets the virus slip inside. The more effective the spike protein, the more easily the virus can break into the bodies of its hosts. Even when the original variant of the virus emerged in Wuhan, China, it was obvious that the spike protein on SARS-CoV-2 was already quite effective. But it could have been even better, said Choe, who has studied spike proteins and the way they bind to the ACE2 receptor since the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003. The spike protein for SARS-CoV-2 has two parts that don't always hold together well. In the version of the virus that arose in China, Choe said, the outer part - which the virus needs to attach to a human receptor - frequently broke off. Equipped with this faulty lock pick, the virus had a harder time invading host cells. "I think this mutation happened to compensate," Choe said. Studying both versions of the gene using a proxy virus in a petri dish of human cells, Choe and her colleagues found that viruses with the G variant had more spike proteins, and the outer parts of those proteins were less likely to break off. This made the virus approximately 10 times more infectious in the lab experiment. The mutation does not seem to lead to worse outcomes in patients. Nor did it alter the virus's response to antibodies from patients who had the D variant, Choe said, suggesting that vaccines being developed based on the original version of the virus will be effective against the new strain. Choe has uploaded a manuscript describing this study to the website BioRxiv, where scientists can post "preprint" research that has not yet been peer reviewed. She has also submitted the paper to an academic journal, which has not yet published it. The distinctive infectiousness of the G strain is so strong that scientists have been drawn to the mutation even when they weren't looking for it. Neville Sanjana, a geneticist at the New York Genome Center and New York University, was trying to figure out which genes enable SARS-CoV-2 to infiltrate human cells. But in experiments based on a gene sequence taken from an early case of the virus in Wuhan, he struggled to get that form of the virus to infect cells. Then the team switched to a model virus based on the G variant. "We were shocked," Sanjana said. "Voila! It was just this huge increase in viral transduction." They repeated the experiment in many types of cells, and every time the variant was many times more infectious. Their findings, published as a preprint on BioRxiv, generally matched what Choe and other laboratory scientists were seeing. But the New York team offers a different explanation as to why the variant is so infectious. Whereas Choe's study proposes that the mutation made the spike protein more stable, Sanjana said experiments in the past two weeks, not yet made public, suggest that the improvement is actually in the infection process. He hypothesized that the G variant is more efficient at beginning the process of invading the human cell and taking over its reproductive machinery. Luban, who has also been experimenting with the D614G mutation, has been drawn to a third possibility: His experiments suggest that the mutation allows the spike protein to change shape as it attaches to the ACE2 receptor, improving its ability to fuse to the host cell. Different approaches to making their model virus might explain these discrepancies, Luban said. "But it's quite clear that something is going on." --- Although these experiments are compelling, they're not conclusive, said Kristian Andersen, a Scripps virologist not involved in any of the studies. The scientists need to figure out why they've identified different mechanisms for the same effect. All the studies still have to pass peer review, and they have to be reproduced using the real version of the virus. Even then, Andersen said, it will be too soon to say that the G variant transmits faster among people. Cell culture experiments have been wrong before, noted Anderson Brito, a computational biologist at Yale University. Early experiments with hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, hinted that it was effective at fighting the coronavirus in a petri dish. The drug was touted by President Trump, and the Food and Drug Administration authorized it for emergency use in hospitalized covid-19 patients. But that authorization was withdrawn this month after evidence showed that the drug was "unlikely to be effective" against the virus and posed potential safety risks. So far, the biggest study of transmission has come from Bette Korber, a computational biologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who helped build one of the world's biggest viral genome databases for tracking HIV. In late April, she and colleagues at Duke University and the University of Sheffield in Britain released a draft of their work arguing that the mutation boosts transmission of the virus. Analyzing sequences from more than two dozen regions across the world, they found that most places where the original virus was dominant before March were eventually taken over by the mutated version. This switch was especially apparent in the United States: Ninety-six percent of early sequences here belonged to the D variant, but by the end of March, almost 70% of sequences carried the G amino acid instead. The British researchers also found evidence that people with the G variant had more viral particles in their bodies. Although this higher viral load didn't seem to make people sicker, it might explain the G variant's rapid spread, the scientists wrote. People with more virus to shed are more likely to infect others. The Los Alamos draft drew intense scrutiny when it was released in the spring, and many researchers remain skeptical of its conclusions. "There are so many biases in the data set here that you can't control for and you might not know exist," Andersen said. In a time when as many as 90% percent of U.S. infections are still undetected and countries with limited public health infrastructure are struggling to keep up with surging cases, a shortage of data means "we can't answer all the questions we want to answer." Pardis Sabeti, a computational biologist at Harvard University and the Broad Institute, noted that the vast majority of sequenced genomes come from Europe, where the G variant first emerged, and the United States, where infections thought to have been introduced by travelers from Europe spread undetected for weeks before the country shut down. This could at least partly explain why it appears so dominant. The mutation's success might also be a "founder effect," she said. Arriving in a place like Northern Italy - where the vast majority of sequenced infections are caused by the G variant - it found easy purchase in an older and largely unprepared population, which then unwittingly spread it far and wide. Scientists may be able to rule out these alternative explanations with more rigorous statistical analyses or a controlled experiment in an animal population. And as studies on the D614G mutation accumulate, researchers are starting to be convinced of its significance. "I think that slowly we're beginning to come to a consensus," said Judd Hultquist, a virologist at Northwestern University. Solving the mystery of the D614G mutation won't make much of a difference in the short term, Andersen said. "We were unable to deal with D," he said. "If G transmits even better, we're going to be unable to deal with that one." But it's still essential to understand how the genome influences the behavior of the virus, scientists say. Identifying emerging mutations allows researchers to track their spread. Knowing what genes affect how the virus transmits enables public health officials to tailor their efforts to contain it. Once therapeutics and vaccines are distributed on a large scale, having a baseline understanding of the genome will help pinpoint when drug resistance starts to evolve. "Understanding how transmissions are happening won't be a magic bullet, but it will help us respond better," Sabeti said. "This is a race against time." Update: The meeting has ended. Update: The meeting is underway until 9 p.m. via Zoom. Original story: WILTON A virtual town-hall-style meeting A Community for Peace and Unity will take place Tuesday, June 30, from 7 to 9 p.m. via Zoom. The event is billed as an open dialogue between the community, the states attorneys office and police chiefs from area towns to voice concerns and ask those pressing questions necessary to begin to change police interactions with people of color. A flyer promoting the event says Together, we must move from the seat of indifference and silence to stand up and speak out against systemic racism and injustice wherever it lives. The public access link to join the meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84633293200. This event follows a June 4 meeting among members of the police chiefs of Wilton, Weston, Westport, Darien, New Canaan and Norwalk and representatives of the states Attorney Office and the Norwalk NAACP Branch Taskforce for Peace. The meeting, according to a statement signed by the participants, was to affirm our relationship and to assess community needs as peaceful protests ensue in the wake of past and present racially motivated bias and murder. Collectively, we outlined a common perspective and reviewed best practices in order to support the communities right to express outrage, fear and the need for change while maintaining a safe environment for expression. Like so many other communities across the nation, we have been deeply saddened and outraged by the senseless killing of George Floyd and other black lives at the hands of police officers, those of whom society expects to uphold the law and safety of all. Tuesdays event is the first in what was promised as an ongoing collaboration to develop positive police interactions and enhance our relationships with people of color. Its not going to be, so long as we continue to shout down people who mention it. Critics flatly proclaimed that Fang was as racist really for airing the interview. Never mind that Fang himself is mixed-race and attended predominantly African-American public schools as a child. And never mind that Fr doubled down on his comments after the controversy arose, telling another reporter that blacks should denounce all kinds of violence precisely because we experience it the most. WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to extend an arms embargo against Iran due to expire in four months, but he faced resistance from China, Russia and even European allies that share his concerns about Iran's missile and nuclear activities. In a virtual meeting of the Security Council, Pompeo labeled Iran "the world's most heinous terrorist regime" and warned it would develop and export weapons that would threaten the Middle East and European capitals. "Iran will hold a sword of Damocles over the economic stability of the Middle East, endangering nations like Russia and China that rely on stable energy prices," Pompeo told the members via videoconference due to the coronavirus pandemic. He said lifting the ban on the trade of conventional weapons would turn Iran into a "rogue weapons dealer," supplying advanced weapons to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and fueling conflicts in Venezuela, Syria and Afghanistan. The meeting was called to discuss a U.N. report on the embargo, which is due to expire as part of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The United States was instrumental in negotiating the agreement, but President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018 and began reimposing U.S. sanctions that had been lifted as part of the deal. Using a legal loophole, the Trump administration is threatening to "snap back" U.N. sanctions if the embargo is not extended, even though the United States is no longer a party to the agreement. But the debate quickly became a proxy for the value of the nuclear deal itself and the U.S. strategy of applying a "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran through sanctions designed to persuade Iran to renegotiate. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the strategy "a maximum suffocation policy." "The task is to achieve regime change or create a situation where Iran literally wouldn't be able to breathe. This is like putting a knee to one's neck," Nebenzia said, referring to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis when a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Russia and China, which as permanent Security Council members have veto powers, oppose the U.S. maneuver. "Having quit the JCPOA, the U.S. is no longer a participant and has no right to trigger a snapback at the Security Council," said China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun, using the acronym for the nuclear deal's official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Pompeo said the United States has an "overwhelming preference" to work with the Security Council to extend the Iran arms embargo. But nearly every ambassador expressed "regret" over the U.S. decision to abandon the nuclear deal and urged the United States to use restraint in its actions and rhetoric, as they urged Iran to return to compliance with its commitments under the agreement. Even European allies of the United States that support extending the embargo said they would not go along with levying new sanctions on Iran. Unilateral proposals leading to the return of sanctions "would only deepen divisions in the Security Council and beyond and would not be likely to improve the situation on the ground of nuclear nonproliferation," said France's U.N. Ambassador Nicolas de la Riviere. Pompeo was no longer listening to the debate when Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appeared at the end. Zarif pointedly started and ended his remarks by quoting Mohammad Mossadegh, the elected Iranian prime minister who was overthrown in a 1953 CIA coup. Zarif said the expiration of the arms embargo was an integral part of the 2015 nuclear deal and demanded the United States compensate Iran for the damage its sanctions have inflicted on the economy. "The international community in general - and the U.N. Security Council in particular - are facing an important decision," he said. "Do we maintain respect for the rule of law, or do we return to the law of the jungle by surrendering to the whims of an outlaw bully?" H opes of a v-shaped economic recovery were dealt a major blow today as revised figures showed the hit to GDP from Covid-19 was far worse than previously thought. They came as Boris Johnson talked up plans to build back better and chuck large sounding sums of money at projects to get the economy moving. Business has largely been supportive of the PMs ideas, but some in the City are worry that he simply isnt spending enough, noting the largest plunge in activity since 1979. GDP fell by 2.2% between January and March, worse than the 2% fall reported previously as all sectors of the economy suffered health and education in particular. Thats a worrying taste of what is to come since the UK only went into lockdown at the end of the period measured. Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the latest figures could be summed up simply: "The biggest contraction for 40 years, even though Q1 contained just nine lockdown days." The data "was just the prelude" to far worse figures, he added. City economists expect a second quarter fall in GDP of between 15% and 20%. Recent figures suggest the economy sank by 20% in April, the largest monthly drop since records began. Thomas Pugh at Capital Economics said: The 2.2% drop in GDP in Q1 2020 was the joint largest fall since 1979 and sets the stage for an unprecedented fall in Q2, despite evidence that the economy partially rebounded in May and June. But it will still take the economy until 2022 before it regains its pre-crisis level. Other economists note that the Prime Ministers levelling up agenda looks tougher than ever, with the well to do managing to save while poorer people find debts hard to manage. Howard Archer at the EY Item Club said: Analysis indicates that it is the least well-off that have tended to find their finances increasingly squeezed during the second quarter. Johnson praised the speed of recent Covid schemes including building the Nightingale hospitals and companies collaborating to supply ventilators. He said: We know people are worried now for their jobs and businesses and were waiting as if between the flash of lightning and the thunderclap. Procurement contracts are likely to be a key talking point as Johnson firms up the spending plan, with the 2018 collapse of contractor Carillion still looming large. Federation of Small Businesses national chairman Mike Cherry said: Its encouraging to see the Government returning to its levelling-up agenda, an agenda made all the more important as we emerge from a recession. For too long the small business community has been blighted by regional disparities and creaking infrastructure. Its good to see the first steps towards addressing these shortcomings the focus on local roads and towns is welcome Those lucky enough to make successful procurement bids need to pay, pay, pay those further down supply chains on time, otherwise these new initiatives will be beset by delays and hardship for small business owners at an already challenging time. This New Deal should contain a fair deal for small firms. Leo Quinn, chief executive of construction outsourcer Balfour Beatty, said: The Prime Ministers commitment to accelerate the UKs long-term infrastructure pipeline is a critical factor for the countrys recovery. As well as stimulating regional and national economies, it will generate vast employment opportunities across the country and help provide our younger generations with employable skills. Without this, following the fall-out from COVID-19, we could see widespread structural unemployment issues. It is a commitment I welcome warmly, but our industry must prioritise sustainable, digital and innovative solutions in our delivery. In doing so, we will safeguard our future capabilities and provide certainty for the workforce of tomorrow. Edwin Morgan, director of policy at the Institute of Directors, said: Good infrastructure is an essential foundation for the economy, so a commitment to moving quickly is vital. The government is correct to point to essential upgrades, but while its right to look ahead, we are still in the midst of this crisis. Many directors have been left without financial support, and we may well not yet have seen the worst in terms of insolvencies and unemployment. Targeted support for those who have been left behind is needed now in order to make sure recovery plans can have their full benefit. Miles Celic, chief executive ofTheCityUK, said: Its clear that the UK economy is in urgent need of an infrastructure upgrade. High on the priority list must be boosting regional productivity and interconnectivity. Investment in infrastructure - both digital and physical - will be key to this, including improving transport and data links across the country and with the rest of the world. In Orange County, politicians are calling to change the name of John Wayne Airport following the re-emergence of Waynes controversial comments made in a 1971 Playboy interview. The interview saw Wayne express vocal support for white supremacy, use a homophobic slur to refer to actors in Midnight Cowboy, said he felt no remorse over slavery or the treatment of Indigenous Americans - adding that the latter had selfishly kept land for themselves. Waynes son Ethan has since responded and said in a statement to Fox News that his father was not a racist and added that his father was pained by his Playboy interview, as he realised his true feelings were wrongly conveyed. Democrats in Orange County are calling for the airport to have its original name - Orange County Airport - restored and for John Waynes likeness to be removed from the premises. In a statement, chairwoman Ada Briceno of the Democratic Party of Orange County said: There have been past efforts to get this done and now we're putting our name and our backing into this to make sure there is a name change." The John Wayne Airport was named after the film actor who was a long time resident of Orange County / Getty Images People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} The emergency resolution to change the airports name and remove his likeness condemns racist and bigoted statements made in Waynes interview, expressing white supremacist, anti-LGBT, and anti-Indigenous views. The airport was renamed in 1979 in tribute to Wayne, the same year he passed away. Citing the fact that Orange County is now a more diverse compared to Waynes time (Wayne was a resident), the resolution also said it was widely recognised that racist symbols produce lasting physical and psychological stress and trauma particularly to Black communities, people of colour and other oppressed groups. Wayne made a number of controversial comments in his Playboy interview. He said: I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I dont believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people. A statue of John Wayne is on display beneath an American flag in John Wayne Airport, located in Orange County / Getty Images His other comments relating to Black people saw him question if the community was sufficiently equipped scholastically to attend college, said that slavery was a fact of life and continued, I don't feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves. Wayne also called films such as Midnight Cowboy perverted, using a homophobic slur to describe it as a story about two f**s. Wayne additionally addressed the oppression of Indigenous people in the United States, writing: I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them if that's what you're asking... There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves. AFP via Getty Images John Waynes son Ethan released a statement to Fox News yesterday which said his father was not a racist. He said: I know that term is casually tossed around these days, but I take it very seriously. I also understand how we got to this point. There is no question that the words spoken by John Wayne in an interview 50 years ago have caused pain and anger. They pained him as well, as he realised his true feelings were wrongly conveyed. Ethan continued: Those who knew him, knew he judged everyone as an individual and believed everyone deserved an equal opportunity. He called out bigotry when he saw it. He hired and worked with people of all races, creeds, and sexual orientations. John Wayne stood for the very best for all of us - a society that doesnt discriminate against anyone seeking the American dream. John Wayne conducted many interviews during his career / AFP via Getty Images He also claimed that there had been attempts by some to use [social justice] for political advantage, saying that it [distracted] from real opportunities for reform. One thing we know if John Wayne were here today, he would be in the forefront demanding fairness and justice for all people. He would have pulled those officers off of George Floyd, because that was the right thing to do. He would stand for everyones right to protest and work toward change, he said. My father believed that we can learn from yesterday, but not by erasing the past. His name, no matter where it is, will always embody these values, and our family knows the positive impact that he made on the world will never be diminished, he finished. American actor John Wayne stands by the street sign honouring his name in Prescott, Arizona / Getty Images The debate around John Wayne Airport is just one of many conversations happening in the United States regarding statues and the legacies of individuals such as slavers, Confederate soldiers and figures who have expressed racist and bigoted views. Meghan Markle has offered her support to 18-year-old Althea Bernstein, who was the victim of an alleged hate crime last week. Bernstein, who is biracial, is a college student and volunteer EMT. On June 24, Bernstein called 911 to report that four white men had sprayed what is believed to be lighter fluid on her while she was stopped at a red light before throwing a flaming lighter at her. The incident, which is being investigated as a hate crime, took place in Madison, Wisconsin. Getty Images As the news made headlines, it caught Meghan's attention. She reached out to Michael Johnson, the president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, who has been acting as Bernsteins spokesperson following the incident. Over the weekend, he told the Channel 3000 news station that Meghan asked him to connect her with Bernstein. According to Johnson, Meghan and Bernstein spoke over the phone on Saturday afternoon for about 40 minutes, with Harry even popping on to briefly join them. People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} Her and Meghan talked about the importance of self-care and allowing herself to heal, Johnson told the news station of Bernsteins conversation with Meghan. Althea Bernstein's face after being set on fire / AP She applauded her for the way that she responded and pretty much said Hey Michael, give me her cellphone number. I want to stay in touch. And let me know when you want me to come back and talk to people in Wisconsin, he added, sharing that Meghan has committed to participating in a future virtual town hall to speak with other young people in Wisconsin. Johnson, who shared that Bernstein is struggling following the incident, said that Meghans call moved Bernstein to tears and lifted her spirits. Johnson added that Meghan advised Bernstein to stay away from social media in an effort to avoid reading any negative comments and said the two women connected about faith and being biracial. Meghan gives virtual address to graduating students of Immaculate Heart High School in LA Despite moving to Los Angeles at the start of the pandemic, Harry and Meghan have already managed to get involved with the community (following social-distancing rules, of course). In April, Meghan and Harry were photographed in their face masks as they delivered meals to those in need in West Hollywood through LA-based charity, Project Angel Food. In early June, Meghan delivered a virtual speech to the graduating students of her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School, where she spoke about racism amid the Black Lives Matter movement taking place in the US and around the world. A irlines easyJet, Ryanair, TUI and British Airways have been forced to cancel flights to Greece in response to the country's extended travel ban for Brits. After initially saying Brits would be welcome in Greece from July 1, yesterday news broke that the Greek government has pushed this date back to July 15 due to the UKs high number of coronavirus cases. Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis confirmed that no direct flights from the UK could land in Greece until July 15, two weeks after the proposed date. Greece has gone largely unscathed by coronavirus with just 3,390 confirmed cases and 191 deaths compared to the UKs 312,000 cases and 43,575 deaths. An easyJet spokesperson said: "Following todays announcement by the Greek authorities, we will being reviewing our flying schedule and any customers whose flights are required to be cancelled as a result of any restrictions will be notified and informed of their options which include a free of charge transfer, a voucher for the value of their booking or a refund. People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} A BA spokesperson told the Standard it would not comment on when BA would resume flights to Greece as the situation was dynamic. Amazing Greek Islands to visit - In pictures 1 /20 Amazing Greek Islands to visit - In pictures Symi Shutterstock Amorgos Shutterstock Astypalea Shutterstock Naxos Shutterstock Serifos Shutterstock Patmos Shutterstock Corfu Unsplash Zakynthos Pixabay The church of the Seven Martyrs Sifnos island Greece Shutterstock Red Beach at Santorini Shutterstock Matala beach with old fishing boats and caves at Crete Shutterstock A view of Mykonos port Shutterstock Ios Shutterstock Paros Shutterstock Kefalonia NinasCreativeCorner/Pixabay Sunset view from Kastro at Milos Shutterstock Skopelos Shutterstock Andros Shutterstock Lefkada Svetlana/Pixabay Skiathos Shutterstock A TUI spokesperson added: Were pleased the Government has finally confirmed that holidays overseas will be able to go ahead and we cant wait to take our customers on holiday to some of their favourite destinations from July 11, all subject to Government guidelines. Its a positive step forward for the travel industry. "In accordance with updated advice from the Greek Government, our planned flights to Greece between July 11-14 wont go ahead and customers have been informed." TUI was set to resume its holidays to Greece on July 11 but will need to push this date back four days under the new guidance. F amilies face a summer of hardship as money problems caused by the pandemic leave those on low incomes at grave risk of going hungry, food charities have warned. Hundreds of local groups have sprung into action, using fresh produce from our Food For London Now appeal partner The Felix Project to support the vulnerable. Although the lifting of lockdown has eased many problems faced by people shielding for health reasons, charity bosses say job losses mean the emergency food drive will have to continue for months ahead. Vicki Williams BreadnButter The Barnet-based charity which teaches cooking to community groups adapted to the pandemic by supplying up to 600 food parcels daily and meals to people struggling across the borough. Demand isnt going away, said co-founder Vicki Williams. It will be there for at least for the rest of this year. Were still getting new people in need because of money problems. Tam Carrigan Haringey Play Association Haringey Play usually runs after-school projects for children, but offered cooked meals and bags of groceries to parents struggling to afford food. We have had queues of people right around the corner, said Tam Carrigan. Well have to carry on with the work because families are still struggling with bills. The charity is providing food donations to between 50 and 60 families, thanks to a supply of a dozen crates of fresh produce from The Felix Project. Fuzz Dix St Lukes Millwall Church Fuzz Dix helped set up a food bank at the Anglican church on the Isle of Dogs, after lockdown began, making weekly food deliveries to about 100 homes in the area. Even in the last few weeks weve seen an increase in people who say theyve lost their job, said the pastor. She said they get up to 10 crates of food from The Felix Project each week. Were not going anywhere, because it doesnt look like the need for support is going anywhere. Hilary Nightingale Cardinal Hume Centre This charity working with vulnerable young people and families opened a food hub in March to help parents across Westminster. Some families weve been helping are in extreme poverty, said Hilary Nightingale. In some cases, because of their immigration status, they have no recourse to public funds. The centre gets eight crates of food from The Felix Project a week, allowing them to help 40 families. Sarah Bentley Made In Hackney Volunteer cyclists from Made In Hackney a vegan community kitchen responded to the pandemic by delivering cooked meals to 500 homes, five days a week on their bikes. H ealth bosses have urged hospital accident and emergency (A&E) departments to prepare for patient numbers similar to that of New Years Eve when pubs and bars reopen this weekend. Thousands of drinking establishments and restaurants will open for customers for the first time in three months on July 4, on what is being dubbed Super Saturday. Sunshine and warm temperatures are forecast across large parts of the country at the weekend. The Standard has seen a letter sent on Friday by a regional NHS England director to hospital trusts' chief operating officers urging them to ensure that your demand/activity planning reflects a busy weekend, with peaks in activity into the evenings similar to that of New Years Eve. New Years is traditionally a manic night for hospital emergency departments, with many members of the public arriving for help after injuring themselves while intoxicated. Pubs have been ordered to put strict social distancing measures in place before opening / PA The letter told hospital leaders to ensure they have extra staff, including senior medics, on site on Saturday. Trust leaders were also asked to make sure there are higher than normal levels of beds free in preparation for Saturday should we also see a rise in admitted patients. The Health Service Journal reported that the note has been distributed in at least two regions. One medic, Dr Jonathan Treml, tweeted: Last Friday, NHS England wrote to all hospital Chief Operating Officers to advise them to plan capacity for New Years Eve levels of activity when pubs open on July 4th. The doctor wrote on the site that he hoped that raising the issue may make a few people reconsider their plans for this weekend. One Twitter user, claiming to be a medic, commented: They've put extra doctors on (including me) in A&E saturday night. Expecting a blood bath. Great. Another added: Every colleague Ive spoken to in Primary Care recently is feeling exhausted and worn down. Few have had any time off since March and we are in absolutely no mood for a surge in #COVID19 cases or alcohol related problems. It comes as Police Federation leaders warned that the public will be "out in droves" at the weekend, with one fearing a return to A&E departments resembling "a circus full of drunken clowns". Steve Kent, chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, told The Independent that he thinks were going to have a couple of weeks of New Year's Eves following the re-opening on Saturday. During the UK lockdown A&E attendance plummeted as patients wary of catching Covid-19 stayed away. NHS England figures show attendances down from 2.2 million in May 2019 to 1.3 million in May this year a drop of 42 per cent. Police Federation chief John Apter also told Radio 4 last week that police chiefs are expecting drunken violence and disorder to breakout at the weekend, and worry that officers will be left to pick up the pieces. The Government has asked punters to drink responsibly on Saturday. When pubs open, table service is being encouraged to reduce the amount of interaction on shared surfaces and pub managers have been asked to take customers contact details for Covid-19 Test and Trace purposes. Dr Rinesh Parmar, Chair of the Doctors Association UK, told the Standard: Doctors and healthcare staff across the NHS have been working flat out during the pandemic to keep patients safe. It is absolutely vital that over the weekend and the coming weeks that people not only follow the social distancing guidance but they minimise the impact on A&E departments. As pubs re-open on 4th July we would call on people to exercise caution and moderation so that they do not suffer the ill effects of excess alcohol consumption. Dr Ian Higginson, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said increased demand on emergency departments this weekend is "somewhat difficult for us to think about" for already-stretched staff. He told the PA news agency: "Staff aren't particularly looking forward to a weekend where numbers could potentially increase and that increase could be in relation to alcohol. "I would urge the public to think about hospitals and think about emergency departments in that way and to continue to look after the NHS and their staff and to be considerate in the way they behave to try and not end up in our departments." P olice are appealing for witnesses after a pedestrian died after a collision with a lorry in north London. Police and paramedics were called to reports of a crash on Bull Lane in Enfield shortly after 4pm on Monday. A 56-year-old man was found at the scene having been badly injured in the crash. He later died at the scene. The lorry driver was not arrested and the police investigation is ongoing. Met Police is now appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to come forward. Detective Constable Jade Williamson said: This collision took place at a very busy time of day and I am confident that a number of people will have witnessed either the collision itself, or the events leading up to it. "I urge those people to get in touch. No matter how insignificant you think your information may be, please do call. B oris Johnson today urged the country to make a dash for growth amid signs of public support for the easing of lockdown starting to ebb and fears of fresh outbreaks. The Prime Minister took to the controls of a digger in Dudley to symbolise his build, build, build blueprint for getting nervous Britons back to work and the country earning. But the backdrop to his enthusiastic speech was of anger in Leicester as schools were closed and shops put into deep freeze after a local upsurge in cases, and uncertainty in towns such as Doncaster, where official figures showed a rise over the past week. As Mr Johnson was due to deliver his speech, polling research by YouGov for the Evening Standard revealed that public backing for the July 4 freedoms from lockdown has dropped, suggesting people have been spooked by fears of fresh outbreaks and the sight of sunseekers crowding onto beaches in apparent disregard for social distancing. Support for the reopening of pubs, hairdressers, cinemas and restaurants has fallen from 64 per cent on June 23 to 55 per cent now, while opposition has gone up from 29 per cent to 38, the study found. It was revealed that nine workers at the Mini car factory in Oxford tested positive for coronavirus. BMW said it was monitoring the situation and the site with 4,500 workers remained open. London appears to be holding off another upsurge so far, but data published by Public Health England shows new infections increased in the week beginning June 20, albeit from very low bases. These include Hammersmith and Fulham, up from seven to 18, Ealing (five to 14) and Westminster (6 to 14). In Leicester, businesses were aghast at being plunged into extended lockdown, saying the measures wont make a difference. Robin Dignall, the owner of Hair@1RD hairdressers in the city centre, said he needs to get the customers back in. He pleaded: We were all geared up ready to open on July 4 but, from reading the government guidelines, they clearly havent consulted anybody in our profession. Rakesh Parmar, who owns Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe in the city centre, said the further restrictions will affect him financially very, very badly. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he is getting ready to change the law to allow the enforcement of the lockdown if necessary. He told Sky News that in some cases this would require the police enforce the rules. Mr Hancock added: We will be bringing forward a legal change very shortly, in the next couple of days, because some of the measures that weve unfortunately had to take in Leicester will require legal underpinning. Boris Johnson delivering his speech on Tueday / Sky News He later told LBC that they would be reviewing whether they could lift the measures in a fortnight, adding: I hope we dont have to take more action but we will if thats necessary. He was also asked about people from Leicester travelling outside the area and replied: We are recommending that people dont travel unless its absolutely necessary. We know that this works, we know how to control this virus. It requires sacrifices by everybody. Mr Hancock said they did not want to police travel, but added: Of course we will if we have to. I have the legal powers in the Coronavirus Act to be able to do that if we need to. To impose travel restrictions. He also said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps would this week outline the next steps for international travel. Mr Hancock went on to try to reassure parents, telling the BBC Radio 4s Today programme they were closing schools to slow the spread. He added: Its not for protection of children because they are safe at school it is to slow the spread. Chris Curtis, political research manager at YouGov, said: Polling already shows a large majority of the public 74 per cent are worried about a second wave of coronavirus, so photos and rolling news footage of busy public areas will only reignite those concerns. Keeping the public onside is going to be crucial for the Government during the next stage of the pandemic, given the fine line they need to tread between making customers confident enough to venture out to get the economy going again while at the same time not signalling to the public that social distancing is over. In his big speech, the PM was promising a new deal of billions of pounds of investment to ease the UK through the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. The Prime Minister began with the statement: We cannot continue to be prisoners of this crisis. He also unveiled new laws to make it easier to turn empty shops into cafes and homes in what he claimed was the most radical planning shake up since World War II. Applications to add extra storeys to flats and houses will be fast-tracked, increasing the height of buildings in crowded cities like London. In some cases owners will not need planning permission to convert buildings into new uses, especially if they are earmarked for much-needed homes, and where they do need permission there will be less red tape. The changes, due to be rushed out by September, will be controversial with existing residents who have opposed redevelopment projects who may find they have less sway in future. The Prime Ministers keynote build, build, build speech maps out a plan to boost spending on infrastructure and growth, particularly in regions that have felt left out in the past. Loading.... The post, which currently has 1.1 million likes, was followed by another post from the younger Smith who added, along with three facepalming emojis, This Man Was Also Doing Black Face On The Regular. As The Youth We Need To Support Creators Who Support Us And Our Morals. This Is Not Okay. A irbus is to cut 1,700 jobs in the UK as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, the company announced. The aerospace giant announced plans on Tuesday to reduce its global workforce and commercial aircraft activity. Around 15,000 jobs will be cut worldwide by summer 2021, it said. These include 1,700 in the UK, 5,000 in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain and 1,300 in other Airbus sites around the world. The consultation process has begun with aims to reach agreements from autumn 2020. Airbus' CEO Guillaume Faury described the pandemic as 'the gravest crisis the industry has ever experienced". Airbus said in a statement that the commercial aircraft business activity has dropped by close to 40 per cent in recent months with commercial aircraft production rates being adapting accordingly. The World on Coronavirus lockdown 1 /45 The World on Coronavirus lockdown Getty Images A UK government public health campaign is displayed in Piccadilly Circus Reuters Chinese paramilitary police and security officers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as they stand guard outside an entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing AP A usually busy 42nd Street is seen nearly empty in New York AFP via Getty Images Bondi Beach, Australia Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images View of the illuminated statue of Christ the Redeemer that reads "Thank you" as Archbishop of the city of Rio de Janeiro Dom Orani Tempesta performs a mass in honor of Act of Consecration of Brazil and tribute to medical workers amidst the Coronavirus (COVID - 19) pandemic Getty Images Rome AFP via Getty Images An Indian man paddles his bicycle in front of a mural depicting the globe covered in a mask, as India remains under an unprecedented lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus Getty Images Aerial view of the empty 9 de Julio avenue in Buenos Aires in Argentina AFP via Getty Images A view of an empty Grand Canal Reuters Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Central cemetery in Bogota, Columbia AFP via Getty Images The facade of the Palacio de Lopez (seat of the government palace) AFP via Getty Images Miami, Florida AFP via Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Simon Bolivar park in Bogota AFP via Getty Images An LAPD patrol car drives through Venice Beach Boardwalk AP Venice Beach, California Getty Images Los Angeles, California Getty Images Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images Many shops stand shuttered on the Venice Beach boardwalk Getty Images Empty escalators are seen at a deserted train station during morning rush hour after New South Wales began shutting down non-essential businesses Reuters A nearly empty Times Square in New York AFP via Getty Images Caracas AFP via Getty Images Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador AFP via Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Midland Park in Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Civic Square at lunchtimein Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A policeman rides his motorcycle wearing a face mask in front of a closed shopping mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina AFP via Getty Images Florida Keys AP The historic Channel 2 Bridge closed to fishermen, bikers and pedestrians in Florida Keys AP The Beach on Scenic Gulf Drive near Seascape Resort in south Walton County, Florida sits empty of tourists AP Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images A deserted Rajpath leading to India Gate in New Delhi AFP via Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Empty roads are pictured following the lockdown by the government amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Kathmandu, Nepal Reuters An empty New York Subway car i AFP via Getty Images The empty pedestrian zone is seen in the city of Cologne, western Germany, AFP via Getty Images Place de la Comedie in the city of Montpellier , southern France AFP via Getty Images An empty street in Kuwait city AFP via Getty Images A building is covered by the Portuguese message: "Coronavirus: take precaution" over empty streets in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, AP A general view shows an empty street after a curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters Parliament of Canada is pictured with empty street during morning rush hour AFP via Getty Images A near empty beach on Southend seafront in England PA Near empty Keswick town centre in Cumbria, England PA Meanwhile air traffic is not expected to recover to pre-Covid levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025, it added. Mr Faury said: The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. "Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers. "To confront that reality, we must now adopt more far-reaching measures. "Our management team and our Board of Directors are fully committed to limiting the social impact of this adaptation. "We thank our governmental partners as they help us preserve our expertise and know-how as much as possible and have played an important role in limiting the social impact of this crisis in our industry. B ritish citizens living in EU member states have been refused job interviews over fears about movement rights due to Brexit, MPs have heard. British in Europe, which represent the 1.2 million UK ex-pats living on the continent, told the EU Future Relationship Select Committee on Tuesday that, for many, the loss of rights was "already real". UK nationals currently have the right to work and study abroad during this so-called grace space while the EU and Britain work out leaving terms. But many Brits abroad are apparently being rejected for work and job interviews as employers face uncertainty over changes to movement rights. Kalba Meadows, a steering group member of British in Europe speaks to the select committee / Parliament TV Kalba Meadows, a steering group member of British in Europe who lives in France, said: We are seeing people refused interviews for jobs because those jobs require the freedom to travel across the EU. Were not even at the end of transition yet and there are already real-live instances of peoples lives and livelihoods being affected and that will only increase. "So many jobs rely on free movement because of the single market. We have a very large number of people whose livelihood is based on working in different countries people with small businesses, people who are employed, and an awful lot of them face losing our livelihoods. Its not just about losing your rights on paper, its something that affects real lives." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signing the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU / European Commission/PA Wire The Brexit withdrawal agreement protects some of the rights of British citizens abroad as well as EU citizens in the UK. However, many holes in the agreement are throwing uncertainty over the future of workers rights, notably in regards to jobs based across more than one member state. The integrated nature of EU economies means that travelling across borders for work is common. Jane Golding, the chair of of the organisation, told the same committee on Tuesday that the suggestion that rights for EU nationals after Brexit were the same as before was misleading. The Brexit withdrawal agreement / PA She said the rights were in fact broadly the same only in the host country where we are living now". "So that means that we will keep most of our rights that we currently have in the country where we live now. "But we will not have any EU-wide rights of free movement, for example, or EU-wide recognition of our qualifications. There are no rights in the withdrawal agreement dealing with cross-border working. "We havent had any indication from either side that this is a topic thats being discussed in any detail in the future negotiations. Michael Harris, another steering group member of British in Europe who lives in Spain, also told MPs: Theres a stereotype of a Briton who lives in Spain there are a lot of retired people in Spain who wont be affected by the need to go and work or provide cross-border services, but around 60 per cent of Britons in Spain are working-age or below. A version of the Last Supper with Jesus as a black man is being displayed at St Albans Cathedral in support of Black Lives Matter. Visitors will be able to see a high-resolution print of Lorna May Wadsworth's nine-foot take on the 15th century Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece when the Church of England cathedral reopens its doors on July 4. The Very Reverend Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans, said: The church is not in a strong position to preach to others about justice, racial or otherwise. But our faith teaches that we are all made equally in the image of God, and that God is a God of justice. "Black Lives Matter, so this is why we have turned our Altar of the Persecuted into a space for reflection and prayer with Lornas altarpiece at the heart. Artist Lorna May Wadsworth / Barney Cokeliss Ms Wadsworth said she cast Jamaican-born model Tafari Hinds for the painting, titled A Last Supper, to "make people question" their ideas of who Jesus was. She added: Painting the Last Supper altarpiece made me really think about how we are accustomed to seeing Jesus portrayed. Experts agree he would most likely have had Middle Eastern features, yet for centuries European artists have traditionally painted Christ in their own image. "My portrayal of him is just as accurate as the received idea that he looked like a Florentine. I also knew that, from a previous portrait of Tafari, there is something in his countenance that people find deeply empathetic and moving, which is the overriding quality I wanted my Christ to embody. Ms Wadsworth has previously done a series of portraits of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Black Lives Matter protests across the world - In pictures 1 /21 Black Lives Matter protests across the world - In pictures A banner and a US. flag are placed on the Monument a la Republique in Paris REUTERS Protesters in Perth Australia Getty Images Speakers at the Black Lives Matter Rally at Langley Park in Perth Getty Images Police officers are seen during a protest against police brutality and the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Paris REUTERS Perth protests Getty Images Speakers take to the stage during the Black Lives Matter Rally in Perty Getty Images Protesters show their support during the Black Lives Matter Rally at Langley Park in Perty Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth AFP via Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth AFP via Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth AFP via Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth Getty Images Thousands of people take part in a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris AP French riot police forces detain a protester during a rally as part of the 'Black Lives Matter' AFP via Getty Images French riot police forces detain protesters AFP via Getty Images The crowds in Paris AFP via Getty Images A man wearing a protective face mask and googles walks past a broken store window in Paris REUTERS Assa Traore (C), the sister of Adama Traore, who died in police custody in 2016 in Paris AFP via Getty Images Protesters hold flares as they stand next to a banner reading 'Confronted to police brutality - Self defence' in Paris AFP via Getty Images A house facade with a graffiti against police in Paris. AFP via Getty Images An injured demonstrator is helped away in Paris AFP via Getty Images A Last Supper will be available to view at the Altar of the Persecuted in St Albans Cathedral's north transept. The new installation comes after Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the Church of England, said Christians in the UK should rethink perceptions that Jesus was white. He told the BBC's Today programme: "You go into churches [around the world] and you dont see a white Jesus. H ealth Secretary Matt Hancock has said the Government will change the law to enforce the local lockdown in Leicester. Harsher restrictions are coming into force in Leicester following a surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the city. Non-essential shops will be closed from Tuesday, the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks to shift focus to the recovery from the pandemic with a multi-billion pound new deal for infrastructure projects. Rising numbers of cases in the East Midlands city 10 per cent of all positive cases in the country over the past week mean the planned easing of restrictions on Saturday will not take place, with people have been advised against all but essential travel. Health secretary Matt Hancock said Leicesters seven-day infection rate was 135 cases per 100,000 three times that of the next highest city. He added that a number of cases were seen among under-18s. Leicester is the first local lockdown in the UK / AFP via Getty Images While the exact area impacted is not expected to be made clear until later on Tuesday, Mr Hancock said Leicester and the surrounding conurbation including Oadby, Birstall and Glenfield would be included. The Health secretary told Sky News: We will be bringing forward a legal change very shortly, in the next couple of days, because some of the measures that weve unfortunately had to take in Leicester will require legal underpinning. Mr Hancock said in some cases the lockdown would be enforced by the police, while legal changes would be made so non-essential retail is no longer open. When pressed on how people would be stopped from travelling outside the city, he said: Were recommending against all but essential travel both to and from and within Leicester, and as we saw during the peak, the vast majority of people will abide by these rules. Of course we will take further action including putting in place laws if that is necessary but I very much hope it wont be. 10% of the country's positive cases in the past week were in Leicester / Getty Images Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended the Governments whack-a-mole strategy for tackling outbreaks. The strategy is to allow for the opening up of the rest of the country, giving people their freedoms back where it is safe to do so, he told Sky News. But we also need alongside that to take local action where there is a specific flare-up. Loading.... Mr Hancock also said there had been a number of positive cases in the under-18s detected through coronavirus testing in Leicester. T he mayor of Leicester has urged residents to "stick together" and stay at home as the city was put under a localised lockdown. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Sir Peter Soulsby said: "Our message is very clear: Stick together, stay strong, stay safe and, for the time being, stay home." The mayor told reporters that he was "very, very concerned" about the Covid-19 flare-up in the city. But he added that he was glad the Health Secretary had introduced measures that went beyond just extending the current level of restrictions. Matt Hancock announced on Monday that Leicester would be placed under its own lockdown and that additional support and funding would be provided to help it tackle the outbreak. Tweeting on Tuesday night, Mr Hancock said: "Having taken clinical advice on the actions necessary, we have taken some difficult but important decisions in Leicester. "The people of Leicester should stay at home as much as you can. The more people that follow the rules, the faster we will get Leicester back to normal. Meanwhile, the Government has now confirmed the date that Leicester's lockdown will be reviewed as July 18 - two weeks from July 4. Sir Peter told the news briefing: "We hope that with these new measures we can get on top of whatever is out there very quickly. Local lockdown in Leicester during Coronavirus pandemic 1 /31 Local lockdown in Leicester during Coronavirus pandemic Leicester has seen 866 cases in the past two weeks PA A city council worker carries rubbish from a coronavirus testing centre at Spinney Park which will be incinerated Getty Images Leicester could be the site of the UK's first local lockdown PA The Government says it is supporting officials in Leicester in their battle against Covid-19 PA Members of the military set up a walk-in mobile Covid-19 testing centre at Spinney Hill Park in Leicester PA A worker for Leicester City Council disinfects public toilets PA A man cleans the windows of a launderette in Leicester PA A member of military personnel uses a tub to collect used a self-test kit from a member of the public at a COVID-19 drive-through mobile testing unit set up at Evington Leisure Centre in Leicester, AFP via Getty Images Members of the military operate a walk-in mobile Covid-19 testing centre at Spinney Hill Park in Leicester PA People queue at walk-in mobile Covid-19 testing centre at Spinney Hill Park in Leicester PA A man wearing a protective visor crosses the road on mobility scooter in Leicester PA Members of the military operate a walk-in mobile Covid-19 testing centre at Spinney Hill Park in Leicester PA People walk by an electronic billboard displaying a government message AFP via Getty Images Robin Dignall and Maria Demetriou-Clamp disinfect chairs at their hair salon Hair@1RD in Leicester as the city may be the first UK location to be subjected to a local lockdown after a spike in coronavirus cases PA A woman wearing a PPE mask walks past social distance advisory singns in Leicester's North Evington neighbourhood Getty Images People walk by an electronic billboard displaying a government message AFP via Getty Images Soldiers from the Royal Logistics Corp operate a mobile coronavirus (Covid-19) testing site at Evington Leisure Centre Getty Images A youth cycles past a sign telling local residents to "Social Distance" and advising on how to help "Prevent the Spread" of coronavirus, in the North Evington district of Leicester AFP via Getty Images Gallowtree Gate in Leicester after the Health Secretary Matt Hancock imposed a local lockdown following a spike in coronavirus cases in the city. PA A man sits on a bench, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Leicester Reuters A worker disinfects a bin following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Leicester, Reuters A worker disinfects a McDonald's restaurant Reuters A police car on Gallowtree Gate in Leicester PA Shops open their shutters in Leicester after the Health Secretary Matt Hancock imposed a local lockdown following a spike in coronavirus cases in the city PA AFP via Getty Images Reuters PA AFP via Getty Images Getty Images PA PA "We hope that it is something we will now be able to ensure is put behind us as a city," he added. "We are determined to use this opportunity to work effectively with the measures the Government has given and now I hope with the support that is going to be given to us." Sir Peter said he was grateful for the "more wide-ranging" measures and support from central Government than the local authorities had anticipated. He said: "While it is a pain and a nuisance for us in the city to be subject to that level of restriction and to have the clock, as it were, turned back, it is nonetheless something that has some realistic prospect of being effective." Sir Peter also said earlier that leaders are still trying to learn more about where the virus is in the city: We do need still to know more about where it is in the community. Ive had lots of speculation and lots of questions about where it is in the community and we have not as yet been able to give satisfactory answers even to ourselves, no matter anybody else, about which parts of the community need the intervention. A child has died and a woman is fighting for her life after being found injured in a south London home. Police and paramedics, including an air ambulance, were called to Monarch Parade in Mitcham at around 4pm on Tuesday. The woman, aged 35, was taken to hospital, where she remains in life-threatening condition. The child, a five-year-old girl, was also taken to hospital however was pronounced dead shortly after. Her next of kin have been informed. Police and paramedics were called to Monarch Parade in Mitcham at around 4pm on Tuesday / Nigel Howard A murder investigation is underway following the incident. No arrests have been made. Officers remained in the area and a crime scene was in place on Tuesday night. A post-mortem examination will take place in due course, police said in statement. At this early stage, police are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident." A newly-built Nightingale Hospital is to be converted into a cancer testing centre, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed. The site, based at a former Homebase store in Exeter, will open 12 hours per day seven days per week and offer non-Covid CT scanning. Seven Nightingale Hospitals were built in locations in England including London, Manchester and Bristol to create surge capacity as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, Mr Hancock tweeted: We will be converting Nightingale hospitals into cancer testing centres, starting with NHS Nightingale Hospital Exeter on Monday. Our NHS is open so if you have any symptoms or concerns, please come forward. His tweets followed comments by Sir Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, to the Health and Social Care Committee on Tuesday. Sir Simon said diagnostic capacity would have to be expanded in new ways to deal with an increase in referrals. He told the committee that the first facility to be converted would be Exeter Nightingale Hospital, which would be re-purposed for non-Covid CT scanning from Monday. Its worth remembering that four-fifths of the patients who are on a waiting list are typically waiting for a test or an outpatient appointment, rather than waiting to be admitted to hospital for an operation, Sir Simon said. And given the pressures on hospitals and diagnostic teams over the March, April, May period, there has been a big reduction in the flow of patients through those diagnostic services. Therefore, weve got to do something different, weve got to expand diagnostic capacity, weve also got to do it in new ways. On May 18, Downing Street confirmed that the Manchester Nightingale hospital was the only one of the temporary sites in England treating patients. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said then that the London and Birmingham hospitals were on standby and not accepting new patients. Bristols facility, at the University of the West of England, will now formally move into standby mode having not treated a single patient. Special look inside the NHS Nightingale Hospital - In pictures 1 /15 Special look inside the NHS Nightingale Hospital - In pictures The ICU wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle Portrait of Matthew Trainer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ICU wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ventilator that will helps save lives at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The map of the identical layout of each ICU station on the wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle Portrait of Dr Alan McGlennan, Medical Director of the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ICU wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ventilator that will helps save lives at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ICU wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ICU wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ventilator that will helps save lives at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ICU wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ICU wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle The ventilator that will helps save lives at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre, Matt Writtle The ICU wards at the newly created Nightingale Hospital at the Excel Centre Matt Writtle On Tuesday, it was confirmed that staff and resources from Bristols Nightingale would be returned to other services and hospitals in the area. Marie-Noelle Orzel, chief officer of the hospital, said: We have always said that we hope our hospital is never needed. To date, thanks to the hard work of NHS colleagues in the region and large numbers of people following the expert advice and guidance, there has been no need to use our hospital. Moving our hospital into a standby mode means that we remain ready and waiting for when we are needed but are able to return staff and resources to other services and hospitals for the time being. Discussions are now taking place across the Severn region as to how facilities can best be used during the standby period, the hospital said. T he Queen has held talks with Donald Trump over the phone ahead of American Independence Day. The two heads of state spoke via telephone just over a year since their last meeting, when the US President flew to the UK in early June 2019 for a state visit. Calls of this nature are made at the request of the Government and it is not known for how long the Queen and the president spoke or the topics under discussion. But a tweet posted on the official royal family account said: Today, The Queen spoke to President Trump by telephone from Windsor Castle ahead of Independence Day in the United States on the 4th July. The Queen has held telephone conversations with a series of world leaders during the coronavirus lockdown. These phone calls include with Frances President Emmanuel Macron, Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Justin Trudeau, Canadas Prime Minister. Mr Trumps conversation with the Queen came ahead of his countrys Independence Day celebrations on July 4. The US leaders three-day state visit began on June 3 last year and he was welcomed to the UK by the Queen during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. M ichael Gove faced fierce opposition from Theresa May in the Commons today as the former PM claimed he had picked a political appointee with "no proven expertise" as his new National Security Adviser. The Government recently announced that Sir Mark Sedwill will be replaced with David Frost, who is currently Mr Johnson's chief EU negotiator. The move has raised eyebrows due to concerns over Mr Frosts lack of experience in the field and the fact he will continue to lead the UKs trade negotiations with the European Union. Previous holders of the post have often been career civil servants rather than political advisers. Speaking during an urgent question in the Commons, Tory MP Mrs May said: I served on the National Security Council for nine years six years as home secretary and three as prime minister. Theresa May questioned the expertise of the new National Security Adviser / PA During that time, I listened to the expert independent advice from national security advisers. On Saturday (Mr Gove) said: We must be able to promote those with proven expertise. Why then is the new national security adviser a political appointee with no proven expertise in national security? Mr Gove responded by insisting that David Frost "is an expert" given his experience in diplomatic service. We have had previous national security advisers, all of them excellent, not all of them necessarily people who were steeped in the security world, some of whom were distinguished diplomats in their own right," said the Cabinet Office minister. David Frost is a distinguished diplomat in his own right, and it is entirely appropriate that the prime minister of the day should choose an adviser appropriate to the needs of the hour. Michael Gove defended the expertise of the newly appointed National Security Adviser / PA Labour former minister Steve McCabe asked if Mr Frost will have finished with his duties as EU negotiator by the time he takes the security job, adding: Or is it still this Governments view that the national security adviser will be a part-time role? Mr Gove replied: Were confident that well be making progress over the next few weeks in EU negotiations. Theyre being conducted intensively, specifically at the request of the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission. Conservative former cabinet ministers Andrew Mitchell and Sir John Redwood backed the changes made by the Government, with Mr Mitchell telling the Commons: It does seem to me its clearly sensible to have the national security adviser separate from the head of the civil service. Labour MP Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) said it was a move for chumocracy. Sir Mark speaks at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last year. He was recently asked to step down from his role as Cabinet Secretary / REUTERS He added: Someone in Johnsons inner circle is being moved higher up the inner circles and when it comes to matters of security his knowledge is zero. One of the key lessons from the Chilcot inquiry was the importance of speaking truth to power. How can a political appointee of this nature, part of the chumocracy, speak truth to power? Michael Gove replied: Anyone who has seen how those in the national security secretariat discharge their responsibility under this administration will know they consistently speak truth to power. Sir Mark is also stepping down as Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service, amid reports of clashes with Mr Johnsons chief adviser Dominic Cummings. His exit follows on from a number of changes at the top of the Civil Service in recent months. The Foreign Offices most senior civil servant Sir Simon McDonald seen as a Brexit critic was told this month he had to step down before it was merged with the Department for International Development (DfID). According to Waynes son, his dad shouldnt be judged by an interview thats nearly a half-a-century old and was, according to Ethan, wrongly conveyed. He also said his father didnt like the way he came across in that Playboy article, which included homophobic remarks too. T he King of Belgium has expressed his "deepest regrets" for the violence carried out against what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo under colonial rule. King Philippe spoke out about the "painful episodes" and suffering and humiliation inflicted on Belgian Congo, the first time a sitting monarch has formally expressed remorse for the country's colonial past. In a letter addressed to the president Felix Tshisekedi, he spoke about "wounds of the past" and said he was determined to fighting all forms of racism. The comments were published as the Democratic Republic of the Congo marked its 60th anniversary of independence and amid growing demands that Belgium should reassess its colonial past. In the wake of the protests against racial inequality triggered by the death of George Floyd in the United States, several statues of King Leopold II, who is blamed for the deaths of millions of Africans during Belgiums colonial rule, have been vandalised, while a petition called for the country to remove all statues of the former monarch. A statue of Belgium's King Leopold II is smeared with red paint and graffiti in Brussels / AP King Philippe wrote: To further strengthen our ties and develop an even more fruitful friendship, we must be able to talk to each other about our long common history in all truth and serenity. Referring to the period when the country was privately ruled by Leopold II from 1885 to 1908 he added: "Our history is made of common achievements, but has also known painful episodes. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde: It is the first time a Belgium monarch has expresses regret for colonial rule / AP "At the time of the independent State of the Congo, acts of violence and cruelty were committed that still weigh on our collective memory. "The colonial period that followed also caused suffering and humiliation. Leopold ruled Congo as a fiefdom, forcing many of its people into slavery to extract resources for his personal profit. A bust of Belgium's King Leopold II is smeared with red paint and graffiti in Tervuren, Belgium / AP His early rule, starting in 1885, was famous for its brutality, which some experts say left as many as 10 million dead. After his ownership of Congo ended in 1908, he handed the central African country over to the Belgian state, which continued to rule over an area 75 times its size until the nation became independent in 1960. I want to express my most deepest regrets for these wounds of the past, the pain of which is today revived by discrimination that is all too present in our societies, the king wrote, insisting that he is determined to keep fighting all forms of racism. Philippe also congratulated President Tshisekedi on the 60th anniversary of independence, ruing the fact that he was not able to attend celebrations to which he had been invited given current circumstances related to the coronavirus crisis. A bust of Leopold II is expected to be taken down from display later on Tuesday in the city of Ghent following a decision from local authorities. T ensions have continued to simmer between India and China in the wake of confrontations earlier this month along their disputed frontier high in the Himalayas that killed at least 20 Indian soliders. The incident marked the first confrontation between the two Asian countries in which soldiers have died since 1975, and happened after a month-long face off between forces on both sides. Now, on the back of rising animosity between the world's two most populous countries, the Indian government has moved to ban dozens of Chinese-made mobile apps - including TikTok and WeChat. Here, we take a closer look at the relationship between the two nations and the recent events concerning the situation on the border. Several rounds of talks held in the last three decades have failed to resolve ongoing boundary disputes between China and India (@parasrishi ) / @parasrishi What happened in the "violent face-off"? The fighting between Indian and Chinese forces occurred in mid-June in the Himalayan region of Ladakh, where both countries have increased deployment close to the disputed border. China accused Indian troops of carrying out provocative attacks which led to serious physical conflicts. The Indian army at first said that three of its soldiers, including an officer, had died in a clash in Ladakh, adding that both sides suffered casualties. It later released a statement saying the two sides had disengaged, and added that 17 other Indian troops who were "critically injured in the line of duty" had died from their injuries, taking the "total that were killed in action to 20". China and India have been arguing for decades over territory in the high-altitude, largely uninhabited border region / AFP via Getty Images It is believed ammunition was not used in the conflict, with the fatalities a result of a physical battle. China has not released any information on casualties on its side. Why is there conflict over the Himalayan border? China and India have been arguing for decades over territory in the high-altitude, largely uninhabited border region, and fought a border war in 1962 that resulted in an uneasy truce. The two nuclear powers' armies face-off at many points along the 3,440km (2,100-mile) shared border and several rounds of talks held in the last three decades have failed to resolve ongoing boundary disputes. Now, tensions between the pair are at their worst they've been since 2017, when both sides increased their military deployments at their borders with Bhutan in the Doklam crisis. The animosity has been fuelled in part by a new road built by India in Ladakh, along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which divides the two sides. That move angered China, which deployed troops and built infrastructure of its own in disputed territory, bringing the two sides' forces in closer proximity along the heavily militarised border and increasing the risk of clashes. The clashes this month were therefore a culmination of weeks of mounting unease and years of dispute. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at the time that Indian forces had crossed the border twice on June 15, "provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides", AFP news agency reported. Indias Ministry of External Affairs meanwhile said in a statement at the time that the incident happened as a result of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo in the Galwan Valley region. What is happening now? The latest sign of escalating tensions came on Tuesday, when dozens of Chinese-made mobile apps were banned by the Indian government. TikTok and WeChat were among the 59 Chinese-built software applications the Indian government said posed a danger to the countrys national security. Following the government order, Google and Apple will have to remove the apps from the Android and iOS stores. The ban is a huge blow for Chinese firms looking to capitalise on one of the worlds biggest web services markets. India is TikToks largest foreign market, with 611 million downloads - more than 30 per cent of its total users. TikTok owners Bytedance, which is headquartered in Beijing, had planned to invest $1 billion in India, open a local data centre and had recently launched a recruitment drive there. Other apps now banned include the popular messaging platform WeChat, downloaded more than 100 million times on Android, and two apps by smartphone-maker Xiaomi. D onald Trump called Theresa May "weak" and Angela Merkel "stupid" in a phone calls to the German and then UK leader, according to a bombshell new report. Two sources have also claimed Mr Trump often so unprepared and "outplayed" in conversations with world leaders that senior White House officials feared he posed a danger to the national security of the US, two sources have claimed. According to a CNN report published on Monday by the Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein, Mr Trump's former top officials including national security advisers HR McMaster, Defence Secretary John Bolton, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, determined that the President was often "delusional" in his dealings with foreign leaders. CNN's sources said Mr Trump was more focused on achieving his personal agenda than discussing matters of national interest and he would attempt to "either charm, jawbone or bully" foreign leaders into agreeing with him. The US President was reportedly more aggressive with female heads of state, with sources claiming Mr Trump called former UK Prime Minister Theresa May "weak" and telling her she lacked courage. He was also reportedly tough on German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Sources claimed Donald Trump told former Prime Minister Theresa May she was 'weak' / Getty Images A source said: "Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are just unbelievable: he called her 'stupid' and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians. "He's toughest [in the phone calls] with those he looks at as weaklings and weakest with the ones he ought to be tough with." A German official source told CNN that special measures were taken in Berlin to ensure the calls remained secret. The majority of Mr Trump's calls were with Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron, as the French President reportedly tried to get Mr Trump to change his policy on environmental and security matters. In his conversations with Vladimir Putin and Mr Erdogan, the sources say Mr Trump often spoke badly of former Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama. At one point Mr Trump said "they didn't know BS" when speaking of the two former heads of state, said the sources. Donald Trump: John Bolton 'broke the law' CNN did not reveal the job titles of the two sources but Mr Bernstein explained that they were repeatedly interviewed over a four-month period. The sources, along with other officials, either directly listened to the President's phone calls or were provided detailed summaries after they were completed. Mr Kelly, Mr McMaster, Mr Mattis and Mr Tillerson have not responded to CNN's requests for a comment. After publication of the report, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews said: "President Trump is a world class negotiator who has consistently furthered America's interests on the world stage. "From negotiating the phase one China deal and the USMCA to NATO allies contributing more and defeating ISIS, President Trump has shown his ability to advance America's strategic interests." Donald Trump arrives in London 1 /33 Donald Trump arrives in London U.S. President Donald Trump looks at Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney REUTERS US President Donald Trump (right) at a breakfast meeting with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Winfield House, the residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America to the UK, in Regent's Park, London PA AP White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney AP AP Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg AP AP AFP via Getty Images AP AP AP REUTERS U.S. President Donald Trump and France's President Emmanuel Macron meet REUTERS REUTERS POOL/AFP via Getty Images POOL/AFP via Getty Images REUTERS REUTERS Getty Images AP AP U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. first lady Melania Trump arrive at Stansted Airport in England AP Getty Images AP AP AP AFP via Getty Images AP AP AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images It comes after reports Mr Trump had learned in March that Russia had offered the Taliban bounties to kill US troops in Afghanistan. The White House issued a statement on Saturday denying that Mr Trump or Vice President Mike Pence had been briefed on such intelligence. This does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence but to the inaccuracy of the New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed on this matter, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. CNN's sources claimed the US President spoke with his Russian counterpart about Mr Trump's desire to end the American military presence in Afghanistan but they did not speak about Taliban bounties. John Bolton, a former national security adviser who was forced out by Mr Trump last September and has now written a tell-all book about his time at the White House, said that it is pretty remarkable the presidents going out of his way to say he hasnt heard anything about it, one asks, why would he do something like that? Mr Bolton told NBCs Meet the Press that he thinks the answer may be precisely because active Russian aggression like that against the American service members is a very, very serious matter and nothings been done about it, if its true, for these past four or five months, so it may look like he was negligent. But of course, he can disown everything if nobody ever told him about it. P olice unleashed pepper spray after protesters gathered to listen to a violin vigil in memory of Elijah McClain, who died after US officers put him in a chokehold last year. Videos on social media showed thousands of demonstrators gathered outside a Denver police building on Saturday. The musical tribute was organised by the Party for Socialism and Liberation as Mr McClain, who was 23 when he died, was known for playing music to abandoned pets in animal homes to cheer them up. As the event progressed police accused people of throwing bottles and announced that the protest was now an illegal gathering", the Denver Post reported. Officers threatened to use pepper spray and demonstrators formed a ring to protect the musicians while they played. In videos captured by bystanders, the sound of violin strings was soon silenced by screams from protestors chanting Why are you in riot gear? We dont see no riot here. Aurora police confirmed pepper spray was used on demonstrators and said it was in response to people in the crowd seen gathering rocks and not moving back. Valerie Reives plays the viola while protesters shine their mobile phone lights to honour Elijah McClain / REUTERS Before the protest was held the force released a statement about the event and said it supported a peaceful protest but warned about outsiders with destructive goals joining the day. The Party for Socialism and Liberation replied in a Facebook statement and said: "The Aurora Police Department has responded by circulating rumours of a violent threat in order to intimidate organisers and attendees and to justify mobilising a militarized police response to crackdown on protesters. A protester plays the violin to honor Elijah McClain, who, when alive, would play his violin at animal shelters because he thought the kittens were lonely. / REUTERS Mr McClains death last year prompted a handful of small protests over the last 10 months, but his case garnered renewed attention amid a global outcry sparked when George Floyd died in police custody in May. On August 24, 2019, police in Aurora responded to a call of a suspicious person wearing a ski mask and waving his arms as he walked down a street. Aurora police officers, dressed in riot gear, line up outside the Aurora Police Department Headquarters / REUTERS Officers said Mr McClain refused to stop walking and fought back when confronted. One law enforcement officer said: I have a right to stop you because youre being suspicious, body camera footage later showed. The encounter happened as the 23-year-old, who was a certified massage therapist and self-taught violin player, was running an errand. To subdue Mr McClain, officers used a chokehold that cuts off blood to the brain a tactic recently banned in several places in the wake of Mr Floyds death. Paramedics arrived soon after and administered a sedative to calm Mr McClain down but he suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and later declared brain dead. He was taken off life support less than a week later. Three officers were placed on leave but returned to the force after District Attorney Dave Young said there was insufficient evidence to support charging them. B ritain warned of its deep concern today after China passed a controversial new Hong Kong security law. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab described Beijings move to give it more powers over the former British colony as a grave step and added: Once we have seen the full legislation, we will make a further statement. Beijing was expected to release details of the new national security law later today. The legislation follows last years often-violent pro-democracy protests in the former British colony and was expected to criminalise secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces. Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kongs sole representative to the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, confirmed to reporters that the law had been passed. He said punishments would not include the death penalty, but did not elaborate on further details such as whether the law could be applied retroactively. We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble, he said. Dont let Hong Kong be used as a tool to split the country. Following the news, pro-democracy activist Joshua Wongs Demosisto group said it would dissolve amid fears the legislation will crush the global financial hubs freedoms. It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before, Mr Wong said on Twitter. From now on, Hong Kong enters a new era of reign of terror, just like Taiwans White Terror, with arbitrary prosecutions, black jails, secret trials, forced confessions, media clampdowns and political censorship. "With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a secret police state. The editor-in-chief of Chinas state-controlled tabloid Global Times said on Twitter the heaviest penalty under the law was life imprisonment, without providing details. The new law came into force on Tuesday amid growing unrest in Hong Kong. Critics have condemned the law, saying it curtails freedoms for Hong Kongers. Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, who is backed by the Chinese government, defended the legislation as filling "a gaping hole" in national security. But details about the law have been slow to emerge, and Ms Lam admitted she hadn't read the draft before making her comments. A protest in Hong Kong / REUTERS The law applies to permanent and temporary residents of Hong Kong. More details were revealed on Tuesday afternoon UK time. Measures covered by the legislation include: Secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces will result in a minimum jail sentence of three years, and a maximum of life Inciting hatred of China's central government and Hong Kong's regional government will be against the law People who damage public transport could be tried as terrorists China will establish its own security office in Hong Kong, outside of local jurisdiction China will take over prosecution of "very serious" cases The new security law has been widely condemned, with the UK, EU and Nato have all slamming the legislation. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply concerned" by news of the law. He added that the British government would be "looking at it very carefully" to check if it broke the Joint Declaration signed by the two countries when the UK handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997. Protesters in Hong Kong / AP The Joint Declaration ensured freedom of speech and of assembly in Hong Kong. This is in contrast to China, where neither is allowed. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the new law as "deeply troubling". He added: "Despite the urging of the international community, Beijing has chosen not to step back from imposing this legislation. China has ignored its international obligations regarding Hong Kong. This is a grave step". Lord Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, said: This decision, which rides roughshod over Hong Kongs elected legislature, marks the end of one country, two systems. It is a flagrant breach of the Sino-British joint declaration a treaty lodged at the United Nations and Hong Kongs mini constitution, the Basic Law. It will throttle the citys rule of law, presenting a major confrontation between what passes for law in China and the common law system in Hong Kong, which has allowed the city to function as one of most important financial hubs in Asia. The separation of powers is in danger of being shattered and the courts politicised by the provision that the chief executive will herself choose the judges for national security cases. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab / PA The EU also hit out at the security law, with Council President describing it as "detrimental". Charles Michel added: "We deplore the decision... This law risks seriously undermining the high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong and having a detrimental effect on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law." Meanwhile in the US, Donald Trump has previously said the country will stop trading with Hong Kong on a preferential basis. Mike Pompeo, his secretary of state, said on Monday the US would block military exports to Hong Kong. NATO has also heavily criticised the move. The body's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a virtual forum: It is clear that China does not share our values democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. Protesters call for 'liberation of Hong Kong' - In pictures 1 /12 Protesters call for 'liberation of Hong Kong' - In pictures Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Anti-government protesters run away from tear gas during a march against China's plans to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong REUTERS Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Anti-government protesters march against Beijing's plans to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong REUTERS Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Anti-government protesters march against Beijing's plans to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Hong Kong riot police fire tear gas as hundreds of protesters march along a downtown street during a pro-democracy protest AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Hundreds of protesters with banners march along a downtown street during a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Pro-democracy protesters march during a protest against Beijing's national security legislation in Hong Kong AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Pro-democracy protesters march during a protest against Beijing's national security legislation in Hong Kong AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Riot police checking citizens on a roadside during a protest in Hong Kong AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Protesters set up blockades during a protest against Beijing's national security legislation in Hong Kong AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Burning debris is seen on a street during a protest against Beijing's national security legislation in Hong Kong AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Medical volunteers help a man to move away as police fire teargas during a protest in Hong Kong AP Hong Kong protest - 24/05/2020 Anti-government protesters move away after riot police disperse them during a march against Beijing's plans to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong REUTERS He added: "We see this in Hong Kong, where the new security law undermines its autonomy." Hong Kong pro-democracy groups have already reportedly begun to disband out of fear of the new law. T he homeowner who pointed an assault rifle at Black Lives Matters protesters outside his Missouri mansion said he feared a "Bastille moment" from the demonstrators. Footage of Mark McCloskey and his wife Patricia brandishing guns from the steps of their property in St Louis, Missouri at anti-racism protesters went viral online. Around 500 people headed towards city mayor Lyda Krewsons home on Sunday as they chanted Resign Lyda, take the cops with you. Mr McCloskey has now defended his actions as he claims an "angry mob" made threats as they made their way to the Mayor's house. In an interview with NBC affiliate KMOV-TV, Mr McCloskey said: "We were threatened with our lives, threatened with a house being burned down, my office building being burned down, even our dogs life being threatened. Pictures of Patricia McCloskey pointing her gun at protesters went viral / REUTERS It was about as bad as it can get. I really thought it was Storming the Bastille and that we would be dead and the house would be burned and there was nothing we could do about it." Mr McCloskey and his wife, who work as personal injury lawyers, said they generally believe the Black Lives Matter movement is important. The couple's attorney, Albert Watkins, said in a statement to CBS News: "Both Mr and Mrs McCloskey are lawyers whose professional careers have punctuated by their longstanding commitment to protecting the civil rights of clients victimised at the hands of law enforcement. "The peaceful protesters were not the subject of scorn or disdain by the McCloskeys. To the contrary, they were expecting and supportive of the message of the protesters. Hundreds of protesters marched down Waterman Boulevard heading to St Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's home on Sunday / AP "The most important thing for them is that their images [holding the guns] don't become the basis for a rallying cry for people who oppose the Black Lives Matter message. They want to make it really clear that they believe the Black Lives Matter message is important". No charges have been brought against the lawyers and according to CBS News, police are investigating the incident as a case of trespassing and assault by intimidation against the couple. One of the leaders of the protest, Rasheen Aldridge said the protesters were peaceful and at no point were threats made towards Mr and Mrs McCloskey. Speaking about the demonstrators decision to march in a private gated community, Mr Aldridge said: "Just like in many disobedient protests, even in the '60s, you break laws, make people feel uncomfortable. "We're not doing anything where we're hurting anyone or putting anyone in danger." Black Lives Matter protests across the world - In pictures 1 /21 Black Lives Matter protests across the world - In pictures A banner and a US. flag are placed on the Monument a la Republique in Paris REUTERS Protesters in Perth Australia Getty Images Speakers at the Black Lives Matter Rally at Langley Park in Perth Getty Images Police officers are seen during a protest against police brutality and the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Paris REUTERS Perth protests Getty Images Speakers take to the stage during the Black Lives Matter Rally in Perty Getty Images Protesters show their support during the Black Lives Matter Rally at Langley Park in Perty Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth AFP via Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth AFP via Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth AFP via Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth Getty Images Demonstrators march through the streets in Perth Getty Images Thousands of people take part in a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris AP French riot police forces detain a protester during a rally as part of the 'Black Lives Matter' AFP via Getty Images French riot police forces detain protesters AFP via Getty Images The crowds in Paris AFP via Getty Images A man wearing a protective face mask and googles walks past a broken store window in Paris REUTERS Assa Traore (C), the sister of Adama Traore, who died in police custody in 2016 in Paris AFP via Getty Images Protesters hold flares as they stand next to a banner reading 'Confronted to police brutality - Self defence' in Paris AFP via Getty Images A house facade with a graffiti against police in Paris. AFP via Getty Images An injured demonstrator is helped away in Paris AFP via Getty Images Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner also issued a statement on Monday which called for the protection of rights to peacefully protest. "I am alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protesters were met by guns and a violent assault," she said. "We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated." The Black Lives Matters protesters' demands for the Mayor to resign, follow a briefing on Friday when Ms Krewson read the names and addresses of several residents who wrote letters calling for police reforms and suggesting she stops funding them. T he pandemic in the US could escalate to see 100,000 new coronavirus infections per day, the country's top infectious diseases specialist has warned. Dr Anthony Fauci told senators on Tuesday that he was very concerned to see people gathering in crowds and not wearing masks. He said: "We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around and so I am very concerned." Regarding reports of people not paying attention to social distancing guidelines, Dr Fauci said: "We're going to continue to be in a lot of trouble, and there's going to be a lot of hurt if that does not stop." People protest against mandates to wear masks in Austin, Texas / REUTERS Dr Fauci was speaking to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee after new daily coronavirus cases hit an all-time high of more than 40,000 on Friday. Several states have rolled back freedoms, including California, Arizona, Texas and Florida, which have put new restrictions on bars and various other public facilities. Dr Fauci added that he couldn't predict the exact future of the outbreak, but warned: "It's going to be very disturbing, I will guarantee you that." He urged people to wear masks, and singled out young people - who appear to be much less affected by the virus than older generations. People wearing masks in Florida / AFP via Getty Images He added: "It is critical that we all take the personal responsibility to slow the transmission of Covid-19 and embrace the universal use of face coverings. "Specifically, I'm addressing the younger members of our society, the Millennials and the Generation Zs - I ask those that are listening to spread the word." Dr Fauci said that he would support any measure that got people wearing masks more often, including an initiative to hand them out for free, suggested by Senator Bernie Sanders. He went on: "Masks are extremely important. There's no doubt that wearing masks protects you and gets you to be protected. "So it's people protecting each other. Anything that furthers the use of masks, whether it's giving out free masks or any other mechanism, I am thoroughly in favour of." Loading.... A new strain of flu has been identified by scientists in China which has the potential to become a pandemic, they say. The virus, called G4 EA H1N1, is carried by pigs but can infect humans, scientists said in a new research paper. And as it's a new strain, humans are likely to have little or no immunity - meaning the virus needs close monitoring. One of the authors of the study into the new virus said "we should not ignore" the findings. The virus is carried by pigs / AFP/Getty Images Prof Kin-Chow Chang, of Nottingham University in the UK, told the BBC: "Right now we are distracted with coronavirus and rightly so. But we must not lose sight of potentially dangerous new viruses." The paper said: "G4 viruses [which this virus is one of] have all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus. Of concern is that swine workers show elevated seroprevalence for G4 virus." Scientists and public health experts are always on the lookout for new kinds of flu. A leaked Government document from last year shows that officials saw pandemic influenza as one of the two most significant threats to national security. The last time a new strain of influenza became pandemic was swine flu, in 2009. The outbreak ended up being less serious than feared, as people across the world appeared to have built up a degree of immunity from previous flu outbreaks. Pigs on a farm / Getty Images Despite this, as many as 575,000 people died in the first year of the swine flu outbreak, according to the US Centre for Disease Control. The new virus is reportedly similar to swine flu, but with some important differences, according to scientists. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers said that the new strain, called G4 EA H1N1, hasn't yet had a big impact. There is evidence that workers in local abattoirs and people in other jobs that have contact with pigs have contracted the virus, they added. Flu vaccines currently in use do not protect against the new strain, but could possibly be adapted, they said. Loading.... A rmed police evacuated a major shopping centre and train station in Paris following reports an armed man was seen near the busy centre. Police were called to Les Quatre Temps shopping centre and La Defense train station in Paris at around 10am on Tuesday. At around 11.30am the Paris police department issued an updated statement on Twitter to say that no suspect had been identified that matched the description that was reported to the Police Secours 17 division. Footage on social media showed shoppers running out of the centre while police searched the area. People could also be seen slowly evacuating the centre with their arms raised. Paris: Les Quarte Temps Shopping Centre evacuated 1 /10 Paris: Les Quarte Temps Shopping Centre evacuated AP AP AP AP AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Soldiers secure the area in the business district of La Defense on Tuesday AP AP AFP via Getty Images The Paris police department said on Twitter that the shopping centre had been evacuated to "allow for checks". Police asked people to avoid the area and to follow the instructions of the authorities. A source told Le Figaro: "We are looking for an armed man who would have been seen at the 4 temps shopping centre in La Defense district." The French daily morning newspaper also reported that the suspect could be caring an AK-47 rifle. A man who was stuck inside the train station told the Mirror Online: "We are safe. We are just waiting inside the station." I am so proud of my beautiful wife Kim Kardashian West for officially becoming a billionaire, the Trump-supporting hip hop artist and fashion mogul wrote, showering praise upon the mother of four. Youve weathered the craziest storms and now God is shining on you and our family. A tell-all book by Donald Trump's niece has temporarily been blocked from publication as a judge weighs the merits of claims that it violates a pact among family members. A Supreme Court judge has ordered the US Presidents niece, Mary Trump, and her publisher to explain why they should not be stopped from publishing the book. Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man, was scheduled to be published on July 28. An online description of the book said it reveals "a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse". The judge banned "publishing, printing or distributing any book or any portions thereof" before he decides the validity of the claims made by the president's brother, Robert S Trump. Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr, the president's elder brother, who died in 1981. Robert Trump has argued that Mary Trump must comply with a written agreement among family members who settled a dispute over Fred Trump's will that a book about them cannot be published without their permission. Mary Trump's lawyer, Theodore J Boutrous Jr, and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, promised an immediate appeal. "The trial court's temporary restraining order is only temporary but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment," Mr Boutrous said. "This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in an election year, should not be suppressed even for one day," Mr Boutrous said in a statement. Adam Rothberg, a Simon & Schuster spokesperson, said the publisher was disappointed but looks forward "to prevailing in this case based on well-established precedents regarding prior restraint". Charles Harder, an attorney for Robert Trump, said his client was "very pleased". He said in a statement that the actions by Mary Trump and her publisher were "truly reprehensible". "We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages," he said. "Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end." In court papers, Robert Trump maintained Mary Trump was part of a settlement nearly two decades ago that included a confidentiality clause. L eaders in several US states have shut down beaches, bars and gyms amid a sharp spike in coronavirus cases across the country's Sun Belt. Arizona, Texas, Florida and California have halted lockdown easing measures, while some states have ordered residents to wear masks in public. Doug Ducye, Arizonas Republican governor, ordered an immediate closure of bars, cinemas, water parks and gyms on Monday, which will last for at least 30 days. He also ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17. Since the pandemic began, 74,500 cases and 1,588 deaths stemming from the virus have been reported in Arizona. Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governors stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May. But health officials reported 3,858 coronavirus cases in the state on Sunday, the most reported in a single day so far and the seventh time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Our expectation is that our numbers next week will be worse, Mr Ducey said Monday. The state is not alone in its reversal. Places such as Texas, Florida and California are closing beaches and bars amid a resurgence of the virus. Bars are empty in Phoenix, Arizona / AP In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced on Monday that he is postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing. New Jersey has been slowly reopening, and indoor shopping malls were cleared to start business again on Monday. Meanwhile, less than a week after Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said there would be no mask requirement in the Florida city, officials announced on Monday that coverings must be worn in situations where individuals cannot socially distance. Democratic governors in Oregon and Kansas also said that they would require people to wear masks. Cinemas have closed in many states amid a surge in cases / AP Idaho is moving in a different direction, at least when it comes to the elections. Despite the continuing spread of the virus, state elections officials have said that they would allow in-person voting - as well as mail-in ballots - for August primaries and the November general election, the Idaho Statesman reported. In Texas, a group of bar owners are suing to try to overturn Republican Governor Greg Abbotts order closing their businesses. They contend Mr Abbott does not have the authority, and they complained that other businesses, such as nail salons and tattoo studios, remain open. South Beach, Miami reopens during Coronavirus lockdown ease 1 /13 South Beach, Miami reopens during Coronavirus lockdown ease Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images AP AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Reuters Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images Reuters Getty Images Governor Abbott continues to act like a king, said Jared Woodfill, attorney for the bar owners. Mr Abbott is unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights. But Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that Mr Abbott is on the right path, and he added that Mr Trump should order the wearing of masks. States that were recalcitrant are doing a 180, and you have the same states now wearing masks, Mr Cuomo said. Let the president have the same sense to do that as an executive order, and then let the president lead by example and let the president put a mask on it, because we know it works. A 72-year-old woman was rushed to hospital after being gored by a wild bison at Yellowstone National Park. The pensioner had repeatedly approached the animal to take its picture on Thursday, park administrators said. The victim, from California, was flown to an Idaho hospital for treatment and her current condition has not been revealed. Run-ins between visitors and bison, also known as buffalo, occur periodically at Yellowstone. The animals are normally placid but can respond aggressively and charge when approached. American Bisons passing tourists at Yellowstone National Park / AFP via Getty Images The woman had been camping at the beauty spot in Bridge Bay when she spotted the animal. Wanting to record her sighting she ventured within 10 feet (3 metres) of the animal several times prior to being attacked, park officials said. Park biologist Chris Geremia said it seemed like the bison was responding to what it perceived as a threat when the woman got too close. A woman takes photos of Blue Star spring near Old Faithful Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming / AFP via Getty Images Visitors are required to stay at least 25 yards away from large animals, including bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, moose and coyotes, and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves. In May, a woman was knocked to the ground when she got too close to a bison near the popular Old Faithful geyser. "You got two shots at the apocalypse according to the Mayan calendar again." Experts have consistently rubbished conspiracy theories linking the Mayans to predictions about the end of the world. Writing in Syfy, astronomer Phil Plait said: "There is no suggestion, not even a hint, in Maya writing that they thought the end of this current [time period] had any connection to doomsday. It's entirely possible it may have even been thought of as a time of celebration (just like we celebrate New Year's Eve). B lack-ish star Marsai Martin put her acting skills to good use as she responded to trolls who had criticised her appearance at the BET Awards. The actress, 15, received cruel comments on social media after she presented the best female hip hop artist award to Megan Thee Stallion during the virtual BET ceremony, with trolls specifically criticising her hair and teeth. Martin then shared a video on Instagram in which she appeared to shed tears over the comments and apologise to anyone that she had offended - before blowing her nose on a $100 bill. "So, I was on Twitter and a lot of people have been addressing my hair, talking about my hair and how it looks like a grandma's wig," she said, before pulling on her hair. She then added theyre talking about my veneers before taking out a clear brace, adding: This dont look like a veneer to me. Im sorry to anyone that I offended or havent gotten to my expectations about how Im supposed to be, she continued, wiping her eyes in mock concern for the trolls. BET Awards 2020 - In pictures 1 /17 BET Awards 2020 - In pictures Beyonce accepts the humanitarian award during the BET Awards AP Michelle Obama introduces humanitarian award winner Beyonce during the BET Awards AP Megan Thee Stallion AP Karen Clark Sheard, left, and Kierra Sheard perform during the BET Awards AP Wayne Brady performs a tribute to the late Little Richard during the BET Awards AP Lizzo speaks during the BET Awards AP Megan Thee Stallion accepts the award for best female hip-hop artist during the BET Awards AP Summer Walker and Usher perform during the BET Award AP Alicia Keys, standing atop names of Black lives lost, performs during the BET Awards. AP Lil Wayne performs a tribute to the late Kobe Bryant during the BET Awards AP Jennifer Hudson performs during the BET Awards. AP Masego performs during the BET Awards AP Roddy Ricch wears a shirt that says Black Lives Matter while performing during the BET Awards AP Roddy Ricch accepts the award for album of the year for "Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial" during the BET Awards AP Kane Brown AP Beyonce on the The BET Awards BET Amanda Seales AP I never want to hurt anyones feelings or have anyone worried about what my decisions are. She was then handed a $100 bill and blew her nose on the note, before reminding viewers: We are in quarantine and weve got more things to focus on than just my hair. Instagram @marsaimartin The actress blew her nose on a $100 bill (Instagram @marsaimartin) She finished her video with a call for justice for Breonna Taylor, the 27-year-old nurse who was shot dead by police at her home in Louisville, Kentucky, in March. Martin also addressed the trolling on Twitter, writing: "Sorry some of yall dont like my hair. Or teeth ... which are my actual teeth btw. Good thing I dont put my effort into trying to please everyone. I like it. Y ouTube has banned several channels run by prominent white supremacists from its platform amid moves by major advertisers to boycott social media companies over hate speech concerns. The Google-owned firm said the cluster of white supremacist channels - which featured some of the Internet's principal far-right commentators - had violated its policies that prohibit hate speech. Among those to have their channels shut down included former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, US white supremacist Richard Spencer and Canadian white nationalist activist Stefan Molyneux. In a statement, YouTube said: We have strict policies prohibiting hate speech on YouTube, and terminate any channel that repeatedly or egregiously violates those policies. "After updating our guidelines to better address supremacist content, we saw a 5x spike in video removals and have terminated over 25,000 channels for violating our hate speech policies, it added. Mr Spencer and Mr Molyneux were quick to respond to YouTube's move, with both men taking to Twitter to comment on the decision taken by the US tech giant. "I will appeal the suspension; however, this seems to be part of a systemic, coordinated effort," Mr Spencer, who is head of the National Policy Institute, a white supremacist think tank and lobby group based in Virginia, wrote in a post. Mr Molyneux, who is known for his promotion of conspiracy theories and views on eugenics, meanwhile described his channel's suspension as an "egregious error" and accused the firm of having "suspended the largest philosophy conversation the world has ever known". The developments came as other firms also moved to tackle hate speech on their platforms in the wake of a number of major advertisers - including Ford, Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Unilever - announcing boycotts of social media companies in recent days. Twitch, Amazon's live video streaming site, temporarily banned US President Donald Trump, citing hateful conduct in his posts. Social media site Reddit meanwhile shut down r/The_Donald, a forum which has long been popular with Donald Trump supporters, saying that it violated the platform's hate speech rules. The growing scrutiny concerning hate speech on social media platforms has in part been triggered by the launch earlier this month of the Stop Hate For Profit campaign, which described itself as a "response to Facebook's long history of allowing racist, violent and verifiably false content to run rampant on its platform". Ogden jazz icon Joe McQueen may be gone, but his memory and legacy live on. One physical reminder of his life, McQueen's lifelong home at 3158 Grant Ave., has now become available for sale. The house received extensive remodeling, but as investor Richard Casperson has said, "Joe's energy is But the only thing disrespectful is the cover art Abloh put together for this posthumous album, one that New York legend 50 Cent has claimed to have mastered and which will be released in Smokes honor. It looks like Abloh was running on deadline and threw something together including apparently the very first photo of Pop Smoke that appears in a Google search. If I were protesters, I would not appreciate having an AR-15 headed my way or a woman who seems crazed with her finger on the trigger, Behar said of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, married personal-injury lawyers in their 60s. I would not enjoy that at all. I dont think any of these protesters had weapons. I wasnt the one investigating the cases, Engel said of those in Morrill county. I know some of them spread from an event. Many are community spread and we cant figure out the cause were puzzled with this one. The Camp Clarke Stampede Rodeo, a Morrill County tradition, is still set to go ahead this week. We went through many different methods on how to have a safe event, Engel said. Spectators will be asked to sit in groups of eight or less, and six feet apart. There will be other changes, she said, but the rodeo is set to take place. Three Morrill County cases and 12 from Scotts Bluff County were moved from active to recovered. A total of 298 positives have been reported in the Panhandle Public Health District since March 2. Of those, 185 have recovered and 110 remain active. There have been a total of 33 hospitalizations, with four currently hospitalized. Three elderly Panhandle residents have died as a result of COVID-19. During the briefing, members of Unified Command shared information about assistance available through the Community Cares Program, which offers direct assistance to charitable and provider organizations who have experienced loss or an increase in expenses. Members of the Gering City Council met Monday afternoon to hear an overview of the upcoming fiscal year budget and what they can expect in the way of expenditures. Gering City Treasurer Renae Jimenez told council members that on July 31, they should have a budget packet with some of the changes from last years preliminary numbers. Our first budget work session is on Aug. 5 so youll have a summary of those changes for review ahead of time, Jimenez said. After the work session is our first public hearing on the budget on Aug. 24. She said payroll was already plugged in with calculations from human resources based on cost of living. She also told department heads there would be no increase in the cost of operations and maintenance from the current fiscal year. Several positions were budgeted from last year, but not filled. They included one police officer and a crew leader in the Parks Department. Jimenez said those numbers would be reflected in the new budget. Another item $80,000 for a new chair lift for the public library was budgeted two years ago but not spent. Council said they wanted to reconsider that expenditure for the upcoming 2020-2021 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, 2020. There will be isolation rooms for students who show symptoms to wait in while staff wait for medical support or the students parents. There will be additional health staff with more thermometers and PPE. A para will be assigned to worked with students who are returning to school. Those positions will be absorbed through attrition as this event ends, Myles said. However, there will be somebody to just specifically help out in the school with problems and needs related to the coronavirus. The district is reevaluating current meal procedures and buffets are likely out of the question, and there has been discussion about bus service. Currently, socially distancing isnt a problem because only a few students go to a couple of events. Summer is providing us ... opportunities to see how things will work, he said. The district has also been working with Western Nebraska Community College and local employers to figure out the next steps of internships and dual credit courses. He said the hope is to maximize opportunities for students, but doing so in a safe manner. As you can see, we are conducting a safe, prudent reopening and its already well underway, he said. The Torpedo, a firework kept in stock at Fireworks Unlimited located on Avenue I, is known to be a popular item years in the past. Trautman described the Torpedo as an adult snapper, similar to the small popping fireworks which snap when thrown on the ground, known to be a kids favorite, the Torpedo takes the smaller snappers to a louder and larger scale. We actually have to order them (the Torpedo) from a specific company because they are hard to find, and we normally sell out of them every year, Trautman said. Taylor Brott, member of Turning Point Apostolic Church said, at their fundraising firework stand located in-front of Menards, firework packages and deals are a popular selection of customers. Almost everybody that came through the line last year was getting something apart of the sale, Brott said. Brott said he recommends Weapons of Warfare, a large finale firework with a display of large bright colors which travel high in the air. Their unique selection of large fireworks, one specifically with Husker fans in mind, Big Red Thunder, tends to be of interest year after year. Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Chief Financial Officer Tammie McGarr goes through the districts proposed 2020-2021 budget at a budget work session held Monday. Niagaras public and Catholic school boards are preparing for what the provincial government has in mind for students and teachers when they resume classes in September. Three options have been laid out that boards should be ready for: A return to conventional, regular classroom instruction combined with enhanced health and safety protocols; Smaller classes capped at 15 students with alternating attendance, possibly every other day or every other week, is another direction being explored; At-home e-learning all year is on the table. The province gave parents the option to voluntarily keep their kids out of school and study from home. District School Board of Niagara is working on all three potential delivery models. It is too early within that process to know what this will look like for September, said chief communications officer Kim Yielding. Ultimately, she said, the regions public health department and the Ministry of Education will determine the strategy used in September. Our focus is on our commitment to creating a safe return to learning for all our students and staff when the 2020-21 school year begins, Yielding said. Niagara Catholic District School Board education director John Crocco, who retires Aug. 31, said he will spend the summer helping his replacement with a smooth transition while planning to reopen. An adaptive model is the focus, said Crocco, adding he doesnt expect full student populations will be under the same roof at once. I dont see by September we could put 1,100 kids in one of our high schools. He hopes that soon schools will be able to operate as closely to possible as they did before the pandemic. We certainly hope for a conventional return, with public health protocols in place, he said. Classrooms with no more than 15 students on a rotating schedule is a better option than bringing everyone back simultaneously, Crocco said. You need to keep the cohorts together to minimize transmission of the virus, he said, adding parents deserve structure with the massive task of a plan that needs to be put together. We know parents want some kind of routine, said Crocco, adding clubs, sports, assemblies and playground time all need to be factored. Through an online program called Thoughtexchange, Niagara Catholic has received 4,000 comments from 2,700 people on what they would like to see in September, he said. RELATED STORIES Life New world of schooling awaits kids in September D.J. Brooks, a parent from Beamsville with two school-aged children going into grades 2 and 4, said its too early to take a strong position on how schools should be operating. Anyone willing to take a firm stance on anything right now is lost, he said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Wait and be ready to react. Lisa Anderson, a mother from Fort Erie, said the option of rotating schedules would work for her family but only if they give parents enough notice to get child-care in place. In a news release, the Ontario government said it is instructing boards to be prepared with a plan, should it be required, with a model that could include alternate day or alternate week attendance, staggered bell times and recess, and different transportation arrangements, among a variety of other considerations to ensure the safety of students and staff. with files from Toronto Star MONTREAL - Air Canada is suspending service on 30 regional routes and closing eight stations at smaller Canadian airports as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to batter the travel industry. The cuts, which reduce the flight options for travellers, come as a result of record-low travel demand amid ongoing border shutdowns and interprovincial restrictions, the carrier said. Provincial and federal government-imposed travel restrictions and border closures ... are diminishing prospects for a near-to-mid-term recovery, Air Canada said in a statement Tuesday. The route cuts mainly affect travellers to and from the Maritimes, Quebec and Saskatchewan, with all but five of the cuts in those regions. British Columbia, Alberta and the territories were left untouched by the withdrawal. Air Canada also plans to close its counters at four airports in Quebec, two in Ontario, one in New Brunswick and one in Newfoundland and Labrador. Other changes to its network and schedule and further service suspensions will be considered over the coming weeks, the airline said. The loss of service could mean less direct flight routes or, at an extreme, the loss of all service, said Robert Kokonis, president of Toronto-based consulting firm AirTrav Inc. Air Canada Express is the only commercial airline to service Bathurst, N.B. one of the cities where the company is pulling its airport station leaving residents no choice but to hope another regional carrier will pick up the abandoned routes down the line, Kokonis said. Air Canadas scale-back speaks to the highly restrictive travel barriers facing airlines and a lack of financial support from Ottawa, he added. Canada continues to have an aviation system with cuffs locked around both hands, Kokonis said in an email. Air Canada and all other players in Canadas aviation food chain are being pushed to the limit. Canada, unlike countries including France, Germany and the United States, has held off on sector-specific support for carriers. Instead Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rolled out financial aid available across industries, including the federal wage subsidy and loans starting at $60 million for large firms. Air Canada laid off more than 20,000 workers more than half of its staff this month as part of a plan to cut costs. The Montreal-based company has removed 79 planes from its mainline and Rouge fleets, chopping flight capacity by more than 85 per cent year over year, with only marginal improvement expected in the critical summer travel season of July through September. The changes come as some confinement measures lift and Canadians slowly begin to brave air travel again, though Manitoba and the Maritimes still have restrictions on interprovincial travel in place while other provinces discourage it. On Tuesday, the Canada Border Services Agency confirmed that the government will extend until July 31 the travel ban that bars entry to travellers who are not Canadian citizens, permanent residents or Americans. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau extended a separate ban on non-essential travel between Canada and the U.S. until at least July 21. Border shutdowns and record-low demand mean airlines around the world will lose US$84 billion this year and see a 50 per cent year-over-year revenue decline, according to the International Air Transport Association. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Air Canada is closing its stations at the following regional airports: Bathurst, N.B. Wabush, Nfld. Gaspe, Que. Baie Comeau, Que. Mont Joli, Que. Val dOr, Que. Kingston, Ont. North Bay, Ont. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2020. Companies in this story: (TSX:AC, TSX:TRZ) Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version incorrectly stated the province for Kingston and North Bay BRUSSELS - The European Union and dozens of donor nations pledged a total of $7.7 billion Tuesday to help tackle the humanitarian crisis deepening in Syria and neighbouring countries hosting millions of Syrian refugees as the coronavirus pandemic and economic crises compound the misery of nearly a decade of civil war. EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic announced the total at the end of a day-long online pledging conference organized by the EU and United Nations. We have today expressed solidarity with the Syrian people, not only with words, but with concrete pledges of support that will make a difference for millions of people, Lenarcic said. The war in Syria has killed more than 400,000 people and sparked a refugee exodus that has destabilized neighbouring countries and impacted Europe. Around 11 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and some 9 million dont have enough to eat. More than half of the population have no jobs. International anti-poverty organization Oxfam said the amount pledged fell short of what is needed. The pledges made by donor governments are simply not enough to address the Syrian crisis with 1 million people at risk of starvation inside the country, and COVID-19 and an economic downturn hitting refugees and host communities in neighbouring countries hard, said Marta Lorenzo, Oxfams Middle East and North Africa regional director. U.N. Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Imran Riza, speaking from Qamishli in northern Syria, underscored the problems. We are on the cusp of all these multiple crises, Riza said. You see kids that are clearly now getting malnourished. You are seeing levels of malnutrition that we have never seen in the last nine years and this gets worse and worse if you dont take action right now. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas pledged 1.584 billion euros ($1.8 billion) on Germanys behalf as he, too, warned that the global pandemic was exacerbating the grim realities of life in war-shattered Syria. Access to humanitarian assistance is even further restricted, he said during the virtual donor conference. And health facilities that lie in ruins cannot attend to the enormous needs. Today, we can demonstrate that the world cares, that the people of Syria are not forgotten. Britains International Development Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, pledged 300 million pounds to support areas including education, food and fighting the coronavirus. We cannot and will not ignore the scale of the coronavirus threat in Syria, which has already been ravaged by almost a decade of conflict, Trevelyan said. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced that EU institutions would donate 2.3 billion euros ($2.6 billion) for this year and next. Perhaps wary of the state of coronavirus-ravaged national coffers, the EU and the U.N. - joint chairs of the conference - underlined that they did not set a fixed pledging target. U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said about $10 billion is needed and that raising $5.5 billion would not be a bad outcome. Lenarcic said at the end of the conference that $5.5 billion of the money pledged Tuesday would be available this year and $2.2 billion for next year and beyond. The EU has reported that in 2019 donors contributed 8.9 billion euros ($10 billion) in grants to Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The United Nations currently requires about $3.8 billion for its Syria-related work. Speakers at Tuesdays fundraising meeting repeatedly expressed support for Syrias neighbours housing refugees. Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the cost to his country of hosting more than 1 million Syrian refugees has exceeded $40 billion since the conflict began in March 2011 and he warned that the situation is getting worse amid an economic crisis. Diab called on the U.N., the EU and friendly nations to shield Lebanon from the negative repercussions of sanctions, such as those imposed on Syria by the Trump administration in mid-June. Lowcock acknowledged that holding the donor conference at a time when economies around the world have been slammed by the coronavirus was tough. We recognize that circumstances are a bit unusual, he said. Its a difficult moment in every country to find the resources necessary to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people, but its essential that we do go on doing that work. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Oxfams Lorenzo said: Its shocking that the international community has failed to recognize the urgency of the situation despite clear calls from Syrian civil society. ____ Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. AP writers Sarah El Deeb and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed. 30/06/2020 - The latest edition of the OECDs annual Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation report shows that the support policies implemented by the 54 countries studied all OECD and EU countries, plus 12 key emerging economies provided on average USD 536 billion (EUR 469 billion) per year of direct support to farmers from 2017 to 2019. Half of this support came from policies that kept domestic prices above international levels; such policies harm consumers, especially poor ones, increase the income gap between small and large farms, and reduce the competitiveness of the food industry overall. At the same time, six of the countries implicitly taxed farmers by USD 89 billion (EUR 78 billion) per year by artificially depressing prices. These policies further added to market distortions. By contrast, most countries spend comparatively little to underpin the long-term performance of the agricultural sector: across all 54 countries in the report, expenditures for research and development, infrastructure, biosecurity and other enabling services amounted to just USD 106 billion per year. Subsidies to consumers account for a further USD 66 billion per year. Total support to the sector comprising aid to producers (USD 536 billion), consumers (USD 66 billion) and for enabling services (USD 106 billion) -- therefore added up to USD 708 billion per year. Despite productivity gains in the past decades and some recent initiatives to improve the sectors environmental performance, the overall pace of policy reform has stalled. Support levels have changed little over the past decade and there has been little progress in moving towards instruments that impose fewer distortions on production and trade. As a further consequence, the environmental performance has been mixed. In particular, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture have increased in most countries. The OECD report also provides information on government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic which include significant relief measures to support consumers, farmers and other agro-food actors and to keep food and agricultural supply chains moving. While many countries are focused on facilitating trade as part of their efforts to maintain supply chains, some have imposed temporary trade restrictions which can undermine supply in both the short and longer-term. Going forward, the OECD report says, countries should shift to deeper investments in building the long-term resilience of the food and agriculture sectors. Globally, more than one of every nine dollars of gross farm receipts continues to flow from public policies. In some countries, it is one in two dollars, said OECD Director for Trade and Agriculture, Ken Ash. Governments need to invest in well-functioning food systems but most current support to agriculture is unhelpful or even harmful. As countries struggle with strained budgets from COVID-19, this is a moment to reduce distorting agricultural support and refocus efforts and limited resources on achieving better results for agriculture and society overall. Governments can take a number of policy actions to make their agriculture sector more productive, sustainable and resilient: Phase out distortive policies, including price support and budgetary support closely linked with agricultural production and input use. Reallocate funds toward key public services to the sector for improving productivity, sustainability and resilience, or to well-targeted support for the provision of public good outcomes such as biodiversity. Focus on more ambitious environmental outcomes through less distortive, more efficient and more targeted policies. The OECDs annual Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation report provides up-to-date estimates of government support to agriculture for all OECD members (including Colombia, which joined the Organisation in April 2020) and the European Union as a whole, plus key emerging economies: Argentina, Brazil, Peoples Republic of China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Ukraine, and Viet Nam. On July 16, the OECD and FAO will issue the 2020-2029 edition of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook. This will provide a comprehensive medium-term baseline for projections for agricultural commodity markets at national, regional and global levels, along with an initial scenario exploring COVID-19 impacts. Based on this picture, the report will provide further insights and policy options on how to enable more productive, sustainable and resilient global agricultural and food systems. Read the OECD Agricultural Policy Monitoring report in English at https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/agriculture-and-food/agricultural-policy-monitoring-and-evaluation_22217371. More information on Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation at the OECD For further information, journalists are invited to contact Carol Guthrie in the OECD Media Office (+33 1 45 24 97 00). Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. Tuesday, 30 June 2020 17:39:51 (GMT+3) | Istanbul Algeria is gradually turning into a steel exporting country with another large steel producer advancing in its plans to take some market share overseas. Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS) has recently signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tamaga Company to export some 20,000 mt of rebar to Mali and Niger to be shipped from Djen Djen port. The agreement, which also involved Sider Group and some private companies, comes in line with Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebbounes guidance to boost the national economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, the memorandum says. Besides conquering new markets, this agreement will enable an increase in the country's foreign exchange reserves, the parties to the memorandum are convinced. The agreement was signed for a period of one year and is renewable, SteelOrbis has learned. As a result, AQS is to become the second serious steel exporter from Algeria, while Tosyali Algerie, the Turkish investment in the country, was the first domestic steelmaker to start regular shipments from Algeria to the US and Europe, and has been targeting to expand its presence in the African markets. AQS is capable of 500,000 mt wire rod and 1.5 million mt rebar production per year. The Archdiocese of St. Louis issued a statement Sunday opposing the recent effort to remove the statue of the citys namesake in Forest Park and change the name of the city. A local Israeli-American restauranteur and a pair of Muslim activists started a petition to change the name of the city and remove the statue of St. Louis because of the 13th century French kings persecution of Jews and Muslims. The effort comes as people around the United State push for the removal of statues and monuments of historical figures described by proponents as racist. ADVERTISEMENT We should not seek to erase history, but recognize and learn from it, while working to create new opportunities for our brothers and sisters, read the statement from the Archdiocese. The Catholic organization stated it was encouraged by the winds of change to address racism but that energy of change should be focused on programs and policies that will dismantle racism and create a more equal society. Ben Poremba, a native Israeli who owns four local restaurants; Umar Lee, a Muslim activist and writer; and Moji Sidiqi, executive director of the Regional Muslim Activist Network started the Change.org petition, which had more than 900 supporters on Tuesday morning. It also had attracted attention from local and international news organizations. St. Louis has a large and vibrant Jewish and Muslim community and its an outright disrespect for those who are part of these faith communities to have to live in a city named after a man committed to the murder of their co religionists, reads the petition I ask all people of good faith committed to the modern values of equity and coexistence to sign this petition to rename the City of St. Louis to something more suitable and indicative of our values. The petitioners described Louis, a devoted Catholic who was declared a saint by Pope Boniface VIII in 1297, as anti-Semitic because he ordered the burning of 24 cartloads of manuscripts of the Talmud, the primary text of Jewish religious law and theology. The French king also ordered the expulsion of Jews who kept copies of the Talmud or other banned books, forbade Jews from working in moneylending and ordered Jews to wear distinctive badges, according to Jewishvirtuallibary.org. Louis also led the Seventh Crusade against Muslims in Egypt, during which he was defeated. The Diocese pointed to Louis efforts to feed the poor and minister to lepers. For Catholics, St. Louis is an example of an imperfect man who strived to live a life modeled after the life of Jesus Christ. For St. Louisans, he is a model for how we should care for our fellow citizen, and a namesake with whom we should be proud to identify, the organization stated. Gateway Pundit, a far-right site with national readership founded by a St. Louisan, also countered the petition by making a call out to all Catholic and Christian men join on Saturday afternoon in public prayer to save the statue. The petitioners then organized a counter-protest, and hundreds of people gathered at the statue, with the two sides often engaging in a shouting match. The Sentinel offices, along with others across the nation, has been mostly empty for the past three months because of the pandemic. But like many newspapers across the country, Sentinel reporters, photographers and editors have been working remotely to publish every day. Once the moratorium has expired, courts will be able to again begin processing cases. Tenants who face eviction will in most cases have just five days to pay the back rent they owe into the court registry for their cases to be heard, otherwise the landlord is entitled to an immediate default judgment for removal of the tenant. On Oct. 23, 1980, four workers were shot and killed during an early morning robbery at Pope's cafeteria in Des Peres. Here is our original coverage of that event. By the late 1880s, the city was expanding farther west and plans had been announced to hold a Worlds Fair on the grounds of the new Forest Park. This led Pitzman to create new private places, just north of Lindell Boulevard and the park. Portland and Westmoreland places were laid out in 1888, and the first homes opened in 1890. The streets are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In his book Westmoreland and Portland Places, published in 1988 to celebrate the centennial of the two streets, Julius Hunter, former KMOV-TV (Channel 4) anchorman, said the citys power structure was so centered on these two streets that they were uniquely self-sufficient. Every element required to purchase and equip a new residence from a bank loan to bricks, stone and glass to electricity, gas and appliances could be obtained from a company headed by a neighbor, Hunter wrote. Some of St. Louis most heralded family names have lived on one of the two streets. One of the more famous houses on Portland is the Faust House, built by August A. Busch Sr. as a wedding gift to his daughter and her new husband, restaurateur Tony Faust. Gaston was 17 when Rich met him, just a kid who got in trouble with drugs. One thing led to another. Gastons record is long. Mostly drugs, but also a gun charge. Hes spent his fair share of time in prison. Lately, Rich thought Gaston was turning things around. Gaston had what he described as his best job in years, working as a forklift operator for a big company that was providing health insurance and a 401K. He had just been married. His daughter is nearing college graduation. Then, in a moment where the instinct to protect his family took over, everything he was building collapsed. His motives were to protect his loved ones, and the little bit of property he has in this world, Rich says. They really were scared. So were the McCloskeys, apparently, as protesters marched by their home, on a street built to keep people like them out, where some of the citys wealthiest residents rebuild their historic homes with tax credits from the state that take money away from local schools, because in St. Louis, and Missouri, income inequality is built into the fabric of society. CLAYTON Two nationally known former police chiefs will review the St. Louis County Police Department in an initiative announced Monday by County Executive Sam Page that is being funded by private businesses and appeared to be independent of the Board of Police Commissioners. The review will be paid for by the Regional Business Council and member companies of Civic Progress, an organization of top executives from the regions largest private sector employees, according to a news release from Pages office. The cost of the review and the companies involved in the effort were not disclosed in the news release; Doug Moore, a spokesman for Page, referred questions seeking those details to the business groups. Page does not directly control the county police department. Under the county charter, a five-member board appointed by the county executive does. Page late last year replaced four of the five members in the wake of a $20 million verdict against the department in a workplace discrimination suit. Asked why the initiative was announced by Page and not the police board, Moore said in an email: Because its important to Dr. Page. One of the police commissioners appointed by Page in 2019 said they were enraged by the announcement. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said hes hopeful that a number of changes in recent weeks will help reduce the spread of the virus this weekend. Its been more than a week since he signed an order requiring people to wear masks in public in Orange County, including inside businesses. Traditional fireworks celebrations across the region, such as one held each year at Lake Eola, were cancelled. And, on Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis administration said bars could no longer serve alcohol on site after allowing them to reopen June 5. The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims, police said. When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police. The crowd of protesters eventually moved to Krewsons home on Lake Avenue a block away. Police said they are investigating the incident on Portland Place but are labeling it as a case of trespassing and fourth-degree assault by intimidation. A police spokeswoman referred a reporter to the courts as to whether the couple were within their rights to point guns at protesters. Castle doctrine Anders Walker, a constitutional law professor at St. Louis University, said Monday that it was very dangerous for the McCloskeys to engage with protesters by brandishing guns, but Missouris Castle Doctrine allows them to defend their property on Portland Place, a private street. "At any point that you enter the property, they can then, in Missouri, use deadly force to get you off the lawn, Walker said, calling the states Castle Doctrine a force field that indemnifies you, and you can even pull the trigger in Missouri. Luckily, Walker said, no one got shot. The way we all ended our time in school was very abrupt, so for us to have her here, its a bit of a connection back to his classroom, Schenkelberg said. I think that when Gracie has to go back to school well have to get another chinchilla. Athena Sit brought home Cinnamon the guinea pig from her kindergarten class at Parkway School Districts River Bend Elementary in Chesterfield. Athena wanted a dog, so they thought the guinea pig would be a good way to practice responsibility, said her mom, Jenny Truong. Truong and her husband have been working from home, so the guinea pig has been a nice diversion for Athena and her 2-year-old brother, Truong said. Cinnamon is no trouble at all, doesnt go hiding or anything, Truong said. Shes kept them happy and its been a joyful experience. It was supposed to be a weeklong visit when mice Snowball and Chubbs came to live with the Reliford family in Kirkwood. We were just going to take them for spring break but we took them forever, apparently, Stacy Reliford said. JEFFERSON CITY Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday signed Missouris $35 billion spending plan for the new fiscal year, but in doing so, he used his veto pen to cut more than $11 million in spending as revenue collections lag during the current economic downturn. COVID-19 has severely impacted our economy and our expectations, Parson said at a press briefing at the Capitol. In addition to the vetoes, the Parson administration restricted an additional $448 million in spending, which state Budget Director Dan Haug said would be enough to balance the states fiscal 2021 budget if current projections hold. The Legislature had already delivered to Parson a budget that was about $700 million less than Parson had proposed in January. Parson said he could release at least some of the withheld money if revenue collections improve in fiscal year 2021, which begins Wednesday. The withheld amounts span state government, including $28 million worth of cuts to four-year higher education institutions and $150,000 that was earmarked for the attorney generals office to investigate the gray market gaming machines that have spread across the state. Haug said they also would include layoffs for some state employees. Missouri is among 14 states that rejected the expansion idea. The federal government currently covers about 65% of Medicaid costs, while the rest comes from the state. But populations covered under Medicaid expansion would have 90% covered by federal funding. Republicans, including Gov. Mike Parson, have argued the state cannot afford a larger Medicaid program. Smith raised questions about whether a fiscal analysis completed over a year ago by Democratic State Auditor Nicole Galloway needed to be updated because of the effects of the coronavirus. Were being impacted by a pandemic, Smith said, suggesting that job losses could result in more people qualifying for the program. The note suggests the expansion will either save $1 billion or cost $200 million. Paul Harper, an attorney for the auditors office, said there is no legal process available to update the fiscal analysis to reflect any potential increase in the number of people seeking health care. Harper also said the auditors office is not taking a position on the veracity of the fiscal note, which was created by asking state agencies and other units of government to submit their estimates to the auditors office. Meanwhile, Alderman Cara Spencer, one of the board members who pushed unsuccessfully to defund the facility, said she was glad to see Reed was planning some action. But Spencer, D-20th Ward, added that it was a slap in the face to the campaign and its aldermanic allies to not involve them. Mayor Lyda Krewsons spokesman, Jacob Long, said the mayor already has said the city was working toward operating only the main jail downtown but doesnt want to put dangerous criminals back on the streets. We look forward to reviewing (Reeds proposal) to gauge the impact on public safety, Long said in a statement late Monday. The city charter says if the Board of Aldermen doesnt approve a budget by the start of the new fiscal year on Wednesday, the one submitted to it by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment goes into effect. Another meeting of the board had been scheduled for Tuesday but Reed ruled that a motion adjourning the board until Thursday was approved on a voice vote. Rush job The Lambert bill would restart the process of considering airport privatization, which was halted last December by the mayor. Some cities will be able to draw down reserves to overcome the reduced flow of tax money, but an estimated 51% will cut public services, the organization said. Another 19% could raise taxes to offset the losses, the survey found. The program, which has an application deadline of Aug. 31, would allow cities to pay back a loan with no interest in the first year. If the loan is extended, the interest rate would start at 2% and grow to 2.75% in the fourth and final year. Cities will be required to certify that the loan is necessary to avoid a reduction in essential government services due to the effects of COVID-19. Finance board executive director Robert Miserez said he has received inquiries from communities interested in the program. But, he said, we still dont know who specifically will apply. Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon said the loans are part of Gov. Mike Parsons statewide recovery plan. Its a really important program that is going to help a lot of communities across the state, Dixon said. This is a critical tool, added Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe. Daily updates on the latest news in the St. Louis business community. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. This was allegedly a massive, multi-state scheme to use small, rural hospitals as a hub for millions of dollars in fraudulent billings of private insurers, said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division in a statement. Attempts to reach Perez for comment Monday evening were unsuccessful. But last year when Perez spoke to Kaiser Health News, he said he was losing sleep over the possibility he could go to jail after propping up struggling rural hospitals. I wanted to see if I could save these rural hospitals in America, Perez said. Im that kind of person. Pam Green, a former night charge nurse at the now-shuttered Horton Community Hospital in Horton, Kansas (population under 1,700), said she hopes Perez and his colleagues receive long prison sentences. He just devastated so many people, not just in Kansas, but in Oklahoma and all the other places where he had hospitals, said Green, 58, of nearby Muscotah, Kansas. I went months and months without pay, without health insurance. He robbed the community. For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for the latest coronavirus numbers in the U.S. and around the world. --- The US toll The US has 4% of the world's population but 25% of its coronavirus cases The United States has long prided itself as the world's shining beacon. But its current status is a much darker one: the globe's leader in coronavirus cases. More than 125,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the US, and more than 2.5 million Americans have been infected. American life has been irrevocably altered by the worst pandemic in a century. And as the country struggles to reopen, cases of Covid-19 have surged again -- this time in young people and in states that had previously avoided the brunt of the virus. Here, in dollars, percentages and most tragically lives, is the pandemic's devastating toll on the US. The group discussed how to make the mask-wearing campaign more palatable to college students, who have become the target of public health officials in recent weeks as the median age of infected people has dropped to as low as 29 and virus outbreaks have been linked to bars popular among University of Central Florida students. What is the most important message coming out of the Black Lives Matter movement? End police brutality? End systemic racism? I could not possibly speak for people of color, and Im sure there may be differences of opinion. Nevertheless, the most important messages must stem from one underlying principle all human beings possess dignity and are worthy of respect. If we understand this and believe this principle, it is incumbent upon us, regardless of race, to seek to understand the history and the context that has shaped us and those not like us. Unfortunately, understanding (historical and cultural) is in short supply these days. Too many white Americans fail to understand the lingering effects of hundreds of years of slavery and nearly a century of Jim Crow. Within your lifetime or your parents lifetime, Black people were systematically restricted from voting via poll taxes, registration vouchers and other government enforced mechanisms. Similarly, Black families were restricted on where they could buy houses because of government imposed redlining policies. The list of racist government actions could go on. It is only with a lack of historic and cultural understanding that we can fail to see the history of abuses and usurpations against people of color in the United States. In any case, the GOP bill, as might be expected, was significantly weaker in terms of new police restrictions than the Democratic bill. To borrow from the tongue-in-cheek old phrase, this is why God made committees. It would have made perfect sense for representatives of the two parties to sit down in bipartisan fashion and hammer out a compromise bill that both could live with. Thats the common way of doing Senate business, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused, choosing instead to offer up the weak-tea Republican bill as is, and demanding a vote before refinements could be considered. McConnells Machiavellian tendencies are well known, and it isnt hard to see his game plan here: If the bill had gotten a vote, even though it was doomed to fail, his more vulnerable members could be on record as having voted for police reform. If the Democrats prevented a vote (which is ultimately what happened), McConnell could claim the other side stood against reform. Its a smart strategy unless, of course, youre actually interested in accomplishing reform. That must not be the last word at a time when America, finally, is poised for real police reform. The Democrat-controlled House is offering its own bill that could form the basis of bipartisan negotiation across both chambers. This is the moment. Congress needs to get this done. 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. The green turtle's name derives not from the color of its shell, which is olive-brown with dark streaks and spots, but from the greenish color of its body fat. On average, these sea turtles weigh 300 pounds and have a shell length of 3.3 feet. (FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute) For the second time in the last fifteen years, a working communications system between submerged submarines and surface forces has been developed. The latest effort is LRAM (Long-Range Acoustic Messaging) developed by GeoSpectrum Technologies, a Canadian subsidiary of Israel defense manufacturer Elbit. LRAM, like similar earlier efforts, uses acoustic signals to transmit data underwater. This can be used to establish a one-way or two-way link over underwater distances up to a thousand kilometers. While such a system can be very useful in an emergency to contact a disabled sub on the sea bottom, or commercial research gear (fixed or mobile) navies have been looking for systems that can provide some communication with submerged subs, even if one way, in combat situations. LRAM seems capable of doing that and now navies are deciding whether to invest in equipping one or more of their subs for a test. The Canadian government has expressed interest in testing LRAM and if that is successful others will probably follow. Since the 1990s the U.S. Navy has been trying to develop a practical method for communicating with submerged submarines. Much work went into finding ways to generate acoustic pulses that could be picked up over long distances. In 2008 American firm Raytheon completed the development of such a system, which enabled nuclear subs to communicate with the rest of the world that, normally, could not be done until the boat came close to the surface and poked a radio antenna above the surface. The Deep Siren, or "tactical paging system", provided a practical solution to the problem of communicating with a submerged sub. On paper, both LRAM and Deep Siren appear to operate in a similar fashion. The Deep Siren system consists of a disposable buoy, that is dropped in the water, by an aircraft or over the side of a ship, in the general area (within about 90 kilometers) where the sub is believed to be. The buoy sends out an acoustic signal that U.S. subs are equipped to automatically pick up. This coded message either orders the sub to get a radio antenna above water and call home, or simply delivers a brief message. The buoy also has a satellite telephone capability, so that additional messages can be sent from anywhere, to the sub. The sub cannot send messages to the buoy (because powerful sensors are required to pick up the signals). In the past, the only way to "page" submerged subs was via a large, shore-based, low frequency, transmission system. These systems were less reliable than the new ones like Deep Siren, although these older systems had a much longer range of nearly 200 kilometers. The navy successfully tested the other end of the system. To do this, the sub releases a similar buoy through its garbage chute. The buoy hovers for a while (so the sub can move away), then rises to the surface and sends its messages. Because of this, the buoy signal will not give away the exact location of the boat. The buoy then receives messages (short ones) and uses a sonar type device to send the data acoustically, for up to 90 kilometers, to the sub. Outgoing messages, which are sent via satellite, can be longer, and even include outgoing email from the crew to family. But the acoustically transmitted messages are much shorter, and include orders from the surface ships, or anyone in the chain of command, to the sub commander. Deep Siren could also be useful for American carrier task forces, which are usually accompanied by at least one SSN (nuclear attack sub.) Because thermal layers make underwater transmissions vary a great deal in range, the buoy sends the command messages several times to ensure at least one gets through. The buoy from the sub can stay active for several days, if the sub is remaining in the area. But eventually, the buoy sinks itself. The U.S. Navy spent about $10 million on Deep Siren to install it in some subs and test it. These tests continue, to see how reliable it would be under realistic conditions. Developer Raytheon has demonstrated Deep Siren for other navies but no one ever issued a press release about installing Deep Siren for regular use. If there were any problems with Deep Siren, there were no published details, possibly for security reasons. In the past new tech was installed in nuclear submarines with great secrecy and no publicity at all. No wonder subs are called the silent service. Dejero LivePlus Mobile App Revolutionizes San Diegos KFMB-TV Emergency Reporting KFMB-TV anchors, reporters, producers tap Dejeros mobile app on smartphones to deliver live high quality broadcasts on the move, from breaking news scenes and from home Waterloo, Ontario( ) Dejero, an innovator in cloud-managed solutions that provide Emmy award winning video transport and Internet connectivity while mobile or in remote locations, has provided San Diego TV station KFMB-TV, also known as CBS 8, with over 60 Dejero LivePlus mobile apps to support the broadcasters emergency news coverage strategy. The LivePlus app, which is downloadable to smartphones and tablets, has allowed KFMB-TV to deliver incredible live footage from the recent Black Lives Matter rallies, inside of San Diegos recent wildfires, and to respond with agility to the broadcasting challenges of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We deliver seven hours of live news every day, and before our team members started using the Dejero mobile app, we were relying on 11 of Dejeros sturdy EnGo mobile transmitters to get high quality live shots from our remote crews in the field, explained Kenny McGregor, chief photojournalist at KFMB-TV CBS 8. San Diego is a large city and our field crews (and EnGo units) cant be everywhere at once, so we issued Dejeros LivePlus mobile app to all of our news and weather reporters, photojournalists, as well as producers, so that they could go live with a high quality broadcast from virtually anywhere within seconds, without having to rely on the arrival of a full ENG crew. The app has revolutionized our news coverage. Both the Dejero EnGo and LivePlus app use Dejeros Smart Blending Technology to reliably deliver exceptional picture quality with low latency by simultaneously aggregating wired (broadband, fiber) and wireless (3G/4G/5G, Wi-Fi, satellite) IP connections from multiple providers to form a virtual network of networks. The Dejero network delivers enhanced reliability, expanded coverage, and greater bandwidth. The Dejero LivePlus mobile app, available for both iOS and Android devices, also helps mobile journalists to be less intrusive when capturing an unfolding news scene and enables them to move more easily with the story, as well as adding multiple viewpoints to live events. Earlier this month, McGregor used the mobile app to capture unfolding events, up close, during the Black Lives Matter rallies in San Diego. The app has saved us resources, budget and most importantly, has meant our news people can capture broadcast quality live shots on the go, get closer to the action and be first to deliver unfolding news to TV and online audiences, said McGregor. Plus, when the COVID-19 lockdown was enforced, our reporters and video contributors were already equipped to be able to broadcast live from home using the app. In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dejero mobile app was also used by KFMB-TV to report the movement of cruise ship passengers quarantining at local military bases. Using a simple mobile phone as a camera, mounted magnetically onto a car dashboard, reporters could follow buses from military bases back to the airport, and transmit video live using the Dejero LivePlus mobile app, which would have previously been impossible using just microwave signals. Similarly, during the San Diego wildfires in October 2019, McGregor himself was able to report from inside the fire zone using just his cell phone and the Dejero app, beating all other news channel crews to the scene and delivering unique insights and live updates to its viewers. The LivePlus app also gives KFMB-TV an advantage in terms of how the broadcaster engages with its audience, by enabling the team to produce more high quality content for its extensive online presence, as well as for streaming on its website and to video platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. Using the app, reporters can provide invested viewers with live coverage on the way to a news scene and create anticipation on the go over a mobile phone, without any equipment limitations. The Dejero LivePlus mobile app has transformed the way we capture live news and we commend them as a company on their second-to-none customer service and genuine desire to provide us with reliable connectivity and the tools we need to go live from anywhere, concluded McGregor. Note: Dejero is providing access to its LivePlus mobile app to those who need to deliver high quality content during the COVID-19 pandemic. Complimentary new licenses of the app are available to use until September 30th, 2020. About Dejero Driven by our vision of reliable connectivity anywhere, Dejero blends multiple Internet connections to deliver fast and dependable connectivity required for cloud computing, online collaboration, and the secure exchange of video and data. With our global partners, Dejero supplies the equipment, software, connectivity services, cloud services, and support to provide the uptime and bandwidth critical to the success of todays organizations. Headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Dejero is trusted for broadcast-quality video transport and high-bandwidth Internet connectivity around the world. www.dejero.com About KFMB TV KFMB-TV, also known as CBS 8, has a rich tradition of firsts: the first station to offer local newscasts, the first news in color and the first to broadcast local news in High Definition. In addition to its leadership in technology and innovation, CBS 8 is consistently recognized as the local news leader in both ratings and news coverage. In June of 2017, KFMB launched The CW San Diego over the air on channel 8.2 and on cable television in San Diego. In addition to carrying network programming, KFMBs CW station broadcasts 3 hours of news per weekday. TICKERS: POR; PFFOF Source: Peter Epstein for Streetwise Reports (6/30/20) Peter Epstein of Epstein Research digs into recent news from Portofino Resources, which now has prospects on four gold properties in Canada and two lithium brine assets in Argentina. Note: Au = Gold, Ag = Silver, Cu = Copper, Zn = Zinc, Cu Eq. = Copper Equivalent at spot prices It has been a busy six weeks for Portofino Resources Inc. (POR:TSX.V; POT:FSE). Six press releases have been issued. I will reiterate the key takeaways. But first an update on Portofino's South of Otter (SOT) property in the Red Lake mining district of northwestern Ontario. Although SOT is a priority, all four properties will likely see exploration this year. South of Otter: ~9 kilometers (~9 km) from Great Bear's Dixie project The 5,207-hectare SOT project is 40 km southeast of Red Lake, Ontario, and about 9 km east of Great Bear Resources Ltd.'s (GBR:TSX.V; GTBDF:OTCQX) very high-grade Dixie project. In the past, SOT was the subject of large-scale geophysical surveys designed to target base metals. However, in 2001 Goldcorp completed a property-wide compilation and interpretation of prior ground and airborne magnetic data to assess the potential for gold. Due to a lack of outcropping rocks, minimal follow-up work was done. Management just completed a field program of prospecting and geological mapping along strong conductors identified in the company's winter electromagnetic (EM) ground survey. A total of 32 samples were collected to test various styles of mineralization, lithologies and alteration. The work program included prospecting, detailed structural mapping and outcrop channel sampling based on conductors found in the geophysical survey announced on May 14. A lack of detailed historical work enables Portofino to undertake meaningful programs, guided in part by the successes of neighboring exploration companies. In addition to the collection of 32 samples, significant semi-massive to massive sulfide mineralization was discovered along a newly identified, 1.6-km-long fault zone. This zone is located ~500 meters (~500m) south of previously identified gold soil sample anomalies and EM conductors. A total of 12 samples were collected along this (deformation) zone to test for the presence of Au, Ag, Cu and Zn. Notice in the image below that drill holes (DH)/historical resources include: DH: 1.5% Cu + 6.3% Zn (3.7% Cu Eq.) over 3.4 m; 110,000 tonnes @ 0.5% Cu + 12.5% Zn (4.9% Cu Eq.); DH: 1.4% Cu + 7.3% Zn (4.0% Cu Eq.) over 9.5 m; 100,000 tonnes @ 1.0% Cu + 10% Zn (4.5% Cu Eq.). Further prospecting and geological mapping on the margins of this fault zone identified alteration in the volcanic wall rock. Many gold deposits in Ontario are either directly hosted in this type of mineralization or exist in close relationship to it and a fault zone. Other projects containing this signature, along similar deformation zones, include GBR's Dixie and the Uchi Lake gold mine. Once additional permits are received, Portofino will proceed to trenching / drilling. Three new gold properties secured in past month These are exciting times for Portofino. Management had an opportunity to pick up additional low-cost properties with gold showings, so they did. All three properties are located in historical and current mining districts with ample infrastructure and easy access. In addition to Red Lake, management expects activity in the Atikokan area to heat up this summer. A number of companies are increasing their exploration there. Portofino began negotiating and planning to lock up gold properties in Ontario when gold was around US$1,400/ounce (oz). Today (June 24), August gold futures are at US$1,786/oz, a gain of ~28%. Therefore, without a single new drill hole on any of its four controlled properties, I argue that the value of the company's assets has meaningfully increased. On June 11, Portofino announced the execution of a binding agreement to acquire six claims (869 hectares) in the Atikokan district, also in northwestern Ontario. The Melema West property is located 28 km northeast of Atikokan, and 5 km north of the Quetico Fault. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.'s (AEM:TSX; AEM:NYSE) Hammond Reef gold deposit is ~19 km northwest of Melema West. Hammond Reef hosts a large, near-surface Measured and Indicated resource of 4.5 million ounces of gold. Grab samples taken in 2019 assayed as high as 10 g/t gold. The Young-Corrigan vein system ranges in width from 1 to 15m and was mapped over a strike length of at least 170m. Positive gold values demonstrate that an additional undocumented gold-bearing structure potentially exists on the Melema West property. CEO David Tafel of Portofino commented on the Melema West property: "The gold-bearing structures in this area are extensive, well documented and traceable for >30 km. Recent land acquisitions by Agnico Eagle, contiguous to Melema West, supports the idea that Portofino is strategically well placed. The undocumented and unexplored Young-Corrigan Shear Zone is a compelling exploration target." On May 27, Portofino executed a binding agreement to acquire three claims totaling 1,147 hectares. The Sapawe West property is 9 km northeast of Atikokan, just north of the Quetico Fault, and 2.5 km west along strike of the past-producing Sapawe Gold mine. Portofino has initiated the compilation and reinterpretation of all available historic data on the property and is proceeding to develop exploration targets for a summer field program. Hammond Reef, located ~13 km north of the Sapawe West property, is in a structurally active portion of the Steep Rock Greenstone Belt. Similar to the structure associated with Hammond Reef, Sapawe West hosts a possible northeast trending splay from the Quetico Fault. CEO Tafel commented on the Sapawe West property: "We are excited to acquire this strategically located property. The nearby past-producing Sapawe Gold mine, the visual results from Falcon Gold's drill program along the same geological corridor, and the lack of drilling on the property, makes for a compelling exploration target. We look forward to commencing initial field work." This news came just a week after executing a binding option agreement for the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Gold Creek property. The block comprises three mining claims, is easily accessible by road, and covers ~1,010 hectares. Historical activity at Gold Creek included: From 1967 to 1973, prospecting, mechanical stripping/trenching and rock sampling of quartz vein occurrences in the district. In 1983, geological mapping, magnetic and VLF-EM surveys further assessed the area. In 1985, and from 1987 to 1989, Noranda Exploration conducted extensive work, [exploring] the area with an airborne magnetic and electromagnetic survey, ground magnetic and electromagnetic surveys, selective radiometric and gravity surveys, geochemical sampling, geological mapping/overburden stripping, and rock sampling. Inco Gold conducted an exploration program in 198990, which consisted of grid line cutting, magnetic, VLF-EM and geological mapping surveys, trenching, rock sampling and two diamond drill holes. Two grab samples assayed 13.2 g/t and 64.2 g/t gold. Significant gold mineralization has been traced along a 1.5 km strike length, with grab samples returning values up to 759 g/t = 24.4 ounces/tonne (from an OGS property visit), and diamond drill intersections in 2008 of up to 2.3 g/t over 8.3m. CEO Tafel commented on the Gold Creek property: "This transaction allows us to continue to build our gold portfolio within the easily accessible, active and historic gold mining area of northwestern Ontario. Multiple visible gold occurrences reported by previous operators is very encouraging, and gives our technical crew a head start in planning initial exploration activities." Gold Creek is characterized by geology similar to that documented in the Kirkland Lake area, where numerous gold showings occur in a broad range of lithologies. Visible gold sometimes occurs within the mineralized veins. Management has initiated the compilation and re-interpretation of all available historic geochemical and geophysical data at Gold Creek to develop exploration targets for summer field work. Conclusion Portofino is up +225% from its three-year low, but its market cap is only CA$3.2M. In addition to the four properties described above, the company has two lithium brine assets in Argentina that could be worth millions of dollars (Canadian) once energy metals regain popularity. If management could farm out one or more gold/lithium properties, it could reduce already low cash burn to virtually zero. Shareholders would have a free option on the remaining controlled properties. In looking at peer Red Lake properties (and companies with nearby Atikokan area properties), the average gain from three-year lows is +1,640%. Even excluding GBR's staggering performance, the average gain is 2.5 times that of Portofino's. Perhaps not Great Bear, but others listed on the above chart could be interested in acquiring companies like Portofino to gain additional regional gold exposure. Another thing to watch for is a potential takeout of Great Bear or Pure Gold Mining Inc. (PGM:TSX.V; PUR:LSE). That event would generate even more excitement in the region, shining a light on the dozen or fewer remaining juniors that have all, or substantially all, of their precious metals properties in northwestern Ontario. In British Columbia's Golden Triangle, there are three times as many names to choose from. Portofino Resources offers a compelling risk-reward proposition. Peter Epstein is the founder of Epstein Research. His background is in company and financial analysis. He holds an MBA degree in financial analysis from New York University's Stern School of Business. [NLINSERT] Epstein Research Disclosures/Disclaimers: The content of this article is for information only. Readers fully understand and agree that nothing contained herein, written by Peter Epstein of Epstein Research [ER], (together, [ER]) about Portofino Resources, including but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts, calculations, etc. is not to be considered implicit or explicit investment advice. Nothing contained herein is a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. [ER] is not responsible under any circumstances for investment actions taken by the reader. [ER] has never been, and is not currently, a registered or licensed financial advisor or broker/dealer, investment advisor, stockbroker, trader, money manager, compliance or legal officer, and does not perform market making activities. [ER] is not directly employed by any company, group, organization, party or person. The shares of Portofino Resources are highly speculative, not suitable for all investors. Readers understand and agree that investments in small cap stocks can result in a 100% loss of invested funds. It is assumed and agreed upon by readers that they will consult with their own licensed or registered financial advisors before making any investment decisions. At the time this article was posted, Portofino Resources was an advertiser on [ER] and Peter Epstein owned shares and warrants in the company. Readers understand and agree that they must conduct their own due diligence above and beyond reading this article. While the author believes he's diligent in screening out companies that, for any reasons whatsoever, are unattractive investment opportunities, he cannot guarantee that his efforts will (or have been) successful. [ER] is not responsible for any perceived, or actual, errors including, but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts & financial calculations, or for the completeness of this article or future content. [ER] is not expected or required to subsequently follow or cover events & news, or write about any particular company or topic. [ER] is not an expert in any company, industry sector or investment topic. Streetwise Reports Disclosure: 1) Peter Epstein's disclosures are listed above. 2) The following companies mentioned in the article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 3) Statements and opinions expressed are the opinions of the author and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The author is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. The author was not paid by Streetwise Reports for this article. Streetwise Reports was not paid by the author to publish or syndicate this article. Streetwise Reports requires contributing authors to disclose any shareholdings in, or economic relationships with, companies that they write about. Streetwise Reports relies upon the authors to accurately provide this information and Streetwise Reports has no means of verifying its accuracy. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. Graphics provided by the author. Stillwater, OK (74074) Today Variable clouds with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Storms more numerous during the morning hours. Cooler. High 73F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Clear skies. Low around 55F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view. International and regional powers agreed at talks on Tuesday to intensify a military campaign against Islamist militants in the West African Sahel region, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying victory over the jihadists was within grasp. Militant attacks in the Sahel have increased over the last two years, especially in the tri-border region of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali known as Liptako-Gourma, where local authorities have been overrun. Mauritania hosted a meeting of the leaders of five Sahel nations plus France and Spain to plot future strategy in the scrubland south of the Sahara where since 2013 thousands of French troops have been helping countries counter insurgencies. "The heads of state stressed the need to intensify the fight on all fronts by national and international forces against terrorist groups," the final communique said. The so-called G-5 Sahel nations comprise Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad - all former French colonies. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also attended the summit, while other EU leaders joined by video. "We are all convinced that victory is possible in the Sahel. We are finding our way there thanks to the efforts that have been made over the past six months," Macron said after the summit. Ahead of the summit, a joint statement by the United Nations and a group of aid organisations painted a dark picture of the situation on the ground. "The security situation in the Sahel countries has deteriorated considerably in recent months. Conflicts prevailing in the region are having unprecedented humanitarian consequences," it said. The joint forces, led by France's 5,100 troops, have so far targeted the regional affiliate of Islamic State, concentrating military efforts on Liptako-Gourma. French forces said this month that they had killed al Qaeda's North Africa commander Abdelmalek Droukdel. But the G-5 force has been hampered by a lack of funding, equipment and coordination. France has long called for more help from its European allies for the mission, which it sees as essential to protecting the security of Europe's southern flank. Short link: Hans Christian Heg, an ardent abolitionist whose statue in Madison, Wisconsin, was pulled down this week, fell at the Battle of Chickamauga trying to make a more perfect union. Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded one of the first Black Union regiments and whose monument in Boston was defaced last month, was killed at Fort Wagner trying to make a more perfect union. Ulysses Grant, who did more than any other general to defeat the Confederacy and more than any other president to defeat the Klan, and whose statue in San Francisco was pulled down last week, devoted his life to trying to make a more perfect union. Western Bay District and Tauranga City councils have achieved further recognition from Central Government for their work in fostering cultural diversity and understanding through the Welcoming Communities programme. The councils have gained accreditation by Immigration New Zealand as an Established Welcoming Community a status that acknowledges the efforts of both councils and communities to welcome newcomers and create an inclusive environment for all ethnicities. The latest accreditation is the second of four levels and comes on the heels of the programmes success in February this year when it earned national recognition after a two-year pilot in the Western Bay and Tauranga communities. Accreditation as an Established Welcoming Community is further testimony that the two councils and their communities are creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for migrants in the Western Bay, says a Western Bay of Plenty District Council spokesperson. Events such as the Katikati Festival of Cultures, New to the Bay Expo and Celebrating Cultural Diversity programme are examples of the councils commitment to celebrating the regions diversity of cultures. The accreditation also recognises the efforts of Welcoming Communities to build relationships across tangata whenua, mana whenua, iwi and hapu throughout the region. Mayor Garry Webber says Welcoming Communities has taken a leadership role in raising awareness of the regions ethnic diversity and in so doing has inspired communities to be involved in cultural activities that have deepened understanding. The programme has helped enhance the community spirit that makes the Western Bay such a welcoming place. "This latest achievement further cements the value of Welcoming Communities as a platform to build diversity, strengthen cohesive and connected communities and for migrant communities to showcase their cultural identity through celebrations such as Katikatis Festival of Cultures. Tauranga City Council Mayor Tenby Powell says a hallmark of a strong community is its openness to diverse cultural influences. The Western Bays accreditation to the Welcoming Communities programme is a great achievement and speaks to our commitment to foster diversity and make people from different cultures welcome here. We can all take pride in that and do our part to ensure that we make newcomers, wherever they are from, feel valued, safe and at home. Immigration New Zealand General Manager of Refugee and Migrant Services, Fiona Whiteridge, says the recognition is well deserved. The councils and their communities have worked hard since they first joined the programme in 2017. Theyve shown commitment to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment where all residents can thrive and belong. Were delighted they have gained formal accreditation as an Established Welcoming Community and we look forward to working with them further. The assessment panel congratulates the seven councils and their communities for embracing the Welcoming Communities programme. The other accredited councils are: Palmerston North City Council Ashburton District Council Invercargill City Council Gore District Council Southland District Council The Welcoming Communities programme has been run by the Tauranga and Western Bay councils since 2018, led by coordinator Haidee Kalirai. Today there are no new cases of COVID-19 to report. This means the number of active cases in New Zealand remains at 22. All active cases have recently returned from overseas and are in managed isolation facilities, says a statement from the Ministry of Health. "There have been no cases of community transmission. "One person remains in Auckland City Hospital in a stable condition on a ward. "Our total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 remains at 1,178, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization." Yesterday, laboratories completed 1960 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 397,470. "This includes testing at managed isolation facilities and community-based testing across the country." The seven day rolling daily test average is 6950. Supplies Over the last few months, the Ministry has worked to establish strong supply chain links for both testing and PPE supplies - globally, supply chains remain under significant stress. "We are ensuring we have sufficient stocks here in New Zealand to give us a buffer if supply chains are disrupted," says Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. "Some items of PPE such as gloves are in short supply globally. We are working with infection prevention control specialists to ensure the correct PPE is being used and that where appropriate alternatives exist, these are used. "At current usage rates of PPE, New Zealand has a minimum of three months stock of all PPE items required to deal with COVID-19. For most items, we have over six months. "We continue to work to bring in PPE to support New Zealand if there is an increase in infections. In the last two weeks, for example, 63 million items of PPE have landed in New Zealand. "New Zealand is also in a good position with its supplies for testing current stock across the country is sufficient to enable 253,190 tests. "We have sufficient supplies of lab consumables and swabs already in the country and more are arriving regularly. "We have established strong relationships and processes with our main suppliers for testing supplies that are working well." Managed isolation contacts The MOH continues to progress their contact with the people who left managed isolation facilities between June 9 and June 16. Of the 2159 people who left managed isolation facilities during this period, 1284 people have now been contacted and have tested negative for COVID-19; 800 of those were tested before leaving managed isolation and the remaining 484 were tested after departure from the facility. A further 366 people have been spoken with and referred for testing. "There are 367 people who we have repeatedly tried to make contact with, including via text and via phone calls. "Again, a reminder to anyone who was in a managed isolation facility between June 9 and 16 who has not yet spoken with Healthline to call the dedicated team on 09 302 0408. "As needed, we refer people we do not make contact with to finding services. 56 of these had invalid phone numbers, so have already been referred to finding services. "We have had 142 people who will not be tested because of reasons such as being a child, being part of repositioning crew, currently being overseas or they are refusing a test. 84 people have refused testing." NZ COVID Tracer App NZ COVID Tracer has now recorded 585,000 registrations. The number of posters created by businesses is now 75,776 and there have been 1,285,240 poster scans to date "We continue to encourage as many people as possible to download and use the app," says the Ministry. "It continues to provide us with up to date contact information to support our contact tracing efforts in Level 1, which remains key to New Zealand's elimination strategy." A new mobile app named Manaaki aims to help people combat gambling habits. The app is described by Gayl Humphrey, the study lead from the National Institute for Health Innovation NIHI- at the University of Auckland, as a support package in your pocket. Manaaki, meaning to extend mana to others and to encourage and urge on in Maori, is a world-first in its app-based offering, and Gayl explains it was conceptualised because there is a gap in the help available for people experiencing problems or harms from their gambling - especially those who find using or accessing current services difficult. Manaaki is about offering another avenue that gives people access to evidence-based help with problem gambling directly through an application on their phone. Manaaki blends existing tools, strategies and evidence from traditional cognitive-behavioural therapy treatment and offers it in a pick and mix snackable selection of modules that can arm people with the skills and insight they need to help quit harmful gambling habits, says Gayl. With researchers from Australias Deakin University, the Manaaki app puts a Kiwi spin on the Australian GAMBLINGLESS online problem gambling programme. Funded by a grant from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, a study to validate its effectiveness is underway and NIHI researchers are looking for participants who think they can help, or feel that they would like to better manage their gambling or quit gambling altogether, to give the Manaaki app a go over a 12-week period. Hapai Te Hauora, which provides the national coordination for problem gambling harm prevention, is a partner in the apps development and the research. Stephanie Erick, Kaiwhakahaere of Hapai Te Hauora, says that the studys launch out of lockdown is a timely opportunity to support people who may feel tempted to return to previous harmful gambling habits. It is really important that we can take steps to provide other forms of support and in unprecedented times when online gambling is in promotion, developing mobile services makes so much sense, says Stephanie. Communities are long overdue a suite of support tools and platforms that can reach more people and help them before their harmful gambling becomes problem gambling. People experiencing harms or problems from their gambling, are not always the first to put their hands up about accessing help. Whakama or shame is often a key reason for not seeking help. We dont want this reluctance to mean that people dont get the help that they need, so Manaaki has been designed as a way to support people to self-help by packaging evidence-based treatment into a readily accessible form, to use anytime and anywhere. Are you or someone you know worried about gambling? Want to check out your gambling habits? NIHI invites people to help them find out if Manaaki can help people get their lives back. Manaakican be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play, visit the study page or contact manaaki@auckland.ac.nz The study has ethics approval from the New Zealand Health and Disability Ethic Committee and as a token to acknowledge the sharing of knowledge in the study, participants receive a small koha for their involvement. In Winston Peters words, politicians are quick on the lip and slow off the hip when it comes to doling out cash, however, Friday was very different. The deputy prime minister was in Whakatane to announce a further $2.5 million cash boost from the Provincial Growth Fund to top up the $36 million already invested in the town earlier this year. The additional millions will enable the fast-tracked development of the new commercial boat harbour, revitalisation of the river front and town centre and the development of a new visitor hub and cultural centre. Simply put, the additional putea (funding) will enable extra resources such as more staff to develop designs, consultation plans and other requirements. Peters says COVID-19 demonstrated how much of the nations wealth, which paid for schools and hospitals, came from the provinces. He says this money will help Whakatane recover from the economic strain of COVID-19. This money will enable all these projects to be completed sooner and will establish Whakatane as a world-class big town. Peters says quality employment will help the region recover and these three projects will together provide 450 jobs. Whakatane Mayor Judy Turner says the additional funds will give real people, real jobs, right now. She says those who have been affected by the COVID-19 economic downturn will see jobs becoming available both through this funding and the $8.2 million Kia Kaha Whakatane projects, which are also funded by the Government. Turner expects the projects to deliver 160 full-time jobs in the next six weeks with some workers already on site and working. Getting these important roading, infrastructure and environmental projects happening quickly will provide urgent economic relief for the workforce, particularly those who have lost jobs through COVID-19." Turner is also looking forward to seeing work begin on Whakatanes wharf and expects new jobs to be created and people to gain skills and training on the job. Whakatane has been hit hard in the past six months, but we will rebuild and recover. These environmental and infrastructure projects allow us to get real people into real jobs, right now. Ngati Awa kaumatua Joe Harawira says the funding has him optimistic for the future and he's pleased it will allow a kickstart to his iwis Kainga cultural centre project. He says what previously existed in the imagination, has become a reality and he has a deep gratitude for the support from the Government. Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder says the projects are a shining example of a partnership that will foster a vibrancy and optimism in the community, as well as contributing to regional economic recovery and development. Do you already have a paid subscription to any of the SWNewsMedia newspapers? If so, you can Activate your Premium online account by clicking here. Activation will allow you to view unlimited online articles each month. To activate your Premium online account, the email address and phone number provided with your paid newspaper subscription needs to match the information you use in setting up your online user account. If you are having trouble or want to confirm what email address and phone number is listed on your subscription account, please call 952-345-6682 or email circulation@swpub.com and we'll be happy to assist. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. Lawton, OK (73501) Today Windy with scattered afternoon thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 78F. Winds NNE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 55F. NNE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. The PD plans to separate the two downtown events by using barricades to force distance in order to ensure that both groups can exercise their constitutional rights in a safe and coordinated manner. The use of barricades creates distances so that if any dialogue occurs, it occurs safely, Clair said. Organizers of each of the events have been in contact with the police to coordinate. Until Sunday, the BLM protest group was on track to march the same route through Main Street as they had during a June 13 rally. Over the weekend, however, organizers announced a route change that would lead marchers onto residential and secondary roads, Clair said. We fundamentally believe that it is inherently unsafe for large amounts of pedestrians to be on secondary roads, he said, later adding,We feel like the previous agreed upon perimeters allowed us the greatest ability to keep everyone safe. During the previous march on Main Street, police performed what's called a rolling roadblock, a traffic control technique in which police paced ahead and behind of participants to keep them safe from traffic. Clair explained police were able to do this because Main Street is a four-lane road and so it did not block the entire street and still allowed traffic to flow. For 86 days, the play yards at The Barking Orange doggy daycare usually aflutter with perky tails and canine excitement remained quiet. Like many business owners, Sara Edsall tried to fill the time with upgrades, sanitizing and preparations for new procedures. But June 15 brought joy and relief as Edsall finally was able to reopen her doors to furry friends. Its really good to be back, she said. We love what we do. Yet reopening hasnt been all floppy ears and wagging tongues. Edsall said that while grooming business is up and many clients have returned their pups to daycare, shes doing about 50% of the business she was before the coronavirus shutdown. She has all nine employees back but working at reduced hours. She isnt sure if or when shell be able to resume training classes. She now spends time every day studying her finances. WE ARE BACK!! Does it feel like 2 years?? Look at how much Ash and Lessa have grown! Oh and Happy 2nd Birthday Ash and Lessa!! Posted by The Barking Orange on Monday, June 15, 2020 Over the last nine years, Edsalls business has grown to the point where, before the pandemic, she stopped accepting new daycare customers. Now, she said it feels as if the statewide shutdowns have set her back two or three years. Edsall has taken measures to ensure safety, including online payments, a new cleaning routine, and keeping customers outside while their dogs come in. But she knows some clients just arent comfortable getting back out, or their lifestyles and needs have changed with things like job loss and working from home. We have to build the business back now, she said. I would love to be back to where we were at the end of the year last year, but its going to take time. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple months. Edsall has a solid plan in place to be able to ride out the summer but said she has concerns about how her business will continue to be tested in the fall and the months after that. Her struggle represents that of many local business owners who are relieved to be able to open their doors but simultaneously are faced with a new set of challenges. For weeks, they worried if theyd be able to open under New York state rules at all. Then, with no or little source of income, they flocked to federal funding programs like the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Next, they scrambled to meet guidelines for reopening. Now, with Central New York in phase four, many small business owners are at a new juncture. Experts say revenue isnt as much of an immediate, pressing concern. But as the heightened fear has dissipated, it has been replaced with equally-as-serious worries about longevity, profitability and consumer behavior during a pandemic that isnt going away completely anytime soon. The long-term health of these small businesses and the local economy could hinge on factors such as the successful reopening of area colleges and universities, and whether or not the region is forced to sustain a second wave of infections and, potentially, shutdowns. As part of the Back in Business initiative, syracuse.com reached out to local business owners and experts to check in with them at this critical stage. Many, including Pathfinder Bank Regional President Calvin Corriders, said the tides have begun to shift. I am cautiously optimistic, Corriders said. Businesses are assessing the aftermath of the storm and looking for whats coming next. Open, but not thriving The newly rebranded Scholar Hotel reopened its Salt Restaurant and Bar, bringing back to life a space that was mostly sitting quiet for three months. Yet, the local hotel, a state-designated essential business, has been open throughout the pandemic. That doesnt mean business has been good. Its an example that opening is not the same as thriving. Gary Brandeis, president of the boutique hotel group, which has two other locations, said the local crew is doing everything it can to make guests feel safe and comfortable. Theyve spaced out furniture in the lobby and other gathering spaces, increased cleaning, and added protocols to avoid having cleaners enter a guests room while during their stay. The hotel is trying to keep rooms empty for 24 hours between stays. Inside Salt Restaurant & Bar at the Scholar Hotel. (Photo by Jacob Pucci)Jacob Pucci While Brandeis sees having the food business open as rounding one corner, he just hasnt seen a material uptick in business from overnight guests so far. Brandeis is focused on the long-term health of his business and of Central New Yorks economy. While hes optimistic, concerns still loom, such as expenses like property taxes that must be paid regardless of how much revenue the hotel brings in. Any business that owns its own property is in a similar position. Those that dont have rent and utilities to pay, too. Some business owners turned to programs like the PPP, but even those arent designed to sustain businesses in the long term. Fortunately were in a market thats supported by educational and medical institutions, Brandeis said. Were hoping those demand generators will ramp up. CenterState CEO President Rob Simpson noted that many local businesses rely on colleges and universities to bring consumers, and their out-of-town dollars, into the community. That will be important to watch for in the coming months, Simpson said. This is a community that has defined itself for generations as a meds and eds community, he said. One of the critical issues for Central New Yorks economy is about what our educational institutions are allowed to do come fall, along with the attitudes of students and parents at that time. Simpson underscores a point many business owners are experiencing firsthand: Being allowed to open isnt enough; customers have to feel comfortable patronizing a business. Simpson notes that while businesses arent in immediate crisis response mode anymore, the coronavirus presents long-term, significant disruption. Looking ahead Each week, Debbe Titus sees an increase in the number of orders customers are placing at Half Moon Bakery & Bistro in Jamesville. I think people are appreciating small businesses, she said. Im seeing a lot of people appreciating what were going through. When they come in and say welcome back, when theyre pretty excited to see you, thats a nice feeling. Titus chose to shut down Half Moon for eight weeks, after talking to her employees early on in the pandemic, and agreeing it was best for everyones safety to close up shop. She has since gradually reopened, first three and now four days a week. She has brought back most of the staff. But she, too, considers her business somewhat dependent on Syracuse University. Or at least, graduation sales are certainly a boon for the bakery. Without those, and with weddings, baby showers and other gatherings canceled for months, Titus watched her bank account drain and looked to a local grant program for help. Half Moon was one of 31 local businesses awarded a $5,000 grant through the Syracuse small business stabilization fund, set up by CenterState CEO in partnership with KeyBank and Jump Start. Even now, as Half Moon has opened and seen an increase in demand, Titus said its a much different business than it was in early March. For one thing, shes nixed the bistro menu and removed seating to make more room for social distancing and getting customers in and out of the bakery. Debbe Titus, at Half Moon Bakery & Bistro in Jamesville, has adapted her business because of the coroanvirus pandemic. She set up online ordering for the first time and temporarily removed seating to allow for a smoother process for sales inside the bakery. (Provided Photo) Shes also diversified her offerings. Instead of large items for graduations and weddings, shes promoting smaller, 6-inch round wedding cakes, cupcakes and even dessert boxes. She said her staff and customers are getting creative to work within the restrictions caused by the virus. I cant just keep doing business like I did, Titus said. I have to re-imagine. Adam Mastroleo, a lawyer at Bond, Schoeneck & King, said his clients questions have largely shifted to these types of re-imagining inquiries. Small business owners are looking for help with strategies for meeting state guidelines while also making a profit, he said. Theyre worried about the risks of operating during a pandemic to their business, to their customers and to their employees. For some businesses, like hotels, dog groomers and bakeries, the states guidance has been pretty clear, but others are operating in grayer areas, with less understanding about whats safe and whats not. Its a lot of pressure on small business owners, who dont know what the next few months or years could bring. Titus said shes had to be more frugal with Half Moon Bakery, which after seven years, had been in a stable financial place before the crisis. She worries whether the business could sustain another shutdown. Even looking out more than six months is nerve-wracking. Typically, after the holidays, she sees a lull in business. And shes had to spend the rainy day fund she usually saves for that time of year. She is reinvesting all the revenue shes earning now right back into the business. My nest egg is gone, Titus said. How are we going to weather the first half of 2021? Small business owners: Have a question or a story to share about how youre coping through the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdown? We want to hear from you. Contact Back in Business reporter Julie McMahon: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992 CNY BACK IN BUSINESS Small business owners have less than a week to get piece of $130 billion Paycheck Protection Program Summer is not canceled: How Syracuse entertainer keeps thriving during pandemic 31 Onondaga Co. small businesses get $5,000 grants to help with coronavirus struggles Small business owners get another change to apply for $10,000 grants, federal loans CenterState CEO business survey: Sense of optimism grows as Central NY reopens Syracuse lounge owner plans for reopening a music venue in midst of a pandemic Shop local: Where are fitting rooms open for clothing, shoes, accessories? More from CNY Back in Business Sign up for the Back In Business newsletter to get small business advice delivered to your email inbox The Paycheck Protection Program closes to new applications today at midnight. Lenders, including banks and credit unions, have until 11:59 p.m. to submit applications on behalf of small business owners. Interested borrowers must apply through a lender. The program has about $130 billion still remaining. After an initial rush of applications in April, Congress added more funding to the program. The pace of applications has since slowed, but nearly 4.8 million loans were made in the last three months, totaling almost $519 billion. The PPP was designed as a lifeline to small businesses struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a way to ensure employees around the country continue to collect paychecks. The program offers small businesses and non-profits access to low-interest, forgiveable loans, to be used for expenses including payroll, rent and utilities. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, which is overseeing the program, the average loan size is $108,000. The majority of the loans have been for less than $50,000, according to the latest SBA data. In New York, nearly 317,000 businesses have received PPP loans totaling $38 billion. Small business owners: Have a question or a story to share about how youre coping through the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdown? We want to hear from you. Contact Back in Business reporter Julie McMahon: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992 CNY BACK IN BUSINESS As Central NY reopens, small businesses innovate (and worry) in aftermath of the storm' Summer is not canceled: How Syracuse entertainer keeps thriving during pandemic 31 Onondaga Co. small businesses get $5,000 grants to help with coronavirus struggles Small business owners get another change to apply for $10,000 grants, federal loans CenterState CEO business survey: Sense of optimism grows as Central NY reopens Syracuse lounge owner plans for reopening a music venue in midst of a pandemic More from CNY Back in Business Sign up for the Back In Business newsletter to get small business advice delivered to your email inbox Albany, N.Y. New York will require 14-day self-quarantines for travelers from another eight states where the coronavirus is still spreading rapidly, Gov. Andrew Cuomos office said Tuesday. The new states on the list are California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee. The state previously mandated quarantines for travelers from Alabama, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Arkansas, North Carolina and South Carolina. Thats a total of 16 states. Cuomo detailed the quarantine policy last week. He announced it jointly with Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Ned Lamont of Connecticut. The quarantines will apply to travelers from any state with an infection rate of over 10% of the total population or with more than 10 people infected for every 100,000, both based on a rolling seven-day average. Cuomo said last week the list of states meeting those criteria would be updated regularly. The three governors all said they were concerned people from locations with high rates of infection could spread the virus and harm progress made against the pandemic in their states. Experts have said enforcement will be difficult. Cuomo has said the state will use random checks to monitor compliance. He also said hes asking airlines to have incoming travelers fill out a form to help with enforcement. Virus update Cuomos office also gave an update today on the status of the pandemic in New York. Hospitalizations due to the virus rose 38 to 891 on Monday. Thats one of the few daily increases in hospitalizations in recent weeks, but the total number is still down dramatically from a peak of more than 18,000 over multiple days in April A total of 217 people are in intensive care units, up one. Thirteen people in the state died due to the virus on Monday, up six. The statewide death toll is now 24,855. The state conducted 52,025 tests for the virus on Monday and 524 came back positive. Thats a positive rate of about 1%, which is largely consistent with recent days. New York now has 393,454 confirmed cases of the virus. Correction: This story originally listed Washington as one of the states on the quarantine list. The state was originally on the list, but has since been removed. The story has been updated. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Restarting NY: Can you have a wedding this summer in NY state? Cuomo: NY school reopenings at risk if coronavirus keeps spreading nationally NY State Fair 2020: Deep-fried faith continues for a socially distanced event as cancellations begin Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Syracuse, N.Y. A 33-year-old man who led a drug trafficking operation in Syracuse was sentenced Monday to 8 years in prison and forced to give up $112,500 in proceeds from his drug trafficking, federal prosecutors said. Daitwaun Fair, of Syracuse, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine and crack with intent to distribute the drugs, as well as possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and maintaining drug involved premises, prosecutors said. Fair also was ordered to serve another four years of supervised release after hes released. Fair and his co-conspirators were responsible for distributing between 3.5 and 5 kilograms of cocaine in the Syracuse area from July to September 2018, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. At the time of his arrest January 2019, police said a group of 15 people had conspired to sell cocaine, crack and the opiate fentanyl at a house on Coolidge Avenue in Syracuse, according to court papers. On Monday, the U.S. Attorneys Office said, Fair was the organizer of the drug trafficking operation, which included 12 other co-conspirators, all of whom have previously pled guilty. Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie OToole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call 315-470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse police and firefighters are out on the streets every night, trying to put a stop to the illegal fireworks. The city has received more than 1,500 fireworks complaints so far this year, Syracuse police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Malinowski said. Every night since June 16, Syracuse police have paired up officers to focus on the illegal fireworks, enforce the laws and follow up on fireworks complaints in the city, Deputy Police Chief Richard Trudell said. The fireworks detail will continue every night through July 4th. Trudell and other city officials spoke about how Syracuse is trying to combat the ongoing, nightly cacophony of pops and booms during a webinar Monday. The city recently sent out a survey to residents and neighborhood groups to identify problem areas and gather ideas so the city can take action, said Cimone Jordan, city planner for Syracuses Department of Neighborhood and Business Development. About 1,100 people responded. Neighbors said they were concerned about the noise from the fireworks, the potential damage fireworks can cause and they worry about their safety in the event theres a fire from the fireworks. Theyre also worried about the negative effects the noise can have on pets, children and people with post traumatic stress disorder, among other concerns, Jordan said. While fireworks are fun, they can have negative effects, she said. Syracuse police say they are following up with constituents, and theyve reached out to federal and state law enforcement partners. Those calling in complaints have already made a difference, Trudell said. We received several tips about an individual who was using a U-Haul to bring in massive amounts of fireworks, he said. They were actually going to the corner stores and they were selling these fireworks out of the U-Haul. Based on those tips, the deputy chief said, police were able to seize over a pickup truck load full of fireworks off the city streets and make an arrest, Trudell said. Details of that arrest werent immediately available Monday night, but the deputy chief called it a pretty big seizure. Officers also are checking local markets and corner stores for a variety of reasons, including loitering, selling of illegal substances, Trudell said. Well, fireworks are no different. We made a couple large seizures going into the corner stores for selling fireworks. The Syracuse Police Departments crime analysis center helps direct officers to where illegal fireworks are throughout the city. Police also are getting help from the Syracuse Fire Department. Were deploying our fire department, our apparatus and our personnel so were out on the streets, similar to what the police department is doing, just riding the streets, Syracuse Deputy Fire Chief Elton Davis said. When Syracuse firefighters see someone using fireworks illegally, they let the police know, Davis said. The fire department started sending out crews Sunday night and will continue every night this week, he said. Were watching out and going to areas where we know there are a lot of fireworks and trying to be a deterrent to have folks from actually using fireworks, Davis said. Its becoming a nuisance in the community and we want to do our part so we can inform the police department of where were finding people using fireworks illegally. In New York state, anything aerial or that emits a booming noise is considered a firework and is illegal, including M-80s, bottle rockets, spray rockets, cherry bombs, mortars and roman candles. So what fireworks are allowed? City officials say sparkling devices used on the ground or handheld that produce colored sparks, colored flame, audible crackling or whistling noise and smoke are legal in New York state. Some examples of legal sparkling devices include ground based cone fountains, ground based cylindrical fountains, snappers, wooden sparklers/dipped stick and party poppers. Davis, the deputy fire chief, said even though sparkling devices are legal, people should still use them in a safe area, away from houses, cars and away from other flammable objects to prevent fires. We need to be cognizant of using these sparkling devices and make sure theyre discarded properly, Davis said. Anyone caught using, exploding or selling illegal fireworks could face fines and/or jail if convicted, Trudell said. Charges include: Using or exploding fireworks, a violation; selling fireworks, a misdemeanor; and providing fireworks or sparkling devices to someone younger than 18 years old, a misdemeanor. Anyone caught giving fireworks to a child (younger than 18) after having already been convicted of the same offense within the last five years, however, would face a felony. Syracuse police so far have issued 14 appearance tickets, Trudell said. Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie OToole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call 315-470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook Syracuse, N.Y. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon says he liked Gov. Andrew Cuomos call today for malls to install air systems that will filter out the coronavirus because it sets a goal for businesses that remain shuttered. What would be even better, McMahon said, would be a specific roadmap that details what malls, gyms and other businesses must do to reopen. I think what would be better is, Heres what we expect, McMahon said of what he hopes will come from the state. When you do this, you can open. McMahon said he didnt know whether the owners of Destiny USA, the states largest mall, already use the kind of system Cuomo wants. Central New Yorks county leaders talked with state officials about the long wait for requirements for these businesses today, McMahon said. He said he hopes more detailed requirements will be ironed out before the weeks end. That would be a good win, he said. McMahons next briefing will be Thursday, he said. Today, he also talked about: Indoor dining Gov. Andrew Cuomo today and others are expressing concerns about indoor dining as New York City continues to expand its reopening. Earlier today, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy halted plans to restart indoor dining just before the holiday weekend. McMahon said the state hasnt cautioned Central New York about indoor dining, which restarted with limitations in mid-June. McMahon said he knows of no Covid-19 case thats been contracted at a restaurant in Onondaga County since phase two started at the end of May. Thats not to say it wont happen, he added. At some point it will. The challenges of tracking travelers Ensuring people who travel to Onondaga County from states with rising rates of Covid-19 is going to be difficult, McMahon said. Cuomo has said people entering New York from these trouble spots must quarantine for 14 days. We dont have the infrastructure to reach out to hundreds of thousands of people and ask what their travel plans would be, he said. Its really on the honor system, for the most part. McMahon encouraged people to reconsider travel plans and the risks of heading to locations where the virus is increasing. The challenges of returning college students McMahon said the goal is to test all incoming students as quickly as possible to assess who has the virus. He said the county and colleges are working with Upstate University Hospital on rapid testing. Another goal is to bring students back in waves on different days, to spread out the testing, he said. Then well know quickly whos coming back into the community who has it, he said. July 4th As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, McMahon said local police departments and the Onondaga County deputies will be watching for crowds that get larger than 50 people. Theyll also be looking for people who arent socially distancing or wearing masks when needed. The county will look for businesses that arent complying, McMahon said. Overall, he encouraged people to follow the guidelines. They should do the smart thing and wear a mask and protect themselves, he said. And enjoy themselves. Enjoy the countrys birthday. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Restarting NY: Can you have a wedding this summer in NY state? Cuomo: NY school reopenings at risk if coronavirus keeps spreading nationally NY State Fair 2020: Deep-fried faith continues for a socially distanced event as cancellations begin Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274. Syracuse, N.Y. Top officials from City Hall and the Syracuse City School District will sit down this week with protesters who are demanding reforms to local policing. Mayor Ben Walsh, Superintendent Jaime Alicea and Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens will hold a public meeting with members of the Peoples Agenda for Police Reform at 6 p.m. Thursday. The meeting will be a public forum and city staff plan to stream it live online. Protesters from various groups have taken to the streets of Syracuse every day for more than four weeks. Among other things, theyve demanded leaders take action to reform police policies and practices. Two weeks ago, 14 of those groups coalesced to outline a set of nine demands to the mayor, calling for specific action on police reform. Those demands were labeled the Peoples Agenda for Policing. Among the demands, protesters called for the removal of all police officers from city schools. A week later, Walsh signed an executive order codifying his new Syracuse Police Reform Agenda. In that order, he pledged to take some level of action on nearly all of the protesters demands. Walsh promised to develop a new plan for safety and security in the schools. He said police Chief Kenton Buckner also supports removing police from schools. Check back later this week for coverage of the meeting between city leaders and protesters. Pohorence, who has been with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department for close to four years, has a history of violent arrests, particularly against black people. But his attorney, Michael Dutko, said a video of the clash with Servance might not tell the whole story. A statue that would truly represent our common history To the Editor; Once again various factions are disputing the merits of an appropriate monument to represent the communities of the city of Syracuse and the Central New York area. As long as the members of our community represent a variety of diverse factions, ethnically and politically, we can expect to have various diversities raise their own heroes as candidates to represent the whole community. But how can one individual fairly represent all the peoples who live here? The Columbus Issue was created by an ethnic group who wanted to raise a symbol of their special interests. So how does a Genoese-Catalonian discoverer of the Caribbean Islands fairly represent the original landowners or the English settlers who built the city and surrounding villages? If only there were an appropriate symbol of unity. If only there were an appropriate person who represented a peacemaker among the warring factions and special interests. If only there were someone who brought the arguing tribes together and made them see the wisdom of joining forces for the common good. Maybe such a person would serve as a symbol of Onondaga countys and central New Yorks unique place in this areas and our nations history. Well, there is such a person. There is such an historic gure. Perhaps mythical, yet locally and nationally known and admired. Benjamin Franklin knew of him and his wisdom and accomplishments and thought the Colonies would do well to model their new constitution of this peacemakers ideas. That peacemaker, of course, was Hiawatha. His Great Plan was to bring the warring tribes of New York State together and form a confederacy of peaceful unity, to meet each year at a central location to resolve their special interests. That central location was at Onondaga. The peace treaty was agreed and the hatchet buried symbolically at Hiawatha Point on Onondaga Lake under the tree of peace, traditionally a towering white pine. What better symbol to place at the focal point of Syracuse and Onondaga County at what is now called Columbus Circle than a memorial to Hiawatha? Hiawatha, our very own local symbol of Peacemaker among warring factions? Possibly a statue but maybe a native symbol of peace a white pine tree? Any visitor who asks Why the pine tree? could then read the plaque beside a peace pipe-bearing Hiawatha, explaining our own unique history in the founding of not only this community of diverse factions but of the entire diverse communities of these United States of America. Sincerely, Milton Norman Franson | Liverpool, NY *** Heres someone we could all look up to After reading the article Should it stay or should it go?, it seems clear that the major obstacles to the removal of the Columbus statue are the objections of disrespect expressed by members of the Italian-American community. There is some common agreement that Columbus expressed ideas, values and attitudes and committed acts that most Americans nowadays would consider unacceptably racist, inhumane and opportunistic. If we needed a symbol today to anchor the center of our city, adjacent to our cathedral and courthouse, we would not erect a statue of Christopher Columbus. The Italian-American community of Syracuse has made significant contributions to life in Central New York. I am not Italian-American, but I have always admired the devotion to family, strong work ethic and patriotism that signify Italian-American experience in America. These were the values that enabled Italian-Americans to overcome terrible prejudice and discrimination upon their arrival in America. Italian-Americans have welcomed us to their tables, supported opera and served in disproportionate numbers and valiantly in the Second World War. Their small businesses have been the backbone of our economy. Their leaders have run our local government and schools. This significance should not be acknowledged by a statue of Christopher Columbus; here is a better idea. I suggest a monument not of a great man, but of a local hero rather heroine. How many Italian-American families have been supported by mothers who worked all day at the Resnick pocketbook factory or Learburys, only to come home to put dinner on the table and care for children, paving the way for their success? Thousands. It is these women who should be memorialized at the center of our city to honor Italian-Americans, not Columbus. Perhaps this monument would be inspiring to more recent immigrant arrivals? Barry Miller | Fayetteville, NY A 1955 newspaper want ad for the Julius Resnick Pocketbook Company. MORE ON COLUMBUS 1934: Even before its unveiling, Syracuses Columbus statue was controversial Claudia Tenney is the Republican and Conservative candidate for New Yorks 22nd Congressional district and an attorney representing Oneida tribal leader Melvin Phillips. The iconoclasts are back. Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Francis Scott Key and dozens more must be canceled centuries after they died. A strange hubris has descended on a segment of our American society that they are the ultimate arbiter of truth, righteousness and justice. All those who fall short of their recently discovered but unquestionably pure virtues must be stricken down. Now petitions and counter-petitions are circulating to tear down statues of Christopher Columbus in Syracuse and in my own home city of Utica. Absurdly, the Utica petition faults the explorer for causing the massacre of 100 million natives, and in Syracuse the statue is called a symbol of Indigenous genocide and erasure. Putting aside such absurdly false claims, Columbus and his crews were not responsible for the crimes of subsequent conquerors and settlers, let alone the diseases which were the real root of much of the suffering of the New Worlds inhabitants. Facts seem to be no bother to the history eaters who devour the heritage and legacy of others as if completely meaningless. History is our collective memory it is the sum of our experiences whether they be triumphs or tragedies, common or extraordinary. We cannot control the events of the past any more than we can blot out the sun or drain the oceans. To pretend otherwise is more than folly, it is downright dangerous. But that does not mean we must endorse the past as wholly good or ill. It was lived by imperfect beings, just like we are frail and fallen. They achieved great things and committed terrible offenses. Columbus dangerous and daring journey opened up the New World and laid the groundwork for the founding of our great country the only nation ever founded on an idea that liberty and equality are mans birthright from God. We have not always lived up to that high-minded ideal but we continue to strive toward a more perfect Union because we recognize our faults we do not ignore them. And that is what the pursuit of historical truth requires that the good, the bad, and the ugly be laid bare and we seek to do better. My community which erected that monument to Columbus is not blind to his faults but it refuses to judge him only by his sins and erase his great feats. Central New York and the congressional district I served, and seek to serve again, have some the of the largest concentrations of Italian-Americans in the country. They are rightly proud of a man of their heritage that changed the world and opened the door for their ancestors and their own opportunities in our land of promise. I, too, refuse to ignore the true facts. Instead, I seek to understand, appreciate, and improve. The French statesman Alexis de Tocqueville famously wrote, The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. To do that, we must remember. Those who want to force us to forget leave no room for the wisdom of the past to shine through or the revisions of the future to be written. That these would-be statue-smashers might not have the full, immutable truth in their grasp is lost on them. So, they destroy without hesitation and without self-reflection. I choose not to live by such haughty, oblivious terms. As Americans, we should live up to our charge and make our nation more just and free. The plight of Native Americans who these erasers claim to speak for is one place where I have devoted a substantial amount of my time and free legal skills to make a difference in the now. I have advocated for a full-blooded Oneida Indian tribal leader, Melvin Phillips, for over a decade to secure his ancestral Treaty land against eviction by corrupt casino interests. Phillips seeks to honor and preserve the land and culture of his ancestors from powerful and wealthy native interests who seek to cancel their noble history. Like Phillips, who is disabled and lives modestly, the fate of millions of proud but powerless people is so often forgotten by the powerful and the supposed social justice warriors. I ask them before they throw paint or hack at a century-old statue with a pick-ax why dont they build up instead of destroy. Help others who do not have power or privilege realize the promise of this country. Killing figures like Columbus is simply erasing our imperfect history, instead we should be writing the next chapter in bold colors. Remember our country is not perfect, but we earnestly strive to be. Louisville, Ky. Former Marine pilot Amy McGrath overcame a bumpier-than-expected Kentucky primary to win the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination Tuesday, fending off progressive Charles Booker to set up a bruising, big-spending showdown with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Voting ended June 23, but it took a week until McGrath could be declared the winner due to the races tight margins and a deluge of mail-in ballots. The outcome seemed a certainty early in the campaign but became tenuous as Bookers profile surged as the Black state lawmaker highlighted protests against the deaths of African Americans in encounters with police. It was a narrow victory for McGrath. With 89% of precincts reporting Tuesday afternoon, she had a nearly 9,500-vote advantage over Booker. Kentucky switched to widespread absentee voting amid the coronavirus pandemic, and election officials needed days to count ballots. McConnell, a key ally to President Donald Trump, already breezed to victory in the GOP primary in his bid for a seventh term. Since last summer, McConnell and McGrath looked past their primaries to skirmish with each other, and now those attacks are expected to intensify as they head into the fall campaign. McGrath was backed by the Democratic establishment looking for a challenger to keep McConnell tied down in Kentucky as the GOP tries to hold its Senate majority. She raised prodigious amounts of campaign cash that put her on equal footing with the always-well-funded McConnell. Despite her advantages, McGrath sweated out her primary victory against the hard-charging Booker. Bookers long-shot Senate bid surged amid the national eruption of protests against police brutality. He joined demonstrations in his hometown of Louisville to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by Louisville police in her own home. Booker gained the backing of leading national progressives as he supported a universal basic income and Medicare for All ideas that McGrath resisted. McGrath charted a more moderate course inside Democratic politics. She supports adding a public health insurance option as part of the Obama-era Affordable Care Act and supports expanded access to Medicare for people 55 and older. She portrays McConnell as an overly partisan, Washington insider who exemplifies whats wrong with national politics. She accuses McConnell of undermining labor unions, awarding tax cuts for the wealthy and cozying up to pharmaceutical companies while people struggle to afford prescription drugs. McConnell accuses her of being too liberal for Kentucky on issues ranging from abortion to border security. He promotes his work with President Donald Trump who remains popular in Kentucky to appoint conservatives to fill federal court seats. McConnell also plays up his Senate leadership role and his ability to steer federal money back to the Bluegrass State. Trump could turn into a focal point in the Senate race. McConnell led the effort to defend the president after House Democrats impeached him. McGrath has said she would have voted to convict Trump on both impeachment counts. She accused of the GOP-led Senate of lacking the guts to put a check on out-of-control presidential power. John Thomas Steakhouse, a fine dining restaurant in Ithaca, has become the latest in the Central New York area to announce it is permanently closing amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some, like the 26-year-old steakhouse, are high-profile places. That would also include a place like Kelleys Bar & Restaurant on Velasko Road, which announced its permanent closing in early June. The permanent closings also include diners and pizza shops. Some were old, some were fairly new. It can be difficult at this point to determine whether a restaurant has permanently closed, or is just keeping its doors shut until the pandemic eases and the restrictions on operating are relaxed. Thats the case, for example, with Rileys Restaurant in Syracuse. It is closed now, but plans to reopen this fall. Do you know of a Central New York restaurant that has decided to permanently close amid the coronavirus? Send an email to Don Cazentre at dcazentre@nyup.com. Below is a sampling of the permanent closings we have confirmed so far: John Thomas Steakhouse, located at La Tourelle Hotel & Spa, 1152 Danby Road, Ithaca. Owner Michael Kelly told Ithaca.com that the coronavirus outbreak had made the business unsustainable and too dangerous to operate for staff and customers. Kelly, 72, said he expects a restaurant of some kind to take the space. John Thomas Steakhouse, named in a Bloomberg article in 2017 as one of the 30 best steakhouses in the world, opened in 1994. Kelleys Bar & Restaurant, 5076 Velasko Road, Onondaga. Although owner Jon Kelley initially thought he would reopen after the pandemic, he decided, at age 65, to retire instead. Kelleys had been a popular hangout for 37 years. Kelley said hes willing to help another owner start up in the space. Brewerton Diner, 5771 Miller Road, Brewerton. This diner announced via Facebook it is closing for good after failing to receive a federal PPP loan. Owner Michael Piraino has added brekafast items to his other restaurant nearby, Bear Creek at 5480 Bartel Road. Bear Creek remains open. The Chef & The Cook, 7 Syracuse St., Baldwinsville. It closed in late March, becoming the first publicly acknowledged restaurant shutdown related to the coronavirus. The restaurant, operated by DeAnna and Mark Germano, had only been open since March 2018. (In early May, however, Brick-n-Barrel, billing itself as a village gastropub, opened in that location). Circa Ce Soir, 8240 Cazenovia Road (Route 92), Manlius. This restaurant, a new version of the pioneering farm-to-table Circa in Cazenovia, closed in early May after just a few months in business. Co-owners Alicyn Hart and Marco Locicero say they are looking for new opportunities. Nikis Quick Cup Diner, 1513 W Genesee St., Syracuse. This 47-year-old diner on the citys West Side closed in mid-May. Owner Nichole Shue cited the social distancing guidelines that would likely be in place on reopening, saying they would not work in her small diner. Patsys Pizza, 1205 Erie Blvd. W., Syracuse. This pizza/Italian specialties place on the West Side closed May 21 after 38 years in business. It had been founded near Le Moyne College in 1982 and moved to the West Side later. It was operated by Mike and Rose Insalaco. NY Giannis Bronx Style Pizza, 1428 Burnet Ave., Syracuse. Fans of this pizza place had been seeing indications it wouldnt reopen for some time before its Facebook post made it official on May 24. North Street Diner, 3 North St., Marcellus. This popular local hangout announced its closing on Facebook on May 23. Ten Forward Cafe, 115 E. State St., Ithaca. This vegan eatery in downtown Ithaca announced on Facebook it is closing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dennys Restaurant, seven locations in Central New York. The franchisee for the Central New York locations, Feast American Diners, filed a notice with the State Department of Labor that it has closed its local stores, putting 240 employees out of work. The seven locations including two in DeWitt, and one each in Mattydale, Liverpool, Camillus, Cicero and Auburn. Other Dennys have closed across the state and the country. The local franchisee cited unforeseeable business circumstances prompted by Covid-19. MORE ON BARS/RESTAURANTS Some CNY restaurants reopen. Others prefer to wait. Heres why How fast are bars reopening in New York state? Data provides a glimpse Frustration rises for bars that follow rules while others dont Restaurants reopen. How did the first weekend go? Cuomo: State can now shut down rule-breaking bars immediately Barkeeperss dilemma: How do I run my place if I have to keep people six feet apart? Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. By Amanda Fries | Times Union, Albany Albany, N.Y. New York GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy on Monday called on state legislators to rein in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos executive powers that were granted in April as the state declared a state of emergency to deal with response to the coronavirus pandemic. During the pandemic, Cuomo has issued dozens of executive orders to change hundreds of laws, with some critics noting the emergency response to the pandemic has subsided in New York and the Legislature should take a greater role in managing the crisis going forward. They have abandoned their constitutional duty as a co-equal branch of government, Langworthy said at a news conference outside the Capitol. We already knew Andrew Cuomo was a power-obsessed dictator, and now, thanks to Senate Majority Leader (Andrea) Stewart-Cousins and (Assembly) Speaker (Carl) Heastie, weve seen the depths in which he will try to control fully and dictate orders to the people of the state of New York. Hours later, Cuomo dismissed Langworthys criticism of his expanded power during a WAMC radio interview. The Legislature has met and has passed dozens of bills since Ive had the emergency power, and Ive signed many of those bills. So I dont know what he was talking about, the governor said, also suggesting Langworthy is downplaying the pandemics continuing threat. Hes a mouthpiece for (President Donald) Trump. What they are saying is: Stop emergency powers that the governor has because there is no emergency. The criticism of Cuomo's expanded powers has come from both sides of the aisle, and in May lawmakers were eager to return to their legislative session to pass a variety of bills intended to provide relief to New Yorkers amid the pandemic. In early June, legislators also convened many virtually to pass a sweeping police reforms. Republican state legislators have also called for scaling back Cuomos authority, however, none attended Langworthys news conference Monday. Senate Majority Leader spokesman Mike Murphy also dismissed Langworthys calls. We arent going to take advice on how to fight the Covid pandemic from the party that voted against providing funding to fight the pandemic, actively encourages people to not wear masks, promotes wild conspiracy theories, and blindly follows the extremist views of Trump, Murphy said. Nick and his crew of extremists would be funny if they werent so dangerous. Heasties office did not respond to a request for comment. Other lawmakers have seen the necessity of the executive authority which allows Cuomo to act quickly in response to the public health crisis and expires next year due to the more labored process of passing bills in the Legislature. Langworthy said during the height of the virus, Cuomos executive power was appropriate, but now there needs to be diversity in thought by including state representatives who know their communities best. Weve now gotten into a different period. This should not exist for a calendar year, Ill tell you that, he said. That is not democracy. Sacramento, Calif. Gay Hardwick stood arm-in-arm with her husband to face a criminal dubbed the Golden State Killer and couldnt recognize the elderly man hunched in a wheelchair as the sadistic rapist who had terrorized them 42 years earlier. In a hushed and raspy voice, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. a serial rapist before he became a serial killer acknowledged in two words, I admit, that he had attacked the couple in 1978 as he pleaded guilty Monday to 13 murders, and admitted dozens of rapes and crimes too old to be prosecuted as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty. It was the clenched teeth and, you know, the breathy voice, so there really wasnt any resemblance there isnt any resemblance to the old man that sits before us today, Gay Hardwick said. Im not sure that a lot of that isnt feigned. DeAngelo, who hid behind a ski mask during his crimes, sat behind a clear plastic shield to allow surviving victims and their families to see his face even as they wore masks to prevent possible spread of the coronavirus. The court hearing was held at a Sacramento State University ballroom to accommodate more than 150 observers at a safe distance during the pandemic. The seemingly frail and feeble 74-year-old ex-cop, who once busted into bedrooms spewing expletives and threatening to use a .357 Magnum to blow the heads off anyone who moved, seemed lost as he turned to his lawyer each time a prosecutor recited the lurid details of attacks that terrified a swath of Northern California in the 1970s. But where some saw a frail and confused man, others saw a master manipulator. The day before his arrest in 2018, DeAngelo weaved his motorcycle through freeway traffic to lose police who were tailing him, prosecutors said. When he appeared in a court two days later, he looked like the lost man who listed sideways Monday with his mouth half open. Im extremely angry that hes up there acting as if he cant even remember, Jennifer Carole, whose father, attorney Lyman Smith, was slain in 1980 with his wife, Charlene Smith, who was raped before being killed in Ventura. I feel a lot of anger, which I dont think Ive felt so powerfully before. Carole wept as a prosecutor described how her father and stepmother were bludgeoned with a fire log. A pile of used tissues was on the floor next to her chair. DeAngelo, a Vietnam veteran and a grandfather, had never been on investigators radar until just before his arrest. About a decade after the last killing, they connected a series of assaults in central and Northern California to slayings in Southern California and settled on the Golden State Killer nickname for the mysterious assailant. Police used DNA from crime scenes to find a distant relative through a popular genealogy website database then built a family tree that eventually led them to him. They secretly collected DNA from his car door and a discarded tissue to get an arrest warrant. The retired truck mechanic was arrested at his home in the Sacramento suburbs the same area he terrorized in the mid-1970s, earning the title East Area Rapist. DeAngelo did not cooperate with authorities. But he muttered a confession of sorts after his arrest that cryptically referred to an alter ego named Jerry he said forced him to commit the wave of crimes that appeared to end abruptly in 1986. I did all that, DeAngelo said to himself while alone in a police interrogation room after his arrest in April 2018, Sacramento County prosecutor Thien Ho said. I didnt have the strength to push him out, DeAngelo said. He made me. He went with me. It was like in my head, I mean, hes a part of me. I didnt want to do those things. I pushed Jerry out and had a happy life. I did all those things. I destroyed all their lives. So now Ive got to pay the price. While prosecutors suggested DeAngelo had been faking a split-personality, Ho said his day of reckoning had arrived. The scope of Joseph DeAngelos crimes is simply staggering, Ho said. Prosecutors detailed sadistic acts he committed after slipping into homes undetected and surprising couples in bed by shining a flashlight in their faces and threatening to kill everyone in the house including young children if they didnt follow his orders. The masked prowler initially said he only wanted their money to earn their cooperation, ordering women to bind their husbands or boyfriends face down in bed with shoelaces. He piled dishes on the backs of men and said they would both be killed if he heard the plates crash during repeated rapes. At a home in Contra Costa County in the fall of 1978, he told a woman he would cut her baby boys ear off if she didnt perform oral sex after he raped her. I admit, DeAngelo said after the prosecutor read the description of that crime. He stole assorted items, sometimes a few bottles of Budweiser and some cash, other times diamond rings. He slipped off into the dark on foot or by bicycle and even evaded police who at times believed they came close to catching him. DeAngelo knew the territory well. He started on the police force in the San Joaquin Valley farm town of Exeter in 1973, where he committed his first killing. DeAngelo was among the officers trying to find a serial burglar responsible for about 100 break-ins in the neighboring city of Visalia. Community college professor Claude Snelling was killed by the suspected Visalia Ransacker after trying to prevent him from kidnapping his 16-year-old daughter. After three years on the force, DeAngelo moved back to the Sacramento area, where he worked for the Auburn Police Department in the Sierra foothills until 1979 when he was caught shoplifting dog repellent and a hammer two items that could be of use to a burglar. After that arrest, which cost him his job, DeAngelo acted crazy in an attempt to avoid charges, Ho said. He cast doubt on DeAngelos rambling in the interrogation room three decades later, saying he had similarly feigned feeble incoherence. James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said most serial killers do not have dual personalities or inner voices, though movies often portray them that way. Serial killers who get away with attacks for years are usually cunning and organized. Someone who suffers from a serious mental illness isnt capable of that. Serial killers who blame an alter-ego for their crimes are usually faking it, he said. Its self-serving for someone to suggest that they did all of these things because of this voice: Dont blame me, blame the voice, Fox said. A guilty plea and life sentence avoids lengthy and expensive litigation, prosecutors said in defending the deal that will bring a life sentence without parole. Victims will confront DeAngelo during a lengthy sentencing beginning Aug. 17. Victims began to stand in the audience as accounts of their attacks were read. Nearly two dozen were on their feet in solidarity as a prosecutor from Sacramento where most of his sexual assaults took place detailed each case. They cheered and laughed when Deputy District Attorney Amy Holliday noted victims consistently reported DeAngelo had a small penis. One man, Victor Hayes, who was held at gunpoint while his girlfriend was raped in 1977, shouted out that he wanted his name read aloud. Ive been waiting for 43 years. Im not ashamed of what happened. Ive never been John Doe in my life, Hayes said later. I want accountability and accountability starts with my name. Gay Hardwick said she was glad her assault was recognized even though DeAngelo couldn't be charged and with the knowledge he would die in prison. Its unfortunate that hes not younger and able to serve a longer sentence, she said. Its unfortunate that he was able to live the prime of his life unfettered, and that the rest of us had to carry a burden for all those years. Cleveland, Ohio Middleburg Heights couple Jason and Misty Laska could not imagine that their last-minute Saturday night dinner would go viral. Thats precisely what happened when Jason Laska returned home from a day of remodeling a family members house with a pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars in hand. For a second, it didnt even dawn on me, Misty Laska said. The first thing I noticed was that the pizza wasnt even cut, and then I saw the symbol. The pizza, bought at the Little Caesars location near the corner of Snow and Smith roads in Brook Park, displayed a backward swastika a universal hate symbol popularized by the Nazis. The couple tried to call the restaurant several times to see what was going on, but the phone line was consistently busy, they said. Angry, Misty Laska posted a picture of the pizza on her Twitter and Facebook pages. Within an hour, the posts had hundreds of comments and shares. So my husband stopped at #LittleCaesars for a quick bite, husband brings this home! Im truly disappointed. This is truly saddening and disturbing and not funny at all! These arent funny jokes and shouldnt be made period and on company time?! pic.twitter.com/zQaXecN2se misty laska (@LaskaMisty) June 28, 2020 Jason Laska said that he heard from the owner of the Brook Park franchise location on Sunday and learned that the employees, two teenage boys, were fired. Apparently, they made the pizza as a joke for a co-worker which is why it was never cut and was not supposed to be placed in the warmer or sold to a customer. The kids admitted it, the Laskas said. The couples quick decision to post on social media may not have been the best choice in hindsight, Jason Laska said, but hes glad that its out there and its being exposed. Certainly, I can understand everybodys hesitation or for them to say its fake, he said. Its a shame that everyones first reaction is, Youre full of crap, but thats the world we live in these days. Our whole community is friends of ours, Misty Laska said. We wanted to point out what was going on at a place that people around here go to. Many people are mad that we posted, but why? For what reason? Because there are racists in this world, and were exposing it? Its more than just racism, Jason Laska added. Its hate in general. Anytime that symbol is inappropriate, but especially now. The couple decided not to file a police report after consulting with family and friends in law enforcement, Jason Laska said. They were advised to contact an attorney if they wanted to, and only to file a police report if an attorney thought that was the best course of action. The Laskas heads are spinning from all the attention that their now-viral post has received. I certainly never thought anything we posted on social media would ever go viral, nothing like this, Jason Laska said. The backlash, negativity and mean people bashing us is a little overwhelming. Hopefully, people will use their time a little bit better, he added. Instead of bashing us for calling attention to a symbol of hate, maybe they can spend that energy on trying to get rid of it. Jason Laska said he hopes that the company whether on a local or corporate level evaluates its internal processes and pays closer attention to whats going on in their stores. Will the couple return to Little Caesars for another late-night pizza? Absolutely not, Jason Laska said. Tahlequah, OK (74464) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, overcast during the afternoon with occasional rain likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High near 75F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low around 50F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Thank you for Reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and Purchase a Subscription to continue reading. We needed a bill that had penalties for violating environmental laws that actually do what theyre supposed to do, serve as a meaningful deterrent against bad actions, DeSantis said. If you have penalties that are too low, that just becomes the cost of doing business. Virtual Beef Week - Dairy Calf to Beef Production Event Time All Day Venue Online A week long stream of videos, webinars and live events Teagasc are holding a Virtual Beef Week from Monday 6th to Friday 10th July, to communicate the latest research results relevant to beef farmers. Building a Sustainable Irish Beef Sector is the theme for this virtual beef week, which will involve two webinars each day from Monday to Friday. This will be accompanied by a continuous stream of content through social media platforms. The Teagasc Virtual beef week is kindly sponsored by FBD Trust. The Virtual Beef Week replaces the planned major Teagasc BEEF Open Day, Beef 2020 which was due to take place on 7th July at the Teagasc Animal and Grassland research and innovation centre, Grange, county Meath. Instead farmers will have the opportunity to access the latest research and knowledge through their mobile phone, laptop or tablet. Tuesday 12pm - Beef Talk Tuesday mornings Teagasc Beef Talk webinar will focus on the Grange dairy calf-to-beef system study and the key components that are helping achieve high performance. Donall Fahy will discuss the management of the calf-to-beef herd and how it has performed to date. Bernadette Earley will highlight the major disease and welfare challenges faced across calf-to-beef systems. Alan Dillon will outline the components which are working on-farm and helping farmers in the Green Acres programme increase efficiency. View the Beef Talk webinar on Tuesday at 12pm on Teagasc Facebook 7pm Live@Grange The live panel discussion from Teagasc Grange at 7pm will have a focus on calf selection. Siobhan Ring of the ICBF will discuss the tools available like the Dairy Beef Index and how they can be effectively used by dairy and beef farmers. A feature video will focus on the Long brothers, Richard, Michael and Liam, who operate independent dairy and beef enterprises, but who have taken an integrated approach by selecting beef sires that satisfy the needs of both farm systems and which provides a guaranteed route to market for calves. Nicky Byrne will discuss different calf-to-beef systems and how to select the most appropriate for your farm. Aidan McGuire, a participant in the Teagasc Green Acres calf to beef programme, will discuss his farm system and why he has chosen the system. Sean Cummins, Teagasc, will discuss lifetime liveweight target for calf-to-beef systems and will provide an update on the animal performance from the Green Acres programme. Join the livestream each evening at 7pm on www.teagasc.ie/virtualbeefweek Social Media Stay tuned to our social media channels throughout the day or search #VirtualBeefWeek. Well be dedicating this week to Teagasc Beef and will be posting videos and updates throughout each day On Tuesday, watch our social media channels and Teagasc Daily for videos and information on; V.Narayan Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Delhi-NCR Posts: 2,910 Thanked: 33,143 Times Re: National Security Council asks Govt to ban 53 Chinese apps The provocation this time is as serious as 1962. In some ways more serious because India has a lot more at stake and China is itching to be recognized as a world super power and not merely a very successful economy. India joining hands with USA+Japan+Australia, the PM announcing emphasis on producing locally, our proclaimed aim of luring out 1000 companies from China, our refusal to join RCEP, India's growing strategic presence in Vietnam, Philippines, Mauritius, Seychelles, India reaching out to Taiwan and Maldives & Sri Lanka once again veering back to a centre path between China & India are among the many reasons for China's aggression. They are trying to send a signal to the 14 countries that share a land border with them that "look how we can slap India the big boy around this neighbourhood, what chance do you think you stand". Also their eyes are not just on Galwan but on what they call historically the 5 fingers - Arunachal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, Ladakh. Mao Ze Dong had laid out this as their long term strategy in 1960 after they had occupied Tibet some years earlier. He referred to Tibet as the palm and these five areas as the fingers. They genuinely believe on basis of their interpretation of history that these are parts of a "Greater China". It is an interpretation open to serious question*. This long term aim, for which they are willing to wait 4 generations to fulfill, sets the tone for their strategy and planning. While it is all very well to have diplomacy with Xi Ping we need to remain alert to his true intentions. * It is like us saying that as parts of SE Asia were strongly influenced by India culture and religion 1500 to 2500 years ago hence Java, Sumatra, Bali islands, Cambodia and the Malaya peninsula belong to us!! Last edited by V.Narayan : 21st June 2020 at 20:33 . A Brand's Guide to Digital Shelf Analytics | eBook What can you do to improve your digital commerce game? The first rule of the digital shelf is to make sure your products can be found. Some might say its mission impossible. Unless, of course, you use digital shelf analytics (DSA). Get the eBook Today! Two separate teams of academic researchers on Wednesday published papers describing flaws in Intel's Software Guard Extensions (SGX). SGX, a set of instructions, enhances application security by letting developers partition sensitive information into enclaves -- areas of execution in memory with hardware-assisted enhanced security protection. The aim is to protect application code and data from disclosure or modification. Attestation services let users verify the identity of an application enclave before launching the application. The recently uncovered flaws can prevent SGX from achieving its goal, the research teams showed. SGAxe: How SGX Fails in Practice describes compromises to long-term storage. CrossTalk: Speculative Data Leaks Across Cores Are Real describes cross-core attacks that could allow attackers to control data leakage. Broken Trust, Broken Code "SGAxe effectively breaks the most appealing feature of SGX, which is the ability on an enclave to prove its trustworthiness over the network," wrote researchers Stephan van Schaik, Andrew Kwong and Daniel Genkin, all of the University of Michigan, and researcher Yuval Yarom of the University of Adelaide. The researchers attacked SGX architectural enclaves that were provided and signed by Intel, and retrieved the secret attestation key used for cryptographically proving the enclaves are genuine over a network, which let them pass off fake enclaves as genuine. The CrossTalk researchers found that some instructions read data from a staging buffer shared among all CPU cores involved. They presented the first cross-core attack using transient execution and showed it could be used to attack SGX enclaves running on a completely different core, letting an attacker control leakage using practical performance degradation attacks and discovering enclave private keys. "We have demonstrated that this is a realistic attack," wrote Hany Ragab, Alyssa Milburn, Herbert Bos and Cristiano Giuffrida of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in The Netherlands and Kaveh Razavi of ETH Zurich in Switzerland. "We have also seen that, yet again, it is almost trivial to apply these attacks to break code running in Intel's secure SGX enclaves," they added. The researchers built a profiler, dubbed "CrossTalk," using performance counters, to examine the number and nature of complex microcoded instructions that perform offcore requests. When combined with transient execution vulnerabilities such as Microarchitectural Data Sampling (MDS), these operations can reveal the internal state of a CPU. "Even recent Intel CPUs -- including those used by public cloud providers to support SGX enclaves -- are vulnerable to these attacks," the researchers wrote. Intel CPUs vulnerable to the latest attacks are listed here. Flawed Design In both cases, the research teams employed side-channel attacks to exploit the vulnerabilities. SGX doesn't protect against microarchitectural side-channel attacks because doing so is a matter for the enclave developer, according to Intel. Four CPU flaws, including Zombieload and Fallout, affected Intel core CPUs last year. "It's beginning to look like SGX was a flawed design," said Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at Tirias Research. Intel "really needs to rethink its security methods," he told TechNewsWorld. The company "has been putting more resources into security, but the work is not over." Perhaps security "should be offloaded onto a more secure coprocessor on die that's not in the critical application performance path," Krewell remarked. On the other hand, an application that uses Intel SGX for added protection "is always more secure than if it doesn't," noted Ambuj Kumar, CEO of Fortanix, the first company to bring an Intel SGX-based workload to production, in 2016. Hardware-based security is new, and "just as software codes can be buggy, hardware can be buggy too," Kumar told TechNewsWorld "There is such a thing as a hardware zero-day exploit. Our goal should be to accelerate the cycle of finding these vulnerabilities and fixing them." Further, side-channel "is a general problem that affects both hardware and software systems," he noted. Some can only be mitigated at the application level and others at the CPU level, "so there is not one solution." Keeping a Tight Lid on Vulnerabilities SGX is one of a number of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). ARM, AMD and Intel have proposed TEEs, but Intel SGX is currently the leader. Intel SGX "has gotten its fair share of researchers' attention," which leads to several vulnerabilities having been discovered, Kumar said. "We should welcome these. It's only when a bug is found that it can be fixed," he noted. Intel has "been pretty collaborative" in rolling out updates to fix vulnerabilities, and it works tightly with partners such as Fortanix to minimize the probability of attacks, Kumar noted. "We have no reason to believe any of the Intel SGX vulnerabilities ever reported have ever been exploited." Microsoft Azure, IBM and Alibaba are among the large organizations using Fortanix's Intel SGX-based solutions. IBM has at least 10 corporate customers on its Fortanix-powered IBM Cloud Data Shield depending on SGX for security. No Harm, No Foul The SGAxe team notified Intel of its findings in October and Intel indicated it would publish a fix June 9, which it did. The delay likely was due to testing, Tirias' Krewell suggested. "Every fix could have its own problems and could introduce new vulnerabilities or software incompabiities." Updated systems from Fortanix and others "are not susceptible to these vulnerabilities," Kumar said. Microsoft "deployed the security update from Intel to our affected services prior to public disclosure," a spokesperson said in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld by company rep Emily Chounlamany. "Our cloud customers were not impacted by these vulnerabilities," the spokesperson added. While CPU manufacturers focus on finding and fixing vulnerabilities, companies like Fortanix "exist to mitigate them," said Kumar. "Standard techniques such as defense in depth can go a long way to provide a more usable and secure system, even in the presence of zero-day vulnerabilities." On the whole, hardware-based security is preferable to a software-based solution, Kumar observed. "The unfortunate reality of software-only security is that even if your code is bug-free, your data may be stolen because of a vulnerability in someone else's code." Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard. A Brand's Guide to Digital Shelf Analytics | eBook What can you do to improve your digital commerce game? The first rule of the digital shelf is to make sure your products can be found. Some might say its mission impossible. Unless, of course, you use digital shelf analytics (DSA). Get the eBook Today! I'm a member of what is likely a reasonably sizable informal group of people who trained to be a CEO but declined the job -- in my case, several times. So I don't envy the position that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is in as he tries to figure out a way to do the right thing concerning the spread of false information and defend his company against an attack by the designated leader of the free world. I've been receiving email and social media queries asking me to use my influence to get Jack to do the "right thing." There are two issues with this: 1) I don't know Dorsey personally, and 2) I understand and appreciate that the guy is between a rock and a hard place concerning doing what is right and ensuring the survival of Twitter. I'll delve into some of the challenges he faces and then close with my product of the week -- AMD and Dell's fascinating joint effort that resulted in one of the best values in gaming notebooks, the Dell G5. The Duties of a CEO Most people who never have studied to be or served as a CEO think it is a dream job. You can do what you want, you don't have any bosses to keep happy, and you can just sit around and give orders. I've seen new CEOs try to operate with this theory, and I've never seen that end well. As the CEO of a public company, you don't have one boss -- you have a lot of them. You report to a board that represents your investors, and on that board are people who hold or control a lot of the firm's stock. These people often don't have the same agendas, but they collectively have the power to fire you. Also, you have to contend with the actual stockholders. If they don't like you they will sell their stock, driving down the value of the company and prompting those who are on your board to fire you. You have your large customers and pools of smaller customers who control your income, and if enough of them don't like what you are doing, they can stop buying so your firm's revenue dries up -- and yes, once again, you get fired. You have the SEC. If the commissioners don't like what you say, or they think you are misbehaving, they can have you removed from office and incarcerated. You have your CFO who reports to you and the board. A CFO who doesn't like you can move behind your back to get you removed from office (I'm running out of creative ways to say "fired"). Yes, the job pays well, and those who fail generally get a golden parachute that makes anyone else's severance package look incredibly anemic. Still, once you've served as a CEO, you are usually thought to be overly qualified for any other job, and failed CEOs who then succeed as advisors, board members, or consultants are rare. You are pretty much done, and since most CEOs value status highly, the massive loss of status can be personally catastrophic. As CEO of a large public firm, thousands are dependent on your doing the job well. If you don't, you could face strikes -- or in extreme situations, attacks. When at NCR, Mark Hurd had his tires slashed. When one of the CEOs I worked for was burned over most of his body in a plane crash, there was speculation that the collision wasn't accidental (though that was never proven). You are the face of the company, so if people get pissed off at your firm, they may take their anger out on you. Further, given your income, you and your family could be targeted by blackmailers or kidnappers. Finally, you tend to be a minor celebrity, so if you decide to have dinner with a subordinate, customer or stockholder of the opposite sex, there is a high probability you'll be accused of having an affair. Should you actually have an affair, it may cost you your job and make you unemployable. Far from enjoying the ultimate freedom, CEOs generally find themselves bound by rules they don't understand full. Their responsibilities may far exceed their capabilities, and they might face internal and external threats that aren't associated with any other job in the private sector. Oh, and I should point out that when done right, the job requires a level of commitment that has a history of destroying families. At the end, CEOs may have a ton of money and a lot of personal regrets. Twitter Chief Jack Dorsey Jack Dorsey is CEO of not one company but two. In addition to Twitter, he runs Square, the leading mobile payments company. If you are buying services, you probably are paying for them over Square (it probably should merge with PayPal). Currently, one of the most powerful investors in Twitter is moving to have Dorsey fired, so he is also at personal risk. With Twitter's ad revenue falling broadly, thanks to the pandemic, the firm is at financial risk. In short, Dorsey isn't Steve Jobs at Apple. (And though it seemed Jobs could do most anything, even he got fired once.) Dorsey's exposure means he can't afford a war with anyone, let alone the president of the United States, given that Twitter is an unlimited company. In terms of power, even the most powerful company tends to be overmatched when fighting a government. Even Google was forced out of China, and Google is nearly as powerful as a small country. It now is at risk of being broken up by the U.S. or the EU. So if Twitter goes to war with the U.S. government, it will be overmatched, and Dorsey currently is at risk as to its CEO. Dorsey could cut President Trump from Twitter, as some have suggested. However, it's likely he wouldn't survive as CEO, and his successor's first act of self-preservation likely would be to reverse that decision -- assuming Twitter survived as a company. As a result, there is little Dorsey can do that won't result in his termination and the likely reversal of anything he might do that would materially impact the president's ability to post falsehoods on the site. The Recommended Fix This problem -- the inability to ensure the validity of content from the very powerful -- is something that surrounds all of the social media players. If it doesn't get addressed, there is a high likelihood that one or more of them will get nationalized, broken up, over-regulated or shut down. The firms most at risk are Facebook, Google and Twitter. Now I'm an analyst, and my job isn't to complain about things but to analyze the problem and suggest a fix that will stand in the face of the threat. I think the closest model is Underwriters Laboratories, which is a third-party industry-funded quality assurance organization. The organization is one of the strongest providers of proactive protection against liability for unsafe products. It isn't perfect, and there have been products that passed UL tests but performed poorly. Still, it has been far more successful over time than internal quality control when it comes to protecting companies from liability. UL does have a positive impact on overall quality. It is a science-based organization focused on quality, suggesting its mission might be broad enough to assume responsibility for ensuring the quality of social media posts. It would be a considerable stretch, though, and staffing would be more connected with fact-checkers than systematic hardware and software testing. So you might start with them for the general model but then move to create another fact organization mainly focused on the veracity of information. Funded by social media companies, the organization's goal would be to provide a remedy to the spread of false information and protect the firms supporting it from excessive government interference, liability and extreme penalties. It would need not only fact-checking elements but defensive litigation elements, so that it could both ensure and protect the decisions it makes concerning content and banning users. Bans could cross all social media platforms. Its efforts could include identity solutions that would monitor behavior to identify banned users who tried to reenter using new IDs. Instead of going after the social media companies individually, governments would be forced to challenge an organization explicitly designed to weather these kinds of attacks. For example, if the president were banned, he likely would be banned on all major platforms. His recourse would be to attack the regulatory body that already would be ramped for defense. Further, it would have access to both the major news organizations and social media platforms, along with the courts, for to mount itd defense. If set up properly, it could call on the resources of the combined social media companies to defend their decision and protect their mission. This group could be focused on addressing other problems, like illegal or illicit behavior on the platforms, with a high probability of mitigating or preventing that behavior before traditional law enforcement got involved, avoiding damage to the related brand image and significantly reducing harmful behavior. Wrapping Up We have a plague of false information, and it costs lives. There is little doubt that once this pandemic settles down, the amount of civil litigation that will result will be unprecedented, and networks that have been promoting false information, as well as the social media networks that have spread it, may face unprecedented liability. News organizations do have protections that social media companies don't. Still, I doubt they'll hold given the massive number of deaths. At an estimated liability of $10M per case, there aren't a lot of countries -- let alone companies -- that could bear the economic burden. Creating a collective firewall against that eventuality now could reduce liability significantly. More importantly, by ensuring that information provided is accurate, a significant number of lives could be saved. What I'm suggesting is adoption of the Underwriters Labs model for information accuracy, with enhanced enforcement and the ability to requisition resources from participating companies to form a defense against powerful politicians who compromise the platforms and put them at risk. The organization's mission would include the identification and elimination of illegal activity on the platforms as well. We refer to the Internet as the Wild West. To address crimes in that era, marshals were established as a locally funded law enforcement agency that reduced the need for government-funded law enforcement. Jack Dorsey and Twitter can't fight off the president alone, but the technology industry collectively could. It is past time for it to step up to this responsibility, because this pandemic has showcased that the effective use of fake news has put the industry and the nation at mortal risk. Currently, AMD is unique in the market. Like Qualcomm does for smartphones, AMD provides both high-performance CPU and GPU technology to the platform. As a result, it can create synergy between core elements to provide extra performance. However, this advantage works only if the total solution is implemented. Sadly, that is rarely the case. I'm into cars, and I just received a reminder of why it is essential to have a single entity undertake the solution. In my case, instead of using an engine builder to create a high-performance engine, I had my mechanic slap together a bunch of high-performance parts, and the result is that I'm around 125 HP off from where I should have been. Now, this isn't a typical mistake for me, but it resulted from finding out too late that my existing engine was crap, and I didn't want to toss out the work we'd done and start over, even though in hindsight, that is what should have happened. In my defense, I'd wanted to do that, but my mechanic convinced me it would be a waste of money. I now have a new mechanic. The Dell G5 15E is one of the rare exceptions in which the performance components were specified mainly by AMD against a Dell requirement. The result is a gaming laptop that performs in line with other gaming laptops, costing half-again as much. Dell G5 15 Special Edition Gaming Laptop Should you ever make it back into an office, this laptop looks like a business machine, so it doesn't carry the stigma that bringing a more traditional gaming laptop into the office might create. What also makes this laptop unique is that Frank Azor, known for Dell's highly successful Alienware and XPS efforts, left Dell and joined AMD during the development of this product and formed a powerful bridge between the firms. I think efforts like this are critical to returning excitement to this segment. Much like the Corvette C8 is making supercars affordable, for example, it will help make PCs exciting again. Oh, and it is a bargain, so it is a natural candidate for my product of the week. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network. Rob Enderle has been an ECT News Network columnist since 2003. His areas of interest include AI, autonomous driving, drones, personal technology, emerging technology, regulation, litigation, M&E, and technology in politics. He has an MBA in human resources, marketing and computer science. He is also a certified management accountant. Enderle currently is president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, a consultancy that serves the technology industry. He formerly served as a senior research fellow at Giga Information Group and Forrester. Email Rob. Dragging a bit today because you stayed up too late thinking about all the bleak coronavirus pandemic implications? A word to describe this self-destructive activity has now emerged: doomscrolling. As demonstrations against racial inequality and police violence since George Floyd's death have joined the COVID-19 crisis in the news cycle, doomscrolling is gaining in strength. The relentless flow of news and social media never stops. Also Read: College Student Commits Suicide After Online Trading Platform Robinhood Showed His Negative $730,000 Debt What is doomscrolling? Doomscrolling has gained traction after it was featured in a recent article by the Los Angeles Times about how current events brought a new lexicon of terms into our lives. Mark Barabak of The Times described doomscrolling as "an excessive amount of screen time devoted to the absorption of dystopian news." The Times can not be credited with inventing the word, though. Quartz author Karen Ho has frequently posted updates on Twitter--often between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.--to quit doomscrolling and go to bed. As Ho pointed out, she noticed the use of the phrase on Twitter in an October 2018 post - and the word could possibly have online roots much earlier than that. However, late-night scrolling is nothing new. The only thing to be binge-watched now is the collapse of the world into crisis: coronavirus deaths, unemployment levels, street demonstrations marching for social justice every day. There are infinite reasons, and one click away always feels the promise of some response, or maybe even some good news. Also Read: Reddit Now Lets You Report Users Who Might Be at Risk of Suicide; Here's How to Detect Emotionally Distressed Users Is doomscrolling a good or a bad thing? For years, people have questioned the net benefits of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. While some studies have found social media can have positive effects on mental health when used responsibly, it can also lead to anxiety and depression. And that's just the product of looking at so many brunch photos or celebrity gossip. Add a global pandemic and civil unrest--and the prospect of incentivizing social networking networks to drive trending topics into your feeds--and the issue heightens. According to Nicole Ellison, who studies communication and social media at the University of Michigan's School of Information, people engage in these more narrow, immediate survival-oriented behaviors during these kinds of situations. "Combine that with the fact that, socially, many of us are not going into work and standing around the coffee maker engaging in collective sense-making, and the result is we don't have a lot of those social resources available to us in the same way," she told Wired. However, the doom and gloom is not necessarily the responsibility of the media. Mesfin Bekalu, a research scientist at Harvard's T. H. Chan School of Public Health's Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, states that while a lot of news is grim, "we as humans have a 'normal' propensity to pay more attention to negative news." It, along with algorithms in social media, make doomscrolling and its impacts almost unavoidable. "Since the 1970s, we know of the 'mean world syndrome'-the belief that the world is a more dangerous place to live in than it actually is-as a result of long-term exposure to violence-related content on television," Bekalu told Wired. The doomscrolling effects often differ according to who does it. Allissa Richardson, a professor at USC's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, states that while she was writing her latest book Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, and Modern Protest #Journalism, protestors did not engage in doomscrolling simply because "they can not see [them] being killed again and again in this tiny square on [their] mobile." Being able to partake in, and then opt out of, inappropriate use of social media is, she says, a luxury, which is why many Black people turn to Verzuz's fights on Instagram Live and other types of black joy as an act of defiance when it comes to social media. "For many non-black Americans, this has been an incredibly enriching time," Richardson says. She explained doomscrolling is a deep dive into things people may not have been well educated about, or maybe they knew but ignored. Takeaway To that end, the constant clicking has received some upsides. Social media helps people remain connected during the shutdown. And since the discourse moved away from COVID-19 toward racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement, it has become a platform for constructive engagement--spreading news about marches, bailout funds, civic resources--and not just a place for passive pandemic update consumption. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Reddit will remove a controversial forum from its social media network composed of thousands of US President Donald Trump supporters after reviewing its hate speech content management policies. The decision comes as other social media sites, including Google's YouTube and Amazon's Twitch, have taken drastic action to counter harmful content as more businesses enter an ad boycott. Reddit Bans 'The_Donald' Subreddit Reddit, which has long established itself as a bastion of free speech, announced that it will shut down the r/The Donald forum for repeated breaches of its rules, alongside 2,000 other forums such as r/ChapoTrapHouse, which is associated with a left-wing podcast. There were more than 729,000 subscribers to the Pro-Trump website. "All communities on Reddit must abide by our content policy in good faith. We banned r/The_Donald because it has not done so, despite every opportunity," Reddit said in a statement. Reddit added that the r/The_Donald has repeatedly violated its guidelines, antagonized other groups, and the moderators also failed to follow the "most basic expectations" of the social media platform. The company has said that it has issued alerts to the group and changed its moderators. This "quarantined" forum in 2019 means that users entering the subreddit will see an alert message before accessing this, and notes from the site will not appear in the thread. The decision to ban the forum comes as social media sites take stronger positions against offensive material shared by President Trump's supporters. Twitter has also flagged some of Trump's tweets, Snapchat said it would no longer endorse Trump's account on its website, and Twitch said it would suspend a Trump campaign account Monday. Also Read: Facebook Shuts Down Hundreds of Far-Right Accounts Associated with Proud Boys, American Guard Reddit overhauls content management policies Reddit conducted a comprehensive overhaul of its content management policies to ban communities and users that promote identity-based or vulnerability-based hatred, following the criticism that it harbors racism, particularly by promoting alt-right fringe groups. At the time Ellen Pao, the former chief executive of Reddit, said on Twitter that the organization "nurtures and monetizes white supremacy and hates the entire day." Since George Floyd's killing ignited antiracism demonstrations across the US last month, social media organizations have been faced with increased pressure to control their content better and deter hate groups from stirring up racial tensions. Facebook ad boycott, which has been extended by several advertisers to include other social media platforms, continues to gain momentum this week. Adidas and its subsidiary Reebok have announced that they are pausing on the platform advertising plus their Instagram photo app until the end of July "to ensure lasting change in the fight against racism." In the US last month, Microsoft had already removed ads from Facebook and Instagram, and intended to extend it globally. According to Axios, which first published the story, the software and tech company is worried about its advertising being put next to "inappropriate content" rather than Facebook's policies. YouTube said it suspended six accounts for breaching its policy on hate speech, including channels belonging to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, high-profile white nationalist Stefan Molyneux, and American Renaissance white supremacist paper. Also Read: Group of Black Creators Sue YouTube For Racial Discrimination Previously, Reddit had made attempts to clean up the site to get significant advertisers on board. It opted last year to "quarantine," or add warning labels to, the Trump forum after users advocated violence against Oregon police officers. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Last May, Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser blocked the use of the video that allegedly implicated the customers, the owner, manager and two other women who worked there. DeSousa told the appeals judges that if detectives stopped recording female customers, men who received legal massages and customers who showed up after hours, every one of the defendants, including Kraft, would still have been snared in the sting. In the early morning of June 19, in several southern US states, including Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, several eyewitnesses reported the same thing: a bright flash in the sky followed by a booming sound. What they saw was a massive fireball streaking over the sky in a breathtaking astronomical event. A massive fireball in the sky According to a report by BGR, the fireball was quite massive, which is why it was visible across several states in the southern United States. And now, scientists are compiling all the reports from the regions where it was visible. Experts from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) have already compiled nearly two dozen reports of this single event as they are tasked with tracking every sighting of various objects in the sky across the country. For those who weren't lucky enough to see the massive fireball, AMS was able to acquire a couple of videos that are now available to view so you can at least see what the lucky stargazers have seen. There's also a single photo from the same event taken by one of the witnesses. Read Also: OMG! This is the Place Where 'Diamond Rain' is Real Caught on Camera Based on the video that is now uploaded on YouTube, it's hard to miss the fireball if you're outside as the sky glowed quite brightly when the fireball streaked through the sky. Additionally, it lasted for a good few seconds, and if we're to look at the compilation from the AMS, eyewitnesses would say it lasted around five seconds or so. In the video, the fireball glowed a bright green glow, and after a second or two, it exploded and burned brighter before the light faded in a couple of heartbeats. Eyewitnesses even heard a booming sound, which they described as a "cannon," as the space rock exploded into tiny pieces. And if some of those small rocks have survived the nasty fall from space into Earth's atmosphere, they might have reached the surface. It won't be surprising that some meteorite hunters have begun the search for even a tiny piece of the space rock and with plans to offer it to experts or museums for an extra buck. Breaking into tiny pieces One witness from Oklahoma even said to the AMS that he saw the giant fireball break into two pieces right after it exploded in the atmosphere. He was also able to capture the event which was published by the AMS. Fortunately, there weren't any reports of damages or injuries that occurred from the event. A few days before the event in the southern US, witnesses from western Australia were also able to see a fireball in the sky, which some were also able to capture a video of. According to experts, the fireball might have been a distant asteroid. Earlier this month, a huge asteroid also zoomed in between the Earth and the Moon, which is exceptionally close and might have caused a catastrophe in the event it collided with the planet. In a past report by Tech Times, experts were only able to discover the asteroid a couple of days after it passed by us. Read Also: Breton Hopes to Launch in Space in 2024; First Orbital Spaceflight to Launch From the U.K. Soil 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Motorola intends to sell 5G smartphones with a new Moto G and Edge variant soon in all price points. The company appears to be improving their mobile phones, which would have 5G radio technology this year. With 5G, the new technology is now being used in more affordable devices. The Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G, which is available at less than 400 ($450), is undoubtedly the best example. Also Read: Motorola Edge Plus Rumors Suggest A Dramatically Curved Display: Price, Name, Specs, Release Date, Other Details We Know So Far Motorola plans to shake up 5G market with popular Moto G The Moto G 5G from Motorola seems to follow the trend. At least in terms of size, the G series reflects the lower middle class. In addition to featuring 5G, the main camera on the back has a resolution of 48 MP based on the first available video. The sensor is mounted in the right frame of the power button. There are also two front cameras. The phone seems to have a good battery (maybe 5000mAH) for a 5G-powered phone. A 5G integrated modem contains the Snapdragon 765 which is cheaper than a 5G modem chip; it's unusual for the first chipset to be located under the hood. Storage of 6 GB to 8 GB can be onboard with storage of 128 GB to 256 GB. As for the phone, an FHD+ resolution 6.4-inch display could be in the cards. The price of the latest Moto G 5G is unknown, and the consumer launch date is still uncertain. Also Read: [BREAKING] Motorola's New Razr Will Be Updated to Android 10 For The First Time; Expect Better Outer Screen Update Motorola Edge Lite specs leaked The first teased Motorola phone in April was the Edge series. The flagship Motorola Edge+ and the budget edition Motorola Edge were finally released. The Lite version will soon add its mid-range characteristics to the budget-friendly Edge and the flagship Edge+. Young tech enthusiasts Ishan Agarwal shared and reported some details. The Motorola Edge Lite has not been developed with specifications and functionalities. Still, Motorola fans need to look forward to this Snapdragon 730G or 765G processor, RAM 6 GB, and onboard storage 128 GB. The 5G support could mean a Snapdragon 765G. Users won't need to worry because 5G networking with the 5G chip from Qualcomm is already available in a mid-range smartphone. The Motorola Edge Lite is the cheapest of the Edge series devices. The model number XT2075 is well known at an early point. Many related lists were seen on FCC and a European online retail store such as this XT2075-3. Not many details were shared but information can be found in the edition of Edge+ that is watered down from 6.7-inch HD+, the in-display fingerprint scanner, 108 MP main telephoto and 8 MP telephoto + 16MP ultra-wide rear cameras. The Edge Lite probably has features lower than those in the imaging department in particular. The battery can be less than 5000mAh as well. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Tehachapi, CA (93561) Today Sunny. High around 90F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 56F. WNW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Voting ended June 23, but it took a week until McGrath could be declared the winner due to the races tight margins and a deluge of mail-in ballots. The outcome seemed a certainty early in the campaign but became tenuous as Bookers profile surged as the Black state lawmaker highlighted protests against the deaths of African Americans in encounters with police. Note: We've recently updated our online systems. If you can't login please try resetting your password. You must login with an email address. If you don't have an email associated with your account email please call (208) 542-6777 for help. Ada, OK (74820) Today Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 77F. WSW winds shifting to NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 53F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. The project is also the fruition of work that began eight years ago when Orange County commissioners voted to funnel millions in federal and state funds to transform what was then Seville Place Apartments. That complex had fallen into disrepair and was largely unoccupied before being demolished in 2011. The award-winning composer behind the music for films like "The Right Stuff" and "Rocky" is donating his collection of original scores to LSU Libraries' Special Collections. William "Bill" Conti, 78, graduated from LSU's School of Music in 1963 before embarking on a prolific, decades-long career as a conductor and composer spanning both television and film. The collection will include 84 original scores. The donation, among the largest in-kind gifts in the university's history, will allow aspiring musicians to learn from Conti's iconic works while ensuring their preservation. The papers will be available to students, faculty and researchers and will strengthen the university's musicology and music theory programs, said Todd Queen, dean of LSU's College of Music & Dramatic Arts. We are proud to be stewards of the lifes work of one of our own graduates and honored to have been part of Bills remarkable journey as a musician," Queen said. Queen said he couldn't disclose the monetary value of the gift. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Conti, an Oscar-winning composer who wrote the theme for "Dynasty" and the film scores for the "Karate Kid" series and "For Your Eyes Only," began performing in nightclubs when he was 14 in Miami Beach, Florida. "My father was a musician. My grandfather was a musician. It was a part of my life forever. It wasnt special; it was like breathing," Conti said in a press release from the university Tuesday. He played the piccolo in LSU's Tiger Band and was a piano player for the auditions for the LSU Ballet Corps now known as the Golden Girls where he met Shelby Cox, his now wife of more than 50 years. Together they have two daughters and five grandchildren, including one currently enrolled at LSU. "You can do music out of this school at the level of the highest music schools in this country. Its a fact," Conti reflected on his experience at LSU when he visited in the fall. The donation will enhance LSU's role in preserving the university's shared culture for generations to come, said Stanley Wilder, dean of LSU's libraries. The prisoner furlough program that state officials developed in response to the coronavirus pandemic has had a negligible impact on the state prison population and has been suspended for the past several weeks. The Louisiana Department of Corrections created a review panel in April tasked with considering up to 1,100 state prison inmates for temporary release. The program was meant to reduce the prison population, which would increase opportunities for social distancing and mitigate the spread of coronavirus behind bars. But the panel reviewed fewer than 600 cases before being suspended earlier this month, and just 100 were approved for release, corrections officials said. Of those 100, only 63 will be released, because of complicating factors such as outstanding warrants, deficient housing plans, or because the inmates "were not agreeable to the conditions of the release, which included ankle monitoring and house arrest," DOC spokesman Ken Pastorick said. Louisiana holds the highest incarceration rate in the country, with a state prison population of about 32,000 people. Public health experts and prisoner rights advocates have recommended significantly reducing that number to allow for social distancing. The 63 approved releases represent about 11% of those considered and about 0.2% of the entire Louisiana prison population. Review panel to consider medical release for some Louisiana state prison inmates due to coronavirus The Louisiana Department of Corrections has created a review panel to consider a select group of state prison inmates for temporary medical re Most of the inmates who went before the panel were being housed in local jails, not state prison facilities. Officials laid out criteria to determine who was eligible for consideration, eliminating anyone convicted of a violent crime or sex offense and requiring the eligible candidates to be within six months of their release date, among other rules. Officials have provided no explanation of the panel's decisions on who to approve. Its meetings are happening behind closed doors because DOC claims they're internal administrative reviews and therefore exempt from state open meetings laws. 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 From the beginning, advocates have criticized the plan for its limited scope while noting other states have taken more decisive action to reduce their prison populations. The panel wasn't announced until the middle of April, after the coronavirus pandemic had started sweeping across Louisiana, inundating some correctional facilities. So far, 16 state prison inmates have died from coronavirus, most with other medical conditions considered comorbidities, and hundreds more have tested positive. Mass testing has been conducted in two Louisiana women's DOC facilities where case counts were especially high, but it has not been extended into the state's prison system for men despite recommendations from the governor urging more widespread testing in congregate settings. That leaves sparse data to indicate the exact size of Louisiana's coronavirus spread behind bars. +4 After Louisiana women's prison flooded in 2016, temporary dorms inundated with coronavirus In one massive room filled with rows of metal bunk beds about an arm's length apart, 70 women share three toilets and four sinks. There's no s DOC officials said the review panel was suspended June 5 when Louisiana entered Phase 2 of reopening and will be officially disbanded once the state of emergency declaration has been lifted. In the meantime, the panel "may reconvene if there is an unexpected uptick in the number of cases within our prison population," Pastorick said. Out of the 626 state prisoners who have tested positive, 553 are labeled recovered in DOC's online coronavirus dashboard. In the drive to reopen Louisiana, the state and an array of medical providers have been on a push over past several weeks to increase testing for the novel coronavirus. An increased number of tests can be expected to reveal more cases, but new data from the state show the rate of positive cases per test rose sharply over the past two weeks in East Baton Rouge Parish and other parts of the capital region. That means for a given batch of tests, more cases are being found now than the same batch would have found two weeks ago, possibly suggestive of increased spread of the virus. +5 A 'signal' that coronavirus is spreading again in Louisiana? Rise in hospitalizations, officials say As Louisiana experienced the largest one-day surge in coronavirus cases since the height of the outbreak in early April, state health official In East Baton Rouge Parish, the average weekly rate of positives per test has quadrupled over the past two weeks, rising from 2.5% to 10.3% between the week ending June 21 and the one ending Sunday, an Advocate analysis of state data shows. On Monday, East Baton Rouge's one-day rate of cases to tests rose to 17.4%, well above the state and regional figures. Sometimes known as the "positivity" rate, this ratio of new cases to tests has been seen by federal and other health experts as a measure of the penetration of testing efforts, a sign of a viral spread and a marker for reopening the society. One of the federal criteria for entering Phase 3 is that states have a positivity rate of equal to or less than 10% for 14 days. City-parish officials said the increasing numbers are a worrying sign of potential viral spread and underscored the need for vigilance with social distancing measures and face coverings. "The numbers are very concerning. They tell us that people need to wear masks in public. They need to get tested and to participate in the state contact tracing program," said Mark Armstrong, city-parish spokesman. After coronavirus cluster linked to Tigerland, Fred's to host drive-thru testing for students Fred's in Tigerland will host a drive-thru coronavirus testing site on Thursday for college students and staff who work at nearby bars. With the increased rates of positive tests, new cases in the parish have also been trending upward. The rolling seven-day average for new cases in East Baton Rouge has risen from 19 cases reported on June 20 to nearly 91 new cases reported on Monday. The high since the outbreak began was on May 20 when the rolling case average fell just under 104 new cases. The rising case numbers have helped push East Baton Rouge's cumulative raw total for cases past 5,000 on Monday, hitting 5,034 since the virus was first detected in the parish in mid-March. 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 Across the 12-parish Baton Rouge region, the rates of positive tests were generally on the decline in the weeks leading up and just after the state's Phase 2 easing of social distancing restrictions on June 5. Since then, however, the capital region as a whole made a similar but less sizable upward turn in average positivity rates than East Baton Rouge has. Despite those trends, new deaths from the COVID-19 illness have fallen to their lowest levels since the outbreak began. The Baton Rouge region has also seen less of an increase than the state as whole in hospitalizations and is well off the region's high in mid-April, state health data show. State health officials have noted that many of the rising number of cases in Louisiana are young adults who are less likely to have severe health effects from the virus, though they could pose an infection risk for their older relatives. Parish level data weren't immediately available. Some health experts, while concerned with the numbers in the Baton Rouge region, also cautioned against drawing too many conclusions at this point due to the relatively small window of time and limitations in state data. Susanne Straif-Bourgeois, an epidemiologist with the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, pointed out that she recently learned the state's test counts can include those of the same person tested more than once during isolation or contact tracing efforts. She and others added that close consideration has to be given to whether the rise in positivity rates coincides with major testing efforts of vulnerable people or those who are more likely to be infected. Susan Hassig, a Tulane University epidemiologist, pointed out that the upward shift in East Baton Rouge roughly coincided with an outbreak of more than 100 cases among workers and patrons of the Tigerland bars in Baton Rouge earlier this month. That discovery by heath officials led to a subsequent drive-up testing effort on Thursday of others who feared they may have also been in contact with that outbreak. She called the latest percentages "disturbing" but worth further consideration first. "My take on it would be 'concerned, but I want to see a few more days of more normal testing behavior to see what actually happens,'" Hassig said. Connie Bernard, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member who denied accusations of online shopping during a recent board meeting when the renaming of Lee High School was discussed, spent many minutes that night on the website of a clothing store, according to her browser history. Pursuant to a public records request, WAFB-TV received the browser history from a School Board-issued laptop that Bernard used during that June 18 meeting she was also using her personal laptop. The Advocate subsequently obtained some of the same information from the school system. +4 Connie Bernard, facing a recall, is not backing down: 'She's getting ready for a fight' Those expecting Connie Bernard to quickly resign from the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board in the face of recent controversy are likely to The online consignment and thrift store website named thredUP shows up several times during Bernards browser history on her public laptop. That's consistent with pictures from that night apparently showing Bernard shopping for dresses. Bernard later denied that she was shopping it was a pop-up ad that she neglected to close; several witnesses disputed her contention. This new information calls Bernard's excuse further into doubt. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up To help make sense of the browser history, the school systems IT Department cross-tabulated that record with what was happening during that meeting, which lasted almost eight hours. Bernard first goes to the site a little before 8:30 p.m for a period of time. Shes back on the site at 9:10 p.m., just before the Lee High renaming starts. The thredUP url continues to show up in her browser for 35 more minutes, during a period when several board members are discussing the issue, but before public comment begins. At one point, the history shows Bernard adding an item to her shopping cart. Besides that action, it's unclear from the browser history how active she is on the site. Some on BREC board no longer want Connie Bernard as a member; vote to seek removal tonight The board of East Baton Rouge's parks and recreation system may move Thursday to seek the removal of embattled school board member Connie Bern Four of her fellow school board members and others in the Baton Rouge community have called for her resignation since that board meeting, and a recall petition was filed last week, seeking to remove her from her position. Bernard has said she plans to serve our third term on the board, which ends Dec. 31, 2022. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tuesday should change the way Louisiana provides aid for students from low-income families to attend private schools, the president of the state's top voucher advocacy group said. "This is a game changer," said Ann Duplessis, president of the Louisiana Federation for Children and a member of the group's national board. The nation's top court, in a Montana case, ruled 5-4 that it is unconstitutional to ban state aid to parochial schools. The panel concluded that such bans run afoul of the First Amendment. The issue has been a controversial topic in Louisiana, which provides state aid for students from low-income families attending troubled public schools to attend private or parochial schools. The assistance is called vouchers. Report: La. voucher students fail to stand out from public school students in math, English In the long-running debate over vouchers, a report issued Monday says voucher recipients in Louisiana bounced back from dismal scores initiall About 6,500 children get the aid, which stems from a 2012 state law pushed by then Gov. Bobby Jindal. That 2012 law required vouchers to be financed through the same fund that pays for public school operations the Minimum Foundation Program, or MFP. Teacher unions and others challenged the 2012 law, and the state Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in 2013 that it was unconstitutional for the state to use MFP dollars to finance tuition at private and parochial schools. The annual aid about $43 million is now done as a separate item in the state operating budget. Duplessis, a former state senator from New Orleans, said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling could make the annual aid more reliable by putting it back in the MFP. "This is an absolutely wonderful decision for families, for educators, for the schools who want some assurance they are not going to be subject to the whims of the Legislature," she said. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Heather Cushman, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, one of the state's two teacher unions, disagreed. "Louisiana permits religious schools to partake in our scholarship and voucher programs at the same level as secular schools," Cushman said in an email. "There is nothing in the decision that would indicate that the state has to give more money to voucher programs or raid the MFP to fund private schools." Backers contend vouchers give students trapped in failing public schools a way out. Teacher unions and others have long argued that the state aid, whatever the source, robs public schools of badly-needed state dollars. They also noted that some studies have questioned the effectiveness of vouchers, including a 2017 report by the Education Research Alliance in New Orleans that said voucher students failed to stand out from public school students in math and English. Report: Louisiana voucher program shows decline in student performance, mainly in math For the second time in recent weeks, a report says Louisianas voucher program hurts the classroom performance of students who receive them. State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said Tuesday that, while he has not studied the opinion, it appears to be a plus for families. "I definitely tend to believe it is a victory for the advocates of school choice," Brumley said. "And I think any time we are able to give families an option in their education that is a positive." A spokeswoman for the Louisiana Association of Educators, the other teachers union, said Tuesday officials of the group are reviewing the ruling. But he chose to strike down this law precisely because of the 2016 ruling, invoking the principle of stare decisis: a legal doctrine meaning, to stand by things decided. Given the similarity between the Texas law and this one, Roberts felt obligated to treat the matter as settled. In other words, all things being equal, If the court struck down one law four years ago, he thought it should do the same this time. After much negotiation and toil, the Louisiana Legislature finally approved on Tuesday legislation that changes how Louisiana courts operate in hopes that it will bring down auto insurance rates. The bill received final legislative approval and was sent to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who said Tuesday night he will sign it into law. "There was a lot of hard work put into getting a bill that is a compromise, unlike the bill approved during the last session. Theres still a lot of work to do to see if the promises behind it play out, that the reductions will happen, said Matthew Block, Edwards top lawyer who was involved in the negotiations. Over the past two years, and through the 2019 campaigns, business and insurance interests pushed what they called tort reform, sweeping technical changes to evidence and procedure laws that would reduce the number of injury court cases that they claim is behind Louisianas perennially high cost of the auto insurance policies needed to drive. Last years most important bill became this years after failing in 2019. Many legislators came to Baton Rouge with the sole purpose of passing tort reform and the debate dominated back-to-back sessions that were supposed to be about recovering from the coronavirus and balancing the states operating budgets. Legislators got close at the end of the regular session on June 1, passing a bill that turned out to have a fatal flaw mistakenly included. The measure was ultimately vetoed. Then on Monday night, after almost a week of negotiation, the Senate gave its final OK to House Bill 57, which sponsor House Speaker Clay Schexnayder called the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2020. But moments before the House was to vote on sending HB57 to the governor, improper wording was discovered requiring a quick fix. Repairs were made, but a new section also was added. "It was a situation where we had a piece of language in there that didnt really fit and it gave us an opportunity to go back and look at it," Schexnayder said. "When we did, we came up (with new) language that worked for both sides and the governor." The legislation, now carrying a new section, was brought back up Tuesday afternoon, approved by the House, then rushed to the Senate for its approval too. Business and insurance interests and their mostly Republican supporters contend that Louisianas number of wrecks and injuries are in line with the rest of the country. But the way Louisiana courts handle lawsuits contribute to the high number of injuries going to court seeking resolution. They supported sweeping changes to technical evidence and procedure laws that would reduce the number of court cases and limit the awards of people who seek compensation for injuries caused by someone else. Lawyers, judges and healthcare providers and their mostly Democratic allies who opposed sweeping tort reform counter that the changes would make court cases so difficult that injured people will be more likely to accept insurance companies' offers and noted that absolutely no evidence, beyond what insurance officials told legislative supporters, was ever presented that insurance rates would fall as result of tipping the judicial scales towards drivers at fault for accidents and the insurance companies that cover them. Both sides agreed that the prices of auto insurance policies were too high and in the end, they agreed on some changes to the way civil trials will be conducted starting on January 1. Essentially, the Civil Justice Reform Act of 2020 makes some, but not all, of the changes sought by business and insurance interests. The legislation lowers the jury threshold the amount sought that triggers having a jury decide rather than a judge from $50,000 for a case to $10,000. Supporters wanted $5,000 saying the threat of jury trial would incentivize more settlements. Opponents said a lower threshold would marginalize municipal courts, which cant hold jury trials and resolve cases much faster, and swamp state district courts, many of which also have to juggle criminal and family dockets. Edwards was said to have sought a $25,000 jury threshold during negotiations. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up HB57 sets rules and procedures for demanding a jury trial, including requiring a cash bond for the party requesting one. The bill also repeals the two sentences in state law that forbids using failure to wear seatbelts as a way to reduce what is owed for injuries caused in a car wreck. Whether the injured person was wearing a seatbelt now would be allowed into the trial. And the legislation also would forbid the mentioning of the defendant drivers insurance company and policy except at the beginning and end of the trial. Insurers argue that juries tend to render higher awards when they know that an insurance company will be paying, instead of an individual. Though sweeping, the provisions of HB57 wont overhaul the states civil justice system as much as supporters had sought initially. Nothing is said about extending what is called prescription, that is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. Earlier bills wanted to extend the deadline from one year after the incident to two years in hopes that the longer period would lead to more resolutions that didnt involve the courts. Schexnayder had allowed the contentious collateral source to be removed from the legislation as the most practical way of getting something passed. The move angered some tort reform supporters. But turning the complex common law theory into a law that limited the amount of damages awarded for injuries also was a line drawn by the opposition. Trying to negotiate the two sides led to the wording mistake that helped doom the tort reform bill passed during the regular session. Much of the negotiations surrounded how to put a "collateral source" rule into law and what the wording would be, said Sen. Barrow Peacock, a Bossier City Republican involved in the talks. On Monday, they had given up on finding proper wording in time. But when the bill was pulled minutes before final passage because of a mistake in the section involving bonds for jury trials, Peacock said the negotiators took another stab at "collateral source" and came up with something on which both sides agreed. After meeting with GOP House members who had threatened to possibly scuttle the approval over the lack of "collateral source", the bill with the new section added in was presented and passed overwhelmingly by both chambers. Basically, a person whose injuries were treated by his own insurance company often receives a discount from what is regularly charged. Tort reformers argue that it is unfair to make a defendant pay damages for which the injured person has already been compensated. Opponents point to court decisions going back almost 150 years have ruled that those responsible for the accident shouldnt benefit because the person injured had bought their own insurance. HB57 would limit medical damages to the amount actually paid. But a trial judge after the verdict can look at the difference between what was paid and what was billed, then award up to 40% of the difference or decrease the award. Staff writer Tyler Bridges contributed to this report Legislation that would ban most civil lawsuits against school districts and colleges if students or teachers contract the coronavirus will be decided on the final day of the special session. The Senate on Monday approved an amended version of the House-passed measure. But the House on Monday evening rejected those changes, sending the proposal to a House-Senate negotiating committee to try to work out differences between the two versions. State Sen. J. Rogers Pope, R-Denham Springs and former superintendent of the Livingston Parish school district, said school leaders need safeguards spelled out in House Bill 59 to comfortably reopen schools in August. "I think very strongly we need to do this to offer a little bit of protection so we can have school and get kids back into a building," Pope told the Senate Monday morning. Louisiana House votes to protect school systems, colleges from coronavirus lawsuits A bill that would shield public and private school systems from civil lawsuits if students or teachers contract the coronavirus won Louisiana While the bill has won lopsided approval in both chambers, it has sparked arguments behind the scenes. Critics contend the legislation would cripple the ability of families and teachers to recover if they contract the virus because of sloppy procedures by schools. Rep. Buddy Mincey Jr., R-Denham Springs, a 13-year veteran of the Livingston Parish school board and chief sponsor of the bill, told a Senate committee on Friday that he too is afraid that public schools will be reluctant to reopen without new legal protections. First look: Here's how Louisiana public schools can safely open amid coronavirus, officials say Public school students in the third grade and older along with adults should wear face masks "to the maximum extent possible" when schools reo Mincey also said the bill was never intended to hurt students or school employees "although that has been implied by others." Backers have said repeatedly the bill would not change worker's compensation coverage enjoyed by teachers and other schools employees even though those payments are capped. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The special session has to end by Tuesday at 6 p.m. HB59 is being sought by the Louisiana School Boards Association, which represents board members statewide. Cynthia Posey, director of legislative and political affairs for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, one of the state's two teacher unions, told the Senate Education Committee last week that her group was inclined to support the bill, then took a neutral stance amid calls and concerns from teachers. Posey said some LFT members "are afraid districts will not adopt policies that protect them." The stance of the other union, the Louisiana Association of Educators, is unclear. Under HB59, civil lawsuits would be an option only if school districts display gross negligence during the public health emergency. The Senate approved an amendment offered by Senate Education Committee Chairman Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, aimed at ensuring school employees will be working in a safe environment. The change would require the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to adopt emergency rules based on guidelines spelled out by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that would serve as minimum standards that schools would be required to adopt. College governing boards would be required to do the same. During committee debate last week Fields also added an amendment that would limit the civil liability only to COVID-19, the current strain of the illness caused by the virus. Mincey's original proposal provided a more expansive list of public health emergencies. As masked Senate staff watch, Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, asks a question from the social distance microphone, right, of Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, left, during debat on HB66, a tort reform bill, during legislative action Monday June 29, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. HB66 enacts the Citizens' Premium Reduction Act and passed 35-3. More than three-quarters of international students earn below the minimum casual wage and one in four earns less than $12 an hour less than half the minimum casual hourly rate. A study of 5000 international students in 2019 by the University of NSW and the University of Technology Sydney has found almost two thirds (62 per cent) suffered in silence and did not try to access help or even seek information about their problems. UTS Law Associate Professor Laurie Berg and UNSW Associate Professor Bassina Farbenblum said despite the Fair Work Ombudsman's efforts and stronger penalties for wage theft in recent years it was "still business as usual in terms of the exploitation of international students". Working three jobs: International student Robinson Adhikari. Credit:James Brickwood International student Robinson Adhikari, 25, has worked in three jobs that paid him as little as $17 an hour since his arrival in Australia from Nepal more than two years ago. He was paid $17 cash in hand while working on weekends at a chicken factory where he cleaned the cool room. He later worked as a kitchen hand for $18 an hour on weekends. He was then paid $18 an hour as a traffic controller working at night, on weekends and in bad weather. A dispute between NSW and the federal agency overseeing the $13 billion Murray-Darling Basin Plan is likely after the state government submitted water sharing plans that challenge how environmental flows are counted. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority said it had received the remaining nine water resource plans from NSW just before the June 30 deadline. The plans, among 33 being assessed by the authority across the basin, treat the extraction of water during floods in line with other water uses for the first time. A fishway near Dubbo on the Macquarie River. The NSW government is banking on the Murray Darling Basin Authority to sign off on new water resource plans for a range of rivers. Credit:Janie Barrett "The MDBA has to do a detailed assessment of each plan against 55 requirements in the Basin Plan, so it can take some time to ensure its done thoroughly and accurately theres no set timeframe," an authority spokeswoman, said. "If the plans are inconsistent with the Basin Plan, further delays are likely." Among those 55 tests is a demand that each plan does not reduce the protection of planned environmental water flows, compared with conditions prior to the Basin Plan's 2012 introduction. Those people who work for smaller companies need to be aware of a change to how payment summaries for the financial year just ended are issued if they wish to avoid delays in receiving their tax refunds. From this year, workers at firms with fewer than 19 employees will no longer receive the payment summary showing income, tax paid and superannuation used in their tax return from their employer. Those who work for small employers should be aware of a change to the reporting to tax summaries to the ATO. Credit:iStock The summary, now called an income statement, is sent directly to the Australian Taxation Office under the single-touch payroll regime. Larger employers made the change last financial year. Refunds will be particularly welcome this year because of hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis has left hundreds of thousands out of work, working reduced hours, or working from home. Melbourne's coronavirus hotspots will be put back into lockdown from Wednesday in a desperate effort to contain an outbreak of the deadly disease as Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned NSW's biggest threat was not Victoria but increasing complacency within its own borders. The extraordinary steps taken in Victoria, which include a request to divert all international flights from Melbourne for the next fortnight, came on the same day Queensland announced it would reopen its borders to the rest of the country with the exception of Victoria, and the next phase of COVID-19 restrictions were eased in NSW. From Wednesday the number of people allowed in indoor venues in NSW will no longer be restricted to 50 patrons so long as they comply with the social distancing rule of one person seated per four square metres and a maximum of 20 people per group. Children's and community sport competitions can resume and theatres and movie cinemas can reopen, while sports stadiums with a capacity of up to 40,000 are allowed to be 25 per cent full. NSW recorded just five new cases all returned travellers in hotel quarantine on Tuesday but health authorities warned that the virus is spreading by stealth in the community. Bross, whose practice has multiple locations in Brevard, has no shortage of experience in criminal law, having handled hundreds of cases, some of them high profile. But Bross has twice been disciplined by the Florida Supreme Court for rules violations. That by itself may not be disqualifying, especially considering how long ago that was. A woman has been arrested in Sydney's eastern suburbs over the bizarre death of Vergel Velasquez. Mr Velasquez, 42, was found unconscious by police in the stairwell of his Girraween unit complex on December 30 last year with severe head injuries after "reports of a group of men involved in a physical altercation", police said. Vergel Velasquez. He died in Westmead Hospital on New Year's Eve. Last week, four men - Michael Porter, Shane Weatherall, Leslie Fernando and Lionel McGrady - were arrested in Moree in north-west NSW, some 600 kilometres from where Mr Velasquez's bloodied body was found. They have all been charged with murder. Former premiers have called for a fast, express rail link to the airport, warning that a slow, stopping-all-stations service will simply not be used. Jeff Kennett and Ted Baillieu have told The Age that high costs and a lack of demand had delayed airport rail in recent decades, but they believe now is the right time to send trains express to Tullamarine. Steve Bracks backs airport rail, saying it would deliver a boost to the regions, but would not specify which design would be best for the link. Ted Bailleu says he believes in the need for dedicated track all the way to the airport. Credit: Chris Hopkins Wednesday marks 50 years since Melbourne Airport was built. The 11-lane Tullamarine Freeway has become a perennial choke point, yet Melbourne is still without an airport train link. A QANTAS Boeing 707 comes in to land at Tullamarine soon after its opening. Credit:The Age Archives Tullamarine Airport will operate 24 hours a day and that is official Therell always be a noise buffer zone, says Bolte Round-the-clock jets get the go-ahead at Tullamarine First published in The Age on July 2, 1970 The Prime Minister (Mr. Gorton) announced the lifting of the night flying curfew yesterday when he pushed a button to open Melbournes $50 million international jetport. But the terms of Mr. Gortons announcement left his audience, including reporters and aviation officials puzzled. Many, including the Premier (Sir Henry Bolte) interpreted it as a hope that the night ban would be lifted, rather than a definite announcement. Finally Mr. Gortons Press Secretary (Mr. Tony Eggleton) made a statement to clarify the situation. He said that the ban was officially off. The puzzling part of Mr. Gortons speech was a condition that State authorities did not allow housing near the airport which could lead to noise discomfort. Ms Davison with her son Luke. Ms Davison was working as a stripper at the time of her disappearance and left a Dandenong strip club with a colleague about 10.50pm on February 18, 1995. The pair headed to a sporting club in Croydon and then to the Mentone Hotel, where they remained with Ms Davison's boyfriend until about 1am. Ms Davison and her boyfriend then went to a home in Hampton for an hour before catching a taxi to Crown Casino until about 2am. At 7am, her boyfriend left the casino. It's believed she left about 40 minutes later and travelled by taxi to her home in Footscray. Detectives have been able to establish that between 12pm and 2pm, Ms Davison went to a public phone box on Ballarat Road in Footscray where she made two calls. One was to her employer confirming she would be attending work that night; the other was to her boyfriend, who she arranged to meet so she could pick up some belongings including her phone charger. She never arrived at work that night and has not been heard from or seen since. A key line of inquiry for police is a car that was seen driving into the service station before someone in the vehicle spoke to Ms Davison. Police believe Ms Davison was murdered and have increased the reward for information from $50,000 to $1 million. Ms Davison worked for the same agency as jailed former stripper Robyn Lindholm, who has been found guilty of murdering two of her former lovers gym owner Wayne Amey in 2013, and George Templeton, also known as George Teazis, who went missing in May 2005 and whose body has never been found. Ms Davison knew Lindholm, and lived at the time in Footscray with an associate of Mr Templeton. Mr Templeton, a former senior member of a Richmond-based gang, was named at the 2001 inquest into the disappearance of Ms Davison as having at one time put a gun to a woman's head during a discussion about drugs. Robyn Lindholm with George Teazis. Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper from the missing persons squad said despite the passage of time, the investigation into Ms Davison's disappearance was still very active. "It was a murky bunch of people she was involved in and we don't want to try and hide from the fact she had her challenges in her life and was doing what she had to do to try and support herself and support her son," he said. Shari with her mother Sandra (left), father Tom and son Luke at the last Christmas they would spend together in 1994. "Sadly it's a pretty sordid situation with a number of people of questionable repute involved but as I say we focus on Shari as a mother, a daughter. "My firm belief would be that people associated with that group would know what happened to her... A lot has been written in the media about this particular group, but we need someone who is going to come forward and fill in the gaps 25 years down the track." A number of people have been spoken to by police over the years over the suspected murder and there are several persons of interest in the case. Detective Inspector Stamper said the No. 1 priority was to get information for her family, who have been grappling with their "ambiguous grief" for more than two decades. Ms Davison's elderly parents said their daughter deserved to be remembered "with love". "Never a day goes by without us thinking about Shari without us missing her, without us wondering what happened to her," Sandra and Tom Davison said in a statement. Shari Davison was last heard from on February 18, 1995. "We hope someone will come forward and take advantage of this and help us all find peace." "We, her parents, are moving toward the end of our lives now, and we are running out of time to find the answers we desperately need," they said. Loading "The most torturing and heartbreaking part of all this is that her young son, Luke, and her sister Cheryl will still have to go on living with this horrible 'unknown-ness' for the rest of their lives too unless someone has enough compassion, and strength, to come forward and explain what happened. "We will all love Shari forever, but love doesnt give us any peace we desperately need answers so Shari, and all of us, can finally rest peacefully." They described the 27-year-old as a "beautiful, vibrant young lady" who was "an extremely loving mother" to Luke. "She deserves to be remembered only with love, and not with all the uncertainties that surround her memory at present. We cant make that happen for her but someone can." Melburnians have always been more parochial about the suburb they live in than the greater metropolis, their tribalism reinforced by football team allegiances. But now it has come to this: 10 of the citys postcodes in the north and west will now be ring-fenced from their neighbours across the road, ordered back into lockdown. It is incredibly disappointing that it has come to this, and The Age supports plans for a judicial inquiry into the failure of Victorias hotel quarantine system, which was supposed to be the front line of our defence against COVID-19. The use of security firms to monitor the compulsory isolation of returned travellers has proved far too often to be slapdash, and employees have unwittingly picked up the virus and taken it back to their family homes, where it can then race through the generations into schools and workplaces. Victoria, once a paragon of strict coronavirus policing, must overhaul hotel quarantine protocols and checks. We have become the pariah state, planes diverted to other states, borders blocked, interstate travellers unwelcome. Police will establish border checkpoints to screen residents entering and leaving no-go postcodes as Melbourne suburbs at the centre of the COVID-19 outbreak are plunged back into lockdown. The hardline enforcement measures, unprecedented in Australia throughout the pandemic, will include booze bus-style border checks on major thoroughfares in and out of 36 suburbs in Melbourne's heavily populated west and north and carry the threat of fines to local residents caught outside their front gate without a valid reason, as they return to stage three lockdown rules. Cars line up at a coronavirus testing site on Tuesday in Fawkner, one of the suburbs included in the lockdown. Credit:Justin McManus The moves were announced as Premier Daniel Andrews commissioned a judicial investigation into how failed security protocols at two hotels used to quarantine returned travellers led to the second spike of COVID-19 cases that has divided Melbourne and isolated Victoria from the rest of the nation. The new lockdown regime will come into force at midnight on Wednesday and quarantine more than 300,000 residents living in 10 postcodes from the rest of the city. The suicide rate for Indigenous people in Victoria is twice that of the states non-Indigenous population, according to confronting new figures revealed by the State Coroner. The Coroners Court of Victoria report examined 117 suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from 2009 to May this year. State Coroner John Cain. Credit:Louie Douvis Overall 7067 Victorians died by suicide during the period, with the numbers hitting an 11-year high in 2018 and 2019 as more than 700 took their own life. The court found the Indigenous suicide rate was double the rest of the population, and more deaths were occurring in regional Victoria. Almost 60 per cent of suicides of First Nations people occurred in country areas, while 66 per cent of non-Indigenous suicides happened in the city. IFM Investors chairman Greg Combet has warned about mixed messages from state and federal governments over the role of superannuation funds in financing major investment projects such as Melbourne's airport rail link. A proposal from a superannuation consortium led by IFM to build the link, involving a $7 billion investment from the group and $5 billion each from the Victorian and federal governments, is expected to be rejected in favour of a cheaper option. IFM Investors chairman Greg Combet: "There's actually more that government can do to work with super funds to mobilise more money." Credit:Rhett Wyman But with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg last month encouraging superannuation funds to "do more" to help the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Combet said there needed to be clearer instructions about which projects the industry should get behind. "There is a bit of mixed messaging," Mr Combet said in an interview. "But I don't mean to be critical, governments have to decide what priorities they have." To them, the remedy is to make our gigs look more like the traditional jobs of the past, complete with labor union contracts. But if the gig industry were to unionize, I feel almost certain I would give up the work. I have no interest in being beholden to a whole set of rules I didnt help write, or losing the right to represent myself in my own line of work. After all, if I couldnt maintain the same freedom and flexibility that I have now, what would be the point? Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for a ceasefire on Queensland's long-running border war, but not before the Premier fired off a few shots at Scott Morrison. And the Prime Minister lobbed a volley back, even as Queensland announced the date it would roll out the welcome wagon. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had previously praised Scott Morrison's leadership through the coronavirus crisis. Credit:AAP Image, Dan Peled/Alex Ellinghausen Discrepancy in health advice from federal and state authorities about Queensland's closed border had divided the nation for weeks, but Ms Palaszczuk had stood firm. In May, federal medical officers said there was no reason for state borders to remain closed. Queensland's own chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, thought otherwise and advised the Premier to keep the drawbridge up. The man accused of being the Golden State killer agreed to plead guilty in Sacramento, California, more than two years after he was arrested using an investigative technique that has fundamentally changed how some violent crimes are solved in the United States. In front of victims and their families, Amy Holliday, the Sacramento County deputy district attorney, announced that Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., 74, had agreed to plead guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder across California in the 1970s and '80s. Joseph James DeAngelo, centre, during his trial before pleading guilty to being the Golden State killer. Credit:AP In addition, she said, he also agreed to admit guilt in a multitude of crimes for which he was not charged, some of which passed the statute of limitations. Throughout the hearing, prosecutors from counties across California approached the podium and described a series of murders, rapes and burglaries in detail. Michael G. Bowman, a judge for the Sacramento County Superior Court, then asked DeAngelo for his plea. Indian TikTok users awoke Tuesday to a notice from the popular short-video app saying their data would be transferred to an Irish subsidiary, a response to India's ban on dozens of Chinese apps amid a military standoff between the two countries. The quick workaround showed the ban was largely symbolic since the apps can't be automatically erased from devices where they are already downloaded, and is a response to a border clash with China where 20 Indian soldiers died earlier this month, digital experts said. "They want to send a message. This is a decision based on a geopolitical situation,'' said digital rights activist Nikhil Pahwa. Indian protesters have been calling for a boycott of Chinese goods since the June 15 confrontation in the remote Karakoram mountain border region. Late Monday, the government said that it was banning 59 Chinese-owned apps, including TikTok, which is operated by Chinese internet firm Bytedance. It cited privacy concerns that it said pose a threat to India's sovereignty and security. The banned apps include some that enable TikTok users to add visual effects and music to their posts, as well as dating apps, privacy apps and multiplayer games. India's information technology ministry issued a statement saying it had received reports that mobile apps were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data." The compilation of such data, and its mining and profiling by elements hostile to India is "a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures,'' the statement said. TikTok's countermove, shifting data to Ireland, shows how integrated the two economies have become. Chinese products are ubiquitous in India, from toys to smartphones to Made-in-China Hindu idols. Two-way trade grew from $3 billion in 2000 to $95 billion in 2018, according to Indian government data, with the balance strongly favoring China. "There is too much of Chinese presence in the everyday life of the average Indian,'' said Alka Acharya, professor of Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. The soldiers' deaths meant the Indian government had to hit back, Acharya said. The ban on Chinese apps, signed by India's powerful Home Minister Amit Shah, asked phone companies to begin blocking the applications Tuesday, as top Army officers from India and China were set to meet for a third time to try to quell tensions and rein back on military build-ups in the disputed border area. Supporters of the ban hailed it as a way to curtail China's growing influence. "They are earning from us and then bullying us,'' 30-year-old Sonu Mishra said in New Delhi. Others bemoaned the potential loss of jobs at the app companies' Indian offices. Some slammed it as an encroachment on free speech. TikTok "continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese government,'' the company's India chief, Nikhil Gandhi, said in a statement. This isn't the first time TikTok has been banned in India _ the Madras High Court in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu banned it last year over hate speech concerns, but quickly vacated its order. Chinese-owned apps have found a fast-growing market in India, with some companies creating India-specific apps that have exploded in popularity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has used the country's 500 million internet users _ second only to China _ as a lure in getting tech giants including Twitter to localize Indians' data. It is expected to sponsor data localization legislation later this year. Among the list of newly-banned apps, Alibaba's UC Browser, Meitu's Beauty Plus camera app and Bigo's Likee video editing app are among the top 100 most downloaded apps in India, according to app intelligence firm App Annie. India is one of TikTok's largest markets. As of April, 30% of TikTok's 2 billion downloads were from India, according to app data analytics firm Sensor Tower. Bytedance also operates the now-banned Helo social networking app, which was created for the Indian market and has over 50 million users. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China was very concerned about the Indian move and seeking more information. The Indian government has the responsibility to uphold the legitimate rights of foreign investors, while Chinese companies should abide by local laws, he said. The Karakoram clash fanned already growing anti-Chinese sentiment amid the coronavirus pandemic, which emerged in China in December. India is the fourth worst affected, with nearly 570,000 cases and more than 16,000 deaths. In response to the crisis, a movement has emerged to promote India as an alternative to China for Western markets and to shun Chinese goods. TikTok has sought to cultivate goodwill: in April it said on Twitter that it had donated 30 crore rupees (about $40 million) to PM Cares, a fund set up by Modi's office to battle the coronavirus. The antagonisms carry risks for India: A broader boycott could backfire if China were to retaliate by banning exports of raw materials used by India's pharmaceutical industry. So far, it has not. In the longer term, Chinese companies might avoid investing in India's technology sector and Indian start-ups might be reluctant to accept Chinese investments for fear of repercussions, said Shaun Rein, managing director of market intelligence firm China Market Research Group. "Chinese investors are going to become very wary of investing in India. They'll be worried that they might invest billions of dollars into the country and either Indian consumers will boycott and protest against them, or the government will just ban them because they're backed by Chinese,'' Rein said. Short link: During these stressful times, the last thing we need is to make it more difficult for Floridians to work and further compromise the health of our economy, said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. The result is that more employers will be utilizing and more workers will be subject to the error-prone E-Verify database that could result in hundreds of authorized workers being denied the ability to work without a meaningful avenue to seek redress. Van Buren, AR (72956) Today Showers and thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 79F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low near 55F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Owner Steve Johnson attaches a notice on the door of Keegan's Grill Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Phoenix notifying guests his restaurant will be closing in compliance with the state of emergency issued by the city of Phoenix earlier in the day that restaurants only serve take-out. Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff have ordered bars, gyms and other indoor facilities to close immediately and restaurants to offer to-go service only in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. This March 22, 2016, photo provided by Lockheed Martin shows the first GPS III satellite inside the anechoic test facility at Lockheed Martin's complex south of Denver. The facility is used to ensure the signals from the satellite's components and payload will not interfere with each other. This first satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in December 2018. (Patrick H. Corkery/AP) In this Sept. 21, 2017 photo, a group has put up flyers and a booth on Sproul Plaza calling for protesters to "Shut Down Milo Yiannopoulos," at the University of California, Berkeley campus in Berkeley, Calif. Right-wing commentator Yiannopoulos held a "Free Speech Week" at the university. A help wanted sign is posted May 7, 2020, outside Cyr Lumber in Windham, New Hampshire. Up for debate: Live legislation tracker Check out the latest developments on bills pending before state lawmakers in four key topics. People gather at the North Shore Tavern in Pittsburgh on Sunday, June 28, 2020. In response to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Allegheny County, health officials are ordering all bars and restaurants in the county to stop the sale of alcohol for on-site consumption beginning Tuesday afternoon. It has also altered its ticket prices. The former one-day admission of $24.99 will now be considered a 2020 Unlimited Pass, which will be good for unlimited visits to any Crayola Experience attraction through the end of the year. This subscription will allow current subscribers of The St. Helens Chronicle to access all of our online Subscriber-Only content, including the E Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please call us at 1-503-397-0116. Batavia, NY (14020) Today Partly cloudy this morning with thunderstorms becoming likely this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 82F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Cloudy skies. Low around 50F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Towanda, PA (18848) Today Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 87F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low 56F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Oneonta, NY (13820) Today Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 87F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to cloudy skies after midnight. Low 56F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Do you appreciate the work we do as the only independent media outlet dedicated to serving OU students, faculty, staff and alumni on campus and around the world for more than 100 years? Then consider helping fund our endeavors. Around the world, communities are grappling with what journalism is worth and how to fund the civic good that robust news organizations can generate. 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Jason Frederick Emert is an attorney, adjunct professor of law at Lincoln Memorial University in Knoxville and adjunct professor of political science at Maryville College. He is chairman emeritus of the Young Republican National Federation and lives in Blount County. When jury trials reconvene, Smith said jury selection panels for felony criminal cases will take place at the Brazos Center and the former church sanctuary inside the County Administration Building, since the 60 or more people needed for those felony jury panels goes beyond the physically distance capacity of the old 85th district courtroom. Smith said that potential jurors with safety concerns would not be required to serve, and outlined numerous health precautions being taken in an effort to ensure safety and distance in the courtroom. All of your judges are concerned about providing as safe of an environment as possible for everybody. But were also very concerned about many people who are awaiting their trial, Smith said. Its time for the business of justice to get back in business in Brazos County. Of the 1,943 total cases, 1,093 are considered active, 74 more than Sundays total; 821 people have recovered, which is 47 more than Sundays total. Health officials said Monday that 19,651 tests for COVID-19 have been administered by Brazos County health care providers, which is up 755 from Sunday. The testing positivity rate for June 20-26 was 6.98%, down significantly from the 24.39% rate the previous week. EVENT TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR The Bluebonnet Brahman Breeders Association 2020 Bluebonnet Kick-Off Classic is July 29-Aug. 1 at the Brazos County Expo. This year there will be no substitutions or late entrees. Register at www.facebook.com/Bluebonnetkickoff/ . TUESDAY EVENTS Film screening and panel: Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Online event. An evening of learning, discussion, and action on the proposed reopening of the Gibbons Creek Coal Plant near Bryan-College Station. The evening will start with a briefing on the situation by Leigh Turner, former executive director of the Texas A&M Career Center, followed by a screening of the documentary and a panel discussion. Attendees will also be presented with opportunities to get involved in advocating for clean air and the climate. Free. Register at www.eventbrite.com/e/film-screening-and-panel-fighting-goliath-texas-coal-wars-tickets-111002160450. Climate, the coal industry and health will be addressed at Tuesdays virtual panel discussion and documentary screening, prompted by the potential reopening of the Gibbons Creek Generation Station. In May, the general manager of Bryan Texas Utilities said that recent reports that the coal-fired Gibbons Creek Generation Station in Grimes County could reopen are premature since the plant owner Texas Municipal Power Agency, which includes the cities of Bryan, Garland, Denton and Greenville still is in negotiations with a potential buyer. Todays online event is free and will include the screening of the 30-minute documentary Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars, followed by a panel discussion with Texas A&M professor Andrew Dessler; Jim Hand, retired executive and mining engineer with Exxon/Mobil; and Natalie Johnson, A&M associate professor of environmental and occupational health. According to the event description on Eventbrite, more information about petitions and background on Gibbons Creek Generation Station will be emailed to anyone who signs up to attend. The viewing and panel discussion begins at 6:30 p.m. and is scheduled to end at 8:30 p.m. To sign up and get information on how to view the presentation, go to fightinggoliath.eventbrite.com. At whatever scale [tracing] is happening, its going to be somewhat effective, she said. But it needs to be done in conjunction with other things. Since they began earlier this spring with just a few cases to trace, she said, her team has been working to scale up its operation, trimming unnecessary lines from their script, trying to retain more Spanish speakers to cut down on translation time, and halving the number of times they attempt to call an unresponsive contact from six to three. Over the last few weeks, as cases in the Austin area have more than doubled to over 8,000, Bhavnani said her team has been inundated and began training dozens more people to become contact tracers. Its the same story in San Antonio, where the citys chief of epidemiology, Rita Espinoza, said they have been feverishly hiring additional staff and calling in staff from other departments. With cases surging, her department has added as many as 70 new workers. Her department recently put in a request for state assistance to hire more contact tracers, but she said she is not sure when that support will come. I cant say if its going to be enough, she said. Its hard with the number of cases we are seeing to say how much is going to be enough. "We have politicians frankly, like you, Royce whove become millionaires in office and have spent their time legislating in their own best interests instead of the interests of their constituents," Hegar added. "Im done with it, Im tired of it, and so is Texas." "Ah, now we get the real MJ Hegar out," West replied. The moderator, KVUE's Ashley Goudeau, interjected to say rebuttals were no longer allowed, but Hegar kept going, telling West they didn't want to "go down this road." "Well, let's go," he responded, arguing voters want to know more about her past political activity because she "hasn't been visible" on the campaign trail. "You just haven't been there." Hegars comment about West becoming wealthy in office appeared to refer to the millions of dollars in legal fees that he collected over the years while representing governmental entities and other clients that could provide conflicts of interest. West had to reveal the most detail yet about those arrangements as part of a federal disclosure he had to file after launching his U.S. Senate campaign last year. An employee boards up a bar on Sixth Street in Austin after Gov. Greg Abbott closed bars in Texas for the second time in three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune HOUSTON Hoping to block Gov. Greg Abbotts Friday decision ordering Texas bars to close due to a rise in coronavirus cases, more than 30 bar owners filed a lawsuit Monday challenging Abbotts emergency order. The lawsuit, first reported by the Austin American-Statesman, was filed in Travis County District Court by Jared Woodfill, a Houston attorney who has led previous legal efforts opposing Abbotts other shutdown orders during the pandemic. Dr. David Lakey, the former commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said its important for the Texas Medical Association to be involved in both political parties in order to have the voice of health and the many public health issues such as vaccines and Medicaid and maternal morbidity, to make sure that both parties understand that these issues are important. If [TMA] totally dropped sponsorship, they lose the ability to address the multitude of health issues that we have here, Lakey said But Lakey, who is a current member of TMA and past chair of its public health committee, also said he hopes TMA will encourage the convention to consider the use of masks and other public health interventions if they are going to move forward. Annear said TMAs agreement with the Republican Party of Texas was set in stone before the pandemic was a major issue here before we hit any stay-home suggestions or mandates, mask policies or anything like that. And because the group signed onto the sponsorship before the pandemic began, and no conditions like that were discussed, it will not back out of the agreement. While Blackstone's generation of dispensationalists never established a centralized organization capable of leveraging political or economic might behind the Christian Zionist cause, Hagee has. CUFI supports a conservative agenda on social issues and has been aided by the rise of the evangelical right in the Republican Party, giving it increasing influence in American politics. When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at the 2019 CUFI convention in Washington, he praised Blackstone's lobbying that "helped convince" Wilson to support a homeland for Jews. Blackstone, Pompeo continued, laid the groundwork for the establishment of Israel in 1948. Pompeo has publicly stated his belief in the rapture and believes that God may have raised up Trump to defend Israel. Vice President Pence is also an outspoken supporter of CUFI and imbibes this type of Christian Zionism. But CUFI's advocacy should give Christians pause. Although dispensationalism claims to be based on biblical prophecy, it is actually at odds with it. There is a rich history of apocalyptic hope in the Christian tradition that does not ascribe to the United States a divinely sanctioned role as God's chosen instrument. Instead, biblical apocalypticism draws a sharp contrast between the kingdom of God and earthly governments and is a dissenting witness against ideologies of empire and militarism. I am opposed to any action to remove Sully from the present location or subject him to humiliation. It is the American way to give everyone a fair trial. My concern is not just for Sully. We are sliding down a slippery slope. Free speech and academic freedom have become only words, and there seems to be no end to the demands of one group and then another. Statues of our Founding Fathers, Christopher Columbus, the Jefferson Memorial, the conquistador statues, and the memorial to Confederate women have been threatened or toppled. Are the protesters going to demand George Washington be blasted off Mount Rushmore? Is the Statue of Liberty next? How about the Liberty Bell and the Washington Monument? Gone with the Wind has fallen out of favor, and Nancy Pelosi had Confederate portraits removed from the Capitol. Are we going to burn books as oppressive regimes have done in the past? The "thought police" have taken over. It is time for all of us to stop, take a deep breath, and try to work out our problems. The last time we had a truly serious disagreement in this country, we fought the Civil War. JERALD W. ELLINGTON College Station Chicago Police Supt. David Brown gestures toward a table of guns allegedly confiscated by Chicago police officers over the weekend during a news conference at CPD headquarters, on June 29, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times/AP) 1,200 Extra Chicago Cops to Be Deployed Over July 4 Weekend CHICAGOChicagos police superintendent said on June 29 that he plans to flood the citys streets with additional officers during the long July 4 weekend in an effort to avoid a repeat of recent weekends that have been particularly bloody and despite pressure to keep officer overtime to a minimum. We didnt do it last weekend and the Memorial Day weekend, Superintendent David Brown said of the two weekends that ended with a combined total of 111 people being shot, 24 fatally. This weekend well have an additional 1,200 cops every day from Thursday through Sunday. Brown took over as superintendent during the coronavirus pandemic, when there was a furious effort to release as many jail detainees as possible to keep them from contracting the virus. The number of Cook County Jail inmates decreased by more than 1,600 between May 1 and June 1. But on Monday, Brown vowed to push others in the criminal justice system to keep those arrested on drug and gun charges locked up longer. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown addresses the citys weekend gun violence during a news conference at CPD headquarters, on June 29, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times/AP) Were pleading (with the court system) to keep them in jail for the weekend, he said, explaining that the people arrested for dealing or buying drugs on street corners may not be charged with violent crimes, but that such activity often leads to gun fights between violent gangs. As his predecessors did when talking about a bloody weekend, Brown said the most recent spasm of gunfire ended not just with the deaths of rival gang members but with the killing of children. This time the innocent victims included a 1-year-old riding in a car with his mother and a 10-year-old girl who was inside her home when a bullet fired a block away pierced a window and struck her in the head as she sat on a couch. A table of guns allegedly confiscated by Chicago police officers on display as Chicago Police Supt. David Brown addresses weekend gun violence in the city during a news conference at CPD headquarters, on June 29, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times/AP) Brown also alluded to the reality of life in some neighborhoods where residents have been reluctant to come forward with information that might help detectives solve violent crimes because they dont trust the police. For Gods sake, for the sake of Chicagos children, please help us bring these murderers to justice, Brown said, referring the gunmen as evil bastards. Silence empowers those who continue to terrorize our neighborhoods, he said. Protesters hold signs during a march in Chicago, Ill., on June 28, 2020. (Natasha Moustache/Getty Images) There is no doubt that the July 4 weekend stands as the biggest test for Brown since he became superintendent two months ago, largely because the bloodshed over the long Memorial Day weekendwhen 49 people were shot, including 10 who diedwas widely viewed as a failure in his first major test on the job. Friends, family, and residents of the Logan Square neighborhood attend a vigil for 10-year-old Lena Nunez in Chicago, Ill., on June 29, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) While mayors are typically reluctant to criticize superintendents so early in their tenure, Mayor Lori Lightfoot didnt mince words after Memorial Day weekend, though she has since maintained that she still has confidence in Brown. This was a fail, and whatever the strategy is, it didnt work, Lightfoot told reporters at the time. Chicago typically experiences more gun violence during holiday weekends in the warmer months, so it has been particularly worrying that the bloodshed has continued at an alarming rate during the non-holiday weekends that followed Memorial Day. After a bloody Fathers Day weekend in which more than 100 people were shot, 14 of them fatally, this most recent weekend ended with 62 people being shot, 14 of them fatally. In all, the city that saw drops in the number of shootings in over the past three years, this year it is a different story, as nearly six months into the year, there have been 82 more homicides and 530 more shooting victims than during the same period last year. In addition to having to deal with a jump in violent crime, the department has been dealing with the fallout from troubling and embarrassing videos of incidents involving officers during protests and unrest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. One video showed an officer making an obscene gesture to protesters, while another showed officers smashing the windows of a car and yanking two unarmed women out of it. The most recent video showed officers lounging in a congressmans office as people broke into nearby stores during a night of unrest. By Don Babwin A violent robbery was caught on camera in Manhattan, and New York City Police Department officials are searching for the suspect. (NYPD) 64-Year-Old Woman Choked, Robbed in Broad Daylight in Manhattan: Police A violent robbery was caught on camera in Manhattan, and New York City Police Department officials are searching for the suspect. It happened in broad daylight at around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday on East 29th Street in the Kips Bay neighborhood. Officials told CBS New York that the suspect choked a 64-year-old woman before stealing her bag. Surveillance footage shows the woman lying on the ground as he walks away from the scene. WANTED for ROBBERY: Do you know this guy? On 6/28/20 at approx 8:30 AM, in front of 332 East 29 St in Manhattan, the suspect choked a 64-year-old female, then took her bag containing her phone and money. Any info call or DM @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. All calls are anonymous. pic.twitter.com/QXWLxXBAjb NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 30, 2020 The victim, who was not identified, suffered cuts on her elbows and knee. The suspect, however, stole her cellphone and cash. People with information about the suspect can call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or in Spanish at 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). People can also submit a tip through the NYPD website or on Twitter, @NYPDTips. There has been a rise in attacks on elderly people in New York City in recent weeks. A man was arrested for pushing a 92-year-old woman to the ground in Gramercy, Manhattan, which was also caught on a surveillance camera. The woman hit her head on a fire hydrant and is in stable condition in the hospital. In a later incident, an 80-year-old man was knocked down to the ground and robbed of his backpack in the Bronx, which was also captured on video. The NYPD is also searching for a man who punched a 78-year-old woman in the head in Brooklyn earlier in June. A woman in her 60s was also punched in the head while waiting for a subway train. On June 21, the NYPD announced the arrest of a homeless man who randomly punched a 73-year-old woman on a subway platform in the Bronx. Ahmed Kromah, 23, was accused of walking up to the woman, punching her, and running away. City police officials have said violent crimes have spiked in recent weeks across New York City, coming after protests, unrest, and vandalism in the wake of George Floyds death in Minneapolis in late May. Earlier this month, NYPD officials told news outlets that 22 people have been shot in the city in separate incidents over the weekend, including a fatal incident in East New York, Brooklyn. A 35-year-old male was gunned down as he was washing his car, officials said. A Movement of Vindictive Hatred Is Tearing Down Americas Statues Commentary The movement to tear down and deface monuments to famous people and events in American history is a metaphor for the even more sinister ambitions of the more militant perpetrators. The entire concept is misconceived, and now that it has gone beyond Confederate soldiers and officials, it constitutes a blood libel on the founders of the American colonies and of the United States, and on those who have preserved and strengthened the Union these 230 years. The early settlers fled the class-stratification, anti-meritocratic sclerosis, and corrupt oppression of Europe. They founded states where the settlers would be free and equal, and there would be religious tolerance, and all could aspire to a better life through hard work and good conduct. They had little regard for the indigenous peoples (read the Declaration of Independence). The white history with the natives is complex and rather discreditable, though the natives are not blameless. The so-called Indians were essentially nomads with a Stone Age civilization and did not remotely occupy the whole country, and though there were many outrages in the treatment of them, their fate is only occasionally and opportunistically invoked by African American activists. Black Lives Matter (BLM), now revered by the Democrats and Mitt Romney, do not accept that all lives matter. Slaveholding The early settlers had practically no knowledge of Africans until British and French slave merchants negotiated with African tribal leaders for the exportation of able-bodied Africans to the southern colonies of North America because of their presumed higher productivity in harvesting tropical crops, especially cotton, for which there was high demand in the British textile and clothing industries. The founders of the American colonies were indispensable to the eventual acceptance of the national legitimacy of colonized peoples. Their loyalty to Britain did not long survive the Anglo American defeat of the French in Canada in 175960. It is one of the many frauds contained in the 1619 Project of The New York Times Magazine, masterminded by Nikole Hannah-Jones, that slaveholding occupied any significant place in the ambitions of the American revolutionaries. Slavery was at that time under no threat and was not abolished in the British Empire for more than 50 years after the achievement of American independence. There was from the start substantial opposition to the moral implications of slavery. Benjamin Franklin was briefly a slaveholder but became the leader of the Abolitionist Society of Pennsylvania. George Washington at least emancipated his slaves in his will. Thomas Jefferson saw the ethical problem of slavery as a fire-bell in the night, and had a number of children with Sally Hemings, a slave whom he essentially treated as a spouse. As a work of historical scholarship, the 1619 Project is a disgrace, and the recognition of it with a Pulitzer Prize makes as much a mockery of the standards and integrity of the American media as was the Pulitzer Prize awarded to Walter Duranty, also of The New York Times, in 1932 for whitewashing Stalins collectivization of agriculture and the resulting Ukrainian famine that killed millions of people. It is little wonder that the great majority of Americans have little faith in the media and that the concept of a free press, essential to democracy, has been dragged into disrepute by the likes of Hannah-Jones, who has intermittently revealed herself throughout her adult life as a zealous anti-white racist. The early Americans were slow to act on the incompatibility of slavery with their founding principles, but they created and built a society that could and finally did abolish slavery, and an unconscionable century later, segregation. Lincoln But African Americans should never forget that Abraham Lincoln said, If God wills that every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be repaid by a drop of blood drawn by the sword, then as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Americas greatest statesman promised the abolition of slavery no matter how many of his white countrymen were killed in accomplishing that goal, and 750,000 Americans (in a population of 31 million) perished emancipating the slaves. The context of the statue that BLM and its fellow-travelers wish to destroy in Washington, of a black man kneeling beside Lincoln, is that when General Grant forced the Confederate evacuation of Richmond and Lincoln went to Richmond to reintegrate Virginia into the Union and confirm the demobilization of General Lees army, he was escorted by a Union African American regiment. And when recently emancipated slaves knelt in thanks, he raised them up and told them they must never kneel to anyone again except to God only. The attempt to destroy that statue is an obscenity. Wilson President Woodrow Wilson, a distinguished head of Princeton University and historical scholar, was a Virginian Presbyterian born before the Civil War, and a segregationist, like most southern whites. This is a serious impeachment of his reputation, but it does not obliterate the facts that he intervened to prevent the defeat of democracy in World War I and to promote the national independence of long-oppressed peoples including the Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, the Baltic states, and the various nationalities in what became Yugoslavia. He championed many colonial peoples and was one of historys great prophets, by conceiving of a parliament of the worlds countries (the League of Nations), and inspiring the masses of the world for the first time with the vision of enduring peace. His conversion of the ghastly hecatomb of World War I into a war to end war and to make the world safe for democracy uplifted all mankind, and does so still. The execrable bias that he inherited against the African American and failed to outgrow limits his historical status, but does not justify erasing his name from a center at Princeton, where he was a distinguished president. Seeing Clearly The problem posed by these attacks upon statues is that they are made by people who, like Hannah-Jones and the BLM leaders, do not wish a compromise agreement of racial equality and tolerance. They are motivated by vindictive hatred for those who founded and built the nation within which they have with infinite difficulty and after an unconscionable delay, become by far the most successful and prosperous black population in the world, and the best is yet to come. Relatively innocuous fellow travelers like Charles Blow in The New York Times, who wants to downgrade even Washington, are useful idiots in a psycho-insurrectionist cause. White America is temporarily so shaken by the horrible and sadistic killing of George Floyd that it is ignoring or misreading movements that do not seek reform, fraternity, or leadership to bring us together, but rather are trying to strike a mortal blow at the entire American project. President Trump has stumbled seriously and the pandemic and the coordinated media hostility have put his reelection in some doubt, though he has condemned racism, lawlessness, and attacks on the rights and property of individuals and on public monuments. He will have to raise his game or jeopardize the cause he is leading. The Democrats have allowed violent and bigoted elements to infiltrate them, and are elevating a completely implausible nominee to deal with an almost unprecedented state of political disorder. The national interest will require rejection of the lassitude and subversive evasion of many of Trumps enemies. Americans should see BLM clearly, and the threat of its New York leader (Hawk Newsome), to burn society down. Unless what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature prevail, the United States will enter a possibly irreversible decline on Nov. 3. Conrad Black has been one of Canadas most prominent financiers for 40 years, and was one of the leading newspaper publishers in the world. He is the author of authoritative biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, and, most recently Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. An outside view of Bascom Hall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 12, 2013. (Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) Abraham Lincoln Statue Will Remain on University of Wisconsin-Madison Campus The century-old statue of Abraham Lincoln at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) campus will stay in its place, despite recent calls for its removal. The university continues to support the Abraham Lincoln statue on our campus, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a statement obtained by WISCTV News 3, adding that the 16th presidents legacy is not free from critique, but surely worth celebrating. Like those of all presidents, Lincolns legacy is complex and contains actions which, 150 years later, appear flawed, said Blank. However, when the totality of his tenure is considered, Lincoln is widely acknowledged as one of our greatest presidents, having issued the Emancipation Proclamation, persuaded Congress to adopt the 13th Amendment ending slavery and preserved the Union during the Civil War. To further illustrate the complexity, Blank noted that many public universities, including the UW-Madison, were established due to a Lincoln-era policy to allocate federal lands to support college education. But those lands were expropriated from Native Americans. Without Lincoln, public land-grant universities like ours might not exist, she said. These universities have been engines of social mobility and economic growth for citizens who would never otherwise have had access to higher education. A group of students recently petitioned to remove the Lincoln statue, primarily because, they argue, the two 18th century alumni who purchased and donated the statue to the university were racists. In addition, members of the black student union say that the statue is a reminder of racial inequality. He was also very publicly anti-Black, Nalah McWhorter, president of UW-Madisons black student union, told WISCTV. Just because he was anti-slavery doesnt mean he was pro-black. The petition comes as activists in Wisconsin started eyeing not only monuments of the Confederacy, but also statues commemorating the historical movement to end slavery. According to the Madison Police Department, protesters removed the Hans Christian Heg statue from Capitol grounds during a night of protests on June 23. Heg was a Norwegian immigrant and abolitionist. During the Civil War, Heg formed and led the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment, a unit mainly consisting of Scandinavian immigrants, and died in a battle. Protesters torn down the Heg statuewhich had stood in front of the Capitol since 1925removed its head, and dragged it into Madisons Lake Monona. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a Wednesday press release that the Heg statue has since been recovered. A protester told the Wisconsin State Journal that the Heg statue was removed because it created a false representation of what this city is and the state government wasnt taking that same stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. Visitors at the booth of Airbus during the opening trade day of the Singapore Airshow 2020 in Singapore, on Feb. 11, 2020. (Danial Hakim/AP Photo) Airbus Shedding 15,000 Jobs, Mostly in Europe PARISBattered by the coronavirus pandemic, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said Tuesday that it must eliminate 15,000 jobs, mostly in Europe, to safeguard its future and warned of more thin years ahead. With air traffic not expected to recover to pre-COVID levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025, Airbus now needs to take additional measures, the company said in a statement. No later than the summer of 2021, Airbus wants to shed 5,000 workers in France, 5,100 in Germany, 1,700 in Britain, 900 in Spain, and 1,300 others at facilities elsewhere. Airbus said it wants to start making the cuts within months, from this autumn. It will aim for voluntary departures and early retirements, but also said that compulsory job losses cant be ruled out. It said it is already consulting with unions. Airbus said its commercial aircraft business activity has plummeted by close to 40 percent as the pandemic has shut borders, brought mass tourism to a screeching halt, and put airlines on their knees, thumping the European manufacturer and its rival Boeing. Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced, the companys CEO, Guillaume Faury, said in the statement. The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader. Airbus reported 481 million ($515 million) in losses in the first quarter, put thousands of workers on furlough, and sought billions in loans to survive the coronavirus crisis. Australia's High Commissioner George Brandis speaks at a Fund Raising Dinner for the 2020 Australian bushfire relief and recovery effort at Mansion House in London, England on March 12, 2020. (Eamonn M. McCormack - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Australia, UK Need to Defend Democracy and Our Way of Life: George Brandis Australias highest-ranking diplomat in the UK has issued a call to arms for the UK to stand firm on its shared values in the face of a different kind of crisis. Speaking at the annual Gallipoli Memorial Lecture in London on June 25, High Commissioner George Brandis said that Australia and the UK need to stand together as liberal democracies in defense of our institutions and our way of life. Highlighting the unique situation the world is in as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, Brandis noted that while the world is focusing on responding to and recovering from the pandemic, some countries are seeking to take advantage of the emergency to pursue interests inimical to our own. Brandis went on to explain that the world had found itself backmuch like it was during the battle at Gallipoliin a contest between open societies and closed ones as countries such as China have launched a disinformation war on democratic governments around the world. Liberal Democracies Must Be Vigilant The Chinese regime has been vocal in its criticism of democratic countries call for an inquiry into the origins of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. In April, Chinese embassies around the globe began to utilize wolf warrior diplomacy to denounce international governments that criticized the regime for its handling of the CCP virus. In countries such as Australia and France, Chinese envoys consistently accused the governments of abandoning its people and of slandering China. Citing a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute published in August 2019, Brandis noted how the CCP had increasingly used Western social media to engage in a campaign of disinformation on medical, political, and economic lines. He said this activity complicated global health care responses and economic recovery efforts in democracies around the world. But recent events remind us of how vigilant liberal democracies must be, Brandis said. We must be ever more alert to defend our values, to protect our political systems, and proudly to assert the virtue of free societies organized around the fundamental liberal principle of the inviolable rights of every citizen. Standing Together Against Oppression While warning that democracies everywhere needed to strengthen and deepen cooperation in defense of its shared values, Brandis said Australia felt strongly about Hong Kong. We continue to raise our serious concerns that the legislation will undermine the One Country Two Systems principle and erode human rights and individual freedoms that have been guaranteed by the basic law and by the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, said Brandis. Explaining that Australia had been the target of a massive foreign interference campaign, Brandis told those present that Australia had experienced a range of attacks recently. The recent attacks include cyber-intrusion and intellectual property theft; interference in election outcomes and foreign entryism into political parties; the strategic acquisition of critical infrastructure and assets; interference in government decisions and universities; and disinformation campaigns in traditional and social media. Calling on the UK to learn from Australias experience and the ways we seek to protect ourselves domestically from evolving threats to our security, Brandis urged greater engagement between Australia and the UK. At a time when the rules-based international order is once again being tested, when the values and efficacy of the liberal democracies are once again being challenged when our political systems are increasingly being threatened by hostile interference, the depth and strength of that partnership has never been so important, Brandis said. U.S. Dismisses Iran Arrest Warrant For Trump Over Soleimani Killing As 'Propaganda Stunt' 06/30/20 Source: RFE/RL Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump and 35 others over the drone killing of its top general, Qasem Soleimani, in what a U.S. official dismissed as a "propaganda stunt." Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on June 29 that Trump and the others, who he said included U.S. political and military officials, face charges of "murder and terrorist acts" over the January assassination of Soleimani, who headed the Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). General Qasem Soleimani with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei He claimed Iran had asked the international police organization Interpol to issue a "red notice" to arrest them for their involvement in Soleimani's killing and that Tehran would continue to pursue Trump's prosecution even after the end of his presidency. In response, the U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook said Tehran was carrying out "a propaganda stunt that no one takes seriously." "Our assessment is that Interpol does not intervene and issue red notices that are based on a political nature," Hook said at a June 29 press conference alongside the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs in Riyadh. Interpol said in a statement that it does not undertake "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial character." "Therefore, if or when any such requests were to be sent to the General Secretariat," it added, "...Interpol would not consider requests of this nature." The assassination of Soleimani near Baghdad's airport brought the United States and Iran close to a military conflict after Tehran retaliated by launching a missile strike targeting U.S. forces in Iraq. Tensions between the two countries have escalated since the U.S. withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed harsh economic sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. With reporting by IRNA and Fars Beijing Moves to Crush Dissent and Bring Terror to Hong Kong Commentary I, Agnes Chow Ting, announce I am quitting Hong Kong Demosisto today, began one statement. Demosisto is an activist group that had been at the forefront of the pro-democracy movements global lobbying effort. I am hereby withdrawing from Demosisto, reads another statement. This drip-feed continued throughout the day, as one by one, prominent pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong announced their intention to withdraw themselves from politics or leave the city altogether. The long-dreaded national security law, which has hung over Hong Kong for decades, had finally arrived. Published and enacted just after 11 p.m. local time on June 30, the legislation criminalizes four categories of offenses: secession, subverting state power, terrorism, and colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security. Life imprisonment is possible under all four. Hong Kong has become South Shenzhen remarked one user on a pro-democracy internet forum, referencing the mainland Chinese city that hugs Hong Kongs northern border. Whats certain is that the law is a death blow to freedom of expression, the right to protest, and the one country, two systems framework under which Hong Kong is supposed to enjoy a high degree of autonomy. Among the most worrying provisions contained in the legislation is the article that states trials will be held in the mainland for the most serious offenses. The law lists three scenarios where Beijing enjoys jurisdiction: when Hong Kong is unable to execute the law, when there is complicated foreign interference beyond Hong Kongs control, or when cases are judged as seriously endangering national security, such that the authorities in Hong Kong cannot effectively enforce the law. Even after the events of the past year, Hong Kong retains a legal system that is among the most respected in Asia, which stands in stark contrast to the legal system in mainland China, a deliberately vague and murky mess in which the only true authority is the partys will. Targets Among the most likely targets of a trial in the mainland is pro-democracy media owner Jimmy Lai, who has long been a hate figure for both pro-Beijing supporters and the authorities. Depicted as a cockroach in state-owned media, Lai and his publications have long been a thorn in the side of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and there have been reports in recent days that Lai would be arrested on July 1, the first day the law comes into effect. Its highly likely the law will target high-profile pro-democracy activists, who are largely at peace with their fate, with Joshua Wong telling a forum last week, It is not an exaggeration to say that today might be my last chance to speak in public as a free man. Meanwhile, Wongs organization Demosisto has announced it is disbanding. Its leaders would likely be a key target of the fourth category of offense, colluding with foreign forces, owing to their regular and highly publicized meetings with prominent U.S. politicians, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The accusations of foreign forces meddling in Hong Kong affairs are farcical at best and truly delusional at worst. Beijing is firmly of the view that hostile foreign forces are orchestrating the protests, with accusations that protesters are being paid with CIA money appearing in state-owned media. The best evidence the CCP has been able to muster of this is photographs of Caucasians at the scene of protests, accusing them of being CIA spies, as though the CIA doesnt employ a single ethnically Chinese staff member who could be present if they so wished. Its made even more farcical when one remembers that per the Partys own constitution, Marxism-Leninism remains the CCPs primary guide to actionand is itself a purely European import. Atmosphere of Terror However, while the law is clearly aimed at ensnaring many of the big beasts of Hong Kongs pro-democracy camp, the primary purpose of the legislation is not to jail the Jimmy Lais or Joshua Wongs. Instead, it is to create an atmosphere of terror among anyone in the population contemplating resistance and to smother dissent in the process. As one friend who was elected as a district councilor in the pro-democracy camps landslide election victory in November 2019 explained to me: They will lock up the big fish, no doubt about it. But they will pursue many of the little fish, too. They want everyone in Hong Kong who supports the democratic movement to think, It could be me. Creating that sense of fear among pro-democracy supporters is Beijings best hope of defeating the burgeoning pro-democracy movement by any means other than by declaring martial lawa definite possibility if frontline protesters are further radicalized and begin to render the city ungovernable. Another key objective of the legislation is to create a pervasive state of self-censorship that permeates across the whole of Hong Kong society. For example, journalists and reporters are more likely to think twice when writing about politically sensitive topics when a possible life sentence hangs over your head. The legislation includes only a single passing mention to protecting the freedom of the press in its 18 pages; a simple pledge that freedom of the press will be protected in accordance with the law. However, any effects of the law felt by members of the press will likely be eclipsed by that felt by the activists themselves. Local media outlet HK01, citing sources, reports that anyone waiving pro-independence flags or chanting pro-independence slogans at future protests will be committing a crime under national security law, likely under the crime of secession. Anniversary of Handover July 1 marks the anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong, a seminal date in the citys political calendar and traditionally marked by a huge pro-democracy protest march. Its possible that arrests and charges under the new law could begin in the next 24 hours. Its certainly no accident that the authorities rushed to enact the legislation just one hour before the anniversary commenced. All eyes in Beijing will now be on the response by the international community. Citing the risk of sensitive U.S. technology [being] diverted to the Peoples Liberation Army or Ministry of State Security, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced June 29 that Hong Kongs special trade status had been revoked. Responding to the laws passage, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remarked that the United States would not stand idly by as Beijing brings the city into its authoritarian maw, adding in his press conference earlier today that Hong Kong had become just another communist-run city subject to the party elites whims. Meanwhile in London, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab confirmed to the House of Commons that the UK will proceed with offering around two-thirds of Hong Kongs population a path to British citizenship now the national security law has been enacted. He did not, however, elaborate on the further action he previously promised if Beijing were to press on with passing the law, though this may follow in the coming weeks. A growing number of China hawks in the Conservative Partynot to mention the people of Hong Kongwill be watching him to see if he will be true to his word. But on the ground in Hong Kong, such measures would do little to change the predicament the citys pro-democracy movement finds itself in. Whilst international support and possible future sanctions could alter Beijings behavior, the reality is Hong Kongs young throngs of pro-democracy activists find themselves battling alone with a superpower. They are under no illusions about this. As one longtime friend and demonstrator said to me a few days ago, There will be no U.S. Marines joining us in Causeway Bay next week, referencing a popular shopping district and the meeting point for the start of many mass marches. With the dreaded law now on the statute book, the ball is firmly in the protestors court. How they respond in the next few weeks may well determine the fate of Hong Kongs democratic uprising. Jack Hazlewood is a student and activist based in London. He previously worked for a localist political party in Hong Kong, and served as a field producer for the conflict journalism outlet Popular Fronts documentary Add Oil, which followed frontline protestors in Hong Kong in the run-up to Chinas national day in 2019. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Members of the pan-democracy camp hold a press conference at Hong Kongs Legislative Council on June 30, 2020. (Hong Kong branch of The Epoch Times) Beijings Security Law Comes Into Effect in Hong Kong Amid Chorus of Criticism Beijings controversial national security law will take effect immediately after two ceremonial votes on June 30 by the standing committee of Chinas rubber-stamp legislature. Unusually, neither Beijing nor the Hong Kong government has publicized the text of the lawthough the Chinese regime disclosed several additional details last week, such as the Hong Kong leader will have the power to appoint judges to hear national security-related cases. Current Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, in a statement issued on June 30 at around 6:50 p.m. local time, welcomed Beijings formal passage of the law, and said it would come into effect later today. She added that her government will promulgate the law in the government gazette as soon as possible to officially enable its implementation. Beijing formally began the process of drafting a national security law for Hong Kong on May 28, after the rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress (NPC), conducted a ceremonial vote. The law would criminalize those who engage in activities connected to subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The NPC standing committee, which oversees the body, tabled the bill on Monday. The following morning, it formally voted unanimously for the bills passage, then voted again for it to be annexed to Hong Kongs mini-constitution, the Basic Law. With the security law, Lam claimed that the social unrest in Hong Kong will be eased and stability will be restored, repeating phrases used in Beijings propaganda that characterize the ongoing pro-democracy protest movement. John Lee, Hong Kongs Security Secretary, said in a statement that a police dedicated unit will be set up under the national security law to be equipped with effective enforcement power to discharge the enforcement duties. Soon after Lams statement, the pan-democracy camp of the citys local legislature, known as the Legislative Council (LegCo), held a press conference criticizing Beijing and the law. This is the end of one country, two systems, said Dennis Kwok, a lawmaker of the Civic Party, referring to the framework by which Beijing promised to preserve the citys autonomy upon Hong Kongs transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China in 1997. Kwok said what Beijing had done was a ruthless way of taking away the freedoms and human dignity of the Hong Kong people. It was an undignified assault on the freedoms, human rights, and the rule of law of Hong Kong, Kwok said. Lawmaker Tanya Chan said the law was equivalent to issuing a death certificate for one country, two systems, and that Hong Kong will now be under the rule of one country, one system. Many governments, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the UK, and the European Union expressed concerns following the formal passage of the law. As fundamental rights and the rule of law appear threatened by these extraordinary actions in #HongKong, we join calls for the urgent establishment of a UN human rights mechanism on #China https://t.co/rxBSmNyWHK pic.twitter.com/3ofBZiQpOz BHRC (@BarHumanRights) June 30, 2020 Joining the international criticism was NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said during a Tuesday virtual forum, It is clear that China does not share our valuesdemocracy, freedom, and the rule of law, according to Reuters. Stoltenberg added: We see this in Hong Kong, where the new security law undermines its autonomy. Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong and a patron of the British NGO Hong Kong Watch, criticized Beijing in a statement. This decision, which rides rough-shod over Hong Kongs elected legislature, marks the end of one-country, two-systems. It is a flagrant breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Patten said, referring to the treaty that governed Hong Kongs handover. Patten warned: The separation of powers is in danger of being shattered and the courts politicized by the provision that the Chief Executive will herself choose the judges for national security cases. Danish professor Bjorn Lomborg speaks with a journalist at the Bella center of Copenhagen on Dec. 15, 2009, the 9th day of the COP15 U.N. Climate Change Conference. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images) Bjorn Lomborgs False Alarm Brings Reason to Climate Change Debate Commentary No matter your predispositions regarding the climate change issue, youre sure to find something alarmingly objectionable about skeptical environmentalist Bjorn Lomborgs latest work, False Alarm. Thats precisely what makes this book so important. In a world where hyperbole and hysteria continue to displace reasoned discourse, Lomborg offers cogent, thoughtful arguments in an attempt to return perspective and reason to the climate change discussion. He does so by using science and economics as those disciplines should be used: as broad floodlights illuminating all facets of an issue, not as laser pointers focused only on the data that support a cherished thesis. The subtitle to False Alarm is How climate change panic costs us trillions, hurts the poor, and fails to fix the planet. As subtitles go, thats a bit clunkier than most, but its a fair summation of what follows. Lomborg addresses his core mission statement early on: Were scaring kids and adults witless, which is not just factually wrong but morally reprehensible. If we dont say stop, the current, false climate alarm, despite its good intentions, is likely to leave the world much worse off than it could be. Someone reading the above statement and who knows nothing about Lomborg might assume that this Danish professor is what one side of the climate change debate would call a denier. While he has been so labeled on occasion, thoughtful critics recognize Lomborg as something else, neither fish nor fowl within the climate change menagerie. He acknowledges that our climate is changing, and he admits that mankind has been and will continue to play a role in that change. What he refuses to do, and what he wishes all of us would refuse to do, is panic. Lomborg brings an accessible style to False Alarm, allowing a reader to digest facts and arguments without being overwhelmed. He talks to the reader, in contrast to so many works on the subject that lecture and harangue. The nature of the climate change debate makes it impossible to have a wholly inclusive discussion in any single book, but Lomborg makes a valiant attempt. Like any writer on the subject, he must pick and choose which facts, examples, and ideas to present, and these are, of course, designed to support his central thesis. That said, Lomborg makes a heroic effort to be fair to all points of view. When he rejects a popular argument, he generally does so without malice, although his understandable frustration with the performance of journalists and politicians when addressing climate change is evident. False Alarm is full of quotable moments. Lomborg delivers one of the best early on as he makes what should be an obvious point: that the worldand particularly the developing worldfaces a host of challenges that are much more immediate and potentially harmful than climate change and that its irresponsible to pretend that reducing carbon emissions is the key to solving all of them. He concludes, If we insist on invoking climate at every turn, we will often end up helping the world in one of the least effective ways possible. One of the bolder ideas Lomborg presents will surely draw the ire of critics: the idea that man may one day be able to manipulate the planets climate. In a chapter titled Geoengineering: A Backup Plan, Lomborg argues that it may be possible to control the weather using heretofore undiscovered technologies. Citing the substantial drop in global temperatures that resulted from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Lomborg says man may find ways to directly manage temperatures if needed. He doesnt advocate implementing such a solution anytime soon, but argues that we should still research such approaches. It might just prove to be the earths best backup plan, he says. He criticizes the Paris Agreement as poorly conceived and, even if fully implemented, ineffective. He advocates for a (modest) carbon tax, is critical of solar power because of its cost and relative inefficiency, but is a strong advocate of funding research into alternative and renewable sources of energy. The casual observer may conclude that Lomborg is arguing against himself, and theres little doubt that critics at the extremes will say that he needs to pick a lane. His refusal to do so is the power of his argument. The idea that the entirety of the climate change issue can be boiled down to a single statement may appeal to public relations professionals, although its not an approach that responsible scientists or policymakers should rely on. Everyone knows the meme, Catastrophic global warming is real and its manmade. Its a simple statement of the perceived problem, one that would surely earn an A in Marketing 101. Whatever else it is, that simple statement is not science. The issue of climate change cannot be explained by any one statement, but must be addressed by answering a series of questions. Thats what Lomborg bravely attempts to do in False Alarm. Among these questions are: Is climate change real? How much of a role do human activities play in creating this change? Are the consequences of climate change, current and future, being accurately reported? What are the costsboth monetary and to quality of lifeof mitigating climate change through massive reductions in fossil fuel use? Do some population groups pay a disproportionate price for these solutions? What alternative approaches are available? Lomborg addresses all of these questions and many more in a thoughtful, reasoned way, backed by an impressive amount of research and data. Sadly, there can be no doubt that angry, self-righteous critics will attempt to discredit False Alarm through death by a thousand cuts rather than considering the elegance of Lomborgs holistic approach. His ideas should be the foundation of a well-reasoned public-policy approach that would allow civilization to move forward in a positive way. Unfortunately, one fears those ideas will fall on deaf ears in an increasingly unreasonable and uncivilized world. Richard Trzupek is a chemist and environmental consultant as well as an analyst at The Heartland Institute. He is also the author of Regulators Gone Wild: How the EPA Is Ruining American Industry. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Sun Qian, a Falun Dafa adherent and Canadian citizen detained in China since February 2017, in an undated photo. (The Epoch Times/Handout) Canadian Businesswoman Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison in China for Practicing Falun Dafa A Canadian businesswoman who was the co-owner of a multimillion-dollar company has been sentenced to eight years in prison in China for being a Falun Dafa practitioner. Sun Qian, a Canadian citizen, was arrested at her Beijing residence in February 2017 and has remained in custody since. She was sentenced on June 30 by a Beijing court, according to one of her former lawyers, Xie Yanyi. Sun Qian is innocent, Xie said. The arresting and charging of Sun Qian were illegal right from the beginning. Xie said Suns sentence violates Chinas own constitution, which stipulates freedom of religious belief. He said the sentence tramples the rule of law and shows the criminal acts of those involved in such an unjust case. Xun Li, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, called for Suns immediate release. Sun has suffered at the hands of the Communist Party for over three years. She has been illegally detained and physically and mentally tortured with reports of her being shackled, handcuffed to a steel chair, pepper-sprayed in the face, and under sustained brainwashing and psychological manipulation, Li said. Sun has been represented by nearly a dozen lawyers since her arrest, all of whom had to drop her case due to pressure from the Chinese authorities. Since 2019, she has been allowed to only use a government-designated lawyer, who could at best ask for leniency rather than argue for her innocence. The Meng Case Xie said one of the main factors behind Suns case dragging on for over three years before sentencing, and the very long prison sentence handed down June 30, is the case of Meng Wanzhou. People hold signs calling for China to release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig during an extradition hearing for Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on March 6, 2019. (Reuters/Lindsey Wasson) Meng, the chief financial officer of Chinas Huawei Technologies, was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018 on an extradition request from the United States. Shortly after, China arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. In late May, the British Columbia Supreme Court dismissed a bid by Meng to be released. Shortly after, on June 19, Kovrig and Spavor were formally charged with spying in China. Since the arrest of Kovrig and Spavor, Beijing had routinely insisted that the detentions werent related to Mengs arrest. But the regime reversed course on June 24 when a spokesperson for Chinas foreign ministry suggested that if Meng were released, the two Canadians may be freed. Xie said the same tactics are playing a role in Suns case, noting the timing of Sun suddenly being given a very long prison sentence. He said several human rights lawyers in China wrote an open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before his 2017 trip to China, saying that Suns arrest and detention were illegal, hoping to get his help to have her released. Coercion According to Xie, Sun agreed to use a government-appointed lawyer under coercion. He also said she was mentally manipulated to the point where she decided to donate her wealthhundreds of millions of dollarsto the detention centre where she was being held. Sun Qian basically has given up everything. However, she did so while detained and without being free. Legally, it shouldnt be valid because it is not an expression of her free will, Xie said. Before her arrest, Sun was the founder and vice president of Beijing Leadman Biochemistry, a multimillion-dollar company she co-owned with her husband, Shen Guangqian. Suns sister, Sun Zan, told The Epoch Times in previous interviews that Shen colluded with Chinese officials to have Sun incarcerated so that he could take over her shares in the company. [Shen] colluded with certain individuals in the public security bureau, using the policy of suppressing Falun Gong to bring about Suns illegal detention and prosecution, Sun Zan said. Canadian parliamentarians and Amnesty International have on many occasions urged Beijing to release Sun. The European Parliament also asked for her release as part of a resolution calling for sanctions against human rights abusers in China. Li, the president of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, said Sun is innocent and shouldnt have been arrested in the first place. The persecution of Falun Gong violates the U.N. Charter and other international human rights conventions. It also violates Chinas own constitution and laws, he said. Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a meditation discipline based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance that adherents say improves health and well-being. It has been brutally suppressed in China since 1999, when then-Chinese leader Jiang Zemin started a wide-ranging campaign of persecution against the practice. Before that, government data showed that 70 million to 100 million people were adherents of Falun Dafa in China. A previous version of the article misspelled the name of Sun Qians former lawyer. The lawyers name should be Xie Yanyi. The Epoch Times regrets the error. A FedEx logo marks the location of one of the company's distribution center in Chicago, Ill., on March 19, 2009 . (Scott Olson/Getty Images) China Releases FedEx Pilot After 9 Month Long Detention Chinese authorities have released a U.S. pilot for FedEx Corp who was detained last year on suspicion of smuggling weapons and ammunition, the pilots lawyer said. Todd Hohn, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, was detained in September in the southern city of Guangzhou after he piloted a FedEx freighter aircraft. Chinese authorities said at the time they had found suspected air gun pellets in his luggage. Hohn on June 27, 2020 departed Guangzhou, China and has reunited with his loving family, his lawyer Theodore Simon said in a statement sent to Reuters on Tuesday. After this lengthy legal process, his innocence was demonstrated and ultimately recognized, he said. Hohn had remained free on bail since 2019 and it was officially determined that no formal criminal charges would be brought against him. Hohns detention occurred at a time when U.S. delivery giant FedEx had become one of the most high-profile corporate brands to get caught up in the U.S.-China trade dispute and other frictions. The Memphis-based company had last year been the target of Chinese ire over shipping mistakes involving several packages, including parcels addressed to Chinas Huawei Technologies, which Washington has put on an export blacklist. FedEx did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said they were aware of the case but had no further comment. By Brenda Goh Chinese Regimes Military Audit Commission Investigates Former Navy Chief The general office of Chinas Central Military Commission (CMC)the Communist Partys top agency for overseeing military affairsrecently issued a set of regulations to conduct a financial and disciplinary audit of high-level military and armed police forces. Former Navy commander Wu Shengli was among those on the list for investigation. The regulations will take effect on July 1, according to a report by the official military newspaper, PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) Daily. The regulations require audits of retired senior officials who held the rank of major general and above. It also includes PLA and armed police personnel who have retired within a year. As Wu is already three years into his retirement, military sources told Hong Kong-based newspaper Ming Pao that his investigation seems unusual. He served as the PLA Navy commander from August 2006 to January 2017. Red princeling Cai Xiaoxin posted photos and comments about Wus investigation on Chinese microblogging website Weibo. Cai said, It [investigation] has been delayed. A princeling refers to the descendant of a prominent and influential senior Communist Party official. According to Hong Kong media HK01, this audit was led by the Navy Audit Group of CMC. The group was stationed in the naval base in Beijing in early June, and the audit is expected to be completed in mid-July. Wu was in the Navy for 41 years and held various posts, according to his official resume. In 2004, he served as deputy chief of the general staff of the army. In August 2006, he served as the Navy commander. He has been in charge of the Navy for 11 years. Wu became a member of the CMC in March 2008. All his military duties were removed two years ago. In 2015, Chinese media reported that Wu was suspected of breaching discipline. When Wu resigned as Navy commander In 2017, media reports suggested that he was under investigation. Political analysts have different readings into why he fell out of the Communist Party leaderships favor. Some cite an incident during his post as the Navy commander (August 2006 to January 2017), when a naval political commissar committed suicide at the naval compound in Beijing on November 2014. Wu could have been implicated for gross negligence and shady dealings with the executives of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), a key contractor working on the PLAs new vessels and carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, according to a report by Hong Kong news media Asia Times. In June 2018, the general manager of CSIC was investigated and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Its CEO was investigated on May 12 this year. Gao Wenqian, a historian of the Chinese Communist Party, told Voice of America that between Dec. 25, 2016 and Jan. 11, 2017, Wu led the training exercise of the aircraft carrier Liaoning near Taiwan. The exercise exposed the weaknesses of the Navy, such as aircraft on the Liaoning being unable to take off at night. Party leader Xi Jinping was deeply annoyed and thus replaced Wu with the new commander, Gao claimed. A military analyst in Beijing, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Epoch Times sister media NTD that when Wu was president of the Dalian Naval Academy (1994-1997), he was very close to Bo Xilai, then Dalian mayor (1993-2000). At the time, Bo resided in the Dalian Naval Academy instead of staying in the municipal committee compound. Bo was sacked and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013 after his involvement in an attempted political coup to usurp Xi. Since then, the Party has initiated investigations on many of Xis political rivals, usually on corruption-related crimes. While it is unclear if Wu is considered a political rival, his past connections to Bo could have gotten him into trouble. Democrat Party Accuses Trump of Holding White Supremacy Rally at Mount Rushmore The Democrat Party said in a statement that President Donald Trump was holding a white supremacy rally at Mount Rushmore in July. Trump has disrespected Native communities time and again, the official Democratic National Committee (DNC) Twitter account said late Monday. Hes attempted to limit their voting rights and blocked critical pandemic relief. Now hes holding a rally glorifying white supremacy at Mount Rushmorea region once sacred to tribal communities. The account linked to a story from a British newspaper that included a wire agency interview with one Native American activist, Nick Tilsen of the Oglala Lakota Tribe. Its an injustice to actively steal indigenous peoples land then carve the white faces of the conquerors who committed genocide, Tilsen was quoted as saying. He also called the national monument itself a symbol of white supremacy. After backlash, the DNC deleted the tweet. The committee didnt respond to a request for clarification about its views on the national memorial. Ken Farnaso, deputy national press secretary for Trumps reelection campaign, said in a statement to The Epoch Times: Its a sad day when Americans have to defend the Founding Fathers and historical figures from the Democrat Party led by Joe Biden who believe that Mount Rushmore and 4th of July celebrations glorify white supremacy. In this Sept. 11, 2002, file photo, the sun rises on Mt. Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, S.D. as the flag is flown at half staff in honor of the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. (Laura Rauch/AP Photo) Donald Trump Jr., Trumps son, added in a social media statement: Seems this answers the question as to where Dems stand on the destruction of our monuments. If there was any doubt, at least they cleared that up for us. Vandals across the nation have torn down or tried to take down a slew of statues and defaced monuments. Few Democrats have criticized the mobs. Many Republicans have. Mount Rushmore has been the subject of calls for destruction, a South Dakota government official told The Epoch Times. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said last week that the monument could be targeted, citing some activity online where people have made threats to that. Trump is planning to attend a fireworks show on July 3 at Mount Rushmore. The national memorial, completed in 1941, shows the faces of former U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Almost three million visitors visit Mount Rushmore each year, according to the National Park Service. They come to marvel at the majestic beauty of the Black Hills of South Dakota and to learn about the birth, growth, development, and the preservation of our country, the service says on its website. Over the decades, Mount Rushmore has grown in fame as a symbol of Americaa symbol of freedom and hope for people from all cultures and backgrounds. Environmentalist Issues Apology for Misleading Climate Alarmism Pandemic puts climate 'crisis' into perspective, says climate expert Renowned author, environmentalist, and climate activist Michael Shellenberger has formally apologized to the public for the climate scare he says climate alarmists have forced on the public over the past 30 years. An environmental advocate for 30 years and a climate activist for 20, Shellenberger has previously been invited to provide testimony on climate issues to Congress (pdf), and says he has served as an expert reviewer of an assessment report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). However, he now says he feels obliged to apologize for how badly we environmentalists have misled the public. Climate change is happening. Its just not the end of the world. Its not even our most serious environmental problem. I may seem like a strange person to say this. Ive been a climate activist for 20 years & an environmentalist for 30 @ShellenbergerMD https://t.co/9knkM6K6AP Claire Lehmann (@clairlemon) June 30, 2020 Shellenberger made his apology on the Forbes website on June 28, though the article is no longer available. In a statement emailed to The Epoch Times, the company wrote that Forbes requires its contributors to adhere to strict editorial guidelines. This story did not follow those guidelines, and was removed. However, Shellenbergers apology was subsequently published on June 30 by online magazine Quillette, which says it aims to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas. I am as guilty of alarmism as any other environmentalist, Shellenberger writes in his article. For years, I referred to climate change as an existential threat to human civilization, and called it a crisis.' However, Shellenberger now says climate change is not even our most serious environmental problem. Whats Actually Happening to Our Climate? According to Shellenberger, Climate change is happening. Its just not the end of the world. For that matter, human activity is not causing mass extinction, and neither is climate change making natural disasters worse, he says. Shellenberger says that contrary to the assertions of the climate disinformation campaign, wildfires have been declining worldwide for the past 17 years, and that the actual cause of forest fires in California and Australia was the buildup of wood fuel in forests. He says that just as in the United States, carbon emissions are declining in most wealthy nations, and that France, Germany, and the UK have watched their emissions fall since the 1970s. Firefighters monitor a backfire while battling the Delta Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Calif., on Sept. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) Moreover, the most critical factor for human survival on earthproducing enough food to feed mankind as the population continues to growwill get easier as temperatures slowly rise. The biggest threat to the wide variety of animal species on earth is habitat loss and hunting, he says. Shellenberger says that these assertions come from the best scientific studies available, including studies accepted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the IPCC, among others. The author says he felt compelled to write a book when he felt climate alarmism had gone too far. He cites as his motivation Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs (D-N.Y.) statement, The world is going to end in 12 years if we dont address climate change, and British environmental group Extinction Rebellions claim that climate change kills children. Shellenbergers book, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, makes assertions such as that factories and modern farming methods are key to environmental and human progress, and that 100 percent renewable energy would require increasing the land used for energy from todays 0.5 percent to 50 percent. The book also claims that vegetarianism reduces an individuals greenhouse gas emissions by less than 4 percent. Whats Behind Climate Ideology? Shellenberger says that the ideology behind climate alarmism is a modern version of Malthusianism, named after the 18th-century British economist Thomas Malthus. According to Shellenberger, Malthus believed that there were too many poor people out there and that the ethical thing to do was let them die. Indeed, Malthus welcomed plagues and starvation to reduce the population of the needy poor, he says. Shellenberger states that he remains hopeful for the future, however. Nations are reverting openly to self-interest and away from Malthusianism and neoliberalism, he said. The evidence is overwhelming that our high-energy civilization is better for people and nature than the low-energy civilization that climate alarmists would return us to. People are tested in their in vehicles in Phoenix's western neighborhood of Maryvale in Phoenix for free COVID-19 tests organized by Equality Health Foundation, which focuses on care in underserved communities, in Phoenix, Ariz., June 27, 2020. (Matt York/AP Photo) Europe Restricts Visitors From the US Over CCP Virus The European continent on Tuesday has agreed to reopen to 14 countries, but the United States was not included in its mandate as cases of the CCP virus continue to rise, according to the European Council. The council wrote that it adopted a recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the European Union, adding that travel restrictions should be lifted for countries listed in the recommendation, with this list being reviewed and, as the case may be, updated every two weeks. Travel restrictions should be lifted for Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay, according to a news release from the group. The restrictions should be lifted starting on July 1. In addition, China could be included if it allows travelers from the EU. The move is designed to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged in mainland China last year. The CCP has been criticized by health experts for clamping down on information about the virus, while many have suggested that the official numbers released by the Chinese regime are not accurate and that the actual death toll inside China, a country with a population of 1.3 billion, is likely many times higher than officially reported. EU citizens and their family members are exempt from the restrictions and can travel back to the bloc, while residents of Monaco, Andorra, Vatican City, and San Marino should be considered residents of the EU for the purpose of the recommendation. Schengen-associated countries such as Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland can partake. Prime minister Giuseppe Conte wears a face mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as he arrives to address parliament on the next European Council meeting, in Rome, Italy, on June 17, 2020. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP) The United Kingdom was left off the European Council list. The UK left the EU in January 2020. Russia, India, and Brazil were also left off the European Councils list. President Donald Trump in March suspended the entry of all people from the EU in a decree after cases in Italy and Spain started to rise. This is not an exercise to be nice or unfriendly to other countries, this is an exercise of self-responsibility, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told Spains Cadena SER radio on Monday, according to reports. French passengers step out of the tram at a station in Kehl, on June 15, 2020, on the reopening day of the borders between France and Germany, (Patrick Hertzog/AFP via Getty Images) The U.S. mission to the EU said that its officials appreciate the transparency and concerted efforts of our European partners and allies to combat this pandemic, and we are committed to coordinating with them as we look forward to reopening our economies and easing restrictions, reported Bloomberg News. Reports have noted that Americans make up a large portion of the EUs tourism industry, and more than 15 million Americans travel to Europe every year, while about 10 million Europeans travel to the United States. While cases in the United States have risen in recent weeks as states ended lockdown measures, the death rate has dropped. About 332 COVID-19 deaths were reported on Monday, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Visitors to the New York State Department of Labor are turned away at the door by personnel due to closures over CCP virus concerns in New York on March 18, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo) Extra $600 in Virus Unemployment Aid May End a Week Early for Some Americans For some unemployment insurance recipients, the extra $600 per week passed under the CARES Act might end early. The CARES Act, passed in March, stipulated that the additional benefits would end at the end of July. But not all states will follow that mandate, terminating the extra weekly payments before that date. The reason is that the final day for paying benefits for many states ends on Sunday or Saturday, meaning that July 25 or July 26 will mark the end of the extra payments. The CARES Act stipulates that July 31, a Friday, is the final paying day. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (pdf), the last week to receive the $600 payments will be the week ending on July 25 or July 26. California and New York state are counted among the states that end their payment cycles on July 25 or July 26, according to the left-wing Economic Policy Institute think tank, as reported by CBS News. WMC5 reported that Tennessee will discontinue the payments on July 25. These benefits are a critical lifeline that help workers make ends meet while practicing the necessary social distancing to stop the spread of coronavirus, said EPI state economy analyst Julia Wolfe in a blog post last week of the unemployment boost. In fact, the $600 increase in weekly UI benefits was likely the most effective measure in the CARES Act for insulating workers from economic harm and jump-starting an eventual economic rebound, and it should be extended past July. People wearing facemasks walk past a health and safety guideline board and an open restaurant on Santa Monica Pier which re-opened on June 25 after closure for over three months due to the coronavirus pandemic in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 26, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images) More than 40 million people have lost work across the United States in recent weeks due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. Governors have implemented stay-at-home measures, restricting the types of businesses that can remain open, leading to significant numbers of people being laid off. The dire prediction comes as more GOP senators have expressed a willingness to pass a measure that would include more direct stimulus payments to people. It is going to happen, its just not going to happen yet, Inhofe, a longtime senator who is also the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Nexstar last week. He said there were lengthy discussions about direct payments to Americans during a meeting with Republican senators last week. Top Republican senators are supportive of sending out direct cash payments, according to Inhofe, but he stressed they are still working on the details of the measure. What you dont want to do is have a reward given to people who dont want to work, Inhofe added. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, told a reporter in June that he supports the idea of sending out more direct payments and checks to eligible people, adding that the next stimulus package will be very generous. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci listens during the daily CCP virus briefing at the White House on April 9, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Swine Flu From China Could Cause Another Pandemic, Fauci Says An emerging virus discovered in pigs in China has traits similar to the 2009 swine flu and 1918 Spanish flu, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told a Senate committee on June 30. Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that while the virus, which has been dubbed G4 EA H1N1, doesnt appear to infect humans, it has shown that it could mutate. In other words, when you get a brand new virus that turns out to be a pandemic virus, its either due to mutations and/or the reassortment or exchanges of genes, Fauci stated at a hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. And theyre seeing virus in swine, in pigs now, that have characteristics of the 2009 H1N1, of the original 1918, which many of our flu viruses have remnants of that in it, as well as segments from other hosts like swine. Fauci told the lawmakers that there is a possibility that you might have another swine flu-type outbreak as we had in 2009. The virus is still being investigated. Meanwhile, Fauci expressed concern over the recent surge in CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus cases. Workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) take care of a group of people wearing face masks as they wait to undergo COVID-19 coronavirus tests in Beijing, China, on June 19, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) We have got to get that message out that we are all in this together, he said. If we are going to contain this, weve got to contain it together. A team of Chinese researchers who looked at influenza viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018 and found a G4 strain of H1N1 that has all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus, according to a study published by the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Pig farm workers also showed elevated levels of the virus in their blood, the authors said, adding that close monitoring in human populations, especially the workers in the swine industry, should be urgently implemented. The study said pigs were considered important mixing vessels for the generation of pandemic influenza viruses and called for systematic surveillance of the problem. The new virus identified in the study is a recombination of the 2009 H1N1 variant and a once prevalent strain found in pigs. The World Health Organization said it will read the Chinese study carefully, spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a Geneva briefing on June 30, saying it was important to collaborate on findings and keep tabs on animal populations. Reuters contributed to this report. The Huawei logo is pictured at the IFA consumer tech fair in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 6, 2019. (Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters) FCC Formally Declares Huawei, ZTE as National Security Threats The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has formally designated Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE as national security threats, a move that bars U.S. telecommunications providers from tapping into an $8.3 billion federal fund to buy equipment from the firms. The measure formalized a decision from November 2019, when the regulator voted unanimously to issue the declaration. It also voted at the time to propose requiring rural carriers to rip and replace Huawei and ZTE equipment from their existing networks. We cannot and will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to exploit network vulnerabilities and compromise our critical communications infrastructure, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. Both companies have close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and Chinas military apparatus, and both companies are broadly subject to Chinese law obligating them to cooperate with the countrys intelligence services. The declaration builds upon increasingly tough action taken by the Trump administration against Huawei, the worlds largest maker of telecom gear, and other Chinese technology firms that pose security risks. The Pentagon last week included Huawei in a list of 20 companies that are owned or controlled by the Chinese military, prompting calls for economic sanctions. Huawei and ZTE didnt immediately respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment. Last May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and barring U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by companies posing a national security risk. The Trump administration also added Huawei and dozens of affiliates to its trade blacklist last year, barring U.S. firms from doing business with the company without a license. Last month, it further moved to cut off Huaweis access to chips made with U.S. base technology. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said on June 30 that untrustworthy equipment remains in place in U.S. networks and said Congress must allocate funding for replacements. While large U.S. wireless companies have severed ties with Huawei, small rural carriers have leaned on Huawei and ZTE switches and other gear because they are often less expensive. The Rural Wireless Association, which represents carriers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers, estimates that 25 percent of its members have Huawei and ZTE in their networks, and have said it would cost $800 million to $1 billion to replace the equipment. Last month, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation to provide about $700 million in grants to help U.S. telecommunications providers with the cost of removing Huawei equipment from their networks. The FCC has in recent months stepped up its scrutiny of Chinese firms. The agency in April began steps to bar three Chinese state-controlled telecom companiesChina Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks Corp., and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLCfrom operating in the United States, citing security risks stemming from the concern that they are subject to influence from the Chinese Communist Party. The FCC last May voted unanimously to deny another Chinese state-owned telecom company, China Mobile, the right to provide services in the United States, citing risks that the Chinese government could use such approval to conduct espionage against the U.S. government. Reuters contributed to this report. Prime Minister Scott Morrison discusses the planning maps at an infrastructure announcement in Macquarie Park in Sydney, Australia on June 29, 2020. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) Federal and NSW Governments Pool $1 Billion to Create Over 5000 Road Jobs The federal and New South Wales (NSW) governments have come together to put $1 billion (US$687 million) towards roads across NSW and to ease congestion at 11 pinch points in Sydney. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funding is part of the governments JobMaker plan to create more jobs and rebuild the NSW economy as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. This package builds on the fast-tracking of $570 million for infrastructure in New South Wales which we announced last November, locking in priority upgrades that will bust congestion, increase productivity, improve safety, and boost jobs at a time we need it most, Morrison said in a media release on June 29. It has three parts: the first is $240 million (US$165 million) to ease 11 congested areas across Sydney through a Pinch Point Program. The program eliminates congestion on Sydney roads through improving intersections and bus services, upgrading corridors, and optimising cycleways. Areas targeted include the Macquarie Park bus services, King Georges Road and Canterbury Rd intersection, and Centennial Park to Kingsford corridor. Federal Minister for Population, Cities, and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said the funding will save Sydney drivers time stuck in traffic. These small-scale road improvements will make all the difference for mums and dads doing the school drop off, and people on their way home from work, Tudge said. Related Coverage Government Flags Boost to $72 Billion of Infrastructure to Pull Australia Through Recession The second is $382 million ($US263 million) to upgrade roads around regional NSW. This involves repairing, maintaining, or sealing priority roads. Another $398 million ($US274 million) will upgrade safety in regional roads. This includes a mass rollout of line marking on roads. This funding will generate an estimated 5,450 jobs, and 3,500 of the jobs will be in regional areas. The government has now dedicated more than $35.4 billion ($US24.3 billion) to roads and infrastructure in NSW. A charter flight from Uruguay lands at Melbourne Airport on April 12, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images) Flights Into Victoria Barred as Hotel Outbreaks Probed International flights into Victoria have been diverted for two weeks as a former judge begins an inquiry into the states hotel quarantine program. Since early in the pandemic, thousands of returned overseas travellers have spent a fortnight quarantined in hotel rooms as part of efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. But it has been revealed the program fuelled outbreaks in the citys inner north, prompting Premier Daniel Andrews to send 36 suburbs into lockdown from Thursday. He said testing indicated a very significant number of cases in late May and early June could be linked to a breach of infection control protocols by staff at these hotels. That is unacceptable to me. Im sure that will be unacceptable certainly to all of those who will be impacted by the restrictions that we have had to reimpose, Andrews said. The former judge who leads the probe into the operation of the hotel quarantine program will report back in eight to 10 weeks, he said. In the meantime, the premier has asked Prime Minister Scott Morrison to divert international flights from the state for two weeks. I will have conversations with other state leaders to explain that and to thank them in advance of the extra load that they will carry, Andrews said. There was no detail immediately available on Tuesday night about where the diverted international flights would now land or how the passengers would be processed. Six of the states 64 new cases on Tuesday were linked to an outbreak among workers at the Stamford Plaza hotel, taking the cluster total to 29. More than 30 cases have also been linked to the Rydges on Swanston after workers took the virus home, spreading it to their families. The premier said he was disappointed to hear of breaches of infection control protocols by staff at quarantine hotels, which included instances of members sharing cigarette lighters. What might be seemingly innocent, quite low risk, its not, Andrews said. You might never even know that you had it but in the process, youve infected who knows how many people, particularly given if you are from a large family. The hotel program will restart under the supervision of Corrections Victoria. On Tuesday, there were 44 international flights scheduled to arrive in Melbourne, including 17 from New Zealand, 10 from China and eight from Qatar. Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said the inquiry into the scandal-ridden and shambolic program was overdue. From Thursday, people living in 10 postcodes will return to stage three restrictions. People in these postcodes will only be able to leave their homes for care or caregiving, to exercise, to purchase food and other essential items, or to go to work or school. The restrictions will remain in place until at least July 29. By Benita Kolovos and Christine McGinn Sidney Powell, author of the bestseller "Licensed to Lie" and lead counsel in more than 500 appeals in the 5th Circuit, in Washington on May 30, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Flynns Lawyer: I Heard More Documents Are Coming As the case against Michael Flynn is still open, the government may hand over yet more documents dug up by a review of the case ordered by Attorney General William Barr. In fact, according to Flynns lead lawyer, Sidney Powell, more documents are coming. I heard theres more to come, more Brady evidence to come, she told The Epoch Times. Brady evidence refers to exculpatory evidence in the governments possession that prosecutors are required to provide to the defense. Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under the Obama administration and former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI in an interview almost a year prior. In January, he moved to withdraw his plea. In May, the Department of Justice (DOJ) moved to dismiss the case after the review, led by U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Jensen, uncovered documents suggesting the FBI questioned Flynn to elicit false statements from him, which isnt a proper investigative purpose. Since Powell took up the retired three-star Army generals case a year ago, she has argued that the FBI and DOJ have been withholding exculpatory evidence. The DOJs move to drop the case would ordinarily signal the end of the obligation to provide any more documents, but District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who is presiding over the case, took the unusual step of holding back his approval of the motion to dismiss, and even appointed an amicus curiae (friend of court) to argue against the dismissal. Backed by the DOJ, Flynn asked the District of Columbia appeals court for an extraordinary intervention (writ of mandamus), arguing that Sullivan doesnt have the authority to delay or question the DOJs motion in these circumstances. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ordered Sullivan to accept the dismissal on June 24, but Sullivan has yet to comply. Appeals court decisions take three weeks to come into effect, giving Sullivan time to ask the whole court (12 judges) to review the decision. A majority of the judges would have to agree. In the meantime, however, it appears that the Jensen review continues and as long as the case is open, Flynn would still obtain the findings. I mean, the longer Judge Sullivan takes to dismiss the case, the more stuff they owe me, Powell said, during an interview with The Epoch Times Jan Jekielek. Theres still a long list of things that I know are there. Part of the disclosures the DOJ has provided so far has been in the form of summaries of documents, but not the documents themselves. One such document is a January 30 memo inside the Department of Justice completely exonerating General Flynn of all things Russia, Powell said. Flynn was originally targeted by the FBI in August 2016 for alleged ties to Russia. After four months, the FBI moved to close the case, saying it found no derogatory information on Flynn. Then-head of FBI counterintelligence operations, Peter Strzok, intervened in January 2017 to keep the case open at the behest of the FBI leadership, contemporaneous text messages show. His notes from that time indicate that President Barack Obama told the FBI that the right people should be on the Flynn case, while Vice President Joe Biden brought up the idea of a Logan Act violation. The Logan Act is an obscure 18th-century law prohibiting private citizens from conducting diplomacy with foreign nations without White House approval. Nobody has ever been successfully prosecuted under the statute and its constitutionality has been questioned, given the emphasis on First Amendment rights in the past decades. According to the DOJs motion to dismiss, the FBI kept the case open using the justification that Flynn violated the Logan Act in his calls with then-Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Flynn asked the ambassador in December 2016 for Russia to only respond reciprocally to Obamas expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats less than a month before leaving office. After Strzok and Supervisory Special Agent Joe Pientka interviewed Flynn on Jan. 24, 2017, Strzok said in a report from the interview that Flynn denied he made such a request to Kislyak. Powell has said Flynn didnt lie and at most didnt remember. Then-Atlanta Police Department officer Garrett Rolfe searches 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy's restaurant parking lot in a still image from the video body camera of officer Devin Bronsan in Atlanta, Ga., on June 12, 2020. (Atlanta Police Department via Reuters) Former Atlanta Police Officer Charged With Murder Seeking Bond Update: Rolfe was granted bond and was released. Original story below. Former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe is seeking to be released on bail ahead of his trial on felony murder. Bond should be granted because Rolfe was justified in using deadly force against Rayshard Brooks, his attorneys said in a motion filed Monday. A bond hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Rolfe, 27, is charged with murder and 10 other charges, including a number of oath of office violations, after fatally shooting Brooks, who was blocking traffic in a Wendys drive-through. Officers received a 911 call on June 12 because Brooks was asleep or passed out in his vehicle. The car was blocking traffic in a Wendys drive-through. After Brooks failed sobriety tests, Rolfe and another officer, Devin Brosnan, tried taking him into custody. Brooks, who had a criminal past, resisted arrest, stealing Brosnans stun gun and firing it at least twice at the officers. Rayshard Brooks (C) struggling with Officers Garrett Rolfe (L) and Devin Brosnan in the parking lot of a Wendys restaurant, in Atlanta, Ga., on June 13, 2020. (Atlanta Police Department via AP) Rayshard Brooks (L) and Officer Garrett Rolfe pointing stun guns at one another, while Officer Devin Brosnan is seen getting up after a struggle among the three men in the parking lot of a Wendys restaurant, in Atlanta, Ga., early June 13, 2020. (Atlanta Police Department via AP) As Brooks moved away from Rolfe, the officer fired his weapon several times, hitting Brooks twice. Brooks died. Rolfes lawyers said in the motion, There is significant evidence that proves he was legally justified in using deadly force in this case. They argued he was acting in self-defense, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Al Hogan, an Atlanta Police Department homicide detective, wrote a letter that was attached to the bond motion. Hogan said he was preparing to seek a number of criminal charges against Brooks before he learned that he had died, including driving while intoxicated, aggravated assault against a police officer, and felony obstruction. A lawyer representing Brookss family didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Rolfes attorneys also said the former officer is a longtime member of the community and doesnt pose a flight risk. Rayshard Brooks speaks during an interview about five months before an Atlanta police officer shot and killed him June 2020. (Reconnect via AP) Then-Atlanta Police Department officer Garrett Rolfe, who was fired after the shooting death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, in an undated photograph released in Atlanta, Ga., June 14, 2020. (Atlanta Police Department via Reuters) Charges Filed Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard charged Rolfe on June 17, just five days after the incident. Howard, who declined to wait for a probe conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to conclude, argued that Brooks didnt pose a threat to the officers and said federal and state law prohibits officers using deadly force to stop a fleeing suspect unless the officer believes that the suspect poses an immediate threat or death or of serious physical injury to that officer. At the time Mr. Brooks was shot, he did not pose an immediate threat of death or serious physical injuries to the officer or officers, Howard told reporters when he announced the charge. The district attorneys office reviewed video evidence, spoke with 10 witnesses, saw a ballistics report, and consulted with an expert on stun guns before charging the officers. Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and two violations of his oath. He has said he didnt do anything wrong. Rolfes attorneys said previously that Rolfe heard a sound like a gunshot when Brooks fired the stun gun at him. Fearing for his safety, and the safety of the civilians around him, Officer Rolfe dropped his Taser and fired his service weapon at the only portion of Mr. Brooks that presented to himMr. Brookss back, they said in a statement. Steven Gaynor, president of Cobb County Fraternal Order of Police, told The Epoch Times that he believes the shooting was justified. What youre going to find, when the GBI finally completes their investigation, theyre going to find no excessive use of force and no violations, he said. Former French Prime minister Francois Fillon (L) and his wife Penelope arrive at the Paris' courthouse, on Feb. 27, 2020. (Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images) French Ex-Prime Minister Fillon, Wife Found Guilty of Fraud PARISFormer French Prime Minister Francois Fillon was found guilty on June 29 in a fraud case of having used public funds to pay his wife and children more than 1 million euros ($1.13 million) since 1998 for work they never performed. The couples lawyers immediately appealed June 29s verdict from the Paris court. Fillon, 66, was sentenced to five years in prison, three of which were suspended, and a 375,000-euro (more than $423,000) fine. He is also banned from seeking elected office for 10 years. He remains free pending appeal. His 64-year-old wife, Penelope Fillon, was found guilty as an accomplice. She was given a three-year suspended sentence and fined the same amount. In addition, the couple was requested to reimburse the National Assembly more than 1 million euros that correspond to the salaries and payroll charges that were paid. The penalty is suspended pending appeal. The scandal broke in the French media just three months before the countrys 2017 presidential election, as Fillon was the front-runner in the race. It cost him his reputation. Fillon sank to third place in the election, which was won by Emmanuel Macron. The Paris court considered that Fillon elaborated and established an organization enabling to misappropriate money for his personal use. In a statement, the court said that nothing concrete has been proven in court regarding the work of Madam Fillon. She did not have any professional activity alongside her husband, the court added. Nothing justifies the paid salaries. Fillon and his wife have denied any wrongdoing. Fillons lawyer Antonin Levy told reporters there will be a new trial. We will be able to get a full and serene debate that will finally allow justice to be made. Penelope Fillons role alongside her husband drew all the attention during the February-March trial, which focused on determining whether her activities were in the traditional role of an elected officials partneror involved actual paid work. Prosecutors denounced fraudulent, systematic practices. Fillon was accused of misuse of public funds, receiving money from the misuse of public funds, and the misappropriation of company assets. His wife was charged mostly as an accomplice. During the trial, Penelope Fillon explained how she decided to support her husbands career when he was first elected as a French lawmaker in 1981 in the small town of Sable-sur-Sarthe, in rural western France. Over the years, she was offered different types of contracts as a parliamentary assistant, depending on her husbands political career. She described her work as mostly doing reports about local issues, opening the mail, meeting with residents, and helping to prepare speeches for local events. She said working that way allowed her to have a flexible schedule and raise their five children in the Fillons countryside manor. Prosecutors pointed at the lack of actual evidence of her work, including the absence of declarations for any paid vacations or maternity leave, as her wages reached up to nine times Frances minimum salary. Francois Fillon insisted his wifes job was real and said that, according to the separation of powers, the justice system cant interfere with how a lawmaker organizes work at his office. A former lawmaker, Marc Joulaud, also went on trial in the case for misuse of public funds after he allegedly gave Penelope Fillon a fake job as an aide from 2002 to 2007, while her husband was the minister. He was found guilty and sentenced to a three-year suspended prison sentence. In addition, charges also cover a contract that allowed Penelope Fillon to earn 135,000 euros in 20122013 as a consultant for a literary magazine owned by a friend of her husbandalso an alleged fake job. The magazine owner, Marc de Lacharriere, already pleaded guilty and was given a suspended eight-month prison sentence and fined 375,000 euros in 2018. Fillon, once the youngest lawmaker at the National Assembly at the age of 27, served as prime minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012. He was also a minister under two previous presidents, Francois Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac. He left French politics in 2017 and now works for an asset management company. By Sylvie Corbet & Nicolas Vaux-Montagny GOP Senators: Russia Bounty Intelligence Unverified and Inconclusive Republican senators on Tuesday said reports on intelligence suggesting Russia may have offered bounties for the killing of American troops were portrayed wrong, saying the intelligence wasnt conclusive or verified. Major newspapers reported on unverified and inconclusive intelligence as though it had been conclusively determined that Russia paid bounties on U.S. troops, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said at the U.S. Capitol after taking part in a briefing on the intelligence. Some senators received a briefing from Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, National Security Adviser Robert OBrien, and other officials at the White House earlier in the day. The intelligence has long been available, Young added, charging that every member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence should have been aware of it. Trump has been consistently tough on Russia and has taken action when the situation requires one, Young said. President Donald Trump participates in a meeting in Washington on June 26, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), another member of Senate GOP leadership, told reporters she was at the briefing. The evidence that I have seen and heard shows no corroboration between what was posted in the New York Times article, she said. The paper reported on Friday, citing anonymous sources, that Trump received a briefing on the intelligence and that the United States concluded months ago that the intelligence was solid. But intelligence officials vigorously disputed the reporting and the outlet walked back those claims in an update on Monday. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told reporters on Tuesday that Trump didnt know about the intelligence. Im convinced of that, he said. Im confident @RealDonaldTrump didnt know about the report, and its clear our intelligence agencies arent in complete agreement on this, Inhofe said separately in a statement on social media. Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Todd Young (R-Ind.) speaks to reporters in a Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Alexis I. Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del., on June 30, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Former Vice President Joe Biden joined Democrats in hammering Trump over the intelligence, telling reporters in Delaware that Trump doesnt seem to be cognitively aware of whats going on. He either reads and/or gets briefed on important issues, and he forgets it, or he doesnt think its necessary that he need [sic] to know it, he added. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at a Senate Democratic leadership press conference later Tuesday that every senator should be briefed on the situation. He said he hasnt been briefed on it. Theres a bigger point herewhere is President Trump? His number one job is to protect American soldiers, to protect the men and women who fight for us overseas, Schumer said. Instead of dithering about what he knew, what he didnt know, he should have a plan. Police enter a shopping mall to disperse people attending a lunchtime rally in Hong Kong on June 30, 2020, as China passed a sweeping national security law for the city. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images) Beijing Imposes Maximum Penalties of Life Imprisonment in Security Law for Hong Kong Just an hour before July 1, the 23rd anniversary of the citys transfer from British to Chinese rule, Hong Kong published the text of Beijings national security law, which stipulates that offenders, if convicted, could be imprisoned for life. The laws provisions fanned fears that the city, which was promised autonomy and freedoms upon its handover to China, would usher in a new era of authoritarian rule. The law gives Beijing sweeping power to target individuals for any acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. The Chinese regime will also establish a security bureau that would instruct and supervise the city government over the laws implementation, exercise oversight over complicated cases, such as those with foreign involvement. The agency will be exempt from the Hong Kong governments jurisdiction. It defines the four major violations in broad terms. Terrorist activities, for example, include making threats to the central government, Hong Kong authorities, or international organizations to realize political goals; organizing or leading terrorist groups; and carrying out other dangerous methods to seriously endanger public health or safety. Collusion with foreign forces involves gathering intelligence for external or foreign institutions; receiving external funding or support to interfere with Chinese and Hong Kong policies; undermining local elections; imposing sanctions; and provoking hatred toward authorities. Individuals who reside outside Hong Kong and who violate the security law would also be subject to prosecution, according to Article 38. Authorities may seize travel documents of violators, freeze or confiscate their assets, request information from foreign organizations, and wire-tap suspected individuals in an investigation. Online service providers may be asked to remove offensive information or cooperate with authorities in a criminal investigation, according to article 43. LIHKG is one of the most popular online forums where protesters converge to discuss future plans. After the security law was implemented, LIHKG Picks, a volunteer group that curates protest-related content from the platform and translates them into English, announced that its Hong Kong administrators have retired from the account and their work would be moved abroad. We willcarry on as long as we can, it said in a tweet. The Chinese regime has ultimate jurisdiction over security cases. The Central Peoples Government has overarching responsibility for national security affairs relating to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, it stated in Article 2 of the law. Pro-democracy supporters hold a Hong Kong Independence flag and shout slogans during a rally against the national security law as riot police secure an area in a shopping mall in Hong Kong on June 30, 2020. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images) Judges could be barred from presiding over cases if their words and actions are deemed to be endangering national security. The law also stipulated that the security bureau would tighten management of non-governmental news agencies and foreign nonprofit organizations. Fears over Hong Kongs future soon loomed over the city. Hours after Beijings formal passage of the law, multiple pro-democracy groups, including Demosisto co-founded by prominent activist Joshua Wong, announced that they would dissolve. While there was no direct reference to pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters, measures in the law, such as banning sabotage of transportation facilities and provision of transport or supplies to terrorists, seems aimed at discouraging demonstrators who have at times vandalized public facilities in protest of Chinese interference last year. The worst-case scenario is no longer an abstract political possibilityit is knocking at Hong Kongs front door, said Walter Lohman, director of Heritage Foundations Asian Studies Center, in a statement. He added that Beijing is shredding its international credibility while trying to convince the world it is restoring order in Hong Kong. Dan Garrett, a U.S.-based scholar and author who has chronicled Hong Kongs protest movement, said the laws use of ambiguous terms, such as public health or safety are merely attempts to justify political prosecutions of dissent. The harsh sentences are a multi-level threat, he said. By going after one or two key figures such as prominent activist Joshua Wong and local media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the regime can effectively deter other critics from speaking out. This is the end of Hong Kong and the formal phase of a Communist-occupied Hong Kong, he said, adding that there will be many, many more fights as the law comes into effect. The [national security law], in effect and spirit, treats HK as a terrorist insurgency and hostile territory to pacify, he said. There will now be a Hong Kong nation in exile, one that will not give up the fight for their homeland. Cathy He contributed to this report. Protesters take part in a lunchtime protest in Central district, Hong Kong on June 30, 2020. They hold up signs calling on people to join a July 1 protest. (Song Bilung/The Epoch Times) Hong Kong Leader Addresses UN Human Rights Council as Criticism Mounts Over Beijings Security Law Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam shed some light on Beijings national security law while speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council on June 30. Lam, in a speech delivered through video link, said that Beijings national security will have no retrospective effect, according to a press release from the Hong Kong government. She added that legal principles such as presumption of innocence will be upheld for cases under the new law. The question of whether the law is retrospective has been of concern for Hongkongers as it would determine whether people taking part in the mass protests since June last year could be charged under the law, and potentially given heavier sentences if convicted. On June 30, Hong Kong police said that 9,113 people have been arrested from June 9 to June 15. Among them, 200 have been either convicted, received a bind-over order, or been placed under order of protection. At around 6 p.m. local time, Chinas state-run Xinhua confirmed earlier reports by Hong Kong media that the standing committee of Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, the National People Congress (NPC), had voted unanimously to pass the national security law for Hong Kong. Xinhua added that the NPC standing committee took another vote on Tuesday afternoon, to unanimously approve the amendment of the law to Annex III of Hong Kongs mini-constitution, the Basic Law. By adding the law to Annex III, Hong Kongs legislature will not have a chance to scrutinize the legislation. Instead, Hong Kongs chief executive can issue a legal notice in the Government Gazette, paving the way for the law to be applied verbatim. Xinhua concluded by saying that Chinese leader Xi Jinping signed an order to promulgate the law. Xinhua did not provide details about provisions in the law. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Beijings agency for handling those territories policies, issued a statement saying that it will make sure that the law was enforced to the point and the law will serve as a deterrence to any activities that threaten Chinas national security. International criticism over the law is mounting, with Japan, Taiwan, the British government, the European Union, and South Korea having expressed concerns about the law. Chinas disregard for the will of Hong Kongs people proves that one country, two systems is not viable. Many things have changed in #HongKong since 1997, but #Taiwans commitment to supporting those #HKers who want freedom & democracy has never changed. #StandWithHongKong pic.twitter.com/1eZBJ46g4e Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) June 30, 2020 We are deeply concerned by unconfirmed reports that Beijing has passed the national security law, said British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, according to Reuters. This would be a grave step. He added: Once we have seen the full legislation, we will make a further statement. Charles Michel, president of the European Union Council, told reporters after his video summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, We deplore the decision, Reuters reported. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the bloc was discussing with international partners on potential measures in response to Beijings encroachment into Hong Kongs judicial system. According to Yonhap News Agency, South Koreas Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kim In-chul said at a press briefing that the Moon government was paying keen attention and watching the trend closely with regards to the passage of the law and its future impact. Kim added that Hong Kong should enjoy a high level of autonomy under Chinas one nation, two systems. Amnesty International also expressed concerns in a statement on Tuesday, saying that Beijing intended to govern Hong Kong through fear from this point forward. The speed and secrecy with which China has pushed through this legislation intensifies the fear that Beijing has calculatingly created a weapon of repression to be used against government critics, including people who are merely expressing their views or protesting peacefully, said Joshua Rosenzweig, the head of Amnesty Internationals China team. Rosenzweig added: Chinas eagerness to pass this law quickly is also an ominous signal for the legislative elections coming up in Hong Kong in September, with a threat that the security law could be used against pro-democracy candidates. Hong Kongs legislative elections are currently 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. The September elections are considered another referendum on the pro-Beijing Hong Kong government headed by Carrie Lam, after pro-democracy candidates scored a landslide victory in the citys district council elections in November last year. Patrons sit on the patio at Joey Sherway, part of the Joey Restaurant chain during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Wednesday, June 24, 2020. Toronto and the GTA entered stage two of opening. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette (L-R) Andy Chui, Wu Chai-wai, and Figo Chan speak to the press in Hong Kong on June 30, 2020. (Song Bilung/The Epoch Times) Hong Kong Activists Vow to Continue Protests Despite Beijing Passing National Security Law In Hong Kong, local activists are calling on people to take to the streets on July 1 to protest against Beijings national security law despite a police ban on the gathering. Several local activists including Figo Chan, vice convenor of local pro-democracy group Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF); Wu Chai-wai, chairman of Hong Kongs Democratic Party; district councilors Tsang Kin-shing and Andy Chui; and lawmaker Eddie Chu, held a press conference at noon on Tuesday. Together they said they will be the organizers of a march from Causeway Bay to the citys Central district on Wednesday afternoon after police rejected two applicationsone from CHRF and another other from Chuito hold a rally on July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kongs handover from Britain to China in 1997. CHRF, which has been the organizer for most of the July 1 marches in the past, drew a crowd of more than half of a million people last year who voiced their opposition to the governments now fully-scrapped extradition bill. CHRF is currently appealing the police ban but it is widely expected that the ban will not be overturned. Police rejected CHRFs application saying that the protest had a potential for violence and the gathering would also violate a local gathering limit of 50 people to prevent the spread of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Chan said the march on Wednesday will be held under the theme of opposing Beijings national security law, as well as continuing the push for protesters five demandswhich includes universal suffrage and an independent inquiry into instances of police violence against protesters and journalists in the past year. On Tuesday morning, Hong Kong media reported that the standing committee of Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress, had passed the Chinese Communist Partys (CCPs) national security law after a ceremonial vote. The law will criminalize all those who engage in activities connected to subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference against the CCP. Currently, neither Beijing or state-run media have formally announced the passing of the law, and the exact provisions of the law remain unknown. Some details were announced on June 20, such as that China would have jurisdiction over certain cases under exceptional circumstances. Local media RTHK reported on Tuesday afternoon that the information office of Chinas State Council will hold a press conference at 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday to introduce the national security law. Chan stated that it would be very hard to see Beijing withdraw the national security law, but local citizens must be united in voicing their opposition to the law. He added that he knew the risk of coming out tomorrow since he had been charged multiple times for taking part in unlawful assemblies. He asked Hongkongers not to remain silent out of fear, otherwise, they will lose their freedoms and basic rights. Wu said he was fully aware of how he might be arrested for organizing the protest but it was his responsibility to call on the people of Hong Kong to voice their opposition. Chinas passage of the law immediately drew criticism from Japan and Taiwan. According to Kyodo News, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the enactment of the law was regrettable. Taiwans Cabinet Spokesperson Evian Ting said the law would severely impact freedom, democracy, and human rights in Hong Kong, and warned Taiwanese citizens of possible risks when visiting the Chinese city, according to Reuters. In Hong Kong, pro-democracy party Demosisto announced on Tuesday afternoon that it would disband and cease all operation as a group, after four of its members Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, Agnes Chow, and Jeffrey Ngo announced their withdrawal from the party earlier in the day. Washington-based oganization HKDC stated that it stood with the four Demosisto members on its Twitter account. We will not back down and we will not stop speaking up for Hong Kong as part of this global movement you have each helped to build from the ground up, HKDC added. The pro-independence group Hong Kong National Front announced that it will disband its Hong Kong branch and pass on all of its work to its branches outside of the city. It added that it will continue to push for Hong Kongs formal independence. Hong Kong-based pro-independence group Student Localism also announced that it had disbanded all of its members and its operations inside Hong Kong had been ceased. Overseas members will continue operations, including pushing for the citys formal independence, the group said in a statement. According to RTHK, four police groups in Hong Kong issued a joint statement welcoming the national security law, saying that local protests in the past year had plunged the city into turmoil. Hong Kongs Carrie Lam Silent as Beijing Finalizes Draconian National Security Law Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam refused to comment on the status of the Chinese Communist Partys proposed national security law for her city during her weekly press conference on June 30, despite local media reporting that the law has been passed in Beijing. Lam said that it was inappropriate for her to comment on the law since the standing committee of Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress (NPC), was still having its meeting Tuesday morning. She added that once the law was passed by the NPC standing committee and added to the annex of Hong Kongs mini-constitution, the Basic Law, her administration would then answer questions on how the law would be implemented and enforced in Hong Kong. On Sunday, the NPC standing committee began its three-day meeting. The very next day, Chinas state-run media Xinhua reported that a version of the law that could be voted on had been tabled. Beijing formally began the process of drafting a national security law for Hong Kong on May 28, after the NPC conducted a ceremonial vote. The law would criminalize those who engage in activities connected to subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On June 20, the NPC standing committee released more details about the draft proposal: Beijing would have jurisdiction over certain cases under exceptional circumstances, the regime would also establish a national security agency in the city, and the chief executivea position currently held by pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lamwould appoint judges to hear national security-related cases. Two Hong Kong media, Now TV and RTHK, reported on Tuesday morning that the NPC standing committee had passed the law unanimously after a ceremonial vote, citing unnamed sources. Additionally, RTHK reported that the maximum penalty for crimes like secession is more than 10 years in prison. Chinas state-run media Global Times also reported that the national security law was passed, citing unnamed Hong Kong media. US Sanctions At the presser, Lam also said that she would not be scared of any sanctions imposed on Hong Kong by the United States when answering a reporters question. Hours before her press conference, the U.S. State Department announced that it will end exports of U.S.-origin defense equipment to Hong Kong, as well as restrict U.S. defense and dual-use technologies in the former British colony given Beijings intentions to impose its national security law. The United States is forced to take this action to protect U.S. national security, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a press statement. We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross also announced that the United States is revoking Hong Kongs special economic status, which the city has long enjoyed because it was a separate entity from mainland China under the 1992 U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Actuntil the passing of the CCPs security law. After the press conference, three founders of Hong Kongs local pro-democracy party Demosisto; Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Nathan Law, announced their withdrawal from their party. Wong, who also announced his resignation from his secretary-general position in the party, wrote that he will continue to exercise his beliefs in his personal capacity, in the face of an uncertain future with the national security law. I hereby declare withdrawing from Demosisto If my voice will not be heard soon, I hope that the international community will continue to speak up for Hong Kong and step up concrete efforts to defend our last bit of freedom. pic.twitter.com/BIGD5tgriF Joshua Wong (@joshuawongcf) June 30, 2020 Law wrote that he will continue to take part in the mass protests in Hong Kong in a personal capacity. Chow wrote that her decision to leave the party was a heavy and forced decision. She added that she will not take part in any international activities in the future in the face of a bitter winter ahead. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during the unveiling of the Moving Forward Act, legislation to rebuild the country's infrastructure, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 18, 2020. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) House Democrats Set to Pass $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Package House Democrats are poised to vote on their $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill this week, which is guaranteed to pass in the Democrat-controlled House but faces gridlock in the Senate. The infrastructure legislation, H.R.2, The Moving Forward Act, allocates billions of dollars for a variety of improvement projects such as $300 billion for highways and bridges, $100 billion for broadband internet, $130 billion for high-poverty schools, $70 billion for renewal energy, and $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service, among a host of other initiatives. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said Monday in a tweet: Senate infrastructure bill is bipartisan, ready to go. House bill (The Moving Forward Act) is road to nowhere. Instead of working with House Republicans, the House Democrats cut them out and wrote a partisan bill. In the Senate, both parties worked together to write bipartisan highway infrastructure legislation that would help the whole country. Infrastructure is critical to our economic recovery. When House Democrats are ready to be serious, they should look to Americas Transportation Infrastructure Act as a bipartisan model, continued Barrasso. As the House gets ready to vote on the The Moving Forward Act this week, members have filed 367 amendments, with 80 coming from Republicans, 54 bipartisan, and the rest from Democrats in an attempt to make it fit the needs of more of the Congress members districts. There may be a lot of amendments, but we hope to hold the votes down to a manageable level, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said last week. Hoyer said that in order to save time, the amendments may be voted on after they are grouped together. The Rules Committee met Monday to decide which of the 367 amendments will be considered on the House floor later in the week. House leaders are trying to limit votes on the number of amendments because each can take as long as an hour due to proxy voting. House Rules Committee Vice Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) during a hearing in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 18, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Ranking member of the House Rules Committee Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said in a statement, Our hearing today is on H.R. 2, which started out as the majoritys attempt to reauthorize the highway bill but has since morphed into the Speakers $1.5 trillion infrastructure wish list. The majority tacked on all kinds of things that are not normally found in a surface transportation bill. Nine billion dollars for a new broadband internet benefit program and $80 billion to build broadband infrastructure. Two hundred million dollars for solar installations. Billions of dollars for hospital construction. One billion dollars for abandoned mines. A tax credit for people who buy electric cars. I could go on and on and on, Cole continued. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said in a statement: Thats why Im so pleased that this week the House will consider and pass a comprehensive infrastructure package. The Moving Forward Act is a $1.5 trillion plan to rebuild American infrastructurenot only our roads, bridges, and transit systems, but also our schools, housing, broadband access, and so much more. Committee Republicans may complain that they were cut out of the drafting process for this bill. But after reading their Minority Views, its clear the real problem is that we disagree about climate change. In the Minority Views they state, H.R. 2, as amended, prioritizes climate change policy,' DeFazio added. While Democrats will vote and pass the bill in the House, Cole believes The Moving Foward Act will not become law because it is not bipartisan. Id remind this committee that this bill is ultimately going nowhere. It will not be passed by the Senate, and the president will not sign it, Cole said. Along with The Moving Forward Act, the House will also be voting on State Health Care Premium Reduction Act Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 1425) and the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020 (H.R. 7301). Houston Mother Attacked While Unloading Groceries, Police Searching for Suspect The Houston Police Department said it is searching for a man who was seen in a video assaulting and robbing a mother while her son stood nearby. The video, released by the police departments robbery division, shows a black male running up to a woman before punching her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground. She was in a parking lot. The suspect then continues to attack the woman while she is on the ground. According to a statement from police, two suspects were seen pulling up to an apartment complex on 7000 Renwick Drive as the mother and young child were unloading groceries. A black male is then seen exiting the passenger side of a white 4-door Nissan before the assault took place. Pay close attention to this suspect vehicle. Its missing both rear hubcaps. Has paper plates. Has minor front passenger side fender damage. Small dent near the back right passenger door. The front left tire and front right tire are two different styles. This suspect vehicle does not have any stickers on the windshield, said police. A video of the incident can be seen below (Warning: graphic): Mother is robbed and assaulted while young son watches. Suspects flee with purse. Please share, we need your help in identifying these suspects. MORE-> https://t.co/HcKzzimTLx pic.twitter.com/pFbL474cA9 Houston Police Robbery (@hpdrobbery) June 30, 2020 Officials said the robbery occurred on 7000 Renwick Drive. Anyone with information about the assault can contact the police department at 713-222-TIPS (8477). In this picture taken on June 27, 2020, a man walks past an advertisement for the latest smartphone by Chinese telecommunications company Huawei in Tokyo. (KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images) Huawei Faces Mounting Opposition as Distrust of Beijing Builds Worldwide Huaweis global ambitions are being blunted as the United States steps up its campaign against the Chinese telecom company and other countries also push back against Beijings actions related to the pandemic and Hong Kong. The UK is reexamining its approval of Huawei in its 5G rollout, while Singapores major carriers last week chose Huawei rivals, Swedens Ericsson and Finlands Nokia, to build its next-generation wireless networks. Earlier in June, Canadas main telco providers also shunned Huawei in favor of its European competitors. The developments came after the Trump administration in May blocked the company, the words largest maker of telecom gear, from chips made with U.S. technology. The move could be a heavy setback for the firm, which relies on these crucial chips to build and maintain its 5G network equipment, said Claude Barfield, an international trade expert at the Washington-based think tank American Enterprise Institute. Meanwhile, Huawei is also facing growing opposition in Europe due to countries deteriorating attitudes toward the Chinese Communist regime in response to its mishandling of the initial outbreak and massive disinformation campaign during the pandemic. This is being heightened undoubtedly by whats happening in Hong Kong, Barfield told The Epoch Times, referring to Beijings recent move to impose a national security law for the city, tightening its grip on the territory. Related Coverage US-China Commission Backs Call for UN to Hold Chinese Regime Accountable for Human Rights Abuses U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a speech at the German Marshall Funds Brussels Forum on May 25 described a transatlantic awakening to the truth of whats happening on challenges posed by the communist regime, including Huawei, an arm of the Chinese Communist Partys surveillance state. Washington has consistently warned of security risks posed by Huaweis equipment in 5G infrastructure. U.S. officials say the companys gear could be used by Beijing for spying or to disrupt communications networks, citing its links to the regime and Chinese security laws that compels companies to cooperate with intelligence agencies when asked. The firm has also been implicated in espionage for the regime, according to the U.S. State Department. A Nov. 2018 report by The Australian news outlet cited secret Australian intelligence reports that confirmed Huawei had turned over passwords and access details to Chinas intelligence services, to allow them access to a foreign network. The defense department last week included Huawei in a list of 20 companies that are owned or controlled by the Chinese military, prompting calls for economic sanctions. Read More Australia Says No Such Thing as Private Chinese Company, Will Guard National Interest The company has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying that it is a private company and is not compelled by laws to work with Beijing. Huawei U.S. did not respond to a request for comment. Huawei is also fighting two federal actions, in which prosecutors accuse it of violating sanctions on Iran, engaging in a yearslong campaign of intellectual property theft, and stealing trade secrets from T-mobile. Securing 5G Pompeo in a statement on May 24 pointed to a building momentum in favor of secure 5G. The more countries, companies, and citizens ask whom they should trust with their most sensitive data, the more obvious the answer becomes: not the Chinese Communist Partys surveillance state, he said. The secretary listed the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Estonia, Romania, Denmark, and Latvia as among countries that only allow trusted vendors in their 5G networks. The department also has a list of telecom companies around the world that only work with trusted vendors and have rejected working with Huawei, labeling them Clean Telcos. For years, the United States has sought to convince its allies to shun Huawei from its 5G infrastructure on national security grounds. Pompeo has previously warned that Washington would have to reevaluate its intelligence sharing with countries that adopt Huawei. While the UK government approved Huaweis participation in the nations 5G network in January, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was forced to reassess the decision after piling pressure from lawmakers within his own party. A growing number of UK lawmakers have hardened their positions towards Chinas communist regime since the fallout from the pandemic, angered by Beijings ongoing coverups and disinformation campaigns. Johnson has reportedly instructed officials to draw up plans to phase the company out of Britains network in three years time. Read More UK Plans to Phase Out Huawei From 5G Network, Reports Say Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said last week that the UK should side with the United States in its stance toward Huawei. I think we do need to make a call and I think it has got to be pro-U.S. in the end, Blair said in a livestreamed interview with Reuters Newsmakers. He noted that Huawei [has] an infrastructure that we need that is already quite embedded, and the truth is its a lot cheaper than the alternatives that are being developed up to now. But America feels very strongly about this, and they feel strongly for good enough reasons, so I think its very hard for us, Blair said. Its very hard for us not to be with the U.S. on anything that touches U.S. security. Klon Kitchen, director of the center for technology policy at Washington-based think tank Heritage Foundation, said that Huawei has been an attractive 5G supplier to many countries because of its lower prices, which it has been able to offer due to financial support from the Chinese regime. In return for the generous assistance from Beijing, companies like Huawei are then mandated to act as an extension of the state apparatus to conduct surveillance and other activities, Kitchen told The Epoch Times. It causes very real security threats and massive distortions and the global free market, he said. Currently, France and Germany both are yet to formally ban Huawei from its 5G rollout. But they are in the midst of deciding whether it will be barred in practice. In India, where a recent deadly border clash with China has triggered widespread calls for boycotts and retaliation against the Chinese regime, the government has barred state-run telecom companies from using any new Huawei equipment for future 4G networks. It is also reportedly considering excluding Chinese companies, including Huawei, from the countrys 5G rollout. Human Remains Are Found Near Area Where Texas Soldiers Body Was Found Witnesses reported finding unidentified remains in Killeen, Texas, over the weekend, said police. It came after police investigators found the remains of soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales on June 19. The new set of remains may be linked to the disappearance of Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old Fort Hood soldier who has been missing for around two months, according to NBC Dallas and ABC7. A search for Guillen is ongoing. Authorities believe foul play is involved in both Guillens and Moraless disappearances. Officials are not sure whether the two cases are connected. Theyre not here to help us find Vanessa, family attorney Natalie Khawam told CBS News, saying that there should be an independent investigation into the matter. Theyre here to hoard that information because they dont want us knowing whats happened. The Armys Criminal Investigation Command said officials are doing everything possible to find the woman. This is not just a law enforcement investigation of a missing person, but a full-scale operation to find one of our own and bring her back. There is obviously investigative information we cannot share with the public to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation. We will not stop until we find Vanessa and we ask that anyone with information to please do the right thing and contact Army CID, officials said. A $25,000 reward and $50,000 reward is being offered for information about Moraless death and Guillens case, respectively. People who may have information can call the Army Criminal Investigation Command Special Agents at 254-287-2722 or the Military Police Desk at 254-288-1170. John Ratcliffe at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 5, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Intelligence Chiefs Criticize Leaks of Classified Info Amid Reports on Russian Bounties Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel in statements late Monday criticized leaks of classified information, amid recent media reports claiming that Russian military intelligence offered bounties to Taliban-linked terrorists to assassinate U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. U.S. and coalition force protection is a critical priority for both the president and the intelligence community, Ratcliffe said in a statement. The selective leaking of any classified information disrupts the vital interagency work to collect, assess, and mitigate threats and places our forces at risk. It is also, simply put, a crime. We are still investigating the alleged intelligence referenced in recent media reporting and we will brief the president and congressional leaders at the appropriate time, Ratcliffe continued. This is the analytic process working the way it should. Unfortunately, unauthorized disclosures now jeopardize our ability to ever find out the full story with respect to these allegations. Haspel in a statement explained the process of intelligence assessments and the effects of intelligence leaks. CIA Director Gina Haspel at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 8, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) When developing intelligence assessments, initial tactical reports often require additional collection and validation. In general, preliminary force protection information is shared throughout the national security communityand with U.S. alliesas part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of coalition forces overseas. Leaks compromise and disrupt the critical interagency work to collect, assess, and ascribe culpability, Haspel said. Hostile states use of proxies in war zones to inflict damage on U.S. interests and troops is a constant, longstanding concern, she continued. CIA will continue to pursue every lead; analyze the information we collect with critical, objective eyes; and brief reliable intelligence to protect U.S. forces deployed around the world. Ratcliffes and Haspels statements come after The New York Times on Monday cited two anonymous officials that Trump had received a written briefing about the alleged Russian bounties as early as February. The outlet reported that the Russian bounties allegation was included in a written version of the presidents daily intelligence briefing in late February. CNN on Monday reported that the Russian bounties allegation was included in an intel daily briefing document sometime in the spring. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks at her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 26, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also issued a statement late Monday after speaking separately with Ratcliffe and Haspel, saying that she called upon the two to follow up on her formal request (pdf) for a full House briefing on the intelligence about the Russian bounties. I reiterated that a primary purpose of the intelligence community is force protection, Pelosi said. Similarly, as Members of Congress, our priority is to keep our men and women in uniform safe. Many serious questions remain regarding what the White House is doing to address threats to American and allied troops and to hold Russia accountable. Read More Pelosi Wants Officials to Brief House on Russian Bounty Intelligence The New York Times and The Washington Post were among the first media outlets to publish the claims regarding Russian bounties, with the Post reporting on June 28 that several American soldiers were believed to have died as a result of the program. The Kremlin has denied such arrangements. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany speaks during the press briefing at the White House in Washington on June 29, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) The Pentagon in a statement late Monday said that, to date, it has no corroborating evidence to validate the recent allegations found in open-source reports regarding Russian bounties. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said earlier on Monday that there is no consensus within the intelligence community on the Russian bounty claims, and, in effect, there are dissenting opinions from some in the intelligence community with regards to the veracity of whats being reported. President Donald Trump said on June 28 that he was never briefed about the issue. Trump also said that The New York Times must reveal its anonymous source. Read More Trump Rejects NY Times Report of Russian Bounties on US Troops in Afghanistan Ratcliffe earlier announced, I have confirmed that neither the president nor the vice president were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by The New York Times in its reporting yesterday [June 26]. The White House statement addressing this issue earlier today, which denied such a briefing occurred, was accurate. The New York Times reporting, and all other subsequent news reports about such an alleged briefing are inaccurate, Ratcliffe added. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives on Air Force One at Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, Wis., on June 25, 2020. (Evan Vucci/File/AP Photo) Interpol Rejects Iran-Issued Arrest Warrant for Trump TEHRAN, IranIran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, a local prosecutor reportedly said on Monday. Interpol later said it wouldnt consider Irans request, meaning Trump faces no danger of arrest. However, the charges underscore the heightened tensions between Iran and the United States since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers. Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said Trump and 35 others whom Iran accuses of involvement in the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad face murder and terrorism charges, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump, but stressed that Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends. Mourners react as they attend the funeral of the Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, top commander of the elite Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, and the Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 4, 2020. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters) Alqasimehr also was quoted as saying that Iran requested a red notice be put out for Trump and the others, which represents the highest-level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities generally make the arrests on behalf of the country that requests it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects travel. After receiving a request, Interpol meets by committee and discusses whether or not to share the information with its member states. Interpol has no requirement for making any of the notices public, though some do get published on its website. Interpol later issued a statement saying its guidelines for notices forbids it from any intervention or activities of a political nature. Interpol would not consider requests of this nature, it said. Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, dismissed the arrest warrant announcement during a news conference in Saudi Arabia on Monday. Its a propaganda stunt that no one takes seriously and makes the Iranians look foolish, Hook said. The United States killed Soleimani, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guards expeditionary Quds Force, and others in the January strike near Baghdad International Airport. It came after months of rising tensions between the two countries. Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike targeting American troops in Iraq. By Nasser Karimi Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin answers questions during the daily CCP virus task force briefing at the White House in Washington on April 21, 2020. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) IRS, Treasury to Proceed With July 15 Tax-Filing Deadline The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they are proceeding with a July 15 deadline for people to file their 2019 tax returns. The federal tax filing and payment deadline had been extended to July 15 from April 15, due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, although some states have different dates for their filing deadlines. People can request a filing extension until Oct. 15. After consulting with various external stakeholders, we have decided to have taxpayers request an extension if more time is needed, Mnuchin said in a June 29 statement. I would encourage Americans to file their taxes as soon as possible, so those who are due refunds can receive them quickly. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig stated that the IRS understands that those affected by the coronavirus may not be able to pay their balances in full by July 15, but we have many payment options to help taxpayers. Some options are available on the agencys website and dont require taxpayers to contact a representative. Last week, Mnuchin said that officials were considering another delay to the tax-filing deadline but stressed that people who are expecting to get a refund to file. Doors at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building are locked and covered with blinds as a sign posted advises that the office will be closed during the partial government shutdown in Seattle, on Jan. 16, 2019. (Elaine Thompson/AP) As of now, were not intending on doing that, but it is something that we may consider, Mnuchin told Bloomberg News. I would encourage all Americans, if you can file, go ahead and do it, particularly if you think you have a refund. The IRS has reported that it has received 136.5 million individual income tax returns as of mid-June, suggesting that many Americans have already filed their taxes. In March, the Trump administration signed into law a measure that distributed up to $1,200 to eligible Americans, increased unemployment insurance payments, and also provided small-business relief. President Donald Trump last week told a reporter that he supports sending out more direct payments under the next bill, although some Republican lawmakers havent expressed a willingness to pass the measure. Some Republican senators have expressed a willingness to pass a measure that would include more direct stimulus payments to people. It is going to happen, its just not going to happen yet, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a longtime senator who is also the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Nexstar last week. He said there were lengthy discussions about direct payments to Americans during a meeting with Republican senators last week. He added they are still working on the details of the measure. What you dont want to do is have a reward given to people who dont want to work, Inhofe said. Judge Blocks Release of Tell-All Book by Trumps Niece, Mary A judge blocked the release of a book from President Donald Trumps niece, Mary Trump, in which she offers an unflattering account of her relationship with her uncle and other family members. Judge Hal Greenwald, based in Poughkeepsie, New York, issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday at the request of President Trump and Robert Trump, his brother. They said the book violates a nondisclosure agreement that was part of the estate of Fred Trump, President Trumps father, after his death in 1999. Their settlement nearly two decades ago included a confidentiality clause that explicitly states they would not publish any account concerning the litigation or their relationship, unless all of them agreed, according to court papers. Greenwald set deadlines for each side to submit arguments about why the book, titled Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Worlds Most Dangerous Man, should or shouldnt be published. Mary Trump was slated to publish the book on July 28. Mary Trumps attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr., in a statement, said she will appeal the decision. Boutrous said the order was a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment. He added: This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in (sic) election year, should not be suppressed even for one day. Robert Trumps attorney, Charles Harder, said his client is very pleased with the judges order. We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trumps breach of contract and Simon & Schusters intentional interference with that contract, Harder said, according to CNBC. Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end. Simon & Schuster, which also published a book from former White House adviser John Bolton, said it is disappointed by the courts decision. We plan to immediately appeal this decision to the Appellate Division, and look forward to prevailing in this case based on well-established precedents regarding prior restraint, the publisher said, according to the news outlet. The move comes several days after a New York City judge dismissed a claim by Robert Trump to halt the publication of Mary Trumps book. Surrogates Court Judge Peter Kelly said the claims were not appropriate for his court, where disputes over estate matters are settled. Published accounts of the books contents say it contains an insiders perspective of countless holiday meals and family interactions and family events, along with personal observations by Mary Trump, a psychologist, about her supposedly toxic family, according to the court papers. The Associated Press contributed to this report. My role at Samaritan House is to raise awareness of the critical services we provide to families and children and help donors connect with us in a way that meets their needs as well as ours. I have learned we must be able to share our story and that of our families in very different ways for different donors. Giving is a very personal thing and we must respect each donor's motivations while ensuring that we are the most effective advocates for those we serve. Again, it is a matter of "No Margin No Mission." As administrator in the free clinic and most recently as director of a youth shelter, I saw firsthand the inter-generational impact that poverty and violence has on our children. A couple brandished guns as a group of activists moved into their gated neighborhood in St. Louis, Mo., on June 28, 2020. (Daniel Shular via Reuters) Missouri Lawyers Who Confronted Protesters With Guns Are Under Investigation: Prosecutor The St. Louis lawyers who were seen holding guns while protesters marched past their home are now being investigated for possible criminal charges, said the citys lead prosecutor. I am alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protestors were met by guns, St. Louis Prosecutor Kimberly Gardner said, noting there was also a violent assault in a separate incident in the city. We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated, she wrote, adding that her office was currently working with the public and police to investigate these events. Make no mistake: we will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights, and will use the full power of Missouri law to hold people accountable, Gardner said. Her office told the St. Louis American that the lawyers, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, will be investigated. Mark was seen brandishing what appears to be an AR-15-style rifle while Patricia appeared to have a small pistol, while both were telling the demonstrators and other unknown individuals that they were trespassing. A lawyer for the McCloskeys said that his clients are melanin-deficient human beings, who are completely respectful of the message Black Lives Matter needs to get out, especially to whites, The McCloskeys acted lawfully out of fear and apprehension, the genesis of which was not race-related, according to a statement sent out to news outlets. Mark McCloskey said in an interview that they grabbed the weapons after being in fear of our lives, and he compared it to storming the Bastille, referring to the French Revolution incident in 1789 where throngs of commoners entered the Bastille fortress before cutting off the head of a local official. The couple told outlets that they only grabbed the weapons after seeing several people in the crowd of protesters who were armed. According to Missouri state law, a citizen is committing a crime if they exhibit, in the presence of one or more persons, any weapon readily capable of lethal use in an angry or threatening manner, according to the St. Louis American. Their actions were borne solely of fear and apprehension, the genesis of which was not race-related. In fact, the agitators responsible for the trepidation were white, their lawyer, Albert Watkins, told news outlets. He added: Bad things were said. They werent the message of Black Lives Matter. They were threats. They were hostilemy clients werent there with guns. (Mark McCloskey) went in and got his gunsthese two people have spent a career serving and addressing the civil rights needs of people of color. (They) were not frightened of peaceful protesters. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, at the same time, is investigating the unknown people in the crowd for intimidation and trespassing. The lawyers were home when they a large group of subjects forcefully break an iron gate marked with No Trespassing and Private Street signs, a police spokeswoman told The Epoch Times. The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims, according to an incident summary. When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police. McCloskey said his family was having dinner when the protesters broke down the gates, adding that no trespassing signs were there. A mob of at least 100 smashed through the historic wrought iron gates of Portland Place, destroying them, rushed towards my home where my family was having dinner outside, and put us in fear of our lives, McCloskey told KMOV. This is all private property. There are no public sidewalks or public streets. We were told that we would be killed, our home burned and our dog killed. We were all alone facing an angry mob. Member for Wentworth Dave Sharma and Prime Minister Scott Morrison discuss the planning maps at an infrastructure announcement in Macquarie Park in Sydney, Australia on June 29, 2020. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) Morrison Government to Create a Cyber Force in Defence Department The Morrison government will make the nations largest-ever investment into cybersecurity over the next ten years with the Cyber Enhanced Situational Awareness and Response (CESAR) package. In a media release on June 30, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the federal government would invest $1.35 billion over the next decade to enhance Australias cybersecurity capabilities and cyber readiness. Morrison said that the record investment would mean Australia can identify more cyber threats, disrupt more foreign cybercriminals, build more partnerships with industry and government, and protect more Australians. The Federal Governments top priority is protecting our nations economy, national security, and sovereignty. Malicious cyber activity undermines that, said Morrison. My governments record investment in our nations cybersecurity will help ensure we have the tools and capabilities we need to fight back and keep Australians safe. To complete this task, Morrison announced that the Australian Signal Directorate (ASD) a branch of the Australian Defence Forces would receive $118 million to expand its data science and intelligence capabilities so it can remain at the forefront of cybersecurity technology. A further $62 million will go to create a national situational awareness capability to enable ASD to respond to threats on a national scale, and $20 million will go to establishing cutting edge research labs for ASD to understand the threats to new technology. ASD will also receive a further $470 million to expand its cybersecurity workforce with the creation of 500 new jobs. Minister for Defence Senator Linda Reynolds welcomed the prime ministers announcement, pointing out that this massive investment would have a real impact on the cybersecurity of all Australians. The package will put our nation on the front foot in combatting cyber threats and our investment in a cybersecurity workforce will help ensure we have the people we need to meet future cyber challenges, Reynolds said. Private Sector to Get Cyber Aid from Defence Morrison announced that the ASD through the CESAR package would aim to boost protection and cyber resilience for the private sector. The ASD will receive over $31 million to disrupt cybercrime offshore and providing assistance to federal, state, and territory law enforcement agencies. Another estimated $35 million will be used by the ASD to deliver a new cyber threat sharing platform that will allow industry and government to share information and block cyber threats. An approximated $12 million will go towards creating new technology that will enable the ASD and Australias major telecommunications providers to block known malicious websites and computer viruses at speed. Concerns have been raised over how the federal government plans to implement the cybersecurity measures in the private sector, as situational tools like CESAR often involve the implementation of programs or sensors into private and public telecommunication networks that collect data to ensure security. Director of the RMIT University Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation Professor Matt Warren told The Epoch Times on June 30 that he believes the federal government will face challenges working with the corporate sector because of these concerns. The issue the government faces is that they can only directly monitor commonwealth related IT systems. There would be a political backlash if they tried to put sensors indirectly into corporate systems, said Warren. Explaining that Australia will probably see more real-time sharing of data between corporate SOCs (Security Operation Centres) and the government, Warren noted: The issue is the announcement states $35 million towards a new cyber threat sharing platform, but no further information is provided at the moment. Noting that the Morrison government had been a great advocate of the corporate sector, Warren said: I expected a greater exchange of information between the corporate sector and government. However, Warren noted that it takes time and resources to develop a countrys cyber capabilities. This is just the next step in Australias journey. What is important is the release of Australias Cyber Security strategy, and this will be the blueprint for Australias Cyber journey for the next five years, said Warren. People sit on the ground at a protest to defund the police in an area demonstrators named "City Hall Autonomous Zone" near City Hall in Lower Manhattan in New York City, N.Y., on June 26, 2020. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images) Most New Yorkers Oppose Defunding the Police: Poll A majority of voters in New York state oppose reducing police department budgets, according to a new Siena poll. Six out of 10 respondents said they oppose efforts to defund the police. That phrase is used by some to suggest slashing budgets for police agencies. Others use it to mean getting rid of police departments. Another portion of the poll asked respondents whether they support or oppose reducing funding to police departments. Fifty-seven percent said they oppose the efforts. Of the six groups listedDemocrats, Republicans, Independents, black voters, Latino voters, and white votersa majority or plurality of every group but blacks said they oppose defunding the police. The response to reducing funding for police departments was more divided: a majority of Democrats, blacks, and Latinos said they support such efforts. Activists across the nation are pushing to reduce funding to departments or completely abolish police agencies. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, announced Monday a plan to cut $1.5 billion from the citys police department. There was broad support among poll respondents for three other police reform ideas: creating a national database of police officer misconduct, having mental health professionals accompany officers on some 911 calls, and passing a federal law to ban officers from using chokeholds. Each idea drew over 80 percent support, including majorities in all groups. NYPD officers block the entrance of the Manhattan Bridge as hundreds protesting alleged police brutality and systemic racism attempt to cross into the borough of Manhattan from Brooklyn after a citywide curfew went into effect in New York City on June 2, 2020. (Scott Heins/Getty Images) Another idea listed drew more lukewarm support. Eliminating qualified immunity was supported by 63 percent of voters, including majorities of every group except Republicans. Qualified immunity shields law enforcement officers from civil lawsuits if their actions didnt clearly violate the law. The final idea posed to respondents was demilitarizing the police, a phrase that refers to curbing the use by police officers of military equipment. A plurality of 46 percent supported the idea, with opposition among Republicans, Independents, and white voters. At least 70 percent of Democrats, Republicans, independents, Blacks, Latinos, and whites agree on each of three police reforms: creating a national database of police misconduct; a federal law banning chokeholds by police; and, having mental health professionals respond with police on calls involving homelessness, drug addiction or mental health, Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement. Support for eliminating qualified immunity is also very strong, 63-26 percent, although white and independent support falls below 60 percent and Republicans barely support, 45-42 percent. Voters were also asked about the notion of systemic racism, or racism being embedded in institutions like police departments. Fifty-one percent said systemic racism is a very serious problem; 30 percent said its a somewhat serious problem. The poll was conducted from June 23 to June 25 among registered voters through landlines, cell phones, and an online panel. The margin of error was plus/minus 3.9 percentage points. Ongoing Review of Russian Bounty on US Troops Report: White House An ongoing review is being carried out to determine the accuracy of reports that Russia offered bounty payments to Taliban-linked terrorists to kill American and Coalition troops in Afghanistan, two House Republicans said Monday after a classified briefing with White House officials. The classified briefing came from administration officials including John Ratcliffe, the Director of National Intelligence; Robert OBrien, the White House National Security Adviser; and Mark Meadows, the White House Chief of Staff, according to Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) in a statement. Among other things, they informed us there is an ongoing review to determine the accuracy of these reports, and we believe it is important to let this review take place before any retaliatory actions are taken, McCaul, Republican Leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kinzinger said. L: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Il.) outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on March 13, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) R: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, in New York City on Nov. 29, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) There are already those who are politicizing the issue. However, we cannot let politics overshadow a truth that Republicans and Democrats alike can agree on: the Putin regime cannot be trusted, the congressmen added. If the intelligence review process verifies the reports, we strongly encourage the administration to take swift and serious action to hold the Putin regime accountable. Several news outlets claimed that Russian military intelligence offered bounties to Taliban-linked terrorists to assassinate U.S. and Coalition troops in Afghanistan, citing anonymous officials. The New York Times and Washington Post were among the first to publish the claims, with the Post reporting on June 28 that several American soldiers were believed to have died as a result of the program. The Kremlin has denied such arrangements. President Donald Trump said on June 28 that he was never briefed about the issue. Nobody briefed or told me, [Vice President Mike Pence] or Chief of Staff [Mark Meadows] about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an anonymous source by the Fake News @nytimes, Trump wrote on Twitter. Everybody is denying it. There have not been many attacks on us, he added. Nobodys been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration. He added in another post on June 28, The Fake News @ nytimes must reveal its anonymous source. Bet they cant do it, this person probably does not even exist! In a later post on June 29, Trump wrote, Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or [the Vice President]. Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!! https://t.co/cowOmP7T1S Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2020 White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Monday in a briefing with reporters that there is no consensus within the intelligence community on the Russian bounty claims, and in effect there are dissenting opinions from some in the intelligence community with regards to the veracity of whats being reported. White House officials are set to brief some Democrat lawmakers on the matter on Tuesday morning, the aide to House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said. Reuters contributed to this report. During the pandemic lockdown, (LR) Tom (Marty Rea) is asked by his uncle Larry (Sean McGinley) to come online and give solace to Toms dying mother (Marie Mullen), in a newly produced play. (Courtesy of Irish Repertory Theatre) Online Theater Review: The Gifts You Gave to the Dark: Easing a Loved Ones Pain In the wake of the current pandemic, theatrical performances must try to present the same emotional effect that comes from a live presentation through a different, less visceral medium. One offering that succeeds quite admirably in doing just that is the Irish Repertory Theatres world-premiere presentation of Darren Murphys The Gifts You Gave to the Dark. Their online drama offers an unflinching look at the COVID-19 outbreak and its devastating effect on one family, and through them, the world at large. (Courtesy Irish Repertory Theatre) Stricken with COVID-19, Tom (Marty Rea), an actor by trade, is alone in his house in Belfast, in Northern Ireland. His life has been reduced to what he can see from his bedroom window. Toms illness, as well as the countrys quarantine, prevents him from joining the rest of his family in Dublin, where his gravely ill mother (Marie Mullen) is dying. When Tom receives a call from his uncle Larry (Sean McGinley), he is told that his mom is now just clinging to life in the hope that she will see her son one last time. Larry asks Tom to talk to her and, in doing so, allow her to let go. During the pandemic lockdown, (LR) Tom (Marty Rea) is asked by his uncle Larry (Sean McGinley) to come online and give solace to Toms dying mother (Marie Mullen), in a newly produced play. (Courtesy of Irish Repertory Theatre) While certainly topical, The Gifts You Gave to the Dark illuminates the specter of loneliness we have all felt at points when separated from loved ones, no matter the reason. Tapping into this universal dread of having no one close by in times of need allows the audience to empathize with Tom as he tries to tell his mom what she needs to hear. At the same time, he forces himself to put aside his own fear of dying alone and uncomforted. The play shows the importance of helping others, even in the most difficult and uncertain of times. Running a brisk 25 minutes, the intimate piece unfolds without being overly maudlin. Tom evokes images of happier times from more than a decade earlier, when his mother accompanied him on a road trip to an acting audition. It was a journey full of laughter as she sang along to Doris Day on the radio while listening to her son prepare for his tryout. Winning Performances Catriona McLaughlins direction brings together each element of the story in a sobering and satisfying manner. The cast is excellent. Rea powerfully shows the desperation, fear, and anger of being alone, while at the same time coming to terms with the fact that he can still be of helpthough at a great personal cost. Several times, Tom begs Larry not to interrupt his talk with his mom, but rather allow them just a few moments more togetherespecially as Tom is recalling the return trip of their journey, when he and his mother headed home together. The importance of home and what it represents is another theme in the play. Marty Rea. (Reg Gordon) Mullen is heartbreaking as Toms mother, offering a performance that is amazing in its seeming simplicity. A woman who once had a caustic sense of humor and the laugh of a 6-year-old, she is now barely conscious in her sickbed. Yet the audience is so invested in the story that we fill in the blanks of her almost nonexistent movements with passion and emotion. Marie Mullen. (Courtesy of Irish Repertory Theatre) McGinley acquits himself admirably while serving as the conduit between Tom and his mother. The character is forced to keep his own emotions in check, even though he feels wound up as a spring from the frustration of not being able to do more for his family. Sean McGinley. (Courtesy of Irish Repertory Theatre) The Gifts You Gave to the Dark, the title a reference to a song lyric, explores the pain of saying goodbye to someone you love. Its a pain no less sharp if that goodbye is for all the right reasons. The Gifts You Gave to the Dark Presented by Irish Repertory Theatre Running Time: 24 minutes Free online viewing through October 2020 For further information, visit IrishRep.org Judd Hollander is a reviewer for stagebuzz.com and a member of the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle. The letter X marked in red are placed on the floor of an exercise room more than seven feet apart at Gold's Gym Islip in N.Y. on May 13, 2020. (Al Bello/Getty Images) Over 200 People Advised to Quarantine After Possible COVID-19 Exposure at Gym More than 200 gym-goers in West Virginia are being urged to quarantine after a Planet Fitness client tested positive for COVID-19, health officials said. Anyone who was at Planet Fitness between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 24 should stay at home for 14 days since being exposed, which would be until Wednesday, July 8, a statement by the Monongalia County Health Department said, adding that about 205 people were at the gym during that window of time. We are urging people to get testing if they become symptomatic, said Health Department spokeswoman Mary Wade Burnside in an email to CNN. West Virginia is seeing an increase in cases, about 400 in the past 12 days, the Monongalia County Health Department reports. In the 10 days prior to that, cases rose by about 240. As of 10 a.m. Monday, there have been 2,849 probable and confirmed coronavirus cases and 93 coronavirus-related deaths across the state. Out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of the community, we are closing the club for an additional deep cleaning, Planet Fitness Morgantown said in a recording when called by CNN for comment, adding the club will reopen at 6 a.m. Tuesday. The Planet Fitness corporate office was notified that a member of the Morgantown gym tested positive, and it is not aware of any additional members or employees reporting symptoms, according to statement from McCall Gosselin, senior vice president of communications. We will continue to take every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of our community, and we have taken a number of steps across all of our locations, which include enhanced cleanliness and sanitization policies and procedures, extensive training for staff, physical distancing measures, reducing physical touch points in the club with touchless check-in, and more, the statement said. CNN has reached out to the Monongalia County Health Department for updates and additional comment. The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. A parent and her children look over the free book table after picking up their personal belongings that have been put in a paper bag in the gym at Freedom Preparatory Academy in Provo, Utah, on May 18, 2020. (George Frey/Getty Images) Pediatricians Call for Children to Be Physically Present in Schools This Fall The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has called for all children to attend schools in-person this fall, arguing that it is essential for their development and well being. The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school, the AAP said in a statement on June 25. The association has released a guide for school re-entry with an aim to support education and public health leadership and said its collaborating with schools to create policies for school re-entry to encourage the overall health of children, adolescents, and staff. Schools are fundamental to child and adolescent development and well-being and provide our children and adolescents with academic instruction, social and emotional skills, safety, reliable nutrition, physical/speech, and mental health therapy, and opportunities for physical activity, among other benefits, the AAP wrote. Kindergarten student Meg Kramer does schoolwork at her home in San Anselmo, Calif., on March 18, 2020. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Guide for Re-entry The pediatricians suggested some key principles policymakers should consider for school re-entry, noting that school policies must be flexible and nimble in responding to new information. It is critically important to develop strategies that can be revised and adapted depending on the level of viral transmission in the school and throughout the community and done with close communication with state and/or local public health authorities and recognizing the differences between school districts, including urban, suburban, and rural districts, said the AAP. It stressed that policies must be practical, feasible, and appropriate and no child should be excluded from school unless it is required on medical grounds. School policies should be guided by supporting the overall health and well-being of all children, adolescents, their families, and their communities. These policies should be consistently communicated in languages other than English, if needed, based on the languages spoken in the community, to avoid marginalization of parents/guardians who are of limited English proficiency or do not speak English at all, said AAP. The pediatricians also said children are less likely to be affected by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, the novel coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease. Although children and adolescents play a major role in amplifying influenza outbreaks, to date, this does not appear to be the case with SARS-CoV-2. Although many questions remain, the preponderance of evidence indicates that children and adolescents are less likely to be symptomatic and less likely to have severe disease resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection, said the doctors. A car sits in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone following a shooting in Seattle, Wash., on June 29, 2020. (Aron Ranen/AP Photo) Teenager Killed in Seattle CHOP Shooting, 14-Year-Old Injured: Police The person killed in the latest shooting in or near the so-called autonomous zone in Seattle was a 16-year-old African American male, police officials said. The victim was initially identified as a black adult male. A 14-year-old who was riding with the deceased teen remains hospitalized and officials arent sure whats going to happen with that male, Police Chief Carmen Best told reporters outside the zone. Crime rates in the area have soared since occupiers took over on June 8. Known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), the zone comprises several city blocks in Seattle and encompasses an abandoned police precinct that officers havent returned to for weeks. Officers responded around 3 a.m. on Monday after multiple calls about gunfire. They found a white Jeep Cherokee riddled with bullet holes. A car sits in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone following a shooting in Seattle early June 29, 2020. (Aron Ranen/AP Photo) People in the area informed officers that medics from CHOP transported the victims to a nearby hospital. One victim arrived at Harborview Medical Center in a private vehicle while another was taken to a meeting point with Seattle Fire Department personnel, who then took the male to the center. Our homicide detectives searched the Jeep for evidence but there wasnt much we could find. The typical things we search for in a case like this, or in a shooting like this, werent there, and it is abundantly clear to our detectives that people had been in and out of the car after the shooting, Best said. Detectives are trying to get information from witnesses, but as has been the case in other crime scenes up in this area, people are not being cooperative with our requests for help. The shooting is the fourth in about a week inside or near the zone. Its unfortunate that we have yet another murder in this area identified as the CHOP. Two African American men dead at a place that they claim to be working for black lives matter. But theyre gone, theyre dead now. And weve had multiple other incidents: assaults, rape, robbery, and shootings, and so this is something thats going to need to change, Best said. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a Democrat, pledged last week to dismantle the zone after openly expressing support for it in prior weeks. But the dismantling still hasnt happened. City workers were blocked by occupiers Friday and later left. City workers were met with significant resistance by protesters, who grew increasingly agitated and aggressive toward city workers, a city spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. Safety is the citys first priority, and planning is ongoing for how to safely transition the Capitol Hill area. People clean the site of an early morning shooting that left one person dead and one in critical condition in the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle, Wash., on June 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images) Occupiers are refusing to leave until their demands are met. The demands include abolishing the Seattle Police Department, reparations for victims of police brutality, and a retrial of all minorities currently in prison for violent crimes. A spokesman for Durkan didnt respond to an inquiry, including questions on whether the city will use force to disperse the occupiers considering the deadly shootings and elevated crime levels. Mike Solan, a police officer who serves as president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, told The Epoch Times that from what he knows, city officials and organizers of the zone were supposed to have an agreement that CHOP would be gone by June 28. Im hearing that they did extend it to today to allow some of the artwork to be collected and stored for the community, he said on Monday, but from what I understand, too, though, is that those people in those negotiations have failed to uphold their end of the negotiation piece where theyve now solidified more of those positions, particularly those concrete construction blocks. The rebar thats encased in the concrete has been cut intentionally to make it difficult for any type of government equipment to come in and remove it, he added. A sawed rebar loop on a concrete barrier, intentionally damaged to make barrier removal difficult, is seen in the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle, Wash., on June 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images) Best said the situation couldnt keep going. It is absolutely irresponsible for this to continue, she said. But she repeatedly declined to outline concrete plans for how the occupation would end. Asked where Durkan was, Best said she believed the mayor would be glad to answer questions. Since meeting with community leaders after occupiers blocked city workers, Durkan hasnt spoken publicly. Echo Liu contributed to this report. A car sits in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone following a shooting in Seattle, Wash., early on June 29, 2020. (Aron Ranen/AP Photo) Police Union Official: Governor Should Intervene After Deadly Seattle Autonomous Zone Shootings Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan called for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to take action regarding the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), an autonomous zone thats been tolerated by city officials for weeks. It is chaotic. Its lawless. I think that the governor of the state of Washington needs to intervene here, Solan said in an interview with The Epoch Times at his office. Im worried about the community safety. Im worried about the property owners. Im worried about the businesses. And Im also worried about the police officers that are in charge of providing that public safety service to the community. How can we go into an area where theres armed people, where we already know theres been shootings. How can we know that it would be safe for officers to into the area? he added. In this still image from video, Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan speaks in an interview with The Epoch Times in Seattle on June 29, 2020. (The Epoch Times) A 16-year-old was fatally shot in an SUV at the edge of the zone early Monday, just hours before the interview. Another teenager riding in the vehicle was rushed to the hospital, where he remains. It was the fourth shooting in about a week in or near the area. Occupiers are refusing to leave until their demands are met. Rooks, who said hes a leader of the occupiers, told The Epoch Times last week that three of the big demands are: defund the police department by 50 percent, set aside land for the black community, and free every one who was arrested during protests. The people are ready to stand in peace and protest, he said. But they are not ready to let this go until the demands are met. Give us what we want and well go. Personally, he said, he feels the city should meet at least one of their demands, the request to be given land. Mayor Jenny Durkan, a Democrat, is refusing to use force to disperse the activists, even as Police Chief Carmen Best told reporters: It is absolutely irresponsible for this to continue. A car sits in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone following a shooting in Seattle, Wash., June 29, 2020. (Aron Ranen/AP Photo) Its unfortunate that we have yet another murder in this area identified as the CHOP. Two African-American men dead at a place that they claim to be working for Black Lives Matter. But theyre gone, theyre dead now, Best said while standing inside the zone on Monday. And weve had multiple other incidents: assaults, rape, robbery, and shootings, and so this is something thats going to need to change. Best struggled to speak at times as activists shouted at her and used a device to make a sound similar to a siren. A spokesman for Durkan told The Epoch Times that she and Best have been meeting regularly regarding the situation at CHOP. The message of demonstrators in the area has been undermined by violence, the statement said. The area has increasingly attracted more individuals bent on division and violence, and it is risking the lives of individuals. There has been unacceptable behavior by individuals who are preventing city employees from doing their job. The city has been working to disperse people from the area. Hundreds have left, though dozens remains, according to the mayors office. Inquiries sent to the offices of Inslee and councilwoman Kshama Sawant, a self-described socialist who represents the area, went unanswered. Rooks while speaking to The Epoch Times at the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle, Wash., on June 25, 2020. (Echo Liu/The Epoch Times) Sawant, in a statement on social media, said the latest killing at the zone underscores the urgency to Defund police by at least 50 percent, win the strongest possible Amazon Tax this week to fund housing & jobs, release protesters without charges, and winning the other demands put forward by the movement. Solan, the police union president, challenged calls to defund the police, saying training is the first thing thats cut when the budget is slashed. He sees CHOP as the blueprint for what could occur across this city, if you drastically cut police funding, police services. Solan blames the City Council and city officials for the current situation. Activists created the zone, moving barriers into roadways and later enforcing rules with a private security force, after police officers abandoned the Seattle Police Departments East Precinct on June 8 following clashes with protesters. The abandoned police precinct at the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle, Wash., on June 25, 2020. (Echo Liu/The Epoch Times) The people protesting included criminal agitators that hurled projectiles, including frozen water bottles, at police officers, Solan said. He called for the release of body camera footage from officers who were there as well as closed circuit footage from the precinct. The police officer expressed amazement at the weekslong occupation of multiple blocks in an American city. You have an area of a city, a major urban area, in the United States of America, where armed people are in control of government-owned roadways, but also government-owned facilities, but also privately-owned buildings and privately-owned property, he said, adding, It still just baffles me to wrap my head around that. Durkan promised to dismantle the occupation last week. City workers who went to remove barriers faced resistance on Friday so they left without doing so. A member of the zones security force told The Epoch Times that other occupiers have said there will be repercussions if police officers re-enter the abandoned precinct. To me, that sounds like a threat, Solan said. That sounds like a threat; it almost sounds like terrorism to me. Echo Liu contributed to this report. (L-R) Agnes Chow, Nathan Law, and Joshua Wong of local pro-democracy party DemosistoAgnes held a press conference in Hong Kong on May 28, 2020. (Song Bilung/The Epoch Times) Political Group Co-founded by Hong Kong Activist Joshua Wong Disbanded Upon Security Laws Passage Demosisto, a major pro-democracy group and political party in Hong Kong, announced on June 30 that it will be disbanded as core members are leaving the group. The announcement came hours after the standing committee of the Chinese regimes rubber-stamp legislature formally passed a controversial national security law for the territory, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. Joshua Wong, a prominent Hong Kong activist and one of the founders of Demosisto, said in a statement earlier in the day that he will withdraw from the group and advocate for Hong Kongs freedom individually amid an uncertain future. I hereby declare withdrawing from Demosisto If my voice will not be heard soon, I hope that the international community will continue to speak up for Hong Kong and step up concrete efforts to defend our last bit of freedom. pic.twitter.com/BIGD5tgriF Joshua Wong (@joshuawongcf) June 30, 2020 Other core members of Demosisto including Nathan Law, Agnes Chow, and Jeffrey Ngo, also announced their withdrawal from the party on the same day. Demosisto announced the disbanding afterward. Beijing passed the national security law after two ceremonial votes on June 30 by the standing committee of Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress (NPC). The new law will take effect immediately. The Chinese regime formally began the process of drafting a national security law for Hong Kong on May 28, stating that it would criminalize those who engage in activities connected to subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As one of the most globally recognized faces in Hong Kongs democracy movement, Wong, 23, began his activism during secondary school when he led a hunger strike against Beijings proposal to implement a national education system in the city. The proposal was eventually scrapped. He later became one of the key student leaders in the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement that called for universal suffrage in city elections. The citys top leader is currently voted in via an electoral committee comprised mostly of pro-Beijing elites. Wong said that he will continue to defend the freedoms of Hong Kong until the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) eliminates us from this land. Days before the laws formal passage, Wong said he believed he would be a prime target upon Beijings implementation of the national security legislation. Local protesters and international critics say that the proposal will crush the citys freedoms and autonomy that were guaranteed upon the citys transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China. I will probably be the prime target of the new law. But what makes me fear is not my potential imprisonment, but the gloomy fact that the new law will be a threat over the citys future and not just my personal life, Wong told Reuters on June 26. Wong expressed concerns for his safety in the June 30 statement. If my voice will not be heard soon, I hope that the international community will continue to speak up for Hong Kong and step up concrete efforts to defend our last bit of freedom, he wrote. Several local activists and politicians are calling on people to take to the streets on Wednesday to protest against Beijings national security law despite a police ban on the gathering. They announced that they will organize a march on July 1, the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kongs handover, during a press conference on Tuesday noon joined by Figo Chan, vice convenor of local pro-democracy group Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF); Wu Chai-wai, chairman of Hong Kongs Democratic Party; district councilors Tsang Kin-shing and Andy Chui; and lawmaker Eddie Chu. Reuters and Frank Fang contributed to the report. "It's an exciting time to be in shipbuilding. Traditional manufacturing techniques are merging with cutting-edge technology to transform the way we build and repair ships," said Brent Woodhouse, manager of the Virginia Digital Shipbuilding Workforce Program. "The next generation of workers expects access to integrated digital technologies and the shipbuilding industry is on the cusp of delivering it. Providing education and hands-on training around digital shipbuilding will accelerate the transformation of the industry and attract more people to "new collar" jobs in shipbuilding and repair." U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a press conference at the State Department in Washington on June 24, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Pompeo Demands Chinese Regime End Disturbing Forced Xinjiang Sterilization Program Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on June 29 demanded that Beijing end its alleged forced sterilization, forced abortion, and coercive family planning against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Pompeo in a statement described the measures by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to slash birthrates among Uyghurs as shocking and disturbing, noting that it is part of a continuing campaign of repression. The United States condemns the use of forced population controls against Uyghur and other minority women and calls on the CCP to cease its campaign of repression. History will judge how we act today. Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 29, 2020 His remarks came after the publication of a paper (pdf) by German researcher Adrian Zenz in the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation think tank. The report, which analyzed Chinese government documents, found that natural population growth in Xinjiang had fallen dramatically. Zenz said that in Xinjiangs two largest Uyghur prefectures, growth rates fell by 84 percent between 2015 and 2018, and further in 2019. Some 14 percent and 34 percent of married women of childbearing age in two counties were targeted in a campaign of mass female sterilization, the researcher wrote. The campaign, Zenz said, likely aimed to sterilize rural minority women with three or more children, as well as some with two childrenequivalent to at least 20 percent of all women of childbearing age. BREAKING: my new research on Xinjiang uncovers evidence of birth prevention & mass female sterilization. Findings give strongest proof yet that Xinjiang atrocity fulfills a U.N. Genocide Convention criterion: imposing measures intended to prevent births /1https://t.co/oFp1372g7t pic.twitter.com/lZ2BeBgtPR Adrian Zenz (@adrianzenz) June 29, 2020 Pompeo, a persistent critic of the Chinese regime, including its treatment of Uyghurspredominantly Sunni Muslimssaid Monday that the findings were consistent with decades of CCP practices that demonstrate an utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and basic human dignity. We call on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately end these horrific practices and ask all nations to join the United States in demanding an end to these dehumanizing abuses, Pompeo said. The CCP has long justified its measures against the Turkic-speaking Uyghursone of Chinas 55 officially recognized minority ethnic groupssaying its detention facilities aim to educate and transform those that it deems at risk of the three evil forces of extremism, separatism, and terrorism. Since the CCP reabsorbed Xinjiang into China in September 1949, it has used the Soviet-backed East Turkestan claim as a means to justify its repression of the Uyghur people. Uyghurs, alongside other ethnic minorities like the Tibetans, as well as faithful believers who remain outside state control, including house Christians and Falun Gong, have long been targeted by the CCP for transformation through re-education. The CCP has incessantly accused Uyghurs of committing terrorist acts across the country, despite little evidence. Uyghurs have been banned from adhering to religious practices such as growing abnormally long beards, fasting, and wearing religious veils as part of measures the local authorities describe as tackling Islamist extremism. More than a million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities are believed to be detained in the regions vast network of camps. Genocide visualized: the chart below plots 2019 female sterilization targets in two Uyghur regions per capita, compared to Xinjiang and national (China). The figures are beyond imagination. Report link: https://t.co/CVOnD3CLJJ pic.twitter.com/4QUTmTNjEi Adrian Zenz (@adrianzenz) June 29, 2020 Zenz said that by 2019, there were plans to subject at least 80 percent of women of childbearing age in Xinjiangs four southern minority prefectures to intrusive birth prevention surgeriesplacement of intrauterine devices or sterilizations. He said that in 2018, 80 percent of all new IUD placements in China were performed in Xinjiang, while only 1.8 percent of the population live there. Forced Medication The Epoch Times has previously corroborated emerging accounts of forced birth control in the region through interviews with former Uyghur detainees. Gulbakhar Jalilova, a Kazakhstan national and businesswoman, was held in an all-female camp in Xinjiangs capital, Urumqi, for just over 15 months before she was released in September 2018. She told The Epoch Times that women were given pills in the facilities to stop them from becoming pregnant. Those in her camp were forced to ingest unknown medicine daily and were injected with a substance every month which numbs your emotions. Meanwhile, Canada-based Rabiye Muhammad, whose mother was detained in February 2018 for visiting her in October 2014 for four months, said she had heard firsthand that a young former Uyghur detainees period stopped suddenly and completely, because they forced her to take pills in camp. Another guy who was released, he said the males are also given a form of medicationthey are forced to take it. He said he hid it under his tongue, Muhammad told The Epoch Times. Another guy who was a doctor, he said his character changedhe became soft and not like a man. Genocide In his report, Zenz said his findings represented the strongest evidence yet that Beijings policies in Xinjiang met one of the genocide criteria cited in the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (pdf), namely imposing measures intended to prevent births within the [targeted] group. In sum, these findings provide strong evidence of the fulfillment of U.N. Genocide Convention, Section D of Article II: imposing measures intended to prevent births within the [targeted] group /15 https://t.co/b8qQpNG9xM pic.twitter.com/hTOfGHqy7b Adrian Zenz (@adrianzenz) June 29, 2020 In response to the report, Hong Kongs last colonial governor Chris Patten told Bloomberg Television that the Chinese regimes measures arguably amount to genocide. This is arguably something that comes within the terms of the U.N. views on sorts of genocide, he said Monday. The United States condemns the use of forced population controls against Uyghur and other minority women and calls on the CCP to cease its campaign of repression, Pompeo added in a Twitter post Monday. History will judge how we act today. Reuters contributed to this report. Qld Border Will Open to All but Victoria Queenslands border will reopen to everyone but Victoria on July 10. Faced with escalating cases of community transmission in Victoria, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on June 30 the border to Victoria would stay closed to keep Queenslanders safe from coronavirus. Anyone travelling from Victoria including any Queenslanders returning home will have to quarantine at their own expense in a hotel. People from other states will be able to travel freely to the Sunshine State from July 10. The premier met with health officials and colleagues on Tuesday to discuss the border issue as Victoria recorded more than 250 cases in a week. The closure has been a point of frustration for border communities and industries desperate for customers and foot traffic after taking a hit during the global pandemic. Palaszczuk and her Labor government have argued that keeping the borders closed has kept Queenslanders safe, while the Liberal National Party wants them opened to stop businesses going under. Reddit Openly Proclaims It Will Discriminate Based on Race in Content Policing Social media platform Reddit adopted new rules against hate speech that discriminate against certain people based on their race, gender, religion, and other characteristics. Reddit seems to be the first tech company to do so openly, though theres evidence that other companies have done so surreptitiously. Reddit used to have no hate speech policy. The platform was based on the concept that individual communities (subreddits) largely set their own rules and police themselves. On June 29, Reddit announced that it has adopted a site-wide policy against Promoting Hate Based on Identity or Vulnerability. Communities and people that incite violence or that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned, the rules say. Marginalized or vulnerable groups include, but are not limited to, groups based on their actual and perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or disability. These include victims of a major violent event and their families. The catch is, Reddit gets to determine which races, religions, and gender are marginalized or vulnerable and which are not. While the rule on hate protects such groups, it does not protect all groups or all forms of identity, the rule says. For example, the rule does not protect groups of people who are in the majority or who promote such attacks of hate. Reddit didnt respond to a request for clarification on what race, gender, and religion it considers to be the majority. Last year, Reddit received a $150 million investment from Chinese tech giant Tencent. The news sparked concerns of incoming censorship among its users. Google, Facebook Theres evidence that other internet companies have adopted similar measures. Last year, then-head of Googles Responsible Innovation Team, Jen Gennai, was recorded on a secret camera as saying that she was working on addressing fairness in Google algorithms. A leaked internal document said that algorithmic unfairness related to unjust or prejudicial treatment that is related to sensitive characteristics such as race, income, sexual orientation, or gender, though algorithmic systems or algorithmically aided decision-making. But Gennai made clear her job was to bring fairness only to certain people, based on whether they belong to a group Google deems historically marginalized. Communities who are in power and have traditionally been in power are not who Im solving fairness for, she was recorded as saying. Last week, a former Facebook content moderator revealed that the moderators were told to enforce the social media companys content policies selectively to allow Hate Speech against white people under certain circumstances. Reddit seems to be the first company to openly spell out discrimination based on race and other characteristics in its policies. Like Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, Reddit has adopted a policy that includes only those minorities recognized by the left, while excluding those whom the left attacks, as well as exonerating the leftist hatred for the white majority and the ideological opponents of leftism, commented Michael Rectenwald, former liberal studies professor at the New York University and author of Google Archipelago: The Digital Gulag and the Simulation of Freedom, in an email to The Epoch Times. Reddit Purge Along with the policy announcement, Reddit banned about 2,000 subreddits. Most of them were small and inactive, but there were several major forums, including darkhumorandmemes and darkjokecentral as well as the socialist forum ChapoTrapHouse, gendercritical (a forum for feminists that oppose self-assumed female identity), and consumeproduct (a forum critical of consumerism, corporate political pandering, pornography, and homosexuality). Also banned was The_Donald, a fan club of President Donald Trump with more than 790,000 subscribers. The subreddit used to be the largest internet forum of Trump supporters, but was virtually shut down by its own moderators in February after Reddit removed about half of the moderators for breaking Reddit rules. Some of the moderators moved the forum to a new site, TheDonald.win. The site is getting about 200,000 unique visitors a day, its administrator, who declined to provide his name, told The Epoch Times via Twitter direct message. Popularity of the site has been steadily increasing in the past months, based on Alexa ranking. It has recently allowed other forums to set up under its infrastructure. An aerial view of Rex Airlines aircraft at Sydney Airport on April 22, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Rex Confirms It Will Compete in Lucrative Golden Triangle of Air Travel One of Australias largest regional airline carriers has announced it will be challenging Qantas and Virgin in the competitive golden triangle of air travel and will be flying between Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The lucrative golden triangle contains some of the busiest airways in the world, with Sydney to Melbourne the second most travelled route globally with over 10 million passengers flying between the two largest Australian cities. Regional Express Airlines (Rex) tendered the idea initially on May 13 and estimated it needed to raise $200 million to compete effectively. However, the latest announcement reveals the airline needs just $30 million to get started. John Sharp, deputy chairman of Rex said, Rex has the biggest regional network in Australia and we are the only carrier in Australia that has been able to successfully navigate the turmoil and shocks over the last two decades with uninterrupted operational profits since 2003. Passengers queue at a security check point at Sydney Airport on July 30, 2017. (William West/AFP/Getty Images) Customers can expect affordable airfares and inclusions of baggage allowance, meals on board, and pre-assigned seating. Sharp said competing between the three cities was simply an incremental extension to Rexs existing network. The airline currently operates flights from the three major cities, however up until now it has flown direct to regional areas, and not between Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. Leveraging on Rexs existing infrastructure and overheads, our cost base for the domestic operation is estimated to be at least 35 percent below Virgin Australias (pre-COVID) with 50 percent lower additional headcount needed proportionately, he added. Rob Nicholls, associate professor at the University of New South Wales Business School, told The Epoch Times that Rex had the potential to be a serious competitor in the market. Sydney to Melbourne is one of the busiest point-to-point air routes in the world. This means that it is both competitive, but could potentially cope with a new entrant that has a compelling proposition, especially for business travel, said Nicholls. Nicholls believes Rex will likely target this segment of the market first. For example, some (business travellers) will travel from regional centres to Sydney, and then catch a flight with Qantas or Virgin to Melbourne. For Rex, offering a point-to-point service from regional New South Wales to Melbourne could well be attractive, he said. Passengers check in for a Qantas flight at Adelaide Airport on April 1, 2020 in Adelaide, Australia. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images) For regional businesses, such as agricultural technology, the inter-city service could allow Rex to sell three-leg return fares on the same airline, he added. Nicholls believed Rex was unlikely to compete on price, I do not think Rex will be offering lower fares. It will be competitive on the airfare and then offer the convenience of single check-in on its services. Airlines have strong customer loyalty schemes and Rex currently offers two reward flights for every eighteen eligible flights flown. It does this on a business (not person) basis. This will encourage businesses to book all legs through Rex, he said. Rexs management is aiming to start flights from March 1, 2021. Rex currently operates 1,500 flights per week across 60 destinations in Australia. Its fleet includes 60 Saab narrow-body aircraft, the expansion will see Rex consider the purchase of an additional 5 to 10 aircraft. Rexs plans come on the heels of Qantas dismissing 6,000 workers and Virgin Airlines takeover by United States-based Bain Capital. Qantas has also been in talks with the federal government about extending support for its 15,000 stood-down workers when wage subsidies are due to end in September. Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told ABC radio on Tuesday that Australian airlines were in a stronger position than their overseas counterparts, which were badly affected by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, commonly known as novel coronavirus. We want all airlines to be commercially competitive and commercially viable, he said. Russian Activist and World Chess Champion Calls on Australia to Move First Against Human Rights Violators Garry Kasparov, a Russian former world chess champion and now chair of the Human Rights Foundation, has told an Australian Senate inquiry that targeted Magnitsky-style sanctions are a preventive medicine against human rights abusers and authoritarian regimes. Knowing they exist, knowing the free world is ready to use them, is a strong deterrent, he said. Speaking on his experience in Russia, and his clashes with the regime of Vladimir Putin, Kasparov said, The more countries that join the field to build a coalition against Putins dictatorship the better the chances that the regime will not do something really dramatic. Chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion and one of the leaders of Russian political opposition, Garry Kasparov, plays simultaneous chess games in Porto Alegre during his visit to Brazil on September 6, 2011. (Jefferson Bernardes/AFP via Getty Images) Australias Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade is conducting an inquiry into whether Australia should implement laws similar to the Magnitsky Act in the United States. The Act is named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who exposed major tax fraud committed by Russian officials to the tune of US$230 million. He was subsequently imprisoned, tortured, and died in 2009 after a year in a Moscow prison. The laws target individuals found to be involved in human rights abuses. Sanctions include freezing the assets of officials, as well as banning travel into a country from the official, their family, and relatives. There have been calls to implement sanctions in Australia targeting Chinese officials, especially in light of the recent Hong Kong protests and new national security laws passed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 31 years ago today, China massacred pro-democracy protesters. Beijing is now set to crush free Hong Kong in full view of the world. Their fight is our fight. My piece in The Bulwark. https://t.co/DN7Sg3aHgT Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) June 4, 2020 Kasparov argued that a Magnitsky Act would be well-suited to counter the actions of modern authoritarian regimes: We say in Russia that every country has its own mafia, but in Russia the mafia has its own country. Thats kind of a modern model now for other dictatorships, because modern dictatorshipsI say they are unholy combinations of Karl Marx and Adam Smith, he said. Karl Marx is the forefather of communism, and Adam Smith is the forefather of free-market capitalism. They nationalise the expenses and privatise the profit. So, if sanctions are private, not national, they have maximum effect, Kasparov added. However, he warned of the need for consistency in applying sanctions, arguing the European approach to Russia has been piecemeal and ineffective against Putins regime: When you look at the overall relations between Putins regime and the free world, there are few reasons for Putin to worry, because after what happened in 2014, when Russia annexed the territory of a neighbouring countrythe first time since Adolf Hitler did it in Europe the free world did almost nothing. Russian riot policemen detain former world chess champion Garry Kasparov outside a court building in Moscow on August 17, 2012. (Andrey Smirnov/AFP/GettyImages) While there were some sanctions, they have been too small. For instance, the amount of gas that Germany has been buying from Russia has doubled, he added referring to Germanys 2018 deal to expand the Nordstream pipeline from Russia, which was vehemently opposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump argued increased reliance on Russia made Europe vulnerable. I think the problem is that Putin does not believe that any policy based on sanctions is consistent and that he thinks that he can always find a way to split any coalition that is built against his imperialist policies, Kasparov said. Considered one of the greatest chess players of all time, Kasparov grew up in the former Soviet Union and was trained in the state-sponsored chess education system. He rose to became world champion from 1986 to 2005. After his retirement, he became involved in politics and established coalitions in opposition to Vladimir Putin. Kasparov has regularly spoken out against Russia, China, communism, and socialism. Russian Official: North Korea Outraged by Depiction of Kim Jong Uns Wife A Russian envoy to North Korea said Kim Jong Un was outraged by allegedly insulting depictions of his wife in leaflets that were launched into the communist country by defectors in recent days. The impoverished, communist country has become increasingly belligerent earlier this month, blowing up a liaison office shared between the North and the South. Kims sister, Kim Yo Jong, also sent out a series of threats to Seoul after the leaflets were dropped in Noth Korea. Russian ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora told AFP that the leaflets allegedly contained insulting imagery of Ri Sol Ju, the wife of Kim Jong Un, saying they were insulting propaganda. He added that the images of Ri were photoshopped in such a low-grade way, adding that it was the last straw for North Korea. This picture taken by North Korean news agency KCNA (Korean Central News Agency) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) and his wife Ri Sol-Ju (2nd R) visiting the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School in Pyongyang to plant trees with its students on a tree planting day on March 2, 2017. (AFP/Getty Images) Matsegora didnt elaborate on what the leaflets said, while he added that Kim Yo Jong is not being trained as the next leader of the isolated country. There is absolutely no reason to say that she is being trained to become the countrys next dictator, Matsegora said. No one dares to call themselves number two in the country, he added. Amid the bellicose statements, White House adviser Robert OBrien on Tuesday called on Pyongyang to refrain from more provocations. Tangible progress has been slow, but the door to dialogue and progress remains open, OBrien said, adding that we are committed to engagement, and to achieving the goals set forth at the Singapore summit. People clean the site of an early morning shooting that left one person dead and one in critical condition in the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle, Wash., on June 29, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images) Seattle CHOP Barriers Being Cleared by City Crews After Deadly Shooting Following a rash of shootings and violence, Seattles Department of Transportation started clearing some barriers marking the entry to the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP, on Tuesday. City workers were seen with heavy machinery removing the barriers. Some protesters then took items, including trash cans, to block off an area in CHOP, according to video footage. Were trying to take out some of the barriers. We said all along we were trying to open the streets, Seattle Department of Transportation Director Sam Zimbabwe said on Tuesday, according to the Seattle Times. Seattle police Assistant Chief Adrian Diaz told the outlet that the concrete barriers would be removed in a procedural manner to allow cars to move through the road that was blocked off. In the wake of George Floyds death, protesters, anarchists, and self-described Marxists set up CHOP, which was formerly known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) with signs declaring that you are now leaving the USA. Were just making sure were having our roads open and have the ability to get people needed services, because there are a lot of people in crisis in this area, Diaz said. He didnt provide a timeline for when police officers will return to the East Precinct, which was abandoned in the wake of sometimes violent protests in the area. People stand near tents outside the abandoned Seattle Police Department precinct in the so-called autonomous zone in Seattle, Wash., on June 23, 2020. (David Ryder/Getty Images) A car sits in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone following a shooting in Seattle, Wash., on June 29, 2020. (Aron Ranen/AP Photo) Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best told reporters on Monday that protesters need to leave the CHOP area. This is something thats going to need to change, Best said. Were asking that people remove themselves from this area for the safety of the people. If they care about people, theyre going to have to try to help us to make it safe. She noted that a recent shooting in CHOP left one black teenager dead, saying that the incident is antithetical to a place where they claim to be working for Black Lives Matter. On Monday, a shooting left a 16-year-old male dead and a 14-year-old injured in the area, police told news outlets. Mayor Jenny Durkans office on Monday said the original message behind the protests was undermined by violence at CHOP. The area has increasingly attracted more individuals bent on division and violence, and it is risking the lives of individuals, city spokesperson Ernesto Apreza told the newspaper. There has been unacceptable behavior by individuals who are preventing city employees from doing their job. Seattle police officers have mostly stayed away from CHOP throughout most of June, and police have said they would only respond during life-threatening emergencies. The Seattle Police Department hasnt yet responded to a request for comment. A pharmacy technician grabs a bottle of drugs off a shelve at the central pharmacy of Intermountain Heathcare in Midvale, Utah, on Sept. 10, 2018. (George Frey/Getty Images) Senators Introduce Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Review Legislation Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced a bipartisan bill Tuesday which orders a study to be conducted, on the effects of the United States dependence on China and other foreign countries when it comes to acquiring necessary pharmaceuticals. The legislation, called The U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Review Act, directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Secretary of the Treasury, in conjunction with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), to conduct the study. To defeat the current COVID-19 crisis and better equip the United States against future pandemics, we must take control of our supply chain and rely less on foreign countries for our critical drugs, Senator Warren said in a statement. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is believed that approximately 80 percent of the basic materials used in U.S. drugs, known as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), come from China and India. Because no reliable API registry exists, the exact level of dependence remains an estimate. Our bill will require a study to show the effects of this over-reliance and identify the tools we need to confront it head-on, added Warren. The U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Review Act sets a 12-month time frame for the study to be completed and a report to be issued to Congress. The report would inform Congress on how this over-reliance impacts the United States supply chain and domestic manufacturing. The study should also show how foreign investments impact the nations ability to produce medicines. In addition, the bill wants answers to how foreign direct investment in U.S. genome sequencing technologies affects domestic capacity to sequence or store DNA. More than a year ago, I warned that our nation has critical vulnerabilities and supply chain risks in key sectors of our economy, including in pharmaceuticals, as a result of decades of lost industrial capacity to China, said Senator Rubio. This bill would ensure policymakers have the necessary information to address our supply chain vulnerabilities, the consequences of foreign investment in U.S. pharmaceuticals, and reduce our over-reliance on China for pharmaceuticals, added Rubio. The senators argue that national drug shortages are partly, due to foreign direct investments in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The need for the United States to reduce its decades-long reliance on China for medicines and supplies became completely evident to lawmakers as Americans faced widespread shortages in the midst of the pandemic. President Trumps economic adviser, Peter Navarro said in April that the United States would move away from its reliance on other nations and toward becoming fully self-reliant when it comes to producing medicines. One of the things that this crisis has taught us, we are dangerously over dependent on a global supply chain for our medicines, like penicillin, Navarro said during a White House press briefing, Never again should we rely on the rest of the world for our essential medicines and countermeasures. I want to be really clear about that but going forward after this is over, the VA, DoD, HHS, and this government, buys American for essential medicines or medical countermeasures and the medical supplies equipment we need, at the same time, we will deregulate, so we can get the FDA and EPA to facilitate domestic manufacturing and innovate, added Navarro. Sidney Powell: Inside the Michael Flynn Case In the court case against Lt. General Michael Flynn, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has ordered Judge Emmet Sullivan to grant the request of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss. But what will happen next? In the eyes of General Flynns attorney Sidney Powell, what are the implications of Judge Sullivan keeping the case open? Is there more exculpatory evidence to come in the Flynn case? And, what are some possible steps to take to strengthen the DOJ as an institution? In this episode, we sit down with Sidney Powell, counsel for Lt. General Michael Flynn. She is also the author of Licensed to Lie and Conviction Machine. This is American Thought Leaders , and Im Jan Jekielek. Jan Jekielek: Sidney Powell, such a pleasure to have you back on American Thought Leaders. Sidney Powell: Thank you for having me. Its always a pleasure to talk with you. Mr. Jekielek: Well, youve been very busy. Ms. Powell: Thats the understatement of the century. Mr. Jekielek: Im going to ask you in a little bit what its taken to work on this on General Flynns case, but lets talk about where we are today. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has basically ordered Judge Sullivan to close the case. I think he had 24 hours to do so, and he didnt do it. So whats going on? Where are we at here? Ms. Powell: Well, they dont really put a time limit on the order. But I can say in my decades of practiceand were not going to number thosethat Ive ever seen a judge not do what he was told to do by whats called a writ of mandamus, or extraordinary writ, an order directly from the Circuit Court of Appeals to do something. They always do it within 24 to 48 hours. I just havent seen that happen, with the possible exception of one case, way back when I had to get a writ of mandamus issued against the Federal District Judge twice in the same case. Now, were certainly hoping that doesnt have to happen here and that the order will be signed shortly, because hes not party to the case. That doesnt mean the full court cant review the case on its own, but it would be unprecedented to do so in these circumstances. Mr. Jekielek: Theres so many unprecedented things related. I keep hearing of something new happening, and even months ago, I heard unprecedented. How about you give us a bit of perspective and outline this journey from the time that you came on as General Flynns attorney? Ms. Powell: Well, I had been concerned about this case from the beginning. From the very beginning, I was writing articles about it for The Daily Caller and other publications about what I was seeing in it. It all kind of followed on from my book Licensed to Lie exposing corruption in the Department of Justice. I didnt touch the issues with the Mueller Task Force Special Counsel operation until I saw that they brought Andrew Weissmann in, and I knew he was actually going to hit it, because he is what I call the lead villain in Licensed to Lie. He is widely known for making up crimes, hiding evidence that shows people are innocent, and just railroading people with the enormous pressure that the federal government can bring to bear against an individual when theyre indicted. So I became immediately concerned then. Then the more I saw come out about the Flynn case and how it was being handled, the more concerned I was. All the red flags were there. Mr. Jekielek: So you were watching this. How is it that you got connected with Flynn? Ms. Powell: You know, I cant remember. I know I went to the first hearing when Judge Sullivan was going to have a status conference on the case, because Judge Sullivan, ironically enough, is a judicial hero of Licensed to Lie. Ive been bragging on him for seven years, calling him the judicial hero of Licensed to Lie and bragging about his Brady order, and touting it as him being the leading judge in the country for requiring the government to produce the evidence that shows the defendant is innocent. I remember one of the first articles I wrote was, Hey, Judge Sullivan has got this case now. Flynn should move to withdraw his guilty plea, because he [Judge Sullivan] is the champion against government misconduct in hiding evidence that shows people were innocent. I just knew evidence was being hidden. They would have exonerated General Flynn. So I attended that hearing just to get a feel for how it was going, as somebody interested in the issue. I speak on these topics all the time. Then when he had the sentencing hearing, I just happened to be in DC and went to that. Somewhere in there I had met his brother, Joe, at some event in Dallas, a seminar or something. We had talked a little bit about how outraged I was over what I was saying. I kind of gave him the data dump on the book, and then it was sometime late in the spring of 2019 that the general contacted me. Mr. Jekielek: Its an incredible thing, isnt it? That you have both Weissmann involved in the Muller investigation, and then you have Judge Sullivan involved in this case, and theyre both very prominent. Ms. Powell: I never imagined myself appearing before Judge Sullivan, in any kind of case at all, much less the Flynn case on Brady issues. Never. Mr. Jekielek: So the general called you. Did you think there was something wrong with the way his defense team was functioning? How did this transpire now, this shift? Ms. Powell: Well, I was very concerned that I had seen things happen so quickly with respect to his guilty plea and without any Brady motions being found at all in the case. The docket sheet was a page or two. Ive never seen that in a criminal case, especially one where I just knew there was so much wrong with the prosecution. At first, I thought I could work as perhaps co-counsel with Covington [& Burling], and then pretty soon it became apparent that that was not going to work out at all. I realized that they had a massive conflict of interest. I didnt know when I first got into it that they were the ones that had actually done the Foreign Agent Registration Act filing. That was why he went to them in the first place, because Rob Kelner was widely known as being one of the leading authorities for filing the Foreign Agent Registration Act form that the Department of Justice had written Flynn a letter about not long after he was named incoming NSA, ironically enough, and that was because he had simply written an op-ed for the hill that was very opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood. So [when] the FARA letter was issued, he sought out Covington to help with that. Then I realized in the process of talking to them about it that they had done the FARA registration and other issues came up that I cant discuss. But anyway, he wound up terminating Covington & Burlings representation of him, and I took over the case, probably last June or so, roughly a year ago. Mr. Jekielek: Its also incredible because theres some massive costs that went into this already, right? Some millions, I dont know the exact numbers, but then to switch accounts like this, its a bit of a risk, right? Ms. Powell: Yes, it is definitely a risk. Of course the media was full of concern about it, because everybody had touted the great deal Covington had gotten for him. Well, its not a great deal if youre innocent. Ive talked to him at length about the entire situation. I was absolutely convinced the man is innocent. He is as honest as the day is long and no more patriotic person has ever walked the face of this earth than Michael Flynn who has devoted his life to this country, serving five years in active combat, deployed overseas in some absolute hellholes. He faced the real deal. It didnt take me long digging in the file to see that there was a whole lot of Brady evidence that the government had produced clues to, but not the actual evidence of. I had done the same thing in the Brown case that I wrote about in Licensed to Lie. When Eric Holder came in the Department of Justice and moved to dismiss the Ted Stevens case, I thought he was serious about cleaning up the Department of Justice. Back then, I represented a Merrill Lynch defendant who had been the victim of made-up crimes and hidden evidence and all of that. So I wrote Eric Holder a very lengthy letter. In fact, it wound up being about 50 pages with exhibits to try to get his attention on the injustices in the Brown case, because it was still going on. I decided I would write a letter to the Department of Justice and try to get it resolved without another black eye against the department. Mr. Jekielek: I see. Ms. Powell: That letter wound up being attached by Mr. [Brandon] Van Grack to one of his filings in Judge Sullivans court. Of course, he responded to it within a few weeks of me having written it, denying that there was any Brady evidence in the case whatsoever, despite the fact he had produced a list of things that contained exculpatory evidence, but not given us the actual evidence. Mr. Jekielek: Fascinating. So you petitioned Judge Sullivan to get this exculpatory Brady evidence, but then something happened you didnt expect, I think. Ms. Powell: Oh, yes, the greatest irony in the case. I bragged about Judge Sullivan for years, everywhere across the country, bragged about Judge Sullivan for requiring the government to produce Brady evidence in the Ted Stevens case and dismissing that case on the governments motion, because they had hidden the evidence that showed he was innocent. So I file a lengthy, I think it was probably, I dont know, 45 or 50-page brief, asking and detailing all the Brady evidence that the government was hiding in this case, including DIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, briefings where General Flynn had told them about all his foreign contacts before he even made them. He told them about his trips to Russia and had them brief him on things they wanted him to collect for them while he was over there, and then reported back to them immediately. He briefed them on his Turkey contact. He pre-briefed everything he was doing religiously, and there was nothing secret at all. His company had even filed whats called a Lobbying Disclosure Act formed to comply with the FARA registration requirements on advice of counsel, back when they first started doing anything related to Turkey. The whole thing was blown up from nothing. Here Ive been bragging on Judge Sullivan. I filed this Brady motion that is as solid as it can be. The government replies, theres no Brady; theres no Brady; theres no Brady. He pled guilty; he pled guilty; he pled guilty, which has nothing to do with it. Judge Sullivans Brady order requires the production of Brady even after somebody pled guilty, and a prosecutors Brady obligation continues even after conviction and sentencing. So that [argument] made no sense at all, and I thought surely Judge Sullivan of all people is going to give us at least the actual documents that the government itself has listed as having information that was favorable to the defense. I also thought hed give me a security clearance to review any of the things that the government had deemed classified, which turned out to be, [as] we found [out] much later, evidence of their own guilt. That was a lot of what they had classified, and thats what I expected to find. But what I didnt expect was for Judge Sullivan to deny every single Brady request, document, we asked for. Every single one. In a 92-page decision that was just raging. I was flabbergasted. I had been convinced that he would do the right thing, and we would get Brady and once we got any Brady at all the case would start failing. The government would have to move to dismiss it, because of what they had hidden. But he backed the prosecutor, Van Grack, up all the way. I knew Van Grack was standing there lying to the court every time he said anything. Mr. Jekielek: So whats going through your head as youre reading this 92 page ruling? What are you thinking? I dont know, maybe you cant tell me everything youre thinking. Ms. Powell: Well it was basically What in the world? What in the world is going on here? Why? It just made no sense whatsoever, according to the law or the Judge Sullivan that I had seen and written about and bragged on in the Ted Stevens case. It just did not jive. And the fact that General Flynn had pleaded guilty had nothing to do with any of it, because number one, the judges order required the production even after a plea of guilty as it should. And number two, they had been hiding it from the very beginning. Mr. Jekielek: Lets segue a little bit here, because theres a lot to be said in your writings about people pleading guilty in this country in general. The stats are unbelievable. Im kind of shocked that this isnt generally known, and you know this a thousand times better than I do. Can you outline how often people actually plead guilty irrespective of the reality of the situation and why? Ms. Powell: In about 95 percent of the Federal casesIm not sure of the states statistic; its probably the samepeople plead guilty, and so there are very few trials. If you do go to trial, the government has a 98 to 99 percent win-rate. So the deck is so stacked in favor of the government. If courts dont make them produce Brady evidence, people dont stand a chance. They need to be made to produce it pre-plea, all of it. Weve seem to have lost the presumption of innocence. Everybody thinks that once someone is indicted, [theyre guilty]. Of course, all you hear is the language of the indictment printed in the newspapers. Weissmann and his cronies, including Van Grack, can make giving your mother a Christmas present sound like a federal criminal offense the way they describe it. Thats what they did to the Merrill Lynch defendants in the Enron litigation. They made a simple business transaction, a perfectly legitimate business transaction, sound like a criminal conspiracy and deprivation of services and wire fraud. It wasnt, and people spent a year in prison on those false allegations of any criminal conduct, and then the Fifth Circuit ultimately held the conduct wasnt criminal. The same thing happened to Arthur Andersen, the destruction of 85,000 jobs, on an indictment that pieced together parts of two different statutes to make a crime out of something that was not. Federal prosecutors have incredible power, very little supervision, [and] no accountability. They want to destroy qualified immunity for police officers, who have to act in split-second life-threatening circumstances faster than most people can even comprehend whats going on. Prosecutors have absolute immunity. They cant be sued at all, for anything, and so theres no accountability. Theyre not held accountable by bar associations for hiding evidence thats shown in Licensed to Lie. Also, theyre not held accountable by the Office of Professional Responsibility in the Department of Justice. The Ted Stevens case is an example of that. So they just do what they want to do, and nothing happens to them. No matter how many lives they destroyed or how many innocent people they sent to prison. The National Registry of Exonerations contains over 500 names of people who had pled guilty, but were later exonerated. Because of what we now call the Conviction Machine, [which is also the title of] a new book Harvey Silverglate and I wrote, it is so crushing for an individual to try to stand up against [federal prosecution], regardless of their station in life. I mean, look at what happened to General Flynn. Imagine what happens to somebody that doesnt have his standing, his spotless record, [and] his financial resourcesthanks to the generosity of the American people who have funded our defense front in increments from $1 to $10,000. If youve got a strike against you, and you get indicted, you are toast. Mr. Jekielek: Clearly, judicial reform is something youre a big advocate for Ms. Powell: Yes, Ive been working on it for 20 years. Mr. Jekielek: Why dont we put a pin in that one, because I want to think about that a little bit more later. I want to get back to the progression of the story. US Attorney [Jeffrey] Jensen comes into the picture. Ms. Powell: Which we didnt know about. Mr. Jekielek: Right, I think nobody knew. There was no leaking. Ms. Powell: Right. Mr. Jekielek: This was another major turn right? I dont know if Im missing one or not, but tell me more about this progression since this moment where you realized the Brady evidence is denied. Ms. Powell: That was the real stunning blow. Next, the government moved to proceed with a sentencing against him. In the process of doing that, Van Grack was enraged about a number of things, not the least of which was that his case in the Eastern District of Virginia against Flynns business partner, Mr. [Bijan] Rafiekian, had led to a judgment of acquittal by the district court judge, because there wasnt any evidence of a conspiracy even enough to get in the co-conspirator hearsay statements. Again, the government had no crime there, so the judge had thrown that out. Flynn had been supposed to testify in that case, and we were trying to cooperate with the government. In fact, we went to multiple meetings, and I went with him, and our full intent was to cooperate with them, until one day they wanted him to lie. That all blew up, and Van Grack was enraged. In fact, he screamed at me over the speakerphone last summer, probably about the middle of July or early July, and just kind of went off the rails. I told him there were no circumstances under which he was going to testify to something that was not true. He wanted him to admit that he knew the statements on the FARA form were false when he found it. He did not. He had paid Covington & Burling hundreds of thousands of dollars to get it right. He had no idea how the blooming thing was supposed to read. Frankly, I dont think the statements were false in the FARA filing anyway; they certainly werent material. What difference does it make who initiated the op-ed as the FARA filing revealed? When I dug into the FARA filing even, I realized that the government itself had made up the false statements. They had taken out blocks of keywords from the FARA filing itself to say that something was false when it wasnt. [Moreover], Covington had admitted in emails that we found later that they knew the false statements werent false. Weve briefed that. All the briefs, by the way, are available on my website at sidneypowell.com with the exhibits. Mr. Van Grack was enraged by all of that. He was so enraged that when he requested the sentencing be set, he revoked and said he was withdrawing two motions or positions that had been key to the plea agreement. That was a breach of the plea agreement. So then we moved to withdraw General Flynns plea for Mr. Van Gracks breach of the plea agreement. By then, we had also found all kinds of other reasons that warranted withdrawing the plea. We brief those at length, and those are also available on my website. But there never should have been a plea. There was a combination of Covington conflict of interest from having done the FARA filingthey should have withdrawn as we briefed back in August of 2017and ineffective assistance of counsel issues specifically so egregious that he was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Judge Sullivans extended plea colloquy, didnt cover key questions that should have been asked if that was going to reaffirm the plea at all. Judge Sullivan had even ended that plea colloquy as he called it. It was supposed to be a sentencing, but all of a sudden, General Flynn is up there with Covington lawyers beside him who were hopelessly conflicted, a situation he doesnt fully understand. Then the judge is asking him all these questions he wasnt expecting about his plea. Turns out Covington had briefed him only to whatever you do, Affirm your plea, dont seek to withdraw it. If he gives you an opportunity to withdraw it, hes giving you the rope to hang yourself. That was their advice as we briefed, so he was completely blindsided by that whole thing. Thank goodness Judge Sullivan, at that stage, gave him an opportunity to postpone his sentencing, and he took that opportunity. Thats another huge irony, because then that ultimately led to him consulting me before he went to testify in the Eastern District of Virginia, and essentially helped change the course of history. Mr. Jekielek: Thats incredible. And this is all not knowing what US Attorney Jensen was doing? Ms. Powell: Right. Mr. Jekielek: Fascinating. Ms. Powell: Yep, and then all of a sudden, we start getting Brady evidence in. Weve gotten all the briefing done on the issues to withdraw his plea. We also filed a motion to dismiss for egregious government misconduct, because another thing that happened that was very important was the huge inspector general report that came out in mid-December of 2019. That was a whole other instance documenting massive government misconduct. Judge Sullivan at the governments request had even postponed our briefing schedule to allow for that report to come forward. But yet when he issued the massive Brady order denying everything, he didnt consider anything in there at all, or give us a chance to brief it to show how it would affect the Brady issues or anything. It revealed the stunning fact that Agent [Joe] Pientka, one of the two FBI agents who interviewed General Flynn on January 24 to form the basis of the governments whole case against Flynn, had been slipped into a presidential briefing back on August 17, 2016 for the sole purpose of collecting information on Flynn, gauging and assessing his mannerisms in case they ever needed to interview him later, i.e. if Donald Trump is put in the White House and General Flynn is there with him. That was such an abuse of FBI authority that Christopher Wray immediately said it would never happen again. More recently than that, the ODNI had said that the FBI will no longer be allowed to participate in those briefings. Mr. Jekielek: Wow. Ms. Powell: Thats how bad it was. That caused me to do the motion to dismiss for egregious government misconduct, because we had not moved to dismiss before. We had said we would when we got more Brady evidence, and we expected to get it, but we hadnt actually moved to do it. That was just stunning evidence. There was more in there too, but that was the big nugget that was relevant to Flynn. Mr. Pientka had told the Inspector General how it related to the Flynn interview on January 24. That gave far more credibility even to the fact that both those agents including Pientka, who interviewed him then, believed he was telling the truth. He had a baseline read on him to judge that by. They had briefed three different groups of people in the upper echelon of the FBI and the DOJ after the interview, to the effect that they believed him or felt like or knew he believed he was telling the truth, which is another thing that would completely negate any false statement by General Flynn, whether he remembered all the details of the calls or not. Then we find evidence that shows that they deliberately schemed and planned how to interview him that day, to avoid letting him know he was even the subject of the interview. They had planned that. They had had meetings to discuss how to keep him unguarded and relaxed, so that he wouldnt even know he was the subject of the interview. They chose multiple ways to violate their own rules. They discussed the rules, and they rejected following them in each instance with respect to General Flynn. That was in several material ways. First, they didnt give him any notion that [Title 18 United States Code Section] 1001 was involved. He thought he was just talking to two colleagues about issues. Theyd been there even two days [previous] doing a briefing and everything for the whole White House staff. Mr. Jekielek: And whats 1001 to clarify? Ms. Powell: Yes, thats the federal false statement statute. If the FBI even suspects, to any degree, someone is not telling them the truth, their standard operating procedure is to remind the person that anything they say to an FBI agent can be prosecuted as a federal felony, with a five year penalty under [Title] 18 United States Code Section 1001, the false statement statute. They deliberately decided no matter what happened in that interview with General Flynn, not to even mention 1001, much less the full statement of what it means. That was one of their deliberate choices not to follow protocol. Another was [the protocols pertaining to] if theyre going to ask people about prior statements they have records of. They had full transcripts of his phone calls with all the foreign contacts. They either had a pin register on his phone, or they had a FISA against him. I still dont know. But they were monitoring all his phone calls, and they had transcripts of them. They didnt show him, and they decided not to show him the transcripts of those phone calls as they were questioning him about them. There was no point to question, and they already knew what he said. After Mr. Jensen became involved, we learned that they had completely closed or ordered the file closed on him from the investigation they falsely started back in August of 2016. They had even put surveillance on him. They had not found a single piece of derogatory information about him. [After] 33 years in the government, [there was] no derogatory information. They searched the files of other three letter agencies that were blacked out, but we can imagine which those are: not the least of which was a Defense Intelligence Agency that he had headed for President Obama, and I would guess one of them was the CIA. Anyway, there were plenty of government files on General Flynn and not a piece of derogatory information in one of them. They had no basis to talk to him about anything. They still went over there that day and ambushed him. One of the things we found that the government never did disclose to us was a text message between [Peter] Strzok and [Lisa] Page on January 10, of 2017. Talking about [how] Strzok and [Bill] Priestap were sitting there watching CNN, and the whole BuzzFeed thing about the Steele dossier exploded in the news, thanks to [James] Clapper or [John] Brennan or somebody leaking it to CNN and BuzzFeed. Then Comey briefed President Trump on it in the Trump Tower on January 6 after being in the meeting in the Oval Office with Yates and Clapper and Brennan and Comey and Rice and Obama and Biden on January 5. [In the texts,] theyre talking about using that as a pretext to go interview some people. That Brady the government still hasnt given me. I found it accidentally just doing my own independent research. Mr. Jekielek: Fascinating. So effectively, US Attorney Jensen totally came forth, basically passed to you all sorts of Brady. Ms. Powell: Yes, he gave us the report that the FBI Washington field office had ordered the investigation closed. He gave us several pages of new text messages between Strzok and Page indicating the flurry of activity on January 3rd and 4th, [revealing] Strzok trying to reopen the case at the direction of the seventh floor meeting of the leadership of the FBI. Then just this past week, in fact it was almost the same time the court issued its writ of mandamus, we got a stunning piece of handwritten notes from Agent Strzok that indicate he had been talking or somebody had been talking with President Obama and Biden that seems to indicate Biden as the one who mentioned pursuing a Logan Act theory against General Flynn, which not only has never been successfully prosecuted in 200 years, but raises all kinds of constitutional issues about whether its even a valid statute. And [it] would have no application whatsoever to the incoming national security adviser for the president-elect of the United States, because theyre supposed to talk to foreign leaders about things and not get blindsided the day they come into office. To even discuss that with President Obama and Biden was remarkable. Then Obama, according to the notes said, make sure you get the right look at these things and get the right people on it. Mr. Jekielek: Its really interesting because this last group of Brady exculpatory evidence comes after the government has already decided to close the case. Ms. Powell: Yes. Like I said, they have a continuing obligation to produce anything they find, no matter when they find it. That doesnt stop until the case is completely gone. Mr. Jekielek: So you might be getting a file tomorrow. Ms. Powell: Yeah, the longer Judge Sullivan takes to dismiss the case, the more stuff they owe me. Theres still a long list of things that I know are there from the government from Van Gracks own Brady letters that I know are there. Theres a January 30 memo inside the Department of Justice completely exonerating General Flynn of all things Russian. [This is on] January 30, 2017, while he was still in the White House. Not only did they not tell him of all those things, for his defense of this case, or back then, they used the Flynn prosecution to gin up an obstruction of justice prosecution or impeachment hoax of President Trump. Comey knew when he talked to the president on February 14, 2017 that Flynn had been cleared of everything. When the President said Flynns a good guy, I hope this is gonna go [away], he [Comey] should have told him Its already gone Mr. President, we cleared him weeks ago. Instead [he] runs to his car and writes another dear diary that he leaks to the New York Times about how the president is trying to obstruct justice by just hoping the Flynn case has gone when it was already gone. Mr. Jekielek: Its this rabbit hole that keeps going deeper and deeper as we keep learning more information. Weve been covering all of these different related issues from the get-go for a number of years, and its just unbelievable watching it evolve. Of course, were kind of in the midst of history being written here. Its fascinating. Ms. Powell: Completely yes. In fact I heard theres more Brady evidence to come. There has to be, because like I said, I know there are documents there from the governments own list that show hes innocent. Mr. Jekielek: Right now, a few days have passed. This DC Circuit Court has said Close this case, Judge Sullivan. It hasnt happened. What do you expect is going on right now, why the delay and whats being considered? Ms. Powell: Well, it could be that there are discussions going on inside the DC Circuit as to whether the court as a whole [is discussing it]. I call it en banc from the french expression [for] when the court sits in all the judges, all the active, not senior, but all the regular judges of the DC Circuit sit en banc [on the bench] and review the decision of the panel. That would be the only way to change the decision of the panel. Even more compelling is the fact that the very well-written and authoritative decision of the two judges of the panel who signed on to it rests on a very well-written decision by the Chief Judge of the DC Circuit. It is authoritative on the very issues in this case, when a rule 48, a motion to dismiss, is brought by the government. The leave of court provision that its in, according to the Supreme Court, is only there to protect the defendant from harassment. The government filed the most substantial motion to dismiss Ive seen in my time in practice. Its 100 pages, including all the exculpatory Brady evidence that was found. Theres nothing to inquire about. The district judge doesnt get to go behind the documents that have been filed to inquire into the decision of the executive to dismiss any more than that the executive could probe behind the Court of Appeals decision to see why and who and whatever happened to create that decision. Its separation of powers in our Constitution at the very basic level. Mr. Jekielek: Theres also this order to vacate the amicus right? Ms. Powell: Yes, the first thing Judge Sullivan did that went off the rails after the motion to dismiss was to name a friend of the court, an amicus, to pursue the case in the stead of the government. His friend was going to brief it and did brief it, both against the government and the defense as to why the case shouldnt be dismissed. He doesnt get to appoint a special prosecutor; thats all within the power of the Department of Justice to decide what is going to be prosecuted and when. Nevermind the incredible double standard of how they treated other people who might have been prosecuted for things and werent. Mr. Jekielek: When we were talking offline, you [mentioned you] always have a plan A, plan B, plan C, for everything. Maybe you dont want to reveal all your cards, but what do you expect will happen here? Are you ready to take this to the Supreme Court? Ms. Powell: Yeah, whatever we need to do. I came into this case believing in my clients innocence, believing that Judge Sullivan was going to do the right thing and that wed be done by now. I know hes innocent, and I will not stop until that is totally proven and the Supreme Court denies my petition for rehearing if necessary. We are going to continue this fight however long it takes and wherever it goes. Mr. Jekielek: Theres a lot of unanswered questions here, presumably, in the material that youve seen. Theres a lot of things that pertain to this whole, lets call it the Russia collusion scenario. Theres a lot of material thats now not available to the general public to view that the public may be interested in. What do you expect will happen with all this? Lets say the case closes and lets say that the case is over in a few days. What happens to all of that? Ms. Powell: Well, anything that was produced to us under the protective order, theres a possibility that it has to be returned to the government. Of course, we have filed a lot of documents publicly with the agreement of the government. Theyve been unsealed or publicly filed, so those are still available. Some other things I would think would be highly relevant to Mr. [John] Durhams investigation. In fact, Im pretty sure that a few of the things we have gotten actually came from that, because they didnt have markings of government forms or files. Thats the only way I can think of they have gotten them. Instead, somebody gave them to him or they were a result of a grand jury subpoena or something they didnt have. Of course, it was a lot redacted, but it didnt look like an official government thing. Theres still a whole lot more information that needs to be brought out for the people to know; all the truth about everything that happened both with respect to General Flynn and President Trump and the whole situation writ large, but we have a lot more insight into it now. That weve put all the pieces together that we have with respect to Flynn. Mr. Jekielek: So for you and General Flynn and everyone involved, its a waiting game at this point. Ms. Powell: Yes. Mr. Jekielek: I get to benefit from that. We get to sit down, right? [laughs] Ms. Powell: Yes, thats right. Otherwise, I would have had a brief due at noon Friday [and] another one due shortly. Yes, so the briefing schedules have been completely terminated, and the hearing schedule has been terminated, but the case has not been terminated. Mr. Jekielek: So give me a sense of what the workload has been like on this case. Ms. Powell: Roughly 20 hours a day, seven days a week, since I got into it. Covington gave us 18 hard drives of information, and then we found out [about more]. That was another unexpected twist that Id forgotten about. Only a few months ago, they let us know they hadnt produced everything. Mr. Jekielek: Right. Ms. Powell: There was another, I forgot how many, tens of thousands of documents, and then we found out we still dont have it all, so there are a lot of unanswered questions from many directions. Mr. Jekielek: Youve been working on this. I know Molly McCann has come and worked with you. Weve talked about her. Ive been communicating with her a bit. Who is actually working on this case? Ms. Powell: The core team has been Molly, of course, who happened along the way, last summer, probably about a year ago right now, a Godsend in every way. Then [theres] my co-counsel, who was local counsel, but I wanted them to serve more as co-counsel, and [they] certainly fulfill that role: Jesse Binnall with the Harvey Binnall firm in Alexandria and Lindsay McCaslin, who works with him, a much younger lawyer, and then a baby lawyer, Abby Frye, whos in her first year of practice. They have just been absolutely extraordinary. They have put in long hours and been right there to do what we needed. It was so amazing to see the right person show up at the right time with the right information throughout this case, and we also had a couple of secret weapons from general Flynns family that were invaluable. His niece, Alicia Kutzer, from Pennsylvania, is a terrific lawyer. She can find things, research facts and law amazingly well, and came up with key decisions that we needed at the right time. [There is also] his sister, Claire Eckert, who is a brilliant paralegal and communications strategist and has her own company. We just put together people who understood what had gone on and what needed to be done, and proceeded to do it. Mr. Jekielek: Any sense of where Mr. Van Grack has gone after leaving the case? Ms. Powell: Well, he was head of the FARA division at the Department of Justice. Im assuming hes still there. I would certainly hope he is under a serious OPR [Office of Professional Responsibility] investigation, because his conduct in this case and denying there was Brady material was appalling. Completely unethical, not to mention the temper tantrum he threw at me when I told him Flynn was not going to lie and that he was asking him to lie. He knew [that], by the way, because he had edited the plea agreement to take out the specific language he then insisted Mr. Flynn admit to. That was just a rather remarkable interchange. We still have a lot of work to do tying up some loose ends. Mr. Jekielek: With respect to General Flynn, hes been very, very quiet over quite a number of years. Recently, there were a few short interviews. Ms. Powell: Yeah, they werent really interviews. He called into a few radio shows, before everything got turned upside down with Judge Sullivan not signing the order, just to say thank you to the American public and the radio hosts in particular, who have been so supportive of him and helped raise money for the defense fund. Weve been operating off the generosity of the American people. A lot of the donations have been what I would call the widows mite [small but powerful]. Mr. Jekielek: Fascinating, and so is he under a gag order? Ms. Powell: No, theres no real gag order. But discretion being the better part of valor, he is full of valor; he has chosen to try to let the system work its way out. Thats what Ive been determined to see happen to make the justice system itself work, and to pound on the Department of Justice to do the right thing here and restore its own reputation by moving to dismiss and acknowledge the wrong conduct of its agents and attorneys. That is hugely important to restoring peoples confidence in the rule of law, the FBI and the Justice Department. Its an imperative. Its absolutely imperative that the Department of Justice return to the time when it would self-correct. Its huge. When I was an assistant US Attorney, I was raised to tell the judge the truth, whatever it was: the good, the bad, the ugly. Im on the record in the Fifth Circuit footnote for saying the agents botched it. The judge quoted me in the footnote in the decision. We still won because it turned out to be harmless error, but I wasnt going to say they had done the right thing when they did not. Thats what an assistant US attorney is supposed to be. Somewhere in the last 20 years we lost that. We came to a time when these people think the end justifies the means. Theyre using the law as a weapon to destroy people, innocent people, destroy peoples lives. Thats not what our system of justice is about, so the Department of Justice has got to start standing up for the right thing. The only politics in this prosecution was from the very beginning on the side of prosecuting General Flynn at all, and Im convinced now in particular that what Attorney General Barr is trying very hard to do is right the ship. Mr. Jekielek: This actually brings us to that pin that we put in earlier about this reform that you feel is needed. Youre suggesting some things in a very broad way, but this is a very big ship. Once it started going, its kind of hard to get it to come back. Ms. Powell: Very, very difficult. Its going to be very difficult, but it can be done. It has to be done if were going to survive as a constitutional republic built on the rule of law. Mr. Jekielek: So, what are your key recommendations? Youve written about some of this of course, but at this point, if you were to sit down with General Barr and say Heres what I would suggest, [what would it be]? Ms. Powell: Id fire any prosecutor that intentionally violated the Brady rule. I would make it known immediately that if you know you have intentionally violated the rule that requires you to produce exculpatory evidence to any defendant, or you have criminalized innocent conduct, or you have made up a crime, youve got two minutes to give me your resignation. Otherwise, there should be sporadic independent file review. Id like to see a conviction integrity review unit set up to review some of the more egregious cases by people independent of the line prosecutors, whose goal is to look for errors. The inspector general is not enough for that. He doesnt have the authority needed to do what would need to be done for full file reviews. The same needs to be done with respect to the FBI, the Inspector General is doing that on multiple FISA applications and finding more and more fraudulent FISA applications. Every agent who did that should be fired yesterday. We cannot have government officials trusted with the power of the sovereign of the United States of America lying to federal judges. It just cant happen. Its completely unacceptable and there have to be immediate repercussions for that. Another thing is the FBI should be required to record all its interviews. Thats a simple enough matter. They all have multiple recording devices on their persons at all times. People should be told at the beginning that anything they say can be used against them by the FBI or a court, that its a federal felony to lie to an FBI agent and then decide whether they want to cooperate with the FBI or not, and if its not recorded, it should not be used for any purpose. Mr. Jekielek: Theres some pretty concrete suggestions. Any final words before we finish up? Ms. Powell: Well, one of the important things that we didnt hit is the fact that the FBI actually made up the false statements that they then charged General Flynn with. They altered the FBI report of the interview since it wasnt recorded. The government has admitted in their motion to dismiss that there are statements in the 302 that were not reflected in the notes of either agent. They use those statements as the basis for the false statement charges. Then there are things in the notes that I couldnt make sense of until I saw the declassified transcripts of the calls. Then I knew that he had told them things about the call that they had not put in the report. So it ran both ways. They didnt put on things he did say that were true, and they added things to it, claiming he said things that he did not say. They made up the false statements. Mr. Jekielek: Your prescription for agents that do this sort of thing is pretty clear. Ms. Powell: Yes, fire them yesterday, at a minimum. Frankly, what theyve done is obstruction of justice for which they should be prosecuted. The Department of Justice is going to have to start prosecuting agents and lawyers who lie to the court and make up crimes against innocent people. Mr. Jekielek: Large organizations of any sort have a certain sort of inertia, a will to perpetuate themselves. I suppose thats something Ive noticed over the years in various scenarios. Also theres this desire also to maintain the integrity I think theres people that feel that if all of this terrible stuff is exposed, no one will trust the Justice Department anymore. Ms. Powell: No, I think the precise opposite is true. Its exposing what actually happened and remedying it by the Department of Justice itself acting on it and the FBI acting on it. That will restore public trust. Hiding it is going to make everything worse. Nothing ever got solved by sweeping it under the rug. Mr. Jekielek: Sidney Powell, such a pleasure to have you. Ms. Powell: Thank you Jan. Its always a pleasure to be here. And we thank the American people writ large for all their support for General Flynn, their prayers. We have felt uplifted by their prayers and the whole team appreciates all of it. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. American Thought Leaders is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube and The Epoch Times website. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, S.D., in an April 23, 2020, file photograph. (Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images) South Dakota Governor: No Social Distancing, Masks Optional at Mount Rushmore Event Masks are optional and attendees wont be required to social distance at the July 3 event scheduled for Mount Rushmore, South Dakotas governor said. We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home, but those who want to come and join us, well be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we wont be social distancing, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem said late Monday during an appearance on Fox News The Ingraham Angle. Were asking them to comebe ready to celebrate, to enjoy the freedoms and the liberties that we have in this country and to talk about our history and what it brought us todayan opportunity to raise our heads in the greatest country in the world. State officials have urged people to take personal responsibility and make their own decisions about how to act during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem added. South Dakota has one of the lowest case counts in the nation, with 6,716 total cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. since the pandemic started earlier this year. Just over 800 of those cases are still active. Only 70 patients are hospitalized at present and hospitals were never in danger of being overwhelmed, state officials said. South Dakota has seen 91 deaths with COVID-19 and 5,818 recoveries, according to the state Department of Health. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, left, speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a meeting about the Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington on Dec. 16, 2019. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) The virus, which causes a disease called COVID-19, primarily causes severe issues in the elderly and among those with underlying health conditions such as obesity and kidney disease. According to a website for the July 3 event at Mount Rushmore, attendance was limited through an online lottery, which closed on June 8. Results were delivered by email on June 12. The event is completely free. Each ticket allows up to six people to attend. President Donald Trump, a Republican, is planning to attend the event, which organizers have spent about 18 months planning. We have been through a really rough patch in these last couple of months. We cant think of anything better then to celebrate and have a little fun on July 3rd with a fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore, Secretary of Tourism Jim Hagen said at a June 4 press conference. Around 7,500 attendees are expected, he said. Noem told reporters that people who didnt receive tickets to the event will be able to gather outside the national monument to watch the show. Leaders from the five countries of West Africas Sahel region Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Mauritanias capital Nouakchott on Tuesday to discuss military operations against Islamic extremists in the region, as jihadist attacks mount. The five African countries, known as the G5, have formed a joint military force that is working with France, which has thousands of troops to battle the extremists in the Sahel, the region south of the Sahara Desert. France first sent troops to the Sahel in 2013 when it helped to push al-Qaida-linked militants from their strongholds in Malis north.But in recent months extremist groups linked to both al-Qaida and the Islamic State become more assertive, pushing further south into Niger and Burkina Faso, increasing attacks and taking control of more territory. France now has 5,100 soldiers in the Sahel to help combat the still growing attacks as part of its Operation Barkhane. Thousands more soldiers are meant to be deployed as part of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, but this force is has not yet become fully operational due to the lack of funding and equipment. The French and African military force, however, has made major gains since the last summit in Pau, France, in January, when it was decided to focus on eliminating the growing threat of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara along the tri-border region of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. Tuesdays summit was called to set new milestones and raise the operational levels of the armies, as the victories remain fragile, said organizers. There is political instability in Mali and Burkina Faso and the COVID-19 crisis has also substantially affected the already very vulnerable Sahel countries who are hoping for increased financial support as wealthier countries face the same pandemic. Mauritanias President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani will be meeting with Macron and Sanchez before an afternoon discussion with other G5 heads of state, including Burkina Fasos President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, Malis President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Nigers President Mahamadou Issoufou and Chads President Idriss Deby. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will participate in the meeting via video call. This will be Sanchez first trip abroad since a strict lockdown was adopted in Spain in mid-March to slow down the spread of the new coronavirus. The plane carrying the Spanish delegation is also transporting 10 medical ventilators and medicines to help Mauritania fight the pandemic. A medical team is also traveling on the plane and will be staying in Mauritania to provide assistance in dealing with the COVID-19 disease. As COVID-19 has led to the cancellation of many meetings worldwide, the decision by Macron and Sanchez to travel to Mauritania shows how seriously they view the Sahels precarious security situation. Recurrent jihadist attacks and inter-communal violence killed at least 4,000 people in 2019 in the Sahel, five times more than in 2016, according to the United Nations. In Burkina Faso, the threat has grown with fighting spreading from the countrys north to the east and southwest regions. Areas that were once accessible are cut off. Djibo town in the Sahel has been under siege by jihadists for weeks, preventing aid from reaching civilians, according to workers for humanitarian groups and locals in the area. Theres also been a rise in extrajudicial killings and revenge attacks by the army and local defense groups, targeting people allegedly supporting the jihadists, according to Human Rights Watch. The jihadists have also increased attacks on volunteer fighters helping the military. Burkina Fasos army, which was already ill-equipped and struggling to stem the violence, has been hampered by the coronavirus. While its continued basic operations in the north and along the border with Mali and Niger, the military has no personal protective gear or other preventive supplies and few trained medical staff, according to internal foreign embassy cables seen by the AP. The vast majority of the military remain in their barracks, as a protection measure against the virus, said the report. Despite gains along the border region, analysts say theres been no progress in terms of addressing the issues driving the conflict. The progress has been mixed at best. The French had some tactical victories along the border, but not much has been done by local or international military to create long lasting stability or warrant any kind of victory, said Flore Berger, a Sahel research analyst at the Institute for Strategic Studies. Strengthening the regional G5 force is also critical at this time, especially as the U.S. has yet to make a decision on whether it will scale back military presence in the area. Short link: Allen Waters sent a photo of an osprey on its nest at Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. An osprey mother and her young who looks like hes about ready to take his first check flight, Waters wrote. Mary Pawlowski photographed an osprey returning to its nest with young fledglings on a light pole in the Timberlake area of Virginia Beach. Lorinda Vincent photographed an osprey carrying sticks to the power pole where it used to have a nest near Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach. Steele Testimony: FBI Coordinated Closely With State Department on Russia Probe The Department of State worked closely with the FBI on the bureaus investigation of the Trump campaign and its work with former British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous dossier, according to Steeles recent testimony in a UK court. Steele told the court he became convinced over the course of the summer and fall of 2016 that the two departments were closely coordinating. By the time he met State Department official Kathy Kavalec in October of that year, it was very clear that FBI and State Department were both consulting each other and discussing the whole issue of engagement with us and our investigation, Steele said, according to court transcripts obtained by The Epoch Times. Steele was questioned at the Queens Bench court in London on March 18 as part of a lawsuit against his company, Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd., brought by three Russian businessmen affiliated with Alfa Bank. One of the installments of Steeles report accused the men of funneling large amounts of illicit cash to then-Saint Petersburg Mayor Vladimir Putin in the 1990s. My understanding was that Kathy Kavalec, who raised I think the Alfa issue with us in this meeting in October, had been closely coordinating with the FBI and the FBI knew that we were having the meeting and so on and so forth and that they were jointly working on this material. Kavalec, Steele added, met with him in Washington at the direction of the FBI. Ample public evidence already shows that current and former State Department officials interacted with Steele and the FBI about the dossier. It hasnt been previously revealed that the two Obama administration agencies were closely cooperating in the investigation of the Trump campaign. Steele played a key role in the unfolding scandal of the FBIs investigation and spying on the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Given his level of involvement, the allegation about the State Departments coordination with the FBI is significant, but must be taken with a grain of salt considering the numerous issues with Steeles credibility outlined in the report by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (IG). The report didnt state that the FBI and the State Department were in close coordination. The State Department didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment; the FBI declined to comment. Steele told the Queens Bench court on March 18 that he learned in August 2016 from former State Department official Strobe Talbott that the State Department was aware of his election reporting on candidate Donald Trump. He spoke in fairly cryptic terms, but he was aware that we had material of relevance to the US election, Steele said. Both National Security Advisor at the time, Susan Rice, and Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, who were the key policymakers on Russia, had been colleagues of Mr. Talbott, and I hadalthough he didnt state it explicitlyone or either or both of them had briefed him on the work we had been doing. According to the IG report, Nuland personally authorized an FBI meeting with Steele in London on July 5, 2016. She has also said publicly that the State Department received a copy of Steeles reporting the same month. The IG report outlines other instances of interaction between the State Department and the FBI but doesnt state that the two agencies were coordinating. When confronted with the fact that the IG report doesnt corroborate his claim, Steele said, It may not be, but that was my understanding at the time was that there was close coordination between Victoria Nuland and Kathy Kavalec and the FBI on these issues. According to the IG report, Steele met with Kavalec and other State Department officials on Oct. 11, 2016. During the meeting, Steele briefed those present on the contents of his dossier. The briefing included the derogatory allegations about Trump campaign associates Carter Page and Paul Manafort, both of whom were already under investigation as part of Crossfire Hurricane, the FBIs codename for the probe of the Trump campaign. Kavalec told the IG that she believed Steele sought the meeting with the State Department as part of a wider effort to disseminate his election report findings to persons in Washington. At the meeting, Steele expressed frustration that the FBI wasnt acting on his allegations and that his client was eager to have the information come out before the presidential election in November 2016. According to the court transcripts, Steele was aware in early July 2016 that the ultimate client for his dossier was the 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. The FBI used the dossierwithout disclosing that the Clinton campaign funded itto obtain a warrant to spy on Page. Kavalec relayed the details of the Oct. 11, 2016, meeting to the FBI liaison at the State Department, which, in turn, informed the Crossfire Hurricane team on Nov. 18. Kavalec also forwarded a document about Alfa Bank to the FBI. The bureau would go on to investigate the Alfa Bank allegations and debunk them, but not before some media outlets ran with the unverified story. The outlets reported that a server in Trump Tower communicated with Alfa Bank in Russia, insinuating it was a secret channel between the Kremlin and Trump. According to Steeles court testimony, he was specifically tasked by Fusion GPS to look for links between Alfa Bank and Putin because Fusion GPS was aware of the now-debunked Alfa Bank claims. Fusion GPS is the opposition research team that contracted Steele to compose the dossier. The Clinton campaign had retained Fusion GPS through a law firm, Perkins Coie. The IG questioned Steele about the State Department meeting, specifically as to why he didnt abide by the FBIs request to be the exclusive recipient of his reporting. According to the IG report, Steele didnt mention the claim about cooperation between the FBI and the State Department. Instead, he said that it would be inappropriate to turn down a meeting with an assistant secretary of state, Nuland. He said his understanding was that he was free to talk about the general themes of his work with other agencies. Steeles handling agent told the IG that Steele should have alerted him about the meeting with the State Department. The bureau terminated its relationship with Steele after learning that he leaked what he told the FBI to the media. The Supreme Court of the United States in Washington on June 30, 2018. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Supreme Court Opens Education Tax Credit Program to Religious Schools Montanas decision to exclude religious schools from a state scholarship program funded by tax credits violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a divided Supreme Court ruled June 30, handing school choice advocates a significant victory. The 54 decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue is also a victory for the Trump administration, which had supported the students and their parents. Oral arguments took place Jan. 22. Its also an important victory for religious liberty and religious equality in the United States, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a statement after the opinion was released to the public. As the Court explained, religious people are members of the community too, and their exclusion from public programs because of their religion is odious to our Constitution and cannot stand. We were pleased to see the Court agree with the Trump Administration that such blatant discrimination against religion has no place in our constitutional system, Barr said. On the campaign trail in September 2016, President Donald Trump expressed his support for the school-choice movement. There is no failed policy more in need of urgent change than our government-run education monopoly, he said. Ethan Blevins, an attorney with the Sacramento, California-based Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a public interest law firm that filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, praised the court decision. The ruling recognizes a fundamental truth: kids deserve equal access to educational benefits, regardless of which school they decide to attend, he said in a statement. Montana cannot prohibit students from receiving privately funded scholarship funds just because they choose to attend a religious school. Todays decision marks a major victory for school choice and equality under the law. The petitioners in the case are three low-income mothers who needed the scholarship funds to keep their children in Stillwater Christian School, a nondenominational school in Kalispell, Montana. The program provided individuals and corporations a tax credit for giving as much as $150 annually to a nonprofit student scholarship organization helping poor students attend private schools. The parents sued after the states Department of Revenue ruled that those scholarship funds couldnt be used for religious schools. A trial judge enjoined the rule, and then the Montana Supreme Court struck down the program itself by a 52 vote on Dec. 12, 2018. That court declared that, unmodified by the Department of Revenue rule, the program ran afoul of the states constitution, which contains a no aid provision, preventing tax dollars from flowing to religious schools. The Supreme Courts ruling on this no aid provision appears to open the door to legal challenges in other states that contain similar language in their state constitutions. Except for Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan, every member of the U.S. Supreme Court filed an opinion in the case, suggesting passions may have run high during the justices deliberative process. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, which four conservative justices joined. In addition, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch each filed a separate concurring opinion. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor each filed a separate dissenting opinion. A State need not subsidize private education, Roberts writes for the court. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious. In this case, the parties do not dispute that the scholarship program is permissible under the Establishment Clause [of the federal Constitution]. Nor could they. We have repeatedly held that the Establishment Clause is not offended when religious observers and organizations benefit from neutral government programs. The no-aid provision penalizes families by cutting them off from otherwise available benefits if they choose a religious private school rather than a secular one, and for no other reason. During oral arguments five months ago, Alito and Kavanaugh spoke of the anti-religious, and particularly anti-Roman Catholic, bias of the so-called Blaine Amendment, a failed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have prohibited direct government aid to educational institutions with religious affiliations. Despite the failure at the federal level, three-quarters of the 50 states later adopted similar provisions in their state constitutions. Laws banning funding of religious schools are certainly rooted in grotesque religious bigotry against Catholics, Kavanaugh said. Roberts echoed that sentiment in the majority opinion, tying the no aid provision in the Montana constitution to the era of the Blaine Amendment. The Blaine Amendment was born of bigotry and arose at a time of pervasive hostility to the Catholic Church and to Catholics in general; many of its state counterparts have a similarly shameful pedigree, Roberts wrote, citing a previous Supreme Court ruling and a law review article. Trump Administration Announces Opposition After House Passes Obamacare Expansion President Donald Trumps administration says it opposes a bill the House of Representatives passed Thursday that would expand the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. This bill attempts to exploit the coronavirus pandemic to resuscitate tired, partisan proposals that would send hundreds of billions of dollars to insurance companies in order to paper over serious flaws in Obamacare, the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement (pdf). The bill would pay for this bailout by imposing price controls that undermine the American innovation the entire globe is depending on to deliver the vaccines and therapeutics needed to respond to the coronavirus, it added. Advisers to Trump, a Republican, will recommend that he veto the bill if it passes the Senate. The House passed the legislation 234-179. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) and Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) voted yes, while Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) voted no. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the bill would help people access affordable healthcare. Access to affordable care is a matter of life and death. Thats so self-evident as we see every day during the COVID-19 crisis, which now has killed more than 125,000 Americans, infecting 2.5 million Americans, and left tens of millions of people without jobs, she said on the House floor in Washington before the vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 26, 2020. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo) Democrats contrasted the effort with the administrations attempts to completely replace Obamacare. Today we are going to pass the Patient Protection Act, which unlike the president we are willing to tell the American people now exactly how we plan to improve healthcare in America. We believe that the ACA should be improved, not taken away, Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) told colleagues. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) argued that Republican lawmakers have created a number of healthcare programs, including the Medicare Advantage program. We want people to have access to quality, affordable health care that fits their needs, not Speaker Pelosis, he said. Brady called on Democrats to bring to the floor a measure that severs the individual mandate, which was deemed unconstitutional by several courts, from Obamacare. The measure is unlikely to pass the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans. Trump could veto the bill if it passes with a simple majority. Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds supermajority of both chambers. The vote came just days after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare. Trump told reporters at the White House last month that Obamacare is a disaster, but weve run it very well. And weve made it barely acceptable. It was a disaster under President Obama, and its very bad healthcare. What we want to do is terminate it and give great healthcare. And well have great healthcare, including preexisting conditions100 percent preexisting conditions, he added. Two suspects captured on surveillance footage defacing George Washington statues, in New York, N.Y., on June 29, 2020. (NYPD) Trump: Anarchists Who Threw Paint on George Washington Statues Should Surrender The men caught on video defacing George Washington statues in New York should turn themselves in, President Donald Trump said. We are tracking down the two Anarchists who threw paint on the magnificent statue, the Republican president said in a social media post on Tuesday. The two males face 10 years in prison, Trump added, urging them to surrender to police. He referred to the Veterans Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act of 2003. The act authorizes a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment for destroying or attempting to destroy monuments commemorating those who served in the armed forces. Trump signed an executive order last week that emphasized the federal government would prosecute to the fullest extent under the law anyone who incites violence and illegal activity like damaging statues. Four men were charged with trying to tear down a statue of Andrew Jackson, another former president, near the White House, and Trump shared images of other suspects who authorities are seeking to arrest. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) released surveillance footage Monday that shows two white males throwing red paint on two statues of Washington, Americas first president, in Washington Square Park in the borough of Manhattan. WANTED for A CRIMINAL MISCHIEF in Washington square park. #Manhattan @NYPD6pct on 6/29/20 @ 3:20 AM Reward up to $2500Seen them? Know who they are?Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us!Calls are CONFIDENTIAL! pic.twitter.com/M54tXRFqGs NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) June 30, 2020 The men, wearing masks, stop around 3:20 a.m. at the main entrance to park and speak with someone who is perched on a bicycle before throwing paint-filled balloons at the statues. After hurling the balloons, the males fled the scene. They hit one statue showing Washington as president and another that portrays him as general during the Revolutionary War. Separate footage showed the males walking on a nearby street. According to the footage, one suspect wore a black T-shirt, black shorts, and black shoes. He had blonde hair and some facial hair. The other man wore a black T-shirt, tan shorts, and black shoes. He had dark hair. Photographs of the defaced statues circulated widely, drawing criticism. Anyone with information about where the suspects are were told to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS or submit tips online at nypdcrimestoppers.com, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. A $2,500 reward is being offered for information that leads to their capture. Pam Fleming and fellow workers stuff ballots and instructions into mail-in envelopes at the Lancaster County Election Committee offices in Lincoln, Neb., on April 14, 2020. (Nati Harnik/AP Photo) Trump Campaign Sues Pennsylvania Over Mail-In Voting President Donald Trumps reelection campaign, the national Republican Party and four Pennsylvania Republican members of Congress, on June 29 filed a federal lawsuit opposing Pennsylvanias decision to expand mail-in voting ahead of Novembers elections. The federal lawsuit (pdf) filed Monday in Pittsburgh sues Pennsylvanias secretary of state Kathy Boockvar, and 67 county election boards. It claims that as voters jumped to make use of the greatly broadened eligibility for mail-in ballots during the June 2 primary, practices and procedures by elections officials ran afoul of state law and the state and federal constitutions. To be free and fair, elections must be transparent and verifiable, the lawsuit reads. Yet, Defendants have inexplicably chosen a path that jeopardizes election security and will leadand has already ledto the disenfranchisement of voters, questions about the accuracy of election results, and ultimately chaos heading into the upcoming Nov. 3, 2020 General Election. Free and fair elections are essential to the right of Americans to choose through their vote whom they elect to represent them. Upending our entire election process and undermining ballot security through unmonitored by-mail voting is the single greatest threat to free and fair elections. The issues are a direct result of the states hazardous hurried, and illegal implementation of unmonitored mail-in voting, the federal lawsuit claims. A spokeswoman for Boockvar, a Democrat, declined to comment about the litigation, as did the head of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, whose members administer elections. A law was passed in the state last year to expand mail-in ballot options to anyone who wanted to vote by mail even if they did not have a valid reason that would prevent them from voting in person. The lawsuit claims the new system gives fraudsters an easy opportunity to engage in ballot harvesting, manipulate or destroy ballots, manufacture duplicitous votes, and sow chaos. Absentee Ballots are fine. A person has to go through a process to get and use them. Mail-In Voting, on the other hand, will lead to the most corrupt Election is USA history. Bad things happen with Mail-Ins. Just look at Special Election in Patterson, N.J. 19% of Ballots a FRAUD! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2020 President Donald Trump has publicly criticized voting by mail, saying it paves the way for potential voter fraud. Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it, Trump tweeted in April. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesnt work out well for Republicans. Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who cant get to the polls on Election Day, he added. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is RIPE for FRAUD, and shouldnt be allowed! Attorney General William Barr last week echoed Trumps stance on the security of mail-in ballots, saying that elections that are conducted predominately through vote-by-mail could open up many occasions for fraud that cannot be policed. Attorney General William Barr speaks about an initiative to prevent online child sexual exploitation, at the Justice Department in Washington on March 5, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) I think theres a range of concerns about mail-in ballots. And let me just clarify here. Im not talking about a mail-in ballot for a limited number of cases where somebody, you know, is going to be traveling around the world, and the way that the state has provided for that is, you mail in your ballot, Barr told NPR during an interview on Thursday. Im talking about a comprehensive rule where all the ballots are essentially mail-in, and theres so many occasions for fraud there that cannot be policed, he added. Democrats argue that mail-in voting options are necessary in order for voters to comply with public health recommendations to reduce gatherings due to the pandemic. Experts are split on the issue. Supporters of mail-in voting say that the phenomenon is so rare that it is not an issue, while opponents say voter fraud isnt just real, but a bipartisan issue. Barr did not give any specific examples of fraud that led to his concerns but noted that he was concerned about the possibility that ballots could be counterfeited, adding that the ballots are pretty primitive. He also believes that mail-in voting could be targeted by foreign countries that want to sow discord in the United States by undermining confidence in the results of the election. Janita Kan and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Three 10-dose influenza virus vaccine vials are seen at Ballin Pharmacy in Chicago, Illinois, on Oct. 8, 2004. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images) Universal Flu Vaccine Awaiting Third Trial Phase After more than a decade, researchers have developed a universal flu vaccine that they hope may provide longer-term protection against many different influenza strains, eliminating the need for yearly shots. Known as the FLU-v, the universal influenza vaccine developed by London-based vaccine manufacturer Seek (or PepTCell Limited) was shown to promote antibody responses and immune system changes among 175 healthy adults in a human challenge trial, according to ScienceAlert. FLU-v differs from the current flu vaccines by targeting an area of the influenza virus that doesnt change often. It also contains four different components against four different regions of the flu virus, scientific officer at Seek and lead researcher Olga Pleguezuelos said. So if one changed, three will still provide efficacy. As of March, the company has been waiting to begin its phase 3 trial in the United States to test the vaccines safety and efficacy. Seek did not reply to The Epoch Timess request to confirm whether the trial has begun. Mutating Viruses, Low Vaccine Efficacy Influenza is an acute viral infection of the respiratory system caused by three types of flu viruses: A, B, and C. Classic symptoms of the flu can be mild or severe, and it is characterized by the sudden onset of a fever, sore throat, and muscle aches. The multiple strains of influenza viruses often mutate rapidly and develop new strains from one season to the next or even change within the course of one flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), making it challenging for scientists to predict which strain will emerge each flu season. This often causes the annual influenza vaccine to be rather ineffective, especially when the flu strains in the vaccine do not match the circulating virus, which is one of the reasons why the vaccine is given yearly. Researchers are hoping that FLU-v may be able to resolve this vaccine effectiveness issue. A woman suffering from flu. (Shutterstock) But some scientists say that the universal flu vaccine may be more challenging than expected, according to a Scripps Research study of the viruss mutation. The study found that one of the most common flu subtypes, H3N2, can mutate relatively easily to escape two antibodies that were thought to block nearly all flu strains. With the universal flu vaccine needing several more years for testing, health officials decided in February on the virus strains to be used in the upcoming flu vaccine, so that pharmaceutical companies will have time to make them available in the Northern Hemisphere by August. According to the CDC, around 162 to 169 million doses of the flu vaccine for the 2019-2020 season were only 45 percent effectiveslightly higher than the previous years effectiveness of 29 percent. Yet with its low efficacy, the CDC and doctors still recommend that everyone aged 6 months and older get the flu shot. Its true that vaccine effectiveness varies from year to year, but vaccination decreases your chance of contracting influenza by an estimated 40-60 percent, Dr. Kelly Curtin, a pediatrician who is an adviser to Parenting Pod, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times. Even if you do contract the virus, the vaccine can reduce the severity of your symptoms. However, Curtin says that people with a history of severe life-threatening allergies to the flu vaccine or any of its ingredients or children under 6 months should not get the flu shot. Opponents of the flu vaccine say that the risks may not outweigh the benefit. There is little to no benefit from influenza vaccines, and if you take them every year, there are studies that show you may become more vulnerable to other infections, Dr. Joseph Mercola, a natural health activist, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times. In a 2013-2016 study funded by the CDC to assess if vaccinated participants experienced an increase in acute respiratory illness (ARI) in the post-influenza vaccination periods, researchers found that in children who became sick after vaccination had an increased risk of ARI caused by non-influenza respiratory pathogens for two weeks after vaccination compared to those who were unvaccinated during that same period. Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, said in an email to The Epoch Times, Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry two risks: the risk of an adverse reaction and a risk that the vaccine will fail to protect against infection and transmission of the disease it was designed to prevent. Scientists have noted that even if the strains in the vaccine are well-matched with the virus spreading in the population, the vaccine may still not induce an immune response to the flu virus and not protect the person. Flu Vaccine Injury Most Compensated Mercola also says that flu vaccine injuries are the most compensated of all claims in the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, the VICP has paid out about $4.3 billion to vaccine-injured petitioners (pdf), and 73 percent of petitions filed in the last two fiscal years claimed injury from the flu vaccine, with over 54 percent alleging shoulder injury relating to vaccine administration (SIRVA) (pdf). A flu vaccine is administered to a patient at a health clinic in Chicago on Sept. 26, 2002. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images) The VICP was set up two years after Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986 to protect vaccine supplies and allow parents of vaccine-injured children to file a claim for compensation as an alternative to the civil courts. Unfortunately, the act that was supposed to easily compensate individuals injured by a vaccine listed on the vaccine injury table (pdf) fairly and expeditiously, has over the years been amended to instead protect vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits, particularly after the 2011 Supreme Court decision (pdf) that declared that vaccines were unavoidably unsafe. After SIRVA was added to the vaccine injury table in 2017, more adults filed for compensation, making up 90 percent of petitions filed in the VICP in the last two years. Although the compensation program is set up for children injured by vaccines, the flu vaccine given to children and adults is the same, so adults may also file a petition for compensation under the program. Today, the vaccine industry is a $35 billion business, according to AB Bernstein, reported CNBC, with four big manufacturers dominating around 85 percent of the marketMerck, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi. The flu vaccine market is estimated to be more than $4 billion globally in 2019 and is projected to reach $6.2 billion by 2026, according to Allied Market Research. Flu Deaths There are concerns that the CDC may be overestimating the actual number of flu deaths. The CDC estimates yearly influenza-associated deaths (implying influenza as an underlying cause of death) in the tens of thousands by using a mathematical model that includes deaths from influenza, pneumonia, and circulatory or respiratory illnesses after being sick with the flu. The CDC also does not base its seasonal flu mortality on death certificates that list influenza, claiming that influenza deaths are under-reported. The actual number of deaths from the flu itself is unknown since influenza deaths are not reported to the CDC, except for children under 18. People wearing facemasks walk past a health and safety guideline board and an open restaurant on Santa Monica Pier which re-opened on June 25 after closure for over three months due to the pandemic in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 26, 2020. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) US Economy Poised for Strong Rebound Despite Setbacks, Economists Say WASHINGTONAs states across the country progress through their reopening phases, some economic indicators that surpass expectations have boosted hopes of a speedy U.S. recovery. A spike in retail sales and in personal consumption in May indicated that consumers were back and eager to open their wallets. While the U.S. economy shows clear signs of recovery, some economists are taking a more cautious stance, raising concerns about the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 that could stall reopening plans and hurt consumer spending. Despite some setbacks in several states, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow still predicts a sharp economic recovery in the second half of the year. Virtually every number is showing a V-shaped recovery nowprivate surveys, government statistics, restaurants, home builders, truckers, durable-goods makers, Apple mobility and travel, gasoline demand, he said on June 26 during a workforce policy roundtable at the White House. The consumer spending number is tremendous and will continue to be a key driver of the recovery, he said. Consumers increased their spending by a record 8.2 percent in May after sharp drops in March and April caused by strict lockdown measures across the country. American consumers account for more than two-thirds of economic activity and are expected to spend more in the coming months as stores and restaurants reopen their doors. The U.S. consumer confidence in June also posted the biggest increase since late 2011, beating the estimates. According to Kudlow, if consumer spending grows by 20 percent in the second half of the year and 5 percent in the first quarter of next year, we will be right back to the peak in 2019. Retail sales, which account for about a quarter of all consumer spending, rose 17.7 percent in May, marking the biggest monthly increase ever. Recent economic indicators, including the strong May retail sales report, suggest that the coronavirus hit is abating more quickly than expected, Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, said in a report. The Wall Street firm on June 17 revised up its forecasts for the gross domestic product (GDP) and unemployment for 2020 and estimated a front-loaded recovery. According to the revised forecasts, there will be a stronger rebound in the third quarter, with 33 percent economic growth, up from 29 percent previously. Hatzius also raised the outlook for the full-year GDP contraction to -4.2 percent from -5.2 percent earlier. The pandemic devastated the U.S. labor market, leaving millions out of work. But the U.S. economy added 2.5 million jobs in May, making a stunning comeback. A sharp drop in the unemployment rate suggested that Americans were returning to work. Goldman Sachs lowered its projections for the jobless rate as well. It now forecasts a 9.5 percent rate by the end of 2020, down from a previous estimate of 10 percent. Forecasters warn of significant risks to the recovery, with many predicting the economy wont return to pre-pandemic levels until mid-2021. The virus outlook is perhaps the single most important factor determining growth risks over a longer horizon, Hatzius wrote. However, he predicts a significant upside surprise, should a vaccine arrive earlier than expected. Source: Credit Suisse, US equity strategy report, 22 June 2020. Note: All measured on an annualized per capita basis. The increase in government transfer payments and a drop in spending contributed to a large jump in personal savings in recent months. On an annualized per capita basis, the savings from February to April have expanded by $14,426, according to Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse. We anticipate that these savings will be spent as the economy reopens, he said in a report on June 22. Reopening Setbacks Gauges of mobility have risen over the past few weeks as states have lifted their lockdown measures. However, the recent spike in CCP virus cases has led more than a dozen states to consider changing or pausing phased reopening plans. Theres a reversal of mobility trends and a cutback in economic activity in these hardest-hit states, according to Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank. States with faster case growth are now underperforming economically based on measures of small business activity, restaurant bookings, and consumer spending, he wrote in a report dated June 24. According to his analysis, the continued spread of the virus remains a significant threat to the recovery as about 30 to 50 percent of GDP comes from counties that have seen worsening virus trends. This new inverse relationship between economic activity and COVID cases is particularly acute for several of the states exhibiting the most troubling trends, including Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas. The lesson is that behavioral changes in response to COVID trends can hinder the economic recovery even if states do not reimpose containment measures, he wrote. Conversely, earlier hotspots such as New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are seeing declines in new cases. Besides the risk of a second wave of infections, economists believe there are other significant challenges to the recovery, including a reluctance to spend from consumers and a lack of an additional fiscal stimulus from Congress. According to a survey of 34 economists by FiveThirtyEight and the University of Chicago in June, the majority of economists have started to believe that the shape of the economic recovery will be a reverse radical one. Source: The Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and FiveThirtyEight The shape, which 73 percent of economists predicted for the U.S. economic outlook, implies a sharp drop followed by a quick partial recovery and a long period of slower, mixed growth. A previous survey conducted in May found that the majority of economists predicted a swoosh shape recovery (as in Nike logo), which meant a sharp downturn followed by a long, slow recovery. Many economists believe that another stimulus package is needed to support the recovery. Congress in March passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which provided $1,200 checks to most Americans, and an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits through the end of July. Congress may consider another stimulus package this month. According to Kudlow, any federal spending plan should include a reemployment bonus to encourage more hiring. Pro-democracy supporters hold a Hong Kong Independence flag and shout slogans during a rally against the national security law as riot police secure an area in a shopping mall on June 30, 2020 in Hong Kong. Beijing has passed the controversial national security law which will threaten the city's autonomy and political freedoms. ( Anthony Kwan/Getty Images) US Lawmakers, European Leaders Condemn Beijings Passage of Hong Kong Security Law U.S. lawmakers and European leaders condemned Beijings formal passage of a new national security law for Hong Kong, heralding an era of tightening communist control over the city. The standing committee of Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, via ceremonial votes, passed the law on June 30, which critics fear will be used to crack down on those critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The text of the legislation wasnt made public until one hour before the 23rd anniversary of the citys transfer to Chinese rule from British administration. The measure took immediate effect. Under the law, those found guilty of the crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces face punishment up to life imprisonment. It also provides for the establishment of a CCP security agency in the city to investigate and implement the law. Members of the agency are not under the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong special administrative region and are not subject to inspection, search, and detention by law enforcement officers of Hong Kong. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the laws passage signals the death of the one country, two systems principle, referring to the framework under which Beijing pledged to govern Hong Kong upon its handover. The territorys mini-constitution, the Basic Law, guarantees autonomy; freedoms of speech, press, and assembly; and an independent judiciarywhich arent afforded in the mainland. The purpose of this brutal, sweeping law is to frighten, intimidate, and suppress Hongkongers who are peacefully demanding the freedoms that were promised, Pelosi said in a statement. She called on the Trump administration to hold the regime accountable by sanctioning CCP officials responsible for abusing rights in Hong Kong under the Global Magnitsky Act and the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. President Donald Trump last month announced that the administration would, in response to Beijings actions, start the process of eliminating the citys special treatment under U.S. law and take steps to sanction Chinese officials involved in smothering the citys freedoms. Washington has since implemented visa restrictions on CCP officials responsible for eroding rights and freedoms in Hong Kong and indicated that Hong Kong would also be subject to export control laws that have previously only applied to mainland China. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) told The Epoch Times affiliate NTD that the move is very disturbing, and intended to deprive Hongkongers of basic freedoms promised in the Basic Law. The Senate last week unanimously approved a bill, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, co-sponsored by Toomey, which would impose mandatory sanctions on individuals or companies that back efforts by China to restrict Hong Kongs autonomy. It also includes secondary sanctions on banks that do business with anyone found to be backing any crackdown on the territorys autonomy. A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives. The regimes latest action will have ramifications not only for the Hong Kong people but for the international business community, Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) says. Theyre [businesses] going to look at how China treats international law and agreements. And theyre going to understand that they cannot just trust the communists, Yoho told NTD. And theres going to be a massive divestment from Hong Kong in business and international trade. Yoho, who introduced the House version of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, was hopeful that the bill would be passed and signed into law before the end of this session of Congress in late July. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) says he wasnt surprised by the laws speedy finalization process in Beijing, calling it another example in the long list of times where the Chinese Communist Party has failed to live up to its own expectations, to the agreements, to the promises that it has made. We must continue to let China know, and the whole world community needs to let China know, that this is completely unacceptable, Perry told NTD. Outside the United States, the UK, European Union, Japan, Taiwan, and others have criticized Beijings move. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK is deeply concerned about the national security laws implementation, while the European Union council President Charles Michel said, We deplore the decision. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the move is a grave step, which is deeply troubling. Despite the urging of the international community, Beijing has chosen not to step back from imposing this legislation. China has ignored its international obligations regarding Hong Kong, Raab said. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 5, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) US Revokes Hong Kong Special Trading Status, Stops Defense Exports The Trump administration announced on Monday that it is revoking Hong Kongs special trading status and stopping its defense equipment exports to Hong Kong, in order to protect U.S. national security amid the passing of Beijings national security law for Hong Kong. With the Chinese Communist Partys imposition of new security measures on Hong Kong, the risk that sensitive U.S. technology will be diverted to the Peoples Liberation Army or Ministry of State Security has increased, all while undermining the territorys autonomy. Those are risks the U.S. refuses to accept and have resulted in the revocation of Hong Kongs special status, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement. Commerce Department regulations affording preferential treatment to Hong Kong over China, including the availability of export license exceptions, are suspended. Further actions to eliminate differential treatment are also being evaluated. We urge Beijing to immediately reverse course and fulfill the promises it has made to the people of Hong Kong and the world, he added. The United States previously treated Hong Kong as a separate entity from mainland China in the areas of trade, investment, and immigration. This has meant that current U.S. tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods have not applied to Hong Kong. President Donald Trump had warned of the move to revoke Hong Kongs special status in late May as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) moved to draft its so-called national security law. At the time, Trump also said that U.S. travel advisories would be updated to reflect the increased danger of surveillance and punishment by the Chinese state security apparatus following the national security laws approval. The administration will also take necessary steps to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials directly or indirectly involved in eroding Hong Kongs autonomy, Trump said at the time. Halt to Defense Exports Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in a statement on Monday that in addition to stopping exports of U.S.-origin defense equipment to Hong Kong, the administration will also take steps to impose similar restrictions on Hong Kong as it does for China on U.S. defense and dual-use technologies. The Chinese Communist Partys decision to eviscerate Hong Kongs freedoms has forced the Trump Administration to re-evaluate its policies toward the territory, Pompeo said. As Beijing moves forward with passing the national security law, the United States will today end exports of U.S.-origin defense equipment and will take steps toward imposing the same restrictions on U.S. defense and dual-use technologies to Hong Kong as it does for China. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a joint news conference on the International Criminal Court at the State Department in Washington on June 11, 2020. (Yuri Gripas/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The United States is forced to take this action to protect U.S. national security, he continued. We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the Peoples Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the CCP by any means necessary. Pompeo said that the administrations decision seeks to target the regime, not the Chinese people. It gives us no pleasure to take this action, which is a direct consequence of Beijings decision to violate its own commitments under the U.N.-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration given Beijing now treats Hong Kong as One Country, One System, so must we, Pompeo said. CCPs National Security Law Beijing formally began the process of drafting a national security law for Hong Kong on May 28, after the National Peoples Congress (NPC) conducted a ceremonial vote. The law would criminalize those who engage in activities connected to subversion, secession, terrorism, and any interfering activities by foreign countries and outside influences that the CCP sees as a challenge to its one-party governing. The NPC is a ceremonial rubber-stamp that approves directives from the CCP. The central governments law will now go to Hong Kongs pro-Beijing chief executive officer Carrie Lam, who will need to issue a legal notice in the Government Gazette for the law to come into effect. Lam on June 30 refused to comment on the status of the national security law for her city, despite local media reporting that the law has been passed in Beijing. Hong Kongs Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks at her weekly press conference at the government headquarters in Hong Kong on June 30, 2020. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images) Critics say such a law would further threaten Hong Kongs autonomy and allow the CCP to target dissident voices under the guise of safeguarding the CCPs national security. Hong Kong was handed back from British colonial rule to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 with the express guarantee under the Sino-British Joint Declaration that the citys high degree of autonomy and essential freedoms would be preserved under the principle of one country, two systems until 2047. CCP foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on June 29 that the regime will impose visa restrictions on U.S. individuals who have acted maliciously on issues related to Hong Kong, according to Chinese state-run media Xinhua. In a statement late June 29, Pompeo responded, The Chinese Communist Partys threats to restrict visas for U.S. citizens is the latest example of Beijings refusal to accept responsibility for breaking its commitment to the people of Hong Kong. We will not be deterred from taking action to respond. The Chinese Communist Partys threats to restrict visas for U.S. citizens is the latest example of Beijings refusal to accept responsibility for breaking its commitment to the people of Hong Kong. We will not be deterred from taking action to respond. Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 30, 2020 Eva Fu and Frank Fang contributed to this report. Macau billionaire real estate developer Ng Lap Seng (R), accused of bribing former United Nations General Assembly President John Ashe, exits the Manhattan U.S. District Courthouse in New York, on April 7, 2017. (Ashlee Espinal/Reuters) US Supreme Court Rejects Macau Billionaires Bribery Appeal WASHINGTONThe U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 declined to take up billionaire Macau real estate developer Ng Lap Sengs appeal of his conviction and four-year prison sentence for bribing two UN ambassadors to help him build a multibillion-dollar conference center. The justices left in place a lower courts 2019 ruling that federal bribery laws covered the payments made by Ng despite his contention that the statutes excluded money going to people involved in public entities such as the United Nations. The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, early on June 15, 2020. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo) Ng was convicted in 2017 on all six counts he faced, including bribery, money laundering, and corruption, after a four-week trial, then lost an appeal to the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Prosecutors accused Ng of paying more than $1 million in bribes to John Ashe, a former UN General Assembly president and ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda, and Francis Lorenzo, a former deputy ambassador from the Dominican Republic. Ng was accused of making the payments in order to win support for his conference center, which he wanted to use as a springboard for the development of luxury housing, hotels, marinas, and a heliport. The center was never built. Ng is imprisoned in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, and is eligible for release in January 2022, according to federal records. By Lawrence Hurley and Jonathan Stempel The stewards received promotions much more slowly than sailors in other rates. The Navy opened very few senior positions in the ranks, he said. Some men retired after 20 years at an E-2 pay grade, now more appropriate for a sailor fresh from boot camp. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the 36th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, on June 26, 2020. (Hau Dinh/AP Photo) US Welcomes ASEAN Leaders Calls to Resolve South China Sea Incidents in Line With International Law U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has welcomed South East Asian leaders urging at a regional summit to resolve disputes with China on the South China Sea in line with international law. China cannot be allowed to treat the SCS [South China Sea] as its maritime empire. We will have more to say on this topic soon, Pompeo said in the tweet. The United States welcomes ASEAN Leaders insistence that South China Sea disputes be resolved in line with international law, including UNCLOS. China cannot be allowed to treat the SCS as its maritime empire. We will have more to say on this topic soon. https://t.co/IUmzD7OksC Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 27, 2020 Vietnam and the Philippines warned at a summit held on June 26 of growing insecurity in Southeast Asia amid observations that China is stepping up its activity in the disputed South China Sea during the COVID-19 pandemic. All participants of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit emphasized in a joint statement that regional and global issues must be resolved in accordance with a rules-based regional and international order, anchored in international law. The ASEAN countries said that disputes should be settled through peaceful means, and that the resolution process should utilize legal and diplomatic means without resorting to threat or use of force. In particular, ASEAN members reaffirmed that peace, security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation and over-flight above the South China Sea should be maintained by adhering to international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as multilateral agreements and laws governing conduct in the South China Sea region. The statement also stressed that the South China Sea region should not be militarized and that activities which will complicate or escalate disputes cannot be conducted in the region. President Rodrigo Duterte speaks at Davao International airport in Davao City in the southern Philippines, Sep. 8, 2018. (Lean Daval Jr/Reuters) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said in his speech at the summit that despite all countries in the region struggling with the health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, alarming incidents in the South China Sea occurred. Duterte called on parties involved in these incidents to refrain from escalating tensions and abide by responsibilities under international law, [including UNCLOS] and to their commitments to international instruments, [such as] the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. As Country Coordinator for ASEAN-China Dialogue we must not lose sight of strategic interests in the [South] China Sea, Duterte said. We remain committed to work closely with member states and China towards the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, he added. China has been pushing its presence in the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries while claimants are preoccupied with tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the United States to call on China to stop its bullying behavior there. Vietnam protested in April after a Chinese coast guard ship rammed and sank a boat with eight fishermen off the Paracel Islands. The Philippines backed Vietnams position and protested new territorial districts announced by the Chinese regime in large swatches of the sea. China said that Vietnams claims in South China Sea are illegal and doomed to fail. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates challenges within the political, economic, and social environment of the world and in each region, Vietnams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the opening ceremony of the ASEAN summit, which was held by video. International institutions and international law are being seriously challenged, Phuc said. While the entire world is stretched thin in the fight against the pandemic, irresponsible acts and acts in violation of international law are still taking place, affecting the environment of security and stability in certain regions, including in our region, he added. He did not provide details of the violations. A code of conduct in the South China Sea has been discussed for years between the ASEAN and China, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In 2002, the parties agreed on a nonbinding set of guidelines known as the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. However, Indonesia said that further negotiations require both parties to be physically present in one place, reported The Jakarta Post. Therefore, the negotiations have to be postponed until the situation with the COVID-19 crisis improves, said an Indonesian official. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Why the Left Cant Meme Commentary It was hardly an exaggeration when Elon Musk said recently, Who controls the memes, controls the Universe. This is akin to Harvard literary critic Irving Babbitts observation a century ago that the imagination determines action and so governs mankind. Just last week, the rights arch-memer Carpe Donktum was banned from Twitter, ostensibly for copyright infringement. It was only a matter of time before some pretext was found to finally oust this conservative meme savant. Well aware of the power of these aesthetic morsels, the left is quick to denounce memes deployed against its sacred shibboleths as racist, made by Nazis, and akin to the Soviet dezinformatsiya campaigns. Because of the incredible political power and broad appeal of these memes, liberal gatekeepers, influencers, and overlords go into overdrive trying to shame and discredit their producers and consumers and, when that fails, to scrub them from Internet history. The most effective memes originate, according to a 2018 meme forensic analysis by a group of concerned academics, from the same couple of fringe and potentially dangerous online communities. In other words, the conservatives are producing the best memes. The conclusion of these professors? The meme-ing must be stopped! The study provides a building block for building systems to protect against the dissemination of harmful ideologies. In addition, our pipeline can already be used by social network providers to assist the identification of hateful content; for instance, Facebook is already taking steps to ban Pepe the Frog used in the context of hate. From the pipeline of the Gramscian march through the institutions, these academics have emerged to aid in our Ministry of Truths online censorship. Imagine that. The viral meme icon, Pepe the Frog, is being fast-tracked into oblivion through computer algorithms under the auspices of curbing hate speech. But Internet meme culture is a Hydra. If the powers-that-be censor Pepe the Frog or the leftist-triggering non-playable character (NPC), for example, then people will invent new meme characters, which will undoubtedly have the same effect and convey the same message in a new way. Thats the beauty of the memes for conservatives. Theyre truly organic and decentralized and spread by their own merits. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), correctly sensing the power of the meme to sway the political imagination, attempted to put together a meme team in order to bridge the meme inequality gap. Apparently dead on arrival, understanding the failure of this endeavor helps to reveal the nature of memes and also why meme territory seems to belong almost exclusively to the populist right. Warrens team had hoped to mass-produce memes like political brochures. They should be Fun, Viral, Expressive, Personal, and Robust! Lost on the corporate meme team, as others have hilariously noted, seems to be all understanding of the ways in which both memes and human beings work. Before Warren could even enter the meme race, her teams public meme manifesto was ripped to shreds by Twitter users through, of course, memes. The responses were everything that Warren Meme Team, Inc. memes could not be: spontaneous, funny, incisive bursts of creativity in response to an actual issue at hand. Donald Trumps posting of a meme video that had won an online contest prompted one journalist to complain of the action with the subheadline, Providing No Additional Context. Exactly. Successful memes speak for themselves. Carpe Donktum and the like draw on popular culture and symbols to convey some truth through the aesthetic medium. Theyre successful because their memes are not intended as political propaganda, although the subject may be and often is political. Successful memes require no explanation because their truth, like that of all art, is an unmediated truththe eternal enemy of ideology and propaganda. The left likes to call this dog whistling. What they mean is that the memes resonate among those who share in its social meaning and speak its language. This is not dog whistling but simply culture. Memes cannot flourish in a cancel culture. Where meaningful shared understanding and experience is seen to occur only within various identity groups lest one be charged with cultural appropriation, theres little universal symbolic material available for the modern liberal bard, the lefts universal hatred of Donald Trump notwithstanding. The left is fractured along the lines of race, gender-identity, and other protected classes, taking these ontologically arbitrary categories as primary and definitive. A meme could hardly go viral among those tethered by shared ideology rather than shared culture, an environment that seems increasingly characteristic of todays Democratic Party. Its for this same reason that so many comedians refuse to go to college campuses anymore, the locus of militant political correctness. Within the community thats the modern university are various competing identity groups, with different taboos largely defining the raison detre of each one. The available shared cultural material is severely and jealously circumscribed, effectively shackling the comedian or artist, whose mediumhumorknows no such bounds. The primary function of a good meme, which is so often humorous, is to cut to the truth in a witty and unexpected way. That those on the right seem to be able to do this better than those on the left doesnt indicate that conservatives prefer pictures to reading facts, as one liberal friend of mine remarked pithily, but rather suggests that those on the right are less ideological. So-called conservative memes rarely have more than a couple of words and require no explanation. Memes that must add to the art with layers of explanation, to the great detriment of the meme, do so out of a perceived need for the audience to get it in the correct way. These memes, rather than illustrating a truth that requires no mediation to get, must explain to the viewer the message, which then defeats its aesthetic purpose. At best, it becomes an analytic point overlaying art. At worst, its mere propaganda, directing the viewer to the proper narrative. That the left seems to have such a difficult time creating memes suggests that the medium defies its message, which must stick closely to party lines and continually refer back to the ideology. In March 1935, Joseph Stalin equated political jokes with the leaking of state secrets. These dangerous thought crimes were considered so powerful that the jokesters words were scarcely quoted even in official court documents. Yet to cope with the stifling lie, in the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Soviet men and women would persist in their joke-cracking, finding refuge in its ineffable truths. We seem to be witnessing a similar phenomenon today among conservatives, defying the oppressive official narrative through the withering critique of memes. Emily Finley holds a Ph.D. in Politics from The Catholic University of America and is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University. She is the managing editor of Humanitas, a journal of politics and culture, published by The Center for the Study of Statesmanship. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. In this screengrab taken from a Senate Television webcast, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts speaks during impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 3, 2020. (Senate Television via Getty Images) With Abortion Decision, Roberts Betrays Constitutionalists and the Constitution Commentary Once again, Chief Justice John Roberts has angered and frustrated conservatives by throwing his lot in with the Supreme Courts four ultra-liberal justices in a case of paramount moral and political importance. By casting the deciding vote in a 54 ruling against the state of Louisianas perfectly reasonable restrictions on abortion providers by requiring them to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, the chief justice has shown himself unworthy of the trust of the president and congress who appointed and confirmed him in 2005. This is not the first time Roberts has yanked the rug out from conservatives just as they thought they had finally achieved victory in a matter of fundamental moral and social significance. The first time came in the Obamacare decision of 2012, when he switched his vote at the last minute from nay to yay and kept the unconstitutional law alive by deciding that the so-called individual mandate was not a requirement to purchase a product but instead a tax, and thus constitutional. The sophistry behind his opinion, which was in part based on his horse-trading with the liberal bloc over the related issue of Medicaid expansion, resulted in the 54 vote upholding the mandate. It was a Pyrrhic victory for Roberts, whose primary obsession is upholding the dignity of the Court even as, in the eyes of many, hes destroying its legitimacy. This year alone, Roberts has ambushed his fellow constitutionalists on the court in cases dealing with LGBT employment rights, and with his pettifogging notion that President Donald Trump must say Mother may I? to the judicial branch in order to overturn, by executive order, then-President Barack Obamas illegal order granting paths to citizenship to alien children raised in the United States. Arbitrary and capricious, as the solonsled, of course, by Robertscalled Trumps principled restoration of immigration law. As Alice (in Wonderland) says to Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass, The question is whether you can make words mean different thingsthats all. To which the he replies, The question is which is to be masterthats all. Republican Mistakes During his tenure, President Dwight D. Eisenhower made five appointments to the Court, helping to restore some partisan balance to a body that had numbered eight Democrats and one Republican. Two of them, however, proved disastrous: Chief Justice Earl Warren and Associate Justice William Brennan. Chief Justice Earl Warren (Public domain) I have made two mistakes, and they are both sitting on the Supreme Court, Ike reportedly said. He was particularly scathing about the ultra-liberal Warren, whom he called the biggest damn-fool mistake I ever made. Republican presidents have been making the same mistake ever since. President Richard Nixon gave us midwesterners Warren Burger as chief justice and Harry Blackmun as an associatethe Minnesota twinsand it was their votes that put Roe v. Wade over the top. President Gerald Ford put John Paul Stevens, another conservative who grew in office, on the court, while even the sainted President Ronald Reagan only batted .500 with Sandra Day OConnor and Anthony Kennedy on the wrong side of the ledger. And who can forget President George H.W. Bushs elevation of obscure New Hampshire Judge David Souter to the high court, although he was at least counterbalanced by Clarence Thomas? Judicial Independence Roberts, who promised at his confirmation hearings to just call balls and strikes, bids fair to outdo even Earl Warren in his ideological activism, however couched it may be in the language of preserving the Courts independence. And therein lies the problem. For all the talk of three co-equal branches of government, the Constitution is quite clear on the subject: The judiciary is subordinate to the legislative and executive branches. Indeed, the only federal judicial officer mandated therein is the chief justiceand he was never meant to be the de facto king of America. Lets have a look at Article III, which establishes the judiciary: Section 1. The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. In other words, aside from the chief justice, the entire federal judiciary is a creation of Congress, and can be modified or even abolished as Congress wishes. Nowhere, for example, is the number of associate justices stipulated or even required. Section 2 enumerates the Courts areas of original jurisdiction, which cannot be taken away from it, including the laws of the United States, treaties, ambassadors, maritime matters, and disputes among and between the federal government and the states. In other areas, the Constitution decrees appellate jurisdiction under such regulations as the Congress shall make. Congress can also strip the Supreme Court of any jurisdiction other than originalas it did, by the 11th Amendment, passed in 1795, which was adopted specifically to overturn Chisholm v. Georgia, a case regarding the status of state sovereign immunity in federal courts. That amendment, in turn, was partially abrogated by the 14th Amendment of 1868. In Marbury v. Madison (1803), the Court ruled unanimously, 40 (two of the six justices were ill and did not participate), and established in law the principle of judicial review mentioned in Article II, thus opening the way not only to judicial equality with the other two branches but to effective judicial supremacy. It is the worst Supreme Court ruling in American history, and whose baleful influence is still felt today. Without it, the enormities of the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision; the racial humiliations of Plessy v. Ferguson, which enshrined Jim Crow laws, and the bloodletting of Roe, which legalized baby murder, would never have occurred. James Madison. (Avard T. Fairbanks/CC BY-SA 4.0) As James Madison observed of the tripartite federal structure in Federalist 49: The several departments being perfectly co-ordinate by the terms of their common commission, none of them, it is evident, can pretend to an exclusive or superior right of settling the boundaries between their respective powers. Madison rejected the idea that the Courts interpretation of the Constitution should be superior to that of the other two branches. Similarly, in Federalist 78, Alexander Hamilton observed: the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them. The Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary, on the contrary, has no influence over either the sword or the purse but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments. Nonacquiesence Throughout his presidency, Trump has had to contend not only with a Democratic Party that refuses to accept its 2016 loss at the polls, with an increasingly hostile media that has abjured its previous, if aspirational, standards of fairness and objectivity in favor of rank and rabid partisanship, with a rogue element in the GOP that works to frustrate his every endeavor, and also with a federal judiciary that believes it can countermand his executive orders by issuing nationwide injunctionsor in the case of DACASupreme Court decisions. From the start, Trump should have taken a page from some of his illustrious predecessors and simply defied the courtsa doctrine known as nonacquiesence. Jefferson did it in 1807 with his continuance of the Embargo Act despite a Supreme Court decision against him. Abraham Lincoln (Alexander Gardner/public domain) Lincoln told Chief Justice Roger Taney to stuff his opinion that the president had overstepped his authority in suspending habeas corpus during the Civil War. Are all the laws, but one, to go unexecuted, and the government itself go to pieces, lest that one be violated? asked Honest Abe. Even FDR thought about defying the courts, although he eventually browbeat the Court into submission by threatening to expand its membership and pack it with liberals. As Justice Robert H. Jackson famously observed, The Constitution is not a suicide pact. In other words, we cannot rationally let the perfect be the enemy of the good in human affairs. Although the Louisiana case does not directly affect the president, Trump would serve himself and the Constitution well by denouncing it, and indeed all cases of judicial overreach. In the matter of nationwide injunctions, he already has a powerful ally in Justice Thomas, along with his own appointee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, who have all but begged for a precedent-setting case to come before the Supreme Court. Gorsuch wrote in a recent decision earlier this year: It has become increasingly apparent that this Court must, at some point, confront these important objections to this increasingly widespread practice. I hope, too, that we might at an appropriate juncture take up some of the underlying equitable and constitutional questions raised by the rise of nationwide injunctions. Had Trump adopted an adversarial but constitutionally principled stand against court decisions that were, in his judgement, unconstitutional, his presidency might not be hanging from a thread right now. The precise boundaries of the separation of powersa phrase deriving from Montesquieu, not found in the Constitutionare unclear, in part by design. The Framers didnt feel the need to spell out a remedy for every possible situation, but merely to provide a framework for doing so. Since the Warren Court, the nation has fallen under the sway of an unelected legislature of nine black robes, a body relying on the acquiescence of the executivethe sword, in Hamiltons wordsin enforcing its diktats. Like the justices, the president swears an oath to uphold the Constitutionnot the interpretations of the Court, which are often manifestly wrong. Just ask Dred Scott. So the next time this happens, Trump should simply quote the words attributed to President Andrew Jackson in Worcester v. Georgia involving Indian sovereignty, which Jackson lost: Justice Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it. In the meantime, so should Louisiana. Michael Walsh is the editor of The-Pipeline.org and the author of The Devils Pleasure Palace and The Fiery Angel, both published by Encounter Books. His latest book, Last Stands, a cultural study of military history from the Greeks to the Korean War, will be published in December by St. Martins Press. Follow him on Twitter @dkahanerules. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Cloud computing has long been poised to change the business landscape. Cisco predicts that 94 percent of all workloads will be handled in the cloud by next year and the COVID-19 crisis is speeding up the process. As the coronavirus whips the business world into a tailspin, your company cant afford to go unprepared. Old, server-based computing options can be sluggish in the face of todays high-paced tech world. By adopting cloud computing, youre ensuring your organization has the digital tools it needs to face down whatever challenges may come next. More and more companies are being forced to take their business online, but not all of them have the necessary digital infrastructure in place. If youre hoping to get your business through this pandemic unscathed, youll need cloud computing to help. Here are five ways it can. Related: A COVID-19 Survival Kit For Entrepreneurs 1. Document Sharing In times like these, businesses can no longer afford to let important documents get lost in endless email chains. Cloud-based document sharing is a great way of ensuring that key pieces of content can be viewed and accessed by anyone who needs to see them without hours of digging. As COVID-19 sends workers home, working together is both more difficult and more important than ever. Thankfully, document-sharing platforms have begun responding to the pandemic, with leader Dropbox integrating many of its features with Zoom to allow for seamless collaboration. Apps like Dropbox or Google Docs make it easy to keep a tight grip on your key content, even if everything else is in flux. 2. Cybersecurity Cyberattacks have always posed a serious threat to the increasingly digitized business world, but the pandemic is only exacerbating the problem. McKinsey research shows that the increase in employees working from home and the pressure faced by some organizations have significantly boosted the possibility of breaches. Cloud-powered cybersecurity can solve many of the problems businesses face in this realm. Keeping security operations in the cloud gives your company significantly more digital horsepower, with many of the best security platforms utilizing artificial intelligence to detect and paralyze threats in real time. 3. Customer Service Businesses arent the only ones hit hard by the pandemic. Consumers the world over are being plagued with uncertainty and reduced incomes. Research published in Harvard Business Review found that the virus is already making it significantly more difficult for call centers to cope, and this is only going to get worse as time goes on. Taking your customer service to the cloud is a surefire way to help alleviate these problems. Cloud-based customer service carries the benefits of additional speed and bandwidth, but it also can make life easier for your CS agents. Cloud contact center Five9 recently partnered with Google Cloud to allow agents greater access to relevant customer information in real time. Firms need to be able to deal with high call volumes smoothly to function, and the cloud can make that a reality. 4. Remote Working COVID-19 may have shuttered offices in the short term, but the long-term effects might be just as profound, as 74 percent of businesses plan on reducing the number of employees in their office, even after the virus subsides. Remote work has been on the rise for the past several years, but the recent spike in stay-at-home workers means that businesses need to be able to handle entire teams located outside the office. The aforementioned document-sharing and videoconferencing platforms are crucial components of any work-from-home model, but these arent the only tools at your disposal. While Zoom allows you to make seamless video calls, it also weighs down internet connections and can be unruly at times. Messaging service Slack, however, recently underwent a speed increase and RAM usage reduction, making it a valuable cloud-communication option that wont prohibit your workers from connecting when they need to. Related: 4 Major Cybersecurity Risks of Working From Home 5. Scaling For almost all businesses, this is a time of great uncertainty in regards to size. While some digital firms, such as Amazon, are experiencing explosive levels of growth, many are facing the serious possibility of furloughs or downsizing. To stay solvent, you need to be able scale your business up and down on a dime. Because the cloud doesnt require a physical server to operate, it allows you to use as much or as little computing power as you need. Research from MIT has shown that on-site data centers can take up to a year to properly build time your business likely doesnt have at its disposal. Cloud computing lets you scale dynamically, without the need for waiting. With COVID-19 comes an unprecedented number of unknowns, so your business needs to cover all its bases to stay prepared. Moving your company to the cloud offers your business a number of new advantages while allowing you to run all of your key operations, whether you're in the office or at home. Related: Can CBD Protect Your Dog Against Fireworks Anxiety? CXOs Are Looking For Survival Ideas And Build For Post-COVID Future The Outlook of the Retail Fashion Industry Post Covid- Then and Now Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved A 30-year-old man was charged with third-degree assault and violation of a protective order. He was held on $100,000 bond and given a court date of June 29. A 38-year-old Silvermine Avenue woman was charged with driving under the influence. She was held on $200 bond and given a court date of July 29. June 28 A 35-year-old Monterey Place man was charged with risk of injury to a child, third-degree assault and disorderly conduct. He was held on $5,000 bond and given a court date of June 29. June 27 A 47-year-old Fairfield Avenue woman was charged with third-degree assault. She was given a court date of June 29. A 41-year-old New Haven man was charged with breach of peace, third-degree criminal mischief and third-degree criminal trespass. He was held on $5,000 bond and given a court date of July 27. A 26-year-old Union Avenue man was charged with driving under the influence. He was given a court date of July 28. A 41-year-old Finley Road woman was charged with breach of peace. She was given a court date of July 28. A 33-year-old Couch Street woman was charged with disorderly conduct. She was given a court date of June 29. Police said the man and woman told the marchers to leave because they were on a private street. But people in the crowd yelled obscenities and threats, police said. The man and woman said they saw people who were armed, so they armed themselves and called police, according to authorities. No one needs to be told how profoundly stupid and unpopular is the idea of defunding or disbanding the Norwalk Police Department. Or for that matter any other major municipal police force. The idea nevertheless has speedily established a foothold in the Democratic Party less than five months out from a presidential election they are desperate to win. Does this make sense? It makes sense if you appreciate how thoroughly the partys moderates (assuming there are any left) have lost control to their extreme left wing. As some may recall, this is the party that under President Bill Clintons initiative funded as many as 100,000 additional police officers for our cities and towns. What happened? One thing that happened was in 2016 when the Democrats allowed an avowed socialist who was not even a member of the party to seek the partys presidential nomination. Bernie Sanders trick was to tack democratic in front of socialist, but that fooled nobody who had spent five minutes checking his background. Honeymooning in the Soviet Union, as he did in the 1980s, never did catch on with other Americans. The Democratic Socialist schtick was enough, however, to lure the ill-educated cadres being churned out by our woke indoctrination centers (our universities and public schools). Together with their far-left professors, fellow-traveler media types, and clueless Hollywood icons, they made a potent combination. Even so, the attitude of party leaders was apparently, why worry? They had Hillary, the smartest woman in the world, sure to become the first female POTUS. So they waved Bernie into their nominating process, only to find they had created an electoral Frankenstein who in the final round had to be taken out by any means necessary. Then came the mid-term elections of 2018. It was the cheated Bernie Bros and the revengeful Hilleryites who gave us the current state of the party. As one observer put it, their woke left fringe is now in charge. Looking now at the defund-the-police lunacy, you have to wonder: Have the Democrats jumped the shark? Has their hatred for the Bad Orange Man brought them to the point where theyve lost all touch with the mainstream of American voters? Have they pitched themselves into permanent decline? Historian Victor Davis Hanson suggested as much a year ago. What is strange about the new envisioned progressive agendas for 2020, he said, is that no serious Democratic presidential candidate next year could ever run on them. Agendas like these: A Green New Deal: eliminating the internal combustion engine, the fossil-fuel industry, air travel, and cow farts. Joe Biden has embraced the GND. Abortion unlimited, a position that Ralph Northam, Virginias Democratic governor, advanced last year. Open borders and abolishing internal immigration enforcement (i.e., ICE). Providing free medical care and other benefits to illegal immigrants, a bid to turn the entire United States into California. Each agenda item looked like political suicide for the party that nurtured it. Yet it seems to have had little effect on overall poll numbers. Will the idea of defunding/abolishing the police be any different? Well see. Another question: Are they serious? Maybe not, but they clearly intend to weaken and neuter the police as much as possible. By the hundreds, possibly thousands, were seeing seasoned police officers around the country putting in for early retirement. And the applicant pool for new officers is shrinking dramatically. The ultimate goal may be to have the policing function taken over entirely by the federal government, like what then-presidential candidate Barack Obama talked about in 2008 a Civilian National Security Force, one that would be just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded as the U.S. Military. Great idea. Call an agency in Washington, D.C., to get some gendarmes to work on a rape or robbery in your neighborhood. Be that as it may, the Democrats look to remain dominant in Connecticut, but theres probably a limit to the number of sharks they can jump and still remain viable at the national level. Which is a shame, because we need a healthy two-party system. Bill Dunne is a resident of Norwalk. The Nebraska State Fair was coming into this years fair dealing with financial losses caused by the last two fairs, especially last years fair that suffered from a lack of attendance because of heavy rain. Ogg said the first priority in holding a fair this year is the health and safety of people attending the fair. The second priority, he said, is that the Nebraska State Fair is here for the next 151 years and we dont squander our limited resources on trying to do something this year that makes us unsustainable to go forward. To keep the fair affordable and sustainable for the future, Ogg said, this years fair budget has been reduced to $208,000, compared to a traditional fair budget of about $7 million. It is worth the investment for more than 5,000 4-H and FFA members who participate in the State Fair, he said. With the fair scheduled two months from now, health directives could change, such as the Central District Health Department decision to go to Phase 3 beginning next week. But health directives could change depending on the spread of the virus. The board decided to give Ogg and his staff the flexibility to schedule other events, depending on current local and state health directives. In addition to allowing a DNA expert, Circuit Judge Rufus A. Banks Jr. agreed to allow a doctor to weigh in on the question of whether the child was alive when he was left in the woods. Winn says the defense believes Baby Daniel was stillborn, while the prosecution intends to call a medical expert to say the baby was alive when he was left in the woods, court records show. Stones threaten to sue over songs The Rolling Stones are threatening President Donald Trump with legal action for using their songs at his rallies despite cease-and-desist directives. The Stones said in a statement Sunday that their legal team is working with music rights organization BMI to stop use of their material in Trumps reelection campaign. The Stones had complained during Trumps 2016 campaign about the use of their music to fire up his conservative base at rallies. The Rolling Stones 1969 classic You Cant Always Get What You Want was a popular song for his events. It was played again at the close of Trumps recent rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma an indoor event criticized for its potential to spread coronavirus. Other artists have also complained about having their music associated with Trumps events. The family of the late rock musician Tom Petty said that it had issued a cease-and-desist order after Trump used the song I Wont Back Down in Tulsa. Famed director guilty, not jailed A Moscow judge convicted an acclaimed Russian theater director of embezzling state funds and imposed a three-year suspended sentence in a case widely seen as politically motivated. Kirill Serebrennikov, 50, one of the most prominent theater and film directors in Russia, and his associates were found guilty of fraud and embezzling 129 million rubles (over $1.8 million) of state funding for a theater project. The judge, saying that reformation is possible without a real (prison) term, gave Serebrennikov and two other defendants suspended sentences, fines and ordered them to repay the embezzled funds. Prosecutors had requested a 6-year prison term for Serebrennikov. A fourth defendant, former government official Sophia Apfelbaum, was convicted of negligence and fined; the fine was immediately lifted because of a statute of limitations. The funds were for staging several productions, and investigators initially alleged that the director and his associates stole money through a show that never saw the light of day. In fact, the production was staged to critical acclaim. The investigators later withdrew their claim, and have not since clarified where they believe money was stolen from. Serebrennikov had rejected the accusations as absurd; many in Russia saw the charges as punishment for his anti-establishment views. His productions, ranging from drama to opera and movies, have mocked official lies, corruption and growing social conservatism. The director spent almost two years under house arrest between August 2017 and April 2019. Several of his associates spent months in jail. Associated Press Overnight reports from Jacksonville police: Taylor C.M. Rosenberger, 21, of 1042 E. Morton Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday on three counts of delivery of methamphetamine. Ronald K. Wilcox, 50, of Albany, Indiana, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 11:49 p.m. Monday on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while license is revoked or suspended and on warrants accusing him of domestic battery, contempt of court and failure to appear in court. John R. Jobe, 24, of 419 W. Greenwood St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 8:22 a.m. Tuesday on an aggravated battery charge. George M. Stice, 30, of 817 S. Clay Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 4:19 a.m. Tuesday on a disorderly conduct charge. Eric L. Peters, 35, of 695 N. Clay Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 12:59 p.m. Monday on charges of theft, assault, criminal trespassing and criminal damage to property. Stephanie C. Sorrells, 44, of 1241 Merrit Road was booked into the Morgan County jail at 4:54 p.m. Monday on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting a peace officer. Korbin A. Smith, 28, of 925 N. East St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 5:34 p.m. Monday on charges of possession of methamphetamine and violation of an order of protection. Todd M. Linear, 30, of 347 Caldwell St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 7:06 p.m. Monday on a criminal trespassing on land charge. License plates were stolen from a car in the 600 block of Brandywine Lane, according to a report filed at 8:09 p.m. Monday. The rear window and tail light were damaged on a vehicle parked overnight in the 700 block of East Douglas Avenue, according to a report filed at 8:46 a.m. Monday. Compiled by David C.L. Bauer Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 08:17 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406628fa30 1 Editorial Jokowi-administration,reshuffle,Terawan-Agus-Putranto,social-aid,#Editorial,COVID-19,budget-disbursement,pandemic,Jokowi Free It might be a little too late, but President Joko Jokowi Widodos recent fury at his aides for their sluggish response to the COVID-19 crisis should be appreciated. In video footage of a Cabinet meeting on June 18, but only released on Sunday, the President lashed out at his ministers for the absence of a sense of crisis in their actions, resulting in no significant progress in their pandemic response. At the very least, Jokowis resentment channeled the public frustration at the ineffective policies during two months of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), following which the country is still enduring a surge in cases and deaths nationwide. Jakarta and West Java may have controlled the spread of the virus, but East Java, South Sulawesi and East Kalimantan have become new epicenters of the outbreak. Few provinces, cities or regencies wish to extend the PSBB, on the basis that people are losing income. But returning to the kind of life before the pandemic will only put peoples lives at risk. We also demand what the President seeks: a significant improvement in the coronavirus response, especially in the protection of health workers and peoples jobs. The lingering question is why Jokowi only let the public learn of his anger after 10 days. The public, as well as experts, have criticized the way his ministers, especially Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto, have handled the biggest public health crisis of our time from the very beginning. Jokowi backed his administration all the time and did nothing when Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi allowed certain groups of people to travel while the country was enforcing a nationwide ban on the mudik (Idul Fitri exodus). The PSBB, or partial lockdown, is almost over and there is not even a hint that Jokowi or the central government wants to re-implement the curbs if the crisis worsens in a region. The release of the video footage coincided with the strain in the relationship between Jokowi and his largest supporting party the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) after the President refused to support the Pancasila ideology bill it tabled at the House of Representatives. The PDI-P is also reportedly holding back on its support for Jokowis son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is bidding to contest Surakarta election, while son-in-law Bobby Nasution is seeking a ticket for the Medan mayoral race. Social aid distribution, which falls under the supervision of Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara, a PDI-P politician, was among the problems that Jokowi criticized during the Cabinet meeting. Jokowi is known for a pragmatism that has become his personal political hallmark. He has frequently rewarded his political allies and supporters with seats in the government or state-owned enterprises. In his first term, Jokowi gave even the smallest parties ministerial seats for supporting him, only to replace them with stronger or more strategic allies as his tenure progressed. It has been eight months since he announced his current Cabinet lineup. Perhaps, all he wants is just a change of perspective. We hope that, whether he does reshuffle his Cabinet or not, people will feel the heat and work harder Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hapsari Kusumaningdyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 16:54 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662b4a15 3 Opinion COVID-19,new-normal,restriction,behavior,change,Indonesia Free With the highest number of infections and largest death toll in Southeast Asia, the Indonesian government should be careful in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the "new normal" began several weeks ago, people have otherwise eased restrictions and neglected the health protocols. Recently, when I went out for the first time after three months of self-seclusion, I wondered how people could behave like this amid a pandemic. I saw people in Jakarta eating out without even practicing social distancing, a lot of people roaming without face masks in public spaces, children playing on streets even in red zones, and my social media account was overwhelmed by other peoples updates on gatherings and social events. Even many promiment Indonesian figures ignored the health protocols in the wake of the new normal. For example, the media reported that Corruption Eradication Commission chief Firli Bahuri did not wear a mask in public, and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan shook hands with people during Jakartas anniversary celebration on June 22. Although such acts look "simple" or "less important" they show that the much-needed behavioral changes to slow the spread of the virus remain challenging. After about four months since Indonesia announced the first COVID-19 infection, the severity of the pandemic has worsened, with around 1,000 people infected on a daily basis. Despite the fact that Indonesia tops the number of infections and death rates in Southeast Asia, the government and the people seems to choose a relatively "soft" approach in the fight against the pandemic. This pandemic shows how predictably irrational we are as humans. Despite the upward infection curve, we have already eased restrictions required to contain the virus transmission to allow the economy and social life to resume. Lockdown, social and physical distancing have been hard to bear for most of us. The more restrictive the government measures, the more people want to break the rules. The high compliance needed to beat the pandemic is difficult to achieve. Several behavioral science insights might explain the phenomena, which may not be characteristically Indonesia. * Mass hyperbolic discounting Hyperbolic discounting refers to the tendency for people to value a smaller-sooner reward over a larger-later reward as the delay occurs sooner rather than later. In this case, they value small freedoms rather than long-term community health later. Many behavioral scientists suggest that if we start to adopt stricter rules to change peoples behavior amid the pandemic and incrementally ease restrictions, it will have a more significant impact on peoples overall happiness, rather than starting with light restrictions and gradually intensify them. In Indonesias case, the government has taken a relatively soft and ambiguous approach since the outbreak began. In early January and February 2020, when neighboring countries declared the first case of infection and started to impose behavioral engineering to halt the virus spread. Indonesia was still busy confirming whether there was an outbreak, although several foreigners had reportedly been infected in Bali. When the ASEAN neighbors implemented national lockdowns, the Indonesian government opted to leave the policy to local authorities. Even President Joko Widodo called on the nation to not panic and coexist with the virus. Hence, from the behavioral perspective insight, the softer the approach, the more difficult it is for people to comply with the new normal protocols. *The overoptimism bias The very basic stimuli of human behavior are often generated by the reward and reinforcement principle. We change our behavior following reward or something that reinforced us, getting praise, money and credit, and not getting sick could make us stick to the rules. If we did not fall ill in the very first place, we would lack reinforcement to maintain our health and the health of our community in the long run. This is supported by our overoptimism bias, like the "Oh, those horrible things won't happen to me and my family" mindset may develop as time passes and our perception of threat significantly declines. *The bandwagon effect Besides individual psychology, our behavior is really affected by cultural and social factors. In a time of radical uncertainty like this, we take the behavioral guidelines from others, like friends, peers, neighbors, influencers and leaders as they set the social norms on what is right to do or not. This behavioral example creates a bandwagon effect. With so much confusion about what is right to do and "what is not", we follow other peoples examples. Seeing our friends and influencers on social media hold birthday parties, religious gatherings, and visiting shopping mall with their small kids, we may be tempted to follow suit. The governments new normal campaign is easier said than done. Many have realized there is nothing new about the new normal as they have been social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands frequently since the beginning of the pandemic. As we may notice, the new normal is a difficult trade-off between health and economy. We need to get back to work, spur the economy while maintaining our own health. Hence do not let the "new normal" framework turn into normalization. We need to change our habits and the way we coexist. The question is how to make people comply with a set of new rules. Research conducted by Bott et al (2019) on taxpayers shows that making the normatively appropriate behavior known could make a significant impact on increasing the number of taxpayers that comply with the government advice. Oftentimes, there is still confusion over whether we should go outside for exercise. While economic and cultural have started to reopen, we do not know whether it is actually safe to go out and or how to behave in public spaces. Hence, making sure that appropriate behavior is known by the public could be an alternative to increase peoples compliance with the protocols. Second, ensuring the rules are clearly defined. The research by Shcweitzer and Hsee (20002) shows that individuals are more willing to exhibit dishonest behavior if there is ambiguous "room" to do that. Hence, setting clear rules on what is right and what is not is effective to change peoples behavior in public spaces. Third, urging leaders and influencers to demonstrate compliant behavior. This has been a challenge for most of us. We have seen those role models not wearing masks or wearing them improperly, and standing close to others during a photo session. Finally, we must assess our own behavior to determine whether it is rationally justified or just emotionally-driven. How far, how long, and how fast the spread of COVID-19 is crucially depends on our own behavior, hence the responsibility is ours to ensure this will pass. *** The writer is a former journalist, with a masters in economic psychology from University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne & University Paris 5 Paris Descartes Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Two other bank officials were found guilty in the conspiracy, including Woodards son, Brandon. The younger Woodard got eight years and is set to be released in August from a halfway house in Baltimore, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. Stephen Fields, the banks former vice president, got 17 and is due to be released in March 2028, the website said. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic forced Hoang Le Giang to stay in Kautokeino village and Soroya Island in Norway, one of the northernmost places on Earth. Spending two months more than he planned for a trip to the Arctic Circle turned out to be the experience of a lifetime, with so many memories of the affection and kindness of local people during times that were trying for all and which thoroughly changed his view on life. I have never stayed in someone elses house for more than three or four days, but this time I stayed with new friends in a faraway land for a couple of months, he recalled. Nils Sara, the head of the family, treated me as one of his own and watched out for me. He made sure I tried new things while there, like eating freshly caught trout and smoked reindeer. A man of adventure, 32-year-old Giang left HCM City on Feb. 22, bound for Mongolia and the city of Olgii in its west, where eagle hunters live. He was put into quarantine after flying from the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar to Olgii, however, as another passenger onboard was returning from South Korea and others had a high temperature. His initial plan was to return to Vietnam when his period of quarantine ended and then head to Norway, to escort a group of clients to the Arctic Circle to see the Aurora Borealis, experience life with reindeer herders, and have some fun dog sledding. But people returning to Vietnam had to be quarantined for 14 days, which didnt appeal to Giang at all. So, he decided to travel from Mongolia through Russia and onwards, reaching Kautokeino village, near the city of Alta, in Norway on March 9. He planned to follow the Sami people until March 17 and then visit his old school in Sweden before returning to Vietnam at the end of the month. Then international flights came to a standstill, and he found himself stranded in a faraway land thousands of miles from home. What occupied his mind at first were his ever-dwindling finances in a country where the cost of living is particularly high, with the uncertainty of when he may leave added to the mix. It was also cold, with night-time temperatures dropping to -20 degrees Celsius at times. Though alone and stranded, good fortune came his way in Kautokeino, as a family of Sami people invited him to stay with them in their wooden cabin in the mountains. There was no electricity, water, or phone signal, so he had to adapt to new living conditions. No two days were the same, he remembers. One day may be spent relaxing and listening to music, or riding snowmobiles to check on the reindeer, or driving for hours in the mist ferrying equipment and gasoline somewhere. We may head out to cut firewood or to fix one of the snowmobiles. On other days we stayed indoors eating reindeer stew waiting for a storm to pass. Every two weeks or so he would go to the nearby town to buy food and other necessities, and make a call home to let his family know he was still okay. As the end of winter approached and spring neared, the Sami people moved their reindeer from the mainland to the islands and Giang followed them to Soroya, one of the most beautiful islands in Norway. There he witnessed days of spring without sunsets, enjoyed the freshest of air, and explored the stunning natural scenery in a place he now thinks of as heaven. Everything was so memorable, from the beautiful aurora I saw at the winter cabin to the migration of reindeer to the island, and all of the trips back and forth on snowmobiles, surviving in the wilderness, he said. The weather was harsh, but the natural surroundings were like being in a fairytale. Best of all, though, was the kindness of my hosts. After he was interviewed on national TV as a Vietnamese stranded in the Arctic Circle herding reindeer was a novelty in Norway many people also offered to help. Acquaintances he had met just once in the country didnt hesitate to invite him to stay with them if he encountered any trouble whatsoever. On his first day on the island, an elderly neighbor brought him noodles, vermicelli, oyster sauce, and some other Asian food, as she was worried he felt homesick. Nilss mother knitted a pair of woolen socks and mittens for me, and he gave me a Sami knife as a token of our friendship, he remembered fondly. Read also: We feel very lucky: Spanish travelers stuck in Bali after transcontinental road trip Heading home During his days stranded in Norway he contacted the Embassy of Vietnam in the country as well as in Germany, France, Sweden, and Portugal, where many Vietnamese lived, thinking his chances of getting back home were higher. As soon as there was a flight to Vietnam from Frankfurt, he asked for an official letter from the embassy to get to Germany and fly out. The flight back home was quite expensive, he said. After five legs in total, he arrived in Vietnam on May 16 and was placed in quarantine in a Nang for 14 days. He felt lucky to be home, to continue with his work and spare his family any further concern. But he yearns to once again catch cod with his Sami friends, who have kept in touch since he left the Arctic Circle. Be calm, contact the embassy, and make the most of your time in the country where you find yourself, was Giangs advice to anyone in a similar situation to his. It was definitely the experience of a lifetime. I learned so much about life, kindness, and culture in Norway. I will be back there as soon as I can. The new normal is inevitable and comes with a fresh set of changes for cultural institutions like museums, the daily operations of which usually cater to large groups of people. In a webinar hosted by the Mitra Museum Jakarta Foundation, Indonesian curator Annissa M. Gultom, who is director of museums at the Department of Antiquities and Museums of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, said the government had been slow in reopening parts of the nation, with tourism slated to return in September or October. Until August, while the museums remain closed, this is a prime opportunity for us to learn. The new normal, which we dont know what it will entail yet, will force us to radically change how we work and how we measure our effectiveness, she said. For example, these changes can come in the shape of revamped programs. Annissa explained that the education unit in her institution has been made vital, with real-time programs and all-new agendas on learning through a digital environment. Keeping distance: Visitors with masks on observe artwork in the permanent exhibition room of the National Gallery in Jakarta. (National Gallery/-) One of the most difficult units initially was the customer happiness unit, which covers frontline staff such as guides. We allocated a large amount of time to plan how they can use their time to work remotely to prepare. The collection and conservation unit has also completed training on digitization. The silver lining is that everyone is forced to learn. It was confusing at first, but we along with the human resources department compiled a list of courses that our staff can take, she said. In the meantime, a limited amount of staff still clocks in while museums are still closed, particularly the collection management, which is tasked with daily checks on displayed collections and twice a week for those in storage. Annissa noted that this is a new procedure and will likely be part of the new normal. As for planned exhibitions that are surely postponed, she said the closures had also given the team more time to develop their content to become much more involving. Meanwhile, RM Nicolaus Aji, exhibition designer and researcher at the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Propertys (ICCROM) CollAsia program, said museums could become more involved with visitors by utilizing their icons, which can come in the form of brandings or unique collections. For example, museums can 3D-scan their iconic collections and create 3D-printed replicas they can sell to visitors. These replicas can become one of the main attractions for visitors who have fond memories of the museum, he explained, adding that the approach could serve as an addition alongside promotional videos. Conservator Lalitha Thiagarajah of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia said going digital could be an alternative in a socially distanced world, shifting to digital museums and virtual tours. Maybe now it is time to think about how to enhance the visitor experience. Not everyone can go to the museum, she said. Prevention: Workers clean pieces of an collection at the Jakarta History Museum, also known as Fatahilah, on June 7. (JP/Seto Wardhana) Earlier this year, museums around the world joined the #MuseumAtHome campaign to showcase exhibitions on social media timelines, with virtual tours complete with guidance. Jakartas Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara (Museum MACAN) has a series of childrens activities based on its exhibitions, while the National Museum can be toured virtually through its website or Googles Arts & Culture platform. However, there are some concerns about how museums could slowly be replaced by their digital counterparts. Lalitha conceded that the issue has been a source of concern among museum personnel, as digitalization cannot be stopped. But what we can do is work together we cannot fight it. We have to work together and come up with a compromise like we always do to give the best experience for visitors, without compromising the authenticity of the cultural heritage. Annissa is of the opinion that while going digital will start becoming the norm, there is no substitute for seeing the objects in person. Access to virtual museums rose during the start of the lockdown, but it is declining. In real life, there is museum fatigue but now it is likely screen fatigue because of how increasingly online we are, she said. Museums will still be around. Our appreciation of objects that document history will continue. Its like a long-distance relationship its different when youre looking through a screen and meeting in person. The second season of the National Geographic series Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted premiered on June 7, returning with new adventures that include West Sumatra. The fourth episode of the series, which also features legendary Indonesian chef William Wongso, premiered on Monday at 9 a.m. It opens with Ramsay visiting Istano Rajo Basa Pagaruyung, the royal palace of the former Pagaruyung Kingdom in Tanah Datar regency. Wearing a casual outfit in all black, the British celebrity chef-slash-restaurateur meets William, who asks him to change into traditional Minang attire with a songket (traditional gold-threaded woven fabric) and songkok (a traditional male hat). William then introduces Ramsay to bajamba, an under-the-radar Minangkabau communal eating tradition. As the 73-year-old culinary master introduces Ramsay to a variety of dishes, William challenges him to a rendang (beef slow-cooked in coconut milk and spices) cook-off that will be judged by West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno at the end of the week. Rendang is a widely beloved Indonesian dish. In 2011, a CNN poll named rendang one of the worlds most delicious foods. Despite hailing from West Sumatra, rendang is popular across the archipelago. It was not a surprise, therefore, that a comment about non-crispy rendang made by MasterChef UK judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace in 2018 angered many Indonesian. Fortunately, Ramsay learned how to cook rendang properly with the help of William, who has mastered over 200 rendang varieties. Accompanied by food writer Ade Putri Paramadita, Ramsay embarks on an Indonesian food adventure and finds himself eating bika (coconut-based cake) and durian. While he was impressed by bika, he has a different impression of durian, conceded that he could not stand the aroma. With Ade, Ramsay is also seen joining pacu jawi (mud bull races). The things I do for rendang, he says on the show. Read also: Gordon Ramsay 'can't wait' to put beef 'rendang' on his restaurant's menu The episode also shows Ramsay exploring a cave to find freshwater prawns. Meanwhile, with a local guide Rusti, he goes fishing on a pirate-like boat. He also tries his hand at a giant mortar and pestle to make rendang paste at a traditional market, accompanied by rendang master Katuju. As a short food documentary, the fourth episode of Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted highlights the beauty of West Sumatras landscape and of course, the art of making rendang. The show features aerial shots that capture the untouched landscape of the province. When it comes to rendang, the episode explains in detail how to make the dish from scratch and the complexity of its flavors. It also features heart-warming scenes, such as local residents and their everyday routine at the traditional market, laughing over Ramsays attempt to make rendang paste and Williams amusement upon seeing Ramsay getting splashed by buffalo excrement. However, it lacks a definitive conclusion when it comes to the result of Ramsays rendang-making efforts. Although William seemed to approve of Ramsays method of grilling the beef prior to putting it in the paste, saying This is the first time a foreign chef is cooking rendang the right way, viewers may be left wondering whether the method really worked and how it influenced the dishs flavor. (kes) The coronavirus pandemic is "not even close to being over", the WHO warned Monday, as the global death toll passed half a million and cases surged in Latin America and the United States. In another grim milestone, the number of infections recorded worldwide topped 10 million, while some authorities reimposed lockdown measures that have crippled the economies worldwide. "We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over," he said, adding that "although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up." The virus emerged at least six months ago in China, where the WHO will send a team next week in the search for its origin, Tedros said. COVID-19 is still rampaging across the US, which has recorded more than 125,000 deaths and 2.5 million cases -- both around a quarter of the global totals. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the April-June quarter was expected to see the largest decline in GDP on record, adding that recovery would depend on government efforts to contain the outbreak. Many of the south and west US states where the virus is most rampant are where state leaders pushed for early reopenings. But even in New York, deemed to be in good health comparatively, the iconic Broadway theater district announced it would remain closed through the end of the year. And with numerous US states forced to reimpose restrictions on restaurants, bars and beaches, President Donald Trump has come under growing pressure to set an example by wearing a mask. Trump's health secretary has warned the "window is closing" for the US to regain control, but the president has largely turned away from the crisis, holding indoor rallies with big, largely maskless crowds against the advice of his experts and refusing to cover his own face in public. 'Profound shock' And while opposition Democrats have urged Trump to reissue an emergency declaration on coronavirus, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president had "no interest" in doing so. However, he may not be able to avoid masks forever -- the Florida city of Jacksonville, where Trump's Republicans are due to hold their national convention in August, declared face masks mandatory on Monday. Underlining Trump's increasing isolation on the issue, Senate Majority Leader Mitch- McConnell, who is usually in lock step with the president, spoke out on the urgency of mask-wearing. "We must have no stigma, none, about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people," he said. "Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves, it is about protecting everyone we encounter." The second hardest-hit country Brazil registered 259,105 infections in the seven days through Sunday -- the country's highest of any week during the pandemic. Ireland's pubs began pouring pints for the first time in 15 weeks, as Europe -- still the hardest-hit continent -- continues to open up after seeing numbers of new cases fall. "Guinness is good for you," quipped Mark O'Mahony -- the first to order a pint with his breakfast at a Dublin pub. "Without it, it hasn't been much good really for 15 weeks. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country had gone through a "profound shock" as he prepared to unveil a large stimulus program. Constant threat His government plans to reopen pubs, restaurants and hairdressers across England on July 4, but on Monday ordered schools and non-essential shops in Leicester, central England, to close after a localized outbreak. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron called for a "strong" and "efficient" recovery fund for the European Union. In Merkel's Germany, which has been praised for how it has tackled its COVID-19 outbreak, the North Rhine-Westphalia state extended a lockdown on a district hit hard by a slaughterhouse outbreak. In neighboring Switzerland, organizers said that 2021's Geneva International Motor Show was cancelled, after already scrapping this year's event. China has imposed a strict lockdown on nearly half a million people in a province surrounding Beijing to contain a fresh cluster. In a reminder of the constant threat of newly-emerged pathogens, researchers in Chinese universities and the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced they had discovered a novel swine flu that was capable of triggering another pandemic. Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009. It possesses "all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans," said the authors of a study published Monday in the US science journal PNAS. The Middle East's most affected country Iran reported 162 more deaths on Monday, its highest single-day toll yet, a day after it also made mask-wearing mandatory for inside gatherings. India, which is gradually easing a nationwide lockdown, registered a daily record of 18,500 new cases and 385 new deaths on Saturday. Alka, one of the country's million accredited social health activists, said it was difficult for the unprotected and poorly paid all-women workers to get people to heed their advice. "People are struggling to feed their families," she said. "What can we do?" Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 06:31 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066289169 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,covid-19-task-force Free The governments COVID-19 task force has updated its requirements for transportation during the transitional phase to the so-called "new normal", requiring domestic travelers to carry a medical document certifying they are free of COVID-19 valid for 14 days. The regulation, stipulated in Circular No. 9/2020, was issued by task force chief Doni Monardo on Friday, updating the previous Circular No. 7/2020 on the same subject issued on June 6, a day after the capital enacted the transitional phase. Every individual traveling by land, sea or air transportation must present a negative PCR [polymerase chain reaction] or rapid test result certificate that is valid for 14 days from departure, the updated regulation says. This is different from the previous regulation, which required a PCR test certificate valid for seven days or a rapid test certificate valid for only three days. Apart from the validity period of the health document, other measures remain the same in the updated version. Here is the list of other requirements for domestic travel: - Bring personal identification cards and a medical certificate stating you are free from influenza-like illnesses, issued by a doctor from a hospital or a community health center (commuters within an agglomerated area are excluded from this requirement) - Implement health protocols (physical distancing, wearing a mask, bringing hand sanitizer) - Download and activate the Peduli Lindungi application on Appstore or Playstore Meanwhile, international travelers wishing to enter Indonesia are required to: - Conduct a PCR test at the time of arrival, unless they already carry a test certificate from the country of departure. - The above provision does not apply at cross-border posts (PLBN), which do not have PCR equipment, but international travelers arriving in the posts are required to undergo a rapid test and carry an influenza-like illness-free certificate. - While waiting for their PCR test results, international travelers must undergo quarantine in a location specified by the government, or undergo self-quarantine at a hotel or other place certified by the Health Ministry. - International travelers are also required to download and activate the Peduli Lindungi application on Appstore or Playstore. Travelers testing positive for the coronavirus must immediately isolate themselves. The government is working closely with regional administrations, health authorities, public transportation managements and security personnel to monitor traveling activities. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 07:49 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406628b599 1 National COVID-19,Garuda,Garuda-Indonesia,Garuda-Indonesia-Airways,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,Sorong,West-Papua,West-Java Free A passenger who was allowed to board a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Sorong, West Papua, despite having recently tested positive for COVID-19 had been cleared for travel by health authorities, the national flag carrier has said. All passengers on the flight received validation and clearance from relevant authorities regarding compliance with health requirements for flight passengers, Garuda president director Irfan Setiaputra said in a statement on Sunday. Flight GA 682 had also followed physical distancing protocols, with passengers limited to 62 percent of total capacity, Irfan said. He added that Garuda had disinfected the aircraft and had requested that the cabin crews on duty that day self-quarantine. We will conduct intensive coordination and communication regarding the follow-up to this incident in order to ensure that health procedures for flights during the new normal transition period run optimally, Irfan said. Sorong Airport Health Office coordinator Farida Tariq said that health officials had discovered that the passenger, a 20-year-old student, had tested positive for the virus during a routine health document check conducted upon arrival at Domine Eduard Osok Airport in Sorong on Saturday. According to the latest government regulations on air travel, all prospective passengers must provide documents showing a negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or rapid test result before being allowed to fly. Read also: Airport operators pivot to cargo services to survive pandemic Farida said the student had a document issued by a West Java Health Agency laboratory on June 21 showing a positive PCR result. The Soekarno-Hatta Airport Health Office did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Posts request for comment. West Java Health Agency head Berli Hamdani confirmed that the passenger was a Sorong resident who was studying in West Java. [The passenger] is not a resident of West Java but is studying here. But students here have been asked to study at home for a while now, Berli told the Post on Monday. Berli declined to say whether the student should have been self-isolating but said that local health agencies had been monitoring COVID-19 patients to ensure that they were isolating either at hospitals or in their homes. [The case] is still being studied by the provincial health agency. As soon as we have clear details, we will inform the public, he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 07:54 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406628c562 1 National school-enrollment,Education Free Age is more than just a number for aspiring high school students in Jakarta. Last week, the city administration rolled out the zoning system for this years public school enrollment (PPDB). Unlike previous years, a potential students age is now a main factor in the registration process, sparking protests from parents caught unaware. Before 8 a.m. on Thursday morning, 60-year-old Sugiharto and his wife sat down at their computer to register their youngest daughter at three state senior high schools (SMA) within their designated enrollment zone, based on proximity to their residence in the Kebayoran Lama subdistrict of South Jakarta. At first, the registration appeared to be going smoothly. Their daughter was placed on all three of the schools enrollment lists. Two hours later, however, Sugiharto found that his daughters name had been removed and replaced by the names of other potential students. Soon it became apparent that their daughters age had cost her a spot, even though her average grades were higher than some of the older students who had pushed her off the list. Its unfair that age has become a main factor in school enrollment. How do you even explain that? Why can older kids get into the same schools [at the expense of] younger students? Sugiharto told The Jakarta Post on Saturday. The couples daughter is 15 years and three months old. There has been no clear explanation from the provincial government about why the age policy was adopted, Sugiharto said. Some parents have heard arguments that age cannot be manipulated, unlike the distance between home and school. But just because it cant be manipulated doesnt mean its the fairest measurement, Sugiharto said. Now the couples only hope is for their daughter to try her luck enrolling through the academic merit system, which fills only 20 percent of school seats and where potential students from throughout the city must compete for spots. The Jakarta administration has allocated 40 percent of the total school seats to be filled by the zoning system, compared to 5 percent for non-academic achievers, 25 percent for poverty preference admissions, 20 percent for Jakarta-based high achievers and another 5 percent for non-Jakarta high achievers. The remaining 5 percent is reserved for the children of state officials. Prior to this year, the proximity of a students residence to a school was considered an important criterion for enrollment. Schools used Google Maps to locate and verify a students home address to ensure that those living in the vicinity had priority in enrollment. This year, the Jakarta education agency has argued for the use of age in enrollment because of Jakartas complex demographic makeup. The head of the agency, Nahdiana, said the distribution of schools was different in each area and schools had varying intake capacities. Population density is not the same in every community of Jakarta, and then we also have vertical housing, she said in a recent online briefing. Age was used instead because it was a neutral variable that could not be manipulated, she said. In a later response, the agency argued that students from lower income families would lose out on spots through the zoning system because of lower average grades, hence the switch to the age-based policy, Kompas.com reported. Some 31,000 students have been accepted to state junior high schools (SMP) and 12,684 students have enrolled in public senior high schools through the zoning track this year, the city administration reported. About 52 percent of the SMA students who entered through the zoning track were 16 year-olds, followed by 15-year-olds (39.7 percent), 17-year-olds (6 percent) and 18-to-20-year-olds (1.4 percent), according this years data. Despite strong protests from parents and education experts, Nahdiana confirmed that the agency would continue to use age in its zoning system and would only evaluate it after this years enrollment concluded. They called it the zoning track and said it would be based on proximity, but now theyre using age to screen students for enrollment? said Dian Priandini, 35, a parent who lives in Pekayon, East Jakarta. Dian tried to register two of her children at every public high school in her zoning area to no avail. Im so disappointed with this policy. [...] I need them to go to a public school. Im a single parent and cant afford to send my kids to a private school, she said. Retno Listyarti, a commissioner with the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), said that her office had received many complaints about the school enrollment policy. She said the commission had met with the Jakarta education agency on Thursday to address the problem and added that the agency would seek to mediate with students who were not accepted because of their age. Satriawan Salim, the deputy secretary general of the Federation of Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI), said Jakartas zoning system possibly violated Education and Culture Ministerial Decree No. 44/2019 on student enrollment. He said the decree stipulated that age could only be used if the entire quota for seats had been filled and there were students on the waiting list whose homes were located a similar distance from a particular school. Using age as the main requirement in enrollment could potentially violate the decree, Satria said in a statement. The zoning system, which aims to end elitism at certain schools favored by well-off families, has remained controversial since its introduction in 2016. In 2018, it was discovered that some parents had falsified their wealth and income information so that their children would be included in the special quota for underprivileged families in certain school districts. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 08:00 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406628cf69 1 Politics President-Jokowi,COVID-19,CabinetReshuffle,economic-recovery,health-crisis,Terawan-Agus-Putranto,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo's fiery speech in a recent meeting with members of his Cabinet, which was circulated on Sunday, appears to be a sign of his frustration at the lack of progress in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and a threat that he will reshuffle his ministerial team if no progress is made in the effort. Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said on Monday that prior to delivering the speech on June 18, in which he threatened to replace ministers who failed to deliver results in the COVID-19 fight and disband government agencies, President Jokowi had issued frequent warnings to Cabinet members whom he considered were not doing enough in dealing with the pandemic and its economic impacts. "The President is concerned that his aides think that this is a normal situation. They [ministers] need to be reminded, and the last [warning] was the latest among many," Moeldoko told reporters on Monday. Moeldoko said that among many issues that Jokowi was most concerned about were health care and the delivery of social aid. After we looked into it, there were issues that needed to be discussed, such as how to build synergy between the BPJS Kesehatan [Health Care and Social Security Agency], regional administrations and the Health Ministry, the issue of data collection on healthcare workers and complicated regulations, Moeldoko said. In a video released on Sunday by the President's press office, Jokowi delivered an uncharacteristically angry speech, saying that he would resort to a Cabinet-shakeup, disband government agencies or issue another government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) if ministers failed to effectively deal with the pandemic and its economic impact. The video was a recording of a closed-doors Cabinet meeting on June 18, the first to be arranged during the pandemic with health protocols in place. "I will take any extraordinary steps for our 267 million citizens. These could be disbanding institutions, or it could be a [Cabinet] reshuffle, I have thought of many options, Jokowi said in the speech. Jokowi urged members of his Cabinet to go the extra mile in the effort to accelerate the implementation of several policies, specifically mentioning the governments social aid program as well as financial incentives for the countrys health workers, as he highlighted the slow disbursement of the governments COVID-19 response budget. We have budgeted Rp 75 trillion [US$5.21 billion] but only 1.5 percent has been disbursed. All the money thats supposed to be for the people is stuck there, he said. The much-anticipated social aid program should be disbursed quickly. [] This is an extraordinary [situation]. Jokowi added that he would be willing to risk his "political reputation" to deal with the ramifications of policies taken during the pandemic. This is not the first time Jokowi has used the threat of a reshuffle to spur his Cabinet into action. In February, during a private meeting with social media celebrities and influencers, the President said that he would replace Cabinet ministers who failed to adapt and deliver results. Last week, during a visit to Surabaya, East Java, which has become the latest hot spot for COVID-19, Jokowi warned of a health and economic crisis as the pandemic continued to ravage the country. During a meeting with local officials there he set a two-week deadline for officials to contain the pandemic. "I will closely monitor the situation after two weeks and see if theres good progress on this, Jokowi said. Political analysts said that Jokowi's June 18 statement marked a shift in his approach to the worsening pandemic, which has so far killed more than 2,600 people and infected in excess of 50,000. Executive director of local pollster KedaiKOPI Kunto Adi Wibowo said that with his recent statement Jokowi wanted officials in his government to have a more disciplined approach in tackling COVID-19, although the warning might well be too little, too late. This video should have been [released] in March. This is what we needed in early March, Kunto said, referring to the first cluster of COVID-19 cases that the government announced at the time. Researcher at the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Noory Okthariza said that although President Jokowi used his speech to test the waters of a possible reshuffle, he did want members of his Cabinet to drop their business-as-usual attitude in dealing with COVID-19. I think Jokowi wants to convey a message through the firm stance that he displayed. In the previous reshuffle, he allowed some Cabinet issues to be discussed by the public and members of his ruling coalition before finally deciding to reshuffle the Cabinet. Noory also questioned why it took so long for the President's team to make the speech public, which gave the impression he "had failed in his previous attempts to get his ministers to take COVID-19 more seriously. United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker Arsul Sani said Jokowi's criticism of his ministers was warranted as some Cabinet members had been ineffective in their work. Some members of the Cabinet communicate [their policies] with the public but do not coordinate with other ministers, resulting in different approaches to some issues, such as in the issue of quarantine, the relaxation of large-scale social restrictions [PSBB] and of foreign workers from China, among other matters, Arsul said. Democratic Party politician Ossy Dermawan, meanwhile, said that the timing of the video's release could indicate that it was only a publicity stunt. Why was this [video] content released to the public now? Its not surprising that many people think this is part of the Presidents attempt to shift the blame or that it is only publicity stunt, but I dont have the exact answer. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 07:34 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a406628a6ea 1 National #COVID19,COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,mixed-marriage,#mixed-marriage,immigration,#Immigration,stay-permits,#stay-permits Free Indonesian citizen Marcellina Lintang, 31, who works as a teacher in Iraq, will finish her contract in July. She is ready to return home but worried that immigration hurdles might soon separate her from her husband, an American citizen who does not have a stay permit for Indonesia. She is now pulling all the stops to either obtain a stay permit for her husband or extend her visa in Iraq. She has until July 14 before she is fined for overstaying. As of Saturday, she had yet to receive a decision from the Indonesian embassy on her husbands future status in Indonesia. The embassy is currently processing her report and coordinating with Marcellina on the matter. The worst scenario, and I hope it does not happen, would be for my son and I to go back to Indonesia while my husband returns to the United States, she said. Many Indonesians with foreign spouses living abroad, like Marcellina, are currently in limbo, as they face obstacles to apply for or extend stay permits during the COVID-19 outbreak, although Indonesia has relaxed requirements for foreigners who are already in the country. The latest regulation by the Law and Human Rights Ministry, which oversees immigration, generally bars foreigners from entering Indonesia unless they have a temporary stay permit (ITAS) or permanent stay permit (ITAP) with a valid entry permit. They must now also present a health certificate showing a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test from their country of departure and be willing to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arriving in Indonesia, as required under a Health Ministry circular issued in early May. ITAS and ITAP holders abroad, whose entry permits have expired, can still enter Indonesia via seven major ports of entry: The airports of Soekarno Hatta, Balis Ngurah Rai, Surabayas Juanda, Medans Kualanamu and Batams Hang Nadim as well as two Batam international seaports: Batam Center and Citra Tritunas. Read also: Indonesia to offer exemptions from temporary ban on foreigners As a result, couples who have relied on the visa-on-arrival to get to Indonesia now struggle to meet their families, Indonesian Mixed-Marriage Society (PerCa) chairwoman Juliani Luthan said. She said some mixed couples preferred not to apply for stay permits because their jobs required them to travel extensively between countries before the pandemic. Even family members who are abroad and have stay permits are facing difficulties to access PCR tests to get to Indonesia, because some countries only test people with COVID-19 symptoms. We understand that the pandemic must be contained, and we want to avoid imported cases, Juliani said. "But peoples right to meet their families should not be infringed." She recommended that the government ease procedures for mixed-marriage couples to enter Indonesia or obtain new stay permits, especially if they have a marriage certificate, among other documents, to prove they have family in Indonesia. Such easing, however, had to be done responsibly to prevent imported COVID-19 cases, she said. As of Monday, Indonesia recorded 55,092 confirmed cases and 2,805 deaths. On June 15, immigration offices reopened across the country for services including passport applications or renewals and services for foreign citizens, especially related to immigration status changes, obtaining new ITAS and immigration certificates and registering for limited dual citizenship. Read also: Indonesia proposes regional 'travel bubble' The immigrations head of stay permits, Burhanuddin, said the directorate had yet to open services to extend ITAP and ITAS. However, he told mixed-marriage couples in a teleconference on Friday not to worry, as the government allowed holders of expired ITAS or ITAP to stay in Indonesia during the pandemic on an Emergency Stay Permit (ITKT), which would automatically replace the expired permits without the need to apply for it. The government also allows foreigners who are already in Indonesia with visitor visas to extend their stay with the emergency stay permits, according to the immigrations website. So, dont worry, he said. Theres no need to fear that you will be considered overstaying." While waiting for immigration offices next step, Rini Griffin, the coordinator for PerCa's Batam chapter, said mixed-marriage couples in Batam were in a dilemma, as many did not own stay permits. This was because foreign spouses in mixed couples in Batam usually worked offshore and lived in Indonesia for less than a month. Those who are already in Indonesia have also remained in Batam, fearing that they would not see their families again for a long time should they go back to their countries of origin. This is really saddening. Children who are used to seeing their fathers back home after working in Singapore or Malaysia for a couple of days have now not seen their fathers for about three months, and it makes it really difficult for mothers to explain the reason to their children, she said. Editors note: This article has been updated. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 07:03 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066289717 1 National Surabaya-Mayor-Tri-Rismaharini,Tri-Rismaharini,COVID-19,coronavirus,East-Java Free Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini knelt down on the ground and broke into tears as she held a meeting with doctors and hospital directors in Surabaya amid the spike of COVID-19 cases in East Javas capital city, which has become Indonesias epicenter of the outbreak. Risma, as the mayor is affectionately known, was holding a meeting with the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) and local authorities to discuss COVID-19 management at the Surabaya City Hall on Monday. In the video, which went viral shortly after the meeting, the mayor, known as Risma, was seen kneeling down, crying and apologizing after a pulmonologist from Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya shared in the meeting that the hospital was overloaded with COVID-19 patients. The doctor said that the hospital was overwhelmed with patients while also highlighting that there were still many residents of Surabaya who ignored the required health protocol to prevent further transmission of the highly infectious virus. The statement led to a temporary halt of the meeting as Risma started to kneel down and cry. If you blame us [Surabaya administration], I won't take it. We cant even enter the hospital, she said in tears as reported by tribunnews.com. Risma argued that her office faced hurdles in reaching out to the hospital even when it tried to offer aid, without explaining the details. She also said that her administration had undertaken various efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus. Please dont keep blaming us, she said while crying. Read also: 'COVID-19 is real': Virus ravages family in Indonesia's second-largest city East Java is currently Indonesias COVID-19 epicenter with a tally of 11,805 confirmed cases as of Monday, surpassing the capital city of Jakarta that has recorded 11,114 cases. Based on the East Java COVID-19 task force report on Sunday, Surabaya recorded half of the case of the province with 5,510 cases and 418 fatalities. Despite the worsening situation of the pandemic in the region, the Surabaya mayor has been long caught in the ongoing feud with the East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa over how to handle the pandemic in the region. An official at the East Java COVID-19 task force suggested that the city reinstate the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in the wake of soaring new cases. However, Risma said PSBB reinstatement was not in her administration's plan for the time being as she would shift the focus to more testing and shutting down markets of shopping centers if positive cases were found, claiming that the numbers showed 'downward trend'. (trn) This sort of thing is incompatible with representative democracy. It gives the lie to everything America claims to be. And it makes clear that restoring the Voting Rights Act will not be enough. Its time for a new Voting Rights Act, one that in addition to its previous protections, also enshrines the right of voting by mail, restores to ex-felons the right to register and vote, removes the power to draw district lines from politicians and places it with nonpartisan commissions, invalidates photo ID laws and requires that a reasonable number of polling stations and working polling machines be made available. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 15:54 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662b08f0 1 Business BPK,Supreme-Audit-Agency,Jiwasraya,corruption-case,OJK,Financial-Services-Authority,State-owned-Enterprises-Ministry,Indonesia-Stock-Exchange,IDX,investigative-audit Free The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has been auditing the financial system authority and several state companies as part of its investigative audit on state-owned insurer PT Asuransi Jiwasraya following the Attorney Generals Office's (AGO) decision to name more suspects in the Jiwasraya corruption case. Chairman Agung Firman Sampurna said on Monday the investigative audit had been extended beyond the previous audit and now included investigations into the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry and other state-owned companies linked to Jiwasraya. Were encountering some difficulties in the audit [due to the COVID-19 pandemic], but we hope we can complete the audit by the end of this year, he said. Although the investigative audit was less likely to uncover additional losses from Jiwasrayas investment mismanagement, the agency expressed hope that the result could reveal where the premium had gone to. It also expected to create a systemic improvement to protect customers from potential fraud in the financial services industry in the future and to improve public trust in Indonesian assets. Jiwasraya is accused of mismanagement and corruption when it invested most of its premium revenue from the JS Saving Plan, one of the companys insurance products, in pumped-and-dumped stocks. As a result, it failed to pay out Rp 16 trillion (US$1.1 billion) in matured policies due in February to its policyholders. The AGO on Thursday accused the 13 companies of mismanaging or laundering the premium revenue collected by Jiwasraya from 2014 to 2018. They allegedly caused Rp 12.35 trillion of state losses, or 73.46 percent of the total Rp 16.81 trillion in state losses as previously audited by the BPK. It also named an OJK official, identified only as FH, a suspect in the case. He was suspected of abuse of power, which allegedly paved the way for Jiwasraya's investment mismanagement during FHs tenure as OJK department head of capital market monitoring from 2014 to 2017. Agung also said the agency was open to the possibility of pursuing further investigations into economic losses related to the Jiwasraya case in the future. If law enforcers link this case to something much bigger, theres a possibility that we may also calculate the loss to the economy, he said. Agung on Monday also defended the agencys audit on Jiwasraya and denied an accusation that he, the BPK vice chairman and the agency were protecting certain parties in the audit. According to the audit procedure, law enforcers will have to submit a request to the BPK to calculate the amount of state losses [from this case], Agung told the press in Jakarta. With this logic, it would be silly to accuse the BPK, its chairman and vice chairman of protecting certain parties. The statement came after Benny Tjokrosaputro, the defendant in the corruption case, accused the agency of protecting conglomerate Bakrie group in the Jiwasraya case. The BPK chairman and vice chairman are covering up [Bakrie groups involvement and] they are definitely Bakries cronies, Benny said before attending a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court last Wednesday, as reported by tempo.co. Benny also called on the AGO to uncover Bakrie groups involvement in the stock pump-and-dump scheme, which caused Jiwasraya to book losses since 2006, Kompas reported last Friday. The insurer was known to have invested in two of the group's publicly listed entities, property developer PT Bakrieland Development and investment company PT Bakrie & Brothers. Both stocks have been priced at Rp 50 apiece since 2018. However, Jiwasraya president director Hexana Tri Sasongko said the insurer had long sold the stocks before he was appointed as the president director in May 2018. Due to the accusation, Agung said the BPK planned to report Benny to the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) for defamation. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Laurie Chen and Jerome Taylor (Agence France-Presse) Beijing and Hong Kong Tue, June 30, 2020 20:18 355 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662bd5af 2 World China,Hong-Kong,Hong-Kong-security-law Free China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong Tuesday, a historic move that critics and many western governments fear will smother the finance hub's freedoms and hollow out its autonomy. As the law was signed by President Xi Jinping little more than six weeks after it was first unveiled, Beijing described it as a "sword" hanging over the heads of those who endanger national security. The contents of the law have so far been kept secret from Hong Kong's 7.5 million inhabitants, sparking alarm, anger and fear. "It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before," prominent democracy campaigner Joshua Wong tweeted as his political party Demosisto announced it was disbanding. "With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a #secretpolicestate." Some Hong Kongers on Tuesday said they were deleting Twitter accounts and scrubbing other social media platforms. In contrast, former city leader Leung Chun-ying took to Facebook to offer bounties of up to HK$1 million ($130,000) for anyone who could help secure the first prosecutions under the new legislation or track down people who have recently fled the city. The United States, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations rights watchdog have all voiced fears it could be used to stifle criticism of Beijing, which wields similar laws to crush dissent on the mainland. The law bypassed Hong Kong's fractious legislature and comes into effect on Tuesday evening, according to the city's current leader Carrie Lam. "The fact that Hong Kong people will only come to know what's really in this new law after the fact is more than preposterous," Claudia Mo, an opposition lawmaker, told AFP. 'Fundamental change' As part of the 1997 handover from Britain, Hong Kong was guaranteed certain freedoms -- as well as judicial and legislative autonomy -- for 50 years in a deal known as "One Country, Two Systems". The formula helped to cement the city's status as a world-class business hub, bolstered by a reliable judiciary and political freedoms unseen on the mainland. Critics have long accused Beijing of chipping away at that status, but they describe the new security law as the most brazen move yet. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply concerned" and that London would scrutinise the law "to understand whether it is in conflict" with the handover agreement. A summary of the law published by the official state news agency Xinhua this month said it would cover subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces. China's security agencies will also be able to set up shop publicly in the city for the first time. And Beijing will have jurisdiction over some cases, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between Hong Kong and the mainland's party-controlled courts. Analysts said that even without knowing details, the security law radically restructures the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong. "It's a fundamental change that dramatically undermines both the local and international community's confidence towards Hong Kong's "One Country, Two Systems" model and its status as a robust financial centre," Hong Kong political analyst Dixon Sing told AFP. Restore stability On the mainland, national security laws are routinely used to jail critics, especially for the vague offence of "subversion". Beijing and Hong Kong's government reject those allegations. They have said the law will only target a minority of people, will not harm political freedoms in the city and will restore business confidence after a year of historic pro-democracy protests. "I urge the international community to respect our country's right to safeguard national security and Hong Kong people's aspirations for stability and harmony," city leader Lam told the UN Human Rights Council in a video message on Tuesday. Millions took to the streets last year while a hard core of protesters frequently battled police in often violent confrontations that saw more than 9,000 arrested. Hong Kong has banned protests in recent months, citing previous unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, although local transmissions have ended. Some western nations warned of potential repercussions ahead of the security law's passing. However many are also wary of incurring Beijing's wrath and losing lucrative access to the mainland's huge economy. "We deplore this decision," said European Council head Charles Michel. Chris Patten, the last British governor of the territory, said the decision marked "the end of One Country, Two Systems". Washington -- which has embarked on a trade war with China -- has said the security law means Hong Kong no longer enjoys sufficient autonomy from the mainland to justify special status. In a largely symbolic move, the United States on Monday ended sensitive defence exports to Hong Kong over the law. China said it would take unspecified "countermeasures" in response. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 14:57 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662ac0e0 1 National #East-Java,East-Java,COVID-19,#COVID19,COVID-19-in-East-Java,#Surabaya,surabaya,khofifah-indar-parawansa,#Jokowi,Jokowi,coronavirus,#coronavirus,explainer,#Explainer,PostScript,#PostScript Free East Java, Indonesia's second most populous province, surpassed Jakarta as the nation's COVID-19 epicenter on June 26 with the highest record of confirmed cases and deaths. The province has a cumulative total of 11,482 cases, 866 deaths and 3,891 recovered cases as of Monday morning. It also has the second highest case-fatality rate (CFR) the percentage of deaths among confirmed cases -- at 7.5 percent, higher than the national CFR of 5.1 percent. East Java has recorded 1,226 deaths among patients under surveillance (PDPs) and 164 deaths among persons under observation (ODPs), two categories referring to suspected cases pending testing or test results. The provincial capital of Surabaya accounts for half of the confirmed cases and deaths in East Java. Greater Surabaya, which includes the adjacent regencies of Sidoarjo and Gresik, eased the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in early June, even though it implemented the measure almost three weeks after Jakarta did. It is now establishing what it deems as the "new normal", despite the spike in new cases, its overwhelmed hospitals and expert calls for stricter measures. President Joko Jokowi Widodo has given East Java two weeks to lower its infection rate after he visited the province on June 25. Testing capacity better, though not 'ideal' Joni Wahyuhadi, the curative management head of the East Java COVID-19 task force, attributed the recent spike to improved testing capacity and active tracing echoing the central government's arguments for the daily highs in new cases the country has been seeing most of this month. Read also: Indonesia records new daily highs in cases during transition to 'new normal' Joni said 27 labs in the province were processing samples now and working to increase their testing capacity. Unlike Jakarta and West Java, East Java does not provide testing data on its website, but Joni said the provincial administration had tested some 53,000 people. Meanwhile, Surabaya provides swab testing data on the city's dedicated website, but the data has not been updated since it recorded 21,472 cumulative swab tests on June 28. Epidemiologist Windhu Purnomo of Surabaya's Airlangga University concurred that the city's testing capacity had improved this month, but that it was still far" from the ideal World Health Organization (WHO) standard of one test per 1,000 population per week. With a population of some 40 million people, he said that East Java should be performing 40,000 tests per week. Transmission continues, tracing 'not easy' East Java chairman Sutrisno of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) said that the recent spike in cases showed that "community transmission was still occurring". Joni also said that new cases were a possibility. Tracing and isolating contacts were thus key to stopping the virus' spread, but the province was finding it difficult to recruit more people for its contact tracing teams due the fear of infection, said Windhu. But relying on puskesmas (community health centers) workers was not enough, he stressed. Surabaya Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa told Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto and COVID-19 national task force chief Doni Monardo on June 24 that the tracing ratio in Surabaya was 2.8, or almost three contacts traced per confirmed case, kompas.com reported. Neighboring Sidoarjo had a tracing rate of 3.5. "Tracing is not easy. It requires extraordinary manpower and teams," said Joni. "Being a [contact] tracer is not easy, they're at risk of contracting the virus, given the many asymptomatic cases [...] There's no room at all for carelessness." He said that contact tracing should average 25 contacts per confirmed case, adding that local health agencies had been receiving help from the Indonesian Military and the police personnel in tracing contacts. Contagion fear haunts overwhelmed medics The IDIs Sutrisno said that many medical workers and even administrative staffers had been infected at hospitals overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients in Greater Surabaya, as well as the nearby city of Pasuruan and Lamongan regency. This reduced not only the number of medical workers on duty, but also the quality of service in treating COVID-19 patients, he said, while ordinary patients without COVID-19 were sidelined. East Java has 99 referral hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients, as well as several emergency hospitals for treating patients with mild to no symptoms. Joni, who is also the director of East Java's main referral hospital, the Dr. Soetomo Regional General in Surabaya, said he had "read journals" that indicated a high correlation between the number of COVID-19 patients a hospital was treating and the number of its medical workers exposed to the virus, even if they were following the health protocols. He said the province's hospitals were full, although some still had space for patients with mild to no symptoms. Around 20 patients had to wait in line for a bed at Soetomo hospitals emergency room on Sunday, said Joni, highlighting the need for patients to be distributed across hospitals in the region. As of last Friday, nine of Soetomo hospital's resident doctors were being treated for COVID-19, including one who was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), said Joni. Early this month, an internal medicine resident at the hospital died after contracting the virus. At least 11 doctors in East Java have died of the virus. The IDI Indonesia's records show that 76 doctors in East Java, excluding Surabaya, had contracted the virus. Sutrisno said IDI's East Java office was still gathering data on infected doctors in Surabaya, as it believed that the number could be "much higher". People neglecting protocols amid 'absent enforcement' During Jokowi;s East Java visit, the President expressed surprise on learning that 70 percent of the province's residents were not wearing masks. The data allegedly came from an online survey the Airlangga public health alumni association conducted in late May to evaluate the PSBB implementation in the region. The survey results revealed low compliance in wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing in public spaces, including places of worship and traditional markets. Experts said that mudik (exodus) and lax movement restrictions had helped the virus to spread. East Java recorded 460,000 mudik travelers between March 16 and May 22 ahead of Idul Fitri on May 24-25. They also said that the PSBB had been ineffective in reducing transmission, given the absence of" enforcement and sanctions against violators, and warned that the disease would continue to spread, now that people were resuming their daily activities. "This is a critical [point in the] crisis, we're running against time. We can't wait months or years for people to become [self-aware]," said Windhu. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 15:19 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662ae294 1 Business digital-tax,COVID-19,Netflix,taxation-director-general-Suryo-Utomo,state-revenue Free The Taxation Directorate General has unveiled the criteria for technology firms expected to collect value-added tax (VAT), including the transaction value and traffic, as the government ramps up efforts to increase state revenue during the coronavirus epidemic. According to a regulation unveiled by the tax office on Tuesday, technology firms with total transaction value of more than Rp 600 million (US$41,949) and with customer traffic of more than 12,000 per year are obliged to collect VAT from their Indonesian customers. According to the criteria, the appointment of VAT collector would depend on the transaction value or traffic from Indonesian [customers] without consideration of the companies jurisdiction, the tax office statement reads. Over-the-top (OTT) technology firms appointed by the tax office as VAT collectors in July are expected to start collecting the taxes in August. Consumers using digital goods or services from the technology firms are obliged to pay 10 percent VAT with the regulation enforcement. Law No. 2/2020 stipulates that the government is able to charge VAT on taxable intangible goods and/or services sold through e-commerce platforms. It can also charge income tax or electronic transaction tax on e-commerce operated by foreign individuals or digital companies that have a significant economic presence. The government has been struggling to collect revenue to fund its cash-strapped budget as the COVID-19 pandemic hits almost all business sectors. Ministry data shows state revenue reached Rp 664.3 trillion as of May, down 9 percent year-on-year (yoy), as tax income dropped 10.8 percent yoy to Rp 444.6 trillion. It has pressed ahead with collecting digital tax despite an announcement by the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) that it will investigate such policy, which the US said was aimed squarely at its technology giants. However, the government has maintained that the VAT is not the subject of an investigation by the US, which is focusing more on corporate income tax plans for technology companies, a topic of discussion led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Previously, tax office chief Suryo Utomo said six OTT technology firms were ready to collect VAT from consumers, adding that the office was also in talks with several other firms. We will announce the firms that will collect VAT on digital goods and services in early July, Suryo told reporters during a streamed news conference on June 25. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has repeatedly mentioned that the government is targeting streaming platform Netflix, music streaming service Spotify and videoconferencing application Zoom. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adrian Wail Akhlas (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, July 1, 2020 08:20 355 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662bac26 1 Business loan-guarantee,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati,finance-ministry,micro-small-medium-enterprises,MSMEs,loan-growth,bank-loan,OJK,COVID-19 Free The government has unveiled a new rule to guarantee working capital loans for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in a bid to boost credit disbursement from banks, as risk aversion increases amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Ministry Regulation (PMK) No. 71/2020 published on Monday stipulates that the government will assign state-owned credit insurer Jaminan Kredit Indonesia (Jamkrindo) and state-owned insurer Asuransi Kredit Indonesia (Askrindo) to provide guarantees for banks to channel loans to MSMEs. The government has allocated Rp 12 trillion (US$839.07 million) to guarantee working capital loans, which consists of Rp 10 trillion for guarantee services and another Rp 2 trillion in reserves. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government would soon implement the insurance scheme, adding that the policy aimed at pushing banks to channel more loans to MSMEs whose businesses have been heavily disrupted by the pandemic. We are introducing risk management for new working capital loans so that banks feel safe to lend again and companies feel protected as the government will pay the insurance for them, she told a discussion on Monday, warning that risk aversion might further delay the economic recovery. Risk aversion is exactly what is happening now as banks and businesses do not want to restart the working capital disbursement after debt restructuring, Sri Mulyani went on to say. The economy will not grow if they wait for all the restructuring processes to be completed, which will take months. The government has been struggling to keep the economic wheels turning since the COVID-19 outbreak forced people to stay at home to contain the coronavirus spread. It has started to gradually reopen the economy despite an increase in the number of cases as the economy is expected to grow by just 1 percent this year under the baseline scenario or even contract by 0.4 percent under the worst-case scenario. The government has allocated Rp 695.2 trillion to fight the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, of which Rp 87.55 trillion will be allocated to health care, Rp 203.9 trillion to strengthening social safety nets and Rp 123.46 trillion to incentives for MSMEs, among other measures. The PMK also outlines several criteria for banks to receive the state guarantees, such as they must have a good reputation, be considered healthy by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and bear a minimum of 20 percent risk from providing the working capital loans. The government has also put in place several criteria for MSMEs to be eligible to get the state guarantees, such as a good credit record and a proposed maximum loan value of Rp 10 billion. We used to have 12 percent credit growth [annually] but what I have now is only 3 to 4 percent. Its lucky enough to even have positive credit growth, Sri Mulyani said, adding that the growth was driven by loans to the healthcare, as well as food and beverages, segments. Indonesias loan growth slowed to 5.7 percent year-on-year (yoy) in April from the 7.9 percent annual growth recorded in March, Bank Indonesia (BI) data show, as the pandemic discouraged loan demand amid disrupted business activity. At the same time, some borrowers have been facing difficulties in repaying their loans. OJK data show that Indonesian banks had provided 6.35 million borrowers with credit restructuring worth Rp 695.3 trillion as of June 22, following the issuance of OJK Regulation No. 11/2020, which instructed financial institutions to provide relief for borrowers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit restructuring has grown significantly in banks in the BUKU IV [category], with the highest growth recorded in the trade sector, OJK chairman Wimboh Santoso told lawmakers in a hearing on Monday. We will ask banks to start providing loans for borrowers again. As part of its efforts to boost loan channeling, the government announced last week that it would place Rp 30 trillion in state-owned banks, associated under the auspices of Himbara, to be disbursed as loans to businesses to help support economic recovery. The government is following through on its promise to allocate fund placements in banks worth Rp 82.2 trillion to help their liquidity as they conduct credit restructuring for MSMEs and labor-intensive businesses affected by the pandemic. The fund placement and the working capital loan guarantee are part of the governments Rp 695.2 trillion budget to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 13:56 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662a56d7 1 Business pertamina,subsidized-fuel,subsidy,SOEs,SOEMinistry,compensation,DPR Free The government has yet to compensate state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina Rp 96.5 trillion (US$6.8 billion) for fuel subsidies given to the poor from 2017 to 2019. Rp 20.79 trillion was from 2017, Rp 44.85 trillion from 2018 and Rp 30.86 trillion from last year, Pertamina president director Nicke Widyawati told members of the House of Representatives Commission VI overseeing business on Monday. The government is close to disbursing Rp 45 trillion in compensation to the oil and gas firm this year, covering 47 percent of the companys total receivables, while the remainder will be paid from 2021 onward. The funds have been audited by Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Finance Ministry, according to Nicke. It just needs to be paid, Nicke said. The compensation is urgent for Pertaminas financial wellbeing as the company faces a triple shock of low crude oil prices, falling fuel demand and a weak rupiah-dollar exchange rate because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the president director added. Pertamina has revised down its growth projections for this year amid large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) imposed to contain the disease. The government has been gradually reopening the economy even though more than 55,000 positive cases have been recorded as of Monday. The government compensation to Pertamina is part of a larger billion dollar compensation plan for big state-owned enterprises (SOE), from a chunk of the governments allocated Rp 695.2 trillion spending to fight the impact of the outbreak. The government has liabilities to SOEs that amount to Rp 108.48 trillion, SOE ministry spokesman Arya Sinulingga said on June 5. Of the figure, state electricity firm PLN is owed Rp 48.46 trillion, while state railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) is owed Rp 300 billion. House Commission VI deputy chairman Aria Bima, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) politician, said on Monday that commission members would help push the government to compensate Pertamina. We hope Pertamina may continue its public service obligations, he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 18:00 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662b68c1 1 City Jakarta-police,Nigerians,Nigeria,foreigners,Immigration-Office,immigration,ImmigrationOffice,stay-permits,West-Jakarta Free The Jakarta Police have arrested 11 foreign nationals for allegedly attacking five Jakarta Police officers during a raid at an apartment building in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, on the weekend. The incident began when some 15 members of the Jakarta Police cybercrime unit led by Comr. Khaerudin raided an apartment in the Green Park View complex to arrest a suspect of online fraud. The raid caught the attention of residents of other units. A Nigerian national was causing a fuss by shouting out that there was a raid on foreign citizens, the head of the criminal investigation unit of the West Jakarta Police, Comr. Teuku Arsya Khadafi, said in a statement on Sunday. They thought the policemen were immigration officers conducting a raid on foreigners, which prompted them to beat some of the police officers, Arsya said. He added that around 60 foreigners had assaulted the police officers together. It was later revealed that some of the foreigners there had no stay permits. Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said the police had arrested 11 foreigners, including nine from Nigeria, who were allegedly involved in the attacks. All of them were detained by immigration authorities related to stay permit issues. Despite the arrestees having been entrusted to immigration authorities, Yusri said he would pursue legal measures against the alleged attackers. The police report has been made; the process is ongoing. For the time being, [the case] is still being studied by the immigration authorities with regard to their permits in Indonesia, he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 15:22 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662ae35a 1 Business Jiwasraya,corruption-case,money-laundering,asset-management,mutual-fund Free A corruption and money laundering case implicating state-owned PT Asuransi Jiwasraya will not severely hit Indonesias mutual fund industry despite the Attorney Generals Office (AGO) having named 13 asset management companies and a high-ranking official as suspects, an association and expert have said. The AGO on Thursday accused the 13 companies of mismanaging or laundering the premium revenue collected by Jiwasraya from 2014 to 2018. They allegedly caused Rp 12.35 trillion (US$873.06 million) of state losses, or 73.46 percent of the total Rp 16.81 trillion in state losses as audited by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK). Mutual fund data research firm Infovesta Utama investment research head Wawan Hendrayana said on Friday most of the implicated asset management companies issued a single investor mutual fund designed specifically for Jiwasraya. Unlike typical mutual funds, a single investor mutual fund is only owned by one customer and is often used by institutional investors, such as insurers or pension funds, that have a specific strategy and certain needs in managing their fund. Read also: Thirteen companies, OJK official named suspects in Jiwasraya case This product is managed separately from other products sold to the public. Should there be any orders to suspend or liquidate the product, the orders will only apply to that specific product, Wawan told The Jakarta Post. He added that the case would not significantly hit the mutual fund industry, as the 13 investment managers only account for 10 percent of the total assets under management (AUM) of the countrys mutual fund industry, which reached a total of Rp 466 trillion as of May. The AGO has blocked mutual fund accounts related to Jiwasraya at the 13 companies and assured on Sunday that other accounts unrelated to the case were not frozen so that the investment managers could still run their business, kontan.co.id reported. Jiwasraya is accused of mismanagement when it invested most of its premium revenue from the JS Saving Plan, one of the companys insurance products, in pumped-and-dumped stocks. As a result, it failed to pay out Rp 16 trillion (US$1.1 billion) in matured policies due in February to its policyholders. In January, the AGO also named three former Jiwasraya executives and three businessmen suspects. The suspects are now defendants, having undergone their first hearing on June 4. It also named on Thursday a Financial Services Authority (OJK) official, identified only as FH, as a suspect in the case. He was suspected of abuse of power, which allegedly paved the way for Jiwasraya's investment mismanagement during FHs tenure as OJK department head of capital market monitoring from 2014 to 2017. The Indonesian Association of Mutual Funds Managers (APRDI) assured that the case would not affect the industry as every mutual fund was managed separately. So, a problem with one mutual fund product will not affect other products managed by the same investment manager, the industry group said in a statement on Friday, stressing that mutual fund assets were stored and administered by independent custodian banks. Read also: Govt to sell Jiwasraya assets, including Jakarta mall, to pay back creditors The APRDI also called on industry players to follow the prevailing regulations on managing and marketing mutual fund products, while upholding integrity, professionalism and the code of ethics. The OJK on Thursday assured that the involvement of 13 investment managers in the ailing state-owned insurer PT Asuransi Jiwasraya case would not affect the companies operations, and they continued to run their business as usual. Two of the 13 suspects, MNC Asset Management (MNC AM) and Sinarmas Asset Management (Sinarmas AM), issued statements on Thursday, saying that they both managed single investor mutual fund products owned solely by Jiwasraya. MNC AM said in the statement that the portfolio in the mutual fund, Reksa Dana Syariah Ekuitas II, was determined by Jiwasraya and every portfolio transaction was done according to the insurers instruction. Meanwhile, Sinarmas AM claimed that the Simas Saham Ultima product owned by Jiwasraya accounted for only 0.2 percent of the companys AUM of Rp 30.2 trillion. It also insisted that the product did not affect the company and other customers due to the insignificant value. Sinarmas Asset Management will continue to serve our customers and prioritize the rights and interest of every customer, Sinarmas AM lawyer Hotman Paris said in a statement. The company is fully responsible for every product marketed. Customers shouldnt be concerned and they can continue to sell and buy [mutual fund products] as usual. Wawan, however, warned that despite the low impact, the case could hurt the countrys mutual fund industry as investors could lose their trust in investment managers. Read also: OJK sees insurance industry growing amid pandemic We might see a wave of redemption, especially on mutual fund products issued by the 13 companies, he said. One of the suspects, PT Pool Advista Aset Manajemen (PAAM), saw an increase in redemption since the company was still named a witness in the case and it expected to see more redemption during the trial process, according to information disclosure filed with the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) by its parent company, publicly listed PT Pool Advista. Currently, the asset management company is still operational but only to manage the mutual fund related to the Jiwasraya case. It is not selling new mutual fund products to new investors, Pool Advista said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 18:04 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662b7324 1 National Jokowi,regional-administrations,Semarang,Central-Java,COVID-19,APBD,virus-korona-indonesia Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo has called on regional administrations to quickly disburse funds for the response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Jokowi said it was crucial that every governor, regent and mayor fast-track the reallocation of regional budgets (APBD) to bolster the health and business sectors in their respective communities. Furthermore, he said he expected the budget reallocation to improve the distribution of social aid, which had previously faced hurdles due to several factors including data errors. We should also prepare the budget for an economic stimulus for small and medium enterprises, Jokowi told a number of regional heads during a meeting at the Central Java Governors Office in Semarang. The central government must prepare, the provincial administration must prepare, the regency and municipal administrations must also prepare [the budget]. There should be multiple layers so nothing is overlooked. He went on to remind regional heads that knowing whether it was time to hit the brakes or gas in regard to large-scale restrictions was vital amid shifting public attitude toward the current health emergency. It would be ideal if we could [juggle between] COVID-19 mitigation, health care and the economy, the President said in his address. Jokowi previously said he was prepared to take extraordinary steps, including a Cabinet reshuffle, should his ministers fail to take COVID-19 seriously. He urged all ministries to cut through the red tape and accelerate their spending in order to stimulate the economy, citing the state budget for the health sector as an example of the slow spending He also called on the Health Ministry to immediately pay out the financial incentives promised to health workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 13:27 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662a3c91 1 Politics Cabinet-reshuffle,NasDem-Party,Golkar,Terawan-Agus-Putranto,Jokowi,COVID-19,coronavirus,health-ministry,covid-19-budget Free Lawmakers in the House of Representatives Commission IX, which oversees health care, have defended Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto over President Joko Jokowi Widodos criticism of low spending on the health sector amid the countrys struggle to contain COVID-19. In a video of a closed-door Cabinet meeting on June 18, published by the Presidential Secretariat on Monday, Jokowi threatened to reshuffle his ministers for their slow outbreak response. He specifically called out the Health Ministry for having spent only 1.53 percent of its Rp 75 trillion (U$ 5.2 billion) budget. House Commission IX members held a hearing with Terawan on Monday morning and asked the minister about the criticism. They decided that the Presidents criticism was not completely correct. Pak Jokowi wasnt completely correct about [the budget disbursement]. Its a pity for the minister," commission chairwoman Felly Estelita Runtuwene said after the hearing. Read also: Jokowi uses reshuffle threat to spur Cabinet into action The NasDem Party politician explained that while the COVID-19 budget for the health sector had increased from Rp 75 trillion to Rp 87.55 trillion, of the total, only Rp 25.73 trillion was managed by the Health Ministry. Of the Rp 25.73 trillion, Felly said Rp 1.503 trillion had been allocated for COVID-19 test kits, Rp 33.53 billion for laboratory services, Rp 21.86 trillion for health services, Rp 136 billion for pharmacy and medical devices, Rp 1.96 trillion for health workers and Rp 229.75 billion for public health programs. "Of that total, only Rp 1.96 trillion is on the ministrys DIPA [budget execution lists] and 17.6 percent has been spent; Rp 331.29 billion for health workers incentives and Rp 14.1 billion for compensation for the death of health workers, she said. She added that the rest of the budget was still being reviewed by the Finance Ministry. It is not included in the Health Ministrys DIPA, so it cant be spent yet. [RA:;Frontline health workers left waiting for promised stimulus::https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/05/22/frontline-health-workers-left-waiting-for-promised-stimulus.html] The rest of the Rp 87.55 trillion allocated for the health sector was managed by the Finance Ministry and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), she added. However, we will keep an eye on the Health Ministrys spending, which indeed isnt optimal. Golkar Party lawmaker Melki Laka Lena echoed Fellys sentiments. "The President's speech on low spending in the health sector must be seen in the right context," the said commission's deputy chairman. Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX:ARV) is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Artemis Resources begins Carlow West RC drilling to test deep gold anomalism Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX:ARV) has started drilling at the Carlow West Gold Project, with reverse circulation (RC) drilling underway at 11 holes in an area which returned rock chip assays of up to 9.89 g/t gold. Aircore (AC) drilling is also set to start on July 15, testing the broader 1.8 kilometre-long strike extent of the Carlow West target in the West Pilbara. The Munni Munni RC drilling of 12 drill holes for 1,928 metres has been completed, with holes spread through the entire upper portion of the mineralisation, to a maximum depth of 200 metres. Samples are in transit to ALS Global and results are expected in 3-4 weeks. Carlow West extent to be tested Executive director Alastair Clayton said the company looked forward to receiving the results of the Munni Munni program. "We have just kicked off at Carlow West using an RC rig to test, deeper than aircore likely could, across an area of higher inferred gold anomalism. "Carlow West is a 1.8-kilometre-long gold target and this extent will be tested using the AC rig once that becomes available from a nearby campaign." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dan Whitcomb and Maria Caspani (Reuters) Los Angeles, United States Tue, June 30, 2020 06:56 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066289343 2 World COVID-19,los-angeles,patients,california,coronavirus-epicenter Free Los Angeles County recorded an "alarming" one-day spike of nearly 3,000 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, taking its total to more than 100,000 cases, public health officials said, warning that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed. Los Angeles and neighboring counties have become a new epicenter in the pandemic as cases and hospitalizations have surged there despite California Governor Gavin Newsom's strict order last week requiring masks in nearly all public spaces. "The alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations signals that we, as a community, need to take immediate action to slow the spread of COVID-19," Barbara Ferrer, director of public health for Los Angeles County, said in a statement announcing the sharp upswing. "Otherwise, we are quickly moving toward overwhelming our healthcare system and seeing even more devastating illness and death," Ferrer said. The county reported a single-day record of 2,903 new cases. California, which on Sunday ordered bars in Los Angeles and six other counties to close, is among several US states including Florida, Texas and Arizona battling a new wave of infections as the nation emerges from weeks of clamp-downs on residents and businesses Texas and Florida ordered the closure of all their recently reopened bars on Friday. Democrats leading the biggest metropolitan areas in Texas on Monday renewed calls for Governor Greg Abbott to give them the authority to make decisions on mandatory mask wearing and social distancing to protect their hard-hit populations. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner asked Abbott to give local leaders back the powers they had in April, until an executive order from the governor nixed it: their ability to fine people who do not follow rules mandating masks and social distancing. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said on Monday that indoor dining will no longer resume on Thursday in the state as planned and would be postponed indefinitely. In Kansas, Governor Laura Kelly imposed a statewide mandate requiring residents to wear masks in public spaces, a move she said was necessary to avoid another shutdown. Beaches in Florida's Broward County and Palm Beach County will not open for the July 3-5 holiday weekend, officials said on Sunday, a blow to residents hoping to celebrate Independence Day there on Saturday. Miami-Dade County had already announced beach closures for the holiday weekend. AMC, the largest US movie theater chain, on Monday said it was pushing back the reopening of its theaters to July 30 from July 15. Arizona and Georgia were among states reporting record new cases this week. Last week, a total of 15 US states reported records, according to a Reuters tally. In June, 22 US states reported record increases in new cases, often multiple times, including Alaska, Arkansas, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Utah. Face coverings have become a political issue, with some conservative politicians and many supporters of US President Donald Trump arguing that such mandates are unconstitutional. The city of Jacksonville, Florida, venue for part of the Republican nominating convention in August, said on Twitter it would be requiring masks for all public locations starting later on Monday. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Monday that Trump "has no problem with masks and to do whatever your local jurisdiction requests." US Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday pressed Americans to adopt face masks during a trip to Texas and wore one himself, a sharp turnaround for the administration. Other Republican politicians in hard-hit states also are now calling for masks. The New York Times reported on Monday that 43 percent of US deaths from COVID-19 were linked to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The paper cited its own tracking database. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 20:00 355 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662bcdc4 1 City Pasar-Jaya,plastic-ban,Jakarta-administration Free City-owned market operator Pasar Jaya is getting ready to enforce a ban on single-use plastic bags at all Jakarta markets, reminding its tenants and shoppers to use eco-friendly alternatives. Under Jakarta Gubernatorial Regulation No. 142/2019, single-use plastic bags are no longer allowed at shopping malls, grocery stores and traditional markets starting on July 1. Pasar Jaya director Arief Nasution said Tuesday that managers and market heads in all areas would supervise the implementation of the ban, adding that the company -- which operates 153 markets across the capital -- had educated tenants and visitors about the policy. The company had, among other measures, held discussions with tenants and given away free reusable shopping bags. "We hope that shoppers and sellers at the markets are ready for the plastic ban beginning in July," Arief said in a statement on Tuesday. He went on to say that the policy was mainly directed at traditional markets, because they accounted for the largest amount of waste in the capital city. "Every day, traditional markets in the capital produce 600 tons of waste, and this regulation can significantly reduce that," he said. Read also: 'What are the alternatives?' Market vendors anxious over upcoming plastic ban in Jakarta In October, the Jakarta administration's deputy to the governor for civil registry and settlements, Suharti, said the capital produced 7,700 tons of waste per day, or around 750 grams per person. Suharti said the waste output from the capital had increase from year to year, climbing by 36 percent in the last five years, while the population during the same period had only increased by 4 percent. Other retailers have also braced for the plastic bag ban, with PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya, operator of the Alfamart Group convenience stores, expressing support for the policy. One of the country's top retailers, Alfamart currently operates around 290 branches in Jakarta. "Alfamart supports the policy because there are good intentions behind it. Our consumers are also well accustomed to bringing their own bags when shopping at our stores," Alfamart corporate communication general manager Nur Rachman told kontan.co.id on June 23. Under the regulation, retailers that still use plastic bags will be given a warning letter three times before being fined Rp 5 million (US$348) to Rp 35 million. The authorities may revoke the business license of stores that do not pay the fine. According to Statistics Indonesia data, Jakarta had 158 traditional markets, 80 shopping centers and 52 modern stores in 2018. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 16:50 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662b40c3 4 City marijuana,cannabis,vape,Jakarta-police,gorilla-tobacco,drug-syndicate Free The Jakarta Police have detained seven members of a suspected drug syndicate trading vapes for so-called gorilla tobacco (synthetic marijuana) in the country. The syndicate was controlled by a prisoner from a penitentiary in Bali, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Nana Sudjana said during a press briefing on Monday. He went on to say that the group had sold its products online since January. It emerged on our radar following a crackdown on a marijuana transaction in Cawang, East Jakarta, on June 12, Nana said, as quoted by tempo.co. Read also: Pandemic could put people at greater risks from illicit drug trade: UNODC The seven suspects -- IK, AAN, NIKA, AAP, ANA, AEP and K -- allegedly mixed vape liquid with cannabis extract. Police charged K, a prisoner in a penitentiary in Bali, with providing the raw materials imported from China. Meanwhile, IK allegedly mixed the ingredients at his house in Bali. The other suspects marketed the products through an e-commerce platform. Nana added that the syndicate had earned billions of rupiah in profit from selling the drugs. All suspects were charged with violating Article 114 (2) of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics and Article 132 of the Criminal Code, which carry a maximum punishment of 20 years of imprisonment. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Moscow Tue, June 30, 2020 19:25 355 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662bc0c9 2 World COVID-19,election,Putin,Russia Free President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday urged Russians to take part in a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms to ensure "stability, security and prosperity". In a televised address before the week-long ballot ends on Wednesday, Putin said Russians should vote for the country "we want to pass on to our children" but made no mention of a controversial amendment that would allow him to potentially stay in power until 2036. Russians began voting last week on the package of constitutional changes proposed by Putin, including a reset of presidential term limits that would allow him to run twice again after his current six-year term ends in 2024. Other amendments would strengthen presidential and parliamentary powers, enshrine traditional values including an effective ban on gay marriage and guarantee better minimum wages and pensions. "We are voting for the country in which we want to live, with modern education and health care, with reliable social protection of citizens, with an effective government that is accountable to society," Putin said. "We are voting for the country... we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren." Russia's two houses of parliament have already approved the amendments but Putin reiterated they would only take effect if supported by a majority of voters. "We can ensure stability, security, prosperity and a decent life only through development, only together and by ourselves," he said. Putin, who was first elected president in 2000, announced the reforms earlier this year, after winning re-election with an overwhelming majority in 2018. The amendment resetting presidential terms was a last-minute addition before lawmakers voted on the reforms, with critics accusing Putin of seeking to become "president for life". Initially planned for April 22, the vote was postponed by the coronavirus outbreak but rescheduled after Putin said the epidemic had peaked and officials began reporting lower numbers of new cases. There is little doubt the reforms will be approved, with a state-run exit poll of more than 163,000 voters this week showing 76 percent in favor. Kremlin opponents have denounced the vote as a farce and accused the government of risking lives by going ahead with it as Russia continues to record new coronavirus cases. Government advertisements urging Russians to vote have played up the patriotic and populist measures but not mentioned the presidential term reset. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 17:22 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662b673e 1 Business factories,foreign-investment,BKPM,COVID-19,Jokowi Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo announced on Tuesday that seven foreign companies had confirmed plans to relocate production facilities to Indonesia, mostly from China, an encouraging signal for the countrys investment climate amid the pandemic. The relocation of factories of the seven companies, which include South Korean industrial conglomerate LG and Japanese electronics giant Panasonic, is estimated to bring investment of US$850 million to the country and potential employment for 30,000 workers, according to the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). Ive ordered the ministers and the BKPM head to provide the best services for the industries relocating from China to Indonesia, Jokowi said on Tuesday during a visit to the Batang Industrial Park in Central Java. If there is any difficulty with permit processing, Ive ordered the BKPM head to take care of it, from A to Z, so investors can feel catered to. The President also highlighted the issue of land procurement in the country and committed himself to backing up the investors until such problems were resolved. For investors who had not yet procured land for their facilities, he offered the newly established Batang Industrial Park as a location. We will provide around 4,000 hectares of land here, and in the first phase, there will be 450 hectares, he said. Read also: What you need to know about Batang industrial zone development The coronavirus outbreak, which was first detected in China, has strained Indonesias foreign direct investment, as projects have been delayed as a result of social restrictions to contain the spread of the virus. Indonesia has booked a 9.2 percent year-on-year (yoy) decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) to Rp 98 trillion ($6.8 billion) in the first quarter of 2020. The pandemic has also disrupted global supply chains and has made some companies question their heavy reliance on China, while the countrys trade war with the US burdened the industries with additional tariffs. To take advantage of the situation, the government has established a special task force to attract businesses leaving China and facilitate their relocation to Indonesia. Jokowi stated that 17 more companies were looking to open facilities in Indonesia. BKPM data show that the potential relocation and facilities expansion of the 17 companies will bring in total investment of $37 billion and provide employment for 112,000 people. He said the country had failed to lure companies in the past, such as when 33 companies moved away from China last year but none went to Indonesia. According to government data, the Panasonic relocated its facilities to Indonesia to turn Southeast Asias biggest economy into its export base for home appliances. Meanwhile, LG Electronics moved its facilities from South Korea as it planned to turn Indonesia into its regional hub to expand its market in Asia and Australia. Other companies that have reportedly confirmed their relocation include Taiwan-based audio equipment maker Meiloon, Japanese rubber products manufacturer Sagami, US-based light product maker Alpan, Taiwan-based tire-maker Kenda and Japanese automotive component manufacturer Denso. Alpan reportedly plans to relocate their facilities from Xiamen, China, to Kendal, Central Java, due to the 25 percent import tariff slapped on products from China. State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir said he would ensure a smooth licensing and relocation process for investors to set up factories in the industrial park. The Batang Industrial Park has a prime location and is owned by [state plantation firm] Perkebunan Negara IX, so there will be no problem in the relocation process and licensing in the future, he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (ANN/The Nation) Tue, June 30, 2020 12:32 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662a1f66 2 World COVID-19,Thailand,second-wave,Bangkok Free Thailand public health ministry is preparing more than 20,000 hospital beds and 1.3 million doses of medicine to deal with the second wave of Covid-19 infections that may hit the country once the state of emergency has been lifted. Dr Sukhum Kanchanaphimai, ministrys permanent secretary, said that as of Monday there were only 58 Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment in hospital, and they were in a stable condition as they did not need respirators. He added that the new Covid-19 cases during the fourth phase of easing restrictions had come from overseas and that 232 people were currently under quarantine. Sukhum also said that though there are no new cases that have originated in the country, the fifth round of lifting restrictions may pose the risk of a second wave, so the ministry has to be prepared. The ministry has made 571 ICU beds, 11,206 beds for serious cases and 10,349 beds for normal cases available across the country. Sukhum said these should be enough to accommodate up to 500 patients a day. Meanwhile, 1.12 million N95 face masks, 511,000 protection suits and 11,000 respirators have been set aside for emergencies, while some 300,000 favipiravir pills and other medicines have also been stockpiled. Separately, researchers are continuing to work on developing a Covid-19 vaccine, with 20 prototypes currently being tested on six species of animals, including rats and monkeys. Human testing is expected to begin between July and October, and if they prove to be successful, up to 30 million doses are expected to be produced. Each dose will likely cost between 600 and 900 bath. Thailand is collaborating seven organizations from three other countries that have already conducted human trials to cut down on the time it takes to launch a vaccine. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 19:02 355 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662bb311 1 National KPK,Jambi,zumi-zola Free The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has detained three more former members of the Jambi Regional Legislative Council for investigation into a graft case that has also implicated former governor Zumi Zola. The three politicians, who served as councilors between 2014 and 2019, are Cekman from the Hanura Party, Tadjudin Hasan from the National Awakening Party (PAN) and Parlagutan Nasution from the United Development Party (PPP), all of whom had been named suspects in the case in 2018. KPK commissioner Lili Pintauli Siregar said on Tuesday that the three were allegedly involved in demanding money from the regional administration in exchange for their approval of the provincial budget for fiscal years 2017 and 2018. The antigraft agency also suspected that the former councilors demanded kickbacks from projects handled by the provincial administration. Each of them allegedly received between Rp 100 million (US$7,077) and Rp 600 million. The KPK has charged the three suspects with violating articles 11 and 12 of the 2001 Corruption Law, which prohibit state officials from accepting bribes and gratuities. Read also: KPK detains three councilors in Jambi graft case They will be detained at the KPK detention center in South Jakarta for 20 days until July 19, with 14 days quarantine period to comply with the COVID-19 prevention protocols. We also detained three suspects in this case on June 26, Lili said, referring to Jambi Council speaker Cornelis Buston of the Democratic Party as well as his two former deputies: AR Syahbandar of the Gerindra Party and Chumadi Zaidi of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Former governor Zumi was found guilty for his involvement in the case and the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced him to six years imprisonment in December 2018. So far, the KPK has arrested all 18 suspects in the case, comprising regional administration officials, local council members as well as businesspeople. Twelve of these have stood trial, with seven already convicted and sentenced by the court. According to the antigraft agency, politics is one of the most corruption-prone sectors, as it has arrested 184 national and regional legislative members since its formation in 2003. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, June 30, 2020 14:30 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a40662aa4f0 1 Business tourism,Trip-com,nature,destination,COVID-19 Free Indonesia will still be a lucrative tourist destination in the post-pandemic era with its nature-based attractions, seen to be the new destination preference going forward, global online travel agency Trip.com Group stated. Trip.com Group CEO Jane Sun told The Jakarta Post on June 24 that after the pandemic, tourists were expected to opt for visiting outdoor places and less crowded areas, of which Indonesia has many choices to offer. Indonesia is a very big country with many beautiful islands, Sun said on a press briefing. Indonesia can organize [the destinations] in a way that is presentable to these consumers, so it will capitalize a lot on this opportunity. The pandemic has severely battered tourism in Indonesia as people stay home to contain the virus spread, with more than 55,000 cases to date. Foreign tourist visits to Indonesia have plunged 87.44 percent year-on-year (yoy) to 160,000 visitors in April, the lowest in recent history. With the right promotion strategy in introducing the richness of its tourist destinations while maintaining safety and health standards, Indonesia could lure travelers to the country, Sun said. Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto signed on June 19 a decree on health guidelines for public facilities, including hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, fitness centers, convention halls, tourist destinations and public transportation, as the country gradually reopens the economy. Sun also stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had generally changed tourist preferences and trends. Apart from outdoor destinations, tourists prefer to travel in small groups and focus on hygiene and health aspects forward, Sun said. The recent Travel Trends report by Trip.com Group in partnership with tech giant Google found that interest in short-haul travel was also quickly developing, while safety and flexibility had also become the main considerations. We see that customers [nowadays] tend to book accommodation at the very last minute and in hotels with free cancelations and refunds, she said. Trip.com Group recently introduced promotions, flexibilities, guarantees under its Travel On initiative aimed at helping the travel-related industry to recover. The group provides customers access to exclusive discounts of up to 60 percent on flexible advance reservations at more than 30,000 hotel partners in more than 180 countries. The China-based firm also stated that during the so-called the new normal period, Indonesia will remain a favorable place to visit for Chinese tourists, which been the main contributors to foreign visits in Indonesia. Last year alone, the country recorded 2.07 million Chinese tourist visits, a slight dip from 2.13 million in 2018. There will be a rising number of tourists from other Asian countries, such as South Korea and Japan, Jane added. In an interview with the Post in May, Indonesian Travel Agent Association (Astindo) spokesperson Madeleine Sophie, who also runs Era Tour, said Indonesias richness in nature-based tourism could be a potential key to attract travelers in the new normal era. People are hoping to visit natural tourist destinations, such as waterfall and beaches. Fortunately, we are rich in those kinds of destinations. So, the COVID-19 pandemic has actually made us realize that Indonesia can be a one-stop destination, for natural destinations because we have everything from mountains, valleys, rivers, waterfalls, caves and even local culinary wisdom, said Madeleine. Editor's note: This article has been updated to accommodate a clarification by Trip.com Group that the company is based in China, not Hong Kong. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Joy Powell and Charlotte Plantive (Agence France-Presse) Washington Tue, June 30, 2020 10:00 356 6657ac82168da9fa101c8a4066299c58 2 World George-Floyd,trial,US,judge,Peter-Cahill,Murder-trial Free A Minneapolis judge on Monday set the trial date for four ex-police officers charged in the murder of African American George Floyd for March 8, 2021, making clear he did not want the sensitive case to become a media circus with the presidential election looming. As the protests over racial injustice continued to reverberate nationwide, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill warned the four, their attorneys and state officials not to play the sensitive case through the news, even as one lawyer pointed out that President Donald Trump had already weighed in. "I would like to see pre-trial publicity not include statements from family from either side, police or elected officials" about guilt or innocence, or the merits of the case, he told a court. Derek Chauvin, the white officer filmed on May 25 pressing his knee into the handcuffed 46-year-old's neck for nearly eight minutes until he became unresponsive, faces second and third-degree murder charges. Three others who were with Chauvin, 44, when they detained Floyd are charged with aiding and abetting a murder. None of the four formally entered pleas. Robert Paule, defending Tou Thao, one of the three charged with abetting the killing, said his client would plead not guilty, arguing that he adhered to police guidelines on use of force. But Paule also expressed concerns over prejudicial comments and actions by state and national officials that could impact the trial. "In this case, we have comments made, I believe, by President Trump," as well as Minnesota's governor, the mayor of Minneapolis, the Minnesota attorney general and others, Paule said. He noted that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is leading the prosecution, and US Attorney Erica MacDonald met Floyd's family in Houston, adding that the trip was leaked to the press. Paule said more publicity could lead to a push for a change of venue. Eric Nelson, the lawyer for Chauvin, said he might demand the judge legally order people involved to remain silent. "If such public statements continue, I'll be seeking a gag order," Nelson said. Chauvin, whose bail has been set at $1 million, appeared via video from the Oak Park Heights prison wearing an orange jumpsuit and a coronavirus mask. The other defendants -Thao, Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane - appeared in person. The four, who were fired from the Minneapolis police force one day after Floyd's death, each face up to 40 years behind bars. The bystander video of Floyd's death stunned and horrified Americans, igniting protests and riots in cities across the country and sparking a national debate on racism and police violence. Floyd was detained for the minor charge of attempting to use a counterfeit $20 bill, and while in handcuffs, two of the officers held him down on the street while Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyd's neck and the fourth officer stood watch. "I can't breathe," Floyd said on several occasions before losing consciousness. An independent autopsy later revealed that Floyd died of suffocation due to the police officer's pressure on his neck and cited the cause of death as "homicide." The original complaint said Floyd was pinned by the neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds but this was revised down by 60 seconds last week. The judge set the next procedural hearing for September, with all parties needing to assemble a massive amount of evidence. Prosecutor Matthew Frank, an assistant Minnesota attorney general, said so far there are more than 8,000 individual pages of discovery and hundreds of audio recordings and photographs date-stamped in the case. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, July 1 2020 Defense Minister Prabowo Subiantos recent visit to Russia to attend the Victory Day military parade highlighted the depth of cooperation in the defense sector between the two countries despite the absence of progress in Indonesias plan to procure Russian Sukhoi jet fighters, defense analysts have said. Last week, Prabowo jetted off to Moscow to join the celebration of the 75th anniversary of Victory Day, during which he also held talks with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Prabowo's latest visit to Moscow was the second in less than six months, after a trip on Jan. 28, when he met with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu. Defense analysts said Prabowo's latest visit to Moscow is the culmination of a two-year campaign from the Indonesian Defense Ministry to offer a strategic partnership in the defense indus... Certainly, one race or sex is not superior to another. To ignore systemic oppression and its impact on the past and present policies, however, is to put ones head into the sand. I was struck by the fact that even recently, most white Americans were unaware of the Tulsa Race Massacre of June 1, 1921 when mobs of white residents attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses in the Greenwood district in Tulsa. Thirty-five plus square blocks of the neighborhood at the time the wealthiest black community in the United States, known as Black Wall Street was decimated, with up to 300 people dead. Ten thousand black people were left homeless and property damage of black businesses and homes was an estimated at $1.5 million in 1921 dollars. It is precisely the omission of this kind of event in local, state, and national histories that establishes the need to examine systemic problems. Arlene Violet on critical race theory. She is a Republican who served as RI Attorney General Elements both within and outside President Joko Jokowi Widodos government coalition are in defensive mode following his recent threat to reshuffle the Cabinet. However, as the President has yet to communicate his next course of action with political parties that form the government coalition, they have opted to play it low key. Political parties in the coalition havent met with the President up to now regarding the issue of a Cabinet reshuffle or anything else," Arsul Sani, secretary-general of the United Development Party (PPP), a party in the government coalition, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Jokowi expressed his disappointment and concern about healthcare programs and the distribution of social assistance for poor people and those seriously affected by the pro... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, July 1 2020 Djoko Soegiarto Tjandra, a fugitive in the high-profile Bank Bali corruption case, returned to the country and filed a case review against his conviction with the South Jakarta District Court in early June, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has said. The graft convict was scheduled to attend his own case review submission hearing at the court on Monday, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin said. Djoko did not appear. Burhanuddin told members of House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs in a hearing on Monday that the AGO was tracking down the fugitive. Burhanuddin said the office had not received any information about Djoko's arrival in the country before learning that he had come to the South Jakarta District Court on June 8 to file his case review. He said Djoko had reportedly been in Indonesia for th... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Editorial board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, July 1 2020 More and more victims of sexual violence in Indonesia are speaking up, including those allegedly assaulted in religious communities. Most recently the Depok, West Java, Police arrested a church caretaker for allegedly molesting at least 20 children under his tutelage within a span of eight years. The Catholic Women Human Rights Activists said recently that the parents of one of the victims filed a report on the alleged assault to St. Herkulanus Church in 2014, but the case was settled through mediation and the suspect, Syahril Parlindungan Marbun, was not dismissed as a mentor of altar boys. Instead, he was promoted to the post of mentorship subsection head. Surely this scandal further taints the Catholic Church, despite the progress the Vatican has made in addressing sexual abuse within the Church, a lot of which was previously swept under the carpet. Through his ... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Galih Gumelar (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, July 1 2020 The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) have warned about potential vote buying in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections, which the government insists on holding on Dec. 9 despite the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. The two institutions are worried that candidates may woo voters, especially those who are suffering from financial hardship as a result of the epidemic, by offering money or daily supplies. KPK deputy chairman Nurul Ghufron said these voters would be susceptible to accepting gifts offered by candidates. [COVID-19 hardships] might trigger the public to vote for candidates who give them cash and basic necessities, Nurul said in a recent virtual public discussion. Such a transactional approach is illegal because candidates will exploit those who are enduring economic diffic... Two semi-humanoid robots wearing face masks were greeting visitors at Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" (AIA) with anti-COVID-19 information when Xinhua reporters took a tour in the airport on Friday. The robotic staff are not new in the airport, as they had worked as information assistants over the past two years providing information, such as flights schedule, airport's services and sightseeing in Athens. But since mid-June, the two Pepper robots have taken their new tasks. "Your health is our priority" is the key message they convey in both Greek and English. 15/06 #athensairport , Pepper, , safety kit & , :) https://t.co/00p9WKT1gx Athens Airport (@ATH_airport) June 15, 2020 A new application had been developed to enable them to take their new role after June 15, when airlines were gradually resumed in Greece. "Pepper is constantly developing. He speaks many languages. He has a human voice and very strong communication skills. Pepper joined us in our efforts to develop new technologies, because our unit and AIA invest a lot on technology and innovation. Soon Pepper will be with us with AI so that he will be able to answer many of the passengers' questions," Alexandros Ziomas, Director of the Information Technology and Telecommunications Business Unit at AIA, explained, pointing to one of the robots. Before the hit of the pandemic, Pepper had worked to offer information in both Chinese and English about all airport services and tips on how to reach the center of Athens or Piraeus port, according to Ziomas. One of Pepper's previous applications, which was developed by Greek start-up Toorbee especially for Chinese visiting Greece, can be downloaded free of charge on mobile devices. Chinese visitors can use Wechat to scan the QR code on banners placed at AIA to get information about where to eat or shop inside the airport before heading to the city center. With the assistance of the two Pepper robots, AIA was one of the first "China-ready" airports in Europe, according to AIA's representatives. Now the two robots have been tasked with a new significant mission, as Greece is opening wider to tourism as of next week. AIA had never closed entirely even during the lockdown in Greece (March 23-May 4), but domestic flights fully resumed as of May 18 and more international flights mainly from European destinations resumed as of June 15, said Ioanna Papadopoulou, AIA's Director of Communications and Marketing. As of July 1, direct flights to 27 airports across the country are due to restart, and seven land entry points and seven ports to reopen, Greek authorities have announced. Ahead of the July 1 reopening, the Greek government has determined how the country will welcome travelers. Diagnostic screening and the Passenger Locator Form (PLF) are part of the planning, according to an e-mailed press release issued by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority on Saturday. As of Saturday until Aug. 31, 2020, all passengers of international flights to Greece are obliged to complete their PLF at least 48 hours before entering the country, providing detailed information on their point of departure, the duration of previous stays in other countries, and the address of their stay while in Greece, according to the press statement. "The next major date for us is July 1. We are waiting for the relevant decisions from the European Commission on which countries will be sending travelers without any restrictions," Papadopoulou noted. "We are living a new reality. This means that there are particular measures based on the guidelines we have received from international, European and national authorities," explained Papadopoulou. Use of face mask within the premises of the airport and during the entire trip is mandatory, according to the director. "Therefore one would better have plenty of masks, depending on the duration of their flight, because normally they will need to change mask every 3-4 hours." "It would be also better if friends and relatives said goodbye outside the airport so that we avoid overcrowding. In addition, we also certainly observe the safe distances measure," she added. Along with signs reading "wash your hands, use hand sanitizer", at least 300 points with sanitizers available have been set up across the airport. AIA is holding hope for the rest of the year, considering the airport's remarkable performance before the hit of the pandemic. "In 2019 we had precisely 25.5 million passengers. It was the sixth consecutive year with triumphant data for arrivals. There were very positive flows also in the first two months of 2020, indicating that 2020 would be the seventh consecutive record year," Papadopoulou noted. "Until the end of February we had a 4.3 percent increase in arrivals compared to the first two months of 2019. In particular regarding Chinese visitors, only in January there was a 120-percent increase compared to January 2019," she told Xinhua. The message that the Greek government delivered to all people visiting the country this year is "Enjoy your stay -- Stay safe". Greek authorities announced on Friday evening that 22 new COVID-19 cases had been registered since Thursday nationwide with no fatalities. Greece has so far registered 3,366 confirmed infections, including 191 deaths, since the first case was diagnosed on Feb. 26 in the country. A tour of Hoa Lo Prison Relic at night will be launched from July 24, according to the administration board of the tourist site. The tour is being organised with Hanoitourist Travel Company to offer more experience to travelers but it is not recommended for children under 16. It is part of activities to attract tourists throughout the country and stimulate domestic tourism that has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As one of the points within the tourism stimulus package of Hanoi City, Hoa Lo Prison Relic will open until night. It is expected to be the first success on overcoming the effects of the pandemic on domestic tourism, said a representative of the administration board of Hoa Lo Prison. In the 45-minute journey backwards in time, visitors will witness the harshness of the colonial region during the wars in Vietnam, the noble sacrifice of the national heroes and see the special spiritual space dedicated to the gratitude for the predecessors. The space within the relic at night will utilize both light and sound effects to awaken visitors emotions and senses. Each visitor will be presented with a gift of spiritual value and symbolic meaning of the relic. Tours exploring Hoa Lo Prison at night will be conducted from 7 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from July 24. Hoa Lo Prison is a special historical relic of Hanoi, built by the French colonists in 1896 to imprison Vietnamese patriots. Called Maison Centrale, it used to be one of the biggest prisons of French colonialism in Indochina at that time. Many patriots, revolutionary leaders of Vietnam, were captured in Hoa Lo prison, such as Phan Boi Chau, Luong Van Can, Ho Tung Mau, Nguyen Luong Bang, and five General Secretaries of the Party including Nguyen Van Cu, Truong Chinh, Le Duan, Nguyen Van Linh and o Muoi. From August 5, 1964, to March 31, 1973, part of the prison was used to capture American pilots who were shot down during bombing raids against North Vietnam. In this period, the prison was euphemistically called the Ha Noi Hilton by the prisoners in detention. Alumni of Hoa Lo include Douglas Peter Peterson, who later became the first US Ambassador to Vietnam, and John McCain, the late US Senator. In 1993, the Government retained a part of Hoa Lo Prison to transform into a historical relic. This part located in southeast of the prison was preserved, renovated and upgraded. Here, there is a memorial monument in dedication to the Vietnamese patriotic and revolutionary fighters. Tourists traveling to Greece will be required from Wednesday to complete an online questionnaire 48 hours in advance to determine whether they need to be tested for coronavirus on arrival. Over the weekend the Greek government ended random testing of travelers according to their country of origin, which had confused tourists who did not know whether they should spend a night in a hotel to be tested after landing in Athens and Thessaloniki, or go directly into quarantine. Greece, which has a relatively low coronavirus death toll at 191, has launched a promotional campaign to revive tourism -- which accounts for a quarter of its gross domestic product -- and hopes to reassure potential travelers as well as Greeks who fear a resurgence of the pandemic with the return of tourists. Under the new protocol, travelers are given scannable bar codes after they fill out a questionnaire with personal details such as their country of origin and the countries they have traveled through in the last 15 days. The questionnaire is mandatory until August 31. Bar codes will be scanned from printed paper or mobile devices at ports of arrival, which will determine whether travelers will be directed to the exit or to a screening area. Those who are tested will be told to isolate at the address provided on the questionnaire while waiting for the results. The new protocol "is most likely to be able to detect the majority of imported cases", Dimitris Paraskevis, a member of the health ministrys expert committee, told Skai TV. All airports in the country will reopen to international flights by Wednesday and the ports of Patras and Igoumenista will again receive ferries from Italy, while other ports will be reopened to cruise ships. Starting on Wednesday, residents of West Java will reportedly be allowed to visit tourist destinations in Pangandaran regency without having to show their rapid test results for COVID-19. The requirement will still be applicable to tourists from outside West Java. "Tourists from West Java are free [to enter without] rapid tests," Pangandaran Regent Jeje Wiradinata said in a statement as quoted by kompas.com on Tuesday. However, the administration will tighten health protocols for tourism-related businesses, including requiring attendants to undergo a rapid molecular diagnostic (TCM) test, which can produce results in two hours. A month ago, rapid tests were a requirement for all tourists going to Pangandaran. At the time, the regency reportedly welcomed some 10,000 visitors and declined entrance to roughly the same number of people. The administration has also allowed public transportation to operate and private events or ceremonies to take place. The regency currently has 11 COVID-19 patients, seven of whom have recovered. The administration has so far conducted 2,300 swab tests and 3,000 rapid tests on residents. (kes) Meanwhile, large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) implemented by the West Java administration in Bogor, Depok and Bekasi (Bodebek) are scheduled to end on Thursday. (kes) Michigan's June cases of COVID-19 are a bit different than those early in the crisis, Michigan's governor told the state Tuesday afternoon. The people testing positive now are younger, and it is helping pull down the disease's death rate. The majority of June's new cases of COVID-19 are people between 20-29, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a Tuesday update of the COVID-19 crisis. Most counties in mid-Michigan are also following this trend. - Advertisement - The biggest chunk of cases in the six counties of the Central Michigan District Health Department are between the ages of 20-49. That age group account for 44.9 percent of the 225 positive cases CMDHD reported in its counties last Wednesday. The next highest was people between 50-74, who accounted for 31.6 percent of cases. Gratiot County has seen some age shift in its cases the last several weeks. Of the three counties in the Mid-Michigan District Health Department, it was different in that its age grouping of cases was inverted, with the fewest cases in the 20-49 age range and most at 75+. People between 20-49 now account for 31 percent of cases, three percent more than people between 50-74. People older than 75 is still the age group with the most cases, at 35 percent. Gratiot's COVID experience has been heavily influenced by two outbreaks at nursing homes, with 20 residents of the Jack F. Saunders Healthcare Center of Masonic Pathways and 16 residents of Riverside Health Care Center testing positive. That is 43 percent of the county's cases. The two outbreaks also account for 11 of the county's 13 deaths. Statewide, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced another 373 cases on Tuesday for a cumulative total of 63,870, and another 32 deaths for 5,947 total. Four counties in mid-Michigan saw additional cases. They include Gratiot, up one to 82; Clare, up one to 27 and three deaths; Montcalm, up one to 82 cases and one death; and Midland, up two to 124 cases and nine deaths. Three others saw no additional cases or deaths. They include Isabella, at 101 cases and eight deaths; Mecosta, at 26 cases and two deaths; and Gladwin, at 26 cases and one death. READ MORE: Isabella tops 100 in confirmed COVID-19 cases With three more cases of COVID-19 confirmed over the weekend, Isabella County breached the 100-case mark. Michigan leaders reach agreement on 2020 budget shortfall LANSING (AP) An agreement to address a $3.2 billion shortfall in Michigan's 2020 budget was announced Monday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders to respond to deep budget shortfalls brought on by the pandemic crisis. It's a location that's been well known for years to locals and those who drive by on M-46 because of the pure water that flows from an artesian well. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 This subscription will allow curernt subscribers of The News Guard to access all of our online Subscriber-Only content, including the E Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please call us at 1-541-994-2178 or email admin@countrymedia.net. Sterling Heights, MI (48312) Today Windy and partly cloudy this morning. Mostly cloudy with diminishing winds this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 75F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph.. Tonight Evening clouds will give way to clearing overnight. Low 46F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. That release could not be found. The Federal Governments aspiration to boost domestic utilisation of gas in Nigeria will receive a boost on Tuesday as President Muhammadu Buhari performs the flag-off of the construction of the 40-inch x 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline project. The project, expected to be completed within a 24-month timeline, is a section of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline with capacity to transport about 2.2billion cubic feet of gas per day. A release by Dr. Kennie Obateru, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, explained that the Presidential Flag-off would be performed virtually from the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja with simultaneous link to two locations: Rigachukun, Kaduna State and Ajaokuta Steel Complex in Kogi State. The release stated that the economic benefits of the AKK pipeline, which would originate from Ajaokuta in Kogi State and traverse Abuja (FCT), Niger, Kaduna and terminate in Kano, would boost domestic utilization of natural gas for Nigerias social economic development, when completed. It would also unlock 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas to the domestic market, support the addition of 3,600mega watts of power to the national grid and revitalize textile industries which alone boasts of over three million jobs in parts of the country. The release added that the AKK project would support the development of petrochemicals, fertilizer, methanol and other gas-based industries, thereby generating employment opportunities and facilitating Balanced Economic Growth. The NNPC explained that the Right of Way for the proposed AKK gas pipeline would run parallel to the existing Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Companys 16 inch-crude oil and 12 inch- product pipelines wherever possible. The corporation said the pipeline would be fed from the existing domestic infrastructure with a capacity of over 1.5 billion cubic feet per day and is being expanded by Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System II and Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben gas pipeline (under construction) that will double the capacity to over three billion cubic gas per day. Conceptualised as an integral part of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan, a gas infrastructure blueprint, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2008, the AKK has received serious attention of the Buhari Administration leading to the award of the Engineering Procurement and Construction Contract of the project by the Federal Executive Council in 2017. Within the last 12 months, the project received extra fillip from the current NNPC leadership led by Mallam Mele Kyari, which deftly removed the impediments that have stalled the project over the years leading to the flag-off ceremony tomorrow. The AKK is ultimately designed to complement other major domestic gas transmission systems namely: the Western System, that is, the existing 36-inch Escravos-Lagos Pipeline I and II with 2.2billion cubic feet per day capacity and the ongoing East-West connection via the OB3 pipeline featuring 2.4billion cubic feet per day capacity. The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) and The Michigan Department of Transortation (MDOT) will suspend all construction projects durin As June ends, Michigan saw another significant jump in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, following a trend seen at the end of last week. On Tuesday, June 30, Michigan added 373 new cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus. More significantly, the state also saw 32 more deaths tied to the pandemic. - Advertisement - The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state now number 63,870, with another 6,858 cases listed as probable, pushing the total to 70,728. The state also has 5,947 deaths tied to the disease. With an additional 246 deaths listed as probable, the state has a total of 6,193 deaths tied to the coronavirus. For the second day, Michigan ranked 11th in the nation, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, out of the top ten and more about 9,000 cases shy of tenth-ranked Arizona, one of the states that is seeing an almost uncontrollable growth in the number of COVID-19 infections. Joining Arizona, states like Florida, Texas, and California are grappling with large spikes in cases that are forcing their governors to reverse reopening efforts, even ordered new closures or restrictions, such as closing beaches or banning drinking in bars. Even with the growth in cases in Michigan as June winds down, the number of new cases is nothing like the state saw in late March and throughout April, when there were days with nearly or more than 1,000 new cases. Also, Michigan has seen the daily growth in confirmed cases in the west and south, though two to three months ago, there was not as much ability to get tested as there is now. Overall, Michigan has conducted more than 1,060,000 diagnostic tests. One week with a slight bump In the past seven days, the state added 2,240 confirmed cases, and Tuesday's 373 new cases trailed only Friday's 389 cases and is the second-highest day in the past week. But in the past week, the U.S. has moved from 2.33 million to 2.61 million cases on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. Deaths have jumped from 121,000 last week to more than 126,500 on Tuesday. Only 73 have died in Michigan during that time. Worldwide, 10.37 million people have been confirmed to be infected and more than 507,000 have died, up from 9.16 million and nearly 474,000 dead. Despite the low numbers in Michigan, all eyes are on the rate of increased infections as some states are adding thousands of cases per day, leading to days where the national daily total of new COVID-19 cases tops 40,000. Earlier in June, Michigan was adding only 100-200 cases per day. On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, told a Senate panel that the number of new cases daily could soon top 100,000, according to The Associated Press. We are now having 40-plus-thousand new cases a day," Fauci said, according to The AP. "I would not be surprised if we go up to to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned." And the concern to Michigan's leaders and residents is that, according to Fauci, these recent outbreaks threaten the entire U.S., even parts of the country where COVID-19 has been brought under control. He said all parts of the country are "vulnerable," according to The Washington Post. Detroit-area results results Oakland County saw the most new confirmed cases on Tuesday, with 50 new cases pushing the total to 8,898 confirmed cases. The county also has 3,119 probable cases, up 25 making for 12,017 cases. With five new deaths reported, Oakland County now has had 1,048 deaths plus an additional 42 probable deaths, for a total of 1,090 killed by coronavirus. Detroit added 35 new cases and remains the hardest-hit community, with 11,578 cases, up 35 day-over-day. Only one new death was reported in Detroit, which now has 1,440 dead plus an additional 84 probable deaths. The rest of Wayne Count added 30 cases, pushing its total to 10,294 cases plus another 392 cases, for a total of 10,686 cases. Eight new deaths were reported in the rest of Wayne County, giving it a total of 1,161 dead plus another 35 probable deaths. Macomb County added 32 cases, pushing its confirmed cases to 7,168, plus another 191 probable cases, which went up by 10. Deaths in Macomb County were up nine, reaching 879, plus an additional 37 probable deaths. Just outside the immediate Detroit area, Washtenaw County added 13 cases to reach 1,480. Genesee County added nine cases to reach 2,186. Elsewhere In western Michigan, Kent County continues there to see the more substantial growth, adding 33 cases to reach 4,495, while Ottawa County add 22 cases on Tuesday to reach 962. Kalamazoo County added 13 cases to move past the 1,000-mark, reaching 1,012 confirmed cases. In mid-Michigan, the only new case was in Clare County, pushing it to 27 cases, while Isabella County stayed at 101 (but added one probable case to reach 22) and Gratiot County was again at 82 cases. Ingham County, which identified one spike related to a single brewpub last week, added another 17 cases, the largest increase in mid-Michigan. The county, which includes the Lansing area, now has 978 cases. Ten regions, including eight counties plus Detroit and the prison system, now have more than 1,000 cases. +3 Oakland County confirms three COVID-19 cases at Fifth Avenue Royal Oak The Oakland County Health Division is reporting that three confirmed cases of COVID-19 visited Fifth Avenue Royal Oak on June 19. +4 Amid pandemic, scores of U.S. Catholic schools face closure Catholic schools have faced tough times for years, but the pace of closures is accelerating dramatically amid economic fallout from the corona Woodward Dream Cruise officially canceled; car enthusiasts vow to show up The board that oversees the Woodward Dream Cruise voted Monday, June 29, to cancel the event this year because of the coronavirus. With just about three months left until students return back to school for the fall, Pontiac School District is releasing some of its plans to support students and families throughout the year. Extra enrichment programs, academic intervention programmed into the school day and benchmark testing are some of what teachers and staff have in store, according to Kelley Williams, superintendent of the district. - Advertisement - This is an ever-evolving plan as the governor continues to give us updates but we wanted to be proactive moving forward, Williams said. Our major concern right now is when we do reopen in the fall, that safety comes first and foremost. The districts approximately 3,800 students will be split into two cohorts, attending class two days out of the week each. Cohort A will attend Monday and Tuesday, followed by Cohort B on Wednesday and Thursday, while the district conducts deep cleans throughout its buildings on Fridays. The groups were chosen first based on sibling and family relationship, then last name, to keep those living in the same household attending school at the same time. +2 Child welfare improving for the impoverished, but abuse remains on the rise More kids are graduating from high school on time and less are living in poverty today in Oakland County than a decade ago. But children in fa New disinfection fogging machines are also being installed in each building. As cleaning takes place throughout the day, they'll be set to go off every four hours. A quarantine area has been designated for each building should a student or staff member be found to have a fever higher than 100-degrees. All students and staff will also be required to wear masks. Younger elementary school students will be provided with clear masks so that teachers can continue to work with them on pronunciation, reading and phonics. A health assessment survey will also be required for anyone who enters one of the districts buildings, which must be presented to security at the door. From kindergarten to seniors, all students will see an additional 30-minute block for reading and math intervention built into the school day. That brings the total to 90-minutes for elementary school students. We are really three months behind and we need to make sure work is up to our pacing and standards, Williams said. Were going to be testing our students in the first week of school to see where they are and if theyre on track. West Bloomfield prepares for return to school in environment changed by coronavirus About 30 percent of parents in the West Bloomfield School District have fears about the coronavirus and dont feel comfortable sending their c Those results will be used by teachers to create benchmarks for the students, who will be assigned online learning modules for the areas theyre struggling with. The district is also looking to partner with the Pontiac Public Library and the citys youth recreation center, as well as churches and other organizations, to offer enrichment programs throughout the week. Were concerned right now that with COVID-19 there will be some regression in our students. We have a lot of work to do, but we also have a plan that is very clear and solid, Williams said. +4 Erebus Haunted Attraction plans new oddities, curiosities museum for downtown Pontiac A new museum is under construction in downtown Pontiac at the hands of Erebus Haunted Attraction. +3 With a doctor at the helm, Oakland University cautiously preparing to partly open this fall Daily health assessments, smaller class sizes and required masks are just some of the changes students and staff at Oakland University will se +2 Michigan Works! hires 500 statewide to help with unemployment claims Thousands of calls have been flooding Michigan Works! centers for weeks as residents struggle with filing for or receiving unemployment insura The Oakland County Health Division is reporting that three confirmed cases of COVID-19 visited Fifth Avenue Royal Oak on June 19. Late Monday, the health division sent out an advisory alerting the public of potential virus exposure at the popular downtown Royal Oak establishment. It's the first exposure site that the county has confirmed since coronavirus cases first started popping up across the county in mid-March. The three individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 reported being at Fifth Avenue the evening of June 19, prior to the start of symptoms. The cases were confirmed and identified following contact tracing efforts conducted county public health nurses. The individuals reported crowded conditions at the establishment, which is currently limited to 50% capacity under state order. - Advertisement - Oakland County Health Officer Leigh-Anne Stafford said the risk of COVID-19 exposure is heightened under crowded conditions, where social distancing cannot be achieved. Restaurants, bars and nightclubs have been allowed to open with requirements to reduce their capacity to 50 percent of normal seating so that social distancing can be achieved," she said. There are currently 63,497 confirmed cases in Michigan with 5,915 confirmed deaths. Oakland County accounts for 8,848 of those cases and 1,043 deaths. If you were at Fifth Avenue Royal Oak on the evening of June 19, you should monitor for signs and symptoms. People with COVID-19 have reported a wide range of symptoms, ranging from mild to severe. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Call your physician or the Health Division if you think you are developing any of the symptoms of COVID-19 described below. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19: Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body aches Headache New loss of taste or smell Sore throat Congestion or runny nose Nausea or vomiting Diarrhea Oakland County Executive David Coulter is urging all county businesses, especially the bars which are attracting crowds, to follow Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive orders and take the necessary steps to protect their workers and customers. We have made good progress in managing what is a highly contagious virus and we cant backslide now," he said. Social distancing and facial coverings work and they are critical to our safe re-opening strategies. There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus. The spread of COVID-19 can be reduced with cloth face coverings, social distancing, and staying home when sick except to get medical care. For more information on COVID-19, call the Oakland County Nurse on Call at 800-848-5533, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. For all other COVID-19 questions, contact the COVID-19 Help Hotline at 248-858-1000 or hotline@oakgov.com. Woodward Dream Cruise officially canceled; car enthusiasts vow to show up The board that oversees the Woodward Dream Cruise voted Monday, June 29, to cancel the event this year because of the coronavirus. Royal Oak City Hall to open to public after new building is completed Royal Oak will allow public access to City Hall next month after the new city hall building is completed. +2 Man drowns after jumping into North Commerce Lake A 30-year-old Commerce Township man is dead after apparently drowning in a western Oakland County Lake. A reward is being offered to help local authorities locate the motorist who left the scene of an accident that killed a 62-year-old pedestrian, George Morrow. Deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office were summoned to Auburn Avenue in Pontiac, between South Woodward Avenue and North Woodward Avenue at 10:42 a.m. Monday, June 29. The area is under the Phoenix Center, and Morrow was either sitting or lying in the roadway's westbound lane. - Advertisement - A westbound vehicle struck and killed Morrow, the sheriff's office reported, and then left the scene. A late-model dark red Chevrolet Silverado was spotted leaving that area shortly after the accident, and the sheriff's office is asking for help in locating the driver. "Alcohol appears to be a factor in the crash regarding the pedestrian," the sheriff's office reported. The crash remains under investigation, and if anyone has information, they could call (800) SPEAK UP, or 800-773-2587, and they can remain anonymous. +2 Man drowns after jumping into North Commerce Lake A 30-year-old Commerce Township man is dead after apparently drowning in a western Oakland County Lake. Suspect in jail after man shot to death in Oakland County A 26-year-old Pontiac man was killed Sunday evening in the city after a shooting. Gretchen Whitmer proposes four-pronged police reform plan Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has introduced a four-pronged police reform plan aimed at strengthening police-community relations and ensuring Woodward Dream Cruise officially canceled; car enthusiasts vow to show up The board that oversees the Woodward Dream Cruise voted Monday, June 29, to cancel the event this year because of the coronavirus. A new marijuana dispensary is planning to open its doors in Peterborough in mid-August. The new cannabis retailer will be owned by brothers Aren and Evan Arkarakas. The store will be called Kasa Kana, and will be located at 1840 Lansdowne St. W. in the Mapleridge Plaza, near Brealey Drive. Aren Arkarakas said he has been a cannabis enthusiast most of his life and it was an exciting new venture for both him and his brother Evan. We were in the know when legalization was being talked about, he said. We have been in plans for about the last two years to open our first location and we are looking for something different. Looking for a market that was new and exciting. He said they chose the Peterborough area because they spent a lot of time in the Kawarthas growing up and it felt like home. We loved the Kawartha aspect of Peterborough, said Arkarakas. We actually have spent a lot of time cottaging over our childhood in the Muskoka region and the Kawarthas. We went back to those regions to open our first and second locations. The brothers plan to open a second location in Huntsville in 2021. I have travelled throughout Ontario for the last 15 years and always loved Peterborough as a community and a town, he said. It was the perfect synergy of what we were looking for, sort of smaller town, but also a substantial city. He said they have been working with a wide variety of cannabis producers to bring the best product to the area that they test themselves for the level of quality and expectation customers look for. We really true-test out a lot of the products we are going to be implementing into our stores, he said. We are working with a variety of different licensed producers from all over Canada that work with the OCS, which regulates cannabis in the Ontario Market. He said they will hopefully be offering online and delivery services for their customers. As they hope Ontario will continue to allow cannabis retailers to offer these services after the COVID-19 pandemic. We intend to open up to the market for online orders and delivery, he said. We will have everything available based on what the restrictions and rules and regulations are. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... He said they plan to offer everything from flower and edibles to different concentrates and topicals. Arkarakas said they will be donating to local charities through Kasa Care, which is their charity aspect of their business. The European Union plans to open its borders to non-essential travellers such as tourists and most business people from a limited number of countries outside the bloc from July 1. The 27 EU governments agreed on an initial "safe list" of 14 countries, which excludes the United States, Brazil, Russia and Turkey. WHO IS ON THE LIST, AND WHY? Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay are on the list. China will be included if it lets in EU visitors because reciprocity is a condition. The EU considers those countries to have similar or better control of the COVID-19 pandemic as the bloc itself, based on the number of cases per 100,000 people in the previous two weeks. The EU average is around 16. (https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases) The figures for the United States, Mexico, Brazil and much of Latin America, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are too high, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. As well having a stable or decreasing trend of new infections, countries must have sufficient testing, contact tracing, containment and treatment capabilities to deal with the pandemic and containment measures in place for all journeys. They also need to satisfy the European Union that their data is available and reliable. Simply having no reported cases, as is the case with Tanzania, Turkmenistan and Laos, is not enough. WHERE CAN THEY GO? Travellers from the "safe list" countries will potentially be able to go to Europe and then travel freely throughout the Schengen area, which includes 22 EU countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The list will be reviewed every two weeks to add some countries and remove others. It is only a recommendation to EU members, who can still impose some travel restrictions. The idea at least is that they should not open up to other countries. WHAT ABOUT BRITAIN? Although the EU wants to work on the basis of reciprocity, Britain, which is no longer an EU member, is an exception. It enforces 14 days of self-isolation on all non-essential travellers, but its residents have been free since mid-June to travel to many, but not all, EU countries. Due to the lack of reciprocity, UK visitors are asked to carry out a 14-day voluntary quarantine in France. In Greece, flights from Britain are banned on health grounds. WHO ELSE CAN TRAVEL? Travel restrictions are not supposed to apply to travellers "with an essential function", including healthcare workers, seasonal agricultural labour, diplomats, students and people in need of humanitarian protection. Short link: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: ENNISMORE A mother and three young girls have lost everything, including their family dog, after a house fire in Ennismore on Sunday morning. A fire started inside their Kimberly Drive home around 6:45 a.m. on June 28, according to Selwyn Fire Chief Gord Jopling. The blaze destroyed the home. The fire took the house. Its ashes, says Jopling. Later that day, a GoFundMe campaign had been set up for the family. According to the GoFundMe post, organized by Charlene Parsons, the home belonged to April Scholey and her three girls: Jordyn, Emily and Erica. (They) escaped a horrific fire that burnt their family home to the ground. They have lost everything they owned to the flames including their family dog, Darcy. Leaving them with just their clothing on their backs, reads the campaign. Now they are facing the difficult challenge of trying to rebuild everything they lost. By 9 a.m. on Monday (June 29), almost $5,500 had been raised towards the $10,000 goal. We are starting this fundraiser in hopes of giving this family the much needed support and money to start putting their lives back together, reads the campaign. To donate to the GoFundMe click here About 40 to 50 firefighters responded to battle the blaze, says Jopling. They pumped water from Scollard Bay in Chemong Lake to douse the flames. Jopling says firefighters were on scene until about 6 p.m. last night. The chief says there were three, 300-pound propane tanks on the property, which were a concern. He adds firefighters managed to keep the tanks from igniting. Firefighters also prevented the fire from spreading to nearby homes in the lakeside subdivision. Wearing masks isnt mandatory in public places in Peterborough, but the medical officer of health and the mayor arent ruling it out. Masks and face coverings are strongly recommended in the city whenever its challenging to keep a physical distance of two metres, said medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra at a teleconference for reporters on Tuesday. But as of Canada Day its been 11 days since a new case of COVID has emerged in Peterborough, with 95 cases confirmed, two active, 91 resolved nd about 16,600 people tested. There have been two deaths since the pandemic began in March. Meanwhile, some municipalities, such as Toronto and Windsor (which Salvaterra said has had a high transmission rate for COVID-19), have made it a rule: citizens must wear masks in public. Salvaterra said municipal bylaws can be adopted to require masks, or the medical officer of health can order mandatory masking in public. She said shes been speaking about it lately with elected officials, adding that in municipalities where the transmission rate is high it may make sense to require masking. Mayor Diane Therrien was also on the teleconference, and she said council hasnt debated it yet but shes hearing from citizens who would like to see mandatory masking. Therrien didnt rule out ever considering a bylaw: Its definitely a discussion that were having, in collaboration with the health unit, she said. Therrien also asked citizens to wear masks and keep physical distancing, noting that a surge of new COVID-19 cases can occur quickly. She noted that it happened in Kingston earlier this week, when a new outbreak of 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were linked to a nail salon. Masks are now mandatory there. Masking is required in salons while people get haircuts and manicures, said Salvaterra, and she said health unit staff have been inspecting local salons even though that wasnt a requirement of reopening. I think its a bit of a steep learning curve, for many operators, Salvaterra said. So our inspectors are out there visiting and ensuring they are following public health measures correctly. At Emerald Beauty nail studio on George Street North, one client at a time receives services and they close for 15 minutes before and after each client to sanitize, said esthetician Abby Connelly. Clients wash their hands the moment they enter the studio, she said, and screening questions are asked of clients. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Emerald Beauty reopened on June 13, Connelly said, and it didnt take long for clients and staff to adapt to the new safety measures. Its to the point where it almost feels normal so thats really good. The Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre has launched Ontarios first 24-7 text line to help victims of sexual assault access needed supports at any time. The centre has seen a 50 per cent increase in calls during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Tracey Wodnisky, crisis services co-ordinator. The crisis after-hours outreach has definitely gone up, she said. Especially during COVID-19 when people have needed to be isolated perhaps with unsafe people. She said she has seen the pandemic be used to force someone back into the home with their abuser. Wodnisky said some of the women feel safe using other services such as web-chat and phone line, but for who that do not, they have started their 24-7 text line. She said their volunteers are amazing and highly trained in support for people experiencing sexual assault. We have wonderful volunteers and highly trained in this type of support, she said. We depend on them a lot to, thats who a survivor would get on the line when they reach out, is a highly trained volunteer. Wodnisky said it is important the centre offer 24-hour support because other options usually do not operate past regular business hours. Most centres are only open until 4:30, she said. We believe in accessibility and having survivors of sexual violence and sexual assault being able to reach us for support at any time. She said some people reach out right after an assault occurs, but some do not as they have seen with the MeToo movement, where people seek help after time has passed. She said in those moments they help and accompany them to the police station or the hospital to give them the support they need. Often times, people reach out right after a sexual assault, she said. So, we would set them up with and accompany them to the police station or hospital. If they initially reach out to a chat or text line, she said, we get them in touch with our employee that does that kind of work, so it is that initial contact when people are needing somebody to talk to who understands what sexual assault survivors go through. Wodnisky said crisis is about getting support immediately after the fact, a lot of the time it is for a recent assault, but they are seeing a lot of people coming forward later in life. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... We have seen a lot of people reach out after that or because of that. Survivors in their 40s, 50s and 60s that have never told anyone, often time we are the first point of contact and we are the first people they open up to. She said some survivors have trouble sleeping due to their trauma and when they cant sleep, they can reach out to people at the centre as a third party not personally involved to help and chat to. Halfway through one of the toughest years in memory, some Canadians might wonder if its better to isolate than celebrate this July 1st. Staggered by a lingering pandemic, communities from sea to sea have cancelled the parades, festivities and fireworks that traditionally made Canada Day, Canada Day. Thats let the air out of a lot of national-holiday balloons. Indeed, many Canadians may feel inclined to simply let the day pass and keep their Maple Leaf flags in the drawer for another year. That would be a mistake. Yes, Canada is still in the early stages of emerging from the COVID-19 lockdown. The pandemic has exacted a brutal toll on the country. The nations economy is softer than a plate of butter left outside on a hot July afternoon, and the only certainty is weve plunged into deep recession. But thats not the full story. The magnificent way Canadians have responded to the worlds worst health crisis in a generation should offer not just consolation but inspiration. Weve pulled together. Weve sacrificed. Weve shown resiliency. And were gradually winning the battle against a tiny but lethal virus. Governments across the land have taken unprecedented measures to support the millions of people who have lost jobs or had their working hours cut during the pandemic. Weve gained a new appreciation of who our essential workers truly are and lengthened the list to include grocery store employees, personal support workers, migrant farm labourers and public transit and truck drivers. Homemade posters hung in front-room windows across the land proclaim: Well get through this. And in fact we will, even if we have to mask-up to go shopping. Yet our current trials go beyond even a pandemic and recession. The first half of 2020 has also been a time when Canada has had to come face-to-face with the systemic racism that still infects too much of this country. And while that reality is nothing to be proud of, what is heartening is the way hundreds of thousands of Canadians from every background have publicly protested against it and demanded changes to ensure justice and equality for all. Theres a tremendous desire to make this a better country for everyone and particularly, at this moment, for Indigenous and Black people who have suffered discrimination for far too long. With goodwill and faith in our democratic institutions we can rise to this challenge as we have to so many others in our past. And so its completely appropriate that despite all the celebrations cancelled by COVID-19, creative Canadian minds have found new ways to mark this countrys 153rd birthday. Many events will be online or televised. The Surrey City Orchestra, for instance, will stream a video of its 28 musicians performing O Canada from their homes in British Columbia. The federal government will host Canadas first-ever cross-country, virtual citizenship ceremony to welcome the countrys newest citizens. But you dont have to turn on a television or laptop to give this Canada Day its due. By almost any imaginable standard, Canada is one of the best countries in the world in which to live. Its vast, diverse and blessed with natural and human resources beyond compare. Canada Day gives us all 24 hours in which we can, at the very least, set aside a few minutes to pause and reflect on the incredible country we share. We should embrace that opportunity in this of all years. If we do, we might discover not only something to cheer but a place to love. China over the past decade built an alternate online reality where Google and Facebook barely exist. Now its own largest tech corporations from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Tencent Holdings Ltd. are getting a taste of what a shutout feels like. Indias unprecedented decision to ban 59 of Chinas largest apps is a warning to the countrys tech giants, who for years thrived behind a government-imposed Great Firewall that kept out many of Americas best-known internet names. If India finds a way to carry out that threat, it may present a model for other countries from Europe to Southeast Asia that seek to curtail the pervasiveness of apps like ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok while safeguarding their citizens enormously valuable data. The surprise moratorium hit Chinese internet companies just as they were beginning to make headway in the worlds fastest-growing mobile arena, en route to going global and challenging American tech industry supremacy. TikTok had signed up 200 million users there, Xiaomi Corp. is the No. 1 smartphone brand, and Alibaba and Tencent have aggressively pushed their services. But Indias policy jeopardizes all those successes, and could have wider geopolitical consequences as the U.S. seeks to rally countries to stop using Huawei Technologies Co. for 5G networks. With Chinas tech companies poised to become some of the most dominant in emerging industries like artificial intelligence, Indias actions may spur countries around the world to weigh the extent to which they let China gain user data and potentially economic leverage in future disputes. Techno-nationalism will manifest itself increasingly across all aspects of geopolitics: national security, economic competitiveness, even social values, said Alex Capri, a Singapore-based research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation. It will be increasingly difficult to separate Chinese tech firms from the CCP and Chinas geopolitical ambitions. They will find themselves increasingly locked out. Chinese internet firms have struggled to replicate their online services beyond their home turf, even before Washington lawmakers began raising concerns about the wisdom of allowing the Asian countrys corporations like ByteDance to hoover up valuable personal data. India amplified those concerns by accusing apps including TikTok, Tencents WeChat, Alibabas UC Web and Baidu Inc.s map and translation services of threatening its sovereignty and security. Indias prohibition provides further evidence that nations are using tech to assert themselves geopolitically, following the Trump administrations worldwide campaign to contain China and national champions like Huawei. That depends in part on how much Prime Minister Narendra Modis actions are motivated by domestic interests following the worst military clash between India and China in almost half a century. Beijing should certainly worry that the impact of the deadly clash could push India toward the U.S., said Zhang Baohui, director of the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies at Lingnan University. But these recent economic measures by India may not by themselves concern Beijing too much as it understands that Modis government, facing rising domestic nationalism, has to do something to soothe the public sentiments and retain legitimacy. It remains unclear how India will enforce its decision, given TikTok for one has already been downloaded by roughly one in six people. But it follows a series of steps to curb Chinas presence in the country, demonstrating the administrations hardened resolve since long-simmering tensions boiled over after a deadly Himalayan border clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers. The countrys government procurement website has barred purchases of Chinese-made goods. Authorities have asked the largest e-commerce companies, including Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.s Flipkart, to start showing country of origin on goods sold. And India is said to be dragging its heels on clearing goods imported from China, stranding electronics at ports. The Indian government thinks about governing the internet in a very similar way to China, which is blanket bans, asserting national boundaries on the internet and essentially carving out what would eventually become a version of the Indian Great Firewall, said Dev Lewis, a research fellow at Digital Asia Hub in Shanghai. Everyones struggling to deal with governing technology companies and apps, especially ones that cross borders. So when India takes a step like this, it sets a precedent for the things that you can do. In terms of the immediate business consequences, ByteDance could be hardest-hit. India is its biggest market with more than 200 million TikTok users. During a brief ban last year, the Chinese company estimated it was missing out on half a million dollars a day of revenue. In a statement posted to Twitter, TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi said the company complies with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and has not shared any user information with any foreign government, including Beijing. Indias prohibition could also give American companies a possible edge over Chinese players in a rare global tech market that is both populous and not yet saturated. While WeChat never made it big in India, banning it may help shore up Facebook Inc.s WhatsApp. Cutting out TikTok immediately gives Alphabet Inc.s YouTube a boost. On Tuesday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said China was strongly concerned about Indias actions. The Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legitimate and legal rights of the international investors including Chinese ones, he said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... But for now, China doesnt have many great options to retaliate. While Beijing is highly adept at economic coercion, in this case it has somewhat limited options to act in a reciprocal manner, analysts for the Eurasia Group wrote in a research note. Bilateral trade is heavily weighted toward Chinese exports to India. Attempts to hurt India economically could blowback on Chinese companies. Read more about: The federal government may have extended its commercial rent assistance program by a month, but businesses say there remains far too much uncertainty surrounding their future. Were going to take it day by day, said Erik Joyal, who owns several hospitality establishments in Toronto, including Ascari at King Street West and Portland Street, which reopened this week. Were trying to develop other forms of revenue Were left with no other choice but to innovate to survive. The federal government announced Monday it is extending its Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program (CECRA), one of several aid packages to help businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the program, property owners can receive forgivable loans to cover 50 per cent of the rent for April, May and June the loans are forgiven if the owner agrees to lower the rent by at least 75 per cent. The tenant business would pay the remaining 25 per cent. The program will now cover July as well. Joyal said so far CECRA has helped with the rent at his downtown restaurant, but he points out that its next to impossible to earn enough revenue over the next month, with reduced customer capacity, to cover the rent and other big expenses in August and beyond. Joyal, who is also the co-founder of SaveHospitalityCA, a coalition of mainly Toronto hospitality establishments, said its a situation that a lot of smaller businesses will find themselves in, but particularly restaurants. Its a crazy amount of anxiety for people, he said. And the government waits until the eleventh hour to extend CECRA. Under Stage 2 of Ontarios reopening plan, restaurants and bars can now reopen, but for patio dining only, with restrictions in place to maintain physical distancing between patrons. Establishments offering personal services such as hair salons have also reopened. Its proven to be some good news for many businesses that have spent the better part of the past four months completely shut down. According to a new survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, just over 52 per cent of small businesses in Ontario are now fully open, with 20 per cent reporting normal sales. The CFIB said businesses in sectors with normal sales tend to be those that were never fully closed at the height of the pandemic, such as agriculture and some retail such as grocery stores. Its some good news, the numbers were better than they were last week, said Laura Jones, executive vice-president and chief strategic officer at the CFIB. But its good news within a picture that is still very, very worrying. The organization had previously asked the government to extend CECRA until at least September, with the possibility of a further extension. But while CECRA has worked for some businesses, Jones points out it hasnt helped every business that needs rental assistance, as the program requires the landlord to apply, and some landlords have chosen not to. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... She said the government needs to come up with a solution that puts rental assistance funds directly in the hands of the businesses. Its critical to the economic recovery that we get some real rent relief in place for those who havent had any rent relief yet, she said. Never Have I Ever star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan had been quarantining for more than a month in her Mississauga home when her face started popping up all over the internet. Netflix dropped the coming-of-age series from Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher on April 27, and social media was soon abuzz with praise for Ramakrishnans debut performance and what the Tamil-Canadians role meant for more diverse representation onscreen. But her newfound fame came as the world was blowing up with a pandemic and a powerful social-justice movement. And so, rather than more behind-the-scenes Instagram stories from the set in Hollywood, Ramakrishnan turned her focus to something that she says has always been a large part of who she is: activism. Her followers got an education in police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement as she regularly posted everything from calls to action and solidarity, to education resources, to donation and petition links for her one million followers. When I was in Grade 12 and there were cuts to public education all over Ontario, I was a part of those groups of students who walked out (in protest). And that was who I was well before Mindy even put out a tweet that an audition is going to happen, said Ramakrishnan. I dont think Im ever going to lose that part of myself. I hope I dont. Now especially more than ever for me, with a platform and everything thats going on in the world, you have to use your voice, you have to inform people, she added. Who cares about an esthetic or whatever kind of look or brand when your brand doesnt matter if youre not educating and youre not being aware of the world. Ramakrishnan shot to fame well into the COVID-19 lockdown with her leading role as Devi Vishwakumar, a high-achieving and feisty high school sophomore set on revamping her image while dealing with her strict immigrant mom and grappling with her dads sudden, traumatic death. Though her acting resume included only school plays, Ramakrishnan was hand-picked out of 15,000 hopefuls by Kaling after sending in the audition tape she filmed after school with a friend at the Meadowvale Library. It was weird because Im used to (people) seeing my acting just in the Meadowvale area in high school, but now its like the world can see my acting, which is wild, the 18-year-old said in an interview. But, at the same time, I feel the same still. I feel like Im still regular old me. And I dont know if thats a result of quarantine. While she may be stuck at home instead of enjoying the glitz and glamour of stardom, it also feels like a blessing in disguise. Im glad Im at home during this whole time because I can make sure that I take the time to myself amongst all the chaos and hype of Never Have I Ever. I really get to make sure that Im taking care of myself, said Ramakrishnan, who lives with her parents, grandparents and brother. That involves staying up late (Thats not really taking care of myself), playing video games and hanging out with her dog, Melody. Just being able to be with my family and just have that company while also not worrying entirely about like, I have to go here, I have to go there, she said. Ramakrishnan is still working from home, though, reading scripts, joining meetings and doing interviews. I still feel on the job, but I feel more at home still because this is where my roots are. This is all Ive known when it comes to properly living somewhere, she said of Mississauga, her lifelong home. Ramakrishnan, who has expressed a healthy dose of local pride on social media, said the GTA will always be home. She hopes to one day live in the heart of downtown Toronto, close to favourite spots like Kenzo Ramen and Kensington Market. Its just the pride of knowing where Ive grown up, Ramakrishnan said. Just the community of Mississauga where I grew up with all my friends. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... She credits her parents with encouraging whatever creative interests she has held, as well as her high-school drama teacher, who gave her a solid foundation to build on. My high school wasnt an art school. I was just in regular public education and I owe so much to my teachers, she said. Before heading to Hollywood, Ramakrishnan had planned to attend York University to study theatre. Those plans are on hold as she takes stock of what she wants to do next, and considers learning more about directing and producing (though acting remains the goal for now). Netflix has just announced Never Have I Ever has been renewed for Season 2.. Thanks to COVID-19, her biggest plans for the summer hanging out with her friends after a year apart while filming are also on hold. Mississauga friends shes known since she was five have wrapped up their first year of university and Ramakrishnan was looking forward to catching up at their favourite hangout, the Square One mall. Its true, we all do just live there, she said. We 100 per cent accept that stereotype. When it comes to young, diverse talents who hail from Mississauga, Ramakrishnan is in good company. Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu, who will play Marvel superhero Shang-Chi in an upcoming film, was raised in the Erin Mills area. Shay Mitchell, who played one of the few non-white characters on TVs Pretty Little Liars, was born in Mississauga. Musician PartyNextDoor, born to Jamaican and Trinidadian parents, is also a local. Mississauga itself as a city is quite diverse. Theres all sorts of backgrounds and ethnicities here, which is amazing, Ramakrishnan said. Its really the same as any other suburb city. Everybody is doing their own thing, but were not getting caught up in the glitz and the glamour. Were truly doing what we love. Thats the advice shed give to other young artists in the city wanting to follow in her footsteps. Focus on the craft it is that they want to pursue and keep practising because most of the job is practising to get better, she said. If you truly have a passion for it, you will stick to it and you will fall into your own success in your own time. Read more about: MADRIDScholars in the work of surrealist Frida Kahlo have searched for more than six decades for The Wounded Table, a 1940 oil painting illuminating her pain over the breakup of her marriage to muralist Diego Rivera that hasnt been seen since an exhibition in Poland. And the historians strongly reject the idea that the mystery of its whereabouts has been solved, as claimed by a Spanish art dealer who says the painting is now sitting in a London warehouse awaiting a buyer willing to spend more than 40 million euros ($60.9 million). Experts consulted by the Associated Press have concluded that published images of the work now on sale show nothing more than a copy of Kahlos painting. Helga Prignitz-Poda, an art historian who has fruitlessly tried to track down the long-lost painting, said that there are clear differences between the work for sale and old photographs of the original and that there are similarities between the offered work with inaccurate replicas based on those old images. In addition, she said, Kahlo did the painting on wood and not on canvas. The work for sale is described as a canvas painting. Cristian Lopez, the Spanish art dealer who says he represents the anonymous owner of the painting, stands firm in defending its authenticity. Time will give us the truth, Lopez said during a phone conversation in which he offered few details on the painting. Lopez, who is little known in the art world, said specialists have endorsed the paintings authenticity, but he declined to identify them. Whoever proves genuine interest and the ability to pay the figure of 40 million euros, can spend as much time as wanted with their experts analyzing the work, Lopez said. The Wounded Table was unveiled at the International Surrealism Exhibition in 1940 in Mexico City. It includes a self-portrait of Kahlo at a long table, flanked by a Holy Week Judas and a monster that embraces her, while the two sons of her sister stand at one end and her pet fawn is at the other. Blood flows from knots of the wood table, which is considered to represent the artists anguish of the just concluded divorce from Rivera. Kahlo donated the painting to the Soviet Union in 1945 for a planned Mexico room at the Museum of Western Art in Moscow, but Soviet art officials disdained surrealism as decadent and the project was dropped. The Mexican works ended up in a cellar. A year after Kahlos death, a Mexican group organized a travelling art exhibition for shows in Soviet bloc nations and arranged for a loan of The Wounded Table. Prignitz-Poda said there is photographic evidence the 46-inch by 98-inch painting was shown in Warsaw, but nothing is known of it after that. There is no clue whether it was returned to Moscow, destroyed or perhaps acquired by someone. Susana Pliego, an art historian who has studied the work of both Kahlo and Rivera, is among the experts who dont think the painting for sale is the real thing. She said there is a big problem with faked Kahlo painting because the art market thirsts for more works by an artist who produced only about 200 paintings before her death in 1954. Fridamania has been a marketing invention, said Pliego, who directs cultural programming at the Casa de Mexico in Madrid and who worked for years on Kahlos archive. Because her paintings are sold so expensively, someone makes a proposal to see if anyone falls for it. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Hans-Jergen Gehrke, an art collector who operates a museum dedicated to Kahlos works in southwestern Germany, considers it implausible, if not directly ridiculous, that an unknown 22-year-old businessman operating a website from a town in northwestern Spain is the guardian of the missing painting. There are thousands of Frida Kahlo fakes, Gehrke said. She is possibly the artist who has painted more dead than in life. Even in a pandemic, folks are getting married. And where theres a wedding even a small one in the backyard theres usually a cake. Home bakers looking to make their own wedding cakes dont need a fancy, multi-tiered tower. But how can they create something that rises above the ordinary? First, dont be overly ambitious, says Jocelyn Delk Adams, cookbook author and founder of the Grandbaby Cakes blog. People tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves when making wedding cakes. Dont go too wild, she cautions. Make a practice cake or two so you feel prepared for the big day. Preparation is the key, agrees special-occasion cake baker Ron Ben-Israel, owner of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City. Prepare and simplify the process by writing down all of the different stages, he says. Separate out the pieces of the process, and write down what each will require. List the ingredients you will need and make sure you can find them all, since items like flour and baking powder might be in short supply. Ben-Israel emphasizes the need to find your cake recipes, including fillings and icings, from a reliable source. The good news is that cake layers can be baked and frozen, well wrapped, weeks in advance. Defrost the wrapped cakes in the fridge. Ben-Israel says its easier to assemble and decorate cakes straight from the fridge (not the freezer, because of possible condensation as they defrost). Fillings and icings can be made days ahead. Remove them from the fridge and let them reach room temperature, then blend them again and spread at room temperature. And shortcuts are OK. Says Adams: If you dont feel like you are good technically at baking, dont be afraid to doctor up a cake mix! There are so many ways you can make a cake mix feel more special. One thing I learned the hard way is the importance of a crumb layer of frosting. This is the technique of applying a very thin layer of frosting to the cake and allowing it to firm up before you apply the final, thicker layer. The first layer might pick up some crumbs, but then seals them in, so the subsequent icing layer wont pull up more crumbs and mess up the clean look of the cake. This is important when you are frosting a chocolate cake with white frosting, for instance. Single-tier cakes are simpler, and if you are looking to do more than one tier, Ben-Israel urges you to read up on how to structure a multi-layered cake. Check out videos on YouTube to learn the physics of it. When I made some rudimentary wedding cakes for friends in days past, I placed the top layer on a cardboard round (camouflaged by icing), and before placing it on top of the bottom layer, I inserted some straws cut to the height of the lower cake layer in a circle in the middle of the cake to support the top layer. As for decoration, Ben-Israel and Adams both advise keeping it simple. Ben-Israel says you might skip the piping altogether, or if you do want to use a bag with pastry tips, think of Keith Haring and cover the whole cake with doodles. Dont go for straight lines. He also advocates for candies, sprinkles,and edible flowers (not sprayed with anything). He suggests using multicoloured candies to create a stained-glass-window effect. If you are feeling extra-creative, Ben-Israel says, mix some food colours with a clear alcohol like vodka, and paint them like water colours over the frosting. If the colours start dripping? Great! Drip the colours all over the cake. One perk of baking a cake for a small wedding party: You can really think about the flavours that the couple loves. Your cake can reflect the personality of you and your fiance in a way that might not have felt possible when you are hosting a big wedding and worrying about being a people-pleaser, says Adams. Erin Butler, director of volunteer services for City Harvest, a hunger-relief organization in New York, knows exactly what she wants for her cake when she gets married this summer to fiance Ben Cohen. The first time Ben came to visit my family in Florida, I took him to get a Publix supermarket cake, which is totally reminiscent of my childhood, she says. It was the cake her family bought for every celebratory occasion, and Butler and Cohen dug into Google forums, searching for the recipe. There are certain traditions that we are throwing away, but this Publix-inspired wedding cake feels like a real important piece of the puzzle in making our wedding feel special, she says. Adams also suggests thinking beyond cake. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... You actually dont have to adhere to the traditions so much right now, she says. The tradition is really cutting the dessert together, so you could cut a pie together, if thats what you like. Try to have fun with the process, she says, maybe making the cake together and creating that memory. It will make it taste sweeter the fact that you created that cake or dessert together for your special day. VICTORIAThe British Columbia government has launched a program aimed at creating work for 15-to-29-year-old youth in community service while their job prospects are dramatically affected by COVID-19. Advanced Education Minister Melanie Mark said Monday that almost 25 per cent of youth are unemployed in B.C. and the program would give them an opportunity to work outdoors on initiatives such as building trails or cleaning beaches. The $5-million program would provide up to $10,000 in grants for community projects lasting up to 16 weeks, Mark said. The money is part of a labour market development agreement with the federal government, which provided provinces and territories with funding in 2018. British Columbia received $685 million over six years, the Advanced Education Ministry said. The Youth Community Partnership Program introduced Monday would give youth a training stipend of up to $2,000 per four-week period to a maximum of $8,000 for work until the end of October. Theres been a lot of uncertainty out there, Mark said, adding physical distancing requirements mean a limit of 10 youth will be part of each project. Participants could also receive supports such as bus passes, child care, work boots and personal protective equipment. Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Shane Simpson said the program would provide young people with responsibility and work experience as B.C. begins to recover from the pandemic. We know the challenge of jobs is very real and we know that youth employment and youth unemployment is very much a challenge moving forward, Simpson said as he urged community groups to get their applications in quickly to benefit youth who could work during the summer. Chief Counsellor Robert J. Dennis Sr. of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations said students face an uncertain future and participating in the program would give them skills they could take into their career. Dennis said his community in Port Alberni could benefit from projects related to the environment in the area that currently has a fishery renewal initiative underway. This would certainly be a good time to introduce the youth to why fishery renewal is really important to the nation. Forestry renewal is another thing, he said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... On Monday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry reported that there have been 26 new COVID-19 cases in British Columbia since Friday. She said there were no deaths over the past three days. Henry said 2,904 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 in B.C. and 2,577 have recovered. Read more about: NEW YORK - Supporters of abortion rights are elated, foes of abortion dismayed and angry, but they agree on one consequence of the Supreme Courts first major abortion ruling since President Donald Trump took office: The upcoming election is crucial to their cause. Both sides also say Mondays ruling is not the last word on state-level abortion restrictions. One abortion rights leader evoked the image of playing whack-a-mole as new cases surface. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, struck down a Louisiana law seeking to require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. For both sides in the abortion debate, it was viewed as a momentous test of the courts stance following Trumps appointments of two conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Both justices joined the conservative blocs dissent that supported the Louisiana law. But they were outvoted because Chief Justice John Roberts concurred with the courts four more liberal justices. The ruling was yet another major decision in which the conservative-leaning court failed to deliver an easy victory to the right in culture war issues during an election year; one ruling protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment, and the other rejected Trumps effort to end protections for young immigrants. Now, anti-abortion leaders say theres an urgent need to reelect Trump so he can appoint more justices like Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. Abortion rights activists, with equal fervour, say its crucial to defeat Trump and end Republican control of the Senate, where the GOP majority has confirmed scores of conservative judges during Trumps term. The Louisiana law was an obvious challenge to our reproductive freedom, and it points to the urgent need to vote for pro-choice candidates from the top of the ballot all the way down, said Heidi Sieck of #VOTEPROCHOICE, an online advocacy group. Do this in primaries, do this in runoffs, do this in special elections and do this in the general in November. James Bopp Jr., general counsel for National Right to Life, made a similar appeal, from an opposite vantage point. This decision demonstrates how difficult it is to drain the D.C. swamp and how important it is that President Trump gets reelected so that he may be able to appoint more pro-life justices, Bopp said. The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life and a member of the Trump campaigns Catholic voter outreach project, noted that two of the liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer are the oldest members of the court. Nobody can predict the future, but whos going to name their replacements when the time comes? That is a question that motivates a lot of voters, Pavone said. Anti-abortion activists swiftly made clear that Mondays ruling would not dissuade them from continuing to push tough abortion restrictions through state legislatures. In recent years, several states have enacted near-total bans on abortion only to have them blocked by the courts. However, Texas Right to Life urged lawmakers there to press ahead with a proposed three-pronged measure that would start with a ban on late-term abortions and proceed to a total ban. Mondays ruling highlights the need for pro-life states to pass laws that directly protect pre-born children in new and dynamic ways rather than get distracted on regulating the corrupt abortion industry, a Texas Right to Life statement said. Mike Gonidakis, the president of Ohio Right to Life, questioned the wisdom of pushing now for sweeping bans. He noted that an Ohio bill sharply restricting late-term abortions had taken effect, while the courts blocked a measure passed last year that would ban most abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. We have to be methodical, strategic, and take an incremental approach, he said. A lot of people want to go from 0 to 60 you usually end up with nothing. The president of a national anti-abortion group, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, said she and her allies would encourage states to continue pressing forward with proposed restrictions that stopped short of near-total bans. These measures are extremely popular in some battleground states, she said. Prioritizing them is part of our electoral strategy. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Abortion rights advocate Nancy Northup, the CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, acknowledged that Mondays ruling will not stop those hell-bent on banning abortion. We will continue to fight state by state, law by law to protect our constitutional right to abortion, she said. But we shouldnt have to keep playing whack-a-mole. She urged Congress to pass a bill called The Womens Health Protection Act, which seeks to bolster womens ability to access abortion even in states that pass laws seeking to restrict that access. The measure was introduced in May 2019 and has strong Democratic support but no chance of passage for now due to Republican opposition. From the other side of the debate, there also are dreams of a congressional solution. Michael New, an abortion opponent who teaches social research at Catholic University of America, said some legal experts in the anti-abortion community believe Congress could find ways to restrict or ban abortion while circumventing the courts for example by establishing constitutional legal protections for unborn children. But any such measures are nonstarters for now, given that Democrats in Congress would overwhelmingly oppose them. Whatever the strategy, New said, it would be important for the anti-abortion movement to be unified. He recalled that internal debates decades ago over how to draft a human life amendment to the Constitution did a great deal of damage to the anti-abortion cause. Johnnie Moore, an evangelical adviser to the Trump administration, said Mondays court ruling would intensify interest in the election among religious conservatives who are a key part of Trumps base. Conservatives know they are on the one-yard-line, Moore tweeted. Enthusiasm is already unprecedented, evangelical turnout will be too. ___ Associated Press writer Elana Schor contributed to this report. Its not the end of the COVID-19 crisis in Canada, but it is the end of frenzied crisis management in Ottawa or at least an important corner turned. Justin Trudeau and the countrys chief public health officers made it official on Monday: they no longer feel its necessary to give Canadians daily updates on the spread of the pandemic in this country. Like the virus, they arent totally disappearing and can return at any time. But the steady decline of COVID-19 in Canada, documented in a bundle of statistical updates also released on Monday, is allowing the federal government to formally downgrade its emergency-management procedures. A nation largely in the midst of reopening is going to have to wean itself off the daily updates, health lectures and well get through this reassurances we have become accustomed to receiving from the capital since March. We still have to keep our physical distance from each other, but well be doing that with some greater distance from the emergency managers in Ottawa. Trudeau was venturing into talk about lessons learned on Monday, signalling, perhaps, that his governments focus on COVID-19 is shifting from fearful forecasts to rear-view reflection. Theres certainly plenty of things we would have done differently, Trudeau said Monday at his briefing outside Rideau Cottage, which will no longer be a daily thing. Some things we might have done a little sooner. Some things we might have done a little later, the prime minister said without elaborating on details, noting that there wasnt time at first in this crisis to do more than react. Now, however, Trudeau said that an analysis of Ottawas reaction is under way. Those reflections, of course, are ongoing and will continue to be ongoing so that were better positioned for a potential second wave, he said. Many weeks ago, when the viruss case and death counts were still climbing, Canadas chief public health officer said that Canada wouldnt know when the worst was passed in the COVID-19 crisis until well after that point had been reached. Monday may have been that milepost. Dr. Theresa Tams presentation to reporters on Monday was also reflective, as she and her deputy, Dr. Howard Njoo, spoke of the crisis in the past tense and even entertained questions about taking a break this summer. Tam said she may even take some of her own advice about work-life balance and scale back the 20-hour work days shes been logging. Like the prime minister, they werent talking of any specific lessons learned, but when they spoke about how the crisis unfolded, some themes did emerge, which will no doubt be part of any analysis theyre now doing. COVID-19 hit the most vulnerable people in Canada the hardest, exposing social and economic inequities, Tam said. The worst outbreaks were in long-term-care homes and seniors residences, hospitals, correctional facilities, meat processing facilities, agricultural settings and shelters. The epidemic arrived globally, but played out hyper-locally. Or, as the latest statistical modelling presentation from Ottawa put it, National trends reveal a series of regional epidemics. The best way to contain the spread of the virus, until there is a vaccine, is to get better at contact tracing and testing. Progress has been made since March, the public health officials said, but more needs to be done. Ones chances of getting the virus still come down to simple arithmetic: the more people youre around, the greater your risk. That risk hasnt gone away, despite all the talk on Monday of ratcheted-down emergency status. Trudeau spoke at his soon-to-be-more-rare briefing on Monday about how hes been developing the habit of wearing a mask in public. The geared-down emergency in Ottawa coincides with the beginning of summer, but it also aligns with whats been evident for weeks now: the public-health crisis of the first part of this pandemic is now more of an economic crisis for most Canadians. Even as the prime minister and the health officials are exiting centre stage, the lingering economic damage of the pandemic will remain in the spotlight. Many of the prime ministers pandemic-relief announcements of recent weeks revolve around digging in for the long term: extending benefits and measures for those whose economic prospects were devastated. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Next week, in fact, when governments and politicians would any other year be going into a post-Canada-Day break, Trudeau and his finance minister will be releasing an economic update of sorts, with plenty of blanks about whats on the fiscal horizon. Crisis management as weve known it for roughly 111 days now is going away, but the crisis isnt. Susan Delacourt is an Ottawa-based columnist covering national politics for the Star. Reach her via email: sdelacourt@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @susandelacourt Read more about: Mayors from across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area are urging Premier Doug Ford and provincial health officials to make wearing masks mandatory to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The mayors and chairs unanimously agree to request to the government of Ontario to implement a mandatory face covering measure for large municipalities, said a statement Monday on their behalf from Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. Every person wearing a face covering properly is protecting those around them from the risk of virus spread, said the mayors statement, which was shared on Twitter by Toronto Mayor John Tory. We are at a critical time in the fight against COVID-19. We may do everything we can to avoid flare-ups of the virus in our communities. Scarpitti said the mayors and regional chairs would work with their local medical officers of health to explore how they can best advance the universal wearing of non-medical masks and face coverings inside businesses and other indoor places where the public gathers, including on transit. Ford, who recommends wearing a mask indoors in a public space or outside when a safe physical distancing of two metres apart cannot be maintained, said municipalities already have the power to mandate face coverings. Enforcement is also up to civic governments. But the premier said it would be difficult to force all Ontarians to wear masks. You just cant enforce it. You go up to the rural areas way up north, and theres no cases (of COVID-19), as much as we can tell and they arent wearing masks. I encourage everyone, but we just cant enforce it, Ford said Friday. Its up to the chief medical officer. Ive talked to Mayor Scarpitti about this and the chief medical officer of York Region. Thats their choice. If the chief medical officer of Toronto wants to implement that, theyre welcome to under Section 22 (of the Health Protection and Promotion Act), he said. They have a lot of power to change things. So, if the community, the mayors and everyone wants to do that good luck to them. I dont disagree, by the way. Ontarios associate medical officer of health said Monday that the province would not rule out a mandatory mask order, but for now is strongly recommending face coverings in situations where physical distancing is a challenge. We would consider every option as it goes along, depending on the evidence. If we see a lot of people are not complying, it may be better to have mandatory, said Dr. Barbara Yaffe. One complication with mandatory province-wide orders is there are a number of health units across the province that have had no coronavirus cases for weeks. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: CAAT defines 11 categories of people allowed to enter Thailand by flight PHUKET: The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has defined 11 categories of persons who will be allowed to enter Thailand by aircraft after midnight tonight (00:01am July 1). tourismtransportCOVID-19health By The Phuket News Tuesday 30 June 2020, 09:26AM The definitions came in the The Notification on Conditions for International Flight Permit to Thailand issued by CAAT Director General Chula Sukmanop yesterday (June 29). The notification reads as follows: In reference to the previous notifications of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand issued since 3 April 2020 imposing temporary ban on all international flights entering Thailand for the prevention and control of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID 19) Pandemic, as the present situation of COVID19 in many foreign countries remains severe, it is necessary to impose measures to restrict the travel to the Kingdom of Thailand in accordance with the screening capability of the competent officers or the communicable disease control officers in order to efficiently control and prevent the new epidemic in the Kingdom. By virtue of Section 27 and 28 of the Air Navigation Act B.E. 2497, the Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand hereby issues the notification on the conditions for permitting aircrafts to fly over, fly into or out of, and take off or land in the Kingdom as follows: 1. The following aircraft will be allowed to fly over, fly into or out of, and take off from or land at an international airport in the Kingdom when permit is given by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand: State or military aircraft Emergency landing flights Technical landing flights without disembarkation Humanitarian aid, medical and relief flights Repatriation flights Cargo flights 2. Permit for passenger aircraft will be given by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand for flying over, flying into or out of, and taking off or landing at an international airport in the Kingdom only if the passengers or persons on board are one of the following categories: Thai nationals Persons with exemption or persons being considered, permitted or invited by the Prime Minister, or the head of responsible persons accountable for resolving state of emergency issues to enter the Kingdom, as necessary. Such consideration, permission or invitation may be subject to specified conditions and time limits. Non-Thai nationals who are a spouse, parents, or children of a Thai national. Non-Thai nationals who hold a valid certificate of residence, or permission to take up residence in the Kingdom Non-Thai nationals who hold a valid work permit or are allowed to work in the Kingdom, including their spouse or children. Carriers of necessary goods, subject to immediate return after completion. Crew members who are required to travel into the Kingdom on a mission, and have a specified date and time for return. Non-Thai nationals who are students of educational institutions approved by Thai authorities, including the parents or guardians of the students. Non-Thai nationals who are in need of medical treatment in Thailand, and their attendants. However, this shall not include medical treatment for COVID19. Individuals in diplomatic missions, consular affairs, international organizations, government representatives, foreign government agencies working in Thailand, or individual in other international agencies as permitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including their spouse, parents, or children. Non-Thai nationals who are permitted to enter the Kingdom under a special arrangement with a foreign country. . 3. Aircraft and passengers or persons entering the Kingdom under No.2 must comply with the conditions, time limits and rules of the authorized persons under the Thai immigration law, communicable diseases law, air navigation law, and the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation in force, for prevention of the disease and the organization of the number of persons entering Thailand in accordance with the screening capability of the competent officers or the communicable disease control officers, and the arrangement of quarantine facilities This notification shall be effective from 1 July B.E. 2563 (2020), 00:01 Thailand local time onwards. China forcibly sterilises Uighurs to control population WORLD: Chinese authorities are carrying out forced sterilisations of Uighur and other ethnic minority women in an apparent campaign to curb the population, a study said yesterday (June 29), triggering swift international condemnation. Chinese By AFP Tuesday 30 June 2020, 09:39AM A report about forced sterilisations by Chinese authorities, based on a combination of official regional data, policy documents and interviews with ethnic minority women, has prompted calls for a UN investigation. Photo: AFP China called the allegations baseless but the United States demanded an immediate end to the campaign described in the report, which was based on a combination of official regional data, policy documents and interviews with ethnic minority women. China is accused of locking more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in re-education camps. Beijing describes the facilities as job training centres aimed at steering people away from terrorism following a spate of violence blamed on separatists. Now a report by Adrian Zenz, a German researcher who has exposed Chinas policies in Xinjiang, says Uighur women, among other ethnic minorities, are being threatened with internment in the camps for refusing to abort pregnancies that exceed birth quotas. Zenzs data-driven work which uses public documents found by scouring Chinas internet on the camps has previously been cited by experts on a UN panel investigating the facilities. Women who had fewer than the legally permitted limit of two children were involuntarily fitted with IUDs, says the report. It also reports that some of the women said they were being coerced into receiving sterilization surgeries. Former camp detainees said they were given injections that stopped their periods, or caused unusual bleeding consistent with the effects of birth control drugs. Government documents studied by Zenz also showed that women in some rural minority communities in the region received frequent mandatory gynaecological exams and bi-monthly pregnancy tests from local health officials. Zenz found that population growth in Xinjiang counties predominantly home to ethnic minorities fell below the average growth in primarily Han majority counties between 2017 and 2018, a year after the officially recorded rate of sterilizations in the region sharply overtook the national rate in 2016. Uighur activists say China is using the internment camps to conduct a massive brainwashing campaign aimed at eradicating their distinct culture and Islamic identity. China appears to be using coercive birth control in Xinjiang as part of a wider game plan of ethno-racial domination, Zenz wrote in the report. These findings raise serious concerns as to whether Beijings policies in Xinjiang represent, in fundamental respects, what might be characterized as a demographic campaign of genocide under UN definitions, Zenz said in the report. The US State Department called the campaign reminiscent of the abuses against members of ethnic and religious minority groups throughout the 20th century. We call on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately end these horrific practices and ask all nations to join the United States in demanding an end to these dehumanizing abuses, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a frequent critic of Beijing, said in a statement. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of North American, European and Australian members of parliament from a range of political parties, said in a statement it would push for a legal investigation on whether or not crimes against humanity or genocide have taken place in Xinjiang. IPAC was formed in June with a stated mission of standing up against challenges posed by the present conduct and future ambitions of the Peoples Republic of China. Britain said it was aware of reports which add to our concern about the human rights situation in Xinjiang. Of course we will be considering this report very carefully, junior foreign office minister Nigel Adams told parliament. Chinas foreign ministry said the allegations were baseless and showed ulterior motives. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian blasted media outlets for cooking up false information on Xinjiang-related issues, saying at a regular press briefing that Xinjiang is harmonious and stable. The rights group World Uyghur Congress said the report showed a genocidal element of the CCPs (Chinese Communist Party) policies and called in a statement for international action to confront China. China passes sweeping Hong Kong security law WORLD: China passed a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong today (June 30), a historic move that critics and many western governments fear will smother the finance hubs freedoms and hollow out its autonomy. Chinese By AFP Tuesday 30 June 2020, 05:52PM Protests against Chinas increasingly heavy-handed approach to Hong Kong have rocked the semi-autonomous city for the past year. Photo: AFP The legislation was unanimously approved by Chinas rubber-stamp parliament this morning, little more than six weeks after it was first unveiled, sending shockwaves through semi-autonomous Hong Kong and beyond. The United States, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations rights watchdog have all voiced fears the law could be used to stifle criticism of Beijing, which wields similar laws on the authoritarian mainland to crush dissent. In an unprecedented decision, the law bypassed Hong Kongs fractious legislature and the wording was kept secret from the citys 7.5 million inhabitants. The national security law for Hong Kong was officially passed by the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee today, the DAB, Hong Kongs largest pro-Beijing party, said in a statement today welcoming the law. Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao two Hong Kong newspapers that serve as conduits for Beijings official policy also confirmed the passing of the law, as did multiple local Hong Kong media outlets citing anonymous sources in Beijing. Even as word filtered out that the law had been approved, Hong Kongers remained in the dark about its contents and what might now constitute a crime. At her weekly press conference this morning, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam a pro-Beijing appointee declined to comment on whether the law had been passed or what it contained. I think at this moment, it is not appropriate for me to comment on any questions related to the national security law, she told reporters. End of Hong Kong So what on earth has been passed? Figo Chan, a leader of the Civil Human Rights Group wrote on his Facebook page. Prominent democracy campaigner Joshua Wong tweeted: It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before. With sweeping powers and ill-defined law, the city will turn into a #secretpolicestate. In a largely symbolic move, the United States yesterday ended sensitive defence exports to Hong Kong over the law. We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the Peoples Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the Communist Party. Hong Kong was guaranteed certain freedoms as well as judicial and legislative autonomy for 50 years in a deal known as One Country, Two Systems. The formula formed the bedrock of the citys transformation into a world class business hub, bolstered by a reliable judiciary and political freedoms unseen on the mainland. Critics have long accused Beijing of chipping away at that status in recent years, but they describe the security law as the most brazen move yet. A summary of the law published by the official state agency Xinhua earlier this month said Chinas security agencies would be able to set up shop publicly in the semi-autonomous city for the first time. Beijing has also said it will have jurisdiction over some cases, toppling the legal firewall that has existed between Hong Kong and the mainlands party-controlled courts since the 1997 handover. On the mainland, national security laws are routinely used to jail critics, especially for the vague offence of subversion. Beijing and Hong Kongs government reject those allegations. They have said that the laws will only target a minority of people, will not harm political freedoms in the city and will restore business confidence after a year of historic pro-democracy protests. Millions took the streets last year while a smaller hardcore of protesters frequently battled police in increasingly violent confrontations that saw more than 9,000 arrested. The size, frequency and ferocity of the protests have dramatically declined in recent months with the pro-democracy movement hemmed in by the coronavirus outbreak, bans on public gatherings and aggressive policing tactics. Thailand to lift ban on international flights Wednesday BANGKOK: Thailand will lift a ban on international flights on Wednesday (July 1), its aviation regulator said on Monday. COVID-19tourismtransporthealth By Bangkok Post Tuesday 30 June 2020, 09:03AM The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said the ban on international flights will be lifted on Wednesday under some conditions. Aircraft and persons entering Thailand must comply with the conditions, time limits and rules of the authorised persons under the Immigration Act, communicable diseases laws, aviation law and the emergency decree, it added, reports the Bangkok Post. The announcement came after the government earlier on Monday approved some foreign travel to the country including business travellers and foreigners with spouses, work permits or residency in the country. The airports and airline industry bore the heaviest brunt from the ban in April before the CAAT allowed some flights to resume in May. The Department of Airports said fewer than 5 million passengers have passed through the countrys 28 airports since the beginning of the year. This represents a significant contraction compared to the same period last year, when 9.3 million passengers used the same airports. Releasing the numbers for Jan 1-June 20, department director-general Kawee Kasisam-ang attributed the substantial drop mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted border closures and the suspension of scheduled domestic and international flights in early April. Mr Kawee said the 28 airports handled 4.2 million passengers from Jan 1-June 20, of whom 54% were on domestic flights. A total of 18,700 flights operated into and out of the airports, a drop of 48% from the 35,800 flights in 2019, and almost all 17,600 operated on domestic routes. With the lockdown being progressively eased in recent weeks, a limited number of domestic flights have started slowly pushing up airport usage. A daily average of about 14,000 passengers have used the 28 airports since the latest, Phase 4 easing of the COVID-19 restrictions was implemented on June 15. The improved number, however, is a far cry from the daily average of 47,000 passengers who used the 28 airports in the same period last year. The airports are currently managing a movement of between 70-80 scheduled flights a day, down from the daily average of between 160-170 flights in previous years. CAAT, meanwhile, said the number of passengers using airports nationwide was 279,763 in the third week of last month, up 23.9% from the previous week. On Demand We have a new story every day on the front page of thephuketnews.com. Also like us on our Facebook page (facebook.com/thephuketnews) and be the first to watch all the new stories. Finally you can watch any segment, any time by going to thephuketnews.com/tv where all the stories are listed for you to enjoy. All our programs can be enjoyed in High Definition when watching on the internet. In-Room VDO Southern Pines, NC (28387) Today Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 93F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 73F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Lisa Kaczke Sioux Falls Argus Leader Health experts are concerned a crowd of 7,500 gathering without social distancing and masks at the Mount Rushmore fireworks display could cause a spike in coronavirus cases following the event. The Friday fireworks, which President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend, will be the first at Mount Rushmore National Monument in a decade and comes three months into the COVID-19 pandemic. Health professionals in South Dakota are concerned the lack of mitigation efforts expected at the event could cause the coronavirus to spread in the communities surrounding Mount Rushmore and in communities where attendees live following the event. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has four levels of coronavirus risk for events and the Mount Rushmore fireworks falls into the highest risk category: a large in-person gathering where itll be hard for attendees to remain 6 feet apart and attendees have traveled from outside the local area. The South Dakota State Medical Association has concerns that proper social distancing and safety precautions wont be maintained during the event and it questions whether attendees will be able to social distance at the event given its magnitude and location, said the associations President Dr. Ben Aaker, an emergency medicine physician in Yankton. Its impossible for the association to predict what will happen with coronavirus cases after the Mount Rushmore fireworks, he said. But if people become infected at the event, some of them will need to be hospitalized and some will need ventilators and ICU beds, he said. Right now, we feel that we have enough beds for what were currently undergoing, but if we have large events such as this event at Mount Rushmore, that has the potential to overwhelm the hospital system, Aaker said. The SDSMA isnt saying that events should be canceled, but rather the proper precautions recommended by the CDC need to be in place. If that doesnt happen, the risks come into play and thats what the SDSMA is concerned about, he said. The state hasnt reached out to the SDSMA about the fireworks event. Michael Klatt, a retired public health advisor who worked for the CDC and state of South Dakota, said hes baffled the state is moving ahead with the fireworks event and not requiring social distancing and masks at the event. He pointed out that the coronavirus has killed 125,000 Americans so far. It looks to me like a perfect storm for an easy transmission of this deadly disease, said Klatt, who now lives in Sioux Falls. Gov. Kristi Noem, when announcing the details of the event, urged people to not attend the fireworks event if theyre not feeling well. Weve seen people coming into the state for many weeks now and we continue to see our infection rates decline, Noem said. What Im going to ask people to do is if youre sick, stay home. What are the unknowns? Klatt said hes concerned about the potential for attendees to bring the coronavirus home with them and then spread it to their friends, family, coworkers and neighbors. He pointed out that people in the crowd may have the coronavirus, but not know theyre spreading it because theyre either asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic. Its just an outbreak waiting to happen, he said. If the CDCs recommended precautions arent taken at the event, people living and working in the communities around Mount Rushmore have a lot to be concerned about, Aaker said. The biggest problem with the coronavirus is that its unknown how exactly it spreads between people or how long of an exposure it takes for people to contract it, Aaker said. We have some research thats been done and some research thats still ongoing, but right now we just do not know for sure so we want to take as much safety precaution as we can, he said. Health department offers recommendations The South Dakota Department of Health provided assistance to the state departments organizing the fireworks event, according to Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon. The health department provided recommendations that are the same for other community events, she said. The state health department is encouraging attendees to social distance to the extent its possible and wear masks if theyre comfortable doing so, she said. If they have concerns about attending and about being exposed, then they should reconsider their attendance at a large event, she said. Aaker said attendees at large events should try to stay 6 feet away from others whenever possible and wear a mask when theres a possibility that social distancing cant be maintained. Hand washing is critical when people use the facilities or before eating, he said. People should also consider whether they should attend the fireworks event because of the risk it poses to themselves and every person theyll come into contact with in the 14 days following the event, he said. If you were to pick up coronavirus at this event and then encounter other people, youre potentially infecting them and youve brought that infection to them, Aaker said. What are the ramifications of that? How would that make you feel ... what would happen if an outbreak started because you attended? Watertown Public Opinion Representatives of both Walmart and Hy-Vee grocery stores in Watertown have said all recalled Fresh Express salad products have been removed from their shelves. Christina Gayman, Hy-Vee director of public relations, told the Public Opinion Monday that she knew of no illnesses in South Dakota caused by the Fresh Express products. A list of the 13 recalled types of salad products that included iceberg lettuce and other vegetables was published in Mondays Public Opinion. A representative at the Walmart store in Watertown said some products were removed last week, but wasnt sure which ones because he wasnt working at the time. The worker shared a web address where Walmart recalls can be checked, and the Fresh Express products are listed. They include salads produced at the Fresh Express Streamwood, Illinois, facility. They may contain a combination of iceberg lettuce, red cabbage or carrots and have the product codes of Z178 or a lower number. Both Watertown stores said the products were pulled immediately once the recall was made because of a possible contamination of cyclospora. Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by the cyclospora parasite. A person could become infected after ingesting contaminated food or water. Common symptoms include severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, body aches and fatigue. The infection is treated with antibiotics and most people respond quickly to treatment. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 200 illnesses have been reported in connection with a current outbreak of cyclospora in primarily Midwest states. County Fair Food Store in Watertown was also contacted by the Public Opinion. A representative said the store does not stock Fresh Express products. Gayman said many grocers sell Fresh Express items. WATERLOO A 23-year-old Waterloo man faces two charges of assaulting police after officers were called to an apartment where a man had barricaded himself inside and there was concern for others in the home. On Tuesday at about 1 a.m. Waterloo Regional Police went to the residence on Albert Street after reports of a man in distress. Police found the man barricaded in the apartment and heard yelling when they arrived. Once officers got inside, the man swung at two officers. Const. Andre Johnson said there was another person inside the home. The man was arrested. Two officers, a man and a woman, received minor injuries and were treated by local paramedics who were also called to the apartment, police said. KITCHENER A six-year prison sentence for the impaired driver who killed Wilfrid Laurier University dean Leanne Holland Brown is insufficient, says the president of the Waterloo Region chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. We always feel the sentences arent necessarily in line with the crime, Steve Bowden said in an interview. Essentially this is 100 per cent preventable. Its a choice that someone has made and it has killed somebody. You choose to do it and you need to face the consequences. Ronald Rees, 57, of Cambridge was sentenced last week after pleading guilty to impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death. With presentence custody subtracted, he has another four years and seven months to serve. On April 24, 2019, Rees smoked a full marijuana cigarette shortly before his car struck and killed Brown, 43, who had been out for an afternoon walk with a friend on Central Street in Waterloo. Reess THC levels were almost four times the legal limit. Brown was Lauriers dean of students and the mother of two young boys. The defence had sought five years in prison; the Crown asked for seven. Until people value the health and safety of those in their community over their own fleeting conveniences and whims, people will continue to die needlessly across our country as a result of the decision to drive impaired, Crown prosecutor Michael Michaud wrote in his sentencing submissions to the judge. Lives will continue to be shattered. Families and communities will continue to be torn apart. Bowden believes eight to 10 years would have been appropriate. Theres a vital person from the community, Leanne Holland Brown, whos killed and is no longer there. A mother, a daughter ... The woman walking with Brown was not physically injured but was severely traumatized. She continues to suffer daily as a result of the collision and it has significantly impacted her employment, Michaud said. It highlights that real harm can ensue even if a victim is not physically injured. Rees, represented by defence lawyer Bernard Cummins, got credit for pleading guilty and expressing remorse. I do appreciate them pleading guilty and not dragging the family and friends through the court system, having a full trial and everything, Bowden said. But he believes impaired drivers should not get a lower sentence for pleading guilty. In many of these cases, the driver cant dispute what happened, he said. You were the one behind the wheel, you were the one that police saw ... its clear you initiated the crash. The six-year sentence and a 15-year driving ban handed out by Justice John Lynch is not out of line with sentences in other local cases. Jason Fach, 38, of Cambridge was sentenced earlier his year to six years for impaired driving causing the death of Kenneth Scott, 67, of Puslinch Lake. Fach had almost three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood when his car collided head-on with Scotts car on Townline Road in Cambridge. Fach also got credit for pleading guilty. In 2017, an impaired driver who killed a young mother and critically injured her baby was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. Ahmed Darwish, 27, of Kitchener was driving 214 km/h on Highway 7/8 just west of Kitchener when it slammed into the back of a car, killing Susana Dumitru, 29, of London, Ont., and injuring her two-month-old son, George. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Darwish pleaded guilty to five charges: impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and refusing to give a breath sample. He had a previous conviction of driving with more than the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. In 2016, a drunk driver who killed a toddler in a Kitchener crash was sentenced to eight years in prison. Hugh Brake, 57, of Kitchener was behind the wheel of a U-Haul truck that smashed into the back of a disabled car on Highway 7/8 just west of Fischer-Hallman Road in Kitchener, killing 17-month-old Angelina Zhu of Stratford and seriously injuring her mother, Cong Shen. Brake did not plead guilty. After a trial he was convicted of impaired driving causing death and bodily harm and dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm. He was an unlicensed driver at the time of the crash. Tragedy spurred Bowden to work with MADD. On Sept. 8, 2016, a drunk driver slammed into a car in London, Ont., killing two people, Cody Andrews, 23, of New Hamburg and Jerry Pitre, 46, of London. Andrews was the son of Bowdens close friend, Shauna Andrews. The impaired driver, Scott Altiman, 31, of Delaware, Ont., was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but Ontarios top court later cut it to seven. It was devastating, horrific, Bowden, 56, said of the crash. A week after Andrews died, Bowden attended his first MADD board meeting. A few months later, the chapter president stepped down and Bowden, who lives in Cambridge, stepped in. Its not until youre connected somehow and youre holding the mother who has just lost her son in a devastating crash that something tweaks in you and ... you just want to do what you can, he said. Once it has affected you, once youve been through it personally and youve seen the devastation, you understand the dangers and you want to get involved you want to do something about it. First in an occasional series of stories on unusual Ontario Provincial Police news releases over the last few weeks: Theres nothing like a multiday wilderness canoe trip to forge stronger bonds between friends. Fresh air, fish cooked over an open fire, a cold beverage or two. This is not quite how things turned out when two female friends embarked on a five-day canoe trip in mid-June on the Spanish River, starting from Duke Lake in the Gogama area, 110 kilometres south of Timmins. Toward the end of the trip, a heated argument ensued between the two which resulted in one woman leaving in the canoe and the other being stranded on shore with the tent and limited supplies, OPP said in a news release. Due to not having any cell service at that location, the woman inflated her sleeping pad and used it to continue down the river but before leaving, she wrote SOS in the sand. Once she reached an area with somewhat of a cell signal, she contacted her spouse for help and was able to provide the location co-ordinates. OPP Aviation Services, the OPP emergency response team and rangers from Ontario Parks responded and rescued the woman, 35, from the remote area. Other than suffering with insect bites, she was in good health, OPP said. The women had been arguing over small stuff throughout the trip, police said. It is unclear exactly what was said before the woman left in the canoe. As of Tuesday, police were waiting to hear from the victim on whether she wants to proceed with charges. Smarter than your average bear Yogi Bear would be proud. In Haliburton, a bear, perhaps looking for picnic baskets, opened the unlocked doors of more than 10 vehicles in the span of a few nights. Many of the vehicles entered by the bear were significantly damaged, the OPP said. Police are requesting residents keep car doors locked and make certain there is nothing inside their vehicles that could be food for a hungry bear. But the OPP couldnt help giving some credit to the bear, saying it has an interesting talent. Spitting mad An argument about seagulls turned violent. On June 22 at 8:11 p.m. Grey Bruce Ontario Provincial Police were dispatched to a residence at Frank Street in Wiarton for a dispute between two neighbours over feeding seagulls, police said. After a verbal argument, the accused spit in the victims face and stepped on their foot. A Wiarton man, 58, was charged with assault. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Maybe next time leave a note The owners of a house in Simcoe found a garbage bag on their front porch on June 19. Inside was their dead cat. Police did not know how it died and launched an investigation. On Wednesday, June 24, at approximately 7:37 a.m., the OPP received a call from a resident indicating that they had struck the cat after a dog had chased the animal into the street, police said. The driver stopped and spoke to neighbours who subsequently left the animal on the front porch of the residence. The investigation is closed. There is, of course, value to consultation, negotiation and working with allies to effect gradual, incremental change over years, decades, generations. But in every revolution there comes a point where the marginalized party pushed to the brink by an intractable status quo will say Thats it: were fed up! In a quaint, bucolic corner of Kitcheners Victoria Park, tucked behind a swing set, across from a pedestrian footbridge, lies a tiny symbol of what may lie ahead for Indigenous relations in Canada. Its called a Land Back Camp, a peaceful Indigenous occupation which sidelines as a ceremonial meeting space that raises a symbolic middle finger to Canadian power brokers who have ignored the needs of Canadas First Nations since Canada became a federal dominion in 1867. A century and a half later, the toxic effects of colonization and its legacy of residential schools and forced assimilation are still in evidence: drug abuse, poverty, suicides, missing/murdered Indigenous women, disproportionate representation in the criminal justice system, lifelong scarring from trauma and abuse. Everyone has long agreed theres a problem, that action is required. The governments Truth and Reconciliation Commission report in 2015 outlined 94 calls to action. Everyone applauded and pledged to do better. And then, without missing a beat, they went back to sleep and did nothing. Cut to a month ago, when a Black man named George Floyd had his life snuffed out by a Minneapolis police officer who placed a knee on his neck for almost nine minutes. Because it happened in the middle of a global pandemic, when people were stuck at home, paying attention, a light bulb switched on and the horror of anti-Black and its Canadian co-conspirator anti-Indigenous racism caught peoples attention in a way it hadnt before. Which brings us to Victoria Park, where a small group of Indigenous activists without apology or fanfare have decided to take a stand, exercise their professed treaty rights and retake a tiny piece of their traditional meeting grounds. This week: three Two-spirit Indigenous activists talk about the Land Back movement, Canada Day and growing controversy over the legacy of Sir. John A. Macdonald. Lori Campbell is director of the University of Waterloos Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre and a Cree-Metis survivor of the infamous Sixties Scoop. Amy Smoke, of proud Mohawk heritage, is a Landback occupation organizer (with Terre Chartrand) and University of Waterloo social work grad. Maddie Resmer is a 20-year-old mixed-Algonquin artist and local business owner. So here we are, facing another Canada Day. While non-Indigenous Canadians launch fireworks, wave flags and celebrate the founding of this nation on the backs of First Nations people, what goes through your mind? Resmer: Conflict, both historical and present day. I see a celebration of everything that laid the groundwork for the creation of Canada: genocide, broken treaties, forcible assimilation. Smoke: Its actually a little sickening. They have absolutely erased the true history of these lands and think its a celebration that they built their country by destroying us. Our national anthem illustrates this dichotomy: Our home and native land? vs. Our home on native land. Resmer: What better time for Canadian settlers to acknowledge theyre guests on this land than during the national anthem? Our home on native land, all the way. Campbell: All of Turtle Island (Indigenous term for North America) is native land. Everyone that lives here lives on native, Indigenous land. The sanitization of our education system and history books has purposefully erased that truth. Since the police killing of George Floyd, anti-Black racism has found a cultural foothold, galvanizing public attention in a way we havent seen before. Whats the correlation with the violent RCMP takedown of First Nations Chief Allan Adam? Resmer: Both injustices were born of the same beast. Black and Indigenous communities are standing together, united, against police brutality, so a media win for one of us is a win for both of us. Same goes for our losses. Smoke: We dont live in silos. Many of us are mixed blood and all of our people deserve the same prioritization. Violence against Black and Brown bodies affects all of us. Campbell: The histories are different, but the outcome of violence and death are the same. The colonial agenda did not need Indigenous peoples. We were something to be cleared from the plains. The police south of the medicine line were to keep slaves enslaved for the use of settlers. They were the slave hunters. Lets cut to the chase: Amy, why did you and Algonquin activist Terre Chartrand decide to stage an occupation in Victoria Park? Do these symbolic protests do anything to move the needle? Smoke: THIS IS NOT A SYMBOLIC PROTEST! Were exercising our treaty rights to be here. We have a right to be on our own land. Resmer: A counter question could be, Why are Canadian settlers occupying Haldimand Tract territory? As for moving the needle, weve created a safe space in Kitchener-Waterloo for Indigenous folk to gather, practice ceremony, and reconnect. Its pretty revolutionary. Canadas first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, is celebrated as a founding father of Confederation, but his policies resulted in the virtual destruction of Indigenous culture and decades of impoverishment and misery. Whats the symbolism of red paint splattered on his Baden statue three times in the last week? Campbell: That he has blood on his hands the blood of the children killed in the residential schools. How ironic is it that his most ardent defenders are members of an alt-right hate group, the Urban Infidels, who turned up to clean the statue and taunt protesters? Campbell: It tells you who his commemoration resonates with white supremacist groups. Resmer: I think John A. would be very pleased to see that his racist and xenophobic ideologies are still alive and well in Canada. The usual defence is that he was a man of his time and its unfair to judge racist policies of the past by todays highfalutin standards. Campbell: I dont see this as an issue of fairness. I see it is as a choice to do the right thing. He created a policy that had genocidal intentions, was key in ensuring the hanging of Metis leader Louis Riel, and created the NWMP to keep Indigenous peoples confined. Should he be in our history books? Absolutely. Should he be a bronzed statue for celebratory commemoration? Absolutely not. So the statue should be removed? Campbell: If the statues intention was to start a dialogue, its clear the outcome hasnt been reached. I believe that dialogue should be in the education of our primary and secondary schools and within our textbooks. The statue, with the red paint, can go in the museum to show the fight back. What will it take for true reconciliation with Indigenous people? Campbell: More than tokenistic gestures or 9-5 allyship. Were calling for a dismantling of systems set up to cause us harm. Were calling for resources so we can invest money into our communities to build the Indigenous services we need. Reconciliation is giving us the resources to find our own solutions. And while were doing that, do you own learning. Stop putting the labour of settler folk education on the backs of Indigenous peoples. Resmer: We need our land. We need our missing women, girls and two-spirit returned home. We need our languages. We need community-based healing. We need clean water. We need positive and accurate representation. We need hope for a future where true reconciliation is a tangible possibility. Smoke: Settlers are the ones who need to be reconciling ... their own horrific past here on Turtle Island. Whats the biggest obstacle? Smoke: White privilege, white supremacy, ignorance, the lack of education in todays schools, performative allyship without truly being affected by systemic racism. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Your frustration is palpable. Smoke: You dont have to agree with me. Just get out of our lane! Campbell: People think its something theyre doing for us, rather than something for themselves. Do they not want to know their history in relation to Indigenous peoples? Good intentions cause harm. We dont need decisions made about us, for us. We need non-Indigenous peoples to learn about themselves and how the systems they created are violent toward Indigenous peoples. Maddie, you share this cynicism? Resmer: I see the generations before me whove been fighting their entire lives with, in some cases, little progress to show for it, and that discourages me. But when I look to my generation and the youth to come, I feel inspired. There are so many incredible Black and Indigenous youth starting to take the mic, and they dont pull any punches. Its beautiful. On a scale from 1 to 100, where are we in terms of Indigenous acceptance/equality? Resmer: Were still moving on a two-steps-forward, three-steps-back basis. I could give you an arbitrary number, but tomorrow another Indigenous woman might go missing, or another young boy from a Northern reserve might take his own life, and then I wouldnt know what number to give you. Campbell: Im not looking to have someone accept or include me because Im Indigenous. Im not interested in giving away that power, because if I do, that allows that same person to decide they dont accept me. Got it. But if you had to pin it down? Campbell: About 9 per cent. Thats it? Campbell: Ask anyone on the street. What have they done for reconciliation? Not only have city officials charged fees to access your traditional lands for multicultural festivals, theyve also relegated you to the back of the park. This has a certain Rosa Parks resonance, does it not? Smoke: Absolutely. We have NEVER been given a platform, never been in the first stage. Our drum circle was pushed to behind the second stage. We will not be forced to sit in the back anymore. We know that when it comes to change, politicians love to deflect, defer, deny. How do you cut through the we just wanna consult/communicate rhetoric to make things actually happen? Resmer: Were calling them out on their use of such rhetoric! Theres a time for small talk and pleasantries, and theres a time for demands and action. Campbell: No more of this Just come have some tea! walk away and think we have reconciled. Smoke: I have absolutely no worries and nothing to lose right now. Were just so tired of being an afterthought on our own lands. The story of Indigenous people in Canada is one of lost identities later reclaimed, not without suffering and heartbreak. Lori, you were a victim of the infamous Sixties Scoop that saw Indigenous children removed from their homes and forcibly assimilated into white families. Amy, you overcame addiction and homelessness before reconnecting with your Mohawk culture. Maddie, as part of a younger generation, has your experience been any less traumatic? Resmer: My Grandfather is Algonquin, but wasnt raised to speak the language or practice his culture, so my Mom wasnt either, and neither was I. We all struggled privately with our identities, as so many Indigenous folks do. When I started reconnecting with elders from our community in 2016, I was terrified. I felt ashamed for knowing so little about Algonquin culture and I was worried I wouldnt be accepted. But after meeting with the elders, I was assured I belonged. Since then, my family has been reclaiming our culture and traditions, and working to heal. And now youre a community activist. Resmer: I found my voice speaking out against Indigenous injustices in 2019, usually at marches, strikes, and rallies. Ive never been an idle person, and since advocacy work is unending, I cant see myself stopping any time soon. Expressions of profound sympathy and support can be a disingenuous ploy to duck responsibility. What can non-Indigenous people do to effect substantive change. Resmer: March with us whenever we take to the streets. Avoid dressing up as an Indian for Halloween. Question your racial and cultural biases. Take time to understand our intergenerational trauma. Support Indigenous artists and businesses. Advocate for Indigenous representation in your field or place of work. Listen to us. Smoke: Settlers should be educating themselves and checking their own people. Start using your power and privilege to give platforms to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) voices. Stop apologizing without changed behaviour. Campbell: Read the summary of the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) and the MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Women, Girls and 2-Spirit People) reports. Support the actions requested by Indigenous and Black people that will move us toward an anti-racist future. WATERLOO REGION In a 30-minute interview with Communitech released online Tuesday, Police Chief Bryan Larkin repeated his desire to modernize policing and find new ways of delivering community services in response to the Black Lives Matter protests in Canada and around the world. The discussion with Communitech chief executive officer Iain Klugman was part of the companys True North TV YouTube series launched after the annual tech for good True North tech conference was moved online due to the pandemic. The talk began with both men acknowledging their male, white privilege, but did not explicitly discuss demands to reallocate a portion of the annual police budget to community-based initiatives, nor did it address the use of modern and sometimes controversial surveillance technology by the police service. Im a very privileged human being, said Larkin. And Ive had many stakeholders and community leaders often pull me aside and say I need to use that privilege to make change and to challenge policy and challenge procedures. Ive always been committed to that. The chief repeated many of the statements he made earlier this month to the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board, acknowledging his officers are responding to mental-health calls and other scenarios that might be better suited for mental-health professionals or other community members. After the police board meeting, Larkin told reporters he didnt see taking money from the police budget as a long-term solution. Instead, he suggested refunding other services to assist police with mental-health calls. Local Black activists have called for about $29 million to be diverted from the $180-million police budget and invested in community-based health initiatives for impoverished and racialized groups. When Communitech advertised the pre-recorded interview with the chief last week on its Twitter account, many criticized it as tone deaf. Larkins Communitech interview comes one week after Klugman talked with Kitchener Centre member of provincial parliament Laura Mae Lindo, the New Democratic Partys critic for anti-racism, and citizenship and immigration, as well as chair of the Official Oppositions first Black Caucus. We have to do more than words, we have to do more than speaking, she said in her interview. We have to do more than desiring to have a better world we have to actively create it. She also said the police are just a sliver of the system that has been hurting Black and Indigenous people for a long time. By only focusing on one place where theres the most tension, you lose an opportunity to think bigger. A discussion around the use of modern surveillance technology by the police was absent from the Communitech interview with Larkin. In March, Waterloo Regional Police said an internal review found some of its investigators had used Clearview AI facial recognition technology for a three-month period between mid-November and mid-February. In February, Larkin told reporters the technology was not being used and he ordered the review to determine if it had been. Privacy watchdogs have raised concerns about the powerful technology and the way it has built an online database of billions of images scraped from social media and other sources. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The Communitech interview also did not touch on the use of body cameras by police to record interactions with the public. The local police service has said it is looking at the use of body-worn cameras for front-line officers. The full interview with Larkin is available on Communitechs YouTube channel. WILMOT TOWNSHIP Wilmot Township council gathered for another emergency closed council meeting on Tuesday morning to talk about recent controversial events. The Tuesday meeting was the second held behind closed doors in as many days. Both days the notice read: The general nature of the meeting is events of the past week including follow-up of the Statement of Apology from the Mayor at the June 26, 2020 Special Council Meeting and the vandalism and subsequent public clean-up of the statue are the general topics. And for both it was stated no decisions are being made by council. Mayor Les Armstrong apologized publicly twice last week for what he called a significant error in judgment for sharing a White Lives Matter video on Facebook after first defending the post. Theres also been controversy around the Sir John A. Macdonald statue beside the township hall in Baden, which three times had paint thrown on it last week. Demonstrators have called for the statues removal due to the role of Canadas first Prime Minister in creating the residential school system that took Indigenous children away from their families and culture. The notices said the closed meetings were being in accordance with the Municipal Act for the purposes of the security of the property of the municipality; personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal employees; and potential litigation affecting the municipality. By Dave Rogers For The Record In the midst of the worst spike yet in local coronavirus cases, Orange County Judge John Gothia has tested positive for COVID-19, he told the County Record and Penny Record newspapers Tuesday. Gothia missed last Tuesday's every-other-week meeting of Commissioners Court because he was ill, then canceled a meeting with city mayors Friday because he wasn't feeling well. He missed Tuesday's specially called Commissioners Court meeting. "I found out [Monday] night," said the county's top elected official. "Now I have seven more days of quarantine." The judge said he hadn't been able to determine how he the respiratory illness was passed on to him. "We haven't been able to figure out anybody sick that I've been around," he said. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Orange County more than doubled in June, going from a total of 98 confirmed cases as of May 28 to 191 cases on June 23, the last report released by the Orange County Public Health Department. Active cases in the county had gone from 12 on May 28 to 79 on June 23. A new weekly report is expected later this week. The county had its biggest single-day testing event Sunday, as the walk-in testing at the Bridge City Community Center Sunday saw 267 residents tested in just seven hours. Gothia said Tuesday morning he had a headache, fever, sore throat and body aches. "It's the typical flu," he said. "I've got no energy. I can't do anything." Commissioner Gale has the constitutional right to say what he pleases, but he does not have the right to quash the voice of opposition to posts he makes in his role as a public official. - lawyer Joseph P. Walsh Pull Quote Man accused of trying to lure teen for sex in Abington Ex-Moscow Region Finance Ministers harsh sentence for embezzlement reduced by 4 months RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 17:34 30/06/2020 MOSCOW, June 30 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court on Tuesday mitigated prison sentence given to the former Finance Minister of the Moscow Region Alexey Kuznetsov in the 14 billion-ruble (about $200 million) embezzlement case from 14 years in penal colony to 13 years and 8 months, the courts press service told RAPSI. The court excluded a qualifying element of the use of job position from conviction on the money laundering charges. In December 2019, Moscows Basmanny District Court convicted Kuznetsov of embezzlement, money laundering and sentenced him to 14 years behind bars. Moreover, the court ordered that over 14 billion rubles be recovered from the defendant upon civil claims filed by victims in the case. According to investigators, from 2005 to 2008, a group organized by Kuznetsov unlawfully obtained the right to recover debts of enterprises operating in the housing and utilities sector of the Moscow Region and embezzled funds of the Moscow Regional Investment Trust Company. Other defendants in the case have been already convicted and sentenced. Ex-deputy finance minister of the Moscow Region Valery Nosov has received 14 years and 9 months behind bars. Ex-CEO of the Moscow regional government's Moscow Regional Trust Company Vyacheslav Telepnyov has been given 10 years in prison. Kuznetsov, who fled abroad in 2010, was extradited from France to Russia in January 2019. Salem, MO (65560) Today Showers this morning, becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. Cooler. High near 70F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. THE SHORTHORN Is seeking work study student assistants for our reception desk for summer and fall.Prompt, cheerful, students with professional attitudes are encouraged to apply to answer office phones and greet guests from behind a plexiglass COVID barrier.Preference is given to students available to work some mornings. This in-office job offers flexible hours and plenty of time to study.Apply through Handshake for job #4723423 or call 817-272-3188 for more information. Hamilton and other GTHA mayors are calling on the province to make mask-wearing mandatory for large municipalities. But its a call at odds with the position of Hamilton public health as recently as a week ago and a measure the province says is up to local medical officers of health to implement regionally. The mayors and chairs unanimously agreed to request the Government of Ontario to implement a mandatory face-covering measure for large municipalities, reads a statement from Mayor Fred Eisenbergers office sent late Monday afternoon. Just last week, Dr. Ninh Tran, an associate medical officer of health in Hamilton, said Hamiltonians wont be forced to wear masks. We are not looking at making masking mandatory, Tran said Tuesday. We have a generally good uptake. In response to the mayors statement, a spokesperson with the Ministry of Health said: local medical officers of health are free to use their Section 22 powers under the Health Protection and Promotion Act to mandate the use of masks in their jurisdiction, based on regional concerns. The statement from Eisenbergers office says the GTHA mayors are committed to working with local medical officers of health on how to best advance the universal wearing of non-medical masks and face coverings inside businesses and other indoor places where the public gathers, including on transit. Subject to consultation with medical officers of health it is expected GTHA municipalities will be addressing this matter in the immediate future, the release states. It remains unclear if the position of Hamiltons medical officer of health has changed. Public health did not respond to a request for comment late Monday. On Friday, Premier Doug Ford said it would be difficult to enforce a province-wide mask order, noting some regions have no COVID cases. But on Monday, Ontarios associate medical officer of health, Dr. Barbara Yaffe, said the province wouldnt rule out a mandatory mask order. Other regions, such as Kingston and Guelph, have already implemented mandatory mask orders. However, in Guelph, questions have been raised about whether such orders violate human rights. Torontos mayor and medical officer of health have too expressed concerns about whether they have the legal power to implement such orders, despite assurances from the province they do. Hamilton has made mask-wearing mandatory for HSR riders, with some exceptions. Those not wearing masks, however, are not refused rides. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Read more about: A photograph of Juan Lopez Chaparro, wearing a navy, checkered shirt and a slight smile, was propped up on a stand at the alter while the congregation began a rendition of Dios esta aqui God is here, in English a popular song in some Spanish-speaking Catholic communities, at a livestreamed mass for the migrant farm worker on Sunday evening. Lopez Chaparro, 55, a father of four from Mexico, died June 20 in intensive care in London after a battle with COVID-19. I convey our deepest condolences to the family of Juan Lopez Chaparro and his colleagues and companions, friends near and far, said father Peter Ciallella, the pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Burford, just west outside of Brantford. This has certainly touched us in a deep way. The memorial service, delivered mostly in Spanish, was broadcast live to the churchs Facebook page and had more than 1,500 views. Those attending virtually commented in both Spanish and English. Mi mas sentido pesame my deepest condolences one comment read. Others commented on the important role migrant workers play in getting food on the table. I think we feel especially attached to the situation because we know that he came here to work, to dedicate his life to supporting his family, and to build a better life for his children, Ciallella said. But now they will not be seeing their father again, and thats hard. The same day, the family of Lopez Chaparro released a statement, asking for privacy as they grieve. Our priority remains ensuring that my husbands body be returned to us as soon as possible so that as a family we can properly mourn our beloved husband and father, said Agustina Galindo, widow of Lopez Chaparro, in a statement issued through advocacy group Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) on June 28. Lopez Chaparro was an employee at a Scotlynn Group farm in Vittoria in Norfolk County, the site of an outbreak where nearly 200 migrant farm workers have tested positive for COVID-19. Lopez Chaparro is the third migrant worker to die of COVID-19 in Ontario, following the death of two men who worked at farms in Windsor-Essex. MWAC says the group continues to urge immediate action following Lopez Chaparros death, including compensation for the family, income support for workers affected by COVID-19 and permanent resident status for migrant workers. Government officials have said many solemn words about migrant worker deaths but we have yet to hear how Juans family will be compensated and when the government will provide permanent residence status for all migrant and undocumented people to ensure worker rights and protections, said Karen Cocq, campaigns co-ordinator for MWAC, in the release. Ciallella launched a GoFundMe campaign Saturday to assist the family of migrant worker. The campaign has raised more than $13,000 surpassing its $10,000 goal in just two days. Brant County councillor Dave Miller also spoke at Sundays mass, offering his deepest condolences to Lopez Chaparros family. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The migrant farmer community has the full support of Brant County, he said. We very much respect the important work they do so far from their homes. Miller said elected and health officials are trying our best. Even then, as evidenced by this evenings service, sometimes its just not enough. Airbus SE is poised to make its biggest job cuts ever, as the European plane maker scales back operations to match an unprecedented downturn in demand caused by the coronavirus. The company plans to disclose the number of positions to be lost in a restructuring plan as soon as Tuesday evening after meeting with unions, according to a person familiar with the matter. Airbus is likely to eliminate more than 10,000 posts, the person said. Airbus has been fine-tuning a plan to cut costs since slashing its output by a third in April, after the virus grounded global air traffic. Chief executive officer Guillaume Faury has prioritized voluntary measures in part to limit the backlash in France and Germany, its biggest owners, which have doled out billions in aviation industry aid that wont generate savings needed to get through a prolonged downturn, the person said Monday. Airbus has taken its time, has doubtless weighed the long-term versus the short-term, but cannot change the reality of deliveries being around one-third lower than in 2019 for several years, said Sandy Morris, an analyst with Jefferies. Airbus wont want to hollow out its R&D capability and it must maintain customer service levels, but even if you take 20 per cent it isnt a nice number, Morris said. Airbus has about 135,000 employees globally, with almost 81,000 of those in the hard-hit commercial aviation division. The job cuts will also affect its helicopters and defence units, the person said. Shares in the Toulouse, France-based plane maker gained 0.6 per cent as of 3:20 p.m. in Paris. They have dropped 51 per cent this year. Heart-wrenching decisions U.S. rival Boeing Co. plans to cut 10 per cent of its workforce or about 16,000 jobs to shrink operations. The manufacturer has been harder hit than Airbus by cancellations as the coronavirus added to its already existing issues with the 737 Max plane, though both acknowledge the need to shrink to get through the sharpest contraction in aviation history. Faury has previously warned that Airbus will face heart-wrenching decisions as it seeks to survive the crisis. The task is complicated by political sensitivities in its home nations of France and Germany. Airbuss executive committee will meet with the companys board on Tuesday, according to a union official. That will be followed by a meeting with labour leaders to discuss its overall plans. On Wednesday, the executive committee will hold another meeting with unions to lay out how the measures will affect specific areas of the business. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The CFDT union said it planned to oppose any layoffs and encourage the company to use measures such as part-time work or early retirements. Today the management will announce their intentions, then discussions will continue, union representative Michel Pierre said. Airbus declined to comment on speculation related to internal meetings. Ordinarily, Frank Daoust would be getting ready to welcome another group of American tourists to his Memquisit Lodge, and giving them pointers on the best spots to reel in pike, walleye and bass. But now, thanks to COVID-19, his Lake Nipissing fishing lodge is almost half empty, with his usual crowd from New York state, Ohio and Pennsylvania kept away because of the closed international border. I was here through 9/11 when people were reluctant to fly for a while, and SARS, where some of the Americans didnt want to drive through Toronto, but Ive never seen anything like this, said Daoust, who estimates hes only pulled in about 15 per cent of the revenue he had at this time last year. Maybe, if we have a good July and August, we can get up to 20 or 30 per of our total revenue for the year, but thats a best-case scenario right now, said Daoust. While 40 per cent of his visitors are usually American tourists, they account for 50 per cent of his revenue, Daoust added. Thats $350,000 I wont be seeing this year, Daoust said. Still, Daoust understands the need to keep the American border closed. I was kind of hopeful until I started to see what was going on with the outbreaks in the U.S. I mean, if people came up and started bringing COVID-19 to this area, wed have to close back down and it would be even more of a disaster, Daoust said. For Kathleen Shattock, who runs Prince Edward County-based tourism and event management company Beacon Hospitality with co-owner Derek van der Vinne, the idea of opening borders isnt particularly appealing, given extensive COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S., and logistical issues if someone from further afield were to bring the virus to the county. Can you imagine trying to contact trace back to Europe? No thank you, said Shattock. Besides, Beacons six Airbnb properties have already been booked solid, since the province allowed rental properties to open in early June. We booked up the entire summer in three weeks, said Shattock. Still, it hasnt exactly been a banner year, Shattock said, with almost no revenue coming in during March, April and May. And the company is also keeping its properties empty for at least 24 hours between each reservation. Even if the U.S. border doesnt open, Canada should still be allowing visitors from other countries, says the head of a tourism trade association. This week, the European Union announced it was opening borders to visitors from 15 countries, including Canada, but not the U.S., Brazil or Russia. If we can get the border opened by the end of the year, that would be great, said Beth Potter, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. According to estimates provided by consultants McKinsey & Company to Destination Canada a federal crown corporation dedicated to promoting tourism in Canada 40 per cent of tourism businesses in this country will close forever because of COVID-19, Potter noted. There are 200,000 tourism-related businesses in Ontario, directly employing 400,000 people, she added. Potter, whose association is also part of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, knows that there might be little political or public appetite for any kind of border opening at all, but still hopes the federal government will consider it soon, as part of a list of relief measures the industry has been calling for. (Some have already been granted). I know its going to be a hard sell. But there are countries where safety measures are having an impact, and those are countries wed like the Canadian border to be open to, said Potter. Were not trying to do this in a vacuum. Decisions about Canadas border are made by Canadians, for Canadians. Since the beginning of this pandemic, we have been having friendly ongoing conversations with our American partners about our shared border. Both sides agree that the current measures in place, which are set to expire on July 21, have worked well in restricting non-essential travel while allowing essential crossings to continue unimpeded, said Alexander Cohen, spokesperson for federal Economic Development Minister Melanie Joly, the minister responsible for tourism. In the meantime, says Potter, businesses are busily trying to rejig their marketing to appeal to more local customers. Its going to be a hyperlocal season, said Potter, adding that many Ontario vacation spots have the kind of appeal that could be an advantage during COVID-19. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Outdoor experiences and activities are going to be more important than ever, Potter said. The federal government has already given Destination Canada $30 million to target domestic tourists as one of several steps taken to boost the industry, Cohen added. The government has pitched in another $80 million for destination marketing organizations and other tourism-related projects. There could also be more aid on the way. As we move forward, were working closely with the tourism sector to identify gaps in this response and fill them, Cohen said. Read more about: Oil fell as the resurgence of the coronavirus in the U.S. continued to dampen the prospects of a broader demand recovery. Futures in New York fell 1.7 per cent to near $39 U.S. a barrel. With the coronavirus running rampant across southern and western America and many states pausing or reversing reopening measures, the outlook for energy demand in the worlds largest economy remains uncertain. Oil prices are also being put under pressure by the prospect of returning supply from Libya and a steadily rising dollar. Though crude is heading for a 10 per cent gain this month and the market is in much better shape than a couple of months ago, global consumption is still a long way off pre-crisis levels. Gasoline demand in the U.S. is under threat again with the virus restraining public activity. Royal Dutch Shell Plc painted a bleak picture of the industry as it forecast billions of dollars of asset writedowns. We still believe it is difficult to justify significant upside in prices in the near term due to the high levels of inventory, continued weakness in refinery margins and the fear over a severe second wave of COVID-19, said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Bank NV. OPEC and its allies have successfully curbed production, and helped the market toward some balance. But returning production from Libya and the U.S. could partially throw that into disarray. Tribes in Libyas east backed the restart of oil output, and the state energy company said negotiations could lead to a resumption of exports from the war-battered OPEC member. In America, ConocoPhillips said Tuesday that it expects to restore some curtailed production in Alaska and other states next month. Still, in a bright spot for the oil market, Chinas recovery is continuing with manufacturing data for June beating estimates, pointing to stronger demand from the worlds largest consumer. The worst is behind us, Amin Nasser, chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco, said in an interview with consultant IHS Markit. Im very optimistic about the second half of this year. We see it in China today, its almost at 90 per cent. VANCOUVERCanada and Canadians must start paying attention and act over what some are now labelling a genocide of Chinas Uighur population after explosive new reports of forced birth control and sterilization against the ethnic minority, says a prominent human rights activist. Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uighur Rights Advocacy Project, says forced birth control measures constitute genocide and urged Ottawa to condemn the practice. Canadians cant accept the federal government doing little or nothing, Tohti said. Canadians have to push the government to do something. We have to join the voice of the international community to push the government to take action on our behalf. Canadians themselves need to act as well, he said, including boycotting products made in China and protesting Chinas government. On Sunday night, The Associated Press published a report based on government statistics, state documents and interviews with more than 30 people detailing forced birth control on women in the western Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The region is home to ethnic Muslims and a number of minorities. The report found that China subjects minority women there to pregnancy checks and forces intrauterine devices, sterilization and even abortion on hundreds of thousands. It said the regions birth rates plummeted by 24 per cent last year. Much of the report relies on information from a paper by academic Adrian Zenz, whose in-depth look at forced birth control, titled Sterilizations, IUDs and Mandatory Birth Control: the CCPs Campaign to Suppress Uyghur Birthrates in Xinjiang, was released Monday. Zenz is a senior fellow in China studies with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C. His paper is the latest in a series of reports that Xinjiang human rights observers find alarming. As many as two million Uighurs and other ethnic peoples are thought to be in internment camps in the region. Earlier this year, an Australian research group found evidence that many were being used for forced labour. That research, conducted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, found that in some cases the labour is making products sold in western nations, including parts for cellphones and other electronics sold in Canada. But where past reports on human rights in Xinjiang have gained some attention, these newest reports on forced birth control have drawn condemnation from around the globe. Zenz said what he found in Chinas government documents is shocking. The evidence I found is that theres a systematic campaign not just to enforce existing family planning regulations, but to systematically depress Uighur birth rates in order to drive population growth to levels that are barely above zero, Zenz told the Star. Papers written in government and academic circles in Xinjiang made up of Chinas majority Han people have consistently described the minority population growth in the region as excessive, Zenzs report reads. His research found that Uighurs were being fined for having more than the legal allotment of children, even if those children were born prior to restrictions or not subject to them, and were being taken to internment camps if they couldnt pay the fines. Among other revelations, he found that 80 per cent of new intrauterine birth control devices in China were placed in women in Xinjiang. China has refuted the allegations with its foreign ministry calling them fake. The countrys ambassador to China, Cong Peiwu, has in the past said the same of reports of internment camps. China has also referred to the camps as vocational training centres. Tohti said throughout all the revelations the Canadian governments response has been weak and basically muted. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Ottawa has made some public statements about the situation, including a letter with 21 other countries to the United Nations Human Rights Council Tuesday, but Tohti said Canada needs to begin tougher measures like enacting its Magnitsky legislation against Chinese officials. Such legislation would allow for sanctions against Chinese officials who are complicit in human rights abuses. Similar legislation is working its way through government in the United States. In a statement to the Star, Global Affairs Canada said the human rights situation in Xinjiang is deeply concerning and growing worse. The statement also called on China to allow international access to the region. Meanwhile, the newly formed Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an organization of parliamentarians from around the world trying to find ways to counter Beijings influence, has demanded an independent investigation into the allegations by the United Nations. In the U.S., the Commission on International Religious Freedom called for a UN and State Department investigation, saying the Chinese governments birth control campaign might meet the legal criteria for genocide. According to a UN convention, imposing measures intended to prevent births with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group is considered evidence of genocide. Tohti, himself a Uighur, echoed the sentiments. There are some people referring to it as a cultural genocide or a demographic genocide; there is no need for any adjective, he said. This is a genocide, period. During the last four years, 38 members of his family, including his mother, have gone missing and he believes it is due to his campaigning for Uighur rights. He has tracked down third parties and neighbours trying to find his family but has not found them. I dont have any way to communicate with them, he said. I dont have any way to know if theyre alive or dead. With files from The Associated Press Read more about: In-person trials are set to resume at 44 Ontario courthouses next week, even as unions representing Crown attorneys say the safety measures are inadequate and the start date should be delayed. A Ministry of the Attorney General guidebook says Plexiglas barriers have been installed around lawyer desks, the witness stand and the judges dais. The number of people who can go into a courtroom will be limited. There will be frequent cleaning, no cafeterias and plentiful hand sanitizer. And anyone who isnt courthouse staff or a judge will have to wear a mask, except while testifying. As we are opening up weve already put the pieces together to open safely and weve done that in concert with our justice sector partners across the system, said Attorney General Doug Downey in an interview Monday, acknowledging the significant challenge posed by the need to reschedule thousands of cases postponed over the past three months. We have the best advice available, we are taking all precautions, were moving cautiously and slowly, were making sure that, as they return, that they will be safe for in person proceedings, he said. But in a letter to the ministry on Monday, the union representing senior Crown attorneys said not enough is being done and that with only a week left to go they are still lacking critical information about how the measures will work and how they will be enforced. You have given us no training on why some risks are acceptable and others are not, the letter states, seeking delay of the July 6 date. We are concerned for our own health and the health of our staff. You are asking us to make ill-informed decisions, in an area where we have no expertise, with the lives of our staff hanging in the balance. We do not feel we can properly implement any good faith or due diligence level of safety assessment in the very short time frame we are left with. The concerns in the letter echo those raised last week by unions representing Crown attorneys and court staff with the ministry. The Ontario Crown Attorneys Association (OCCA) filed a notice of application with the court on Friday for an injunction to delay resuming in-person trials, and a grievance with the ministry over the OCCA not being involved in the committees in charge of courthouse safety. The injunction application has been paused pending a meeting with the deputy attorney general this week, according to the Friday letter from the OCCA. The concerns include: some risk assessments of courthouses have been conducted by people without experience of how courthouses work; no requirement for masking for staff where physical distancing is not possible; no way to enforce physical distancing or mandatory use of hand sanitizer; lack of clarity about who would clean spaces between witnesses; not enough Plexiglas barriers; and inadequate risk assessments of the ventilation systems. I urge you to step forward and slow down the process of reopening so that we can all be comfortable that we are all working in a safe place and not risking our lives to do our job, said the letter to the deputy attorney general from Robert Parsons, president of the union representing senior Crown attorneys. Parsons declined to comment Monday. Meanwhile, on Monday morning judges began confirming trial dates for next week in special COVID-19 trial readiness courts. At least one case was left in limbo as the Crown said more time was needed to know if the health and safety issues would be resolved. A preliminary hearing was adjourned altogether because the defence lawyers involved are in high-risk groups for COVID-19 and felt the risk of returning to court is too high. In some hearings where both the Crown and defence agreed to proceed, accommodations were made to allow some participants in one case the accused and in one case the judge to appear remotely. We want to return to the courts but of course we want the courts to be as safe as possible, said Daniel Brown, vice-president of the Criminal Lawyers Association. He said there need to be clear procedures in place so that accused people or witnesses do not have to attend court if they have symptoms. We are encouraging ongoing dialogue ... to ensure that the courts can open safely for everyone to participate in them. He added that virtual alternatives are crucial for lawyers who are at high-risk or who have family members who are at high-risk. Downey said the gradual reopening of in-person hearings will not stop the investment in virtual courts through the use of video-conferencing and other forms of technology. Its going to potentially allow us to do trials that are a mix ... partly virtual and partly in person. The judges will have to work out what they are comfortable with ... but it opens up so many possibilities to move things along faster, more efficiently, cheaper, he said. Criminal defence lawyer Daniel Lerner had a trial set to begin next week at the 1000 Finch courthouse, scheduled before the pandemic. On Monday morning he agreed to go ahead with it, but said not enough information has been provided about what exactly is being done to ensure courthouses and courtrooms are safe, leaving lawyers, accused, witnesses and victims unable make informed decisions. I have a client who is not sure if its safe or not safe, he said. Were really in the dark. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Meanwhile, its unclear when a next trial could be set if the current trial dates are abandoned given the enormous backlog of cases. Lerner worked as a duty counsel during the early days of the pandemic when bail hearings were not yet operating remotely and courts were still grappling with putting appropriate safety measures in place. He ended up having to self-isolate after a person at the courthouse tested positive for COVID-19. Im not a medical expert. I have to rely on the right people making the right decisions and right recommendations, he said. Its very difficult to make decisions with the lack of information. In a decision hailed as a victory for midwives, the Ontario Divisional Court has dismissed the provinces request for a judicial review of a landmark pay-equity ruling made by Ontarios human rights tribunal earlier this year that ordered the province to retroactively boost midwives pay. This is a huge victory for midwives and for pay equity this acknowledgment of the invisibility of work that is associated with women, and the undervaluing of work that is associated with women, said Juana Berinstein, acting director of the Association of Ontario Midwives. Its been profoundly validating, and it has been a really long journey. In a 59-page decision released Friday, a three-judge panel said it was not persuaded by the governments arguments that the tribunals findings were unreasonable and should be overturned. The decision notes that the government mischaracterized the history of compensation negotiations and fails to engage with the allegations of adverse gender impacts on midwives and ignore the systemic dimensions of the claim. A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General wrote that they are carefully reviewing the decision. As the matter is within the appeal period it would be inappropriate to comment further, spokesperson Jenessa Crognali said in an emailed statement. In 2013, the Association of Ontario Midwives applied to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario alleging that the compensation determined by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care was discriminatory on the basis of sex. Prior to that, the associations research had shown that there was a compensation gap between midwives and community health-care physicians. A third-party report commissioned by both the government and the midwives recommend a 20-per-cent increase in compensation to address that gap. In an interim finding in 2018, the tribunal noted that the midwifery profession has been chronically undervalued because it is primarily staffed by women, provides care to women, and deals with pregnancy, a health-care issue associated with women. In February of this year, the tribunal found the government liable for discriminatory compensation practices, and made a ruling ordering a retroactive 20 per-cent-pay increase covering 2011 to 2015. The ruling also awarded eligible midwives a $7,500 payment for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect. Berinstein said the tribunal also determined that a pay-equity analysis was needed to determine appropriate pay from 2015 onwards. We know that there is a much bigger gap than 20 per cent, so were expecting that the retroactive pay over the last five years is going to be much bigger than 20 per cent, and that would also adjust salary going forward, she said. The Ford government appealed the tribunal ruling this April. While Fridays decision dismissed the request for a judicial review, the battle could continue; Berinstein said the government has 10 days to implement the remedies or respond with an appeal. The tribunal provided clear orders and a clear road map for how to close the gender pay gap, and so we are urging the Ford government to stop fighting midwives in court and to instead close the gender pay gap, she said. Jasmin Tecson, who has been a midwife in Toronto for 14 years, was absolutely thrilled with Fridays decision, which she called vindicating, affirming and long overdue. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... All of these decisions theres four of them in our favour all say that the government has a responsibility to correct gender discrimination of midwives, she said. Midwives have more than earned pay equity. With files from Laurie Monsebraaten Toronto police have arrested and charged Connor Madison, 22, of Toronto, with second-degree murder in connection with a fatal stabbing last week. Stephon Anton Knights-Roberts, 30, was found with stab wounds around 11:30 p.m. Thursday following an altercation near Ontario Street and Wellesley Street East in Cabbagetown. He was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead. City council rejected a call to have the TTC look into eliminating its special constables on Tuesday, and instead voted for a softer motion from Mayor John Tory to have the transit agency conduct a review of the unit. In a debate that mirrored councils consideration of a motion Monday to reduce funding to the Toronto police, during a discussion on the TTCs strategy to fight anti-Black racism Coun. Gord Perks (Ward 4, Parkdale-High Park) put forward a motion asking the agency to present an option for scrapping its special constables in its 2021 budget submission. The TTC has about 120 special constables who are sworn peace officers overseen by the Toronto Police Services Board and authorized to carry handcuffs, pepper spray and batons. Some of the constables support fare enforcement activities, but theyre separate from the TTCs roughly 110 fare inspectors, who arent peace officers and dont carry weapons. Perks said he targeted the special constables with his motion because officers carrying weapons on transit could lead to violence against riders, particularly passengers of colour. His motion wouldnt have eliminated the fare inspector program. I really think that the upside of having people wander around with handcuffs and pepper spray is so minuscule compared to the downside that we have been seeing all over North America in the last few months, Perks said, a reference to incidents of police violence that have sparked mass anti-racism protests in Canada and the U.S. in recent weeks. Perks also argued the constables arent necessary during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a dramatic drop in TTC ridership. In response to questions from Perks, TTC CEO Rick Leary told council the agency expects to spend $15 million annually on its special constables and $10 million on its fare inspectors, plus about $5 million in benefits. The number of fare-paying riders has gone down dramatically. Therefore the number of people who are going to be evading fares has gone down dramatically. Why hasnt the amount of money were putting into fare evasion gone down dramatically too? Perks asked. His motion lost in a vote of 10 to 14. Mayor Torys motion asked for Leary to review the constables mandate in consultation with the citys anti-Black racism unit and the Streets to Homes homeless outreach program. It requested the review to include the officers uniforms, training, and customer service practices, with the goal of eliminat(ing) as much as possible the equipment carried by special constables. Tory said his motion was inspired by a recent encounter he had with three constables at a coffee shop. They did look like they were burdened down with a lot of equipment that I wouldnt have thought was, first of all, necessary to the job, although Im not necessarily the one to judge that, he said. This is the reaction I had to it as a privileged, older white man, and the mayor for that matter I can imagine what perhaps a younger person or somebody who was from a marginalized community might have thought coming up against one of these people. The mayor also said he saw little reason for the constables to carry batons. What are they going to use that for? he asked, suggesting that if transit officers encountered a serious problem they could call the police. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Tory said he couldnt support Perks motion because he believed it was not realistic to offer free transit, and the TTC still needs to deploy officers to enforce fare rules. His motion passed in an unrecorded vote. Const. Heather McWilliam was sexually harassed for years by her supervisors, including a sexual assault in the form of a forced kiss part of a culture of sexual harassment that exists throughout the Toronto Police Service, a Human Rights Tribunal adjudicator has found. The temptation will be for some to treat the sergeants and staff sergeants who made and carried out the harassing comments and actions described below as bad apples within 23 Division. However, there was evidence in this case that comments in the form of sexual innuendo and comments calling attention to womens appearance and sexuality were not considered unusual in the applicants workplace, wrote Jo-Anne Pickel in a 153-page ruling released Monday, six years after the complaint was first filed. Pickel ordered the Toronto Police Services Board to pay McWilliam $85,000 as compensation for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect. The ruling describes in detail the sexual comments and harassment McWilliam experienced from male senior officers, including one officer telling her hed spank her later in private and another officer telling her he wanted to lick her. A supervising officer showed other officers a Facebook vacation photo of her and two other women in a bikini at work, while another senior officer frequently commented on her appearance and wrote her a note saying youre smokin hot. Pickel mandated that the board order yearly in-person or video-conference training for all Toronto police officers specifically dealing with sexual harassment, human rights and poisoned work environments, with additional training for supervisors within 23 Division where McWilliam worked. The board must also now ensure all internal complaints with a human rights component and all applications to the Human Rights Tribunal by employees are tracked and reported on in the Annual Professional Standards report. The year Heather came forward with her own internal complaint, the Toronto Police Services Board publicly stated they had zero complaints. So people like Heather and others in her position thought they were alone, said Tyler Boggs, one of the lawyers who represented McWilliam. So just the fact that these now have to be reported on and tracked, its going to help victims know that they are not alone and its going to provide the data that will back up the need for even more systemic change, Boggs said McWilliams experiences at work make clear that sexual harassment is a systemic problem in the Toronto police. It really does show that this isnt something limited to simply 23 Division, he said, noting that two other human rights complaints alleging sexual harassment and ineffective accountability have been filed by female Toronto police officers in recent years. In a statement, McWilliam said the decision by Pickel restored her integrity. This decision is truly priceless for me and all those who have been affected by police abuse. This decision takes seriously the need to change the deeply troubled police culture and signals that perhaps there is hope. The Toronto Police Services Board strongly opposed McWilliams application, arguing that that the entire case arose as a result of one comment made by one of the applicants staff sergeants, Pickel wrote. The boards lawyers said McWilliam then reinterpreted interactions to make them seem inappropriate, Pickel wrote. According to the respondents, the applicant pursued a scorched earth strategy in order to seek vengeance against the respondents and in order to win her case at all costs. The Toronto Police Services Board is reviewing the decision, according to a statement from board chair Jim Hart on Tuesday. The statement noted that an independant review of workplace policies and procedures, including for harassment claims, is ongoing. The board also approved an expansion of the Equity, Inclusion & Human Rights Unit last year including approving the hiring of eight experts in the areas of equity, anti-racism, and human rights, the statement said. Harassment and discrimination have no place in our organization, Hart said. The tribunal findings are serious and concerning, said Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders in a statement. When any member displays behaviour either on or off the job that is not in line with our Core Values, Standards or Conduct, or even common decency, I am disappointed, he said. We also know there is more work to do; changing the culture of any large organization does not happen overnight. We will take the time to carefully review the public interest remedies ordered by the (tribunal) and make the necessary adjustments to our efforts. In her ruling, Pickel found that most of the comments or actions directed at McWilliam were likely done in a joking manner and may not have been intended to harm her, but they still constituted harassment. The evidence shows how serious the cumulative effect were of the incidents over several years and involving people with a significant degree of power over the applicants day-to-day work as well as her career prospects, Pickel wrote. While some, or even many, of the actions made out in the evidence, other than the forced kiss, might not be considered egregious when viewed in isolation, these incidents became significant and harmful when they formed part of a pattern or series of similar incidents to which the applicant was subjected and which became a condition of her employment, Pickel wrote. That is the essence of a poisoned work environment. McWilliam testified that she felt humiliated, degraded, and disgusted from the comments she experienced. The poisoned work environment significantly contributed to her post-traumatic stress disorder which has kept her off work for six years, Pickel found. McWilliams mother told the tribunal that her daughter lost the will to live after her experiences in the workplace and on many days she could barely get out of bed. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... McWilliam, the daughter of a police officer who began her career at the RCMP, was a superior, dependable, reliable and dedicated police officer who was expected to have a bright future in the Toronto Police Service, said Pickel. She joined the force in 2005 and filed the human rights complaint almost ten years later, in September 2014. The most serious incident she described occurred in 2012. While at a local bar with a number of supervisors McWilliam said now retired Sgt. Angelo Costa came up to her and pushed his lips onto hers and tried to drive his tongue into her mouth, Pickel wrote. McWilliam tried to push him off and kept her mouth closed, but he persisted for several seconds before stopping. Costa said he hugged McWilliam as a way of saying welcome to the platoon and denied kissing her. After McWilliams human rights complaint was made, the SIU investigated the alleged sexual assault and found no reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offence was committed. Pickel, however, found that, on a balance of probabilities, a sexual assault occured as described by McWilliam. Her evidence was clear, forthright, detailed and very specific, Pickel said. Pickel said she had some concerns about Costas credibility, noting that he denied hearing any sexual jokes in the workplace and, contrary to the evidence of his colleagues, denied being a jokester. I find it more likely than not that the individual respondent intended the kiss as a joking way to welcome the applicant to his platoon, Pickel said. She also found that Costa made sexualized comments to McWilliam about oral sex and wanting to lick her, and made sexual innuendos and comments about women in the workplace. However, she did not find McWilliams allegations of facing career reprisals for filing a formal complaint to be supported by the evidence. McWilliam said that when she reported sexual comments made by a now-retired officer to Supt. Ron Taverner, who was in charge of 23 Division, he tried to dissaude her from filing a formal complaint and indicated a poster in his office that said loose lips sink ships. Taverner did not testify at the hearing due to a concussion, which his doctor said made him medically unfit to testify. Pickel said the evidence does not establish that Superintendent Taverner acted inappropriately and that his offer to resolve things internally was consistent with the informal resolution option in the procedure. East Toronto residents used art and activism to publicly denounce racism following an incident at a construction site at Michael Garron Hospital. On June 10, two nooses were found at an EllisDon construction site at the hospital. While the hospital, EllisDon and elected officials were quick to condemn the incident, the community responded in its own way. It started two days after when a local family, with kids Eleanor, 6, and Arthur, 8, made a homemade sign of solidarity and support, said a hospital press release. The sign read Black Lives Matter, We Stand With You. The hospital welcomed the sign, which was placed at the same construction site fencing on Sammon Avenue. Our school and our parents taught us about Black Lives Matter and we heard about the sad thing that happened at MGH so we wanted to help, six-year-old Eleanor said. Soon after, more residents started making homemade signs and banners. Over the last weekend, several of them were posted on the construction fencing, led by local business owner Zahra Dhanani of Olds Cool General Store in East York. We all need to heal from this violent act of racism. Anyone who thinks its okay to do this needs to know that we see you and we will not let this go unnoticed. The tide is turning on racism, she said. The hospital declared full support of the displays and welcomed the messaging with MGH CEO Sarah Downey calling the art and banners a big, supportive hug. The art and signs will remain on the fencing for the month of July. Toronto polices hate crime unit is investigating the incident with assistance from EllisDon. Anyone with information on the incident is urged to call 55 Division at 416-808-5500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477 or online at 222tips.com. A community forum called Fighting Hate in the East End will take place Tuesday to discuss the incident and ways residents can stand up against racism. Waterfront Toronto is ditching the vision of the high-tech, sensor-driven smart district that Sidewalk Labs wanted to create on Torontos eastern waterfront. In an interview Tuesday, developer Steve Diamond, chair of the tri-government corporation Waterfront Toronto, said it plans to go in a different direction, one that incorporates a post-COVID-19 vision that sets aside data collection as a priority and focuses more on housing affordability and long-term-care housing needs for seniors. Were looking at innovative ways, with our government partners in terms of long-term care and seniors living, Diamond said in a telephone interview. Early next year Waterfront Toronto plans to launch a new request for proposals for a partner to develop the 12-acre Quayside property near Queens Quay E. and Parliament Street. Waterfront Toronto hopes to have a partner named by next summer. Before that, it will launch consultations with the public and community stakeholders. The new RFP will be the second launched by Waterfront Toronto, the first one issued in 2017, with Sidewalk Labs being the winning bidder. The latest move comes after Google sister firm Sidewalk Labs announced in early May that it would be dropping its proposal to build a residential and commercial development at Quayside that would have featured data collection and technological innovations to make urban living more efficient for residents there. Sidewalk dropped the project citing unprecedented economic uncertainty around the world and in Torontos real estate market. Sensors and data collection were to be used to measure things like pedestrian traffic, weather conditions, energy and garbage disposal habits and more. Sidewalk Labs also wanted to create a district where all residential and commercial buildings would be made of timber. A new timber factor was to supply the wood. Thats out now too, Diamond says, adding an entire district of wood buildings was perhaps just a little too aggressive given Sidewalk proposed buildings taller than the allowed provincial limit of six storeys, proposals that would have required changes in provincial regulations. Maybe a proposal calling for one building that is wood-based and taller than six storeys we may take a look at that for Quayside, Diamond said. But we wouldnt want to base an entire proposal on a legislative framework that wasnt in existence. The Sidewalk Labs project ran into controversy when citizens groups, privacy advocates and some elected leader raised concerns about privacy and the data collection implications. Waterfront Torontos board met last week and a new course for the revitalization of Quayside was brought forward, Diamond says. One of the issues that has really come to light now, amid COVID-19 is that integrated home care models for seniors, where you can go from living in a unit on your own, to assisted living, into long-term-care facilities currently is rarely, if ever, available. We want to pursue models with government partners to determine whether that might be an opportunity in terms of (the Quayside site). Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Waterfront Toronto says it will work to accelerate public funding for housing developed at Quayside. Housing affordability and creative ways to achieve that will be a bigger priority now for Quayside, Diamond says. We are looking at our most vulnerable communities and have begun some discussions with some of our Indigenous partners we have dealt with in the past in terms of determining their needs for part of the project, Diamond said referring to the affordable housing goals. Diamond pointed out that creating a next generation district with innovation and technology is still part of the goal for Quaysides future and so there will be an opportunity for home grown tech firms to jump in and provide services. He said for that a company might, for example, want, to propose technology that would enable a resident to use an app to figure out how many people are on the next elevator in a building, or propose innovative and efficient heating and air conditioning systems. Im not saying the project wont be innovative, it just wont be data driven, Diamond said. The data collection and regulation of data arent necessarily what we see today as being supportive of the city in a post-COVID environment, Diamond said. Another key goal of the project will be helping to spark economic revitalization after the coronavirus, Diamond says. Diamond says if a developer for the site is secured by next summer, optimistically speaking a marketing and site plan could be in place in the fall of 2021 with shovels in the ground in March 2022. The project would probably take three or four years to complete, he says. Diamond thinks with many of the aspects of the Sidewalk project no longer on the table, the project might be less expensive to produce. Read more about: WASHINGTONIn Albert Camus The Plague, the narrator explains why officials and townsfolk are so reluctant to respond in time to a deadly epidemic. Stupidity had a knack of getting its way, he says. His townspeople kept doing business, arranged for journeys, and formed views, because they fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free as long as there are pestilences. The words seem especially apt today in the U.S., where after business and social reopenings in May and June cheered by President Donald Trump, the country now faces a coronavirus crisis arguably as severe as it has ever been. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who helps lead the U.S. coronavirus task force, warned senators on Tuesday that the current record-high 40,000 cases being detected per day could increase dramatically. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, he told them. And yet like Camus characters the warnings were resisted. We shouldnt presume that a group of experts somehow knows whats best for everyone, Republican Sen. Rand Paul said in response to Fauci. Even as other countries celebrate COVID-19 success, the sobering truth is sinking in that in much of the U.S., the virus is surging and threatens to overwhelm hospitals. Some states are re-closing businesses in response. The European Union is barring U.S. travellers. Vice-President Mike Pence has shifted his tone to encourage mask use and slower-paced reopenings. This is really the beginning, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director Anne Schuchat told the Journal of the American Medical Association Monday. I think there was a lot of wishful thinking around the country that, hey its summer. Everythings going to be fine, she said. We are not even beginning to be over this. A symbol of the Trump administrations optimism crashing into reality came from Jacksonville, Florida. On June 11, Trump announced he was moving the August Republican presidential convention there from Charlotte, North Carolina because he wanted a site where officials wouldnt insist on masks and social distancing. On Monday, the mayor of Jacksonville implemented a mandatory mask order as Florida cases have surged fivefold in two weeks. Still, some people persist in resisting warnings: Sen. Rand Paul said to Fauci Tuesday, We shouldnt presume that a group of experts somehow knows whats best for everyone. Whether Paul has a point about experts always knowing whats best or not, many of them predicted a situation like the one occurring now. Some I spoke to in May, as Georgia and Texas allowed businesses to reopen even as virus transmission remained high, said a disease resurgence was likely. Jon Zelner, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, says you could psychoanalyze the behaviour leading to the resurgence as a culture war over freedom and individuality, but that he thinks it comes down to the difficulty of seeing cause and effect when cases and hospitalizations lag behind behaviour. If youre motivated to think that your activity is harmless, its easy to find evidence for that by not seeing new cases cropping up all around you in the days or even one to two weeks after you really let your foot off the brake, he says. He also says age, race, and wealth can drive a sense of invulnerability in some places. The surge is likely not just frustrating to those who predicted it, but to the leaders who ignored the predictions, as the major aims of the aggressive push to reopen may soon prove to have been self-defeating. One aim, repeated often by Trump and supporters, was to bring the economy back. But boutique owner Alex Belt in Houston told the New York Times this weekend her situation since reopening was business as usual without the business. An initial surge of customers has since disappeared as the virus has surged, she said. People are just scared. Analysts at the Bank of America, Moodys Analytics, and the Federal Reserve of Boston have warned in recent days that the resurgence of the virus threatens any economic recovery. Trump has been promising the Great American Comeback on the campaign trail. Which suggests the second presumed aim of the aggressive reopening strategy. The presidents reelection hopes are thought to depend on an economic bounceback. If the economy lags, the strategy could backfire. More so if people see a rise in illness and death in states Trump needs to win. That the virus resurgence is most pronounced in states that followed Trumps lead most closely places he won easily in 2016 could hurt his political prospects even more. Polls in Texas and Georgia this week showed Democratic candidate Joe Biden competitive with Trump any election in which those states are close is not one Trump is likely to win. Which is aside from the human cost of a protracted epidemic in suffering, lost lives, fear and isolation. As in the case of Camus townsfolk, it appears leaders fancied themselves free to make decisions despite the virus, but are finding those decisions cannot work as long as the virus runs rampant, at great cost. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Zelner, of the University of Michigan, says its an open question whether authorities are learning their lesson. I think state and local health departments have been almost uniformly great across the board from the beginning, but elected officials and the public have not always been motivated to listen, he says. I worry in some places and at the executive level the strategy may just devolve into letting this thing burn itself out. Perceptions of danger, economics, and politics will likely continue to propel a see-saw of reopenings and closings, but Zelner thinks the status quo of regional surges in cases will probably prevail until either a vaccine or herd immunity slow the virus spread. I think this noisy, spatially heterogeneous thing were in right now is probably going to be what it looks like for awhile, until we get our act together or the biology takes care of it for us, he says. I hope its the former rather than the latter, but Im not optimistic at a national level. Read more about: WASHINGTONThere are only three abortion clinics left in Louisiana. On Monday, clinic administrator Kathleen Pittman was working at the Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, the only abortion provider in the north of the state, on SCOTUS watch, to see if it would be forced to close. The clinic was admitting patients in the front while Pittman watched for news on her phone in the back. Late in the morning, the U.S. Supreme Court decision was announced: her clinic could stay open, as another legislated attempt to limit abortion access was struck down. To say we were elated hardly begins to come close to what were feeling, she said Monday in a video call with reporters. The excitement in the air, everybodys trying to calm down so they can take care of patients. This week, were winning the battle and that means we can stay open to fight another day. Mondays hotly anticipated abortion-rights decision was greeted as a huge win by Nancy Northup, the chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which fought the case on behalf of the Hope clinic. The case was very similar to that involving a Texas law, which was struck down just four years ago by the Supreme Court. Yet many expected this weeks decision might go the other way paving the way for more severe restrictions that would effectively ban abortion in many states because the composition of the court has changed, with President Donald Trump having made two appointments. Both of those Trump appointees dissented from Mondays 5-4 decision, which saw Chief Justice John Roberts who was also appointed by a Republican president, George W. Bush concur with the courts four more liberal justices in striking down the law and preserving the courts precedent forbidding undue restrictions on reproductive rights. It shows, the fact that we had to go all the way up to the Supreme Court again, just how hard it is, and how much we have to keep fighting, Northup said. And we cant take anything for granted when it comes to the protection of abortion rights under the Constitution. Northup noted that her organization is currently involved in 30 other abortion-rights cases in the courts right now. Mondays decision isnt necessarily a guide to how those other cases will go. Robertss reasoning was based on the court having set a precedent just four years ago, and not on his agreement with the legal principles invoked in the previous decision. It signals that, as a chief justice concerned with the integrity of his court, he values consistency with recent decisions. But he may join the conservatives with whom he is more philosophically aligned if a case comes up that departs from recent precedents. Many who oppose abortion rights thought Trumps appointments were a big step toward overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision of the Supreme Court that legalized abortion in the U.S. Trump has bragged relentlessly about his court appointments, and about using opposition to legal abortion as a litmus test for judges. At the March for Life in Washington earlier this year, which he addressed in person, participants said Trump had been delivering for them, and they were hopeful that courts would soon allow legislatures to finally recriminalize abortion. Trumps administration called Mondays decision unfortunate in a White House statement, saying unelected justices have intruded on the sovereign prerogatives of state governments by imposing their own policy preference in favour of abortion to override legitimate abortion safety regulations. For Trump, it was the third recent decision in which the conservative-dominated court has ruled contrary to his preferences, each of which has involved Roberts siding with the courts liberals. For those bringing legal challenges to the courts, it stirs hope that despite the drift toward partisanship in recent years, the court will not always stick to the presidents line. For Trump and his supporters, one takeaway may be that a more partisan and anti-abortion court is needed. CNN reported Tuesday that Trump is hoping for another Supreme Court vacancy before this falls election. The courts recent decisions, he told the Christian Broadcasting Network, were proof that he needs to be re-elected, so that he can appoint more Supreme Court justices and prevent religion being wiped out. Legalized abortion is popular in the United States in a poll last year, more than three-quarters of respondents thought it should remain legal (although most wanted some restrictions) but it also remains a driving issue for Trump voters who oppose it. For them, Mondays decision could motivate turnout at the polls something that recent polls suggest Trump may desperately need if he is to defeat Joe Biden in November. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Proponents of reproductive freedom say the case itself, and the others coming, are a motivating factor for them as well. Northup says its time for Congress to pass the Womens Health Protection Act, a provision she says would prevent laws like the one struck down Monday from being passed. Its alarming and unacceptable, that in 2020, there are some states that are still hell bent on preventing peoples ability to make the decision about a pregnancy for themselves. Read more about: DAKAR, Senegal - Leaders from the five countries of West Africas Sahel region Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger on Tuesday called for intensifying counter-terrorism operations supported by the French military that have already seen successes in the recent months despite growing jihadist attacks in the region. The heads of state from the five Sahel countries said the stability of the region below the Sahara Desert remains challenged by persistant attacks, a deteriorating security situation in Libya and the COVID-19 pandemic, and renewed calls for the cancellation of external debts as they deal with the pandemic. The statements came after meetings between the heads of states Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Mauritanias capital Nouakchott to discuss military operations against Islamic extremists in the region. The five African countries, known as the G5, have formed a joint military force that is working with France, which has 5,100 soldiers in the Sahel to help combat the still growing attacks. France first sent troops to the Sahel in 2013 when it helped to push al-Qaida-linked militants from their strongholds in Malis north. But in recent months extremist groups linked to both al-Qaida and the Islamic State become more assertive, pushing further south into Niger and Burkina Faso, increasing attacks and taking control of more territory. Thousands more soldiers are meant to be deployed as part of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, but this force is has not yet become fully operational due to the lack of funding and equipment. We are all convinced that victory is possible in Sahel, Macron said in a news conference alongside other heads of states. Macron said his first trip outside Europe since the beginning of the new coronavirus crisis aimed at showing solidarity toward the African continent. This was also Sanchez first trip abroad since a strict lockdown was adopted in Spain in mid-March to slow down the spread of the pandemic. The French and African military force has made major gains since the last summit in Pau, France, in January, when it was decided to focus on eliminating the growing threat of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara along the tri-border region of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. Among the successes has been the killing of the head of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb on June 3 in the Tessalit region. France will be there as long as its presence is wanted and requested by the Sahel states as they consider their peoples security is threatened ... and that our role is useful, Macron said. He earlier praised the greater involvement of other European countries in the region. Tuesdays summit was called to set new milestones and raise the operational levels of the armies, as the victories remain fragile, said organizers. Counter-terrorism operations along the Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali tri-border region will continue, and the heads of state of the G5 also called for increased military engagement by the international community. They expressed gratitude for the support provided by France, the U.S. and the United Nations mission in Mali. Operation Takuba, which will be a force of European special forces soldiers, would deploy in the summer of 2020, according to the G5 statement, along with a brigade from Britain in support of the Mali U.N. mission and 3,000 African Union soldiers. There is political instability in Mali and Burkina Faso and the COVID-19 crisis has also substantially affected the already very vulnerable Sahel countries who are hoping for increased financial support as wealthier countries face the same pandemic. Mauritanias President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani urged richest countries to cancel the poor nations debt obligations. The debt issue arises even more with the new situation that results from the pandemic and its consequences. The debt service burden is unbearable. Ghazouani met with Macron and Sanchez before an afternoon discussion with other heads of state, including Burkina Fasos President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, Malis President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Nigers President Mahamadou Issoufou and Chads President Idriss Deby. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte participated in the meeting via video call. Recurrent jihadist attacks and inter-communal violence killed at least 4,000 people in 2019 in the Sahel, five times more than in 2016, according to the United Nations. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... In Burkina Faso, the threat has grown with fighting spreading from the countrys north to the east and southwest regions. Areas that were once accessible are cut off. Djibo town in the Sahel has been under siege by jihadists for weeks, preventing aid from reaching civilians, according to workers for humanitarian groups and locals in the area. Theres also been a rise in extrajudicial killings and revenge attacks by the army and local defence groups, targeting people allegedly supporting the jihadists, according to Human Rights Watch. The jihadists have also increased attacks on volunteer fighters helping the military. On Tuesday, the G5 Heads of State agreed that allegations of abuses by elements of the defence and security forces will be investigated and, if the facts are proven, of exemplary sanctions, according to the final statement. Burkina Fasos army, which was already ill-equipped and struggling to stem the violence, has been hampered by the coronavirus. While its continued basic operations in the north and along the border with Mali and Niger, the military has no personal protective gear or other preventive supplies and few trained medical staff, according to internal foreign embassy cables seen by the AP. The vast majority of the military remain in their barracks, as a protection measure against the virus, said the report. Despite gains along the border region, analysts say theres been no progress in terms of addressing the issues driving the conflict. The progress has been mixed at best. The French had some tactical victories along the border, but not much has been done by local or international military to create long lasting stability or warrant any kind of victory, said Flore Berger, a Sahel research analyst at the Institute for Strategic Studies. Strengthening the regional G5 force is also critical at this time, especially as the U.S. has yet to make a decision on whether it will scale back military presence in the area. The next summit will be held in 2021 in a Sahel country. __ Corbet wrote from Paris. AP writers Sam Mednick in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Ahmed Mohamed in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and Aritz Parra in Madrid contributed to this report. Just ahead of the Prime Minister's address to the nation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday demanded that Narendra Modi should announce the Nyay scheme to benefit the poor and also tell the nation when the Chinese troops "will leave the Indian soil". In a video message, Rahul Gandhi said: "Coronavirus has caused irreversible damage to the poor, middle, and salaried classes; we have demanded the government to implement Nyay scheme even if it is for six months." "The government should transfer Rs 7,500 per month to the accounts of the poor, the Congress leader added. Gandhi added: "Everybody knows the Chinese troops have occupied our holy land at four places." He also attacked the central government for raising fuel prices in the last three weeks since June 7. The Congress had proposed Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay) in the 2019 general election manifesto, promising that if voted to power, its government would enact a law to give cash to bottom 20 per cent of India's families in terms of wealth. Such households were to receive up to Rs 72,000 each per year, benefiting 250 million people. Mexico City began allowing more businesses to reopen Monday, after almost three months of various types of lockdowns. Some city subway stations that had been closed to reduce ridership reopened. The citys metro system plans to distribute 1 million plastic face shields to passengers to lower the risk of infection on mass transportation. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that officials estimate the gradual reopenings this week could put another 1 million to 1.5 million people on the streets of the capital. The capitals historic centre is scheduled to reopen Tuesday, followed by restaurants and hotels Wednesday, but with half their normal capacity. On a four-colour alert level, in which red is the worst and green the best, Mexico City downgraded the citys alert to orange even though it has the countrys largest numbers of infections and deaths. Leon Armando Medina Quezada, a young man from La Marquesa, just west of Mexico City, went to shop Monday in the capitals downtown district. He was worried the reopening may be too much, too soon. You can see a lot of activity. The truth is, its a lot of movement and that is going to get the stoplight turned back to red, because of the pandemic, Medina Quezada said. There are a lot of people on the subway, its very full. Sheinbaum said officials are monitoring hospital capacity closely in case it becomes necessary to tighten the restrictions again. Bars and nightclubs will remain closed. The highest concentrations of new infections are clustered in more rural neighbourhoods on the citys south side (Xochimilco, Milpa Alta, and part of Tlalpan). There are about 2,800 people hospitalized in the city with COVID-19. On the national level, the number of confirmed cases in Mexico rose by 3,805 to 220,657, while confirmed deaths rose by 473 to 27,121. MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine army chief on Tuesday angrily called the fatal police shooting of four soldiers, including two officers, a rubout and demanded justice for the killings which the police said ensued from a misencounter. Eduardo Ano, a retired military chief of staff who now oversees the national police as interior secretary, ordered the police involved in Mondays violence in the southern town of Jolo in Sulu province be disarmed and restricted for investigation. Police said the soldiers were killed in a misencounter with a group of police officers. The army has said that its two officers and two enlisted men were on a mission against Abu Sayyaf militants, including two suspected suicide bombers, when they were flagged down and later fatally shot by police without provocation even after the soldiers identified themselves. It was murder, army commanding general Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay told reporters. There was no misencounter ... it was a rubout. The violence reflects the often-complicated conditions under which the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and its allied foreign and local militants has been waged by the military, with backing from the police, for about three decades. The on and off offensives have considerably weakened the Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by the U.S. and the Philippines as a terrorist group, but it remains a national security threat. This is a very unfortunate incident that should have not happened, Ano said. Aside from a police investigation he said he would ask the National Bureau of Investigation, Manilas counterpart to the FBI, to carry out an inquiry. An initial police report said Jolo police were on patrol with anti-illegal drug agents in the towns Bus-Bus village when they spotted an SUV with four armed male persons, whom they stopped. The four were directed to drive to the Jolo police station for verification but when they arrived there, the said persons fled, the report said. Police chased the four, who got out and pointed their guns at police. Before they could pull the trigger, the Philippine National Police personnel were able to shoot them in defence, sparking an exchange of shots that killed the four suspects, the police said. Gapay said he was enraged when he read the initial police report on the shootings, describing it as fabricated, full of inconsistencies. Its like in the movies and very misleading. The soldiers did not fire a single shot and the nine policemen involved, who did not sustain any injuries, fled after gunning them down in a breach of police protocol, Gapay said, citing witnesses and security camera video. Gapay said the police chiefs of Jolo town and Sulu should be removed from their posts during the investigation, adding that he did not want to create any animosity with the countrys police force. It was very tense in Jolo last night, our troops, everybody were really agitated, but, you know, we are very professional, he said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... An army officer with knowledge of what happened told The Associated Press that while being tailed by a van of policemen, the soldiers stopped and one of the officers got out of their SUV with his hands up, apparently to indicate he had no hostile intent. But the police opened fire and killed the four soldiers, who were in casual clothes, for still unexplained reasons, said the army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of what transpired. HONG KONG - China on Tuesday approved a contentious national security law that will allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in Hong Kong, a move many see as Beijings boldest yet to erase the legal firewall between the semi-autonomous territory and the mainlands authoritarian Communist Party system. President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order promulgating the law after it was approved by the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It will be added to the Basic Law, Hong Kongs constitution. Few details were given but Chinas liaison office in Hong Kong issued a statement warning opponents of the law not to underestimate the party centres determination to safeguard Hong Kongs national security or its willingness and ability to enforce the new rules. On Wednesday, Hong Kongs government will mark the 23rd anniversary of the territorys passing from British to Chinese control. A series of official events are scheduled and a heavy police presence is expected to deter any anti-government protests of the type that rocked the city for the second half of last year. We hope the law will serve as a deterrent to prevent people from stirring up trouble, said Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kongs sole representative on the Standing Committee Dont let Hong Kong be used as a tool to split the country. Tam said punishments would not include the death penalty, but did not elaborate on further details. Passage of the law came amid fears in Hong Kong and abroad that it would be used to curb opposition voices in the Asian financial hub. The U.S. has already begun moves to end special trade terms given to Hong Kong after the former British colony was returned to China in 1997. The legislation is aimed at curbing subversive, secessionist and terrorist activities, as well as foreign intervention in the citys affairs. It follows months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year that at times descended into violence. Speaking in a video message to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the law would only target an extremely small minority of lawbreakers, would not be retroactive, and that mainland legal bodies would only have jurisdiction in rare, specified situations. Critics say it is the most significant erosion to date of Hong Kongs British-style rule of law and the high degree of autonomy that Beijing promised Hong Kong would enjoy at least through 2047 under a one country, two systems framework. Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Nathan Law issued statements on Facebook saying they would withdraw from their organization Demosisto, which then announced that it would disband with the loss of its top members. Wong said worrying about life and safety has become a real issue and nobody will be able to predict the repercussions of the law, whether it is being extradited to China or facing long jail terms. More than a hundred protesters gathered at a luxury mall in Hong Kongs Central business district, chanting slogans including Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now, with several holding up a flag representing an independent Hong Kong as well as posters condemning the law. The laws passage represents the greatest threat to human rights in the citys recent history, said Joshua Rosenzweig, head of Amnesty Internationals China Team. The speed and secrecy with which China has pushed through this legislation intensifies the fear that Beijing has calculatingly created a weapon of repression to be used against government critics, including people who are merely expressing their views or protesting peacefully, Rosenzweig said in a statement. Concerns also were expressed in Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Democracy and freedom are shared universal values of Hong Kong and Taiwan, the islands Mainland Affairs Council said, adding that China had betrayed its promises to Hong Kong, The self-governing island recently said it would consider providing asylum for Hong Kong opposition figures who fear arrest. Ahead of the laws passage, the Trump administration said Monday it will bar defence exports to Hong Kong and will soon require licenses for the sale of items that have both civilian and military uses. We cannot risk these items falling into the hands of the Peoples Liberation Army, whose primary purpose is to uphold the dictatorship of the (ruling Communist Party) by any means necessary, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said his government was deeply concerned over reports of the laws passage, saying that would be a grave step. Britain has said it could offer residency and possible citizenship to about 3 million of Hong Kongs 7.5 million people. This issue is purely Chinas internal affairs, and no foreign country has the right to interfere, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. He said China would take necessary measures to protect its national interests in response to the wrong acts of the United States. Under the law, Beijing will set up a national security office in Hong Kong to collect and analyze intelligence and deal with criminal cases related to national security. Government critics fear Beijing will use the law to pursue political opponents. Some have questioned the legal basis on which China proceeded with the legislation, saying it undermines the Basic Law. An earlier attempt to pass a security law in 2003 was dropped after hundreds of thousands of people marched in Hong Kongs streets against it. China for years had put off another such effort. Citing a new urgency after last years protests, it announced it would bypass the Hong Kong legislature and enact the law on its own. Chinese officials have railed against what they claim is foreign interference in the territory that they blame for encouraging the anti-government protests. Beijing condemned the protests as an attempt to permanently split Hong Kong away from China. Drafting of the law took place amid intense secrecy, with even top Hong Kong officials reportedly not given advance notice of its specifics. Questions linger over the effects on Hong Kongs free press that has come under increasing political and financial pressure, as well as the operations of nongovernmental organizations, particularly those with foreign connections. The laws passage comes after Hong Kongs legislature in early June approved a contentious bill making it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem. Pro-China figures have also been pushing for more patriotic education to be introduced into the curriculum in hopes that will boost their identification with Beijing. ___ Moritsugu reported from Beijing. China unveiled a contentious new law for Hong Kong late Tuesday that grants authorities sweeping powers to crack down on opposition to Beijing at home and abroad with heavy prison sentences for vaguely defined political crimes. The laws swift approval in Beijing signalled the urgency that the Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, has given to expanding his control over Hong Kong to quash pro-democracy protests that evolved last year into an increasingly confrontational challenge to Chinese rule. The Hong Kong government issued the text of the legislation at 11 p.m. Tuesday, after weeks of unusual secrecy surrounding the drafting of the law in Beijing. The law took effect immediately, even though the public was seeing it in full for the first time. The text provided a far-reaching blueprint for authorities and courts to suppress the citys protest movement and for Chinas national security apparatus to pervade many layers of Hong Kongs society. Ambiguously worded offences of separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign countries carry maximum penalties of life imprisonment. Inducing residents to hate the government in Beijing or Hong Kong is defined as a serious crime. A new Committee for Safeguarding National Security will be authorized to operate in total secrecy and be shielded from legal challenges. Its officials will be given the task of scrutinizing schools, corporations, non-governmental organizations, news companies, and foreigners living in Hong Kong and abroad. Its meant to suppress and oppress, and to frighten and intimidate Hong Kongers, Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy lawmaker, said. And they just might succeed in that. Other key details in the law: The law takes direct aim at the anti-government protesters strategy of disruption. Last year, demonstrators paralyzed the airport briefly, vandalized the subway system and attacked police stations and surrounded government buildings. The law describes activities such as damaging government buildings and sabotaging public transportation as acts of subversion and terrorism, punishable with lengthy jail terms. It allows Beijing to seize broad control in security cases, especially during crises. Suspects in security cases will mostly be held without bail. Trials involving state secrets could be closed to the media and the public, with few rights to trial by jury and with only the verdicts announced. Suspects in important cases can be sent to face trial in mainland China, where courts are opaque and often harsh. The law focuses heavily on the perceived role of foreigners in Hong Kongs unrest. It will impose harsh penalties on anyone who urges foreign countries to criticize or impose sanctions on the government. It targets former Hong Kong residents who have acquired foreign passports and are outspoken against the government, empowering officials to freeze their assets and impose fines. The Chinese legislature approved the law a day before July 1, the politically charged anniversary of Hong Kongs handover to China in 1997, which regularly draws pro-democracy protests. On the anniversary last year, a huge peaceful demonstration gave way to violence when a small group of activists broke into Hong Kongs legislature, smashing glass walls and spray-painting slogans on walls. Those who have stirred up trouble and broken this type of law in the past will hopefully watch themselves in the future, Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kongs representative to the legislative group in China that reviewed the law, said in a television interview. If they continue to defy the law, they will bear the consequences. The unanimous vote Tuesday by the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee, an elite arm of Chinas party-controlled legislature, came less than two weeks after the lawmakers first formally considered the legislation. Breaking from normal procedure, the committee did not release a draft of the law for public comment. Hong Kongs activists, legal scholars and officials were left to debate or defend the bill based on details released by Chinas state news media in June. The fact that the Chinese authorities have now passed this law without the people of Hong Kong being able to see it tells you a lot about their intentions, said Joshua Rosenzweig, head of Amnesty Internationals China team. Their aim is to govern Hong Kong through fear from this point forward. At least two groups that have called for Hong Kong to become an independent state said they would stop operating in the city. Such groups remain in the minority in Hong Kong but have drawn government scrutiny. Activists are also worried that the law could target those who peacefully call for true autonomy for the territory, as opposed to independence. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... They are doing whatever it takes to crack down on dissent and opposition here. Its just unthinkable in the year 2020, said Mo, the pro-democracy lawmaker. This is a huge departure from civilization. Four senior members of Demosisto, a political organization in Hong Kong that has drawn disaffected young people, announced that they were quitting the group. They included Joshua Wong, a leader of the 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations known as the Umbrella Movement. The group later said it would disband. From now on, #Hongkong enters a new era of reign of terror, Wong wrote on Twitter. Announcing his decision to leave Demosisto in a post on Facebook, he said: I will continue to hold fast to my home Hong Kong, until they silence and obliterate me from this land. Administrators of chat groups used by protesters on Telegram, a popular app, sent messages urging users not to panic but also said that they should purge their devices of data, contacts and photos should they join any future protests. The chill spread even to some businesses that have openly supported the democracy movement. The Lung Mun Cafe, a well-known Cantonese diner that provided free meals to student protesters last year, said Tuesday that it would no longer be affiliated with the yellow economy, so named because of the colour of umbrellas that demonstrators once used to defend themselves against streams of tear gas. Lung Mun Cafe has more or less accompanied the people of Hong Kong on this path against tyranny, Cheung Chun-kit, the owner of the cafe chain, said in a statement posted on Facebook. But he explained that he was pulling out of the yellow economy because the national security law has made me re-examine my path this year. The citys police force has moved quickly to stop peaceful protests against the security law in recent days, arresting dozens of people, including 53 demonstrators Sunday. On Tuesday, a small group of protesters gathered in a luxury mall in Central, a downtown district, and chanted: We will fight till our last breath! A few dozen pro-Beijing supporters wearing white shirts and blue caps gathered in a park to celebrate the passage of the law. They celebrated by waving large Chinese flags as they uncorked bottles of sparkling wine and drank from plastic cups. Police have denied applications from three groups to hold protest marches Wednesday, the anniversary of the handover, making it the first time authorities have refused to allow a demonstration on that date. Some opposition lawmakers and democracy advocates have urged people to take to the streets despite the ban. The July 1 march tomorrow will show that we will absolutely not accept this evil national security law, Wu Chi-wai, a pro-democracy lawmaker, said Tuesday. Even if they try to crush us, we will use all kinds of ways and methods to ensure that Hong Kong peoples voices and opinions can be expressed. Read more about: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAConfronting a surge of cyberattacks attributed to the Chinese government, Australia moved to bolster its defences Tuesday, promising to recruit at least 500 cyberspies and build on its ability to take the battle overseas. The investment of 1.35 billion Australian dollars ($1.27 billion) over the next decade is the largest the country has ever made in cyberweapons and defences. It follows what Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described as a sharp increase in the frequency, scale and sophistication of online attacks and, more broadly, a steady deterioration in relations between Australia and China. The federal governments top priority is protecting our nations economy, national security and sovereignty, Morrison said Tuesday. Malicious cyberactivity undermines that. The new initiative points to growing frustration in Australia with what current and former intelligence officials have described as a relentless, increasingly aggressive campaign by China to spy on, disrupt and threaten the countrys government, vital infrastructure and most important industries. The full details of attacks that appear to have come from China are still mostly hidden Australian officials remain wary of provoking Beijing by naming and shaming culprits but the public record now includes several examples of elaborate hacking that has less to do with theft for profit than growing aggression against a rival government. In January of last year, for example, hackers found their way into the computer systems of the Australian Parliament. A year before that, security experts said that tools commonly used by Chinese hackers had been deployed in attacks on Australias Defence Department and the Australian National University. Two weeks ago, Australian officials said a wide range of political and private-sector organizations had come under attack by a sophisticated state-based cyberactor a reference that most cybersecurity experts took to mean China. And there are hints that the tools being deployed are increasingly ambitious and dangerous. In one attack earlier this year, hackers used a compromised email account from the Indonesian Embassy in Australia to send a Word document to a staff member in the office of the top leader in the state of Western Australia. The attachment contained an invisible cyberattack tool called Aria-body, which had never been detected before and had alarming new capabilities. It allowed hackers to remotely take over a computer, to copy, delete or create files, and to carry out extensive searches of the device. A cybersecurity company in Israel later linked Aria-body to a group of hackers, called Naikon, that has been traced to the Chinese military. Peter Jennings, a former defence and intelligence official who heads the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said Beijing had leapfrogged other countries in its cyberabilities and the frequency of its attacks. Its just reaching unprecedented heights of activity, he said. Yes, its true countries do spy on each other; the problem here is the all-pervasive nature of what China is doing. In many ways, big and small, there are hints of bullying and coercion. The attacks, while constant, have become more troublesome since Australia angered China by calling for an international inquiry into the roots of the coronavirus outbreak. In Beijing, any questioning of the official narrative that China defeated the virus as quickly as possible is seen as an insult. The rising tensions between the two countries have already affected trade with China cutting imports of barley and beef and neither country has made a public effort to reconcile. China has also tried to turn the cyberspying accusations back on Australia, with its state media claiming that Beijing disrupted an Australian operation two years ago. The response on the cyberfront that Australia outlined Tuesday starts with personnel. Roughly a third of the funding will go toward hiring hundreds of cybersecurity experts to study and share information about the evolution of emerging threats, and to create countermeasures of their own. The Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Cyber Security Center will build up their capacity to defend against attacks and their connections with the companies that run the countrys digital networks. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The defence minister, Senator Linda Reynolds, said in a statement that the investment aimed to create a rapid-response process that would prevent malicious cyberactivity from reaching millions of Australians by blocking known malicious websites and computer viruses at speed. Jennings said the investment was substantial and needed. He added that it would most likely be a down payment. The need for more investment in cybersecurity, both defence and offence, will keep growing, he said. This wont be the last investment, Im sure. Read more about: BRUSSELS - Belgium confronted its colonial past and looked toward reconciliation Tuesday, with the king expressing regret for the violence carried out by the country when it ruled over what is now Congo. Later in the day, the bust of a former monarch held responsible for the death of millions of Africans was taken off public display. As Belgium marked the 60th anniversary of the end of its colonial rule in Congo, King Philippes words had resounding significance since none of his predecessors went so far as to convey remorse. In a letter to the Congolese president, Felix Tshisekedi, Philippe stopped short of issuing a formal apology, but proclaimed his deepest regrets for the acts of violence and cruelty and the suffering and humiliation inflicted on Belgian Congo. The removal of King Leopold IIs statue took place only hours after Philippes letter was published. The monarch, who ruled Belgium from 1865-1909, plundered Congo as if it were his personal fiefdom, forcing many of its people into slavery to extract resources for his own profit. The early years after he laid claim to the African country are especially infamous for killings, forced labour and other forms of brutality that some experts estimate left as many as 10 million Congolese dead. Following a short ceremony punctuated by readings, Leopolds bust in Ghent was attached to a crane with a strap and taken away from the small park where it stood amid applause. It will be transferred to a warehouse of a Ghent city museum pending further decision from a citys commission in charge of decolonization projects. Removing statues does not erase history, it rectifies history and makes new history that rightly calls into question dominant narratives, said Mathieu Charles, an activist from the Belgian Network for Black Lives. Belgium has long struggled to come to terms with its colonial past, instead focusing on the so-called positive aspects of the colonization. But the international protests against racism that followed the May 25 death of George Floyd in the United States have given a new momentum to activists fighting to have monuments to Leopold removed. Earlier this month, about 10,000 people gathered in Brussels despite the social distancing measures implemented to fight the spread of COVID-19, with many protesters chanting anti-colonialist slogans. The Leopold statue in Ghent was vandalized several times in the past and again after Floyd, a handcuffed Black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. Several other monuments of the former king scattered across Belgium were defaced over the past few weeks and a statue of the monarch in the port of Antwerp was removed from a marketplace by local authorities. Meanwhile, regional authorities also promised history course reforms to better explain the true character of colonialism while the federal Parliament decided that a commission would look into Belgiums colonial past. Belgium Prime minister Sophie Wilmes has called for an in-depth debate conducted without taboo. In 2020, we must be able to look at this shared past with lucidity and discernment, she said Tuesday. Any work of truth and memory begins with the recognition of suffering. Acknowledging the suffering of the other. After Leopolds claimed ownership of Congo ended in 1908, he handed it over to the Belgian state, which continued to rule over the colony 75 times Belgiums size until the African nation became independent in 1960. In his letter Philippe stressed the common achievements reached by Belgium and its former colony, but also the painful episodes of their unequal relationship. At the time of the independent State of the Congo, acts of violence and cruelty were committed that still weigh on our collective memory, Philippe wrote, referring to the period when the country was privately ruled by Leopold II from 1885 to 1908. The colonial period that followed also caused suffering and humiliation, Philippe acknowledged. I want to express my most deepest regrets for these wounds of the past, the pain of which is today revived by discrimination that is all too present in our societies, Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Philippe also congratulated Tshisekedi on the anniversary of Congos independence, ruing that he was not able to attend the celebrations to which he had been invited due to the coronavirus pandemic. ___ Follow all AP stories about racial injustice and police brutality at https://apnews.com/Racialinjustice MADRID - Scholars in the work of surrealist Frida Kahlo have searched for more than six decades for The Wounded Table, a 1940 oil painting illuminating her pain over the breakup of her marriage to muralist Diego Rivera that hasnt been seen since an exhibition in Poland. And the historians strongly reject the idea that the mystery of its whereabouts has been solved, as claimed by a Spanish art dealer who says the painting is now sitting in a London warehouse awaiting a buyer willing to spend more than 40 million euros ($45 million). Experts consulted by The Associated Press have concluded that published images of the work now on sale show nothing more than a copy of Kahlos painting. Helga Prignitz-Poda, an art historian who has fruitlessly tried to track down the long-lost painting, said that there are clear differences between the work for sale and old photographs of the original and that there are similarities between the offered work with inaccurate replicas based on those old images. In addition, she said, Kahlo did the painting on wood and not on canvas. The work for sale is described as a canvas painting. Cristian Lopez, the Spanish art dealer who says he represents the anonymous owner of the painting, stands firm in defending its authenticity. Time will give us the truth, Lopez said during a phone conversation in which he offered few details on the painting. Lopez, who is little known in the art world, said specialists have endorsed the paintings authenticity, but he declined to identify them. Whoever proves genuine interest and the ability to pay the figure of 40 million euros, can spend as much time as wanted with their experts analyzing the work, Lopez said. The Wounded Table was unveiled at the International Surrealism Exhibition in 1940 in Mexico City. It includes a self-portrait of Kahlo at a long table, flanked by a Holy Week Judas and a monster that embraces her, while the two sons of her sister stand at one end and her pet fawn is at the other. Blood flows from knots of the wood table, which is considered to represent the artists anguish of the just concluded divorce from Rivera. Kahlo donated the painting to the Soviet Union in 1945 for a planned Mexico room at the Museum of Western Art in Moscow, but Soviet art officials disdained surrealism as decadent and the project was dropped. The Mexican works ended up in a cellar. A year after Kahlos death, a Mexican group organized a travelling art exhibition for shows in Soviet bloc nations and arranged for a loan of The Wounded Table. Prignitz-Poda said there is photographic evidence the 46-inch by 98-inch painting was shown in Warsaw, but nothing is known of it after that. There is no clue whether it was returned to Moscow, destroyed or perhaps acquired by someone. Susana Pliego, an art historian who has studied the work of both Kahlo and Rivera, is among the experts who dont think the painting for sale is the real thing. She said there is a big problem with faked Kahlo painting because the art market thirsts for more works by an artist who produced only about 200 paintings before her death in 1954. Fridamania has been a marketing invention, said Pliego, who directs cultural programming at the Casa de Mexico in Madrid and who worked for years on Kahlos archive. Because her paintings are sold so expensively, someone makes a proposal to see if anyone falls for it. Hans-Jergen Gehrke, an art collector who operates a museum dedicated to Kahlos works in southwestern Germany, considers it implausible, if not directly ridiculous, that an unknown 22-year-old businessman operating a website from a town in northwestern Spain is the guardian of the missing painting. There are thousands of Frida Kahlo fakes, Gehrke said. She is possibly the artist who has painted more dead than in life. ___ Associated Press writer Aritz Parra reported this story in Madrid and AP writer Berenice Bautista reported from Mexico CIty. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... ___ Aritz Parra on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aritzparra Berenice Bautista on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BereniceBau Paris police say checks have been completed at a popular shopping centre near La Defence business district and a witnesss report of seeing a man carrying a gun turned out to be an apparent false alarm. The police force in the French capital said on Twitter that at this stage, no suspicious individual has been found by security forces at the Les Quatre Temps shopping centre. People already there when officers arrived to search the premises on Tuesday were initially asked to stay inside shops but will now be free to continue shopping, police said. JERUSALEM - The U.S. State Department has put the ambassador to Israels official residence outside Tel Aviv up for sale, in a decision aimed at cementing the American embassys controversial move to Jerusalem. The beachfront mansion in the affluent Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya is going on the market because most of Ambassador David Friedmans day-to-day activities are based at the embassy in Jerusalem, the State Department said. Following the decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem it made sense to sell the residence in Herzliya, it said. Much of the embassys operations have shifted to Jerusalem and the ambassador has established an official residence there. The Trump administration moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, shortly after recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital. Friedman, a long-time supporter of Israels hard-line settler movement, played a leading role in the embassys move. Most foreign delegations have their embassies in Tel Aviv because of Jerusalems contested status. Israels parliament, supreme court, presidents residence and most ministries are headquartered in Jerusalem. But the Palestinians claim east Jerusalem which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed in a move unrecognized by most of the international community as capital of a future state. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, said in April that he considered the Trump administrations decision to move the embassy short-sighted and frivolous, but said he would not move it back to Tel Aviv if elected president in November. News of the residences sale was first published in the Israeli business newspaper Globes on Monday. The paper said the house, which sits on a 1.25- acre (0.5 hectare) plot of land, has a roughly $87 million asking price. If it sells at that price, it would be the most expensive residential sale in the country, topping Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovichs recent purchase of a home in Herzliya for $65 million earlier this year. The State Department said the sale is expected to go forward in the coming months. Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar hailed the Modi government's decision to ban 59 Chinese applications, connecting the move to 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. Taking to social media, Javadekar remarked, "The whole country has appreciated the decision of the @narendramodi govt to ban 59 Chinese Apps. This will give fillip to Indian Startups & they will come up with better versions very soon. This is a right step towards #AtmaNirbharBharat". The Modi government on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns amid strained India-China relations after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a list of 59 Chinese apps that are now banned in the country. "These measures have been undertaken since there is credible information that these apps are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," said a MeitY statement. Javadekar's statement makes sense given that Indians have rushed to download social app Chingari, a desi alternative to Chinese TikTok, which is witnessing nearly 1 lakh downloads and over 2 million views per hour since the government banned 59 Chinese apps, last night. ANKARA, Turkey - Up to 60 migrants may have been trapped in a boat that sank in an eastern lake last week, Turkeys interior minister said Wednesday. Turkey launched a search-and-rescue mission involving helicopters and boats after the boat carrying migrants across Lake Van was reported missing on June 27. So far, search teams have recovered six bodies. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who travelled to Van to oversee the rescue operation, told reporters Wednesday that authorities estimated the boat was carrying between 55 and 60 migrants when it went down in stormy weather. Eleven other people were detained in connection with the tragedy, he said. A village administrator has been removed from office for delaying reporting the incident, he added. Soylu said experts think the sunken boat is under 110-120 metres (360-394 feet) of water. An underwater imaging system was dispatched from Ankara to locate the wreck, he added. HaberTurk television said the migrants are believed to be from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. Last year, seven migrants drowned while 64 others were rescued when their boat capsized in the lake, which is close to the border with Iran but lies within Turkeys borders. The lake is situated along a major transit route for migrants coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. They are typically smuggled across mountains on the Iran-Turkey border and then continue travelling on through Turkey. However, Turkish authorities have intensified immigration controls near the Iranian border, and some smugglers transport migrants across Lake Van s to avoid several police and military checkpoints between the provinces of Van and Bitlis. Turkey, which hosts about 3.7 million Syrian refugees, is a main crossing point for migrants trying to reach Europe. Soylu said Turkey had detained 454,000 migrants last year. This year, Turkish authorities prevented some 16,000 migrants from reaching Turkey through the Turkey-Iran border and detained 4,500 others who managed to cross into Van province. Earlier this year, thousands of migrants arrived at Turkeys border with Greece trying to cross illegally after Turkey made good on a threat to open its borders for those seeking to cross into Europe. The move triggered days of violent clashes between the migrants and Greek border authorities. ISTANBULAn American NASA scientist returned with his family to the United States early Tuesday morning after nearly four years of imprisonment and house arrest in Turkey, and more than seven months after President Donald Trump said he had secured an agreement for his release. The scientist, Serkan Golge, arrived in Washington on a commercial flight shortly after midnight, ending a tortuous journey for him and his family, who had become caught up in increasingly fraught Turkish-American relations. Trumps public dealings with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey have run a roller coaster from warm expressions of friendship to explosive threats on Twitter to ruin the Turkish economy. At a White House briefing in November with Erdogan, Trump announced that Golge would be heading home and personally thanked his Turkish counterpart for releasing Golge from detention, though he remained under judicial control for several more months. That was a very nice tribute, Trump said in November. Hell be coming back at some point in the not too distant future. Thats very good news for the United States and also very good news for Turkey. Erdogan did not mention Golge in his comments at that news briefing. Golges case, along with those of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was held for two years, and three Turkish employees of U.S. consulates, one of whom was sentenced to more than eight years in prison this month, have been seen by U.S. and European officials as a form of hostage-taking for leverage. Erdogans government has wanted several court cases in the United States against Turkish officials, potentially implicating Erdogan and his family, to be dropped. One such case, involving a state-owned bank accused of helping Iran evade sanctions, is still pending. Ties between the United States and Turkey, ostensibly NATO allies, have been badly frayed since an attempted coup against Erdogan in July 2016. Among those involved in the coup were followers of a U.S.-based Muslim preacher, Fethullah Gulen, whom the Turkish government describes as the main instigator, and it has demanded his extradition, so far to no avail. Turkey then went ahead last year with the purchase of a Russian anti-aircraft missile system, despite NATO warnings that operating such a system was incompatible with membership in the alliance. Trump responded by cancelling the sale of advanced F-35 jets to Turkey. The relationship reached a new low in October, with Erdogans invasion of northeastern Syria, an offensive against U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led forces that risked direct conflict with U.S. troops and threatened to undermine the fight against the Islamic State. None of those issues were resolved in the talks in November, leaving the release of Golge as the only concrete achievement of the meeting. Golge was one of up to 20 U.S. citizens who have been imprisoned or prevented from leaving the country in a crackdown by the Turkish government after the failed coup. More than 100,000 people in total were detained, some for direct involvement in the coup but many more on the flimsiest evidence, accused of involvement with Gulens movement. Golge, 40, a naturalized U.S. citizen, holds a Ph.D. in physics from Old Dominion University. He lived near Houston and had worked on preparations for NASAs Mars mission. He was detained in July 2016 while visiting his parents in southern Turkey and was accused of being a member of the Gulen movement he insists he is not which the government calls a terrorist organization. The only evidence of that association that was produced at his trial was that he had held an account at Bank Asya, which was linked to the movement, and that a $1 bill was found in his parents house, supposedly a secret sign of membership. Golges wife, Kubra, and his two children, all U.S. citizens, were also barred from leaving Turkey. Trump had been pushing Erdogan for Golges release for more than a year. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for terrorism charges, but was released from prison in May 2019. Trump announced then that Golge was being moved from prison to home custody and would be allowed back to the United States pretty soon. But Turkish officials reacted to that statement by increasing judicial controls concerning his house arrest, according to Golge. Police officers in a parked car were posted outside his home around the clock for two weeks and followed him whenever he stepped out. He was fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor his movements and had to sign in at the local police station four times a week, a regimen that was later reduced to twice and then once a week. Golges case is still pending a final appeal at Turkeys Supreme Court. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Turkish law enforcement officials removed his ankle bracelet hours before the news briefing with Trump and Erdogan at the White House in November, but gave no indication why, Golge said. I was surprised, Golge said on hearing Trumps announcement. But his ordeal was not over. The last judicial controls were only finally lifted in April, and international flights, grounded because of the coronavirus pandemic since March, only resumed this month. LAS VEGAS - An Arizona man was sentenced Tuesday to 13 months in federal prison for selling home-loaded bullets to the gunman who unleashed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, killing 58 people in the Las Vegas Strip in October 2017. Douglas Haig, 57, also was sentenced to three years of supervised release for his guilty plea last November to manufacturing ammunition without a license, said Trisha Young, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich. Defence attorney Marc Victor said U.S. District Judge James Mahan granted his request to let prison officials consider home confinement for Haig because of the coronavirus pandemic. Haig is scheduled to surrender to prison authorities in October. Haig was not accused of a direct role in the shooting, which involved a 64-year-old retired accountant and high-stakes video poker player firing military-style weapons modified to shoot more rapidly from a 32nd-floor hotel window into a concert crowd below. The gunman, Stephen Paddock, killed himself before police reached him in a suite at the Mandalay Bay resort. Police and the FBI determined Paddock meticulously planned the attack and acted alone. They theorized he may have sought notoriety, but said they never determined a clear motive for the attack. Haig acknowledged making tracer and armour-piercing bullets at a home workshop in Mesa, Arizona, and selling them at gun shows and on the internet. He used the business name Specialized Military Ammunition. Tracers illuminate the path of fired bullets. Doug had no knowledge of what Paddock was planning to do, Victor said Monday. Haigs fingerprints were found on unfired bullets in Paddocks hotel suite, and ammunition also bore tool marks consistent with Haigs reloading equipment, authorities said. Haigs address was on a box that police found near Paddocks body. Authorities did not say if ammunition made by Haig was used in the shooting. Victor said he believed Haig as the only person prosecuted following the massacre was treated more harshly by prosecutors than ammunition hobbyists who might receive cease-and-desist warnings for similar activities. Haig acknowledged that he had no license to disassemble, remanufacture and reload bullets. As a convicted felon, Haig now cannot possess weapons or ammunition. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... His plea avoided a trial at which he could have faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Victor argued for months that Haig could not be fairly judged by a jury in trauma-scarred Las Vegas. But he lost bids to get the case dismissed; move it to Phoenix or Reno; draw jurors from throughout Nevada; or have the judge hear the case from the bench himself instead of a jury. WASHINGTONLong lines. Electronic tablets failing. Last-minute legal haggling. Delayed results because of a surge in absentee balloting. And a president casting doubt over the whole rigged process. As Joe Biden expands his national and state polling lead over Donald Trump, Democrats cant shake this nightmare November scenario: That even a Biden advantage heading into Election Day could be nullified by chaos at the polls, layered by added confusion around the fast-changing voting laws that officials are adjusting for an ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The thing that I am probably most concerned about, Biden campaign manager Jen OMalley Dillon acknowledged to former Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe on his podcast recently, is voting in this country. Its risen to such a priority that she indicated the campaign is debating running ads explicitly on voter education. Even before voter accessibility was seen as arguably the most significant potential hurdle to a successful election year for Democrats, party officials had been taking steps to avoid or at least reduce chances for such an abominable ordeal, with early staffing and new technology to pinpoint and remedy problems. Incidents that materialized during this springs messy primaries in states like Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania heightened the unease, but also served as valuable training ground for whats to come this fall. What I worry about is going into an election three-four-five points up ... that could be impacted in close swing states if people dont have the ability to cast votes, said Dan Kanninen, a strategist who has worked for Mike Bloomberg and Obama. A fleet of Democratic-aligned and non-partisan groups are raising awareness, lobbying state and county policy-makers and instigating lawsuits to enhance voting access. The Democratic National Committee demonstrated its commitment to the issue earlier than ever before by beginning staffing its voter protection team back in April of 2019. Whereas the party traditionally ramps up these efforts in the fall before the election, this cycle the DNC has been preparing for challenges at the ballot box for more than a year, dedicating voter protection directors to states like Virginia and Pennsylvania last year. At present, they have them in 19 states. The coronavirus has ensured this election will look different regardless. But new pressure on financially strapped states to safely administer elections as older, veteran polling workers opt to stay home to protect their health is causing fresh problems. I think the thought was, maybe, well, were going to mail ballots, so more people will vote by mail and we dont need as many in-person voting locations. I think what youve seen in Georgia and Nevada specifically is that thats not true, said Reyna Walters-Morgan, the DNCs director of voter protection. You cant replace in person voting locations. You have to have enough in-person voting options available because even if you do mail those ballots, people are still going to show up. With two U.S. Senate races and a razor-thin presidential contest, Georgia is an emerging battleground that is providing Democrats with both optimism and anxiety. Its June primary was hampered by lines that extended past midnight, last-minute polling place changes and allegations of disenfranchisement of Black voters. Georgia is the poster child for this dysfunction, said Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, during a recent U.S. House committee hearing. The states July 21 runoff elections will be a key test to see if the problems are reduced. But Republican lawmakers there are now pushing legislation that would halt the mailing of absentee ballot request forms to voters, placing the responsibility on voters to initiate the process to vote by mail. Studies show that white, older Republican voters are the most likely to request absentee ballots. Rep. Dwight Evans, who represents a majority African American district in Philadelphia, said many of his constituents dont trust a vote-by-mail process at a time when the president is threatening resources for the U.S. Postal Service. It gives a sense of uncertainty. Thats why they go to the polls and vote. Because they feel as if and I cant argue it looks like its a strategy to prevent them from having full access to the polls, Evans said. In their heads, the only way they feel that they are going to actually ensure that their vote will count is they go to the polling place. Evans is sounding the alarm for Pennsylvania to add more staffers and secure voter drop boxes to minimize waits at polling places after it took his state more than a week to tally its June primary results. Biden recently said on The Daily Show it could take until December for a winner to be declared in the state where he was born. This to me should be the No. 1 issue ... no matter who youre for, Biden or Trump, Evans said. You cant take this for granted. This system doesnt have the capacity for the election in 2020. Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore called her states primary catastrophic after voters waited in excruciatingly long lines and thousands never received absentee ballots they requested. But with the GOP-controlled state legislature opposed to conducting their election entirely by mail, Democrats said a robust education program will be necessary so voters understand deadlines for absentee ballot requests and returns. We are going to have smart codes on the ballots so people can track their ballots like you would a package, said Wisconsin Lt.-Gov. Mandela Barnes. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... While DNC officials wont say how much they are dedicating to voter protection, the Trump campaign is boasting of a $20 million (U.S.) legal fund that the president himself has cited as integral to his chances at a second term. Just last week, the campaigns legal team moved to intervene in a Democratic lawsuit in Arizona over signature requirements on ballots. A myriad of such legal wrangling is expected through the fall and even afterward. Still, its not all doom and gloom for Democrats. Even with the presidential primary resolved and the threat of coronavirus, voter turnout in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania only saw minor decreases from 2016, while participation in Georgia soared. Were watching the resiliency of the American voters, said Andrea Hailey, the CEO of Vote.org. People in Georgia were still standing in line at 12:30 at night to cast their ballot. Read more about: COLUMBIA, S.C. - As South Carolina approaches a holiday weekend often an anchor for its typically booming tourism industry, and the states numbers of positive coronavirus tests continue to rise, public health officials are encouraging people to just stay home. Dr. Joan Duwve, public health director for the Department of Health and Environmental Control, said Tuesday that some of the largest increases in virus cases were popping up along South Carolinas coastline, the heart of its multibillion-dollar annual tourism industry. Weve all given so much for so long, and we all want to be at our beautiful beaches, at our parks, our friends houses, our block parties and community events, but Im asking all of us to stay vigilant in the fight against this deadly virus, Duwve said in a release. Instead of taking part in traditional July 4 events as they perhaps typically would, DHEC recommended that people across South Carolina instead celebrate the Fourth of July by planning home-based festivities and watching fireworks shows while remaining in their vehicles or tuning into celebrations virtually. The plea comes as the daily increase of South Carolinas positive test figures has accelerated, with many attractions and other businesses reopening across the state. As of Tuesday, health officials said the state had set a new daily record, with 1,741 confirmed cases since the day before. That brings the states total confirmed cases to more than 36,000 since the pandemic began, and 735 total deaths. Officials said 1,021 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon. Duwve and others have pleaded with the states residents to wear masks when in public or group settings. On Tuesday, health officials said rising numbers of South Carolinas positive test figures had come from people who had taken part in group gatherings without keeping a safe distance from others or wearing masks. Health officials have also issued specific warnings for South Carolinians under age 30. Since April 4, data shows a more than 400% increase in newly reported COVID-19 cases in people ages 21 to 30, and more than a more than 960% increase in people ages 11 to 20. At least a dozen South Carolina municipalities have begun implementing requirements that people wear masks in many public spaces. They include Beaufort, Columbia, Charleston, Clemson, Greenville, Hanahan, Isle of Palms, Kiawah Island and Newberry County. Mount Pleasant will require masks in grocery stores and pharmacies a common requirement starting Wednesday. Folly Beach and Hilton Head Island approved a mask ordinance for all commercial spaces on Monday. Gov. Henry McMaster has said he wont order masks worn statewide, noting he does not like to step on personal liberties and thinks it would be tough for police to enforce the rules. Alongside those comments, though, he has encouraged residents to follow experts recommendations. This is a dang deadly disease, McMaster warned residents Friday. You have to follow the rules and wear your mask. ___ Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak. WASHINGTON - With his Army recruiting office shuttered due to the coronavirus, Staff Sgt. Anthony Holt has had to be creative to meet his enlistment goals. Using social media is one way. Signing up the grocery delivery guy is another. Holt asked the man how he ended up with the virtual shopping job. It turned out, he wanted to be a boat operator, but a job with an Alaskan cruise company fell through because of the pandemic. The Army also has maritime jobs, Holt told him. He found an open training slot for an Army watercraft operator. The delivery guy enlisted. I talk to every single person that I meet no matter what, because I have no idea what their life story is, said Holt, who is based in Bowling Green, Kentucky. If I have the opportunity to help somebody the way that the Armys helped me, I seize that opportunity. COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on military recruiting, closing enlistment stations and forcing thousands of recruiters to woo potential soldiers online, or even on their front steps. As the virus raged, enlistments slowed and fueled worries that the armed services would have to rely more on current troops re-enlisting to meet total force requirements by the end of the fiscal year in September. Recruiters have had to abandon their normal visits to high schools and malls, and instead are relying almost exclusively on social media to reach young people. As that effort builds, Army leaders believe it may evolve into a new system that will allow them to scale back the size and staffing at enlistment storefronts and reduce the number of recruiters. Were going to empower the recruiters to allow for more autonomous recruiting, said Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, head of the Armys recruiting command. That, he said, will allow the service to reduce the size of brick-and-mortar offices since some recruiters will be working solely online and go into the office only occasionally. If we have recruiters that are operating at a greater efficiency (online) then we dont need 10,000 recruiters. We may be able to reduce that number to 7,000 or 8,000, he said, adding that such a reduction will allow the Army to move more soldiers back into regular units and fighting formations. But first the Army has to determine how successful virtual recruiting can be. In the early days of the pandemic, Army enlistments fell off by about 50%. Does that put us behind? Yeah, said Muth, adding that enlistments are about 4,000 lower than their goal at this point, despite doing better than planned in the early part of the fiscal year, before the pandemic took hold. But, he said, online recruiting has improved. Over the past month the Army got about 80% of its goal, compared with the normal 90% for that period, Muth said. Overall success will depend on soldiers like Sgt. 1st Class Eric Nordin, who is making virtual recruiting a career. I was a lot cooler online than I am in real life, said Nordin, who started as a regular recruiter in La Grange, Kentucky, but is now commander of Nashvilles virtual recruiting station. Im not saying I didnt enjoy going out to the malls and asking individuals if they wanted to recruit. But, I was more successful sending them a DM (direct message) or posting stuff about myself. Nordin and Holt said the Army has done training sessions to teach recruiters how to get more followers on Facebook and Instagram. Often, they said, recruiters can reach out to soldiers theyve enlisted in the past and ask them to share posts, expanding the views of their online messages. As part of the new, creative methods, Muth said he took an idea from McDonalds. A few years ago the fast-food juggernaut said it would hire 50,000 people in one day. Muth said he decided the Army could try the same thing. So, on Tuesday, Muth is launching Army Hiring Days and is calling on all service leaders at all levels to fill social media with recruiting messages. The goal is to bring in 10,000 recruits, and top leaders have already started turning to Twitter to tout soldier life. Army National Hiring Days coming June 30-July 2! The U.S. Armys first-ever nationwide virtual hiring campaign is a three-day event with a goal of finding 10,000 men and women to join our team, tweeted Gen. James McConville, the top Army officer. Cash will be one of the incentives. Qualified recruits who enlist during the three-day event goarmy.com/hiringdays could qualify for a $2,000 bonus. That will be on top of other incentives the Army offers for recruits who score high or enlist for some of the more critical jobs. For example, recruits who sign up as linguists, psychological operations specialists, special forces or intelligence collectors could get up to $40,000 in bonuses over their initial enlistment. High-demand jobs that qualify for smaller bonuses include infantry, missile defence and fire control specialists. Crippling unemployment caused by the pandemic may help the Armys recruiting. When unemployment is low, theres a lot of competition for young people getting out of high school or college. But when it goes higher than 6% its now over 13% the military becomes a more enticing option. Muth said he doesnt yet have data to determine the impact of this latest unemployment surge. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Nordin said hes seen some success over the past month. And a key message hes sending is that the Army is hiring. He said he describes the 30 days of paid vacation, money for college and other benefits. And as for the Kroger delivery guy? He left for Army basic training on June 1. It just so happened that he was affected by the virus and I was able to help him, Holt said. It felt awesome. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Republican Florida Ron DeSantis signed a slew of environmental bills in less than 24 hours that address issues ranging from sea level rise to blue-green algae blooms and even given the state authority to use drones to fight invasive Burmese pythons. DeSantis signed a 77-page bill Tuesday that will addresses leaky septic tanks, municipal wastewater treatment, stormwater runoff, farm fertilizers and more, as well as a companion measure that will better track sources of pollutants that are blamed for mucking up the states waterways. That comes after he signed a bill late Monday night requiring public coastal construction projects to first be reviewed for impacts on the states fragile seashore because of rising sea levels. Among other bills signed Monday is a measure that will ban the sale, trading, bartering, possession or breeding of iguanas, which have become a common sight and scourge in the southern part of Florida. A huge component of this is dealing with these wastewater discharges, DeSantis said of the bill signed Tuesday that was based on recommendations of a task force he formed to address algae blooms. Algae blooms in Florida rivers and other waterways have killed fish, irritated eyes and have shut down fishing, swimming, boating and other activities in a state where water resources are a huge tourist draw. The new law seeks to better regulate onsite sewage treatment, upgrade leaky utility water lines and better manage farm fertilizers that wash into state waterways. It also gives the Department of Environmental Protection more authority in managing the issues. Fines against municipalities for sewage discharges will also be increased. Many wastewater treatment systems in Florida are poorly maintained and the network of pipes supporting them have fallen into disrepair, DeSantis said. Even relatively moderate rain events can cause a system to be flooded, forcing a discharge of raw sewage into waterways and estuaries. Still, some environmentalists think the legislation didnt go far enough. Sierra Club lobbyist said in a statement emailed to media that the law is all promise and no delivery. It preserves the Florida status quo: pretend that the requirements in law are working when theyre not. One of the bills DeSantis signed Monday acknowledges that climate change is a growing concern. The new law will require public coastal construction projects to first be reviewed for impacts on the states fragile seashore because of rising sea levels. The signing was hailed by environmentalists as a step in addressing the encroaching ocean in a state with more than 1,300 miles of shoreline and where two-thirds of the 22 million residents live along the coast. The bipartisan bill DeSantis signed on coastal construction is limited to public projects that rely on state money. Public construction projects will have to take into account rising sea levels, flooding and the potential for damage to increasingly fragile coasts. The delicate relationship between our coastal communities and the environment requires that our Legislature take meaningful steps to ensure that coastal construction be completed with an understanding of sea level rise, said state Rep. Vance Aloupis, a Miami Republican. Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, a Miami Democrat who has been wearing rain boots during recent legislative sessions to bring attention to climate change, carried the legislation in the Senate. Requiring planning when state taxpayer dollars are spent on infrastructure in the coastal zone is a necessary and long overdue initial step in addressing the impacts of climate, Rodriguez said. Rodriguez has said the measure is another baby step in a political climate that has made it challenging to take quick action on climate change. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... A legislative analysis estimated that property values in Florida could sink by more than $300 billion by the end of this century because of rising sea levels. DeSantis also signed a bill that will allow allow the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Forest Service to fly drones to manage and eradicate invasive species on public lands. Part of the goal is to use new technology to identify pythons from the sky in hopes of helping the fight to hunt them down in the Everglades. Another new law makes it illegal to possess, import, barter, trade, sell or breed green iguanas and tegu lizards. People who currently have a license to breed the reptiles would be grandfathered in under the bill but could only sell the lizards to customers in other states. LITTLEROCK, Calif. - A 24-year-old Black man found hanging from a tree at a park in Southern California was remembered Tuesday as a cheerful young man who loved music, sports, video games and spending time with family. Relatives, friends and community members attended the funeral of Robert Fuller. A coroner says it appears he may have taken his own life, but family members and friends fear he might have been lynched. Days after his death, more than 1,000 people turned out for a protest and memorial around the tree where the body was discovered about 40 miles (64 kilometres) north of Los Angeles. At the funeral Tuesday, his sister, Angel Magee, laughed as she recalled how much her brother could eat. She said when she wanted to see him, she would start cooking. All I had to do was bribe him with food, and hed come around, Magee said. Fullers gold-colored casket was draped with white flowers and placed at the front of the pulpit at Living Stone Cathedral of Worship in Littlerock. Mourners at the church wore masks because of the coronavirus pandemic. The service was filled with music and streamed online. Fullers body was found June 10 in the high desert city of Palmdale. Initial findings that it was likely a suicide led to protests and calls for an independent investigation. The FBI and U.S. Department of Justice are monitoring ongoing probes by sheriffs departments in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Jamon Hicks, an attorney for the family, delivered a tribute at the funeral and criticized the initial probe that indicated Fuller had killed himself. How do you make it a suicide without analyzing the rope? How do you determine it was a suicide before the toxicology report comes back? he asked. Hicks connected the case to the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping the nation. Its about demanding fairness, its about demanding equality, its about demanding respect, he said. Dr. Jonathan Lucas, chief medical examiner-coroner in Los Angeles County, said no signs of foul play were found at the scene only a rope and a backpack. The initial report appeared to be consistent with a suicide but we felt it prudent to roll that back and continue to look deeper, Lucas said a week after the death. A smiling Fuller was shown at the funeral in photos and videos displayed on big screens, including one clip of him dancing in front of the White House. You could tell that he was happy. You could tell that he was full of life, Hicks said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Longtime friend Chad Bellows remembered Fuller as a positive dude who lit up a room with a smile. ___ Weber reported from Los Angeles. AURORA, Colo. - Multiple police officers in suburban Denver have been placed on paid leave during an investigation into photos that emerged of them near where Elijah McClain died last summer after three white officers stopped the Black man as he walked down the street and one put him into a chokehold. Meanwhile, federal authorities announced Tuesday that they have been reviewing McClains death to see if a civil rights investigation is warranted and will also look at whether one is needed in the case of the photos. In a joint statement, the Colorado U.S. Attorneys Office, the U.S. Justice Departments Civil Rights Division and the FBI said the review began last year and was ongoing. The Justice Department usually does not comment on investigations until they are complete, but the announcement noted that there are specific cases in which doing so is warranted if such information is in the best interest of the public and public safety. The interim police chief of the city of Aurora, Vanessa Wilson, announced the internal police investigation into the photos Monday night. In a statement, she said the suspended officers were depicted in photographs near the site where Elijah McClain died. She did not provide more details about what the images show or how many officers were on leave. The two photos were taken near where police stopped the 23-year-old on Aug. 24, 2019, as they responded to a report of a suspicious person walking down the street wearing a face mask, said Officer Matthew Longshore, an Aurora police spokesman. The pictures were not taken during the fatal run-in, Longshore said. McClains death generated new attention after the death of George Floyd stirred worldwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality. Floyd died on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into the handcuffed Black mans neck for nearly eight minutes. In McClains case, police body-camera video shows an Aurora officer getting out of his car, approaching McClain and saying, Stop right there. Stop. Stop. ... I have a right to stop you because youre being suspicious. In the video, the officer turns McClain around and repeats, Stop tensing up. As McClain tries to escape the officers grip, the officer says, Relax, or Im going to have to change this situation. As other officers join to restrain McClain, he begs them to let go and says, You guys started to arrest me, and I was stopping my music to listen. Aurora police have said McClain refused to stop walking and fought back when officers tried to take him into custody. The officers used a chokehold that cuts off blood to the brain a tactic recently banned in several places following Floyds death. In the video, McClain tells officers: Let go of me. I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking. Paramedics administered 500 milligrams of a sedative to calm him down, police have said. He was on the ground for 15 minutes as several officers and paramedics stood by. McClain, a massage therapist and self-taught violinist, suffered cardiac arrest and was later declared brain dead and taken off life support. A forensic pathologist could not determine what exactly led to his death but said physical exertion during the confrontation likely contributed. An officer reported the photos to the departments internal affairs division Thursday. Wilson said she learned of the investigation that day and ordered investigators to make it their top priority. The investigation was completed Monday and the results, including the photos, will be made public after police officials give a review and Wilson makes a decision on how to respond, Longshore said. The chiefs decision could be appealed by the officers under investigation, which would delay the results being released, he said. McClains family said the photos were a new low for the department. This is a department where officers tackled an innocent young black man for no reason, inflicted outrageous force including two carotid chokeholds for fifteen minutes as he pled for his life, joked when he vomited, and threatened to sic a dog on him for not lying still enough as he was dying, the family said in a statement. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... The three officers who stopped McClain did not face any criminal charges after an investigation by the district attorney, but Democratic Gov. Jared Polis directed Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser last week to reopen the investigation and possibly prosecute them. Police have been criticized for wearing riot gear and using pepper spray against some people at a protest Saturday over McClains death, which included a violin vigil, but have denied allegations of using tear gas. Wilson defended her officers response to what she described as a group of agitators at an otherwise peaceful protest. Who didnt do it the right way were those agitators who were arming themselves, that were putting on helmets and gas masks and throwing rocks at my officers, Wilson told KUSA-TV. MADISON, Wis. - A reward has been doubled to $10,000 for information leading to whoever set fire to a biracial Wisconsin woman who says she was attacked while she was driving. The additional $5,000 reward was announced Tuesday by the Center for Combating Antisemitism, a division of the international non-profit StandWithUs, in partnership with the Mizel Family Foundation. That matches an earlier $5,000 reward by Madison Area Crime Stoppers for information about the attack on 18-year-old Althea Bernstein. Carly Gammill, director of the StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism, said in a statement the added reward sends a clear message that we will not ignore this type of vicious crime. The statement described Bernstein as a Jewish Black American. Bernstein says she was attacked while driving in downtown Madison early on June 24 by four white men who sprayed her with lighter fluid. One allegedly tossed a flaming lighter at her, setting her neck and face on fire. Bernstein was treated for burns at a hospital. The attack happened just blocks from where violent protests were occurring at the state capitol. Police have said they are investigating the attack as a hate crime, with assistance from the FBI. China on Tuesday reached out to India, expressing anxiety about the ban imposed by the Indian government on popular Chinese mobile applications like TikTok and WeChat, among others. During a daily news briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing, "China is strongly concerned about the relevant notice issued by the Indian side. We are checking on and verifying the situation." "We want to stress that the Chinese government always asks the Chinese businesses to abide by international and local laws and regulations," Zhao said, adding that India also has a responsibility to uphold the rights of Chinese businesses. "The practical cooperation between China and India is actually mutually beneficial and win-win," he said. In a diplomatic reaction to the Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, where 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed two weeks ago, India on Monday banned over 50 Chinese mobile applications. The government in its statement said that the 59 applications were prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. "This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users," the Indian IT ministry statement said. Since the violent face-off and aggressive posturing of Beijing, there has been a vocal sentiment against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime in India. ATLANTA - One person was killed and others injured when a vehicle crashed into the lobby of a major Atlanta hospitals emergency room, authorities said. The Tuesday morning wreck in the ER lobby of Piedmont Hospital involved a Mercedes-Benz Suburban Utility Vehicle, Atlanta police said. The SUV struck two people and bumped several others just inside the glass doors, Atlanta police Officer Steve Avery told reporters at the scene. The injuries suffered by at least four people did not appear to be life-threatening, he said. The driver was not hurt. The driver was arriving for an appointment Tuesday morning when she lost control of the SUV in the ER driveway, hit another car and veered into the building, Avery said. Investigators do not know what caused the woman to lose control, he said. It does not appear to be a deliberate act, he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Information about the person killed was not immediately available. NEW YORK - President Donald Trump called Tuesday for two anarchists to turn themselves in on federal charges for vandalizing statues of George Washington in New York City. We have them on tape, Trump tweeted. They will be prosecuted and face 10 years in Prison based on the Monuments and Statues Act. Turn yourselves in now! New York City police released surveillance footage showing two unidentified men early Monday throwing balloons filled with red paint at the statues in Manhattans Washington Square Park. Trump tweeted last week he had authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S. Trump also signed an executive order saying his administration would not allow violent mobs incited by a radical fringe to become the arbiters of the aspects of our history that can be celebrated in public spaces. The order called for the government to prosecute such vandals to the fullest extent permitted under federal law. Federal prosecutors in New York similarly have cracked down on people accused of firebombing police vehicles amid the unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Two Brooklyn attorneys were recently hit with charges that could put them in prison for nearly 50 years for torching an empty New York City police vehicle last month. WASHINGTON - When it comes to Russia, the Trump administration just cant seem to make up its mind. For the past three years, the administration has careered between President Donald Trumps attempts to curry favour and friendship with Vladimir Putin and longstanding deep-seated concerns about Putins intentions. As Trump has repeatedly and openly cozied up to Putin, his administration has imposed harsh and meaningful sanctions and penalties on Russia. The dizzying, often contradictory, paths followed by Trump on the one hand and his hawkish but constantly changing cast of national security aides on the other have created confusion in Congress and among allies and enemies alike. To an observer, Russia is at once a mortal enemy and a misunderstood friend in U.S. eyes. Even before Trump took office questions about Russia abounded. Now, nearing the end of his first term with a difficult reelection ahead, those questions have resurfaced with a vengeance. Intelligence suggesting Russia was encouraging attacks on U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan by putting bounties on their heads has thrust the matter into the heart of the 2020 campaign. The White House says the intelligence wasnt confirmed or brought to Trumps attention, but his vast chorus of critics are skeptical and maintain the president should have been aware. The reports have alarmed even pro-Trump Republicans who see Russia as a hostile global foe meddling with nefarious intent in Afghanistan, the Middle East, Ukraine and Georgia, a waning former superpower trying to regain its Soviet-era influence by subverting democracy in Europe and the United States with disinformation and election interference. Trumps overtures to Putin have unsettled longstanding U.S. allies in Europe, including Britain, France and Germany, which have expressed concern about the U.S. commitment to the NATO alliance, which was forged to counter the Soviet threat, and robust democracy on the continent. But Trump has defended his perspective on Russia, viewing it as a misunderstood potential friend, a valued World War II ally led by a wily, benevolent authoritarian who actually may share American values, like the importance of patriotism, family and religion. Trumps approach to Russia was at centre stage in the impeachment proceedings, when U.S. officials testified that the president demanded political favours from Ukraine in return for military assistance it needed to combat Russian aggression. But the issue ended up as a largely partisan exercise, with House Democrats voting to impeach Trump and Senate Republicans voting to acquit. Within the Trump administration, the national security establishment appears torn between pursuing an arguably tough approach to Russia and pleasing the president. Insiders who have raised concern about Trumps approach to Russia including at least one of his national security advisers, defence secretaries and secretaries of state, but especially lower-level officials who spoke out during impeachment have nearly all been ousted from their positions. Suspicions about Trump and Russia go back to his 2016 campaign. His appeal to Moscow to dig up his opponents emails, his plaintive suggestions that Russia and the United States should be friends and a series of contacts between his advisers and Russians raised questions of impropriety that led to special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. The investigation ultimately did not allege that anyone associated with the campaign illegally conspired with Russia. Mueller, along with the U.S. intelligence community, did find that Russia interfered with the election, to sow chaos and also help Trumps campaign. But Trump has cast doubt on those findings, most memorably in a 2018 appearance on stage with Putin in Helsinki. Yet despite Trumps rhetoric, his administration has plowed ahead with some of the most significant actions against Russia by any recent administration. Dozens of Russian diplomats have been expelled, diplomatic missions closed, arms control treaties the Russians sought to preserve have been abandoned, weapons have been sold to Ukraine despite the impeachment allegations and the administration is engaged in a furious battle to prevent Russia from constructing a new gas pipeline that U.S. lawmakers from both parties believe will increase Europes already unhealthy dependence on Russian energy. At the same time, Trump has compounded the uncertainty by calling for the withdrawal or redeployment of U.S. troops from Germany, angrily deriding NATO allies for not meeting alliance defence spending commitments, and now apparently ignoring dire intelligence warnings that Russia was paying or wanted to pay elements of the Taliban to kill American forces in Afghanistan. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... On top of that, even after the intelligence reports on the Afghanistan bounties circulated, hes expressed interest in inviting Putin back into the G-7 group of nations over the objections of the other members. White House officials and die-hard Trump supporters have shrugged off the obvious inconsistencies, but they have been unable to staunch the swell of criticism and pointed demands for explanations as Russia, which has vexed American leaders for decades, delights in its ability to create chaos. New cases of COVID-19 could rise to 100,000 a day if behaviours dont change, infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci told a Senate panel Tuesday. Several southern and western states are seeing surging new case numbers, prompting some to put reopening plans on hold. The numbers speak for themselves. Im very concerned. Im not satisfied with whats going on because were going in the wrong direction, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said. Clearly we are not in total control right now. Fauci said he wouldnt be surprised to see new cases rise by 100,000 a day if recent surges dont turn around, up from the current level of about 40,000 a day. As for the number of deaths, it is going to be very disturbing, I guarantee you that, he said. Fauci and other witnesses cited indoor gatherings as a major cause of recent spikes, singling out bars in particular. On Monday, Arizona paused operations at bars, gyms and movie theatres. Florida and Texas took steps to rein in bars on Friday, with Florida banning consumption of alcohol in bars and Texas closing them altogether. New York New Jersey and Connecticut, former hot spots earlier in the pandemic, added 16 states to their self-quarantine orders for visitors. Rising hospitalizations Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that in addition to the rise in new cases, hospitalizations are up in 12 states. The U.S. has recorded more than 2.6 million COVID-19 cases in total, with more than 126,000 deaths from the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Redfield and Fauci appeared before the Senate health committee for a hearing on reopening U.S. businesses and returning students to school. Fauci said schools may need to consider online classes or staggered schedules to safely bring students back. The CDC will issue guidance for schools on Tuesday. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of the committee, opened the hearing with comments on wearing masks, saying the issue shouldnt be as politicized as its become and that hes asked President Donald Trump to wear a mask to set an example. Vice President Mike Pence appeared in Texas over the weekend in a mask and spoke about the value of covering your face in protecting against the virus. Fauci told the panel, I think we need to emphasize the responsibility we have as individuals and as part of a societal effort to end the epidemic and we all have to play a part in that. Vaccine guidelines Several drugmakers are racing to complete clinical trials of vaccine candidates, with some expecting to wrap up in months studies that under previous circumstances have tended to take years. The Food and Drug Administration laid out standards for approving an inoculation, saying any candidate would have to be at least 50 per cent more effective than a placebo. Fauci said that hes aspirationally hopeful that a vaccine for COVID-19 will be ready in early 2021, though he cautioned that theres no guarantee that a safe vaccine will be developed. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Some health experts have expressed worry that FDA will rush to approve a vaccine before enough is known about safety or efficacy but the agency sought to allay those fears with the guidance. As for airlines, while the CDC hasnt focused on their plans, American Airlines Group Inc.s announcement on Friday that it would resume selling flights to capacity on July 1 rather than capping passengers to keep them socially distanced caused substantial disappointment among public health officials, Redfield said. MIAMI - A former Venezuelan general who was organizing a volunteer army to overthrow Nicolas Maduro says he is unable to afford a legal defence in a U.S. narcotics case that charges him alongside gis homelands socialist president. Gen. Cliver Alcala surrendered in March to face U.S. accusations that he led with Maduro and two others for two decades a narcoterrorist conspiracy that sent 250 metric tons of cocaine a year to the U.S. and turned the Venezuelan state into a platform for violent cartels and Colombian rebels. U.S. authorities had offered a $10 million reward for his arrest. Prior to his surrender, Alcala was working with a former U.S. Green Beret, Jordan Goudreau, to train at secret camps in Colombia a volunteer army of Venezuelan military deserters plotting an incursion to remove Maduro. The operation went forward even after Alcala turned himself in, leading to the arrest of two former U.S. special forces members who participated in the raid and emboldening Maduro to crack down on his U.S.-backed opponents. Despite being accused of wielding immense power as the head of international narcotics conspiracy, Alcala possesses no appreciable assets to pay for his defence, according to his lawyer, Adam S. Kaufmann. What meagre resources Alcala had in Venezuela were seized by the Maduro government when he fled the country in 2018, Kaufmann said in a letter Monday to the New York federal judge overseeing the case. General Alcala himself has virtually no money his wife and daughter live in Colombia and depend on the help of her relatives to support their basic daily needs, said the letter.. Kaufmann asked the court to appoint him as private counsel at rates normally paid for federal public defenders. Judge Alvin Hellerstein said Tuesday that Alcala must first file an affidavit attesting to his inability to afford adequate representation. Only then would Kaufmann and two associates be allowed to join the defence under the supervision of another attorney who is already accredited with the court, the judge said. He said he is uniquely suited to defend Alcala because he has been representing him for free since 2014 in prior dealings with U.S. law enforcement, including his alleged relationship with Colombian rebels and his designation as a drug kingpin by the U.S. Treasury Department. Alcala maintains his innocence and has been an outspoken critic of Maduro since before fleeing Venezuela in 2018. ___ Joshua Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman FREEHOLD, N.J.Each morning they awake with fingers curled inward, stiffened like claws. Their schedules are dictated by doctors appointments, physical therapy sessions and bouts of exhaustion. After weeks on ventilators, two siblings remain too weak to work even as their medical bills mount. But at a table filled with several members of a tight-knit New Jersey family, the Fuscos, who lost five relatives to the coronavirus, the conversation repeatedly veers away from the chaos and pain of the past three months. They do not avoid talk of their familys devastating collective loss. But they also speak of a new focus: finding a remedy for the disease that killed their mother, three siblings and an aunt. At least 19 other family members contracted the virus, and those who survived COVID-19 did not emerge unscathed. Joe Fusco, 49, lost 55 pounds and spent 30 days on a ventilator. His sister, Maria Reid, 44, cannot shake the memory of the disjointed hallucinations that dogged her during the 19 or 20 days she was unconscious, or the terror of waking up convinced that her 10-year-old daughter was dead. This aint over, Joe Fusco said of the pandemic on a recent afternoon in the backyard of his home in Freehold. This aint over in the least bit. I want to help somebody, he added. I dont want anyone else to have to lose five family members. The Fuscos were unwilling pioneers charting an early course through all that was unknown about a virus that has killed more than 126,000 people in the United States. They are now trailblazers of another kind, subjects of at least three scientific studies. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is conducting research that involves evaluating the DNA of the surviving and deceased members of the large Italian-American family for genetic clues. DNA from those who died will be retrieved from hairbrushes, a toothbrush, a blood sample and tissue from an unrelated gallbladder surgery. Each Thursday, Elizabeth Fusco, the youngest of the 11 children, donates antibody-rich blood plasma that is used to treat patients with the virus to determine if it can help boost their immune response. We know another wave is going to come, Elizabeth Fusco said. Its inevitable. Whatever will help this world is all I care about. Their help may prove useful well before the predicted second wave hits as states like Florida and Texas confront an alarming surge in new cases. The Fusco familys trauma began just before the states lockdown, as a slow cascade of closures marked the start of a new normal. On March 13, Rita Fusco Jackson, 56, became the second person to die of COVID-19 in New Jersey, which has since recorded 14,992 deaths, making it No. 2 in the nation behind New York for virus-related fatalities. Within a week, her mother, Grace Fusco, 73, and two brothers, Carmine, 55, and Vincent, 53, had also died. Grace Fuscos sister on Staten Island died weeks later. Their story became an urgent, cautionary tale about the potency of the disease and the importance of staying apart at a time when social distancing was still a novel concept. During the first week of March, Carmine Fusco, the eldest son who was visiting from Pennsylvania, had described feeling chilled during a routine Tuesday dinner in Freehold that drew about 25 family members, his siblings said. The precise source of the extended familys infection is unclear, said Joe Fusco, a horse owner like his father and brothers who had spent time in the weeks beforehand with both brothers who died. He recalls waking up feeling beat up the morning after the dinner, which was held at the house where his mother lived with three of his siblings and their families. He was admitted to the hospital days later, beginning a medical odyssey that would last 44 days. Much of the treatment was experimental, he said, and involved trial and error. When I was leaving the hospital, the doctor said, You dont realize the debt of gratitude the world owes your family, said Joe Fusco, the father of three children ages 10 to 18. As news accounts of their story swept the globe, the family was cited by state health officials as a prime reason for staying apart. Still, even as they were being held up as the family no one wanted to become, Elizabeth Fusco was stepping into the role of the little sister everyone might hope to have. Elizabeth Fusco, 42, and her daughter were among those who contracted the virus; like many other family members, they never showed symptoms. With four people already dead, two on ventilators and a sister hospitalized and receiving oxygen, Elizabeth Fusco emerged as a ferocious advocate, even as she feared for her own daughter, Alexandra, who is 12 and was born with a serious health condition, congenital diaphragmatic hernia. They would tell me to calm down, she said. No. Im not going to calm down. Tell someone who didnt lose a mom, a sister and two brothers in a matter of less than seven days to calm down. Tell me how youre going to save my brother and sister. The family held a four-person funeral April 1. They remain anguished that the two siblings who were on ventilators at the time were not there and are planning a memorial celebration and burial after a full Mass in early August. Elizabeth Fusco said she temporarily shoved mourning aside. I consumed my time with Im not going to lose another one, she said. Desperate, she and other relatives pushed doctors to try a variety of treatments: remdesivir, convalescent plasma, hydroxychloroquine. I dont care if you were giving them rat poison if you told me that that was going to fix them, she said, her voice trailing off. She called the governor on his cellphone. She and her mothers cousin, Roseann Paradiso Fodera, a family spokeswoman, were on a first-name basis with congressional aides. They lobbied anyone who would listen for access to experimental medicines, and, later, for autopsies that never happened. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... In that mad flurry, they were buoyed by neighbours, acquaintances half a world away and lifelong friends. Youd open your door, said Dana Fusco, Joes wife. Youd have groceries at your door. Youd have meals. The community was truly amazing. The nurses and the medical staff at CentraState Medical Center, the hospital in Freehold where Grace Fusco and five of her children were treated, served as the familys eyes, ears and loving hands at a time when visitors were not allowed inside. For 44 days, every three to four hours, I was on the phone with them, Dana Fusco said. The hospital declined to comment, citing privacy concerns. When her husband awoke Easter Sunday, she asked that he not be immediately told of the deaths. Once he was stronger, she was allowed a visit to tell him in person. To the Fuscos, the viruss path showed little logic. An infected relative who is a heavy smoker showed no symptoms, and two older uncles with myriad underlying health problems rebounded in about a week. Several of the sickest family members had no serious underlying health problems, Joe Fusco said. More than three months later, a numb calm has set in. Like it didnt happen, Reid said. Its just theyre not here. Dwelling on the past, she said, is a luxury she does not have. Ive got to move on, said Reid, who, along with her husband and daughter, shares a house with Joes family. Ive got a young daughter. Joe Fusco said he remained frustrated by the lackadaisical attitudes of people shown crowding together near beaches or outside bars without masks. These idiots are out there and not taking precautions, he said. Not wearing a mask. And not doing what theyre supposed to do. Theyre out of their minds. Doctors say patients who recover from COVID-19 frequently need to rebuild muscle strength, and some may struggle with a range of respiratory, cardiac and kidney problems or be at increased risk of blood clots and stroke. Some patients who experienced delirium while on ventilators may be at greater risk of depression. And those placed in induced comas also may lose muscle tone in their hands, causing fingers to clamp shut. Much about the recovery from COVID-19 is unknown, said Dr. Laurie G. Jacobs, chairwoman of the Department of Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center, which is setting up a clinic for patients recovering from COVID-19 to better understand, track and treat their varied needs. Theres a desperation for answers, Jacobs said. Joe Fusco said he found the seeming absence of uniform guidance for doctors treating patients recovering from COVID-19 frustrating. His doctor has ordered a battery of tests, he said, but his sisters has not. Youd think there would be some sort of protocol to follow, but theres not, he said. When Grace Fusco got sick enough to need a ventilator, she asked for a pillow that had belonged to her husband, who died in 2017, her rosary beads and a scapular, a small cloth pendant worn during prayer. She reminded her daughter to bring a tray of chicken the next night to the program for homeless people that she cooked for each week. She said, Dont worry. Im going to be OK, Elizabeth Fusco recalled. Tell everyone I love them. She never awoke, and never knew that any of her children had died. It would have killed her, Joe Fusco said. She was always and Im the same way theres a sequence to life, and burying your kids is not part of it. Its not the way its supposed to go. My Kohkum, Ruth Chalifoux Petrin, had a strong spirit. She was also the most fearful woman I ever knew. It was a fear she learned at residential school. She was a Cree and Iroquois woman who spent her early childhood in Lac Ste. Anne, Alta. After her father, William Chalifoux, died of tuberculosis an epidemic that wiped out countless Indigenous Peoples in Canada her mother moved to the city of St. Albert with the children and had to live at the residential school there. The nuns taught her she was naturally evil a savage. They taught her to get on her knees multiple times a day and confess her sins as a child because dirty Indians needed to repent and reform from everything that they were. She would not dare speak her Cree language, so she stuffed it deep inside. Kohkum told me she was forbidden even from looking at her brothers in church, which was the only place she could see them, because the girls were separated from the boys. Oh, how she missed them. I was exceptionally close to my Kohkum growing up. I lived with her more than once, and I witnessed her unbalanced lifestyle between a raging alcoholic who went on party benders for weeks at a time and then back to repenting at the nearby Catholic church three times a day. This cycle was learned from her mother, from a stepfather who fell into a life of addictions, and as a result of dysfunction due to the violent effects of colonization and assimilation. And from the effects of residential school. All of my Kohkums siblings died young under traumatic circumstances or of drug or alcohol addictions. Kohkum fought hard. She prayed hard her whole life for her children and grandchildren to have a better future. She was a woman of animated character and gifted with words, like me. My family told me when Kohkum received her payout from the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement she felt guilty to receive money because her abuse wasnt as bad as others. She had been brainwashed by the colonial rulers to believe theres a level of abuse that is more OK than others. Her worth had been so degraded. Didnt she understand the magnitude of what they had taken from her? I know she had big dreams and they were stifled, but her dreams live on now through me, her other grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As Kohkum was dying of stomach cancer at age 74, my mom and her siblings were in the room with her in the hospital when a powerful scene unfolded. Suddenly, my Kohkum began speaking fluently in Cree: a language she had not spoken except for a few words here and there since she was a little girl. Her language was something everyone thought she had lost forever. But on her deathbed, she returned to her true self. She spoke blessings in Cree over all her children. Im comforted to know she went to heaven with her mother tongue intact, and I believe the Creator released it back to her spirit to help bring healing to the family. When I learned about Premier Jason Kenneys speech writer, Paul Bunner, writing columns about the bogus claims of residential school survivors who were compensated for the injustices they experienced at the hands of governments, I felt sick to my stomach. I felt anger and disgust. I felt flabbergasted that the premier could have this person employed in a position of influence. It was a kick in the teeth to the aims of reconciliation. It was a betrayal of trust and of the hope for mending broken relationships. Despite outcries from Indigenous leadership and others, Kenny has not explained nor publicly denounced Bunners harmful opinions. Its hurtful. Its actually maddening to think in this day and age this sort of ignorance still exists. But it paints a picture of how far we have yet to go on this journey of reconciliation. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Just so you know, Bunner, Canada or Alberta will never, ever be able to pay back what they stole from our Peoples and from what they continue to take (through natural resources and violation of Indigenous rights) without recompense. Do you think a mere $33,000 (what my Kohkum received) was enough for the value of a life lived in anguish and oppression due to Canadas attempted genocide on her and her people? Try telling survivors, their children and grandchildren their abuse was bogus. Try telling this to the souls of the children who were lost to this tragedy. Those lies you spoke fuel the fires of ignorance that continue to harm our people. Apologize, Bunner, and Kenney on his behalf if you want to truly make a lasting mark in history as government leaders of the beautiful, Indigenous lands of Alberta. Reconciling, healing and moving forward is our future get on board. Brandi Morin is a French/Cree/Iroquois award-winning journalist from Treaty 6 in Alberta. You can follow her at Twitter.com/songstress28 Read more about: Dr. Jean Robert Ngola Monzinga wont be celebrating Canada Day this year. After all, the Canadian doctor faces the stressful prospect of having to rebuild his life for the third time as a result of what he says has been racist scapegoating by New Brunswicks premier, health officials and police authorities. Practically overnight, Ngolas Canadian dream was shattered. Its a dream that took years to realize before being destroyed in what his lawyer calls a public lynching. Some context to begin with. Ngola first had to rebuild his life after fleeing civil war in his homeland of Congo, where he trained as an emergency care doctor. He sought asylum in Belgium and took time to requalify. Systemic racism prevented him from landing a job that met his qualifications. He, like many of his African peers, could only find work as an orderly. To escape discrimination, Ngola immigrated to Canada to again start over. After gaining his third medical certification, he settled in the Campbellton region of New Brunswick. In 2013, he opened a family practice serving over 2,000 residents. He also took shifts in the local hospital. His was Canadas archetypal immigrant success story. Until it became a tale of systemic racism. The unravelling of his life started last month following a request to pick up his 4-year-old daughter from her mothers home in Quebec so she could attend to a family emergency overseas. Ngola made the eight-hour drive over the border, stopping on the way back to briefly meet with a couple of fellow doctors to compare professional notes and to explore a possible job opportunity. He returned to work the next day. A few weeks later, one of his patients tested positive for COVID-19. After being notified by public health, Ngola got tested and self-quarantined with his daughter. He received a positive diagnosis, as did a third patient. The new cases marked a significant setback for the province. It had to pause its otherwise successful reopening. Premier Blaine Higgs quickly blamed the cluster on an irresponsible medical health professional, even suggesting potential criminal charges during a press conference on May 27. Within an hour of that, Ngolas name, picture and address were leaked, unleashing a barrage of racist comments and threats on social media. Kneel on his neck, wrote one commenter on Facebook. Send him back to Congo, wrote another (now himself under investigation by his employer, the New Brunswick & PEI Division of the Corps of Commissionaires, for the racist message). The health unit immediately suspended Ngola without pay or due process. The RCMP commenced an investigation. What the premier failed to mention is that Ngolas activities werent all that different from many of his colleagues, who are white, and who were then regularly travelling back and forth across the border without self-isolating. This according to an 11-page letter sent to the premier demanding an apology on behalf of Ngola by his legal counsel, Joel Etienne. Furthermore, the legal firm hired Craig Hannaford, a retired RCMP investigator and former chief investigator for the Walkerton Inquiry, to look into the allegations. Hannaford found that no one who came into contact with Ngola during his trip tested positive for the virus. Its therefore extremely unlikely he was patient zero. Its also worth noting that in our new COVID-19 reality, no other health care worker has ever been similarly singled out publicly by a government and threatened with prosecution. Ngola deserves a public apology from the premier, as well as reinstatement so he can return to work. He needs answers surrounding the release of his personal medical information. In the meantime, hes now too frightened to leave his home even for groceries or for walks with his daughter. He requested and received police protection. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... In these days of the George Floyd era, Dr. Ngola was publicly executed over social media and deemed guilty without a formal trial, wrote his lawyer. No one should be surprised that Dr. Ngola is less than enthusiastic about celebrating the nations birthday. For Black, Indigenous, and racialized Canadians, full equality must come first. It clearly didnt in this case. Telling students youre not actually getting less from online courses is like telling Drake fans theyre not actually getting less from a virtual concert We all know that online courses offer college and university students less than those delivered in person. Its only fair, then, for tuition fees to reflect this. Unfortunately, Bill Steinburg, Mohawk College Press Secretary, says tuition for online courses will not be reduced because, Tuition is tied to the delivery of the program and helping students achieve their degrees and diplomas ... youre not actually getting less, the credential is not devalued at all. I respectfully disagree. Students will actually receive a lot less from online courses vis-a-vis those delivered in person: no rich and engaging campus experience, fewer opportunities to bond with fellow students from across Canada and the world, no real-life lectures, no in-person group tutorials, no face-to-face collaboration with peers and professors, no interdisciplinary environment, fewer occasions for students to network with leading experts and academics, et cetera. These are all valuable benefits that colleges and universities bend over backwards to highlight when recruiting and retaining students. They are also benefits that go into the making of quality diplomas and degrees and in-demand graduates. So, telling students who are paying for in-person courses that theyre not actually getting less when those courses are delivered online is like telling Drake fans who are paying for a live concert that theyre not actually getting less when Champagne Papi delivers his performance virtually. When it became clear that post-secondary schools were not decreasing tuition for 2020-21 online courses, students reacted. Thousands signed petitions calling on presidents to lower tuition for online courses. Many turned to the media and their students unions to voice their concerns, while others took to online forums to discuss gap years, studying part time, and working rather than returning to school. A fellow student and I wrote to Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano calling on the minister to introduce a new tuition fee framework ensuring lower fees for online courses. Some students are reviewing the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance website, which states that delivery mode changes could result in significant changes to the learning outcomes of students. And many are even considering enrolling in massive open online courses (MOOCs) with some of the worlds most reputable universities, including Oxford, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, and Yale, for a fraction of the price. The financial fallout of COVID-19 means it will be increasingly difficult for post-secondary institutions to recruit and retain domestic and international students, now and in the future. Lowering tuition for online courses will certainly help students and, in the end, academic institutions too. Moreover, its the fair and reasonable thing to do considering virtual courses are here to stay. But because colleges and universities have decided against lowering tuition for online courses, we will have to wait and see if students agree that theyre not actually getting less from Drakes virtual show after theyve paid to see the Canadian artist perform live. While Canadas leaders grapple with semantics, systemic racism is killing Black and Indigenous people in Canada at an alarming rate, so forgive me if I pass on a piece of the birthday cake or dont participate in the online Canada Day celebrations. In fall of 2016, I was accused of calling a police officer a systemic racist after speaking out about claims that police officers verbally assaulted a woman delivering training on Indigenous issues. I wondered then if the Canadian public knew what systemic racism and its effects mean in this country. In the past few weeks, I find myself asking the same question. The first ministers declaration was noticeably absent of any mention of systemic racism because, there was not consensus on using the phrase. When Commissioner Brenda Lucki was questioned at an emergency meeting about systemic racism in the RCMP, she absurdly answered by referring to an obstacle course and how far the average person could jump. At a meeting with Federal Ministers Blair, Lametti, Bennett, and Miller recently, I was shocked and angered at their tone of surprise and indignation, as if police violence was something new and not the lived reality of so many. The Canada I live in is reflective of a long-standing broken relationship between racialized and Indigenous peoples and the policing and justice systems. The Canada I live in values white lives more highly by upholding systems designed to criminalize historical traumas and perpetuate the cycle of poverty against racialized and Indigenous populations. The Canada I live in refuses to take concrete action to address the systemic crisis of police brutality despite the beatings and deaths of at least nine Black and Indigenous people since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a painfully long history of disproportionate use of force with impunity by police in Canada. Right now, many of us are more fearful of the police than the coronavirus. Do we need to mourn another death at the hands of police to validate our experiences and prove that we are worthy of protection, accountability, and change? Just as one person cannot be a systemic racist, addressing systemic racism and police brutality requires co-ordinated political commitment and action. Disciplining an officer or rewriting human resources policy is not enough this crisis goes much deeper than a few bad apples. Systemic racism is complex. It is not captured on a cellphone video. It is not visible until you unravel deeply entrenched laws and policies rooted in racist ideologies that too often result in violence and death. But thats the reality of Canada for so many and we need to collectively own up to it. The Canada that Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation lives in is one where a respected leader is stopped for an expired license plate then brutally beaten along with his wife arrested and charged with assault by a police officer still on active duty despite his own outstanding criminal assault charges. The Canada that Dafonte Miller lives in is one where a teenage Black man is so viciously beaten by an off-duty police officer and his brother that he loses an eye. Dafonte is charged with numerous offences, while his white assailants were not even initially questioned. Three years later, Dafonte was essentially put on trial for the acts of those who beat him, revictimized by a justice system determined to criminalize racialized people at every turn. The Canada that the families of DAndre Campbell, Eishia Hudson, Jason Collins, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Chantel Moore, Rodney Levi, and Ejaz Ahmed Choudry live in is one where thoughts and prayers have replaced life with their loved one because police interaction resulted in deadly consequences. If these victims were white, would the story be the same? Likely not. That is systemic racism. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... To the politicians: you no longer get to qualify our experiences with language that suits you. If you spent even half of your energy listening to marginalized communities and acting on the truth of their experiences instead of arguing about words, you wouldnt have to worry about denying systemic racism you would be part of the change that we so desperately need. This Canada Day I stand firmly with the family of Dafonte Miller and all victims of police violence and echo their call to the federal government to hold a public inquiry into police brutality against Indigenous and racialized people. Anything less amounts to being complicit in this violence. Tokyo, Japan -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/29/2020 -- canow Co. Ltd CEO Kunihiro Katsuragi and B-Labs CEO Lola Wang speak in-depth about their recent strategic partnership and offer valuable insights about the blockchain industry in Japan and China. As a part of its global expansion program, canow Co. Ltd has recently collaborated with B-Labs, which is one of the leading blockchain incubators of China. It is expected to benefit from this collaboration, especially with B-Labs' strategic parental relation with the OK Group, Canaan, and the Chinese Government. About canow Co. Ltd canow Co. Ltd is a Japanese company established recently in the month of April this year. It provides products and services based on blockchain technology in the following areas Business Development, Cryptocurrency oriented consultancy, Digital Marketing, and Fund Raising. As part of its expansion plan to support global start-ups, canow is currently establishing strategic partnerships with incubators and companies from all across the world, under the leadership of Kunihiro Katsuragi and Ryohei Osaka About B-Labs B-Labs was established at the end of 2018 by prominent members of the OK Group Delta Research Institute, a joint venture between the Zhejiang Provincial Government and Tsinghua University & Canaan, a global supercomputing solution provider, which is also the world's first publicly listed company in the blockchain industry. It provides real space and incubation services for blockchain entrepreneurs and start-up companies. Located at the center of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, B-Labs has an 1800 square meters space, that provides a full range of office services, and also hosts several blockchain events. Apart from being a full-fledged incubator, B-Labs also provides services like marketing promotion, financing, technical support, legal and compliance, etc. In a recent interview, Kunihiro Katsuragi from canow and Lola Wang. B-Labs CEO talked at length about their recent collaboration and offered valuable insights about the Japanese and Chinese blockchain industry. Insights From the Interview Formation of the Partnership Katsuragi explained that the roots of the partnership go back to the days when he visited China and connected with B-Labs. He said that after a 6-month long discussion, he finally understood the similarities in vision between the two companies that of supporting blockchain-based startups globally via products, services, and incubation spaces. Lola reasoned that, based on the financial policies of the Japanese government, it seems that Japan has a positive and embracing attitude towards adopting blockchain technology. The recent partnership with canow is a reflection of Lola and B-Labs' optimism about Japanse blockchain space. He added that the partnership is also based on B-Labs' constant attention towards having a more globalized approach and adapting to the latest trends. Apart from these, the fact that OKCoin, a subsidiary of the OK group recently obtained an official license in Japan has also contributed towards B-Labs' interest in the Japanese market. Scope of the Collaboration When asked about what does he expect from B-Labs as a strategic partner, Katsuragi stressed B-Labs' strong connection with key players in the industry. He explained that the collaboration with B-Labs will help canow in terms of business development and information acquisition. He has the opinion that Japanese businesses are lagging behind in terms of accurate information, and the linguistic difference acts as a major hurdle when it comes to communicating with leading industry players, Katsuragi is confident that the partnership with B-Labs will help them communicate effectively with global leaders backed by accurate information. On the other hand, B-Labs expects to introduce superior Chinese technology to the world, which according to her is not yet well-evaluated. Lola explained that, through the recent partnership, she looks forward to executing efficient technology transfer to and from China. Katsuragi jumped in saying that together with B-Labs, canow wants to contribute towards innovating new solutions and also help to revive the Corona-struck global economy. He added that both companies will work on areas such as education beyond just business. State of the Chinese Blockchain industry Responding to how the Chinese blockchain industry is shaping up, Lola talked about how the government-issued blockchain support policies are advocating the development of blockchain in China. She added that B-Labs will further strengthen its efforts towards technology development and blockchain application, in alignment with government regulations and policies. Expressing his opinion about Chinese blockchain entrepreneurs and start-ups, Katsuragi lauded how Chinese ventures are hardworking, value-oriented, fast-paced, and mission-driven. He added that he is impressed by how Chinese blockchain entrepreneurs are not only concerned about profits but are also trying to create positive social impacts through their innovations. Differences between the Japanese and Chinese Blockchain Space Katsuragi presented an interesting argument when asked about how the Chinese blockchain industry is different. He explained that due to the Chinese systems and regulations, which are quite different from that of Japan, there are several differences like that of token positioning for startups. He explained, 'Take the stock market for example. In Japan, only a limited number of angel investors may invest in a startup that aims for an IPO and purchase unlisted stock to obtain a listed profit. This is not the case with tokens. ICOs and IEOs are more dependent on a large number of small-scale investors who buy listed tokens. This is how startups in Japan raise funds from small investors. However, in China, there is a trend of so-called double-exits. Angel investors bet on tokens and are given stock shares depending upon their investment amount when the company is listed.' He added that the regulations by the Financial Services Agency are strict, and it is difficult to raise money in Japan. However, Katsuragi also stressed the fact that the FSA is only trying to keep out bad actors and hence the strict regulations. However, he believes that these restrictions will eventually become more friendly. Katsuragi also touched upon the point that many people actually consider Japanese regulations to be the future standard at a global level. Thoughts on Incubation Services Commenting on the role of incubation services, Katsuragi suggested that incubators should be aligned to exchanges. As per his experience, in China, tokens are assigned according to the characteristics of the exchange. More so, the method of marketing and asset management is decided accordingly. He believes that angel investors play a major role in such systems. Having said that, Katsuragi pointed out that crypto projects are no longer going to see 10X or 20X rise in token price, even in China, unless those are very promising and offer real-life value. He added that in the incubation system, it is going to be important to position tokens in a manner that people understand their value and ultimately become fans. He also applauded the fact that Chinese incubators connect with good exchanges, real business, and legal currency. canow Co. Ltd: Future Plans When asked about his future plans with canow, Katsuragi stressed strongly upon his plans to educate the people about blockchain. Gone are the days when you can make a fortune by listing tokens, and expect those to sell off in seconds. I would like to enhance educational content that logically explains how to use tokens for business while abiding by the current laws and regulations. Despite regulatory and institutional barriers, it is important to raise overall literacy in regard to blockchain technology, token usage, and fund-raising. Katsuragi assured that canow is also focused on making steady sales of products and services while making constant social contributions. Summing Up Katsuragi concluded that, based on all of these visions, the recent partnership with B-Labs, one of the biggest blockchain incubators in China is a great boost. B-Labs' wide network comprising of key players in the industry and strong technical know-how will help canow Co.Ltd strengthens its global expansion program. He further added that canow is looking forward to developing strategic partnerships with more ventures globally to grow on the basis of innovative technology and ideas. In fact, canow already has 10 companies, including Incubators and exchanges, lined up for upcoming collaboration. Katsuragi Kunihiro Profile Birth: 1995, Japan Professional Summary: Katsuragi has previously served as the COO of IFA Co., Ltd.; conceptualized the idea of 'data bank' and actively participated in negotiations with overseas exchanges and companies. He has also featured as a speaker on prominent platforms like Delta summit and D.FINE, among many others. Katsuragi recently founded canow Co. Ltd to help bridge the gap between Japanese businesses and overseas ventures. Currently, he is working on providing incubation services through canow and its strategic partners. Lola Wang Profile Birth: China Education: Master's degree from a Spanish university Professional Summary: Lola started her career in media & public relations at Blue Focus Group. She joined the OK Group in 2018 and served as one of the founding members of B-Labs. Lola is currently the CEO of B-Labs and is working actively to enhance China's tech footprint at the global level. Media Details Company Name: canow co.,ltd Media contact: Ray Osaka Email: info@canow-jp.com Website: http://canow-jp.com/ Country: Japan Twitter: https://twitter.com/canow_japan We ask too much of our criminal courts. Like almost 20,000 other people, I tuned in on Friday, as a Superior Court judge in Oshawa found that an off-duty police officer assaulted a Black teenager in an altercation that resulted in the loss of the boys left eye. The off-duty officers brother, who was also involved in the altercation, was found not guilty of assault. The public was left with questions. The criminal trial of the Theriault brothers took place against the backdrop of a growing public awareness of the way in which police brutalize Black lives, treating them as disposable and valueless. The trial of the two brothers seemed like it might challenge the narrative that it is impossible to get justice for the victims of police brutality. There appeared to be an abundance of evidence that, in their pursuit of Dafonte Miller, Michael and Christian Theriault were solely motivated by retribution, that the fight that ensued was entirely one-sided and that even if the brothers were acting in self-defence, their use of force was grossly disproportionate. Moreover, the trial judge appeared to be very much alive to the racialized aspects of this case. So why, then, were the brothers not convicted of aggravated assault? Because we ask more of our criminal courts than what they can achieve. Criminal courts serve a limited function. They are designed to create a narrow form of justice not social justice, not restorative justice. They only answer the focused question of whether the Crown proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. In making his decision, the trial judge was limited by the evidence that came before him in court, the way in which it was presented and the credibility issues of the witnesses through which that evidence was narrated. To be sure, the trial judge found that the Theriault brothers probably did all the reprehensible things they were alleged to have done. But his hands were tied probably is not the standard in criminal cases. In criminal cases, the standard is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. On the evidence before him, the trial judge concluded that the Crown failed to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that the brothers were acting in self-defence during the portion of the fight during which Dafonte Miller lost his eye. So, he had to acquit. The elevated burden of proof in criminal cases exists for good reason. It is important that every person who stands accused by the state and whose liberty is at stake should not be put in jail because their conduct probably constitutes a crime. This standard is meant to protect the innocent, and to do so, it must apply equally to all those who come before the court. The burden of the state must not be relaxed, even in difficult cases. As a Black criminal defence lawyer, Im particularly sensitive to police brutality. I remain haunted by the image of Dafonte calling for help, his left eye burst and oozing. I am haunted by the fact that when the police arrived, they chose to arrest Dafonte, not the Theriault brothers, and they handcuffed his wrist so tightly that he suffered nerve damage. How do we ensure that this never happens to another Black teenager? The limited function of criminal courts means that they are not the place to implement the broad-based policy changes needed to prevent this from happening again. The trial judge alluded to this in his reasons when he stated that this case raises significant issues in race and policing that should be further examined, but that was not his task. Any verdict in the Theriault trial would have left the public with an abundance of unanswered questions: Why did the Toronto and Durham Police fail to report this case to the SIU as required by law? What role did Det. John Theriault, the brothers father and a Toronto police detective, play in delaying the charges against his sons? What do we do about police who habitually shield themselves from accountability by criminally charging the victims of their misconduct? These important questions would have remained unanswered even if the brothers were both found guilty of aggravated assault. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... These questions need to be addressed by politicians, not judges and juries. What we need is a federal commission of inquiry into police use of force against racialized and Indigenous people in this country. We need truly independent and powerful civilian police oversight informed by an understanding of the operation of systemic racism. And we need our politicians to fundamentally rethink the role of police in our communities. Criminal courts simply werent designed to do all this. And we should not ask them to. We must reduce the burning of fossil fuels to save our planet but should nuclear energy be part of the solution? Prof. Jatin Nathwani argues yes while Prof. M.V. Ramana and Schyler Edmunston argue no. Truth is the daughter of time, Francis Bacon noted four centuries ago. Perhaps the time has come to acknowledge the near existential threat posed by climate change to our collective well being and recognize the importance of one compelling solution nuclear energy in solving this problem. The primary culprit is well-known: emissions from fossil fuels must be eliminated. The problem has been in the making for over five generations and we do not have the luxury of time to mitigate the risk of destabilizing the climate system that can deliver misery on a very large scale: floods, fires, famines, tsunamis, and extreme weather events that test the boundaries of human habitation. What is needed, with urgency, is a fundamental reboot of the global energy system. In 1990, the share of global primary energy stood at 85 per cent fossil fuels and all other sources (hydro, nuclear, geothermal, wind, solar, bioenergy) at 15 per cent. In 2020, after three decades of diplomacy and target setting to reduce carbon emissions, the share of fossil fuels is still at 85 per cent. The challenge, then, is to tackle the most compelling threat staring us in the face to get to an energy system not dependent on fossil fuels. Nuclear energy is one answer. It is a safe and proven source of low-carbon energy that currently displaces over 2 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions globally, equivalent to taking 500 million cars (or half of the worlds passenger vehicles) off the road. Nuclear is a zero carbon source of energy during production and on a life cycle basis it is at the lowest end of the spectrum of energy supply options such as hydro, wind, solar, biomass: 80 to a 100 times lower than coal per unit of useful energy. The density of nuclear power as an energy source means its environmental land use requirement is lower than all the other noncarbon sources of energy and it makes a positive contribution to 9 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Scaling up nuclear power displaces coal and natural gas emissions, directly resulting in drastic reductions for meaningful impact on climate goals. Is nuclear safe? If you are concerned about the safety of nuclear power, one question you may ask is: What kills Canadians? and if you compile a list from reliable sources, such as Statistics Canada, you will find nuclear power is not on that list. If you ask the question, what frightens Canadians? Again, nuclear is not on that list. The absence of nuclear on such lists should be the first telltale sign that nuclear fears are exaggerated. Nuclear power has not been a dominant concern of Canadian for quite some time. Fears of nuclear power does captivate a small group of people whose imaginations conjure up scenarios of outlandish catastrophic events. Ignoring these tall tales helps. Fidelity to facts matter. The safety record of Canadas nuclear power plants over 60 years is publicly available and clear. Have there been failures of equipment and systems at operating plants in those 60 years? Yes. Have there been releases of radioactivity from these facilities from faulty operations? Yes. Have the workers at these plants been subject to unsafe or unhealthy working conditions? No. Have any of these failures resulted in any significant harm to a member of the public or the environment with measurable impacts? No. What about nuclear waste and cost to future generations? The cost to safely manage the waste is a fraction of a penny on the 6.1 cents per kilowatt hour charged for nuclear in Ontario. Akin to a pension plan, todays contributions address tomorrows liability. Nuclear energy can help decarbonize the global energy system safely and within cost constraints. The urgency for credible solutions points to nuclear as one answer complemented by additional sources. If only past practices of the fossil fuel sector had come anywhere close to the stewardship of the environment similar to nuclear, we would not be in the position we are in emerging from the threat of climate risks and the upheaval it may cause on a planetary scale. Prof. Jatin Nathwani is executive director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy and Ontario Research Chair in Public Policy for Sustainable Energy at the University of Waterloo. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Over the last few years, there has been a growing interest in a Green New Deal and there are many versions proposed in different countries. At the same time, there has also been criticism of these proposals on many counts, including the fact that they typically dont include nuclear energy. This criticism misses a basic point: a Green New Deal is, by its very definition, much more than an emissions reduction plan. As we argue below, the other attributes that characterize Green New Deals, rule out nuclear energy as an option. Like the original New Deal of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s, all Green New Deal proposals emphasize the creation of new jobs. The New Democratic Party version, for example, calls for a New Deal for Climate Action and Good Jobs. Nuclear power is not a good job creator. One widely cited study found that for each gigawatt-hour of electricity generated, solar energy leads to six times as many jobs as nuclear power. This is compounded by the fact that solar power plants are far cheaper to build and maintain than nuclear reactors. Green New Deal proposals also demand rapid emissions reduction; one spokesperson for the Pact for a Green New Deal talked of a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. It takes, on average, a decade to build a nuclear plant and another 10 years before that to do the necessary planning, license procurement, and, most importantly, obtain the billions of dollars needed to finance construction. Therefore, it is impossible to scale up nuclear power fast enough to reduce emissions at the rate required to meet tight climate targets. Last but not least, Green New Deal proposals emphasize ethics and equity. The Pact for a Green New Deal, for example, wants to ensure that the necessary energy transition is socially just and doesnt hurt those at the bottom of the economic ladder; and that it respects Indigenous rights. It is precisely those groups that have been hurt most by the nuclear fuel chain. Around the world, the uranium that fuels nuclear plants has predominantly been mined from traditional lands of Indigenous peoples, whether we are talking about Canada, India, the United States, or Australia. There is ample evidence of devastating health consequences from the production of uranium, for example, on the Navajo and the Lakota nations. The nuclear industrys plans for the disposal of radioactive waste streams produced by nuclear reactors also disproportionately target areas with high proportions of Indigenous populations, and has rightly been termed nuclear colonialism. Nuclear waste, by its nature, raises difficult challenges for any effort to base energy policy on justice. The hazardous components of these wastes stay radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years, and no method can ensure safety for that long a period of time. There is inherent injustice in forcing future generations to deal with these radioactive products spreading into underground sources of water, when they do not benefit from nuclear electricity in any way. One set of technologies that is widely seen as being necessary to confront climate change are renewables, especially solar and wind power. Because they are dependent on the sun shining and the wind blowing, some suggest that nuclear energy has to be part of the mix in order to ensure that electricity is available when needed. This is not true and research has shown that it is possible for even Ontario, the province most dependent on nuclear energy, to phase out nuclear power and reduce emissions, while meeting electricity needs reliably. Further, existing nuclear facilities, do not have the necessary flexibility to integrate well with the rapidly variable outputs from wind and solar power. Therefore, they inhibit ambitious climate agendas a realization that informed the decision in California to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. In short, nuclear power is not compatible with the fundamental tenets of a Green New Deal. M.V. Ramana is professor, Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security, and director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, the University of British Columbia.Schyler Edmundson is a recent graduate from the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs program at the University of British Columbia. Some birthdays, usually when one is coming of age or stepping nicely into adulthood or reaching a landmark decade, are cause for big celebratory blowouts. Others, usually as one has settled into mid-life and beyond, are quieter affairs characterized by stock-taking, a little ruefulness perhaps along with the satisfactions, and a resolve to make necessary changes. This Canada Day, this extraordinary Canada Day, should involve a measure of both. The country is marking the 153rd anniversary of Confederation amid twin paroxysms the COVID-19 pandemic that has dealt widespread death and economy calamity, and a reckoning on racial equity and justice. For those keen to celebrate all that we enjoy and all that has been accomplished, even if the partying is to be at a safe distance this year, there is good reason. Our home is jaw-droppingly beautiful and extraordinarily varied. Our 37 million people are diverse, our resources abundant. And by almost any global metric of well-being, we are the envy of the world. The 2020 Best Countries rankings by U.S. News and World Report named Canada the best nation in the world for quality of life, a measure that assessed broad access to food and housing, quality education and health care, a good job market, political stability, individual freedom and environmental quality. In the citizenship category, assessing our concern for human rights, the environment, gender equality and religious freedom, we were second, also perceived as respecting property rights, being trustworthy and having well-distributed political power. In the open-for-business category, we were third. We were low on perceived corruption and high on government transparency. Still, no nation or society populated by mere mortals is perfect. And for those more focused on unfinished business and the righting of historical wrongs, their cause is just and the rising volume of demand for change justifiable. Its not for nothing, after all, that the motto of the Order of Canada is desiderantes meliorem patriam they desire a better country. The wise have always known that, in order to improve, its more useful to seek criticism than praise, that sometimes the greatest friends are those who speak the hardest truths. By almost any metric, Indigenous Canadians and people of colour have not shared fully in the benefits of the nation. And the coronavirus pandemic has made clear how marginalized communities have paid most dearly because of their socioeconomic status. Virtually every investigation and study returns the same verdict. People of colour are policed differently, judged differently, sentenced differently, educated differently, less represented in legislatures, high office, boardrooms. A poll by Dart and Maru/Blue in June found that 69 per cent of Canadians believe there is prejudice against visible minorities; only three in 10 believed the situation had improved over the last 10 years. The large caveat is that only three in 10 said prejudice existed in their own neighbourhoods and communities suggesting the majority who do not personally feel racism do not recognize it. Still, for those focused on where Canada falls short, there is also something heartening the apparent arrival of an historic moment, one of those rare occasions when, as the poet Seamus Heaney put it, hope and history might rhyme. The University of Torontos David Foot once famously said that demographics explain two-thirds of everything. And in Canada, the so-called browning of the country and the growth of Indigenous populations ensures that demographics will force matters of racial justice onto the public agenda and keep them there. Halfway through the year, 2020 has already brought more than its share of pain and loss in Canada, on top of the coronavirus toll. The year began with the shooting down of Flight 752 in Iran with the loss of 55 Canadian lives. Since then, there has been the mass murder of 22 people in Nova Scotia, the loss of six Canadian Armed Forces members in a helicopter crash near Greece, and of Capt. Jennifer Casey in a Snowbirds crash in Kamloops, B.C. All are best commemorated by continuing to pursue the dream and ideals that either brought them to Canada, or prompted them to contribute to their communities as police officers and health-care workers, or inspired them to serve in uniform. There are, as we toast one of the best countries on the planet, some truths to embrace. Countries are in many ways like families. Most everything about them is determined by relationships. And relationships always and everywhere need ongoing attention, nurturing and repair. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Social change happens more quickly in our times, thanks to technology, and it is human interactions and relationships that build the groundswell forcing cultural and institutional reform. The lives of people, families, countries are marked by only one certainty. Nothing is permanent. Things change. Its not to carry water for the prime minister to note that he was on to something when he declared, in first seeking the office, that in Canada, better is always possible. Off-duty officer found guilty of assault, June 27 A firefighter neighbour testified that the two Theriault brothers viciously beat Dafonte Miller. Two different police departments (Durham and Toronto) covered up the fact that one of the two thugs is a cop, until this was brought to light by Millers legal team. Then a judge acquits one brother, and, incredibly, concludes that the other is not guilty of aggravated assault, even though the assault destroyed Dafontes eye. Anyone who needs proof that our police and courts are leading instruments of systemic anti-Black racism need look no further. China ties fate of detained Canadians to Meng case, June 25 We no longer need maintain the diplomatic pretense anymore; China kidnapped Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for the purposes of extorting the Canadian government into doing something they wanted. To secure the release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, they simply took the two Michaels hostage. How can it be interpreted in any other way? I pity any innocent person stuck in China. Now a group of former politicians, advisers and scholars have encouraged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make a deal with the wardens of that prison in order to free the hostages, and Trudeau, to my surprise, said no. Good for him! Trudeau has stood up to the true menace of the modern world. I hope he keeps it up, for all our sake. Please note The Sun Chronicle is providing this story and all of our local coronavirus coverage for free so that all readers have access to this important information about the pandemic. Please visit our dedicated coronavirus coverage page for more stories. If you'd like to support our mission, please subscribe. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Tuesday blamed Afghan forces for firing mortar shells that struck a busy market in a southern province, killing at least 23 civilians. The Monday morning explosions came as the Taliban and the Afghan government are expected to launch much delayed peace talks aimed at ending the country's nearly two-decade-old war. "UNAMA's initial impartial findings indicate Afghan National Army mortars inflicted heavy civilian casualties Monday," the mission said on Twitter. "Multiple credible sources assert that the ANA fired lethal mortars in response to Taliban fire, missing intended target." Afghan officials had previously blamed the Taliban for the explosions in the Sangin district of Helmand province, with President Ashraf Ghani condemning the incident as a "terrorist attack". The UN mission called on the Afghan government to set up an independent investigation and urged both the Taliban and government forces to stop fighting in civilian areas. It said such "indirect-fire incidents" cause thousands of deaths every year. The Taliban have denied responsibility for the explosions, which also wounded 15 civilians, and accused the Afghan army of firing the mortars. The insurgents hold large areas of Helmand province, a region known for its opium production, where Afghan forces and the militants engage in almost daily fighting. Violence dropped after the Taliban offered a rare ceasefire to mark the Eid festival on May 24, but officials say the militants have now stepped up attacks against security forces and civilians. In recent weeks, several brutal attacks targeted Afghan security forces, mosques, human rights workers and prosecutors. The Taliban have denied most of these attacks, but acknowledge their fighters have been targeting security forces across most provinces. The rise in violence comes as both the government and Taliban are set to engage in peace talks. The United States has pushed for launching the talks after it signed a deal with the Taliban in February that paves the way for withdrawing all foreign forces by the middle of next year. The Taliban's chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar reaffirmed the group's commitment to the deal with Washington during a call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday. Pompeo acknowledged the Taliban had refrained from attacking urban centres and military bases under the deal, but called on them to do more to reduce overall violence, according the group's spokesman Suhail Shaheen. "We are committed to starting intra-Afghan talks," Baradar told Pompeo, blaming the hold-up on the delayed release of Taliban prisoners, according to Shaheen. The Taliban insist negotiations will begin only after Kabul completes the release of 5,000 of the group's militants held in Afghan jails as agreed in the deal with Washington. Afghan authorities have so far released about 4,000 Taliban. Short link: Wyomissing, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/30/2020 -- Kozloff Stoudt is a firm of personal injury lawyers serving Reading, PA, and the surrounding areas, which prides itself on their experience in a plethora of different injury cases. While they handle a variety of personal injury cases, such as automobile accidents and medical malpractice, they have also recently focused on motorcycle accidents and common questions clients affected by these incidents ask. An important topic that Kozloff Stoudt addresses is that of protective clothing such as jackets, pants, boots, and gloves. While none of these articles of clothing are required by law, Kozloff Stoudt points out that they help develop a rider's character as being cautious and safe. Unlike protective clothing, helmets are required by law dependent on the local and state-level requirements. Kozloff Stoudt will detail specifically Pennsylvania's helmet law requirements, and how only certain experienced riders that are 21 or older can legally ride a motorcycle without a helmet. Regardless of any exceptions, protective headwear can help prevent severe brain trauma and even save the life of the rider, so they believe that it is best to always wear one when on a bike. Kozloff Stoudt will also focus on what personal injury lawyers do for victims of tragic motorcycle accidents in Reading, PA, and the surrounding areas. Their feedback will include a true reflection of the insurance industry, and how the well being of the insured is not always a priority; instead, insurance companies will often work to have the highest profit margin possible for the insurance company off of the rider's accident. Kozloff Stoudt's team of lawyers negotiates directly with insurance companies, ensuring the best pay-out to their clients whenever successful. Kozloff Stoudt is always taking personal injury claims across the Southeastern Pennsylvania area. Victims of an automobile accident, medical malpractice, and much more are encouraged to contact their team as soon as possible. About Kozloff Stoudt Attorneys The Law Offices of Kozloff Stoudt Attorneys formed in 2000, following the merger of two historically respected and prominent Berks County law firms. The firm is located in the Spring Ridge area of Wyomissing, Berks County, the professional and commercial hub of the Reading area. For decades, the lawyers of Kozloff Stoudt Attorneys have advised and represented individuals, businesses, school districts and municipalities in most aspects of civil law. Heber Springs, AR (72543) Today Thunderstorms. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 82F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch.. Tonight Becoming partly cloudy after some evening rain. Low 56F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Humans have a stereo sense of smell that subconsciously guides navigation, according to new research from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The human brain exploits subtle differences between the inputs to the paired eyes and ears to construct 3D experiences and navigate the environment. Whether and how it does so for olfaction is unclear, said study lead author Yuli Wu and his colleagues. The human nose, the most protruding part of the face, bears two nostrils that are separated by the nasal septum and inspire air from non-overlapping regions roughly 3.5 cm apart in space. Theoretically, this provides a computational advantage to localize odor sources as compared with sampling at one point in space. To address whether humans navigate with stereo olfaction, the researchers performed a series of four psychophysical experiments with a total of 180 volunteers. We opted to directly examine how binaral concentration disparities of a pure odorant act on motion direction perception, they explained. We took advantage of a unique type of visual stimuli called optic flow, which critically guides navigation and induces the illusory feeling of self-movement in stationary observers. By precisely controlling the expansion pattern of the optic flow, we quantified in a psychophysical procedure the extent to which observers heading judgments are influenced by various levels of binaral disparity in the concentration of phenylethyl alcohol, a nontrigeminal rose-like odorant, or vanillin, a non-trigeminal vanilla-like odorant. Their results demonstrate that a moderate internostril difference in odor intensity consistently biases recipients perceived direction of self-motion toward the higher-concentration side, despite that they cannot report which nostril smells a stronger odor. Our work presents clear behavioral evidence that humans have a stereo sense of smell that subconsciously guides navigation, said Dr. Wen Zhou, senior author of the study. The findings underscore the multisensory nature of heading perception and could provide guidance for the design and development of olfactory virtual-reality systems for humans. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. _____ Yuli Wu et al. Humans navigate with stereo olfaction. PNAS, published online June 22, 2020; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2004642117 Covid-19 cases at an Amazon.com warehouse in Minnesota last month exceeded by at least four times the infection rate of surrounding communities, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg. In recent weeks, Amazon executives and spokespeople have said that U.S. warehouses have fared no worse, and sometimes better, than adjacent communities. "We see Covid cases popping up at roughly a rate generally just under what the actual community infection rates are," Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, said in an interview with "60 Minutes" that was broadcast on May 10. The company has declined to make public how many workers have contracted the coronavirus, arguing that such tallies are meaningless without context. But the memo, based on internal data and circulated among Amazon's health and safety team, details a sophisticated tracking regime that occurs out of public view. It's unclear if other Amazon warehouses have exceeded community infection rates, but as of mid-May, Amazon was aware of 45 Covid-19 cases at its MSP1 facility in Shakopee, Minnesota, enough for an infection rate of 1.7%, according to the memo. That was higher than the rural county that surrounds the warehouse, and roughly four times higher than any county in the nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. At the time, Hennepin County, which contains Minneapolis, was reporting a rate of 0.4%. The memo doesn't specify whether Amazon managers believed employees contracted the coronavirus on the job. The authors said the rise in the case count corresponded with the increased availability of Covid-19 testing in Minnesota and noted that the warehouse was "trending towards flattening the curve with a downward tick in cases." "Nothing is more important than the safety of our teams," Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman said in an emailed statement that calls the analysis cited in the memo "one of many tools that help us evaluate the full picture in our buildings related to Covid-19." The company also conducts audits of social distancing at its sites and has an epidemiologist available to review infection data and safety measures. "We utilize a variety of data to closely monitor the safety of our buildings, and there is strong evidence that our employees are not proliferating the virus at work. What we see generally is that the overall rate of infection and increase or decrease of total cases is highly correlated to the overall community rate of infection," she said. Thousands of people have worked at the Shakopee site since the pandemic began, and "we believe strongly people are not spreading the virus at work given the robust safety measures we've put into place." Cheeseman didn't provide an explanation for MSP1's infection rate. Like many companies that kept their doors open during the pandemic, Amazon was caught off guard by the severity of the crisis. With many fearful warehouse workers staying home, the company imposed new safety procedures, including temperature checks and social distancing requirements. Still, while many employees applaud the measures, they fault Amazon for not being more open about how many of their colleagues have contracted Covid-19. That has prompted workers to keep their own tally, which has reached at least 1,500 people out of a U.S. workforce of roughly 500,000, excluding workers at Whole Foods Market stores. The memo makes clear that Amazon has been collecting granular data on the Covid-19 outbreaks within its ranks. In Shakopee, the company compiled information on where sick employees live, whether they're apartment-dwellers or live in a freestanding house, what shifts they typically work and what tasks they perform inside the 860,000-square-foot warehouse. Amazon also calculates things like the density of employees in break rooms, and seeks to estimate which day sick workers were exposed. The memo, which appears to reflect data as recently as May 18, cites an infection rate of 1.7%, based on a workforce of 2,631 people. Scott County, which contains Shakopee, at the time had a rate of 0.1%. Nearby counties, where most of the workers who caught Covid-19 live and commute to the facility by car, had rates between 0.2% in suburban Dakota County, to 0.4% in Hennepin County. Ramsey County, whose seat is St. Paul, the state capital, was at 0.3%. That infection count was higher than estimates compiled at the time by employees seeking to track how many of their coworkers were ill. Employees say such undercounts occur because internal messages alerting workers to new cases don't say how many have been identified. Based on those communications, employees estimated between 20 and 30 cases at Skakopee as of last month. Debbie Berkowitz, director of the worker safety and health program at the National Employment Law Project, said that in the absence of tougher federal rules dictating how companies should deal with Covid-19 outbreaks, the responsibility for keeping employees informed about the safety of their workplace falls to businesses. "What I hear from workers is they just don't know how many cases are in their facility," said Berkowitz, a former Occupational Health and Safety Administration official. "They need to be able to make personal decisions based on that, but if that information is not forthcoming, workers and the community don't have the information they need to keep themselves safe." The memo acknowledges workers' appetite for more transparency, saying that two-thirds of safety-related comments on white boards set up inside the facility called for more information about infections. Amazon addressed the comments with notices posted to the same boards and verbal communications with workers, the authors wrote. At other warehouses, such communications have primarily consisted of reassurances about the adequacy of Amazon's cleaning protocols. The severity of the outbreak at the Shakopee warehouse came to light last week after the Minnesota Department of Health said that its own contact tracing efforts had identified a large cluster of Covid-19 cases there. It's unclear how the infection rate in Shakopee currently compares with the surrounding community. New infections in Minnesota reached a peak in mid-May, and the average number of daily confirmed cases has declined by about half since. On a call last week organized by Athena, a coalition of groups critical of Amazon, workers at the Shakopee warehouse described an environment of fear. They said managers generally didn't seem responsive to their safety concerns and didn't share with them the severity of the outbreak in their ranks. "I'm very disappointed to hear outside the building . . . how many confirmed cases we have," said Hibaq Mohamed, who works at the facility and has been involved in worker activism and organizing there. "It is heartbreaking and frustrating." Joni Scheftel, Minnesota's state public health veterinarian before the pandemic forced her to add oversight of large employers, said state data suggest cases peaked at the Shakopee facility between April 24 and May 30. The rate of new cases there appears to have declined in June, she said, and the rate of spread is likely lower than the surrounding metro area now. "There may have been spread [inside the warehouse] during the time when they had more cases," Scheftel said. "But they made a lot of changes since that time." Scheftel, who has toured the Shakopee warehouse and joined calls with Amazon managers, said she was impressed by the company's social-distancing measures, and didn't see any obvious areas inside the building where workers might be passing the disease among themselves. Amazon's outbreak is the 13th largest in Minnesota by case count, she said, trailing mainly meatpacking plants. Case count per employee is in the middle of the pack of the 250 Minnesota employers with clusters of cases, state data show. Scheftel said the state hadn't asked Amazon for its own coronavirus data or documents about its cases or internal protocols. The memo, "Social Distancing Building Deep Dives - MSP1," suggests that Amazon's safety measures aren't enough to eliminate the risk of outbreaks entirely. Employee compliance with social distancing regulations at MSP1 regularly ranked among the best in the company's logistics network, the authors wrote. Just one employee with a fever was caught in a temperature screening between the implementation of the safety measures on April 2 and May 18. The food world could use Anthony Bourdain right now. It's oxymoronic to call out an older white guy at this moment, when we're desperately in need of diverse voices. But the television host, author, and chef was one of the great champions of cooks of all stripes from around the world. As solid a cook as he was, Bourdain's particular genius was finding the best products and the people who produce them. A VIP in his food world was a good butcher. He details the importance of finding the right one in the intro "Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking," with Jose de Meirelles and Philippe Lajaunie (Bloomsbury; $28). Bourdain wrote that it takes time, shrewdness, and people skills: "In a sense, what you are looking to engage in is what the Central Intelligence Agency, in their training materials, refers to as 'agent recruitment and development.'" First, he says, find that butcher "who recognizes what kind of lunatic cook you are and is willing to work with you." If you can't find that independent meat genius, he has further suggestions that sound exactly right for this moment. "One of the great things about America, if not the greatest thing, is that so many people not from America live here now. Large numbers of South and Central Americans, Europeans, and Asians have spread through even the formerly most Wonder-bread spaces of our vast interior, building communities, opening restaurants-and best of all, starting up their own supply chain." Support those purveyors, he said, more than 15 years ago. Steak tartare is a dish that precedes Bourdain by hundreds of years, but it has his name all over it: The no-nonsense, full-flavored dish can be sublime or contemptible, depending on the hands you're in. "The key to a successful steak tartare," Bourdain writes, "is fresh beef, freshly hand-chopped at the very last minute and mixed tableside. A home meat grinder with a fairly wide mesh blade is nice to have but you can and should use a very sharp knife and simply chop and chop and chop until fine. The texture will be superior. And do not dare use a food processor on this dish-you'll utterly destroy it." Daniel Halpern, Bourdain's longtime editor and publisher at Ecco, got to make steak tartare with Bourdain. Here's his account. "Knife skills meant a great deal to Tony, especially if you didn't have many. He and I were cooking a dinner for the winner of my daughter Lily's school auction. My job was to chop the beef for his famous tartare. We were in my kitchen, but he insisted on sharpening one of his own knives for me. He handed me the steak and said to chop it fine. I began to chop. Sure strokes I thought, but noticed he was eyeing me with suspicion and what could only be described as contempt. He allowed me a few more minutes on the cutting board, then took back his knife. "You chop like a home cook," he said. Not a little chagrined, I thought about saying that, having never cooked professionally, I am a home cook-although I do think my knife skills are pretty decent. But I decided, as he was now holding the knife, to go with a no response. He gave me that look we've all seen and suggested, "Why don't you go sit in the living room and write a poem about chopping good beef?" The following recipe is adapted from Anthony Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook." (Parentheticals and italics are from Bourdain.) Steak Tartare Serves 6 Ingredients 2 large egg yolks 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard 4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped 2 tsp. ketchup (yes, ketchup-hard to believe, but true) 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce Tabasco sauce Freshly ground black pepper cup corn or soy oil 1 oz. Cognac 1 small onion, freshly and finely chopped 3 tbsp. capers, rinsed 1/3 cup finely chopped cornichons [about 10] 6 sprigs of flat parsley, finely chopped 1 lb. fresh sirloin, trimmed and finely chopped Toasted bread points French fries [optional] Directions Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and add the mustard and anchovies. Mix well, then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and pepper and mix well again. Slowly whisk in the oil, then add the Cognac and mix again. Fold in the onion, capers, cornichons, and parsley. To finish, add the chopped meat to a bowl and mix well, using a spoon or your hands. (In clean rubber gloves, right? Yeah right.) Divide the meat evenly among six chilled dinner plates and, using a ring mold or spatula, form it into disks on the plate. Serve immediately with toasted bread points and french fries. Press Release June 29, 2020 Bong Go stresses need for vigilance and cooperation to combat other health threats, like dengue, amid ongoing COVID-19 pandemic With the onset of the rainy season, Senator and Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go reminded Filipinos to remain vigilant against dengue and other diseases, such as diarrhea, leptospirosis and influenza, amid the present threat brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). "During this time when we are still facing the COVID-19 pandemic, we should also be prepared to prevent and control possible outbreaks of rainy-day diseases by practicing proper hygiene, and cleanliness in our homes and in our surroundings. We should know what to do when there is an increase in number of cases in our areas of residence or in the workplace," Go explained. "Our hospitals and health facilities should also be prepared to manage potential cases considering the burden already caused by COVID-19 to our healthcare system," Go added. The Senator also echoed the advice of the health department to Filipinos to take advantage of the quarantine protocols to clean their surroundings and prevent the outbreak of other kinds of diseases. "Malaki po ang epekto ng malinis na kapaligiran sa pag-iwas natin sa mga sakit. Kaya naman gamitin po sana natin ang pagkakataong ito para panatilihin ang kalinisan ng ating kapaligiran," said Go. Noting how quick contagious diseases spread and spare no one, Go encouraged Filipinos to clean their surroundings and practice health and safety precautions, not just to protect themselves, but also their loved ones, communities, and the rest of the country. "Dahil sa ating karanasan sa COVID-19, nakita po natin kung gaano kabilis kumalat ang mga nakahahawang sakit at papaano ito nakaapekto sa pang-araw araw nating pamumuhay. May magagawa po tayo para maiwasan ang pagkalat ng mga ito kung magtutulungan tayo," Go explained. Go cited DOH's 4S strategy against dengue to bolster awareness and prevention from the mosquito-borne disease. "Suyurin at sirain ang mga pinamumugaran ng lamok; Sarili ay proteksyonan laban sa lamok; Sumangguni agad sa pagamutan kapag may sintomas ng dengue; at Sumuporta sa fogging o spraying kapag may banta na ng outbreak." He also reminded the public to adhere to the minimum health standards, such as the practice of physical distancing, use of face masks and handwashing during this time of pandemic. "At this time, there may again be a sudden increase in the number of cases of rainy day diseases among the young and old alike as a result of the spread of viruses and bacteria in relatively enclosed spaces or crowded areas," he said. "Bagamat may ulat ang DOH ng pagbaba ng kaso ng dengue sa bansa, manatili pa rin tayong maging vigilant sa dengue at iba uri ng sakit lalo na sa panahon ng COVID-19," Go said as the Department of Health recently reported that the number of dengue cases in the country from January to May have decreased by 46% relative to the same period last year. According to the DOH Health Promotion and Communication Service, the decrease in dengue cases in the country may be attributed to vector management, increased awareness, and community participation. "It is vital that everyone is informed about the status of our communities with regards to the trends of the incidence of these diseases so that our LGUs should take the necessary actions to avoid the occurrence of other outbreaks that will compound our problems in dealing with the COVID-19 situation," Go said. Given the looming threat brought by COVID-19, dengue and other diseases, Go has previously urged the government to ensure that public hospitals have adequate bed capacity and capabilities to accommodate Filipinos who could get sick in this time of pandemic. "As we face the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to improve our government health facilities and prepare ourselves for any health crisis that may arise in the future," he said. Go has sponsored in the Senate the passage of several local hospital bills as part of his push to improve the healthcare access for all. Among these measures include four local hospital measures; namely bills upgrading the CARAGA Regional Hospital in Surigao City and increasing its bed capacity; increasing the bed capacity of Bicol Medical Center in Naga City; upgrading the Maria L. Eleazar District Hospital in Tagkawayan, Quezon Province; and renaming Talisay District Hospital in Talisay City, Cebu into Cebu South Medical Center. The bills pertaining to the hospitals in Surigao City, Talisay City and Tagkawayan in Quezon province were recently signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte. Seven other similar bills being sponsored by Go are pending approval on third reading in the Senate. Given the lengthy process it takes to upgrade public hospitals, Go has filed Senate Bill 1226, or the proposed DOH Hospital Bed Capacity and Service Capability Rationalization Act, that aims to authorize the DOH to increase the bed capacity and service capability of its retained hospitals and to allow it to promulgate evaluation and approval guidelines. "Tulungan natin ang DOH na maisaayos ang mga ospital nila para mas maibigay sa mga Pilipino ang nararapat na serbisyong medikal, lalo na sa oras ng pandemya tulad ngayon," Go said in an earlier statement. Explaining his determination to champion bills improving healthcare access for all, Go emphasized that it is his duty as a legislator and chair of the health committee to address various healthcare needs of Filipinos. "It is our duty as legislators to enact measures that would help address the lack of appropriate facilities and equipment in our government hospitals, most especially in these crucial times," Go said. "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. - - - In this episode: Heather Long reports on how the lack of child care during the pandemic is hurting families and businesses. Samantha Schmidt discusses why women are more affected by this economic downturn . And Sarah Pulliam Bailey explains what it's like to join Alcoholics Anonymous through video. Press Release June 30, 2020 Angara wants more mega quarantine facilities in Cebu City Senator Sonny Angara called for the establishment of more mega quarantine facilities in Region 7, especially in Cebu as the number of cases continue to rise in the various provinces in Central Visayas. As of June 28, 2020, Region 7 has breached the 8,000 mark on the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, with Cebu City accounting for 4,962 of these. A total of 252 COVID-19 deaths have also been recorded, with 157 of these from Cebu City. "We need to put up more mega quarantine facilities in Region 7, especially in Cebu City, which could become the country's next COVID-19 hotspot in the country. The Department of Health should step up its response in Cebu City because the only way that we can flatten the curve is if all areas of the country are able to control the spread of the disease," Angara said. Angara made the call in his comments to the 13th report of Malacanang to Congress on the implementation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act last Wednesday, June 24. It has been reported that the health workers, particularly the nurses in Cebu City, are overworked due to the continued rise in COVID-19 cases and are asking for support from both the government and the private sector. For the entire Cebu province, the total bed occupancy rate stands at 67.2% as of June 22. Specifically, 70.3% of isolation beds are occupied, 58.8% of ICU beds are filled up, while 60.27% of mechanical ventilators are in use. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has noted that Cebu City hospitals are already at full capacity with all ICU beds in use and 90% and 93% of isolation and ward beds respectively are occupied. In response to this call, the IATF said that it is putting up more quarantine facilities in Cebu City. Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano said that he, along with Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, will go to Cebu City to look for more sites to host isolation or quarantine facilities. A newly-constructed quarantine facility situated at the South Road Properties in Cebu City, which can accommodate more than 300 patients, was opened on Monday, June 29, 2020. Angara also called on more hospitals in Cebu City to adopt the use of convalescent plasma therapy to treat severe cases of COVID-19. As someone who successfully recovered from COVID-19 and was subjected to the convalescent plasma therapy, Angara has been advocating for the donation of blood plasma from fellow COVID-19 survivors and the establishment of a database linking donors to hospitals that can perform the experimental treatment. Angara lauded the efforts undertaken by the Cebu Doctors' University Hospital to use both convalescent plasma therapy and a hybrid therapeutic plasma exchange as possible treatments for COVID-19 patients. The hybrid therapeutic plasma exchange involves the removal of bad plasma from a patient and replacing these with good plasma from donors. The hospital has recorded a successful recovery from a severe COVID-19 patient using the novel treatment. About 70 survivors and the loved ones of victims and survivors traveled from all over the country to Sacramento for the plea hearing of Joseph DeAngelo, the man who confessed to being the East Area Rapist and the Golden State Killer. The people sat in a Sacramento State ballroom Monday for hours as they listened to all the crimes many in detail committed by DeAngelo as he pleaded guilty to each one. Many gathered Saturday to prepare for the hearing. They had created a strong support network that developed over the years and decades joined together by the unique and terrible journeys they had to experience because of the notorious serial killer, who was at large for more than 40 years. DeAngelo, 74, pleaded guilty on Monday to 13 murders spanning six California counties from the 1970s and '80s. In doing so, he has admitted to being the Golden State Killer. The former police officer also admitted to dozens of sexual assaults that he could not be criminally charged with because too much time has passed. In exchange, DeAngelo will avoid the death penalty. Many of the survivors and loved ones said they don't know how they would have gotten through this decades-long journey without each other. Here are what some of the survivors and loved ones had to say: Dolly Kreis, mother of 1977 rape victim Deborah Strauss My daughter was a rape victim, Kreis said. When asked if she thought the day would ever come that the man who raped her daughter would be convicted of his crimes, Kreis said no. I thought I would die before this day came. So, we kept getting older and older. Unfortunately, she did pass away before this day came, Kreis said. A family member said they blame Strauss early death on DeAngelo too. For the terror and paranoia and everything she went through afterward, Kreis explained. It changed her completely. Kris Pedretti, raped in 1976 in Carmichael Pedretti said she is part of a private Facebook group with about 250 people who were impacted by DeAngelo and his crimes. It was Dec. 18, 1976. We like to call ourselves by numbers. I was number 10, Pedretti said. I was 15 years old and it really kind of changed my whole view on the world. The day after, I wasnt who I was the day before. Michelle Martin, raped in 1978 in Contra Costa County Martin was the 39th person raped by DeAngelo when she was 23 years old. Martin said she was at home with her son when she was attacked. Its completely disrupted my life, Martin said. Ive moved out of the state and I just want this over. I just want this over. Hes taken two-thirds of my life from me. Margaret Wardlow, raped in 1977 in Sacramento County Wardlow was 13 years old when DeAngelo raped her and her mother, Dolores Wardlow. I myself was a victim, but I think all of Sacramento was a victim of this man, Wardlow said. Because we couldnt stay indoors at night and leave a window open or screen door open. Everyone was in a fit of panic, and it was unfortunate what he did to this town. It really was a time of sheer terror. Bob and Gay Hardwick, attacked in 1978 in Stockton DeAngelo broke into Bob and Gay Hardwicks home, tied up Bob and assaulted Gay. The couple wasnt married at the time. Now, the couple is about to celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary. Gay Hardwick said they are happy with the plea agreement. We got it all locked down now, she explained. So, theres no changing of minds, theres no appealing. There are many guilty pleas -- admission of guilt in all of our cases. So, the outcome is something weve waited on for 42 years. Jennifer Carole, daughter of murder victim Lyman Smith and stepdaughter of Charlene Smith Carole was young when her father Lyman Smith and her stepmother Charlene Smith were found bludgeoned to death in 1980 in their Ventura County home. Charlene Smith was raped before DeAngelo killed the couple. DNA from the crime scene led investigators to DeAngelo, Carole said. Carole said when she saw DeAngelo brought into the hearing in a wheelchair, appearing fragile and weak, she was not happy. Im disappointed that this man who was so powerful and did so many things cant even sit up to the table like his mother would tell him if he was 5 years old, Sit up. Speak clearly, Carole said. No, hes doing his act. He leaves as he came in. As a coward and a shameful human being. President Donald Trump's tweet landed at 7:39 a.m. Sunday morning, and senior White House advisers say they immediately realized they had a problem. The president had shared a video on Twitter that included a Trump supporter shouting "white power" at counterprotesters during a demonstration at The Villages, a retirement community in central Florida, and had called his supporters there "great people." Senior staff quickly conferred over the phone, and then began trying to reach the president to convey their concerns about the tweet. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, son-in-law Jared Kushner and other senior advisers spoke with president, said several people familiar with the discussions, who requested anonymity to share details of private conversations. Roughly three hours later, the president gave the go-ahead to delete his incendiary tweet - moved, in large part, by the public calls from Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senate's only black Republican, to do just that, aides said. White House spokespeople claimed that Trump didn't hear his supporter twice shout "white power." But neither the president nor his team publicly condemned the racist phrase, setting off another controversial news cycle for a president already struggling to unite the country amid accusations that he traffics in racist and racially inflammatory language. Amanda Carpenter, a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and a Trump critic who wrote a book titled "Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies To Us," said the president's unwillingness to disavow the "white power" comment was damning and more important than the belated deletion of the tweet that initially amplified the video. "What President Trump and every member of his campaign and the White House need to do is come out and say, 'We do not want votes from people who shout "white power" or hold up white-supremacist ideology, in any way, shape, or form,' '' Carpenter said. "Until they do that, they're stoking this." As protests over police brutality and racial injustice have erupted across the country in recent weeks, Trump has dialed up his inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly turning to racist tropes. Trump has also defended statues of Confederate generals as "beautiful" and pledged to block bipartisan efforts to rename military bases named after military leaders who fought in defense of slavery during the Civil War. Despite multiple opportunities to condemn the Confederacy or make broader appeals to racial unity, the president has declined, often taking the opposite approach. He has decried the protesters taking to the streets as "THUGS" and "terrorists" and threatened to unleash massive force against them, including with "vicious dogs" that recall the brutality employed against black civil rights activists in the 1960s. Trump has tweeted out several videos of black men attacking white people in recent weeks as he has attempted to discredit the broader Black Lives Matter movement. The president's recent inflammatory remarks build upon a long history that includes promoting the racist conspiracy theory that former president Barack Obama was not born in the United States, deriding Mexican immigrants as criminals and pushing for a ban on Muslim immigration into the United States. The steady stream of racist and offensive language from Trump has convinced many Americans that the president is a racist, according to recent polling. And the president has even injected his derisive rhetoric into his handling of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, twice referring to the respiratory disease that originated in China as the "kung flu." Lily Adams, a senior adviser to a super PAC supporting former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said "the fact that Donald Trump and the White House won't even clear the bar of condemning white supremacy just shows how devoid of any morals things really have become." Speaking on "Fox & Friends" Monday morning, McEnany said Trump hadn't heard the "white power" shout, but never condemned the language, saying, "His point in tweeting out that video was to stand with his supporters, who are oftentimes demonized." She was more explicit during a news conference later in the day, claiming that while Trump did listen to the video before sharing it on Twitter, "he did not hear that particular phrase." As McEnany left the White House briefing room, reporters shouted after her, asking why the president and his advisers had declined to condemn the phrase "white power" - but the question was never posed during the news conference, nor did McEnany proactively bring it up. A senior White House official said that had McEnany been asked, she was prepared to say that of course the president condemns white power, white nationalism and racism in any form. McEnany also entered the briefing room with a set of bullet points alleging problematic statements and stances of Democrats on the issue of race, including Biden and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. Trump's tweet was just the latest racial controversy that prompted Republicans to try to defend or explain away the president's behavior. Paris Dennard, the senior communications adviser for black media affairs at the Republican National Committee, argued that people should focus not on Trump's original tweet, but on the fact that he eventually took it down. "Deleting the tweet was a clear sign that President Trump did not agree with the comment, deleting the tweet was the condemnation and it was the correct and responsible action," Dennard said. "President Trump has always denounced and condemned racism, bigotry and violence as a private citizen, candidate and President of the United States. I am more concerned at the fact that the media is not asking Team Joe Biden to condemn his long history of very bigoted, offensive and racist comments all over social media." Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, when asked about Trump's decision to share the video, said he believed the White House explanation that the president didn't realize what he was promoting. "I think that - how I have observed and sometimes do things without listening to every word - that that's not impossible, and I think he showed his sincerity by withdrawing," Grassley said. The Villages Republican Club said in a tweet that it was "appalled" by the turn of events. "In the video a man was yelling 'White Power,' " the group wrote. "This is NOT what we stand for and is NOT a reflection of Village residents. We must unite as a Country!" A spokesman for the club, John Calandro, said in an interview that there was "no justification" for the comment and that it was "disappointing" that it had been amplified to Trump's 82 million followers. "When you have a community like ours you don't like to have anybody cast it in a light that's not favorable," he said, adding that Trump continues to enjoy strong support among residents. The Villages, where 97% of the population is white and less than 1% is black, is the kind of place where Trump's "Make America Great Again" pitch has a specific racial appeal, said Andrew Blechman, who wrote "Leisureville: Adventures in a World Without Children," a book about the sprawling retirement community. "The entire place is a pantomime of a make-believe sepia-toned fantasy of 'the way America used to be and should be' - where white people dominate, blacks are either nonexistent or nonthreatening domestics / low-wagers, and teens go to sock hops and jerk soda," he said in an email, adding that he was not surprised by the views expressed in the video. - - - The Washington Post's Paul Kane contributed to this report. Officers arrested a man in after he reportedly shot a woman who tried to steal a Nazi flag flying at his home over the weekend in Hunter. According to the Enid News and Eagle, Garfield County deputies responded around 3:10 a.m. Sunday to a report that shots were fired in the 200 block of East Cherokee Street. Reports also indicated that a woman in her 20s had been shot. SPRINGFIELD Illinois young corn crop is looking strong, according to the U.S. Department of Agriultures Illinois Crop Condition and Progress report. As of Sunday, the crop was rated as 12 percent excellent, 55 percent good, 27 percent fair and 6 percent poor or very poor. Press Release June 30, 2020 De Lima alarmed over increasing discoveries of underground health facilities for Chinese patients Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has expressed alarm over the increasing discoveries of underground health facilities catering exclusively to Chinese nationals in the country, and the failure of authorities to file appropriate cases against offenders. De Lima filed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 452 which seeks to ensure that these illegal operations would not further impair and jeopardize the government's continuing medical response to COVID-19 and determine the accountability for the failure to duly prosecute and/or initiate deportation proceedings against the offenders. "These illegal healthcare facilities not only undermine our laws on medical practice, but likewise jeopardize our COVID-19 program by hiding the persons suspected of having COVID-19," she said. "This is not only an alarming attempt to underreport COVID-19 cases and to further complicate the ongoing government medical response -- which at present is already problematic -- but also another instance of the government putting at greater risk the public health and safety," she added. Last April 27, authorities have raided two illegal clinics and a stockroom in Paranaque City which housed boxes of medicines and medical supplies from China, including medicines being sold as "treatment" for COVID-19 Chinese patients. Last May 18, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided a makeshift medical facility catering to Chinese patients inside the Fontana Leisure Park in Clark Special Economic Zone in Zambales where they discovered around 200 COVID-19 rapid test kits, syringes and unsanitized volumes of hospital wastes as recovered in the trash bin, among others. Two Chinese nationals, who failed to present any license for their operations, were arrested in the May 18 operation, but released on the same day without any charges filed against them. Less than a month after, on May 26, another illegal facility was discovered in Makati City which almost has the same scheme with that of the illicit hospital in Clark. De Lima, a former justice secretary, said the failure to immediately file the appropriate cases against the Chinese nationals apprehended in Fontana Leisure Park need to be examined for possible malfeasance or nonfeasance on the part of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI). "While our Bureau of Immigration (BI) was tough against Sister Patricia Fox, in spite of her years of service to many of our countrymen, or Javier Parra, for his altercation with law enforcers, it appears that the same zeal is not being displayed against the Chinese nationals who are caught in flagrante delicto operating illegal hospitals," she lamented. "Such brazen disregard for our laws and public health and safety deserves no less than full legal response from our law enforcement agencies to show that our country will not tolerate the same and ensure that the same will not be easily repeated," she added. It can be recalled that BI ordered Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox to leave the country for allegedly participating in protest rallies in July 2018 while the bureau filed deportation charges against Spanish resident of Dasmarinas Village, Makati City Javier Parra for "undesirability" and for "overstaying" last May. The Committee for the Removal of Public Monuments has bagged its biggest trophy to date. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio acceded to a request from Ellen Futter, president of the American Museum of Natural History, to remove the equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, that fronts the museum entrance. The statue has long been controversial because of the hierarchical composition that places one figure on horseback and the others walking alongside, and many of us find its depictions of the Native American and African figures and their placement in the monument racist, Futter wrote in a letter to the mayor. She added, While the statue is owned by the city, the museum recognizes the importance of taking a position at this time. We believe that the statue should no longer remain and have requested that it be moved. The Roosevelt statue has long been a target for progressives. Last year, the museum organized an exhibition, Addressing the Statue, which did a poor job of exploring the issues involved. As our critic Edward Rothstein wrote at the time, (T)he exhibition actually does very little to help explain the statue or to put it in context. And while it claims to want to participate in a national conversation by presenting a variety of views, its own weigh down the scales. This current anti-monument wave degrades what originated as a legitimate grievance: the presence of Confederate monuments, many erected during the Jim Crow era to perpetuate the Lost Cause myth and advance white supremacy. But that idea has been taken over now by what has turned into a mob intent on willy-nilly eradication of chunks of American history. And so during the recent protests in Boston, we saw the spray-painting of the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial, a monument to the first African American regiment to fight in the Civil War and an emblem of racial reconciliation and harmony. They toppled a statue of Ulysses S. Grant in San Francisco. Never mind that as president, Grant enforced Reconstruction, lobbied for passage of the 15th Amendment and prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan. With the capitulation of the Natural History Museums leadership, the coerced erasing of U.S. history has gained momentum. It is a good moment for what remains of unintimidated funders of these institutions to consider whether their money could be put to better use elsewhere. The Wall Street Journal To the Editor, Uplifting news can be hard to find these days, from the tremendous challenges of the coronavirus pandemic to social unrest over the senseless loss of Black lives. Yet, there is reason for hope. This hope comes in the form of increased investment in community health centers in the new state budget that goes into effect July 1. These additional funds represent a down payment on real change and the opportunity to turn the corner. State legislators and Gov. JB Pritzker heard the pleas of the 390 community health centers across Illinois urging more resources to improve health equity and better serve minority and low-income communities. They responded with nearly $200 million in emergency funds for health centers to address challenges related to coronavirus and millions more in base funding to strengthen access to care for years to come. The Illinois Primary Health Care Association thanks Gov. Pritzker as well as our health care champions in the Legislature, especially the Black and Latino caucuses, for making community health centers and their patients a priority. Each year, Illinoisans see a nearly $2 billion return on investment from community health centers in the form of improved health care outcomes for our 1.4 million patients and reduced health care costs by preventing the need for care in more expensive settings. Recent national turmoil over racism and discrimination reminds us that we have a long way to go to heal our communities. Meaningful, sustained investment in marginalized populations is long overdue. Community health centers stand ready to partner with our elected officials to build upon the work we have done in underserved communities over the past 50 years. It is time we restore trust, faith, and hope for Illinoisans who have been left behind. Health care must be treated as a right, not a privilege because at the heart of vibrant, prosperous communities are safe, healthy, and thriving families and individuals. Jordan Powell President and CEO, Illinois Primary Health Care Association "Fixer Upper" fans in search of a Chip and Joanna Gaines fix can now purchase a home renovated on the show in season five. "The Ivy House," from the third episode of the show's final season, is listed for $549,900. Located in Woodway, TX, the home has been on the market since late April, and the price has been sliced four times in just two months. It initially went up for sale on April 29, with an asking price of $629,900. In short order, almost 13% has been cut from the price. The current homeowners, Gayle and Tim Jackson, appeared on the popular show and told Chip and Jo that they wanted a "coastal" vibe for their abode. They also requested that the design incorporate a home office, a layout that worked well for cooking and entertaining, and a space for guests. On the episode, the Jacksons had an all-in budget of $400,000, and dropped $212,000 to purchase the Ivy House. That left $188,000 for the Magnolia team to spend on their renovation magic. The "Fixer Upper" team transformed a once tired four-bedroom space into a home with a bright and functional interior. The team helped to elevate the homes nonexistent curb appeal and added a few signature touches along the way. As seen on the show, all the work came in under budgetthe Jacksons spent $174,000 on the renovations. Touches to the exterior, such as a pergola and Bahama shutters, are meant to evoke an island vibe. We want the Jacksons to feel like theyre on vacation every single day, Chip says in the episode. Inside, plenty of trademark Gaines style is visible in the home's 3,484-square-foot layout. The "Ivy House" in Woodway, TX realtor.com Living room with exposed beams realtor.com Dining room with French doors realtor.com Game room and guest room with Murphy bed realtor.com Office with shiplap realtor.com Patio realtor.com Details include the addition of shiplap to the office, as well as French doors out to the patio. In the dining room, French doors open to create a brightly lit space. Just adjacent, the living area includes a double-sided stucco fireplace flanked by archways and exposed wood beams. The open kitchen now includes a huge island with storage, an exposed brick wall, and a gas stove with a pot filler. An owner's suite as well as a guest bedroom and bath are both on the home's main floor. Upstairs, the custom-designed game room is a cool, multifunctional space. It transforms into the fourth bedroom, which has a hidden Murphy bed and full bath, a perk that the family noted that they'd grown to appreciate. The Murphy bed is one of our favorite features, partly because we had no idea how often it would get used, they said. Set on just over a third of an acre, the large corner lot is surrounded by mature trees and landscaping that can be viewed from every window. The backyard includes a patio for lounging. Out front, the stamped concrete patio is a perfect place for an al fresco gathering. Interviewed after the renovation, the Jacksons were asked how the Gaines did in fulfilling their vision of rustic meets coastal in the middle of Texas. The couple love Hawaii, but live in Texas. I really wanted the home to have the same beach feel, really light and airy, but with the rustic touch Joanna is so good at," Gayle Jackson said at the time. "I wanted the beachy feeling that was also warm and homey, and I loved how she combined the two. No word on why the Jacksons have decided to part with the place, but now you can catch a wave and buy this beachy Gaines makeover. Amanda Cunningham with Coldwell Banker Apex, Realtors holds the listing. The post 'Ivy House' From 'Fixer Upper' Season 5 Is Available for $550K appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. (BPT) - As the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are eager to celebrate healthcare workers on the front lines who cope with the disease every single day. Youve probably heard countless stories of the amazing acts of kindness and courage exhibited by the doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff who are facing the virus head on. But among the brave and selfless healthcare providers who put their energy, compassion and even their health on the line to give care to the suffering are many unsung heroes the healthcare workers in long-term care facilities and nursing homes. Their untold stories involve not only their capacity to acknowledge and mourn great loss, but also their dedication to providing the compassion and care required to help their residents persevere and recover. In a time like this, they deserve recognition for their sacrifices. Mother and daughter team In Indianapolis, mother and daughter team Lenore Williams and Aubrey Baker both work at long-term care facilities. Williams says that colleagues at CommuniCare, a national, family-owned company that operates long-term care, assisted living and rehabilitation facilities across the country, has helped hundreds of residents recover from the virus. Our division alone has recovered over 150 patients, and I think it has largely been due to the love and care our staff provides, said Williams, a regional director of clinical care for CommuniCare. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, long-term care facility employees have learned and implemented strict new protocols for bolstering resident and staff health and safety including lockdowns that unfortunately keep residents apart from their loved ones. There are people who care about your family members that are in here. We are trying the best we can, said Baker, a qualified medication aide at Wildwood HealthCare Center on Indianapolis east side. They are very scared, and I try to tell them that it is going to be OK, said Baker. Baker tested positive for COVID-19 back in March but has fortunately since recovered. As soon as she was cleared to return to work, despite her mothers wishes, she went back to the COVID 19 unit. Care at long-term facilities goes way beyond COVID-19 Healthcare workers at care facilities provide vital daily care and assistance for those unable to care for themselves. They are dedicated to continuing to provide that quality care to the best of their ability despite the dangers and challenges of the current pandemic. For our patients physical and mental well-being, we wake up every morning, put on our scrubs and protect our patients, says Ashley Johnson, nurse at Landmark Nursing Home in Texas. We reduce injury. We improve health. We work with recovery, post-operative care and sometimes assist with palliative care. We maintain skills in supporting someone with degenerative diseases. We help people develop, recover and improve skills needed for daily living and working. We help people communicate I love you to their loved ones after a stroke. We improve quality of life and will continue to do so for our residents. Read inspirational stories of recovery and kindness, then send your own messages of thanks and encouragement to healthcare workers and residents in long-term care and assisted living at CareNotCovid.com. This sponsored article is presented by Brandpoint. Requiring people to wear a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a subject of debate on social media and elsewhere, but the fact remains businesses that dont follow the requirement can face serious consequences. Businesses that do not enforce requiring their employees or customers to wear a mask can be cited and could also risk losing their insurance as well as their license for failing to obey the order of the state secretary of health, Press Secretary Nate Wardle said Monday. Many businesses in Luzerne County that were ordered to shut down or suspend at least some in-person services, such as restaurants and bars that were forced to limit sales to carry-out or delivery, reopened at half-capacity on June 19 when the county entered the least-restrictive green phase of pandemic recovery. Since then, reports of some local bartenders, wait staff and store clerks not wearing face masks while waiting on customers have surfaced. Signs posted at some establishments state that wearing a face mask is recommended, but Wardle said Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levines order requires employees to wear face masks while performing their duties near others and requires customers to wear face masks when entering establishments. Some business owners are reminding patrons of those requirements. III Guys Pizzeria in Dallas posted to its Facebook page a photo of new signs reminding customers that face masks are required in the restaurant and bar at all times unless you are seated at your table minutes after co-owner Joe Costello spoke with a reporter on the topic on Monday. Responding to a report that customers and employees were seen in the establishment over the weekend without masks, Costello said a few of my girls have underlying lung conditions that prevent them from safely wearing masks. Wardle noted that Levines order says that individuals who cannot wear a mask due to a medical condition and children under age 2 may enter the premises and are not required to provide documentation of such medical condition. Businesses should advise the customer that masks are required; tell the customer that only those who cannot wear a mask due to a medical condition may enter the premises without a mask; and advise the customer that almost any face covering would be acceptable, Wardle said. If a customer is belligerent or aggressive, there is no expectation that an employee should force a customer to comply or put themselves in a dangerous situation, he added. Wardle said that if a customer is refused service, and if the business is not able to provide a mask, the business should consider providing information on mask making, distributing how to flyers or sharing information about where masks can be purchased. All employees waiting on customers at Rodanos restaurant on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre on Monday were observed to be wearing face masks. Owner Frank Rodano wasnt available, but a server said employees are required to wear a mask, and so are customers when they are not seated at a table. Wardle said anyone who wants to file a complaint against a business for failing to follow orders related to the pandemic can do so at https://expressforms.pa.gov/apps/pa/doh/COVID-19-Complaint. The state has received nearly 20,000 complaints about businesses failing to follow directives in Levines orders via a standardized online complaint form, but Wardle didnt know how many of those complaints were related to wearing face masks. Any citations, fines or other penalties state agencies issued to this point have been in regard to businesses opening against the phased reopening process, Wardle said. JERMYN Borough council will vote Thursday on an ordinance to restrict fireworks to three holidays. If council passes the legislation during its 7 p.m. meeting, residents will be able to set off fireworks only for the Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day holidays, council President Frank Kulick said. People will have from dusk until 10 p.m. on the day of the holiday and the day prior for fireworks, he said. Anyone violating the ordinance could face a $100 fine. We dont want to take away the joy of fireworks, but I think its time to corral it in, say, OK, do it, but heres the time, he said. The borough has received a lot of complaints from residents about people shooting off fireworks late at night, Kulick said. People usually start setting off fireworks the week preceding the 4th of July, borough Police Chief William Arthur said. The weekend before 4th of July is usually bad, he said. The weekend after the 4th of July is usually bad. The department fields up to 10 calls regarding fireworks every week around Independence Day, Arthur said. Both Kulick and Arthur said the borough will take a common-sense approach to enforcement. Because the legislation would go into law Friday, many people wont even be aware of it this year, Kulick said. Were not going to run around giving out $100 citations this holiday, he said. Police will try to educate residents instead, Arthur said. Were going to try to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand and educate the people as to what they can do and what they cant do with the fireworks, he said. Police will confiscate professional-grade fireworks, he said. We dont want anybodys house to burn down, Arthur said. Council will meet at the Jermyn Community Center, 440 Jefferson Ave. June 30, 1955 Crockett hats flammable Scranton fire inspectors sent out a warning to parents and shop owners beware paper Davy Crockett hats. The inspectors said that the hats were flammable and should be removed from sale. Fire Superintendent William Morgan said the hats were a menace to the lives of children. Morgan wanted to get the word out about the hats to parents because if a child wearing one of these hats was also given a sparkler it could lead to serious injury or death. Scrantons warning followed a statewide warning issued in New York about the hats. No fireworks for the Fourth State police and Scranton police announced that they would be strongly enforcing the states law banning the sale of fireworks. State police reported that they had already arrested three people one Dunmore resident and two Throop residents for selling the holiday noisemakers. The three were all operators of grocery or novelty stores. The Scranton police also reported that a young boy was injured by fireworks on the 500 block of Hemlock Street. According to police, the injured childs mother called after her son received cuts to his face and head after a friend dropped firecrackers into a milk bottle. The firecrackers exploded the bottle. The only holiday noisemaker that was permitted in Pennsylvania was caps. Shopping list Smoked hams for 43 cents per pound, a pound of hot dogs for 43 cents, fresh ground beef for 35 cents per pound, quart jar of pickles for 27 cents, 2 pounds of American cheese was 95 cents, whole watermelons were $1.49, six packages of Kool-Aid were 25 cents and two packs of paper plates were 25 cents. Brian Fulton, library manager, oversees The Times-Tribunes expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history. Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com or 570-348-9140. The same Russian spy unit that has poisoned Russian dissidents seeking refuge in other countries has been accused of paying bounties to Taliban-related groups in Afghanistan for killing U.S. and coalition troops. That obviously is outrageous, matched only by the Trump administrations failure to respond to it. U.S. intelligence agencies became suspicious in January when a U.S. commando team raided a Taliban outpost and found $500,000 in U.S. currency. Captured Taliban fighters told U.S. interrogators of the alleged bounty program. President Donald Trump, who for some reason has launched an effort to readmit the Putin regime to the G7 group after its banishment for its clandestine war in Ukraine, claims to have not been briefed about the alleged bounty program, but that is in dispute. In any case, the question now is what the administration will do in response to prices being placed on the bodies of U.S. soldiers. Russia has denied the accusation as Western propaganda, but Russian President Vladimir Putins track record does not afford him the benefit of the doubt. All nations pursue their own interests. All nations spy. But even within that context, bounties are beyond the pale. Congress must ensure that this outrage does not go unanswered. Press Release June 30, 2020 Mental health should be a priority concern; Bong Go appeals for better access to government psychosocial assistance amid global pandemic Senator and Chair of the Senate Committee on Health Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go is appealing to the Departments of Health, and Social Welfare and Development to bolster efforts to extend psychosocial assistance to individuals struggling with mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression and other more serious psychological issues. "In this time of pandemic, we should also ensure that mental health is valued, promoted and protected. Aside from physical health, 'yung mental health, napaka-importante rin po," Go recently stated. The Senator notes the ongoing pandemic and subsequent disease-containment responses have created conditions that are taking a toll on the mental health of many adults and children. Public measures, such as social distancing and self-isolation, can cause loneliness and fear in people which in turn increases anxiety and stress. Moreover, people receiving mental health services before the pandemic may have been cut off in areas under community quarantine. "Marami pong nade-depress dahil sa sitwasyon ngayon. In fact, nakakalungkot ang mga OFWs natin, napakatagal na napalayo sa kanilang pamilya. Alam ninyo, hindi nababayaran 'yung lungkot. Napakahirap mapalayo sa pamilya," he continued. DSWD Secretary Roland Bautista revealed that concerned agencies led by DSWD and DOH are actively working to address the rising number of Filipinos seeking mental health treatment. Over 150 individuals have availed of the agency's online psychosocial counseling as of June 2020. Despite this, Go believes the government can do more to lend support to Filipinos during the crisis. This includes expanding existing mental health services, raising awareness about mental health issues, and addressing barriers, such as stigma, access and inconvenience, that discourage people from seeking treatment. He encourages the aforementioned departments to take advantage of online platforms, such as social media and other technologies, which may provide free and greater access to mental health care and psychosocial support. Last May 28, the Senator presided over a Senate health committee hearing to discuss Senate Bill 1471 which seeks to amend Republic Act 11036 or the Mental Health Act. Filed by Senator Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara and supported by Senator Go, the bill will enhance Section 5 of the Act or the Rights of Service Users. The new section will provide Filipinos with mental health conditions immediate access to the "compensation benefits and/or any special financial assistance that he or she is entitled to under existing laws should the service user sustain temporary or permanent mental disability while in the performance of duty or by reason of his or her office or position." The proposed amendment is an opportunity to reinforce the rights and protections afforded to the affected Filipinos, according to Go. Essential workers reporting to work despite facing substantial health risks must be adequately protected. He reminded employers that the mental well-being of their employees has a direct impact on their productivity. "Now more than ever, they must fulfill their moral obligation to take care of their workers given the emotional toll of the pandemic." "With or without COVID-19, napakaimporante ng health, kalusugan po ng bawat Pilipino... Let me reiterate, let us learn from this pandemic and work together to strengthen our health care system and to better provide quality health care to our people," added Go. Editor: The Times-Tribune and others reported on June 15 about the liquefied natural gas tanker truck explosion on a roadway in China that killed 19 and injured 189. We cant let that happen here, but we risk that same type of tragedy. A project under construction in Wyalusing Twp. in Bradford County plans to become operational in 2021 to make 3.5 millions gallons of liquified natural gas daily and move it overland to a port on the Delaware River. That equates to a steady stream of 40-foot tanker trucks with hazardous gas potentially traveling although routes have not been disclosed on Routes 6 and 11 or Routes 29 and 309 from Wyalusing to interstate highways. The permitting of this project was simply facilitated by a conditional use zoning decision by supervisors in just one township and site-specific permits by Pennsylvanias Department of Environmental Protection, without consideration of the wide area risks and harms of this project. Why is that? So that investors can profit and our federal government can continue its ill-advised policy promoting natural gas exports. Find out more at ProtectNorthernPA.org. DIANA DAKEY DALTON Editor: Richard Byrons (Division escalated, June 11) responds to my June 4 letter by criticizing the fact that I always bash Republicans and President Trump, but never say anything about Democrats. While he criticizes me for always bashing Republicans, he never disputes anything that I have written about them. This leads me to believe that his real issue with my letters is that the truth hurts. Democrats arent perfect, but compared to todays Republicans, they look pretty darn good. Byron claims that my letters cause havoc and division. Imagine that, a Trump supporter accusing me of creating havoc and division. Trumps entire time in office has been nothing but chaos, confusion and dividing people. Trumps former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said that Trump is the first president in his lifetime who does not try to unite the American people and does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. Instead of making silly accusations, Byron should worry about the division Trump causes in the Republican Party. At least three groups of Republicans have formed super PACs and have produced political ads in support of former Vice President Joe Bidens presidential campaign. I believe Byron and his fellow Trump supporters are in for a very bad day come Nov. 3. BEN EGLESIA DICKSON CITY Editor: Pennsylvania educators and administrators are putting plans in place to reopen our schools to students in the new school year. We have a lot of work to do, but one thing is clear: Our schools will need federal help to reopen safely. That is why the Pennsylvania State Education Association urges Congress to provide $175 billion in emergency federal education funding. The economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused state and local tax revenues to plummet. Despite facing its own deficit, the state maintained school funding next year without cuts. Emergency federal funding is our only hope to bridge revenue shortfalls at the local level. Otherwise, schools will have to make deep cuts that could cost up to 40,000 jobs in education across Pennsylvania. For schools to reopen safely, we need school staffers to keep the physical spaces in our schools free from illness and to meet the needs of students. I urge our U.S. senators and representatives to provide the additional funding our schools will need to make that happen. RICH ASKEY PRESIDENT, PENNSYLVANIA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, HARRISBURG Editor: What is happening to our country? Are we being led by a faction trying to undermine us? They want to erase all our history. The taking down of statues is just the beginning. They will progress with burning first of history books then all books. They already get away with the burning of our flag and now the statue of Francis Scott Key, who wrote our national anthem, has been torn down in San Francisco. Our history is important. We learn by mistakes and change the bad and embrace the good. I, at 84, lived through some bad times in my youth, but they made me a better person. I pray God will prevail and save our Constitution and our country from the terrorists who are doing this to attain power. IRMA MEONI SCOTT TWP. Editor: Most opinions of our president twist his words to satisfy the opinions. He has done more for this country by making sure we are first and making other countries pay their fair share. He is not like the last president, who let jobs leave this country. How many manufacturing jobs left while he was president? He divided this country, abandoned our black brothers and sisters, gave guns to cartels and apologized for our precious sacrifice and generosity overseas. President Trump did more to help our minority brothers and sisters in three years than anyone in at least 50 years. Ask Black pastors, the leaders of Black colleges and universities. He was the one who got them funded and enacted prison reform, which ended the draconian sentences imposed on young Black men. Just think about all the illegal things that were done to this president. Look at what is happening to this country, with the burning and looting. I say a country without laws is a country lost EMIL KONZMAN CLIFFORD TWP. SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY Editor: President Trumps administration, comments, politics and philosophy can be summarized as: Me, me me. I hope that Americans understand the danger. This me, me me attitude threatens our democracy, unity, our international reputation and the rule of law. I thought that the self-centered me, me me outlook was a teenagers condition, not a presidents way of life. BOB RUSSELL SCRANTON London, KY (40741) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers early, then overcast overnight with occasional rain. Low 58F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Job Title: Legal Assistant Recovery Organization: UGAFODE Microfinance Limited (MDI) UGAFODE Microfinance Limited (MDI) Duty Station Kampala, Uganda Kampala, Uganda About US: Limited (MDI) is a registered financial institution in Uganda and is adherent to the Central Banks regulations and guidelines and was founded in 1994 to provide quality microfinance services. UGAFODE MicrofinanceLimited (MDI) is a registered financial institution in Uganda and is adherentto the Central Banks regulations and guidelines and was founded in 1994 toprovide quality microfinance services. Job Summary: The Legal Assistant Recovery will be responsible for implementing legal action for the non-performing portfolio of the Bank as guided by the Banks Policies and existing Laws in order to maintain the Banks asset quality in addition to managing litigation risk. The Legal Assistant Recovery will be responsiblefor implementing legal action for the non-performing portfolio of the Bank asguided by the Banks Policies and existing Laws in order to maintain the Banksasset quality in addition to managing litigation risk. Key Duties and Responsibilities: advisory services and support to the Credit Recovery Function of the Bank in order to foster effective management of Regulatory and Litigation risk and to facilitate the recovery of Non-Performing loans. Provide cost effective and timely legaladvisory services and support to the Credit Recovery Function of the Bank inorder to foster effective management of Regulatory and Litigation risk and tofacilitate the recovery of Non-Performing loans. in liaison with External Advocates, Baliffs which includes but is not limited to reviewing pleadings, preparing instructions, supporting Bank witnesses, instituting the suits, coordinating hearing dates and providing necessary documents to support timely resolution of the Banks cases. Co-ordinate the conduct of litigation mattersin liaison with External Advocates, Baliffs which includes but is not limitedto reviewing pleadings, preparing instructions, supporting Bank witnesses,instituting the suits, coordinating hearing dates and providing necessarydocuments to support timely resolution of the Banks cases. fora of Alternative Dispute Resolution and participate in negotiating settlements in liaison with the Banks External Advocates and/ or the Credit Department. Represent the Bank in Courts of Law, otherfora of Alternative Dispute Resolution and participate in negotiatingsettlements in liaison with the Banks External Advocates and/ or the CreditDepartment. forwarded for legal action to support recovery and to ensure compliance with the legal regime and Bank policies and implement the appropriate action. Conduct due diligence on non-performing loansforwarded for legal action to support recovery and to ensure compliance withthe legal regime and Bank policies and implement the appropriate action. legislation on recovery of loans and Follow up, monitor the debt collectors to ensure all recovery mechanisms are done within the law Advise the credit department on thelegislation on recovery of loans and Follow up, monitor the debt collectors toensure all recovery mechanisms are done within the law and recovery cases and prepare reports on litigation and recovery cases for Management consideration within the required timelines. Maintain schedules of up-to-date litigationand recovery cases and prepare reports on litigation and recovery cases forManagement consideration within the required timelines. queries in accordance to Bank Policy/ Service Level Agreement standards and timelines. Address external and internal customerqueries in accordance to Bank Policy/ Service Level Agreement standards andtimelines. recovery correspondence/ files and ensure safe custody thereof. Maintain a record of relevant litigation andrecovery correspondence/ files and ensure safe custody thereof. from time to time. Perform any other duties that may be assignedfrom time to time. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal candidate for the UGAFODE Microfinance Limited Legal Assistant Recovery job must hold a (LLB -Hons) from a recognized University. Bachelor of Laws(LLB -Hons) from a recognized University. A Diploma in legal Practices from the Law Development Centre At least one (1) year of experience in post training experience and admission to practice law in Uganda Sound understanding of the laws and regulations relating to financial institutions. Litigation risk management Demonstrate team building, excellent interpersonal and networking skills Ability to exercise integrity and confidentiality Excellent communication and presentation skill How to Apply: If you believe you meet the requirements as noted above, please submit an application letter together with an up to date CV to our email only: recruitment@ugafode.co.ug (please indicate the position you are applying for in the Subject Line e.g. Legal Assistant Recovery). Resource. Applications should be addressed to the Head of HumanResource. th July 2020 Deadline: 15July 2020 EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence scored the 100th goal of her career in a 16-1 win against Lincoln. St. Lawrence finished her career with 104 goals, eight short of the school record. The team did not play last season due to the coronavirus pandemic. JOSH MOONEY, Stonington track & field, sophomore: Mooney scored in three events at the State Open meet. Mooney was second in the 110 hurdles, fourth in the javelin and fifth in the 300 hurdles. He scored all 17 of Stoningtons points. ALEX STOEHR, Westerly softball, freshman: Stoehr hit three triples and a double in a doubleheader sweep of Barrington. For the week, she was 7 for 13 with four doubles, two triples and three RBIs. Stoehr is hitting .333 for the season. Vote View Results Port Allen, LA (70767) Today Cloudy skies this morning followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 87F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 74F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Press Release June 30, 2020 Hontiveros urges Gov't not to downplay Mindoro coast collision "Are we going to let another Chinese vessel get away with committing a "hit and run" against Filipinos inside our territorial waters?" This was the question posed by Senator Risa Hontiveros Hontiveros on Tuesday as she urged the Philippine government not to downplay the maritime collision between a Philippine fishing boat and the Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Occidental Mindoro yesterday. "Pumanig naman tayo sa sarili nating mga mangingisda," Hontiveros said after Malacanan's assertion that the crash with 14 Filipinos still missing is 'banggaan lang.' The government also said that the said incident will be resolved under PH maritime laws as it happened within Philippine territorial waters. "Fourteen of our Filipino fishermen are missing. Our priority should be to find them, fully investigate, and not to further protect China's interests," Hontiveros also said. "We shouldn't soft-pedal these incidents when we know this is not the first time that Chinese vessels have put Filipinos in danger," she added, referring to the sinking of Philippine fishing boat F/B Gem-Ver 1 by a Chinese vessel in June last year. The Senator also urged the Philippine Coast Guard 'to leave no water or land unchecked in their search, rescue, and investigation.' "I appeal to the government to commit that we will be able to return these Filipino fishermen to their families as soon as possible," she said. Hontiveros also said that the government should demand justice from China since the "hit and run" act of the Chinese ship, like the Gem-Ver 1 incident, is in stark violation of international law. "The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and other similar treaties clearly mandate that after a collision, ships must render assistance to the other ship and its crew and passengers. Ang nangyari, binangga na nga ang mga kababayan natin, ay walang awa pa silang iniwan sa dagat." The senator said that the government should also make China accountable for its continuing abuses, including the building of illegal "stations" in the West Philippine Sea, particularly at the Zamora and Kagitingan Reefs, in the middle of the pandemic. The destruction that China has wrought on the Philippines' reef ecosystems has amounted to P200 billion worth of damages. "Unahin nating protektahan ang kaligtasan ng ating mga mangingisda at ng mga Pilipino kesa sa feelings ng China," Hontiveros concluded. Hundreds of thousands of customers of mobile banking apps and prepaid currency cards will be able to access their money again after regulators unfroze restrictions on the British arm of German payments processor Wirecard. The Financial Conduct Authority previously revoked the licence of Wirecard's UK arm last Friday, after Wirecard had filed for insolvency following the discovery that 1.7billion was missing from its accounts. The move had immediate consequences for customers of banking apps like Anna, Dozens, FairFX, Pockit and U, who have had no access to their money over the last few days. German payment provider Wirecard's UK subsidiary had its permissions revoked by the Financial Conduct Authority last Friday. This means millions of prepaid cards are unusable Since Friday morning customers have been unable to use their cards, issued by Wirecard, send or receive money out of their accounts and have seen direct debits frozen. 'The FCA ordered the firm's UK arm to stop any "regulated activities", which includes not paying out or reducing any money it holds', Jon Ostler, the chief executive of comparison site Finder said. 'As Wirecard is the payment processor for a number of finance brands in the UK, like Pockit, Curve, FairFX and Anna Money, this resulted in some customers' payment accounts and prepaid cards effectively being frozen.' The FCA's actions, which it said were designed to protect customers money, coincided with the last Friday of June, payday for millions, while some customers of the likes of Pockit were unable to access benefits paid into their account. Many of the apps, like Pockit and U, are aimed at so-called 'unbanked' people who did not have access to a bank account with a mainstream high street bank. But the FCA said in a statement late last night that it was lifting the restrictions it imposed on Wirecard's UK in the early hours of Tuesday morning. 'We are now in a position to allow Wirecard to resume operational activity', it said. 'This means customers will now, or very shortly, be able to use their cards as usual.' The FCA added: 'If any customers are still experiencing difficulties in using their card, they should contact their card provider directly and should do so using the contact details on their website.' Reading the fine print: Pockit is one app-based card provider which has been caught up in the freezing of Wirecard's activities in the UK. It offers services similar to a current account to more than 500,000 people who can't get accounts with mainstream banks Can customers access their money now? Many of the apps and card providers which used Wirecard to issue cards or process payments have also published updates late last night or earlier this morning. Although they warned customers things might not return to normal straightaway, most of the biggest names have since said their cards are working again for payments or to withdraw money. However some features are still unavailable for now. Pockit, which has around half a million customers, said it would email users when their accounts were active and cards ready to use again. It wrote in a tweet this morning that customers were now able to transfer money in and out of their accounts, and said in an update just after midday that cards were working for both cash withdrawals and debit card payments. The city regulator said late last night it was lifting restrictions on Wirecard, meaning customers of apps it provides payment services for can access their money Fellow banking app provider U, owned by doorstep lender Morses Club, said in a statement on its website at 8am this morning that customers could transfer money out of their accounts and receive BACS payments, but could not currently use their cards. Its cards are now working again but faster payments into accounts are not yet back online. Anna, a business banking app, said it expected all its functions to work properly either later this morning or early this afternoon, with card payments now working again. Pockit tweeted this morning that it was bringing back services, but customers would not be able to use their cards straightaway It also urged those who could afford not to make payments not to do so, to avoid overloading its systems. The app previously said it would waive June's fees for customers as a result of the inconvenience And FairFX, one of around 18 prepaid currency travel money cards which use Wirecard, said all cards were now working again. Prepaid foreign currency card provider FairFX said this morning its cards would soon begin to work again after the FCA lifted the restrictions on Wirecard Curve, an app with 1.3million users which allows users to load multiple cards onto one piece of plastic, brought its payment processing in-house over the weekend and so customers were able to use their cards again yesterday. Many of the apps sought to reassure customers over the weekend by telling them their money was safe, as under Wirecard's e-money licence it must hold money in a separate ring-fenced bank account, as it is not a bank itself. What will customers do? With many customers now able to withdraw money at ATMs and make transfers, as well as use their cards to make payment, it remains to be seen if they will continue to stick with some of these banking apps or rush for the exit. While it is not their fault, some commentators have suggested the effective freezing of customers' money is a damaging setback for the fintech world, given how many apps were involved up with Wirecard. Many are now trying to develop partnerships with different payment providers. Ian Strafford-Taylor, the chief executive of FairFX, said: 'We have accelerated the development of a new FairFX multi-currency card solution that is not dependent on Wirecard, and this will be available shortly.' We greatly appreciate the loyalty and patience of our customers and we are taking decisive action to support and protect customer accounts Pockit statement But customers, many of whom may be financially vulnerable and can't afford to go without access to their money, may still be tempted not to take the risk of such an incident occurring again. We asked several of the firms caught up in the FCA's actions against Wirecard if they were concerned about customers leaving it. Pockit said: 'We apologise for any distress and inconvenience the disruption to our service has caused to our customers in recent days. While this was an issue beyond our control, and not as a result of Pockit's actions, we understand completely the frustration and alarm that such an unexpected setback has caused, not only for Pockit customers but also many more who have accounts and cards with other companies across the UK. 'We greatly appreciate the loyalty and patience of our customers and we are taking decisive action to support and protect customer accounts, including an orderly transition to another, UK-based, payments provider, about which we will inform our customers in due course.' Both FairFX and Pockit stressed that customer's money was safe, and Mr Strafford-Taylor added: 'We have been working around the clock to ensure our services were restored and also to provide emergency solutions for customers where FairFX cards were their only source of funds. 'FairFX is known as a company which provides outstanding customer service and international payment solutions, and we continue to be committed to this.' Tifton, GA (31794) Today Rain showers early with scattered thunderstorms arriving for the afternoon. High near 85F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening followed by thunderstorms late. Low 73F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. This subscription will allow current subscribers of The Tillamook Headlight Herald to access all of our online Subscriber-Only content, including the E Editions area. NOTE: To claim your access to the site, you will need to enter the Last Name and First Name that is tied to your subscription in this format: SMITH, JOHN If you need help with exactly how your specific name needs be entered, please call us at 1-(503) 842-7535 or email admin@countrymedia.net. Cresaptown, MD (21502) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, overcast overnight with occasional rain likely. Low 62F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Barre, VT (05641) Today Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 89F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy with showers and a few thunderstorms. Low near 65F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (Precinct) (NZX: PCT ) confirmed today that at 11pm, 30 June a small fire ignited within a skip bin on level 22 of PWC Tower Commercial Bay. The fire protection systems were activated, and the fire was extinguished by the sprinkler system. The Fire Service attended the site. Precinct understands that no one was injured. All occupiers have been notified. It is expected that the relocation dates for most occupiers will be unaffected by the fire, however this will be further assessed in the near future. The Commercial Bay retail centre is unaffected and will open for trade as normal. An investigation is underway to better understand the cause of the fire. 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: 21st June 2021 Morning Report Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) TPW Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Trustpower Limited (NZX: TPW) Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Mercury NZ Limited (NZX: MCY) Agrees to Acquire Trustpower's Retail Business Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) $250m Equity Raise to Fund Wellington Acquisitions 17th June 2021 Morning Report 16th June 2021 Morning Report Investore Property Limited (NZX: IPL) Divestment of Dunedin Property 15th June 2021 Morning Report 14th June 2021 Morning Report remaining of SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM! 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. Dorothy Eleanor Mercer passed away on June 9, 2021 at Archbold Memorial Hospital. She was born on December 18, 1932, in Pavo to the late Early Byrd Wood and to the late Nellie Deen Wood. She was married to Eugene Mercer who precedes her in death. Survivors include her children, Leon David Mc Further to the Stride Property Group (Stride) announcement in June 2020 regarding the establishment of the Industre Property Joint Venture (Industre), Stride announced today that the transaction was completed yesterday, and Industre commences operations from today, 1 July. Industre is a joint venture between Stride Property Limited (SPL) and a group of international institutional investors, through a special purpose vehicle, advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM). Industre is focussed on the industrial property sector and commences business with 13 industrial properties in Auckland and Hamilton, including two properties that are currently under development. The vision for Industre is to grow a significant portfolio of high-quality industrial properties in New Zealand, and Stride, on behalf of Industre, has been active in seeking to progress this strategy. To that end, Industre has unconditionally agreed to acquire a property at 1 Ross Reid Place, East Tamaki for $15.5 million, due to settle on 23 July 2020. The property is leased to Facteon Intelligent Technology Limited, a Haier Group company, with a remaining lease term of 2.3 years, reflecting an initial yield of 5.5%. In addition, the property includes 2,977 sqm of vacant surplus land. Following this acquisition, SPL will hold 65.8% of Industre. The acquisition of Ross Reid Place follows the acquisition of the Wickham Street, Hamilton property acquired in April 2020 in contemplation of Industre being established. Part of the Wickham Street property is currently being developed as a resource recovery park for Waste Management, who will take a 25 year lease upon completion of the development. 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: 21st June 2021 Morning Report Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) TPW Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Trustpower Limited (NZX: TPW) Announces Conditional Sale of Its Retail Business Mercury NZ Limited (NZX: MCY) Agrees to Acquire Trustpower's Retail Business Precinct Properties New Zealand Limited (NZX: PCT) $250m Equity Raise to Fund Wellington Acquisitions 17th June 2021 Morning Report 16th June 2021 Morning Report Investore Property Limited (NZX: IPL) Divestment of Dunedin Property 15th June 2021 Morning Report 14th June 2021 Morning Report COLONIE Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday said travelers from another eight states have been added to the list of those facing quarantine when arriving in New York state. Travelers from California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee will have to quarantine for 14 days upon arriving in New York. They join travelers from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Utah who already face quarantine because of the community spread of COVID-19 in those states. On Monday, the state Health Department began asking passengers flying into Albany International Airport to complete forms revealing whether they're required to self-quarantine for two weeks. Passengers arriving from states with high COVID-19 infection rates are being instructed to quarantine for 14 days, under Cuomo's edict last week. At the airport, Health Department employees were available to answer travelers' questions and to accept their completed forms, which cite "New York's successful containment" of the illness by way of introduction and bear the message, "WELCOME TO NEW YORK STATE" across the top. Air passengers on Monday were getting the documents, the state's COVID-19 Travel Advisory and the Traveler Health Form, as they arrived. Some airlines also were shipping the forms to their flights' departing airports so that they could be distributed on board. "As filling out these forms is voluntary, there are no penalties for passengers who dont fill them out," Health Department spokeswoman Jill Montag said in an email. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage Passengers are asked for their addresses, whether they've traveled to one of the states with spiking COVID-19 infections and if they have such symptoms as fever, chills or difficulty breathing, and whether New York is their final destination. They're also asked whether they are "essential" workers and whether they plan to be in New York for more than 36 hours. Out-of-state residents are told that they must cover the cost of "appropriate accommodations" if they don't have a suitable New York dwelling for self-quarantine. It's not clear, however, how many people are actually filling out the documents. "As we have just started collecting data, response rates are not available," Montag said. "People we have identified from the questionnaires as requiring quarantine will be contacted by Health Department staff and/or contact tracers for follow-up." The move to quarantine travelers from states with "significant community spread" of COVID-19 was announced by Cuomo last Wednesday. Several states in the south and west have seen significant spikes in cases in recent days. A state will land on the quarantine list based upon a seven-day rolling average of positive conronavirus tests in excess of 10 percent, or if its number of positive cases exceeds 10 per 100,000 residents. The administration has been vague about how the order will be enforced, though Cuomo said that official checks could be made. "The law is if you come in from another state you have to self-quarantine for 14 days. If you don't, and you get caught, you will have violated the law you can be fined," he said in a Thursday interview on CNN. " ... But if you fly into New York, we'll have your name, we'll know where you're supposed to be staying, (and) there will be random checks. You get pulled over by a police officer and he looks at where your residence is and says, 'How long have you been here?'" Washington Michael Haith, owner and CEO of a Denver-based restaurant chain called Teriyaki Madness, is in an unusual position for people like him: He's making money through food delivery and pickup and wants to borrow funds so he can expand. Yet so far, a Federal Reserve lending program set up specifically for small- and medium-sized businesses like his hasn't been much help. He can't find a bank that's participating in the program, and he isn't clear on a lot of the details about how it works. For example, he isn't sure how much he could borrow. "We are trying to figure it out, and trying to find a bank that is working with the government on this," Haith said. "The guidance is pretty convoluted, and the banks seem a little wary." Haith's experience underscores banks' surprising lack of interest in the Fed's Main Street Lending program, as well as the challenges potential borrowers are having accessing the program. Fed officials say more than 200 banks have signed up to participate since the program began two weeks ago, but that's a small slice of the nation's roughly 5,000 lenders. None have made any loans yet. The sluggish start is in sharp contrast to the reaction that greeted the Treasury Department's small business lending efforts, known as the Paycheck Protection Program. That facility, launched in early April, set off a frenzied response from millions of desperate small companies seeking a loan. The first $350 billion in PPP funding ran out in just two weeks before being replenished. Congress agreed to forgive the loans if they were mostly spent paying workers. The Fed has come under criticism from a congressional watchdog for quickly taking steps to ease the flow of credit for large corporations but doing little for smaller companies. The Fed this month began its first-ever purchases of corporate bonds issued by companies such as AT&T, Microsoft and Pfizer. The delay in Main Street funding may arise during a Tuesday hearing before a House committee in which Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are scheduled to testify. Powell said in prepared remarks released Monday that the PPP has apparently met the immediate credit needs of many small businesses. "In the months ahead, Main Street loans may prove a valuable resource for firms that were in sound financial condition prior to the pandemic," Powell said. The Fed's Main Street Lending program is the central bank's first attempt since the Great Depression to go beyond its typical financing for large banks and Wall Street firms and instead provide loans to businesses. Its goal is to help companies survive the pandemic by providing low-cost, five-year loans with no interest payments for the first year or principal payments for the first two years. Banks will make the loans, and the Fed will purchase 95 percent of the value, freeing up banks to do more lending. Lauren Anderson, senior vice president at the Bank Policy Institute, a lobbying group for large banks such as Bank of America and JPMorgan, said some of the group's members have signed on, mostly as preparation in case the economy worsens later his year and more troubled companies need help. So far, business aren't clamoring for the loans. "There's not huge borrower demand," she said. "I don't think we're going to see a mass run to the banks and a huge amount of loans being written at this point." Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, said in an interview that the PPP attracted more interest because it essentially provided cash, not loans. "So it's not surprising that a grant program is more popular than a lending program," he said. "Everybody wants a grant." European leaders talk of shortening supply chains and curbing China's "Belt and Road" plan. But on the ground in Italy, Gimmi Baldinini says his designer footwear company is in no position to cut ties with the Chinese. "Chinese workers have a better hand with gym shoes," said the chairman of Baldinini, founded by his family in 1910 in northern Italy, where it still has the main production hub for the top segment of his goods. To produce sports shoes, the company relies on a Chinese plant in the Shenzhen area. "Production costs over there are 75% lower than in Italy. I can't consider cutting them off and reshoring that particular production line," he said. "Simply, there's no other way, unless the Italian government decides to cut tax and labor costs dramatically." Already buffeted by U.S.-China trade tensions, the European Union has stepped efforts to produce closer to home in the wake of the global pandemic, which is causing the steepest recession in almost a century. While drugs and medical gear have been an immediate priority, the initiative is wide-ranging. In an unusual foray into industrial policy, European Central Bank Executive Board member Luis de Guindos and Dutch central bank Governor Klaas Knot have independently argued that companies should consider moving parts of their supply chains closer to home even if that meant higher costs. While the U.S. voiced its concerns about China's economic rise earlier and more loudly, Europe is seeking to thwart China's expansionist policies, including using tariffs to try to curb the "Belt and Road" infrastructure plan. As part of a proposed 750 billion-euro ($843 billion) coronavirus recovery package, the European Commission is talking about ensuring "strategic autonomy" in key sectors and building stronger value chains within the EU. It says a new pharmaceutical strategy will address risks - such as Europe's limited production capacity - exposed during the crisis. It won't be an easy task. China manufactures about 40% of all active pharmaceutical ingredients used worldwide, according to Stada Arzneimittel, a German producer of generic and over-the-counter drugs whose manufacturing facilities are mostly located in Europe. While China is an essential part of the supply chain, the company has increased inventories of components with longer shelf lives in recent months and is trying to source supplies from more than one manufacturer and from different countries, a Stada spokesman said. The push isn't just a proposal sitting in Brussels. National governments across the bloc are pushing to source supplies locally, competing for investments in production capacity in the process. - - - Germany plans to present a supply-chain strategy in the next few months as it aims to reduce the vulnerability of core industries to potential disruptions in trade flows. As part of the process, Europe's largest economy is seeking to enforce tighter rules on human rights and environmental protection on incoming goods, a way to help protect local manufacturers. Any rules should be designed in a way that doesn't create an additional burden for companies, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said in June after meeting industry representatives. Supply-chain resilience is crucial for German industry because 17% of its production relies on global suppliers - a much bigger share than in other countries. A recent study from the Munich-based Ifo Institute showed that Germany's dependence on international suppliers could hold back the economy's return to business as usual after the pandemic. Evidence suggests that a massive shift back to Europe is unlikely because of the ever-growing importance of China. The Asian superpower already accounts for about 40% of global vehicle deliveries for leading German carmaker Volkswagen. In May, the German auto giant increased its exposure to the country by buying stakes in battery company Guoxuan High-Tech and in its electric-vehicle partner. "Manufacturers are moving toward more regional sourcing," said Elmar Kades, a consultant at advisory firm AlixPartners. "But there won't be 100% regional sourcing as companies will still need to ship certain raw materials, precious metals or electronics components that are used worldwide." To counter Asian dominance in electric-car batteries, France and Germany have pooled efforts to kick-start a European industry. The bloc plans to invest about 8.2 billion euros in coming years to build champions in battery-cell production, according to Laurent Michel, an official at France's Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition. - - - Bringing manufacturing closer might not necessarily mean inside the EU. New plants could be located just outside the bloc. While French President Emmanuel Macron has been trying to keep manufacturing at home, the country's carmakers have reduced capacity in France and opened new export-oriented plants in Morocco. Peugeot manufacturer PSA Group opened its largest plant outside Europe and China there last year. Keen to boost exports, Moroccan authorities have managed to draw about 70 manufacturers of automotive components with the help of incentives, including free land plots, tax breaks and massive investment in infrastructure. Bolstered by relatively low wages for an EU country, Portugal was already noting the efforts to shorten supply chains even before the virus outbreak. "We were seeing some moves in this direction about two years ago, in both industrial and services sectors," Luis Castro Henriques, chief executive officer of Portuguese trade and investment agency Aicep, said in an interview. Examples include investments by Japanese automotive textile maker Howa Tramico, German exhaust expert Eberspaecher Gruppe and South Korea's Hanon Systems, which produces compressors for air conditioning in cars. - - - In Eastern Europe, countries such as Poland and Romania are also pitching to attract investment, leveraging their EU membership, existing links to Western companies and labor costs that are a fraction of what employers in Germany pay. "Many entrepreneurs and investors are wondering how to rebuild those damaged supply chains," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on June 17 as he announced a plan to waive taxes for companies that plan to reinvest their profits in the country. "We are telling the whole world - come to us." Romania has been working on a state guarantee program for large companies to boost "greenfield" investments. The disruption in international supply chains caused by the coronavirus crisis has forced companies to give greater weight to the proximity of vendors, ECB's de Guindos said. The former Spanish economy minister's comments were echoed by his colleague. "We relied very heavily on international value chains in recent years and also actually pressed every buffer out of our system in our urge to efficiency," Knot said on Dutch TV last month. Maybe it's time to be less reliant on foreign countries and focus more on supply security, but "that would come at a cost," he said. Detroit Three federal appeals judges have delayed a court-ordered meeting between the CEOs of General Motors and Fiat Chrysler to try to settle a lawsuit over corruption by union leaders. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Borman last week ordered GM CEO Mary Barra and FCA CEO Mike Manley to hold the meeting before Wednesday. But GM on Friday asked the federal appeals court in Cincinnati to overturn the order and remove Borman from the case. In an order issued Monday, three appellate judges delayed Borman's order to provide time to consider legal points raised by GM. GM is suing crosstown rival FCA alleging that it got an advantage by paying off union leaders to reduce labor costs during contract talks. FCA's former labor chief, Al Iacobelli, is in prison, although the company denies that it directed any prohibited payments. In his order last week Borman described the lawsuit as a "nuclear option" that would be a "waste of time and resources" for years if he allows the case to move forward. The judge ordered Barra and Manley to sit down without lawyers and reach a "sensible resolution of this huge legal distraction." Borman wants an update from them on a public videoconference that same day. Over the weekend he modified the order to allow lawyers to attend the meeting. In a court filing, GM called Borman's order a "profound abuse" of power. "The court possesses no authority to order the CEOs of GM and FCA to engage in settlement discussions, reach a resolution and then appear alone at a pretrial conference eight days later, without counsel," GM's attorneys said. "Second, the court has no business labeling a properly filed federal lawsuit assigned to the court for impartial adjudication 'a distraction' or a 'nuclear option,'" GM said. Borman can't be viewed as impartial, company lawyers said. The judge declined to comment. In a court filing Monday, Fiat Chrysler lawyers wrote that GM didn't make a good case to remove Borman because judges routinely direct lawsuit parties to talk about settling. The lawyers wrote that GM originally wanted the case assigned to Borman but now apparently is worried that his tough questions mean he will dismiss GM's claims. "GM should not be permitted now to complain that that judge has turned out to be less hospitable to GM's claims than GM anticipated. Parties are not permitted to engage in such judge shopping," the filing said. Federal agents have been rooting out corruption in the senior ranks of the United Auto Workers. The first wave of convictions in 2017 involved key FCA employees who used money from a jointly run training center to reward union officials. In the spring of 2017, a production executive withdrew an encrypted hard drive from a midtown Manhattan vault and boarded a flight to London. A year before, a film crew had shot two of the final "Hamilton" performances featuring most of the original cast, and the plan was to lock the footage away for five or six years, until the time felt right to share it with the public. But a cut was ready to show the person whose opinion mattered most: Lin-Manuel Miranda, the show's laureled creator and star. Miranda was in Britain, filming "Mary Poppins Returns." So the "Hamilton" movie's brain trust flew over, renting a private screening room in a hotel basement that the star could readily access during a break from Cherry Tree Lane. The team did not have to wait long to find out what Miranda thought. As the screening got underway, he periodically interjected his approval, and when the final number began, he took off a shoe and threw it into the air. "I thought, 'OK, we did our job,'" said Jon Kamen, chairman and chief executive of RadicalMedia, which produced the film. "If he starts throwing his shoes around the theater, it's pretty special." The public will finally get a chance to see the film neither a feature nor a documentary but a live-capture of the stage show and will not even have to wear shoes. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Disney, which last year outbid competing studios for the rights to the film, announced it would forgo a planned theatrical release and instead stream it on Disney Plus starting July 3. The movie, known to legions of obsessive fans by the hashtag #Hamilfilm, will be the first opportunity for many to see a show that chronicles the Revolution-era life and death of Alexander Hamilton, who was the United States' first Treasury secretary. The show won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in drama and the Tony Award for best new musical. Its prepandemic productions around North America and in London were routinely sold out, with the best seats on Broadway retailing for $847, and its cast album has been on the Billboard 200 chart for 246 weeks. Broadway shows are often recorded for archival purposes, but rarely for commercial runs. The "Hamilton" film was shot over just three days in June 2016, shortly after the Tonys and shortly before Miranda and several other performers departed from the cast. "Theater is like 'Brigadoon' it's this kind of magical thing, and if you weren't there you missed it," said actress Renee Elise Goldsberry, who plays Hamilton's sister-in-law, Angelica Schuyler. "So to be able to save how it felt to do that show, at that time, together with this group of people, was a gift." There were no rehearsals that seemed unnecessary, given that most of the cast had already done the show several hundred times. "These are the most well-rehearsed actors in the history of movies," Miranda said. But there was no room for missteps. "We didn't have the option to go back," said Thomas Kail, who directed the stage production and the film. Kail had strong ideas about the "Hamilton" capture. "I didn't want to pretend we weren't in the theater," he said. "That's why you hear the audience and see the audience a little bit. I wanted to create a document that could feel like what it was to be in the theater at that time." The musical's lead producers Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs and Jill Furman financed the filming. "We just had a funny feeling that, no matter what deal we made at that point, it wouldn't be enough," Seller said. "It turned out it was a good decision." The producers spent "less than $10 million" shooting "Hamilton," he said. They sold it to Disney for roughly $75 million. Disney in some ways seemed like an inevitable choice, not just because of its scale and power, but also because of its growing relationship with Miranda, who wrote songs for "Moana," starred in "Mary Poppins Returns," and is now co-writing a new animated musical, set in Colombia, for the studio. But Team "Hamilton" made Disney sweat for the rights to the film. In 2018, the producers shopped it around Hollywood and then turned everyone down. Then Kail unexpectedly joined the Disney family. He was directing the miniseries "Fosse/Verdon" for FX when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox. And last year, Kail reached out to Bob Iger, then Disney's chief executive, to inform him that the film was still available. Proceeds from the sale, Seller said, will be shared with the beneficiaries of the Broadway production, including the nonprofit Public Theater, where the off-Broadway production was staged, and members of the original cast, who in 2016 won a hard-fought battle to share in the profits of the stage production. The following statement issued by the Palestinian Embassy in Colombo As a step in efforts to confront Israeli threats to annex Palestinian territories, a coalition of Palestinian bodies and organizations have issued an Appeal from Palestine to the Peoples and States of the World calling on the international community to take all necessary and serious measures and actions to confront such threats. The signatories on the Appeal number around 700 unofficial Palestinian personalities from all walks of life representing sectors of the Palestinian people. Among the signatories are former officials, including three former prime ministers, former ministers, leaders of Palestinian parties and factions, people close to the national and Islamic forces, and local, feminist, religious, and academic personalities, businessmen and businesswomen, artists, writers, and activists in different fields. List to date follows Appeal below. The Appeal is a call from all of the signatories, not just from the institutions that have coordinated this important step. It is now open to all to add their names and may do so by sending an e-mail to Yasser Arafat Foundation at: mail@yaf.ps, or through the Foundations social media sites. Signature should include your name, surname, current or former position and city of residence. For many years, Israel has remained an occupying power, occupying the territory of another state and controlling its people. It is a colonial state enforcing settler colonialism, including confiscating land, transferring its population to the territory it is occupying, and enacting a separate living system therein. It is a State that commits grave violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law. It is a State that denies the Palestinian people their right to self-determination and national independence and denies the rights of Palestine refugees, including their right to return, ownership and compensation. It is a State that has ignored international will, rejected and violated all relevant United Nations resolutions and conventions. Recently, the situation has worsened considerably. We have seen an increasing Israeli shift toward extremism, fundamentalism and even fascism. We have also seen a complete reversal of concluded agreements and attempts to take settler colonialism to another level. Israeli officials have publicly voiced positions that reject the Palestinian peoples existence and national rights and confirm the desire to seize all of the Palestinian territory. As well, Trumps recently issued so-called, Vision for Peace, Prosperity and a Brighter Future for Israel and the Palestinian People is in fact not a peace plan, but rather an adoption of the outrageous ideologies that advance greater Israel, deny Palestinian national existence, and attempt to find possible solutions for the Palestinian inhabitants in a disconnected entity that they can call a state if they meet many additional and impossible conditions. The plan paves the way for Israel to annex large swathes of the West Bank, including the areas of illegal settlements, the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea, and areas west of the Wall which the International Court of Justice affirmed the illegality of and the need to dismantle and make reparations for the damage caused by its construction in 2004. The Israeli Prime Minister has now and in many instances declared his intention to annex these areas, a position that was stated expressly in the partnership agreement of the current Israeli government which makes it part of official government policy along with the annexation of occupied East Jerusalem, which the international community has unanimously rejected and deemed to be null and void. Such Israeli policies and procedures constitute a grave violation of the principles and relevant provisions of international law even annul international law and the conduct of States, upon which the international system as a whole is based extinguish the possibility of a negotiated settlement between the two sides, and thus inevitably provoke a long confrontation with catastrophic results. It is the duty of the international community, its States, people and civil society organizations to confront this, prevent it from happening and, if it does, to take punitive and deterrent measures. Reluctance to seriously confront all of this would be a shameful abrogation and would create repercussions in the region as well as the international system. Inaction would be a betrayal of values and principles, a retreat from a negotiated settlement and the establishment of peace in the region based on partition into two states. As concerns the aforementioned, we, Palestinian leaders from all walks of life, including academics, former officials and civil society, appeal to the international community to take the necessary positions and measures to confront and stop this injustice, to preserve the goal of establishing peace and a secure and viable future for the people of the region, including the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, each in their independent state. We specifically ask that immediate action be taken to affirm: 1. By various means, the position against any annexation by Israel of the Occupied Palestinian Territory as a grave violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, as well as in flagrant violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions. 2. The need for all States of the world to abide by relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2334 (2016), specifically to not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders. Additionally, that all States with relations or cooperation agreements with Israel commit to the principle of distinction between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to reject any attempt by Israel to disparage this principle. 3. The need for all States to take specific measures against settlements, settlers and settlement products, including preventing such products from entering their markets, in implementation of the legal contractual obligations of States (third parties) in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, 1949. 4. The need for political entities and civil society organizations to confront the attempt by a few governments to criminalize the above measures, as such criminalization would constitute a violation of international law, or to criminalize support for boycotting Israel on the basis of political and moral considerations, as such criminalization would constitute a violation of values of democracy and fundamental rights of citizens in the concerned States. 5. The need for all States that have relations or cooperation agreements with Israel to take punitive measures in regard to these agreements, in the event Israel takes any step to implement annexation. 6. The need for the States that have not yet recognized, to extend recognition to the State of Palestine, on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in compliance with the principle of partition into two states, acknowledging the existence of two states, and upholding a politically negotiated two-state solution a step that will guarantee the above. 7. Support the steps taken by the State of Palestine and other countries before the International Criminal Court, and national courts throughout the world that allow such legal challenges, against Israeli officials responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including annexation. 8. Support Palestinian, Arab and international efforts in the UN Security Council, General Assembly and other international institutions against any Israeli move toward annexation, in the event such steps taken. In addition, to condemn and declare this move illegal, null and void; to call on all States of the world to renounce and refuse recognition, and to deem Israel an outlaw state. 9. Reaffirm opposition to the so-called Trump Vision and reject all positions by right-wing extremists and settlers in Israel and extreme religious right in America all of whom aim to achieve greater Israel, deny the national rights and even the national existence of the Palestinian people. 10. Support the Palestinian people, Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority in their continuing struggle to confront annexation in the face of Trumps Vision and achieve their national goals, freedom and independence. We, the undersigned, well aware of the great responsibilities placed upon us and the Palestinian people to strengthen our capacities, first and foremost the unity of the Palestinian people and its institutions in confronting the aforementioned, hereby address this appeal to all components of the international community to uphold their responsibilities and take the necessary positions and measures at this historic juncture. Anonymous sources in documentaries have often been reduced to a shadowy, voice-distorted figure or worse, a pixelated blur. But a new documentary premiering Tuesday on HBO has, with the aid of advanced digital technology, gone to greater lengths to preserve the secrecy of its sources while still conveying their humanity. "Welcome to Chechnya," directed by David France, is about an underground pipeline created to rescue LGBTQ Chechens from the Russian republic where the government has for several years waged a crackdown on gays. In the predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia ruled by strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, LGBTQ Chechens have been detained, tortured and killed. France, the filmmaker behind "How to Survive a Plague" and "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson," worked in secrecy with the Russian LGBT Network, a group formed to help save gay Chechens and find them asylum abroad. But France had a dilemma. He couldn't reveal the identities, or the faces, of his main characters. Their lives depended on staying anonymous. Yet France still wanted to faithfully show the trials they were enduring. This was a tragedy that needed a face. That meant none of the old methods of cloaking anonymous sources would work. "They were dehumanizing," France said in an interview. "I believe one of the reasons we haven't been hearing about this ongoing crime against humanity in the south of Russia is because we haven't been able to hear from the people and see the people who have suffered this unspeakable torture. When the only testimony of a crime of this magnitude comes from people who are behind a curtain, it lacks the empathy of the public that this story truly deserves." France didn't know how he would resolve the issue, but he promised those he shot that he would somehow disguise them. After searching and testing a range of approaches, France settled on a novel one: In "Welcome to Chechnya," the faces of all the LGBTQ Chechens have been replaced using artificial intelligence. It's a little like the documentary answer to "The Irishman" or a more altruistic version of a "deepfake." The faces seen in "Welcome to Chechnya" belong, in fact, to 22 volunteers whose faces were superimposed on the people in the film. Most of them are LGBTQ activists in New York. The "face doubles" were shot on a blue screen stage and converted into algorithms that, with machine learning, could digitally mask the subjects of the film. Different voices were substituted, too. "Nobody had ever really attempted this before," said France. "And most people said it was impossible. It turned out it was pretty close to impossible but not impossible." The technology was developed by software architect Ryan Laney. And its implementation was decided through a study organized by Dartmouth College professor Thalia Wheatley, an expert in brain sciences. She showed 109 students different visual effects options of "Welcome to Chechnya" to determine which one conveyed empathy the best and avoided an "uncanny valley" effect. (Another less successful option was using filters to render the film's individuals cartoon-like caricatures.) Still, adding the face doubles throughout the film was a grueling, months-long process that only concluded a week before the premiere of "Welcome to Chechnya" at the Sundance Film Festival in January. "The Irishman," by comparison, altered its actors' faces in highly planned scenes with carefully orchestrated camera movement. France's documentary was full of erratic movements of both camera and people. New York Abortion opponents vented their disappointment and fury on Monday after the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision to strike down a Louisiana law that would have curbed abortion access. The ruling delivered a defeat to anti-abortion activists, but President Donald Trump's re-election campaign quickly invoked it as part of a new appeal to voters signaling its power to motivate religious conservatives who are a key part of his base ahead of November's election. Vice President Mike Pence summed up that argument, tweeting that the Supreme Court's decision made one thing clear: "We need more Conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court." Underlining his case, Pence added "#FourMoreYears." Top pro-Trump religious conservatives noted pointedly that both justices he named to the high court dissented from Monday's decision, aligning with Pence in making the case that Trump should get another term in office to potentially tap more conservative nominees. The Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life and a member of Trump's Catholic voter outreach effort, said the president's "two appointees voted the right way" in supporting Louisiana's ability to require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. "Once again this ruling underscores the importance of elections," Pavone said in a statement. "We need a solid pro-life majority on the Supreme Court to uphold the rights of women and the unborn." Johnnie Moore, an evangelical adviser to the Trump administration, said the decision could help motivate anti-abortion activists to vote to re-elect the president. "Conservatives know they are on the one-yard-line," Moore tweeted. "Enthusiasm is already unprecedented, evangelical turnout will be too." The Trump campaign also invoked the decision to appeal to voters in a statement from deputy communications director Ali Pardo. "This case underscores the importance of re-electing President Trump, who has a record of appointing conservative judges, rather than Joe Biden, who will appoint radical, activist judges who will legislate from the courts," Pardo said. Some right-leaning abortion foes including at least four congressional Republicans responded to the decision by criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by President George W. Bush. Roberts concurred with the court's four more liberal justices while not signing onto their opinion in the case. "Chief Justice Roberts is at it again with his political gamesmanship," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted. "This time he has sided with abortion extremists who care more about providing abortion-on-demand than protecting women's health." "This case was about whether the state has the right to ensure that abortionists who take women's money also provide for their safety," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a prominent pro-Trump evangelical ally, said in a statement, adding that "I do look forward to the day when the Supreme Court will correct the gross injustice of the Roe v. Wade decision that has led to the killing of tens of millions of unborn babies." ALBANY The Capital Region has been cleared to enter phase four of New Yorks reopening process Wednesday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday afternoon. The fourth reopening phase, which comes 116 days after the novel coronavirus was first detected in the region, will allow low-risk indoor and outdoor arts and entertainment, film and TV production, higher education and professional sports operations to resume and reopen. Gyms, movie theaters and shopping malls which had expected for weeks to reopen in this phase are still barred from reopening after the Cuomo administration expressed concern last week about the potential for virus spread in enclosed spaces that attract lots of people. Cuomo this week said that large malls will be required to install high-efficiency air filters capable of filtering out coronavirus particles before they can reopen. When you see spikes in COVID-19 infections in 32 states across the country while the Capital Region gets ready for phase four tomorrow, you cant help but be reminded of not only how far weve come, but also the need to be responsible so we dont backslide, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said Tuesday. McCoy and Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said the regions virus trends have been positive because residents have for the most part complied with mask and social distancing guidelines. As other parts of the nation have been forced to pause reopenings amid a spike in cases, local officials urged people to continue taking precautions so that the Capital Region isnt forced to follow suit. Wearing masks is not controversial from a scientific point of view, Whalen said, in reference to the politics currently driving the mask debate. From a scientific point of view this is the best way you can protect yourself, in addition to frequent hand washing and social distancing. And no matter what age you are, it is essential that you continue to practice these measures because we have a vulnerable population that needs protection against COVID-19. Residents between the ages of 20 and 29 now boast the highest portion of virus cases in the county, with 336 to date a trend McCoy chalks up to the age groups young invincible mindset. Other county executives, including Erie Countys Mark Poloncarz, are reporting similar trends, McCoy said Tuesday. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage These are the kids that have no signs or symptoms that go out into the community, he said. They feel that theyre like Superman or Superwoman and they dont wear masks and they continue to go around people with underlying health issues or they go around seniors and they infect and they spread it. Discover Albany Film Commissioner Deb Goedeke joined McCoy and Whalen at their virus briefing Tuesday to discuss the film and television industrys excitement for phase four of reopening in New York. Two location scouts were in Albany last week to explore possibilities for a Netflix movie, she said, and HBO has been calling as well. Production companies must follow state safety guidelines for resuming operations, and many already have their own safety plans in place, she said. Just like everything else with phase four, the film industry wants to get back up and running, Goedeke said. A TV series generates approximately $125,000 in local revenue each day of production, she said, while a feature film generates roughly $250,000 a day. That revenue results from the use of local hotels, restaurants, car and truck rentals, barricade rentals, and other local business utilization. It can also help generate tourism, she said. Albany currently has two production facilities that qualify for state film tax credits the Times Union Center and Albany Capital Center. That is a definite plus for our city, she said. While were waiting for the larger events and concerts to resume why not come in build your set and film your production right here at one of our stages? Productions are currently seeking lower density areas that can provide more flexibility and safety and we can definitely do that here in Albany. RENSSELAER The S.A. Dunn Landfill, infamously operating adjacent to the city's school complex, has been disastrous for Rensselaer. Early in the morning, garbage-filled trucks rumble through residential streets. Fumes and odors sometimes waft into homes. The growing mountain of construction debris at the 99-acre site looms over the city, visible from across the river in Albany and beyond. Given the impacts, you can understand why Rensselaer residents might be unenthusiastic about another massive garbage facility proposed for the city. You can get why they'd be skeptical toward claims it won't harm their quality of life. You can understand why they'd want the proposed BioHiTech waste-to-fuel plant built somewhere else. "The majority of people that I talk to, about 90 percent, oppose it," said Mike Stammel, the city's Republican mayor. "They oppose the idea of another trash facility in the city." After all, how much garbage can one city take? The Riverside Avenue plant would be built at the southern end of the city adjacent to the historic Fort Craillo neighborhood. According to permit applications, it would take in 150,000 tons of garbage annually rivaling the amount of trash now going to municipal landfills in Albany and Colonie and convert it to a fuel that could be shipped to cement plants as a replacement for coal. There are huge environmental concerns, certainly, given the project's proximity to the Hudson River and its plan to build atop a capped hazardous waste site. Last week, the environmental group Hudson Riverkeeper announced its opposition to the project, citing "numerous, serious concerns for the river." But even if we were to put aside skepticism and accept, just for a moment, that the proposed plant would be environmentally benign, it would still be fair to ask whether it's appropriate for Rensselaer, given the harmful presence of the Dunn landfill. Remember that Rensselaer is a densely-populated and relatively poor city of just 3.5 square miles. Residents are being asked to accommodate two massive garbage facilities just two miles apart. They're being asked to shoulder a heavy burden for the growing trash problem that our wasteful society creates. Again, how much garbage can one city take? "This is the last thing the city of Rensselaer needs," said Judith Enck, an opponent of the project and a former regional EPA administrator. Nevertheless, the city of Rensselaer approved the project and even, as the lead agency overseeing the the application, rejected the need for a full-scale review known as a State Environment Quality Review Act study. That was staggeringly stupid and irresponsible, given the proposal's riverside location atop a Superfund site once occupied by the BASF chemical factory. Consider that the the 72,000-square-foot plant would include large, deep pits under its building that would be filled with waste. It's vital to guarantee that nothing from those pits seeps into the river and that existing toxic waste at the site is not disturbed. No environmental impact study? It boggles the mind. That stupidity happened under a prior mayoral administration, though, and Stammel was elected last year on a wave of voter anger over environmental pollution. On Monday, he told me his administration would require BioHiTech to go through the planning process anew this time with a full environmental-impact study. That's news, and an important win for sanity. It may even stop the project. Even if it doesn't, the proposal would also need state Department of Environmental Conservation permits to proceed. Enck and other opponents are asking the DEC to reject those permits, in part because of how Rensselaer is suffering from the effects of Dunn. It's an economic justice issue, they say, given the poverty in the city and the presence of other polluters. "The combined effects of these form an overwhelming assault on the health and well-being of Rensselaer residents," Riverkeeper said. I've written before that DEC failed the residents of Rensselaer when it allowed the Dunn landfill to open in 2015. The dump doesn't belong near residential neighborhoods, and it certainly shouldn't operate so close to a school complex attended by Rensselaer's children, pre-K through high school. Only the shutdown of Dunn can undo the decision; may that happen sooner rather than later. In the meantime, it would be wrong to allow another massive trash facility in the city. It would be another blow to the many residents already frustrated by Dunn's impact. There's only so much garbage a city can take. cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill After months of fruitless negotiations, France and Tunisia on Tuesday asked their UN Security Council partners to vote on a resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic, diplomatic sources said. The result of the vote, which will be held virtually due the virus shutdown at UN headquarters, is expected on Wednesday. Repeatedly blocked by China and the United States, which opposed a reference in the text to the World Health Organization (WHO), the draft resolution aims to support a similar appeal in March by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The new text, obtained by AFP, has no reference to WHO, which the US has criticized for its management of the crisis. The resolution "demands a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on its agenda and supports the efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General." It says a ceasefire of at least 90 days would help "enable the safe, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance" during the coronavirus outbreak. If adopted, the new draft resolution would be the Security Council's first statement on the pandemic and its first real action since the outbreak started. The body's paralysis for more than three months has been widely criticized, including by some members who have described their "shame" over its inaction. During the negotiations, the United States and China, the two largest financial contributors to the UN, had both threatened to veto resolutions. It is unclear if a Security Council call to end hostilities would have any impact. On Thursday, Guterres welcomed the fact that his ceasefire request was supported by nearly 180 countries and more than 20 armed groups, but he acknowledged that it had not been followed up with concrete action. Short link: In the ultimate analysis birth begins with hope and life ends with gratitude: for memories of a life well lived. If that is at all possible. by Ruwantissa Abeyratne writing from Montreal Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration that it creates Mordecai Richler I do not usually write on philosophy. Last week a much loved niece asked me whether I write anything other than law, politics and economics. This has provoked me to write my musings on what I (and others I admire) think about life and death. I believe life is a brief illusion that all of us face with an inexplicable and inscrutable courage. In a famous Bollywood movie, the hero, who has lost his young wife to an illness, tells his mother who asks him to get married again: we live once; we die once; we love once; we get married oncewe dont do these things again. Although the first part of this philosophy is an incontrovertible fact, for some the second part remains a laughable inanity. Be that as it may, what many of us do in between these four phases is to relentlessly respond to a lifelong impetus that impels us to face the fever of life. We do this with an innate courage which constantly enables us to perform the duties that we owe to ourselves and others as long as we are able. It was Christopher Hitchens who said in his work The Portable Atheist: Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more. Hitchens equiparates courage with intensity which is what we do from birth without realizing. We go through our education, marriage, bringing up children, working a lifetime and retiring comfortably, with consummate ease. At none of these stages do some of us ponder death in the sense of the brief flicker that Richler refers to and we go our own feckless and insouciant way. Not so, with authors who philosophise. They ponder all the time about the meaning of life, as the two examples shown so far in this discussion illustrate. Another example is, Mark Twain, who with his mordant wit once said in Letters from the Earth: Life was not a valuable gift, but death was. Life was a fever-dream made up of joys embittered by sorrows, pleasure poisoned by pain; a dream that was a nightmare-confusion of spasmodic and fleeting delights, ecstasies, exultations, happinesses, interspersed with long-drawn miseries, griefs, perils, horrors, disappointments, defeats, humiliations, and despairs the heaviest curse devisable by divine ingenuity; but death was sweet, death was gentle, death was kind; death healed the bruised spirit and the broken heart, and gave them rest and forgetfulness; death was mans best friend; when man could endure life no longer, death came and set him free. In practicality this might seem improbable, given the nature of the human. We walk through life with hope in our souls and trust in our mortal bodies. Until these are flouted by age or disease we bathe in the glory of the evanescent pleasures of life. Youth makes us feel secure and invincible. For most of us this way of life sustains for a long time. Long enough for us to educate ourselves; get married; obtain gainful employment; have children; build houses and have millions invested. The illusory mirage that this will go on results in the unseen and unfelt courage that helps us achieve the things that count in life. The veneer of success and perceived happiness helps keep all secrets safe: secrets that may be lurking within our mortal being. This was eloquently put by George Orwell who said: A normal human being does not want the Kingdom of Heaven: he wants life on earth to continue. This is not solely because he is weak, sinful and anxious for a good time. Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise. Ultimately it is the Christian attitude which is self-interested and hedonistic, since the aim is always to get away from the painful struggle of earthly life and find eternal peace in some kind of Heaven or Nirvana. The humanist attitude is that the struggle must continue and that death is the price of life. William Faulkner said in As I lay Dying: I can remember how when I was young I believed death to be a phenomenon of the body; now I know it to be merely a function of the mind and that of the minds who suffer the bereavement. The nihilists say it is the end; the fundamentalists, the beginning; when in reality it is no more than a single tenant or family moving out of a tenement or a town. From this intellectual soup a dichotomy emerges. Christians long for release from suffering by going to heaven and reposing in eternal peace. In this belief is the ultimate hope to be rid of infirmity and suffering on Earth. On the other hand, Buddhists believe that all life is in a cycle of death and rebirth called samsara. This cycle is something to escape from. When someone dies their energy passes into another form. As Helen Keller famously said: Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But theres a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see. In other words, if you do well here, youll do well there. My take is that, with no claims to pretension of knowing the arcane philosophy of life, since scientists have pronounced that our genetic code determines only 30% of the health or ill health within our genealogy, and no one has proved or disproved the ultimate destiny of the human, randomness plays a big part in our lives. This might explain why children are born to die of hunger in some parts of the world and others are born into wealth in developed societies. It might also explain why such children born to wealth may die early of terminal illnesses or accidents. In the ultimate analysis birth begins with hope and life ends with gratitude: for memories of a life well lived. If that is at all possible. 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Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff70de728)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff744d9f8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff70de728)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff744d9f8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff707e430)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff744d9f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff744d9f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6787478)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff7450ff8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff7450ff8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 SARATOGA SPRINGS The board of the Shelters of Saratoga has announced the departure of its executive director Karen Gregory, without explaining the nature of her exit. In order to protect the privacy of all parties, we will not be offering additional information on her departure, a statement emailed by the board read. We appreciate your understanding. Gregory did not return calls seeking comment on her leaving the nonprofit. However, those who are close to the situation say that Gregory, who joined the organization in December 2018, was dismissed on Monday by the board because of her poor working relationship with staff as well as officials in Saratoga County government, which funds its Cold Blue winter shelter. In April, Gregory publicly slammed the countys Department of Social Services when it wouldnt pay for hotel rooms for 34 homeless people in the Holiday Inn. Gregory said the move was necessary to save lives because the shelter was not set up for social distancing. She then teamed with Mayor Meg Kelly who drew $62,000 from the citys Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund to pay for hotel rooms for two months. Gregory also stayed in the hotel for the duration, so as not to leave her clients alone in the hotel. By not working with the county, Gregory lost her opportunity for FEMA reimbursement. Gregory did have a close relationship with the city, which granted her another $50,000 in October 2019 "to assist (SOS) with costs associated with their temporary Code Blue facility over the next two years, such as rent, upkeep, winterization and any related expenses not covered by the state." The city also closed the senior center in March, just weeks before the move to the Holiday Inn, to provide the homeless population with more room to socially distance. Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston, who represents the city at the county Board of Supervisors, said she doesnt know what happened with Gregory, but she is hoping her predecessor will work with the county. I assume the board made the best decision for them as a board as a whole, Gaston said. Homelessness is a big issue for the city and the county. I will continue to support Shelters. We need to start planning now for next fall and Code Blue. We need to move forward and it would be best to work together. I foresee us working more closely together. Gregory also ran things differently from previous executive directors, including her predecessor Michael Finocchi, by having an offsite office from the Shelters of Saratogas sober housing on Walworth Street. She settled on West Avenue, away from the population and the services her organization provided there. Board President Peter Capozzola did not respond to a Times Union request to comment further on the search for a new director. However, in the email statement, the board noted transitions are never easy and that Shelters is working with the staff to ensure services to the homeless are seamless. The health, well-being, safety, and success of our guests is our ultimate priority and guiding mission, the statement read. ALBANY A man is in critical condition after an early morning fire on Tuesday. Fire Chief Joseph Gregory said the department is investigating after being called to a home on Yardboro Avenue around 1:45 a.m. There was no immediate information on the possible cause of the fire. Firefighters said bystanders were performing CPR on the man when rescuers arrived. They treated him at the scene and took him to a local hospital. Emergency workers and police also searched for a 16-year-old who was reported missing from the home but the teen was later found on Russell Road. The teen, who is autistic, wandered away from the home after he and others got out of the building, police said. Yardboro Avenue is a small road just north of Interstate 90 near Washington Avenue and the University at Albany's main campus. NISKAYUNA The town board is considering creating a task force on racial equity and justice. Newly-minted town board member Rosemarie Perez Jaquith said recently that she has heard many compelling stories that have deeply moved her since word spread about her idea to convene a group of local people who would do a deep dive into racial issues that exist in this predominantly white suburb. In one, an always well-dressed professional black man who she knows, who has never had any issues with local police, outlined for her the routine he follows and has taught his adult children when they are pulled over by police. I take the keys out of my ignition, I put the keys on the dash, I intertwine my fingers on the steering wheel, and I dont move because I want to make sure I get home and that police officer thats stopping me gets home, she recalled the man saying. I thought thats not right. Asked if thats so unusual, Jaquith, the daughter of Cuban immigrants who described herself as a light-skinned Latina, said she doesnt do all that when she is stopped by officers and that she never felt the need to teach her grown son any such protocols. Town Supervisor Yasmine Syed, who described herself as a mixed race person, said last week that growing up in Niskayuna, she and her brothers faced bigotry, including ethnic slurs directed at them by schoolmates. Her father, Iftikhar, a prominent surgeon at Ellis Hospital, is a Pakistani immigrant and a Muslim while her mother, Anne-Marie is the granddaughter of European immigrants and a Christian. Im glad that these conversations are going to be had, and in our community in particular, I would like to see many issues addressed, said Syed. This community of 22,000, where the median household income is $109,685, is 83% white, 4% Hispanic, nearly 10% Asian, and 3% black, according to census information online. Perez Jaquith explained that the concept for the Task Force on Racial Equity and Justice, which she hopes will be led by brown and black people who live in Niskayuna, was borne out of a recent student-led Black Lives Matter demonstration held outside Town Hall earlier this month. Elected to the town board in November, Jaquith, who recently finished up her term on the school board, said she is buoyed by the fact that shes also heard from white people who want to help out with the task force and others that have been moved for the first time in their life to get involved. She also underscored that it was conceived before longtime Niskayuna Comptroller Paul Sebesta was forced to resign earlier this month after photos of him in black face from 2014 resurfaced. Sebesta's situation played out at the same time as a global reckoning on race and fatal police shootings of black men, many of them unarmed, unfolded. The task force will be charged to conduct a review of the towns policies, practices, programs and services to identify disparities and then create an equity plan that addresses those disparities and also to act as a vehicle for community input, added Jaquith. The town board is slated to consider a resolution at Tuesdays regular meeting to vote and create and set the parameters of the task force. This is an opportunity to do better and I think we will, she added. To believe that we dont have the same issues that the rest of the country has would be foolish, said Jaquith. Meanwhile, the board is also set to discuss the scope of the probe into the allegations against Sebesta, as well as if to appoint Town Board Attorney Paul Briggs as the interim human resources director, a post that Sebesta also held until his departure. Syed said that the investigation will in all likelihood focus on who had knowledge and what was done, if anything, and also to review all of our policies and suggest new policies going forward. Anyone interested in getting involved in the task force can reach out to Jaquith at rjaquith@niskayuna.org. System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6ccaa50)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6787668)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6ccaa50)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6787668)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7fbff6cec168)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6787668)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff6787668)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7fbff67868c0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff6caf160)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7fbff6caf160)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Arizona's Republican governor shut down bars, movie theaters, gyms and water parks Monday and leaders in several states ordered residents to wear masks in public in a dramatic course reversal amid an alarming resurgence of coronavirus cases nationwide. Among those implementing the face-covering orders is the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August. Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's order went into effect immediately and for at least 30 days. Ducey also ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least Aug. 17. Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after the governor's stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May. Arizona health officials reported 3,858 more confirmed coronavirus cases Sunday, the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the seventh time in the past 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Since the pandemic began, 74,500 cases and 1,588 deaths stemming from the virus have been reported in Arizona. "Our expectation is that our numbers next week will be worse," Ducey said Monday. The state is not alone in its reversal. Texas, Florida and California are backtracking, closing beaches and bars in some cases amid a resurgence of the virus. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that he's postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing. New Jersey has been slowly reopening, and on Monday indoor shopping malls were cleared to start business again. Democratic governors in Oregon and Kansas said Monday that they will require people to wear masks. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's order will require people to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces starting Wednesday. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she will issue an executive order mandating the use of masks in stores and shops, restaurants, and in any situation where social distancing of 6 feet cannot be maintained, including outside. The order goes into effect Friday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has opposed a statewide mask requirement but said in response to Jacksonville's action that he will support local authorities who are doing what they think is appropriate. The European Union is preparing a list of 15 countries whose citizens will be allowed to visit the bloc beginning Wednesday, Spain's foreign minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, told the Cadena SER radio network. Because of the resurgence in the U.S., America may not be on that list. "This is not an exercise to be nice or unfriendly to other countries. This is an exercise of self-responsibility," she said. Lark Street is enjoying a revival. After this indelibly dormant spring, it is invigorating to once again walk the neighborhood with my daughter in her stroller and watch her engage with other people and the neighborhood's lively surroundings. Center Square residents and visitors are re-emerging from pandemic hibernation and can once again patronize the area's vibrant economy including restaurants, bars and shops. Unfortunately, while Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan unveiled a street closure program to expand outdoor dining opportunities on weekends, Lark Street remains open to motor vehicles. This should be remedied as soon as possible. As local businesses come to life again, my appreciation for Lark Street and the Historic Center Square neighborhood has been revitalized, too. Being a new family in the neighborhood, my wife and I were drawn here by the lure of a "village-in-the-city" lifestyle. Our daughter's day care is just down the street and we commute daily without ever starting a car. We walk to get groceries and can grab a bite out within a stone's throw of our home. Banning vehicles to increase outdoor seating would be a boon for businesses and allow for safer social distancing. The pandemic has not brought us much in the way of positivity; however, it has presented an opportunity for those who enjoy the pedestrian feel of the neighborhood. Elsewhere, New York City and other municipalities are working to increase public space by closing some streets to vehicles and inviting more foot traffic and outdoor dining. Ithaca and Burlington, Vt., have long been acclaimed for their centralized, pedestrian-only plazas. Lark Street is a perfect place for similar policies to be put into place. Cities have traditionally used different models for opening streets for pedestrian use. Cleveland successfully redeveloped its East Fourth Street for pedestrian use and outdoor dining; Austin has historically shut down Sixth Street, a notable thoroughfare, Thursday through Saturday evenings in order to boost businesses and increase safety. Local businesses on Lark Street have weathered the storm of the pandemic and would benefit from efforts to increase the appeal of dining out and shopping, if only temporarily. The aesthetic of the neighborhood could stand to benefit from more people and fewer cars. And besides, we could all use a little more space to breathe. Jason DiNovi is a resident of Albany's Center Square neighborhood. Farmington, WV (26555) Today Partly cloudy this morning with thunderstorms becoming likely this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 83F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers early, then overcast overnight with occasional rain. Low 59F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. [June 30, 2020] Auxly's Subsidiary Dosecann Receives Research Licence to Conduct Product Palatability and Sensory Testing with Human Subjects TORONTO, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (TSX.V - XLY) ("Auxly" or the Company), a consumer packaged goods company in the cannabis products market, is thrilled to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Dosecann LD Inc. (Dosecann) has received its Cannabis Research Licence from Health Canada pursuant to the Cannabis Act. This licence permits Dosecann to administer cannabis extracts, edible cannabis and cannabis topicals to human subjects for purposes of palatability and sensory testing at its state-of-the-art facility located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Dosecann has spent the last few years developing highly accurate, proprietary processes in order to create the Companys first-class suite of cannabis products, however, due to regulatory restrictions, the product development team was unable to fully evaluate the impact of cannabis infusion on the taste of its edible products. With this licence, Dosecann can now conduct broader in-house testing, incorporating consumer input and feedback on attributes such as flavour, aroma, texture or mouthfeel, to better evaluate later-stage product formulations. Up until now, our team of product developers at Dosecann knew we had great tasting non-infused formulations, but we were unable to assess the impact of the addition of cannabis extracts. For food product developers, it is critical that we have the ability to quickly evaluate different product attributes; a tool that wasnt available to us until now, said Peter Crooks, Chief Product Innovation Officer, Dosecann. We will very quickly begin to apply the ability, under this research licence, to conduct organoleptic assessments in order to evaluate the impact of different cannabis extracts on our edible formulations. Having this ability to conduct in-house testing will lead to better tasting products for our consumers, generate additional proprietary knowledge into our approach to flavour development, processing and manufacturing, and support the optimization of the cannabis extracts used in our different edible product segments. Hugo Alves, CEO of Auxly added: This is a key license for Auxlys product innovation strategy and our efforts to develop incredible cannabis products that deliver on a consumer promise of quality, safety and efficacy. The incorporation of consumer input and feedback during product development is critical to those efforts and has been demonstrated repeatedly to reduce costs and time to market and increase product acceptance by consumers. Peter and his team at Dosecann now have all of the tools they need to innovate and delight consumers with new and exciting cannabis products, all accurately dosed and manufactured to Dosecanns exacting standards. Option Issuance Auxly also announces that it has granted 640,000 options to purchase common shares of the Company (the "Options") to certain officers of the Company pursuant to the Companys equity incentive plan (the "Pan"). The Options will vest in equal tranches over the following three years and are exercisable at a price of $0.30 per common share. The Options have a term of 5 years and are subject in all respects to the terms of the Plan and the requirements of the TSX Venture Exchange. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Hugo Alves" CEO About Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (TSX.V: XLY) Auxly is an international cannabis company dedicated to bringing innovative, effective, and high-quality cannabis products to the medical, wellness and adult-use markets. Auxly's experienced team of industry first-movers and enterprising visionaries have secured a diversified supply of raw cannabis, strong clinical, scientific and operating capabilities and leading research and development infrastructure in order to create trusted products and brands in an expanding global market. Learn more at www.auxly.com and stay up to date at Twitter: @AuxlyGroup; Instagram: @auxlygroup; Facebook: @auxlygroup; LinkedIn: company/auxlygroup/. Investor Relations: For investor enquiries please contact our Investor Relations Team: Email: IR@auxly.com Phone: 1.833.695.2414 Media Enquiries (only): For media enquiries or to set up an interview please contact: Email: press@auxly.com Notice Regarding Forward Looking Information: This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. This information is only a prediction. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking information throughout this news release. This information is only a prediction. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking information throughout this news release. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to: the proposed operation of the Dosecann facility; the Companys execution of its product development and commercialization strategy; the anticipated benefits of the Companys research and development initiatives; consumer preferences; political change, future legislative and regulatory developments involving cannabis and cannabis products; and competition and other risks affecting the Company in particular and the cannabis industry generally. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from a conclusion, forecast or projection contained in the forward-looking information in this release including, but not limited to, whether: Dosecann is able to maintain the Cannabis Research Licence and its other current licences, and obtain and maintain all other necessary governmental and regulatory authorizations and permits to operate its facility and conduct business; the success of Dosecanns research strategies and the applicability of the discoveries made therein; the acceptance and demand for future Dosecann products by consumers and provincial purchasers; and general economic, financial market, regulatory and political conditions in which the Company operates will remain the same. Additional risk factors are disclosed in the annual information form of the Company for the financial year ended December 31, 2019 dated May 13, 2020. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all of those factors or to assess in advance the impact of each such factor on Auxlys business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this release is based on information currently available and what management believes are reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking information speaks only to such assumptions as of the date of this release. In addition, this release may contain forward-looking information attributed to third party industry sources, the accuracy of which has not been verified by Auxly. The purpose of forward-looking information is to provide the reader with a description of management's expectations, and such forward-looking information may not be appropriate for any other purpose. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained in this release. The forward-looking information contained in this release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements and is made as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Auxly does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Baidu Joins the Open Invention Network Community DURHAM, N.C., June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Open Invention Network (OIN), the largest patent non-aggression community in history, and Baidu, the largest Chinese language search engine and one of the leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies in the world, announced today that Baidu has joined as a community member. As an active supporter of open source and an important contributor of global open source technology, Baidu is committed to promoting the rapid development of AI through an open source platform and facilitating industrial transformation. Artificial intelligence-driven and internet-based services continue to spawn new industries while advancing business performance through actionable intelligence. As a global leader in internet and AI-related services and products, Baidu recognizes the benefits of shared innovation inherent in open source, said Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network. We are pleased Baidu has joined our community and committed to patent non-aggression in Linux and adjacent open source technologies. Baidu is and will always be a strong supporter and participant of open source," said Cui Lingling, the head of Baidus Patent Department, Baidu has launched a number of open source platforms including Apollo (Autonomous Driving Platform), PaddlePaddle (Parallel Distributed Deep Learning) and the like, and has been actively building patent cooperation. Baidu is a world-leading artificial intelligence platform company. Baidus participation in the OIN community shows our consistent commitment to open source innovation. Baidu will continue to support Linux patent protection and help foster a healthy Linux ecosystem." OINs community practices patent non-aggression in core Linux and adjacent open source technologies by cross-licensing Linux System patents to one another royalty-free. Similarly, OIN licenses its patents royalty-free to organizations that agree not to assert their patents against the Linux System. The OIN license can be signed oline at http://www.j-oin.net/ . About Baidu Founded on January 1st, 2000, Baidu is a leading search engine, knowledge and information centered Internet platform and AI company. With over 1.1 billion monthly active devices running Baidu mobile apps, Baidu is the primary platform for Internet users to access Chinese information and responds to billions of search requests from more than 100 countries and regions daily. Baidus story began when Co-Founder of the company, Robin Li, was awarded a U.S. patent for his initial development of the Rankdex site-scoring algorithm for search engine page rankings, making China one of only four countries in the world with core search engine technologies in addition to the U.S., Russia and South Korea. According to the Patent Protection Association of China, Baidu held 5,712 AI patents in 2019, the most in China. Baidu keeps technological innovation at the heart of its business and has been a global leader in innovation investment, R&D and talent acquisition. With its mission to make the complicated world simpler through technology, Baidu is committed to providing products and services that better understand users and promotes constant technological innovation. Through years of investment and development and the companys global leadership in deep learning, Baidu rank fourth on the list of the top five global AI companies by Harvard Business Review in 2019 and is the only company on the list in China. PaddlePaddle, as the only independent R&D deep learning platform in China, has been officially open-sourced to professional communities since 2016. DuerOS, as an open operating system, has released an open platform, and built a voice ecosystem, and also provided support for third party integration. Baidu Cloud primarily provides AI solutions, cloud infrastructure and other services to enterprises and individuals. Apollo, as the world's largest open-source autonomous driving platform, supports commercial production of autonomous driving vehicles and incorporates autonomous driving capabilities, including valet parking. Under the strategy of strengthening the mobile foundation and leading in AI, Baidu has built an increasingly prosperous and powerful mobile ecosystem and steadily improved its AI ecosystem with accelerated commercialization. About Open Invention Network Open Invention Network (OIN) is the largest patent non-aggression community in history and supports freedom of action in Linux as a key element of open source software (OSS). Patent non-aggression in core technologies is a cultural norm within OSS, so that the litmus test for authentic behavior in the OSS community includes OIN membership. Funded by Google, IBM, NEC, Philips, Sony, SUSE and Toyota, OIN has more than 3,200 community members and owns more than 1,300 global patents and applications. The OIN patent license and member cross-licenses are available royalty-free to any party that joins the OIN community. For more information, visit http://www.openinventionnetwork.com . Media-Only Contact: Ed Schauweker AVID Public Relations for Open Invention Network ed@avidpr.com +1 (703) 963-5238 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] BDO USA, LLP Continues to Expand in Greater Washington, D.C. Through Addition of MorganFranklin Consulting's Public Sector Practice BDO USA, LLP, one of the nation's leading accounting and advisory firms, today announced the addition of MorganFranklin (News - Alert) Consulting's public sector practice, based in Washington, D.C. The combination is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed on July 16. With this divestiture, MorganFranklin will now focus all energy and investment on expanding the company's core commercial consulting business as Vaco's global consulting platform. "MorganFranklin Consulting's strong relationships, distinguished reputation and proud service history in the public sector have made them the top choice for federal and state and local government agencies," said Wayne Berson, CEO of BDO USA. "Their trusted public sector leadership team and demonstrated quality and consistency of work bolsters our practice and enhances our offerings for current and future clients in the D.C. market and beyond. We look forward to welcoming the talented professionals from MorganFranklin Consulting's public sector practice to BDO." MorganFranklin's public sector practice specifically works with a diverse portfolio of government agencies, including the Department of Defense, the US Army, the US Marine Corps, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Labor, and various civilian and defense agencies and commands, as well as several state and local government entities. "BDO's advanced accounting capabilities and investment in future-focused technologies will allow us to grow in new and dynamic ways," said Frank Landefeld, managing director and public sector market lead at MorganFranklin Consulting. "Expanding our solution offerings via the depth and breadth of BDO adds immense value to our public sector portfolio. We know that joining BDO will not only propel our clients forward but will also provide significant career development opportunities and valuable support for our professionals." "As our public sector team prepares to transition to BDO, we are grateful for their client work as well their contributions to our strong culture, which aligns well with BDO's dedication to helping people thrive," said Chris Mann, MorganFranklin's Managing Partner and CEO. "This divestiture helpsMorganFranklin sharpen our focus on the continued expansion of our core commercial consulting business." With the recent addition of its cybersecurity practice and the acquisition of the Microsoft (News - Alert) ERP practice from Kraft Enterprise Systems to an already diverse suite of services, MorganFranklin continues to pursue its vision to be a premier global finance, technology, and business services firm that solves complex transformational challenges for its clients. Propelled by recent expansions this past January with Biegel Waller's Investment Advisory Services and Tax Advisory Services, BDO's targeted growth in the Greater D.C. area has maintained its momentum despite the economic slowdown. MorganFranklin's public sector practice will be joining BDO offices in downtown Washington, D.C., McLean, Va., and more recently Potomac, Md., which opened in August 2019. In addition, this will expand BDO Public Sector's practice to Huntsville, Alabama. "To be industry leaders, we must stay ahead of change, from every angle," said Mark Ellenbogen, Atlantic Region Assurance Managing Partner. "In this uncertain environment, we equip our public sector clients with strong strategies and practical solutions. MorganFranklin's dedicated professionals and noteworthy clients, combined with BDO's global network and national breadth of public sector practice, will complement and deepen the unprecedented work we do every day." About BDO USA BDO is the brand name for BDO USA, LLP, a U.S. professional services firm providing assurance, tax, and advisory services to a wide range of publicly traded and privately held companies. For more than 100 years, BDO has provided quality service through the active involvement of experienced and committed professionals. The firm serves clients through more than 60 offices and over 700 independent alliance firm locations nationwide. As an independent Member Firm of BDO International Limited, BDO serves multi-national clients through a global network of more than 88,000 people working out of over 1,600 offices across 167 countries. BDO USA, LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership, is the U.S. member of BDO International Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, and forms part of the international BDO network of independent member firms. BDO is the brand name for the BDO network and for each of the BDO Member Firms. For more information please visit: www.bdo.com. About MorganFranklin Consulting MorganFranklin Consulting is a management advisory firm that works with leading businesses and government. The firm helps organizations address complex and transformational finance, technology and business objectives. MorganFranklin is headquartered in the Washington D.C. area with regional offices in Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Raleigh-Durham. The firm supports clients across the globe. MorganFranklin Consulting is Vaco's global consulting platform and a subsidiary of Vaco Holdings, LLC. Vaco is a portfolio company of Olympus Partners. For more information please visit: www.morganfranklin.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005664/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] CarePort Health Platform Shared by Hospitals and Post-Acute Care Partners to Ensure Safe COVID-19 Patient Transitions As hospitals across Michigan reached or exceeded capacity during the COVID-19 surge, the market-leading care coordination platform from CarePort Health enabled more informed hospital discharges to post-acute care, helping maintain patient and employee safety. Faced with the challenge of identifying post-acute providers that were willing or able to accept COVID-19 patients, hospitals such as Michigan-based Henry Ford Health System collaborated with CarePort to determine how best to achieve safe transitions and ensure patients received the appropriate level of care. "Understanding the pressures and resource constraints that our customers faced at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team acted quickly to determine how the CarePort platform could help," said CarePort CEO and founder Lissy Hu, M.D., "In response, we developed COVID-19-specific product features that enabled real-time communication and streamlined processes between acute and post-acute providers to help ensure the safety of their patients and staff." Using the CarePort platform, hospitals proactively communicated COVID-19 testing status to post-acute providers, both pre- and post-discharge. As a result, post-acute providers could take the necessary measures to protect staff and patients, as well as manage the use of personal protective equipment. Post-acute providers could also update their bed availability daily and indicate their willingness and ability to accept appropriate COVID-19-positive patients, all within the CarePort platform. This functionality allowed hospitals to more easily identify post-acute providers accepting COVID-19 patients, minimizing time spent by discharge planners and case managers calling individual facilities to determine their capabilities and capacty. Susan Craft, R.N., vice president of inpatient case management and post-acute care services at Henry Ford (News - Alert) Health System, says the platform allowed their providers to better communicate with post-acute facilities and coordinate transitions of care more effectively: "Given the unprecedented nature of this crisis, communication between our hospitals and skilled nursing and inpatient rehab facilities was critical to ensure the safety of patients as well as the staff at the receiving facilities," Craft says. "This technology allowed us to provide information in real-time to our community partners so they would be prepared for patients upon their arrival." Post-acute care providers were able to proactively place patients in the appropriate setting as a result of this collaboration and communication. The Marvin & Betty Danto Health Care Center in West Bloomfield, Mich. established an antechamber for COVID-19-positive patients, as well as a system for transferring recovered patients to limit the spread of infection to patients and employees. The Center has also created a unit specifically for those exhibiting symptoms or for whose COVID-19 status is unknown. "We have always viewed Henry Ford as a true partner, but during COVID-19 we have experienced unparalleled collaboration using the CarePort platform," said Meredith Maurer, Manager, Market Development for the Heartland Facilities of Metro Detroit, which includes the Heartland-Danto Health Care Center. "Leveraging CarePort, we have achieved a higher level of communication and transparency with hospital partners like Henry Ford, ultimately helping us achieve better outcomes for our patients." Joe Carpino, Senior Administrator of the Heartland-Danto Health Care Center, added: "By working in close collaboration with Henry Ford hospitals, we feel well-prepared to care for the patients transitioning from the hospital to our facility. Through CarePort we've gained complete visibility into a patient's COVID-19 status to help ensure the health and safety of not only our patients - who are most vulnerable during this time - but also our staff." Join CarePort on Wednesday, July 22 at 11:00 a.m. ET for "COVID-19 in Detroit," a virtual care coordination summit where payers, hospitals - including Henry Ford Health System - and post-acute providers will share how they worked together to successfully coordinate care during the COVID-19 surge in Metro Detroit. Register here. About CarePort Health CarePort Health is the leading care coordination network with thousands of providers connected across the U.S. The end-to-end platform bridges acute and post-acute EHRs, providing visibility for providers, physicians, payers and ACOs into the care that patients receive across care settings so that all providers can efficiently and effectively coordinate patient care. CarePort aggregates cross-continuum data encompassing both acute and post-acute information to provide organizations a longitudinal view of the patient. CarePort was acquired in 2016 and is wholly owned by Allscripts. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005172/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Enterprise, AL (36331) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High around 80F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 72F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. [June 30, 2020] Elementary Robotics Closes Series A Funding Round to Transform Manufacturing with Intelligent Automation LOS ANGELES, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Elementary Robotics, one of Los Angeles' top robotics startups, today announced a $12.7M Series A funding round led by Threshold Ventures (formerly DFJ), an early-stage investor in disruptive technology companies. Founded in 2017, Elementary has built a hardware and software platform for applying machine learning and computer vision for intelligent automation of quality and traceability workflows in manufacturing and logistics. The new round of capital, which also had participation from existing investors Fika Ventures, Fathom Capital, Ubiquity Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures, allows Elementary Robotics to continue developing and deploying its automation products at scale. With this round, Threshold Ventures Partner Mo Islam has joined the Elementary Robotics Board of Directors. Manufacturers today are dealing with an array of challenges to keep up, including securing and retaining skilled labor, producing high quality products at larger volumes and lower prices, and implementing remote production monitoring. Today's challenges also require evolving strategies to support employee health and safety, such as integrating proper social distancing into factories. Visual inspection and traceability have traditionally been especially difficult to automate, often resulting in lower throughput, added headcount, high turnover, inconsistent results, and low data tracking. Elementary Robotics' products automate inspections and help customers achieve value across the production line by using deep learning to find defects, including ones that manufacturers didn't even now to look for. The Elementary platform delivers inspections that are easy to set up, traceable in the cloud, and allow for human inspectors to be kept in the loop to further train the system over time. "Toyota is always looking for ways to leverage innovative technologies to help our employees and improve the manufacturing process, and we're excited to partner with Elementary in our Indiana plant," said Jason Puckett, Vice President of Manufacturing, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana. "Elementary's platform will bring value to our production lines by allowing us to automate traceability scans and add AI, machine vision, and automation." Elementary Robotics is working with a number of world class manufacturing and logistics companies where the solution has delivered the following benefits: Transition to 100% inspection where previously only sample-based inspection occurred Remote visibility into quality and production lines Automation of known visual inspections and discovery of new defects, resulting in decreased scrap rates Standardization of inspection tasks and ease of duplication across different factories and production lines in an affordable manner "Elementary has developed a software-defined robotics solution to automate visual inspection, leveraging deep learning-based computer vision and low-complexity, rapidly deployable hardware," said Mo Islam, Partner, Threshold Ventures. "We were immediately impressed with the team's product-led sales approach, and are excited by their potential as a leader in the industrial machine vision space." "Building Elementary has been a fantastic journey over the past three years, and I've enjoyed working with our world-class partners to develop scalable solutions to their problems, which our team is well-suited to solve," said Arye Barnehama, founder and CEO of Elementary Robotics. "I'm extremely excited to go public with what we're building, continue to support more companies with their quality and traceability needs, and grow the Elementary team to expand and deploy our innovative platform." About Elementary Robotics Elementary is a full-stack robotics company tackling machine learning for robotic hardware from the ground up. The Los Angeles-based company, incubated at Idealab in Pasadena, was founded by industry veterans of IoT, wearables, augmented reality and robotics from Qualcomm, Caltech, NASA JPL, SpaceX and Art Center College of Design to create assistive tools to improve human output of repetitive tasks. The company is based in Los Angeles. For more info, visit https://www.elementaryrobotics.com . View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elementary-robotics-closes-series-a-funding-round-to-transform-manufacturing-with-intelligent-automation-301085820.html SOURCE Elementary Robotics [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] ExxonMobil, Employees and Retirees Contribute More Than $12 Million to Texas Colleges and Universities More than 80 accredited Texas colleges and universities will receive more than $12 million as part of the ExxonMobil Foundation's Educational Matching Gift Program. ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed nearly $4 million to Texas colleges and universities, and those individual donations were matched by $8.8 million in ExxonMobil Foundation grants. The ExxonMobil Foundation program matches individual donations to accredited colleges and universities in the United States. The American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and United Negro College Fund also receive donations as part of the matching gift program. While the grants are unrestricted, colleges and universities are encouraged to designate a portion of the funds they receive to science, technology, engineering and mth (STEM) programs supporting student engagement. "Supporting education is a key priority for ExxonMobil, its employees and retirees," said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. "Our educational matching gift program provides critical resources to inspire today's students to become tomorrow's innovators and problem solvers." Nationally, more than 4,100 ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed nearly $16 million to 790 institutions of higher education in 2019, and those contributions will be matched with more than $37 million in unrestricted grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation. The ExxonMobil Foundation matches donations to eligible U.S. colleges and universities of up to $7,500 a year on a 2-to-1 basis for employees and on a 1-to-1 basis for retirees. ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation also support teacher training initiatives and programs that encourage students, particularly women and minorities, to consider careers in STEM areas. About the ExxonMobil Foundation The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of Exxon Mobil Corporation in the United States. In 2019, the ExxonMobil Foundation, together with Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, along with employees and retirees, provided more than $252 million in contributions worldwide, of which over $77 million was dedicated to education. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005334/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] ExxonMobil, Employees and Retirees Contribute More Than $1.7 Million to Oklahoma Colleges and Universities Nine accredited Oklahoma colleges and universities will receive more than $1.7 million as part of the ExxonMobil Foundation's Educational Matching Gift Program. ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed more than $470,000 to Oklahoma colleges and universities, and those individual donations were matched by more than $1.3 million in ExxonMobil Foundation grants. The ExxonMobil Foundation program matches individual donations to accredited colleges and universities in the United States. The American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and United Negro College Fund also receive donations as part of the matching gift program. While the grants are unrestricted, colleges and universities are encouraged to designate a portion of the funds they receive to science, technology, engineerin and math (STEM) programs supporting student engagement. "Supporting education is a key priority for ExxonMobil, its employees and retirees," said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. "Our educational matching gift program provides critical resources to inspire today's students to become tomorrow's innovators and problem solvers." Nationally, more than 4,100 ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed nearly $16 million to 790 institutions of higher education in 2019, and those contributions will be matched with more than $37 million in unrestricted grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation. The ExxonMobil Foundation matches donations to eligible U.S. colleges and universities of up to $7,500 a year on a 2-to-1 basis for employees and on a 1-to-1 basis for retirees. ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation also support teacher training initiatives and programs that encourage students, particularly women and minorities, to consider careers in STEM areas. About the ExxonMobil Foundation The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of Exxon Mobil Corporation in the United States. In 2019, the ExxonMobil Foundation, together with Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, along with employees and retirees, provided more than $252 million in contributions worldwide, of which over $77 million was dedicated to education. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005332/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] ExxonMobil, Employees and Retirees Contribute More Than $2.1 Million to Massachusetts Colleges and Universities More than 30 accredited Massachusetts colleges and universities will receive more than $2.1 million as part of the ExxonMobil Foundation's Educational Matching Gift Program. ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed more than $750,000 to Massachusetts colleges and universities, and those individual donations were matched by more than $1.4 million in ExxonMobil Foundation grants. The ExxonMobil Foundation program matches individual donations to accredited colleges and universities in the United States. The American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and United Negro College Fund also receive donations as part of the matching gift program. While the grants are unrestricted, colleges and universities are encouraged to designate a portion of the funds they receive to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs supporting student engagement. "Supporting education is a key priority for ExxonMobil, its employees and retirees," said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxoMobil Foundation. "Our educational matching gift program provides critical resources to inspire today's students to become tomorrow's innovators and problem solvers." Nationally, more than 4,100 ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed nearly $16 million to 790 institutions of higher education in 2019, and those contributions will be matched with more than $37 million in unrestricted grants from the ExxonMobil Foundation. The ExxonMobil Foundation matches donations to eligible U.S. colleges and universities of up to $7,500 a year on a 2-to-1 basis for employees and on a 1-to-1 basis for retirees. ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation also support teacher training initiatives and programs that encourage students, particularly women and minorities, to consider careers in STEM areas. About the ExxonMobil Foundation The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of Exxon Mobil Corporation in the United States. In 2019, the ExxonMobil Foundation, together with Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, along with employees and retirees, provided more than $252 million in contributions worldwide, of which over $77 million was dedicated to education. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005333/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Fivetran Raises $100 Million to Accelerate Growth as Automated Data Integration Leader Fivetran, the leading provider of automated data integration, today announced it has raised $100 million in Series C financing, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors CEAS Investments and Matrix Partners. Fivetran will use the funding to accelerate global expansion, drive adoption in the enterprise market, and continue building out the depth and breadth of its data connectors. Total fundraising now stands at $163 million with a current valuation of $1.2 billion. Fivetran solves a key problem faced by companies today: centralizing data for analysis without wasting engineering resources on building and maintaining individual connectors. In a recent survey by Dimensional Research, data analysts reported spending only half their time actually analyzing data, and 68 percent have profit-driving ideas but little time to implement them. More than 60 percent of respondents reported wasting time waiting for engineering resources several times each month and often spending one-third of every workday just trying to access data. Fivetran gives analysts and data engineers more time for value-added work by automating the integration and maintenance of every data pipeline to ensure reliable, accurate access to data. "Fivetran completely changed our data extraction workflow. We save a tremendous amount of time by eliminating the need to build and maintain data pipelines internally," said Evin Anderson, data engineering manager for Autodesk (News - Alert) . "Fivetran is helping us scale as we acquire new businesses and grow rapidly. We can now focus on data analysis and science by building out dashboards and a machine-learning infrastructure." Fivetran is growing rapidly, landing new customers quarter over quarter, as well as expanding the use of Fivetran across current customers. From February 2019 - February 2020, customers expanded their usage of Fivetran by 150 percent, with rows of data managed growing from 500 billion to nearly 1.3 trillion during the time period. Within the past 12 months, newcustomer growth has increased by more than 75 percent. The total customer base now stands at over 1,100 companies, including global brands such as BJ's Restaurants, ClassPass, Conagra Brands, Databricks, DocuSign, Forever 21, Lime, Square, Udacity and Urban Outfitters. During the same period, revenue has grown by 129 percent. Based on strong customer reviews, Fivetran earned the 2019 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice distinction in the Data Integration Tool category. Fivetran has also continued to expand around the world, recently opening a new office in Sydney, Australia to continue growing its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region. Fivetran opened new offices in Germany (Munich) and London, and expanded its India operations with a new office in Bengaluru in the past year as well. "From the start, our vision has been to make access to data as simple and reliable as electricity," said George Fraser, CEO of Fivetran. "Besides conducting back-channel calls with customers as part of their fundraising due diligence, every investor cited our Glassdoor reviews and the unique culture we've created at Fivetran. That culture has enabled us to execute consistently since the beginning and is critical as we continue to pull away from the pack in our pursuit to connect every data source and make them all work perfectly." "Fivetran quickly established itself as the clear leader in this incredibly important space and has become the de facto standard for data integration in the modern data stack," said Andreessen Horowitz general partner David George, who leads the firm's growth fund. "They've also continued to perfect their automation process, providing customers with reliable, real-time data. All this, during a period of uncertainty, speaks volumes about just how tremendous this company is and how well the product works." Trevor Oelschig, managing director at General Catalyst Growth, will join the Fivetran board. "When you find a company abstracting away complexity to create a service that's approachable with a fast time-to-value, you know they're on to something. That's exactly what we see with Fivetran," said Oelschig. "Every company needs to be data-informed to compete. Fivetran keeps that data flowing in a transparent, self-serve, and cloud-native way. What we heard over and over again from their customers: Fivetran just works." Visit the Fivetran blog to learn more. About Fivetran Fivetran, the leader in automated data integration, delivers ready-to-use connectors that automatically adapt as schemas and APIs change, ensuring consistent, reliable access to data. Fivetran improves the accuracy of data-driven decisions by continuously synchronizing data from source applications to any destination, allowing analysts to work with the freshest possible data. To accelerate analytics, Fivetran enables in-warehouse transformations and delivers source-specific analytics templates. With more than 1,000 customers, Fivetran is headquartered in Oakland, California, with offices around the globe. For more information, visit www.fivetran.com. To schedule a demo, please visit: https://get.fivetran.com/demo For job inquiries, please visit: https://fivetran.com/careers View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005033/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Gympass Furthers its Mission to Defeat Inactivity with Launch of Live Classes, Personal Training, and Wellness Offerings Gympass, the world's largest corporate wellness benefits platform, announced the expansion of its platform with three new offerings - wellness, streaming live classes, and 1:1 personal training. With 65% of Americans stating they're more aware of mental health issues since the pandemic and two-thirds stating it has caused them to prioritize their health more, these new offerings which include virtual therapy, allow Gympass to better equip employers with a holistic and flexible wellness benefit that is aligned with the evolving needs of their workforce. "There is an increasing need now more than ever before to not only take care of our physical fitness but also our mental wellbeing, and employers play an essential role in making sure their employees have access to these critical resources," said Marshall Porter, U.S. CEO at Gympass. "As the pandemic changed our day-to day-lives, it was essential that we expanded our offerings in order to address the new needs and routines of our users. With the introduction of these new features, we are thrilled to offer a 360 solution that provides a custom, convenient, and affordable wellness offering, helping our users prioritize their mind and body, all with one simple monthly membership." In addition to its platform expansion, Gympass has released survey findings that unveil how consumers feel about fitness and wellness as a result of the pandemic. Data reveals: Wellness benefits are no longer a 'nice to have' benefit - Over 90% of people say it's at least somewhat important that an employer offers fitness and wellness benefits. More than half (54.2%) of Americans think it reflects poorly o an employer if they do not offer fitness and wellness benefits and 60% say they would consider declining a job offer if a company doesn't provide wellness benefits. Over 90% of people say it's at least somewhat important that an employer offers fitness and wellness benefits. More than half (54.2%) of Americans think it reflects poorly o an employer if they do not offer fitness and wellness benefits and 60% say they would consider declining a job offer if a company doesn't provide wellness benefits. Physical fitness powers productivity - A majority (71.2%) of people feel more productive on the days you've worked out or been active, helping nearly half (45%) feel motivated as well. A majority (71.2%) of people feel more productive on the days you've worked out or been active, helping nearly half (45%) feel motivated as well. What employers are missing - More than half (57.5%) of employers don't offer fitness or wellness benefits, and in response, 70% of employees say they wish they did. More than half (57.5%) of employers don't offer fitness or wellness benefits, and in response, 70% of employees say they wish they did. Virtual is here to stay - A majority (82.8%) of Americans are willing to work out virtually post-pandemic, showing how they have adapted to this 'new normal' long-term as a result of quarantine. News - Alert) , Devacurl, and more. Through Gympass' fitness and wellness benefits, the platform is able to help companies drive employee engagement, and improve individual productivity. While health and wellness are top of mind, 60% of people say they want to keep their fitness and wellness spend under $50 per month. The Gympass starter level plan costs just $9.99 per month for employees, who get access to unlimited live-streamed classes from 1.7K gyms and studios including Snap and Blink, eight 1:1 personal training sessions per month, four therapy sessions per month, and unlimited access to 24 essential wellness apps. With the launch of the latest wellness and fitness features, Gympass wants to help create more diversified and accessible offerings for users. To date, Gympass has seen immense growth since its launch in Brazil in 2012, with the platform available in 14 countries, with over 2,000 corporate clients and 50,000 fitness partners. To learn more about Gympass and its latest offerings visit https://www.gympass.com/us ABOUT GYMPASS With the mission of defeating inactivity, Gympass works with companies to revolutionize the way their employees engage in fitness and wellness, promoting lasting changes in their lives. More than 2,000 companies rely on Gympass' unmatched variety, convenience, and flexibility to improve employee engagement and performance, as well as contributing to overall business success. Present in 14 countries and with over 50,000 fitness partners, 60 wellness apps, and 2,000 personal trainers on the platform, Gympass helps corporations offer personalized long-term programs that inspire their employees to engage, stay motivated, and take advantage of their full potential. METHODOLOGY A national online survey of 1,000 US consumers, ages 18+ was conducted by Propeller Insights on behalf of Gympass, between June 12th and June 18th, 2020. The maximum margin of sampling error was +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005252/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] InterveneRx and Allied National Launch First Mobile App with AI for COVID-19 Health Screening PARK CITY, Utah, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- InterveneRx is pleased to announce that Allied National, LLC, a leading third party administrator, has selected InterV C-19, a mobile App for COVID-19 health screening, for use by Allied National's employees returning to their work site. This unique partnership enhances Allied National's already strong return to work plan and enables it to exceed CDC, Missouri, and Kansas state Department of Health guidelines for screening employees for COVID-19 symptoms and exposure. The mobile App is the first of its kind health screening and AI messaging platform that is personalized to an individual's reported risk factors. "Like many organizations, we were concerned about the health and well-being of our employees and were exploring alternatives on how to implement a return to work plan," stated Bill Ashley, CEO of Allied National. "InterveneRx's mobile App for COVID-19 screening and messaging was a no brainer compared to physical staffing and screening, especially with multiple locations. With InterveneRx we are better able to support and provide guidance to our employees, while making it more convenient than coming to the office to get screened." "We believe the InterveneRx platform for COVID-19 halth screening fills a significant gap in risk identification and mitigation in return to work or return to school plans. We are pleased to support Allied National with our mobile App to enhance protecting the health and well-being of its employees during these trying times," said InterveneRx CEO Mark Steck, Pharm D, MBA. Allied National began implementing this program in June 2020 and expects to continue through this Fall based on current guidance. About InterveneRx InterveneRx is the leading digital health company focused on monitoring and improving the health and safety for members utilizing specialty and other high cost drugs. InterveneRx has developed the first ever automated clinical pathways paired with a mobile App that is integrated with a clinically enhanced prior authorization service. About Allied National, LLC. Allied National is one of the nation's oldest and most experienced third party administrators. They offer an array of services to agents, covered members and risk-bearing partners including: regulatory compliance; medical underwriting; agent appointment processing; policy issue; premium billing and collection; customer service; claim processing; health care management; and actuarial support. CONTACT: InterveneRx Susheel Jain 833-468-3701 susheel.jain@intervenerx.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/intervenerx-and-allied-national-launch-first-mobile-app-with-ai-for-covid-19-health-screening-301085085.html SOURCE InterveneRx [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Kick-start coding in Term 3: Register now for the NCSS Challenge in July Discounts available to support teachers during COVID-19 for all markets Dolby Australia GM on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-LCdtDgB-Y&feature=youtu.be SYDNEY, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Grok Learning, together with the Australian Computing Academy (ACA), announced that the July edition of the National Computer Science School (NCSS) Challenge is now open for registration. With school budgets likely to be stretched during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 period, ACA and Grok Learning are offering a 33% discount off regular pricing. This applies to all schools, school students, and coding clubs in Australia and worldwide. Kicking off on Monday July 27th the NCSS Challenge is a fun and interactive online coding competition for all school students and teachers. Running over 5 weeks, it is tailored to every stage of programming knowledge with four levels available: Newbies, Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced. Students earn points, compete with other students and schools around the world, and climb the leader board to become the 'master coder'. The NCSS Challenge is unique in that it allows students and teachers to learn and code as they go, with new problems and coding concepts to solve and teach each week. These are supported with step-by-step instructions and notes for teachers and students. As Term 3 in Australia approaches, the ACA and Grok Learning teams are urging teachers to sign up their students, not only to build coding skills that are aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies (AC:DT), but to sharpen students' problem-solving skills. Additionally, the NCSS Challenge is not limited to Australian students, and is great for anyone wanting to improve their programming and problem-solving abilities through a fun and engaging challenge, regardless of their location. Associate Professor James Curran, the Academic Director of the Australian Computing Academy (ACA), Director of the National Computer Science School (NCSS), and co-founder of Grok Learning, believes that one positive outcome of COVID-19 has been to show the value and effectiveness of online learning over the past few months: "It is our strong hope that educators continue along this trajectory so that young Australians become effective online learners within a blended education model that becomes the 'new normal'," Curran said. "Initiatives such as the NCSS Challenge help educators not only become confident teachers of coding in an online learning environment, but also help their students become work-force ready. Whether you want to fight climate change, make the next blockbuster movie or unlock the secrets of the Universe a solid understanding of coding is vital." The NCSS Challenge is supported by a wide range of industry and Government sponsors, including Freelancer, Wisetech Global, Atlassian, CBA, ASD, Data61, Google, Dolby - and others. Many sponsors have offered online support as expert tutors, such as Tim Neal, Senior Director of Engineering and General Manager Dolby Australia. Neal believes that participating in the Challenge helps students build fluency in digital technologies: "What we love about the NCSS Challenge is the inclusive nature of the activities, the reach that has been established over the past 20 years, and the strong link back to Australia's Digital Technologies curriculum," Neal said. Kelly Stewart, Software Engineer at Google, is also an online tutor and a NCSS Challenge alumni. "My experience of the NCSS Challenge was that it taught me how to think through hard problems without giving up. This is a skill that all of us need regardless of what we do." The NCSS Challenge has been designed to help teachers deliver key elements of the AC:DT curriculum for Years 5-10, and also complete up to 50 hours of professional development through the Challenge's 5 streams.[1] "Last year, 83% of teachers said that the Challenge helped them meet the requirements of the Digital Technologies curriculum, as well as allowing students to solve real-world programming problems," said James Curran. A typical misconception is that students need to be technical or mathematical to do the NCSS Challenge and this is something of a bugbear for Malyn Mawby, ex-software designer and Head of Personalised Learning at Roseville College, a non-selective school for girls: "Technology is ultimately about people. A software designer doesn't just make stuff the work impacts the lives of other people. Whether you are in marketing, in HR or whatever, in the workforce of the future you need to be able to discover new ways to solve real-world problems and find new market segments. This is computational thinking distilled: it's about problem-solving. That's why the NCSS Challenge is so relevant and important and why my students do it every year." The NCSS Challenge team has incorporated teacher feedback, offering several new features: Running the NCSS Challenge twice a year to provide teachers with more flexibility. Rebooting the Intermediate stream to be more aligned to the Years 9 and 10 curricula. A live Classroom View for teachers to see students working through problems in real time. Teachers can access the tutor interface and chat remotely with students while seeing their screen. This allows teachers to support students who may be struggling. Paired problems to give students the opportunity to practice and cement new skills. Interactive slides for the Newbies and Beginners streams, featuring step-by-step instructions, which direct students to constantly run and edit the code examples. Narration in the Newbies stream so that students don't have to 'read to learn'. To participate in the NCSS Challenge in July, all you have to do to register is create a student account on Grok Learning and assign specific Challenge streams (Newbie, Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced) to each student. To learn more about the NCSS Challenge and to get your students involved, visit our website and follow us on socials. [1] Each of the NCSS Challenge's five streams provides 10 hours of NESA registered Professional Development for NSW teachers and accredited and certified PD across Australia. ### For more information, videos and photography, or to organise an interview, please contact: Adrianne Kern, AKA Consulting: Mobile: +61 0411 426 135 Email: adrianne@akaconsulting.com.au About Grok Learning We're a team of educators and software engineers who want to give everyone the power to code. We believe that a solid computer science understanding is vital whether you want to fight climate change, make the next blockbuster movie or unlock the secrets of the universe. We are passionate about teaching the next generation the skills they need to become the creators of tomorrow. Together we have decades of experience teaching computing to university students, high school students, teachers and professionals. We're masters of the latest technology, and we use that mastery to help students learn. About the Australian Computing Academy The Australian Computing Academy (ACA) is a University of Sydney centre. It is dedicated to supporting teachers deliver the requirements of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies (AC:DT) through the design and development of classroom challenges, resources and teacher workshops. The ACA is unique in combining the talents of AC:DT authors, academics, technology education experts and industry professionals. The team uses their expertise and passion for digital technologies to create free classroom-ready resources that enable teachers to confidently engage every student in the AC:DT. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200630/2844893-1 Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200630/2844893-1-LOGO SOURCE Australian Computing Academy; Grok Learning [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] MDxHealth Announces its Special and Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meetings Press release Regulated information 30 June 2020, 7:30 a.m. CEST IRVINE, CA, and HERSTAL, BELGIUM 30 June 2020 MDxHealth SA (Euronext Brussels: MDXH) (the "Company" or "MDxHealth") a commercial-stage innovative molecular diagnostics company, today invites the holders of securities issued by the Company to its special and extraordinary general shareholders' meetings that will be held on Thursday 30 July 2020 at 1:00 p.m., Belgian time. The items on the agenda of the special and extraordinary general shareholders' meetings include the proposed appointment of new directors and change in the directors' remuneration, as well as the renewal of the authorisation to the board of directors to increase the share capital within the framework of the authorised capital and the adoption of an amended and restated version of the articles of associations in accordance with the provisions of the Belgian Companies and Associations Code and reflecting some technical changes. Exceptionally, and in accordance with the Belgian Royal Decree no. 4 of 9 April 2020 on miscellaneous provisions relating to co-ownership and corporate and association law in the context of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of directors of the Company has decided to hold the special and extraordinary general shareholders' meetings behind closed doors without the physical presence of the holders of securities of the Company and their representatives. As a result, the shareholders of the Company can exercise their voting rights only by voting by mail or by means of a written proxy to the chairman of the board of directors. Furthermore, holders of securities of the Company can only exercise their right to ask questions related to the items on the respective agendas of the special and extraordinary general shareholders' meetings by means of written questions prior to the respective meetings. For more information, please see the convening notice. In order to participate to the special and extraordinary general shareholders meetings of the Company, the holders of securities issued by the Company must comply with Article 7:134, 2, first indent of the Belgian Companies and Associations Code and the articles of association of the Company, and fulfill the formalities described in the convening notice. The convening notice, forms and other documents relating to the special and extraordinary geneal shareholders meetings can be consulted on the Companys website. As postal services may be disrupted and as the deadline for the submission of voting by mail forms, proxies and written questions is a Sunday during which there is usually no ordinary postal service, the Company recommends the holders of its securities to use e-mail for all communication with the Company regarding the general shareholders' meetings. The Company's email address for such communication is: agsm@mdxhealth.com. 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 info@mdxhealth.com Important information The MDxHealth logo, MDxHealth, ConfirmMDx and SelectMDx are trademarks or registered trademarks of MDxHealth SA (the "Company" or "MDxHealth"). All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. This press release contains forward-looking statements and estimates with respect to the anticipated future performance of MDxHealth and the market in which it operates. Such statements and estimates are based on assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable but may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict, may depend upon factors that are beyond the Company's control, and may turn out to be materially different. MDxHealth expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this release to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based unless required by law or regulation. Attachment Eng PDF [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Nuvyyo Raises $6 Million Series B Equity Financing Led by Celtic House Venture Partners & Export Development Canada, Investment Will Help Satisfy Surging Consumer Demand for Tablo Cord Cutting DVR Solutions OTTAWA, ON, June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - Nuvyyo, makers of the Tablo OTA DVR for cord cutters, today announced the closing of a Series B funding round of $6 million CAD. The round was led by Celtic House Venture Partners with participation from Export Development Canada (EDC) and will be used to ramp up production of Tablo Over-the-Air DVRs as the consumer market for cable TV alternatives continues to surge. Tablo OTA DVRs enable cord cutters who access free broadcast television via TV antennas to browse, record, and stream their favorite programs via compatible apps on streaming media players, Smart TVs, mobile devices, and PCs. With Tablo, consumers can cancel expensive pay TV subscriptions while maintaining the convenience of a DVR, and enjoy an enhanced Over-the-Air television experience via a familiar grid-based TV guide, advanced features including automatic commercial skip, live streaming on mobile devices, and much more. "Nuvyyo has consistently delivered upon its mission to provide consumer-friendly technology for cord cutters with features like Tablo automatic commercial skip service, challenging major incumbents in the retail DVR space for market share," said David Adderley, Partner at Celtic House Venture Partners, "As the trend of cutting the cord on cable TV accelerates, we have no doubt Tablo products will remain a leader in value, flexibility, and ease-of-use." "Although the global economy faces ongoing uncertainty, Nuvyyo is well positioned for success in both the US market and domestically as consumers seek cost-effective alternatives to cable and satellite TV," said Eugene Siklos, VP Investments at EDC. "We are pleased to be able to supportthe continued growth of this exciting and innovative Canadian company." "Use of Over-the-Air TV antennas is up more than 50% over the past 8 years as traditional pay TV providers consistently report record quarterly subscriber losses," said Grant Hall, CEO at Nuvyyo. "This presents a tremendous opportunity for us to grow the Tablo brand with OTA TV consumers and this infusion of working capital will help us meet the increased demand for Tablo DVRs via both retail and direct-to-consumer channels." Earlier this year, Nuvyyo also closed a $500,000 term facility with BDC Capital Inc. for growth capital which supplements the already existing term facility in place. About Nuvyyo, Inc. Nuvyyo, based in Ottawa, Canada, was founded in 2010 with the vision of revolutionizing the home media experience for consumers in the U.S. and Canada. Building on its first media streaming system, in 2014, the company launched Tablo, the Whole-Home OTA DVR for cord cutters that combines the functionality of a DVR with the convenience and mobility of software apps for smartphones, tablets, computers, streaming media devices, and internet-connected gaming platforms, making it easy to discover, watch, and record free over-the-air (OTA) TV anywhere, anytime, on any device. Visit www.tablotv.com. About Celtic House Venture Partners Drawing from its operational SMB SaaS expertise and its experience as one of Canada's most active investors in technology and innovation, Celtic House collaborates with exceptional founding teams to build category-leading companies. From offices in Ottawa and Toronto, Celtic House engages with emerging teams with strong track records and a data-driven mindset to apply new, cloud-based technologies to the evolving needs of businesses. These collective efforts have resulted in over 25 IPO and M&A transactions in the past 20 years. Visit www.celtic-house.com About EDC Export Development Canada (EDC) is a financial Crown corporation dedicated to helping Canadian companies of all sizes succeed on the world stage. As international risk experts, we equip Canadian companies with the tools they need the trade knowledge, financing solutions, equity, insurance, and connections to grow their business with confidence. Underlying all our support is a commitment to sustainable and responsible business. To help Canadian businesses facing extreme financial challenges brought on by the global response to COVID-19, the Government of Canada has expanded EDC's domestic capabilities until December 31, 2021. This broader mandate will enable EDC to expand its support to companies focused domestically. Visit www.edc.ca. About BDC Capital BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDCCanada's only bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs. With $3 billion under management, BDC Capital serves as a strategic partner to the country's most innovative firms. It offers a full spectrum of risk capital, from seed investments to transition capital, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who wish to scale their businesses into global champions. Visit bdc.ca/capital. SOURCE Nuvyyo Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Policygenius Expands Executive Team With Key New Hire DURHAM, N.C., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading online insurance marketplace Policygenius announced its first executive hire in its North Carolina headquarters today. Erik Garr, who established Google Fiber's operation in Durham and was the director of strategy and operations at Google Cloud, will oversee property and casualty operations from Policygenius' Durham, North Carolina headquarters. Garr brings more than 25 years of experience to Policygenius, where he will be working to advance the company's property and casualty insurance division at a critical phase in the startup's rapid growth. Policygenius has grown by 200% every year since launching in 2014 and just surpassed the 400 employee mark. In 2019, Policygenius launched its property and casualty insurance offering, which scaled to more than $10 million in revenue in less than 12 months. Earlier this year, Policygenius announced $100 million in Series D funding as well as an exclusive accelerated underwriting life insurance product in collaboration with Brighthouse Financial. Garr spent five years at Google, as the general manager for Google Fiber in North Carolina and was one of the first senior leaders Google Fiber hired in its eastern branch, establishing sales and business operations across several markets. Before his time at Google, Garr was a partner at consulting firm PwC, and prior to that helped scale Diamond Management and Technology Consultants from a small V-funded company to a global publicly traded firm with more than 600 employees. Policygenius announced its second headquarters in North Carolina in September 2019, where the company plans to bring more than 370 jobs. Policygenius worked with ON Partners executive search consultants to help make this hire. "Erik's robust experience developing best practices in operations made him an excellent fit for Policygenius and we are thrilled to welcome him to our growing team," Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO and co-founder of Policygenius, said. "Particularly as our property and casualty division is set to continue to expand quickly this year, Erik's leadership will be invaluable. We're also delighted to expand our executive leadership presence in the Durham headquarters." "I am thrilled to be joining the Policygenius team in Durham," Garr said. "The company has built a strong reputation as a household name for financial protection, and I'm enthusiastic about how we can continue to elevate our insurance offerings for American consumers." In the early days of the Obama administration, Erik was the General Manager of the National Broadband Plan at the Federal Communications Commission. He spent an extended period of time as a technology and operations consultant to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Erik has a Bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Michigan and a Master's degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. He is also a visiting professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, where he teaches a course on technology policy. About Policygenius Policygenius is the nation's leading online insurance marketplace, with headquarters in New York City and Durham, North Carolina. We've helped more than 30 million people shop for all types of insurance like they shop for everything else online and have placed over $60 billion in coverage. Policygenius launched in 2014 and is one of the early insurtech pioneers. Policygenius was named to Forbes list of Best Startup Employers (2020), Crain's Fast 50 (2019) and Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces (2018, 2019, 2020). View open roles at Policygenius here: https://www.policygenius.com/careers/ . For more information: Brooke Niemeyer Associate Director of Media Relations, Policygenius brooke.niemeyer@policygenius.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/policygenius-expands-executive-team-with-key-new-hire-301085834.html SOURCE Policygenius [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Polygon Enters the Luxembourg Market With the Acquisition of UTG STOCKHOLM, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Polygon has signed an agreement to acquire UTG in Luxembourg. UTG is a growing entrepreneurial company focused on fire damage restoration and asbestos removal with 15 employees and annual sales of about 1.5 MEUR. "We see fine opportunities entering the market in Luxembourg, it is a market with a high demand on quality services within the property damage industry. Polygon has so far operated in Luxembourg out of our country organizations in Belgium, Germany and France, but now we will be present in the heart of Luxembourg. The acquisition of UTG is a strategically important step since it will enable us to offer and grow our services in a new market and, given our strong presence in the neighboring countries, will enable us to fully leverage our resources and expertise", says Axel Granitz, President and CEO of Polygon Group. UTG is a well built up brand in Luxembourg since 25 years and was founded by two German brothers. "Polygon is the leading property damage restoration company in Europe and we are really looking forward to be able to offer a complete range of services within water, fire and climate solutions to meet the needs of all our customers - from households and companies to insurers and the public sector. Being part of a large international company will make it possible for UTG to further grow and offer our customers the very best of services", says Christian Graf, CEO and Co-Founder of UTG. CONTACT: For more information, please visit www.polygongroup.com or contact Martin Hamner, Chief Financial Officer, martin.hamner@polygongroup.com, +46-70-607-85-79 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/polygon/r/polygon-enters-the-luxembourg-market-with-the-acquisition-of-utg,c3144826 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/5752/3144826/1272015.pdf Release [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Rohde & Schwarz and Voipfuture Launch AVQA to Address New Requirements in the ATM Market MUNICH and HAMBURG, Germany, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rohde & Schwarz and Voipfuture today announced the release of R&S AVQA, a ground-breaking monitoring solution for voice communications in air traffic management (ATM). The transition to IP created new market needs and opportunities, which gave rise to the collaboration between the two companies. R&S AVQA stands for ATC Voice Quality Assurance and provides air traffic service providers (ANSP) with unique passive monitoring capabilities for ATM communications that covers signaling as well as media and radio transmission performance. Rohde & Schwarz teamed up with Voipfuture to create a unique solution for this important market. The development of R&S AVQA strongly benefited from the experience Voipfuture gained in over 10 years of Voice over IP (VoIP) monitoring in the telecommunications industry. The solution is already deployed in a few ANSP networks assuring service quality. Typical use cases are monitoring quality and performance KPIs agreed on with WAN providers/carriers or the regular reporting of network quality towards the respective Civil Aviation Authority. An additional benefit is a reduced troubleshooting time by quickly identifying and localizing root causes of IP network problems such as misconfigured routers/switches or faulty fibers. "We identified these market requirements early and entered into a partnership with Voipfuture," Constantin von Reden, Vice President Market Segment ATC at Rohde & Schwarz, states. "Voipfuture stood out with their impressive technology and their experience. The Voipfuture team is very customer-oriented, which perfectly aligns with our approach to the market. We are very happy to work with them on the outstanding R&S AVQA product." "We are proud to provide our outstanding technology to this partnership," says Eyal Ullert, Chief Sales Officer, Voipfuture. "Thanks to Rohde & Scwarz' deep understanding of the needs of ANSPs, we managed to adopt our existing technology to the specific requirement in the ATM market." R&S AVQA is part of CERTIUM Analysis which includes leading test and measurement solutions for VoIP networks, radios, navigation and satellite. Rohde & Schwarz recently introduced CERTIUM, as a one-stop solution for the full lifecycle of an ATC system. Voipfuture, a premium voice quality analytics vendor providing tools for assessing, aggregating, analyzing, and visualizing voice quality information, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, brings years of experience in the domain of VoIP monitoring. Rohde & Schwarz with its partner Voipfuture make a significant contribution to safe, secure and efficient ATM. More about Voipfuture More press releases, posts, white papers Rohde & Schwarz Rohde & Schwarz is a leading supplier of solutions in the fields of test and measurement, broadcast and media, aerospace | defense | security and networks and cybersecurity. The technology group's innovative communications, information and security products help industry and government customers ensure a safer and connected world. On June 30, 2019, Rohde & Schwarz had 12,100 employees. The independent group achieved a net revenue of EUR 2.14 billion in the 2018/2019 fiscal year (July to June). The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and has subsidiaries in more than 70 countries, with regional hubs in Asia and America. R&S is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197852/RS_AVQA.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197853/Voipfuture_Logo.jpg Press Contacts Press contacts: Europe (headquarters): Dennis-P. Merklinghaus (phone: +49 89 4129 15671; email: press@rohde-schwarz.com) North America: Tomas Berghall (phone: +1 503 5239489; email: Tomas.Berghall@rsa.rohde-schwarz.com) Asia Pacific: Wen Shi Tong (phone: +65 6 307-0029; email: press.apac@rohde-schwarz.com) Voipfuture (Hamburg): Carsten Niepmann (cniepmann@voipfuture.com), +49 40 688900125 Contacts for readers: Customer Support Europe, Africa, Middle East: +49 89 4129 12345 customersupport@rohde-schwarz.com Customer Support North America: +1 888 TEST RSA (+1 888 837 87 72) customer.support@rsa.rohde-schwarz.com Customer Support Latin America: +1 410 910 79 88 customersupport.la@rohde-schwarz.com Customer Support Asia Pacific: +65 65 13 04 88 customersupport.asia@rohde-schwarz.com Customer Support China: +86 800 810 8228 or +86 400 650 5896 customersupport.china@rohde-schwarz.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rohde--schwarz-and-voipfuture-launch-avqa-to-address-new-requirements-in-the-atm-market-301085274.html SOURCE Voipfuture [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Universities Across South Carolina Turn to Leading Medical Supply Firm, Vessel Medical, for COVID-19 Safety Preparations As universities nationwide plan for the upcoming fall semester, they are tasked with deciding on best practices and protocols to implement for COVID-19 safety. Vessel Medical, a medical supply firm specializing in personal protective equipment, has a new safety program specifically designed to equip universities with the latest in medical supplies, testing, and monitoring services - delivering an optimum line of defense against COVID-19. To protect students, faculty, and staff for the upcoming fall semester, major universities across the state of South Carolina have already turned to Vessel Medical for their comprehensive, customizable COVID-19 safety program, MDHealthPro Opening Up America Again. With this program, universities can be certain that they have the most effective safety strategy in place tailored to their specific reopening needs. The MDHealthPro Opening Up America Again program is designed for universities large and small to implement appropriate policies in accordance with federal, state, and local guidance and regulations. The program ensures the most effective measures are taken for testing, contact tracing, social distancing, isolating, temperature checks, protective equipment, sanitation and disinfection of common high-traffic areas. Having this proficiently customized strategy in place will ensure that collegiate institutions across the country have the right amount of quality protection supplies, monitoring technology, and testing, performed by Premier Medical Laboratory Services (PMLS), one of the country's leading commercial laboratories for COVID-19 testing, all readily available for their faculty, staff, and students when needed. "We want to help universities to assure their employees and students that the best safety precautions are being taken against COVID-19 as they return to the classroom," said Kevin Murdock founder of Vessel Medical and Premier Medical Laboratory Services. "We hope to take some of the fear and confusion away from the reopening process while helping with the latest methods to keep schools healthy, safe, and able to fully focus on education." The MDHealthPro Opening Up America Again program includes three components: Testing The testing component equips universities with high complexity diagnostic testing for COVID-19 and a 24-48 hour turnaround of results. The Sars-Cov-2 package of testing also includes antibody testing (IgG/IgM Elisa (News - Alert) ) and rapid testing (POC IgG/IgM kits). Both testing packages include daily courier pickup/UPS next day, collection devices, other ancillary supplies and a certification letter of faculty, staff, and student testing. Safety The safety component provides PPE and other supplies including Level 1 triple layer washable cloth masks that can be customized with a school logo, N95 masks, disinfectants, gloves, and gowns. Monitoring The monitoring component delivers entry point monitoring of faculty, staff, and students' temperature by way of forehead thermometer devices or infrared digital fever detection using thermal imaging and monitoring systems. Vessel Medical is dedicated to supporting universities that implement the MDHealthPro Opening Up America Program. From onboarding of the program to continuous technical support and advisement, Vessel Medical will ensure that schools can always prioritize education and be assured they have the latest in safety measures, technology, and testing to keep their staff and students safe. For universities who would like more information on how to best reopen safely, please visit www.vesselmedical.com or call 866.451.MEDS (6337). About Vessel Medical: Vessel Medical, since its inception in 1991, has been committed to providing physician's offices, hospitals, laboratories and their employees with the right workflow solutions, medical supplies, and medical equipment for their needs. Headquartered in Greenville, SC, Vessel offers a complete line of laboratory equipment, medical supplies, flu vaccines, paper/disposables, injectables, and patient care supplies from the top brands such as Pro Advantage, Kimberly-Clark, Quidel, Procare, 3M (News - Alert) , Hemosense, BinaxNow, Bayer/Seimens, and Hypoguard at discount and bulk rates. For more information about Vessel Medical, please call 866.451.MEDS (6337) or visit www.vesselmedical.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005979/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 29, 2020] INVESTIGATION ALERT: The Schall Law Firm Announces it is Investigating Claims Against Tyson Foods, Inc. and Encourages Investors with Losses of $100,000 to Contact the Firm The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Tyson Foods, Inc. ("Tyson" or "the Company") (NYSE: TSN) for violations of the securities laws. The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker announced an investigation of meat packing companies, including Tyson, on June 23, 2020. The investigation focuses on the Company's handling of pork eports and worker safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigation follows the news that meat packing companies were exporting record levels of pork to China while warning around shortages and rising prices in America. Based on this news, shares of Tyson fell by more than 2% on Jun 25, 2020. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at brian@schallfirm.com. The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005867/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 29, 2020] Celebrity Video Platform ACE Partners Singapore Social Star Paul Foster for Personalised Video Shout-outs to Support Habitat for Humanity Campaign Southeast Asia's biggest personalised celebrity video platform ACE (www.ace.video) is contributing back to the community during COVID-19 in partnership with their star-studded repertoire of celebrities and talents. biggest personalised celebrity video platform ACE (www.ace.video) is contributing back to the community during COVID-19 in partnership with their star-studded repertoire of celebrities and talents. ACE talent and Singapore Social star Paul Foster will be donating all proceeds from his personalised video shout-outs bookable via the ACE platform to support Habitat for Humanity Singapore in a Citi-YMCA Youth for Causes project. SINGAPORE, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southeast Asia's biggest personalised celebrity video platform ACE (www.ace.video) has partnered up with Singapore Social star and one of ACE's talents, Paul Foster (www.ace.video/paulfoster) to donate 100% of all proceeds from his personalised video shout-outs bookable via the ACE platform to support Habitat for Humanity Singapore in a Citi-YMCA Youth for Causes project "Brightened Homes, Brighter Lives" led by students from Dunman High Campus Chapter. Short for Authentic Celebrity Experiences, ACE allows fans to connect directly with their personal heroes or favourite celebrities for exclusive content via short, personalised video messages be it a birthday song, words of encouragement or answers to burning questions for a fee. From 1 July to 9 August 2020, all proceeds from dedicated video requests that are booked on ACE for Foster will go towards benefitting Habitat for Humanity Singapore through "Brightened Homes, Brighter Lives". ACE will be joining Paul Foster in donating all of the proceeds from his personalised video bookings to Habitat for Humanity Singapore. ACE hopes to translate the love from fans to their talents into much needed support and donations for the underprivileged in our community. "Brightened Homes, Brighter Lives" is one of the campaigns in Citi-YMCA Youth For Causes 2020, a community initiative to support youths in executing self-initiated projects to raise public awareness, funds and mobilise volunteers for Social Service Agencies (SSAs). The campaign has chosen to help raise awareness and funds for Habitat for Humanity Singapore, to help vulnerable people living in rental flats achieve a clean, hygienic and liveable home. Other ACE talents who can be booked via www.ace.video include well-known celebrities and influencers in Southeast Asia such as Kumar, Gurmit Singh, Hossan Leong, Joanne Kam, Ebi Shankara, Suhaimi Yusof, Joey Mead King and Allan Wu. -END- About ACE Video: ACE Video is a homegrown personalised celebrity video platform that allows fans to directly connect with their heroes for exclusive content. ACE's talent pool is quickly rising with 63 stars from all around Southeast Asia already on the platform, and fans can even request for stars who are yet listed on the platform. For a price, fans can browse and select their favourite celebrity from ACE's family of stars to create the perfect gift for a loved one, to impress friends on social media, or simply for one's keepsake. For more information on ACE, please proceed to https://ace.video/ Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200630/2844275-1 SOURCE ACE [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 29, 2020] Panasonic Receives Highest Award of Brand Design at the Automotive Brand Contest 2020 On June 30, 2020, Panasonic (News - Alert) Corporation announced that it has received the highest accolade as Best of Best in the Brand Design category at the Automotive Brand Contest 2020, which is organized by German Design Council (Rat fur Formgebung). The award was given in recognition of the concept and design of the Panasonic Automotive business brand. The official award ceremony is planned to take place in autumn 2020. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005891/en/ Panasonic Automotive's brand design that received the highest award of brand design at the Automotive Brand Contest 2020 (Graphic: Business Wire) The Automotive Brand Contest is the only international design competition for automotive brands. The German Design Council, founded in 1953, also runs internationally renowned design awards, such as the German Design Award and the ICONIC Awards. The Automotive Brand Contest covers all creative aspects in the automotive industry across the world - from vehicle design to corporate publishing. This year's winners also include global brands, such as Audi, BMW, Buick, Byton, Continental, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen. Panasonic is the first Japanese automotive supplier to be awarded Best of Best in the contest's history which started in 2011. In praise of Panasonic Automotive's brand design, the contest jury said, "The consistent appearance in light blue and green unobtrusively underscores the clear positioning of the Panasonic Automotive brand, where it transitions from a vision into reality, from innovation to automotive solutions, thus becoming convincingly tangible." The development of the brand's concept and design was initiated in Europe from the spring of 2017. The process adopted a collaborative approach with clients. Brand concept and design was developed through basing on clients' image and expectation on Panasonic. Additionally, several options were reviewed by cliets as well as automotive media persons before making the final decision. Panasonic Automotive's brand concept and design is adopted not only in Europe but also globally, including China and Japan. It was first presented at its booth at the Shanghai Motor Show in April 2019. Panasonic continues to strive to enhance the recognition and understandings of its automotive business through the Panasonic Automotive brand and increase the brand value of the company. About Panasonic Panasonic Corporation is a global leader developing innovative technologies and solutions for wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B sectors. The company, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018, operates 528 subsidiaries and 72 associated companies worldwide and reported consolidated net sales of 7.49 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2020. Committed to pursuing new value through collaborative innovation, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for customers. Learn more about Panasonic: https://www.panasonic.com/global. Source (News - Alert) : https://news.panasonic.com/global/topics/2020/79235.html Related Links Automotive Company, Panasonic Corporation https://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/am.html Panasonic Business Brands https://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/brand/our-brand/business_brand.html Automotive Brand Contest 2020 https://www.automotive-brand-contest.de/en.html [Press Release] Toyota and Panasonic Decide to Establish Joint Venture Specializing in Automotive Prismatic Batteries (Feb 3, 2020) https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2020/02/en200203-4/en200203-4.html [Press Release] Panasonic Develops a Driverless Automated Valet Parking System and a Large Screen AR-HUD (Oct 11, 2019) https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2019/10/en191011-2/en191011-2.html [Press Release] Panasonic to Showcase Booth at 26th ITS World Congress Singapore 2019 (Oct 10, 2019) https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2019/10/en191010-3/en191010-3.html View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200629005891/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 29, 2020] Uniserve Announces Appointment of Chairman, Officer and Director VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uniserve Communications Corporation (the Company) wishes to announce that Michael C. Scholz has stepped down as Chairman of the board, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company, effective June 25, 2020. The Company thanks Mr. Scholz for his service. The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Walter Schultz as the new Chairman of the board, effective immediately. Mr. Schultz has served as a Director of the Company since October 2016. Coinciding with Mr. Schultzs new appointment, Kelly Walker, has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Walker has been the President since September 2019 and Director since January 2019. The Company welcomes Walter and Kelly into their new roles. The Company further wishes to announce the appointment of Owen Morley to the board of directors, effective immediately. Mr. Morley has been the Chief Technology Officer of the Company since June 2019. About Uniserve Uniserve Communications Corporation is a 2018 TSX Venture top 50 performance company. Uniserve is a unified communictions company which has been in business for 30 years, combining voice, data and media services all into one seamless solution, one bill and one point of contact. The unique selling proposition of the business is SMART People, Solutions, and Technology with over 13,000 customers spread across residential and enterprise centered around Vancouver, Calgary and Kitchener-Waterloo. Uniserve prides itself on world class customer service based in Canada. When all else is equal, clients can trust Uniserve to have a great price, a great experience and to be a company that customers enjoy working with we call it ONE click, call, connect. This news release was prepared on behalf of the Board of Directors, which accepts full responsibility for its contents. Learn more at www.uniserve.com or at www.sedar.com . Kelly Walker President and CEO For more information please call 604-395-3961 or email corporate.relations@uniserveteam.com . Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Management has prepared this release and no regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. The statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on managements estimates, assumptions and projections using available information. Uniserve cautions that actual financial results could differ materially from the current expectations due to a number of factors. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 29, 2020] SHAREHOLDER ALERT: CLAIMSFILER REMINDS ELAN, FSCT, R, WFC INVESTORS of Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Class Action Lawsuits NEW ORLEANS, June 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors of pending deadlines in the following securities class action lawsuits: Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (ELAN) Class Period: 1/10/2020 - 5/6/2020 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: July 20, 2020 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-elanco-animal-health-incorporated-securities-litigation Ryder System, Inc. (R) Class Period: 7/23/2015 - 2/13/2020 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: July 20, 2020 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-ryder-system-inc-securities-litigation Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) Class Period: 4/5/2020 - 5/5/2020 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: August 3, 2020 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-wells-fargo-amp-company-securities-litigation-2 Forescout Technologies, Inc. (FSCT) Class Period: 2/6/2020 - 5/15/2020 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: August 10, 2020 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/nasdaq-fsct-2 If you purchased shares of the above companies and would like to discuss your legal rights and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact us toll-free (844) 367-9658 or visit the case links above. If you wish to serve as a Lead Plaintiff in the class action, you must petition the Court on or before the Lead Plaintiff Motion deadline. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Pantum Wins Bid to Supply Printers and Ensures After-Sales Services for Mahanadi Coalfields Limited ZHUHAI, China, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a successful bid, Pantum provided printers to Coal India Limited's Odisha arm Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) and has continuously provided on-site after-sales services, helping solve diverse usage problems, even during the pandemic. As one of Coal India Limited's eight subsidiaries, MCL is a major coal producer in the country. Given the significant activity of its mining zones, at least 1,000 trucks move through the area every day. Vehicle passes must be printed for these trucks, in addition to daily office needs. Therefore, MCL required printers with high requirements for machine performance and monthly load. Moreover, automatic duplex printing and printing speeds of 30+ PPM (pages per minute) would deliver tremendous efficiency and value for such a busy company. Given their specific needs, Pantum supplied MCL with the P3500DN printer because of easy connectivity, energy-saving features, compact footprint and more. With an all-metal structure that ensures stable printing, the machine is suitable for large-scale production sites. Powered with a maximum monthly print volume of 80,000 pages, the P3500DN can easily help customers who always need to handle large print jobs. Also armed with automatic duplexing function instead of scanning both sides of a two-sided page in one pass, the P3500DN can quickly print 33 pages per minute (A4) and 35 pages per minute (leter). Moreover, in order to be more convenient for the business, the built-in Ethernet network interface allows multiple computers to print from the same printer. The P3500DN also has a built-in paper tray that holds 250 sheets and two external trays that hold 550 sheets each to double or even triple printing experience, with a total paper capacity of 1,350 sheets. MCL commented on the cooperation with Pantum, "We are very satisfied with the Pantum P3500DN printer. The printers are stable, durable, and quiet, with a low paper jam rate. In fact, We've placed an order for more than 700 new toner cartridges." To best serve the Indian market, Pantum has always designed its printers that deliver high efficiency, convenience, durability and high-cost performance. More importantly, Pantum takes pride in its exceptional after-sales services and prioritizes providing a seamless, rich customer service experience as part of its brand commitment to its Indian customers. About Pantum Founded in 2010, Pantum is the original printer manufacturer, with its business covering printers, printing materials, and printing solutions and services. In 2011, Pantum began its overseas expansion and is currently active in more than 50 markets and regions across the world, including Asia, the US, Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa. Driven by its patented technology, Pantum is continuously innovating its office products so as to meet the evolving needs of customers, offering economical, user-friendly, and energy-efficient products as well as reliable printing solutions. Today, Pantum is now also bringing greater value to its Indian customers thanks to its cost-effective products, services, and sales policies. For further information, please contact: Mr. Aaron Zhao Asia-Pacific Sales Manager Mobile: +86 18928036307 Email: Aaron.zhao@pantum.com Mr. Abhra Das Pantum India Sales Head Mobile: +91 9831849971 Email: Abhra.das@pantum.com Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200629/2843636-1 SOURCE Pantum [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Moscow, 28 June 2020 (SPS) - The Communist Party Communists of Russia has reiterated its principled and firm support for the just struggle of the people of Western Sahara in a letter to the Polisario Front office in the Federal Republic of Russia. The Party called on the Moroccan occupation state to allow the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination and independence, condemned its policy in the occupied Sahrawi territories, and demanded the release of all Sahrawi prisoners in Moroccan. The party reiterated its unwavering support for the Polisario Front in leading the struggle of the people of Western Sahara until independence and the establishment of the Sahrawi state on the entire country. The Communist Party Communists of Russia and the Polisario Front have distinguished bilateral relations both on the Russian and international scenes, it should be recalled. (SPS) 062/SPS/T [June 30, 2020] L-com Introduces New Die-Cast, Category 6a/7, Feed-Thru RJ45 Couplers IRVINE, California, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- L-com, an Infinite Electronics brand and a preferred manufacturer of wired and wireless connectivity products, has released a new Category 6a/7 inline, feed-thru RJ45 coupler to address high speed voice, video and data networking applications. L-com's new feed-thru style couplers are Cat6a/7-rated to support 10 gigabit Ethernet networks and they are PoE+, IEEE 802.3at-compliant even under load. Additionally, these new high performance couplers are fully shielded and feature a die cast housing which reduces EMI/RFI interference and is extremely durable compared to plastic housings. Two models are available off-the-shelf, the TDG1026KS-C6A-DC is shorter in length than a typical coupler for space savings can be mated or unmated even while under electrical load. The ECF504-SC6A-DC is a panel mount coupler kit that ships with L-com's very popular ECF-style flange for mounting the coupler to a panel or enclosure. "These new Cat6a/7 couplers complement our extensive range of inline, feed thru RJ45 connectivity products providing our customers, from OEMs to installers, with a high performance, off-the-shelf solution to address myriad networking applications," said Dustin Guttadauro, Product Line Manager. L-com's new Category 6a/7 RJ45 couplers are in stock and available for same-day shipping. About L-com: L-com, a leading manufacturer of wired and wireless connectivity products, offers a wide range of solutions and unrivaled customer service for the electronics and data communications industries. The company's product portfolio includes cable assemblies, connectors, adapters, antennas, enclosures, surge protectors and more. L-com is headquartered in North Andover, Mass., is ISO 9001: 2015 certified and many of its products are UL recognized. L-com is an Infinite Electronics brand. About Infinite Electronics: Based in Irvine, Calif., Infinite Electronics offers a broad range of components, assemblies and wired/wireless connectivity solutions, serving the aerospace/defense, industrial, government, consumer electronics, instrumentation, medical and telecommunications markets. Infinite's brands include Pasternack, Fairview Microwave, L-com, MilesTek, Aiconics, KP Performance Antennas, PolyPhaser, Transtector, RadioWaves, ShowMeCables, INC-Installs and Integra Optics. Infinite Electronics serves a global engineering customer base with deep technical expertise and support, with one of the broadest inventories of products available for immediate shipment. Press Contact: Peter McNeil L-com 17792 Fitch Irvine, CA 978-682-6936 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/430629/L_com_Global_Connectivity_Logo.jpg SOURCE L-com [June 30, 2020] Basilea announces move of corporate headquarters to Allschwil, canton of Basel-Landschaft, in 2022 Basel, Switzerland, June 30, 2020 Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN) announced today that it has entered into a lease agreement for office space and laboratories at the new innovation park GRID, which is currently being built by SENN Resources AG in Allschwil, in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. Basilea plans to move to its new corporate headquarters at the GRID in mid-2022. David Veitch, Chief Executive Officer, said: Following the recent sale of our current corporate headquarter property, we are excited to now take the next important step towards moving the Basilea team, currently working at different locations across Basel, into one place. We will benefit from the close proximity to innovative start-up companies, academic institutions and other biotech companies in the emerging life sciences and technology cluster. Additionally, we expect a positive impact on our operating and capital expenses from this move. About GRID Bordering on Basel City, the GRID (Grand Reseau dInnovation et de Developpement) is a new 50,000 m2 cornerstone in the booming biotech cluster of Allschwil, home to institutions like the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and life sciences companies like Abbott, Actelion, and Idorsia and deemed to become one of Switzerlands most important life sciences ecosystems. The new landmark campus-style building was developed by SENN and designed by Herzog & de Meuron architects, with Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area and the University of Basel as direct neighbours. About Basilea Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on the development of products that address the medical challenges in the therapeutic areas of oncology and infectious diseases. With two commercialized drugs, the company is committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products to meet the medical needs of patients with serious and life-threatening conditions. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Additional information can be found at Basilea's website www.basilea.com. Disclaimer This communication expressly or mplicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information, please contact: Peer Nils Schroder, PhD Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com investor_relations@basilea.com This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. Attachment Press release (PDF) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Infortrend Helps Vietnamese TV Station Modernize Media Asset Management and Database TAIPEI, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Infortrend Technology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495), the industry-leading enterprise storage provider, successfully assisted Hau Giang Radio and Television Station, Vietnam's local broadcasting station, to deploy EonStor DS series for modernizing the MAM (media asset management) and database system with benefits of high efficiency and scalability. Facing the challenges of fast-growing data volumes as its broadcasting business grows, the Hau Giang Radio and Television Station needed to enhance system performance to handle the heavy database workload. Infortrend provided high availability SAN storage-EonStor DS Family solution to help it build a new MAM system with higher throughput that can facilitate smooth media workflow from ingestion, transcoding, editing, and archiving. In addition, Infortrend also provided an easy-to-use management tool SANWath software to simplify data management of IT operations. To address the growing need for storage capacity and faster network speeds, the customer selected Infortrend EonStor DS 3000/4000 series, featuring the high-bandwidth protocol with a maximum data throughput of 11,000/5,500 MB/s Read/Write performance, and IOPS of 700K, to process heavy I/O workloads and boost overall productivity. The solutions include 3 units of high scalability EonStor DS 4016 for the MAM system via 16Gb high-performance Fibre Channel. Besides MAM, 2 units of highly stable EonStor DS 3016, supporting multiple and random real-time inquiries/transactions from clients, were installed for the database application. As a result, the company now can access its database safeguarded by efficient and secure data protection functions, and the staff can collaborate easily and concurrently on the Infortrend SAN storage solutions. Infortrend has enabled the customer to streamline their managing workflow, save on time and costs, and let the staff focus on important missions to ensure maximum productivity. Learn more about EonStor DS Enterprise SAN Storage Learn more about the Vietnamese TV Station Success Story About Infortrend Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more information, please visit www.infortrend.com Infortrend and EonStor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc.; other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Industry Exclusive, Autochartist Uses Natural Language Generation to Create Automated Social Media Content for Brokers Post COVID-19 Demand JOHANNESBURG, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Autochartist, analytics and actionable content provider uses their industry exclusive natural language generator machines (NLG) to create automated social media content for brokers to aid the increased demand for fast, cost-effective, reliable and branded content post pandemic. With Saxo Bank reporting, 'record breaking highs,' during lockdown and the volatility of the markets in the past 4 months increasing FX trading activity, this has resulted in brokers demanding faster delivery of actionable content to facilitate acquisition and retention. Autochartist has innovated the use of 20-year-old NLG technology to provide natural automated social media content for brokers. The content is automatically generated hrough their smart-machines: 1) collating trading data from a number of sources, 2) manipulating the data through elements, such as market event templates, language, brand, etc. 3) final production of human-like narrative. "Online users live on social media and therefore that's where the content we create for our brokers needs to live also. Especially following the pandemic with a 61% global increase in social media usage. We are the first in the industry to offer a service like this. Saving time and money for brokers, helping them increase lead-gen, improving posting frequency and SEO. As a company, we invest heavily in R&D and cutting-edge tools like this are the reason why," said Ilan Azbel, CEO and Founder at Autochartist. Autochartist's Automated Social Media offers unique-to-broker branded content for Facebook, Twitter, Weibo, and almost any platform accessible by API. The service provides an increased breadth of symbol coverage for brokers, posting frequency across multiple time-zones and languages. On-boarded by brokers such as FXCM, Swiss Quote and recently ATFX. Stefano Gianti, Education Manager at SwissQuote mentioned, "We have worked with Autochartist for a number of years and we were delighted to learn about their Automated Social Media tool. It has not only been an obvious cost saver with respect to time and HR for content production and translation but the best thing about the service is that the content is unique to our style of posting and branding. It offers us value without the need for maintenance, so that we can focus our attention on what's happening in the markets and our clients." For information about Autochartist's NLG and their Automated Social Media, please visit www.autochartist.com/ . Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1196955/Autochartist_NLG.mp4 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Dole Announces its Promises, Bringing Interdependent Prosperity to People and the Planet Dole Packaged Foods and Dole Asia Fresh, divisions of Dole Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd.. announced today "The Dole Promise," which aims to increase access to sustainable nutrition, decrease food waste, plastics in packaging and carbon emissions and grow value for the company's stakeholders, including farmers and shareholders. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005347/en/ The Dole Promise, inspired by Japanese philosophy, Sampo Yoshi. (Graphic: Business Wire) "The Dole Promise reflects the recognition that 'business as usual' is unacceptable in the face of a looming food crisis and the growing expectations of the next generation," said Pier Luigi Sigismondi, President of Dole Packaged Foods. "The impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic could see 265 million additional people pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of this year,1 double the numbers of last year. At the same time, the challenges of climate change, resource waste and declining natural resources still must be addressed. We believe it is time for a change, and we are taking action where we can be most effective - within our own business." The promise draws on the spirit of 'Sampo Yoshi,' an 18th century Japanese philosophy that views the well-being of society and business as interdependent, and ensures the business is beneficial to the seller, to the buyer and to the community. "The triple-win concept of 'Sampo Yoshi' has been part of Japanese culture for centuries, and is now at the heart of The Dole Promise as we play our part in helping to restore balance in the world by doubling down on our mission to put the health of the planet at the heart of everything we do," said Richard Toman, President Dole Asia Fresh Division. "It's a promise that Dole is making to do business differently, and to join forces with those who are equally committed to bringing back the goodness of the earth." The Dole Promise frames this philosophy to include: Better for People: Access to sustainable nutrition for 1 billion people by 2025 Moving towards zero processed sugar in all Dole products by 2025 Better for Planet: Moving towards zero fruit loss from Dole farms to markets by 2025 Moving towards zero fossil-based plastic packaging by 2025 Aiming for net zero carbon emissions in Dole operations by 2030 Better for all Stakeholders: Dole will continue to positively impact all farmers, communities and people working for Dole - through its commitment to equal opportunity, living wages, and an ever-increasing level of safety, nutrition, and wellbeing. The company also seeks to advance huma rights within the direct operations and supply chains by building a culture of transparency and accountability. The company also aims for a 50% increase in the value of its business by 2025. "Our promise is not just about improving our world today," said Sigismondi. "We have a responsibility to future generations to work towards a more equitable and sustainable future." The launch video, "Dear Leaders of the World," gives voice to the concern of today's youth about their generation's future if something doesn't change now. "The next generation is right to question why we have left problems like climate change for so long. There are inter-generational repercussions. That is why we are increasing our efforts in key areas like reducing carbon emissions and working towards removing plastic packaging from our supply chain. Our promise puts the heart of the planet and people at the center of everything we do," added Sigismondi. Elevating the end-to-end value chain Addressing the many gaps in access to good nutrition and reduction of waste cannot be done alone. Dole is partnering with Solidaridad; an international civil society organization with over fifty years of experience in creating fair and sustainable supply chains from producer to consumer across five continents. They are developing innovative solutions for healthy and sustainable food systems ensuring that farmers and workers have a living income, influence over their destiny, and can produce in balance with nature. Dole is also enlisting the help of Forum for the Future, an organisation that works in partnership with business, governments and civil society to accelerate the shift toward a sustainable future, Future Food Institute a center of excellence for food intelligence and the food innovation ecosystem and Rocana, a venture capital firm focused on clean and functional nutrition. Later this year, Dole is launching the Sunshine for All Investment Fund to support additional strategic partnerships and strategic investments in these areas around the world. The US$2 million annual fund will work with innovators, start-ups and progressive partners to help deliver on the Dole Promise in key areas such as nutrition products, materiality, advisory and implementation of crucial practices to help achieve the ambitions that have been set. Additionally, Dole is bringing these commitments inside their company walls, with employee programs that educate and encourage all Dole employees to live "The Dole Promise." To see the full details of the Dole Promise and the Sunshine for All investment fund visit sunshineforall.com and download the Dole Promise visual here. Dole Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd. Dole Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd., is a worldwide leader and innovator in the production and marketing of high-quality packaged fruit and healthy snacks. Dole Asia Holdings is also one of Asia's largest producers and marketers of high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables. For more information please visit dolesunshine.com or doleintlcsr.com. The Dole Promises are from the Dole Asia Holdings group of companies, and apply to their products, which can be seen at sunshineforall.com 1 https://www.mercycorps.org/blog/quick-facts-global-hunger#global-hunger View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005347/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Chandigarh University Comes to Rescue of Indian Students Who Have the Dream of Studying Abroad University tie-up with top Australian Universities to offer International Articulation programs during pandemic times CHANDIGARH, India, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chandigarh University has come to the rescue of Indian students whose dream of studying abroad has been shattered due to the global pandemic crisis. With an aim to fulfill the aspirations of Indian students to Study in Australia, Chandigarh University has established an 'Indo-Australian Study Centre' at its campus where top-notch Australian Universities are offering International Articulation programs in the field of Commerce, Business Administration, Software Engineering, Business Informatics and Civil Engineering. While giving details about the articulation programs offered in collaboration with Australian Universities, Dr. R. S. Bawa, Pro-Chancellor Chandigarh University, said, "Due to the current pandemic situation, many Indian students who wished to study abroad are not able to pursue their dreams. For Australia, Chandigarh University has established tie-ups with La-Trobe University Melbourne for offering 2+2 Bachelors of Civil Engineerig, Curtin University Perth for offering 1+2/2+1 Bachelors (Hons) Degree program in Commerce, University of Canberra, Canberra for offering 2+2 Bachelors of Software Engineering & 1+2 Bachelors of Business Informatics and with University of New Castle, New South Wales for offering 1+2 Bachelors Degree in Business Administration." Dr. Bawa further added that, "Pursuing articulation programs offered by Australian Universities at Chandigarh University is a win-win situation for Indian Students who currently cannot go abroad but can choose to pursue Degree from Australian University while studying in India. Under the Credit-Transfer-Benefit-Scheme, the students will study 1 or 2 years of their degree at Chandigarh University and finally will be able to continue their remaining tenure of the degree at Australian University." "The first benefit of the Articulation programs offered at Chandigarh University is that the Indian Students do not have to drop-out an academic year due to pandemic crisis and secondly the students will be able to save themselves from paying the hefty Australian fees for the duration (1 or 2 years) they will be studying at Chandigarh University & also save the living expenses which they would have to shell out while staying in Australia," added Pro-Chancellor. "Australia has always one of the preferred destination for Indian students to pursue higher education which can be verified from the fact that the year 2018-19 witnessed an increase of 71% in the number of students moving to Australia for pursuing higher education," said Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chancellor, Chandigarh University. He further added that, "The students who will be joining the articulation programs of Australian Universities at Chandigarh University can avail other benefits like Scholarships offered by Australian Universities, Concessions in Accommodation Fees, Some Relaxations in ILETS Score besides the students will also be entitled for all other benefits offered by Australian Government to the Indian Students like Work Permits after completion of degree and others." Chancellor Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu, said, "Currently no foreign embassy is offering visas to Indian Students as there are travel restrictions due to pandemic and the situation is likely to continue for some months. Indian students should take benefit of the International Articulation programs which are being offered at Chandigarh University and safe precious academic year." About Chandigarh University Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and an autonomous educational institution approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC. Website: www.cuchd.in Media Contact : Prabhdeep Singh prabhdeep.singh@cumail.in +91-8360473392 Chandigarh University Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1198223/Chandigargh_University.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Kioxia to Complete Acquisition of LITE-ON Technology's SSD Business Kioxia Holdings Corporation, the world leader in memory solutions, announced today that it expects to complete its acquisition of LITE- ON (News - Alert) Technology Corporation's Solid State Drive (SSD) business, Solid State Storage Technology Corporation and its affiliated companies on July 1, 2020. The company entered into a share purchase agreement on August 30, 2019 in connection with the acquisition. Both parties are now following the necessary procedures in order to close the transaction on July 1, 2020. As the demand for SSDs continues to increase with rapid expansion expected in the coming years with the rise of digital transformation, this acquisition will allow Kioxia to strengthen its SSD business significantly and help meet the projected growth in demand. "At Kioxia we are continuing to accelerate our focu on our SSD business, especially in the growing cloud computing arena," said Nobuo Hayasaka, President and CEO of Kioxia Holding Corporation. "This is an exciting acquisition for us. Solid State Storage Technology Corporation's excellent capabilities together with our leading flash memory and SSD technology will bring significant opportunities for synergy and enable us to further deliver value-added solutions to our customers. We will enhance our leading position in the global SSD market and work to develop new ICT infrastructure driven by AI, 5G, IoT and Cloud data centers." Kioxia plans to maintain Solid State Storage Technology Corporation's business under its existing brands. About Solid State Storage Technology Corporation Founded: December 2019 Headquarters: Taipei, Taiwan Chairman and CEO: Charlie Tseng (effective on July 1, 2020) Additional information about: www.ssstc.com. About Kioxia Group Kioxia is a world leader in memory solutions, dedicated to the development, production and sale of flash memory and solid state drives (SSDs). In April 2017, its predecessor Toshiba (News - Alert) Memory was spun off from Toshiba Corporation, the company that invented NAND flash memory in 1987. The company pioneers cutting-edge memory solutions and services that enrich people's lives and expand society's horizons. Kioxia's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, SSDs, automotive and data centers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005401/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Beazley Completes Guidewire London Market ECF Integration Specialist insurer Beazley, Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), the platform general insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently, and Sollers Consulting (Sollers), Guidewire PartnerConnect Consulting partner, today announced that Beazley has successfully finalised its claims transformation programme, powered by Guidewire ClaimCenter. ClaimCenter is now fully integrated with the London Market Electronic Claims File Write-Back (ECF). Beazley has worked closely with Guidewire to add ECF Write-Back to Guidewire's London Market claims functionality. This functionality affords Lloyd's Syndicates and the London company market the benefits of the shared electronic claims file system; meaning enriched pre-agreed data, transparency, tailored claims views, and significantly shortened claims lifecycles. "The launch of the Lloyd's Blueprint, the impact of the pandemic on our industry, and how we do business going forward have made improving efficiency and automation even more important to delivering greater value and service for our clients," said Beth Diamond, Group Head of Claims, Beazley. "We are very pleased that the ECF integration initiative addresses this need." "The ECF Write-Back production release was the final step of our reimplementation programme," said Steve Flood, Group Claims Platform Lead, Beazley. "We are already seeing a substantial increase in claims processing productivity due to faster access to our claims file data and document repository. Financial limits authorisation at the point of transaction response is another benefit of this implementation, enhancing our operational control capabilities. In addition, we are better positioned strategically for future cloud deployment." "Being one of the very first in the market with Guidewire's ECF Write-Back integration offered us an opportunity to contribute to the development of the industry standard. As an integrator working together with Guidewire for over a decade, we've learned that a pioneering and innovative approach is worth it," said Grzegorz Podlesny, Partner at Sollers Consulting. "As we appreciate the benefits brought to insurers by close interaction with the ECF and Insurance Market Repository (IMR), we were happy to support this process from both a technical and a business perspective, and translate it into a significant automation opportunity for Beazley. We believe that the Guidewire platform is a leader in Lloyd's, and the broader London Market, and we look forward to working with other Managing Agents to bring the same benefits to their policy and claims operations." "We congratulate Beazley on their ClimCenter upgrade and are delighted they are seeing demonstrable benefit from the digitalization of their claims management in what has been traditionally a paper-heavy environment," said Mark Williams, vice president, Professional Services - EMEA, Guidewire Software. "Beazley is long known for its innovative approach to insurance products, and we are delighted to be part of that and their progress in support of a modern and digital London Market." About Beazley Group Beazley plc (BEZ.L) is the parent company of specialist insurance businesses with operations in Europe, United States, Canada, Latin America and Asia. Beazley manages six Lloyd's syndicates and, in 2019, underwrote gross premiums worldwide of $3,003.9 million. All Lloyd's syndicates are rated A by A.M. Best. Beazley's underwriters in the United States focus on writing a range of specialist insurance products. In the admitted market, coverage is provided by Beazley Insurance Company, Inc., an A.M. Best A rated carrier licensed in all 50 states. In the surplus lines market, coverage is provided by the Beazley syndicates at Lloyd's. Beazley's European insurance company, Beazley Insurance dac, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and is A rated by A.M. Best and A+ by Fitch. Beazley is a market leader in many of its chosen lines, which include professional indemnity, cyber, property, marine, reinsurance, accident and life, and political risks and contingency business. About Sollers Consulting Sollers Consulting is an international business advisory and software implementation specialist supporting the financial industry in business transformations. Sollers Consulting teams have supported more than 80 financial groups in enhancing their digital capabilities, including Arch, Beazley, Enstar, QBE, Allianz, AXA, LV=, BNP Paribas Cardif, Basler, Generali, Zurich, Santander Consumer Bank, and ING. Sollers Consulting specialises in IT systems that help insurers, banks, and leasing companies transform and adapt to new technologies. The company offers RIFE, a digital platform designed to address the needs of the insurance industry. Sollers Consulting cooperates with more than 15 technology providers such as Guidewire Software, Oracle, AWS, and Microsoft (News - Alert) . Over 600 business and IT specialists from Warsaw, Lublin, Poznan, Cologne, Tokyo, and Copenhagen are helping financial institutions in Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Scandinavia, and many other countries reap the benefits of digitalisation. More information can be found at www.sollers.eu. About Guidewire Guidewire is the platform general insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. ?We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. As of the end of our fiscal year 2019, more than 380 insurers, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire. ? As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record, with 1,000+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation. 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. All products mentioned in this announcement are Guidewire products. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005091/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Genesis Mining Launches Enterprise-Grade Crypto Mining Management Software Hexa TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading institutional crypto mining company, Genesis Mining has announced the launch of Hexa, an enterprise-grade mining management software. The new all-in-one software provides large-scale miners with everything they need to build and operate their crypto mining farms. Features include rapid deployment and configuration, real-time monitoring and notifications, and advanced reporting. Marco Streng, CEO of Genesis Mining said: "We've been mining crypto for over six years now managing our own farms, managing our cloud mining farms, and managing farms for institutional clients. Hexa is the combination of everything we've learned over these years. It's the backbone that powers our mining facilities and gives us our competitive edge." Since aunching in 2013, Genesis Mining has built one of the largest crypto mining companies in the world. Today they own twelve datacenters in five countries and manage over a dozen more farms owned by institutional investors including hedge funds and family offices. "If there is one thing we've learned over all these years of mining it's that time is everything. Every single second counts. Hexa ensures a mining farm is able to operate at the highest level of performance possible." To find out more about how Hexa can help your large-scale mining farm operate more efficiently, click here. Media contact: Tiffany Kenyon Tiffany@FrontLines.io Related Images hexa-software.png Hexa Software Enterprise-grade crypto mining farm software View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/genesis-mining-launches-enterprise-grade-crypto-mining-management-software-hexa-301085427.html SOURCE Genesis Mining [June 30, 2020] Cloudburst Security wins Department of Justice Cybersecurity Program Management BPA The Department of Justice has selected Cloudburst Security, a leading provider of cyber security services and solutions to the U.S. federal government and state governments, to provide a broad array of cybersecurity services and products under a new 10-year, full & open unrestricted multi-award blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with a contract ceiling of $1.9 billion. The contract will be available for use across all Department of Justice and federal government agencies. Cloudburst Security will compete for task orders related to: Cybersecurity Policy, Planning, Communications and Compliance Support; Cybersecurity Engineering and Operations; Security Operations; Insider Threat; and Supply Chain Risk Management requirements. "We are looking forward to supporting the vital missions of Department of Justice agencies through this expansive cybersecurity product and services contract to protect their mission-critical systems and information," said Adam Bennett, President of Cloudburst Security. For this opportunity, Cloudburst teamed with strategic partners Peraton and System High. "The Cloudburt Team was formed with our most trusted partners, offering proven successful joint past performance and comprehensive capabilities across all Department of Justice cybersecurity requirements," said Adam Bennett. About Cloudburst Security Founded in 2006, Cloudburst Security has a history of providing a full spectrum of high-quality, innovative cybersecurity services and solutions to protect mission-critical and highly sensitive data for both government and commercial organizations. Cloudburst Security is headquartered in McLean, Va., Please visit our website at cloudburstsecurity.com to learn more about how we add value to our client partners. About Peraton Peraton provides innovative, reliable solutions to the nation's most sensitive and mission-critical programs and systems. As a trusted provider of highly differentiated space, intelligence, cyber, defense, homeland security, and communications capabilities, Peraton is a critical partner to the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and select federal agencies and commercial entities. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, the company employs 3,500 people across the U.S. and Canada. About System High Corporation System High Corporation has spent the last 15 years striving to be the most sought-after high-end security solution for our Governmental and commercial customers. We strive to be the leading provider and integrator of global protection and security engineering services by delivering the most innovative, critical thinking professionals to solve the most complex security challenges. System High Corporation is headquartered in Chantilly, VA. Please visit systemhigh.com to learn more of what services and solutions we offer. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005009/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Madrid (Spain), June 30, 2020 (SPS) - The representation of the Frente POLISARIO in Spain, Mr. Abdulah El Arabe reminded the Spanish government of the legal and historical responsibilities of Spain in decolonizing Western Sahara, affirming in this context that the best collaboration in maintaining Peace in the Sahel region and North Africa and ending the hot spots is to complete the decolonization of Western Sahara. The Sahrawi diplomat emphasized, in its communique on the participation of the President of the Spanish government Pedro Sanchez in the Sahel Summit in Mauritania that a free and independent Saharawi State would guarantee peace and economic cooperation and significantly reduce the migratory flows to Europe. The statement clarified that completing the sovereignty of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic over its national territory will be the just solution that ends the long suffering of the Sahrawi people and establishes justice in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly. Saharwi Official concluded its statement in stating that Spain continues to be the administering power of Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, included in the list of the 17 non-autonomous territories pending decolonization. SPS 125/090/TRA [June 30, 2020] Virtual Summit Explores Methods, Best Practices for How to Secure the Future of Work Environments Spear-phishing email attacks have increased 667 percent during COVID-19, with employees unknowingly giving criminals access to their personal data and their employer's-exposing valuable corporate information like usernames and passwords, credit card account numbers and customer identities. With many companies already working from home due to COVID-19, new data suggests that about 74 percent of CFOs expect at least some of their employees to continue to work from home permanently after the pandemic ends. During periods of crisis-such as the current coronavirus outbreak and its impact on business operations-CIOs, CISOs, IT and security leaders are getting ahead of the new vulnerabilities and security challenges. This includes clearly communicating to the executive team and staff the nature of the obstacles that they are facing to safeguard the enterprise that is comprised of a highly distributed, remote workforce and addressing the exponential rise in phishing attacks that are occurring. What: As an authority on fraud and security, iconectiv is joining notable industry leaders in a virtual executive panel at the HMG Live! Philadelphia CIO Virtual Summit titled, "Securing the Future of Work." Hosted by HMG Strategy, the peer-to-peer event will explore best practices for tackling the complex business and organizational challenges emerging in today's evolving workplace. Who: Michael Iwanoff, Chief Information Security Officer at iconectiv (News - Alert) , will join Kostas Georgakopoulos, CISO of Proctor & Gamble, Sudhanshu Kairab, VP of Cybersecurity Governance, Risk and Compliance for Comcast and moderator Rocco Grillo, Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal to discuss: The new normal workplace, and the security challenges and vulnerabilities it poses Advice on how to lead effectively during a crisis including the common characteristics of courageous security/IT leaders How best to reassure team members during times of uncertainty, roll out new processes, technology, etc. to keep businesses and employees safe and productive When: Tuesday, June 30th, 2020 / 2:25 p.m. EDT Where: Register here to participate in the discussion. About iconectiv Your business and your customers need to access and exchange information simply, seamlessly and securely. iconectiv's extensive experience in information services and its unmatched numbering intelligence helps you do just that. In fact, more than 2 billion people count on our platforms each day to keep their networks, devices and applications connected. Our cloud-based Software as a Service ( SaaS (News - Alert) ) solutions span network and operations management, numbering, trusted communications and fraud prevention. For more information, visit www.iconectiv.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005007/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Positive Recovery Centers Launches Positive Recovery MD Podcast HOUSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Positive Recovery Centers (PRC) is proud to announce the launch of its new podcast Positive Recovery MD (PRC MD). Positive Recovery MD is hosted by Dr. Jason ZW Powers MD MAPP, Positive Recovery Centers Chief Medical Officer and the creator of Positive Recovery curriculum. The podcast will drop weekly on Tuesdays and is currently available through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify. "Launching a podcast was a natural evolution for Positive Recovery Centers. The strength and positivity of our curriculum and the impact it has on our client's lives is a key differentiator to our success as an organization. Especially during todays ever-changing world, we want to help more people thrive in their life," says Julie DeNofa, President of Positive Recovery Centers. The Positive Recovery MD podcast will feature weekly guests from across the addiction recovery, mental health and wellness community. Together with Dr. Powers, guests will have authentic conversations around addiction, recovery, growth, and progress as well as provide foundational tools to thrive in recovery and live flourishing lives. Dr. Powers and PRC colleagues will conclude each episode with a Positive Intervention (PI) or strengths-based activity to support listeners in developing positive habits in their lives. "Positive Interventions are intentional strategies designed to boost well-being. Benefits of doing these include improved relationships, strengthened recovery, more balanced emotional health and much more," says Dr Jason ZW Powers, Host of PRC MD. "Slow and steady wins the race. A podcast is a perfect platform to guide you through these PI's, because you can apply yourself during the week, engage with the PRC MD acebook community, and reconnect with us for a new episode each Tuesday." The initial episodes will include: Episode 1: Welcome to Positive Recovery Episode 2: Being Generous, with George Joseph Episode 3: The Most Dangerous a Belief a Parent Can Have, Archway Academy Episode 4: Happiness Isn't Something You Sort of Do Once, Reanna DeGeorge Listeners are encouraged to visit PositiveRecoveryMD.com to sign up to receive access to each week's Positive Intervention, as well as unlock exclusive content available only to Positive Recovery MD listeners. The Positive Recovery MD Facebook group will be private for PRC MD listeners to share their journey, tips and thoughts about recovery and the podcast. About Dr. Jason ZW Powers, MD, MAPP Dr. Jason ZW Powers, MD, MAPP, is the creator of the Positive Recovery approach to treating addiction. In addition he serves as Chief Medical Officer of Positive Recovery Centers, is a member of the Editorial Board of Addiction Prevention and Treatment Magazine, has had blogs on Huffington Post and Psychology Today, has a private addiction medicine practice in Houston, Texas, works as an interventionist, and is a published author of When the Servant Becomes the Master, 2nd edition now an A-to-Z guide of all things related to addiction, 2018, Central Recovery Press and the Positive Recovery Daily Guide, a self-help guide full of positive interventions that are designed to intentionally boost what leads to human happiness: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement. Dr. Powers is board certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine, received a Masters in Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, Powers has been recognized as one of Houston's "Top Doctors" 6 times by H Texas Magazine and was awarded the Compassion Award by Sierra Tucson. Dr. Powers resides in Houston with his wife and 3 children. About Positive Recovery Centers Positive Recovery Centers was founded by industry leader, George Joseph who has pioneered many advancements in the addiction treatment field and successfully established numerous drug and alcohol centers over the past 30 years. Positive Recovery Centers is an evidence-based addiction curriculum that links the best of the old with the new. Positive Recovery integrates existing effective approaches to treatment with interventions that enhance well-being by cultivating its components: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement. For more information, please visit www.PositiveRecovery.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/positive-recovery-centers-launches-positive-recovery-md-podcast-301085457.html SOURCE Positive Recovery Centers [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] NetBet: Auto Manufacturers to Face Fines of 11.4 Billion for Exceeding EU Carbon Targets - The top ten car manufacturers are facing a collective fine of 114.6 billion in 2021 unless they drastically reduce their carbon footprint, research shows. - Daimler AG is the furthest away from meeting EU 2021 carbon targets, resulting in potential annual fines of 13.3 billion based on fleet emissions. - Groupe PSA produced the most polluting best-selling models last year, which would cost them 1.263 billion to offset alone. - No car manufacturer is currently on track to meet EU targets, as the transport sector still accounts for a staggering 24% of annual global carbon emissions. LONDON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- None of the top ten car manufacturers are close to meeting EU carbon targets and could face annual fines of 11.4 billion each as a result, new research shows. The Auto Emissions Report found that Daimler AG is the carmaker that's furthest away from achieving the 2021 EU target of 95CO2g/km average fleet emissions, while Toyota Industries is the closest to lowering its carbon footprint - but still faces significant fines. Automakers need to substantially reduce their annual carbon footprint in order to meet EU emissions standards, or else face fines of 95 per CO2g/km that exceeds the target, multiplied by unit sales. Based on the fleet emissions and unit sales of top manufacturers over the last year, this equates to a staggering 11,462,337,802 on average in penalties each. As well as paying fines for exceeding EU targets, auto manufacturers would also have to offset the emissions of their annual sales. In 2019, top ten car makers would have had to pay a collective 424 billion - or an average of 39.5% of their annual revenue each. Manufacturers and distance from EU target Manufacturer Distance from EU target - CO2g/km Manufacturer Distance from EU target - CO2g/km Daimler AG 42 Ford Motor Company 28.7 Mazda Motor Corporation 40.2 Hyundai Motor Group 26.9 BMW 32 Groupe PSA 19.1 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 29.4 Renault 18.2 Volkswagen Group 29 Toyota Industries 6.3 An analysis of the best-selling models of each brand reveals that Group PSA produced the most polluting cars on average last year, which would cost 1.3 billion to offset. Based on EU sales, the most polluting model sold last year was the Renault Clio. Dissecting the running costs of manufacturers' flagship models shows that the Mercedes-AMG GT was the most polluting model on the market last year, while the Peugeot 508 was the most environmentally friendly. Despite this, the 508's carbon footprint is still equivalent to consuming 12,208 litres of gas, or 10,659 litres of diesel. The transport industry is one of the largest contributors to the global carbon footprint, accounting for an estimated 24% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions last year. Although many manufacturers are electrifying their fleet to reduce emissions, the car making sector is facing more pressure than ever to tackle their contribution to climate change. To see the results of the Auto Emissions Report, visit: https://www.netbet.co.uk/auto-emission-report Data gathered from a range of sources, including auto manufacturers' annual reports, EUROPA, transportenvironment.org and Carbon Engineering. Tonnes are metric. Please contact: Claudia Georgevici E-mail: pr@netbet.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Facedrive's New Partnership Program Will Help Businesses Go Green Facedrive Inc. ("Facedrive") (TSXV: FD) is pleased to announce the launch of its Corporate Partnerships Program (the "Program") which will further extend its ecosystem of socially and environmentally responsible services into the corporate and business-to-business segment. With the ESG trend attracting the attention of the world's major corporate giants and the global community in general, the upside potential for environmentally and socially responsible technology is enormous. In lieu of this movement, Facedrive's new Corporate Partnerships Program is expected to offer ESG-conscious organizations a valuable tool to align their corporate narrative with the needs of their employees for transportation, nutrition, deliveries and workplace safety in a sustainable manner. "We are extremely pleased with the pace at which our services have been received by the corporate segment. We are currently in discussions and are onboarding worldwide leaders in technology and services to our program. They will be partnering in the cities we currently operate in, as well as be part of our launch program globally," said Sayan Navaratnam, Chairman and CEO of Facedrive. "We have observed significant growth in demand for ESG-aligned corporate services in the business-to-business sector, and we believe Facedrive's offerings are a perfect fit for this demand. We expect our corporate partners to be able to access these programs in July." Facedrive's highly synergistic service offerings, delivered through its horizontally integrated divisions Facedrive Rideshare, Facedrive Foods, Facedrive Marketplace and Facedrive Health, provide a complete ecosystem of convenience services for today's environmentally and socially conscious and discerning consumer. The aim of the Corporate Partnership Program is to extend this ecosystem into the corporate and business-to-business sector. Facedrive's Corporate Partnership Program offers comprehensive packages to corporations who are committed to implementing ESG programs and initiatives in the workplace. Facedrive's flagship eco-friendly rideshare platform assists corporations in reducing the carbonemissions incurred due to employee travel and transport. Similarly, Facedrive Foods provides corporations' employees with access to healthy, sustainably sourced foods from local establishments while lowering the carbon impact of delivery. Facedrive Health's recently launched app, TraceSCAN, helps trace COVID-19 cases and enables corporations to help keep their employees protected during the current pandemic. Facedrive's customized corporate partner portals are designed to enable the corporations' employees to access Facedrive services at preferred rates. In addition to B2B services, Facedrive's offerings will also be available to partners' employees under specially designed employee purchase programs. Further details on Facedrive's new partners and programs will be disclosed in the company's upcoming quarterly filings. About Facedrive Facedrive is a multi-faceted "people-and-planet first" platform offering socially-responsible services to local communities with a strong commitment to doing business fairly, equitably and sustainably. Facedrive rideshare was the first to offer green transportation solutions in the TaaS space, planting thousands of trees and giving users a choice between EVs, hybrids and conventional vehicles. Facedrive Marketplace offers curated merchandise created from sustainably sourced materials. Facedrive Foods offers contactless deliveries of healthy foods right to consumers' doorsteps. Facedrive Health develops innovative technological solutions to the most acute health challenges of the day. Facedrive is changing the ridesharing, food delivery, e-commerce and health tech narratives for the better, for everyone. For more about Facedrive, visit www.facedrive.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain information in this press release contains forward-looking information. This information is based on management's reasonable assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to us and are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information as a result of various factors. Information regarding our expectations of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities or the markets in which we operate is forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. See "Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's Filing Statement dated August 28, 2019 for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements. Readers are urged to consider the uncertainties, risks and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. We have no intention and undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law. 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. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005321/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Goldfinch Bio Secures $100 Million in Series B Financing Goldfinch Bio, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing precision medicines for the treatment of kidney diseases, today announced the closing of an oversubscribed Series B financing, which raised $100 million. The financing was led by Eventide Asset Management, and included new investors Wellington Management Company, Ally Bridge Group, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Casdin Capital, LLC and Irving Investors, along with existing investors Gilead Sciences, Yonjin Capital, Schroeder Adveq and other undisclosed institutional investors. In connection with the financing, Joy Ghosh, Ph.D., a senior research analyst at Eventide Asset Management, will join the Company's Board of Directors. Goldfinch is currently advancing two programs through development: GFB-887, a first-in-class selective inhibitor of Transient Receptor Potential Canonical Channel 5 (TRPC5) and GFB-024, a peripherally-restricted cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) inverse agonist. The Company plans to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial of GFB-887 in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and diabetic nephropathy (DN), two diseases often driven by overactivation of the TRPC5-Rac1 pathway, in mid-20201, and to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application for GFB-024 to treat CB1-mediated DN in 2021. Proceeds from the Series B financing will enable the advancement of GFB-887 and GFB-024 through three potential clinical proof-of-concept readouts -- in FSGS and DN and in CB1-mediated DN, respectively -- and will also support continued development of the Company's dicovery platform and preclinical pipeline. "We are grateful for the support of new and existing investors, which reflects both the urgent need to revolutionize the treatment of kidney diseases and the quality of the Goldfinch product engine and development pipeline," said Anthony Johnson, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Goldfinch Bio. "The proceeds from this financing will allow us to advance both GFB-887 and GFB-024 through clinical proof-of-concept in multiple underserved patient populations, with the additional goal of validating our precision medicine approach to treating kidney diseases." "We believe that Goldfinch has made impressive progress since its founding in 2016, including advancing GFB-887 into clinical development with a strong biomarker hypothesis for patient selection, entering into a collaboration with Gilead Sciences to further elucidate the genetic basis of kidney diseases and advancing the field's collective understanding of kidney biology," said Finny Kuruvilla, M.D., Ph.D. of Eventide Asset Management. "We look forward to continuing to support the Company in its ongoing efforts to deliver first-in-class therapeutics to patients in urgent need of safe, well-tolerated and disease-modifying options." About Goldfinch Bio: Goldfinch Bio, Inc. is a clinical stage biotechnology company that leverages a genomics-based, precision medicine approach to discovering and developing kidney disease treatments. Its Kidney Genome Atlas (KGA) is a proprietary biology platform that drives candidate discovery, patient selection and biomarker development. The Company's lead candidate, GFB-887, is a TRPC5 ion channel inhibitor, expected to enter Phase 2 clinical studies in mid-2020 for the treatment of kidney diseases. Goldfinch Bio is also developing GFB-024, a peripherally-restricted cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) inverse agonist monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of rare and metabolic kidney diseases and expects to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application in 2021. Goldfinch Bio, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was launched in 2016 by Third Rock Ventures and has an established strategic collaboration with Gilead Sciences, Inc. For more information about Goldfinch Bio, visit www.goldfinchbio.com. 1 Patients diagnosed with treatment resistant minimal change disease, which is considered a subset of FSGS, will also be allowed into the Phase 2 clinical. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005545/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] STACK INFRASTRUCTURE Provides a Path for Customers to Leverage AI in the Data Center with the NVIDIA DGX-Ready Program STACK INFRASTRUCTURE ("STACK" or the "Company"), the digital infrastructure company built to help the world's most innovative companies change the world, today announced its certification as a North American colocation partner in the NVIDIA DGX-Ready Data Center program, which helps global businesses and organizations accelerate their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by identifying data center partners who are equipped to support that journey. Artificial intelligence is used across the data center business for data ingestion and management, network optimization, outage detections, and capacity planning. In fact, 83% of enterprises say they will expand AI infrastructure budgets next year, with 39% of those projecting an increase of 25% or more, according to 451 Research's Voice of the Enterprise: AI and Machine Learning, Infrastructure 2019. Artificial intelligence at the data center can enhance compute density and, in many cases, streamline traditional workflows as data and storage demands increase. This AI adoption requires enhanced network, storage, and compute power, and not all data centers are equipped to handle that level of complexity. he NVIDIA (News - Alert) DGX-Ready Data Center program certifies data centers that have the necessary infrastructure to support all NVIDIA DGX systems, including the newly announced NVIDIA DGX A100, which is purpose-built for the unique demands of all AI workloads, including training, inference and data analytics. STACK data centers deliver advanced, highly reliable design architecture for flexible power requirements (N+1, 2N, or N) that are required to support these devices, and STACK customers can use the resulting increased compute density to ingest, process, and optimize elevated data volume through algorithmic inferences and machine learning. "This certification reflects a long-standing commitment STACK has made to our clients to provide innovative digital infrastructure that supports current best practices in AI development," said Donough Roche, SVP of Engineering and Client Services at STACK. "The DGX-Ready Data Center program allows the world's most innovative companies to think about solutions first without worrying about facility limitations." STACK provides both the digital infrastructure and end-to-end client experience required to scale the world's most innovative companies. The Company's offering includes hyperscale campuses and build-to-suit data centers ("HYPER STACK"), immediately available wholesale colocation and private data suites ("READY STACK"), and powered shell options ("POWER STACK"). For more information about STACK, please visit: www.stackinfra.com. About STACK INFRASTRUCTURE STACK provides digital infrastructure to scale the world's most innovative companies. With a client-first approach, the Company delivers a comprehensive suite of wholesale build-to suit, colocation, and powered shell solutions in eight markets today: Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; New Albany, Ohio; Northern Virginia; Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and Silicon Valley, California. With unparalleled existing and flexible expansion capacity in the leading availability zones, STACK offers the scale and geographic reach that rapidly growing hyperscale and enterprise companies need. The world runs on data. And data runs on STACK. For more information, please visit www.stackinfra.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005073/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Javelin Strategy & Research Announces 2020 Digital Banking Award Winners Javelin Strategy & Research announced the winners of its 2020 Digital Banking Scorecards. The awards are based on the results of Javelin's 2020 Mobile Banking Scorecard and Online Banking Scorecard reports, which evaluated nearly 400 digital banking capabilities at the nation's top 25 financial institutions. For the fourth consecutive year, Bank of America ranked "Best in Class" in both channels. The bank was recognized as a "Leader" in five mobile banking categories and four online categories. USAA was again recognized as an overall "Leader" in both mobile and online banking. Other overall "Leaders" included BB&T in Mobile and Wells Fargo (News - Alert) in Online. Nine other banks ranked as a "Leader" in at least one category in mobile or online. They were: BBVA, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Huntington, Key Bank, PNC (News - Alert) , SunTrust, and U.S. Bank. Javelin's reports analyzed and evaluated capabilities in the digital categories of Money Movement, Ease of Use, Security Empowerment, Financial Fitness, Customer Service, and Account Opening. "The pandemic brought increased traffic to digital banking, exposing weaknesses that are forcing every FI to reevaluate their priority list," said Mark Schwanhausser, Director, Digital Banking at Javelin Strategy & Research. "Financial fitness has taken on added importance online, as families tighten their belts and brace for a likely recession." The Scorecards also reflect the industry's ongoing challenge to serve banking needs in a mobile-first era. "While banks continue to invest in ad hoc mobile banking enhancements, many of these features are poorly promoted, explained, and integrated," said Emmett Higdon, Director, Digital Banking. "What results is often still a mixed bag of convenience and confusion that drives customers to call centers and branches-the outcome that bankers and customers alike are seeking to avoid." About Javelin Javelin Strategy & Research helps its clients make informed decisions in a digital financial world. It provides strategic insights for financial institutions, government, payments companies, merchants, fintechs and technology providers. Javelin's independent insights result from a rigorous research process that assesses consumers, businesses, providers, and the transactions ecosystem. It conducts in-depth primary research studies to pinpoint dynamic risks and opportunities in digital banking, payments, fraud & security, and lending. For more information, visit https://www.javelinstrategy.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. About Escalent Escalent is a top human behavior and analytics firm specializing in industries facing disruption and business transformation. Escalent acquired Javelin Strategy & Research in December 2019. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, Escalent tells stories that transform data and insight into a profound understanding of what drives human beings. And it helps businesses turn those drivers into actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences and inspire product innovation. Visit escalent.co to see how it is helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005345/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Stamus Networks signs Reseller Agreement with Leonard-McDowell INDIANAPOLIS and PARIS, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stamus Networks, a fast-growing cybersecurity software company, today announced it has signed a reseller agreement with Leonard-McDowell. The agreement allows Leonard-McDowell to market Stamus Networks solutions throughout the United States. Based in Zionsville, Indiana USA, Leonard-McDowell is a boutique firm that specializes in IT consulting, solution selection, and service implementation. They focus on "bringing the future of networking with resources and relationships to navigate the ever-changing world of digital communications and tech infrastructure" to their clients. "IT executives are seeking meaningful securityinsights that help them effectively mitigate risk to their organizations," said James Lee, senior strategic advisor for Leonard-McDowell and former chief information officer (CIO). "After evaluating their solution, we believe Stamus Networks has developed an innovative approach to network detection and response that will benefit our clients, particularly those in high-risk industries." "We are excited to have the experienced team from Leonard-McDowell on board," said Ed Mohr, vice president of sales for Stamus Networks. "They have a strong track record of helping IT leaders navigate the challenges associated with improving their security posture and mitigating risk. We believe they will represent us well." About Stamus Networks Stamus Networks believes cyber security professionals should spend less time pouring though noisy alerts and more time investigating true indicators of compromise (IOC). Founded by the creators of the widely deployed open source SELKS platform, Stamus Networks offers Scirius Security Platform solutions that combine real-time network traffic data with enhanced Suricata threat detection and an advanced analytics engine to create an entirely new class of enriched threat hunting solution. With Scirius, you get unprecedented visibility and meaningful insights into your organization's security posture, giving you the tools to rapidly detect and respond to incidents. For more information visit: stamus-networks.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stamus-networks-signs-reseller-agreement-with-leonard-mcdowell-301084105.html SOURCE Stamus Networks [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] China Pacific Insurance Company Reduces Life Insurance Fraud With Voice Analytics From Nemesysco KADIMA, Israel, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nemesysco, a leading provider of voice analytics technologies and solutions for genuine emotion detection, today announced that the company has deployed a voice analytics solution together with its local integration partner Softtek for the China Pacific Insurance Company (CPIC). CPIC is one of the largest insurance providers in China with over 139 million customers and nearly 108,000 employees. CPIC is headquartered in Shanghai and is a Fortune Global 500 company. CPIC is initially applying Nemesysco's LVA7 voice analytics solution in its life insurance business unit. LVA7 has been embedded into the claims processing solution provided to CPIC by Softtek. CPIC field agents and special investigators are using LVA7 during the claims process to identify potential risks and reduce fraudulent claims. Based on the emotional responses detected by LVA7 in the voices of policy beneficiaries, field agents and special investigators can confirm the validity of claims for faster processing and identify questionable claims that require further investigation. "The results of this initial application of voice analytics in our life insurane unit are positive," said Mr. Zhao, AI Language Technology Product Manager at CPIC Life Insurance. "Nemesysco and its emotional detection analysis have reduced the revenue lost to unqualified and fraudulent life insurance claims." Over the next two to three years, CPIC is planning to expand its usage of voice analytics and rollout LVA7 for risk assessment and fraud detection in additional insurance types and business units. "CPIC is our first commercial customer in China and joins our rapidly expanding customer base across Asia," explained Amir Liberman, CEO of Nemesysco. "CPIC is a nice example of how an insurance company can leverage our voice analytics technology and emotion detection solution to improve its claims process and ensure that legitimate claims are processed efficiently with minimal inconvenience to clients." Layered Voice Analytics (LVA) is the core technology embedded in Nemesysco's solutions and is designed to reveal the genuine emotional state of a person. LVA detects and measures uncontrolled psychophysiological changes to a person's voice during open conversations. The technology is indifferent to language or the content of speech and can detect and measure a range of emotions, including excitement, stress, uncertainty, anger, happiness, hesitation, embarrassment and more. The project was initiated and facilitated by Sheng BDO, an Israeli-Chinese subsidiary of BDO accounting firm. About Nemesysco Nemesysco is a leading provider voice analytics technologies and solutions for genuine emotion detection. The company's patented Layered Voice Analysis (LVA) reveals and measures the genuine emotions of a speaker during voice-based communications. Nemesysco's technology has applications for call centers, insurance and financial services, human resources, mental health and more. For more information, please visit www.nemesysco.com. Press Contact Tony Miller +1 617 418 3024 tony@noteya.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/china-pacific-insurance-company-reduces-life-insurance-fraud-with-voice-analytics-from-nemesysco-301085856.html SOURCE Nemesysco [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Record Number of Student Teams to Participate in the APAC HPC and AI Competition The HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) in collaboration with the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore today announced the teams competing in the co-organized, third annual APAC HPC-AI Competition supporting ongoing student development and mastery in high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) disciplines. Comprised of undergraduate and graduate competitors from some of Asia Pacific's leading academic institutions, thirty teams complete the 2020 roster and will compete across the region in an all remote contest. Winning teams will be announced in November, during the US' SC20 Conference, followed by an official award ceremony in the new year at the SupercomputingAsia 2021 (SCA21) Conference which is scheduled for March 2021 in Singapore. The champion team will go on to compete in the 2021 ISC-HPCAIAC Student Cluster Competition in Frankfurt, Germany next June. Representing nine of the region's kingdoms, republics, city-states, nations and many of its 'Ivy League' equivalent institutions, colleges and universities, the thirty academic ambassador teams for 2020 include: Australia University of New South Wales Bangladesh KUET: Khulna University of Engineering & Technology Bhutan CST: College of Science and Technology China (8) Fudan University NANDA: Nanjing University SJTU: Shanghai Jiao Tong University SUSTech: Southern University of Science and Technology THU: Tsinghua University (x2) USTC: University of Science and Technology of China DUT: Dalian University of Technology Hong Kong IVE: Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education India IITGN: Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar Malaysia (2) CU: Curtin University Malaysia UPM: Universiti Putra Malaysia Singapore (5) A* STAR (News - Alert) : Graduate Academy of Scholars NTU: Nanyang Technological University (x4) Sri Lanka (5) UOM: University of Moratuwa (x4) UOP: University of Peradeniya Taiwan (4) NCKU: National Cheng Kung University (x2) NCNU: National Chi Nan University br />NTHU: National Tsing Hua University Thailand TU: Thammasat University "We are extremely encouraged by the response to this year's competition, which shows the growing interest and advancements in HPC and AI skillsets of the region's student communities," said Associate Professor Tan Tin Wee, Chief Executive at NSCC. "The competition is continuously evolving to teach and train these students about the relevance and benefit of HPC and AI in helping provide viable solutions to some of humanity's greatest challenges, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic." Combining classical and novel challenges, the third annual competition will test each teams' combined knowledge and skills in natural language processing (BERT); climate simulation (NEMO) and two new challenges being introduced to this year's competition to support the global research effort to combat and rid the planet of the devastating COVID-19 virus. This year's 'real-world' team tasks include a dedicated bio science challenge (NAMD) and an open innovation challenge requiring competitors to choose and champion an AI or HPC application each team perceives to have the highest potential for making a positive contribution in the research community's tireless efforts to end the pandemic. "The competition exposes students to real-world disciplines and encourages new ways of thinking and tackling problems," said Gilad Shainer, HPC-AI Advisory Council chairman. "While gaining practical experience they approach problems with a fearless curiosity. Nurturing that now means they not only have the potential to make a major contribution in solving for catastrophic challenges like the COVID-19 crisis but in shaping their own successful outcomes and futures." Co-organized by the HPCAIAC and NSCC, the 3rd annual competition is sponsored by AMD (News - Alert) , NVIDIA and WekaIO with additional support from the Singapore Advanced Research and Education Network (SingAREN). For more information on the 3rd APAC HPC-AI Competition: http://hpcadvisorycouncil.com/events/2020/APAC-AI-HPC/ About HPC-AI Advisory Council Founded in 2008, The HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) is a for community benefit organization with over 400 members committed to promoting HPC and AI through education and outreach. More: www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com About National Supercomputing Centre Singapore Established in 2015, the National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore manages Singapore's first national Petascale facility providing high performance computing (HPC) resources. As a National Research Infrastructure, NSCC supports private and public sector research including commercial companies, government agencies as well as high learning and research institutes. Through the support of its stakeholders including the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR); Nanyang Technological University (NTU); National University of Singapore (NUS); Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD); the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Singapore (TCOMS); and funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), NSCC catalyses national research and development initiatives, attracts industrial research collaborations and enhances Singapore's research capabilities. For more information, please visit https://www.nscc.sg/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005097/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New York, 30 June 2020 (SPS) - the Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations, Dr Sidi M. Omar, has strongly called on the Security Council to hold Morocco accountable for its well-documented role in drug trafficking and other destabilising actions that are threatening security and stability of its neighbours and the whole region, in a letter addressed on Today to H.E. Mr Nicolas de Riviere, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations and President of the Security Council. We therefore once again strongly call on the Security Council to hold Morocco accountable for its well-documented role in drug trafficking and other destabilising actions that are threatening security and stability of its neighbours and the whole region., said the Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at UN The Representative of the Frente POLISARIO has also informed the President of the Security Council that a unit from the Sahrawi Army intercepted and seized 3775 kilograms of Moroccan-produced cannabis in the region of Agwanit, in Liberated Western Sahara. The drugs, which were being transported across the illegal Moroccan military wall in Western Sahara, were destroyed yesterday in presence of UN Military Observers (UNMOs) of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) (see attached pictures). Several assault rifles, ammunition and off-road vehicles were also seized in this anti-drug-trafficking operation. The Sahrawi diplomat, added in his letter, Morocco remains the worlds largest producer and exporter of cannabis, as confirmed by many international reports including the 2020 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of the US Department of State and the World Drug Report 2020 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. As we have alerted on previous occasions, the well-documented complicity between Moroccan military and drug lords and mafias is what explains how tons of Moroccan-produced cannabis are frequently smuggled across the illegal Moroccan military wall in Western Sahara. Morocco therefore is still required to explain to the United Nations and the international community how it is possible that drug traffickers are able to pass unchecked through the occupied Western Sahara that is entirely encircled by one of the most heavily manned and militarised walls in the world, which is guarded by millions of landmines and sophisticated radars and surveillance systems. In view of the strict restrictions on cross-border movement of individuals because of COVID-19 global pandemic, Morocco clearly has much more to account for. , stressed Dr Sidi M. Omar He went on saying that peace and security in our region is being increasingly threatened by the nexus of organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism where terrorist groups are thriving on Moroccan produced cannabis and other drugs as a major source of funding for their terrorist operations in the Sahel-Sahara region and beyond. SPS 125/090 [June 30, 2020] CyberGames Company Announces its Alpha Launch TEL AVIV, Israel, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CyberGames is set to launch this week. The PC based educational software is introducing cyber and gaming features of the highest levels and has announced the launch of its software's alpha. Imagine getting addicted to an online PC game and quickly realizing you have become a real-world hacker, with advanced cyber security skills, being pursued by the leading security companies in the field. This day has come. No, it is not an episode from "Black Mirror." CyberGames unveils some of the mystic around its initial design and for the first time reveals a part of the secret: allowing you to harness the wild and limitless gaming world to create real defensive and offensive capabilities on the cyber dimension. No entry prerequisites required. Omri Ruvio, CyberGames Co-foundr & CEO: "Our vision is to make practical cybersecurity education an experience both fun, accessible and challenging for anyone who can type on a keyboard. We have essentially removed all entry barriers to the field in a way that will be fully revealed in the near future. We are promoting a dynamic interactive community and inviting anyone to step up their cyber game through an exciting and unique cyber and gaming experience. I have no doubt that the next cyber talents will be found through our system." CyberGames is an Israeli based software development company that provides cyber security training and educational solutions on an innovative community focused gaming platform. CONTACT INFORMATION: CyberGames https://cyber.games 242681@email4pr.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cybergames-company-announces-its-alpha-launch-301085312.html SOURCE CyberGames [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Global Leaders From Business, Nonprofits, and Education Join the International Leadership Association Board of Directors SILVER SPRING, Md., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The world has a deep and pressing need for leadership. It is what inspires and enables humanity to face the challenges in a complex, diverse, and ever-changing world. The International Leadership Association (ILA) was created in 1999 to bring together professionals with a keen interest in the study, practice, and teaching of leadership. Today, ILA is the largest worldwide community committed to leadership scholarship, development, and practice. We accomplish our mission through the synergy that occurs by bringing together our members and partners; collectively having a multiplier impact on leadership and change. ILA's Board of Directors embody our values (Inclusion, Integrity, Interconnection, Interdisciplinary, International, and Impact) and includes leaders from around the world in business, nonprofits, academia, healthcare, and more. We are pleased to welcome the following individuals who will be joining ILA's board beginning July 1, 2020. Tasha Coppett is the Assistant Director of Off-Campus and Graduate Housing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology . She came to MIT from Brown University , where she directly supervised 44 residential peer leaders, including Minority Peer Leaders and Women Peer Leaders. Coppett has worked in higher education institutions in the United Kingdom and the United States , and she has created and facilitated leadership programs for youth leaders in the U.S., U.K., Haiti , and India . is the Assistant Director of Off-Campus and Graduate Housing at . She came to from , where she directly supervised 44 residential peer leaders, including Minority Peer Leaders and Women Peer Leaders. Coppett has worked in higher education institutions in the and , and she has created and facilitated leadership programs for youth leaders in the U.S., U.K., , and . Mikinari Higano is an economist who, as a professor at Rikkyo University , established the very first leadership development program for undergraduate students in Japan . Higano moved to Waseda University in 2016 and set up his third leadership program from scratch. A consultant to other universities on the introduction of leadership education curricula, Higano envisions a future where all universities and high schools in Japan offer a leadership program to their students. , established the very first leadership development program for undergraduate students in . Higano moved to in 2016 and set up his third leadership program from scratch. A consultant to other universities on the introduction of leadership education curricula, Higano envisions a future where all universities and high schools in offer a leadership program to their students. Kathryn E. Johnson served as the CEO of Health Forum for twenty-five years and retired in 2002. She is the Co-Founder of the Center for Global Service and an active consultant on global health issues. A former W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fellow, Johnson has served on numerous boards and advisory boards including Food Commons, OmniMed, We Care Solar, MedShare, and UN Women of Northern California . She is a Global Advisor for HOW WOMEN LEAD. served as the CEO of Health Forum for twenty-five years and retired in 2002. She is the Co-Founder of the Center for Global Service and an active consultant on global health issues. A former W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fellow, Johnson has served on numerous boards and advisory boards including Food Commons, OmniMed, We Care Solar, MedShare, and UN Women of . She is a Global Advisor for HOW WOMEN LEAD. Raj Narang is AVP, Director of Inclusion and Diversity Strategies for Fifth Third Bank headquartered in Cincinnati, OH and has led several high impact initiatives for the Bank in Inclusion and Diversity and in environmental and social responsibility. Narang is concurrently finishing her doctorate in Leadership Studies. She has over three decades of work experience in two continents spanning several different industries. She works with several non-profits on economic inclusion of minorities in the region. and has led several high impact initiatives for the Bank in Inclusion and Diversity and in environmental and social responsibility. Narang is concurrently finishing her doctorate in Leadership Studies. She has over three decades of work experience in two continents spanning several different industries. She works with several non-profits on economic inclusion of minorities in the region. Gillian Secrett leads the Leadership Programmes Portfolio at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. She supports global corporations to integrate sustainability into the way organizational leaders are developed and works to build leadership capability to innovate and drive value for shareholders and stakeholders that meets society's needs and is influential in shaping the future we want. Working at the individual, team, and organizational level, Secrett believes in collaboration and partnership to maximize impact. Mike Hardy , ILA's Board Chair, shared: "I am both delighted and excited, in equal measures, that this year's Board recruitment has surpassed all aspirations: new ideas and energies from three continents, from education, business, and the health sector, all with exceptional tracks in practical and effective leadership. It will be a privilege and honor to serve with them." For more than twenty years the ILA has convened extraordinary talent across sectors, cultures, disciplines, and generations. Learn more at www.ila-net.org and join us November 2020 for our live online virtual conference, Leading at the Edge! International Leadership Association 8601 Georgia Ave. #1010 Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA Debra DeRuyver, Communications Director 242685@email4pr.com | 1.202.470.4818 x 102 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-leaders-from-business-nonprofits-and-education-join-the-international-leadership-association-board-of-directors-301085640.html SOURCE International Leadership Assocation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Best Virtual Assistant Services Deliver High Quality Work for Amazon Sellers HADERA, Israel, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon sellers looking to upgrade their online businesses can rely on Virtual Assistant Academy (VAA) Philippines, the world's only company specializing in Virtual Assistant (VA) services for Amazon sellers. In the dynamic Amazon marketplace where changes are happening all the time, VAA delivers high quality work to keep online sellers up-to-date with the latest tools, features and trends happening in the marketplace. Learn more about Amazon product sourcing assistant at: http://www.vaaphilippines.com After their own Amazon business grew, founders Gilad and Hila Freimann quickly discovered they had a need for extra help in their daily Amazon operations. After a disappointing and fruitless search for a VA in the Philippines, VAA was born. "We invest significant resources in our VAs, including a thorough screening and selection process, intensive month-long Amazon training for accepted candidates, ongoing professional development and a warm, supportive community," explains Freimann. "For Amazon sellers, hiring with VAA means partnering with a highly skilled and motivated Amazon VA who is committed to a long-erm working relationship. You can rely on your VA as a dedicated employee who will deliver consistently high-quality work on an efficient, ongoing basis." VAA Philippines will choose the best Amazon virtual assistant that possesses the skills and personality to best meet the goals of your business. Freimann outlines the following types of VAs they offer: Amazon Expert - has a thorough knowledge of daily operational needs of an Amazon business and Seller Central. PPC Specialist - has extensive knowledge of Amazon Sponsored Products practices. Qualified social media community manager - will assist sellers in running their social media pages and activities on a daily basis. Graphic design - is experienced with all graphic design aspects of running a store and also trained in the leading graphics software including Photoshop and Illustrator. An Amazon seller who partnered with a VAA PPC specialist said in his review, "Once in a month or two I have a conversation with a manager from VAA to update them about new products coming in, and that's it. That was my goal! To have peace of mind for growth, knowing that somebody professional takes care of my advertising." Those interested in additional information about VAA Philippines and its Amazon account management services, please visit the official company website . About VAA Philippines VAA specializes in locating, screening, training and supporting high quality Amazon VAs in the Philippines, and matching them after with Amazon sellers all over the world. VAA has Amazon trained VA's, PPC Specialists VA's, Social Media and Graphic Designers. Contact Name: Gilad Freimann Contact Email: gilad@vaaphilippines.com Contact Phone: (213) 423-0676 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/best-virtual-assistant-services-deliver-high-quality-work-for-amazon-sellers-301085643.html SOURCE VAA Philippines [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Zayo Expands Wavelength Networks Between Strategic Markets Zayo Group (News - Alert) Holdings today announced four new long-haul optical wavelength routes in the U.S. that will provide multiple terabits of capacity for customers in diverse sectors. Investment in the four routes, all of which are scheduled to be completed this year, was made based on strong demand from Zayo's customers, who continue to look for physical and vendor diversity as well as new, lower latency pathways. "These strategic routes will provide dedicated, high-capacity connectivity to meet the bandwidth needs of customers in commercial, financial and tech sectors," said Annette Murphy, executive vice president of Lit Solutions. "Our owned infrastructure and range of flexible solutions position Zayo to be the provider of choice for wavelengths." The new routes include: Miami to New Orleans features a high-capacity DWDM network, an architecture used to increase bandwidth. This route, which provides a diverse route out of Miami, provides an option for Latin American carriers that require backhaul from cable landing stations in the area. With completion expected in the third calendar quarter, the route will expand Zayo's growing presence in Florida. The company is currently constructing 2,300 miles of high-fiber count network in Tampa and Orlando. Dallas to Atlanta to Washington DC and Ashburn, Virginia is scheduled to be completed soon.Driven by demand from customers that need coast-to-coast capacity, this is a new C+L Band Flex Grid DWDM network. The technology enables much better use of available spectrum, providing more capacity than traditional C-band only systems. Chicago to Toronto will create a diverse route from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange, even faster than Zayo's existing market leading route. The high-capacity Flex Grid DWDM network will connect Lansing and Grand Rapids to Zayo's North American Waves Network. Seattle to the Bay Area has been driven by strong customer demand for a high capacity network between these two important West Coast markets. The C+L Band Flex Grid DWDM network connects to the cable landing stations in Portland / Hillsboro, providing trans-Pacific carriers with backhaul. The route also connects to key data centers located in Oregon and California. Zayo's extensive wavelength network provides dedicated bandwidth to major data centers, carrier hotels, cable landing stations and enterprise locations in North America and Western Europe. Options include express, ultra-low and low-latency routes, and private dedicated networks. About Zayo Group Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. provides mission-critical bandwidth to the world's most impactful companies, fueling the innovations that are transforming our society. Zayo's 133,000-mile network in North America and Europe includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers. Zayo's communications infrastructure solutions include dark fiber, private data networks, wavelengths, Ethernet, dedicated internet access and data center colocation services. Zayo owns and operates a Tier 1 IP backbone and 44 carrier-neutral data centers. Through its CloudLink service, Zayo provides low-latency private connectivity that attaches enterprises to their public cloud environments. Zayo serves wireless and wireline carriers, media, tech, content, finance, healthcare and other large enterprises. For more information, visit zayo.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005586/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Bitvore Announces General Availability of its AI-Powered Cellenus Platform on Microsoft Azure IRVINE, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitvore, a leading provider of AI-powered intelligence for financial institutions, today announced that it has completed a re-platforming initiative to support its financial institution clients on Microsoft Azure. "The team from Microsoft provided expert assistance to our migration team, allowing us to seamlessly transition our core platform to Microsoft Azure," said Alan Chaney, Chief Technology Officer, Bitvore. "We're very pleased with how Azure supports our development and deployment methodologies, and we're looking forward to future development efforts with Microsoft to access applicable Azure solutions to enhance Bitvore Cellenus." Bitvore Cellenus is an AI-powered platform that delivers leading indicators of business performance for companies, industries and markets. Bitvore Cellenus ingests massive amounts of unstructured data (including news, press releases, SEC filings/proxy statements, earnings call transcripts and more) and uses advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning to provide data sets that include material business events, trended sentiment, growth and risk scoring, as well as comparative/ predictive analytics to drive better business outcomes. Consumable through file downloads, a comprehensive API and research user interfaces, Bitvore Cellenus, provides customers with the "crystal ball" needed to help identify emerging risk and opportunity. "Many financial institutions are looking to use unstructured data to gain valuable insights," said Paul Maher, GM, Industry Experiences at Microsoft Corp. "Byadopting Microsoft Azure, Bitvore will be able to innovate more quickly and help its clients accelerate their access to its AI-powered data sets." Bitvore and Microsoft are also collaborating to make Bitvore's data sets available in enhanced analytics and decisioning tools including Microsoft Power BI and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights via Microsoft AppSource. More information on these developments will be forthcoming in 2020. For more information about Bitvore Cellenus, please visit https://bitvore.com/cellenus-intro/ Resources: Join the discussion on the Bitvore blog Follow @Bitvore on Twitter on Twitter Contact Bitvore to learn more About Bitvore Bitvore provides unprecedented business insights from unstructured data. Our products are deployed in over seventy of the world's largest financial institutions, allowing them to make faster and more effective decisions so they outperform the competition. Our flagship product, Bitvore Cellenus is a groundbreaking AI-powered platform that delivers leading indicators of business performance for companies, industries, markets and municipal obligors. Consumable through file downloads, a comprehensive API and research user interfaces, Bitvore Cellenus provides customers with the "crystal ball" needed to identify emerging risk and opportunity. To learn more, visit www.bitvore.com . Media Contact: Steve Henning Bitvore 242701@email4pr.com (949) 616-0819 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitvore-announces-general-availability-of-its-ai-powered-cellenus-platform-on-microsoft-azure-301085624.html SOURCE Bitvore [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Cytta Corp Sells Additional SUPR Stream Units to British Ministry of Defense for Strategic Systems Las Vegas, NV, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- -- Cytta Corp ( OTCPINK: CYCA) Cytta Corp is excited to announce that the UK Ministry of Defense (UK MOD) has commenced regular additional purchases of our SUPR Stream product for classified uses within their intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems. The UK MOD recently purchased SUPR Stream 2.0, which is Cyttas Corps most advanced SUPR stream system and this pivotal sale expands our existing relationship between Cytta Corp and the British Military. In 2019 Cytta Corp successfully sold, integrated, and demonstrated the efficacy of our initial compression product and advanced service package, the SUPR Stream V1000, within the British Militarys ISR systems. While the nature of this new contract is mostly classified, it revolves around utilizing Cyttas proprietary SUPR Stream system, a small, powerful, ultra-portable and ruggedized video compression system. Our Clients field testing expanded the evaluation of SUPR Stream capabilities beyond HD by incorporating 4K cameras into their field operational ISR systems. Before SUPR, real-time 4K was not considered to be possible using low and ultra-low bandwidth over small Satellite links but it has now been shown to be effective and reliable. The second-generation SUPR Stream 2.0 expands the capabilities for any ISR team. The British Military use case unlocks previously unimaginable real-time, high-resolution video over low and ultra-low bandwidth satellite feeds, Says Gary Campbell, CEO of Cytta Corp. Our SUPR Stream codec is the most powerful in the world, allowing our military clients to successfully gain exceptional field awareness in all surveillance and battle-ready environments. The UK MOD successfully completed rigorous development testing, field evaluations and demonstrations to identify the exact configurations required to be provided in all new situations to fulfill their operational requirements. Prior to this V2.0 purchase order, we had been advised that the Cytta SUPR Stream systems met and/or exceeded client requirements in multiple immediate use cases. Cyttas quest to develop the fastest, highest quality video compression systems for field transmission in the world hve been shown to excel in hostile, real-world environments. The Cytta development team has worked extensively with our British Five Eyes counterparts throughout the passing months to ensure the UK MOD group is fully supported in all their demonstrations of the SUPR Stream technology capabilities. The demonstrations were designed to identify the multiple use case scenarios where Cytta video compression systems could be incorporated into immediate operational situations, requiring additional and modified configurations of the SUPR Stream System. Please connect with us at www.cytta.com or watch our new video on Cytta's YouTube Channel at Cytta SUPR Stream YouTube Video to learn more. About Us Cytta Corp ( OTCPINK: CYCA) brings technology from military to enterprise. Our proprietary SUPR Stream, the most powerful codec in the world, is the technology at the core of our products, designed specifically for streaming and storing HD, 4K, and higher resolution video. The IGAN Matrix seamlessly streams and stores all relevant video and audio during emergency situations. This creates real-time situational awareness for police, firefighters, first responders, military and their command centers. Cytta Corp products work in size, weight, and power-constrained (SWaP) operating environments, and evolved through use in the military by meeting the need to stream multiple HD, 4K, and 4K+ video feeds with ultra-low latency, bandwidth, and power consumption. Cytta is taking this streaming, storage, and transfer technology to enterprises that would like to send more high-quality videos with fewer resources. Cytta manufactures all their products in the USA and is in compliance with recent DOD Blacklist Clause pronouncements. For more information, please visit Cytta.com and/or the Cytta Video Channel on YouTube and our new Video highlighting the Military ISR applications of SUPR Stream at YouTube Cytta SUPR Stream YouTube Video Safe Harbor Statement / Forward-Looking Statements Statements included in this press release, which are not historical in nature, are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements relating to the future performance of the Company are subject to many factors including, but not limited to, the customer acceptance of the products in the market, the introduction of competitive products and product development, the impact of any product liability or other adverse litigation, working capital and availability of capital, commercialization and technological difficulties, the impact of actions and events involving key customers, vendors, lenders, competitors, and other risks. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the Company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the terms "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "may", "objective", "plan", "possible", "potential", "project", "will", and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information, or otherwise. Cytta Corp. Gary Campbell, CEO Office (702) 900 7022 info@cytta.com www.Cytta.com Michael Chermak Chief Administrative Officer 619 977 7203 Chermak@Cytta.com Michael Collins, Cytta CTO, Director Digital Media Direct (310) 922-0478 MCollins@Cytta.com Corporate Communications Contacts: Complete Advisory Partners Office: (586) 228-2290 Cell: (586) 801-9002 Email: CapInc@comcast.net [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Tremor Video Expands CTV Offering with Data-Driven Creative Solutions That Empower Brands to Deliver the Most Relevant Video Storytelling NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tremor Video , the leading programmatic video platform, today announced it has bolstered its Connected TV (CTV) offering with upgraded data-driven creative solutions to deliver the most dynamic video storytelling that maximizes the timeliness and relevance of brand messaging for audiences. Now with the power of data-driven creative, Tremor Video offers advertisers the most cutting-edge CTV advertising solutions all in one place, including access to exclusive supply sources that reach all platforms, seamless activation across all channels, TV retargeting, PMPs, expanded household addressability and full-funnel measurement solutionsall covered by comprehensive fraud protection built for CTV and over-the-top (OTT). By leveraging an extensive breadth and depth of consumer data and machine learning driven insightssuch as audience segments, geo-location, time and weatherTremor Videos in-house Creative Studio takes the complexity out of developing creative assets for clients while generating thousands of video variations for each nuanced audience. These creative services, which include strategic planning, design, rendering, serving and tracking of the campaign are all done in-house, without the traditional challenges of extensive setup from various vendors. A recent IAB study found that 75% of marketers identify targetability as the most compelling benefit of CTV. Additionally, a survey by Tremor Video and Toluna found that a majority of consumers are comfortable with ads that are customized and increasingly expect tailored experiences. However, according to Gartner , 27% of marketers name data as a key obstacle to achieving personalization. Tremor Videos data-driven creative solutions help solve for this challenge by using consumer behavior data to execute real-time personalization at scale, helping to improve performance and allow brands to tap into videos intrinsic benefits of sight, sound and motion. Now more than ever, brands find themselves having to quickly adapt their campaigns in order to ensure their messaging speaks directly and compassionately to consumers dealing with change and uncertainty, said Les Seifer, Vice President and Head of Creative at Tremor Video. While the behind-the-scenes production and execution is intricate and complex, we enable brands to connect with their consumers efficiently and effectively, with a minimal amount of work on the brands part. Tremor Videos data-driven creative offering also provides for personalization across second-screen video devices. Brands are equipped with extensive versioning of video tailor-made to yield the optimal resonance, response and impact among the respective consumer segments. The Tremor Creative Studio helps to create original, versioned video creatives that speak to our consumers, allowing us to meet our media goals under a tight deadline, said Maliya Rooney, Creative Resource Manager at Padilla. They are professional and patient, and do it all so quickly. For a visual example of Tremor Videos data-driven creative solutions, please visit here . About Tremor Video Tremor Video helps advertisers deliver impactful brand stories across all screens through the power of innovative video technology combined with advanced audience data and captivating creative. Tremor Video is one of the largest and most innovative video advertising companies in North America, with offerings in CTV, instream and in-app. Tremor Video is a Tremor International company. Media Contact Brook Terran 805-570-3309 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Redrock Biometrics Releases PalmID Agent in Apple's App Store SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Redrock Biometrics , a leading provider of palm-print based biometrics for authentication and identification, announced today that it has released PalmID Agent software in the Apple App Store as the final step in its integration with the Microsoft Active Directory platform. Redrock Biometrics developed the app as a front-end component of PalmID Identity Provider to deliver an unparalleled passwordless sign-in experience for online users. As the user is challenged for their palm on their phone, the access to the site they are trying to log into will be granted upon success. Signing in with social accounts is highly popular and convenient but it is not very secure, says Lenny Kontsevich, a Co-Founder of Redrock Biometrics. Multi-factor authentication is much more secure but requires additional effort. The PalmID solution combines the best of these two worlds. The PalmID Agent, registered with the users phone, poses as a username and your palm becomes your password, which cannot be passed to someone or stolen. A crtified anti-spoofing detector in PalmID does not permit any replica of a palm to be accepted for a sign-in. The PalmID Identity Provider service together with PalmID Agent are presently integrated with Microsoft Active Directory B2C service for customer-facing web applications. Within this environment PalmID delivers a primary sign-in mechanism whereby the user scans a QR code with a phone running the PalmID Agent, then presents a palm to the phone camera, and gets signed in. Alternatively, PalmID Agent can be used for replacing OTC/OTP (one-time code/one-time password) such as a 6-digit code with palm-based biometrics. This solution can be used for payments, high-risk transactions, or password recovery. We are excited to see the tremendous interest in our solution and to be supporting the Microsoft Azure AD B2C platform with enhanced security for engaging with their customers, said Kontsevich. PalmID is rapidly becoming the biometrics of choice in the present New Normal environment, where the words touchless and privacy sound like a mantra. Redrock Biometrics technology allows for the combination of palm prints and/or subdermal veins, captured by a standard RGB camera and/or infrared camera, to produce a highly unique palm signature that is impossible to fake. Proprietary PalmID algorithms are capable of matching a newly captured palm signature with millions of previously registered signatures stored in a database in a fraction of a second. About Redrock Biometrics Redrock Biometrics, Inc. is the creator of PalmID, a patented palm-print based authentication software development kit and platform. PalmID is the first commercially-available solution combining high-performance, secure, contactless and affordable biometrics for virtually any device with a camera. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in San Francisco. Partners include Epson, Mastercard, Samsung and Wells Fargo. To learn more about Redrock Biometrics or request a demo visit: www.redrockbiometrics.com . Media Contact Katie Parr, UPRAISE Marketing + PR for Redrock Biometrics 503-442-8805 redrock@upraisepr.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Attivo Networks Advanced Protection Disrupts Ransomware 2.0 Attivo Networks, an award-winning leader in cyber deception and attacker lateral movement threat detection, today announced new capabilities to its Endpoint Detection Net (EDN) solution that improve file protection against human-operated ransomware by concealing and denying access to production mapped shares, cloud storage, and selected files or folders. By hiding this information, the EDN solution limits the malware's choice to engage only with the decoy environment and dramatically reduces the risk of a successful data compromise. Many organizations continue to struggle with the cost and impact of widespread ransomware attacks, but derailing these attacks early can save organizations from those consequences. Traditional endpoint solutions, like Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), use signature matching or behavioral anomaly detection to identify malicious binaries and block the execution of ransomware to stop the infection. Unfortunately, with human attackers using advanced methods, many of their techniques can evade these solutions. Advanced, human-operated attacks, or what is now commonly referred to as Ransomware 2.0, uses APT (News - Alert) -style tactics designed to bypass traditional security controls. These threat actors often do not encrypt data and demand ransom on the first system they compromise. Instead, they use it as a foothold into the network to conduct network discovery, probe Active Directory, move laterally, and identify high-value assets to target. Only after attackers have found the organization's essential assets, encrypted the critical data, or taken control of assets do they send their ransom demands. "Advanced human-controlled ransomware can evade endpoint security controls and after initial compromise, move laterally to cause maximum damage, do data exfiltration and encrypt data," said Srikant Vissamsetti, senior vice president of engineering, Attivo Networks. "This advanced protection by the Attivo EDN solution disrupts ransomware's ability to move laterally and prevents unauthorized access to data by concealing production files, folders, removable disks, network shares, and cloud storage." Ransomware continues to be a top concern for organizations and government agencies of all sizes. In 2020 there has been a significant spike in the number and aggressiveness of attacks. The Attivo Networks 2019 Top Threat Detection Trends Survey report noted that ransomware remains a top security concern by 66% of the respondents and continues to rise in destructiveness and cost. Attackers are taking their time in these attacks. According to recent Mandiant Threat Intelligence Research, in most (75%) cases, at least three days passed between the first evidence of malicious activity and ransomware deployment, indicating more targeted behavior rather than indiscriminate destruction. The Crypsis 2020 Incident Response & Data Breach Report looks at breach costs, noting that median ransomware payments have increased 300% since the first quarter of 2018 with individual company payouts as high as $5 million. To demonstrate the potential ROI of stopping ransomware early in the attack cycle, Attivo modeled potential costs to a ransomware attack and compared it to how much an organization could save by deploying the EDN solution. With the EDN solution, ROI can be as high as 93% versus paying an average ransom demand. How EDN Works to Derail Ransomware 2.0 There are five primary techniques that the Attivo Networks ThreatDefend platform provides to reduce the risk and prevent the spread of a ransomware attack. These work collectively to stop infections and accurately detect in-network threats and other activities criminals would employ to escalate their attack. Prevents attackers from seeing or exploiting production files, folders, removable disks, network shares, and cloud storage Detects attempted exploitation and encryption of decoy file shares (when used in conjunction with BOTsink deception servers) Slows an attack by distracting it with high-interaction deception techniques Detects credential theft and attempted enumeration of local administrator accounts and Active Directory for privilege escalation Provides native integrations that deliver automated isolation and reduce response time Traditional security controls only prevent the initial compromise of a system, leaving substantial exposure when advanced attacks bypass a system's security and quietly work to elevate their attack. Combatting sophisticated ransomware requires a new approach with new methods of disrupting these attackers. Attivo is now offering a comprehensive and unique solution that is shifting power back to the defenders. These innovative capabilities not only prevent successful attacks but will also quickly and efficiently derail any attacker attempting to move undetected through the on-premises or cloud networks. These capabilities are available immediately. For more information on how Attivo Networks protects against Ransomware 2.0, read the solution brief. To run a ransomware ROI simulation, contact an Attivo Networks security specialist. About Attivo Networks Attivo Networks, the leader in deception technology, provides an active defense for early detection, forensics, and automated incident response to in-network attacks. The Attivo ThreatDefend Deception Platform provides a comprehensive and customer-proven platform for proactive security and accurate threat detection within user networks, data centers, clouds, and a wide variety of specialized attack surfaces. The portfolio includes extensive network, endpoint, application, and data deceptions designed to misdirect and reveal attacks efficiently from all threat vectors. Advanced machine-learning makes preparation, deployment, and operations fast and simple to operate for organizations of all sizes. Comprehensive attack analysis and forensics provide actionable alerts and native integrations that automate the blocking, quarantine, and threat hunting of attacks for accelerated incident response. The company has won over 125 awards for its technology innovation and leadership. For more information, visit www.attivonetworks.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005234/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] InComm Launches American Express Virtual Reward Card ATLANTA, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- InComm, a leading payments technology company, today announced the launch of the American Express Virtual Reward Card, a flexible solution for any rewards program. The American Express Virtual Reward Card is a tool designed to assist businesses in engaging customers or rewarding employees. With this digitally delivered prepaid reward card, recipients can access their rewards instantly rather than waiting for a physical product to arrive. For businesses, the virtual reward card offers a safe, reliable network for instant delivery and redemption across the country. The card can be loaded with denominations of up to $3,000 and is delivered via email, with fulfillment available individually or in bulk. Recipients can add the card to their participating mobile wallets, and it can be used virtually anywhere American Express Cards are accepted in the U.S. "As the world now adjusts to a new normal, it is more critical than ever for businesses to maintain connections with their customers," said David Etling, Senior Vice President of InComm InCentives. "The American Express Virtual Reward Card is an ideal rewards solution; it can be sent and redeemed instantly, and the mobile wallet interface allows for touchless in-store transactions." In 2018, InComm acquired exclusive distribution rights to American Express' prepaid reloadable and single load prepaid card products in the U.S. For more information on the new American Express Virtual Reward Card, visit: www.incommincentives.com/Brands About InComm By building more value into every transaction through innovative payment technologies, InComm creates seamless and valuable commerce experiences. InComm's unique products and services which range from gift card malls to enhanced payment platforms connect companies across a wide range of industries including retail, healthcare, tolling & transit, incentives and financial services to an ever-expanding consumer base. With more than 25 years of experience, over 500,000 points of distribution, 386 global patents and a presence in more than 30 countries, InComm leads the payments industry from its headquarters in Atlanta, GA. Learn more at www.InComm.com. Media Contacts: Anthony Popiel Dalton Agency 404-876-1309 apopiel@daltonagency.com Nilce Piccinini Sr. Communications Manager InComm 404-935-0377 npiccinini@incomm.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/incomm-launches-american-express-virtual-reward-card-301085755.html SOURCE InComm [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Milton, PA (17847) Today Partly cloudy this morning with thunderstorms becoming likely this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 89F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, overcast overnight with occasional rain likely. Low 62F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. BehavioSec's Zero Trust Protection Strengthens Mobile and Pandemic Recovery Programs BehavioSec, the first vendor to pioneer behavioral biometrics, is positioned for strong growth as post-pandemic mobile shifts and evolving cyber threats highlight greater demand for deep authentication and anti-fraud capabilities delivering increased trust without breaking the user experience. With contactless, mobile-optimized shopping, financial services and business productivity on the rise, organizations are rethinking how to verify online identities with greater accuracy and lower friction, as chronic abuse of stolen passwords and other credentials persists. BehavioSec's intuitive behavioral biometrics technology meets enhanced authentication demands by delivering zero trust safeguards authenticating individuals based on users' typing patterns, touchscreen activity and cursor movements, beyond vulnerable passwords. Authenticating users seamlessly in the background without proprietary hardware or other tokens reduces fraud risks and gives BehavioSec customers a competitive edge. "We're witnessing a seismic shift in digital interactions and expectations as users become more acclimated to working, shopping and interacting online, transforming not only digital services but also what customers expect from the fintech and e-commerce experience," said BehavioSec Vice President of Products Jordan Blake. "But digital adoption isn't the only thing accelerating. Cyber scams are also on the rise as criminals seek to take advantage of new apps, services and consumer fear and uncertainty in the wake COVID-19. Businesses are increasingly challenged in this environment to provide strong customer authentication without customer friction. That means a more adaptive approach to validating online identities that meets the needs of both companies and consumers, and one that can be achieved through behavioral biometrics." Months of unprecedented pandemic disruptions are accelerating the world's shift to wider remote work and making mobile devices the center of essential business and personal services. Fintech platforms are helping disburse aid from U.S. government stimulus programs. The IRS delayed U.S. Tax Day to July 15, 2020, giving affected consumers and businesses more time to prepare tax returns and use software, virtual consultations and mobile apps, as office closures and quarantines continue through summer. Recent studies show customers are using their bank's mobile app more frequently now than ever before. These digital trends aren't just limited to banking. An April Mastercard poll found a high consumer preference for contactless payments; a finding further evidenced as consumers choose more often to shop online. Unfortunately, extra friction resulting from authentication measures meant to protect them can leave those same users cold with 28% abandoning online purchases due to forgotten usernames or passwords as reported by FICO. Meanwhile, cyber criminals continue to adapt attack vectors to exploit this digitally focused framework. The FBI warns of scammers exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to steal money and fraudsters targeting the popularity of mobile finance applications. This puts even more pressure on digital service providers to reduce the risk of fraud and account takeover (ATO) by implementing stronger authentication and anti-fraud safeguards, without imposing undue friction and stress on users that breaks the mobile experience for payments and productivity. BehavioSec customers have a way to set themselves apart in crowded and demanding mobile-first markets by adopting deeper authentication and a simplified user experience through behavioral biometrics. Unlike traditional authentication technologies, the BehavioSec platform continuously authenticates users in real time based on unique physical behaviors difficult for criminals to spoof, steal or socially engineer. Organizations across industry sectors relying on mobile and digital transformation gain the secure engagement that businesses require - and consumers expect - with dramatically reduced account lockouts, HelpDesk calls, password resets and other friction. For more information on how BehavioSec solutions can give the digital services you offer a competitive advantage visit: https://www.behaviosec.com/behavioral-biometric-solutions/. About BehavioSec BehavioSec is the first vendor to pioneer behavioral biometrics. The company's Behavioral Biometrics Platform is widely deployed across Global 2000 companies for its proven ability to dramatically reduce account fraud and data theft. Founded in 2008 out of groundbreaking academic research, BehavioSec technology allows companies to continuously verify digital identities with superior precision, in real-time. Strengthened with the leadership of serial entrepreneurs and experienced industry professionals, the BehavioSec team now spans the world, providing security while preserving a rich digital experience throughout web and mobile apps. BehavioSec is the only enterprise-grade vendor used in global deployments with some of the largest companies, reducing manual review whilst safeguarding millions of users and billions of transactions. BehavioSec investors include Forgepoint Capital, Cisco (News - Alert) , ABN AMRO, Conor Ventures and Octopus Ventures. BehavioSec is headquartered in San Francisco, CA and has global operations throughout Europe and Asia Pac. For more information, visit www.behaviosec.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005098/en/ [June 30, 2020] AgencyKPI Secures Series A Funding from Insurance Industry Leaders AgencyKPI (www.agencykpi.com), developer of the first business intelligence platform designed to address and manage the abundance of data produced by multiple software programs and legacy systems across the insurance industry, today announced the closing of $5 million in Series A funding. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005632/en/ AgencyKPI Co-Founders, Bobby Billman and Trent Richmond. (Photo: Business Wire) The Series A round of funding is led by EMC (News - Alert) Insurance Companies of Des Moines, Iowa. EMC is ranked among the top 60 property/casualty insurance organizations in the country based on net written premium. "We are very happy to be working with AgencyKPI on a platform that is sure to benefit independent agents and how EMC aligns with them. With AgencyKPI, we'll have more timely and accurate data that's just easier to understand and share with our networks and independent agents to help us grow and be more profitable together," said Mick A. Lovell, COO of EMC Insurance. Two other insurance agency networks are also investing in AgencyKPI: Keystone Insurers Group of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, and Austin-based Combined Agents of America. Keystone Insurers Group, founded in 1983, has grown to almost 300 independent agency partners across 14 states. It is ranked third on Insurance Journal's Top 100 Property/Casualty Agencies list for 2019. "I'm delighte our Board of Directors unanimously approved an additional investment in AgencyKPI to close out their Series A Funding initiative. All three original investors decided to further their financial commitment, signifying an exceptional level of confidence in the company's leadership, product and strategic direction. We're proud to be in partnership with such talented and fine quality people," said Mike Azar, Chief Financial Officer of Keystone Insurers Group. Combined Agents of America is comprised of 75 independent insurance agencies and is ranked sixth on Insurance Journal's Top 100 Property/Casualty Agencies list for 2019. "CAA is excited to continue and enhance our partnership with AgencyKPI. They are doing something the insurance industry has never seen before. We view Agency KPI as not only a valuable asset for CAA and our members, but also as a game changer for the Insurance Agency Networks," said A.J. Lovitt, CEO of Combined Agents of America. AgencyKPI started in 2017 when Trent Richmond, an insurance industry veteran, and Bobby Billman, a seasoned high tech executive, began to quietly recruit data scientists and software engineers to build its software stack and define its network business intelligence platform in conjunction with their initial beta clients. In 2019, the company emerged from stealth mode with $3 million in seed and strategic-round funding raised from insurance networks, carriers, independent agencies, and C-level executives in the insurance industry. This year, AgencyKPI will use the new funds to hire more software developers and data scientists to accelerate the development of the company's additional business intelligence platforms. "With this funding round, we have confirmation from the insurance industry that insurance carriers, networks and independent agencies want to better enable collaboration through a deeper understanding of their data. We're especially proud to continue to work with our partners who provided our seed funding. They believe in our vision and support our direction," said Bobby Billman, co-founder of AgencyKPI. Also in 2019, AgencyKPI launched its business intelligence platform for networks, called Harmony, which addresses mass data fragmentation and unifies data from various sources, so insurance networks can begin to see how they are performing on any given level. Today, the Harmony platform handles $15.8 billion in written premium from more than 8,800 affiliated agencies. About AgencyKPI AgencyKPI is a start-up in Austin that provides a business intelligence platform for insurance networks, independent agencies and insurers. AgencyKPI has a fundamental belief that insurance agencies, networks, carriers and wholesalers desire to deepen their relationships through mutual understanding, and the harmonizing and balancing of their collective efforts. During a time when most Insurtech companies claim that disruption is the path to the future, AgencyKPI is developing software platforms that support Harmony, Understanding and Balance between all partners and vendors in the insurance industry. AgencyKPI is founded by Trent Richmond and Bobby Billman. Richmond is a veteran of the insurance industry and is the former CEO of Combined Agents of America, and also the former president and chairman of the board of Bridges Group Insurance. Billman is a former vice president at Motorola (News - Alert) Mobility, a Google company, where he was responsible for global products and go-to-market strategies. Over his career, Billman has held executive leadership positions at Samsung (News - Alert) Mobile, Dell, Dish Network and Nokia Mobile. In 2020, AgencyKPI gained recognition as one of the Austin Business Journal's "Best Places to Work." For more about AgencyKPI, Inc. go to www.agencykpi.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005632/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] HPC-AI Advisory Council and ISC Group Announce Winners of the 9th Annual Student Cluster Competition The HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) in collaboration with the ISC Group revealed the teams topping the 2020 leaderboard for the ninth annual ISC-HPCAIAC Student Cluster Competition (SCC). The four teams to garner top awards for the first "all virtual" SCC included: First Place: University of Science and Technology of China (USTC, China) Second Place: Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC, South Africa) Third Place: Tsinghua University (TU, China) Honorable Mention: Nanyang Technological University (NTU, Singapore) Fan Favorite: Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC, Catalonia/Spain) As a consequence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the ISC High Performance conference organizers quickly reorganized the event into an "all virtual" SCC in just a few short weeks. Competitors hailed from eleven different locations around the world, with a total of eighty-two students taking part in the 2020 competition. "All of this year's competitors are winners," said Thomas Meuer, Co-General Chair of the ISC High Performance conference. "We hope their biggest take-away from competing is confidence, knowing they possess the capabilities and promise needed to conquer any challenge that comes their way. We're pleased to be able to support the competition and to help guide students become contributing members within HPC and their own communities." The National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore provided HPC system resources that allowed the international teams to coordinate and demonstrate their proposed solutions to complex real-world scenarios in a completely virtual setting. "We were thrilled to be part of the competition and very encouraged to know that the power of HPC helped the organizers carry on the competition in spite of the limitaions posed by the current pandemic," said Associate Professor Tan Tin Wee, Chief Executive at NSCC. "Such competitions provide valuable practical experience in a range of real-world problems, which is critical for students' development and for supporting their successful entry into the workplace." For the first time in the history of this competition, student teams competed using the same system configurations, leaving performance entirely dependent on each team's technical skills and knowledge. Application challenges included: simulating a galaxy using the cosmological framework ChaNGa; ice-flow modelling using Elmer/Ice - an open source finite element analysis software; COVID-19 analysis demonstrating two molecular dynamics simulations, Tinker-HP and GROMACS; a new coding challenge simulating particle movement in 2-dimensional space; and an AI natural language processing challenge using BERT. The all-remote teams competed against each other over a three-week period. Winners of the first to third places were the teams who accumulated the highest scores, respectively, where each team's total score was a combination of (a) score of application runs, (b) score of innovation, and (c) score of team interview. "The mission of the student cluster competition is to help foster the next generation of researchers and scientists, by teaching the students how to take advantage of high-performance computing and deep learning technologies for scientific simulations and the understanding of world phenomena," said Gilad Shainer, chairman of the HPC-AI Advisory Council. "We would like to thank NSCC for their support of cluster resources, and the ISC Group for their ongoing support of the annual student cluster competition." For more information: www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com/events/student-cluster-competition About ISC Group ISC Group organizes ISC High Performance, the world's oldest and Europe's premier conference and networking event for the international HPC community. More at www.isc-hpc.com. About HPC-AI Advisory Council Founded in 2008, HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) is a community benefit organization with over 400 members committed to promoting HPC and AI through education and outreach. More at www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005660/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Krusinski Construction Company Helps Bring Facebook to Northern Illinois OAK BROOK, Ill., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Krusinski Construction Company (www.Krusinski.com), a leader in providing comprehensive construction services, welcomes Facebook to its ChicagoWest Business Center in DeKalb, Illinois. Facebook's $800 million data center will be built on 505 acres of the 1,000 acre ChicagoWest Business Center property. This project validates the vision Krusinski Construction Company CEO Jerry Krusinski had when he first began assembling this unique property 14 years ago. "Krusinski Construction Company is proud to have helped make Facebook's investment in DeKalb possible," said Krusinski. "We recognized the potential of this location for mission-critical data centers given its proximity to transmission voltage electrical power, abundant water supply, essential sanitary capacity, multiple broad-band carriers, easy access to interstate transportation, accessible utilities, and ready workforce. We are totally engaged in delivering on the first phase of this development as we provide the utility infrastructure and roadwork improvements necessary to make the project a success." For 14 years Krusinski spearheaded the effort to provide a viable opportunity for companies to locate tech operations in Illinois as opposed to neighboring states. He persisted through the 2008 recession and years of a non-competitive Illinois business environment, building coalitions, developing public/private partnerships and sounding the alarm about the need to make Illinois more attractive for data centers. "This project would never have been possible without the dogged determination of Jerry Krusinski and the support of Krusinski Construction Company," said DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director span >Paul Borek. "Jerry Krusinski is one of the thought leaders on this project. He and Krusinski Construction have been essential partners in taking on the varied challenges necessary to bring this project to fruition. The data center will help boost our industrial tax base and be a plus for the local economy. We look forward to our continued partnership with Krusinski." In addition to Krusinski Construction Company and the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, ComEd, the City of DeKalb elected officials and city manager and numerous other elected representatives, government officials and utilities helped make ChicagoWest Business Center in DeKalb a reality. "There were days when I thought my vision might never come to pass, and so did many others," said Krusinski. "Against all odds we persevered, and Krusinski Construction is honored to welcome Facebook and share in this victory for DeKalb and the state of Illinois." KEY FACTS ABOUT KRUSINSKI CONSTRUCTION COMPANY PROJECT Krusinski Construction Company has under construction: More than two miles of Class II roadway improvements including a truck-rated roundabout and a four-way signalized intersection Approximately 3 miles of 16-inch water main Approximately 1.5 miles of deep gravity trunk sewer with capacity in excess of 4 million gallons per day ABOUT KRUSINSKI CONSTRUCTION COMPANY Krusinski Construction Company is a leader in providing comprehensive construction services by creating long-lasting partnerships with our clients throughout the entire design and construction process. The company delivers solutions to complex building projects in the Chicago area and across the country, working with a wide range of industries. Always operating with safety as the number one priority, Krusinski Construction Company invests in training and extensive quality control and testing programs. To learn more about Krusinski Construction Company, its capabilities and values, visit www.Krusinski.com. ABOUT CHICAGOWEST BUSINESS CENTER The ChicagoWest Business Center (www.ChicagoWestBusinessCenter.com) is a 1,000 acre master-planned business park located about 60 miles west of Chicago with direct Interstate and rail access. ABOUT DEKALB COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation (www.DCEDC.org) is a public-private partnership, established in 1987, that facilitates sustainable and diversified economic growth within DeKalb County, Illinois. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/krusinski-construction-company-helps-bring-facebook-to-northern-illinois-301085967.html SOURCE Krusinski Construction Company [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Avenue5 Residential Selects LeaseLock to Eliminate Security Deposits LeaseLock, the first and only nationwide A-rated lease insurance provider that totally eliminates security deposits, surety bonds, and guarantors in rental housing, today announced Avenue5 Residential has selected LeaseLock as its exclusive national vendor for security deposit replacement. LeaseLock is backed by Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures. Avenue5 Residential is the fastest-growing enterprise multifamily operator with more than 70,000 apartment homes nationwide. Avenue5 Residential is now ranked No. 15 on the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) Top 50 Managers list, moving up five spots from 2019. LeaseLock powers a modern lease experience with insurance technology. Renters pay a small monthly fee that generates over $5,000 in coverage for the property on every lease. Renters save thousands of dollars at move-in, while communities drive more traffic, convert more leases, significantly reduce bad debt, and fully eliminate deposit administration and liability. LeaseLock has insured $10 million in leases for Avenue5 Residential across premier ownership clients including ColRich, Trinsic, and Compass (News - Alert) Acquisition Partners, resulting in 5x greater protection against rent loss and damage compared to security deposits. "Security deposits are a thing of the past. Financially, deposits-along with surety bonds-do not make a lot of sense," said Mark Stringer, Executive Vice President at Avenue5 Residential. "Deposits are too expensive and surty bonds provide inadequate coverage, putting property owners at financial risk. LeaseLock solves these problems." LeaseLock, the category leader in deposit replacement, has insured over $300 million in leases across the industry's largest apartment portfolios with clients currently controlling over 2 million rental units. NMHC Top 50 clients include Greystar, Pinnacle, FPI, Bell Partners, Harbor Group, and LMC, and ownership groups such as UBS, TruAmerica, Eaton (News - Alert) Vance and Goodman Real Estate. "LeaseLock is modernizing the rental housing transaction to meet the demands of future residents," said Derek Merrill, CEO and Co-founder of LeaseLock. "Avenue5 Residential is deploying cutting-edge real estate technology to power incredible growth. These technologies provide their clients a competitive edge in the marketplace." LeaseLock Zero Deposit integrates with all major property management systems, including Yardi, RealPage, and Entrata. About LeaseLock LeaseLock helps the world find home. Powered by insurance technology, LeaseLock delivers a modern lease experience for rental housing-faster, simpler and more affordable. Headquartered in Marina Del Rey, CA (News - Alert) , LeaseLock totally eliminates all deposits, bonds and guarantors. Renters pay an affordable monthly fee that generates over $5,000 in coverage for the property on every lease. Renters save thousands of dollars at move-in, while properties increase occupancy, reduce bad debt, and eliminate deposit administration and liability. LeaseLock has insured over $300 million in leases and is backed by insurance rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best. LeaseLock has secured $25 million from leading insurance, technology and real estate venture funds including Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, American Family Ventures, Wildcat Venture Partners and Moderne Ventures. For more information, please visit www.leaselock.com. About Avenue5 Residential Avenue5, a multifamily property management services firm, oversees more than 370 properties and 70,000 units in 13 states. The company is headquartered in Seattle and has offices in Denver, Orange (News - Alert) County, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Spokane, and greater Washington, DC. In addition, Avenue5's local experts are based in key markets including Northern California, Reno, Las Vegas, Colorado Springs, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Baltimore. Avenue5 employs about 1,800 associates nationwide. For more information, visit www.avenue5.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005550/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Germany Amps Up Domestic Battery Production With Massive State Subsidies BERLIN, June 30, 2020 /CNW/ -- Major players in the industry are lining up to get involved in the initiative, and on Tuesday, June 30, German Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier officially awarded the government's first grant worth EUR 300 million to battery company Varta. "The establishment of innovative and sustainable battery cell production is a high priority for us in Germany," said Altmaier. "It is necessary to remain competitive during our energy and transportation transition, to create new jobs and to ensure prosperity. Today we have taken a large step toward large-scale domestic production of automotive and industrial batteries." The initiative is part of a European Union IPCEI, Important Project of Common European Interest. Four other companies with battery-cell projects in Germany will also be receiving grants: BASF, BMW Group, Opel and Umicore. The European Battery Alliance believes that the value of the market for European-made batteries could reach as much as EUR 250 billion by the mid-2020s. And lithium-ion batteries account for approximately 40 percent of the value creation of electric vehicles, says the German Economics Ministry. The aim is for the projects underwritten by the government to begin making batteries in 2022 and enter industrial-scale production by the mid-2020s at the latest. > Stefan Di Bitonto . "It's obvious right now that battery manufacturers are moving closer to their customer base," Di Bitonto says. "Germany is the heart of the European automotive industry, and we're seeing increased volume in investments in this area in various German regional states: most prominently CATL in Thuringia, Northvolt in Lower Saxony, Farasis in Saxony-Anhalt and most recently Tesla in Brandenburg. We believe that in future German automotive production will primarily get the batteries for its electric vehicles directly from Germany." Germany aims to have 7 to 10 million EVs on the country's roads by 2030, and government-backed incentives of up to EUR 9000 are available to purchasers of new EVs and hybrids. That will open up business opportunities for German subsidiaries of foreign companies as well. "By expanding to Germany, companies active in the value chain in this area can profit from this development and take part in a revolutionary change, influence things to come and position themselves advantageously for the mobility of the future," say Di Bitonto. Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) is the economic development agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. GTAI supports German companies setting up in foreign markets, promotes Germany as a business location and assists foreign companies setting up in Germany. Contact: Jefferson Chase Senior Manager Corporate Communications GERMANY TRADE & INVEST Follow us Twitter | LinkedIn | Xing | YouTube T +49 30 200 099 170 jefferson.chase@gtai.com www.gtai.com Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) is the Federal Republic of Germany's agency for promoting trade and investment to and from Germany. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/germany-amps-up-domestic-battery-production-with-massive-state-subsidies-301086012.html SOURCE Germany Trade & Invest [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] ADDING MULTIMEDIA x2VOL from intelliVOL Reaches Over 50 Million Approved Student Service Hours Creating A Billion Dollar Economic Impact x2VOL by intelliVOL, an online platform used to manage, track, and verify student service hours, reports today that schools have approved over 50 million student service hours which created a $1.25 Billion economic impact*. x2VOL is the leading service tracking platform in K-12 education with the most served hours by students across the country. x2VOL works with districts, schools, and clubs to track student service hours, service reflections, as well as, internship hours and work-based learning hours. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005121/en/ x2VOL from intelliVOL Reaches Over 50 Million Approved Student Service Hours Creating A Billion Dollar Economic Impact (Graphic: Business Wire) During COVID-19, service hasn't stopped. Although students have transitioned to distance learning or learning from home during this pandemic, they are still finding creative ways to participate in service from home. Among these unique service ideas are: sewing face masks, using their skills to teach free nline classes or tutoring sessions, writing letters to the elderly that cannot receive any visitors in their nursing homes, and more. "The data shows just how motivated and dedicated students are to serving their communities, and we are encouraged to see that hasn't stopped during this world-wide pandemic," said Michele Pitman, founder and CEO of intelliVOL. "Students themselves are taking the initiative to drive service at their schools, especially during this time." Districts and schools across the U.S. require or highly encourage their students to participate in community service as it has become an important element in students' education and plays a role in their future. According to this study done in 2018, community service positively impacts a student's acceptance into university. x2VOL's unique reflection feature allows students to reflect on each service experience giving them the opportunity for personal development and growth, while administrators have insight into each student and how they can engage students in meaningful service. x2VOL is also the sole publisher of the Official Service Transcript (OST), which students are able to order along with academic transcripts via a partnership with Parchment. The OST is the only official and verifiable service transcript recognized by colleges and universities. About intelliVOL x2VOL by intelliVOL is an award-winning tracking and reporting platform for student service hours used by private and public schools and districts nationwide to customize service goals, centralize service hours, and provide diverse service opportunities. x2VOL provides students with an online and mobile way to track and report service hours specific to the goals of their school while engaging them with local non-profits. Service records are authenticated and verified for each student and can be attached to their college applications, scholarship applications, or resumes. x2VOL is the most widely used service tracking and reporting platform in K-12 education with 50 million approved service hours, generating a $1.25B economic impact. Learn more at x2VOL.com or email x2VOL@intellivol.com *Economic impact and cost of volunteer time sourced from Independent Sector. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005121/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Lisa Rubino Appointed to Board of Directors of Beacon Healthcare Systems Healthcare management executive Lisa Rubino, who has held leadership positions with some of the nation's best-known and most widely respected health plans, has been appointed to the board of directors of Beacon Healthcare Systems. Beacon is home to the healthcare industry's leading compliance and risk management technologies. For the past three years, Rubino has served on Beacon's advisory board where she shared her expertise in business development and market strategy, particularly as it applies to the Medicare and Medicaid arenas. In her new appointment, she brings to the Beacon board a strong background in high-performing organizations and a 35-year track record of achieving outstanding financial and operational results. She is the former president of Molina Healthcare of California and senior vice president of Molina's Medicare Division. Prior, Rubino served as senior vice president for both Blue Shield of California and before that CareAmerica Health Plans, in both cases focusing on individual, small-group and governent-related business. "Lisa's entire career has been one of exceptional achievement combined with a keen insight into where the industry is going and how to be a market leader," said Beacon Chairman of the Board Layton Crouch. "We are thrilled to have her join the Beacon board of directors as we seek new and even better ways to grow our business and serve our customers nationwide." In addition to her new role at Beacon, Rubino currently serves on the board of directors for SafeRide Health and on the advisory board of Redesign Health. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in criminology from California State University, Long Beach. Beacon Healthcare Systems is home to the healthcare industry's leading compliance 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/20200630005380/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Castle Hall publishes white paper on Wirecard's lessons for asset management due diligence Castle Hall, the Due Diligence Company, today published a timely white paper outlining four key observations from the failure of Wirecard AG, the high profile German fintech payment services company. Wirecard filed for insolvency on June 25, three days after the firm's CEO, Markus Braun, was arrested on suspicion of false accounting and market manipulation. "The implosion of Wirecard has the potential to become one of the most stunning corporate failures in recent years," said Chris Addy, Castle Hall's CEO. "Our team has identified four themes from the Wirecard debacle which are relevant to the asset management industry. As investors conduct due diligence, be it on hedge funds, private equity, real estate, infrastructure or long only funds, Wirecard provides valuable insights which can be applied to our own industry." The white paper can be downloaded at www.castlehalldiligence.com/white-papers, and discusses: Audit failure. Media reports in the Financial Times (News - Alert) allege that Wirecard's auditor, EY Germany, failed to independently confirm cash balances held with Asian trustees. The Financial Times reports that the auditor allegedly "relied on documents and screenshots provided by a third-party trustee and Wirecard itself." Media reports in the Financial Times (News - Alert) allege that Wirecard's auditor, EY Germany, failed to independently confirm cash balances held with Asian trustees. The Financial Times reports that the auditor allegedly "relied on documents and screenshots provided by a third-party trustee and Wirecard itself." Qualty of Business Operations . Another audit firm, KPMG, conducted an inconclusive forensic examination into Wirecard's operations in early 2020. Among the KPMG findings was apparent reliance on basic spreadsheets as the source document to support the recording of material revenue generated from third party "acquirors." . Another audit firm, KPMG, conducted an inconclusive forensic examination into Wirecard's operations in early 2020. Among the KPMG findings was apparent reliance on basic spreadsheets as the source document to support the recording of material revenue generated from third party "acquirors." Does the Business Pass the Common Sense Smell Test? Corporate frauds such as Theranos and Sino-Forest have shown that sometimes businesses present results that are simply too good to be true. In the asset management industry, investors should always understand the source and drivers of outperformance from a particular manager. Corporate frauds such as Theranos and Sino-Forest have shown that sometimes businesses present results that are simply too good to be true. In the asset management industry, investors should always understand the source and drivers of outperformance from a particular manager. The Cult of the CEO. Markus Braun, recently described by the Wall Street Journal as a "self-styled visionary," led the firm. In asset management, key person risk around dominant investment professionals is common: however, investment managers should always seek to build a bench of both investment and business management professionals to support the organization. Responsible Investment Manager and Responsible Investment Strategy due diligence services." About Castle Hall Castle Hall Diligence helps investors worldwide manage the operational, ESG, cyber and investment risks of asset managers. Castle Hall's core competitive advantage is DiligenceHub, the firm's proprietary online diligence platform, which has helped clients review diligence across several thousand fund entities. More information is available at www.castlehalldiligence.com, where investors, asset managers and service providers can create a free DiligenceExpress account to immediately leverage the capabilities of Castle Hall's online due diligence tools. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005688/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Location Intelligence can save Billions of Dollars in Public Infrastructure Investments SINGAPORE, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- It has now been a month since Quadrant's Asia Pacific Data Alliance (APDA) launched, and over 100 companies, including some of the world's leading consulting, geospatial and data analytics firms, have joined the program. The program helps leading corporations, governments, and researchers access quality mobile location data to understand the effects, mitigate the risks and optimize their solutions throughout the pandemic. We are proud to present some of the pioneering work being done in the world of smart cities by one of our members, Mantra Studios. They are leading built environment intelligence agency focused on providing human insights within big data to help government, developers and designers create and invest in people-centric places. Mantra Studios makes it simple for their clients to understand their community by providing powerful insights on local audiences, uncovering commercial potential, highlighting spatial activity, and discovering the magnetism of places. Calibrating Mobile Device Data with Smart City Data to Inform Urban Redevelopment Strategies During the Covid-19 Pandemic The Covid-19 pandemic has created atypical demand patterns in cities and places, creating significant challenges for urban redevelopment in major cities. With social distancing and stay at home orders in effect, historic and trendline data sets are becoming increasingly sought after in the urban arena. They are especially used to inform business and planning strategies as they offer insights into patterns of place use and movement trends. One of the primary challenges when relying on data findings to underpin long-term investments is that no single data source can provide infrmation on place utilisation. To address this issue, Mantra Studios developed proprietary data calibration methods which use machine learning technologies to ingest cross platform smart city data sources (e.g. IOT, Wi-Fi, and sensor data) to produce reliable calibration metrics to enhance mobile location data, a key data source providing information on place use and utilisation. In a recent project for a major transportation planning authority in Australia, Mantra Studios was engaged to provide insights into network utilisation during the pandemic. By joining the APDA, Mantra Studios leveraged historic city-scale mobile location data to produce core inputs into the cities multipurpose traffic simulation framework. This framework provides critical intelligence for the allocation of capital to improve and construct metropolitan transport infrastructure. John Draper, Director of Data Analytics at Mantra Studios, explains, "By starting with metro-scale mobile location data from Quadrant, Mantra Studios was able to develop a city-wide demand model for vehicle movements - to and from major destination centres. This created valuable insights into when and how transport infrastructure was used over time as well as the relative demand profiles of each activity centre." The next step was to calibrate the data using a combination of smart city data sources including SCATS (real-time traffic monitoring data on traffic signals to dynamically optimise congestion and improve traffic flow), city Wi-Fi, and public transport tag on/off terminal data. Using neural network regression analysis including Stochastic Gradient Descent and backpropagation algorithms, Mantra Studios was able to produce calibrated data sets and generate validated historic origin-destination matrices. Applying machine learning regression analyses from diverse smart city data sources to mobile location data can deliver insights with levels of accuracy previously only achievable through the deployment of high cost sensors and manual survey methods. Julien Escande, General Manager of APAC at Quadrant, says, "By revealing patterns and trends of place use and movement, especially at macro or city scale, governments and business can potentially save billions of dollars in public infrastructure investments through optimal design and planning." The Quadrant APDA program is still open, and data will remain available to all organizations that require mobile location data until July 31, 2020. As part of the program all partners in this alliance will have access to APAC mobile location datasets that covers over 100 million devices and 50 billion events per month at no cost. Visit our APDA website to learn more and join. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200630/2845014-1 SOURCE Quadrant.io [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Egypt and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have agreed on implementing five projects worth a total of $105 million, Egypts Ministry of International Cooperation announced on Tuesday. The deal was agreed upon in a videoconference between Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and USAID Mission Director in Egypt Sherry Carlin. The deal involves projects in providing socioeconomic support for women, the empowerment of young women, economic governance, the digitalisation of public services, transferring government agencies to the New Administrative Capital, economic courts, and development in the most needy governorates. Carlin said that USAID is committed to increasing its investments in Egypt, especially in womens empowerment and gender equality, for the sake of mitigating the negative impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and in line with the common objectives of the Egyptian and US governments. Minister Al-Mashat said the projects with USAID are expected to help ensure the sustainability of the countrys economic reforms, increase economic growth, and increase womens participation in the formal economy in cooperation with the private sector and the National Council for Women. The minister said that USAID is a strategic partner to the Egyptian government in a number of development projects in health, education, agriculture and womens empowerment. The current cooperation portfolio between Egypt and USAID stands at $1 billion through the Egyptian-American Business Fund for supporting SMEs and bilateral agreements in tourism, health, agriculture, water and sanitation, education, trade and investment, womens empowerment, and the SME sectors, according to the international cooperation ministry. USAID is an independent agency under the US federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. Since 1978, the US has provided through USAID over $30 billion for programs in education, health, economic development, democracy and governance. Short link: [June 30, 2020] NASA, University Hospitals Join Forces in Response to COVID-19 WASHINGTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's Glenn Research Center and University Hospitals (UH) in Cleveland have collaborated to develop new methods and technologies for decontaminating personal protective equipment (PPE) for aerospace applications and for safeguarding the health of workers caring for patients with coronavirus (COVID-19). A team of researchers recently developed and tested two new approaches that could enable health care professionals to sanitize masks on-site and safely reuse them. These approaches also may be useful to the aerospace community when traditional sterilization techniques might not be available. "NASA strives to ensure the technology we develop for space exploration and aeronautics is broadly available to benefit the public and the nation," said Glenn Center Director Marla Perez-Davis, Ph.D. "If our technology can lend a hand in overcoming this crisis, we will do whatever we can to put it in the hands of those who need it." Results of tests on both methods atomic oxygen and peracetic acid are promising. The atomic oxygen decontamination method currently is being evaluated and early results are favorable. The peracetic acid method has been proven to work for five cycles of decontamination, and the Food and Drug Administration is reviewing this method for an emergency use authorization. "While we currently have sufficient PPE on hand to care for the patients we have in our facilities today, we need to proactively and prudently plan for potential future needs," said Dr. Daniel I. Simon, chief clinical and scientific officer at University Hospitals and president of UH Cleveland Medical Center. "This includes factoring in the potential for supply chain shortages due to COVID-19 surges in other states while also taking into account our need to restart non-emergent and elective services, which requires being mindful about current usage and putting in place go-forward conservation strategies. The opportunity to pool resources and quickly bring about PPE sterilization solutions for the benefit of our caregivers is truly remarkable." Atomic Oxygen Method Glenn research engineer Sharon Miller and physicist Bruce Banks of SAIC developed a process and hardware to decontaminate masks uing atomic oxygen. Pervasive in low-Earth orbit, these single oxygen atoms can remove organic materials that can't easily be cleaned by other methods. "On Earth, we create atomic oxygen by putting ozone (O3) in a chamber and heating it," Miller said. "As the ozone decomposes into atomic oxygen, it can kill organisms like viruses." Further testing is needed to verify the method can be used to perform multiple decontamination cycles without damaging the PPE. Recent filtration tests performed at an independent testing laboratory showed N95 masks filter well and pass acceptance testing after 20 minutes of atomic oxygen treatment. In early May, NASA provided a prototype for UH to test on N95 masks. Early results confirm the method deactivates the virus, and continued testing will determine the minimum ozone concentration and exposure time needed for disinfection. "Ozone diffuses easily through and around objects, which makes it promising for sterilizing inside an N95 mask filter or loosely stacked masks, and it could potentially sterilize without leaving a residue," said Banks, who supports Glenn's Environmental Effects and Coatings branch. "The process could be scaled up to treat multiple batches of PPE or made portable for small hospitals in rural areas. No liquid chemicals would be needed, just oxygen and nitrogen gas." Peracetic Acid Method Doctors Amrita John and Shine Raju, infectious disease and critical care physicians in the Department of Medicine at UH Cleveland Medical Center, are examining peracetic acid a chemical disinfectant commonly used in the health care, food, and water treatment industries as an option for decontaminating PPE. "We have some exciting results," said Raju. "We found that the peracetic acid disinfection method is very effective in killing 99.9999% of viruses and even highly resistant bacterial spores from contaminated N95 masks without any detectable loss of filtration, structural integrity and strap elasticity for up to five decontamination cycles. We believe that the peracetic acid disinfection method is the fastest method of mass-decontamination of N95 respirators currently available." The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Case Western Reserve University, and Glenn are participants in this multi-institutional study. "It has been amazing to collaborate with such a multidisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners to discover innovative ways to conserve PPE," said John. "As physicians and researchers, we aim to develop solutions that can work for the multitude of PPE categories as well as the variety of operational needs of a given hospital or health system. In some instances, there may be needs beyond the FDA-approved methods currently in place, and we want to ensure we are well-positioned to offer options for our patients and health care workers should circumstances arise." Dr. Curtis Donskey, an infectious disease physician at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, supervised the microbiology testing for the peracetic acid study. "The disinfection system could provide a means for in-hospital decontamination of large amounts of PPE during the coronavirus pandemic," said Donskey. "Further testing is needed to determine if more than five decontamination cycles can be performed with no adverse effects on PPE performance and we aim to assess that over the next several weeks." This collaboration was facilitated by UH Ventures, the innovation and commercialization arm of University Hospitals. "We have been successfully leveraging relationships with health care, technology, and supply chain providers across the state to bring to fruition several innovations that have addressed caregiver needs during this pandemic," said Kipum Lee, managing director of the UH Ventures Innovation Center and co-lead of the alternative PPE strategy team. "We have been honored to join forces with the NASA team, as well as researchers at the VA and Case, to promote innovation discovery in this new frontier." To receive Glenn news releases via e-mail, send an e-mail message to grc-subscribe@newsletters.nasa.gov. Leave the subject and body blank. The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription. You must reply to that message to begin your subscription. Glenn news releases are also archived online at http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/news/ View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-university-hospitals-join-forces-in-response-to-covid-19-301086053.html SOURCE NASA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] National DNA Data Bank celebrates 20 years of service to law enforcement and criminal justice communities OTTAWA, ON, June 30, 2020 /CNW/ - Twenty years ago, DNA was a relatively new tool and like all areas of forensic science, it has evolved over time. Today, forensic science, including DNA analysis, plays a significant role in crime scene investigations and has proven to be a powerful tool for the administration of justice. While DNA made its first appearance in Canadian courtrooms in the late 1980s, it was not until 2000 that legislation led to the creation of the National DNA Data Bank (NDDB). This meant that for the first time, it was now possible to collect and store the DNA profiles of convicted offenders and of unknown DNA from crime scenes. The main goals of the NDDB are to link crime scenes across jurisdictions, help identify or eliminate a suspect, and determine whether a serial offender has been involved in certain crimes whether the crimes took place locally, across the country, or halfway around the world. Since its creation, investigators at all levels have worked with their provincial and national forensic laboratories to collect biological evidence from crime scenes and create DNA profiles for the NDDB. On June 30, 2020, both the law enforcement and criminal justice communities recognize the important contributions of the NDDB, operated by the RCMP, as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. When the NDDB first started its operations, it had the slow and steady task of building the database. Today, the NDDB stores over half a million DNA profiles of sexual and dangerous offenders and others in Canada who have been convicted of certain offences. Between offender hits (matching a crime scene to an offender) and forensic hits (matching a crime scene to another crime scene), the NDDB has produced more than 62,000 hits. Today it averages approximately 31 offender hits and forensic hits each day. In 2018, new legislation allowed the NDDB to expand its role to not only support criminal investigations, bt also humanitarian investigations, specifically those involving missing people and unidentified human remains. The National Missing Person's DNA Program* is intended to support victim identification and provide loved ones with some answers. With the assistance of the program, the remains of six victims have been identified so far. Quotes "Over the last 20 years, the RCMP's National DNA Data Bank has been an invaluable tool in helping advance police investigations across the country. It has helped bring violent offenders to justice and brought closure to the families of victims. It supports the efficient administration of justice and has been invaluable in investigating difficult-to-solve crimes. With the inclusion of the humanitarian index in 2018, it also provides support in missing persons investigations. I am proud of the Data Bank and of the RCMP's role in making it available to investigators." The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness "The National DNA Databank is a powerful tool that provides trusted evidence in support of criminal and humanitarian investigations. This year marks an opportunity to reflect on the partnerships and contributions coordinated by the NDDB and to take a moment to recognize the important work that the NDDB provides to all Canadians in support of public safety." Stephen White, RCMP Deputy Commissioner, Specialized Policing Services, RCMP Quick facts: In 1989, a blood sample the size of a quarter was needed to develop a DNA profile. Today, a sample the size of about 10 per cent of what would fit on the head of a pin is all that is required. NDDB employees work with barcodes and have no information about the specifics of the investigation or the personal identification of the convicted offender. This respects privacy and ensures the system produces hits based on science. Total number of DNA profiles in the Convicted Offender Index: 402,960 Total number of DNA profiles in the Crime Scene Index: 175,596 Total number of hits reported: 70,203 Oldest case involving a crime scene sample: 1964 Most number of hits to a single convicted offender DNA profile: 63 Oldest case assisted through a hit made by the NDDB: 1976, a homicide in British Columbia *The National Missing Persons DNA Program is a partnership between the RCMP's National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains and the National DNA Data Bank For more information about the National DNA Data Bank visit: https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/nddb-bndg/index-accueil-eng.htm Link : https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/news/2020/national-dna-data-bank-celebrates-20-years-service-law-enforcement-and-criminal-justice SOURCE Royal Canadian Mounted Police [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Toshiba TEC Singapore acquires MFP Business from Toshiba Data Dynamics SINGAPORE, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba TEC Singapore (TSE) announced their acquisition of the Multifunction Printers (MFP) Business from Toshiba Data Dynamics (TDSP). This will see TDSP shifting from a distributorship to a direct ownership model, where they will be supplying MFPs to their Singapore customers directly. This acquisition will also see the creation of a new business unit and absorption of existing TDSP employees into the newly created division. With this acquisition, TSE will strengthen its business edge in the competitive MFP market in Singapore, one of its most advanced in Asia. This expansion is expected to deliver improved business growth and a greater market share. It will also build on Toshiba's world-leading innovations, with an extensive network to key industry players, enabling them to stay ahead of the competition and become a leading MFP distributor. TDSP has a deep understanding of unique workflow needs for various industries, and this expertise will benefit customers and prospects alike who are looking for intuitive, smart and reliable solutions. In the hort term, a new business unit, Printing Solutions Group (PSG) will be established within TSE to oversee the existing Business Solutions Division (BSD) and this newly created National Business Solutions Division (NBSD) from TDSP. "Singapore continues to be an important and strategic market for Toshiba, with demand for smart business solutions such as MFPs expected to grow exponentially," says Tetsu Oda, President & CEO of Toshiba TEC Singapore. "While we continue to focus on the further expansion of our MFP businesses in Singapore, more resources will also be channeled to strengthen our capabilities in delivering highly tailored and effective technological solutions to those around us. In addition, one of our key priorities is to continue building stronger relationships with our customers and partners, enabling them to stay head of the competition." Additionally, this acquisition will support Toshiba's drive to remain technologically advanced, constantly improve its product offerings and keep ahead in an ever changing business environment. About Toshiba TEC Singapore TOSHIBA TEC Singapore Pte Ltd (TSE) designs, builds and services world-class turnkey ODM/OEM solutions for Fortune 500 companies worldwide as well as for Best in Class small and medium-sized enterprises. Delivering state of the art ODM/OEM products to key players in industries including transport & logistics, retail, banking and healthcare, we help customers stay ahead of the competition. TOSHIBA TEC Singapore is also the regional sales headquarters for South East Asia, South-Asia, Middle East and Africa regions for Toshiba MFPs and Barcode printers. TOSHIBA TEC Singapore, headquartered in Singapore, is a TOSHIBA TEC Corporation Group company, an operating company of TOSHIBA Corporation. For media queries, please contact: Caroline Heng Marketing Support Manager Toshiba TEC Singapore Pte. Ltd. +65 64819488 caroline_heng_pl@tecsg.com.sg Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200630/2845121-1LOGO SOURCE Toshiba TEC Singapore [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Global Upside Joins Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) as Associate Member Global Upside (www.globalupside.com) - the leading provider of accounting, human resources, payroll, PEO, and talent acquisition services globally - has joined the Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) as an associate member. WBN is the world's fourth largest network of commercial insurance brokers and employee benefits consultants. This new relationship allows WBN members and their clients to access Global Upside's extensive suite of accounting, finance, and people services and solutions. Global Upside CEO Ragu Bhargava states: "WBN members have local knowledge and experience in over 100 countries. It is a powerful resource and we are excited to bring even more expertise to the table. With operations in 150+ countries, Global Upside is a leader in supporting companies expand and manage their global operations and workforces. Our experience and expertise can help the WBN members provide even more value to their Clients." WBN members have a detailed understanding of foreign insurance legislation and ensure clients' employees in those countries receive necessary and competitive levels of benefits. "Our member firms are pssionate about the needs of each other's clients and building long-term relationships. We are pleased to welcome Global Upside to work with our broker firms for mutual client success. Global Upside's HR, finance, and accounting solutions help clients expand internationally with expert efficiency," says WBN CEO Francie Starnes. WBN member firms pass through thorough due diligence before joining and are top quartile firms in their respective regions. Members' professional standards are maintained at a high level through regular compliance reviews as well as an appreciation and respect for each other and a belief in WBN's vision. About Global Upside Global Upside is part of the Global Upside Corporation brands, which collectively provide the most comprehensive range of solutions for domestic needs, international expansion, staffing, human resources, accounting, payroll, and HR technology. Global Upside Corporation brands are supporting Clients in 150+ countries. Learn more at www.globalupside.com I www.gu-corp.com About the Worldwide Broker Network The Worldwide Broker Network, headquartered in San Francisco, California (USA) is the world's largest independent network of leading insurance brokers, and the fourth-largest among all networks. Established in 1989, with nine European brokers, today the network has over 115 member firms, across more than 500 offices on six continents, with US$ 5.6 billion in insurance commissions and employee benefits consulting revenues. Learn more about WBN at https://wbnglobal.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005832/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Ervin Cohen & Jessup Announces Launch of Insurance Coverage and Recovery Practice Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP is pleased to announced that it has today launched its Insurance Coverage and Recovery Practice Group, which focuses on representing publicly traded and privately held companies, as well as individuals, in insurance coverage and recovery matters. ECJ's Insurance Coverage and Recovery Practice attorneys help clients assess their existing insurance coverages and recover for losses that may be covered under the wide array of insurance policies. "The formal establishment of the Firm's Insurance Coverage and Recovery Practice is very timely. Today, more than ever, ECJ's insurance attorneys play a critical role in assisting companies that navigating coverage and recovery efforts in connection with their insurance policies," said ECJ Partner Peter S. Selvin, who has been named Chair of this new practice. "We understand that our ability to help clients collect on their business interruption losses might mean the difference between surviving the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and closing permanently, forever impacting the lives of our cliens and their employees. I am proud of the Firm's efforts to protect our clients' interests." Selvin is a seasoned lawyer with nearly 40 years of experience representing policyholders in connection with insurance coverage and recovery efforts principally in the Property and Casualty, Professional Liability, Directors of Officers, Commercial General Liability and Cyber-insurance areas. He represents clients in high-stakes civil disputes in a variety of commercial and business settings around the United States. Led by Selvin, the Insurance Coverage and Recovery Practice will also include Litigation Partner Robert M. Waxman, Litigation Partner Geoffrey M. Gold, Litigation Partner Michael C. Lieb, Litigation and Environmental Law attorney Kimberly D. Lewis and Litigation attorney Siobhan C. Amin. Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP is a full-service firm that provides a broad range of business-related legal services including, real estate, litigation, corporate, tax, land use, employment, bankruptcy, insurance, estate planning, finance, healthcare, intellectual property and technology law. For more information, visit our new website http://www.ecjlaw.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005860/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] SNA International Announces Prime Seat on OASIS SB IDIQ Pool 4 ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SNA International LLC (SNA) has been selected a General Services Administration (GSA) One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Pool 4 awardee. OASIS is GSA's next-generation multiple award, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Best in Class (BIC) contract to provide government agencies with contractual solutions to complex professional services missions. Pool 4 is focused explicitly on Scientific Services supporting Research and Development in Biotechnology and the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences. SNA's comprehensive technical, management, staffing, and transition qualifications will add measurable value to government agencies that acquire solutions under OASIS Pool 4. SNA is seeking industry partners in emerging scientific disciplines who are committed to providing exceptional service and maintaining high quality standards. Companies with innovative technologies in the physical, engineering, and life sciences who want to support the federal government are strongly encouraged to contact SNA. SNA is a highly respected wihin the industry, easy to work with, and will help companies bring their technologies and services to the government via OASIS. Cecily Sullivan, chief growth officer of SNA, expressed, "This win broadens our ability to provide existing and new customers with high-quality, innovative, solutions. We look forward to bringing our culture of scientific and technical excellence to new missions across the federal government." For more information about OASIS, see https://sna-intl.com/our-clients/oasispartners/ About SNA International LLC SNA International LLC, headquartered in Alexandria VA, specializes in forensic, biometric, and identity intelligence solutions. Founded on lessons learned during post-9/11 human identification efforts, SNA combines forensic science and information technology to create innovative, cost-effective solutions that meet and exceed scientific quality standards. SNA personnel have supported highly visible human identification operations (including 50+ mass fatality events) and currently serve some of the largest federal forensic laboratories. In 2019, SNA was recognized by Inc. Magazine as a Top 500 Fastest-Growing Company and named by the U.S. Small Business Administration as Region III Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sna-international-announces-prime-seat-on-oasis-sb-idiq-pool-4-301086103.html SOURCE SNA International [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Franklin Madison Takes Home Two PIMA Industry Insights Awards Franklin Madison announced today it has won two PIMA Industry Insights awards for its auto insurance lead generation campaigns and its corporate branding. The PIMA Industry Insights Awards is an annual national competition that recognizes outstanding achievements in marketing. "These prestigious awards validate that Franklin Madison continues to be the best-in-class insurance direct marketing leader recognized for success in building our own brand within our industry and in marketing through the brands of our affinity partners," said Robert Dudacek, President and CEO of Franklin Madison. "I am very proud of the teams that worked on these initiatives." Franklin Madison's goal was to substantially grow qualified leads for an auto insurance direct mail campaign. This was accomplished by penetrating responsive new segments and untapped markets and integrating customized multi-variate modeling, strategic testing with applied analytics, and innovative creative positioning. The result was a 152 percent increase in response rate. Additionally, Franklin Madison was recognized for its 2019 corporate branding initiative. When Franklin Madison was carved out from a larger organization and became a stand-alone company, it resulted in not just a branding opportunity but also a holistic identity opportunity, including comingup with a new name. Franklin Madison teamed up with bohan, a full-service advertising and branding company based in Nashville to create the new identity. About Franklin Madison An industry pioneer with nearly 50 years of experience, Franklin Madison builds financial security for individuals and families by delivering industry-leading insurance products and marketing services through its brand partners. Franklin Madison helps generate increased loyalty and incremental revenue for more than 3,500 financial institutions. Based in Franklin, Tennessee, Franklin Madison has approximately 200 employees. For more information, visit franklin-madison.com or follow us @frnklnmadison and LinkedIn. About bohan: Established in 1990, Nashville-based bohan is an independent, full-service advertising and marketing agency. It has major clients in tourism/hospitality, healthcare, retail and restaurants. Accolades include Advertising Age (News - Alert) Silver Award for Agency Culture, Advertising Age Southeast Small Agency of the Year and Modern Healthcare Agency of the Year. Learn more at bohanideas.com. About PIMA: PIMA (the Professional Insurance Marketing Association) is a member-driven trade association focused exclusively on the sponsored benefits market. Learn more at pimainsights.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005863/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Molina Healthcare of Washington Commits an Additional $15 Million to Support Providers Affected by COVID-19 and Ensure Access to Care Molina Healthcare of Washington ("Molina") is committing an additional $15 million to support primary care providers (PCPs) and substance use disorder (SUD) providers across the state and to help alleviate the financial impacts of COVID-19 on safety net providers. Molina's contribution will lead to increased stability and ensure that its contracted providers are able to adapt care delivery and maintain and expand access to care for Molina members. This builds upon Molina's ongoing response to the pandemic, including the recently announced $1 million COVID-19 Community Response Plan. "As our largest Medicaid managed care plan in the state, I'm pleased Molina has stepped up to support primary care and substance use providers," said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. "Especially during these unprecedented times, it is important to ensure our critical health care providers are supported to treat Washington residents in need." "COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges, and the strength and viability of Molina's PCPs are critical to ensuring that our members continue receiving uninterrupted access to illness, wellness and preventive care services, which is why we are distributing $10 million to PCPs," said Peter Adler, president of Molina Healthcare of Washington. "Additionally, we are investing $5 million to directly support Molina's SUD providers in managing the opioid crisis and other substance use challenges, which were already high-priority in Washington prior to COVID-19." Primary Care Provider Support Molina's commitment of over $10 million in additional financial support to their primary care providers is focused on pediatric and safety net (including FQHCs and tribal clinics) providers across the state. "This investment in primary care - for pediatric and family practices - is desperately needed," said Sarah Rafton, executive director of Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "We are so grateful to Molina for recognizing and responding to the urgent needs of the community so that providers can continue to care for our children." "Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) provide a large majority of primary care services to Medicaid beneficiaries in this state and are a critical part of the community response to the coronavirus, especially for the underserved and underrepresented," said Jennifer Kreidler-Moss, chief executive officer of Peninsula Community Health Services. "Molina's leadership in and support of our integrated programs at tis critical time in our nation's history is a reflection of their commitment to all communities they serve." Substance Use Disorder Provider Support Molina is committing to an ongoing investment to maintain and increase access to SUD services. In 2020, Molina will contribute nearly $5 million in increased payments to SUD providers with an emphasis on inpatient residential SUD services, and an increase of over $10 million annually thereafter. "Lifeline Connections appreciates Molina's partnership and support," said Jared Sanford, chief executive officer of Lifeline Connections. "This investment comes at a critical time and will enable Lifeline to continue to respond to the mounting need for SUD services as a result of the pandemic." Since the pandemic began, Molina has been actively coordinating with its provider and community partners to understand their needs and to provide support so that they can continue to serve the many individuals and families affected by COVID-19. This $15 million supplemental commitment in support of Molina's primary care and SUD providers follows prior support extended to behavioral health providers, frontline community-based organizations, tribal groups, and schools across the state. Removing Member Financial Barriers to Access In another expression of support for its members, Molina recently announced that it will continue to waive all member out-of-pocket expenses associated with COVID-19 for its Marketplace (Exchange) and Medicare members through December 31, 2020. This decision means that all of Molina's 878,000 members in Washington state will have zero out-of-pocket copays, coinsurance, and deductibles for COVID-19 related care through the end of the year. About Molina Healthcare of Washington Molina Healthcare of Washington has been providing government-funded care for low-income individuals for over 20 years. As of March 31, 2020, Molina serves over 878,000 members through Medicaid, Medicare and the Health Benefit Exchange programs across the state of Washington. Additionally, Molina Healthcare operates a primary care clinic in Everett (MyHealth Everett) and a mobile health unit (MyHealth Mobile) in the Spokane area. For more information, visit MolinaHealthcare.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005886/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Hi Marley Closes $8 Million Series A1 Preferred Financing to Accelerate Go-to-Market and Product Expansion BOSTON, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hi Marley , the leading communication platform built for insurance, announced it has closed an $8 million A1 round, bringing its total financing to $18.6 Million. The new funding was led by True Ventures and Underscore VC, along with Bain Capital Ventures and Greenspring Associates. The round will be used for building upon Hi Marley's market-leading insurance focused conversational messaging product and increasing customer engagement. Hi Marley is an intelligent, text-based messaging platform that helps insurers and their partners seamlessly connect with customers the way they prefer to communicate, and simplify transactions across claims, service and underwriting. Hi Marley is also enabling new use cases around customer engagement and retention. This includes two-way mass-communication to support announcements related to the pandemic, such as notifying customers of premium relief credits and billing options. "We value the existing partnership with Underscore VC and True Ventures and welcome our new partners at Bain Capital Ventures and Greenspring," said Mike Greene, Founder and CEO of Hi Marley. "We're grateful to have investors who appreciate the insurance industry and are aligned with the purpose and vision we share with our innovative customers." Hi Marley's new round will support: Hiring, including expansion of the engineering team to accelerate industry-specific features and support interactions from initial purchase to service and renewal. Growth of the company's customer-facing teams to meet the increasing demand for Hi Marley's platform. Continued build-out of Hi Marley's portfolio of APIs and partnerships with industry leading platforms like Guidewire. "Boston is filled with passionate, creative founders and Hi Marley is no exception," said Lily Lyman, Partner at Underscore VC. "Their focus on innovation within the insurance industry will have dramatic, positive effects on insurance companies and their customers, and Uderscore is excited to have been on this journey with Hi Marley from its earliest stage." "Hi Marley is solving a fundamental problem with the way insurance carriers interact with their insureds," said Puneet Agarwal, partner at True Ventures. "The deep industry expertise of the Hi Marley team combined with their aspiration to change the way people experience and think about insurance makes it the type of market-changing company with whom we're excited to partner and proud to back." Since launching in mid-2017, Hi Marley has earned the trust of some of the country's leading and most innovative insurers including American Family and Plymouth Rock . According to Mary Boyd, President and CEO, Plymouth Rock Assurance "The Hi Marley platform is helping our insurance business level-up to, and even exceed, the expectations of our customers that are used to mobile-enabled experience in most other aspects of their life. Combining Hi Marley's technology and the Plymouth Rock brand of uniquely human service, we are delivering proof that by meeting customers where they are and offering satisfying service, we can build a stronger business." About Hi Marley, Inc. Hi Marley is a software provider offering the first AI-enabled conversation platform specifically designed for the insurance industry. Hi Marley enables insurance carriers to easily and quickly communicate with customers and other partners in the insurance ecosystem through SMS messaging so they can deliver an optimal customer experience across all touchpoints in the customer journey. The platform has flexible APIs and requires zero integration to get started. Learn more at www.himarley.com About Underscore VC Underscore VC is a Boston venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs from seed to series A with dynamic capital and an aligned community designed to fit each startup's unique needs. To learn more about Underscore VC and the Underscore Core community, visit www.underscore.vc . About True Ventures True Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early stage technology startups. The True team believes creativity flourishes when founders are supported fully and empowered to pursue brave ideas. To that end, the firm offers programs that inspire both professional and personal growth. To learn more, visit www.trueventures.com. Media contact: Joel Richman 242753@email4pr.com 617-312-5942 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hi-marley-closes-8-million-series-a1-preferred-financing-to-accelerate-go-to-market-and-product-expansion-301086163.html SOURCE Hi Marley [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Pioneer Bank and FHLB Dallas Award Grants to Two Nonprofits Pioneer Bank SSB (Pioneer Bank) and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) have awarded $23,230 in Partnership Grant Program ( PGP (News - Alert) ) funds to Texas nonprofits Credit Coalition and Texas Community Capital. PGP grants help qualified nonprofit organizations fund a variety of administrative activities that are critical to serving their communities. Houston, Texas-based Credit Coalition, which received an $11,230 PGP award, offers financial counseling to prospective and current homeowners. "This grant will help us offer our free financial counseling services to clients who are interested in becoming homeowners or who need help to remain in their homes," Credit Coalition Executive Director Sherrie Young said. "Austin-based Texas Community Capital provides specialized loan and investment products and services that promote economic and community development in under-served Texas communities. It has been working to combat predatory payday and auto-title lending and plans to use its $12,000 PGP grant to enhance organizational capacity and offset operational and administration costs," said Howard Porter, Texas Community Capital program manager. "There aren't a lot of organizational funding options for small nonprofits like ours in which grants can be used for administrative and capacity-building expenses," Mr. Porter said, "so we were very happy to learn that we qualified for a PGP award." Pioneer Bank said the PGP offered a new avenue of funding for two organizations that it has supported over time. "We have supported the good work of Credit Coalition and Texas Community Capital through funding, lending or board service for several years. It is exciting to multiply the assistance that helps them as they work to make a positive difference in the communities w serve," said Gloria Sanderson, senior vice president at Pioneer Bank. Funding under FHLB Dallas' PGP was increased by $2 million in 2020 under FHLB Dallas' COVID-19 Relief Program to support CBOs involved in affordable housing activities, stimulating small business development or providing small businesses with technical assistance. The use of funds for these organizations was expanded to include COVID-19 relief. Through this unique grant program, FHLB Dallas member institutions contribute from $500 to $6,000 to a CBO, which FHLB Dallas matches at a new, higher 5:1 ratio (compared to the previous 3:1 ratio) resulting in a match of up to $30,000. If multiple member institutions contribute to the same CBO in one year, the maximum FHLB Dallas match for those member contributions is $60,000 per year. In both cases, the total grant to the CBO would be the sum of the member contribution(s) plus the FHLB Dallas match. Grants are awarded annually through FHLB Dallas and its member institutions. "We commend Pioneer Bank for its community outreach. Pioneer Bank is a valued member that leverages the PGP to make a positive impact on its communities; we always enjoy partnering with our member banks on such worthy causes," said Greg Hettrick first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. See the complete list of the 2020 PGP grant recipients. For more information about the 2020 PGP grants and other FHLB Dallas community investment products and programs, please visit fhlb.com/pgp. About Pioneer Bank SSB Pioneer Bank is a strong, well-capitalized community bank, headquartered in Austin, with more than $1.8 Billion of assets and 19 additional locations statewide. Serving communities in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and several cities in between for more than 125 years, Pioneer focuses and invests in the success of local businesses and families. To learn more about Pioneer visit pioneer.bank. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $83.8 billion as of March 31, 2020 is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 805 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005909/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Neeyamo Partners With Onfido to Provide Frictionless Identity Verification for Its Global Pre-Employment Screening Service LOS GATOS, Calif., June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Neeyamo Inc., a leading platform-based global HRO service provider, announces a strategic partnership with Onfido, a global identity verification and authentication company. Through this partnership, Neeyamo can now remotely verify candidate identities with substantially reduced turnaround time and frictionless user experience. Neeyamo is a trusted global screening solution provider that provides background screening services across 190+ countries. As a pioneer in offering international pre-employment screening services, Neeyamo has always been at the forefront of providing world-class screening solutions to its customers. With this partnership, Neeyamo can deliver best-in-class identity verification services that allow employers to seamlessly authenticate candidate identity information across multiple countries. Candidates that Neeyamo would be screening can simply take a photo of their ID using their smartphone and Onfido's AI-enhanced technology performs real-time document check analysis, assessing if it seems genuine or fraudulent. This process not only minimizes the verification turnaround time but also enhances the overall candidate experience making the process smooth and effortless. Samuel Issac, Sr. Vice President of Strategy at Neeyamo said, "We are pleased to leverage Onfido's best-in-class technology that will further cement our ability to provide identity verification as a solution to our global customers. This partnership and our integrated solution coupled with our deep domain expertise will equip us to help our customers quickly establish their canidates' legitimate online identity." "As businesses adapt to support their employees and customers remotely, there shouldn't have to be a choice between either user convenience or strong fraud protection. They should be able to maximize both," said Husayn Kassai, CEO and Co-founder of Onfido. "We bring trust to digital interactions worldwide, and we're pleased to partner with Neeyamo to deliver a user-friendly automated onboarding process that's as rapid as it is robust and intelligent in detecting and preventing fraudulent attempts." About Neeyamo Neeyamo is a leading HR solutions provider focused on delivering global HR services to multinational organizations operating across a long-tail of countries. Neeyamo is a member of the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) and provides wide-ranging background screening services. Its service lines cover the entire pre-hire to the post-retire lifespan of an employee lifecycle. Visit Neeyamo online at www.neeyamo.com. About Onfido Onfido is the new standard for digital access. The company uses AI to verify any photo ID and then compares it with the person's facial biometrics. This use of AI means that businesses no longer need to compromise on customer experience, conversion, privacy, or security. Recognized as a global leader in artificial intelligence for identity verification and authentication, Onfido is backed by TPG Growth, Crane Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures, M12 - Microsoft's venture fund, and others. With approximately 400 employees spread across seven countries, Onfido has raised $200m in funding and powers digital access for some of the world's largest companies. Visit Onfido at www.onfido.com. You can reach them at LinkedIn, Twitter or at press@onfido.com Media Contact: Irene Jones, irene.jones@neeyamo.com Related Images neeyamo.png Neeyamo A Global Leader in Long-tail HR & Payroll View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neeyamo-partners-with-onfido-to-provide-frictionless-identity-verification-for-its-global-pre-employment-screening-service-301086156.html SOURCE Neeyamo Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] ReversingLabs Unveils 100+ Open Source YARA Rules for Threat Hunters at Inaugural REVERSING 2020 Summit CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ReversingLabs, the leading provider of explainable threat intelligence solutions, made a sizable contribution to the open source community today, publishing 128 of its rigorously tested YARA rules to GitHub for the first time. Announced at ReversingLabs inaugural threat hunter summit REVERSING 2020 , these now publicly available rules enable threat defenders to detect a multitude of prominent and prevalent malware downloaders, viruses, trojans, exploits, and ransomware, including WannaCry, Ryuk, GandCrab, TrickBot and others. With free access to these rules that generate precise and accurate results and attribution, threat defenders now have the ability to more quickly pivot from a malware detection event to threat response. Knowing that a YARA rule has detected ransomware with high degree of precision can mean the difference between a prevented attack and the one that slips by because it was left waiting for investigation to elevate its importance, said Tomislav Pericin, Chief Software Architect and Co-Founder, ReversingLabs. Threat hunters can confidently add these YARA rules to their toolkit. They are built to provide zero false-positive detections. Only those that pass rigorous testing against our 10 billion unique binaries get published, ensuring quality and efficacy. Leveraging ReversingLabs extensive repository of 10 billion goodware and malware samples, deep understanding of destructive objects, and its analysts nearly two decades of threat hunting experience, these malware detection rules help threat hunters and other threat defenders attribute malware by type and family or variety to expedite threat response processes and reduce malware infection risk for their organizations. The rules can also be used to upskill threat defenders by showcasing high quality malware detection rules that consist of patterns that identify malicious code blocks. Rule Categories In its first release of open source YARA rules, ReversingLabs focused on those that would help close detection gaps for deployed security solutions by focusing on the most destructive malware types, including: WannaCry, Multigrain, MedusaLocker, Kovter, Ryuk, GandCrab, Crysis, TrickBot, Emotet, Dridex, and CurveBall (CVE-2020-0601). Availability & Support The initial list of YARA rules can be accessed immediately via ReversingLabs GitHub repository. ReversingLabs will be responsible for maintaining the repository, providing regular updates, and adding new rules over time for detecting the latest threats. For questions, suggestions and guidance, threat hunters can contact ReversingLabs at support@reversinglabs.com or open an issue on the GitHub repository. REVERSING 2020 ReversingLabs first 100 open source YARA rules were announced in a presentation by Pericin during REVERSING 2020 , a free virtual summit that brought together more than 1,300 threat hunters, thought leaders, and security practitioners to discuss YARA best practices to assist in hunting, identifying, and classifying malware samples. Keynote speaker Vitali Kremez discussed Evolution of Cybercrime Intent & Hunting with YARA for Malware Developers and was joined by a host of other presenters discussing best practices, free tools, and new strategies for effectively using YARA. A full agenda from the event as well as presentation recordings from the REVERSING 2020 summit will be available on ReversingLabs YouTube channel and website starting the week of July 6. For more information on how to use these YARA rules within ReversingLabs Titanium Platform, see Level Up Your YARA Game by Tomislav Pericin on the ReversingLabs blog or How to Hunt for Threats Using YARA Rules , an instructional video for the ReversingLabs Titanium Platform and A1000 by analyst Robert Perica. About ReversingLabs ReversingLabs is the leading provider of explainable threat intelligence solutions that shed the necessary light on complex file-based threats for enterprises stretched for time and expertise. Its hybrid-cloud Titanium Platform enables digital business resiliency, protects against new modern architecture exposures, and automates manual SOC and Threat Hunting processes with a transparency that arms junior analysts to confidently take action. ReversingLabs is used by the worlds most advanced security vendors and deployed across all industries searching for a more intelligent way to get at the root of the web, mobile, email, cloud, app development and supply chain threat problem, of which files and objects have become major risk contributors. ReversingLabs Titanium Platform provides broad integration support with more than 4,000 unique file and object formats, speeds detection of malicious objects through automated static analysis, prioritizing the highest risks with actionable detail in only .005 seconds. With unmatched breadth and privacy, the platform accurately detects threats through explainable machine learning models, leveraging the largest repository of malware in the industry, containing more than 10 billion files and objects. Delivering transparency and trust, thousands of human readable indicators explain why a classification and threat verdict was determined, while integrating at scale across the enterprise with connectors that support existing file repository, SIEM, SOAR, threat intelligence platform and sandbox investments, reducing incident response time for SOC analysts, while providing high priority and detailed threat information for both developers and hunters to take quick action. Learn more at https://www.reversinglabs.com , or connect on LinkedIn or Twitter . Media Contact: Jennifer Balinski, Guyer Group Jennifer.balinski@guyergroup.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Davenport University Offers Free Virtual Workshop to Help PreK-12 Teachers Enhance Online Instruction Davenport University announced today that it is offering Michigan PreK-12 teachers a free virtual workshop, based on a graduate-level course, to support the creation of online coursework for their students. The program addresses barriers and challenges teachers face when providing instruction online and helps them create a virtual learning map for effective online PreK-12 instruction. "The pandemic has exposed a key opportunity for teachers in our primary schools to utilize online education to support student learning," said Dr. Richard J. Pappas, president of Davenport University. "Online teaching poses unique challenges for teachers and we have the tools and resources to aid PreK-12 learning and keep students on track in their educational journey." The workshop will walk teachers through digital platform options for learning and assessment and will facilitate the development of instructional practices to engage and assist learners in connecting with course content. The program will offer three 2-hour sessions covering three specific topics: July 21, 2020, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. - Session 1: Tools of the Trade - Interact with digital tools that foster immersive and diverse online learning experiences. PreK-12 teachers will tour tools for collaboration and discussion; assessment and feedback; and captivation and creation. Digital Tools of the Trade within this workshop include, but are not limited to, Google (News - Alert) Drive, Seesaw, Kahoot!, Pear Deck, GooseChase EDU, and Popplet. - Interact with digital tools that foster immersive and diverse online learning experiences. PreK-12 teachers will tour tools for collaboration and discussion; assessment and feedback; and captivation and creation. Digital Tools of the Trade within this workshop include, but are not limited to, Google (News - Alert) Drive, Seesaw, Kahoot!, Pear Deck, GooseChase EDU, and Popplet. July 22, 2020, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. - Session 2: Culturally Responsive Teachin in the Virtual Space - Learn strategies to optimize student engagement online by incorporating cultural context. - Learn strategies to optimize student engagement online by incorporating cultural context. July 23, 2020, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. - Session 3: Virtual Learning Maps Supporting Student Success - Learn how to apply digital tools and strategies for lesson planning through the creation of virtual learning maps. Davenport's College of Urban Education focuses on the preparation and development of professionals serving urban schools. Its programs foster the development of relationships, knowledge and skills that lead to highly effective teaching and leadership. The college's intensively supported "on-the-job" training method prepares teachers to differentiate their instruction and reach all children, especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities. Teachers or school administrators interested in participating in the workshop can register at davenport.edu/K12online. Everyone who participates will receive a certificate of completion and two SCECHs for each session completed. Six SCECHs will be awarded for completing the entire workshop. Participants must register for the class by July 17. About Davenport University: Founded in 1866, Davenport is a private, non-profit university serving about 7,500 students at campuses across Michigan and online. With tuition among the lowest of all private universities in the state, Davenport provides high academic quality, small class sizes, conveniently located campuses, faculty with real-world experience and more than 60 dynamic undergraduate and graduate programs addressing in-demand careers in business, technology, health professions and urban education. To learn more visit www.davenport.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630005961/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] LATOKEN VCTV Weekly Announcement (June 29 - July 3) New York, NY, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire) Among the latest news, this week top guests will attend our VCTV speaker series. The list includes: Ioannis Roussos - Head of Deposits & Investment Sector at Eurobank Dr. Mihaela Ulieru - President at IMPACT Institute for the Digital Economy Yuvraj Tomar - Chief Executive Officer at CloudWorx Technologies Rana Gujral - Chief Executive Officer at Behavioral Signals Mark DeSantis - Chief Executive Officer at Bloomfield Robotics Join us as we discuss the most fascinating FinTech topics including the future of fundraising through social media and investments in WorkTech, EduTech, Remote Tech, and 2 more fields. More details at https://latoken.com/events/ Watch this week on VCTV: Monday, June 29th 4:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion: "Investments and Pivots during Pandemic: WorkTech, EduTech, and RemoteTech 5:15 PM GMT: Keynote by Dr. Mihaela Ulieru, President, IMPACT Institute for the Digital Economy, LLC Tuesday, June 30th 1:45 PM GMT: Keynote by Yuvraj Tomar, Founder and CEO at CloudWorx Technologies: NoCode and LowCode platforms 2:30 PM GMT: Keynote by Ioannis Roussos, Head of Deposits & Investment Sector at Eurobank: "EU Concerns for Crypto and Stable coins and how to tackle them" 4:00 PM GMT: Startup Leaders Club. Online Panel Discussion by Inspirational Leaders of Innovation & Drivers of Change 5:15 PM GMT: Panel discussion: "Is there potential in fundraising through social media?" Wednesday, July 1st 1:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion + Pitch competition: "Fundraising in the Era of a Pandemic" 4:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion: "Investments and Pivots during Pandemic: BioTech and MedTech" 5:30 PM GMT: Keynote by Rana Gujral, Chief Executive Officer at Behavioral Signals Thursday, July 2nd 11:30 PM GMT: Keynote by Mark DeSantis, Chief Executive Officer at Bloomfield Robotics 1:00 PM GMT: Online Roadshow: "The Laws of Investments during the COVID 19 Pandemic" 4:00 PM GMT: Startup Leaders Club. Online Panel Discussion by Inspirational Leaders of Innovation & Drivers of Change 5:15 PM GMT: Panel discussion: "Investments and Pivots during Pandemic: Marketplace, FoodTech" Friday, July 3rd 4:00 PM GMT: Panel discussion + and the Pitch competition: "Fundraising in the Era of a Pandemic" 6:15 PM GMT: Startup Leaders Club. Online Panel Discussion by Inspirational Leaders of Innovation & Drivers of Change Contact: Maria Abozova maria.abozova(at)latoken.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action on Behalf of Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (BKD) Investors Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased Brookdale Senior Living Inc. ("Brookdale" or the "Company") (NYSE: BKD) securities between August 10, 2016 and April 29, 2020, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Brookdale investors have until August 24, 2020 to file a lead plaintiff motion. Investors suffering losses on their Brookdale investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com. On April 30, 2020, Nashville Business Journal reported that a proposed class action lawsuit had been filed against Brookdale, accusing the Company of, among other things, purposeful "chronically insufficient staffing" at its facilities in an effort to meet financial benchmarks since at least April 24, 2016. According to the lawsui, the Company misinformed both residents and their families in promising to provide daily living services and basic care. The lawsuit also claims that the proposed class of plaintiffs "have not received the care and services they paid for." On this news, the Company's share price fell $0.56 per share, or over 15%, over two trading sessions, to close at $3.12 per share on May 1, 2020. The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Brookdale's financial performance was sustained by, among other things, the Company's purposeful understaffing of its senior living communities; (2) that the foregoing conduct subjected Brookdale to an increased risk of litigation and, once revealed, was foreseeably likely to have a material negative impact on the Company's financial results and reputation; (3) as a result, the Company's financial results were unsustainable; and (4) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. If you purchased Brookdale 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 howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, 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/20200630005999/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] W. R. Berkley Corporation to Announce Second Quarter 2020 Earnings on July 21, 2020 W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) will release its second quarter 2020 earnings after the market closes on Tuesday, July 21, 2020. A copy of the earnings release will be available on the Company's website at www.berkley.com. The Company has scheduled its quarterly conference call with analysts and investors to discuss its earnings and other information on Tuesday, July 21, 020 at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. A live audio webcast of the conference call may be accessed via the Company's website at www.berkley.com. Please log on at least ten minutes early to register and download and install any necessary software. A replay of the webcast will be available on the Company's website approximately two hours after the end of the call. Founded in 1967, W. R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that is among the largest commercial lines writers in the United States and operates worldwide in two segments of the property casualty insurance business: Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630006007/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Shareholder Alert: Robbins LLP Is Investigating the Officers and Directors of VMware, Inc. (VMW) Shareholder rights law firm Robbins LLP announces that it is investigating the officers and directors of VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) for breaches of fiduciary duties, unjust enrichment, waste of corporate assets, and violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. VMware provides software in the areas of hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, modern applications, networking and security, and digital workspaces. If you suffered a loss as a result of VMware's misconduct, click here. VMware, Inc. (VMW) Accused of Misleading Investors One of the financial metrics VMware regularly reports is its acklog, which the Company purports is comprised of "unfulfilled purchase orders or unfulfilled executed agreements at the end of a given period." Between March 2019 and February 2020, VMware reported hundreds of millions of dollars in backlog in a series of press releases and financial reports, each time attesting to the accuracy of the Company's financial reporting as well as its maintenance of effective internal control over financial reporting. Then, on February 27, 2020, VMware disclosed that the SEC (News - Alert) was conducting an investigation into the Company's backlog and associated accounting and disclosures. VMware reported that it was "fully cooperating with the SEC's investigation and is unable to predict the outcome of this matter at this time." On this news, VMware stock fell $15.11 per share, or more than 11%, to close at $120.52 per share. VMware, Inc. (VMW) Shareholders Have Legal Options Contact us to learn more: Leo Kandinov (800) 350-6003 LKandinov@robbinsllp.com Shareholder Information Form Want to be notified if a class action against VMware settles? Want to receive free alerts about companies engaged in wrongdoing? Sign up for Stock Watch today. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630006038/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] Jinitech Group launches U-Connect Job Seeker Platform for University Students Not-for-profit platform aims to help University students seeking jobs post COVID-19 Job seekers register and upload profiles through the U-Connect platform MELBOURNE, Australia, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Australia technology startup Jinitech Group launches "U-Connect" Job Seeker Platform aiming to help University students seeking jobs post COVID-19. The platform is not-for-profit, no cost would be charged to either job seekers or employers. Job seekers can register and upload profiles through the U-Connect platform and employers can post vacancies onto the platform and review applications. CEO & Co-founder of Jinitech Group Jinnie Yip said, "The Australian unemployment rate shot up to 7.1% and hit a 19-year high during recent COVID-19 pandemic. Creating a social platform for University students, including job searching, is one of Jinitech's goals. Making use of our database technology to contribute to the community is our starting point. Our ultimate goal is to utilize AI and Blockchain technology to build a smart and decentralized social platform for University students. Job interviews could be done via cloud based live-streaming technology in the future." Further, Jinitech Group is planning to launch a partnership program to facilitate meaningful employment for graduates. The initiative showed a high level of interest among community and corporate partners for being part of building a better future for graduates and employers, which is the essential part for the economy. "We are eager to seek opportunities to partner with Universities and Government to further expand our network and database for University students and graduates," said Yip. International students and graduates are a vital economic asset to the community, with direct economic benefits from tuition fees and living expenses. By placing an ideal job after graduation, they can continue to make significant contributions to the Australian economy. About Jinitech Group Jinitech Group is an Australia based technology startup aimed to connect AI, Blockchain, Cloud and Data technologies into everyday life. Jinitech Group is incubating a decentralized community platform embedded with multiple AI and Blockchain elements aimed to serve University students in Australia. SOURCE Jinitech Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [June 30, 2020] WorldRemit Celebrates the Launch of Their Remittance Service in Somalia WorldRemit, the global online money transfer service has announced the launch of its remittance services in Somalia. WorldRemit operates in over 50 send countries to over 150 receive countries and is now the first global digital money transfer player to operate in Somalia. According to the World Bank, an estimated $1.4 billion in remittances is sent to Somalia every year by approximately 2 million Somalis in the diaspora. The remittances contribute to 23% of Somalia's gross domestic product which is a vital life-line for many Somalis who rely on it to get food, shelter, pay for education, health services, and sustain their small businesses. Those in the diaspora mostly fled the country during the two decades of conflict and previously relied on bricks and mortar money transfer agents whose operations have been severely limited due to Covid-19. WorldRemit delivers a digital service that removes the middleman and allows Somalis living in the United States to send money home 24/7 at their convenience, quickly and securely. "We are happy to be able to provide this great opprtunity for Somalis in the United States to now remit home with ease. We have partnered with Dahabshiil, the largest Cash Pay Out network in Somalia which has more than 200 locations. We will also soon be launching a Mobile Money service. This launch will kick start the transition from offline remittances to online, where Somalis will have access to safer, faster and low-cost money transfer methods," said Ahmed Tani, Country Manager Somalia, WorldRemit. Customers in Somalia can receive remittances via WorldRemit from friends and family anywhere across the United States via Cash Pick Up. Recipients do not need a smartphone. Visit the WorldRemit website for more information on how to send money to Somalia or download the App from an iOS or Android (News - Alert) device. About WorldRemit WorldRemit is a leading fintech providing international money transfer services. We disrupted an industry previously dominated by offline legacy players by taking international money transfers online - making them safer, faster and lower-cost. We currently send from 50 to 150 countries, operate in 6,500 money transfer corridors worldwide and employ over 800 people worldwide. On the sending side WorldRemit is 100% digital (cashless), increasing convenience and enhancing security. For those receiving money, the company offers a wide range of options including bank deposit, cash collection, mobile airtime top-up and mobile money. Backed by Accel, TCV and Leapfrog - WorldRemit's headquarters are in London, United Kingdom with a global presence in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. For more information visit www.worldremit.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200630006089/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Celebrate Kansas City Mail-In Coronavirus Democracy Local election workers ready for big increase in absentee, mail-in ballots KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Elections workers on both sides of the state line are bracing for an unusual season. With an August primary just a month away, and November's general election on the horizon, fears over the spread of the coronavirus could translate into a massive increase in absentee and mail-in ballots. Liberty & Pandemic Coexist Celebrating The Fourth Of July In Kansas City During Coronavirus Pandemic Is 'Doable'- Here Are Some Tips To Stay Safe As the Kansas City metro gears up to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend, local health experts are offering advice on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The biggest risk on July 4th is usually fireworks, but this year many are worried about the potential dangers of holding social gatherings and celebrations during the pandemic. Red Light Jazz Redux??? KC councilman proposes red light entertainment district at 18th and Vine - but it's not what you think KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A city councilman is proposing to make 18th & Vine a red light district, but it's not what you think. Brandon Ellington said it has nothing to do with sex or drugs and everything to do with zoning and tax dollars. Rock Chalk Camp Out Protest Lawrence protester: 'You can't fight force with force' Unlike the protests at Kansas City, Missouris Country Club Plaza earlier this month, demonstrators in Downtown Lawrence aren't marching up the streets. Instead, they're settling in to camp out another night in a park next to police headquarters. Pr0n Game Cost Analysis 'Why Is a White Woman Worth So Much More?': Inside the Porn Industry's Overdue Reckoning Late last month, several porn companies' statements of support for Black Lives Matter were met with intense skepticism from black performers. In response to a statement of solidarity sent by the porn site Brazzers to "black talent, members, colleagues and fans," performer Kristi Maxx responded, "Cool! Thanks. MSM Opt Out Bluff Trump may drop out of the 2020 race if poll numbers don't improve, GOP insiders tell Fox News Donald Trump may drop out of the 2020 presidential race if he believes he has no chance of winning, a Republican Party operative reportedly told Fox News. The claim comes in a report in the president's favourite news outlet that cites a number of GOP insiders who are concerned about Mr Trump's re-election prospects amid abysmal polling numbers. Stimulus Double Down Pelosi and Schumer urge McConnell to start bipartisan talks on more coronavirus relief as cases surge The top congressional Democrats urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to immediately start talks on another coronavirus relief bill Monday as the pandemic continues to hammer the United States. In a letter to the Kentucky Republican, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it "unacceptable" to allow the Senate to leave for a two-week July 4 recess without passing more legislation to respond to the outbreak. China Crackdown Underway China passes controversial national security law for Hong Kong Hong Kong media are reporting that China has approved a contentious law that would allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in Hong Kong, sparking fears that it would be used to curb opposition voices in the semi-autonomous territory. Coronavirus Pandemic Kills French Clowns, Too Cirque du Soleil files for bankruptcy and cuts 3,500 jobs Cirque du Soleil, the producer of a number of Las Vegas acrobatic shows, has filed for bankruptcy. Kansas City Farmer Food Help Available Amid Harsh Times USDA renews food box program through July, August I look at it as a blessing because it helps out in a time of need, the Kansas City, Missouri, man said as he received a box of fresh fruits, vegetable and milk from a Salvation Army distribution event. Serving Kansas City Caffeine And Discourse KC cafe encourages dialogue in divisive time "I would rather have you mess up a latte and give a guy extremely good conversation for ten minutes than to make a great latte and anger him in any way or make him feel judged," owner Dontavious Young said. 100 Degree Hotness Today The humidity will go even higher KANSAS CITY, Mo. - More warmth and humidity today with heat index values approaching 100 degrees in KC Because pr0n is pop culture and pop culture is pr0n. We start the early morning inspired byas we check, share and quickly clap back against the most important headlines for right now . . .is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . . WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) - After months of not allowing in-person visits, one senior living facility in Wichita is opening its doors and allowing families one-on-one interaction. "I just feel like they've done a really good job, you know, and I'm glad family can come and we can visit and kind of catch up," said Grasslands Estates resident, Zetta Blay. Children's Mercy Doctors Say It's Safe For Kansas City Schools To Open This Fall With These Precautions In Place Infectious disease experts encourage enforcing social distancing and requiring face masks for students and teachers and say child-to-adult transmission of COVID-19 is rare. A great many adults act like crybabies when requested to show a modicum of respect for workers and other people in the grocery store . . . So we wish teachers good luck in trying to maintaining order. Read more: 'Unprecedented': With 95 homicides, Kansas City on pace for its deadliest year ever Hours before dawn on Monday, someone fired a gun into an apartment building, adding one more to the hundreds of shootings recorded in Kansas City each year. Dead-tree media finally gets around to reporting on the nearly 40% spike in local murders that our blog community has been talking about conssitently throughout the course of the pandemic.The link tease is good enough for this screed that offers less new info than most 30-second TV stories . . . Checkit: Columbus statue in Trenton has been wrapped and boxed after being vandalized last week. Johnstown, PA (15901) Today Partly cloudy early. Thunderstorms developing this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening, then cloudy with rain likely overnight. Low 56F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. A federal judge has moved to block a controversial Indiana law designed to limit panhandling following a challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. Jane Magnus-Stinson, chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, granted a preliminary injunction against House Enrolled Act 1022 on Tuesday, one day before the law would have gone into effect to essentially prohibit panhandling in many large commerce areas, including downtown Indianapolis. Get breaking news delivered to you! Sign up for our newsletters to get the latest, breaking news. This panhandling ban is an unconstitutional attack on free speech, Ken Falk, legal director at the ACLU of Indiana, said in a statement. Now more than ever, we must protect Hoosiers rights to free speech, in all forms. The District Court echoed this argument by ACLU of Indiana leaders, concluding the panhandling statute is an unconstitutional prohibition on the freedom of speech. Falk also said in a statement the law is too broad in its expansion of the number of places where panhandling would be prohibited as well as its restriction that people who panhandle must not do so within 50 feet of any place where a financial transaction might take place or a public monument. According to the restrictions in the law, panhandling would be prohibited near any parking meter or public parking lot, ATMs, traditional storefronts and more. Those who violate the law could be arrested and charged with a Class C misdemeanor. The Indiana legislature should be trying to remedy the reasons driving homelessness and joblessness, ACLU of Indiana Executive Director Jane Henegar said in a statement. Criminalizing poverty is never a solution. The ACLU of Indiana filed the lawsuit in April against Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter and Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears. Lawyers with the Indiana attorney generals office defended them in the lawsuit. The states lawyers, according to court records, argued that because the law allows for panhandling in other forms playing music for money and similar performances it does not violate the First Amendment. The defendants also said that the panhandling law imposes reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on panhandling in the name of protecting the safety and convenience of [Indiana] citizens on public streets. But the judge determined the defendants did not provide enough data to show how panhandling poses a realistic threat to local safety and business. For example, they do not provide any statistics linking panhandling to disruptions to business, or showing that panhandling typically escalates to criminal behavior, reads a part of the decision. And simply stating that individuals may not want to be approached for a solicitation is not enough to show a compelling interest. Legislators and others who advocated for the law, which was passed by the Indiana General Assembly in March, said at the time they hoped it would help to control rampant panhandling in areas like downtown Indianapolis. Erica Irish is the 2020 Russell Pulliam editor for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. Terre Haute, IN (47803) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Evening clouds will give way to clearing overnight. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. The City of Woodstock officially has a budget for fiscal year 2021 after the city council approved it following a second reading at the most r SUMMER SPECIAL!: Get 20% Off a 1 year Online-Only subscription today! *** All Subscribers receive full access to all of our online content and E-Editions, and will receive the Triplicate's E-Edition Email Newsletter each week, the night before the paper hits the street! (The charge will appear as "Country Media Inc." on your credit card statement) Plantation is a family-run, award-winning Caribbean rum with a hurtful name. Thats not us making commentary; thats coming from the brand itself. Given recent and long-overdue discussions on race, discrimination and heritage including at a corporate level the owners of Planation are in discussions to change their rums moniker. As the dialogue on racial equality continues globally, we understand the hurtful connotation the word plantation can evoke to some people, especially in its association with much graver images and dark realities of the past, said Alexandre Gabriel, Plantation Rum Master Blender, in a statement. We look to grow in our understanding of these difficult issues and while we dont currently have all the details of what our brand name evolution will involve, we want to let everyone know that we are working to make fitting changes. One thing has been guaranteed: The rum itself, most of it distilled at the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados with a heavy emphasis on terroir, will not change. According to The Spirits Business, Plantation originally got its name via Gabriel, who grew up on a farm and wanted to express that in his family business (using the meaning of the word as large farm). It also notes the name change could take up to two years. The history of rum unfortunately ties heavily into slavery, as much of its early production was the work of slaves brought into the Azores, Canary Islands and the Caribbean via Africa. Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter. The post Plantation Rum Changing Its Name Due to Hurtful Nature appeared first on InsideHook. Tucson, AZ (85741) Today Abundant sunshine. Very hot. High 106F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear skies. Low 79F. NNW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. - Lincoln Biwott shared a moving story on how he took a step of faith to change his life after years of alcoholism and hopelessness - The father of three lost his father on June 23, barely days after sharing his story with TUKO.co.ke - In an emotional message, Lincoln eulogised his father Sammy Biwott as his best friend and a true dad who stood by him during his worst times His story of being given a chance to be a good dad by his Filipino lover covered by TUKO.co.ke lit up the internet ahead of Fathers Day less than two weeks ago. Sadly, Lincoln Biwott, a priest at St Matthews ACK Cathedral in Eldoret has lost his father Mzee Sammy Biwott. READ ALSO: Magufuli sacks government official during public event for sleeping with other people's wives Pastor Lincoln Biwott and his Filipino wife during a past event. Photo: Mercy Chebet Source: Original READ ALSO: Kalenjin leaders ask Ruto to stop 2022 politics, help Uhuru deliver Jubilee promises Lincoln's father died on Tuesday, June 23, when the cleric was set to celebrate his 38th birthday on Friday, June 26. Though his dad had been unwell, Lincolns family intimated to TUKO.co.ke that they were planning a surprise birthday for him which would be dedicated to the father. The reverend who was at the bedside of Biwott as he made his last breath went ahead to share the sad news on his Facebook timeline. "I have lost you here in the world dad but I know we shall meet in heaven. RIP my dad and best friend," he posted. Pastor Lincoln feeding cake to his father Sammy Biwott during a past birthday celebration. Photo: Mercy Chebet Source: Original READ ALSO: Jamaa aliyemuua mpenziwe na kumzika akamatwa Lincoln reminisced the good times he lived with his departed father saying he played a critical role in turning his life around. "He was always there to offer advice. He was the one who challenged me to pursue my theology studies after I thought I had lost it all and unsure of my calling. The transformation I have undergone is because of him," the priest added. Mzee Biwott is set to be buried in his Seiyo, Uasin Gishu home on Tuesday, June 30. READ ALSO: Coronavirus update: Health CAS Rashid Aman confirms 120 more COVID-19 cases, tally rises to 6,190 The priest had shared a moving story about his lavish lifestyle abroad that nearly cost his life and how his Filipino wife had to find her own way to Kenya after getting pregnant with his baby. The father of three narrated how a car accident changed his life in Bahrain before he resolved to look for air ticket to reunite with his Filipino girlfriend Leena who by then was expecting their firstborn child. Story by Mercy Chebet 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 - Thiago Silva is expected to leave PSG in August after the conclusion of Champions League - Silva is understood to be keen to remain in Europe and Arsenal are now leading the chase for his signature - David Luiz is said to be leading Arsenal's talks to lure the Brazilian defender to the Emirates - The two have a cordial relationship having played together at PSG and with the Brazil national team David Luiz is reportedly helping Arsenal land Brazil defender Thiago Silva on a free transfer this summer. Silva is due to leave Paris Saint Germain in August after the conclusion of this season's Champions League in August. READ ALSO: Andre Wisdom: Derby County star hospitalised afte multiple stabbing by robbers READ ALSO: Angel Gomes: Man United midfielder set to leave after failing to agree new contract SunSport now reports Arsenal have contacted Silva over a potential move to the Emirates, with Luiz facilitating the talks. The Gunners are desperate in need for reinforcements at the back and signing the 35-year-old Brazilian would provide Mikel Arteta the much needed experience within his ranks. Arteta is already understood to have contacted the centre-back over a sensational transfer and Luiz is expected to play a central role. READ ALSO: Cruzeiro midfielder Henrique cheats death after falling 200m off cliff Luiz's role in the transfer of his fellow countryman came just days after he came under fire from fans for his poor performance against Man City after the restart of the Premier League. However, he has since been controversially handed a one-year contract extension and could now be joined by Silva in Arsenal's heart of defence. The north London side will have to contend with competition from a number of clubs including Tottenham and Everton who are also looking to sign Silva. PAY ATTENTION: Install Pitch Football app for FREE to easily access stats, news and live updates David Luiz is said to be leading Arsenal's talks to lure the Brazilian defender to the Emirates. Photo: Getty Images. Source: Getty Images And in a bid to get himself a big club, the veteran defender is understood to be keen to a massive pay-cut to fulfill his desire of playing in the Premier League. The seven-time Ligue One winner has made it clear he is not keen on money and is willing to take a drop in his 325,000-a-week wages. Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Tuko news. Fighting spirit husbands, Spirit wives and breaking soul ties with Pastor T | Tuko Talks | Tuko TV Source: Tuko News Kenyans, and Africans in general, are known to fight hard when it comes to defending their precious culture. We pull out all the stops when it comes to confronting persons pushing us to embrace sick western ideologies that go against values we hold dear. READ ALSO: DJ Evolve: DPP asks Judiciary to fast track Babu Owino's case after public uproar Senator Kihika's bill will erode Kenya's culture and soil our beliefs. Photo: Susan Kihika. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Woman cries outside Milimani Law Courts, claims Chief Justice Maraga is a deadbeat father President Uhuru Kenyatta set the best possible example on this front when he stood up to Barack Obama during the latters first trip to Kenya as US President in 2015. Obama lectured Kenyatta in length on Kenyas insipid gay rights record. Uhuru, however, unequivocally put it to Obama that gay rights is a non-issue in Kenya. He made it clear that while the two countries shared many common values and goals, gay rights is not one of them as our culture and societies do not accept it. It was impressive seeing Kenyans from all walks of life recently come out with similar boldness and zeal to protest a bill by Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika that seeks to legalise abortion and greatly promote moral erosion. Just like Obama, Kihika has been exposed to some western ideologies that are distasteful and unacceptable in Kenya. This is courtesy of her long stay in the US where spent 20 years before returning to Kenya to join politics. READ ALSO: Woman dies two months after posting about dying during lockdown Senators should not accept the bill as it promotes the killing of unborn children. Photo: Susan Kihika. Source: Facebook Likewise, she must not be allowed to erode the morals of our delicate youth in the form of the wicked Reproductive Healthcare Bill. The bill not only seeks to legalise abortion but is also set to escalate this abominable vice by normalizing underage sex. It seeks the introduction of Comprehensive Sexuality Education that will teach that sexual pleasure is a right. The church has already loudly warned that teaching children that sexual pleasure is a right will open the floodgates for their involvement in sexual perversion such as same sex relationships, rape, bestiality, incest and teenage sex. But it is the fact that Kihika is openly supporting abortion that must worry Kenyans. How bizarre it is that a woman who is a mother, a wife and purportedly a champion of womens rights is advocating for our girls and women to be allowed to terminate pregnancies whenever they feel like doing so? No matter what words the senator uses to conceal her wicked motives, it is unarguable that abortion is murder. Life, which is given by God, begins at conception and only the creator has the right to take it. READ ALSO: Mbunge ahusika kwenye ajali mbaya ya barabarani Even scientists concur, with the science of embryology showing that a human being is formed from the moment of conception, complete with DNA that is distinct from that of either parent. Any person who takes such a defenceless life is a murderer. Anyone who aids a person who engages in abortion or promotes abortion is an accessory to the murder. Kihika and her peers behind the wicked bill are thus not any better than terrorists, the blood-thirsty death merchants whose specialty is taking innocent lives. Other than killing unborn children, abortion equally harms women mentally, emotionally, and physically, with some dying as a result of the act. Loss of fertility and an increase in miscarriages after an abortion are common results. Why would a female leader, presumably in her right senses, sponsor such a deadly bill in the name of advocating for womens rights? All women of dignity, and who value human life, have no option but to join hands with other Kenyans in stopping Kihika before its too late. They must make it clear that abortion is moral depravity that is unacceptable here. From a religious perspective, our faith teaches us that murder is a grave sin and that one who approves of or promotes murder commits a grave sin. Doesnt this mean that anyone who votes for politicians who support abortion, the murder of defenseless children, also commits a grave sin? The people of Nakuru must avoid partaking in this sin by voting out Kihika come 2022. Future generations will celebrate you for the decision you took. The writer is Robert Mungai, a regular commentator on social, economic and political affairs. The view expressed here are his and do not in any way represent the position of TUKO.co.ke Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. We lost five children before our daughter Charisa came - Shinel Wanja | Tuko Talks | Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke A U.S.-Spanish aerospace company on Tuesday announced that it will relocate its company headquarters and engineering operations to Oklahoma City. Skydweller Aero Inc., which develops renewably powered aircraft for defense and commercial industries, also will locate testing and integration in Ardmore and increase operations to 120 aerospace engineering and field technician jobs in Oklahoma by 2024. It has been my pleasure to work closely with the leadership team at Skydweller, and I am thrilled they have decided to locate their new headquarters in Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement. Our states commitment to aviation and aerospace makes Oklahoma City an ideal choice for a cutting-edge company with a commitment to advancing the industry. At a time when job creation and economic growth are so vital, we are excited that Skydweller will be hiring our bright engineers and helping to enrich our states economy. Founded in 2017, Skydweller recently closed a Series A funding round in September 2019. The company currently has offices in the Washington, D.C., area, Madrid and Valdepenas, Spain. Wagoners early founding and railroad history are back in downtown. Following the move of two halves of the old Katy Depot, Wagoners 124-year-old history as the first incorporated city in Indian Territory has found a permanent home in downtown. The depot joins two railroad cars on Cherokee and Smith streets to form a park celebrating the past. The June 25 move took longer than expected, but officials managed to overcome every obstacle and delay. The same year this depot was built (1896) and our downtown was built off it. This was truly the heart of our city, said Mayor Albert Jones when the move was completed. It is so fantastic and I am overwhelmed to bring it back, restore it and share it with the world. The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture Masters program has designed what the finished area will look like. There will be parking on the west side, a green area nearby, the rail cars, depot in the middle and picnic area on the east side. We submitted our grant entry and we were selected, Mayor Jones added. OU spent the entire semester on this to get this redevelopment plan for this whole area. CORRECTION: The spelling of Erik Erquiaga's name has been corrected. When Vintage Wine Bar was forced to shut down temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic, owner Matt Sanders and executive chef Colin Sato spent the time off formulating a new plan for the future. It had only been a few months since Sato was hired to implement a food menu in the new kitchen at the wine bar, which moved from 17th Street and Boston Avenue to its current spot on First Street in July 2018. That original menu included only eight dishes, and outside of the cheese board and charcuterie board, nothing cost more than $6. The appetizer-type dishes were billed as international bar food. Sato said they were satisfied with the original plan, but he and Sanders came up with what they hope will be a better vision themed prix fixe dinners with two seatings a night and reservations required. We wanted them to feel like family dinners and more informal than formal, Sato said. We began formulating the dinners as soon as we shut down. A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available. Latest publication: Prices of dwellings in housing companies 2021, April Published: 30 June 2020 Prices of old dwellings in housing companies rose on annual level in Helsinki and Tampere According to Statistics Finland's preliminary data, prices of old dwellings in housing companies rose by 1.4 per cent in Greater Helsinki compared to May 2019 and decreased by 3.5 per cent in the rest of Finland. Compared to April, prices remained nearly unchanged in the whole country. Based on transactions made through real estate agents, around 30 per cent fewer transactions of old dwellings in housing companies were made in May compared with the corresponding period last year. Development of prices of old dwellings in housing companies by month, index 2015=100 Compared with the corresponding period of last year, preliminary data published monthly indicate that prices fell most in Western Finland and of towns in Oulu, where they were on a higher level than usual one year ago. Compared with 2015, prices have fallen most in Eastern Finland, by around 17 per cent, in Western and Northern Finland by around four per cent. In Southern Finland prices have gone up by about seven per cent. According to preliminary data, of large towns prices rose by two per cent in Helsinki and by 1.3 per cent in Tampere compared with the corresponding period of last year. Prices in Espoo, Vantaa and Turku prices remained almost unchanged compared with the corresponding period of last year. Development of prices of old dwellings in housing companies by month in large cities in 2015 to 2020M05 Prices per square metre of old dwellings in housing companies, May 2020 1) Area Price, EUR/m Index 2015=100 Monthly change, % Yearly change, % Whole country 2,129 103,2 -0,4 -1,1 Greater Helsinki 3,846 113,0 -0,1 1,4 Rest of the country (whole country - Greater Helsinki) 1,630 94,5 -0,7 -3,5 Satellite municipalities 2) 2,093 94,8 1,4 -2,7 Helsinki 4,396 116,8 -0,3 2,1 Espoo-Kauniainen 3,652 107,6 0,1 0,6 Vantaa 2,752 105,7 0,5 -0,6 Tampere 2,624 109,6 0,7 1,3 Turku 2,092 113,0 -2,9 0,2 Oulu 1,801 100,1 0,5 -3,0 1) Preliminary data2) Satellite municipalities = Hyvinkaa, Jarvenpaa, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Nurmijarvi, Riihimaki, Sipoo, Tuusula and Vihti When the monthly statistics on prices of dwellings in housing companies are published, they cover approximately 70 per cent of all transactions made in the latest statistical month. The monthly data become revised during the following months so that the final data for the year are published in the release concerning the first quarter of the following year. Further information about data revisions can be found in separate tables. Starting from March 2020, the data used in the statistics on prices of old dwellings in housing companies are the Tax Administration's data on dwellings (data on ownership of dwellings in housing companies). Data on dwellings should not be used to assess the activity of transactions in the latest period. The numbers of old dwellings in housing companies sold through real estate agents are based on the data from the price monitoring service of the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies. Source: Prices of dwellings in housing companies, Statistics Finland Inquiries: Petri Kettunen 029 551 3558, Elina Vuorio 029 551 3385, asuminen.hinnat@stat.fi Director in charge: Mari Yla-Jarkko Publication in pdf-format (341.4 kB) Updated 30.6.2020 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Prices of dwellings in housing companies [e-publication]. ISSN=2323-8801. May 2020. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 21.6.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ashi/2020/05/ashi_2020_05_2020-06-30_tie_001_en.html Those films that inspired me are what Im aspiring to make. Bold stories for people who want to see something with people taking some risks. He counts several Oklahoma influences on his challenging stories, from the novels of S.E. Hinton (his movies main character is reading Rumble Fish) and Jim Thompson to the photos of Larry Clarks Tulsa. And then theres the iconic Oklahoma story of author John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath, which contributes to the films beginning and end. Swab has already finished his next film, also shot in Tulsa, which is Body Brokers a drama about drug addicts, treatment centers and get-rich schemes. That film attracted Academy Award winner Melissa Leo, Michael Kenneth Williams, Frank Grillo, Jessica Rothe, Jack Kilmer and Alice Englert his most impressive cast yet. Its done, and Im very proud of it, and its another movie that doesnt give you what you want, but it gives you what you need, Swab said with a laugh about his next ultra-dark journey. As for that cast? Last Wednesday, health officials said most new cases are coming from weddings, funerals, faith-based activities, bars, gyms, house gatherings and other small events otherwise dubbed as the serious seven. Masks are encouraged to be worn in public so that a person does not unknowingly spread COVID-19 through talking, laughing, coughing or sneezing. In a joint statement released Tuesday from Tulsas hospitals, medical personnel encouraged Oklahoma residents to abide by those public health guidelines. COVID-19 is most commonly spread through respiratory droplets, so hospital officials also encouraged wearing a mask or cloth face covering. A snug fit that covers the mouth and nose is the most effective, according to the statement. Masks are vital when social distancing is difficult. Health experts encouraged people to maintain social distancing. Social distancing means avoiding group or congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings and maintaining a distance of at least six feet from others. Incidentally, while election board officials know how many mail-in absentee ballots have been received and how many have been counted, they do not know for whom or what (in the case of SQ 802) the votes were cast. The ballots are fed into voting machines that record the results on what amounts to thumb drives, which are in turn kept in a vault until election day, when they are read by the electronic voting system and added to tabulations. In-person polling places will operate differently than in the past, too. Poll workers will be wearing full protective gear and voters will be required to abide by distancing guidelines. Pens used to mark ballots will be discarded after one use or sanitized, and voting booths will be continuously wiped down. Add in a large number of new poll workers, and lines are likely to move more slowly than in the past. Voters, therefore, are asked to be patient. State authorities identified the trooper who last Thursday fatally shot a motorist during a confrontation in a traffic stop. Oklahoma Highway Patrol officials identified the involved officer as Trooper Caleb Cole, who has been with OHP for 14 years, according to a news release. Cole fatally shot Robert DLon Harris about 8:55 a.m. Thursday on the Will Rogers Turnpike. Cole stopped the vehicle in which Harris was a passenger for a traffic violation, the details of which OHP officials did not specify. Cole brought the vehicles driver to his patrol unit to speak with her during the stop, according to the release. The trooper then re-approached the vehicle and had Harris exit the vehicle. After exiting and a brief encounter, Harris re-entered the passengers side door and was exiting again when the trooper discharged his firearm one time, OHP officials state in the news release. Harris was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The driver nor the trooper was injured. Authorities report that a pistol and a controlled substance were located in the vehicle. The early morning news that Johnson was one of two officers critically injured on duty brought back a flood of memories Gilbert witnessed him having with domestic abusers and their victims and even one particularly belligerent drunk. He had such a compassionate heart. Anytime we were on a domestic call when I was on a ride-along, he was very kind-hearted to the victims and very patient to everyone involved, said Gilbert, who is now executive director of Tulsa Crime Stoppers. She also recalled how unflappable Johnson was as he endured endless verbal abuse and threats from a highly intoxicated man he was taking to jail. I was sitting in the backseat, so this guy was in the front right next to Craig, Gilbert said. He was being called the most horrible names, and this guy even threatened to go after his family, and he just took it like a saint. I would have come unglued had someone told me they were going after my family. He was just trying to calm him down. Carol Freeman said she relishes the occasions when she runs into Johnson in the Tulsa County Clerks Office, where she works, because she has known him since he was a teenager in the Union High School band with her daughter. Fraudulent claims don't just involve people who never worked for a given company or organization. Many legitimately employed Oklahomans, whether working for a company or themselves, had claims filed on them to receive assistance. OKLAHOMA CITY Two of Gov. Kevin Stitts Cabinet secretaries are leaving during the COVID-19 pandemic to return to full-time careers. Stitt announced on Monday the appointment of Kevin Corbett as secretary of health and mental health and Elizabeth Pollard as secretary of science and innovation. The action comes as former Secretaries Jerome Loughridge and Dr. Kayse Shrum return to their previous full-time careers. Loughridge and Shrum, who served as volunteers in the Stitt administration, played key roles in the states COVID-19 response. They expressed the need to return to their careers, according to Stitts office. As president of the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, several urgent matters need my attention, including safely preparing for the return of students to our campuses this fall and bolstering our health care delivery network to combat COVID-19, Shrum said. My resignation does not diminish my support for Gov. Stitt and his goals, and my admiration for him remains unabated. Loughridge is president of TMG Service Co., an Oklahoma City-based capital asset management company. It is also where a makeshift memorial to Johnson was parked a patrol car covered in flowers, teddy bears, balloons and handmade signs left by fellow officers from Tulsa and other departments, friends and residents from all over the city. An officer lowered the flags flying over the division office to half staff before the citys police chief and mayor walked out before the gathered journalists, a slew of uniformed and plain-clothes officers and residents who came to hear the announcement in person. Johnsons death is a tremendous loss to our department, Chief Franklin said at a podium set up in front of the makeshift memorial. His sacrifice will not go unremembered. Mayor G.T. Bynum said the city of Tulsa mourns because Sgt. Johnson was a good man who made our lives better. Tulsas a city that loves and honors heroes, the mayor said. Today we feel the tremendous pain of losing one. In the days ahead, I hope that both the Johnson family and the men and women of the Tulsa Police Department will feel our city gathered around them, showing that same love for them that Sgt. Johnson and his sacrifice showed for us. Around 4 at the time of his grandpas death, Treybeon Williams wasnt able to understand much of what was going on. But when he went back later and watched the funeral video, he felt deeply moved. My favorite part was the walk-out, said Williams, now 15. I loved the way they walked past the casket. They showed such dignity, grace and respect. The impression made on him by that and other family funerals inspired him to want to be a funeral director himself. This summer, Williams, a junior-to-be at Central High School, will take a step closer to that goal as he takes part in the Youth Entrepreneurship Shadow or YES program and competes for a $1,000 prize. A news conference was held Monday in the Greenwood District to officially kick off the 12th year of the program, which pairs African American high school students with business owners in an effort to create Tulsas next generation of Black entrepreneurs. State Sen. Kevin Matthews, who founded the program in partnership with the group 100 Black Men of Tulsa, said organizers are especially excited about the $1,000 prize, which is new this year. Its a unique twist and an added opportunity, Matthews said. OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe took the side of President Donald Trump on Tuesday and said he was convinced the president had not been briefed on intelligence reports that Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Inhofe, a Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he attended a briefing at the White House with other lawmakers. After a very long hearing, Im confident that President Trump didnt know about the reporting, Inhofe said on the Senate floor. Theres some confusion in terms of our own intelligence, and it just didnt rise to the level of the president at that time. Featured video: President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Tulsa International Airport Featured gallery: The scenes before and during President Trump's rally in Tulsa A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available. Latest publication: Energy supply and consumption 2020, 4th quarter Published: 30 June 2020 Total energy consumption fell by 11 per cent in January to March According to Statistics Finland's preliminary data, total energy consumption in January to March amounted to 344 petajoule (PJ), which was 11 per cent less than in the corresponding period last year. Electricity consumption amounted to 23 terawatt hours (TWh), or nine per cent lower than one year earlier. Carbon dioxide emissions from the energy use of fuels declined by 15 per cent year-on-year. Total energy consumption *preliminary The warm start of the year was the most significant reason for the fall in total consumption of energy. The consumption of all fuels fell in the first quarter of the year. The consumption of coal and natural gas decreased by 23 and 24 per cent from the year before. The consumption of oil fell by six per cent, which was particularly visible in the sales of liquid fuels. Less liquid fuels were consumed due to restrictions to traffic that entered into force in March due to the coronavirus epidemic. The stoppage of the forest industry at the turn of January and February contributed to the 19 per cent fall in the consumption of wood fuels. The consumption of peat was 23 per cent lower than one year ago. In addition to the warm weather, the fall in electricity consumption was affected by lower consumption of electricity in manufacturing. The stoppage of the forest industry and the paper machines closed at the end of last year weakened the demand for electricity in manufacturing. The exceptionally warm early part of the year was also rainy and at the same time very windy. Thus, renewable electricity production had favourable conditions in the first quarter. The production of hydro power and wind power increased by 54 and 44 per cent from the year before. A record was made in the production of wind power in Finland during January. In the first week of January, the share of wind electricity in Finland's electricity production was record high at 22 per cent. As a result of the grown production of domestic hydro and wind power, less electricity was imported than in the year before. Net imports of electricity declined by 33 per cent from the previous year. In January to March, diverse energy products were imported into Finland to the value of EUR 2.1 billion, which was 22 per cent less than one year earlier. Most energy products were imported from Russia, whose share of the value of imports was 60 per cent. Exports of energy products from Finland amounted to EUR one billion. The value of exports decreased by 26 per cent from the corresponding quarter of the year before. Most energy products were exported to OECD countries, which accounted for 78 per cent of the value of exports. Total energy consumption by source (TJ) and CO2 emissions (Mt) Energy source I/2020* Annual change-%* Percentage share of total energy consumption* Oil 1) 70,646 -6 21 Coal 2) 24,963 -23 7 Natural gas 3) 21,354 -24 6 Nuclear energy 4) 66,140 1 19 Net imports of electricity 5) 13,778 -33 4 Hydro power 5) 15,314 54 5 Wind power 5) 9,407 44 3 Peat 17,673 -23 5 Wood fuels 84,871 -19 25 Others 6) 19,859 -11 6 TOTAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION 344,004 -11 100 Bunkers 9,139 -21 . CO2 emissions from energy sector 10 -15 . * = Preliminary data. = Category not applicable1) Oil: includes the bio part of transport fuels.2) Coal: includes hard coal, coke, blast furnace gas and coke oven gas.3) The consumption of natural gas does not include raw material use.4) Conversion of electricity generation into fuel units: Nuclear power: 10.91 TJ/GWh (33% total efficiency)5) Conversion of electricity generation into fuel units: Hydro power, wind power and net imports of electricity: 3.6 TJ/GWh (100%)6) Others: includes exothermic heat from industry, recovered fuels, heat pumps, hydrogen, biogas, other bioenergy and solar energy. Source: Statistics Finland, Energy supply and consumption Inquiries: Aleksi Sandberg 029 551 3326, energia@stat.fi Director in charge: Jan Nokkala Publication in pdf-format (293.9 kB) Updated 30.6.2020 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Energy supply and consumption [e-publication]. ISSN=1799-7976. 1st quarter 2020. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 21.6.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ehk/2020/01/ehk_2020_01_2020-06-30_tie_001_en.html Johnson, 45, joined the Tulsa Police Department in 2005. He later earned the rank of sergeant and is a graveyard-shift supervisor on the east side of town. Zarkeshan, 26, is a patrol officer. A recent Tulsa Police Academy graduate, he completed his training in May and has been on patrol for about six weeks. Franklin remarked about the symbolism of the uniform that police officers wear and how we sometimes believe that were invincible. Every time I put this uniform on, I remember the last part of our oath (of) office, and that says with my life if need be, he said. This uniform is just that: Its a uniform, Franklin said. Inside of this uniform is just a regular person. Im just like you, and were just like you. The only difference is we do a different job than what you do. So, for us, were just as much a part of the community as you are. Franklin noted that for more than 24 years, our department has not had to deal with a situation such as this. Contrasting the outpouring of compassion the department receiving during a search for two missing toddlers weeks ago with what he called hatred directed toward TPD and law enforcement in the weeks following, Franklin said, We need this community to come together. Its not just Tulsa as a nation, he said. Because we wont have what we have without the presence of law enforcement. Law enforcement is ingrained in this culture and has to be. Franklin appealed to the fact that law enforcement officers are, like anyone else, people, and that as members of the community they need support from the community to get us through this. He asked people to take steps to support first responders and law enforcement officers, all of those doing the jobs that you dont want to do. You ceded that power and that authority to us. We are the professionals; we are the experts, and we understand what comes along with our job, he said, alluding to the uncomfortable role of big brother. We dont like it, but we understand. Time marches on, but real change takes time. Its been 18 years since Oklahoma voters went to the polls and approved a constitutional ban on cockfighting. Oklahoma had become a hotbed for the activity, with more than 40 cockfighting arenas, most situated on the state lines near Arkansas, Kansas and Texas. Oklahoma was one of the last states to do so, but the ban on this blood sport has withstood countless court battles and the test of time. When Oklahoma voters passed a ban in 2002, the last remaining states allowing cockfighting New Mexico and Louisiana followed suit, and by 2008, all 50 states had outlawed the practice. Around the same time, the federal government weighed in with a series of new laws to try to stamp out the activity, making animal fighting and related activities a felony. While the law banned attending a fight or possessing animals for fighting, the heart of the federal statute sought to halt trafficking of fighting animals to other states, territories or countries. Father's Day was spent in under more quiet conditions than usual because of the extended curfew in effect. But the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation has taken the lockdown period to combat the spread of COVID-19 through a sanitisation programme. Here's Alicia Boucher with the details. Despite constant peace talks, the threat of Russia resuming large-scale hostilities against Ukraine has not disappeared. And it has even become more relevant given the intensifying militant rhetoric of Kremlin propaganda. The Russian military machine is embarking on the largest combat training event of the year - the Kavkaz 2020 strategic command and staff exercise. A set of special exercises are planned for July-August, with an active phase scheduled for the end of September. As experience shows, it is the period of enemy training that is the most dangerous, because troops can easily move from training tasks to combat use, as was the case with Kavkaz 2008, which escalated into Russian aggression against Georgia and the occupation of part of its territory. Ukrinform decided to talk to a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Vadym Skibitsky, about the current level of threat from Russia, as well as about expectations from the NATO Enhanced Opportunities Program and the new law on intelligence of Ukraine. We decided to start with a recent meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation, where Skibitsky reported on the use of private military companies (PMCs) in conflict zones, primarily by Russia. "INTEGRATED GROUP OF TROOPS" Question: what role do private military companies play in the modern concept of Russia's "non-traditional military operations"? Answer: Russian private military companies were first engaged in 2014 in Crimea. Then there was only an increase in their use. PMCs were most active in eastern Ukraine until approximately mid-2015: Wagner and other PMCs performed a variety of functions, ranging from hostilities to escorting VIPs and providing security in occupation administrations. With the deployment of the 1st and 2nd army corps in the fall of 2015, most of these private companies were relocated to Syria, where the active use of the Russian armed forces in the military conflict on the territory of this state began in October 2015. We stated at the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation about the concept of an "integrated group of troops (forces)" - a new approach of the Russian Federation. This concept involves a combination of a number of elements. The first is individual units of the Russian armed forces, such as military transport aircraft or large landing ships. The second is private military companies that perform specific tasks, such as reconnaissance, artillery and aircraft guidance, as well as reconnaissance and sabotage operations. And the third element that has appeared in the occupied territories of Ukraine is local mercenaries. Russia is now actively using these three elements to wage hybrid wars and operations, claiming: "We are not there." We predict that Russia will continue to actively use the "integrated group of troops" approach, which is managed under a single plan and under a single command for operations in different parts of the world. Now the Russians have worked it out in Syria and Libya, and can use this tool to use their military influence in other regions. Question: Is the so-called "Wagner's PMC," which was used Donbas and then in Syria and now in Libya, a kind of hybrid special unit of the Russian army? How to correctly characterize this formation? Answer: Yes, this is a hybrid unit. Its members have considerable combat experience - from retired army officers to mercenaries who performed tasks in "hot spots" of the world, especially in the countries of the former Soviet Union. If we talk about equipment, it is also hybrid: as a rule, all these private military companies mostly use weapons that are used by the armed forces of the Russian Federation. The same applies to the funding from closed budget articles, sometimes from non-governmental organizations. Unlike civilized countries where military companies provide services on professional counseling, training of law enforcement agencies, support and security, Russia has begun to use PMCs as a tool for military influence abroad that does not pose significant political risks to the Russian regime. After all, Moscow has the opportunity to publicly distance itself from such actions. BRINGING "TROOPS" INTO COMBAT READINESS IN "LPR/DPR" - WHAT WAS IT? Question: In May, the leaders of the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" announced the bringing of "troops" into combat readiness, there were threats to "cross" the contact line. What was it? Answer: These statements should be considered comprehensively. On the one hand, it was a kind of political pressure on Ukraine and our partners. On the other hand, it was an attempt to convince the local population of the occupied territories of their "strength." A separate element is the demonstration of devotion to Russia and readiness for more active hostilities. Russian occupation administrations checked the system of mobilization and rapid transfer of units to training grounds with their combat coordination. The whole set of measures, which are classic in checking combat readiness and transferring units to higher levels of readiness, was worked out. Ukraine's military intelligence and other intelligence agencies are closely monitoring the enemy's actions. Any changes in the state of combat readiness, especially the withdrawal of troops to training grounds, strengthening the position on the contact line are a matter of priority in our activities. Continuous work is underway to identify reconnaissance signs that indicate the creation by the enemy of groups of troops that can be especially dangerous in offensive operations. MORE RUSSIAN SNIPERS IN DONBAS Question: It is known that Russia also uses the war in Donbas to test new weapons and equipment systems. Military intelligence has repeatedly reported the discovery of modern Russian weapons in Donbas. Was there anything new and special noticed this year? Answer: We are constantly monitoring the supply of weapons and military equipment from Russia to the occupied territories through uncontrolled areas of the border, as well as their combat use. This year, in particular, we managed to shoot down Russian drone Zastava, which is in service only with the Russian army. We also note an increase in the number of sniper weapons and sniper groups. And this is not only about the sniper unit of the FSB, information about which is available in open sources, but also about other special units - they undergo training in our territory. We continue to record the use of Russian electronic warfare and electronic intelligence systems, adopted by the Russian Federation since 2012. We see the Russians entering our territory, testing and using their new weapons and equipment systems in combat. After that, they return to the Russian Federation for modernization. FOUR VERTICALS OF CONTROL OF OCCUPIED DONBAS Question: What is the structure of the political, military and economic leadership of the Russian Federation in the occupied Donbas? Answer: The system of control of the temporarily occupied territories of eastern Ukraine is clear - the control itself takes place in several areas or verticals. The first - strategic control - goes through the Russian presidential administration. Vladislav Surkov was in charge of this earlier, now the responsibility was shifted onto Dmitry Kozak. The economic management of the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas is performed by the deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation and the deputy ministers of the financial and economic bloc of the Russian government. Vneshtorgservis, a closed joint-stock company, was also created especially for this purpose and it practically manages the entire economic component. The third vertical of management is special services, first of all, the Federal Security Service. All counterintelligence and security measures are carried out under the control of FSB units deployed in the occupied areas and subordinated to Moscow. A separate vertical is the military one. It is clear to us: the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - Southern Military District - 8th General Army and two so-called "army corps" - 1st (Donetsk) and 2nd (Luhansk), which are part of the group of Russian troops in the Ukrainian direction and were included in a single system of management and control of the Russian Armed Forces. Thus, exercises in the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are conducted with the obligatory involvement of both of these army corps deployed in the territories of the so-called "DPR" and "LPR." Systems and means of control are interconnected. There is single airspace, including radar stations Kasta, deployed in Donetsk and Luhansk and included in Russia's air defense and air warning system. The leadership of the 1st and 2nd army corps and everything related to the recruitment and rotation of personnel is clearly planned and is carried out under the strict control of the Russian military leadership. JULY-SEPTEMBER: INCREASED THREAT Question: Ukraine is under constant threat of continued military expansion by Russia. At the same time, according to some expert estimates, the most dangerous period may be from the end of June to the end of September, when the strategic exercises Kavkaz 2020 will begin. What are the threats and challenges associated with this period? Answer: We have developed several scenarios for the possible use of Ukraine's defense forces. One of the scenarios is the large-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against our state. Why do many experts consider the period from the end of June to the end of September to be threatening? First (this is confirmed by data from Ukraine's military intelligence), the armed forces of the Russian Federation are currently carrying out active measures of operational and combat training. Our guiding documents - the Military Doctrine of Ukraine, the National Security Strategy - clearly state that the Russian Federation's build-up of a group of troops near Ukraine's state border with a powerful offensive potential is an urgent military threat to our country. Second, this year Russia is planning strategic exercises Kavkaz 2020, the active phase of which will take place in late September. Many training grounds will be used, including in the occupied Crimea and in the Southern Military District, with a large concentration of weapons and military equipment. At the same time, separate special exercises of units of the Russian Armed Forces will be held from July-August, where they will practice various tactical episodes: offensive, overcoming water obstacles, reinforcements, mobilization measures, and interaction between the military leadership and local authorities. For us, the threat is due to the fact that Russian troops will go to the training grounds and conduct military coordination. As experience shows, it is during this period that the groups of troops created are the most dangerous - they can quickly move from training to direct use. Many experts are inclined to believe that this may happen. The military intelligence and the intelligence community of Ukraine in general monitor all these issues in real-time - in order to identify in a timely manner the intelligence signs of possible preparation for large-scale military operations by the Russian Federation against our state. THE PLAN OF A LAND CORRIDOR TO CRIMEA HAS NOT DISAPPEARED Question: The issue of water supply to Crimea has sharply intensified in the information space. Russian TV is already openly discussing the possibility of using Russian troops to provide access to the dam on the North Crimean Canal. What do you make of such a threat? Answer: This threat remains. The attention of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry is focused on the group of troops that Russia has deployed in Crimea. Currently, there is an increase in airborne and naval components, and the possibility of the use of military transport aircraft is being expanded. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces pays special attention to this issue. It is important to predict the probable nature of Russia's actions and to determine a set of measures needed to protect the southern regions of our state. Question: In the event of an invasion from the occupied Crimea, and not only from there, what threats do you see from the Transdniestrian direction, where another Kremlin separatist project is being implemented - the so-called "Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic"- and where a Russian group of troops is also deployed? Answer: We are interested in resolving the territorial problem in Moldova related to the so-called "Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic." The Russian Federation is also present there, and its representative Dmitry Kozak, who now takes care of the Ukrainian issue in the Kremlin, has previously initiated the federalization of Moldova. The presence of Russian troops in Transdniestria is clearly a threat, exactly the same threat that the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea posed before the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Any military presence can be used for reconnaissance and subversive activities, or larger-scale aggression. In this regard, we are most concerned about the use of Transdniestrian infrastructure, including Tiraspol airfield, and the possibility of using the contingent of the Russian Armed Forces and other paramilitary formations, such as "Cossack formations," against Ukraine. Question: Has Russia abandoned the idea of "creating" the land corridor to Crimea and, perhaps, even to Transdniestria? Answer: This is not an idea, but a plan. It is obvious that the strategic plan to use the Russian Armed Forces to create this land corridor and deprive Ukraine of access to the Black Sea and the world's oceans remains relevant in Russia. Military intelligence has some information about exercises conducted under this scenario and other actions. KREMLIN IS CONSTANTLY ADJUSTING ITS PLANS FOR OCCUPIED TERRITORIES Question: Russia did not annex the so-called "LPR" and "DPR" as it did with Crimea, and did not recognize their "independence" as that of "North Ossetia" and "Abkhazia." What is the Kremlin's strategy for these entities? Answer: The only strategy is to prevent Ukraine's European integration and to do everything possible to keep Ukraine in the sphere of influence of the Russian Federation. It's now difficult to say whether there are plans to join the occupied territories to Russia. We see that with the beginning of Russian aggression against our state in 2014, the Kremlin's plans are constantly being adjusted, depending on how our state acts. Russian passportization is a threatening issue now. If residents of the occupied territories who received Russian passports take part in the vote on changes to the Russian constitution, it will be the first signal that Russia will speak about the people of Donbas as "Russian citizens." And this is dangerous: it can manipulate not just the presence of the "Russian-speaking population," but "Russian citizens" in order to interfere in our internal affairs. At the same time, as part of the existing economic vertical, Russia is demanding that its occupation administrations in Donbas reach a higher level of self-sufficiency: increase budget revenues, restructure mines and start enterprises that can generate at least some income, and so on. And this may indicate the policy of the Russian Federation aimed at supporting a quasi-state entity, through which it will influence the situation in Ukraine. Question: Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and falling energy prices, there is a significant deterioration in the economic situation in Russia. Against this background, the issue of lifting or easing Western sanctions is becoming increasingly important to Russia. Can a "hole" in the budget push the Kremlin to the waiver of its costly adventures abroad, in particular, support for the "DPR/LPR" project? Answer: Of course, due to these problems, certain adjustments will be made to Russia's plans. To some extent, this will also apply to armament and re-equipment programs of the Russian Armed Forces. At the same time, everything related to strategically important issues is developing and being financed according to plan. NATO STANDARDS IN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE Question: Ukraine has recently joined NATO's Enhanced Opportunities Program, which, in particular, provides for an in-depth exchange of intelligence. What are the expectations of the Main Intelligence Directorate for this exchange, and how is our intelligence cooperating with partner intelligence services now? Answer: This is not just a hope, but a real step towards closer cooperation between Ukraine and our partners and allies, especially with regard to the intelligence society. The development of relations with the military intelligence of other states was laid down in the National Intelligence Program for 2015-2020, which even provides for the preparation of joint intelligence assessments on the most pressing issues. Of course, the program contains not only a military component but also aims to strengthen Ukraine's cooperation with NATO entities and partners in various fields. As for military intelligence, its implementation will accelerate the transition to NATO standards, because without it we simply will not be able to fully interact. Of course, the level of responsibility to partners will increase, in particular, for the information they will provide to us. This in-depth cooperation involves constant monitoring, exchange of information on air and sea space, various data on current threats both to us and to the international community. Question: Last year, in an interview with Ukrinform, you spoke about the problems with the financing of the Main Intelligence Directorate - intelligence was only 47% funded in 2019. Has the situation changed this year? Answer: It was about underfunding. All public funds allocated to us were used to increase our intelligence capabilities. It is clear that the purchase of modern equipment, means of electronic intelligence, and other modern intelligence requires significant funds. What will be the funding this year? We hope that it will be at a sufficient level so as to increase the level of intelligence support for the leadership of our state. CONTROL MUST ENVISAGE ASSISTANCE Question: In January, the Verkhovna Rada passed at first reading a bill on the intelligence of Ukraine. How does the intelligence agency of the Defense Ministry assess the provisions of this document? Answer: We took an active part in the preparation of proposals for this bill. It is designed to regulate the activities of the intelligence community of Ukraine and make it even more effective. It clearly defines the areas of intelligence of each body, areas of responsibility and methods of cooperation, exchange of information within the intelligence community, social protection of employees. Another important aspect is the establishment of civilian democratic control in various areas, as is the case in other countries of the civilized world. At the same time, it is important that it is not just control for the sake of control, as is often the case, but the control that involves the provision of assistance. Many issues are related to the need to adopt legal acts that will help increase the efficiency of intelligence agencies. Question: Another bill that is being considered in the Verkhovna Rada is on parliamentary control over the activities of special services and law enforcement agencies. How can we guarantee that, on the one hand, control over intelligence is effective, and, on the other hand, there is no leak of information because deputies are different? Answer: There is the international experience that provides for the responsibilities of parliamentarians in such activities, the possibility of involving them in the inspection, access to documents and materials of intelligence agencies, and so on. In NATO countries, parliamentary control is clearly regulated, including that there is no leak of information and that no damage is done to the activities of intelligence agencies. I hope that all this will be taken into account in the adoption of the Ukrainian law. Vasyl Korotkyi, Vienna Photo credit: Pavlo Bahmut Ukraine understands the problems faced by foreign investors and is doing everything to restore their confidence, according to Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna. She said this in her video address to a conference in Berlin on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the German-Ukrainian Forum, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "We understand the problems faced by business in Ukraine, and we work every day to eliminate them. Restoring the confidence of foreign investors in Ukraine is an undisputed priority for the president, for the entire government and for me personally," Stefanishyna said. According to her, the government and its partners are making every effort to ensure that the pandemic and the economic crisis do not undermine Ukraine's achievements, so that each of the Ukrainian entrepreneurs and investors working in Ukraine emerges stronger from this crisis. The official stressed that continuing reforms is the main task of the government that aims to achieve results and promote the construction of an attractive investment and economic environment, building a solid foundation for economic growth and improving the lives of Ukrainian citizens. Among the key reforms are fighting corruption, judicial reform, improving the business climate, creating energy efficiency, as well as reforming the public administration system and continuing decentralization reform, she said. "Every day, Ukraine makes a step towards becoming a modern European state and has already made significant progress on the path to this transformation," Stefanishyna said. She outlined the priorities of her activities. First and foremost, the issue concerns further trade liberalization with the EU, as Kyiv aims to reveal the real full potential of free trade between Ukraine and the EU. To this end, the Ukrainian side wants to assess the implementation of the Association Agreement and begin updating the terms of trade liberalization, as the current conditions were formed ten years ago, "when Ukraine was part of another political and economic reality." Stefanishyna said she planned to pay special attention to the development of Ukrainian-German cooperation, primarily economic cooperation because according to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, it is the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration who heads the Ukrainian-German high-level group on economic cooperation. Germany is one of Ukraine's most important trade and investment partners and plays an important role in Ukraine's European transformation, she said. Ukraine is grateful to Germany and the EU for unprecedented financial, economic and political support, support for the Ukrainian economy, small and medium-sized businesses, the health care system and vulnerable social groups, the politician said. She called on Berlin to keep sanctions against Russia in place, which is one of the most effective tools to deter Russian aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine remains committed to the principle of a peaceful settlement of the Donbas conflict and expects Russia to comply with the agreements and respect international law. Germany's and the world's support for Ukraine's efforts is key, Stefanishyna said. op The Cabinet of Ministers has not yet submitted to the Verkhovna Rada any bill introducing amendments to Ukraine's state budget regarding assistance to those affected by floods in western Ukraine. The leader of the Batkivshchyna faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Yulia Tymoshenko, said this at a meeting of the parliament's conciliation council on Tuesday, June 30, according to an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "I was convinced that the Verkhovna Rada, at the beginning of its work, will be charged with adopting a bill on amendments to the country's budget so as to protect the western regions from floods, to pay people aid. To be honest, I'm just in a state of shock, because the government has not tabled in parliament any document over the past few days," Tymoshenko said. At the same time, she said the situation in western Ukraine was a national disaster as 700 kilometers of roads and about 360 bridges had been destroyed and damaged, and 4,500 houses had been flooded. "We need to take a break immediately, invite the government, and immediately demand that they make changes to the budget," the politician added. Earlier, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Dmytro Razumkov said at a meeting of the conciliation council that the parliament was ready to work in an intensified mode if it is necessary to help overcome the consequences of floods in western Ukraine. He added that the Verkhovna Rada and concerned committees we ready, among other things, to make changes to the budget if need be. Ukraine's western regions were hit by large-scale floods due to heavy rain. Three people were killed in the Carpathians as a result of the disaster, and one more went missing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a working visit to Ivano-Frankivsk region on June 25 to inspect the aftermath of the floods and review an emergency response. The government allocated almost UAH 700 million for priority steps to tackle the consequences of floods in western Ukraine. op The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Hungary have discussed at a meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission the prospects for holding a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar said this in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. "The prospects for holding a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban have been discussed. Tentatively, it may be held at the end of July. The Hungarian side promised to provide its findings on the text of the memorandum, which we offered them during the visit of [Ukrainian Foreign] Minister Dmytro Kuleba to Budapest," Bodnar said. He called the talks as part of the joint commission in Kyiv successful and constructive. "The very fact of holding a commission meeting after a seven-year break is a certain impetus. The ministers personally agreed and signed a respective protocol. They agreed to facilitate the holding of two additional meetings of the commissions on national minorities and education in the coming weeks, and measures will be taken to prepare for [a meeting of] the cross-border commission on border infrastructure development," he said. In addition, according to him, the parties reached an agreement on measures to overcome the effects of floods in Zakarpattia region. "Our side has made a proposal to involve a general four-party Engineer Battalion Tisa whose task is to help the population during floods," he said. Bodnar added that all issues have not been resolved, differences remain, but there are attempts to reduce them to a clear solution algorithm. He said one of the ways to address the issue of ensuring the rights of national minorities in the field of education was the improvement of Ukrainian legislation as part of the implementation of a recommendation of the Venice Commission, namely the development of a new law on national minorities. "The adopted laws on education and the state language remain the red line for us. The rights of national minorities in education can be ensured in the context of private schools, and Ukrainian legislation can be improved as part of the implementation of one of the recommendations of the Venice Commission, namely the development of a new law on national minorities. These are the ways we can go further in dialogue with each other and in resolving existing problems, differences and rapprochement of our positions. With this in mind, we are going to a meeting between the president and the prime minister," he said. Asked whether the parties would reach an agreement on education before the meeting between Zelensky and Orban, Bodnar said that progress was likely to be made. "I think there will be progress. But whether the issue can be finally resolved, I would not rush to such conclusions. We are ready for constructive dialogue and a result, but this result must be mutually acceptable," he said. op The World Bank has announced the appointment of Mr. Arup Banerji as Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine. "The World Bank is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Arup Banerji as Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine. In this position, Mr. Banerji will lead the Banks engagement with governments, stakeholders, and partners in all three countries. He will oversee the delivery and implementation of the pipeline, portfolio, and knowledge products, and guide the future direction of the programs," reads a press release of June 30. Arup Banerji will work with the World Banks sister institutions IFC and MIGA, to strengthen World Bank Group delivery in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Prior to the current appointment Mr. Banerji, an Indian national, was the Regional Country Director for the European Union (EU), overseeing World Banks operational, strategy and knowledge work in the EU member states. Before this appointment, Ms. Satu Kahkonen served as Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine from July 2016. Ms. Kahkonen was appointed Country Director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste in February 2020. ish Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba excludes Ukraines claim to Russia to pay compensation for the illegal annexation of Crimea. The diplomat said this in an interview with Crimea.Realities portal in response to the question why Ukraine does not require reparations from Russia for the occupation of Crimea. Do you want us to recognize the illegal occupation, ask for compensation, or what? Like - pay money and everything will be fine? No, it wont. The strategy is completely different. That is why we are talking about temporary illegal occupation, emphasizing that this is a temporary phenomenon, it is illegal and is an occupation in accordance with international law. This is the starting position we are working with to ultimately put an end to this occupation, Kuleba said. He added that Ukrainian companies, of course, have the right to demand compensation from Russia for property lost as a result of the occupation of Crimea. At the same time, the foreign minister stressed that Ukraine wants the Russian Federation to be recognized in judicial proceedings only as an occupying state. Our key task, in particular my key task as a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is to keep this frame a temporary illegal occupation, the minister emphasized. ish The Israeli Embassy in Ukraine has allocated UAH 500,000 for humanitarian aid to flood victims in western Ukraine. "When we realized the extent of the natural disaster in western Ukraine, we worked with the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem to allocate a special budget for emergency assistance. A budget of half a million hryvnias ($20,000) for the purchase of basic equipment [was formed]," Israel Ambassador to Ukraine Joel Lion said, The Jerusalem Post reported. The embassy has already sent thousands of bottles of drinking water to the flood victims in Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. The bottled water is the first stage of aid that Israel provided to the victims. Later this week, tents and hundreds of sleeping bags will also be provided, reads the report. As Ukrinform reported, heavy rainfall on June 22-24 caused floods in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Ternopil regions. Hundreds of kilometers of roads, dozens of bridges were destroyed, and hundreds of people were resettled. ish Italy has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine to deal with the effects of floods. "Today, an airplane of the Italian government will deliver pumping equipment, personal safety material, chainsaws, power stations and tents to the affected population," reads a statement on the website of the European Commission on June 29. In addition, Sweden committed to sending flood barriers, hoses and technical experts. In addition to the Italian and Swedish assistance, the European Commission is providing mapping services of the affected areas through the EU Copernicus satellite system. As Ukrinform reported, heavy rainfall on June 22-24 caused floods in Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Ternopil regions. Hundreds of kilometers of roads, dozens of bridges were destroyed, and hundreds of people were resettled. ish Militants of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" have detained twice-captured Ukrainian patriot Hryhoriy Sinchenko who escaped on May 21 from the basement where he was subjected to torture, according to his mother, Tetiana Hulevska. "A lawyer wrote to me that Hrysha was captured on Monday, June 29, a month and a week after his escape. He had been severely tortured during his captivity. There are traces of burns on Hryhoriy's face in the photo shown on local television by special services. I can only imagine what awaits him now. After all, representatives of the 'Interior Ministry' who came to my mother, who lives in Donetsk, warned that Hryhoriy will never see freedom as well as life," she told Ukrinform by phone. According to Hulevska, more than a week ago, "DPR" special services arrested her daughter and knocked out from her testimony where her brother could be hiding. "She was released after Hrysha's detention," Hulevska said. Sinchenko, 25, was arrested in occupied Donetsk on December 2, 2016. He was accused of guerrilla activity, illegal possession of weapons, blowing up a tower of the Phoenix mobile operator. In December 2017, Sinchenko returned to Ukraine along with 74 prisoners who were then exchanged as part of a prisoner swap. In October 2019, Sinchenko was again detained by "DPR special services." In May this year, he escaped, but could not get out of Donetsk. Hulevska suspects that her son was betrayed by those to whom he turned for help. op Dieudonne, 40, with the belongings he carried as he fled his village in Djugu territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo. He arrived at a displacement site in Bunia, Ituri province, in April 2020. UNHCR/Lena Ellen Becker UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed at the increasing number of violent attacks on displaced civilians by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We are calling on the authorities to strengthen the presence of police, military forces with support of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) to improve the security situation and hold the perpetrators accountable. DRC has one of the highest rates of internal displacement in the world. Over five million people have been uprooted by insecurity within the countrys borders, while nearly a million Congolese have sought safety in neighbouring countries as refugees. UNHCR is receiving accounts of the way armed groups are unleashing terror on people as they flee, in displacement sites and hosting areas, and when they attempt to return, including reports of killings and mutilation, sexual violence and looting. The displaced population is also subject to reprisal attacks for their perceived support for the army by returning armed groups, once the army completes operations to clear areas and is no longer present. In the last eight weeks, UNHCR and its partners have recorded multiple attacks by armed groups on displacement sites and villages, mainly in Djugu Territory in Ituri, in Fizi and Mwenga Territories in South Kivu province and Masisi and Rutshuru Territories, North Kivu province. Violence has displaced more than one million people in the last six months in these areas. In an attack on June 17 -18 in the Djugu Territory, two children, two men and a woman were brutally murdered beheaded with machetes, and over 150 houses were set on fire by an armed group in two different villages hosting displaced people. Again, just in a day on 23 June, almost 5,000 people were forced to flee their homes in North Kivu province, due to ongoing fighting between two armed groups in Mweso town. Attackers looted schools where people had fled to. Armed groups are presently occupying dozens of villages. In South Kivu, a displacement site in Mikenge, Mwenga Territory, has been attacked twice by armed groups in May and June. The same site had been used by members of an armed group to hide, putting the civilian character of the site into jeopardy even though the residents had no way to stop the militias actions. The current attacks add up to an already complex displacement situation in eastern DRC and pose huge risks for the people who fled their homes. The new displacement also brings more pressure on the areas hosting internally displaced people. Hosting sites lack basic needs such as food, water and healthcare services. Women and girls are among those most-at-risk, with the number of sexual and gender-based assaults and abuses on the rise against women and girls in recent months. Over the last month, more than 390 cases of sexual violence were recorded in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. Most assaults are attributed to armed groups but many are also alleged to be carried out by the members of the Congolese security services. The ongoing conflict is making it difficult for people to access help. Attacks on health centres and looting of post-exposure prophylaxis kits antiretroviral medicines to treat people potentially exposed to HIV in particular are hampering efforts to provide medical care to the survivors. Despite the challenges to access some areas, UNHCR continues to work with local authorities and humanitarian actors in the three provinces to facilitate transport for survivors of sexual violence to the closest health centres to receive appropriate medical care within 72 hours. UNHCR continues to provide assistance to the uprooted people overwhelmingly women and children - by providing shelter, relief items and cash. We are supporting members of the internally displaced community and their hosts who play a key role to respond to the protection needs of their communities. Their efforts do have an impact on quality of life, securing more freedoms from controlling militia groups, and in some cases making it possible to bring perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. Their continuous documentation is a main source of information for the humanitarian response. The needs are huge and growing and UNHCR seeks further financial support for its underfunded operations. We have received just 21 per cent of the US$168 million required for our DRC operation. For more information on this topic, please contact: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called on Tuesday for greater support for countries hosting Syrians displaced by nearly a decade of conflict, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has made the situation even more difficult. Very grave economic crises are gathering pace, and persistent gaps and vulnerabilities are being exposed. And after nearly a decade of sheltering some of the worlds most vulnerable people, host countries and communities have been hard hit, Grandi said. He was speaking by video link to the Brussels IV Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region. The scale of displacement triggered by the war in Syria is vast, he said. Globally, the number of people forcibly displaced by conflict, violence and persecution has doubled over the last decade to 80 million. One in every six is Syrian, including 5.5 million living as refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt and millions more who are displaced inside their own country. The pandemic has exacerbated those challenges, Grandi said, citing the example of Lebanon, a country that hosts nearly 900,000 Syrian refugees and has one of the highest concentrations of refugees in the world. In Lebanon, seven out of 10 of refugee households have lost their livelihoods, and are barely surviving. They are more afraid of hunger than of the coronavirus. Women and children are especially exposed. Mounting economic pressures generate tensions and undermine social cohesion, Grandi said. "It is vital that such returns are chosen freely." He urged donor countries to provide an enhanced aid package in support of host countries. The Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (the 3RP), for which US$6 billion is required in 2020, was just 20 per cent funded prior to the conference. Bilateral development support and investments by international financial institutions also remains vital, he said, noting the importance of UNHCRs collaboration with the World Bank. We cannot afford to let refugees, and their hosts, slip deeper into poverty and despair, with consequences that will reverberate, that are reverberating already, across the region and beyond, he said. See also: UN chiefs urge sustained support to Syrians and the region ahead of fourth Brussels conference He also noted that refugees continue to speak of a future back in Syria, while at the same time speaking of concens that they wish to see addressed, ncluding security, rights, and shelter as well as access to education, health care and work. He called for support to refugees who freely choose to exercise their right to return, noting that UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, will continue to work with the Syrian Government and others to improve the situations of communities they are returning to. It is vital that such returns are freely chosen, and not driven by despair or pressures in host countries, Grandi said. He added that allowing sustained humanitarian access would help build confidence among refugees. This weeks conference in Belgium is the fourth annual gathering aimed at coordinating international support for Syrian refugees and the countries hosting them. In previous years it was held in Kuwait, London and Brussels. The closed Zakany border crossing between Hungary and Croatia, photographed in October 2015. UNHCR/Rasheed Hussein Rasheed UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned about a legislative development in Hungary, the adoption on 17 June of the Act LVIII on Transitional Rules and Epidemiological Preparedness related to the Cessation of the State of Danger in response to the COVID-19 situation. This enactment further undermines the effective access to territory and asylum for those fleeing wars and persecution which had been already seriously constrained before. Based on the new act, people arriving at the border of Hungary with the wish to seek asylum will be turned away and directed to declare such intent at a designated Hungarian Embassy. This may expose asylum-seekers to the risk of refoulement which would amount to a violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention and other international and regional human rights instruments to which Hungary is a State Party. When presented with an asylum request at its borders, a State is required under international and EU law to provide admission at least on a temporary basis to examine the claim, as the right to seek asylum and the non-refoulement principle are otherwise rendered meaningless. Effective access to territory is an essential pre-condition to be able to exercise the right to seek asylum. Due to these fundamental concerns, we urge the Government of Hungary to initiate the withdrawal of the act and to review its asylum system to bring it into conformity with international refugee and human rights law as well as EU law, said UNHCRs Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs. While UNHCR understands the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, good practices across Europe and globally demonstrate that public health can be protected while ensuring access to territory and asylum, including through quarantines and health checks. UNHCR has compiled examples of such good practices and issued them together with further practical recommendations to States. UNHCR Position on Hungarian Act LVIII of 2020 on the Transitional Rules and Epidemiological Preparedness related to the Cessation of the State of Danger is available here. For more information on this topic, please contact: In the letter to the G7 envoys, Bakhmatyuk writes the NABU case against him is connected with numerous procedural violations by the investigating authorities and with the personal interests of senior state officials. Oleg Bakhmatyuk has appealed to the G7 envoys with a statement on unlawful infringements by senior officials of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on rights and freedoms in their own interests to gain control over one of the largest agricultural companies in Ukraine. The relevant appeal addressed to the ambassadors of the G7 countries (the United States, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Canada) has been posted on the official website of Oleg Bakhmatyuk's UkrLandFarming company, as reported by Ukrainian News. In the letter to the G7 envoys, Bakhmatyuk writes the NABU case against him is connected with numerous procedural violations by the investigating authorities and with the personal interests of senior state officials. According to Bakhmatyuk, these individuals include NABU Director Artem Sytnyk who refuses to comply with the final court ruling and close the case, which was resumed by the decision of former Deputy Prosecutor General Vitaliy Kasko with numerous violations of the law after it had already been probed and closed by court decisions over the lack of corpus delicti. In particular, Bakhmatyuk says that "based on the facts known to me and the publications of journalistic investigations of reputable Ukrainian media, the unlawful re-opening of the case against me was initiated by former Head of the President's Office Andriy Bohdan, who has business interests in the agricultural sector. The subject of his interest was my agricultural company, which is one of the largest in Ukraine." Bakhmatyuk says that "NABU Director Artem Sytnyk is the executor of this order." The businessman also said his company and he personally had suffered from unlawful harassments, as confirmed by a court decision, and the probe itself had taken place with numerous gross violations of the law since September last year. "Other violations of the norms and principles of law are taking place now. NABU and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office do not comply with the final, not subject to appeal, decision of Kyiv's Pechersky district court and the Office of the Prosecutor General to close the case." He believes he has every prospect of receiving a positive decision of international courts on violation of his rights by NABU, but "in the context of a flagrant violation of the law and human rights in Ukraine by officials, such decisions of international courts in our favor may be taken too late and the company may come under the control of people associated with the government, in violation of the rights of international investors of the company." The businessman told the ambassadors that "absolutely unlawful and prejudiced actions of NABU Director Artem Sytnyk have all signs of collusion. I do not rule out the possibility of transferring under the control of other people my agricultural company, which employs 27,000 people, which produces 1% of GDP and which has paid UAH 7.7 billion (US$288.5 million) in taxes for the past three years. Artem Sytnyk's unlawful actions are related to economic interests regarding my company." As reported earlier, Kyiv's Pechersky district court declared the resumption of case against Bakhmatyuk by former Deputy Prosecutor General Vitaliy Kasko illegal. The case was opened due to the alleged misuse of refinancing funds provided by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to VAB Bank during the 2014 banking crisis. However, findings of examinations of the Deposit Guarantee Fund and statements by the NBU confirmed that all refinancing funds had been spent for their intended purpose, i.e. they were received by bank depositors. Imports of passenger cars into Ukraine exceed US$1.2 bln in Jan-May Most of the cars were imported from the United States. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Occupying authorities launch freight traffic across Crimean bridge (Photo, video) Two trains ran toward each other. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Kherson port transferred to investor on concession terms infrastructure ministry This will give impetus to stable development in the region and create new jobs. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter He will work with the World Bank's sister institutions IFC and MIGA, to strengthen World Bank Group delivery in the respective countries. The World Bank has announced the appointment of Arup Banerji as Country Director for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine. "In this position, Mr. Banerji will lead the Bank's engagement with governments, stakeholders, and partners in all three countries. He will oversee the delivery and implementation of the pipeline, portfolio, and knowledge products, and guide the future direction of the programs," the World Bank said in a statement on June 30. "Arup Banerji will work with the World Bank's sister institutions IFC and MIGA, to strengthen World Bank Group delivery in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine." Read alsoWorld Bank approves US$350 mln loan to support economic reforms in Ukraine Prior to the current appointment Mr. Banerji, an Indian national, was the Regional Country Director for the European Union (EU), overseeing World Bank's operational, strategy and knowledge work in the EU member states. Previously, as Senior Director and Head of the Global Practice for Social Protection, Labor and Jobs at the World Bank, he oversaw the Bank's global work on jobs, social safety nets, and pensions. Before this appointment, Ms. Satu Kahkonen served as Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine from July 2016. Ms. Kahkonen was appointed Country Director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste in February 2020. The head of government says that he has responsibility to Ukraine and Ukrainians. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says he is ready to step down at any moment. "I'm ready to step down at any moment when the people of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, or the president expresses such an opinion," he told BBC News Ukrainian in an interview. Read alsoPM Shmyhal sees no reason for Cabinet to step down "There were not, are not and cannot be any promises as for the terms in the posts. The key issue is responsibility to Ukraine and Ukrainians, and this is a key parameter that must be kept. Therefore, there can be no guarantee for the posts this is not a private business," he added. As UNIAN reported earlier, the parliament on March 4 appointed Shmyhal as Prime Minister and endorsed a new government. On June 4, the Verkhovna Rada sent the government's action plan for finalization. The first version of the program was criticized by lawmakers. If the document is not approved, the Cabinet will not have one-year immunity. On June 12, the Cabinet approved a finalized program and sent it to parliament for consideration. On June 18, the Verkhovna Rada did not support the updated document. The Constitution provides that adopting a program would give the government annual immunity from dismissal. Yet, if Shmyhal had submitted a letter of resignation voluntarily, the Verkhovna Rada could still have accepted his resignation at any time. At the same time, Kuleba said companies could file lawsuits against Russia. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Ukraine cannot demand compensation from Russia for the annexation of Crimea, as this will harm the strategy for dealing with the illegal occupation of the territories of Ukraine. "Do you want us to recognize the illegal occupation and ask for compensation? Or what? Like, pay us the money and everything will be fine? No!" he told RFE/RL's Krym.Realii (Crimea Realities) media project in an interview. Read alsoUkraine to get occupied Crimea back Zelensky "The strategy is completely different. We insist that this is temporary, illegal occupation that is taking place, emphasizing this is a temporary phenomenon, it is illegal, and under international law, this is an act of occupation," the minister said. At the same time, Kuleba said companies could independently file lawsuits against Russia. "It is very important to us that the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation should not be recognized in court proceedings in a wider status than the status of an occupying state. But our key task, my key task as a Foreign Ministry representative, is to keep this framework that it is temporary, illegal occupation," he added. As UNIAN reported earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urged international partners to step up sanctions against Russia over holding the vote in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea for Russian Constitution amendments. Poroshenko is suspected of abuse of power in appointing first deputy intelligence chief. Ex-president of Ukraine and incumbent Member of Parliament Petro Poroshenko did not report for interrogation to the State Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday because he was summoned incorrectly, his lawyer Ihor Golovan told reporters outside the SBI HQ. Golovan says Poroshenko has not received any summonses for today's interrogation, an UNIAN correspondent reported. "Summonses for investigative actions must comply with the norms of the Code of Criminal Procedure. We don't perceive those videos and ads on fences or internet sites," Golovan emphasized. Also, the lawyer noted that the investigative actions involving his client were scheduled for tomorrow, of which the SBI investigator informed him by phone. However, Golovan did not specify the time the interrogation was scheduled for. Read alsoDeputy FM Bozhok suspended at own request pending Poroshenko probe At the same time, he recalled that tomorrow the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv will sit again to consider the application for the selection of a measure of restraint for Poroshenko in the case into the appointment of Serhiy Semochko to the post of first deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service. At the same time, the lawyer expressed conviction that the charges against his client were pressed in violation of due procedure. As UNIAN reported, on June 24, a scanned copy of the summons to Poroshenko for interrogation at the SBI as a suspect for June 30, at 10:00, was published on the website of the State Bureau of Investigation. The SBI press service clarified that Poroshenko was summoned for questioning in the case of the appointment of Serhiy Semochko to the post of first deputy chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Service. Poroshenko is suspected of issuing an illegal order that prompted the then head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Yegor Bozhjr, to exceed his authority. French MEPs are set to come to the peninsula on June 30 and stay there until July 2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has called on France to respond to the illegal visit of a delegation of French deputies of the European Parliament to the Russian-occupied Crimea. This was discussed at today's meeting between Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova and French Ambassador Etienne de Poncins, MFA's press service told UNIAN. Parties discussed priorities of cooperation in protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, issues of strengthening international efforts to deoccupy Crimea, as well as violations of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and strengthening security in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. Read alsoWhatsApp leak exposes Russia link to Dutch far right Also, the interlocutors emphasized the importance of further cooperation toward effectively countering the attempts by Russia to spread anti-Ukrainian misinformation that threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The first deputy minister drew the ambassador's attention to the inadmissibility of contacts of French citizens with representatives of the occupation administration of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. In this regard, Dzhaparova asked the envoy to deliver an official reaction to the illegal visit of the delegation of the French deputies of the European Parliament, led by Thierry Mariani, to Crimea (June 30-July 2). In turn, de Poncins confirmed the unwavering stance of his country in supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including in the framework of the UN and other international organizations, and assured that he would convey to the French Foreign Ministry Dhzaparova's appeals regarding the visit of French deputies to Crimea. Also, the first deputy minister noted the illegality of Russian occupation administration setting up a "vote" on amendments to the Russian Constitution in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, just as any other "referenda" and "voting" in the occupied territories of Ukraine. At the same time, the parties exchanged views on the preparation of future bilateral political contacts, in particular, the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Kyiv at the invitation of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Also, Dzhaparova and de Poncins agreed to intensify trade, economic and investment cooperation, and to implement joint projects. Read alsoNo amendments to Russian Constitution can prevent Crimea de-occupation Ukraine's FM The interest was confirmed to hold a meeting of the bilateral economic commission as soon as the epidemiological situation allows. Dzhaparova thanked for France's assistance in the socio-economic recovery of the eastern regions of Ukraine affected by Russian aggression. In addition, the first deputy foreign minister asked the French side to consider providing assistance to the regions of Ukraine suffering from severe flooding. The French diplomat praised Ukraine's accession to the Biarritz Partnership international initiative to promote the equality of women and men, launched by the G7 countries under the chairmanship of Emmanuel Macron. The head of state noted the importance of judicial and health care reforms. Volodymyr Zelensky chaired the first meeting of the National Council of Reforms, attended by Cabinet and Parliament leadership. Opening the meeting, the Head of State assessed the quality and dynamics of implementation of changes in Ukraine, his office reported. According to him, any reform can only be deemed successful if it yields result. "Any reform is first and foremost about result. It's when you walk down the street and feel safe. When you come home and you have money in your pocket, that is, you make money. That is why to me, reforms are about an opportunity," Zelensky said. Read alsoPentagon moves to provide additional military aid to Ukraine, citing progress on reforms CNN The Head of State stressed the need for judicial reform, as there is a great demand for justice and security in Ukraine. In addition, it is critical to create an effective healthcare system. The president also stressed the need for affordable loans for the population, reforming the tax system, accelerating privatization, and noted progress in the field of digitization and infrastructure, in particular in the implementation of the Great Construction project. "Reforms are also about responsibility. Someone has to bear responsibility and ensure the results. Therefore, I think this is the main task for the National Council of Reforms. To do everything to make us all want to live in Ukraine," Volodymyr Zelensky summed up. The EU will reconsider its decision if the COVID-19 situation in Ukraine improves. Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov says the incidence of COVID-19 cases in Ukraine is 57 per 100,000 people, which exceeds 16 cases per 100,000 people in the countries of the so-called "green" zone; that is why Ukrainians are banned from entering the European Union. Read alsoNumber of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Ukraine doubles in late June health minister "I'd like to remind you that this indicator was 37 two weeks ago. That is, we have such a crazy growth rate over the past two weeks," he said at a briefing on June 30. Stepanov also noted those who are allowed entry into the EU are diplomats, citizens who leave for seasonal works and study, as well as those seeking asylum in EU member states. According to the minister, the EU will reconsider its decision if the COVID-19 situation in Ukraine improves. As UNIAN reported earlier, the European Union would reopen its borders for tourists from 14 countries as of July 1. According to intelligence reports, two members of Russia-led forces were wounded on June 29. Russia's hybrid military forces on June 29 mounted 12 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with two members of the Joint Forces reported as wounded in action. "The Russian Federation's armed formations violated the ceasefire 12 times in the past day," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said on Facebook in an update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on June 30. "As a result, two Ukrainian defenders were wounded in enemy shelling." Read alsoRussia's hybrid military forces in occupied Donbas trying to recruit local miners intel Russian-led forces opened fire from proscribed 120mm mortars, anti-tank missile systems, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, sniper rifles, and small arms. Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Khutir Vilny, Krymske, Luhanske, Pivdenne, Berezove, and Starohnativka. Joint Forces returned fire to each enemy attack. According to intelligence reports, two members of Russia-led forces were wounded on June 29. "Since Tuesday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions once near the village of Nevelske, using a 120mm mortar," the update said. No casualties have been reported among Ukrainian troops since Tuesday midnight. Journalist Stanislav Aseiev spent more than two years in captivity in the occupied Donetsk, most of the time in a modern-day concentration camp, a special prison called "Izoliatsia". In an interview with UNIAN, he told about the "Russian world" idea and how this "world" looks from the inside. Journalist Stanislav Aseiev is a former prisoner of the Donetsk concentration camp Russians set up in Donbas. Stas has a unique quality of being able to remain absolutely calm while talking about terrible things. His main conclusion with the experience he gained is as follows: no reintegration or pardon campaigns will help Ukraine avoid a colossal conflict in Donbas. No one has forgotten anything, and no one will forgive anything. Aseiev has told UNIAN of how life in peaceful areas differs from what's happening in Donbas, why Ukraine takes everyone offered in prisoner swaps, including outright criminals, whether there any arguments that would allow Ukraine to reverse the opinion about Ukraine of those living in the occupied territories, and why he didn't agree to become part of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk. Stanislav, almost half a year has passed since you were released in the exchange effort. Have you managed to adapt and return to normal life? Everything is alright now, more or less. I'm writing a book it is set to be published this fall about things I went through and things other people went through, specifically about the place where I spent throughout most of my captivity, the so-called "Izoliatsia" [Isolation], a special prison of the 'MGB' [security service] in Donetsk. This I see as my main task as of today. After the book is released, I will have to find my new self in the new Ukrainian realities. Has the housing problem been resolved somehow? It hasn't. I rent an apartment. The housing issue has not yet been resolved, and it's not only my case. It's the same for anyone I'm in contact with with my former cellmates. This issue was brought up at a meeting with president. In March, deputy chief of his office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, assured me that the president keeps the issue under personal control not only in my regard, but also in regard of those who had also been released from captivity and now in need of own home. As of late June, the issue hasn't been resolved yet. What will your book be called? "The bright way. The story of a concentration camp". The Bright Way is the name of the street where Isolation is located. Very symbolic, indeed. Isolation is located at the premises of a former insulation plant in Donetsk. After the plant ceased to exist, there was a powerful art platform there in pre-war times. In 2014, militants seized this place and set up a special prison there to lock up "especially threatening" figures. There they hold people charged for terrorism, espionage, extremism, participation in terrorist organizations, arms and drug trafficking... For a number of reasons, this place can be labeled a concentration camp. The only thing missing perhaps is gas chambers. All kinds of war crimes are committed there, including rape, murder of prisoners, forced labor, torture, and humiliation of human dignity. What surprised you most in Ukraine after you came back? I just returned from the Czech Republic (I was there for rehabilitation), and now I don't have the same feelings I experienced immediately after my release. I adapted in such a way that some of the emotions simply faded out. I clearly remember my first week when I got to Kyiv and just went down to the subway. I looked at the people around and the first thing that caught my eye was the complete absence of war. No war at all. In Kyiv, life is absolutely peaceful, and people are concerned about whole different issues. Are these people even aware of what is happening right now in Donetsk? After all, Isolation hasn't gone anywhere, people are still being held there in the cellars. They torture people there. Here you see a completely peaceful city, which lives its own, sort of separate, life. The war only exists in the information space and in the families of those who came into direct contact with it. I've also become exactly the same now. I no longer feel anything weird about browsing my Facebook feed on subway or just listening to some music. Maybe this is how things should be. You can't sense war permanently. Many of those who have gone through war, following some psychological adaptation, come to the conclusion that it's precisely for this that the Army defends the front line: so that people in Kiyv could browse their Facebook, raise their kids, buy diapers, and so on... I ask myself a question: maybe I think this way because I've already become one of these people who survived this all? But it still seems to me that in the emotional plain or at least in the information field this should be preserved so that people don't forget that nothing is over at all, that the hot phase of this conflict is ongoing. More people are dying. And that, in general, something needs to be done about it. How long have you been held in a Russian prison? In Isolation, it was 28 months. The overall time is 31.5 months. I must say that the Isolation was different in various periods starting from living conditions and ending with the attitude towards prisoners. While the so-called "Palych" was an administration chief, there was real hell, without exaggeration. Hell for all. Things happening there were beyond common sense. In February 2018, this administration chief was also thrown behind bars. After that, the attitude towards inmates became much more loyal, although acts of torture were still in place. Mostly, it was new arrivals who were subjected to torture. That is, someone is brought from the "Ministry of State Security" in the center of Donetsk down the cellars to beat testimony out of them. If they are satisfied with the result, the person is put in a cell. During Palych's rule though, it didn't matter if inmates signed any papers or not. They would be constantly humiliated throughout their term there. It doesn't if you're pro-Ukrainian, if you're part of the so-called "militia or an operative with the so-called "MGB". Absolutely everyone was broken down there. When the man was dismissed, things became a little lighter. But still, this isn't a place you want to be, that's for sure. So this means that Russian "defenders" set up a concentration camp for Russian speakers, is that right? I wouldn't pose the question this way. The people who refer to themselves as administration in Isolation care about nothing. Absolutely nothing. They don't care about ideology or charges. For 28 months, I had cellmates who used to be part of the so-called "militia", the militants. And most of them were tortured even worse than what they called "ukrops" [a derogatory term for Ukrainians]. So, the people were doing this [torture] simply because they could and because they enjoyed it. There's no ideology involved there at all. So, it figures Russian occupation authorities have appointed people with mental issues to supervise this place? Absolutely. "Palych" is not the only one with some kind of mental pathology. But this guy is a classic psychopath, a sadist who feels no empathy for other people. That is why he behaved the way he behaved. Torturing other people without any "operational necessity" (as they called it) for years was something only people with serious mental issues could do. Will you call out in your book any names of people who committed these crimes? None. Firstly, it's our security agencies who deal with the names of those managing the Isolation, so they are aware of those names. Secondly, there'll be no names of inmates in this book. This is about ethics so I won't cross those lines. If a woman got raped, and write about that case, I will not give you her name. As for the administration, even if I mentioned their callsigns or names, it would a gift for them. They don't give a damn about the book, they don't give a damn about international reports drawn by the UN or OSCE. They just laugh out loud and say they are now part of history books. I don't even mention their callsigns, on principle, with the exception of this "Palych" guy. Without mentioning him, it would be impossible to describe Isolation. He was the central core of this whole system. This is someone who could be a case study for a PhD dissertation in psychiatry. Russian occupation authorities are certainly aware of what's going on there... Oh, they are, for sure. Both the "MGB" and the FSB, the agency handling them ... In the end, it's been six years since the UN started compiling reports on rights violation in that territory. The latest report of 2019 also specifically spelled out the word "Isolation". I personally spoke with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, telling about this place. Everyone knows everything, but nothing changes. Moreover, I told our president about this place, too, when we met. To which Volodymyr Oleksandrovych [Zelensky] asked a question that is absolutely logical, but I didn't expect him to ask me it. So he asked: "What will we offer the Russians to change the situation for the people being held there?" This is absolutely right. See, the phrase "Moscow doesn't believe in tears" applies to this situation, too. Neither our emotions, nor tears, nor cries about people being tortured there will cause no slightest shifts whatsoever. We must deliver concrete arguments. "You must dismantle the Isolation and punish those people because..." You need to find those arguments. And I do realize that in this case, we have nothing to offer. This is a problem not only for Zelensky, it was a problem for the Poroshenko administration as well. I don't even know at what level the issue needs to be raised, perhaps personally with Putin. I don't know. You can demand as much as you want from Ukrainian authorities to resolve the issue, but, in fact, our fellow citizens are held captive by President of Russia, who could just utter a word to resolve the problem, but he doesn't seem to be willing to do this. That's right. Regarding Isolation, on the part of our diplomacy, I would insist on separate sanctions against the Russian Federation, precisely over the very existence of this place. That's because it is a modern-day concentration camp. By the way, since the summer of 2017, in some cells in Isolation, ACs have been installed. Those who first hear about this place will be surprised at how the term "concentration camp" can be put in the same sentence with "air conditioning". However, the conditions in cells have nothing to do with the horrors happening there. They installed ACs but nothing has changed. People are still being kicked until they shove themselves under the bunks, they are still being forced to bark as dogs from under those bunks, women are still getting badly beaten up and raped... But they did install ACs, yes. From time to time I talk to people who represent the so-called political part of the occupation authorities. All have been living in Moscow after they "liberated" Donetsk and Luhansk from Ukraine. For some reason, they didn't want to stay there. I always tell them that they created a "military dictatorship" where people have no rights ... Am I right? Military dictatorship was in place during Zakharchenko rule. For some time since 2014, yes, I'd label it this way. But now, I would call it a criminal enclave, which is simply supervised by Russian special services. It's not so much the military but security services that are now playing a major role there. In 2017, a turning point occurred. I saw this in some of my cellmates in Isolation. There were waves of new inmates from among commanders of these so-called "brigades", as well as their subordinates. Those who remained since 2014 with at least some political agenda in their mind were simply broken down in prison cellars and thrown behind bars to us. This was done in order to remove all "respectable" field commanders who could object orders or represent some threat. All they wanted was to calmly manage the situation through special services, in manual mode. That Girkin warlord was once directly asked why he is not returning to Donetsk. To which he replied: "Return where? To a prison basement?" He is absolutely right. He, too, would be locked up in a basement. Of course, it is more convenient to live a free life in Moscow. What policy should Ukraine pursue in relation to the occupied territories of Donbas? Not long ago, Deputy Prime Minister [Oleksiy] Reznikov asked me the same question. We talked with him about my potential participation in the TCG. I believe that in today's political realities this conflict should be frozen until a real political solution is offered by Moscow. The fact that our government is trying to hold elections in that territory is very strange. I won't even discuss any technical issues related to the organization of the campaign. I actually have a fear that the Russians may agree to this idea, God forbid. They still don't understand how much harm they will inflict on Ukraine if they agree to these elections, rather than postpone them every time. It is impossible to take this territory in its current form, even if Russia withdraws its troops for the sake of this vote. We need to understand what's happened there over the past six years, and what will happen if they flow into our national bloodstream without any reintegration program, which our government is lacking. After all, a whole new generation has been raised there, who have been brainwashed from the first grade of school, and to the university. We need to have an understanding, what we are to do with the tens of thousands of combatants who were part of armed groups or occupation administrations... There are so many questions that are yet to be addressed If we just allow this election now, it will be a global problem for our country. I don't understand at all the zeal on the part of the Presidents Office to hold elections at any cost in the coming months. Actually, this was one of the reasons why I turned down the offer to work as part of the TCG. Russia demands political concessions in exchange for people. At the same time, none of those political concessions bring the reintegration of our territory closer, only exacerbating the political situation in Kyiv. We have nothing to offer them... That's right. Therefore, I said that, if Mr. President has Plan B, he should have started implementing it yesterday. We're just wasting time. Zelensky is obviously a hostage of his position, of his own campaign promises... It's hard to say. I get the impression that he is a hostage of some of his personal relationships with Petro Poroshenko. He wants to end this war so bad because Poroshenko failed to do it but in the end we can get the result which will be even worse than what we're having today. After meeting with president, I can say that personally, as a person, not as a politician, he really wants to end this war. But you need to build your efforts on facts, not emotions. The situation is such that today we cannot play it in our favor so we must think about another option, which isn't an easy one, either. Even if there is Plan "B", the conflict freezing option, it also needs to be well thought out. As soon as we say that we are turning down a political resolution, the humanitarian sphere will immediately shut down. Russians don't care about people living there. They are interested in them only in the context of political concessions. If they understand that we are not going to deliver any, the issue of being released will be off the table for our people there. The second point, which is inevitable, is the escalation at the front line. We must address this, today. And the third thing, which, from my perspective, should be done is the removal of all combatants to Russia ahead of the elections. No reintegration and pardon campaigns will help avoid a colossal conflict in this territory. No one has forgotten anything, and no one will forgive anything. Imagine people who have lost their sons returning to that territory and seeing those who took their loved ones' lives. We will have problems. Besides, most combatants acquired Russian passports. Operatives with the so-called "MGB" and their families were required to obtain Russian passports so that, if any political decision is made, if control of the border is handed back to Ukraine, they could be allowed to flee to Russia. You need to understand: these people fought for Russia. Everyone who believes that Ukraine is to blame for this conflict is looking towards Russia, not towards the so-called "LPR/DPR". In one of your statements, I heard that Donbas is not about ideology, but rather about social assistance concerns. Now it turns out that those who called Russia to come save them didn't get exactly what they expected, did they? This is a very broad question. Before this war, I myself was a classic example of "Russian-world" way of thinking. I have never supported these so-called "republics". Therefore, as soon as it all broke out, even for me, a man who was brought up on certain Russian values, things I saw at a rally on March 1, 2014, were unacceptable. Before that, my set of ideas was something like this: Putin is a brilliant politician; Russia is a special country with a special spiritual mission, which is about opposing itself to the collective West; there is a special role played by the Russian language, and even Orthodoxy, and so on. This is a whole set of these theoretical things that I have absorbed throughout those years I've lived in Donbas. And only war made me reconsider all this. And then, it took me another year, throughout 2014, to see what the "Russian world" is in practice: when gangs of drunk Cossacks appeared, compiled including from among my backyard friends, who controlled roadblocks in Makiyivka and just rob all passing drivers y in favor of the "DPR" ... I can tell a lot, but the point is that it's the events, the reality, real life, that force us to radically rethink all these things and make a U-turn. When I got locked up in that basement after having worked on this topic professionally for two years as a journalist I realized that I couldn't even imagine the scale of what was happening. That there is a whole underground world that no one is aware of at all. No one, even those people who believe in Russia and perceive Mr. Putin as a demigod. This is all to prove the point that, even if we return to this territory tomorrow, neither a Ukrainian 1+1 TV channel, nor radio broadcasting will force these people to reconsider their values if this hasn't happened yet over these six years. This will be a problem we will face. We won't be able to convince them solely through media influence. Naturally, they are disappointed that they didn't become part of the Russian Federation. In this regard, they are all embittered and disappointed. But this doesn't somehow add any love to Ukraine. So we shouldn't have any illusions in this regard. We started our conversation with your impressions of a free Ukraine, where people live an absolutely relaxed life. What needs to be said and done so that people don't vote for parties and politicians calling the "Russian world" to come to Ukraine? I'm deeply skeptical in this regard. I don't think that there is any kind of information connection, an information bridge between what we see the "Russian world" is and the choice voters make. Those who want to be aware about it, they already know. Let's go from the opposite side: those beyond the line of demarcation are subject to propaganda, not just because they want to hear what Solovyov or Kiselyov [propaganda masterminds] broadcast. It is the same in our territory: if someone hasn't developed their own quality attitude to this conflict over the past six years, and if they don't consider it a part of their life, then no matter how much we talk about the horrors of what's happening there, this won't work. When my book comes out, it will only be read by those who want to learn about these things. And no matter how much you tell how terrible it is and how people are tortured there, many simply shrug this off, saying: "I have a family and I need to take my little daughter to kindergarten, so why do I have to learn about this all?" Often these words are uttered by IDPs who were forced to flee the warzone with nothing, amid shelling in 2014. They can rightly say: "I don't want to recall this anymore, I barely set my life back on track here from scratch, I had nowhere to live, and you come and tell me again about that torture? I don't want to hear anything about it." But we have to do our job. I can do what I can do: I write and tell people about it. But whether they hear me out or not is another question. What tools could be applied to have our prisoners of war released? First of all, it's international pressure at all levels. At the diplomacy level, at the family level of these prisoners. And by the way, now these people have become quite pro-active and rallied, they have visited many foreign embassies. The second point, I repeat, we need concrete arguments in the shape of such people as Vladimir Tsemakh [an important MH17 suspect]. When such people appear, when brilliant special operations take place and Russia's image is at stake, then something can be resolved. It is absolutely pointless though to appeal to emotions, justice or mercy on the part of the Russian Federation. Russia is a mechanism that works against us every day, without any emotion. Of course, we must pay close attention to the SBU itself. The example of the recent arrest of [high-profile mole] General Shaitanov is only the tip of the iceberg. This system also requires complete reform, including with the involvement of Western experts. And as soon as this happens, believe me, we will also have arguments for an exchange. Are you talking about an "exchange fund"? I do. Everything else is completely pointless. Of course, there is another option political concessions for which they would hand some people back to us, definitely. I don't know what to do here, I'm no adviser. I myself don't know how I would answer this question if I were asked while I was in captivity. When you are sitting in Kyiv in your comfy chair, the answer seems obvious, and this answer is "no". But when you're held in Isolation and things happening around you are hard to imagine, answering "no" doesn't seem unambiguous. It's the president, of course, who must answer this question. In any case, political preferences on our part are the only thing that's of interest to Russia. They aren't interested in anything else, including people that we're holding behind bars. Even their prisoners of war is not a No 1 issue for them. In the exchange effort you were part of there were people whom you could hardly call Ukrainian patriots these were people who were engaged in torture, served as part of Russian occupation administrations, there were criminals. At the same time, some Ukrainian military and civilians, who had been defending our country, remained in captivity. Can you explain how this happened? There are several options. I understand that these types of people are included in the lists for money. They pay Morozova, the so-called ombudswoman, and she insists that if you want to take back someone, you must also agree to take these, too. When our special services look at them and say that they, say, are outright criminals, or fought on the Russian side, the answer is simple: we don't care. Take them, or there will be no exchange. On the other hand, I understand that it is unlikely that [head of Zelensky's office Andriy] Yermak or, say, even Mr. President reads these lists and understands who they are talking about. I said that I fundamentally disagree with the approach to the exchange processes applied by the Presidential Office. There are three specific criteria. Firstly, the feats this means, our prisoners of war, members of sabotage group sand undercover human asset networks. The second criterion is the state of health of a prisoner. And the third is the time they have already done in prison. See, spending 2.5 or 3 years in Isolation, leaving most of your physical and mental health there, is not the same as spending 3 to 4 months in a pre-trial detention center. But none of this matters because we simply have no arguments at all to ensure the release of our people. There are military men there, of whom we can't even publicly speak of, but they have done so much for our country, working in different areas both sabotage and clandestine activity. Well, we can't even put out their names on promotion banners due to their specific CVs. But are still being held there. On the other hand, some bastards are being released, yes. Including, in the exchange effort I was part of. It remains only to shrug. The authorities explained this by saying that those people are all Ukrainians... Although it seems more like the "what difference does it make" approach... The "they are all Ukrainians" formula is absurd. What about those we're handing to the other side? They are Ukrainians, too. They also have Ukrainian passports. But in this case, they are criminals whom we are swapping. This is absurd. But I understand where it comes from. I don't think that the president doesn't realize that we cannot influence the situation qualitatively and force Moscow to hand back precisely those who deserve the title of hero of Ukraine. Well, we have no arguments to this end. Therefore, naturally, he selects some political formulations in order to at least somehow explain the process. He cannot say this directly because he is president, but I can afford doing it because I am a regular citizen. There are famous prisoners of war, and some people remain unknown. If they talk a lot about someone, that person gains "political weight", and the Russians are in no hurry to give them away. What tactics are better: to go through public outcry or retain some people's low profile? This is another issue which the President's Office emphasizes, claiming that when prisoners' relatives call their names, they allegedly complicate the efforts toward their release. In the first month, when a person gets into this situation, you should not go shouting about this right away, because there is a small chance that somehow they will pull him out of there anyway. But when someone was not on the list for the third time in a row and is now on the verge of suicide, when they write to their father or mother that they don't know where to take strength from anymore, it is absurd to write in response: "Son, I won't bring up your name anywhere because they told me it's dangerous." Of course, their names must be voiced, the more the better. Roman Tsymbaliuk If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter A week ago, Russian occupation forces also nabbed his sister. A Ukrainian activist Hryhoriy Sinchenko has been captured in the occupied Donetsk for the third time already. That's according to his mother, Tetiana Huelvska, who spoke with Donbas Realii Radio, RFE/RL reports. "Hryhoriy was captured on Monday, June 29. This information was provided by our Donetsk-based lawyer. According to him, my son is now being held at a local pre-trial detention center, but there is no exact information about his whereabouts," the woman says. A week ago, Russian-controlled forces also detained his 26-year-old sister, Olha, the mother adds. The girl was interrogated because they thought she was aware of her brother's whereabouts. However, he only got in touch with his mother. Read alsoStanislav Aseiev: Donbas is disappointed and embittered over not becoming part of Russia. But this doesn't add any love to Ukraine "We were worried that Hryhoriy could even be killed. But in fact, he miraculously escaped. He called me several times and asked for help with returning to the peaceful part of the country. On Tuesday, June 30, he was supposed to get the stuff necessary for his return, but they once again captured him. We are worried that he is facing physical violence and more torture." Sinchenko, in fact, gets captured by Russian hybrid forces for the third time. The first time he was detained was back in 2016. He was accused of spying for Ukraine before being released during a major swap effort in December 2017. Hryhoriy told his mother he had been hanged up by his cuffed hands, beaten until he lost consciousness, and hit with electric stream while in captivity. During one of such acts of torture, his lung was damaged, which eventually led him to be put to a local hospital. The second time the man was captured was in October 2019. In May, as stated by the occupation administration of Donetsk, he managed to escape. As UNIAN reported earlier, head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, named providing access of ICRC officials to prisoners in the occupied areas was a key condition for unlocking the release of Ukrainians from captivity. Register for a FREE account to keep reading! Register now for a FREE account to keep reading. No cost and no credit card required! Access up to 5 articles per month when you register, or get unlimited access to all of our content online starting at $1.99 now! Already registered? Click the log in link below The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) announced on Sunday that they are stepping up their support for green investments and climate resilience in Egypt, Morocco and the countries of the Eastern Partnership including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In Egypt, a 24.8 million grant from the EU will support the EBRDs Green Energy Financing Facility (GEFF), which focuses on supporting energy-efficient and renewable energy investments through local financial institutions for lending on to private companies, the EBRD said. The EU is providing a total of 61.3 million in grants to support three EBRD programs helping businesses invest in energy efficiency, cut their carbon footprint, introduce innovative green technologies, support the circular economy and improve legal frameworks for energy and resource efficiency investments, the EBRD said. Climate finance is a crucial instrument for green investments to increase the use of renewable energy and to build a low-carbon future, especially at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic and the drop in fossil fuel prices threaten climate action progress, according to the EBRD. The EBRD and the EU, via Team Europe, are committed to accelerating a green recovery in the countries where they work together. In Morocco, GEFF will benefit from a 21.1 million EU grant that will allow local businesses to invest in green technologies. Beneficiaries will reduce their costs by implementing climate adaptation measures, energy-efficient and renewable-energy technologies, thus also improving their overall competitiveness. In the Eastern Partnership region, 15.4 million from the EU4Climate initiative will be channeled through the EBRDs Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change (FINTECC) program to corporate sector clients via investment grants, technical assistance and the offer of climate innovation vouchers, which are expected to accelerate the adoption of innovative climate technologies and sustainable business practices. Our strong cooperation with the EU will bring concrete benefits for the environment in the countries where we jointly provide climate finance and support. On top of our investments, we will also focus on improving the regulatory framework for such green investments to develop a sustainable market for climate technology in the region, EBRD Vice President, Policy and Partnerships Pierre Heilbronn said. Meanwhile, EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said that in Egypt and Morocco, as well as in the Eastern Partnership countries, the joint support will help to step up energy-efficient and renewable-energy investments in the private sector, thus helping to build sustainable economies. To date, the EBRD has signed 34 billion in green investments, financed more than 1,900 green projects and reduced over 102 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Short link: Lieutenant Colonel Troy Doyle will coordinate a Public Safety Review of the St. Louis County Police Department by Chuck Ramsey, who co-chaired President Obamas Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and Daniel Oates, a national expert on community policing who retired last year as chief of the Miami Beach Police Department. File photo by Wiley Price For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. Teflon Robe Takeaways Thousands of state and local judges across the United States were allowed to keep their positions on the bench after violating judicial ethics rules or breaking laws they pledged to uphold, a Reuters investigation found. For its Teflon Robe project, Reuters reviewed 1,509 cases from the last dozen years -- 2008 through 2019 -- in which judges resigned, retired or were publicly disciplined following accusations of misconduct. In addition, reporters identified another 3,613 cases from 2008 through 2018 in which states disciplined wayward judges but kept hidden from the public key details of their offenses -- including the identities of the judges themselves. The Reuters report focuses on a longtime Alabama judge who once sentenced a single mother to 496 days behind bars over unpaid traffic tickets. That judge, Les Hayes, plans to resign this week, years after the judge admitted to failing to respect and comply with the law. Since 2000, Hayes has served as a municipal judge in Montgomery. According to the states Judicial Inquiry Commission, Hayes broke state and federal laws by jailing hundreds of Montgomery residents, many of them Black, who were too poor to pay fines. In 2016, Hayes admitted in court documents to violating 10 different parts of the states judicial conduct code. Despite his admission, Hayes reached a deal with the Alabama judicial commission to serve an 11-month unpaid suspension. He subsequently was rehired as a judge by the Montgomery City Council despite a community outcry. Here are five key takeaways from our investigation, the first comprehensive accounting of judicial misconduct nationally: Nine of every 10 judges were allowed to return to the bench after they were sanctioned for misconduct. At least 5,206 people were directly affected by a judges misconduct. The victims cited in disciplinary documents ranged from people who were illegally jailed to those subjected to racist, sexist and other abusive comments from judges in ways that tainted the cases. Each state has an oversight agency to investigate charges of judicial misconduct. But the clout of these commissions is limited, and their authority differs from state to state. To remove a judge, all but a handful of states require approval of a panel that includes other judges. And most states seldom exercise the full extent of those disciplinary powers. In many states, the system of handling judicial misconduct allegations errs on the side of protecting the rights and reputations of judges, not on the concerns of the complainant. One longtime Alabama judge who concurrently served on the states judicial oversight commission remained on the bench for three years after being accused of violating the same nepotism rules he was tasked with enforcing. After Reuters repeatedly pressed the judge and the state judicial commission about the matter, the judge retired from the bench as part of a deal with Alabama authorities to end the investigation. Read the full investigation here https://reut.rs/2VwSmAQ. With this drive-in summer series, I hope that friends and families are able to not only enjoy, but to learn and grow, he said in a statement. Now more than ever, amplifying black and brown stories means engaging culture to speak to hearts and minds about the world we live in. THE MOST FAMOUS father in history only got third billing in the Holy Family. A few walk-ons in the Bible were the best that Joseph could manage. That is what fathers do. They are there for the family, not in the spotlight. They work hard and back up mothers everywhere as needed. I got to tell you I disagree with that straight up, he said. Heres the deal. We are here in South Florida, but our people go to Orlando also, and they go elsewhere within the state. And were seeing more now in terms of travel, tourism, people driving from one part of the state to the other to have some vacation time, which I think well see more of as we go forward. Milledgeville, GA (31061) Today Cloudy skies this morning followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 86F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening followed by thunderstorms late. Low 71F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. A celebration of the life for John Robert "Bobby" Brown, 72, will be held at his residence on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 10 a.m. Bobby was born in Dublin, but his home was Baldwin County. He was predeceased by his parents, John Preston "Pete" Brown and Virginia Watson Brown. He was retired Nor can visitors park somewhere at the fairgrounds to eat their elephant ears, Chouris says. She realizes that carnival food is designed to be eaten at once, while the corn dogs are still hot and glisten with deep-fried sweat. But orders must be consumed off-premises to avoid interfering with the drive-thru, she says. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2020) High levels of toxic benzene were first detected at the International Space Station (ISS) as early as April 13, the NASA spaceflight.com news outlet reports. Russia's Roscosmos space agency told Sputnik in May that the concentration of benzene in the atmosphere of the ISS was increasing. A space industry source told Sputnik last week that the search for the benzene source would resume at the end of July after the delivery of a new US air quality monitor (AQM) on board the Russian cargo spacecraft Progress. The first off-nominal levels of benzene at the ISS were detected on April 13, the NASA spaceflight.com news outlet reported on Sunday. On April 29, the levels of benzene started to rise on an "increasing trend," eventually breaking the 30 day Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentration (SMAC). The Lab Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) at the ISS was activated in May, but the levels of benzene were still "slightly high," according to the NASA spaceflight.com news outlet. The US AQM on board the ISS failed this month and the crew is waiting for a brand new AQM expected to arrive on the Progress MS-15 cargo spacecraft, set to be launched to the ISS at the end of July. Benzene is a highly flammable chemical that is colorless and evaporates into the air very quickly. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), benzene is widely used in the US and ranks in the top 20 chemicals for production volume. Benzene is toxic and cancerogenic at high levels of exposure, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott on Tuesday is receiving the leaders of the G5 Sahel group in what is the first offline summit since the start of the global coronavirus pandemic NOUAKCHOTT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th June, 2020) The Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott on Tuesday is receiving the leaders of the G5 Sahel group in what is the first offline summit since the start of the global coronavirus pandemic. The meeting is being attended by the leaders of Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania, as well as by French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will take part in the summit via a video conference. The meeting will discuss a plan of action according to outputs of the Pau Summit on the security situation in the G5 Sahel countries that was held on January 13 in France, when the G5 Sahel member-states reaffirmed their commitment to fighting against jihadist groups on the Sahel-Saharan strip, and expressed the desire for France's continued military intervention. France is conducting Operation Barkhan in the Sahel and Sahara, the goal of which is to stabilize the region and fight terrorism. As part of the operation, France is cooperating with the G5 Sahel group. The Nouakchott summit is also expected to include talks on financial assistance to help the region confront the COVID-19 pandemic and promote the development in fragile areas, as well as on military and logistical support to the African armed forces. The summit is being held under exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus-related lockdown. All people who are taking part in the summit and those who organized it must undergo disease-related checks. So far, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Africa stands at over 330,000, according to the World Health Organization. The Sahel is a bio-geographic zone of Africa, adjacent to the Sahara from the south in the form of semi-deserts, gradually turning into semi-savannas. Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Cape Verde are located on the territory of the Sahel in an area comparable to that of Western Europe. Victoria, TX (77901) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 74F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Vietnams reformed and approved Law on Tax Administration will take effect on July 1, 2020. The new law will ease tax administration procedures for entities while ensuring strict enforcement to prevent tax evasion. Vietnam Briefing highlights seven changes that taxpayers should be aware of. Vietnams new Law on Tax Administration 38/2019/QH14 will take effect on July 1, 2020. Under the new law, tax authorities have been granted additional enforcement powers. At the same time, the new law has made it a little bit easier for both individuals and entities to file taxes. The authorities are expected to provide five decrees and eight circulars to guide its implementation. While implementation procedures remain forthcoming, taxpayers can begin to prepare by reviewing the law with their local advisors now. Seven big changes for taxpayers Increased enforcement and enhanced controls on related-party transactions Under the new law, tax authorities will have additional power to collect tax, particularly in instances where individuals or companies attempt to evade tax. This will include instances where companies fail to abide by transfer pricing requirements and transactions where entities intentionally attempt to avoid paying tax. To help ensure compliance, Vietnamese tax authorities will increase cooperation with international jurisdictions through information exchanges. Further, businesses that engage in transfer pricing will be required to be filed as a separate return, rather than include this information as part of the corporate income tax return. Tax registration Tax registration certificates will be issued in three days. This process currently takes 10 days. Filing personal income tax Personal income tax (PIT) return deadlines have been extended to 120 days from the current 90 days of the calendar year end. This extension is applied for individuals who finalize their annual tax returns directly with the tax authorities. Individuals will be able to use their citizenship code to file once it has been implemented. At present, individuals are required to have a tax code and an identity card number for filing taxes. Legal representatives Legal representatives of an entity in Vietnam will need to ensure their companies are tax compliant. Under the new law, authorities may prevent legal representatives from leaving the country if their employer has not paid due taxes. Audits Business organizations will be allowed to submit additional tax declaration documents after the tax authorities have announced an audit or inspection decision. The draft law has also introduced two types of audit: tax inspection and tax examination. A tax inspection is longer and focusses on a specific issue. A tax examination is shorter but covers wider issues or anomalies. The tax examination period has also been increased from five to 10 days. Increased transparency and taxpayer benefits Taxpayers have the right to know the timeline for processing tax refunds, non-refundable amounts, and the legal basis for such non-refundable tax amounts. Further, they will not be penalized if they declare and pay taxes following the official guidance of tax authorities. Deadlines for processing tax refunds are applied by the tax authorities. Specifically: Tax refund dossiers which are eligible for a refund before examination six working days upon the receipt of the tax refund application; and Tax refund dossiers which are subject to examination before refund 40 days upon the receipt of the tax refund application. Taxpayers that want to appeal a decision are required to pay the full tax amount as well as any penalties and late payment interest. However, if the taxpayer wins the appeal, they can request the tax authorities to pay an interest of 0.03 percent per day on the refunded amount. E-commerce, E-tax, and E-invoices The new law stipulated that tax rules related to e-commerce activities will be implemented in July 2022. Regulations on e-commerce activities still require clarification in the present state; however, some notable highlights include: Commercial banks will be required to withhold and pay taxes on behalf of e-commerce companies that do business abroad, but earn income from Vietnam; E-commerce companies that do business on digital platforms without a permanent establishment in Vietnam will be required to make appropriate registration, declare and pay tax on Vietnam-source income, either directly or by authorization; Business entities that qualify for conducting e-tax transactions will be required to conduct e-tax transactions for tax purposes. This includes tax authorities as well. Further details on e-tax transactions can be found in Circular 110/2015; and E-invoices will be mandatory for all enterprises from November 2020. The new law will also affect non-resident businesses that sell goods and services into Vietnam via online platforms. Further details on e-invoices and e-commerce activities can be found in Decree 119/2018/ND-CP. Investors are advised to follow our updates on any forthcoming circulars to help guide the implementation of the new tax administration law. This article was first published in July 2019 and has been updated to include the latest developments. The Mountains Wild smoothly alternates between 2016 and 1993, showing the maturation of Maggie, whose loyalty to her family and concern for her cousin is unshakable, despite her often awkward relationship with Erin. Maggies initial investigation sharpened her career plans and sealed her future as a police detective. Since then, Maggie has proven her mettle in high-profile cases in Long Island, making the unsolved case of Erin even more glaring. Nguyen Quoc Dung, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected life and economic activities in many countries worldwide. How has it impacted the agenda that Vietnam has set for the year of ASEAN leadership? Vietnam started preparations for the ASEAN chairmanship early last year, when there was no concept of the COVID-19 disease. The pandemic has turned upside down every plan and forced us to change. In order to adapt to the new situation, we must shift the focus of co-operation in fighting against the health crisis and as chair of the ASEAN, Vietnam has made timely adjustments. For many years the bloc has planned to hold online conferences to save expense. But it was not until the disease happened that such meetings, including the 36th ASEAN Summit, were arranged to be held in such a manner. The summit is the first official one for the region in 2020. It was scheduled to be held in April but due to the pandemic Vietnam was delayed until now. Luckily the summit was successfully held online, with strong agreement from members on various issues like the plan of recovering regional economy after the pandemic, empowering women, and improving labour quality. As chair of the ASEAN, how has Vietnam shown its active role in leading the bloc to overcome the pandemic, and how has the blocs cohesion and proactive response been demonstrated? The 2020 theme of Vietnams ASEAN chair role is Cohesive and Responsive, and we always appreciate the unity element. Even back in February when COVID-19 was not at its peak and the World Health Organization had not announced an official pandemic yet, Vietnam decided with ASEAN countries to issue a statement headed by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on responding to the disease, then proposed a mechanism for co-ordination and co-operation. In the new context of travelling limitations, we organised many online meetings of the ASEAN at all levels and sectors, especially the ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 on April 14. So far, specific measures have been set up such as establishing the COVID-19 Response Fund, a regional reserve of medical supplies, and a standard process of disease response, as well as developing an ASEAN recovery plan. In addition, many online meetings between the bloc and partners such as China, the US, the EU, and Russia have also been held to promote international co-operation in coping with the disease. In the role of chair, Vietnam has mobilised the unity of ASEAN to cope with the pandemic effectively. Cohesion is also expressed through our specific co-operation. The fight against COVID-19 has shown the need for co-operation among member countries related to travelling, citizen protection, experience sharing, and medical equipment support. What the ASEAN has done in the battle has clearly proved the regions cohesion. The responsive element has been shown through the regions immediate online meetings to work out measures in dealing with the disease. Besides this, ministers of all countries have quickly developed a recovery plan to minimise the harmful effects and, at the same time, gradually restore all the faces and pillars of the bloc. For the remainder of the year, what will Vietnam do to continue pushing the regions priorities? Over the first half of the year we have put a lot of effort into coping with the pandemic while implementing plans and initiatives that we had set up at the beginning of the year. Focusing on economic and social recovery in the ASEAN, implementing the set plans of the community, and strengthening relations with other countries are the current priorities of the region. In that spirit, the leaders listened to reports and comments on ASEAN co-operation in the first six months of 2020 on all three pillars of political-security, economy, and cultural-social. These issues were also the key content of the 36th ASEAN Summit. Leaders agreed that COVID-19 is a wake-up call to help ASEAN countries be aware of the role of the domestic market and supply sources in the bloc, and all member states need to co-operate more to offer suitable legal framework agreements related to tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and industry structures. In the framework of the 36th ASEAN Summit, the prime minister also chaired the Special Session of ASEAN Leaders on empowering women in the digital age. This is one initiative proposed by Vietnam to promote gender equality and enhance the role of women in economic development. Besides this, the PM also chaired a dialogue of leaders of ASEAN countries with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, and then with ASEAN Youth representatives and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council. Through these dialogue activities, leaders of member states desire to promote cohesion and the active contribution of different sectors in society, and in regional co-operation and building the ASEAN Community. Dam Nhan Duc - Head of Research and Corporate Development, MB The pandemic has caused a shock to the global economy and changed social behaviours deeply. According to the average forecasts of organisations including Moodys, UBS, Citibank, HSBC, and Goldman Sachs, global GDP growth in 2020 is projected to be -1.3 per cent. The US and Europe, the two top engines for growth, are forecast to be -3.9 per cent and -4.1 per cent in this regard, respectively. Most economies are fore-cast to be in serious down-turn. In the second quarter of 2020, the decline of real GDP in the US is projected to be nine times higher than the 2009 financial crisis and three times higher than the most serious recession in US history in 1958. This new context brings a large number of challenges to policymakers, businessmen, and bankers. However, it is also an opportunity for organisations to look back on themselves, review social behaviours to design new dfrections to create break-throughs, or simply better meet customers needs. It is hard to deny that business activities of banks as well as any other economic organisations are not influenced by the important factors of legal environment, competitive environment, technology, and customer needs. The press and analysts have discussed much about the fierce competitive envi-ronment with the appearance of new foreign rivals and non-bank players, including fintech companies in a tighter and more transparent policy environment with higher standards. Therefore, in a new context, the trend of technology in Industry 4.0 is taking place rapidly and customer behaviours are changing drastically due to epidemics occurring with increasing frequency, so this insight tentatively analyses and discusses two aspects. Firstly, the most import-ant goal of business is to capture and serve customer needs. Secondly, companies must learn from successful business models in order to revise their own strategies as well as develop post-crisis scenarios. Clearer than ever The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic is changing the behaviours of customers and society very quickly. The concepts of working from home and online meetings were still strange to most bankers and the general public in Vietnam a few months ago, but now they are becoming more and more familiar. Along with that is the explosion of online learning solutions, transac-tions, online shopping and delivery services, and more. These changes are bring-ing enormous opportunities for pioneering organisations which dare to change and catch up with the emerging trend to meet the urgent needs of customers. However, factors from the past must also be taken into consideration. Perhaps, the first lesson is that failure comes from being too conservative, refusing to innovate and capture the tendency to meet customer needs, which has led to the near-demise of famous brand names such as Nokia and Kodak. During this period, we have also witnessed the rapid development of new empires such as Facebook, Uber, Amazon, or Ant Financial in the financial industry. So what are the keys to their success? The first factor for these empires that no-one can deny is the platform. Everyone knows that Facebook is the largest social-networking company in the world without a content production team, and Uber is the largest transportation company in the world despite owning no single taxi. It can be said that they own nothing except for a platform and technologies. Ant Financial is another typical example in the financial industry. Founded in 2004 in Hangzhou, China with core operations in the payment field, by the end of 2019 Ant Financial had become a financial group operating in payment, asset management, banking ser-vices, and credit scores with capitalisation among the top 10 largest financial groups in the world when it prepared for its initial public offering in 2018. After just 14 years, Ant Financial was ranked along-side global financial corpora-tions with hundreds of years of experience such as HSBC, Citibank, and JP Morgan in term of market capitalisation. By the end of last year, Ant Financial accounted for 54 per cent of mobile payments in the Chinese market, worth $5.5 trillion and providing about $300 billion in loans to 16 million customers. These were mainly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an average loan value of only about $1,500 and with a non-performing loan ratio always lower than 1 per cent - while this ratio in the Chinese market is about 2.75 per cent. This success is due to the ability to assess the credit status of SMEs based on big data collected previ-ously by Alipay and Alibaba. Thanks to big data analysis, Ant Financial is able to provide banking services through the website and mobile application with the 3-1-0 model, meaning that customers can create a loan application in three minutes, and have approval result in one second with no human intervention. Connections In the field of asset man-agement, Ant Financial pro-vides investment services based on mobile platforms to customers to buy products in the money and stock markets, products of invest-ment funds, or make savings online. Because of its ability to act as an intermediary, Ant Financial is able to provide more than 5,000 financial products from more than 80 reputable financial institu-tions, not only in the Chinese market but also in the US and elsewhere, to any type of customer. Another key success of Ant Financial is the appli-cation of Al technology to exploit big data to provide a wide range of services to businesses and individuals in the field of banking services, asset management, insur-ance, and credit ratings. It is also thanks to the technology application that Ant Financial can serve a number of cus-tomers 10 times higher than the largest US banks with only one-tenth of the staff. Unlike traditional banks, investment funds, and insur-ance companies, Ant Finan-cial has been built based upon a digital platform, which has no employees involved in its operations, no credit approval staff, and no financial consultants. Those functions are implemented under the smart control of Al, which gives Ant Financial a unique competitive advantage in all areas where the group participates, with which no other rivals can compete. In addition to digitalising traditional business activities, commercial banks in Vietnam have also quickly prepared for themselves important platforms and con-nections. For example, Mili-tary Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) or Techcombank, with an application installed on smartphones, are support-ing customers to carry out many things online. In addition to traditional banking functions such as money transfer and bill payments, these apps support customers to use new services like sending gifts, giving lucky money, making a saving, applying for a loan, withdrawing money from ATMs without a plastic card, or buying bonds, insurance product stocks, and many other investment products. Remarkably, advanced Vietnamese banks have suc-cessfully built up a financial services model in which Viet-namese family members can interact with each other and with the bank through the banks mobile apps and plat-forms. Top banks, like MB Bank, also successfully dig-italise customer services and serve most customer needs in a digital ecosystem. Policy review crucial to set up for new funding wave ( illustration photo / source Shutterstock) With that, the Politburos Resolution No.50/NQ-TW on orientations to perfect institutions and policies, as well as raise quality and efficiency of co-operation through 2030, has attested to the strong commitment of the Party and the entire political system in building a wholesome and lucrative business climate to attract foreign investment flows. At the first-ever Vietnam Investment Forum in 1991, with the presence of late Party General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh, the Vietnamese Party and state sent a substantial message to the overseas investor community that the country is renovating, opening the doors, and pushing up foreign investment attraction to motivate economic development. Nearly three decades later, the Politburo for the first time gave birth to a specific resolution on foreign investment attraction last years Resolution 50. This indicates that Vietnam acknowledges foreign investment as an important part of the local economy and will be making further endeavours to push up foreign investment attraction to drive socio-economic development. At the annual Vietnam Business Forum held in January, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung reviewed the laudable achievements of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) as the total disbursed foreign direct investment touched $20.4 billion, the highest-ever recorded, while the committed capital volume surpassed $38 billion, setting a 10-year record. At the event, the business associations of many countries based in Vietnam such as the United States, South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India confirmed their commitments for long-term development in Vietnam, and trying their best to push up the countrys development in the regulatory environment and infrastructure as well as human resources development, for a more innovative and sustainable growth for the country. Since the start of 2020, the coronavirus has left a sweeping impact on the global economy. Most forecasts point to a gloomy picture with negative growth for many world powers. According to a first-quarter report on global development perspectives by the International Monetary Fund, the global economy would contract by 3 per cent this year in the wake of COVID-19 implications, even more serious than what was seen with the financial turmoil in 2008. Notwithstanding, the pandemic has brought valuable lessons of experience to many countries and global conglomerates. One of the lessons is the necessity to diversify supply sources, avoiding reliance on a single economy to mitigate supply chain disruptions. This provides rare opportunities to up-and-coming developing nations like Vietnam. The countrys success in pandemic containment and its active policies for development reconstruction has secured appeal from international investors and global companies. Does Vietnam stand ready to hail a new wave of investment capital? Aside from having eminent advantages compared to regional peers such as political stability, a vast consumer market, innovative government, and an abundant workforce at a competitive cost, investors doing business in Vietnam are facing concerns over unstable policies and lack of clarity and transparency in the regulatory system, causing difficulties for them. Other hindrances involve unsynchronised development of logistics services or limited workforce of professional expertise. Some challenges are objective, demanding time and financial resources, while some others are subjective that can be radically tackled if having in place a close co-operation and strong commitment from the part of authorised agencies and FIEs. For instance, financiers are uneasy about the stability of tax policies, compliance of Vietnamese accounting standards over international standards, and transparency in implementing regulations on tax and accounting, as well as funding safeguard measures. At the annual government-business community policy dialogue Vietnam Business Forum last year, Takahisa Onose, representative of the Tax and Customs Working Group, said investors need to trust that Vietnams tax authorities will apply fair and reasonable policy based on the application of core principles in tax and accounting. The principle of the right to an independent appeal of tax assessments, initially outside of the courts, is fundamental to nearly all tax jurisdictions and should be developed in Vietnam, and the timing and severity of destructive enforcement measures like freezing bank accounts should occur only after all reasonable remedies have been explored and only after such appeals process has run its course, he said. Onose also stressed the need to have in place a mechanism for dispute settlement in the interpretation and enforcement of the law, as well as in the inspection process at businesses. Businesses almost have no opportunities to lodge claims against decisions or conclusions of tax inspectors before local tax authorities apply coercive measures such as blocking accounts or neutralising VAT invoices. Major FIEs such as Unilever or Sabeco had once cried for help to the prime minister for halting coercive measures from tax or auditing authorities to avoid facing detrimental impacts on their business operations. The right to lodge claims and having their claims settled with engagement of independent professional agencies and having opportunities to communicate with relevant management agencies at different level must be regarded a legitimate right of businesses, helping to secure the trust of investors and businesses into a wholesome and transparent investment environment in Vietnam and the accountability of local authorised agencies. Tran Quoc Trung - Deputy director general, Department of Economic Zones Management, Ministry of Planning and Investment There are 374 IZs nationwide with the total area of over 114,000ha. Of these, 280 make up 77,000ha and are already in operation, while 75 based over 29,000ha are paying for land clearance. The average occupancy at working IZs is 73.7 per cent. Total foreign capital pouring into IZs in the first half of 2020 decreased a little compared to last year. Due to the global health crisis, there were 335 foreign-invested projects pouring a total of $6 billion into IZs, while these figures were 340 and $8.7 billion in 2019. Additionally, as many as 561 IZs on an area of 201,000ha have been approved to be put into master plans. Of these, 259 will be based on 86,500ha and have yet to be established, capturing 43.1 per cent of total area in master plans. This area is estimated to be enough to welcome the new wave of investment and relocation in the coming years. The Department of Economic Zones Management will perfect the legal framework for IZ development, strengthen management and innovation, and enhance the efficiency of master plans. IZs will become diversified with such types as ecological industrial parks, supporting IZs, associated IZs, and combined models of IZ and urban area services. However, IZ infrastructure will have to be improved synchronously to enhance their performance while policies, mechanisms, and management will be perfected to accelerate the efficiency. David Nardone - Group executive of Industrial and International, WHA Industrial Development The opportunities in Vietnam are substantial for a host of reasons, including a well-educated labour base, investor-friendly central government and provinces, and improving infrastructure all with reasonable costs. Thus, WHA is continuing to expand in Vietnam. Companies are relocating a portion of their manufacturing to access the growing markets of Vietnam and its surroundings, as well as an export base. Business coming from China will be significant to Vietnam, considering the differences in the sizes of the economies. WHA has a host of initiatives to attract investors to our locations in Vietnam. This includes tapping into our more than 1,000 customer base from Thailand, 80 per cent of whom are in marketing. Rental rates are a supply and demand issue. In the central province of Nghe An, with a large population and labour base and WHA developing 3,200ha, we will be able to welcome investors for years to come. To improve industrial land access, provinces need to have a one-stop process for developers to apply for the land, environmental, relocation, rental, landfill, and other approvals in a timely and transparent basis. The land acquisition process for IZs need to be streamlined. Provinces need to balance land compensation, relocation, and land rental rates in the context of their overriding investment objectives. Investment leads to economic growth, competitiveness, prosperity, and exports, as well as meaningful employment, and increasingly higher tech and value-added products. Dang Trong Duc - General director, KTG Industrial Vietnam is highly appreciated as a promising destination for investors to withdraw from China. The country is the portal connecting to the ASEAN, as well as benefiting from free trade agreements. With the relocation, demand steps up, supply and land lessen, changing land leasing fees. This also drives investors to develop infrastructure and gadgets to make their IZs more competitive, and bring new experiences and services to investors. After the pandemic, local businesses should be prepared and willing to catch up with trends and seize opportunities, and industrial property will get hotter via the attention of international investors. Foreseeing this trend, KTG Industrial provides more selection of high-quality factories to welcome foreign investors. Industry 4.0 combines ready-built factory, warehouse, and 4.0 technology to optimise management, performance, environmental protection, and sustainable development. These 4.0 factories are designed to be modern and convenient to help businesses reduce costs. Operators and management will be able to keep their fingers on the pulse through the use of virtual reality tech to view inside KTG Industrials factories in real-time, anytime. So KTG Industrial applying 4.0 technology at this time, when Vietnam has just controlled the pandemic and other countries are fighting against it, confirms the efforts of KTG Industrial to support local and foreign businesses to overcome the global crisis and expand business scale. Koen Soenens - General sales and marketing director, DEEP C Industrial Zones We are aware of the significant jump in rents in industrial real estate. However, the rent of DEEP Cs ready-built factory is based on the market value and driven by market forces such as supply and demand. We have full control of what it takes to run our workshops and warehouses while still striving to create a better experience for our tenants. While anticipating the arrival of new international manufacturers, DEEP C Industrial Zones has continuously rolled out more land suitable for multiple types of industries. So far, we have expanded our land bank to 3500ha stretching over five industrial zones in Haiphong and Quang Ninh. Improvement in services and infrastructure are being carried out as well. DEEP C liquid jetties are being upgraded to cater more clients in our petrochemical zones, along with the energy transition by renewable energy projects. Furthermore, DEEP C has embarked on a new journey towards the digitalisation of industrial properties with smart meter reading and cloud computing. I am confident about Vietnams appeal to giant players despite an uplift in rent. More multinational companies have made their way into Vietnam like Foxconn, Pegatron, GoerTek, to name a few. But Vietnam has a lot more to offer: positive macro-economic fundamentals, open economy with easy access to global market, and a competitive labour force. Lam Dieu Tam Hieu - Deputy general director, Kizuna JV JSC The new EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will greatly contribute to Vietnams economic picture and create motivation for post-pandemic recovery. Vietnams success with the pandemic will draw in more international companies. This and the foreign capital pouring into manufacturing, will increase demand for industrial property. Foreign investment in the first half declined, however, we believe the decline is only momentary. In addition, Vietnams good disease control will be a superior factor compared to India and Indonesia so that foreign investors can access the market, especially in the context of some international routes may be resumed in July. Khanh Nguyen - Senior director of Vietnam Capital Markets, JLL In recent years, the industrial market has attracted many foreign investors, including newcomers, looking for industrial operating assets and land bank. We also see local real estate developers expanding into the industrial sector. These investors tend to look for logistics land where they can develop ready-built or built-to-suit warehouses and factories to lease out in established industrial areas. With the limited supply, some started to look further out, where the market could be immature, leading to insufficient demand for logistics, or infrastructure could be weak. We expect industrial to remain the hottest real estate sector in Vietnam, with strong demand from foreign investors. Domesitc passengers leave a Vietnam Airlines aircraft at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. Vietnam Airlines has completely restored domestic flights and been expanding its domestic network (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam Airlines Group will postpone its shareholders meeting until July 16, according to a decision signed by Chairman of Vietnam Airlines Executive Board Pham Ngoc Minh. The meeting was due to be held on June 29, however, it was delayed because the group had not yet completed preparations for the meeting. In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam Airlines was among Vietnamese businesses suffering the most from the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting a drop of 26.3 percent to 18.8 trillion VND (808.4 million USD) in net revenue in the January-March period and an after-tax loss of 2.6 trillion VND. VNA suspended all international routes. It was only operating domestic routes at a minimum level while increasing operation of cargo flights to facilitate trade and increase revenue. It has also asked for Government support in terms of a loan package worth 12 trillion VND to help ensure the corporations solvency. In the second quarter, Vietnam Airlines completely restored domestic flights. Even in May and June, the group also opened a total of 13 domestic routes. In July, Vietnam Airlines plans to open five more routes, bringing the total number of domestic routes of the airline to 57. International passenger transport activities of Vietnam have not been resumed due to concerns of COVID-19 re-entering the country. Vietnam Airlines recently announced its restructuring schedule for low-cost airline Jetstar Pacific Airlines. The carrier was renamed as Pacific Airlines with a new logo and brand identity. Major shareholder Qantas Airways is willing to divest 30 percent of its capital from Pacific Airlines so that Vietnam Airlines will hold a majority share and complete restructuring. Click here to log in and see all of our other subscription options for the Mesabi Tribune, including online only & auto-renewal subscriptions. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Polls show that U.S. President Donald Trump is losing support among older Americans, who helped the Republican win election four years ago. Mike OSullivan reports on recent polling that is viewed as good news for his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden. VOA Khmer's Sok Sreinith Ten narrates in Khmer. Almost all the respondents to a garment worker survey said they were indebted and had to eat less food, take another loan, or sell their land to repay their debts, according to findings released by a local union and two rights groups. The findings were released in a report published Tuesday by rights groups Licadho and Central, and pro-worker union Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU). The survey focused on three factories affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, where operations were either fully or partially suspended. Of the 162 respondents to the survey, 106 held a microloan which was issued by a microfinance institution or bank. On average, garment workers informed surveyors that their monthly payments for food and debt repayments exceeded their salaries. Hundreds of thousands of heavily indebted workers are now out of work, after hundreds of factories suspended their operations, putting them at risk of land loss and other human rights abuses, read the report. Ninety-six percent of respondents said debt had made their lives much worse or slightly worse, with only two percent saying it had improved their situation. The most common reason to take a loan from an MFI or bank was to repay an existing loan, with 73 respondents saying their existing debt liabilities were being paid with new debt. The civil society groups said this was forcing workers to take the extreme steps of curtailing their familys food needs, selling their assets or land an issue already highlighted by Licadho in prior reports or in some cases taking their children out of school or sending them to work. Fifteen percent of respondents, according to the research, had already sold their land and another 30 percent anticipated a land sale soon to repay their debt. Licadho has advocated in the past for doing away with the use of land titles as collateral for microloans, which, it said, severely risked the land tenure security of Cambodians. The experiences of these 162 people are not representative of every garment worker or microloan borrower in Cambodia, reads the report. But we know their struggles are shared by some of the other 2.6 million microloan borrowers in Cambodia, who together held more than $10 billion in microloans at the end of 2019. Licadho, land rights NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, youth group Khmer Theravak and pro-worker unions have in the past advocated for government and stakeholder intervention to alleviate human rights violations facing Cambodian borrowers. But, the government and financial institutions have denied any allegations of human rights infringements or impropriety in the past. These issues have received renewed attention in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which had severely hit the Cambodian economy and affected the lives of Cambodian workers across the spectrum. VOA Khmer on Tuesday spoke to Phat Phuong, a 24-year-old garment worker at Bowker Garment Factory in Kandal provinces Ang Snuol district, who said she has been suspended from work recently. She had so far received only $30 from her employer and $20 from the government because factory operations had been halted. Phat Phuong said she has debt from two institutions -- LOLC (Cambodia) and another microloan provider she couldnt recall. She owed them $60 a month combined, but was only expected to get $70 from the government and factory during the work suspension. It is difficult since we are in debt because I also have a daughter to [take care of], she said. I have been trying to get money from other sources to repay the loans. Kaing Tongngy, a spokesperson for the Cambodian Microfinance Association, alleged that human rights groups were not looking at the bigger picture and were agenda-driven, claiming that MFIs have done a lot to help their victims. He said it was the duty of borrowers to repay their loans and that MFIs would work with those severely impacted by the economic downturn. It is their duty that they take the loan and they need to pay back, he said. Some NGOs have their own human rights-oriented agenda. But if looking at the bigger picture of reality, it is very contradictory, he added. According to CMA data, 242,000 people had requested for loan relief, of which 226,000, or $1 billion in loans, had been provided relief in the form of loan restructuring, interest payment deferrals or postponement of all payments. There was no breakdown or details of the exact nature of this relief or how many garment workers were helped. According to Licadho, there are more than 2.6 million borrowers and more than $10 billion in microloans, revealing that CMAs relief efforts impacted less than 10 percent of people with MFI loans. VOA Khmer could not reach the Association of Banks in Cambodia and Chea Serey, director-general of the National Bank of Cambodia, for comment on Tuesday. Khun Tharo, a program coordinator at labor rights group Central, said the impending onset of European Union sanctions, in the form of a partial suspension of the Everything But Arms trade privileges, would further exasperate garment workers situations. They have forced themselves to sell land and belongings so that they can pay the MFIs, he said. It is the state that should help them as they face difficult living conditions. Am Sam Ath, the deputy director for rights monitoring at Licadho, said the government and relevant private stakeholders should look at the issue to ensure that workers dont sell their property to repay or borrow money from private lenders to pay the MFIs. [We] need to make sure that they dont become the victim of forcefully selling the land to pay the banks. And [we] need to make sure they are not more in debt by borrowing from private to pay MFIs, he said. The report pointed to increased investments from government institutions, aid agencies, and development banks to Cambodia-based MFIs, such as recent capital infusion from USAID, Australias DFAT, World Banks IFC, and German Development Bank KfW. What Cambodian borrowers need right now is debt relief, not millions of dollars in financing for profitable, foreign-owned MFIs to expand their loan portfolios, reads the report. A Parisian court Monday found former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon guilty of using public money to pay his wife more than $1 million for work she never performed. Fillon was sentenced to five years in prison three years suspended and fined more than $423,000. He is also barred from running for public office for 10 years. His wife, Penelope, was convicted as an accomplice. She was given a three-year suspended sentence and was also fined more than $423,000. Both are free pending appeal, which their lawyers say they will do. ''Naturally, this decision, which is not fair, is going to be appealed. The ludicrous conditions under which this investigation was triggered, the scandalous conditions in which the discovery was opened, the surprising conditions in which the investigation was then run," Fillions attorney Antonin Levy said. Penelope Fillions attorney, Pierre Cornut-Gentille, says prosecutors failed to determine whether her activities were simply traditional help and support a politicians wife gives her husband. She said her duties included writing reports about local issues, reading mail, preparing speeches and meeting with voters work she said allowed her to have a flexible schedule and still raise her children. Prosecutors argued that there was little evidence that Penelope Fillion ever worked and said her salary was excessive. Fillions lawyers argued that the state cannot interfere with how a politician sets up his office. The scandal broke shortly before the 2017 French presidential election where Fillon went from being the front-runner to finishing in third place. Scientists in China have identified a new strain of a flu virus in pigs that has the potential to infect humans and lead to a new pandemic. In a paper published in the U.S.-based journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists say the new G4 strain was discovered during a surveillance program of pig farms and slaughterhouses across 10 provinces between 2011 and 2018. The new virus is a variation of the H1N1 swine flu virus that killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world in 2009. The scientists discovered the G4 virus has already infected workers at various farms and slaughterhouses throughout China. The new H1N1 strain can grow and quickly multiply in the cells that line the airways of humans, although there is no current evidence the illness can spread through human-to-human contact. But the researchers also found that although G4 is derived from H1N1, current flu vaccines do not provide any immunity from the new virus. The research paper said that G4 have all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus. The scientists urged pig farmers to control the spread of the virus among pigs, and to closely monitor people who work with the animals. The studys release comes as the world is in the grips of COVID-19 pandemic which has sickened over 10.2 million people worldwide and killed over 500,000 since it was first detected late last year in the central city of Wuhan. JDCs Jewish community centers and day centers are closed to the public, but many of them still feature activities, conducted under social distancing limitations, that are broadcast live on the internet. (Its not clear at this point how many people over 70 and 80 are able to enjoy these broadcasts, Frank said.) In Ukraine, a JDC initiative called the Leadership Alumni Programs is also planning to hand out tablet computers to dozens of elderly clients. A month after George Floyd, an African American man, died in police custody in Minnesota, protests against police brutality and for wider racial justice have spread not only across the U.S. but throughout the world. Esha Sarai looks at the sustained motivation of these uprisings. Sherry Olson, age 67, of Alexandria, died on Friday, June 11, 2021. Funeral Service will be held on Thursday, June 17, 2021, 11:00 a.m. at Bethesda Lutheran Church with visitation one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be at West Moe Cemetery. Arrangements are with the Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. Stowe, VT (05672) Today Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 88F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Wing and a Prayer Season 2 Episode 5 Editors Rating 3 stars * * * Previous Next Photo: /TLC Welcome to Vultures recaps of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, the most intense subset of the 90 Day Fiance franchise, where couples leave the safety of America and have the lowest success rate. You dont need me to tell you what happened last week, the show spends enough time doing that. Jenny and Sumit, everyones favorite couple, dont make an appearance in Wing and a Prayer, but theres still plenty of chaos, plus the introduction of a new couple, Melyza and Tim. This season has done a great job of finding more relatable, realistic couples, and Melyza and Tim fit right in. There doesnt seem to be any scam at work here theyre actually in love! After weeks of promo clips, we finally meet Tim and his emotional support cat, Pepe, this episode. As far as 90 Day Fiance introductions go, Tim bouncing around with his cat in the grass is one of the best in the series, but its a false flag. It makes Tim look like an awkward guy who fell in love on the internet because he has a hard time interacting with women in real life. It turns out he has a way darker past than that, and he met Melyza in college. When Tim says he has a secret and its the reason Melyza isnt moving to America, its pretty easy to guess this fool cheated on the best thing thats ever happened to him, probably. (Melyza is beautiful and genuinely likes his goofiness.) What I didnt see coming was Tims friends supporting Melyza! Typically, the American friends warn against someone they perceive to be a scheming foreigner, but all of Tims friends actually like Melyza and know her pretty well. Their relationship seems legitimate they even have adorable photos together! and I like that his friends are holding him accountable. Sadly, it does seem like hes moving to Colombia to right a wrong that may not be forgiven. If it doesnt work, at least hell have his cat. Since were talking about couples who seem to genuinely love each other, lets get to Kenneth and Armando next. Kenneth is the most boring part of this episode, but what would 90 Day Fiance be without long, tearful good-byes? Kenneth leaving his family behind is almost as moving as Armando coming out of the closet last week. Kenneth and Armando arent just the franchises first gay male couple, theyre also the first interracial gay couple, so Im happy the franchise is approaching their story with tenderness. Armando and Kenneth both seem to have amazing families behind them, so its sad that cultural forces beyond their control might doom their relationship. Kenneth and Armando are like a Modern Family spinoff in reverse, and theyre the couple Im rooting for this season. I want to be optimistic when it comes to Ariela, Biniyam, and her move to Ethiopia, but its hard. She may only be leaving New Jersey, but she is giving up a lot to make this relationship work. In the end, though, shell always have the ultimate power move: She can take their child and go back to America. In fact, we discover thats what happened with Biniyam and his ex. He hasnt seen his kid in years and his friends are worried it could happen again. But also, Biniyam sleeps on a couch and lives with his brother. He doesnt seem all that prepared for a wife and child, so there could be some justified frustrations on Arielas part in the future. They seem like genuinely good people who are just moving too fast. Deavan and Jihoon moved too fast, and they certainly paint a pretty good picture of Ariela and Biniyams future. Jihoon has constantly failed to do any of the things he promised Deavan hed do for their family. He lies to her. Hes lazy. Even his parents point out that they told him to pack days ago, but he waits until its time to pick Deavan and her mom up from the airport. Jihoon is frustrating, but its understandable why Deavan is back in season two to give him another chance. So why is Jihoon doing everything in his power to ruin things? Initially, I thought Deavans mom was just being a rude American when she was insulting their new neighborhood, but even Jihoons mom said it was a bad area and Jihoon shouldve checked it out! If Jihoons mom is worried about safety, he should be too. Its already embarrassing that Deavan had to find the apartment and pay for it, why couldnt Jihoon also give her some guidance on what the area was like? Why wouldnt he care enough to make sure his kids were in a safe place? His cluelessness isnt cute and Deavan shouldnt put up with it anymore. Finally, theres Brittany and Yazan. I dont think Ive ever seen a relationship in the 90 Day franchise implode so quickly. Yazan is still throwing a fit after Brittany hugged a cameraman and was caught with tequila last episode. He puts his fingers in her face. He tells her to shut up. He makes fun of her for crying and cant even understand why shed be upset or feel isolated. I was glad Yazan couldnt stay in Brittanys room for the night. It felt like she needed to get away from him to really see how harmful his behavior was. For Yazan to react so intensely when his family isnt around is only a red flag for the future. If Jenny and Sumit represent the harmless drama that can arise from dating abroad, Yazan and Brittany represent something darker. Shes alone in a country with a man she barely knows. Brittany never promised Yazan shed convert, so hes holding her to unfair standards. It doesnt help that there doesnt seem to be any love between the two of them. Even the most scamming 90 Day Fiance couples can fake a smile for the camera as they do their initial airport interviews. Yazan and Brittany dont even have that level of camaraderie. He cant even pick up her luggage. As entertaining as this culture clash might be, I just want Brittany to go home to her dad. Yazan is not worth it. Lets hope Jenny and Sumit are back next week to lighten the mood. Haha, remember last week with the cow? Those two are great. Photo-Illustration: Vulture and Netflix Usually a Patriot Act story will take weeks, if not months, to research. But after George Floyd was murdered by members of the Minneapolis police, Hasan Minhaj felt the story couldnt wait, turning around a fully produced digital exclusive on June 3 titled We Cannot Stay Silent About George Floyd. (Eventually the episode was uploaded on the shows Netflix page.) Though there are some jokes up top, Minhaj mostly forgoes laughs to convey the gravity of his words. The powerful address has already been watched over 4 million times online. On Vultures Good One podcast, Hasan talks about working on the segment, why he decided to take out a funny story he originally had about Tiffany Haddish, and how these last few weeks has caused him reflect on his past. You can read some excerpts from the transcript or listen to the full episode below. Tune in to Good One every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Covering George Floyd Our George Floyd piece came out in the middle of the week, where I just felt like we need to address it on the show. On the 25th, George Floyd was murdered. In the coming days, the video is released and protests erupt around the country. Ill tell you things in the order in which I saw them happen. The first was, Im 34 years old. I could not believe this is the first time in my life that I saw unequivocal condemnation on both sides of the aisle. Im watching Jeanine Pirro be like, We need to charge these cops with murder. You know this footage shes screaming it. Youve got that Windows 95 American flag waving behind her like that during her monologue. I could not believe what I was hearing. Rush Limbaugh being like, This is horrendous. This is a murder. We need to charge these officers and they need to go to prison, period. I could not believe it. That was the first. The second was the mass mobilization across the country. And again, I remember six years ago with Eric Garner, being in New York, working at The Daily Show, I saw the way Jon [Stewart] addressed it. I saw the protests, but I then started seeing protests in solidarity happening around the world. This is kind of a fucked-up joke, but I saw people putting up George Floyd murals in Syria, and Im like, They dont even have a fucking functioning government, and theyre like, This is too far. What is going on in America? And by the way, they have a dictator that fucking gasses civilians. Even theyre just like, Hey, look, put this rubble together. We need to make a mural for George Floyd. I know thats such a dark thing, but I was like, Something is happening around the world where were all saying it is unequivocally unjust, and people are rallying around this moment. The third thing starts happening, which is the peaceful protests, which then open up into rioting, which then open up into looting. And I saw kind of the ripple effect, the downstream effect of what I call the WhatsApp thread. And thats friends and family around the country and around the world a lot of my family and a lot of the people that I know that I grew up with were all first-generation immigrants. So I know a lot of folks that own mom-and-pop stores across the country, whether thats liquor stores, whether thats gas stations, whether thats restaurants. We came to the country in the 70s and the 80s, and we established these small businesses to help our children survive. And Im a child of that generation. Im seeing them on WhatsApp kind of posting these are the sort of behind-the-scenes whispers that nobody talks to the public but its like, Hey, whats going on? Did Target really have to burn? I remember that very distinct moment where people were like, What is rioting and looting going to get? And then I started to see the right-wing pundits also say that, like, Congratulations, you have lost all footing for your cause. Why couldnt you just be peaceful? People would have listened. I remember having a very tense conversation with a family friend of mine who was defending Target [after the looting], and I was like, Trust me, Uncle, Target will be okay. They have insurance. But there was also a very important data point. I said, Look. Notice how the day after, lets say, Target lost all of its flat screens, the case was upped from a local D.A. to the attorney general, Keith Ellison. Clearly, there is a cause and effect here where people are like, No, no, no, were not just going to have the same old buddy-buddy bullshit between the prosecutor, the D.A.s office, and the police department. Thats over. We need to up the ante here. It was the first time in my life I thought maybe this could be different than what we saw with Eric Garner, where, yes, the officer was charged, rah, rah, rah, rah. But then theyre never sentenced and they never served time in prison. A lot of times in America, we think of the race dynamic being a Black-white dichotomy. But there is a huge immigrant community, whether its from the Latinx community or the Asian-American community or the South Asian Middle Eastern community, where we are sometimes at the sideline of this race conversation. But we are intrinsically linked to it, vis-a-vis civil-rights legislation. A lot of my community, they dont get that. Theres just kind of really ugly talk where theyre just like, Hey, we dont need to get involved in this fight. This has nothing to do with us. We dont carry your guilt, America. I dont owe you anything. And the reality is, as you look at the Immigration Act of 1965, we actually do owe Black America a lot, because on the heels of the civil-rights legislation that was that was passed in 64, that Immigration Act was passed in 65, which allowed my parents to come here in 1982 [as] highly-educated, skilled import workers from Asia. That was a monumental piece of legislation. And so I kind of had to spell that out. There was a moment where I was like, All right, look, we cannot just stand on the sidelines, and we cannot just privately speak ill of a marginalized community that is really hurting right now. Weve got to stand with them because they stood for us, you know? On the Jokes You Dont Do This is actually something Ive not told anybody, but sometimes when I am tackling a third-rail issue, I will send the script to what I call some of my Jedis that know it better than me. Im still young in this game, and theres just certain people that I send stuff to where Im like, I respect your wisdom because youve seen things and youve seen a lot of these sort of battles happen in real time, where theres a high-charged moment in American popular culture. And you have this moment where you can napalm the room or you can have a more surgical strike. At times, like the White House Correspondents Dinner, I sent my script to Neal Brennan, John Mulaney, Jon Stewart, Steve Bodow just certain people that I can just ask, What do I do here? Do I go all the way? A lot of times, people are like, In comedy, there is no holds barred, say whatever the fuck you want. But so much of what we do works within the Overton window. And it is about timing and jurisprudence. Our art form, actually, I really believe, is an incredibly controlled medium. It feels like its Arkham Asylum, and we get onstage and the inmates get to say whatever they want. But its actually a very refined thing. I think we always talk about the jokes that people do especially on this podcast. But I think theres something very interesting in the jokes that you decide to not do, because thats really important too. It actually doesnt come from I want to pull punches or I dont believe in the art form. Go there, but know when to go there. Oddly, my relationship to jokes like that is the same relationship that I have with Islam, where my big problem with zealots and people that take it so literally is theyre so obsessed with the form. And what I love about perhaps the Sufi methodology is, it is more about the soul, the essence of what youre saying, the beauty of what youre saying, which is why singing and poetry and calligraphy and these other beautiful parts of Islamic art that flourished around the world came from that influence. By the way, other religious faiths have that, like the Torah and the Talmud very specific, and very according to the Aramaic, its like this You lose people. Some of the things that I love the most are things that just intrinsically speak to the heart. I dont know what it is, I cant put my finger on it, but it is a very uniquely human thing. And I try to remind myself, because sometimes I get so much in my head and I get so studious about this comedy thing that Im like, You also have to speak to people, to their soul. This is an art form. On Being a Boss I remember when I first joined The Daily Show in 2014. You can close your eyes and you can imagine that room. Its a sea of gingham shirts and Warby Parker glasses. And I promised myself, If I get a show, Im going to get as many different voices into the room as possible. I want to do that so bad. And Im really happy to say six years later, its definitely progress from that room that I started with in the fall of 2014 that I walked into. But we still have a long way to go. And I think these discussions are really important. A lot of times when we talk about these discussions and I wish this level of nuance was added people think about progress as this very binary dichotomy. Are writers rooms or organizations irredeemably racist and sexist and homophobic and noninclusive? No. At the same time, are they unequivocally equal and equitable and fair? No. And I think what were trying to do is, theres a spectrum, and were trying to get closer and closer to that more equal and equitable thing. The road to that progress isnt always straight. So we make steps forward, and perhaps a couple times we take steps back, and we make more steps forward. But I think were taking the right steps forward by having uncomfortable conversations. One of the things that I was talking to my staff about is, every cycle, we have to get better in that regard, whether its from an organizational perspective, staff perspective, all of those things. I think were in this really great moment. It feels uncomfortable, and Im watching these conversations happen. But I think its necessary. I have achieved something thats kind of rare for my community, which is success, which has gentrified me out of the community that I grew up with. That doesnt mean that I can share that or scale that, and that to me is the thing thats still a mind-fuck. I can be at the Time 100 or the Met Gala or whatever those things are that are these exclusive places for a kind of show business, but that doesnt mean my cousin Sahil gets to go either. That doesnt mean my sister can go. And thats the thing that I think about where Im like, Yeah, thats fine, but thats the thing that I think is missing. When it cant be shared or scaled, then youre just an outlier. Thats not particularly great. I mean, its great for me, but thats not what I feel like is the most important thing. Senior Rehab and Recovery Center in Athens confirmed on Monday that 23 residents and nine employees tested positive for coronavirus. Wade Menefee, the facilitys director of nursing, said they took an aggressive approach to testing and tested all staff members and residents after the first positive case. He said that's more than 100 people who were tested and some of them were asymptomatic. Senior Rehab and Recovery Center in Athens Senior Rehab and Recovery Center in Athens The residents are being treated in a dedicated coronavirus unit at the facility. Menefee said they had everything ready to go for that unit, so once the first case was confirmed, all they had to do was shuffle things around. The unit also has a dedicated staff. Menefee said the facility has safety measures in effect, including residents being screened twice a day, employees being screened at the start of every shift and the National Guard visiting in April. Employees who tested positive are following CDC guidelines before they return to work, Menefee said. He said residents who tested positive are being treated at the facility right now, and if their conditions get worse, residents and families can make the decision to move them to a hospital. The facility was not able to tell us if anyone has been transferred to the hospital. My mother survived World War II as a young woman, and its never far away from my mind, said Ruisch, a journalist who is familiar with Annes biography. She also knew about the other residents of the former hiding place: the three members of the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer, refugees from Germany who immigrated to the Netherlands in 1937 and 1938, respectively. The Decatur City Council has passed a resolution that strongly encourages residents "to keep themselves and all citizens safe by wearing facial coverings/masks in public, sanitizing hands and practicing social physical distancing." The resolution also encourages Decatur businesses to "require people entering their establishments to wear facial coverings/masks, sanitize their hands and practice social/physical distancing," The resolution also says that the city may be required to "implement legislation mandating compliance" if cases of coronavirus continue to grow in Morgan County. However, Tueday night, the council is holding another special meeting to vote on an ordinance. This would propose mandatory mask wearing and a fine up to $500 for not complying. The council chose not to vote on this ordinance tonight, so they could have more time to look it over and make adjustments based off what the public had to say. In a socially distanced city chamber, the council heard several public statements Monday night and read off emails as well. "Don't tell me how to live my life, I spent 17 years in the United States Army, defending our people and our constitution and our freedoms," One man said to council members. Many of those who showed up were against the ordinance. "Really what it boils down to at the end of the day is personal liberty and freedom because where is it going to stop?" One woman asked. Councilman Billy Jackson initiated Monday night's special meeting. He said the city is running out of time to take action to help stop the rapid growth of coronavirus cases in Decatur and Morgan County. "The numbers are out there, and we're doing more testing and realizing there are more numbers out there than we actually realized than we actually think are out there," Jackson said. "It's important that we take precaution." Jackson said the resolution itself is not enough. However, he hopes it will be a wake up call for people in Decatur. There are several exceptions in the current ordinance. It would exempt children 2 years old or younger. You would not have to wear a mask when eating or drinking, during a medical exam or procedure, a hair care service, working out, or at places of worship. However, Council President Paige Bibbee said they will continue to adjust the list. "I think there are special circumstances that we will address in the ordinance that absolutely have merit," Bibbee said. "So I think those need to be worked out." In order to the pass the ordinance Tuesday night, the vote does not have to unanimous. However if it is, the ordinance will go into effect immediately. If that does not happen, but there is still a majority vote, it would have to sit through two agenda meetings. The ordinance would not apply to school systems. They would have to implement their own face covering policy. Bibbee said they are in talks with Decatur Police on the best way to implement the ordinance. Huntsville Hospital CEO David Spillers said as of Monday there are 115 inpatients with coronavirus in the hospital system. This includes a 16-year-old patient with coronavirus in the ICU. Spillers said this is the first teen and youngest patient with coronavirus on a ventilator in the ICU. No other details about the patient were revealed Monday. Spillers said on June 1, there were 28 inpatients with coronavirus in the system. Right now, there are 44 inpatients with coronavirus in Madison County. That includes 38 in Huntsville Hospital's main campus, six in Madison Hospital and two in Crestwood Medical Center. There are 16 patients in the Intensive Care Units, and 11 of the inpatients with coronavirus in Madison County are on ventilators. Decatur Morgan Hospital has 20 inpatients with coronavirus, and Marshall County has 30. There are 12 inpatients with coronavirus at Helen Keller Hospital. Athens Limestone Hospital has nine inpatients with coronavirus, which Spillers said is the most since the reporting started. Spillers said the average age of admission for patients with coronavirus is in the mid-50s. He said the large majority of patients hospitalized have a pre-existing condition. Spillers said there is a higher percentage of people testing positive, at about 6% locally and 10% statewide. He said almost 2,000 people were tested for coronavirus in Madison County last week. He said very few people without symptoms being tested are getting positive results back. Spillers said people should expect to see substantial increases in the amount of cases in the state over the next couple of days. The Huntsville Hospital system has an adequate supply of personal protective equipment and ventilators, but ICU beds can be tight depending on the facility, Spillers said. He said testing is limited and they would prefer to do more of it. He said nationally, the weak link in his opinion is testing. Americans have to stop going congregating in bars, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said Tuesday. But he said people can and should still have fun. "Bars: really not good, really not good. Congregation at a bar, inside, is bad news. We really have got to stop that," Fauci said to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on "COVID-19: Update on Progress Toward Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School." Since states started gradually reopening, bars have proven to be a perfect breeding grounds for the virus, healthcare professionals say. At least 85 people contracted coronavirus after visiting an East Lansing, Michigan, bar earlier this month. In Louisiana, health officials say they've received at least 100 reports of positive cases from people who visited or worked at Tigerland bars in Baton Rouge. At least one Idaho county moved back a stage in reopening, announcing bars and nightclubs would not be allowed to remain open after many of the state's new cases were associated with people who reported having a night out. And in California, the governor ordered bars closed in seven counties Sunday, days after saying an increase in cases was driven by young groups and gatherings. But Fauci said that doesn't mean we have to restrict everything, "because people are not going to tolerate that." "We should not look at the public health endeavors as being an obstruction to opening up. We should look at it as a vehicle to opening up," he said. "We've got to be able to get people to get out and enjoy themselves within the safe guidelines that we have," Fauci said. "Make public health work for you as opposed to against you." Alabama's coronavirus exposure notification app is set to be released sometime in July or early August as part of the "Stay Safe Together" platform. The app uses technology from Apple and Google, and lets you know if you've come in contact with someone who tests positive for coronavirus. "Human behavior is fundamentally at the foundation of this, but we're going to add all the tools possible to make this future and our fall workable to our students, faculty and staff as well as our business community across the state of Alabama," Dr. Selwyn Vickers, the Dean of Medicine at the University of Alabama in Birmingham where the platform started, said. The platform includes coronavirus health checks, so you can check your health and symptoms regularly, as well as the exposure notification app that'll alert you if you've been around someone who tested positive for coronavirus. It's all anonymous. Vickers' team is working to make the Stay Safe platform available to all universities across the state as students return in the fall. As of right now, universities aren't required to use the platform, but Vickers say it's best if they do. "It's not required yet. We are going to highly recommend it because we think it's a powerful tool for allowing individuals to know when they've been in contact with individuals who are positive, and it's a tool to support our state's effort for traditional contact tracing," he said. One student told WAAY 31 he hopes schools plan to use it, so that students can come back to campus. "That's an amazing thing for students, and I know there are a lot of students trying to come back. They want to be around their friends and get back in class and all this stuff," Elijah Oshin-Banjo, a college student, said. The launch is expected in July or early August. It was first launched at UAB in April for testing. NASA is working to help stop the spread of coronavirus. The space agency created a wearable item called "PULSE." It vibrates when a person's hands come close to their face. That way, they can remember to avoid contact. NASA isn't selling the devices, but you can make one at home. You will need a 3D printer, wire and other materials. The instructions on how to make one are here. You can find more information about the device here. The National Weather Service in Huntsville Alabama has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Southwestern Jackson County, Northern Marshall County and Southern Madison County until 6:45 p.m. At 610 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Owens Cross Roads, or 10 miles southeast of Huntsville, moving southeast at 25 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include... Huntsville, Guntersville, Redstone Arsenal, Owens Cross Roads, Grant, Gurley, Woodville, Alabama A And M University, Paint Rock and Hampton Cove. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Large hail and damaging winds and continuous cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Move indoors immediately. Lightning is one of nature's leading killers. Remember, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. HAIL...<.75IN; WIND...60MPH The case, in which the Montana Supreme Court had ruled that a scholarship program funded by tax-deductible donations had to be dismantled because scholarships used for religious schools would violate the state constitutions no-aid clause, was viewed as a proxy in the fight over school vouchers. School vouchers are programs through which states allow parents to use taxpayer money to pay for tuition at private schools, most of which are religious in the United States. He said legacy of slavery goes deeper than who and what, and the commission has to be open about whatever it finds. Its one thing to acknowledge it, but its another to, in a sense, reconcile, Latimore said. As a university explores its past, they tend to find things they dont want to find. At the same time, theres stories that show some level of progress. Reconciliation, he said, could involve tracing the lineage of the founders slaves, forming a scholarship fund for them, or other gestures. The legacy of racism was a generational thing, Latimore said. These men and women who were in positions of power and authority, that wasnt just expressed during slavery, it was expressed beyond that. Latimore said the placement of the statues and plaques matters as well. Context is everything, and their placement as part of historical display, the original intentions behind their placement, and who that person was in the grand scheme of things all matter. Curbside voting also is available for anyone physically unable to go inside one of the voting locations. The pandemic did not deter 85-year-old Lonnie Rollins, a retired Baptist minister and former youth camp administrator, from voting for the first time in McLennan County since moving from Kerrville five years ago to be closer to his grown children. Im not that concerned, said Rollins, who was wearing a mask. I just came from the eye doctors office and I had to go through all of that there, so here I am coming to vote. I had been an administrator of a large youth camp and they were having the 100th anniversary celebration last week, and they asked me to come talk about some of the history of the camp. There were over 200 people there and only a few were wearing masks, but I think Im going to be just fine. McLennan County Elections Administrator Kathy Van Wolfe said runoff elections generally draw low voter turnouts, with percentages often in the single digits. Monday was busier than expected, Van Wolfe said. But only some 1,250 people were permitted to participate in the Jerusalem rally because of the coronavirus. Some 27 people belonging to right-wing organizations were detained before the rally due over concerns that they would try to disrupt it. The Federation of Egyptian Banks on Tuesday denied rumours on social media that Egyptian banks had participated in financing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). What was said about Egyptian banks participating in financing the GERD or having traded GERD bonds are unbelievable claims; these are rumors that were denied previously by the Central Bank of Egypt, Mohamed El-Etreby, the chairman of the FEB, said in a statement. The federation has asked the public to be careful about the information they share and to take information from official sources. The construction of the Ethiopian mega-dam is being financed by Ethiopian bonds and Chinese banks. Short link: In her note on the tale, Carter describes it as a stern and darkly humorous fable about preparation for the tough and persecutory side of life that is representative of Yiddish humor and aphorisms. Certainly it reflects a grim view of the realities of life, a Jewish artistic sensibility that has been described as laughing through tears. (Interestingly, I have noticed a similar tradition in the folk narrative of Haiti, another culture that has a history of deep pain.) Readers who pay close attention will notice the overturning of the King Lear story. Here is my retelling: US excluded from list of countries allowed access to EU from 1 July. The European Union will reopen its external borders to 14 countries from 1 July, however the US has been excluded from this travel list, released on 30 June. The EU issued the finalised list of "acceptable countries", based on how well the nations are faring in handling the covid-19 pandemic, after a delay of several days due to some EU member states seeking more time to decide. The countries whose citizens will have quarantine-free access to the EU from 1 July include: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Montenegro, Morocco, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. The EU says that China could also be added to this list but only if Beijing reciprocates by permitting entry to EU nationals. However travellers from Brazil, Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States will not be granted access to the EU, at least in the first stage of reopening. Border management will remain a matter of national decision, meaning that member countries may decide not to open their borders to all the 15 countries, however they will undertake not to accept visitors from other nations. Countries on the EU safe list are also expected to lift any bans they might have in place on European travellers, reports the Associated Press. Photo: Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com The remains of six US service members are on their way back to the United States after a repatriation ceremony at the Osan Air Base in South Korea. The remains were contained in a single casket which was placed in a Boeing 747 that was chartered for the flight to the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. An honor guard consisting of service members from the US, the Philippines and Thailand carried the casket which was draped with a UN flag. On the way to Hawaii, the flight made a stop in Japan where the UN flag was replaced with a US flag. In Hawaii, the remains will be examined by the Defense POW\MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to be identified. Authorities are certain that the remains are of US service members due to the location where they were discovered being the sites of battles during the war and also due to artifacts found in the same location. At the repatriation ceremony, UN Command Chief Chaplain (Col.) David Bowlus prayed that those who had waited for the day their loved ones would be found would find peace in their return to US soil. The remains were found by the South Korean Ministry of Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification (MAKRI). According to the DPAA, there are over 7,500 US personnel unaccounted for from the Korean War. Approximately 3,500 of those are believed to be in North Korea. There is another repatriation ceremony planned for when the remains reach Hawaii. The ceremony will conclude a series of events which commemorate the beginning of the Korean War on June 25, 1950. Korea was divided into two separate countries following World War II. Prior to the war, the Korean peninsula had been part of the Japanese empire. After the war, the Soviets and the Americans had to come to terms with how to handle Japanese possessions. In August 1945, to aides at the State Department divided the peninsula at the 38th parallel. The Soviets occupied the northern portion and the Americans occupied the southern part. The Korean War began with 75,000 North Korean soldiers crossing the border between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north and the Republic of Korea in the south. Within a month, US soldiers were deployed to defend South Korea. To the Americans, the war was a fight to prevent the spread of communism. President Harry Truman said that letting Korea down would encourage the Soviets to keep right on going and swallow up one [place] after another. The two sides fought back and forth with no real gains for either side but a mounting loss of life on both sides. In July 1953, the war ended after the Americans aggressively sought an armistice to avoid what they saw as a bigger threat of the war spreading to Russia or China, or possibly turning into World War III. Mystery of LCT That Vanished 77 Years ago With 14 Crew on Board Solved Some refer to the war as the Forgotten War because it did not receive the same coverage in the US as the World Wars or the war in Vietnam. Approximately five million soldiers and civilians were killed in the conflict. We are going to miss him so much he was a great guy and a funny comedian at that, and a navy man with a lot of stories, Levine said. He was a one of a kind great guy really. Smith told detectives he pointed his gun at her left shoulder through the open car window and held the gun by the grip, being careful not to have his finger on the trigger. He explained the gun must have unintentionally fired when the woman pushed it away, twice. Wayne Whyte, 32, of North Miami Beach, was shot in West Park on June 22 and a $3,000 reward is being offered for tips that lead to an arrest in Whyte's death, the Broward Crime Stoppers said. (Broward Crime Stoppers) When the shooting stopped, Sheriffs detectives and Wilton Manors Police officers approached and removed Lyons handgun from his hand in his lap, the report said. Detectives confirmed the gun was loaded and had been fired at least once, the report said. Our communitys healthcare is vital, and that has been particularly understated in the last few months as we all navigate through COVID-19, Slaine, 67, said in a statement. I have personally utilized medical services, as well as family members have been cared for at the Hospital, so the facility and the people hold a special place in my heart. Plantation Mayor Lynn Stoner told the South Florida Sun Sentinel last week that emails have come in 10 to 1 against changing the citys name. Any change would have to be decided by voters in a referendum, and the earliest that could happen would be 2022, she said. Washington, IN (47501) Today Partly cloudy skies during the morning giving way to a few showers late. High 78F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 54F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Trusted local news has never been more important, but providing the information you need, information that can change sometimes minute-by-minute, requires a partnership with you, our readers. Please consider making a contribution today to support this vital resource that you and countless others depend on. The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $US2340 ($3409) for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries. Gilead Sciences announced the price for remdesivir, and said the price would be $US3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income and other factors. Gilead has been criticised for the price of the drug. Credit:AP "We're in uncharted territory with pricing a new medicine, a novel medicine, in a pandemic," Gilead's chief executive, Dan O'Day, told The Associated Press. "We believe that we had to really deviate from the normal circumstances" and price the drug to ensure wide access rather than based solely on value to patients, he said. WiseTech founder and chief executive Richard White has sold more than $45.8 million worth of shares over the last week amid questions about the company's acquisition strategy and claims renegotiated earn-outs will add more than $100 million to its earnings for the financial year ending June 30. Shares of the logistics solutions firm slumped by as much as 4.2 per cent - adding to Monday's 8.6 per cent decline - after it confirmed on Tuesday that Mr White had disposed of another $41 million worth of shares. WiseTech founder Richard White has sold more than 2.4 million shares in the business. Credit:James Marlow WiseTech said Mr White sold the stock "to accommodate year-end personal financial commitments". On Monday, the company said Mr White had offloaded another parcel of 206,439 shares for $4.5 million, in his second share disposal since the its IPO in 2016. When we ignore racism, sexism and violence against others, it makes us complicit. It's comforting to think we are different but if you don't challenge the practices of sexism and racism in your workplace, then you benefit from the privileges it confers. If we are part of the dominant group, we have a vested interest when there are fewer competitors in the pool and this gives all the space to those in power. But there's also another unpleasant characteristic in all of us. Academic Aileen Moreton-Robinson, whose life's work is on race, whiteness and racism, sees that here in Australia we too readily support the status quo because anything else would be too uncomfortable. It would mean giving up power. Can we change that? I've been thinking about my four murdered grandparents much more over the past few weeks. Who could have stopped that from happening? Who allowed it to happen? The murder of the Jews in Europe was state-sanctioned but ordinary people endorsed it. We are hopeless bystanders. New research from the Australian Human Rights Commission shows that the percentage of bystanders willing to act on sexual harassment they have observed in their workplace has fallen from one in two to one in three in just six years. Kate Jenkins, Australia's Sex Discrimination Commissioner, says one reason for this unwillingness was bystanders' fearfulness for their careers if they took action. In particular, men reported being confused about what sexual harassment was and what they should do if they witnessed it. This backs up the work of criminologist Bianca Fileborn, who says men are less likely to intervene partly because of what she describes as social embarrassment. It's unsurprising to her that the Dyson Heydon story only emerged when a woman, Susan Keifel, was installed as Chief Justice of the High Court. Kevin Dunn, pro vice-chancellor, research, at Western Sydney University, and a lifelong researcher into racism, says plenty of folks say they would stand up for someone experiencing racism but only about 30 per cent actually do it. UTS researcher Jacqueline Nelson, who has worked with Dunn over the years, says we respond to racism within our workplace structures, that is, while some workplaces might rise to the challenge, others just reproduce racism. As individuals, we find it hard to stand up and confront perpetrators. Instead of recognising the answer is to collectively challenge institutional power, we try to be individual heroes. But there are actions we can take beyond tweeting, Facebooking and Instagramming, which are useful for mobilising but less useful for organising to make change. Those actions help the posters feel better about themselves but are unlikely to dismantle racist and/or sexist structures. Moreton-Robinson has some ideas. Last month, the RMIT professor was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. That's a huge deal she's the first Indigenous scholar to be elected outside the United States. She says she's had more impact internationally than in Australia partly because we have no discipline of race studies in this country. She's loath to answer questions about how white people can help. Figuring that out should be the work of white people. But she does have some robust advice we must all think about how we can share power. The family of an Indigenous woman shot dead by a WA Police officer are demanding compensation from the state government for her young son, who they say now faces an uncertain future. Joyce Clarkes seven-year-old boy has been in the care of her adoptive mother Anne Jones since she was fatally shot by a first class constable on a Geraldton street in September last year, after police were called to reports of a woman acting erratically. Yamatji woman, Joyce Clarke. This photo has been published with the permission of Ms Clarke's family. Ms Jones, a senior Yamatji woman who has fostered more than 50 Indigenous children since 1980, said the boys education and wellbeing was her priority and believed the state government had a duty of care to financially support Ms Clarkes bereaved son. Ms Clarke herself came into Ms Jones care when she was five months old and was a ward of the state until she was 18 years old. Ms Clarke continued to live with her adoptive mother and her son until her death at 29. The West Australian is under pressure to apologise for publishing a racist cartoon which refers to an Indigenous character using an offensive three-letter racial slur. The Modesty Blaise comic strip appeared in Monday's paper, drawing condemnation from across the country. The Modesty Blaise cartoon strip that was printed in The West Australian on Monday, June 29, 2020. Credit:The West Australian On Tuesday morning the paper printed a statement on the controversy that did not contain an apology and blamed an "outside agency". Prominent WA footballer and paid Seven West Media contributor Nic Naitanui took to social media to call for someone to be held to account. Beijing has imposed new laws criminalising acts of secession, subversion and collusion in Hong Kong, after the Chinese Communist Party's standing committee unanimously voted through new national security legislation on Tuesday. The vote, which was held on the last day of a three-day meeting of China's top legislative body, is likely to trigger a fresh wave of domestic and international unrest over the future of the former British colony. A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mong Kok district on June 12. Credit:Getty Images The United States began executing trade sanctions on Hong Kong ahead of the vote marking the next stage in the escalating conflict. The US Department of Commerce suspended export licence exceptions, defence exports and commercial and military technology sharing arrangements with the global financial hub overnight. The measures are largely symbolic at this stage - due to Hong Kong's limited defence technology interests - but US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross warned more would come. The district is also considering opening school the way it used to be, five days a week. A group of parents urged this option outside the meeting Tuesday morning, pressing the board to take their work schedules and their childrens academic and social needs into consideration. They said the hybrid model will not work for parents with jobs outside the home. When it came, it was swift and secretive. A unanimous vote in China's top legislative body just after 9am on Tuesday put Hong Kong in the crosshair of Beijing's security agencies, some of its courts under the control of specially appointed judges and its people targeted for acts of secession, subversion and collusion. Pro-Beijing supporters in Hong Kong wave a Chinese flag and sing the national anthem in celebration of the passing of the new national security law on Tuesday. Credit:Getty Images No one outside the 163 members assembled in Beijing's standing committee had seen the final legislation. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said it would be inappropriate for her to comment as the global financial hub went through its most substantial overhaul of national security laws in 23 years. By lunchtime, and after 15 months of protests that often turned violent, three Hong Kong activists synonymous with the wave of dissent that swept the former British colony, had resigned. Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Agnes Chow would all go from Demosisto, the party they had founded in 2016 after the Umbrella movement, wary of being extradited to Chinas courts for trials and life sentences. "It marks the end of Hong Kong that the world knew before," Wong said. London: British firms are being warned to review their China supply chains amid concerns of "demographic genocide" against the Uighur minority after a report found women in Xinjiang province were forced to undergo abortions and sterilisations. The warning from Nigel Adams, British junior foreign minister, came as MPs demanded an independent investigation into the report by the new global inter-parliamentary alliance on China. In a rare display of cross-party unity in the British Parliament, 25 MPs from the three major parties: Conservative, Labour and the Scottish National Party demanded the UK government toughen its stance on China in light of the findings. A Uighur woman and children sit on a motor-tricycle after school at the Unity New Village in Hotan, in western China's Xinjiang region. Birth rates in the mostly Uighur regions of Hotan and Kashgar have plunged since 2015. Credit:AP The report - Sterilisations, Forced Abortions, and Mandatory Birth Control - The CCPs Campaign to Suppress Uyghur Birthrates in Xinjiang, by Tibet and Xinjiang expert Professor Adrian Zenz - says population growth in the Xinjiang province fell by 84 per cent in the two most Uighur-populated districts between 2015 and 2018 and fell further in 2020. A familiar opponent is looking to take on incumbent John Carney in Delaware's gubernatorial race this election cycle. State Senator Colin Bonini (R-District 16)--who lost to Carney in the same race in 2016 but said he still calls Carney a "friend"--is hoping to take him on again for the title of Governor. His main platform is fixing what he believes to be lost opportunities Delaware Democrats have let slip past them. "My big theme right now is: 'We can fix this,'" he said on WDEL's Rick Jensen Show. "Delaware's economy, even prior to the pandemic, was just--I mean, 'underperforming' doesn't even do it justice. Delaware has one of the weakest economies in the country even prior to the pandemic, and we've just been absolutely hammered. The reality is, whether you look at the economy, whether you look at how groups of students are doing in our public schools, when you're looking at public safety Wilmington--still one of the highest crime small cities in the country--regardless of what you look at, Delaware should be doing a lot better...John Carney is a good man and a friend, but his party, quite frankly, has lost their minds...The reality is that Delaware is absolutely heading in the wrong direction. But the good news is, it is absolutely fixable." He said step one would be to make Delaware even more friendly to businesses so that more headquarters are moved to the state, and more Delawareans can fill those available jobs. "I think it's fixable," he reiterated. "We are a high-tax, high-regulation, high-labor-cost, high-utility-costs state. All of those things are fixable. The reality is that our geographical location, if we can fix those things, employers will want to come here. I think the other key is that, employers want--especially manufacturers--want pre-highly skilled, somewhat specialized, skilled employees. And we have the vo-techs and all these kind of things, but we need to dramatically increase the training opportunities for younger potential workers." Delaware State Senate advances popular vote initiative Delaware has moved one step closer to joining a national movement supporters say backs the concept of "one person, one vote." Detractors see it differently. Bonini said the resources are there to get things done, the administration has just been dragging its feet. He's prepared to make those investments to increase Delaware's attractiveness on the jobs market and, more importantly, to make them intelligently, he said. "Delaware's problem is spending, not resources," he said. "Delaware doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. We have the money to do these things. We just have to make the decision to do it...I'm an optimist. I think we can fix this. I think the democrats have just really failed. Really failed Delaware." Delaware is also very blue, but Bonini said he believes his reputation precedes him and even in his district, he has support from both sides, and he thinks it's more purple than many realize. Article continues below advertisement VIDEO | Gun rights supporters cheer as assault weapons ban falters in Senate On a sweltering day in Dover, gun rights supporters were among the first to gather outside L "I worked hard, I have a long-time reputation, people know who I am, and I'm very responsive in my district," he said. "I feel very blessed. My district is significantly Democrat, but I've been fortunate to be reelected several times in my very heavy Democrat district...The only way for a Republican to win an election in Delaware is, we have to go and tell Democrats and ask them to come over. 'Leave the Democratic Party and vote for me as a Republican.' And I am going to be working incredibly hard to do that. I think we have a message. It doesn't matter if you're Republican, Democrat, whatever: downward is not going in the right direction, regardless of who you are...I think that the bottom line is you have to go to Democrats and say, 'I'm asking you to please take a minute listen to what I'm saying, and consider voting for me.'" That said, Bonini stressed the current issues facing Delaware are less about party issues and more about finding the right man for the job. State Sen. Colin Bonini "I'm going to go to the African American community and say look, here is what's happened to African Americans in Delaware over the past 30 years." - State Sen. Colin Bonini "I don't need to change your vote for Republican, I need your vote for Colin Bonini," he said. He also said, as timely as the matter is currently, he's ready to approach Delaware communities to have a "frank conversation about race," and how the First State's minority populations deserve more assistance. "I'm going to go to the African American community and say look, here is what's happened to African Americans in Delaware over the past 30 years," he said. "Here are my ideas, very specifically, about schools in Wilmington, the specifics about the economy, specifics about some of our public policies that devastate the families, specifics about what kind of level of support people are getting, etcetera. I'm gonna go to African Americans and say 'Look, I'm going to ask you to give me five minutes, and consider voting for me.' Will that be successful? I have no idea. Let's be clear, it's an incredible long-shot for a Republican to win. But I think if was start talking about the big issues and the fundamentals, I think folks will go, 'You know what, he's right, we've got to change.'" During the next two weeks, Egypt is planning to upscale its diplomatic campaign to secure international support for a legally binding agreement with Ethiopia and Sudan on the filling and the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), with clear mitigation measures and clear dispute settlement mechanism.According to an informed Egyptian official, it is crucial for Cairo to keep toiling on the diplomatic front so the world tells Ethiopia it needs to come round to a fair agreement based on international law that takes into account the welfare of all three countries.The source spoke hours after the UN Security Council (UNSC) held a video conference session on Monday evening at Egypts request.Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri read a statement to the meeting. He reiterated Cairos wish to secure a fair deal but insisted that a threat of potentially existential proportions has emerged that could encroach on the single source of livelihood of over 100 million Egyptians.GERD, a colossal project that Ethiopia has constructed across the Blue Nile, could endanger the security and very survival of an entire nation by imperiling its wellspring of sustenance.While we recognise the importance of this project to the development goals of the Ethiopian people, which we share and support, it is essential to realise that this mega-dam, which is Africas largest hydropower facility, potentially threatens the welfare, wellbeing, and existence of millions of Egyptian and Sudanese citizens.The key issue for Egypt, according to Shoukri, is that the unilateral filling and operation of the dam, without an agreement that includes protection from significant harm for downstream communities, will heighten tensions and could provoke crises and conflicts that further destabilise an already troubled region.Despite the fact that an international consultancy firm was contracted to conduct studies on the effects and impacts of the dam, the studies were obstructed and, as a result, never completed. Nor do we have any solid guarantees regarding the safety and structural soundness of the GERD. In the absence of sufficient scientific data communities downstream of this great structure appear condemned to live in the dark shadow of a great unknown.Shoukri added that if, God-forbid, the GERD experiences structural failures or faults it would place the Sudanese people in unimaginable peril and expose Egypt to unthinkable hazards.Having reviewed the lengthy road that Egypt has taken in pursuit of a fair deal that allows Ethiopia to generate electricity without inflicting significant harm on Egypts already inadequate water resources, Shoukri called on the UNSC to press for an agreement prior to any filling of the dam reservoir.While our position remains that the only viable solution is to reach a fair and balanced agreement, Egypt will uphold and protect the vital interests of its people. Survival is not a question of choice, Shoukri told the UNSC.He appealed to the UNSC to carefully consider a draft resolution offered by Egypt that appeals to the three countries to work in good faith to reach a fair, comprehensive and legally binding agreement and to refrain from taking unilateral action to fill the dam.Taye Atske-Selassie, Ethiopias permanent representative to the UN, argued that the UNSC was not the place to discuss the progress of GERD negotiations, an issue he said was more properly dealt with in the framework of the African Union.Let me be clear. Ethiopia does not believe the issue being discussed today has a legitimate place in the Security Council, said Atske-Selassie.It sets a bad precedent and opens a Pandoras box. This council should not be a forum for settling scores and exerting diplomatic pressure. It is regrettable that the council has allowed itself to be politicised in this manner.According to a UN-based Arab diplomat, the Ethiopian delegation in New York tried very hard to delay the UNSC session and is still attempting to sideline the issue though there is considerable push back not just from Egypt but from several Arab delegations.In press statements to Egyptian TV Channel 1 on Monday evening Maged Abdel-Fattah, permanent representative of the Arab League to the UNSC, said the Arab group in New York would hold a meeting with the UN secretary-general to press the need for the UNSC to continue dealing with the matter. The support of Sudan is crucial if the issue is to stay well-placed on the table of the UNSC, he said, but unfortunately Khartoum is not really pushing for the UNSC to be involved in the matter.Tellingly, in his statement to the UNSC on Monday Omer Mohamed Ahmed Siddig, Sudans permanent representative to the UN, did not demand a clear UNSC commitment to follow up on the issue.Clearly there is a discrepancy on this matter between Egypt and Sudan, the New York-based Arab diplomat said.Earlier this month Sudan proposed the resumption of talks in the hope of finding a deal. It offered a draft agreement based on elements that the delegations of the three countries had agreed to in Washington in autumn 2019/winter 2020 during talks facilitated by the US and the World Bank.Seven sessions of video conference negotiations ensued until the three delegations hit yet another impasse on 17 June.Following this failed attempt to secure a deal Egypt sent a letter on 19 June to the UNSC asking it to convene and discuss the matter.Two days later Ethiopia sent its own letter to the UNSC disputing Egypts request. Then Sudan sent a letter to the UNSC calling for support for the continuation of the three-way negotiations.In his statement before the UNSC, Siddig said that Sudan strongly believes that reaching an agreement on the guidelines and rules, before the commencement of the filling of the GERD, is necessary to avoid putting millions of lives and communities at risk.According to the Egyptian official, this language is good but it is still not strong enough.Egypt was hoping that Sudan would appeal to the UNSC to demand a halt to the filling of the GERD pending an agreement between the three countries.More consultations between Cairo and Khartoum are underway, the official said. Already Sudan has improved its position to support our call for an agreement prior to the filling, but we are hoping that this will be expressed in much clearer and affirmative language, he said.Last Friday, during a limited summit of the African Union chaired by South Africa, a non-permanent member of the UNSC, Egypt agreed to continue with technical and legal negotiations provided Ethiopia does not take any unilateral action on the filling of the reservoir.Despite statements from Cairo and Khartoum on Friday to the effect that Ethiopia had committed to not start the filling prior to an agreement, Addis Ababa said that it would basically give the negotiations two to three weeks while it finishes construction work necessary for the first filling to start in mid-July as scheduled.The next two to three weeks are going to be hard work as we examine all options, the Egyptian official said.In addition to the resumption of three-way technical negotiations Cairo will be looking at ideas that the African Union Chair Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to float in the next few days.A bigger role for the African Union in managing talks was stressed by almost all speakers during the UNSC session.We are going to see what we will be offered and we will consider our options in view of the volume of political support we are able to build, the Egyptian official said.So far Egypt has refused to commit to any deal that is not legally binding and lacks mitigation and legal dispute mechanisms. Egypt has also declined a partial agreement on the first filling.Whether or not these positions change depends on how the negotiation process unfolds in the next two weeks. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: It was the most brazen bought justice I have ever seen, Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said Tuesday. Shameful that the judge ... allowed it to happen. That said, he should not now be punished more harshly to make up for the systems failure in his exceedingly light sentence. Against the Grain to close Smokehouse at Louisville Slugger Field 'until further notice' Gov. Andy Beshear says COVID-19 has now reached all 120 Kentucky counties; 117 new cases reported Monday Levi Brewer (left) and Gavin Brewer (right) are facing drug charges after a traffic stop early Friday morning turned into a high-speed chase in Scott County that injured an officer. (Photos courtesy of the Scottsburg Police Department) FILE - This March 14, 2019 file photo shows Garth Brooks performing at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles. Brooks is holding a concert in Nashville,Tenn., that will be played at 300 drive-in theaters across the country. Tickets will cost $100 per passenger car or truck. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks about the novel coronavirus during a news conference at the state Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., Sunday, April 26, 2020. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP) Kentucky wedding venues reopen to help couples say 'I do' in pandemic FILE - This Jan. 23, 2020 file photo shows a patient receiving a flu vaccination in Mesquite, Texas. On Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vaccine has been more than 50% effective in preventing flu illness severe enough to send a child to the doctor's office. Health experts consider that pretty good. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) Weatherford, TX (76086) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning. Thunderstorms likely during the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 87F. S winds shifting to NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Share Your COVID-19 Pandemic Stories with WSU June 30, 2020 OGDEN, Utah How can you help a future researcher understand the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects it had on Northern Utah? Fill out a short and simple questionnaire about your experiences. Ed Noel and his family sitting in their driveway in Draper. Ed had a tape measure on his belt so he could keep everyone six feet away from him. courtesy of Karen Noel Weber State University Archives and Special Collections are gathering stories, photos and other mementos from WSU students, faculty and staff, as well as community members throughout Weber, Davis and Morgan counties, to document events surrounding the spread of COVID-19 and its overall impact. For example, a student from South Ogden told Archives about how COVID has changed completely her daily routine, for example, limiting visits to elderly family members to try to keep them safe. I used to take my toddler and baby to visit my grandparents house almost every day, but now we have to schedule a time to wave at them from the car window when we visit, and we cant hug and kiss them anymore, she wrote. It breaks my heart to not be able to show my grandparents how much they are loved and appreciated through affection. WSU Archives coordinator Kandice Harris created the COVID-19 questionnaire using Google Forms to make submissions of stories and digital items, like videos or audio recordings, easier. The form can be completed anonymously, though age and location are required. Archives seeks answers to questions such as, When did you first learn about COVID-19? and How has your daily routine changed since COVID-19 precautions have been in place? A staff member who lives in Washington Terrace said shes noticed her neighbors talking to each other more and that people come out on their porches to play music in the evenings. Another person sent in photos of a movie theater they made in their home. "Cant go to AMC theater, well thats okay! We made our own theater! Best customer service I have ever had!" courtesy of Clarissa Avaldez We dont have that much information about what Weber was like during the 1918 pandemic other than a couple of blurbs, Harris said. In the future, we want to make sure we have enough information for researchers, so people know what it was like. A Clinton woman took special note of the generosity of her fellow citizens in her entry: People tipping the local server above and beyond because they understand the need they have. People making masks and GIVING them away. People donating supplies to the medical field, childcare centers and other essential businesses." Since the project launched in April, Archives has received close to 100 responses, with nearly half coming from WSU students. Harris said they also hope to hear from alumni scattered across the country and world because their experiences will be vastly different than those in Utah. Just being able to have the whole picture from so many different aspects will give people a better understanding of what it was like, Harris said. Everybodys perspective is different. Someone whos a foreign exchange student will have a different experience than somebody whos working from home. Archives plans to collect COVID-19 stories and media through at least the end of 2020. Once finished, Harris said they will create a digital exhibit, so researchers can view the progression of events. A future physical exhibition may also be possible. You can fill out the COVID-19 archives questionnaire and submit photos or video here. Physical donations can also be sent to Archives at 3921 Central Campus Dr., Dept. 2901, Ogden, UT 84408-2901. For photos, visit the following links: photos.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/June-2020/i-gDCBhJQ/0/ec29d11f/X2/20200329_140420%20-%20Karen%20Galli%20Noel-X2.jpg photos.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/June-2020/i-v7CfdDc/0/1075d3af/X2/2B8C41D8-2119-4ADA-A505-74C0B7F683DB%20-%20Clarissa%20McEuen-X2.jpg photos.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/June-2020/i-vnCDF9Z/0/a0097330/X2/3DA067F7-8609-4649-B043-E7C1A5E9B8B3%20-%20Jessica%20B-X2.jpg Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University. Welland residents looking to beat the hot weather during a Environment Canada heat alert can use the citys downtown transit terminal. In a release, the city said when a heat alert is issued the East Main Street terminal will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week, as a cooling station. Temperatures are expected to reach 30 Celsius throughout the week and into the weekend, and city staff welcome people to stop by the cooling centre to beat the heat. Transit staff encourage people to wear face coverings while visiting the cooling station. ATLANTA - The former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks can be free on bond while his case is pending, a judge ruled Tuesday. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick set a bond of $500,000 for Garrett Rolfe, who faces charges including felony murder in the killing of Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man. The shooting by the white officer happened against the backdrop of demonstrations nationwide over police brutality and systemic racism after George Floyd died under a Minneapolis officers knee. Appearing via teleconference because of the coronavirus, lawyers for Rolfe argued that he is a native Georgian with strong ties to the community who is not at risk of fleeing or failing to show up for court and is not a danger to the community. A prosecutor argued that Rolfe, 27, had committed an unjustified fatal shooting and was a flight risk and might intimidate witnesses. Brooks wife, Tomika Miller, sobbed throughout an emotional plea to the judge, asking her not to grant bond for Rolfe. I say no to it, she said. I say no because, mentally, Im not able to handle it. Barwick thanked Miller, noting that her appearance required a lot of bravery, but said she found that Rolfe met the conditions required for bond. The judge said Rolfe is not a flight risk and I do not believe he is a danger to the community. The conditions of his bond include wearing an ankle monitor, complying with a curfew, surrendering his passport, not possessing any guns and having no contact with victims, witnesses or Atlanta police officers. Police body cameras showed Rolfe and another officer having a calm and respectful conversation with Brooks for more than 40 minutes after complaints that Brooks had fallen asleep in his car in a Wendys drive-thru lane on June 12. But when officers told him hed had too much to drink to be driving and tried to handcuff him, Brooks resisted. A struggle was caught on dash camera video. Brooks grabbed one of their Tasers and fled, firing the Taser at Rolfe as he ran away. An autopsy found Brooks was shot twice in the back. During Tuesdays hearing, one of Rolfes attorneys, Noah Pines, denied the district attorneys accusations that Rolfe shouted I got him! and kicked Brooks after shooting him. Pines called on Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard to release video of the alleged kick. Howard had made the allegations when he announced the charges five days after Brooks death. Executive Assistant District Attorney Clint Rucker said video footage shows Rolfes kick and a witness confirmed that it happened. Rolfe was fired shortly after the shooting and the other officer, Devin Brosnan, was placed on desk duty. The police chief stepped down less than 24 hours after the shooting. Rolfe now faces 11 charges in all. Felony murder is punishable by a minimum sentence of life in prison, with or without the possibility of parole. Brosnan, 26, is charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath and is free on bond. Lawyers for both men have said their actions were justified. Rolfes attorneys had asked the judge for a $50,000 signature bond, which would have meant he wouldnt have had to pay anything unless he failed to show up for court. Rolfes attorneys gave the judge nearly 30 letters attesting to his good character. They also said he was a police officer doing his job, not someone who went out with the intention of committing a violent crime. If Garrett Rolfe isnt entitled to a bond under the statute, then nobody is, nobody for a murder case, Pines said. Rucker had asked the judge to deny bond, but when she asked what bond would be reasonable if she chose to grant one, he said $1 million with a string of conditions. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Rucker argued that Brooks was running away and posed no threat when he was shot in the back. In a statement, attorneys for Brooks family said they were disappointed by the judges ruling, but said it was just one step in the long quest for justice for Rayshard. Rather than looking at this process as a series of wins or losses, its imperative that we continue to push for systemic change within our criminal justice system, attorneys L. Chris Stewart and Justin Miller said. From hate crime laws being passed to increasing oversight of members of law enforcement, our job is to ensure that positive change comes from this tragic situation. He was one of the fiercest advocates for Medicare for All in Broward County, Ward-Peterson said. He would share about his own struggles with illness and with our broken insurance system. He just fought to make sure that health care was a human right for everyone. For years, Facebook has succeeded for years in fending off critics and regulators in Washington who have complained about its market power and its failure to protect privacy, police hate speech and curb political disinformation. Now, a boycott by major advertisers and a subsequent slide in its shares are forcing the world's largest social media network to reckon with the very issues that policymakers have long failed to resolve. The corporate backlash also could embolden Congress to take its own action. Some concerns about the company's massive reach and failure to deal with problematic speech are shared by Democrats and Republicans alike. "We have gotten to a tipping point," said Hany Farid, a professor at University of California-Berkeley. "The Trump administration, Covid, Black Lives Matter, the ugliness social media is surfacing -- I think people finally realize this is not OK, this is not an open exchange of ideas. This is blatant hatefulness and divisiveness." The growing exodus by advertisers started last week by companies including Unilever NV, Coca-Cola Co. and Starbucks Corp. over concerns about ads appearing next to inappropriate content on the platform. The boycott, which drove down Facebook's stock more than 8% Friday -- though it recovered some ground Monday -- was aimed at pushing the social network and its peers to limit hate speech and posts that divide and misinform. The boycott has put a spotlight on Facebook's policies at time when the company is already under intense scrutiny in Washington over multiple issues and is facing a push to raise liability for third-party content in addition to multiple antitrust inquiries. Facebook co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced policy changes Friday, saying it will now label posts that are newsworthy but violate its rules -- which could apply to posts by President Donald Trump and other politicians. It will also label posts that include information about voting with a link encouraging users to get facts from state authorities. Facebook's decision not to fact-check political speech is one of a series of policy choices that many in Washington believe favored the right as the company countered complaints from conservatives that it's biased. That hands-off approach to content fueled advertisers' complaints that Facebook has become a haven for hate speech and misinformation as protests against racial injustice sweep the country. Zuckerberg is facing fresh demands from Democrats on Capitol Hill for answers on how he's dealing with hate groups on his platform. Three Democratic senators -- Mark Warner of Virginia, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Robert Menendez of New Jersey -- are sending him a letter Tuesday asking how the company will enforce its bans on hate speech, white supremacy, incitement and similar content. They ask whether Facebook should still enjoy civil liability protections when people use its tools to coordinate violence. "We do not profit from hate, and we have no incentive to have hate on our platform," Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president for global affairs, told Bloomberg TV on Monday. "We don't like it. Crucially, our users don't like it." Zuckerberg won plaudits from the right and criticism from civil rights groups when he pledged in a speech last October that the company would continue to stand up for "free expression" on the platform, amid fury that Trump was using the platform to spread misinformation. For example, Facebook determined that Trump posts on mail-in ballots didn't violate its policies, while Twitter slapped fact-checks on the president's tweets. In 2016, Facebook opted not to purge the platform of some fake news amid concerns that the move would disproportionately hurt conservatives, Bloomberg has reported. As it wooed Republicans, Facebook angered Democrats, fraying its ties to the left as former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump's Democratic opponent, rises in the polls. The controversy is coming to a head as the November election looms. Last year, Facebook refused to take down a manipulated video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi which showed her slurring her words. Facebook later labeled the video as false, which limited its spread, but left up the content. "They intend to be accomplices with misleading the American people," Pelosi told reporters earlier this year. "I think their behavior is shameful." The biggest potential risk for Facebook in Washington is the growing, bipartisan desire to change Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects Facebook and other online platforms from lawsuits over content posted by users. Long credited with fostering the explosive growth of the internet, that provision is now under attack at the highest political levels, including by both Trump and Biden. A flurry of proposals have emerged in recent months from Republican senators, bipartisan groups of lawmakers, the Justice Department and the White House, with more on the way. Trump recently signed an executive order aiming to limit the legal shield if online platforms are politically biased in their moderation. Democratic Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, who's leading an antitrust panel that's investigating Facebook and other technology giants, said "we have to look at Section 230 very carefully," adding that he's particularly concerned about how Facebook promotes and monetizes controversial content even as the law exempts it from liability for those decisions. Cicilline also wants to pull in Zuckerberg for a hearing before his panel issues a report on its antitrust review of the technology sector in coming weeks. That investigation, which is in its final stages, is to issue recommendations to change antitrust law, which have implications for Facebook. Facebook faces additional antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which fined the company a record $5 billion last year over the Cambridge Analytica episode and other data lapses. The Justice Department, which also enforces antitrust law, has its own probe underway, as does a coalition of state attorneys general led by New York's Letitia James. Those inquiries potentially pose the most significant threat to Facebook. "Facebook already understands there are going to be modifications to section 230," said Guy Rolnik, a professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. "What they are not ready for and what they will fight tooth and nail is a breakup of the company and if it's a Biden administration this is what's going to be on the table." Up until now, Wall Street has shrugged off any risk. Facebook shares rose about 90% from the day Trump was inaugurated to a June 23 high, before the boycott started to eat into the stock price. The company brought in more than $70 billion in revenue in 2019. Some market watchers think the stock will bounce back as advertisers will eventually be compelled to return by the number of customers they can reach on the platform. Facebook's shares rose 2% Monday, in line with the broader market, even amid reports that corporate giants like Microsoft Corp., Ford Motor Co. and The Clorox Company had joined the boycott. "These companies are going to come back, because when you have 3 billion people, I don't think any users are really going to get away from using Facebook," said Gary Bradshaw, a portfolio manager at Hodges Capital Management in Dallas. President Donald Trump's clampdown on Cuba's Communist government is part of an election-year strategy to keep Cuban-American voters in Florida in his column - but it could backfire in the must-win state. In recent weeks the administration has issued new sanctions and ordered Marriott International to stop operations there. Those actions are part of a policy that comes from the typical playbook for a Republican president facing reelection: make an appeal to influential Cuban-Americans in South Florida who have supported the GOP for decades over their shared disdain for the island's leaders. But the older anti-Communist Cuban-Americans are dying off and a more moderate generation is taking their place, so the moves could seem out of step. Younger Cuban-Americans were excited by the short-lived detente achieved by President Barack Obama -- and Vice President Joe Biden, now Trump's 2020 opponent. Understanding the changes in the Florida electorate could make a difference in a closely contested race. Trump will find it difficult to get the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to win the White House without Florida's 29. Trump trails Biden in Florida by more than 6 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. A Fox News poll released Thursday showed Biden leading Trump 49% to 40% among Florida registered voters. In April, Biden said he would "in large part" restore the previous administration's policies toward Cuba, which Trump rolled back during his first year in office. Biden's pledge "caught the White House's attention as an opportunity to demonstrate the differences in what would be the approach," said Jose Cardenas, who worked on Latin America issues in the George W. Bush administration. Trump won 35% of the Latino vote in Florida in 2016, according to exit polls, and was boosted by 54% support among Cuban-Americans in the state -- numbers he will likely need to duplicate again to win. --- The cohort of voters that fiercely opposed the Fidel Castro-led revolution has seen its influence wane in recent years, giving way to a younger generation of Cuban-Americans that is generally less partisan and more interested in re-establishing the relationship between the two countries. Miami-area Cuban Americans continue to be predominately Republican. A Florida International University poll in 2018 found a nearly 3-to-1 party registration advantage over Democrats. But younger and second-generation Cuban Americans tend to be more independent. Of Cubans who migrated to Miami before 1980, 72% say they're Republican and only 35% of those younger than 40 say they are. Only 23% of those younger Cuban-Americans identify as Democrats, and 40% are independents. Guillermo Grenier, chairman of the department of global and sociocultural studies at Florida International University also said newer arrivals are less strident in their opposition to Cuba. Grenier said there are clear divisions between those who fled the island in the years following the revolution and their children, who were mostly born in the U.S., as well as Cubans who arrived in the U.S. after 1995. While political engagement is higher among the older generation, the younger one is growing in number and clout. "Anything that will squeeze the Cuban people's ability to have a better outcome than they're having right now is going to backfire among the most recent arrivals," said Grenier, who co-directs the university's Cuba poll. "I think you have a good chance of the new arrivals being the key voting bloc this time around." --- While Trump has made gestures toward Cubans, their historic prominence among Florida's Latino electorate is shrinking. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans, who generally lean toward Democrats, fled to Florida after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017, adding to an already burgeoning community in Central Florida. The number of island-born Puerto Ricans who are eligible to vote in Florida jumped 30% between 2016 and 2018, according to the Pew Research Center. Cuban-Americans made up 46% of Latino eligible voters in Florida in 1990, compared with 31% in 2018. Migrants from Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil have also transformed the state's electorate. Trump's hardline approach to both Cuba and Venezuela delivers the same electoral message: wooing voters at home by framing his Latin America policy as a crackdown on socialism. "The population in Miami, there are Cubans for Trump, but they're not going to carry the day in the state of Florida," said Grenier. "That division within the Cuban vote, plus the other Latinos who have come into the state, makes the Cuban vote just not as powerful a voting bloc." --- Nevertheless, Trump is tightening the grip on Cuba. The U.S. recently ordered Marriott to close its operations in Cuba and imposed sanctions on a military-owned financial institution that handles remittances, which could make it harder for Cuban-Americans to use Western Union Co. to send money back to the island. Like the vast majority of Cuban businesses, the Marriott-run Four Points Sheraton in Havana is controlled by the commercial branch of the Cuban military, which is led by former Cuban leader Raul Castro's son-in-law. Marriott's license was granted by the Obama administration in 2015 but was up for renewal. The Marriott order won't do much to advance the cause of democracy, according to Ricardo Herrero, executive director of the pro-engagement Cuba Study Group in Washington. "Cuban workers that were trained by Americans are going to lose their jobs -- temporarily, because they'll just likely be absorbed by foreign firms that are operating other hotels on the island and now get to benefit from U.S.-trained employees," he said. By pulling Marriott's license and curbing remittances, the administration is choking off key sources of foreign currency for Havana. With oil shipments from Venezuela sharply reduced amid its political crisis and economic collapse, and with the pandemic bringing tourism to a halt in the Caribbean, Cuba is now relying on its medical missions abroad to help pay for essentials. In another move, the Trump administration last week made the surprise decision to nominate the head of Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council, Mauricio Claver-Carone, to lead the Inter-American Development Bank. Claver-Carone is a staunch critic of the Cuban government. The November election is helping accelerate the announcement of Cuba moves, but the policy itself is consistent with his positions from early in Trump's administration, a person familiar with the matter said. Trump announced in Miami in June 2017 that that he would tighten the U.S. embargo on Cuba and pull back from Obama's detente. The Trump administration has been clear that the U.S. will stop deals that benefit the Cuban military and security services, who it says repress the Cuban people, subvert democracy in Venezuela and foster instability in the region, a senior administration official said. Trump has also considered going further in squeezing the Cuban government, such as returning the country to the list of state sponsors of terror, according to the person familiar with the matter. Outside advisers have recommended that the administration hit Cuba's tourism industry harder by requiring foreigners who travel there to obtain a visa before entering the U.S., according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News. Other recommendations include slapping travel restrictions on Cuban diplomats in the U.S., sanctioning companies that invest in Cuban infrastructure and making it harder for Cuba to send doctors abroad. STAMFORD City police said they had to break off a chase with two men last week who they said are members of a shoplifting gang that has been sneaking into stores around the metropolitan area for months and swiping expensive health and beauty products off shelves. The outfit is known as the Little Rascals, police said. Police last Thursday recovered nearly $2,000 worth of merchandise in a bag that one of the suspects dropped outside of the Ridgeway Stop & Shop before running away and leading police on a short chase, they said. Although the gang is responsible for dozens of shoplifting thefts costing area stores about $50,000 worth of inventory, Thursdays incident the was first time any police department came close to catching them, Capt. Diedrich Hohn said. No police have actually confronted them, Hohn said. We were the first. They come in fast and leave fast. With this incident Im glad no one got hurt and hopefully this will act as a deterrent and they wont come back to Stamford. Hohn said it was the second raid in a week by the gang of thieves. On June 19, two gang members boosted about $900 worth of products from the Stop & Shop on West Main Street, he said. On Thursday police were notified the gang was striking again at the Ridgeway Stop & Shop. When officer Silas Redd confronted the thief outside the store he dropped the bag and ran from the parking lot towards Wells Fargo on Sixth Street, police said. Officer Willie Guilford was next to the bank and helped give chase before the suspect hopped into a waiting black Kia with New York license plates. The Kia fled on Sixth Street before making a right turn on Bedford Street, going the wrong way. The chase was quickly terminated because it would have been too dangerous for patrol cars to pursue the vehicle, police said. The Kia ended up on Strawberry Hill Avenue before hopping back to Bedford, again going the wrong way. At the end of Bedford the Kia ran over a roadway median but kept heading south and was not seen again. Hohn said on June 19 two gang members were confronted by a store employee inside the West Main Street Stop & Shop, but one of the men indicated to the employee that he had a knife and the two were allowed to leave the store. They were picked up by a waiting driver in a car with out-of-state plates. Hohn said since February the gang has hit Stop & Shop stores in Norwalk and Ansonia and in Westchester, Orange and Ulster counties in New York. They are looking for high end products like Nexium or Rogaine and they will go in there and clean out a whole aisle, he said. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com STAMFORD A fast-moving squall generating strong winds and hail led to multiple calls for help for boaters at Wallacks Point and Stamford Harbor on Sunday, officials said. Shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday, 911 received calls for assistance from and for people in rowboats, kayaks and canoes. Rescuers were able to save two pairs of boaters. After an hours-long search they could not find a third, but said there were signs they might have been able to get out of the water on their own. A man and his nephew had to be rescued from Wallacks Point after they turned over their canoe and were stuck on the rocks. Stamford police and fire boats quickly got to the location and rescued them, said Stamford Deputy Fire Chief Tom Gloersen and Stamford Police Sgt. Kevin Fitzgibbons. Fitzgibbons said he estimated the winds were gusting to 40 to 50 miles per hour during the fast-moving squall. Police received another distress call about two people in an orange kayak. A female resident on Wallacks Point called 911 to report the pair struggling in the kayak and said it appeared they could not paddle against the wind. The man who was saved in the canoe on Wallacks Point said he saw the pair in the kayak. He told police they were two men, and he last saw them drifting toward Darien. Police, fire and Coast Guard vessels along with marine police from Greenwich and Darien searched for the kayak into the night, but were unable to find anyone, Fitzgibbons said. Coast Guard Ensign Colin Reichelt said that at 8:35 p.m. the search was suspended pending further information or developments. Fitzgibbons said Monday afternoon police have not been able to find any abandoned cars in places where the kayakers would have likely launched from, such as Cove Island Park, and no one associated with a kayak has been reported missing since the storm. We dont know if the two men got out alone, he said. Calls also came in for two people stranded on Flint Rocks in Stamford Harbor. Fitzgibbons said their row boat got away from them in the storm, and they were picked up and brought to shore. Already this year, one kayaker has died after getting stuck in strong winds and waves off Wallacks Point and two others had to be rescued in the same place. On April 26, Oscar Castillo, 22, of Danbury drowned while kayaking off Wallacks Point. Three weeks later, two adults had to be rescued when their kayaks turned over in rough waters there. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com This law will put already at-risk young people in even greater danger at the worst possible time, Stephanie Fraim, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, said in a statement. Whats worse, it could open the door to a reinterpretation of our constitutional right to privacy and the right to a safe and legal abortion in Florida. Today Hot and steamy with sunshine and some clouds; a slight chance of a t-storm towards evening to the west. Tonight A drenching t-storm in the evening; otherwise, mostly cloudy and humid. Tomorrow Mostly cloudy, much cooler, and turning less humid with a couple of showers and a t-storm. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Forbes pointed out that Black families tend to be more exposed to flooding because their homes are often built on cheaper land in historically segregated areas. Investing in flood protection there would be a good start, she said, adding that the public discussion of climate change should address why minorities are more vulnerable in the first place. We are really silent on the impact of race, Forbes said. On June 12, the Trump administration added a Cuban financial services company, FINCIMEX, to a list of restricted entities that no one in the United States is allowed to do business with. FINCINMEX is the main Cuban processor of remittances, so Trumps new sanction could potentially cut off $3.7 billion in remittances that Cuban Americans send to family on the island each year. This comes at a time when the Cuban economy is already reeling from the shutdown of the tourism industry because of COVID-19. The Arts Theatre in London, home of Six the Musical has stated that all performances up until and including 27 September 2020 have been suspended. While officially the West End has only cancelled performances up to 2 August, many venues and productions are taking it upon themselves to extend these dates further. Earlier this month producer Cameron Mackintosh said that none of his four shows Hamilton, Mary Poppins, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera would be reopening before 2021. However, the London musical Sleepless revealed last week that it would begin performances from late August, with socially distanced audiences something made possible by the large size of its venue in Wembley Park. While the West End show may not be playing, Six has announced drive-in performances in 12 different locations across the summer, with audiences of up to 300 vehicles. You can find out more here. The West End venue has said that: "tickets held for cancelled performances of Six at the Arts Theatre are unable to be directly transferred to tickets for newly announced Drive-In tour of Six". Six is written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, with direction by Moss and Jamie Armitage, choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, set design by Emma Bailey, costume design by Gabriella Slade, lighting design by Tim Deiling, sound design by Paul Gatehouse, musical orchestration by Tom Curran, musical supervision by Joe Beighton, casting by Pearson Casting, associate choreography by Freya Sands, musical direction by Katy Richardson and associate musical direction by Ellie Verkerk. It had just opened for previews on Broadway when the pandemic struck. It won the inaugural BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical earlier this year at the 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Venues and companies have repeatedly called for a support package by the Government while the lockdown continues, though nothing has yet materialised. This page contains all of The Williston Heralds coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak, and the illness it causes, called COVID-19. Because this outbreak impacts public health, our coverage of the coronavirus is available to all readers. Our journalists are working hard to bring you the verified information below. Please consider supporting important local journalism with a subscription. (Click Here) Are you a Williston resident whos been affected by the illness? Send us an email: editor@willistonherald.com. Willmar, MN (56201) Today Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. Cooler. High 68F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 46F. NW winds shifting to SSW at 10 to 15 mph. The probability of grandfamilies losing a grandparent is not a scare tactic; it is based on what has been felt across our country since the beginning of COVID-19. Collectively, we can agree the COVID-19 data has not been collected or reported consistently with fidelity. Regardless of which data point we use, the chance for a grandfamily to lose a senior adult is greater and extremely risky, since children can carry the virus without being symptomatic. Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High around 85F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 59F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Tomorrow A few clouds early, otherwise mostly sunny. High 78F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. SOUTHBURY Fire companies from several towns worked together to put out a growing brush fire near Lake Lillinonah Saturday morning. Firefighters from Southbury responded to a report of a small brush fire in the area of Little York Road near George C. Waldo State Park at 6:28 a.m. The fire was called in by a boater on Lake Lillinonah who could see the fire near the shore, according to dispatch reports. Responding crews found an escalating brush fire deep in the woods on a steep embankment. Southbury firefighters established a barrier between the burning brush and the remainder of the park as fire companies from surrounding towns including Brookfield, Bridgewater, Newtown and Woodbury sent mutual aid. Newtowns Sandy Hook Fire & Rescue provided assistance in the woods and the Woodbury Volunteer Fire Department provided coverage for the town of Southbury. With a five-member crew and extra brush equipment, Marine 25 from Brookfield Volunteer Fire Departments Candlewood Company responded to the area around 7:30 a.m., and launched from the Newtown boat ramp on Hanover Road. Since the area was deep in the woods and inaccessible by fire apparatus, Marine 25 used its pump and deck gun to begin saturating the fire area with water, Brookfield Volunteer Fire Departments Candlewood Company posted on Facebook. The Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department also provided a fire/rescue boat to the scene, and the fire was eventually extinguished. Excellent job by all companies to prevent a potential disaster in this very dry environment, the Southbury Fire Company posted on Facebook. TRUMBULL The former facilities manager for the Trumbull schools has sued the Board of Education after he was let go from his position earlier this year. According to the complaint filed May 18 in Bridgeport Superior Court, Mark Deming alleges that the school system breached an express contract in terminating his employment effective February 7. A request for comment on the suit and the reason for Demings dismissal left with the boards attorney was not immediately returned. Deming had been facilities director since July 1, 2014. He is represented in the lawsuit by former Trumbull First Selectman Timothy Herbst and is seeking damages in excess of $15,000. On June 23, the school system, through attorney Richard Buturla, filed for a 30-day extension to respond to the suit. In the 19-page complaint, Herbst laid out a timeline from Demings hiring to his dismissal, arguing that the June 19, 2014, letter in which former School Superintendent Gary Cialfi informed Deming that he was the boards choice constituted a contract. In the letter, Cialfi congratulated Deming and informed him that in addition to an annual salary of $125,000, Deming would also receive benefits including a $225,000 life insurance policy and a time-off policy that included 20 vacation days, 18 sick days, five personal days, five sick family member days and 14 paid holidays off. The letter was dated June 19, 2014, and Deming signed it the same day. Over the next five years, the board allotted Deming annual salary increases of between 2 percent and 2.35 percent. By 2019, he was earning a salary of $139,163. Herbst said the 2014 work agreement did not specify that Demings employment was at-will. Indeed, the board did not ever communicate with the Plaintiff that his employment...was asserted by the Board to be employment at will, he wrote. Relying on the annual employment letters, Deming agreed each year to continue his employment with the board, Herbst wote. This, therefore, was employment pursuant to an express annual contract of employment, not employment at will, Herbst asserted. That employment ended Jan. 24, when Interim Supt. Ralph Iassogna wrote to Deming informing him that his employment was terminated effective Feb. 7. Deming, through Herbst, replied with a Feb. 5 letter contesting the termination and stating that it would constitute a breach of contract. Neither of those letters was included in the complaint. The board went ahead with the termination, and as a result, Deming has not received the compensation and other benefits that he believes he is entitled to, the suit states. In a second count, Herbst asserted that Demings employment was subject to an implied annual contract based on the two parties behavior. Herbst wrote that Deming has been an exemplary employee, taking over at a time when the schools faced a multitude of issues, including incomplete projects and uncontrolled overtime costs. Demings predecessor Al Barbarotta, sued Herbst, then Trumbulls First Selectman, for toritous interference after a deal between Barbarottas company, AFB Construction Management, and the Trumbull Loves Children preschool fell through. The two sides settled the suit for $20,000 in 2015. At its meeting on June 22, the Planning and Zoning Commission opened a public hearing for both the Apple Blossom School and a retail tile store. The school is seeking to move from its present location at 440 Danbury Road to a building at 426 Danbury Road that it would seek to convert under the adaptive use zoning rules. Architect Rob Sanders explained that the applicants want an easily accessible location near the current school. At the new site, they would like to establish a one-way loop entrance that makes it easier for parents to drop off their children. Since the children dont all get dropped off at the same time, because different age groups start at different times, this would not present a traffic issue, he said. The school offers programs with infants, toddlers, nursery preschool, and mixed-aged kindergarten children. Summer camp at the school will began June 29 and will run until Aug. 21 for children ages 2-7 years old. As for the building itself, there will be some changes to the exterior that include replacing a window and moving a door. The applicants are proposing a long-term lease to plant their roots, Sanders said. There was no public comment and the public hearing will be continued on July 13 to discuss any further details. Tile showroom A public hearing was also opened for an application submitted by Bruce Darbandi to have a tile retail store at 516 Danbury Road, which is an adaptive reuse of the former antique shop, Vallin Galleries. The plan is to have a showroom on the main floor and office space on the second level. One area needing improvement is the lower parking area. The proposal includes a 20-foot-wide paved driveway along with a gravel parking lot to include five parking spaces. There will also be a lamp to provide light to the main building. As for the design and landscaping for the property, Kate Throckmorton, landscape architect wants to keep it simple and neat. Before the project can move forward, it will need to be finalized with the Inland Wetlands Commission. The public hearing will be continued on July 13. New applicants Erskine Associates, LLC at 134 Olmstead Hill Road is seeking to complete a project that will convert an existing free-standing cottage to accessory dwelling unit. There is a scheduled public hearing for this on July 13. Editors Note: The potential future address of Apple Blossom School and the retail tile store was previously misidentified as 416 Danbury Road. The correct address is 426 Danbury Road. Katrina Koerting / Hearst Connecticut Media The Lake Waramaug Association has postponed its Annual Fireworks Spectacular, which is usually held on Independence Day, but is keeping the Flares Around the Lake. The fireworks will now be on Aug. 29 with a rain date of Aug. 30. Hearst Connecticut Media / A North Haven man is alleged to have been driving under the influence when he was involved in a crash with another vehicle on June 29. Police arrived at approximately 3:41 p.m. at Nod Hill Road, near Branchbrook Road, where they said Michael Kraspryki, 55, of Cotton Tail Lane in North Haven, had been driving a 2006 Ford 350 pickup truck south in the northbound lane of Nod Hill Road. According to police, Krasprykis truck hit a northbound SUV head-on, causing minor injuries to all involved. The occupants of the SUV were not taken to the hospital. WILTON The towns social services department has been one of the busiest during the coronavirus pandemic. Sarah Heath, director of Social Services, gave an update June 15 to the Board of Selectmen on services being offered to the Wilton community. Youth Services is providing support and short-term counseling for 10 students and their families at this time, according to Heath. Social Services is assisting residents affected by COVID who need food stamps and additional assistance. Wiltons Senior Center remains closed. However, Activities Director Stephanie Rowe is working to develop online programs for seniors. The food pantry at Comstock Community Center, which provides free non-perishable food, has been bustling. The pantry has gone into overdrive serving a large number of residents, many who unexpectedly found themselves unemployed or underemployed during the pandemic, according to Heath. To keep things safe at the food pantry, workers and visitors are wearing masks and using hand sanitizer. At this time, the food pantry is well stocked, thanks to an outpouring of donations from the Wilton community, Village Market, the towns emergency fund and the community assistance fund, according to Heath. Donations for the Food Pantry can be dropped off in the shed at Comstock. Heath has been calling on 80 households in town, ones with seniors and the towns most vulnerable residents, to check how they are doing. The police and fire departments are assisting, Heath said. Its been a challenging few months, she said. She commended Wilton residents and groups who have helped out during the pandemic: Peg Koellmer formed Wilton Helping Hands, matching volunteers with seniors who can not leave their homes. Patty Tomasetti and Warrior Helpers created homemade masks for social services clients and households. Wendy Nadal and the Wilton Womans Club formed Volunteer Village Market Shoppers to do grocery shopping for people who cant leave their homes. Wilton Meals on Wheels, the Salvation Army, and United Way have provided financial support. The Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging has helped seniors receive food each week. The Georgetown Lions Club and Georgetown Village Restoration have donated gift cards for social services clients. Students at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Academy have held a food drive for those in need. Any resident in need of assistance or with questions about social services can call Sarah Heath at 203- 834-6238. pgay@wiltonbulletin.com To understand the depth of this mans measure, we encourage you to read Thurstons questionnaire online. He is critical of Gov. Ron DeSantiss management of the Covid-19 pandemic, believing he should have initiated the lockdown sooner and relied less on President Trumps musings. Hes disappointed that the governor has failed to fix the unemployment compensation system, which was flagged when he took office. He disagrees with the governors unfettered expansion of private school vouchers and charter schools; packing the Supreme Court with Federalist Society-approved justices; appointing a health care agency chief whose actions were blamed for patients deaths in Maine; I could go on. Winchester, VA (22601) Today A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 63F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. If the recent initiative undertaken by the current African Union chair succeeds in resolving the outstanding differences between Egypt and Sudan, on the one hand, and Ethiopia, on the other, over the rules for filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), paving the way for a final agreement that observes the rights of all three parties to the waters of the Blue Nile, it will mark a rare victory for this regional organisation in dealing with African disputes and serve as a model for handling other issues that threaten African security, stability, and development. As tensions spiralled between Cairo and Addis Ababa after the last round of GERD negotiations broke down in June and Egypt was forced to ask the UN Security Council to invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter to compel Ethiopia to return to the negotiating table in a constructive spirit, South African President and current African Union (AU) Chair Cyril Ramaphosa invited the heads of state of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia and the leaders of the AU Executive Bureau to an online summit to break the deadlock over outstanding technical and legal issues. Then, on top of this unexpected last-minute initiative, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced that the participants had agreed that Ethiopia should refrain from beginning to fill the GERD reservoir until the three parties had reached a final, legal, and binding agreement over the filling and operation of the dam and that negotiations should resume immediately towards this end at the level of the legal and technical experts from the three countries, with the additional participation of observers from the AU Executive Bureau and AU Commission experts. This augmented Tripartite Committee was given a week to present a progress report on the negotiations to the AU chair, and the summit participants agreed to reconvene after two weeks. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri added, in televised remarks, that the three parties had agreed to build on the areas that they had agreed on in previous negotiations. Describing the summit as fruitful, Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed told reporters that the AU was the right place to discuss Africas crucial issues, which observers interpreted as an allusion to his continued rejection of UN Security Council involvement. He made no reference to the agreement to defer filling the GERD reservoir until the parties had reached a final, legally binding agreement. However, his office issued a communique stating that the filling process would begin within two weeks. At the same time, the Ethiopian irrigation minister said that there would be an agreement over the filling of the dam within three weeks and that there was now a consensus over the final touches to an agreement with the support of the AU. Unless the ministers remarks were not accurately reported, it is significant that he spoke in terms of an agreement over the filling of the dam, as opposed to both the filling and the operation of the dam. It suggests that Addis Ababa is still contemplating a proposal that both Cairo and Khartoum have rejected, namely a partial agreement that would let Ethiopia proceed with the filling of the dam while negotiations are still in progress. If so, this is a sign of bad faith and an attempt to sow confusion even before the experts in the Tripartite Committee resume their work. Conceivably, such statements were meant for domestic consumption as a kind of posturing to show that the Ethiopian government has not backed down on its declared intent to begin filling the reservoir on 1 July. Yet, surely it would have made more sense to tell the Ethiopian people the truth and to justify it as a demonstration of good faith and a means to encourage the success of the AU mediation. Certainly, if Addis attempts to push its partial agreement proposal, it will encounter Egyptian-Sudanese opposition which, in turn, could jeopardise these negotiations, too, unless the AU acts effectively. It is also noteworthy that Al-Sisi, Hamdok and Ahmed agreed with Ramaphosa and the heads of state of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, to ask the UN Security Council to take the points agreed upon during the summit into consideration when the Security Council, at Egypts request, discusses the GERD issue at its session on 29 June. The Egyptian and Sudanese statements also suggested that the observers from South Africa, Mali, Kenya, and the DRC, as well as observers from the US and the EU Commission, would take part in the discussions and, perhaps, contribute ideas to help bridge the Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Sudanese views and facilitate an agreement instead of acting as mere observers, as Addis Ababa had insisted. As of this writing, Ethiopia has made no reference to this point. What accounts for this sudden shift in the course of the dispute, especially after the many years of Ethiopian opposition to outside participation in the tripartite negotiations? And what should we make of these three parties sudden assent to AU intervention despite their earlier reluctance to turn to this international organisation because of their well-known scepticism over its ability to settle ordinary African disputes, let alone one as complex the GERD? Clearly, Ethiopia saw the AU as a face-saving escape route that could pull the rug out from under the UN Security Council after the US, which had brokered negotiations on the GERD in Washington in collaboration with the World Bank, and France, which currently chairs the Security Council, had moved to schedule discussion of Egypts request and, simultaneously, to take a measure that would prevent Addis Ababa from starting to fill the reservoir in advance of a final agreement. Perhaps Ethiopia felt that an agreement through African-sponsored talks would be more honourable than having the UN Security Council call on it to refrain from acting on its threat to unilaterally fill the Dam, in accordance with the Egyptian request. It would certainly recall how it had angered Washington by boycotting the meeting in late February that had been scheduled to sign a fair and equitable draft agreement on the dam that the US had prepared in collaboration with the World Bank and based on the results of tripartite talks in Washington from November 2019 to February 2020. Ethiopia may have feared revenge in the form of a tough and binding UN Security Council Resolution calling on it to resume negotiations with a genuinely constructive attitude for a change and not start the filling before reaching an agreement. Egypt, for its part, had never explicitly objected to or accepted the Ethiopian appeal to the South African president to mediate in the dispute before Pretoria assumed the AU chair in February this year and before the Washington talks began in November. Then, when Ramaphosa proposed the online summit, Cairo agreed without reservation out of its long-held belief that solutions to African problems should come from Africa if possible. The GERD crisis is of such urgency that Egypt would welcome any intercession that shows promise of promoting a just and equitable solution. In this case it also helped that South Africa was both the current chair of the AU and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Sudan had been reluctant to bring the GERD dispute to the UN Security Council before all other avenues had been exhausted, whether through consultations and negotiations between Khartoum, Addis Ababa, and Cairo, or through African mediation. Therefore, it welcomed Ramaphosas invitation to a mini-AU summit and, perhaps, also offered some new ideas on how to overcome obstacles. Khartoum has spoken with the UN Security Council twice to explain its point of view and demonstrate its readiness to propose solutions. Naturally, the proof of AU mediation will lie in the results, namely its ability to broker a final agreement that safeguards the legitimate rights of all three parties to the waters of the Blue Nile, the largest of the branches of Egypts sole water artery. Success will augur well for Africans looking to the AU to resolve the many other disputes that have plagued the worlds wealthiest continent in terms of natural resources and its poorest in terms of standards of living. Failure will encourage sceptics in Africans ability to resolve their own disputes and weaken the arguments against outside intervention in the affairs of the continent that is home to more than a quarter of the UN members. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Kite surfers enjoy the windy day as others beachgoers enjoy the sun, at a beach in Torvaianica, near Rome in May. MONTREAL - As Canada's two largest airlines move to end so-called seat distancing, travellers have mixed feelings about stepping on board an aircraft in the age of COVID-19. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/6/2020 (355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Air passenger Karen Kabiri is shown at Pierre Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, Monday, June 29, 2020. One day before Canada's two largest airlines end so-called seat distancing, travellers have mixed feelings about stepping on board an aircraft in the age of COVID-19. Starting on Canada Day, Air Canada and WestJet will resume the sale of adjacent seats, which they had largely blocked to help prevent viral spread. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Reynolds MONTREAL - As Canada's two largest airlines move to end so-called seat distancing, travellers have mixed feelings about stepping on board an aircraft in the age of COVID-19. Starting on Canada Day, Air Canada and WestJet will resume the sale of adjacent seats, which they had largely blocked to help prevent viral spread. Canada's public health officer has expressed reservations about the practice, though it is permitted under federal transportation rules. "We really feel it is important to avoid the close physical contact as much as possible. And if not, wear the medical mask," Dr. Theresa Tam said Monday. Masks or face coverings have been mandatory on flights since April 20. Even so, "there are some difficult decisions for travellers, for sure," Tam added, saying individuals should assess their own risk levels and need to fly. Karen Kabiri took his first plane trip in five years on Monday after learning his mother had died in Iran the day before just 20 days after his father. "Its very, very hard for us. That's why I'm going there right now, to help my sister," said Kabiri, 44. The piano teacher from Toronto, who stopped over in Montreal before continuing on to Tehran via Qatar to help with funeral arrangements, spent several hours outside the terminal at Trudeau airport with his other sister, who lives in the area but could not make the trip. Enduring a light drizzle, the siblings adhered to Transport Canada rules that prevent anyone but staff and passengers from entering airports. Kabiri said he had concerns about stepping into a packed cabin, though he credited Air Canada for providing all passengers with a mask, gloves, disinfectant wipes and a water bottle. "It's a little bit scary for everybody. You can see many people are affected by COVID-19," he said. "It's very hard for everybody in these situations to travel. But sometimes an emergency is happening." Claire Parois and her five-year-old daughter climbed aboard a Monday flight bound for her home country of France to join her parents after receiving approval to continue telecommuting until late August. "We decided to spend the rest of the summer at my parents' house where I don't have to do the full-time parenting and full-time working at the same time, which I've been doing in the past 15 or 16 weeks," said Parois, who works for the United Nations in Montreal. "It's been really, really, really challenging. "My main concern would be to get infected and then infect my parents. Otherwise I'm not too worried," she said. With Canada's border still closed to nearly all non-residents, international travel has barely budged since dropping by more than 95 per cent year over year in April. However, domestic travel is expected to edge up in the coming weeks and months as interprovincial restrictions loosen and the economy continues to reopen. Anthony Morgan, who works on a Great Lakes bulk carrier, said he has a harder time with pandemic protocols on the water than in the sky. Until Monday, the 39-year-old wheelsman hadn't stepped off the boat in three months. "It's like almost pulling your head off and bootin' it over the side," he said of being confined to the freighter. "But flying home I definitely don't feel like I got any concerns." Morgan took off Monday for St. John's, Nfld. and plans to spend his month of downtime close to home in his outport community near the provincial capital. That includes two weeks of self-isolation after landing. The sudden return of middle-seat sales is not unique to Canadian carriers. Michelline Nesrallah said there was no distancing on her packed Qatar Airways flight back to Canada. "There was no temperature screening when we got into the Qatari airport," added the 39-year-old teacher who moved back to Ottawa this week after spending most of the past 14 years in the Gulf state. "People aren't really taking it as seriously as they should," she said. "I was standing at the baggage counter and this woman was literally touching me with her arm. And I said, 'Sister, you have to stand back.' Transport Canada listed physical distancing among the "key points" in preventing the spread of the virus, part of a guide it issued to the aviation industry in April. "Operators should develop guidance for spacing passengers aboard aircraft when possible to optimize social distancing," the document states. Some health experts have highlighted the risks of spreading COVID in crowded airports and sardine-tin cabins. "Once it's in the cabin, it's difficult to stop air moving around,'' Tim Sly, an epidemiologist and professor emeritus at Ryerson University's School of Public Health, said in a recent interview. However Joseph Allen, director of the Harvard public health school's Healthy Buildings program, has said the HEPA air filters used on most planes effectively control airborne bacteria and viruses. In line with federal directives, Air Canada and WestJet conduct pre-boarding temperature checks and require masks on board. Both airlines also implemented enhanced aircraft cleaning and scaled back their in-flight service in late March, cutting out hot drinks, hot meals and fresh food. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2020. Companies in this story: (TSX:AC) ISLAMABAD - The European Union's aviation safety agency said Tuesday that Pakistans national airline will not be allowed to fly into Europe for at least six months after the countrys aviation minister revealed last week that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilots exams. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/6/2020 (355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FILE - In this May 22, 2020 file photo, volunteers look for survivors of a Pakistan International Airlines plane that crashed in a residential area of Karachi, Pakistan. The European Unions aviation safety agency said Tuesday, June 30, 2020 that Pakistans national airline will not be allowed to fly into Europe for at least six months after the countrys aviation minister revealed that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilots exams. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan, File) ISLAMABAD - The European Union's aviation safety agency said Tuesday that Pakistans national airline will not be allowed to fly into Europe for at least six months after the countrys aviation minister revealed last week that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilots exams. Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said PIA has not been flying to Europe because of the pandemic. But the airline had hoped to resume its flights to Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Barcelona and Milan within the next two months. It is hurting us really bad, he said of the pilots scandal. An inquiry into the May 22 Airbus A320 crash that killed 97 people at the southern port city of Karachi resulted in the stunning revelation that 260 of 860 pilots in Pakistan had cheated on their pilots exams, but were still given licences by the Civil Aviation Authority. The government has since fired five officials of the regulatory agency and criminal charges are being considered. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency is concerned about the validity of the Pakistani pilot licenses and that Pakistan, as the State of operator, is currently not capable to certify and oversee its operators and aircraft in accordance with applicable international standards, the organization said in its letter announcing the ban. PIA has grounded 150 of its pilots for cheating. But Hafeez told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday that PIA had alerted the Civil Aviation Authority, the Pakistani regulatory body that issues pilots licences, of its concerns over some of the licenses. In 2019, PIA grounded 17 pilots over concerns about their licences after one of its aircraft skidded off the runway in northern Pakistan. The saddest part for PIA is that we had alerted the regulatory agency and the government, Hafeez said. He said the national airline will have a difficult time regaining its reputation and said that more than a decade ago PIA was considered one of the better airlines. Aviation experts fear the ban by the European Union could also affect PIA flights to the United Kingdom and Canada because its aircraft will not be able to fly over Europe forcing longer routes. We have really hit rock bottom I am so sad to say, said Hafeez. The inquiry into the May 22 crash of PIA flight 8303 in Karachi blamed pilot error saying the pilot came in to land too low, ignoring warnings from the air traffic control tower, insisting he could manage. The plane hit the runway and took off again but the pilot's engines were damaged. The inquiry also chastised the air traffic controller for not telling the pilot that the engines were damaged. After the aborted landing, the aircraft was in the air for 17 minutes before crashing into a crowded neighbourhood on the edge of Jinnah International Airport when both engines gave out. Two passengers survived and a 13-year old child on the ground was killed. According to the cockpit voice recorder found later among the plane's debris, the pilots had been discussing the coronavirus throughout the flight, which had apparently affected their families. Pakistan's aviation minister Khan last week told reporters that out of the 262 pilots who had cheated on their licences, 141 worked for PIA, which employs 450 pilots. That's more than a third of the workforce. The remaining pilots worked for private airlines. _____ Jawad reported from Karachi, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed. After suffering free trade deal negotiation-fatigue for several years now, its understandable that Wednesdays implementation of the Canada U.S. Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) might be a bit of a non-event. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion After suffering free trade deal negotiation-fatigue for several years now, its understandable that Wednesdays implementation of the Canada U.S. Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) might be a bit of a non-event. After all, the 20-year-old NAFTA eliminated virtually all tariffs between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico and CUSMA will maintain most of those benefits and ensure that the vast majority of North American trade will continue to be duty-free. But its easy to damn CUSMA with faint praise. Carlo Dade, director of the Canada West Foundations Trade and Investment Centre, said Canada did much better with its European free trade agreement and the original Trans-Pacific Partnership was much better. Dade said considering the TPP was torn up (and re-written as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) because of the impetuousness of U.S. President Donald Trump, whos to say he wont do something like again. "The three governments are pitching the deal as tremendous and ground breaking, but you look at it and say. We had all this plus more with TPP but we trashed that," Dade said. "Now after three years of getting dragged through the mud just to get 85 per cent of what we had already agreed to its like insults just get piled up on top of injury." To underline that point, on the eve of the implementation there is more sabre rattling from Washington about the potential to re-impose tariffs on Canadian aluminum. Dairy farmers will lose a little more of their market about 3.9 per cent the Canadian Grain Commission will have to re-jig some of its grading of grain varieties and Canadian retailers will have one more headache as U.S.-based e-commerce operators will be able to ship up to $40 worth of goods direct to consumers without sales tax charged and $150 worth before duties kick in. Again, the general tariff-free environment with the U.S. and Mexico will remain and were it not for the global disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, most trade dynamics will likely continue apace. Last year, Manitobas exports to the U.S. exceeded $12 billion, the highest on record, and regardless of the annoyance of a drawn out re-negotiation of a trade deal without any slam-dunk victory, Manitoba companies are not going to suddenly avoid the American market. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Mariette Mulaire, president and CEO of the World Trade Centre Winnipeg, says despite the disruption, the North American market remains important to Manitoba businesses. "Our businesses are still interested in the North American market," said Mariette Mulaire, the CEO of World Trade Centre Winnipeg. "There is disruption around the world, but North American supply chains are still pretty solid." But having said that exporters and importers who have taken the tariff-free environment for granted for the past 20 years, must pay attention. Under the former NAFTA regulations, exporters had to obtain a certification to qualify. They dont need the same documentation this time, but they do still need to acknowledge that they are in compliance. At customs broker offices across the country, its all-hands-on-deck. "Everyone is in full scramble mode," said Alan Dewar, executive vice-president of the Winnipeg customs broker, GHY International. "Its a clean slate as of July 1. Everything prior to that has to be re-done. The bonus is, it is easier and for the vast majority there is little to no change." Kim Ross, a trade analyst at A.D. Rutherford, another Winnipeg custom broker, said complying with the country of origin regulations can be as easy as simply declaring on export documentation, "I certify that the goods described in this document qualify as originating and the information contained in this document is true and accurate." Analysts, including Dade, believe the deal will actually be a net loss for the Canadian economy (0.04 per cent, according to some calculations). Its not hard to tell where the grumbling is the loudest Canadian dairy producers. David Wiens, chairman of Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, and vice-chair of the national dairy farmers organization, said the dairy industry with its supply management quota system has lost a total of 18 per cent of its market to potential foreign exporters, including about 3.9 per cent in CUSMA. "We have a few things layered on top of each other here," said Wiens. "We have had three trade agreements now where further access has been given to the Canadian dairy markets to other countries. And this comes on top of the COVID situation which has created a lot of volatility in our market." The dairy industry calculates CUSMA will mean the industry will take a $330-million annual hit. The Canadian grain industry is not expecting anything like that kind of pain, but it has been required to alter is grading system to be more accommodating to U.S. grain. Still, American grain exported to Canada amounts to "little more than a rounding error," said Remi Gosselin, a spokesman for the Canadian Grain Commission. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca The fifth edition of the Manitoba Prosperity Report shows the province still has work to do. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The fifth edition of the Manitoba Prosperity Report shows the province still has work to do. The report by the Manitoba Employers Council looked at economic indicators to determine how Manitoba compares with B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Manitoba ranks last, or second last, in 15 of the 30 indicators. William Gardner, chair of the MEC, said the province spends too much time increasing government services instead of addressing areas in the report. Manitoba ranks last in Gross Domestic Product per capita, total businesses, average weekly earnings and interprovincial migration. However, Manitoba has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions among the five provinces, and the small business tax rate at 0 per cent. Gardner said he likes to compare Manitoba to Saskatchewan specifically and, 10 to 15 years ago, Manitoba led the Prairies in more categories including GDP per capita. Since Saskatchewan has improved in areas, Gardner said Manitoba can do the same. "It can be done, and weve got many advantages and many industries where we lead or could lead and if we pay some attention to them and also try as hard as physically feasible to create conditions that are good for entrepreneurship, then I think we will improve," said Gardner. This years report also includes new sections on the environment and reconciliation. "The environment is obviously of great importance, even prior to COVID it was clear that was the biggest challenge," said Gardner. "And reconciliation indicators are past time and we thought it would be a good idea to start tracking that." kellen.taniguchi@freepress.mb.ca TORONTO - McDonald's Canada says Jacques Mignault has been appointed as its next president and chief executive, effective Aug. 1. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO - McDonald's Canada says Jacques Mignault has been appointed as its next president and chief executive, effective Aug. 1. Mignault has been serving as the managing director of McDonald's Switzerland. An empty McDonald's restaurant is seen in Montreal, Tuesday, March 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz He succeeds John Betts, who is retiring. Betts, who began at McDonald's in 1970 and worked as a crew member in Southhampton, N.Y., held numerous roles in the U.S. before taking the top Canadian job at the chain in 2008. During his tenure, McDonald's launched its the McCafe brand and introduced all-day breakfast. McDonald's has 1,400 Canadian restaurants. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2020. HAVANA - With the coronavirus waning in Cuba, the government plans to restart its tourism industry by sending visitors to five narrow islands that will offer all-inclusive vacations and keep foreigners isolated from the rest of the nation. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/6/2020 (355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Hotel maintenance worker Elgis Moreno is reflected on a mirror as he paints a room at the Capri Hotel, during a lockdown affecting tourism to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, June 17, 2020. Foreign hospitality companies that manage most of the better hotels say they are hopeful to see tourists return at the latter stages of the country's opening plan, and Cuba says more normal tourism will return to the island by phase 3 with near-universal mask-wearing, social distancing, and COVID-19 tests for arriving travelers. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco) HAVANA - With the coronavirus waning in Cuba, the government plans to restart its tourism industry by sending visitors to five narrow islands that will offer all-inclusive vacations and keep foreigners isolated from the rest of the nation. The state-run system scheduled to debut Wednesday is designed to reopen a vital source of economic activity without reintroducing the virus to the country of 11 million people, where new cases have dwindled to just a handful a day. Tourists will take charter flights to the islands or to central Cuba, where they will take tests to detect the virus. Those who are negative will proceed straight to their hotels or get on a bus going directly through mainland Cuba to one of the low-lying, sandy keys that are connected to the northern coast by bridges or ferries, according to recent government statements. Anyone who tests positive will be "isolated," presumably some combination of being quarantined and sent back home, though the details remain unclear. Many other Caribbean islands are reopening to tourists and imposing testing on new arrivals. But none has adopted a plan like Cubas that separates tourists almost entirely from the general population. Tourist buses to the resorts will be prohibited from making stops along the way, and police officers will be assigned to each bus to enforce the rule. Visitors will not be allowed to rent cars or take trips outside the fenced-in coastal resort areas. There is no indication that tourists will immediately start to arrive. Canada, Cubas biggest source of visitors, remains closed to nonessential travel until further notice. European countries also have strict travel rules in place. Like other Caribbean islands, Cuba is highly dependent on tourism. It earned an estimated $4.1 billion from 4.2 million tourist visits last year, around 10 per cent of gross domestic product, although the islands finances are highly opaque due to government secrecy and an unusual system of two currencies, neither of which holds value outside Cuba. After years of almost zero growth, the shutdown of international flights in March pushed Cuba into its most severe shortages and economic stagnation in many years, with long lines forming for basic products. A report from the Economic Commission on Latin America predicted a 3% to 5% drop in GDP for Cuba this year after years of stagnant growth that rarely topped 1%. Commerce, transportation and public spaces have been shut down almost completely for three months. The shutdown, combined with health monitoring and virus testing, has virtually eliminated COVID-19 in Cuba. With more than 2,000 tests performed daily, the number of new cases emerging each day has been fewer than 10, and often less than five, for several weeks. The new tourism model is somewhat reminiscent of past practices. Under longtime leader Fidel Castro, Cubans were prohibited from entering tourist hotels as part of a broader pattern of isolating the communist society from outside influence. Even before the coronavirus, some coastal resort keys were off limits to Cubans. The prohibition is now expanding to its greatest extent since Castros brother Raul took over and dropped many restrictions. Cuban hotel employees on the newly restricted keys will observe seven-day workweeks followed by seven days of isolation at home. Varadero, a popular, resort-studded peninsula less than a two-hour drive from Havana, will be divided into a section for Cubans and a section for international tourists, who will not mix with the general population, officials have said. The new measures are part of the first phase of a three-phase plan to move Cuba back to normal life, with phase three looking much like Cuba did before the virus. Cuba detected its first infections in a group of Italian tourists in the city of Trinidad in March. All of Cuba has moved to phase one with the exception of Havana, the capital of 2 million people where the new infections have been concentrated. Cuban tourism expert Jose Luis Perello said the July 1 date to begin the new system was "a sign of intent, on the part of Cuban authorities to show that the island was open again, "but first you need to know whos really ready to engage in tourism this year." U.S. rules prohibit American visitors from trips that would be strictly tourism, like those to coastal beach resorts. The foreign hospitality companies that manage most of Cuba's better hotels say they are hopeful that tourists will return to destinations like Havana in the latter stages of reopening. Cuba has said that more tourism will resume by phase three, albeit with near-universal mask wearing, social distancing and tests for arriving travellers. Cubas private hospitality sector remains closed to international business. For state-run tourism, the island's success in controlling the virus is becoming part of some companies' marketing plans. "The island is coming out of the pandemic experience stronger, from a public-health standpoint,'' said Juan Francisco Candeal, manager of the NH Capri Hotel. "I think that the message that's been transmitted is of a secure destination." Follow Andrea Rodriguez on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP TESUQUE PUEBLO, N.M. - A small northern New Mexico Native American tribe has opened a movie studio in a former casino that it hopes will lure big productions. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/6/2020 (355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this June 25, 2020 photo, Cheyenne and Arapaho filmmaker Chris Eyre, an advisor to Camel Rock Studio, talks about Tesuque Pueblo's new film studio in Santa Fe, N.M. The Native American tribe in northern New Mexico has opened up the movie studio at the site of a former casino aimed at attracting big productions in what is believed to be a first by a Indigenous tribal government in the U.S. (AP Photo/ Russell Contreras) TESUQUE PUEBLO, N.M. - A small northern New Mexico Native American tribe has opened a movie studio in a former casino that it hopes will lure big productions. The Tesuque Pueblo recently converted the building near Santa Fe into a movie studio campus called Camel Rock Studios with more than 25,000 square feet (2,323 square meters) of filming space. The tribe's lands feature stunning desert and the iconic Camel Rock formation in the red-brown foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and tribal officials said outdoor filming can take place on 27 square miles (70 square kilometres) of the reservation. The tribe with about 800 members decided to open the studio after scenes from the Universal Pictures western movie News of the World starring Tom Hanks were filmed last year in the Camel Rock Casino, which closed in 2018. Universal's use of the casino for filming helped convince tribal officials to transform the empty building into studio space, said Timothy Brown, president and CEO of the Pueblo of Tesuque Development Corporation. Also influencing the decision were investments in New Mexico movie studios by Netflix and NBCUniversal in recent years, said Tunte Vigil, Tesuque Pueblos business development associate. The Pueblo of Tesuque Development Corporation wants to bring different businesses to the pueblo and the market is really open, Vigil said. So this is a good opportunity. No productions are happening now and none are planned for the immediate future because the pueblo and most of the state remains under strict COVID-19 business restrictions. But Brown said that that hasnt stopped potential productions from contacting the pueblo and asking to reserve studio time. Cheyenne and Arapaho filmmaker Chris Eyre, a Santa Fe resident and an advisor to Camel Rock Studio, said the studios unique aspect is that its former makeup as a casino provides the site with pre-made infrastructure that can be used for filming different types of movie scenes Its a museum. Its an opulent hotel lobby. Its a capitol building, said Eyer, who directed the 1998 film Smoke Signals about two Coeur d'Alene tribal members who travel from Idaho to Arizona to retrieve the remains of their father after he died alone. There are sorts of interesting standing sets that can be creatively (crafted) for all sorts of scenes. The site also has a set workshop called a mill that can be used by crews to build sets for use inside the casino or on the tribe's land, Eyer said, adding that he could envision movies filmed there that are set in the Middle East or the U.S. Southwest. Older movies filmed on the Tesuque Pueblo include the 1955 western The Man from Laramie starring James Stewart and the 1988 Young Guns with Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland. But Eyer said previous productions had stereotypes about Indigenous people and limited Native American input and that tribal officials hope future productions don't follow in their footsteps. The studio is being established at a time when Native American writers including Pulitzer Prize-winning Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange and Inupiaq American poet Joan Naviyuk Kane are transforming American Literature and putting pressure on Hollywood to incorporate more Native American stories. Tribal officials plan to create internships and movie training programs for Tesuque Pueblo members and hope that the studio will foster a new storytelling movement, Eyer said. Native Americans are natural storytellers, he said. What better place to do it? Associated Press writer Russell Contreras is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras HALIFAX - The federal government is asking an Indigenous group to recommend a new name for a Canadian Coast Guard ship that pays tribute to a British military officer who offered a bounty for the scalps of Mi'kmaq people. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/6/2020 (355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The federal government is asking an Indigenous group in Nova Scotia to recommend a new name for a Canadian Coast Guard ship that is currently named after a British military officer who called for the extermination of the Mi'kmaq people. Contractors remove the statue of Edward Cornwallis, a controversial historical figure, in a city park in Halifax on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. Cornwallis, the military officer who founded Halifax in 1749, offered a cash bounty to anyone who killed a Mi'kmaw person. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan HALIFAX - The federal government is asking an Indigenous group to recommend a new name for a Canadian Coast Guard ship that pays tribute to a British military officer who offered a bounty for the scalps of Mi'kmaq people. "This is an important step in reconciliation," Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan said in an interview Tuesday, adding that Ottawa will be working with the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Chiefs to come up with a new name. "It's about righting an historic wrong." The Halifax-based icebreaker known as Canadian Coast Guard Ship Edward Cornwallis is undergoing a refit in Nova Scotia and will be renamed later this year, before it leaves the Shelburne Shipyard, Jordan confirmed Tuesday. Cornwallis is perhaps best known as the man who founded Halifax in 1749, but his mission to establish a garrison town included eliminating Indigenous resistance and, at one point, approving a scalping proclamation to "take or destroy the savages." The federal government says the colonial governor tried to drive the Mi'kmaq from their lands through "barbaric measures." Chief Terry Paul, co-chairman of the assembly, described Cornwallis as a monster. "He was a murderer," Paul said in an interview. "Who in their right mind would want to commemorate a monster like that? That's what our feelings are in the raw. And this is why we are very grateful that the minister and the federal government has taken those steps to remove this name." Paul said the government's decision to recognize the dark legacy of early settlers was an example of "reconciliation in action." "By renaming the ship, we don't feel that this is erasing history," said Paul, who represents the Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton. "In fact, it is acknowledging the horrific history of injustice and inequality that took place in our country's past some of which still exists today .... Removing Cornwallis's name is a step towards healing for many of us." In Nova Scotia, Cornwallis's name has already been removed from a street in Sydney and a church and a school in Halifax. In January 2018, a large statue of the man was removed from a park in downtown Halifax. At the time, Mayor Mike Savage said the bronze figure was an impediment to forging respectful relationships with the Mi'kmaq. Before it was pulled off its pedestal, the statue had become a flashpoint for protests. A municipal committee with Indigenous members is in the process of deciding what to do with the statue. "Cornwallis's legacy does not reflect the values Canadians hold today, and his name is a painful reminder to many Indigenous peoples of the racism and inequality their ancestors endured and that many still face today," the Fisheries and Oceans Department said Tuesday in a statement. The icebreaker CCGS Edward Cornwallis entered service in 1986 and its home port is the Canadian Coast Guard base in Dartmouth, on the east side of Halifax harbour. Earlier this year, a $12.1-million contract was awarded to Shelburne Ship Repair to refit the vessel to extend its service. That work is expected to be completed early next year. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2020. Swinburne alum Russell Scrimshaw has always been driven by a desire to challenge the status quo, and help others do the same. As one of Australias most respected business leaders and philanthropists, Russell has held key executive positions across the Asia-Pacific mining industry, most recently as Chair of Sirius Minerals Plc and Torrus Investments P/L. He was also a founding Executive Director and Deputy CEO of Fortescue Metals Group with Andrew Forrest. He currently serves as the Garvan Research Foundation Board Chair which provides funding to support cutting edge biomedical research in the areas of healthy ageing, cancer, genomics and epigenetics, immunity and inflammation research. Russell studied accounting at Swinburne, graduating in 1972. For the past 20 years, he has aligned his values, passion and professionalism with Swinburnes capabilities and vision for the future through philanthropy. What I love most about Swinburne is its proven capability to develop, shape and produce tomorrows business and community leaders, innovators, breakthrough thinkers and entrepreneurs, says Russell. The university is producing the future leaders of every facet of Australian life right before our very eyes, he says. Russell is one of Swinburnes leading supporters of Indigenous education. The knowledge possessed by the First Peoples of Australia is wonderful and vital for the futures of all Australians. Indigenous Australians are innovative, creative and brilliant, and have been fantastic stewards of this country for over 60,000 years, says Russell. Giving an educational hand to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is critically important in ensuring all students are part of the wider Australian success story, he says. Responding to COVID-19 with remarkable generosity Earlier this year when the COVID-19 situation hit Australian shores, Russell found that the new normal had quickly changed the face of Australian business, governments and communities in many ways, and mostly for the better. This period has greatly accelerated the transition to online, remote working and operating. For me personally, communicating online had to quickly become part of my everyday life for business, he says. I think COVID-19 has strengthened the need to communicate more frequently with friends and loved ones too, which is wonderful, he adds. After hearing about the hardship that many students are facing due to COVID-19, Russell decided to donate $20,000 to the universitys Student Emergency Fund Appeal. Russell says that he empathised with the competing pressures of life and study that students are currently confronting. I know how hard it is to juggle the essential monies and must-do tasks that young people face. Many are often away from home for the first time and are having to live very frugally, says Russell. I know that those who receive support during this time will never forget the role of Swinburne in helping them in their hour of need. Thats why donating to the Student Emergency Fund is a magnificent investment in the future of the university, he says. Russell was delighted to receive a personal phone call from Swinburnes Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Linda Kristjanson AO to thank him for his support. Despite the trials of today, Swinburne will achieve many great things and will continue to grow as a globally-recognised institution that challenges the status quo through its education, its research and its people, says Russell. The signs of the current heat wave gripping the city are all around people sweating through their shirts just walking down the street, others seeking shelter from the oppressive heat wherever there is shade and a bit of breeze. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The signs of the current heat wave gripping the city are all around people sweating through their shirts just walking down the street, others seeking shelter from the oppressive heat wherever there is shade and a bit of breeze. Environment Canada has issued a heat warning in Winnipeg, advising that a "stagnant weather pattern" has brought with it a week full of temperature highs each day between 29C and 34C, with expected humidex values around 40C. This heat wave is a sign of things to come as Winnipeg is set to be one of the cities in Canada that sees the most dramatic increase in the number of extreme heat days in years to come, due to climate change. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Luc Labelle cools himself while spending time with his godchild at Provencher Park Spray Pad during the heat wave on Monday. Between 1976 and 2005, Winnipeg saw an average of 14.3 days per year where the high was above 30C. If climate change continues unabated, that average between 2050 and 2080 is expected to rise by more than 360 per cent to 52.1 days per year, according to the latest climate models made available through the Prairie Climate Centres Climate Atlas. Southern Ontario and the Montreal region are the only places in the country expecting to see more dramatic increases. More heat waves will put the most strain on the homeless, the aging and those who suffer from severe medical conditions. "The big number of mortalities associated with heat waves, tend to be in the elderly (population)," says Dr. Joe Vipond, the interim president of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and an emergency room doctor in Calgary, Alta. "Theres a couple reasons why the elderly are more at risk. The first is that they dont have as good of temperature regulation as younger people. They also have a lot more chronic diseases and they tend to be lonelier, so people living by themselves might not have people checking in on them." DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Visitors cool off with a swim at Birds Hill Park on the weekend. There is also often an overlap between lower socio-economic status and the aging population, Vipond explains, which might leave people who need protection from the heat the most without it. Even in younger people, the heat will start to have significant negative effects as the length of heat waves expands, Vipond says. "Your body can adapt to these abnormalities for short periods of time, but when they start to become prolonged, thats when things start to break down. So youre probably not going to have a lot of excess mortality on day one of the heat wave, but on day seven of the heat wave, thats a big deal." Vipond says that while the number of days above 30 degrees is important for peoples health and how the body is able to handle the heat, he says perhaps even more important is that the number of cool nights during those heat waves is set to decrease. "(Hot nights) mean youre not getting that ability to cool down, or getting a restful sleep. That may be as important, or more important." Dr. Joe Vipond "(Hot nights) mean youre not getting that ability to cool down, or getting a restful sleep. That may be as important, or more important," Vipond told the Free Press. Between 1976 and 2005, Winnipeg had on average 1.6 days where the nighttime temperature stayed above 20 C. If emissions continue at status quo levels, between 2050 and 2080, that number is expected to explode to 21.1 days. The biggest reaction the province currently offers to address heat waves, is an increase in public communication and awareness, but much of the implementation of further measures -- such as opening cooling centres -- remains the responsibility of regional health authorities, says Dr. Denise Koh, the medical officer of health for emergency preparedness and response for Manitoba Health. She says she is concerned about the mounting number of extremely hot days Winnipeg is facing in the coming decades. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sisters Maylis, 12, and Melanie, 7, enjoy cooling themselves at Provencher Park Spray Pad Monday. "Theres no question about whether the heat is coming, and whether climate change is happening its more: what things can we do to decrease the damaging effects of that? And making sure were as prepared as we can be," Koh said. Koh said right now Manitoba has a great warning system in place for when these weather events are coming, but likely more resources will be needed in the regions to support responses going forward. "There are programs that other cities have done where they go and check on the more vulnerable folks in the communities, so there definitely are more things that we could be doing," Koh said. Koh asks that all Winnipeggers try to seek refuge from the sun and heat, stay hydrated and access the community pools, spray pads and cooling centres as needed if air conditioning isnt available. She says planning your activities and where to find relief from the heat is critical. People should also check in on the older people in their lives, as well as the city's vulnerable population if they appear to be in medical distress. sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca OTTAWA After decrying other provinces silence on Quebec's hijab ban, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is uncharacteristically coy on how he feels about the term systemic racism. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA After decrying other provinces silence on Quebec's hijab ban, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is uncharacteristically coy on how he feels about the term "systemic racism." Pallisters office will not deny a media report that he pushed to leave out the phrase from a joint communique issued last week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers. "In order to protect the integrity of first ministers meetings, we dont discuss such specific details of the conversations between the first ministers," Pallister spokeswoman Olivia Billson wrote Monday. Last Friday, Trudeau said he wasnt able to get consensus from premiers on including the words "systemic racism" in a joint, 318-word statement on anti-racism. The prime minister refused to point out which provinces held back during the Thursday phone call. Quebec newspaper Le Devoir reported sources familiar with the discussion said Pallister was reluctant to include that phrasing (along with Quebec Premier Francois Legault, who had already publicly eschewed the term). Without describing its sources, the newspaper claimed Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe both were reluctant to use that term, but ultimately changed course during last Thursdays call. Kenney's office said he "did not object to the term being included in the first ministers declaration;" Moe's staff said he "acknowledges systemic racism and had no concerns regarding inclusion in the joint statement." Yet, its unclear whether Pallister was reluctant to include the term. His office wouldnt clarify to Le Devoir last week, and also would not specify to the Free Press on Monday. "It is important to note that the statement that was publicly released was a consensus statement," wrote Billson, noting the communique said the premiers "condemn all forms of racism," which she said thus includes systemic racism. She noted Pallister's advocacy against Quebec Bill 21, which forbids promotions and new hirings for teachers, judges and police officers who wear hijabs, turbans and kippas. Pallister had tried in vain a year ago to get other premiers to condemn the legislation. "When your neighbours' rights are taken away or threatened, you shouldn't ignore that. Because when you do, you deserve to lose your own, quite frankly," Pallister said in comments he echoed on national television. Anti-racism advocates have argued in recent weeks its important for public institutions to fess up to systemic racism and use that term, as it acknowledges institutions have structures that prevent equality, instead of just a few bad apples. Among those pushing for institutions to embrace the term is Manitoba Sen. Murray Sinclair, who lead the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada on residential schools. He offered media his own definition earlier this month: "Systemic racism is when the system itself is based upon, and founded upon, racist beliefs and philosophies and thinking, and has put in place policies and practices that literally force even the non-racists to act in a racist way." with files from Carol Sanders dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca A Winnipeg soldier has been spared a criminal record after admitting to assaulting two women at a house party. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Winnipeg soldier has been spared a criminal record after admitting to assaulting two women at a house party. Jonathan Hunt, a second lieutenant stationed at 17 Wing Air Force Base, was arrested in May 2018 following an investigation by military police. Justice Chris Martin granted Hunt a two year conditional discharge Monday, saying he was satisfied Hunts behaviour was a "one-off" and that he was a very low risk to reoffend. "This matter appears to be completely out of character and there will be, I find, significant repercussions respecting any ongoing service in the military," Martin said. Crown prosecutor Melissa Hazelton had recommended Hunt receive a two-year suspended sentence, leaving Hunt with a criminal record that likely would have resulted in a dishonourable discharge from the military. A medical discharge, however, remains "an active consideration by the military," Martin said. According to an agreed statement of facts previously disclosed to court, Hunt had been drinking and socializing with the victims and others at one of the victims 17 Wing home the evening of Aug. 12, 2017 when he decided to make the group some bacon and eggs. One of the victims, not liking the way Hunt was cooking the bacon, tried to take over, at which point Hunt "hip-checked" her away from the stove. When the second victim told Hunt to move aside he grabbed the woman by the neck and shoved her against the fridge. When the woman told Hunt he was hurting her he released her, saying "I dont know my own strength." Later that evening, Hunt and the first victim took some blankets to a nearby field to watch a meteor shower. The two kissed for a time, but the woman rebuffed any further advances from Hunt, saying she was married. Later, after she had refused his request for a sex act, Hunt "grabbed and pinched (the victim) in a manner which caused her pain," according to the agreed statement of facts. The woman reported the incident to military police the following morning. According to victim impact statements provided to court, both woman were later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. "I fear that he will do it again," the first victim wrote. "I fear that now he is angry that I told on him and wrecked his life." A career soldier, Hunt has suffered from anxiety and depression since his arrest and last year attempted suicide, court heard. Hunt has no military disciplinary record and was described in support letters as a man "highly regarded" for his dedication and good character, Martin said, going on to note Hunt was cooperative with investigators and took anger management counselling while on bail. "While Mr. Hunt was not intoxicated, it appears clear that drinking affected his social inhibitions and contributed to his behaviour in a manner that was out of character and inconsistent with how he would normally conduct himself," Martin said. dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca THE University of Manitoba is being mum about the circumstances surrounding the faculty of law deans recent leave, deeming it a personnel matter. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. THE University of Manitoba is being mum about the circumstances surrounding the faculty of law deans recent leave, deeming it a personnel matter. According to Jonathan Black-Branchs automatic email response, the dean who was appointed to oversee Robson Hall operations in 2016 is currently on leave. The notice provides no explanation about his departure, nor when or if he will resume his position. Faculty employees told the Free Press that Black-Branch left his post suddenly in early May, and it remains unclear why. When contacted about his leave Monday, the universitys communications team did not answer questions about the circumstances of Black-Branchs leave or when it occurred. In a response, Sean Moore, a communications officer for the Winnipeg-based university, did not even state Black-Branchs name. "The university cannot comment on personnel matters related to leaves or absences," Moore wrote. He said Bruce Curran, associate dean in the faculty, has assumed the role as acting dean until July 1. Effective July 1, David Asper, lawyer, businessman and chairman of the Manitoba Police Commission, will become acting dean at Robson Hall, Moore added, noting Aspers previous academic appointments within the faculty. Meantime, on the universitys website, Black-Branch remained listed as the faculty of laws dean and a professor with expertise in topics including the art of the deal, nuclear non-proliferation in international law and human rights law, as of Monday evening. (Curran is currently still listed as the associate dean.) Neither Black-Branch nor Curran responded to a request for comment in time for publication Monday. When contacted Monday, Asper directed the Free Press to the U of M communications team. Prior to Black-Branchs dean appointment at the Winnipeg university, he worked in various academic leadership positions in schools in the United Kingdom and Denmark. He is also a barrister who is both a lawyer and justice of the peace serving as a magistrate in Oxford, according to his U of M bio. Black-Branch is currently the chairman of the International Law Associations committee on nuclear weapons, non-proliferation and contemporary international law. He is also a co-director of the International Society of Law and Nuclear Disarmament, which was incorporated in Winnipeg in 2019. In mid-May, after going on leave from his dean post, Black-Branch led the U of M team that provided multi-pronged anti-racism education for Sen. Lynn Beyak, who has been under fire since posting racist letters about Indigenous people online. He committed to leading the education program in late April. His term as dean of law ends June 30, 2021. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Despite sweltering heat, the final of eight consecutive days of Winnipeg protests drew a large crowd demanding justice for victims of police brutality. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Despite sweltering heat, the final of eight consecutive days of Winnipeg protests drew a large crowd demanding justice for victims of police brutality. The event organized by Justice 4 Black Lives was held outside the downtown Winnipeg Police Service headquarters Monday afternoon. It was dedicated to five people of colour shot and killed by city police, and two who died while in custody: Machuar Madut, Jason Collins, Eishia Hudson, Stewart Kevin Andrews, Randy Cochrane, Sean Thompson and Chad Williams. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Anastasia, the sister of Eishia Hudson, holds up a sign for her sister as people chant and gather at the daily Justice 4 Black Lives rally outside the Winnipeg Police headquarters Monday. Photos of the seven were held up as people chanted. The images were then taped to the headquarters windows, facing inwards. "When we say, No justice, no peace, we really mean it, because there can be no peace until theres justice for the people who were wrongfully targeted and killed by the Winnipeg police and the RCMP," organizer Diana Ayodele said in a speech to the crowd of around 100. "Therell be no peace until there are significant decreases in police funding and police brutality." While there was no visible police presence, several chants called out the officers in the building, including "We will not forget," followed by: "Youre guilty." Organizers chose to stay past the hour-long scheduled time and led the group in chants, songs and a moment of silence. It marked the second time in eight days a demonstration was also held outside the downtown centre. On Monday afternoon, the WPS tweeted fingerprinting, in-person reporting services and criminal record checks would be closed for the day. A spokeswoman told the Free Press via email the decision to close was due to social-distancing concerns and "limited space to get in and out." Prolonged close contact in outdoor groups larger than 100 is still not allowed under Phase 3 of the provinces novel coronavirus pandemic reopening strategy. On June 5, some 15,000 people congregated in the city to protest the death of a Black American man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minnesota police. There are no cases of COVID-19 in the province reported to be correlated to the June 5 rally. The family of Eishia Hudson was in attendance Monday. Eishia, 16, was shot and killed by city police April 9, after an alleged liquor store robbery. At one point, protesters chanted her name. While none of Hudsons family spoke at the rally, at times, they stood behind speakers. Her father, William Hudson, said he was there to "support the cause." The protest was an emotional experience for him, but he hopes what comes next is "change in the way Indigenous, Black people are treated." "Weve got to be heard, thats why we gather like this," he said. "We just have to support each other, and be there for each other, in tough times like this." Eishias brother, 14-year-old Dominick, lost both his sister and his uncle, Jason Collins, also shot by Winnipeg police, in the span of 24 hours. The teen echoed Hudsons call for systemic change. "Change and justice for everyones lives, Black lives and Indigenous lives," he said. malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: malakabas_ The 1999 South Park movie became popular with Canadians due in part to its tongue-in-cheek song Blame Canada! For all the problems the cartoon residents of the fictional Colorado town were facing, the source of their angst was very real: Canada. Last week's announcement by the Pallister government was reminiscent of this song, except instead of the entire nation being to blame, the culprits are the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the associated Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB). Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 30/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion The 1999 South Park movie became popular with Canadians due in part to its tongue-in-cheek song "Blame Canada!" For all the problems the cartoon residents of the fictional Colorado town were facing, the source of their angst was very real: Canada. Last week's announcement by the Pallister government was reminiscent of this song, except instead of the entire nation being to blame, the culprits are the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the associated Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB). Premier Brian Pallister announced the Manitoba Job Re-start Program will provide $2,000 over six-weeks to eligible workers if they return to work and cease their CERB/CESB benefits. The press release states that both CERB and the CESB, while helpful during the height of the pandemic, have now "become a barrier preventing some from returning to work." In other words, CERB and CESB have promoted dependency and laziness. Good public policy is dependent on three key principles. First, it balances competing public interests, such as between landlords and tenants, or environmental protection and business pursuits. Good public policy aims for balance a difficult task, but the effort must be made. The Manitoba Job Re-start Program is solely rooted in the interests of business pursuits. Consider child care as a good example even prior to the pandemic, accessing quality, regulated, affordable child care was challenging. Now that we are in the pandemic, dealing with school and summer-camp closures, how can workers return to work? More worrisome are reports that child care centres must re-apply for funding and may receive less moving forward. "Childcare is essential," a volunteer movement, is warning of the challenges facing child-care centres to restructure and re-open with lost revenues. A second principle of good public policy concerns impact: will the policy resolve the defined problem? If the problem is workers not returning to work, will the Manitoba Job Re-start Program resolve this? Unlikely! The program requires applicants to work 30 hours per week over six weeks, making part-time workers ineligible. Many full-time jobs are not yet reinstated in Manitoba. Our tourism industry is one example. And where full-time jobs are re-instated, are they quality jobs, or minimum-wage situations with limited or no benefits or job security? This looks like a subsidy-in-hiding to support employers who dont offer living wages. Moreover, workers may need access to child care, personal protective equipment and transit, and some are likely concerned about returning to work because they have compromised immune systems or are caring for family/friends who do. The third principle of good public policy is to ensure consistency across policy decisions. The Manitoba Job Re-start Program is inconsistent with other policy decisions; prior to the announcement of this new program, the Pallister government had also cut "non-essential" public-sector jobs to make resources available for pandemic response, thereby throwing Manitobans out of work. Why use provincial funds to subsidize workers away from CERB/CESB, which are bringing federal funds into the province, while cutting other workers? The answer is likely ideological: the Pallister government prioritizes the private sector over all else. Most concerning about the Manitoba Job Re-start Program is the dangerous assumption on which it is built: that Manitobans are dependent on CERB/CESB and are unwilling to work, so they must be incentivized to do so. There is an underlying moral imperative that citizens must return to work, whether or not the work pays a living wage, and regardless of their health or care commitments. The reality is that the complexities related to COVID-19 are immense, and simple solutions such as the Manitoba Job Re-start Program offer nothing to those most vulnerable among us. To blame CERB/CESB is faulty logic and likely ideologically driven; the Pallister government has provided very limited support to citizens during the pandemic to renters, parents, child-care centres, low-income workers, non-profits, EIA recipients and many others. In April 2015, Pallister declared that he would "build a better future for all Manitobans." Now is the time to set aside faulty assumptions and develop public policy that actually supports Manitobans. Karine Levasseur is an associate professor in the department of political studies and Lorna Turnbull is professor in the faculty of law at the University of Manitoba. Karine.levasseur@umanitoba.ca Lorna.turnbull@umanitoba.ca A group of Conservative MPs have started a petition to honour Sgt. Tommy Prince on Canadas next $5 bill design. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A group of Conservative MPs have started a petition to honour Sgt. Tommy Prince on Canadas next $5 bill design. Its a noble gesture, initiated by Marty Morantz (CharleswoodSt. JamesAssiniboiaHeadingley) and James Bezan (SelkirkInterlakeEastman) and intended to honour the Prince as "a great Indigenous Canadian who embodies duty, courage, bravery, and patriotism." Princes life was incredible: it includes multiple tours of duty in the Second World War and the Korean War, receiving the highest medals for bravery, and a lifelong ethic to protect human life including saving a drowning man at the Alexander Docks in 1955. Tommy Prince in Korea in 1953. He was a great-great-grandson of Chief Peguis and a descendent of St. Peters Indian Settlement (a community removed by the government of Canada in 1907 to whats now Peguis First Nation). He knew how important land and Indigenous rights were to Indigenous survival, resulting in him advocating post-war for his community (Brokenhead Ojibway Nation) and all Indigenous peoples as chairman of the Manitoba Indian Association fighting some of the most brutal years of the Indian Act. At the same time, Prince was a residential school survivor who experienced trauma throughout his life. He was stabbed by a fellow Brokenhead citizen, lost his business due to unscrupulous partners, and suffered permanent disabilities as a result of combat. He never received veterans benefits on par with other Canadian soldiers, and lived when being an Indigenous person meant you experienced discrimination, racism, and violence on a daily basis. Prince may have been a patriot, but Canada never returned the favour. He turned to alcohol in his attempt to escape. He lost his family, his children, his home, and lived in downtown Winnipeg shelters, selling his medals to survive. He died virtually alone in 1977. The story of Tommy Prince is as much defined by trauma as heroism. Both defined his life. Honouring him therefore cannot simply be putting his name and face on buildings and dollars, but stopping the very racism and discrimination he experienced and is still happening. On Sunday night, I went out with Mama Bear Clan on a weekly patrol. As always, the volunteer group knew what to expect on the last weekend of the month, when Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and veteran disability pension cheques are paid out. For most of Winnipeg, the last weekend of the month goes by like any other. For some Indigenous families, its fairly unremarkable, too. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Tommy Prince lies in Brookside Cemetery's Field of Honour. For those working downtown, though, it is when many of the most marginalized seniors, veterans, and those living with disabilities have the most amount of money they will see for the month. These are residential school and intergenerational survivors, and people who use wheelchairs and canes to get around, with few family supports due to estrangement or distance. Virtually all are coping with real-life, ongoing struggles in which escape is the easiest path. This is where alcohol, drugs, and gambling enter. For the Indigenous community, these are not random people but our elders: aunties, uncles, nookums and mishoms. They need proper housing, healthy food, suitable incomes and proper mental health services that focus on trauma and violence, But, most of all, they need to live in a world that values them. Without it, you see what we saw Sunday night. For weeks, Ive written about the emergency situation in Winnipegs downtown and around Thunderbird House, due to the removal of a tent city and slashed city programs and provincial social services. I wont recount that here. However, there is garbage and needles everywhere. People are huddled in groups, sharing what they have, especially water. There is open use of drugs and alcohol, with people passed out in the sweltering heat. Beyond gifting food, water, and medical supplies, Mama Bear Clan offers a medicinal smudge to anyone who wants one. As we arrive at Thunderbird House, an elder asks for us to smudge and then launches into a long prayer using some of the most beautiful Ojibwa I have ever heard. He is intoxicated but speaks clearly, asking for the Creator to protect every direction, every person, every bird, animal, fish, and being around us. He then says he loves us, and to go in peace. We thanked our uncle for his duty, courage, and bravery and promised to return. We should honour Tommy Prince, but Im betting he would rather us give back what he and thousands like him have never received: change. niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca Are we still debating whether the word "systemic" should almost always precede the word "racism?" Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Are we still debating whether the word "systemic" should almost always precede the word "racism?" Last week, at the urging of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, all of Canada's provincial and territorial leaders were asked to sign a joint declaration condemning racism. It was a worthy gesture at a time when many Canadians of different backgrounds are united to ask for real change. However, some of the first ministers would not agree on including the term "systemic racism," so it was left out. ADRIAN WYLD / CANADIAN PRESS FILES Last week, at the urging of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, all of Canada's provincial and territorial leaders were asked to sign a joint declaration condemning racism. Identified as one of the dissident first ministers, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he does not believe "in the existence of systemic racism in Quebec. Yes, racism exists in Quebec, as in any other society, but it is not true that Quebec has put in place, consciously or not, a system to exclude and discriminate against people." Legault was joined by Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, who explained the declaration did not need to use the word "systemic" because it was implied. "The statement declares that 'First Ministers condemn all forms of racism', including systemic racism," Pallister said via email statement. That's a poor example of logic by Legault, and a pretty shameless dodge from Pallister. But it does graphically demonstrate how far we are from confronting racism in a meaningful and effective way. Why should so much importance be attributed to a single word? The concept of "institutional racism" was first expressed by Black leaders Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton in their 1967 book, Black Power: the Politics of Liberation. The authors argued there needed to be a distinct recognition of "less overt, far more subtle" forms of racism that were present "in the operation of established and respected forces in the society." MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Over his long career, Murray Sinclair has maintained attention must be paid to both racists and systemic racism in order to make progress. Over the decades since the idea was first cast, social science has proven systemic racism is hardly theoretical. People of colour in countries around the world are regularly subjected to race-based bias in everything from health care to financial services, education, employment, incomes and housing. The data is abundant and incontrovertible. In the face of all this evidence, the mostly white people who dominate the "established and respected forces in society" have tried to suggest as Legault did in his comments systemic racism means a system where everyone in it is racist. In making that argument, Legault is trying to portray the idea of systemic racism in indemonstrable terms. However, that's not really what it means. Sen. Murray Sinclair, who has investigated and exposed systemic racism against Indigenous people, is, not surprisingly, a voice of clarity on this issue. Over his long career, Sinclair has maintained attention must be paid to both racists and systemic racism in order to make progress. PAUL CHIASSON / CANADIAN PRESS FILES Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he does not believe "in the existence of systemic racism in Quebec." In his 2018 inquiry into the Thunder Bay Police Service, Sinclair concluded "systemic racism exists in the TBPS at an institutional level." In an interview with the Globe and Mail about the inquiry, Sinclair said it is ultimately pointless to acknowledge racism without also dealing with its systemic constructs. "I explained to them that its the system itself that is founded upon beliefs and attitudes and policies that virtually force even the non-racist person to behave in a racist way. If you get rid of all the racists in every police force, youll still have a systemic racism problem." That is a simple but important point Legault and Pallister reportedly along with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney just don't seem to be able to absorb. The response from Pallister on the joint declaration is disappointing but hardly surprising. Throughout his career, he has faithfully clung to the language and policies of the status quo when it comes to issues of race, despite pleadings to the contrary. Whenever he gets into trouble on issues of race, Pallister cites efforts while a federal MP to enshrine property rights to First Nation women involved in matrimonial disputes. And while that position was noble, it does not mitigate his other missteps on race and racism. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Premier Brian Pallister explained the declaration did not need to use the word "systemic" because it was implied. In response to a question at a news conference in early June about ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, Pallister uttered the phrase "All lives matter." Later, Pallister tried to clarify his statement, claiming he did not know that term had become a dog whistle for anti-BLM forces, some of them with a decidedly racist perspective. Did the Manitoba premier know what he was saying? In the end, it doesn't really matter. As Pallister demonstrated, we have far too many people arguing while they might have said something racist, they aren't racists. Or they oppose racism, but deny the existence of systemic racism. One of the antidotes to the persistent inequality and discrimination that afflicts our world must be accountability. We need political leaders who can own their words and actions. Leaders who can admit to a problem, then outline specific ways in which we can make things better. Offering to address a problem while denying one of the major ways it exists is one of the last refuges of cowards. It's a pathetic attempt by political leaders to done the robes of progressives while performing the quiet work of an agent of the status quo. Let's call things by their proper names both the problem and the people who stand in the way of the solution. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca Now we prepare for Canada Day, our annual moment of flag-waving, boasting, self-congratulation and national pride all of it done in a restrained, almost apologetic, very Canadian way. We have to get our patriotic licks in now before we are drowned out by Americas outpouring of national pride three days later. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Now we prepare for Canada Day, our annual moment of flag-waving, boasting, self-congratulation and national pride all of it done in a restrained, almost apologetic, very Canadian way. We have to get our patriotic licks in now before we are drowned out by Americas outpouring of national pride three days later. Its an odd kind of anniversary marking 153 years since some people in England decided that Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia should form a country. Britain wanted to get rid of its colonies, but Ontario and Quebec had never succeeded in governing themselves. Prince Edward Island did not wish to be involved. Newfoundland, the Prairies, the Arctic and the folks on the West Coast were not invited. It was an awkward solution to a local problem between the English and the French of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. As it turned out, the thing worked well so that after a few more annexations, huge waves of immigration, a couple of world wars and a great deal of railway-building, Canada turned out to be one of the worlds most prosperous countries, covering half a continent, happier, healthier and more peaceful than most places. Colder, admittedly, but we deal with that by putting most of the people in the southernmost climes a few miles from the U.S. border. Canada turned out to be one of the worlds most prosperous countries, covering half a continent, happier, healthier and more peaceful than most places. We usually celebrate this annual occasion by gathering in huge crowds at places like The Forks and Parliament Hill to people-watch and enjoy stage shows and fireworks. None of that this year, on account of the virus, but a mere pandemic doesnt prevent us from gathering in our families and our bubble-groups to rejoice in our shared good fortune. The virus has taught us how closely we depend on each other. Especially in the densely packed cities, we are breathing each others air and (potentially) sharing each others viruses. Fortunately, we do know how to keep two metres apart when we have to, and we do know how to accept personal inconvenience for the benefit of our neighbours and ourselves. The virus has also taught us that we have not been careful enough about protecting the health of our oldest neighbours and others in long-term care. Nor have we adequately housed the temporary-migrant farm workers who cultivate our orchards and pick our tomatoes. The packing-house workers who also help feed us need better health protection than used to be customary. The country has decided in principle to repair those flaws exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. We may become a better country as a result. Canada has its flaws, of course, but when you look around the world, which other countrys flaws would you rather have? Fortunately for todays Canadians, this vast regions Indigenous peoples somehow survived the disruptive arrival of settlers. Smallpox killed many. Extermination of the plains bison starved many more. A remnant survived, however. From that remnant, Canadians can learn that the land gives us life. The land should be treasured and cared for and shared. Canada has embarked on a path of reconciliation with its Indigenous people. Now, more and more, Canada is ready to start following their advice. Canada has its flaws, of course, but when you look around the world, which other countrys flaws would you rather have? So go ahead, Canada, pat yourself on the back. Admit that this is a fabulous place to live and join the effort to keep making it better. Wish your neighbour a happy Canada Day from two metres away and hopefully well see each other next year at The Forks. A small number of Manitobans have received workers compensation due to COVID-19, and none has been allowed to refuse work on safety grounds related to the pandemic. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A small number of Manitobans have received workers compensation due to COVID-19, and none has been allowed to refuse work on safety grounds related to the pandemic. As of three weeks ago, the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) had accepted 15 claims, all from health workers, related to the pandemic. In April, an outbreak of 10 employees of the Health Sciences Centre tested positive for COVID-19; that outbreak has since been resolved. In total, WCB received 156 claims about COVID-19 between mid-March and June 3. Those attempted claims include health care, public administration and other workplaces. The other 141 claims were abandoned, either because the worker tested negative, didnt provide documentation or opted to withdraw the claim. Meanwhile, the labour department has not upheld any refusals to work under the Workplace Safety and Health Legislation due to the coronavirus. As of Monday, WSH inspectors assessed nine formal attempts to refuse work related to COVID-19, but says it resolved those disputes. "The majority of these refusals related to personal protective equipment, social distancing and safety protocols," a provincial spokeswoman wrote. Generally, WSH staff find a solution with employers; outright refusals are rare. They require not just the risk of an injury at work, but an outright danger that is unusual for the job at hand, or inadequate protocols to prevent injury. The provincial law covers most workers in Manitoba, though those in federally regulated workplaces like railways and banks fall under the federal labour code. A formal refusal to work is mandatory for anyone receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) who is called back to work to continue staying at home. Under the attestation when applying for the CERB, Canadians must commit to returning to work when asked, unless they have been successful in formally refusing dangerous work. Both the WCB and WSH say they are monitoring labour conditions as the province continues opening up. Because so many businesses closed at the start of the pandemic, the WCB recorded a 20 per cent drop in claims for the first five months of this year. Claims rose as businesses started reopening, though it had not reached normal levels as of mid-June. "WCB and SAFE Work Manitoba will closely monitor the recovery in each sector and continue to work with industries, to help prevent a rebound of injuries as the economy recovers and workplaces return to pre-pandemic operations," wrote spokeswoman Tracey Shelton. The WCB provided its data earlier this month, while the WSH took much longer to assemble its statistics. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Manitoba's consumer protection office has received 25 complaints of price gouging since the onset of COVID-19, although none has so far resulted in a fine against a retailer. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba's consumer protection office has received 25 complaints of price gouging since the onset of COVID-19, although none has so far resulted in a fine against a retailer. Most of the complaints have centred around the cost of masks, hand sanitizer, toilet paper and food items. The CPO said seven of the 25 complaints are still under investigation. The office, which declined repeated requests for an interview, said through a provincial spokeswoman that it has received another 75 queries about product pricing during the pandemic. "We follow up on all information we receive, which includes contacting the businesses involved to help resolve the issue, if required," the spokeswoman said. "The story was that corner stores were gouging." ICYA executive director Kent Dueck The government said it does not provide specifics about complaints or identify businesses unless cases go to court. Under provincial legislation, fines are only assessed if a business is legally convicted. The number of price-gouging complaints received in Manitoba is small compared to British Columbia, where consumer protection officials received more than 2,000 complaints between March 1 and May 14, according to a recent CTV report. Of the 2,065 complaints received, 357 led to investigations. All were launched after that province introduced a $2,000 fine for businesses exploiting the crisis in mid-April. The report noted that no fines had so far been levied. Manitoba has no comparative data for previous years because the CPO did not previously keep statistics on reports of price gouging. When North End corner stores started jacking up the price of toilet paper by as much as $12 for six rolls in March, the non-profit group, Inner City Youth Alive (ICYA) began purchasing the product at other places and re-selling it at cost to local residents. "The story was that corner stores were gouging," said Kent Dueck, ICYA's executive director. A lot of low-income seniors were among those who ventured to the organization's headquarters at Aberdeen Avenue and Salter Street to obtain the hard-to-get product. "I know there was a woman fighting cancer and she could hardly get out. And so we were a bit of a life line," said Dueck, who heard stories of folks travelling as far as Scanterbury to buy TP. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Prices for products such as hand sanitizer, masks, gloves, toilet paper and other goods rose temporarily in big stores as wholesalers and retailers responded to shortages. Dueck said ICYA distributed toilet paper through a take-out window at its offices for two-and-a-half months, ending the service about three weeks ago after supplies and prices returned to more normal levels. He said a number of storeowners who jacked up prices likely did so after weighing the likelihood that they would face legal consequences. If they believed it to be low, they may have thought it was a risk worth taking. John Graham, director of government relations, Prairie region, for the Retail Council of Canada, said the problem occurred in small stores in March and early April. "They were selling things at prices that were substantially higher than consumers would see in other stores," he said. However, word soon got out and governments across the country issued warnings against gouging that "really tamped that down," Graham said. "You've got some Manitobans with a basement worth of toilet paper that they'll take years to get through out of irrational buying." Retail Council of Canada John Graham He noted that prices for products such as hand sanitizer, masks, gloves, toilet paper and other goods also rose temporarily in big stores as wholesalers and retailers responded to shortages. "Wholesale prices rose as global demand was going after the same limited supply," Graham said. "And so production adjusted and there was more supply, costs fell ..." Meanwhile, some consumers who panicked and overbought some products might be wishing they had been a little more patient. "You've got some Manitobans with a basement worth of toilet paper that they'll take years to get through out of irrational buying," Graham said. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Want to celebrate Canada Day with a bunch of people, watching a fireworks display? Prepare to go on a road trip. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 29/6/2020 (356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Want to celebrate Canada Day with a bunch of people, watching a fireworks display? Prepare to go on a road trip. Normally, Winnipeggers would gather at The Forks or Osborne Village or Assiniboine Park to celebrate the nation's July 1 birthday, but COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have forced the cancellations of all three in recent weeks. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Some of Red Bomb Fireworks top picks for Canada Day this year. Instead, The Forks is holding a virtual Canada Day on Facebook and YouTube, capped off with fireworks in a video prepared several weeks ago at an isolated location. "There is signage all over the site, telling people there is no show and no fireworks," Clare MacKay, The Forks vice-president of strategic initiatives, said Monday. "We will have extra people on that day saying the same to all who ask. (Meanwhile), the site is open, as it always is, with 54 acres to spread out across, and our shops and restaurants are open as they are normally on a weekday." What's open, what's not this Canada Day Click to Expand A meerkat at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. Posted: 5:18 PM Jun. 29, 2020 Canada Day in Winnipeg will look a lot different in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. It's still a day off work for most, but annual events such as the Osborne Village street party and Canada Day concert at The Forks have been cancelled in light of public health orders limiting gathering sizes. The Free Press does not publish a July 1 print edition, but an e-edition of the paper will be available at winnipegfreepress.com. Read Full Story For those determined to see live fireworks in southeast Manitoba, both Richer and St. Pierre-Jolys are going ahead with their evening celebrations. Darson Dueck, a director of the Richer Community Club, said the event will be held at Dawson Trail Park. The community some 60 kilometres east of the city is planning to host hundreds of vehicles. "We were planning to cancel it we were on the edge but then everybody was cancelling and that gave me motivation and started to brainstorm," Dueck said. "We figure we'll get a good turnout." Dueck said everyone attending will be asked to follow provincial pandemic guidelines, including only exiting on the driver's side of the vehicle, where they can put down a blanket or chairs to watch the fireworks display. The nearby church will be going around selling snack food; first 500 children will get a free goody bag. "There is big interest for this," he said. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Candice Mitchell of Archangel Fireworks. Meanwhile, in Winnipeg, two companies that sell fireworks say sales have skyrocketed in the last couple of weeks. "It's probably the quietest Canada Day, but also the most complicated Canada Day," said Candice Mitchell, director of sales and events with Archangel Fireworks. "Fireworks bring people together and around, but unfortunately now that is the last thing you want... but this is always a really busy time for us and we've been so busy this year. We are probably busier than we usually are." "Fireworks bring people together and around, but unfortunately now that is the last thing you want." Candice Mitchell, director of sales and events with Archangel Fireworks Mitchell said the other side of the business going around the province, blasting off large-scale fireworks shows has taken a hit this year, with the vast majority being cancelled or being rescheduled to September, for now. Matt Bialek, president of Red Bomb, said his business took a 40 per cent drop during the initial weeks of the pandemic and non-essential business shutdown. "We didn't know what would happen, but in the past two weeks, we've seen the demand come through," Bialek said. "I don't know how we would have recovered if not for Canada Day. "It is last-minute people are realizing there isn't any place to go." MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Amber Proutt (left) and Emma Fernando show off some of the store's top picks at Red Bomb Fireworks. However, you can't just light a fuse and watch a Roman candle go up. First, you have to get a fireworks display permit from the City of Winnipeg (fireinspections@winnipeg.ca). It is free, but the restrictions attached will likely mean you'll be looking elsewhere for your fireworks fix. (For cottage country use, check with the local municipality or provincial park.) Sherry Reich, director of fire prevention with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, says the main problem for an urban resident is adequate space. "Your base has to be 100 feet from property lines, overhead wires, buildings even the street," she said. "It really prohibits most people from getting these permits." "I don't know how we would have recovered if not for Canada Day." Matt Bialek, president of Red Bomb Fireworks Reich said some are able to get enough room if they go in with a neighbour, but most can only shoot off private fireworks if they reserve a spot in a civic park. It runs about $65 for four hours and needs to be pre-booked before applying for the fireworks permit. "We want to make sure people are safe," Reich said. "Fireworks are regulated as explosives." Reich said the city processed 16 consumer fireworks permits last year. "This June, we have processed 12 so far, but I called our clerk and she says there are about 25 in process," she said. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca WISCONSIN DELLSGary Klicko, age 84, of Wisconsin Dells, Wis., passed away Sunday, June 28, 2020, at UW Hospital in Madison, Wis. A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held Saturday, July 11, 2020, at 11 a.m. at BOWMAN PARK in Wisconsin Dells with Pastor Blake Overlien officiating. A Celebration of Life Gathering will begin at 10 a.m. and continue into the afternoon. Gary was born March 2, 1936, in Springville Township, Adams County, Wis., the son of Charles and Evelyn (Stone) Klicko Jr. Following high school graduation he was drafted twice and served in the U.S. Army, first during the Korean Conflict and second for the Berlin Crisis. Gary farmed and worked with sawmills and lumber most all of his life, even while working full time delivering mail for 33 years, and he retired in 1991. From there he continued sawing lumber up to the present time. In August of 2000 he married Nancy Conn in Las Vegas, Nev. Nobody likes to be told what they can and cannot do as an adult. When we were children, we had to follow the rules, listen to our elders, authorities and teachers. As adults we want to make our own decisions, do what we want and be independent. I honestly think some people didnt get to be naughty enough as children so they are rebelling now. Like the 14-year-olds who never got to sneak a beer, they have turned into 21-year-olds who drink themselves silly every weekend. Breaking free of the restraints of society must be cool in some sectors. Who wants to adhere to anti-littering campaigns when we know there are park employees paid to pick up after us? Why should we follow speed limits when there is clearly no one else around? Who needs to take precautions when we are all going to get this COVID thing at some time anyway, and some will die, but not us? With long and confusing guidelines put out by every level of government and agency, many conflicting, it is no wonder we want to throw up our hands and cry uncle. The patchwork, rolling targetor are they rolling targets?ever changing rules are a conundrum. Juneau County isnt the first county to come up with the unique idea. According to Dairy Farms of Wisconsin website, Lafayette and Auburndale hosted a drive thru dairy breakfast event the same weekend as Juneau County. In August, the Dane County Dairy Breakfast will be a drive thru event, according to the website. Without leaving their vehicle, attendees got a glimpse of what life is like at Cattail Dairy Farms through the self-guided tour, seeing the machinery, how the feed is mixed and driving through the free stall barn where the cows are housed. Arrows guided vehicles to the next point in the tour and signs along the route explained how operations are conducted daily on the farm. A car photo booth was at the end of the barn where photos could be taken by a photographer from a social distance. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} Every car received a free gallon of milk and breakfast in a to-go container filled with biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, cheese curds and yogurt at the end of the route. Enough food was available for 1,000 people, Erickson said. For safety precautions, those cooking food wore masks, she said. While the event was different this year, Erickson said it still shed light on the importance and education about dairy farm operations. Advocate Aurora Healths focus on patient care, population health and building healthy communities aligns well with the missions and visions of Quartzs other provider owners, Terry Bolz, president and CEO of Quartz, said in a statement in January. According to the application the organizations filed May 1 with the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, Advocate Aurora will pay $5 million or whatever amount is needed to acquire at least 15%, but no more than 20%, of membership rights in Quartz Health Plan Corp. That part of Quartz handles its Medicare Advantage business, Quartz spokeswoman Christina Ott said. Quartz, which operates in 28 Wisconsin counties, will expand its Medicare Advantage business, but not other offerings, into an additional 10 counties in eastern Wisconsin, Ott said. We have no plans to expand any other lines of business at this time, she said. But some observers wonder if the move is part of a broader plan that could drive up health care costs. As a game of who knew what when plays out with the administration -- this time about US intelligence that Russia was allegedly paying Taliban proxies to kill US and British troops in Afghanistan -- we can't lose sight of the big picture: Putin feels increasingly empowered under this President and that's a dangerous outlook for US national security. It is important to understand whether President Donald Trump was briefed on this intel if it was, in fact, reliable intelligence. If he's lying in his denial about being briefed and he did know that our forces were at risk, Americans would have reason to assess that Russia paying for the murder of Americans isn't a redline for Trump. The New York Times, which broke the story, reported Trump was briefed on the bounty information back in March. Trump said that is not true, before tweeting on Sunday: "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!" There are in fact times when Presidents are not briefed on threat reporting, but that's normally because the intelligence isn't reliable if it is still being vetted and there isn't a lot of confidence in its veracity. In this particular case, there are indicators that officials had at some degree of confidence in the intelligence. A US official with knowledge of the matter confirmed to CNN that some measures were taken to protect US troops in light of the intelligence. It is possible that these measures were taken as an added precaution while the intel was being vetted, but this is the kind of development you typically flag for a US President. The New York Times reported that a White House meeting was held to discuss possible response options. Even if this was a working level meeting, it is atypical to hold a White House meeting about responding to threat streams if you think they don't exist. Plus, according to the Times' reporting, the intel was shared with the UK, implying a level of relative confidence in its veracity. It does not appear that reliability was a limiting factor here. Even if the intel was still being vetted, there were people who thought it was reliable enough to respond to in various ways. Based on my four years at the White House, that typically warrants at least a mention to the President. Reliable intelligence on threats to Americans may be provided to the President in a number of ways: The Presidential Daily Briefing, briefing memos, oral briefings ahead of calls with counterparts and more. So, while reliable intelligence would likely be available to a President, there's no guarantee this President chose to digest it. He has had a closed door policy when it comes to intelligence on other threats to Americans -- like Covid-19 or North Korea. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton recently said in an ABC News interview that Trump received intelligence briefings relatively infrequently and that he rarely read much when he did. So it wouldn't be out of character for Trump to opt out of intelligence briefings that would have contained this recent threat reporting. The only other explanation is that multiple members of Trump's handpicked team failed, on multiple occasions, to brief him on this intelligence or to make him aware that vetting of this threat reporting was underway. Any way you cut it, incompetence brings with it fatal consequences. Actions were not taken to punish Russia for allegedly targeting Americans. This failure to hold Putin accountable unfortunately comes as no surprise. If the intelligence is correct, four years into Trump's Presidency, Putin feels omnipotent enough to try to kill Americans. Trump has inaccurately blamed former President Barack Obama for letting Russia invade Ukraine when the reality is that Trump created an environment in which he's not only letting Putin attack our democracy, he is potentially letting Putin attack US soldiers. Trump's failure to personally hold Putin accountable for myriad previous illegal operations would give the Russian leader good reason to think that Trump's a pushover even when it comes to the physical well-being of American troops. Trump has shown little reluctance about cajoling and rewarding despots who harm Americans. Just look at his praise for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even after American Otto Warmbier died following being jailed by Pyongyang. Or Trump's decision to "stand with Saudi Arabia" after the Saudi Crown Prince was accused of ordering the murder of American resident Jamal Khashoggi. When it comes to the Russian president, the administration not only failed to impose penalties on Putin -- Trump offered Putin prizes like inviting him to attend a G7 meeting and announcing a drawdown in US forces in Germany which undoubtedly pleases Putin. The who-knew-what-when trail is important to follow, but we do have to remember that to date, Russia has not been punished. That means that there may be ongoing, live threat streams to our personnel wherever Russia can pay proxies to try to kill them. If the allegations are true, the first order of business must be imposing costs on Russia so that they don't do this again. That will require the President absorbing the intelligence and using it (and not his insatiable desire to placate Putin) to drive real, informed policy decisions. It will concurrently require the President to coordinate with allies. A coordinated response to Putin will be more impactful. Unfortunately, if past is prologue -- Trump has an allergy to exactly those two things: integrating intelligence and coordinating with allies. It's hard to imagine the President standing up to Putin based on what appears to be his desire to keep Putin happy. But if the reports are true and murdering Americans isn't a red line for POTUS, it's hard to imagine what is. Yale University will reopen in the fall without sophomores living on campus and then will be open in the spring without freshmen living on campus in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus, Yale's president and provost announced in a letter to the community. Juniors and seniors can choose to leave in on-campus housing both semesters. The decision will allow the university to lower its student population living in the campus colleges to about 60% of normal, President Peter Salovey and Provost Scott Strobel said. In addition, most undergraduate courses will be taught remotely so all students, whether living on or off campus, can attend. A small number of classes, such as labs or studio work, will take place in person in socially distanced settings, the university said. Undergraduate students living on or off campus will be required to be tested weekly. As per Connecticut rules, all students arriving from abroad or from states with high Covid-19 transmission rates will be required to quarantine for 14 days. And overall, all students will be asked to wear face masks and social distance. 'These decisions are possible because of the continued decline in community transmission of COVID-19 in Connecticut, the creation of a university-wide COVID-19 screening program, and the implementation of other health and safety actions,' wrote President Peter Salovey and Provost Scott Strobel. Yale's decision comes as schools and colleges across the country are grappling with how to reopen safely while still mitigating the spread of a virus that thrives in places with close contact. Some colleges have made plans to bring students back but with delayed starts to classes, shortened semesters, and attempts to reduce travel. For K-12 schools, the American Academy of Pediatrics is pushing for students to be physically present in classrooms rather than continue in remote learning for the sake of their well-being. The group, which represents and guides pediatricians across the country, updated its back-to-school recommendations to say evidence shows the academic, mental and physical benefits of in-person learning outweigh the risks from the coronavirus. Connecticut was once one of the worst-hit states in the coronavirus pandemic, but its case totals have declined in the past several months. On Tuesday, the state reported 152 new positive Covid-19 cases, which equated to less than 1% of the total tests conducted. In general, younger people are less likely to have severe outcomes from Covid-19 infection, but they can still get sick and spread the disease to others. Amazon is giving out more than $500 million as a "Thank You bonus" to front-line workers who were with the company throughout the month of June, a move that comes after the e-commerce giant eliminated a $2 hourly wage bump and double overtime pay for frontline workers at the end of May. "Our front-line operations teams have been on an incredible journey over the last few months, and we want to show our appreciation with a special one-time Thank You bonus totaling over $500 million," said Amazon senior vice president of worldwide operations Dave Clark in a note about the bonuses. The one-time bonus amounts vary. Full-time employees of Amazon, Amazon-owned Whole Foods, or drivers for delivery service partners will get $500; part-time employees or drivers will get $250; front-line leaders at Amazon and Whole Foods will get $1,000; and delivery service partner owners, who help get packages to customers, will get $3,000. Drivers for Amazon Flex who worked more than 10 hours in June will get $150. Amazon has seen soaring demand during the pandemic as people stay home and look to its products and services as a lifeline for household essentials. But it has also become the subject of increased scrutiny concerning the workplace conditions of its warehouses, which include 110 fulfillment centers across North America with 400,000 employees. The company has also been criticized for not providing enough information about the true impact of the public heath crisis on its workers. There have been at least 10 deaths among its warehouse employees who have tested positive for coronavirus. Earlier this month, New York Attorney General Letitia James' office interviewed workers from several Amazon facilities in New York City as part of an investigation into worker concerns over coronavirus-related safety measures. The company is also facing a lawsuit over an alleged lack of coronavirus protections at its Staten Island facility. In response to the suit, Amazon said it has taken a variety of steps to prevent the spread of the virus, including making more than 150 "process changes" to its operations to enhance safety. When reporting its first quarter earnings, Amazon said it spent more than $600 million on coronavirus-related costs during the first three months of the year, and said it expected these costs could grow to at least $4 billion in the second quarter. UTICA, N.Y. The House Armed Services Committee is reviewing the National Defense Authorization Act, and Congressman Anthony Brindisi, D-22, is pushing to secure the roles of local industries in national defense. Brindisi, who serves on the committee, says places like Rome Lab and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) in Rome are crucial to developing new technologies for national defense. The congressman is pushing for the following key items in the bill: Supporting NY-22 defense installations: Including quantum research, and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS technologies. He will call for a $30 million increase in investments in Rome Lab and fight for provisions that put restrictions on reductions in workforce at DFAS. Including quantum research, and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and counter-UAS technologies. He will call for a $30 million increase in investments in Rome Lab and fight for provisions that put restrictions on reductions in workforce at DFAS. Expanding Mental Health Care Services For Servicemembers: Brindisi will call for a Department of Defense strategy to address the shortage of mental health providers, and commission a report on the DODs efforts to increase access to suicide prevention and assist active duty servicemembers seeking help for mental health care. Brindisi will call for a Department of Defense strategy to address the shortage of mental health providers, and commission a report on the DODs efforts to increase access to suicide prevention and assist active duty servicemembers seeking help for mental health care. Strengthening American manufacturing and holding China accountable: Reducing dependency on foreign countries and holding DOD accountable when trying to buy non-American goods. Brindisi is also pushing an amendment to strengthen the reporting of the Navys Freedom of Navigation operations. Reducing dependency on foreign countries and holding DOD accountable when trying to buy non-American goods. Brindisi is also pushing an amendment to strengthen the reporting of the Navys Freedom of Navigation operations. Cementing NY-22 as a nationwide leader in good-paying, high-tech defense jobs: Pushing for investment in deterrents, new technology, and national security creating good-paying jobs across NY-22. "The road to a strong defense runs through New York's 22nd District -- whether its helicopters built in the Southern Tier, ground-breaking research at Rome Labs, the hard-working members at DFAS or the finest flatware produced at Sherrill Manufacturing for our troops -- our region is key to defending our nation and getting our brave men and women in uniform what they need," said Brindisi. Brindisi sponsored the SPOONSS Act, which was signed into law last year, and requires that the Department of Defense purchase American-made flatware. UTICA, N.Y. Cree, the company building a manufacturing facility in Marcy, has donated $3.5 million to SUNY Polytechnic Institute for new student scholarship and faculty chair programs. The new manufacturing facility will produce silicon carbide wafers, and is partnering with SUNY Poly to bring students into their workforce. The donation will be used to establish the Cree Wolfspeed Scholarship and the Dr. John Edmond and Dr. John Palmour SUNY Polytechnic Institute endowed faculty chairs, to support expanding education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Establishing this education program is another important step in our broader effort to have a substantial positive impact in the local communities where we live and work, said Cree CEO Gregg Lowe. The two faculty chairs will be funded with $1.5 million of the donation, while the other $2 million will support the scholarship program over 10 years, beginning in August. The scholarships will be awarded to students from marginalized communities and low-income families. The faculty chair award is the highest honor university staff can receive, and are named in tribute to Cree founders, according to Lowe. This is also a spectacular and well-deserved honor for our cofounders, John Edmond and John Palmour, and it recognizes the innovative spirit and significant contributions they have made and continue to make to accelerating the commercialization and adoption of silicon carbide technology. These faculty chairs will allow more students to learn from and work closely with pioneering scholars in the silicon carbide space, he said. In November of 2019, Cree donated $25,000 to SUNY Poly to invest in STEM education. CLARK MILLS, N.Y. (UPDATED) The Oneida County Sheriffs Offices Underwater Search and Rescue team pulled a body from Oriskany Creek near Main Street in Clark Mills Tuesday morning. Authorities were called to the scene around 7 a.m. after a passerby saw the body in the water, and called 911. The dive team pulled a man's body out around 9:30 a.m. The road was blocked in the area of the Clark Mills American Legion while authorities investigated. The sheriff's office says the death does not appear to be suspicious, but they are still determining the official cause. No details about the man's identity have been released at this time. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York is urging travelers from eight additional states to self-quarantine for 14 days as it awaits a decision on the reopening of indoor dining in New York City. "We've set metrics for community spread just as we've set metrics for everything the state does to fight COVID-19, and eight more states have reached the level of spread required to qualify for New York's travel advisory, meaning we will now require individuals traveling to New York from those states to quarantine for 14 days," said Cuomo. The following state are all included in the travel advisory: Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina Nevada South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a television interview that he plans to send state police and health and liquor officials to New York City on Tuesday night ahead of his decision expected Wednesday. The Democratic governor said hes worried by reports that dining in closed, indoor areas with air-conditioned systems could lead to spikes in COVID-19. Cuomo has warned that those out-of-state travelers could lead to a rise in infections. UTICA- During a briefing on Monday, the governor announced New York State Police will start a "Fireworks Enforcement Detail", meant to seek out illegal fireworks and expand powers for law enforcement. He said it's to help with the increased number of fireworks complaints across the state. Governor Andrew Cuomo expressed his dissatisfaction for fireworks going off. "I've never heard it like this before," he said. "They are disturbing and they are bothering people and they are dangerous." He says the primary supplier for New York State is Pennsylvania. "We're going to try to prevent the fireworks from coming into the state in the first place before they get distributed." Cuomo said the state will also help local governments deal with the issue. "But I need local government in this state to be taking it seriously." Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said residents should calm down with the fireworks. "They're putting a great many people at risk and it is causing a great strife in neighborhoods and police are getting stressed out and dealing with that and all the other concerns that they have." Utica Police say possessing illegal fieworks is a Class B Misdemeanor. A top US health official made another plea Tuesday for Americans -- especially younger ones -- to wear masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus as case numbers surge across much of the country. The comments to a US Senate committee hearing on the virus came as at least 17 states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans in response to a surge in new infections. Meanwhile three states once seen as the epicenter of the epidemic in the US -- New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- expanded their list of states from which they'll ask visitors to quarantine upon arrival. It is "critical" that Americans "take the personal responsibility to slow the transmission of Covid-19 and embrace the universal use of face coverings," Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday. "Specifically, I'm addressing the younger members of our society, the millennials and the Generation Zs -- I ask those that are listening to spread the word," he said. The CDC urges everyone to wear a cloth face cover in public, primarily in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, also has said there's growing evidence masks could help prevent the wearer from becoming infected, too. The US has reported more than 2.6 million cases of the virus and at least 126,512 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. State and local leaders have said case rates have been rising in much of the country, driven in part by gatherings, both in homes and in places like bars -- which some experts have called the perfect breeding ground for the virus. Fifteen states reported recording their highest seven-day averages of cases on Monday, according to JHU data. Of them, 10 have no statewide mask requirements -- Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. "Masks are extremely important," the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Tuesday at the same Senate committee hearing. "It's people protecting each other. Anything that furthers the use of masks, whether it's giving out free masks or any other mechanism, I am thoroughly in favor of." Among the 17 states pausing or rolling back their reopening plans is California, whose governor shut bars back down across seven counties and recommended their closure in several more. State officials on Tuesday reported 6,367 new coronavirus cases, the second-most number of reports on one day. The state has had more than 222,000 infections to date and nearly half of this cases are in Los Angeles County. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will announce more restrictions on Wednesday. The governor has repeatedly promised that reopening the state comes with the ability to "toggle back" if necessary. Responding to a reporter question about the beaches being closed in Los Angeles County for the Independence Day weekend, the governor hinted that state beaches could be part of his announcement. In Texas, bars have been ordered shut, while Florida suspended on-site alcohol consumption statewide. Arizona shut down its bars, gyms, and other businesses for a month. Beaches in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach were also ordered closed for the upcoming holiday weekend. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday the state will decide later this week whether to slow the reopening of indoor dining in New York City as it has "been shown to pose risks in other states." The nation's rising case count has had ripple effects internationally. The European Union, which had shut its external borders because of coronavirus, agreed Tuesday to a list of 14 nations from which it will now accept travelers. The United States isn't on it, because its current Covid-19 infection rate is too high, the EU says. States require quarantines of more visitors New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are now asking people traveling from eight more states to self-quarantine upon arrival -- bringing their list to 16 -- because of coronavirus concerns. The tri-state travel advisory, first issued last week, applies to anyone coming from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average, the three Northeastern states have said. The latest advisory, updated Tuesday, adds California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee to that list. That's in addition to the list's incumbents: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Texas. The list requires people arriving from those states to quarantine for 14 days. In New York, violators could be subject to a judicial order and mandatory quarantine, with fines of $2,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation, and $10,000 if harm is caused, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. New Jersey's governor said the state's health commissioner could choose to pursue unspecified punishments; Connecticut's governor has described his state's advisory as voluntary but considered it "urgent guidance." Massachusetts announced Tuesday it is doing something similar. All arriving travelers, including returning residents, must self-quarantine for 14 days -- unless they're coming from seven Northeastern states, Gov. Charlie Baker said. Those exempted states are Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, Baker said. Essential workers also are exempt, he said. Only 2 states' cases trending significantly downward The rethinking of how to safely reopen the US comes as 36 states have showed an upward trend in average new daily cases -- an increase of at least 10% -- over the last seven days, as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins. These states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Two states saw average daily cases decline more than 10% over those seven days: New Jersey and Rhode Island. 'We barely survived the first shutdown' Meanwhile, the climb in cases means many businesses across the country have been forced to shut down a second time, which some owners say may prove devastating. In Texas, after the governor ordered bars closed again last week, one owner in Houston told CNN he is filing for unemployment. On Tuesday, bar owners from across the state rallied outside the capitol building in Austin, protesting the closures. Joining them was Shelley Luther, a Dallas hair salon owner who was jailed in May for defying the state's stay-at-home order and reopening her businesses early. She spoke to the protesters, video from CNN affiliate KXAN shows. "Gov. Abbott ... I know you're tired of hearing from me, but that means you need to start listening. Just as we said with the salons, we're going to say with the bars -- 'Come and get us!' " she said. In Florida, which suspended on-site alcohol consumption, people running one Jacksonville bar said they were worried about what closing their doors a second time will mean. "We barely survived the first shutdown and once we were allowed to re-open in Phase 2, were very strict about following all CDC guidelines," a spokesperson for the Volstead bar said. In Arizona, where the governor on Monday announced perhaps one of the most sweeping rollbacks yet, many businesses were forced to shut down, this time for at least 30 days. Swine flu with 'pandemic potential' is not an immediate threat, experts say Chinese researchers have announced a recently discovered type of swine flu, but scientists around the world say that the virus does not appear to currently pose an immediate global health threat. The G4 virus, which is genetically descended from the H1N1 swine flu that caused the 2009 pandemic, was described in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. G4 already appears to have infected humans in China. In Hebei and Shandong provinces, both places with high pig numbers, more than 10% of swine workers on pig farms and 4.4% of the general population tested positive in a survey from 2016 to 2018. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University's public health school who was not involved in the study, warned the public not to "freak out." "Our understanding of what is a potential pandemic influenza strain is limited," Rasmussen posted on Twitter on Monday. The FBI wants you to be on the lookout for fake coronavirus antibody tests, which scammers could be using to steal personal information. Here's what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. (You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) 1. Coronavirus At least 16 states have now paused their reopening plans due to surging coronavirus numbers, but experts warn it may already be too late to stop the next wave of infections. The virus has been especially rampant in Arizona, and the state is closing bars, gyms and other businesses for another 30 days as a precaution. In Florida, some jurisdictions are requiring the use of face masks, including in Jacksonville, where President Trump is expected to accept the Republican presidential nomination in less than two months. Across the pond, the European Union is preparing to reopen its external border to 15 countries outside the bloc as early as tomorrow. China is on the list, but the US reportedly is not. In case that wasn't enough bad news, Chinese researchers have discovered a new type of swine flu called the G4 virus that can infect humans and has what researchers call "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus." 2. SCOTUS The Supreme Court has blocked a controversial Louisiana law that critics said would have effectively banned abortion in the state. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with liberal justices in the 5-4 decision, marking yet another time he has subverted an expected outcome from the conservative-majority court. The ruling is a big win for abortion rights advocates who claimed the law was not medically necessary and was simply a veiled attempt to restrict access to the procedure. The law would have barred doctors from performing abortions unless they had admitting privileges at a nearby hospital (the Supreme Court struck down a similar Texas law four years ago). However, even those celebrating the ruling are concerned that the wording of a footnote by Roberts could leave the door open for states to try their luck at similar laws, thereby keeping the controversial issue front and center for the foreseeable future. Justice Clarence Thomas in his dissent to yesterday's ruling wrote: "Our abortion precedents are grievously wrong and should be overruled." In his rebuttal, Thomas said the landmark Roe v. Wade case that paved the way for legalized abortion in the US is "without a shred of support" from the Constitution. 3. White House In hundreds of highly classified phone calls with foreign heads of state, President Trump was so consistently unprepared for discussion of serious issues, so often outplayed in his conversations with powerful leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and so abusive to leaders of America's principal allies, that the calls helped convince some senior US officials -- including his former secretaries of state and defense, two national security advisers and his longest-serving chief of staff -- that the President himself posed a danger to the national security of the United States. This is according to White House and intelligence officials intimately familiar with the contents of the conversations, in a report by CNN's Carl Bernstein. We're learning this at the same time a US official with direct knowledge of the latest information tells CNN that the intelligence that assessed there was an effort by a Russian military intelligence unit to pay the Taliban to kill US soldiers was included in one of President Trump's daily briefings on intelligence matters sometime in the spring. 4. China Beijing has reportedly passed that wide-reaching national security law for Hong Kong that critics say could erode the autonomous city's civil and political freedoms. The law criminalizes activities like secession, subversion against the central Chinese government, terrorism, and colluding with foreign forces. Human rights groups and global leaders worry the law could be used to target activists, journalists, political dissidents and basically anyone who opposes Beijing's rule. The law is expected to fuel new rashes of protests in Hong Kong, which has already weathered months of unrest due to resistance over China's tightening grip on the city. The US has also announced it will end exports of US-origin defense equipment to Hong Kong, citing the need to protect American security. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo specifically mentioned the new Hong Kong law in announcing the decision. 5. Social media More social media companies are making moves to curb the spread of hate speech and misinformation. YouTube has banned white supremacist Richard Spencer and former KKK leader David Duke a full year after the site first announced it would disallow supremacist content on its platform. Reddit has expanded its hate policy and banned about 2,000 forums (known as subreddits) that promote hate based on "identity or vulnerability." This includes r/The_Donald, a massively popular subreddit for Trump supporters that was an incubator for bigoted memes, conspiracy theories and trolling campaigns. Trump-related accounts are getting the boot elsewhere as well. Twitch, the video game streaming platform, suspended an account belonging to the Trump campaign, saying it violated its policies on hate. Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, said the campaign account recently rebroadcast a video of Trump's 2016 campaign rally in which he disparaged Mexicans. BREAKFAST BROWSE India has banned TikTok as tensions escalate with China India says the app poses a "threat to sovereignty and integrity." Several MLB players are opting out of the upcoming season for health reasons The boys of summer are making some tough choices. Beavers are gnawing away at the Arctic permafrost, and that's bad for the environment Beavers, don't betray us like this. AMC is delaying US theater openings to wait for delayed summer blockbuster releases You'll have to get your summer air conditioning fix elsewhere. Costco won't sell its popular half-sheet cakes anymore It's the end of a (very delicious) era. TODAY'S NUMBER $3,120 That's how much a five-day course of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir will cost through US private insurance companies, according to the drug's manufacturer Gilead Sciences. The cost comes out to about $520 a vial, with a full course consisting of six vials. TODAY'S WEATHER Check your local forecast here>>> AND FINALLY Creating a fish out of thin air Watch a fish appear from layer upon layer of delicately painted resin. The talent! (Click here to view.) breaking Governor urges residents to stay home Capitol Media Services photo by Howard Fischer Gov. Doug Ducey at a press conference. PHOENIX Gov. Doug Ducey discusses Thursday the increasing number of Arizonans infected with COVID-19 and how the only way to turn that around is more people staying home and wearing face masks. Gov. Doug Ducey is defending indoor political rallies with thousands of people without masks, even as he admitted the only way Arizona will stop the upward trend of infections is if people mask up and stay home. Peoples rights to assemble are not going to be infringed, the governor said Thursday when asked about his attendance at a Trump rally earlier this week at a packed north Phoenix church with about 3,000 people, the majority of who did not have face coverings. And Ducey is expected to attend two events this coming week with Vice President Pence, one in Tucson that has been billed as a campaign stop. Ducey also brushed aside questions about how requiring people to wear masks which is now the law in Phoenix interferes with their right to assemble. Its in the First Amendment, he said. At the same time, however, the governor announced the state Department of Liquor Licenses and Control had sent notices to eight Scottsdale bars which he said were not complying with the new guidance he issued last week to ensure protection of employees and patrons. That agency is empowered to take away the right of these establishments to serve alcohol. The crowded social gatherings that weve seen must be minimized, he said. All this is occurring as Ducey announced that the rate of COVID-19 infection in Arizona will continue to rise. I dont want there to be illusion or sugar-coated expectations, he said. We expect that our numbers will be worse next week and the week following, in terms of cases and hospitalizations. Arizona added 3,056 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 63,030. There also were another 27 deaths reported, with that tally now at 1,490. Health officials reported a record 2,453 people hospitalized with COVID-19, with 611 in intensive-care beds, just shy of the record of 614 set a few days earlier. And hospitals are now using 85 percent of their beds for all kinds of patients and 88 percent of ICU beds. Finally, more than one out of every five tests for the virus is coming back positive. What eventually will turn that around, Ducey said, is the fact that he agreed a week ago to allow cities and counties to impose face mask requirements. He has refused to do this on a statewide basis. But the governor said the fact that 75 percent of the state now is under such a local mandate should finally result in the state turning the corner for the moment. What were going to deal with now over the next 30 or 40 days, I believe will slow the spread of this virus, the governor said. And then we will have a period of time, he explained. And then we will head into a second wave. Ducey, who dissolved his stay-at-home order in the middle of last month after six weeks, said he is not prepared to reinstate it. But the governor said that, mandate or not, people should stay at home when they dont need to be out. Go out and get a haircut, he said. Get something to eat, Ducey continued. And go home. Cara Christ, his health director, echoed that message. You are safer at home with your household contacts, she said. And Christ said there are things people need to consider if and when they do go out. Indoor spaces are riskier than being outdoors, she said. And the more people there are, Christ said, the greater the risk of infection. But the governor said none of that convinces him that gatherings should be restricted or that those in attendance should be required to wear personal protective equipment. In terms of the rights of people to peacefully assemble, those rights are not going to be infringed, Ducey said. It is an election year in the United States, he said. And peoples constitutional rights will be protected. Instead, he said, its up to those who go to protect themselves, just as he is now doing. Wearing a mask is a huge part of avoiding contracting this virus, Ducey said. Also physically distancing from people, he continued. And Im going to continue to do that going forward. Ducey also defended the travel plans by both Trump and Pence. The president and vice president have a job, he said. I have a job, Ducey continued. Were not going to get in the way of the job that they have to do. Anyway, the governor said, both are focused on places like Arizona and states that are having issues to address that in its turn. Pence is going to Yuma this coming week to meet with Ducey to discuss the states response to COVID-19. And the vice presidents planned visit to Tucson is billed as part of his Faith in America tour and not as official business. If you havent yet been out shopping for BBQs, ties and cigars, youd better hop to it! Fathers Day is on Sunday. If youre among the lucky ones who have a wonderful father still alive and kicking, spend some time listening to his stories and being together because time flies. Kim Divan, 66 years old, of Woodward, OK passed away at his home on Saturday, June 12. He was born in Nebraska but spent his childhood and most of his adult life in Palmdale, CA until moving to Oklahoma in 2005. Kim liked to have a good time and enjoyed his motorcycles and fishing. He will b The Amazon rainforest is a vast and alluring place. It covers approximately the same amount of land as 48 US states, adding up to 2.72 million square miles (6.9 million square kilometers) of green foliage, and is home to many things that can kill you. Jaguars, infected mosquitoes, large crocodiles, you name it: you might not last longer than ten minutes if you do not know where you are going in this place. One of the most feared animals of the jungle are venomous snakes. Venomous snakes kill their prey by injecting poison into their victim when they bite. Each venom is unique, but generally speaking, these liquids kill you by attacking your circulatory system, or your nervous system. Some venoms trigger many tiny blood clots to form and punch holes in your blood vessels causing them to leak, and you to bleed to death. Others fatally increase your blood pressure, or decrease it. Others still can stop the signals from your nerves from traveling to your muscles, essentially paralyzing you until you can no longer breathe. Here are ten venomous snakes in the Amazon rainforest that you would not want to approach. 10. Bushmaster L. muta Baby bushmaster (Lachesis muta). Image credit: Patrick K. Campbell/Shutterstock.com The bushmaster snake is a reddish-brown or pinkish-grey animal that is the longest venomous snake in the Americas. It can be found living in forests along the Amazon River basin up to Costa Rica, and can grow to be up to 10 feet (3 meters) long. There are three known types of bushmasters, and each is strongly venomous. These snakes are pit vipers, which means they have infrared pits located on their heads between their eyes and nostrils.These snakes use these depressions to sniff out their prey, which are often small rodents. Amazingly, a bushmaster can survive on as few as ten large meals in one whole year, meaning they can last a long time between meals. These snakes typically eat small rodents, but they do not chase them down. Bushmasters are masters of patience, and will wait to strike their prey on the routes their victims are known to travel. These include ground trails, and fallen limbs- anywhere that a small rodent might scurry along. Bushmaster snakes bite their prey to poison them, and then wait for their meal to die. This snake will then swallow their victims head-first. People bitten by the Lachesis muta bushmaster of the Amazon have been known to develop pain at the site of the bite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and sweating. 9. Bushmaster L. stenophrys Central American Bushmaster snake, Lachesis stenophrys, Arenal Volcano area, Costa Rica, Central America. Image credit: Nuki Sharir/Shutterstock.com A second type of bushmaster snake in the Amazon rainforest is the stenophrys species, also known as the Central American Bushmaster. This snake is similar to that listed above and is found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, northwestern Ecuador, the Pacific Lowlands of Colombia as well as the Caribbean coast of the countrys northwest and inland along Colombias Magdalena and Cauca river valleys. It is as venomous as the other types of bushmasters, and often somewhat smaller than the muta. 8. Bushmaster L. melanocephala Venomous Black-headed Bushmaster Snake (Lachesis melanocephala) in Rainforest. Image credit: Mark_Kostich/Shutterstock.com This final type of bushmaster is found in Costa Rica, and it is also commonly called the black-headed bushmaster. This type may be the rarest of the bushmasters. It spends most of its time hiding from the world underground, and as a prime part of the tropical ecosystem, this snake plays a key role in balancing the life of its environment. 7. Eyelash Viper Eyelash Palm Pitviper, Bothriechis schlegeli, on green mossy branch. Image credit: Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock.com This sneaky snake can actually be your worst enemy. It is one of the smallest venomous snakes in Central America, and it is only typically about 15 to 20 inches long. Do not be deceived, however: it is also one of the most poisonous snakes about. The eyelash viper can be a vibrant yellow color, but is more often found in gray or rust mottling. It lives in trees and palms, and gets its name from the scales that protrude above its eyes, appearing as eye lashes. Thankfully this snake is pretty non-aggressive, and so it does not bite often. When it does strike, it is usually attacking a lizard or small bird that it is about to eat for super. If this snake bites a human however, medical attention is needed quickly, as its venom is strong. 6. Amazon Coral Snake Amazonian Coral Snake (Micrurus spixii obscurus), Ecuador. Image credit: Dr Morley Read/Shutterstock.com Coral snakes are extremely toxic, and are said to have one of the strongest venoms of any snake on Earth. These snakes are relatively easy to identify by their brightly colored patterned bodies that are often red, black and yellow. Many non-venomous snakes mimic the coloration of the coral snake in order to appear more dangerous than they are. There is a rhyme that is said to help people remember which type of coral-looking snake is the real thing. By recalling the words, Red and yellow, can kill a fellow; Red and black, friend of Jack, you could protect yourself should you meet with one. If you locate a leaf pile in the Amazon rainforest, know that this is a favourite habitat for the coral snake found in jungle areas, as well as being underground. Coral snakes, like other animals in this list, like to feast on lizards and other snakes. Coral snake fangs are weak compared to those of other venomous snakes. The fangs are always showing, as they cannot be retracted. The scary thing is that coral snake bites do not initially cause much pain in humans, nor any swelling, and it can take hours for any symptoms to appear. If you do not get the correct antivenom in time however, you can suffer from double vision, slurred speech, and eventually, fatal paralysis, and cardiac arrest. 5. Aquatic Coral Snake Aquatic Coral Snake (Micrurus surinamensis). Image credit: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE/Wikimedia.org This snake is found in northern South America, and it prefers feeding on fish. It shares its coloring with Amazonian coral snake, but spends the bulk of its time in the water, and is also venomous. 4. Mussurana A very young mussurana (Clelia clelia) in the low grass. Image credit: Nelson Donizeti/Shutterstock.com The mussurana is a tropical rear-fanged snake that preys on rodents and other snakes. Interestingly, this snake can kill creatures using both venom and constriction. The mussurana can grow to be quite long- up to seven feet- and is a blue-black, or brown color with a white stripe on its belly. It preys upon the fer-de-lance, and is largely immune to this snakes venom. The mussurana is endemic to both Central and South America. 3. Pit Viper Bothrops bilineatus is a highly venomous pitviper species found in the Amazon. Image credit: Renato Augusto Martins/Wikimedia.org This is a larger group of venomous snakes, consisting of many different species. Vipers eat small animals by striking them with their venomous fangs. They have long hollow fangs that fold back into their jaw when their owner is not using them. The viper family includes other snakes in this list, such as rattlesnakes, and fer-de-lances, and also covers copperheads and water moccasins. 2. False fer-de-lance A False Fer-de-lance (Xenodon rabdocephalus). Image credit: Ferdy Timmerman/Shutterstock.com These extremely venomous snakes are pit vipers. These snakes have unusual markings, and are gray or brown, with black-edged diamond bordering each of its sides. The jumping viper is a type of fer-de-lance that is found in Central America that can be about 2 feet long. It moves so much when it strikes, it is as if it were jumping off the ground. 1. South American Rattlesnake Dangerous South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) on sand. Image credit: Susan Schmitz/Shutterstock.com The South American Rattlesnake lives in the savannah regions of the Amazon. Like other venomous snakes, they can cause paralysis in their victims, as well as impaired vision. The venom of this rattler is said to be stronger than that of others. This snake is a pit viper and hunts small rodents as the sun goes down. This snake has a distinct triangular-shaped head with fangs of about 4 to 6 inches long that fold back into its mouth when shut. This serpent hides underground or among rocks during the day, to seek refuge from the sun. U.S. President Donald Trump has a new accusation regarding his social media posts. This time, his Twitch account has been banned because of "hateful conduct" featured in his speeches, Fox News reported. "Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch. In line with our policies, President Trump's channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending content has been removed," a spokesperson from Twitch spoke with the media. Twitch is a streaming platform owned by Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive officer. Campaign rebroadcasts Among the posts flagged on Trump's account was the rebroadcast of his 2015 campaign launch. It can be remembered that the president then, campaigning for the term, vehemently criticized people crossing the Mexican border, tagging them to be illegally entering the United States. His recent remarks during the Tulsa rally were also banned. The re-election campaign of Trump issued a statement through communications campaign director Tim Murtaugh. He said, "To hear directly from the President, people should download the Trump app and text 'Trump' to 88022." More details According to representatives from Twitch, the company issued a warning against the campaign in 2019, the starting point of his membership in the platform. He has been informed to adhere to the platform's terms and guidelines. Part of these guidelines included clauses on hateful conduct. It reads, "Hateful conduct is any content or activity that promotes, encourages, or facilitates discrimination, denigration, objectification, harassment, or violence based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or serious medical condition or veteran status, and is prohibited. Any hateful conduct is considered a zero-tolerance violation." Controversies Twitch provided these samples of controversial statements published or rebroadcast on the platform. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards, and they tell us what we're getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They're sending us not the right people." This statement, on the other hand, was from the Tulsa rally held on June 20. The president said, "Hey, it's 1:00 o'clock in the morning and a very tough, I've used the word on occasion, hombre, a very tough hombre is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a traveling salesman or whatever he may do. And you call 911, and they say, 'I'm sorry, this number's no longer working.' By the way, you have many cases like that, many, many, many. Whether it's a young woman, an old woman, a young man or an old man, and you're sleeping." These are labeled on Twitch showcasing "hateful conduct" from Trump. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Former volunteer fishing coach who pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse killed in incident with McCracken deputies A Japanese tech company has developed a Bluetooth-powered mask that not only protects from the coronavirus, but it also has a built-in speaker and software for translating eight languages. Donut Robotics developed the "c-mask." They masks can be connected to a smartphone app via Bluetooth that will allow the device to transcribe a person's speech and translate it into eight different languages. It can also be used to make phone calls. The C-mask also has a built-in speaker to augment a person's voice while users can create recordings using the mask's microphone and store them on the smartphone. Mask that protects you from COVID-19, has Bluetooth, and can translate languages Donut Robotics has raised about $260,000 (7 million Yen) through Fundinno, a Japanese crowdfunding site, to fund its development. According to The Daily Mail, the company will release about 5,000 masks in Japan in September. Each mask will be priced at $37 or 3,980 Yen. Donut Robotics' CEO Taisuke Ono told Reuters in an interview that they had raised their "initial target of 7 million Yen within three minutes and stopped after 37 minutes when we had reached 28 million Yen." There will also be a monthly subscription fee to access translation software, although the price has yet to be announced. According to a Japan Today report, the mask's software will support eight languages including Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Thai, Korean, Indonesian, and Vietnamese. The mask has a simple shell design that looks like a standard commercial mask used to protect against COVID-19. Its straps run through two small slits on each side. C-mask is based on Donut's 'Cinnamon' project The idea for the mask came up as Donut's engineers sought for a product to help the company survive the coronavirus pandemic. Before the health crisis, the company just secured a deal with Tokyo's Haneda Airport. However, the contract, which is for supplying robot guides and translators at the airport, faces an uncertain future since the air travel industry collapsed during the crisis. Within a month, the company built a prototype mask by integrating the translation software for its robot and a mask, which Donut Engineer Shunsuke Fujibayashi created for a student project four years ago. The company's earlier project, called 'Cinnamon,' is a desktop helper robot that helps answer basic questions. It is used at the airport, reception desks, and customer service stands. The robot can be set up to introduce products and it has an "advanced translation function." 'We worked hard for years to develop a robot and we have used that technology to create a product that responds to how the coronavirus has reshaped society," Donut Robotics' CEO Taisuke Ono told Reuters in an interview. The company ultimately aims to release the mask outside of Japan. This early, Ono said they have been receiving strong interest from clients from China, U.S., and Europe. Meanwhile, like any other technology, the C-mask technology could have further enhancements to support other functions like some augmented reality (AR) features. Donut says AR will be possible using a built-in Wi-Fi receiver, although it has not given further details on how AR features would be added into the mask. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Meteorologist / Reporter Melanie Layden is the weekend morning meteorologist at WSMV. She also has a segment during the week called "Growing Nashville" where she covers the growth of Music City. Melanie has been Working 4 You since 2014. More than 2,000 Amazon workers are in the second day of a two-day strike at six facilities in Germany to protest the companys refusal to provide adequate protection from the coronavirus. Workers are striking two facilities in Bad Hersfeld as well as fulfilment centres in Leipzig, Koblenz, Rheinberg and Werne. In Bad Hersfeld, located in the state of Hesse, some 500 workers participated in a motorcade on Monday. Almost the same number of workers are involved in the strike in Leipzig. In Werne, North Rhine-Westphalia, some 400 workers participated in a rally yesterday, while a further 400 workers are striking in Rheinberg and a similar number in Koblenz. Throughout Germany, 13,000 permanent employees work at 13 Amazon locations. The strikers are under pressure from management and are being generally ignored by the media, but the solidarity of the surrounding population with the strikers is immense. Many workers confront similar exploitative and dangerous working conditions as those experienced by Amazon workers. The situation came to a head in Bad Hersfeld after at least three dozen workers were infected by the coronavirus, according to Mechtild Middeke, a secretary of the Verdi trade union. Workers were not informed about the number of colleagues who had been infected or the departments where they worked. Amazon is not announcing COVID-19 cases publicly. Nor is it offering tests to the entire workforce. People who come into contact with the virus are not being systematically isolated. This is resulting in thousands of Amazon employees being exposed to great risk. In April, 68 workers out of a total workforce of 1,800 at the Ham2 Winsen facility near Hamburg were infected. Although Amazon invests billions to accelerate workflow and increase the exploitation and surveillance of workers, it is not prepared to ensure safe, transparent and healthy working conditions. After the company did virtually nothing to protect its workers, the local public health office in Bad Hersfeld issued an order for masks to be worn in the fulfilment centre. But the pace of work is so brutal that workers are complaining about breathing problems, which are made even worse by the high temperatures in the distribution centres. This is why the demands raised by the strikers include more breaks, a reduction in the work pace, and paid leave for workers with health problems. The workers are also demanding the reinstatement of the 2 coronavirus bonus that was slashed in May. The exploitative and inhumane working conditions at Amazon are so brutal that they cause physical and psychological damage even under normal circumstances. Workers are put under immense pressure to fulfil the companys quotas. With fully laden shopping trolleys, pickers and commissioners rush through the kilometres of multi-storey storage halls, while scanners set the pace at which they have to work. Packers have to stand for hours on end at packing tables. Everyone is working against time, under constant surveillance, and must expect to lose points if he or she falls behind the prescribed pace of work. The entire system degrades human beings to the status of robots. The perfected exploitation that has made Amazon owner Jeff Bezos a multibillionaire and the worlds richest man is enforced in thousands of distribution and fulfilment centres around the world. These are ideal conditions for the coronavirus to spread, as has been demonstrated in dozens of Amazon facilities in the United States, France, Italy and Spain since February. As a result of the totally inadequate safety measures, Amazon workers are putting the lives of their families and loved ones at risk. Pandemic hotspots, including in Amazon fulfilment centres, can trigger new waves of the pandemic that will cost the lives of thousands. Amazon workers around the world have been fighting for better workplace protection since the outset of the pandemic. Hundreds of workers in the United States, Italy, Spain and France have spontaneously refused to work so as to avoid exposing themselves to infection. They have also launched spontaneous strikes to support courageous employees who were fired for protesting against the working conditions. After strikes in New York, Chicago and Detroit, Amazon workers in Minneapolis walked off the job to prevent the firing of a worker who had protested against the conditions. In the United States, at least nine Amazon workers have died from COVID-19. The strikes at Amazon are part of a growing international strike wave. Workers from different countries and economic sectors are fighting for better protection against the coronavirus and opposing layoffs and wage cuts. In Mexicos maquiladoras, where parts are produced for the US auto industry, 3,200 workers went on strike last week. At auto plants in Detroit, workers have stopped production and begun in recent days to establish rank-and-file safety committees to break free of the trade unions and take the struggle for safe working conditions into their own hands. Job actions have also been launched by nurses in California and steel workers in the Netherlands. The strike in Germany is being widely welcomed within the working class. Twitter user Katja K commented, Amazon continues to make obscene profits and ruthlessly exploit its workforce. Disgraceful company! Another Twitter user wrote, Huge profits amid the coronavirus, billions in turnover, and all small online retailers crushed, but the workers cant even be paid according to a collective agreement and are working themselves to death. Its disgusting. While Amazon workers enjoy widespread support, they confront not only management as a hostile force, but also the trade unions. The service trade union Verdi is doing everything it can to isolate the Amazon strike internationally and limit its impact. Verdi intervened at Bad Hersfeld in 2012-2013 only after a wildcat strike broke out, with hundreds of temporarily employed foreign workers drawing attention to their plight. Verdi conducted a strike vote in April 2013 that resulted in a 98 percent vote for strike action. It then organised a walkout in Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig. Ever since, Verdi has called for tactical pinprick strikes, which are generally of short duration and isolated to one location. From the beginning, its goal was to channel the workers struggles in a safe direction, prevent strikes from spreading to other economic areas, and convince Amazon management that Verdi is a useful partner to control the workforce. Amazon workers can protect themselves only by organising independently in rank-and-file safety committees, with the aim of linking up with workers at other Amazon facilities across Germany and internationally. Such safety committees would halt work in Bad Hersfeld and other locations impacted by COVID-19. They would also demand full pay for workers who cant work, and fight for the reorganisation of the distribution and delivery sectors to meet the safety needs of the workers. This must be part of a broader mobilisation of the working class against the criminal indifference shown by the ruling elite to the lives of working people during the pandemic. It must develop into a global class conscious movement of the working class against capitalism and for socialism, as the International Committee of the Fourth International recently noted in a statement. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was again unable to attend a call-over hearing for his extradition case against the United States, either in person or via video link yesterday. His legal team explained that Assange is acting on the advice of his doctors, who are concerned about the risk of infection posed by using Belmarsh prisons unventilated video booth roomused by many prisoners over the course of the day. These conditions have prevented Assange from being present during court proceedings for more than three months. He is at heightened risk of coronavirus infection due to a respiratory condition and the effects of prolonged psychological torture. Assange in Belmarsh Prison sometime after his arrest on April 11 last year No provisions have been made both to safeguard Assanges health and allow him to participate in his own case. Instead, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser sought yesterday to pressure Assange to appear via video link. She said she had received a note from Belmarsh prison indicating not that [Assange] is unwell, but that he will not attend and demanded medical evidence to justify his non-appearance in the future. Defence lawyer Mark Summers QC replied that evidence would be provided. Medical examinations of Assange by both the prosecution and the defence have now been completed via telephone. Baraitser then raised the superseding indictment issued by the United States against Assange on Wednesday June 24. It has not been formally entered into the extradition proceedingsyet another Kafkaesque development whereby UK legal proceedings are continuing on the basis of an indictment which has been replaced and therefore has no legal force in the US. Joel Smith, the lawyer for the prosecution, said they would not be commenting on the issue at this time. Summers stated, To say the least, we are surprised by the timing of this development and surprised to have heard about it through the press rather than through service [of evidence through the courts]. He said the defence would not be making a formal response unless and until the new indictment is formally served in the UK courts. The introduction of a new indictment at such a late stage in proceedings, after the first half of the extradition hearing in the UK has already taken place, is a gross abuse of due process. At the very least, Summers pointed out, it has the obvious capacity to derail the September date [for the next phase of the hearing] which the defence are committed to go ahead with. Assanges prosecutors appear to be pre-empting a specialty line of argument from his defence. Specialty is an extradition principle which states the defendant should only face those charges in the destination country for which they have been extradited. If the UK has reason to believe additional charges may be levelled once the accused is extradited, then this is a bar to extradition. The US has not officially unveiled new charges but has used the new indictment to significantly expand the scope of allegations contained in the existing charges. These changes also appear to be a response to the demolition of key aspects of the prosecutions case by Assanges legal team during the first phase of the extradition hearing in February. Under the charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, Assange was previously accused of conspiring with famed whistleblower Chelsea Manning to gain unauthorised access to classified documents on US computer systems in 2010. This was decisively challenged by the defence in February, demonstrating that the US government was aware of the falsity of its accusations. The superseding indictment makes more general accusations, alleging that Assange recruited hackers and incited hacking against a range of classified, official and private computers between 2009 and 2015. It also drops a reference to the Espionage Act. This is likely an attempt to present at least one of the charges against Assange as non-political. As Edward Fitzgerald QC argued forcefully for the defence in the first week of the hearing, Assange is very clearly being targeted for political offences, meaning his extradition should be barred. The new allegations depend heavily on the already discredited testimony of two FBI informants, one with a long history of fraud and the other implicated in entrapment on the FBIs behalf. They also construe Assanges words and actions in support of whistleblower Edward Snowden and transparency of information as soliciting the theft of classified information. Former WikiLeaks section editor Sarah Harrison and former WikiLeaks spokesperson Jacob Applebaum are targeted on the same basis. No effort is made to link their supposed recruitment efforts to actual incidents of leaking or hacking. In addition, the charge of unauthorized disclosure of defence information formerly accused Assange simply of publishing [the Afghanistan and Iraq war logs and the State Department Cables] on the internet. This has now been expanded to include distributing the documentsfor example to other media organisations. Again, this is likely a response to the defence having demonstrated that unredacted State Department cables did not come to be published according to WikiLeakss intentions. Finally, the charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose national defence information has had its timeframe extended. The only specific reference is to information disclosed by Chelsea Manning, but the wording has been changed from namely to including, broadening the range of potential allegations. WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said after the hearing, A superseding indictment is supposed to do what it says on the tin, its supposed to replace the existing indictment. But the US have no new charges to bring, and they cant even be bothered to send the court or the defence team the document. That just shows this is a glorified press release and not a new indictment at all. This shows how they are abusing due process in the UK and flaunting the legal systems rules. At the same time, the new indictment deepens the assault on freedom of the press being waged by the US government. Harrison, Applebaum and one-time WikiLeaks employee Daniel Domscheit-Berg are now also targeted as co-conspirators. Efforts to help a persecuted whistleblower (Snowden) gain asylum, and even speech in defence of his actions, are criminalised, as are the most general statements in support of government transparency. One of the statements cited as an example in the indictment is Harrison saying, from the beginning our mission has been to publish classified or in any other way censored information that is of political, historical importance. Shifting the focus to WikiLeakss distribution of classified material, for example to partner media organisations, threatens a wide range of journalists and outlets. At the end of yesterdays proceedings, Baraitser announced that the next and final phase of the extradition hearing will almost certainly be held at Londons Central Criminal Courtthe Old Baileyfrom September 7. It remains entirely unclear under what conditions these proceedings will take place. Since social distancing measures have been implemented, only a very small number of journalists have been able to gain access to Westminster Magistrates Court. The vast majority have been forced to dial in to a largely inaudible online conference room. Though the audio quality was improved for the defence team on this occasion, the judge and the prosecution remained extremely unclear. An option to tune in to the court via video link did not work. The next call-over hearing is scheduled for 10am on Monday July 27. The WSWS Autoworker Newsletter will assist autoworkers and other workers in establishing rank-and-file safety committees. Email us at autoworkers@wsws.org to learn more . Just days after Fiat Chrysler (FCA) workers at two Detroit area assembly plants shut down production over concerns about the spread of COVID-19, anger continues to grow over unsafe conditions and the cover-up of new cases by management and the United Auto Workers union. Workers at Jefferson North and the Sterling Heights assembly plants set up rank-and-file safety committees to protect the lives of workers in the plants and to coordinate action with workers across the auto industry and in other factories and workplaces. In response to this courageous action, the committees have been contacted by workers throughout the US for information on how to set up rank-and-file safety committees in their own plants. One inquiry came from a Kansas City Ford worker, who wrote that workers at his plant do not trust the corporation and union right now about these coronavirus issues and would like to know how we can form a Rank-and-File Safety Committee in our plant. We havent been given updates from Ford and UAW after we heard rumors about employees being sent home due to having this virus. We need this system out here ASAP. The Jefferson North and Sterling Heights rank-and-file safety committees issued six demands, including immediate notification of any cases of COVID-19, the closing of the factory for at least 24 hours after a case is confirmed for deep cleaning of the entire plant, social distancing when entering and exiting the plant and during all breaks, and the halting of production for 10 minutes every hour to enable workers to take off their masks, rest and cool off. They also called for regular, universal testing and the right to refuse to work, without retaliation from management or the UAW, if conditions are not safe. In response to this growing initiative by workers, corporate management and the UAW have launched a campaign to threaten workers with termination if they stop production to protect their lives. On Monday, supervisors at FCA facilities across the country temporarily halted production and visited each workstation to read a provocative letter from a top corporate executive. According to a recording of one of these sessions that workers sent to the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, the executive said, Unauthorized work stoppages in our facilities create both disturbances and potentially safety concerns and therefore cannot be tolerated. It continued, FCA will investigate any unauthorized work stoppage and will appropriately, immediately and decisively act on the employee that was found to have unnecessarily instigated such activities. The letter threatens, In addition to appropriate disciplinary action, unauthorized work stoppages will result in zero pay. These protocols apply to all represented and non-represented employees regardless of where they work. The letter falsely claimed that FCA and the UAW had put in place a number of processes to address safety concerns and instructed workers to rely on your supervisor, your team leader, environmental health, your UAW representative, human resource representative, and FCA ethics hotline to report dangerous conditions. In other words, workers should place their faith in the very same people who have been covering up the truth and demanding that workers sacrifice their health and the health of their loved ones for corporate profit. One of these new measures include a hydration system to supposedly address the problem of workers passing out from having to work with masks on in extremely hot factories. With unbounded generosity, FCA will now supply workers with two bottles of water per shift! After reading this letter, the supervisors instructed workers to sign a list indicating that they had been informed of this new policy. If they decided not to sign, workers were told to write RTS (Refused to Sign) next to their name. Managers claimed not to know whether this would prompt retaliatory action against the resistant workers. Before signing, workers asked if they could get a copy of the letter or take a picture of it with their phones. Managers said the company explicitly prohibited this, leading many workers to refuse to sign. Just had management try to read some letter to us about Covid and have us sign a paper, one worker at Jefferson North reported. Several said they couldnt even hear [what] was being said over the noise of the machinery, while others refused to sign without a copy and walked away. The UAW, which has long operated as a bribed tool of the automakers, has been silent about FCAs threats and did not respond to an inquiry by WSWS reporters about the letter. The Jefferson North Rank-and-File Safety Committee quickly denounced this attack against the rights of workers who acted collectively and justifiably to protect their lives. The company and the UAW would not resort to these threats if conditions in the factories were really safe. Management and the union continue to cover up the spread of the virus and the unhealthy conditions in the plant. If any worker is victimized for standing up for a safe working environment, then every worker in the plant should stop work until they get their job back. Wow. Firing instigators, these are fear tactics, plain and simple, said Johnny, a worker at the Toledo North Assembly Plant, where the message was also read to workers. These are blatant violations of labor laws and OSHA [the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration], which allow for work stoppages over safety concerns, Johnny reported, saying he thought that is why managers refused to give workers a copy. Keep the line moving, thats all management and the UAW are concerned with, another Jefferson North Assembly worker said. They havent taken any serious measures. They tell us were having our temps taken but the majority of infections are being spread by people who are asymptomatic. They want us to sign these papers to deflect from their liability. Trump and the Congress are only concerned about Wall Street. They dont care if a bunch of older workers die, then they wont have to pay out Social Security. But we have rights, enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that our right to life is non-negotiable. The UAW is not our voice. OSHA isnt helping. OSHA has issued only one citation after receiving more than 5,000 COVID-19-related unsafe workplace complaints. We, the workers, have to be the responsible adults in the room. Its up to us to fight this virus. Workers dont want to die or see their families die. They want to take away unemployment benefits and force people back to work. This is class war. Its a war, not over something ridiculous like taking oil from Iraq, but for life. These sentiments were echoed by a Tennessee auto parts worker, who told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, Regular workers like myself are the frontline bullet-catchers who are replaceable. Mid- and high-level managers who work from home, he said, were protected like the officers, and corporations are the generals who have nothing to risk except their reputation in stock and finance. Workers from FCA Trenton Engine, 30 miles south of Detroit, reported that news of the work stoppages at Jefferson North and Sterling Heights Assembly had swept through their plant. Denouncing the phony safety measures at their plant, one worker said, They tell the news media they are cleaning everything, but they are not wiping down stations and work areas. They have stickers on the floor just for show. Lets pretend like we are making everybody in the plant stand on these xs so that we have social distancing. But that is not what they are doing at all. Everything is a lie and a fake. On Monday morning, word went out that a worker in the south plant of the Trenton complex had tested positive. Fearing that workers would halt production, management sent four teams to the break room and organized a hasty cleaning of the area. Instead of sending us home, one worker reported, they quarantined four teams inside the plant. We should be shutting down for 72 hours, since the virus stays on surfaces that long. FCA doesnt need more money! Its a prison working there. The worker said he agreed with the rank-and-file committees at Jefferson North and Sterling Heights. We need a fighting organization that will take up the question of safety for the workers, he concluded. The Socialist Equality Party and the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter will do everything to assist workers in forming rank-and-file safety committees and broadening the struggle across all industries and workplaces to fight the pandemic and save lives. Body camera footage has been released regarding the May 16 killing of a 29-year-old African American man by a Baltimore County police officer. Robert Johnson, an expectant father, was gunned down by Police Officer First Class Knight at a townhome complex in Essex, Maryland. Police were responding to a noise complaint about a group of youth gathered in the parking lot. Johnson had been celebrating a cousins fifteenth birthday when he dented a neighbors car while trying to park. According to witnesses, although Johnson offered to pay for repairs, the argument escalated. The neighbor called police and informed them that Johnson was armed. The body camera footage released last week showed that Knight approached Johnsons car and asked for identification. As Johnson stepped out of his vehicle, a handgun could be seen falling to the ground. When Johnson appeared to stoop to pick it up, Knight immediately drew his weapon and opened fire. Johnson began to flee, and screaming could be heard in the background as Knight called for backup. Knight chased after Johnson and continued shooting wildly, striking him in the back. Johnson fell to the ground, and the officer fired two more shots at him before he put his hands in the air. Johnson later died of his wounds in a hospital. Baltimore County Deputy States Attorney Robin Coffin told the Baltimore Sun that her office had reviewed all of the statements from witnesses, neighbors and police, and that authorities had determined that this is a justified shooting when Mr. Johnson reached for that handgun. Coffin claimed that Johnson had pointed the handgun at Knight and cited a finger injury on Johnson as proof. Despite the Baltimore County polices claim to self-defense, the video footage contradicts these statements. At no point in the video was Johnson seen pointing the gun at Knight. In fact, Johnson had his back to the officer from beginning to end. That all bullet wounds were in Johnsons back testifies to the blatant inconsistencies in the statements of the authorities. Neighbors who witnessed the shooting described it as senseless and expressed outrage over the recklessness of the officers actions. Johnsons brother, 20-year-old Freddie Jackson, was wounded in the burst of gunfire. According to the Sun, Jackson was inside his home with several children as they watched the incident unfold. When the shooting began, Jackson began to herd the children to safety upstairs when one of Knights bullets pierced the doorframe and struck him in the leg. The children helped him up the stairs and applied a tourniquet to his leg. Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt admitted, its incredibly concerning that Jackson was shot while inside his home as a result of split-second decisions taken by Knight. Although Knight was initially placed on administrative leave, he has since resumed patrol duties in the area. Johnsons relatives have hired a lawyer and are calling for a grand jury to review the case. Baltimore Attorney Warren Brown called the decision not to pursue charges against Knight inappropriate. In a statement to the Sun, Brown said, This is not an attempt to protect ones self or others, but its a chase of an individual with a handgun, Brown said. [Knight] understands and the State[s Attorney] understands that just running with a gun does not allow police to use deadly force, so the officer knows his get out of jail card has to be that the gun was pointed at me. According to the Sun, Johnson had recently done time in federal prison for a weapons charge and was illegally in possession of the firearm at the time of his death. Baltimore-area police have a well-known history of abuse of power and outright corruption. The killing of Johnson by the county police occurred five years and a month after the 2015 murder of Freddy Gray, a 25-year-old man who died in the back of a city police van. Grays murder caused mass protests throughout the country, as the city and state governments responded to popular protests by sending in riot police and National Guardsmen to occupy the streets. No officers were found guilty in Grays murder. The killing of Johnson also happened a little more than a week before the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis ignited nationwide mass protests against police brutality. The states response was one of brutal repression coupled with vague promises to reform the police nationwide. This month Baltimore Countys Democratic representatives will also implement a number of limited reforms that include requiring officers to report excessive force; building a public dashboard of police data that will display the number of complaints against officers, as well as show when force was used against civilians, along with traffic stop data broken down by race; implementing a new training curriculum; and hiring a third party organization to review police hiring practices and data related to discrimination in testing and background investigations. As with similar actions carried out in jurisdictions throughout the United States in recent weeks, no meaningful change will come of these reforms. Reforming the police is impossible under a capitalist system that requires armed representatives to guard the enormous wealth hoarded by the ruling class and to enforce its domination over the working class. The struggle against police brutality and racism is fundamentally a struggle against the capitalist system. On Monday the US Supreme Court aligned itself with the Trump administrations inhumane and unconstitutional immigration policy by rejecting an appeal made by four environmental groups who argued that the federal practice of waiving environmental statutes and other laws to enable border wall construction is unconstitutional. Mondays rejection by the Supreme Court follows last weeks 7-2 decision which declared that recent asylum seekers have no constitutional right to due process or habeas corpus and therefore cannot challenge the legality of their deportation before they are removed. The plaintiffs in this case, known as Center for Biological Diversity v. Wolf, argued that the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility (IIRAIRA) Act of 1996, passed by a bipartisan congressional majority and signed into law by Democrat Bill Clinton, is unconstitutional because it cedes lawmaking powers to the executive branch. The act gave the US government broad authority to militarize the border and preempt legal requirements, as well as limit the types of legal challenges that can be brought forward. At the time of the bills signing, Clinton argued that the new legislation would uphold the rule of law by cracking down on illegal immigration at the border, in the workplace, and in the criminal justice systemwithout punishing those living in the United States legally. History has proven this to be a lie. The signing of the act has severely eroded the rule of law for immigrants and asylum seekers by eliminating due process from a majority of removal cases, mandating detention in crowded and COVID-19-infested concentration camps and erecting barriers to family reunification based on income. The act increased punishments for immigration-related crimes and finally created the 287(g) program, known as the Priority Enforcement Program, which allows state and local police to be enlisted into immigration enforcement activities, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on workplaces and homes. The IIRAIRA also expanded the definition of an aggravated felony to petty crimes and misdemeanors, such as drug and traffic violations. This has given broad authority to deport immigrants for crimes which a majority of American citizens have committed themselves. In addition as part of the act, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is granted unfettered discretion to issue waivers which bypass legislation such as the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and other laws to construct fencing, guard towers, walls and roads along the border with Mexico. The Trump administration, through DHS, has used the 1996 law to apply for dozens of waivers to expedite the construction of the wall. Congress created the waiver authority in 1996 and expanded its usage in 2005. According to the groups petition to the court, the Trump administration had applied for 16 waivers to exempt the DHS from more than 40 laws written to protect clean air, water, public lands as well as endangered animals. The waivers also supersede environmental, tribal and land regulation laws across all four Southwest states that border Mexico. By refusing to hear the case, the Supreme Court has given the Trump administration a green light to continue building 145 miles of border fencing along the US-Mexico border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The four groups that sued the court are the Center for Biological Diversity, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Defenders of Wildlife and the Southwest Environmental Center. They had previously petitioned the court in 2018 and 2019 and met with similar results. In their petition to the court Jean Su, an attorney for Center for Biological Diversity, wrote: Trump has taken a chainsaw to the Constitution to build his wildly destructive border wall. She continued: Hes done an end run around Congress and waived dozens of laws that protect our air, water, wildlife and public lands. The Constitution prohibits this outrageous executive overreach, and were asking the Supreme Court to defend these bedrock principles of our democracy. Upon discovering that the court would not hear the issue, Su acknowledged: Were disappointed that the Supreme Court wont consider the Trump administrations flagrant abuse of the law to fast-track border wall construction. She continued: this administration has made a mockery of the Constitution to build an enormously destructive wall. Well continue to fight these illegal waivers and do everything possible to prevent further damage to the beautiful borderlands. The fight to secure democratic rights for the entire working class, immigrant and native, regardless of citizenship status, will not be achieved through the bourgeois courts, which have continued to rubber-stamp Trumps dictatorial advances throughout his presidency and serve the interests of the capitalist state. Traditionally, the US Supreme Court issues significant rulings the week before the summer recess begins with the Fourth of July holiday. This week will be no exception. On Monday, the court narrowly upheld the right to abortion access in a decision widely feared to be headed in the other direction. In other rulings, however, the court strengthened the unitary executive by curtailing congressional power to create a watchdog, and opened the death chamber door for dozens of federal executions, the first three scheduled for next month. In Mondays most publicized ruling, June Medical Services v. Russo, the Supreme Court voted 54 to strike down a reactionary Louisiana law that would have regulated all of the states abortion clinics out of existence by requiring their doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Joined by the three other Supreme Court liberals, Justice Stephen Breyer ruled that the Louisiana law was almost word-for-word identical to a Texas law the Supreme Court addressed in 2016. That majority decision was also written by Breyer. Breyer demonstrated that the states hospital privileges requirement was a transparent pretext to close clinics for ideological reasons. The evidence presented in the trial court established that abortion in Louisiana has been extremely safe, with particularly low rates of serious complications. Clinic staff and physicians testified that it proved necessary to transfer patients to a hospital far less than once a year, or less than one per several thousand patients. Physicians on the hospital staff admit those rare patients that experience a complication. In sum, whether the clinic physician has admitting privileges is not relevant to the patients care. The Louisiana law, like the Texas law struck down four years earlier, had the purpose or effect of presenting a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion. Breyer wrote. This undue burden violated the constitutional right to abortion access established in 1973s Rowe v. Wade ruling. Despite Mondays victory, which apparently will allow Louisianas three remaining clinics to remain open for the time being, efforts to choke off abortion access have succeeded in large areas of the South and the Midwest. The states of Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia have only one clinic each. More challenges, including legislation to define a fetus with a viable heartbeat as a living human being, are currently working their way through the courts. The 2016 decision was rendered after the death of Antonin Scalia left a vacancy. Trump replaced him with Neil Gorsuch, and then Anthony Kennedy, the justice who provided the decisive vote for striking down the Texas law in 2016, was replaced by Brett Kavanaugh. Both Trump judges were expected to vote against abortion access, and they did not disappoint. The changes on the court were expected by many to create the five-vote bloc that could open the floodgates for state laws to deny access to abortion. However, this was, for the present, frustrated by Chief Justice John Roberts, who provided the deciding margin in Mondays ruling, not because he agreed with Breyers reasoning, but out of an adherence to stare decisis, the doctrine that precedents should be followed in all but the most exceptional cases. Roberts position suggests that the overruling of Rowe v. Wade, a passion of the Republican right, may require more changes of personnel on the high court. Some have hoped publicly for the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg so that Trump can replace her with a third anti-abortion judge. Regardless, the Supreme Court has become a focal point of the 2020 presidential campaign. Chief Justice Roberts, whose own ideological leanings are extremely conservative, is maneuvering between the two factions on the court with the goal of protecting the institutions credibility, which has been in tatters since it stole the election for George W. Bush 20 years ago. Chief Justice Roberts conduct is reminiscent of Justice Owen Robertsno relationan appointee of Herbert Hoover who regularly sided with the reactionary four horsemen to block New Deal legislation. In response, Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed legislation to expand the Supreme Court to 15 justices so as to create a new pro-New Deal majority. But Roberts unexpectedly voted in 1937 to uphold the constitutionality of a minimum wage law, which became known as the switch in time that saved nine. Today, however, US capitalism lacks the resilience it had in the 1930s, and petty maneuvers will not save it from its own internal contradictions. In a second ruling, the Supreme Court, again by a 54 vote, invalidated congressional legislation aimed at protecting the director of the federal agency created in response to the 2008 financial crisis to regulate subprime mortgages and other forms of consumer debt that crashed the world economy. The legislation said the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could not be removed by the president absent good cause. Chief Justice Roberts opinion in Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, joined by the four right-wing justices, found that the legislative effort to shield the director from political pressure violated the separation of powers. The decision provides a sweeping rationale to defang congressional watchdogs and represents a further slide toward the unconstrained unitary executive coveted by the extreme right. Finally, the Supreme Court denied by a 72 vote a petition for certiorari by four condemned inmates to review a 21 lower court decision that rejected their challenge to the legality of federal execution protocols. Justices Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor voted in favor of the Supreme Court hearing the case, which requires four votes. All the others, including Breyer and Elena Kagan, voted against. There are no opinions explaining the reasoning. Even as people across the country are demanding that leaders rethink crime, punishment and justice, the government is barreling ahead with its plans to carry out the first federal executions in 17 years, Ruth Friedman, an attorney for Daniel Lee, the first inmate scheduled to be executed next month, said in a statement. The whole affair is ghoulish and morbid from top to bottom. Life sentences without the possibility of parole insulate society from truly dangerous persons. Capital punishment continues to exist to terrify workers, who are the exclusive victims of the barbaric, antiquated and arbitrary practice. Carrying out a Trump agenda to reinstate and accelerate executions, dating back to the notorious frame-ups of the Central Park Five, Attorney General William P. Barr announced last summer that the United States Department of Justice will kill inmates by injecting a single drug, pentobarbital. After considering evidence, the lower court ruled that the new protocol violated the 1994 Federal Death Penalty Act, which requires that executions be carried out in the manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence is imposed. State law requires a three-drug cocktail. Two appellate judges newly appointed by Trump reversed, reinstating the executions. One ruled that the statute referred only to the general method of execution: in this case lethal injection as opposed to hanging or electrocution, for example. The other Trump justice ruled on a separate ground, asserting that the statute referred only to broad state laws and not to the specific execution protocols. Such is the small change of sophistry on which lives can turn! The federal government has carried out three executions since restoring the death penalty in 1988, the last in 2003. There are now 62 prisoners on federal death row, and the door to the execution chamber is wide open for them. The University of California in San Francisco has been busy trying to find a way to beat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, amid their struggle, they were attacked by a cybercrime gang called Netwalker that managed to extort a huge amount of money from them. Ransomware Attack at UCSF In an exclusive report by The BBC, the news outlet was able to follow the negotiation of the cybercriminals with the institute on the dark web and saw how it all went down. According to the report, the gang attacked the university last June 1 as the IT staff of the institute quickly unplugged the computers to prevent the further spread of the malware in a ransomware attack. Ransomware is when cybercriminals hack your computer or the system and encrypt them. Even the best IT staff won't be able to decrypt the system. The hackers would then get in touch with the victim, and ask for a certain amount of money in exchange for the encryption key that will allow them to break the code and bring their computer back to normal. Read Also: SEC Warns Investors From Dealing With iBSmartify Nigeria Cryptocurrency; Here's Why Multiple attacks from the cybercriminals In the past two months, Netwalker has been linked to several ransomware attacks on the university. Nevertheless, experts in the cybersecurity field believe that it is happening around the world, and ransom negotiations often occur on the dark web. As such, it will be hard to pinpoint the hacker's location. With an anonymous tip, The BBC was able to follow the negotiation on the dark web and saw how the cybercriminals were able to extort $1.14 million from the institute. According to them, the site where the ransom negotiation took place looked like any typical customer service website with a frequently asked questions (FAQ) tab and even a portion where visitors could get a "free" sample of the software they are offering. There's a live chat option as well. The biggest difference is the ominous countdown timer on the website ticking down to zero. It signified the time the hackers would either double the money they're asking for, or delete all the data they were able to gather from the hack. For the University of California, it could mean losing all the data they have gathered in their research against COVID-19. The negotiation The BBC was able to take screenshots of the negotiation where UCSF asked for an extension. Netwalker noted how the university is making billions per year, so they initially asked for $3 million from the institute, to which the UCSF representative said that the coronavirus pandemic had been "financially devastating" for them, so they begged the hackers to accept a ransom of $780,000. The hacker then replied and said that the money was too small, and if they publish their blog that includes all the sensitive data from the institute, they would lose more money than that. The negotiation lasted a whole day, and finally, the negotiation ended with the final offer of $1,140,895. UCSF is now working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with its investigation. "The data that was encrypted is important to some of the academic work we pursue as a university serving the public good," the university said. "We, therefore, made the difficult decision to pay some portion of the ransom, approximately $1.14 million, to the individuals behind the malware attack in exchange for a tool to unlock the encrypted data and the return of the data they obtained." Read Also: [HACKERS] Unpatched Windows Vulnerabilities Targeted by 'Lucifer': New Malware Capable of DDoS Attacks and Cryptojacking 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A police SUV plowed through a crowd of anti-police violence protesters in Detroit Sunday night, injuring several people. The attack was caught on video, posted to social media, which shows protesters screaming as the vehicle pushed violently though the crowd, throwing people to the ground. The police officer driver braked and then accelerated repeatedly to throw protesters off his vehicles bumper. The vehicle then took off at high speed with a man still on the hood. Twenty-four-year-old protester Jae Bass told the Detroit Free Press, He just floored it. He went super fast. We went flying off. He ran over a couple peoples arms, feet. Democratic Mayor Mike Duggan defended the officers involved in the attack, saying in an interview with WDET that Detroit police support the right to free speech. This comes less than a month after several journalists were physically harmed by police in Detroit in the first weekend of protests over the murder of George Floyd, getting pepper sprayed, arrested and shot by pepper balls and rubber bullets. Detroit Police Chief James Craig also defended the officers involved, saying no immediate actions would be taken as aggressors were targeting police. He claimed protesters were armed with hammers, and the police thought they were being fired upon. This is countered by reports from people who were at the scene. A photographer with Detroit Will Breathe, one of the groups which organized the protest, told the WSWS the police were intimidating protesters throughout the night. The photographer was one of those struck by the police SUV. During that first stretch, some police officers were aggressive with their vehicles, ramming bikes that were helping us block traffic. While no one was injured, it still made us nervous. As the march continued, several police cruisers blocked their path. The crowd started walking around the police roadblock. The officers returned to their SUVs and tried moving through the crowd. It was then that said SUV began flooring it, and then slamming on his brakes repeatedly. At least ten protesters were plowed through I didnt see anyone with hammers, the photographer noted. This incident is the latest in a series of attacks by police using their vehicles as deadly weapons against protesters. On May 30 two NYPD SUVs drove through a crowd of protesters in Brooklyn. Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the officers and blamed the protesters. On June 1 a police SUV drove through a crowd in San Diego, California. In Richmond, Virginia, Police Chief Will Smith resigned after a police SUV drove through a crowd of protesters on June 13. Several people were struck but no one was injured. There have also been at least 19 reports of civilians using vehicles as a weapon against protesters since the demonstrations began in May. This is a direct result of rhetoric from Donald Trump and others defending and even encouraging the use of violence against peaceful protests. In a call to governors across the country, Trump said, You have to dominate, or youll look like a bunch of jerks. He called on them to seek retribution against the protesters, telling them not to act too gingerly. Memes and jokes about murdering protesters with vehicles are common among the far-right on social media. After the murder of Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old anti-fascist protester killed in 2017 when neo-Nazi James Fields drove through a crowd at a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Republican lawmakers in at least six states introduced laws that would protect motorists if they hit protesters blocking a roadway. Meanwhile, Democratic mayors and governors across the country have called in the National Guard to violently put down protests in their cities and have defended the police, even when gratuitous scenes of violence against peaceful protesters are caught on video. In the end, the increasing state violence against protesters is a result of the extreme inequality in the US and around the world. The ruling class, frightened by the unprecedented scale and multi-racial makeup of the demonstrations, is trying to quash the protests before it becomes a class-conscious movement against the entire capitalist system. As Trump warned in his call with US governors, Its a movement, if you dont put it down it will get worse and worse. This week the Italian government issued a decree under its Rilancia Italia (Relaunch Italy) COVID-19 bailout scheme guaranteeing 6 billion in loans to the Fiat Chrysler Group Italy (FCA). Although FCA restarted operations in Italy at the end of April, the pandemic virtually erased all demand for new vehicles, prompting FCA to halt most production. The company said it requested the loanwhich will be funded by a consortium of banks and issued by Intesa San Paoloto support all of the Italian entities within the FCA Group to provide funding for manufacturing plant labour costs, pay suppliers and fund investment in research and development. As millions of Italians remain out of work, struggling to make ends meet with only a one-time 600 COVID-19 emergency payment and limited unemployment benefits, the Italian government is making billions of euros available to big business through the Rilancia funds. At the same time, there are little or no guarantees for the Fiat Chrysler workforce in Italy or elsewhere around the planet. The bailout will be financed by an intensification of the existing levels of European Union (EU) austerity on workers in Italy and attacks on jobs at FCA internationally. The pandemicwhich has not been eradicated in Italyhas claimed 34,716 lives and infected more than 240,000 people. The World Health Organisation expects at least another 10,000 deaths in Italy by October of this year. Health care services remain dedicated primarily to confronting the pandemic, with routine and non-COVID health care services still very limited. While the government has still not posted complete unemployment statistics, it is estimated that by the end of this year official unemployment will be over 12 percent. This does not include the millions of workers in the casual economy who are being left with no work and no government aid. According to the most recent ISTAT report, as of 2016, the automotive industry accounts for 4.4 percent of Italys GDP, generating more than 70 billion in revenue, and employing 1.2 million workers across 3,000 companies operating in the sector. Expecting a 35 percent drop in sales this year, FCAwhich is headquartered in the Netherlands but runs several plants in Italyqualifies for the Italian government scheme, which provides more than 400 billion in liquidity and bank loans to companies deemed essential to the economy. In addition to the loan guarantee, the government is also expected to boost sales by offering thousands of euros in incentives to consumers for the purchase of low-emissions Euro 6 vehicles. Italian Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri claimed that, in exchange for the loan guarantee, FCA would have to meet commitments on investments and jobs, but he declined to define exactly what these commitments are. The only temporary constraint is that the company has to wait until 2021 for its planned distribution of 1.1 billion in ordinary dividends to its investors. Last year, FCA reported 2.12 billion in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and an adjusted operating profit for the year of 6.67 billion, from which the company distributed $2 billion in dividends to investors. In addition to the ordinary dividend, FCA will also pay its shareholders a special dividend of 5.5 billion just before the closing of the ongoing merger with French automaker Peugeot (PSA), which is expected to conclude in March of next year. The $50 billion merger will make FCA-PSA the worlds fourth largest carmaker. A source in Italys ruling 5 Star Movement (M5S) hypocritically told the Reuters news agency, Most of us oppose the payment of the maxi-dividend by FCA. However, the government is not preventing the distribution. On the contrary, it is facilitating it. For their part, the Italian trade unions merely lamented that the bailout comes in the form of loans rather than government grants. Roberto Di Maulo, head of the Fismic union, said the lack of direct financial support by Italys government forced Fiat Chrysler to seek a bank loan. Marco Bentivogli, leader of the FIM-CISL union, said that the entire automotive sector should receive full government support. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, executives from FCA and PSA claimed that there would be no plant closures or production job losses as a result of the merger. However, industry analysts estimate that significant job cuts will hit the combined workforce of 400,000 employees once the companies consolidate vehicle platforms, reduce factory capacity and eliminate redundancies in marketing, IT, logistics and administrative operations, particularly in Europe. The COVID-19 crisis will likely lead to even more job losses. Auto companies in Germany, France and the United States are using the current crisis to implement restructuring measures planned long ago. Even before the pandemic, experts anticipated the loss of hundreds of thousands of auto industry jobs. In the autumn of 2018, a study by the German Social Democratic Partys Friedrich Ebert Foundation concluded that a rapid switch to producing electric cars would endanger 600,000 jobs and bankrupt most suppliers in the German auto industry. At the same time, any postponement of system innovations would have equally catastrophic consequences. In the US, Canada and Italy, Fiat Chrysler and their respective trade unions face stiff resistance from workers who are being forced back to work during the pandemic with virtually no meaningful protections against infection on the job. This past March, the wildcat strike wave across Italy that forced the government to implement a lock-down began with a walkout at Fiat Chryslers Pomigliano plant in Naples, Italy, which employs 6,000 workers. Autoworkers, kept on the line to produce luxury Alfa Romeo cars for the super-rich, walked out spontaneously at the beginning of the afternoon shift at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, protesting unsafe conditions. The next day, FCA announced the closure of the Pomigliano plant, along with facilities in Melfi, Atessa and Cassino through March 14. FCA management claimed it would sanitize the plants, so it could then try to force workers back to workdemonstrating their contempt for the lives of workers and staff at the plants. However, a partial lock-down strategy was ultimately implemented. That same evening, Prime Minister Conte was compelled to announce heightened emergency measures to address the contagion, such as the closure of restaurants and stores As strikes erupt against the return-to-work policy imposed by FCA and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union bureaucracy in America, it is critical to unify the struggles of the working class internationally against the diktat of the banks and the corporate elite. As in America and around the world, the Italian government has yet to define how its COVID-19 recovery scheme will provide support for individuals and families. However, it is clear that big business will benefit from a virtually unlimited supply of cheap cash and tax breaks, while workers are being told to risk their lives to provide profits for the ruling class. With tensions between India and China at their most acute in decades following a June 15 military clash along their disputed border, Indias opposition parties have rushed to endorse the Narendra Modi-led governments hardline anti-China stance. Both the Congress Party and the twin Stalinist parliamentary parties, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), have pledged support to Indias far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, even as the Congress Party accuses Modi of weakness in countering China. The clashes on a ridge in the Galwan Valley, which lies at the junction of Indian-held Ladakh and Chinas Aksai Chin region, reportedly resulted in dozens of deaths on both sides. Immediately after the clash, Prime Minister Modi and his Hindu supremacist BJP vowed to give a befitting response to China. Modi added threateningly, the supreme sacrifice made while protecting our motherland ... will not go in vain. Modis bellicose declarations and military threats are aimed not only at China, but also at pushing through a sharp shift to the right in domestic politics. With tens of millions of Indians newly-unemployed and the economy in free fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the governments ruinous ill-conceived lockdown, Modi has pledged to revive the economy by implementing a premature return-to-work and a quantum leap in pro-investor reforms. The BJPs vociferous attacks on China serve to whip up a reactionary chauvinist atmosphere that can and will be used to intimidate the working class and brand opposition to its class-war agenda as anti-national. By stoking tensions with Beijing, the Modi government also seeks to overcome popular opposition to harnessing India even more fully to Washingtons military-strategic offensive against China. Modi convened a virtual all party meeting on June 19 to rally the opposition parties behind his governments denunciations of Chinese aggression and the rushing of additional troops and war materiel to the disputed border. The meeting was attended by the leaders of Congress, the CPI and CPM, and more than 15 regional and casteist parties. Modi told the gathering, All of us stand united with the soldiers defending our borders and repose full faith in their courage and bravery. According to the official statement issued by the Prime Ministers Office after the meeting, all parties reposed faith in the leadership of the Prime Minister in this hour of need and expressed commitment to stand united with the government. None of the parties present have challenged the veracity of this open declaration of the unity of Indias political establishment, which stretches from the Hindu supremacist BJP to the Stalinists. This is because all of the parties, their minor tactical differences notwithstanding, are committed to upholding the interests of the Indian capitalist class at home and abroad. According to accounts of the all-party meeting supplied by the participants, Sonia Gandhi, the interim Congress Party leader, spoke to pay homage to the armed forces and assure support to the BJP government. However, she declared that the government should have come sooner and immediately to seek the opposition parties support following an alleged Chinese incursion across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) into Ladakh on May 5. Congress would have backed a more aggressive response at that stage, according to Gandhi, who added, The entire nation would have stood together like a rock and fully supported the government of the day in the steps required to defend the territorial integrity of the country. She urged Modi to regularize consultations with the opposition parties, so that we may present to the world a picture of unity and solidarity. The Congress Working Committee, which met on June 23, issued a statement reiterating the Partys unwavering solidarity with the armed forces. The Committee also assure[d] support to the Government for steps taken to safeguard national security and Indias territorial integrity. To the extent that Congress, till recently the Indian bourgeoisies principal party of government, has made any criticism of Modi, it has been from the right. Modi claimed at the all-party meeting that there was no intrusion, no occupation and no capture of our posts by Chinese forces. Although Modi apparently meant this as praise for the militarys defence of the motherland, Congress seized on it to attack what they claimed amounted to a concession to the Chinese governments version of events, which was that Peoples Liberation Army soldiers never violated the LAC in the Galwan Valley. A Congress statement declared that if Chinese forces had not crossed the LAC, as Modi was suggesting, Beijing would use it as a vindication of their position that it did not make transgressions into our territory. The Congress statement concluded by asserting, Indias territorial integrity is non-negotiable. The reactionary character of the Congress attacks on the government over its handling of the border dispute was epitomized in a tweet from Rahul Gandhi, Sonias son and the partys prime ministerial candidate in the 2019 national election. Narendra Modi, said Rahul Gandhi, should instead be called Surrender Modi. Congress bellicose criticisms of Modi only serve to accelerate the rightward lurch of official politics as the Indian bourgeoisies two main parties seek to outdo each other in professions of support for the military and the unity and integrity of the motherland, and in denunciations of China. At the same time, Congress is promoting itself as a more capable vehicle for upholding the Indian bourgeoisies great-power ambitions. In an opinion piece for ThePrint website, Manish Tewari, a senior Congress leader and the head of its Foreign Affairs Department, bemoaned a purported lost decade in which India failed to take steps with its allies to block Chinas rise. Advocating the transformation of the so-called Quada strategic dialogue led by the US and including India, and Washingtons principal Asia-Pacific allies, Japan and Australiainto a full-fledged military alliance, Tewari wrote that it could emerge as the nucleus for a pan-Asian strategic framework that could have a salutary impact on Beijing. It was Congress Party-led governments that for many years spearheaded the expansion of Indo-US military-strategic ties, including the launching of an Indo-US global strategic partnership in 2006. Under Modi, who came to power in 2014, India has increasingly been transformed into a frontline state in Washingtons drive to strategically encircle and threaten China. India has thrown open its bases to routine use by US warplanes and warships, lined up with the US in the South China Sea dispute, and developed an ever-expanding web of bilateral, trilateral and quadrilateral military-security ties with the US, Japan, and Australia. The twin Stalinist parties, the CPI and CPM, are no less committed to the defence of the Indian state and the Indian bourgeoisie. The CPI issued a statement two days after the clashes declaring that the sacrifice of the twenty Indian Army soldiers who died protecting our borders would never be forgotten. At the all-party meeting, CPM General-Secretary Sitaram Yechury underscored the Stalinists craven support for the Indian military and state when he expressed condolences at the death of our army officers and soldiers in the clash with China. He demanded the initiation of high level talks, so that steps are taken, including clear demarcation of the LAC, to maintain peace and tranquility on the border. He also called on the Hindu supremacist, viciously anti-working class and pro-US Modi government to work for peace. Behind its appeals for talks and peace, the CPMs demand for a clear demarcation of the LAC leaves no doubt about where the Stalinists allegiance lies. They fully endorse the reactionary demands of the Indian bourgeoisie to secure its territorial claims in the region, which can only lead to a further escalation of rivalry and conflict with China. Parroting the Congress attacks on Modi, the Stalinists have also accused him of making concessions to China. In a statement issued on June 21, the Political Bureau of the CPM said that if there was no intrusion, no occupation and no capture of our posts, then, why the conflict [between Indian and Chinese border forces]? Why the martyrdom of our brave soldiers? The statement continued, The PMs remarks came as a major setback to the legitimacy of the act of heroism of our brave soldiers. Further, this undermines the strength of our diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute. These statements speak volumes about the Stalinists support for the Indian state. From 1989 through 2008, the Stalinists supported a succession of right-wing governments, most of them Congress Party-led, that implemented neo-liberal reforms and pursued closer ties with Washington. But whether voting with or against Indias government in parliament, the Stalinists have supported the massive expansion of Indias military over the past two decades, to the point that its budget is the fourth largest of any military in the world. The CPI and CPM have also staunchly supported the Indian ruling class in its reactionary conflict with Pakistan, including endorsing the reckless and patently illegal surgical strikes Modi ordered on Pakistan in September 2016 and February 2019. All the other regional and casteist parties that participated in the all-party meeting emphasised their support for the Modi governments actions in asserting Indias border claims against China. The unanimous support of the opposition for confrontation with China has emboldened the BJP government. It recently declared that it has given the armed forces in the border region the power to freely decide how to respond to any further Chinese transgressions of the LAC, has placed Indias armed forces along the border on high alert, and has deployed warplanes to forward bases. Last Thursday, Indian media claimed that China has opened another front at Depsang in Indian-held Ladakh. Reports claimed this was a response by China to Indias strong stand on several fronts. These developments only serve to underline the very real threat that the border dispute between India and China could escalate into a major war between these rival nuclear-armed states, one moreover that could draw in the US and other regional and great powers. The rallying of the opposition parties behind Modi increases the danger of such a conflict, which would have catastrophic consequences for millions of workers and toilers in the region and beyond. At protests that have erupted in the aftermath of the brutal murder of George Floyd, demonstrators who have suffered injuries and abuse at the hands of violent police officers have been administered to by thousands of medical professionals and lay people who have served as volunteers to aid and heal demonstrators. These volunteers, known on the protests as street medics, have included health care workers engaged in direct medical treatmentnursing students, doctors and trauma surgeonsas well as an amalgam of workers from other occupations, such as security guards, ski patrollers and even wilderness EMTs. Some of the main duties for street medics have involved helping protesters cope with the effects of teargas and pepper spray, broken limbs, and injuries from less-lethal rounds of rubber bullets and bean-bag hits. Street medics is an umbrella term for volunteer medical organizations that assist local residents during protests movements or other situations where they are threatened with violence by the police. They have gained special notoriety in recent weeks in several cities in the US that have been scenes of large demonstrations with heavy battles against police forces, including Denver, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; Brooklyn, New York; San Francisco and Oakland, California; and Asheville, North Carolina. While these organizations are not usually financed and run by private companies, they have tended to operate on a highly systematic basis, setting up transportation networks to reach to and from areas where protesters are present. Some of their more typical equipment include arm coverings, helmets and backpacks. Many first-aid responders have stayed in areas where protesters are marching, from day to night and past curfew times established by state governors to quell social opposition. In the majority of marches that have led to clashes with law enforcement, medics have been drawn in to help give first aid to injuries caused by severe brutality from the police. In Denver, members of the volunteer medical organization known as the Denver Action Medical Committee reported to a local news outlet that they responded to major head, face and eye injuries sustained by protesters. Many of these injuries came from painful rubber and plastic bullet shots, which are euphemistically termed as non-lethal weapons and are not designed to be shot directly at people, especially around the upper neck. After a protest several weeks ago, a federal judge was forced to issue a temporary injunction to stop Denver police from employing teargas and other less-than-lethal weapons after a class-action lawsuit was filed by one street medic who was shot multiple times by police with pepper balls while attending to patients. The most substantial number of street medics reside in the California Bay Area, where an organization called the Do No Harm Coalition runs one of the largest street medic training centers in the country. One of the co-founders of the coalition, Dr. Rupa Marya, described the organization in an NPR article as 450 health workers committed to structural change. She told the Mercury News, When we see suffering, thats where we go. Since the murder of Floyd on May 25, the number of volunteer medics has soared across the country. More than 5,600 medical professionals registered for the coalitions street medicine online training and were given instructions on how to respond to police and trained on tactics and treatments in high-risk situations. Police have made concerted efforts to not only target, harass and in many cases harm peaceful demonstrators but also display acts of aggression against the street medics themselves, targeting them with the same level of brutality theyve used against protesters. In Ashville earlier this month, local police armed with anti-riot gear barged into a triage station where a group of medics had assembled in a line across a street. One of the volunteers told a reporter for Human Rights Watch that they were standing with their hands over their heads telling police they were medics. Police ignored their remarks and according to the volunteer grabbed us by the shoulders, shoved us down the street, and told us to leave if we dont want to be arrested. Police then reportedly destroyed $700 worth of medical supplies at their station. Medics have frequently found themselves in the crosshairs of dangerous confrontations initiated by the police forces. At a protest in Austin, Texas, last month, police fired impact projectiles at a group of protesters and severely injured a Texas State University student in the head. The student, Justin Howell, immediately dropped to the ground and was found with blood leaking all over his body. Witnesses at the scene assumed the young student had died from the attack. Afterward, police told protesters and street medic teams to send the student over to their headquarters for medical attention. Police who were guarding the headquarters, however, decided to fire less-lethal weapons at the crowd 14 times and hit one street medic with a projectile, injuring his hand. Howell ended up suffering brain damage that could have been avoided had he received medical treatment earlier. Police and law enforcement officials have falsely justified the use of such weapons on the grounds that they are mild instruments used to suppress demonstrators. The use of such weapons has resulted in countless peaceful protesters and innocent bystanders enduring permanent and sometimes even fatal injuries. One protester, Aubreana Inda, who participated in a Seattle protest earlier this month was shot in the chest with a flash grenade, had gone into a cardiac arrest three times from the impact, and would not have survived had there not been street medics on the scene to provide assistance. The interventions of volunteer health care workers and others from a wide range of industries point to the immense linkage between protests against police repression and the conscious identification and solidarity large sections of the working-class feel toward victims of the capitalist state. Medical professionals, in particular, who have been battling the coronavirus pandemic, feel a parallel responsibility in aiding workers victimized by an army of police departments. On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel received French President Emmanuel Macron at Meseberg Castle near Berlin before the start of the German Presidency of the EU Council on July 1. These talks took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the deepest economic crisis since the end of World War II, and growing US-EU tensions. There is rising shock and consternation internationally at the political and economic disintegration in the United States, where authorities refuse to take meaningful steps against COVID-19 even as the pandemic escalates wildly. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and French President Emmanuel Macron give a joint press conference after a bilateral meeting, at the German government's guest house Meseberg Castle in Gransee near Berlin, Germany, Monday, June 29 2020. The meeting takes place ahead of Germany's EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2020. (Hayoung Jeon, Pool via AP) After the EU blocked US citizens from entering Europe, Merkel and Macron called for stepped-up military spending and austerity to ensure Europes ability to wage war independently from Washington. Merkel began a joint press conference with the words, We are living in a serious time. She cited both the pandemic and the economic challenge associated with it, the likes of which we have not seen for decades or perhaps ever before. She said Germany and France want to play a joint role in the coming months, making it clear that Europe is our future ... Only in the European community will we be strong and play our role in the world. The great challenges she foresaw included digitization, climate change, but also the question of war and peace in the true sense of the word. Merkel and Macron did not explain which wars might be imminent, but they emphasized that the European states could only compete globally with other major powers by working together. We must define our relations with the world as a European Union, Merkel said. This has to do with relations with Africa, with relations with China and, of course, with transatlantic relations. The fact that we are facing a great challenge here can be seen every day. The far-reaching character of the questions that were involved in the Meseberg talks was indicated by an interview Merkel granted to a consortium of European newspapers. Speaking to the Guardian in Britain, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung in Germany, Le Monde in France, La Stampa in Italy, La Vanguardia in Spain, and Polityka in Poland, she discussed Germanys upcoming presidency of the European Council and voiced the growing concerns in European ruling circles at their relations with Washington. Asked whether Europe would establish strategic autonomy from Washington, she replied: There are compelling reasons to remain committed to a transatlantic defence community and our shared nuclear umbrella. But of course, Europe needs to carry more of the burden than during the Cold War. We grew up in the certain knowledge that the United States wanted to be a world power. Should the US now wish to withdraw from that role of its own free will, we would have to reflect on that very deeply. Merkel did not say what might lead Washington to abandon its role as the leading world power. However, it is no secret that the entire American capitalist establishment is desperate to maintain the United States rapidly fading global hegemony. What Merkel and other European heads of state are reflecting upon, in reality, is not the possibility of a change in policy decided by Washington of its own free will, but the accelerating collapse of American capitalisms world position. Conflicts between Washington and European capitals on international issues are steadily growing. With the Trump administration threatening both Germany and China with hundreds of billions of dollars in trade war tariffs, Merkel bemoaned a brusque tone in global politics: These days, we have to do all we can to stop ourselves collapsing into protectionism. I am under no illusions about how difficult the negotiations will be. While calling Chinas economic rise a major challenge for our liberal democracies, Merkel proposed a visibly different approach from Washington, which is threatening to default on US debt to China and dispatching three aircraft carriers to threaten Chinas coast. Merkel said Europe and China are partners in economic cooperation and combating climate change, but also competitors with very different political systems. Not to talk to each other would certainly be a bad idea. She also suggested that limited concessions would be made to governments of more indebted EU countries in order to secure their support for Germanys new bid for world power. She indicated Germany could contribute more money to a COVID-19 bailout fund because Germany had a low debt ratio and can afford, in this extraordinary situation, to take on some more debt. She also said she could support Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino as the head of the Euro Group of euro zone finance ministers. The measures to help the economically weaker European countries, Merkel said, are in our own interests too, of course. It is in Germanys interest to have a strong internal market and to have the European Union grow closer together, not fall apart. In Meseburg, Merkel and Macron left no doubt that the working class will bear the costs of the crisis. Merkel made clear the 500 billion Recovery Fund proposed by Germany and France will be linked to savage austerity against working people. Everyone must make themselves fit for the future at home and strengthen their own competitiveness, she said. She cited the example of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who she said had already made proposals to modernise his country. Currently the European powers are working closely together on transforming the EU into a military alliance thatunlike NATOcan act independently of and if necessary against the US. But conflicts are also re-emerging between the European capitals. When Merkel suggested in her interview that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) can be used by everyone hit by the crisis, Conte rebuffed her: Im the one who keeps the books. I take care of the Italian budget, together with Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri, the states accountants and the other ministers. What keeps the European governments together at this point is not a unity of interests, but a desperate search for allies against foreign enemies and the working class at home. The only policy they can agree on is one of austerity, repression and militarism. Thus, the defense ministries of France, Germany, Italy and Spain issued a joint letter to Josep Borrell, the EU foreign and military policy chief, calling for a major joint EU military build-up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, they wrote, Our Armed Forces have been instrumental in helping to deal with the challenges posedboth in Europe and beyond. Today, the effects of the pandemic have already started aggravating existing conflicts and crises, further weakening fragile states and putting additional pressure on already strained systems and regions. Security and Defence must therefore remain a top priority. We want to live up to our responsibilities and be able to face present and upcoming challenges, at home and abroad. They called for strengthening the EUs Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) on military issues; reinforcing EU defence industries; developing a Strategic Compass governing common EU military missions; stepping up military operations in Mali, Libya, and the Gulf of Guinea; and further coordinating EU military policy. Cooperation with NATO was listed dead last, in a section that committed the four EU powers to strengthening the European pillar within NATO as well as to taking forward the cooperation in security and defence with other partner organisations. They stressed that building the EUs ability to wage large-scale military actions independently of Washington would require pouring financial resources into Europes war machines. They added, Building Europes industrial, technological and digital sovereignty requires us to link our economic policies even stronger with our security interests The European Defence Fund (EDF) is key to financing and fostering defence research and capability development that will reinforce our ability to act and to face future military crises and global threats. We therefore advocate for an ambitious EDF budget as a priority in the defence area and a swift adoption of the EDF regulation, in full respect of the discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework. As the European powers prepare for war, they openly acknowledge that their relations with America are collapsing. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) told DPA: Anyone who thinks that with a president of the Democratic Party everything will be the same again in the transatlantic partnership as it once was underestimates the structural changes. Three decades after the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union, historically-rooted contradictions of capitalism that led to two world wars in the 20th century are again rapidly erupting. This must be understood as a warning by the working class. The way forward against the capitalist warmongering on both sides of the Atlantic is the building of an international anti-war movement and a struggle for socialist revolution. Health authorities in the state of Victoria announced 64 new COVID-19 cases today, following 75 on Monday, which was the fourth-highest single day figure since the beginning of the pandemic, and the highest since March 31. In the past week the state has recorded almost 300 new cases, more than in any week since April 6. Addressing the media this afternoon, Labor Premier Daniel Andrews announced the reimposition of limited lockdown measures in the worst affected areas, covering ten postcodes. Their overwhelmingly working-class residents are being instructed not to travel around the city, and to limit their movements to essential activities, including work, study, shopping and exercise. Some businesses, deemed non-essential, will again be directed to close. The measures were only introduced after more than seven days of rapidly rising case numbers. They stop short of the ring-fencing lockdowns of areas with high numbers of COVID-19 cases that had been advocated by some epidemiologists. The announcement is a partial reversion to the limited lockdowns that were introduced in March and that have been eased over the past month. Under such regulations, most businesses, including large factories, are permitted to continue their operations, posing the danger of further transmission. Andrews announcement came after Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton indicated yesterday that the number of infected people is likely still growing. He said: I think it will get worse before it gets better. Health authorities have suggested that the increase in confirmed cases is the result of a testing blitz in two of the Melbourne suburbs identified as hotspots but the number of tests carried out over the weekend was lower than on most days last week. Only 15,381 tests were carried out on Sunday, and 17,954 on Saturday, down from 22,103 on Friday. In almost four months since testing began, only around 800,000 tests have been conducted in Victoria, which has a population of more than 6 million. The authorities have begun using a newly-developed saliva test in addition to the standard throat swab. However, this will not increase the daily testing capacity beyond the current figure of around 20,000 because it requires the same laboratory processing as the existing tests. The saliva test misses about 13 percent of COVID-19 cases detected by the already imperfect throat and nose swab test. Significantly, almost all the new cases have been contracted locally. Previously, returned travellers accounted for most positive tests, and outbreaks among staff at two quarantine hotels. These hotels have been largely under the control of hotel staff, cleaners and private security workers, with no specialised training in infection control. While some additional health care workers have been sent to the hotels, the newly-announced engagement of prison officers as security guards at the facilities points to the state government trying to impose a law-and-order solution on a public health crisis. This follows the reintroduction of on-the-spot fines for social-distancing breaches and the deployment of military personnel to Melbournes mass testing sites. The source of infection in more than 200 new cases has not been determined, suggesting that community transmission is much more widespread, at least in sections of Melbourne, than previously reported. The state Labor government continues to blame family gatherings for the surge in coronavirus cases. Until today, the only reversal in the relaxation of Victorias lockdown measures had been to limit the size of private indoor gatherings. But this has nothing to do with an objective assessment of the surge in cases, which is entirely bound up with the profit interests of business. The Australian ruling class has never seriously entertained the possibility of stamping out the virus. The forced return to workplaces and school classrooms was carried out across the country with full knowledge that it would lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases. Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos confirmed this yesterday. The agreed national strategy of the national cabinet was a suppression strategy, she said. We did anticipate that we would get new cases and outbreaks. While Victorian children are now on school holidays, Mikakos yesterday announced that six Melbourne schools were linked to new coronavirus cases, meaning they would need to be deep cleaned and close contacts would have to self-isolate. Since yesterday, four more schools have reported coronavirus cases. Two staff members at Camberwell Grammar School, two students at Hume Central Secondary College, and one student each at Moreland Primary School and Parkwood Green Primary School have tested positive. Contact tracing is underway. Two other schools were linked to cases over the weekend, following three school closures last week. In the past three weeks, more than 30 schools and childcare facilities have had to close temporarily following positive tests of children or staff. Working class areas are the worst affected. Three staff members at Albanvale Primary School have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and the outbreak is linked to at least two other cases. More than a third of recent cases are among young people in their 20s and 30s, which Mikakos characterised as the result of more young people getting together with their mates contracting the virus. In reality, workers in this age group are among the hardest hit by the mass unemployment sparked by the pandemic. Many of those who have kept their jobs are employed in industries where they have been forced to work at high risk of contracting COVID-19. The desperation of young people is illustrated by a 40 percent year-on-year increase in applications to join the Defence Force in April. It is completely disingenuous for governments that have consistently downplayed the severity of the coronavirus in Australia, especially for younger people, to now claim that these young people are responsible for the surge, and not the reckless profit-driven policies. Despite blaming families and young people, the Victorian government has been forced to report several more workplace outbreaks. Five workers at the Coles Chilled Distribution centre at Laverton, in Melbournes west, have tested positive, including some who had no known contact outside of work. The North Melbourne cluster of 22 confirmed cases appears to have started with at least two staff members from fashion clothing retailer H&M in Northland before spreading among family and social contacts. At least six recent cases have been linked to health care facilitiesthree at Hampstead Dental in Maidstone, and one each at Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Melbourne Clinic, and the Red Cross Lifeblood processing centre. A paramedic was also among yesterdays positive tests. While Victoria is home to the majority of Australias recent COVID-19 cases, it would be reckless to assume that other states and territories are immune from a similar resurgence. The easing of social-distancing measures and the opening up of schools and workplaces are continuing throughout the country, despite the well-understood risks. Mass testing of asymptomatic people has not been carried out anywhere in the country, meaning health authorities have no idea how widespread the virus is. Today marks six months since global health authorities were informed of a disease outbreak in Wuhan, China that would later be named COVID-19. In this brief period of time, the number of cases has ballooned to 10 million, with half a million people dead. But the worst is yet to come, warned World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday. Globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up. Public health experts have watched in despair as governments throughout the world allowed the virus to spread, abandoning basic public health precautions and sacrificing the lives of the elderly and the sick in the cause of expanding corporate profits. The tone has been set by the United States, where the Trump administration has abandoned efforts to contain the pandemic, effectively embracing the policy of herd immunity. This has produced a catastrophic resurgence of the pandemic throughout the country. On Monday, the United States had over 44,000 new cases, up from 19,000 on June 8. The weekly average of cases has grown to 39,000, up from a low of 21,000. Cases are increasing in 32 states, with hospitals in Arizona, Florida, and Texas near their capacity. The global upsurge of the pandemic is the predictable and inevitable result of the back-to-work campaign, stemming from the ruling classs demand to protect profits, not lives, with the claim that the cure cant be worse than the disease. This campaign, however, is being met with growing resistance by workers across the world. On Monday, two thousand workers went on strike at six Amazon facilities in Germany after 40 workers tested positive at two facilities. Like other major employers throughout the world, Amazon is not notifying its employees when workers become sick, making it impossible to carry out contact tracing. To the extent that workers and health authorities know anything about the spread of the pandemic, it is over the obstruction of the company. In Minnesota, health officials have found at least 187 cases at two facilities. Workers also stopped production at two Fiat Chrysler (FCA) auto factories in Michigan. Over the weekend, workers at FCA Jefferson North Assembly and FCA Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in the metro Detroit refused to continue working after reports that workers had had fallen ill. The work stoppage was taken independently of the unions, and workers at both plants have set up rank-and-file safety committees demanding that they be notified of illnesses and that plants be shut down for deep cleaning every time a case is found. There have been a series of other actions over the past week in response to the pandemic and its economic fallout: On Friday, five hundred nurses at HCA Healthcare in Riverside, California went on strike to demand adequate staffing, safety equipment and cleaning staff to combat the pandemic. Over 700 nurses in Joliet, Illinois are set to go on strike on July 4 in opposition to efforts to reduce staffing levels and impose speed-up, which nurses say make it impossible to ensure safety. On Monday, thousands of nurses in Zimbabwe went on strike over pay. Over 4,000 shipbuilding workers remain on strike at Bath Iron Works in Maine since last week in opposition to the shipbuilder outsourcing work to contractors. Also Monday, workers throughout Turkey took part in demonstrations against the governments planned cuts to severance pay. Up to this point, the global response to the pandemic has been dictated by the social interests of the capitalist class. Using the crisis created by the pandemic, the governments of the United States and Europe have transferred trillions of dollars to the financial oligarchy through corporate bailouts and central bank interventions that have driven stock markets to record highs in the face of the worst economic crisis in a century. With these bailouts secured, the ruling elites focused on a single-minded campaign to get workers back to work at factories, warehouses and other workplaces to generate profits for the corporations, regardless of the consequences for public health. This has been accompanied by a campaign of economic blackmail. The Trump administration is demanding an end to emergency supplemental unemployment payments to laid-off workers on the grounds that such assistance is a disincentive for them to get back on the job. But now, the working class is beginning to respond to the crisis. The demands by workers for safe workplaces and the full disclosure of individuals who have tested positive have corresponded to the demands of scientists and public health experts for the most vigorous action to contain the disease through public health measures. Measures can be taken to stop the spread of the virus. As the WHO reiterated Monday, the virus can be suppressed using the tools at hand. If COVID-19 is not being contained, in the face of hundreds of years of scientific knowledge on how to manage infectious diseases, it is because the suppression of the virus cuts across social interests. The dirty secret of capitalist society is that if the deaths of millions lead to greater corporate profitability and greater wealth for the capitalist class, then millions will die. The COVID-19 pandemic will not be contained without the intervention of the working class. Workers around the world should follow the lead of workers at FCA in Detroit in forming rank-and-file workplace and safety committees to demand safe workplaces. The trade unions, beholden to the corporations and the state, will do nothing. Workers require their own organizations to coordinate actions across industries and internationally, ensure safe working conditions and stop production when it is not safe. The development of a network of workers' organizations must be connected to the building of a political leadership in the working class to direct the explosive social struggles that are emerging against the profit system. As the International Committee of the Fourth International wrote on June 23: When the apologists for the ruling class insist, Dont let the cure be worse than the disease, workers must reply that the underlying social disease is capitalism, the pandemic is a symptom of this disease, and the cure is socialism. COVID-19 must be fought on two fronts: the medical front, involving the most vigorous effort to suppress and contain the disease, and the political front, against the capitalist system and the governments that do its bidding. This is inseparable from the struggle to build the International Committee of the Fourth International and its sections, the Socialist Equality Parties, around the world. The Filipino government is rapidly lifting lockdown measures, even as the spread of the coronavirus across the country has entered a dangerous new stage. Last week, the Philippines registered the fastest increase in new infections in the Western Pacific region over the previous fortnight, according to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Between June 16 and June 27, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose by 8,143, placing it ahead of Singapore, China and twenty other countries in the region. Over a two-week period, the country has seen more than 500 cases nearly every day. Last Tuesday tallied a record-high of 1,143 new cases. The total number of confirmed infections stands at 35,455, with 1,244 fatalities. The spike in cases has mostly occurred in the two most populous metropolitan areas in the country: the capital Metro Manila and Cebu City. The Department of Foreign Affairs also reported a total of 8,433 cases and 538 deaths among the extensive population of migrant Filipino workers living outside of the country. In a statement this week, the Department of Health defended the governments pandemic response, citing the Philippines mortality rate of 3.5 percent as a positive outcome, compared with the global rate of 5.1 percent. It claimed that all agencies are tasked to closely monitor the rise in cases and strengthen our response through localized actions, especially in emerging hotspots. Such a statement serves merely as a cover for what has been an incompetent and indifferent response to the health crisis on every front. In fact, the government department initially made an error in claiming the Philippines had a lower death rate than neighbouring countries. In an updated statement, it corrected itself by noting that Singapore recorded 4.4 deaths per million people, while the Philippines has 11.34. The high death toll compared with confirmed infections demonstrates that the spread of the virus is far greater than official figures indicate. The Philippines testing rate is ranked 136th in the world. With a population of 109.5 million people, it has conducted only 690,799 tests. The recent uptick in Philippine cases coincides with the governments easing of lockdown measures and a limited increase in testing capacity, still limited to targeted swabbing. The government is far from reaching its target of 30,000 daily tests, with only an average of 12,000 to 14,000 conducted per day. According to a study by University of Philippines health experts, the number of confirmed cases may reach 60,000 by July 31. In an effort to begin reopening the economy early this month, the Duterte administration was scheduled to end all partial lockdown measures, known as the general community quarantine (GCQ) phase, on June 15. But confronted with pressure due to a precipitous rise in infection rates, the government was compelled to extend GCQ until June 30, after which a full-scale reopening will commence. Metro Manila, as well as other major cities and populous rural areas throughout Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, has been under GCQ, a phase that allows public transportation, since June 1. The rest of the country has been downgraded to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), under which public transportation may resume all operations, non-essential businesses can reopen at half capacity and large public gatherings are permitted. On June 16, President Rodrigo Duterte returned Cebu City to the strictest level of lockdown procedure, or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). Epidemiologists had correctly predicted that Cebu province, on the central Visayas Island, would become the new virus epicentre, due to the early relaxing of social restrictions. But the decision came too late, as the virus in Cebu City has emerged again with renewed force. Economic concerns have been the key motivating factor behind the governments reckless and premature reopening. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque earlier said there was a need to balance financial considerations with ensuring public safety. The governments actions, however, have made apparent its prioritisation of the profits of big business over the health of workers, who are being forced back on the job in the millions. The Philippine central bank Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has this week projected the countrys GDP to contract between 5.7 and 6.7 percent, as a result of the pandemics economic impact. BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno expressed the thoughts of the entire Philippine corporate oligarchy when he announced worriedly: The negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis is harsher than what was originally thought. Two more quarters of GDP contraction would potentially put the Philippine economy into recession. Metro Manila and the whole island of Luzon, the virus epicentre, account for more than half of the countrys population and generate over two-thirds of national GDP. Consequently, it has produced the overwhelming majority of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The latest surge, however, is most heavily concentrated in Cebu City. Eduardo Ano, vice-chairman of the coronavirus task force, remarked yesterday that Cebus infection rate has now surpassed that of Metro Manila, a megacity spread out across 17 separate administrative units. In keeping with the governments line of blaming new spikes on the population itself, Ano addressed Cebu residents: Wed also like to enjoin and ask the people to observe the health standards protocols. There are so many people violating the quarantine protocols, not wearing masks, not observing physical distancing. In fact, there was even a fiesta celebration the other day in Barangay Basak, San Nicolas. This ignores the fact that government officials have consistently provided mixed messages through public announcements and mainstream media outlets, while also pushing to abandon any public health measures in line with corporate demands. Cebu City hospitals, meanwhile, are severely understaffed and have even run out of beds for COVID-19 patients. Filipino Nurses United issued an appeal to the government on Sunday, calling for the mass hiring of medical workers in Cebu, with adequate salaries and benefits. Filipino health workers have had to labour under gruelling conditions, facing the dangers of contracting the virus and fatigue from overwork. With no substantial economic aid from the government, and a continual lack of appropriate medical supplies and personal protection, they are unprepared to care for an ever-increasing influx of patients. The health department on Sunday sent a miniscule contingent of just 32 medical workers to augment Cebus healthcare capacity. But while its investment in healthcare has been virtually non-existent, the government is dramatically increasing its military presence wherever the virus is present. Ano explained that Cebu would experience a massive deployment of national military and police forces to implement the strict observance of lockdown. Drones are also being deployed to survey the city. As the past few months have illustrated, Duterte is utilising the pandemic crisis to enforce increasingly authoritarian police state measures, overseeing thousands of warrantless searches and arrests. In a fascistic television address on April 16, Duterte threatened martial law, stating: My orders to the police and military If there is trouble and theres an occasion that they fight back and your lives are in danger, shoot them dead Is that understood? Dead. Instead of causing trouble, I will bury you. His comments came hours after the arrests of around a dozen residents in a poor district of Manila for protesting about inadequate government food aid. The incident provoked mass outrage on social media, with the hashtag #OustDuterte trending on Twitter. On hearing about the popular anti-government sentiment, Duterte responded that only the military and the police could remove him from power. The government finds itself confronted with opposition from a working-class population that is increasingly unemployed and starving, in the cities and countryside alike. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles made the shocking announcement on Sunday that the hunger rate had nearly doubled in the previous six months. According to a national survey in December 2019, around 8.8 percent of households, or roughly 2.1 million families, experienced involuntary hunger once in three months. The latest figures show this is now 16.7 percent. The poorest people in Germany, including the long-term unemployed and recipients of Hartz IV social welfare, have an 84 percent higher risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 and requiring hospitalization. Among recipients of unemployment assistancethat is, those in the first year of unemploymentthe risk is 17.5 percent higher than among workers with regular employment. This is the conclusion drawn in a study conducted by the Institute of Medical Sociology of the University Hospital of Dusseldorf and the health insurance fund (Krankenkasse) AOK Rheinland/Hamburg, which was reported in the ARD-Mittagsmagazin on June 15. Food bank (Tafel) in Munich The study analyses data from nearly 1.3 million insured individuals and examines whether the short-term and long-term unemployed require hospital treatment more often than those with employment. The study covers the time period from January 1 to June 4, 2020. The exploratory analysis is intended to serve as a starting point for further research into the social dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic, explains the principal author of the study, Professor Nico Dragano of the University Hospital of Dusseldorf. Should these results be confirmed, this would be further evidence for distinct social differences in disease affliction in Germany, Dragano says. Studies from recent years demonstrate that the poor die younger than the rich. The life expectancy for men living in poverty is on average 10 years lower than among the rich. For women living in poverty, the reduction in life expectancy is eight years. Poorer people commonly suffer more seriously from diabetes and illnesses of the heart, among other medical afflictions. Often they cannot afford sufficient or optimal treatment and are under extreme pressure from their circumstances. The German federal government and the federal health authorities have not commented on the initial findings of the University of Dusseldorf investigation. As in every country in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany presents an especially life-threatening danger to the working class, particularly its poorest and most vulnerable layers. The latest and so far largest outbreak of COVID-19 in Germany, at the Tonnies meatpacking plant, where 1,500 workers have thus far been infected, is a particularly egregious example. The data worldwide demonstrate that the coronavirus pandemic especially affects the working class and the poor. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in Great Britain, the death rate from the virus is more than twice as high in socially disadvantaged parts of the country than in the least socially disadvantaged parts. The director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has addressed this, stating: A crisis can exacerbate existing inequalities, which is seen in the higher rates of hospitalization and deaths among specific social groups. Likewise, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the German Federal Employment Agency published a report on June 10 on individuals in the basic welfare program that makes clear why the crisis hits these people particularly hard. The report points out the cramped living conditions of poorer people, the lack of internet access and the danger of social isolation, since many live alone. The study is based on numbers provided by the Panel Study on the Labour Market and Social Security (PASS) from the years 2017 and 2018. Living in close quarters, it is difficult or impossible to maintain social distancing protocols, especially when children cannot go to a school, kindergarten or playground. Working from home, childrens participation in school instruction is made difficult by a lack of space or separate rooms. Families with children represent roughly a third of those drawing social welfare. Forty percent of them live in crowded living conditions. Roughly a fifth of those drawing social welfare are over 60. For them, the danger of a severe case of COVID-19 is greater and the maintenance of social distancing more important. The danger of social isolation is for them especially great. Almost half of those drawing social welfare live in households without another adult. In households without social welfare, by comparison, only one in four adults lives alone. Whether or not one is socially isolated depends on ones social network, and thus on ones access to computers and the internet. In times of stay-at-home orders and contact bans, computers with internet access and smart phones are more important than ever for information and social interaction. With schools closed, childrens digital participation in classes and programs is dependent on access to the internet. While 87 percent of people without welfare have access to an internet-capable computer, this is true for only 70 percent of those drawing welfare. In households with school-aged children, the rate is 78 percent. That means that 22 percent of these households have no computer with which to participate in home schooling. Ninety-seven percent of households with children without welfare have access to internet connections. The Federation of Food Banks (Bundesverband der Tafeln) is registering increased demand from those needing help. Of the 947 food banks in Germany, 120 are still closed and the demand is enormous. Many of the volunteers assisting in food distribution, because of their age or their state of health, are themselves among the highest-risk groups for COVID-19. The chairman of the Federation of Food Banks, Jochen Bruhl, stated: In recent weeks we have experienced a new form of need. In particular, younger people have sought help because of existential need, among them many students, including those who normally work while at school in the gastronomy and service sectors. Due to the closing of restaurants and cafes, most have lost their jobs. At the end of 2019, food banks nationwide had 1.6 million regular users, roughly a third of whom were children and another third older people whose retirement benefits were not sufficient to support them. Those in low-wage sectors and those who, without sufficient protection, come into contact with many people are at particularly high risk of being infected with COVID-19. This includes nursing staff, cashiers, bus drivers and workers in logistics firms such as the parcel service DPD and at logistics centers such as Amazon. In these areas, there have been repeated breakouts of the disease. The companies are trying to suppress information on the number of infections occurring in their workforces. In this they receive the full support of the unions. IG Metall and other unions are often the strongest advocates of ramping up production in auto and other industries where closures were implemented during the lockdown. Workers who are concerned for their health and that of their loved ones cannot expect any support from these organizations. They must take the fight for their security and their basic interests and needs into their own hands. The coronavirus pandemic throws a spotlight on social inequality and exacerbates it. While the federal government throws hundreds of billions of euros into the maw of the banks and corporations, there is no support for those already living in difficult conditions, whose ranks are swelling due to mass redundancies and the destruction of social programs. With the irresponsible back-to-work campaign, millions of workers are forced to risk their health to generate billions for the rich, the corporations and the banks. Royal Mail has announced that 2,000 managers will be made redundant shortly. The restructuring that was promised after the previous CEO Rico Back was sacked has now begun. The cull in management is in anticipation of broader changes demanded by Royal Mails ruthless drive for profits that will lead to upwards of 20,000 postal jobs being lost. This was the estimate of the Communication Workers Union (CWU). However, given that Royal Mail is losing 1 million a day, the jobs carnage will likely be higher still. In the first phase of restructuring, Royal Mail has said it wants to save 130 million on people costs by March 2021. This offensive is being driven by the insatiable demand of shareholders, including many hedge funds, for profit. It is now a decade since pensions expert John Ralfe commented he believed Royal Mail had become a hedge fund that delivered letters. At the time, only the BBCs Robert Peston, of all the major media networks, ran with the story. Today, Royal Mails investors are rendering this earlier appraisal prophetic. Over the last few weeks, several press articles have begun to appear revealing the agenda pursued by hedge fundssuch as BlackRock, Pictet, Egerton Capital, and Adelphi Capitalwhich has largely been kept from postal workers. Management job cuts will mainly fall on back-office roles, including finance, commercial and IT, and will be followed by massive redundancies from the rest of the workforce. This is in preparation for the breakup of Royal Mail. Presently, Royal Mail Group has two arms, the UK Parcels, International and Letters (UKPIL) division, and General Logistics Systems (GLS), which was purchased by Royal Mail in 1999. There have been numerous articles in the press calling for GLS to be hived off and sold. As Daniel Roeska, from Bernstein, said, We believe it would be in shareholders best interests to split the company in two and let shareholders themselves decide on the future of the two businesses. If GLS stays within the Group, we see a substantial risk that cash flows from it or sale proceeds will be consumed in part by the UK Parcels and Letters transformation. In its current form, Royal Mail Group is worth less than the sum of its parts. Selling off GLS contains great dangers for Royal Mail and could weaken the company in the face of its competitors. However, this restructuring is profit-driven and also parcel driven. As one writer put it, no one noticed that they did not get their credit card statements on Saturdays during the coronavirus restricted operating times, but they still got their parcels, and that is what consumers generally want. If GLS were to be sold off, it would pave the way for the rest of the business to be split up. This would result in the Universal Service Order (USO), guaranteeing six-day delivery anywhere in the country, being partially discarded, the loss-making letters part of UKPIL being separated off, with the government picking up the tab, and the creation of a new parcel division. The talk of restructuring has attracted several financial vultures, including the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who recently purchased an 8 percent stake in the company. Kretinsky, known as the Czech sphinx, took a 150 million stake in Royal Mail. The move has heightened speculation that he will launch a takeover bid. Like many capitalists from Eastern Europe, Kretinsky became rich following the sell-off of state assets in the Czech Republic. As Jerome Lefilliatre noted in Liberation, A key deal for him was the acquisition in 2013 of the Eustream gas pipeline in Slovakia, which transports Russian gas to Western Europe. This was a very good financial coup, bringing in several hundred millions of euros a year and giving him the means to further invest and grow. His journey is punctuated by scandals and dubious business deals, which have regularly erupted near him without incriminating him completely or personally. The term second-generation Czech oligarchs refers to influential Czech businessmen, who are very active in the economy, the media and politics, and who do not come from the generation that made their fortune at the time of the privatisations of the 1990s, but later, from the 2000s onwards. Daniel Kretinsky is one of them. A by-product of this restructuring has been that postal workers health has been put at risk. Already, four postal workers have died from COVID-19 because of the lack of safety measures at Royal Mail offices obsessed with maintaining profit margins at all costs. Concerns over the growing number of COVID-19 cases have led to multiple walkouts by postal workers at sites across the country, amid reports of inadequate safety procedures. Royal Mail finally admitted that six workers at the Barnsley depot tested positive for the coronavirus. When postal workers heard about these cases, they walked out on strike, closing the office for fear of further outbreaks. Royal Mail has intimated that there could be further cases. A spokeswoman said, We are aware of a total of six positive confirmed cases of coronavirus at Barnsleys Royal Mail sorting office with further cases possible as investigations and staff testing continues. Several staff are self-isolating The building remains closed for deep cleaning before reopening is considered. Royal Mail trotted out its usual lie that it takes the health and safety of its colleagues, its customers and the local communities in which we operate very seriously. But postal workers at the Barnsley office had been complaining for months that proper safety equipment had not been provided and that the use of face masks has not been made compulsory. Many workers have now booked independent tests for the virus because they no longer trust Royal Mail with their health. The struggle by postal workers for better protection against COVID-19 is a vital issue, but it is now bound up indissolubly with the fight over job losses and changes to working conditions. At the beginning of the pandemic, the CWU offered up postal workers as a fifth emergency service and to work with management and the Johnson government in the interests of the nation. But while postal workers were being fed this fantasy by the CWU, at enormous cost to their health, Royal Mail was looking after the interests of its shareholdersmaking substantial profits from its parcel business. In the last three months, this has seen the share price skyrocket. The CWUs demobilising of opposition to the attacks of Royal Mail management has now emboldened the hedge funds to demand more, to get as much profit out of Royal Mail as possible, bleed it dry, and then move on to the next target. To take forward the struggle in defence of postal workers health and to oppose the onslaught on jobs and pay demands the formation of rank-and-file committees. These committees must begin to coordinate a company-wide counter-offensive, rejecting the CWUs call for collaboration with management and take the international class struggle as their starting point. Against plans to carve-up and hive off the company, the demand must be for Royal Mail to be nationalised without compensation and placed under workers control. On Monday, June 29, the Indian government banned 59 apps that Chinese firms have developed, including TikTok. This is a new regulation over concerns that the apps threaten the "national security and defense" of the country, and "impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity" of the nation, Tech Crunch has reported. The two of the most economically advanced countries are also currently in a standoff, and this rule may just be among the many measures from the Indian government targetted against China. Read Also: TikTok: Regarded as the Planet's Most Exciting and Controversial Social Media App TikTok banned by India On Monday, Indian authorities said that it is banning these apps that are developed by the Chinese, and these include ByteDance's TikTok, which has a larger market in India and the rest of the world. TikTok is available in more than 150 markets worldwide and in 39 different languages. Latest statistics reveal that there is an estimated 500 million TikTok users in the world--most of whom are young teens. Aside from TikTok, it is also banning video call and community apps from Xiaomi, the leading smartphone provider in the South Asian nation; UC News and UC Browser from Alibaba Group, Shareit, Club Factory, CM Browser, and ES File Explorer. Club Factory is India's third-largest e-Commerce firm, the report said. First time This is the first time that India has ordered to prohibit several apps, both from local and foreign markets. With nearly half of its population at 1.3 billion utilizing digital media, it is presently the world's second-largest internet market. The government, particularly the country's Computer Emergency Response Team, has received several reports on privacy breaches and data security from its citizens. They said, "The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India." The impact of the decision is heavy. Counterpoint research firm analyst Tarun Pathak said that it will impact approximately one in three smartphone users in the country. Aside from TikTok, UC Browser and Club Factory have more than 500 million active users monthly. Of these 59 applications, 27 are among the Top 1,000 Android apps in India over the previous month, the mobile insights firm revealed. What does the ban mean? It is not clear what the ban means and how the mobile operating system and internet providers are expected to adhere to. As of press time, the apps are still available for download both from Apple's App Store and Google Play Store. Google has issued a statement and has said that it has yet to receive the directive from New Delhi, but is reviewing the order. They also said it always complies with these application removal requests. TikTok has requested to appeal the decision, but it has been tough in doing so. They are saying that they will continue to adhere to the qualifications on ensuring data privacy and preventing breaches. Also Read: Report: TikTok App Blocks You When You're Ugly, Fat, or Too Political? 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Education Minister Gavin Williamson has threatened parents and families who refuse to send their children back to school in September with fines, insisting that the directive announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week is compulsory. The threat of 60 fines per pupil, which double if not paid within 21 days, comes under conditions in which the latest Public Health Englands (PHE) statistics reveal that schools now register second in the outbreaks of acute respiratory infections. Graph showing the increase in COVID-19 outbreaks in schools The broadly opposed wider opening of schools began on June 1. Such was the opposition that the government was forced to limit it to nurseries, reception stage, year 1 and year 6, plus year 10 and year 12 on a de facto part-time basis, from June 15, with plans to open all primary schools in July scrapped. The latest Public Health England Weekly COVID-19 Surveillance Report reveals that up to June 24, schools stand just below care homes, but above hospitals for infections. There has been an overall increase in detections outside hospitals, with the wider reopening of schools a contributing factor. The report shows that the number of outbreaks in schools increased from 24 to 44 in a week16 more than were recorded at hospitals. It confirms that the rise coincides with wider school reopening and criticises the lack of an expansion of test and trace systems meant to accompany the wider reopening of schools. Although a relatively small number, schools made up nearly 20 percent of new acute respiratory outbreaks, which rose from 199 to 223. The doubling of infections in schools within a week, following a still limited reopening of schools, should send alarm bells ringing for those concerned with public safety. Not so for the Conservative government. The scientific evidence has not only been ignored but met with belligerence and intimidation, with threats of fines for families who resist sending their children back to schools in September, with a deadly virus still in circulation. The Surveillance Report shows that the week before schools started to open more widely, outbreaks did not rise above four. In the first week back alone, there were 14 outbreaks and 10 schools had to close in Lincolnshire. There were six school closures in Bradford and at least one each in Sheffield, Doncaster and Derby. There are no central statistics available, but 148 teachers have died of COVID-19. The PHE report also states that case detections remain highest in the north of the country and there have been increases in case detections outside of hospital testing in Yorkshire and Humber over the past 2 weeks. At a local authority level, activity was highest in parts of West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and in Leicester. After 11 days of delays, Leicester was placed in local lockdown yesterday after 658 new cases have been recorded in the area of the city since mid-June. Five Leicester schools were shut last week: Moat Community College, in Highfields, Herrick Primary in Rushey Mead and Whitehall Primary, in Rowlatts Hill. They all closed to carry out a deep clean after members of staff tested positive for the virus. Under these conditions, the governments determination to continue with its deadly plan to reopen schools demonstrates its criminal indifference to the safety and lives of teachers, children, their families and their communities. The announcement to reopen all schools has not been followed by any official guidance on how this is to be achieved, which is scheduled to be announced at the end of the week. It is clear that the government is creating the conditions for the virus to let rip. Social distancing will not exist in schools. The government plans to place large groups of pupils in bubbles to ensure schools can take all pupils back at the start of the new academic year. But the term bubble is a fiction. Children will be back in classes of about 30 children in primary schools, as they were pre-pandemic. There will be no possibility to socially distance or avoid sharing classroom resources. In secondary schools, the bubbles could number into the hundreds, including entire year groups of up to 400 in some of the larger schools. Such a term applied to the various ability and subject groups into which secondary pupils are broken up is meaningless from a safety perspective. On June 11, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), the government advisory group, tweeted that in order to keep infections low in schools, contact should be avoided between teaching staff and between pupils from different classes and especially different schools. Head teachers responded by stating that the plan was pure fantasy. There will be teachers whose partners work in different schools, teachers with children who attend different schools, children whose siblings attend different schools, of which the government and its advisers are well aware, but it will continue to allow the conditions for what Independent SAGE, a group of eminent scientists critical of the government, has defined as a perfect storm for the spreading of the virus. Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust and a member of SAGE, said that Britain was on a knife edge and likely to see an increase in coronavirus cases by July. He expressed concern that there would soon be a surge of new infections caused by lockdown restrictions being eased towards the end of May and anticipated that there will be an increase in new cases over the coming weeks. This will be the very point at which schools are being forcibly reopened. Government advice is for more regular breaks during school times in order to have additional cleaning, but the Department for Education (DfE) confirmed this week that schools are not eligible to make claims for any additional costs associated with more pupils returning to school. This means schools will have to absorb all the additional costs from their existing measly budgets. The lifting of the lockdown, driven purely by restarting the economy in the interests of the rich at the expense of the lives of workers, can only be opposed through the independent action of the working class. The trade unions share responsibility for the deadly situation facing those being forced back into factories, offices and schools when it is not safe to do so. The teaching unions repeat ad nauseam that schools should only open when it is safe to do so, but the reality is that they have ensured many schools are already open while the virus is still claiming lives and no vaccine or effective treatment yet exists. Their role is to dissipate the mass opposition that exists amongst educators and parents, who, through independent opposition, have forced the government to make U-turns such as delaying a wider reopening of schools, and the provision of free school meals over the summer. This opposition to the reopening of schools must have a conscious political programme. It must be the spearhead of an independent movement of the working class against the Johnson government and its murderous back-to-work campaign. We urge educators to study our statement below and contact the SEP for advice and assistance in setting up action committees in your school. In recent weeks, Sri Lankan army intelligence officers have visited and questioned three prominent members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) who are contesting the upcoming national election for northern Jaffna district. The national election is scheduled for August 5, after being postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SEP is fielding 43 candidates for the Jaffna, Colombo and Nuwara Eliya districts. The militarys actions are a blatant violation of the SEPs democratic rights and a security threat to our comrades lives in the islands war-ravaged north. We urge workers, youth and all those who uphold democratic rights to oppose the militarys harassment and intimidation, and to support the SEPs campaign to defend its members and the partys democratic rights. On May 28, at around noon, two individuals claiming to be from military intelligence visited the home of SEP member Rasenthiram Sutharsan in Paruthiadaippu at Kayts, an island off Jaffna Peninsula. On June 16, at about 11 a.m., two military intelligence personnel came to the home of Paramuthirugnana Sampanthar at Karainagar, an island connected to Jaffna Peninsula. Sampanthar is the leader of the SEPs Jaffna District slate in the general election. One officer introduced himself as Sanjeeva and attempted to question Sampanthar. When he refused they said their senior officer wanted information about candidates in the election. Sampanthar told them that it was illegal to collect information about candidates and refused to provide any. One officer introduced himself as Sanjeeva and attempted to question Sampanthar. When he refused they said their senior officer wanted information about candidates in the election. Sampanthar told them that it was illegal to collect information about candidates and refused to provide any. On June 23, at about 10.30 a.m., two army intelligence officers arrived at Rajaratnam Rajavels house at Maniyanthottam located within Jaffna Municipality, saying they were from the Chavakachcheri army camp. One officer, who introduced himself as Upul, said they needed Rajavels details to provide him with security. He claimed that because many parties were contesting the election there was the possibility of clashes. There were conflicts between the TNA (Tamil National Alliance) and EPDP (Eelam Peoples Democratic Party), and the SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) and UNP (United National Party), he added. Unable to persuade Rajavel to provide any information, the intelligence officers tried to photograph him, which he opposed. They left only after Sampanthar spoke to them by telephone, protested their actions and told them to leave. Sampanthar, Sutharsan and Rajavel have been well known for decades as SEP members, having stood in national and provincial council elections. Sampanthar and Sutharsan have addressed dozens of SEP public meetings. On June 20, SEP General Secretary Wije Dias wrote to the defence secretary, retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne, protesting against the questioning of SEP candidates. A copy was sent to the chairman of the Sri Lankas Election Commission. After detailing the first two incidents, Dias stated: The SEP strongly condemns these acts of discrimination and intimidation on the part of the armed forces of the Sri Lankan government of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse, as a violation of the fundamental democratic rights of our party and its members We demand an explanation for the actions of these military personnel and answers to the following questions: Firstly, who instigated and authorized the questioning of the members of the SEP, which is a legally recognized political party? Secondly, what is the purpose of the military collecting personal information about SEP candidates? Thirdly, both SEP members have previously contested general, provincial and local government elections and have not been questioned by the military. Why is the military now carrying out such inquiries in breach of the law and the constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights of our party and its members? Fourthly, what other election candidates have been questioned by the military, in Jaffna and other areas? In concluding, Dias declared: In the context of the highly-charged political atmosphere in the country, and Jaffna District in particular, we consider the direct intervention of the military into the election to be a dangerous undermining of basic democratic rights. We demand answers to our questions and insist that these practices must stop. The defence secretary has ignored the letter and its demand for immediate answers. Three days after the letter was sent, Rajavel was questioned, demonstrating the defence ministrys contempt for democratic rights. The military has no right to demand details of our comrades, or for that matter, of any candidate. The SEP rejects the claim by the intelligence personnel that they were engaged in routine work. The military has maintained an occupation of the north and east of the island since the end of the protracted communal war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and routinely harasses Tamil youth in particular. But this is the first election in which our candidates have been questioned. The intelligence officers remark, when questioning Rajavel, about the potential for clashes between parties has a sinister aspect. Is that what the military is planning to instigate to disrupt or invalidate the election? Military intelligence and its associated paramilitaries are notorious for their provocations, and the infiltration and manipulation of groups, as well as a long list of crimes, including abductions, torture and extra-judicial killings. There is a particular reason for the military to target the SEP. The SEP, the Sri Lankan section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), is fighting for the international unity of the working class across Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim ethnic divisions. Our perspective and program is for a Sri Lanka-Eelam Socialist Republic, as part of a Union of Socialist Republics in South Asia and internationally. The last two years has seen united struggles by Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim workersincluding health, railway, postal and university employees and teacherserupt throughout the island. This is part of an international upsurge of workers and highlights the objective unity of the working class. Only the SEP has fought to unify these struggles on the basis of a socialist program. The global COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the economic and political crisis in Sri Lanka and every other country. All factions of the ruling class are nervous about the developing and explosive social opposition. President Gotabhaya Rajapakse is preparing to take on the working class and is moving rapidly towards a presidential dictatorship backed by the military. He and his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna are campaigning in the election for a two-thirds majority in parliament in order to scrap constitutional barriers to full use of the presidential executive powers. In recent months the government has unleashed an anti-Tamil and anti-Muslim campaign stir up communal tensions and justify its security operations. The government, opposition parties and the media claim that terrorism is raising its head again. In the south, particularly in Colombo and its suburbs, large numbers of military and intelligence personnel have been mobilised on the orders of the president on the pretext of waging a war-time style battle against the pandemic. The SEP and its predecessor, the Revolutionary Communist League (RCL), has a long history of struggle to unify workersSinhala, Tamil and Muslimon the basis of a socialist program. We oppose the Sinhala chauvinism used by successive Colombo governments to justify their communal war against the LTTE that ended in 2009, as well as the Tamil nationalism and separatism of the LTTE and other bourgeois Tamil parties. Because of its principled struggle, the SEP/RCL has faced persecution by successive governments, the military and police, as well as the LTTE. Our party fought back politically and with great courage against these attacks. In August 1998, the LTTE detained Sutharsan, Sampanthar, Rajavel and Kasinathan Naguleswaran because of our struggle against its separatist program and for the socialist unity of the working class. They were only released after an international campaign mounted through the World Socialist Web Site. In March 2007 in the midst of the raging civil war, SEP member Nadarajah Wimaleswaran and his friend Sivanathan Mathivathanan disappeared at the causeway between Punguduthivu and Velanai in Kayts. All evidence points to Sri Lankan navy being responsible for their disappearance. We continue to demand to know what happened to them. The SEP is confident that a determined campaign by the working class in Sri Lanka and internationally can counter the attacks on democratic rights being carried out by the government and the military. We again urge workers, youth and others to denounce the militarys blatant violation of the SEPs democratic rights and demand it end its harassment of SEP candidates. Protest notes should be sent to the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, with copies sent to the Chairman of the Election Commission and the Socialist Equality Party. The Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Email: secdefence@defence.lk Fax: +94 11 2541529 Chairman of the Election Commission Email: chairman@elections.gov.lk Fax: +94 11 2868426 Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) Email: wswscmb@sltnet.lk Fax: +94 11 2869239 South Carolina has emerged as a national hot spot for the spread of COVID-19. A record 1,599 new cases were announced on June 27. Since then, the numbers have only been slightly lower, with 1,366 new cases reported on Sunday and 1,320 reported on Monday. However, the percentage of positive test results has increased precipitously from 9.6 percent on June 14 to 20.1 percent on June 27, indicating a vast underestimation of the actual number of active cases. As of this writing the official death toll stands at 717 confirmed and 3 probable coronavirus deaths. COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state stand at 954. In response to the surge in cases in South Carolina several states have imposed self-quarantine requirements on visitors from the state. A few South Carolina cities including Columbia, Charleston and Greenville, have belatedly instituted mask requirements in the past week. However, Republican Governor Henry McMaster has continued to insist that a blanket mask requirement for the entire state is unconstitutional and unenforceable. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson contradicted this assessment, arguing that the face mask ordinances passed so far by local governments are legal and constitutional. Based on court precedent, he stated, simply requiring someone to wear a mask at the grocery store, or stop smoking in a restaurant, or be home before curfew does not constitute a violation of rights. South Carolina was among the last to implement measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus and among the earliest to relax them. A statewide home or work order was not announced until April 6. Then, in an effort to prepare public opinion for an end to all social distancing requirements, several nonessential businesses were reopened on April 21 even before the home or work order was allowed to expire on May 4. On May 4, restaurants were reopened for outdoor seating, forcing restaurant workers back to work even as the virus continued to spread among the general population. On May 12, restaurants were allowed to reopen their dining rooms, further endangering restaurant staff. As cases of the virus rose in mid-June following this series of irresponsible reopenings, Governor McMaster absurdly combined a call for individual responsibility in slowing the spread of the virus with the reopening of bowling alleys. Since then, although COVID-19 cases have continued to soar even higher, the governor has insisted repeatedly there will not be another shutdown. A temporary moratorium on evictions in the state was likewise allowed to expire on May 15. Moreover, although federal legislation in the CARES Act places a stay on evictions through August 24 for renters in federally subsidized properties, the onus has been on individual renters to determine whether eviction proceedings filed against them are lawful. Since there is no comprehensive list of all the properties that are covered by the legislation, this is difficult to do without professional legal assistance. However, most working-class renters do not live in federally subsidized housing and have been left at the mercy of their landlords. Even prior to state and federal moratoria, South Carolina ranked number one in evictions in the US due to stagnating wages and weak tenant protections. Since the state moratorium ended, more than 2,500 renters have applied for rental payment assistance from the state-wide nonprofit organization SC Thrive. Lacking any meaningful protections against eviction, many workers have been forced to make a choice between homelessness and exposure to a dangerous disease at work, that is, if their jobs still exist at all. About 195,129 South Carolina residents either collected or applied for unemployment benefits during the second week in June, and the official unemployment rate in the state still stands at more than 12 percent. One of the starkest measures of the magnitude of the social crisis unleashed by the criminal handling of the pandemic by the ruling class in the state of South Carolina is the marked increase in demand for free school meals. In some districts, demand for free school meals is more than three times higher than it was last summer. The state is home to many of the most poorly funded school districts in the country, and, as schools shut down in response to the pandemic, many children have also lost all access to an education. Though teachers have sought to track down students who do not contact schools for educational materials, as many as 15,225 children remain unaccounted for since mid-March. Many families have not returned phone calls or attended online learning sessions. State Superintendent of Education, Molly Spearman, has speculated that some of these children may be homeless or victims of neglect, or may have become caretakers for their sick parents. In some cases, it has been discovered that high schoolers have abandoned their education to seek employment to keep their families afloat. Though Governor McMaster did not order daycares to close, more than half of licensed childcare centers in the state elected to close in response to the pandemic, and many of these have not reopened. As pressure mounts for a return to work, many parents have been unable to find childcare and have faced long waiting lists for a place in daycares that remain open. These daycares have had difficulty maintaining safe and sanitary conditions on their premises. Two daycares in the Myrtle Beach area have closed temporarily after staff members tested positive for coronavirus. During the pandemic, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has recorded at total of 57 cases of coronavirus at daycare facilities around the state, including both staff and children. It has acknowledged that this number may underestimate the true number of cases. Although a South Carolina taskforce has presented detailed guidelines for reopening schools in the fall, plans remain tentative. There is widespread opposition among teachers and parents to anything resembling a return to the normal operation of schools. In many cases, despite enormous pressure for a premature return to work, families are unwilling to sacrifice their children. In Greenville, where cases of COVID-19 have soared in recent weeks, a survey of 27,786 families showed that more than half would not or were unsure whether they would send their children back to school in person in the fall. Meanwhile, the two largest universities in the state, the University of South Carolina in Columbia and Clemson University, have announced plans to reopen for in-person classes in the coming fall semester. In a message to students on June 24, University of South Carolina President Robert Caslen acknowledged that many students and parents are asking if it is safe to return to campus in light of the recent rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state. Absurdly, Caslen declared that the answer is yes. Like Governor McMaster, Caslen insisted on the importance of individual responsibility in combating the spread of the virus. Though face masks will be required in all classrooms, the Thomas Cooper Library, Center for Health and Well-Being, fitness centers, Russell House and all dining facilities, President Caslen stopped short of requiring them in dorms, hallways, and the densely packed sidewalks traversed by students between classes. As workplaces throughout South Carolina have reopened, there have been few reports about unsafe working conditions in the media. However, this does not indicate that working conditions are safe. Only in those cases in which the spread of the virus has become undeniable have companies made any public statements. For example, after restarting production on May 4, BMW Manufacturing was forced to admit on June 18 that 14 active cases of COVID-19 had been discovered at its assembly plant in Spartanburg. A total of 11,000 workers are employed at the facility. A report in the German edition of Business Insider published on June 26 underscores the international character of the murderous back-to-work campaign imposed on the working class. Like the Big Three auto makers, General Motors, FCA and Ford, BMW is determined to preserve its own profits at any cost to human life. The article states that the dramatic rise in cases being recorded in the southern US must serve as a warning that the coronavirus could affect Germany worse than expected, by which it means the German ruling class. For example, it continues, other new coronavirus hotspots like South Carolina and Alabama have BMW and Daimler factories. Another lockdown would be devastating for them. Workers must oppose the criminal response by the ruling elite to the pandemic and fight for a socialist response guided by science. As a first step, the World Socialist Web Site urges workers in South Carolina and throughout the US to contact us to expose conditions at your own workplace. The ruling class are using the so-called Stuttgarts Night of Violence as legitimation for the establishment of a police state. In the night from June 20 to 21, clashes between youths and the police broke out in front of the Stuttgart State Opera following a 17-year-old boy being searched for drugs. For more than a week now, police officers in full protective equipment can be seen throughout Stuttgarts city centre. Around Eckensee, in front of the Stuttgart State Opera, police patrol daily and conduct checks on young people. At the weekend, several hundred policemen were on continuous duty. In addition to the officers in full protective equipment, 30 patrols from two inner-city districts, riot police riders and plainclothes officers were deployed. Extensive personal checks were carried out throughout the nightin addition to identity checks, numerous bags and backpacks were searched and young people frisked all over their bodies. These measures are to become a nationwide standard through new police laws. At the end of the conference of interior ministers hosted by Thuringias Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) and his Interior Minister Georg Maier (Social Democratic Party, SPD) in Erfurt on June 19, the interior ministers of all federal states stood united behind the police. They declared that the police were in the centre of society, were impartial and open-minded and therefore needed stronger backing from people and institutions. As the first sign of support for the police, the interior ministers agreed to significantly increase the penalties for using violence against the police, as a deterrent. In practice, even a defensive actionsuch as reflexively holding ones hand in front of ones faceis counted as a use of force against the police. The violence does not emanate from the population, but from the police against the populationespecially against workers and young people. Every year, about 2,000 complaints of unjustified police violence are reported. According to a study on police violence at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum (RUB), under the direction of Prof. Dr. Tobias Singelnstein, the high number of unreported cases means it must be assumed that there are about 12,000 cases per year. The interim report of the study shows among other things, that in 86 percent of the reported incidents no criminal proceedings were conducted, i.e., the cases were not included in the statistics. More than 70 percent of the respondents report physical injuries. It goes on to say, It was found that most of the reported incidents (55 percent) took place during demonstrations and political actions. Both the interim results of this study, as well as the numerous revelations about right-wing extremist networks in the police forcesuch as in the book Extreme Securityexpose the lie about the impartial and liberal-minded police force that stands in the centre of society. Under capitalism, the police function to protect the property and power relations in the interests of the ruling class andas Frederick Engels wrote in his work The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the Stateto oppose and suppress the interests of the working class, as a public authority. The German police are notorious for their brutal actions, especially against left-wing demonstrators. The Panorama 3 report by Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), broadcast on June 23, provides an example. In the introduction to the report Police Violence in the North: A structural problem? NDR said, A peaceful demonstration against racism and police violence is broken up. The participants are driven apart. Fights break out. Anna and her friends just wanted to go home. Annawhose name was changed because she is afraid of being recognizeddescribes the police violence she experienced in Hamburg on June 6. Following a worldwide demonstration triggered by the brutal police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, she was detained by the police for several hours along with 37 other people, including many youths and a child. Officers poured out of their vehicle, blocking any exit. So, we were really encircled and pressed against the wall. Or in my case, pushed, Anna reports. They then tried to look for someone. My friend saw him crouching on the ground. Four policemen were sitting on himsomehow. I wanted to turn around and see what happened. But then they screamed at me again to turn back against the wall. These are the daily experiences that many youths and young people have with the police when they take to the streets against social inequality and repression by the state or demonstrate for their democratic rights. At present, new, stricter police laws are being drafted in many federal states. All parties in the Bundestag are working closely together on this. In the SPD-Left Party-Green Party governed city-state of Bremen, video surveillance is to be massively expanded and telecommunications monitored preventively, without even the excuse of a criminal offence having been committed. Video surveillance is to become the standard at major events such as Christmas markets, in detention cells and police vehicles. The preventive monitoring of telecommunications, telephone conversations and SMS messages means they will be tapped and recordedand the location data of mobile phones logged. In the Baden-Wurttemberg, under a Christian Democrat-Green Party state executive, the police law was already tightened up in 2017. State Premier Winfried Kretschmann (Green) declared back then, We are going to the limit of what is constitutionally possible. The law in Germanys southwest allows, among other things, the use of explosives against persons, intelligent video surveillance to detect behaviour patterns and the deployment of so-called state trojans (spying software). In October 2018, plans were already announced to tighten up the police law again. The reason cited was the need to implement EU directives. According to a draft, among other things, detention pending trial, comprehensive online searches, random checks at major events with a high risk potential and filming using body cams in apartments and business premises were to be enshrined in law. The amendment presented is so far-reaching that the Society for Civil Liberties (GFF) and the Baden-Wurttemberg Bar Association declared whole sections to be contrary to the constitution. The threshold for serious encroachments on fundamental rights would be lowered disproportionately by the legislation and the legal protections of those affected would be conspicuously neglected. The association also complains that not only selective changes would be made, but that a completely new wording of the law was presented. These comprehensive efforts to tighten up police laws and to extend the powers of the police will be further expanded after the events in Stuttgart. In an orchestrated campaign, establishment politicians and the media are trying to paint a picture of the increasing propensity of young people to use violenceespecially against state officialsand are calling for tough action and draconian punishments. In an interview with Metropolnews on June 26, Baden-Wurttembergs Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) said, In the short term, we will strengthen police forces at the weekend, in the medium term, the security partnership I have offered the city of Stuttgart will have an effect, and thirdly, we need tougher penalties for this massively violent mob. Significantly, he then referred to the decisions of the conference of interior ministers to increase penalties for violent mobs against the police. Strobl also wants to extend the criminal offence of breaching the peace, to be able to hold those who stand there yelling and screaming when police officers ... are attacked. They too shall feel the severity of the law. Taken to its logical conclusion, this means anyone who does not support the actions of the police can be threatened with prosecution. This is intended to prevent any criticism of the behaviour of individual police officers and the police as a whole and to create an atmosphere of intimidation. The campaign for police-state measures is accompanied by racist propaganda. In a voice message circulating on the Internet from a police officersent to his colleagues during the operation in Stuttgart and whose authenticity was confirmed by the policehe calls the young rioters Kanaks, a derogatory term for black people. Mainstream politicians and the media take their cue from the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and rail against violent refugees and migrants. Contrary to the official claims, the massive stepping up of police powers does not serve the fight against violence or the prevention of crimes, but the interests of the political, military and economic elites. These are using the coronavirus crisis to further enrich themselves, to intensify the exploitation of workers in insecure conditions and to advance the politics of militarism. To suppress the growing resistance against this, they are systematically stepping up the powers and capacity of the state at home. This is the purpose of the large-scale propaganda offensive and police-state exercise in Stuttgart. After weeks of closed-door proceedings, an Australian court ruled on Friday in favour of a federal government application for a virtually secret trial of a lawyer accused of helping to expose Australias illegal bugging of East Timors cabinet room in 2004, during oil and gas negotiations between the two countries. The ruling highlights the extraordinary lengths which the Liberal-National Coalition government, assisted by the Labor Party opposition, is going to obscure from public view the operations of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), the overseas spy agency that carried out the bugging, and the rest of the US-linked intelligence apparatus. Above all, this is because the entire network of mass surveillance, cyber warfare and spying operations is directly involved in the escalating US confrontation with China. The Timor bugging itself, which was ordered by the Howard Coalition government, illustrates how governments, at the highest level, utilise this network for anti-democratic operations, completely behind the backs of the population. Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Supreme Court Judge David Mossop declared that material identified by federal Attorney-General Christian Porter as national security information should be kept in camera during the forthcoming trial of Bernard Collaery. Mossop rejected an attempt by Collaery, a former Liberal Party attorney-general in the ACT, to challenge Porters national security claim. Collaery faces a possible lengthy jail term for allegedly disclosing evidence of the bugging, produced by his whistle blower client, an ex-ASIS officer identified only as Witness K. In 2004, the then foreign minister, Alexander Downer, approved an ASIS operation to bug the room used by East Timors negotiators during maritime boundary negotiations with Australia. At stake was not just control over underwater oil and gas reserves worth billions of dollars. By maintaining the lions share of the resources, Australian imperialism also retained a grip over the tiny impoverished statelet. East Timor is strategically located at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago, close to key shipping routes on which China and other Asian countries heavily rely. It remains unclear exactly how little evidence will be heard in open court. But Collaerys lawyer, Christopher Flynn, said the ruling would cause essential elements of the trial to be closed to the public. Open justice is an essential part of our legal system, the rights of defendants and of our democracy, he said outside the court. This case should be heard in public. However, the Labor Party signalled its support for the use of the National Security Information (NSI) Act. Shadow attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, only said Labor would follow the proceedings, supposedly to ensure that Collaery is not denied the right to a fair trial. But the NSI laws are incompatible with fair trials. The holding of closed-door trials violates the fundamental democratic principle of public jury trials established by centuries of struggle against tyranny, including the English Revolution of the 1640s, which overthrew Charles I and ended the use of the secretive and arbitrary Star Chamber court to suppress political dissent and execute opponents of the regime. The return to such methods is a warning of the police-state measures to which governments are resorting to block exposure of, and opposition to, the mass spying, diplomatic conspiracies and war preparations being intensified by Washington and its closest allies, such as Australia. Flynn said strong evidence was heard in Collaerys favour during the pre-trial hearing. These witnesses included Gareth Evans, a former Australian Labor foreign minister, Admiral Chris Barrie, an ex-chief of the defence force, John McCarthy, a former ambassador to the United States, and Anthony Whealy, an ex-judge. The court also heard from former East Timor leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos Horta, Flynn said. Despite these voices from within the political establishment of both countries, the judge ruled against a public trial. This underscores the far-reaching scope of the legislation invoked by the government, the NSI Act. It was enacted by the Howard government in 2004, backed by the Labor Party, under the guise of pursuing the war on terror launched in 2001. Like all the anti-terrorism laws imposed since 2001, the NSI Act goes far beyond terrorist-related activity. The WSWS warned in 2004 that the NSI Act permits trials on terrorism, espionage, treason and other security-related charges to be held in complete or partial secrecy. We explained that the Act also facilitated frame-ups: In closed court sessions, judges can allow government witnesses to testify in disguise via video and, in some circumstances, exclude defendants and their lawyers from trial proceedings. The NSI Act defines national security information to mean information that relates to national security or the disclosure of which may affect national security. The legislation further defines national security to mean Australias defence, security, international relations or law enforcement interests. This language is vague and sweeping enough to cover anything that might damage the corporate interests of major Australian companies, such as Woodside Petroleum, which had a huge stake in the Timor Sea bonanza, as well as anything that could expose intelligence and military arrangements with the US. The legislation applies to any federal criminal proceeding, so it will cover trials on charges under the unprecedented foreign interference laws introduced in 2018. The first such charges have been threatened following the raids conducted last Friday by the domestic spy force, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Australian Federal Police on the home and parliamentary office of the New South Wales state Labor MP, Shaoquett Chaher Moselmane, over his public views opposing the escalating offensive against China. Apart from outlawing working with a foreign organisation to advocate political change, the foreign interference laws further criminalise the leaking or publication of any material deemed to damage the countrys military, intelligence or economic interests. The government is also demanding closed-door proceedings in the trial of an ex-military lawyer, David McBride, who exposed a cover-up of civilian killings and other violations conducted by Australian Special Forces units during the US-led invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. McBrides lawyer, ex-independent senator Nick Xenophon, recently revealed on the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Q&A television program that Attorney-General Porter had declared as national security information 80 percent of the documents involved in the case. Xenophon said this had blocked the defence lawyers from studying the thousands of pages of documents, except during two-hour sessions, after which they had to hand in their notes. Such a regime makes a mockery of any notion of a fair trial. These are not the only secret trials. Last year it was revealed that an ex-soldier and intelligence officer, known only as Witness J, had been convicted and imprisoned in Canberra for 15 months via a criminal trial that was completely hidden from public knowledge, let alone scrutiny. Prime Minister Scott Morrison then specifically defended the holding of such secret trials. This assault on basic legal and democratic rights matches the brutal methods being used in the persecution of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder. With the backing of the Australian government, he remains incarcerated in a maximum UK prison, facing extradition to the US on espionage charges for exposing the war atrocities and anti-democratic conspiracies of the US government and its allies, including those in Canberra. This offensive goes beyond covering up the past crimes of the military and intelligence apparatus. It is being driven by preparations for even greater crimes. Amid Washingtons increasingly provocative economic and military confrontations against its rivals, particularly China, the Australian ruling elite has taken a front line in the conflict with Beijing. A top US health official made another plea Tuesday for Americans -- especially younger ones -- to wear masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus as case numbers surge across much of the country. The comments to a US Senate committee hearing on the virus came as at least 17 states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans in response to a surge in new infections. Meanwhile three states once seen as the epicenter of the epidemic in the US -- New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- expanded their list of states from which they'll ask visitors to quarantine upon arrival. It is "critical" that Americans "take the personal responsibility to slow the transmission of Covid-19 and embrace the universal use of face coverings," Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday. "Specifically, I'm addressing the younger members of our society, the millennials and the Generation Zs -- I ask those that are listening to spread the word," he said. The CDC urges everyone to wear a cloth face cover in public, primarily in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, also has said there's growing evidence masks could help prevent the wearer from becoming infected, too. The US has reported more than 2.6 million cases of the virus and at least 126,512 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. State and local leaders have said case rates have been rising in much of the country, driven in part by gatherings, both in homes and in places like bars -- which some experts have called the perfect breeding ground for the virus. Fifteen states reported recording their highest seven-day averages of cases on Monday, according to JHU data. Of them, 10 have no statewide mask requirements -- Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. "Masks are extremely important," the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Tuesday at the same Senate committee hearing. "It's people protecting each other. Anything that furthers the use of masks, whether it's giving out free masks or any other mechanism, I am thoroughly in favor of." Among the 17 states pausing or rolling back their reopening plans is California, whose governor shut bars back down across seven counties and recommended their closure in several more. State officials on Tuesday reported 6,367 new coronavirus cases, the second-most number of reports on one day. The state has had more than 222,000 infections to date and nearly half of this cases are in Los Angeles County. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will announce more restrictions on Wednesday. The governor has repeatedly promised that reopening the state comes with the ability to "toggle back" if necessary. Responding to a reporter question about the beaches being closed in Los Angeles County for the Independence Day weekend, the governor hinted that state beaches could be part of his announcement. In Texas, bars have been ordered shut, while Florida suspended on-site alcohol consumption statewide. Arizona shut down its bars, gyms, and other businesses for a month. Beaches in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach were also ordered closed for the upcoming holiday weekend. The nation's rising case count has had ripple effects internationally. The European Union, which had shut its external borders because of coronavirus, agreed Tuesday to a list of 14 nations from which it will now accept travelers. The United States isn't on it, because its current Covid-19 infection rate is too high, the EU says. States require quarantines of more visitors New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are now asking people traveling from eight more states to self-quarantine upon arrival -- bringing their list to 16 -- because of coronavirus concerns. The tri-state travel advisory, first issued last week, applies to anyone coming from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average, the three Northeastern states have said. The latest advisory, updated Tuesday, adds California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee to that list. That's in addition to the list's incumbents: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Texas. The list requires people arriving from those states to quarantine for 14 days. In New York, violators could be subject to a judicial order and mandatory quarantine, with fines of $2,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation, and $10,000 if harm is caused, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. New Jersey's governor said the state's health commissioner could choose to pursue unspecified punishments; Connecticut's governor has described his state's advisory as voluntary but considered it "urgent guidance." Massachusetts announced Tuesday it is doing something similar. All arriving travelers, including returning residents, must self-quarantine for 14 days -- unless they're coming from seven Northeastern states, Gov. Charlie Baker said. Those exempted states are Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, Baker said. Essential workers also are exempt, he said. Only 2 states' cases trending significantly downward The rethinking of how to safely reopen the US comes as 36 states have showed an upward trend in average new daily cases -- an increase of at least 10% -- over the last seven days, as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins. These states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Two states saw average daily cases decline more than 10% over those seven days: New Jersey and Rhode Island. 'We barely survived the first shutdown' Meanwhile, the climb in cases means many businesses across the country have been forced to shut down a second time, which some owners say may prove devastating. In Texas, after the governor ordered bars closed again last week, one owner in Houston told CNN he is filing for unemployment. On Tuesday, bar owners from across the state rallied outside the capitol building in Austin, protesting the closures. Joining them was Shelley Luther, a Dallas hair salon owner who was jailed in May for defying the state's stay-at-home order and reopening her businesses early. She spoke to the protesters, video from CNN affiliate KXAN shows. "Gov. Abbott ... I know you're tired of hearing from me, but that means you need to start listening. Just as we said with the salons, we're going to say with the bars -- 'Come and get us!' " she said. In Florida, which suspended on-site alcohol consumption, people running one Jacksonville bar said they were worried about what closing their doors a second time will mean. "We barely survived the first shutdown and once we were allowed to re-open in Phase 2, were very strict about following all CDC guidelines," a spokesperson for the Volstead bar said. Swine flu with 'pandemic potential' is not an immediate threat, experts say Chinese researchers have announced a recently discovered type of swine flu, but scientists around the world say that the virus does not appear to currently pose an immediate global health threat. The G4 virus, which is genetically descended from the H1N1 swine flu that caused the 2009 pandemic, was described in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday. G4 already appears to have infected humans in China. In Hebei and Shandong provinces, both places with high pig numbers, more than 10% of swine workers on pig farms and 4.4% of the general population tested positive in a survey from 2016 to 2018. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University's public health school who was not involved in the study, warned the public not to "freak out." "Our understanding of what is a potential pandemic influenza strain is limited," Rasmussen posted on Twitter on Monday. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI)-- Starting on July 1 Indiana is going completely hands-free. The 'Hands-Free Driving Law' makes it illegal for someone to be on their phone when driving. This includes texting, making a call, searching for directions, and anything else you may be doing. The only time you can use your phone in your car is when you are dialing 911 or you are using it as a hands-free device. Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt says, "It's a law that is put into place in order to try to make the highway more safe for everyone." According to Indiana state police, more than ten thousand car crashes happened in 2019 due to distracted driving. Two thousand of those crashes resulted in injuries, and 19 resulted in death. LINK | NEW INDIANA LAWS BAN DRIVERS HOLDING PHONES, HIKE MARRIAGE AGE, AND ADD TO GAS TAX Officers will be able to write a ticket if they see a phone in your hands while you're behind the wheel. The fine can go up to as large as $500. The new law is an infraction. This means that this law will be treated the same as getting a speeding ticket. It is a C-class infraction. Although you may be getting a ticket you will not yet get points added onto your driver's license. July 1, 2021, is when Indiana State Police will start adding points to your license if you are found breaking the law. If you get enough points your license will get suspended. Indiana state police superintendent Doug Carter says officers are not looking to write a lot of tickets for this infraction. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Using a handheld cellphone while driving will become illegal on Indiana roads under a new state law taking effect this week. The move aimed at combating distracted driving was among numerous laws going onto the books Wednesday after being approved by the state Legislature this year. Other new laws include tougher penalties on stores for selling smoking or vaping products to anyone younger than 21 years, and a requirement that anyone younger than 18 obtain a judges permission before getting married. CELLPHONE BAN Indiana is joining more than 20 other states in prohibiting drivers from holding or using a handheld mobile device while operating a moving vehicle. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb encouraged legislators to approve the ban, arguing that distracted driving increases the risk of a crash by more than 3 times. It was to blame in at least 860 injury crashes and 48 crashes with deaths across Indiana last year, according to state police. The new law allows cellphone use by drivers only with hands-free or voice-operated technology, except in emergencies. It broadens a previous state ban on texting while driving that officials found unenforceable and didnt ban actions such as emailing or using Snapchat, Twitter and other apps. Violators can be fined up to $500 and they could lose their drivers license for repeat violations. But motorists who are ticketed before July 1, 2021, will not receive points on their license, which can lead to license suspension. CIGARETTE SALES A new law doubles the fines stores can face for selling tobacco or vaping products to anyone younger than 21 years old. The penalties, which were last increased a decade ago, will grow until a third violation within a year would carry a maximum $2,000 fine. Supporters said the tougher penalties will help reduce Indianas high smoking rates by making it more difficult for youths to obtain tobacco-related items such as cigarettes or e-cigarette liquids. The additional penalties were part of a bill increasing Indianas minimum age for smoking and vaping from 18 to 21 to conform with a new federal law. But the Republican-sponsored measure didnt include any additional taxes on cigarettes or regulations on vaping liquids as sought by health advocates. Indianas 21.8% smoking rate among adults was the 7th highest in the country for 2017, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MARRIAGE AGE Indianas new marriage age law replaces the previous law allowing those as young as 15 to marry if they have parental consent. The new law only allows 16- or 17-year-olds to marry someone no more than four years older after obtaining approval from a juvenile court judge. Legislators heard during a committee meeting from women who were 15 or 16 when their parents forced them to marry men who had raped or molested them and then faced more abuse before being able to escape the relationship. Republican Rep. Karen Engleman of Georgetown, the laws sponsor, cited concerns that girls who marry before 18 are at greater risk of becoming victims of sexual and domestic violence, along with higher poverty and high school dropout rates. GASOLINE TAX HIKE The state gasoline tax will go up by a penny to 31 cents per gallon on Wednesday. That is the maximum increase allowed under a 2017 law under which the tax was increased by 18 cents a gallon to 28 cents to help pay for road projects. The tax has gone up automatically each year since then as an inflationary adjustment. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - More and more things are opening across the Hoosier state as restrictions continue to loosen. This means residents in nursing homes and assisted living facilities can now see their loved ones face to face. Ken Mathews is one resident who's experienced that special reunion. He's been a resident at Silver Birch in Terre Haute for the last four months. Mathews said adapting during the pandemic has been a challenge, and not getting to see family in person has been difficult. "It was rough. Most of my family live out in Pennsylvania, but I do keep in touch with them on Skype and phone call the everyday," said Mathews. Mathews said he's grateful to be able to see family face to face again. "I saw my grandson this past Sunday. We got to visit for a couple of hours. I was overjoyed. I enjoyed seeing him, yeah. It's been since January was the last time I've seen the boy," said Mathews. Staff members said they've done their best to fill the void. "For our residents, they choose to come here instead of a nursing home, because they have a little bit more freedom, but that also means they have a lot more family involvement, so without the families allowed to come in, our staff has really stepped up to take those extra measures to provide the care and things the residents need in their absence," said Crystal Rickard. Mathews said it's been difficult to navigate the pandemic without family nearby but, he's glad he wasn't alone in this journey. "The other residents are really good people. The staff is magnificent. I mean, I couldn't ask for any better staff to live under," said Mathews. Temperature checks, wearing a mask and social distancing are all required during these visits. Silver Birch is also working on a plan to begin indoor visits in the coming weeks. WABASH VALLEY, Ind. (WTHI) - Police will be working to keep people safe during holiday travel for the 4th of July. On Tuesday, we spoke with Indiana State Police Sgt. Matt Ames. Ames wants to remind people to avoid driving while tired. He also says you should keep your cell phone charged in case of emergencies. LINK | READY FOR AN INDIANA ROAD TRIP? THIS NEW WEBSITE WILL STEER YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION State police also remind people to buckle up. "Seatbelts save lives. Make sure you are wearing your seatbelt and everyone in the vehicle is seatbelted up. That way it keeps you stationary in the vehicle in case you get involved in an accident," Ames said. Before you hit the road, it is also a good idea to plan your route and check for construction. Learn more about construction zones and other traffic issues as they happen here. Social media is awash with photos and videos showing millions celebrating in Tahrir Square following the removal of late president Mohamed Morsis Muslim Brotherhood regime on 3 July 2013. Television channels have hosted political analysts who have examined Morsis last hours in office when millions threatened to storm Al-Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in Heliopolis to evict him and the Muslim Brotherhood from power. The 30 June Revolution was not just a popular uprising against an outlawed or a terrorist group, but also a massive popular movement against a group which attempted to change the moderate identity of this country, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi said on Monday while inaugurating the Baron Empain Palace in Heliopolis. This group, and those who stand behind it, thought they were about to achieve their objective of ruling Egypt. Then they were taken aback by millions going out to declare their rejection of the group and its attempts to hijack the country for its own interests. A statement issued on 29 June by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli noted that the revolution saved Egypt from chaos. Around us there are a lot of countries which faced this scenario, but thanks to God and to the awareness of the people we saved Egypt on 30 June 2013, said Madbouli. An uprising against religious fascism is how Mohamed Fayek, head of the National Council of Human Rights, describes the 30 June Revolution. Atef Nasr, head of the parliamentary majority party Mostaqbal Watan party, considers the mass demonstrations a rebellion against the forces of darkness and the religious autocracy of the supreme guides rule. In an article published in Al-Ahram on 29 June Yousri Abdallah, a researcher on political Islam at Helwan University, compared Egypts 30 June Revolution with the 1789 French Revolution against the autocracy of Louis XVI and the Catholic Church, and the English Revolution of 1688 which led to the overthrow of James II and the Catholic Church. People revolted against Brotherhood rule after just one year in office, not out of economic reasons but because of religious autocracy and the way its leaders were attempting to institute a Brotherhood dynasty in which they would inherit power from each other, said Abdallah. President Al-Sisi said in a TV interview following the removal of Morsi in 2013 that Brotherhood leaders, most notably the groups wealthy financier Khairat Al-Shater, told me we are here to stay in office for at least 500 years. Abdallah said when people gathered in Tahrir Square in January 2011 to ask for the removal of former president Hosni Mubarak they raised the slogans of freedom, democracy, and bread. They did not ask for the implementation of Islamic Sharia or the resurrection of the Islamic Caliphate. Once the Muslim Brotherhood came to office the people recognised that the country was being manipulated in the direction of both political and religious autocracy. The group embarked upon a Brotherhoodisation programme which focused on spreading the ideology of political Islam and jihad. They moved to oppress the groups opponents and critics, and gather the threads of power across Egypt in their hands. Al-Ahram political analyst Hassan Abu Taleb says that after just one month or two of Morsi being catapulted to power the public began to feel that they had been deceived and that the country was in the process of being hijacked. As a result popular movements, including the rebel campaign Tamarod, began to mobilise. Their objective was to save Egypt from becoming a fanatical country joining forces with global Islamic jihadist movements. Less than a month before his removal Morsi said at a public rally at Cairo Stadium that Egypt would sever ties with the Al-Assad regime in Syria and join jihadists there. Extremist clerics around him also urged him to get rid of his secularist critics. This was the straw that broke the camels back. It convinced civilian opposition forces and popular movements that they must close ranks and stand up to Morsi and the Brotherhood, says Abu Taleb. In June seven years ago most of Egypts opposition figures including former chief of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei came out against Morsi. In an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm in mid-June 2013 ElBaradei pleaded with Morsi to leave office peacefully. Morsi has lost the confidence of most Egyptians, and I urge him to do like Hosni Mubarak and leave office peacefully, said ElBaradei. If Morsi refuses to leave, I hope the army will intervene to support the will of the people and force him from power. It is the duty of the army to support the peoples aspirations. Responding to the calls of opposition figures, and to the Tamarod campaign which collected 30 million signatures in favour of ousting Morsi, millions took to the streets on 30 June demanding Egypt be rid not just of Morsi but of the Muslim Brotherhood. Anti-Brotherhood protests continued for four days, with demonstrators threatening to storm the presidential palace, arrest Morsi and put him on trial. On 3 July 2013 representatives from opposition forces, including ElBaradei, the Salafist Nour Party, civil society organisations, and the then minister of defence Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, met to announce the removal of Morsi and the appointment of the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adli Mansour as interim president. Morsi, like Mubarak in 2011, was placed under house arrest. Morsis Muslim Brotherhood refused to abandon power peacefully. They organised armed sit-ins in major squares in Cairo and Giza and threatened to use the terrorist Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis group in Sinai to spread violence across Egypt. Most of the groups leaders fled the country, choosing to seek refuge in friendly Qatar and Turkey. Seven years later, the group has used the massive financial support it receives to launch five satellite channels broadcasting from Istanbul and London and targeting the stability of Egypt around the clock. Tharwat Al-Khirbawi, a lawyer who left the Brotherhoods ranks in 2002, said in a recent TV interview with Al-Qahira wall-Nas TV that undaunted by the removal of Morsi in the country in which they were created almost 100 years ago the group moved quickly to retaliate. With millions of dollars at their disposal they set up offices in at least 50 countries all of which work to reverse what they call the coup which removed them from power in Egypt. The Brotherhood still represents a major threat to the internal stability of Egypt and will continue to be so for some time. In a speech on Monday, President Al-Sisi said, When we were in the middle of our 30 June Revolution we were aware that we were battling a very dangerous and treacherous international terrorist organisation. Although they were forced out of power in a mass popular revolution they have never stopped their attempts to foment waves and waves of armed violence to spread instability. Abu Taleb says that after their removal from office the Brotherhood instigated three waves of terrorism. First, they mobilised groups espousing their ideology like Sinais Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis and Gond Masr (the Soldiers of Egypt) to kill police officers and soldiers, judges and moderate clerics. Then they started to bomb official buildings and infrastructure projects. When they discovered their tactics were failing they focused on launching an electronic and online war from Turkey and Qatar. Groups of Brotherhood affiliates based in Istanbul and Doha work day and night to spread misinformation to stabilise Egypt. The Brotherhood has a big media centre through which it has close contacts with the British and American media. Abu Taleb says the Brotherhood has been able to gain a strong foothold in Libya in recent weeks. It controls what is called the Government of the National Accord [GNA] which, with Turkish military support, controls Tripoli, Libyas capital, and the strategic Mediterranean port of Misrata. The GNA in Tripoli is coordinating with Qatar and the Islamist An-Nahda party in neighbouring Tunisia as it seeks to extend its control across Libya and threaten the stability of Egypt. While visiting an Egyptian military base near Alexandria on 20 June, President Al-Sisi warned that Egypt would militarily intervene if the Brotherhood-affiliated GNA tried to seize control of the oil-rich region around the eastern towns of Sirte and Al-Jufra. Abu Taleb believes that the rise of Muslim Brotherhood regimes in North Africa would be a danger, not only for Egypt but for the entire continent. This is why we believe that the Brotherhood still represents a big threat to Egypt and it will continue to do so for some time. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Amazon is giving tribute to the frontliners by giving away $500 million, and they call this the "Thank You bonus." This is intended for the Amazon front-line employees who have been with the company in the month of June. This came after the eCommerce firm eliminated their $2 hourly wage bump and double pay for overtime for their frontliners right at the end of May, CNN reported. The company has been generous enough to continue operating and providing services for its customers in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the need for employees and warehouse managers to work during these times has been high. Amazon's one-time bonus to their coronavirus frontliners Amazon senior vice president for worldwide operations Dave Clark said, "Our front-line operations teams have been on an incredible journey over the last few months, and we want to show our appreciation with a special one-time Thank You bonus totaling over $500 million." This is a one-time bonus that has varying amounts. It's intended for Amazon's full-time employees, those who belong to Whole Foods, an Amazon subsidiary, and the drivers of delivery service partners. Those in this category will receive $500. A total of $250 is allotted to part-time employees and drivers. Frontline leaders at Whole Foods and Amazon will each receive $1,000. Meanwhile, delivery service partner owners, or those who help receive packages to Amazon customers, will receive $3,000. For drivers at Amazon Flex who have worked more than 10 hours in June, they will receive $150. Soaring demand Amazon is the one-stop-shop that customers prefer during the pandemic, since it is the perfect match for their needs. It delivers the product right to their doorsteps, even household essentials. However, the company has been subjected to investigation concerning the workplace conditions of its warehouses. These include North America fulfillment centers with over 400,000 workers. The company has also been scrutinized for allegedly providing insufficient information about the impact of the pandemic on its employees. There are reports saying that there have been at least 10 fatalities among its workforce due to the effects of the coronavirus. Workers interviewed Earlier in the month, Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, spoke to Amazon workers from various New York City facilities regarding these claims. Right now, Amazon is facing a case over the alleged lack of coronavirus health protections in its facility at Staten Island. Amazon responded to these allegations, saying that it continuously takes steps to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Specifically, they have more than 150 "process changes" to the operations in order to improve safety. The company has also spent more than $600 million on coronavirus-related costs during the first few months of this year, and the costs may grow to at least $4 billion as the second quarter concludes. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. President Donald Trump's White House can never, ever, get its story straight on Russia. Reports that a Russian military intelligence agency put a bounty on the heads of US troops in Afghanistan launched the President's team into a new cycle of confusion, apparent half-truths and contradictions as a fresh storm raged over Trump's mysterious deference to Moscow and its strongman leader, President Vladimir Putin. Conflicting messages from the President and his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, only deepened the intrigue about what is really going on. None of what they are saying clears up an episode that comes as new reporting for CNN from veteran Washington reporter Carl Bernstein lifts the lid on Trump's desperate flattery of Putin, his ignorance of basic world events, the way he was manipulated by smarter world leaders and his "near-sadistic" -- according to one source -- behavior toward female world leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Bernstein's story, and Trump's unfathomable relationship with Russia -- a nation with which he had past business relationships and which he denies interfered in the 2016 US election -- both boil down to the same foreboding question about Trump's presidency: Does he act in America's interests or his own? Such uncertainty is underpinned by Trump's foreign policy -- whether it involves feuding with NATO or calling on the G7 to readmit Russia -- which often seems to reward Moscow's interests. It's also offering an opening to Democrats, who warn that the commander in chief is either incompetent or unfit for office, only four months from a general election in which Trump is trailing Democrat Joe Biden in recent polling. Less broadly, Monday's confusing events left major questions unanswered. Specifically, whether the President had been briefed on such explosive intelligence about Russia and US troops in Afghanistan. If the President was not told about such a fundamental threat to US security and American troops overseas, why was the information not brought to his attention? Was it contained in his written intelligence briefs, which multiple reports say he disdains to read, or did he ignore it? And why has Trump not been more outspoken in vowing to keep American troops safe since the reports first started emerging three days ago? More uncertainty surrounds what steps, if any, the US took to warn Russia off and to protect American troops -- even if it was unsure of the provenance of the information that Russia's GRU agency offered money to Islamic militants to find US targets. The same Russia playbook There's one constant in each new twist of the drama over Russia that has overshadowed every day of Trump's term in the Oval Office. Each time there's a damaging story on the issue, he makes exactly the same move -- dumping on the US intelligence that lies behind it. It was a similar story when the President used a Helsinki summit with Putin to throw US intelligence agencies under the bus over their assessments that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help him win. In a late-night tweet on Sunday, Trump insisted that "intel just reported to me they did not find this info credible, and therefore didn't report it to me." McEnany, however, contradicted Trump's certainty. "There is no consensus within the intelligence community on these allegations and in effect, there are dissenting opinions from some in the intelligence community with regards to the veracity of what's being reported, and the veracity of the underlying allegations continue to be evaluated," she said. McEnany's phrasing about a lack of consensus about the intelligence reports appeared to grant the information far more credence than Trump's declaration it was not credible but was another Russia "hoax." Several intelligence sources publicly and privately disputed that there needed to be consensus in the covert world before bringing such information to the attention of the President. David Priess, a former CIA officer who wrote a book about the President's Daily Brief, rejected McEnany's reasoning. "This is exactly the kind of thing that the President's Daily Brief was created for, to make sure that the President had the most up-to-date analysis and assessment of what is almost always uncertain intelligence. You don't put things in the President's Daily Brief only when they are completely corroborated and verified," Priess told CNN. Two former senior intelligence officials told CNN's Jamie Gangel that it was "inconceivable" in any previous White House that the president would not have been informed of such grave intelligence and that the commander in chief would be briefed with caveats included. The idea that the intelligence was not sufficiently corroborated to take to Trump was further undermined by the fact that Washington appears to have discussed it with its foreign partners. Over the weekend, a European military intelligence official told CNN that the scheme by Russia's military intelligence agency had caused coalition casualties. McEnany's careful wording in her briefing also left wide open the possibility that the warning was indeed included in written, classified material handed to Trump and that he missed or ignored it. "He was not personally briefed on the matter. That is all I can share with you today, " McEnany said. But a US official with direct knowledge of the latest information said the intelligence was indeed contained in Trump's daily briefings sometime in the spring. The assessment, the source told CNN's Barbara Starr, was backed up by "several pieces of information" that supported the view that there was an effort by the GRU to to pay bounties to kill US soldiers, including from the interrogation of Taliban detainees and electronic eavesdropping. The source said there was some other information that did not corroborate this view but that nonetheless, "This was a big deal. When it's about US troops you go after it 100%, with everything you got." Multiple reports, and former national security adviser John Bolton in his new book, have said that Trump rarely reads or cares about written material. "Almost never, according to CNN's sources, would Trump read the briefing materials prepared for him by the CIA and NSC staff in advance of his calls with heads of state," Bernstein reported. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wondered aloud in an interview with CNN why Trump was not briefed on the grave threats to US troops. "If he was not briefed, why would he not be briefed?" Pelosi told CNN's Jake Tapper. "Were they afraid to approach him on the subject of Russia?" Pelosi said. "Were they concerned if they did tell him that he would tell Putin? So there's a lot that remains out there." Trump 'should be briefed' Suspicion over the motives of the White House is being exacerbated by the way it has handled the allegations. For one thing, Trump has not made a public on-camera statement vowing to do anything it takes to defend American troops -- a step a US President would normally be expected to take as a matter of course. The White House did brief a small group of Republican House members on the matter Monday in an encounter that looked more like an effort to bolster its political defense against the allegations on the issue rather than to pull key national security decision makers on Capitol Hill into the loop. "It's actually unfortunate the whole thing was leaked because it will actually serve to dry up that information," Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois told reporters. "In terms of whether the President should've been briefed, from everything I've seen, I think it's accurate to say it shouldn't have risen to his level at that point because there was conflicting intelligence." Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, who raised pointed questions about the latest Russia controversy, was also in the briefing and issued a statement along with Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, that appeared to give the intelligence far more credibility than the White House lends it. "After today's briefing with senior White House officials, we remain concerned about Russian activity in Afghanistan, including reports that they have targeted US forces," the two lawmakers said. Amid a rising political showdown, a number of senior House Democrats, including Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of California, are expected to get a briefing on Tuesday. "It is frequently the case that the President will be briefed -- should be briefed -- on matters where there is no absolute certainty about the intelligence on a given topic," Schiff said on CNN's "The Situation Room." At the end of another day of Russia intrigue -- as corrosive to US interests as ever -- the same questions remained unanswered. Why can't Trump ever talk straight to the American people about Russia? TUPELO, Miss (WTVA) -- Now is the time to get your ticket for the St. Jude Dream Home. This year we want to set a record and raise one million dollars. All of the money raised will go to help end childhood cancer and save the lives of children around the world. Kids like Liza who, at a young age, was diagnosed with a rare cancer. "I've never had such pain in hearing such news. It was devastating," Ann, Liza's mother, said. As a parent, you never want to hear "your child has cancer." But these words rang in Ann's ears as doctors told her that her little Liza had pleuropulmonary blastoma. "A doctor came in and they told us that Liza had a very large mass in her right thoracic cavity and we would be transferred to st. Jude," Ann said. Liza was just two at the time. "They found the tumor was very large. It was 100 percent of her right thoracic cavity and it was growing," Ann said. But Liza's condition was rare. St. Jude doctors had only seen it once before. "So there really wasn't a protocol to treat it until St. Jude came up with it. We re so lucky St. Jude can be so innovative with their patients and their treatments," Liza, St. Jude patient, said. Liza's treatment included chemo and the removal of her right lung. After nine months, the doctors told Liza she was cancer free. But that surgery lead to scoliosis by the age of 12. "St. Jude knew that this was going to be an issue because I had that right lung removed so by the time I was about 12 or 13, it had already started to affect my already compromised breathing," Liza said. This meant another surgery. The family went to Texas for that surgery but the procedure was considered experimental so insurance wouldn't pay for it. And because of that the hospital wouldn t do it. They turned to St. Jude again. "I think mom got the call from Dr. Hudson and she said that St. Jude was going to cover that surgery, because once you're a patient there you re always a patient there," Liza said. "They give all kinds of hope. They never let you give up," Ann said. Liza is now 29 years old and works for ALSAC, the fundraising arm of St. Jude. She plans to attend nursing school in the fall to continue her efforts to give back. And you can give back by reserving your ticket to the St. Jude Dream Home. Visit dreamhome.org or call 1-800-456-8351 STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) - On the heels of Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton's executive order that he handed down last week, and was started Monday, requiring people to wear masks when they enter into public buildings, the Starkville Board of Aldermen are considering doing something similar. "While there are a lot of reasons to wear a mask, one of the reasons is not to shut down your economy again," Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said. Mayor Spruill said she's receiving a lot of texts, e-mails, tweets, and posts on both sides of the argument, but right now she's seeing more people in favor of a mask ordinance. She believes that the people of Starkville are seeing businesses in Florida and Texas forced to shut down and they want to avoid a similar situation here in Mississippi. A major part of the Starkville economy is Mississippi State. Students are expected back in August and trying to eliminate spikes is a major priority. "The university is going to require to wear masks in classes," Spruill said. "So I think it will fit in across the community in ways that puts us together and on the same page to be as safe as possible." Part of being as safe as possible is making people feel that way and according to Mayor Spruill, yes that means giving up a little bit of your personal freedom, but doing so, so that others feel safe to interact with the community. "It is that initial phase of getting used to something that is out of the ordinary but is intended to keep everyone safe," Spruill said. "And I think that's the goal: to allow people who are uncomfortable and who have compromised systems for whatever reason to feel that they can come back out again." The Board of Alderman are set to meet on Tuesday, July 7th to vote on the decision. Mayor Lynn Spruill said that at least four of the Alderman need to vote yes in order for the ordinance to be passed. Charleston, WV (25301) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High 86F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Showers and thundershowers this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low around 60F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Charleston, WV (25311) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 83F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.. Tonight Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low 59F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch. Researchers around the world are continuing their search in finding something that could help fight the novel coronavirus and finally lift lockdowns around the world without fear of getting infected with COVID-19. T-Cells are as Important as Antibodies In one new study, researchers believe that T-cells might be the key to getting protection against the virus and that being exposed to common cold could provide some level of immunity. According to a report by The Telegraph, scientists from Tubingen University in Germany suggest that the T-cells have an essential role in gaining immunity against COVID-19 just like antibodies. T-cells are a type of white blood cell that works with our immune system to fight off foreign objects within our body, including viruses like SARS-CoV-2. To get the results they need, researchers from the university gathered blood samples from those who have already recovered from COVID-19 as well as people who haven't been infected yet and compared the samples. The result suggests that 81% of the 185 people they tested who haven't been infected with coronavirus had a T-cell response to the virus. Read Also: COVID-19 New Update: Experts Say Alpacas Have Tiny Antibodies that Could Neutralize Coronavirus Can Exposure to Common Cold Help Protect Against COVID-19? Moreover, they found out that this response had been previously linked to common cold exposure, meaning those who have been exposed to it could have a certain level of immunity against the highly-infectious disease. The study is published in the preprint server Research Square and has not yet undergone peer review. This is not the first time common cold has been linked to some sort of protection against coronavirus, as the news outlet has previously noted what Sir John Bell, a Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, said to his peers at the House of Lords Science and Technology Select. According to Sir Bell, younger people are more likely to be exposed to the common cold compared to adults, which is why COVID-19 may not severely affect them. "How you respond may be due to the state of your existing immunity to coronaviruses generally," sir Bell said. "There is an interesting speculation at the moment, that suggests that many people in young or middle aged groups may have T-cells that can already see coronavirus. It may well be able to provide some protection against this pathogen when it arrives." Further Evidence Furthermore, Science Magazine also reported on two published studies that focus on T-cells and their role in helping the body fight the novel coronavirus. According to the magazine, those who are COVID-19 positive had T-cells that specifically target SARS-CoV-2, which could help them recover from the infection. Coinciding with the research from Germany, the two studies published in May 2020 also showed that people who haven't been infected with coronavirus already have these cellular defenses, and that might be because they have been exposed to common cold before. Certain common colds are caused by a different type of coronavirus that is much less threatening than SARS-CoV-2, which could be fatal for those who are at high risk of complications. There is no cure for the common cold, but it usually stays for around a week to 10 days. Read Also: [COVID-19 Update] Japanese Engineers Develop a Mask With Built-in Speakers, Microphone, and Translation Software 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. On Cuomo Prime Time Monday night, Chris Cuomo called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who railed against the media for its reporting on his handling of the coronavirus not long before Florida would become a national hotspot for new cases. You got a lot of people in your profession who waxed poetically for weeks and weeks about how Florida was gonna be just like New York, DeSantis said, wagging his finger at the media standing in front of him. Wait two weeks, Floridas gonna be next. Just like Italy, wait two weeks, said DeSantis impersonating the media, before adding, Well, hell, were eight weeks away from that and it hasnt happened. Cuomo mocked DeSantiss gestures before asking, What now? Then, with his finger to his lips, gave a belittling Shhhhhh. As coronavirus cases first began to surge across the country, DeSantis regularly looked to the White House for guidance, something Cuomo alluded to in blaming DeSantis for the current situation in Florida. Florida health officials reported nearly 10,000 new coronavirus cases on Saturday. Its highest single day since the start of the pandemic, Cuomo said. He made Trump happy, Gov. DeSantis did, and now more Floridians than they can count accurately appear to be sick. Florida is one of a handful of states, including Texas, that were among the first to reopen that are now closing things down again. Cuomo pointed out that even Vice President Mike Pence is slowly beginning to take a new approach to the coronavirus. Pence recently postponed campaign events in Florida and Arizona due to the extreme increase in coronavirus cases in both states. Even Pence, who you saw silently by DeSantiss side as he spewed nonsense, seems to be his strongest asset as an ally, even he is now saying you should wear a mask, Cuomo said. Thats good since hes the head of the coronavirus task force. Its bad that he is only saying so now. On Monday night, the hashtag #TrumpKillsFlorida started trending on Twitter, but Florida isnt alone in seeing a sudden spike in new cases as states attempt to reopen. Story continues More than half our states have growing cases now. Sixteen are currently having to pause or roll back reopenings because they did not do the right things the right ways, Cuomo said. Texas, parts of California, bars have been directed to close back down. The secretary of Health and Human Services says the window is closing for us to get this right. Cuomo Prime Time airs weeknights at 9 p.m. on CNN. Watch Michelle Obama present Beyonce with the BET Humanitarian award: For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDCs and WHOs resource guides. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. IWCriticsPick Click here to read the full article. If the only way filmmakers could process life in quarantine was scripted Zoom conversations, the art form might be screwed. Homemade, a wondrous and mostly satisfying anthology of 17 short films made over the past two months around the world, proves the opposite. A dense collection of inquisitive, unpredictable and often life-affirming responses to the pandemic from some of the most astute directors working today, Whereas many anthology projects can feel like mixed bags by default, Homemade has been tailor-made to fit its Netflix-sanctioned format, with shorts divided up into chapters that range from four to 11 minutes, and few that feel extraneous. As a diverse assemble of style and substance from active filmmakers with unique sensibilities, it doubles as an overview of international cinema and entry point to many of its strongest active voices, while giving them the opportunity to capture a unique moment in the history of the medium, not to mention humanity itself. More from IndieWire In that sense, established auteurs such as Paolo Sorrentino and Gurinder Chadha gel nicely alongside relative newcomers to the directors chair, from Maggie Gyllenhaal to Kristen Stewart, who provide just enough snippets of potential to suggest more around the corner. Homemade, then, both affirms existing filmmaking talent in spite of the global crisis, and hints at its future. Though Netflixs accompanying description encourages viewers to Watch These Short Films in Any Order (and labels the project Volume 1, though there has been no indication yet of more to come), Homemade benefits from a linear experience: Its bookended by two shrewd statements on the socioeconomic and cultural impact of the pandemic from Ladj Ly and Ana Lily Amirpour, respectively while everything in between sorts through the details. Homemade gives us touching snapshots of filmmakers with their families and friends, dreamlike meditations on isolation, breakups, fantasies, and even a musical. Story continues Its a lot to take in, but like the 2007 anthology To Each His Own Cinema (commissioned to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival), the global perspective (and, presumably, some savvy behind-the-scenes curation) means that each installment feels distinct from the others. In each one, end credits allow the filmmakers to explain the conditions of their quarantine (nobody seems to have broken the rules) and the technology they used, deepening the personable nature of the project as well as the innovation on display. Lys opening entry is a sequel of sorts, following teenager Buzz (Al-Hassan Ly, the directors son), whose drone videos captured police violence in Lys Oscar-nominated debut Les Miserables. Here, Buzz once again sends his drone across the neighborhood of Clichy-Montfermeil in Paris Seine-Saint-Denis, one of the French neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic. In Les Miserables, Buzzs roving camera captured the injustices on the streets; here, it captures snippets of lives from windows and rooftops, establishing the nature of a project designed to expose the sheer volume of stories percolating in confinement. From there, Homemade careens through funny, moving, and strange installments, few of which feel rushed. Sorrentinos quasi-animated entry uses action figures to imagine a hangout session between the Pope and the Queen (voiced with touching nuances by Javier Camara and Olivia Williams) over the course of a surreal meeting that suggests The Two Popes by way of Todd Haynes Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. And like Sorrentinos The New Pope, the one-liners are as poignant and absurd (You and I are symbols, which is why we dont know how to do anything, the Queen suggests) as the plot, which involves skinny-dipping, dancing, and the glorious landscape of an empty Rome. The few filmmakers whose entries take the form of modern technology find fresh ways energizing it. I Am Not a Witch director Rungano Nyoni imagines the hilarious breakup and reconciliation of a biracial British couple exclusively through text message, while Pablo Larrain (whose company, Fabula, produced the project) uses a montage of video calls to portray the savage, hilarious comeuppance faced by a promiscuous old man dying from the virus. The surprises keep coming. Sebastian Schnipper, best known for his one-take heist thriller Victoria, brings one of the more original approaches to the collection with an amusing look at solo life in quarantine in which he confronts multiple aspects of himself (think Multiplicity with a deadpan twist). Kristen Stewarts entry takes a similar approach into the arena of a psychological thriller, as she endures a psychological breakdown in closeup (while her partner Dylan Meyer addresses her off-screen) and struggles to sort out whether shes dreaming or wide awake. Theres not much to it beyond her frantic expressions, but the actor-director allows herself to deliver her most unnerving turn since Personal Shopper. A few of the entries feel less like homemade movies than just home movies, but some work better than others. Naomi Kawases poetic installment amounts to little more than winsome montage, and Nadine Labakis recording of her daughter is basically just glorified playtime. Other filmmakers use their children to more satisfying ends: Cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Rachel Morrison delivers a moving ode to her five-year-old son against the expressionistic imagery of his active life, while Chinese filmmaker Johnny Ma writes a letter of his own to his mother, explaining his newfound family life in Mexico (come for the bittersweet observations, stay for the dumpling recipe over the credits). Yet the highlights of these more intimate portraits include one entry from Starred Up director David Mackenzie, whose daughter Ferosa provides an edgy window into the righteous anger of adolescents forced to grow up in confinement, and Blinded By the Light director Chadhas charming and profound window into her London familys life. In under 10 minutes, Chadha has her son narrate a range of experiences, from learning about their Indian heritage to the tragedy of losing Chadhas far-off mother to the virus. Its one of the few chapters with enough distinctive characters that it could benefit from future installments. Some filmmakers used the opportunity to experiment with genre and form, such as Antonio Campos, quarantined in South America with Christopher Abbott and casting the actor in a peculiar Hitchcockian thriller about a strange visitor at a seaside home. A Fantastic Woman director Sebastian Lelio, meanwhile, delivers the most endearing installment, a self-reflexive musical starring Amalia Kassai as she sings and dances her way through a domestic routine. Jeanne Dielman by way of Miranda July, Lelios lament about the slow-burn meltdown caused by endless days will be a familiar song to many. While Homemade often functions as a document of modern times, at times it takes the long view. Maggie Gyllenhaals sci-fi selection stars her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, wandering empty farmland as the moon looms far too large in the sky, apparently on the verge slamming into the Earth; radio dispatches suggest the virus has been eating away at every aspect of the cosmos. Despite a loopy and inexplicable sexual twist in its closing minutes, Gyllenhaals polished vision of an imminent apocalypse works as a clever riff on the blend of tranquility and dread that many have experienced while shut off from the world. But Ana Lily Amirpours closing entry brings the whole thing home. The director of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night has crafted a savvy response to the state of a universe put on hold, with a dispassionate voiceover from Cate Blanchett following the masked filmmaker as she bikes around an empty Los Angeles. While Blanchetts observations about the pandemic dont reveal much in the way of new information, they take on deeper connotations against dramatic backdrop of vacant streets. Ultimately, Amirpour arrives at a rumination on the crisis facing cinema that all of the contributors to Homemade must confront, with an overhead shot of Hollywood Boulevard and the empty Chinese Theatre mourning the blow to an art form that excels at wrestling with our complicated times. Yet as this anthology project seeks to address that gap, the finale ends with some modicum of hope. Art is just a way to force a new perspective on the familiar, Blanchett muses, and Homemade proves the truth behind that assessment. We dont know how history will look back on the pandemic and the way humanity chose to respond to an unprecedented existential threat, but when it does, Homemade may offer some direction. Grade: A- Homemade is now streaming on Netflix. Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. After India bans 59 mobile phone apps in their country-- mostly from Chinese companies--China has now spoken against the Indian government's decision. The Chinese government said they are strongly concerned about their choice, but reiterated that they respect the country. China finally speaks up On Tuesday, June 30, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, released its official statement regarding India's 'banning of Chinese apps.' He explains that the Chinese government was "strongly concerned" about the ban. Despite the allegations of India against China, the Chinese government said that they still respect the decision of India to stop supporting their local apps. However, it insists that their government requires its apps to follow strict and certain safety regulations. "We want to stress that the Chinese government always asks the Chinese businesses to abide by international and local laws and regulations," he said. "Indian government has responsibility to uphold the legitimate rights of international investors, including Chinese ones." So far, the Chinese government only insists that they will still investigate the issues in order to check and verify information on the situation. Why did India ban Chinese apps? India and China, two of the biggest populations in the world, have been in the cold war with each other recently. This was after tension arose when a border clash happened in the Himalayas between the two nations, resulting in 20 deaths of Indian officers. As a part of their war against each other, the Indian government decided to block almost all Chinese apps in the country, including the famous video-sharing app, TikTok. They accused these apps of imposing security dangers for their users in the country. India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said on the statement that Indian users have been facing security and privacy issues on the apps, forcing them to block the apps. "The compilation of these data, its mining, and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defense of India ... is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," the agency said. So far, TikTok is the only Chinese company that made a statement regarding the accusations. They clarified that their system doesn't save any data from their Indian users, contrary to what the Indian government was saying. ALSO READ: Report: TikTok App Blocks You When You're Ugly, Fat, or Too Political? 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Click here to read the full article. An already moving film is given an unforeseen blush of relevance in these trying times by refracting an immigration story through the prism of a childhood experience of forced isolation. In Samuel Kishi Leopos tender and sincere Los Lobos, it is not a virus but poverty, uncertain legal status and stranger danger that makes the world outside the little familys dingy apartment into a perilous place. Still, the rhythms of quarantine are painfully recognizable the bursts of creativity followed by long stretches of boredom, the closeness and the squabbling, the intense yearning to be out in the world, nose pressed against the window pane. For Max and Leo (two superbly natural performances from real-life brothers Maximiliano and Leonardo Najar Marquez), the loneliness is exacerbated because of the strangeness of this new country, with only the far-off promise of a trip to Disney to look forward to. Brought across the border from Mexico and on to Albuquerque by their desperate mother Lucia (a deeply affecting, tired-eyed turn from Martha Reyes Arias), the boys speak no English and have little understanding of why they are suddenly sleeping on the floor of a one-room flat of such dubious hygiene that theyre not allowed to walk on the carpet without shoes. More from Variety The shoes-on rule is one of several that their mother records for them into a dictaphone and leaves with them during the day while she runs herself ragged working as many menial jobs as she can find to make some money. But rule number one is that they never leave the apartment. And so they take to making up stories, which are briefly illustrated in animated crayon sequences, in which they cast themselves as ninja wolves who travel to alternate kingdoms via the bare lightbulb hanging from the dirty ceiling. This unusual mode of travel has been fabricated by Max, the older brother, from a fragment of conversation he heard relating to the disappearance of their father, and one of the films gentle gut-punch growing-pains moments occurs late on when we, and he, discover the real meaning of the term. Story continues Octavio Arauz sensitive, appropriately constrained, close-up camerawork walks the fine aesthetic line between sentimental nostalgia and hard, ugly reality, making the images appealing to look at without romancing the squalor. And while Kenji Kishi Leopos melodic score can occasionally feel a little too insistently winsome, as a counterpoint to its sweetness, and to the whimsy of the animated interludes, the director also inserts a series of dignified, documentary-style portraits of the Albuquerque locals who hang around the block. This unobtrusively expands his modest films scope, making it not only a hazily heartfelt memoir of hardship, but also gradually building up a picture of a community one that initially seems threatening and unwelcoming to the embattled family unit, but eventually comes to be, if not quite its savior, then at least its sympathetic companion. Inevitably, the restrictions begin to chafe, especially on Max, and he eventually breaks the rules. The outside world, bristling with used syringes and tetanus-trap mattress skeletons is populated with allies and enemies, who can often be mistaken one for the other. Theres the initially brusque Chinese landlady (Cici Lau) who secretly feeds the boys baozi and brings them trick-or-treating; theres the gang of local kids growing wild like weeds on a fence, who befriend Max only to later betray him. But Leopo and co-writer Sofia Gomez Cordovas delicate screenplay is not in the business of apportioning blame or creating villains, and extends its unfeigned, clear-eyed sympathy to all the characters, especially to the harried young mother. If Alfonso Cuarons Roma was an adults retroactive tribute and apology to a caregiver whom, as a child, he had underappreciated, Los Lobos is something similar, albeit on a far less extravagant scale. With it, Leopo, who would perhaps be justified in harboring some resentment at the challenges and privations of his early life, instead brims with empathy and humane understanding for the impossible dilemmas of Lucias situation. As the story resolves gently into optimistic but tempered expectations, with the kids finally being kids again, outside under wide skies, it is this absence of blame, and the careful balance between childlike wonder and adult pragmatism, that makes Los Lobos feel like an act not just of remembrance, but of steadfast love and gratitude. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Shortly after Gap confirmed its partnering with Kanye West on a Yeezy line thats set to drop in the first half of 2021, 25-year-old designer Mowalola Ogunlesi posted to her Instagram account that she would lead the Yeezy Gap design team. West is a longtime fan of the British-Nigerian designerin 2018 it was rumored that she would be working with him in some capacity, and he and his family wore her designs for a Fathers Day photobut the move and overall deal still feels surprising. West is known for having a keen eye for design talentVirgil Abloh, who is now at Louis Vuitton, Matthew M. Williams, who is now at Givenchy, and Jerry Lorenzo, who helms his popular Fear of God line, all worked with West on design at DONDA. But publicly naming another designer the lead on one of his projects is new territory. And backing a black female designer is also a big deal. But who is Mowalola Ogunlesi and how did she get to this position? Ogunlesi was born in Nigeria but attended an all girls Catholic boarding school in Surrey, England when she was 12. She grew up around fashion design. Her Scottish grandmother moved to Nigeria in the 60s to start a fashion label using locally produced textiles. Her mother worked on that line and her father designs traditional Nigerian menswear. Despite fashion being the family trade, Ogunlesi says in Nigeria fashion wasnt considered a field that was worth studying in school or pursuing as a career. Its a very money driven society, she told SSENSE. Having children who do creative things, changes the world in a different way. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. When AnOther Magazine asked whats next for Ogunlesi last December, she stated: I might not even be doing fashion in a year Im just on a journey and whatever happens, Im with it. She continued: I think people are trying to make me go in a certain way and I still want to be very in control of what I do with my life, so I dont give a fuck. Im going to do what is good for me because at the end of the day I have myself and I need to take care of her. Gap has lost its relevance over the past few years, and this Yeezy deal along with the Ogunlesi hire lends the retailer a cultural cachet it didnt have. While Gap hired a black designer, Patrick Robinson, who previously worked at other large fashion corporations including Giorgio Armani, Anne Klein, and Perry Ellis, as its design chief in 2007 (he left in 2011), and tapped Telfar Clemens, another black designer, on a now-cancelled collaboration, the Ogunlesi and Yeezy Gap deal is unprecedented. She will offer a new perspective to the basics brand that it needs. By Supantha Mukherjee and Kenneth Li (Reuters) - Spotify Technology on Tuesday plans to announce local language adaptations of a popular scripted podcast as part of the Swedish music streaming company's strategy to appeal to a wider global audience. The first show, available globally on July 7, will be Sandra, a scripted podcast released in 2018 by Gimlet, later bought by Spotify, and will be released in France, Germany, Mexico and Brazil. The new format is far more ambitions than translating shows into local languages, Spotify said. Its producers have altered scripts, changed the names of characters for local taste, context and feel, and features known stars in those countries. "In many cases when you have a translation done, it doesn't allow you to bring in the appropriate local tones and nuances," Courtney Holt, global head of Spotify Studios, told Reuters. "When you think about things like slang, you think about colloquial language. It's very hard to get that across unless you start to think culturally, locally, as opposed to just thinking in global language," he said. In "Sandra," protagonist Helen works in a company that sells an artificial intelligence-backed voice assistant, Sandra. As one of Sandra's operators, Helen spends her days peeking into the world of Sandra users, responding to their questions and demands. One problem: the users don't know she's real. "What I liked about Sandra is it's AI gone wrong, and as weird as it sounds, the story is as relevant today as it was two years ago," Holt said. Spotify selected Sandra for its universal appeal, and Holt said it would look for similar candidates. Kristin Wiig gave voice to Sandra and Alia Shawkat provided Helen's voice in the original podcast. In France, Sandra becomes Sara and will feature the voice of Belgian-French actress Virginie Efira. In Mexico, it will be "Sonia" with voice-over by Mexican actress Aislinn Derbez. The original seven-episode podcast had just one season. Holt said Spotify would weigh more seasons based on demand from international markets. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Kenneth Li in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler) Liza Koshy say she is taking "responsibility" for her actions after a 2016 video with ex-boyfriend David Dobrik resurfaced last week. In a since-deleted video that was posted to Koshy's channel, the then-couple taste candy from Hawaii and Japan, during which Dobrik pretended to speak Japanese. Dobrik said of the bit, "It's not racist, that's like the sounds I hear when they talk," to which Koshy responded, "No, it's not racist as long as I keep saying 'no'." Koshy and Dobrik also pretended to speak Japanese in a second video titled "Couple Trying Foreign Candy," which was made private on Dobrik's YouTube channel on Monday afternoon. In the comments section of this post, one user commented, "Your impressions in this are quite clearly racist. It's really sad that you thought it was acceptable to upload this, and that your fans didn't call you out for this at the time. Do better." These videos were once again brought to the attention of Vlog Squada group that consists of Dobrik and his close friendsviewers after a TikTok user called them out for their actions. As of Monday, the video has over 1.4 million views and 73,000 likes. YouTube's Biggest Scandals In response, Koshy, who has millions of followers on her social media platforms, released a statement to her Instagram and YouTube on Sunday apologizing for her past actions. She wrote, "While we focus on systemic anti-Black racism in our country, I've been hesitant to center my voice. My work has been within but I now recognize and take responsibility for the times I was not the ally I am becoming today. Being anti-racist requires a personal reckoning, and I can't in good faith continue to use my platform for progress without taking accountability myself." The star added that she acknowledges the "impact" she has on others because of her celebrity status. "What I once thought of as 'innocent jokes' were actually tainted with implicit bias, and what might have been intended as 'playful' was actually to some, incredibly painful," the 24-year-old continued. "And for that, I am sorry." Story continues Liza Koshy Koshy continued, "As a woman of color and a self-defined 'little brown girl' I have experienced that harm of prejudices in my own life. However, this reality does not exempt me from the responsibility of acknowledging the times I've unknowingly perpetuated racist ideas. I see now that some of my previous influences and my own past thinking, speaking and storytelling reinforced stereotypes." The Vogue contributor concluded her apology by stating that from this point on she will be an "ally in action." E! News has reached out to Dobrik, but has not heard back. The exes went their separate ways in June 2018 and shared the news with their fans by sharing a tearful video explaining why. Since then, the former Vine personalities have gone on to establish successful careers beyond YouTube. Koshy has landed gigs as a host for popular brands like Vogue, while Dobrik is a judge on the show America's Most Musical Family. This recent controversy involving Dobrik and Koshy is seemingly a part of the ongoing reckoning taking place among YouTubers. Stars like Shane Dawson and Jenna Marbles have spoken about about their prior offensive actions, with the latter star choosing to take an indefinite break from YouTube. Good Morning America After a year of students dealing with the emotional and mental toll of remote school on top of a deadly pandemic, the return to in-person learning was seen as a return to some semblance of normalcy. The COVID-19 pandemic coincided with an unexpected rise in gun violence and recently, several graduation-related events that have resulted in shootings highlight the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S, officials said. Activists say the incidents reveal a number of issues, including the sheer number of guns in the country, the lack of security around those guns, minimal consequences in many non-fatal shootings and what they say are "weak" gun laws. Corey Lewandowski says the White House did all that was necessary when President Donald Trump deleted a retweet of a video in which a supporter shouts "white power" at anti-Trump demonstrators. The presidents been very clear that theres no tolerance for that. He stands with the men and women who believe that everyone is equal -- theres no question about that, said Lewandowski, who worked as Trumps campaign manager in 2016 and is back on the 2020 campaign as an adviser. Trump has made several racially charged comments since taking office, most recently calling the coronavirus, COVID-19, the Chinese virus and kung flu; calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas; and in 2017 saying there were very fine people on both sides of clashes at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. PHOTO: Corey Lewandowski testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on September 17, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) In a statement, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said Trump did not hear the person saying the phrase in the video. MORE: Trump, White House yet to condemn 'white power' video he retweeted ABC News Linsey Davis pressed Lewandowski, asking why the president couldnt denounce the use of the white supremacist phrase after he retweeted it to his 82 million followers for three hours before it was taken down. It was obviously a mistake and as soon as it was brought to his attention the tweet was removed, Lewandowski said. As soon as he was notified, it was taken down. The White House was very clear the president didnt hear it and theres not much more they can do other than that. PHOTO: Corey Lewandowski pauses as supporters applaud during the anti-impeachment 'Stop the Madness' rally outside of Senator Jeanne Shaheen's office in Manchester, NH on Oct. 7, 2019. (Nic Antaya for The Boston Globe via Getty Images) Lewandowski also weighed in on the disappointing turnout to Trumps mega rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last weekend. MORE: Trump tweets, then deletes, protest video that includes supporter yelling 'white power' The president promised no empty seats and his campaign said it received more than a million ticket requests. The venue, which could hold nearly 20,000 people, ultimately ended up about a third full. The notion that 6,000 people showed up in the world of COVID-19 should really be recognized as a success, Lewandowski said. Look, is it a million people? Of course not. But the world of COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we interact socially and I think we have to take that into account going forward. Story continues PHOTO: Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski speaks to ABC News. (ABC) Lewandowski said that as Trump looks toward a second term, voters should remember that hes kept his promises to his supporters, including immigration reform, homeland security, national security funding and creating the greatest economy the world has ever seen prior to the coronavirus pandemic. He said he wasnt worried about Trump falling significantly behind former Vice President Joe Biden in a Fox News and New York Times poll released last week. The only thing that matters is when people go to the polls [in November], he said. The silent majority will turn out once again and support Donald Trump. Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski: 6,000 supporters at Tulsa rally a success originally appeared on abcnews.go.com This photo taken on November 7, 2019 shows Zhou Ziheng (L) helping his son Vita to create a game with coding on his laptop at their home in Shanghai. - Wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a red T-shirt, an eight-year-old Chinese boy is logged in for an online coding lesson -- as the teacher. Vita has set up a coding tutorial channel on the Chinese video streaming site Bilibili since August and has so far garnered nearly 60,000 followers and over one million views. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY CHINA-COMPUTERS-CODING-EDUCATION,FEATURE BY DANNI ZHU (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) Zuoyebang, a Beijing-headquartered startup that runs an online learning app, said on Monday it has raised $750 million in a new financing round as investors demonstrate their continued trust in -- and focus on -- Asias booming edtech market. U.S. investment firm Tiger Global and Hong Kong-based private equity firm FountainVest Partners led the six-year-old startups Series E financing round. Existing investors -- including SoftBanks Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital China, Xiang He Capital and Qatar Investment Authority -- also participated in the round, which brings the startups to-date raise to $1.33 billion. As we have previously noted in our coverage, Zuoyebangs app helps students -- ranging from kindergarten to 12th-grade -- solve problems and understand complex concepts. The app, which offers online courses and runs live lessons, also allows students to take a picture of a problem, upload it to the app and get its solution. The startup claims it uses artificial intelligence to identify the question and its answer. Zuoyebang, which targets K-12 students enrolled in the national compulsory education system, has amassed 170 million monthly active users, about 50 million of whom use the service each day, the startup said in a post (in Chinese). More than 12 million of these users are paid subscribers, it said. For comparison, China had about 200 million K-12 students in 2019, according to the Ministry of Education (in Chinese). The announcement today further illustrates the opportunities investors are seeing in the online education sector in Asia. Last week, Indian edtech giant Byjus announced it had received fresh funds from Mary Meekers fund, Bond. SoftBank counts Zuoyebang among its 88 portfolio startups that have demonstrated growth in recent quarters. Zuoyebang was founded by Baidu in 2015. A year later the Chinese search giant spun off Zuoyebang into an independent startup. Zuoyebang competes with a handful of startups in China, including Yuanfudao, which offers a similar service. In March, Yuanfudao said it had secured $1 billion in a financing round led by Tencent and Hillhouse Capital. The startup was valued at $7.8 billion at the time. Reuters reported earlier this month that Zuoyebang could be valued at $6.5 billion in the new financing round. According to research firm iResearch, the online education market in China could be worth $81 billion in two years. Photo credit: Justin Sullivan - Getty Images From Oprah Magazine HBO's documentary series I'll Be Gone in the Dark tracks Michelle McNamara's hunt for the Golden State Killer, who terrorized California residents in the '70s and '80s. After four decades of eluding the police, Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested in 2018 and charged with eight counts of first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty. and was sentenced to life in August 2020, without parole. He was also known as the East Area Rapist and Original Night Stalker. Heres an update on Joseph James DeAngelo, the man whose crimes fueled McNamaras, and many others, obsessions. I'll Be Gone in the Dark, a riveting new HBO series, chronicles writer Michelle McNamara's quest to identify a serial murderer and rapist who had eluded capture for over 40 years. Tragically, two years after vowing to track down the Golden State Killer, McNamara died in 2016with her book, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, about her search, nearly complete. In 2018, the work McNamara started was finished by Sacramento police, with the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo. The 72-year-old former police officer was arrested from his Sacramento home, where he lived with his daughter and 15-year-old granddaughter , and charged with the murders of Katie and Brian Maggiore in February 1978, and six others. DeAngelo, who has now been sentenced to life in prison without parole, was revealed to be the man behind numerous attacks that terrorized California residents four decades prior. Between the years of 1976 and 1986, DeAngelo committed at least 12 murders, 51 rapes, and 120 residential burglaries. His victims ranged in age from 13 to 41 and included women home alone, women at home with their children, and husbands and wives, per the FBI . Featuring interviews with survivors and compelling footage from McNamara in the midst of her research process, Ill Be Gone in the Dark avoids falling into the true-crime trap of glorifying a killer. In fact, the HBO show doesnt name DeAngelo in early episodes, which aired in the summer of 2020. He remains an elusive figure. Story continues Heres an update on Joseph James DeAngelo, the man whose crimes fueled McNamaras, and many others, obsessions. His other nicknames include the "East Area Rapist" and "Original Night Stalker." Serial killers are often identified by their nicknames, like the Green River Killer or the BTK Killer. This particular murder had many nicknames. During the period between 1976 to 1979, an individual dubbed the "East Area Rapist" began preying on people in Sacramento, CA. From October 1979 to May 1986, he expanded his scope to Santa Barbara County, Ventura County and Orange County, and garnered the nickname the "Original Night Stalker"a reference to the "Night Stalker," Richard Ramirez, who was behind a string of violent home invasions in California in the '80s. "If you lived in Sacramento during that time frame, you have a story of what happened and where you were and what was going on," FBI case agent Marcus Knutson said in a 2016 video, per NPR . "During that time frame, everybody was in fear. We had people sleeping with shotguns. We had people purchasing dogs. I think locksmiths' business went way out of control because of the fact that everyone was changing locks on their doors." When Michelle McNamara first became interested in the series of rapes and murders that plagued California in the '70s, she frequented the EARONS subredditan acronym for East Area Rapist/Original Night Stalker. McNamara ultimately gave DeAngelo the nickname that stuck: The Golden State Killer, named because his crimes extended throughout the state of California. "The displeased felt that (nickname) sounded too glamorous, like he was a Hollywood star. But as my research takes me across California the more I feel the moniker, with its jarring juxtaposition, is apt," she wrote in a 2014 blog post . The Golden State Killer's identity was discovered through DNA from a genealogy website. Sacramento investigators were able to match DNA from a 1980 double murder scene with a relatives profile on a genealogy website, according to the Sacramento Bee . Specifically, investigators uploaded the crime scene DNA to an open-source genealogy website GEDmatch , which allows users to upload their profiles from 23andMe and AncestryDNA to find even more genetic matches. According to The Washington Post, investigators found 10 to 20 of DeAngelo's third cousins. From there, investigators traced their common ancestor back to their shared great-great-great grandparents from the 1880s. Then, the real work began: They had to trace that 19th-century couple's offspring through the modern day. According to The Washington Post, a team of investigators led by DNA expert Paul Holes compiled 25 distinct family trees branching off of that couple, with thousands of members each. Within these family trees, they searched for a profile that matched the Golden State Killer's description: A middle-aged man who lived in California when the crimes took place. The search narrowed to two individuals. One was ruled out from DNA testing. The other was DeAngelo. Since the investigation's success, genetic genealogy has helped identify suspects in more than 50 cases, with Wired calling it the most powerful new crime-fighting tool since DNA itself . He was a former police officer. DeAngelo lived an under-the-radar existence in Citrus Heights, California, until he was arrested at the age of 72. After graduating from high school, DeAngelo enlisted in the Navy and served in Vietnam, per the New York Times. Upon his return, he got a bachelors degree in criminal justice. From 1973 to 1976, DeAngelo worked as a police officer in Exeter, California, near the town of Visalia, which was plagued by 85 burglaries and a murder in the same time spanyep, not a coincidence. In 1979, DeAngelo was fired from the police squad in Auburn, CA on shoplifting charges. He was caught trying to steal a hammer and dog repellent. Afterwards, he worked as a truck mechanic at a Save Mart distribution center in Roseville from 1989 to 2017. DeAngelo was living with his daughter at the time of his arrest. DeAngelo and Sharon Huddle, a divorce attorney, married in 1973, and had three daughters together. The couple split in 1991, but never divorced. At the time of his arrest, DeAngelo was living in Citrus Heights, CA with a daughter and granddaughter. Holes, who worked with McNamara, described the now-grown daughters as "very bright, beautiful and successful." One is an ER physician and another is a PhD student at a California University, according to the Miami Herald . "For all three of these kids, another tragedy is to find out that their dad is the worst serial killer maybe in the nation's history," Holes said. During DeAngelo's trial, Huddle wrote a statement about DeAngelo. "I will never be the same person," she wrote, per CNN. "I now live everyday with the knowledge of how he attacked and severely damaged hundreds of innocent people's lives and murdered 13 innocent people who were loved and have now been missed for 40 years or more." In June 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty in an attempt to avoid the death penalty. According to the New York Times, DeAngelo agreed to plead guilty in a plea deal that would allow him to avoid the death penalty. On June 29, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of kidnapping, as well as admitting to more than 50 rapes he was not charged for because of California's statute of limitations. Since his arrest, fans of McNamara's have been echoing the words that she wrote in her book, addressed directly at the Golden State Killer. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. "Open the door. Show your face. Walk into the light," McNamara wrote. Today, DeAngelo can no longer hide from his crimes. He was sentenced to life in prison in August. On August 21, DeAngelo was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. "When a person commits monstrous acts they need to be locked away where they could never harm another innocent person," Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman said. Before being sentenced, CNN reports that DeAngelo apologized to the relatives of his victims: "I've listened to all your statements, each one of them and I am truly sorry to everyone I hurt." For more stories like this, sign up for our newsletter. You Might Also Like As COVID-19 cases in the U.S. continue to spike and doctors and researchers try to marshal any and all technological resources to help patients, understand the disease and fight off the spread of the epidemic, one startup that monitors and evaluates medical device technology is offering its services for free so doctors can understand the tools at their disposal. San Francisco-based Elektra Labs was co-founded by a former official at the Food and Drug Administration and a Harvard-trained physician working at Massachusetts General Hospital, to provide clear and accurate assessments of the security, validity and viability of new biosensors coming to market. The company said that it will now make available for free to clinicians and researchers its assessments of medical devices that are pitching symptom monitoring technologies for COVID-19. As the number of infected people in the U.S. reaches 2.5 million and the nightmare scenario that health experts warned about becomes a reality with capacity in hospitals overwhelmed by sick patients, the healthcare industry is turning to digital services like telemedicine not because they want to, but because they must. The ability to reliably assess patients vital signs remotely is a powerful way to improve the utility of telemedicine, said Elektra Labs co-founder Dr. Sofia Warner, who has been treating COVID-19 patients on the front line at Massachusetts General Hospital, in a statement. Having a sense of what connected sensors are validated for which measurements is important for providers to know. Digital monitoring and technology tools aren't just for treating patients. The pharmaceutical industry is using the same tech to help with clinical trials to test new drugs and treatments since in-person trials have ground to a halt. Many pharmaceutical companies running large, critical, and expensive clinical trials are quickly working to adapt their studies to maintain progress and keep patients safe amid the pandemic, said Ariel Stern, PhD, faculty at the Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Sciences, in a statement. These companies are racing to determine which products are not only safe and effective, but also easy for study participants to deploy at home. Story continues Elektra Labs has developed what amounts to a nutrition label for objective measures around the validation, usability, utility, security and data governance components of connected sensor and it actually published the methodology behind its scoring framework in Nature Digital Medicine earlier this year. Backed by venture capital firms including Founder Collective, Boost VC, Lux Capital, Maverick Ventures, Village Global and Arkitekt Ventures, the early-stage startup has already found a welcome reception among pharmaceutical companies and researchers. Technology has moved faster than our ability to safeguard ourselves, said Elektra Labs CEO Andy Coravos. I co-founded Elektra to make it easier and safer to care for people at home, and never has this been more important than during the COVID-19 crisis. Im thrilled to donate use of the Atlas platform to those working to treat patients and innovate in healthcare throughout the pandemic. Unlike Apple's initiative to label apps in the app store based on the way they use and reuse personal data, Elektra Labs' scoring and ranking information won't be available to everyone. Instead, the data will be available only to clinicians moving to virtual care, researchers organizing decentralized clinical trials and public health officials examining tools for population health monitoring. The idea is to enable doctors and researchers to determine which biometric monitoring tools they might use to supplement video visits or track patients in a study are safe and effective for patients to use at home. Have you ever experienced the mysterious 'Joy-Con drift' on your Nintendo devices? This problem has been one of the most troublesome issues for some users of the Nintendo products. And as usual, people are not just sitting around to wait for the company to fix them. Tuesday, June 30, however, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has a message to those affected with this problem. Nintendo President apologizes for the ultimate problem of users on Nintendo One of the most common problems encountered by some Nintendo Switch users is what people now call 'Joy-Con drift.' This is when the joy-con sticks-- attached to the Nintendo Switch device-- does a different movement, contrary to what you pressed or move on the cursor. Over the past few years, Nintendo users have been complaining about this problem, multiple times. Back in July 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Nintendo due to the joy-con drift incidents. The suit claims that "the joysticks on Joy-Con controllers are defective, leading users to experience drift issues." It entered the arbitration in March this year. The report said that Nintendo even tried to sway the judge to drop the case, but the case still continued. Over the past year, we've already seen thousands of websites offering how to fix them, but Nintendo seemed to be out of responsibility with this problem-- but not their President. On June 30, during a Japanese Q & A interview, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa finally apologizes to all the Nintendo users that experienced this weird phenomenon with their joy-con devices. But since the case is still on trial, he refuses to say anything about the issue. "Regarding the Joy-Con, we apologize for any trouble caused to our customers," Furukawa said in the statement. "We are continuing to aim to improve our products, but as the Joy-Con is the subject of a class-action lawsuit in the United States and this is still a pending issue, we would it like to refrain from responding about any specific actions." What to do to fix 'Joy-Con drift' issues? Though its kind of helpful for us that Nintendo President apologized for their mistakes over the past year, this problem is obviously can not be resolved with a simple 'sorry.' In case you're experiencing the same problem, here's how to fix it-- according to Nintendo Life. Recalibrate and update Joy-con sticks can sometimes experience system malfunctions. If that happens, one thing that you can do is to recalibrate your device and update its firmware. Contact Cleaner If it is not yet working, another thing you can do is to do contact cleaning on your joy-cons. Using some pair of tweezers and a contact cleaner, detach the lid from the joy-con. Make sure not to press other buttons and try to massage the controllers in all directions. If these two wouldn't still work, Nintendo also offers free of charge repair for these problems. ALSO READ: Nintendo Hacked Accounts Reaches 300,000; How to Set-Up Two-Factor Authentication 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Woman answers the phone for Trans Lifeline The Story: Suicide prevention hotline Trans Lifeline is expanding its services to monolingual Spanish speakers as it launches a new extension on July 1. The organization offers emotional and financial support to the trans community and, according to Medium, has seen an increase of callers who speak Spanish in the last two years. This increase included a 146% uptick in calls from immigrants, including those in detention centers. Volunteer Eliot Olson wrote that the current political climate has increased the need for help in the Latinx trans community. As anti-immigrant and anti-trans sentiment becomes increasingly codified in US state and Federal law, the only national hotline operated entirely by trans people is stepping up to respond. Eliot Olson, Trans Lifeline volunteer This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Related: Download The Mighty app to connect in real time with people who can relate to what you're going through. The Frontlines: Trans people statistically face a higher incidence of income inequality and a much higher risk of becoming victims of violence. This makes having access to adequate support all the more critical for trans people of all backgrounds. According to one survey, 14% of trans Latinx respondents had experienced homelessness in the past year due to being transgender. The same survey reported that 48% of respondents reported being denied equal treatment, verbally harassed and/or physically attacked in the past year because of being transgender. A 2013 report by the Government Accountability Office showed one in five substantiated sexual abuse and assault cases in ICE facilities involved transgender detainees, who only make up one in 500 ICE detainees. Get more on mental health: Sign up for our weekly mental health newsletter. A Mighty Voice: Our contributor, Meesh Montgomery, shared why its important to support mental health resources geared specifically to the trans community. Everyones mental health matters, theres no doubt about it. However, the particular issues LGBTQIA+ people face, especially those with intersecting identities, are unique. You can submit your first person story, too. Story continues Related: Katy Perry Experienced Suicidal Thoughts During Breakup With Orlando Bloom From Our Community: Add your voice: A banner promoting The Mighty's new Chat Space group on The Mighty mobile app. The banner reads, Want to talk and connect with others? Join Chat Space to check in with others or have a conversation that's not related to health (because we all need a break sometimes). Click to join. Related: What Happened When I Tracked My Mood Every Day After My Suicide Attempt Other things to know: You can learn more about the unique challenges faced by the trans community and those who are Latinx by checking out the following information: How to take action: Starting July 1, people who call the line (8775658860 and Canada: 8773306366) will now have the option to press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish. You can follow this link to learn more about how to get involved with Trans Lifeline To learn more about the Spanish extension, you can email spanishhotline@translifeline.org Read more stories like this on The Mighty: When Youre Not Glad to Be Alive After a Suicide Attempt Bollywood Star Sushant Singh Rajput Dies by Apparent Suicide at 34 'This Is Us' Writer Jas Waters Dies by Suicide at 39 A Letter to Waka Flocka: Welcome to the World of Suicide Prevention Most of the increases are coming from the South and West New coronavirus cases have gone up 80 percent in the past two weeks, according to The New York Times, a frightening trend for many reasons especially in states that are in a reopening phase. The increase in cases has mostly immediately impacted the South and West, where states like Texas, Arizona, and Florida are halting reopening of bars, beaches, and restaurants to hopefully slow the spread of the virus. More than 4,600 new cases of the virus were found on Tuesday in Arizona, the highest single-day total for the state. Californias case count is now over 220,000. The death rate is not spiking yet because death has been happening about a month after testing but experts are estimating another 15,000 deaths in the next month as a result. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci warned that the number of new infections in the U.S. could more than double to 100,000 a day if the country fails to reverse course, noting that the new surges in the South and West puts the entire country at risk, CNN reported. We are now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day, Dr. Fauci said. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around. And so I am very concerned. The Midwest, which in June started seeing declines in virus cases, is now seeing the beginnings of a resurgence. Additionally, six states in the Midwest have shown increasing case numbers. Currently, only two states are reporting a decline in new coronavirus cases compared to last week: Connecticut and Rhode Island. States like Kansas and New York are requiring masks in public when social distancing is not possible and others are mandating them inside stores and restaurants. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. If the spread of this virus remained at a low level, more testing should show a lower positivity there simply wouldnt be as many cases to pick up with testing, said Mike DeWine, the Governor of Ohio who has now asked for federal help in his state. Instead, the creeping up of our positivity rate even as we are doing more testing means that we are likely picking up signs of broader community spread. Story continues Former CDC Director Tom Frieden echoed that, telling Fox News on Sunday, As a doctor, a scientist, an epidemiologist, I can tell you with 100% certainty that in most states where youre seeing an increase, it is a real increase. It is not more tests; it is more spread of the virus. Information about COVID-19 is rapidly changing, and Scary Mommy is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. With news being updated so frequently, some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For this reason, we are encouraging readers to use online resources from local public health departments, the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization to remain as informed as possible. See the original article on ScaryMommy.com Photo credit: Olivier Matthys - Getty Images From Town & Country In recent weeks, as Black Lives Matter protests have spread around the globe, Belgium has been reckoning with its legacy of colonialism and racism, and particularly with the widespread atrocities committed in Congo under King Leopold II's rule. Now, reigning monarch King Philippe has sent a letter to the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), addressing this historythough, notably, not apologizing for it. The King wrote to President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo on the 60th anniversary of the DRC's independence, expressing his "deepest regrets" for the "suffering and humiliation" Belgium had put the DRC through. Philippe stated that he and the President "must be able to talk about our long common history in all truth and serenity." He wrote, "During the time of the Congo Free State acts of violence and brutality were committed, which weigh still on our collective memory. The colonial period that followed also caused suffering and humiliations. I would like to express my deepest regrets for the wounds of the past, the pain of today, which is rekindled by the discrimination all too present in our society." Photo credit: NurPhoto - Getty Images King Philippe is a distant nephew of Leopold II, who reigned from 1885 to 1908, and ruled over what was then called the Congo Free State during the most brutal period of its colonial history. Historians estimate that during that time, as many as 10 million people died in the countryan event that some have compared to the Holocaust. Activists and citizens in Belgium have been calling for the removal of statues and other public memorials (such as street names) to Leopold II for some time, but the push has seen a renewed momentum amid the ongoing anti-racism protests. Monuments have been splattered with red paint, set on fire, and otherwise damaged as a part of this. Earlier this month, protesters saw some success, after a statue of Leopold was removed from a public square in Antwerp. You Might Also Like As the novel coronavirus tightened its deadly grip on New York City in the spring, police went on a social distancing crackdown. Instead of the move sending a message about the importance of preventing the spread of the contagion, it served to inflame racial tensions due to the demographics of the arrestees. Under pressure from angry politicians and community members, the New York Police Department (NYPD) released data that activists say bolstered accusations of minorities being targeted once again by an uneven-handed law enforcement program. Of the 125 "COVID-19 related" arrests between March 16 and May 10, 68% were Black, 24% were Latino and just under 7% were white, according to the NYPD Data. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea disputed the notion that his officers were engaged in racist policing, saying those accusations could not be anything further from the truth. While the sampling of the social distancing arrests is small, critics calling for equality in the way the NYPD goes about enforcing laws say it's indicative of numbers that have refused to budge despite decades of police reforms and talk of more revisions. And activists say it points to an issue that communities across the country are grappling with in the wake of George Floyd's death -- uneven policing that disproportionately impacts people of color. Racial Disparities in NYPD Arrests (ABC News Photo Illustration, NYC OpenData, U.S. Census Bureau) Not only did New York City become the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic, it became a flashpoint of protest in the aftermath of Floyd's killing even as Mayor Bill de Blasio and other leaders touted New York in recent years as a national model for how a diverse and liberal city can make police reform a top priority. In the six years since New York City ended its controversial stop-and-frisk program -- a police practice intended to drive down crime but was deemed by a federal judge to be unconstitutional "indirect racial profiling" -- the number of arrests has fallen by nearly half. Yet, Blacks still comprise about 50% of those taken into custody annually, according to records from America's largest municipal police force. Story continues While some critics of stop and frisk hoped its eradication would be the beginning of the end of racial disparities in law enforcement, an ABC News examination of arrests reported to the NYC OpenData website shows that apparently hasn't come to fruition. Between Jan. 1, 2014, when stop and frisk effectively ended, and Dec. 31, 2019, Blacks have comprised 48% of the nearly 1.8 million arrests made by the NYPD, while Hispanics comprised 34% of the arrests and whites accounted for 12%, according to the data. The statistics in the five-year period show that the most arrests, 281,258, were made for dangerous drugs, while 208,849 were for misdemeanor assault and another 90,097 were for felony assault. "There are other just as nefarious, just as racially-biased practices that have filled the void. Unless you're really going to start at the roots of the problem, youre going to end up in the same place," said Ann Mathews, managing director of the criminal defense practice for The Bronx Defenders, a city public defenders office. "We may be seeing lower arrest numbers, but the way those arrests are happening, whos being arrested, how they are being arrested, how the police are targeting for arrests, thats really unchanged. There has not been a sea change in the way the NYPD approaches policing." At the height of stop-and-frisk in New York City in 2011, police made 412,859 arrests. Blacks accounted for 202,284 of those suspects arrested, or 49%, while 139,363 Hispanics were arrested, or 34%, and the 50,925 white suspects accounted for 12% of the arrests. The most arrests in that year, 103,835, were for dangerous drugs, followed by 36,112 for misdemeanor assault. Since 2011, the number of arrests in New York City has fallen annually from 396,280 in 2012 to 214,617 in 2019. But the racial breakdown on arrestees remains consistent, the data shows. PHOTO: A New York Police Department (NYPD) officer wields a baton as he walks by a graffiti reading the name 'George Floyd' during a protest in New York City, May 31, 2020, during protests. (Alba Vigaray/EPA via Shutterstock) In 2019, Blacks, while comprising 24% of the total New York City population of more than 8.3 million, still accounted for 48% of those arrested. Meanwhile, whites, who make up 43% of the population, accounted for 11% of the arrests; Hispanics, who account for 29% of the population, made up 34% of the arrests; and Asians, who account for 14% of the population, comprised 6% of the arrests, according to the data. Data from 2020, shows that as of March 31 the NYPD had made 44,824 arrests. Of those arrested, 49% were Black, 32% were Hispanic and 11% were white. Asked by ABC News about the apparent disparities in its arrest data, the NYPD denied that its anti-crime policies are targeting Blacks and Hispanics. "The NYPD enforces the law fairly and equally and works tirelessly every day to keep every resident and every neighborhood safe," Sgt. Mary Frances O'Donnell, an NYPD spokesperson, said in a statement to ABC News. "The NYPD is committed to ongoing criminal justice reform that balances public safety, investigations and the ability to bring justice for New Yorkers who are victimized." John DeCarlo, chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of New Haven's Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, told ABC News that while he does not believe police target people for arrest based on race, he said officers often find themselves enforcing "overreaching laws" passed by legislatures that end up being biased against residents of economically disadvantaged communities. "In many of the poorer communities, there's a higher minority representation. So what happens is cops come in contact with minority communities that really need not necessarily police services but other kinds of services. They need counselors, they need ways to solve problems that we all have but they don't have the wherewithal to use because of economic restrictions," DeCarlo, the former police chief of Branford, Connecticut, told ABC News. PHOTO: Rally participants hold signs while marching in Staten Island, N.Y., on the second anniversary of the death of Eric Garner, July 17, 2017. (Albin Lohr-Jones/LightRocket via Getty Images, FILE) He noted that Eric Garner "lost his life basically because of an overreaching law." Garner, a 43-year-old Black man, died in July 2014 when an NYPD officer placed him in a banned chokehold after plainclothes police attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes. Im not being an apologist for bad policing in any way, but I think that we make laws very often and we ask cops to enforce laws that may be biased toward economic status," DeCarlo said. 'Seismic shift' in policing NYPD Commissioner Shea hailed the disbanding of the police department's plainclothes Anti-crime Unit this month as a "seismic shift in the culture of how NYPD polices this great city." While the elite unit was credited with taking numerous guns off the streets, it became a symbol of the aggressive police tactics and officer-involved shootings that protests sweeping New York and the nation keep railing against. The unit also had a disproportionate number of complaints against it registered with the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent police watchdog group empowered to investigate grievances filed against NYPD officers and recommend disciplinary action. "I would consider this in the realm of closing one of the last chapters of 'Stop, Question and Frisk,'" Shea said. "I think it's time to move forward and change how we police in this city. We can do it with brains. We can do it with guile. We can move away from brute force." PHOTO: New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, left, speaks alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio during a news conference in New York, Feb. 9, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP, FILE) On Friday, de Blasio said he supports Shea's decision, explaining that the NYPD can replace the Anti-crime Unit with technology, precision policing and "not have the negative of some of the concerns that have been raised by the community." He also praised Shea's swift action by suspending without pay an officer caught on video this month using a banned chokehold on Ricky Bellevue, a 35-year-old Black man who had allegedly been heckling him and his colleagues. The officer, David Afanador, allegedly had to be pulled off Bellevue by a colleague. Afanador has since been charged with felony strangulation and attempted strangulation. He has pleaded not guilty. PHOTO: An image from a police body cam video shows three men during an encounter with New York Police officers on a boardwalk in the Rockaways, June 21, 2020, in New York. (NYPD via AP) PHOTO: An image from a police body cam video as New York Police officers arrest a man on the Rockaway Beach boardwalk, June 21, 2020, in New York. (NYPD via AP) "That's the way things need to be: fast, clear disciplinary process, clear accountability. That's what we'll do going forward," said de Blasio, who has made a commitment to cutting the NYPD budget and redistributing those funds to community-based nonprofit youth and social services programs. Bellevue's sister-in-law, Judith Ceno, said at a news conference on Friday that Bellevue was so traumatized by the incident he's checked himself into a hospital for a mental evaluation. Socioeconomic effects on the arrest rate In the aftermath of the May 25 police-involved death of George Floyd, a handcuffed Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on the back of his neck -- an incident captured on video -- protests and violence have broken out across the country. Fueled by numerous accounts of police disproportionately arresting or using deadly force on Black citizens, demonstrators have demanded police departments reform their use-of-force policies and have pushed to defund law enforcement agencies. "The movement, in general, is needed to awaken so many minds to the systemic racism that's been happening for years," Lizzy Ashleigh, a member of the Black Lives Matter movement from Brooklyn, New York, told ABC News following the death of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who was fatally shot in the back by a white Atlanta police officer. On June 12, Brooks was found allegedly asleep in his car in a Wendy's drive-thru. He was about to be arrested for drunken driving when, during a scuffle, he grabbed an officer's stun gun and ran, deploying the device at an officer chasing him but missing, according to police body-camera and surveillance video released by prosecutors. As the 27-year-old Brooks continued to run, an officer, Garrett Rolfe, opened fire with his handgun, hitting him twice in the back and then allegedly kicking Brooks as he lay dying on the ground, according to prosecutors. Like Chauvin, Rolfe was fired from the police department and charged with murder. "In the same respect where so many Black people have been saying for so long, Hey, weve told you that weve suffered more abuse at the hands of police than our white counterparts,' society is finally realizing that by virtue of seeing these videos," Kirk Burkhalter, a professor at New York Law School and a former NYPD detective, told ABC News. PHOTO: People demonstrate in New York City, June 24, 2020, requesting the City Council defund the police or reduce the police budget by one billion dollars, in the wake of the death of George Floyd and protests over racial inequality. (Mark Peterson/Redux) Burkhalter said the NYPD arrest data mirrors that of large police departments across the county and "has been another long cry of the Black community that Black Americans are more likely to be arrested generally than white Americans." MORE: Black youth have most complaints against NYC police, including 8-year-old arrested for playing with sticks An analysis by ABC News of arrest data voluntarily reported to the FBI by thousands of city and county police departments around the country reveals that, in 800 jurisdictions, Blacks were arrested at a rate five times higher than white people in 2018, after accounting for the demographics of the cities and counties those police departments serve. In 250 jurisdictions, Black people were 10 times more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts. The root of the problem is more of a socioeconomic problem than a crime problem," said Burkhalter, who retired from the NYPD in 2004 after a 20-year career. Burkhalter noted that the bulk of the arrests that have occurred in New York City have been in the poorest communities, where educational, health and social service resources are lacking. 5 million arrests in 13 years Of the more than 5 million arrests the NYPD made between 2006, the earliest year the NYC OpenData base goes back to, and 2019, the most recent data, most were made in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in New York. Of the 10 New York City police precincts that recorded the most arrests during the 13-year span, seven were in predominantly minority, lower-income neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn. "Those folks also tend to rely more on 911 because that is their only resource," Burkhalter said. "Say Im an investment banker and I live on the Upper East Side [of Manhattan] in a really nice neighborhood. If I have an issue with my spouse or an issue with my child, their first inkling is not to call 911. Theyll involve some type of private entity, a social worker, a psychologist, a counselor, whatever the case. PHOTO: A girl walks down a block past police lights in the Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn near where a shooting occurred, July 29, 2019 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE) Folks who dont have those resources, dont have the money for those resources and may not even know those resources exist, theyre going to call 911," Burkhalter said. But once police get there, what are we trained to do? Were trained to look for a crime. So Im going to show up and the first question Im going to ask is, 'Did he or she touch you?' And if they did, thats harassment or thats misdemeanor assault and under state law, you have to be arrested." Burkhalter said that numerous arrests happen on the streets in communities saturated by police officers due to high crime. He said that when he was a patrol officer, he called arrests in such communities "the low-hanging fruit of law enforcement," adding that many of the arrests were for possession and use of narcotics. MORE: NYPD officer arrested on strangulation charges after caught-on-camera incident "As you look at the statistics of who was arrested for drug possession and those types of crimes you would think that only Black folks and Hispanic folks use drugs. And that's not true," Burkhalter said. Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit research and advocacy center working to address racial disparities in the criminal justice system, said that while stop and frisk ended six years ago, that doesnt necessarily change the allocation of law enforcement officers around the city. MORE: Former NYC detective recommends 'throwing out the book' on police training "So its quite likely the same low-income minority communities where stop and frisk was basically taking place still might have roughly the same allocation of officers there," Mauer told ABC News. "Theyre doing a variety of things, theyre just not doing stop or frisks anymore." Mauer said that there used to be an unspoken understanding in police departments that crime in poor minority communities was less of a concern unless it spilled over into more affluent neighborhoods. PHOTO: Police cars patrol the busy immigrant neighborhood of Jackson Heights, July 9, 2018 in Queens, New York. (Corbis via Getty Images, FILE) For a very long time, the problem of policing in minority communities was not over-policing but under-policing. People in every Black neighborhood in New York and every other city would call the police and be very frustrated that they got very little response, whether it was domestic violence, or shoplifting, or anything else," Mauer said. "Now theres often a very heavy presence of police, but that heavy presence has contributed to these enormous racial disparities that we see in the justice system and that goes above and beyond any increase involving crime in those communities." 'Good news, bad news' Mauer said besides having a detrimental impact on the employment and education opportunities of young minority people who get caught up in the justice system, the disproportionate arrests of Black and Hispanic people breed mistrust of the police. "Police cant promote public safety on their own. It only works if they have a strong relationship with the community," Mauer said. "Most crimes arent committed with a police officer observing them in action. So if you want to get information that a crime has happened, identification of the alleged perpetrators, you have to have people who have confidence in the police that they will respond, that they will do it in a fair way and that they demonstrate concern for public safety." MORE: As loitering and curfew arrests decline nationwide, Philadelphia's use of the tactic stands out He said the NYPD and other large law enforcement agencies across the country have taken steps over the past two decades to rebuild trust in neighborhoods of color by hiring and promoting more minority officers and emphasizing community policing. A big initiative of Mayor de Blasio, community policing is a strategy that focuses on building ties and working closely with members of the communities. "We see much greater diversity on the force and in leadership as well in police agencies," he said. Mauer said that overall he views the NYPD arrest data as a good news-bad news situation." "The bad news is apparently the Black proportion of arrests has hardly budged at all," he said. "While the good news is that if arrests are down by roughly half in New York, then that means that only half as many African Americans are being arrested as well as for other racial groups, too." But Ann Mathews of The Bronx Defenders said that while she welcomes police reform efforts, "what is clear is what they haven't brought to date is unbiased policing. Mathews said piecemeal changes police have instituted usually when there is a crisis or when political pressure forces revisions are akin to "a Band-Aid approach" that doesn't begin to address the cancer of systemic racism. If the whole body is ailing you can stick as many Band-Aids on it as you want and they may do some good," she said, "but theyre not going to cure the whole body." Blacks account for nearly half of all NYC arrests 6 years after end of stop-and-frisk: NYPD data originally appeared on abcnews.go.com People wear masks in downtown Los Angeles on June 25. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles County health officials issued a dire warning Monday that conditions amid the COVID-19 pandemic are deteriorating rapidly and the highly contagious virus is spreading swiftly in the nation's most populous county. They said they are now faced with one of their biggest fears: that the reopening of L.A. County would coincide with sudden jumps in disease transmission that have the potential to overwhelm public and private hospitals. L.A. County has long been the epicenter of the coronavirus in California with nearly 98,000 confirmed cases and more than 3,300 deaths but officials said Monday that the outbreak is worsening. Barbara Ferrer, the director of public health for L.A. County, said that new data show "alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalization." "This does indicate definitively that we have increased community transmission," Ferrer said. "There's so much at stake, since these continued increases will result in many more people becoming seriously ill, and many more deaths of COVID-19." "This is the time to hunker down back in your home whenever you can," Ferrer said, urging people to wear their masks and practice social distancing. "Please, let's not let go of everything we worked hard and sacrificed for." She urged people to avoid crowds. "It's just not safe right now," she said. "Were seeing more people get sick and go into the hospital. This is very much a change in the trajectory of the epidemic over the past several days. It's a change for the worse and a cause for concern," said Dr. Christina Ghaly, L.A. County's director of health services. The daily number of new coronavirus cases that require hospitalization could be four to five times the peak of what L.A. County saw in late March and early April, "placing tremendous burden on our healthcare system and hospitals and resulting in much otherwise unnecessary suffering and mortality," Ghaly said. Story continues L.A. County could see the number of daily new cases that require hospitalization be four to five times higher than what it was in April and May, officials warn. (Los Angeles County Department of Health Services) With a predicted increase in hospitalizations, for the first time since the coronavirus crisis seemed to ease locally, L.A. County is now projecting the possibility of running out of hospital beds in two to three weeks. Likewise, the number of intensive care unit beds could be exhausted sometime in July. L.A. County could run short of the existing supply of intensive care unit beds in weeks, officials say. (Los Angeles County Department of Health Services ) If the increased disease transmission rate continues as it has done so over the last few weeks, it "suggests that we are at risk of running out of hospital beds if we don't take steps to increase that capacity within the next two to three weeks," said Dr. Roger Lewis, a biostatistician, director of the COVID-19 demand modeling unit for L.A. County and chair of the emergency department at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. "We did anticipate that we would see increases in cases of hospitalization. The problem was that we didn't expect to see increases that were this steep so quickly," Ghaly said. The county is able to meet hospital demand currently, but many of the patients who have already been exposed to the virus will now be filling the beds in the coming weeks. It can take three to four weeks after exposure to the virus for infected people to become sick enough to be hospitalized, and four to five weeks after exposure for some of the most vulnerable patients to die from the disease. "So even if steps are taken immediately to reduce the spread in the community, we do expect to see a continued uptick in the next two to four weeks," Lewis said. All public and private hospitals in L.A. County need to be prepared to treat more patients based on these projections, Ghaly said. Hospitals can create new capacity by reducing elective procedures and surgeries and take steps to expeditiously discharge patients who no longer need hospital care. Hospitals can also add more beds beyond their normal licensed capacity, typically 20% to 40% over, by creating space they normally wouldn't utilize for in-patient care, such as emergency departments, recovery rooms, and pre- and post-operative care units, Ghaly said. Some hospitals can also reopen previously licensed or staffed wards. The best place to treat a patient who needs hospital care is in a hospital. Alternate care sites present a host of challenges, Ghaly said. The number of new cases expected in L.A. County hospitals has dramatically changed upward since last week. (Los Angeles County Department of Health Services ) The effective transmission rate of the coronavirus has now increased. Previously, through the beginning of May, for every one person infected, fewer than one other person on average was infected a testament to the success of the stay-at-home order. But by early June, as the reopening accelerated, the coronavirus transmission rate had crept above 1, meaning for every one person infected, an additional 1.26 people are infected on average. "We expect the number of cases to rise quickly," Ghaly said. Although this rate is lower than what L.A. County saw earlier in the pandemic, when every one infected person on average infected three other people, the current rate can still cause a much larger number of new cases "because of the much broader base of infected individuals that we have today," Ghaly said. Last week, there was an estimated 1 in 400 people in L.A. County who was infectious with the virus and infecting others people who weren't hospitalized or in isolation at home. Now, there's an estimated 1 in 140 people people actively infecting others, Ghaly said. That means a typical large, busy store is likely to have multiple infectious persons enter and shop every day, officials said. The increase in transmission likely occurred sometime around the week of Memorial Day week or shortly thereafter. At the time, L.A. County officials decided to gradually reopen the economy because the data were stable, with no increases in hospitalizations and a decline in new deaths, Ferrer said. But unfortunately, people and businesses haven't been adhering to health orders to wear masks in public and stay away from crowded situations. Just this past weekend, masks or face shields were not being worn by workers at about half of inspected restaurants and bars. Officials have also seen examples of overcrowding at public spaces. "I've had an explosion of new outbreaks in workplaces. One that got shut down this past weekend, it had over 115 infections. Again, very little compliance with the directives on how to operate a factory with as much safety as possible," Ferrer said. "And we've had numerous examples of outbreaks happen because families are getting together with extended family members and friends to celebrate weddings, things they had postponed, and again, created higher risk, and there was transmission," Ferrer said. Ferrer also said that, according to data by Foursquare, that the weekend after June 20, the day when bars reopened in L.A. County, 500,000 people visited nightlife spots. And the county has observed a 40% increase in coronavirus cases among younger people, between the ages of 18 and 40, in the last two weeks. People are often most infectious with the coronavirus before they develop symptoms, Lewis said. There are people who also become infected and can transmit to others who never develop any symptoms at all. Health officials urged people to avoid gathering with friends and family for the Fourth of July weekend. "We'd love to spend it with close family and friends [but] I strongly advise against it," Ferrer said. "This is a time to still stay within your household, as much as possible." She said outside activities with household members are good. "Take solace in the fact that we're all going to do it this way ... in hopes that by next July Fourth, which I see is totally possible, we're celebrating in ways we're much more accustomed to," Ferrer said. "We need to get this back under control." Now is a tenuous moment in L.A. County, and Ferrer urged the elderly and those with underlying conditions to stay at home. "There is far too much risk at the moment ... Everyone else should stay home as much as they can," Ferrer said. "Businesses and individuals need to figure out how we personally are going to help to turn things around," Ferrer said. "Otherwise, we're quickly moving towards overwhelming our healthcare system and seeing even more devastating illness and death." A chorus of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have called for President Donald Trump's administration to address startling new reports that Russian operatives are believed to have offered bounties to Taliban-linked forces in exchange for the killings of American troops in Afghanistan. Details of the alleged payments were first reported Friday by The New York Times and subsequently confirmed by the Associated Press and The Washington Post, all of which cited anonymous government sources. According to the Post, "several U.S. service members" are thought to have been killed as a result of the alleged Russian bounties to what the AP described as "Taliban militants and linked associations." The Islamist group was removed from power in Afghanistan when the U.S. invaded in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Twenty American troops were killed in 2019 in Afghanistan from hostile forces, according to available data. That number shrank drastically this year following a February agreement intended to pave the way for the U.S.' exit from Afghanistan a central Trump promise since his successful 2016 campaign rebuking the Middle Eastern conflicts of his predecessors. The Post and the Times reported that the White House held a meeting about the intelligence on the possible bounties in March; and, according to the AP and the Times, the president was also briefed on the information, which he denies. The Times also reported that the information was included in the President's Daily Brief of select information. On Monday, the paper further reported Trump was given a written briefing on the matter in February. Administration officials reportedly discussed various responses to Russia, but none have been agreed upon. This dispute what the president knew and when, and what he should do about Russia have quickly become key to the outcry from lawmakers about what is really going on, in light of Trump's open fondness for Russia's autocratic president, Vladimir Putin. Story continues The White House briefed certain members of Congress on Monday and Tuesday, according to the AP and Politico. While the CIA, the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House National Security Council initially declined to comment and have not publicly challenged the accuracy of the intelligence about Russian bounties, as described in news reports, the White House on Saturday said Trump had never been briefed on it. "The United States receives thousands of intelligence reports a day and they are subject to strict scrutiny. While the White House does not routinely comment on alleged intelligence or internal deliberations, the CIA director, national security advisor and the chief of staff can all confirm that neither the president nor the vice president were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence," Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisted in a statement. "This does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence," she continued, "but to the inaccuracy of The New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed on this matter." NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images President Donald Trump A spokesman for the National Security Council said Monday: "The veracity of the underlying allegations continues to be evaluated." Echoing McEnany, an administration official maintained to PEOPLE that Trump "was never briefed on this issue because there is no consensus within the intelligence community on these allegations." On Twitter, his favored platform, the president defended himself in a series of posts. He wrote in one: "Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or [Vice President Mike Pence]. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News." Indeed, certain key details remained unclear from the new reporting, including how many bounties may have been paid out to militants, for how much and for how many U.S. deaths and how such an arrangement was communicated by Russian agents. It was also unclear how involved top Russian officials are believed to have been, according to these reports. Among the American deaths being investigated was an April 2019 explosion that killed three Marines, the AP reported. So-called "green-on-blue" deaths, officially blamed on rogue Afghan security forces, were also being probed. The Times reported that "the Russian plot to pay bounties to Taliban fighters came into focus over the past several months." The paper noted a key discovery of a large amount of money from a Taliban location that got "everybodys attention," one official said. The AP reported that $500,000 was found in a Navy SEAL raid on the location earlier this year. Once a "closely held secret" in the government, officials have been more openly discussing their assessment of the alleged bounties, according to the Times. The motives of the Russia government remained the subject of debate, according to these reports, though in recent years the country and the U.S. have dueled for influence in parts of the Middle East and Russia has inserted itself into the U.S.' protracted negotiations with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan moves that experts say reflects Russia's larger antagonism toward a U.S.-led global order. Referring to a 2018 fight in Syria between the U.S. and Syrian forces who were joined by Russian mercenaries, an official told the Times: "They are keeping a score sheet, and they want to punish us for that incident." Russia and the Taliban, both of whom have well-documented histories of animosity toward the U.S., both insisted such reporting was false and tantamount to insultingly obvious propaganda. A Putin spokesman was more blunt in an interview with NBC News, saying: "You know, maybe I can say it's a little bit rude but this is 100 percent b-------. It's an undiplomatic thing, but it's b-------." (A longer interview with the spokesman will air Monday night on NBC Nightly News.) THOMAS WATKINS/AFP via Getty U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan According to the Post, a spokesman for the Taliban said: We categorically reject the notion of ever planning or carrying out targeted attacks against U.S. or foreign forces at the behest of foreign intelligence or for the sake of collecting bounty, and we also reject receiving material support from foreign intelligence because such undertakings are harmful for the sovereign decision-making of any country and movement. Leading members of both the Democratic and Republican parties raised concerns since the Times' initial article. "This is as bad as it gets, and yet the president will not confront the Russians on this score, denies being briefed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday on ABC's This Week. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, tweeted Saturday that it was "Imperative Congress get to the bottom" of the reporting about the alleged bounties. Rep. Liz Cheney, the House Republicans' third-ranking member, went further. She tweeted on Sunday: "If reporting about Russian bounties on US forces is true, the White House must explain: 1. Why werent the president or vice president briefed? Was the info in the PDB [daily brief]? 2. Who did know and when? 3. What has been done in response to protect our forces & hold Putin accountable?" Former Vice President Joe Biden, who will likely face Trump in November's general election, also denounced Trump's reported handling of the information about Russian bounties. Its a betrayal of the most sacred duty we bear as a nation to protect and equip our troops when we send them into harms way, he said. Its a betrayal of every single American family with a loved one serving in Afghanistan or anywhere overseas. Click here to read the full article. One year ago today, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made historyand entertained the world in the process. Trump, a man who takes showmanship to a whole new level, walked across the Demilitarized Zone and became the first U.S. president to step foot on North Korean soil. It was the kind of act that ded both leaders with the opportunity to masquerade as statesmen. "This has a lot of significance because it means that we want to bring an end to the unpleasant past and try to create a new future, Kim told reporters on that day. Trump returned the favor. "Stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made, a lot of friendships have been made, and this has been in particular a great friendship. As with everything Trump does on a daily basis, his actions on that late June afternoon divided pundits and Korea analysts. While the usual naysayers blasted the entire episode as a publicity stuntSukjoon Yoon, a former captain in the South Korean navy, called the meeting "a shallow exercise in personal promotion by the three leaders [Trump, Kim, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in] for their domestic endsothers werent as dismissive of the symbolism. Devin Stewart of the Carnegie Council wrote that "The photo-op gives both Kim and Trump domestic political cover to stave off calls from hawkish advisers for a more hostile approach toward the relationship. Eric Gomez of the Cato Institute commented that, assuming Trump and Kim could maintain the momentum, the meeting along the DMZ provided a pretext to keep the U.S.-North Korea relationship from completely falling apart. It was a valid point to make at the time, when the entire diplomatic effort was struggling to keep its head above water after months of inaction. Unfortunately, Trumps diplomatic foray with Pyongyang hasnt moved an inch over the last 12 months. Beyond the occasional letter in the mail, Trump and Kims attempt to rekindle diplomacy on June 30, 2019 has disintegrated like an old piece of fruit wasting away on the vinea product of two parties, the United States and North Korea, uninterested in doing anything other than lecturing about one anothers bad behavior and incapable of contemplating any diplomatic roadmap that doesnt lead to total capitulation. Story continues The bottom line: the last year has been nothing short of an opportunity lost for both sides. The Kim regime has been its usual pugnacious self, citing Washingtons hostile policy for the dozens of missile tests it has conducted since May 2019 and as the prime reason why Pyongyang cant afford to denuclearize. When North Korean negotiators sat down with Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and his team in October 2019, they excoriated the U.S. for pitching lame ideas which demonstrated Washingtons lack of sincerity. The State Department of course strongly disagreed with that characterization, but the damage was already done. Either North Korean diplomats seated around the table on that day werent authorized to discuss nuclear weapons, or they werent interested in the first place (perhaps both). The Trump administration has spent the last 12 months regurgitating its top-line positionthe United States is interested in peace on the Korean Peninsula and a new relationship with Pyongyang, but only if Kim dismantles a nuclear deterrent his family dynasty has spent countless dollars over decades building. The administrations outreach (if you could call it that) is a recitation of the same theme, despite zero evidence Kim Jong-un is even slightly more open to eliminating his nuclear arsenal today as he was when he first inherited power from his father nearly a decade ago. Sure, the Trump administration continues to say its open to diplomacy with the NorthBiegun made this point during a webinar on June 29. But in Pyongyang, these entreaties tend to go in one ear and out the other. Without a fundamental shift in the U.S. position, Kim or his people dont have much of a reason to give Trump another televised summit. What's the point of going through the hassle of organizing the logistics of a meeting if the meeting itself will be one more glorified talk-a-thon, where the same, old stances get rehearsed? Where does this leave us for the rest of the year? Unfortunately, the picture isnt encouraging. There is always a risk in predicting what North Korea will dowho, after all, would have successfully predicted the destruction of the inter-Korean liaison office, the severing of North-South communication links, blusters from Kim Yo-jong about further military actions against Seoul and the sudden suspension of those actions...all in a few weeks time? But at this moment (barring some unforeseen event), it sure looks like the remainder of the year will look like the last 12 monthsoffers of dialogue squandered; the prototypical State Department press release requesting Pyongyang fulfill its obligations under the 2018 Singapore statement; KCNA dispatches waxing about how Washington isnt to be trusted; and a few more missile tests along the way. In a phrase: expect more of the same. Daniel R. DePetris is a columnist at the Washington Examiner and a contributor to the National Interest. Image: Reuters. Click here to read the full article. Nearly eight weeks have passed since a beloved Connecticut school teacher disappeared in the early morning hours of his 50th birthday on May 7, 2020, and family members are worried sick. Gil Cunha Gil Cunha, 50, was last seen just after midnight on May 7, at his parents home in the area of West Shore in West Haven, Connecticut, according to a press release issued by the West Haven Police Department. Gils cousin, Lori Kenney, told Dateline that Gils father saw him watching TV between the hours of 12 a.m. and 2 a.m. Later that morning, Gils mother woke up to find that Gil was gone. It wasnt unusual for Gil to go out for a walk, Lori said. But when he didnt return later that day, she knew something was wrong. He wouldnt just take off without contacting his family. Both Lori, and Bob Tavares, who is another of Gils cousins, told Dateline that the family was also concerned because Gil had been experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and had self-quarantined for three weeks prior to his disappearance. He was never tested for the virus. But he wasnt feeling well and decided to self-isolate in his room because he was afraid he had the virus, Lori said. He wanted to make sure his family was safe. Lori added that the family has considered that Gil's disappearance may be directly related to the Coronavirus, as symptoms can include altered mental status and confusion. But why havent we found him? Where did he go? Where is he? Lori asked. She said these are questions she finds herself asking daily. If something happened to him because of the virus, or if he harmed himself, or even if someone did something to him, we would still find him. But hes just gone without a trace. Lori told Dateline that Gil had left behind two cell phones, credit and debit cards, cash and his passport. The only item that appeared to be missing is his drivers license. It was all there, Lori said. As if he intended to come back. Gils cousins told Dateline they have no reason to believe that Gil would harm himself or that anyone would harm him. They added that he had spoken to his brother shortly before his disappearance and expressed how excited he was to visit him in New York when the pandemic ends. Story continues Gil, who had been living in Europe for the last decade and working as a teacher in Portugal and Turkey, had temporarily moved back to his parents house in West Haven in November. He began working as a teacher for the West Haven Public School system until the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. One of Gil's greatest concerns was for those of his students who rely on getting breakfast and lunch meals from school, Lori said. He told me, Sadly, these students still need to eat and he was worried about how the students would have access to these meals during the state's mandated closing. Gil's concern for this, speaks to his integrity and how he genuinely cares for his students. Growing up, Gil and his two brothers spent a lot of time with their cousins, who describe him as a kind and gentle, highly responsible person with a warm heart. There were 16 of us and we all got together for weekly visits to our grandparents house and during the holidays to celebrate together, Lori said. We are a close-knit family and although we don't all still live in the New Haven area, we see each other often during family celebrations and during the holidays. Gil, who is also described as a talented guitar player, planned to perform via Zoom with some of his friends later in the evening of the day he disappeared. He is an aspiring songwriter and he keeps a journal of his thoughts which he translates into beautiful song lyrics, Lori told Dateline. I have had the pleasure of reading his journal and I was fascinated with his poetry. The same cousins are now working together with many of Gil's friends as a team to help find Gil and bring him back home. An investigation was launched by the West Haven Police Department and searches were conducted following Gils disappearance. Search teams scoured the dense woods and shoreline near Gils home with canines and drones. More than 400 missing person fliers were posted in the first 24 hours, Gils cousin Bob told Dateline. The family also later hired private drone operators and cadaver canines, but found no trace of Gil. Through the cooperative effort of Lamar Advertising, billboards with Gils photo and information are posted on Interstate 95 and Interstate 91 in the New Haven, Connecticut area. We just feel as though we have exhausted our local efforts at this point, Bob told Dateline. Were hoping by spreading the word, someone who knows something will come forward with information. We just want to bring him home. Gil is described as being 510 tall and approximately 175 pounds. He has a shaved head and full beard and mustache. He was last seen wearing a gray and blue windbreaker and a red bandana to cover his nose and mouth. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Gil Cunha is asked to contact the West Haven Police at 203-937-3900. The explosion of Covid-19 cases in Sun Belt states is becoming another albatross for President Donald Trumps reelection hopes and creating a new opening for Joe Biden and Democrats in November. Republican governors in Florida, Arizona and Texas followed Trumps lead by quickly reopening their states while taking a lax approach to social distancing and mask-wearing. Now, each of them is seeing skyrocketing coronavirus caseloads and rising hospitalizations, and Republican leaders are in retreat. Its hard to overstate the gravity of the situation for Trump: Lose any one of the three states, and his reelection is all but doomed. Liberal outside groups and the Biden campaign have launched digital and TV ads in Florida, Arizona and Texas hitting Trump for allowing a second wave of coronavirus. The developments have buttressed Bidens main argument against Trump: that hes incapable of bringing stability or healing in a time of crisis. Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to Biden, said Trumps actions have only exacerbated Republicans vulnerabilities in the three states. Polls indicate Florida is Bidens best pickup opportunity, followed by Arizona and then Texas, a bigger reach. The reality is, when it comes to this presidents handling of the pandemic and the subsequent economic disaster thats befallen our country which was totally predictable coming out of the pandemic and his handling of it Trumps failed leadership has been exposed in a profound way, Dunn told POLITICO. She added that it makes him abnormally vulnerable in states that have not traditionally been as competitive as they are now. Its still too soon to tell how the pandemic will affect voters in the three states. While RealClearPolitics lists Texas as a toss-up, Trump has led two of the past three polls in the reliably red state. Arizona was trending toward Democrats before the pandemic and polls show Biden with a small lead there, but Democrats expect a battle. Story continues Trumps campaign accuses Democrats of exploiting tragedy. While President Trump has been leading the country through the coronavirus crisis, all Joe Biden and his allies have done is try to use a public health issue as a political weapon, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said. Its despicable but typical. They really should focus their attention on New York, where theyve had a disastrous response 10 times worse than a state like Florida, which has a higher population. Floridas official coronavirus death toll stood at 3,419 as of Sunday, compared with New Yorks 24,835. Texas official death toll is 2,366 and Arizonas is 1,588. Trump won all three Sun Belt states in 2016 and needs to again this year; movement of even 2 to 3 points toward Democrats in any of them could make the difference. Priorities USA is airing ads in Florida and Arizona pointing to Trumps recent comments that he urged a scale-back in testing. Texas Democrats are running digital ads doing the same. Democrats in each of the states are highlighting the disproportionate impact on Latinos, many of whom are front-line workers and lack health insurance. The three states were among the earliest to reopen, with each governor allowing his states stay-at-home order to expire on April 30. Heres a look at the politics in each of them. Arizona Demographic change and the recent surge in Covid-19 cases have put Arizona and its 11 Electoral College votes up for grabs. The last time a Democratic nominee carried the state was Bill Clinton in 1996. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said he expects hospitalizations and deaths to rise in the coming weeks in the state. Ballots drop in October. The president essentially has two months to try to turn this around in Arizona, Gallego said. By then, Whats going to be on the TV is Covid-19. In late March, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order barring local governments from requiring masks in public. Two weeks ago, Ducey reversed himself amid pressure from mayors, residents and health care professionals. As infections surged, Trump held a rally last week with thousands at a Phoenix megachurch, where photos showed the crowd sitting in close proximity and few wearing masks. Ducey brushed off calls to cancel the event. Days before, Phoenix required mask-wearing, but the city order was ignored. Were going to protect peoples rights to assemble in an election year, Ducey told reporters at a press conference last week, defending his decision to wait until after the Trump event to emphasize to all Arizonans to wear masks. Trump won Arizona by just 3 percentage points in 2016, with the help of suburban voters. Those suburbs that initially won Arizona for Trump have soured since, said Mike Noble of OH Predictive Insights, who polls the state for nonpartisan clients. Texas Texas is a bedrock of Trumps reelection, akin to Californias importance to Democrats. The Lone Star State hasnt been won by a Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976. But polls show the competition between Trump and Biden for its 38 Electoral College votes is unexpectedly close. Dunn called Texas an expansion target for Democrats. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott moved to reopen Texas in early May even though it had not met benchmarks set by the Trump administration. The state had one of the shortest shutdowns in the country. Texas Gov.Greg Abbott gives an update on the coronavirus, Friday, March 13, 2020, in Austin, Texas. Abbott declared a state of disaster Friday as the coronavirus pandemic spread to all of the state's biggest cities. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) At the time, Trump applauded Abbott. Texas is opening up and a lot of places are opening up. And we want to do it, and Im not sure that we even have a choice, Trump said during an Oval Office meeting on May 7 with Abbott. I think we have to do it. You know, this country cant stay closed and locked down for years. Texas soon saw the proportion of coronavirus tests that came back positive spike to nearly 12 percent, in addition to a record-breaking number of hospitalizations. Last week, Abbott said Covid-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas, and it must be corralled. He ordered bars to reclose and restaurants to limit capacity to 50 percent, down from 75 percent. Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas political consultant who helped organize tea party protests in 2009, echoed fellow Republicans and Democrats who think Trump will still carry Texas. But not by much, he said, because the economy is in bad shape and theres a growing belief the president botched the response to the coronavirus. Its a big impact and the combination with the perception the president has mishandled racial issues and criminal justice issues, Steinhauser said. Florida Of the three states, only Florida has been a true presidential swing state in recent decades. If Trump loses its 29 Electoral College votes, his chances of a second term are close to zero. The RealClearPolitics polling average in Florida has Biden ahead by nearly 7 percentage points. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a staunch Trump ally, has offered mixed messaging in response to coronavirus. He's repeatedly boasted about his data-driven approach but refused to heed advice from medical experts who say that a statewide mask-wearing order would work. While DeSantis said he was deferring to local governments, Republicans filed a lawsuit last week when a mask-wearing ordinance was passed by Leon County, where the state Capitol is located. Our people are ticked off. Most of them are upset about the media coverage about the coronavirus and feel its overblown and its part of a strategy to bring down the president, said Evan Power, chairman of the county GOP, the plaintiff in the lawsuit. While many Democrats have watched their poll numbers rise as theyve handled coronavirus, DeSantis approval ratings have dropped (though, unlike Trump, hes still above water). Emboldened Democrats released an ad on Twitter last week contrasting DeSantis swagger in late May with the recent rise in coronavirus infections. State Democratic Party Executive Director Juan Penalosa said hes considering putting money behind the ad because it struck a nerve. Trump has botched every stage of this response and people are starting to see DeSantis as Trumps lapdog, Penalosa said. Miami Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala, the former Health and Human Services secretary, said the states tourism is suffering. We have no national strategy, we have no state strategy and the state has opened too early and why are we surprised that cases have surged? Shalala said. Theyre going to hold the president responsible for mismanaging the Covid-19 crisis for missing it. Hes still saying, I told my people to stop testing. Shalala dinged Trump for steaming ahead with the Republican convention in Jacksonville, creating another potentially dangerous situation. If we have to shut down again, thats a Trump shutdown, she said. We have a governor who is following the Trump playbook. I think Trump is in trouble in Florida. This year has seen pretty much every auto show on the planet cancelling as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. One of the first was the Geneva Motor Show, which had to shut down at the last minute as the pandemic hit Europe. Now the organizers are cancelling next year's Geneva Motor Show well in advance for health and participation reasons. It's also facing some financial problems. One obvious reason for canceling next year is the continuing coronavirus concern. It's still unclear when a vaccine or effective treatment will be available, and having thousands of journalists and attendees coming to an indoor event and crowding together is likely a bad idea. Besides that, the organizers of the show surveyed manufacturers, and many of them reported that they would sit out the Geneva Show next year if it were happening. So even if a show was happening, there might not have been many exhibitors to flesh it out. This also leads us to the financial issues the organizers of the Geneva Motor Show are facing. With the show closing suddenly this year, after many exhibits had been set up, it didn't have a way to recoup expenses. The organizers reached out to the local government for a loan to cover the shortfall and prep for a future show, and the government put together a proposal for a 16.8-million Swiss franc loan, but the organizers' weren't pleased by the terms. The proposed loan would require hosting a show in 2021 and a minimum repayment of 1 million francs by June 2021. And since the show isn't happening next year, that would mean the organizers wouldn't have revenue to start paying off the loan. So what's the plan to make up the show's losses and prepare for a 2022 show? The organizers have proposed selling the show to the Palexpo SA, the organization that operates the convention center where the show takes place. That proposal has not yet been accepted, so the future of the show is murky. There is reason to believe that the sale will go through and the Geneva Show will return in 2022, though. The organizers point out that the Geneva Show is the largest public event in Switzerland, and is thus important economically. We suspect many automakers, particularly smaller cottage industry and supercar builders, want the show to continue, as it's a great place to find investors and new customers. Story continues Related Video: Click here to See Video >> Amazon warehouse workers in Germany are striking for 48 hours this week, to protest conditions that have led to COVID-19 infections among fellow employees. Strikes began today at six warehouses and are set to continue through the end of the day Tuesday. The company has drawn international criticism for its decision not to disclose official COVID-19 infection rates among workers, but a representative for Berlin-based labor union Verdi (Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft or German United Services Trade Union) says theyre aware of at least 30 to 40 workers in the Bad Hersfeld factory in Central Germany who have been infected with the virus. Other striking factories include Koblenz, Leipzig, Rheinberg and Werne. Germany represents Amazons largest non-U.S. market, and is one that has seen its fair share of worker protests. Strikes were planned for Prime Days in both 2018 and 2019. But the COVID-19 pandemic represents a new challenge for the online retail giant. As it has done with other recent criticism, the company denied suggestions that its working conditions are unsafe and pointed to various COVID-19-related initiatives. The majority of our associates does not participate and we see no impact on customer orders. The fact that more than 8,000 of our over 13,000 permanent associates in Germany are with us for more than five years proves that we are a fair employer, a spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. Everything the union demands is already in place: Wages at the upper end from what is paid for similar jobs, career opportunities and a safe working environment,. The facts are: By end of June, we will have invested approximately $4 billion worldwide on COVID-related initiatives getting products to customers and keeping employees safe. Here in the States, the company has drawn criticism from media and politicians alike for its action on COVID-19, including the firing of multiple workers who have been vocally critical of its policies. Like it or loathe it, video has proven to be the most engaging of all mediums across the web, and today a company out of Israel called Artlist -- which provides royalty-free libraries of music, sound effects and even video itself to enhance video content -- is announcing a significant growth round of $48 million, both to continue its expansion, and to build better technology to help navigate users to the perfect clip. The funding is being led by KKR, with participation also from Elephant Partners, a VC out of Boston that has also backed Allbirds, Scopely and Keelvar among others. This is the first funding that Artlist has ever announced, although Elephant had backed it previously with a undisclosed amount. Ira Belsky -- Artlist's co-CEO who co-founded the company with Itzik Elbaz, Eyal Raz and Assaf Ayalon, and who started out as a filmmaker himself -- said the company has mostly been bootstrapped since being founded in 2016. He's not disclosing the total amount raised to date, nor its valuation except to say that it's on the rise. "We have been 100% cash flow positive since the day we started," he said. "We just want to accelerate growth because there is an opportunity to cater to a wider audience." The market gap that Artlist is tackling is a byproduct of how the internet is used and evolving. According to a recent report from Sandvine, video accounts for just under 58% of online traffic globally, with video, social and gaming (with the latter two also being very video-heavy) together accounting for some 80% of traffic. That speaks to a huge amount of content being made available not just from premium media provides like Netflix or Disney, but a popular, vast array of user-generated content on channels like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter. While some creators may be building their own sound and video content, a large proportion, to speed up production and focus on whatever aspect of their work that they can better individualise and control, will use stock audio and video footage in their work. Story continues Indeed, that also means there are a number of others in this same space, including the likes of Getty, Epidemic Sound, Shutterstock, the platforms themselves that creators use to build and publish their videos, and many others. But Belsky said that in his time as a filmmaker, he found that many of these were not quite what he was looking for himself in terms of connecting him with just the right music that he was looking for. And that was part of the impetus behind building Artlist. What's interesting is that Covid-19 has had a double impact on that market. Not only has there been a huge boost in online video usage as more people are spending more time at home and staying away from public places, but in terms of creators, Belsky notes that many of them have found it harder either to shoot certain kinds of footage, or collaborate with people to create music and other sound effects, all of which has led to a surge of usage for platforms like Artlist. Artlist's royalty-free model means that people pay subscription fees to access its sound and video libraries -- prices range between $149 and $599 per year, depending on usage and whether you are taking the music, video, sound effects or combined plans -- but then nothing more for individual clips. On the other side of the marketplace, the company does not disclose how much its artists are making from the service, but the basic model sees those payouts vary depending on how much a track is used, and generally they are very competitive. "Our artists make more from us than they do from other platforms," Belsky said. There are no plans to switch that business model to include non-royalty-free, nor outright sales of exclusive rights, he added. On royalty-free alone, the funding comes on the back of significant growth for the company in the last couple of years, with both users and amount of content being used on exponential growth curves, respectively now standing at 1.1 million subscribers and 25.8 million pieces of content (mostly music at the moment, Belsky said). While many users will incorporate one kind of media, either video or music, into a bigger video project -- such as this Mercedes Benz commercial that uses Artlist audio -- others are looking to see how creative they can be when leaning on both. That speaks to how we might see video continue to evolve as the market matures and yet more videos get produced: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNhYzF7t104] This brings us to the company's next steps. Belsky said that while today there are already various taxonomies for searching for just the right piece of content, the plan is to try to make that process easier. Being based in Israel, the company has been tapping some interesting data science talent, and the country is well-known for producing some of the more interesting startups using AI and all of that is feeding into Artlist's development, too. "We want to invest in AI for personalisation," he said. "We see ourselves in the creative tech space, a combination of content and technology. The aim is to find the best piece of music, but also the best user experience when finding it, to make it fast and intuitive." One experiment has involved people uploading examples of what they'd like, and Artlist searching for "matches" in its own catalogue, and there are others to come, he said. Indeed, given what we've seen with the advances in semantic search and computer vision, there is a potentially very interesting opportunity to start to explore how to, for example, ingest a video clip to try to match the mood of a piece of audio to it. This is not something that the company is exploring today, but it points to the potential it and others in the category might consider down the line. Meanwhile, given Artlist's traction and revenue growth, the opportunities and the needs of creators today are big enough to make this an interesting bet, despite the stiff competition. "The growth of digital content creation and the evolving way in which it is consumed has generated a tremendous amount of opportunities for creators, but the process of licensing digital assets remains a significant challenge for small and large creators alike," said Patrick Devine, a member of KKRs Next Generation Technology Growth investment team, in a statement. "What impresses us most about Artlist is the management teams dedication to helping creators focus on what they do best and removing friction from the process of discovering and accessing content. Extra Crunch is now live in Romania. That adds to our existing support in Europe as we are already in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the U.K. Theres been reason to be bullish on Romanias technology sector for some time. A TechCrunch op-ed called the country the Silicon Valley of Transylvania in 2016, noting that the number of startups in the country had grown by 20% from 250 to 300 in a year. The countrys rich pool of developer talent (bullish notes on that matter here) has also led to rising investor interest. Crunchbase data, for example, said that known venture round counts rose by 26% in the country in 2019, compared to 2018. And from a 2015-era trough, the countrys GDP has risen sharply, along with its GDP per-capita. Its no surprise, then, that Romania has been one of the most requested countries for Extra Crunch support in recent months. Were happy to add the country to the list. You can sign up here. Extra Crunch is a membership program from TechCrunch that features market analysis, weekly investor surveys and how-tos and interviews on growth, fundraising, monetization and other work topics. Members can save time with access to an exclusive newsletter, no banner ads or video pre-rolls on TechCrunch.com, Rapid Read mode and our List Builder tool. Committing to an annual and two-year plan will save you a few bucks on the membership price and unlock access to TechCrunch event discounts and Partner Perks. The Partner Perks program features discounts and savings on services from AWS, DocSend, Typeform, Zoom and more. Thanks to everyone who voted on where to expand next. If you havent voted and you want to see Extra Crunch in your local country, let us know here. You can sign up or learn more about Extra Crunch here. TOKYO Japanese automakers' global sales declined 38% in May, in the third straight month of big falls as most automotive factories and dealerships remained closed due to coronavirus lockdowns. The country's seven major automakers sold a total of 1.47 million vehicles last month, down sharply from 2.38 million units a year ago, according to Reuters calculations based on sales data released by these companies. But the decrease was smaller than the 50% tumble posted in April. Global production at these automakers fell 62% to 918,974 units in May, compared to a production slump of 55% in April. Car demand has plummeted globally since March as people were forced to stay indoors in most countries due to lockdowns to control the outbreak, leading to deep uncertainty about the longer-term economic impact. Many countries have been easing their lockdown measures, but industry experts anticipate that it would take up to five years for demand to recover to 2019 levels. Japan's biggest automaker, Toyota, sold 609,460 vehicles in May, down 34% from a year ago. Nissan sales fell 37.3% on year to 272,873 units, while sales at Honda slipped 29% to 327,000 units. Vehicle sales fell in nearly all regions, with North America and Europe being the worst hit. China was the only bright spot, where Toyota, Nissan, and Mazda reported higher sales. Most automakers are preparing for a big financial hit from the pandemic due to the lockdowns in the United States and Europe. Toyota has said it expects an 80% profit slump this year, its lowest in nine years. The pandemic has piled more pressure on Nissan, which had been struggling with falling sales and profitability even before the outbreak, forcing it to roll back on an aggressive expansion plan by ousted leader Carlos Ghosn. Smoke engulfs the Nissan logo as workers burn tires during a protest in Barcelona, Spain, where the automaker is closing its plant, costing 3,000 direct jobs. (AP/Emilio Morenatti) TOKYO Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida told shareholders Monday he is giving up half his pay after the Japanese automaker sank into the red amid plunging sales and plant closures in Spain and Indonesia. Uchida apologized for the poor results and promised a recovery by 2023, driven by cost cuts and new models showcasing electric-car and automated-driving technology. We will tackle these challenges without compromise, he said at a live-streamed meeting. I promise to bring Nissan back on a growth track. Executives for the company also blasted suggestions in media reports of a conspiracy within the company to oust Carlos Ghosn. The former chairman's 2018 arrest in Japan on financial misconduct charges has led to much speculation that the move was orchestrated by Nissan executives who opposed closer ties with partner Renault. I know that in books and the media there has been talk about a conspiracy, but there are no facts whatsoever to support this, Motoo Nagai, chairman of Nissans auditing committee, told shareholders at the companys annual general meeting. Responding to demands from a shareholder to address the speculation, Nagai argued that the investigation into Ghosn was conducted both internally and by outside law firms. All the worlds automakers have been hurt by nose-diving sales caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But the problems are especially serious for Nissan, which already was fighting to salvage its reputation after the financial misconduct scandal of former star executive Ghosn. Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan, sank into its first annual loss in 11 years, reporting a 671.2 billion yen ($6.3 billion) loss for the fiscal year that ended in March. It has not given a projection for this fiscal year, citing uncertainties over the virus outbreak. Story continues One angry shareholder got up and said executives should give up more of their pay since investors were getting zero dividends. Another said Nissan needed to do more to strengthen its governance, arguing things have been getting worse, not better, since the departure of Ghosn. One stock owner appeared to speak up for Ghosn, stressing Nissan had lost peoples trust after ousting him without giving him a chance to defend himself over problems that might have been solved internally, instead appearing to collude with prosecutors and government officials. Nissan officials denied any collusion and said the company has sued in civil court, seeking compensation for the damages it says it suffered because of Ghosn. Ghosn was set to face trial in Tokyo on charges of under-reporting future compensation and breach of trust when he fled to Lebanon in late 2019. He says he is innocent. Uchida again outlined Nissans strategy to focus on three major global markets, Japan, China and North America, including Mexico, and relying on alliance partners for the other markets. The company also plans to reduce the number of models it offers. But one investor noted Nissan sales werent picking up in the U.S. or China, and Nissan stock prices were continuing to slip. Uchida reiterated Nissan wants to close the Barcelona plant, but said negotiations were ongoing. Auto union workers have protested the move, which will lead to the loss of 3,000 jobs in the region. One shareholder got applause from the crowd when he said Nissan lacks an attractive vision compared to Japanese rivals Toyota, which is aggressively developing ecological technology, and Honda, boasting robots and jets in its lineup. After a nearly two-hour shareholders meeting, the reappointment of all 12 board Nissan members were approved, shown by applause, and including votes taken ahead of time. The board members include Jean-Dominique Senard, chairman of Nissans alliance partner Renault, who took part online from France but said nothing. Two men suspected of helping Ghosns escape were arrested last month in the U.S. Japanese prosecutors are seeking their extradition. Japan is also trying to get Ghosn extradited, but Japan has no extradition treaty with Lebanon. Material from Reuters was used in this report. Related Video: Click here to See Video >> 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. YORK Its that time of year again, when valuation protests hearings are held before the county commissioners (sitting as the board of equalization). When the board meets Tuesday morning, only two protest hearings are scheduled. During those hearings, property owners will be able to explain why they dont believe their property values are correct and the board will then make a ruling. If a property owner does not agree with the boards final ruling, they can appeal with the Nebraska Tax Equalization Review Commission (TERC). Also as the board of equalization, the commissioners will consider tax roll corrections presented by York County Assessor Ann Charlton. Also this time of year is budget preparation for the new 20-21 fiscal year. Along with that preparation come presentations by a variety of entities that receiving annual financing from the county. Making their annual presentations and budget requests on Tuesday will be John Day from Blue Valley Behavioral Health, and Randy Jones from Aging Partners. Also on Tuesdays agenda for the county commissioners: They will consider a resolution for county tax sales certificates. Payroll and vendor claims will be presented. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. Swiss sensor maker Sensirion announced plans to establish a production base in Debrecen, in eastern Hungary. The plant, being built and financed by a local build-to-suit partner, will meet growing demand for sensors. Sensirion said it chose Debrecen because of the citys proximity to clients in Europe, the well-educated local workforce and support offered by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) and the Debrecen Urban and Economic Development Centre. Debrecens excellent infrastructure, especially education facilities such as the University of Debrecen and the vocational training institutions, combined with an established industrial base, was the decisive factor in Sensirion choosing to establish a new production site there, said Patrick Good, Sensirions director for maintenance and infrastructure. State Secretary Levente Magyar welcomed the announcement, saying that the government had great plans concerning Debrecen, which he referred to as the fastest developing city in Hungary. Production at the site is expected to start by Q3 2021. Initially, the plant will employ about 50 people; however, starting in 2022 Sensirion will add newly engineered products and production technologies to its portfolio in Debrecen, raising headcount there by about fourfold by 2025. MTI Photo: Tibor Illyes With the slogan "A better life for our customers" AirtelTigo is undoubtedly a dynamic and innovative brand in Ghana's telecommunications industry. The company launched in November 2017 after a well-calculated merger between Airtel and Tigo. Today, the amalgamated firms, selling their services to prospective clients under the AirtelTigo brand are the second-largest telecom in Ghana. Of course, the combined business of the firm will provide clients with elevated coverage and allow them to access better communication solutions. With AirtelTigo shortcodes, their services have even become more accessible and more sophisticated. Image: facebook.com, @airteltigoghana Source: Facebook In a decade when phones can do more and are even more sophisticated than a computer, telecommunication companies have felt the urge to upgrade their services for more comfortable and better accessibility. Whether you are looking for AirtelTigo bundle code or any other AirtelTigo shortcodes, you can be sure that the company's got your covered. AirtelTigo has already increased its market share not only in Ghana but West Africa, and such shortcodes give subscribers access to different services with ease. Since mobile phone carriers have shortcodes already approved, AirtelTigo Ghana short codes make it possible to transact in real-time regardless of the request. Important AirtelTigo shortcodes Are you tired of the long queues that you are mostly subjected to when you try accessing the AirtelTigo customer care representatives? Fortunately, with the prerequisite shortcode to process your request, you can avoid such inconveniences with ease. The shortcode strategy is duplicated in virtually all services offered by AirtelTigo. Do you want AirtelTigo unlimited bundle? Is your friend out of airtime and want the code that allows you to transfer AirtelTigo credit? Interestingly, you can do all of this at your comfort using the relevant shortcodes for the service you desire. And in most cases, you do not even have to have credit on your phone. Image: promolante.com Source: UGC Image: promolante.com Source: UGC Image: promolante.com Source: UGC READ ALSO: How to check your MTN number in Ghana There you have it a comprehensive list of all AirtelTigo codes. With these codes, you can access Tigo call bundles seamlessly and any other service that you are looking for. Reputable broadcasting platforms have been using shortcodes for a very long time. They are preferred because they offer a sufficient communication gateway whereby they can broadcast their messages easily. For mobile phone companies like AirtelTigo, such numbers are a way to bring their services closer to the client. With AirtelTigo shortcodes for buying AirtelTigo bundles or for any other purpose, a subscriber can access whatever assistance they require instantaneously. They can even get a code to check AirtelTigo number. It is that not amazing? READ ALSO: How to send airtime from Vodafone Cash to MTN How to restore contacts from MTN backup How to check Tigo number Source: Yen Lecturers play a significant role in a country. They are responsible for cultivating the future workforce for a particular country. They educate and train people of all professions and are, hence, vital for the development of any state. With that said, what is the lecturers salary in Ghana? Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC University lecturers salary varies depending on certain factors. These factors include: The rank of the lecturer The level of experience of the lecturer The level of education of the lecturer Institution of employment Job type Salary structure of university lecturers in Ghana An average lecturers salary in Ghana is GHC 46,074. This can, however, be more or less depending on the factors discussed below. Lecturers salary depending on rank Almost all professions have ranks. This also applies to lecturers. The higher a lecturer ranks, the more they are paid, and the lower the rank, the lower they are paid compared to their colleagues. Lecturers that are in the lower ranks earn between GHC18,000 GHC42,000 per year. Senior lecturers, on the other hand, make between GHC54,000 GHC60,000 per year. When it comes to rank, professors are paid the most. Their salary is believed to be as much as GHC96,000 or even more per annum. This is one among the many reasons as to why most lecturers make an effort to stay relevant continuously, and among the best by continually developing their work. READ ALSO: COVID-19: Parents should act as teachers for their kids - Matthew Opoku Prempeh Lecturers salary depending on the institution Just like any other profession, lecturers in private universities are paid more than those who teach in public universities. Private universities always look for the best lecturers, and to keep the best lecturers you must be able to pay them, what other universities can't pay them. Another reason could be how much the students pay. Private university students pay more compared to public university students. This enables the school to be able to afford to pay their lecturers those high salaries. Lecturers salary depending on the level of education When it comes to education, the higher your level of education, the more you are valued and paid. This is to say, lecturers with doctorate degrees are paid more than lecturers with master's degrees and undergraduate degrees. Image: unsplash.com Source: UGC Instructors with doctorate degrees are paid an average of GHC60,732, while the ones with master's degrees are paid an average of GHC43,333, and the ones with bachelor degrees are paid an average of GHC10,323. This shows why educators are constantly continuing with their studies. The higher your level of education, the higher your chances of getting a well paying job are. Lecturers salary depending on teaching experience Experience has to count in determining salaries in various professions. People who have been lecturing for a long time are paid more than those with fewer years of experience. Lecturers salary depending on job type There are two job types; permanent and temporary. Permanent lecturers are paid more than the lecturers on temporary contracts. Lecturers salary depending on the city Lecturers in different cities are paid differently. For example, lectures in Kumasi can be paid more or less compared to lecturers in Accra. Lecturers salary in Ghana is as discussed above. What do you think about what they are paid? Is it enough or not in regards to what they do. Please share with us your opinions in the comments section below. READ ALSO: Salary of nurses in Ghana: 2020 Kiki Modi: Undercover lady behind Sex for Grades video receives top journalism award Source: Yen.com.gh - Ghana's COVID-19 cases have reached 17 351 with 12 994 recoveries - President Akufo-Addo also indicated that government has extended the incentive package for health workers by another three months - Ghana has recorded 110 deaths from coronavirus so far Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in 30 patients are in critical condition and receiving treatment across Ghana as the countrys COVID-19 cases rise to 17 351. This is according to President Akufo-Addo in an address to the nation on 28 June. The President also said some 12 994 patients have so far recovered. President Nana Akufo-Addo. Source: YEN.com.gh Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Deployment of soldiers in Volta and Oti regions creating panic and anxiety - Mahama Some 112 patients, the President noted, have also died after contracting the virus, constituting 0.6% of the positive cases. The countrys death rate is one of the lowest in the world and Ghana has so far conducted some 294 867 tests. Ghana recorded its first two COVID-19 cases on 12 March, compelling the country to shut down schools and tighten border closures. Despite the sharp rise in cases, the country relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions earlier in June to allow final year students in all private and public schools to return to school. Like senior high schools, universities, and other tertiary institutions, all junior high schools across the country have been fumigated and disinfected, Nana Akufo-Addo said on Sunday. YEN.com.gh earlier reported that a set of triplets born prematurely in the central Mexican state of San Louis Potosi have tested positive for the coronavirus. The newborns were tested on 17 June to comply with the state's health protocols on premature births. Both parents were tested to determine whether they too were infected with coronavirus after the results came back positive. Nana Akufo-Addo extends incentive package for health workers for 3 more months READ ALSO: Anas set to release video documentary of COVID-19 'scammers and thieves' on national TV Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: Yen - Nontisikelelo Qwelane started working as a teacher in 1940 - The South African educator is now the oldest teacher in Africa - The 99-year-old still teaches at the Metropolitan International College White River in Mpumalanga Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Mark Twain once said, "Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life." His words could not have been more true for an elderly lady identified as Nontisikelelo Qwelane. The 99-year-old started teaching in 1940 and she has not yet retired. YEN.com.gh learned the woman, who teaches at the Metropolitan International College White River in Mpumalanga, is reportedly the oldest teacher in both South Africa and Africa as a whole. Meet Nontisikelelo Qwelane, Mzansi and Africa's oldest teacher at 99 Photo: Left - Blessings Ramoba/Twitter, right - Wikimedia Commons Source: UGC READ ALSO: Beautiful woman who was afraid to drive buys herself a new BMW Her inspiring story was shared on Twitter by social media user Blessings Ramoba last week. His post was captioned: "South Africa's 99-year-old Nontisikelelo Qwelane is Africa's oldest teacher.She started teaching in 1940. She teaches at the Metropolitan International College White River in Mpumalanga. She received a national honour, Order of the Baobab, in 2013. Let's celebrate her." Take a look at the post below: Ramoba also shared her story on Facebook and the post gathered over a thousand likes. Another tweep, @Mfundoyakhe_S, shed more light on the award the gogo received in 2013. He wrote: "Nontsikelelo Qwelane received the Order of Ikhamanga in bronze for her outstanding contribution to education in SA and for being an inspiration and role model to both young and old people. At the age of 92 in 2013 Qwelane has earned the title of the oldest known teacher in SA." READ ALSO: Degree, car and house: Young lady gushes about achievements (Photos) Social media users applauded the elderly lady for still living out her dream as a teacher despite almost being 100 years old. Twitter user, @Chanaaz786, commented: "Thank you Madam Qwelane, good teachers are my favourite people." Meanwhile, Daniella Afua Kuto, the first child of Esther Kafui Sosu, the woman who died at the Ridge Hospital as a result of a wrong prescription has finally spoken about the entire incident. The young lady narrated her side of the story with a heavy heart in an interview with JoyNews sighted by YEN.com.gh. According to Daniella, she and her mother used to spend a lot of time together as they always performed house chores like cooking, washing and the like together. Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Faces of Ghana: 21-year-old female boxer's dream of becoming a world champion | #Yencomgh Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh - Joyce Dzidzor Mensah has popped up with another video on social media - The video has her showing the face of the man she claims is her baby daddy - The decision to unveil the man comes after he refused to attend the naming ceremony of their baby Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana Former HIV/AIDS Ambassador, Joyce Dzidzor Mensah, is in the news once again after making revelations about the father of her newly born baby. Photo source: Facebook/Joyce Dzidzor mensah Source: Original Photo source: Facebook/Joyce Dzidzor Mensah Source: Original Dzidzor Mensah announced in March 2020 she had delivered a new baby. As earlier reported by YEN.com.gh, the baby was delivered in Germany where Dzidzor has been living for some time now. Three months after her announcement, Dzidzor has popped up again with an accusation against the father of her child. According to Dzidzor, the man she has only identified as Mr Stephen refused to attend the naming ceremony of their child that was held on 27 June. In a video on social media, Dzidzor indicated that said Mr Stephen had asked her to organise the naming ceremony. But after she put all her efforts into organising the naming ceremony, the man failed to turn up and even blocked her from contacting him. Dzidzor disclosed that Mr Stephen's behaviour has broken her heart and she is finding it difficult to sleep. During her speech, Dzidzor released a photo of the said Mr Stephen she is claiming is the father of her newborn baby. A very controversial figure, Dzidzor Mensah came into the limelight when she boldly declared herself as an HIV carrier and got named as an AIDS ambassador. After declaring herself as HIV positive and serving as AIDS ambassador for several years, she later claimed she lied about her status, leading to her being stripped of her ambassadorial role. Dzidzor has since been involved in other controversies, including stripping down on social media. She has also been involved in unsubstantiated accusations against prominent people. Ghanaian female accounting graduate and mushroom farmer recounts her experience: 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 - Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaians to make sure the country has a register fit for purpose for the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary polls - The President of the republic urged Ghanaians to go out in their numbers and partake in the voter registration exercise - The Electoral Commission starts the compilation of a new register today, June 30 - Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has said it must be the collective responsibility of Ghanaians to ensure that the country has a register fit for purpose for the conduct of the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections. According to President Akufo-Addo, it is important for every Ghanaian to ensure that only persons who qualify have their names in the new register. "If you aid the registration of an ineligible person, and you are caught, you will face the full rigours of the law," he warned. President Akufo-Addo. Source: YEN.com.gh Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Registration Exercise: EC puts 7 measures in place to prevent spread of COVID-19 In an address to the nation on Monday, June 29, 2020, ahead of the conduct of the voter registration exercise on Tuesday, June 30, Nana Addo opined that the December polls must be a "Ghanaian election, not a West African election". He added it is only when foreigners are exempted from the country's electoral process that the true will of Ghanaians will be manifested. President Akufo-Addo thus urged all Ghanaians who are eligible to vote, to go out and register, so they can exercise their civic responsibility on December 7, 2020. In conclusion, the President described the compilation of the new voter register as an important exercise. YEN.com.gh earlier reported that the Electoral Commission has been engaged in various talks as to how well to organise the voters' registration exercise to avoid the contraction and spread of coronavirus. Towards a safe and secure 2020 voter registration exercise, the electoral commission has outlined some seven measures to curb and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Nana Akufo-Addo extends incentive package for health workers for 3 more months | #Yencomgh READ ALSO: WATCH LIVE: Anas exposes quack doctors selling fake COVID-19 cure in Ghana Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh - Trade and Industry minister, Alan Kyerematen, visited the assembly facility of Volkswagen Ghana in Accra - VW is the first global automobile company to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ministry - Plans are in place for the grand launching of Volkswagen car models, which are made in Ghana Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, has paid a working visit to the assembly facility of Volkswagen Ghana at North Industrial Area in Accra. Under the Ghana Automobile Manufacturing Development Programme, VW became the first global automobile company to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ministry. The MoU is with respect to the establishment of a vehicle assembly plant in Ghana. READ ALSO: Do no sell goods and services in foreign currencies - Bank of Ghana cautions traders According to VW Ghanas Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Oppong Peprah, the company has commenced commercial production under a registered local company, VW Ghana, and is currently producing five Volkswagen models in its Accra plant. YEN.com.gh understands the brands are Tiguan, Amarok Pickup, Passat, Polo, and Teramont. Peprah informed the minister that the company is planning a grand launch of Volkswagen car models which are made in Ghana. Source: facebook.com/Alan John Kwadwo Kyeremanten Source: UGC Information available shows that Kyerematen used the visit to present the Bonafide Vehicle Assembler Certificate to VW Ghana. He also commended Thomas Schaefer, the head of Volkswagen in the Sub Saharan Africa region, who joined the tour via a virtual link and his team for the confidence shown in Ghana. Kyerematen promised the governments support to facilitate the development of the second phase of the company to ensure the country reaps the full benefit of automobile manufacturing. YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Toyota and VW would start assembling cars in Ghana in 2020. This was revealed by President Akufo-Addo during his presentation of the 2020 edition of the State of the Nation Address. He added that Sinotruk is also interested in doing business in Ghana and would begin the same process this year. READ ALSO: Ghana misses out as Africa Facts Zone lists African countries with the best roads Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Playstore now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! Faces of Ghana: 21-year-old female boxer's dream of becoming a world champion | #Yencomgh Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos Source: Yen Ghana - A baby girl born in Savannah, Georgia in 1848 named Susie Taylor became the 1st black army nurse and never got paid for her work - Susie married Edward King, a black non-commissioned officer in the First South Carolina Volunteers of African Descent, and followed her husband's regiment to help save lives - Her journey to attaining the historic feat started when she was born into slavery with her grandmother who chose to educate the girl although it was against the law Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Susie Taylor, born in 1848, was the first-ever black nurse to be assigned to a war-zone and she worked relentlessly to save the lives without getting any monetary rewards. Reports sighted by YEN.com.gh on Battlefields.org and Ghanaportal.net indicate that Susie, apart from being a nurse, was also a teacher, author, and memoirist at a time when slavery was rife. She became the first Black Army nurse when she was recruited to cater to the troop and was later assigned to the 33rd United States Colored Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. READ ALSO: Chinese scientists warn of new virus in pigs with high pandemic risk Susie's journey started back in Savannah, Georgia when she was born into slavery with her grandmother. Despite Georgias harsh laws against the formal education of African-Americans, Susie's granny sent her to secret schools where she learned to read and write. As time went by, one thing led to another and Susie became a laundress who performed essential duties of cooking and washing for black regiments in war zones. Source: UGC Source: UGC READ ALSO: Meet Africa's oldest teacher who is 99 years of age (Photos) Her literacy proved most useful and she was discovered by Edward King, a black non-commissioned officer in the First South Carolina Volunteers of African Descent, who married her. Taylor, being the wife of King, followed her husband's regiment, serving as the countrys first Black Army nurse while also teaching soldiers how to read and write during their off-duty hours. In another breathtaking report by YEN.com.gh, celebrated broadcaster, Nana Yaa Brefo, recently caused a massive stir when she revealed she has been living without a womb. According to Angelonline.com, the renowned broadcaster, who used to work with Multimedia Group Limited, indicated ]she has been living without a womb for about 13 years. Nana Yaa Brefo explained on Angel 102.9 FM's Anopa Bofo that she lost her uterus, arguably a significant part of being a woman, after delivery. Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news! "We want a Ghanaian election, not a West African Election" Akufo-Addo | #Yencomgh Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh - Yoofi Grant, the CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), has called for a common African currency - He explained explained it would assist with international business as people move from country to country - Grant added that there is an urgent need for African leaders to examine the situation and provide solutions Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yoofi Grant, has called for a common African currency. According to him, the use of different currencies in the continent is a huge barrier as it complicates trading activities. In his opinion, it should be possible to easily trade in Nigeria without switching currencies. READ ALSO: Trotro and taxi drivers should get stimulus packages - COPEC He further indicated that the decision to make use of a single African currency should be of prime importance to African leaders. Per a report by Ghana News Agency, he added that difficulty in accessing capital made it challenging for micro-enterprises to grow. This, he noted, has necessitated the need for great thinking from those who are ready to defy the status quo. Grant indicated that political stability is necessary for any form of development to take place. He also stated that there is an urgent need for Africa to do away with cheap capital or cheap funding that negatively affects the objective of its development. In other news, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) announced a possible downward review of its annual Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) target of $10 billion. The decision was reached following the disruption of business and investment activities as a result of coronavirus. Coronavirus has reportedly led to a loss of global stocks to the tune of over $3 trillion just before the end of 2020s first quarter. READ ALSO: Photos drop as minister visits VW facility in Ghana Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana "Ghanaian women don't wear underwear lately" - Market woman speaks out: Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos Source: Yen.com.gh Blackshear, GA (31516) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 89F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then thunderstorms developing late. Low 73F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. New Delhi: A day after India banned 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok, UC Browser and Cam Scanner among others, Indians have rushed to download social app Chingari. The Indian social app Chingari seen as an alternative to Chinese TikTok has is witnessing nearly 1 lakh downloads and over 2 million views per hour since, news agency IANS has said. Here is all you need to know about Indian social app Chingari The app which was founded by Bengaluru-based programmers Biswatma Nayak and Siddharth Gautam in 2019. Chingari allows a user to download and upload videos, chat with friends, interact with new people, share content, and browse through feed. On Android, the app requires version 5.0 and up. A Chingari user gets the opportunity to get creative with WhatsApp status, videos, audio clips, GIF stickers, and photos. The app is available in languages including English, Hindi, Bangla, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. Chingari also pays its users based on how viral the content creator's video becomes. For each video a user uploads on the app, the content creator gets points per view and these points can be redeemed for money. The Chingari app is available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. India on Monday (June 29) banned 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok, UC Browser and Cam Scanner among others, in a major retaliation against China amid the rising border tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). A statement from the government said that the apps are 'engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order'. With IANS Inputs New Delhi: The Institute of Banking and Personnel Selection (IBPS) has released the official advertisement for Common Recruitment Process for Recruitment of Officers (Scale-I, II & III) and Office Assistant (Multipurpose) in Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) - CRP RRBs IX. The online examinations for the next Common Recruitment Process for RRBs (CRP RRBs IX) for recruitment of Group A-Officers (Scale-I, II & III) and Group B-Office Assistant (Multipurpose) will be conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) tentatively in September and October/November 2020, the notification said. The interviews for recruitment of Group A- Officers (Scale-I, II& III) under the same process will be coordinated by the Nodal Regional Rural Banks with the help of NABARD and IBPS in consultation with appropriate authority tentatively in the month of November 2020, it added. Application Fee/ Intimation Charges (Applicable GST will be borne by IBPS)- Application Fees/ Intimation Charges (Online payment from July 01, 2020 to July 21, 2020 both dates inclusive) Officer (Scale I, II & III) - Rs 175 for SC/ST/PWBD candidates. - Rs 850 for all others Office Assistant (Multipurpose) - Rs 175 for SC/ST/PWBD/EXSM candidates. - Rs 850/- for all others The notification said that the Bank Transaction charges for Online Payment of fees/ intimation charges will have to be borne by the candidate. Here are the important dates you must remember On-line registration including Edit/Modification of Application by candidates: 01.07.2020 to 21.07.2020 Payment of Application Fees/Intimation Charges (Online): 01.07.2020 to 21.07.2020 Download of call letters for Pre- Exam Training: 12.08.2020 Conduct of Pre-Exam Training: 24.08.2020 to 29.08.2020 Download of call letters for online examination Preliminary: August, 2020 Online Examination Preliminary: September/October 2020 Result of Online exam Preliminary: October 2020 Download of Call letter for Online exam Main / Single: October/November 2020 Online Examination Main / Single : October/November 2020 Declaration of Result Main/ Single (For Officers Scale I, II and III): October/November 2020 Download of call letters for interview (For Officers Scale I, II and III): October/November 2020 Conduct of interview (For Officers Scale I, II and III): October/November 2020 Provisional Allotment (For Officers Scale I, II and III & Office Assistant.(Multipurpose)): January 2021 Age Criteria For Officer Scale- III (Senior Manager)- Above 21 years - Below 40 years i.e. candidates should not have been born earlier than 03.07.1980 and later than 30.06.1999 (both dates inclusive) For Officer Scale- II (Manager)- Above 21 years - Below 32 years i.e. candidates should not have been born earlier than 03.07.1988 and later than 30.06.1999 (both dates inclusive) For Officer Scale- I (Assistant Manager)- Above 18 years - Below 30 years i.e. candidates should not have been born earlier than 03.07.1990 and later than 30.06.2002 (both dates inclusive) For Office Assistant (Multipurpose) - Between 18 years and 28 years i.e. candidates should have not been born earlier than 02.07.1992 and later than 01.07.2002 (both dates inclusive) Click here for official notification The rules of financial services like transaction charges after exhausting free cash withdrawal limit on ATM, the minimum account balance in the bank account will be changed from July 1. The transaction charges in ATMs was waived for three months after the rise of coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The rule to keep a minimum monthly balance in the savings bank account was waived off during lockdown. The charge for minimum balance in the account differs in metro cities, urban and rural areas. The Punjab National Bank (PNB) will reduce the rate of interest in its savings accounts by .50 per cent and the maximum interest to be given in a savings bank account is 3.25 per cent. The Bank of Baroda will freeze accounts of those who fail to submit documents. Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank had joined Bank of Baroda. Finance Minister Niramla Sitharaman had on March 24 announced several important relief measures taken by the government in view of the COVID-19 outbreak, especially on statutory and regulatory compliance matters related to several sectors. Sitharaman announced much-needed relief measures in areas of Income Tax, GST, Customs and Central Excise, Corporate Affairs, Banking Sector and Commerce. In her announcements regarding the financial services, the FM had given relaxations for three months for April, May and June. The financial services included the following: * Debit cardholders to withdraw cash for free from any other banks ATM for 3 months * Waiver of minimum balance fee * Reduced bank charges for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers There has been no new announcement regarding the above relaxations. Considering this, if the government does not come up with an extension on the above rules, then the previous ATM withdrawal charges, minimum balance will be applicable from July 1. * Meanwhile, State Bank of India had announced that the bank has waived off ATM Service Charges for all ATM transactions made on SBI ATMs and Other Bank ATMs on account of exceeding free number of transactions up to June 30. The ATM withdrawal rules vary from bank to bank. Hence it is advisable that customers talk to their respective banks to find out the rules that their banks have. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the government is actively working on the proposed One Nation One Ration Card Scheme which will become a reality soon. In address to the nation, the Prime Minister said, We are all set to launch the One Nation, One Ration card in the country for which government is working actively. This will help those poor countrymen who migrate to other places in search of employment or for other needs, the PM said. This was PM Modi's 6th address to India since the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The PM announced that Garib Kalyan Yojana will be extended for another 5 months. He said announced that over 80 crore people will get 5 kg wheat or 5 kg rice, 1 kg chana every month till November 2020. This will cost over Rs 90,000 crore. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday issued new guidelines for Unlock 2 which will come into force from July 1. On May 14, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the universal ration card 'One Nation One Ration Card' that can be used across the country. Announcing the 2nd tranche of Rs 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package on Thursday, the Finance Minister said, By March 2021, 100 percent coverage under 'One Nation One Ration Card' will be done. Sitharaman said that technology systems will be used enabling migrant workers to access PDS from any fair price shop in India by March 2021. The intra state portability has been introduced in 20 states and it is a part of PM Modi's technology driven reforms. At least two people were killed and four injured due to gas leakage at Sainor Life Sciences in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam on Monday night (June 29). Uday Kumar, Inspector, Parwada Police Station told ANI that the injured were admitted to a private hospital. He added that the situation is under control now. The two persons who died were workers and were present at the leakage site. Kumar noted that gas has not spread anywhere else. Sources said that around 30 workers were in the factory at the time of the incident. Andhra Pradesh CM's Office said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has enquired about the accident and factory was shut down immediately as a precautionary measure. "Leakage from a reactor is believed to be the cause of the accident, which occurred around 11.30 PM last night. On coming to know about the mishap, district collector Vinay, superintendent of police Meena have rushed to the spot. As a precautionary measure, the factory has been closed. The officials informed the Chief Minister that leakage was confined to reactor unit only and there was no need for any panic as the situation is under control. The district collector and SP have visited the hospital and inquired about the condition of the injured. The collector has already ordered an inquiry into the accident. Taking stock of the situation, the Chief Minister has directed the officials to extended best possible treatment to the injured," the CMO said in a statement. This is the second incident of gas leakage in Visakhapatnam district in two months. On May 7, a major gas leak occurred in LG Polymers chemical plant causing the death of 12 people. Bengaluru: Private medical colleges in Bengaluru have agreed to join hands with the Karnataka government for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The representatives from private medical colleges have promised the state government to provide 2000 beds immediately and another 4500 beds will be added within a week. The development took place as Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday held a second round of meeting with representatives of private hospitals at Vidhana Soudha over COVID-19. The Chief Minister and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar held separate meetings with the representatives from private colleges administration and all the private colleges have assured to extend their support to the government decision. "There are 11 private and three government medical colleges in the city and we will get about 6500 beds from these for COVID treatment," Dr Sudhakar informed media after the meeting. He further said, "These facilities including doctors and staff will be made available to the government within a week and the beds will be allocated to COVID patients through BBMP's centralised system. The insurance facility will be extended to the doctors and staff serving in these private hospitals also." PG students in private medical colleges and other staff will be utilised in COVID Care Centres, the minister said. "There will be some changes in the treatment protocols going forward. The decision regarding this will be taken in the meeting that will be held in the evening under the chairmanship of the CM," the minister explained. According to him, symptomatic patients, persons aged above 60 years and those with comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension and serious kidney, liver, lungs and heart-related ailments will be admitted to hospitals. Other asymptomatic persons will be monitored in COVID care centres. Detailed notification with these guidelines will be released tomorrow, the minister said. The meeting was chaired by CM BS Yediyurappa and Deputy CM Ashwatnarayana, Ministers Basavaraj Bommai, R Ashoka and senior officials were also present. Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday (June 30) hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not speaking the rising border tension with China at Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control. Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister, The AIMIM leader said that he was to speak on China but ended up speaking on Chana (grains). Not only this, but Owaisi also called out PM Modi for missing out mentioning Eid, a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims, during his today's address to the nation. "@PMOIndia aaj China par bolna tha, bol gaye CHANA par. Which was also necessary since your unplanned lockdown had left many working people without food. Also noticed that you listed many festivals in coming months but missed Baqr Eid? Chaliye, phir bhi aapko peshgi Eid Mubarak," Owaisi tweeted. Owaisi has been regularly targeting PM Modi-led central government for the crisis on the border with China, leading to India losing its 20 jawans in recent clash. He had earlier demanded that the government share with the country facts about the extent of Chinese incursions, extent of lapses in Indian decision-making and consequent loss of Indian territory to Chinese occupation. He had also sought an independent review committee to look into the sequence of events leading up to the loss of Indian lives and territory. Guwahati: Nearly 25 districts of Assam got affected by the flood due to heavy rain bringing huge damage to the people of the state. The flood has claimed the lives of 24 people and over 13 lakh people have been affected due to the heavy rain, said the Assam State Disaster Mgmt Authority. As per the state authority data, a population of 13,16,927 has been affected. Out of the 24 deaths, 4 deaths were reported in Barpeta (1), Dibrugarh (2) & Goalpara (1) on June 29. 27,452 people staying in 273 relief camps. The state government also said that 7,63,764 big animals, 4,07,838 small animals also affected due to flood. According to the officials of various authorities, there have been incessant heavy monsoon showers across the northeast region including Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh causing most rivers including mighty Brahmaputra to flow above danger levels in many places and inundating fresh areas everyday. The National Disaster Response Force and the Assam State Disaster Response Force personnel, along with local administration, are continuously working to rescue the affected people and are providinf relief services, including the distribution of relief material to the affected villagers. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has also directed Deputy Commissioners of all the affected districts to address the needs of the flood-hit people urgently while adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases is also rising in the state with 308 new cases reported in the last 24 hours and the total tally stands at 7794. (With ANI input) The decision of India to impose a ban on 59 Chinese mobile apps citing 'security concerns' has upset and stirred up China. The development has been widely discussed on China's social media and the hashtag #indiabans59Chineseapps has been trending on Weibo platform. India had on June 29 banned the apps with Chinese links, including hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, saying that they were "engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order". The list of apps that have been banned also includes Helo, Likee, Cam Scanner, SHAREit, WeChat, Vigo Video, Mi Video Call - Xiaomi, Clash of Kings as well as e-commerce platforms Club Factory and Shein. Chinese people are also upset that the decision of India will have a big impact on their economy and it will lead to unemployment there. Some people were seen commenting on social media that Indian generic drugs are very cheap and they cant afford expensive branded drugs. Thousands of Chinese cancer patients lives depend on Indian generic drugs. They cant afford expensive brand-name drugs. For Indian people, no Chinese product means inconvenience. But for many Chinese patients, Indian drug is a matter of life and death, tweeted Shwan Zhang. There is also a growing demand that India should also stop buying power from the Chinese power project of Nepal. Many Chinese companies are investing heavily in the power sector in Nepal and these companies are benefiting greatly by purchasing power from India. In addition to this, there is a growing demand also in India to ban Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE from Telecom. This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace announced the Ministry of Electronics and IT on June 29. China is indulging in large scale cyber-espionage using an army of hackers, drawn from military, intelligence, cyber professionals as an intelligence activity. Analysts believe that Chinese mobile app firms and other tech firms are beholden to the CCP under Chinese law. As extensions of the Chinese state, they pose a national security risk. The Chinese companies are all state-owned and tightly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Jack Ma, the head of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Chinas best-known capitalist, is also Communist Party member. The Peoples Daily have revealed Mas party membership in a list of 100 people it said had helped drive the country reform and opening up process. Ma is Chinas richest man. China's mobile companies are a threat not only to India but to the entire world. Last week, the US National Security Advisor (NSA) Robert C OBrien had raised serious questions over China's policies. The CCP accomplishes this goal, in part, by subsidizing hardware, software, telecommunications, and even genetics companies. As a result, corporations such as Huawei and ZTE undercut competitors on price and install their equipment around the globe at a loss. This has the side effect of putting out of business American manufacturers of telecom hardware and has made it very difficult for Nokia and Ericsson. Why do they do it? Because it is not telecom hardware or software profits the CCP are after, it is your data. They use backdoors built into the products to obtain that data," the NSA had said on June 24. "India should stop buying power from Chinese power projects in Nepal. India has signed an agreement with Nepal for power banking (bartering of electricity based on differential power demand) and also for state electricity authorities to buy power from Nepal. As India is yet not power-sufficient, the move to buy power from Nepal is only helping Chinese companies to make a profit," said Security expert Sanjeev Srivastwa. World opinion as seen in social media is appreciative of Indian move. Many netizens in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia have demanded a similar ban. Today I spoke to @SandhuTaranjitS to express our solidarity with the people of #India as they firmly confront unwarranted & lawless armed aggression by the Communist Party of #China. India has made it clear, they will not be bullied by Beijing. tweeted US Senator Marco Rubio. Banning Chinese apps is one of the strongest moves of India by targeting China in the online space since a border crisis erupted between two countries. The decision came close on the heels of ongoing border tension between India and China that escalated on June 15 when 20 Indian Army personnel were martyred after violent clashes with Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh. NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will speak to his American counterpart Mark Esper over the telephone on Tuesday, during which the ongoing tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China are expected to come up for discussion. According to the Defence Ministry officials, "Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will talk to his American counterpart Mark Esper over the telephone. Ongoing tensions between India and China on the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh expected to come up for discussion in talks." Meanwhile, the third round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China to discuss and diffuse the tension over the ongoing dispute along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh is scheduled to be held at 10:30 am in Chushul, Leh today. The first two rounds of talks had taken place in Moldo on the Chinese side of the LAC. In the second round of Corps Commander-level talks held on June 22, both sides reached a mutual consensus to disengage in the Eastern Ladakh sector, Army sources said. The modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in Eastern Ladakh were discussed and these will be taken forward by both sides, the sources added. India and China have been involved in talks to ease the ongoing border tensions since last month. Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in a violent face-off in the Galwan Valley on June 15-16 after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation. Indian intercepts revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the face-off. In order to further tighten the noose around China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre had on Monday (June 29) banned 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok, UC Browser and Cam Scanner among others. A statement from the government said that the apps are 'engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order'. India has been the biggest untapped market for some of Chinas quirkiest social-media companies, which had been signing up hundreds of millions of consumers in the worlds second-most populous nation, looking to capture users who werent hooked on to US apps such as Facebook and Twitter. A report from research firm Sensor Tower showed that the 59 banned apps have accumulated 4.9 billion (490 Crore) downloads from Apple Incs India App Store and Alphabet Incs Google Play since January 2014, including 750 million (75 Crore) so far this year. Of the top 25 most downloaded apps on Indias App Store and Google Play since April, eight were from the Chinese manufacturers. New Delhi: At least 750 FIRs have been registered in the Delhi violence that erupted in the capital in February this year, but charge sheets in 625 FIRs are yet to be filed in the lower court. Of these 750 FIRs, 690 are still being investigated by the North East Police, while the Crime Branch of Delhi Police is probing the rest 60 FIRs. Of the 690 FIRs filed in the Delhi violence, the police is still investigating the case, and the charge sheet could not be filed in as many as 600 FIRs in the lower court. The delay in investigation is stated to be because of the COVID-19 lockdown. Of the 60 cases, the crime branch has filed charge sheets in the Karkardooma court in almost 50 percent cases, and the investigation in the remaining cases is still going on. The lower court, however, is yet to take cognizance over 125 cases in which charge sheets have been filed. The court is hearing only the necessary cases due to the lockdown. A separate court has been set up to hear only the Delhi violence cases following the High Court order. This means that in the coming days, the Karkardooma court will commence trial in the Delhi violence cases. On Monday, 3 more charge sheets were filed in a Delhi court in connection with cases related to Delhi violence, in which at least 53 people lost their lives. The charge sheets were filed in the court of Duty Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Kumar Gautam. The three cases related to the violence were registered at Gokul Puri police station under charges including murder, rioting, and criminal conspiracy. All nine persons accused in the three cases are currently under judicial custody, the police said. Over 700 FIRs were lodged and the SIT probing the matter has arrested or detained more than 2,500 people, including the suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, in connection with the cases pertaining to the Delhi violence. Clashes broke out in northeast Delhi between the groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in February this year. At least 53 people lost their lives in the violence and hundreds of others were injured. New Delhi: Three days after questioning senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, a close aide of party interim Chief Sonia Gandhi, A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday (June 30) once again arrived at the Delhi residence of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, a close aide of party interim Chief Sonia Gandhi, to question him in connection with the alleged multi-crore bank fraud case by the Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech. This is the second visit of ED sleuths at Patel's resident for questioning in the Rs 14,500 crore Sandesara scam. A team of financial probe agency officials arrived at the 23, Mother Teresa Crescent road here on Tuesday morning to record Patel's statement under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). An ED source related to the development told IANS, "The agency had questioned Patel on Saturday but they were not satisfied with the answers. So they have once again come to his residence to record his statement." After the eight-hour long grilling on Saturday, Patel had said, "Instead of taking action against China, dealing with Covid-19 pandemic, they are attacking opposition. PM Modi and Amit Shah's people came and questioned me and I replied to their questions." Ahmed Patel, a Rajya Sabha MP and Congress treasurer, had earlier evaded probe in the matter over health concerns and COVID-10 restrictions. Last year, the ED had questioned Patel's son Faisal Patel about his relations with the Sandesara brothers (Chetan Jayantilal Sandesara and Nitin Jayantilal Sandesara), owners and promoters of the Vadodara-based pharmaceutical firm. The ED had also confronted Faisal with the statement of Sunil Yadav, an employee of the Sandesara group, in which he had alleged that the son of the Congress leader took his friends to a farm house for party and all the expenses were borne by Chetan. The ED suspected that Faisal and his brother-in-law Irfan Siddiqui were close to the Sandesara brothers. On July 30 last year, the ED had questioned Patel`s son-in-law and advocate Irfan Siddiqui in connection with the probe. According to ED officials, Yadav alleged that Siddiqui and Faisal were given code names by Chetan Sandesara. "Chetan and Gagan referred to Siddiqui as Irfan Bhai," he said. Irfan's code name was 'i2' and Faisal`s 'i1', Yadav had said. He also said, Faisal would take his friends to Puspanjali Farms for party and all the expenses were borne by Chetan Sandesara. The ED registered a money laundering case against the Sandesara brothers and others in August 2017 after a case of alleged bank fraud of Rs 5,700 crore was filed against them by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The ED probe revealed that the Sandesara brothers and others hatched a criminal conspiracy to cheat banks by manipulating figures in the balance sheets of their flagship companies and induce banks to sanction higher loans. The ED has also attached properties to the tune of Rs 9,778 crore of Sterling Biotech in its investigation against the pharmaceutical company and others involving domestic and offshore branches of Indian banks in 2004-12. New Delhi: Efforts will be made to provide a Pinjra Tod member, arrested in a case related to the communal violence in north-east Delhi earlier this year, 30-minute meetings with her lawyer twice a week via video-conferencing, Tihar authorities told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday. There was no objection to Pinjra Tod's (Break the Cage) Natasha Narwal sourcing books from outside, provided the material does not infract any provision of the jail rules, they added. The submissions were made by Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra, representing the Tihar jail authorities, in response to Narwal's plea that she be provided books and reading material to complete her M.Phil, and allowed to have 30 minutes' legal interviews twice a week with her lawyer via video-conferencing. Mehra assured the court that, subject to adjustments that may be required, efforts would be made to provide two video-conferencing facilities of 30 minutes each every week for Narwal. Noting the submissions of Tihar's counsel and that the grievances of the accused have been resolved, Justice C Hari Shankar said, "This litigation has ended on a happy note. The petition is disposed of." The court also placed its appreciation for the proactive approach of Mehra. Narwal, currently lodged in Tihar jail along with another JNU student and member of the group, Devangana Kalitha, were arrested by Delhi Police on May 23 in connection with a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in north-east Delhi's Jafrabad area in February. On May 24, they were granted bail by the trial court in the case, but moments later the Delhi Police crime branch had moved an application seeking to interrogate them and formally arrest them in a separate case. Two terrorists were killed by security forces at Waghama area of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday (June 30) morning. The security forces were yet to ascertain the identity of the killed terrorists. Search operation is still underway in the area. "In an encounter at Waghama Bijbehara, two terrorists who killed a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan and a 5-year-old boy three days back at Bijbehara, have been eliminated," said Dilbag Singh, Director General, Jammu & Kashmir Police. According to police, the killed terrorists were those who attacked a CRPF patrol party on June 26 at Padsahi Bagh killing one CRPF personnel and a 5-year-old boy. A police official said that a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir police, 3 Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation on specific input about the presence of terrorists in the area. As the joint team of forces cordoned the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists opened fire on them, forcing the security forces to retaliate which started the encounter. Sources claimed that two to three terrorists are believed to be trapped in the area. This was the 14th encounter in South Kashmir in June. A total of 36 militants have been killed in this month so far. On Monday (June 29), three terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces at Khulchohar area of Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir. With the encounter of these three terrorists, the number of terrorists eliminated in Valley in this year so far has gone to 116 including 7 operational commanders of different terror outfits. Pakistan-based terror group Hizbul Mujaheedin remained main target of security forces. It is to be noted that Hizbul's longest surviving operational commander Riyaz Naikoo was also killed in 2020. Amid rising tensions between India and China at the Line of Actual Control, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre on Monday (June 29) banned 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok, UC Browser and Cam Scanner among others. A statement from the government said that the apps are 'engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order'. Tarun Pathak, an analyst at research firm Counterpoint, said the order would impact roughly one in three smartphone users in India. TikTok, Club Factory and UC Browser and other apps put together had more than 500 million (50 Crore) monthly active users in May, according to one of the top mobile insight firms. TikTok has more than 100 million (10 crore) monthly active users in India. Notably, when TikTok app was blocked in India for a week in 2019, ByteDance had said in a court filing that it was losing more than $5,00,000 (9Rs 3.7 Crore) a day in the nation. ByteDance is the company which has developed TikTok. According to a report, Indian users spent over 5.5 billion (550 Crore) hours on TikTok in 2019. Another report said that TikToks monthly active users increased by 90 per cent to 81 million by December 2019. In December 2019, the time spent on Tiktok in India was more than the next 11 countries combined. Some apps on the banned list are very popular in India, especially TikTok. New social media platforms like Helo and Likee, as well as video chat app Bigo Live are immensely popular among Indians who are not comfortable in English. These users will have to look for substitutes. Also, most of these platforms have Indian creators, for many of whom this is the only source of income. Many of these apps have offices and employees in India, and a few thousand jobs could be at stake. According to a report published in April by Paulson Institutes MacroPolo think tank, six of the top 10 most downloaded apps in India were from Chinese tech companies, compared with four from US companies. India has been the biggest untapped market for some of Chinas quirkiest social-media companies, which had been signing up hundreds of millions of consumers in the worlds second-most populous nation, looking to capture users who werent hooked on to US apps such as Facebook and Twitter. Research firm Sensor Tower estimates that the 59 banned apps have accumulated 4.9 billion (490 Crore) downloads from Apple Incs India App Store and Alphabet Incs Google Play since January 2014, including 750 million (75 Crore) so far this year. Of the top 25 most downloaded apps on Indias App Store and Google Play since April, eight were from Chinese publishers. TikTok is bigger in India than anywhere else outside of China, mainly due to India's massive population. The app was downloaded close to 650 million (65 Crore) times since January 2018 on the App Store and Google Play, according to Sensor Tower. Young people are often found in parks and parking lots shooting 15-second videos that mimic the song-and-dance-infused movies of Bollywood. In May, India ranked as the top country for new TikTok users, accounting for 20% of the apps nearly 112 million downloads around the world, according to Sensor Tower. NEW DELHI: France has condoled the death of 2o Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley face-off with China recently and extended full support to India. French Defence Minister Florence Parly had written to her Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, condoling the death of twenty Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley face-off. Recalling that India is France's strategic partner in the region, Parly reiterated her country's deep solidarity. Expressing deep sorrow, the French Defence Minister wrote, "This was a hard blow against the soldiers, their families, and the nation. In these difficult circumstances, I wish to express my steadfast and friendly support, along with that of the French armed forces. I request you to kindly convey my heartfelt condolences to the entire Indian armed forces as well as to the grieving families." The French Armed Forces Minister also expressed her readiness to meet Rajnath Singh in India, at his invitation, to follow up on their ongoing discussions. The face-off took place on late evening and night of June 15 in Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during de-escalation in eastern Ladakh. Several nations have mourned the killing of 20 Indian Army soldiers by Chinese troops in Galwan valley but refrained from condemning the Chinese action. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a tweet said we extend our deepest condolences to the people of India for the lives lost as a result of the recent confrontation with China. We will remember the soldiers families, loved ones, and communities as they grieve. The US State Department earlier said that it was closely monitoring the situation and supported a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Tensions built up along the LAC following violent clashes between hundreds of Indian and Chinese troops in the Sikkim and Ladakh sectors in May. Senior Army officers of the two sides have held several meetings along the disputed border but have been unable to break the impasse. New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (June 30) held a high-level meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country. AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, DG ICMR Balaram Bhargava, Dr VK Paul, and Union Home Secretary also attended this meeting. The Home Minister reviewed the rising number of corona cases in Delhi and discussed the situation in Delhi's containment zones. Amit Shah also discussed with the team of doctors about steps being taken for the door to door testing in the containment areas. The Home Minister also chaired a GoM (Group of Ministers) at North Block, in which FM Nirmala Sitaraman, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, and Commerce Minister Piyush goyal were present. According to sources, the GoM talked about the plan to implement the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana till November. The yojana was ending today. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi announced that his government will extend till the end of November, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, under which foodgrains are being provided to the poor and needy. "The scheme will provide 80 crore people with free grains, will now be applicable in July, August, September, October, and November too. The government, during these five months, will give each family member 5-kilogram wheat or 5-kilogram rice free of cost, apart from this each family will get free one kg of chana (chickpeas) too every month," the PM said. After PM Modi's announcement, the Home Minister said the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana by five months reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s commitment to the welfare of the poor. Amit Shah tweeted, "Extension of Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana reflects the prime minister`s sensitivity to crores of poor people and his commitment to their welfare. Nobody slept hungry in a large country like India during the corona period, thanks to Modi Ji`s foresight and successful implementation of the scheme." "For facilitating free ration to the poor by extending the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till November, I congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the same time, I also thank the hardworking farmers and honest taxpayers of the country, whose hard work and dedication is benefitting the country`s poor people today," he further added. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also lauded PM Modi's commitment to the welfare of the poor. He tweeted, "The Prime Minister has given a big relief to the poor by announcing to extend the system of free ration to the poor to November end. This shows his sense of devotion to the welfare of the poor. I welcome this historic announcement." "India is fighting the coronavirus pandemic with full force under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this crisis, the Prime Minister has expressed special concern that no poor family should sleep hungry. Nearly 800 million poor people have benefited through Garib Kalyan Yojana," Singh further added. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi announced that his government will extend till the end of November, the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, under which foodgrains are being provided to the poor and needy. "The scheme will provide 80 crore people with free grains, will now be applicable in July, August, September, October and November too. The government, during these five months, will give each family member 5-kilogram wheat or 5-kilogram rice free of cost, apart from this each family will get free one kg of chana (chickpeas) too every month," the PM said. In an unprecedented move, India on Monday (June 29) banned 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok, UC Browser and Cam Scanner among others. A statement from the government said that the apps are 'engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order'. While it is believed that the Centre decided to ban these apps due to the ongoing tensions between India and China at the Line of Actual Control, experts maintained that even if the relationship with China does not deteriorate, these apps should not have been allowed to operate in India. According to an estimate, these Chinese apps earn around 30-40% of their income from India. Popular Chinese app Tik Tok wanted to earn as much as Rs 100 crore from India till September. But the Centre's decision to ban Tik Tok and other 58 Chinese apps would be big blow to Beijing's plan to earn crores of rupees from India. These apps were making the mind of Indian an ideological colony of China. That's why India has made an unprecedented 'digital airstrike' on China's soft power. Just like in 2019, India responded strongly to Pakistan by air strike on Balakot and surgical strike in PoK in 2016. The true tribute to 20 Indian soldiers who were martyred in Galwan Valley on June 15 is that we now start saying Hindi Chinese bye bye in every sphere of life. China wants to expand its business across the world through the Belt and Road Initiative. The countries involved in this project are upset today as China is pressurizing them to pay back their debt. China also wanted to make India a part of this new silk route, but India flatly refused to be a part of this project and now India has also conducted an air strike on China's digital silk route. China was intruding not only on Indian border but also on your life and your mind and heart with the help of internet. You were not only using mobile applications manufactured in China, but were also inadvertently handing over all your personal information to the Chinese companies and the government. For example, most of China's mobile phone apps ask 45 percent more permissions from consumers than other apps. These include apps such as Tiktok, UC Browser, Helo and Shareit. In many cases, these apps also ask for permission to use your smartphone's camera and microphone. With the help of these applications, your personal conversations can be heard and photos and videos around you can also be recorded and all this is possible without your permission. According to Chinese law, all companies have to share data with the Chinese government. That means your private data can also be handed over to the Chinese government by the companies controlling these mobile apps. It has been often said that 'data will become oil' in the future and any country with maximum data will become the strongest nation. This digital expansionary policy of China is not a threat to countries like India only from the security point of view, rather it was also harming local traders and entrepreneurs. The intrusion of Chinese apps into mobile app market had increased a lot in the last few years. In the case of mobile app downloads, there were only 18 Chinese apps in the top 100 apps in 2017, but in 2018 the number of Chinese apps in the top 100 list increased to 44. Among the most popular Chinese apps in India is TikTok, which has more than 200 million active users in India. This app has been developed by a Chinese company named ByteDance. The number of Indians playing PUBG-like games on mobile phones is more than 50 million. PUBG is also controlled by a Chinese company named Tencent. However, there is no information to ban it yet. China's UC Browser has become India's No. 2 internet browser after Google Chrome with 22 percent market share. UC Browser belongs to the Chinese company Alibaba. This too has now been banned. Similarly, Helo is a social networking app with more than 4 million users in India. This is also an app operated by the ByteDance company. This app has also been banned in India. Mnay Indians may have also used Shareit, which is a file sharing app, in their smartphone, Apart from this, you must also be using an app named Vigo video. This too has now been banned. Another Chinese app named CamScanner is also very popular in India. The app is used to scan documents and pictures and it has about 100 million users. It has also been banned. According to an estimate, China accounts for about 45 percent of the total Android applications downloaded in India. Many countries have already banned these Chinese apps due to privacy and security issues. In March 2018, Australia had banned the use of WeChat by its troops. In January 2018, the US Council on Foreign Relations claimed that China's Communist government runs propaganda through Chinese apps like Baidu. In December 2017, India government had also declared 42 mobile phone apps of China including Shareit as dangerous due to security and privacy issues. The government had also warned the military forces to avoid using these apps In August 2017, China had admitted that apps like Weibo, WeChat and Baidu violate cyber security regulations. According to reports, China also conducts illegal acts of spying through Made In China mobile phones. China's mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi is accused of sending its users' data secretly to China. India and Bhutan signed concession agreement on the 600 MW Kholongchhu hydroelectric project (KHEL) on Monday (June 29). The hydroelectric project will be the first-ever joint venture project to be implemented in Bhutan. The joint venture partners of the project are India's Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) and Bhutan's Druk Green Power Corporation Limited (DGPC). Speaking at the signing ceremony via video conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said,"commencement of the construction activities of the Project will create economic and employment opportunities in Bhutan in this critical time." KHEL will be the first joint venture project to be implemented under an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) signed in 2014. "Cooperation in the development of the hydropower sector in Bhutan is the centerpiece of the mutually beneficial economic cooperation between Bhutan and India. Hydropower projects are of paramount importance for both our countries as they will serve to further integrate our economies, bring further prosperity and enhance energy security for both the countries" Bhutan's Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji said. On debt financing, Dorji said the "JV partner from the Indian side would need to take the lead" and sought support and "intervention of the Government of India to ensure that the project secures access to the most viable financing at the earliest." Kholongchu is expected to generate about 2568.88 million units annually. Calling Kholongchhu "continuation of our bilateral cooperation" Indian envoy to Bhutan Ruchira Kamboj highlighted previous such cooperation on hydro projects like Chukha, Kurichhu, Tala and Mangdechhu all of which "stand as proud examples...epitomising the core of this friendship: partnership for a greater good." "With this 7th hydro project (Puna-I and Puna-II being works in progress) we further the noble visions of both His Majesty and Prime Minister Modi as we develop even greater trust between our two countries," he added. India recently completed 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydro Electric Power Project and New Delhi and Thimpu are in process of expediting the completion of other ongoing projects including the 1200MW Punatsangchhu-1 and 1020MW Punatsangchhu-2. During PM Modi's visit to Bhutan in August 2019, he along with Bhutan's PM inaugurated the 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (June 30) credited farmers and taxpayers for handling the COVID-19 crisis and stated that it was because of their hard work and sincerity that the government was able to help and provide food to the poor and migrants. "The credit for the way India is being able to handle this crisis goes to two categories of people. First, the farmers and the second, the taxpayers The reason you all have paid your taxes is the reason that the poor and migrants are getting food on their plate today. You are the reason India is not going hungry. On behalf of the entire nation, I bow before the farmers and honest taxpayers for their service to the nation," the Prime Minister said during his address to the nation. During his today's address, the Prime Minister also highlighted that people of the country began to showing carelessness and negligence ever since the government announced the relaxation in the first phase, after over two-month of coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown. In a major announcement, the PM extended the Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan Yojana till November 2020. Under this scheme, over 80 crore people will get five kg of wheat or five kg of rice per month. He said that every family will also get one kg chana every month until November 2020. The entire cost of this initiative will cost over Rs 90,000 crore. On June 29 evening, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued new guidelines for Unlock 2 which will come into force from July 1. The new norms have extended the process of phased re-opening of activities including the calibrated expansion of domestic flights and passenger trains. In a bid to fight the locust attack menace, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has tasked the number three Base Repair Depot located at Chandigarh to undertake the challenging task of indigenously designing and developing an Airborne Locust Control System (ALCS) for a Mi-17 helicopter. Earlier, anticipating a locust attack, the Ministry of Agriculture had signed a contract with a UK-based firm to modify two Mi-17 Helicopters for spraying atomized pesticide to arrest locust breeding. However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, M/s Micron, would be able to manufacture and supply the modification kit to the IAF only from September 2020 onward for system integration and testing. In view of the envisaged delay in provisioning of modification kits, the Chandigarh base depot was entrusted with the task. Using all indigenous components, the atomized airborne spraying of pesticide has been successfully achieved in air through a configuration of nozzles mounted both sides on external trusses of a Mi-17 helicopter. The nozzles used for the purpose are a mix of commercially available nozzles as well as the nozzles developed by CSIO, Chandigarh. The pesticide Malathion in appropriate concentration would be filled in the internal Auxiliary tank of 800 litres capacity fitted inside the helicopter and pumped into the nozzles by using an electrical pump as well as compressed air, achieving nearly 40 minutes of spaying duration in the infected zone covering an area of approximately 750 hectares in each mission. A team of Test Pilots and Test Engineers of Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, Bangalore have successfully carried out ground and airborne trials of ALCS on a modified Mi-17 helicopter. The system is being offered for use with Malathion for employment in the locust control operation. Being an indigenously developed system, the ALCS would offer inherent advantages of in-house maintenance, future upgradeability, saving of foreign exchange and help in making the country Self Reliant in aviation-related technology. Kerala Board SSLC Result 2020 is scheduled to be released at 2 pm on Tuesday (June 30). The result will be announced on the Kerala Pareeksha Bhavan official website, keralapareekshabhavan.in and some other websites including sslcexam.kerala.gov.in, results.kite.kerala.gov.in, results.kerala.nic.in and prd.kerala.gov.in. Along with the SSLC result, the result of Art High School Leaving Certificate Examination (AHSLC), THSLC (hearing impaired) will also be declared on Tuesday. In case of crashing of the Kerala SSLC result websites, students can also check Class 10th class marks via SMS by sending a text message: KERALA10 to 56263. Besides websites and SMS, the Kerala Board SSLC Result 2020 will also be available via mobile application Saphalam 2020 and PRD Live. Saphalam 2020 mobile app, which is available for download on Google Play Store, will give a detailed analysis of results at school, an educational district, and revenue district levels, info-graphics, subject-based analysis and study reports. How to check Kerala SSLC result via Saphalam app Step 1: Visit play store in your android phone Step 2: Type Saphalam, download the app Step 3: Open the app, enter your mobile number Step 4: Enter roll code/roll number and code given Step 5: Result will be available Kerala SSLC exams were scheduled to end in March but some papers were cancelled due to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the deadly virus in the country. The postponed papers were later held from May 26 to May 30 and were taken by over 13 lakh students in class 10, 11, and 12. Over 4.20 lakh students had registered for class 10 examinations in Kerala in 2020. Kerala SSLC board result will be released on Tuesday (June 30) at 2 pm its official website keralaresults.nic.in. It will also be released on other websites including keralapareekshabhavan.in, sslcexam.kerala.gov.in, results.kite.kerala.gov.in, results.kerala.nic.in and prd.kerala.gov.in. Students can check their result via SMS by sending a text message: KERALA10 to 56263. Over 4.20 lakh students had registered for class 10 examinations in Kerala in 2020. It is to be noted that Kerala SSLC exams were scheduled to end in March but some papers were canceled due to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to curb the spread of the deadly virus in the country. At least seven people lost their lives in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, while 11 people died in Bihar on Tuesday (June 30) due to lighting and thunderstorms. In the Saurashtra region, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Gir Somnath, Junagadh, and Bhavnagar districts were the most affected places, whereas, in Bihar, heavy rains lashed most parts of Saran, Patna, Nawada, Lakhisarai and Jamui. "A 35-year-old woman and her 12-year-old son were struck by lightning at their farm in Rakka village at Lalpur in Jamnagar district, while two women were killed at Viramdad village in Devbhoomi Dwarka district," PTI quoted an official. According to the meteorological department, Kalavad in Jamnagar received the maximum rainfall of 73 mm in just two hours on Tuesday afternoon, while Veraval in Gir Somnath district and Dhrol in Jamnagar district received 48 mm rainfall till 4 pm. The number of people who died in Bihar - 5 people in Saran, 2 each in Patna, Nawada, 1 each in Lakhisarai and Jamui. Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar paid the condolences and asked the people to follow the guidelines that have been issued by the State Disaster Management Authority. CM Nitish also announced Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the 11 people who lost their lives. In the past few days, as many as 103 people have so far died in Bihar while several others have been injured and widespread damage has occurred to properties across the state due to lightning strikes. The State Meteorological department has predicted that heavy rain would continue till July 2. Earlier on June 28, CM Nitish held a meeting to review the alarming increasing level of the rivers Mahananda, Kosi, Bagmati and Gandak. With these four rivers flowing above the danger level, the threat of flood looms over parts of north Bihar. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has been camping in Delhi for two days with key BJP leaders for consensus on cabinet expansion, returned to Bhopal on Tuesday morning. Chouhan had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Monday to discuss cabinet expansion in the state, but that seems to have delayed as no consensus could emerge. Chouhan and state government officials along with Madhya Pradesh BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma and State General Secretary Suhas Bhagat had gone to Delhi on Sunday and there was a possibility that a second extension of the cabinet could take place on Tuesday or Wednesday. Apart from Prime Minister, Chouhan met party`s national president J.P. Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, newly elected Rajya Sabha member Jyotiraditya Scindia in Delhi to reach a consensus on cabinet expansion. Sources have said, no consensus could be arrived at on the cabinet berths in meetings in Delhi as there is a tussle between Scindia camp and the BJP loyalists. Chief Minister Chouhan has several meetings scheduled on Tuesday. He will discuss the Covid situation in the state after a meeting with Finance Department officials. New Delhi: Amid coronavirus crisis across the world, National Doctor's Day, which is celebrated on July 1 each year, holds a special significance. The day offers us an opportunity to express our gratitude towards doctors for their dedicated round the clock service in the current era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) celebrates the Doctor's Day with a particular theme in the country. For the IMA, Doctor's Day 2020 holds special importance, as the Day is dedicated to innumerable doctors who are extending their services in primary and secondary care setups as well as at the dedicated COVID care hospitals. Last year, the theme for National Doctor's Day was 'Zero tolerance to violence against doctors and clinical establishments'. According to reports, this year's Doctors Day theme is "Lessen the mortality of COVID 19". It includes awareness about asymptomatic hypoxia and early aggressive therapy. The day is expected to hold state-level webinars and virtual meetings via video conferencing to acknowledge the efforts of doctors and medical practitioners amid coronavirus induced lockdown across the country. In India, this day is celebrated to mark the birth as well as the death anniversary of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, who was one of the most renowned physicians in India. Dr BC Roy was also the second Chief Minister of West Bengal. In his memory, the TMC-led West Bengal government has announced a state holiday on July 1. The Mamata government has also urged the Centre to announce it a national holiday. The first National Doctor's day was celebrated in July 1991. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till November which would provide free rations to the poor. In a major announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended the Pradhanmantri Garib Kalyan Yojana till November 2020. Under this scheme, over 80 crore people will get five kg of wheat or five kg of rice per month. In an address to the nation, PM Modi said that every family will also get one kg chana every month until November 2020. The entire cost of this initiative will cost over Rs 90,000 crore. In his tweets, Shah expressed his gratitude towards the hardworking farmers and honest taxpayers of the country, whose hard work and dedication is helping the needy today in such testing times. He added, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana expanded by the Prime Minister, reflects his sensitivity and commitment towards the welfare of the poor. Shri Amit Shah thanked Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi for the successful implementation of the scheme, which is ensuring that no one sleeps hungry in the country. He asserted that under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, the Centre announced a package of Rs. 1.75 lakh crore. "In the last 3 months, Rs 31,000 crore were deposited in bank accounts of 20 crore poor families. Also, Rs 18,000 crore were deposited in bank accounts of more than 9 crore farmers." PM Modi also thanked the farmers and honest taxpayers saying "they are behind this mega scheme to provide foodgrain free to every poor in the country. I bow before the farmers and honest taxpayers". He highlighted that people of the country began showing carelessness and negligence ever since the government announced the relaxation in the first phase, after over two-month of coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown. The Prime Minister urged the countrymen to keep following social distancing while maintaining extra caution during Monsoon season, during which symptoms of cold, cough and fever see a rise. Continuing in the same vein, PM Narendra Modi has said that in recent there has been negligence as far as following health and hygiene protocols is concerned. The level of alertness seen during the earlier phases of the lockdown has been missing in recent days, PM Modi said. "Timely lockdown, other decisions saved many lives, but since Unlock one has begun, people have shown negligence," PM Modi said. "The state governments, local administration and citizens need to show similar caution as the country is set to enter into Unlock 2 zone. We need to have a special focus on containment zones. If you see someone flouting norms, tell them to not do so," PM Modi said. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Tuesday (June 30, 2020) and while exhorting the citizens to follow the Unlock 2 rules and regulations, he cited an example of a Prime Minister who was fined Rs 13,000 for not wearing a face mask in a public place. It turns out to be that PM Modi was referring to Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, who reportedly violated the rule by entering a church without a face mask. According to media reports, Bulgarian PM Borissov went to the Rila monastery in the south-western part of Bulgaria for a project to renovate the road leading to this famous religious site. "He spoke closely with the monastery's superior before entering the church without a mask," reported Euronews. While referring to Borissov, PM Modi said, "In India too, the local administration should work with the same enthusiasm." PM said that this is a drive to protect the lives of 130 crore countrymen and "be it a village pradhan or the Prime Minister, no one is above the law in India". PM Modi also noted that the shift of the fight against coronavirus to Unlock 2 coincides with the weather which results in several ailments. He asked everyone to take care of their health. PM Modi stated that due to the timely decisions like lockdown, it has been possible to save the lives of lakhs of people and the death rate in the country is amongst the lowest in the world. However, irresponsible and negligent behavior has been on the rise during Unlock 1, he said, adding that earlier people were more careful about usage of mask, washing hands for more than 20 seconds several times during the day and maintaining do gas doori. PM Modi in his sixth address to the nation since the COVID-19 outbreak in India, also announced the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till the end of November 2020. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for further five months till November-end. During his sixth address to the nation, PM Modi said that the NDA government will keep providing free foodgrains to the poor section of the society due to the increased need during the festivals. He added said that over 80 crore people will get free food grain till Diwali and Chhath pooja. The PM further said that the government will incur the expenditure of Rs 90,000 crore to provide free foodgrains to the poor. "We have more work during and after the rainy season, mainly in the agriculture sector. There is a slight slowness in other sectors. gradually, the atmosphere of festivals starts to build from July. This time of festivals also increases the needs, the expenses also. Keeping all these things in mind, it has been decided that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana should now be extended till Diwali and Chhath Puja, that is, by the end of November," PM Modi said. PM Modi asserted that under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, the Centre had announced a package of Rs. 1.75 lakh crore. "In the last 3 months, Rs 31,000 crore were deposited in bank accounts of 20 crore poor families. Also, Rs 18,000 crore were deposited in bank accounts of more than 9 crore farmers." What Is PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana In the wake of the ongoing economic and social crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had rolled out a special economic relief package worth Rs 20 lakh crore, which included the steps previously taken by the Reserve Bank of India and governments earlier announcement of a relief package worth Rs 1.75 lakh crore. The package announced by the government aimed at helping the industry, middle class, micro, small and medium enterprises and the large industries. PM Modi had said that the package focusses on land, labour, liquidity and law, while helping small business, labourers, and farmers. The scheme has benefited as many as 80 crore people to get free rations during the crucial lockdown months. This scheme entails the distribution of 5 kg of wheat or rice to each family every month. Simultaneously, the government has also launched Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan to provide employment to labourers in rural areas. Government is spending Rs. 50,000 crore on the scheme, according to an announcement by PM Modi. The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) was launched by the Government of India in 2016. Under this scheme, the income taxpayers are given an opportunity to forgo prosecution by declaring their illegal money and paying a 50% penalty on their unaccounted incomes. PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN PACKAGE I. Insurance scheme for health workers fighting COVID-19 in Government Hospitals and Health Care Centres Safai karamcharis, ward-boys, nurses, ASHA workers, paramedics, technicians, doctors and specialists and other health workers would be covered by a Special insurance Scheme. Any health professional, who while treating Covid-19 patients, meet with some accident, then he/she would be compensated with an amount of Rs 50 lakh under the scheme. All government health centres, wellness centres and hospitals of Centre as well as States would be covered under this scheme approximately 22 lakh health workers would be provided insurance cover to fight this pandemic. II. PM Garib Kalyan Ann () Yojana Government of India would not allow anybody, especially any poor family, to suffer on account of non-availability of foodgrains due to disruption in the next three months. 80 crore individuals, i.e, roughly two-thirds of Indias population would be covered under this scheme. Each one of them would be provided double of their current entitlement over next three months. This additionality would be free of cost. Pulses To ensure adequate availability of protein to all the above mentioned individuals, 1 kg per family, would be provided pulses according to regional preferences for next three months. These pulses would be provided free of cost by the Government of India. III. Under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, Benefit to farmers: The first instalment of Rs 2,000 due in 2020-21 will be front-loaded and paid in April 2020 itself under the PM KISAN Yojana. It would cover 8.7 crore farmers IV. Cash transfers Under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana: Help to Poor: A total of 20.40 crores PMJDY women account-holders would be given an ex-gratia of Rs 500 per month for next three months. Gas cylinders: Under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, gas cylinders, free of cost, would be provided to 8 crore poor families for the next three months. Help to low wage earners in organised sectors: Wage-earners below Rs 15,000 per month in businesses having less than 100 workers are at risk of losing their employment. Under this package, the government proposes to pay 24 percent of their monthly wages into their PF accounts for next three months. This would prevent disruption in their employment. Support for senior citizens (above 60 years), widows and Divyang: There are around 3 crore aged widows and people in Divyang category who are vulnerable due to economic disruption caused by COVID-19. Government will give them Rs 1,000 to tide over difficulties during next three months. MNREGA Under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, MNREGA wages would be increased by Rs 20 with effect from 1 April, 2020. Wage increase under MNREGA will provide an additional Rs 2,000 benefit annually to a worker. This will benefit approximately 13.62 crore families. V. Self-Help groups: Women organised through 63 lakhs Self Help Groups (SHGs) support 6.85 crore households. Limit of collateral free lending would be increased from Rs 10 to Rs 20 lakhs. VI. Other components of PM Garib Kalyan package Organised sector: Employees Provident Fund Regulations will be amended to include Pandemic as the reason to allow non-refundable advance of 75 percent of the amount or three months of the wages, whichever is lower, from their accounts. Families of four crore workers registered under EPF can take benefit of this window. Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Fund: Welfare Fund for Building and Other Constructions Workers has been created under a Central Government Act. There are around 3.5 Crore registered workers in the Fund. State Governments will be given directions to utilise this fund to provide assistance and support to these workers to protect them against economic disruptions. District Mineral Fund The State Government will be asked to utilise the funds available under District Mineral Fund (DMF) for supplementing and augmenting facilities of medical testing, screening and other requirements in connection with preventing the spread of CVID-19 pandemic as well as treating the patients affected with this pandemic. New Delhi: Amid calls for boycotting Chinese products after India-China face-off in eastern Ladakh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (June 30) hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and claimed that imports from China increased under the NDA regime. "Facts don't lie. BJP says: Make in India. BJP does: Buy from China," Gandhi tweeted along with a graphic of the percentage of imports from China during the UPA rule and the NDA government. The graphic claims that imports from China were at 12-13 per cent when the Congress-led UPA government vacated office in 2014 but now stood at 17-18 per cent in 2020. The Congress leader has been vehemently targeting the Centre on the India-China border situation after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent face-off with Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan valley earlier this month. Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered somewhere around 45-50 casualties, including dead and seriously injured, in the face-off. In the meantime, the third round of military-level talks between India and China was scheduled to take place in the Chushul sector on the Indian side of LAC on Tuesday morning at around 10:30 am. The earlier two rounds of talks were held in the Moldo sector on the Chinese side. The talks are being held in an attempt to de-escalate tension in eastern Ladakh and finalise modalities for disengagement of troops from the sensitive region even as China has significantly ramped up its military presence in the area and several other fiction points in eastern Ladakh. In his address to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Monday Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri called on the international body to encourage negotiations to reach an agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The UNSC meeting was held upon Egypts request after Ethiopia said it would go ahead with filling the dams reservoir in July with or without the approval of Sudan and Egypt. It is Egypts belief that any agreement on the GERD must be a legally binding instrument under international law that includes clear definitions that establish the threshold of significant harm that must be prevented, and a binding dispute resolution mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of the agreement, he told the UNSC during his video-conference speech. He described the dam as a threat of potentially existential proportions that could encroach on the single source of livelihood of over 100 million Egyptians. UNSC members agreed during the meeting that tripartite talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia should continue and warned against any party adopting unilateral actions. Sudans permanent representative to the United Nations, Omer Siddig, said that close consultation and coordination is required in discussing the impacts of the dam and that reaching an agreement before beginning the filling of the reservoir is essential. He added that any decision on the timing and the rules of the filling must not be taken unilaterally. Instead of discussing the problems facing the negotiations Taye Atske-Selassie, Ethiopias permanent representative to the UN, chose to argue that the UNSC was the wrong place to discuss the dam. Ethiopia does not believe the issue being discussed today has a legitimate place in the Security Council This council should not be a forum for exerting diplomatic pressure, he told the session. In a move widely seen as a last-minute attempt to bridge differences Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed to what Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission, described as an AU-led process to resolve outstanding issues. This is a positive step, says Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamed Hegazi. At this point we need leadership, negotiations in good faith and a legally-binding agreement, he said. Professor of political science Tarek Fahmi agrees the involvement of the AU represents a positive step and that any resolution of the issue requires a clear and legally binding agreement. Drawing rules for the initial filling and the operating process is not enough. We are not in need of general guidelines, but an agreement that the parties have to legally abide by, he told Al-Ahram Weekly. William Davison, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, expressed his hope that as time becomes more pressing the parties may be more willing to compromise. Perhaps as the scheduled start of filling moves closer, and the pressure increases, the parties will start to make concessions in key areas, especially if AU facilitation manages to foster a better atmosphere. But ultimately, there are still significant disagreements on legal issues and drought management so there is a need for the parties to seek compromises in a manner that they have not been willing to do so far, he told the Weekly. Last weekend the presidents office announced that Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa agreed that Ethiopia will delay the filling of the dam and refrain from taking unilateral measures before an agreement is reached. Sudans Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdouk also issued a statement saying the three countries had agreed to postpone the filling of the reservoir until an agreement is signed. The announcements came after a video summit between the leaders of the three countries on Friday. They agreed to form a committee of legal and technical experts to draft the deal. Cyril Ramaphosa, South African president and current chairman of the AU, headed the meeting. A day after the summit Ethiopia issued a statement that differed from those issued by Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia is scheduled to begin filling the GERD within the next two weeks, during which time construction work will continue. It is in this period that the three countries have agreed to reach a final agreement on a few pending matters, a press release by the Ethiopian prime ministers office said. Davison noted that Ethiopias stand with regards the filling remains firm. Despite the confusion, Ethiopia seems to be sticking to its plan to start filling in the middle of July regardless of whether there is a deal or not, he said. Fahmi argues that Ethiopia is in effect treading water, and if the committee fails to reach an agreement it will take a unilateral decision to fill the dam. Although Mondays UNSC session is in essence procedural, Fahmi believes it is a clear sign the dam issue has become an international one rather than the concern of the three countries directly involved. Hegazi says Mondays session offered an opportunity to correct falsehoods that Ethiopia is trying to spread by claiming that all the previous agreements on the dam date from the colonial era. Shoukri told the UNSC session that every treaty relating to the Nile that was concluded by Ethiopia was signed by its government, free of any compulsion or coercion, and as an independent and sovereign state. These include a treaty freely signed by the emperor of Abyssinia in 1902 prohibiting the construction of any works across the Blue Nile that affect the natural flow of the river, and a General Framework for Cooperation, freely signed by Ethiopias late prime minister Meles Zenawi and Egypts president in 1993, in addition to the 2015 Agreement on Declaration of Principles. Needless to say, all of these treaties remain binding and in force. Besides, notes Hegazi, Ethiopia referred to colonial agreements in demarcating its border with Eritrea. Colonial treaties (1900, 1902 and 1908) were the basis for the Algiers agreement signed in Algeria in 2000 between Ethiopia and Eritrea. That was the agreement that put an end to the border war between the two countries. Last month, Egypt sent a memo to the UNSC asking it to intervene to restart talks on the dam and warned that filling the dam without a deal threatened international peace and security. Sudan sent its own letter to the international body last week stating that the dam could cause substantial risks to Khartoum and endanger the lives of millions of people living downstream. The letter also warned that filling the dam without reaching a tripartite agreement would compromise the safety of the Sudanese Roseires Dam. In November last year, the US and the World Bank joined forces in an attempt to broker a deal. After four months of talks the three countries reached an agreement, but Ethiopia failed to turn up to the signing ceremony in February. Egypt, which relies on the Nile for more than 90 per cent of its water supplies, fears the impact of the dam if the filling starts without an agreement guaranteeing a minimum annual flow of water. Sudan also opposes initial filling without an agreement. The sticking points in the talks include finding a legally-binding mechanism for conflict resolution, provisions that reflect the legally binding nature of the agreement, technical issues related to mitigation measures during periods of drought and prolonged drought, the long-term operating process and details of the technical committee that will run the dam. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Police on Tuesday (June 30) detained at least four boys for allegedly raping a 20-year-old speech-impaired woman in the Chhatarpur district. According to the police, the woman had gone to a field to relieve herself on June 28 evening when the accused attacked her. According to a report, one of the four accused is only 11 years old while two others are 13-year-old and the fourth one is 14-year-old. The victim from a village under Gaurihar police station stepped out of her house and went to an agriculture field in the evening, when four accused, who belong to the same village, gangraped her. The accused also reportedly kept her captive for a few hours before fleeing the spot, said the police. The woman, when did not return her home, her family members started looking for her at night when they found her at the field in an injured condition. The police registered a complaint on the matter and all four accused were arrested the next day, on June 29. NEW DELHI: China on Tuesday said that it is strongly concerned and verifying the situation after India imposed a ban on 59 mobile applications, most of which are linked to China. Speaking on the issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, China is strongly concerned, and we are verifying the situation. Zhao Lijian further said that India has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of Chinese businesses. We want to stress that the Chinese Government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international and local laws-regulations. Indian Government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese ones, Zhao Lijian said during a press briefing. The reaction from the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson came after the Indian government announced a ban on 59 Chinese mobile apps citing 'security concerns.' India had on Monday banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, saying that they were "engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order". The list of apps that have been banned also includes Helo, Likee, Cam Scanner, SHAREit, WeChat, Vigo Video, Mi Video Call - Xiaomi, Clash of Kings as well as e-commerce platforms Club Factory and Shein. The decision came close on the heels of ongoing border tension between India and China that escalated on June 15 when 20 Indian Army personnel were martyred after violent clashes with Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control in Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh. In a statement, the Information Technology Ministry said it has received many complaints from various sources, including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India". "The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," the statement said, asserting that the move will "safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users". The ministry said that it decided to disallow the usage of the apps after taking note of growing public concerns on aspects relating to data security and privacy. The governments move has been highly welcomed by the industry. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that the ban will be a big support to its Boycott Chinese Goods campaign. New Delhi: In a terror funding case of 2006, Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday (June 30) attached assets worth Rs 7.32 lakh of Aijaz Hussain Khawaja, a resident of Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The special cell of Delhi police had arrested Aijaz Hussain Khawaja with one bag containing 2.05 KG RDX and Rs 49 lakh in cash during 2006. Khawaja was convicted with a sentence of imprisonment for a period of 7 years under section 5(b) of Explosive Substances Act, 1908 along with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The seized amount was also confiscated by the trial Court. Investigation under PMLA revealed that the accused was operating as a Hawala operator for financing various terror-related illegal activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of such illegal hawala operation, he had generated proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 8.50 lakh during that period. As a Hawala operator, Khawaja was in touch with Muktiar Ahmed Bhatt alias Ahmed- a Pakistan-based LeT operative in league with Pakistan ISI, to undertake Hawala transactions/dealings for various separatists and militant activities. After the identification of these assets in the form of house and bank balances, a provisional attachment order has been issued under the PMLA. Chennai: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday directed Thoothukudi Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Anil Kumar and the Crime Branch of Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) to take up the investigation in the Thoothukudi custodial deaths case. A division bench of justices, based on the preliminary postmortem report which notes evidence of wounds and judicial inquirer's findings, also observed that there are sufficient grounds for the registration of a case against police officials in the matter. During the hearing, the court said that a large number of wounds were found on the bodies of Jayaraj and his son Fennix. The court also expressed doubt during the hearing that are possibilities that evidence gets destroyed before the CBI take the probe. The court also expressed shock over the way a judicial magistrate probing the custodial deaths was abused by cops at Sathankulam police station. The remarks from the court amid reports that the accused cop allegedly didn't cooperate with magistrate who was investigating the matter. The reports stated that cops not only refused to share related documents to officials but also passed abusive remarks. The High Court had also asked Tirunelveli Inspector General if it will be possible to take up the case until it is handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Earlier, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court had held that it will not interfere with the decision of the Tamil Nadu government to transfer the case related to the alleged custodial deaths of a father and son in Thoothukudi district to the CBI. The court also sought a response within four weeks from Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police (ADSP), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and police officials on the judicial magistrate contempt issue. In another development, Superintendent of Police, Thoothukudi district Arun Balagopalan was removed from his position and kept under compulsory wait, without being assigned any other post, on Tuesday. Viluppuram SP S Jeyakumar has been posted as the new Thoothukudi SP. P Jayaraj (59) and his son J Benicks (31) were arrested from outside their mobile shops on June 19 for violation of prohibitory orders and produced before the duty doctor of a government hospital at Sathankulam in Tuticorin district for mandatory medical-examination. The next day, a magistrate remanded them to judicial custody and they were lodged at the Kovilpatti sub-jail on June 21. Bennicks was admitted at the government hospital in Kovilpatti by jail authorities on June 22 at 19.45 hours and he died at 21.00 hours while he was undergoing treatment. His father Jeyaraj was also admitted to the same facility at 22.30 hours on the same day and he died at 05.40 hours on June 23, the order said. The father-son duo was accused of defying the lockdown curfew by keeping their mobile phone accessories shop in the Sathankulam main bazaar area open during the curfew timing. A case was also filed against the two under relevant charges for the same. Chennai: Despite the widespread outrage over the death of P Jayaraj and J Fennix in police custody, the police officials at the Sathankulam station refused to cooperate with the magistrate who had gone there for investigation. A three-page inquiry report submitted to the Madras High Court has revealed that the cops were lax in their response and even verbally abused the Magistrate while he was at the police station for the investigation into the case. During his visit to the Sathankulam police station on June 28, Kovilpatti Magistrate MS Bharathidasan, that his presence was not acknowledged or welcome from the very time he entered the station with his staff. The station visit, along with other staff was meant to record the statements of police officers and gather crucial evidence. "ADSP D Kumar and DSP Prathapan, who were at the police station, failed to salute or acknowledge my presence. D Kumar, exhibited a muscle-flexing kind of body language and when asked for case-related documents, he disrespectfully addressed the other cops and asked them to bring it read the report. The report added that there was a female cop in the station who is an eyewitness in this case. But, she divulged the information only after initially expressing serious apprehension and reluctance. The female cop has reveled that the father-son duo was beaten throughout the night and added that the batons and tables in the station had blood stains on them. She also urged the magistrate to confiscate these objects before the evidence is destroyed. The Magistrates report states that the lady cop feared about the repercussions and backlash she would have to face from her colleagues for testifying in this case. She had also requested the Magistrate to not reveal her identity or that she had given statements about the June 19 incident. On the order of the magistrate, the other cops present there were taken outside the station, in order to prevent them from listening to her statements. However, even outside the station, the cops created a ruckus and attempted to disrupt the process of the Magistrate taking statements from other officials present inside the station. After the lady cop's statement, when the Magistrate demanded the cops to produce the batons before him, the policemen didnt cooperate. They initially behaved as though they didnt hear the orders and only handed them over after the Magistrate insisted, the report further stated. One policeman named Maharajan spoke to the Magistrate in an insulting manner and told him, "You cant do anything." Another constable at the police station jumped over a wall and escaped when asked to handover his sticks as evidence. "A policeman named Maharajan said, "You can't do anything to us" in an insulting manner. He also said that his lathi was in his hometown and later said that it was in the police quarters. He walked around in all directions without any regard to the investigation and said he didnt have a lathi at all," the report stated. The report also claimed that another cop jumped the over the compound wall and escaped when asked to produce his lathi. Meanwhile, it was found out that security CCTV footage has been erased at the Sathankulam police station where the custodial deaths incident took place. "Despite the hard disk having 1TB storage, the settings were done in a such a manner that the daily files would get auto-deleted. There was no data of any recording since June 19 and it was all erased," said the Magistrate. He also confiscated the system's hard disk as it would contain important evidence. The Magistrate in his report stated that policemen in the station were filming videos and threatening the court staff when he was living the station after completing his investigation. Later, he submitted details of the inquiry via telephone to the District Magistrate. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Congress Minority cell chief Shahnawaz Alam was arrested by police in the later hours of Monday (June 29) in connection with anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest on December 19, 2019. Following Alam's arrest, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and others arrived at Hazratganj Police Station after which the police had to resort to baton-charge to disperse party workers from the station. "Government is scared. It is attempting to send Congress workers and officer bearers to jail after naming them in false cases. If they do not release him, then we will do an agitation tomorrow," Ajay Kumar Lallu, state Congress Chief told ANI. Lucknow Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Dinesh Singh said that Alam's name had appeared in the case related to anti-CAA/NRC protest at Parivartan Chowk on 19th December 2019. Evidence were being gathered since then. The Congress leader was arrested on June 29 evening after police found sufficient evidence against him. Meanwhile, reacting to the development, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the BJP-led UP government over the arrest of party`s minority cell chairman. Gandhi said the Yogi Adityanath government in the state is using police as a 'tool of oppression'. The senior Congress leader also posted a video of the incident along with the tweet. "First, our state president was kept in jail for four weeks on fake charges. This police action is repressive and undemocratic. Congress workers are not afraid of police sticks and fake cases," she said. Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese mobile apps over national security and privacy concerns, TikTok India on Tuesday (June 30) released a statement saying it had been invited by the government to offer clarifications after it was blocked on Monday. TikTok, which is the most popular video sharing app in India, said it was in the process of complying with the government order and "continued to comply with data privacy and security requirements under Indian law". The government's decision to ban 59 Chinese mobile apps underscores rising tensions between India and China on Line of Actual Control after the violent clashes on June 15 in Ladakh. It may be recalled that 20 Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer, were martyred in the attack. TikTok India said in its statement that it had not shared any information of users in India with "any foreign government, including the Chinese government". TikTok India added "if we are requested to in the future we would not do so." The company also asserted that it placed highest importance on user privacy and integrity. "We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, story tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first time internet users," TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi said. On Monday (June 29), a statement from the government said that the apps are 'engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order'. "It has been noted recently that such concerns also pose a threat to sovereignty and security of our country. The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India," the statement read. Here's the list of Chinese apps on phones which have been banned by the government: 1. TikTok 2. ShareIt 3. Kwai 4. UC Browser 5. Baidu map 6. Shein 7. Clash of Kings 8. DU Battery saver 9. Helo 10. Likee 11. YouCam makeup 12. Mi Community 13. CM Browers 14. Virus Cleaner 15. APUS Browser 16. ROMWE 17. Club Factory 18. Newsdog 19. Beutry Plus 20. WeChat 21. UC News 22. QQ Mail 23. Weibo 24. Xender 25. QQ Music 26. QQ Newsfeed 27. Bigo Live 28. SelfieCity 29. Mail Master 30. Parallel Space 31. Mi Video Call Xiaomi 32. WeSync 33. ES File Explorer 34. Viva Video QU Video Inc 35. Meitu 36. Vigo Video 37. New Video Status 38. DU Recorder 39. Vault- Hide 40. Cache Cleaner DU App studio 41. DU Cleaner 42. DU Browser 43. Hago Play With New Friends 44. Cam Scanner 45. Clean Master Cheetah Mobile 46. Wonder Camera 47. Photo Wonder 48. QQ Player 49. We Meet 50. Sweet Selfie 51. Baidu Translate 52. Vmate 53. QQ International 54. QQ Security Center 55. QQ Launcher 56. U Video 57. V fly Status Video 58. Mobile Legends 59. DU Privacy The West Bengal government on Tuesday urged Ministry of Civil Aviation to not schedule any flight to West Bengal from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai, Indore, Ahmedabad, Surat for two weeks starting July 6, amid the rising coronavirus COVID-19 cases. In a letter to Civil Aviation Secretary PS Kharola, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said, "As you know coronavirus is spreading fast all over the country. Some of the states are experiencing a larger spread of epidemic though we strongly believe that all the state governments are equally vigilant and active towards curbing the spread." He added, "West Bengal is also witnessing a steep rise in cases. A large number of cases has been reported from people coming in the state from outside with infection. Government of West Bengal has decided to stop or curtail the movement of incoming flights and trains into the state." Sinha further said, "Accordingly, I approach you with request kindly not to schedule any flight to West Bengal from high prevalence places viz Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur. Chennai, Indore, Ahmedabad and Surat and to stop the movement of flights from these cities to Kolkata or Bagdogra for 2 weeks starting 6 July 2020." He also requested to restrict the number of flights to Kolkata, Bagdogra and Andal from other cities to a frequency of once a week for each airline starting July 6-31. MUMBAI: Mumbais famous Taj Hotel has received a bomb threat call from Pakistan following which the security in and around the iconic hotel has been increased, sources said on Tuesday. According to the Zee Media sources, a caller from Pakistan has threatened a terrorist attack on the 5-star hotel. The call was reportedly made from a Pakistan number. According to the official sources, the call was received around 12 midnight on Monday. The caller said that ''everyone saw the terrorist attack on the Karachi Stock Exchange, now the 26/11 attack in the Taj Hotel will happen once again.'' Another threat call received by was the staff of the Taj Lands End hotel located in Bandra - another property of the Taj Hotel Group - following which security was beefed up. The second threat call was also made from Pakistan. The Mumbai Police will record the statement of the Taj Lands End hotel staff who received the threat call. The Mumbai Police has launched an investigation into the matter and call details are being verified. The police have also increased security in and around the famous hotel as well as other vital installations in Mumbai. Coastal patrolling and surveillance have also been increased in view of the threat call. It may be recalled that on 26 November 2008, there was a terrorist attack in Mumbai in which Taj Hotel was also targeted by Pakistan-trained terrorists. More than 166 people were killed and more than 300 people were injured in this attack which lasted nearly 60 hours. 28 foreign nationals were also among those who died. This attack shook the entire country and India and Pakistan were on the verge of war. Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was caught alive in the Mumbai terror attack. He was thoroughly questioned by the Indian investigating agencies about the incident, which revealed Pakistan's involvement in the incident. Kasab was later hanged in Pune's Yerwada jail on the morning of 21 September 2012. Before Kasab's death, Indian investigative agencies had squeezed out every single information related to the plot of Mumbai attack planned in Pakistan. It was revealed that on 26 November 2008, 10 heavily armed Pakistani terrorists entered Mumbai by boat via sea route from Karachi. These terrorists attacked the Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus, Taj Mahal Hotel, Trident Hotel and a Jewish center. New Delhi: Bollywood actor Aamir Khan took to his social media handles to announce that a few os his staff members have tested Coronavirus positive. The 55-year-old actor informed that all those who tested positive were immediately quarantined. Aamir Khan thanked BMC officials for their prompt action and help. He shared that all of the family members have tested negative and only his mother remains to be tested now. Here's what he wrote on Twitter: The deadly novel coronavirus has 10,302,867 cases globally so far with 505,518 deaths, as per data by John Hopkins University. On the work front, Aamir will be seen in 'Laal Singh Chaddha' which is an official Hindi adaptation of Hollywood's blockbuster hit 'Forrest Gump' starring Tom Hanks. The venture is helmed by 'Secret Superstar' director Advait Chandan. It will open in theatres on Christmas 2020. It has been produced by Aamir and wife Kiran Rao. Reportedly, 'Lal Singh Chaddha' has been shot pan India covering around 100 different locations and this is for the first time that a Hindi film will be shot at so many places. The film features Kareena Kapoor Khan in the lead opposite Aamir and this brings the two superstars back on-screen after a long hiatus. They were last seen together in '3 Idiots'. New Delhi: Actor Abhishek Bachchan is all praises for his colleague Kunal Kemmu's 'Lootcase' trailer, which is set to premiere on Disney+ Hotstar, along with other six big films. Abhishek was, however, part of the actors' panel while the announcement was made, but Kunal was snubbed from the discussion. Vidyut Jammwal, whose film 'Khuda Hafiz' is also supposed to release on Disney+ Hotstar, was not invited to the panel. In his tweet to Kunal, Abhishek wrote, "Most excited for this. Its mine and dads favourite trailer. All the very best, buddy." Kunal soon responded in kind and said, "Thank you so much. Sir made my day if not my week and month when he hugged me after seeing the trailer cant wait to share this film with all. All the best for 'The Big Bull'.. looking forward." See their Twitter exchange here: Thank you so much. Sir made my day if not my week and month when he hugged me after seeing the trailer cant wait to share this film with all. All the best for The Big Bull.. looking forward! https://t.co/ZYmTzvbsXG kunal kemmu (@kunalkemmu) June 30, 2020 Abhishek announced 'The Big Bull' along with Akshay Kumar's 'Laxxmi Bomb', Ajay Devgn's 'Bhuj: The Pride Of India', Alia Bhatt's 'Sadak 2' and the aforementioned 'Lootcase' and 'Khuda Hafiz'. The seventh film on the list is 'Dil Bechara' of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, which will release first - July 24. While Akshay, Ajay, Alia and Abhishek joined the discussion, Vidyut and Kunal were left out. Hours later, the duo took to social media to express their disappointment over the same. Vidyut said he wasn't invited, whereas Kunal made an indirect dig at the organisers. The films will premiere between July and October. The release dates haven't been revealed as of yet. Mumbai: Tripti Dimri's performance in "Bulbbul", the new horror film that was released digitally, has been widely acclaimed. The actress has opened up on fighting her fears and stepping out of her comfort zone to become an actress. Tripti took to Instagram on Monday to talk about the same. The actress also spoke about the difference between her real-life personality and her on-screen character in "Bulbbul". "Growing up, I was extremely different from the character I play in 'Bulbbul'. I was not an extrovert at all! She's curious and excitable and I was the opposite of it. I was very shy and I never felt comfortable participating in school functions and activities. I even hated getting doubts cleared in class because I didn't like having all those eyes on me." "Something changed when I got to college. I realised it's time I take to the stage and face the world. I became more involved in college activities and even joined a modelling agency, which turned out to be the door that opened these opportunities for me. I remember putting off giving my first audition because the thought of facing the camera terrified me. Surprisingly, I did well and I got selected, which led to my debut movie 'Poster Boys'." "From being uncomfortable with so many eyes on me to now feeling at home on a set, I've come a long way. I am here because I chose to fight my fear and get out of my comfort zone. I chose to trust myself and stopped listening to my insecurities. I'm still nervous in new situations, I still fumble but I now know you can always overcome those fears and give it your all." "Remember, fear is just a feeling and no feeling is permanent. Fight it even if you fail. You can always get back up and try again. I'm glad I chose to fight," Tripti wrote on Instagram. She also shared a photo of her character Bulbbul's childhood (played by child actor Ruchi Mahajan) and the grown up Bulbbul (played by herself) in the horror flick. Tripti also shared a throwback photo from her childhood. Meanwhile, netizens are demanding to #BoycottNetflix on Twitter as they find the Bengali folk song "Kalankini Radha" used in the film and its English subtitles offensive to Hindu religious sentiments. New Delhi: Actress Kangana Ranaut has come out in support of India's decision on banning 59 Chinese apps in India. India on Monday imposed a ban on 59 mobile applications, most of which are linked to China, including TikTok and WeChat. Of which, Kangana said in a statement, Government has banned Chinese apps and I think most people are celebrating because China is like, we all know, a communist country and the way they have gone deep into our economy and our system, the data is scary. How much our business was dependent on China and this year apart from being the originator of coronavirus and giving the world the biggest adversity of recent times. In the midst of this adversity, now they are messing with our borders in Ladakh and they don't want only Ladakh. In the scheme of things, they want Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim. They also want your Assam and it's never-ending." "You can see the greed of these people and of course even the world is astonished by their ways of life and by the way they ill-treat animals and the way they beat you up if you do idol worshipping or if you follow your religion. I say that you know being an extremist or being a communist, both ways are extreme. Why do you want to believe there is a god or there is no god? Why do you want to be so sure? Why can't you just be that you don't know? I don't agree with their ways and obviously they've shown their real crude face to the world also with this pandemic and the bio-war that they've unleashed on the world. What is feeding them is that their economy. So it is definitely better we cut their roots here in India and of course when there will not be so much revenue and money, their evil power will come down and the world will be a better place. China is not the leading power because what leads is also what everyone else suffers their virtues and their sins. Today they are leading power and they have this power that is why the world is suffering," the actress adds. Kangana, who has always urged people to support local commodities, also asked her fans to do so. "In ancient times when India led the world and the world was a prosperous and inclusive place, I do believe that we need to go back to that time. India is the right leader whether it is the religion that we follow, whether the diverse nation that we have of many languages and many religions," she stressed. "Also, the philosophy that Hinduism preaches to the world of inclusiveness. India is the right leader. If these communist people become leaders, capitalist people will become leaders, this is what the world is going to be. All about bio-wars and crude economic gains. So I think India with its spiritual heritage and history is the right world leader where sacrifice and accepting the world is the philosophy that the whole world is one place and it deserves to be the leader. So I feel that we should encash in these times where China is receiving so much hatred from the world and we should take the charge and as people, we should also encourage local stuff and try to see value in what our people do. Of course the Chinese give you everything 'sasta' and cheap. We should not go by that. We saw the aftermath of that 'sasta' and cheap. We need to encourage our people and I think this is the right time," Kangana concludes. New Delhi: The Mumbai Police on Tuesday recorded the statement of Sushant Singh Rajput's co-star Sanjana Sanghi in his death case. She reached the Bandra police station earlier today and was questioned for over eight hours. So far, statements of 28 people, including family members of Sushant, his close friend Rhea Chakraborty, casting director Mukesh Chhabra and others, have been recorded in his death case. The Mumbai Police is investigating every angle behind his death. Sushant died by suicide on June 14 in Mumbai. He was said to be under stress and depression for some months. As per sources, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur's statement will also be recorded soon over his recent statement. Shekhar Kapur had cast the actor in his film 'Paani'. However, the project got delayed. After Sushant's death, he tweeted that he "knew the story of the people that let him down as he would weep on his shoulder." I knew the pain you were going through. I knew the story of the people that let you down so bad that you would weep on my shoulder. I wish I was around the last 6 months. I wish you had reached out to me. What happened to you was their Karma. Not yours. #SushantSinghRajput, read the filmmakers tweet. I knew the pain you were going through. I knew the story of the people that let you down so bad that you would weep on my shoulder. I wish Iwas around the last 6 months. I wish you had reached out to me. What happened to you was their Karma. Not yours. #SushantSinghRajput Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) June 15, 2020 Meanwhile, sources also claim that a "known name" is likely to appear before the Mumbai Police in the next 24 hours to record the statement. The final post-mortem report has confirmed that Sushant died by asphyxia due to hanging. The Mumbai Police also ruled out any foul play behind his death. New Delhi: Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was a bundle of talent whose sudden death by suicide left his family, fans and film fraternity in shock. The 34-year-old star was found hanging at his Bandra pad on June 14, 2020, and was reportedly battling depression for past few months. Mumbai police in its investigation have recorded the statement of around 27 people so far. The Police has written a letter to Twitter India over the actor's account and details if his activity. It has been learnt that police wants to probe if any of his tweets have been deleted or not. Sushant's Twitter handle @SSR has 2.2 million followers and with 757 people in 'Following' list. His last tweet was on December 27, 2019. Right from exploring the local tourist attractions to experiencing the culture from a closer lens, it was just perfect! And what made it better was to get upto 5% cashback every-time I swiped my @mastercardindia @icicibank #TravelWithMastercard #StartSomethingPriceless Right from exploring the local tourist attractions to experiencing the culture from a closer lens, it was just perfect! And what made it better was to get upto 5% cashback every-time I swiped my @mastercardindia @icicibank#TravelWithMastercard #StartSomethingPriceless pic.twitter.com/YO3z865A5a Sushant Singh Rajput (@itsSSR) December 27, 2019 Police is probing his suicide from all possible angles. Sushant joined Twitter in October 2014. However, his fan army and a few celebs such as Roopa Ganguly and Shekhar Suman have been demanding a CBI enquiry to ensure a fair probe. Meanwhile, his followers and fans are alleging that someone is operating his Instagram account as comments are being deleted. Also, there is a change in the actor's 'Following' list on the social media platform. New Delhi: Veteran actor Shekhar Suman, who has demanded a CBI probe into Sushant Singh Rajput's death, visited the late actor's family at his home in Patna on Monday. He took to Twitter to inform everyone about his visit and wrote, "Met Sushant's father.. shared his grief. We sat together for a few minutes without exchanging a word.. He is still in a state of deep shock.. I feel the best way to express grief is through silence." Met Sushant's father..shared his grief.we sat together for a few minutes without exchanging a word..He is still in a state of deep shock..I feel the best way to express grief is thru silence.#justiceforSushantforum #CBIEnquiryForSushant . pic.twitter.com/we0VL9w7PM Shekhar Suman (@shekharsuman7) June 29, 2020 Shekhar Suman was accompanied by filmmaker Sandeep Ssingh, who was also a close friend of Sushant. Before flying to Patna, which is also Shekhar Suman's hometown, the actor tweeted that he would visit Sushant's family and also meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to press upon a CBI probe into the versatile star's death. Im going to my hometown Patna to meet Sushant's father and pay my respect to him and the CM Shri Nitish Kumar and all the admirers and fans of Sushant to press upon #CBIEnquiryForSushant #justiceforSushantforum @NitishKumar Shekhar Suman (@shekharsuman7) June 28, 2020 Sushant died by suicide on June 14 in Mumbai. He was said to be under stress and depression for some months. Shekhar Suman has also created a forum called #justiceforSushantforum demanding CBI probe into his death, even though the case is being investigated by Mumbai Police and post mortem has stated that Sushant died by suicide. The final postmortem report of Sushant confirmed asphyxia due to hanging as the cause of death. New Delhi: Tollywood actors Nikhil Siddhartha and Sundeep Kishan's have occupied the trends list on Tuesday for their Twitter exchange on ban on TikTok in India. Fifty-nine apps with Chinese links, including the hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, were banned by India on Monday in the backdrop of the current stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh with Chinese troops. Soon after the announcement was made, Twitter was flooded in support of the decision and many stars also tweeted in favour of the ban. However, Nikhil Siddhartha's tweet, which said, "TIKTOK shouldn't be banned... as long as they respect our country.. our life and DEMOCRACY. 'Period'. #TikTokBanIndia", confused the netizens. Of course, his tweet was posted in sarcasm, but many Twitter users couldn't really understand his point and Sundeep Kishan was one of them. They later indulged in a banter claiming it will lead to job losses. Sundeep tweeted to Nikhil saying that the ban was a "bold move though unemployment will be there." "My instant reaction was the same, mama but banning these apps is a necessary Bold Move.. What the Chinese Government is up to is atrocious. We are at loss of employment as well but has to be viewed as collateral damage in the view of national interest," he said. The actor further stated, "TikTok was evaluated as a $75 Billion company in Jan 2020 & is one of the top taxpayers in China...we are pretty much funding a nation which is attacking us.. Its actually a cool app which should have had better security & privacy features..Unfortunate for them to lose India." Nikhil was quick to correct Sundeep and said he also said the same thing but with sarcasm. Read their Twitter exchange here: TIKTOK shudnt be banned... as long as they respect our country.. our life and DEMOCRACY "Period" #tiktokbanindia Nikhil Siddhartha (@actor_Nikhil) June 30, 2020 Tik Tok was evaluated as a $75 Billion company in Jan 2020 & is one of the Top tax payers in China...we are pretty much funding a Nation which is attacking us.. Its actually a cool app which should have had better security & privacy features..Unfortunate for them to lose #India pic.twitter.com/EVIVlxMePW Sundeep Kishan (@sundeepkishan) June 30, 2020 Exactly my point mama... u shud read my tweet again and also the sarcasm in it lets push this hashtag #BanChineseProducts Nikhil Siddhartha (@actor_Nikhil) June 30, 2020 On the work front, Nikhil Siddhartha will be next seen in 'Karthikeya 2' and '18 Pages' while Sundeep Kishan has four projects lined up for release. New Delhi: June 30 is celebrated as International Asteroid Day which aims to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard and to spread awareness about the importance and role played by asteroids in our solar system. The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution in December 2016 declaring 30 June International Asteroid Day in order to "observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation, on 30 June 1908, and to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard." The Tunguska asteroid event on 30 June 1908, was the Earth's largest asteroid impact in recorded history. 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. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs tweeted that the number of known NEOs was 22,800 as of May 2020, with over 2,000 asteroids now catalogued whose orbits bring them within 8mil km of Earths orbit. #DYK: The number of known #NEOs was 22,800 as of May 2020, with over 2,000 asteroids now catalogued whose orbits bring them within 8mil km of Earths orbit! #FunFacts@asteroidday UNOOSA (@UNOOSA) June 25, 2020 What are Asteroids? Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the sun. They are left over from the formation of our solar system. Although they orbit the sun like planets, but they are much smaller than planets. Most of the Asteroids live in the main asteroid belta region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. How were Asteroids formed? About 4.6 billion years ago our solar system began when a big cloud of gas and dust collapsed. During this, most of the material fell to the center of the cloud and formed the sun. Some of the condensing dust in the cloud became planets. The objects in the asteroid belt never had the chance to be incorporated into planets. They are leftovers from that time long ago when planets formed. New Delhi: The Google Doodle honoured international gay liberation activist and self-identified drag queen Marsha P Johnson. The vibrant doodle of Marsha came at the closing of Pride month 2020. The annual LGBTQ Pride celebrations take place in the month of June and a bisexual activist Brenda Howard, known as the 'Mother of Pride' initiated the march. Gay activist Marsha P Johnson remains an important figure in raising gay rights and concerns. Marsha founded the Gay Liberation Front and happens to be a co-founder of the radical activist group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), alongside close friend Sylvia Rivera. Marsha was also known as the 'mayor of Christopher Street' and from 1987 through 1992, was an AIDS activist with ACT UP. She became the first drag queens to have visited the Stonewall Inn after they began allowing women and drag queens. She played a key role in Stonewall Uprising of 1969. Marsha died on July 6, 1992, under mysterious circumstances as her body was found in Hudson River with police suspecting a suicide. However, her friends smelled foul play. New Delhi: Sundar Pichai-led Alphabet, Googles parent company, in January 2020 joined the elitist club of U S companies with $1 trillion valuation a feat enjoyed by companies like Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Alphabet is the holding and Google, founded in September 1998, is now a subsidiary of it. Google's entry into the elite club was witnessed under the leadership of its CEO Sundar Pichai, who was also named as the CEO of parent company Alphabet last in 2019. Alphabet founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced plans to step down in December last year, elevating Pichai as both Alphabet and Google CEO. Google's Market Cap stands at $953.173 Billion (Rs 71.97 Lakh Crore). Google and Alphabet had over 70 offices in more thn 50 countries including Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, Canada, Mexico, Turkey and New Zealand, data as of June 2019 showed. Google has been focused on developing products and services, powered by the latest advances in AI, that offer help in moments big and small. Meanwhile, Apples fortunes rose further in June 2020, as the Cupertino-headquartered company become the first US company that reached $1.5 trillion market cap. Strong App Store sales, ARM chips-run Macs backed the companys rise. Apple was the first US company to cross the $1-trillion mark in 2018. Riding on its growing services and wearables business, Apple may become the first company ever to touch the $2-trillion valuation mark in next four years, a top analyst forecast Evercore ISI had said recently. The company saw all-time records in many of its Services categories - App Store, Apple Music, Video, cloud services, its App Store search ad business, AppleCare, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple News Plus and Apple Card. (Inputs provided by Zee Research Group) New Delhi: Chinese short video making app TikTok on Tuesday said that the company is in process of complying with the Indian government order on the ban of the app. India on Monday (June 29) banned 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok, UC Browser and Cam Scanner among others, in a major retaliation against China amid the rising border tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). TiKtok on Tuesday tweeted that it has been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders to respond and submit clarifications. A statement from the government said that the apps are 'engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order'. TikTok has more than 100 million (10 crore) monthly active users in India. Notably, when TikTok app was blocked in India for a week in 2019, ByteDance had said in a court filing that it was losing more than $5,00,000 (9Rs 3.7 Crore) a day in the nation. ByteDance is the company which has developed TikTok. According to a report, Indian users spent over 5.5 billion (550 Crore) hours on TikTok in 2019. Another report said that TikToks monthly active users increased by 90 per cent to 81 million by December 2019. In December 2019, the time spent on Tiktok in India was more than the next 11 countries combined. New Delhi: The number of Indias telephone subscribers increased 0.32 percent to 1,180.84 million in February 2020, according to latest Telecom Subscription Data published by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,177.02 million at the end of January 2020 to 1,180.84 million at the end of February 2020, thereby showing a monthly increase rate of 0.32%, a TRAI release said. Urban telephone subscription decreased from 662.75 million at the end of January 2020 to 661.23 million at the end of February 2020, however the rural subscription increased from 514.27 million to 519.62 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were -0.23% and 1.04% respectively during the month of February 2020, the sector regulator said. The overall Tele-density in India increased from 87.45 at the end of January 2020 to 87.66 at the end of Feb20. The Urban Tele-density declined from 144.16 at the end of January 2020 to 143.59 at the end of February 2020. Rural Tele-density increased from 58.03 at the end of January 2020 to 58.61 at the end of February 2020. The share of rural and urban subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of February 2020 was 44% and 56% respectively. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that her government will provide free ration to the poor till June 2021. Addressing a press conference, CM Banerjee said that the state government is giving ration to 10 crore people in the state currently. Under the Unlock 2.0 guidelines, the CM has asked the private buses to run from July 1 and warned them of consequences if they don't do so. "We have taken one more decision. If private buses dont hit the streets despite the state governments efforts to reach out to associations, an offer Rs 15,000 financial aid for each month, if they dont ply tomorrow (July 1), we will acquire private buses, take action as per Disaster Management Act, and a state government driver will take over. " "If by July 1, the buses dont ply then by July 3, the law will take its own course as per NDMA and we will acquire private buses and run them We dont support the diesel price hike, it has risen in the last couple of days. When the price of fuel drops, the bus fares are not reduced. Why?" added the CM. She also said that the state government will provide relaxations outside the containment zones but strict lockdown will be imposed in containment zones. "Since the night curfew is from 10 pm to 5 am, morning walks will be allowed from 5.30 am to 8.30 am. However, masks have to be worn and social distancing must be maintained," she said. On the China matter, the CM said, "China is the issue of an external affair. We support the government's stand. We have to be aggressive and diplomatic." Speaking on other matters, the CM added, "For marriages and shradh prayer meets, 50 people will be allowed. Earlier it was 25 people. Changrabadha border in Coochbehar between India and Bangladesh will be opened for trade. For Sunderbans, an all-party meeting has been called. Sunderbans have been worse hit by cyclones." She added, "There is interference in Cooperative Banks in the state. There is an attempt to bulldoze the federal structure in the state. We will come up with our cooperative bank." The Chief Secretary has written two letters one to the Railway Board for metro rail for those working for essential services and other to civil aviation ministry, she added. Hong Kong: As the voices against the imposition of national security legislation in Hong Kong grows worldwide, China has used a cheap tactic by imposing a visa ban on US citizens. According to The South China Morning Post, Beijing has imposed visa restrictions on the United States officials who have "behaved extremely badly" on the issue of Hong Kong. Earlier, the US had imposed visa restrictions against Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials in retaliation for Beijing`s policies in Hong Kong. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said, "President Trump promised to punish the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong`s freedoms. Today, we are taking action to do just that." "Beijing's continued actions undermine its commitments and obligations in the Sino-British Joint Declaration to respect Hong Kong`s high degree of autonomy. At the same time, Beijing continues to undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong by putting pressure on local authorities to arrest pro-democracy activists and disqualify pro-democracy electoral candidates," he added. The protests in Hong Kong have been taking place sporadically in Hong Kong since June 2019, with protesters claiming to oppose China`s increasing influence on the special administrative region. The latest wave of protests was caused by a security bill specially tailored by Beijing for Hong Kong. The security legislation, which bans secessionist activities, among other things, is seen by Hong Kong residents as undermining their liberties. However, both Hong Kong`s leadership and the central government say the bill would not affect the legitimate rights of the residents. Beijing maintains that the unrest in Hong Kong is a result of international interference and vows to respect the "one country, two systems" principle. New Delhi: With coronavirus infecting over 10 million people across the world, claiming more than 5,00,000 lives, a clamour against China for allegedly being responsible for spreading this deadly virus has repeatedly been heard from different parts of the globe. The United States has been very vocal against China. US President Donald has held China responsible for hiding the facts related to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic from the world. The way countries have been vocal against China can be understood through their statements on different dates: United States March 20: World paying a big price for China hiding information on coronavirus, said US President Donald Trump. March 24: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sharpened his criticism of Chinas handling of a coronavirus pandemic, saying its ruling Communist Party was still denying the world information needed to prevent further cases. May 29: US President Donald Trump terminates relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO) as he blamed it and China for the deaths and destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe. President Trump on May 29 also issued a proclamation to block certain graduate level and above Chinese nationals to enter the United States who are allegedly associated with Chinas military. He also announced the tightening of regulations against Chinese investments in America, besides announcing that it will end the special treatment of Hong Kong in response to Chinese imposition of new controls. May 2020: The United States has issued a new rule tightening visa guidelines for Chinese journalists. The regulation will limit visas for Chinese reporters to 90 days, with the option for extension. June 3: The Trump administration moved to block Chinese airlines from flying to the US in an escalation of trade and travel tensions between the two countries. June 4: The US is expected to designate at least four additional state-run Chinese media outlets as foreign embassies, increasing restrictions on their operations on American soil. The Transportation Department said it would suspend passenger flights of four Chinese airlines to and from the US starting June 16. Australia April 2020: Australia called for an independent investigation into the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, including the World Health Organization's handling of the crisis. May 2020: Australia would consider approaching the World Trade Organization (WTO) after China announced anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties totalling 80.5% on Australian barley imports from May 19, said Agriculture Minister David Little. United Kingdom April 2020: The British ministries in charge of foreign policy and health care have voiced support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations, including the World Health Assembly (WHA). The UK sought to challenge control, and the alleged relocation of technology by a Chinese company of Imagination Technologies (Imagination), a UK supplier of security technology and high-end semiconductors. The UK also started consulting on potential further legislative intervention measures, in addition to a planned expansion of the UK's foreign investment review regime. Many countries are Tweaking FDI Laws to shield domestic firms from China amid COVID-19 Pandemic May 2020: The US and UK raised the issue of China's controversial security law for Hong Kong during an emergency discussion in the Security Council, angering Beijing. June 4, 2020: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote in an opinion piece that he would offer millions of Hong Kongers visas and a possible route to UK citizenship if China enacted its planned national security law. Boris Johnson is now seeking to limit Huaweis role. The government held talks with Japanese technology company NEC Corp. as part of efforts to diversify the range of equipment providers for the UKs 5G networks. European Union March 25: The European Union Commission released guidelines to coordinate an approach among member states for FDI screening with the aim of protecting important EU assets. Germany sought to amend the German Foreign Trade and Payment Act April 8: The German government set in motion, a legislative process to amend the German Foreign Trade and Payment Act that would allow the government to intervene and open a review process even if theres a probable impairment to national security. Italy widens scope of Golden Powers Law April 8: Italian government widened the scope of the Golden Powers Law, that is in place to curb foreign investment in sensitive sectors, to incorporate many other sectors, including transport and financial sector. Japan shifts manufacturing out of China April 2020: Japan expressed its desire to fund its companies to shift manufacturing operations out of China. Japan allocated an economic stimulus package of $2.2 billion to help its manufacturing firms shift production out of China. Countries, leaders who slammed China June 2020: China, Russia are spreading coronavirus misinformation: EU May 13: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there are "many questions" that need to be asked "around the origins and behavior" in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, "particularly questions for China." May 6: The European Union is backing calls for a timely review of the international response to the coronavirus pandemic, including the World Health Organizations performance, according to the draft of a resolution for ministers to debate at the WHO. May 4: China has questions to answer over the coronavirus outbreak, said UK defence minister Ben Wallace. Asked if China needed to explain how quickly it made the world aware of the extent of the virus, the defense minister said, I think it does. But I think the time for the post-mortem on this is after weve all got it under control and have come through it and our economies are back to normal, Ben Wallace told LBC Radio. April 2020: The French ministry of foreign affairs recently summoned Chinese ambassador for 'objectionable' articles on Chinese embassys website. The ministry has also summoned Chinese ambassador, Lu Shaye, to express its deep disapproval of Chinese diplomats claims that France had left its older citizens to die during the coronavirus crisis. April 17: French President Emmanuel Macron said there were 'clearly things that happened that we don't know about' when asked about China's death and infection figures. French President Emmanuel Macron has questioned China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Macron told the Financial Times it was "naive" to suggest China had dealt better with the crisis, adding things "happened that we don't know about". More people have died in the US and several European countries than in China where the virus emerged. April 20: The German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Beijing to be transparent about the origin and initial transmission of the virus, adding "I believe the more transparent China is about the origin story of the virus, the better it is for everyone in the world in order to learn from it." April 19: Australia demands coronavirus inquiry, adding to pressure on China. The issues around the coronavirus are issues for independent review, and I think that it is important that we do that, Australias foreign minister, Marise Payne, told ABC television. April 18: US President Donald Trump warned China that it should face consequences if it was "knowingly responsible" for the coronavirus pandemic, as he ratcheted up criticism of Beijing over its handling of the outbreak. "It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn't, and the whole world is suffering because of it," Trump told a daily White House briefing. April 16: Britain and the United States have also declined to hail China's apparent success in containing the outbreak. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said there would be 'hard questions about how it came about and how it couldn't have been stopped earlier'. April 12: A senior Spanish member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chairman of the Conservatives Group, Herman Tertsch has lashed out at China for lying and misinforming the world about the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed over a hundred thousand people worldwide, devastated the global economy and still continues to perish people across the continents. BEIJING: Amid its ongoing border dispute with India, China has now claimed that the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary situated in Bhutan is a "disputed" territory. The remarks were made by China at the 58th meeting of the Global Environment Facility Council during which it tried to "oppose" funding to a project for the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, calling it a "disputed" territory. China claimed that Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary falls in the disputed area between Bhutan and China. This has evoked a strong reaction from Bhutan which sent a strong note to the Chinas representative handling Bhutan. The note said, "Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan." Interestingly, this wildlife sanctuary has never been a part of any global funding. It is also for the first time that it has come up as a project at the international platform, which China grabbed it as an opportunity to lay claim to the land. Meanwhile, the Chinese move is being watched carefully by India since the area is close to Tawang, the main town in Arunachal Pradeshs Kameng sector. China, as is well known, describes entire Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet and claims ownership. Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the eastern most part of the country in Trashigang Dzongkhag, Eastern Bhutan. It encompasses a total area of 740.60 square kilometer covering almost three fourth of Merak and Sakteng geogs under Trashigang Dzongkhag and part of Lauri geog under Samdrupjonkhar Dzongkhag. The Sanctuary is situated in the remotest part of the country where only limited developmental programs have been implemented in the two geogs so far. Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) is a national park in the far eastern region of Bhutan, bordering the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The sanctuary is adorned with a diverse ecosystem ranging from warm broadleaf forests to alpine meadows. Sukhoi Su-27 fighters from Russia's Southern Military District were launched on Monday (June 29, 2020) after two spy planes of the United States of America were tracked over the Black Sea. The Sukhoi Su-27 fighters intercepted a squadron of US Navy P-8A Poseidon and US Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft. "On June 29, a US Navy P-8A "Poseidon" patrol plane and a US AF RC-135 strategic reconnaissance aircraft were detected and escorted by SMD duty air defense forces over the neutral waters of the Black sea. At a considerable distance from the state border of the Russian Federation, US aircraft were continuously accompanied by Russian means of control," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press release. "To intercept targets, Su-27 fighters from the air defense duty forces in the Southern Military District were airlifted. There was no violation of the State border of the Russian Federation. The flights of Russian aircraft were carried out in strict accordance with International rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states," the statement added. The US P-8A Poseidon is tasked with anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), and shipping interdiction roles while the RC-135 is used for gathering intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. A few days back on June 26, 2020, another aerial intercept had been carried out by Russian Sukhoi fighters of US military aircraft over the neutral waters of Black Sea. On the occasion a Sukhoi Su-30 was scrambled after a US Navy P-8A Poseidon, an RC-135 and a KC-135 aerial refuelling tanker of the US Air Force were tracked by Russia's Southern Military District. A 1.48-minute-long video of the Sukhoi Su-30 intercepting the US aircraft on June 26 was posted by the Russian Defense Ministry on its Facebook page. The video also showed the KC-135 tanker refuelling the RC-135 midair during the flight over the Black Sea. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States of America-led world's strongest military alliance, has expressed concerns over China's "authoritarian behaviour at home and increased assertiveness and bullying abroad". China has been facing the heat from every corner of the world for its role in the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic as well as its belligerent use of the military to try and alter borders on land as well as the sea and NATO's comment comes at a time when the Asian country is facing increased isolation. While stressing that NATO does not see China as an adversary, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday (June 30, 2020) stated, "But there is a clear pattern of authoritarian behaviour at home and increased assertiveness and bullying abroad." Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister who has been NATO's top international civil servant since 2014, made the statement while speaking about "The Geopolitical Implications of COVID-19", an online event of the German Institute for Global and Area studies (GIGA). He also called for a global approach to address the security challenges being faced. While commending and appreciating the role armed forces across NATO have played to help save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic which has ravaged large parts of the world, Stoltenberg exhorted the alliance to prepare for a possible second wave of the coronavirus through a new operation plan, a new stockpile of medical equipment and a new fund to quickly acquire supplies and services. He also stressed that NATO 2030 was recently launched to reflect on where the alliance sees itself 10 years from now and how it plans to continue to keep all the member countries safe. China is already involved in a long and tense standoff with India along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh which also saw a bloody skirmish on the night of June 16, 2020. The clash at the LAC resulted in the martyrdom of 20 Indian Army soldiers and the death of over 40 Peoples Liberation Army troops. Salida, CO (81201) Today Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High near 80F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 53F. SE winds shifting to W at 10 to 20 mph. On 27 June, more than three months after they were imposed, Egypt began lifting many of the restrictions put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus. Egypt has lost LE125 billion in revenue during the last three months as a result of the closure Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said during an interview with state-owned Channel 1 on Monday. It is essential we develop ways to coexist with the virus given no economy can bear the continued costs of closure, Maait said. Countries around the world are reopening their economies after having implemented unprecedented measures to suppress transmission and slow down the spread of the virus. A coexistence scenario is necessary to enable citizens to earn a living. Without it the state will not have any revenues and an economic depression will occur. It is essential Egypt return to work, production, and growth again, said Maait. Egypts 2019-2020 GDP growth rate is likely to come in at four per cent, down from a pre-pandemic estimate of 5.6 per cent, Maait said. Driven by economic concerns, the cabinet began on Saturday to life restrictions in place since March. Cafes, cinemas, restaurants and gyms have all been allowed to reopen provided they adhere to a 25 per cent occupancy limit. The night-time curfew has been cancelled, though the public has been told to keep wearing facemasks and maintain social distancing. Mosques have been also allowed to host the daily prayers since Saturday, though Friday prayers continue to be banned to avoid crowding. The reopening of churches in Cairo and Alexandria, however, has been delayed until mid-July by the Coptic Orthodox Church due to high infection rates. The Justice Ministry announced that all courts, the ministrys general bureau and all affiliated departments, including forensic medicine and registry offices, fully resumed work at the beginning of this week. On 1 July Egypt opened selected destinations to international air traffic. Foreign tourists are allowed to visit three coastal governorates - South Sinai, the Red Sea and Marsa Matrouh. Arrivals have been exempted from visa fees until the end of October in an attempt to boost the ailing tourism sector. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled Al-Anani said on Monday that 400 hotels nationwide have received health safety certificates allowing them to reopen and receive tourists at 50 per cent capacity. Since the reopening of the country Egypts record of new cases in a single day, 1774 recorded on 19 June, has remained unbroken, with the daily toll swinging between 1,600 and 1,100. On Monday, the total number of infections reached 66,754 since the detection of the first case on 14 February, and the number of fatalities rose to 2,872. Health Minister Hala Zayed said last week that the occupancy rate in designated coronavirus quarantine hospitals is 59 per cent, and 71 per cent in ICUs. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi inaugurated field and isolation hospitals at Cairos International Exhibition Centre with a total capacity of 4,000 beds on Saturday, creating more space should Egypt see a surge in cases. The facilities include four isolation halls, each with a capacity of 700 beds, and five field hospitals, with surgery theatres and 40 ICU beds. Earlier this month, the government announced that the number of hospitals designated to deal with coronavirus cases had risen to 376 from 340. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has begun directing more attention to patients with underlying health conditions as it implements a presidential initiative launched on 21 June to treat chronic disease. On 25 June the Health Minister said 122 medical centres and 33 mobile medical convoys in eight governorates are taking part in the initiative. Al-Negelah isolation hospital, Egypts first designated hospital for coronavirus cases, will stop receiving COVID-19 patients and will instead return to normal operation in all medical specialties. Marking the sixth month of the pandemic, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom said on Monday that most people remain susceptible to infection and the coronavirus has a lot of room to move. We all want COVID-19 to be over and to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is: this is not even close to being over, Adhanom said during a media briefing. He added that the pandemic is actually speeding up. The WHO chief estimated a few days earlier that the current infection rate is one million new cases a week worldwide. In his speech Adhanom said the world has 10 million confirmed cases and more than half a million people have lost their lives worldwide. The critical question that all countries will face in the coming months is how to live with the virus. This is the new normal. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Clearfield, PA (16830) Today Scattered thunderstorms this morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High around 85F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight with light rain possible. Low 58F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Posted Tuesday, June 30, 2020 4:47 am The League of Women Voters of Clark County are set to host four candidate forums for local primary election races in early July, the group has announced. The forums are divided among two evenings with two races apiece each night, the announcement stated. At 6:30 p.m. July 8 candidates for the 18th Legislative District Senate seat will face off including incumbent Ann Rivers, R-La Center, alongside challengers Rick Bell, D-Camas, and John Ley, R-Camas. That same event the candidates for Clark County Council District 3 will participate, as incumbent John Blom seeks re-election without a party preference this time around, facing challengers in Karen Bowerman, a Republican, and Jesse James, a Democrat. The next day the league has invited candidates for both seats in the state House of Representatives for Vancouvers Legislative District 49. Position 1 incumbent Sharon Wylie, a Democrat, has challengers in Kelli Fiskum, an independent, and Justin Forsman, a Republican. Position 2s incumbent Monica Stonier, a Democrat, also has a Republican challenger in Park Llafet and an independent one in Troy Potter. The forums will be live-streamed on the league Facebook account (facebook.com/LWVClarkCounty) and broadcast live over Clark/Vancouver Television (cvtv.org). Forums will also be available for viewing through CVTV after the live meetings. The announcement noted the league is a nonpartisan organization and celebrates its national centennial this year. The league intends to host forums in advance of the Nov. 3 General Election as well. The Reflector Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 7:09 am Clark County is seeking state approval to further ease restrictions in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, with Public Health submitting an application to move into Phase 3 of Safe Start Washington on Friday. Public Health submitted the application June 26 as it was the first day it could do so under Safe Start Washington, three weeks after the county was approved to move into Phase 2 on June 5. Phase 3 allows for public recreation outdoors involving fewer than 50 people, as well as recreational facilities such as pools and gyms to operate at half capacity. The phase also allows for public gatherings of no more than 50 people, as well as the opening of libraries and museums. Theaters would be allowed to operate at half capacity, and customer-facing government services can resume under Phase 3. Restaurants will also have a higher capacity limit at 75 percent, and bar areas in restaurants and taverns can operate at 25-percent capacity. All other business activities not yet listed except for nightclubs and events with greater than 50 people will also be able to operate under Phase 3, according to the Safe Start Washington plan. As of Public Healths announcement there was not a set timeframe for when it would see approval to move into Phase 3. Clark County faced a roadblock in getting to Phase 2 when its application was put on hold May 23 following the discovery of the first of two COVID-19 outbreaks at county businesses. Those outbreaks the first at Firestone Pacific Foods in Vancouver and the second at Pacific Crest Building Supply in Ridgefield saw more than 150 confirmed cases of the disease related to the outbreak among both places, according to Public Health data. While Clark County looks to move into the next reopening phase the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county continue to climb. As of Public Healths June 29 update there had been 826 confirmed cases since the outbreak began, up 68 from the number of cases as of Friday. Public Healths latest numbers showed a rate of newly-confirmed COVID-19 cases at 15.1 per 100,000 of population in the past two weeks. The department explained that having an incidence below 25 per 100,000 of population was one of the criteria for counties to move into Phase 3. Clark County has maintained roughly the same proportion of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Washington State based on latest Department of Health numbers. That data showed Clark County had slightly more than 2 percent of total cases statewide, and about the same percentage of deaths. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 6:56 am Health care, infrastructure needs and exercising congressional power in policy were among topics covered in Democratic House candidate Carolyn Longs virtual town hall event June 23, as the challenger to unseat U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler took questions from constituents ahead of the November election. Long has taken part in a handful of the remote events this year, conducted over the internet with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt to a number of in-person gatherings. The talk covered a variety of topics with access to health care among the top priorities for Long if elected. Long said her health care focus stemmed both from her own personal experience as well as what she has heard from would-be constituents. She spoke about preserving the Affordable Care Act, which while imperfect, has provided coverage for millions of Americans, also noting the acts protections for those with pre-existing conditions in receiving coverage. Long said the act had been under attack for several years by lawmakers including Herrera Beutler. She also argued for a low-cost or no-cost public option to be available for individuals to choose as their coverage, allowing those who favor their private insurance to maintain it. She added the public option could also drive down insurance costs through competition. Long also spoke about driving down costs of prescription drugs, laying out a number of measures she would like to see realized if elected. She said the first step would be to pass a bill introduced in the House that would allow the government to negotiate prices on some drugs, also saying that speeding the process for introduction of generic drugs and incentivising drug manufacturing in the U.S. to curb reliance on overseas supply chains were important aspects to realize that goal. Long said that from her position in Congress should she be elected, not taking money from prescription drug companies for her campaign was key. She said she was committed not to take a dime of corporate PAC money, a promise she made during the 2018 election cycle when she first faced off against Herrera Beutler. I dont want big pharma, which really does provide tens of thousands of dollars to members of Congress, to have the first seat at the table in speaking about how to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, Long said. It should be the people of Southwest Washington. Long also addressed the lack of healthcare in rural communities, recounting her own experience growing up in a rural community where a major hospital was hours away. She argued for the use of federal dollars to incentivize rural services. I think its incredibly important that we recognize that not having access to rural healthcare literally puts lives at risk, especially during a pandemic, Long said. Regarding COVID-19 she said the top priority should be preserving public health, adding it was important to listen to the experts when it came to the pandemic. Climate change Long said there were actions to combat climate change that she felt would receive bipartisan support, mentioning carbon sequestration specifically, which she said was relatively uncontroversial. She advocated for lower reliance on fossil fuels by removing subsidies on the industry, something weve been doing for years, she said, and it certainly doesnt incentivize the movement for what we really need to do, which is to pursue clean energy jobs here in Southwest Washington. Long said the state as a whole has benefitted from investment into those types of jobs, particularly in the Seattle and Tacoma area, and would like to see manufacturing of energy infrastructure make its way to the Third District. Long added she was exploring potential reimbursements for individuals who commit to reducing their carbon footprint, something she said the Citizens Climate Lobby is looking into. Long said she wanted to address environmental policy in a more targeted way with focuses on beach erosion or forestry practices, having discussions with Congressional colleagues across the aisle and across the country. Sometimes we need to take a few smaller bites in terms of targeting legislation to achieve that overall goal of protecting the environment, Long said. Part of environmental issues Long addressed were declining salmon runs, something she said was directly connected to our climate policy and the weakening of our environmental regulations that protect our public air, water and land. Climate change was increasing water temperatures in salmon habitats, she said, which was preventing populations from thriving. Ways to help salmon populations she mentioned included increasing dam spill, which she said could be undertaken while still maintaining hydropower policy to keep energy costs from rising. She also supported addressing ocean acidification and increasing yield of salmon farms in a way that did not compete with wild populations. Reining in executive power Long, who is a political science professor at WSU Vancouver, spoke about the apparent lack of Congressional power in federal policy, saying the trend in increasing presidential power dates back to the 1930s. She noted that issues spearheaded by the executive branch over policies including trade and immigration were historically handled by the legislative branch. Congress has been unwilling to essentially do its job, Long remarked, adding that electing individuals to Congress who knew the constitutional responsibility of their positions was important in stopping the trend toward executive domination of policy. Long believed Congress should aggressively exercise oversight of the executive branch, giving the example of the CARES Acts lack of oversight as an instance where legislators did not use their ability in monitoring where funds were going. When were giving away trillions of dollars, I think its very important that Congress does its job to make sure the money is going where its intended, Long said. Infrastructure investment Long is a proponent of broadband internet for all, noting that COVID-19 put the apparent need for the infrastructure in the spotlight as what was historically public business moved to remote interactions. Long also addressed transportation infrastructure, specifically the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River. This is a bridge that should have been replaced a decade ago, Long said, pointing out its susceptibility to earthquakes, its contribution to congestion and fiscal irresponsibility not to address the issues the bridge faces, saying that costs had roughly doubled to improve the corridor compared to when talks for replacement were undertaken years ago. Not fixing (the bridge) is a tremendous barrier to the economic success of our community, Long said, adding she had heard from stakeholders who considered the bridge the chief barrier for economic development in Southwest Washington. Long said she would like to serve on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to help meet that end. She added that serving on the House Agriculture Committee could be a benefit both for the regional agriculture industry as well as for her push for rural broadband access. Other issues Long also affirmed her commitment to preserving labor unions, noting she herself was a member of one during her earlier years working at Safeway. She also touched on recent national conversations on the state of policing, saying she was not in favor of defunding the police as law enforcement plays a very important role in terms of our public safety. Long said that in some instances law enforcement was joining in on the outpouring of concern around police practices highlighted by the death of George Floyd, urging against the false narrative pitting law enforcement against those calling for its reform. Long advocated for investments into mental and behavioral health, community policing and social programs to fund professionals that could address problems that oftentimes law enforcement ultimately had to handle. On immigration, Long said Its a damn shame that we have not been able to have comprehensive immigration reform in decades in Congress. She felt it was another example of Congress ineffectiveness at addressing needs. On showing up Some of the conversation dealt with community outreach, framed on what Long believed was something Herrera Beutler had lacked and which Long had strove for through town hall meetings and other events. I very much believe that you have to be in the community as much as possible, Long said. If elected she said she was committed to holding as many town halls as possible in the district. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 6:22 am The Vancouver School Boards disappointing decision to hire a chief equity office is a waste of public funds that should be used to educate students and support teachers. The board has failed to understand and/or admit the actual reason for the racial disparities in disciplinary rates in Vancouver schools. Former President Barack Obama clearly identified the problem in his 2008 speech. More than half (now upward of 70 percent) of all black children live in single-parent households. Children that grow up without fathers are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of school and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems. There is a direct correlation between unstable families, chaotic households and single parent homes that transcends race. White students from unstable families have a higher rate of school suspension than black students from two parent homes. Unfortunately the board has selected the typical bureaucratic CYA solution to placate the state and higher an equity officer. The inequities in discipline are not a result of institutional racism or implicit bias by the left leaning members of the teachers union and the school administration, but rather the result of poor behavior from students from unstable families regardless of race. The attempt of urban schools to bring equity in racial disciplinary rates has had the outcome of less safety in schools and more violence against teachers and students. With more chaos in classrooms from disruptive students, the quality of all students education is further diminished. Disparities in discipline are not a problem of racism and bias. It is a problem endemic to unstable homes. If the superintendent and the board really want to improve the education of students in the Vancouver Schools they should insist in the highest standards of scholarship and behavior. Posted Monday, June 29, 2020 6:24 am Ive been wearing a mask in public since early in the pandemic, when scientists started to say that even a simple cloth covering could help keep us from spewing the tiny water droplets and vapor that carry the virus. I knew that my old blue bandana, worn bank-robber style, wouldnt do much to protect me from the virus but I knew that it would do a lot to protect those around me. Just as I like to pause and hold the door for others, I was pleased that I could contribute to my communitys overall safety and health. Its a courtesy, a small way that I could be generous and put others first. A new rule implemented this week in our state requires that all of us in Washington wear masks when were out in public, unless were outdoors and able to stay at least six feet away from everyone else. This rule is long overdue, and I look forward to continuing to wear a mask. Some people are suggesting that a mandate infringes on individual liberty. On one level, I agree that this rule shouldnt be necessary. Personal choice should be all we need to mask up. Its simple good neighborliness and citizenship. I dont cut ahead of others in line. I stop my car and smile as I wave pedestrians across at crosswalks. And I wear a mask in public to slow the spread of this virus. Carriers dont show symptoms the first few days theyre infectious. And some never show symptoms at all but can still infect others with a disease that could kill them. Thankfully, wearing masks works! A new worldwide study finds that countries which quickly required masks had far fewer deaths. It wasnt just by a few percent, it was up to a hundred times less mortality, said Christopher Leffler of Virginia Commonwealth University, one of the studys authors. The countries that introduced masks from the very beginning of their outbreak have had hardly any deaths. A study from Cambridge University earlier this month found out the same thing. Research shows that even homemade masks made from cotton T-shirts or dishcloths can prove 90 percent effective at preventing transmission, it concluded. In Springfield, Mo., two hair stylists who tested positive for COVID-19 managed to cut the hair of 140 people without infecting a single one of them, nor their six co-workers. Why? Because the two stylists wore cloth masks and their employer set up social distancing with salon chairs and staggering of appointments. But how can simple cloth keep out microscopic viruses? Ive heard that question a lot. A distinguished member of our community recently suggested to me that its like trying to keep mosquitos out with a chain link fence. I like the visual, but its missing a few key points. Science tells us that a virus cant fly through the air on its own. It has to travel between us in water vapor or tiny droplets, which we expel forcefully when we talk and explosively when we sneeze or cough. So a better analogy would be that the virus is coming like a swarm of wingless mosquitoes floating in helium balloons. A chain link fence will keep them out quite nicely, just as a cloth mask over our nose and mouth captures our moist breath (and the viruses it carries) in the same way. Ive seen lots of Facebook posts making all sorts of pretty far-out claims about masks and their supposed health impacts. My favorite response was from a surgeon who talked about how he wears a mask for his full 12-hour shift. If hes fine to perform surgery in a mask, Im not worried about its effect on me. I also enjoyed seeing a nurse with a finger oximeter, showing 99 percent blood oxygenation levels while wearing a variety of face coverings, her eyes showing a smile even if her mouth was covered. To double-check, I chatted last week with Dr. Rachel Wood, Lewis Countys top health officer. I learned that she was a family practice doctor who researched bubonic plague (you know, the Black Death of the Middle Ages) in prairie dogs before becoming a public health leader. She confirmed that masks, along with serious dedication to proper hygiene and six feet of physical distancing, will make a real difference. Here in Lewis County we take care of each other, Dr. Wood said. Part of taking care of each other is wearing a mask. Im puzzled and saddened that some people are talking about turning their backs on their neighbors by refusing to take part in the new rule. Some folks are printing up official-looking (but bogus) cards that suggest they have a medical condition which they are not legally required to disclose, and that they wont be wearing a mask. Theres a word for that kind of thing. Lying. Its also corrosive to those people who actually do have real, dire medical conditions protected by disability laws. Heres the bottom line. Wearing masks, being diligent about practicing social distancing, washing our hands and avoiding touching our faces will make a real difference in slowing the spread of this thing and saving lives. The Greatest Generation won World War II by making sacrifices we couldnt imagine today. Hundreds of thousands of our boys fought and died on foreign shores. Their families at home made do with ration cards that limited their food and gasoline. They covered their windows at night to keep enemy bombers from attacking. They knew sacrifice and they achieved victory. Do we still have that sense of comradery, of common cause, of willingness to sacrifice? Do we still know how to come together as Americans and win? Folks, there are some really hard things in life. Wearing a mask to fight a plague isnt one of them. Please mask up. Ill do it for you. Please do it for me, and for all of us. Brian Mittge is masked but still smiling. Drop him a line at brianmittge@hotmail.com. Ashraf Rashad, secretary-general of the majority Mostaqbal Watan (The Future of Homeland) Party, told Al-Ahram Weekly that two rounds of meetings were held last week with leaders of political parties and forces to discuss the upcoming parliamentary elections. The first round included the Adl (Justice), the Peoples Republican, the Moatamer (Conference), Modern Egypt, and the Guardians of the Nation parties, while the second included the Ghad (Tomorrow), Wafd, and Tagammu. The meetings came after parliament passed election laws on 17 June in preparation for parliamentary elections scheduled for November. We have two parliamentary polls in the second half of 2020, to elect a 300-seat Senate and a new 596-seat House of Representatives, said Rashad. Fifty per cent of the seats will be elected via a closed party list system which Rashad says compels political parties to form coalitions to contest the elections. Amendments to the House law increased the number of elected MPs from 540 to 568. Half will be elected via the individual system, and half through the closed list system. Twenty-five per cent of the total number of seats (125 seats) will be reserved for women, and the president is authorised to appoint 28 MPs. The closed list system means that a party which wins 51 per cent of the votes in any district will take all that districts seats. This is different from the proportional list system in which each party list is allocated seats in proportion to the votes it wins per district, said Rashad. Many political parties will face an uphill battle to win more than 50 per cent of the vote and so will be forced to join forces and run on multi-party lists. We want the majority of political forces to be represented in parliament and this will not be possible without closing ranks. We want three or four strong coalitions that can contest the poll, said Rashad. Rashad revealed that parliament will discuss a new law on the redrawing of electoral districts within days. Mostaqbal Watan was able to win 57 seats (nine per cent) in the 2015 election running on a list that included seven political parties, Rashad explained. In preparing for the coming poll, we want more than seven political parties to join our list. Mostaqbal Watan trailed the Free Egyptians Party which won 65 seats (11 per cent). Bahaaeddin Abu Shoka, the chairman of Wafd, Egypts oldest political party, met with leaders of Mostaqbal Watan on 23 June. Though we would be able to contest the Senate and the House poll in all districts this does mean that we are against joining a strong coalition to contest the poll, said Abu Shoka. In 2015, the Wafd won 36 seats (six per cent). Galal Haridi, the former army colonel who chairs the Guardians of the Nation Party, told the Weekly that the party is open to dialogue ahead of the elections. I think it is better for our party to join a strong coalition to contest the poll, said Haridi. According to Rashad, nine political parties have expressed interest in joining the partys list, a number he expects to grow. By the time of the election he hopes to field a coalition list of 12 parties, possibly including the Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party. Al-Ahram political analyst Amr Hashem Rabie expects four major coalitions to contest the Senate and House elections: the Mostaqbal Watan list, the Free Egyptians list, the Wafd list, and the Salafist Nour list. Leftist political parties, including the Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party, the Nasserist, the Tagammu, and the Popular Socialist Alliance might choose to form their own coalition in which case we could see five competing lists, said Rabie. Rabie had hoped MPs would back a proportional rather than a closed list system. In the closed system, a party list which wins 51 per cent of the votes in a district will be entitled to all that districts seats even if another list won 49 per cent of the vote. This is a major drawback that could prevent some forces from gaining parliamentary representation. He noted that the 50 per cent of seats elected via the individual candidacy system could open the door to Islamist candidates with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Speculation is rife whether the Senate and House elections will be held in November as scheduled. A recent report in Akhbar Al-Youm claimed that the Senate polls will be held in August, and only the elections to the House in November. Deputy Parliament Speaker Suleiman Wahdan said the timing of the polls will depend on the coronavirus pandemic. He, too, expects the Senate election will be held in August because the Senate districts are large enough to allow for socially distanced voting. Parliamentary Speaker Salah Hassaballah expects that parliamentary elections will be held on schedule. Its the Interior Ministry that has the final say on whether the polls are held simultaneously or not, he said. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: : ... MBABANE Government is not reversing its decision on the alcohol ban. This is contained in a letter written by the Attorney General, Sifiso Khumalo, in response to a concern raised by the Swaziland National Liquor Association (SNLA) on the ban of liquor sale and distribution, starting tomorrow. The Prime Minister (PM), Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, last week Tuesday announced that government had decided to stop the wholesale and distribution of liquor with effect from July 1, 2020, seeing that the consumption of alcohol was among the leading causes of the spread of the coronavirus. Khumalo said Regulation 32 of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulations 2020 gave the PM and ministers powers to issue guidelines to address, prevent and combat the spread of COVID-19. Decisions Client (government) instructs that at all material times, government has taken decisions towards combating COVID-19 rationally with guidance from health experts, professionals and World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, reads governments response in part. The four-page response to Rodrigues & Associates, who is representing SNLA, was also copied to the PM, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo and Health Minister Lizzie Nkosi. Government informed the SNLA that there was no favouritism among businesses and if anything, things being normal, it was governments wish to have all businesses operate to sustain the economy. However, government also has a duty to take into account advices of health experts and professionals to the effect that alcohol is a factor in the spike of this virus, and prohibit the sale of alcohol for the time being to save lives of emaSwati and avoid overwhelming the health system, reads the letter. The lawyers representing SNLA had stated that in as much as it was appreciated that government had a fundamental duty to protect and contain the virus, which called for a concerted effort of all citizens including the business sector, it was their contention that their client was of the view that the ban on the sale was being arbitrary and irrationally applied. According to the lawyers, the decision was devoid of holistic considerations and input from SNLA members. Meanwhile, the AG said government, in particular the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, remained available for engagements with members of SNLA as it had been the case in the past. Government, through the AG, further pleaded for unity and cooperation in the fight against what was described as an unprecedented pandemic. Government said the pandemic had been declared a National Emergency in terms of Section 29 of the Disaster Management Act of 2006. Constitution The AG went on to cite Section 37 of the Constitution, which stipulates that; Nothing contained in or done under the authority of a law shall be held to be inconsistent with or contravention of any provision of Chapter III of the Constitution to the extent the law authorises the taking, during any period of public emergency, of measures that are reasonably justifiable for dealing with the situation that exist during that period. The State emphasised that Eswatini was faced with a crisis and a threat to human life following the outbreak of COVID-19. Government pointed out that it had imposed various measures in an effort to combat the virus and contain its escalation, prohibition of sale of liquor from July 1, 2020 being one of those measures. These measures, evidently come with derogations from normalcy they are, however, permissible in terms of the Constitution of 2005, Disaster Management Act of 2006 and COVID-19 Regulations 2020, said government. According to government, the decision to suspend the sale of alcohol for two months was rationally related to the purpose of issuing guidelines in terms of Regulation 32 of the COVID-19 regulations. SNLA lawyer, Jose Rodrigues, said he was still to go through the responses and thereafter, he would be in a position to advise his clients on the way forward. Meanwhile, members of the public have only today to buy their alcoholic drinks, before the ban kicks in. (Also see Page 27) The Middle East region is set to witness further interest and investment from China and Far East Asia, mainly in the infrastructure and logistics sector as the belt and road (BRI) scheme further expands into the region, according to Savills, a leading global real estate advisor. Global investment has changed dramatically since it is undergoing transformation driven by technological, demographic and geopolitical factors. In the Middle East for instance, the total BRI funding was $71.1 billion between 2014-2017, with Egypt being the largest recipient. In Oman, China is also key to the countrys plans to develop its industrial zones and has pledged to spend $10.7 billion by 2022 in Omans Duqm special economic zone, stated Savills at the first in-depth Middle East webinar hosted by the group following the recent launch of its global Impacts study in the region. The panel dedicated to Trade wars and risk included regional/international real estate and economic experts including Simon Smith, Director Research, Savills Hong Kong, Murray Strang, Head of Dubai, Savills and DR. Christopher Payne, Chief Economist, Peninsula Real Estate. The session was moderated by David O'Hara, Head of Savills KSA who discussed with the panellists how investment strategies are evolving in the backdrop of trade embargoes and the growing protectionist behaviours. OHara said: "The Middle East has traditionally been a net exporter of capital. Sovereign wealth funds and private equity have been some of the biggest investors into equities and trophy real estate assets over the past decade." "However, in the last few years, governments in the region have been encouraging foreign inward investment to drive growth and diversify their economies," he stated. In 2019, the UAE was the largest FDI recipient in the subregion, with flows of almost $14 billion, growing by a third from the previous year. This was largely due to major investment deals in oil and gas, primarily in Abu Dhabi. In the same year, the country further strengthened its commitment to foreign investment by launching a broad-based initiative to enhance the commercial ecosystem. On Saudi Arabia, Savills said capital flows into the kingdom increased for the second consecutive year by a further 7% to hit $4.6 billion. The new investment policy and a broader economic reform programme under the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative are intended to improve the countrys investment environment and promote economic diversification. Several large non-oil investment deals took place in the kingdom last year; for instance, the large greenfield project implemented by Pan-Asia Pet Resin (China), a plastic bottle supplier, which launched a facility in Jazan City valued at $1 billion. In Egypt, economic reforms instituted by the government have improved macroeconomic stability and strengthened investor confidence in the country. Although FDI in 2019 was still driven by the oil and gas industry, investments have been made in the non-oil economy as well, notably in telecommunication, consumer goods and also real estate. On Oman, Savills said the sultanate had set out a series of laws governing public-private partnerships, privatization and foreign capital investments, with the aim of creating a more favourable regulatory environment, while in Bahrain, full foreign ownership of companies involved in the activities of oil and gas drilling is now allowed. However, as per the UN Conference on trade and development, global flows of capital will be under severe pressure this year and is expected to fall sharply from 2019 levels of $1.5 trillion. Capital flows into developing countries will be hit especially hard, and this doesnt bode well for emerging economies in the region, that are pushing ahead with their diversification strategies and liberalising foreign investments across sectors, according to Savills. The immediate impact on FDI flows will be due to Covid-19. However, in the long-term a push for supply chain resilience, policy shifts towards more economic nationalism and more autonomy in productive capacity could have lasting consequences, it added. Leading players from the real estate industry will discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the real estate sector in the UAE and Saudi Arabia at a virtual seminar being hosted by Informa Markets, the organisers of the Cityscape portfolio for the global real estate sector, on July 7. Informa Markets will highlight and dissect the shifting sands of local, regional and international markets caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, in a series of virtual and live events which will help the diverse sectors across real estate get back to business in 2020. The upcoming session, titled The Impact of Covid-19 on the Real Estate Sector: Spotlight on UAE and KSA, will explore the ongoing transformation of the office sector and highlight how the Arabian Gulfs two most populous nations are getting back to growth through this evolution. During the online seminar, industry experts, Dr Chris Payne, Chief Economist at Peninsula Research and Simon Townsend, Head of Valuations and Consultancy at CBRE, will debate and discuss trickle-down topics such as economic impact ripples caused by workspace evolution, the importance of technology in future workplaces, and work-life integration. We intend to highlight how macroeconomic conditions in the GCC over the past few years have been the chief determinant of challenging real estate prices, remarked Dr Payne, a former chief economist at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). "Rather than follow the usual argument that there has been an over-building problem, we will stress that the real issue has been weaker demand as an outcome of fiscal constraints placed on governments by lower oil prices," he stated. Given this scenario, it becomes possible to model the economic impact of Covid-19 in the UAE and KSA. Subsequently, and considering our conservative economic and fiscal estimates for 2020, we can extrapolate how the real estate cycle will turn, he added. Accordimg to him, these models will be key to helping the region get back to business, exploring new and existing challenges and helping to identify the route to recovery for the real estate sectors. Part of a wider programme of news, market insights and in-depth analysis available through Cityscape, future virtual sessions will explore Retail: Looking Beyond Brick and Mortar, Reimagining our Urban Space after COVID-19, Impact of COVID-19 on UAE and KSA Economic and Commercial Sectors, and Re-examining Investment Strategies: Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and Data Centres. In conjunction, a new podcast series will kick-off with special guests discussing Looking beyond the Pandemic and Industrial and Logistics: A Game Changer. The series will culminate in the flagship live exhibition, conference and seminar programme, hosted in Dubai in November. With extensive Informa AllSecure safety measures in place for exhibitors and visitors, this years edition has a renewed importance, as it reconnects the real estate industry to create new business following an unprecedented period for the global economy. Chris Speller, Group Director of Cityscape, Informa Markets, said: "Much like Dubai and the UAE, Cityscape is ready for business. As a true real estate market analysis hub, Cityscapes focus is on industry preparedness ahead of the second half of 2020 in what has been a challenging year for not only the real estate market, but the world economy." "We truly support bringing the residential, commercial, industrial, hospitality and retail real estate market back to business through both virtual events and the flagship real estate live exhibition and conference in 2020," he added.-TradeArabia News Service National Business Centre (NBC), an initiative of Oman-based Public Establishment for Industrial Estates Madayn, has signed an incubation agreement with Majaz Architectural Consultancy. Majaz is an architectural firm specialised in residential and commercial architecture in the sultanates markets. It aims to provide architectural, design and construction services through using innovative methods to offer an ideal experience for the clients. NBC is an initiative launched by Madayn at the Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) to offer promising Omani entrepreneurs a platform to develop their business ideas and advance them into growing ventures. The centre offers a premier platform for Omani entrepreneurs by providing business development support and guidance, training and mentoring, access to markets and industry experts, and state-of-the-art and fully equipped office space, meeting rooms and presentation facilities, it added.-TradeArabia News Service Aramex, announced today (June 30) that it has partnered with Mubadala Healthcare, a unit of Mubadala, to distribute door-to-door critical medical supplies to patients across the UAE. Under the agreement, Aramex will collaborate with participating hospitals under Mubadalas Healthcare portfolio including Imperial College London Diabetes Centre, Healthpoint and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi for next day delivery of over-the-counter drugs, prescription-only medicines, and nutritional feed to affected patients that are recovering outside of hospital facilities. Through the partnership, up to 2,000 patients across the UAE will receive the necessary medical supplies they need to recover which will help alleviate pressure on the healthcare system and ensure government-mandated physical distancing protocols are respected. Commenting on the partnership, Anas Hijjawi, Chief Commercial Officer at Aramex said: We are honored to be supporting the health authorities and Mubadala in our united fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). It is necessary to have the operational scale and expertise to be able to handle such crucial deliveries in a safe, consistent and timely manner. Aramex has deployed highly specialized vehicles that are quality assured and temperature-controlled to deliver critical medical supplies and the fleet is equipped with the technology and protective gear to be able to carry out the deliveries with utmost safety and care. We would like to thank the Aramex team and other front liners for their unwavering dedication and commitment during these stressful times and wish all those who have been impacted a speedy recovery. Hasan Jasem Al Nowais, Senior Vice President at Mubadala Healthcare, said: We are pleased to join forces with Aramex to deliver medications to patients doorsteps. This collaboration expands our efforts that aim to reinforce the COVID-19 response through innovative solutions and services. As part of Mubadalas #WeAreDedicated initiative, Mubadala Healthcare facilities are always looking for opportunities to ramp up their services to the community by making impactful partnerships with local entities and authorities to protect the safety of everyone and provide the highest standards of patient and caregiver care. TradeArabia News Service France-based energy major Total and Algerias Sonatrach have signed an agreement to renew their partnership in the field of liquefied natural gas (LNG). This agreement allows to extend the existing supply contracts for three additional years in order to provide two million tons per year of Algerian LNG to the French market, primarily through the LNG terminal at Fos Cavaou. The agreement also includes the sub-charter of an LNG tanker of Total by Sonatrach. "This agreement is part of the long history of cooperation between Total and Sonatrach. Thanks to the quality of our relationship we were able to conclude it in an extremely volatile market environment. This new contract further enhances the flexibility of Total's LNG portfolio and strengthens our position as a major partner of Sonatrach, said Laurent Vivier, President Gas of Total. Total has been a historic player in the energy sector in Algeria for almost 70 years. The group is active in oil and gas exploration and production (participating interests in the TFT II and Timimoun gas fields and in the oil fields of the Berkine basin), as well as in liquefied natural gas through supply contracts with Sonatrach. The group is also active in the marketing of lubricants and bitumens. In addition, Total and Sonatrach have launched engineering studies for a petrochemical project in Western Algeria. TradeArabia News Service WTM Portfolio is leading the way in tackling the climate crisis by hosting a symposium of top scientists who are working on ways to decarbonise aviation. Harold Goodwin, WTMs Responsible Tourism Advisor, worked with Professor Paul Peeters, professor of sustainable transport and tourism at Breda University in the Netherlands, and Chris Lyle, an international aviation policy consultant to organise the online event, which showcased the rapidly emerging alternatives to carbon-based fuel. The symposium is the latest WTM climate change initiative and paves the way to more action at WTM London in November. Goodwin and other responsible tourism experts will meet at WTM London (November 2-4) to lobby governments and the travel and tourism industry about the urgent need to decarbonise the aviation sector. The drive towards decarbonisation comes as the UK Government is developing a Jet Zero Council, which will help fight the problem of emissions. The UKs Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, said this new body will be charged with making net zero emissions possible for flights in the future within a generation. Goodwin said: Our sector should expect more of the aviation industry and we need to press for change." The climate crisis gathers pace and there is no longer time for procrastination." There is an alternative. The tourism industry should demand that the aviation sector adopts and develops zero-carbon fuels before there is forced reduction in flying." Flying is not the problem, dirty fuel is. The aviation sector endangers our industry if it fails to change. He said the global pandemic has revealed the vital importance of travel and tourism around the world, especially for destinations in developing nations which rely heavily on the sector. However, he added: We cannot self-isolate from global warming and its consequences." Carbon offsetting is highly problematic and aviation needs to reduce its emissions not stabilise them." The good news is that there is an alternative. By 2050 all aviation fuel could be replaced with non-carbon fuels hydrogen and ammonia. It would be prudent to adapt quickly. They brought together leading scientists who are working on decarbonising aviation to showcase the rapidly emerging alternatives." Professor Peeters opened the symposium, describing the scale of the problem and the urgency of addressing it. Dr Harry Lehman of the German Environment Agency explained that the challenge was to find a way of decarbonising fuel without needing to dramatically change the existing aviation infrastructure through synthetic fuels. Dr Carola Kantz of the VDMA working group, described how these new synthetic fuels can be used in conventional jets. Dr Marc Stettler of Imperial College shared his research on the non-CO2 pollution caused by burning carbon fuels. Joris Melkert of TU Delft discussed electric aircraft and concluded with an analysis of the range of ways in which aviation impacts can be reduced. Daniel Juschus, also from TU Delft, shared a conceptual design for a fuel cell for 19-150 seat aircraft. Pericles Pilidis, from Cranfield, described how hydrogen can fuel larger aircraft. Gustavo Alonso of the Universidad Polltecnica de Madrid detailed the research agenda for CleanSky3 and Gerard Rijk of Profundo considered the investors focus. Finally, Job Rosenhart of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands, discussed the policy options for governments including mandated e-fuel shares. Goodwin concluded: The technology is proven. It requires investment and government action to impose the polluter pays discipline on the aviation industry." A duty, levy or tax, on aviation fuel could be used to fund the development of e-fuels. Too many government bailouts of aviation have not required decarbonisation. - TradeArabia News Service The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has given the green light to the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) and leading local investment bank EFG Hermes to start examining the financial situation of the state-owned Arab Investment Bank (AIB) as a first step towards their acquiring majority stakes in it. After the completion of due diligence, a comprehensive appraisal of a business undertaken by a prospective buyer and especially to establish its assets and liabilities and evaluate its commercial potential, the two buyers will together acquire 76 per cent of AIB. The acquisition will see EFG Hermes take a 51 per cent stake and the SFE up to 25 per cent, according to a joint press release. AIB is both a commercial and an investment bank, and it offers both traditional and Sharia-compliant services. The bank was established in 1974 and is currently 91.4 per cent owned by the state National Investment Bank. The remaining 8.6 per cent is held by the Federation of Arab States, created by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the early 1970s to bring together Libya, Egypt, and Syria in a unified Arab state. Although approved by referendum in each country on 1 September 1971, the three countries disagreed on the specific terms of any such merger. The acquisition of AIB will take place through both capital increase and equity purchasing. According to the latest figures, AIBs assets at the end of 2017 came in at LE23.85 billion, with paid-up capital of LE1 billion. It reported net profits of LE154.1 million in 2017, recording a 26 per cent increase on the previous year. The National Investment Bank, AIBs parent company, earlier this year said it would ask the SFE to help it market some of the companies in its portfolio, a plan later shelved due to the Covid-19 crisis. The NIB holds stakes in state-owned companies including Abu Qir Fertilisers, Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals, and e-Finance. These companies are frontrunners in the governments privatisation plans. Another important player from the banking sector, Banque du Caire, has been slated for privatisation through an initial public offering (IPO) since 2017, but this has been postponed several times due to the emerging markets crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. The government has also announced plans to sell stakes in the United Bank of Egypt and the Arab African International Bank. The banking sector saw several privatisations in the 1990s and early 2000s, the largest of which was the sale of 80 per cent of the Bank of Alexandria to Italys Intesa Sanpaolo for $1.6 billion in 2006. I am a strong believer in the Egyptian banking sector, which continues to present strong growth opportunities for investors with great potential to compete and expand regionally and into Africa. I look forward to the successful completion of this transaction in the coming few months, SFE CEO Ayman Suleiman said in a statement. The SFE was established in 2018 to attract private investments to improve the value and performance of public assets. It chooses public assets and co-develops them with local and foreign investors and financial partners in order to maximise their value, increase the private sectors role in the economy, and generate employment opportunities for Egypts youth, according to a statement. The partnership with EFG Hermes comes as part of the SFEs strategy to cooperate with the Egyptian private sector to invest in promising sectors and in particular financial services and fintech, a statement said. The SFE previously offered investors a 70 per cent stake in three Siemens-built combined-cycle power plants and various military subsidiaries in Egypt. Ten unspecified military-owned companies are also being studied by the SFE, with plans to offer them for co-investment. EFG Hermes was established in Egypt in the mid-1980s, and it has grown since then to become a leading financial services corporation with access to emerging and frontier markets. It provides investment banking, asset management, securities brokerage, research, and private equity services to the region. The AIB deal is not the first time EFG has acquired a stake in a commercial bank, as it previously held 28 per cent in the Lebanese Audi Bank, but sold this in 2010 after it failed to increase its holdings. In the same year, it brought a 63 per cent stake in Credit Libanais, but it has sold most of this stake due to the current political and economic situation in Lebanon. The move [to acquire a stake in AIB] is an important step in a strategy that we started several years ago and that aims to transform EFG Hermes from a pure-play investment bank into a universal bank, CEO Karim Awad said. The completion of the acquisition will be subject to a number of factors, including the completion of satisfactory due diligence, agreement between the parties on different contractual agreements, and obtaining final approval from the Central Bank of Egypt. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Oregon, WI (53575) Today Mostly cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High 66F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 47F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. New Delhi, Jun 30 (UNI) In a pro-poor announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Tuesday, extended the free foodgrain scheme to 80 crore poor families to avail the five kg free foodgrains till November-end. In a televised address to the nation, Mr Modi said the Government will keep providing free foodgrains to the poor section of the society, due to the increased need during the festivals. He said the Government will incur an additional expenditure of Rs 90,000 crore to provide five kg rice or wheat and one kg gram every month to the poor, pointing out that the free distribution of foodgrains to 80 crore people in India could feed 2.5 times the US population, 12 times the UK population and, twice the European Union's population. In his sixth address to the nation since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Prime Minister said under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, the Centre announced a package of Rs 1.75 lakh crore. In the past three months, Rs 31,000 crore was deposited in bank accounts of 20 crore poor families. Also, Rs 18,000 crore was deposited in bank accounts of more than nine crore farmers, he added. 'Simultaneously, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan was quickly launched to provide employment of labourers in rural areas. The Government is spending Rs 50,000 crore on this scheme,' Mr Modi added. He also urged the citizens not to let their guard down as restrictions were being lifted across the country. He said nobody is above the law and rules must be followed by everyone, in order to beat the virus. 'A timely lockdown and other decisions helped saved lakhs of lives in the country,' he added. More UNI SD RJ 1843 New Delhi, Jun 29 (UNI) Sony SABs fantasy show Aladdin: Naam Toh Suna Hoga which is a perfect blend of classic tale mixed with nail-biting adventures and heartwarming romance, have now resumed its shooting, following appropriate precautionary measures as per the guidelines laid by the government. Siddharth Nigam aka Aladdin is impressed with the measures taken by Sony SAB and the production house, and he has described his experience of the first day at the shoot. Siddharth, sharing his experience of resuming shoot amidst the new normal said, I was delighted when I heard that the shoots for Aladdin Naam Toh Suna Hoga are set to resume. Shooting on the sets will no longer be the same but we understand that all the measures taken by Sony SAB and the production house are in the best interest of all of us on the sets. While the entire production and cast are excited to resume production and bring fresh episodes for Aladdin: Naam Toh Suna Hoga, at the same time, the best precautionary measures have been taken to ensure everyones safety. When I reached the set, from the moment I entered the compound till the time I reached the shooting floor, every step had a precautionary screening and a thorough sanitization process that was followed. I was initially a tad bit nervous but after witnessing the measures taken by the team, I am now confident to shoot. The entire set is sanitized at regular intervals and wearing PPE suits, masks and gloves is mandatory. It isnt easy to work throughout the day in the PPE suits but I really appreciate everyones sincerity towards safety. I have immense gratitude towards our production team for such highest quality safety measures that ensures everyones well-being, he said. Talking about the challenges while shooting, Siddharth said, It is indeed challenging, I am doing my make-up and carrying a sanitizer with me all the time. Wearing a mask and gloves at all times is also really uncomfortable especially when you have make-up on as I need to touch-up every couple of minutes. I feel it is everyones responsibility to ensure they keep themselves safe. So, when I was on the floor delivering my scene, it was tough to do that with complete attention as I was also focusing on maintaining the right distance from other people and following the right measures even in between the shots. When I reached the set after such a long gap, for a minute I was wondering if I have forgotten how to act but yes, I missed getting into Aladdins look and Im excited to tell everyone that the wait is finally over, Aladdin will be back soon with new adventures for our fans, he added. UNI PY SB 1611 Two tests positive for Corona in Hamirpur Hamirpur (HP), Jun 30 (UNI) Two persons, including a ten-year-old boy, tested positive for COVID-19 in this district on Tuesday. The infected boy had returned with his mother, also a COVID-19 patient, from Delhi and was under institutional quarantine here. He belongs to Teeda area of Nadaun of the district. A 23-year-old girl, who had returned from Kyrgyzstan via Delhi, is the other patient. She was under Institutional quarantine at Hamirpur. She was from Bhoranj area of the district. She had gone to Kyrgyzstan there for higher studies but had to return home along with her mother due to prevalent Corona situation. Along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq sit places of worship where Muslim imams, sheikhs and sages are buried. For centuries, devotees have been drawn to the sites for prayers and meditation as well as to tap into the mystical powers of the shrines. Shrines that prove to be lacking in the supernatural powers needed to help solve the devotees personal issues and meet their needs or provide clues that can serve as religious guidelines are derided and passed by as if they did not exist. According to various Iraqi proverbs, there is also a belief that political leaders need to show the necessary powers and courage to make positive impacts and create history. Yet, over the centuries anger over persecution and other harsh policies have led Iraqis to revolt and to topple leaders who have relied on brute force and ruthlessness as their greatest virtues. It was this dilemma of democracy and tyranny that the Iraqis had hoped to resolve with the ouster of former dictator Saddam Hussein after the US-led invasion of the country in 2003. When Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi moved last week to crackdown on an unruly Shia militia in the country, many Iraqis breathed a sigh of relief that they had finally got a leader prepared to end the miserable state of lawlessness of the post-Saddam era. However, it would be quixotic to assume that Al-Kadhimi has succeeded in deterring one rogue militia using such means when there are also greater threats staring Iraq in the face, including risks of further escalation with other militias and with their sponsor Iran. Iraqi security officers stormed a stronghold packed with rockets ready to be fired belonging to the powerful Iran-backed Kataib Hizbullah (KH) militia in Iraq on Friday in a blitz assault that detained more than a dozen members of the group. A spokesman for Al-Kadhimi said the operation was carried out to restore the states prestige and to prevent rocket attacks on Baghdads Green Zone that hosts key government offices and foreign diplomatic missions. Iraqs military said the predawn raid, carried out by the US-trained Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), was directed at militiamen suspected of firing rockets at foreign embassies in Baghdads fortified Green Zone and international airport. It said the Iraqi authorities were questioning 14 men detained during the raid, which had been based on intelligence gathered about a planned attack on the Green Zone. Unnamed officials told local media outlets that among the detainees were three KH commanders and one Iranian. The raid was the most forceful action taken by Iraqi forces against a major Iran-backed militia in years, and it underscored Al-Kadhimis determination to rein in militia groups that have attacked US installations. Fridays raid took place after a number of Katyusha rocket attacks near the US Embassy in Baghdads Green Zone and other US military sites in recent weeks. The militias stepped up their assaults after the killing of Irans point man in Iraq Qassem Al-Suleimani and KH leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis in January. It is not clear whether Al-Kadhimi, who took office in May and faces a tough balancing act between the various Iraqi political and sectarian groups that are vying for power, aspires to be a strong leader, or if he is ready for a fully-fledged confrontation with the militias. Upon taking office, Al-Kadhimi vowed that he would impose controls on the weapons possessed by non-state groups and would not allow Iraq to become a theatre for a US-Iranian showdown. Hours before the CTS raid on the militia camp in a Baghdad suburb, Al-Kadhimi sent a stern warning to unruly militia groups that his government would carry out campaigns to reinforce law and order in the country. We will not let anyone threaten to destroy the Iraqi state or threaten the sovereignty of Iraq or its social fabric, Al-Kadhimi told a group of journalists in a televised interview. Yet, the militias reactions to the raid showed how difficult it will be for Al-Kadhimi to take on groups that have come to dominate large parts of Iraqs government, security apparatus, politics and economy. In the hours after the operation, scores of militiamen drove gun-mounted pickup trucks towards government offices and CTS headquarters demanding the release of fellow militiamen. In additional to this show of muscle-flexing, a spokesman for the KH threatened that the group might kill Al-Kadhimi, accusing him of betrayal. This freak and his cronies should know that the sword of the resistance will punish them if they are saved from Gods punishment, tweeted KH Spokesperson Abu Ali Al-Askari, who had previously accused Al-Kadhimi of complicity in the US killing of Al-Suleimani and Al-Muhandis. Qais Al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Ahl Al-Haq militia, another staunch ally of Iran, warned that the crackdown was a dangerous development that could trigger gigantic chaos. Al-Khazali, whose militia together with other Iran-backed groups forms the backbone of the Popular Moblisation Force (PMF) in Iraq, said the groups considered fighting the US occupation to be a legitimate right. You should have glossed over [the rocket attacks] as your predecessors did, Al-Khazali said, addressing Al-Kadhimi. Do not become involved in this because it is bigger than your government. The raid, however, has threatened to escalate tensions between the government and the Iran-backed militias, with questions swirling about whether Al-Kadhimi will continue to fulfill his pledge to rein in the groups. Al-Kadhimi must realise that the raid on the KH stronghold is a potential game-changer that puts everything at stake unless he has a strategy to deal with a looming standoff. He has sent a clear message to the militias that he will not back down by shunning threats and pressures to let the detainees go. Iraqs Joint Operations Command, the countrys highest security authority headed by Al-Kadhimi himself, said accomplices will be put on trial. Some security officials said they could face charges of terrorism, which are usually punishable by the death penalty under Iraqs anti-terrorism law enacted to deal with militants such as Islamic State (IS) group fighters. Nevertheless, pro-Iran media reported Monday that Iraqs judiciary ordered courts to release the detainees who were photographed wearing tidy PMF uniforms and treading Al-Kadhimis pictures under their feet. But beyond the recent raid, Al-Kadhimi faces an intense dilemma and questions about his options if he decides to go after the militias, especially if a further crackdown generates massive retaliation. This could be a manageable crisis that could be dealt with through short-term tactical steps. Yet, one possible scenario remains an outbreak of violence and warlike confrontation with all the Iran-backed militias, parties and factions that have already shown rising hostility to Al-Kadhimi. KH is one of Tehrans key proxy forces in Iraq, and it has long played a key role in furthering Irans influence in the beleaguered country. The group, which has an estimated 7,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, has also been instrumental in the escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran in Iraq. In case of a military confrontation veering sharply out of control, it is widely expected that other Iran-backed groups will join the fight against the government forces, spelling the threat of a bloody conflict. Chief among the challenges to Al-Kadhimi is the need to act urgently to garner broad support from Iraqs main political and communal groups for his effort to re-establish the rule of law in the country and prevent the militias from overtaking the state. Al-Kadhimi seems to have enough public support for the crackdown on the militias, and Iraqis troubled by the spread of the coronavirus epidemic and the deteriorating economic situation in the country are eager to see Al-Kadhimi carry out much-needed reforms in the political system and the government. Among the pressing public demands are fighting rampant corruption, providing public services and jobs, boosting economic growth and stopping armed groups from acting above the law. But Al-Kadhimi will need to have the countrys key political parties, communal groups, parliament and security forces on board in order to secure a larger power base if he aims at mortally wounding the militias. If a military confrontation with the militias becomes inevitable, Al-Kadhimi will also need international help, given the fact that the Iraqi security forces will need logistical and intelligence backup similar to that given by the International Coalition against IS. Many Iraqis who long for stability assume that much of this will be possible if they have a strong leader who can guarantee their safety and bring the unruly armed groups under state control. This is a time of trial for Al-Kadhimi and to prove his mettle he should make such undertakings happen and keep the militias in check while embarking on sweeping government reforms. But even with a strong man at the top of the countrys government, Iraq will still need to change the post-Saddam political game, and this could create more problems to worry about than simply reforming the security sector. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Collision at Sea In the early hours of this morning at approximately 03:30, the GPAs Vessel Traffic Services centre received a call from vessel Stena Drillmax, anchored at the Eastern Anchorage, informing that a small sailing boat had collided with her in heavy fog. Immediate contact was made with the sailing boat who advised it was taking in water. The VTS immediately initiated the search and rescue protocol and deployed HM Customs Searcher with the assistance of a local service craft Ultimate Dream to find the sailing boat in the heavy fog. Once on scene, the Captain of the yacht declared that his vessel was taking on water but that it was being contained in a watertight compartment at the bow. The sailing catamaran followed both HM Customs Searcher and the Ultimate Dream to a berth within the port where the damage could be assessed. The sailing boat is in a safe condition and the Captain is making arrangements to repair his boat. The GPA says it would like to thank all those involved in this operation for their quick and professional response. Fort Polk, LA (71446) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 89F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 71F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Paducah Mayoral Candidates Discuss Issues By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - Both candidates on the ballot in the Paducah mayoral race are already making their case to voters why they should be elected in November.Paducah City Commissioner Richard Abraham and his opponent, Paducah businessman George Bray, both spoke on the Greg Dunker Show Tuesday morning about some of their plans for the city if elected.Abraham, now in his sixth consecutive term as commissioner, said that if elected he will use his years of experience to help him get things done. He stressed a need for local government to provide an atmosphere that will help small businesses succeed, without getting bogged down with projects that in his opinion should be handled by the private sector."I've learned a lot. I really understand now how our form of government works, and how it should work. When we take care of the business that we're responsible for I think the city runs a lot better," Abraham said. "I think we get into trouble when we get outside of our lanes and start to dabble in some things that should be left to the private sector."Abraham stressed the need to create conditions that make it easier for local businesses to thrive."I've always had the philosophy, as far as government is concerned, to create an environment so entrepreneurs can look at what we're doing here in Paducah and feel that they have a shot to make a go of it," he said.Bray and Abraham both addressed the current economic situation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Abraham said the current reality is going to require a major shift in economic priorities."We're in the middle of a pandemic, and so those numbers go out of the window," Abraham said. "So now we're speculative on what the ripple effect is gonna be of the payroll taxes that we did not get, and nine million dollars in business licenses deferred until July. You gotta adjust for those things. So, we're like a lot of other municipalities. We're trying to figure out where we stand financially."George Bray said that even though the economic climate may not be great at the moment, he feels optimistic that Paducah will be able to make it through this crisis as it has many others, and that he will use his experience in business to help speed that process along as much as possible."Paducah through the years, through all kinds of recessions, we've never hit the highest highs, nor have we ever hit the lowest lows," Bray said. "I have a lot of confidence that Paducah will come back, and we can focus on the right things to get our city moving forward."Both candidates are in agreement that a previously planned $20 million aquatic center in Paducah should be off the table at this point."I was not as opposed to it early on, until I really looked at the way the aquatic center has been planned, and the way it was gonna be financed. I began talking to a lot of citizens to try to understand people's views," Bray said. "I think we need to move on to other projects that are more important for Paducah. One of the first things that we're gonna have to decide is really what do we do with that $20 million that's sitting in a bank account. Once we get through the election, whoever the mayor and city commission are, and I certainly hope it's gonna be me, we'll sit down with the new commission and we'll make well thought out, informed decisions about how we're gonna spend the money."Abraham also panned the project as something that should be left up to the private sector."I've said from the beginning that's a bad deal for us. I think projects like that should be left to the private sector, and I don't think we should be competing with the private sector for fitness centers and pools, and things of that nature."Click the links below to listen to both interviews in their entirety.On the Net: Marshall Co. Fiscal Court Approves 2021 Budget By West Kentucky Star Staff Back on June 17, Judge-Executive Kevin Neal proposed a plan to create a new agency to oversee SROs, and believed there was enough money to hire eleven officers rather than eight, with some schools being required to share officers. The plan would have allowed an officer at every school, including three at the high school. Commissioners and many members of the public had scrutinized Neal's plan, and indicated their support for current SROs, who probably would not have been retained under Neal's plan. The current plan was implemented in 2018, and many involved in the program have agreed that it is working as it is, with many saying, "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" After discussion, Commissioners agreed to keep the SROs under the Sheriff's Department and its budget. Marshall County Sheriff Eddie McGuire has worked with commissioners to trim as much of his budget as possible so it could happen. Commissioner Kevin Spraggs previously told West Kentucky Star that the salaries of the three additional officers will be covered by McGuire's cuts, funding found by commissioners, and an increase in the budget of approximately $30,000. During Tuesday morning's specially called meeting, commissioners voted on and approved the budget, retaining the current SRO program, including funding for three additional officers. I am very proud to say we passed the 20/21 budget today with a 4-0 vote. I want to thank all of the department heads for all of the time spent with me either in person or on the phone for countless hours over the last few months. I know however much time they spent with me, they spent at least that much if not more with the Judge's office, Treasurer's office, and the other Commissioners. I'm certain that a few of the meetings looked contentious and they were at times, but we are not always going to agree with each other. But in the end, we were able to compromise and come to an agreement and that is what is most important. No full time positions were lost, we made cuts where we had to, but found a way to make those cuts in the best way possible where essential services could continue uninterrupted. I am proud to be a Commissioner on this Fiscal Court and proud of this county. I also want to thank you for reaching out to me to give me your thoughts on specific items in the budget. I read each and every message and tried to reply to all of them. Please don't hesitate to email me in the future at monti.collins@marshallcountyky.gov or you can call me at (270) 703-2850. Following the meeting, Commissioner Monti Collins released the following statement on the budget: You can see the meeting below. MARSHALL COUNTY - The Marshall County Fiscal Court has voted on and approved an ordinance for their 2021 budget, which includes funding for their School Resource Officer program.On the Net: Spring Road to Open This Week in Calloway County By West Kentucky Star Staff CALLOWAY COUNTY - A contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to reopen a section of Spring Road (County Road 1415) in northern Calloway County by the end of the week.The road has been closed between Wrather Road and KY 464/West Fork Road since April 10, to allow construction of a new bridge over the West Fork of Rockhouse Creek.While there is a high probability of rain in the forecast for much of the week, the contractor anticipates a paving crew will be able to complete work on the bridge approaches to allow the bridge to reopen to traffic. Should weather force paving efforts to be delayed, a paving crew will be at the site to complete the project next week as weather allows.Construction of the New West Fork Rockhouse Creek Bridge on Spring Road is part of the Bridging Kentucky Program. FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2020, file photo, state Rep. Charles Booker speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives in the State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File) PHOTO:AP Photo/Bryan Woolston McGrath Retakes Lead in Senate Primary By West Kentucky Star Staff LOUISVILLE - One of Kentucky's most unpredictable political races in years is headed toward the wire Tuesday, but it's taking a full week after the June 23 primary to sort out a possible photo finish in the Democratic U.S. Senate contest. Absentee ballots that stacked up amid the coronavirus pandemic have delayed the vote count in the neck-and-neck race between progressive candidate Charles Booker and establishment-backed Amy McGrath. Both are vying for the chance to take on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who coasted to victory in the GOP primary in his bid for a seventh term. The lead in the Democratic primary has flipped back and forth between Booker and McGrath as results of individual counties' absentee tally trickle in. McGrath had a lead of 1,106 votes as of 4:30 p.m. Monday, but both campaigns were awaiting absentee counts from the state's two most heavily populated counties, Jefferson and Fayette. Booker, who is from Louisville in Jefferson County, had led earlier in the day by a mere 20 votes. For months, McGrath looked to be coasting toward the nomination as the former Marine pilot raised huge amounts of campaign cash and exchanged attacks with McConnell in what seemed a prelude to the fall campaign. But the Democratic contest in this GOP-dominated state turned volatile when Booker, a Black state lawmaker, seized momentum in the final weeks. Booker's profile surged amid national protests over the deaths of Black Americans in encounters with police, including the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police. Booker, who is Black, touted a universal basic income and Medicare for All ideas that McGrath has resisted. His progressive stances won him support from Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., among others. Both campaigns sounded confident Monday as they awaited the outcome. We are thrilled with the absentee results so far," said McGraths campaign manager, Mark Nickolas. Amy is winning the vast majority of the counties by double-digit margins, and (we) are eager for the final numbers tomorrow. Booker campaign manager Colin Lauderdale said the race could be close but he remained upbeat. The results reported so far havent changed the fundamentals of the race, he said, adding: We know so little about the absentees yet, that its hard to get a clear picture. One factor could be how many absentee ballots were cast early on when McGrath appeared on a glide path toward the nomination, compared to those filled out once Booker had the momentum. The surge allowed him to advertise more heavily in the last few days of the race. If disproportionate numbers were returned early before voters got to know Booker, that's really the only thing that I think is a threat to us winning the race, Lauderdale said. Another question was whether Booker would match his big in-person voting leads in Louisville and Lexington among absentee voters. Booker had lopsided advantages among those who showed up to vote, though most people in those cities voted by absentee ballot. But McGrath is well-known in Lexington, where she ran a close but unsuccessful race for a U.S. House seat two years ago, and she courted union support, a key voting bloc in Louisville. County clerks have to submit vote totals by Tuesday to the secretary of states office. In Fayette County, which covers Lexington, the local elections board was set to convene Tuesday morning to tally final results, which were expected to become public by late morning. The state turned to widespread mail-in absentee voting because of the coronavirus pandemic, while still allowing in-person voting as well. To be counted, absentee ballots had to be postmarked by primary election day and received by county clerks offices by the Saturday after the election. With the outcome still undecided, McConnell's campaign has portrayed both Democrats as too liberal for Kentucky. Neither challenger has a path to victory" against the incumbent, said McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden. The Saudi authorities have taken a compromise decision on the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, by allowing a limited number of local pilgrims to perform the ritual in the week of the end of July and beginning of August due to restrictions intended to halt the spread of the Covid-19. It has taken Saudi Arabia weeks to choose between suspending the Hajj this year altogether or allowing it to continue with a reduced number of pilgrims from certain countries. It has now opted neither to suspend the Hajj nor to allow visiting pilgrims. Earlier in June, it was reported that Saudi Arabia was considering suspending the Hajj altogether this year, restricting it to those in Saudi Arabia itself, or holding it with strict rules and regulations. Allowing pilgrims from outside the country would have risked a new spike in infections from the coronavirus, while suspending the Hajj altogether would have led to criticisms from hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world. The compromise of restricting it to pilgrims from various nationalities already living in Saudi Arabia looked the best choice. The Hajj has long been a public-health challenge to the Saudi authorities, as more than two million people from countries in all the continents of the globe typically gather in a limited space for several days. This year could have seen major health challenges, as Mecca has already been a focus of the pandemic over recent months. The holy city has been locked down since March, before the easing of the restrictions some days ago. Millions of Muslims were not able to go to Mecca for the Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) in the Holy month of Ramadan, which usually brings almost 20 million Muslims to visit Saudi Arabia every year. Huge investments have been made in recent years, costing billions of dollars, to expand venues and improve the services for pilgrims such that millions more can be hosted by Saudi Arabia each year. Saudi Arabia is responsible for the pilgrims of the Umrah throughout the year and the Hajj once a year, with millions visiting the kingdom from all over the globe. This religious tourism is also a vital source of income, generating almost $12 billion a year or two per cent of Saudi GDP. It gives religious clout to Saudi Arabia as custodian of the two sacred Muslim sites of Mecca and Medina. A limited Hajj this year, with only a thousand or so pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia attending, would mean a huge loss of national income, estimated by some at $10 billion. As an oil-producing and exporting country, this might not be a large sum of money for Saudi Arabia in ordinary times. But the Saudi economy is under pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic, like almost all other countries suffering the negative effects of the pandemic on their economies. As a result, the financial cost of limiting the Hajj will be significant and will add to the Saudi budget deficit. The cost of a limited Hajj will also impact badly on businesses in Mecca and Medina that can struggle outside the Hajj seasons. While they are usually buzzing at this time of year, the holy cities are now quiet, and as one expatriate worker working there recently told the news agency AP, were not used to seeing Mecca empty. It feels like a dead city. Its devastating for Mecca. He is one of thousands of expatriate workers in Mecca who ordinarily wait for the Hajj season to increase their earnings and remit dollars back to their home countries. In addition to workers in businesses from hotels and restaurants to transportation and barbers, casual contracts bring many thousand more seasonal workers to Mecca for a couple of months to serve the pilgrims. None of these casual contracts were available this year, leaving these temporary earners with no income. And the losses have not only been confined to Saudi Arabia alone, since the coronavirus pandemic has also affected countries usually sending hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. Apart from regular staff, pilgrim welfare boards in these countries usually engage hundreds of personnel on a contract basis to facilitate the smooth running of the pilgrimage. Travel agencies, airlines, airports and other services in these countries have thus been devastated by the cancellation of their businesses. It is not only the economic and financial cost of the restriction of the Hajj that matters, since the Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam, and it is a once in a lifetime journey that many millions of Muslims worldwide save for throughout their lives. The selection of applicants for the Hajj from different countries happens every year to meet set quotas, and many of the applicants are older people who may have difficulty travelling if their opportunity to attend the Hajj is postponed. Some may have already paid thousands of dollars to local agencies arranging the Hajj and may not be sure if this can be refunded. Newspapers reports about limiting the Hajj this year from Indonesia to Nigeria are already full of stories about older men and women mourning the lost chance of performing the ritual this year. The spiritual loss is worse for them than the financial one, and some may fear that the new restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic could deprive them of another chance to make the holy journey. Social distancing and other precautionary measures intended to limit the spread of the coronavirus could mean fewer pilgrims and more financial costs next year. However, Muslims around the world will still be able to watch the takbir, the Muslim expression of faith, from the Kaaba in Mecca on the morning of the Eid Al-Adha (the feast of the sacrifice) this year, even if there is only a symbolically small number of pilgrims performing the ritual of the Hajj. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: He, the first COVID-19 patient to recover from an infection is related to the Beijing Xinfadi wholesale market, is discharged from Beijing Ditan Hospital on June 29, 2020. [For chinadaily.com.cn/Yan Tong] A local COVID-19 patient surnamed He, 56, was discharged from hospital on Monday morning, the first recovered case among the new cluster of novel coronavirus infection in Beijing. According to a report of Beijing Daily, the patient went to Xinfadi wholesale market on June 3 and started feeling weak and began experiencing headache on June 5. He went to hospital on June 12 when his body temperature rose to 38 C and was confirmed of COVID-19 on the same day. He was a bus driver for the airport in the capital, but was on leave because of suspension of airport shuttle buses. Beijing reported seven new local cases for Sunday, half of the number of new cases that were reported for Saturday. The total confirmed patients reported in Beijing rose to 318 since the first new local case was reported on June 11, according to data from the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Two medical workers accompany He, the first patient to recover from an infection related to the Beijing Xinfadi wholesale market, as he is discharged from Beijing Ditan Hospital on June 29, 2020. [For chinadaily.com.cn/Yan Tong] He, the first COVID-19 patient to recover from an infection related to the Beijing Xinfadi wholesale market, takes questions from the media after he is discharged from Beijing Ditan Hospital on June 29, 2020. [For chinadaily.com.cn/Yan Tong] Two medical workers accompany He as he is discharged from Beijing Ditan Hospital on June 29, 2020. [For chinadaily.com.cn/Yan Tong] (Source: chinadaily.com.cn) A view from Wrexhams Member of Parliament This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jun 30th, 2020 Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Assembly Members to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home you can find them all here. Today, Wrexhams MP Sarah Atherton writes As lockdown measures are slowly and gradually lifted and as many of us are returning to work and the classroom, we must continue to listen to government advice. Whilst this next stage of the pandemic may bring uncertainty for residents and businesses, the outbreak has highlighted the resilience and adaptability of individuals, our businesses and us as a nation. The UK Government has announced further support packages to protect individuals, businesses and our economy, and will continue to do whatever it takes to get us through this pandemic. Earlier this month non-essential shops across Wrexham opened their doors with covid safety measures in place. This has been the most challenging period for shops and high streets in our history, and I was pleased to see our high street spring back to life after its long slumber. Local business are the lifeblood of our towns and they need our support! #ShopLocal pic.twitter.com/bpoYUBQkv1 Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 23, 2020 Last week I took the opportunity to visit some of the shops in the town centre that had recently re-opened their doors, speaking to shop owners, employees and shoppers about their experience of re-opening. Wrexham is #OpenForBusiness I had a lovely afternoon chatting to retailers and shoppers in #Wrexham this afternoon! #ShopLocal pic.twitter.com/0T7kU63u62 Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 25, 2020 In order to reboot Wrexhams economy and increase footfall, it is important that residents are encouraged to visit our town. That means ensuring a safe environment for shoppers and employees. Id like to thank businesses and the council for their hard work in getting the town covid secure. https://twitter.com/AthertonNWales/status/1276477702938263552?s=20 Many Wrexham residents rely heavily on the hospitality and tourisms sectors. I have written to the Welsh Government for a clear indication on when businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors may reopen, boosting Wrexhams local economy. The tourism and hospitality sectors are vital to the Welsh economy & the livelihood of many #Wrexham residents. My letter to @FMWales pic.twitter.com/rAAqjLfmAg Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 16, 2020 Whilst this pandemic has brought out the good in our community, unfortunately scammers have taken the opportunity to target people online. That is why I have created a cyber security guide, with guidance on how to stay cyber secure. https://twitter.com/AthertonNWales/status/1271438573695311876?s=20 My colleagues and I have now returned to parliament, albeit a slightly different parliament to the one we left a few months ago, with new social distancing measures in place. In my first question back in the chamber I asked about the womens residential centre pilot scheme coming to wales. First question back in the @HouseofCommons chamber, asking about the Womens Residential Centre Pilot Scheme in #Wales pic.twitter.com/F2HzhXgIxo Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 9, 2020 During Prime Minister Questions, I was able to ask the Prime Minister the about importance of a continued UK-wide approach to the handling of this pandemic, which is vital if we are to see a continued reduction of covid-19 cases. Today at #PMQs I asked @BorisJohnson whether he agreed that a UK-wide approach is vital if we are to see a continued reduction in #COVID19 cases pic.twitter.com/OXJKUqInlZ Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 24, 2020 I continue to be active on the Defence Select Committee as we continue our inquiry into the security of the UKs 5G network. My question about the current status of the UK-US special relationship https://t.co/f9kjxjXw4j pic.twitter.com/b6eAy3i2SH Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 16, 2020 I have also been looking at the barriers women face in the UK Armed Forces, in particular, the way in which sexual abuse in the Armed Forces is investigated. We have a duty to ensure that military justice is effective and fair and that victims of sexual assault are not disadvantaged by the nature of their service. Sexual abuse in the armed forces should not be prosecuted by the military, writes @AthertonNWales https://t.co/xNx79rAkcQ pic.twitter.com/2TguR9nYgK Red Box (@timesredbox) June 23, 2020 I am honoured to work alongside so many veterans in Parliament, last week we came together to celebrate Veterans Day, and the fantastic contribution of our Armed Forces. Yesterday I was joined by fellow @Conservatives former Service Personnel to celebrate #VeteransDay pic.twitter.com/dhFY0wAvTW Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 25, 2020 Recognising the fantastic contribution of the Armed Forces to our country, I have called for the abolition of visa fees for commonwealth military personnel. We must do all that we can to support the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much to serve our country that means making it easier for them and their families to settle in the UK following their loyal service.https://t.co/Hd5EyxB4Cr Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 2, 2020 As we enter the recovery phase, Id like to once again thank all of our dedicated key workers and NHS staff for all of their hard work during this outbreak. From caring for our most vulnerable and those encountering difficulties, to keeping our communities connected, I am eternally grateful for everyone who played a part in the coronavirus response, helping us enter the recovery stage of this pandemic. Great to see support for our key workers in #Wrexham! pic.twitter.com/hqsdWoQak2 Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) June 28, 2020 I will continue to be a strong voice for Wrexham as we enter the recovery phase of this pandemic. If you should require any help, please do not hesitate to contact me on the details below: Email: sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk Phone: 020 7219 4885 Post: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA My staff and I are still working tirelessly to help #Wrexham residents. If you need my assistance, please dont hesitate to get in touch: 020 7219 4885 | 01978 291742 Sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk pic.twitter.com/q9ktQ04GWb Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) April 17, 2020 Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Welsh and UK Parliament representatives to write a monthly article with updates on their work and closer to home you can find them all here. 237 confirmed cases connected to Wrexham outbreak however 72 historic cases that predate mass sampling This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jun 30th, 2020 UPDATE 2pm: The usual 2pm Public Health Wales statement has emerged, along with the dashboard data update. The dashboard attributes +5 new confirmed cases for Wrexham. Todays Public Health Wales statement notes some extra information on the jump from 166 cases to the new 237 figure, information that was not given from the Health Minister earlier. The 237 announced cases, minus the 72 historic cases, would return the local figure close to the Friday figure of 166. Todays report includes 19 cases identified following an intensive data matching exercise that has taken place over the course of the weekend and 72 historic cases which pre-date the mass sampling at the site. This is as we would expect for any focused track and trace process. The relatively large increase in cases reported does not mean that we have experienced a sudden jump in levels of infection in the Wrexham area as a whole. Work has also continued over the weekend to review data and continue contract tracing with the workforce. As a result we have established that around two thirds of the 300 workers we were initially seeking to contact could be removed from our enquiries, as they we either already shielding or have not been working during the period of the outbreak. Of the remaining group of employees and contractors (approximately 100 people), we continue to work with the employer and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to offer testing appointments at local community testing units. There is no evidence that Rowan Foods is the source of the outbreak. The multi-agency team managing the outbreak with Public Health Wales will continue to review the situation and work with the employer, their workforce and wider community to bring this outbreak to a swift conclusion. em>Original information below The Health Minister has said today there are now 237 confirmed cases in relation to the outbreak in Wrexham. The figures are up 42% from the 166 cases at the last official public update, or 28% up on the 185 cases we reported last night based off an internal Wrexham councillor update. We asked the Health Minister Vaughan Gething today if further stats will be released to give more context around the single number given out, to discover if that was around factory workers, friends and family and the numbers of people self isolating. We also asked the Minister if comments in the House of Commons last night were accurate when Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock said Welsh Government had closed the Wrexham factory. The Health Minister replied, On the last point, the Welsh Government hasnt closed the factory. Now, we have the powers to close a business, but we have not closed at Rowan Foods or Kpak. Two Sisters (Anglesey) voluntarily closed their business for two weeks so thats the factual point. On figures in Wrexham, Ive given the figures and later today well give the new figures when we get the update on up the numbers of people associated with Rowan Foods to be able to see from the Rowan Foods figures and the other figures in Wrexham about what the link is. We are actually seeing a very low level of coronavirus transmission within our communities, theres I think about a third or more of our local authorities that have had no cases at all within the last few days so thats really positive. What we do see in Wrexham is it being driven by the testing and the prevalence of coronavirus within the workforce at Rowan Foods, so that is absolutely an undeniably the driver. Its why we test so many people. Its why, as Ive described earlier for local authority, the employer trade unions and the National Health Service are working together to make sure that we do test everyone who needs a test. We are taking all steps that we could and should do to make sure testing happens, whilst taking all steps necessary to protect the public and the wider community. The drivers of transmission appear to be, not just the workplace actually, but shared travel to the workplace and shared accommodation as well, so we need to understand those to then measure our response against whats required to protect those people with coronavirus, as well as the wider community. Mr Gething referenced discussions locally with a range of stakeholders including unions. Yesterday Unite the Union said about Wrexham: Full sick pay so that employees can stay home and be safe is in our view the key action that would have stopped the virus spreading on this site. We asked the First Minister about that topic on Friday, and was he was writing a letter to PM Johnson. Today we asked for an update regarding the finances of closures and staff pay, and if UK Government was not going to sort the issue, would Welsh Government. Today Mr Gething replied: We dont have the power to intervene on sick pay or changes to employment law, and we dont have the power to intervene in individual contracts employment. Its worth pointing out Two Sisters on Anglesey, because they closed the plant, theyre paying their staff as normal. Thats the legal requirement, and that happened with relatively little need to engage directly with a company, between local stakeholders including the union. In Kpak USDAW welcomed yesterday the fact that Kpak are paying everyone who has a positive coronavirus test their full pay as well. Rowan Foods is still paying statutory sick pay, and for some people that puts people in a position where they need to choose between doing the right thing on public health grounds, protecting the wider community, and the potential to go back in to work, and essentially pay bills. Now, what all of the employers are doing as I said is that unless people have a negative test result, they wont be allowed back into work, so there wont be an incentive to go into work with symptoms in these three employers. We are though concerned that there should be an answer, not just in these three instances, not just in the outbreaks that we know are taking place in England too but more generally. Thats why the First Minister wrote to the UK government at the end of last week, asking for the work to be progressed, and to have an answer to this. Its why I raised it in the meeting of four health ministers last week, this is something where the whole UK could and should benefit. I would welcome, and support UK Government measures either to change employment law or in any event to make sure that support is available centrally from the UK Government so employers dont face a choice between potentially going out of business if they want to pay full sick pay or indeed have the means and the resources to not make that choice between different competitors. So, I hope the UK government in the work that I understand theyre already doing, will be able to bring forward a quick decision because this isnt just of benefit and interest to us here in Wales, but I think every nation in the UK would benefit from that approach being taken as we see in Germany, for example, it would practically mean people would self isolate when asked to do so by their contract tracing teams. You can watch the briefing, and the Q&A session on the below video: Health Minister rules out closure of Wrexham schools despite large increase in coronavirus cases connected to Rowan Foods factory This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jun 30th, 2020 Wales Health Minister has ruled out the closure of schools in Wrexham, despite a sharp increase in coronavirus cases linked to a food factory. The latest update provided by Vaughan Gething shows 237 people have tested positive at the Rowan Foods plant on the towns industrial estate a rise of more than 40 per cent compared with the last set of public figures. One primary school in the area decided to delay its planned reopening on Monday after a positive case was identified. While there is no evidence to suggest the case at St Marys Primary School in Brymbo is connected to the factory outbreak, questions have been raised over whether schools should be shut to prevent the virus spreading further. It comes after Anglesey Council took the decision not to allow children to return after a similar wave of COVID-19 at the 2 Sisters meat processing facility in Llangefni. Mr Gething told the Local Democracy Reporting Service at todays daily Welsh Government press conference that there was no cause for Wrexham schools to follow suit. However, he said it was reliant on people following the advice of public health officials. He said: We dont have evidence of community transmission, and the unified advice from Public Health Wales (PHW) and local health board, is that there isnt a case for closing schools in Wrexham at present. That relies on people coming forward to get their tests, relies on people following the advice of the Test, Trace and Protect service, but at this time there isnt that case. The difficulty is that whenever people ask a minister for a guarantee that something wont happen, its not so much a hostage to fortune as an impossible promise to make. We know that coronavirus exists within communities at a relatively low level in any event, and I couldnt guarantee in any good faith to any person in Wales, that they wont have coronavirus now or in the future. What I can say is that if people follow the advice being given on social distancing, on good hand hygiene, on getting a test if you have symptoms, all of us will be safer, including you and your family. The latest figures from PHW in relation to Rowan Foods include 19 cases identified following a data matching exercise carried out over the weekend. Meanwhile, 72 historic cases have also been discovered which pre-date the mass testing at the site, with 100 workers still yet to be tested. The health agency said the significant increase in numbers was not representative of a sudden jump in levels of infection in Wrexham. Mr Gething said there was no current need to impose a local lockdown after restrictions were tightened in Leicester today following a surge in coronavirus cases in the English city. But he added that the necessary powers were available if the government decided to introduce stricter measures in future. He said: In Leicester, they dont have an incident that is linked to one workplace and a distinct group of people to try to contain the spread of the virus within. Thats markedly different to where we are with Llangefni, Wrexham and Merthyr. We may get to a position where its necessary to make use of the power to require people to remain in isolation as opposed to the advice that is being given and largely followed. If we needed to take further community wide measures, ministers have those powers here. By Liam Randall BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme) More than 73,000 meals in surplus food donated in Wrexham by Tesco This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jun 30th, 2020 More than 73,000 meals of surplus food have been donated in Wrexham by Tesco with the company reaching a milestone of 50 million meals being donated across the UK. The food has been donated through the Community Food Connection scheme it operates with food redistribution charity FareShare. Every Tesco store in the UK participates in the scheme, which is celebrating five years of helping communities across the country. Each month more than a million meals of food are donated. Since the start of the pandemic almost 700 new groups have signed up to receive food from the scheme, helping to respond to the needs of communities across the UK. FareShares Chief Executive Lindsay Boswell said the scheme, the largest of its kind in the UK and believed to be the largest in Europe, was making a real difference. We are delighted that Tesco has reached this milestone donating the equivalent of 50 million meals is no mean feat and has gone such a long way in supporting thousands of charities and community groups up and down the country, he said. The scheme is a real game-changer for organisations working with the vulnerable, allowing even more people to access good to eat food which would otherwise go to waste. The scheme works by pairing charities and community groups with their local Tesco store. At the end of each day a store colleague works out which food is likely to be unsold and then uses a specially-developed app to tell a local charity or community group what food can be collected. Across the UK 7,000 charities and community groups have benefitted from the scheme, with 42 groups currently receiving surplus food from Tesco stores in the Cymru North Wales. Among the groups that receives donated food from the scheme is Wrexham Church Fairhaven Congregation. Church volunteer Caroline Searle, said: For us, the work is a way of putting our faith into action. We see it as our responsibility to help the needy and vulnerable, as the Bible says. Demand has doubled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Before lockdown, 90% of the people we were helping were homeless but now were helping all kinds of people. We get referrals from the council and AVOW {Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham}, and we also send food parcels to local residents who are self-isolating. As well as the typical tinned items and toiletries, the fresh food donations from Tesco means were able to prepare homemade meals to include in our food parcels. Community Food Connection is just one of the ways that Tesco is tackling the issue of food waste, and it has played a key part in ensuring that 77% of the surplus food from Tesco stores no longer goes to waste. Tesco UK CEO Jason Tarry said: Tesco Community Food Connection has made a real difference to communities. Now that we are five years into the scheme the fact that we have donated 50m meals allows us to reflect on its success, and the difference the scheme has made not only in feeding people in communities across the UK but also to tackling climate change. However, there is more to do, and we are looking at how we can divert even more food from waste in future. To find out more about Community Food Connection visit: tescoplc.com/community Utterly devastating news as Airbus say they will shed 1700 jobs in UK This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jun 30th, 2020 Airbus has said it is to shed 1700 jobs in the UK, the planemaker has said 15,000 will go globally as the company deals with the fallout from the coronavirus epidemic in news that has been described as utterly devastating by the Economy Minister Ken Skates. Its unknown at this stage how many jobs will be affected at the firms Broughton site. The UK job losses will be split between its Flintshire site and Filton in Bristol. In a statement this evening Airbus said it is to adapt its global workforce and resize its commercial aircraft activity in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The statement issued just before 6:30pm tonight goes on to say: This adaptation is expected to result in a reduction of around 15,000 positions [globally] no later than summer 2021. The information and consultation process with social partners has begun with a view to reaching agreements for implementation starting in autumn 2020. The commercial aircraft business activity has dropped by close to 40% in recent months as the industry faces an unprecedented crisis. Commercial aircraft production rates have been adapted accordingly. Airbus is grateful for the government support that has enabled the Company to limit these necessary adaptation measures. However with air traffic not expected to recover to pre-COVID levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025, Airbus now needs to take additional measures to reflect the post COVID-19 industry outlook. Following the in-depth analysis of customer demand that has taken place over recent months, Airbus anticipates the need to adapt its global workforce due to COVID-19 by approximately: 5,000 positions in France 5,100 positions in Germany 900 positions in Spain 1,700 positions in the UK 1,300 positions at Airbus other worldwide sites. You can read the full statement here: https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2020/06/airbus-plans-to-further-adapt-to-covid19-environment.html This evening Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates said this evening, This news is utterly devastating. Tonight there will be a huge number of workers at Airbus extremely worried by this announcement my thoughts are with them and their families. As a Welsh Government we will stand shoulder to shoulder with the company, its workforce, the unions and the communities impacted by this and I will be setting out more detail of the Welsh Governments response tomorrow. Nobody should be under any illusion about the impact Covid is having on aerospace, a critical part of the Welsh economy. The sector is in crisis and the UK Government needs to take swift and decisive action now to save the industry and its supply chain. The alarm bells have been sounding for weeks and we need urgent steps at a UK level to prevent this crisis becoming even worse. During todays daily briefing, health minister Vaughan Gething was asked if the Welsh government was prepared for a worst case scenario at Airbus Broughton, he said: On Airbus, but more generally about the economy, weve been very clear that the furlough scheme the UK government introduced was very welcome. Weve also been clear theres a potential to withdraw some of that support will accelerate lots of businesses and their choices about whether they can maintain all of their workforce. There are additional challenges in different sectors of the economy. I do think itd be helpful for the UK government to give a clearer signal about the future of a range of our industries and again, its a consistent message for Welsh ministers to reconsider how support in the furlough scheme is being managed and withdrawn. I do think that it will accelerate a wave of job losses, if that decision isnt revisited. Earlier this month Guillaume Faury suggested the Airbus workforce in Britain is more vulnerable to cutbacks than French and German counterparts because the UK furloughing scheme is set to be downgraded shortly. He said he regretted the UK decision to end the scheme, under which the state pays 80 per cent of laid-off workers pay up to 2,500 a month, in October. Around half the workforce at Broughton have been furloughed over a phased period. In France and Germany job subsidy schemes are set to last for up to two years. Furlough schemes were ways of damping the workforce reduction and retaining skills, Mr Faury told the Financial Times. If we dont have that system in the UK, we have to look for more permanent solutions when we could have avoided those . . . for part of the workforce, he said. Responding to todays announcement from Airbus on plans to adapt its global workforce, ADS Chief Executive Paul Everitt said: This is undoubtedly the toughest period the global aerospace industry has ever faced. Being the largest commercial aircraft company in the UK, Airbus is central to our aerospace industry and has a close relationship with its highly integrated UK supply chain. This difficult news will be unsettling for their employees and those working as part of the supply chain. The aerospace industry contributes to the UKs prosperity and international competitiveness and our highly-skilled workforce is primed to play a huge role in creating the sustainable aircraft of the future. We have already seen tens of thousands of jobs across the aviation and aerospace sectors put at risk as a result of this crisis. Government action to support the wider economy has been greatly appreciated across the aerospace industry, but further measures are urgently required to support a strong recovery in our sector. This should include increased investment in UK innovation, help to recapitalise the supply chain and using public procurement to support high value UK manufacturing. 500 highly skilled contract workers employed at Airbus by Guidant Global many of them have been working at Broughton for years have already been told they face redundancy. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-29 15:56:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JAKARTA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese ship has saved victims of an Indonesian vessel which capsized in the Natuna Sea and handed over them to an Indonesian rescue vessel, the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Office said on Monday. Chinese vessel Guo Yuan 28, which was passing by the scene when the shipwreck took place in the waters off Seraya Island on Saturday, rescued seven Indonesian sailors, six of them were alive and one died, the National Search and Rescue Office's spokesman Yusuf Latief said. The ship Guo Yuan 28 was on the Chinese-Brazil route, according to the spokesman. KM Sidik ship sank at 3:00 a.m. local time after being hit by a storm, the spokesman said. "That (storm) caused the sea waves to come into the ship, while the pump engine failed to pump out the water. This caused the ship to go down," he told Xinhua. KM Sidik left Tanjung sea port of Natuna, a district in Indonesia's Riau Islands province for West Kalimantan province's capital of Pontianak. All the victims were rushed to a nearby hospital in Natuna and the COVID-19 Task Force in the district, he said. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-29 23:09:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member unloads Chinese medical supplies from an airplane at the Kotota International Airport in Accra, capital of Ghana, April 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng) BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday expressed strong opposition to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statements over China-Africa relations, saying that the statements ignored the fundamental facts and smeared China arbitrarily, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a news briefing when asked for comment to Pompeo's statements, in which he blamed China-Africa cooperation and China's transparency in handling COVID-19. Since COVID-19 broke out, China has always acted in an open, transparent and responsible manner and provided timely information to the World Health Organization and relevant countries and regions including the United States, Zhao said. Medical supplies donated by China are unloaded from a plane at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare, Zimbabwe, on May 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuliang) China also shared the genome sequence of the virus, actively responded to the concerns of others, and strengthened cooperation with all sides, the spokesperson said, adding China has bought time and made positive contributions to the global fight against the virus. Zhao said China will work with the international community to step up support for African countries and earnestly act on the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative. "Some African countries have applied for such suspension with China. And we are now working on the specific details through close coordination and consultation to ease their debt burden and help them tide over the difficulties," Zhao said. "We hope that the United States will focus on its own epidemic response and also contribute to the global fight against the virus through concrete deeds, instead of undermining and smearing other countries' response and spreading the 'political virus,'" he said. The African countries and the international community at large have no difficulty in telling who is genuinely helping Africa and who is politicizing the debt issue, Zhao added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 01:42:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Oct. 25, 2018 shows a night view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) Chinese funds increased their share of the global investment market significantly in the first three months of 2020, the Financial Times reported. LONDON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A major British newspaper has reported that China has enhanced its status as one of the world's largest fund hubs despite the COVID-19 crisis, describing the Asian country as "a rare bright spot at a time of significant upheaval for the investment industry." Chinese funds increased their share of the global investment market significantly in the first three months of 2020, the Financial Times reported, noting that "the breakneck growth of its fledgling investment sector continues despite the coronavirus-induced recession." "The shift underscores the Chinese fund market's status as a rare bright spot at a time of significant upheaval for the global investment industry, which is reeling from heavy investor outflows and dramatic asset price decreases during the March market sell-off, and bracing itself for further volatility as the coronavirus crisis continues," the newspaper said. "Competition among global fund houses for a share of the Chinese onshore market is intensifying," it added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 02:18:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ANKARA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will extend a wage support system for one more month to ease the impact of COVID-19, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday. The government will also extend a financial aid program for low-income families for one more month, Erdogan told reporters after a cabinet meeting. The wage support system, which covers the workers whose working hours are reduced by their employers, was introduced in March for three months just after Turkey introduced strict measures to tackle the virus outbreak. The Turkish president also said Turkey will deliver an aid package to Iraq on Tuesday. Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Monday reported 1,374 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 198,613. In a single day, 18 more patients died, taking the death toll to 5,115 in Turkey, the minister tweeted. Turkey conducted 51,014 tests for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the overall number of tests carried out so far to 3,331,158, he stated. Koca said that a total of 171,809 patients have recovered in the country since the outbreak after 1,214 more recoveries were added in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, 1,018 patients are being treated at the intensive care units and 375 being intubated, he added. 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 China's experience in treating coronavirus patients, protecting medical workers, and controlling the spread of the virus. Enditem In his televised address marking the seventh anniversary of the 30 June Revolution, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi said that Egypts national security is closely linked with the security of its regional environment. It does not stop at Egypts political borders, but rather extends to every point that could have a detrimental impact on Egypts historical rights. It is obvious to all that we live in an extremely turbulent region and that the interplay of international and regional interests in the region make it hard for any country to withdraw within its borders and simply wait for what surrounding circumstances might bring. Egypt has taken stock of the magnitude of the challenges in the region, some of which may constitute concrete threats that require an absolutely firm response in order to safeguard the security and stability of Egypt and its people. Although Egypt possesses comprehensive and far-reaching power in its regional environment, it has always been inclined towards peace. It extends its hand in good will to all, and it never intervenes in others affairs. But, at the same time, it takes all necessary precautions to protect its national security. That evening, Egypt presented its case concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to the UN Security Council. This crisis is a clear example of the threats that Egypt faces today. The Security Council session marked a diplomatic victory for Egypt and an international acknowledgement of the danger this crisis has come to represent to international peace and security as a result of Ethiopias persistent evasiveness and intransigence in the deadline it has set to implement its threat to begin filling the GERD reservoir in the absence of a legal agreement with Egypt and Sudan. Egypt has made it clear to the international community that any unrestrained control over a major water resource such as the Nile could have extremely grave repercussions, to the point of exposing entire societies to lethal drought and dehydration. At the same time, the other sides plea that it does not have sufficient electricity for its people is unconvincing, coming as it does from a country that abounds in rainwater and other river systems. As Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri has pointed out, Egypt is situated in the most arid part of the Nile Basin and is the most water-deficient nation on Earth. This harsh reality has confined us to seven per cent of our land and to a narrow green strip along the Nile and a fertile Delta that are home to millions. With 560 m3 of water per year per capita, Egypt is on the list of countries that suffer from water paucity as defined by international criteria, he said. Ethiopia, by contrast, is blessed with up to 936 billion m3 of rainfall per year, plus 11 other river basins, some of which it shares with neighbouring countries. Such resources open up innumerable opportunities for regional cooperation and integration, Shoukri said, stressing Egypts continual support for the development of fellow African nations. We are committed to working indefatigably towards the realisation of prosperity together with our brothers in the African countries and especially in other countries of the Nile Basin, including Ethiopia. Testimony to this can be found in the long history of constructive collaboration between Egypt and these countries in carrying out various development projects, such as the construction of dams, rainwater harvesting projects, the digging of wells and the removal of vegetation obstructing the flow of rivers. The international community has placed its trust in the African Union (AU) mechanism for promoting a just and equitable agreement over the filling and operation of the GERD. The AU Commission must therefore act quickly, in keeping with the sentiment of the majority of UN Security Council members, who have expressed their opposition to unilateral actions, to forestall the commencement of further work on the GERD that could threaten the security of the entire region. Ethiopia, for its part, must also remain committed to this principle and reiterate its pledge not to undertake any unilateral steps to fill the GERD reservoir before reaching an agreement with Sudan and Egypt. As Shoukri pointed out, there can be no other understanding or interpretation of this pledge, which Addis Ababa also made during the online summit convened by South African President and AU Chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa last week. If Ethiopia once again acts counter to it, the only possible explanation would be that it still lacks the political will to reach an equitable agreement and continues to harbour the intention to impose an unacceptable de facto reality on the downstream nations. Such behaviour would render any future negotiations futile. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 04:32:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that Germany would spearhead efforts to ensure an effective post-pandemic EU recovery, after she held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. "We are going to work together and make Europe fit for tackling this crisis," Merkel said following talks with Macron at the German government guesthouse in Meseberg, north of Berlin. It is the first face-to-face meeting between the chancellor and another state leader after the coronavirus outbreak. "I'm very happy that we agree on the challenges that we want to overcome together," added Merkel, who noted that "expectations are high" -- referring to Germany's EU presidency starting from July 1 -- but Berlin and Paris are ready to rise to the task, in a bid to invest more into the future to meet those challenges after the pandemic. "It is important to me that we come out of the debate with a strong instrument at the end," said the German Chancellor. She said there would be changes to the European Commission's proposal, "but it has to remain a fund that helps, that really also helps the countries that otherwise threaten to be much more affected by the crisis." Macron stressed that the fund needs to be effective and defended the price tag of the current proposal. The 500-billion-euro recovery fund is the joint commitment of both France and Germany. Solidarity is needed to transfer the Franco-German consensus to the success of Europe. France and Germany are backing a European Commission proposal for a recovery fund including 500 billion euros in budgetary transfers and 250 billion euros in loans. Opposing that idea are Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, who reject any pooling of member states' debts. Macron warned the four countries, nicknamed "frugal four," that they were acting against their own best interests. They "gain a lot -- more than others -- from taking part in a common space of prosperity and exchange," he argued. "And so it is not in their interest to see some members, especially important markets in the European economy, affected," said Macron. He said the pandemic is not yet at its peak, and that steps needed to be taken at the EU level to deal with challenges on the horizon. "The chancellor and I put it on paper: It's our absolute priority. Without this, Europe wouldn't rise to the challenge," Macron said, referring to the post-pandemic recovery plan. EU leaders are due to meet up in person next month to try to reach an agreement on the recovery package. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 04:47:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAMASCUS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Islamic State (IS) prisoners rioted in a prison run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah on Monday, a war monitor reported. The IS prisoners staged the riot in the Ghweiran prison in Hasakah, demanding "fair trials" and allowing visits by their families, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog group said the IS members tried to destroy the walls and gates of the prison amid confirmed information of casualties among the prisoners. In tandem with the riot, helicopters of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition flew on a low altitude in Hasakah. The IS prisoners staged a similar riot on May 3, which ended after hours of negotiations between the prisoners and the U.S.-backed SDF. The SDF runs prisons in areas it controls in northeastern Syria, where around 10,000 IS members are imprisoned, 2,000 of whom are foreigners. The North Press Agency, a media outlet running in Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria, said dozens of SDF members arrived in the vicinity of the prison in Hasakah. It added that the SDF closed the roads leading to the prison. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 07:30:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People spend their Sunday afternoon on the National Mall in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 28, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) "It is increasingly clear that many governors reopened their states too quickly, reigniting the virus and hurting their economies," wrote Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. WASHINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the United States is threatening to derail the nascent economic recovery as many states have either paused or partially reversed their staged re-openings, economists and officials have warned. "Economic activity in states with the most significant increases in cases in recent days, including Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, appears to be rolling over," Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, wrote Monday in an analysis. "It is increasingly clear that many governors reopened their states too quickly, reigniting the virus and hurting their economies," Zandi wrote, adding containing the virus and supporting the economy are not mutually exclusive. The bulk of the increase in U.S. COVID-19 infections has been in the South and West, with California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas accounting for the bulk of the increase, according to Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group. "Some increase in COVID-19 cases was expected as the economy reopened and testing continued to ramp up. The rise in infections, however, has been greater than can be explained by testing alone," the Economics Group wrote Friday in a report, noting many states and metro areas have either paused or partially reversed their staged re-openings, which will weigh on economic growth this summer. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said on Sunday that the "window is closing" for the country to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases, while New York Governor Andrew Cuomo blamed the case increases on a failure to act earlier. People dine outside a restaurant in New York, the United States, June 25, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua) "I don't think this is a second surge. We're worried about a second wave. I think we're still in the first wave, and this is a continuation of the first wave, and it was a failed effort to stop the first wave in the country," Cuomo told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. Even in the absence of new containment measures, the renewed threat of the coronavirus will likely lead to more cautious consumer and business behavior and weigh on the recovery nationwide, according to economists. "The third-quarter bounce in real GDP (gross domestic product) growth, which we have been expecting to be almost 20% annualized (after an over 30% annualized decline in the second quarter), is in jeopardy," Zandi said, urging Congress to pass another coronavirus relief bill to help support the economy. "Lawmakers are expected to settle on another fiscal rescue package in the next few weeks, and the price tag should be getting bigger with the new infections. If they fail, the economy will almost surely contract again this fall," he said. The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 5 percent in the first quarter this year, according to the Commerce Department. That figure, however, still does not fully capture COVID-19's economic damage, and many analysts believe that the decline in the second quarter is expected to be much deeper. A number of Federal Reserve officials have also warned that the U.S. economy is expected to grow more slowly than people had hoped months ago as the country cannot stop the community spread of COVID-19. People spend their Sunday afternoon on the National Mall in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 28, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) "My forecast assumes growth is held back by the response to intermittent localized outbreaks -- which might be made worse by the faster-than-expected reopenings," Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said last week, expecting the U.S. economy unlikely to return to its pre-pandemic level of output until late in 2022. "So even after three years, my projected recovery places us below where the economy would have been had the virus not occurred. Unfortunately, I think some previously expected trend growth has been permanently lost," he said. Eric Rosengren, president of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, estimated that U.S. unemployment rate will remain in double digits by the end of this year as efforts to contain COVID-19 so far have not been particularly successful in the country. "This lack of containment could ultimately lead to a need for more prolonged shut-downs, which result in reduced consumption and investment, and higher unemployment," Rosengren said earlier this month, adding the economic rebound in the second half of the year is likely to be less than what was hoped for at the outset of the pandemic. Since February, U.S. employers have shed nearly 20 million jobs from payrolls, reversing almost 10 years of job gains, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate jumped to a post-World War II high of 14.7 percent in April, and then moved down to a still very elevated 13.3 percent in May. The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has topped 2.56 million as of Monday afternoon with over 125,000 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. "Were the infection to grow exponentially because of relaxed social distancing practices among the states and communities, we would expect to see the number of cumulative coronavirus cases to approach 2.8 million in the week leading up to July 4, the next test of our willingness to stop the spread of infection," said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at accounting and consulting firm RSM US LLP. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 07:47:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is rolling out a campaign to fight misinformation, particularly that on COVID-19, telling people who are about to retransmit social media content to pause, a senior UN official said on Monday. The idea of the initiative, Pause, is for people to "take care before you share," said Undersecretary-General Melissa Fleming, head of the UN Department of Global Communications. From the work of psychologists and misinformation experts on how misinformation is spreading, it is found that the way people share information plays a part, said Fleming. "We hope that take-care-before-you-share starts to become a kind of social norm that people have in the back of their head and that will enable a personal behavior change that will help - I'm just saying help - stop the spread of misinformation." She said the United Nations will work with social media platforms and technology companies to address the issue. "Obviously, changing personal behavior does help. But it's not enough. Misinformation is spreading like a virus. It's playing into people's fears. Its creators are the masters of the platforms' algorithms." The Pause initiative will be launched on Tuesday to coincide with Social Media Day. Fleming said it is appropriate to launch an initiative that is "a bit of social distancing from social media." Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 09:25:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KIGALI, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda on Monday reported 101 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, a record single-day increase of more than 100 cases in the central African country. The increase brought the national tally to 1,001, according to the daily update of the COVID-19 pandemic issued by the Health Ministry. Seventy-two new cases were from a cluster in a detention center in Ngoma district in eastern Rwanda, 22 cases were reported in the capital city Kigali, three in the district of Rusizi, and two in Rubavu, said the update. The Kayonza and Kirehe districts in the east each had one case, it said. "We shall continue to see new cases as people move around," Sabin Nsanzimana, director general of Rwanda Biomedical Center, told Xinhua. He urged the public to adhere to health ministry guidelines, including COVID-19 prevention measures, in order to contain further spread of the novel coronavirus in the country. "We are concerned for people who are not respecting COVID-19 prevention measures such as proper use of face masks, keeping social distance and frequent hand washing habits. If these are well implemented, new clusters of cases will be managed," he said. Of the total cases in Rwanda, 443 have recovered and two died from COVID-19, according to the ministry. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 09:28:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ABUJA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Scores of Boko Haram militants were killed in multiple airstrikes carried out by the Nigerian military in the country's northeast state of Borno, a military spokesman said on Monday. Saturday's airstrikes followed days of aerial surveillance missions by the military in Warshale, a settlement in Borno, John Enenche, spokesman for the Nigerian military, said in a statement. The missions conducted by two military jets found that the settlement was being used by the terror group to launch attacks. During the airstrikes, several structures in the camps of Boko Haram were destroyed and some terrorists were neutralized, Enenche added. Since 2009, Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria, extending its attacks to countries in the Lake Chad Basin. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 10:04:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAKAR, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese President Makcy Sall said Monday night that, starting from 11 p.m. Tuesday, the state of emergency and the related curfew will be lifted across the country. Due to the high risk of COVID-19 spreading, enclosed places hosting leisure activities will remain closed, Sall added during his televised address. Sall's decision to lift the state of emergency is seen as part of the government's effort to relaunch the economy that has been dramatically affected by the pandemic. Senegal reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 2. Since then, the West African country has reported 6,698 confirmed cases, including 108 deaths and 4,341 recoveries. Although Sall decided to further ease restrictive COVID-19 measures, he warned that the pandemic is not over, stressing the importance of respecting barrier gestures. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 10:33:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called for the peaceful settlement of the dispute between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. The utilization of cross-border water resources involves the distribution of interests between upstream and downstream countries, and is therefore highly complicated and sensitive. China holds the view that this should be resolved by the three parties through dialogue and consultation for mutual benefit, said Yao Shaojun, China's acting deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. African countries have a good tradition of solving regional issues through dialogue and consultation. Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan are all important countries in the region and good friends of China. China sincerely hopes that the three parties will reach a solution acceptable to all through patient dialogue and consultation, Yao told the Security Council. China hopes that the international community will create a conducive external environment and support the three parties in narrowing their differences through dialogue and consultation in an effort to maintain peace, stability, and development in Africa, he said. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is currently under construction. The dam is located 15 km east of the border with Sudan. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 10:51:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic still ravages the world with the approaching of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, there is great concern that vectors like mosquitoes and flies could carry the coronavirus and transmit it to humans. Yet medical experts said that there is no evidence of such viral transmission. The fear is not without cause as mosquitoes and flies could transmit a slew of contagious diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever. But mosquitoes and flies do not have the biological basis to transmit the coronavirus, according to Wang Liping, a researcher from the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention. There has been no evidence worldwide showing that COVID-19 contagion was caused by mosquitoes and flies, she said at a news conference on Saturday, urging people to protect themselves against mosquito bites and keep food from flies in summer. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also clarified that the novel coronavirus cannot be transmitted through mosquito bites. "To date there has been no information nor evidence to suggest that the new coronavirus could be transmitted by mosquitoes," the WHO said on its website. The novel coronavirus is a respiratory virus which spreads primarily through "droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose," the WHO noted. "As of today, there's no scientific evidence that a mosquito is competent in spreading COVID-19 from any host to any other host," RJ Montgomery, director of Mosquito Management Services in Hillsborough County, Florida, told local media. The mosquito is "the vector of many, many pathogens but from what we know today, we know it [COVID-19] is not a pathogen mosquitoes can transmit from human to human," Montgomery was quoted by WTSP, a CBS-affiliated television station in Florida. To protect yourself, clean your hands frequently with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water, and avoid close contact with anyone who is coughing and sneezing, according to the WHO. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 10:57:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights for six months, till Dec. 31, 2020. The UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights has been tasked to maintain a cease-fire between Israel and Syria since 1974. Resolution 2530, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member council, stresses the obligation of both Israel and Syria to fully respect the terms of the 1974 cease-fire, and calls on them to exercise maximum restraint and prevent any breaches of the cease-fire and the area of separation, the buffer zone. It underscores that there should be no military activity of any kind in the buffer zone, including military operations by Syrian government forces. The resolution calls on all groups other than UNDOF to abandon all UNDOF positions, and return the peacekeepers' vehicles, weapons, and other equipment. It underlines that UNDOF remains an impartial entity and stresses the importance to halt all activities that endanger UN peacekeepers on the ground and to accord the UN personnel on the ground the freedom to carry out their mandate safely and securely. The resolution requests the UN secretary-general to report every 90 days on developments in the situation there. UNDOF was established in May 1974 following the agreed disengagement of the Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights that ended the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The situation in UNDOF's area of operations had been quiet until the spillover of the Syrian civil war in 2012. The mission's observation role has been significantly reduced since its September 2014 relocation from the Bravo (Syrian) side to the Alpha (Israeli-occupied) side because of the Syrian civil war. Monday's resolution welcomes UNDOF's ongoing efforts to consolidate its presence and to intensify its operations in the buffer zone, including its intent to resume inspections in the "area of limitation" on the Syrian side -- an extension of 25 km from the Bravo line. Enditem Egypt was spot on when it left Cairos Tahrir Square void of a statue of a notable figure. True, there is a statue of Omar Makram standing to one side, but the square could have enjoyed the presence of a statue of, say, late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, who was revered by millions of Egyptians and Arabs alike, or maybe of late president Anwar Al-Sadat, who will be forever remembered for having reclaimed Sinai and placed Egypt on the path to peace. However, Egyptian prudence left Tahrir Square void of any statue. Today, an obelisk and four ancient Egyptian rams adorn the square. Had a statue of a historical figure stood proud in Tahrir Square, it might have met the fate of the many other statues around the world that have been pulled down during recent protests. What is glorified by one group at a given moment in history may be unappreciated by others at a different one, and Egypt has saved itself from the trauma that the rest of the world is going through today. Amidst the fury that often comes about in the protests of the beleaguered, acts of defiance can manifest themselves in the destruction of statues and monuments. History saw the toppling of the statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps in Suez during the Tripartite Aggression against Egypt in 1956, the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam Husseins statue in Baghdad during the US-led invasion of Iraq, and of statues of Lenin in states emerging from Soviet control in the 1990s, among them Ukraine. It has seen changes to the names of public buildings, schools and stations in Egypt after the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak. After the death of African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis in the US, statues around the world were defaced, beheaded, vandalised or shoved into rivers during the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests. Some were also taken down by officials who believed the statues represented racism or injustice and were offensive to many. Statues are tributes that glorify a person thought to be worth recognising. But many statues not only offend but also cause outrage. Many institutions are revoking the privileges they have bestowed upon certain figures, including universities that have immortalised them by naming halls, libraries and other buildings after them. Many prestigious institutions are now rethinking the honours they have bestowed on such people. Countries and cities alike have named streets, universities, schools and many other locales after those they have considered to be eminent persons, and today they aim to remove the reputable standing they have given to such figures. The existence of racism, apartheid, slavery and white supremacy is undeniable, and the brutality of invaders and colonialists, which many of these statues uphold, is also undeniable. However, how far should we go in removing the signs of this history? Would we then still be able to understand what happened in the past? Where do we draw the line? Have we gone from the sublime to the extreme? Because of their accessibility, statues are usually the first to get hit. A statue of former British prime minister Winston Churchill in London was one of many to be targeted, and the police had to board up the statue and form a ring around it to protect it from vandalism. Yet, history tells us that Churchill was indeed a white supremacist, and he is on record as saying things that prove his racism. I do not admit, for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America, or the black people of Australia... A stronger race, a higher-grade race, or, at any rate, a more worldly wise race, to put it that way, has come in and taken their place, he said. He also said that he hated Indians and people with slit eyes and pig tails, and he referred to Palestinians as barbaric hordes who ate little but camel dung. But he was also the leader that rallied the British during World War II and led them to victory. So, how should we remember Churchill? Should we emphasise the good or the bad? According to a recent article on the US news channel CNN, portraying Churchill as the root of all wickedness is as problematic as viewing him as the single-handed saviour of freedom and democracy. In the US, statues of Christopher Columbus and many others have met the same fate. First Nations people believe that Columbus represents colonisation and slavery, and now cities and provinces named after him may change their names. A call in British Columbia in Canada to change its name has begun, for example. Petitions are also underway to rename Columbus in Ohio in the US. The US computer company IBM has said it will stop selling facial-recognition equipment to anyone, including the police, as it may be used in mass surveillance and racial profiling. This is a good thing, but when the epic US film Gone with the Wind is removed from video-on-demand streaming services, we are going overboard. Indeed, the removal of symbols of tyranny and racism may have gone beyond the rational and at times beyond the sane. Quaker Oats, the owner of the Aunt Jemima brand of food products in the US that features a laughing black woman on its packaging, has called the image a racist stereotype and is planning to drop the brand altogether. Other popular US brands such as Uncle Bens rice, Mrs Butterworths syrup and pancakes and Eskimo pies ice cream are all about to follow suit or be given a makeover. The most extreme case came when anti-racist protesters called for the destruction of the Great Pyramids in Giza because, according to them, they were built by slaves. Even if this were true, which it isnt, should we destroy the Pyramids for such a bizarre reason? I doubt any Egyptian would go along with this simple-minded suggestion. Consistency will be hard to implement. What about Mount Rushmore, the massive sculpture of four United States presidents in the US? Though the four presidents depicted on the monument were immense contributors to the US that exists today, they all endorsed and accepted if not slavery then at least white domination over blacks. Will the Americans demolish an iconic symbol that is visited regularly by millions of citizens? To make amends and to fix wrongs, statues of those who symbolise bigotry, racism and tyranny must go, but I hope things dont go too far in removing such historical images. Lets not go overboard on this. The writer is the author of Cairo Rewind on the First Two Years of Egypts Revolution, 2011-2013. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 11:13:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Shiran Illanperuma COLOMBO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC), 99 years after its founding, has set an example for the world through its people-oriented philosophy and policies based on a community with a shared future for mankind, a senior communist member in Sri Lanka has said. The CPC has been "a party of the people, by the people and for the people" since its founding in 1921, D.E.W. Gunasekera, general secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, told Xinhua here in an interview. Gunasekera said throughout the CPC's history, the party has always been adhering to the fundamental principle of never losing touch with the people, who are the source of strength. Taking the fight against COVID-19 as an example, Gunasekera said in the face of this unknown disease, the party "took the people's interest at heart and first." All structures within the highly institutionalized party, from local to national levels, "were geared up for the immediate task of containing the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. "The Chinese leadership took strict and effective actions and the people responded," he said. Praising the CPC's success in lifting millions of people out of poverty, Gunasekera expressed confidence that the party will achieve its target of eliminating absolute poverty by the end of this year despite the complexities posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. According to official data, China has lifted more than 700 million people out of poverty over the past several decades, representing over 70 percent of global poverty reduction. Over the past four years, China has relocated 9.3 million low-income rural residents to more inhabitable areas, 9.2 million of whom were lifted from poverty as a result, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning body, said in March. "China will emerge as the first nation in the world free of absolute poverty," Gunasekera said, adding, "China will create history." The target can be achieved with the CPC's consistent policies on increasing production and productivity, he said. Lauding the comprehensive anti-corruption efforts made by the CPC since the 18th National Congress in late 2012, Gunasekera said the party has set an example for the rest of the world in fighting corruption, "a global phenomenon." "No other country has gone so far in the task of eliminating corruption," he said. From the perspective of a developing country like Sri Lanka, the CPC's foreign policies based on cooperation, multipolarity and a community with a shared future for mankind are quite favourable, he said. "China has decided upon cooperation and not engaged in confrontation. Only cooperation can lead to countries gaining mutual benefits," he added. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 11:18:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Christopher Guly OTTAWA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- As far as the reopening of businesses and bars is concerned, Canada has been better than the United States at slowing the spread of COVID-19 through physical distancing and people increasingly wearing face masks in public, the latest update from Canada's Public Health Agency suggests. "As the epidemic has slowed, the incident rate has steadily declined in all age groups," Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said at a briefing here. "The epidemiology indicates the transmission is largely under control." Canada has had just under 104,000 cases of COVID-19 with over 8,500 deaths to date. By contrast, 41,075 new cases were reported in the United States on Monday, bringing its national total to more than 2.5 million -- nearly a quarter of the global total of 10.4 million. The coronavirus disease has also claimed the lives of over 126,000 people in the United States, with 885 new fatalities reported on Monday alone. The Canada-U.S. border, closed to non-essential travel since March 21, is scheduled to reopen on July 21. But at his regular COVID-related news conference on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted that could be halted. "We will continue to assess the situation and work with the Americans on what steps need to be taken in the month of August," he said. "What the situation we're seeing in the United States and elsewhere highlights for us is that, even as our economy is reopening, we need to make sure we are continuing to remain vigilant individually and collectively," he said. However, with the return of in-store shopping and greater numbers of people gathering, the demographic picture of the pandemic in Canada has changed. People 80 years of age and older remain the hardest-hit population, accounting for nearly 18,000 cases. Seniors living in long-term care and retirement homes also represent the greatest human toll taken by COVID-19, with 20,604 cases and 6,920 deaths across Canada as of Friday. Yet the 80-plus crowd has experienced the steepest decline in transmission since late May, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, which reported a relative increase in cases among people between the ages of 20 and 39, who "now account for a greater proportion of total cases in recent weeks," said Tam. New modeling numbers released by the Public Health Agency on Monday forecast a slight uptick in both cumulative cases of COVID-19 (as high as 108,130) and deaths (as many as 8,865) in Canada by July 12. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 11:37:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali for another year, till June 30, 2021. Resolution 2531, which won the unanimous support of the 15 members of the Security Council, decides that the mission, known by its French acronym MINUSMA, shall continue to comprise up to 13,289 military personnel and 1,920 police personnel. It authorizes MINUSMA to use all necessary means to carry out its mandate. The resolution decides that the primary strategic priority of MINUSMA remains to support the implementation of the 2015 Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali. It further decides that the mission's second strategic priority is to facilitate the implementation by Malian actors of the stabilization strategy for Central Mali, with a view to protect civilians, reduce intercommunal violence, and re-establish state authority, state presence and basic social services in the region. MINUSMA was established by the Security Council in 2013 to support political processes in Mali and carry out a number of security-related tasks. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 11:42:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Boeing began on Monday a test flight to determine whether the revamped 737 MAX is safe after fatal crashes grounded the jet worldwide last year. The flight took off from an airfield near Seattle and flew through eastern Washington state before dipping down into Oregon and eventually returning back to the Seattle area. Flight enthusiasts around the world followed in real time as the aircraft flew over central Washington and performed maneuvers such as stalls, based on airspeed and altitude data on FlightRadar24. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has approved the certification test flights after Boeing submitted safety fixes to the FAA for review. The flight is a milestone toward ending a grounding imposed worldwide in March last year after the two crashes of Boeing's best-selling model killed 346 people. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 12:10:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close OSLO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian Air announced on Monday that it has cancelled orders for 97 Boeing aircraft and will claim compensation from the U.S. plane manufacturer for the grounding of the 737 MAX and for 787 engine troubles. The airline said it cancelled 92 of the 737 MAX jets, five 787 Dreamliners and the commercial services contract related to both fleets, and has "filed a legal claim seeking the return of pre-delivery payments related to the aircraft and compensation for the company's losses." The announcement came after Boeing on Monday began its flight tests of the 737 MAX, in an effort to gain regulatory approval for it to return to operations. Boeing said it is in talks with the Oslo-based carrier, as it is with other airlines, during this struggling time. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 13:25:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Olatunji Saliu ABUJA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Monday said it would lift the ban on interstate movements across the country mid-week after weeks of restriction to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 25,000 people in the country. This decision, approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, came as the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) late Monday confirmed 566 new cases in 19 states and the capital city of Abuja, bringing the national tally to 25,133, with 573 deaths and 9,402 recoveries. Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha told reporters on Monday that movement across state boundaries could now take effect from Wednesday, with the current nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. remaining. According to Mustapha, who chairs the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Nigerian president also approved "the safe reopening of domestic aviation services as soon as practicable and publication of revised guidelines around the three thematic areas of general movement, industry, labor and community activities." On Saturday, the government embarked on a dry run of the Abuja-Lagos aviation route, saying the airport was 90 percent ready for operation with full compliance to COVID-19 guidelines. The Nigerian government shut down the airports for commercial flight operations on March 23, as part of the measures to curb the pandemic. The government had considered reopening the airports twice but ended up with wider consultations. The wearing of masks, Mustapha said, remains mandatory when accessing government premises and other public places. The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) hailed the government's decision to lift the ban on interstate movement across the country, reopen the airspace for domestic travels, and reopen schools, describing it as a "welcome development." Olayinka Onikijipa, chairman of the RTEAN in the north-central state of Kwara, told Xinhua that his association has formulated its own sets of guidelines in accordance with the government directives, including arranging infrared thermometers at all motor stations to check passenger temperatures before they board vehicles. "We have also told all our members to have alcohol-based hand sanitizers in their cars and all passengers and drivers must make use of masks. We are also going to ensure physical and social distancing in our vehicles and motor parks," Onikijipa said. Nigeria recorded its first case of COVID-19 in Lagos, its commercial hub, on Feb. 27. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 13:34:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- International airlines are resuming flights to the Chinese mainland as China has eased its COVID-19 restrictions on aviation. On Wednesday, German airline Lufthansa resumed scheduled flights between Frankfurt and Shanghai for once a week, the first of its kind operated months after the outbreak of the pandemic. According to media reports, it expects to further restart the Austria- and Switzerland-China flights in the weeks and months ahead. In line with the improvement in the domestic coronavirus situation, China in early June loosened its aviation restrictions from the "Five Ones" policy introduced at the end of March in an effort against imported cases, which permitted the entry of only one weekly passenger flight per route for each per airline. Currently, any qualified international airline can operate one weekly passenger flight to China, and carriers of the United States can fly twice a week, as long as the number of coronavirus infections in passengers newly detected upon arrival will not trigger a route "circuit breaker" for flight suspension. Last week U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines was back in service for trips to Shanghai twice a week, and United Airlines is scheduled to resume its route between San Francisco and Shanghai, via Seoul, on July 8. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 14:28:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CARACAS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on Monday asked the head of the European Union (EU) mission in Caracas, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, to leave the country within 72 hours, after the bloc released sanctions against 11 Venezuelan officials. "We will sort it out in 72 hours... she will be given a plane to leave, but we will arrange our things with the European Union," said Maduro. However, Venezuela's airspace is currently closed to commercial airplanes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the officials sanctioned is the opposition legislator Luis Parra, who is contesting the leadership of the National Assembly controlled by the opposition and Maduro's main challenger Juan Guaido. Relations between Venezuela and the EU have been tense since 2017, when the latter launched sanctions against the former, including an arms embargo. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 14:29:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The first session of Mongolia's new parliament, formed following Wednesday's regular parliamentary elections, is scheduled for Tuesday, according to local media. During the session, 76 newly elected legislators will be sworn in, and a new parliament speaker will be appointed, media reports said. The ruling Mongolian People's Party won a landslide victory in the regular parliamentary elections, taking 62 out of the 76 seats in the parliament, according to official results announced Friday. Opposition Democratic Party won 11 seats, while two coalitions -- the Right Person Electorate Coalition and Your and Our Coalition -- won one seat each. Former Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag, who ran as an independent candidate, got one seat. The State Great Khural, Mongolia's unicameral parliament, consists of 76 lawmakers, whose term lasts four years. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 15:39:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks in a TV address in Caracas, Venezuela, March 16, 2020. (Venezuela's Presidency/Handout via Xinhua) The move came after the EU released sanctions against 11 Venezuelan officials. CARACAS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on Monday asked the head of the European Union (EU) mission in Caracas, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, to leave the country within 72 hours, after the bloc released sanctions against 11 Venezuelan officials. "We will sort it out in 72 hours... she will be given a plane to leave, but we will arrange our things with the European Union," said Maduro. However, Venezuela's airspace is currently closed to commercial airplanes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the officials sanctioned is the opposition legislator Luis Parra, who is contesting the leadership of the National Assembly controlled by the opposition and Maduro's main challenger Juan Guaido. Relations between Venezuela and the EU have been tense since 2017, when the latter launched sanctions against the former, including an arms embargo. Before the partial curfew was lifted, people were glued to the screen, with many more Egyptians following Ramadan TV than usual. As Eid approached Netflix announced it would be offering Egyptian classic stage comedies (as per the Eid tradition) to mark the occasion. Some of Egypts best loved plays Fouad Al-Mohandess Sok Ala Banatak (Lock Your Girls In, 1980), Samir Ghanems Al-Motazawgoon (The Married Couples, 1979), the ensemble-cast Al-Eyal Kebret (No Longer Kids, 1979), the phenomenal hit, also with an ensemble cast, Madraset Al-Moshaghbeen (The School of Mischief, 1973) and Adel Imams Al-Wad Sayed Al-Shaghal (Sayed the Servant, 1985) appeared side by side with Hollywood offerings and independent films from all over the world. Al-Eyal Kebret and Madraset Al-Moshaghbeen both feature Said Saleh, Younis Shalaby, Ahmed Zaki and Hassan Mustafa, with the latter also featuring Imam. On the one hand this allowed Netflix to make up for the lack of new productions, on the other hand it provided the Egyptian and wider Arab audience with some of its most intimately cherished fare. This month Netflix added 10 films by Egypts foremost auteur, the late Youssef Chahine: Iskendriya Lih? (Alexandria, Why?), Iskendriya Kaman wi Kaman (Alexandria Again and Forever), Al-Ard (The Land), Al-Mohager (The Emigrant), Salahdin, Al-Massir (Destiny), Seraa fil Mina (Struggle in the Pier) or known as Dark Waters, Awdat Al-Ibn Al-Dall (Return of the Prodigal Son), Hadouta Masriya (An Egyptian Story) and Seraa fil Wadi (Struggle in the Valley) also known as The Blazing Sun. The ten films currently on Netflix were among 21 films that were previously restored within the framework of a giant project that began after the death of Youssef Chahine in 2008, filmmaker Marianne Khoury managing partner at Misr International Films (MIF) told me. MIF, which was founded by Chahine in 1972, needed to collaborate with a number of partners and to get various funds for such a gigantic project to restore Chahines films, each one of which required a different path for its restoration due to a different co-producer in every film. For instance the films that were produced in France before 2000 that are eligible for certain funds thanks to their French producer, she explained. Its like giving the film a new life, she said after a pause. Usually, film restoration is a very expensive process, but with the French government willing to support the restoration process of these films, the CNC [Centre National du Cinema] covered 70 per cent of the expenses on condition that the restoration should be carried out in France, while the rest of the expenses were divided between MIF and the French producer. In September 2018, marking ten years since the death of Chahine, a retrospective programme of 21 newly restored Chahine films opened Zawya art houses new venue after its relocation. Born in Alexandria, which haunts his best work, Chahine was the first Egyptian auteur to make autobiographical features. In the brilliant family study Iskendriya Lih? which won the Berlinales Special Jury Prize in 1979 Yehia, a stand-in for Chahine, witnesses World War II from his hometown of Alexandria while pursuing his dream to travel to the US to study filmmaking. Though not available on Netflix, Chahines earlier masterpiece Bab Al-Hadid (Cairo Station, 1958) nominated for the Berlinale Golden Berlin Bear can be seen in its entirety on YouTube. In addition to directing, Chahine gives a brilliant performance playing the lead, Qenawi, the mentally unstable newspaper seller who grows obsessed with the local beauty Hanouma (Hind Rostom) to the point to committing a crime. Netflix is also offering Seraa fil Mina (Struggle in the Pier or Dark Waters, 1956) and Seraa film Wadi (Struggle in the Valley or The Blazing Sun, 1954) both featuring Omar Sharif and Faten Hamama, in addition to the 1970 production Al-Ard (The Land), featuring Mahmoud Al-Meligi, Nagwa Ibrahim and Ezzat Al-Alaili, based on Abdel-Rahman Al-Sharkawis novel about the plight of the fellahin. The controversial Al-Mohager (The Emigrant, 1995), a thinly veiled version of the story of the Prophet Joseph featuring Khaled Al-Nabawi, Youssra, Mahmoud Hemeida, Hanan Turk and Safiya Al-Emari, was banned for breaching the Islamic injunction against portraying the prophets. Chahine won two lifetime achievement awards: in 1997 at the Cannes Film Festival and ten years later at the Dubai Film Festival. Netflix is one of the most important platforms around the world, if not the most important one, Khoury told me, and of course due to the quarantine circumstances, these platforms became significant in peoples lives. There are many platforms in Egypt like Watch It and Shahid besides and many others from different countries, but Netflix were interested in presenting something authentic for the Egyptian audience and so they bought some of Chahines films along with films by Yousry Nasrallah and others. The way I see it, Netflix is revitalising these films. These platforms have been available for a while now, but in the past three months, because of the quarantine, things took off in a new way. It will certainly help bring a new generation and new audiences in general to Chahines films, she concurs, announcing that Zawya is coming back along with the rest of the countrys movie theatres this week. As to the Panorama of the European Film, however, Nobody in the whole world really knows what things are going to look like, especially regarding the cinema. There were film festivals cancelled. Of course reopening might not be safe, but the lockdown is killing industries and has a very negative impact as well. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 July, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 15:56:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CHARIKAR, Afghanistan, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A total of 17 militants were confirmed dead as fighting planes targeted a gathering of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's eastern Parwan province on Tuesday, provincial government spokesperson Wahida Shahkar said. The air raids were launched when more than 200 Taliban insurgents were planning to attack the checkpoints of pro-government militiamen in Koh-e-Safi district in the wee hours of Tuesday, according to the official. A senior Taliban commander Mohammad Nabi was also among those killed in the strikes, Shahkar said. Taliban militants who are active in parts of Parwan province have yet to make comment. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 16:07:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A speech made by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at a meeting summarizing a CPC education campaign themed "staying true to our founding mission," will be published Wednesday in the 13th issue of the Qiushi Journal. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 16:34:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Xinhua writer Wang Lei BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Commerce Department declared on Monday that it has revoked Hong Kong's "special status" and suspended "preferential treatment" of the Chinese city, including export license exceptions. Washington's latest move under the disguise of worrying about the city's "autonomy" is but another example of flagrant interference in China's internal affairs, and has once again exposed the hegemonic nature of the world's sole superpower. It is not the first time the current U.S. administration has sought to use Hong Kong to slow China's development and contain the Asian country. Yet no matter what, Washington will in no way shake Beijing's determination to safeguard China's national security interests. For starters, decision-makers in the White House should realize that they are in no position to decide whether Hong Kong enjoys a high level of autonomy. They should also realize the fact that Hong Kong's special economic status as a separate customs territory is not granted or gifted by any specific country, but has its legal basis in World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, and is protected by the Basic Law and recognized by other WTO members. Since it returned to China in 1997, Hong Kong, under the "one country, two systems" principle and a high degree of autonomy, has further consolidated its status as a leading international financial and global trading center. It has the busiest free commercial ports in the world and became the world's top initial public offering market in 2018. The city's huge economic and trade accomplishments should be mainly attributed to a combination of factors including its unique advantages, active engagement with the Chinese mainland, the world's second largest economy, as well as China's continous efforts to reform and open up. Moreover, the United States has been a major beneficiary of a stable and prosperous Hong Kong. And it has more to lose by revoking the city's special customs status. By trading with Hong Kong, the United States has raked in nearly 300 billion U.S. dollars of surplus during the past decade, while Hong Kong's locally manufactured goods bound to America only account for 0.1 percent of its total exports. Meanwhile, U.S. goods and services exports to Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong's direct investment in the United States, have generated more than 210,000 jobs in the country. Washington's every plot to damage Hong Kong's role as a global financial center will ultimately boomerang and hurt America's huge interests there. Most importantly, Beijing will not change its course of action to end chaos and violence in Hong Kong, protect national security and preserve the country's sacred territorial integrity and sovereign rights simply because of U.S. pressure. The national security law that targets a tiny minority of people who commit acts of secession, subversion and terrorism, and aims to protect the legitimate rights of the vast majority including law-biding citizens and companies, could not be better to safeguard Hong Kong's stability and development in the long run. In fact, Beijing is trying to protect the interests of foreign investors in Hong Kong, including those of American businesses. The turbulence since last June has seriously eroded the city's security and harmed its sound and stable business environment. Washington should not underrate or misjudge the unswerving determination of Beijing and the Chinese people to safeguard China's sovereignty and security, as well as their strong commitments to backing the development and prosperity of Hong Kong; otherwise, U.S. interventionists will only shoot themselves in the foot. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 16:51:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TASHKENT, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan has decided to limit the public's movements within red and yellow zones amid increasing numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases, the country's Special Republican Commission to Combat Coronavirus said on Monday. The commission, which has divided the country into red, yellow and green zones depending on the level of severity of COVID-19 spread early this month, said residents are not allowed outside their homes from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. in red and yellow areas except for medical purposes. The Uzbek authorities said clothing markets and large shopping malls will be closed on weekends, and gatherings of more than three people in public places will be banned in red and yellow zones. So far, Uzbekistan has registered 8,298 COVID-19 cases, 24 deaths and 5,496 recoveries. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 16:53:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JERUSALEM, June 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook on Tuesday urged the international community to extend a Untied Nations arms embargo on the Islamic republic. "In four short months Iran will be able to freely import fighter jets, attack helicopters, submarines, large-caliber artillery systems, and missiles of certain ranges," Hook said during joint remarks alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the PM's office in Jerusalem. Hook added that Iran will then could export these weapons and technologies to its proxies, including Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Shia militia groups in Iraq and Syria, militant networks in Bahrain, and the Houthis in Yemen. "The last thing that this region needs is more Iranian weapons," he said, calling on the UN Security Council to continue the embargo. Hook said that also Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, which he visited before arriving in Israel, are worried over the expiration of the embargo. He added that the U.S. and Israel are working together to "ensure in one way or the another that the arms embargo will not expire." Netanyahu called for more sanctions against Iran. "I believe it's time to implement snapback sanctions," he said. "I don't think we can afford to wait. We should not wait for Iran to start its breakout to a nuclear weapon, because then it will be too late for sanctions." Israel considers Iran its arch-foe. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 16:54:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday it had detained a Russian citizen on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack in the country's North Caucasus. The detainee, born in 1990, is suspected of preparing to detonate a makeshift explosive device near an administrative building in Vladikavkaz, the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, an FSB statement said. The suspect planned to go to the Middle East to join the terrorist organization Islamic State after the attack, it said. Components for making an improvised explosive device were seized, together with means of communication, which contained the suspect's correspondence with IS members abroad, it added. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 17:14:54|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PRETORIA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in South Africa on Monday donated 1,000 food parcels to the underprivileged community in Pretoria's Refilwe township. Charge D'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in South Africa Li Nan said the donation was to show solidarity and assist the struggling community who are affected by the COVID-19. "We share the same suffering and feelings of the African and South African brothers and sisters. More than before, we need to work together to fight this pandemic. We strongly believe by fighting together we will win the final victory," said Li. The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) President Bathabile Dlamini thanked the Chinese and the Communist Party of China (CPC) for their benevolence. She said the ANC and CCP enjoy cordial relations. "Comrades in China have done a lot for us. They have walked with us a long journey. We are grateful for the donation and we see it is from their heart. Thank you China, thank you." One of the beneficiaries Francina Ditshego told Xinhua that they are grateful for the donation. She said she will share the food with six members of his family. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 17:18:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CANBERRA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A website aimed at streamlining divorces and helping couples avoid expensive legal fees has been launched in Australia. The site, called amica, was developed by National Legal Aid with 3 million Australian dollars (2.06 million U.S. dollars) in government funding. It uses technology to guide separating couples to amicable agreements on parenting arrangements and property settlements without hefty legal bills. The settlement tool uses an artificial intelligence (AI) program to search through a database of past court judgments to provide a recommendation on how a former couple should divide their assets based on their unique circumstances. South Australian man 'Kim,' who used an alias, told News Corp Australia that he and his former spouse used amica in its testing phase after being told that their divorce would cost each party 20,000 Australian dollars (13,744 U.S. dollars) in legal fees. "It was absolutely fabulous. Amica helped us create a document that has allowed us to move forward with the care of our kids, which was a godsend," he said. "It's unfortunate that people go through this but, at the same time, if there is a third party or a system like amica that helps you come to common ground, that makes the conversation that little bit easier. "It's taking a lot of pressure off us when it comes to working out what the next step is." According to data released by The Separation Guide, a divorce information group, earlier in June there has been a 314 percent increase in the number of couples thinking about separating during the coronavirus pandemic. Research by National Legal Aid found that 78 percent of Australians going through a divorce were willing to use a service like amica. "There are almost 50,000 divorces each year in Australia... amica will encourage people to log on instead of lawyering up," National Legal Aid director and project chief Gabrielle Canny said. "Technology isn't going to replace lawyers, and amica isn't suitable for all couples but it will ensure people are better informed and better equipped to reduce the number of areas in which they disagree." Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 17:32:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov takes the oath of office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, June 30, 2020. Kyrgyzstan's new government led by Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov took the oath of office on Tuesday. The oath-taking ceremony was held in parliament with the participation of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov. (Xinhua) BISHKEK, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan's new government led by Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov took the oath of office on Tuesday. The oath-taking ceremony was held in parliament with the participation of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov. Congratulating the members of the new government, President Jeenbekov expressed hope that they will be faithful to their oath and do everything for the country's development. He also voiced confidence that the new government will become an anti-crisis cabinet, which fulfills its tasks with dignity and high responsibility and be able to achieve a quick improvement of the situation facing the country. Besides, Parliament Speaker Dastanbek Dzhumabekov expected the new members of the government to apply their knowledge and experience to the benefit of the country's development and the way out of the difficult situation. Kyrgyzstan's parliament approved on June 17 the new government led by Boronov, who previously served as first vice prime minister. Boronov's predecessor Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev resigned on June 15 following allegations of corruption in the sale of radio frequencies. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 17:41:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUWAIT CITY, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait will fully resume commercial flights at Kuwait International Airport on August 1, 2021, the Kuwaiti civil aviation administration said Tuesday. Kuwait's Directorate-General for Civil Aviation announced on Tuesday the details of the operational plan for the return of commercial flights at Kuwait International Airport. On March 13, Kuwait suspended all commercial flights as part of the efforts to curb the rapid rise of coronavirus cases. On June 25, Kuwait decided to start the second phase of restoring normal life. The second phase will begin on June 30 and will last for three weeks. In the second phase, public and private sectors will resume work at less than 30 percent capacity, in addition to the resumption of operation in shopping malls, financial sector, construction sector, retail shops, parks, and pick-ups from restaurants and cafes. Kuwait and China have been supporting each other and cooperating closely in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Kuwait donated medical supplies worth 3 million U.S. dollars to China at the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, while China has been facilitating the procurement of medical supplies by Kuwait. On April 27, a team of Chinese medical experts visited Kuwait to assist the Gulf country's anti-coronavirus fight, through sharing with Kuwaiti counterparts their experience and expertise in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. Enditem Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Monday the country's national security extends beyond its political borders to any region that may negatively affect its historic rights. "This is a turbulent region and the regional and international intertwined balances make it difficult for any country to live in isolation and await the repercussions of developments surrounding it," the president said during the celebration held to commemorate the 30 June 2013 Revolution. "Egypt is aware of these challenges that may border on real threats which need to be confronted firmly to maintain the country and its people's security and stability. "Egypt has comprehensive and influential power in its regional surrounding, but it always prefers peace... Egypt doesn't interfere in others' affairs but at the same time, it does what it takes to maintain its national security. This is Egypt's policy that is based on honour, without compromising its rights," El-Sisi added. The country is facing multiple challenges to its national security in its western neighbour, Libya, and to the south in Ethiopia. Egypt has been engaged in tripartite negotiations with Sudan and Ethiopian over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam for nearly a decade, with talks achieving less than satisfactory results. Cairo fears the dam will diminish its water supply from the Nile, on which it relies for much of its fresh water. Ethiopia hopes the massive $4.8 billion megaproject on the Blue Nile, which has been under construction since 2011, will allow it to become Africas largest power exporter. More recently, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed that Addis Ababa will delay the filling of the dam until an agreement is reached, the Egyptian presidency said on Friday, signalling progress in talks over the disputed project. The announcement came after an emergency African Union online summit of leaders of the three countries, chaired by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The United Nations Security Council will hold a meeting on Monday night to discuss the GERD developments after the three countries had sent memos and letters to the international body with Egypt urging the council to intervene to preserve international security and stability. El-Sisi earlier said that Cairo can directly intervene in Libya to protect the countrys national security with the support of local tribes, stressing that the country has the legitimacy to interfere. Egypt has been trying to defuse the Libyan situation, drafting the Cairo Declaration, together with the Commander of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar and Libyan Parliamentary Speaker Aguila Saleh. The Cairo proposal, in line with UN resolutions and recommendations of the Berlin Conference, calls for a ceasefire that would pave the way for electing a leadership council for Libya. The initiative also called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Libya. Search Keywords: Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 17:52:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HARARE, June 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 279 people have died and more than 300,000 people have been infected with malaria in Zimbabwe since the peak season of the the disease in January. The outbreak comes at a time when Zimbabwe is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic which has since infected 574 people leading to seven fatalities. Zimbabwe's National Malaria Coordinator Joseph Mberi said Tuesday that COVID-19 social distancing restrictions had deterred many people especially in rural areas to seek medical attention in time, further complicating the situation. Mberi said the COVID-19 outbreak had also forced health workers to be skeptical in dealing with people presenting malaria symptoms which are similar to the pandemic. He said the coronavirus pandemic was a hindrance to early testing and treatment because health workers did not have adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). "In other areas we have village health workers who are supposed to treat but those have been affected by the restrictions of social distancing as they are afraid. We still have a challenge of adequate PPE in the country so that is the context," he said. Malaria is among the top causes of illness and deaths in Zimbabwe, with over half of the population living in high-risk areas. Transmission of the disease in the country is seasonal and mainly occurs during the rainy season between November and April. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 17:58:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WINDHOEK, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A Namibian analyst on Monday said the the country and its southern African counterparts have a lot to learn from China's response plan against the novel coronavirus. Political analyst in the University of Namibia Ndumba Kamwanyah made the remarks following the release of a working document by the Chinese Embassy in Windhoek titled "Fighting COVID-19, China in Action". The document shows how China used its resources to deal with a potentially dangerous situation caused by COVID-19 through astute leadership. "Through painstaking efforts and tremendous sacrifice, and having paid a heavy price, China has succeeded in turning the situation around. In little more than a single month, the rising spread of the virus was contained; in around two months, the daily increase in domestic coronavirus cases had fallen to single digits; and in approximately three months, a decisive victory was secured in the battle to defend Hubei province and its capital city of Wuhan," the report noted in part. Kamwanyah told Xinhua that China's response plan on the COVID-19 pandemic contained in the document is a good guideline for Namibia and many African countries to deal with the virus. "It's pretty obvious that figures are spiking in the region and in Namibia per se. We need to look at and learn the way the Chinese government centralized their communication and emergency response plan," he said. The document also shows how Chinese President Xi assumed full command over the control efforts from the very beginning. "He highlighted the need to put people's lives and health first, to firm up confidence, strengthen solidarity, adopt a science-based approach, and take targeted measures. He called for a nationwide effort to block the spread of the virus and defeat it," the report noted. Kamwanyah added that Namibia and African governments also need to take a cue in strengthening home-grown solutions like China before relying heavily on outside help. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 18:19:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's President Khaltmaa Battulga on Tuesday urged the country's 76 newly-elected parliament members to address concerns over the country's economic and social development and work to raise living standards. "You all became legislators at a time when the country is facing many social and economic challenges which must be solved promptly. Therefore, you all have to make more responsible, ethical, and effective efforts in serving citizens and giving them more opportunities," Battulga said when addressing the first session of the parliament. The ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP) should listen to and respect the views and opinions of the opposition and seek optimal decisions and solutions to tackle economic and other difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic, secure people's livelihood and keep existing jobs, said Battulga. The president also called on the opposition Democratic Party (DP) to promote mutual understanding and cooperation with the MPP rather than confrontation. The MPP won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections held last Wednesday, taking 62 out of the 76 seats, according to official results announced Friday. The opposition DP won 11 seats, while two coalitions -- the Right Person Electorate Coalition and Your and Our Coalition -- won one seat each. Additionally, former Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag, who ran as an independent candidate, nabbed the remaining seat, according to the General Election Commission. The State Great Khural -- Mongolia's unicameral parliament -- consists of 76 lawmakers, whose terms lasts four years. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 18:42:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KABUL, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Up to eight people including three security personnel and five militants were killed and the government forces were able to recapture a security checkpoint in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province on Tuesday, the spokesman for provincial government Najam Nazir said. According to the official, scores of Taliban insurgents stormed a security checkpoint from different directions in Baghlan-e-Markazi district and captured it after killing three government forces including two army soldiers and wounding 10 others. However, reinforcement arrived within hour and recaptured the checkpoint after killing five militants and wounding seven others, the official added. The Taliban outfit has yet to make comments. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 18:48:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran reported 2,457 new cases over the past 24 hours, taking the total confirmed novel coronavirus cases to 227,622 on Tuesday, according to official IRNA news agency. Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, said during her daily update on Tuesday that 147 people died overnight, taking the total fatalities over the virus to 10,817. So far, 188,758 have recovered and 3,049 remain in critical condition, said Lari. According to the health spokeswoman, 1,666,587 lab tests for COVID-19 have been carried out in Iran as of Tuesday. Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19. Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-February, at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran lit up the Tehran Azadi (Liberty) Tower to show its solidarity with China, and donated 3 million masks to China. In return, China has delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. On Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 18:57:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- While German airlines only served about 30 percent of their original route network due to the COVID-19 crisis in June, the number is set to rise to 60 percent by July, according to an analysis published by the German Aviation Association (BDL) on Tuesday. In July, passengers would be able to fly to 239 destinations in 69 countries from German airports, according to the BDL. However, many originally scheduled connections would still be served with reduced frequency, therefore the total number of flights would be significantly lower, according to the analysis. The total number of flights from German airports in July would only reach 27 percent compared with the same month last year, according to the BDL. The focus of the restarted air traffic was on destinations within Europe, especially the "classic holiday regions," the BDL noted. The top destination would be Palma de Mallorca of Spain with 326 departures from Germany in the second week of July, it said. Air traffic in Germany dropped rapidly due to travel restrictions in March and the lowest mark was reached in April. According to the BDL, in the week from April 20, only 4 percent of flights compared to 2019 had been operated. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 19:08:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People wearing face masks walk on a street in Tehran, Iran, on June 29, 2020. Iran has taken "effective steps" in producing vaccine for novel coronavirus disease, Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education, Saeed Namaki, announced on Tuesday. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua) TEHRAN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran has taken "effective steps" in producing vaccine for novel coronavirus disease, Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education, Saeed Namaki, announced on Tuesday. "I have observed in close the work of Iranian scientists in producing the vaccine for COVID-19 over the past four months," Namaki was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency. "The results are very much promising. Tests in animal model were successful. Clinical trials on human will be carried out soon," said Namaki. Iran's confirmed COVID-19 cases hit 227,622 on Tuesday, with 10,817 total fatalities so far. Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19. Iran and China have offered mutual help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-February, at the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran lit up the Tehran Azadi (Liberty) Tower to show its solidarity with China, and donated 3 million masks to China. In return, China has delivered several shipments of medical supplies to Iran. On Feb. 29, a five-member Chinese medical team visited Iran for a month-long mission to help Iran fight the pandemic. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 19:09:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Keren Setton JERUSALEM, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Days before what could be considered a historic turning point in the Middle East, it is still unclear whether the Israeli government intends to follow through with plans to apply Israeli law over contentious territories in the West Bank and to what extent. Israel, which captured the territories during the 1967 Mideast War, has refrained until now from annexing the territory while settling it in the past decades with approximately half a million Israelis. Palestinians see the West Bank as a major part of their future state. When U.S. President Donald Trump revealed his peace plan for Israelis and Palestinians earlier this year, it was met with great enthusiasm in the Israeli right wing, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For the Palestinians and many other players in the international arena, the plan was a slap in the face and a U-turn from the two-state solution many believe in. Netanyahu appears determined to move ahead with the plan, brushing aside any criticism. The plan includes leaving many parts of the West Bank under Israel's control. But since Netanyahu promised to begin annexation of the territory on July 1 this year, there have been many changes which may delay or modify the move. The Israeli prime minister leads a coalition government with a certain degree of opposition within its lines. While his partners, the Blue and White party led by Benny Gantz, have voiced their support for the Trump "Deal of the Century," there are differences of opinion regarding the timing and manner of the implementation of the annexation. While Netanyahu has made statements that he wants to move ahead with annexation, Gantz tweeted on Monday that "Whatever does not have to do with the coronavirus struggle, will wait until after the virus." The power-sharing deal between the two was signed mainly to battle the virus and its after-effects. The agreement stipulates mutual veto-power on all issues brought to a cabinet vote but the annexation. Netanyahu can bring the move to a parliament vote without Gantz's agreement and will likely have a majority. Netanyahu is eager to pursue annexation before the upcoming American election which might see his ally Trump lose his seat in the White House. Gantz has been more cautious, calling for annexation only after consultation with other international players. Trump and Netanyahu find themselves in a minority when pushing for annexation. UN secretary-general, the European Union (EU) and many Arab countries have all voiced their opposition to the planned annexation. Israeli media outlets reported Netanyahu told his party members Monday that annexation will be delayed due to "various diplomatic and security considerations." Israel is also waiting for a decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding its jurisdiction to investigate Israel on war crimes allegations, expected in the coming days. This may be a factor on when Netanyahu will time his announcement on annexation. "He may choose a phased annexation, first the more consensual settlements and then continue after the U.S. election. This keeps him loyal to his promises while seeing a softer international response," said Nimrod Goren, head of the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, Regardless of whether Netanyahu decides to annex all the territories or parts of the West Bank, the process will be the beginning of a tectonic shift in the Middle East. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 19:13:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MALE, June 30 (Xinhua) -- As the Maldives prepares to re-open its borders to tourism in July amid an easing COVID-19 outbreak situation in the country, the Tourism Ministry has issued a 28-page guideline for restarting tourism outlining minimum standards to be followed by stakeholders including central government agencies, local governments, resorts, hotels, guest houses, tourist vessels and supporting businesses. The guidelines, based on research, international best practice, case studies, and industry consultation, contain a host of recommendations and envisage a phased reopening of tourist facilities, with a tentative timeline of July 15 for re-opening facilities on uninhabited islands, and Aug. 1 for re-opening facilities on inhabited islands. Standard preventive measures including wearing face masks, maintaining a distance of one meter, and hand washing or sanitizing are to be implemented at the airport, while arrivals are expected to have confirmed bookings and undergo temperature checks and screening. Mandatory PCR tests will only be conducted on arrivals displaying symptoms such as coughing, runny nose, and shortness of breath, the cost of which must be borne by the tourists or their host facility. However, the government retains a provision to conduct random PCR testing of tourist arrivals at its own expense. Arrivals who test positive will not be allowed to enter facilities on inhabited islands. Facilities on uninhabited islands may choose to host infected arrivals in isolation or transfer them to a government-run facility. New standards stipulate that re-opened resorts must have suitable areas for self-isolation of guests and self-isolation of staff. Staff are to be trained in social distancing and disinfection measures, and resorts should be stocked with PPE. Resorts are also expected to have medical officers who have undergone Health Protection Agency (HPA) certified training and must provide a health and safety plan to the Ministry of Tourism before being allowed to re-open. The Ministry of Tourism has required workers arriving from overseas before July 15, or from islands currently under monitoring, to be quarantined for 14 days before being allowed to report for work. Meanwhile, a circular sent to all tourism establishments by the Ministry of Tourism Senior Policy Director Mohamed Hassaan has "highly recommended all tourist facilities to re-hire the staff who were sent off." Urging establishments to rehire retrenched workers, the circular said "we believe it is the employees of the Maldives tourism sector who have one of the biggest shares in the success the Maldives has achieved so far." President Ibrahim Solih has said that the country expects to attract around 850,000 tourists this year though state revenue generated through the sector will likely be halved due to the cumulative effects of the pandemic. Local media reports citing Minister of Tourism Ali Waheed as saying that over 70 out of some 150 resorts in the Maldives will be in operation by the time borders are re-opened in July. The remaining resorts will gradually be opened by October. "Global pandemic COVID-19 had more of a socio-economic impact on the Maldives than the 2004 Asian Tsunami and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis," Waheed has said. Tourism constitutes a third of the Maldives' national revenue, and the suspension of issuing visas on-arrival on March 27 marked the first time that arrivals dropped to zero since the tourism business began 47 years ago. Maldives' economy in 2020 is projected to contract by 8.1 percent according to the International Monetary Fund, while the World Bank estimated a contraction of 8.5 percent. The Maldives currently has 2,336 confirmed cases of COVID-19, out of which 1,927 have fully recovered and eight have died. Around 65 percent of all confirmed cases are foreign citizens, mostly migrant workers. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 19:32:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The United States is now struggling with the twin predicaments of a ravaging coronavirus pandemic and widespread protests against racial discrimination at home, yet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other like-minded American politicians have been bent on smearing other countries with lies. Their reckless disinformation campaign has fully exposed those politicians' deeply-entrenched addiction to lying and scapegoating, yet such a dirty trick fools no clear mind. Earlier this month, when the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning racism in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an African American, Pompeo simply ignored the condemnation. He even asked the council to focus on what he alleged the "systemic racial disparities" in certain countries, including China. On other public occasions recently, Pompeo also launched one verbal attack after another against China on a range of issues from Huawei, Hong Kong, to Xinjiang. However, investigative reports have revealed that the U.S. accusations of the alleged human rights issue in Xinjiang are part of a prolonged China-smearing campaign. For example, the Grayzone, a U.S.-based investigative news website, has published multiple stories over the recent few years saying that Washington's accusations against China's Xinjiang policy were based on studies with "absurdly shoddy methodologies" and supported by anti-China agencies, groups and individuals. The lame lies of Pompeo and his peers are the product of their highly biased opinion towards China. In their minds, whatever China does is wrong. Their prejudice has rid them of moral limits, and prompted them to attack China whenever possible. That is why China's sincere pandemic assistance to other countries was labeled as a game to expand geopolitical influence. Their arrogance has deprived them of the basic idea to respect other countries and cultures. That is why they falsely accused China of trying to steal coronavirus-related research on vaccines. The irony is that China, which is at the forefront of the COVID-19 vaccine development, should be worrying about the possible theft of its research results. The recklessness of Pompeo and his like has ruined Washington's credibility in America's traditional allies. And more and more people in the Western world have begun to realize that the purpose of Washington politicians' China-bashing is to cover up their mistakes and to "direct Americans' anger at China." For Washington's China hawks like Pompeo, blaming China seems to be an easy political scheme with high political returns. Nevertheless, they should realize that too many clumsy lies will ultimately ruin their already shaky credibility. United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members agreed during the open online session on Monday night that tripartite talks between the countries involved in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute should be conducted on the basis of understanding. The meeting was held upon Egypt's request after renewed negotiations over the $4.8 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) failed to produce an accord last week, and Ethiopia said it will go ahead with filling the dam's reservoir in July even without approval from the two downstream countries. The international body urged Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, engaged in a decade-long dispute over the hydropower project, against adopting unilateral actions. France representative, Nicolas de Riviere, the current UNSC head called upon all concerned parties to respect the 2015 Declaration Of Principles signed by the three countries and solve the disagreements amicably. "The dispute surrounding the Renaissance Dam, if not resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, could lead to further tensions in the region. Any escalation should be avoided to reach a consensus through dialogue", he said. Riviere expressed his appreciation for the "major role" the African Union (AU) played to mediate between the three African countries. He added that discussions held between the parties last week under the auspices of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is the current AU head, are a step in the right direction and must continue. The Security Council meeting saw the representatives of the US and Germany at the UNSC call on the three countries to reach consensus in the nearest time possible. The US warned against making statements or moves that may undermine the talks. China, meanwhile, said it is ready to help in efforts to resolve the GERD crisis. South Africa announced its rejection of unilateral actions that may harm any of the parties involved in the negotiations, adding that it will welcome any outcomes agreed upon by the three countries. "We depend on the Declaration of Principles signed between the three countries in 2015 to resolve the dam issue," said the UK representative, insisting that negotiation is the only way to resolve the dispute. The UK also stated it supports the outcome of the African Union meeting held on Friday. Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed during the AU meeting that Addis Ababa will delay the filling of the hydropower dam it is building on the Blue Nile until a final binding deal is reached, the Egyptian presidency announced on Friday, signalling progress in talks over the disputed project. Search Keywords: Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 19:51:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- It seems that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is addicted to defaming China, as recently he has peddled one wicked theory after another about China, ranging from the coronavirus pandemic, Xinjiang and Hong Kong affairs, to China-Africa cooperation and China's development path. As the top diplomat in Washington, Pompeo is supposed to promote cooperation between the United States and the rest of the world. However, he is more interested in telling lies to attack, blame, and scapegoat other countries. Pompeo's China-smearing remarks, and other ridiculous comments, fool no clear mind, and cannot destroy the reputation of any other country. They only serve to harm the national image, credibility and interests of the United States itself. Amid the worsening pandemic situation in the United States, Pompeo and other like-minded politicians never reflect on what is going wrong in their own country, but headstrongly engage in a China-bashing campaign. They keep trying to shift blame for their botched pandemic response, with the number of COVID-19 cases topping 2.5 million, the world's largest and still rapidly growing. Concerning the lives and security of other countries' people, those politicians are even more cold-blooded. Instead of contributing to the global fight against COVID-19, they launched an offensive to disrupt it. As the New York Times said in an opinion article, the United States, with the largest number of coronavirus cases in the world, is now consciously spreading the pandemic beyond its borders by continuing to deport thousands of immigrants, many infected with the coronavirus, to poor countries ill equipped to cope with the disease. When pointing an accusing finger at China's Xinjiang, Hong Kong and human rights issues by using groundless and brazen theories, did he really care about the interests of the Chinese people? Absolutely not. It was nothing but another manifestation of his China-bashing syndrome. There have been secretaries of state in U.S. history who devoted themselves to developing relations with China, as well as international cooperation. The world will remember them, as they put themselves on the right side of history. But what will the international community remember of Pompeo? His infamous remarks "We lied, we cheated, we stole ... It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment"? In either the domestic or global political arena, there should be a bottom line for public figures. Politicians like Pompeo bring nothing but shame to the United States. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 19:54:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said on Tuesday the HKSAR government welcomes the passage of the law on safeguarding national security in the HKSAR. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was passed earlier Tuesday at the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. The HKSAR government welcomes the passage of the law by the NPC Standing Committee, Lam said in a statement released in the evening, adding that this national law has been listed in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law. Hailing the legislation, Lam said the HKSAR government will complete the necessary procedure for publication by gazette as soon as possible to enable the implementation of the law in Hong Kong in tandem. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:08:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISTANBUL, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Turkish lawyers on Tuesday staged a rally in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul to protest the ruling party's draft bill, which aims to change the existing structure of bar associations. Following the call of the Istanbul bar association, the lawyers gathered in front of the Caglayan Courthouse on the European side of the city for the protest dubbed the "defense meeting." The crowd denounced the draft bill, chanting slogans like "defense cannot be silenced" and "no salvation alone, either all or none." On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his party was determined to create a more democratic and pluralistic structure, and for this, it is focusing on the formation of a multiple bar association system. The ruling Justice and Development Party presented the draft to the parliament, where it holds the majority, on Tuesday. If passed, the bill would allow legal professionals to establish new bar associations, with a minimum of 2,000 membership. However, the opponents argue that it will affect the independence of lawyers, divide and politicize them, and weaken the power of the legal system. Currently, there are 80 bar associations across the country, some of which are critical to the government. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:11:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A roadside bomb attack on the convoy of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commander in the southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province on Tuesday left no casualties, semi-official Fars news agency reported. The lawmaker of Zahedan city at the Iranian parliament, Fada Hossein Maleki, told Fars that the attack was carried out by the Jaish al-Adl "terrorist" group while two vehicles of the IRGC forces were going through Korin region near Zahedan, the capital city of Sistan and Baluchestan province. Two roadside bombs were planted on the course of the convoy and one of them was detonated, Maleki said, adding that in the incident the IRGC's regional commander was wounded. The Jaish al-Adl group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Sistan and Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran has long been plagued by drug smuggling gangs and separatist militants. Jaish al-Adl has carried out several attacks on Iranian security forces since 2013. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:12:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ABUJA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 18 passengers were killed when the bus in which they were traveling lost control and somersaulted several times at a local community in Nigeria's southeast region, according to local sources on Tuesday. Confirming the incident with media on Tuesday, the Federal Road Safety Corps said it occurred on Monday at the Umuhu community in Ngor local government area of the southern state of Abia. The road transport police declined to give the exact figure of casualties, saying it was still carrying out an investigation on the fatal accident. However, local media reported at least 18 passengers in the bus were killed in the incident and blamed on overspeeding. The bus was traveling from the commercial city of Aba in Abia to Owerri, the capital of Imo, another southeastern state. The vehicle somersaulted four times after a loud bang from one of its front tyres, said Vincent Okafor, an eyewitness. "We suspected that the driver slammed on its break after losing a tyre on motion, while on top speed. We sadly couldn't help the victims as the vehicle somersaulted several times before landing," said Okafor. He said upon landing near a large tree, the vehicle was mangled, with its passengers trapped. The road transport police confirmed it evacuated the remains of the victims to a nearby morgue. Deadly road accidents are frequently reported in Nigeria, often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads, and reckless driving. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:12:58|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council issued a statement on Tuesday, voicing firm support for the newly adopted Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The office pledged full support for and cooperation in the work related to the implementation of the law to ensure its effective enforcement in the HKSAR. The law was passed at the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, China's top legislature. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:16:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BRUSSELS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- King Philippe of Belgium expressed "deepest regret" for the colonial wounds inflicted on the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the DRC) on Tuesday, marking its 60th anniversary of independence. "I wish to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past whose pain is still revived by the discrimination still present in our societies," Philippe said in a letter to DRC President Felix Tshisekedi. It's the first time a Belgian sovereign recognized facts of the colonial past in the Congo, and the letter made the front pages of Belgian daily newspapers. Phillipe stressed that at the time of the Independent State of Congo (EIC, in its French acronym), a corporate state privately owned and controlled by King Leopold II from 1885 to 1908, "acts of violence and cruelty were committed, which still weigh on our collective memory. The colonial period that followed also caused suffering and humiliation." "Our history is made of common achievements but has also known painful episodes," the king said. The sovereign called for developing a more fruitful friendship between Belgium and the DRC, saying, "we must be able to talk about our long common history in all truth and serenity." "This anniversary is an opportunity to renew our feelings of deep friendship and to rejoice in the intense cooperation that exists between our two countries," he said. On the sidelines of demonstrations against racism and police violence in early June 2020 in Belgium, following the tragic death of African-American George Floyd in the United States, voices were raised in several Belgian cities to remove statues of Leopold II. The DRC is the second-largest country in Africa after Algeria. In 1885, Leopold II gained sovereignty over the EIC. In 1908, Leopold II ceded the EIC to the Belgian government, which administered the colony under the name Belgian Congo until its independence on June 30, 1960. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:24:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NANJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Three years after he visited Wuhan last time, Japanese director Ryo Takeuchi decided to come back for a film. He wanted to present how life in the megacity -- previously hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic -- is like now. His film "Long Time No See Wuhan" has become the latest hit on the Internet, receiving an amazing array of responses. On May 15, Takeuchi posted a tweet on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, to recruit some Wuhan dwellers for a documentary. Over 100 volunteered to participate in the shooting, and Takeuchi finally chose 10 of them -- including a restaurant owner, nurse, construction worker, junior middle school teacher, a pair of lovers and people who lost their loved ones. His camera began rolling on June 1. He took a bullet train from Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, and headed for Wuhan over 540 km away. He said he was quite surprised to see the train fully loaded, with the only difference being that the passengers were wearing masks and an additional standardized procedure was required to prove that everyone was healthy. The first interviewee was a regular customer to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, one of the first places where infections of COVID-19 were identified in the city. The husky, middle-aged man greeted the crew by saying "my COVID-19 test came back negative." The man, Lai Yun, happened to have deep links with Japan. He studied in Japan for nine years and worked as a translator at a Japanese company. He also runs an izakaya, which made him a frequent visitor to the now-closed seafood market. His restaurant has remained shut down since Jan. 23 when Wuhan was put under a lockdown to curb the spread of the virus and reopened the second day after they met. "I was sad indeed. Almost half of the year has passed and we've had zero income..." said Lai. Lai lowered the food prices on the menu to draw customers back. The price of a highball has been almost halved to 25 yuan (about 3.5 U.S. dollars) -- the exact cost price after repeated calculation. "I've devoted so much to this restaurant, and I just hope that this place could stay open," he said. He was delighted to see many familiar faces the next day. But the joy did not last long -- his only chef resigned after a pay cut. "I hope that the restaurant can survive this year. Maybe we will start to make money again next year," he said. Despite the frustration, Lai remained hopeful and persistent. Another interviewee, Gong Shengnan, was a frontline nurse. The lively young woman made her debut in the video with a freestyle dance in a white baggy T-shirt and black shorts. Behind her was the Yellow Crane Tower -- a signature scenic spot in Wuhan. Gong said their nursing team spent quite an amount of time comforting the patients when Wuhan was in a life-and-death battle against COVID-19. "We would dance and sing with patients with mild symptoms, which really helped," she recalled. The young woman learned to ride a bike when the city was put under lockdown as the public transportation system was suspended. She burst into tears in front of the camera when Takeuchi brought up the topic of lives lost in the wards. "It's a heavy topic," said the outgoing woman. "Sometimes it's very emotional. When I saw the news that there was a long line in front of the funeral home when the families (of the deceased) came to pick up the belongings of their relatives, it made me really sad," she said choking back sobs. "We're the lucky ones. But some families are in a lot of pain." Wuhan had reported 50,340 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of June 27, with 46,471 having been cured and discharged from hospitals. A total of 3,869 people died of the disease. China did its best to support Wuhan. More than 42,000 medics were dispatched to Hubei Province, of which over 30,000 were in Wuhan, the provincial capital. Two makeshift hospitals -- Huoshenshan and Leishenshan with a total of 2,600 beds -- were put into use in less than two weeks respectively in early February, a marvel that astonished many including Takeuchi. "I can't believe that such a huge project could be finished in about 10 days," Takeuchi said standing in front of the Leishenshan Hospital. There he met Li Jie, a construction worker of the hospital. "I stayed up for three nights and four days. There was no other choice," said Li, who claimed that approximately 7,000 to 8,000 workers participated in the project. "It usually takes at least six months to build such a hospital," he added. The documentary has been viewed more than 16 million times since it was uploaded on June 26 and received a flood of comments. Many netizens said the film is an objective narration of how Wuhan people maintained hope in a morass with no exaggerated sensational gesture. "(Before coming), I wanted to show the world what it's really like in Wuhan. However, I was a little scared of the uncertainty. We started our shooting with those complicated and contradictory feelings. But after the shooting, I just want to say, I definitely want to visit Wuhan again! Later this year, I'm going back," Takeuchi said at the end. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:32:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has emphasized better implementation of the CPC's organizational line in the new era to make the Party still stronger. Xi made the remarks Monday while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on studying and implementing the Party's organizational line in the new era. Organizational building is an important foundation for Party building, Xi said, stressing efforts to make the CPC still stronger for it to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups toward national rejuvenation along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics in its long-term governance. "We should unswervingly uphold and improve Party leadership and continue advancing the great new project of Party building," Xi said. Noting that Wednesday marks the 99th founding anniversary of the CPC, Xi extended greetings to Party members across the country on behalf of the CPC Central Committee. While properly understanding the connotations and requirements of the Party's organizational line in the new era, efforts should be made to better implement it with focuses on achieving goals, solving problems and making good results, said Xi. The fundamental goal of the Party's organizational building is to uphold and strengthen overall Party leadership and provide a strong guarantee for advancing socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xi said, adding that Party leadership is the most fundamental guarantee for achieving national rejuvenation. Party organizations at all levels and all Party members and officials, especially leading officials, should translate the CPC's new theories into practice, Xi said, asking Party committees and their organization departments to use Party theories to guide organizational building, with further reform and innovation. Xi also highlighted the construction of the Party's organizational system, urging Party organizations to enhance their ability to lead politically, guide through theory, organize the people and inspire society. In selecting officials and deploying talent, both virtues and competence are important criteria, Xi said, stressing the need to improve officials' capacity for governance. He called for further education and training of Party officials and deeper reform of the system and mechanism for talent development. Xi also underlined improving the Party's organizational institutions with specific rules and regulations. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:35:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese firms are making great strides in brand value on the global playing field, a market report showed Tuesday. A record high of 17 Chinese companies have made it into the 2020 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Ranking, compared with 15 last year, according to BrandZ, a global brand equity platform. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba led Chinese firms in the ranking, rising to the sixth place this year, up one spot from last year with a value of 152.53 billion U.S. dollars. Tech giant Tencent ranked second among Chinese companies, with its brand value surging 15 percent to 150.98 billion U.S. dollars. China's leading liquor maker Kweichow Moutai was the fastest growing brand in 2020 with a staggering growth of 58 percent, while internet giant Meituan and e-commerce giant JD.com also registered robust performance in brand value expansion. Bolstered by innovation and creativity, Chinese popular video-sharing app TikTok, known as Douyin in China, entered the list for the first time and was placed at 79th, the highest-rank among other newcomers. The ranking is commissioned by global communication services provider WPP and conducted by brand equity research consultancy Kantar. It examines market data from Bloomberg with consumer insights from over 3.8 million consumers, covering more than 17,500 brands across 51 markets. Enditem A key component for the ongoing nuclear fusion reactor project, known as the "artificial sun", a superconducting coil built by Chinese scientists and engineers, arrived in southern France on Friday, according to its builder, the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The coil, poloidal field coil #6, will be the first and heaviest among six to be installed during the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor machine assembly phase, according to the project's official website. With a weight of 400 tons, it will work to provide a stable and super strong magnetic field in a vessel to hold the extremely hot plasma created by nuclear fusion, according to the Institute of Plasma Physics based in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province. Temperature is considered one of the most important conditions for nuclear fusion reactions. In 2018, the Hefei institute had for the first time achieved a plasma central electron temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius. In Cadarache, Provence, in southern France, 35 nations are collaborating to build the world's largest magnetic fusion device that has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers the sun and stars, according to the project. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:36:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam addresses the UN Human Rights Council via video message in south China's Hong Kong on June 30, 2020. Carrie Lam on Tuesday addressed the UN Human Rights Council via video message, urging the international community to respect China's right to safeguard national security and HK people's aspirations for stability and harmony. (Xinhua) GENEVA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam on Tuesday addressed the UN Human Rights Council via video message, urging the international community to respect China's right to safeguard national security and HK people's aspirations for stability and harmony. Speaking at the opening of the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Carrie Lam stressed that the legislation to safeguard national security is now urgently needed. "National security is invariably under the purview of the central authorities, be it in China or any other countries. In all countries, the power to legislate on national security rests solely with the central government," she said. The chief executive said that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China -- a special administrative region enjoying a high degree of autonomy which comes directly under the central government, but Hong Kong has not been able to fulfill its constitutional duty. For the sake of not only the 7.5 million Hong Kong residents, but also the 1.4 billion people in the Chinese mainland, "the question of how long we could tolerate such a gaping hole in national security has to be asked, and answered." Since last June, she said, Hong Kong has been traumatized by escalating violence fanned by external forces. During this period, groups advocating "Hong Kong independence" and "self-determination" incited protesters to desecrate and burn the national flag, vandalize the national emblem and storm the central government's office in Hong Kong. Further, some local politicians proclaimed that they would paralyze the HKSAR government while others campaigned for foreign governments to interfere in Hong Kong's affairs or even to impose sanctions on Hong Kong. Saying that these acts have crossed the "One Country" red line, Lam called for resolute action. She said, "no central government could turn a blind eye to such threats to sovereignty and national security as well as risks of subversion of state power." She told the Council that as the highest organ of state power in China, the National People's Congress has the constitutional power and the duty to enact national security legislation for the HKSAR. "The legislation aims to prevent, curb and punish acts of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security," Lam said. "These crimes will be clearly defined in the law. It will only target an extremely small minority of people who have breached the law, while the life and property, basic rights and freedoms of the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong residents will be protected," she added. Upholding important legal principles, the legislation will not undermine "One Country, Two Systems" and Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, she stressed. "Hong Kong is a free and diversified society. We respect differences in opinion and thrive on reaching consensus. But the 'One Country' principle is non-negotiable and could not be compromised, as without 'One Country', 'Two Systems' will stand on shaky ground and Hong Kong's stability and prosperity will be at risk," said Lam. She told the Council that for those foreign governments or politicians raising objections to the legislation, one could only lament the "double standards" they are adopting. "All those countries that have pointed their fingers at China have their own national security legislation in place. We could think of no valid reason why China alone should be inhibited from enacting national security legislation to protect every corner of its territory and all of its nationals," she explained. She highlighted that with full conviction in "One Country, Two Systems" and upon implementation of the national security legislation, Hong Kong will ride out the political storm since last June and emerge stronger with stability restored. "I and the Hong Kong SAR government are determined to capitalize on our strengths, harness the opportunities presented by our country's development and provide Hong Kong people with brighter prospects," Lam noted. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:52:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Japanese lawmakers' average income dropped 8.7 percent in 2019 from a year earlier to 24.27 million yen (225,000 U.S. dollars), marking the first decline in four years, government data showed Tuesday. According to the figures released by parliament, of 653 lawmakers, upper house member from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Taichiro Motoe, netted the most in the recording period at 778.93 million yen (7.2 million U.S. dollars), with the total inflated by sales of stocks. In second place was veteran lower house member Ichiro Aisawa, who earned 111.70 million yen (1.03 million U.S. dollars), 60.65 million yen (593,000 U.S. dollars) of which was attributable to rental income from a property in an expensive district in Tokyo. The third spot was taken by LDP upper house member Kenji Nakanishi who earned 107.97 million yen (1 million U.S. dollars), including 88.27 million yen (819,000 U.S. dollars) in dividends from JP Morgan Securities Japan Co. where he used to be an executive. The annual income of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is also head of the ruling LDP, totaled the highest among party leaders for a second straight year at 38.68 million yen (359,000 U.S. dollars), comprising mainly salary and annual allowance, the figures showed, although this was 1.6 million yen (14,800 U.S. dollars) less than in 2018. The top 20 earners on the list of lawmakers in the recording period comprised 17 ruling LDP members, according to the latest data released by parliament. Ruling LDP lawmakers' income in the recording period was the highest among all parties at an average of 26.08 million yen (242,000 U.S. dollars), followed by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at an average of 22.09 million yen (205,000 U.S. dollars), the data showed. The third highest earning lawmakers belonged to the Democratic Party for the People, who earned, on average, 22.04 million yen (204,600 U.S. dollars) in 2019, according to the figures. Overall, lawmakers' average income, while retreating for 2019, surged to a 16-year high for 2018 at 26.57 million yen (246,600 U.S. dollars), with the amount pushed up by one lawmaker's earnings totaling 1.7 billion yen (15.78 million U.S. dollars) after profits from selling unlisted stocks were included. Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:53:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Tuesday offered to help the Philippines investigate the collision between a Philippine fishing boat and a Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel off Occidental Mindoro province, south of Manila, before midnight on Saturday. In a statement, the Embassy expressed "shock and sadness" over the accident that resulted in the sinking of the boat with 12 Filipino fishermen and two passengers on board. "This is a tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the missing crew members and passengers," the statement read. "We sincerely hope (that) all of them could be rescued at the earliest," the statement said, adding the Embassy is "ready to render any necessary assistance." Meantime, the Embassy stressed the need to focus on rescuing the missing people and "refrain from politicizing the issue" pending the investigation. The Embassy issued the appeal after a few Philippine media reports liken Saturday's collision to a June 10, 2019 collision in the South China Sea that also involved a fishing boat and a Chinese vessel. "China has been working closely with the Philippine side to solve the case," the Embassy said, adding that "the concerned Chinese fishing association has already offered a compensation proposal to the Philippine side." "In the spirit of cooperation and friendship, we believe the incident will be solved in a proper manner," the Embassy said. Philippine Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral George Ursabia told reporters on Tuesday that Saturday's collision was "definitely" an accident, saying he believes that the cargo Vessel MV Vienna Wood did not intend to collide with the fishing boat FV Liberty 5. "That area where the collision happened is a sea lane, similar to a highway. They are users of the sea. While navigating, they collided. That is the simple logic of what happened," Ursabia said in a virtual media briefing. As of Tuesday, Ursabia said no signs of life have so far been found by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) rescuers. "Based on the results of our scouring of the sea area since Monday there is no life and survivors at all," Ursabia said. He expressed hope that the missing people have managed to swim to shore and survived the collision that occurred around 10:20 p.m. on Saturday some 15 nautical miles west-southwest off Mamburao town. The cargo vessel, with Chinese crew members, was sailing to Australia from Subic Bay in Zambales province while the fishing boat was headed to a fish port in Manila when the collision happened, the PCG said. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:54:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIRUT, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab urged on Tuesday the international community to shield Lebanon from the negative repercussions of sanctions imposed on the Syrians, the National News Agency reported. "We call on the international community to ensure that these repercussions do not affect the means of commercial and economic communication between Lebanon and foreign countries, and thus undermine our continued efforts to exit from the current crisis in the country," Diab said during the IV Brussels online Conference on "Supporting the future of Syria and the region." Diab noted that COVID-19 outbreak in the country led to the closure of thousands of businesses and the lay-off of a big number of employees, which increases the potential of conflicts between local people and Syrian refugees due to the economic deterioration. The prime minister noted that 30 percent of the Lebanese live under poverty line while 55 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are extremely poor. Diab added that Syrian refugees must return to their homeland to reduce the burden on Lebanon which already suffers from serious challenges. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:59:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Villagers of Abuluoha Village dressed in traditional Yi costume dance at the relocation site in Butuo County of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 29, 2020. In the past, people in Abuluoha village had to spend at least three hours climbing up and down steep mountainous roads to get to other places. With the completion of the building of a 3.8 km-long road connecting Abuluoha Village to the outside, villagers of Abuluoha Village have also moved into 33 light steel structure houses successively since June 29. (Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing) Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:57:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- More than three out of four German companies (77 percent) expected revenue losses in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a company survey published by the German Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) on Tuesday. Twenty-one percent even expected their revenues to drop by more than a half, according to the survey among around 8,500 German companies. The business situation fell to its lowest level since the survey began in 1985, according to DIHK. "These figures show the current great uncertainty of our companies," said DIHK managing director Martin Wansleben. German companies were "very concerned that their business is not getting back on track quickly, although the shutdown has been eased in Germany and other partner countries." According to DIHK, the company survey confirmed the forecast of an economic slump of 10 percent this year. "The way out of the valley becomes longer rather than shorter." Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 20:58:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the plenary meeting of the 20th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing, capital of China, June 30, 2020. The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, closed its 20th session Tuesday, adopting the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, closed its 20th session Tuesday, adopting the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order to promulgate the law. The NPC Standing Committee also adopted a decision to add the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR to the list of the national laws in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law. Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, attended the plenary and closing meetings of the session. On Tuesday morning, a total of 162 members of the NPC Standing Committee attended the second plenary meeting of the session and voted unanimously to pass the law. In the afternoon, the session's third plenary meeting was held, with attendance of 163 NPC Standing Committee members, to deliberate a draft decision to list the law in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law. Entrusted by the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee, Shen Chunyao, head of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, explained the draft decision to the lawmakers. In the closing meeting of the session, 163 legislators voted unanimously to adopt the decision to list the law in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law. According to the decision, the law shall be applied locally with effect by way of promulgation by the HKSAR. Li presided over the second plenary meeting and the closing meeting, and Hao Mingjin, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the third plenary meeting. Lawmakers also decided on personnel matters. Li also presided over three meetings of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 21:00:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) said on Tuesday that frequent floods are expected in China's rivers and lakes in July and August due to heavy rainfall, and they urged high vigilance. Wang Zhangli, an MWR official, said rainstorms had been frequent this year, especially in June. "Since the beginning of June, 250 rivers across the country have seen floods above warning levels, accounting for 92 percent of all the rivers with water above warning levels. They are mainly in the regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Anhui," he said. According to a joint forecast by MWR and meteorological agencies, parts of the Yellow River, the Haihe River, the Pearl River as well as the Songhuajiang River, the Liaohe River and the Dongting Lake water system, in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, will see big floods this summer. Wang said the MWR will work closely with other departments to ensure people's safety. As of Tuesday, the National Meteorological Center has issued alerts for rainstorms for 29 consecutive days. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 21:09:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ANKARA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 67 suspects were detained and millions of Turkish lira was seized in a large anti-narcotics operation in the country, Turkish interior minister said on Tuesday. "It was the largest operation in the history of the republic. The largest operation on drug and crime revenues was done," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters. Some 70 million Turkish liras (over 10.21 million dollars) was seized and 500-million-lira traffic was prevented with the "Operation Swamp" against a drug trafficking network operating internationally for many years, including in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Chile, Ecuador and Brazil, Soylu stated. The operation was carried out across 11 provinces in Turkey and has begun almost two months ago, he said. Meanwhile, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported that the criminal network has been linked to over 31 tons of cannabis, 2.5 tons of base morphine and 140 kilograms of heroin and over 18 tons of cocaine. One of the leaders of the network, who was arrested in Istanbul, was jailed earlier for drug trafficking but escaped from a prison in Brazil, the agency quoted an anonymous Turkish security official as saying. The suspect later fled to Turkey and is now under judicial control over drug trafficking and money laundering offenses, according to the official. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 21:10:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WUHAN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Authorities have announced class-resuming arrangements for non-senior students in high schools in Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province and a city previously hard hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. Schools will reopen on July 10 for senior high school freshmen and sophomores, including those in secondary vocational and technical schools, and their summer holiday will begin on July 31, according to a press conference on Tuesday. Non-senior students in junior high schools will end their online courses on July 5. Teachers and students will return to schools on August 10, and classes will last until August 30. Students in primary schools and kindergartens will start their summer holiday on July 5. Non-senior students in colleges are not required to go back to campus unless needed. They need to apply and obtain approval from their colleges if they want to return. Off-campus training institutions can apply for class resumption after meeting relevant requirements for epidemic prevention and control, Xia Chunyin, deputy head of the Wuhan Education Bureau, said at the conference. Their offline classes will be allowed to resume no earlier than July 10. Hubei lowered its novel coronavirus emergency response from level II to level III from June 13. As of Monday, the province had one asymptomatic case under medical observation. Enditem As a sunbeam pierces through the cracks in the wooden roof and shines on a rusty chair with flower carvings, Shi Hancheng uses an old-fashioned shaver to work on the chin, cheek, ears and eyebrows of a customer. Called xiumian or face-shaving in English, the craft is one in which Shi excels. He is a barber in Datong Barbershop, located in the Datong Ancient Town in the city of Tongling, East China's Anhui province. The barbershop was built during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). A brick from a wall and various old items in the shop are witness to more than 100 years of glory and decline it has experienced. The shop has been under spotlight as the country recently observed the Cultural and Natural Heritage Day. Shi, 72, is one of the two senior barbers at Datong Barbershop. He came to the shop with his father to apprentice as a teenager, at a time the salon was one of the poshest places in town. "In its prime, there were 12 chairs and 12 barbers in the shop, in addition to people who boiled water and carried water," Shi recalls. "There were 40 to 50 staff then." All the chairs and mirrors were imported from Germany and Britain, and the barbers learned to do the most fashionable haircuts, making them renowned in the neighborhood. At that time, the Datong Ancient Town was an important area along the Yangtze, China's longest river. It was known as one of the four major commercial hubs in Anhui, which also included Anqing, Wuhu and Bengbu. The advanced water transportation brought in countless people and bustling business, giving the town the moniker "little Shanghai". "Day and night, there were people waiting in line to get a haircut," Shi says. "We received about 500 customers a day, and often worked until 9 pm." In the late 20th century, however, as road transport developed, water transportation along the Yangtze declined. The ancient town gradually became desolate, and the long lines of customers in front of the barbershop became a thing of the past. "Some of the barbers went away, and some died," Shi says. "The only ones left in the shop are me and Chen, who is already in his 80s." Only two of the 12 chairs remain. "Most of the people coming in these days are the elderly living in the neighborhood," Shi says. "They got their haircuts here when they were black-haired young people, and now even though they have grown old, they still come over." Shi says when the shop is sometimes closed, the old customers drop by to ask if everything is OK. Hu Jiafu, 57, is a regular at Datong Barbershop. Hu says coming to the salon has become a habit, and "other barbershops simply don't have that craft". People like Hu have encouraged the two senior barbers to continue their business and stick with their brand. "We have been here for decades, and we don't feel comfortable if we don't come over to the shop," Shi says, adding that they also go door to door to do haircuts for ageing people and those who can't walk around because of their physical condition. In recent years, authorities have decided to develop tourism based on the history and culture of the ancient town, bringing change and hope to the shop that has lasted a century. In 2015, the local government renovated old houses in the town, and installed modern facilities in them in 2017. The Datong Barbershop also went through a transformation. Workers modernized the electric circuits, installed shampoo basins and faucets that invoked nostalgia, in addition to fitting electric fans and pendant lamps. The storage room on the second floor became the rest area. The changes were part of efforts to draw more customers. For Shi, the upgrade brought many modern elements to the shop, and he says the new features are both practical and necessary. "After the upgrade, young people sometimes come over to get a haircut," Shi says. Shi argues that while it is important to stick to craftsmanship, changes are inevitable in the modern era because they bring long-term development. "You can't abandon the old craft, but you also need to bring in new things," he says. "Otherwise you will be knocked out sooner or later." Shi says he hopes more young people will help pass on the craft. "We are getting old, but we want the shop to survive," he says. "I hope that the younger generation will inherit our craft so that it does not die out." Xinhua Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 21:54:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MINSK, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Belarus will raise export duties from July 1 on oil and oil products that are exported outside the Eurasian Economic Union. The country will increase the export duty on crude oil from 8.3 U.S. dollars to 37.8 per tonne, while the duty for straight-run gasoline will increase from 4.5 to 20.7 dollars per tonne, the government said in a statement. Export duties on commercial gasoline, light and medium distillates, diesel fuel, benzene, toluene, xylene, lubricants, and other oil products will be raised from 2.4 dollars to 11.3 dollars per tonne. Export duties on crude oil and some categories of derivative oil products were previously revised upwards on June 1. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 22:09:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has extended its heightened state of readiness until July 15 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government's press office said Tuesday. As no local transmissions or deaths have been reported in the country, service organizations such as cinemas and gaming centers will be reopened in stages to support the economy and keep jobs in place, the press office said. As of Tuesday, Mongolia has confirmed a total of 220 COVID-19 infections, all of which were imported, mostly from Russia. The country entered a heightened state of readiness on Feb. 12 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including the suspension of international passenger flights. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 22:17:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, June 30 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's cinemas, museums, theatres, galleries and libraries would soon be opened, said South African government on Tuesday. Department of Sports, Art and Culture said in a statement that its minister Nkosinathi Mthethwa will soon issue directions on the reopening of cinemas and theatres subject to a limitation of 50 persons or less, strict adherence to all health protocols and social distancing measures. The directions will allow for the reopening of museums, galleries, libraries and archives subject to strict adherence to all health protocols and the above mentioned places must apply to the Minister within 14 days after publication of the directions. "As passionate as we are about the advancement of the arts and culture sector, we are equally as committed to ensuring that lives come first," said Mthethwa. The government said they will send officials to monitor compliance with stated directives on health protocols and social distancing. The South Africa government has been slowly opening different sectors of the economy in a risk-adjusted manner to flatten the curve of COVID-19. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 22:21:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday ruled against a damages suit filed by a man in his late seventies who was forcibly sterilized as a young teenager in 1957 under Japan's eugenics protection law. The court dismissed the plaintiff's claim for 30 million yen (280,000 U.S. dollars), owing to it considering the statute of limitations for damages expired 20 years after the he was operated on against his will in 1957. The plaintiff had claimed that the statute of limitations had not expired as "he did not have the luxury of knowing about the details of the operation or level of damage until recently." While handing down the court's ruling however, presiding Judge Masaharu Ito said the forced sterilization had "infringed upon the (plaintiff's) freedom to have a child ensured by the Constitution." He did not, however, rule on whether the law itself violated the Constitution. The lawyers of the plaintiff who was forced to have surgery aged around 14 years old when living at an orphanage in Japan's northeast, said they will appeal the court's decision. Many plaintiffs have claimed that being forcibly sterilized under Japan's now defunct eugenics law, which was enacted in postwar Japan in 1948 and kept in place until 1996, deprived them of their constitutional right to choose whether or not to have children. The controversial law, similar to Nazi Germany's sterilization law and enacted here as a population control measure to deal with the nation's postwar food shortage, made it possible for the state to sterilize thousands of people without receiving their consent, due to mental disabilities and other illnesses. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, up until the eugenics law was removed in 1996, of a total of 25,000 people who were sterilized for reasons of mental disabilities and other illnesses, 16,500 people were sterilized without giving their prior consent. Following a rising instance of "eugenics casualties" coming forward and claiming damages, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a written statement last April apologized on behalf of the government for the suffering caused to the victims and vowed that such a tragedy would never be repeated. "The government sincerely reflects on and deeply apologizes for the suffering caused by forced sterilization. To never repeat the situation, the government will make utmost efforts to realize a society in which people can coexist, regardless of disease or disability," Abe said. At the same time, a bill was passed to pay compensation to people who were forcibly sterilized, although the law came under fire from thousands of victims for the reparations not being high enough and for the ambiguous wording of the government's apology not squarely admitting its culpability. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 22:24:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIRUT, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Tuesday by 33 cases to 1,778 while the death toll remained unchanged at 34, the National News Agency reported. Meanwhile, the health ministry issued a statement detailing procedures to be taken with the reopening of the airport on July 1. According to the statement, all arrivals must register on the health ministry's website before taking a PCR test for COVID-19 at the airport and spending several days in quarantine. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced that Lebanon is considered among the countries that have succeeded in the fight against COVID-19. Lebanon has been fighting against COVID-19 since Feb. 21. On June 11, China donated a new batch of medical supplies to Lebanon to help its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, including 17,500 masks, 1,500 protective suits, 1,320 goggles and 1,000 shoes covers. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 22:25:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Three eateries were fined up to 5,000 Brunei dollars (3,586 U.S. dollars) for flouting safety guidelines imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. According to the ministry, a total of 21 food premises at a business center in the capital were inspected by health enforcement officers. It was found that three of the 21 businesses did not comply with the directives issued and were issued compound fines by the ministry. The three eateries were fined on the spot for not providing body temperature checks before visitors entering the premises; food handlers not wearing face masks and no social distancing measures in place. The health ministry reminded business owners and their employees to comply with the ministry's directives and continue to carry out their social responsibilities and practice COVID-19 prevention measures in their business premises. Brunei reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday with the national tally of cases standing at 141, marking the 54th day without new cases since May 7. No active cases are being treated at the National Isolation Center and a total of 138 patients have recovered. There have been three deaths resulted from COVID-19 in Brunei. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 22:25:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday donated various medical supplies to Zambia's governing party, the Patriotic Front (PF), as part of efforts to help the country tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The materials were donated to Zambia's ruling party on behalf of the CPC International Department by the Chinese Embassy in Zambia. The donated items included 30,000 surgical face masks, 500 protective clothing and 240 thermometers. Li Jie, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, said Zambia as well as other countries in the world were facing the challenge of COVID-19 which requires solidarity by all countries to combat it. The Chinese envoy said the two countries have demonstrated that they were together in fighting the pandemic and expressed optimism that the efforts and cooperation will enable Zambia to come out of the pandemic. Davies Mwila, secretary-general of Zambia's governing party thanked the CPC for the donation, saying it will go a long way in helping Zambia tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the two parties have created strong cooperation over the years which will get even stronger in the face of the pandemic. According to him, the donation was more than material support but a practical demonstration of the goodwill that exists between the two parties. The donation, he said, will be distributed to institutions that were facing challenges in acquiring medical supplies to tackle the pandemic such as schools and hospitals run by churches. Zambia has so far recorded a total of 1,568 cases, 1,311 recoveries and 22 deaths while 235 are active cases. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 22:34:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANGKOK, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Thai Cabinet meeting on Tuesday has approved July 27 as a substitute holiday for Songkran festival, creating another four-day weekend next month. Songkran, which is the annual Thai New Year's national holiday, was postponed in April to stem the COVID-19 outbreak. "Since July 28, which falls on Tuesday, is already a holiday observing Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn's birthday, the announcement adds another day to the period, creating a long weekend from July 25 to 28," said in a statement released by the Thai Government House. Thai government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said on Tuesday that the Cabinet meeting had approved the extended holiday as the COVID-19 situation has eased in Thailand. Also, the government has relaxed more restrictions to allow reopening of several types of businesses, Narumon added. Thailand has witnessed no local transmission for 36 days. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 22:50:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BAGHDAD, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Tuesday recorded 1,958 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 49,109. The new cases included 539 in the capital Baghdad, 340 in Dhi Qar, 248 in Basra, 146 in Sulaimaniyah, 119 in Karbala and 102 in Maysan, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry also confirmed 104 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 1,943 in the country, while 1,786 more patients recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 24,760. The new cases were recorded after 12,425 testing kits were used across the country during the past 24 hours, and a total of 544,545 tests have been carried out since the outbreak of the disease, according to the statement. Jasim al-Falahi, Iraq's deputy health minister, said in a statement that the latest increase in recoveries is attributed to the great efforts by the health personnel in fighting against the pandemic, and the tightened implementation of the health preventive measures. Meanwhile, Iraqi Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, headed by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, called on the senior students in all medicine colleges across Iraq to volunteer to help the medical workers in the fighting against the pandemic, according to al-Falahi. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Iraq has been taking measures to contain the pandemic. On June 29, the media office of the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety, said the committee decided to continue the partial curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time. The office didn't give details about whether to continue the full curfew on Thursday, Friday and Saturday every week. 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 contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad. Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 23:02:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Sri Lanka's Bank of Ceylon signs a long-term treaty with the China Development Bank via an online video conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 30, 2020. Both banks entered into a 140-million-U.S. dollar long-term cooperation through which drawdown will be made under two tranches of 70 million U.S. dollars each. (Xinhua/Tang Lu) COLOMBO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Bank of Ceylon on Tuesday signed a long-term treaty with the China Development Bank, a joint statement from the state-owned bank and China Development Bank said. Both banks entered into a 140-million-U.S. dollar long-term cooperation through which drawdown will be made under two tranches of 70 million U.S. dollars each. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the signing ceremony was held through an online video conference, the first time in the country to conduct a signing ceremony. The funding was requested by the Sri Lankan bank and supported by the Chinese side, which will provide much needed and appreciated support during Sri Lanka's fight against COVID-19, the joint statement said. Enditem By Fang Xiaozhi According to the Defense World (DEFENSE WORLD.NET), the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and USS Nimitz (CVN-68) strike groups gathered in the Philippine Sea of the Western Pacific Region for joint training on June 21. At the same time, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) carrier strike group has left its homeport in Yokosuka, Japan, and started to sail in the region southeast of Okinawa Island. The three carrier strike groups may meet in the Western Pacific Region shortly. The continuous deterioration of the current COVID-19 pandemic situation has a severe impact on the US' deployment of military forces in certain regions. This is especially true to the US Navy. Due to its ineffective prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Navy has got scandals frequently revealed, with its image seriously harmed. What's worse, a sharp decline in the US Navy's combat readiness and combat capability has caused a severe blow to the confidence of the US military and its allies. However, this training is an extremely high-profile action, indicating that the US military has begun to take measures to make up for its military vacuum in the western Pacific region and build a strong momentum for its return to the region. First of all, the US military hopes to eliminate the doubts of the international community about the decline of its combat effectiveness. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading, the US Navy is eager to dispatch its carrier battle groups to the front. One of its important objectives is to show that the US Navy has got rid of COVID-19 related problems and can complete the recovery work in a short time. This is a way to prove that the US military strength could still be reckoned with, thus effectively enhancing the confidence of the US military and its allies. Besides, the US also hopes to make up for its "power vacuum" in the Western Pacific Region. Under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many USS aircraft carriers have been forced to stay in the bases or shipyards in quarantine, which in turn has delivered a significant impact on the US Asia Pacific strategy. The three aircraft carrier battle groups are composed of more than ten large surface warships and nearly 200 attack aircraft, the operational capabilities of which are far beyond a vast majority of countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This would completely change the current embarrassing situation of the US military in the western Pacific region. For future development, the US military may take more measures to maintain its hegemony, while its force deployment in the western Pacific region may also have a "retaliatory rebound." However, what we should be clear is that when the current epidemic spread has not been completely controlled, the action that the US Navy hastily dispatches aircraft carrier formations with the attitude of "sailing to the frontline first" may be worthless. On June 18, an F/a-18F strike fighter taking off from the USS Ronald Roosevelt aircraft carrier suddenly crashed in the Philippine Sea during routine training. This fully reflects the dilemma facing the US military whose ability falls short of wishes during the recovery from the pandemic, and also shows that the restoration and maintenance of combat effectiveness of the "just recovered" aircraft carriers are still very complex and challenging under the current condition of no effective epidemic prevention and control measures. (The author Fang Xiaozhi is a researcher at the Institute of Strategic Studies and International Security under the Fudan Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance) Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 23:16:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. - - - - BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi Health Ministry on Tuesday recorded 1,958 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 49,109. The ministry also confirmed 104 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 1,943 in the country, while 1,786 more patients recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 24,760. - - - - BEIRUT -- Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Tuesday by 33 cases to 1,778 while the death toll remained unchanged at 34, the National News Agency reported. Meanwhile, the health ministry issued a statement detailing procedures to be taken with the reopening of the airport on July 1. According to the statement, all arrivals must register on the health ministry's website before taking a PCR test for COVID-19 at the airport and spending several days in quarantine. - - - - TOKYO -- The Tokyo metropolitan government on Tuesday confirmed 54 new COVID-19 infections, marking the fifth straight day new daily cases in the capital have topped 50 amid concerns over a resurgence of infections. Of the 54 new cases, 26 people in their twenties or thirties have been infected, or about 50 percent of the total, the Tokyo metropolitan government said. - - - - MINSK -- Belarus reported 328 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking its total to 62,118, according to the country's health ministry. There have been 841 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 46,054, the ministry added. - - - - LUSAKA -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday donated various medical supplies to Zambia's governing party, the Patriotic Front, as part of efforts to help the country tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. The materials were donated to Zambia's ruling party on behalf of the CPC International Department by the Chinese Embassy in Zambia. The donated items included 30,000 surgical face masks, 500 protective clothing and 240 thermometers. - - - - KAMPALA -- Ugandan police have arrested two people including a Kenyan national for allegedly selling fake COVID-19 certificates to cross-border cargo truck drivers at the common border neighboring Kenya, a police spokesperson said here on Tuesday. Fred Enanga, police spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that the suspects, a Ugandan and a Kenyan were nabbed at the border town of Malaba with forged COVID-19 medical certificates printed in Kenya to easily allow truck drivers enter into the country. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 23:26:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- At least two "extremely dangerous" militants were killed by the Egyptian police in the restive North Sinai Province, the interior ministry said Tuesday. "The two terrorists were trying to gather information about security checkpoints in North Sinai's Galbana area," said a ministry statement. They opened fire at police who were approaching them, and two automatic rifles, ammunition, and a weapon were seized with the militants, according to the statement. "The terrorists were scouting the area in preparation for attacks against army and police forces on the seventh anniversary of the June 30 uprising" which ousted the Islamist late President Mohamed Morsi, the ministry noted. Since 2013, Egypt has been plagued by terrorist attacks, most of which were claimed by a branch of the Islamic State militant group in North Sinai. In response, Egypt has been engaged in a massive operation since February 2018 to uproot terrorism in North Sinai, killing at least 1,000 militants. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 23:43:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Nepal's Himalaya Airlines and Huawei Cloud, a Chinese multinational technology company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) earlier this week for strategic cooperation to promote smart aviation, the airlines said. Under the MoU, Himalaya, a Nepal-China joint venture international airline and Huawei will cooperate in information and communication technologies represented by Huawei Cloud and AI (Artificial Intelligence), in order to achieve mutual benefits and common development, the Himalaya Airlines said in a press statement. As per the agreement, Huawei will help Himalaya in building the cloud platform for the company's sales and finance system, setting up a business intelligent system, and pushing ahead the upgrading and renovation of existing information and communication technology equipment. According to the Himalaya, the cooperation agreement will pave the way for the airlines to get competitive products and services to enable it to provide its passengers with better ticketing options and travel experience. "The agreement is expected to promote the construction of smart aviation and trans-Himalaya multi-dimensional connectivity to achieve more substantial results, opening up opportunities for Himalaya to be a leading airline in South Asia," the airlines said. According to the statement, Zhou Enyong, president of Himalaya Airlines said he believed the cooperation with Huawei would speed up the digital transformation and informatization of the company, optimize the ticketing and travelling experience for customers, and would contribute to the overall development of the entire civil aviation industry of Nepal. Zhou Danjin, president of Huawei technology Cloud & AI business group of Asia Pacific Region said they would take this opportunity to employ Himalaya Airlines' expertise in aviation field together with their strength in technology to push ahead the process of "intelligentization" through digital transformation for Himalaya and improve its competitiveness to realize the business potential. Himalaya which was established in Nepal in 2014 has seen a speedy growth over the last six years as it increased its fleet from one to four and increased flights to 10 destinations from one. Before international flights disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Himalaya was flying from Kathmandu to Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Doha, Dhaka, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Guiyang, Changsha, Shenzhen and Chongqing. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 23:50:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Tuesday warned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan not to undermine the prosperity and stability of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Any person or force that attempts to undermine China's national sovereignty, security, development interests, and the prosperity and stability of the HKSAR will end in vain and suffer the consequences, said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. She made the comments in response to a media question about the DPP authority's smearing of the top legislature adopting a national security law in the HKSAR. The DPP authority's undisguised distortion of facts fully revealed its vicious intentions to meddle in Hong Kong affairs, mess Hong Kong up, and seek "Taiwan independence," Zhu said. The law on safeguarding national security in the HKSAR explicitly stipulates the four categories of offences endangering national security, and their corresponding penalties, which will surely cut off the DPP authority's meddling in Hong Kong affairs, said Zhu. "We firmly uphold and support the implementation of the law on safeguarding national security in the HKSAR," Zhu added. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-30 23:58:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIGA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Latvia further relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday, lifting the requirement to wear face coverings on public transport and allowing public gatherings of up to 1,000 people starting July 1, the government informed. COVID-19 rules for foodservice providers are also being eased as there are no longer limits on the number of people allowed to sit at one table in cafes and restaurants. According to information released by the Health Ministry, after the state of emergency over the pandemic ended on June 9, the spread of COVID-19 continued to slow in Latvia and the improved epidemiological situation allowed for easing more precautionary measures imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease. Health Minister Ilze Vinkele noted at a news conference that the face mask requirement on public transport should have been made optional already earlier. "It was a mistake to maintain this requirement for so long, as we saw that local COVID-19 transmissions were declining," Vinkele said, adding that this was her personal opinion. The minister said that Latvia's epidemiological indicators are very encouraging at the moment, as the 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases is currently 0.9 per 100,000 inhabitants in contrast to Europe's average of 16 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. While local outbreaks have not been recorded in Latvia for more than four weeks, 40 percent of the new infections confirmed over the past couple of weeks have been imported cases. On Tuesday, the government also decided to allow outdoor gatherings of up to 3,000 people from Aug. 1 on the condition that a space of at least four square meters is provided for each person. If the number of COVID-19 cases starts growing again, restrictions will be reimposed, the Health Ministry warned, urging the public to exert caution. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:06:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia on Tuesday vowed to work with the World Health Organization (WHO) and relevant agencies to enhance collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Cambodian foreign ministry's press statement. The statement was released after the special ASEAN-Australia foreign ministers' meeting on COVID-19 via video conference. "The meeting agreed to work with relevant international organisations, especially the World Health Organization (WHO), and the global community to enhance collective pandemic preparedness and response and to prevent its long-term impacts," it said. During the virtual meeting, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said ASEAN has been very active since the beginning of the crisis in galvanizing collective response, not only among ASEAN member states but also with their external partners, the statement said. "The proactive approach of ASEAN can send a clear message that, in time of crisis, the international communities in fact need to ramp up coordinated and collective response as well as international solidarity," he said. Sokhonn, who is also a deputy prime minister, said ASEAN and Australia need to stay vigilant of a second wave of infection as countries are beginning to draft their own respective roadmap for easing the COVID-19 restriction. "We must continue to intensify our efforts to defeat this pandemic together on all fronts as our respective governments have committed at the 73rd World Health Assembly," he said. He added that as part of the economic recovery plan, a concrete action can be done through the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at the earliest possible time. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:07:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JUBA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 84,625 children with acute malnutrition in South Sudan were treated in therapeutic centers since the beginning of this year, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. Mohamed Ag Ayoya, UNICEF Representative in South Sudan, said in a statement issued in Juba that this achievement is one of the many results they have been able to obtain with partners in the challenging environment of COVID-19, which is continuing to unfold across South Sudan. It said that between January and May, UNICEF and its partners reached 1.6 million children with vitamin A supplementation, vaccinated 169,300 children against measles through routine vaccination, vaccinated about 1.4 million children under five years of age during measles follow-up campaigns in 54 counties. In addition, UNICEF also distributed about 102,700 insecticide-treated bed nets to children and pregnant women in malaria-affected areas. UNICEF also ensured access to an additional 237,000 people with a sufficient quantity of safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene, in addition to providing psychosocial support services to some 12,300 children. "Because of the restriction on movement measures put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19, we have also been struggling to travel and to deliver supplies throughout the country, and some of our programs had to be postponed or scaled-down. We hope that the conditions will allow restrictions of movement to be eased soon," said Ayoya. UNICEF disclosed that the number of cases of COVID-19 in South Sudan is growing, as is the number of deaths related to the disease. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:10:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DOHA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Qatar's Health Ministry on Tuesday announced 982 new COVID-19 cases, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 96,088, official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported. Meanwhile, 1,394 people recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 81,564, while the death toll remain unchanged at 113, according to a ministry statement quoted by QNA. The ministry attributed the increase in coronavirus infections to gatherings and visits as well as ignoring the preventive measures such as staying at home and social distancing. A total of 356,832 people in Qatar have taken lab tests for COVID-19 so far, it added. China and Qatar have offered mutual help during the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. On Feb. 21, five Qatar Airways cargo freighters flew to China carrying approximately 300 tons of medical supplies donated by the airline. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:12:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President John Magufuli, also chairman of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), said on Tuesday in capital Dodoma he is seeking re-election to enable him to complete unfinished projects that started during his first five-year term. Magufuli gave reasons for seeking the presidential re-election when he spoke shortly after he had submitted forms from over 1,000,000 CCM members from across the country, who have guaranteed him to seek nomination from the party for contesting for the presidency in the October 2020 general elections. "When I took office in 2015, CCM planned to implement a number of flagship projects. Some of them have been completed and a number of them are still under implementation. My wish is to complete implementation of the unfinished projects in the next five years," Magufuli said in an address televised live by state-run Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation. He mentioned flagship projects that were yet to be completed including the standard gauge railway, the 2,115 MW Julius Nyerere hydropower in the Rufiji river basin, an international airport in the capital Dodoma and the purchase of a new ship for Lake Tanganyika aimed at boosting trade with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "I believe with unity and hard work we can build a modern Tanzania that every citizen can benefit," said Magufuli. However, Magufuli admitted that the presidency was a post that faced various hard challenges, adding that "last night I slept for only three hours after I had spent most of the time dealing with issues." Bashiru Ally, CCM's secretary general, said the ruling party's top organs, including the National Executive Committee and the Central Committee will endorse President Magufuli's presidential candidacy and submit his nomination to the party's national congress for final approval on July 11. If re-elected in the October general elections, President Magufuli will serve his second and final five-year term until 2025 as provided for in the country's constitution. The general elections will also be used to choose councilors and members of parliament. According to Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, 29,804,992 Tanzanians have registered to vote in this year's elections, compared to 23,161,440 voters registered in 2015. Tanzania has a population of about 55 million. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-01 00:15:26|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VILNIUS, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Tuesday appointed Rimantas Sinkevicius to head the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, according to the presidency. "I expect strong leadership from him in distributing support to crisis-stricken businesses, creating a more transparent public procurement system, ensuring professional management of state and municipal enterprises, and strengthening the regional economy," said the president. Sinkevicius, 68, who is from the Social Democratic Labour Party, chairs the parliamentary Committee on Economics and served as the minister of transport and communications from 2012 to 2016. Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, who nominated Sinkevicius on Monday, believed that he got all the needed traits, skills and experience to assume the vacant position until the parliamentary election in October, according to local news agency Elta. The main tasks facing the new minister include alleviating impacts of COVID-19 on the country's economy and distributing state support faster and timely. The position of the economy and innovation minister has been vacant since December when former minister Virginijus Sinkevicius assumed office as a European Commissioner. Enditem